I’ve always wanted to join the Equestrian military ever since I was small, but little did I know joining was truly going to change my life forever. My name is Quick Shot, & this is my story.
I was born in a small village in the Neightherlands called Green Hope. It’s a very quiet village. Every pony knows each other & hardly anything interesting happens. One hot afternoon after school, my friends & I were playing with some make shift sniper rifles. They were basically slingshots that we put in cardboard cut outs with duct tape to hold them together to make them look cool & used small pebbles as the ammo. We had a series of different games we would play. The first game we played was where we had some old tin cans I took apart from a school project, we would line them up on the wall & shoot them from a far. I was the better out of the group 'cause I would hit all of them without missing a beat. My friends became extremely jealous & started challenging me more difficult tasks. One of them was to make the pebble go through the smallest hole without disturbing the cans. I got in positon at the other side of the yard & lined up my shot. The air was still, & everything went quiet. I inhaled & took my shot. The pebble went clean through, & I cheered for myself. My friends were in total disbelief of what they just witnessed. As they turned to me, they were in utter disbelief when they saw my flank flashing. It revealed to be crosshairs 'cause I’m very precise with my shots. When I turned to see my flank, I jumped up into the air & cheered to see that I wasn’t a blank flank anymore.
About 9 months after I got my cutie mark, disaster struck in our village. It had been raining here hard for about 2 weeks now, & our dam, which was holding the major river near it, cracked & flooded the entire village. The way the village is situated (it's in a valley), we were very susceptible to a possible flood. It came to us like nothing we’ve ever witnessed. All of our crops & supplies were washed away. The water flooded the homes & made them unlivable. We all had to evacuate & take refuge in the nearby town. After the rains had stopped, word on what had happened to us spread around. Celestia herself had issued the help of her military to bring aid & relief to us. By the time the water had dried up, the Equestrian military was already there giving us food & supplies to help us rebuild. Leading the effort was a white alicorn stallion. He was ordering all the other soldiers & talking to all the kids about his adventures. As a thank you, the fillies & colts were making thank you cards for all of their hard work to help them. I was tasked to give him the cards. I walked up & tugged on his shirt.
He looked down, “Hm? Oh, hello there little one”, he said.
“H-Hi,” I said nervously. “I wanted to give you a thank you card from all of the kids for helping us."
He takes it & looks at it. “Aww, well, thanks, kid,” he said, looking down at me. “Say, that’s a cool looking cutie mark you got there. What is it, crosshairs?”
I nodded. “Yep. I got it a long time ago, & now I know how I want to use it. I wanna join the army.”
He chuckled. “I would love to have you under my command, kid, but you aren’t old enough for one, & you aren’t a citizen of Equestria. So I can't recruit you.”
“Aww, come on," I whined.
“Well, what's your name, kid?”
“Quick Shot, sir," I said quickly.
“Well, Quick Shot, when you meet those requirements & join the army, I will personally train you to be as awesome as me," he boasted. “Now I want you to remember that my name is General Machete. Can you remember that?”
I nodded. “You bet, & I will be there you can count on it.”
About 12 years on my 18th birthday, I had saved up about 2500 bits. I was determined to get into the army, but first, I had to move. I said bye to my friends & family as I got on the train & embarked on my new journey. It took about 3 days of traveling, but I made it to Equestria. When I was in the station in Manehatten, I looked over the map to see where would be a good place to start my new life. I wasn’t ready for the big city life just yet. It seemed too hectic for me. I continued looking on the map until I saw Ponyville. It was a little bit bigger than my old home town, but it was perfect. I quickly got on the train & headed there. When I got off the train there, I honestly felt right at home. I walked around, & I felt like I didn’t leave home. I was so entranced by the scenery that I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going & ran right into some pony, causing us both to fall over.
“Ouch. Oh damn, are you ok?” I asked, rubbing my head.
“Yea. I'm ok,” a pink mare said, giggling as she stood up & let out a large gasp. “OHMYGOSH, OHMYGOSH, OHMYGOSH, YOU’RE A NEW PONY AREN’CHA!!!! Hi there. I'm Pinkie Pie, & what's your name?”
“Erm… My name is Quick Shot, & yes, I just got off the train,” I said with utter confusion written all over my face.
“OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO…. Well, since you’re new here, I have to throw you,” she said as she pulls her party cannon out of nowhere. “A WELCOMING PARTY!!" she said, firing streamers & confetti all over me. "OOOH I CAN'T WAIT!! I have to start planning it now. See you later,” she said & bounced off.
I was honestly speechless to what just happened just then. I picked myself up & dusted myself off & continued on. I went to town hall to see if they would have any information on buying a home. When I got there, I talked to the receptionist who then let me see the mayor. She showed me many properties up for listing. I found a nice town house that was just in my price range. She gave me a discount on account of the housing market was on a slump, so that was a bonus. I signed a few documents, & she gave me the keys to my new home.
When I got home, my house was very dark & quiet. I dropped my stuff in the doorway & turned on the lights & fell straight on my ass at what happened next.
“SURPRISE!!!” Pinkie Pie shouted.
“Oh my god… I think I had a heart attack,” I said, catching my breath & holding my chest. “How did you get into my house? And now, for a better question, HOW DID YOU KNOW I WAS MOVING IN HERE?!”
“Oh Quick Shot, that's easy,” she started. “This was the only house on the market & the owner allowed me to come in & set everything up. Now get up silly. You can’t party when you’re on the ground.”
“Yea… sure,” I said, getting up & dusting myself off.
There were about 20 ponies in my new home. There were colorful balloons, streamers, & house warming gifts. Even though this was technically breaking & entering, I have to admit that Pinkie did put a lot of time & effort into this. I walked around & mingled with the other ponies. It was refreshing to be around friendly folks & knew that I made the right choice moving here. There was one pony that I met here who really caught my eye. She had that nice home feel to her, & her accent was music to my ears. If I remember correctly, her name was Applejack, & she was telling me that she needed help on her farm. Seeing that I don’t have a job in the army yet, & I have to make ends meet until I can enlist, it was my best option. The party went on for about another hour or so, & ponies were slowly cleaning up & leaving. It was getting late, & I had a long day. Pinkie had the house cleaned up in no time. She told me that I didn’t have to worry about clean-up. I yawned & thanked her for the party. I walked her out the door & prepped myself for bed.
It has been a little over a year since I’ve moved to Ponyville. I’ve made some great friends & been prepping myself for the military. I had to make a trip to Canterlot because sadly, they don’t have a recruiting station in Ponyville yet. On that train ride, I was honestly nervous. I knew this is what I wanted to do since I was small, & I was determined to fulfill it. When I got to Canterlot, I was really out of my comfort zone. I never really traveled outside of Ponyville until this very moment. I was looking around for about a good 15 minutes till some royal guards walked by. I asked them to point me in the right direction of the recruiting station. They told me that it was at the castle itself. They also were so kind to walk me to the castle since they were heading back there themselves. The recruiting station was in a side building just outside the castle. There were two ponies, who were in some interesting armor & holding guns, standing outside the doors. When I walked up, they stopped me to look me over. While they were doing that, General Machete came out.
“Well, well, what do we have here?” he said, looking me over.
“Your new recruit, sir,” I said, firm & standing to attention.
“Oh, really? Well, you think you got what it takes to be in my army because let me tell you something. Only the strong make it through while the weak fizzle out. Now let me ask you again. Are you ready to join my army?"
“SIR YES SIR.”
“Excellent. Then follow me. You have a lot of paperwork to fill out,” he said, walking back in the building.
I followed close behind & closed the door. I couldn’t shake the feeling that he forgot about me. Then again, that was 13 years ago. It was going to be for certain that he wasn't actually going to remember me.
Machete sat down in his chair. “So what took you so long to come by, Quick Shot?”
“I… What?” I stuttered. “You remembered me?”
“Hell yea I do. How can I forget that can-do attitude a 6 year old gave me? So I’ll ask again. Other than the aging part, what took you so long?” he asked, getting the paperwork.
“Well, I had to be a resident of Equestria for one year correct? So that’s what I did.”
“I like you. You don’t try to break the rules or go around them. Hell, if you stick around me, you’ll definitely learn a thing or two,” he said.
“Oh, I see. So what will happen now?” I asked.
“Well, you have to survive basic training. Then afterwards, you will be placed in the area that you are good at. For you, I'm going to recommend that you will be placed in weapon specialist. After that, you will be training other recruits," he said, getting the paperwork.
“Is there no other weapon specialist?” I inquired while I looked over the forms.
“Well, no. He retired about 2 years ago, so you are in luck my friend,” he smirked.
As I signed those papers, I felt like my life was getting ready to really start. Little did I know I had to cross my first obstacle, boot camp. As much as I can remember, boot camp under general Machete was like hell on steroids. I can't tell you how many time it felt like my body was going to crumble under the constant stress. He trained us in many conditions, from the sweltering heat of the San Palomino Desert to the chill of the frozen north, back down to the humid forbidden forest. Nothing, & I mean nothing, stopped us from training. His methods were highly questionable to many of the other recruits. Most often quit cause they couldn’t handle the constant abuse they were receiving, & the general just shrugged it off like it was nothing to him. But no matter what, he was always by my side, pushing me to my limits & beyond.
After those 9 grueling months of basic training, the ponies who remained were split up into the jobs they signed up for way back when. During target practice, I was the top scorer throughout my whole quad, so I was lucky enough to be placed in the sniper program. What they told me was that being a sniper was extremely difficult because if I didn’t take the time to line up my shot or took the time to survey the situation, ponies can get hurt. It felt like I was back in school again because the books I had to read up on & the tests I had to take were unreal. Many of the tests were written, but the real important ones were when we were in the field itself. That test mainly consisted of hitting multiple moving targets, hitting certain targets precisely, & hitting stationary targets just as well. Many ponies failed that final test. I’d say that about 1 out of every 4 soldiers passed, & there were only 12 of us in the whole class. Thankfully, I passed. It wasn’t with flying colors, but I did make an impression on the higher ups.
After another 7 ½ months, we were allowed to go on leave. We were allowed 2 weeks off such that we completed at least 24 hours of recruiting services. I decided to go back home & see my family with that time off. My mom has been dying to see me ever since I moved out. I got on the first train out of Equestria & headed back to Green Hope. When I got home, it seemed like nothing changed. I honestly couldn’t tell if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Most of the ponies I’ve known since I was younger moved away, so it kinda felt awkward just being there without knowing anyone. When I got home, my parents had a large dinner prepared for me. My mother hugged the absolute hell out of me, & my dad was impressed with how much I’ve grown up. But for some reason, I couldn’t help, but shake the feeling that something wasn’t right about the situation. I couldn’t put my hoof on it, but I know my parents were hiding something from me.
As we were eating, I had to break the cheerfulness. I asked what has really been going on in the year in a half since I’ve moved out. They both looked at me puzzled & told me that nothing was happening. They told me stuff I already knew, hoping that would keep me at bay from asking too many probing questions, but I knew they couldn’t keep it up. After 10 minutes, the truth finally came out. About 5 months earlier, my dad was laid off from his job. The company was going under, & they just couldn’t support themselves anymore. But sadly, that wasn’t the only bad news. About 4 months after that, my mother was diagnosed with a bone deficiency disease. It was a little bit worse than osteoporosis because this form was more aggressive. She’s been taking medicine to sustain it, but without dad having a job, who knows how long until the money runs short. I knew I had to do something. I decided to give them half of my paycheck. It wasn’t much right now 'cause I haven’t ranked up yet, but it was something. I know they didn’t want to bother me with this, but I couldn’t allow this to go on. I didn’t mind helping out my parents 'cause they would do the same to me if I was in need of help. I made sure everything was spick & span while I was home. I went with my mother to one of her doctor appointments to make sure she was getting the right treatment for this, & to my surprise, the medicine was costing more than the check-ups. Before I knew it, my two week was up, & I had to go back to Equestria. I told them I would be back soon to make sure everything was ok. They nodded & hugged me right before I left for the train station. Little did all of us know that more change was still to come.
When I got back to my duty station, I had a long talk with General Machete. He was sympathetic to me & the situation I was in, & he would do what he can to help, but it had to be within his power. The months rolled on by. It's been very quiet. I’ve been hearing rumors that a war might break out, but nothing was truly confirmed. It was honestly unheard of, but not too far-fetched. I mean we had good ties with the ponies in Saddle Arabia. The Griffin kingdom & Equestria were in pretty good standing as far as I know, & the Yaks to the north have been quiet since their visit. Days later, we all were brought into a meeting.
“Alright, shut up & listen,” the general said. “Our Intel has reported that there is a small but sizable nation on the other side of the griffin kingdom using brainwashing techniques to oppress mares & make them slaves to stallions. Why do we care you may wonder? Well, for starters, their numbers are growing, & they pose a threat to every ponies' way of life, & frankly, it’s sick what they are doing. Having said that, we are going to nip this in the bud before it becomes a major problem.”
He showed us different outposts & pictures of many different strategies to take in this endeavor. What we were going to do was surround & condense. Basically, ground troops were going to surround the village while the snipers were going to make sure that no pony escaped. As we set off, I felt a lot of things. I was ecstatic that I was finally doing something, scared that I might screw something up, & freaking out that I was going on my first mission. General Machete showed us the map again while we were in transit. He wanted the snipers on the plateaus & hills about a half of a mile outside the town. There were only 4 snipers, so he was relying on us to make sure out shots counted towards the mission.
When we got there, the air was dry, there was sand everywhere, & the heat index was off the charts. We all split up & hiked to our designated locations. Honestly, carrying all that gear felt very unnecessary, but I know they were important. When I got to my hill, I set up everything from my wind trajectory device to the tripod & rifle. I got a good look at the city. I could see that there were many armed soldiers around a palace like building. I looked around to make sure that my fellow soldiers can make it out of there alive. Before I knew it, the action had already started. Dust filled the air as the battle commenced. I saw a lot of stallions running out of the palace, trying to escape with their mares. On cue, I shot them all, the stallions in the legs rendering them immobile. It was honestly nerve-racking to watch everything unfold, but I had something else to worry about. What the snipers overlooked was a watch tower on the southern side of us. In said watch tower was 2 highly skilled combat ponies. As I was concentrating, I heard dirt shuffling, then it stopped. I quickly turned to see a pony with a knife on top of me, trying to slit my neck. I bucked him off, then got in stance. He got up & gave me a menacing glare as we squared off. He was wearing light to mid-range combat armor, so my best bet was to shoot him. I inched closer to him. He tried to cut me across my eye, but I ducked & kicked up some dust, hoping to blind him. It was fairly effective, but he was still persistent on ending my existence. I soon got some distance on him, pulled out my marksman pistol, & shot him straight in the chest. He fell over & started bleeding profusely from his wound. I took some very careful steps towards him. I rolled him over to make sure he was dead & gone, but to my surprise, he was smiling. He started coughing large amounts of blood but laughing at the same time. I backed up & had my weapon ready.
“See you in hell,” he said, hitting a button and causing a bomb in his vest to activate & blow up.
I saw my life flash before my eyes. The explosion caused me to fly at a great height & go a great distance. The bomb took my right leg out, major chunks of my body were gone, & my left eye was erased. To this day, I still don’t know how I survived that blast. I was going in & out of consciousness. One second, I saw Machete, the next, I saw my parents, hell, I even saw Faust herself. The images, the voices, & specific sounds were becoming more & more apparent.
“Quick Shot…. can you hear me?” A familiar voice rang though my ears. “Come on, buddy. You’ve made it this far. You have to wake up.”
I slowly opened my eyes & looked around. The lights were extremely bright, & I literally heard every little detail around me. I saw Machete & a bunch of scientist & doctors around me.
“Hey, can you guys back up & give him some space?” Machete said. “He doesn’t need all of you crowding around him."
“What happened?” I asked. “I feel like I was in a deep sleep.”
“Well, promise you wont be mad when I tell you the news?”
I nodded slowly.
“Well,” Machete started. “You may or may not remember that mission we were on. Well, one of the enemies blew himself up & tried to take him you with him. You lost your right leg, your left eye, & chunks of your body.”
“…..So how am I alive?” I asked cautiously.
“About that, I didn’t want to lose a pony who is special as you & who I can call my friend. Congratulations, Quick Shot. You are the first cyborg pony.”
I literally paused, then looked at myself in the mirror. I looked like my normal self. I honestly thought that this was some practical joke that these guys were playing on me. When I looked at Machete, he was sitting next to my bed with paperwork & pictures. Seeing the horrifying, dismembered pictures of me & looking at the date on the photos, they couldn’t lie to me. It was about 4 years since that mission. Machete told me that I was in a terrible, near death state. He used his magic to keep me alive from bleeding out but it wasn’t enough. Death was right at my side just waiting for me to let go of my mortal body to be taken away to Faust herself. Machete wouldn’t allow me to leave. He instead put me through a very experimental program. A program so life-changing & expensive that he bet his job on the outcome. I continued looking through the documents, & I just couldn’t believe everything I read. They had blueprints & multiple notes on my progress, & he was there to sign off on everything.
“Why?” I asked. “Why did you do this? Why didn’t you let me go?”
“Because you are my friend Quick Shot,” he said. “Honestly, I don’t care about my safety 'cause I know I will be fine, but you? I couldn’t lose the one best thing that has happened to me in years. And hell, you have a full life to live. I couldn’t let that be robbed from you.”
“I…I don’t know,” I said. “Can I have a moment, please?”
“Of course you can,” he said, standing up & walking out.
Words could not express every emotion that was going through my mind. Hell, I still couldn’t comprehend what I just heard. I still look like a normal pony, but that wasn’t the problem. I felt like that there had to be a larger picture behind all this, but I couldn’t figure it out.
Months passed, I was going through many rigorous tests to make sure everything worked properly. On the shooting range, I was flawless even from the farthest distance. In close quarters combat, I was unmatched. The cybernetics gave me a huge advantage over everyone & awareness sensors let me know when some pony was on my flank. Machete was impressed on how far I’ve come. He wanted me to accompany him to the Grand Galloping Gala to, in his own words, show me off to the princesses. I agreed & thought that is might be a great experience.
The Night of the Gala was upon us. Ponies & diplomats from far lands were coming. I was nervous on what the princess would say about me. I mean, I am a success, aren’t I? She shouldn’t be alarmed with me. I won't have any weapons on me, & I will be set on civilian mode, so I can't accidentally hurt anypony. I was dressed in a stunning black tuxedo. Machete really wasn’t dressed all the way up, but he still looked nice. When we got there, we were immediately greeted by Princess Celestia along with some of the other royal family. So far, so good, I thought. Everything was going perfect. Celestia was glad that I made it through the multiple surgeries & the integrations. The royal families were impressed on how civilized I was, & Machete was basking in the glory. The night rolled on. I was walking around & mingling with others. Soon, I got to the main room. I saw a familiar orange pony in the room. I walked over to her.
“Well, well, fancy seeing you here AJ,” I said, walking up to her.
She turned around & gasped. “Well shucks. Ah haven’t seen you in forever, Quick Shot. How are ya?”
“I’ve been better,” I said. “The army is wonderful, & I’ve seen so much, but I feel so far from home.”
“Yea I bet, you’ve been gone for like 4 years now”, she said.
Four years, I thought. I didn’t realize that I’ve been out of commission for that long… It honestly didn’t feel like it. I’ve felt like I was in a deep sleep all that time, & during that time, I had the pleasure of having nightmares. AJ & I talked for a long time & did a lot of catching up. She was going on & on about how her farm was prospering ever after her run-ins with the Flim Flam brothers twice. Even so, she had to deal with vampire fruit bats, cider season & whatever else happened in that time frame I was out. I didn’t feel it was right to tell her about my transformation. Then again, I don’t know how she would take that news either. We weren’t that close of friends, & it would make the mood very awkward. We talked for about a good hour until Twilight came over & peeled her away from me so that they can find the others, so they can get back on the train to Ponyville. In that time, I was able to catch my breath. I had butterflies in my stomach for that whole time. When she came back, she gave me a kiss on the cheek & told me that whenever I was in town that I can visit her farm anytime. I blushed & accepted her offer. I watched the two leave out as I walked off to find Machete. I wondered about for a good 5 minutes until I found him in the main hall talking to a blue stallion.
“Ah, there you are, Quick Shot. Come over here,” Machete said. “Quick Shot, I want you to meet a good friend of mine. His name is Alex Live, & he moved to Ponyville a few years ago, & I met him a year ago at the gala.”
“Hello there,” the blue stallion said.
“Hi there,” I said.
There was a long awkward silence of us, trying not to make eye contact.
“Well, this has been an interesting conversation now, hasn’t it,” Machete said breaking the silence. “Maybe we can try again later?”
“Yea, sure,” Alex said. “I have to get back to Fluttershy anyways. She is trying to talk to the animals outside. See ya, Machete. It was nice meeting you, Quick Shot.”
About 4 months, after the Gala, new Intel came in. That same group from 4 years ago are coming back & grow their numbers. Machete wrangled us together & moved out. Interestingly enough, the compound that they were holed up in was similar to the other one, but this one was heavily fortified & larger than the other one. When we got there, we were in the jungle. It was humid as hell, but the trees offered some relief from the sun. Machete split us all up into 10 groups of 10. I, however, was the only sniper which I felt was a little unorthodox, but seeing that I was a cyborg, that gave me more of an advantage over the others. I climbed up a large tree & set my scopes on the compound. As I saw the walls & doors blew up, the alarms sounded. Chaos echoed through the air. I had orders to kill all on sight leave nothing to chance. Through the windows, I shot multiple bogeys with one bullet. I wasn’t sure if they thought the whole building plan up, or they took it from some pony else. What I did know was that we were overpowering them quickly. From what I can see, Machete was making sure he left nothing to chance. As they reached the top floor, they realized something was terribly wrong. Granted, it wasn’t like those lame books where the bad guy was just sitting there, waiting for his enemies to come to him, but something was really odd about the area. The whole room was neat & tidy. On top of that, there was no clues saying otherwise. Just then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw some figures moving in the distance. I turned my scopes on them & saw that they took a secret path out of harm’s way. I saw 4 bogeys, so I took my shots. One of them was shot directly in the head, & the other 3 had mortal body wounds. They all fell to the ground, no problem. I radioed to tell the General, but he has already realized the hidden elevator. He had to admit it was clever, but to no avail 'cause he knew that I would get them. When he got to the area where I told him I shot them, he saw one dead body, 3 different pools of blood, 3 worthless bulletproof vests & a 3 different trails leading in 3 directions. He split the teams up to find the bodies. One team found a body right next to a river & trying to climb into a boat. He was apprehended immediately. Another found the second one was caught in a poacher's bear trap & bled to death. The final group followed the blood trail until it disappeared, & they saw wheels from a carriage. After all parties reported in, Machete was getting those samples & decided to have the main one trailed while the rest go back to base.
A few days passed, the labs were working on those samples. I was working on getting through all my mail, & Machete was working on getting answers from our captive. While I was going through, I saw a letter from my dad. While reading it, I broke down. My dad told me that my mom’s bone disease became incredibly aggressive & spread to her lymph node… She… She passed away a year ago. I was so devastated. I just had to go see him. I told Machete about this, & he just told me to go don’t worry about it & just go. I ran to the train station & got on the last train out to Manehatten. The train was quiet & very empty. It felt very unsettling to read that I see how much I’ve missed. When I got to Manehatten, the station was pretty empty. It was like a ghost town. I waited a good hour until the next train arrived. As I got on the platform, I was tazed in the back of the neck. The electricity overloaded me, & I went in to a standby mode.
“So is this the pony who almost caused you your life, sire?” a green & white pony asked.
A tan reindeer with scars on his legs, & a bullet wound going through his side about his stomach area walked up with a dark gray griffin & a blue Pegasus helping him.
“Yes," he said calmly. “This is the runt who almost ended me.”
“What shall we do with him sire?" asked the Pegasus.
“Take him to the labs. I feel we can use him to get revenge on those filthy ponies of the Equestrian army," he said.
“Yes, King Erikson," they all said.
They all had to lift Quick Shot on their back because he was way too heavy for one of them to carry. As they got to the labs, they put him in a chamber & filled it up with a dark blue liquid. They ran many tests on him & found out how he survived that kamikaze blast. When they found out that he was a cyborg, they concluded that they could rebuild him for their use. What they didn’t know what that he was hardwired to override any attempts or a force reboot. They soon got to work on his body. They took off his right metal leg & replaced it with a machine gun arm & took off all his hooves & replaced them with metal ones. They took out his bionic eye & replaced it with a larger exact site cybernetic eye. To compensate with the extra artillery, they put an extra uranium power compartment where his heart use to be & put extra support on his back left side. Within 2 weeks they transformed Quick Shot from a cyborg sniper to a deadly war machine.
Back at the base, Machete was getting antsy about Quick Shot’s return. He didn’t want to track him, but that extra week of being gone really got him worried. When they did GPS him, they found out that he was in the labs of an underground bunker in the Yaket Range up north. Machete rounded up a party of 10, & they set off to find the M.I.A. cyborg. The trip took about a good 1½ days, but they were soon in the vicinity of Quick Shot's signal. When they got closer, bullets came flying towards them. It was so windy, & visibility was so low that they couldn’t pin-point where the bullets were coming from. They took cover in a nearby cave. The weather was unbearably cold & with the temperature dropping, Machete made the decision to venture out on his own while his crew backtracked. The soldiers couldn’t understand why, but they didn’t argue with them either. Machete soon continued forward. He finally reached their fortress & started taking out the guards & Soldiers on duty without any mercy. He soon got in the compound & killed any & every pony, griffin, & reindeer in sight whether they were a soldier or scientist. He soon got to the main labs, very bloody & very angry. King Erikson & his two personal guards were the only ones left in the compound. They stood on the balcony, looking down at him as Erikson released Quick Shot from a side holding chamber. Machete was in shock to see what they did to him. He looked at them, then back at Quick Shot whose one eye showed that he looked dead on the inside from what they did to him. They both squared off. Machete got him in perfect range of the three. Quick Shot looked up, aimed & emptied his entire clip of his high caliber rifle ammo on them. The bullets tore their bodies apart. Machete flew up there to see them. The two personal guards were dead & bleeding profusely from their wounds. King Erikson, however, wasn’t dead. He was gravely wounded, but not dead. Machete shot him multiple times in the head, but all he did was laugh. Erikson exclaimed that he had taken an elixir of immortality & healing, so no matter what, he can never die. Machete wasn’t impressed, but he wasn’t leaving empty handed. He took him into custody & put him in solitary confinement back at the base. As for Quick Shot, the engineers had concluded that for them to undo everything that they did to him was going to take months. Hell, may even years. Until then, Quick Shot wasn’t to leave the base under any circumstances unless to go to war, such that, he won't scare the other ponies with his appearance.
System boot up…
Running preliminary checks…
Downloading tasks for today…
Initializing…
“Another day of solitude,” I sighed.
It has been a few months since we’ve defeated Erikson. We cleaned out his labs & brought peace back to the region where he was in, but we still haven’t found a way to revert what he did to me. I wanted to see my friends, but I couldn’t because I might scare ponies. I wanted to see the mare of my dreams, but I don’t know how she would accept the new me. I couldn’t stand being forced into solitude.
“Machete, I can’t stay here for the rest of my life. Please let me see my friends again.”
“You know I can’t do that, Quick Shot,” Machete said. “We’re doing our best to change you back, but all of our efforts proved to be failures. We can't risk you scaring ponies.”
“Scaring ponies?! Are you serious? They’ve dealt with Nightmare Moon, Discord, Changelings, King Sombra, & Tirek! How would my appearance frighten them?”
Machete sighed. “Trust me on this, Quick Shot. We can’t risk anything at this moment. I’m sorry.”
“But I can't stay here on base for the rest of my life. There has to be something you can do,” I pleaded.
He shook his head & walked away to do some paperwork. I stood there in disbelief, knowing my life went to shambles due to a maniac. I went to the engineers & scientists everyday, hoping that they would have an answer to getting me back to normal again. Unfortunately, they had the same answer. The modifications done to my body were far from reversible. They told me that if they were to do anything to me now, the consequences could be devastating. I stayed in my barrack for days, distraught about what happened to me until I had an idea.
One night, I decided to start writing a letter to Applejack. If there was anypony that I wanted to talk to through all of this, it was her.
My letter said, “Dear Applejack, I’m sure you’re wondering why I haven’t been around lately or why it has taken me this long to contact you, but rest assured that I’m alive & roughly in one piece. Army life keeps me busy, but one of the main things that keeps me going is wanting to see you. I’ve missed seeing you & helping you on your farm. I do wonder how is it by the way. I really wish that I could be there to help you with apple bucking. I wish I could tell you what’s been going on, but it’s highly classified information that I can be put in jail for telling you. But what I think I can tell you is that I would like to see you again, & I would do anything to achieve it. Best wishes, Quick Shot.”
I went to the post office that same day & mailed the letter off. Days passed since I had sent it off. I was pacing in my barrack just hoping that she received it & hoped that she remembered me. Finally, after 4 days of waiting, I got a reply to my letter. I opened it up to read this,
“Dear Quick Shot, It has been many moons since I’ve talked to you. I thought y’all forgot about us or the worst happened. Anyways, it’s good to hear from ya. I’m getting ready for apple bucking season. We have a hefty harvest & could use the extra help. I would like to see you again as well. We have so much catching up to do. Hope to hear from ya soon.” -Applejack
She remembered me, I thought, and she wants to see me as well. But I don’t know what she would say when she sees what I’ve turned into. That same day, I went back to the engineers, hoping that they would’ve made some progress with getting me to look normal again to walk among ponies. They told me that they were at the same progress from 4 days ago. I asked if it would be possible for them to make another body for me & transfer my brain & conscious to it. Although the idea was full of good intentions, they said that it wouldn’t work since I’m not completely robot & there are still organic aspects about me, so a new body would & could never match. They told me that it was impossible to turn me back & that I am stuck like this forever.
Weeks passed as I was stuck on base. I’ve been talking to AJ again for a while & slowly felt like we were reconnecting. However, we were missing that face-to-face contact. I couldn’t stand it anymore. I had to go see her. I had to confess my love for her no matter what the cost. One night after lights out was called, I programed my charging station to act like I was on there. With a few extra battery cells on me, I could make it to Ponyville, try to talk to AJ, & hopefully explain to her what happened. When I got there, I landed in the west part of the orchard. It was the middle of the night, so no pony could see me. I asked her in one of our previous letters to hopefully talk to me. I waited for over an hour, till I heard some leaves crinkle.
“Is some pony there? If so, identify yourself,” I asked firmly.
“Relax, sugarcube. It’s just me,” a familiar voice said. “Ah still don’t understand why you asked me to come out this late.”
“It’s a long story, Applejack. I… had an accident, & well, the injuries were so severe that I’m not sure how you would react to seeing me like this,” I said cautiously
“Oh come now, Quick Shot. Ah’m sure you haven’t changed that much,” Applejack said, sitting down next to a tree. “Ah mean you sound the same to me in the flesh, & well, if y’all’s letters have told me anything is that you’re lonely.”
“AJ,” I said, sitting on the other side of the tree. “You honestly don’t know the half of it,”
She laughed. “Considering I’m the Element of Honesty, you can tell me what’s going on, Quick Shot”.
“I still don’t know AJ. It’s just I don't want you to look at me any differently than what I already am.”
“Trust me, sugarcube. It doesn’t matter what y’all look like on the outside. What matters is that y’all are the same pony on the inside & that whatever happened to you doesn’t change who ya are or how ya act. For all Ah care, you could’ve lost a limb, but if ya let it get’cha down, then ya weren’t strong to begin with. & Ah know ya are strong. Ah saw it in ya when you were helpin’ me on my farm, & I liked that about ya.”
My heart skipped a beat when she said that. For the first time in a long time, I felt happy. I felt like I didn’t have to hide who I was. We talked for a few more hours until she had to go get some sleep. I let her leave first, so she wouldn’t see me. I flew back to the base & got on my charger without being detected. The next morning, I was in the best mood I’ve ever been in. During target practice, I felt more energetic than how I usually did. The engineers didn’t understand why that was, but they were glad to see I was having better results than usual. When Machete heard about this, he came to see me.
“Quick Shot,” he said, walking up “I heard you’ve taken a turn for the better with your training exercises. What happened to cause this?”
“I guess I really had to take a long look at myself & just weigh the pros & cons,” I said.
“Well, I know these last few months have been a real challenge for you, & well, knowing that you’re permanently stuck like this can be a bummer, & I’m sorry,” Machete sighed
“I’ve been cooped up in here for 6 months. I had my hopes crushed & my spirit wither away in this hell hole. I can’t even leave to interact with other ponies because you’re afraid that they will be afraid of how different I look. After all that, all you have to say to me is that you’re sorry?”
Machete looked at him. “You know it isn’t like that.”
“It doesn’t matter anymore,” I said. “What’s done is done, & we can’t change the past.”
I walked out before Machete could react. I decided to go back to my barrack & recharge for tonight. Later on, after lights out, I snuck out again. This time, I was determined to show AJ what I looked like no matter what. I landed in her orchard.
“Quick Shot?” she asked. “Are y’all here?”
“Yea, Applejack,” I said.
“Y’all said in ya letter that ya wanted to show me something?”
“Uhm yea… I just hope when I do show you that you don’t look at me differently,” I said nervously.
“Ah’m sure Ah wont,” she reassured me.
The moon shined bright. I walked out from the shadows & immediately had a spotlight shown on me.
Applejack looked up. “What in tarnation?!”
“Here he is, sir!” called a voice from above.
Machete landed in front of him. “I knew something was different about you, soldier.”
AJ looked around him & got a good look at Quick Shot.
“I couldn’t take being cooped up there on base any longer,” I pleaded.
“That doesn’t matter,” Machete scolded. “You disobeyed a direct order.”
“Quick Shot?” AJ looked.
“AJ,” I said. “I didn’t want this reintroduction to happen like this.”
“That’s enough out of you. Take him back to base!” Machete ordered.
“YES, SIR!” said some soldiers as they took him away.
“What did y’all do to him,” AJ said angrily.
Machete turned to her. “That isn’t any of your concern. Why don’t you mind your own business, & we’ll mind ours.”
“It’s mah business when it comes to mah friends,” she said, standing up for herself.
“I like you, but seriously mind your own business.” Machete flew off.
AJ sat there in disbelief to what just happened. “They turned mah friend into some machine,” she thought.
The next few days were hell. Quick Shot was under 24 hour supervision per Machete. He was only allowed to go to the shooting range, the engineer’s lab & his room. His productivity & motivation plummeted. Quick Shot didn’t talk or interact with anyone. All he heard was Machete saying, “It’s for his own good.” Machete worried about him & questioned if what he did was the right thing. As more time past, Quick Shot slowly started not to leave his barracks. A counselor was called to help him through this tough time; however, that proved to be useless. Quick shot remained in his depression until he got a knock on the door.
“Come in,” he said.
Princess Celestia walked in. “Hello Quick Shot.”
Quick Shot darted up & bowed before her. “Y-Your highness?! What can I do for you today?”
“Well, I was wondering how you were coping with your cyberization?” she asked.
“W-Well, if I’m being completely honest, I’m depressed,” he said. “I hate being cooped up in a place where I interact with nothing but scientists & machines. I miss that pony-to-pony contact. They say I’ll scare ponies with my appearance.”
“I see. What if I told you there’s one pony who wants to see you?” she asked.
“Who?” Quick shot asked.
Princess Celestia stepped to the side to allow AJ to run in & hug him. “She had contacted me & told me everything that you told her in your letters.”
“I… I don't know what to say,” he choked up.
“I’ll let you two be for now,” Princess Celestia said, walking out & closing the door.
“How did you do this?” he asked.
“Ah have mah ways,” AJ said. “But what’s important is that y’all are alright & somewhat in one piece.”
Quick Shot looked away. “I’m sure I have some explaining to do, don’t I?”
She turned his head back to her. “Sugarcube, those letters that y’all sent me reminded me of the sweet red stallion who came to mah farm looking for work before he went in the service. Y’all will always be the same pony to me no matter how much you change.”
“You don’t know how much that means to me,” Quick Shot said, smiling.
“& if y’all want to, ya can live on mah farm, so y’all can be around friends,” AJ smiled.
“I’m not sure if I can get that cleared with my commanding officer,” Quick Shot sighed.
“Let me worry about that. Ah’m sure the princess can be quite convincing to him.”
He smiled. “Alright, but can we just talk for now?”
“Sure, sugarcube,” she said, sitting on his bed.
Within a few days, I was released from the base. I stayed in the barn since they didn't have a room in the house itself. On most days, I’m helping Applejack buck apples & just keeping her company while she works. Other times, I have to go to Canterlot to make sure I haven’t gotten rusty. However, living on the farm has helped me with getting reacquainted in pony society. The CMC bring their friends to come see me, & I tell them what I do for a living & how I got this way. Twilight comes by to gather information on being cyberized, & other ponies come to just take pictures. All in all, talking to AJ was the best decision I made, & I couldn’t be any happier.
