"Ugh...my head. Wait...where the fuck am I?"

Mercer rose from what felt like...a mattress? He looked around him, taking in the scenery. It looked like a prison cell.

A very small and dirty prison cell.

He put his hand to his head. He felt like he'd just drank himself to death.

"Need to..."

Suddenly, it all came back to him.

The nuke going off, the fight with the Manticore....

And then the fight with those oddly coloured horses, 2 of which he'd killed.

He cracked his neck, sitting up and walking towards the steel bars that held him in the room.

"Fuck...I probably shouldn't have attacked the purple one...no, Twilight, that was its name. I probably shrugged the thing off too soon. It might have been able to give me at least some information...but then again, it did seem clueless as to what I even was and had never heard of Manhattan.....whatever. I'll find someone who knows what the fuck is going on and if I have to tear them apart and consume them to get the answers, then I will."

He knew Dana was no doubt dead after the explosion, but he needed to get back. To make sure.

He turned around and face palmed. "I might actually have to co-operate with these things if they have any valuable information. I didn't think anything of Ragland, until he helped me cure myself from that parasite and helped Dana. Maybe these things can help me too? But I highly doubt they will, considering I just killed two of them. Their safety isn't my concern in any case. I just need to know how to get back. And if they won't give me the information that I need, then there's always another way to get it from them." He suddenly heard something coming towards his cell. He spun back around to see none other than the tall white horse from earlier. It looked him up and down, scowling, opening the cell gates using its horn. It walked up close to him, it not showing an ounce of fear.

"Why?"

He blinked. "Why wha..."

It stepped closer towards him, its muzzle almost touching him.

"This one seems to be able to control its emotions enough to not raise its voice, even under extreme stress and anger. Strange."

"Why did you hurt and kill two of my little ponies?"

He put his hands in his pockets and looked up at it. "Because they got in my way."

It flared its wings out in anger, charging its horn and holding him in place with the same force that at this point, he had felt enough of. However this time, he didn't even struggle. He just watched as it stared at him, hate in its eyes.

"They got in your way? Got in your way of doing what, exactly?"

It increased its hold on him, causing him to have his back pushed against the wall. "Of trying to find a way back to where I came from."

It released its hold on him, causing him to drop to the ground. It sighed, trying to calm itself. He got up and dusted himself off. It coughed, he assumed clearing its throat and continued. "And where exactly do you come from?"

"Manhattan."

It looked at him in annoyed confusion. "Manhattan?"

At this point, Mercer had come to the conclusion, even though it sounded crazy, that he wasn't even on the same planet anymore. Manticores, talking coloured equines with horns and wings what were able to use an unseen force as a weapon and a restraint tool and god knows what else lingered around this place.

He couldn't believe he was going to ask the next question, but he did so anyway. "What planet are we on?"

The horse looked at him as if he'd gone crazy and then snorted in annoyance. "Are you telling me that you do not even know what planet we ar....hang on..."

Celestia was doing her best to keep herself from ripping this thing to shreds for what it had done. But...she was a princess. Royalty. She had to try and keep her emotions in check. Not that she actually wanted to.

The mons....creature had just asked what planet it was currently on. She wasn't sure if thing was crazy or if it...actually did not come from this world. She felt crazy assuming that thought. It was ludicrous. But...the things that it managed to do are nothing like she'd ever seen before. She looked up at it, a stern expression on her face.

"Equis is the planet's name. We are currently in the land of Equestria. I cannot believe I am asking this, but....are you from this world?"

It shook its head. "Nope, doesn't sound like it. The planet that I come from is called Earth. I have no fucking idea how that's possible, but..."

Celestia shook her head. This couldn't be happening. This had to be a dream. She slapped herself with her hoof, gaining a confused but amused look from the creature. Nope. She still wasn't awake. She took a deep breath in and let it out, calming herself slightly.

"I don't really know how to take this all in at once to be honest, but I do want to say..."

She looked at it in anger and hatred.

"I want to say how much you have hurt not just the ponies that you attacked, not just the rest of the country, but me and my family. I do not care if you need to get back to where you came from, you attack...no, murdered two innocent ponies. Two ponies who have helped save this world more times than one. And because you're lost, you just thought to attack them, is that right?"

The creature sat down and scoffed. "As I said, they got in my way. I tried asking the purpl..."

She cut in, sharply. "Twilight. Her name is Twilight."

It shrugged. "Yeah, that's it. I tried asking Twilight for information about where I was and how I could get out of this place. She was useless and quite frankly, considering that my sister has probably died due to a massive nuclear weapon that I was trying to stop before I got pulled into this world, I reacted aggressively."

She pushed the creature against the wall using her magic, making it slump down to the ground. It looked up at her in anger. "Don't you dare call my student useless. I am not one for violence, but considering the circumstances of what you have done and how you are acting, if you so much as say that word again, I will make sure that you do not get out of this cell. Do I make myself clear?"

It scoffed and stood up, making her shove her face in its face. "I said, do I make myself clear?"

He, Celestia assuming it was a he at this point from the masculine voice, shrugged.

"Honestly, I didn't want to kill your subjects. I wanted information and the pu..Twilight couldn't give it to me. I wouldn't have reacted to harshly if it wasn't for the fact that I'd just lost my sister and everything that I knew in a giant explosion."

She looked at him, still angry, shaking her head. "What, you think trying to explain yourself will heal any of the damage that you have caused my ponies and me at all? You can't do anything to make up for what you've done, you....you..."

Celestia breathed in deep, trying to compose herself. She nearly lost all control, however, when she noticed that the creature was now...smirking.

"I suggest that you reallign your face to your normal proportions before I do it for you myself."

He laughed. "Alright, that was a good one, I'll give you that. I was smirking in response to what you said about making it up to you. If you promise to give me some information about this place, I'll bring the ones that I killed back."

She was about to stomp on his head before she suddenly realised what he had just said. "What? Are you crazy? How do you know necromancy?"

Mercer shrugged and sat down. "I tested it once on a dead soldier after finding out from a scientist that the virus which I hold, well, what I am can regenerate cells and change them, like it did for me."

Celestia now looked at him in confusion and horror. "You're telling me that you're....you're....a physical form of a virus? And that you came back from the dead?

He slowly nodded, having a more serious look on his face. "Indeed I am and yes, I did. My name was Alex Mercer...I'm not sure if I can call myself that anymore. I'm not him. I thought that I was when I got brought back, but I found out my own way that I'm actually the virus itself. I'm just using his form."

She looked even more worried now. "I see. Your name is...Alex Mercer. You're a shapeshifter?"

Again, he nodded. "Whatever I consume, I inherit their DNA and absorb it. This means that I copy their biological properties, ergo, their form, their memories and their skills. I can also learn new abilties...depending on what I consume. And from consuming a scientist, I learnt that the Blacklight virus, which is what I am, can regenerate dead cells. Like it did for me. As I said, I tried it on a dead soldier and he came back. Albeit with...strange results."

Celestia sat next to him, still trying to calm herself. She couldn't believe that she was even listening to this thing after what it did, but...if there was a chance that it could bring her ponies back...she would listen to what it has to say. For now, at least, until she decides what to do with it.

"Strange results? Go on."

He scratched his chin, laying back slightly. "The soldier was brought back, but he underwent significant biological mutations due to the virus editing his cellular make-up when it regenerated him. He could shapeshift, like me. Somewhat. Not as effectively. More a sub species of me, I suppose. In a weird sense. If I brought back your ponies, they would be alive again, but in a...different way. I couldn't tell you what affect it would have on them as you guys are a completely different species to me. Well, to what I was when I was human."

She looked at him, the anger mostly being turned into intruige at the current moment. "I see...I would do anything for my little ponies back...and let me say, you are lucky that I haven't planned for you to be executed yet for what you've done. And I don't think I'll ever be able to forgive you fully...but if you live up to the end of your bargain and bring them back...I shall see to it that I give you all the information that I can. I don't want this to end in more violence. Enough have suffered already."

Mercer stood up and reached out his hand, Celestia standing up in turn and looking at him in a confused manner. He chuckled. "It's called a handshake. It's a signal of agreement and respect. Humans do it when they come to an agreement, mostly."

She looked at his hand, reluctant to "shake his hand". But as she was about to refuse, she had a thought.

"This creature will never understand the pain that it has brought me and my subjects. But, if it is true what it is saying...then I have no choice but to agree to its terms and listen. At least, for now. Even though this cre...Alex, started this...I don't want it to end in more blood shed. And if he can bring my ponies back, even if they are changed in the process...what choice do I really have?"

She looked back up at him to see that he was nodding his head towards his hand. "Look, I know that no amount of apology will ever rectify what I did, but you have to understand, everything that I loved and cared for was took away from me in an instant. Which is the exact thing that I did to you and your people. Which is why I want to at least try and make amends for reacting in such an aggresive state. I didn't want to kill them, trust me. But after I thought about the high possibility that my sister is dead...I lost all control. I don't expect you to understand, but I want you to at least listen and give me a chance to rectify it to at least some degree. Deal?"

Celestia thought about what she said earlier in her head. She really didn't have a choice here. If she follows what he has said, she might get her ponies back. If not, they'll be gone forever. She didn't trust this thing as far as she could throw it, but...she knew that she didn't have a choice right now.

She took his hand firmly in her hoof and shook it, elicting a smile from him. "Alright...Mercer...you have a deal. But I will warn you, if you even think of double crossing me or bring any more harm to my subjects, I won't be as leniant as I have been so far. Understood?"

Mercer looked at her and smirked, nodding. "Yes ma'am."

She sighed, removing her hoof from his hand. "I will show you to their bodies."

He nodded again. "Let's do this."

Mercer thought to himself deeply. "This thing's threats doesn't scare me. However, if I want information about this place and possibly about how to get back, I'll have to do as I said. But if this thing or any of the others try to destroy me...they won't enjoy what comes next. But, for now...I'll live up to the end of my deal and try to stay calm. We'll see how this all plays out in time, I suppose."

Author's Note

So sorry that this has took so damn long to get updated. I just have not had the inspiration to write at all for the past year or so. Hopefully, I can get back on track with this fully, but I won't make any promises.

Anyway, thanks for reading as always!