Dead Space: Purpose

As the creature known as “Isaac” stood there before them, Twilight couldn’t help but notice how much of a monkey he, presumably due to the pitch of voice and the tone of the name, resembled. Except for the lack of hair on most of its face, part of its neck, and the scruffy mane on the top of its horrifyingly pale head. She watched in awe as the metal structure around his head began to disassemble on its own and fold into his torso, wondering what kind of magic Isaac could possess.

Finally, Twilight decided to break the silence.

“Well, Isaac, I hope you don’t mind me asking, but how did you end up here?”

Isaac looked around for a moment, confused, angry at times, and clutched his head, and responded.

“I don’t know exactly how I got here, but it must have something to do with the alien machine back where I… was… Let’s just leave it at that.”

The girls looked to Twilight in confusion, wondering what he meant by ‘leave it at that’, but still retained their overall calm.

“Well, I may know someponies that can help. The Princesses that rule this land, Princess Luna, Princess Cadance, and Princess Celestia. I’m sure that if we contact them and let them know your situation, we can help you find out how you got here as well as how to get back. In the mean time, I need to see Princess Cadance, so we can make sure that we can trust you first. I hope you understand.”

Isaac shifted in place a bit and slightly chuckled. “Not at all. In fact, right now, I’ve been treated better than I normally would have.”

They all looked at him and then Applejack spoke up.

“What is’at suppos’ta mean? What’s wrong with where ya came from?”

Isaac looked at her with a slight discomfort. “Let’s just say that I couldn’t exactly afford to live anywhere nice, so I mostly lived in crime ridden parts of cities and had to stay inside at all times when I’m not working. Didn’t exactly have the comfort of ah.. what is it called… Safety! That’s it. Never really been accustomed to being anywhere ‘safe before.”

Fluttershy immediately flew up to his neck, wrapped her arms around him, and began to bawl out in pleads trying to comfort him, which he almost mistook as an attack, which he nearly punched her for.

“Oh, you poor thing! Not being able to feel safe anywhere you go!? How could you have survived without you parents for so long!”

“First off: You might want to warn me next time you do that, I’m a bit jumpy from the nec- uh, I mean, street gangs, and almost punched attacked you, and I really don’t want to accidentally do anything to harm you. Second off: I didn’t actually look up to my parents, considering my dad really wasn't there for me, and my mom didn’t care for anything that wasn’t for the better of her religion. Third off: I didn’t say I couldn’t fight back, I just chose to not get involved with some angry teens, running around, smoking God-knows-what.”

At the mention of teenagers, Twilight immediately thought back to Spike, whom she left alone in the Library, and realized that she needed to send letters to the princesses.

“Oh! Excuse me, I have to go and send the letters! Bye Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy, Isaac, Pinki- Pinkie? Where?”

Everyone except Fluttershy, who was still turtle-necking against a rather annoyed Isaac, and noticed that she wasn’t in the room.

“Pinkie?”

Here I am Twilight!

What the- get off the keyboard! How did you even get here!?

Muffin Button!

What? I-I don’t even… Why?

Because I wanted to try to see if I can throw him a PARTY! And who better to ask than the AUTHOR!? CAN I CAN I!? PLEASE PLEASE PLEEEASE? * Spuee *

Hnng! * Dead *

Oopsie.

Breathe! * Smack *

OW! MY CHILDREN!

Sorry, I was aiming for the lungs.

Your party can wait, I still need to move the story along with Cadance, explain why Shining Armor is absent, Celestia and Luna facing him, the Plasma Cutter, Cutie Mark Crusaders, and then I still have to figure out what the hell I’m even spelling with the title of the chapters. Then you have my permission to party.

YAY!

Now can we get back? I don’t think the others can stay like that forever.

Alright. Bye-bye mister author writer man!

Goodbye Pinkie! I’ll see you in the Pacific Rim Crossover!

No, where was I? Oh, Sh!T that’s right!

Twilight dismissed her absence as her just being Pinkie, to which they all replied with a yep, except Applejack, who responded with Boy Howdy, (I feel that).  As she walked out, Applejack and Rainbow Dash talked about how they needed to work in the morning, leaving Isaac alone with Fluttershy. Who was still nuzzling his beard against his scruffy beard.

Isaac reached out and lowered the pegasus as she rubbed her eyes to clear away the tears. He looked at her for a moment before having a deep inhale and exhaled.

Fluttershy looked up to him from behind her wall of hair. “Um… I suppose you could stay here and rest. I mean, i-if that’s okay with you…”

Isaac considered the risk she took just by keeping him alive, let alone straight up saving him from exposure as well as feeding him and giving him shelter. He looked back at Fluttershy and gave a small grin. “There’s no need to worry. I promise I won’t try to hurt any of your friends or anyone else while I’m here. And you have my word that I will do my best to try and make up for you kindness.”

As Isaac finished his sentiment, Fluttershy looked up directly at him and gave a weak smile, and nodded gently as she turned around and walked out of the room.

With nothing else to do now but rest, Isaac looked at the bed he had indented, back at his Engineering suit, and then began to unhook the armor and let it slide to the floor with a muffle ‘clunk’. He stretched out his limbs, free from the armored prison he used to protect himself and crawled underneath the amazingly soft sheets. As he placed his head on the pillow and drifted to sleep, the last thing he could think of was how he was going to try and not be threatening, easing up on his reflexes, and how he was going to explain to the ponies he met how he was supposed to be dead, along with a massive monster-like moon.

\\\//////

Twilight walked back to Ponyville practically drowning in her own thoughts over what to tell the princesses, which one should she tell first, when she should contact them, whether or not to bring in any guards, what they would communicate about Isaac first, how would he eat, what would he eat, where would he stay, what could he do, is he peaceful, how can they be sure, will he apologize to Rarity, how would Spike react to this, how they would get along, and where the Buck is Pinkie?

She accidentally forgot to open the door and rammed straight into it, waking the baby dragon, and bruising herself in the process. Spike came down to open the door, and walked in.

“Sorry to wake you Spike, but I need to send a letter to some princesses.”

Spike reached behind him and pulled out a scroll with a crystal seal on it. “Well, you don’t exactly have to worry about sending one of those letters, because Cadance sent this for you.”

Twilight took the scroll with her magic and began to read it.

“Dear Twilight, Spike, and Elements of Harmony,

I wanted to let you know that I’m coming down to Ponyville for a while to relax for a few weeks after some events in the Crystal Empire. I would also like to apologize that Shining Armor cannot accompany me on this vacation, due to his responsibilities as not only a ruler, but also as its sole military leader. I will explain everything else when I arrive tomorrow. I’ll see you then!

Love,

Cadance”

After Twilight read the message aloud, a cloud of relief overcame her as she let out a joyful sigh, leaving Spike to only stare curriously at her.

“Um… Twilight? Are you alright?”

“I’m fine Spike. Remember when I went to the Everfree forest to check on the crash?”

Spike nodded, “Yeah?”

“Well, it turns out Fluttershy found some weird alien in the crash. And as it turns out, it can speak perfect Equestrian, and talked to us! I was going to try and keep this a secret from everypony else until the princesses could arrive, but now that Cadance is coming, whe could use her love magic to see if Isaac has a good heart, or has ever felt love before. Then we can welcome him to Equestria, and I can research his past, his technologies, oh just what was that light on his back!?”

Spike shook her head to try and snap her out of her thought-attack.

“Twilight! Snap out of it!”

She shook her head and focused on him.

“Sorry about that. Anyways, get ready to write a letter.”

Spike walked over to the kitchen drawers and pulled out a quill, ink and a parchment. He brought them over to a table, sat down, dipped the quill, and readied himself.

“Okay. Ready.”

“Dear Princess Celestia and Princess Luna,” Twilight began. “I’m sure you are aware of the fact that there was a strange meteor crash out by Ponyville, and have had concerns over our well being. I can assure you that there was no damage to the town, except for some mild panic after the crash, but rest assured, the girls and I were able to calm everyone. After gathering up the Elements, we trotted over to the edge of the Everfree Forest, where the crash came from, and noticed a strange light from Fluttershy’s home. We went into her house to discover that she had been taking care of an advanced alien that crashed near her while feeding the animals of the forest’s edge. After finding the alien, she took it home and gave it proper medical attention, which later allowed it to wake up. That is when we discovered that the alien could talk. He told us that his name was Isaac, and that he did not want to harm any of us, nor did he have intentions to land here at all. I believe that this could be the chance for Equestria’s first contact, by being able to return him to his home, his people might thank us, and could revolutionize us towards a brighter future. Please take into consideration that he is scared of this new world he is in, and might take any guards as a threat, and act as such, due to his troubled past. I was going to ask Cadance to look into his heart to find any love in him and to tell if he is as trustworthy as he’s letting on. I ask you if you could just wait a day until we know that he means us no harm. Thank you. Your Faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.”

Spike etched the last phrase onto the parchment, rolled it up, and blew it into a green ball of fire, which then flew out the window.

“Twilight, are you sure she’s going to appreciate you asking her to not come and meet the alien?”

“His name is Isaac, and I just wanted to make sure that it was safe before she came down here. She’ll understand that.”

In that instant, Spike belched a green ball of fire, and out came a letter with the royal Solar seal on it. Twilight opened it, and read it aloud.

“My most faithful student, thank you for considering the safety of our beings, but do not forget that there is little that can harm us. I will however agree to your wishes, so long as this ‘Isaac’ does not hurt anypony and keeps to himself until I can announce his presence on our world. I wish you the best of luck. Princess Celestia”

Twilight rolled up the letter and began to trot upstairs.

“See Spike? I told you everything would work out just fine. Princess Celestia always knows what’s best. Just like how I know that we need to rest for tomorrow. It’s gonna be a big day.”

They both finish their ascent and went to their respective beds. Spike curled up in his and responded.

“If you say so. I really want to see him! Goodnight.”

Twilight climbed into bed and put out the lights. “Goodnight Spike.”

\\\//////

Isaac woke peacefully for once in his life, and by God was this the most comfortable sleep he has ever gotten in the history of his life. He started to get up only to be taken back down by the softness of the cushions of the bed. After fighting the urge to just lay there forever, Isaac started over to his suit, and slipped it on, trying to make as little noise as possible. He inspected the slightly roughed up Engineer suit in the mirror. It’s edges were gleaming in the sunlight, the black under-armor slightly shining in the light, and noticed the paint slightly chipped away at the bottom of his boots and near the top of the shins, just where the snow had weathered after what seemed like days of walking. Before he turned to activate his helmet, he looked back to the mirror, and decided it best to try and leave it off for the sake of not being too scary around them, and boy did he know scary.

‘I mean, come on,’Isaac thought, ‘it’s not like they’re gonna try and rip my face off with their extended hinged jaws or puke acid down my throat.’

He turned to the door and ducked under the arch, giving way to the main room of the cottage, which seemed to be made of entirely wood.

As he looked to find the door, he noticed Fluttershy outside the front door, and decided to go out to greet her. He turned to the door and took several steps to get to the door, opened it, and was greeted with the cleanest damned air he had ever breathed. After taking a deep inhale, he looked towards the pegasus, and began to approach her. When he did, he noticed a small group of animals all herding around her, while she appeared to be giving each a bowl of fruits and nuts. They all turned to him and stared in fear and shock. A small white rabbit jumped to Fluttershy and pointed frantically at Isaac. When she turned, she gave a slight gasp, but calmed herself when she noticed that he left his head exposed. She looked out to the creatures and began to speak.

“No, no, no. It’s alright. It’s just Mr. Isaac, the one I was talking about. He wouldn’t hurt any of you.” She turned to him, “Right Isaac?”

Isaac put on a forced smile and turned to view them all, “Yeah. I won’t try to hurt any of you. Just don’t surprise me alright, I’m a bit… jumpy.”

They all looked at him in plain curiosity and returned their attention to Fluttershy, who continued to feed them.

Isaac turned to look at the forest next to him and felt as though he were being watched. He turned towards Fluttershy and spoke.

“Hey, what’s the deal with this forest? It’s freaking me the fuck out.”

Fluttershy glanced him over and replied.

“Well um… that’s the Everfree Forest. It’s a really scary place that doesn’t behave like the rest of the world. There’s also a bunch of scary and dangerous creatures that roam within it and it’s just so scary.” As she lectured him, Isaac noticed that she began to tremble while her voice seemed to raise in pitch as she continued on. Isaac looked back to the entrance and dismissed his previous thoughts and began to walk to Fluttershy.

“Also,” She spoke up again, “could you, um, please just tone down your cursing? Just a little? I mean if that’s okay with you.”

Isaac pondered why they were so sensitive about cursing, given that they all seemed to be in their adult phase (about as adult as a technicolor pony can get). Still, their world, their rules.

“Alright. Sorry about that. Just got used to that while fighting for my life.”

Isaac mentally face-palmed for mentioning that his life was in so much constant danger that intensive swearing was as natural for him as breathing. Fluttershy began to cry out and leaped to his neck again, and this time, rubbed his face into her neck.

“Oh, you poor thing! Having to fight for survival!? I can’t even imagine the things you must have seen or done to just survive!”

‘You have literally no FUCKING IDEA,’ thought Isaac.

Just as she began to cry, a purple flash of light appeared before them, and by instinct, Isaac grabbed Fluttershy, barrelled over under the bridge, and activated his helmet. After waiting about three seconds, he carefully peered over the edge of the soil, and saw Twilight, he believed, with a strange smaller purple creature on her back. It jumped down and knocked on the door frantically. Isaac took note that they were in no danger and released his grip over a now trembling and crying Fluttershy.

“Sorry. Just acted on instinct.” He stated as he retracted his helmet.

As if on cue, she returned to hug his neck, and began sobbing into his beard. Isaac proceeded to stand up and lift himself out of the river bank. He began to walk over to Twilight and called out.

“Hey Twilight. How ya doin’?”

She turned and smiled almost devilishly at Isaac and turned towards the purple creature at the door.

“Spike! He’s over here!”

The small creature turned and dropped its jaw at Isaac, who just stood there with a Flutterbeard (Trademark). It stumbled over to Twilight’s forelegs and continued to watch Isaac.

“This is Spike, my number one assistant. Spike, this is Isaac. The alien I told you about.”

Spike jumped out of his cover and ran too Isaac’s legs. He looked over Isaac’s impressive armor and began to talk.

“This is so cool! Just look at this! What kind of armor is this? I’ve never seen anything like it!”

Isaac looked towards Twilight as Fluttershy finally released her grip over his beard, which now had a thorough washing. She landed next to Twilight and just smiled at Spike. Isaac decided to speak up.

“So, what’s up?”

Twilight stepped forward.

“First of all, Spike!”

Spike darted back to Twilight and just sat there, eying Isaac with amazement and wonder, something that Isaac found slightly less comforting than a death-stare.

“Spike here is not only, my number one assistant, but also a magical baby dragon. I used his fire to send a letter to our co-rulers, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, asking them to come down and meet you in a day or two. They agreed to not bring any guards to meet you, but only if you don’t show any violence. Also, we’re hoping to bring you into town to meet my sister-in-law, Princess Cadance. She’s going to look into your heart to see if you’re a good person, nothing major.”

Isaac took this into account and began to panic. Almost physically so.

“Um… exactly how are we going to, first, get me into town unnoticed, and second, look into my heart without physically tearing my ribcage open like a piece of bread?”

Fluttershy nearly fainted at the mention of such a grotesque remark, Twilight stared at him in discomfort, and Spike let his smile drop to just a dropped jaw. Twilight shook herself and her friends out of their trances and looked back at Isaac. She began to speak once again.

“Well, we won’t actually look at your heart, just observe some of your memories of love and compassion and such, so, yeah. And to answer the former, I’ll teleport us over when you’re ready.”

“Now’s a good a time as any other. Sorry about that by the way. Again, old habits die hard.” ‘Might as well accept magic after seeing hordes of the undead chase me through ancient alien weapons and shit like that,’ Isaac thought to himself.

Twilight nodded slightly at this and began to emmit a purplish glow from the protrusion from her forehead and encased the four in a bubble of sorts. The wind picked up as she raised her head, creating a solid purple line around them, and created a flash of light that blinded Isaac. As the flash cleared, they were gone from the cottage. Leaving behind a cottage, some hungry animals, and the creatures under Fluttershy’s care.

\\\//////

As Cadance stepped out of her train car, she turned towards her escorts and addressed them.

“Thank you both for accompanying me on the journey, but I assure you, I won’t need guards to protect me from chipping a hoof at the salon. Now, please get back to the Crystal Empire. I’m sure that they need you there more than I need you here.”

The guards gave a crisp salute and went back into the train, closing the doors behind them. Cadance watched as the train began to move slightly and then take off in the direction of her kingdom. She let out a deep sigh of relief, and turned back to the station and was greeted with a familiar group of escorts.

“Girls! Hey! Over here!” Cadance yelled towards the four members of the Elements of Harmony. The group quickly turned to see one of their most beloved friends and quickly galloped over to her. Applejack was the first to greet.

“Well, howdy there, Princess! We’re just about’a search the inside’a the station for ya. How ya’ll been since the last time we saw ya?”

“Well, the Empire has been a massive stress, but now some strange things are happening. But that can wait until later. Where’s Twilight?”

Rarity went up to her and replied.

“Well, if I remember correctly, she’s off to get Fluttershy and her… guest.” Rarity seemed to spit out that last part with disgust, which seemed very unprofessional of a pony of her nature.

Cadance looked over to her, “Oh, and who is this guest?”

Rainbow Dash flew above her and interrupted, “We can’t just talk about him here! There’s too many nosey ponies. Let’s get to the Library.”

Pinkie Pie started to bounce around the group, energetic as always.

“Ooh! Ooh! Can we throw a ‘Welcome Cadance And Mister Visitor Man Party’ when we get there!? Please?”

Cadance was now bordering confused and upset at their mentioning of some mystery pony. “Who is this stallion that you all- * Gasp *! Is it a special somepony? Oh girls, I said I needed to just relax from the kingdom. I don’t need a quick change of tempo. Yet.”

The girls (except Pinkie for obvious reasons) blushed massively at this statement, both embarrassed and confused. Rarity coughed for Cadance’s attention.

“What, um, P-Pinkie means is that there is some- not exactly pony- that is new here, yes, but in more of an accidental falling from the sky kind of way. Not the Playmare order response kind of way.”

Cadance could feel her cheeks practically explode with sheer embarrassment from her previous statement. She looked back and forth rather frantically, thanking Celestia that they were the only ones on the station platform at the time. She turned back to the girls and interjected the silence.

“So, library, huh? H-how about we go there, like, now? To meet this, uh, not-pony?”

They all nodded and began the awkward commute towards the center of town.

When they arrived at the tree-house, there was a flash of purple light coming from the windows and a large thump on the ground, accompanied by a loud groan. When Cadance went to open the door, however, Rainbow Dash landed in front of her and began to speak.

“Before we go in, princess, we should warn you that-“

Pinkie jumped in from seemingly nowhere and began to talk.

“We actually watched this huuuuuge ball of somethingoranother Crash from the sky right into the Everfree forest, and when we went to check it out, Fluttershy had found an ALIEN in the crater, and nursed him back to health, and so we were wondering, while you’re here, if you can look into Isaac’s, that’s his name by the way, heart to see if he’s a good guy or a big meanie bo beanie’.”

Cadance merely shook her head in disbelief and began to laugh. She looked to the other girls to see them deadpanning her. Then the gravity of the situation hit her when Rainbow Dash opened the door and motioned her to come inside.

After they went in, Cadance noticed that the main room was unnaturally dark, due to the curtains having been closed, apparently after the flash. She looked to the center of the room as the door shut, and began to light up her horn. Before she could, however, she noticed a vertical column of blue lights from the back of the room, with a peculiar half-circle light of blue hovering next to it. In the next instance, the lights came on and immediately, she was paralyzed by fear. A large, bipedal, metal encased, creature was standing next to a rather annoyed Twilight and Spike. She looked to the creature, whom Fluttershy was currently hugging onto with a tremble. They all turned to the group and greeted them.

Twilight waved to Cadance and began to speak.

Oh, hey Cadance. I was just about to go get you. Allow me to introduce the two of you.”

She tapped the creature’s armored legs and brought its attention to her. It looked down and waited to hear Twilight. She pointed to Cadance and spoke again.

“Isaac, this is Cadance. Cadance, meet Isaac Clarke.”

The creature turned to Cadance as Fluttershy slid down to his shoulder and approached Cadance steadily. He extended his foreleg outwards towards a still stunned Cadance, and spoke in a clear male voice.

“Hey, How ya doin’?”