Philosophy of the Damned

I sat there on the bed with my head in my gloved hands. I didn’t know want to think, they actually had the gall to attack a family member and her friends. A couple of kids at that. The worst part of it was they were almost successful.

“You okay?” Asked a concerned voice. I looked up, angrily.

“Does it fucking look like I’m okay?! My kid was almost killed an hour ago and you’re going to ask if I’m o-fucking-kay?!” I screamed, making anyone in the room cringe. I would’ve restrained myself with the kid in the room but Scootaloo was spending the night with Apple Bloom. I didn’t want her to see me like this.

“I just want to make sure that you’re not going to do anything too drastic. After seeing you turn into whatever the hell that thing was, I’m not sure I trust you alone.” He said putting his hand on my shoulder. I pulled his arm off and looked him in the eye.

“Too drastic? What in the hell could possibly be too drastic after that?!” I yelled.

“Look, I’m just saying that maybe we should hold off for a bit. At least before you go on a killing rampage.” He said.

“You want me to fucking wait?! For all we know, they could be k…ki…” I found myself unable to finish my sentence. My breathing became shallow and my skin paled. It felt like I was trying to carry a bear.

“You all right man?” Asked Jet. His words echoed in my head as I struggled to stay on my feet. The weight kept piling on and I fell to my knees. As hard as I tried, I couldn’t move a muscle. My vision started to darken and I could only watch through the shrinking hole.

“Fuck, medic!” Jet yelled to the surrounding troops. The darkness overtook my vision and I was unable to hear any sound. Despite being unable to move, I still felt the painful cold.

I sat there for what felt like a couple minutes before the weight slowly eased off. I could move again, but where was I suppose to go in the pitch black. A loud boom rang out from behind me. I turned around just in time to be thrown back by a wall of light. I felt myself slam into the ground.

When the pain finally subsided I opened my eyes. Surprisingly, I was greeted by the sight of a bright blue sky. I struggled to my feet before realizing an off putting detail. I was in civilian clothes. I felt naked without any BDUs or ACUs on. Now it was just my regular clothes that I wore off base. I looked to the ground and saw a shotgun. Not just any shotgun, but a Mossberg 500 Defender. A full box of 00 magnum buckshot shells next to it, an odd find to say the least.

“What the hell? Where am I and why is there someone even find rounds like these out here?” I asked myself.

I pulled the weapon off the ground, getting a feel for the weight. It appeared to have belonged to someone ready for combat judging by the stylization. A spiked choke on the end for digging into a doorway before a breach. Sling for both the pump and shoulder. Topping it off was a couple of tally marks etched into the fixed stock.

“Must have been militia. A flashy one at that.” I said grabbing the box of ammo and counting the shells. I counted out enough shells for three loads worth and threw the empty box on the ground. As I was loading my newly found weapon I noticed two words etched into the stock and read them aloud.

“Hamburger Helper.” I read aloud, chuckling at the dark joke of a name. The gun was fully loaded and ready to ruin someone’s day and make a coyote’s dinner. I looked down the dirt path that was flanked on both sides by light brush. I felt myself being drawn towards the path I faced. All of my training said not to do it, yet my body moved forward.

“What the fuck happened to me? Am I back on Earth? If I am then where’s my armor?” I said to myself, thinking of all the possible things that could’ve happened. Walking down the path my eyes kept shifting to the Mossberg. It seemed so odd that someone would just leave it there on the ground with it in perfect condition. Especially with the type of ammo that would leave a hole in someone’s chest that you stick your fist through.

The path opened up into a small clearing that looked like it would be a park. Something about this place seemed familiar. Yet there seemed to be a darkness looming over the clearing. I walked into the middle of the area looking around. I half expected to be shot dead right there in the open.

“Fucking finally!” Yelled a voice behind me. I span around and pointed my weapon where the noise had come from. I found myself staring down the sights at…me. It was me in my combat fatigues, mask and all. He was leaning against a tree with his arms crossed.

“Point that thing somewhere else before I shove it up your ass.” He said calmly. Pushing himself off the tree he walked over until he was about five feet in front of me.

“Who the hell are you?” I asked, putting the shotgun back in a resting position.

“I’m you dipshit, now listen up. The Nightmare wants to talk to you and you probably shouldn’t keep it waiting.” He said through the mask.

“The Nightmare? That thing that took over me in the forest?” I asked, looking over the fatigues of the doppelganger.

“Yes, now ruck up and shut up.” He said walking past me. I followed him as I saw no other choice but back the way I came.

“How far do we have to go?” I asked falling in behind him.

“Look, all of your questions will get answered. The biggest one is no, you aren’t back on earth. In fact, if you think that we’re going to get back then you are an idiot.” He said walking through the brush.

“Wait, what do you mean we? Who are you?!” I asked confused.

“Like I said, I’m you. Now will you please shut up?”

“Can you at least tell me where we are?” I asked as I tried to make sense of his words. How could he be me? That doesn’t make sense.

“That’s it!” He yelled as he spun around and threw a heavy punch that landed on my temple. A shockwave ran through my body as I twisted in the air. I landed face first on the ground, a couple of pieces of gravel dug into my chin.

“You enjoy your talk.” He said. I could here the heavy boots crunch the loose gravel as he walked away. After a couple of seconds of staring at the dirt and trying to suck in air I pushed myself onto my knees and grabbed the shotgun.

I looked up at what should have been a dirt path through the woods. Instead I saw pitch black all around, I glanced back down to see that the earth beneath me had disappeared as well.

Well this is just fan-fucking-tastic.

I got to my feet and grabbed the pistol grip of the shotty. I let out a call to see if anyone was out there in the bleak darkness. Surprisingly, I received a response, but not the kind I wanted.

“Mm, hello there.” Said a voice in a tone that sent needles down my spine. I brought the shotty up to my shoulder and aimed into the black.

“There is no need for such violence here child. Now would you kindly lower your weapon. I wish to talk.” I begrudgingly lowered the weapon and spoke.

“Who are you, and better yet where are you?” I asked, attempting to hide the anger in my voice.

“You can call me a friend of sorts. I wish to help you.”

“You want to help me? From what I’m guessing you are that thing that took over me in the woods and dragged me here. Now I’m just going to take a wild guess from what happened is that you’re the nightmare. Am I wrong?” I asked into the darkness.

“So I’ve been named.”

“I see, you want to help me by turning into an evil monster like with Luna.” I said hatefully.

“That was her own doing, I give you the power. I don’t decide the actions of those who receive it. I am a creature of hate, fear, and spite, not a spirit of evil. I have been vilified because of the actions of those who allow me to survive, not by the actions of my own accord.” The voice said as its voice turned from the terrible shrilling to one of what sounded like a woman’s.

“I see, why should I believe you? Even if what you have told me is true, you have given the power to cause so much pain and destruction across the world. How do I know that I won’t fall to the same fate?” I asked, now interested by its words.

“Because I am your only hope of defeating your enemies in the coming months. I will aid you in any way possible.” It said hopefully.

“I don’t suppose I have a choice then do I? Fine, but I must ask you a simple question.”

“What is it?”

“What was the point of having me brought here by, what appeared to be, a different version of me?”

“I thought it would give you some insight to where you are. I also wanted to give you a gift.”

“Gift?”

“The weapon. I brought the idea out of your memory of not having a good close range weapon. I must say that you have a dark sense of humor. Are you ready?” It asked.

“Alright, do it.” I said.

The air around me grew cold, freezing. I saw my breath hang before a sharp unlike anything I had ever felt before. I let out a scream of agony as I dropped to my knees. It felt like my skin was being stripped off of my body and my insides were on fire. I saw my hand slowly being overtaken by a light blue film before it was absorbed into my skin.

A freezing pain traveled up my spine before reaching the back of my head. Once again I was hit by an unending wave of unbearable pain. I threw my head back and grabbed it with both hands. I squeezed as hard as I could in a vain attempt at making the pain stop.
I let out another scream in a plea for some kind of mercy and a retreat from the hellish pain that ran through my body.

I finally fell backwards as I lost control of my body, unable to let out a sound. I could only silently pray for the end. The sensation in my legs finally stopped in my legs and started retreating upwards. The feeling stopped once it reached the cold knot in the back of my head. It was over.

“Thank you.” Said the voice.

I wiggled my fingers and toes, trying to get feeling back into my body. I was cold, very cold. I opened my eyes and saw a light through a thin veil. I shot up and looked around me. I was alone in a white room, I looked down and saw that I was sitting on a metal slat.

Throwing the sheet off of me I saw that I was naked. I got off the slat and grabbed the sheet before tying it around me not unlike a toga. As I finished the knot I heard the opening of a door behind me. Turning around I saw a unicorn in medical scrubs with a look of fear on his face.

“Uh…” A loud smack was heard as he dropped the clipboard that had previously been held up by magic. He turned and sprinted back out of the room and down a hallway.

“…fuck.” I sighed, walking out of the room. From the little doors that lined on the wall and the cold I could safely assume this was the morgue. The answer of why I was here still escaped me. A faint pain in the back of my head reminded me of the nightmare I let in.

“What the hell? Did that actually happen?” I asked myself. I walked down the empty hallway. My throat was dry and seeing a bathroom I went in. I bent down at the sink and hit the handle before taking a long drink from the falling water. Once my thirst was finally quenched I took a look up at the mirror.

I froze at what I saw. Whatever the hell it was it wasn’t me. It had an enormous muscular build and what little skin was visible was scared and pale. Its head hung low only allowing the top of a black helmet to be seen. Its size was unbelievable. It was at least eight feet tall. The muscle mass was scarily large.

“What the hell are you?” I asked. In response the beast lifted its head to meet my eyes. The face was covered by a marred and broken mask that was familiar but I couldn’t put my finger on it. A hand came up to raise the mask. Under its cover was a face that was scarred and burned. The teeth were razor sharp and on display in a satanic grin.

“Holy fuck!” I screamed and tried to back away. The arms shot out of the mirror and grabbed my shoulders to keep me still. I could feel pressure being placed on them. His face became closer to mine and in it I saw every detail. Every burn that led to bloody bone. Every cut that left bits of skull visible. Then I saw his eyes.

Black. No emotions or expressions. Just black. The force being applied against me became too much. I lost my grip on the ground and dropped to my knees. I pushed as hard as I could to get back up but I couldn’t. I stared into his eyes and felt my body go numb. I closed my eyes in a vain attempt to block out the darkness. A small grunt of pain escaped my lips as I pushed against the overwhelming force.

Then it stopped. I was no longer being forced down. I started to rise and was able to push my self on too one leg. I pushed up as hard as I could before I heard a loud bang and opened my eyes.

Around me I saw what looked to be Rangers, but none that I could recognize. I was back in the room where I had passed out. Surprise marked across all of their faces and not one moved a muscle. I looked down and saw that I had changed. My clothing had been changed to night raid ACUs. Beside me on the ground was the shotgun. I reached down and picked up my newly acquired weapon.

“S-sir? Are you okay?” Asked one of the Rangers in the crowd around me. I continued looking myself over and found myself to have elbow and knee pads that were also black.

“I think so.” I said while wondering to myself if that was true. I felt the pads and noted to myself that they seemed to be made of metal, yet they didn’t feel heavy. In fact I didn’t feel the normal weight that came with my gear. I checked over my chest armor and found it to be reinforced with a harder layer over the top. This was quite odd as it was still fully flexible.

I looked around for my mask and found it lying behind me on my bunk. It was different as well. The scratches and pock marks that had scarred the mask had disappeared. The decal on the front had been restored and changed. It now was a flaming skull that had blood coating its sharp teeth. There was a large modification on the mask as well. A black helmet had been seamlessly attached to the top of the mask while the bit that would have come up and covered my forehead and top at the front had been removed. A little hinge on the top with a small release on top showed that the mask could be lifted off the face while remaining attached to the helmet.

“What the hell is going on in here?!” A voice yelled as the door was kicked open. I looked up and saw jet with a look of confusion crossing his face. An awkward silence filled the room as he looked me over and pushed through the crowd to where I was.

“Well hello too you too.” I said sarcastically.

“What the fuck happened to your eyes?” He asked curiously.

“What are you talking about?” I asked.

“Um, maybe you should go look at yourself.” He said pointing me to the bathroom. I walked in and looked into the mirror and saw it. The whites of my eyes had turned black as night. The iris remained blue with the rainbow outline.

“What the hell did that thing do to me?” I whispered to myself quietly. I exited the bathroom and saw that only Jet remained in the room.

“Are you okay? What happened to you?” He asked.

“I don’t know. I don’t remember anything after I lost consciousness. I just woke up like this.” I said, deciding not to tell him about letting the nightmare enter my body.

“Are you good though?” He asked? I grabbed the mask helmet combo from my bed and slung the shotgun across my back.

“I feel fine. If anything I actually feel stronger.” I said looking down at the shotgun in my hand. Even my gloves had gone to raid camo.

“Maybe you should see Twilight. She’ll want to know you’re awake.” He said as I started to follow him out of the building. I was reminded that we were going to start training the Ranger recruits.

“Shouldn’t I stay here and help with the training the first batch so we can have a couple of squads at the ready?” I asked as we walked down the stairs.

“First? You’ve been out for three months. We’ve got about a regiments worth of Rangers from all the camps. I don’t know what the hell you were doing in there, but we couldn’t touch you. There was like a force field around you. It was a black aura. We could barely see you in there. You were pretty much in a kind of stasis.” It hit me like a wall. Three months.

“Three months?! What about Scootaloo and the others?!” I yelled walking out the door into the bright sunlight.

“Relax. She’s been staying with Apple Jack. She came to see you everyday. As did Rainbow Dash oddly enough.” He said.

“Relax?! I’ve been in a coma for three fucking months and you want me to relax?!” I yelled angrily.

“Calm down alright. Look, go see your kid and then check up with Twilight. After you’ve done that, come see me at the camp. There is something I need to show you. Okay?” He said trying to calm me down.

“Yeah, I’ll see you in a bit.” I said before turning around and running towards the path that led to Sweet Apple Acres.

“Three fucking months.” I said to myself as I put on the helmet and lowered the mask into place.