Deductive Synthesis

Chapters

Of Theories and Concepts
I Awake...Or Is It Turn On?
Broken Fantasies
Reconcile

Of Theories and Concepts

The day started as any other and why should it not? I was just enjoying a nice dream when that light coming through that one crack in the blinds that never failed to nail me in the eye jarred me from my sleep. 'Urg... cant the sun wait a few more minutes?' I groaned as I sat up and climbed out of my bed to my room, a mess of books and computer components nearly falling on my face on the way to the blinds. 'Just another day of running in circles.' I was done getting up early as I was retired a long time ago, the sun could suck it and screw roll call.

Ripping the offending blinds from the window I was immediately assaulted by vengeful sunlight.

"Urrggg... wont ever let up will you?" I Asked to no one in particular, not like I'd get an answer. I was kinda convinced the universe enjoyed screwing with me after a while. Some called me crazy for my cation but I deemed it "justified paranoia". I've been through enough to be paranoid. When my eyes finally adjusted I found it was a rather vibrant morning, as if an apology to the awakening. The sky was colored a bright red, the sun just cresting over the horizon, yet somehow not failing to spread it's radiant light. The birds where chirping their morning calls and the deer grazed in the early light. All in all, a pleasant morning for someone who enjoyed the outdoors such as I. If I had to chose between a cave in the middle of nowhere and an apartment in the city, I'd chose the cave. They where just more comfortable in my opinion. Ironic statement, yes I'm aware but this is my opinion not yours.

So far the days been good, except for that blasted raccoon I'd been trying to catch for some time now was in my yard. As soon as I grab my rifle the beast scampers off, the thing just won't die. Darn menace couldn't stay out my garden, both the normal and the zen variant. Sorry, off on a tangent. Twas like any other day. After working on a few of those computers I mentioned earlier and finishing the daily paperwork from the US department of defense I decided to visit the town library. It was what I did on my days off. No sense in breaking the combo.

As I approached my Silver Dodge Charger in the front driveway I got that all too familiar feeling of being watched. This was private property a mile from any other human, you don't just happen to find my house in the woods. I spun on my heals pulling my revolver I carried at all times in a practiced reflexive motion, cocking it in the process. I scanned the forest hoping the culprit would spook at the motion but nothing but the falling leaves stirred. I stood tensed like that a whole minute before sighing and holstering my revolver, finding no evidence of anyone but me here. The damned shadows are laughing at me I can feel it.

"Calm down. Your just hearing things as always. You haven't been ambushed in two years, there's no reason anyone would attack now." I was lying of course. I couldn't explain it but something felt distinctively off today. I didn't like it one bit. I decided to walk to the library instead of driving, walks always clear my head. Didn't stop me from looking over my shoulder every ten seconds though, my hand resting on the revolver the whole time.

It took me about two hours of trekking through dirt forest roads to reach town. All the while I only grew more restless, I had half pulled my revolver twice and nearly killed a rabbit on one occasion. I was, as many pointed out, intimidating. I had medical bandages over my whole face and hands only the top of my head, my dark brown hair springing up where it ended, and my right eye where visible. I had lost my left eye a long time ago in a particularly heated firefight and the left half of my face was heavily scared so I opted to just wear the bandages permanently. I had unnaturally bright green irises and people tended to avoid my gaze. They said I had the eyes of a sniper, picking out every detail of everything. I didn't say they where wrong. I was hardly ever seen without my signature brown trench coat, an assortment of weapons hidden within. One of which was my combat knife, saved my life too many times to part with it. I'd been here some time though so the people of this quaint town had gotten used to me, however today they seemed to be avoiding me as I walked through town. Just want I needed, to be shunned on my bad day. Really not helping.

"Hold up son." The town officer Jackson, or Jack as the townsfolk called him amusingly, said as I passed.

"I know that look. Is something wrong? I mean no offense being the veteran you are but the way your holding that six shooter makes me mighty nervous."

'I'm still clutching my gun aren't I? Yup...figures.' I slowly moved my hand back down to my side.

"yes, I'm fine. Just a rough morning, thought I heard someone outside my house and you know what that implys. Old habits die hard after all." Holding my gun in the middle of town and got sighted by the law. Not my best day but I've had much worse.

"I see. Well be careful now. You looked like you where expecting a SWAT team to show up."

"Indeed. I'll see you another time." I needed to head towards the library anyway. 'SWAT, ha, least of my problems. But he's right why am I so riled up? I'm calmer than this when actually in a firefight so why am I on edge? I've taken down whole platoons with less stress. This is giving me a headache.' I sprinted the remainder of the way to the library.

Upon entering the surprisingly large library I stalked up to the reception desk in my usual manner. The current attender had blond hair and wore a simple white uniform most librarians wear, Matilda I think her name was, she was arranging books and appeared to not hear me approach. This was nothing new, it had a tendency of happening to me. It was both amusing and vexing.

"Pardon." At my voice she practically sprung three feet in the air.

"Wwaahhh! Oh..... its you...." she was now squirming under my view as she turned to meet me, visibly flinching when she looked into my eyes. She rather be anywhere than here it seemed, I wish someone could just smile when I said hello for once. I noticed she was clenching and unclenching her fist and had difficulty staying still, a sign of nervousness. Her brown eyes where shifty and wouldn't make eye contact after the initial occurrence.

"Is there any new books under the Wilderness or Technology section?" I needed some new material. I enjoyed reading, helped me further my knowledge. It was also a great way to distract myself and relax which I could use about now.

"Err...nothing under technology but we...uhh...Had some new books under wilderness arrive yesterday, you can...uhh...find it at the far right on the shelf." I hate it when they stutter, makes them sound like idiots.

"Thank you for your assistance." I didn't miss the sigh as I turned away. Apparently I'm scary, at least more than usual, when nervous. It's to be expected I suppose, not much I could do about it.

After selecting my book I walked over to a little arm chair in the back corner that I practically had reserved. I came to the library often and when someone needed me this is where they would check after my house. They even set up a lamp one day which was kind of them, I had to wonder if it was because they where afraid of me although... The chair next to me was almost never used when I was around, definitely a fear factor. This only served to distance me further, didn't help my social skills much.

I read a book on herbs in Russia. Why? No idea. I finished some time later after reading 20K words in a hour, a new record. Out of books I proceeded to watch a particular show on my trusty gaming laptop I kept on my person for when I wanted to surf or some other thing. You guessed it MLP:FiM because why the hell not, most people already thought I was crazy so whats the point? I really enjoyed the show, fanfics, and the community. Needless to say pony often preoccupied my thoughts when I wasn't in business mode or working on a project. As I watched winter wrap up again my previous anxiety was forgotten. Suddenly I notice a shadow coming from my left.

"So your one of those brony people?" A women I had not seen Until that point says. I mentally flinched at her sudden appearance.

I tensed up by the question. I had not heard her approach. She wasn't there before I know it. I was a black belt in several techniques and an army vet not to mention a hunter yet a girl in a quite library sneaks up on me? Unheard of. I heard rabbits scurrying outside when inside my house. It's like she came out of nowhere. She also didn't seem afraid of me which was unusual. I put down my book and put all my focus on this new women. I didn't recolonize her either, she wasn't a local. She was patiently waiting for an answer, how polite.

"Yes I suppose I am, why?" She was meeting my gaze unflinchingly. I like this one.

She was tall and thin wearing a simple gray dress with dirty blond hair. she looked a bit like a school teacher and carried an air of authority around her. She had simple shoes, not heels thank god those things are pointless. She seemed normal at first glance but something was off about her. She also had piercing silver eyes and carried a book on owls, I like owls, she reminded me of someone but who? It would come to me later.

"Nothing just curious, I like ponies."

'Oh? This just got more interesting.' "I see, who's your favorite?"

"I like Twilight, you?" she said as she sat down in the chair next to mine.

"I like them all, each one is special in their unique ways, but more importantly they all have flaws as well. One must be open to diversity and understand that nobody's perfect. Everything about someone it important and is to be acknowledged, good or bad. Oh sorry guess that might be going deeper than you wanted."

She simply smirked at my response. "No Its OK, Its actually rather fitting. Anyway, I must ask, why do you talk like that? Are you really from here?" Just great.

"Not this town but yes. I'm a Texan born and raised, on a farm in fact. As for my speech this is just how I talk." I was seriously getting tired of people asking me that.

"Oh, I'm sorry if I was offending." I didn't reply. He apology was a reflex rather than sincere. Very business like.

We continued to talk about other ideology's for a while. Few people know my philosophical ways but war has a way of making you think about things. She would constantly ask me about my opinions and beliefs, almost felt like an interview more than a chat. By now I knew she was testing me on something. What? I have no clue. But I had nothing better to do so I played along. We talked for a while about several pony related things she tried to say nonchalantly but there was a seriousness in her voice. It was the ruse of someone who was serious at almost all times. Why was she hiding it? She then asked a very odd question.

"If you could go to Equestria would you?" she's longer playing, she wanted a real answer.

That was not what I expected her to ask. Interesting question none the less, every bronys thought about it at least once I would think. What about me though?..... "Yes I would, my life is rather stagnant and.... unstable. But the chances of that are unlikely."

She raised an eyebrow to this "Unlikely, not impossible?"

"I don't like the word impossible." I did the "impossible" more than a few times when I was in service.

"What about family, friends?" she asks

"Don't have any." My parents died as well as any relatives I had and what friends I had where long gone living their dreams or dead in the ground.

"Say you couldn't go as a pony what would you go as?" This was getting a little too specific. I shifted uncomfortably in my seat.

The questions kept getting stranger it seemed. I paused to think the questioned over for a moment before replying. 'Zebra? To similar. Dragon? Inconvenient. Griffin? Nah. D-dog? Possibly. Got to have hands. Alicorn? Too easy. Shape shifter? Oh now that's a good one but probably cheating. So what then?' Then a light bulb turned on.

"Dose it have to be something in Equestria?"

She thinks for a moment as if unsure. "No I suppose not."

Checkmate. "The Artimus Suit." It was something of my own creation. I know a lot about machines and play a lot of games so I tend to daydream. But I cant stop there, when I think something up there has to be a explanation so I end up writing a small book on each of my creations and often draw them out or make a clay model. Made a plant from Greenland once gave it a name, genus, chemical makeup, how it survives, how it reproduces, and its uses.

The Artimus was a variant of the UE-117, a combination of the varia suit from Metriod, Nano-suit from Crysis, and some M.J.O.L.N.I.R. armor for Spartans in the halo series for good measure. The Artimus, however, involved magic, which is handy for explaining some of the more annoying aspects of the suits core components. Small thing though, it wasn't a suit. There is not a human on the inside but it is a creature itself, it looks synthetic enough from the outside but if you where to crack it open (highly unlikely) you wouldn't be able to tell biological from the non-biological. Its a fusion of the two I dubbed "Bio-maniacal Synergetics", I had often worked with prosthetics and had a degree as a biomedical engineer back before the military recruited me so I knew a thing or two, the suits power delivery system mimics the human nervous system in and of itself working as both the endocrine, nervous, and cardiovascular system in one. I am a man of balance however so the suit has its flaws, intentionally designed, and I never said being in the suit didn't have drawbacks.

Being a weapon smith also meant it had a few toys not from the games.

She smirked "An interesting choice, but I must ask why?"

"Just cause." I loved that saying, it implys doing something because it's right or doing it for just the hell of it. All in interpretation. In this case the later however. But she said that like she knew what I was talking about. Not a good sign. No one knew about the suit, it was one of my fantasy projects.

"Very well. You will make a fine subject in the games." She said and started to glow in a silver light. Well then, that's new. Games? I had just read a trilogy on a certain games and I'm wasn't to happy about experiencing something similar. I tried to move planning a classic action roll but found I couldn't move. I was surrounded in a silver aura and my skin was starting tingle. I'm was so screwed at this point.

"This conversation wasn't theoretical was it." I say in more of a statement than a question. This day has officially hit my top ten worst/most interesting days.

"Nope, have a nice trip. Try to be careful." A lot of words came to mind to describe this women.

Darkness formed at the ends of my vision, I was out before I hit the ground. There was only void after that.

I Awake...Or Is It Turn On?

It was dark, very dark. I felt like someone replaced my bones with cement and I was chained to the ground, didn't fell like moving at the moment. There was a soothing rhythm but I didn't know if I was hearing it or feeling it, hell I couldn't even tell if I was smelling it, everything just was so disoriented I couldn't even get my thoughts right. I just waited there for sleep to overtake me but it never did. Eventually the fatigue waned enough for me to think.

'The hell.....?' Never a good sign when that's your first thought. I don't remember getting drunk though.

Everything slowly got into focus and I could now tell the rhythm was both felt and faintly heard, I also had this strange cooling sensation over my body. I could still feel but it felt..... dulled. I flexed my fingers, they moved but there was a faint resistance. I tested everything else and although everything responded, except for my toes and most of my facial features which was a bit worrying, I encountered the same odd resistance. My torso felt slightly raised like something was propping me up.

'Something isn't right. Why aren't my toes and face responding? What happened?' Then to memories came flooding back hitting me like a train. A train loaded with bricks. And cement. And heavy stuff. 'Well then, hope I didn't just screw myself.' I was likely to have a mental breakdown latter. Actually scratch that I wont. I grew out of that.

I tried to open my eyes, something wasn't right about them, they resisted for a moment before opening when the promptly shot open in shock and confusion or at least I assume they did. I stared at a shifting reflective surface like a moving mirror, faint yet powerful light dancing through the ever shifting patten of waves. I was underwater. And I wasn't drowning. It took my a moment to repeat and process this new information.

After recovering from the initial shock, I assessed the situation to the best of my ability. It's was drilled into me, never act without first observing the situation. Only fools run in without seeing the whole picture. 'It's not that deep, only about 15 feet. Its too dark to be day although I can see clearly so it must be night with a full moon or few clouds. Shore should be close by because wind blows toward land so that's not a problem. But more importantly than any of that why am I not drowning?' At that moment something even more concerning accord to me. I wasn't breathing at all. I quickly sat up, the water offering some resistance, but froze when I looked at myself.

I was covered head to toe in grey armor with a few lighter grey highlights colored a almost non-reflective silver here and there for details, faintly glowing blue lines covering the armor in geometric patterns. The only thing not consistent with the varia theme was the shoulder plates which where standard UA/Multi-Threat plates from halo. Any kinks in the armor you could see was covered in a muscle like weave trademarked by the nano suit. There was also a plate on my chest for extra armor, little on its surface. Many would have the core visible on the chest piece but I didn't, what kind of idiot exposes the core like that? Freaking lunacy if you ask me, an idiotic idea in the name of esthetics. My right arm was bulkier than my left having an extra layer of armor, flexing it yielded no difference I could tell but then again I was underwater.

I recognized the design instantly. She really did it. I was in the Artimus suit.

' .....Me Gusta.' Since when did I start thinking in memes? When I ended up in candy land apparently.

Explained why I wasn't breathing, I didn't need to anymore. That in turn explained why I wasn't drowning. I took a closer look at the lines. They where a faint carnelian blue that slowly pulsed every few seconds like a heart beat.

'Raw magic. Basically my blood now, it's my power source being generated by my core.' My core is a specialized generator that constantly generated a huge amount of magic, like a constantly changing battery to the power of 100. I named the core the "Runeic Engine", fitting if I say so myself. As for how the core actually works, I got nuthin'. I don't know what specific laws this world follows yet. The power was stored in four large synthetic crystals protruding out my back at a 45 degree angle at roughly one and a half feet long, the bottom set slightly smaller then the upper set at one and a fourth feet. As I said they where synthetic and where specifically designed for this purpose making them more effective than any naturally occurring crystal, assuming crystals are magic here, looking like huge perfect quarts crystals. I looked over my shoulder to see they where glowing the same color as the lines. They appear to be what was propping me up when I woke.

I was very glad I gave the suit touch receptors even If they weren't perfect so I could still feel things like the water on my ski...armor. 'This may take some getting used to.' I slowly stood feeling a bit off balanced but with the water reducing my weight it made things easier. 'Time to test some things.'

"Run system diagnostics." I ordered, my voice sounding distorted and artificial not having vocal cords anymore. I sounded excited however which was unlike me, is this what excitement feels like? I like it.

A status report appeared in the center of my vision as my HUD came to life. My shield indicator appearing top center halo style, followed by my power level indicator to my left and my hazardous environment detector to my right. My weapon system status was next to my bottom left and my visor status to my bottom right after that. Lastly my motion sensor appearing to my top right, all colored a light blue tent. The suit ran basic assessment and maintenance scenarios, which I eyed in interest. I was starting to notice a pattern however and I wasn't very happy about it.

It looked like whoever sent me here decided to pull a metroid prime in that several of the functions where either damaged, offline, or missing entirely. Fantastic. This was going to be a problem if I ever face heavy resistance.

"Of course this would happen. *sigh* Might as well head toward shore. At least the views nice. And I'm talking to myself again." In regards to the surface which was indeed nice. I sadly doubted I could even find something like that back home. At least not without treading deep into the wilderness.

'Alright then, time to test motor skills.' I slowly lifted one foot and took a step, it was more sluggish then I was hoping. The sand around me looked like windswept dunes in a dessert that haven't been disturbed in hundreds of years, colored a pale gold. I took some more steps, getting used to the way my new body moved and soon I was having no problems at all. 'Water, baby's first training wheels for walking.' I headed in the direction the waves where going as that should lead to shore if weather patterns where similar to earths and saw things from strange fish to colorful corals, All having no business being that neon. 'Now this is why I payed for a scuba diving lessons. Well I didn't pay for it my shrink did. Said it would help. Had trouble convincing her I was fine for another mission.'

It took me about 2 hours to reach shore give or take a little. The system diagnostic continued to run in this time and I learned a few things about my new body from the status screen. Firstly I was freaking 7'2 and was over 900 pounds. An considerable improvement from my old 6'2 and 180 pounds.'.....Interesting. I'm a walking tank. hope I can fit I twilight's library, I'm going to read every single book.' The suit could auto repair internal damage, so I'd slowly get my stuff back over time and didn't have to worry much if something actually managed to harm me which I doubted as my armor was made of FREAKIN' IMPREVIUM, name says it all. If It still is anyway, It may have changed to better coincide with this worlds different materials. I'd keep damage to the outer hull to a degree though so a time may come to replace a few plates.

As I exited the water, I immediately fell on my face. 'Darn and I was doing so well.' Standing up my suspicions where confirmed as it was night but it was still easy to see, and as I looked up I found out why. You know earth's night sky? Doesn't even compare. This was indescribable, the best way I could put it is it was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen and I've been around the block. Actually if you've been to the arctic it looked kinda like that but with more stars. I just gawked at it and I spoke in the most sophisticated of manners.

"Wow."

'Well fail much.' Not that I cared, my brain was overloaded.

My gaze dropped until I was looking back at the water and got my first good look at my face. It was more halo than anything, looking almost exactly like the commando helm from reach. I didn't have the communicator thing on the side of my head and I didn't have the sun shield above the visor, other than that I just ripped off Carters look. It was dark grey like my armor with silver highlights and the visor was the same carnelian blue. It wasn't transparent and glowed slightly like all the other things. It made me look and feel like and Intimidating badass. It showed no emotion whatsoever.

Fitting really, I've always had a problem with apathy, but when my parents died it got exponentially worse, not to mention after my "job"...... I was sent to several therapy sessions and I still had difficulty showing or feeling emotion, many called me as cold and lifeless as the machines I worked on. I always found the insult odd because machines aren't cold, most produce a lot of heat. It was one reason others found me intimidating in the first place. They where right in my opinion, things that should shock, scare, or horrify me had no effect on me whatsoever when I was in my "emotionally dead" state and it didn't help I spoke in monotone most the time. It was always a bit disconnecting and unnerving to not feel anything but know I should. It made me feel wrong.

It was only around when I started to watch a certain show I started to show emotion again. But it was scary, after all I've been through did I want to feel again? The way my parents died....and my friends...and the war....., how did I know my emotions would not simply destroy me? Or I would lose control? ever since that day I have been emotionally unstable, where you to push me hard enough I would explode in a fit of extreme emotional overload. Getting depressed to an unstable level, crying for hours, I haven't done that in a long time, going berserk in anger. That last one had me worried. I didn't want to think about it.

'I guess I really am a machine now.' I joked. joking. Only thanks to the internet. Also meant I was stable. Guess this whole thing had me looking up. I'm not normally this expressive even in my own head.

I stared for a moment longer before gathering myself and taking in my surroundings. I was on a beach that stretched on forever in each direction, the perfect sand soft to the touch. In front of me was a forest that was relatively dense, the everfree? No this was different the trees where more pine like, reminded me of Louisiana. The ground was covered in a thin layer of grass.

'hmm...grass isn't a characteristic of pine forests. But then again this is Equestria, what the hell do I know. Was going to need to fix that.'

How did I know this was Equestria? well maybe it was the fact everything looked like a cartoon, outlines and everything. It had a simplistic and endearing look to it that I rather enjoyed. Something was bothering me though and I had learned to trust that feeling. I had developed it over time and experience and it saved my, as well as several of my teammates, asses several times in Iraq and other classified spec-op operations. Call it the experienced soldier's intuition if you will.

It was too quite. Only the sound of waves pierced the air. There should be at least some sound, this silence was an omen. I spread my legs and tensed, prepared to act in a moments notice. There was tension in the air.

A spear suddenly flew from the tree's, but whoever threw it wasn't getting any metals in javelin throwing. I sidestepped and easily dodged the spear and my assailants decided now was a good time to strike. Nine diamond dogs exploded from cover from the trees, one of them trying to tackle me. By now my combat drive had kicked in, something I made to replace the effects of adrenaline. Time seemed to slow down and once again I sidestepped and delivered a quick ridge hand strike to the back of its neck with more force than I was intending, nearly breaking it. He/she/it was out before it hit the ground.

'Ouch, right super strength need to be careful.'

The other eight seeing me so easily beat their comrade caused them to hesitate. Good now I have the initiative. I used the moment to get a closer look at them. They wore collars and vests, ragged and worn. They appeared to be somewhere in the 5 foot and above area me being taller than them by 2 feet easily. They ranged in color but brown was obviously a dominate trait, others being grey or black. No surprise there. They carried clubs and crud spears except for one that seemed to be the leader carrying a rather pathetic looking sword. My inner smith nearly hanged himself at the look of it. He was slightly bigger than the rest and wore bands across his chest with vials stuck in slots. I quickly used the suits detectors to find out what I could about them.

Apparently the yellow vial was filled with some sort of knockout gas according to the chemical signatures, made some back in chemistry class so I had the jist of what was needed, I'm assuming it turns to gas when exposed to air. 'Interesting.' Whatever the red one was it was highly volatile and would obviously exploded if thrown, probably wasn't safe to have on you either. 'Primitive explosives, how cute.' One of them decided to speak up.

"What is big metal thing! It's scary!" One whined. 'Broken grammar, I can already tell I'm gonna love these guy's'

"No matter!" The assumed leader yelled "Is strong. Work with other slaves in the mine. Now bring honor to alpha!"

'Slaves? You mean like that episode with rarity? Unacceptable. I can't just leave them so how do I find them? Options.'

~~One: Run and leave the slaves.~~

One: Beat them senseless leaving one conscious and demand he take me to the den.

Two: Kill them and look for it on my own.

Three: Kill them leaving one alive to take me to the den, using fear as leverage.

Four: Pretend to be knocked out by the gas and let them take me to the den leading me directly to the slaves as well as having the element of surprise.

Now there's an idea. Risky but there are always risks. It'll allow me to gather more Intel as well so I'm gonna go with plan four. Gonna wreak these guys a little first though. 'Come to think of it there's a song that could go with this.' For some reason as soon as I think that I could swear I could hear it in the background.

I suddenly charged palm striking a diamond dog in the chest before he could react sending him flying into a tree with several broken ribs. I then back-flipped axe kicking one that came up from behind in the head, instant KO. I was agile relying on never actually being hit rather than heavy armor and moving in the suit was shockingly easy, being far more nimble than I was expecting. The others where on me now slowly surrounding me. One quickly swung its club at me, me blocking it with my arm to it's surprise and dodging a second attack from the one to my left following up the attack. They where sloppy but strong. One got lucky and glanced me with his spear from behind but I hardly even noticed. My shields took the blow and where hardly even effected, they probably couldn't even hurt me with those weapons. I stepped in and swept the one with the spear off his feet followed by an uppercut while he was suspended in the air sending him flying several feet, he didn't get back up.

I felt a presence from behind followed by a swishing noise. Leaning an incredible 95 degrees back I saw a blade fly over me an inch from my face. My hand impacted the ground, my feet flying up catching the blade blasting the sword out of the dogs hold. Landing on one foot settling into a mantis stance I find the dog was the leader giving me a look that could kill recovering his sword. The other dogs where retreating back not wanting to interfere. We stood off circling each other before he got impatient and lunged anger in his eyes. I moved my head slightly to the left letting the blade fly over my shoulder, he was wide open now.

"Fool." His eyes shrank when I was literally an inch from his face.

I use my wrist to shove his arm away completely throwing off his momentum leaving his exposed. I deliver two brutal jabs to his shoulder and elbow nailing the critical nerves effectively paralyzing his arm before a followed through oped hand strike to his solar Plexiglas causing his to skid back several feet, bellowing in pain in the process. He slammed into a nearby tree cradling his arm, the other dogs looking speechless.

I was into things at this point. I charge one of the dogs delivering a flying double round house to his jaw sending him reeling. Landing on my palm, I pivot and redirect my downward momentum into a spin kick to one of the remaining dogs making him collapse into a curled ball on the ground before back flipping landing on my feet to do the classic over the shoulder backhand to the face of another that was unlucky enough to be behind me. I had all but one hiding behind a tree eating dirt and man did it feel good.

'God this is easy, too freaking easy. It's a little scary actually considering I'm at like less than 20% strength. When I get all my weapons back and my shields and core are back to maximum output I'll be unstoppable. I almost feel guilty that I'm destroying them without even trying. What if I figure out a way to use magic considering I'm made of the stuff on top of everything else? Then I would just be dominating.... sounds like fun, need to look in to that.'

The leader roared in anger when he recovered from the hit that I did forever ago and threw one of the knockout vials at my face. 'Now or never.'

I let the vial strike me shattering it, and the liquid turned to a yellow gas encasing my head. I shuddered a moment before pretending to black out and went limp. The dogs and their leader howled in victory. The leader cursed at his troops for being weak before putting his arm in a sling. Two quickly bound me in rope not that it would do any good, I could break it easily if I wanted. It was rather worn and would break easily. The others got the ones I decked back up, which was like all but two, many spiting up blood. The one I axe kicked lost several teeth and the one I sent flying could hardly stand, staggering every other step. The other one I uppercut kept having coughing fits. All the others weren't fairing much better, that one I double roundhoused shall never speak a coherent sentence again. They are lucky I was holding back, it could of been far worse. After they recovered he ordered two to carry me so they could head out for the den. Yeah good luck with that. After many failed attempts they finally managed to pull me with 4 working together.

They dragged me unceremoniously on the ground, no honor at all these flea bags. This had just turned into a waiting game, just perfect. I decided to spend this time studying up and reading, after turning off my touch receptors as I didn't WANT to feel being dragged I proceeded to scan over each dog individually. They couldn't follow my gaze as I locked on to each one, them grumbling about this or that. They where all males 'gender roles?' and were pretty strongly built having powerful arm muscles and the density according to the scanners of their skeletons surprised me. It was far harder than human bones, must be from their diet of minerals. To think I broke those bones so easily looking at the injured ones, I could really do some damage. Forget punching through brick walls, I could punch through military grade steel. With a followup at least.

After thoroughly examining the anatomy of all nine of my subjects, observing how they moved and how their muscles tensed, I was practically an expert on the basics of diamond dog anatomy. I loved biology. Although I was talented with tech, biology was always my true favorite. Bipolar interests I know. It helped in combat to know structural weaknesses however, both my interests came in useful on the field. They had dragged me for about two hours now, dawn peaking over the horizon. The leader decided to rest here for a while and the D-Dogs spread out doing various things. One was particularly curious of me, I swear to god if he pee's on me I'm not responsible for what happens. During the fight he stayed back looking too petrified to move being the one who asked what I was. He cautiously examined my arm in interest sniffing it with a confused look on his face when he lightly bit it, earning his a small shock from my shields. He yipped and fell back in a rather humorous manner earning him either laughs or death stares from the others.

"Runt! stay away from metal thing or you be beaten!" The "Beta" as the others called him yelled. "Runt" quickly scampered away, tail between his legs with a look of terror on his face. 'Harsh much.' It was obviously a pack society with poor Runt at the bottom.

The dogs started some idle chat making me feel like I've lost some I.Q. points. I caught bits and pieces of their conversations, something about a "Dominion" and dragons also came up. Also rumors of some legend walking around. They brought up something about how some dogs went missing a while back as they where hunting slaves from the "pony town" but the beta shot that down saying how weak they where. I listened to their gossip but it quickly turned to things like dinner, mates, sleep, and other dribble. Losing interest I once again decided to look at my suits final status report in detail and what I found had me dumbstruck.

yo, watcher here! I finally decided to go ahead and contribute to this truly epic universe, the ideas been bugging me a while. Being in this world would truly be an honor and I greatly respect the other writers for what they've made, if you haven't read their story's you should as they are epic. Sit back and wait for the fireworks, I'm just getting started.

Broken Fantasies

It actually made sense. Now I didn't understand half of it but it made sense. Every part a blueprint, every component an explanation. I had a blueprint that explained how it all actually WORKED. I had to look up every other word though, and it didn't help much. It was little more than a tablet built into my head, so it didn't have all the answers. I'm a tech specialist and a biologist, not a freaking archmage so how was I supposed to know what thaumatic polarity's are? If I learned how this all operated however, I could make some impressive things. I always did like making stuff, it felt good to create rather than destroy. I'd try not to make weapons but it was inevitable in my mind, engineering weapons of destruction was human nature. Learned that when all my carvings turned into Winchesters. The guys keeping an eye on me for the higher ups didn't take it too well. Lets hope when I do make a weapon it's for a good reason, and hope even more that reason is actually what said weapon was used on.

I studied it for who knows how long, completely oblivious to the things around me. I eventually got a headache or as some would say "rage quit". There was nothing simple about this stuff, might as well be in another language. Well actually it kinda was but that's beside the point. Snapping back to reality I found the dogs where once again marching, dragging me along. 'How did I miss that? They just start dragging me and I have no idea. How long have we even been walking?'

The sun was directly overhead. 'It's midday? Damn I was out of it. Guess I can't sleep either as I'm not tired and I haven't had a wink of sleep since getting here. Can't sleep and can't eat as I don't have a mouth...Or stomach.....well this sucks. I'm going to miss eating and the insomnia thing might drive me a bit crazy...crazier.'

The woods were far denser here, it didn't look like any ponies lived in this area. Something was off. The dogs grew restless and tense, not speaking as much as they used too. I had that bad feeling again, much, much worse. It's like someone replaced my equivalent of a spine with ice. We came over the hill and I finally saw our destination and with it something I wasn't expecting.

Bones.

Everywhere.

It was a huge circular clearing where no trees, or grass for that matter, would grow in leaving it barren. It's like all the plant life just stopped, as if the ground was salted. The center was where the horror was at its most at where appeared to be some sort of structure. The whole place felt wrong, from the scattered dead to the sickly brown of the dirt. It felt like the area was tainted. Corrupted.

The scattered remains where the worst part. I had seen death before among other things. Torture, blood, gore, rape, I was no stranger to horrific scenes of violence but this.... I was prepared all those times, knew it was coming. This is like walking into your house to find a murder scene. Old feelings, or a lack of them, returned as memories resurfaced.

I was frozen in inaction, not to ruse my captors but at the shock that such things existed here. Could this really be the Equestria and not some sick joke? If it was I urgently needed a talk with that women in the grey dress. I was no longer limp but rigid, thankfully my captors hadn't noticed, the pain coming off the area was all too evident. They dragged me past their trophy's, pony skulls impaled on spikes in the ground, bones arranged into rotting totems, even a whole skeleton crucified on a tree. Bones of various size and shape littered the ground.

Some of them where children's.

We arrived at the epicenter of the horror to find the entrance to a cave. Bones hanged down like curtains on string and two massive totems sat on either side of the caves entrance. I was still in a haze looking at the totems.

They must of took many lives to make.

They took me into their personal hell. Pulling me into the darkness of the cave.

The tunnel was dimly lit by torches on the cave walls, extruding from skulls as if simple mounts weren't enough. The walls where a uniform grey with gashes in the wall every couple feet, glowing an orange tinge in the torchlight. I was recovering from the shock when I realized I was shaking slightly but not out of fear, I no longer felt fear. The reality was much worse.

I was shaking in anger. I was fucking furious!

This wasn't good. Things got bad when I was just a normal human....semi-normal anyway. If I went berserk in here I might bring the whole place down on our heads. I needed to calm the hell down. I tried to do my breathing techniques only to realize I don't breath anymore which only worsened things. I closed my "eyes" and focused on staying calm, beginning to meditate. I reopen them after a few moments, there was no running from this. Whatever this was I would face it head on and end it, like I always have. It was one of the many promises I made to myself, ones I'd never break. I'd face this no matter what it was. To standby and let this continue any longer made me no better than the people committing the crime.

We rounded the corner into a larger cavern and I could literally feel myself starting to losing it. There where a few guards stationed around the area watching the slaves mine. The slaves where of multiple races but they all shared one aspect.

They looked dead inside. And afraid, very afraid. They looked like they had given up hope.

They were extremely emaciated and dehydrated as well as pale from lack of sunlight. I saw creatures of all ages present, family's doing their best to group together. Many of the pegasai and griffins wings where clipped, some missing their feathers entirely robbing them of the ability to fly. Their fur was patchy and ragged and they looked like they haven't bathed in months, many appeared to have lice or some other pestilence.

The sight really made my blood...circuits...you know what I mean, boil and any second the pressure would be too much. Then I heard something nobody can ignore. A child's scream.

There was a unicorn filly chained to the wall starring wide eyed at a diamond-dog with tears in her eyes, she had red markings across her body some bleeding. She had a teal blue coat and light brown mane, what was left of it anyway, and lacked a cutie mark. Her deep blue eyes where dilated in fear, she couldn't possibly be much older than the CMC. Her parents where struggling against the guards trying to get to her, A forest green stallion with cracked oval glasses and dark brown mane and a yellow mare with a teal button in her orange mane, desperation and fear displayed clearly on their faces.

With a *CRACK* followed by another scream I realized what was happening, they where publicly whipping a child. The dog had a twisted look of pleasure on his face as he raised the whip to strike again. Something shattered inside me at that moment and my vision blurred. Before anyone including myself could figure out what was happening there was the loud grinding sound of metal on metal followed by a sickening crunch. I found myself standing in front of the dog, a look of shock on his face and I returned his gaze. I looked down to find my right arm was buried in his chest, I had jabbed with such force it pieced his skin and ribs. Before I realized what I was doing I grabbed his heart and crushed it in my hand, a look of horror and pain on the dogs face. Light left his eyes and I yanked out my hand with a sickening squelching sound, everyone was too shocked or petrified to move but it was already too late. I was long gone, replaced with something that wasn't me yet was. I felt like a backseat driver to my own body, I felt like I wasn't in control.

I no longer cared for the well being of my enemies as I lunged at blinding speed and tore a dog in half clutching his arms and legs through shear strength, his being the first blood to coat the ground crimson in the torchlight. The other dogs broke from their daze some charging others running off to sound an alarm as I parried ones attack and snapped his neck with a kick to the throat, his hand reflectively reaching for his face as his neck erupted in blood from the impact. His comrade roared in vengeance only for me to grab his throat and lift him into the air then crushing his jugular in my fist causing an explosion of his life essence. I pined the third to the wall grabbing his jaw and tore it off making him howl in agony before throwing him to the ground with enough force to crack the ground beneath him and turning his head to paste with a decisive stomp.

In a matter of moments I was no longer grey but crimson, dead dogs laying in an arc in front of me 5 being my original captors mangled and broken in hideous ways. It wasn't a fight, it was a massacre. The remaining dogs that had come to reinforce huddled together shaking in fear at this demon, many begged for mercy or tried to surrender but I wouldn't listen. My arm morphed into the arm cannon using knowledge I've yet to discover and I let loose a volley of shots into their ranks, cremating large chunks of their body's leaving gaping chard holes. Stray shots strike the walls destroying the torches as screams echoed off the walls. Everything after that faded into haze.

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I found myself in darkness, standing with clenched fists.

'What? Where am I?' I thought as I unclenched my fists, unable to remember why I had in them clenched in the first place. They felt....sticky.

The only light was the dim glow coming off me and didn't help much in terms of visibility. I wondered what happened, there was the forest, then the clearing, then the cave but after that nothing. I was beginning to get worried as this was seeming far too familiar when I noticed shapes in the darkness. I felt a metaphorical pit in my stomach growing in size as I slowly approached the object as it started to take shape, noticing a wet smacking sound as I walked like the ground was wet with something that stuck to my feet. It was as I feared, it was a pile of dead diamond-dogs all horribly mutilated. The realization caused the glow to intensify lighting up the room more to revile the scene around me. Strong emotions seemed to make me glow brighter. I was surrounded with the dead, so much blood on the ground I could see my reflection in it.

'Oh god....... I did this didn't I?' Looking at my blood stained hands. 'I did this.'

I don't know how long I stood there but it felt like hours. I noticed a quite whimpering in the dark, turning to its source. There was the sound of a quickly drawn in breath followed by silence. It was holding it's breath I realized as it occurred to me that while I couldn't quite make them out, anything in the cave could see me clear as day. I walked to the nearby wall and grabbed one of the extinguished torches. It was all coming back now everything I did, I hadn't harmed the slaves but they bore witness to it all.

I willed my arm to turn back into the arm cannon and it obeyed. 'I used to think it was cool but now...' I focused some energy into the arm using the heat to kindle the torch relighting the room and allowing me to see the entire scene. Including all the slaves huddled together trying to sink into the wall they where all backed against still chained making them unable to escape. We just starred at each other neither uttering a word. Me looking at the fear in their eye's and them looking at me with a torch in one hand and the weapon they witnessed kill over a hundred diamond dogs in the other.

I won't ever forget the way they where all looking at me. It wasn't that different from the looks I got back when I was still employed.

I looked to where I heard the whimpering at and saw the unicorn filly still chained to the wall going wide eyed as I looked at her. Her once teal coat now had a few small splatters of blood and had paled significantly. I did all that in front of a child. Her parents where chained like the others and it was too short for them to get to her, much to short in fact. They where looking at me in a similar fashion to the others however they where not huddled to the group like them, but as close to their little girl as they could get. I started to walk towards the filly, the eyes of both her and her parents growing impossibly small both sides struggling against the chains that held them. The others just watched and I didn't slow down despite their panic. They struggled, looking at the chains in dismay until the filly looked up when the sound of my steps stopped and all three of them froze when they saw I was less than two feet from her, towering over her small form. She was too petrified to even breath looking up at me as the whole room fell still. My arm cannon retracted back into my normal arm and I slowly reached out my hand to her but stopped when I heard her mother speak.

"P-please.... d-d-don't..." Her voice was shaky, full of despair. I glanced over to see tears in her eyes flowing like waterfalls, her father wasn't doing much better. They both honestly thought I was going to kill her. I don't blame them honestly. I just murdered who knows how many dogs in front of them.

I hesitated a moment longer before continuing much to their horror. I grabbed one of the cuffs and with a squeeze crushed it freeing her left hoof. They seamed surprised by my actions as I slowly did the same to the other cuff, freeing her. She collapsed but I caught her before she hit the ground, receiving a sharp intake of breath from the parents. I cradled her in my arm ignoring their looks as I examined her, her legs where badly hurt and I doubted she could stand on her own so I decided to carry her instead. There was still fear in their expressions but now also confusion which was refreshing. I turned to her parents and closed the gap between us. The steps echoed far too much, the silence was unsettling when I usually found it consoling. We looked at each other a moment before I held out their daughter to them, both quickly snatching her up and giving her the most heartwarming hug ever. Of all time. It actually melted my cold heart a little. Tears were now falling from all three and I decided to let them have their moment, I didn't deserve to be around it.

I approached the other slaves as they scrambled to get away, my arm morphing into the arm cannon. They looked in horror as I raised it and shut their eyes as I fired. Rather than hear a scream after the blast they heard only silence, opening their eyes only to get a dumbstruck look on their faces as they saw the chains holding them blown to pieces and me walking away my arm cannon safely retracted. The three where done now but the filly was still trying to bury herself in her moms coat still sobbing quietly. They hadn't seen me approach so I startled them when I crouched. I reached my hand out and while hesitant they didn't interfere as I grabbed their cuffs freeing them like the other slaves.

"You are free." my monotone voice catching them and the other slaves off guard if the looks of shock where any indication. They obviously surprised to hear me speak. "Take the other slaves and escape this place. You have your daughter back but if you don't go now you might not for long."

"A-a-actually no." The father said as he regained some composer. "Y-you took c-care of a-all....."

"You mean... I killed them all? All of them?"

"A-almost all. The Alpha and his guards are still.... a-a-alive." struggling with that last particular word.

The Alpha "Is he responsible for all this?" My question sounded more forceful then I intended.

"Y-y-yes" he stuttered but then his fear was replaced with something else, something I could relate to. "He's kidnapped and killed thousands. He's a heartless murderer who tortures his slaves and victims until they scream for his pleasure. He's a monster." His voice was laced with anger and spite.

'That's all I needed to hear.' I made eye contact with him, he flinched even though I lacked eyes apparently able to feel my gaze, and took a commanding tone. "It changes nothing, get everyone out safely. You have a daughter to protect." I said as I turned and walked away.

"Are you going to kill him?" With concern strangely in his voice. Guess it's just pony nature.

I stopped "....Yes." After a moment I continued "It is necessary. You know this. Do you not wish him punished for his deeds?"

"Of coarse I do! It's just.... couldn't you just capture him instead and stand trial in the equestrian courts for what he's done instead?"

"No. He's too dangerous. He deserves no trial, it ends now. Now go! I won't tell you again." He and the others looked horrified, but didn't object as I disappeared down a tunnel. They where naive but that is to be expected. I had no such luxury, but I wouldn't let them learn the lesson like I had.

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You can't escape your fate. I realized that a long time ago.

Even here in another dimension my past follows me. It always would. Here I was walking through a dark tunnel to kill an high priority target yet again. I was pissed. More pissed than I have been in a long time. I was so happy to come here only for reality to slap me in the face. I was starting to think that was it's pass time. I thought coming here would change things, evidently not. It would never end. I'd die on the battlefield, always find a cause to fight for. Is it bad I'm used to it? Like if a dog gets beaten enough it gets used to it? Should I try to change it?

No.

I am a soldier. Always will be. Like my fathers before me.

I was the one they depended on. The one who did what was necessary to get the job done. The one who pulled the trigger. The one who pushed the button. The one others feared. I was the one who gave the order. The one who was sent on suicide missions, spec-ops, or other less than morally stable missions because I was the only one who could do it. They thought my empathy problems meant I wouldn't be effected by such brutality. They thought my inability to feel emotion made me a better soldier. They made me do the hard stuff because they didn't have it in them to do it themselves. They didn't think I cared.

I did. I am directly responsible for 7,147 deaths. I am indirectly responsible for 13,462 deaths. Out of all the deaths 4,361 where civilians. I counted every one. I read every one of the names. The ends didn't justify the means, not by a long shot. No number of innocent lives, no matter how small, was acceptable. So why did I do it? Because I was the only one who could. Because I am directly responsible for saving 2,379 innocent civilians. I read their names as well. I am indirectly responsible for saving countless others.

I was a killer. A murderer. A soldier. I didn't care though. I didn't care about the looks I'd get. The pain. The guilt. I didn't care they where all terrified of me or that they thought I was a monster. I didn't care how they avoided my gaze or me altogether. I didn't care what they thought of me.

They where safe, that's all that mattered. What happened to me or how I felt wasn't important. I am what I am by choice. I willfully chose to carry the world on my shoulders. I chose to be a monster. I do what is necessary despite morality's input.

That is the fate I chose for myself.

I didn't hesitate in the least as I kicked open the Alphas door.

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The massive iron door flew like tin across the room landing on one of the dogs, crushing him.

The other dogs including the Alpha froze on the spot looking at what had defeated their whole force.

I took the time to glance around the room. It was far too open than necessary and covered in pointless treasures that shone in the torchlight. Valuable metals such as gold, platinum and others haphazardly covered the room. His bed, most likely stolen, had a gold frame embossed with jewels and was far larger than was needed. To my right was a huge pile on gems stacked to the ceiling and an ornate chest that obviously contained valuables. I was only when he saw me looking at the chest that the Alpha spoke up.

"Stay away from my shinnies demon!" I shifted my gaze to him in response and he seemed to visibly shrink. I'd seen the likes of him before, a coward who used others to get what he wants. He probably only got to became Alpha by succession, using his title to inspire fear when he held no real power.

"Stop standing! attack!" he screamed at his three remaining guards. Don't mind if I do. The largest one charged only to receive a roundhouse to the jaw sending him spiraling into the bed shattering it into tiny pieces. The alpha bellowed in outrage at his now wreaked bed as the others chose to, surprise surprise, actually use tactics and flank me on either side. I just stood there like nothing was going on much to their irritation. It was actually the stance I usually took, a normal relaxed standing position to catch my foes off guard. They jump at me weapons raised to strike when I back flipped out of the way causing them to collide with one another. grabbing their heads I slammed them together followed by pile driving both their skulls into the ground hard enough to leave cracks in it. The Alpha looked like he couldn't believe what just happened. I began walking towards my target.

"Stop! Do you know who I am! I am....." was about how far he got before I backhanded him into the adjacent wall. I wasn't in the mood for cartoon villain monolog cliches. He held his cheek and withdrew his hand to see it stained red and looked blankly at the blood on it as if he couldn't comprehend It. He must of thought himself invincible until today.

"Enough." My voice was hollow and lacked emotion. People often told me how terrifying I was when I was angry, said that my voice got a physical force to it when I did. I had actually used it on my superiors and reduced them to whimpering husks when they proposed to carpet bomb a village that wasn't fully evacuated yet. I actually always talked in a whisper that just sounded like normal speech, I had a deep and very loud voice. Even on a helicopter people heard me clearly. My voice seemed to still have its effect because it shook what little ego he had left right out of him, promptly shutting him up. I grabbed him by the throat and lifted him four feet off the ground, he struggled uselessly at my grasp. "I am your judge, jury, and executioner and you will be silent. I charge you with murder, slavery, torture, abduction, and abuse. Do you argue these crimes?" His face lost all color. Whether it was fear or lack of air I didn't know, probably both. "Then I find you guilty. Your punishment is death for that is all you deserve." He didn't even have time to scream as I broke his neck. I dropped his useless carcass on the floor unceremoniously and lifted my hand to my face. I made a fist and extended my pointer and middle finger strait up in the symbol I always made after a kill or an extreme moment. It was out of respect for taking a life, not for the particular life, and to collect my thoughts. Similar to when one makes a cross on their chest to ward off demons.

I stood like that for one minute exactly before proceeding to claim my spoils or "lootz" as I used to call them from the chest like the true gamer I was. The prospect of new toys brightened my mood a bit, also killing that ass helped. Ya know they always asked why I was so good at shooters, the answer was I played Quake before they slowed it down and I had IRL experience. Never told em what I meant by that. But I digress, the chest had a few trinkets none of very much interest until I reached the bottom at least. A large chunk of a unrefined metal I couldn't identify sat at the bottom giving off a faint glow, it was a dark bluish grey. I lifted it in my hand and felt a small jolt when I did so followed by a strange sensation I could only describe as a small stream flowing into you and dissipating. My suit identified it as the same stuff that was in my core and powered the runic engine although while it was 100% pure this was still unrefined and getting a metal totally pure is a difficult process.

There was also a small bag inside the chest and judging by it being in this chest it was definitely more than a bag. putting the ore down which I was definitely keeping I put my hand inside the bag...and in....and in... until it was at my shoulder. 'A hammer-space.... sweet.' I peered into the bag and while not infinite as I could see the bottom it was still huge. If I had a mouth I would be grinning. I put the ore into the bag as well as a healthy amount of bits if I recall what they're called and many of the small trinkets, moneys only money but I figure the slaves could use a jump start and one trinket each appeared to be more than enough to get 'em going. As I grabbed some gems I noticed a small alter I hadn't noticed. On it sat a large blue gem that appeared to have swirling smoke inside it and emitted a low glow. When I reached for it a small shock jumped from the crystal to my hand, I withdrew it reflexively. 'That was kinda shocking..... I should be slapped for that.' Suspiciously I reached again but no shock came this time, as I held it in my palm I noticed it was no longer glowing. I sensed magic within the crystal but it was in very small amounts and wasn't giving magic like the ore. Focusing some magic into the gem had an interesting effect, that is it suddenly arcing with electricity, I nearly dropped it in surprise. I was definitely keeping this, whatever it was. I put the bag with all my new goodies in my storage compartment before waltzing out the room like I owned the place. I only really did this kind of stuff when I was alone. I recalled the compartment on the way to the Alphas "impenetrable" bunker. It was a small compartment to hold valuables, ammo, and other things. It wasn't that big but now that I had something with a hammer space that didn't matter much. I willed it to open much like the arm and it came in useful. It's worth pointing out while the bag saved room it sure as hell didn't reduce weight, it felt every bit as heavy as the horde inside.

I was getting rather sick of these caves at this point and made my way to the entrance. I needed to check on the ex-slaves to see if they where all OK. I took inventory on the way, It turns out going crazy can be draining. According to my energy levels I used up about a forth my maximum energy and I was regaining it at about 1% a minute. Using the arm cannon appears to be costly thing to use but from what I could remember from the massacre I did shot a lot of shots so not that costly, however you didn't have infinite bullets on the battlefield either so it's even. Guess the intensity mattered as well, and yes I'm talking about charge shots. I would need an alternative, the arm cannon fit under the "only if necessary" file as would any destruction magic I learned if I could. I needed a way to fight other than my fists. I needed a weapon, the thought made me internally smile, making one is going to be a exiting experience. I wonder what it will be. I need to start some blueprints. I reached the original cave where I went beast as I finished my thoughts and was thankful I didn't have a nose looking at all the body's. My mood darkened looking at them, so much for my victory high. They couldn't of all been bad, they didn't deserve this like the alpha. In my foolishness I failed to learn why they needed slaves in case it wasn't for the obvious reason. I solemnly lifted a torch off the wall. Might as well get this over with.

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Fire bellowed from the cave, fueled by the body's of the dead. The intense heat caused the caves to destabilize and collapse and in a few minuets as I watched the whole thing caved in smothering the flames and burying what was left of the dead. Improvised grave/cremation. The ex-slaves where nowhere to be found, having left in a haste. But they left plainly visible tracks in the dirt not thinking of the possibility of pursuers. Following them was the best course of action at the time so I crouched and settled into a moderate pace silent trot that the natives had taught me while I was in Brazilian amazon. They made marines look like they where covered in pots and pans. As I stalked through the forest It brought back fond memories of other forests I visited in the past. The wilderness always made me feel at peace, I could easily survive out here on my own without any human contact. I was tempted a few times.

I enjoyed the hunt, as a boy I would take every chance I could to go hunting. I liked the forest, the trees, the silence, the isolation. I learned everything I could about the woods, even as a kid I loved biology. I was a survivalist expert before I even entered the army. I always found my quarry, stalking was second nature even as a boy. It sometimes freaked people out because I was constantly sneaking up on people unintentionally, it was hard to turn off reflexes. They even put a bell on me once as a bet, but much to my amusement I moved too smoothly to make it ring so then they accused me of teleporting. As I moved through the forest, the only sound was my own thoughts and the sound of falling leaves. I didn't make a sound much to my relief, I was worried my new body would make noise but I was still stalker supreme. Even when I found my prey out hunting I rarely shot, I preferred to observe instead and practice my stealth techniques, no need for senseless killing. I once got five feet from a deer without it knowing from right in front of it's nose. That was when I was 19 before the military. Now I'm 37 and have traveled the world tracking humans in hazardous environments of all kinds, including arctic tundra. Needless to say, there was a reason my call sign was "Wraith". They always where shocked with my age though, they said I looked 26 rather than 37. Had I given a crap for appearances I might of cared.

According to the sun it took me about three hours to find them, that is if equestria runs on a 24 hour time frame. It would of been shorter had I not stopped at a river to clean myself. Strolling into camp covered in blood = bad idea. Also it's hell trying to hide in it. I stayed out of sight, I didn't want to make them restless with my presence just yet. Things had settled down and some of them seemed to have medical experience so I did what I did best, I watched and waited. When they where all asleep and in good order with a few sentry's out to my relief I moved silently to a tree 30 yards out from their encampment and as I couldn't sleep decided to meditate getting in lotus position. I found it wise to reflect on one's day at its end and judging by this day it was going to be a long night. As I reviewed when I went berserk I felt a powerful tug on my chest followed by the strange feeling of being yanked out of one's body, at least that's what it felt like. That was the first time I met the one who sent me here or as I now know to call her, my sponsor.

Reconcile

An endless white void surrounded me, it reminded me of the animus. No matter which direction I walked I didn't seem to get anywhere. Normally I would be wondering how I got here but I think the point is moot. All I recall is meditating under a tree followed by a pulling sensation and next thing you know I'm here. Getting nowhere I decided to just stand and wait for whoever or whatever brought me here. After a few minutes of absolutely nothing I began to scowl in annoyance....Wait, scowl? As in a facial expression? Looking down I found I was human again.

"About time you noticed, I was wondering how long it would take you."

Snapping to attention I found the women from the library now standing before me looking just as she had before. She was tapping her foot giving a look of impatience. Whatever she is she definitely isn't human, that much is clear from our previous encounter. Before I could give this more thought she broke me from my reverie.

"You have a tendency of causing awkward silences you know, how you just stand there and stare at people. Its kinda creepy. So how has your trip been so far, good I hope." Poor choice of words.

"If by good you mean horribly warping my view of Equestria and making me feel even more like a monster then yes, its been good." I reply with no small amount of venom in my voice.

She frowned deeply and had a brief flash of concern and confusion on here face. "What do you mean? What happened?"

"You really don't know?" She shook her head. Omnipotent out the window, which is a good thing.

"I woke up underwater which wasn't so bad. Quite the opposite in fact, however when I left the water I was attacked by diamond-dogs. I defeated them easily but it was the events afterward that was the real problem." She was making no attempt to hide her curiosity or concern interestingly enough at this point.

"The dogs took me to their den, only for me to witness mass torture, slavery, and abuse. When I saw them whipping a child..." She had a look of dread, as if already knew what I was going to say. ".....I lost control, like a fool. I allowed my emotions to get the best of me... Again... Damn it all..." My voice cracked, losing it monotone facade. As the words left my mouth I lost my rigid posture, going loose and slouching.

"I'm sorry I didn't realize..... Are you going to be alright?" she said, growing closer to me and putting her hand on my shoulder.

I shrugged her hand off and stood up strait again from my slouch. I looked her in the eye, my monotone voice returning with an slight edge to it. "Why should you care?" I pointed my finger at her accusingly "Who are you and what do you want?"

She stood strait as well. "You deserve the truth. I am Athena. As for why I care, I sent you here for genuinly good reasons."

'Wait... silver, owls, studious... You've got to be kidding me. I've been an idiot for not guessing this sooner.'

"...Athena..."

"Yes."

"...As in the Greek god of wisdom Athena?"

She smiled "Indeed. Its strange, at times you seem oblivious and at others its as if you know ahead of time."

I shrugged "Its not the first time someones said that. I carefully chose what I pay attention to."

She smirked "Or you have the minds version of tunnel vision."

"*sigh* Very funny. So you have been watching me to know about that old jab."

"I try."

"Quite."

"Indeed."

"...Could you stop that?"

"I will when you stop giving me openings."

One sigh of aggravation and a face palm later.

"So then, your a god. I hope you don't expect me to bow." Don't want to sound like an ass but I don't bow, not unless they've done something to warrant otherwise. I had already known she was something of great power so patronizing her probably wasn't the best idea but I had my principles. Instead of a rebuke as I expected she just laughed.

"No that won't be necessary. The more I see of you, the more I see I made the right choice." She smiled. As if pleased with how things have gone.

There was something eating at me. This choice she spoke of, what was it for? Why me and not another? Surly there was someone who deserved to come here more than me. My very presence in this land unnerves me, I of all people don't belong in a place such as this. I was an affront to all Equestria represents, all the elements represent.... The answer was obvious, shes already said it several times, she needed me specifically. There could only be one reason for that.

I looked her dead in the eye. "Why am I here? For a... a... I don't know, assignment?! In Equestria?! Why the hell would you need someone like me in Equestria!"

She stopped smiling "I chose you to be my player in a little game me and some other deitys are playing. Its often been referred to as a chess game except in free for all form. Simply be the last one standing and you win. We needed some.... Interesting... Individuals to play with so we chose humans as ample subjects."

"So its a giant chess game with Equestria as the board and humans thrown into it as the players, likely without their consent or full knowledge of the matter, so we can all fight to the death for the gods amusement?"

She shifted a little. "Well when you put it like that you make it sound bad..."

I gave her the best deadpan I had. 'Good god or whatever I'm supposed to pay to now, this is more like the hunger games than I thought.'

"Its not so bad. The pieces, well most of them anyway, have the freedom to do whatever they want including you. You play our game just by living and you don't need to go around killing each other. Besides, by last one standing I didn't so much mean the one to kill all others as much as I meant the last one left alive." She gave a vicious grin.

'Now that doesn't sound good at all. I'm sure that in no way foreshadows the future.'

I should be annoyed or humble but I was just angry instead. Athena was turning out to be one hell of a bitch. "What makes you think I'll play my role? Whats keeping me from going out to some wilderness somewhere and disappearing?"

"You are. Whether you like it of not the game has begun. Will you standby while Equestria burns? I chose you because regardless of whether you like me or not your going to do what I want and that is get involved. You always had a talent for ending up in the middle of things back on earth."

'Damn. Cleaver girl.'

Suddenly her face softened "Your not the only one who's angry. Personally I like this world and I don't want to see it in flames. If I told you the truth back on earth would you have done things differently? I know you better than you think, you wouldn't be able to standby and let this happen regardless. I get a chance for power and you get to protect them, just like you always do, like your meant to. I can't tell you much but many of the other pieces are much younger than you and have little experience killing. They are strong but they need someone from their world, someone who understands why they love it here so much. Why many never want to go back."

She closed the distance between us and put her hand back on my shoulder. It somehow felt warm and cold at the same time, like that feeling of hot tea after a walk in a blizzard. "Many of them won't make it through this alive. Bad things are going to happen, very bad, Equestria won't make it on its own and that's a fact. If not for me then please, protect this world. They don't deserve whats happened to them. We are a little late in this game so you got a lot of work ahead of you." The look in her eye. She was being sincere. Or was a really good at faking emotions.

I finally broke eye contact, looking at my feet. Was she telling the truth? What if shes lying to manipulate me? And what if she wasn't? Could I take that chance?

"So what do you say Sargent Major?" She asked in a hushed voice that reminded me of Fluttershy. "Ready to get back in the fight?" she held out her other hand.

I looked up to see her eyes where watery, her once rigged posture was now slouched and loose. Her stone mask had give away to one of exhaustion and her perfection had left her, she looked positively ancient at that moment. She had a look of sadness, begging me with her eyes. 'I guess.... Twilight really is best pony...'

I reached out and took her hand "That is one thing we can agree on. I'll do whatever It takes." She smiled and a silver light started to envelope me once more. She let go of my hand and turned, starting to walk away. Before I interrupted her that is.

"Oh and one more thing."

"Hmm?" she gave me a quizzical look as she glanced at me.

I got the biggest grin I've had in a while, my jaw ached for not doing it in so long, and leveled my eyes with what I figured was a mischievous look. "Applejack is best pony."

Before she could reply the mist finished engulfing me and I was gone in a flash.

<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>

It was like someone had set off a flash-bang at first but without the ringing. Everything slowly came into focus and I found I was back under the tree. As my hearing came back I could faintly hear what sounded like screaming. As things got clearer I realized that whatever was screaming was close, very close. I turned to my right to see the culprit, a foal screaming like a banshee looking at me with wide eyes. It was too dark and still kinda blurry to make out many details. Rustling came from a nearby bush as a stallion and two mares stepped out.

"Quite down Twitch whats th-...BY CELESTIA'S BEARD ITS THE MONSTER!!!"

'Evidently pipes run in the family. Celestia's beard? I wasn't aware of this...'

All four ran off screaming like the foal before I could even get a word in. They where headed for the camp.

'Well they didn't black out so its not my worst first impression. Why can't things ever be easy?'

I made my way to camp where I could hear those four doing a good impression of Paul Revere. I looked out from behind a tree to see the entire camp was awake now looking around frantically. They formed a defensive circle around the foals which were huddled together in the center. Each and every one looked terrified. Many where wielding the recovered weapons from the D-Dogs, which where shaking loosely in their grasp in all but a few. I'll figure out how the hell they were holding them latter, for now I had other problems. Those few seemed to be the most experienced of the group, noticeably calmer and more sure in their stance. I decided to end their search.

I waked out of cover of the tree and made my way towards the group. They all froze and I could feel all their gazes lock onto me as I approached. Amusingly many dropped their weapons. I wasn't even sure they were breathing, they all had the "deer in headlights" look to them. 'I wonder if they might tip over like goats...Wait goats are sentient here so did I just insult them? There is that headache again.'

I stopped a couple of feet away in my usual manner. They were all still standing still and all of the original four had stopped screaming. Well all but one at least....

"Breath boy!" I said to the foal. Who immediately inhaled for a good five seconds and fell flat on his face. Everyone was looking at him now.

"Did he just... Black out from lack of oxygen?" I asked no one in particular.

"Eeyup." Replied one of the guards. He said it in a dead on impression of Big Mac. He had a dull red coat and was a bit taller then those around him. He had a lime green mane with rust colored eyes with a plow for a cutie mark. I wonder....

"You wouldn't happen to be an apple would you?"

His eyes snapped open as his head swiveled back to me so fast I was worried he'd break his neck and had a look of absolute shock. He babbled trying to find words for a minute. "You know ma' kin?"

"I owe some of em' favors." I lied, well sorta... I miss the farm....

He narrowed his eyes. "Is that so?" He and the mare to his left approached me, circling me giving me what must have been a once over. After a quick inspection he and the mare looked satisfied and both suddenly got huge grins.

"Well you don't talk like ah monster and anyone whose a friend of an apple is ah friend of mine. My names Jonathan Apple and this is ma' Wife, Golden Delicious." he gestured to the mare. She had a golden coat and a vibrant brown mane. Her eyes were an emerald green and she had an apple with a dollar sign in it as a cutie mark.

"Ma'am." I held out my hand which she quickly took and shook it with surprising strength. Her hooves were oddly soft and flexible, strangely it felt like she was somehow griping my hand.

"Its a pleasure dear. Thanks for saving us back there, we thought we would never get out. We didn't think it would so that..."

"Brutal?"

She nodded wearily.

"I'm sorry for that, the place I came from isn't very... friendly. I'm usually much more controlled but when I saw that child being whipped... To harm a child is unforgivable wherever your from." She had a look of sympathy nodding. "How is she? And the others?"

The foal in question was still in the hooves of her parents, both looking at me with gratitude. "She and the other foals are fine thanks to you." said Golden. "We're all a little beat up, some more than others, but none of us have much medical experience so we don't know just how bad off we are. Old Yeller has had bad stomach aches and has been throwing up. Same with a few others but not as bad."

"I've got medical experience..." I added. I worked with horses before and worked for some time as a vet part time but somehow I doubt this qualified. The whole groups faces lit up at that. All their fear of me just seemed to vanish, unnervingly so. The look they were giving me now was kinda creepy.

"Oh thank Celestia, your a doctor!? Everypony move he needs to get to the sick and injured!" Jonathan cut a path strait through the crowd like a bulldozer, moving ponies aside. Plow indeed. Golden Delicious half lead, half dragged me after him. We came upon a group of around seven ponies and a griffin laying on the ground, all looking miserable clutching their midsections. There was also some ponies and griffins with lacerations of varying size on their bodies.

I crouched down to one with a foal holding his hoof, the foal was looking at me with pleading eyes. I went through the basics, checking his pulse, his breathing, his eyes, and temperature using what techniques I had available. Nothing raised any red flags.

"What was he doing prior to this happening?" I asked one of the improve nurses.

"He was out with a few others looking for food. They came back with a few things but nothing poisonous, we knew all the plants. A while later he threw up and started acting like this."

Hmm... "Did you all eat much in the caves?" Stupid question. They were all skin and bones.

"No. We got very little to eat, we gave most of it to the children." I nodded in approval.

"Alright, you are all heavily emaciated and dehydrated. You need to watch how much you eat, ease yourself into it. Your bodies aren't used to that much food or water so fast, your digestive tracts have mostly shut down so you need to take tiny sips of water very frequently and never eat move than half an apple of food mass at any time, at least till you stomachs recover. These ponies ate too much too quickly, there is nothing really we can do but they will recover, just make sure you make them take a sip of water every couple of minutes." She saluted, funnily enough, and relayed the instructions to the others.

Moving on to the ones with cuts it was evident they needed some work done, none of the injures were immediately fatal but would become a serious problem if left unchecked or worse, infected.

"Do we have a needle and string?" They all shook their heads, figures. "How about some rope?"

Golden approached. "Yes but not much, only a few meters. What do you plan to do?" She asked while handing me the rope.

"That should be enough. See if you can find me something like a needle, if not a pine needle may suffice. I'll also need water, some clean cloth and a fire for starters." The ponies set to work with my requests, getting what cloth they could and placing it next to me as I unraveled the rope into increasingly smaller threads. They built a small fire next to me by transferring flames from the already lit one and by the time they returned the fire was roaring and I was done with the rope. We ended up using a small pegasus feather as a needle once it was sharpened, it was shockingly effective.

I grabbed the needle and decided to experiment. I stuck my hand into the fire with the needle, sterilizing it with heat. My faint blue shields flared in the fire, dancing with the flames as the two seemed to intertwine like luminescent smoke in a display of intrigue and beauty. I attracted quite a few onlookers from the display, as I pulled my hand back before the magic feather, which was surprisingly resistant to heat and cold, burned while my hand seemed to be totally unaffected. The first patent was moved to me as I threaded the rope strand through the feather. After a moments hesitation to get my bearings I began my work as others watched with grimaces on their faces. It wasn't pretty, many struggled as I sowed them up like holes in clothing, using the water and cloth to clean the wounds before hand and the obvious lack of painkillers was all too evident to the afflicted. Some were already infected from the filth that covered them all, those were particularly horrific. I proceeded none the less ignoring their screams and protests, they would thank me later when they were still alive.

I finished quickly, wanting to get this over with. By the end I was covered in blood from the elbows down and mentally exhausted from focusing on the work. Everyone would live though so I would just have to deal with it. After a quick trip back to the river to clean myself, I sat down next to my medical fire wishing I could fall asleep after all that. The camps residents were still hesitant but in time they grew somewhat used to my presence by the fire, they still avoided me if they could help it. After a while I had that itch that I needed to be doing something so I started to gather wood and other materials. When I came back with logs instead of sticks, I started to get strange looks. eventually they talked to Golden to ask what I was doing.

"Umm... hun? What are ya planning to do with those?" She asked as I lashed two logs together with a strong vine I found.

"I'm fortifying the position with barricades."

"Why? Is something after us?" she looked worried. I finished the final knot to the second barricade and moved on to the third.

"No. Not that I'm aware of." Vine here, wedge here and a knot here, repeat. Three done, four to go.

She looked slightly confused "Then why?"

"Its reflexive and it makes me feel better that's why." I said in a slightly angry voice. I stopped for a second when I realized how much more forceful that sounded than I meant it to.

"Well no need to get snippy." She said with a huff.

"Sorry, that wasn't my intention." I continued with my work. I now had five improve wooden barricades ready.

She got a concerned look "Well don't tire yourself out. You need to loosen up a little sonny. It can't be healthy to be so worked up all the time." I stopped what I was doing and looked up as she walked away, she looked over her shoulder and met my eyes. "Just take care of yourself you hear."

I watched her trot away back to the camp, she was in no hurry. I saw the smiles as all the ponies talked to each other, how they laughed and sang despite everything. The griffins arm wrestling and the ponies telling stories by the fire. The foals and some young griffins playing tag while the parents watched on the sidelines. I saw those who where sick and injured now standing and mingling with the crowd who where showing their concern. I saw too griffins holding each other close, one draping his wing over the other, just looking happy to be alive. I saw Golden give Jonathan a hug when she got back and then sit down by his side. I saw all the happy faces.

I had sat down unconsciously as I watched them all and failed to notice the foal approaching until she was right at my side. She was a deep brown like the look of old trees with a long curly verdant green mane, she was looking up at me with electric green eyes that seemed to glow, they looked so familiar. Then it hit me, they looked just like mine when I was young and full of life. There was only curiosity in her eyes as she looked at me, we held our gaze at each others eyes for a long time, I wasn't sure how long. It felt like we were searching for something in each other, I spoke yet It felt like the silence between us was never disturbed.

"Hello little one."

"I'm not small. I'm just shorter than most fillies." She pouted in a soft, honey like voice.

"Of course."

"..."

"Thanks for helping us." She said as she looked down and drew circles in the dirt with her hoof.

"...There was nothing else I could of done."

She smiled. One of those health endangeringly adorable smiles.

"Where are your parents not so little one?" I said in a slightly comical voice. "Aren't they worried about you?"

Her smile immediately fell. She sagged and tears started to form in her eyes. I'd just make a huge mistake and I felt like a total inconsiderate ass because of it. I had seen glimpses of her but never anyone near her, I'd never seen her parents but I assumed they were just doing something else. I was reminded about that snarky saying about assuming.

"T-t-they... T-they a-a-are.... T-t-the d-diamond-dogs..." She broke down on the wavy grass crying silent tears, shaking but letting nob-... err... nopony hear her. It was one of the single most heart wrenching things I've ever seen.

I pulled her in and held her close, just to let her know I was here. Her shaking slowly went away as I held her, kids shouldn't have to lose so much at such an age. I knew all to well what she was feeling.

"shh... shh... Its alright, I'm here. Your not alone. Let it out." we sat there like that until dusk, night had begun to fall as the nocturnal creatures woke. The crickets were chirping and the faint hoot of an owl echoed off the trees. The camp had layed down and retired for the day except for a few sentries, all congregating by the fire inside my little barricades. The quite snores could be heard from the group and for a time I had thought the little filly in my arms had fallen asleep as well until she spoke.

"Your warm."

"Heh... I guess I am."

She looked up at me with those big eyes of hers, still a bit moist from crying.

"My name is Flora. Whats yours mister?"

'New life, new world, new name.'

"I, my little Flora, am Epsilon."

"*sniff* That's a funny name."

"Everyone's a critic." She giggled at my little joke. It made me feel... strange. A good kind of strange.

She whispered my name as she closed her eyes, and fell asleep in my arms.