MLM
Chapter 2
The Everfree

Thoughts
“Speech”
(Noises)
“[MACHINE voice]”

“...Ow” getting up from the floor, I make sure that everything is where it should be. After assuring I’m not missing anything, I check my surroundings.

“Whoa. What kind of forest is this? Why am I in a forest?” The local flora don’t look like anything native to New Hampshire, which unnerves me a bit.

I see that I am standing in a small patch of blue flowers. I bend down and pick one. (nom). I know, not the smartest idea, but I am hungry and flower petals are usually edi- THIS IS DELICIOUS!!! (NOMNOMNOMNOM-URK!) Ate too fast!

“GAAAK!” spitting up the flowers, I wipe my face with my arm and notice something hard and metallic around my wrist.

“Huh. It's that weird watch that... Did what exactly?” It said something before shocking me. “Calibrating” I think it said. But what did it do?

“Grrrrrrrr.” That can't be good. I turn around and I make out a wolf’s silhouette in the shadows. As it emerges from the darkness, I see that it isn’t a wolf. It appears to be a mass of sticks and lumber in the shape of a wolf. I’ve heard of timber wolves but this is ridiculous! But seriously. Dafuq is that thing? And why do I get the sneaking suspicion that it wants me for dinner? It growls again and three more appear from the foliage. Oh this is not good. I slowly pull out my tonfa and get ready. The second wooden wolf pounces on me and pins me to the ground while I block its jaws with one tonfa. It shakes its head, tearing away my weapon and leaving me defenseless. I reach out for something, anything, to grab at. A root. No good. I need A BARRIER!

“[MACHINE activated. Construct #1 Shield]” Then everything felt like it was in slow motion. The wolf opened its jaws and lunged.

Then the most extraordinary thing happened. The watch then opened up, some mechanical tendrils came out and touched the tree. Said tree split apart, and took on a slight sheen, as if hardening. It then started coming back together on my arm forming a shield? Crack! The wolf's jaws splintered on contact with the shield that I didn't realize I had lifted up to my face. Thinking quickly I get up and bash the wolf in the remainder of its face.

“Let’s see what else it can do.” I touch a rock and... nothing. I look at the wolves that are still up and snarling at me. Running very fast now! I look back.

“Man these things do not let up!” I have to find somewhere- Ah Ha! Climbing up the tree aaand, Safe! I look down at the things below me.

“Ha! Canids can't climb trees!” They growled at me for a few minutes and left. Whew, that was an ordeal. I climb down from the tree and turn my attention to the watch.

“What is this thing?” It turned that tree root into a shield. But why did it not work with the rock? Does it not work with inorganic matter? Time for testing! I grab a stick and think “weapon”! “...why isn't it working?!” I felt frustration build up, and a desire to whack that tree over there with something. Something sharp. I need a WEAPON!

“[Construct #3.1 Short sword]”

It happened again. The watch opened up and the tendrils deconstructed the stick and formed a short sword in my hand.

“Woah.” In my head I could see the sharp edge, the grip and every component, but when I pushed it out of my mind, it dispelled the blade and it turned back into a stick.

“Well. This is an interesting development.” I pick up the rock. The blade didn't look like it was made of wood so can I...? Imagining the composition of the material I had in mind, I spread that though the rock in my head and the watch complied.

“[Construct #17 sphere bomb]”

“Ah HA! It worked!... Where is the pin?” I observe the ball from every angle, but I don't find a trigger of any sort.

“Huh. I guess I need to have everything planned out in my head to make it work. So much for getting a gun easily” The sun was going down quickly and I could hear howling in the distance. Well at least I’ll be ready for them with the... What is this thing called anyway?
It spoke. “[The MACHINE]”
“Waaah! It can hear my thoughts?!?”
“[Yes. The MACHINE is a matter alteration device that is connected directly to your nervous system. But your brain was configured strangely so I rewired it for MACHINE use.” So that was the pain that I felt when I put you on.
“[Yes]”
“Aaaaugh! Stop doing that! I like to have my thoughts to myself thank you.”
“[Verbal response only is now active.]”
“Anyway, who are you exactly?”
“[I am M.R.A.I.A. The MACHINE Regulating. Artificial. Intelligence. Assistant. At your service Mr.V]”
“I think I'll just call you Mr. Aia. And by the way, call me Casimir”
“[Understood Casimir.]”
“And what did you mean by strange brain?”
“[Your physiology does not match that of any known Hyrian nervous systems.]”
“Hyrian? What is a Hyrian? And where did you come from?”
“[A denizen of the country Hyra, on the planet CAC-1-5. The MACHINE was a super weapon designed by Carred Zelos for the Hyrian Millitary. However, he deemed it too dangerous so he used a pseudo-Carrian manifold generator to create a warp pulse, so as to push the MACHINE out of their reality. But given the circumstances, it appears that the pulse created an instability in other realities drawing you into the pocket dimension. Once the MACHINE was out of the pocket, It collapsed, sealing the instabilities, thus making the reality barriers conventionally unbreakable again.]”
“So, I can't go home?”
“[No. You cannot.]”

“...this is GREAT! It's just what I needed! An alien world to explore” I look down at the MACHINE. “and the power to survive it.”
“[I do not understand. Does your species not want a place to call home?]”
“Well yes, but I never liked my home planet anyway. It was on the brink of collapse.” I take a look around at the landscape.
“I think I'll call this place home.”
One Month later

After spending two nights in a tree. I decided to make a place to rest. Utilizing the MACHINE's matter manipulation, I was able to harvest some raw materials to build with, to an extent. Apparently the MACHINE's main function was to harm, so I just couldn't make a house with the raw matter. In the span of a month I built a fairly respectable home on the edge of the forest. I also practiced with the MACHINE to see the extent of its capabilities. The MACHINE is an extension of my mind, and since this mind is very knowledgeable on the inner workings of various mechanisms, and weapons, it turned me into a killing machine. Heh. It took me a while but I managed to construct a gun, and various other kinds of weaponry. Some of which shouldn’t even function under conventional physics. Apparently this reality’s laws are slightly skewed compared to the universe I was familiar with. While modern weapons are significantly more effective in most situations, they take significantly longer to create due to a higher amount of concentration needed. The cuts and bruises I was getting from the wooden wolves were accumulating so I decided I need some protection. So I developed the MM-1 Armor set. A Kevlar reinforced, graphene suit, capable of withstanding a railgun spike moving at Mach 7 without a scratch. Trust me. I’ve tested it. It actually looked a bit like a dark grey Megaman suit, but without the thick forearms or helmet.

(RRRRRRRR) I guess it’s lunchtime. I usually ate those blue flowers, but I decided to look for something different. I pocketed some blue flowers for a snack and decided to find something else to eat, because frankly, I was getting tired of flower salad. Even though they were delicious.
(Sniff Sniff) What is that smell? It smells like a baked good of some sort. But that's.... Is there intelligent life in this dimension? I never considered that, and I haven't really gone too far from my home so maybe something is cooking? Following the smell, I came upon a small cottage with the smell emanating from inside. Intelligence! Another sapient being besides myself! I look inside a window but I don't see anything moving. Turning around I notice a trail of prints leading into the forest. So I decided to follow them.
A few minutes later I hear a small voice.
“There you are Angel, I was so worried. You know it's not safe to go into the Everfree forest.” English! What are the odds?!? I peek around a bush and there I see it. A small quadrupedal yellow equine/avian creature was communicating with a small lagomorphic creature I shall identify as a rabbit. In an attempt to make contact I come out of the bush. Behind the equine creature I see a pair of glowing green eyes…Wait a minute... Wooden Wolf! I have to do something!
Fluttershy's POV

(Rustle Rustle)
“Huh?” I turn to the shaking bush. “W-Who’s there?”

“Grrrrrrrr” A timberwolf!

“Angel. You need to get out of here!” But before the timber wolf made its move, another creature came out of hiding. One that I’ve never seen before. It stood between me and the timber wolf. “Eep!” I notice its forelimbs were extended, blocking the timberwolf’s path.

“A-Are you here to protect me?” It looks at me and gives me a toothy grin.

“Run. More will be coming.” I-It Can Talk!?!
“Go on. Run!”

“O-Oh, Ok.” I start running in the direction of Ponyville. Running out of the Everfree forest, I see Rainbow Dash flying around, practicing tricks. I start waving frantically and she lands.

”Hey Fluttershy! You here to see my new tricks?”

“Not now Rainbow Dash. There's an animal that needs help!” I then told Rainbow what happened.

“What!? It could talk?!?”

“Yes! And I’m afraid that the timberwolf could hurt it.”

“...O.K. I'll go and round up the girls. The Everfree is dangerous for anypony to go alone, even for me.” and she took off.
A few minutes later
Twilight's POV

We were gathered at the edge of the Everfree forest. Pinkie was watching a butterfly, Rainbow Dash was making jabbing motions in the air, Applejack was just arriving, and Fluttershy was being consoled by Rarity.
“O.K. Everypony we need to find the creature that Fluttershy has described and help it. Now remember it was bipedal, like a Minotaur, but without horns or hooves, had a gray coating and could talk. When you find it, try and subdue it with these paralysis crystals so Fluttershy can treat its wounds.” I passed out several yellow crystals imbued with magic.
(BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!)

“What in tarnation was that?” said Applejack.

“They sounded like big loud party poppers. OOH! Maybe the Fluttershy's creature likes parties!” said Pinkie Pie. “Let's go!”

While walking through the Everfree forest, trying to find the source of the sound, I was also excited. A new species? Who could resist discovering something new to understand?! What does it look like? How much can it talk? Is it a he or a she? So many questions were going through my mind, I was just so excited!

Author's Note

This is my version of what the MACHINE does, because the EpicGuitar story MACHINE is not complete. When MACHINE is released, it may be different from my version of the MACHINE. It's in all caps because I like it.