A bright yellow light glowed in the dark of night. It enveloped the entirety of the large clearing hat it was based in. If you came close enough to the tall barbed-wire tipped stone wall outlining the entire forest, you could hear the conversations and commonplace laughter within the large camp. There was a single gate, guarded by a single monster. This monster stood as still as a sentry, it’s skeleton mask glowing blue in the dark. It stood taller than a pony, averaging at around six feet. It wore denim jeans and a red hoodie, which was covered by a large metal plate on his chest and back, connected with leather straps. His mask was made of similar material, covering the shape of his head and painted over with a scary image of a human skull. It wore a kilt comprised of assorted road signs, along with fingerless gloves of the same composition. It held a makeshift Kalashnikov with a short wooden shovel handle as the stock. It sported an M9 Beretta on it’s left hip, only to be used in an emergency. It currently had its Kalashnikov strapped onto its back and it’s mask tossed to the side to free it’s mouth while it ate a slice of cooked meat.
He was one of the few official clan members, the bulk was made up of lesser equipped humans that were considered cannon fodder, thus granting this group the title of Zerg. They were not commonplace anywhere in the radiation covered island of Rust, but when encountered, they can prove a formidable foe. They would normally prey on other clans with much better gear, attempting to overpower them by sheer numbers and minimal strategy by the few strategic members of a Zerg. An unknown force would perform what was named a wipe on the island periodically, leaving all inhabitants to start over with their newfound knowledge from their previous adventures. Along with this, the survivors that constantly clash on this deserted island gained a peculiar trait: the ability to regenerate living tissue onto a beach, with nothing but a torch and a rock, while keeping their knowledge.
Now back to the story. Within the walls, there were multiple sleeping bags spread out at random. Nobody cared who slept in whose. There were bonfires spread in a grid like fashion, upon which the sleeping bags were placed around. In the very middle of the compound was a small building crafted out of sheet metal, adorned with a stone flat top square tower. It was about 3x3 foundations big, or about 9x9 meters. The tower was built atop the middle foundation and was 15 meters tall, the top walls having windows. Only the official clan members were allowed in, the sheet metal doors locked with a code. Their beds were placed inside, one bed in each corner, totaling to four beds and four official clan members. One other was staged as an interior guard, one residing in the tower with an L96 sniper rifle, acting as overwatch, a third one guarding the gate, and the final one was an exterior guard, patrolling the outside walls and defending against any possible raiders. They all wore similar outfits, allowing them to easily identify each other, with the only difference being different colored skulls painted on their masks. The gate guard was blue, the tower guard was pink, obviously because she was a girl, the inside guard was green, and the exterior guard was red.
They were all good friends. Each lesser member was selected due to them excelling in a specific task. There were fifteen of them spread out in the massive space surrounding the base, all agreeing to sleep together and not leave anyone alone. The gatherer was out gathering wood and stone for future bases. One with an excellent eye accompanied the sniper, spotting enemies and directing the snipers shot. They all knew they weren’t on the Rust island anymore. But that didn’t hinder their main objective; survive. The comedian was currently entertaining the group by telling jokes and performing acts in the soft firelight.
The native residents of this strange land haven’t noticed their arrival yet, except for a certain zebra. She has been watching them since their arrival a week ago, impressed at their ability to erect such a sturdy wall and complex tower in such a short time. She had thought to bring this matter straight to the princesses that ruled over the land of Equestria but needed more evidence for them to act upon her claim. She needed physical evidence, but not just a simple stone from the wall before her. She needed one of their weapons. She shrunk back into the underbrush, planning to take the weapon attached to the gate guard's side.
She quietly made her way around the wall, heading to the guard as quietly as possible. She stopped as she reached her desired position, watching the bipedal creature as it stood still. She took a step closer, hoping to get close enough to formulate a plan to steal the weapon as quietly as possible. She froze and lowered herself as close to the ground as possible as a flashlight attached to his gun suddenly came to life and slowly swept the area around him. After he was satisfied, he shut it off and returned to his distant gaze, deep in thought once more. She slowly and quietly raised herself from the grass, analyzing this creature's movement as a sentry. She took another silent step. Nothing. Once more. Nothing. Repeating this pattern, she eventually made her way behind the creature, outside of its lights sweep. She slowly lifted a hoof to the corner shaped weapon, making extra sure she didn’t make any noise. She touched it. She stopped and looked up to his head, watching for any signs of movement. After seeing nothing, she slowly lifted the weapon out of its holster, keeping an eye on his head. She fully extracted the weapon from its hold and held it there, checking one last time for movement. Suddenly, It turned, the light shining in her face. She wasted no time in running back into the tree line, hearing projectiles embedding themselves in the ground at her hooves and the trees around her.
The gunshots ceased as the zebra escaped into the forest, his sidearm along with it. He looked at his holster, seeing nothing there, then back to the bit of forest lit by his light.
“Damn,” the guard silently cursed to himself, wondering how it managed to swipe it’s gun without him noticing. He shut off the light and replaced it onto his back, grabbing the walkie-talkie on its right hip and raising the microphone to his mouth while holding the button to broadcast his voice to the others. “Guys, a fucking zebra just took my M9,” he said irritatingly into the device as a scowl appeared under his mask.
“How the fuck does that happen?” The exterior guard replied in his deep, gruff voice. The person accompanying the sniper continued scanning the horizon as she put in her two cents.
“We’re not on the Rust island anymore. It could be one of the locals,” she reasoned, being the group's voice of reason.
“But it’s a fucking zebra!” The inside guard leaning on the wall near the laughing grunts yelled into his walkie talkie.
“It dodged like a pro. It was definitely used to escaping predators greater than a simple Cheetah,” the gate sentry included, his face switching to intrigue. He released his hold on the button while he yawned before holding it down again. “Guys, I’m going to sleep. I’ll turn on the turrets,” he drowsily informed the others, pressing a button on the gate’s code lock, causing it to swing open. It shut on its own behind him as he headed to the left turret, there being one on each side, which held a Kalashnikov under a rounded sheet metal cover, which were currently pointed up, signifying that they were deactivated. He kneeled by it and pressed a button positioned on the round sheet metal base of the turret, which was held up by a tripod-like arrangement of metal rods. He stood as the turret half his height lowered the gun to point straight, laser line directing it’s AI, as it beeped while covering its 90-degree range in front of the gate. He did the same to the other, getting the same result. He slowly treaded into the base, picking the closest bed. He took off his boots, gloves, chest plate, and mask, revealing a mess of dirty blonde hair and blue eyes surrounded by Caucasian skin. He placed his stripped armor and weapons in the locker next to the bed, unceremoniously flopping onto the bed and laying his head onto a white pillow, covering himself with a black and white checkered blanket.
The sniper released her helper for some rest as well. “You can go get some sleep, I think we’re safe for now,” she told her helper, him nodding thanks in return and climbing down the ladder to the ground floor and out the door to his sleeping bag. She took a break, taking a seat in the white plastic chair positioned north, watching the forest as she slowly drifted to sleep with her rifle propped up against the windowsill.
The inside guard had nodded off while watching the thirteen people assigned to him laughing away at jokes he couldn’t hope to understand. His arms were crossed, LR-300 laying in the grass by his feet. The group he watched over were nice enough to quiet down and settle down for sleep. They made a few last minute jokes, quietly snickering, before sleeping. They fell asleep pretty quickly.
The exterior guard always hated his job, even though he knew it was necessary. He always stayed up until morning while everyone else slept. He started getting drowsy. His hand gripping the barrel of the Kalashnikov slipped, snapping him awake as he quickly regained control of the firearm. In the constant noise of crickets chirping, which he got used to quickly, he heard something bigger than simple prey scampering through the underbrush. He stopped in his tracks and activated his weapon-mounted flashlight, lighting up the dense tree line he had the misfortune of being so close to it so much. After a minute of nothing, he sighed and shut off his light. He returned to his patrol of the perimeter. The worst thing is that nothing ever happened. He would’ve gone crazy at this point if it weren’t for the serenity of the soft sounds of the forest. The only time he felt safe is when he passed by the gate, or when he had his glow in the dark mask and Kalashnikov.
Zecora entered the grand court hall where the princesses’ thrones resided, set on revealing her information and the evidence directly to her and nopony else. She thought about telling Twilight and her friends first, but until she knew how dangerous they could be, as her escape showed, she didn’t want to endanger the six mares. She stopped in front of Celestia’s throne, sitting down, intent on taking a long time to explain.
“Why have you come to us directly?” Princess Celestia professionally asked, wearing her court poker face.
“There may be a great threat in the Everfree. I barely managed to escape with some of their weaponry and flee,” She said, drawing a concerned look from the Princess of the Sun.
“Weaponry? What kind of threat?” She asked, getting a firm shake of the head from the zebra.
“They are of unknown origin. I do not believe they will show the same mercy to others again,” Zecora replied with a hardened face.
“They? Are there more than one?” Celestia asked with a poker face once again.
“Last I counted, there were seventeen. None too willing to agree,” She stated, referring to the chances of a peaceful resolution.
“Can you be more specific?” Celestia inquired, not liking the vague replies she got from the zebra before her.
“I have brought a weapon of choice, belonging to the guard with a creative voice. He quickly detected me, firing barely audible sonic speed projectiles at me. I quickly made my way here, to inform you before they became a source of fear.” She explained, raising the weapon flat in her hoof. Celestia enveloped it in her golden aura, bringing it closer while Zecora lowered her hoof. She slowly rotated it while studying it, careful to avoid pointing the open end towards her or anypony in the room in case it was still loaded. After a minute, she stopped looking it over and staring straight ahead.
“Guards! Retrieve this weapon as evidence,” Celestia ordered a pair of guards. One took the weapon in his light blue aura, and they took it to the property room, where they stored evidence.
“I have reason to believe that is not their only advance, as they have built a great compound, big and fast,” she informed the princess, whose face turned to intrigue.
“How fast?” She asked in a curious tone, watching as a glint of determination appeared in her eyes.
“They have been here a week, and have managed to build a great wall, not at all weak,” Zecora gestured with her hooves to it being as tall as the princess.
“In the middle lay stone, formed into a tower of its own,” Zecora lowered her hooves and created an invisible square with her hooves.
“It includes jokes and fun, but only between the so called grunts,” She lowered her hooves.
Celestia looked down in thought, hoping to resolve this peacefully.
“From what I have heard, they are part of a ‘herd’,” Zecora continued, making air quotations to imply that she meant herd as in a group near and dear to each other.
“But they do not fear those who come near, they will merely fight until their oppressor takes flight,” She said, further implying that they would fight to their last breath to protect their herd.
“They have mentioned the name of their group being called a Zerg, complaining that the higher ups are too powerful and kick others to the curb. They also seem to utilize military gear, considering the powerful weapons and tactics they seem to have near.” Celestia stiffened at the thought they might be a military force, inferring that they were a military recon camp close by a rural and generic town for research on locals to effectively conquer their species before eventually advancing to Canterlot.
“They have attacked me, yes, but it was merely an act of self-defense, as I had come near to steal something to bring you here,” Zecora explained, to make sure the princess understood her situation before deciding on an action.
After a moment's thought, and a few suggestions from royal advisors, she decided to send Twilight, along with the other elements, and greet them, hoping to at least learn their intentions here.
Twilight quietly walked through the trees of the Everfree forest, barely able to see in the nearly pitch black night, using fuzzy silhouettes to avoid crashing into a tree. A pack of Timberwolves had separated her and her friends, and for the last hour, she had been attempting to find her way back to them. Or was it ten minutes?
She stopped. Something was watching her. She could sense it. Her ears perked as she tried to locate what's planning to make her its next meal, but heard nothing but the chirping crickets and the soft rustling of leaves in the wind. She stood still as a statue for what seemed like hours, listening to the forest.
Suddenly, her ears perked, pointing to something behind her.
"Ah see ya, mate."
She ducked just as she heard a bang and felt a projectile whiz overhead, landing in the ground in front of her with a small shower of dirt.
"Dog cunt!" The hurtful words echoed through the forest as she ran, another loud bang was followed by a projectile embedding itself into the log Twilight jumped over. She stumbled in the darkness of the night, tired from running for so long, but kept going, intent on escaping this menace. Suddenly, there was a final loud bang, and she yelped as a massive pain shot up her left hindleg, crashing to the ground.
"Git tha dog, ya li'l cunt!" The monster shouted as she scrambled onto her back, putting pressure on the bleeding wound as tears streamed down her face. She whimpered as what she recognized as bipedal hoofsteps approached her.
"Why?" She whimpered. "Why..." she screwed her eyes shut as the barrel of his weapon pressed against her forehead.
"'Cause yer a dog cunt, my fair... Twilight?" He finished in a confused tone, removing the cold metal from her head.
"Oh shit, Twilight!" He shouted, finally recognizing her. "Oh shit, oh fuck!" He panicked, slinging expletives to nopony in particular as she watched the faint outline of his silhouette drop to its knees in front of her, tossing its long weapon aside and reaching for her, but she scooted backwards, away from him.
"No, wait! I'm sorry! I'll heal you!" He explained, before grabbing her hoof. She started whimpering, trying to yank out of his grip, but she was too weak. Suddenly, she yelped as a needle was jammed into her hoof just under the digits gripping her, injecting an unknown liquid into her bloodstream. She braced, expecting more pain, but a warm feeling covered her body as the pain began to fade, albeit slowly.
"It takes a few minutes," He said softly, dropping her hoof and fumbling with something behind him, before turning back around and lighting a club-like stick, sparking a fire and lighting them up and a short area around them in light.
She opened her eyes and studied her attacker turned ally. He was bipedal for sure, similar to minotaurs, but much smaller. His chest was covered in a metal plate with leather straps, with a blue shirt underneath that covered his arms up to the gloves, and had a large red pot on his head, with blackened steel bolted to the pot surrounding his head, with a small rectangle cut just under the front of the pot. Over his waist, it wore a skirt made of road signs similar to what she saw in Manehatten, although covered in unreadable characters, likely their own language, and his legs were covered to the ankle in denim. On his left... hoof, he wore a rubber boot covering his shin, and the other one had a green rubber boot, along with two frog eyes and a mouth on the tip. His digits were also covered in road signs, although the top halves of said digits were exposed, revealing notably hairless peach colored skin. Focusing on the slit in the helmet, she could see a mix of both panic and concern in his brown eyes.
"Are you a clan member?" She asked. "Of the Zerg?"
"Zerg?" He repeated, looking around for a moment before returning his focus on her. "I haven't seen a Zerg," He answered.
"You're not a part of the seventeen members?" She asked in a confused tone with a cute little tilt of her head.
"Seventeen man Zerg!?" He exclaimed, his eyes widening in surprise.
"Is that uncommon?" She asked.
"Kinda! If there's a Zerg that big runnin' around, you can bet they're planning something big." He Explained, dropping into a sitting position with crossed legs.
"What big things are Zergs usually made for?" She asked.
"Raid large clan bases, mostly," He told her. She raised into a sitting position, carefully dragging her injured hindleg underneath her, which felt mostly healed, save for a light stinging akin to a paper cut.
"Are they planning to conquer Equestria?" She asked. He chuckled.
"Hell no," he assured her. "They'll probably raid a place or two, then get insided or something and disband."
"Insided?" She repeated.
"Some guy pretends to be a member, steals all the door codes, and raids them while they're gone," he explained easily, and she nodded.
"So you said you weren't a part of the Zerg. Does that mean there could be more of you lurking around in the shadows?" She questioned. He shrugged.
"There's like a few hundred on this server," he replied dismissively.
"Server? What's that?" She asked. Instead of answering, he got up with a grunt.
"I would love to answer more questions, but we gotta get moving," he told her, leaning down to pick up his weapon before placing it on his back. "My girl's waitin' for me back at the base." He crouched down and extended a hand towards her. She glanced between it and his face for a few moments, before lifting a hoof. He grabbed her hoof and helped her to her hooves. Suddenly, he laid his free hand on the flames of the torch, extinguishing it with a hiss, before he placed his hands under the crook between her forelegs and barrel and lifted her up. He brought her up to his body, and she instinctively wrapped her hooves around his neck as his left hand held her bottom, while the other supported her back.
"I can see well enough in the dark, so I'll just carry you there," He explained. She opened her mouth to protest, but the hand on her back rose and began scratching behind her ear, silencing her as she melted into his touch. Her exhaustion caught up to her, and she fell asleep, feeling safe in his strong and firm gasp.
Fluttershy awoke with a gasp, eyes flying open, widening in panic as she saw the wall of a cave, barely lit by the fire she could hear popping to her left.
"Woah!" A female voice said from behind her as a paw was laid on her back in a comforting manner. "Easy there. I'm not done bandaging you."
Knowing the soft touch and caring voice of a knowledgeable caretaker, she relaxed, feeling the unseen mare hold her leg up from the metal table as she began carefully wrapping something on her right thigh. she tested her opened wings, lightly raising them. The left was completely fine, apart from being a little sore, but yelped as a jolt of pain rushed through her as she tried to move the right one.
"Easy, easy," the caretaker softly told her, lightly stroking her neck. It barely eased the pain. "You're right wing took a big hit. Let it rest," she calmly ordered.
"W-What happened?" Fluttershy squeaked out. The mare took a moment to answer as she tied off the bandage.
"I'm not entirely sure. I found you unconscious on the forest floor, bleeding from multiple wounds," she explained, starting to wrap another bandage just under the previous one.
"Monsters..." She whispered, barely audible to her caretaker. "My friends..."
"Ambushed by predators?" The mare asked. Fluttershy hummed in confirmation.
"Mm. How many of you were there?" Her caretaker asked, tying off the second bandage and carefully laying her leg back down on the table.
"There were six of us..." Fluttershy started. "The princess had sent us off to meet a new sentient species that had built a home in the Everfree forest..." She paused for a moment to collect her thoughts, her caretaker stroking down her neck and along her back.
"We were stopped at the gate by one of their guards... Twilight started introducing us, but he was being rude, so Rainbow started being rude back..." Fluttershy trailed off, sniffling as a tear ran down her cheek. "I love her a lot, but sometimes she can be downright stupid..." She sniffled again as the memory played in her head.
"What happened next?" Her caretaker asks.
"They started arguing, yelling at each other... He wasn't backing down, and eventually Rainbow swung at him..." Fluttershy started shaking as more tears escaped her eyes. "He dodged it and tackled Rainbow, pinning her to the ground... She managed to slip out, to fly into the air..." She let out a shaky exhale. "But then he pointed his weapon at her... It was so loud, and fired a projectile that was way faster than her, tearing through the skin of her wing like a hungry dragon through a pile of gems... I didn't see where she crashed because he turned towards us... and I ran, running into a pack of hunting Timberwolves..." Her caretaker moved her paw to scratch behind her ears, and she leaned into it.
"We are known for being toxic and short tempered," The caretaker said.
"We?" Fluttershy whispered.
"Yep. Rust brings out the worst in people," She explained.
"Is-" Fluttershy jumped as a loud crackle echoed in the cave, followed by a static lined voice.
"Selling one duped shovel."
The mare giggled, removing her paw from her head, to Flutter's dismay.
"How many refined?" She answered.
"Found another one. This one almost folded me in half," the crackly male voice said.
"What a coincidence. I found one as well," she replied, lightly patting Fluttershy's back.
“Holy shit, how did one get that far?" He exclaimed. "Who'd you find?"
Without answering, she put what looked like a walkie talkie in front of her muzzle, holding it with five hairless brown digits, including an opposable thumb.
"Uhm... H-Hello?" Fluttershy stuttered.
"Fluttershy?" A female voice asked.
"Rainbow?" She replied.
"Don't worry! We're gonna find you!" Rainbow Dash assured her friend.
"Oh, don't worry," the male voice returned. "We know exactly where she is."
"Really?!" The female exclaimed. "Bring me to her!"
"Can't." He easily replied.
"Well, why not?!" She exclaimed again in a slightly aggravated tone.
"She's on the other side of this damn forest, which is about as big as a fucking sanctuary server," He explained.
"I don't know what that is!" She said.
"IT'S REALLY FUCKING BIG, ALRIGHT?!" He snapped.
"Oh. Right. S-Sorry." Rainbow mumbled.
"Damn," he grumbled. "Listen, I'm gonna take these mares back home, then go pick up Fluttershy, okay? Over and out," he informed his significant other.
"I'll be right here. Over and out," she told him, bringing the device back out of sight.
"He'll be here in about a week, so you're stuck with me until then," the caretaker informed Fluttershy. She turned her head to look behind her, and did a double take as she saw the creature.
The creature had a similar shape to the guard that attacked her, except she was slimmer and had wider hips. Most of her skin was exposed, smooth and consistently washed, wearing a vest of varied unreadable road signs over her chest and shoulders, along with a skirt made of road signs, which looked more like a belt than anything, with the exception of two flaps over her hips. She had a black hoofball cap on her head, and a red bandana covering the bottom portion of her face, revealing nothing but a pair of beautiful sapphire eyes.
Regardless, Fluttershy smiled. "Thank you for taking care of me."
"Wort' no thang," she replied in a mock southern accent with a wave after each word, before sliding tan gloves with solid looking knuckles over her hands.
"I need to make more bandages," she said to herself, grabbing a black L-shaped object and making it click. "I'll be right back," she approached the wall with a door she had erected into the somewhat small cave entrance, placing her hand on the doorknob and opening it, stepping out into the pitch black darkness of Luna's night.
"Don't go anywhere!" she said before closing the door, leaving Fluttershy alone. Since she couldn't move, she decided to get some shuteye, facing forward and closing her eyes.
Author's Note
This may be half as long as the prologue, but I wrote this chapter specifically because Mr. Green-Venom asked for it, and I wasn't exactly inspired to bang out another equally as long chapter, so this will have to do until I get a tsunami of inspiration, get stuck on a grammatical error that doesn't really matter, and become uninspired again as suddenly as being quick-scoped by mister ḺѺℵ€ ШølF ϟнadoW ѦϟϟѦϟϟЇℕ by his Hale's own festive Australium professional killstreak sniper rifle named some bullshit Latin word while I blindly charge around a corner with 11 heads and a death wish
In other news, I'm pretty sure making him say 'dog cunt' is a reference to a popular Rust YouTuber, but I forget who, so I'd appreciate if one of you guys told me.
Also, I decided to merge the second and third chapter into one of similar length to the first and call it a full chapter.
Also, I should really send it to my editor/proofreader.
