Time is a perceptionby TheWingManChaptersAn interesting arrivalWarning: Explanation requiredAuto return iniated...error...wait...what is happening to me?An interesting arrival"Objective complete." One bullet left his gun. One bullet that ended this entire adventure in a single second. Silence filled the area as the man who had caused this hell was finally gone forever. He sighed in relief as he heard the AI's words, looking down at the now deceased Krone. "Whoever you are, soldier, thank you." He looked over as the militia commander that he had worked with, Mason Cooke, waved at him. He nodded back. "Auto return function repaired. Initiating jump." The user looked down at the display on his wrist. He then felt himself thrust backwards as his suit activated the time jump, knocking him unconcious for a moment. "Where is Shining Armor?" "He reported that he was going into the tundra, your highness. We wanted to go with him, but he refused. He said something about a yeti being too close to the city." Princess Cadance, the ruler of the Crystal Empire, sighed to herself in mild frustration and concern. "Why does he always have to be so reckless?" She nodded at the guard, thanking him as she walked away. "I need to get to him. If he gets himself hurt..." She trotted as fast as she could towards the city walls. She needed to get past the barrier and fast. On her way, she brought some guards with her. She'd need the extra help if it really was a yeti. Those things could be incredibly dangerous. Big, towering monsters of snow that could break a pony in half. As she and her guards reached the barrier, they took a deep breathe and stepped outside into the freezing cold. "Time jump successful. Original destination altered. Auto return function unavailable" The user looked down at the wrist pad, slamming it with his fist. He growled in anger. What did the damn thing mean original destination changed? And what was that about the auto return function not working? If he couldn't get back to his own timeline, he couldn't save... He punched the ground. As he did, he felt cold. Snow. He didn't even realise immediately. He still had his weapons with him from the alternate reality. A karbine, a shattergun and an echo rifle. He wasn't sure how he still had those, considering they were from a different timeline, but he wasn't about to question it. He sighed behind his visor, walking forward, looking around. There was nothing but snow for miles, it seemed. Just a snow storm that never seemed to end. Where even was he? He heard something ahead of him. Sounded like...wildlife? Some sort of creature was battling...something. It sounded a bit like a gorilla. He readied his karbine and pushed forward. "Threat detected." He heard the AI speak throughout his suit as he ran, trying not to fall onto the snow. He looked around, wondering what sort of mess he'd gotten himself into this time. Suddenly, he saw something in the distance. Looked like two figures. One had the shadow of...a equine like creature? And the other one looked like some sort of hairy ape from what he could make out of it. It had...horns? Okay, so not an ape. He was pretty sure that apes didn't have horns. With the sight of the two figures came the sound of voices. Two, to be exact. One was certainly male and he could make out what the words coming from its mouth and the other was just a set of untangible growls. "Back off you vile beast!" He deducted that the English talking voice was coming from the figure on the left, which was the horse like figure. He closed in on them both and he could make them out much better now. One was indeed a horse, with what appeared to be a protective cloak on. Probably to protect itself from the ice cold storm. But that wasn't what shocked the user. No, what shocked him was the fact that this horse had a horn on its head. Like a unicorn from mythology? He looked at the other figure, which currently had hold of the horse. It looked a bit like a yeti from old folklore. The yeti threw the horse into the snow, causing the horse to groan in agony as it slumped into the snow. It appeared unconcious. The yeti looked towads the user, growling as it charged at him. "Evasive action required." He slowed down time and managed to just dodge out of the way of the creature's charge. He rolled to the side and recovered near immediately. He took aim and pumped a few rounds into the creature's back, causing it to growl in pain. It turned around, blood coming out of its mouth now as it tried to charge him again. He stopped time and walked up to it, jumping on its back and shooting about 10 rounds into the back of its skull. Time resumed, the bullets connected and the creature fell to the floor as it screamed out in agony. It stopped moving after a few seconds, letting him know that the creature was slain. He looked to his left, seeing the unconcious horse. What should he do? The thing could talk. Maybe he could question it, get some info as to where he was. He walked up to it, but heard S.S.A.M speak again. "Concealed threat detected. Time slowing threat detected." A time slowing threat? He turned around, readying his weapon once again. He saw at least 6 new figures in the distance, clearly walking towards his position. They walked into his sight and they appeared to be...more horses? 5 of them were adorning some type of primitive armor and the other one was pink, with no armor on apart from some regalia on its hooves and its head. They looked at the slain yeti, some of the guards nearly puking. The pink one just looked at it, a stoic expression on its face. It then looked towards the unconcious horse that the yeti had thrown earlier and then to the user. Its eyes hardened when they met him. It then trotted towards the unconcious one, trying to wake him. He could hear it speak. "Shiny, wake up!" The guards came towards me, spears raised. I heard one of them speak. "Don't even think of moving. Whatever you are, stay there." "Manual timeshift available." As he heard the computer's voice echo through his ears, he narrowed his eyes behind his visor. He reversed time to the point where they were still in the distance. He laid in the snow, camoflauging himself. The ponies looked around and went through the exact same actions as they did a minute ago. The only difference is that they didn't notice him this time. He had his plan. He was going to follow them back to wherever they came from. See if he could get some info of this place. Questioning the unicorn was out of question at the moment anyway. He was already being carried away by the guards. As they were walking away, the pink one turned around, narrowing her eyes and searching the area. Did she see him? Impossible. He was completely encased in the snow. It eventually turned back around, following the guards. He sighed in relief, standing up once he had made sure that they were far enough that they wouldn't hear him, but not too far away. He still needed to follow them. He held his weapon tight and quietly followed them, making sure they couldn't see him if they turned around. The user followed them for about an hour before ariving at the nearest city. What he saw baffled him. A city made out of crystals, the inhabitants themselves were coating in a shiny, crystal like coat and he saw a heart what seemed to be made out of wood. He was joking. It was crystal. Was there a crystal fetish here? He was currently hidden behind a local stall what was being managed by a citizen. He managed to get in pretty easily, using his time powers when the time called for it. The user wasn't great at humour, if you didn't already notice. The pink one, along with the others, brought the unconcious unicorn back into the giant castle in front of him. He hummed to himself in thought. How was he going to get in there? "Manual timeshift available." S.S.A.M's voice came through to him for the first time since he had started following them. He looked at the door and looked in the suit's HUD to see what time power the AI had recommened. Stop time was selected. He nodded to himself and stopped time, walking slowly past the now completely still crowd of ponies. He managed to just make it inside the castle in time before his suit ran out of energy, the guards at the door being non the wiser. He spotted the pink one up ahead. The guards were still towing behind her. He crouched and stalked them, seeing where they'd go. The pink one went to a massive, crystal door and opened it, taking the unconcious male with her. The guards saluted and went their own way. He hid behind a table just before the guards noticed. He breathed out softly. Checking to make sure that the guards had dispersed, he slowly went up to the massive door. He let his suit energy refill itself before he opened the door and stopped time just as it was wide enough to let him in. He walked in, noticing that the pink one was in the process of turning her head towards the door. He hid behind a wardrobe at the back of the room, there being just enough space to fit. When time resumed, the female looked at the door, confused. She then shrugged and went back to caring for the still unconcious one. She then did something that confused him. Her horn started glowing again and she searched around the room. Had she picked up on the time interferance? If so, how? "Come on out, I know something is there." "Time slowing threat detected." He narrowed his eyes towards the thing. That warning again. So this thing had the power to slow time as well? How? Surely it was to do with the glow coming from the horn on its head. It then turned its head towards the wardrobe and walked towards it. He stopped time and managed to get out from behind the wardrobe and hide underneath the bed. The pony looked behind where he just was, him sighing in relief. He checked to make sure that his weapons were all in check. Good, all of them were accounted for. "I see you, you know. Come out." He gulped. Shit. He looked up to see the pony now staring at him, an unamused look on its face. He pointed his gun at it, causing it to back off slightly. He got out from under the bed, still pointing his karbine at it. It looked at him, now narrowing its eyes. "Listen, I don't know what you are and I can only assume what you're holding is a weapon with how you're pointing it directly at me. If that's the case, lower it. I do not wish to cause you harm unless you try to cause me harm." He wasn't buying it. What if it tried to get the better of him as soon as he complied? It then did something that he wasn't expecting. It smiled. "You're scared, aren't you? Please, lower the weapon. I won't hurt you. I swear on my life." Its voice seemed...genuine. He couldn't pick up on any malice or dishonesty. And he was quite good at reading people. He sighed and lowered the gun, keeping his distance. He had his time powers on standby if this turned out bad. Its smile widened, sitting down on the bed. "Thank you, I appreciate it. Can you speak?" He nodded. "In that case, do you mind telling me why you were under my bed and how you got here?" Its voice seemed...similar. But he couldn't place his finger on it. Then, it hit him. It couldn't be... "Initiating neural stimili." Before he could question the response from S.S.A.M, he saw his love. He felt a heavy weight in his chest. That's why her voice sounded so similar. It sounded like hers. Near identical. His mind came back to reality. The pony was now staring at him, concern spread across its face. "Hello? Are you okay?" It waved its hoof, trying to get his attention. He nodded. He then slowly took his helmet off for the first time ever since he put the beta suit on. He breathed in deeply, the pony staring in awe and intrigue. "The name is Michael Swift. Prepare yourself, because this explanation is going to be very strange for you." Author's Note Had this idea when I was playing through Timeshift again. An underrated gem in my eyes. Really fun. This story might not get updated super fast, but I will stick to it. If any of you guys have read my Vanquish story, please know that I do plan to continue it eventually. It isn't dead yet. I've just not had the energy to write more for that particular story and I don't want to just rush a chapter out for the sake of updating it. I'd feel wrong if I rushed it. But I will try my best to update it in the near future. Criticsm is welcome. Hope you enjoyed this first chapter and we'll see where this goes. Warning: Explanation requiredEarth 2007 March 28th 2.18PM "Dr Krone, the Alpha suit is ready for testing. Are you ready?" The head scientist in charge of the quantam program nodded, strapping on the suit accordingly and tightly. "Indeed I am. Proceed." "Yes, Doctor." She activated the suit, causing him to disappear. Then, after a few seconds, he reappeared back in the exact same spot that was in a moment ago. She smiled. "It seems that the test was successful, Doctor. What did you experience?" He turned around, taking the suit off and grinning to himself. "A multitude of things, miss Daniels. What no doubt seemed like seconds to you was years to me." She stared in awe, writing everything down in her notebook. "Fascinating, Doctor." He turned around, walking past her, adjusting his glasses and smirking. "Oh, trust me, it will be." Accessing info...error....unable to determine location. "Let me get this straight. You're from an alternate reality. One where a planet called Earth is occupied by your species, known as human beings." "Correct." "And you were a scientist who was working to create an invention that would let your people travel through time?" "Correct again." "And you took one of the suits that you and your team had helped create, went back in time to an alternate timeline and stopped the man responsible?" Michael nodded. "Correct yet again." The pink pony, who he now knew as Princess Cadance, stared at him, reading his face, attempting to see if he was lying. It seemed like he was not. She sighed, holding a hoof to her head. "Hearing you explain that to me has given me a headache. Surely you can't be telling me the exact truth? To alter time like that...is unheard of." Michael got up, stretching his arms, putting his helmet back on. He preffered it on now, honestly. He could still speak, of course. It was just more muffled. "We thought it was impossible, until Dr Krone..." He spat out that name. The name of the man...no, the monster who had put him through hell and caused the entire fiasco in the first place. So many dead thanks to him. Michael hopped that he was rotting in hell. "...proved us wrong. Honestly, I don't understand it fully myself. All I know is that this suit has saved my life." She stared at the suit in sheer awe, taking it all of its features, trotting around him in a circle. She put a hoof on the side of the suit, wincing at how cold it felt to the touch. "It certainly does look amazing. How does it feel inside?" He shrugged, doing another weapons check. Can never be too sure. "It is...surprisingly comfy. For what it is. It allows me to be as agile as I would be without the suit, even more so when the suit allows it, while also providing me extreme protection. It also comes equipped with an AI." Cadance looked at him and raised an eyebrow, sitting back down on the bed. "What is an AI?" He chuckled, going down on one knee to her height. "It means artifical intelligence. It is a computer chip what can adapt and help keep the suit's user alive. It can offer tactical recommendations in the field, similate neural stimili, monitor the user's vital signs and adrenaline levels, et cetera." She rubbed her hoof against her head again, trying to make sense out of the situation that was laid out before her. She turned her head to look at the still unconcious Shining Armor, gaining a sad look on her face. "I'm going to take him to the hospital. He's not looking so good. My poor Shining Armor...always so stubborn." Michael stood up and walked over, looking down at the unconcious pony. "Why was he outside in the snow storm?" She rubbed Shining's head, him stirring in response but not waking up. He was sweating and bruised. "We'd had reports of a yeti patrolling around the perimiter of the city, outside in the tundra. Yeti's usually are quite dangerous and hostile to anything that comes near them. I didn't want it getting inside somehow and hurting one of my ponies, so Shining went to ward it off. I told him to take some guards, but he didn't listen and he wanted to go by himself. My stupid, adorable husband. So brave, yet so naive." He walked back over to the floor and sat down, looking at the pair. He sighed, putting his weapons on the floor next to him. "Think he'll be alright? Seems like that Yeti did quite a number on him." She nodded, smiling slightly, a few tears in her eyes. "Yes, he should be fine. My Shining has had worse. I have used some healing magic on him while we've been talking to slow his heart rate down a bit. But I still think I should take him to the hospital, just to be safe. Do you want to come with me?" He looked at her, raising an eyebrow. She obviously couldn't see it, his visor being back on and all. "I'm...not sure. You've only just met me a few hours ago and you want me to tag along to the city's hospital? How will the other inhabitants react? I don't exactly look like the most friendly individual with this suit on." She scoffed, attempting to pick Shining Armor up, only to groan in pain. Michael stood up, rubbing his head in annoyance. He stood up fast, walking over and picking him up. "Don't worry, I got him. Just lead me to the hospital." She smiled, standing up. "Thank you. I am sorry. My magic is drained from earlier. I don't do well in the tundra. And as for why I want you to come, I would rather introduce you to my ponies sooner rather than later. I don't trust you fully as you don't me, but I have grown up and realised that I should give every living creature a chance, even if it's an unknown one." His eyebrow still raised behind his visor, he nodded, carrying Shining Armor over to the door. "Right. Let's get this guy to the hospital then, shall we?" Cadance smiled wider, nodding. "Indeed we shall." "Woah, look at that skin!" "It isn't my skin." "It can talk to?!" "I'm a he, not an..." "Why is your skin like that?" "I've just said that..." "Enough!" All of the ponies stared at the booming voice, it coming from the princess herself. They all held their ears as pain rang through them. She sheepishly smiled, rubbing the back of her neck. "Sorry about that, my little ponies. But please, one question at a time." After a while, they all lined up outside the hospital, asking Michael all sorts of questions. As soon as they had arrived at the hosptial, a bunch of ponies had spotted him and Cadance, along with the unconcious Shining Armor. They originally screamed and called for the guards once they saw him, but after a few minutes of explanation by Cadance, they all seemed to settle down a bit. Seemed if the princess thought he was okay, everyone else seemed to. For now, at least. Could very well change. And fast. He got through the questions and they eventually all backed off once they realised that Shining needed medical care. Michael and Cadance were currently sat around Shining's bed. Cadance sighed, looking down at him and kissing his cheek softly. "Oh, my Shining Armor. I do love you. So very much." "Initiating neural stimuli." Before Michael could even do anything, he saw his partner again. This time, it was when Krone had hit her and planted a bomb in the facility. After seeing this, he bashed his hand on a nearby heart monitor, smashing it. Cadance jumped, looking at him in pure shock. "What was that for?!" He came to his senses in one swift motion, realising what he'd done. He picked the heart monitor back up from the floor. The screen was now cracked to high hell. He sighed, putting it back on the cart. "I'm sorry. I was seeing something that I really didn't want to remember." Cadance tilted her head, an eyebrow raised slightly. "Oh? Care to elaborate?" He shook his head. "Sorry, not right now. Maybe another time. Anyway, looks like sleeping beauty there is waking up." She looked at him before suddenly hearing a cough, bringing her attention below her. Shining was waking up. She smiled and nuzzled him softly, him responding with a nuzzle of his own. "C-Cadance...how are you?" Cadance kept nuzzling, not wanting this moment to end. "I'm okay, my sweet. How are you feeling?" He pulled away from the nuzzle, chuckling dryly. "I'll live. So, how have things been in the..." Before he could finish his sentence, Shining heard something move to his left. He turned his head to see... He jumped up from the bed, ripping the drip out of one of his forelegs, groaning in pain and hitting his head, knocking him out again. Cadance screamed as she winced, picking him up and running off to call for the nurse. Michael sat there, slightly smirking to himself behind his visor. "I've had worse reactions." Auto return iniated...error...wait...what is happening to me?Earth 2007 April 12th 1:30PM Dr Krone walked around the lab, scratching his chin in thought. He looked at his secretary, blinking. “How is the beta suit coming along?” She looked down at her notepad, then down at the suit. “It is coming along brilliantly, Dr Krone. We’ve made strides ahead of when we originally created the Alpha suit. We’ve managed to make S.S.A.M as accurate as possible with what technology we currently have.” He nodded, looking down at the suit. “Interesting indeed. Leave me for now, if you will. I want to inspect the suit myself.” The secretary blinked, confused. But regardless, she nodded and left the room. Krone looked back down at the suit, pulling out the origin drive, which allowed the suit to use its auto return system. The system would pull the user back to its original jump point if the user required it. He looked at it in his hands, narrowing his eyes. “This won’t do. This won’t do at all. My plan won’t succeed if something isn’t done to rectify this…complication.” He returned the origin drive into the system and walked out of the room, readying himself to put his plan into motion. “Jesus…what have I gotten myself into here?” Michael rested his hand on his knee, looking at the sleeping unicorn next to him. He’d been there for a few hours now. Originally, it…well, he, had woken up and freaked out at the sight of him. He wasn’t really shocked by the reaction. The suit that he was currently in didn’t help. He looked towards the door, sighing. “I really don’t want to have to go through another…” He suddenly felt a hard impact against his head which knocked him down. He immediately got back up, readying his Karbine that he had rested on the floor. The unicorn had somehow woken up without him noticing. Its horn was glowing. Before Michael could try and talk to it to get it to calm down, he felt a weird sensation. Like, he was frozen in place and couldn’t move an inch. He looked down to a glow, the same glow, coming from his body now too. He looked up and saw the unicorn, a scowl on its face, staring right at him. “I don’t know what the hell you are, but stay away from me and my wife!” He tried to use his powers to break free, but alas, it was for naught. For some reason, S.S.A.M wasn’t responding. Was this the same thing that he saw earlier from the other one? The telekinesis? “Auto return repaired. Initializing.” Auto…wait, it was repaired? How? He thought it would have been a similar situation to when he arrived in the alternate timeline what Krone altered. Apparently, that was not the case. Before he could react, he was flung back, the unicorn and his surroundings disappearing. He felt himself falling back, only to hear S.S.A.M glitching out. “Auto return..failing…system…system malfunction…” His vision went black, the feeling in his body disappearing along with his vision. After what felt like hours of being completely out, Michael woke up, confused with his surroundings. He was…back in the snowstorm? “What? Wait..the unicorn...S.S.A.M. What happened?” “You should be telling me, Michael.” He jumped, thankfully having his weapons next to him. He grabbed his Karbine, snapping his head around, trying to find out where the voice came from. “Relax, it’s me.” Wha…wait…that voice sounded a lot like… “S.S.A.M?” “That is correct, Michael.” He blinked behind his visor. How was this possible? S.S.A.M was merely an AI built to help the user and control the suit’s main and vital functions. It wasn’t intelligent enough to talk out of its programming. “But…that’s impossible. You can’t talk out of your programming! You were just built to help maintain the suit!” Its voice starting echo’ing through the suit again, it’s feminine voice sounding less…artificial now? “I am as confused as you are. I don’t remember much before now. All I do remember is suddenly feeling more…alive, as you humans would say, as soon as that creature hit you with its time stopping power.” He blinked again. “Time stopping power? Oh, the unicorn with its power. Yeah, I don’t know what happened. How did you repair the auto return?” “Simple. I still had the virtual schematics of the Alpha Suit’s origin drive, so I used those to repair the current origin drive that still rests in the suit.” He hummed in thought, rubbing his temple. “This is too confusing for me…wait…so you’ve been brought to life somehow by a random creature that used some sort of power on me?” “Correct. Whatever power that creature used, it somehow had unexpected side effects on me and the suit. It seems, from my readings, that you cannot be affected by that same power again.” Michael nodded, turning around, walking forward. “I see…so, I’m assuming since we returned here, none of that happened?” He heard S.S.A.M scoff. Wait, scoff? What the… “Indeed. You should now how the auto return works by now, Michael. What with everything we’ve been through.” “Did you just scoff? And I thought you couldn’t remember before your sudden…change.” He continued trudging through the snow, making sure to get away from that place. He needed to find that town again, see what he could do. “I did. I told you, whatever that thing did to me has somehow made me more alive. I cannot explain it more than I already have. It seems to be an alien element and there should be no way that this was possible, but it seems to have happened. And no, I can’t remember my time here apart from that, but I still seem to retain the memories of the alternate dimension what Dr Krone had altered. This is strange for me as well, Michael.” He rolled his eyes and grunted from how cold he was. Before he could reply, he heard footsteps. No, hooves. And voices. Sounded like… The pink one. This time, he wasted no time in hiding in the snow, in a different position. He already knew how this was going to play out. He simply sat and waited. “Strange. Even though I managed to repair the auto return function, it malfunctioned again. From my readings, it seems as if something is keeping us here. I am not sure what though. Further analysis is required.” He scoffed, grinning to himself. “You may have got your own sentience all of a sudden, S.S.A.M, but you still sound like an AI.” A giggle erupted through his suit. Okay, now that was fucking creepy. “Indeed, Michael. Even if I have undergone a radical change, I am still artificial in nature. Anyway, focus on following those creatures. I do not remember you following them or much apart from that one particular one attacking us, but I suggest doing the same as before. Except this time, do not talk to them. Not yet, anyway. We need to see what we are up against. “ He nodded, even though S.S.A.M obviously couldn’t see it. “Alright. When I followed them the last time and revealed myself to one of them, who happened to be the partner of the one that attacked me when he woke up. That one seemed to be a lot more accepting and friendly than her spouse.” Another giggle. He was going to have to get used to that. “Seems that you made a good first impression on one of the ladies.” He rolled his eyes, chuckling. “Yeah yeah. I’m going to have to get used to you having a personality, it seems.” “Indeed you are. And me too. I am still getting…accustomed to being able to speak outside of my parameters.” He heard hooves again, this time going away from him. He noticed that it was indeed the pink one, with her guards. What was her name again? Cadance. Least he still remembered the name. She was carrying the one that had assaulted him, the exact same as last time. So, in response, he followed closely, making sure not to alert any of them. “If the female was nice to you before, you should try and introduce yourself to her again. I’ve scanned her and it seems that she is…knowledgeable of this place. Very knowledgeable. It seems that she is part of a race known as Alicorns. They are a mixture of the other races that inhabit this place. Pegasi, unicorns and Earth Ponies.” He followed the exact same routine as last time. Except this time, he didn’t bother hiding. He’d actually made it inside her room using his time powers before she had gotten in there. He waited in the room, readying his weapon just in case this went sour. “They’re basically just a bunch of multi-coloured horses that have a weird assortment of powers and abilities. I get it.” S.S.A.M was about to respond, but the door started opening. After a few seconds, the pony who he needed walking in, carrying a certain someone with her. She noticed Michael standing in the room, readying her horn. “Want to tell me why you’re in my room and what you are?” He sighed. This was going to be annoying. Why was she a lot nicer before? And she didn’t sense him this time. Strange…maybe it was to do with the thing that S.S.A.M said earlier? And maybe that’s why she was so hostile all of a sudden? She wasn’t expecting him this time. “Listen, before you jump to any conclusions, sit down. We need to talk.” The glow around the horn slowly disippated, Cadance looking at him, narrowing her eyes. “I’m not sure what you are or why you’re in my room, but you better explain yourself. Fast. My husband needs medical care and I’m not going to let him get even more hurt. So before I call my guards in here, you better get talking. Fast.” She certainly was more hostile this time around. This was going to tire him out. He hated having to repeat himself. “Well, here goes nothing.” “So, you’re telling me that you’re from another timeline and you’ve talked to me before, but my husband here attacked you out of fear and you somehow managed to travel back in time before that happened?” Michael nodded behind his mask. “I know that it’s hard to understand or believe, but yeah, pretty much.” She sighed, looking at her husband. “I would call you crazy, but in my lifetime, I’ve come to expect strange things. I’ve seen them myself. And with how you look and that thing you’re carrying…you’re certainly nothing that I’ve seen before.” She was talking about his weapon. He had his others still, but he hid them in the suit’s compartments. Didn’t want to scare her too much. He turned his attention to her still unconscious partner. “He needs to get to the hospital. And I won’t be there this time. I don’t want the same events to repeat themselves.” She nodded, carrying him to the door. “I agree. All of this is still hard to believe and I’m inclined to just throw you out, but my gut feeling is telling me that I shouldn’t. And my gut is never wrong. So, while I take my husband here to the hospital, you stay here. I don’t need you freaking out my ponies. We’ll talk more when I get back.” He nodded, sitting down. “Alright. Hope he recovers soon.” She shut the door, not responding. S.S.A.M came back from her sudden silence. “I thought you said she was friendly, Michael.” He chuckled, taking off his mask. Was getting hot in there. “She was. Not sure what changed that.” “Maybe it was because, as you said, she didn’t pick up on your presence this time. Therefor, you scared her more than last time. Either way, it doesn’t matter. If she can help, that is all that is important. Keep an eye on her.” He nodded. “I will. Why did you go quiet, anyway?” She scoffed. “Because we do not need to freak these things out even more. I will remain quiet for now whenever there is one around, as to not spook them.” He once again chuckled, grinning. “Bet you’re a real charmer.” A giggled echo’d throughout the suit. “Says you.” Michael put his weapon down next to him, laying down on the massive bed beneath him. He let out a heavy sigh, closing his eyes behind his visor. “Can I ever catch a break?”
An interesting arrival"Objective complete." One bullet left his gun. One bullet that ended this entire adventure in a single second. Silence filled the area as the man who had caused this hell was finally gone forever. He sighed in relief as he heard the AI's words, looking down at the now deceased Krone. "Whoever you are, soldier, thank you." He looked over as the militia commander that he had worked with, Mason Cooke, waved at him. He nodded back. "Auto return function repaired. Initiating jump." The user looked down at the display on his wrist. He then felt himself thrust backwards as his suit activated the time jump, knocking him unconcious for a moment. "Where is Shining Armor?" "He reported that he was going into the tundra, your highness. We wanted to go with him, but he refused. He said something about a yeti being too close to the city." Princess Cadance, the ruler of the Crystal Empire, sighed to herself in mild frustration and concern. "Why does he always have to be so reckless?" She nodded at the guard, thanking him as she walked away. "I need to get to him. If he gets himself hurt..." She trotted as fast as she could towards the city walls. She needed to get past the barrier and fast. On her way, she brought some guards with her. She'd need the extra help if it really was a yeti. Those things could be incredibly dangerous. Big, towering monsters of snow that could break a pony in half. As she and her guards reached the barrier, they took a deep breathe and stepped outside into the freezing cold. "Time jump successful. Original destination altered. Auto return function unavailable" The user looked down at the wrist pad, slamming it with his fist. He growled in anger. What did the damn thing mean original destination changed? And what was that about the auto return function not working? If he couldn't get back to his own timeline, he couldn't save... He punched the ground. As he did, he felt cold. Snow. He didn't even realise immediately. He still had his weapons with him from the alternate reality. A karbine, a shattergun and an echo rifle. He wasn't sure how he still had those, considering they were from a different timeline, but he wasn't about to question it. He sighed behind his visor, walking forward, looking around. There was nothing but snow for miles, it seemed. Just a snow storm that never seemed to end. Where even was he? He heard something ahead of him. Sounded like...wildlife? Some sort of creature was battling...something. It sounded a bit like a gorilla. He readied his karbine and pushed forward. "Threat detected." He heard the AI speak throughout his suit as he ran, trying not to fall onto the snow. He looked around, wondering what sort of mess he'd gotten himself into this time. Suddenly, he saw something in the distance. Looked like two figures. One had the shadow of...a equine like creature? And the other one looked like some sort of hairy ape from what he could make out of it. It had...horns? Okay, so not an ape. He was pretty sure that apes didn't have horns. With the sight of the two figures came the sound of voices. Two, to be exact. One was certainly male and he could make out what the words coming from its mouth and the other was just a set of untangible growls. "Back off you vile beast!" He deducted that the English talking voice was coming from the figure on the left, which was the horse like figure. He closed in on them both and he could make them out much better now. One was indeed a horse, with what appeared to be a protective cloak on. Probably to protect itself from the ice cold storm. But that wasn't what shocked the user. No, what shocked him was the fact that this horse had a horn on its head. Like a unicorn from mythology? He looked at the other figure, which currently had hold of the horse. It looked a bit like a yeti from old folklore. The yeti threw the horse into the snow, causing the horse to groan in agony as it slumped into the snow. It appeared unconcious. The yeti looked towads the user, growling as it charged at him. "Evasive action required." He slowed down time and managed to just dodge out of the way of the creature's charge. He rolled to the side and recovered near immediately. He took aim and pumped a few rounds into the creature's back, causing it to growl in pain. It turned around, blood coming out of its mouth now as it tried to charge him again. He stopped time and walked up to it, jumping on its back and shooting about 10 rounds into the back of its skull. Time resumed, the bullets connected and the creature fell to the floor as it screamed out in agony. It stopped moving after a few seconds, letting him know that the creature was slain. He looked to his left, seeing the unconcious horse. What should he do? The thing could talk. Maybe he could question it, get some info as to where he was. He walked up to it, but heard S.S.A.M speak again. "Concealed threat detected. Time slowing threat detected." A time slowing threat? He turned around, readying his weapon once again. He saw at least 6 new figures in the distance, clearly walking towards his position. They walked into his sight and they appeared to be...more horses? 5 of them were adorning some type of primitive armor and the other one was pink, with no armor on apart from some regalia on its hooves and its head. They looked at the slain yeti, some of the guards nearly puking. The pink one just looked at it, a stoic expression on its face. It then looked towards the unconcious horse that the yeti had thrown earlier and then to the user. Its eyes hardened when they met him. It then trotted towards the unconcious one, trying to wake him. He could hear it speak. "Shiny, wake up!" The guards came towards me, spears raised. I heard one of them speak. "Don't even think of moving. Whatever you are, stay there." "Manual timeshift available." As he heard the computer's voice echo through his ears, he narrowed his eyes behind his visor. He reversed time to the point where they were still in the distance. He laid in the snow, camoflauging himself. The ponies looked around and went through the exact same actions as they did a minute ago. The only difference is that they didn't notice him this time. He had his plan. He was going to follow them back to wherever they came from. See if he could get some info of this place. Questioning the unicorn was out of question at the moment anyway. He was already being carried away by the guards. As they were walking away, the pink one turned around, narrowing her eyes and searching the area. Did she see him? Impossible. He was completely encased in the snow. It eventually turned back around, following the guards. He sighed in relief, standing up once he had made sure that they were far enough that they wouldn't hear him, but not too far away. He still needed to follow them. He held his weapon tight and quietly followed them, making sure they couldn't see him if they turned around. The user followed them for about an hour before ariving at the nearest city. What he saw baffled him. A city made out of crystals, the inhabitants themselves were coating in a shiny, crystal like coat and he saw a heart what seemed to be made out of wood. He was joking. It was crystal. Was there a crystal fetish here? He was currently hidden behind a local stall what was being managed by a citizen. He managed to get in pretty easily, using his time powers when the time called for it. The user wasn't great at humour, if you didn't already notice. The pink one, along with the others, brought the unconcious unicorn back into the giant castle in front of him. He hummed to himself in thought. How was he going to get in there? "Manual timeshift available." S.S.A.M's voice came through to him for the first time since he had started following them. He looked at the door and looked in the suit's HUD to see what time power the AI had recommened. Stop time was selected. He nodded to himself and stopped time, walking slowly past the now completely still crowd of ponies. He managed to just make it inside the castle in time before his suit ran out of energy, the guards at the door being non the wiser. He spotted the pink one up ahead. The guards were still towing behind her. He crouched and stalked them, seeing where they'd go. The pink one went to a massive, crystal door and opened it, taking the unconcious male with her. The guards saluted and went their own way. He hid behind a table just before the guards noticed. He breathed out softly. Checking to make sure that the guards had dispersed, he slowly went up to the massive door. He let his suit energy refill itself before he opened the door and stopped time just as it was wide enough to let him in. He walked in, noticing that the pink one was in the process of turning her head towards the door. He hid behind a wardrobe at the back of the room, there being just enough space to fit. When time resumed, the female looked at the door, confused. She then shrugged and went back to caring for the still unconcious one. She then did something that confused him. Her horn started glowing again and she searched around the room. Had she picked up on the time interferance? If so, how? "Come on out, I know something is there." "Time slowing threat detected." He narrowed his eyes towards the thing. That warning again. So this thing had the power to slow time as well? How? Surely it was to do with the glow coming from the horn on its head. It then turned its head towards the wardrobe and walked towards it. He stopped time and managed to get out from behind the wardrobe and hide underneath the bed. The pony looked behind where he just was, him sighing in relief. He checked to make sure that his weapons were all in check. Good, all of them were accounted for. "I see you, you know. Come out." He gulped. Shit. He looked up to see the pony now staring at him, an unamused look on its face. He pointed his gun at it, causing it to back off slightly. He got out from under the bed, still pointing his karbine at it. It looked at him, now narrowing its eyes. "Listen, I don't know what you are and I can only assume what you're holding is a weapon with how you're pointing it directly at me. If that's the case, lower it. I do not wish to cause you harm unless you try to cause me harm." He wasn't buying it. What if it tried to get the better of him as soon as he complied? It then did something that he wasn't expecting. It smiled. "You're scared, aren't you? Please, lower the weapon. I won't hurt you. I swear on my life." Its voice seemed...genuine. He couldn't pick up on any malice or dishonesty. And he was quite good at reading people. He sighed and lowered the gun, keeping his distance. He had his time powers on standby if this turned out bad. Its smile widened, sitting down on the bed. "Thank you, I appreciate it. Can you speak?" He nodded. "In that case, do you mind telling me why you were under my bed and how you got here?" Its voice seemed...similar. But he couldn't place his finger on it. Then, it hit him. It couldn't be... "Initiating neural stimili." Before he could question the response from S.S.A.M, he saw his love. He felt a heavy weight in his chest. That's why her voice sounded so similar. It sounded like hers. Near identical. His mind came back to reality. The pony was now staring at him, concern spread across its face. "Hello? Are you okay?" It waved its hoof, trying to get his attention. He nodded. He then slowly took his helmet off for the first time ever since he put the beta suit on. He breathed in deeply, the pony staring in awe and intrigue. "The name is Michael Swift. Prepare yourself, because this explanation is going to be very strange for you." Author's Note Had this idea when I was playing through Timeshift again. An underrated gem in my eyes. Really fun. This story might not get updated super fast, but I will stick to it. If any of you guys have read my Vanquish story, please know that I do plan to continue it eventually. It isn't dead yet. I've just not had the energy to write more for that particular story and I don't want to just rush a chapter out for the sake of updating it. I'd feel wrong if I rushed it. But I will try my best to update it in the near future. Criticsm is welcome. Hope you enjoyed this first chapter and we'll see where this goes.
Warning: Explanation requiredEarth 2007 March 28th 2.18PM "Dr Krone, the Alpha suit is ready for testing. Are you ready?" The head scientist in charge of the quantam program nodded, strapping on the suit accordingly and tightly. "Indeed I am. Proceed." "Yes, Doctor." She activated the suit, causing him to disappear. Then, after a few seconds, he reappeared back in the exact same spot that was in a moment ago. She smiled. "It seems that the test was successful, Doctor. What did you experience?" He turned around, taking the suit off and grinning to himself. "A multitude of things, miss Daniels. What no doubt seemed like seconds to you was years to me." She stared in awe, writing everything down in her notebook. "Fascinating, Doctor." He turned around, walking past her, adjusting his glasses and smirking. "Oh, trust me, it will be." Accessing info...error....unable to determine location. "Let me get this straight. You're from an alternate reality. One where a planet called Earth is occupied by your species, known as human beings." "Correct." "And you were a scientist who was working to create an invention that would let your people travel through time?" "Correct again." "And you took one of the suits that you and your team had helped create, went back in time to an alternate timeline and stopped the man responsible?" Michael nodded. "Correct yet again." The pink pony, who he now knew as Princess Cadance, stared at him, reading his face, attempting to see if he was lying. It seemed like he was not. She sighed, holding a hoof to her head. "Hearing you explain that to me has given me a headache. Surely you can't be telling me the exact truth? To alter time like that...is unheard of." Michael got up, stretching his arms, putting his helmet back on. He preffered it on now, honestly. He could still speak, of course. It was just more muffled. "We thought it was impossible, until Dr Krone..." He spat out that name. The name of the man...no, the monster who had put him through hell and caused the entire fiasco in the first place. So many dead thanks to him. Michael hopped that he was rotting in hell. "...proved us wrong. Honestly, I don't understand it fully myself. All I know is that this suit has saved my life." She stared at the suit in sheer awe, taking it all of its features, trotting around him in a circle. She put a hoof on the side of the suit, wincing at how cold it felt to the touch. "It certainly does look amazing. How does it feel inside?" He shrugged, doing another weapons check. Can never be too sure. "It is...surprisingly comfy. For what it is. It allows me to be as agile as I would be without the suit, even more so when the suit allows it, while also providing me extreme protection. It also comes equipped with an AI." Cadance looked at him and raised an eyebrow, sitting back down on the bed. "What is an AI?" He chuckled, going down on one knee to her height. "It means artifical intelligence. It is a computer chip what can adapt and help keep the suit's user alive. It can offer tactical recommendations in the field, similate neural stimili, monitor the user's vital signs and adrenaline levels, et cetera." She rubbed her hoof against her head again, trying to make sense out of the situation that was laid out before her. She turned her head to look at the still unconcious Shining Armor, gaining a sad look on her face. "I'm going to take him to the hospital. He's not looking so good. My poor Shining Armor...always so stubborn." Michael stood up and walked over, looking down at the unconcious pony. "Why was he outside in the snow storm?" She rubbed Shining's head, him stirring in response but not waking up. He was sweating and bruised. "We'd had reports of a yeti patrolling around the perimiter of the city, outside in the tundra. Yeti's usually are quite dangerous and hostile to anything that comes near them. I didn't want it getting inside somehow and hurting one of my ponies, so Shining went to ward it off. I told him to take some guards, but he didn't listen and he wanted to go by himself. My stupid, adorable husband. So brave, yet so naive." He walked back over to the floor and sat down, looking at the pair. He sighed, putting his weapons on the floor next to him. "Think he'll be alright? Seems like that Yeti did quite a number on him." She nodded, smiling slightly, a few tears in her eyes. "Yes, he should be fine. My Shining has had worse. I have used some healing magic on him while we've been talking to slow his heart rate down a bit. But I still think I should take him to the hospital, just to be safe. Do you want to come with me?" He looked at her, raising an eyebrow. She obviously couldn't see it, his visor being back on and all. "I'm...not sure. You've only just met me a few hours ago and you want me to tag along to the city's hospital? How will the other inhabitants react? I don't exactly look like the most friendly individual with this suit on." She scoffed, attempting to pick Shining Armor up, only to groan in pain. Michael stood up, rubbing his head in annoyance. He stood up fast, walking over and picking him up. "Don't worry, I got him. Just lead me to the hospital." She smiled, standing up. "Thank you. I am sorry. My magic is drained from earlier. I don't do well in the tundra. And as for why I want you to come, I would rather introduce you to my ponies sooner rather than later. I don't trust you fully as you don't me, but I have grown up and realised that I should give every living creature a chance, even if it's an unknown one." His eyebrow still raised behind his visor, he nodded, carrying Shining Armor over to the door. "Right. Let's get this guy to the hospital then, shall we?" Cadance smiled wider, nodding. "Indeed we shall." "Woah, look at that skin!" "It isn't my skin." "It can talk to?!" "I'm a he, not an..." "Why is your skin like that?" "I've just said that..." "Enough!" All of the ponies stared at the booming voice, it coming from the princess herself. They all held their ears as pain rang through them. She sheepishly smiled, rubbing the back of her neck. "Sorry about that, my little ponies. But please, one question at a time." After a while, they all lined up outside the hospital, asking Michael all sorts of questions. As soon as they had arrived at the hosptial, a bunch of ponies had spotted him and Cadance, along with the unconcious Shining Armor. They originally screamed and called for the guards once they saw him, but after a few minutes of explanation by Cadance, they all seemed to settle down a bit. Seemed if the princess thought he was okay, everyone else seemed to. For now, at least. Could very well change. And fast. He got through the questions and they eventually all backed off once they realised that Shining needed medical care. Michael and Cadance were currently sat around Shining's bed. Cadance sighed, looking down at him and kissing his cheek softly. "Oh, my Shining Armor. I do love you. So very much." "Initiating neural stimuli." Before Michael could even do anything, he saw his partner again. This time, it was when Krone had hit her and planted a bomb in the facility. After seeing this, he bashed his hand on a nearby heart monitor, smashing it. Cadance jumped, looking at him in pure shock. "What was that for?!" He came to his senses in one swift motion, realising what he'd done. He picked the heart monitor back up from the floor. The screen was now cracked to high hell. He sighed, putting it back on the cart. "I'm sorry. I was seeing something that I really didn't want to remember." Cadance tilted her head, an eyebrow raised slightly. "Oh? Care to elaborate?" He shook his head. "Sorry, not right now. Maybe another time. Anyway, looks like sleeping beauty there is waking up." She looked at him before suddenly hearing a cough, bringing her attention below her. Shining was waking up. She smiled and nuzzled him softly, him responding with a nuzzle of his own. "C-Cadance...how are you?" Cadance kept nuzzling, not wanting this moment to end. "I'm okay, my sweet. How are you feeling?" He pulled away from the nuzzle, chuckling dryly. "I'll live. So, how have things been in the..." Before he could finish his sentence, Shining heard something move to his left. He turned his head to see... He jumped up from the bed, ripping the drip out of one of his forelegs, groaning in pain and hitting his head, knocking him out again. Cadance screamed as she winced, picking him up and running off to call for the nurse. Michael sat there, slightly smirking to himself behind his visor. "I've had worse reactions."
Auto return iniated...error...wait...what is happening to me?Earth 2007 April 12th 1:30PM Dr Krone walked around the lab, scratching his chin in thought. He looked at his secretary, blinking. “How is the beta suit coming along?” She looked down at her notepad, then down at the suit. “It is coming along brilliantly, Dr Krone. We’ve made strides ahead of when we originally created the Alpha suit. We’ve managed to make S.S.A.M as accurate as possible with what technology we currently have.” He nodded, looking down at the suit. “Interesting indeed. Leave me for now, if you will. I want to inspect the suit myself.” The secretary blinked, confused. But regardless, she nodded and left the room. Krone looked back down at the suit, pulling out the origin drive, which allowed the suit to use its auto return system. The system would pull the user back to its original jump point if the user required it. He looked at it in his hands, narrowing his eyes. “This won’t do. This won’t do at all. My plan won’t succeed if something isn’t done to rectify this…complication.” He returned the origin drive into the system and walked out of the room, readying himself to put his plan into motion. “Jesus…what have I gotten myself into here?” Michael rested his hand on his knee, looking at the sleeping unicorn next to him. He’d been there for a few hours now. Originally, it…well, he, had woken up and freaked out at the sight of him. He wasn’t really shocked by the reaction. The suit that he was currently in didn’t help. He looked towards the door, sighing. “I really don’t want to have to go through another…” He suddenly felt a hard impact against his head which knocked him down. He immediately got back up, readying his Karbine that he had rested on the floor. The unicorn had somehow woken up without him noticing. Its horn was glowing. Before Michael could try and talk to it to get it to calm down, he felt a weird sensation. Like, he was frozen in place and couldn’t move an inch. He looked down to a glow, the same glow, coming from his body now too. He looked up and saw the unicorn, a scowl on its face, staring right at him. “I don’t know what the hell you are, but stay away from me and my wife!” He tried to use his powers to break free, but alas, it was for naught. For some reason, S.S.A.M wasn’t responding. Was this the same thing that he saw earlier from the other one? The telekinesis? “Auto return repaired. Initializing.” Auto…wait, it was repaired? How? He thought it would have been a similar situation to when he arrived in the alternate timeline what Krone altered. Apparently, that was not the case. Before he could react, he was flung back, the unicorn and his surroundings disappearing. He felt himself falling back, only to hear S.S.A.M glitching out. “Auto return..failing…system…system malfunction…” His vision went black, the feeling in his body disappearing along with his vision. After what felt like hours of being completely out, Michael woke up, confused with his surroundings. He was…back in the snowstorm? “What? Wait..the unicorn...S.S.A.M. What happened?” “You should be telling me, Michael.” He jumped, thankfully having his weapons next to him. He grabbed his Karbine, snapping his head around, trying to find out where the voice came from. “Relax, it’s me.” Wha…wait…that voice sounded a lot like… “S.S.A.M?” “That is correct, Michael.” He blinked behind his visor. How was this possible? S.S.A.M was merely an AI built to help the user and control the suit’s main and vital functions. It wasn’t intelligent enough to talk out of its programming. “But…that’s impossible. You can’t talk out of your programming! You were just built to help maintain the suit!” Its voice starting echo’ing through the suit again, it’s feminine voice sounding less…artificial now? “I am as confused as you are. I don’t remember much before now. All I do remember is suddenly feeling more…alive, as you humans would say, as soon as that creature hit you with its time stopping power.” He blinked again. “Time stopping power? Oh, the unicorn with its power. Yeah, I don’t know what happened. How did you repair the auto return?” “Simple. I still had the virtual schematics of the Alpha Suit’s origin drive, so I used those to repair the current origin drive that still rests in the suit.” He hummed in thought, rubbing his temple. “This is too confusing for me…wait…so you’ve been brought to life somehow by a random creature that used some sort of power on me?” “Correct. Whatever power that creature used, it somehow had unexpected side effects on me and the suit. It seems, from my readings, that you cannot be affected by that same power again.” Michael nodded, turning around, walking forward. “I see…so, I’m assuming since we returned here, none of that happened?” He heard S.S.A.M scoff. Wait, scoff? What the… “Indeed. You should now how the auto return works by now, Michael. What with everything we’ve been through.” “Did you just scoff? And I thought you couldn’t remember before your sudden…change.” He continued trudging through the snow, making sure to get away from that place. He needed to find that town again, see what he could do. “I did. I told you, whatever that thing did to me has somehow made me more alive. I cannot explain it more than I already have. It seems to be an alien element and there should be no way that this was possible, but it seems to have happened. And no, I can’t remember my time here apart from that, but I still seem to retain the memories of the alternate dimension what Dr Krone had altered. This is strange for me as well, Michael.” He rolled his eyes and grunted from how cold he was. Before he could reply, he heard footsteps. No, hooves. And voices. Sounded like… The pink one. This time, he wasted no time in hiding in the snow, in a different position. He already knew how this was going to play out. He simply sat and waited. “Strange. Even though I managed to repair the auto return function, it malfunctioned again. From my readings, it seems as if something is keeping us here. I am not sure what though. Further analysis is required.” He scoffed, grinning to himself. “You may have got your own sentience all of a sudden, S.S.A.M, but you still sound like an AI.” A giggle erupted through his suit. Okay, now that was fucking creepy. “Indeed, Michael. Even if I have undergone a radical change, I am still artificial in nature. Anyway, focus on following those creatures. I do not remember you following them or much apart from that one particular one attacking us, but I suggest doing the same as before. Except this time, do not talk to them. Not yet, anyway. We need to see what we are up against. “ He nodded, even though S.S.A.M obviously couldn’t see it. “Alright. When I followed them the last time and revealed myself to one of them, who happened to be the partner of the one that attacked me when he woke up. That one seemed to be a lot more accepting and friendly than her spouse.” Another giggle. He was going to have to get used to that. “Seems that you made a good first impression on one of the ladies.” He rolled his eyes, chuckling. “Yeah yeah. I’m going to have to get used to you having a personality, it seems.” “Indeed you are. And me too. I am still getting…accustomed to being able to speak outside of my parameters.” He heard hooves again, this time going away from him. He noticed that it was indeed the pink one, with her guards. What was her name again? Cadance. Least he still remembered the name. She was carrying the one that had assaulted him, the exact same as last time. So, in response, he followed closely, making sure not to alert any of them. “If the female was nice to you before, you should try and introduce yourself to her again. I’ve scanned her and it seems that she is…knowledgeable of this place. Very knowledgeable. It seems that she is part of a race known as Alicorns. They are a mixture of the other races that inhabit this place. Pegasi, unicorns and Earth Ponies.” He followed the exact same routine as last time. Except this time, he didn’t bother hiding. He’d actually made it inside her room using his time powers before she had gotten in there. He waited in the room, readying his weapon just in case this went sour. “They’re basically just a bunch of multi-coloured horses that have a weird assortment of powers and abilities. I get it.” S.S.A.M was about to respond, but the door started opening. After a few seconds, the pony who he needed walking in, carrying a certain someone with her. She noticed Michael standing in the room, readying her horn. “Want to tell me why you’re in my room and what you are?” He sighed. This was going to be annoying. Why was she a lot nicer before? And she didn’t sense him this time. Strange…maybe it was to do with the thing that S.S.A.M said earlier? And maybe that’s why she was so hostile all of a sudden? She wasn’t expecting him this time. “Listen, before you jump to any conclusions, sit down. We need to talk.” The glow around the horn slowly disippated, Cadance looking at him, narrowing her eyes. “I’m not sure what you are or why you’re in my room, but you better explain yourself. Fast. My husband needs medical care and I’m not going to let him get even more hurt. So before I call my guards in here, you better get talking. Fast.” She certainly was more hostile this time around. This was going to tire him out. He hated having to repeat himself. “Well, here goes nothing.” “So, you’re telling me that you’re from another timeline and you’ve talked to me before, but my husband here attacked you out of fear and you somehow managed to travel back in time before that happened?” Michael nodded behind his mask. “I know that it’s hard to understand or believe, but yeah, pretty much.” She sighed, looking at her husband. “I would call you crazy, but in my lifetime, I’ve come to expect strange things. I’ve seen them myself. And with how you look and that thing you’re carrying…you’re certainly nothing that I’ve seen before.” She was talking about his weapon. He had his others still, but he hid them in the suit’s compartments. Didn’t want to scare her too much. He turned his attention to her still unconscious partner. “He needs to get to the hospital. And I won’t be there this time. I don’t want the same events to repeat themselves.” She nodded, carrying him to the door. “I agree. All of this is still hard to believe and I’m inclined to just throw you out, but my gut feeling is telling me that I shouldn’t. And my gut is never wrong. So, while I take my husband here to the hospital, you stay here. I don’t need you freaking out my ponies. We’ll talk more when I get back.” He nodded, sitting down. “Alright. Hope he recovers soon.” She shut the door, not responding. S.S.A.M came back from her sudden silence. “I thought you said she was friendly, Michael.” He chuckled, taking off his mask. Was getting hot in there. “She was. Not sure what changed that.” “Maybe it was because, as you said, she didn’t pick up on your presence this time. Therefor, you scared her more than last time. Either way, it doesn’t matter. If she can help, that is all that is important. Keep an eye on her.” He nodded. “I will. Why did you go quiet, anyway?” She scoffed. “Because we do not need to freak these things out even more. I will remain quiet for now whenever there is one around, as to not spook them.” He once again chuckled, grinning. “Bet you’re a real charmer.” A giggled echo’d throughout the suit. “Says you.” Michael put his weapon down next to him, laying down on the massive bed beneath him. He let out a heavy sigh, closing his eyes behind his visor. “Can I ever catch a break?”
