Rehab with Bright Colors

Regardless of the amount of booze consumed the night before and the hellish game of picking through Hex's escapades while in Equestria, the night remained pleasant enough with the girls turning in once most of them weren't able to walk right. Even if he did have a lot of that apple lightning, he rarely suffered from any sort hangovers so in the quiet hours of the morning he fiddled around with some of his newer toys.

Since he had never used the suit before it took quite a few hours to adjust both the internal and external parts to fit his size perfectly, that and making sure everything was functioning at optimal efficiency was another few hours of testing. He wasn't about to go flying around outside without making sure he wouldn't fall out of the sky. Loading out the suit with its standard dual guass pistols, a few grenades, and as a last thought the modified cutter.

It seemed appropriate to take the cutter along since it was originally designed to be used with the Reaper suit, but after making the final adjustments and silencing any stray movement issues he figured it was about time for Twilight to wake up. Taking care not to smash a hole through the doorway with his now taller stature Hex smiled at how cute the tiny pony looked with her hair properly ruffled and still half asleep.

Walking up behind her probably wasn't the best idea though because the moment she turned around the poor thing screamed bloody murder and hurled the cup of coffee she was floating beside her at his face. If he hadn't been wearing the Reaper helmet at the time it probably would have hurt like hell.

"Well good morning to you too sunshine. Is there anymore coffee or did you hurl all of it at my face?"

"Celesta Hex! Why are you wondering around in that thing! You could have given me a heart attack!"

"If I wasn't in the suit I would have scalding coffee and glass smashed into my face."

After she took a few deep breaths and cleaned the entirety of the mess up (Both on the floor and splattered across his suit) she made him a cup of coffee as well before sitting down in the main room to enjoy it. Cautiously taking off his helmet and looking at her suspiciously he smiled when she giggled lightly before taking a long drag of the hot coffee.

"So Twilight, I've got some errands to run today but I have a question and possible a favor to ask. I noticed the flying ponies could stand on clouds, and that there is a city in the clouds not too far away that one day I'd like to see but is there a spell or magic that would allow me to stand on clouds too?"

Tapping her chin for a moment she gave him a look over before replying.

"There is a spell that I can cast on your feet to let you walk on clouds.... but it would be tethered to your own body for magic. Should it fail you would start falling immediately so I don't think we can do it today."

"Awww come on Twilight! This suit is designed to fly and has safety measures built in! Should I start falling too fast it will automatically slow my decent and land me safely on the ground. I'm not trying to wander a city in the sky alone mind you, I just want to practice actually stepping on clouds so I know how they feel underfoot."

She still looked very hesitant at the prospect of a creature without wings suddenly flying around outside but with a smile he leaned over and cupped her cheeks in his hands.

"Twilight, I promise not to over do it while I'm testing this suit. Let me preform the tests that I want to do and I'll let you preform one test of your own to me. So long as it's in the realm of reason and will not excessively cause pain or damage you can think up a test while I take care of my errands."

He might have over done it with the way her face split in a smile and the crazed twitch her eye produced, but as she closed her eyes he watched her magic weave around the heavy boots of his suit and leaving behind glowing swirls in their wake.

"Done and done! Just please don't over do it Hex! I don't want to see you get hurt."

Leaning down and kissing her at the tiny junction between her horn and forehead Hex caressed her ears fondly before polishing off his coffee and slapping his helmet back on.

"Thanks Sparky! I'll be back sometime tonight!"

After leaving the poor mare there to blush he made one last check through of the suits systems before stepping outside into the early morning sunlight. With a deep steadying sigh he crouched down and jumped, engaging the twin engines attached to his back before hurtling into the air at break neck speed. The Reapers he had met weren't kidding when they said the suits could just as easily kill you as a zerg.

With his vantage point above the city it was relatively easy to pick a cloud large enough to land on. As he drew closer and closer he honestly thought falling through would be easier than standing on the damn thing but as his feet touched the solidity was undeniable. Here he was, the first human ever to stand on a fluffy cloud but as the smile started to spread across his face the sensors in his helmet picked up movement... something it was programmed to spot from a distance and high altitude. He was already flying towards the disturbance with both pistols drawn.

2 minuets earlier...

Twilight shook her head as she huffed. That human was always a handful, but if he wanted to play in the clouds for a little bit it was worth running an experiment on him. Pulling out a massive scroll she picked her way down the list looking for the most promising of the thousands of tests she had thought of since his arrival. A crack of thunder from outside drew her out of the swirling ideas.

"SPIKE! Is there a storm planned for today!"

The small dragon, still sullen after being put to bed early and not allowed to join in the drinking responded with a sigh.

"No Twilight. There isn't any storms planned for this whole week. Maybe it's just Rainbow Dash playing a joke one somepony."

That wasn't anything out of the ordinary but when the thunder sounded twice more she rolled her scroll up and listened more carefully. A screech tore through Ponyville, a sound that was both alien and filled with pain. Other screeches joined the first, and as the hair rose along her back she could somehow feel the hatred in those sounds.

"SPIKE! SEND A LETTER TO CELESTIA AND TELL HER TO COME TO PONYVILLE NOW!"

Before the tiny dragon could question her Twilight teleporeted away to the fields close to the everfree forests. As her eyes made sense of the scene in front of her it wasn't the letter that reached Celestia in Canterlot first, it was the telepathic scream heard by every unicorn between Ponyville and Canterlot that hit home.

Hex was lost in the machine when he heard Twilights scream. How she was able to produce enough volume to be heard over the screeching of the zerg was beyond him but it created the distraction he needed to land his last grenade where it would count the most.

The assault group he came across was no more than a dozen Hydralisks and about a score of zerglings, most of which were easy to kill with how tightly packed they were. Maybe three hydra's were left along with a dozen zerglings but since the little bastards couldn't get to him in the air the went after the closet breathing ground target.

Turning around in an attempt fly Twilight out of danger the hydra's still alive sent a volley of spikes into his booster pack, grounding him in between the zerg and the petrified pony. The machine made things easier as his world slowed down enough for him to make sense of his choices. Just a little ways above Twilight was Rainbow Dash, coming to see what exactly was going on and giving him the out he was looking for.

Taking a deep breath, he screamed as loud as he could with his suit amplifying his voice to Rainbow Dash. "TAKE HER AWAY"

Turning to the oncoming Zerg he raised the gauss pistols and allowed the targeting systems inside the helmet to take over with the machine.

Twilight watched the flash of weapon fire from Hex's hands and saw the creatures charging him die in splatters of gore. She felt something wrap around her waist and lift her into the air away from the carnage not ten feet away. Looking back in panic she found Rainbow Dash flying her away and once more screamed.

"WE CAN'T LEAVE HIM!"

Dash's face hardened as she wrapped her arms and legs harder around Twilight's body and flew faster in the opposite direction. She could still see him fighting against the monsters, their bodies falling out of the air with each shot but when only a few remained his weapons went dry.

With a roar from his back Hex managed to draw the modified cutter and carved into the first Zergling that fell dead at his side. The second had already closed the distance before he could bring the weapon around for another swing, sinking one of its back claws into his right leg and bringing him to his knee before driving the cutter through its skull.

Nothing stopped the Hydralisk from getting to him though. The blinding flash that came from behind them didn't slow it, the sound scores of hooves, or the deadly warning given from Celestia. They could only watch as the things right claws punched through his chest armor and out of his back and he heard a familiar scream from behind him as the Hydralisk lifted him up to eye level.

Hex never got the chance to raise the cutter in his left hand before its body contracted powerfully, sending its other claws through his armor and cleanly depriving him of his arm. Looking into the things eyes irritated him for the few moments he held him up before tossing his harmless body aside. It didn't even have the decency to hate him like he hated them, the bastard just moved on to the next target.

He could feel the suits medical systems pumping his body with antibiotics and counter toxins but he doubted they would do any good raising up just enough to see what was happening he smiled when he watched Celestia burn the bastard into nothing but ash before his vision faded into blackness.