Deus Ex: Equestriaby Jar of DirtChaptersIt's not the end of the world...Welcome to EquestriaA wolf Among SheepReaching for the SunInterlude: A Silly Placeholder ChapterIt's not the end of the world..."Do I trust mankind to save itself? That's what Eliza was asking. The truth is, I don't know. After everything I've seen, all the chaos and fighting around me, I only know what I want to believe; somehow, human decency will triumph. These past few months, I've faced many life-threatening situations. I could have given up many times, but my need to know the truth - to uncover the secrets others were hiding, and to survive - forced me to keep on going. Most of the time, I tried to keep my values in mind, knowing my actions did not have to harm others. I held on to my humanity, resisting the urge to abuse power or resources in order to meet my goals. And in the end, I got the job done. But does this mean I have the right to choose for everyone? No. Because it isn't up to me. It isn't up to Darrow, Sarif or Taggart either. Ordinary men and women will have to decide together what course mankind should take. The kind of people who, time and time again, have picked and chosen the future in highly practical ways - slowing change when it's negative, speeding it up when it's good. Can they do it again? I don't know. But I know I'm not about to let anyone on this station, myself included, stand in their way." I have a jar of dirt presents DEUS EX: EQUESTRIA [h+] Adam was pretty sure hell didn't have dirt. And yet, that was exactly what he was feeling underneath him. Grunting in pain, the augmented man heaved himself from the soil and dusted his ballistic vest and cargo pants off before tentatively cracking his neck. He was relieved to find that everything was in place on his persona, implants included, before trying to recall the events that had transpired just a little while ago. Panchaea... Memories flooded back into him like a burst dam. How Hugh Darrow had invited every major player on the corporate arena along with the UN delegates to his little climate-changing project up in the Arctic. How the man had activated a hidden failsafe built into the new biochips, rendering every augmented person on the planet murderously insane, and how Adam's only saving grace was that he hadn't yet replaced his older biochip. How he had travelled to the Panchaea installation to confront a disillusioned Darrow, claiming he was forced to make people understand the dangers of augmentation through extreme means. Turns out that selfish bastard was nothing but a spoiled child, Adam thought bitterly. Envies the people because his little toy didn't work and lashes out at innocents as a result. He remembered the regret painted across Darrow's face as the old man finally realized what he had done and asked Adam to relay the entire truth about what had happened. The chip. The Illuminati and their desire to control the technology. He remembered traveling across the installation while trying to avoid the crazed workers and security guards, who attacked him in the belief he was some sort of monster in their uncontrollable hallucinations. He met his boss David Sarif and Bill Taggart, who were both revealed to be members of the Illuminati; both men praying him to further their own respective agendas for what they claimed to be the best for mankind. Taggart asked him to blame the incident on a failed batch of neuropozyne, tricking people into placing down harsh regulations on augmentation technology. Only Sarif's answer had disgusted him more; the man had begged Jensen to openly lie to the public by blaming the Panchaea incident on Purity First terrorists, shifting the blame from biotech corporations to anti-aug groups and enabling the former to research freely without any barriers. And finally, his memory brought him back to Project Hyron and Zhao Yun Rhu's mad attempt at regaining control, in her reckless belief that she would be able to turn this into profit for her company. Adam brought up his hands in front of him and balled them into fists: the very same hands that were tainted with the blood of Zhao and her trio of mercenaries. Barrett, Federova, Namir; they were all dead now. And then there was that choice at the end. He could barely comprehend that, for that very moment, he had the power to change the world with the simple press of a button to his liking. The very power to change history laid at the very edge of his fingertips. Adam could not bring himself to do it. Darrow had noble intentions but had a dangerous and cruel modus operandi; Taggart knew that augmentations could be controlled with proper regulations, but that would mean letting human evolution fall into the hands of the Illuminati; and Sarif had betrayed his trust enough times by lying to him. Adam chose death instead of the other men's propositions, because if there was anything his quest to uncover the truth taught him, it was no individual should hold that much power. He did not feel comfortable with leading over seven billion people into a questionable future because of his own judgment. Even if the research behind it was based on his own DNA. But did I really make the right choice, blowing up everything? The realisation of his fate struck him suddenly. With a soft mechanical whirr, he brought up his hands again in disbelief. "I should be dead," he whispered. "I should be lying at the bottom of the ocean..." Adam lowered his arms and took a look around. He was surprised to see himself in a crater in what looked like a temperate forest. The sun fell softly through the still leaves, who only moved ever so slightly by the faintest breeze that passed through the woods. Adam took in every detail around himself. Trees. Grass. Flowers. Life. Jensen slid down his glasses and closed his eyes momentarily, enjoying the peacefulness of the scenery and taking a deep breath. This isn't the end of the world, but you can see it from here. "You know Eliza," Adam mumbled softly to himself mostly. "If this is the end of the world, I don't mind it too much." He never noticed a little white bunny speed away in the direction of his cottage. [h+] Angel Bunny could barely believe his eyes at the sight before him. A smaller crater had somehow appeared in the Whitetail woods, charring everything in the zone of impact. While he was grateful that no one had come to harm from it, he couldn't help but feel a little apprehensive towards whatever had caused it. Slowly, he approached the crater site while telling himself this probably wasn't the right idea: perhaps a monster or alien could pop out at any moment- Angel tumbled backwards in fear as something pulled itself out of the crater and stretched itself over him. Angel looked up in terror: the sun behind it blurred out most if its features, but he could see that it was at least twice as tall as a normal pony. The creature stood on its hindlegs, while the foremost ones ended in wierd appendages not too unlike those of that pesky dragon at the library. Angel's panic-stricken mind made the connection. Mutant dragon! Thankfully, the monster didn't seem to have noticed him, and slowly walked towards the general direction of Fluttershy's cottage. Fear for his caretaker took a hold of him and overwhelmed his fear for the creature, giving Angel a sudden surge of courage. With the loudest war cry he could muster (which wasn't admitedly much), the brave bunny charged forward and pulled at the creature's leg. [h+] Deciding it was time to move, Adam took inventory of his equipment at hand that he had found scattered inside the crater. His silenced 9mm pistol was still slung to his belt: although Adam disliked killing in general, he found it handy when clearing wall-mounted mines... Or against augmented super-mercs like Barrett. He carefully checked the weapon for any faults to the laser pointer and the armor piercing mods before reholstering it with satisfaction. Adam found his stun gun and a few darts in a tactical pouch, along with the P.E.P.S nonlethal shockwave launcher and a couple of energy packs. His tranquilizer rifle was nowhere to be seen, though: although it somewhat saddened Jensen to lose a reliable weapon, he still had enough to tackle any dangers ahead of him. If the worst came to pass, he also had his CQC skills, along with the retractable arm blades, the Typhoon and the GlassShield cloaking device implanted upon him. Adam took a quick stretch before sliding his glasses back on and climbing out of the crater. Almost immediately he was stunned by two things. Firstly, his motion tracker became a flurry of activity. Whoa, must be a lot of animals in these woods. Secondly, his readings showed large amounts of unknown energy around him. Fortunately, it did not seem to be radioactive or in other way hazardous (as his systems would have warned him instantly), but he still decided to keep it safe and move out as soon as possible. Before he could continue on however, he felt slight tug a his leg and looked down. He came face to face with a bunny and smiled at the furry little thing before noticing the intelligent glint in its eyes. The bunny seemed to cross its forelegs and stared at Adam disapprovingly while tapping a backleg repeatedly to the ground. Suddenly, it started making wild gestures while Adam merely stared dumbfoundedly at the animal. Is it trying to communicate with me? Suddenly, the creature sped past him and bounced away into the woods. With nothing better to do, Adam chuckled and followed it. "I bet Megan would have liked it as a pet." [h+] Sitting by her cottage near the woods, Fluttershy handed over her last bushel of carrots to the eagerly awaiting hare family. "There you go mister Hare," she cooed. "Have a nice day." With her chores for the day done, the mare sat down and exhaled softly with a smile on her face. Perhaps now she could head into Ponyville and pick up something to eat at Sugarcube corner, or- Her thoughts were interrupted as Angel Bunny sped through the foliage straight towards her and started waving his hands around in panic. Fluttershy leaned in closer and gazed at him worriedly. "Is something wrong Angel?" Angel nodded vigorously and pointed towards the Whitetail woods, then pretended to become a monster by raising his arms to the air and making... Well, monster sounds. "Something in the forest?" Fluttershy guessed. Angel nodded again, and remade the monster gestures again, this time raising himself to the tip of his toes before accidentally falling down flat onto the ground. "Uh... Is it a bear?" Angel facepalmed. "Oh hey Fluttershy!" The pegasus looked up to see Twilight walk towards her and waved her hoof towards her unicorn friend. "Oh, hello Twilight." "How are you doing today?" Twilight asked. "Angel is quite excited about something today," Fluttershy answered and nodded towards the bunny in question. "I think he found a bear in the Whitetail forest." Twilight raised an eyebrow as the bunny continued making wild gestures and pointing towards the forest. "Mind if I tag along?" Twilight asked. "I was just about to go for a walk in there anyway." "Oh, not at all! I mean, if you want to..." Without much further ado, the two ponies headed into the forest. [h+] Adam slowly trekked through the underbrush, somewhat absorbed in his own thoughts, when several female voices interrupted his musings. While Adam was pretty sure there were no mercenaries around, it was always sound to have a little caution. He activated his cloaking and snuck forward. To his surprise, the charge meter on his HUD did not even budge, even though the blinking battery symbol and his obviously invisible form told him it should be expending energy at a rapid rate. Setting those thoughts aside for the moment, he crept forward towards the voices. Wha- Horses? His eyes widened in surprise. Walking up the road were indeed a pair of oddly colorful horses, with unnaturally large eyes and with bizzare, almost humanlike expressions on their faces. The purple one seemed to sport a horn on her head, while the yellow one had a pair of wings folded over her body. He could also recognize the bunny he had met earlier, gesturing the equines to follow it while it hopped ahead. Curious, he followed them quietly through the vegetation, taking great care not to tread on any branches or rustle any leaves. The fact that those things could talk in the first place was more surprising -and somewhat unsettling- than the actual subject. Adam didn't care much though. He was too preoccupied with following them to hear anything but a few snippets of conversation. If this is the afterlife, then it's a damn strange one... It did not take long before realisation crept into Jensen's mind as he saw a slight gap in the terrain appear: the bunny had indeed led his companions towards the crater he had landed in for the lack of a better word. The horses looked around the site with surprise and a slight twinge of worry evident in their eyes, searching around for something of interest while the bunny kept watch around the area. Adam chuckled. Huh. It's not like they expect to find anything- A loud exclamation from the purple unicorn caught his attention. Adam moved from his observation place quietly and froze as the horse pointed towards something on the ground for the yellow one... The same tranquilizer rifle Adam thought he had lost a while ago. Damn it, how did I miss it?! Jensen mulled over his choices. He did not want those creatures anywhere near his weapons, nonlethal or not: there was always the risk that they could injure themselves with it in some way. On the other hand, retrieving it would mean he would have to blow his cover, which would probably spook the equines if he decloaked out of nowhere. As harmless as they seemed, he had no actual knowledge on how they would react to his presence. He could try talking to them and try to initialize contact; or he could simply make a dash for it and snatch up the weapon before their very noses and disappear into the foilage. He would have to make a choice quickly. Reader's vote: - Combat option: Run in, snatch the tranquilizer rifle, cloak and escape - Stealth option: Sit back and observe what happens - Diplomacy option: Decloack and attempt first contact Remember, your choices will affect the story's outcome based on Jensen's actions. Welcome to EquestriaIt seems Diplomacy won this round. Also please, if you're going to vote, choose only one option. I've seen people vote "Stealth or Diplomacy" and that confuses me a bit. Do I count both, or none of the options? Also I'm changing the color from yellow to blue so it's less hard on the eyes. Regardless, Diplomacy won with a landslide so there isn't much else to say. Onward! Adam weighted his options carefully. On one hand, he knew tossing yourself into a situation without any clear understanding of it could be potentially hazardous, which he had learned the hard way in his battle against Barrett. On the other hand, he could not risk those ponies injuring themselves at his expense. Granted, he did not know much about these... Ponies, but if they were anything like back at home, Adam was sure little harm would befall him if things turned sour. Since openly stealing back his rifle in front of their noses could be seen as a sign of aggression, and he had a feeling that he would be required to confront more equines in the future, he decided to approach the situation carefully. He exhaled deeply. Well, here goes nothing... He moved forward. [h+] The ponies gasped at the scene in front of them. A sizeable crater laid in the middle of the woods, having blasted away large chunks of dirt and rock everywhere. Several trees had been uprooted from the blast and laid not too far from the impact site. Despite the destruction, the wildlife still chattered across the trees, curiously milling around the hole in the ground but too nervous to actually enter. "I guess it wasn't a bear after all..." Twilight murmured. Fluttershy, on the other hand, had quickly skipped over to the animals and checked them up for any injuries of some kind. Twilight peeked down the hole. There was nothing in there to suggest what might have caused it, other than it was almost perfectly circular and sloped. Also, there were no meteor showers scheduled anytime this month, and Twilight knew princess Luna wouldn't accidentally drop something from her night sky, so the phenomena could hardly be blamed on a rock falling from above. "I've asked the little ones if they saw anything," Fluttershy told her friend as she floated over to her side. "They say they were all sleeping cozily in there homes when there was a big, awful boom, and suddenly there was this giant hole in the ground! And every little animal was scared because they thought it was a big scaredy monster like an Ursa Major trampling around-" "I don't think there was an Ursa in the first place Fluttershy," Twilight comforted her friend. "Trust me, if there was, you'd be seeing more footprints around." The unicorn paced around in deep thought. "It can't be a meteorite either. So, what did this?" "W- well, the birds say they saw some... Thing leave the crater after a while..." That caught Twilight's attention. "What did it look like?" "They say it was tall, twice as tall as a pony! It stood on two legs, and it had these strange claws... Not too unlike a diamond dog..." The timid mare whimpered at the thought of those brutish dogs that had captured Rarity once. Twilight absorbed the information and peered down the hole again. "I don't think it's a diamond dog den either. Normally there would be a tunnel leading underground, but there's nothing but a hole here." Twilight's horn lit up briefly as she scanned the area. In an instant, her eyes widened in surprise: the EKG residue around the crater was simply massive, and it caught her off guard, sending her to the ground in disbelief. "Twilight!" cried Fluttershy. "Are you alright?" The unicorn panted. "My goodness, the magical residue levels are HUGE! I have no idea what could have happened to warrant this!" She composed herself and slowly rose to her hooves again. "I don't think this is a simple natural accident Fluttershy," the unicorn told her friend seriously. "Whatever happened here was probably the work of one or several ponies with powerful magic at their disposal. Let's look around, see what we can find." "Shouldn't we go find the other girls?" The pegasus asked meekly. Before Twilight could formulate a response, she caught sight of something in the distance and made her way towards it. Fluttershy followed her. Neither of them had ever seen what laid in front of them: a strange black contraption laid on the ground, its smooth, unblemished surface glowing at certain areas with a soft orange light. The design somewhat resembled a crossbow, but with a long tube attached on the stock instead of a normal bow. The handle was made of a strange material that was smooth but firm to the touch, with grooves that implied it could be held by a creature with claws or similar appendages. The "crossbow" trigger was protected by a handle that was obviously too small for pony hooves: this, and all the other observations Twilight made on the weapon, gave it an overall non-Equestrian feeling. It seemed almost... Alien. "I've never seen anything like this before," she mused and picked it up with her telekinesis. "Maybe we should bring this thing along with us; the princess might know what it is." "I wouldn't do that if I were you." Twilight and Fluttershy jerked their heads back in surprise at the source of the voice. A faint shimmer in the air could be seen before it dissipated, revealing the most bizzare creature any of them had seen. It was bipedal, standing twice as tall as they were, with its "forelegs" ending in five appendages that resembled claws. Its facial structure reminded them somewhat of a diamond dog and a monkey, but with a flatter face and less pronounced nose, its eyes covered by a pair of shades that almost seemed to be part of the skull. It was completely clothed, the upper part being covered by a curious vest that seemed solid to the touch, with faintly glowing lights on certain hardpoints. The most disturbing factor was the arms; in the mares' eyes, they seemed to share material similarities to the vest, with gleaming black metal and muscles made from some fiber-like tubing. The arms and fingers whirred softly as the creature moved them, briefly letting Twilight glimpse the mechanical workings between the joints. Twilight couldn't help but shiver. Something about it was... Unnatural. Like parts of it were artificial, and yet it moved with the fluidity of a living being. The creature extended its arm and gestured for the contraption in Twilight's telekinetic grip. "I suggest you give that back to me." Fluttershy made a scared sound and hid behind Twilight, trembling at the sight of the strange being in front of them. Even Twilight seemed fazed by its sudden appearance. "Who- but- What are you?" The creature cocked its head to the side before sighing softly. "Look, I know I must look strange in your eyes, but I could say the same about you," it spoke in a husky, gravelly voice. "What I know is that you're carrying something that belongs to me, and you could get hurt by it if not handled properly. I would feel much safer if you just gave it to me. Hand it over, and then we'll talk. Okay?" He paused in though for a moment, then added; "oh, and it's Adam, by the way." Twilight shifted nervously under its gaze. It spoke an a calm, collected manner, and yet its posture suggested it seemed tense at the conversation being held. The unicorn weighted her options. While she did not feel very reassured with handing over something potentially hazardous to a complete stranger, it spoke with a tone of sincerity that seemed genuine. "How do I know I can trust you?" She asked carefully. "If I wanted to harm you, I wouldn't have bothered to approach you like this," it stated matter-of-factly. Deep down, Twilight knew it was right. The creature seemed to be capable of invisibility as she had witnessed earlier, meaning it could have snuck up on them without warning, and it spoke without any obvious malicious intent. It felt odd to Twilight, but there was... Something about the creature that appeased her oddly. Reluctantly, she levitated the weapon over to it, who grabbed it and slung it over its shoulder. At once, the creature's posture relaxed. "Thank you," it spoke politely. Now that the immediate threat was over, Twilight was overcome with a sense of curiosity. There was no record of any being resembling whatever was in front of her in Equestria before. "So... Wha-" She never got to finish her sentence as an unearthly roar echoed across the woods. [h+] Adam let out a grateful sigh as the tranquilizer rifle was returned to him and smirked inwardly. Seems like the CASIE mod still works perfectly. The CASIE mod, also known as the Social Enhancer, was an interesting piece of technology. Originally developed for diplomats in hostage situations, it consisted of an implant directly latched to the skull, allowing the user to gauge the personality type of the person in front of him and subtly guide the conversation towards his own favor. Should there be any difficulties, it also allowed the user to deploy special pheromones that triggered different reactions depending on the personality type. His little inner victory was interrupted by the roar and stomping gait of a large creature shaking the ground violently. As the ponies gasped in terror at the sight towering over them, Adam raised his head and immediately dropped his jaw. "What the hell-" It was a monstrous thing, with three heads waving back and forth on a large reptilian body. Beady eyes observed the ponies and human under it, while rows of jagged teeth bared at the prospect of a meal. The monster had wandered aimlessly at the edges of its territory for days without food before being attracted by the commotion not too far from its previous location, and it was hungry. The purple unicorn yelled "HYDRA!" in panic and fled, quickly followed by the yellow pegasus, but they were cut off as a gigantic head slammed down before them and roared. Adam quickly unslung his tranquilizer rifle and aimed at another head that was lunging at him. A small dart filled with a cocktail of psychoactive drugs and anesthetics was flung out by the pressurized air in the gas tank, embedding itself into the frontal lobe of the beast. The hydra head thrashed about for a second as it tried to remove the prickling projectile before being overcome with drowsiness and falling asleep. Adam realized too late that the dart did not affect the other heads as the third one smashed into him and sent him flying into a tree, his tranquilizer rifle flying out of reach. Grunting in pain, Adam tried to move out of the way before the head came crashing down on him again. He instinctively rolled to the side as it chomped down onto the tree and uprooted it before tossing it away in displeasure. Shit, those fangs are strong! The hydra head bared down on him again and prepared to snap its jaws shut on the augmented man, but Adam brought his hands up in time and caught its jaw, the mechanical gyros whining in protest as he pushed all of his strength into fighting against the hydra's vicious mouth. The beast grunted with effort, but ultimately failed against holding back against the human's superior strength. Its eyes widened in surprise as Adam pushed with all his might and managed to get up to his feet. Enraged, the hydra attempted another boost of strength, but was sent into the dirt as Adam suddenly let go and moved aside harmlessly. Before the head could rear up again, the man threw in a vicious punch: the metal and carbon nanofibre fist smashing into its face with enough force to knock it out. Ignoring the pain from the hydra flinging him into a tree, Adam glanced towards the final head circling around the ponies. The yellow one seemed to cower beneath the unicorn, who had its horn lit up and lowered in a fighting stance. Just as he made his way towards them, the hydra's final head lunged at the mares. Suddenly, there was a bright flash of light, and the ponies had been teleported to the side while a confused hydra smashed into the ground. Adam's eyes widened in surprise and he stopped mid-stride in shock. Teleportation? How the hell did it manage that? Apparently, the hydra head had managed to remove itself from the ground, and now stared angrily at the closest being it could find, which just so happened to be Jensen. Uh oh. The monstrous head reared up above Adam and prepared to strike, but Adam quickly extended an arm blade and stabbed it through the throat. As it fell to the ground, he brought up his arm again with full intent on decapitating it. "No wait!" he heard the purple unicorn scream. "Don't!" But it was too late. The monomolecular blade clove through the flesh with ease and the head dropped off, splattering Adam with crimson blood. The remains of the throat flung into the air and waved around wildly. With a sickening crunch, two protrusions extended from the bloody stump and formed into two new heads, both of them glaring at Adam murderously. "...You have got to be fucking kidding me." Adam quickly jumped out of the way as the first one brought its razor-sharp teeth to bear and snapped where Adam had been just a second ago, while the second one attempted a lunge from directly above him. A purple blast from the unicorn's horn momentarily dazed the second head and prevented it from attacking, but also lead to attracting its attention. The unicorn teleported away again, this time behind the head, and fired another blast at it. The confused head started boiling with anger and brought itself down onto the purple pony, who barely had time to teleport a third time before the ground trembled under the impact. Meanwhile, Adam struggled with the first hydra head. The beast tried to bite, but the human managed to back away and swiped his arm blade, cutting a deep gash into the hydra's scales. The beast hissed in pain and withdrew before lashing out again. This time, Adam went for a stabbing motion, but the hydra chose instead to bite down into his arm. While it did not do any damage against the augmented arms, it still lead to the monster gagging at the surprising firmness of its prey and Adam falling off balance. Jensen strained and got up to his feet again, ready to continue fighting, when a purple blur slammed into him with a pained gasp. Adam was thrown to the ground again as he rolled the dazed unicorn's body off of him, who sported many scratches and bruises. Around them, the hydra heads approached menacingly, licking their snake-like lips at the prospect of dinner. While the unicorn crawled back in fear, Adam growled and extended both arm blades, unwilling to let the beasts eat them- "Stooooooooop!" The yellow pegasus had put herself between the two fighting parties, staring with untold intensity at the hydra head, who suddenly became much more docile. Adam swore he could hear them... whimpering? "How dare you!" The pegasus scolded. "How dare you hurt my friends! You are both just a pair of big meanie-pants!" Jensen swore his eyes would plop out and his jaw unhinge as the heads that had so ravenously tried to devour them earlier suddenly avoided the comparatively tiny pegasus' gaze shamefully. "I know you are hungry and that makes you in a very bad mood, but you are not allowed to stay here! You're going back to your bog right this instant!" she continued. Slowly, the lumbering beast stomped back where it came from, its unconscious heads trailing behind it. The pegasus' satisfaction suddenly turned to anxiety as she rushed over to the two individuals left. "Oh my gosh! Twilight, mister Adam, are you okay?" The purple mare struggled to regain her footing before falling over unceremoniously. "No, I don't think so..." She said weakly. Adam merely clutched at his side in pain and stood up, gritting his teeth before moving on to pick up his discarded weapon. "I'll be fine," he said. "I've lived through worse." The Sentinel health implants would slowly heal any damage he had sustained anyway. "Mister Adam, I need your help with moving Twilight to my cottage, I mean, um, if that's okay with you..." she said meekly. "Sure," he responded and carefully picked the unicorn up in his arms. "I owe you for chasing that thing away anyway." Slowly, they made their way to the pegasus' cottage. "Thanks, by the way." The yellow mare tried her best to hide her face behind her pink mane, earning a chuckle from Jensen before he winced in pain at his bruised ribs. "Strangest damn day of my life..." he muttered under his breath. A wolf Among SheepJensen and the ponies arrived at Fluttershy's cottage shortly after their trek through the woods. Adam thought the place looked quite idyllic, with the timid mare's habitat seamlessly blending into the small hill near a pond in the clearing they emerged into. Like a hobbit's house, he thought slightly amused. The group carried on towards Fluttershy's door. To Jensen's surprise, a large amount of small animals sprung out of every hole and crevice available and gathered around the butter pegasus, making all kinds of noises and warily eyeing the human. Something about their stares unnerved Adam: it was as if the critters had an intelligent glint in their eyes. Somehow it wouldn't surprise me if they acted like in the Disney movies, he mused. Fluttershy did her best to explain the situation to her friends and tried her best to convince them Adam was relatively harmless. "No, of course he won't eat you," she comforted them. "Mister Jensen woudn't hurt a fly," she added with a rather insincere smile, recalling the events with the hydra a while back. She turned around and looked to Jensen for support. He caught onto her and gave a big stupid grin and a thumbs up, still carrying Twilight under one arm. This is ridiculous. While most of the animals seemed calmed by the pegasus' assurances, one bunny in particular wouldn't give up. Adam quirked an eyebrow at the diminutive animal, who kept gesturing wildly with its forelegs and hopping around in place. He realized it was the same bunny he had seen before. Said animal had stepped bravely between Fluttershy and Jensen, and was now tugging at his pants with all his might. Adam did not budge an inch. "Angel, stop bothering our guest," the pegasus told her bunny with the tone of a mother scolding a spoiled child. Angel released Jensen, but not before bringing his paw to his eyes and then pointing at Jensen's in the universal "I'm watching you" gesture and hopping away. Adam chuckled. The trio made their way inside Fluttershy's cottage. It was a bit cramped, but rather tasteful in Adam's opinion: much of the furniture was wooden and carved in minimalistic fashions, reminding him of the design of the chalets of the Alps. It was a welcome change from the sterile labs and military facilities he had infiltrated in the past. The pegasus instructed Jensen to carefully put down Twilight onto the couch, to which he obliged. "Are you hurt?" she asked worriedly. "The hydra must have hurt you awfully during the fight." "I'm alright," he reassured. "I'm a tough guy. I can take a few hits." "But I need to know if you will be alright," she added a bit more forcefully, which surprised Jensen to a degree. Seeing the concerned look in Fluttershy's eyes, he knew she was not about to drop the subject anytime soon. "Alright," he sighed. "Suit yourself. Just don't fuss too much over it, alright?" He retracted his shades, began unbuckling his ballistic vest and took it off, laying it to his side and exposing his upper body. He heard the pegasus gasp. [h+] Fluttershy was unable to tear her eyes away from the full extent of Adam's augmentations. She could clearly see the areas where machine and flesh melded together at his arms, along with the screws bolted into the skin that held everything in place. She also realized now that Adam's shades were actually a part of his skull when he removed them. Jensen's eyes had also surprised her: the blacks contained spinning circles of light, swirling around like a focusing camera lens. The mere thought that somepony would so radically change his body unsettled her. "W- What are you?" she whispered. Jensen gazed at his arms and balled his hands into fists. "Good question." [h+] Twilight awoke with a groan on Fluttershy's couch and stretched her hooves. Just as she was about to stand up, a gentle but firm hoof forced her down into the sofa again. "Don't move Twilight," Fluttershy said, "you still need to rest." Twilight rubbed her head and moaned softly at the splitting headache she felt. "Ugh... What happened? Did we win?" She glanced down at her body, and saw a number of bandages wrapped around her hind legs and stomach. "The hydra left," Fluttershy comforted, "and mister Jensen is alright too." Twilight's eyes turned towards Jensen, who was sitting in the opposite couch with a glass of water and a book, and they widened in surprise as she saw his augmentations, much like Fluttershy reacted. She saw the shock in Twilight's eyes, and fidgeted nervously. "He- he is nice, but at the same time he scares me..." She whispered nervously. "He isn't like some angry monster from the Everfree forest. He just seems... I don't know. He's been polite and quiet this whole time, but he seems so... Unnatural." Twilight reached out and gave the mare a comforting hug. Unlike Fluttershy however, the studious unicorn practically quivered with excitement and saw this as an opportunity for research. She released her hold of Fluttershy and made for Jensen. The pegasus tired to stop her, but Twilight moved aside her hoof, all previous drowsiness gone. "I'll be fine, Flutters. Nothing hurts." Twilight approached Jensen eagerly and cleared her throat to attract his attention. "Ahem... Mister Jensen?" The cyborg lifted his eyes from his book and gazed at the unicorn in front of him. "Yes?" "My name is Twilight Sparkle," she told him proudly, "and on behalf of me and Fluttershy, I just wanted to thank you for helping us with the hydra back there." "I did what I had to," he casually responded. "Well, it's not everyday a pony puts themselves at a risk to protect others," she said jovially, "and we do really appreciate what you did... Even if I have no idea where you came from." Adam put down his glass of water on the table. "Quite frankly, I have no idea where I am anyway." Twilight shot him an odd look. "Oh... Are you lost?" "...Something like that, yeah." The unicorn stared at Jensen with a puzzled look for a few seconds before an idea clicked in her head. "Maybe princess Celestia might be able to help you." "Celestia?" "Sure! She's the ruler of Equestria, and she raises the sun every day!" She beamed proudly. "I'm her personal student too, so there shouldn't be any problems helping you with your situation!" Despite Twilight's genuinely helpful tone, a large number of alarm bells ringed in Jensen's head. I've never heard of Equestra, he thought. And if a land full of magical talking horses existed on Earth, everyone would have heard of it by now. Same thing with a princess supposedly raising the sun. The bitter realisation hit him. I'm not on Earth anymore. Hell, maybe I truly am dead after all. "Adam?" He jerked out of his musings at the mention of his name. Twilight looked at him worriedly. "You zoned out there for a bit..." "Just thinking," he dismissed. A short pause later, he turned towards the mares again. "Alright, tell me what you can about... Equestria." [h+] As Twilight chatted aimably about what she knew on the land (which was a lot), Adam learned that he was close to the town of Ponyville (a name he thought absolutely ridiculous), which laid just a short train ride from the capital of Canterlot. With a little input from Fluttershy from time to time, he also learned of the different cities dotting the Equestrian countryside such as Manehatten, Appleoosa and Las Pegasus, to name a few. Adam had to resist the urge to facepalm at the puns. He also learned that the two royal princesses Celestia and Luna were in charge of raising and lowering the sun and the moon, respectively (a fact he found hard to believe), and that other mythical creatures such as griffins, manticores and the aforementioned hydra that also lived here. All those bizzare revelations made Jensen's head spin, and he felt more in a dream than connected to reality. Still, he kept quiet most of the time and merely listened patiently while Twilight eagerly rabbled on until Fluttershy interrupted them. "Oh goodness, the sun is about to set!" True enough, the others noticed that the celestial body was fading towards the horizon. "Oh dear, we talked for that long?" Twilight asked in shock. "Please don't tell me I bored you, Adam!" "It's alright," he reassured her. "It was informative." "Fluttershy, do you mind if Adam sleeps here? If you do even need sleep, of course. I never got the chance to ask-" "Yes, I do sleep," he decided to interrupt before she prattled on. "I have a guest bed for when I let the Cutie Mark Crusaders sleep over," the timid pony answered. "Good! I'll go back to the library and write a letter to the princess, and we'll see what we can do about your situation tomorrow, Adam." "Sounds good to me." He smiled. Even for their slight naïvité, he enjoyed the ponies' friendliness and generosity. "Well, good night to you both!" Twilight bid them before leaving. Silence fell on Fluttershy's cottage once more. "I'm going to put the last of the animals to sleep," Fluttershy told Jensen. "Your bed is on the second floor, if you wish to sleep... Maybe I could prepare some tea too. That is, if you want..." "Thanks, but I'll just head on up," he replied before making his way to bed. Lucky me. Stuck in a world of technicolor ponies. Oh well, better than an eternity of nothingness, he mused before falling asleep. He dreamt of garishly colored Barretts sprouting wings and horns that night, and woke up the next day in a very dazzled state. Author's Note Short chapter is short and possibly filled with errors because it's 5:04 in the morning. Also, alicorn Barretts. Fuck man, I'm like, stoned, but in a negative way. No vote in this chapter. Reaching for the SunFluttershy awoke from her slumber by the first rays of sunlight filtering through her windows. With a soft yawn, she climbed out of bed, and descended down the stairs to wake up all of her animals before making breakfast. As she exited her cottage, she was surprised to see Jensen leaning against the doorway outside, who gazed at the rising sun in contemplation with a lit cigarette in hand. "Oh, hello Adam," she spoke in her usual quiet tone. "I didn't realize you were awake." "Got up early." Adam took another drag of his cigarette. "It's not often I get the chane to breathe fresh countryside air." The two of them remained in silence for a short while. "I'm going to feed my animals before making breakfast, if you don't mind..." Jensen shrugged casually. "Hey, it's your home. No need to ask me." The rest of the morning passed in relative silence. Fluttershy laid out a few bags of food for her smaller critters before moving to the pens of larger animals. Despite Jensen asking her if she needed help, she politely declined. Adam decided not to press the matter any further and kept smoking. By the time his cigarette had burned out, Fluttershy was done feeding the animals. Good thing the lighter survived my little plunge, he thought before following the pegasus inside. A low rumble from his stomach reminded him of his hunger, and he sat down eagerly at table as Fluttershy served them both a salad from the fridge. However, she halted mid-stride and turned towards him. "I'm sorry I forgot to ask: do you eat salad mister Jensen?" "I'm an omnivore, so I can eat most things," he answered. He cursed under his breath and wondered if that fact would unsettle the timid mare, but to her credit she seemed rather unprovoked by it. "It's alright," she reassured him at the sight of his expression. "I deal with predators everyday: I'm used to feeding them fish most of the time." After a curt nod in acknowledgement from Adam, they both dug in. [h+] The evening before Twilight Sparkle made her way quickly to the library as the sun set over the horizon, eager to send princess Celestia a letter about the new discovery she and Fluttershy have made. A previously undiscovered sapient species! She thought excitedly. I bet the princess is going to love my report! As she arrived in Ponyville, she took the time to slow down and greet the few ponies who were still on their way home for the night. As the last few rays of light disappeared on the horizon, she literally slammed through the library door. "I'm home Spike!" Her dragon assistant, who had been eating a tub of ice cream, became startled at her sudden appearance and fell from his stool. "Twilight! Where have you been?" He picked himself up and ran over to her. "Do you know how worried I've been? I've spent all day looking around town for you, and when you didn't come home I just felt bad and... Drowned myself in ice cream to, uh... Bury my sorrows... In ice cream!" he finished with a rather insincere expression. Spike was surprised to be scooped up in a hug by Twilight. "I'm sorry if I kept you waiting Spike, but I need to send a letter to the princess immediately!" She let go and ran to her desk to fetch quill and paper. "I've made an amazing discovery today!" She unceremoniously shoved the quill and paper into Spike's arms and cleared her throat. "Dear princess Celestia-" "Wait, wait!" Spike cried out as he tried to unfold the parchment. "I... There we go!" "You done?" Twilight asked. "Good." "Dear princess Celestia..." [h+] Celestia hummed contently as she finished scribbling down the last official document of the day and gazed contently outside her window. Ever since Discord's rehabilitation, life and state affairs had once again devolved into normalcy despite the occasional prank from said draconequus and Luna. Twilight still sent her friendship reports diligently, unaware of the destiny that was to befall her in the future. Outside, ponies slowly returned home for the evening as Celestia gently coaxed the sun to set above the horizon. She smiled: Celestia loved all her ponies dearly, even the more abrasive ones from the Canterlot nobility. As she took a final sip of wine and laid aside her belongings for the night, Celestia was pleasantly surprised to see a letter with Twilight's signature materialize in front of her. Dear Princess Celestia, Today I've made an amazing discovery: a completely new sapient being has appeared on the outskirts of Ponyville! Me and Fluttershy were out on a walk through the Whitetail Woods when we found a large hole in the ground surrounded by massive magical residue. After we examined the outskirts for what might have caused it, we found the "human", as he's called - or he found us, more precisely. First contact was a bit tense, but I don't think he means any harm: he even saved us from a hydra who came along before Fluttershy managed to subdue it. The human is called Adam Jensen, and from my observations seems to be a mostly furless primate (except for some mane on the top of his head). He is tall, somewhat taller than you, and posesses long limbs. The forelegs end with a five-clawed hand on each limb, and the muzzle is far less pronounced that a normal monkey. That is, however, not the most fascinating: his body is half mechanical! I've studied his forelegs, and I've found out that they are indeed made of some sort of alloy. It's like a prosthetic hoof but far more advanced: his movements look far more natural and flowing that you'd expect! His eyes are machinery too: you can see the optics readjust in his eyes. It's extremely fascinating. He's even got shades that retract into his head! It may sound ridiculous or even frightening, but his "augmentations" as he calls them are incredibly lifelike and whose smithing quality is beyond anything I've ever seen (don't tell Glowing Anvil I said that: I know how proud the court smith is of his work). Adam is staying at Fluttershy's cottage for now. He's been polite so far, and I doubt he shows any interest in harming us. He seems mostly distraught at the thought of being away of home, and seems to have no idea how he woke up here in Equestria. Even so, I would recommend caution: he is armed, and has proven to both be able to hold open a hydra's jaw by his strength alone, produce blades from his arms, recover from injuries at a rapid pace and even turn invisible. Even though he most certainly has the potential to become hostile (which I highly doubt), I hope you don't think of him as a threat to the ponies' security: he is literally the first of his kind here in Equestria, and I think there is so much we could learn from him and his kind. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle Celestia finished Twilight's letter with mixed emotions: curiosity for this new creature, and worry for the well-being of her student. She would have given the resposibility to Luna to look up on Twilight for her, but decided to wait for it until the morning. As much as she loved her sister, Luna had the unfortunate habit of lacking tact at times. Besides, she trusted her student's judgement. She quickly composed a letter to Twilight: My dearest student, I am relieved to hear that no harm has befallen you, and I share your curiosity over this "human" being. I will arrive in Ponyville tomorrow at 10 to see to this creature personally. While I trust your word that he will not harm you, I still wish to put my worries concerning you to rest. Being attacked by a hydra is no small matter, and I am glad that Fluttershy was nearby to help. Princess Celestia P.S: Please do not spend all night preparing for my arrival. Get some rest. After lowering the sun for the night and wishing her sister good night, she went to bed with a slight feeling of apprehention before falling into a dreamless sleep. [h+] The sun rose over Ponyville. Contrary to her mentor's advice, Twilight had stayed up all night in her library, worried about how the princess might react to Adam's presence. Most of the scenarios her mind conjured ended with Jensen banished to the moon. From upstairs, a groggy Spike sighed in exasperation as Twilight's pacing wore deeper and deeper grooves into the floor, still confused about the whole ordeal with Adam. "Twilight, this is exactly what the princess told you not to do! Besides, shouldn't you be resting from that hydra attack?" "There is so much that could go wrong Spike!" she cried out in exasperation. "What if they end up hating each other? What they end up blaming me?" "Blaming you- Twi, that doesn't even make sense! What would they blame you for?" Spike's stomach grumbled loudly. "Forget this, I'm making breakfast. Come to table when you aren't freaking out. Sheesh." As the dragon set of for making pancakes, he was startled by the sudden appearance of Celestia, who had teleported at the front door. "AAAH!" he exclaimed as he jumped in fright. "Oh dear, I'm sorry Spike," the princess apologized and rubbed his head with a hoof. "Is Twilight nearby?" "She's been up all night," he muttered. Celestia sighed. "I should have expected that." As they both entered the living room, the grooves in the floor were so deep only Twilight's head stuck out of the trench. At the sight of the princess, the mare gasped in surprise, jumped out and nuzzled her mentor. "Princess!" she greeted "It's good to see you too Twilight," she replied with a kindhearted smile before recoiling in fright. "You're injured!" True enough, several ugly gashes adorned her side, and a few of them had opened up and were slowly starting to trickle blood. Twilight gasped. "Oh... Oh dear. I didn't notice that..." Celestia took on a stern but motherly tone. "Twilight, I want you to stay in bed for the day. You're in no condition to visit Fluttershy." "But princess-" "No, my student," she added more softly. "Stressing around will only make it worse. I am sure that Fluttershy told you to rest anyway." "I- Of course. I'm sorry princess." Celestia nuzzled her again. "I understand your anxiety, but I can handle myself. You vouched for him personally, didn't you?" Twilight nodded. "Then I assure you there is little reason for us to start disagreeing." She turned towards the dragon in the room. "Spike, would you kindly watch over Twilight today? I'll be right back." The dragon saluted Celestia eagerly before running to fetch some bandages. The two ponies nuzzled each other goodbye before Celestia exited the library, spread her wings and flew off into Fluttershy's direction. [h+] Fluttershy jumped at the sound of someone knocking on her door. Is Twilight already up? As she opened the door, she was surprised by the sight of Celestia standing at her front door. "Oh! I didn't expect you to see you here, princess!" She exclaimed after a short bow. "Is Twilight with you?" "I told her to rest," Celestia told her as she entered through the front after the pegasus' invitation. "Poor dear stayed up all night." Fluttershy sighed quietly. "I thought I told her to stay calm..." She gave the princess a nervous glance. "You're here for mister Jensen?" Celestia nodded. "He's in the library." [h+] "I take it you're Adam Jensen?" Jensen lifted his eyes from his book and stared at the newcomer before rising to full height. "Yeah, that's me." Celestia eyed Adam curiously. "I see Twilight's description really hasn't done you justice: to be fair, I had expected you to look like a gorilla with brass limbs." Adam chuckled. "Yeah. I'm one of a kind." A short pause lingered between them. Behind the princess, Fluttershy fidgeted awkwardly. "Forgive me, I haven't introduced myself properly," Celestia continued and raised a hoof. "I am princess Celestia of Equestria." Adam took it and shook it vigorously. "Adam Jensen." Celestia motioned for Adam to sit, who replied in kind. She then turned to Fluttershy before seating herself. "Would you be so kind to fetch us all some tea?" As the pegasus retreated to the kitchen, Celestia flashed a good-natured smile towards Adam. "I want to thank you for rescuing the girls from the hydra yesterday. Twilight has been rather positive towards you, and as my personal student I care deeply about her and her opinions of other ponies." "I did what I had to," Adam answered. The memory of the ponies playing around with his tranquilizer rifle resurfaced. "They were in danger, so I reacted." Fluttershy entered the room again with a tray of tea and cups. Celestia thanked her politely as she served up her tea before Fluttershy seated herself between them. Jensen noticed the princess eyeing his augmentations. "I admit your... augmentations are impressive," Celestia continued. "Basic magic prosthetics exist here in Equestria, but they are far more cluncky and unwieldy than what you are wearing. And we most certainly have not thought of militarizing it." Her tone grew serious. "Make no mistake Jensen. While I am grateful for saving my student and Fluttershy, I dislike violence in general. I will, however, do whatever is necessary to protect my little ponies at all costs." Adam stayed silent for a while, pondering on how he should approach this in the most diplomatic way possible. "Violence is a necesary evil at times," he responded carefully, "but I would never abuse it, not against any innocents. I have no intention of harming you or any of your ponies, princess. You have my word." A smile returned to Celestia's lips. "I'm glad we are on the same page." She drank a sip of tea before pressing on. "You mentioned that your arrival in Equestria was unexpected. I admit that while I know of most species that walk under my sun, I have never met one such as yours." "I'm not from Equestria, as you might imagine. I woke up in a crater, and that's about it." "And do you have any idea how this came to be?" "I died." Celestia and Fluttershy were caught aback by the sudden response and stared at Adam wide-eyed. "You... died?" He shrugged. "Or I should have. Last I remember before waking up here was drowning into a frozen ocean." An awkward silence settled over the library. "I'm.. Sorry to hear that," the princess said sincerely before growing thoughtful. "This is unexpected. There must have been powerful magic at work to save you, Adam... But for what purpose, I don't know why." She set her cup of tea down on the table and excused herself from the table. "It's been a pleasure meeting you Adam, but I have affairs to attend to, and I promised to visit Twilight today. I'll contact you someday Adam. In the meanwhile, feel free to stay with Fluttershy, if she approves of course." "It's no problem at all, princess," the pegasus added gently. "He can stay here." "Fluttershy, after Twilight feels better, maybe you should introduce him to your friends and the other ponies around Ponyville? I'm sure Jensen would like to feel welcome in these parts." "Of course princess." As Celestia bade the others farewell, she took of into the sky towards the library. Saved from death, she mused. You are an interesting being Adam, for such powers to take notice of you. Celestia's cheeks became tinted with red and she let loose a soft giggle. Not to mention you sound devilishly handsome! Author's Note Not even Celestia can resist the raw sex appeal that is Jensen's deep manly voice. I bet everyone's got a man-crush on him. I know I do, and I'm not even gay. "Huh, you know I got more raw sex appeal that chromeboy over there." Right. Sorry Tychus. Interlude: A Silly Placeholder ChapterWIth a big boom, Adam Jensen appeared out of nowhere and landed flat on his face. He stood up and brushed the dirt off himself. "I never asked for this." He made his way to the town of Ponyville, where he was approached by Twilight Sparkle and her friends. "Greetings, mysterious creature with a sexy voice! You come in times of great need. Discord, the spirit of chaos has been set free from his stone prison! Will you please help us defeat him." Adam shrugged. "Sure. I'm used to fighting against sociopathic spiteful old men at this point. Where can I find him?" At this point, a chariot swooped down from the sky and a beautiful white alicorn stepped out from it. "Greetings, I am princess Celestia, ruler of Equestria. I implore you to help my people in our time of need." Adam smirked confidently. "Anything for you, your radiance." The princess blushed profusely while half of Ponyville's female population fainted. "Lead the way." As they arrived in Canterlot, they were confronted by Discord, who had turned the entire city into a giant cake. "Hahaha!" He cackled evilly. "You will never defeat me, you little sissy ponies! I have your precious elements now!" Everyone let out a gasp as he raised the box containing the magical artifacts in plain view. "You will never get away with this Discord!" Twilight yelled. "I thought we were friends..." A brokenhearted Fluttershy sniffed. "Hah! You thought wrong!" He smirked. "Now I am free from the influence of your silly friendship magic, and the world is mine to toy with!" "Not so fast." Adam said. "I will stop you." "Hah, I'd like to see you try, you oversized chrome monkey!" "Ladies first, you failed jigsaw puzzle." This made Discord very angry. He launched balls of magic in Adam's direction, but the latter dodged them all with ease. He then brought his stun gun out and twirled it expertly around his finger before zapping Discord, who dropped the Elements in his paralysis. "No!" He wailed. "How could you possibly be more awesome than me!" "Now girls!" The elements fired their rainbow beam at Discord, who flew through the air and became but a white speck in the sky. "Teach me your ways masteeeeeeeeer!..." Everypony cheered as Adam was hailed the hero of the day. "Oh Adam," Celestia swooned. "You bravery knows no bounds and I have fallen head over hooves for you! Please become my beloved and whisper sweet nothings into my ear with that sexy sexy voice of yours. I love you!" "I love you too Celestia, for you are the only one who loves me for who I am and not for my usefulness to a cause. You look past the cold shell that is my body and found my beating heart," he confessed as he held her in a tight embrace. Later that night, they proceeded to make hot, passionate interspecies love- [h+] "Sister, what are you doing?" "Wah!" Celestia jumped in fright at Luna's sudden arrival. "Luna, how many times have I reminded you to knock before entering?" "I was just curious to the reason you decided to stay up so late at your desk." Celestia shuffled nervously and shot her sister a sheepish smile. "Oh... Nothing important. Just some... Paperwork! Yes that's it, paperwork! The construction budget for Cloudsdale needed some revising, haha..." Luna quirked an eyebrow at the sun princess' odd behavior but eventually let go of her curiosity. "I hope you don't stay up too late then sister. Have a good night." "You too." As Luna closed the door with a comforting click. Celestia let out a sigh of relief she didn't knew she had held in. Too close. Now, about that piece I wrote... Author's Note Yes, I know it's been ages since I updated this. Consider this a little teaser present while I start continuing in a more serious manner.
It's not the end of the world..."Do I trust mankind to save itself? That's what Eliza was asking. The truth is, I don't know. After everything I've seen, all the chaos and fighting around me, I only know what I want to believe; somehow, human decency will triumph. These past few months, I've faced many life-threatening situations. I could have given up many times, but my need to know the truth - to uncover the secrets others were hiding, and to survive - forced me to keep on going. Most of the time, I tried to keep my values in mind, knowing my actions did not have to harm others. I held on to my humanity, resisting the urge to abuse power or resources in order to meet my goals. And in the end, I got the job done. But does this mean I have the right to choose for everyone? No. Because it isn't up to me. It isn't up to Darrow, Sarif or Taggart either. Ordinary men and women will have to decide together what course mankind should take. The kind of people who, time and time again, have picked and chosen the future in highly practical ways - slowing change when it's negative, speeding it up when it's good. Can they do it again? I don't know. But I know I'm not about to let anyone on this station, myself included, stand in their way." I have a jar of dirt presents DEUS EX: EQUESTRIA [h+] Adam was pretty sure hell didn't have dirt. And yet, that was exactly what he was feeling underneath him. Grunting in pain, the augmented man heaved himself from the soil and dusted his ballistic vest and cargo pants off before tentatively cracking his neck. He was relieved to find that everything was in place on his persona, implants included, before trying to recall the events that had transpired just a little while ago. Panchaea... Memories flooded back into him like a burst dam. How Hugh Darrow had invited every major player on the corporate arena along with the UN delegates to his little climate-changing project up in the Arctic. How the man had activated a hidden failsafe built into the new biochips, rendering every augmented person on the planet murderously insane, and how Adam's only saving grace was that he hadn't yet replaced his older biochip. How he had travelled to the Panchaea installation to confront a disillusioned Darrow, claiming he was forced to make people understand the dangers of augmentation through extreme means. Turns out that selfish bastard was nothing but a spoiled child, Adam thought bitterly. Envies the people because his little toy didn't work and lashes out at innocents as a result. He remembered the regret painted across Darrow's face as the old man finally realized what he had done and asked Adam to relay the entire truth about what had happened. The chip. The Illuminati and their desire to control the technology. He remembered traveling across the installation while trying to avoid the crazed workers and security guards, who attacked him in the belief he was some sort of monster in their uncontrollable hallucinations. He met his boss David Sarif and Bill Taggart, who were both revealed to be members of the Illuminati; both men praying him to further their own respective agendas for what they claimed to be the best for mankind. Taggart asked him to blame the incident on a failed batch of neuropozyne, tricking people into placing down harsh regulations on augmentation technology. Only Sarif's answer had disgusted him more; the man had begged Jensen to openly lie to the public by blaming the Panchaea incident on Purity First terrorists, shifting the blame from biotech corporations to anti-aug groups and enabling the former to research freely without any barriers. And finally, his memory brought him back to Project Hyron and Zhao Yun Rhu's mad attempt at regaining control, in her reckless belief that she would be able to turn this into profit for her company. Adam brought up his hands in front of him and balled them into fists: the very same hands that were tainted with the blood of Zhao and her trio of mercenaries. Barrett, Federova, Namir; they were all dead now. And then there was that choice at the end. He could barely comprehend that, for that very moment, he had the power to change the world with the simple press of a button to his liking. The very power to change history laid at the very edge of his fingertips. Adam could not bring himself to do it. Darrow had noble intentions but had a dangerous and cruel modus operandi; Taggart knew that augmentations could be controlled with proper regulations, but that would mean letting human evolution fall into the hands of the Illuminati; and Sarif had betrayed his trust enough times by lying to him. Adam chose death instead of the other men's propositions, because if there was anything his quest to uncover the truth taught him, it was no individual should hold that much power. He did not feel comfortable with leading over seven billion people into a questionable future because of his own judgment. Even if the research behind it was based on his own DNA. But did I really make the right choice, blowing up everything? The realisation of his fate struck him suddenly. With a soft mechanical whirr, he brought up his hands again in disbelief. "I should be dead," he whispered. "I should be lying at the bottom of the ocean..." Adam lowered his arms and took a look around. He was surprised to see himself in a crater in what looked like a temperate forest. The sun fell softly through the still leaves, who only moved ever so slightly by the faintest breeze that passed through the woods. Adam took in every detail around himself. Trees. Grass. Flowers. Life. Jensen slid down his glasses and closed his eyes momentarily, enjoying the peacefulness of the scenery and taking a deep breath. This isn't the end of the world, but you can see it from here. "You know Eliza," Adam mumbled softly to himself mostly. "If this is the end of the world, I don't mind it too much." He never noticed a little white bunny speed away in the direction of his cottage. [h+] Angel Bunny could barely believe his eyes at the sight before him. A smaller crater had somehow appeared in the Whitetail woods, charring everything in the zone of impact. While he was grateful that no one had come to harm from it, he couldn't help but feel a little apprehensive towards whatever had caused it. Slowly, he approached the crater site while telling himself this probably wasn't the right idea: perhaps a monster or alien could pop out at any moment- Angel tumbled backwards in fear as something pulled itself out of the crater and stretched itself over him. Angel looked up in terror: the sun behind it blurred out most if its features, but he could see that it was at least twice as tall as a normal pony. The creature stood on its hindlegs, while the foremost ones ended in wierd appendages not too unlike those of that pesky dragon at the library. Angel's panic-stricken mind made the connection. Mutant dragon! Thankfully, the monster didn't seem to have noticed him, and slowly walked towards the general direction of Fluttershy's cottage. Fear for his caretaker took a hold of him and overwhelmed his fear for the creature, giving Angel a sudden surge of courage. With the loudest war cry he could muster (which wasn't admitedly much), the brave bunny charged forward and pulled at the creature's leg. [h+] Deciding it was time to move, Adam took inventory of his equipment at hand that he had found scattered inside the crater. His silenced 9mm pistol was still slung to his belt: although Adam disliked killing in general, he found it handy when clearing wall-mounted mines... Or against augmented super-mercs like Barrett. He carefully checked the weapon for any faults to the laser pointer and the armor piercing mods before reholstering it with satisfaction. Adam found his stun gun and a few darts in a tactical pouch, along with the P.E.P.S nonlethal shockwave launcher and a couple of energy packs. His tranquilizer rifle was nowhere to be seen, though: although it somewhat saddened Jensen to lose a reliable weapon, he still had enough to tackle any dangers ahead of him. If the worst came to pass, he also had his CQC skills, along with the retractable arm blades, the Typhoon and the GlassShield cloaking device implanted upon him. Adam took a quick stretch before sliding his glasses back on and climbing out of the crater. Almost immediately he was stunned by two things. Firstly, his motion tracker became a flurry of activity. Whoa, must be a lot of animals in these woods. Secondly, his readings showed large amounts of unknown energy around him. Fortunately, it did not seem to be radioactive or in other way hazardous (as his systems would have warned him instantly), but he still decided to keep it safe and move out as soon as possible. Before he could continue on however, he felt slight tug a his leg and looked down. He came face to face with a bunny and smiled at the furry little thing before noticing the intelligent glint in its eyes. The bunny seemed to cross its forelegs and stared at Adam disapprovingly while tapping a backleg repeatedly to the ground. Suddenly, it started making wild gestures while Adam merely stared dumbfoundedly at the animal. Is it trying to communicate with me? Suddenly, the creature sped past him and bounced away into the woods. With nothing better to do, Adam chuckled and followed it. "I bet Megan would have liked it as a pet." [h+] Sitting by her cottage near the woods, Fluttershy handed over her last bushel of carrots to the eagerly awaiting hare family. "There you go mister Hare," she cooed. "Have a nice day." With her chores for the day done, the mare sat down and exhaled softly with a smile on her face. Perhaps now she could head into Ponyville and pick up something to eat at Sugarcube corner, or- Her thoughts were interrupted as Angel Bunny sped through the foliage straight towards her and started waving his hands around in panic. Fluttershy leaned in closer and gazed at him worriedly. "Is something wrong Angel?" Angel nodded vigorously and pointed towards the Whitetail woods, then pretended to become a monster by raising his arms to the air and making... Well, monster sounds. "Something in the forest?" Fluttershy guessed. Angel nodded again, and remade the monster gestures again, this time raising himself to the tip of his toes before accidentally falling down flat onto the ground. "Uh... Is it a bear?" Angel facepalmed. "Oh hey Fluttershy!" The pegasus looked up to see Twilight walk towards her and waved her hoof towards her unicorn friend. "Oh, hello Twilight." "How are you doing today?" Twilight asked. "Angel is quite excited about something today," Fluttershy answered and nodded towards the bunny in question. "I think he found a bear in the Whitetail forest." Twilight raised an eyebrow as the bunny continued making wild gestures and pointing towards the forest. "Mind if I tag along?" Twilight asked. "I was just about to go for a walk in there anyway." "Oh, not at all! I mean, if you want to..." Without much further ado, the two ponies headed into the forest. [h+] Adam slowly trekked through the underbrush, somewhat absorbed in his own thoughts, when several female voices interrupted his musings. While Adam was pretty sure there were no mercenaries around, it was always sound to have a little caution. He activated his cloaking and snuck forward. To his surprise, the charge meter on his HUD did not even budge, even though the blinking battery symbol and his obviously invisible form told him it should be expending energy at a rapid rate. Setting those thoughts aside for the moment, he crept forward towards the voices. Wha- Horses? His eyes widened in surprise. Walking up the road were indeed a pair of oddly colorful horses, with unnaturally large eyes and with bizzare, almost humanlike expressions on their faces. The purple one seemed to sport a horn on her head, while the yellow one had a pair of wings folded over her body. He could also recognize the bunny he had met earlier, gesturing the equines to follow it while it hopped ahead. Curious, he followed them quietly through the vegetation, taking great care not to tread on any branches or rustle any leaves. The fact that those things could talk in the first place was more surprising -and somewhat unsettling- than the actual subject. Adam didn't care much though. He was too preoccupied with following them to hear anything but a few snippets of conversation. If this is the afterlife, then it's a damn strange one... It did not take long before realisation crept into Jensen's mind as he saw a slight gap in the terrain appear: the bunny had indeed led his companions towards the crater he had landed in for the lack of a better word. The horses looked around the site with surprise and a slight twinge of worry evident in their eyes, searching around for something of interest while the bunny kept watch around the area. Adam chuckled. Huh. It's not like they expect to find anything- A loud exclamation from the purple unicorn caught his attention. Adam moved from his observation place quietly and froze as the horse pointed towards something on the ground for the yellow one... The same tranquilizer rifle Adam thought he had lost a while ago. Damn it, how did I miss it?! Jensen mulled over his choices. He did not want those creatures anywhere near his weapons, nonlethal or not: there was always the risk that they could injure themselves with it in some way. On the other hand, retrieving it would mean he would have to blow his cover, which would probably spook the equines if he decloaked out of nowhere. As harmless as they seemed, he had no actual knowledge on how they would react to his presence. He could try talking to them and try to initialize contact; or he could simply make a dash for it and snatch up the weapon before their very noses and disappear into the foilage. He would have to make a choice quickly. Reader's vote: - Combat option: Run in, snatch the tranquilizer rifle, cloak and escape - Stealth option: Sit back and observe what happens - Diplomacy option: Decloack and attempt first contact Remember, your choices will affect the story's outcome based on Jensen's actions.
Welcome to EquestriaIt seems Diplomacy won this round. Also please, if you're going to vote, choose only one option. I've seen people vote "Stealth or Diplomacy" and that confuses me a bit. Do I count both, or none of the options? Also I'm changing the color from yellow to blue so it's less hard on the eyes. Regardless, Diplomacy won with a landslide so there isn't much else to say. Onward! Adam weighted his options carefully. On one hand, he knew tossing yourself into a situation without any clear understanding of it could be potentially hazardous, which he had learned the hard way in his battle against Barrett. On the other hand, he could not risk those ponies injuring themselves at his expense. Granted, he did not know much about these... Ponies, but if they were anything like back at home, Adam was sure little harm would befall him if things turned sour. Since openly stealing back his rifle in front of their noses could be seen as a sign of aggression, and he had a feeling that he would be required to confront more equines in the future, he decided to approach the situation carefully. He exhaled deeply. Well, here goes nothing... He moved forward. [h+] The ponies gasped at the scene in front of them. A sizeable crater laid in the middle of the woods, having blasted away large chunks of dirt and rock everywhere. Several trees had been uprooted from the blast and laid not too far from the impact site. Despite the destruction, the wildlife still chattered across the trees, curiously milling around the hole in the ground but too nervous to actually enter. "I guess it wasn't a bear after all..." Twilight murmured. Fluttershy, on the other hand, had quickly skipped over to the animals and checked them up for any injuries of some kind. Twilight peeked down the hole. There was nothing in there to suggest what might have caused it, other than it was almost perfectly circular and sloped. Also, there were no meteor showers scheduled anytime this month, and Twilight knew princess Luna wouldn't accidentally drop something from her night sky, so the phenomena could hardly be blamed on a rock falling from above. "I've asked the little ones if they saw anything," Fluttershy told her friend as she floated over to her side. "They say they were all sleeping cozily in there homes when there was a big, awful boom, and suddenly there was this giant hole in the ground! And every little animal was scared because they thought it was a big scaredy monster like an Ursa Major trampling around-" "I don't think there was an Ursa in the first place Fluttershy," Twilight comforted her friend. "Trust me, if there was, you'd be seeing more footprints around." The unicorn paced around in deep thought. "It can't be a meteorite either. So, what did this?" "W- well, the birds say they saw some... Thing leave the crater after a while..." That caught Twilight's attention. "What did it look like?" "They say it was tall, twice as tall as a pony! It stood on two legs, and it had these strange claws... Not too unlike a diamond dog..." The timid mare whimpered at the thought of those brutish dogs that had captured Rarity once. Twilight absorbed the information and peered down the hole again. "I don't think it's a diamond dog den either. Normally there would be a tunnel leading underground, but there's nothing but a hole here." Twilight's horn lit up briefly as she scanned the area. In an instant, her eyes widened in surprise: the EKG residue around the crater was simply massive, and it caught her off guard, sending her to the ground in disbelief. "Twilight!" cried Fluttershy. "Are you alright?" The unicorn panted. "My goodness, the magical residue levels are HUGE! I have no idea what could have happened to warrant this!" She composed herself and slowly rose to her hooves again. "I don't think this is a simple natural accident Fluttershy," the unicorn told her friend seriously. "Whatever happened here was probably the work of one or several ponies with powerful magic at their disposal. Let's look around, see what we can find." "Shouldn't we go find the other girls?" The pegasus asked meekly. Before Twilight could formulate a response, she caught sight of something in the distance and made her way towards it. Fluttershy followed her. Neither of them had ever seen what laid in front of them: a strange black contraption laid on the ground, its smooth, unblemished surface glowing at certain areas with a soft orange light. The design somewhat resembled a crossbow, but with a long tube attached on the stock instead of a normal bow. The handle was made of a strange material that was smooth but firm to the touch, with grooves that implied it could be held by a creature with claws or similar appendages. The "crossbow" trigger was protected by a handle that was obviously too small for pony hooves: this, and all the other observations Twilight made on the weapon, gave it an overall non-Equestrian feeling. It seemed almost... Alien. "I've never seen anything like this before," she mused and picked it up with her telekinesis. "Maybe we should bring this thing along with us; the princess might know what it is." "I wouldn't do that if I were you." Twilight and Fluttershy jerked their heads back in surprise at the source of the voice. A faint shimmer in the air could be seen before it dissipated, revealing the most bizzare creature any of them had seen. It was bipedal, standing twice as tall as they were, with its "forelegs" ending in five appendages that resembled claws. Its facial structure reminded them somewhat of a diamond dog and a monkey, but with a flatter face and less pronounced nose, its eyes covered by a pair of shades that almost seemed to be part of the skull. It was completely clothed, the upper part being covered by a curious vest that seemed solid to the touch, with faintly glowing lights on certain hardpoints. The most disturbing factor was the arms; in the mares' eyes, they seemed to share material similarities to the vest, with gleaming black metal and muscles made from some fiber-like tubing. The arms and fingers whirred softly as the creature moved them, briefly letting Twilight glimpse the mechanical workings between the joints. Twilight couldn't help but shiver. Something about it was... Unnatural. Like parts of it were artificial, and yet it moved with the fluidity of a living being. The creature extended its arm and gestured for the contraption in Twilight's telekinetic grip. "I suggest you give that back to me." Fluttershy made a scared sound and hid behind Twilight, trembling at the sight of the strange being in front of them. Even Twilight seemed fazed by its sudden appearance. "Who- but- What are you?" The creature cocked its head to the side before sighing softly. "Look, I know I must look strange in your eyes, but I could say the same about you," it spoke in a husky, gravelly voice. "What I know is that you're carrying something that belongs to me, and you could get hurt by it if not handled properly. I would feel much safer if you just gave it to me. Hand it over, and then we'll talk. Okay?" He paused in though for a moment, then added; "oh, and it's Adam, by the way." Twilight shifted nervously under its gaze. It spoke an a calm, collected manner, and yet its posture suggested it seemed tense at the conversation being held. The unicorn weighted her options. While she did not feel very reassured with handing over something potentially hazardous to a complete stranger, it spoke with a tone of sincerity that seemed genuine. "How do I know I can trust you?" She asked carefully. "If I wanted to harm you, I wouldn't have bothered to approach you like this," it stated matter-of-factly. Deep down, Twilight knew it was right. The creature seemed to be capable of invisibility as she had witnessed earlier, meaning it could have snuck up on them without warning, and it spoke without any obvious malicious intent. It felt odd to Twilight, but there was... Something about the creature that appeased her oddly. Reluctantly, she levitated the weapon over to it, who grabbed it and slung it over its shoulder. At once, the creature's posture relaxed. "Thank you," it spoke politely. Now that the immediate threat was over, Twilight was overcome with a sense of curiosity. There was no record of any being resembling whatever was in front of her in Equestria before. "So... Wha-" She never got to finish her sentence as an unearthly roar echoed across the woods. [h+] Adam let out a grateful sigh as the tranquilizer rifle was returned to him and smirked inwardly. Seems like the CASIE mod still works perfectly. The CASIE mod, also known as the Social Enhancer, was an interesting piece of technology. Originally developed for diplomats in hostage situations, it consisted of an implant directly latched to the skull, allowing the user to gauge the personality type of the person in front of him and subtly guide the conversation towards his own favor. Should there be any difficulties, it also allowed the user to deploy special pheromones that triggered different reactions depending on the personality type. His little inner victory was interrupted by the roar and stomping gait of a large creature shaking the ground violently. As the ponies gasped in terror at the sight towering over them, Adam raised his head and immediately dropped his jaw. "What the hell-" It was a monstrous thing, with three heads waving back and forth on a large reptilian body. Beady eyes observed the ponies and human under it, while rows of jagged teeth bared at the prospect of a meal. The monster had wandered aimlessly at the edges of its territory for days without food before being attracted by the commotion not too far from its previous location, and it was hungry. The purple unicorn yelled "HYDRA!" in panic and fled, quickly followed by the yellow pegasus, but they were cut off as a gigantic head slammed down before them and roared. Adam quickly unslung his tranquilizer rifle and aimed at another head that was lunging at him. A small dart filled with a cocktail of psychoactive drugs and anesthetics was flung out by the pressurized air in the gas tank, embedding itself into the frontal lobe of the beast. The hydra head thrashed about for a second as it tried to remove the prickling projectile before being overcome with drowsiness and falling asleep. Adam realized too late that the dart did not affect the other heads as the third one smashed into him and sent him flying into a tree, his tranquilizer rifle flying out of reach. Grunting in pain, Adam tried to move out of the way before the head came crashing down on him again. He instinctively rolled to the side as it chomped down onto the tree and uprooted it before tossing it away in displeasure. Shit, those fangs are strong! The hydra head bared down on him again and prepared to snap its jaws shut on the augmented man, but Adam brought his hands up in time and caught its jaw, the mechanical gyros whining in protest as he pushed all of his strength into fighting against the hydra's vicious mouth. The beast grunted with effort, but ultimately failed against holding back against the human's superior strength. Its eyes widened in surprise as Adam pushed with all his might and managed to get up to his feet. Enraged, the hydra attempted another boost of strength, but was sent into the dirt as Adam suddenly let go and moved aside harmlessly. Before the head could rear up again, the man threw in a vicious punch: the metal and carbon nanofibre fist smashing into its face with enough force to knock it out. Ignoring the pain from the hydra flinging him into a tree, Adam glanced towards the final head circling around the ponies. The yellow one seemed to cower beneath the unicorn, who had its horn lit up and lowered in a fighting stance. Just as he made his way towards them, the hydra's final head lunged at the mares. Suddenly, there was a bright flash of light, and the ponies had been teleported to the side while a confused hydra smashed into the ground. Adam's eyes widened in surprise and he stopped mid-stride in shock. Teleportation? How the hell did it manage that? Apparently, the hydra head had managed to remove itself from the ground, and now stared angrily at the closest being it could find, which just so happened to be Jensen. Uh oh. The monstrous head reared up above Adam and prepared to strike, but Adam quickly extended an arm blade and stabbed it through the throat. As it fell to the ground, he brought up his arm again with full intent on decapitating it. "No wait!" he heard the purple unicorn scream. "Don't!" But it was too late. The monomolecular blade clove through the flesh with ease and the head dropped off, splattering Adam with crimson blood. The remains of the throat flung into the air and waved around wildly. With a sickening crunch, two protrusions extended from the bloody stump and formed into two new heads, both of them glaring at Adam murderously. "...You have got to be fucking kidding me." Adam quickly jumped out of the way as the first one brought its razor-sharp teeth to bear and snapped where Adam had been just a second ago, while the second one attempted a lunge from directly above him. A purple blast from the unicorn's horn momentarily dazed the second head and prevented it from attacking, but also lead to attracting its attention. The unicorn teleported away again, this time behind the head, and fired another blast at it. The confused head started boiling with anger and brought itself down onto the purple pony, who barely had time to teleport a third time before the ground trembled under the impact. Meanwhile, Adam struggled with the first hydra head. The beast tried to bite, but the human managed to back away and swiped his arm blade, cutting a deep gash into the hydra's scales. The beast hissed in pain and withdrew before lashing out again. This time, Adam went for a stabbing motion, but the hydra chose instead to bite down into his arm. While it did not do any damage against the augmented arms, it still lead to the monster gagging at the surprising firmness of its prey and Adam falling off balance. Jensen strained and got up to his feet again, ready to continue fighting, when a purple blur slammed into him with a pained gasp. Adam was thrown to the ground again as he rolled the dazed unicorn's body off of him, who sported many scratches and bruises. Around them, the hydra heads approached menacingly, licking their snake-like lips at the prospect of dinner. While the unicorn crawled back in fear, Adam growled and extended both arm blades, unwilling to let the beasts eat them- "Stooooooooop!" The yellow pegasus had put herself between the two fighting parties, staring with untold intensity at the hydra head, who suddenly became much more docile. Adam swore he could hear them... whimpering? "How dare you!" The pegasus scolded. "How dare you hurt my friends! You are both just a pair of big meanie-pants!" Jensen swore his eyes would plop out and his jaw unhinge as the heads that had so ravenously tried to devour them earlier suddenly avoided the comparatively tiny pegasus' gaze shamefully. "I know you are hungry and that makes you in a very bad mood, but you are not allowed to stay here! You're going back to your bog right this instant!" she continued. Slowly, the lumbering beast stomped back where it came from, its unconscious heads trailing behind it. The pegasus' satisfaction suddenly turned to anxiety as she rushed over to the two individuals left. "Oh my gosh! Twilight, mister Adam, are you okay?" The purple mare struggled to regain her footing before falling over unceremoniously. "No, I don't think so..." She said weakly. Adam merely clutched at his side in pain and stood up, gritting his teeth before moving on to pick up his discarded weapon. "I'll be fine," he said. "I've lived through worse." The Sentinel health implants would slowly heal any damage he had sustained anyway. "Mister Adam, I need your help with moving Twilight to my cottage, I mean, um, if that's okay with you..." she said meekly. "Sure," he responded and carefully picked the unicorn up in his arms. "I owe you for chasing that thing away anyway." Slowly, they made their way to the pegasus' cottage. "Thanks, by the way." The yellow mare tried her best to hide her face behind her pink mane, earning a chuckle from Jensen before he winced in pain at his bruised ribs. "Strangest damn day of my life..." he muttered under his breath.
A wolf Among SheepJensen and the ponies arrived at Fluttershy's cottage shortly after their trek through the woods. Adam thought the place looked quite idyllic, with the timid mare's habitat seamlessly blending into the small hill near a pond in the clearing they emerged into. Like a hobbit's house, he thought slightly amused. The group carried on towards Fluttershy's door. To Jensen's surprise, a large amount of small animals sprung out of every hole and crevice available and gathered around the butter pegasus, making all kinds of noises and warily eyeing the human. Something about their stares unnerved Adam: it was as if the critters had an intelligent glint in their eyes. Somehow it wouldn't surprise me if they acted like in the Disney movies, he mused. Fluttershy did her best to explain the situation to her friends and tried her best to convince them Adam was relatively harmless. "No, of course he won't eat you," she comforted them. "Mister Jensen woudn't hurt a fly," she added with a rather insincere smile, recalling the events with the hydra a while back. She turned around and looked to Jensen for support. He caught onto her and gave a big stupid grin and a thumbs up, still carrying Twilight under one arm. This is ridiculous. While most of the animals seemed calmed by the pegasus' assurances, one bunny in particular wouldn't give up. Adam quirked an eyebrow at the diminutive animal, who kept gesturing wildly with its forelegs and hopping around in place. He realized it was the same bunny he had seen before. Said animal had stepped bravely between Fluttershy and Jensen, and was now tugging at his pants with all his might. Adam did not budge an inch. "Angel, stop bothering our guest," the pegasus told her bunny with the tone of a mother scolding a spoiled child. Angel released Jensen, but not before bringing his paw to his eyes and then pointing at Jensen's in the universal "I'm watching you" gesture and hopping away. Adam chuckled. The trio made their way inside Fluttershy's cottage. It was a bit cramped, but rather tasteful in Adam's opinion: much of the furniture was wooden and carved in minimalistic fashions, reminding him of the design of the chalets of the Alps. It was a welcome change from the sterile labs and military facilities he had infiltrated in the past. The pegasus instructed Jensen to carefully put down Twilight onto the couch, to which he obliged. "Are you hurt?" she asked worriedly. "The hydra must have hurt you awfully during the fight." "I'm alright," he reassured. "I'm a tough guy. I can take a few hits." "But I need to know if you will be alright," she added a bit more forcefully, which surprised Jensen to a degree. Seeing the concerned look in Fluttershy's eyes, he knew she was not about to drop the subject anytime soon. "Alright," he sighed. "Suit yourself. Just don't fuss too much over it, alright?" He retracted his shades, began unbuckling his ballistic vest and took it off, laying it to his side and exposing his upper body. He heard the pegasus gasp. [h+] Fluttershy was unable to tear her eyes away from the full extent of Adam's augmentations. She could clearly see the areas where machine and flesh melded together at his arms, along with the screws bolted into the skin that held everything in place. She also realized now that Adam's shades were actually a part of his skull when he removed them. Jensen's eyes had also surprised her: the blacks contained spinning circles of light, swirling around like a focusing camera lens. The mere thought that somepony would so radically change his body unsettled her. "W- What are you?" she whispered. Jensen gazed at his arms and balled his hands into fists. "Good question." [h+] Twilight awoke with a groan on Fluttershy's couch and stretched her hooves. Just as she was about to stand up, a gentle but firm hoof forced her down into the sofa again. "Don't move Twilight," Fluttershy said, "you still need to rest." Twilight rubbed her head and moaned softly at the splitting headache she felt. "Ugh... What happened? Did we win?" She glanced down at her body, and saw a number of bandages wrapped around her hind legs and stomach. "The hydra left," Fluttershy comforted, "and mister Jensen is alright too." Twilight's eyes turned towards Jensen, who was sitting in the opposite couch with a glass of water and a book, and they widened in surprise as she saw his augmentations, much like Fluttershy reacted. She saw the shock in Twilight's eyes, and fidgeted nervously. "He- he is nice, but at the same time he scares me..." She whispered nervously. "He isn't like some angry monster from the Everfree forest. He just seems... I don't know. He's been polite and quiet this whole time, but he seems so... Unnatural." Twilight reached out and gave the mare a comforting hug. Unlike Fluttershy however, the studious unicorn practically quivered with excitement and saw this as an opportunity for research. She released her hold of Fluttershy and made for Jensen. The pegasus tired to stop her, but Twilight moved aside her hoof, all previous drowsiness gone. "I'll be fine, Flutters. Nothing hurts." Twilight approached Jensen eagerly and cleared her throat to attract his attention. "Ahem... Mister Jensen?" The cyborg lifted his eyes from his book and gazed at the unicorn in front of him. "Yes?" "My name is Twilight Sparkle," she told him proudly, "and on behalf of me and Fluttershy, I just wanted to thank you for helping us with the hydra back there." "I did what I had to," he casually responded. "Well, it's not everyday a pony puts themselves at a risk to protect others," she said jovially, "and we do really appreciate what you did... Even if I have no idea where you came from." Adam put down his glass of water on the table. "Quite frankly, I have no idea where I am anyway." Twilight shot him an odd look. "Oh... Are you lost?" "...Something like that, yeah." The unicorn stared at Jensen with a puzzled look for a few seconds before an idea clicked in her head. "Maybe princess Celestia might be able to help you." "Celestia?" "Sure! She's the ruler of Equestria, and she raises the sun every day!" She beamed proudly. "I'm her personal student too, so there shouldn't be any problems helping you with your situation!" Despite Twilight's genuinely helpful tone, a large number of alarm bells ringed in Jensen's head. I've never heard of Equestra, he thought. And if a land full of magical talking horses existed on Earth, everyone would have heard of it by now. Same thing with a princess supposedly raising the sun. The bitter realisation hit him. I'm not on Earth anymore. Hell, maybe I truly am dead after all. "Adam?" He jerked out of his musings at the mention of his name. Twilight looked at him worriedly. "You zoned out there for a bit..." "Just thinking," he dismissed. A short pause later, he turned towards the mares again. "Alright, tell me what you can about... Equestria." [h+] As Twilight chatted aimably about what she knew on the land (which was a lot), Adam learned that he was close to the town of Ponyville (a name he thought absolutely ridiculous), which laid just a short train ride from the capital of Canterlot. With a little input from Fluttershy from time to time, he also learned of the different cities dotting the Equestrian countryside such as Manehatten, Appleoosa and Las Pegasus, to name a few. Adam had to resist the urge to facepalm at the puns. He also learned that the two royal princesses Celestia and Luna were in charge of raising and lowering the sun and the moon, respectively (a fact he found hard to believe), and that other mythical creatures such as griffins, manticores and the aforementioned hydra that also lived here. All those bizzare revelations made Jensen's head spin, and he felt more in a dream than connected to reality. Still, he kept quiet most of the time and merely listened patiently while Twilight eagerly rabbled on until Fluttershy interrupted them. "Oh goodness, the sun is about to set!" True enough, the others noticed that the celestial body was fading towards the horizon. "Oh dear, we talked for that long?" Twilight asked in shock. "Please don't tell me I bored you, Adam!" "It's alright," he reassured her. "It was informative." "Fluttershy, do you mind if Adam sleeps here? If you do even need sleep, of course. I never got the chance to ask-" "Yes, I do sleep," he decided to interrupt before she prattled on. "I have a guest bed for when I let the Cutie Mark Crusaders sleep over," the timid pony answered. "Good! I'll go back to the library and write a letter to the princess, and we'll see what we can do about your situation tomorrow, Adam." "Sounds good to me." He smiled. Even for their slight naïvité, he enjoyed the ponies' friendliness and generosity. "Well, good night to you both!" Twilight bid them before leaving. Silence fell on Fluttershy's cottage once more. "I'm going to put the last of the animals to sleep," Fluttershy told Jensen. "Your bed is on the second floor, if you wish to sleep... Maybe I could prepare some tea too. That is, if you want..." "Thanks, but I'll just head on up," he replied before making his way to bed. Lucky me. Stuck in a world of technicolor ponies. Oh well, better than an eternity of nothingness, he mused before falling asleep. He dreamt of garishly colored Barretts sprouting wings and horns that night, and woke up the next day in a very dazzled state. Author's Note Short chapter is short and possibly filled with errors because it's 5:04 in the morning. Also, alicorn Barretts. Fuck man, I'm like, stoned, but in a negative way. No vote in this chapter.
Reaching for the SunFluttershy awoke from her slumber by the first rays of sunlight filtering through her windows. With a soft yawn, she climbed out of bed, and descended down the stairs to wake up all of her animals before making breakfast. As she exited her cottage, she was surprised to see Jensen leaning against the doorway outside, who gazed at the rising sun in contemplation with a lit cigarette in hand. "Oh, hello Adam," she spoke in her usual quiet tone. "I didn't realize you were awake." "Got up early." Adam took another drag of his cigarette. "It's not often I get the chane to breathe fresh countryside air." The two of them remained in silence for a short while. "I'm going to feed my animals before making breakfast, if you don't mind..." Jensen shrugged casually. "Hey, it's your home. No need to ask me." The rest of the morning passed in relative silence. Fluttershy laid out a few bags of food for her smaller critters before moving to the pens of larger animals. Despite Jensen asking her if she needed help, she politely declined. Adam decided not to press the matter any further and kept smoking. By the time his cigarette had burned out, Fluttershy was done feeding the animals. Good thing the lighter survived my little plunge, he thought before following the pegasus inside. A low rumble from his stomach reminded him of his hunger, and he sat down eagerly at table as Fluttershy served them both a salad from the fridge. However, she halted mid-stride and turned towards him. "I'm sorry I forgot to ask: do you eat salad mister Jensen?" "I'm an omnivore, so I can eat most things," he answered. He cursed under his breath and wondered if that fact would unsettle the timid mare, but to her credit she seemed rather unprovoked by it. "It's alright," she reassured him at the sight of his expression. "I deal with predators everyday: I'm used to feeding them fish most of the time." After a curt nod in acknowledgement from Adam, they both dug in. [h+] The evening before Twilight Sparkle made her way quickly to the library as the sun set over the horizon, eager to send princess Celestia a letter about the new discovery she and Fluttershy have made. A previously undiscovered sapient species! She thought excitedly. I bet the princess is going to love my report! As she arrived in Ponyville, she took the time to slow down and greet the few ponies who were still on their way home for the night. As the last few rays of light disappeared on the horizon, she literally slammed through the library door. "I'm home Spike!" Her dragon assistant, who had been eating a tub of ice cream, became startled at her sudden appearance and fell from his stool. "Twilight! Where have you been?" He picked himself up and ran over to her. "Do you know how worried I've been? I've spent all day looking around town for you, and when you didn't come home I just felt bad and... Drowned myself in ice cream to, uh... Bury my sorrows... In ice cream!" he finished with a rather insincere expression. Spike was surprised to be scooped up in a hug by Twilight. "I'm sorry if I kept you waiting Spike, but I need to send a letter to the princess immediately!" She let go and ran to her desk to fetch quill and paper. "I've made an amazing discovery today!" She unceremoniously shoved the quill and paper into Spike's arms and cleared her throat. "Dear princess Celestia-" "Wait, wait!" Spike cried out as he tried to unfold the parchment. "I... There we go!" "You done?" Twilight asked. "Good." "Dear princess Celestia..." [h+] Celestia hummed contently as she finished scribbling down the last official document of the day and gazed contently outside her window. Ever since Discord's rehabilitation, life and state affairs had once again devolved into normalcy despite the occasional prank from said draconequus and Luna. Twilight still sent her friendship reports diligently, unaware of the destiny that was to befall her in the future. Outside, ponies slowly returned home for the evening as Celestia gently coaxed the sun to set above the horizon. She smiled: Celestia loved all her ponies dearly, even the more abrasive ones from the Canterlot nobility. As she took a final sip of wine and laid aside her belongings for the night, Celestia was pleasantly surprised to see a letter with Twilight's signature materialize in front of her. Dear Princess Celestia, Today I've made an amazing discovery: a completely new sapient being has appeared on the outskirts of Ponyville! Me and Fluttershy were out on a walk through the Whitetail Woods when we found a large hole in the ground surrounded by massive magical residue. After we examined the outskirts for what might have caused it, we found the "human", as he's called - or he found us, more precisely. First contact was a bit tense, but I don't think he means any harm: he even saved us from a hydra who came along before Fluttershy managed to subdue it. The human is called Adam Jensen, and from my observations seems to be a mostly furless primate (except for some mane on the top of his head). He is tall, somewhat taller than you, and posesses long limbs. The forelegs end with a five-clawed hand on each limb, and the muzzle is far less pronounced that a normal monkey. That is, however, not the most fascinating: his body is half mechanical! I've studied his forelegs, and I've found out that they are indeed made of some sort of alloy. It's like a prosthetic hoof but far more advanced: his movements look far more natural and flowing that you'd expect! His eyes are machinery too: you can see the optics readjust in his eyes. It's extremely fascinating. He's even got shades that retract into his head! It may sound ridiculous or even frightening, but his "augmentations" as he calls them are incredibly lifelike and whose smithing quality is beyond anything I've ever seen (don't tell Glowing Anvil I said that: I know how proud the court smith is of his work). Adam is staying at Fluttershy's cottage for now. He's been polite so far, and I doubt he shows any interest in harming us. He seems mostly distraught at the thought of being away of home, and seems to have no idea how he woke up here in Equestria. Even so, I would recommend caution: he is armed, and has proven to both be able to hold open a hydra's jaw by his strength alone, produce blades from his arms, recover from injuries at a rapid pace and even turn invisible. Even though he most certainly has the potential to become hostile (which I highly doubt), I hope you don't think of him as a threat to the ponies' security: he is literally the first of his kind here in Equestria, and I think there is so much we could learn from him and his kind. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle Celestia finished Twilight's letter with mixed emotions: curiosity for this new creature, and worry for the well-being of her student. She would have given the resposibility to Luna to look up on Twilight for her, but decided to wait for it until the morning. As much as she loved her sister, Luna had the unfortunate habit of lacking tact at times. Besides, she trusted her student's judgement. She quickly composed a letter to Twilight: My dearest student, I am relieved to hear that no harm has befallen you, and I share your curiosity over this "human" being. I will arrive in Ponyville tomorrow at 10 to see to this creature personally. While I trust your word that he will not harm you, I still wish to put my worries concerning you to rest. Being attacked by a hydra is no small matter, and I am glad that Fluttershy was nearby to help. Princess Celestia P.S: Please do not spend all night preparing for my arrival. Get some rest. After lowering the sun for the night and wishing her sister good night, she went to bed with a slight feeling of apprehention before falling into a dreamless sleep. [h+] The sun rose over Ponyville. Contrary to her mentor's advice, Twilight had stayed up all night in her library, worried about how the princess might react to Adam's presence. Most of the scenarios her mind conjured ended with Jensen banished to the moon. From upstairs, a groggy Spike sighed in exasperation as Twilight's pacing wore deeper and deeper grooves into the floor, still confused about the whole ordeal with Adam. "Twilight, this is exactly what the princess told you not to do! Besides, shouldn't you be resting from that hydra attack?" "There is so much that could go wrong Spike!" she cried out in exasperation. "What if they end up hating each other? What they end up blaming me?" "Blaming you- Twi, that doesn't even make sense! What would they blame you for?" Spike's stomach grumbled loudly. "Forget this, I'm making breakfast. Come to table when you aren't freaking out. Sheesh." As the dragon set of for making pancakes, he was startled by the sudden appearance of Celestia, who had teleported at the front door. "AAAH!" he exclaimed as he jumped in fright. "Oh dear, I'm sorry Spike," the princess apologized and rubbed his head with a hoof. "Is Twilight nearby?" "She's been up all night," he muttered. Celestia sighed. "I should have expected that." As they both entered the living room, the grooves in the floor were so deep only Twilight's head stuck out of the trench. At the sight of the princess, the mare gasped in surprise, jumped out and nuzzled her mentor. "Princess!" she greeted "It's good to see you too Twilight," she replied with a kindhearted smile before recoiling in fright. "You're injured!" True enough, several ugly gashes adorned her side, and a few of them had opened up and were slowly starting to trickle blood. Twilight gasped. "Oh... Oh dear. I didn't notice that..." Celestia took on a stern but motherly tone. "Twilight, I want you to stay in bed for the day. You're in no condition to visit Fluttershy." "But princess-" "No, my student," she added more softly. "Stressing around will only make it worse. I am sure that Fluttershy told you to rest anyway." "I- Of course. I'm sorry princess." Celestia nuzzled her again. "I understand your anxiety, but I can handle myself. You vouched for him personally, didn't you?" Twilight nodded. "Then I assure you there is little reason for us to start disagreeing." She turned towards the dragon in the room. "Spike, would you kindly watch over Twilight today? I'll be right back." The dragon saluted Celestia eagerly before running to fetch some bandages. The two ponies nuzzled each other goodbye before Celestia exited the library, spread her wings and flew off into Fluttershy's direction. [h+] Fluttershy jumped at the sound of someone knocking on her door. Is Twilight already up? As she opened the door, she was surprised by the sight of Celestia standing at her front door. "Oh! I didn't expect you to see you here, princess!" She exclaimed after a short bow. "Is Twilight with you?" "I told her to rest," Celestia told her as she entered through the front after the pegasus' invitation. "Poor dear stayed up all night." Fluttershy sighed quietly. "I thought I told her to stay calm..." She gave the princess a nervous glance. "You're here for mister Jensen?" Celestia nodded. "He's in the library." [h+] "I take it you're Adam Jensen?" Jensen lifted his eyes from his book and stared at the newcomer before rising to full height. "Yeah, that's me." Celestia eyed Adam curiously. "I see Twilight's description really hasn't done you justice: to be fair, I had expected you to look like a gorilla with brass limbs." Adam chuckled. "Yeah. I'm one of a kind." A short pause lingered between them. Behind the princess, Fluttershy fidgeted awkwardly. "Forgive me, I haven't introduced myself properly," Celestia continued and raised a hoof. "I am princess Celestia of Equestria." Adam took it and shook it vigorously. "Adam Jensen." Celestia motioned for Adam to sit, who replied in kind. She then turned to Fluttershy before seating herself. "Would you be so kind to fetch us all some tea?" As the pegasus retreated to the kitchen, Celestia flashed a good-natured smile towards Adam. "I want to thank you for rescuing the girls from the hydra yesterday. Twilight has been rather positive towards you, and as my personal student I care deeply about her and her opinions of other ponies." "I did what I had to," Adam answered. The memory of the ponies playing around with his tranquilizer rifle resurfaced. "They were in danger, so I reacted." Fluttershy entered the room again with a tray of tea and cups. Celestia thanked her politely as she served up her tea before Fluttershy seated herself between them. Jensen noticed the princess eyeing his augmentations. "I admit your... augmentations are impressive," Celestia continued. "Basic magic prosthetics exist here in Equestria, but they are far more cluncky and unwieldy than what you are wearing. And we most certainly have not thought of militarizing it." Her tone grew serious. "Make no mistake Jensen. While I am grateful for saving my student and Fluttershy, I dislike violence in general. I will, however, do whatever is necessary to protect my little ponies at all costs." Adam stayed silent for a while, pondering on how he should approach this in the most diplomatic way possible. "Violence is a necesary evil at times," he responded carefully, "but I would never abuse it, not against any innocents. I have no intention of harming you or any of your ponies, princess. You have my word." A smile returned to Celestia's lips. "I'm glad we are on the same page." She drank a sip of tea before pressing on. "You mentioned that your arrival in Equestria was unexpected. I admit that while I know of most species that walk under my sun, I have never met one such as yours." "I'm not from Equestria, as you might imagine. I woke up in a crater, and that's about it." "And do you have any idea how this came to be?" "I died." Celestia and Fluttershy were caught aback by the sudden response and stared at Adam wide-eyed. "You... died?" He shrugged. "Or I should have. Last I remember before waking up here was drowning into a frozen ocean." An awkward silence settled over the library. "I'm.. Sorry to hear that," the princess said sincerely before growing thoughtful. "This is unexpected. There must have been powerful magic at work to save you, Adam... But for what purpose, I don't know why." She set her cup of tea down on the table and excused herself from the table. "It's been a pleasure meeting you Adam, but I have affairs to attend to, and I promised to visit Twilight today. I'll contact you someday Adam. In the meanwhile, feel free to stay with Fluttershy, if she approves of course." "It's no problem at all, princess," the pegasus added gently. "He can stay here." "Fluttershy, after Twilight feels better, maybe you should introduce him to your friends and the other ponies around Ponyville? I'm sure Jensen would like to feel welcome in these parts." "Of course princess." As Celestia bade the others farewell, she took of into the sky towards the library. Saved from death, she mused. You are an interesting being Adam, for such powers to take notice of you. Celestia's cheeks became tinted with red and she let loose a soft giggle. Not to mention you sound devilishly handsome! Author's Note Not even Celestia can resist the raw sex appeal that is Jensen's deep manly voice. I bet everyone's got a man-crush on him. I know I do, and I'm not even gay. "Huh, you know I got more raw sex appeal that chromeboy over there." Right. Sorry Tychus.
Interlude: A Silly Placeholder ChapterWIth a big boom, Adam Jensen appeared out of nowhere and landed flat on his face. He stood up and brushed the dirt off himself. "I never asked for this." He made his way to the town of Ponyville, where he was approached by Twilight Sparkle and her friends. "Greetings, mysterious creature with a sexy voice! You come in times of great need. Discord, the spirit of chaos has been set free from his stone prison! Will you please help us defeat him." Adam shrugged. "Sure. I'm used to fighting against sociopathic spiteful old men at this point. Where can I find him?" At this point, a chariot swooped down from the sky and a beautiful white alicorn stepped out from it. "Greetings, I am princess Celestia, ruler of Equestria. I implore you to help my people in our time of need." Adam smirked confidently. "Anything for you, your radiance." The princess blushed profusely while half of Ponyville's female population fainted. "Lead the way." As they arrived in Canterlot, they were confronted by Discord, who had turned the entire city into a giant cake. "Hahaha!" He cackled evilly. "You will never defeat me, you little sissy ponies! I have your precious elements now!" Everyone let out a gasp as he raised the box containing the magical artifacts in plain view. "You will never get away with this Discord!" Twilight yelled. "I thought we were friends..." A brokenhearted Fluttershy sniffed. "Hah! You thought wrong!" He smirked. "Now I am free from the influence of your silly friendship magic, and the world is mine to toy with!" "Not so fast." Adam said. "I will stop you." "Hah, I'd like to see you try, you oversized chrome monkey!" "Ladies first, you failed jigsaw puzzle." This made Discord very angry. He launched balls of magic in Adam's direction, but the latter dodged them all with ease. He then brought his stun gun out and twirled it expertly around his finger before zapping Discord, who dropped the Elements in his paralysis. "No!" He wailed. "How could you possibly be more awesome than me!" "Now girls!" The elements fired their rainbow beam at Discord, who flew through the air and became but a white speck in the sky. "Teach me your ways masteeeeeeeeer!..." Everypony cheered as Adam was hailed the hero of the day. "Oh Adam," Celestia swooned. "You bravery knows no bounds and I have fallen head over hooves for you! Please become my beloved and whisper sweet nothings into my ear with that sexy sexy voice of yours. I love you!" "I love you too Celestia, for you are the only one who loves me for who I am and not for my usefulness to a cause. You look past the cold shell that is my body and found my beating heart," he confessed as he held her in a tight embrace. Later that night, they proceeded to make hot, passionate interspecies love- [h+] "Sister, what are you doing?" "Wah!" Celestia jumped in fright at Luna's sudden arrival. "Luna, how many times have I reminded you to knock before entering?" "I was just curious to the reason you decided to stay up so late at your desk." Celestia shuffled nervously and shot her sister a sheepish smile. "Oh... Nothing important. Just some... Paperwork! Yes that's it, paperwork! The construction budget for Cloudsdale needed some revising, haha..." Luna quirked an eyebrow at the sun princess' odd behavior but eventually let go of her curiosity. "I hope you don't stay up too late then sister. Have a good night." "You too." As Luna closed the door with a comforting click. Celestia let out a sigh of relief she didn't knew she had held in. Too close. Now, about that piece I wrote... Author's Note Yes, I know it's been ages since I updated this. Consider this a little teaser present while I start continuing in a more serious manner.
