A New Ruleby Sylpheed DashstepChaptersThe Land of Friendship and MagicThe MercenaryThe Mission to...Equestria?A Whole New NicheThe Land of Friendship and MagicI cracked my eyes open and instantly lifted my hand up to my eyes, trying to shield my eyes from the sun...Wait, why was I out in the sun in the first place? Being in the sun felt...wrong for some reason and I moved under the shade of a nearby tree, the feeling that something wrong still present. My gray skin felt like it was about to blister under the heat of the sun and my eyes were insanely itchy. My olive green eyes roamed across the clearing I had woken up in and I wondered how I got there in the first place. Another question appeared in my head a few moments later. Who am I? I felt my chest seize up as I realized I knew nothing about myself. I didn't know where I'd gotten the ridiculous clothes I was wearing, some sort of extravagant robe that made me think of a master wizard for some reason, or who had put me wherever I was now. A name appeared in my head suddenly and I knew it was the name of where I was from. Alternia. I knew this wasn't Alternia though, this was some other world. For one thing, it was too bright. I don't know how exactly I knew that but I just did. I could tell my body was used to sleeping during the day and roaming during the night, but why was the thing I couldn't place. I heard some voices coming and I scrambled behind the tree I was hiding under. "So where was it," one voice asked. "Ah think it was right up here," another voice replied, a southern accent applied to the words. Two ponies stepped through the bushes around the clearing and the one leading them, an orange one, stopped while the one following it, a purple...unicorn, continued onwards for a few more paces before realizing its companion had stopped. "Applejack, what's wrong," the purple one asked. "It was right here," the orange one replied. "Wait, are you sure it was dead," the purple one asked. "As sure as Granny Smith's apple pies are the best in Equestria," it replied. I picked up on the fact that they were talking about me and I debated with myself on whether I should come out or let them search some more. My choice was made for me as I was prodded in the back and a voice spoke. "You know, it's not very nice to spy," the voice said. I turned around to find myself facing a pink pony and I felt like there was something extremely wrong here. I knew for a fact that there was something I was missing here and I desperately needed to find out what it was, before something bad happened. "Berry Bubble," the voice of the purple unicorn called out, "is that you?" "Yep," 'Berry Bubble' called out, "and I found the troll that Applejack found earlier." "Umm, troll," 'Applejack' asked as the two of us came out from behind the tree. "Is that what I am," I muttered. "Wait, you don't know what you are," the purple one asked, getting closer to me so it could study me. "Dusk, I don't think that's such a great idea," Applejack said. "Oh no, it's perfectly fine," Berry Bubble said, "he doesn't have anything equipped in his strife specibus and there's nothing in his sylladex other than a note." We all three looked at him (as I'd finally figured out that the three were male) and all gave him blank looks. "One, what are those two things, and two, how do you know that," Dusk asked. "A strife specibus is what I use to equip a weapon," I muttered, not even knowing how I knew it, "and a sylladex is what I use to hold items on my person. But how did you know that, not even I remembered that, then again I can hardly remember anything." "Oh that's easy, these two ponies who just appeared in my room holding these really futuristic looking things told me," he said. "They also said that your name is Eli and I was supposed to give you this." He pulled out a piece of paper from nowhere and handed it over to me, looking at me expectantly. I looked at Dusk and Applejack and swirled my finger around beside my head and whistled. The two of them just gave me confused looks and I sighed before looking at the paper. "It's a bunch of musical notes," I said as I read the lines. "I...think I'm supposed to play this." I looked to Berry because he seemed to have most of the answers and he nodded. I took the paper over to the nearest tree and rapped the beat out with my knuckles, giving a small grasp of surprise as a note appeared in front of me. "My fetch modus is activated by music," I muttered, "I remember now! Each slot is activated by a certain beat and this is the note sequence to activate the first slot. If I remember right, I have ten slots in total." I picked the note up in my free hand and slipped the beat pattern in my sylladex, only having to think to have it achieved. I read the note, noticing that Berry was peering over one shoulder and Dusk was peering over the other, while Applejack was still where he had entered the clearing from, still not entirely trusting me apparently. Dear Elijah, We know that you're a bit scared right now and don't entirely understand what's going on, in fact we don't know what's going on either, we're pretty much just rolling with the punches. The point is that pretty soon things are going to get confusing and we're going to need you to trust your partner. Honestly, we don't know if you're with Omega right now, but when you do meet up with him, then things are going to go to hell. We don't know what exactly that means, we're just relaying information that Prim and Percy told us. The point is, you're going to have a troubling task ahead of you and if things are going to end how they need to, you need to help Omega to finish this task. We're sorry that we can't tell you more about yourself or what exactly happened to cause you to be there, but to be honest, we don't know. We know nothing about you other than your name and how your fetch modus and strife specibus work. And even though I would love to tell you how your strife specibus is set to, I sadly can't because Prim warned us that to do that without you already knowing otherwise a bunch of paradoxes would occur and then Ingrid (whoever that is) wouldn't be born and then shit would just collapse on itself. In other words, live your life for right now and when the time comes help Omega. Help him fix whatever the problem is, wherever and whenever it occurs. ~Josh and Eli I read over the note again and gave a small sound of confusion as I tried to process what exactly I was reading while also wondering who everyone in the note was. Prim, Percy, Ingrid, Josh? The thing that confused me the most was my name at the bottom of it but after a few more moments I figured that it was the second person writing the note. That still didn't answer who they were or why they knew so much about me. "Well that's...vague," Dusk said. "No shit," I said. "I don't think they could have left me with anymore questions." I put the note back in my sylladex and gave a sigh as I sat under the tree, wondering exactly what to do next. "So what now," Berry asked, mirroring my thoughts. "We get him a place to stay," Dusk replied, as if it was the most obvious thing ever. I had been living in Equestria for a week now, my living condition somehow being decided to let me live at Applejack's house as long as I assisted in working on the farm. Within the week I had been there I had found all ten beat sequences for my sylladex, as well as what my strife specibus was allotted to. Unsurprisingly I was apparently talented enough to use a musical instrument as a weapon. I had found out after Lyra had let me use his lyre after finding out I could read music. I had picked up the instrument and began strumming it, looking a bit surprised as I saw the sound waves eject from the instrument and hit Lyra hard enough to knock him off his hooves and over the back of the couch sitting behind him. I was worried that I'd hurt him but after finding that he was unharmed we both shared a laugh. From there it escalated as I learned how to properly wield the weapon type I had chosen. At the end of the seventh day I walked into the barn to rest after a hard day of work but stopped as I saw two ponies I'd never seen before sitting on a pile of hay. "Hmm, you're two seconds late, I hope that's not a sign," the stallion said. The mare beside him have him a look and said, "Dear, you have to stop focusing on the specifics, if you keep doing that then we're never going to get everything done right." "What are you talking about, if we're too lax about this and don't get the timing right then everything is going to break down," the stallion said. "Okay, both of you shut up. Now, who are you and what do you want," I asked. "Who we are isn't important," the mare said, "what is important is that you're in the wrong place. If you're going to help Omega then you need to allow us to take you to the right session" "The right session,"I asked, "what the hell does that mean?" "You'll find out soon enough, but for right now, you and Omega have a divide between you and you need to come with us," the stallion said. I'm getting tired of this incessant prattling. You two aren't accomplishing anything. The voice came from nowhere and everywhere at once and the two ponies in front of me yelled something at me, but I didn't hear whatever it was, I was already falling into the darkness. Author's Note I'd honestly never heard Elijah's story before now. I always thought that he had woken up in Equestria with Omega, but I'd honestly never known why he was a troll while Omega was Equestrian if they had both...nevermind, you lot can wait for the next chapter and find out then. The MercenaryThe sounds of swords clanging and shouts of my team filled the air as I ran through the main square of Canterlot Castle, making surprising speed towards my two targets through the crowd and the guards. I slipped under the hooves of a mare, not giving her features a second glance as I rolled and sprang up into a defensive position, having taken note of two royal guards who had drawn their swords and began to run for me. A small smile graced my lips and my brown eyes landed on one of them, my legs taking an initiative of their own and leaping up, firmly landing a punch on his snout and making a crunching sound emit from under it that couldn't have been good. I turned and crouched again, facing the other guard only to find him on the ground with a bat laying beside him. I decided to thank my team later and quickly ran for the chariot that was moving slowly through the crowd and smirked, silently thanking the Emperor for the extra information. The festival had been the perfect cover to ambush the Princesses, the crowd only making it easier to get to them. I pulled out the pistol from its holster with my magic and leapt at the carriage, throwing open the curtain and spraying a clip of ammo into it, the smirk slipping off my mouth as I took notice of the two dummies sitting in the seats. Dummies. It took my mind to register the fact that I had just fired at a fake Princess Luna and Princess Celestia, another question rising to the forefront of my mind after the realization had taken hold. Where were the Princesses? I turned to shout a warning to my squad and found my vision go as black as my fur, as well as experienced a pain that exploded in the front of my skull, dropping me off into the land of the unconscious. When I opened my eyes I first took notice of the stabbing pain in the center of my forehead, as well as the splint on my nose. The next thing I took notice of was my surroundings, a rectangular room that had gray walls and contained only the bed I was resting on and a table in the center of it. The walls were spread out far enough that even with the table in the center there were about five feet in between the walls and the edges of the table. I took a look at myself and caught sight of some blood in my black fur, the red mess having dried on my fur a while ago, making it hard to get it off. I was still scraping at it with my hooves, my horn had been cuffed with a magic prevention link, when a mare walked in. The same mare I had slid under in the court to be exact. Her mane was a mixture of teal and dark blue, her fur was a light shade of green, and her eyes were a dark emerald. I don't know why but I felt my heart skip a beat at the sight if her. I ignored the feeling and focused as she sat down, trying to get a clear view of her cutie mark but missing it entirely as she sat behind the table. "Hello there 'Omega'," she said, indicating for me to sit in the other chair. I took the seat cautiously and said, "You know my name. How?" "Codename is more like," the mare retorted. "I heard one of your friends yell out for you when I took you down." I took a closer look at the mare at that comment, taking note of the way her body seemed in more shape than unicorns would be, as well as how her eyes looked at me the same way I was looking at her, carefully and calculating. "Are they okay," I asked at last, breaking the silence. She seemed surprised at my question and said, "You're not going to plead that you're not guilty? Or pretend that you had nothing to do with them?" "Am I supposed to," I questioned her. "And you didn't answer my question." "Yes, your friends are okay. Usually this is about the time when most ponies begin pleading that they didn't do it and shove the blame off on somepony else," she said, leaning back in her chair and giving me a look that made me feel as if she was studying my thoughts. "As long as my friends are okay, I don't care what the charges are," I said, visibly relaxing in my seat. "Even if they're attempted murder of the Princesses?" "Oh, you've got that one right on the nail." "So you admit to trying to kill the Princesses?" "Only if you let my friends go." "WHAT?!" "You heard me. You'll only get a confession if you let the rest of my squad go." "That's insane!" "No, it's called loyalty. They were only following MY orders. If you want to blame anyone, place the verdict on me. But let my squad go." She seemed to contemplate it before shaking her head and getting up to go. "Wait," are you going to let them go?" She didn't answer me and headed over to the door, opening it and heading out. I gave a sigh and rested my head on the table, knowing that me and my squad were due to hang soon. Such was the price of trying to kill a princess. Attempting to kill both of them had probably only worsened the punishment. I could only imagine the ways that you could make a hanging worse, cringing each time I came up with a new punishment. The doors opened again an undiscernanble amount of time later and the mare walked in. "They're free," was the first thing she said. "Are you serious," I asked. I honestly hadn't expected them to accept my terms and I still wasn't entirely sure that they were telling the truth. "Swear to me. Pinkie Pie Swear." Nobody could break a Pinkie Pie Swear, otherwise that pretty pink mare would no doubt hunt you down and make you pay for tarnishing the name of her swear. "I Pinkie Pie Swear that your friends are free. Now, it's time for you to hold up your end of the deal. And we want a full explanation for why exactly you did this...if you wouldn't mind at least," she said, growing a bit quiet. "Gladly," I replied, "but first, I have to tell you how exactly I came to this world. You see, I'm not actually a pony. I'm actually a creature called a human that comes from another universe that's more technologically advanced than here." She gave me a blank look and asked, "Do you really think that filing for clinically insane will make you any less able to go to the hanging barracks?" "Not really," I replied, "but who says I'm filing for clinically insane?" "Alright then, continue, tell me how the creature called a human came to Equestria and became an equine." "Gladly." Author's Note Quick little look into Omega's life before things got confusing as fuck, and next chapter we're going to go even further back. The Mission to...Equestria?The road had been bare for the past hour, just a dirt path in the desert of Pakistan. As a result, I had become bored with the task of driving and was paying only the minimal amount of attention to the straight and empty path as the Foxhound rolled along. The voices behind me all blurred together until one of them directed a question to me, snapping me out of my daydream of a beach vacation. "What do you think Omega," Rose asked. "Huh," I said. "Why do you think Alpha was dropped," Rei asked. "Alpha was let go at the discretion of Lieutenant Crank and only a select few know why," I replied. "So in other words, you know why but you won't tell us," David, the final member of our squad, said. I turned and looked at them; Rose with her pale ass skin that would never tan, mixed with her pale blue eyes and long brown hair, Rei with his mixed shade of brown and a pale only a few shades lighter than Rose's skin, accompanied by light green eyes and closely shaved black hair, and finally David with a tan that we all knew was natural even though every one else spread a rumor that it was spray-on, topped off with a head of red hair that was only slightly longer than Rei's and a pair of eyes so dark they were almost black. "If you have a problem with the orders from Crank go take it up with him," I said, turning back to the road and adjusting the mirror, catching a glimpse of my tanned skin, black hair, and silver eyes. "Aww, come on Eli, tell us why our old buddy Alfie was let go," Rose said, grabbing my shoulder and hauling herself up into the passenger seat, exactly where Alpha used to sit. "Don't call me that," I replied, "I haven't been Eli since I enlisted." "Please, you can't just leave behind eighteen years of your life and run off to Pakistan," she argued. "Oh yeah," I replied, "then tell me why I'm he-" That was when the world exploded. Something slammed into the side of the jeep, flipping it once, twice, three times despite it's massive weight, finally coming to a rest on its top. I felt cuts on my face and arms and there was blood running from my cheek to the crown of my head and dripping onto the top of the jeep. I closed my eyes and tried to force away the pain, trying my best to ignore the shouts of my squadmates and the gunshots. I heard everything die down and then my door was wrenched open, spilling sunlight into the front seat through all the dust and cracked windows. A gun went off right next to me and for a second I though someone had shot me until my head hit the roof. Someone pulled me out of the jeep and I could faintly hear voices arguing around me, snippets of words reaching me. "...concussion, probably won't last..." Rose, definitely. "...keep following the road or..." Rei, probably, or David. "Hey, O, get your ass up. Don't you dare fall asleep out here, we'll leave your corpse for the bugs," David said, right in my ear. I cracked my eyes open and weakly shoved David away, squinting so the sunlight wouldn't hurt my eyes too bad. "You still alive Omega," Rei asked, his head coming into view. "It takes more than that to kill me," I said, smiling weakly at him. "So what exactly happened?" "Some bogies tried to raid the jeep. Hit the side of it with a rocket and tried to mow us down while we were disoriented," Rose spoke up, looking around the desert that surrounded us. It was then that I noticed the jeep was gone, along with any bodies from whoever attacked us. "So where did you guys drag me," I asked, slowly sitting up. "We decided to continue following the trail. No use walking back to HQ only to whine about a failed mission," David said. "Yeah..." Rei said. "Omega, what exactly is our mission?" "I suppose there's no use in keeping it from you now. We were supposed to be going in and attacking a small compound hidden in the desert and while you guys were preoccupied with the frontal assault I was supposed to sneak away and snatch something," I said. "What was it," Rei asked. "It's something called 'Project Dimension' and while I don't know anything about it, the higher-ups are scared enough about it to send a small troop out to collect it," I answered truthfully. "So we're just a distraction," Rei said, only half joking. "Yep," I said. "Now help me up because we're not allowed back to HQ without that project." Everybody suddenly stopped and everything was quiet until David asked, "What do you mean 'not allowed back'?" "There was kind of an added incentive," I offered, "they said we're not allowed to come back unless we have the device and if we do so then we'll be considered traitors." "WHAT THE FUCK ELI," Rose shouted at me, suddenly in my face, "YOU'RE JUST WILLING TO RISK OUR LIVES LIKE THAT?!" "You think I had a choice in the matter," I asked, "they were orders directly for the top and when they offer you orders you'd damn well better get them accomplished." "See, this is why we need Alpha," Rose muttered, "he would have said no." "Well maybe that's why he got dismissed," I shot back. "Is that really why he got kicked out," she asked, raising an eyebrow. "...no," I admitted. "Right then, why don't we get going, we'd better find that thing soon because we've got about a day's worth of water," Rose said, offering a hand to me. I gratefully accepted it and grunted as I was pulled up, the world spinning for a few seconds. My sight calmed down and I began trudging after my squad, deeper into the desert where we would no doubt die. We had been walking for a good four hours now, stopping twice to cool off under a tarp we pinned up, by the time we actually saw the base. It would probably be more accurate to call it a small warehouse though. We stopped to make a plan before we continued onwards, although that was when the mirages started, trees and rock beginning to form around us. At least I thought it was a mirage until I walked into a rock and stopped. "Wait, is anyone else seeing this shit," I asked, kicking the rock. I could faintly see both the rock and the grass under it, and if I focused enough I could just make out the desert floor, almost as though two places in the world were overlapping and neither one was exactly here. "You're not the only one," David admitted, moving towards a tree and rapping on its trunk. "This is so weird." "It works in our favour though," Rose said, "because we have both cover and the tempurature's dropping rapidly." It wasn't until she said it that I took notice of how cool it was. "Maybe it's Project Dimension," Rei said, peering through the trees at the base. "We'll find out soon enough, we've got a mile left before we arrive at the base." I nodded and we all started off towards the base, using the trees as cover from whoever was looking and the sun. We arrived soon enough and paused on the edge of the forest, looking at the clearing between us and the base, about a couple hundred feet. I gave my squad a silent command to hold and I crouched down, peering around the trunk and looking at the structure. No guards patrolling as far as I could see, but that didn't mean shit. I slowly made my way over to the warehouse door, using the few obstacles there were as cover in case there was a gunner hidden somewhere. I made it to the door without incident and I opened the door partially. I looked in and saw an empty warehouse, other than the opposite wall. I turned back and motioned for my squad to come on, giving them instructions to patrol the area and leave one of them to guard the door before moving into the warehouse. It was quiet except for the hum of machinery and the sounds of my footsteps on the stone floor as I made my way to the console on the other end of the room. I began to mess with some of the machinery, wondering just how I would explain to my superiors that it was too big to bring back. I was just deciding on something when I felt something hit the back of my head and everything went black, one though drifting in my mind as I faded. He has a concussion. I woke up, much to my surprise, and opened my eyes to find my squad staring at the remains of Project Dimension and arguing heatedly. I pushed myself up onto my hands and knees, pausing as my vision took a second to clear, revealing not hands, but hooves. "That's not possible, run the satellite scan again David," Rose's voice said, snapping me away from my personal problems. "Rose I've ran it eight times, we're not on Earth anymore," David said. I noticed that Rei wasn't there and I opened my mouth to ask about him, my voice getting caught in my throat as I caught sight of my reflection in the pool of blood around me. I didn't look like a human anymore. I had a snout, much like that of a horse, and a head of black hair that was longer than I was used to and was seemingly stuck in a fashion that stuck straight out over my head, much like the brim of a snapback hat. My eyes were brown instead of what they had been, and I found myself rather liking the warming colour, until I snapped out of my admiration, thinking about what exactly happened to me. "Guys, I'm a horse," I said at last. David and Rose turned to me, David giving me a look of disbelief while Rose lifted her gun and aimed it at my chest. "Eli," Rose asked, "is that you?" "How many times do I have to tell you not to call me Eli," I asked. "But...how, I mean you're dead, I saw your body, I took your pulse, hell that's your blood you're sitting in," she said. I quickly scrambled up, checking myself for any signs that I was dead. Pain receptors work, there's still saliva in my mouth, and my dick seemed to respond well enough to the thought of Rose in bed. "Well sorry to disappoint you," I said, "but everything seems to be working just fine. So what exactly happened?" David picked up a bat laying by the console and said, "Someone took us out with a bat and destroyed the machine." "Where's Rei," I asked. "Seeing how far it spread," Rose said. "Seeing how far what spread?" "When the machine blew it locked us on one location. In short, we're not in Pakistan anymore." "We're stuck in the forest." "Bingo, and from what David says it's not on Earth." "But that's..." Rei busted in then and said, "Guys, the forest ended, but not in Pakistan." "And so that's how I got here," I said, finishing the start of my story. "You expect me to believe that," my interrogator asked. "No," I answered honestly, "but that doesn't make it any less true." "Right, well I've heard enough for today. We'll send out a team to check for the warehouse tomorrow morning to see if your story checks out," she said. "Don't bother," I replied. "For starters it was in the Everfree Forest, no telling what that forest would have done to the building, and the second point I'm going to make is that we blew it up." "Why?" "You'll find out soon enough." "None of your story is making any sense." "Welcome to my life." She gave a sigh and looked at me one last time before she got up and exited the room, leaving me alone in my cell as I thought of what I'd been through. A Whole New NicheThe door to the cell opened and I sat up from my cot, fully intending to give a sarcastic greeting as I had done the past two (three?) days, but stopped as someone new entered the room. He stood on two legs as I once had and he had black hair, olive green eyes, and grey skin. I should've been surprised but after spending three years in Equestria I had seen a lot and this was only a small hit compared to some things. I knew a little about who this was from the reports on Canterlot's security and yet I didn't think I'd meet him. He was Eli and he sat as Luna's main guard during the night. That still didn't explain why he was here, unless Luna planned something for me that she didn't want to let her sister in on. "You're going to follow me. Now we can do this the easy way or the hard way," he said, his voice sounding surprisingly close to how mine sounded. "And where exactly am I going," I asked, settling my hooves on the ground. "An interview with Luna." I was silent for a few minutes before finally moving over to the door, Eli stalking out ahead of me and nodding at the guard stationed by my door. We strode down the confusing twists and turns of the hallways of the Canterlot Castle for a few minutes, rising to the ground level where I caught sight of the moon high and bright in the sky and I paused to stare at it, wondering what exactly would have happened to it if I had succeeded in my mission. Eli cleared his throat and we continued on to Luna's room. We arrived and Eli knocked on her door, opening it and entering at Luna's reply. "Ah, 'Omega'...it's nice to finally meet you," Luna said as we entered. Eli backed into the corner as I wandered into the center of the room. "Any reason you've summoned me," I asked. "Lilly is asleep and Celestia wishes the interrogation to continue," she replied. I archived the name of my interrogator and replied, "Don't lie, you just want to hear my story first-hand." "I'm going to assume that a hand is somewhat like a hoof and not get sidetracked," she replied. "Now if you wouldn't mind, please continue where you left off." "Well nothing important happened after where I left off for a while, other than me earning bits and creating something of a life for me and my team in the little town of Ponyville," I started. "I suppose nothing interesting happened until about a year later, when that stallion showed up..." It was just another day in Ponyville...and by that I meant that there was a Manticore attacking the town. And as had become tradition over the past year my crew, Twilight, her friends, and myself were the ones defending the town against it. Rose and Rei both had assault rifles, the bullets fashioned by Twilight after extensive study on them and how exactly they worked, while David and myself used 10mm handguns, my limited magic sending my gun flying around the creature and aiming for its weak spots. We were all contributing to the fight except Fluttershy, who was sitting off to the side trying to negotiate peace that was never going to happen. That was when things got weird. The Manticore suddenly froze, and I mean this in the most literal of ways. It gave a roar and then stopped in mid-roar, also causing the retaliation force to stop. Ice began to creep up its body, starting at the claws and continuing up its form. We all looked at Twilight but she simply shrugged, just as confused as us. It froze completely and Rainbow Dash opened her mouth to say something, stopping as a stallion stepped out from behind the Manticore. He was a unicorn with dark green fur, bright green eyes, and a mixture of blue and grey in his mane. "I thought you folks could use a bit of help," he said, eyeing me for some reason. "Uhh, thanks," Twilight said, apparently deciding to play it safe. My team put their weapons in their respective holders at my signal and I strode forward to meet the stranger. "Thanks for the assistance," I replied, "but we had it under control." "I know, but I figured I'd cut this short so I could talk to you and your...ahem, team," he said, pausing before referring to my crew. I turned and looked at Twilight and her friends who were waiting, apparently unsure of whether to leave or stay. "Go on," I said to them, "we can handle this." I turned back to the stallion. "What did you want to talk about." "I want to hire you." "Hire." "Yeah, like mercenary work." "What's the job?" "Nothing much for you. Just a little hit." "How little?" I was already a bit paranoid, thinking of my last job that had ended up with me here. "Just a mob boss." Long story short, he asked us to take out a figurehead for the Foallywood drug dealers, offering a couple grand if we completed the mission. And we did. We walked into their base of operations and mowed down ever sonofabitch that got in the way, arriving at the kingpins room with ease and blowing his brains out against the wall. After that, we were suddenly on the market for freelance work, word of our victory over the boss who nobody else had been able to kill spreading quickly. Things were going good for us, killing the impossible to get bad guys and earning enough bits to keep us alive and well...until we were hired to kill that senator. "I need you to make a hit." I sat across the table from a mare who had taken essentially every precaution to keep me from seeing anything about how she looked. She was wearing a brown overcoat that covered most of her form with a hood that was hanging low over her face along with gloves covering her hooves. "Okay," I replied, "we'll take whoever it is out without question." "I need you to kill senator Itero," she said. I paused for a second to think about the name. He was a member of the royal senate, helping Luna and Celestia pass laws and regulations. He was at the top of the board in fact, having been there for quite a few years, and had a great influence with both of the princesses. "Itero hasn't done anything worth ki-" "Stop, did you not say that you would take out whoever it is without question?" "Well yes I di-" "Then take the money and make the hit or walk away." My moral compass was telling me not to do this, but my need to keep my squadmates alive was outruling my conscience. I grabbed the briefcase in the middle of the table and turned and walked away, hearing the mare say one last thing before I left. "I'll enjoy reading about it in The Daily Equus." "And for your crimes against this nation you are hereby banished from Equestria and it's provinces including Saddle Arabia, Antarcticolt, Whitetail Woods, and anywhere within 100 miles of the Prench border. You will have an escort to the edge of Equestrian and left where you wish," Celestia said, looking down at my team and myself. "And just consider yourself lucky that I am not executing you for this treason." She was referring to the murder of Itero, a murder that would stay with Equestria for the next year, and one that would essentially lead me to be standing before Princess Luna. I decided to head for the Griffin Empire as they were not specifically off limits for me and my team and we soon made a home there, our fame having already spread to team Griffin Empire and earning us some fame. And although it seemed that the Griffins didn't share much of a love for Equestrians, but I wasn't just another Equestrian. I had murdered and killed, shed blood all for the sake of keeping my team safe and they respected me because of that. Some of them at least. There was Griffin by the name of Fraa who would always find some way to humiliate my team and me in particular, he was just one of those asses who preferred to learn not to mess with certain people the hard way. One day, after a few weeks of living in a small town a few miles away from the Griffin king's castle, Fraa came to visit with a bag of eggs slung over his shoulder. I met him in the of the yard to speak with him. "You get one chance to leave," I said. "I suggest you take it before you get hurt." "Aww, is the widdle pony making threats now," he asked, "that's adorable." "Your funeral." I turned and started walking back towards the house, nodding at one of the upper level windows. He went into the bag and picked out one of the eggs, lifting it above his head and preparing to throw it. A loud crack sounded and suddenly the egg exploded, the egg and yolk dropping on Fraa's head. "You missed," he shouted angrily at the house. "If she had missed then you would be dead Fraa," I yelled back at him. "She was aiming for the egg." It's safe to say he never bothered us again after that. Although word of out little standoff spread and soon enough reached king Hathgar, his curiosity getting the best of him and making him summon us to his court. We were soon added to his guard and had our own materials to create team bullets we required, some of us still a bit sad that we no longer had Twilight's help. Over the course of the course of the next half-year we worked our way up through the ranks, completing the most impossible missions and earning medal after medal. Eventually Equestria took their eyes off us in favour of a new crisis that had happened at a wedding with one of Twilight's family members. Apparently Hathgar came to the same conclusion because he came the same conclusion that we did. We were no longer being watched over to make sure we didn't enter Equestria or its providences. "Over the past twenty-six weeks you have proven yourselves to be able warriors and I would like to give you guys a once in a lifetime opportunity. You will have a secure spot in the castle if you perform one last mission for me. Now this mission may prove difficult even for you guys and that's the reason for the reward I'm offering," Hathgar said, examining each of us as though he hadn't seen us all before. "Anything you give us we can do sir," I replied, my team opting to be silent. "Good. I want you to kill Celestia and Luna." I paused for only a second before nodding but apparently he caught it. "Are you having second thoughts about this?" "No sir, it's just a bit of a surprise to be sent back into Equestria." "You'll be fine, now go." I saw an unusual look in his eyes, one of sorrow and comfort but then I blinked and found it gone when I looked at him again. And so I turned and led my team to the mission we would fail. "And that's what happened to us over the past three years," I said. "I suppose it sounds true enough but we'll question others mentioned in your story tomorrow," Luna said, moving for the door. "Wait, how did you two know we were going to be there," I asked her as Eli got ready to escort me back to my cell. "Your king sold you out." I stopped suddenly, feeling as though I'd just gotten punched in the gut. I felt weak and my voice trembled as I asked, "H-he sold us out...why?" "He's a Griffin," she said, stopping and looking at me, "they do horrible things to their own people and you're not even one of th-" "I'M A LOT MORE OF A GRIFFIN THAN AN EQUESTRIAN," I shouted at her, causing Eli to jerk back one of my hooves. "Well he sold you and your team out either way so maybe you weren't as much of one as you thought." Her gaze had hardened due to my outburst and I felt a coldness settling in my stomach that spread throughout my body as I thought of my team. "Where are they?" "What?" "Where's my team at?" "I don't know, why do you...oh." She seemed to reach the same conclusion I did and we both looked at each other, my eyes full of pain and hers filled with sorrow. "Do you think anything will happen to them," I asked her. "I don't know," she answered truthfully. "I could go check it out," Eli said, surprising both of us with is voice. "You'd do that," I asked. He seemed to think about something for a few seconds before looking at Luna and asking, "Princess, do I have your permission to go on this search and secure mission?" "Yes, please take whoever you wish to accompany you," she said, beginning to turn away. "I choose Omega," he said, causing both of us to freeze were we were. "Are you sure," she asked, not turning around. "Yes, I am." She was silent for a few seconds. "Please come back safe Eli." "I promise my love."
The Land of Friendship and MagicI cracked my eyes open and instantly lifted my hand up to my eyes, trying to shield my eyes from the sun...Wait, why was I out in the sun in the first place? Being in the sun felt...wrong for some reason and I moved under the shade of a nearby tree, the feeling that something wrong still present. My gray skin felt like it was about to blister under the heat of the sun and my eyes were insanely itchy. My olive green eyes roamed across the clearing I had woken up in and I wondered how I got there in the first place. Another question appeared in my head a few moments later. Who am I? I felt my chest seize up as I realized I knew nothing about myself. I didn't know where I'd gotten the ridiculous clothes I was wearing, some sort of extravagant robe that made me think of a master wizard for some reason, or who had put me wherever I was now. A name appeared in my head suddenly and I knew it was the name of where I was from. Alternia. I knew this wasn't Alternia though, this was some other world. For one thing, it was too bright. I don't know how exactly I knew that but I just did. I could tell my body was used to sleeping during the day and roaming during the night, but why was the thing I couldn't place. I heard some voices coming and I scrambled behind the tree I was hiding under. "So where was it," one voice asked. "Ah think it was right up here," another voice replied, a southern accent applied to the words. Two ponies stepped through the bushes around the clearing and the one leading them, an orange one, stopped while the one following it, a purple...unicorn, continued onwards for a few more paces before realizing its companion had stopped. "Applejack, what's wrong," the purple one asked. "It was right here," the orange one replied. "Wait, are you sure it was dead," the purple one asked. "As sure as Granny Smith's apple pies are the best in Equestria," it replied. I picked up on the fact that they were talking about me and I debated with myself on whether I should come out or let them search some more. My choice was made for me as I was prodded in the back and a voice spoke. "You know, it's not very nice to spy," the voice said. I turned around to find myself facing a pink pony and I felt like there was something extremely wrong here. I knew for a fact that there was something I was missing here and I desperately needed to find out what it was, before something bad happened. "Berry Bubble," the voice of the purple unicorn called out, "is that you?" "Yep," 'Berry Bubble' called out, "and I found the troll that Applejack found earlier." "Umm, troll," 'Applejack' asked as the two of us came out from behind the tree. "Is that what I am," I muttered. "Wait, you don't know what you are," the purple one asked, getting closer to me so it could study me. "Dusk, I don't think that's such a great idea," Applejack said. "Oh no, it's perfectly fine," Berry Bubble said, "he doesn't have anything equipped in his strife specibus and there's nothing in his sylladex other than a note." We all three looked at him (as I'd finally figured out that the three were male) and all gave him blank looks. "One, what are those two things, and two, how do you know that," Dusk asked. "A strife specibus is what I use to equip a weapon," I muttered, not even knowing how I knew it, "and a sylladex is what I use to hold items on my person. But how did you know that, not even I remembered that, then again I can hardly remember anything." "Oh that's easy, these two ponies who just appeared in my room holding these really futuristic looking things told me," he said. "They also said that your name is Eli and I was supposed to give you this." He pulled out a piece of paper from nowhere and handed it over to me, looking at me expectantly. I looked at Dusk and Applejack and swirled my finger around beside my head and whistled. The two of them just gave me confused looks and I sighed before looking at the paper. "It's a bunch of musical notes," I said as I read the lines. "I...think I'm supposed to play this." I looked to Berry because he seemed to have most of the answers and he nodded. I took the paper over to the nearest tree and rapped the beat out with my knuckles, giving a small grasp of surprise as a note appeared in front of me. "My fetch modus is activated by music," I muttered, "I remember now! Each slot is activated by a certain beat and this is the note sequence to activate the first slot. If I remember right, I have ten slots in total." I picked the note up in my free hand and slipped the beat pattern in my sylladex, only having to think to have it achieved. I read the note, noticing that Berry was peering over one shoulder and Dusk was peering over the other, while Applejack was still where he had entered the clearing from, still not entirely trusting me apparently. Dear Elijah, We know that you're a bit scared right now and don't entirely understand what's going on, in fact we don't know what's going on either, we're pretty much just rolling with the punches. The point is that pretty soon things are going to get confusing and we're going to need you to trust your partner. Honestly, we don't know if you're with Omega right now, but when you do meet up with him, then things are going to go to hell. We don't know what exactly that means, we're just relaying information that Prim and Percy told us. The point is, you're going to have a troubling task ahead of you and if things are going to end how they need to, you need to help Omega to finish this task. We're sorry that we can't tell you more about yourself or what exactly happened to cause you to be there, but to be honest, we don't know. We know nothing about you other than your name and how your fetch modus and strife specibus work. And even though I would love to tell you how your strife specibus is set to, I sadly can't because Prim warned us that to do that without you already knowing otherwise a bunch of paradoxes would occur and then Ingrid (whoever that is) wouldn't be born and then shit would just collapse on itself. In other words, live your life for right now and when the time comes help Omega. Help him fix whatever the problem is, wherever and whenever it occurs. ~Josh and Eli I read over the note again and gave a small sound of confusion as I tried to process what exactly I was reading while also wondering who everyone in the note was. Prim, Percy, Ingrid, Josh? The thing that confused me the most was my name at the bottom of it but after a few more moments I figured that it was the second person writing the note. That still didn't answer who they were or why they knew so much about me. "Well that's...vague," Dusk said. "No shit," I said. "I don't think they could have left me with anymore questions." I put the note back in my sylladex and gave a sigh as I sat under the tree, wondering exactly what to do next. "So what now," Berry asked, mirroring my thoughts. "We get him a place to stay," Dusk replied, as if it was the most obvious thing ever. I had been living in Equestria for a week now, my living condition somehow being decided to let me live at Applejack's house as long as I assisted in working on the farm. Within the week I had been there I had found all ten beat sequences for my sylladex, as well as what my strife specibus was allotted to. Unsurprisingly I was apparently talented enough to use a musical instrument as a weapon. I had found out after Lyra had let me use his lyre after finding out I could read music. I had picked up the instrument and began strumming it, looking a bit surprised as I saw the sound waves eject from the instrument and hit Lyra hard enough to knock him off his hooves and over the back of the couch sitting behind him. I was worried that I'd hurt him but after finding that he was unharmed we both shared a laugh. From there it escalated as I learned how to properly wield the weapon type I had chosen. At the end of the seventh day I walked into the barn to rest after a hard day of work but stopped as I saw two ponies I'd never seen before sitting on a pile of hay. "Hmm, you're two seconds late, I hope that's not a sign," the stallion said. The mare beside him have him a look and said, "Dear, you have to stop focusing on the specifics, if you keep doing that then we're never going to get everything done right." "What are you talking about, if we're too lax about this and don't get the timing right then everything is going to break down," the stallion said. "Okay, both of you shut up. Now, who are you and what do you want," I asked. "Who we are isn't important," the mare said, "what is important is that you're in the wrong place. If you're going to help Omega then you need to allow us to take you to the right session" "The right session,"I asked, "what the hell does that mean?" "You'll find out soon enough, but for right now, you and Omega have a divide between you and you need to come with us," the stallion said. I'm getting tired of this incessant prattling. You two aren't accomplishing anything. The voice came from nowhere and everywhere at once and the two ponies in front of me yelled something at me, but I didn't hear whatever it was, I was already falling into the darkness. Author's Note I'd honestly never heard Elijah's story before now. I always thought that he had woken up in Equestria with Omega, but I'd honestly never known why he was a troll while Omega was Equestrian if they had both...nevermind, you lot can wait for the next chapter and find out then.
The MercenaryThe sounds of swords clanging and shouts of my team filled the air as I ran through the main square of Canterlot Castle, making surprising speed towards my two targets through the crowd and the guards. I slipped under the hooves of a mare, not giving her features a second glance as I rolled and sprang up into a defensive position, having taken note of two royal guards who had drawn their swords and began to run for me. A small smile graced my lips and my brown eyes landed on one of them, my legs taking an initiative of their own and leaping up, firmly landing a punch on his snout and making a crunching sound emit from under it that couldn't have been good. I turned and crouched again, facing the other guard only to find him on the ground with a bat laying beside him. I decided to thank my team later and quickly ran for the chariot that was moving slowly through the crowd and smirked, silently thanking the Emperor for the extra information. The festival had been the perfect cover to ambush the Princesses, the crowd only making it easier to get to them. I pulled out the pistol from its holster with my magic and leapt at the carriage, throwing open the curtain and spraying a clip of ammo into it, the smirk slipping off my mouth as I took notice of the two dummies sitting in the seats. Dummies. It took my mind to register the fact that I had just fired at a fake Princess Luna and Princess Celestia, another question rising to the forefront of my mind after the realization had taken hold. Where were the Princesses? I turned to shout a warning to my squad and found my vision go as black as my fur, as well as experienced a pain that exploded in the front of my skull, dropping me off into the land of the unconscious. When I opened my eyes I first took notice of the stabbing pain in the center of my forehead, as well as the splint on my nose. The next thing I took notice of was my surroundings, a rectangular room that had gray walls and contained only the bed I was resting on and a table in the center of it. The walls were spread out far enough that even with the table in the center there were about five feet in between the walls and the edges of the table. I took a look at myself and caught sight of some blood in my black fur, the red mess having dried on my fur a while ago, making it hard to get it off. I was still scraping at it with my hooves, my horn had been cuffed with a magic prevention link, when a mare walked in. The same mare I had slid under in the court to be exact. Her mane was a mixture of teal and dark blue, her fur was a light shade of green, and her eyes were a dark emerald. I don't know why but I felt my heart skip a beat at the sight if her. I ignored the feeling and focused as she sat down, trying to get a clear view of her cutie mark but missing it entirely as she sat behind the table. "Hello there 'Omega'," she said, indicating for me to sit in the other chair. I took the seat cautiously and said, "You know my name. How?" "Codename is more like," the mare retorted. "I heard one of your friends yell out for you when I took you down." I took a closer look at the mare at that comment, taking note of the way her body seemed in more shape than unicorns would be, as well as how her eyes looked at me the same way I was looking at her, carefully and calculating. "Are they okay," I asked at last, breaking the silence. She seemed surprised at my question and said, "You're not going to plead that you're not guilty? Or pretend that you had nothing to do with them?" "Am I supposed to," I questioned her. "And you didn't answer my question." "Yes, your friends are okay. Usually this is about the time when most ponies begin pleading that they didn't do it and shove the blame off on somepony else," she said, leaning back in her chair and giving me a look that made me feel as if she was studying my thoughts. "As long as my friends are okay, I don't care what the charges are," I said, visibly relaxing in my seat. "Even if they're attempted murder of the Princesses?" "Oh, you've got that one right on the nail." "So you admit to trying to kill the Princesses?" "Only if you let my friends go." "WHAT?!" "You heard me. You'll only get a confession if you let the rest of my squad go." "That's insane!" "No, it's called loyalty. They were only following MY orders. If you want to blame anyone, place the verdict on me. But let my squad go." She seemed to contemplate it before shaking her head and getting up to go. "Wait," are you going to let them go?" She didn't answer me and headed over to the door, opening it and heading out. I gave a sigh and rested my head on the table, knowing that me and my squad were due to hang soon. Such was the price of trying to kill a princess. Attempting to kill both of them had probably only worsened the punishment. I could only imagine the ways that you could make a hanging worse, cringing each time I came up with a new punishment. The doors opened again an undiscernanble amount of time later and the mare walked in. "They're free," was the first thing she said. "Are you serious," I asked. I honestly hadn't expected them to accept my terms and I still wasn't entirely sure that they were telling the truth. "Swear to me. Pinkie Pie Swear." Nobody could break a Pinkie Pie Swear, otherwise that pretty pink mare would no doubt hunt you down and make you pay for tarnishing the name of her swear. "I Pinkie Pie Swear that your friends are free. Now, it's time for you to hold up your end of the deal. And we want a full explanation for why exactly you did this...if you wouldn't mind at least," she said, growing a bit quiet. "Gladly," I replied, "but first, I have to tell you how exactly I came to this world. You see, I'm not actually a pony. I'm actually a creature called a human that comes from another universe that's more technologically advanced than here." She gave me a blank look and asked, "Do you really think that filing for clinically insane will make you any less able to go to the hanging barracks?" "Not really," I replied, "but who says I'm filing for clinically insane?" "Alright then, continue, tell me how the creature called a human came to Equestria and became an equine." "Gladly." Author's Note Quick little look into Omega's life before things got confusing as fuck, and next chapter we're going to go even further back.
The Mission to...Equestria?The road had been bare for the past hour, just a dirt path in the desert of Pakistan. As a result, I had become bored with the task of driving and was paying only the minimal amount of attention to the straight and empty path as the Foxhound rolled along. The voices behind me all blurred together until one of them directed a question to me, snapping me out of my daydream of a beach vacation. "What do you think Omega," Rose asked. "Huh," I said. "Why do you think Alpha was dropped," Rei asked. "Alpha was let go at the discretion of Lieutenant Crank and only a select few know why," I replied. "So in other words, you know why but you won't tell us," David, the final member of our squad, said. I turned and looked at them; Rose with her pale ass skin that would never tan, mixed with her pale blue eyes and long brown hair, Rei with his mixed shade of brown and a pale only a few shades lighter than Rose's skin, accompanied by light green eyes and closely shaved black hair, and finally David with a tan that we all knew was natural even though every one else spread a rumor that it was spray-on, topped off with a head of red hair that was only slightly longer than Rei's and a pair of eyes so dark they were almost black. "If you have a problem with the orders from Crank go take it up with him," I said, turning back to the road and adjusting the mirror, catching a glimpse of my tanned skin, black hair, and silver eyes. "Aww, come on Eli, tell us why our old buddy Alfie was let go," Rose said, grabbing my shoulder and hauling herself up into the passenger seat, exactly where Alpha used to sit. "Don't call me that," I replied, "I haven't been Eli since I enlisted." "Please, you can't just leave behind eighteen years of your life and run off to Pakistan," she argued. "Oh yeah," I replied, "then tell me why I'm he-" That was when the world exploded. Something slammed into the side of the jeep, flipping it once, twice, three times despite it's massive weight, finally coming to a rest on its top. I felt cuts on my face and arms and there was blood running from my cheek to the crown of my head and dripping onto the top of the jeep. I closed my eyes and tried to force away the pain, trying my best to ignore the shouts of my squadmates and the gunshots. I heard everything die down and then my door was wrenched open, spilling sunlight into the front seat through all the dust and cracked windows. A gun went off right next to me and for a second I though someone had shot me until my head hit the roof. Someone pulled me out of the jeep and I could faintly hear voices arguing around me, snippets of words reaching me. "...concussion, probably won't last..." Rose, definitely. "...keep following the road or..." Rei, probably, or David. "Hey, O, get your ass up. Don't you dare fall asleep out here, we'll leave your corpse for the bugs," David said, right in my ear. I cracked my eyes open and weakly shoved David away, squinting so the sunlight wouldn't hurt my eyes too bad. "You still alive Omega," Rei asked, his head coming into view. "It takes more than that to kill me," I said, smiling weakly at him. "So what exactly happened?" "Some bogies tried to raid the jeep. Hit the side of it with a rocket and tried to mow us down while we were disoriented," Rose spoke up, looking around the desert that surrounded us. It was then that I noticed the jeep was gone, along with any bodies from whoever attacked us. "So where did you guys drag me," I asked, slowly sitting up. "We decided to continue following the trail. No use walking back to HQ only to whine about a failed mission," David said. "Yeah..." Rei said. "Omega, what exactly is our mission?" "I suppose there's no use in keeping it from you now. We were supposed to be going in and attacking a small compound hidden in the desert and while you guys were preoccupied with the frontal assault I was supposed to sneak away and snatch something," I said. "What was it," Rei asked. "It's something called 'Project Dimension' and while I don't know anything about it, the higher-ups are scared enough about it to send a small troop out to collect it," I answered truthfully. "So we're just a distraction," Rei said, only half joking. "Yep," I said. "Now help me up because we're not allowed back to HQ without that project." Everybody suddenly stopped and everything was quiet until David asked, "What do you mean 'not allowed back'?" "There was kind of an added incentive," I offered, "they said we're not allowed to come back unless we have the device and if we do so then we'll be considered traitors." "WHAT THE FUCK ELI," Rose shouted at me, suddenly in my face, "YOU'RE JUST WILLING TO RISK OUR LIVES LIKE THAT?!" "You think I had a choice in the matter," I asked, "they were orders directly for the top and when they offer you orders you'd damn well better get them accomplished." "See, this is why we need Alpha," Rose muttered, "he would have said no." "Well maybe that's why he got dismissed," I shot back. "Is that really why he got kicked out," she asked, raising an eyebrow. "...no," I admitted. "Right then, why don't we get going, we'd better find that thing soon because we've got about a day's worth of water," Rose said, offering a hand to me. I gratefully accepted it and grunted as I was pulled up, the world spinning for a few seconds. My sight calmed down and I began trudging after my squad, deeper into the desert where we would no doubt die. We had been walking for a good four hours now, stopping twice to cool off under a tarp we pinned up, by the time we actually saw the base. It would probably be more accurate to call it a small warehouse though. We stopped to make a plan before we continued onwards, although that was when the mirages started, trees and rock beginning to form around us. At least I thought it was a mirage until I walked into a rock and stopped. "Wait, is anyone else seeing this shit," I asked, kicking the rock. I could faintly see both the rock and the grass under it, and if I focused enough I could just make out the desert floor, almost as though two places in the world were overlapping and neither one was exactly here. "You're not the only one," David admitted, moving towards a tree and rapping on its trunk. "This is so weird." "It works in our favour though," Rose said, "because we have both cover and the tempurature's dropping rapidly." It wasn't until she said it that I took notice of how cool it was. "Maybe it's Project Dimension," Rei said, peering through the trees at the base. "We'll find out soon enough, we've got a mile left before we arrive at the base." I nodded and we all started off towards the base, using the trees as cover from whoever was looking and the sun. We arrived soon enough and paused on the edge of the forest, looking at the clearing between us and the base, about a couple hundred feet. I gave my squad a silent command to hold and I crouched down, peering around the trunk and looking at the structure. No guards patrolling as far as I could see, but that didn't mean shit. I slowly made my way over to the warehouse door, using the few obstacles there were as cover in case there was a gunner hidden somewhere. I made it to the door without incident and I opened the door partially. I looked in and saw an empty warehouse, other than the opposite wall. I turned back and motioned for my squad to come on, giving them instructions to patrol the area and leave one of them to guard the door before moving into the warehouse. It was quiet except for the hum of machinery and the sounds of my footsteps on the stone floor as I made my way to the console on the other end of the room. I began to mess with some of the machinery, wondering just how I would explain to my superiors that it was too big to bring back. I was just deciding on something when I felt something hit the back of my head and everything went black, one though drifting in my mind as I faded. He has a concussion. I woke up, much to my surprise, and opened my eyes to find my squad staring at the remains of Project Dimension and arguing heatedly. I pushed myself up onto my hands and knees, pausing as my vision took a second to clear, revealing not hands, but hooves. "That's not possible, run the satellite scan again David," Rose's voice said, snapping me away from my personal problems. "Rose I've ran it eight times, we're not on Earth anymore," David said. I noticed that Rei wasn't there and I opened my mouth to ask about him, my voice getting caught in my throat as I caught sight of my reflection in the pool of blood around me. I didn't look like a human anymore. I had a snout, much like that of a horse, and a head of black hair that was longer than I was used to and was seemingly stuck in a fashion that stuck straight out over my head, much like the brim of a snapback hat. My eyes were brown instead of what they had been, and I found myself rather liking the warming colour, until I snapped out of my admiration, thinking about what exactly happened to me. "Guys, I'm a horse," I said at last. David and Rose turned to me, David giving me a look of disbelief while Rose lifted her gun and aimed it at my chest. "Eli," Rose asked, "is that you?" "How many times do I have to tell you not to call me Eli," I asked. "But...how, I mean you're dead, I saw your body, I took your pulse, hell that's your blood you're sitting in," she said. I quickly scrambled up, checking myself for any signs that I was dead. Pain receptors work, there's still saliva in my mouth, and my dick seemed to respond well enough to the thought of Rose in bed. "Well sorry to disappoint you," I said, "but everything seems to be working just fine. So what exactly happened?" David picked up a bat laying by the console and said, "Someone took us out with a bat and destroyed the machine." "Where's Rei," I asked. "Seeing how far it spread," Rose said. "Seeing how far what spread?" "When the machine blew it locked us on one location. In short, we're not in Pakistan anymore." "We're stuck in the forest." "Bingo, and from what David says it's not on Earth." "But that's..." Rei busted in then and said, "Guys, the forest ended, but not in Pakistan." "And so that's how I got here," I said, finishing the start of my story. "You expect me to believe that," my interrogator asked. "No," I answered honestly, "but that doesn't make it any less true." "Right, well I've heard enough for today. We'll send out a team to check for the warehouse tomorrow morning to see if your story checks out," she said. "Don't bother," I replied. "For starters it was in the Everfree Forest, no telling what that forest would have done to the building, and the second point I'm going to make is that we blew it up." "Why?" "You'll find out soon enough." "None of your story is making any sense." "Welcome to my life." She gave a sigh and looked at me one last time before she got up and exited the room, leaving me alone in my cell as I thought of what I'd been through.
A Whole New NicheThe door to the cell opened and I sat up from my cot, fully intending to give a sarcastic greeting as I had done the past two (three?) days, but stopped as someone new entered the room. He stood on two legs as I once had and he had black hair, olive green eyes, and grey skin. I should've been surprised but after spending three years in Equestria I had seen a lot and this was only a small hit compared to some things. I knew a little about who this was from the reports on Canterlot's security and yet I didn't think I'd meet him. He was Eli and he sat as Luna's main guard during the night. That still didn't explain why he was here, unless Luna planned something for me that she didn't want to let her sister in on. "You're going to follow me. Now we can do this the easy way or the hard way," he said, his voice sounding surprisingly close to how mine sounded. "And where exactly am I going," I asked, settling my hooves on the ground. "An interview with Luna." I was silent for a few minutes before finally moving over to the door, Eli stalking out ahead of me and nodding at the guard stationed by my door. We strode down the confusing twists and turns of the hallways of the Canterlot Castle for a few minutes, rising to the ground level where I caught sight of the moon high and bright in the sky and I paused to stare at it, wondering what exactly would have happened to it if I had succeeded in my mission. Eli cleared his throat and we continued on to Luna's room. We arrived and Eli knocked on her door, opening it and entering at Luna's reply. "Ah, 'Omega'...it's nice to finally meet you," Luna said as we entered. Eli backed into the corner as I wandered into the center of the room. "Any reason you've summoned me," I asked. "Lilly is asleep and Celestia wishes the interrogation to continue," she replied. I archived the name of my interrogator and replied, "Don't lie, you just want to hear my story first-hand." "I'm going to assume that a hand is somewhat like a hoof and not get sidetracked," she replied. "Now if you wouldn't mind, please continue where you left off." "Well nothing important happened after where I left off for a while, other than me earning bits and creating something of a life for me and my team in the little town of Ponyville," I started. "I suppose nothing interesting happened until about a year later, when that stallion showed up..." It was just another day in Ponyville...and by that I meant that there was a Manticore attacking the town. And as had become tradition over the past year my crew, Twilight, her friends, and myself were the ones defending the town against it. Rose and Rei both had assault rifles, the bullets fashioned by Twilight after extensive study on them and how exactly they worked, while David and myself used 10mm handguns, my limited magic sending my gun flying around the creature and aiming for its weak spots. We were all contributing to the fight except Fluttershy, who was sitting off to the side trying to negotiate peace that was never going to happen. That was when things got weird. The Manticore suddenly froze, and I mean this in the most literal of ways. It gave a roar and then stopped in mid-roar, also causing the retaliation force to stop. Ice began to creep up its body, starting at the claws and continuing up its form. We all looked at Twilight but she simply shrugged, just as confused as us. It froze completely and Rainbow Dash opened her mouth to say something, stopping as a stallion stepped out from behind the Manticore. He was a unicorn with dark green fur, bright green eyes, and a mixture of blue and grey in his mane. "I thought you folks could use a bit of help," he said, eyeing me for some reason. "Uhh, thanks," Twilight said, apparently deciding to play it safe. My team put their weapons in their respective holders at my signal and I strode forward to meet the stranger. "Thanks for the assistance," I replied, "but we had it under control." "I know, but I figured I'd cut this short so I could talk to you and your...ahem, team," he said, pausing before referring to my crew. I turned and looked at Twilight and her friends who were waiting, apparently unsure of whether to leave or stay. "Go on," I said to them, "we can handle this." I turned back to the stallion. "What did you want to talk about." "I want to hire you." "Hire." "Yeah, like mercenary work." "What's the job?" "Nothing much for you. Just a little hit." "How little?" I was already a bit paranoid, thinking of my last job that had ended up with me here. "Just a mob boss." Long story short, he asked us to take out a figurehead for the Foallywood drug dealers, offering a couple grand if we completed the mission. And we did. We walked into their base of operations and mowed down ever sonofabitch that got in the way, arriving at the kingpins room with ease and blowing his brains out against the wall. After that, we were suddenly on the market for freelance work, word of our victory over the boss who nobody else had been able to kill spreading quickly. Things were going good for us, killing the impossible to get bad guys and earning enough bits to keep us alive and well...until we were hired to kill that senator. "I need you to make a hit." I sat across the table from a mare who had taken essentially every precaution to keep me from seeing anything about how she looked. She was wearing a brown overcoat that covered most of her form with a hood that was hanging low over her face along with gloves covering her hooves. "Okay," I replied, "we'll take whoever it is out without question." "I need you to kill senator Itero," she said. I paused for a second to think about the name. He was a member of the royal senate, helping Luna and Celestia pass laws and regulations. He was at the top of the board in fact, having been there for quite a few years, and had a great influence with both of the princesses. "Itero hasn't done anything worth ki-" "Stop, did you not say that you would take out whoever it is without question?" "Well yes I di-" "Then take the money and make the hit or walk away." My moral compass was telling me not to do this, but my need to keep my squadmates alive was outruling my conscience. I grabbed the briefcase in the middle of the table and turned and walked away, hearing the mare say one last thing before I left. "I'll enjoy reading about it in The Daily Equus." "And for your crimes against this nation you are hereby banished from Equestria and it's provinces including Saddle Arabia, Antarcticolt, Whitetail Woods, and anywhere within 100 miles of the Prench border. You will have an escort to the edge of Equestrian and left where you wish," Celestia said, looking down at my team and myself. "And just consider yourself lucky that I am not executing you for this treason." She was referring to the murder of Itero, a murder that would stay with Equestria for the next year, and one that would essentially lead me to be standing before Princess Luna. I decided to head for the Griffin Empire as they were not specifically off limits for me and my team and we soon made a home there, our fame having already spread to team Griffin Empire and earning us some fame. And although it seemed that the Griffins didn't share much of a love for Equestrians, but I wasn't just another Equestrian. I had murdered and killed, shed blood all for the sake of keeping my team safe and they respected me because of that. Some of them at least. There was Griffin by the name of Fraa who would always find some way to humiliate my team and me in particular, he was just one of those asses who preferred to learn not to mess with certain people the hard way. One day, after a few weeks of living in a small town a few miles away from the Griffin king's castle, Fraa came to visit with a bag of eggs slung over his shoulder. I met him in the of the yard to speak with him. "You get one chance to leave," I said. "I suggest you take it before you get hurt." "Aww, is the widdle pony making threats now," he asked, "that's adorable." "Your funeral." I turned and started walking back towards the house, nodding at one of the upper level windows. He went into the bag and picked out one of the eggs, lifting it above his head and preparing to throw it. A loud crack sounded and suddenly the egg exploded, the egg and yolk dropping on Fraa's head. "You missed," he shouted angrily at the house. "If she had missed then you would be dead Fraa," I yelled back at him. "She was aiming for the egg." It's safe to say he never bothered us again after that. Although word of out little standoff spread and soon enough reached king Hathgar, his curiosity getting the best of him and making him summon us to his court. We were soon added to his guard and had our own materials to create team bullets we required, some of us still a bit sad that we no longer had Twilight's help. Over the course of the course of the next half-year we worked our way up through the ranks, completing the most impossible missions and earning medal after medal. Eventually Equestria took their eyes off us in favour of a new crisis that had happened at a wedding with one of Twilight's family members. Apparently Hathgar came to the same conclusion because he came the same conclusion that we did. We were no longer being watched over to make sure we didn't enter Equestria or its providences. "Over the past twenty-six weeks you have proven yourselves to be able warriors and I would like to give you guys a once in a lifetime opportunity. You will have a secure spot in the castle if you perform one last mission for me. Now this mission may prove difficult even for you guys and that's the reason for the reward I'm offering," Hathgar said, examining each of us as though he hadn't seen us all before. "Anything you give us we can do sir," I replied, my team opting to be silent. "Good. I want you to kill Celestia and Luna." I paused for only a second before nodding but apparently he caught it. "Are you having second thoughts about this?" "No sir, it's just a bit of a surprise to be sent back into Equestria." "You'll be fine, now go." I saw an unusual look in his eyes, one of sorrow and comfort but then I blinked and found it gone when I looked at him again. And so I turned and led my team to the mission we would fail. "And that's what happened to us over the past three years," I said. "I suppose it sounds true enough but we'll question others mentioned in your story tomorrow," Luna said, moving for the door. "Wait, how did you two know we were going to be there," I asked her as Eli got ready to escort me back to my cell. "Your king sold you out." I stopped suddenly, feeling as though I'd just gotten punched in the gut. I felt weak and my voice trembled as I asked, "H-he sold us out...why?" "He's a Griffin," she said, stopping and looking at me, "they do horrible things to their own people and you're not even one of th-" "I'M A LOT MORE OF A GRIFFIN THAN AN EQUESTRIAN," I shouted at her, causing Eli to jerk back one of my hooves. "Well he sold you and your team out either way so maybe you weren't as much of one as you thought." Her gaze had hardened due to my outburst and I felt a coldness settling in my stomach that spread throughout my body as I thought of my team. "Where are they?" "What?" "Where's my team at?" "I don't know, why do you...oh." She seemed to reach the same conclusion I did and we both looked at each other, my eyes full of pain and hers filled with sorrow. "Do you think anything will happen to them," I asked her. "I don't know," she answered truthfully. "I could go check it out," Eli said, surprising both of us with is voice. "You'd do that," I asked. He seemed to think about something for a few seconds before looking at Luna and asking, "Princess, do I have your permission to go on this search and secure mission?" "Yes, please take whoever you wish to accompany you," she said, beginning to turn away. "I choose Omega," he said, causing both of us to freeze were we were. "Are you sure," she asked, not turning around. "Yes, I am." She was silent for a few seconds. "Please come back safe Eli." "I promise my love."
