Cursed Fireby Timeless Lord SlayerChaptersBullet One, Step One - To Walk Again: The Summoning (Edited...Again)Bullet Two, Step One - To Walk Again: Talks (Edited...Again)Bullet Three, Step One - To Walk Again: "...Over, and over again..." (Edited...Again)Bullet Four, Step One - To Walk Again: To Walk Again (Edited)Bullet One, Step One - To Walk Again: The Summoning (Edited...Again)When the Astral Clock chimes seven thrice... When the Mirror is touched by the Shadow... The Burning World and The Dead World shall begin the Meld... The Remnants will come with fire and the Old Poison... And The Dead Ones will bring madness, ruin, and despair... Equus will broil with War, and call for it's Unyielding Knight. [GONG, GONG, GONG, GONG, GONG, GONG, GONG... GONG, GONG, GONG, GONG, GONG, GONG, GONG... GONG, GONG, GONG, GONG, GONG, GONG, GONG...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5c4x9M3v-ug) The day had started so calmly, at first. Normally, even for those in Ponyville. But with the ear rending gongs that sounded out across the world, shaking the heavens themselves and leaving those few pegasi on clouds stumbling, came something not even the eldest among the world's inhabitants ever dreamed of. A war... ...On a global scale. First came the quakes. Each tremor, each shudder of the earth, wracked the world to it's core and sundered carefully made cities and precious landmarks like paper mache constructs. Hundreds of thousands died, and before any sort of response could come from authorities, the tears and wounds in the earth resealed violently, crushing those who had fallen prey to the earthly shudders. Second came the storms. Howlers of wind and speed, hurricanes and lightning, ripping up long secured foundations and flash frying or ripping apart many unfortunate souls in both the air and on the ground. Houses, town halls, malls and markets were all tossed about like the sky was playing roughly with the new toys she had found lying about. And finally, the Gates opened. Creatures, beasts, and monsters alike spewed forth from black voids in the air, some standing back up and looking around in confusion, but so many others going into fits of blind, instinctual rampages. Many a horror consumed the flesh of Equus' inhabitants, as well as the flesh of their fellow invaders. Many even lost their very souls. But the bloodshed did not stop. Pony, Minotaur, Changeling, Griffon, Zebra, and Dragon alike all died by the score. All that they could do was flee, or fight. Many who fought died, and a despairingly scarce few survived unscathed. Those who fled went underground, or scampered off into the wilds with tails between their legs. Equus, and it's many countries and peoples... ...Had fallen. The clip clopping of hooves on cracked tile echoed throughout the musty tunnel. A quintet of alicorns walked the worn, shadowed tunnel, colorful eyes seeming to be the only light in the tunnel save the dim, flickering torches. No words passed between them all, their gazes fixed on the path ahead. Eventually, one saw fit to speak her mind. "Aunties, are you..." Flurry paused and her ears went flat to her skull. "...Are you sure this will work...?" She asked in a hushed tone, as if worried the walls had ears of their own. "It will, sweetie," Cadance assured, wrapping a wing about her daughter's withers. She pecked her cheek, then reiterated, "It will." "We spent weeks studying the spell and it's intricacies. I'm sure we all have it down by now," Twilight chipped in, sending a smile to her niece as well as a wink. "Just have faith, okay?" The young pink mare managed a small smile and nuzzled into her mother's side. "Thanks, mom, Auntie..." Cadance nuzzled her daughter back. "Anytime," Twilight replied, keeping her own smile and answering for both herself and her sister-in-law. "We're here," Luna announced, and the five stopped at a set of large, ancient stone doors engraved with countless runes, matrices, and magical symbols of protection. The faces of the alicorns hardened, and Celestia pushed the doors open with a resounding grinding of archaic hinges. What stretched out before the five mares was a sprawling, open chamber with a floor absolutely covered with all manner of magical symbols and writings, all in the shape of a circle in the center of a hexadecagon. The symbols and writings grew progressively more ornate and detailed the further they moved to the circle in the center, where sixteen candles lay adjacent to each side of the hexadecagon, and with a final, black wax idol in the center of the circle. Five smaller circles lay inside the larger circle, with candles ringed around them that matched the colors of the five alicorn's coats. Countless guards ringed the room, ready and waiting to pounce. The alicorns stayed at the entrance for a scant few seconds, before trotting towards their respectively color coded circles. Cadance patted her daughter's back before going to hers, and Flurry slowly made her way towards her own, her hooves feeling like lead as she did so. Once each alicorn was in their circle, they exchanged looks with one another, and soon after lit their horns. The guards tensed up as the sisters all spoke as one. "We Ageless Five hearken to the Sixteen Ancients. Commune with us, commune with your world again, and hearken to our call," Sweat lined their brows as the glow in their collective horns remained as they spoke these words over and over for five minutes straight. Finally, their horns brightened to blinding levels, and they continued, now as if in a trance. "The Sixteen listen, and obey the whims of the Astral. Listen, oh stars. Listen, oh Immortals. And Sing with Us the Song of Reclaiming." Seven times these words were spoken. Seven times the glow of the alicorn's horns flared. Seven times the flames of the candles grew. Then, with an unearthly shudder and moan, the black wax idol started to melt. It's wax spread for a short time, before slowly taking shape. In under a minute, it coalesced into an armored and armed bipedal shape. At the same time it's form solidified, the glow of the alicorns horns winked out, and Cadance, Twilight, and Flurry Heart nearly collapsed, Luna and Celestia only just managing to keep themselves from doing the same. They and the guards fixed their eyes upon the bipedal form of what they had summoned, taking in it's features. They all tensed as they noted it was frighteningly familiar to the forms of many of the invaders that had destroyed their world. Flurry stumbled back, falling on her rear in fear. Luna and Celestia, along with Twilight and Cadance, got into battle ready stances, despite knowing spell casting was beyond them currently. The countless spears of the countless guards were swiftly pointed at the summoned being in preparation. Then, the being groaned, ever so slowly raising itself to it's knees. All present tensed as they took in it's ballroom-esque mask and heavily armored body, covered only by a worn, black, Old West duster, which itself bore two items which were strapped to it's back. One was a large, blackened, ornate greatsword with silver edges, and the other was what the ponies recognized as what the invaders called a 'rifle' though of what sort they could not tell. The being groaned, raising a gauntleted hand to it's head, a deep blue bycocket of sorts atop that very head with it's own plume attached to it. "What the heck..." it spoke, voice smooth like silk but deep like thunder and with a light accent. It looked up from it's hand and gazed around. "...Double what the heck..." It groaned again after it made what observations it could, but it's hand soon went back to it's head. "Agh, my head..." It slowly looked up once more. "Anyone got medication for a headache?" Author's Note EDIT: Intro/theme song changed. Well, hopefully this will keep you all entertained and satisfied. I know I had great fun writing it. After all, it's likely to be one of my most atmospheric stories yet. At least, if I can help it. I'm aiming to make this fit the atmosphere of Displaced Soul as much as possible, whilst also enhancing said atmosphere, so I hope it's to your liking, everyone. Oh yes, and there's a little hint in this chapter as to what the big reference is, so look for that if you want to submit a chapter idea to me. Anyways, thank you all for reading! -Timeless Celestial Bullet Two, Step One - To Walk Again: Talks (Edited...Again)When the Astral Clock chimes seven thrice... When the Mirror is touched by the Shadow... The Burning World and The Dead World shall begin the Meld... The Remnants will come with fire and the Old Poison... And The Dead Ones will bring madness, ruin, and despair... Equus will broil with War, and call for it's Unyielding Knight. With no time wasted, the unicorns amongst the guards cast a slew of spells, and magical chains restrained the man in the circle, each chain the same color as their caster's horn's glow. Not long after the armored man's body was restrained, each guard born without the gift of spellcasting let out war cries and charged, spears poised to impale. "Can we just tal-!?" the man started to say, backing up as much as he could, but soon after he was impaled from all sides, and instead of words coming from his mouth, came blood. The princesses had no time to react during all this. Four of them, once tense, were now relieved. One was too horrified for words. Flurry's horror only grew as the man shuddered and twitched, going through the throes of his final hour before he finally slumped and fell dead. The eyes of all present only widened when his body started to dissolve into ash, and then dissolve further from that until it was naught but simple air. The chains that once restrained him, along with the spears that once killed him, became utterly useless, with the spears nearly falling out of their wielder's grasps. One guard cried out, "We have an Undead! Unicorns, ready more restraining spells!" Flurry Heart and the other royals once more had little time to react as the flames of their candles grew brighter and swirled towards the circle's center, where soon after the man reappeared from the coalesced flame and collapsed on the ground, panting for precious air as the ball of enchanted blaze slowly faded. The guard from before made his call. "Unicorns, now!" he called, but... "W-Wait!" Flurry Heart cried. All eyes snapped towards the young alicorn. The pink mare gulped, then shakily stood to her hooves. The echo of her hoofsteps across the stone seemed amplified in her ears, but she shook the feeling off and continued. "Flurry, get away from him!" Cadance cried, moving to stop her daughter. "It's okay, mom," she assured. "But we don't kno-!" Twilight started, but Flurry shot a weak smile to her. "Aunty, don't worry. I got this," she said, then stopped halfway and looked to all around her. "Just... Let me try something, okay everypony?" She resumed her trot before they could reply, and soon stopped in front of the man, who looked up at her. Both figures were shaking, and yet the man saw fit to crack a joke. "That uh...That went down hill fast, huh?" There was no response for a short time, not until Flurry cracked a genuine smile. "Yeah, it did. We're sorry about, uh..." She looked back to the guards and the blood on the floor. "...That," She looked back to him. "But if you're willing, we'd like to ask you something." The man stared at her for a long time, then groaned as he slowly pulled himself up. Flurry took a step back as he stood to his full height. "Well, it's either I listen to you guys or I die anyways, so yeah, ask away." "Great!" Flurry beamed up at him. She turned and gestured for him to follow her. "Just follow me!" He nodded slowly and did so, following the youth towards the front door and passing the guards by on the way, all of them sending him glares as he did. The other princesses stared after the other two as they left, before Celestia sighed deeply and placed a hoof to her forehead. "I swear, Twilight, that girl takes after you more than she does even her parents..." Twilight sighed as well, shaking her head as she smiled at her old mentor. "I know." She looked back to the now open doors. "We should get after her." "Yeah. I don't want her to be left alone with that guy," Cadance agreed. "Agreed," Luna concurred. Celestia nodded, and they all trailed after the strange masked human and pink princess. "So, you guys uh, aren't going to kill me again, right?" the masked man asked as the six of them walked the halls. "Not unless you try to hurt us," Twilight said curtly. "Otherwise we'll kill you as many times as it takes to drag you to a cell," Cadance added, shooting him a glare. "Oh. Well, good," the man replied, now uneasy. Flurry glanced to her mother at this, but made no comment when her mother kept her hard glare and instead the teenage alicorn turned her gaze back to the passage ahead. Things were noiseless after that, none of them uttering a word even as they came upon a door and opened it, Flurry simply smiling up at the man as she held the door open for him. He gave her an appreciative nod in return and ducked his head as he walked inside the room. The man noted that the room was sparsely decorated, bearing only a large table and comfortable looking chairs along with a large, stone obelisk in the corner which had runes on it that glowed dimly. The princesses seated themselves, and the man followed suit. The pack of alicorns watched from their seats as their guest, finding little else to do, marveled over his own form. He was silent as he did so but all could tell he was amazed by it. Why he was was anyone's guess, and Twilight, ever the curious one, decided to break the silence and ask. "Why are you so fascinated with your equipment? Haven't you always worn it?" she queried. He looked to her and shook his head. "This is the first time I've worn this stuff," he shook his leg, rattling the shiny black iron leggings as he did so. "Probably why so much of it is so heavy to me..." All present in the room went quiet, staring at the masked man in shock. Even the guards, whom had taken up posts in the room for their duty of protection, were shocked. Luna opened, closed, opened, and once more closed her mouth, trying to speak, to formulate some response, but she came up with none better than, "Do you... Have you ever even fought, before?" The man nodded. "Yeah, I've gotten in fights before, but I've never had to wear armor," he looked to one of his gauntlets, turning his wrist over to admire the work of whomsoever crafted it. "Gotta tell ya, I'm loving this getup to pieces though." The grin in his voice was obvious. The collective sigh around the room drew his attention back to those around him. "What's with the sighing?" He blinked. "Wait, did you guys think I was some chump just 'cause you killed me?" He crossed his arms. "I am hurt. I'll have you know I've won every fight I've been in!" Another collective sigh. He threw up his hands. "Oh come on! You all really thought I was that pathetic?! Give me some credit!" Celestia looked towards him, her eyes roving over his form. He wore a heavy set of armor, though to her experienced eye each piece was vastly different in design. If she had to guess, he had gotten it all from enemies he had slain in the past, but never worn it until now. She surmised that he likely preferred clothing enchanted to withstand attacks, though by his reaction he did not seem to mind what he wore now. Covering his chest was a heavy iron chestplate that looked to have been taken straight out of a mold and left as is. Over his legs was what looked to be very finely and masterfully designed steel leggings which streamed seamlessly along the contours of his limbs. Protecting his arms was heavy, black chainmail which likely covered the entirety of his torso under the chestplate, and shielding his forearms and hands were gauntlets made of what was likely hewn stone, with a layer of fur underneath and black leather under even that. Further covering that was a tight wrapping of chains, and over his head was of course the blue and green bycocket with a white plume and a silver mask in the likeness of an elderly gentleman. Covering all his armor was a leather, sleeveless duster with a strange symbol on the back. The symbol consisted of a blue circle ringed with white stars, with a final star in the center of the circle and ring. He bore three rings on his fingers, though none paid much attention to them, least of all Flurry. "Sister, are you alright?" Luna inquired, a worried look on her face. Celestia blinked, shook her head, then smiled at her younger sister. "Yes, Luna, I am fine, do not worry." She looked to the others. "What were we talking about?" "I was asking what you all call yourselves," the man explained. He gestured to all those in the room. "I don't just mean names, either, but species. I've never seen a rainbow of colorful little horses like you guys." He put a hand to his chin. "Well, except for that one time with my sis, but still." The five of them winced at the word horse, but remembered that the invaders had referred to them as such at first, and that it was likely not the same as what the word meant for them. "We're Ponies, specifically Alicorns. There are also Pegasi, Unicorns and Earth Ponies. Alicorns like us are a mixture of all three," Cadance explained. "As for our names, I'm Flurry Heart," Flurry pointed to herself, then pointed to her fellow princesses as she gave their respective names. "That's my mom, Cadance. Twilight, my aunt, and my Aunt Luna and Aunt Celestia." Celestia fixed the man with a hard stare. "Might we inquire your name, now that you have received ours?" "Oh, sure. I'm Alden, Alden Hunter," The now named Alden introduced. "Nice to meet you, Alden," Flurry said with a smile. "Quite," Celestia said quickly, before looking to one of the guards near the door. "Could one of you bring us some tea, please?" At their nod, she said, "Thank you," and they took their leave. There was a short silence that followed, and Alden spent it looking over his weapons. It did not take long for the guard to come back, a servant accompanying him with a silver cart, a pot of tea resting on it along with some cups. The servant pulled the cart into the room, and swiftly went about setting out cups and filling them up. "Thank you, Merry Rose," Celestia said gratefully, using her magic to lift her cup and taking a long sip of her tea. The mare, Merry Rose, nodded and then excused herself soon after. Alden stared at her horn, then the cup, then sighed. 'Oookay, wonderful. Telekinesis is definitely a thing here. Either that, or that's magic. Yaaaay. Goodbye, physics, it was nice knowing you.' Alden sighed once more, then looked to his side of the table, which was devoid of a cup. He pursed his lips. 'I get the distinct feeling the only one who likes me is Flurry...' He frowned, but made no comment. Instead, he decided to ask something else. "Sooo... Why am I here?" He gestured to Flurry. "I remember Flurry here saying you all wanted to ask me something, but none of you said what that was." "Simple. We summoned you to help us get our world back," Twilight said matter-of-factly, swallowing down some of the ginger liquid in her cup. She looked to him after doing so. "For your sake, I hope you can do it." Flurry frowned at this, but once more made no comment, deciding to focus on her tea. "Uhhh...Care to run that by me again?" He crossed his arms. "'Cause it sounded like you just told me to go and save a whole planet." "She did," Cadance answered, fixing him with a stern gaze. "And we've gone through too much trouble already just to get you here. So, either you help us, or you stay in the dungeons." Flurry looked like she was about to say something at this, but she stopped herself short. Alden simply stared at Cadance like she had just told him to jump off the empire State Building for shits and giggles. "...Do I get anything out of this? Like, ya know, maybe a 'Please and thank you?'" He asked, raising a brow under his mask, lost as the gesture was on them. "Seriously, since I got here, I got impaled, and then forced into servitude." He raised a hand as the alicorns raised their hackles and subsequent tempers. "Let me reiterate. I got impaled. Im-friggin'-paled. You ladies ever gotten impaled? Yeah, not fun, let me tell you." He lowered his hand and recrossed his arms. "So, either I get something out of this, or I'm leaving." Luna scoffed. "You can try." He nodded. "You're right. I can try. And succeed. Even if I have to try over and over, I WILL succeed." Luna growled, opening her mouth to retort, only for Flurry to interrupt. "Okay, everypony, stop!" All eyes turned to the youngest alicorn, whose face had finally hardened into one of unhappiness. "Alden has been very cooperative throughout this whole thing, so the least we can do is be nice and give him something in return!" She put her cup down and fixed each of her fellow royals with a harsh glare. "Undead or not, he has been cooperative, even after being killed!" Her features softened. "I know we don't know him that well, and that he's an Undead, but he's the best chance we have at saving our world, so the least we can do is be nice." The other Princesses stared at Flurry, and she stared defiantly back, but eventually they sighed. "You're right," Cadance conceded, her own features softening. She looked to Alden. "We're sorry for how we've treated you. It's just..." "We've lost a lot of good friends, and..." Twilight's ear flattened to her cranium. "...Family members, to creatures like you." "It was worse when we discovered your particular Undead do not eat flesh, but instead consume souls," Luna added in, ears also flat to the sides of her head. "We hope you understand that we did not mean any offense, we were simply..." Celestia rolled her hoof around. "...Wary." Alden looked at them all, then sighed. "Well, I can understand it if it's like that, then," He glanced to the guards, then back to them before he gestured with a thumb to the guards. "Just keep your trigger happy guards away from me, capiche?" Flurry giggled behind a hoof, then lowered it and smiled at him. "I think we can do that." Twilight spoke up. "So...will you help us?" Alden paused at this. There was silence for a long stretch of time, so long they worried he would decline, but eventually he replied. "Well, if the whole world is messed up, you guys wouldn't mind me going out there and taking what I can find, would you?" Before they could retort, he added with a wave of his hands. "Nothing like stealing! I'd just be, uh, taking what I need." The princesses looked at one another, then back to him. "If we do allow this, will you help us?" Alden chuckled. "I was gonna help anyways. I mean, all of you guys losing your whole world? Why wouldn't I help? I ain't heartless." He grinned. "'Sides, it sounds fun." 'But I'm no hero,' he thought to himself. The princesses smiled, not hearing his internal comment. "Well, consider that a deal, then, Alden," Celestia said with a warm smile. Alden offered her a hand. "Put 'er there, then!" Celestia chuckled and shook his hoof. Alden did not know what was ahead. But he would soon. Author's Note EDIT: Intro/theme changed. Well, I can only hope I portrayed Alden well enough for you all to get a general idea of his true personality, and I also hope at least one of you got the reference I've been talking about. If not, don't worry, the reference will be making appearances throughout the entire story if I can help it. Do let me know what you all think in the comments below. Personally I don't think this chapter was as good as the previous, but eh, we'll see. Anyways, thank you all for reading! -Timeless Celestial Bullet Three, Step One - To Walk Again: "...Over, and over again..." (Edited...Again)Author's Note EDIT: Intro/theme changed. GORE WILL BE PRESENT HERE, READ AT OWN PERIL!!! Bullet Three, Step One - To Walk Again: "...Over, and over again..." (Edited...Again) When the Astral Clock chimes seven thrice... When the Mirror is touched by the Shadow... The Burning World and The Dead World shall begin the Meld... The Remnants will come with fire and the Old Poison... And The Dead Ones will bring madness, ruin, and despair... Equus will broil with War, and call for it's Unyielding Knight. It wasn't too long before Alden was lead through the underground city the ponies had built. Many watched him from the sidelines, eyes wide as they froze in place. Many more saw him and hastily made their exit and subsequent entrance to any building that could shelter them. The slamming closures of doors, windows and blinds echoed throughout the city as an entourage of guards escorted Alden to the surface. Alden's frown lasted for most of the trip, the man taking note of the details he could. Being in the residential area, most of what he saw were the visages of frightened ponies, but as he passed the residential area, he saw how the ponies lived without a source of sunlight to grow their produce. What he observed was numerous herbs, flowers, vegetables, fruits, and trees being grown in strips of land, much like a regular farm on the surface, with farmhouses and all of the crops bearing their own miniature orb of light. Magical sun substitutes, he estimated. But what he saw next, in front of each and every one of the farmhouses, nearly broke his heart. Groupings of haggard ponies covered the entrances to the farmhouses, all of them swarming stalls where other ponies were giving out food, the groups all so large they couldn't even be called lines. No, these were crowds bordering on mobs. He saw many pleading for more food, even heard some say they and their family were starving or going to starve, and yet he couldn't bring himself to look away. Some farmhouses had smaller crowds, either because those who were serving them were efficient, or simply because they had run out of food to give. After looking to the crops once more, Alden could conclude it was almost certainly due to a lack of food, as most of the crops were picked clean. One of the guards pushed Alden forwards. "Keep moving," she said gruffly. Alden glanced back at the farms, then sighed and moved on as he was told. Whilst he walked along, his thoughts wandered. 'No wonder those Princesses wanted me to help secure the surface. They're running out of food to feed their people on top of having only so many soldiers in their army. Not to mention they don't seem to have any good counters for bullets, much less missiles or nukes. And with what they told me of the situation, there's a lot of that topside.' Alden bit his lip, glancing to the guard to his right, then the one to his left. 'These two are probably tense because they know that I can steal their souls and win in a proper fight...' He sighed as they made it to the barracks, which Alden instantly noticed was smaller than almost every other area they had passed. 'Jeez, didn't think my guesses would be so on the nose.' The Undead looked behind himself once more. 'Though I guess it only makes sense that so few would want to join the military when they're facing overwhelming odds...' Alden returned his gaze to his front. A large set of stone doors lay ahead of the barracks, with runes and carvings and symbols not unlike those of the doors that lead into the chamber he had arrived in. It took little time for them to reach the doors, passing only a measly forty guards on their way, many of them with their sights fixed on Alden, and their muscles tensed and ready for action. Alden kept his frown the whole way. One of the guards escorting Alden looked to the two unicorn guards right in front of the doors and nodded to them. "Open it." They nodded in acknowledgement, their horns glowing along with the stone portals. A series of clicks resounded throughout the area, followed soon after by an unearthly humming, which grew slowly into moaning as each rune, symbol, and carving lit up with arcane energies. Then, with the noise of granite sliding on granite, the doors slowly opened. One of Alden's escorts shouted two simple words, "Go, now!" Alden stepped forward, but paused midst his stride, looking back at them. The other escort, the mare, added to her comrade's order. "Hurry up, dammit!" Alden looked back to the outside, then once again to the guards. Then, he took a deep breath and yelled, "Remember to build a handsome statue in my honor, alright?!" And with that, he walked out, the unicorns slamming the doors shut soon after. The guards all stared at the now closed doors. Slowly, one of them turned to another. "Was he serious?" His compatriot's response was a simple shrug. Alden walked out of a long, dark, and dank tunnel and was greeted after emerging by the light of the early morning sky hidden by crumbling tiled roofing. Scanning his surroundings provided him with the knowledge that he had emerged from a tunnel into the ancient ruins of some bygone castle. Weathered and aged grey brick and mortar, tattered rugs, carpets and banners, dented and rusted armor stands, all of it surrounded him with the spirit of an ancient wonder of this strange world that had long since been dead and lost to time. "Well, this is a lovely development," Alden said with an eager grin. His eyes roamed the area with childlike glee and energy. "Those princesses said I could have any loot from any creature I killed so long as it wasn't one of their own, but..." He walked towards a suit of armor, taking the halberd from it's grasp. "...they didn't say I couldn't take what I wanted from any old ruins~." He sing-songed as he marveled at the design of the halberd in his hands, noting it's vine-like gold gilding along the haft and its similarly gilded blade. "You're so comin' with me," he said, grin still plastered on his face. He then let out a sharp cry of pain as he felt something sharp scrape along his back, shredding his duster and putting a sizable gash in his armor as he fell onto his face, breaking his mask and nose. He then felt a heavy, clawed foot slam down on his back, and soon after heard an eerily familiar roar. 'That's not good...' He thought to himself, straining to turn his head to get a glimpse of what pinned him. His fears were soon solidified as he saw the dark, brown and tan scaled, horned, and famously clawed form standing atop him. He had only three things to say as the creature's baleful yellow eyes glared down at him "Oh. Uhhh, hi?" The Deathclaw then grabbed him by the head, and started to pull. Hard. Alden screamed as he felt his muscles burn and strain from the stretch they were never meant to take. Soon after his screams ended with a sickening pop and snap of bones and a splurt of blood as his head was ripped clean off. The Deathclaw simply let out another roar in triumph as Alden's body dissolved into ash. Alden reformed in the tunnel in front of the stone doors, the Undead gasping for breath in a desperate manner. Sadly, it simply made his condition worse, the man only stopping in his hyperventilation once he realized he was not only not numbered amongst the dead, but in perfect condition. Even after patting himself down over sixteen times he found no gashes in his armor nor any tears in his duster. Alden looked then to his shaking hands. "G-G-Geez..." he stuttered. He leaned back against the doors. "...Th-that's..." He gulped and tried to steady his still ragged breathing. "...That's gonna take a lot of getting used to..." Alden looked to the doors he had laid against. "Weird how I didn't come back in the exact spot I was summoned..." He frowned. "Would've been nicer, actually." He looked ahead of him, letting his head rest against the stone behind him. "Thrill seeker I may be, but death is not something I'd call thrilling." He shook his head. "Still, why did I come back out here?" He looked up to the ceiling of the tunnel, trying to produce answers. Five minutes passed, and soon he came up with one. "Wait...weren't there areas in all three Dark Souls games where you respawned in a place without a Bonfire?" He put a hand to his chin. "I know the tutorials for them all did..." He glanced back to the closed entrance behind him. "Considering how these things are magic, and how many runes and stuff are on 'em, as well as how they didn't seem to have Undead down there or even Fallout enemies..." He hummed. "...these doors must block 'em all out in more ways than one." He looked back to his hands, which were still shaking somewhat. He clenched them. "So I can't go back until I'm done, then." He sighed, starting to get up. "I knew I should have read the fine print..." He chuckled at that. "Heh, Pops would'a smacked me upside the head for forgetting to..." He shook his head, and started to make his way back out of the tunnel, determination in his heart. Three whole days passed by, but they passed much more slowly for the lone Undead in the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters. Throughout the three days, Alden had been killed over, and over, and over again, simply from trying to get out of the ruins. His first death had left a bit of an impression on him, so when he tried to play it safe by firing his lever-action rifle at an approaching Deathclaw, it was all the more frightening when the beast simply continued to come at him and proceeded to rip him to shreds and ribbons. On his fourth death, he tried to outplay the Deathclaws by using hit and run tactics, but he soon found himself getting overrun when he tried to reload his magnum revolver. Upon his seventh demise, he decided to attempt to sneak past all the Deathclaws. Sadly, his heavy armor made too much of a racket, and he was once again swarmed by the horned and clawed terrors. It occurred to him on his fifteenth death that if he wanted to have a good chance of leaving, he would have to cull the Deathclaw's numbers. It occurred to him on his eighteenth that just rushing in under cover of night would not do it either, as they sadly had better vision than he in the dark of night. On the second day, after his twenty sixth death, he had managed to finally fell the Alpha, but was soon torn to shreds and eaten by the Alpha's mate. After his thirty fifth death on the dawn of the third day, Alden rose slowly from the cold, cracked stone floor of the tunnel, shook his head, and stood up, striding towards the nest to slay the last of the Deathclaws in the castle. "Suppose it's a good thing I managed to kill that other one before I croaked it. Josh always said a tie was better than a loss, and I can't say I disagree now..." He sighed and drew one of the greatswords from his back, passing countless bloodstains as he walked the ruins halls, and nearly as many Deathclaw corpses. But, in time, he came upon the room where the nest was. Striding inside, he was greeted with a swipe aimed for his head, which he ducked under and countered with a thrust of his weapon's blackish brass hilt to the jaw of his attacker. This action made the Deathclaw recoil, and gave Alden some breathing room. "This is it, bud," Alden said, flourishing his greatsword with one hand and making it flourish in turn with black, shadowless flames. "The end of the road." The youthful Deathclaw growled ferally and lunged towards Alden, only for the man to make a swipe with his onyx-flamed blade across the soft underbelly of the adolescent Deathclaw. This action made the beast let out a howl of pain as it stumbled back. Alden, having learned that giving a Deathclaw time to pause meant death, rushed in and cut into it's neck, his blade biting deep but not severing it's head completely. The beast gurgled and coughed up blood, creating sounds that Alden never wanted to hear. He closed his eyes as the adolescent Deathclaw tried to howl in pain from the burning and cutting sensation in it's throat, blood sizzling and boiling in it's throat from the black flames. "I'm sorry," Alden spoke softly, before letting out a harsh yell and pushing with all his might until the head was finally cut off, landing with a wet thud and a splat to the long broken tiles below. Alden watched as the body fell as well, then looked behind him to the trail of corpses that lined the halls. His grip on his blade tightened, and he lowered his head, his entire form shaking. "I'm sorry..." Not a single tear issued from his eyes that morning. Bullet Four, Step One - To Walk Again: To Walk Again (Edited)When the Astral Clock chimes seven thrice... When the Mirror is touched by the Shadow... The Burning World and The Dead World shall begin the Meld... The Remnants will come with fire and the Old Poison... And The Dead Ones will bring madness, ruin, and despair... Equus will broil with War, and call for it's Unyielding Knight. It had taken Alden time to recover from his three days of nigh non-stop fighting and killing. No man could take so many deaths in stride with any level of contemptuous ease, after all. Thirty five deaths in just three days was nothing to turn one’s nose up at, either. ‘Unless you’re an Undead,’ Alden reasoned to himself, sitting cross-legged in front of a campfire he’d made just a ways beyond the castle ruins. He looked down at the cooked Deathclaw meat in his hand. ‘...Normally I’d be jumping for joy at trying new meat, but...this just tastes bland to me.’ Sighing, he bit into the flesh of it nonetheless. ‘Well, not like I should be surprised. Undead probably don’t have taste buds, if what they eat so often in the games is any indication.’ He swallowed, then snorted. “Friggin’ maniacs eat moss, after all. No way that’s healthy.” He sighed and took another bite of his meat, staring into the crackling flames of his campfire. After finishing his dinner, he looked down at himself and patted his stomach. “I didn’t feel hungry before, but...doesn’t feel right to not eat. Guess that’s gonna be a hard to kick habit.” He chuckled morosely. “Though it’s not like I plan on kicking it.” He looked to the side, where his prized rifle lay. His silver eyes seemed to cloud over like a Fall morning as he faintly recalled how he obtained the rifle. “So, this is the old family gun?” Alden asked, looking from the case to his father. He’d known it was the family gun, thus his question was redundant, but he asked it all the same. His father, a man with a powerful yet wrinkled build and graying hair and beard, nodded, unlocking the case and picking the gun up. “It is.” He offered it to Alden. “You’ve done admirably by our family, son. And, with me getting on in years, I think it’s high time you started to take care of Sport.” Alden looked to the gun, then his father, and back. Slowly, he gained a grin, taking the lever-action rifle engraved with its namesake. “I’ll make sure to not spoil ‘Sport’.” There was a dead silence in the room after that, Alden’s father giving him a raised brow and overall unimpressed look. “What? Not sporting enough of a joke?” His father gained a frown. Alden rolled his eyes. “Ugh, you’re no fun.” “Just take care of it, son. Don’t let the legacy down, alright?” Alden’s father urged. Alden gained a more genuine smile, nodding. “Of course, Pops. I’ll take care of her, I promise.” He put a hand on the older man’s shoulder. “You can count on me.” Alden felt like he should be crying. But he wasn’t. No liquids of sorrow issued forth from his silver eyes. No shudders of woeful pain stole his strength. He felt nothing, physically. Mentally, he just felt...tired. Sighing, he grabbed the gun and pulled it into his lap, looking it over. Ivory made up most of the stock, and tiger hide strips were wrapped around it. Gold embellishments ran along the barrel, coalescing in one area to form the words, ‘Sport’ in archaic cursive script. He frowned under his mask. “I guess I’ve stopped being human in more ways than one…” he mused gently. Chuckling ruefully, he added, “Then again, I never really was human before. Too awesome to be a simple human. Subrace more like.” His smile slowly morphed into a frown, and he clutched the treasured gun tightly. No other words were spoken. He knew the truth well enough. “Excusez-moi, but can I sit here for un moment, monsieur?” came the voice of a woman from behind him, albeit a sort of...growly, rumbly one. Alden, in a fit of shock and instinct, lifted his gun and aimed it at the direction the voice came from, all in one swift movement. However, he stopped cold as what he saw registered. A Deathclaw whose body and eyes glowed a rather familiar shade of blue, and with...what he could only describe as the outline of a rack protruding from its chest behind a ragged cloak made from some kind of banner. Wide hips led down to powerful, muscled legs and a tail that could (and had on at least one occasion) whip his head off. Instead of ripping his head off or eating it while he was still alive, the Deathclaw waved its...her arms in front of her, “N-non non! I mean no harm, monsieur!” Alden stared at her in shock. “Did...you just talk? In French?” “Oui,” the Deathclaw nodded, arms dropping to her sides. “I learned how to speak it...a little of it while in one of those ‘libraries’ your kind made. Mostly, I speak English.” Alden lowered his rifle a tad. “How? Deathclaws aren’t even supposed to have vocal chord-” He stopped, looking her form over again. “...Nevermind, you’re probably different from the rest, considering you’re infused with Quantum Nuka-Cola.” “Yes! When I was un petit bébé with my mère these…’hyoomans’ in grey fur or black shells visited my family in the nest we had inside of a ‘Nuka Quantum Bottling Plant’ and jabbed us with these...pokey things that went through our scales. The connards did it at least...every month or so?” the Quantum Deathclaw said, bringing a clawed hand to her chin in thought. “...Oui, oui, it was every month. My brother and sisters were...not as changed as moi, but I suppose I was always different from them to begin with. It’s how I knew what the bottles said, and how I read the library books.” Alden lowered his gun further, relaxing just a bit. “Well, at least you haven’t ripped my head off. Way better start than the first ‘Claw I met.” “Were they just as simple as the rest of the crétins in my nest? No anglaise or speech?” she asked with a tilt of her head. He nodded. “Nah, nothin’.” He slowly turned back to the fire, then jabbed a thumb to the ruins in the distance. “You can find all twenty-six of their corpses in there.” “Ah, I see. Self-defense, I presume?” she asked dryly, gently parking her scaly behind just across from him by the fire. “Seul Dieu sait that I’ve had to do that often with the idiots back at my nest.” “How many are yours?” Alden asked genially, putting his gun gently in his lap. “Only the ones in the town over there,” she replied, pointing with a claw off to his north. “The town is ‘Ponyville’, if the sign with the weird warping symbols are true.” Alden blinked. “Well heck, that’s where I’m headed.” “Vraiment? Well, how would you like to join me in ‘Gold Oaks’? There’s a lot of books you can read,” the Deathclaw suggested with a toothy ‘grin’ that wasn’t as scary as he would have expected. Probably because she was glow-in-the-dark, but whatever. Alden hummed, cupping his chin, “Well, sure is a temptin’ offer, Miss…?” “Annette,” the Deathclaw- Annette supplied, standing up and kneeling slightly with her hands holding the sides of her cloak to the side in a curtsy. “Ravi de vous rencontrer.” Alden, in response, tipped his bycocket to her. “Alden, Alden-” He paused, blinking. “-Actually, I...don’t remember my last name. Huh.” “Then can I come up with one?” Annette asked, her long tail swishing behind her. Alden stared owlishly at her, then smiled under his mask. “Sure,” he gestured for her to go ahead. “Give it a shot.” “How about...‘Rose’? ‘Alden Rose’ has a nice ring to it, non?” the Deathclaw suggested with a tilt of her head. The Undead cupped his chin once more. “Alden Rose, huh?” He smiled. “Yeah, that works.” He slowly took his mask off, allowing her to see how rotted his visage was. He smiled, not seeming to care. “Just don’t make me regret taking the name, yeah? Got a reputation to keep.” “Dieu m’en préserve!” Annette replied, waving a hand dismissively. Alden tilted his head. “Uhhh, what was that? Not fluent in French. More of a Finnish guy.” “I said ‘perish the thought,’ you silly little man,” Annette chuckled behind a clawed hand, then let said appendage fall back down to her side. “So, would you like to come with moi to my home? I promise I’ll keep the crétins in line.” Alden smiled again. “Sounds good to me. I have to clean that town of Muties anyway, according to my orders.” “What are ‘Muties’? Do you mean the ugly green connards that attacked and yelled at me like animals?” Annette asked, muzzle curling up in a low snarl at the thought of them. “They almost blew up the library!” “If they’re big, green, and almost as big as you and yours, then yes,” Alden replied, nodding. “...You clear out these ‘Muties’ and I’ll be in your debt, monsieur,” Annette replied, suddenly reaching and pulling him into a gentle hug. The man stiffened at the gesture at first, unsure how to respond, but eventually relaxed into it and patted her back as best he could. “You got it, Anny.” He looked up at her. “Now, uh, much as I like funbags, mind not squishin’ me into yours?” Annete blinked, but let him go with a puzzled expression, “What do you mean? What are ‘funbags’, Monsieur Alden?” Alden scratched the back of his head, thankful that being rotted meant he did not blush. “Weeelll, they’re the things you use to feed your young.” He pointed to her chest. “Men like me have a lotta names for them, I just prefer to be less crude, if I can.” Annette blinked and looked down at her cloak-covered chest, “...I...don’t use these for feeding my bébés, monsieur. They’re just...there, to be honest, and started growing after the ‘hyoomans’ in grey and black shells started injecting me with those…’sirengees’, I think they’re called?” Alden looked up at her quizzically. “So...they don’t have milk in ‘em, then?” “...Oh! You mean this?” Annette said as she grabbed her breasts through her cloak and squeezed, two glowing blue splotches immediately forming on her cloak. “They start leaking from time to time, so I just squeeze until it’s all out.” Alden stared for the longest of short moments, then shook his head forcefully. “R-Right, well,” He cleared his throat, coughed into his fist even, just to keep his voice from breaking again. “For human females, and other females with teats/breasts, they are used to feed young. The young, uh, well, they latch on and kinda just...suck, ya know? Milk is usually what’s in them, so since milk is good for growing children, it’s kinda normal for mammals to breastfeed, as they call it.” “...Oh! One of my earliest memories is of my father bringing me to mi mère’s chest and me taking something into my mouth, but it was only for a minute or two and then she never did it again. That was ‘breast-feeding’, non?” Alden nodded. “Y-Yeah, that’s probably it.” “But hers were the size of you if I recall correctly, and she couldn’t move much, so...I’m not sure if breastfeeding sounds...enjoyable, if it means being that immobile,” Annette continued with a small frown. Alden chuckled nervously, “W-Well, to my knowledge breasts only get bigger with each child you bear, but, hey! Who knows? You’re a different species, after all!” Alden walked to where he put his mask and put it back on. “Well, my mère had had...thirty-eight of us when I was born, and had thirty-seven more after that, so...it would explain why her breasts grew to the size of those metal carriages I’ve seen around,” Annette said aloud with a small hum. “AAAAnd we’re moving on!” Alden interrupted, picking up his rifle and slinging it on his back. He then started to march stiffly towards the north. “Come on! Time to get movin’, Anny!” “...But my name is Annette, monsieur,” the Quantum Deathclaw said with confusion, but followed after him nonetheless after putting out the fire with a quick burial. “It’s a nickname!” He called back. Alden sighed quietly to himself. 'Well...at least I have company now...' Author's Note EDIT: Intro/theme changed. Say hello to Annette, and her creator, Nova_Eclipse, my brother from another mother!
Bullet One, Step One - To Walk Again: The Summoning (Edited...Again)When the Astral Clock chimes seven thrice... When the Mirror is touched by the Shadow... The Burning World and The Dead World shall begin the Meld... The Remnants will come with fire and the Old Poison... And The Dead Ones will bring madness, ruin, and despair... Equus will broil with War, and call for it's Unyielding Knight. [GONG, GONG, GONG, GONG, GONG, GONG, GONG... GONG, GONG, GONG, GONG, GONG, GONG, GONG... GONG, GONG, GONG, GONG, GONG, GONG, GONG...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5c4x9M3v-ug) The day had started so calmly, at first. Normally, even for those in Ponyville. But with the ear rending gongs that sounded out across the world, shaking the heavens themselves and leaving those few pegasi on clouds stumbling, came something not even the eldest among the world's inhabitants ever dreamed of. A war... ...On a global scale. First came the quakes. Each tremor, each shudder of the earth, wracked the world to it's core and sundered carefully made cities and precious landmarks like paper mache constructs. Hundreds of thousands died, and before any sort of response could come from authorities, the tears and wounds in the earth resealed violently, crushing those who had fallen prey to the earthly shudders. Second came the storms. Howlers of wind and speed, hurricanes and lightning, ripping up long secured foundations and flash frying or ripping apart many unfortunate souls in both the air and on the ground. Houses, town halls, malls and markets were all tossed about like the sky was playing roughly with the new toys she had found lying about. And finally, the Gates opened. Creatures, beasts, and monsters alike spewed forth from black voids in the air, some standing back up and looking around in confusion, but so many others going into fits of blind, instinctual rampages. Many a horror consumed the flesh of Equus' inhabitants, as well as the flesh of their fellow invaders. Many even lost their very souls. But the bloodshed did not stop. Pony, Minotaur, Changeling, Griffon, Zebra, and Dragon alike all died by the score. All that they could do was flee, or fight. Many who fought died, and a despairingly scarce few survived unscathed. Those who fled went underground, or scampered off into the wilds with tails between their legs. Equus, and it's many countries and peoples... ...Had fallen. The clip clopping of hooves on cracked tile echoed throughout the musty tunnel. A quintet of alicorns walked the worn, shadowed tunnel, colorful eyes seeming to be the only light in the tunnel save the dim, flickering torches. No words passed between them all, their gazes fixed on the path ahead. Eventually, one saw fit to speak her mind. "Aunties, are you..." Flurry paused and her ears went flat to her skull. "...Are you sure this will work...?" She asked in a hushed tone, as if worried the walls had ears of their own. "It will, sweetie," Cadance assured, wrapping a wing about her daughter's withers. She pecked her cheek, then reiterated, "It will." "We spent weeks studying the spell and it's intricacies. I'm sure we all have it down by now," Twilight chipped in, sending a smile to her niece as well as a wink. "Just have faith, okay?" The young pink mare managed a small smile and nuzzled into her mother's side. "Thanks, mom, Auntie..." Cadance nuzzled her daughter back. "Anytime," Twilight replied, keeping her own smile and answering for both herself and her sister-in-law. "We're here," Luna announced, and the five stopped at a set of large, ancient stone doors engraved with countless runes, matrices, and magical symbols of protection. The faces of the alicorns hardened, and Celestia pushed the doors open with a resounding grinding of archaic hinges. What stretched out before the five mares was a sprawling, open chamber with a floor absolutely covered with all manner of magical symbols and writings, all in the shape of a circle in the center of a hexadecagon. The symbols and writings grew progressively more ornate and detailed the further they moved to the circle in the center, where sixteen candles lay adjacent to each side of the hexadecagon, and with a final, black wax idol in the center of the circle. Five smaller circles lay inside the larger circle, with candles ringed around them that matched the colors of the five alicorn's coats. Countless guards ringed the room, ready and waiting to pounce. The alicorns stayed at the entrance for a scant few seconds, before trotting towards their respectively color coded circles. Cadance patted her daughter's back before going to hers, and Flurry slowly made her way towards her own, her hooves feeling like lead as she did so. Once each alicorn was in their circle, they exchanged looks with one another, and soon after lit their horns. The guards tensed up as the sisters all spoke as one. "We Ageless Five hearken to the Sixteen Ancients. Commune with us, commune with your world again, and hearken to our call," Sweat lined their brows as the glow in their collective horns remained as they spoke these words over and over for five minutes straight. Finally, their horns brightened to blinding levels, and they continued, now as if in a trance. "The Sixteen listen, and obey the whims of the Astral. Listen, oh stars. Listen, oh Immortals. And Sing with Us the Song of Reclaiming." Seven times these words were spoken. Seven times the glow of the alicorn's horns flared. Seven times the flames of the candles grew. Then, with an unearthly shudder and moan, the black wax idol started to melt. It's wax spread for a short time, before slowly taking shape. In under a minute, it coalesced into an armored and armed bipedal shape. At the same time it's form solidified, the glow of the alicorns horns winked out, and Cadance, Twilight, and Flurry Heart nearly collapsed, Luna and Celestia only just managing to keep themselves from doing the same. They and the guards fixed their eyes upon the bipedal form of what they had summoned, taking in it's features. They all tensed as they noted it was frighteningly familiar to the forms of many of the invaders that had destroyed their world. Flurry stumbled back, falling on her rear in fear. Luna and Celestia, along with Twilight and Cadance, got into battle ready stances, despite knowing spell casting was beyond them currently. The countless spears of the countless guards were swiftly pointed at the summoned being in preparation. Then, the being groaned, ever so slowly raising itself to it's knees. All present tensed as they took in it's ballroom-esque mask and heavily armored body, covered only by a worn, black, Old West duster, which itself bore two items which were strapped to it's back. One was a large, blackened, ornate greatsword with silver edges, and the other was what the ponies recognized as what the invaders called a 'rifle' though of what sort they could not tell. The being groaned, raising a gauntleted hand to it's head, a deep blue bycocket of sorts atop that very head with it's own plume attached to it. "What the heck..." it spoke, voice smooth like silk but deep like thunder and with a light accent. It looked up from it's hand and gazed around. "...Double what the heck..." It groaned again after it made what observations it could, but it's hand soon went back to it's head. "Agh, my head..." It slowly looked up once more. "Anyone got medication for a headache?" Author's Note EDIT: Intro/theme song changed. Well, hopefully this will keep you all entertained and satisfied. I know I had great fun writing it. After all, it's likely to be one of my most atmospheric stories yet. At least, if I can help it. I'm aiming to make this fit the atmosphere of Displaced Soul as much as possible, whilst also enhancing said atmosphere, so I hope it's to your liking, everyone. Oh yes, and there's a little hint in this chapter as to what the big reference is, so look for that if you want to submit a chapter idea to me. Anyways, thank you all for reading! -Timeless Celestial
Bullet Two, Step One - To Walk Again: Talks (Edited...Again)When the Astral Clock chimes seven thrice... When the Mirror is touched by the Shadow... The Burning World and The Dead World shall begin the Meld... The Remnants will come with fire and the Old Poison... And The Dead Ones will bring madness, ruin, and despair... Equus will broil with War, and call for it's Unyielding Knight. With no time wasted, the unicorns amongst the guards cast a slew of spells, and magical chains restrained the man in the circle, each chain the same color as their caster's horn's glow. Not long after the armored man's body was restrained, each guard born without the gift of spellcasting let out war cries and charged, spears poised to impale. "Can we just tal-!?" the man started to say, backing up as much as he could, but soon after he was impaled from all sides, and instead of words coming from his mouth, came blood. The princesses had no time to react during all this. Four of them, once tense, were now relieved. One was too horrified for words. Flurry's horror only grew as the man shuddered and twitched, going through the throes of his final hour before he finally slumped and fell dead. The eyes of all present only widened when his body started to dissolve into ash, and then dissolve further from that until it was naught but simple air. The chains that once restrained him, along with the spears that once killed him, became utterly useless, with the spears nearly falling out of their wielder's grasps. One guard cried out, "We have an Undead! Unicorns, ready more restraining spells!" Flurry Heart and the other royals once more had little time to react as the flames of their candles grew brighter and swirled towards the circle's center, where soon after the man reappeared from the coalesced flame and collapsed on the ground, panting for precious air as the ball of enchanted blaze slowly faded. The guard from before made his call. "Unicorns, now!" he called, but... "W-Wait!" Flurry Heart cried. All eyes snapped towards the young alicorn. The pink mare gulped, then shakily stood to her hooves. The echo of her hoofsteps across the stone seemed amplified in her ears, but she shook the feeling off and continued. "Flurry, get away from him!" Cadance cried, moving to stop her daughter. "It's okay, mom," she assured. "But we don't kno-!" Twilight started, but Flurry shot a weak smile to her. "Aunty, don't worry. I got this," she said, then stopped halfway and looked to all around her. "Just... Let me try something, okay everypony?" She resumed her trot before they could reply, and soon stopped in front of the man, who looked up at her. Both figures were shaking, and yet the man saw fit to crack a joke. "That uh...That went down hill fast, huh?" There was no response for a short time, not until Flurry cracked a genuine smile. "Yeah, it did. We're sorry about, uh..." She looked back to the guards and the blood on the floor. "...That," She looked back to him. "But if you're willing, we'd like to ask you something." The man stared at her for a long time, then groaned as he slowly pulled himself up. Flurry took a step back as he stood to his full height. "Well, it's either I listen to you guys or I die anyways, so yeah, ask away." "Great!" Flurry beamed up at him. She turned and gestured for him to follow her. "Just follow me!" He nodded slowly and did so, following the youth towards the front door and passing the guards by on the way, all of them sending him glares as he did. The other princesses stared after the other two as they left, before Celestia sighed deeply and placed a hoof to her forehead. "I swear, Twilight, that girl takes after you more than she does even her parents..." Twilight sighed as well, shaking her head as she smiled at her old mentor. "I know." She looked back to the now open doors. "We should get after her." "Yeah. I don't want her to be left alone with that guy," Cadance agreed. "Agreed," Luna concurred. Celestia nodded, and they all trailed after the strange masked human and pink princess. "So, you guys uh, aren't going to kill me again, right?" the masked man asked as the six of them walked the halls. "Not unless you try to hurt us," Twilight said curtly. "Otherwise we'll kill you as many times as it takes to drag you to a cell," Cadance added, shooting him a glare. "Oh. Well, good," the man replied, now uneasy. Flurry glanced to her mother at this, but made no comment when her mother kept her hard glare and instead the teenage alicorn turned her gaze back to the passage ahead. Things were noiseless after that, none of them uttering a word even as they came upon a door and opened it, Flurry simply smiling up at the man as she held the door open for him. He gave her an appreciative nod in return and ducked his head as he walked inside the room. The man noted that the room was sparsely decorated, bearing only a large table and comfortable looking chairs along with a large, stone obelisk in the corner which had runes on it that glowed dimly. The princesses seated themselves, and the man followed suit. The pack of alicorns watched from their seats as their guest, finding little else to do, marveled over his own form. He was silent as he did so but all could tell he was amazed by it. Why he was was anyone's guess, and Twilight, ever the curious one, decided to break the silence and ask. "Why are you so fascinated with your equipment? Haven't you always worn it?" she queried. He looked to her and shook his head. "This is the first time I've worn this stuff," he shook his leg, rattling the shiny black iron leggings as he did so. "Probably why so much of it is so heavy to me..." All present in the room went quiet, staring at the masked man in shock. Even the guards, whom had taken up posts in the room for their duty of protection, were shocked. Luna opened, closed, opened, and once more closed her mouth, trying to speak, to formulate some response, but she came up with none better than, "Do you... Have you ever even fought, before?" The man nodded. "Yeah, I've gotten in fights before, but I've never had to wear armor," he looked to one of his gauntlets, turning his wrist over to admire the work of whomsoever crafted it. "Gotta tell ya, I'm loving this getup to pieces though." The grin in his voice was obvious. The collective sigh around the room drew his attention back to those around him. "What's with the sighing?" He blinked. "Wait, did you guys think I was some chump just 'cause you killed me?" He crossed his arms. "I am hurt. I'll have you know I've won every fight I've been in!" Another collective sigh. He threw up his hands. "Oh come on! You all really thought I was that pathetic?! Give me some credit!" Celestia looked towards him, her eyes roving over his form. He wore a heavy set of armor, though to her experienced eye each piece was vastly different in design. If she had to guess, he had gotten it all from enemies he had slain in the past, but never worn it until now. She surmised that he likely preferred clothing enchanted to withstand attacks, though by his reaction he did not seem to mind what he wore now. Covering his chest was a heavy iron chestplate that looked to have been taken straight out of a mold and left as is. Over his legs was what looked to be very finely and masterfully designed steel leggings which streamed seamlessly along the contours of his limbs. Protecting his arms was heavy, black chainmail which likely covered the entirety of his torso under the chestplate, and shielding his forearms and hands were gauntlets made of what was likely hewn stone, with a layer of fur underneath and black leather under even that. Further covering that was a tight wrapping of chains, and over his head was of course the blue and green bycocket with a white plume and a silver mask in the likeness of an elderly gentleman. Covering all his armor was a leather, sleeveless duster with a strange symbol on the back. The symbol consisted of a blue circle ringed with white stars, with a final star in the center of the circle and ring. He bore three rings on his fingers, though none paid much attention to them, least of all Flurry. "Sister, are you alright?" Luna inquired, a worried look on her face. Celestia blinked, shook her head, then smiled at her younger sister. "Yes, Luna, I am fine, do not worry." She looked to the others. "What were we talking about?" "I was asking what you all call yourselves," the man explained. He gestured to all those in the room. "I don't just mean names, either, but species. I've never seen a rainbow of colorful little horses like you guys." He put a hand to his chin. "Well, except for that one time with my sis, but still." The five of them winced at the word horse, but remembered that the invaders had referred to them as such at first, and that it was likely not the same as what the word meant for them. "We're Ponies, specifically Alicorns. There are also Pegasi, Unicorns and Earth Ponies. Alicorns like us are a mixture of all three," Cadance explained. "As for our names, I'm Flurry Heart," Flurry pointed to herself, then pointed to her fellow princesses as she gave their respective names. "That's my mom, Cadance. Twilight, my aunt, and my Aunt Luna and Aunt Celestia." Celestia fixed the man with a hard stare. "Might we inquire your name, now that you have received ours?" "Oh, sure. I'm Alden, Alden Hunter," The now named Alden introduced. "Nice to meet you, Alden," Flurry said with a smile. "Quite," Celestia said quickly, before looking to one of the guards near the door. "Could one of you bring us some tea, please?" At their nod, she said, "Thank you," and they took their leave. There was a short silence that followed, and Alden spent it looking over his weapons. It did not take long for the guard to come back, a servant accompanying him with a silver cart, a pot of tea resting on it along with some cups. The servant pulled the cart into the room, and swiftly went about setting out cups and filling them up. "Thank you, Merry Rose," Celestia said gratefully, using her magic to lift her cup and taking a long sip of her tea. The mare, Merry Rose, nodded and then excused herself soon after. Alden stared at her horn, then the cup, then sighed. 'Oookay, wonderful. Telekinesis is definitely a thing here. Either that, or that's magic. Yaaaay. Goodbye, physics, it was nice knowing you.' Alden sighed once more, then looked to his side of the table, which was devoid of a cup. He pursed his lips. 'I get the distinct feeling the only one who likes me is Flurry...' He frowned, but made no comment. Instead, he decided to ask something else. "Sooo... Why am I here?" He gestured to Flurry. "I remember Flurry here saying you all wanted to ask me something, but none of you said what that was." "Simple. We summoned you to help us get our world back," Twilight said matter-of-factly, swallowing down some of the ginger liquid in her cup. She looked to him after doing so. "For your sake, I hope you can do it." Flurry frowned at this, but once more made no comment, deciding to focus on her tea. "Uhhh...Care to run that by me again?" He crossed his arms. "'Cause it sounded like you just told me to go and save a whole planet." "She did," Cadance answered, fixing him with a stern gaze. "And we've gone through too much trouble already just to get you here. So, either you help us, or you stay in the dungeons." Flurry looked like she was about to say something at this, but she stopped herself short. Alden simply stared at Cadance like she had just told him to jump off the empire State Building for shits and giggles. "...Do I get anything out of this? Like, ya know, maybe a 'Please and thank you?'" He asked, raising a brow under his mask, lost as the gesture was on them. "Seriously, since I got here, I got impaled, and then forced into servitude." He raised a hand as the alicorns raised their hackles and subsequent tempers. "Let me reiterate. I got impaled. Im-friggin'-paled. You ladies ever gotten impaled? Yeah, not fun, let me tell you." He lowered his hand and recrossed his arms. "So, either I get something out of this, or I'm leaving." Luna scoffed. "You can try." He nodded. "You're right. I can try. And succeed. Even if I have to try over and over, I WILL succeed." Luna growled, opening her mouth to retort, only for Flurry to interrupt. "Okay, everypony, stop!" All eyes turned to the youngest alicorn, whose face had finally hardened into one of unhappiness. "Alden has been very cooperative throughout this whole thing, so the least we can do is be nice and give him something in return!" She put her cup down and fixed each of her fellow royals with a harsh glare. "Undead or not, he has been cooperative, even after being killed!" Her features softened. "I know we don't know him that well, and that he's an Undead, but he's the best chance we have at saving our world, so the least we can do is be nice." The other Princesses stared at Flurry, and she stared defiantly back, but eventually they sighed. "You're right," Cadance conceded, her own features softening. She looked to Alden. "We're sorry for how we've treated you. It's just..." "We've lost a lot of good friends, and..." Twilight's ear flattened to her cranium. "...Family members, to creatures like you." "It was worse when we discovered your particular Undead do not eat flesh, but instead consume souls," Luna added in, ears also flat to the sides of her head. "We hope you understand that we did not mean any offense, we were simply..." Celestia rolled her hoof around. "...Wary." Alden looked at them all, then sighed. "Well, I can understand it if it's like that, then," He glanced to the guards, then back to them before he gestured with a thumb to the guards. "Just keep your trigger happy guards away from me, capiche?" Flurry giggled behind a hoof, then lowered it and smiled at him. "I think we can do that." Twilight spoke up. "So...will you help us?" Alden paused at this. There was silence for a long stretch of time, so long they worried he would decline, but eventually he replied. "Well, if the whole world is messed up, you guys wouldn't mind me going out there and taking what I can find, would you?" Before they could retort, he added with a wave of his hands. "Nothing like stealing! I'd just be, uh, taking what I need." The princesses looked at one another, then back to him. "If we do allow this, will you help us?" Alden chuckled. "I was gonna help anyways. I mean, all of you guys losing your whole world? Why wouldn't I help? I ain't heartless." He grinned. "'Sides, it sounds fun." 'But I'm no hero,' he thought to himself. The princesses smiled, not hearing his internal comment. "Well, consider that a deal, then, Alden," Celestia said with a warm smile. Alden offered her a hand. "Put 'er there, then!" Celestia chuckled and shook his hoof. Alden did not know what was ahead. But he would soon. Author's Note EDIT: Intro/theme changed. Well, I can only hope I portrayed Alden well enough for you all to get a general idea of his true personality, and I also hope at least one of you got the reference I've been talking about. If not, don't worry, the reference will be making appearances throughout the entire story if I can help it. Do let me know what you all think in the comments below. Personally I don't think this chapter was as good as the previous, but eh, we'll see. Anyways, thank you all for reading! -Timeless Celestial
Bullet Three, Step One - To Walk Again: "...Over, and over again..." (Edited...Again)Author's Note EDIT: Intro/theme changed. GORE WILL BE PRESENT HERE, READ AT OWN PERIL!!! Bullet Three, Step One - To Walk Again: "...Over, and over again..." (Edited...Again) When the Astral Clock chimes seven thrice... When the Mirror is touched by the Shadow... The Burning World and The Dead World shall begin the Meld... The Remnants will come with fire and the Old Poison... And The Dead Ones will bring madness, ruin, and despair... Equus will broil with War, and call for it's Unyielding Knight. It wasn't too long before Alden was lead through the underground city the ponies had built. Many watched him from the sidelines, eyes wide as they froze in place. Many more saw him and hastily made their exit and subsequent entrance to any building that could shelter them. The slamming closures of doors, windows and blinds echoed throughout the city as an entourage of guards escorted Alden to the surface. Alden's frown lasted for most of the trip, the man taking note of the details he could. Being in the residential area, most of what he saw were the visages of frightened ponies, but as he passed the residential area, he saw how the ponies lived without a source of sunlight to grow their produce. What he observed was numerous herbs, flowers, vegetables, fruits, and trees being grown in strips of land, much like a regular farm on the surface, with farmhouses and all of the crops bearing their own miniature orb of light. Magical sun substitutes, he estimated. But what he saw next, in front of each and every one of the farmhouses, nearly broke his heart. Groupings of haggard ponies covered the entrances to the farmhouses, all of them swarming stalls where other ponies were giving out food, the groups all so large they couldn't even be called lines. No, these were crowds bordering on mobs. He saw many pleading for more food, even heard some say they and their family were starving or going to starve, and yet he couldn't bring himself to look away. Some farmhouses had smaller crowds, either because those who were serving them were efficient, or simply because they had run out of food to give. After looking to the crops once more, Alden could conclude it was almost certainly due to a lack of food, as most of the crops were picked clean. One of the guards pushed Alden forwards. "Keep moving," she said gruffly. Alden glanced back at the farms, then sighed and moved on as he was told. Whilst he walked along, his thoughts wandered. 'No wonder those Princesses wanted me to help secure the surface. They're running out of food to feed their people on top of having only so many soldiers in their army. Not to mention they don't seem to have any good counters for bullets, much less missiles or nukes. And with what they told me of the situation, there's a lot of that topside.' Alden bit his lip, glancing to the guard to his right, then the one to his left. 'These two are probably tense because they know that I can steal their souls and win in a proper fight...' He sighed as they made it to the barracks, which Alden instantly noticed was smaller than almost every other area they had passed. 'Jeez, didn't think my guesses would be so on the nose.' The Undead looked behind himself once more. 'Though I guess it only makes sense that so few would want to join the military when they're facing overwhelming odds...' Alden returned his gaze to his front. A large set of stone doors lay ahead of the barracks, with runes and carvings and symbols not unlike those of the doors that lead into the chamber he had arrived in. It took little time for them to reach the doors, passing only a measly forty guards on their way, many of them with their sights fixed on Alden, and their muscles tensed and ready for action. Alden kept his frown the whole way. One of the guards escorting Alden looked to the two unicorn guards right in front of the doors and nodded to them. "Open it." They nodded in acknowledgement, their horns glowing along with the stone portals. A series of clicks resounded throughout the area, followed soon after by an unearthly humming, which grew slowly into moaning as each rune, symbol, and carving lit up with arcane energies. Then, with the noise of granite sliding on granite, the doors slowly opened. One of Alden's escorts shouted two simple words, "Go, now!" Alden stepped forward, but paused midst his stride, looking back at them. The other escort, the mare, added to her comrade's order. "Hurry up, dammit!" Alden looked back to the outside, then once again to the guards. Then, he took a deep breath and yelled, "Remember to build a handsome statue in my honor, alright?!" And with that, he walked out, the unicorns slamming the doors shut soon after. The guards all stared at the now closed doors. Slowly, one of them turned to another. "Was he serious?" His compatriot's response was a simple shrug. Alden walked out of a long, dark, and dank tunnel and was greeted after emerging by the light of the early morning sky hidden by crumbling tiled roofing. Scanning his surroundings provided him with the knowledge that he had emerged from a tunnel into the ancient ruins of some bygone castle. Weathered and aged grey brick and mortar, tattered rugs, carpets and banners, dented and rusted armor stands, all of it surrounded him with the spirit of an ancient wonder of this strange world that had long since been dead and lost to time. "Well, this is a lovely development," Alden said with an eager grin. His eyes roamed the area with childlike glee and energy. "Those princesses said I could have any loot from any creature I killed so long as it wasn't one of their own, but..." He walked towards a suit of armor, taking the halberd from it's grasp. "...they didn't say I couldn't take what I wanted from any old ruins~." He sing-songed as he marveled at the design of the halberd in his hands, noting it's vine-like gold gilding along the haft and its similarly gilded blade. "You're so comin' with me," he said, grin still plastered on his face. He then let out a sharp cry of pain as he felt something sharp scrape along his back, shredding his duster and putting a sizable gash in his armor as he fell onto his face, breaking his mask and nose. He then felt a heavy, clawed foot slam down on his back, and soon after heard an eerily familiar roar. 'That's not good...' He thought to himself, straining to turn his head to get a glimpse of what pinned him. His fears were soon solidified as he saw the dark, brown and tan scaled, horned, and famously clawed form standing atop him. He had only three things to say as the creature's baleful yellow eyes glared down at him "Oh. Uhhh, hi?" The Deathclaw then grabbed him by the head, and started to pull. Hard. Alden screamed as he felt his muscles burn and strain from the stretch they were never meant to take. Soon after his screams ended with a sickening pop and snap of bones and a splurt of blood as his head was ripped clean off. The Deathclaw simply let out another roar in triumph as Alden's body dissolved into ash. Alden reformed in the tunnel in front of the stone doors, the Undead gasping for breath in a desperate manner. Sadly, it simply made his condition worse, the man only stopping in his hyperventilation once he realized he was not only not numbered amongst the dead, but in perfect condition. Even after patting himself down over sixteen times he found no gashes in his armor nor any tears in his duster. Alden looked then to his shaking hands. "G-G-Geez..." he stuttered. He leaned back against the doors. "...Th-that's..." He gulped and tried to steady his still ragged breathing. "...That's gonna take a lot of getting used to..." Alden looked to the doors he had laid against. "Weird how I didn't come back in the exact spot I was summoned..." He frowned. "Would've been nicer, actually." He looked ahead of him, letting his head rest against the stone behind him. "Thrill seeker I may be, but death is not something I'd call thrilling." He shook his head. "Still, why did I come back out here?" He looked up to the ceiling of the tunnel, trying to produce answers. Five minutes passed, and soon he came up with one. "Wait...weren't there areas in all three Dark Souls games where you respawned in a place without a Bonfire?" He put a hand to his chin. "I know the tutorials for them all did..." He glanced back to the closed entrance behind him. "Considering how these things are magic, and how many runes and stuff are on 'em, as well as how they didn't seem to have Undead down there or even Fallout enemies..." He hummed. "...these doors must block 'em all out in more ways than one." He looked back to his hands, which were still shaking somewhat. He clenched them. "So I can't go back until I'm done, then." He sighed, starting to get up. "I knew I should have read the fine print..." He chuckled at that. "Heh, Pops would'a smacked me upside the head for forgetting to..." He shook his head, and started to make his way back out of the tunnel, determination in his heart. Three whole days passed by, but they passed much more slowly for the lone Undead in the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters. Throughout the three days, Alden had been killed over, and over, and over again, simply from trying to get out of the ruins. His first death had left a bit of an impression on him, so when he tried to play it safe by firing his lever-action rifle at an approaching Deathclaw, it was all the more frightening when the beast simply continued to come at him and proceeded to rip him to shreds and ribbons. On his fourth death, he tried to outplay the Deathclaws by using hit and run tactics, but he soon found himself getting overrun when he tried to reload his magnum revolver. Upon his seventh demise, he decided to attempt to sneak past all the Deathclaws. Sadly, his heavy armor made too much of a racket, and he was once again swarmed by the horned and clawed terrors. It occurred to him on his fifteenth death that if he wanted to have a good chance of leaving, he would have to cull the Deathclaw's numbers. It occurred to him on his eighteenth that just rushing in under cover of night would not do it either, as they sadly had better vision than he in the dark of night. On the second day, after his twenty sixth death, he had managed to finally fell the Alpha, but was soon torn to shreds and eaten by the Alpha's mate. After his thirty fifth death on the dawn of the third day, Alden rose slowly from the cold, cracked stone floor of the tunnel, shook his head, and stood up, striding towards the nest to slay the last of the Deathclaws in the castle. "Suppose it's a good thing I managed to kill that other one before I croaked it. Josh always said a tie was better than a loss, and I can't say I disagree now..." He sighed and drew one of the greatswords from his back, passing countless bloodstains as he walked the ruins halls, and nearly as many Deathclaw corpses. But, in time, he came upon the room where the nest was. Striding inside, he was greeted with a swipe aimed for his head, which he ducked under and countered with a thrust of his weapon's blackish brass hilt to the jaw of his attacker. This action made the Deathclaw recoil, and gave Alden some breathing room. "This is it, bud," Alden said, flourishing his greatsword with one hand and making it flourish in turn with black, shadowless flames. "The end of the road." The youthful Deathclaw growled ferally and lunged towards Alden, only for the man to make a swipe with his onyx-flamed blade across the soft underbelly of the adolescent Deathclaw. This action made the beast let out a howl of pain as it stumbled back. Alden, having learned that giving a Deathclaw time to pause meant death, rushed in and cut into it's neck, his blade biting deep but not severing it's head completely. The beast gurgled and coughed up blood, creating sounds that Alden never wanted to hear. He closed his eyes as the adolescent Deathclaw tried to howl in pain from the burning and cutting sensation in it's throat, blood sizzling and boiling in it's throat from the black flames. "I'm sorry," Alden spoke softly, before letting out a harsh yell and pushing with all his might until the head was finally cut off, landing with a wet thud and a splat to the long broken tiles below. Alden watched as the body fell as well, then looked behind him to the trail of corpses that lined the halls. His grip on his blade tightened, and he lowered his head, his entire form shaking. "I'm sorry..." Not a single tear issued from his eyes that morning.
Bullet Four, Step One - To Walk Again: To Walk Again (Edited)When the Astral Clock chimes seven thrice... When the Mirror is touched by the Shadow... The Burning World and The Dead World shall begin the Meld... The Remnants will come with fire and the Old Poison... And The Dead Ones will bring madness, ruin, and despair... Equus will broil with War, and call for it's Unyielding Knight. It had taken Alden time to recover from his three days of nigh non-stop fighting and killing. No man could take so many deaths in stride with any level of contemptuous ease, after all. Thirty five deaths in just three days was nothing to turn one’s nose up at, either. ‘Unless you’re an Undead,’ Alden reasoned to himself, sitting cross-legged in front of a campfire he’d made just a ways beyond the castle ruins. He looked down at the cooked Deathclaw meat in his hand. ‘...Normally I’d be jumping for joy at trying new meat, but...this just tastes bland to me.’ Sighing, he bit into the flesh of it nonetheless. ‘Well, not like I should be surprised. Undead probably don’t have taste buds, if what they eat so often in the games is any indication.’ He swallowed, then snorted. “Friggin’ maniacs eat moss, after all. No way that’s healthy.” He sighed and took another bite of his meat, staring into the crackling flames of his campfire. After finishing his dinner, he looked down at himself and patted his stomach. “I didn’t feel hungry before, but...doesn’t feel right to not eat. Guess that’s gonna be a hard to kick habit.” He chuckled morosely. “Though it’s not like I plan on kicking it.” He looked to the side, where his prized rifle lay. His silver eyes seemed to cloud over like a Fall morning as he faintly recalled how he obtained the rifle. “So, this is the old family gun?” Alden asked, looking from the case to his father. He’d known it was the family gun, thus his question was redundant, but he asked it all the same. His father, a man with a powerful yet wrinkled build and graying hair and beard, nodded, unlocking the case and picking the gun up. “It is.” He offered it to Alden. “You’ve done admirably by our family, son. And, with me getting on in years, I think it’s high time you started to take care of Sport.” Alden looked to the gun, then his father, and back. Slowly, he gained a grin, taking the lever-action rifle engraved with its namesake. “I’ll make sure to not spoil ‘Sport’.” There was a dead silence in the room after that, Alden’s father giving him a raised brow and overall unimpressed look. “What? Not sporting enough of a joke?” His father gained a frown. Alden rolled his eyes. “Ugh, you’re no fun.” “Just take care of it, son. Don’t let the legacy down, alright?” Alden’s father urged. Alden gained a more genuine smile, nodding. “Of course, Pops. I’ll take care of her, I promise.” He put a hand on the older man’s shoulder. “You can count on me.” Alden felt like he should be crying. But he wasn’t. No liquids of sorrow issued forth from his silver eyes. No shudders of woeful pain stole his strength. He felt nothing, physically. Mentally, he just felt...tired. Sighing, he grabbed the gun and pulled it into his lap, looking it over. Ivory made up most of the stock, and tiger hide strips were wrapped around it. Gold embellishments ran along the barrel, coalescing in one area to form the words, ‘Sport’ in archaic cursive script. He frowned under his mask. “I guess I’ve stopped being human in more ways than one…” he mused gently. Chuckling ruefully, he added, “Then again, I never really was human before. Too awesome to be a simple human. Subrace more like.” His smile slowly morphed into a frown, and he clutched the treasured gun tightly. No other words were spoken. He knew the truth well enough. “Excusez-moi, but can I sit here for un moment, monsieur?” came the voice of a woman from behind him, albeit a sort of...growly, rumbly one. Alden, in a fit of shock and instinct, lifted his gun and aimed it at the direction the voice came from, all in one swift movement. However, he stopped cold as what he saw registered. A Deathclaw whose body and eyes glowed a rather familiar shade of blue, and with...what he could only describe as the outline of a rack protruding from its chest behind a ragged cloak made from some kind of banner. Wide hips led down to powerful, muscled legs and a tail that could (and had on at least one occasion) whip his head off. Instead of ripping his head off or eating it while he was still alive, the Deathclaw waved its...her arms in front of her, “N-non non! I mean no harm, monsieur!” Alden stared at her in shock. “Did...you just talk? In French?” “Oui,” the Deathclaw nodded, arms dropping to her sides. “I learned how to speak it...a little of it while in one of those ‘libraries’ your kind made. Mostly, I speak English.” Alden lowered his rifle a tad. “How? Deathclaws aren’t even supposed to have vocal chord-” He stopped, looking her form over again. “...Nevermind, you’re probably different from the rest, considering you’re infused with Quantum Nuka-Cola.” “Yes! When I was un petit bébé with my mère these…’hyoomans’ in grey fur or black shells visited my family in the nest we had inside of a ‘Nuka Quantum Bottling Plant’ and jabbed us with these...pokey things that went through our scales. The connards did it at least...every month or so?” the Quantum Deathclaw said, bringing a clawed hand to her chin in thought. “...Oui, oui, it was every month. My brother and sisters were...not as changed as moi, but I suppose I was always different from them to begin with. It’s how I knew what the bottles said, and how I read the library books.” Alden lowered his gun further, relaxing just a bit. “Well, at least you haven’t ripped my head off. Way better start than the first ‘Claw I met.” “Were they just as simple as the rest of the crétins in my nest? No anglaise or speech?” she asked with a tilt of her head. He nodded. “Nah, nothin’.” He slowly turned back to the fire, then jabbed a thumb to the ruins in the distance. “You can find all twenty-six of their corpses in there.” “Ah, I see. Self-defense, I presume?” she asked dryly, gently parking her scaly behind just across from him by the fire. “Seul Dieu sait that I’ve had to do that often with the idiots back at my nest.” “How many are yours?” Alden asked genially, putting his gun gently in his lap. “Only the ones in the town over there,” she replied, pointing with a claw off to his north. “The town is ‘Ponyville’, if the sign with the weird warping symbols are true.” Alden blinked. “Well heck, that’s where I’m headed.” “Vraiment? Well, how would you like to join me in ‘Gold Oaks’? There’s a lot of books you can read,” the Deathclaw suggested with a toothy ‘grin’ that wasn’t as scary as he would have expected. Probably because she was glow-in-the-dark, but whatever. Alden hummed, cupping his chin, “Well, sure is a temptin’ offer, Miss…?” “Annette,” the Deathclaw- Annette supplied, standing up and kneeling slightly with her hands holding the sides of her cloak to the side in a curtsy. “Ravi de vous rencontrer.” Alden, in response, tipped his bycocket to her. “Alden, Alden-” He paused, blinking. “-Actually, I...don’t remember my last name. Huh.” “Then can I come up with one?” Annette asked, her long tail swishing behind her. Alden stared owlishly at her, then smiled under his mask. “Sure,” he gestured for her to go ahead. “Give it a shot.” “How about...‘Rose’? ‘Alden Rose’ has a nice ring to it, non?” the Deathclaw suggested with a tilt of her head. The Undead cupped his chin once more. “Alden Rose, huh?” He smiled. “Yeah, that works.” He slowly took his mask off, allowing her to see how rotted his visage was. He smiled, not seeming to care. “Just don’t make me regret taking the name, yeah? Got a reputation to keep.” “Dieu m’en préserve!” Annette replied, waving a hand dismissively. Alden tilted his head. “Uhhh, what was that? Not fluent in French. More of a Finnish guy.” “I said ‘perish the thought,’ you silly little man,” Annette chuckled behind a clawed hand, then let said appendage fall back down to her side. “So, would you like to come with moi to my home? I promise I’ll keep the crétins in line.” Alden smiled again. “Sounds good to me. I have to clean that town of Muties anyway, according to my orders.” “What are ‘Muties’? Do you mean the ugly green connards that attacked and yelled at me like animals?” Annette asked, muzzle curling up in a low snarl at the thought of them. “They almost blew up the library!” “If they’re big, green, and almost as big as you and yours, then yes,” Alden replied, nodding. “...You clear out these ‘Muties’ and I’ll be in your debt, monsieur,” Annette replied, suddenly reaching and pulling him into a gentle hug. The man stiffened at the gesture at first, unsure how to respond, but eventually relaxed into it and patted her back as best he could. “You got it, Anny.” He looked up at her. “Now, uh, much as I like funbags, mind not squishin’ me into yours?” Annete blinked, but let him go with a puzzled expression, “What do you mean? What are ‘funbags’, Monsieur Alden?” Alden scratched the back of his head, thankful that being rotted meant he did not blush. “Weeelll, they’re the things you use to feed your young.” He pointed to her chest. “Men like me have a lotta names for them, I just prefer to be less crude, if I can.” Annette blinked and looked down at her cloak-covered chest, “...I...don’t use these for feeding my bébés, monsieur. They’re just...there, to be honest, and started growing after the ‘hyoomans’ in grey and black shells started injecting me with those…’sirengees’, I think they’re called?” Alden looked up at her quizzically. “So...they don’t have milk in ‘em, then?” “...Oh! You mean this?” Annette said as she grabbed her breasts through her cloak and squeezed, two glowing blue splotches immediately forming on her cloak. “They start leaking from time to time, so I just squeeze until it’s all out.” Alden stared for the longest of short moments, then shook his head forcefully. “R-Right, well,” He cleared his throat, coughed into his fist even, just to keep his voice from breaking again. “For human females, and other females with teats/breasts, they are used to feed young. The young, uh, well, they latch on and kinda just...suck, ya know? Milk is usually what’s in them, so since milk is good for growing children, it’s kinda normal for mammals to breastfeed, as they call it.” “...Oh! One of my earliest memories is of my father bringing me to mi mère’s chest and me taking something into my mouth, but it was only for a minute or two and then she never did it again. That was ‘breast-feeding’, non?” Alden nodded. “Y-Yeah, that’s probably it.” “But hers were the size of you if I recall correctly, and she couldn’t move much, so...I’m not sure if breastfeeding sounds...enjoyable, if it means being that immobile,” Annette continued with a small frown. Alden chuckled nervously, “W-Well, to my knowledge breasts only get bigger with each child you bear, but, hey! Who knows? You’re a different species, after all!” Alden walked to where he put his mask and put it back on. “Well, my mère had had...thirty-eight of us when I was born, and had thirty-seven more after that, so...it would explain why her breasts grew to the size of those metal carriages I’ve seen around,” Annette said aloud with a small hum. “AAAAnd we’re moving on!” Alden interrupted, picking up his rifle and slinging it on his back. He then started to march stiffly towards the north. “Come on! Time to get movin’, Anny!” “...But my name is Annette, monsieur,” the Quantum Deathclaw said with confusion, but followed after him nonetheless after putting out the fire with a quick burial. “It’s a nickname!” He called back. Alden sighed quietly to himself. 'Well...at least I have company now...' Author's Note EDIT: Intro/theme changed. Say hello to Annette, and her creator, Nova_Eclipse, my brother from another mother!
