Gunfire echoed through the halls making Applejack twitch and jump as she and Issac walked through the building back towards the safe room Issac talked about. Issac swept the hall with his cutter as they walked making Applejack feel a bit useless. She couldn't walk and shoot with Twenty-Five's blaster. So she did her best to keep an eye out checking behind them regularly. A door opened as they walked past and Applejack jumped trying to aim the blaster. Issac and her pointed their weapons as someone fell out of the doorway face first onto the ground. It was a man in Red armor with tubes on his torso. Parts of him glowed an ominous purple. He was dark skinned with a beanie on his head.

"Um is he dead?" Aj turned to Issac and asked. Before the engineer could answer a roar came from down the hall and plasma started flying. Aj leaped into the room the man fell out of and then hit the deck as Issac jumped over her. Using the Door frame to prop herself up she aimed down the hallway at more of those hunchbacked aliens. Issac leaned out to shoot. His cutter hit one, but it only flinched at the singe on its armor.

"son of a-" He never finished his curse as he narrowly avoids a shot aimed at his head.

"Oh ya nasty buggers Mutons be." The sudden Scottish accent made them both jump. Sitting cross-legged on the floor was the man he was looking at them out of his one eye the other had a black eyepatch on it. He didn't even seem to notice the plasma fire that whizzed past him.

"What?" was all Applejack could say at the man sitting casually in the middle of a firefight. One of the "Mutons" steadied his weird rifle as it charged to aim at the sitting man. Either in dumb luck or a moment of precognition, the man jumped to his feet and held his arms out channeling raw energy in front of him in a diamond shaped purple shield. The beam hit the guard, and the man barely grunted before moving his hands away. He touched the floor and raised a purple spire giving him cover from the plasma fire. Applejack watched in amazement as this strange and powerful man did things she thought only a unicorn could achieve.

Then he plopped back down on the floor cross-legged behind the spire. Applejack felt her high hopes plummet to below sea level when he reached into his pouch and pulled what she knew for a fact was the cheapest strongest scotch in canterlot and put it right to his lips. And he drank like a normal man would breathe. Aj's eye twitched, and she let out a growl before leaning back and shooting out her frustration. She hit most of the pink hunch-backs at least once.

"Good shot lassy." He praised and celebrated with another guzzle. Applejack had already been at her wits end losing Twenty-Five, Being ambushed twice by these creatures. At this point, she lost her temper.

"Get off your drunk ass and help us dammit!" She shouted. Her words rung a familiar bell in the drunks head. Similar words from a similar accent and he hoped to his feet with a smooth motion that shouldn't have been possible after what he was drinking. He let out a ripe burp and wiped his mouth. Putting his hands together purple energy flowed through him till he was glowing with it. Taking a deep breath, he sprinted at the Mutons.

Aj facehoofed cursing the drunk idiot. She heard a happy holler and looked up to see him effortlessly dodging plasma as he jumped right in the middle of the three, confused Mutons. Using his left hand, he pulled and dragged at the purple energy till it formed a two-foot-long purple energy blade that he thrust towards the ceiling. What looked like storm clouds formed above him and the aliens raining down purple lightning. Striking his enemies till nothing was left but smoking corpses. Pulling his arm down and striking a threatening pose as the purple energy coursed all around him. His one eye a solid glowing purple whisp.

Seeing the man like this made Applejack wonder if the drunk act was merely that. Until like a switch was thrown the purple energy was gone and he stumbled giggling like a school girl. He pointed a wavering finger in Applejacks general direction. "Now imagine if I hadn't been drunk!" He fell into hard laughter at his own joke. He stumbled a step back. "Woo, I need a drink." Aj's eye twitched, and she banged her head on the door frame. With a frustrated snort, she finally raised her head from the dented doorframe.

"Partner if we survive this I'll buy you a whole barrel of Applejack Daniels!" She offered not even a second before the words had left her lips there was a bright purple flash and Issac was suddenly down the hallway and the man was standing over her with a stern face. She yelped taking a step back when he leaned forward and turned till his good eye was right on her.

His eyebrow raised slowly "Is it good stuff?" he asked suspiciously. Applejack despite being caught off guard tried her best to smirk and tap a hoof to his chest.

"Top shelf partner." She watched in amazement as the drunk man did the closest thing she'd ever seen to a Pinkie pie smile on any other creature that wasn't the pink mare herself. As the unnaturally big smile crossed the black Scottish man's face, she could swear even the stars were in his one eye. Before she could react, he scooped her up in a hug as he cheered with delight.

"I love ya lass! If I weren't the man I was, I'd kiss ya on ya little pony lips!" He lifted her eye to one eye, and she put a hoof on his grinning face and pushed him away.

"I reckon ya don't partner." She warned. Issac walked up rubbing his helmet.

"What just happened?" he asked, and Applejack sighed still being carried by the man.

"I think I made a friend." She huffed, and Issac chuckled

"Huh, I guess friendship really is-"

"Don't." She hissed pointing a threatening hoof for she was not in the mood. Issac raised his hands in mock surrender but couldn't stop the chuckle at the end. She pushed the hoof further and glared at him before wiggling out of the drunks grip. She set her jaw and straightened her hat it was going to be a long day. "Let's go already."

Readjusting Twenty-Fives rifle on her back, she started walking with Issac and the Drunk walking on either side of her.

"What's your names lads? Mines Travis Degroot but call me Demo." Demo slurred the question.

"Issac Clarke."

"Applejack."

Demo stopped cocking his head at the orange mare. "You're named after a drink?"

Aj pulled her hat over her eyes hiding the frustration and blush on her face. "It's a long story, and I don't want to tell it."

"Aye fair enough lass. Demo shrugged still grinning he pointed a bobbing finger at her "But I knew there was a reason I liked you."

Aj looked back at him "I thought it was because I offered you booze?"

"Aye, that too. But I feel this is the beginning to a beautiful friend-" Demo never got to finish his corny line before the wall in front of them exploded with two tons of red fury in the shape of the hulk mixed with a Muton, with the face of Predator without the dreads.

All three stared wide-eyed at the behemoth before them. It stood a couple feet taller than a minotaur. It smashed it's fist into rubble growling angrily then it roared loud and fierce enough to shake the wall.

"Oh Fuck," Issac stated plainly, and the thing must have heard because it looked at them roaring again. Both Demo and Aj turned their heads to glare at the engineer. The thing charged at them as Issac scrambled to a run.

"Oh FUCK!" The engineer shouted much more panicked this time as they ran from the angry beast.

Author's Note

If you never played X-Com War of The Chosen and don't know what their version of a Templar is Watch this video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyAQdUn46Sk

the creature at the end