Dead Space: Purpose

Spike woke up and stretched as he slid out of bed. After stretching, he looked to the window by Twilight’s bed and saw the Sun steadily rise over the horizon as morning peaked it’s head. He gave out a yawn and proceeded to the stairs. Before he could step down the first step, however, Twilight called him from the kitchen.

“Spike? Is that you?”

He groggily stopped in his tracks and responded.

“Yes?”

“Could you wake up Isaac? He’s in the guest room.”

“Alright.”

With that, he turned around and went to said guest room. Curiosity overcoming the young dragon’s sense of responsibility, Spike decided to sneak in and check out what Isaac had in the room. After slowly opening the door, Spike tip-toed his way to the desk opposite the door, where he saw some kind of lights spread about. He hoisted himself up and stood on the seat to examine the source of the disturbance. Scattered about the desk were two different kind of… objects? One was a light green, that had a base of a rectangle and two cylinders that came from the base. There were five, two standing and the other three laying on their sides. The other things were yellow with grey stripes along the large faces. Spike counted ten of them. He reached out to pick one up, and felt that it was a bit heavy for something so small. As he passed it from hand to hand, he looked to his right and saw two things: a jumbled mess of black fabrics and gold-like plates, which were Isaac’s suit, and Isaac in the guest bed. He had a white shirt and small white boxers, had the sheets on his sides like a double-helix, and had his left arm on his stomach with his right hand underneath the pillow, where his head rested.

While Spike’s attention was elsewhere, his hand overshot the strange yellow box and he accidentally dropped the object. He scrambled to try and get it, but it fell with a smack to the floor.

\\\//////

In an instant, Isaac awoke with a start, shooting his eyes open at the sound. He instinctively drew the Plasma Cutter from under his pillow and flew off the bed to the side, raising the weapon at the source of the noise. He slowly approached the end of his bed, and saw a purple back hunched over with green fins.

“Spike?” he whispered.

\\\//////

Spike, at the mention of his name, slowly started to turn up to see Isaac staring him down from behind a small hand-held piece of metal. As Spike looked up at him, Isaac lowered his arms and released a breath slowly. After he finished with the breath, he raised his other hand and rubbed his face as he placed the object on the desk.

“Don’t do that. Seriously. I could have- ugh. Just, what’s up?”

Spike straightened up as he spoke.

“Twilight wanted me to wake you up so we can have breakfast. What are those things, though?”

Isaac looked to the desk and chuckled a bit. He stretched and popped some tired joints in his neck as he responded.

“Maybe I’ll talk about it a bit later.”

Isaac looked to his armor in the corner and waved his hand at it.

“Anyways, breakfast, right?”

Spike nodded and went to the door with Isaac, but stopped when he remembered the yellow box on the floor.

“Spike? What’s wrong?”

“Oh, um… I, kinda took one of the yellow things off the desk and… dropped it?”

Isaac looked to the base of the bed and saw the light indicating the object’s presence. He extended his left arm towards it and shot out a beam of translucent energy. When it made contact with the small box, it flew in front of his hand, and just as quickly, was shot to the wall over the desk, and fell with another smack.

Spike looked back up at Isaac and smiled excitedly. Isaac looked down and saw his face and chuckled.

“You know, I never actually realized how cool Kinesis is until now.”

With that, they turned and began to walk down the stairs. When they got to the ground floor, Spike began to pick up his pace and went through a door opposite the entrance.

“Twilight? Isaac’s up and on his way.” He stated as he went through the door.

He saw the lavender mare standing near the counter levitating a pan and whisk with magic. On the table behind her, there were three plates with hay bacon, hash browns, a fork and knife, and a salt and pepper shaker pair that had the symbols of the Royal Academy for Gifted Unicorns, and the Equestrian Royal Guard, gifted from Shining Armor.

“That’s great to hear Spike. But, what was that noise I heard before you came down? Some shuffling?”

Spike hopped up onto one of the seats as he responded.

“Uh, well, I kinda… tripped, and startled him a bit.”

She shook her head with a smile as she heard a large smack come from outside the door.

\\\//////

“GAH!!! Damn it!” Isaac cursed as he recovered from hitting his face on the frame to the door. He would have ducked normally, but being just woken up, and not full of terror/adrenaline from being chased by Necros, he wasn’t exactly in the most aware state at the time.

He approached once more, but ducked underneath the frame, and was greeted with a scent of something he wasn’t too used to. Something that’s edible. As he entered the room and breathed in the scent, he looked down and saw Spike at a table with amazing looking food scattered on plates, and Twilight levitating a pan with what looked like something a Puker would leave behind. They were both looking up at him with a mix of emotions, prompting Isaac to respond in some way.

“Uh… oh, sorry about that. I kinda hit the frame with… my face. Kinda short because, well, yeah.” He said while motioning between himself and the two of them.

Twilight released her breath and looked up at him.

“Good. I was worried something bad might have happened.”

After the statement, she turned off the flame on the counter and walked over to the table, spreading the yellow mush on each of the three plates. When she finished, she tossed the pan and instrument into the sink and sat at one of the plates. Isaac eyed the last seat and walked over to it. The chair was surprisingly high, keeping his knees at level with his stomach when he sat down on it. The table, however, was a bit short, forcing him to lean down to get closer to the food.

“Well, Isaac,” Twilight started, “I don’t know what you eat, right now, but I made a basic breakfast to see if you could eat something here, at least. We have hash browns, just cooked potatoes, hay fries which are baked flakes of hay, and scrambled eggs. Do you know if you can eat any of these?”

Isaac looked to her and back at his plate and smiled.

“I don’t know about the hay fries, but everything else I’ll probably enjoy.”

She smiled at him and began to eat, levitating hay fries to her mouth. Isaac took the sign and picked up the small fork and knife, going for the potatoes. He got a sizable amount on the utensil, and raised it to his mouth and ate it. He nearly dropped the fork at the taste of the food.

‘This is the best God-damned breakfast I’ve ever had.’ He thought to himself.

Isaac tried to not look like a savage as he ate, and dug into the potatoes with urgency. As he did, Twilight sparked a conversation.

“So, Isaac. About what happened in the forest, I wanted to know something.”

“Sure.”

“What was that magic you used on the timberwolves that slowed them down? I didn’t feel cold or anything when they froze.”

Isaac slowed down his eating and looked to her as he answered.

“That wasn’t magic. It’s called a Stasis Module. It’s designed for industrial environments to prevent an accident. Like if a piece of equipment starts working when someone’s nearby, I could slow it down long enough for everyone to get away from it.”

Her eyes beamed with intrigue.

“Wow. How does it work?”

“I don’t know how it works exactly, sorry. I mostly just studied ship engineering and maintenance.”

Twilight’s ears dropped a bit in disappointment, but Isaac was quick to react.

“If you want, I could let you watch and study the effects on certain objects later on.”

At this revelation, Twilight shot up in her seat and started chanting.

“YESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYES!” while clopping her forehooves together.

Isaac smiled intently and shook his head. Once more, he went back to the food before him. He eyed the hay fries with a bit of skepticism, but shrugged it off, considering he’s gone through worse things than eating hay. So, Isaac picked up a fry and ate the thing in a few bites. It didn’t actually taste that bad. Better than what he had before Tau Volantis, for sure.

After Twilight had calmed down, they finished their meals as Isaac stretched once more.

“Do you want to shower first, Isaac?” Twilight asked as she levitated his plate.

“Thanks. I’ll be quick.” Isaac replied as he got up and went towards the stairs.

\\\//////

After a rather… unique showering experience, Isaac went back to his room and suited up yet again, feeling the now moderately acceptable condition of the suit’s fabric. It clenched rather nicely around him, and finally Isaac got to take in the comfort of the suit without having the constant threat of a Necromorph coming to rape his face with bone-swords or whatever the fuck one would call their weapons.

Before he could pick up the equipment on the table, Isaac heard a knock on the door. He walked over and opened the door to find Twilight standing there with a large grin on her face.

“What’s up, Twilight?” he asked nonchalantly.

“Well, I was wondering if I could see your, um… not-magic, before we start associating the town with you.”

“Sure. Oh, hold on.”

Isaac went back to the desk and picked up a Med-pack and an Ammo Clip from the desk and went back to the door.

“Alright. Let’s see what you’ve got.”

Twilight turned and lead them down into the main room of the Library, and saw Spike on the couch with a small orange and red bird on a stick next to him. When Isaac reached the ground floor, he went up to the table and stood between a chair and the sofa, in front of Spike and Twilight, who was now seated in a red velvet chair opposite the couch. She levitated a pile of paper and a quill as she cleared her throat.

“So, Isaac,” she began, “would you like to tell us about anything in particular?”

Isaac shrugged and shuffled in place a bit as he answered.

“Not really. I’m a 49 year old Engineer, born on Earth, and raised by my mother, who was strongly religious. I studied into mechanical and electrical engineering, and was offered a spot in a prominent engineering academy, but I couldn’t afford tuition because my mother was so obsessed with her religion that she spent all of the family’s funds to become a higher member of the Church. Even though it was a struggle, I did graduate with high honors from a lesser college and went into the Merchant Marines. Whoever was watching me was impressed by my skills and got me into a position closer to major shipping lines.”

Twilight scribbled down every bit of information with intrigue.

“Fascinating. What did you do then?”

“Well… there was an, emergency call for repairs from a Planet-Cracker vessel, and…” Isaac sighed deeply as he shook his head, “I lost my girlfriend.”

Twilight held a hoof to her mouth as she gasped, while Spike lost his smile and started petting his bird.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Twilight began, “did you break up?”

“No. She died after the ship… I’d rather not go into detail. After that point, everything’s… let’s just say pretty bad, alright?”

He motioned towards Spike, indicating that the story would be inappropriate for anyone so young. Twilight nodded and pulled out another paper, hopeful to change the subject.

“So, what about your technologies? Can you describe your suit and these,” she pointed to the Med-pack and Ammo Clip, “things?”

“Well, first off, that’s a Med-Pack. It distributes a healing and pain-killing liquid to injuries identified by the RIG system. The first ones used are automatically the smallest ones, then medium, and large. This is a medium pack, as it has two cylinders.”

“Amazing! It can heal anywhere inside your suit by being directed automatically by the device in your back? All the while stopping the pain?”

“Yep. They’ve been very handy. I’ve seen plenty emergency kits as an Engineer, but I doubt anyone’s used as many as I have.”

Twilight perked up her ears a bit.

“Why?”

Isaac’s face darkened a bit in mood as he gazed to the floor again.

“It’s um…”

Twilight levitated the quill and papers down to the table as she moved up to Isaac.

“Isaac, it feels like you’re trying to hide a lot about who you are.”

Isaac turned to the door and started to pace slowly as he raised one hand to his forehead.

“It’s not who I am. It’s, uh… what I’ve been through.”

Twilight cut into the path to the door and looked up to Isaac with sad eyes.

“Please. Just tell us. Let us help.”

Isaac whipped down his hand and pointed at her as he raised his voice.

“The last ones that wanted to ‘help,’ ended up all dying because of me! Because I somehow always pull in the most FUCKED UP SHIT!” he yelled as he flung his arm into the air for emphasis.

“Isaac, please!” she pleaded, “At least let us try!”

Isaac stood in place and looked down upon her. He noticed the genuine concern in her eyes as tears began to form slightly at the seams. He let his anger drop into sadness as he was surged with the all too familiar feel of guilt, relaxing his scowl into a frown. Isaac sighed deeply and shook his head in defeat.

“You and your friends will absolutely hate what you see.” He said. Isaac then raised up his finger to her again. “But you won’t see it unless Celestia’s here too. She needs to know about it as well.”

Twilight adorned a smile and wiped at her eyes.

“Thank you, Isaac.”

He turned to the couch and approached to sit. As he passed Twilight he muttered, “Don’t thank me for ruining your innocence.”

Before any kind of reaction could occur, the door burst open in a flash of mint-green as Isaac turned to face the intrusion. He, however, couldn’t react fast enough to the sudden tackle to his side as he was knocked to the floor, Plasma Cutter sliding to the other side of the room.

“HANDS!” he heard the attacker screech.

Isaac reared back his left arm and grabbed at the minty growth that clung to his arm. With a mighty heave, he pried off the assailant and threw down a Stasis shot onto it. He then scrambled over to the other side of the living room and grabbed his Cutter, taking aim as he spun around.

When he looked to where he was attacked, he saw a minty-blue-due-to-Stasis Unicorn, with slightly spiky hair and a string instrument tattooed on her ass. He would definitely have to ask about that at some point.

As he pondered this, the Pony fell to the floor as the Stasis wore off, and scrambled to it’s hooves, staring at Isaac in fear. Twilight stormed over to it as a scowl formed while she raised her voice.

“Lyra Heartstrings! What gives you the right to charge into my house in the morning and assault somepony!?”

‘Lyra’ regained her composure and cleared her throat with her eyes closed, and a hoof to her throat. When she finished, she spoke back in a calm manner.

“First of all, isn’t this a public Library? Second, the time frame on the front says it’s already open. And third, this isn’t a Pony. This. Is. A. Creature. With. HANDS.” She leaned in on each word for effect, much to Twilight’s discomfort, as well as Isaac’s.

Twilight stood slack-jawed for a few seconds, but shook her head clear of disbelief as she addressed the intruder.

“Lyra, while some of this is true, Isaac is a guest, and deserves to be treated as such. And I will not tolerate disregard for another’s well being because they’re different.”

Lyra then huffed in protest, but when she gazed on a pissed off Isaac, her ears drooped and her expression softened as she let out a sigh.

“You’re… exactly right, Twilight. Sorry.”

Twilight shook her head lightly and raised a hoof to Isaac.

“I’m not the one to apologize to.”

Lyra looked back to Isaac and slowly approached him. As she got closer, he lowered the Plasma Cutter until it was in one hand pointed at the ground. When she stopped in front of him, he went to a knee to lower himself while she sat down. She looked up at him with big eyes and spoke.

“I-I’m sorry, Isaac…”

Isaac shook his head and replied.

“Hey, don’t get so down. It’s alright.” He said with a smile and a pat on her shoulder.

She looked back up to him and smiled weakly and then let a few tears shed.

“Would you mind telling me how you managed to find out where I was? Or the fact that I’m here?” Isaac asked.

Lyra wiped her eyes with a hoof and stood back up.

“Pinkie made an announcement to everypony earlier in the Town Market. She held up a, might I say, somewhat accurate drawing of you. And being the only Anthropologist in town, I took it upon myself to study your… unique appendages. Sorry.”

Isaac stood back up and looked to the door, then to Twilight.

“Well, if they know I’m here, might as well try a walk into town so they’ll get the screaming out of the way.” He shrugged.

Isaac felt a tap on his boot as a clang rung out through the room. He looked down and saw Lyra examining her hoof.

“Ooh, that’s weird. It’s all, metallic and cold…”

“Excuse me,” Isaac interrupted.

She looked up and wiped her hoof on her other leg.

“Sorry. Um, they actually probably won’t be scared, because Pinkie told us that you’re kinda misunderstood, and just want some friends.” She then extended a foreleg to Isaac’s  face. “I would like to be one of the first. My name’s Lyra Heartstrings.”

Isaac stared down at the appendage with confusion, but in a second, replaced his look with a smile, grasped the foreleg, and shook up and down a few times.

“Isaac Clarke.”

He thought he heard a type of squeak from Lyra as her smile nearly exploded her face. ‘Fucking weird,’ he thought to himself. Isaac looked out the window and saw a group of familiar Ponies at the door. There was a knocking sound from the entrance, and Twilight went to open it. Upon opening it, the five outside made their way in and greeted Isaac.

“Hey, what’s going on?” he asked.

An all-too-familiar pink blur came up and stopped directly in front of him, leaving a certain pink pony bouncing in place.

“HI ISAAC! I COULDN’T WAIT SO I TOLD EVERYPONY ABOUT YOUR ARRIVAL SO THEY WOULDN’T BE SCARED WHEN THEY SAW YOU AND OMIGOSH I HAVE TO GO RIGHT NOW AND START PREPARING!”

With that, the pink blur sped out the door, slamming it upon exit, leaving a gaped-mouth engineer.

“What. The. Actual. Hell.” Isaac deadpanned.

Rainbow dash came up to his level and jabbed a shoulder playfully into his neck.

“It’s just Pinkie being Pinkie. Don’t try to understand it, or else you’ll go insane.”

Isaac shrugged.

“Been there. Not going back.”

Dash flew down to get back with the others, who were looking at Isaac with interest.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Well, Isaac,” Rarity started, “we just wanted to get you acquainted with the town and locations. You know, help you settle in.”

“Yeah,” Applejack started, “We’re gonna help ya introduce yourself to the ponies ‘round here.”

Isaac examined them all in seconds, and smiled at them.

“Thanks. I wish I could make this easier somehow on you all.”

Rarity waved a hoof at him.

“Please, darling, don’t fret about it. I wouldn’t have it any other way. Now, come along, we have many sights to see.”

She turned to the door along with the others, prompting Isaac to follow. He went to the table and picked up the Ammo and Med-pack, and saw Spike, sitting there still.

“Hey, Spike?”

Isaac called out to the young dragon. Spike looked to him with a raised brow.

“Wanna come along? It’s gotta be pretty boring here.”

Spike shook his head.

“Nah, it’s alright. I gotta clean anyways.”

“Alright. Take care, little guy.”

Spike waved to Isaac as he left the center of the room, and eventually, the building entirely. He looked up and around the surrounding area, and took in the rustic look of the small town. The buildings were all easily made of wood and straw, and had a nearly sickening variety of colors to match them. There were puffy clouds in the sky that seemed almost cartoonish, as they just sat there, painted in the sky. There were a few Ponies out and about, and a few that saw Isaac and stopped their activities to stare in shock at the appearance of the metal giant before them. Some dropped a few things, like ice cream, keys, and jaws.

“Well,” he heard Lyra say, “I best be off. Bon Bon’s gonna want to know where I went and, well… bye!”

With that, she dashed off towards wherever. Leaving five Ponies and Isaac locked in the stares of the immediate area of town. Rarity broke the silence first as she started towards a road to the right.

“Well, I say that we start with the boutique. What do you think, girls?”

They all nodded and followed, leaving Isaac behind slightly before he realized that they meant for him to follow as well. He stumbled a bit, trying to maintain a steady walk as hundreds of eyes gazed upon him.

‘Thinking this might not be the best course of action.’ Isaac thought to himself. ‘Let’s just hope they don’t start rioting soon, otherwise I’ll be out of a job, place to sleep, and decent food. Again.’

They went along a trail for a few minutes before coming upon a massive circular building covered in white and purple, with spires going towards the sky. The entire thing reminded him of those playground spinning… things… he saw on Earth. Considering the sign said, “Carousel Boutique,” Isaac assumed that they had those here too, but why someone would name a building after one was beyond him and his multiple Masters degrees in Engineering.

When they entered, Isaac smelt a massively uncomfortable amount of perfume, and immediately went to put on his helmet. When it locked, they all looked at him with confusion, save for Rarity, who looked rather annoyed.

“Sorry. Not used to smelling anything, really. A bit more than I can handle, right now. Wouldn’t want to mess up your floors.” Isaac coughed.

She put on a face of disgust and turned quickly, but thankful for his consideration. They went inside, and boy did Isaac feel out of place. Inside was, first, a truly dedicated abomination to the colors of pink and purple, stripping away his masculinity just by presence. Secondly, stages and mirrors galore, with sewing machines and fabrics scattered about, which Isaac connected directly to the business. And thirdly, mannequins that were shaped like Ponies that all had on some type of fashion. All of this made Isaac squirm at the entrance as the rest of the group spread out into the place.

“Welcome, Isaac,” Rarity started, “to Carousel Boutique!” she stated as she finished with a half-bowing gesture.

Isaac walked a little bit around the store’s main floor, and examined the place with some level of interest.

“It’s… nice.” He managed to say.

Rarity’s expression went from a large smile to a slight frown of disappointment at this revelation.

“Oh. Just, nice?”

“Well, I’m definitely not one for fashion, nor am I one for anything so…”

“Feminine?” she asked with a hint of annoyance.

“No… it’s just… I’m more of a star-ship kind of person, so I guess we could say, non-metallic? I just don’t feel comfortable with, well, comfort, I guess. Maybe it’s because I’m an Engineer, maybe because I’m used to being on ships, I don’t know. Sorry.”

She waved her hoof dismissively.

“Oh, darling, please. If it’s that, then no reason to worry. We’re not exactly trying to say, ‘Welcome to the Future,’ here right now, and you are from another world entirely, so it should be expected. No need to apologize.”

Before he could reply, there was a loud shriek and something white and puffy jumped onto Isaac’s faceplate.

“GET IT OFF!” he yelled,” GET IT OFF!”

As Isaac stomped in place, prying the attacker off, a small white unicorn came down the stairs behind him, while shouting.

“Opal! Please! You need your bath before- Rarity! And- WHAT IS THAT!?” Isaac heard an incredibly squeaky voice call out.

He felt a ping against the helmet and finally the attacker came loose. He ripped it off and held it at arm’s length in front of him. It was a cat. A cat. A white fur-ball with a purple bow, but a cat nonetheless.

‘Fucking really!?’ he thought violently, holding the cat upside-down by the torso. It gave a loud his and swiped at him, in which he then threw/dropped it towards the stairs, where the small white unicorn was still pointing at him.

“Sweetie Belle,” Rarity began, approaching the smaller Unicorn, “why was Opal so violent?”

‘Sweetie Belle’ shook her head and focused on her sister, seeing as how she apparently didn’t mind the metal monster before them.

“Well, Rarity, I was trying to sort those dryer sheets, like you told me to, and then Opal jumped into the used pile with the lint, so I tried to get her to take a bath, and then… that happened. Sorry. Who is that, by the way?”

Isaac approached the two and bent down to talk.

“Name’s Isaac. Isaac Clarke.”

She squeaked and put on a massive smile.

“Hi, Isaac! I’m Sweetie Belle! Nice to meet you!”

Isaac chuckled inwardly at how adorable she was.

‘Wait, did I just think that?’ he thought. ‘Whatever.’

“Nice to meet you, too.”

Sweetie gasped.

“Are you the alien that Pinkie mentioned?”

“Um… Yes?”

“Oh my gosh! This is great! I gotta tell the other Crusaders!”

She ran past Isaac and darted out the door. Isaac turned to Rarity, questions exploding in his mind.

“That was my little sister. She’s off now to tell her friends, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, they call themselves, about you and how you’re an alien and such.”

“Really?”

“Of course. It’s not exactly every day one meets a creature from another world, you know.”

Isaac stared back at the door. ‘So now I might have kids following me around? Even better. Let’s hope they’re at least better than the Pack.’

\\\//////

Their trip around town was rather uneventful, as Isaac seemed to have scared off literally everyone in a 5-kilometer radius. Stores were closed, windows were sealed, and even the fountains seemed to be rather… void, for some reason. Isaac had long since removed his helmet, but now it was apparent that it wasn’t just the metal plate for a face that may have scared them all off. After calling off the walk through town, the group decided to go to Sweet Apple Acres to let the town recover a bit.

After about a 30 minute walk, Isaac saw rows upon rows of apple trees in the fields before him, as far as the eye could see. The only things sticking out were an old farmhouse with a seemingly homey feel to it, and a red barn out by the fields. As the group approached, Isaac heard a loud thump from a group of trees to his right, and instinctively went into ‘Fuck-shit-up-mode,’ Cutter raised and everything.

Before he could pull any kind of trigger, however, he saw a red mass pulling a wooden cart stop near him. Isaac analyzed the mass and saw that it was a heavily stacked Earth-Pony with orange hair, red fur, and a green sliced-open apple on, presumably, his flank. The two exchanged stares for a few seconds until Applejack caught wind of the silent death-match and went in between the two.

“Issac, ah see ya found Big Mac, mah brother. Big Mac, this is Isaac, the alien I told ya about earlier.”

‘Big Mac… seems fitting,’ thought Isaac.

The red stallion looked up to Isaac with a stoic expression, seemingly unaffected by anything at all.

Isaac was next to break their silence.

“Yeah, uh, I’m Isaac. Heard anything… negative? About me?”

“Nope.”

“Alright then. Good talk.”

“Eeyup.”

With that, the trio parted, one towards the storage for apples, and the other two towards the barn.

‘I think that one may be one of the best so far,’ Isaac thought.

The six passed by the farmhouse without so much as a glance, leaving Isaac somewhat clueless.

“Uh, where are we going?”

Applejack stifled a laugh as she went ahead of Isaac.

“We’re gonna show ya the barn, o’course.”

“Why?”

“No reason, sugarcube.”

When they reached the barn, Isaac noted how dark it seemed inside, and how eerily quiet everything was. He thought that if he focused enough, he could hear whispering in the back of his head. Almost as if they were right next to him. He physically tensed up and gripped the Plasma Cutter tightly, causing a knuckle or two to pop.

Fluttershy noticed his tensing figure and popping joints, as she realized something was gravely mistaken for the next event. She hurriedly flew up to Isaac and whispered to him.

“Um, Isaac? You, uh, don’t like surprises, do you?” she asked nervously.

As if on cue, the barn doors swung open, and loud pops filled the air with confetti and streamers while lights burst to life on the inside.

“SURPRI-“

Was all they could hear before Isaac fired his Plasma Cutter into the barn at the first thing he saw- being a banner that was hanging at eye-level, which was now sizzling and boiling apart from the Acid-Bath Plasma bolt that ripped through it. As it fell to the ground, Isaac’s eyes widened as he took in the sight before him: a party.

The barn was filled with Ponies he assumed to be from the town, their faces now racked with fear and shock. There were streamers lining the walls and confetti on the ground, some still falling. To the left, he could see a table with a bowl filled with a purple liquid and ice, with a collection of cups next to it. On either side of the bowl were plates with multitudes of sweets, such as cupcakes and tarts. To the right of the barn was an assortment of childish games, while in the back was a station with large black boxes.

He stood there with his cutter still pointed high while staring at them all in a nearly equal amount of shock. Isaac looked at the Plasma Cutter in his hands and then swiftly pulled it behind him and smiled nervously at the crowd.

“Aha ha ha… uh…” Isaac raised his other hand and waved at the crowd, “hi?”

They all looked towards each other until a familiar voice came up from the back, jumping for all to see and hear.

“That was Great Isaac! You totally kicked this party off with a Bang! Now we don’t need to worry about cleaning it up, too! Now, Let’s get it ON!”

With that, the Ponies all shrugged and just started either dancing or talking as electric beats began to fill the air from the black boxes in the back, along with multicolor lights beginning to flash about the room.

Leaving a very confused Isaac staring at the crowd that he literally almost killed. He stared at the crowd as they partied with complete disregard to the alien that just fired a weapon at them and just acted as though nothing was wrong.

‘This is fucking… I… whatever.” Isaac thought.

He stuffed the Plasma Cutter into his RIG on the side and walked in to join the party. As soon as he stepped inside the doorway, Pinkie rushed up and began to speak to him.

“Hey Isaac! I betcha you were surprised, huh? Were ya? Were ya? I throw the best surprise parties for everypony, no matter what the occasion! Luckily I was here to save you from that weird thing you did to startle everypony. Did that mean you were super-duper-extra-surprised!?”

“Pinkie!” Twilight shouted. “What were you thinking!? You know Isaac’s jumpy and not familiar enough with anypony to expect a surprise party!”

Fluttershy came up to Pinkie and spoke up.

“Yeah. Isaac’s startled easy, and I tried to warn everypony, but, I guess I need to speak up. But still, you should have let him know. Somepony could have been hurt. Remember when he met Rainbow Dash?”

Rainbow flew over them and hovered while she spoke.

“Yeah, right. He just got lucky. Besides, what about that thing he did? That burned the banner?”

At that point, all six of them had their eyes on him. Twilight approached him and started.

“Yeah. Isaac, what was that thing you did?”

Isaac sighed and put his hand on his forehead for doing something so stupid.

“That was the Plasma Cutter, the mining tool. I’m sorry, but you really should never do that for me.”

Pinkie’s mane began to flatten as tears began to form.

“Y-you don’t like… parties?”

“No, no, not parties, just… surprises in general. I mean, I don’t mind parties one bit, but they’re right. I could have hurt someone badly with that. I’m just glad right now that you were able to calm them down before some kind of massive panic.”

Pinkie’s mane popped up again as she replied.

“No problemo Isaac! Sorry about scaring you. I just wanted to welcome you to Ponyville.”

“No problem. And thanks.”

“Now come on! This is your party!”

Isaac looked back and glanced over the six Ponies he had come to know and smiled.

“Thanks. Let’s party.”