Beginning of a Futureby The_MachinistChaptersDiscordSome kind of second chapterApplejack and CrewDiscordA lone figure trudged through the blackened wasteland that it once called home. The iron boots pushed through the broken concrete like a hot knife through butter. Ash fell from the sky, but the soldier shook it off like it was nothing. The helmet that he donned upon his head had only one engraving to remind him of what he once served, only one thing to remind him of the times before now. Only one thing that could bring tears to the unlucky man: A dove that grasped an olive branch in one claw, and a scroll in the other. A symbol of peace that now meant nothing to the battered world, but the soldier kept on going. One of his heavy boots stepped on something that made a sickening crunch. He raised his armored boot and looked at what he had stepped on. Shattered glass slid away to reveal what was underneath, a picture. A man was hugging his toddler son in the portrait, who was smiling up at his presumed father. The man looked around and realized his surroundings for the first time since the ash had started falling. A single tear rolled down his cheek as he kept on with his walking. Darkness was overcoming the city faster than the ash could fall. The soldier clicked on a light that was on his shoulder and brushed away the ash that had fallen on his plastic mask. The man was lucky that he had it on before this happened, but he didn’t feel lucky. The tears tried to fight their way back up, but he forced them down. If he was the last one, then he had to keep his dignity. Dignity for what? Unless there was a deity watching him, then who else cared about him at this point? There was no one else, because they were gone. A few tears escaped his tightly closed eyelids. Nearly causing him to break his resolve, but then he realized something that could help with his loneliness. He lifted his arm up so he could see his wrist, he then slid a small shutter up so he could view the small tablet attached to his metal covered wrist. He tapped on it, using his memory to activate what he wanted. A crackling sound rang inside his helmet before settling to a dull hum. With a dry voice, he spoke, “Echo one to Echo six do you copy?!” Static. With the sound of desperation starting to rise in his voice, he spoke again, “Sergeant Lowell to Major Harris, do you copy?!” Static. She was not responding to his pleas. The Major always responded whenever her soldiers were in dire need of assistance, and right now was certainly one of those times. This was enough to break the poor man’s emotional wall. He let forth a stream of tears that were absorbed by his mask’s interior padding. The tears subsided after a short few minutes, and he continued his trek to nowhere. The Sergeant let out a disheartened sigh; realizing that he was alone in the wasteland that was once the great city of New York. “Are you sure that you are alone in this- Wow, this was a city at one time? Things sure do get boring in that statue, so I suppose going back in time to spectate was a great source of entertainment for this poor old chaos causer.” The voice cackled in a mad manner. Sergeant Lowell pivoted on his heels and faced the voice, which turned out to be a mix and match of animals that were both fictional and existential. The living jigsaw puzzle put both of his arms up to his cartoonish, donkey-shaped face that bore a look of feigned shock. “Oh how frightening! A monster! Whatever shall I do! Oh my goodness I just can’t- BWAHAHAHA!” The beast broke out in a chorus of laughter. he wiped an invisible tear from his eye and continued. “Oh I’m sorry… I cannot say that with a straight face… Anyhow, you are the last of your species if the future has anything to say about it…” Sergeant Lowell wanted to say that the creature was lying; That the creature was babbling nonsense about a subject he knew nothing about, but he let the monster speak his mind, even if it sounded absurd. Then again, the world did just blow up… “So, I’d like to make a deal with you Sergeant…” The creature smirked and crossed its forearms. “How would you like to live in utopia. Granted, that utopia is in the future, but it is a place that you could be happy in. Or… Happy compared to whatever you’re feeling right now.” The thing snorted. “There is only one thing that you have to do.” The sergeant’s head lifted up at the beast’s smiling face with interest at the possibility of being freed from the plague of war that had fallen upon the now desolate wasteland of a world. The prospect of having to earn it did not deter him in the slightest. “What do I have to do?” His voice was barely audible, but it stood out. “Ill give you time to explore, but after oh… I don’t know… A year? Yeah, a year of getting to know the area and ponies, but after you explore and do whatever it is that you humans do, you must free me from my stone imprisonment.” The chaotic being expected the soldier to think about it, but the armored hand shot up to meet the beast’s lionlike paw. He firmly gripped it and shook it vigorously, closing the deal between the two beings. “I’ll do that… Just please get me out of this hellhole.” He sighed in relief and rubbed at the cracked, glass faceplate that once displayed information to help him whenever he was in the field, but was now going to be used to attract and send radio waves. Sergeant Lowell had a feeling that these ponies would would not have radios if they were peaceful, based on the logic that ponies are usually herbivorous, they would most likely be docile. if they were docile then they would most likely not have war. Technology, such as the radio, arose from war. Thus, ponies should not have much technology. “That’s the spirit, my armored friend! You’ll get along just fine in Equestria! Hey, for being so kind I think I’ll let you keep your personal possessions!” The being snapped his fingers and everything was soon engulfed in a bright white light. He was immediately startled when he woke up, for he saw naught but the ground closing in on him at an alarming pace. He flailed in midair for a short time before realizing that there was nothing he could do. Although he did remember that the suit and the occupant could survive an orbital drop from one of the orbiting space colonies that were scattered in the upper atmosphere. He blinked as he saw a cyan dot race towards him like a missile, and impacted him with the force of one. He did a flip in midair before landing on something soft and alive. “I saw you falling when i was taking a nap and I thought that you must have had an accident up there… You must be one of Fluttershy’s creatures that escaped! I knew that bear was going to cause trouble in there, thought he was gonna rally those animals up and escape, well he did! I just knew it!” He heard the creature speak about her friend and the animal’s antics. He decided that now was not the time to be in shock, he was a marine after all. They were trained to not break under stress. Talking pegasi were no exception to this training. If he could stay sane meeting a mix and match of creatures then he can stay sane meeting a few ponies. He heard the impact of hooves against dirt and he pushed himself off the pegasus, much to its surprise. The pegasus proceeded to yawn and rub its’ eyes in a dazed motion before looking at the armored human through squinted eyes. Her mouth dropped open and her ears laid flat against her had as she backed away cautiously. “Y-you look like you’re for a war, a-and you don’t have wings s-so…” Her eyes widened even further as she asked the most important question of the day.. “Are you an a-alien?” The soldier grinned maliciously before leaning into her ear to speak. “The question is, didn’t your mother teach you that you should not talk to strangers?” The aforementioned mare let out a tiny squeak before flying off at a speed that would rival the airforce’s fastest jets. A rainbow trail was left, which led to a town not too far away. He sighed as he realized that this “Discord” character was not lying when he said that the future was inhabited by ponies. He also realized that he had most likely sparked bad relations with his new neighbors. He turned about to further examine his surroundings, which happened to be a dark, dense, and scary looking forest. He was sure that this forest could not possibly top the shattered earth from the past, so he started his walk into the unknown. Hopefully, a walk that would not be his last. Author's Note Woo! Some kind of second chapterThe former United States Marine waltzed aimlessly through the forest. It’s dreary and dark atmosphere unsettled him as he looked around at the faces that seemed to have been imprinted on the trees. Trees couldn’t possibly harm even a fly, so he dismissed it as a sticks and stones sort of schtick. The sergeant could have sworn that he had heard a familiar “Boom”. It was faint, but it sounded like something had breached the sound barrier. It reminded him of that cyan pegasus he encountered earlier, he laughed at that thought. Pegasi couldn’t possibly fly that fast, right? Who was he to question the way the universe works, a big dragon thing did transport him to the future, so isn’t anything possible at this point? He noticed pink cotton stuck to arm, he plucked it off and sniffed it. A confused expression befell Sergeant Lowell’s face as he tried to think about where the cotton candy could have come from. %*%*%*%*% “It’s not possible Rainbow! The facts don’t line up, and your story does not make a whiff of sense! An armored talking monkey falling out of the sky? Ugh! I can’t believe you!” Twilight facehooved and closed her eyes. “But it’s true Twilight! When have I ever lied to you?” Rainbow chuckled nervously as Twilight looked to her with a neutral expression. “Point taken, but why would I make this up? It’s not like he could be a threat or anything.” Rainbow rolled her eyes and lifted herself off the wooden floor of Twilight’s library with the beat of her wings. “Preposterous… Just simply preposterous, Rainbow… You want me to believe that an alien fell from the sky? Anything else you’d like to add?” Twilight had walked back to her writing desk and opened a book titled “Starwirl’s Superb Spells”. Rainbow stuttered before blurting out “B-but it looked like discords magic! He fell out of a cotton candy portal for Celestia’s sake! The whole scene just reeked of Discord! Argh! Forget it Twi, if you won’t believe me then maybe somepony else will!” Rainbow dashed out of the libraries front door shortly after her outburst, leaving Twilight Sparkle in a state of shock with her maw nearly touching the floor, in the literal sense. Twilight shook her head to snap out of her shock and promptly started to chase after Rainbow, but as soon as she saw the cyan pegasus, she had shot off in a blast of color in sound. Twilight was left there stunned as to how Rainbow good become so worked up over something like this. Unless she was telling the truth? %*%*%*%*% “God damn animals and their stupid shit! Literally!” Lowell lifted up a metal clad boot that was now covered, quite literally, in shit. “What kind of animal could make a pile this freaking big!” His voice boomed throughout the forest, causing many birds to flock away in fear and rabbits to run away back to their burrows. The soldier looked around the forest, mesmerized by the stunned silence caused by his voice. This did not last long however, as a loud crashing erupted from the forest behind him. He stood as straight as a pillar, not moving and hoping that whatever made that crashing noise would pass. He heard and felt the hot breath of the beast on the back of his neck through the thick armor. It nudged him forward with its incredibly large muzzle, as he presumed. He did an about-face spin on his heels and came face to face with the most frightening thing that he could possibly see, scary enough to make him piss his pants. A lion’s inquisitive face stared back at him with wide, cat-like eyes of green color. He peered over the lion’s head and spotted a scorpion tail hanging limply above the creature’s lower back. It swung side to side in a taunting fashion, as if to say “If I don’t like you, then this will be going through your chest!” Not like anything could penetrate his compressed, self-repairing, steel armor. The plates were woven with the toughest steel down to the molecular level. The only thing that this armor couldn’t tolerate was a nuclear blast at point-blank. The manticore thing sniffed him from heel to head, trying to make heads and tails of the man before it. Lowell assumed that the manticore was thinking about either eating him, or leaving the armored soldier alone in the dark and dense forest. The manticore got a bright look in its eyes before it started licking the marine’s hand and purring. Beneath the red, glowing eyes of his black mask, the marine smiled. He patted the manticore’s muzzle as it continued to show its affection for the marine. Sergeant Lowell had to admit that he enjoyed the manticore’s company throughout the afternoon, underneath it’s terrifying guise was a sweet, soft, cuddly kitten waiting to be played with. He had a few cats before he was brought out into the war. Cats were ultimately his favorite animal, especially the Siberian tigers. This manticore was something completely different, it was about as big as a Leopard and its tail reached up to the marine’s head, which he tried to avoid as much as possible. The day went on without much happening, but late into the evening while he was eating an MRE that was stashed in his storage compartment, he heard voices speaking as they entered the forest. He recognized one of them as the cyan pony that he had fallen onto. The manticore apparently noticed the voices as well, because it dashed off into the wilderness, nowhere to be seen. He pulled out his USP .45 standard issue pistol and headed off in the direction of the voices, hoping that he could pull off what he was planning to do. %*%*%*%*% “So you went to Fluttershy’s, Applejack’s, Rarity’s, and Pinkie’s homes to get all of them… You managed to convince them that you saw a bipedal alien, and you want all of us to go out to the Everfree Forest, which is dangerous might I add, but you also want us to apprehend said bipedal alien?” Twilight would pinch her brow if she had hands. “Yeah! Applejack thought I was telling the truth, right Applejack?” The multicolored pegasus turned to the hard working earth pony and smiled hopefully. “Darn tootin!” Applejack tipped her hat to Twilight. “She’s tellin’ the truth this time Twi!” “Oh I can’t wait to meet him! We can throw him a ‘welcome to Ponyville party’!” Pinkie gasped, “Or maybe a ‘welcome to Ponyville AND Equestria party! I’ll invite everypony and tom!” Pinkie continued to blabber on about parties, so the rest of the ponies tuned her out as they started walking to and into the Everfree forest, their faces contorted into that of apprehension as they walked amongst the dark trees once more. They started talking about various topics as they traversed into the forest, but quieted down when they heard a loud rustle in the bushes a few yards away. They briefly saw the end of a manticore tail rush away into the darkness, but they tensed up when they saw something step out of the bushes in front of them. Its black stick pointed towards them in a menacing manner. It spoke five words that will go down in the Equestrian history books as the most cliché first contact line ever used. “Take me to your leader.” Author's Note I'm done sucking google doc's dick. Hate that shit, enjoy your sandwich. Applejack and Crew… Rainbow dash was the first one to break the unnerving silence. “What kind of first contact are you going for mister alien thing? ‘Take me to your leader’...” Rainbow face-hoofed and kicked off into the air, startling the marine, and crossed her arms while sticking her muzzle into the air. “I have read better first contact lines in a Daring Do book, and those books are cliche all in their own right!” Rainbow narrowed her eyes at the armored creature. “But who are you to tell us to take you to Princess Celestia who is safely tucked away inside a castle on the side of that mountain over there!?” Rainbow Pointed at the distant mountain behind the creature. Applejack gave a Rainbow Dash an ‘Are you kidding me?’ look. Rainbow was about to ask why Applejack was staring at her like that, but then it hit her. Rainbow Dash landed on the ground next to the five ponies and lowered her ears in shame. “Sorry… Um… I was getting caught up in the moment…” Twilight sighed. “Rainbow Dash…” She looked at the creature with a nonchalant gaze that could rival Pinkie Pie’s sister in nonchalantness. “Do you really need to see the Princess that bad? I’m sure she’s busy doing paperwork, or busy dealing the the nobility, or busy dealing with matters of national securit-” Rarity laughed nervously and pushed Twilight to the side. “What Twily is trying to say is that Princess Celestia has more important matters to deal with than a… creature… such as yourself.” Rarity looked at the armored human from head to toe. “I mean… Look at yourself. You are so very dirty! Why, you wouldn’t be let in just because you were covered in a layer of muck and filth!” Rarity seemed to get taller as she gained more confidence in her words. “Perhaps when you get cleaned up and taken out of that dreadful looking armor, then I’m sure you’ll be all ready to go. that is, if the Princess would wish to see you in the first place.” The Sergeant lowered his pistol, deciding that these creatures were not a threat to him. If the nonchalant and friendly attitude was anything to consider, he would say that they would much rather want to be friends. He had friends in the marines, but he was never too close to them. They could die at anytime, and look what happened. Lowell quickly checked the power on his suit, and was shocked to find that the battery was charging on its’ own. He did a quick diagnostics check and found that nothing was wrong. He felt a tap on his shin and looked down to find a butter-yellow pegasus with pink hair staring up at him with confused, yet gentle eyes. They truly were a peaceful species, and had members of society to show for it. “Mister creature? Are you okay?” Her voice was soft. It was probably the sweetest voice he had ever heard. Next to his daughter’s of course, but she wasn’t very fond of him. He looked at the sky and noticed a heart shaped cloud passing overhead. It was almost perfect. The moment was perfect, that is. The man’s knees felt rubbery as he collapsed on them. His voice carried the same electronic tone as it had previously. “No. I don’t think I am right now, but I highly doubt you ponies would understand.” The five mares exchanged worried glances, Rainbow Dash had taken off in embarrassment of giving away Princess Celestia’s position to the unknown creature. Applejack rubbed the back of her neck with a hoof while looking behind the worried creature. The orange mare sighed and looked at the creature. “Well I suppose ya’ll could stay on my farm if’n you’re willing to help out a bit.” Her ars perked a bit. “If ya could lift buckets of apples and bales of hay all day then you’ll fit right in.” Twilight smiled at Applejack. “That’s kind of you to offer Applejack, but I think that I should be the one to show him around to-” “That’s fine. I don’t have anywhere to go anyways. I’ll stay at your farm, Applejack. I think I could get used to helping out a little, but I have a mission to stick to.” Twilight let out a growl at being interrupted for the second time. “And I would rather get to know the people, or ponies here on my own. Sorry for being so hostile earlier. It’s just that I had to be that way in my line of work.” He stared at the five ponies, who were now beginning to open up to him. “So… Does that mean you don’t want a welcome party?” Pinkie cocked her head to the side and looked at him questioningly. The creature cracked a smile from under his visor. “A welcome party would actually be appreciated more than anything, but don’t force anybody to come if they don’t want to.” “How noble of you.” Rarity commented to herself. “Would you allow me to clean your armor?” Sergeant Lowell stood back up. His imposing form towering over the ponies, who were not so terrified of him anymore. “Sorry, but there is a protocol to cleaning armor and equipment.” He holstered his pistol. Pinkie pointed at the pistol he had just holstered and frowned. “What is that thing?” Twilight frowned at the pink pony, who had somehow gotten ahold of a journalist’s hat, a notepad, and a quill. Complete with a note sticking out the side of the hat. “Pinkie. I think he’s had enough questioning for today. Why don’t we all leave him alone?” Pinkie pouted at Twilight. “But-” “Twilight’s right Pinkie. Looks like this creature’s had a tough time. Just look at ‘im!” Applejack waved her hoof in the armored creature’s direction. “We’ve been talkin’ bout him this whole time, but we don’t even know his name!” “The name is Bill Lowell, but you can just call me Lowell, or Gunnery Sergeant Lowell. Whatever you prefer really.” Lowell shrugged his shoulders and dusted off the armor plate that had the insignia of Gunnery Sergeant. The ponies gasped in shock, and Fluttershy even hid behind Twilight. Pinkie Pie saluted him and put on a stoic face. “Private Pie at your service, sir!” Lowell sighed and shook his head at Pinkie. “Don’t call me sir. That’s reserved for officers and my father. Of which I am neither.” Pinkie Pie nodded her head. “So when should we give you your party?! Oh! Tomorrow? Yesterday? No wait…” The pink pony put a hoof to her muzzle in thought. “Why don’t you surprise me. I think you’ll do a good job at that.” Lowell let out a short chuckle. Rarity was beginning to fidget, something Twilight quickly noticed. “Oh! Why don’t we all head inside. It would probably be more comfortable than sitting on the grass.” Rarity let out a silent thank you to Twilight as she stood up. “Actually Twilight… I have to go take care of my animals. They are probably worried about me…” Fluttershy nodded her head in the direction of her cottage. “I think Fluttershy’s right. We should all go our separate ways fer now and meet again tomorrow. Sound good?” Applejack looked around and got confirmation from all ponies but Twilight, who let out another grumble as her idea was shot down. “Alright. See you girls tomorrow now.” The ponies went their separate ways leaving Applejack and Gunnery Sergeant Lowell alone together. Applejack eyed the Gunnery Sergeant up and down. “You’re downright filthy. What happened?” Lowell visibly tensed up. “Something that you ponies will never understand. Besides, it doesn’t matter to you anyways. It was the past and we’ll leave it at that.” Applejack sighed and nodded her head. “I suppose we can leave it be for now, but I wanna hear you talk ‘bout it sometime in the future. It’s eatin’ you up, that’s what I know.” Lowell stared at her through the visor. “Why dontcha take that bent up helmet off? It’ll give ya’ll some fresh air and i want ta see what you look like.” The marine shook his head. “I don’t know if I breathe the same air as you ponies.” Applejack looked at him smugly. “So yer sayin’ that you don’t breathe oxy… oxy…” Applejack’s muzzle scrunched up, making the marine laugh. “Oxygen?” Lowell finished for her. Applejack nodded her head. “Yeah, I breathe oxygen, but don’t run away and scream when you see my face, okay?” Applejack nodded her head again. Lowell twisted a small knob on the back of his helmet, the steel and glass object letting out a hiss in response. He undid two clamps on either side of his helmet and slipped it of his head. The helmet let out a short *beep* as it came off, signifying that it had been undid from its’ suit. He unscrewed the nozzle that was attached from the helmet’s mouth to his shoulder. Lowell casually set the helmet on the ground next to him, where he sat down meeting eye contact with Applejack. Applejack stared at his face in shock. She expected a face of a minotaur or an insectoid appearance like those space novels. She didn’t expect the face of an ancient species to meet her. “Y-you… Yer one of those?” The man stared at her with confusion etched on his face. His blonde eyebrows lowering in worry. “I’m a human. Is that a problem?” Applejack shook her head. “It’s not a problem, no. Princess Celestia says that your species created the ghastly gorge, and that your species is supposed to be extinct.” This wasn’t news to the former marine. He did somehow survive a nuclear war. It was odd to think that these ponies knew of his species. Most nations were blown to smithereens after all. He knew that he was somewhere in America. Continents couldn’t have shifted too much over the years. The big question is ‘What year am I in?’. “Oh I see where you’re coming from. The ghastly gorge is some kind of canyon I suppose. Most likely caused by an explosion. Yeah i definitely see where you’re coming from.” He shook his head and stood up, his helmet at his side. “Let’s just get back to wherever you live and we can figure out the semantics of this situation later. Applejack nodded dumbly. “Alright!” The marine happily cheered. “Then let’s move out!”
DiscordA lone figure trudged through the blackened wasteland that it once called home. The iron boots pushed through the broken concrete like a hot knife through butter. Ash fell from the sky, but the soldier shook it off like it was nothing. The helmet that he donned upon his head had only one engraving to remind him of what he once served, only one thing to remind him of the times before now. Only one thing that could bring tears to the unlucky man: A dove that grasped an olive branch in one claw, and a scroll in the other. A symbol of peace that now meant nothing to the battered world, but the soldier kept on going. One of his heavy boots stepped on something that made a sickening crunch. He raised his armored boot and looked at what he had stepped on. Shattered glass slid away to reveal what was underneath, a picture. A man was hugging his toddler son in the portrait, who was smiling up at his presumed father. The man looked around and realized his surroundings for the first time since the ash had started falling. A single tear rolled down his cheek as he kept on with his walking. Darkness was overcoming the city faster than the ash could fall. The soldier clicked on a light that was on his shoulder and brushed away the ash that had fallen on his plastic mask. The man was lucky that he had it on before this happened, but he didn’t feel lucky. The tears tried to fight their way back up, but he forced them down. If he was the last one, then he had to keep his dignity. Dignity for what? Unless there was a deity watching him, then who else cared about him at this point? There was no one else, because they were gone. A few tears escaped his tightly closed eyelids. Nearly causing him to break his resolve, but then he realized something that could help with his loneliness. He lifted his arm up so he could see his wrist, he then slid a small shutter up so he could view the small tablet attached to his metal covered wrist. He tapped on it, using his memory to activate what he wanted. A crackling sound rang inside his helmet before settling to a dull hum. With a dry voice, he spoke, “Echo one to Echo six do you copy?!” Static. With the sound of desperation starting to rise in his voice, he spoke again, “Sergeant Lowell to Major Harris, do you copy?!” Static. She was not responding to his pleas. The Major always responded whenever her soldiers were in dire need of assistance, and right now was certainly one of those times. This was enough to break the poor man’s emotional wall. He let forth a stream of tears that were absorbed by his mask’s interior padding. The tears subsided after a short few minutes, and he continued his trek to nowhere. The Sergeant let out a disheartened sigh; realizing that he was alone in the wasteland that was once the great city of New York. “Are you sure that you are alone in this- Wow, this was a city at one time? Things sure do get boring in that statue, so I suppose going back in time to spectate was a great source of entertainment for this poor old chaos causer.” The voice cackled in a mad manner. Sergeant Lowell pivoted on his heels and faced the voice, which turned out to be a mix and match of animals that were both fictional and existential. The living jigsaw puzzle put both of his arms up to his cartoonish, donkey-shaped face that bore a look of feigned shock. “Oh how frightening! A monster! Whatever shall I do! Oh my goodness I just can’t- BWAHAHAHA!” The beast broke out in a chorus of laughter. he wiped an invisible tear from his eye and continued. “Oh I’m sorry… I cannot say that with a straight face… Anyhow, you are the last of your species if the future has anything to say about it…” Sergeant Lowell wanted to say that the creature was lying; That the creature was babbling nonsense about a subject he knew nothing about, but he let the monster speak his mind, even if it sounded absurd. Then again, the world did just blow up… “So, I’d like to make a deal with you Sergeant…” The creature smirked and crossed its forearms. “How would you like to live in utopia. Granted, that utopia is in the future, but it is a place that you could be happy in. Or… Happy compared to whatever you’re feeling right now.” The thing snorted. “There is only one thing that you have to do.” The sergeant’s head lifted up at the beast’s smiling face with interest at the possibility of being freed from the plague of war that had fallen upon the now desolate wasteland of a world. The prospect of having to earn it did not deter him in the slightest. “What do I have to do?” His voice was barely audible, but it stood out. “Ill give you time to explore, but after oh… I don’t know… A year? Yeah, a year of getting to know the area and ponies, but after you explore and do whatever it is that you humans do, you must free me from my stone imprisonment.” The chaotic being expected the soldier to think about it, but the armored hand shot up to meet the beast’s lionlike paw. He firmly gripped it and shook it vigorously, closing the deal between the two beings. “I’ll do that… Just please get me out of this hellhole.” He sighed in relief and rubbed at the cracked, glass faceplate that once displayed information to help him whenever he was in the field, but was now going to be used to attract and send radio waves. Sergeant Lowell had a feeling that these ponies would would not have radios if they were peaceful, based on the logic that ponies are usually herbivorous, they would most likely be docile. if they were docile then they would most likely not have war. Technology, such as the radio, arose from war. Thus, ponies should not have much technology. “That’s the spirit, my armored friend! You’ll get along just fine in Equestria! Hey, for being so kind I think I’ll let you keep your personal possessions!” The being snapped his fingers and everything was soon engulfed in a bright white light. He was immediately startled when he woke up, for he saw naught but the ground closing in on him at an alarming pace. He flailed in midair for a short time before realizing that there was nothing he could do. Although he did remember that the suit and the occupant could survive an orbital drop from one of the orbiting space colonies that were scattered in the upper atmosphere. He blinked as he saw a cyan dot race towards him like a missile, and impacted him with the force of one. He did a flip in midair before landing on something soft and alive. “I saw you falling when i was taking a nap and I thought that you must have had an accident up there… You must be one of Fluttershy’s creatures that escaped! I knew that bear was going to cause trouble in there, thought he was gonna rally those animals up and escape, well he did! I just knew it!” He heard the creature speak about her friend and the animal’s antics. He decided that now was not the time to be in shock, he was a marine after all. They were trained to not break under stress. Talking pegasi were no exception to this training. If he could stay sane meeting a mix and match of creatures then he can stay sane meeting a few ponies. He heard the impact of hooves against dirt and he pushed himself off the pegasus, much to its surprise. The pegasus proceeded to yawn and rub its’ eyes in a dazed motion before looking at the armored human through squinted eyes. Her mouth dropped open and her ears laid flat against her had as she backed away cautiously. “Y-you look like you’re for a war, a-and you don’t have wings s-so…” Her eyes widened even further as she asked the most important question of the day.. “Are you an a-alien?” The soldier grinned maliciously before leaning into her ear to speak. “The question is, didn’t your mother teach you that you should not talk to strangers?” The aforementioned mare let out a tiny squeak before flying off at a speed that would rival the airforce’s fastest jets. A rainbow trail was left, which led to a town not too far away. He sighed as he realized that this “Discord” character was not lying when he said that the future was inhabited by ponies. He also realized that he had most likely sparked bad relations with his new neighbors. He turned about to further examine his surroundings, which happened to be a dark, dense, and scary looking forest. He was sure that this forest could not possibly top the shattered earth from the past, so he started his walk into the unknown. Hopefully, a walk that would not be his last. Author's Note Woo!
Some kind of second chapterThe former United States Marine waltzed aimlessly through the forest. It’s dreary and dark atmosphere unsettled him as he looked around at the faces that seemed to have been imprinted on the trees. Trees couldn’t possibly harm even a fly, so he dismissed it as a sticks and stones sort of schtick. The sergeant could have sworn that he had heard a familiar “Boom”. It was faint, but it sounded like something had breached the sound barrier. It reminded him of that cyan pegasus he encountered earlier, he laughed at that thought. Pegasi couldn’t possibly fly that fast, right? Who was he to question the way the universe works, a big dragon thing did transport him to the future, so isn’t anything possible at this point? He noticed pink cotton stuck to arm, he plucked it off and sniffed it. A confused expression befell Sergeant Lowell’s face as he tried to think about where the cotton candy could have come from. %*%*%*%*% “It’s not possible Rainbow! The facts don’t line up, and your story does not make a whiff of sense! An armored talking monkey falling out of the sky? Ugh! I can’t believe you!” Twilight facehooved and closed her eyes. “But it’s true Twilight! When have I ever lied to you?” Rainbow chuckled nervously as Twilight looked to her with a neutral expression. “Point taken, but why would I make this up? It’s not like he could be a threat or anything.” Rainbow rolled her eyes and lifted herself off the wooden floor of Twilight’s library with the beat of her wings. “Preposterous… Just simply preposterous, Rainbow… You want me to believe that an alien fell from the sky? Anything else you’d like to add?” Twilight had walked back to her writing desk and opened a book titled “Starwirl’s Superb Spells”. Rainbow stuttered before blurting out “B-but it looked like discords magic! He fell out of a cotton candy portal for Celestia’s sake! The whole scene just reeked of Discord! Argh! Forget it Twi, if you won’t believe me then maybe somepony else will!” Rainbow dashed out of the libraries front door shortly after her outburst, leaving Twilight Sparkle in a state of shock with her maw nearly touching the floor, in the literal sense. Twilight shook her head to snap out of her shock and promptly started to chase after Rainbow, but as soon as she saw the cyan pegasus, she had shot off in a blast of color in sound. Twilight was left there stunned as to how Rainbow good become so worked up over something like this. Unless she was telling the truth? %*%*%*%*% “God damn animals and their stupid shit! Literally!” Lowell lifted up a metal clad boot that was now covered, quite literally, in shit. “What kind of animal could make a pile this freaking big!” His voice boomed throughout the forest, causing many birds to flock away in fear and rabbits to run away back to their burrows. The soldier looked around the forest, mesmerized by the stunned silence caused by his voice. This did not last long however, as a loud crashing erupted from the forest behind him. He stood as straight as a pillar, not moving and hoping that whatever made that crashing noise would pass. He heard and felt the hot breath of the beast on the back of his neck through the thick armor. It nudged him forward with its incredibly large muzzle, as he presumed. He did an about-face spin on his heels and came face to face with the most frightening thing that he could possibly see, scary enough to make him piss his pants. A lion’s inquisitive face stared back at him with wide, cat-like eyes of green color. He peered over the lion’s head and spotted a scorpion tail hanging limply above the creature’s lower back. It swung side to side in a taunting fashion, as if to say “If I don’t like you, then this will be going through your chest!” Not like anything could penetrate his compressed, self-repairing, steel armor. The plates were woven with the toughest steel down to the molecular level. The only thing that this armor couldn’t tolerate was a nuclear blast at point-blank. The manticore thing sniffed him from heel to head, trying to make heads and tails of the man before it. Lowell assumed that the manticore was thinking about either eating him, or leaving the armored soldier alone in the dark and dense forest. The manticore got a bright look in its eyes before it started licking the marine’s hand and purring. Beneath the red, glowing eyes of his black mask, the marine smiled. He patted the manticore’s muzzle as it continued to show its affection for the marine. Sergeant Lowell had to admit that he enjoyed the manticore’s company throughout the afternoon, underneath it’s terrifying guise was a sweet, soft, cuddly kitten waiting to be played with. He had a few cats before he was brought out into the war. Cats were ultimately his favorite animal, especially the Siberian tigers. This manticore was something completely different, it was about as big as a Leopard and its tail reached up to the marine’s head, which he tried to avoid as much as possible. The day went on without much happening, but late into the evening while he was eating an MRE that was stashed in his storage compartment, he heard voices speaking as they entered the forest. He recognized one of them as the cyan pony that he had fallen onto. The manticore apparently noticed the voices as well, because it dashed off into the wilderness, nowhere to be seen. He pulled out his USP .45 standard issue pistol and headed off in the direction of the voices, hoping that he could pull off what he was planning to do. %*%*%*%*% “So you went to Fluttershy’s, Applejack’s, Rarity’s, and Pinkie’s homes to get all of them… You managed to convince them that you saw a bipedal alien, and you want all of us to go out to the Everfree Forest, which is dangerous might I add, but you also want us to apprehend said bipedal alien?” Twilight would pinch her brow if she had hands. “Yeah! Applejack thought I was telling the truth, right Applejack?” The multicolored pegasus turned to the hard working earth pony and smiled hopefully. “Darn tootin!” Applejack tipped her hat to Twilight. “She’s tellin’ the truth this time Twi!” “Oh I can’t wait to meet him! We can throw him a ‘welcome to Ponyville party’!” Pinkie gasped, “Or maybe a ‘welcome to Ponyville AND Equestria party! I’ll invite everypony and tom!” Pinkie continued to blabber on about parties, so the rest of the ponies tuned her out as they started walking to and into the Everfree forest, their faces contorted into that of apprehension as they walked amongst the dark trees once more. They started talking about various topics as they traversed into the forest, but quieted down when they heard a loud rustle in the bushes a few yards away. They briefly saw the end of a manticore tail rush away into the darkness, but they tensed up when they saw something step out of the bushes in front of them. Its black stick pointed towards them in a menacing manner. It spoke five words that will go down in the Equestrian history books as the most cliché first contact line ever used. “Take me to your leader.” Author's Note I'm done sucking google doc's dick. Hate that shit, enjoy your sandwich.
Applejack and Crew… Rainbow dash was the first one to break the unnerving silence. “What kind of first contact are you going for mister alien thing? ‘Take me to your leader’...” Rainbow face-hoofed and kicked off into the air, startling the marine, and crossed her arms while sticking her muzzle into the air. “I have read better first contact lines in a Daring Do book, and those books are cliche all in their own right!” Rainbow narrowed her eyes at the armored creature. “But who are you to tell us to take you to Princess Celestia who is safely tucked away inside a castle on the side of that mountain over there!?” Rainbow Pointed at the distant mountain behind the creature. Applejack gave a Rainbow Dash an ‘Are you kidding me?’ look. Rainbow was about to ask why Applejack was staring at her like that, but then it hit her. Rainbow Dash landed on the ground next to the five ponies and lowered her ears in shame. “Sorry… Um… I was getting caught up in the moment…” Twilight sighed. “Rainbow Dash…” She looked at the creature with a nonchalant gaze that could rival Pinkie Pie’s sister in nonchalantness. “Do you really need to see the Princess that bad? I’m sure she’s busy doing paperwork, or busy dealing the the nobility, or busy dealing with matters of national securit-” Rarity laughed nervously and pushed Twilight to the side. “What Twily is trying to say is that Princess Celestia has more important matters to deal with than a… creature… such as yourself.” Rarity looked at the armored human from head to toe. “I mean… Look at yourself. You are so very dirty! Why, you wouldn’t be let in just because you were covered in a layer of muck and filth!” Rarity seemed to get taller as she gained more confidence in her words. “Perhaps when you get cleaned up and taken out of that dreadful looking armor, then I’m sure you’ll be all ready to go. that is, if the Princess would wish to see you in the first place.” The Sergeant lowered his pistol, deciding that these creatures were not a threat to him. If the nonchalant and friendly attitude was anything to consider, he would say that they would much rather want to be friends. He had friends in the marines, but he was never too close to them. They could die at anytime, and look what happened. Lowell quickly checked the power on his suit, and was shocked to find that the battery was charging on its’ own. He did a quick diagnostics check and found that nothing was wrong. He felt a tap on his shin and looked down to find a butter-yellow pegasus with pink hair staring up at him with confused, yet gentle eyes. They truly were a peaceful species, and had members of society to show for it. “Mister creature? Are you okay?” Her voice was soft. It was probably the sweetest voice he had ever heard. Next to his daughter’s of course, but she wasn’t very fond of him. He looked at the sky and noticed a heart shaped cloud passing overhead. It was almost perfect. The moment was perfect, that is. The man’s knees felt rubbery as he collapsed on them. His voice carried the same electronic tone as it had previously. “No. I don’t think I am right now, but I highly doubt you ponies would understand.” The five mares exchanged worried glances, Rainbow Dash had taken off in embarrassment of giving away Princess Celestia’s position to the unknown creature. Applejack rubbed the back of her neck with a hoof while looking behind the worried creature. The orange mare sighed and looked at the creature. “Well I suppose ya’ll could stay on my farm if’n you’re willing to help out a bit.” Her ars perked a bit. “If ya could lift buckets of apples and bales of hay all day then you’ll fit right in.” Twilight smiled at Applejack. “That’s kind of you to offer Applejack, but I think that I should be the one to show him around to-” “That’s fine. I don’t have anywhere to go anyways. I’ll stay at your farm, Applejack. I think I could get used to helping out a little, but I have a mission to stick to.” Twilight let out a growl at being interrupted for the second time. “And I would rather get to know the people, or ponies here on my own. Sorry for being so hostile earlier. It’s just that I had to be that way in my line of work.” He stared at the five ponies, who were now beginning to open up to him. “So… Does that mean you don’t want a welcome party?” Pinkie cocked her head to the side and looked at him questioningly. The creature cracked a smile from under his visor. “A welcome party would actually be appreciated more than anything, but don’t force anybody to come if they don’t want to.” “How noble of you.” Rarity commented to herself. “Would you allow me to clean your armor?” Sergeant Lowell stood back up. His imposing form towering over the ponies, who were not so terrified of him anymore. “Sorry, but there is a protocol to cleaning armor and equipment.” He holstered his pistol. Pinkie pointed at the pistol he had just holstered and frowned. “What is that thing?” Twilight frowned at the pink pony, who had somehow gotten ahold of a journalist’s hat, a notepad, and a quill. Complete with a note sticking out the side of the hat. “Pinkie. I think he’s had enough questioning for today. Why don’t we all leave him alone?” Pinkie pouted at Twilight. “But-” “Twilight’s right Pinkie. Looks like this creature’s had a tough time. Just look at ‘im!” Applejack waved her hoof in the armored creature’s direction. “We’ve been talkin’ bout him this whole time, but we don’t even know his name!” “The name is Bill Lowell, but you can just call me Lowell, or Gunnery Sergeant Lowell. Whatever you prefer really.” Lowell shrugged his shoulders and dusted off the armor plate that had the insignia of Gunnery Sergeant. The ponies gasped in shock, and Fluttershy even hid behind Twilight. Pinkie Pie saluted him and put on a stoic face. “Private Pie at your service, sir!” Lowell sighed and shook his head at Pinkie. “Don’t call me sir. That’s reserved for officers and my father. Of which I am neither.” Pinkie Pie nodded her head. “So when should we give you your party?! Oh! Tomorrow? Yesterday? No wait…” The pink pony put a hoof to her muzzle in thought. “Why don’t you surprise me. I think you’ll do a good job at that.” Lowell let out a short chuckle. Rarity was beginning to fidget, something Twilight quickly noticed. “Oh! Why don’t we all head inside. It would probably be more comfortable than sitting on the grass.” Rarity let out a silent thank you to Twilight as she stood up. “Actually Twilight… I have to go take care of my animals. They are probably worried about me…” Fluttershy nodded her head in the direction of her cottage. “I think Fluttershy’s right. We should all go our separate ways fer now and meet again tomorrow. Sound good?” Applejack looked around and got confirmation from all ponies but Twilight, who let out another grumble as her idea was shot down. “Alright. See you girls tomorrow now.” The ponies went their separate ways leaving Applejack and Gunnery Sergeant Lowell alone together. Applejack eyed the Gunnery Sergeant up and down. “You’re downright filthy. What happened?” Lowell visibly tensed up. “Something that you ponies will never understand. Besides, it doesn’t matter to you anyways. It was the past and we’ll leave it at that.” Applejack sighed and nodded her head. “I suppose we can leave it be for now, but I wanna hear you talk ‘bout it sometime in the future. It’s eatin’ you up, that’s what I know.” Lowell stared at her through the visor. “Why dontcha take that bent up helmet off? It’ll give ya’ll some fresh air and i want ta see what you look like.” The marine shook his head. “I don’t know if I breathe the same air as you ponies.” Applejack looked at him smugly. “So yer sayin’ that you don’t breathe oxy… oxy…” Applejack’s muzzle scrunched up, making the marine laugh. “Oxygen?” Lowell finished for her. Applejack nodded her head. “Yeah, I breathe oxygen, but don’t run away and scream when you see my face, okay?” Applejack nodded her head again. Lowell twisted a small knob on the back of his helmet, the steel and glass object letting out a hiss in response. He undid two clamps on either side of his helmet and slipped it of his head. The helmet let out a short *beep* as it came off, signifying that it had been undid from its’ suit. He unscrewed the nozzle that was attached from the helmet’s mouth to his shoulder. Lowell casually set the helmet on the ground next to him, where he sat down meeting eye contact with Applejack. Applejack stared at his face in shock. She expected a face of a minotaur or an insectoid appearance like those space novels. She didn’t expect the face of an ancient species to meet her. “Y-you… Yer one of those?” The man stared at her with confusion etched on his face. His blonde eyebrows lowering in worry. “I’m a human. Is that a problem?” Applejack shook her head. “It’s not a problem, no. Princess Celestia says that your species created the ghastly gorge, and that your species is supposed to be extinct.” This wasn’t news to the former marine. He did somehow survive a nuclear war. It was odd to think that these ponies knew of his species. Most nations were blown to smithereens after all. He knew that he was somewhere in America. Continents couldn’t have shifted too much over the years. The big question is ‘What year am I in?’. “Oh I see where you’re coming from. The ghastly gorge is some kind of canyon I suppose. Most likely caused by an explosion. Yeah i definitely see where you’re coming from.” He shook his head and stood up, his helmet at his side. “Let’s just get back to wherever you live and we can figure out the semantics of this situation later. Applejack nodded dumbly. “Alright!” The marine happily cheered. “Then let’s move out!”
