Elementary, my dear Twilight

Chapters

Chapter 1: Last Earth Day
Chapter 2: Where am I??
Chapter 3: The Mental Hyperbolic Time Chamber
Chapter 4: Problems and solutions
Chapter 5: Emergencies, left and right

Chapter 1: Last Earth Day

//1412, Eastern Standard Time//

//Jacksonville, Florida; Earth, Sol System//

Will Ivanov watched as the school bus doors opened before stepping out onto the concrete sidewalk. He closed his eyes and deeply breathed in the cool, fresh air. It was always relaxing, but today it was especially so.

All throughout school today, Will was being harassed and bullied by a gang of seniors who called themselves The Pure-Bloods.

They believed that the younger students who didn't prove themselves worthy of being "pure-blooded" were scum and must be treated as such. Their leader was a massive thug by the name of Solomon Varrington. He may be big, but he was also very smart, unlike his fellow gang-members; they were only the former.

Solomon and his gang were pretty indiscriminate about who they targeted, even fellow seniors and new teachers. But their favorite victims were undoubtedly freshmen and sophomores, particularly Will. He was so different than most people that it was almost impossible NOT to think of something to make fun of him.

It didn't help that Will was one of few words, either. In fact, Solomon loved to pick on Will so much that the latter was starting to beat them at their own game occasionally, though that did nothing to deter them whatsoever. Today, however, Solomon and his thugs had crossed the line for the little teen and they paid dearly for their mistake.

Will sighed in misery at the incident.

Will exited the stall and splashed his face with water at the sink. He looked at his reflection and saw a different scene altogether.

A flaming city.

Hundreds of bullets and plasma rounds whizzed back and forth everywhere.

A double-pronged blade of energy sprouted out of nowhere.

A silhouetted figure covered in futuristic armor raced forward, slicing menacing aliens apart with alarming frequen--

"Well check it out, fellas. It's the pipsqueak again. Shouldn't you be in class like a good boy?" Will's vision promptly shattered at Solomon's oh-so-infuriating voice. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and counted to ten slowly. "Solomon, nice to see you again, buddy. Funny, I was gonna say the same thing about and your dumb-asses there." Andrew replied without turning around.

The entire group stopped in shock at his audacity, then Solomon smirked. "Oho, getting ballsy, I see. That's a shame you know, if we could just cram some sense in that little piece-of-shit you call a brain, you'd be a great Pure-Blood. Don't you agree, gentlemen?"

Solomon's friends all snickered and nodded their assent.

"Sorry, but I'd rather not join your little crime ring. I'm fine without tainting my mind with your bullshit." Will said calmly. "The groups I'm already in are good enough for me."

"Are you hearing this, fellas?? Looks like Pipsqueak seriously thinks he can act all high and mighty on US." Solomon sneered. "Well then, we won't stop you from hanging out with those My Little Pony pussies,"

At that, Will stiffened in shock. How in the living FUCK did he find that out?! That was his absolute deepest secret, so secret not even his family knew about it. So how the HELL did Solomon find that out??

"Imagine that, guys. The only one who's ever lasted this long without joining our amazing group, playing with fucking fresh fishes with little girls' technicolor PONIES!! It's almost too funny!!" At this point, all of Solomon's friends were now laughing hysterically and jeering at Andrew about it.

Will gripped the sink in silent fury. He wanted to teach these cigarette-smoking sons-of-bitches a lesson SO BADLY, but the last thing he needed was to be expelled and lose his chance to get into a good college. He shook in rage as the insults continued, with each one pushing him closer to lashing out and beating the ever-loving shit out of them.

Ever since Will first started getting bullied by Solomon and his baddies as a freshie, his older sister, Hannah, had not hesitated in lending a helping hand.

She was a Marine Master Sergeant, and a senior D.I. at Parris Island. She had been given a 3-month leave for reasons she never said, but Hannah's hardcore training and abrasive side came right out upon hearing Andrew's predicament. She trained Wil very intensely as if he were a Marine recruit, never stopping to take a break, always finding new insults to throw at him. Under her strict training regiment, Will's speed, agility, strength and endurance skyrocketed. Though Solomon was clever, he was too ignorant to notice the vast changes Will had undergone, both in bodily achievements and the effectiveness in his constant harassment.

"Hey, pussy! Gonna show us your adowable wittle dolls, now?" Solomon taunted in baby voice.

That did it. Will had snapped.

Will shifted into a combat stance without turning to face Solomon and his goons. His eyes were burning with white-hot fury. Instead of reacting in shock, Solomon just smirked evilly. "Oooh, look. I think the pussy wants another beating, boys. Let's grant that wish, shall we boys?"

Solomon walked up to Will, who still had his back to them, grasped his shoulder and reeled back his fist in preparation for a solid punch to the face. Faster than any of the slow-witted gangsters could process, Will threw off Solomon's arm, darted in and kicked one of the thugs, Zach, right in the ball-sack.

Zach's eyes suddenly bulged out in pain and his smug grin vanished, replaced with an open-mouthed expression, silently screaming in agony.

For a moment, everybody in the spacious bathroom, save Will, froze in pure shock at what the tiny sophomore had just done. That quickly morphed into unbridled anger, and the rest of the gang charged towards him with the intent on getting revenge.

Sadly for them, Will's impromptu boot camp training would not allow that.

He waited until the last moment before nimbly ducking the first thug's clumsy swing, and responded with two uppercuts to his stomach. Then he rolled under his legs and delivered a devastating round kick to the second one's head, knocking him into a stall. A trio of Solomon's gangsters all threw a barrage of punches of kicks at him.

Using his small size to his advantage, Will ducked under, flipped over, and blocked them all. Immediately, he leaped high into the air and grabbed the right one's shoulders, then swept his feet from underneath, yanked him downward, and brutally kneed the poor gangster in the solar plexus.

Not giving any of them a moment's rest, Will dropped him and just barely managed to catch the fourth thug's fist with one hand. That one action told him one thing: These friends of Solomon were still stronger than him, so Andrew would have to utilize his superior speed and agility to find and exploit their weaknesses

That realization was the last thing Will clearly could recall from that fight. Anything afterwards was just a whole blur of strikes, and bodies flying all over the place. He somehow managed to get back into class without causing too much suspicion and when it was discovered that the "all-mighty" Righteous Ones were lying in a heap and groaning in perpetual agony in the boys' bathroom, there was no questioning. Everybody was just happy that Solomon's gang could be beaten.

However, Will didn't feel any satisfaction from his deed. Instead, he just felt nothing but eager restlessness, not at the consequences from them, but something had him in its crosshairs, and when the trigger was pulled, his life wouldn't be the only one massively affected.

Will sighed. This wasn't the time to get all worked up over a simple emotion that was more than likely just paranoia. He needed to get home. Andrew squared his shoulders and set off to his house with a quick, yet very precise stride. Soon he was able to see a familiar-looking flag peeking over some trees, and he quickened his pace toward it.

The flag was of Will's own design and hard work. It depicted an elaborate picture of a Halo SPARTAN-II that the teenager had created on his own: Master Chief Petty Officer Spartan-064.

It was a sight to behold, and Andrew was very proud of it. Apparently Solomon and his gang respected the level of focus Andrew possessed whenever he put his heart into a task, because they never made fun of him from it.

As Will approached the front door, he felt the sense of anticipation return. It stopped his hand about halfway from the doorknob. Will was mystified and annoyed; on one hand, he usually didn't get this kind of feeling unless it was something important. On the other hand, he was tired from everything that had happened today, and getting excited over absolutely nothing was NOT going to help him forget it all. With a growl and a herculean effort, Will wrenched his mind out of his distraction and grabbed the knob.

Big mistake.

Without warning, a pulsating migraine erupted inside Will's head. With a yelp of pain, his hand dropped away from the doorknob and he collapsed onto his knees and started clutching his temples. The pain was intense; it was like his entire brain was being pumped full of air in slow-motion.

Suddenly, an even larger burst of agony swept through Will and he screamed. He screwed his eyes shut, but immediately images of random things began popping out of nowhere.

There was no structure to when the scenes appeared, they just did, but they were all from video games he played, TV shows and movies he watched, books he read. Scenes of Dragon Ball Z Kai flew past his vision, followed immediately by Fullmetal Alchemist and The Inheritance Cycle. Iron Man flitting through the sky like a bullet...Lucario running through rocky plateaus and across a desolate landscape...Isaac Clarke desperately fending off a horde of Necromorphs...Flood Infection forms burrowing into dead bodies...

But the strangest thing was that the last thing that Will saw before he blacked out was a silhouette of a quadruped figure that looked vaguely familiar. At the same time, a voice like of fire boomed within Will's mind: "Our gift to you, so you ay do what you must."

His final thought before he fell unconscious was: "Why me?"

Chapter 2: Where am I??

"Come on, Twilight! This is ridiculous! Can't this wait until tomorrow??" Spike complained.

Twilight Sparkle whipped her head to glare at her assistant. She had been working all day and now through the night trying to figure out something. She sighed. "Spike, we've been through this a hundred times: Whatever this thing says, we have to know. It just might be monumental."

Said object was floating in the middle of the Golden Oaks Library. It was very simple, really. Just gray metal with a weird line that ran across its side that emitted a soft orange light.

But what it extraordinary was it composition: made from an unknown, crystalline-like metal that was unbelievably durable: Spells to determine its age put it at over 1 million years old, yet it showed no signs of its age at all. It was exactly four hooves wide, six hooves tall, and half a hoof in thickness. A series of strange symbols were meticulously carved onto one face. They were arranged so similarly to Equestrian that Twilight was certain it had to be message of some sort.

But who? Who would use so much of a precious metal just to write a simple message on it? What did it say? Why was it here?

Twilight and Spike had been trying to find the answers to those questions, but it was the middle of the night and they'd made no progress.

Spike huffed in irritation. "Look, I know how much you're interested in this obviously, but why drag me into this?"

"Why do you think, Spike!?" Twilight retorted. "The object, whatever it is, responds better to your touch."

The purple dragon groaned. Just his luck. The one time he needed a good night's sleep the most, fate decided to torture him instead with what seemed like none at all. The reason for this was because he was going to be helping the love of his life, Rarity, dig up some gems for some dresses she was asked to make. And he was hoping to ask her out as well. Spike wasn't a baby anymore; the puberty he had finished undergoing recently made Twilight and her friends describe him more as handsome nowadays. Plus, some of the mares in Ponyville were starting to flirt with him, but their attempts to gain his interest were politely ignored, thanks to his single-minded focus on Rarity's love.

Twilight ignored him and looked back at the object. It just continued floating there, almost tauntingly. She gritted her teeth in frustration. This thing just didn't seem to want to give up its secrets easily whatsoever. For a while, she just stared at it menacingly until she finally lowered her horn and shot a magenta beam at it.

A sudden wave of energy pulsed from the object with great force, blowing Twilight off her hooves and slamming into Spike. They hit the floor with a loud WHUMP. Twilight's laser wasn't so lucky; it fizzled out upon contact with the orange field.

Twilight was dazed from the impact. She shook it off and scrambled back onto her hooves. She turned around and helped Spike up with her magic. The poor dragon's eyes were rolling around in his eyes and stars circled around his head. Other than that, he was fine.

Twilight gazed back at the object and gasped at the spectacle before them.

The object's glow had intensified. Without warning, the thing fractured into a multitude of smaller pieces.

But they didn't fall to the ground. Instead, they just hung there, suspended in the air and all giving off the same orange glow. But that light seemed strange...almost as if it was...SOLID?!?!

Twilight recoiled in shock at the revelation. There was no doubt, these pieces were being held in place by solid light.

Then they started moving. The pieces began to arrange themselves on the floor, connecting to each other, bit by bit.

Twilight and Spike stared at it with their mouths agape in amazement at it all. They watched as an outline began to form from the chaos. It was a massive one, taking up a quarter of the entire library floor. But it looked odd.

It wasn't shaped in a way that neither Spike nor Twilight could recognize. Then the outline was completed and immediately more orange light filled in the space inside of it. Twilight subconsciously noted that it seemed to have a liquid-y look to it, like how water looks in a glass of water. Then the light abruptly turned blindingly white and the sound of colossally deafening cracks roared from the device.

Instinctively, Twilight and Spike both screwed their eyes shut and turned away from the spectacle. A few seconds later, it was gone as quickly as it came.

The two of them opened their eyes and slowly turned to look at the aftermath. The strange object was leaning against the wall next to the front door as if nothing had just happened. But what lay in its place was what was truly awe-inspiring.

An enormous ape-like creature was sprawled out in the exact position that the tablet/device had just traced out moments before. It lay face-down onto the floor.

It seemed to be dressed in a dark-blue, garment that covered its upper body and boots on the ends of the creature's strangely shaped hind legs. Over the blue garment there was another one, this time orange. Yet another orange garment clothed the ape's hind legs, with a blue belt tied around its waist. Two smaller versions of the belt were wrapped around its wrists. But on the back of the orange garment closer to its head was a strange picture emblazoned in black.

Twilight had never seen anything like it; The picture was just a symmetrical image of lines that uniformly formed something, but made no sense to her.

Then the ape shifted and groaned.

Twilight's eyes widened as the ape-thing tried pushing itself up with its forelegs, but they quivered with exhaustion from the attempt.

Twilight couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy for it, despite it being so intimidating. For a long time, she just watched it, unable to move a muscle for fear it would alert the creature of her presence. After an agonizingly long time, it slowly lifted its head. Twilight barely managed to stifle a gasp of shock.

The ape's face was completely unexpected to what she had thought it would look like.

A rough, chiseled face that was extremely pale, like the ape had never seen sunlight in its entire life. But the eyes were the most striking feature; It possessed a pair of amethyst-purple eyes that dimly glimmered with an unimaginable amount of pain. But behind that, there was a faint trace of razor-sharp alertness. The ape slowly scanned the library, squinting to try and penetrate the gloom.

Twilight decided to sneak back to her bedroom, where she kept her writing materials, and warn the Princesses of this event. She made it about halfway to the hoof of the stairwell when she stepped on a floorboard that creaked loudly from her weight.

She froze. She gradually swiveled her head to face the alien, only to be seized by terror; It was staring...Straight. At. Her.

The two of them blinked in unison. Twilight's heart was hammering within her chest; What should she do?? She opened her mouth to scream, when the ape shocked her back into silence when it spoke in a deep, baritone voice that clearly was male.

"Twilight Sparkle?"

//Time: Unknown//

//Place: Unknown//

When consciousness returned to Will, it was at an agonizingly slow rate. Soon, he was able to see again. The migraine from before had partially abated, but it was still there. He groaned in pain. From the fact that his body felt stiff, he must've been out for a long time. He tried getting to his feet, but only had the strength to maneuver his arms until it looked like he was about to do a push-up. Even then, they trembled from the herculean effort.

Will lay still to regain his energy. Finally, he had attained the strength to raise his head and look at his surroundings. What Will saw confused him greatly.

Instead of being in front of his house or in a hospital as he had expected himself to be, Will was lying in a. . .library?!

There was no doubt; Will was somehow in a library. He racked his brain, trying to find a logical explanation to this unexpected phenomenon, and why the library seemed vaguely familiar to him. His thoughts were abruptly interrupted when a soft creak echoed from somewhere behind him.

Will whipped his head around to find the source of the noise. The sight left him blinking in utter disbelief.

Standing in front, with a look of complete fear on its face, was a lavender-hued unicorn. It seemed only about four feet tall, but was very technicolor. Its tail and mane were striped purple and pink, while a red star surrounded by six, white smaller ones was printed on the pony's flank.

Through all of the chaos within Will's brain, he managed to form a coherent thought. Why does that thing look like I've seen it before?

Involuntarily, Will began racking his memories for an answer. It cam a lot sooner than he thought, and when it did, he was floored.

Unless he was mistaken, this was a pony by the name of...

"Twilight Sparkle?" He blurted out the name before he was able to clamp his mouth shut. The name had an immediate effect on the pony. Her expression of terror was now mixed with one of confusion. She was lost on how Will somehow knew her name.

That did it. Will scrambled to a sitting position ,suddenly feeling a massive surge of panic. He was in the world of My Little Pony!!

"How?! How the FUCK did I get here??" Will yelled. Twilight cringed at the abrupt volume change in his volume. The poor teenager went on for a while like that, gibbering rather loudly about his situation, how "it should be scientifically impossible" and "there being no magic that could possibly do this."

Suddenly, an obscure memory was launched to the forefront of his inner eye, halting his tirade cold. It was a sentence from a book called Physics of the Impossible, by renowned scientist Michio Kaku(Real book, real author).

He inadvertently recited a line from it: " There is a very slight probability that you might just wake up on another planet."

He stared into Twilight's eyes in blank shock. His mind was scrambling from trying to process such a massive revelation. He tried valiantly, but in the end, the shock of his situation was just too much for him to handle. Will's brain finally short-circuited, and he fainted, working his brain so much that he overloaded it.

XXXXXXXX

Twilight watched the spectacle with a blank look on her face. This human was obviously lost on where he was, but after catching snippets of his rant, she could tell that she learn a LOT from him...that is, if he could just calm down. She attempted to keep up, but much of it was too complex or too alien to understand. Suddenly, he stopped cold as his eyes widened to impossible sizes in realization.

He murmured quietly, "There is a very slight probability that you might just wake up on another planet."

The moment the human uttered that sentence, his face morphed into one of pure horror, like his predicament, whatever it was, was very bad.

The human sat where he was for a long time, gaping like a fish until his amethyst eyes rolled upwards into his head and unexpectedly fell over.

Acting purely out of habit, Twilight caught the human with her magic, then gently laid him back down onto the library carpet.

She sighed in exhaustion due to a lack of sleep. She decided to go to bed, but she wasn't sure what to do with the human. Twilight pondered it until she decided to cast a sleeping spell on him, so that way he wouldn't wake up until the counter-spell was invoked.

She cast the spell, and a thin sheath of purple aura surrounded him. She smiled, that should hold. Now back to bed, she thought.

Twilight slowly walked back towards the staircase half-asleep from fatigue, when suddenly a loud banging on the front door wrenched her back into full awareness.

The tomboyish voice that followed almost made her face-hoof: "Twilight?! Let me in! What was all of that ruckus?"

Twilight huffed in annoyance. This is going to be a long night.

Chapter 3: The Mental Hyperbolic Time Chamber

When Will opened his eyes again, all he saw was lying down in an endless expanse of white. He got to his feet, and looked around. In every direction, it was the same thing: White, white, and more white.

He cocked his head in confusion Where was he? This certainly wasn't Twilight's library, his house, or anything that he'd ever seen. And after all of the things Will had seen throughout his life, that was saying a lot. He continued to gaze out into the colorless area, when he heard a voice that was chillingly familiar.

"Welcome, warrior."

Will whirled around and about 20 feet away from him, where before nothing WAS there, stood...something. He shivered in revulsion at the sight of the thing.

The creature looked very strange and exuded an invisible aura of death and utter dread. It stood on two legs at 10 feet tall, but its legs looked like rotting human legs clothed in Marine BDUs. In fact, almost every part of its body seemed to be rotting flesh.

Its left arm was built like a mace: Big, muscular, and the part where a hand would usually be was a massive bulge covered in bone-like spikes that looked very deadly.

The other arm was a completely different story.

The creature's right arm was much more humanoid in size and appearance .However, the flesh seemed freshly mutilated and just stopped bleeding, while a long, curved, scythe-like appendage replaced this arm's hand

Its wings, the only limbs that didn't look like they were about to rot off, were shaped like bat wings and the material between the wings bones were almost invisible.

But it was the face that really made Will recoil in horror at the creature. Not that it was the worst part-far from it-but how it was so recognizable it was. The human head dangling off a shoulder, the gaping hole in its chest, the trio of red, feathery-tipped appendages from that hole. This creature was, without a doubt...

"Flood..." Will breathed involuntarily.

The creature chuckled in amusement. "Very astute, warrior. Yes, I am a part of the Flood, as your race so aptly labeled my race."

Its-his-voice was just like any other Flood's voice: deep, echoing(literally), mysterious. Yet somehow it was different.

This Flood form's voice wasn't nearly as intimidating as the others Andrew had heard; it was borderline soothing. He wouldn't have guessed that the voice's owner was part of a sentient, parasitic race utterly hell-bent on infecting every other sentient being in the universe.

"What are you?" Will asked.

"Hmm?" he questioned.

"I mean, what form are you? I know that the Flood has a lot of different forms, but I've never seen one with wings, much less one like you."

"Ahh, yes." the Flood form answered. "I am a unique form of Flood. You could say I'm 'one-of-a-kind,' as you humans would put it."

"You may call me Acolyte. I am the Ultimate Form of Flood." Acolyte said with a dramatic flourish

"Acolyte..." Will repeated. "Let me guess, your master is the Gravemind?"

Acolyte looked confused. "I beg your pardon?"

"Well, the word 'acolyte' means 'student,' or 'apprentice.'" Andrew explained. "And since you're the Ultimate Form, then I should be correct in assuming that the Gravemind is your master?"

Acolyte just stood there and stared at Andrew for a long time, obviously caught off-guard on how sharp he was.

"Why...yes. Yes I am." he eventually replied.

The two of them stood silent for quite some time while Acolyte stared off into the distance, deep in thought on something. Will shifted awkwardly. "So, erm...why are you here, in my dream?"

The question snapped Acolyte out of his torpor, and he drew himself to his full height. "I was sent by my master to teach you how to harness your newly-acquired powers."

Will just gave Acolyte a blank look that said What the fuck are you talking about?

He sighed in exasperation, then elaborated. "When you were transported to Equestria, the natural magic that permeates this land interacted with your brain, causing the entirety of it be activated...permanently."

Will kept on staring, though this in shock. Only about 10% of the human brain is used to carry out all of the activities we perform throughout our lives. Geniuses like Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking used merely 1-2% more than that. To have 100% of the human brain at Wills disposal...

Acolyte couldn't help but feel a sense of amusement when he saw Andrew's face light up in realization.

He continued, "From what I can glean, all of this new brain capacity, combined with Equestria's magical haze over the land and its inhabitants, has given you the ability to conjure and perform anything that you see, hear, taste, smell, feel, or even remember."

Will was in awe; All of the things he could DO with this power, and...His train of thought was halted when a question popped into his head

"Wait," Will said. "How did your master know EXACTLY how I got these powers, and how did he know to contact me through my dream?"

Acolyte "looked" at the white floor--he didn't have any eyes as far as Andrew could see--and shuffled his feet. "Well...my master didn't exactly send me to train you--I decided to take that task onto myself."

Acolyte explained to Will that his race was fighting another after-life, parasite-like race, called the Necromorphs...and were losing. The Necromorphs accidentally stumbled into this universe after a malfunction with their Shockdrive(Dead Space version of hyperdrive), then immediately decided to take it as their own. The Flood fought valiantly to fight off the so-called "Walking Plague," but it was all for naught. Acolyte's master, the Gravemind, sent him and a fleet of their remaining ships to protect the MLP world of Equestria. Apparantly they were guarding a Precursor weapon called Sol Invictus, which would allow the Necromorphs to force all living things in the universe to obey their will. So when Acolyte sensed Will's immense life-energy, he believed that this new, unexpected player in the game could tip the scale of the war into the Flood's favor, big time.

Will listened intently throughout Acolyte's entire story, showing absolutely no sign of emotion to any of the news. When the latter was done, the human just crossed his arms and calmly contemplated what he just heard.

"...You're not even fazed?" Acolyte asked, stunned by the human's lack of reaction.

"Hm? Oh, yes I am." Will replied. "Believe me, if you told me any other time, I'd probably have a heart attack before you got halfway through your recounting." "But I guess that new brain power you mentioned earlier is already starting to kick in, since it's really subdued."

Acolyte was taken aback. Less than one hour after acquiring such phenomenal cosmic powers, and Will was already mastering and harnessing it all.

"So, to sum it all up, you need me to defeat the Necromorphs and protect Sol Invictus from being activated. Is that it?"

"I-I guess so, yeah." Acolyte replied.

"Acolyte, I'm just wondering..." Will asked.

"Hm?"

"How do I know that you and your brethren won't turn on me and activate Sol Invictus when the Necromorphs are defeated?"

Acolyte looked offended. "Why would my brothers and I try to kill you?? Your race was our ancestor's greatest creation."

Will's stoic facade was shattered at Acolyte's declaration. His mouth fell open and his arms dropped to his sides.

"Your ancestors' greatest...creation?" He repeated weakly.

Acolyte nodded in confirmation.

"See, the Flood are the descendants of another, extremely ancient race. The real name of their race is forgotten, even by us. However, we came to calling them the "Precursors." The Precursors were unimaginably advanced beings, able to design and build physical roads connecting star systems, manipulate entire galaxies with relative ease, and accelerate or slow down the evolution of species."

"But by far the Precursors' greatest achievement was making their whole race transentient, meaning when they die, they're reincarnated in a new body, but remember all of the experiences of their previous life/lives."

Acolyte went on like this for a long time(again), explaining to the thunderstruck Will how the Precursors had decided to create a species with the ability to overcome any obstacle in its way, just because it was said species' nature. They ended up spawning TWO new races instead, one of which was exactly what they wanted: The Forerunners and Humanity.

"Ohhh, now I get it." Will said. All of the jumbled pieces in his head suddenly came together. "Humanity was created by the Precursors, the Foreunners didn't like being treated with less respect than a seemingly inferior race, and got revenge on their creators." He paused. "But how do you, the Flood, fit into this all?"

Acolyte sighed. "When I said that the Flood are descendants of the Precursors, we didn't attain that status in the ahh...normal way."

"A few survivors from the Forerunner's massacre on the Precursors built a device in the hopes of being artificially reincarnated so as to escape it all with their lives, the device malfunctioned somehow, and..." He hung his "head" in guilt. "...the first Gravemind was born with all of their memories and experiences."

Will couldn't help but feel sorry for the sickly-green, horribly misshapen, Flood. He was revolted that he was part of such a hated race and wished that he could be accepted by one of another species.

Despite himself, Will walked over to Acolyte and placed a hand on his shoulder, making him raise his head from the touch. Will had to suppress a shudder at the sight and st of him up close.

"Hey, don't beat yourself over it. It's not your fault, so there's no reason to be feel guilty about it. From the sounds of it and based on what I already know afterwards, that happened MILLIONS of years ago, so why're you still angry over it?"

If Acolyte wasn't surprised before, he was utterly floored now by the human's actions. Every sentient being that had seen him face-to-face that wasn't Flood immediately screamed and sprinted away from him in fear.

Now, this mere adolescent was doing the exact opposite--and a human, no less--: Tolerating his presence, even going so far as to comfort him.

It all was getting Acolyte overwhelmed.

The two of them stood like that, until Will remembered why they were here.

He cleared his throat, snapping Acolyte of his revelations.

"Um...you do remember why you came here, right?"

"Oh! Oh, yes. I apologize for that, it's just..." He trailed off.

"No one's ever been kind to you?" Will finished with a smile.

The Ultimate Flood nodded. He stuffed those emotions to the back of his mind and focused on his task.

"Now, going back to your power, I'd like to see what you can do." He said. "Though, given that you've already gotten the hang of controlling your emotions with it, I guess we've already completed that part."

"What do you want me to try first?" Will asked.

"Start out with something like conjuring a physical object, like a sword." Acolyte suggested.

Will nodded. He closed his eyes and concentrated on a single image from memory among all else. He doubted it would be good if he was distracted while he did this.

He held out his hand like he was ready for something to drop into it. Sure enough, a ripple disturbed the space above it. The ripple slowly solidified into the outline of a sword, with a two-and-a-half blade, and a gem of some sort set into its pommel.

Then, the sword itself appeared with a tiny pop, and it fell right into his outstretched hand.

The sword was breathtaking: Its blade glinted iridescent blue and shined in such a way that it changed into different shades of blue wherever you looked.

The crossguard had intricate waves and designs delicately carved into it, and the sapphire-blue gleamed with the same intensity as the blade.

Will smiled. It worked. He took a deep breath, then shouted "Brisingr!"

Accompanied by the sound of rustling branches, the blade was engulfed in a blue, smokeless fire, traveling from hilt to tip.

Acolyte was speechless: THIS is the first thing Will had decided to conjure, and it was successful on the first try?!

What else can this human do?

Will extinguished the fire, then turned to Acolyte. "Anything else?"

The latter didn't immediately respond, still reeling from the sword's appearance and subsequent ignition. Then he weakly shook his head. "N-Not that I can th-think of..."

Hm! That was a short test. Andrew thought. Must've far exceeded his expectations.

Something caught Will's attention; a flit of movement just at the corner of his eyes.

He turned and saw a simple, brown door sitting there with a red sign saying "EXIT" on it.

Acolyte saw it too, as he said "Well, looks like my time here is up."

Will responded in kind.

"Well, better get going. Don't want to keep the outside world waiting." Acolyte said jokingly.

Will chuckled. "Nope." He turned back around to face the Flood creature, then held out a hand. "Until next time?"

Acolyte hesitated, then held out his scythe-appendage and they shook. "Until next time."

Will faced the door again, took a deep breath, then walked to it.

He opened the door and walked through it, then he heard multiple voices, all feminine and very familiar.

"What is that thing?"

"How should I know, Rares? All I know is that he's a human."

"A human?! You're kidding, right?"

"I wish Spike, but he looks just like--"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, Twilight. How do you know it's a HE?"

"Because earlier he spoke, and its voice was way too low to be female."

"It SPOKE?! Darling, I understand that this is a really big event for you, but how do we even know that confirms that this...ape-thing is a male?"

Will opened his eyes and saw that he was still in Twilight's house, only laying on a couch and looking at the Mane Six, who were all deep in conversation on the rug in front of him.

"Maybe it's because I AM a male." He spoke up in amusement.

Chapter 4: Problems and solutions

The six mares all stared, stunned that Will was now awake.

He flashed a warm smile of amusement. They look so silly like that, he thought.

"Why hello there." He said while getting up into a sitting position on the sofa.

Twilight visibly gulped, then opened her mouth to say something, when--

"Hitheremyname'sPinkiePiewhat'syournameI'llbetyournameissuperdupercoolright?"

Will blinked in surprise at Pinkie suddenly appearing with her muzzle literally inches from his face, smiling extremely enthusiastically.

The two looked at each other silently. Applejack stepped forward.

"Ah'm sorry sugarcube. Pinkie can get a little crazy when she meets somepony new here in town."

Will turned to look at her, then smiled again.

"Oh, it's alright. Believe it or not, I know some friends of mine who, in their own way, act kind of like her." " And to answer your question, Pinkie." He continued. "I go by a lot of names, though you all can call me Will." He didn't know where that all came from, but it just rolled off his tongue like he'd said it hundreds of times.

"Don't tell you just UNDERSTOOD that?" Applejack said in shock.

Will grinned, this time mischievously. "Yep. I've got a certain Rap God to thank for that."

"Rap God? Who's that?" She asked.

"Never mind. What are your names?" He asked. "I've given you mine, seems only fair for you to return the favor."

He already knew their names, along with their connection with the Elements of Harmony and where he was, but he didn't want to unsettle them further.

"I guess so. My name's Twilight Sparkle." Twilight said first.

"Ah'm Applejack, nice to meet ya." Applejack chimed in.

"Rainbow Dash, the fastest flier in Equestria."

"Rarity, a pleasure to meet you darling."

Fluttershy, who had hidden behind a potted plant, poked her head and whispered her name almost too softly for Andrew to hear: "Hi there. I-I'm F-F-Fluttersh-shy."

"It's nice to meet you all." Will said. "I have a few questions pertaining to me being in...wherever I am, starting with HOW I got here."

Twilight unsurprisingly answered. "Well, I can't explain exactly how you got here, but I DO know that you came from the metal tablet."

"What tablet?" He asked.

She pointed a hoof at a metal block in the shape of a rectangular prism that was leaning on the wall within arm's reach. He started to reach out, then stopped himself. "May I?" Twilight nodded. "Sure, go ahead."

Will grasped the cool metal, then brought it to his lap and examined it like a jeweler would with a newly-cut gemstone.

He ran his finger over the strange symbols on one of the sides, pondering on what it said. The runes, he couldn't recognize, but the punctuation were, startlingly, identical to English writing. There was a strange stir in the back of Andrew's mind, like it was struggling to access a very faint memory stuffed into a dark corner.

"These symbols..." He said softly. "They look...familiar."

"Really?! That's great!" Twilight exclaimed. "Maybe what it says will offer a clue as to how it got here!"

Will didn't respond. Instead, he concentrated on trying to recall what his brain was attempting to dig back up, then it flared into life so he could see with his inner eye. It was a picture of an alphabet translation. 26 letters. 26 matching runes.

Will's eyes widened. Now he could read this tablet's inscription.

"I've got it! I remember the translation!"

"Well, what are you waiting for? Read it!" Rainbow Dash said impatiently.

Will glared at the cyan-blue pegasus. "Hey, I just said that I remember the translation. I just never thought I'd actually need it."

He looked back at the carved runes and slowly, painfully, he mentally translated the message, letter by letter.

Finally, Andrew straightened back up in his seat and let out a giant sigh of relief. His head was aching from of that concentration, but he managed to remember the translated inscription. As each word was revealed, his pupils shrunk smaller and smaller until they were but mere pinpricks. His breath picked up until Andrew sounded like he'd just come face-to-face with his absolute worst nightmare.

Rarity noticed this, and inquired, "Is something the matter, dear?"

Will flinched at her voice, then bowed his head and took a deep breath. He managed to calm himself enough to speak.

"Are you sure want me to tell you all what this tablet says?" Will asked in a deceptively calm voice.

The six mares present were a little uncomfortable; Will's tone just screamed that something was wrong.

"I-I guess so..." Applejack replied.

Will sighed loudly again, then said: "The tablet says:

The mother of all wars draws near,

Two after-lives' battles will be resonated for all to hear.

Both races fight to gain possession,

Of Invincible Sun, the ultimate weapon.

But when all hope has died,

And the darkness is in all's sights.

A new light will emerge to eradicate it,

and the darkness's grave, it will forever be locked into it.

The Reclaimer, peace he will instill.

The multi-verse turns to the power of will."

Everypony stared at Will in shock. "T-That was a...prophecy?" Twilight asked in disbelief.

Will nodded somberly without looking up. "Yes...and it's talking about me."

"How could some piece of gray metal hundreds of thousands of years old talk about YOU?" Twilight asked, confused. There wasn't any mention of Will or his name anywhere.

"Think about the last line: "The multi-verse turns to the power of will. This tablet is obviously not talking about willpower, so what else would it mean?"

"But what about that other line, the one that says 'Reclaimer,'? " Rarity asked. "Surely it..."

"The term 'Reclaimer' refers to a human from a much more ancient species, called the Forerunners." Will interrupted.

"The Forerunners were fighting a war that spanned many millennia against a parasitic, sentient race known only as the Flood." He explained to the thunderstruck ponies. "When the former realized that they couldn't win, they sacrificed themselves in order to kill the Flood and protect the other species the Forerunners swore to protect."

"But before they did so, they chose another race to inherit their technology and take their place as upholders of the Mantle of Responsibility, the very basis of Forerunner culture where they believed it their duty to protect all other races in the galaxy. And that race was none other than humanity."

There was a soft thump, Will finally raised his gaze back onto the ponies. Their expressions of utter shock weren't surprising to the teen at all.

Twilight, Rainbow, and Applejack stared at him with open mouths and needle head-sized pupils. Pinkie's mane and tail had completely deflated, and her gaze was one of sorrow. Fluttershy was back behind the plant, sobbing quietly. Rarity had actually fainted and was lying on her side on the floor, eyes rolled upwards and breathing quietly.

Will sighed. He figured she might've done something like that. He tried to stand up, but barely moved an inch when his head bumped against the ceiling. He grunted, then shrugged off the stinging, and walked to Rarity while stooping to avoid hitting his head again. He daintily picked her up and put her back on her hooves. He kept his grip on her in case her legs wouldn't hold her weight.

Will put a hand underneath Rarity's slender stomach, then moved his now-free hand in front of her muzzle and snapped his fingers. Her eyelids fluttered open and she groaned.

"Wha...what happened?" She asked weakly. "You fainted. You better now?" Will replied. She nodded. "I'm fine, thanks darling."

"No problem." Will crouch-walked his way back to the sofa, then sat back down heavily. He closed his eyes and racked his brain for something to distract himself from what he'd just discovered. He decided on some music. Another thing that made Will unusual at school was his habit to start singing and dancing spontaneously to a tune that no one but him could hear.

He liked music. It was one of the few, foolproof ways that always picked him right back up. Will started humming a piano. Soon, he started singing softly in French, keeping the beat with his fists in tempo with his voice. The mares were shaken out of their daze, only to be put into another one when he started singing. They continued staring at the human teenager, though this time in awe. Will didn't notice, as he had his eyes closed the entire time and concentrating on singing. Finally, he finished the song and opened his eyes and was caught by surprise with their looks.

"What? What's wrong?" He asked. "...What did you just sing?" Rainbow asked.

"Oh, that? That was 'Papaoutai,' by Stromae." Will answered proudly.

"What language was that? I've never heard anything like it." Rarity inquired. Will noticed something flash underneath the amazement in her eyes. He couldn't quite place it. Longing, maybe? Whatever it was, it made him feel uncomfortably warm inside for a split second. He pushed those thoughts away and focused on the snow-white unicorn's question.

"It's French. Judging from your faces, I don't think you've ever heard anypony speak it before, correct?"

"You're right in that, sugahcube. It's just it sounds so...nice." Applejack added in wistfully.

"Makes sense. In the world where I'm from, many call it the language of love because it's sounds so...well, good." Will said.

"Speaking of which, do you mind if I ask you a few questions about your world?" Twilight asked eagerly. She used her magic to levitate a quill, ink, and a pad of paper off a table and brought them in front of her, ready to write down notes. Will internally battened down the hatches; He knew that this would take a VERY long time.

"Oh boy. I think I'll leave now. See ya later, Will." Rainbow said quickly. She flapped her wings and flew out an open window near the ceiling. "Ah think ah'll go too. Gotta help Big Mac buck the apple trees." AJ said.

"Same here. That order Fancypants sent me is going to require quite a lot of jewels, and I can't waste any time." said Rarity. "Though I can't do it alone..." She looked around the living room, confused.

"Where's Spikey? I haven't seem him since Will woke up." "Up here, Rarity!" Spike called from upstairs. His voice was a little shaky. Probably still frightened of me. Poor dragon. Will thought. Rarity sighed. "I'll get him."

She trotted up the wooden steps. Fluttershy, for the second time this entire conversation, spoke up: "I-I'll go too. Need t-t go check on my a-a-animals." The butterscotch-yellow mare stuttered. She quietly plodded out the front door. Pinkie was next. Thankfully, the pink pony was back to her normal, bubbly self.

"Bye Will! I've gotta go set up my super-duperly amazing party for you!" With that, she bounced after Fluttershy to...wherever she was headed off to.

Not ten seconds later, a flash of light from somewhere on the upper floor told Twilight and Will that Rarity and Spike had left to go gem-collecting. Finally, the former turned back to the latter. "Wanna get started?" "Ready when you are."

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

It was late afternoon and the sun was just brushing against the horizon, and Twilight was still on a roll with Will. Not that he minded; Will loved to answer questions.

"So, let me get this straight. With all of your world's fantastic advancements, you're still only a Type 0 civilization?!"

"Well, that's how some scientists have classified it, in terms of energy." Will confirmed.

"Well, what's the requirements for the other levels?" "Well," Will said. "For a Type I civilization to form, its inhabitants must be able to utilize every last bit of energy their home planet can offer. A Type II civilization utilizes the full energy provided by their home star. Finally, a Type III uses all of the energy throughout their entire galaxy."

Twilight stared at Will, confused about the circumstances around a Type III civilization. More specifically...

"What's a galaxy?"

Will stopped dead, mentally berating himself. These ponies haven't even THOUGHT of building a flying machine. OF COURSE she wouldn't know what a galaxy is.

"Well, galaxy is--"

His explanation was cut off when the door burst open. In rushed Applejack. She was panting quite heavily, and there were many cuts and slashes now adorning her body.

Both Twilight and Will stared in shock at Applejack. The orange farm pony then managed to pant out, "Rarity and...Spike...They've been...kidnapped...Diamond Dogs..."

With that, she passed out. Human eyes met pony's, and the duo rushed to AJ's side. Will did a quick look over her condition. He grimaced; these were pretty deep cuts. They looked like they were made by claws. This was another trait about him that made him an oddity back home: Will knew exactly how someone got hurt and what tool was used just by looking at the wounds.

Will took a deep breath. Time to put his newfound power to an actual test. He stilled the raging thoughts in his mind, then concentrated on an image of a small, silvery cube. He held out his hand, and the air above it rippled and coalesced into the cube. He caught it, then pressed his thumb into a depression built into one of the sides, then threw it out of the open door.

The cube bounced to a halt, then exploded with a large cloud shielding it. When it disappeared, a large, white surgery room stood in its place. Other ponies across Ponyville turned and stared at Will and the gigantic room that now stood right in front of Golden Oaks Library. Will paid their gazes no heed, gingerly picking up Applejack and carrying her to the door. The holographic keypad next to it whirred to life, and a cool female voice said, "Please verbally state the nature of your injury."

Will wasted no time; "Computer, activate the emergency protocol Alpha-Zulu-Sierra-482-6.0." The words all rolled off his tongue without pause, though he'd never said that before. The keypad turned from green to red and "ALERT" flashed on the screen. The door flew open, and Will raced inside.

Twilight stood at her doorway, staring in awe at what Will had just conjured. But when the door opened, she blinked and shook herself out of her daze. She managed to race in before it closed on its own. Within the room, she gasped.

Multitudes of robotic arms, gadgets, computer monitors, and a plethora of other high-tech machines were displayed in front of eyes. A pure-white table, not unlike those at Ponyville's General Hospital, sat in the center. Applejack was lying on it, breathing through a mask placed on her muzzle. All around her, machines worked swiftly and efficiently to fix her up. One arm moved over a particularly nasty slice and sprayed a yellowish, foamy substance over it. The substance immediately turned green and hardened. Twilight could swear she heard Applejack let out a muffled moan of relief. "What is that?" she asked to nopony.

She definitely didn't expect a response.

"Biofoam. It nullifies the pain a wound causes and seals it up, accelerating the healing process by about 3x."

She jumped, then turned to Will's voice that emanated off to her left. The first thing she noted was that she didn't remember the room being this big from the outside. But the massive figure that she beheld almost made her scream in fear.

Will was clad entirely in olive-green armor. It somehow added an entire foot to his his height and the suit all and a futuristic look to it, with a black mesh-like material exposed at his joints from between the metal plates. His face was hidden behind a gold-orange visor

that was completely opaque... well, that's how it looked from Twilight's point of view. To top it off, on Will's back a massive, iridescent-blue mega-sword was strapped to his back.

"W-Will?" She said weakly. Her legs were beginning to tremble in fear. The hulking figure nodded. "Yeah. Sorry that this scares you. This is just so those Diamond Dogs who kidnapped Rarity and Spike won't recognize me without this armor on. Pretty much a decoy."

Will walked past Twilight, his footsteps disturbingly quiet despite his armor obviously being metal. A rack with an assortment of smaller contraptions slid out from the wall. He grabbed three weird, oval-shape things with a small wire circle attached to the top, an extremely long rod-like object with a cylinder attached to its top, a smaller one without a cylinder, and some other doohickeys Twilight didn't recognize.

Will grabbed a duffel bag from the rack, then gestured for it to retract. He pressed a button on the longer rod, and compacted into a smaller version of its previous shape. He put it and everything else he grabbed from the rack into the duffel. Then Will walked briskly to a pedestal that stood a ways off. He stepped onto it, and the ceiling over it split into eight triangular pieces and slid away, revealing a straight path back outside. The human looked up through it, then back at Twilight.

"Twi, keep an eye on Applejack for me, will you? She should have enough strength to be able to talk soon. Once she wakes up, ask her to tell you everything she knows. You'll relay it to me."

"Wait, how do I do that?" Twilight asked. She knew Will was going to rescue Rarity and Spike, but she couldn't exactly send letters to him. "With this." he answered as he produced a tiny object from his duffel bag. He walked back to Twilight and clipped it to her left ear. Immediately, a microphone sprouted from it and grew until was right in front of her mouth. "This is a comlink. It'll allow you to talk to me within a 1,000-mile radius with no lag time at all. Just talk in that microphone in front of your mouth, and I'll hear you."

"Got it."

"Good. I need to hurry now." With that, he hopped back onto the pedestal and slung his duffel bag over his shoulder. "See you soon."

There was a deafening roar, and Twilight was thrown backwards onto her back as flames shot out of unseen thrusters on his back, legs, and feet. Will rose slowly at first, then with ever-greater speed as he rode those columns of blue fires through the hole and shot back outside. He tilted his body, and turned until he was headed to Everfree Forest. He knew that the Diamond Dogs would most likely take Rarity and Spike to the one place they'd know nopony would ever follow them...

...Or so they thought.

Will raced to the forest, powered by unfathomable anger. Back home, he had gained quite a reputation for being extremely protective of anyone or anything that threatened anything he held dear. That was the reason he stood out like a sore thumb at school. It was the reason he snapped and lashed out at Solomon and his thugs. And it was the reason Will was flying to the Diamond Dogs' lair, wherever it was, in the Everfree like a teacher on their way to punish some rebellious students. He cracked a smile behind his visor at the thought.

It's time for your first lesson, you mangy assholes.

Chapter 5: Emergencies, left and right

Pain. Mind-numbing pain. That's the only thought that went through Spike's head.

He groaned, then cracked open his eyelids. His vision was swimming, and his memory fuzzy. He didn't remember much, but did recall a lot of screaming and cackling. He tried rubbing his eyes, but discovered his arms were tied behind him. That realization snapped open the young dragon's eyes fully. Simultaneously, his memories came surging back with a vengeance. Going out with Rarity to dig up jewels for a new order of dresses, the Diamond Dog ambush, then everything going black when one of them smacked his temple hard with a paw.

Unfortunately, his alertness also amplified the pain. As quickly as Spike's eyes opened, they squeezed shut as he doubled over in pain...

...Well, doubled over as much as his bonds would allow. Spike was tied from his chest to his shins in sturdy ropes to a large tree. In the Everfree Forest, no less. His actions alerted the silhouetted figures that stood about 15 yards in front of him. One of the shadows stepped forward into the dim light, revealing it to be a Diamond Dog. Its muzzle was curled upward in a feral smile as his watched the bound dragon shake his head, trying to alleviate the pain.

"Well well well, Sleeping Pony's finally woken up, hm?" He said in a deep, gravelly voice, then chuckled. Spike had never liked Diamond Dogs to begin with. So these ones in particular had him nursing outright hatred towards them.

"Where the hay is Rarity?!" He demanded while struggling uselessly against the rope bindings. The Dogs only responded by laughing and jeering at the young dragon.

"Who, the lovely purple morsel? She's right here." Two of the Dogs stepped aside, giving Spike an unobstructed view of Rarity. Spike's breath caught in his throat in shock at the sight of his love.

Rarity was bloody and bruised, her normally meticulously-kept mane now in an unruly mess. Her left eye was closed and swollen black. But the absolute worst part was her flanks. There were deep claw marks all over them, none penetrating the skin but very much visible...

The terrible truth slowly dawned on poor Spike. When it did, all he could do was stand there in his chains, staring at Rarity's limp form in utter horror. That didn't last long, as all his shock gave way to anger. These motherfuckers were going to PAY!!

Spike wrenched at the ropes with renewed vigor, with the sole desire of causing his love's rapists as much pain as he could. His green eyes blazed white-hot with feral fury in them.

"Awww, look. The wittle baby dwagon likes the pony!" The leader cackled in a babyish voice. All of the other Diamond Dogs joined in, shouting various insults and threats to Spike.

"Well, you're too late now, not that you stood much of a chance!"

"Yeah, the pony's OUR toy now!"

"I'm. Going. To. KILL YOU!!!!" Spike bellowed, his voice echoing for miles across the forest. The Dogs stopped laughing and stared at him with menacing intentions glinting in their eyes. All that bravado and anger drained instantly and was replaced by fear. He may have been much more able to fend for himself than than he use to be, but he couldn't hope to defeat over 36 Diamond Dog rapists all at once.

"What did you say?" Alpha Dog asked softly. He padded slowly over to the tied dragon, then grabbed his neck with his right forepaw and squeezed.

Spike's eyes widened and he gagged, trying desperately to get some air. He tried to wriggle as much as he could to throw off the paw, but the Dog's grip may as well be an iron claw.

"Apologize." He said sternly. Spike hacked and gagged some more, then managed to choke out a response: "Why don't you go buck yourselves." The Alpha Dog snarled furiously, then tightened his grip more. The poor dragon's vision was beginning to tunnel.

"I said, SUBMIT." He growled. "What's the point of fighting? There's nopony here to save you."

"I'll be the judge of that."

Alpha's paw suddenly opened wide in surprise at the new voice.

Spike's head fell downwards, and he greedily gulped in generous amounts of air.

"Who's there?" Alpha demanded. He'd inwardly hoped with all his might that he was only imagining things, but the rest of his pack were shifting uncertainly.

The voice chuckled menacingly, sending chills down all of the Diamond Dogs' (and Spike's) spines. "I? I am but a messenger, here to deliver your shares of karma that you bitches very much are overdue for."

"...What?" One of the Dogs said stupidly. All of them were pretty dim-witted, except for Alpha, who literally was the sole reason that their ambush had worked in the first place.

The voice sighed "In laypony's terms..." A hulking figure stepped from its hiding place right next to where Spike was tied, earning a cry of shock and terror from all those present. "Die."

The creature--if it could even be called that--was completely covered from top to bottom in olive-green metal that shined brilliantly in the sunlight. It was absolutely MASSIVE. If there was one word that Spike could describe it, "massive" would be it. Stuck to its back was a strange, angular object that glowed orange from gaps between parts.

Clutched in its hands was an equally huge...sword? It was so large Spike wasn't sure what to call it.

Spike knew without a doubt that he'd never seen or even heard of this...thing, but something about it seemed weirdly familiar. Something about the voice...

The dragon's eyes widened in realization.

"Wi--?"

The creature whipped its head around to stare at Spike. Though he couldn't see its expression through the opaque-gold plate, the message was clear: Be quiet. It turned its head back at the Diamond Dogs, almost all of whom were shaking very much and cowering in the shadows.

Almost.

Alpha had held his ground, but the scariest part was his expression.

Or rather, his lack of one.

Alpha's face betrayed no emotion whatsoever. But his eyes were different, somehow. The surprise from before was replaced by excitement and sick happiness. He smiled evilly. Then he spoke. But it wasn't the same voice that he had before. It was deeper, echoing, and carried with it untold millennia of hatred, bloodthirstiness, and insane happiness.

"So, the so-called 'Reclaimer' has finally arrived."

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Will tensed ever so slightly at its voice in fear. He shook it off; there was only one, and the actual Diamond Dogs would be nothing more than a minor nuisance.

He raised Brisingr with his left hand, his right hand leaving the hilt and reaching for a cylinder magnetically attached to his thigh as he slowly started stepping to the left. Alpha mirrored his motions. He grasped it, held it out slightly, and pressed the button. The glowing blue plasma of the Energy Sword sprang to life with a snap-hiss. However, there was an equal amount of orange mingling with the blue aura, but never actually mixing into one color.

The Dog's eyes widened momentarily, then they narrowed and he bared his teeth in a gruesome approximation of a smile.

"Don't think your puny little weapons will stop us. You destroy one of us, ten more will retaliate." It snarled. "If the Flood cannot stop us, what makes you--or them--think YOU, an inexperienced little human adolescent, can do any better...or even anything at all?"

Will's weapons quivered with anger. If there was one thing he hated more than people threatening what he held dear to him, it was people who scoffed at what he could or would do to them.

"You'd be surprised, you insane Necromorph."

The disguised Necromorph laughed. "Very astute, young warrior!" It exclaimed mockingly. "So, what gave it away?"

"Though I am wondering, how did you do that? From what I know, Necromorphs couldn't disguise themselves in the first place, much less take over another creature's body without any physical evidence." Will said, still slinking left.

The Necromorph cocked the Dog's head to the side. "Quite true. I am a new breed, of course. However, there are signs, though I won't just disclose them to you." It was still copying Will's actions, then it smirked. "You really take me for a fool? I saw right through your pathetic trick." "You may as well give up. You can't outsmart me."

Suddenly, Will guffawed heartily. The Necromorph looked through the possessed Diamond Dog's at him in surprise, then anger. "What do you find amusing about imminent death?" it demanded.

Will didn't respond immediately, he was too busy cracking up doubled over. Finally, he managed to straighten himself up. "No, I'm not laughing at 'imminent death,' as you put it." Will said with residual traces of mirth still worming their way into his tone.

"It's the irony of your situation." The hideous creature stared at Will with the Dog's eyes in confusion.

"You say I'm a fool, but in reality YOU'RE the fool."

"Have you been keeping an eye on your prisoners...and companions?"

The Necromorph whipped its canine muzzle back at where the rest of his pack, Spike, and Rarity were...

...Or what had been left behind.

Nothing was there except for the pieces of rope that held its prisoners to their trees that lay useless on the ground, while the rest of the Diamond Dogs were nowhere to be found. However, what it DID see were the rapidly-shrinking forms of at least eight gigantic figures with an abnormally-large backs racing away.

Absolute rage seized the Necromorph as understanding dawned on Will's trickery. It let loose an ear-splitting roar of fury, and tried to dash after them.

Keywords being tried to.

It had barely taken a single step, when it froze as unimaginable pain lanced across its back. It shakily rotated its head around to look in shock at Will. He was standing right over the Diamond Dog's form, with the strange Energy Sword plunged into its spine. The needle-like tips of it were just poking out of the Dog's belly.

Then Will smoothly pulled out the sword, and without hesitation, the gaping stab wound started dissolving into orange light, then disappearing into nothingness. Wherever the crumbling phenomena touched, the Necromorph felt it go completely numb.

"Have fun back in hell, motherfucker." With that, Will smoothly turned around and sprinted after the retreating figures in the Everfree, leaving the possessed Diamond Dog to crumble to nothing.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

It took a considerable amount of time to catch up to the figures, given their huge head-start, their speed, and inexhaustible stamina. Finally, Will managed to catch up with them, and signaled for all of them to stop at a nearby clearing. After skidding to a halt, the eight figures bent down and gently laid down the Diamond Dogs, Spike, and Rarity. Will faced them, waiting for them while standing at attention.

Then they stood and walked into the light, revealing themselves. They were Promethean Knights.

But since they were of Will's design, there were considerable differences than the original Knights. These glowed with an emerald-green hue rather than orange, and their proportions, while still towering over practically everything they've met at 9 feet tall, were much more human. This included their heads, faces, and yes, even their gender. One of the Knights that carried a Z-250 Directed Energy Engagement Weapon, better known as the "LightRifle," stayed hovering over Rarity's limp form and began working , pulling out a med-kit and setting up various

The Knight Commander stepped forward. It gave Will a crisp salute, which he returned.

"Commander Joshua, status report." He ordered.

"Sir," he spoke in a flat tone. "The unknown-analogue creature is suffering from minor chafing from its bindings and a small concussion from a hard impact to the skull."

Joshua continued without emotion. "The equine-analogue creature's condition is more serious." "Several of the lacerations it's suffering from are quite deep, and are in danger of infection unless it is given immediate medical attention."

"How deep?" Will asked, concerned.

"The deepest cut, which is located on the upper regions of the right foreleg, reaches close to the bone."

He internally winced; This was bad. Unless he could seal up her wounds soon, she would need her leg to be amputated.

"Commander, what about the other creatures I ordered you and your team to bring with? Any injuries that I should know about?"

"No physical ones, sir." the Knight replied crisply. "Though they all are quite traumatized."

Will nodded. This wasn't unexpected; A seven-and-a-half foot tall, metal-covered, bipedal thing comes barreling out of nowhere and threatens to kill them. Then their leader reveals himself to also be alien...and a very evil one, at that. After that, a group of yet more hulking aliens sneak up behind them and dragged them to who-knows-where.

"What is the name of your team's medic?" Will inquired.

"Her name is Knight Roanoke (pronounced: ROW-uh-NOHKE)."

"Good." Will said. "Commander, I'm going to assist Roanoke in any way I can, then see if I can't get the wolves to calm down." He used the term 'wolf' to refer to the Diamond Dogs so the Knights would understand what he meant. "I want you and the rest of your team to set up a perimeter and guard for any potential threats."

"Yes sir!" The Commander saluted again, then turned to his team and relayed Will's orders with a flurry of beeps, whistles, and chirps.

Will strode over to where the kneeling Promethean, Roanoke, was still tending to Rarity. As he approached, the Knight stopped what she was doing and turned to look at him. He could see that she knew what she was doing; A small rectangular prism hovered above Rarity's chest, emitting a rhythmic beep. A heart monitor. Next to Roanoke, a set of medical tools were neatly laid out and ready for use.

It was an impressive set-up: A portable surgical laser, biofoam canisters, medi-gel dispensers and containers, the whole package.

Will walked up to the two of them. "How is she, Roanoke?"

"Sir." she said. "I've been able to ease the pain somewhat, but she's suffering from a lot of mental pain as well."

"Mental pain?" Will asked. At the same time, a knot of dread and unease started forming in his gut.

Roanoke held up a small, teardrop-shaped device. "I scanned the equine's body for signs of any internal hemorrhaging, and her brain showed high activity in her amygdala." "The neurons' firing sequence match those of one who experienced something very frightening, and is hysterical because of it."

The knot of dread in Will's stomach tightened almost threefold. "Anything else?" he inquired shakily.

Roanoke thankfully didn't acknowledge his not-so-secret dread. "Yes." she said. "The equine has a plethora of signs that, when combined with the state of her mind, point to one conclusion..."

When the Knight uttered those words, Will's heart stopped as realization dawned on him.

"...Rape." both of them muttered at the same time.

Will's mind was numb; Diamond Dogs did some pretty evil and cruel things before. But this...this was absolutely unbelievable. He knew that even they drew the line at certain situation, and rape was one of them. Besides, when he glanced at the other Diamond Dogs, none of them were showing any signs that indicated that any of them had done it.

That Necromorph. Will recalled. The leader of the Dog pack was indeed a Necromorph in disguise, and it seemed ready to do anything that could make it happy.

Will found his hands clenched into fists and shaking with anger. He stilled the tremors and looked back at Roanoke, who was back to dressing Rarity's injuries.

"What about the deepest cut? How is that right now?" He asked.

"Sir I've sealed up that wound with biofoam and medi-gel, but it'll only hold temporarily. They've significantly delayed when the equine's limb will need to be amputated, but it won't be very long." Roanoke reported.

"Well, I've set up an operating station about two to three dozen miles from the edge of this forest." suggested Will.

She shook her head gravely. "Even so, my patch won't hold on foot, sir. In order to prevent an amputation, you'd need an aerial transport."

Will's expression brightened at Roanoke's statement. "Then there's still hope." he muttered.

She cocked her head, confused. "Sir?"

"My armor's systems has long-term flight propulsion." he explained. "I'll take Rarity back to the station. Tell Commander Joshua to rendezvous with me at the coordinates I'm about to send to you." "Are there any serious injuries on any of the other life-forms you all brought with you?"

"No sir. There are some on the purple-scaled, one, but nothing I can't treat here." replied the Knight medic.

"Good. Tend to those first, then you and Joshua's team will head to the rendezvous point."

"Yes sir!" She exclaimed. Will couldn't help but feel pride blossoming within his chest.

"Good. I'll see you when you guys get back."

He knelt down in front of Rarity's body and, very gingerly, picked her up. With a series of precise blinks, he diverted all of his suit's energy shielding to in front and above of him.

Will looked to the sky and activated the thrusters. A massive amount of sound erupted into existence as they roared to life, sending Will up into the air and back to Ponyville with his arms wrapped protectively around Rarity.

Hang on Rarity. You're almost home.