Friendship In The Void

Meanwhile...

A strong breeze blew through the sky as a gilded carriage went soaring by. It cut through the air at an insane speed, nearly rivaling that of Rainbow Dash in a hurry.

Inside the carriage...

"Sir, do we even know what we be dealin' with? I don't think these things be some kind of D Dogs or anythin'. I mean, did Celestia even tell us what we be huntin'?" a tired, concerned voice spoke up among the musky darkness inside of the speeding carriage.

"She told me a few things, but other than that, we're goin' in blind. Thankfully, though, the Princess gave us a little somethin' to give us the edge." a dark figure, recognized as Hunter from his accent, moved around on one of the seats and reached underneath it to pull out a strange shape. It glowered inside of the room, illuminating only itself, not casting even a ray of light on neither of the figures sitting alone in the carriage.

"What is it, boss?" a third voice echoed from seemingly nowhere.

"I dunno, Shady. But I be pretty sure that it'll do wonders for us." the entire carriage lurched forward, indicating that it had come to a complete and sudden stop. "Looks like we're 'ere, boys. Give 'em hell. Oh, and Shady? Stay in the shadows." the mercenary said with a hint of confidence in his voice. Hunter pushed a hoof out through the still darkness and slowly pushed the door open...

Meanwhile...

Shepard wasn't really having a good time. After all, wouldn't you be kind of pissed off if you were lost in the woods? He was pretty much stuck in an unfamiliar part of the woods... at least, unfamiliar to him.

He sighed as he made his way to a nearby tree and slid down to the base of the trunk. The soldier put his shotgun under his right arm and propped himself up on it.

'What do I do now?' he thought to himself. A bird flew by him and sat itself on a branch above. He looked up at the bright blue bird. It looked back. But then, something happened. The air around him began to get cloudy, as if he were in a fog. A strange feeling was also there. Like he was being watched from every direction. And his vision started to get blurry.

"You seem lost, Shepard..." a quiet, raspy voice came from inside the tiny bird's throat. It sounded like it was coming from everywhere.

He looked up with an eyebrow raised and replied, "How do you know my name?"

"I know everything. Anything. All about this place. And all about you, Shepard. Human. Born of Earth. Different plane of existence entirely." it called out yet again, this time much louder. It was as if it were coming closer to him.

"Oh really? Then how do I get out of this forest?"

"I have been everywhere on this pathetic planet.. Fighting. Searching. For it." the bird stopped and looked up suddenly, as if aware of the voice's presence.

"For what?" he asked with a hint of curiosity as he hoisted himself up off of the ground.

"It. The Artifact. The Holy Grail of all known knowledge in this universe. A fragment. And only a fragment. On this planet. A fragment. I must find it. If it were to be discovered by anyone or anything else... I cannot even begin to comprehend the consequences. I only know that it is here. A human made Marker that contains the codes. The codes for what? What are these codes for? I am not certain. But... it. It is here. And I must find it..."

"Okay, this is making way too sense... so you're telling me, these ancient humans built a device known as a 'Marker', but it somehow got broken up into fragments and sent throughout not only my universe, but this one as well?" Shepard almost shouted as he looked around him, waiting for an answer.

"Yes. And many others." he looked up at the little blue sparrow with a look of skepticism plastered on his face.

"That's weird. An associate of mine told me about the Markers. He said that they needed to be destroyed."

"Only those who know not how to decode it's secrets will destroy it. For them who do not understand, they are driven mad by it's lure. It's promises. It's... power. I have been searching since the Marker's fragmentation. I know what was stored on it. Endless amounts of information and knowledge. Countless yottabytes. One ginormous storage unit holding all of the known knowledge acquired throughout many years of research. But there was a problem..." it held it's metaphorical breath for a moment before continuing, "It began storing them."

"What do you mean?" Shepard asked intently. He stood there for a moment, waiting for an answer, but none came. He blinked, and the fog receded, as did the strange feelings. He cursed to himself before looked back the way he came.

'I have to get out of this forest and warn them.'

Shepard slung his shotgun over his shoulder and began trudging back the way he came, unknowing of the otherworldly forces watching over him...

Meanwhile...

Ponyville was stirring and buzzing with activity. Despite their new 'guest' causing them some trouble, their lives went on as relatively normal. But there was one pony who was especially excited...

"OH MY GOSH!" a pink blur flew through the town. It turned sharply around corners and it jumped over fences and walls before skidding to a stop at the town library. It was then revealed, that it was indeed Pinkie Pie, the most hyperactive, crazy pony in Equestria. And she just knocked down the front door.

"Spike! Spike are you here?" she shouted as she began to rummage through the lobby searching for the small dragon.

"Right here." Spike called from upstairs as him and Sigma both came down. Sigma looked like he always did; that same look on it's, or rather his' face.

"Oh! Spike! Did you get a reply from the Princess yet? I gotta know what she's gonna do about Twilight. Did she send anypony? A spell? A book? ANYTHING?" the pink pony was bouncing up and down like crazy.

"It just came in. I was going to come and get you, but since you're already here, I guess I can go ahead and tell you. She did send somepony." he told her before pulling out the scroll once again and presenting it to the Pinkie, "Somepony she thinks can get the job done."

"Designation: Bounty Hunter. Name: Hunter Bounty. Caution is advised. Possible hostility towards others. Especially me." Sigma spoke up from behind Spike.

"Uh oh. That doesn't sound very good... he must've been sent out here to look for the 'hoo-mans'. I bet if he catches sight of you, he might be mean and try to hurt you."

"As stated before, I am not capable of feeling pain." he informed her yet again.

"Still, though. It isn't nice to try and hurt somepony, even if their not a pony at all. I know! We just hide you! Is that okay Sigma?" Pinkie looked up at the metal figure with pleading eyes.

"Yes." Pinkie hopped around the room joyfully before coming back to... a wooden floor.

"Sigma? Where did you go?" she asked aloud. She looked to Spike, who was currently sorting through a pile of books near one of the many bookshelves. He looked back at her and shrugged.

"I am here."

"Where?" suddenly, the air in front of her face seemed to shimmer and start to form the image of the android in question.

"Wow! How in the whole wide world of Equestria did you do that, Sigma?"

"I did not mention before of my ability to become 'invisible', as you organics call it?" she shook her head no, "Lesson learned."

Meanwhile...

An eerie presence was overseeing the new additions to Equestria.

"Will they survive?"

"No. In fact, I have a feeling they will not even last beyond the end of the next day."

"Are you sure? We do not want that to happen again."

"Why not finish them now?"

"Do not worry, brothers. I have already contacted the one known as Shepard. He will lead them all to our Marker. The entirety of Equestria will burn..."

A maniacal laugh filled the void as the images of Chief, Isaac, and Shepard played for the three voices to observe with great interest as they got ever closer to fulfilling their goals...