Chapters 'How long have I been here?' I asked myself for what felt like the thousandth time.
Ever since I made my new home I rarely ventured outwards in order to gather new info and some minor pleasantries that I couldn't make myself. The last time I went out was well over a month ago. Yet I always found myself right back here in my humble home in a cave, in the middle of the Everfree Forest in what was once the center of the long forgotten U.S of A which is now known as Equestria by the new populace.
It had been a few centuries since the end of the world which left me as the last of human kind on the planet. My name is Nicolas Dallen, born and raised in a small town in PA that I can't for the life of me remember. I stood at a solid six foot with a decently muscular build, light tanned skin dark brown eyes with matching hair. Not that any of that means anything to me anymore. Now I only went by the name Hellhound. It was the codename I was given while in the military and was the only name I went by for so long that it sort of replaced my old name.
How did the world end you may ask? Well that's easy to answer, we did it. Humanity I mean, but not because we wanted to.
It all started when humanity hit the twenty third century. A big boom in technology happened, and like most break through's in the tech department, most of the idea's came from movies and/or videogames. Sort of how Star Trek inspired the one guy to make the self sliding doors.
Naturally the military had new weaponry made before letting the public as a whole get in on all of the new tech. I was a grunt at the time who had newly enlisted and was offered for a project along with four others. Naturally I was both worried and curious about what the project entailed but in the end decided to throw caution to the wind and just go with it.
Turns out they actually started up some kind of pseudo super soldier program. Nothing on the scale of those old twenty first century Halo games though. Instead of the insane augmentations that those Spartan guys got our enhancements were pretty minimal. We healed from wounds quicker, got a slight boost in speed and strength, and were able to process information quicker but that was it.
The only major perk was the new combat armors we were made to wear called MYTHOS. Someone in the development department was a myth junky and decided to mold our suits in the image of some popular mythological creatures. I was given an armor nicknamed 'Hellhound.' I tell ya it was love at first sight when I first saw my armor. It was midnight black all around save for the helmet visor which was a deep crimson. The helm itself was styled like a snarling wolfs head with the visor being in it's snarling maw. It also had clawed gauntlets and boots with orange fire decals around the arms, legs, and around the visor.
My new armor came with some perks as well. For one the thing could take a dozen tank rounds at point blank range and barely get a scratch, increased my already enhanced abilities, came with an awesome HUD, and its personal perk, two longswords that hide in the armors forearms and allow me to call the out with a mental command. Not only that but the things lit up with blue flames that allowed them to even cut through tank armor.
In the three years following my new lot in life and introducing the public to the wondrous new technology humanity was almost ready to move on to space travel! Then they came. They never gave themselves a name but we called them the Plague. They were humanoids that stood roughly eight to eleven feet tall and were covered in boils and warts like a plague victim, had deathly pale skin and were deformed as hell. They were severely stronger than us and had much better tech. They never said their intentions out loud but when they leveled Cleveland Ohio upon their arrival it was made painstakingly clear.
Naturally humanity united and fought back and even with our obvious disadvantage we put up a good fight. Yet it wasn't enough. For each win we achieved we lost five more. When it came down to it humanity would rather risk their own extinction than surrender themselves to a foreign race. A bomb was then devised with enough destructive power to wipe the planet and even the rest of the solar system clean of the Plague. It took eight attempts before it was finally made with an experimental power source.
Naturally we tried to be smart and stow as many people away in bunkers as possible so as to hopefully not kill ourselves in the process. Lot of good it did. When the bomb finally went off it did its job and cleansed everything of not only the Plague but also of humanity. How did I survive? Well when it went off there was a lot of earthquakes and shit and I ended up getting trapped under a ton of rubble that along with my armor managed to save me.
It took over three days before I managed to find my way out of my impromptu tomb. When I finally got out though it most certainly wasn't for the better. Everything was just gone. There was hardly enough left to be called rubble! It took me a whole year to finally come to terms on being the last of my kind and when I did I tried to ring them back with some notes that I had found that somehow managed to survive. Sadly it was doomed to failure as not even a month after I began I blew up the entire lab and ended up sealing my fate. Apparently I had messed up my cells to a degree that they regenerated almost faster than they died. This meant that I basically stopped aging yet didn't increase my healing factor. Stupid I know but what are ya gonna do huh?
From there I gathered up everything human related and locked it away in what is now my home. It is basically a very large bunker that I built in a very large cave system. First I had to carve out the numerous gemstones that even now filled up the cave and now used them as currency whenever I went out which leads me to now.
As time went on I saw life basically start again but his time ape's weren't the ones who evolved to take the lead. I learned in time that the bombs energy had seeped in and mutated the planet that not only knocked it off of it's axis considerably but also made the planet capable of producing this same energy. In time creatures that humanity once called nothing more than myth began to inhabit the world. Yet the species that ended up taking over most of the planet was ponies. I shit you not ponies took over the planet only these weren't ponies like how I knew them. These ponies came in different varieties that included unicorns, pegasi, earth ponies and the rarest of them all, alicorns. If that wasn't weird enough that creatures were also Anthromorphic! They stood on two hooves and had hand and in the female's case breasts while still maintaining their fur, tails and even came in ridiculous colors. Most of the planets new inhabitants managed to harness the worlds new energy and called it 'magic.'
While these new inhabitants started to develop I secluded myself yet also managed to help their civilizations along with a few nudges here and their. I saw a chance to prevent the mistakes humans had made in the beginning and took the opportunity to try and do some good. Managed to prevent a few wars in fact so I am pretty proud of myself. Yet after all of that I now find myself with my only form of entertainment in my home aside from training and tinkering which was watching life progress in the Everfree from the various camera's I had placed throughout the large expanse of woodland.
Cycling though another channel I finally came across something mildly interesting. It appears three of the local populations resident's decided to venture in. The closest settlement was a quaint town called Ponyville so it was likely they came from there. The three ponies stood roughly at four foot eight making them preteen's at the most. The average adult mare only came up to at most five foot eight with the 'Princesses' of the land stood at an even height to myself.
These three particular ponies were an odd sort. One was a unicorn, another a Pegasus and the last one was an earth pony. The unicorn had a pearl white coat with a light purple mane with an even lighter streak through it that was rather 'poufy' if I had to say and had bright green eyes. She was a little more developed than most her age and wore a white button up shirt with a knee length purple skirt.
The Pegasus was in a word a tomboy. She wasn't as developed as the other two but had lean muscle's that even I could see. Her wings were pathetically small looking also I should note. She had a gamboge coat with a ragged dark purple mane and matching eyes. What she wore was a simple white t-shirt under a worn looking jean jacket, a pair of athletic shorts with a few rainbow stickers on them. Least she has some femininity.
The last member of the trio was a yellow earth pony who was by far the most developed of the three yet she also showed some muscle on her. She had bright amber eyes and an apple red mane in a 'ponytail' of all things with a large red bow on her head. Her apparel was far more suited for a trek through the Everfree in comparison to the other two. She wore a slightly dirtied white t-shirt under a pair of faded blue overalls.
"Now what might you three be up to I wonder?" I said to myself as I start to track their movements through the forest.
"Scootaloo are you sure it's a good idea to be out here? I still remember the last time you brought me and Applebloom out here and we ended up getting chased by a pack of Timberwolves." Spoke the unicorn to the tomboy now know as Scootaloo which meant that the farm girl was named Applebloom.
"Oh quit whining like a foal Sweetie Belle. How do you expect us to get our Cutie Marks without a little risk?" Responded Scootaloo while waving aside her friends worries.
I smile a little at the banter between the three as they start to debate going back to Ponyville. Oh the innocence of children. The Cutie Mark thing though made me roll my eyes. I mean seriously a random mark shows up just to tell you what to do with your life? A pretty stupid addition to biology if there ever was one.
Out of the corner of my eye I caught movement on another one of my camera's and turned away from the 'three stooget's' as I had dubbed them to see what was on another screen. What I found was a larger than average manticore lurking around. While a usual manticore was about the size of a rhino this was nearly double that and had various scars over it's form. Checking it's heading it was without a doubt heading straight for those three fillies.
Knowing what would happen if I didn't do something I quickly turn away from the monitor and run to my personal armory down the hall. Stepping inside I quickly grab my preferred weapon which was an automatic rifle named the ASL- Ravager. This particular rifle worked sort of like a mini railgun and fired superheated armor piecing rounds with enough force to punch through standard tank armor in a mere seven rounds from the forty round magazine. I was confident it could punch through the manitcore's thick hide. Since the world change the more primal creatures of the world had gotten a lot tougher and were much harder to take down. Hell a single Timberwolf's body despite being made of would could take a rocket and still be standing even if it would probably be missing at least on leg. The 'magic' in the world had really done a number on making the world a more dangerous place that was for sure.
Taking a quick note of all of my gear I have my helmet assemble on my head and it instantly displays a trail for me to follow on my HUD to lead me where I needed to go. Thank god I managed to modify my armor so that the helmet was collapsible. I would have hated carting that thing around.
"Time to go hunting." I say to myself as I set off into the Everfree to try and save the lives of three fillies. And here I was thinking that today was going to be boring.
I ran with everything I had towards the fillies location as it showed up on my HUD. If I was lucky I could intercept the manticore before it even reached the three of them. With this thought I pushed myself harder as I leaped over fallen trees and the like never once slowing down.
A short time later I could actually hear the thuds of the large manticore's foot falls as I came closer to my target. As soon as I cleared the last row of bushes I skidded to a halt and brought my rifle up with the sights locked firmly on the now surprised manticore. Looking at my HUD I see that I managed to catch the beast eighty meters from the fillies. Breathing a sigh of relief at not having to reveal myself to save them I focus all of my attention on the threat in front of me which had forgone its confusion and was now glaring at me and ready to pounce,
"Alright fuzzball you got two options here. One, you walk away right now and you get to live another day, and two, you attack me and I turn you into a new rug. So what's it gonna be fluffy?" I said in a threatening tone. Now most would think that talking to a giant animal would be stupid but in this time everything has some level of intelligence and can at least understand what the other is saying. Freaked me the hell out first time I heard a cow speak.
Yet the manticore didn't heed my warning and I saw its muscles tense for a charge. Knowing what was about to happen I got ready to move.
With a roar of rage the giant hybrid leaped at me. I quickly rolled to the side right before it impacted sending rocks and dirt into the air. Finishing my roll I stop in a kneeling position with my rifle raised. Taking quick aim I empty half of my clip into the beats side. It takes ten rounds to finally pierce its thick hide and the other ten go through making the beast roar in pain as blood spills out from its new wounds.
This did little to slow the manticore down though as it leaped at me once more but this time it used its wings to give it even more speed taking me by surprise. Luckily I managed to leap backwards before its claws could make contact but ended up losing my rifle as it was swatted away.
The bastard actually smiled at me thinking it had left me defenseless which really pissed me off.
"I wouldn't get too cocky you bastard." I growled out right before I brought out my two swords.
The manticore didn't look too impressed with my blades at first, but when they both lit up with blue flames I could see the fear in its eyes as it took a step back. It quickly righted itself though and roared in defiance.
Deciding to go on the offensive I rushed the beast dragging my blades along the ground leaving scorching scars in the dirt as I passed. My opponent tried to stab me with its scorpion tail when I got close but missed me as I flipped over the stinger and bringing my blades down severing the stinger from the rest of the tail leaving a smoking stump and making the manticore roar in pain and anger.
I hit the ground with a roll and quickly got to my feet once more only for the manticore to have leaped at me once more leaving me not time to react as it pinned me to the ground. Before it could take a bite of me though I planted me feet on its underside and using all of my strength pushed the beast off sending it crashing into a tree. I kick flipped myself back onto my feet with my blades ready and watched as the manticore shakenly got up.
Its eyes practically glowed with hatred and if it could see my eyes through the helmet I would be giving it the same look. Wanting to end this now I threw the sword in my left hand at the manticores face while running behind the blade. Seeing my blade coming the manticore leaped to the left letting my blade pass by harmlessly but left it self wide open for me. as I drove my blade into its side while still running forward slicing open its side while also burning its innards to ash. Pulling my blade out I watch as the manticore falls to the ground dead.
After taking a few deep breaths a feel the adrenaline start to wear off as I calmly walked over and plucked my blade from the tree it imbedded itself in. After putting my blades away I hurried over and grabbed my rifle. Just then I heard a gasp behind me and turned to find the three fillies I had came to save looking at me in both awe and fear as their gazes shifted from me to the manticore corpse and back.
Before I could say anything the one known as Sweetie Belle screamed loud enough it hurt my ears through the helmet. As if my luck couldn't be any worse I heard someone scream, "girls!"
Looking up I see a rainbow blur heading straight for me at high speeds. I quickly leaped backwards just as the blur reached me barely dodging it. The blur then stopped near the fillies revealing itself to be blue Pegasus mare. She stood roughly five foot seven and had a slim athletic build with a shaggy rainbow colored mane and tail and rosy red eyes. She wore a black sports bra under a dark blue windbreaker jacket and black track pants.
I instantly recognized her as the Element of Loyalty Rainbow Dash. I knew this because a couple years back I watched as her and her friends traveled through the forest to get the Elements of Harmony to defeat Nightmare Moon. I scoffed at the name they gave the six objects that were in fact the first six prototypes of the bomb that ended my race. How they found them when I couldn't I'll never know but didn't dwell much on it.
Dash was currently glaring at me with her wings spread in a threatening manner probably thinking I'm some sort of new monster of the forest.
"What the buck are you ya freak!" She growled out.
Nailed it on the head. Before I could answer her though and more likely than not scare the crap out of her the bushes behind the mares rustled right before the rest of the Element's emerged.
"Dash did you find the gir-," Started a purple mare before she saw me and stopped with her mouth wide open. The rest of the mares behind her followed suit wearing identical expressions.
The purple mare that had spoke stood at about the same height as Dash only was a little more curvy. Also she was a unicorn as identified by the horn poking out from her straight dark purple mane with a pink stipe through it. She wore a dark purple uniform with a thigh high skirt and white undershirt that would either go with a schoolgirl or librarian theme look. This was the Element of Magic Twilight Sparkle.
Next was an earth pony mare with a light orange coat that had her blonde mane and tail in a 'ponytail' oddly enough. She had bright green eyes with some white freckles on her face and stood about two inches taller then Dash and Twilight but also had a very curvy figure along with some well defined musculature. She wore a dark rad flannel shirt tied up to show off her toned midriff, jean shorts, and a stetson on top of her head. This was Applejack the Element of Honesty.
Standing next to Applejack was another earth pony only this one was all pink with her poufy mane and tail being a slightly darker shade of pink with only her eyes being a different color as they were a bright blue. She stood a little shorter than Applejack but still taller than either Dash or Twilight. Her figure was very curvy and I almost got distracted by her bouncing chest as she was hopping in place repeatedly. She wore a tight fitting white t-shirt that exposed her midriff under a short jean jacket and a frilly blue skirt that went down to her knees. This was Pinkie Pie the Element of Laughter.
Standing slightly behind the energetic pink mare was a white unicorn mare with a curly purple mane and tail with matching eyes.. She wore expertly applied make-up and stood at the same height as Pinkie while having a moderate figure though from where I was standing I easily saw that her best feature was her ass. The white dress she wore only accentuated it was the pure white garment was form fitting and exposed a decent amount of cleavage. All in all she looked like some form of nobility. This was Rarity Belle the Element of Generosity.
The last mare of the group was a buttery yellow Pegasus with a long bright pink mane and tail with teal colored eyes. She was by far the tallest and curviest of the mares as she stood at five foot nine and had a perfect hourglass shape. Here attire while meant to be concealing did very little to hide her figure. She wore a dark green turtle neck sweater with a pair of skinny jeans. This was Fluttershy the Element of Kindness.
At the moment though each of these mares were looking at me in both fear and aggression. Knowing I should probably get the fuck out of here I take a step back. This was a bad idea though cause as soon as I moved Twilight's horn lit up and Dash got ready to charge. This was not going to end well.
Throwing caution to the wind I book it out of their dodging a blast of purple magic along the way. I don't look back as I run through the woods as I could already hear the mares giving chase through the foliage.
Running as fast as I can I know I won't be able to avoid them forever especially Dash. I knew she boasted about being the fastest flier in Equestria but even I knew that she had the skills to back up that claim. If any of them were to catch me it would be her. My only hope was to lose them in the thick woods and hide out in the bunker for a couple of days so they can just forget about me.
Sadly I underestimated Dash's speed as a few minutes later I was thrown forward from her colliding with my back and sending the two of us tumbling forward. We stopped rolling with Dash on top but that didn't last long as I easily pushed her off and moved to get up only to have Applejack's leg heading straight for my face.
I knock the kick away with my forearm while kicking out my left leg sending the already unbalanced mare tumbling to the ground giving me enough time to get to my feet. My victory was short lived though as Twilights purple aura surrounded me and tried to restrain me though I wasn't having any of that and quickly broke free from her hold.
While she got a bit of backlash I tried to use this moment to escape but by that time Dash and Applejack had recovered and ganged up on me. Dash was using her speed to deliver some quick hits and distract me while Applejack dealt heavy blows whenever an opportunity presented itself.
I didn't want to hurt them so all I could do was block all of their strikes while looking for an opportunity to hopefully break away and make a run for it. But these mares weren't giving me any leeway and kept up the pressure. Then all at once the broke off and got some distance confusing me.
'Did they finally decide to give up?' I wondered to myself before hearing a click right behind me.
Turning around a find myself staring down a fucking cannon of all things! Looking up slightly I see Pinkie's blue eyes as she pulls the cord to the cannon while yelling out happily, "goodnight weird creature!"
And just like that I get a face full of confetti and cake with enough force to send me flying into a patch of flowers. I lay there for a second in shock before standing and wiping some cake from my visor.
"But how!? I point blank shot from Pinkie's cannon should have knocked it out cold!" I heard Twilight yell.
Just as I was about to respond to her statement I start to feel a bit lightheaded. Looking down I see the bright blue flowers I had landed in and curse at my luck. I had landed in a patch of Poison Joke. While this would cause most species to have something really weird and admittedly funny happen to them for me it acts like a sleeping agent and can knock me out cold in a few minutes in small doses. Yet I landed in a huge patch of it and that would knock me out in a few seconds. Really wish I has installed that filter into my helmet now but no I had to be lazy.
As my vision began to dim I saw the colorful blurs that were the fillies and Elements get closer. I tried to hold off for as long as possible but it was a losing battle. Mere moments later I felt my body collapse and my vision go dark.
I don't know how long I was out. The only thing I did know when I finally came to was that I was in a bed and that I was currently strapped down to said bed. Thankfully though my armor was still on and after checking my hud my weapons were still on me. Guess they didn't want to take chances in messing with my gear so they left it with me.
The next few minutes passed with me testing my restraints as well as taking in my new surrounding's. Said area had plain white walls and a large window to my right. A curtain was on my left but was open showing the empty bed next to mine. The straps themselves were pretty weak in my opinion and with a simple flex I could easily snap them and be on my way.
Just as I was about to snap the restraints and leave I heard voices approaching and laid back pretending to still be unconscious. Thankfully my helmet completely covered my face so I could still see what was happening without them knowing.
"I'm telling you Princess this thing is not a pony! The body is similar yes but most definitely not a pony. If I had to describe it in one word I would have to call it, alien." Said a male voice just outside the door. I nearly laughed at them calling me and alien. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.
"Thank you doctor. My sister and I will see to the creature now and determine if it is a threat so you may be off." Responded a female voice.
Just then the door opened and I saw eight different mare's walk into my room. Six of them were the Element's that I had already had the pleasure of meeting but the new additions are what caught my attention. They were none other than the co-rulers of the country Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.
Luna was taller then the Elements and stood at about five foot eleven and had a perfect hourglass shape similar to her sister's only with a slightly smaller chest. Her fur was a midnight blue while her mane and tail looked like the night sky and flowed on its own. Her eyes were a bright turquoise that was accentuated by her strapless black dress with her cutie mark on her hips.
Celestia was about as tall as myself at six foot with the same figure as her sister save for her generous chest that was just even with the element of Kindness. Her fur was a pristine white and her bright rainbow mane and tail flowed just the same as Luna's. Her eyes were a bright ruby red and she wore a similar dress to her sister only in white with gold accent's with her Cutie mark in the same place.
I could do nothing but stare as they crowded around my bed as I f I was something ready for dissection. Pinkie was the first one to move as she started tapping on my visor until she was pulled away by Twilight.
"Pinkie stop that! You'll wake it up and we don't know what it could possibly be capable of! It killed a rogue manticore for Faust's sake!" Berated Twilight while Pinkie just kept up her insanely happy smile.
"Then how are we supposed to learn about it if we don't ask it questions silly?" She asked innocently.
"Oh please Pinkie I doubt this thing can even talk anyway." Huffed Dash as she hovered nearby with her arms crossed. That comment made it sound like I was some dumb animal and though I could prove them wrong I decided to stay quiet for the moment and try to see what else I could gather.
"Sister I have never seen a creature like this. Does thou think it may be as the doctor said?" Asked Luna while running her hand over my chest piece.
"I'm not sure sister. It certainly is unlike anything we have ever seen but to call it an alien is a bit farfetched in my opinion." Responded Celestia as she gazed into my visor intently.
At this point I was just hoping they could leave so that I could get the hell out of here but that plan was shot to hell when Pinkie hopped up and plopped herself onto my stomach making me jerk up in surprise and breaking my restraints. I was about to yell at the mare for jumping on me before I realized what I had just done and slowly turned to see the other occupants in the room looking at me in shock and a little bit of fear while the pink mare just sat in my lap with her maniacal smile still on her face.
"See Dash I told you I could wake him up!" Said Pinkie triumphantly.
"Pinkie git the hay away from that thing efore' it git's ya!" Shouted Aj in worry.
Knowing that if I didn't ease the situation this situation would go from bad to worse I began to speak which surprised all of the mares.
"Hey I'm not going to hurt anyone so just calm down." I say in a placating manner.
"YOU CAN TALK!?" Screamed Dash while pointing at me.
"Yes. Yes I can despite what you said earlier mrs Dash." I deadpanned making the mare blush in embarrassment.
I heard the scratching of paper and turned my attention to see Twilight frantically writing on a piece of paper with a quill muttering to herself. Until she looked up to see my gaze on her and quickly put the parchment behind her back while looking everywhere but at me. After that I look to my lap to see Pinkie still there and sigh to myself. These ponies are so fucking weird it's not even funny.
"Miss can you please get off of me so I can get up?"
"Okie dokie lokie!" She responded before hopping off of me and allowing me to stand and stretch my stiff joints.
As I did this I notice all of the fearful glances I was being given due to my height. Wanting to make them feel more at ease I sit back on the bed and reach up to take my helmet off. A hiss of air indicated it was depressurized and I slowly pulled it off. Once the helmet was fully off all of the mares jaw's dropped in surprise and if I didn't know any better I think I was even seeing them blush.
Putting my helmet in my lap I give them all a friendly smile before speaking.
"Hi my name is Nicolas Dallen but you can just call me Hellhound. It's nice to finally meet the very creatures I have been watching over for so long." I say making some of them smile but others stare at me in confusion.
"What does thou mean by 'watching over for so long'?" Asked/demanded Luna.
Sighing once more I knew this was going to be a long explanation. Yet if I didn't give it then I probably wouldn't be allowed to go free which would lead to me breaking out and being hunted down for the rest of eternity. Yeah not fun. So for the next few hours I explained to them about my kind and basically how the world they knew came to be. Of course I had to stop at points to answer a few questions and by the time I was finished at was almost time for Luna to raise the moon.
At the moment however Fluttershy was clinging to me crying and trying to 'sooth the pain' at the loss of my kind. I for the most part was using all of my willpower to keep from blushing from the feeling of her large chest basically engulfing my head. It was a battle I was thankful to say I won and no one was the wiser.
The others for the most part were sorry for me and offered their condolences but the worst had to be Twilight as she looked to be on the verge of losing her shit.
"So all that we know came from a bucking ACCIDENT!" She screamed to which I could only shrug my shoulders and nod. I wasn't going to lie to her as basically that is what happened.
She nearly went ballistic after that but thankfully the other managed to calm her down. From there Luna raised the moon and now we were talking about what we were going to do from here on out. From what they have told me so far basically the whole town saw the Element's drag me to the hospital so keeping me a secret was out of the bag. The only thing they could do now was damage control. Plus Celestia and I had a bit of a disagreement on my tech.
"For the last time Celestia my answer is NO!" I say with a tone of finality yet Celestia still insists.
"But your kinds technology could bring Equestria into a new age!" She tried to reason.
"That 'new age' would only lead to trouble! The technology of my time lead to the near extinction of my race and I will be dammed if I let history repeat itself Celestia! So for the last time my answer is NO! The most I would be willing to give you is the history of my race bar the information on how things were made." I respond. Celestia looked about ready to protest but Luna put her hand on her sisters shoulder and leaned in to whisper something to her. Celestia gave her a surprised look but nonetheless nodded in agreement to something.
"Sir Hellhound we understand thou's position on such matters so we suggest a compromise." Said Luna gently as if testing if I would lash out like I did her sister.
"Go on."
"What if you were to 'tutor' our guards. From what you have described your kind were great warriors and we would benefit from learning of your ways of combat." Said Luna.
I take a minute to think about her offer. Now I wasn't a big supporter of warfare in general but it was obvious that ponies as a whole were severely inadequate in the way's of warfare. If it ever came down to a fight the ponies of Equestria would lose hand's down. Even the Diamond Dog's were better equipped to fight than they were! Against my better judgment I felt it better that I accept and help them prepare for such an event should it ever come.
"I will 'tutor' your guards Princess but only the new recruits. The ones you currently have are too set in their ways to be taught what I have to teach. Also you will have no say in my methods and when I ask for something I want it given to me without question. If I am to turn your guards into proper soldiers then it must be on my terms understood?" I answer with no room for argument.
Luna and Celestia looked conflicted for a moment before finally relenting with a sigh and agreeing to my terms. After that the Element's left for their individual homes while wishing the Princesses and I goodnight. The royals and I though went on for the next few hours discussing when I would leave for Canterlot to start training the new recruits as well as what I would need.
It took some convincing but eventually I had gotten them to agree to let me take the poor bastards into the Everfree at the last two weeks of training to get them some 'real world' experience. They were both quite disturbed by what I had planned for the recruits. But then I pitched in an idea that made them think I was almost insane.
"What do you mean 'Special Forces!'" Demanded Celestia.
"Exactly what I said sunny. I will take the best of the recruits and give them even more advanced training so the could become the first of Equestria's Special Forces division. Trust me you will thank me for it later whenever you go to war."
"How does thou know we will go to war! We have not been in such conflict for centuries!" Exclaimed Luna.
"That doesn't mean it won't eventually happen Princess. Most of the other races of the world have an effective military, why you may ask? Because war is always a possibility in the world and its best to be overtly ready than to be unprepared. So will you allow me to train a Special Forces division?" I say neutrally. Damn this negotiating shit is rough! How do politician's manage to do this shit nearly everyday and not go crazy is beyond me.
Thankfully they agreed to my proposal and the rest of the negotiations went along smoothly. By the time they left it was well midnight and the conversation started at nine in the morning! Needless to say I was exhausted and promptly conked out but not before replacing my helmet on my head. I was still a bit paranoid at someone trying to take some of my shit but hopefully I wouldn't have to worry about that for long.
Who knows, I may actually enjoy putting those grunts through my training from hell. Ah it was good to be involved with the world once more even if it was basically training an army from scratch.
Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. 