Author's Note

Please Read, but you don't have to. New? Well yeah, the story's being reworked for those of you that didn't hear about it. Chap 2 is coming out next week, putting finishing touches and all of that jazz on it. It's mainly me just writing it down from paper.

I'd like to thank ChasingResonance and GUILIO for the extreme amounts of help that they gave during this whole thing. Their names are links to their pages if you would like to check them out. Chapter two will be be out a week into December, guarantee it.

TL;DR: Chap 2 next week. ChasingResonance and Giulo helped. Hope you like it.

Chapter 1: ACCESS GRANTED

“You ready?” Johnny asked, a light german accent sneaking into his words as he looked towards his friend in the modified EOD suit. Only the two of them were in the dorm room, as the rest of their friends were waiting outside.

Johnny Isidor, the son to a chairman of a large private military organization. The company itself was founded by Johnny’s father, Mason Isidor, who ran it with an iron fist as the company made its way to the top. All the while Johnny watched from the shadows, admiring his father’s tenacity and ability to keep everyone satisfied, even if it meant overworking himself. The moment his father showed him what he did, Johnny Isidor knew that he wanted to be able to say that the people that followed him were happy. That they did so because they wanted to.

Once a foreigner to the United States, Mason Isidor had everything he could want, namely, a happy family. However, a happy family couldn’t pay to keep them fed or warm. Because of this, not long after he came to America, Mason took up the profession of being a night guard for multiple facilities. Through determination, he climbed the corporate ladder and made his name heard. Once he had enough money, he began his own company - one that would become the largest and the most sought after security firm in the world.

Dominic gave a thumbs up, but nothing more; the suit restricted his movement to the most basic of motions. Johnny smiled and nodded. Picking up his shield, he made sure his own suit was ready and that everything was perfect. The shield itself was smaller than what could be seen on the game, but he had to work with what he’d gotten. Instead of stretching to his full height, he had to crouch to fit his entire body behind the thick metal slab.

The weight of the suit was nothing to laugh at. While a regular EOD suit might weigh in at seventy-five pounds, the suit Dominic was wearing was modified for aesthetics, though it still retained enough of its original purpose to stop almost anything that was thrown at it. Johnny took it upon himself to add some things to it to make it more realistic; kevlar lined almost every inch of the outer layer of the suit’s body and thin metal plates lined the gloves and arms of the suit, covering what it didn’t originally protect. The thick, jet-black plate of bulletproof metal that covered the visor with the Skulldozer’s signature skull painted on it with eye holes drilled into it completed the look. On top of it all, it had a cooling system that kept the wearer from having a heat stroke, making the suit itself top off at one-hundred and twenty pounds. Being the behemoth that he was, Dominic carried himself and the suit with ease, but due to safety reasons, he couldn’t run in it.

Dominic D. Weaver was the product of his surroundings. Never one to talk about himself, he had a quiet life but a troubled past. That was how he lived, before he scrounged up enough money to give himself a better education. Getting himself into college, Dominic began to take a more academic road, specifically politics. He wanted to be a person who could help to better a community. His friends - Thomas, Johnny, and Francis - all thought it was funny that someone like him wanted to be a politician, but they all supported him anyways.

The door to their room creaked open and they watched as the third member of their group walk in. It was Thomas, dressed as a Taser, with the suit’s visor blocking the view of his face.

“Are you both fucking done? The convention’s about to fucking start and the line’s probably a mile long by now.”

Thomas Finlay was a short man, hailing from sunny California. When compared to the others, Thomas had the shortest fuse when it came to temper, and his height didn’t help.

While he rarely talked about his family, he didn’t really have a reason to. Being the only child, he never had competition when it came to attention, but this usually meant him being smothered by his parents. Telling him everything he did was perfect, that his best was the best.

That’s what he hated. His best just wasn’t good enough for him, he quickly began to do everything he could to be better. His father being a mechanic and his mother being the engineer for big brand-name company, Thomas quickly became attuned with almost any machine he saw.

In the end, Thomas was only satisfied when he finally surpassed both of his parents, but all of his work lead to him being a literal social outcast. The only friends he made in years were his roommates. Dominic, Johnny, and Francis.

“Hold your fucking horses, alright? Dom’s suit is a fucking pain and he needed help.”

“What the fuck ever. Just hurry up, Francis is gettin’ antsy and he’s startin’ to talk to himself again. I don’t wanna get shanked out there,” Thomas said as he shook his head. The door opened more and behind Thomas was the Cloaker known as Francis. His whole body was covered in a dark grey clothing; a black ski mask matched the pair of black boots and Kevlar vest.

Francis Newport—he was an odd one. While most of his childhood was fine, there were some happenings here and there that lead to him becoming somewhat of an extreme extrovert. He had the tendency to grossly exaggerate his own feelings. While it might seem that he was happy or sad, in truth he felt nothing at all. But that wasn't entirely true: he could be happy; he could be sad; it's just that it was only with those that he considered close. To Francis, his roommates were like family.

His attitude towards other people usually got him in trouble. Most things he could handle, but when it came to his friends? His family? When it came to the legal department, Johnny’s family wasn’t to be trifled with. There were one or two cases of this in the past that involved him, but he grew out of that.

Now, Francis studies psychology. While he isn’t the best at it, the one thing he is good at, is going unnoticed. He knew how to work a room and make sure he wouldn’t be noticed. Drawing no attention to himself in the slightest, it was mind-boggling as to how he did it. That’s why he mostly had a perfect attendance record throughout his classes.

“I can’t stab you Thomas, but I can beat you to death with my nightstick for thinking that I would.” He chuckled.

Thomas turned his head to Francis, and then back to Johnny and Dominic. “See?!”

“Fine,” Johnny said as he finished inspecting himself. “We’re all done here anyways. Let’s get going.”

“Yeah, I don’t wanna stand in line all day in this thing,” Dominic said as he stretched out his arms.

Both Johnny and Dominic saw their way out of the dorm room and out into the hallway with the others. Johnny closed the door behind him and looked to Dominic. “So how’s the suit Dom? Nice and cool?”

As Dominic slowly shuffled in place he turned his whole upper body slightly towards Johnny. “It’s fucking freezing in here! What the hell did you put in this thing?” Johnny laughed at his reply.

“Just something to make sure you can wear it longer.”

As the group made their way down the hallway, they immediately caught the attention of some of the other convention goers. There were even a couple of people that wanted to take a picture with them. As soon as they got out of the building, they saw Thomas’ truck in the parking lot. They walked towards it and they all moved to their respective places. Johnny in the back seat with his shield, Thomas driving, and both Francis, and Dominic in the bed of the truck.

“You both good back there?” Thomas called as he looked in the rear-view mirror.

He saw Dominic give a thumbs up. Thomas nodded and put the key in the ignition and started the car. As the engine roared to life, the group of friends gave a cheer.

“Let’s get going then!” Thomas yelled as he pulled out of the parking space and drove.

The truck approached a four-way intersection and Thomas turned the radio down.

“Hey guys!” he yelled, getting the attention of everybody in the truck. “When we get there, what’s for lunch?!” He saw Dominic and Johnny shrug slightly.

“Gotta get some thai!” Francis called out.

“Thai it is then!” He turned the radio back up and waited for the light to turn green. The moment he looked at the light it switched to green.

That was quick… Thomas thought before pressing down on the gas pedal and the truck moved forward. As soon as the truck was in the middle of the intersection, a blaring noise came from his right. His head snapped to look at the source of the noise. It was a semi: a semi that was speeding right for them.

“Shit!” was all Thomas got to say before the semi slammed into the side of the truck, launching both Francis and Dominic from the bed and into the air. Johnny was impaled by his shield as it pushed into his side and forced everything in its way, out of its way. Thomas’ head swung back violently, bashing it against the window and effectively shattering it. His helmet took most of the force, but it wasn’t enough as the truck began to roll. He blacked out after repeatedly hitting his head on the steering wheel.

Dominic’s face plate was torn off as he hit the ground and slid. With his visor scratched and cracked he looked up to the wreckage that they were just riding. Blood dripped out of the back seat doors and Thomas’ head lazily hung out of the window. He looked over to Francis who was laying next him, unmoving, blood pooling underneath his still body. Dominic laid his blood soaked head onto his visor before coughing up a mouthful of more blood and passing out.

‘Yo Dom!’ was all Dominic heard as he was awoken from his slumber with a slap to the faceplate.

“Gah, fuck!” Dominic shouted, sitting up from the from the ground before lifting the metal plate blocking view of his face. He immediately regretted his decision as light rushed forward and clawed at his eyes. Tears began to fill his vision.

“What the fuck?” Dominic said with hot tears running down his face. All he could see was white: a blindingly bright white. He squeezed his eyes shut to rid his eyes of the tears. He opened his eyes once more and was granted a more clear sight of his surroundings…a sparkling field of snow. He looked up to see a cloud filled sky, rays of light haphazardly piercing the thick blanket of gray to fall and land on the sheets of white below.

Dominic looked at the sight in front of him. It’s fucking beautiful… He thought. His concentration was broken when somebody gave a cough. Dominic turned his upper body to the left and was greeted with the sight of his friends.

With his shield in tow, Johnny walked forward towards Dominic, his feet sinking into the snow below him and giving out soft crunching sounds as he did so. “Welcome back to the land of the living,” Johnny said with joy in his voice before offering a hand to his armored friend.

Dominic looked at Johnny, “What the fuck happened?” He asked before taking Johnny’s hand into his own and hoisting himself off the snowy ground. Johnny grunted at the weight of Dominic.

“We died remember?” Johnny asked, his tone didn’t change.

Dominic looked at Johnny, his eyes turned to Francis and Thomas who were looking at the horizon. “How the hell can you guys be so fucking calm about this?” Dominic asked with furrowed brows. “We died!” He shouted, catching the attention of everyone except Francis, who continued looking into the distance, as if he were searching for something.

“Yeah, but we’re alive now right?” Johnny shrugged as he asked.

“That or hell froze over,” Thomas chuckled as he was walking up next to Johnny. There was a muffled slap as a gloved hand met a helmet. With his head in hand, Johnny groaned.

“What? Just trying to cope with all of this,” Thomas extended his arms out and twirled in place. “And jokes are how I do it.”

Dominic gave a toothy grin and shook his head as he chuckled at their predicament. “Do we have any clue where we are?” He asked.

Silence reigned over the group. Johnny’s shoulders sagged and his shield dipped into the snow, Thomas’ head lowered, and a frown made its way across Dominic’s face. They had no clue what to do.

It was a good minute of silence before their attention was gathered as the sound of crunching snow made itself known. They looked to the source of the noise and saw that Francis was walking towards them. His figure glittered with snow as he walked. “I think I know which way to go,” He said as he came to a stop before them. “The problem is that this is a total guess.”

They didn’t reply. “It fucking burned but when I had my goggles on I noticed that something over there was making a lot of light. My guess is that, that’s the way to a town of sorts.”

“How the hell could you tell?” Thomas asked, his voice full of doubt.

“The snow’s all sparkly right?” Johnny, Thomas, and Dominic all looked at each other before looking back to Francis and nodding.

“With the goggles on, all I see is pure white. Except for the sky, that’s more of a light gray, but I digress. Looking at the horizon with these babies on I could see the snow, and something else. An even brighter light.”

There was a moment of silence before Dominic shrugged and said, “Might as well, let’s get going,” And with one foot after the other, Dominic began to walk past Francis, the others following right behind him.

Francis watched as his friends walked through the snow. A smirk wormed its way across his concealed face. “This is going to be interesting,” was all he said before he began to run in an attempt to catch up with the others.

As the group began their trek towards what they hoped was civilization, the winds began to pick up and it started to snow. The group of roommates began to huddle as the snow and wind clawed at them and their unprotected bodies. The main source of heat being Dominic and his suit. Their feet crushing the snow below them, carving a path straight the an untouched field of it. But the storm was quick enough to wipe away any trace of their existence.

“A-any f-fucking further?” Thomas nearly squeaked as he clung to the others, the cold air burning his lungs as he struggled to breathe. His breaths fogging up his visor, temporarily blinding him.

Dominic raised the metal plate and squinted. He would have screamed for joy if his lungs would have been working properly.He saw it. He saw the light. And it was just over a hill. “G-guys. I see it,” He wheezed. “It’s there,” Hot tears began to run his his face, a welcome feeling compared to the cold that had enveloped him.

Dominic looked to his left when he got no response. His friends still clutched to him, but they were unmoving. Frozen. Their breathing barely visible to him. This made him stop. With the wind howling in his ears and the snow pelting his body, he uttered one more word, “Guys?”

He gently shook his body, trying to wake them. It didn’t work. His chest sank as pressure built up in his throat, his vision blurred as the tears returned. He turned to his right to see Johnny still clutching to him with a vice like grip in one hand, and his shield in the other. Dominic had an idea. He pushed Johnny onto the ground and rolled him with a foot onto his shield.

“We ain’t dying out here, ya hear me?” A lone voice muttered. “You let them die and and I’ll kill ya myself.” He took the shield in one hand and began to drag the three unconscious bodies up the hill, his breathing getting more and more ragged as he climbed.

“I’ll kill ya and follow ya to hell and kill ya again, you hear me boy?”

“Yes boss,” Dominic muttered in reply, his eyes glazed over and focused on the top of the hill. His ascent getting slower and slower.

The moment he got to the top, he stopped. There it was. Safety. A giant spire of what looked like colored ice reaching into the sky and reflecting light upon him like a ray of hope and a wall surrounding it.

“You ain’t done yet,” It muttered once more, his vigour renewed with hope and joy. “Get them in there and get to safety.”

“Yes boss,” Dominic muttered in reply once more, his mind numbed from exhaustion and fear.

Dominic stepped forwards before throwing the shield and Johnny in front of him. He looked down at the body of his friend and fell forward. With Francis and Thomas still clinging to him and him to them, the group slid down the hill on the shield like a makeshift sled. The world around him became a blur as it rushed past them. All before coming to a complete stop as they slammed into something. Their bodies tossed to the sides like ragdolls.

Dominic shakily rose from the snow and saw what stopped them. It was a wall. Made of brick. His eyes rose as he scanned the entire wall. His lungs weren’t cold anymore, they burned, burned just like his friends lungs had. With massive gasp for air, Dominic let out a shout.

“Help me! Please! Somebody help us!” Dominic gave out weak sobs as he collapsed into the snow, his friends only a couple feet away.

Just before the darkness consumed him, he heard shouting. Somebody was there!

“Somepony’s out there! We gotta help them!” An effeminate voice called out.

“Open the gate!” Another voice came, this one more masculine.

“Hurry,” was the final thing Dominic muttered before passing out in the snow, the winds whipping at his back, and the snow threatening to conceal him.

‘We can’t do much for it, all we can do is wait,’ Dominic heard as he returned to the land of the living once more. Struggling to open his eyes without blinding himself.

“What the fuck happened?” He groaned out, only to hear a number of gasps. Dominic slowly lifted himself with an arm. He sucked in a sharp hiss of breath as he gave one last push to hoist himself from his prone position. Dominic froze as he saw something through the holes in his faceplate.

What. The. Fuck? Dominic thought as the only things he saw were what looked like small horses. Three of them to be exact. They were a multitude of different colors. The darkness of the room concealed their true colors, but they were bright enough to be noticed.

“What the hell is going on?” Dominic muttered, the three ponies still staring at him. The silence between them was broken when one began to step towards him. The hooves of the pony clopping on the wooden floor.

“Y-You’re awake,” the pony stuttered in fear, “We were wondering when you’d wake up, surprised anypony would be out in that blizzard.”

“Where am I?” Was all Dominic asked. I don’t care where I am, just glad that I’m alive.

“You’re in the Crystal Empire,” the pony said, “Not really the best place to be at the moment.”

Dominic didn’t hear the last thing the pony had said, instead he asked another question, one that he should have asked from the beginning, “What about my friends? Are they alright?” His voice ripe with worry.

“You’re friends? They’re fine, came a little too freezing to death, but they’re fine.”

Dominic let out a sigh of relief. I’m glad they’re safe. He thought before bringing his attention back to the ponies before him. “Sorry but could you turn a light on? It’s pretty dark in here,” Dominic let out a small chuckle, in which the pony joined him.

“Oh yeah, sure, give me a moment,” Dominic didn’t know what he was doing, when he was about to ask about the light, a small glow came from the pony in front of him.

What the hell is he — Dominic thought before being engulfed in light. The room lit up and the ponies before him were clearly visible. Dominic looked to the source of the light and saw a small orb of light shining, confused, Dominic cleared his throat and looked back to the pony. He was a bright blue in color. His mane and tail were both a light gray. And he had a strange thing sticking out of his forehead. He looked to both of the other ponies, they seemed more effeminate as they had longer eyelashes and softer features. The left one was pink with a grey-blue mane and tail. The one on the right was a shade of violet with a grey mane like her father. But the only thing in the room that mattered to Dominic was the orb.

“What the hell is that?” Dominic asked, pointing at the small orb. The pony raised an eyebrow.

“What? That?” He looked at the orb, “That’s just an orb of light, created it using my magic,” he stated matter-of-factly.

You know what? I give up… Dominic thought, tired of everything that was happening. “I just realized I don’t know any of your names,” Dominic said, trying to change the subject.

“Oh,” the pony’s eyes widened, “Where are my manners? My name is Bright Mind. And these are my daughters,” Bright said before the two ponies behind him stepped forward.

The one to his left raised a pink hoof to her mouth before clearing her throat. “My name is—” But she was cut off as the door to the room swung open, it was Francis with his night vision goggles on the other side.

“What’s the haps?” Francis said as he waved with a single hand.

“So let’s get this straight,” Thomas said as he sat down at the crystal table. “You guys are ponies,” the three ponies nodded with a smile. “And this place is called Equestria, not the U.S.A.”

“No clue what a U.S.A. is but I’m just going to say yes, so... yes,” Bright Mind said as he shrugged. He looked at the four strange creatures before him, not sure as what to do now. The four thanked him for saving them. But there wasn’t much to do beyond that.

“So what’s going around here? Anything new?” Johnny asked, deciding that the silence between all of them wasn’t going to help the mood. The ponies seemed to sadden at this. As their ears drooped and their smiles turned to frowns.

“The ponies around here aren’t doing so well,” Bright muttered just loud enough for the group of friends to hear. They all looked to each other with looks of confusion, their helmets and visors masking their faces.

After Bright had told them about the problem the ponies in the Crystal Empire had, Dominic and the group had inquired if there was anybody else that could help. Bright said that most of the ponies that were part of the guard before Sombra came to power were working in the mines, but a few went into hiding with their families. Hoping to hide from the tyrannical ruler.

After they heard that there were ponies in the mine that would help overthrow Sombra they were pointed in the direction of said mine. They said their goodbyes and left Bright Mind’s house, promising to come back once it was over.

“You think they’ll actually help?” Francis asked, his head scanning either sides of the snowy road. The town seemed to be deserted, no lights, no prints in the snow, nothing. The only thing that stood out was the buildings themselves, the colored crystal shining in what little sunlight that escaped the gray clouds overhead.

“They’ve got to,” Dominic answered, “These peo- these ponies want things to get better, but they don’t have anybody to rally them, nobody for them to get behind.”

Taking the first step, Dominic began to lead the group in the direction which Bright had told them to go. The crunching of snow filled the cold air as the group walked down the empty road. They travelled farther and farther until the echoes of talking reached their ears, they followed the sound and reached the wall that surrounded the city. In front of them, a door, inside was the source of the noise.

“Think this is it?” Johnny asked, his breath flowing out from behind his helmet. He looked to his friends, and all he received were shrugs. “Time to find out I guess,” he said as he reached for the handle to the door, grabbing it, he pulled and swung the door open, the noise inside quieting down as he did so.

“Don’t be alarmed, we’re here to help!” Dominic yelled out, startling his friends. “Now we’re going to come in, we’re friendly!” As the group of friends walked into the mine, they noticed the air get warmer and warmer every step they took. The group stopped as Johnny turned the cooler of Dominic’s suit on, and Francis took the moment to turn his nightvision on.

“Let’s keep going. Johnny?”

“Yeah Dom?”

“It looks like the hallway’s gonna get smaller, I’ve got a plan for entering.”

“Okay? Let’s hear it.”

“You’re gonna lead, right? Then it’s gonna be me, Thomas with his taser, and Francis in the back,” Dominic turned towards both Francis and Thomas. “If I give the word, Francis tosses a smoke and we leave, got it?” Everyone nodded, “Good let’s go.”

After a minute of walking the group began to hear the echoes of whispering, reinforcing their hope for help, the whispering got louder and louder until they reached an opening in the dirt hallway that lead into a larger room.

“Hello? We’re here now. Don’t be alarmed, we’re coming in,” Dominic called out.

As the group stepped into the room, they noticed a number of ponies, all of them huddled into the far corner, light from a fire dancing across all of their fear filled faces. Dominic reached a hand out and was about to introduce the group before Johnny called out. “Watch it!” Johnny shouted as he shoved Dominic out of the way and blocked a sword mid-swing with his shield, the sparks of the contact jumped off of the shield, right towards both Francis and Thomas.

As the shower of sparks receded, a bright white flash filled everyone's vision, at the same time a loud ‘pop’ could be heard. Dominic looked to the source of the noise. A pony somehow got behind them and was about to swing his sword. “No!” Dominic shouted, he extended a hand to block the sword. The blade hit his padded hand and did nothing but stop. The room became deathly silent as everyone stared at Dominic, the blade of the sword still in hand.

Dominic stared down at the shocked unicorn, her mouth agape and her eyes wide. Dominic clenched at the blade and ripped it out of her magical grasp. With a heavy sigh, and with his free hand he pointed to the rest of the ponies. “Get over there,” he said, his voice devoid of emotion. The unicorns ears pinned to the back of her head, shaking some soot from her brown mane. She scurried over to the huddled group of ponies and didn’t say a word.

Dominic didn’t even look to the first attacker and pointed to the ponies again. He said nothing and the pony followed the command. He sighed once more and looked to the huddling ponies. He brought the sword to both of his hands and looked at the blade, it was thin and light, meant for quick cuts and thrusts. And with one quick motion he brought the sword down onto his armored knee, snapping the blade in two. The group of ponies all flinching at the sound of shattering metal. He tossed the blade and hilt into the dirt below.

There was a moment of silence between the people and the ponies. The ponies faces a mixture of fear, confusion, and worry. The light of the fire, dancing across the visors and helmets of the humans. Dominic’s painted skull, even more threatening than before as the eyeholes seemed to glint and give life to the skull itself. “Any you ponies that used to be a guard and want to get rid of your king, follow us, anyone else, stay here, and stay safe. Let’s go,” Dominic announced before turning around and walking back the way he came, followed by his friends.

“Well that was a warm welcome,” Francis muttered to himself as he flicked his night-vision on and looked back to see a number of ponies slowly following them. “Real warm…” A wave of euphoria washed over him. “And —he sighed before chuckling— it’s about to get even better.” Francis turned around and jogged up to his friends, filing back into line behind Thomas.