Crashlanded Phoenix

Chapters

Chapter 1 - Phoenix Down
Chapter 2 - Jungle Greens
Chapter 3 - Hunter's Prey
Chapter 4 - Local Wildlife
Chapter 6 - Barred
Chapter 7 - Welcome to Equestria
Chapter 8 - An Escort Mission
Chapter 9 - Travel Troubles
Chapter 10 - Forest Folk
Chapter 11 - Ponyville at last!
Chapter 12 - Meet your Princess
Chapter 13 - Medical Malpractice
Chapter 14 - Nature Walk
Prologue
Chapter 5 - Out of the Woods

Chapter 1 - Phoenix Down

Object C-04 "Rex"
HIM Phoenix

Crackling of fried electronics and the static of what I presumed to be a broken radio filled my ears, my eyes sprung open and I began to look around frantically. I couldn't move my body at all and could barely see anything due to the lack of light in what used to be a cockpit, save for the occasional spark from the devastated comms console. I decided to wait for my regeneration to kick in before I tried making any meaningful moves to dig myself out of the crashed vessel. It took at least half an hour of laying underneath a heap of scrap and gutted cockpit systems where I woke up in order for me to regain any feeling in my limbs, this means my spine must have been in pretty bad shape after the crash. I began to writhe and struggle, trying to wiggle out my legs or arms only to be met with fierce passive resistance from the heap on top of me."Nnghh...hnnghh!" I grunted and groaned the whole time while attempting to liberate at least one limb.

Another half an hour later I regained more of my strength, though it didn't make it any easier to remove an arm or leg from underneath the metallic junk. I struggled the weight pressing onto me and put all of my current strength into pushing it off of me, this time with great success. The pile moved and soon after my primary arms were free to get rid of the crushing hazard on top of me piece by piece, clanks of metal against metal filled the cockpit as I got to work. "Yes! Finally!" I shouted ecstatically after pulling myself out once the pile was sufficiently small for that and took one quick look around the cockpit. The occasional spark that served as the only source of light here stopped a while ago and with myself being free at once I attempted to switch my eyesight mode instead of relying on the now-gone spark...except it didn't work. "Gah, why won't you work.." I gently hit the side of my head in hopes of it fixing the issue with my modified eyes to no avail. "The crash must have done its fair share of damage to m-nghh!" I found myself clutching onto the right side of my chest or rather the chest portion of my armour as a response to the stinging pain I felt when trying to breathe. "Ngh..agh f-fuck.."

I began desperately removing the battered and dent power armour I wore during the flight, piece after piece fell to the ground and I immediately felt a sense of relief, though the pain in my chest still persisted. "Hnngh.. something inside must have broken." I held a palm up to the aching spot, only to yelp in pain as touching it hurt even more now and for some reason my built-in regeneration wasn't working right. "I better ge-ngh-t out of here" I said to nobody in particular and slowly moved step by step to a mostly intact door out of the cockpit, with some luck I won't have any problems leaving using the boarding pad. I stopped in front of the cockpit exit door and tried opening it using the biometric scanner, with no response from the scanner.

Out of frustration I slammed the scanner with my cybernetic fist, causing the surface to shatter and the scanner itself to spill out its precious innards composed of microelectronics of all kinds. In return I received a painful reminder that I am beaten and bruised after the crash, causing me to once again grip my side as I groaned in pain. I stepped away from the door and began to think. "Maybe I can open it differently" I exclaimed while secretly hoping that there was nothing behind the door. Began trying to activate some of the tools within my synthetic arm, especially the laser cutter, though after dozens of failed attempts I sat down on the ground, distraught at the lack of results. Suddenly, an idea appeared in my mind. I could use some of this metal like a crowbar to force the door open or at least make it budge enough to let me pull it open with my own hands.

After a couple minutes of scouring the ruined cockpit, I found a piece of metal thin and long enough to be slid into a side of the damaged door. After doing exactly that, I began pushing and pulling the piece of metal like one would do with a crowbar using as much strength in my arms as I could muster. The door began to budge ever so slightly, accompanied by the creaking of metal. This filled me with motivation and I intensified my efforts, which rewarded me with the door suddenly jumping open while I was pulling at the DiY crowbar. I fell down onto my back and onto a small stack of sharp metal, causing me several lacerations. Warm blood flowed out of these wounds, covering my back and staining red whatever remained of my shirt, this also meant that my sub-dermal implants weren't working correctly as such incidents shouldn't be able to wound me.

I got up and realised that I suddenly couldn't move my lower arms, in fact I couldn't move my tail the entire time either. The urgency of the situation must have distracted me so much that I didn't notice it at all. I panicked and tried to move my lower arms using my regular ones, I began to worry even more when I found out that I couldn't even feel anything with them. "N-no! This can't be happening! I can't feel my arms, they are numb and-and-and this just cannot be! Where is everyone!? Why is nobody looking for me!? The Empire should have found me a long time ago!" I collapsed onto the ground and tried to calm myself down, reassuring myself that everything would be alright and that this was just temporary. That I am a soldier and my fear only brings me shame. I shakily stood up and slowly stepped through the door.

A small ray of light shone through a crack in the ship's hull, which comforted me somewhat. It was nice to know the ship didn't end up in an even worse situation and that it was daytime right now, who knows how long I was unconscious. I held my side with a hand as I slowly waddled towards the boarding pad, quietly praying that it worked. If it didn't, I'd have to find a different way out. The silence was broken by the sounds of my blood dripping onto the floor in regular time intervals...tip...tip...tip...tip...

I arrived at the boarding pad and tried to open it using the biometric scanner, but there was no response just like I expected, though in this case there was a failsafe built in should the pad get stuck. A lever hidden underneath a floor plate would manually eject the pad, this could allow me to get out of here. I slowly and carefully got on my knees, so as to not further agitate my inner injuries then began knocking on the floor all around me. This was also when I realised that my tail was also heavily damaged, missing around 1/2 of it's length, though I should have noticed it earlier, at least all my damages and injuries should heal over time.

After a couple rounds of knocking like on the floor like a Mormon missionary I heard the distinctive sound of there being space underneath it, which could only mean that I found the lever. Using my hands, I removed whatever junk was left on top of the plate and found a bent corner. I pinched it using my synthetic arm and began to pull with all my current strength, still desperate to get out of here. The rest of the metal floor plate came off easily like a tin can lid and revealed the object of my search, the release lever. I immediately grabbed and pulled it. I heard the sound of locks being released, but the boarding pad refused to come off.

I got up from the ground and walked onto the pad without second thought and jumped. When nothing happened I jumped again and again. "Fall thud off thud you thud stupid thud thing!" Every jump hurt, but I had to do it to get out. The pad began to budge as I kept jumping and soon enough it fell off and with it I went down too. After falling roughly three meters down, I found myself outside and standing on the damaged pad. I looked around and saw nothing but trees everywhere. Surprisingly "HIM Phoenix" didn't cause any damage to the surroundings or even broke any trees, I had no idea how that could be possible. I walked a short distance away, roughly 5 meters and laid down on a patch of grass. Looking up, it struck me that this wasn't a regular forest, I crash landed into green hell, into a jungle. Too tired and aching to care in the slightest about this, I closed my eyes and dozed off.

Feldleutnant Flügel
Everfree Infiltrator Camp

I returned to my tent after a long day of guarding the camp and keeping the soldiers in line, I didn't know how much longer we'd have to stay here which is why it was important that as many of them stay alive and motivated as possible, I didn't want to have young lives on my conscience. I sat down at my desk, grabbed a pen with my magic, opened my journal and began to write while reading what I write out loud to myself.

"17.06.1012
Commanding Officer: Feldleutnant Flügel
Location: Everfree Forest

This is day 136 of my squad's expedition and subsequently deployment in the accursed Everfree Forest. After so many weeks of being away from home, from Vesalipolis, I begin to doubt if we will ever come back. Only now I am beginning to think that the Queen might have sent me on a suicide mission, because why else would I be ordered to conduct surveillance on Ponyville from the Everfree and then get rookies assigned when I clearly requested seasoned Infiltrators. These soldiers look like they barely got out of boot camp and this is the only field experience they have ever gotten. On top of that, we are running low on supplies. Love, food, ironically water too despite it being pretty much everywhere in the jungle part of the Everfree. We have an abundance of weapons and ammo, which so far we didn't have to use at all. Uniforms are unwearable here, they get drenched in sweat and environmental moisture and become uncomfortable. Even with extreme rationing we might be able to stay here for two more weeks at most. I hope everyone can make it out in one pi-"

My writing was interrupted by one of my underlings bursting into the tent. "Sir!"

"What is so important that you had to enter my tent yelling?" I put my pen down and turned to the changeling behind me.

"Something crashed in the Everfree, sir. Did you not hear the impact?" the changeling responded, sweating somewhat due to the jungle climate.

"No, I did not," I stood up and walked out of the tent with the messenger 'ling beside me. He pointed in the direction of the crash and spoke.

"It crashed a fair distance away, if we send a scout then maybe-"

"Send a scout? Are you out of your mind? We cannot afford to send any soldiers away." I interrupted him upon the mention of a scout. "We do not have any equipment for a scouting trip deeper into the Everfree. Even now we are lucky that no manticores attacked us!"

"But sir, the opportunity of finding something useful to us is way too big to pass it up. Especially when there's a chance that the ponies could find it before us!" He responded to me.

I had to admit, the slight glimmer of hope of making it out of here with something to bring back home, assuming there's anything there at all, was something we had to pursue. Whatever is there, ponies cannot get their pastel hooves on it.

"Fine," I said and the changeling's face immediately became happier. "but you are volunteering for this," his cheery face was replaced with a look of dread.

"B-but s-sir-"

"You'll go there, investigate the crash site and make your way back here as soon as possible, understood?" I ordered him and he just nodded. "You'll travel light, this means no equipment at all. If you are in danger, just get the tartarus out of there. You may requisition extra rations before leaving," I continued my order and the changeling nodded before galloping away. I sighed then returned to my tent after he left.

Chapter 2 - Jungle Greens

Object C-04 "Rex"
HIM Phoenix Crash Site

I felt a trickle of cold water flow down my face, breaking me out of my well-deserved slumber. I opened my eyes and immediately had a droplet of water fall from the sky and into my eye causing me to blink a couple times. The sky turned a shade of dark grey, a big difference when compared to the blue sky from earlier. I must have slept a good few hours as the sun had already retreated behind the bright green jungle thicket. I sat up on the slightly muddy ground and turned my gaze towards my vessel. "Looks like we'll be stuck here for a while," I spoke to the inanimate object, knowing that it would never answer me.

I touched my back with my still functioning right arm and felt some more blood flowing out of my wound, now mixed with mud and water. I stood up and looked down at the spot where I slept, now marked with a red stain and the outline of my body. The cold trickle of water from the sky quickly turned into a warm shower rain which presented an opportunity for myself to wash away the unpleasant filth on my body. I took all my clothes off and stood naked in the rain, the clothes I wore would better serve me as survival tools rather than apparel in this instance. I hung all of my clothes, save for my torn and bloodied shirt, on a nearby branch and stood in a spot that didn't have many leaves overhead. The shirt served as my cleaning rag and I used it to wipe away the blood and mud all over my body with the help of rainwater. I noticed a piece of metal stuck in one of the wounds, I grabbed it firmly and pulled it out then dropped on the ground.

After the deed was done, I hung the shirt on the branch together with my other clothes and picked the back-stabbing piece of metal up. "Looks quite sharp...," I said upon initial inspection of the blood coated edge with a finger. I wanted to discard this piece of metal, but stopped after getting the idea to use it as a makeshift cutting tool as my cybernetic arm was far from fully functional and I couldn't bring myself to call it a knife.

I began to examine the area around me with a faint glimmer of hope of finding any traces of civilization, though I couldn't abandon my ship and venture out too far just yet, I didn't want to risk any unwanted guests finding my vessel. There was a surprising lack of wildlife, maybe the crash scared everything away, but even then there should be snakes, insects, spiders and similar creatures around here. I didn't hear a single sound that even closely resembled the flapping of a bird's wings or its chirping. This meant that finding food around here might be a problem and I can't count on rations inside the ship as those were surely destroyed. I used the cutting metal to gather some vines, branches and mushrooms on my way back to the crash site.

Upon returning I found everything just like it was before, a comforting yet saddening feeling. On one hand I'm here alone, on the other hand I'm here alone and separated from the Empire. My lower arms still remained numb and unresponsive, so I used an improvised vine rope to tie them to my torso to prevent them from potentially flailing around while doing physical tasks and with a few leaves and more vines I crafted some cover for my genitalia for courtesy's sake. Using the some of the biomass I gathered, I built what I can only describe as a crude water collector. "It'll rain for a while but there's nothing wrong with having more water for later," I said to myself with a smile on my face and patted myself on my synthetic shoulder.

The sun had begun to set by the time I was done with my initial survival preparations, the sky darkened and the rain kept pouring down on everything around. The background noise of water droplets landing on leaves proved to be a rather calming in this precarious situation and was the closest thing I had here to music. Despite being a calming presence and a source of hopefully clean drinking water for me, the rain brought a host of new problems with itself. First, the ground around me was quite muddy and if I wanted to prepare a sleeping spot for myself then I'd have to move underneath the jungle trees. That was not a huge problem and more of an inconvenience, but I still counted it on that list. Secondly, with the fact that most of my augmentations weren't working properly, I might not be able to hear someone approach my "camp" and I might find myself ambushed while resting and with my pants down, literally.

Thirdly, the rain has probably caused wildlife, if there was any, to hide. This meant that I'll probably have to live off of what I could forage in the jungle and so far I had no luck finding anything more than a few mushrooms. What worried me is that I have never seen these ones before so I had no idea if those were edible or inedible and I wasn't particularly willing to gamble with my health right now. This was a big problem, even with those mushrooms I wouldn't be able to sustain myself for long and malnutrition in the next couple of days seems quite inevitable in my current situation. Finding a couple berry bushes or any kind of fruit-bearing tree would be a blessing, albeit a temporary one and would only buy me some time before hunger sets in. The nutrient bar I ate earlier was enough to get me through today, but starting tomorrow I need some sort of food supply.

Lastly, I had no fire nor any firewood nor anything I could use to light a fire or see in the dark. The night vision mode in my eyes wasn't working at all and the tools contained within the hand of my cybernetic arm were as good as useless too. I wasn't worried about the cold of the night, the darkness was far more concerning to me, on top of the fact that I had no way to cook anything, not like I had any food to cook anyway. "Tonight isn't going to be a great night..." I said to myself and sighed. Rain despite being a blessing in terms of drinking water also caused all potential firewood to be wet and wet wood doesn't burn well. Though without a fire I won't attract any unwanted or unnecessary attention, so maybe it isn't that bad after all.

The water collector I constructed earlier had already filled up with fresh and refreshing jungle rainwater. I kneeled on the muddy ground, causing my right leg to be dirty once more and began to drink from it. So far I haven't noticed how thirsty I was, I was too busy with other matters to think about catching a break to hydrate myself. The water I collected tasted like the best thing I have ever drank in my life, within a blink of an eye half of the contents of the collector were drank by me. "Ahhhh" I breathed out afterwards, satisfied after quenching my thirst. I looked at the collector with a smile when it suddenly fell apart. "Oh for fucks sake!" I groaned in annoyance, because even though the construct served its purpose of collecting water, I now had to use up more materials tomorrow to build another one. My lack of foresight resulted in me forgetting to use something to reinforce it and prevent or at least delay the collapse.

Infiltrator Nr.8
Everfree Infiltrator Camp

The sun was no longer in sight, it was the only way for us to accurately measure time in this cursed and forsaken forest. I stood up and read the written order from my commanding officer, orders which sent me out to investigate the crash site. I turned my eyes towards the forest and stared into its depths as a feeling of uneasiness washed over me. I couldn't quite put my hoof on it, but I had the feeling that something, someone out there was watching us...or perhaps it's the time we spent here finally taking its toll on us.

I turned my gaze back to the camp and repressed the anxious thoughts in my head, putting them aside for sometime later. There were a few changelings huddled around the campfire, even from where I stood I could hear them chat about the small things in life that they experienced. I walked up to the campfire and sat down at a free spot to listen in to one of the stories being told.

One of my fellow soldiers finished drinking what I presume to be either boiled water or tea from his slightly dented cup and called for attention of those sitting at the campfire. "Alright lads, it's my turn to tell you all a goodnight story, so you better listen up. Around two years ago back in cadet school there was this one fresh enlist. I don't remember his name so let's call him William. You could tell he had absolutely no experience with how things worked around there compared to most of us, but at least we weren't stupid enough to antagonise our training officers back when we were fresh recruits. Most of the time it was simple insubordination or talking behind an officers back just out of earshot, until he took it too far one day. The oh so courageous William the Brave who just had to disobey orders had spat in our main instructor's face, right in the eye too and with lots of snot." A few changelings gathered around the fire cringed visibly.

"My lads and I quietly made our way back to our barrack, yet we still heard the instructor rip that cunt a new one. I thought the windows were going to shatter from all the screaming and we'd have to clean everything up with our bare hooves. Fifteen minutes later he entered the barrack, looking like ghost had just set his house on fire yet as soon as the door closed behind him he began to grin. It was the biggest shit-eating grin I have ever seen in my life, the amount of pride he felt was so strong everyone could see it. He looked at us, expecting the praise he deserved for sticking it up to the big man. All he got were scornful looks and shaking of heads. Looking back at it and at what comes after this, we should have beaten it out of him."

A few fellow infiltrators chuckled among themselves and I was already theorising as to what the newbie could have done. Seeing the public's reaction and presumably not wanting to interrupt it, the storytelling soldier filled his cup with water and drank from it as a form of taking a short break. The chatter and chuckles died down a few minutes later when he resumed his story. "He must have interpreted our reaction as "that wasn't brave enough" or "you gotta do better to prove yourself", because I swear on my life that this hiveforsaken wanker was pretty much asking for the instructor to squash him. His behaviour calmed down for several days after this incident and we thought that maybe that screaming knocked some sense into his empty head. We were seriously wrong."

"One sunny day we went out to do some firing drills, except William didn't turn up. One of my buddies at the base told us after the first drill that he got food poisoning and was exempted from training for a few days. How did he get food poisoning out of a sudden you may ask? We'll never know, perhaps he was just craftier than we initially thought." His head sank a bit and he shook it while saying the last sentence. "We thought nothing of it and returned to our barrack after the drills have concluded. We saw him in his bed, back turned to the entrance and sleeping. It wasn't until the big man himself bursted through the door with MPs in a wedge formation on him. He pointed with his hoof at the bed of Willy the Bastard. "There he is!" He said and the military police swarmed it. One of them pulled the bedsheets off, only to get himself and his buddies plus a good portion of the place covered in glitter, glue and something that stank indescribably bad. We found out after the fact that he faked his food poisoning, set up a booby trap for our main instructor and at some point managed to snatch his jeep and then drove it through the base until it was covered in mud and the tires at the brink of death. They came to us because nobody was in the jeep and he was the primary suspect after his previous escapades. Their suspicions were confirmed by the trap and him being covered in mud after they found him."

A few of us, including me, clapped after the story concluded. The storyteller stood up and bowed to all of us like a theatre actor after a great performance. I was about to get up and get on with my work when an infiltrator sitting next to me asked a question. "What do you have there?" he asked while looking at the piece of paper in my hooves. "Is Flügel sending you out into the Everfree?" he continued with a raised eyebrow.

I sighed and nodded slowly "He's sending me to check what crashed in the forest, alone," I responded to him and immediately felt the attitude around the campfire change. I looked up and saw them looking back at me, some of them looked worried while other pitied me.

"That's rough," he responded and gently patted my back with a hoof. I swallowed as the feeling of dread returned to me.

"I'll g-get going now...the sooner I-I...," I couldn't finish the sentence and stood up on shaky legs, I once more looked at my compatriots and saw them with slightly sunken heads. I turned and walked away from the campfire.

"Good luck!" one of them said after I took a few steps. "Come back in one piece!" another one said. "I'll save a few cans of beans for you!" said another. Soon I was met with a wave of encouraging comments from them, I smiled and straightened myself then moved in the direction of one of the tents in the camp with a raised head, chin and spirit. I moved the flap leading into the tent aside using my magic as I approached it and went inside.

There was a makeshift desk made out of a few small logs and some flat, long pieces of wood standing in the middle right in front of the entrance. A wider, but shorter log was behind it and probably served as a chair for the desk. At first glance it looked like it shouldn't stay together, but it looks like it does its job. On the desk itself there was a single lit candle and a big open logbook and a pen, kept maintained by the changeling sitting behind the desk who was reading a book. This was our quartermaster.

He glanced up at me from underneath his book and spoke with a heavy tone. "You already had your ration, don't think about asking for more. CO's orders." He returned to reading afterwards.

"About that....I have received orders from him," I put the paper on the desk and turned it to him. "Here you go."

He set his book aside and read the note, occasionally muttering something out loud. "Hmmhh...half of a full ration of love...mmm...gonna set us back a few days...," a minute later he stood up and walked away from the desk towards one of the opened storage crates in the back. He took something out of it and returned. "Here you go, better make it last," he scoffed at me and logged our interaction in the logbook. I took the item I got and smiled while leaving the tent.

"Half full flask of love," this might not be a weapon, but it would do. I popped the bottle open and chugged it empty. The bright pink liquid flowed down my throat and filled me with energy. I levitated the glass flask back into the tent and ran out of the camp towards the crash site with newfound courage, hope and energy.

Chapter 3 - Hunter's Prey

Object C-04 "Rex"
HIM Phoenix Crash Site

I sat on the muddy ground and gazed in the direction of what used to be a great ship belonging to the Empire. It's glorious wings cutting through clouds and engines capable of bringing anyone anywhere on our Rimworld. It was now merely a wreck, rendered inoperable. I was by no means a mechanic, a scientist or an engineer, I was simply a soldier. However, I knew a lot when compared to a generic soldier, all thanks to intensive training and studying. I could tell, using my limited knowledge, that this bird wouldn't fly anytime soon, though I believe anyone with common sense could come to that conclusion.

It ceased to rain a few minutes later, my water collector was still in shambles and I made a mental note to myself to build a new one tomorrow once the sun comes up. I held the piece of metal I took out of my back in my right hand and looked at it's surface. I could partially see my face being reflected in it which included my short and naturally snow white hair, though calling it white now would be quite a stretch as the mud and jungle filth in general took away the original whiteness they usually had.

I took a long piece of cloth which I earlier ripped out of the right leg of my pants and wrapped it around the base of my metal piece to create a safe handle for my hand. The rather durable cloth proved to be a decent way of protecting my hand from the edge and making it far more comfortable and handy to use than earlier when I first got it straight out of my back. If I had to measure it, I'd say the piece was around 4 centimeters long and 1,5 centimetres wide. The edges were very sharp and could easily cut through flesh or plant matter. I poked the tip with a finger and saw a tiny amount of blood come out of the poked spot which I promptly licked away.

I got up from the ground and walked over to the pile of vines I left by the branch on which my clothes hung and took a few of them with me back to my sitting spot. I while carrying them in my hands and over my shoulder I noticed that some of these vines were more somewhat brown and felt rather wooden to the touch, while the green ones felt quite soft, flexible yet firm to the touch. "You may be more useful than I thought," I said to myself before sitting down on my ass' print in the mud.

I put the vines away beside me and began to sort them into two separate piles, a brown pile and a green pile. I had to avoid using my metal tool, as I wanted the vines to be as long as possible which meant that I had to use my hands if any of the vines got themselves tangled. This was when I began to notice slight issues with my fine motor skills in the synthetic arm. On top of not being able to use tools which were contained within it, it now also seemed a bit unresponsive. I'd have to take a look at this once I got access to some proper tools and a cleaner work environment.

Half an hour later the last of the vines was untangled and sorted away onto one of the two piles, during this time I came up with a few ideas regarding those vines. I could use them to build a hammock for myself to rest in or a primitive pulley system to get into the ship and hopefully scrounge anything useful out of it. I put these ideas aside for later, in case I'd plan to stay in this one place for longer than a few days. Keeping in mind my less-than-ideal condition, I thought that these vines may be useful for making weapons I could use for hunting or defending myself. A slingshot was my first thought, but chucking huge rocks would be much more effective if I did it with my own bare hands instead of using a sling.

I got up from the slightly less muddy ground, which resulted in my legs being covered in the aforementioned mud and began to walk towards one of the bigger jungle trees. I grabbed a few mushrooms from my supply pile and chewed on them while slowly going step by step. These fungi weren't much, but at least I had something edible in my mouth to distract me from my situation. I just about reached my destination when a great idea popped up in my mind. "A bow!" I exclaimed loudly to myself.

I carefully climbed up the tree that would become my sleeping spot for tonight. I grasped one of the branches and pulled myself up, steadily going up and away from the ground. I stood up after pulling myself up and looked around, I didn't know what I expected to come out of this because I still didn't see anything other than this damn jungle. I took a deep breath and looked up, just a bit farther up and I could get onto one of the tree's biggest branches.

The next branch was too far away from me to grab, my head sunk and I took another deep breath to concentrate. I took a couple steps back, carefully balancing on the branch and readied my hands. I then ran and jumped, my arms stretched out to grab my destination as soon as I got into range. My hands grasped my target mere seconds later and I once again pulled myself up then stood up while looking up. "Fuck...this is harder than it should be," I said to myself.

The rest of the climb was quite easy for me and after around 3 minutes I reached the big branch I was aiming for. I laid down on it and looked around once more. "Jeez..this place must be really huge," I saw nothing but leaves and trees all around me, I could barely even see my own ship. This made me feel slightly troubled, because how would I ever find my way out of here? Though this also meant that I could probably safely leave my ship behind for now. I made myself comfortable, which didn't make my resting place any more comfortable to sleep on and began to doze off.

Infiltrator Nr. 8
Somewhere in the Everfree Forest

I slowly yet steadily made my way through the jungle, every step taking me further away from the camp and deeper into the dark clutches of nature, yet it also brought me closer to my goal. The enthusiasm I had when I left the camp was pretty much all gone by now, replaced by feelings of uneasiness and the need to quietly traverse the landscape. The green thicket swallowed the sky long ago and I could barely see what was in front of my eyes, leaving my horn as the only source of light which I didn't dare use.

Occasionally I heard the chirping or buzzing of some jungle insects hiding away in even darker and deeper spots, away from sight and away from potential dangers while I was out in the open, alone and unarmed. Yet the sounds made by those insects brought me a sense of calm and reassurance that I wasn't alone in my struggle, that I wasn't the only one afraid of what's hunting out there in the open. I quietly swallowed, I should stop thinking like this before I start regretting this even more.

CRACK I heard a loud cracking noise that scared the living tartarus out of me and I jumped into a nearby bush. I shook in fear and couldn't control my frantic breath at all, the shock overwhelmed me like nothing before. I laid on the ground in the bush for a few minutes, listening in for more noises while trying to maintain some semblance of composure. I carefully poked my head out of the bush once I was sure that nothing around me was moving, all the while breathing quickly and shaking. I looked around and noticed a broken branch in front of the bush I was hiding in. I breathed a long sigh of relief as I realised that I spooked myself. "You are a damn moron.." I said to myself and got up after calming down and continued my journey.

That is until I heard noises once more, ones that weren't a result of my hooves stepping on things instead I-

STOMP. STOMP. STOMP.

It felt as if the ground quaked around me! I dashed away and hid in a hollowed out jungle tree log. The stomping grew louder and got closer to me, I once again shook in fear and despair on the verge of bursting into a desperate run for my life. I covered my mouth with a hoof to stop myself from breathing loudly and hoped to make it alive.

"STOMP. STOMP." It felt really close to me now, close to my hiding spot. One wrong move and I'd be-

"STOMP STOMP STOMP STOMP STOMP"

The monster was on the move again after stopping...I felt my very being shake with every step of this creature, yet the stomping grew quieter. This meant...it was going away! Or at least past me! I survived! I made it! Oh bless you whoever watched over me this very moment, I owe you for saving my life in this unforgiving place! I crawled out of the tree log that served as my hideaway and looked around. I got up once I was certain that nothing was coming towards me and resumed my journey while quietly hoping that this would be the only encounter of this night...

Object C-04 "Rex"
HIM Phoenix Crash Site

I woke up once the first daylight rays of the bright sun flashed over my eyes, as if to tell me that I should wake up early if I wished to survive. There was no alarm clock ringing in my ear and no comfortable bed to keep me from getting up, so I opened my eyes and sat up on the branch that served as my bed for the night followed by a long yawn. "Yaaaaaawn, at least my back doesn't hurt." I said and moved my head around a bit, causing satisfying sounds as things popped back into place.

I turned my eyes downwards towards the jungle ground below. "I didn't think I was that far up. Oh well, that's not an issue for me." I smiled and carefully stood up on the branch, preparing to leap down to the ground. I fastened the vine wrapped around my body that held my non-functional arms in place and jumped down shortly afterwards. I felt the air envelop my body as I rapidly descended, resulting in me feeling the next closest thing to a cool breeze. I kept my stoic yet confident facial expression and loose knees as the ground got closer and closer and then...

"CRASH OOOOOOOMMMPFFFF!" Instead of landing like a glorious hero who jumped out of a dropship straight into a great battle, I crashed face first in the dirt leaving a big imprint of my body in the ground. I groaned in both pain and annoyance while slowly getting up from the ground, once more covered in dirt and disappointed at my less than endearing display. I wiped the dirt off my face with a hand and some leaves then felt a warm liquid flowing out of my nose and down my face, which I quickly deduced to be blood pouring out of my broken nose. I firmly grabbed it with my synthetic hand and set the nose back into place with a rather audible crack. I breathed in and took in the smell of a fresh morning, which I felt would lead to an overall good day despite a bad start.

First things first, I walked up to the tree with the branch that served as my clothes rack and took my cleaning rag shirt which I then used to clean my face and nose some more before cleaning my hands with it. It wasn't raining anymore, it must have stopped raining sometime in the middle of the night since the ground was still somewhat wet. Since it wasn't raining, I couldn't wash myself so I'd remain a mud creature for a bit longer. "Good thing that I made sure to drink before going to sleep." I said to myself while putting the slightly muddy and bloody shirt back on the clothes branch.

With my basic morning hygiene routine out of the way, I moved on to the remains of my broken water collector. I collected the parts that I deemed usable for other possible projects of mine and tossed the rest onto a new trash pile. While there, I also took a couple mushrooms from my mushroom stack. They felt as looked bigger while also being more squishy. I ate them one by one and found out that they must have absorbed some water overnight. Some rummaging through my resources later and I had gathered the materials necessary for a new collector, then I returned to the spot of the old construction and with some effort and more attention to detail, built a slightly better water collector. "Still not as good as the ones in the standard kit." I sighed.

I returned for a moment to the self-made crater underneath my tree to retrieve my precious piece of sharp, durable metal. With no sharp rocks, fletchers or survival stores close by I had to make do with the only sharp thing that wasn't part of the ship or too big to be usable, like the boarding pad. I sat down in the shade of a big jungle tree, by my pile of green vines right next to the pile of wood and sticks. I was too big to hunt small creatures and too weak to hunt anything that could reasonably pose a health hazard to me, with a bow...and one arrow...I'd be able to somewhat pick and choose what to hunt from the safety of trees. I smiled, full of pride at my great yet slightly flawed idea and got to work.

Infiltrator Nr.8
Somewhere in the Everfree Forest

By the time that morning had come, I had a few more close calls with various predators that scoured the Everfree for their next meal. A couple times I had to resort to using my magic to conceal myself from them as I couldn't find any appropriate cover in time... This was a grave mistake on my part... Yet I somehow made it out without as much as a scratch, although my hooves were beginning to ache a bit. Who knew that walking and trotting through the jungle would cause that. A part of me couldn't wait to get back to the camp to tell my fellow infiltrators about my various misfortunes.

I felt immense relief upon seeing rays of sunlight pierce through the jungle thicket, that sight to behold filled me with energy and determination to push on and keep marching forward so that I may return as soon as possible. Not to mention the fact that most if not all hostile fauna has scuttled away into unexplored parts of the Everfree once the sun came up, which made the travel much safer. I couldn't accurately tell the current time of day or my exact location, all I knew was that every step brought me closer and closer to the place where something big has crashed.

I didn't know how much longer I'd have to travel and perhaps what I'd find there was just an uninteresting meteor that fell from beyond the skies, perhaps I'd make a great discovery that would allow us Changelings to bring Equestria to its knees once and for all and I'd get hailed as a hero! Or...maybe something dangerous has landed there? What if it was one of Twilight's magic experiments gone wrong? ...I had to stop thinking about it before it got too deep into my head... I shook my head then took a few deep breaths before continuing with my journey to the unknown.

Object C-04 "Rex"
HIM Phoenix Crash Site

It took me a good while, but after some struggling and more than a few unfortunate failures I managed to construct a bow good enough to fire an arrow with and hit something that was more than a couple meters away. At least I hoped so, because I wouldn't truly know until I got to test it out in the field. The arrow itself was as simple as it gets, a single chunk of metal attached to a straight stick. I had no feathers to fletch the arrow with, so it'd have to remain unfletched unless I somehow manage to shoot down a bird in this place.

I strapped the bow around my shoulder and got up, it was finally the time for me to go farther away from my camp than just a couple dozen meters in one direction. I had a small theory that basically stated that most animals close by fled after my ship crashed, this might explain why so far I have remained unbothered by predators even when I was wounded. I turned towards the sun and began walking forward, past the big, leafy jungle bushes and into the depths of the jungle.

I walked in a line for several minutes straight, trying to get away from the crash site in hopes of finding a good spot to lay low in and wait for some oblivious creature to walk past me and end up as my dinner. I held my only arrow in my right hand, occasionally glancing at it to admire my primitive craftsmanship with what few resources I had around me in this forsaken place. Suddenly, I heard something move in or through the bushes far away from me. It was a faint noise, but loud enough for my genetically modified ears to pick up.

Adrenaline flowed through my veins as the sound slowly moved closer and closer to me. This was my chance and I had to make it count, who knows when I'd have an opportunity like this one?! I looked around myself, put my arrow in between my teeth and swiftly climbed up one of the nearby trees while on my adrenaline rush. I climbed up high enough to be out of the direct line of sight of whatever could be going in this direction then took my bow out and prepared the arrow.

Around a minute later I saw something black, maybe slightly grey, come out of a bush. It didn't take me long to realise that this was a motherfucking insectoid! Even this place had those damn bastards roaming around! I bet it came here to look for some snake it could grab and drag back to its hive to turn into insect jelly for its brethren. Insect meat wasn't what I planned to eat, but I am not going to be picky here.

I aimed my bow at it and pulled the vine string, that's when I also took a slightly closer look and noticed that it didn't look like a common spelopede or megaspider. It was black instead of the common brown-ish colour and it had some sort of holes like a block of Swiss cheese while the horn looked like someone glued a lightning onto its forehead instead of it being curved like horns of most insectoids. The biggest difference was that it looked like an equine! I'd have to take a closer look at this thing once I was done, in the meantime I adjusted my aim and let go of the bowstring, causing the arrow to fly right for its head....

Infiltrator Nr. 8
Close to the Everfree Crash Site

I encountered several bushes in my way with no way around them, I hated to make noise in this place for obvious reasons but I had to go through them to continue onwards. Leaf noises filled my surroundings as I made my way through bush after bush, a minute later I managed to get out of the last bush that stood in my path. I stopped for a short second as something told me that I was...being watched, I decided to keep walking like normal but I couldn't shake off the feeling that something was observing me... Maybe if I paid no attention to it then it would leave me alone and would find something more interes- "THUD"

Object C-04 "Rex"
Somewhere in the jungle outside the crash site.

The arrow flew straight through the chitin of the insectoid's head, leaving a hole I could see through from the tree branch I stood on. The insectoid fell on the ground without as much as a single noise coming out of its maw.... The head landed in the mud, spraying green blood and brains across the jungle ground as I smiled at my successful first shot from my makeshift bow. "I'll be eating good tonight!" I said excitedly and climbed down the tree to not repeat my mistake from earlier then approached the corpse of my prey.

My first observation was that it didn't have any overlaying chitin plates like in insectoids commonly found all throughout the world, instead it's chitin seemed to be far more like skin. I touched it with a hand, this insectoid's chitin was far more flexible yet still as durable as regular chitin. I then put my hands inside one of the holes and found that they weren't wounds and instead were for some reason a part of this creature. Perhaps this was a bizzare form of cave or night camouflage?

I was about to pick up the dead insect when I suddenly felt... something strange. Something odd was tugging at me, tugging at my very being as if trying to tell me something. I don't know what it was but the tugging became weaker when my hand stopped touching the dead body, whic meant that something inside was causing it. I quickly traced where my arrow landed and separated the blood covered metal chunk from the arrow shaft. I turned the corpse over onto its back and with few swift moves cut its stomach open the long way along the entire stomach.

I took a deep breath and shoved my right hand deep into the still warm depths of the insectoid's body, causing it to spray green blood which covered a big portion of my arm, face and torso after my sudden, forceful entry. I wiped the blood off of my face with my synthetic hand while my other hand moved around the guts of the insect. The tugging became stronger whenever my hand moved closer towards it's chest area. I then began carefully maneuvering my hand while gauging the strength of the tugging I experienced.

The tugging stopped once my hand reached the insectoid's heart which was still beating for some unfathomable reason! I firmly grabbed it with my hand and pulled out with one swift move, causing even more blood to spray everywhere upon the exit of my hand. I held my hand out in front of myself and looked at the heart, it was still beating even though it was no longer inside a body...

I don't know why but...I felt compelled to just..... "CHOMP" I took a huge bite out of the heart, then another and another, the entire heart was gone mere seconds after the first bite. It tasted good, much better than I thought it would! Insectoids usually taste slimy or oily but this one had a unique sweet taste that I have never encountered in my entire life. I looked at the body once more, I noticed that the insectoid's meat wasn't the standard grey-ish olive colour and that instead it was a somewhat bright shade of green! On top of that I felt much more energetic after consuming the beating heart, I must have somehow consumed whatever kept it beating! I had to return to my camp first though before checking out the effects, so I picked the corpse up, threw it over my right shoulder which caused it to be even more covered in green blood and set off back "home".

Chapter 4 - Local Wildlife

Object C-04 "Rex"
HIM Phoenix Crash Site and Jungle

I walked back in the direction of my crash site camp with a big smile of pride on my face after having killed an insectoid with a simple bow and arrow, which I now held in my left hand. Full of energy, I began humming a happy melody as I switched from walking to marching through the jungle. I held tightly onto my rightful prize and the humming soon turned into outright whistling as nothing could ruin such a great moment like this! Hell, even my working arms felt almost like from before the crash!

Yet soon I began to feel a strange presence as if something was observing my triumphant march. I stopped my marching and whistling then looked around me. "Nothing but trees, vines and bushes...eh it's probably just some bird," I dismissed my worries with shrug and adjusted the carcass on my back, causing more blood to flow down my back from the long stomach cut and resumed my march while whistling a different melody to fight against the silence of the thicket. Though, I still couldn't shake off that feeling, no matter how much I pushed it into the back of my mind...

My small camp looked exactly the way that I left it this morning and upon returning I was met with distant chirping of a bird coming from somewhere above me. I stopped whistling to myself and let it take over the task of making ear pleasing ambient sounds as I got to work on this carcass. I stopped by my pile of vines and left my bow beside the brown vine pile then separated the metal piece from the arrow shaft and put it between my teeth. I grabbed a pair of long green vines and made my way over to a tree with a sufficiently thick branch that wasn't too close to the ground and tossed my insect over it.

Already I could feel myself salivating at the thought of eating something that wasn't just mushrooms or bland nutrient bars and began to carefully tie the vines around the hindlegs of the insectoid. Once done I tied the vines to the branch itself and let the corpse hang upside down from the it. I took the cutting tool out of my mouth and used it to shorten the vines after I was done with the hanging then got on my knee and examined the throat. The chitin there looked thicker, but I was still able to cut it open and let the blood slowly drain out of it. I stood up and put my piece of metal aside then readied myself to expand the stomach opening with my hands. I slid my hands in and-...Did I just hear growling?

My hands slid out of the inside of the body and I began to turn around in the direction of the growling, but I didn't get the chance to get halfway there when I felt something bite down on the ruined end of my tail. "What the!-" I rapidly turned my head to look at the creature assaulting me and what my eyes saw has shocked me. "What kind of construct is that?!" I shouted after witnessing that the supposed animal that chomped me was actually some sort of a wooden wolf. With little time to think I slammed the monster against the tree with a quick spin, which freed my already battered tail, then quickly took a few steps back to back away from the beast.

It recovered almost immediately after I had gained some distance and stared at me with its green, glowing eyes. I kept my sight on it as it began to slowly circle around me, presumably waiting for an opportunity to strike at me. Well, I wasn't going to give it one, not if I had something to say about it. I raised my two functional arms, curled my hands into fists and felt the servos in my exoskeleton rev up as I readied myself for my first proper fight in a long time. The wolf in front of me saw that I wasn't going to give up and growled at me while showing off its sharp teeth.

I prepared for the lunge that I was sure would come from the wolf and took a step forward. "CHOMP" WHAT TH-!? Something bit my tail again! I briefly looked behind me and saw another wolf that looked exactly the same! It looked back at me with its eyes an- "THUD" Out of nowhere I found myself ON THE FUCKING GROUND WITH THAT FIRST BLOODY BASTARD USING MY FACE AS A CHEWING TOY! I will NOT let some firewood push me around! I screamed loudly, partially from the pain but primarily from the anger and subsequent battlelust that flooded my mind.

My synthetic hand struck the face chewer in the side and sent it flying away from me. I heard a loud thud while I was grabbing hold of the other wolf with my hands. I forcefully pulled it off my tail and held it by the throat as it tried to claw at me. I stood up, blood flowing down my face, and threw the second bastard at the first wolf that had just stood up and was now struck down again. "THAT'S WHAT YOU FUCKING GET!" I screamed at the wolves in a show of dominance, yet it seems they weren't going to give up right now, as they swiftly got up without any signs of damage.
Not wanting to give them any quarter, I rushed at the pair of wood wolves with all the strength in my legs. Meanwhile they did the same, they charged and lunged at me in an attempt to overwhelm me. My synthetic arm coiled back and I threw a mighty uppercut at one of the wolves, which sent it flying a small distance away and caused its jaw to visibly splinter. By now I was beyond pissed and I grabbed the other lunging wolf mid-air with my other hand to exact my revenge on it for treating my face like a chewing toy.

I didn't stop running even after grabbing the wolf with my blood on its teeth and it kept clawing away at my arm, tearing chunks of flesh off and scratching at my exoskeleton. Blood poured out of my wounds, but the pain only drove me to further rage as I slammed the wolf against a thick jungle tree. I heard it whimper from the impact, I grinned and began bashing the wolf's head against the tree bark. "YOU. THUD. FUCKING. THUD. PIECE. THUD. OF. THUD. SHIT!"

It's head and body began to crack under my relentless assault which left a deep imprint in the tree, yet no matter how much it whimpered, no matter how many splinters ended up in my hand, no matter how much its movements faltered, I wasn't giving up. The tree shook every time I slammed my assailant against it, while I kept on screaming in anger. Then the wolf's head shattered, sending pieces of wood in all directions. Its body fell limp to the ground as I let go of it.

I heard something behind myself once more, my body did a sharp 180° turn as I was still riled up and this time unwilling to be surprised by another one of these walking logs. My eyes shot wide as I witnessed what was happening. "LEAVE MY DAMN FOOD ALONE!" I screamed at what I presumed to be a third wolf, which was currently gnawing and pulling at my insectoid! My feet took me to it as swiftly as the wind and I dropkicked the bastard in an attempt to save my precious flesh.

I got up from the ground and seized the momentum, before it had a chance to recover. Kneeling over it, I began bashing its head in with my fists in a fit of battle fury. Its eyes lost their glow, yet I didn't give up my assault. My hands firmly grasped its head and began to pull and twist and jerk it, until they ripped the head clean off from the remainder of the wolf's body. I stared down the lifeless body part and tossed it away to the side after a few seconds. My fleshy arm was still bleeding, but the pace at which it bled was far slower and those claw wounds showed signs of healing.

I was going to lay down and relax, but then I heard whimpering....the whimpering of the last surviving wolf. My head was full of angry thoughts, so I turned in the direction of the pained noises and began calmly, yet firmly walking towards the limping tree pest that probably thought that it could escape my wrath and its fate. Once in range of my arm, I grasped its limping leg and raised the construct into the air, which resulted in a pained yelp from my assailant.

It didn't fight back or otherwise resist while mid-air, so I calmly grabbed its head and brought it up to face level. My face was partially covered in my own blood, which now found itself on the wolf's "face" as I spat on it. The servomotors of my exoskeleton whirred to life the moment my hands began applying pressure to the monster's head. I kept staring at it with a stern expression, as the timber of its head began to crack. It didn't react other than letting out sounds of pain, perhaps it accepted its fate. Mere seconds later, the head gave in, the body fell to the ground while I laid down. My breathing slowed down, my thoughts became clearer and the rage subsided. I was no longer fighting...

Feldleutnant Flügel
Everfree Infiltrator Camp

I stood at the outskirts of the encampment, away from my underlings and their constant chatter, and lit up one of my last cigarettes. I couldn't stop thinking about...him, I couldn't think about anything else to the point of me being unable to write a journal entry today... I put the cigarette into my mouth and inhaled then exhaled a few seconds later, letting a big smoke cloud out. At least this took my mind off of it...

I turned around and looked at the group of infiltrators huddled around their extinguished campfire from afar. They looked happy, almost oblivious to the fact that we were in the middle of a death trap... I should have them doing drills, maintaining equipment or looking for more supplies close by, but I couldn't bring myself to drag them out of their happy place. I sighed to myself and threw the half-smoked cigarette away then returned to my tent.

I left the flap to my tent wide open upon entering and sat down at my desk upon which was my journal. I picked up the pen that laid beside it then slowly opened it. I flipped through pages upon pages of entries, reports, random thoughts and other things I wrote down until I arrived at a blank page. I opened my pen, checked the ink and began to write.

"18.06.1012
Commanding Officer: Feldleutnant Flügel
Location: Everfree Forest

Day 137 of our infiltration expedition in the Everfree, still with nothing worth mentioning or even bringing back. Supplies as always are becoming scarcer with every day, but it seems like the rookies deployed under me do not seem to mind their situation that much. Perhaps they are good at hiding their worries...I am considering giving our troops an order to prepare for a march out of the Everfree now that we are reaching our limits. Yesterday I've sent one of the fresh infiltrators to investigate some sort of crash in the forest..,"

I stopped writing and put my pen down. Something didn't feel right to me. Shouldn't he be back by now? It shouldn't be taking him this long to get back here... Maybe something attacked him on the way? No no no...he would have ran away if that were the case... I tried to reassure myself that everything is fine and that perhaps he's just taking a bit longer because he's careful. Still...I felt an odd itch in the back of my mind that wouldn't stop...

I got up from my desk with a sunken head and thoughts full of questions. Have I sent this poor changeling to his death? Have I failed to protect everyone here in this camp? And if that's the case...could I still turn things around? Maybe he's just lost... Gah, I don't know... I have to send someone.. there's no other way to find out and waiting won't help if he's in danger.. I turned around and left my tent. Turning my sight to the campfire, I noticed that only two infiltrators were sitting by it the moment. I breathed in and shouted. "4, 9, GET UP AND COME HERE RIGHT NOW!"

The aforementioned infiltrators shot up from the ground and speedily trotted over to me. They stopped in front of me and formed a rank while standing at attention.
"Yes, Feldleutnant?" They asked in unison.
"I have a task for you two," I said after clearing my throat. "I need you two to venture out into the Everfree," They turned their heads to the forest, looking exactly at the spot through which their comrade left yesterday.
The changeling on the left, 4, turned his face back to me and spoke. "Is this about 8?"
I just nodded in response.
"Shouldn't we wait a bit longer, sir?" Spoke 9.
I shook my head. "The longer we wait....the more nervous I get," I turned my eyes towards the forest. "I need him back here in one piece."
The two changelings remained silent for a second then saluted.
"We'll find him," Said 4 and the duo ran into the Everfree, following 8's path.

Object C-04 "Rex"
HIM Phoenix Crash Site

"I wasn't in a fight anymore....I am alone..." I said to myself out loud as I laid on the ground after defending myself. I don't know how much time had passed, maybe half an hour... maybe longer, it just seemed to fly by at the moment. I slowly sat up with my head lowered towards the ground. I haven't fought like this in a very long time and it felt good to know that I still had the warrior within me, despite the time I spent in the Arctic. I turned my sight to the battered remains of the wood creature beside me and cracked a smile.

I raised my arms and looked at them, focusing on my upper right arm. Chunks of flesh were torn off by the claws, but at least the bleeding had stopped. Same could be said about the part of my face that experienced the surprisingly sharp teeth of one of them. Now something else bothered me, how could they have been able to wound me? Why didn't my subdermal armour work? I doubt my nanobots are malfunctioning... but what if? The frame of my exoskeleton was slightly scratched, but nothing notable aside from that, so I stood up.

I turned to the closest defeated foe and scratched my chin. "Maybe I could light a fire with those, wood looks dry enough." I grasped the remains by the head with my synthetic hand and lifted it up...only to have it all fall apart. "Hmm, whatever held these together was now gone.." I said to myself while scooping the pieces of wood up and putting them down on a pile close to the hanging insectoid. I did the same with the other wolves and by the time I was done I had a rather nice amount of wood.

I returned to my green-blooded hanging meal and gave it a quick look. Luckily the body wasn't damaged much, most of it was limited to the head and front hooves, but I couldn't care less about those bits. I shoved my hands back inside the carcass then removed all the bits and pieces I wouldn't eat, leaving only fresh meat ready for preparation. I retrieved my chunk of metal and kneeled by the head of the insect. "I wouldn't mind a trophy to bring home." With one swift swoop, the horn was separated from its head and was now in my possession. "Maybe the scientists will learn more about you thanks to this."

Over the course of a few hours, I gathered some rocks after looking around a bit more and placed them in a small circle. Using my hands, I dug a hole inside the rock circle and tossed some monster wood in there. I got on my knees in front of it and held my pointing finger of the cybernetic arm close to the piled up wood. "Here goes nothing..," I focused and soon I felt my finger reassemble itself into a lighter and spew fire on the wood. "Haha! It fucking works!" My happiness was quick cut short as the fire went out and the finger went back to normal. "Aww, damn it."

I watched as the logs quickly caught on fire, much faster than they should have actually now that I think about it. The flame wasn't a normal red either, it had a slightly green hue to it. I shrugged my concerns off and went back to the insectoid once more while the campfire burned. I broke a sturdy, pointy branch off and sliced a handful of meat out of its body, then stuck it on the pointy branch and sat down by the campfire while holding the meat slightly above the flames, letting it cook.

Chapter 6 - Barred

Object C-04 "Rex"
Location unknown

"Is it still down?"

"Has been since yesterday. Are you sure it's not dead? I haven't noticed it move at all,"

"Do you want to go in there and find out yourself?"
"..."

"That's what I thought, now go turn the valve and help me aim this thing,"

PSSSHHHHTTTTTT

My eyes shot wide open the moment I felt a heavy stream of water wash over me. "GAH!? WHAT THE FUCK?! "GLGGBLBBLLBBB" I shouted with my eyes closed, then had my mouth filled with water, drowning out my shouts. I struggled to get away from the stream which moved all over my body, but found myself unable to properly move my wrists and ankles.

"That's enough, turn it off!" Someone shouted in a male voice. Was I... kidnapped? Captured?

I heard the sound of a slightly rusty valve being turned and the water stopped shortly afterwards. My mouth opened instinctively to let all the water in it out while I coughed a few times. That was an awful way to be woken up, certainly not a five star experience I'd recommend to anyone. Can't say that whoever did this wasn't effective though. I opened my eyes to the sight of my feet being shackled to a stone wall, I also noticed pieces of my shoddy genital covering on the stone brick floor. At least I was...cleaner than before. I coughed one more time and slowly turned my head up.

"Dear Celestia....it's looking up..," A different, younger male voice spoke.

My eyes widened even more at the sight of what stood in front of what looked to be prison cell bars. Two horses, no, two ponies. They were too small to be horses and if I were to measure with my eye, they were about as tall, maybe slightly taller, as the insects I encountered from earlier. Both of them had horns on their heads...does that mean those are unicorns? That's.... surprising...but not the weirdest thing I've ever seen in my life. Both of them had some sort of golden armour on them and were staring back at me. Better make a good impression, those must be the guards after all.

"Step back, we don't know what it is capable of," The less scared pony guards said.

Hmpf, I must seem like some sort of nightmare monster to them, I suppose they aren't that far off, they must not have heard me scream over the sound of the water. Not even people back home looked at me like a human. This does give me an idea as to how use their fear to my advantage, maybe even talk to whoever their leader is and turn this situation around. Time to put on a convincing show. I grinned at the guards, staring straight at them while they slowly backed away.

"W-we should have waited until the others were here-"

"Don't panic, you'll just piss it off. Slow steps,"

Now's my chance. I began to wiggle my usable limbs in the shackles, pushing against the cold steel keeping me captive. The guards were on the other side of the jail by now, they looked too intimidated to try and intervene as I tried to free myself. The metal creaked and bent, giving my hands and feet more wiggle room to apply physical force. A single bolt fell to the ground, followed by my synthetic arm freeing itself, as the shackle holding it gave in.

"I'll go call for help!" The fearful guard galloped out, leaving me alone with his friend.

One on one, just him and I, I liked those odds much more. I kept my eyes on him as my left foot and subsequently leg freed themselves from their restraint, the now broken shackle clanging against the stone floor. Shortly after it was time for my right leg and arm to join the liberated limbs, as the guard grew more anxious from my actions. The two remaining shackles holding my non-functional arms were doing the heavy lifting right now, keeping me suspended above the ground all on their own. They were no match for me either way, as my upper hands tore them off and tossed to the ground. I fell a small distance to the ground and landed on my feet in a slightly crouched position. My exoskeleton readjusted itself after what must have been hours of restraint at the same time as I straightened myself up.

My bare feet stepped on the wet, cold stone of my cell. I moved forward slowly, yet steadily, accompanied by the sound of moist footsteps and the barely audible shaking of the armoured pony. For every step I took forward, he took one back. The clopping of his hooves reverberated through the prison as he backed away. Once I got close, I gripped the steel bars with my hands and held them tightly. A faint sound of creaking metal could be heard, enough to startle him further. I could break out right now, but that wasn't my plan. I was going to convince them or at least him that I was no mindless monster, a mindless monster would have torn him apart after all. On top of that, I didn't know their intentions , so a "little" intimidation could be of great benefit to me.

I put my face close to the bars and looked straight at him. He was backed up against a wall, yet with every step I took it seemed more and more likely that he'd straight up force himself through it, good thing that I had no steps left to take then. I grinned at him and spoke. "Good day to you too. Quite a nifty place you have here." I said in a soft tone. His eyes widened in r- Damn, his eyes are really big, now that I look at them closely. Bigger than those of our horses by quite a lot. Couple seconds later I released my hold on the cell bars and turned around, there was a cot to my right. It didn't have a mattress or even a blanket, but I'm not gonna complain. I walked up to it and laid down on it, now all I had to do was to wait.

Investigative Officer Shadow Watch
Office Nr. 87
19.06.1012

Changeling autopsy reports filled the space on my desk and I spent the better part of my morning reading over them, trying to piece together some information about the Guard's latest monster catch. I could barely stomach my food after reading every single tiny detail included in the folders and it was of little comfort to read that their deaths were quick. Good thing that the Guard caught it before it stumbled upon a village, who knows how many would have died before we'd have the chance to get to it. It boggled my mind as to why it kept one of them alive, especially after slaughtering the rest. Now the poor bastard is in a hospital under close observation.

Logically it should have killed him alongside others, but perhaps there's something more to this that I'm not seeing quite yet. I adjusted my glasses and sipped some herbal tea to calm myself down, soon I'd have to go down there and attempt to interrogate it, if that's even possible. Then I'd have to review the notebook that was found on the slaughter scene, it ought to contain clues regarding the purpose of those changelings.

The door to my office burst open. "W-whoa!" I fell back with my chair while mid-sip, spilling my tea all over myself.

"S-sir?! Are you alright?" A voice called out to me.

I groaned and got up from the floor. "Would you mind knocking next time?!" I angrily exclaimed while wiping my glasses with a cloth. "You are lucky I didn't damage the reports, you twat! The department head would hang me up on his wall for that!" I put my glasses back on and sighed as I looked in the direction of the voice. "Oh, you are one of the prison guards! Apologies for my outburst, I'd really appreciate it if you knocked next time though,"

"S-sorry sir, but this is urgent," He responded with a shaky voice.

"News regarding our resident butcher I presume?" I asked while picking up the chair. "I'm all ears, guardsman," I picked my cup up and sat down on my chair. Hopefully something happened that will push our investigation a bit further, right now all we have is guesswork regarding the changeling captive.

"It-" He stopped mid-sentence and wiped his forehead with a hoof. "It broke free from its shackles!"

I jumped up from my chair and looked at the guard as if he had just said something crazy. "You're talking rubbish, you don't mean to tell me it just-"

"It did sir! Just like that!" He cut me off, for which I glared at him with an annoyed expression, which quickly changed to an angry one.

"What are you doing here then, go get the guards and pacify that beast! We can't let it get out of the castle!" I shouted at him and pulled my revolver out of my desk. If there's a monster roaming the castle, then I might as well go in prepared for a fight. I put a few pre-loaded speedloaders into the pockets of my jacket and headed for the door.

"Sir, wait!" The guard moved in from of me. "I ran here instead of the guard station because it didn't attack,"

I raised an eyebrow at that. If it broke the shackles that held it in place so easily, then why wouldn't it also force its way out of here? This was quickly becoming quite an interesting case altogether. Perhaps the Everfree beast was smarter than we initially gave it credit for? I went back to my desk and gathered a few writing supplies. "Take me to its cell," I spoke to the guardsman. I knew it was a stupid idea, exposing myself to danger like this, but other than my thirst for information, I cannot deny that I wish to satisfy my own curiosity as well.

"I'd love to sir, but we can't risk you provoking it," He briefly glanced at my revolver as he spoke in a somewhat calmer voice. "I'll-" He swallowed before continuing "I'll ask a few guards to move it to an interrogation room,"

"Ugh, fine, fine, you do that," I lowered my head and turned to my desk. There was some truth to the guard's words, that room would be much better suited for this. It annoyed me that my chance for some answers regarding the dead changelings would have to wait a bit longer. "I'll wait for it there, I need to grab a few things first," I picked my wallet, badge and a pen up from the desk then turned back to the guard. "Just don't get yourselves killed, we don't need more corpses in the autopsy room," The guardsman nodded nervously and left my office in a hurry.

Object C-04 "Rex"
Prison cell, location unknown

I stared up at the ceiling in my cell while laying on the surprisingly comfortable cot in my cell. It was a nice change of pace to have a proper place to lay down on, even when the surroundings were less than...comfortable. I put my hands, including the currently non-functional ones, on my torso and just waited. Waited for something to happen, for someone to come and thought a bit while waiting. I was mostly dry by now and the guard that I scared the living fuck out of is sitting across from my cell, at least he wasn't shaking anymore.

I must have been in this cell for a while, since all my wounds from that camp fight were gone. Hmm, what time was it exactly right now? I couldn't tell since for some reason there was no window out of my cell and all the light came from a few small lightbulbs, which flickered every now and then while gently swaying.

The lack of communication with fellows back in Abakon or even my overly cautious superiors in Wenkwort began to slowly chip away at my confidence in ever being found and "rescued". I had no orders, no guidance, no direction. What was I going to do if not follow orders, it's all I really know how to do other than fight and kill. At least in that weird forest jungle place I had a sense of direction as to what to do, but now this was way beyond me..

My train of thought was interrupted by the sounds of many hooves clopping against the stone floor. I got up from the cot and looked out of my cell in the direction of the noise, meanwhile the guard I intimidated earlier got up and trotted away in its direction, presumably to join his colleagues. It was safe to assume that my plan at least partially worked. I smiled and took a few steps back, just to give my soon-to-be visitors a bit more maneuvering room.

As expected, a group of armour-clad ponies entered the prison and approached my cell. I did a quick headcount in my thoughts and counted 8 of them, including the guard who ran out towards them, one of them looked like the pony who ran out to "get help" too. A few of them had horns and I saw one of them having wings, does this mean pegasi and "regular" ponies were present too, if so, what other equines are here? They formed a semicircle in front of my cell and brandished their truncheons while closely observing my moves, looks like they want me alive after all. The guard who ran out earlier, approached the door to my cell and opened it with a key.

He entered the cell, followed by a guard who stood in the middle of the semicircle. He gave his truncheon to a guard on my right just before entering and now stood in front of me, with the guard I intimidated earlier. Whatever they want, resisting now wouldn't benefit me in any way at the moment, cooperation seemed like the better choice right now.

"Listen up, Everfree monster. This guy beside me says that you apparently can talk, but I don't believe him one bit. I'll be generous though and assume you can understand us," He looked up at me with a slight expression of scorn on his face, or should I say muzzle?

"You'll be doing latrine duty for the rest of your days if you are wrong about this..," He said to the pony by his side. He responded with a single, yet audible gulp.

"Now be a good prisoner and put your... whatever they are out. Those grabbing things," He pointed with a hoof to my hands.

"Those are called hands sir, like the ones minotaurs have," A guard from the back spoke up.

"Right, hands," He nodded in response and took a pair of handcuffs out. Normally, those handcuffs wouldn't be much of a bother for me, but they felt a bit tight due to my exoskeleton frame. It wasn't as uncomfortable as those shackles at least.

I put my upper hands in front of myself and they were promptly cuffed. Why did they even bother with that though? Didn't they know I easily broke out of those shackles? Hmm, I suppose it makes them feel a bit safer and in any case, breaking those handcuffs does make some noise...

"Good, so you do understand us. Now the other pair," He was handed a pair of handcuffs by the guard who came in with him.

Yeah...not happening, as it turns out, those arms and subsequently hands, were still unresponsive. I shook my head and then turned my torso left to right, causing the defective arms to sway slightly.

"He's refusing," The guard without handcuffs spoke.

"When did you become an expert on animal language? I can tell that," By now it was safe to assume that the guard with cuffs was his superior.

"I think he can't move those other arms. Should I-"

"Be careful," The guard with handcuffs cut him off. "Just hold his arms out and I'll cuff him,"

The other guard nodded and slowly approached me warily. I followed him with my eyes and from up closer I could see some sweat go down his forehead. I stood still as his hooves touched my unresponsive arms and held them out in front of me, in fact I couldn't even feel him touching them. They were cuffed with the second pair of handcuffs and let go of, after which they flopped down, as expected.

The two guards let out a sigh of relief and left my cell.

"Come outside, slowly." The guard who cuffed me commanded. The other guards instinctively held onto their truncheons tightly as I moved step after step towards the cell door. I walked out and stopped in front of the guard semicircle.

"Two steps more." He said and I obeyed, after which he nodded approvingly. "At least this thing is willing to work with us..." Ouch.

The shuffling of armour and clopping of hooves filled the prison as the guards moved into some sort of formation. There were two guards in front of me, one on either side of me as four behind me. This certainly meant that they planned on moving me somewhere, but where? One of the guards in front of me was the one who I marked in my head as everyone else's superior.

"Attention, squad. Prepare to march out, stay vigilant on the way," He cleared his throat and shouted. "March out!" I felt myself being prodded in the back with a truncheon the moment the guards in front of me began to move. I groaned audibly and followed without further complaint.

"You fools back there, don't agitate it! None of the castle staff wants to clean your guts off the walls!" The commanding guard shouted and I bet the others rolled their eyes at that.

Huh, castle staff. This meant I was in or somewhere near a castle, hopefully belonging to someone important.

We proceeded to walk up a flight of stone stairs, their hooves clopped against their surface while my feet made mostly "floppy" sounds, as to be expected when barefoot. I had to bow down slightly to avoid smacking my head against the arch of the door that was at the end of the staircase, hopefully that won't become the norm in the near future. Sapient ponies and equine insects are already big enough changes for me and small doors would just be torture.

Once we went through the door, my eyes were greeted with much more pleasing surroundings. My attention was first caught by the huge windows in the walls and a red carpet going through the middle of the hallways.. The windows let lots of sunlight into the hallways, sadly I didn't get the chance to look through one of them as I had to keep moving. As for the walls and hallways themselves, they seemed to be built out of some sort of light pink-ish, perhaps purple-ish bricks, at least that's my guess.

I looked down at the carpet underneath my feet, it was quite comfortable to walk on. It felt a bit coarse, yet soft and a bit fluffy, on top of that it was a little warm. Quite a massive improvement compared to the bare stone floor... Lastly, the floor on which the carpet rested. It looked pretty similar to the walls and I bet it was made out of the same material, though it consisted of tiles in various shades of aforementioned colours. Surprisingly they had no distinct patterns on them and could safely be called "blank". Judging by this all, this was a pretty fancy place.

We approached another door, this time it was a proper doorway and not some shabby wood door leading to my prison. Luckily, it wasn't too small as had I previously feared.

"Halt!" The commanding guard shouted and everyone, including me, stopped. He then proceeded to walk ahead, opening the doorway upon reaching it and returned to us afterwards. "Resume march!" He shouted and we promptly began to move once more.

The march continued for a good 10-15 minutes. They led me down a few flights of stairs, turned into a different hallway a couple times and opened some doors. In the end we stopped by a single door. A pair of guards from behind me moved in to stand on either side of that door, while the rest, including the still handcuffed me, went through it. There were two doors inside, one on my right side and one on my left side, right in front of me.

The two remaining guards who marched behind me had now moved to stand guard by the door on the left side. At the same time their superior approached and opened it.

"Go," He said to me and pointed inside with his truncheon.

I sunk my head slightly and went in. The door closed behind me and I heard it being locked, to which I responded with a sigh. In front of me, right in the middle of the room I now found myself in, stood two metal chairs and a wooden table. Above the table hung a single fluorescent strip light, the faint buzzing of which filled my ears.

With nothing better to do, I walked up to the chair facing towards the door and pulled it back with my cuffed hands. I sat down on it at the table with my still naked ass. As expected, the chair was rather cold to the touch. Normally I'd be embarrassed by being nude while around so many pairs of eyes, but those weren't "people" as in humans, so it didn't matter too much to me. I looked straight ahead, keeping my head high, then stared at the door while waiting for something to happen.

Investigative Officer Shadow Watch
Interrogation room

Around fifteen minutes ago I had left my office with saddlebags containing autopsy reports of those dead changelings. I also grabbed some pens and an empty notebook, I figured those things could be useful, assuming that monster thing is smart enough to know how to communicate with us, yet isn't able to "talk". I doubted it could speak Equish anyway. I adjusted the collar of my coat and walked through a doorway, now I was a mere straight hallway away from the interrogation room.

I had to admit, I was getting a bit nervous at this point. I haven't seen it yet, but from what I've read in the reports regarding all the injuries it caused, it had to be huge and very muscular. Probably measured at around 3 metres tall at least, and all I had on me was a simple revolver, but what wouldn't I do to successfully close a case? Few things to be honest. I wiped the sweat off my forehead and approached a pair of guards standing by the door to my destination.

"Good afternoon, guardsmen," I greeted them with a slight smile on my muzzle to mask my nervousness. They nodded in response and made space for me to enter through the door. I was now confronted by two familiar doors. The door on the right led to the observation room, separated from the interrogation room with a one-way mirror. I presumed there were ponies inside already, judging by the two guards standing in front of the other door. The door leading to the room with the Everfree beast inside. The guards stepped aside and I entered the room, not wanting to keep myself waiting much longer, despite the potential danger.

It was there. In front of me. It sat on a chair and stared right at me. I took a deep breath and approached the table. I...I expected a much more imposing figure, something closer to a bugbear, but this thing... It had no fur, no claws, no horns, no fangs and it didn't look particularly muscular. It looked quite tall, but not as tall as I had imagined. How could something like this obliterate a changeling camp? I didn't know that yet, but I'd make sure to find out one way or another, if it helps the investigation. Perhaps it had something to do with the weird metal "frame" attached to its limbs and that....metal arm. Either way...I still felt a bit afraid around it.

Object C-04 "Rex"
Interrogation room, Location unknown

A pony in a jacket and a pair of glasses on his nose entered the room and walked up to the table. This pony had no horn nor any wings, so this must be a "regular" pony. He carried saddlebags on his back which were stuffed to the brim with something that looked like folders. I could see him shake a little as he set them down beside the table, followed by a deep breath. He took his jacket off and hung it on the chair, revealing his dark purple coat and onyx mane.

I watched him closely as he sat down at the opposite side of the table. He reached into his saddlebags and confirmed my assumptions about their contents by pulling out a bunch of folders and placing them on the table. I wondered what was inside them...were they related to all the bugs I killed in that camp? Who was I kidding, why else would he have come here?

I noticed him looking at me once more and heard him clean his throat. "You probably do not understand me, but an introduction is still in order. I am-" He stopped mid-sentence and took a deep breath. "I am Shadow Watch and there's something we have to take care of before we proceed,"

I looked at him with a raised eyebrow. What did he want to do? He reached with a hoof into a saddlebag and took a notebook and a pen out. Hmm, he was probably going to write a protocol or some notes for himself, nothing out of the ordinary. He looked towards me and pushed the pen and notebook to me. "If you are able to, draw or write responses on the paper, either is fine," He spoke while pointing at the notebook with a hoof.

I put my working cuffed hands on the notebook and leaned forward a little. "I do not believe that's going to be necessary, sir," I responded to him in a calm tone.

His face turned from that of slight worry to utter and complete shock. "G-gah!? Wh-what the fuck?!" He jumped up and fell down to the ground with his chair. "Ow!" Yeah...it also sounded like he smacked his head pretty hard.

"Is everything alright down there, mister?" I asked with genuine concern. "I didn't mean to shock you that much," I noticed in the corner of my eye that a revolver and some ammo fell out of one of his jacket's pockets.

He stood up while rubbing the back of his head with a hoof and groaned in pain. "Unghh...I'll...I'll be fine...," He picked the chair back up and sat down on it. "Just give me a moment to process this...," I leaned back in my chair in response to this and remained silent, meanwhile he adjusted his glasses.

A few minutes had passed before he spoke up again. "You can talk...great...a beast from the Everfree that can talk, that's definitely something we needed here," I frowned a bit after being called a beast, though in their and his eyes I definitely was one. He took a deep breath and looked at me straight in the eyes. Those ponies look a bit cute, I gotta admit that.

"Let's just begin. The sooner we get this over with, the sooner I'll be out of here, away from you and analysing other evidence." He said to me. Evidence, huh? I didn't expect whatever country I'm in to investigate and interrogate a "beast", this must be a bizarre place to live in. Time to present my condition then.

"Understandable, however there's one thing I want before you ask me anything," I leaned forward and spoke in a serious tone. "I want an audience with whoever is in charge here,"

He looked at me with a titled head then shook it. "You bastard....I'll be damned... Fine, but only if you cooperate, answer all questions and behave. I'm agreeing only because you know things we don't and even then I can't guarantee anything,"

I nodded and responded with a slight smile on my face. "You have my word, sir. I'll provide you with all the information you need," I didn't expect that to work out at all, but that's great. Maybe they'll help me get back home, to the Empire, or at least tell me were I am, but this was probably just wishful thinking. At least my feeling of having no set direction had subsided for now. As a sign of goodwill, I pushed the notebook and pen back to him.

"Thank you," He said as he opened it then picked the pen up. How did they even hold these things? I didn't think I wanted to know. "First question. Who or what are you?" He pointed the pen at me as he spoke.

Before I knew it, I instinctively responded to him. "Object C-04, Codename "Rex"," He wrote things down as I spoke.

"C-04, that's an odd name. Next question, what were you doing in the Everfree Forest?" He once again pointed at me with the pen.

"The Everfree Forest?" I asked confused.

"That's the name of the forest near where you were captured. I'll repeat, what were you doing there?"

Huh, that's a pretty nice name for a forest and jungle in one. "I was trying to get out of it, I couldn't stay in it for long in order to survive," I had to try and avoid revealing information about my ship, even if I had to bend the truth a little.

"Makes sense, that Tartarus forsaken shithole is unliveable." He chuckled a bit and wrote my response down. "That being said, how did you get there?" Fuck, that's a question I really didn't want being asked.

I lifted my hands up and rubbed my chin with my mechanical arm. "I think I had a really bad accident, I don't know the details,"

He narrowed his eyes and looked at me. "Sounds plausible enough to me, we've had ponies disappear there a bunch of times. A serious question now, why did you kill those changelings?"

"Changelings? Do you mean those bugs, sir?" I asked him, to which he responded with a nod. I thought for a moment and was immediately reminded of the three bugs I murdered before stumbling upon their camp. My head sunk and breaths grew deeper. "I...," I swallowed the spit in my mouth and tried to compose myself. "I...I couldn't let them find my resting place...I didn't want more attention and when I found the camp...I had to defend myself..." I conveniently omitted the fact that I ate one of them, even thinking about it made me feel sick again. Besides, this guy probably had enough just from reading the reports.

He looked through his folders and pulled two of them out. "Hmm, deep in the Everfree, death by blunt trauma. Two corpses. Is that correct?"

I frowned and nodded. "Yes..,"

He closed the folders and put them aside. "Moving on, how did you reach their camp? Changelings are quite good at hiding, finding it must have been quite hard." He questioned.

I took a moment to collect my thoughts and to push away my remorse for now. I shook my head and spoke. "Not at all, I followed their foot- I mean hoofsteps, then hid in a bush once I spotted it,"

"That explains the corpse near a bush, you hid in there and were spotted,"

"That's right, sir,"

"Both of us know what happened next, but there is something that boggles my mind. You killed all of them except one, a changeling officer. You spared him and took him with you. Although kidnapped is a more apt word for this." He put his pen down and rested his chin on his hooves.

"I intended to extract information from him about where I was," I looked down at my handcuffs then back at the interrogator.

"So you didn't know where you were at all, interesting. Did you find anything out while hiding in that bush? Did you hear anything?"

"I'm afraid not, at most I can tell you that they looked like soldiers, well prepared soldiers,"

"I figured as much, probably infiltrators," He sighed. "Those bloody bastards...," He closed his notebook got up. "I've heard everything I wanted to hear. You'll have to wait here for a moment, I'll be back," He said while collecting everything and putting it back in his saddlebags.

"Not going to ask if I found anything there?" I looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

He shook his head and adjusted his glasses. "We already searched the camp and found what we were looking for," He began heading for the door out of the room, but stopped for a moment to pick his gun and ammo up and stuffed them in his jacket's pockets. "Bloody hell...," I heard him say quietly.

"If you did, then why bother interrogating me?" I asked, slightly confused.

"Because going through what we found would take an awful amount of time and be a pain in the arse and as I mentioned before, you knew things we didn't, so might as well get this over with first," He then left the room and closed the door behind him.

Investigative Officer Shadow Watch
Interrogation room

I took a deep breath upon leaving the room and wiped my forehead with a hoof. The interrogation went surprisingly smoothly and I was glad fo have it behind me now. I didn't learn many new things regarding the changeling camp from it- him, but at least our current findings were confirmed. Now I had to get him that audience he wanted, it'd be a matter of time until Celestia wanted to talk to him anyway.

I took off my glasses for a moment and wiped them clean against my jacket, then put them back where they belong while walking towards the other door. That door led to the observation room and I bet the guards there were shitting their pants while watching, heh. I opened the door and stepped into the dark room.

Inside I found two guards, one of them an officer. They were talking about something, but I couldn't quite hear it as they kept their voice down, so I got closer.

".... that thing didn't rip his head off," I heard the officer say once I got within hearing range,

"Whose head wasn't ripped off?" I asked after approaching them.
"Ah, Officer Watch, we were just talking about how your interrogation went," The officer said and the other guard nodded.

I rolled my eyes in response. "You shouldn't doubt my abilities,"

"Why- I would never!" The officer exclaimed loudly.

I shook my head. "That being said, I felt like my heart was going to jump out of my chest. It was hard to remain calm in front of...him,"

The guard patted my back with a hoof while the officer spoke again. "Eh, he was cuffed, nothing would have happened to you. What are we going to do with him now?"

"Give him what I promised, an audience with the Princesses or just Celestia," I said and smiled at the guard who patted my back.

"I'm afraid we cannot do that, t-" He said while scratching his right cheek with a hoof

"What do you mean we can't do that? We'd just be delaying the inevitable!" I interrupted him, slightly angered.

"Because s-" He tried to speak, but I interrupted him once more.

"Don't you try to talk horseshit about "it's for safety reasons" or "because he's a danger to the Princesses." You and I know well that they can take care of themselves, no matter what," I looked at him with a scorn expression, I wasn't about to let him ruin my plan and harm the investigation.

He looked down to the ground and- Ting, ting, ting. What in Tartarus was that? I turned in the direction of where that came from, which just so happened to be where the one-way mirror was. "Oh fuck," I said to myself and noticed the guards looking at the source of the sound with me. C-04 got up from his chair and now stood in front of the mirror, poking it.

"Was it not supposed to be concealed by magic to look like a wall by any chance?" I asked turned my head back to them.

"He must have heard us somehow," The guard who so far was quiet said.

"Let's go and cart him off to the Princess," I said and moved towards the door. I looked behind me and saw that the guards were occupied with looking at the handcuffed biped. "Come on, you twats! Hurry your asses, I don't have all day!" I shouted at them, which made them jump up slightly and run up to me. "Hmpf, you'll have enough time to stare at him later," I said and left the room with them.

Object C-04 "Rex"
Interrogation room, location unknown

I tapped the wall with my finger again. It looked like a wall, yet it felt like glass to the touch and made glass sounds. On top of that, I was almost certain that I hear some voices behind it... Perhaps this was some sort of advanced illusion? Based on what I had seen so far, their technology is quite behind the Empire's tech, but this is something really unique. I put my palm on it and sure enough, it did feel like glass. It had to be a mirror or a window of sorts-

"Be careful or you'll break it," My train of thought was interrupted by the voice of Shadow Watch addressing me, he must have entered the room while I was distracted. I obliged and removed my palm from the wall, then returned to my seat. I sat down and looked at him and noticed two guards standing beside him. They seemed to be slightly less happy to be in the same room as him.

"These two fellows behind me will take you to your audience," He spoke and briefly glanced at them, one of them I recognised as the commanding guard who brought me to this room. "I'd love to do it myself, but I have other things on my head to handle," I watched as he approached the table and put his packed saddlebags onto his back. "Remember, should you step out of line, then you'll end up back in that cell and our deal is over," He spoke in a slightly harsher tone, to which I nodded in response.

"Glad that we got that cleared up," He smiled briefly and walked past the two guards, then presumably got away from here as far as he possibly could. The two guards meanwhile exchanged some looks and stepped deeper into the room. "

You've heard the man, get your ass up and get moving," One of them said to me and closely observed my movements as I stood up, facing them. "Now leave the room and walk out into the corridor," The other one, the higher-up, said.

"Yes sir," I said to them and proceeded to leave this less than pleasant to the eye place. I heard their hooves clop behind me as I walked, which made me sigh. At least I was getting somewhere right now, assuming I didn't get tricked at any given point during the interrogation and wasn't going to end up in that prison cell again. I went through the door leading into the hallways, then one of the two guards moved in front of me, while the other walked behind me. I looked down at him and followed him.

Chapter 7 - Welcome to Equestria

Object C-04 "Rex"
Hallways, Location unknown

It was nice being outside the interrogation room once more, in fact it was nice to be anywhere that wasn't just a single colour all around. The two guards escorted me through the hallways, away from that room. Every now and then we walked by a window, but whenever I looked out of it I couldn't see much other than clouds, an occasional bird and the sun. We must have been quite high then, if I couldn't see a single building. We approached and stopped in front of a big red wooden double door. The guard in front of me walked up to it and pushed it open with his hooves, filling the hallway with the slightly audible sound of creaking doors.

They opened to reveal a huge hall, lit up by a variety of exquisite chalinders hanging from the ceiling, full of candles burning a bright red flame yet I couldn't see those candles melting in the slightest, not even a single drop of wax flowing down the shaft. I began to suspect that perhaps...this place is in some way...magical? It was hard for me to imagine such a concept being true, yet it somehow made some sense. Unicorns and pegasi, otherwise being mythical creatures, could be a sign of that... My train of thought was derailed after the guard behind me poked me in the back with his truncheon.

"Come on, get moving," He said and I obeyed.

We approached a grand staircase right in the middle of the hallway, it was quite a sight to behold even after witnessing the greatness of the Wenkwort Metropolis. A vibrant burgundy carpet with gorgeous patterns was draped over the steps from top to bottom, the guardrails reflected light off their polished silver surface. To top it all off, at the top of the staircase was a massive stained glass mosaic window depicting two uni-..pega-...pegacorns? Well, they both had a horn and a pair of wings, so I'll call them that.

The pegacorn on the left was as dark as the night, with eyes those as bright as a full moon. Its hair or rather mane looked like it floated in the air, with more stars than I've ever seen on a night sky. Every step we took up the stairs made the dark pegacorn look more and more imposing, yet there seemed to be an aura of comfort surrounding it. The one on the right was in almost every way the exact opposite of the pegacorn on the left. Its body was cream or perhaps pearl white and its eyes closely resembled a bright sun. Its mane also looked like it floated in the air, though it instead had the vibrant colours of a rainbow. It was hard for me to keep my eyes off it, as it seemed to radiate an aura of warmth and comfort.

Another look at the two creatures revealed that they both wore crowns on their heads. The dark pegacorn had a simple and small black crown while the white pegacorn wore a bigger, golden crown with a few jewels. Additionally, they both had marks on their flank, a moon for the dark pegacorn and a sun for the white pegacorn. The mosaic depicted them embracing each other, like good friends or perhaps siblings.

I thought about it a little longer as we ascended the staircase, but didn’t let it distract me from walking up, so as to not get prodded in the back with a truncheon once again. We turned around after reaching the mosaic window and began walking up another set of stairs. I heard a sigh behind me and glanced towards where the sound came from, it was the guard behind me, now standing and staring at the piece of art.

“Keep moving,” The one in front of me spoke, which startled the guard and made him quickly return to his task. I scratched my right cheek with my handcuffed hand in slight contemplation, maybe those figures were quite important to them after all. After a short walk, we finally reached the top of the stairs and now had a single straight hallway ahead of us, with a big door at the very end and smaller doors branching out along the hallway, with almost every one of them having a pair of guards watching vigilantly. I could already feel some of their eyes on me.... Staring...judging...

“Are we getting close?” I asked and the guard in front of me nodded. “I’ll take that as a yes,” I responded and our journey continued. We walked in the direction of the huge door, but suddenly turned towards one of the doors along the hallway. The guards by it blocked our way with their spears, much to the annoyance of the guards escorting me.

“What gives?!” The guard in front of me asked in an angry tone.

“We cannot allow you passage inside, sir. The Princess is busy,” The guard on the left responded and held his spear tighter in his hoof…somehow.

“I don’t care if she’s busy, I have an important matter for her to take care of and I do not plan to wait,” The guard slipped back into his commanding personality I witnessed much earlier.

The door guards looked at each other and sighed, then moved their spears out of the way. I smiled slightly at his victory then noticed him turn to face me. “You there, behave once you are inside and do not think about stepping out of line. Lift any of your limbs up at her and you’ll regret it,” He looked at me with a serious expression. I instinctively took a slight step back. Those threats weren’t much for me, but I had to appreciate the bravery of this pony.

“I understand,” I spoke in return and nodded.

He turned around and the guard behind me moved to stand beside his comrade. They approached the door and pushed it open, allowing the three of us to step inside. I kept my head lowered as we walked through. The door closed behind us and I heard a male voice speak in the distance.

"... additionally, our scouts report increased changeling movements in the north and-" Whoever spoke was cut off, however I doubted that my escort heard any of it. At least it now seemed that my ears were in working condition. My train of thought was interrupted by another voice speaking, this time a female one.

"I'm afraid we will have to postpone this conversation, I have another urgent matter to attend to," Her voice was much softer and every word was spoken in such a royal yet comforting way. I looked up from the ground and noticed two figures standing at the end of the room. A pony with wings, dressed in a suit and holding a clipboard in one hoof, who now bowed to the other figure and began walking towards the door we went through. The other figure was...huh, it was the pegacorn from the mosaic window, the white sun one. That must be the princess everyone spoke of. She was at least twice as tall as that pegasus and looked more like a horse than a pony.

The pegasus walked past us, which prompted my escort to continue walking, this time towards the princess. I took a moment to look around the room as we walked. The room itself was decorated rather formally, with a few fancy paintings hanging on the walls, a big window in the back and a lit chimney. The purple-ish bricks were now replaced by wood paneling all over the floor and walls, it was quite an elegant yet cozy design. The burgundy carpet we walked on created a path from the door all the way to the princess who stood and waited for us to come to her. If I had to wager a guess, this was her personal office, surprisingly less royal than I expected.

Soon we got into talking distance and I immediately kneeled as a display of respect for her as a monarch and to start off with a friendly note. It was a bit hard to kneel with two non-functional cuffed arms, but I managed to squeeze them in between my legs. The guards moved aside, opening a direct path to their ruler. I heard her hooves move on the carpet, stepping towards me in what must have been quite a display of grace, however I couldn't witness any of that as my eyes were directed towards the ground.

I felt an odd aura of warmth envelop my very being as she got closer and it only took a few more seconds for her to speak up. "Heheh, there's is no need to bow before me. Please, do stand up," She chuckled and spoke in her soft voice.

My eyes looked up at her in slight surprise, but I obeyed and got up from my knees. Standing straight, I'd say I was taller than her by a bit, however her horn more or less made up for that difference. I kept my head lowered and remained quiet.

"Guards, uncuff my guest, I'd like to speak to them privately," She spoke to the two ponies accompanying me.

"My Princess, is it a wise decision to-" The commanding guard spoke up.

"Please, uncuff them," She repeated her request.

Both guards sighed and proceeded to remove the handcuffs restraining me ever since I got out of that cell. My hands were freed from their restraints, prompting my exoskeleton to slightly readjust its form. I rubbed the wrist of my upper right arm with my synthetic arm and cracked a small smile. My head turned up towards her. "Thank you," I said in a genuine tone and glanced towards the guards. They were now leaving the office, but I could still feel their eyes burning holes in my back.

With them outside, I once again turned my attention to the white pegacorn princess. She smiled at me with a slightly cheerful expression. "Where are my manners? I didn't introduce myself. My name is Celestia, Sun Princess of Ponies," She briefly introduced herself. Sun princess, eh? That confirms my thoughts regarding her on the mosaic.

"I am Object C-04, Codename "Rex"," I responded to her with my own introduction and reached out to her with my right hand for a hand/hoofshake. She looked down at my hand and responded in kind by shaking my hand with a hoof, which had a surprisingly strong grip despite having no fingers at all.

"I am pleased to meet you and welcome to Equestria, would you mind if I referred to you as Rex?" That question made me feel a bit happier about myself, perhaps this marked a pleasant change of pace from being called a beast or monster.

Object C-04 "Rex"
Office, somewhere in "Equestria"

Hm, so this place is called Equestria, that sounded awfully similar to equine. "Not at all, Princess," The shake concluded and I took a slight step back, getting a better look at her this way. Her mane looked much, much more colourful and vibrant from up close. It waved in the air in a hypnotising way, so much that I could probably stare into it for hours, she must be beloved by her subjects.

"You don't seem as, forgive me for calling you that, brutal and murderous as the reports I received make you out to be," Aaaand there goes all the pleasant feeling out of the window, I knew this would be brought up, however it still wasn't nice.

I scratched my neck with my synthetic arm. "I'm trying to be on my best behaviour right now and neither those reports nor the interrogator have the whole story,"

This answer seemed to satisfy the Princess, however I could notice a hint of curiosity on her as she raised an eyebrow. "The whole story you say? Perhaps you'd like to talk this over by a cup of tea? Coffee perhaps? I presume you must be hungry too,"

"Hungry? My digestive system is very efficient...," I responded awkwardly and the Princess gave me an odd look. This offer took me by surprise, however I wasn't going to deny. "I mean, I'd be honoured, Princess,"

She nodded and her horn began to glow, making me look up at it. What was she going to do? Is that some sort of magic like I began to suspect some time ago? The glow grew brighter and then suddenly disappeared, just like that. I looked at her visibly confused, which got a chuckle out of her. She turned to the right, which prompted me to look in that direction too. There...there was a round table there now and two chairs...those weren't there before.

"Please, take a seat," She spoke and sat down on the chair farther away from me. Her chair was much bigger and she looked like a sitting dog on it. I slowly approached the other chair and sat down. They were both made out of wood and had a soft pillow to sit on.
"...How?" I asked her out of curiosity.

"Magic, of course," She smiled.

"Right...magic..." That answer slightly unnerved me, I bet she wasn't the only one who knew how to do magic...

"Did I say something?" She looked at me concerned.

I shook my head to get those thoughts out. "Huh? N-no, Princess. I just... haven't encountered something like this before,"

She nodded while rubbing her chin with her right hoof. "Hmmm...," Her eyes narrowed slightly, as if she was inspecting my soul. "Yes...that explans it. You aren't from here at all," She spoke with an intrigued tone and facial expression.

A chill went down my spine from that, making me shudder. "H-how do y-"

"How do I know? Your body doesn't contain any magic," She turned her head towards the window. "Our world is a magical one and every living being carries magic within them," Her head once again turned towards me. "You do not, therefore you aren't from here. Before you ask, your appearance wasn't what gave it away. We have had...many previously unknown creatures appear here,"

I was speechless, my brain went blank after what she told me. I felt my muscles tense up while my exoskeleton servos buzzed quietly. It took her a couple minutes since meeting me to figure so much out about me... From now on I knew that I'd have no advantage in the talks with her here...and if she learned so much just by looking at me, then what else could her magic possibly do?

"Perhaps you'd like to tell me how you arrived in Equestria?" She continued with a smile on her face as if nothing had happened, as if this was just another ordinary day for her.

I took a moment to think about what to tell her. Should I start from when I crashed or from when I got in the ship? Maybe I should tell her my whole story right away... No, no, that'd be foolish and irresponsible from me, assuming she'd believe anything about the Empire I might tell her. I kept looking at her with a mostly blank expression that had slight hints of worry and perhaps something akin to a mixture of impression and intimidation. The resulting silence was quite overbearing...

"Would you care for a slice of cake while you think? Perhaps a warm cup of tea to ease your mind?" She broke the silence with her soft tone.

"Ah- Why yes, I'd be honoured," I admit that I felt my spirit jump up a little from her suddenly speaking, but I wasn't about to turn down some free food... especially when...I'd rather not think about this..mh..

Her horn began to glow a bright golden light, starting from the bottom and reaching all the way to the tip. I wasn't sure what she was about to do, but I had a feeling that she was about to...hmm...cast a spell? Could she really summon food and drink out of nowhere using magic? I stared at the light with curiosity, yet there was still slight fear of that power lingering in the back of my head.

My suspicions were confirmed when the table was decorated with a set of fancy plates, silverware and teacups appearing literally out of nowhere. I noticed a smile forming on her muzzle, does she enjoy doing this or did she enjoy showing a "magicless" creature like me how it's done? I moved my eyes down to the fancy tableware and soon enough slices of chocolate cake appeared on both of them while the cups were filled with hot tea...mmhh it smelled great.

By now I made up my mind regarding what to tell her and began. "I don't know what exactly happened, but I can tell you what I've seen happen," I cleared my throat before continuing. "If my assumptions are correct regarding the time I spent here, then around two or three days ago I was flying in my ship on my way to...lets say run some errands," I spoke and noticed her raise her cup up to her lips using her magic, which was easy to see as the cup was surrounded by her "magic aura".

She quietly sipped as I continued. "That flight being rather long, I decided to take a nap and let the ship fly itself for the time being," She raised an eyebrow at that, but didn't stop me. "I woke up to my ship flying into a storm, a storm that wasn't supposed to be there at all. I tried to turn back but I couldn't do anything," I sighed. "I began losing altitude and crashed in the place I now know is called the Everfree Forest," I felt sadness build up inside me, this Princess confirmed my fears that I was very...very far away from any semblance of home. "And... that's the story and what I didn't tell the interrogator,"

I picked the cup of tea up with my right upper hand and raised it up to my lips. It filled my nostrils with the smell of chamomile and hints of honey. My muscles relaxed and I felt some of my fears dissipate, at least for now. My eyelids closed halfway as I sipped the hot beverage in silence, enjoying it and awaiting the Princess' response.

She set her cup down, releasing her magical hold on it and smiled, presumably because she saw me enjoy the tea she...warped in out of nowhere. The Princess shook her head as she spoke. "Your situation is quite an unfortunate one, Rex," Her smile turned into a frown. "You must have flown into a magical storm, an anomaly with quite dangerous possible outcomes. You've gotten quite lucky, staying in one piece," She raised her cup again to sip more tea.

"Does...does this mean that I am not going to return anytime soon?" I ask her, even though I pretty much know what the answer is going to be.

"I'm afraid not, even if a magical storm appears in Equestria, there is no telling where you will end up or if you end up anywhere at all." I could hardly fathom how she could say all of this in such a calm and collected manner, as if this was nothing new, just another strange occurrence to add onto her list.

With that in mind...I wasn't quite sure what I was going to do next... All my plans regarding what to do after this talk...they were dashed. I was never going to return to my previous life ever again, I'd be stuck in this world full of ponies and whatever else might be here... I'd no longer hear my superiors giving me orders...giving me purpose and goals to complete. I had nothing left, even the ship and everything in it is in shambles.

I couldn't help but slouch over the table, staring blankly into the chocolate cake slice. I was, by all means, fucked and stranded as a stranger in a foreign land, world even. The desperation in me to get back, to keep doing what I did every single day, was now replaced by a feeling of what I can only describe as a mixture of hopelessness and uselessness.

"Since that means you'll presumably be staying within Equestrian borders for a while, I have an offer for you," She spoke and in the corner of my eyes I saw her take a bite out of her cake slice using a fork, holding it with magic just like the cup a moment ago.

I slowly raised my head to look at her, my interest was piqued, however that didn't wipe away how I felt at the moment and I had a frown on my face to show that.

"Before I tell you more though, I have a few questions I'd like to ask," She ate another bite of her cake.

"Go ahead...ask me anything...," I said to her and picked up the fork next to my plate, then prodded the cake with it a few times. I wasn't craving it anymore...

She swallowed and put her fork down. "Those...metal contraptions attached to your body, what are they?"

I sighed and looked up at her. This time, there was no point in not telling her everything she wanted, I'd never return after all... "Usually...I'm not supposed to tell much about those..., but it doesn't matter anymore,"
"Those...contraptions as you call them, they aren't just attached to me. By all means, they are part of me. Have always been, for as long as I remember at least. This metal attached to the surface to my skin is a exoskeleton, as the name suggests it's a skeleton...but outside my body. Makes me faster, stronger...more resistant to damage, it is however quite inconvenient for wearing clothes and quite unsettling to look at for most...," I finished my sentence and raised my cup of tea.

Briefly, I remembered all the regulations my fellow clones and I had to follow in public, them being drilled into our brains repeatedly. Wear a cloak, never expose your augments, blend in, don't attract attention, stay out of sight...I shivered at the thought of being...exposed...in public...having all those eyes glare at me...seeing them all run away, treating me like a leper...

"Is that why you are-," The Princess spoke and gestured up and down at my naked body.

"No, my clothes were damaged beyond usability in the crash," Speaking of that...how will I get new ones here? I doubted they have human sized shirts. With a long sip I emptied my teacup and put it back down.

The Princess remained silent, probably eager to listen more while munching on her cake. I had to admit, at least I felt a bit better talking about this and would probably be happy, were it not for the circumstances of my situation... I cleared my throat and continued talking. "This exoskeleton isn't just attached to my skin though, it goes deep into my body, making it an integral part of me," I rubbed the exoskeleton on my synthetic arm, at least it was somewhat compact compared to older models I have seen. It mostly went along where roughly my bones were, on the outer side of my limbs and was at most 1cm thick.

The Princess finished half of her cake by now and decided to speak up again, she seemed quite interested in my...appearance. "Pardon me for asking, but why would you need all this? Not to mention your presumably mechanical arm,"

"The arm serves utility purposes mostly, various tools for various occasions. As for the rest...I am what you could more or less describe as a soldier," I spotted her eyes light up a bit once she heard that, a surprising response to being told that the thing in front of you is a killer machine. "Though more often I get called other things...specimen, test subject, object, tool and truth be told...at times they aren't wrong...,"

"How so? You seem to be capable of much more than an object," She spoke in a soft and somehow reassuring tone.

"True, but like many things in the world, yours or mine, I have been created. Built from the ground up in a lab. I don't resent this, but to others that makes me...inferior, at least inferior to those I have to listen to. Normal people just...run away." And it didn't help that there were only few of us, I thought to myself after speaking. I finally used my fork to eat a small bit of the cake. Its chocolate flavour seemed to melt in my mouth unlike anything I have eaten ever before, this was much, oh so much better than the nutrient bars back home.

"Amazing...remarkable" She said quietly, not quietly enough for me not to hear though.

Princess looked me up and down from her chair, with a hint of wariness in her eyes. In her position I'd be doing the same, if I had the equivalent of a walking petri dish crossed with a scrapyard in front of me. I hope she wasn't reconsidering that offer she mentioned earlier. Her horn glowed, but she didn't pick any objects up. Suddenly a piece of paper and an ink pen appeared on the table, while her plate disappeared. She began writing on it and I had no intention of inquiring about that.

"I realise that this is a touchy subject for you, however there is one more question I'd like to ask. Two actually. First, what happened to your other...erm...limbs? It was easy to notice that your lower arms aren't...in prime condition. Secondly, what purpose have you been made for?" She stopped writing, waiting for my response to her questions.

I looked down at my floppy, unresponsive arms with a slight frown. "I don't know, maybe it was the crash or the storm, but I am unable to control them, just like a few other things including tools in my arm. You probably also noticed something akin to a tail, it's absolutely ruined for now," I ended my sentence and watched as she wrote more on her piece of paper, I used this moment to eat another bite of that cake and continue once I noticed her finish writing.

"There are a few other issues, but those are mine to take care of," Like checking myself in a mirror to see if anything had changed back there, maybe my tail had made some progress towards recovery or if what's supposed to be my "growing" wings was still there. "As I mentioned earlier, I am a soldier and judging by what I've seen here so far, I'd be akin to a shock or storm trooper for you," I couldn't accurately gauge what technology they had, but I saw that they at least had "proper" guns.

"Basically, I get tossed into the toughest of fights against the toughest of foes facing the worst odds and expected to come out alive," That answer seemed to get the gears in her brain going, as I noticed a sort of a spark light up in her eyes. Her equine face had quite a visible smile on it, a rather warm smile I'd like to add. "Four arms, exoskeleton and a variety of other augmentations, enhancements and modifications not visible at first glance make it possible," As I finished talking, I had noticed that she had folded her piece of paper, then magically put and sealed it inside a pink envelope.

The Princess stood up from her chair, which looked more like her gracefully hopping off it with her hair trailing behind her. "You've told me many intriguing things today, Rex. It is time that I present my offer to you," She approached me and put the sealed envelope beside my plate. "I offer you a place within my realm, you'll be sent to one of my most trusted friends, who happens to live in a village close to the Everfree Forest. Additionally, I guarantee that your shipwreck, wherever and whatever it might be, will remain untouched by Equestria. All of this in return for a favour or two,"

I looked down at the envelope, then back at the Princess, my face bearing an expression of surprise. I couldn't quite believe that she'd do that for...a favour? "Just like that? Only for a favour? What's the catch?"

"There is no catch, here in Equestria we believe in generosity, amongst other things, and value new friendships quite a lot. I'd like to start off on good terms with you, after that incident with changelings and you being locked in our jail," Her words seemed to be genuine, if I had to judge and she did look quite happy to say all of this.

However, there was one small thing...

"Princess-," I said and took a deep breath. "I'm afraid I cannot accept this offer,"

"Oh that's wonderful I-," She stopped mid-sentence. "What?" She looked at me with a distraught face. "But why? Please, do tell me why?" She spoke and sat down on the ground, slightly reminiscent of a sad puppy.

I stood up from my chair and looked down at the Princess. "I greatly appreciate your offer... it's just that I cannot accept for the sake of your...subjects," I turned around, my back now towards her, and took a few steps forward. "I told you that wherever I am, others are afraid of me. I do not wish to cause turmoil in your realm..."

I heard her move towards me. "You underestimate my ponies a-," She tried to speak, yet I cut her off,"

"No, I'm not made to live amongst normal people. Even if they accept me, I am far too dangerous for them, do you not see it, Princess?" I turned around and pointed at myself with the palm of my right hand, tapping my chest. "I am a killing machine, I'm supposed to be kept away from them, for their own sake. I do not wish to insult you, but please reconsider it," It really felt wrong to me to say anything other than refuse her offer, it's just the way I have always lived with my fellow clones. Kept away, out of sight, it worked the best for everyone. I...couldn't allow myself to be thrusted right in the middle of an inhabited place...I could already imagine all those...eyes...staring...at...me...eyes.... I slumped down on the chair and shivered at the thought.

I felt a hoof touch my right shoulder, gently rubbing it, while more soft words came out of the Princess' mouth. "I realise from what you told me that this is not ideal, however don't discard this offer so easily,"

I couldn't help my loosen up and relax on the chair, her presence had an odd calming effect, perhaps it was the warmth of her hoof? "I...I don't know...It will be more trouble than it is worth for you. I have already caused trouble by killing those...bugs...and...," Yeah...and that, the one I ate.

"You acted in self-defence, besides, they were foreign infiltrators and I'm sure that whoever sent them will prefer to stay quiet for her own sake," She said to me, though the end of that sentence made me think she knew where they may be from.

"But...," I couldn't hold it in anymore right now, I just had to say it. "I ATE one of them!" I exclaimed loudly, standing up once more and looking straight at her.

Her expression immediately turned from that full of misguided compassion, to one of shock and disbelief. I didn't stop though and she took a few steps back as I exclaimed more. "I shot one through the HEAD with a bow, without a second thought! Strung it up on a tree and gutted before slicing up and dining like nothing had happened!" My voice grew louder with every sentence, my arms expressing my disgust with my self through motioning.

"Was I hungry? Yes, but that doesn't excuse that the fuck I have done, does it?!" I took a deep breath.

"Rex...," She spoke in a quiet voice.

I interrupted her and kept shouting. "No, Princess! I'm trying to tell you that I will only bring trouble if you keep me anywhere close to your people! I've slaughtered a group of innocents, because I didn't want to get my ship found! Do you not see that I am a monster or more accurately a beast?!"

"They were foreign soldiers Rex..." She got a sentence in before I continued.

"Agh! I have nothing to go back to, nothing matters anymore, there's nobody left to tell me what I should do and my entire plan has fallen apart! It's been nothing but a downwards spiral since I got here! Yet you for some reason offer me a place here, why?! I don't buy the friendship sp-!" Hmmpfffhhh! I couldn't speak! Something held my mouth shut! "Hmmpfffhhmpphh!!!???"

"Rex, listen to me," She looked at me sternly. "Yes, what you have done is terrible, inexcusable. Did you know better? No, but you regret it," She came closer and placed a hoof on my left shoulder, which I tried to shrug off, to no avail. I noticed her horn glowing though, that's probably how she kept my mouth shut.

"Hmmhhhnnh...," Regret, who wouldn't regret doing something like this? It's one thing to slice a hostile raider or bear in half, another to shoot an unsuspecting soldier in the head and eat them. Of course I regretted it, but how would I ever atone for it?

"I'll take that as a yes," She said and I nodded just to confirm. "I cannot tell you to stop feeling guilty over this, but I can offer you a chance at perhaps making up for what you've done, at least for yourself," She placed her other hoof on my right shoulder. "Do you want to know why?"

I rolled by eyes, but nodded anyway. I was quite curious what could compel her to do that. "Hmmh,"

"I see potential within you, potential to do a lot of good. An ember which needs kindling to become a bright flame, deep within your being. I hate to see such occasions wasted and believe that those who've done evil, yet wish to improve, deserve a second chance. This is your chance, Rex,"

I felt the force holding my mouth shut dissipate and the emotions within me cool down a bit. I sighed and answered with a single word. "Fine...,"

A bright smile grew on her face and I found myself pulled into a very tight hug...by an oversized pony. "Please release me, I don't enjoy hugs," I said with a strained voice, as her hold on me was much stronger than I had expected.

She let go of me and took a few steps back. She cleared her voice and fixed her mane with a brush held by magic. "I apologise, I got a bit too eager," She put her brush away and spoke once more. "I'll have a few guards escort you to a transport vehicle, which will then take you to your destination. I'd greatly appreciate it if you also took this letter with you," She picked the pink envelope up and gave it to me.

I took it from her hoof and examined it closer, it had a faint lavender smell to it. "Can't you just...teleport it with magic? You seem to be able to do that," I asked and held onto it.

"I'd prefer if you delivered it yourself. You'll find the recipient on the envelope." She smiled once more and cleaned the table up...by making all the plates, food and drinks disappear. "You'll have to wait outside my office for your escort to arrive, it shouldn't take too long. Safe travels,"

"Have a nice day, Princess," I bowed down to her then turned around and walked towards the office exit. I looked back and saw her sitting at her desk, waving a hoof at me and still smiling. I suppose this could have ended differently...I found it hard to believe she'd offer me so much even after I told her so much about...everything. My free hand opened the door and I walked through it, leaving the cozy and beautifully decorated office behind and making first steps towards the unknown

Chapter 8 - An Escort Mission

Object C-04 "Rex"
Hallway outside office

I noticed in the corners of my sight, that the two guards guarding the office door were glancing at me cautiously, as if to assess my intentions. I paid little attention to that and walked past them, this time without any handcuffs on me. I sat down on the ground, against the wall opposite of the office door, facing towards the two guards. It appears that their eyes followed my movements and they were now looking at me... I looked back at them, which made their gazes return to looking straight ahead.

In this moment I wondered, why would they have spear armed guards guarding an office, instead of agents with guns and uniforms? Are those guys just some sort of honour guard? Seems irresponsible to only have them around a "dangerous" prisoner... Oh well, I could ask about that once I got transported to wherever the sun Princess wanted to send me off to. With nothing better to do than to admire the walls, carpets and whatever else was in the hallway, I rest my head against the wall and closed my eyes, a short nap wouldn't hurt me after all.

Princess Celestia
Personal office

I sighed happily as my guest left the office and popped a fresh cup of tea onto my desk. This Rex individual, convincing him to stay wasn't as easy as I thought, however I believed it was going to be worth it in the end. With no way home, he might as well stay in Equestria and settle down here, though I couldn't deny how useful it might be to have such an interesting person here. I hoped that Twilight would take good care of him while he stays in Ponyville and doesn't tire him out with being herself.

Anyhow, I sipped from my cup of tea, holding the cup with magic, and opened a drawer within my desk, inside of which was a telephone and next to it was a sheet with numbers. I lifted the telephone out of the drawer and set it down on my desk, while at the same time lifting and setting down the sheet next to it with magic. I held up the receiver to my ear with my left hoof and dialed a number with my right. Seconds later I was waiting for the pony on the other side to pick up the call.

"Hello, Canterlot Castle Guard Garrison! Senior Guardsmare Onyx at the telephone! How may I help you today, Princess Celestia?" A cheery voice answered, which put a soft smile on my muzzle as I heard one of my guards in a good mood.

"Good afternoon, Onyx. I presume things are running smoothly down there?" I asked and twirled the telephone cable in my hoof.

"Of course, everything is excellent as always, Princess. Is there anything you need?" She repeated her question.

"Why yes, I wanted to ask if you have any available guards at the moment. I need them for a special assignment. I need someone transported to Ponyville and escorted to Twilight," I spoke into the receiver.

"Just a moment, I'll have to check the schedules," I heard her set down her receiver on a wooden surface, followed by sounds of shuffing papers and cabinets being opened. "Hmmhh....where did I put that...," I heard her through the receiver. I used this moment to sip from my cup of tea as I waited.

"Aha! There we go! Just a moment longer, please!" She said after presumably picking her receiver up.

"Take your time," I responded in a calm tone, neither I nor Rex were in a hurry after all.

"Today is your lucky day, I have a pair of guards and a vehicle available right now. Conveniently, they were going to head in that direction! Shall I send them to you right away?" My ears were happy to hear this response come in through the telephone.

"Splendid, of course. Do tell them that the person they have to escort is waiting by my office," I said after finishing my tea. "And tell those guards to treat him fairly, I do not wish to offend my guest,"

"Understood, right away!" She responded and hung up immediately afterwards.

I leaned back in my chair and moved the telephone back inside the desk's shelf. Soon enough, Rex would find himself in Ponyville and experience Equestrian hospitality. That sounded wonderful, didn't it? Teaching someone from an unknown world and species the magic of Friendship, it really made my heart feel warmer. However, I now had to think as to how I'd explain it to Lulu... I doubted that she'd take kindly to finding out that I chose to keep a self-described murder machine and even let him out in the open, but that was something I'd take care of later.

Object C-04 "Rex"
Hallway outside office

I yawned and woke up to the chatter of two guards who were standing guard at the Princess' door, alas I couldn't discern what they were talking about and they returned to their solemn and silent vigil. I rolled my eyes at this and got up from the floor, then began pacing back and forth along the hallway to kill some more time. I went past several doors, but found that a few of them didn't have guards in front of them anymore. Probably just gaps between shifts, shouldn't be a problem considering that there is no shortage of them in this hallway either way.

Most of those office doors had name plaques on them, though I could hardly call those names. These ponies had bizarre naming standards, I briefly remembered the name of my interrogator, "Shadow Watch". It made sense in a weird way, considering his colour and profession. I approached one of the guardless doors and examined the name plaque on it. "Golden Shine" was engraved into it, though there was no sort of title underneath the name that could tell me more. I looked around for a moment and tried to open the door out of curiosity...damn it, locked. Nobody inside.

I walked away from the door and returned to the spot where I initially waited, then leaned against the wall. "Hm..how long is it going to take..." I said out loud, somewhat expecting an answer to come from one of the guardponies, but they just...stared...ugh...I need to get myself a cloak as soon as I can... I sighed and instead directed my attention to the letter I received from the Princess. It didn't have a sender or recipient address on it, which I found quite odd. She wanted me to deliver it to someone I didn't know the name of.

I heard armoured footsteps or more likely hoofsteps come from the direction of the staircase, which prompted me to turn around to face it in anticipation of what I believed was going to be my escort. Seconds later, two unicorn guards entered the hallway and stopped once they saw me. I saw them whisper to each other, but my ears were unable to catch what they were talking about. As for other details, one of the guards was male and the other female, with the male being bigger and older, judging by...facial hair? Ponies could have beards here? I suppose it isn't too far off from a goat with a goatee...

Anyhow, they cautiously approached me after they finished their whispering exchange. It was also worth noting that they didn't carry any weapons on them, perhaps as to not antagonise me? I proceeded to also walk towards them at a decent pace and with a slight smile on my face as a means to portray that I had no ill intentions towards them. They stopped in front of me within two arm's length, my arm's length that is.

"Are you two my escort?" I took initiative and said the first words, which seemed to surprise the female guard. Hmm, I think she'd be called a mare and he a stallion.

Her surprised expression turned to one of sudden enthusiasm. "Woah! It...you talk!" Not what I expected at all, I won't complain about it though.

"Uh...yes, that does seem to be the case," I responded to her, which only made her more giddy. The stallion meanwhile wasn't bursting with emotions like her. "Now that I think about it, it's a nice coincidence that we speak the same language," I chuckled and crossed my arms.

She stared excitedly at me as I spoke and didn't respond to me until her companion shook her a little with a hoof. "Ah!- Yes yes yes...hehe..." She chuckled quietly. "I am Vigilant Aegis and this is my partner Stalwart Bulwark," The stallion nodded the moment she mentioned his name. "Today we have the honour of escorting you to Ponyville, in the name of Princess Celestia!" She said, getting all giddy again.

I must admit, she seems to be quite devoted to her work...and the Princess. "I am Object C-04 Codename "Rex"," I spoke and bowed slightly to them. "It is a pleasure to meet you two," I noticed the stallion crack a smile as I bowed.

"Woah, that's a really cool name! How did you g-mmphhh" Suddenly she was interrupted by Stalwart Bulwark who put his hoof on her mouth. She glared at him in a humorously angry way.

"I am sorry to interrupt your chatting, but we should get moving. The truck's waiting and you'll get to talk more there," He removed his hoof from her mouth and turned around, then walked away from us.

She sighed and looked back at him. "He's right, we better get going. I'll follow behind you," She did as she said and now stood behind me. I just shrugged and jogged to catch up with the stallion guard.
We walked down the stairs, with me once again being able to witness the wonderful mosaic depicting Princess Celestia and another pegacorn. It just felt me with so much warmth, being able to witness this grand display of art. This time I was able to put a hand on the smooth silver guardrail by my side. It was rather cold to the touch, but without a doubt very durable and sturdy, must be made out of quality metals.

Aegis must have noticed me admiring the artwork as I heard her speak up behind me. "They are beautiful aren't they?" I bet she had a big smile on her muzzle when saying that. "We couldn't ask for any better Princesses, ever."

"Princesses...one of them is Princess Celestia, who is the other one?" I asked and stopped in front of the mosaic window. I heard Bulwark come to a stop too.

"She's Princess Luna, Celestia's younger sibling and Moon Princess. She's probably asleep at this time," He said in a calm tone and continued to lead us down the staircase.

Aegis popped up in front of me. "I can tell you a bit more about her once we get to the truck!" She said with a big grin and fell in line behind me. This mare was just bursting with energy, wasn't she? Though I had an odd feeling that I heard her and his name before...hmmh...must be my brain playing tricks on me, I've never met ponies like these ever before in my life, despite that weird tingle in my thoughts telling me otherwise...

We arrived at the bottom of the staircase and followed behind Bulwark as he turned right, towards one of the smaller and less prominent doors that led out of the hallway. He opened it ahead of time with his magic, which was a dark blue colour, and revealed a much less exquisite corridor. Even the soft carpet we walked on had ended right at the doorstep. We walked through the door and my feet were once more walking on the castle tiles. Though this didn't last long, as we took the first turn we could to the right and went down a spiral staircase. How high up were we even that we had to walk down what could count as tower stairs? We reached the bottom two minutes later, Bulwark having once again opened the next door with magic before we went through it.

Past the door was...oh fuck...now I really miss having a cloak...
I stopped by the door, staying away from the doorway. Bulwark turned to me after he noticed that I didn't go through, while Aegis looked at me with a questioning expression.

"Is something wrong?" She asked and came a bit closer to me.

"...Is...is there no other path that we can take? Please?" I leaned and looked out through the door...ah damnit...there were even more of them now. So many eyes...I-I think someone saw us- "I'm not comfortable with...," I spoke as I withdrew from the door. "...with being out there...," My breathing got faster and some sweat dripped down from my face.

Bulwark came back inside and closed the door behind himself. "Trust me, if there was any other path, then we'd take it, but there is some paperwork we need to sort out in order to leave," He sighed at the end. "Try to keep it together until we are done,"

I felt something warm rubbing my left shoulder, only to find out that after turning that it was Aegis rubbing it using her magic... however that worked. It...did kinda help soothe my nerves if I am being honest. Eh...I need to get myself together, at least for now, I am a soldier and I cannot just break down. Surely it wouldn't take a long time...yes, just in and out, not much more. "F-fine...I'll try to...stay calm," I said reluctantly and wiped my sweat off my face with a hand.

Bulwark nodded. "Good, just follow me, not much more," He opened the door. "This shouldn't take long," And he went through it.

I swallowed the spit in my mouth and gradually moved closer and closer to it, accompanied by Aegis who did her best to soothe my nerves. Why was she doing that though? Neither Bulwark nor she know me at all, perhaps have only seen me locked up in that cell, but they were acting all nice and...caring... "Thank you," I said quietly, I wasn't sure that she heard me, but I noticed her smile.

I glanced one last time into the hallway outside. It was swarming with ponies going everywhere. There were ponies with clipboards, presumably bureaucrats, guard ponies, regular ponies whose purpose here I couldn't discern... So many of them...and I'd be out there...with no way to conceal myself... Being naked wasn't the issue...I just needed something to hide myself with, hide my body from others...I-I really hated being in public.. I took one last deep breath and followed Bulwark out.

I kept my head low, staring at the floor yet keeping Bulwark within my field of view, in an attempt to push aside the fact that we were walking through a hallway with so, so many other ponies. It was a massive difference from the other floors and it felt like we were walking for who knows how long. I heard their voices all around me...chattering...laughing...I heard clopping of hooves and tapping of pens against clipboards... My ears being much more potent didn't help at all...it made the sounds overwhelming as a result of my fear...

"We are halfway there," Bulwark's voice rung out, piercing through the heavy veil of sounds made by others...

That brought me little comfort, but it was comfort nonetheless...knowing that this struggle would soon end, but this didn't make my situation better. I felt eyes crawling all over my body, itching sensation spreading through my skin. Muscles all throughout my body tensed up, my movements became stiffer. My fingers twitched and writhed, until I clenched them tightly into fists, only for them to begin sweating cold droplets... I kept on trying to shut out those thoughts, trying to retreat into a safe corner within my mind, but nothing worked...nothing helped me soothe those thoughts... I yearned for escape...or something to hide myself with...

Suddenly, a warm sensation spread through my shoulders...it felt as if somebody was massaging me there... I felt my muscles relax and some of the stress dissipate, as a female voice spoke to me from the back, Aegis' voice. "Shh...it'll be alright, we don't have much longer left. We'll be out of here sooner than you think, just stay calm," My fists unclenched somewhat and I felt the Princess' letter being taken by her from my hold... better than me potentially ruining it... "Listen to my voice, it's just the three of us here," She continued.

Our group came to a halt and I almost bumped into Bulwark after he stopped.

"Aegis, can you wait here with him? I'll handle the paperwork this time," He said, then I heard a door open which he presumably went through.

"There's a bench here, we can sit down," Aegis spoke and guided me to a bench which stood beside the door. Where did that door lead? I didn't know, maybe some sort of administration office since paperwork was mentioned. Sweat droplets dripped from my hands onto the tiled floor below as my breaths grew deeper.

"Do you...want to talk about anything?" She asked me. Judging by her tone, she wasn't sure if I desired further interaction... Ugh... anything to distract myself from...so many others around me... I closed my eyes and nodded. A conversation would be nice indeed...

"Where...are we exactly?" I asked her with a quiet and somewhat shaken voice, then glanced towards her.

She smiled once I asked her and spoke. "This is Canterlot Castle in Canterlot!" She said excitedly. "The capital city of Equestria and all of Ponykind!" Is...is everything here a horse pun? I thought we had some weird naming standards, but...this is a whole another level. Yet, it did make me crack a slight smile as my thoughts shifted towards the conversation.

"Must be pretty big then if it's your capital," I exclaimed.

"Oh, you haven't seen anything yet! This is just one of the many floors here, as the castle itself is huuuuuuggeeeee!" She gestured with her hooves in an attempt to show how tall it was, though that was probably not to scale... "There are towers! Balconies! Spoooooky basements and dungeons! There are tunnels going deep into the mountain itself too!" She got all giddy when listing all those attractions...wait, mountain?

"This castle is on a mountain?" I turned my head in her direction.

She nodded. "Mhm! The castle and a lot of the city are built on a massive mountain! The looks are absolutely gorgeous! You might see some of it once we get outside!" She stared into the distance and sighed happily. "Sunrises and sunsets are gorgeous here, the skies are filled with so much colour,"

If this castle was as huge as she said...it explains why I haven't seen anything other than the sun and clouds... But to build an entire city on a mountain sounds like a monumental feat and an architectural challenge, not to forget having to keep it all supplied... So inefficient and inconvenient. What about people...ponies...who have to get into the city? I had so many questions regarding this bizarre place, to the point of those questions having pushed out my fear at least for the time being.

The door beside us opened, Bulwark having left through it with a clipboard and a pen held in the air by magic. He walked up to me and placed both items in my hands, the clipboard had a document on it titled "Release form". "Sign in the underlined spot," He said calmly, though I could see some barely visible frustration on his muzzle. I clicked the pen and signed the document, then gave both the pen and board back to him. Bulwark took them and went back inside.

I turned my gaze to the floor once more to avoid seeing the masses of ponies as much as possible to stop myself from thinking about them...less thoughts...less fear...they aren't there after all. What the eyes don't see, the heart doesn't feel, right? Or in my case hearts... I felt a shiver move up my spine, but so far it worked thanks to Aegis...

The door opened again, with Bulwark leaving that room once more. "Okay, we've been here for long enough, let's get moving," He spoke to us. Aegis pretty much jumped off the bench, while I slowly stood up. Bulwark proceeded to walk further down the hallway, with us following behind him. Occasionally I heard him grumble something unintelligible under his breath, while Aegis quietly hummed a cheery melody behind me. I of course kept my head low the whole time.

Bulwark turned to the right, then pushed open and went through a single white door with a black staircase symbol on it. I followed behind him, using my synthetic hand to hold the door open for myself and Aegis. It was smooth to the touch, probably made out of plastic. Aegis nodded with a smile as she went past me. The scenery behind the door took a drastic change. Gone were the pinkish tiles and bricks, instead replaced by cold, hard, bland concrete all around us. As expected, this was a staircase leading both up and down. I returned to my rightful spot in the middle of our small group and scratched my neck.

"Why does this look so...out of place?" I asked while we proceeded to walk down the stairs.
Bulwark glanced around and spoke up. "Recent castle addition,"

Aegis nodded. "The Princesses wanted to modernise this place a little," Aegis added on.

"Not everypony likes walking up and down towers scattered everywhere," He said with a sigh.

"You have to admit they have a certain charm to them. They remind me of goodnight fairytales," She spoke to Bulwark, to which he shrugged. Personally, I preferred these stairs, over the "towers".

The sounds of their hooves clopping against the cold concrete steps echoed throughout the staircase, accompanied by the flapping sound of my bare feet. Every now and then we passed a door leading to a different floor, each labeled with a number that didn't tell me much, I had a feeling that we were approaching our destination. Sometimes I heard those doors open far above us, making my ears twitch as they caught the echoing noise. Somebody must have chosen to use these stairs too.

"Where are we heading exactly?" I asked both of them.

"We are almost there, you'll see for yourself," Bulwark responded.

The whole journey only took a few long minutes. Soon enough we found ourselves at a door with a blue parking sign on it. At least I think that was a parking sign judging by how similar it looked to the ones from the Empire. The shades were brighter, but the design was similar. Bulwark opened the door for us and this time held it with his magic as we all went through. Behind the door was a pretty huge parking lot with various vehicles, ranging from a few delivery trucks, expensive looking cars and an occasional army vehicle. Surprisingly no police cars waiting here.

"Ah, there it is," Bulwark spoke and turned to walk towards a military transport truck. It looked rather ordinary, two wheels in the back and front and whatnot. Pretty generic though reliable, albeit rather outdated design by the Empire's standards. Noteworthy was that the cargo bed was covered with a tarp above it, I won't have to show myself off to anyone then. Quiet humming of lights spread throughout the parking accompanied us together with clopping and flopping sounds as we approached the truck.

"So...this is it?" I asked and rubbed my chin.

"Mhm, your escort vehicle. You'll have to sit in the back though," Bulwark responded.

"If you ever need anything, you'll be able to talk to us through a window in the back of driver's cabin," Aegis added onto Bulwark's words.

"Anything else I should know?" I asked while looking over the vehicle a bit more.

"There are some crates in the back, don't mind those, it's just supplies," Aegis said right as Bulwark was about to say something. "You can sit against them if you want," She continued and walked around the truck to the passenger door, while Bulwark opened the driver door and got inside.

"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind," I made my way to the back of the truck and glanced inside. There were three sealed wooden crates on the cargo bed, partially covered with rubber tarps. There were a few miscellaneous items scattered around too. A few small boxes, a toolbox and even a couple sleeping bags were among those. I jumped and climbed onto the cargo bed, then walked to the back of it while hunched over to avoid slamming my head against the metal frame holding the tarp above it.

I noticed the aforementioned window, it had a small handle which I grabbed with my right hand and after a brief moment of trial and error, opened as I slid it to the left. During this time, they had taken their helmets off, put their seatbelts on, indicated by the very recognisable clicks. Afterwards, Bulwark started the truck's engine. I looked into the driver's cabin as the engine roared to life and I got noticed by Aegis, who smiled as she saw me.

Suddenly, a weird feeling filled my mind, as if I had been in this truck once...déjà vu... Just like when I heard their names.
I pushed those thoughts aside for now, but I'd be sure to return to those very soon. Our driver backed out of the parking spot the truck occupied, then turned towards a dark tunnel. I stared into it and if my optical augs were fully functional I'd be able to see where it leads... Bulwark seemed to catch on and spoke up. "This tunnel leads out of Canterlot, bypassing the city,"

Aegis nodded and spoke after him. "Ponies don't like seeing military trucks driving through the centre, so we carved a loooooooooong tunnel to get out quietly," Another wonder of pony engineering it seems. The truck's lights were switched on as we approached the tunnel entrance, moments before driving into its bowels...

Chapter 9 - Travel Troubles

Around an hour of careful driving down the tunnels, while occasionally being delayed by pony maintenance workers reinforcing them, culminated in us reaching what looked like a checkpoint. However, I couldn't see any sort of exit behind it, was this a dead end for some reason? I sat down in the back once our vehicle began to slow down, to avoid being spotted by guards stationed there. Subtle clopping of hooves against the tunnel road echoed all throughout...

"What do we have here, guardsman?" A male voice spoke up, his voice echoing just like his steps did.

"Royally sanctioned transport," Bulwark responded. His words were followed by brief sounds of shuffling papers.

The guard outside hummed to himself, he was probably checking whatever Bulwark gave him. "Everything looks alright to me. Safe travels," He said and walked away from our truck. I got back up and once again stuck my head into the driver's cabin the moment I felt comfortable. I noticed that Aegis put the letter I got from the Princess into the glove compartment. Bulwark meanwhile yawned and looked straight ahead, waiting for something.

The guards stationed at the dead end moved away from the tunnel wall, as if to make way for our truck. Then the sounds of shifting rocks filled my ears with everything shaking on top of that, it dawned upon me that the dead end was actually a secret exit of sorts. This was confirmed by the impassable obstacle lazily moving to the side, letting the sun outside penetrate through the darkness of the tunnels and revealing a...parking lot with a variety of cars occupying spots there. Beside it was a small café, a seemingly perfect coverup for a secret passage like this one. Our driver wasted no time though and drove us out of the tunnel, then the parking lot and onto a paved road.

I looked behind myself as we drove away from Canterlot and the mountain it resided on, though I wasn't able to see much of the city itself, save for some really tall buildings. My guess was that this side didn't have an easy way up the mountain and as such wasn't settled, I wondered how the other side looked like then. Once we gained some more distance, I was able to see the castle that we had just left. It looked like it was straight out of a fairytale, lots of gold gilded roofs and towers, a layout that'd make the greatest Imperial architects suffer a mental breakdown trying to make it all not collapse and tumble down. Combine that with the castle looking like a mix of medieval times and modern architecture. A curious choice, however it all seemed to work well together. To my surprise, the castle wasn't at the very top of the mountain, it was however situated right beside it.

I turned my eyes back towards the driver's cabin and took a good look at my escort. Aegis was currently reading a magazine of sorts, it looked like some sort of fashionista catalogue. That being said, I wonder how a dress would look like on a pony... As for Aegis' appearance, she was quite obviously a unicorn. Her fur was a light shade of green, which I could describe as resembling a fresh lime. It was trimmed short from what I could see. Her mane was coloured a bright lemon yellow and was rather long and smooth. Her magic was also coloured green, but wasn't as bright as her coat. Those bright colours paired well with her open personality. However, were all ponies that colourful in this country? If so, how much would she stand out in a crowd?

On the other hand, when compared to her, Bulwark looked like a complete opposite of her. His fur was coloured dark grey, a shade that would kinda make him blend into urban surroundings if you didn't focus on looking at him. It was longer and looked more...fluffy when compared to Aegis' fur, closer to what I'd expect from a pony like that. His mane was coloured a light shade of brown and was slightly shorter than that of Aegis, but showed signs of frequent combing. He also had a short white goatee, not the aging kind of white though, which looked like it hadn't been trimmed in a while. He used his hooves to hold the truck's steering wheel and only used his magic to occasionally shift gears as we drove on the road.

Rustling of paper reached my ears, making me look at Aegis once more. She flipped through the pages of her magazine until she sighed and tossed it in the back...the magazine flying right by my face. At least she didn't hit me with that. She leaned back in her seat, yet mere seconds after that seemed to jump up from it, only to turn to me with a smile. "Do you still want to know more about Princess Luna?"

Right, I did ask her about that other Princess. "I'd appreciate it if you told me more, but without chucking paper in my direction,"

She smiled in a half-guilty and half-embarrassed way upon my mention of that. "Sorry...I-I kinda didn't think that you'd be there right now,"

I shook my head sideways as I was slightly amused. "No harm done, now do tell me more about her,"

She immediately switched her expression back to her cheery self and immediately started talking. "Long story short, Princess Luna is Celestia's younger sister and co-ruler of Equestria. She's the Moon Princess of Ponies...and Thestrals, who are pretty much bat ponies. You'll know what I mean when you see them," She spoke in rapid succession, words coming out of her mouth like a waterfall with only brief breaks to take a breath. "Celestia handles day-to-day affairs of Equestria, while Luna takes over for the night,"

"What does she do during the day then? Sleep?" I interrupted her after she finished that sentence. For some reason I found that detail more interesting than the fact that Equestria was a Diarchy instead of Monarchy, this was the first time I heard of this actually happening anywhere.

"Yup, but not always. Her sleeping schedule isn't very consistent if I am being honest, but hush, you didn't hear that from me," She grinned and held a hoof up to her muzzle as if to do the hushing gesture. "Among various alicorn duties, she ensures that all ponies sleep soundly at night, unbothered by nightmares and blessed with cozy dreams!" She smiled a lot after saying that. I suppose the ponies were quite happy that their one of their rulers has a very "hooves-on" approach to their subjects. I couldn't help but be slightly reminded of my Emperor who sometimes strolled through the capital incognito...

"That makes her akin to the Sandman then?" I asked, though I didn't know if they had an equivalent of that in here.

"The what?" She asked me with a raised eyebrow. This confirmed for me that the ponies didn't really know any such entity.

"He's the bringer of sweet dreams, often told about to children through bedtime stories to make them sleep better," I said while rubbing my chin, as I wasn't sure if I got that completely right.

"The way you describe it, that title would fit her well. Princess Luna the Sandmare!" She giggled happily at that and I noticed that Bulwark rolled his eyes, though he had a slight smile on his face.

"Judging by the way you talk, the Princesses or at least Princess Luna are quite liked in Equestria," I asked her as a means to gauge what the ponies or at least she thought of them.

"They are both well liked or rather loved by most of us, though Celestia is considered to be the "main" princess. Luna isn't very much used to public appearances," Her enthusiasm cooled down a little as she spoke the second sentence.

"I'd like to interject... without Princesses there would be no Equestria. We couldn't imagine ourselves being led by someone else," Bulwark said out of nowhere in a calm tone as he focused on the road. At least now I knew that the ponies were probably willing to go to hell and back for them, at least according to these two guards.

"Where are we heading exactly? I don't think Princess Celestia told me," And honestly, I should have asked this way earlier.

Aegis wanted to speak, but Bulwark opened his mouth before her. "The Princess wants you sent to Ponyville, a village situated close to the Everfree Forest," Huh, who would in their right mind want to settle near such a place? I guess I'd find out once I got there. "It's also very close to where we ca-" He stopped mid-sentence and coughed. "-you were found," He continued. I noticed that Aegis looked at him with a less than pleased expression and turned to look out of the right driver's cabin window. Bulwark didn't say anything else and the conversation was cut short.

I sat down on the cargo bed and leaned against the wall separating it from the driver's cabin. What Bulwark said weighed heavy on my mind right now. I don't exactly remember being "found", the only logical conclusion was that someone captured me. Yet as he said that, I once again felt a bit of a déjà vu... What if...what if they were the ones who have found and or caught me? Frankly, this sounded ridiculous since then they'd have no reason to act all nice to me like they are right now, but what if? My brain's telling me that I've heard their voices before... Perhaps I should do something bold and confront them? At worst I'll only offend them...

I dwelled on this issue in my head for... I don't know how long, since I didn't exactly have a watch on me. That being said, I should also find out what year and such was currently. The silence was interrupted by Bulwark, accompanied by the sound of our truck slowing down. "We are almost halfway there, we gotta get over a bridge and then we can make a quick stop just a little after that," He exclaimed, finally ending the awkward silence and clearing up the atmosphere, at least until I chose to return to that topic.

"Speaking of the bridge, looks like it's right ahead," Aegis said in a surprisingly calm tone when compared to the previous times she spoke, did that short exchange about Ponyville sour her mood? Anyhow, I got on my knees and looked straight ahead through the window. There it was, just like she said, a bridge that connected the road over a small river. From what I could see from afar, it looked like a rather old stone bridge that's give or take at least a hundred years old. Despite it's apparent age, it didn't show signs of any significant decay and was good enough to be driven on. On another note, the road we were on also branched out to the right, just before the bridge.

"Hey, can you see that? There's someone on it...," I heard Bulwark say as we got closer.

"Mhm, they are holding a stop sign, we should see what this is about," Aegis responded to him with a tinge of concern in her voice. "This wasn't mentioned at all in our briefing," She sighed after saying.
"Perhaps something was glossed over, these things happen. I'll stop and talk to whoever is there," And so he stopped the truck a short distance away from it and hopped out of the truck. I chose to stay out of this and sat back down where I was, so as to get involved as little as possible in this. Aegis popped her head in the back and smiled slightly as she saw me sitting, then returned to her seat.

Guardsman Stalwart Bulwark
Stone Arch Bridge

I got out of the truck and stepped on the road to the bridge. I had high hopes for this plan going as smoothly as we planned, but of course something has to go south when we least damn expect it. Our path was predetermined and nothing was supposed to be in our way, so why the hell is there a bridge block? I took a deep breath to clear my mind and proceeded towards the bridge at a slow yet steady place.

On the bridge stood a single earth pony wearing a high visibility vest and generic work clothes that were somewhat dirty. This one must be a construction pony of sorts, but I didn't see any equipment when I looked around, no vehicles or as little as a toolbox. There were no other ponies in sight either, he better explain himself well about this. He waved his free front leg at me as if to get my attention.

"Ay! You cannot go through here, the bridge's closed for maintenance work!" The workpony shouted at me as I got closer and then pointed to the stop sign he held. I walked closer to him and stopped a short distance away to be within conversation distance.

"I don't see anyone else beside you here," I said firmly to him.

"I'm just part of the forward crew, making sure others don't cross here," He leaned slightly on the stop sign he held and wiped his forehead, cleaning off some dirt that was stuck there.

"We must cross this bridge, it's urgent," I took a step closer to him and put emphasis on the word urgent. A brief moment of silence filled the air between us, only disturbed by the gently flowng river underneath the bridge he stood on.

"That's what they all say." He rolled his eyes at my firm response. "I ain't planning on risking your precious truck destroying this bridge," He put the stop sign down and turned to look out of my right hoof side of the bridge. "You'll have to fish it outta the river AND we'll have more work," He turned back to face me and leaned against the side of the bridge he just looked out of. "Fixing a destroyed bridge is harder than just maintaining it,"

I sighed, if what he is saying is true, then risking going over this bridge could end badly for us and just delay us further...ugh, change of plans it is then. Though I had to ask one more question. "We weren't told of any construction work happening anywhere here," I spoke while scratching my beard with my right hoof. "Why?"

"The foreman didn't have the time to send a notice yet, we got this job out of nowhere," He said and shrugged to me. "If you wanna get across, you gotta take a detour," He approached and walked past me, so I turned around to face him again. "You drive a little bit back and then drive through a forest, then take the left road and you'll find another bridge," He pointed in the direction that the branching off road went.

"Any other surprises waiting for us there?" I asked just to make sure that we wouldn't have to change our plans even further.

"Nope," He shook his head and returned to his stop sign. "Though expect the road to get a little worse on your way,"

I quietly groaned to myself and headed back to our truck. Depending on how long this detour might take, we could be hours late on schedule and we had other things to do once we got to Ponyville too. On top of that, it seems that Rex might be onto us...damn me and my long tongue. Aegis though...she will certainly be happy to talk to him for longer. I opened the door and hopped back in my seat, where I sighed again.

"We have to take a detour," I said to everyone in the truck while turning the key and starting the engine, meanwhile the pony on the bridge waved goodbye at us.

Object C-04 "Rex"
Truck cargo bed

I got up once more and looked out through the windshield once I heard the truck engine start. I wasn't exactly thrilled about the concept of having to take the potentially longer way to our destination, since I'd rather not spend the evening and maybe even the night back here. Though I suppose it's an improvement over sleeping on a tree and perhaps I could make a little nest here... Bulwark switched the reverse gear on and carefully backed away from the bridge, Meanwhile the pony on it watched us and lit up a cigarette as we gained distance from him.

After a moment of driving backwards, Bulwark switched gears and turned into the branching off road. With us back on the a somewhat regular path with no interruptions in sigh, I decided to strike up a potentially less than comfortable conversation with them, as I had come to conclusion that they were in some way involved in my capture via quite convenient moments of deja vu. Their voices were quite recognisable after all...

"So...how did I find myself inside the castle in the first place?" I said out loud, brimming with confidence to put more force behind my words. "Obviously I got captured, but how and by who?" I decided against going all out in favour of seeing their reactions first.

Bulwark's grip on the driver's wheel tightened substantially, his muscles tensing up and a few droplets of sweat forming on his forehead...however that worked with ponies. I must have struck in the right direction towards my desired answer in his case. Aegis' reaction was more calm and contained, as she only audibly gulped and looked at Bulwark as if she wanted to ask him about what to do next. I remained silent however, waiting for an answer.

Bulwark looked back at Aegis, who then turned around to face me. "Some guards turned you in yesterday after coming back from patrol," She said to me turned back to her original position. "I don't know much more beyond that,"

I raised an eyebrow at that and decided to include a bit more detail. "And those guards wouldn't happen to sound similarly to either of you?"

Bulwark slowed down and sighed, placing his forehead against the steering wheel. "It'll be easier if we just tell him," I certainly didn't expect that kind of response, but that's definitely appreciated.

"Y-yeah...no point in hiding it if the Princess trusts him," Aegis said with a shaky voice that implied her feeling a bit of guilt in some regard. "Apologies in advance...but we were the ones who caught and transported you to the castle," She told me with a lowered head as the truck came to a stop.

In any other circumstances I should probably be rightfully angry, because who enjoys being knocked out and dragged to a prison in who knows where...but I just couldn't gather anything other than a slightly disapproving sigh, as in the end nothing bad came out of this. The irony of this was quite apparent too, the very guards who captured me were now responsible for keeping me safe, maybe that was the reason for them being so friendly to me? I doubt the way they saw me initially was particularly graceful and they were eager to talk once they saw more than a monster?

"...It's alright, I don't think I can hold a grudge against either of you for what had happened. In a way you were doing your job and maybe thanks to you the whole situation was resolved the way it was," I told them and gave them a few reassuring pats on the back. The effect was near instantaneous. Bulwark loosened up in his seat, his breathing slowing. Aegis leaned back in her seat with a slight smile as she looked up. "It's all in the past and you've been good company, so no hard feelings," I said with a smile of my own as they both nodded.

Our truck once again began to accelerate and move along the road. "By the way," Aegis spoke up. "I knocked you out," She smirked and turned her head to the side window. That felt like a bit of a gut punch to me if I was being honest. Not because she was female, but because she said it in a way that implied she did it with little to no effort. That should probably be a conversation for another time, perhaps in a setting more comfortable than this truck. Speaking of settings, I noticed that there was a forest on the horizon and our road led right into it.

"This must be the forest that guy spoke of, it looks rather dense," Bulwark spoke.

I somewhat agreed with him, however it wasn't as dense and thick as the Everfree Forest I found myself in not too long ago. That thought reminded me that I'd have to return there at some point in the future, perhaps not alone, to check on my ship and to see how bad the damage and if something worth salvaging was inside. This was under the assumption that the crash hadn't destroyed absolutely everything, which I wasn't quite certain about. Another thing on my new to-do list it seems.

We steadily got closer and closer to the forest in our truck, which was puny in size when compared to some of the tallest and most imposing trees that I could see from the outside. Their shadows stretched far across the grassy plains outside of the forest, some of them even falling on us and dimming the driver's cabin. I could hear faint rustling of the leaves in the wind as we neared the forest's perimeter and before we knew it we were engulfed by it. Bulwark slowed down once we drove in and switched the truck's lights on, though arguably the road was still somewhat well lit without them.

The terrain beneath the truck's wheels changed, our vehicle shook and bounced as a result of us leaving the even road and driving onto a forest path. "W-woah! Drive more carefully, you don't want to bust the transmission again do you?" Aegis turned and spoke to Bulwark, who nodded in agreement with her and slowed down some more. Me being on the cargo bed definitely didn't make it easier for the aforementioned transmission to carry all of us.

Occasionally we drove over a rock or a depression in the forest road that shook the truck even more. I had a hard time maintaining a somewhat stable position while looking into the cabin a- THUNK

Gah, bloody fucking hell! We must have driven over quite a bump because I just slammed my head against the top of the window frame pretty damn hard. I put my right hand on the back of my head and rubbed there as I sat down. Nhh...motherfucking...bullshit...I should have expected this being a possibility...ouch...now I really wish my pain suppression would kick in...

"Is everything alright back there?" I heard the concerned voice of Aegis reach out to me.

"I'll be fine...it's just a little bump...," I responded to her and cracked a slight smile, which she probably wasn't able to see.

"I can help w-" Her sentence was cut short as she gasped loudly. "OH DEAR CELESTIA, WATCH OUT!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, loud creaking of trees could be heard all around, Bulwark pulled the emergency brake, wheels ground against the dirt and-

THUD

Both ponies escorting me were gasping for air, I glanced through the window to see what in the actual fuck had just happened... To my surprise, there was a fuckoff massive tree in our path that had just fallen onto the road. I couldn't help but think that we were quite lucky to not get crushed by it, having stopped mere metres before it... I swallowed the spit in my mouth and slowly sank back down to my spot, as I thought it'd be better if we all just remained quiet for a bit and let the adrenaline pass.

Rustle, snap, rustle, rustle

"Did you hear that?" Aegis said out loud and looked around frantically.

My ears twitched as more rustling sounds came from all around us, something was in the bushes... I tried to look through the window, but I couldn't see anything.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Bulwark said in a calm tone, despite what happened mere minutes ago.

BANG

A gunshot rung through the forest, causing flocks of birds that previously remained quiet and hidden to take off and fly out. We all looked towards where the sound came from...a pony with a rifle standing on top of the fallen log. Soon enough, more ponies with guns made their appearance and presumably surrounded our lone truck. They carried small arms for the most part with a few rifles and an occasional shotgun, though all of them had some sort of melee weapon on them. Those ponies wore leaves and twigs as form of camouflage on top of their somewhat tattered clothes, only the pony who shot in the air looked relatively...proper. I had no doubts about this, we were ambushed by outlaws, brigands...bandits.

"Look what've got here fellas! Praise Celestia for blessing us with a military transport!" He grinned and chambered a round into his bolt action rifle and looked at his fellow criminals.

I wanted to jump out of the truck right now and deal with that scum...however I couldn't risk them hurting my escort... I needed to wait for an opportunity to draw their attention away from them...hmh... Speaking of them, Bulwark and Aegis looked quite tense.

"Damn it...I left my gun in one of the crates...," Bulwark said quietly. Judging by Aegis' reaction, she didn't have any on her either.

"You two lovelies sitting inside!" The bandit leader spoke and pointed his rifle at the two unicorns. I assumed that he hadn't seen me then. "Get out of the truck and you might live to serve your precious Princesses another day! Or don't, your choice," He grinned at the end.

Bulwark and Aegis looked at me then at each other and nodded, soon enough they left the truck without as much as a word. Did they suddenly have a plan how to deal with this after all? They disappeared out of my field of view...now my options were even more limited. They were out in the open now and could easily get picked off. Ugh...

"Perfect, abso-fucking perfect! I see that you armoured cunts found some reason in those brains of yours!" He laughed out loud, with some of his fellow bandits laughing alongside him. "Enough pleasantries. You there!" He shouted and presumably pointed at one of the henchmen standing the closest to the back of the truck. "Check what goodies they've got in there!"

"Aye aye sir!" A voice coming from outside the truck shouted back to him.

"You tin cans better behave all the way until we are done," Their leader spoke, judging by his words he spoke to Aegis and Bulwark. "One funny move and your brains will be Timberwolf fodder,"

I heard the bandit ordered to check the truck make his way towards the back. I sensed a potential opportunity in this and quietly hid behind one of the wooden crates in the back, then took the tarp covering it and hid myself underneath it. Now I had to wait... His hooves stomped confidently on the dirt path as he got closer. The latches of the cargo bed hatch were undone and the hatch opened. I felt the truck shake as the pony climbed in, he groaned a bit while doing so.

"They've got some crates here! I'll look around!" He shouted to his comrades outside. I couldn't see anything from underneath the tarp concealing me, but I could hear his hooves move on the metal surface, walking from crate to crate.

I heard him groan once more as one of the crates near me creaked, presumably he was trying to pry it open and judging by the sounds he didn't have any tools on him for that. "Stubborn wood...damn it," He said quietly to himself. I needed him to come closer to me however, much closer... I needed something to attract him to my spot, maybe I could make some sounds or- Ah, I got it! I shifted around in my spot, causing the rubber tarp covering me to shift with me and as a result making flappy noise.

"What the- What was that?" The pony brigand said, though I could hear him move too. Hopefully he was now looking in my direction.

"Hmmh...my imagination acting up, gotta hurry up," He said quietly. Shortly thereafter I heard one of the crates pop open. "Oh goodie!"

"What did you find in there?" A pony bandit from outside the truck shouted.

"This crate is full of supplies! These could last us for weeks at the camp!" He responded excitedly.

No response came from the bandit outside, seemingly satisfied with the answer he got. I decided to once again make some noise, shifting and moving in my place.

"Again- It came from there...," I heard him say, followed by hoofsteps getting closer and closer to me. I could hear him breathing a couple seconds later, but I still needed the right moment to strike.

"Let's see...," I felt him grab the tarp with his hoof and start pulling it off. This was the moment I've been waiting for, if I did this right then I'd distract everyone from the two unicorns they held hostage right now. I readied my functioning hands and pounced on the bastard faster than he could scream. A gasp full of shock and surprise was all he got out before I landed on him with the tarp. The truck shook in response to this maneuver of mine, just like I intended it to do.

"Wh- Mmfhh! Mnfffhhhh!" He tried to scream, but the tarp didn't let his screams through, as it wrapped tightly around his head and body. He tried to struggle but to no avail as I wrapped my limbs around him, preventing him from wiggling out of his coming demise.

"What's happening in there!?" A voice from outside asked. They'd be swarming me if I didn't act and get out quickly.

I laid on my back with the pony on his back on top of me. My legs were tightly wrapped around the lower half of his body, clenching it tightly between them. The pony already struggled to breathe, and the pressure I applied made this a much more painful experience for him, but ensured that I was in full control of the situation.

"Mnnfffhh! Nnffhh-" My hands moved to his neck and head, gripping both tightly. He knew his final moments were approaching and he found the strength within himself to try and struggle against me even more, but I wasn't going to let this scum go ever. I took a deep breath and concentrated, then with one swift yet powerful move snapped his neck. The cracking and snapping of bones was accompanied by the last squeal that will ever come out of his mouth. For him it probably felt like an eternity, for me less than a minute.

"Hey! You alright in there?!" Another voice spoke up, though this time it moved towards the back of the truck. I retrieved the bandit's corpse from the tarp and stood up with it. One bastard was down for the count, now it was time to take care of the rest of them. Albeit in their case, I considered talking instead of acting right away, for the sake of my escort. I took another deep breath and chucked the body out of the truck. It landed and tumbled on the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust behind and around it.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!" "DEAR CELESTIA!" "HORSEAPPLES!" "I never liked him anyway," "OH SHIT, HE'S DEAD!" "WHAT IN TARTARUS HAPPENED?!" Several voices shouted at once as they found out that their fellow wretch was now dead.

"What's the commotion back there!?" The bandit leader shouted.

"Something in the truck killed him!" One of the bandits shouted back at him.

In this moment I opened the toolbox that I spotted earlier upon entering the truck before our journey started and found a pretty sizable wrench in there. I took it with my right hand, clutching it tightly, and made my way out of the cargo bed. I made sure to step heavily, as to make the vehicle shake more and instill more fear in them, to make them think I was much bigger and powerful than they are. Of course killing them all or otherwise making them unable to fight was the simplest solution, but I wouldn't shed a tear if they chose to run away. In a way the Empire taught us that a fleeing enemy was as good as a dead one. It was a key principle behind the way I and fellow clones fought, with overwhelming violence and brutality since ironically it results in less people dying in the end.

Those thoughts once more awakened by the thoughts of having lost everything I once had, but this wasn't the time to get sentimental. I heard lots of hoofsteps as I approached the cargo bed hatch, but they were backing away from the truck...presumably preparing for the "something", me, to come out. I jumped out of the truck and landed right beside the corpse, the servos in my exoskeleton buzzed as I braced myself for what might soon happen.

Chapter 10 - Forest Folk

I stood by the strangled body, holding tightly onto my weapon of choice, and looked around. As I presumed, the truck and I were surrounded by a sizable band of bandits, who in my eyes have just signed their death sentences. Whenever I glanced at any of them, I noticed their hooves trembling, some of them gulping and taking steps back as they clenched their weapons close to them. They were more or less half normal ponies and half pegasi, no unicorns in sight though.

"And what do we have here?" A voice from behind me spoke. "Don't be shy, show yourself!"

I turned around and walked to the right side of the truck, bandits who were the closest to me backed away as I walked. It was the leader of the band who spoke to me, from his spot at the top of the log that stopped us in our tracks. I looked up at him with an emotionless stare, while my right hand fidgeted with my wrench. He smirked and aimed his rifle at me, pointing it roughly at my head.

"Hah, that's a good one! A furless yeti! Those guards caught and shaved a yeti!" A yeti? What? I looked at him confused, I mean, I looked hardly like anything close to a conventional depiction of a yeti, but...maybe that's how yetis look like here?

"Must be pretty humiliating having lost all of your precious white and I am allllllll for it!" He enthusiastically spoke again, I guess my white hair was what led him to believe I was a yeti then? Hardly a rational conclusion, then again this guy is a bandit. I noticed that the other brigands around me loosened up and chuckled amongst each other, no longer as afraid of me.

"In any case, this doesn't concern you, you can run off and go bury yourself in an igloo for all I care, you overgrown ape. Consider this your chance of getting freedom," He lowered his rifle and laughed quietly to himself, as if he was some sort of comedian. Too bad I wasn't about to play along with his pathetic act.

"I am not going anywhere," I spoke and looked sternly at the brigand mocking me. In an instant he abandoned his cheerful demeanor and glared at me with a scornful expression. The snickering of bandits around me quieted down shortly after. I spoke once more after a few seconds had passed. "I recommend that you leave instead," I said firmly and held my wrench tightly.

"Pfuh! And who do you think you are to tell US to leave!?" He screamed at me after I presented demands of my own.

"Someone who offers you a chance to leave and hide in your tree trunk holes," I said calmly to him, returning one of his earlier insults. While most of me was against even considering sparing this scum of the earth, it was worth giving it a shot for the sake of my escort.

"Bah! Let me tell you who you are! You are someone whose father shoved his dick into a factory machine and had his foal come out on the assembly line!" He shot back with an insult of his own once more. This time a few of the bandits straight up burst out laughing. It was definitely an insult aimed at my non-fleshy parts, but I felt rather unphased...since I didn't have a father at all, unless you count the scientists who made us.

"I believe you don't understand what could happen to you, I strongly suggest that you get your arse out of here," I spoke in a firmer and slightly more agitated tone, as my patience with those fuckwads was running out. I wasn't going to stand there all day long and just exchange shitty slights and amuse everyone present.

"Listen here, chump. You have no grounds to demand us to leave. There is one of you and several of us. If we wanted to, you'd be picking cotton in North Zebrica or forced into a freak show. Right where you belong," He spoke and pointed his rifle at me once more at the end.

"Enough!" I shouted at him after he finished wasting his words on me. The shout was loud enough to make the bandits close to me flinch. "I say this one last time, leave or this will turn into a bloodbath," I continued in a stern tone as my servos revved up once more.

"Pound dirt you oversized snow ape!" He shouted back.
Words have failed to resolve this conflict, to ensure that both sides leave unharmed. They have long forsaken their right to live after they threatened Bulwark and Aegis, but now they were willingly going to their own funeral. Their leader was the loudest of them all, he had to be silenced once and for all, his henchmen culled or their will to fight shattered.

In one swift move I threw my wrench at the bandit on the tree log, having aimed for his head. His eyes shot wide open once he saw the wrench flying through the air. His rifle fired off a round, hitting me in the right upper shoulder and causing me to flinch. I expected to hear the sound of pain, the sound of his head being caved in and body falling down, but there was nothing.

That is until I heard mocking laughter.

"BWAHAHAHAHHAHAAH! YOU FOOL! Did you think you could hit me with that tool!? Pathetic!" He laughed more at me while I just stood and wondered how I could have not hit him. That wrench was heading straight for his noggin... His laugh finally ceased as he spoke up again. "Well, what are you waiting for you morons?! GET HIM!" He screamed at his subordinates who looked at each other. It spurred them into action as a bunch of those bandits charged at me while screaming into the air, the ones closest to me wielding spears as their weapons of choice, while the ones farther away frantically readied their pistols, rifles and revolvers. The battle had now begun.

I dodged a spear of a feeble outlaw that went right for my face, then grabbed its shaft with my synthetic arm and snapped it with a powerful grasp. I swiftly pulled the bastard to me by what remained of his spear and grabbed his face with that same arm. His eyes went wide open, he dropped his spear and threw hoof after hoof at my arm. I had to admit, those ponies had pretty strong hooves given that he just kept punching.

I wrapped my right arm around his torso and pulled with my left arm. There was some resistance from his body as I pulled, but soon enough I tore his head off his body. His spine came out with his head, ripping and popping through the flesh and muscle, splattering blood all over the ground in front of me. I held the head high up, blood spraying from separated veins onto myself while his face wore a dreadful expression. The bandits charging me stopped for a moment, having witnessed their comrade die mere few seconds into the fight. His body's muscles fought against me before ultimately succumbing too.

Inaccurate shots from pistols were already flying through the air around me, some of them hitting the ground and others penetrating the truck's tarp. A bandit with a rifle stood ahead of me and fired off a shot from his bolt-action. His round whizzed past my right ear or rather straight through it as I felt stinging pain coming from what remained of my outer ear. He bolted his rifle right as I threw the headless corpse with full force at him, causing him to shoot at it out of surprise. It landed right on top of him and knocked him to the ground, but I wasn't sure if he was dead or not and- AGH!

I felt sharp stinging pain in my right side, which kept pushing deeper in with every passing millisecond. I snapped my head to where I felt the pain come from and saw that I have been stabbed with a spear by particularly well-built brigand who twisted and turned the shaft in my body. He must have hit a spot where my subdermal armour wasn't quite fully functional yet. I raised my right hand and- AGH! FUCK!

I grunted in pain and stepped back. I looked ahead of me and saw that this time I got stabbed by with a spear right in my stomach, though the spear tip didn't go as deep as the other one, but it still made me bleed from my new wound. Now all the blood on me was joined in by my own. I glared at the two bold bandits and grasped the spine of my first kill, wielding his head like mace or flail.

I slammed the stomach stabber with the head from above with ease, despite the spine being somewhat hard to hold onto. He collapsed to the ground, letting go of the spear and grunting in pain. He had a pretty nasty wound on his face from the corpse's teeth, a few of them even staying behind.I followed up with a sideway slam into the left side of the torso, or rather barrel as is anatomically accurate, of the other pony bandit, causing pain to myself as his spear shifted in my flesh, but also sending him flying a short distance away from myself. The blow knocked the air out of him as he struggled to get up. I kept being shot at during this, though now these shots grazed against my skin, leaving minor injuries all over my body. A shot from the bandit leader hit me in the middle of my chest, but the round bounced off after going through flesh.

I let go of my head-spine flail and firmly grabbed both spears that were in my body and pulled them out in one go, causing more of my blood to leave through my wounds, however that was of little concern to me. My organs were more than capable to make up for any potential loss of blood. By this point I began to feel my adrenaline levels rising as the battle progressed, slightly numbing the pain I felt. I held the spear in my right hand with the tip facing down and raised it high. The pony who collapsed on the ground in front of me was still shifting and breathing, therefore I thrust the spear into the ground through the top of his head. A single gargling sound left his muzzle. His blood flowed from underneath it as well as from the entrance hole, alongside his head now being impaled into the soil. I left the spear there instead of retrieving it.

I held onto my other spear with both of my hands and swiftly ran towards the other, previously spear wielding, brigand. I was only running at average human speed, as the need for accuracy outweighed the benefits of extra velocity. Not that I could run much faster considering that my body and augs aren't fully functional. This meant that while outrunning some bullets, I ran into others, though my non-functional arms that kinda flopped behind me made sure to catch a few scratches. There was a brief moment where the fire calmed down however as most of the shooters had to reload their guns. In that moment I reached the target pony, who was just slowly getting up, and aligned my spear...

Blood spilled from his mouth as the metal speartip slid into his mouth, then his throat. It was followed by the shaft in its journey into the pony's body. I brutally yet precisely maneuvered my spear during this charge to have it go as deep through him as possible, while lifting him up with the spear to force him into a straight position. I looked him in the eyes, eyes that were full of fear and agony, he tried to scream as I impaled his insides but nothing more than whimpers came out. Soon enough life left his eyes just as the spear came out of the rear end of his body and I raised the speared horse high in the air, sticking the wooden end of the shaft in the ground. His body slid down slowly, leaving a trail of blood above and below himself.

I briefly stopped and looked at the morbid way I disposed of the bandit. I didn't feel bad for him or feel any remorse for doing any of this, unlike the whole changeling camp affair. I gave those bandits a fair chance at walking away...they threw their lives away of their own volition. I heard some screams around me, followed by the sound of some weapon dropping and hooves galloping away... I looked to my right and saw a couple of them run off into the bushes, frightened by their potential fate. Adrenaline was gradually filling my veins, while my servos whirred and awaited my next move.

"WHERE ARE YOU RUNNING OFF TO YOU COWARDS! JUST FUCKING KILL HIM, YOU INCOMPETENT KNOBHEADS!" Their leader screamed, but they were too far to hear him.

I grabbed- SSSSLLIIIICK

I heard and definitely felt a sword slash along my back in a curved manner. I felt it cut through my skin, adding yet another wound to my collection. I quietly grunted in pain once the sword finished carving its bloody path, though the blade hadn't gone deep unlike the spears. What I felt was numbed by adrenaline shortly after, just in time for me to hear the subtle sound of the weapon on a rapid descent towards me not even a second after the first slash. I admit I was slightly angered by the boldness of whoever thought they could just do this right after seeing how much blood I've shed.

Time seemed to slow down as I sensed the blade that struck me being raised once again, the attacker clearly going in for another opportune strike. I wouldn't let them get off that easily this time. It began its rapid descent, cutting through air like a hot knife through butter. I grinned and turned around near-instantaneously to face my newest adversary. A bullet flew between the two of us, a sign that the brigands were done reloading their guns. I raised my right upper arm and parried the sword using my forearm's frame. Sparks erupted from where the blade landed from our combined forces. I glared at the pony, an averagely built stallion wearing a jacket and holding a generic sword in his left hoof. His face didn't show any fear, in fact he was grinning pridefully.

"PARRY THIS YOU FUCKER!" He broke the silence between us as he screamed at me, the reached into his jacket with his right hoof and pulled a revolver out. His hoof somehow managed to cock it right as he held it ahead of himself and aimed. He pulled the trigger, his first round went right into the stomach hole left behind by a spear. He then fired round after round until his cylinder was empty, each shot hitting me in my stomach and splattering blood all over his head and chest. I barely flinched, this was just another negligible injury after all, but I was certainly going to return the favour.

His shit-eating grin was gone as quickly as it appeared once he noticed that his great plan had failed. I grabbed him by the neck and lifted him up with my synthetic arm, making sure that my grasp was tight but not right enough to asphyxiate him. I snatched his sword out of his grasp at the same time as I raised him from the ground and grasped it tightly. It felt good to have a sword in my hands once more, even if this one wasn't my own.

"Let's see how you'll take six shots," I said to him and grinned. I didn't even give him a chance to respond before putting the blade to proper use. With one mighty thrust, the sword went all the way through his stomach and came out the other way. He tried to scream, but I held him too tightly for him to be able to speak. I pulled the blood-coated sword out of his brand new hole and looked him in the eyes. Then I thrust again, and again. One stab for every shot he fired into me from his gun. I relaxed my grip on him and the bandit coughed up blood on my face and arm. I dropped him on the ground, leaving him to perish in a muddy puddle formed from his gore.

Guardsmare Vigilant Aegis
Deep in a forest

I stared at the battle occurring between Rex and the bandits who ambushed us, with a reasonable amount of worry, surprise and slight excitement. I watched as he dispatched of hostile after hostile with reprehensible brutality and little feeling... I had a feeling when we captured him that this wasn't...a normal being...but this goes far beyond my wildest imaginations. He just got shot many times and keeps moving like nothing happened, even practically gutting one of the bandits... I shook a bit and swallowed then-

THUNK

"Ouch!" I yelped in pain and rubbed my head with a hoof.

"Don't even think about it," The bandit pony keeping me hostage said after smacking me with a hoof.

I saw Bulwark turn his eyes to me after he heard me. Behind his stoic face I knew he was anxious if not outright concerned about Rex taking all of the heat, though without a doubt he was also angry at the bandit who struck me. I looked back at Rex who already had another bandit in his hold, but the more I looked the more I felt the need to act and do something other than stand here. I couldn't....I wouldn't just watch the one we were supposed to escort get torn apart by blade and bullet! He's sturdy without a doubt, but I do not believe that he can withstand this forever with how awful his stomach wounds looked and how much he was bleeding.

But...this was going to be very risky if I attempted this alone... Even if I did take out the bandit beside me I'd have to deal with the others close by. Bulwark might get caught in a crossfire or it could all go to Tartarus and we'd be both dead... But I couldn't just do nothing, for all we know they might just kill Bulwark and I anyway or use as hostages! On top of that, we couldn't allow ourselves to fail our mission and lose Rex. But how would I coordinate with Bulwark without raising suspicion...? Actually, I might have an idea for that...I hope he remembers the code from a few trainings ago...

I focused and gathered miniscule amounts of magic at the tip of my horn. I had to ignore all the fighting happening not too far away, otherwise I could have messed something up and exposed myself. Then I thought of the message that I'd want to send to Bulwark, something short and simple. I waited with bated breath for him to look in my direction again, which didn't take long. Once he did, I immediately began sending a message in Mares Code to him.

"HLP R, FGT BNDT, N YR SGNL" I flashed the message to him, with a few letters left out to keep it shorter. It was a very dangerous undertaking, since I couldn't tell if someone was watching... Bulwark raised an eyebrow after I was done, then briefly glanced at the bandit beside him and nodded. I felt relieved that he understood me, but then I felt my heart pounding harder from growing tension and excitement. I haven't been in a proper fight since the last sparring training weeks ago, but I was going to give it my all to succeed.

Bulwark frequently looked back and forth between the bandits "guarding" us, presumably evaluating when an opportune time to strike would be. This whole time I could hear the sounds of sword clashing, blades slashing through bodies and the occasional scream or yelp of pain from one or the other. The bandit beside me turned away from me and took a few steps towards the fight. I think he was trying to get a good look on what's happening. My hooves were shaking and I was itching to finally do something..

"NOW AEGIS!" Bulwark shouted very loudly. I instinctively looked towards him and saw him tackle his outlaw, which then turned into them wrestling on the ground.

"What the- HEY!" The bandit on my side raised his rifle and aimed at the two ponies fighting. My heart kept pounding and with no time wasted I rapidly rotated and bucked him in the head with both of my hind legs. He yelped in pain and dropped to the ground with his weapon. It fired off a round as it landed on the forest dirt, the fired shot hit a window of our truck, though I couldn't tell which window. I immediately got on top of my bandit and pinned him to the ground while charging a magic bolt in my horn. I aimed and fi-

POP

DEAR CELESTIA! The magic in my horn dispersed upon witnessing that he just got SHOT IN THE HEAD! I wiped some blood off my face with my hooves and looked around for the source of the gunshot. Looking up at the tree log I saw as the leader of the bandits was desperately trying to bolt and load his rifle...

"Stupid Griffonian piece of garbage..." He said followed by unintelligible swears being tossed around as if he were a sailor. It then struck me that he was aiming for me, which made my heart skip a beat. But suddenly that rising fear turned into a call to action for me, to just keep moving. I got up from the corpse and immediately rushed in Bulwark's direction, who was still fighting with his opponent. Magic once again surged to the tip of my horn as I charged a simple fireball spell to throw at him once I got in range.

During their close quarters fight, Bulwark ended up under the bandit who turned out to be much more capable than expected. This however exposed his back to me for a clear shot! I aimed my horn and fired my charged spell at him! I stopped in my tracks and watched with bated breath as the ball of flames flew, then struck its target. It sent him flying off Bulwark a short distance away and into a nearby rock. He didn't move or make any sounds after that. I immediately turned to my fellow guard and enthusiastically helped him get off the ground.

"Thanks for that," He said almost entirely unphased by this and picked up the gun that his captor held. "Let's go-"

POW POW POW

A salvo of bullets impacted the ground around us and one of them bounced off of my left front leg plate. Both of us looked to the most obvious source of the gunfire and saw the bandit leader reloading a pistol after having holstered his rifle. I quietly thanked Celestia for neither of us getting wounded.
"I'll keep him pinned, you go help," Bulwark said in a tone that indicated this being an order. I didn't need to be told twice and nodded as he took cover behind a nearby tree. I wanted to give him a hug before he had gone, just to express how happy I was that he didn't get hurt during the scuffle. Alas, this had to be delayed as I had to go help our new friend right now. With a quick glance towards him I saw that three pegasi had swarmed him, stabbing him with knives all over and diving into him. My hooves pretty much took off on their own towards the truck, where I could take cover, and Rex as he tried to fight them off. On the way I fired off a few magic bolts at the pegasi bandits in hopes of helping him get rid of them, but I couldn't hit any of them while running.

I chose to take cover at the front of our truck, thinking that bullets wouldn't be able to penetrate through there quite as easily. I peeked out to see how Rex was doing, only to see that he was observing the three pegasi now circling above him while brandishing a sword he got from... somewhere and getting shot at almost all the time. How his body was able to withstand all this was mind boggling, but this wasn't the time to ask that, I had to help him deal with them! Just as I looked up once more, one of the flying bandits proceeded with a diving attack l straight at Rex. I aimed with my horn just ahead of its path and fired two magic lightning bolts instead of regular bolts, as they were faster and could paralyse if they didn't kill, though they required more magic.

The first bolt missed the target, going right past one of the wings. The second lightning struck it right in the head and knocked it out of its flight trajectory. I smiled for a moment after that and a part of me wanted to come out and check on Rex right now, but I was swiftly reminded by a bullet going through our truck's windshield to focus on the fight. I turned my attention towards the two remaining flying bandits and proceeded to cast salvos of weak magic bolts to knock them out of the air. They wouldn't do much damage, but I can't afford to fire and miss with powerful ones.

One of the pegasi was struck in his right wing and crashed into a few of his fellows armed with firearms, knocking them over and preventing them from firing for a short while. The last one however kept avoiding and dodging every single of my spells with little to no effort. I couldn't get a good shot at him this way at all as he flew in unpredictable patterns. Then his eyes locked onto me and he made a sharp turn in the air in less than a second. He held his knife out and grinned maliciously right before beginning his diving attack...with ME AS HIS TARGET!

"I GOT YOU NOW, YOU BIRD SHIT!" I froze in place as I heard the scream, then witnessed as the diving pegasus stopped mid-dive. It occurred to me that it was Rex who was the one screaming! I watched as the pegasus looked behind himself and flapped his wings in an attempt to free himself from what looked like Rex's hand holding onto his tail. I felt relieved and took a deep breath, but then gasped as I saw that pony get slammed into the ground. Blood was pouring in small amounts out of his mouth and Rex loomed over him. He raised his sword and...dear Celestia... He drove it deep into the ground through the pony's back, then grabbed his wings and... I looked away, but I still heard the sound of flesh being torn apart, of bones snapping and breaking together with screams. By the time I looked again the pegasus was no longer one, wasn't alive either... I found it hard to believe that someone so friendly to us was capable of such monstrous ways of fighting...though I suppose those bandits didn't give any of us much choice... I definitely couldn't hold any of this against him if I was being honest, but it wasn't something I enjoyed seeing...

While I digested the thoughts and feelings regarding the battle, Rex took hold of his sword with his right hand and removed it from the corpse under his feet. He then looked at me and smiled, which made me slightly forget what he had done seconds ago. He then raised his weird metal hand and...pointed up with the big finger while smiling. I looked up but I didn't see anything, so I looked back at him and saw that he was still making that motion. "Was that a signal of sorts?" Is what I asked myself while looking at him with a raised eyebrow.

This brief moment of respite was soon interrupted by the bandits once again opening fire on us. They somewhat spread their attention out between the two of us, forcing me to hide behind my cover as bullets struck the steel plates of our truck. This time the bandits even used what sounded to me like shotguns and those could easily tear through either Bulwark or I. My heart kept on beating hard as I thought of a shotgun-armed bastard jumping on me here. With that in mind, I carefully peeked out to check on the other side of the truck, one where Rex wasn't engaging in fighting. Just then I saw a pair of hostiles run out from behind the rocks and dash towards the truck, holding tightly onto their guns.

I focused on the bandit closer to my position and prepared a magic bolt to shoot him with. I aimed for his body and fired my spell. It hit him right in the middle of his barrel and sent him stumbling over his own legs. He didn't get up after that, but the gun he held fired off a shot which knocked the other bandit's gun out of his hooves. He turned and ran towards his dropped weapon, at which I fired a fireball spell. However he managed to pick his weapon up and rolled out of the target area of my spell.

I began to feel effects of slight mana tiredness as I prepared a follow up attack. I sent a magic bolt aimed at his head, though it instead went for his legs and hit the ground instead of him right as he stood up from the ground. He aimed his gun at me and retaliated with a bullet salvo, making me instinctively hide behind cover as the bullets flew past me. I leapt out of cover and sent a lightning bolt aimed at the pony's hooves. It hit his weapon and only shocked him, so I cast another fireball. This time it was too late for him to dodge it and it exploded right in his muzzle just as I went back behind the truck. I sat down on the ground and took a deep breath, I needed a couple seconds of rest after risking myself like this. However what do you not do for your friends when everyone's lives are at stake?

Object C-04 "Rex"
Forest ambush

With those three pegasi taken care of thanks to Aegis' very much needed help, for which I needed to thank her for later since I don't think she quite understood me giving her a thumbs up, I could shift my focus back on ending this fight once and for all, the longer this goes on for the higher the chance one of them gets hurt and I absolutely cannot have that. Besides, all those gunshot wounds were beginning to wear me down a bit. With that in mind I turned right, away from the truck and towards the forest, then charged in the direction of a boulder from behind which around a handful of brigands were taking shots at me.

I swung at and deflected a bullet flying straight at my face, sending it into who knows where. This action caused my blade to chip and lose a piece of its blade, much to my dismay, however this wouldn't make things much harder. Just as I got into leaping range of the rock a bandit with what I'd call a hunting shotgun rolled out from behind the rock, already having me exactly in his sights. I raised my blade to swing down at him while running, only to stagger backwards after taking buckshot to my stomach. It tore through my flesh with more power than the spears and exposed some of my muscles, as well as near-translucent alloy pieces of my subdermal armour. My adrenaline high kept me from feeling lots of pain, yet all of this still wasn't enough to push me into a rush, despite it happening when I fought those wood wolves and changelings who were arguably a smaller threat...

I shook my head to return myself to clarity then resumed my charge with the intent of not letting him shoot again. His eyes went wide as he saw me close the distance between us right after enduring his shotgun shot. My blade swung down on him with all the force in my arms that I mustered. His hooves let go of the shotgun the moment the sword impacted his head, slicing through the skin and lodging itself deep in his skull. I cast his body to the side with no intention with recovering my weapon from his brain and instead picked up his shotgun. I couldn't help but smile as I pumped it once it was in my hands.

The bandits who were shooting at me alongside the shotgun pony have now once again hid their heads behind that rock, but that wasn't going to save them. Once the empty shell hit the ground beneath my feet I rolled forward and around the side of the aforementioned rock to surprise the bastards. A few shots flew above me, them having expected me to come rushing in while standing. I swiftly jumped up after my final roll, my back covered in dirt and leaves picked up by my blood, and proceeded to fire back at them. One got caught at near point blank range of my first shot. He didn't even get to scream as his brains were splattered in all directions, his body now limp on the ground, with an unrecognisable head and blood pooling underneath.

I pumped the shotgun and flicked the spent shell into the lifeless body, just as the other bandits finished reloading their weapons. I walked forward with a scornful grin on my face and aimed at the next pony ahead of me. He however held his rifle like a spear, despite having no bayonet, and charged at me while firing inaccurate shots. I tried to aim but he was too fast and jammed his gun into one of my lesser bullet wounds. This threw my sights off and the shot I fired shredded through his back, but he didn't as much as whimper or loosen his grip despite this grievous injury. I resorted to bashing him in the side of his head, using the barrel of my acquired weapon like a baton. A few good whacks sent him into the rock that previously protected him.

I removed the rifle from my wound and tossed it aside, right onto the now deceased owner's corpse. The bandit that was behind him fired at me using a small handgun, turning my attention to him as the rounds dug into my legs. I coughed up some blood and pumped the shotgun once more in preparation of doing something that would hopefully bring this hopeless for them battle to its conclusion. He began to panic and stepped back, stumbling over his own hooves and dropping his firearm. I lifted him up by his mane with my synthetic arm and held him high in the air. He wiggled and tried to pull himself out of my hold, to which I responded by putting the barrel of my shotgun to his stomach and pulling the trigger. I looked at him and saw his guts...or what remained of them, be blown out through his back and into the air. They landed onto a few of the bandits, but mostly splattered all over the nearby forest ground. I dropped him and the shogun.

"Oh- Oh shit.... I don't know about you Beck, BUT I'M GETTING THE FUCK AWAY FROM HERE!" One of the blood-coated ponies spoke to his comrade and ran away as quickly as his hooves could carry him. This was the final straw that made the other bandits break ranks en masse and flee deep into the forest. The sounds of gunfire had finally been silenced, save for two sources... I walked out from behind the rock while holding a hand on my biggest stomach wound. I haven't gotten messed up like this since...a long time ago, but no doubt my nanomachinery was hard at work keeping me...away from dying. The kinds of wounds I suffered would kill a normal person ten times over... My adrenaline was gradually decreasing and I felt growing pain in my limbs, but I knew there was one last thing to take care of.

I saw Bulwark and the bandit leader exchanging potshots, keeping each other pinned down as bullets flew between them. Aegis assisted him by occasionally firing from her horn, but I could see lots of sweat gathering on her forehead. I remained out of sight of them all and walked to a flat end of the log that blocked our way. I grabbed a fresh sword off the ground on my way there, one that was abandoned by the fleeing scum and held it between my teeth as I climbed onto the fallen tree, with the last target to deal with right ahead of me. My blood trailed behind me, the sheer volume I lost could fill up a blood donation fridge, but Imperial science kept me chugging along. With the sword raised, I took a deep breath and charged forth.

THUNK

"AHHH YOU SNEAKY FUCKER! DID YOU THINK YOU COULD GET YOUR YETI HANDS ON ME THAT EASILY?!" The bandit leader shouted at me, having somehow managed to avoid my surprise attack. My escort must have been confounded too as they had stopped their suppressive fire.

"What are you looking at, huh?! Why else do you think I am the one bossing them around!?" He boasted and laughed in my face.

I had little intention to entertain his taunting remarks and stepped forward, ready to attempt another strike. He just grinned as he saw my blade descend upon him, in the last moment he suddenly slid backwards and made me hit the log again. I followed this failed attack up with a swift sword stab, but the bandit leader effortlessly moved to the side in an instant. I shifted my grip on the sword as he spoke up again.

"Do you really expect to hit me like that? Even a crippled granny could dodge that one!" He said with a teethy grin. It annoyed me greatly and I really wanted to finish him off for good as these texts were getting tiring.

I shifted my stance to a more mobile one and dashed at him while swinging the sword, he obviously dodged, however I immediately dashed again with another strike...which he also dodged. He didn't even counterattack, he just dodged and dodged. I let loose a flurry of rapid sword swings, stabs and slashes aimed at him, rotating around my own axis to maintain momentum of my attacks. HE JUST KEPT DODGING EVERYTHING. No matter how close I was or how fast I attacked, he constantly avoided the blade as if he was made out of wind.

It came to the point that I had him standing on the edge of the tree log, seemingly with no more room left to dodge. I smiled to myself, thinking that I had finally cornered him and that this bastard would soon end up in the dirt. I swung vertically at him, aiming to slash through his head. Yet my sword once again didn't strike home and instead lodged itself in the log. Meanwhile he had jumped back onto his hind legs, having only the slightest bit of excess solid surface. Suddenly he galloped up my bloodied arms and jumped over my head, giving me a solid kick in the back while still in the air. I bit my tongue and groaned in pain...I swear I felt something crack in my back too.

"Hah! You gotta be a little faster on those legs-" His taunt was interrupted by a gunshot coming from below. I didn't feel anything hit me, so I looked behind myself and saw the leader of the forest bandits holding his left front hoof up to a wound on his right front leg. He chuckled and looked towards Bulwark. "You tricky dick, too bad this is just a flesh wound!"

I couldn't let this chance go to finish this go to waste. My servos whirred the moment I pulled the blade out of the log and spun around with a swinging motion coming from below. I heard a singular gasp, followed by the sound of flesh being sliced through like a hot knife going through butter with bones. This slash sent blood flying high through the air from the bandit's neck, which was joined by a trickle of the warm liquid that washed over me directly from the veins. I watched as the freshly separated head tumbled down onto the ground together with the corpse, ending up not too far apart.

I let go of my sword and climbed down the log without as much as a single word, as I didn't want to end the silence that came just yet. Bulwark and Aegis seemed to share this sentiment and watched me shuffle towards the truck. I wanted to lay down in the back to give my nanobots the chance to patch me up in peace, but I found myself sitting against the truck's front bumper with a hand up to my stomach as a result of my hormone levels going down. It was a pretty clear reminder that I definitely wasn't at full strength. Once I made myself comfortable I turned my eyes to the dead leader and chuckled.

"Try...heheh...dodging that one,"

Chapter 11 - Ponyville at last!

Author's Note

This one sadly took me a while to write. Work has reduced the amount of effort I can dedicate towards this, but fear not: I am not planning on abandoning this.
Should you have any potential ideas, do tell me about them in the comments.

Chapter 11 - Ponyville at last!

Guardsman Stalwart Bulwark
Forest after ambush

I watched as Rex's head sunk low after he had muttered some words I couldn't make out. He seemed to be pretty happy though in spite of his...grievous injuries. One of his appendages was applying pressure to his excessively bleeding stomach wound. It was a stark contrast to what we had witnessed a few moments ago and a part of me wished to scrounge some medical supplies out of the truck, but another part of me figured it was pointless. I let go of the weapon I held and approached him to at least check on him. I leaned in close and saw his chest move at a slow although steady place, then saw his eyes look at me as a small smile took form on his face.

We should have acted much sooner and done much more, then he wouldn't be sitting against our truck in a puddle of his own blood and covered in all kinds of...filth, without describing it in much detail. I looked to my side and saw Aegis sitting on her haunches in front of Rex. Judging by her facial expression I'd say that she's taking this worse than I am, since something in me tells me that this isn't the worst that Rex had endured...somebody who fights like that must have gone to Tartarus and back. Aegis however took a liking to him and in a way I can see why, even if I can't quite put it into words. I quietly moved and sat down beside her to comfort her.

She leaned against me and rested her head on my side, she must be pretty tired. I saw how much magic she used during the fight, more than she ever did before. I looked at her, but didn't move as to not disturb her. I took a deep breath to get some tension in my muscles out that accumulated over the course of our battle. We all needed a moment of silence to calm down and collect ourselves in our heads after this. Though now the thoughts of having to write a report about all of this entered my head and I didn't feel like dealing with the paper shoveling ponies in the capital just yet, questioning how one of us had slain so many.

"Bulwark...," Aegis looked at me as she spoke quietly. "Is he going to recover from this?" She continued after I looked back at her.

"Of course Viggi, I am sure of it. He certainly looks like he could take it," I responded and held her closer to me.

Rex's head slowly turned up, revealing his bloodied face to us. He had coughed up some blood during this short exchange, but he still found it in himself to smile back at us. "That and-hrk-much more!" He said with more enthusiasm than I'd ever heard from the most invested career officer in the Guard. Rarely have I seen fellow guardsmen who yearned and found their place in the midst of battle, but to embrace it so openly is another degree of dedication. This reaction from him seemed to calm Aegis down a bit at least, no matter how morbid Rex was looking.

"I-I could use a healing spell heal some of those," She said quietly and pointed with a hoof towards some smaller wounds that Rex had sustained.

"Aegis, that's not a good idea. You already used so much magic, you are going to exhaust yourself," I spoke in a firm tone, though I felt that I wouldn't be able to convince her not to try it.

"I'll be-cough-fineeee, I just gotta lay down and take a longer breather," Rex said and smiled more, showing his teeth that were currently stained red.

Aegis looked at both of us and stood up. She had already made up her mind about this as her horn began to glow, though this time with a green light that was a distinct mark of healing magic. A green aura enveloped most of Rex's injuries, even the huge stomach one. I wasn't going to let her do this alone, so I got up and joined her in casting the spell. On Aegis' mark we poured more effort in to begin healing the flesh.

Both of us had our eyes closed as we focused on manipulating the flow of mana, this was our first time healing someone with such a unique anatomy after all. I could hear faint sizzling, but assumed it was bleeding spots being cauterised to prevent additional blood loss. Then the sizzling got louder and was joined by the smell of burning flesh which forced me to open my eyes. I saw Rex's fresh blood begin to boil as it came out, alongside the edges of his wounds being charred and looking worse than before. He was groaning and writhing in pain mere moments after we started the spell.

"Ghhh...nghh- Stop doing- stop your magic... Aghh- please it hurts-" He said through clenched teeth. I withdrew from casting and shook Aegis to bring her out of focus. She stopped too, but looked at me confused as if she hadn't heard or smelt what was happening. Then her face turned green and she ran behind a bush, where she very loudly vomitted out whatever she had for breakfast today. I meanwhile looked back at Rex, his blood had cooled down and the sizzling ceased. I concluded that it was the direct effect of our healing magic or more accurately our attempt at it. I sat down and waited for Aegis to return.

Object C-04 "Rex"
Forest full of bandit corpses

OH MY FUCK, HOLY MOTHERFUCKING SHIIIIITTTAHHHH!- IT FUCKING BURNSSSSS AGHHHGGGHHG! MY THOUGHTS WERE OVERWHELMED WITH MY SILENCED SCREAMS OF TORMENT AS I HAD JUST EXPERIENCED MY FLESH BEING ROASTED. IT FELT LIKE THE BLOOD IN MY VEINS WAS TURNING INTO FRESH MAGMA THAT WOULD TURN ME INTO A HEAP OF CHARRED FLESH. I clenched my teeth and balled my hands into fists to keep as much of my pain from escaping through my lips as possible, not to act like a "tough guy" but to not accidentally attract something to our position. Gradually the agony began to wear off once they stopped doing their magic on me.

Just as I got out of my pain induced state of internal disarray, I saw that Aegis was returning from the bushes where she went to puke. Bulwark, as I should expect by now, maintained his calm face and demeanor in spite of what happened today. I felt beneath my palm that my wounds were pretty badly burned, but there was an upside to this: I wasn't bleeding anymore and this pain surge gave me a kick of energy. I slowly got up from the ground, using the truck to support myself as I straightened myself out. With a few swipes of my synthetic hand over my body I managed to get the worst bits of burnt flesh and boiled blood dust off myself to look less like a microwave accident.

Aegis sat down in front of me with a sombre look and a lowered head and ears. It was quite obvious that she was sorry for what had happened, but probably couldn't put it in any words. She looked so small and vulnerable despite wearing armour. It almost felt like seeing a pet who made a mess or was caught doing something it shouldn't. I took a few small steps forward and reached out to give her a few gentle pats on her head. She tensed up then loosened and even slightly rubbed her mane against my hand before I took it away. I looked towards Bulwark while Aegis got off the ground.

"We have to clean this up," He said while looking at the carnage around himself.

I looked around myself too and scratched my bloodied head. "How come? I say we just let them rot here, bandits don't deserve a funeral," Also it was Imperial policy to leave raider corpses behind as they were not worth the effort retrieving...and to scare off those who wanted to try their luck.

"And those driving through here don't deserve to be mauled by predators. We need to clean up or this road will be infested with those," He said while pointing with a hoof in the direction we came from. I looked around once more and noticed that flies began to gather over some of the fresh bodies.

"You are right," I conceded to him, it was his country after all and his argument did have merit.

"Aegis, could you bring us some body bags? They should be in one of the crates," Bulwark said calmly to her, to which she nodded and went to the truck's back.

She returned a few minutes later with the aforementioned body bags in her magical hold. She tossed some to Bulwark and I. He caught them with magic as expected and I grabbed them once they were in my hands' reach. I half expected them to be made out of some textile material, but those were standard looking black plastic body bags. Simple on surface, but very effective. I noticed however that they didn't have any handles for carrying them, not a big issue I thought.

The three of us split up and went different directions. Bulwark first chose to take care of the mess I left behind that rock with shotgun-blasted corpses, Aegis was already hard at work trying to carefully set the impaled bandit down on the ground to remove the spear, and I made my way over to the bandit leader's corpse. I looked down upon the headless body and smiled, it felt good to have silenced him and I felt the good vibes again when I kicked it, but the kick was mostly to get the corpse into a better position for the bag. I pulled the zipper open and shoved the body inside, then grabbed his head by his mane and dropped it inside. Some fresh blood poured out of the slashed neck, forming a puddle in the bag which the head landed in before I zipped it up
I lifted it up from the ground and tossed over my shoulder. I felt the head roll around inside the bag while I walked towards the truck. On my way there I stopped to check on how Aegis was doing with the impaled pony. She had managed to lower it to the ground, but seemed to struggle with pulling the spear out even with magic. I approached her and tapped her with a synthetic finger.

"Huh? What is it, Rex?" She looked at me and asked.

"Hold onto this for me for a moment," I replied and gave her the body bag I carried, which she now held above ground with magic. My attention was then turned towards the speared pony on the ground. With one hand I gripped and lifted the corpse on the spear by grabbing its shaft right below the tip, while my other hand firmly gripped the pony's neck. The spear was covered in blood and various tissues belonging to its victim, making it slightly slippery in my hand. I pulled the spear up while simultaneously pulling down the bandit by the neck. There was some resistance present, probably the ribcage or some other bone that was struck, but it didn't prevent me from pulling the weapon out, now freshly coated in even more blood. I set the corpse down, which now had a pretty big hole going through it, and retrieved my body bag from Aegis.

"Thanks for...that," She said with in slightly nauseated tone and took the spear from me. I stood beside her as she packed the bandit and into the bag, then took it from her and tossed over my other shoulder. Together we walked to the back of the truck, where she put the spear away in the far back of the cargo bed, then used her magic to take the body bags I carried and set them down beside the weapon. She sat down by one of the crates and wiped her forehead with a hoof, from a spectator's standpoint she looked cute while sitting like this, the way those ponies sit reminded me of how pets like dogs or cats sat, though I felt that she was also pretty tired.

The sounds of something heavy being dragged reached my ear, so I turned around and saw Bulwark pulling a pile of body bags from behind the boulder. I swiftly jogged towards him and upon getting closer saw that he had used his magic to bind the bags together with some sort of...magic rope. He held its end in his mouth and this way pulled the bags. I moved behind the pile and helped him out by pushing them. It was initially hard to find a good spot to apply force to, but I found a spot where the bodies were packed enough to make a semi-solid surface. With my help the bags reached the truck much faster, just as Aegis hopped off the cargo bed. The magic rope disappeared right after and I couldn't help but think about how flexible and useful it must be for those ponies, kinda like an additional limb that can do so much and it didn't even have to be attached to the body.. Though this brought another question to my mind, what could the other pony types do? Did they have their own magic?

The two ponies worked on getting the body bags that Bulwark brought inside the truck, meanwhile I turned my attention to the pegasi who were a damn menace to me not too long ago. First I worked on the pegasus I so gloriously de-winged as he attempted to dive attack Aegis. With one hand I opened a body bag just for him and with the other tossed the ripped off wings inside. Their muscles were still tense as if they were still connected to a living creature. Once the feathery wings were inside, I grabbed the dead pony by the scruff of his neck and placed in the bag, zipping it up after. I then did the same thing to the other killed pegasi, though they had their wings still attached, albeit somewhat damaged from the fighting and subsequent crashing to the ground.

With those ponies bagged up, I made my way to the first ponies I had slain. The corpse of the pony I had strangled was already beginning to undergo post-mortem changes. His eyes were becoming cloudy and what little skin I could see through the fur or hair was becoming pale. I carefully picked the corpse up and lowered it into an open body bag as to not accidentally cause it to release any...nasty surprises all over my hands.

After that I looked towards the pony whose spine and head I had ripped off. Blood was no longer trickling from its open head wound, though flies were beginning to swarm the exposed flesh. They buzzed around and were probably having a feast of their lifetime, that is until I swatted them away with my right hand, I didn't plan on bagging up a bunch of insects after all. I made sure to retrieve the missing bits of the dead bandit, its spine and head, from the corpse that was right beside me. I thought about shoving it all back inside, but decided to put them in the bag separately. While at it I took care of the other body, removing the spear from its head and shoving it in a bag just like the others.

A few more trips to and from the truck and we had cleared up the area, even taking the bandits' weapons with us. I kinda wanted to keep one of those as a sort of souvenir, a reminder of fighting my first fight alongside non-human sapient companions...but I didn't have anywhere to store it...so taking one would be for nothing. Oh well, I had a feeling that I'd have many more opportunities in the future for souvenir taking...hopefully in more fortunate circumstances than a bandit fight. I tossed the last body bag into the truck during this train of thought and approached my escort.

"Are we ready to go now?" I asked both Aegis and Bulwark.

Bulwark gave our surroundings a quick glance. "Hmmh, this will have to suffice. The ground is soaked with blood, wildlife will still come. However, soon enough they will find that there isn't much here for them," Aegis gave a confirming nod after Bulwark was done talking.

I decided to take his word for it, he knew this area much better than I did and I didn't feel like finding out what other creatures are hiding here. Especially not when I look like a DiY firing practice target dummy that came out of a butchery, I was lucky enough that the magical mistake the two ponies made had given my body a bit of a necessary kick and getting into another fight would just waste all that. I took a breath while rubbing my chin with my synthetic hand and looked at Bulwark.

"How about I take the wheel for the rest of the route? You two used plenty of magic and I saw you using it for driving, Bulwark. I don't know how it exactly works, but I doubt exerting yourself more will be good for either of you," I concluded after presenting my argument and looked towards the driver's cabin.

Bulwark and Aegis looked at each other and then back at me, both with raised eyebrows.

"Do you know how to drive?" Aegis asked in a curious tone.

I chuckled and crossed my arms out of amusement. "Aegis, please. Do you think I'd be asking if I didn't? Well...I don't "know" how to drive per se, but the ability to do so is kinda...programmed into my brain...on top of many other things," I said with a slight smile near the end and uncrossed my arms. The ponies in front of me didn't seem too eased by this answer.

"Hmh, you will get the whole seat and wheel dirty...hmm...," Bulwark said while visibly contemplating something. He took a glance at Aegis, who did the closest thing to a shrug that she could. "Alright, you can be the driver for now. I'm not sure if you will fit, even if there is plenty of space there. Be careful with the clutch, it might be a bit stubborn," He spoke to me and hopped into the back of the truck, leaving Aegis and I outside.

Aegis looked towards Bulwark and made her way to the passenger seat while I went to the driver side. I opened the door and hopped in, being careful to not get the remains of my tail stuck somewhere uncomfortable or accidentally slam one of my floppy hands with the door. I had to sit slightly hunched over the steering wheel due to my height. The pedals were, as I should have expected, made for hooves rather than feet as they were more like squares rather than rectangular shaped. The-

"Oooop!" I exclaimed in surprise as the seat I sat on lowered itself.

"Here you go, should be more comfortable," Aegis said to me and pulled a magazine to read through out of a small compartment. She must have adjusted it for me, how nice of her.

I put my left hand on the steering wheel and stepped on the clutch, then turned the key. The engine coughed for a moment before finally starting up. I sighed in relief, now knowing that the fight hadn't damaged any essential parts. I shifted to reverse with my right hand and carefully maneuvered our vehicle to face the direction we came from. Aegis occasionally glanced at me with a hint of wariness in her eyes, though she stopped doing that once I finished the maneuver.

"How about we turn on the radio? Some music to go with ought to soothe our nerves a little bit and make the ride more pleasant," I asked my passengers and fiddled with one of the truck radio's knobs.

"There should be an Octavia or DJ Pon-3 broadcast around this time," Remarked Bulwark from the back.

"Let's see what your artists have to offer," I said approvingly and fiddled with the frequency knob a bit more. A couple seconds later I caught a signal that wasn't just static and occasional words that were constantly cut off.

"Good evening Equestria! I hope you enjoyed our broadcast thus far, because we got more where that came from! Coming up is a very much underrated, in our humble opinion, track by Pon-3!" A very enthusiastic voice spoke on the radio while I shifted into first gear and pressed the gas pedal, moving us forward.

"Open your ears for "Taking the Rave Path", chosen by yours truly Nerz of Crystal Skies Radio!" The host's voice went silent, replaced by the sound of music gradually fading in. I shifted into second gear, then third, as we gained speed on the forest road. Already I could hear subtle electronic beats and synthwaves, full of energy that hit the spot just right. I stepped on the gas more and shifted gears higher, then higher again while bobbing my head to the dubstep track.

"R-Rex....maybe slow down a little?" Aegis asked me with a degree of worry in her voice. She even put her mag down and held onto whatever was closest to her hooves. "The road is quite shaky he-aaaah!" The truck jumped up and shook for a short moment, but that didn't affect my driving in the slightest.

"Just relax, we gotta make up for the time we have lost!" I said with a smile and shifted to a higher gear once more as the radio song increased in speed and volume. My synthetic arm carefully turned the steering wheel to avoid the worst of the spots on the way, but our truck still shook. We passed by row after row after row of trees faster than any of us could count, the surroundings around us had grown visibly darker as evening hours descended upon us. I flipped on the lights to avoid driving in unfavourable conditions and to not cause a crash. I tapped my fingers on the steering wheel and hummed along with the beats, immersing myself fully while driving.

With my eyes glued to the road, I saw that we were nearing the end of the forest. I was relieved that we'd finally leave this dark shithole and for good measure stepped on the gas some more in line with the song beginning to near what I'd its climax. Our metal box was rattled some more by the odd branches and uneven surfaces, leaving Aegis using her magic together with her hooves to hold onto stuff. Bulwark meanwhile didn't make any remarks at all, perhaps the corpses kept him occupied.

"We are heading back to the bridge, yeah?" I shouted over the music to ensure my passengers could hear me well.

"Somebody has to take care of that tree after all! Chances are that if we are lucky, then the bridge's crew will do it for us or report it!" Bulwark shouted from the back in response to me just as we drove out of the woods.

The road here was considerably more even and I begun to slow down a bit as the song playing on radio came to an end, replaced by the soft sounds of classical music with violins being the main instrument. Aegis slumped over on her seat, taking deep breaths to calm herself down. I chuckled in my thoughts, good thing that this is just a combustion engine truck and not an Imperial ATV, the speed would have ended her. I did gently pat her back however in hopes of it making her feel better...aaand I think I just left a bloody mark on her armour...

The aforementioned bridge began to appear on the horizon, but I felt that something was off about it. I couldn't quite see what just yet, but looking at it gave me quite an unnerved tingle. I raised a finger and pointed in the bridge's direction.

"Looks like we are getting close to our destination," I said and kept looking towards the stone construct.

"It looks a little...normal?" Aegis commented in a quiet voice, almost as if talking to herself. "Wasn't there supposed to be a building crew here?"

"Maybe they wrapped up the work already?" Bulwark peeked his head into the driver's cabin as he spoke.

"Then there would at least be some leftover materials or other marks..." I responded to Bulwark and slowed down, then shifted to a lower gear. "Something tells me that this bridge is fine as it is..." My hands tightened around the steering wheel as I uttered those words, having already formed a potential conclusion in my head.

"Let's pull up there and see if we can find anything. You have to stay here though." Bulwark said in a slightly agitated tone, to which Aegis nodded. I understood why he wanted me to remain in the truck, primarily because I was pretty much a blood golem. My response was a simple shrug, a "if you say so".

However this plan soon went to the shitter. The construction pony we saw earlier today was there, but he began running away as soon as he heard and spotted our slightly battered vehicle. This wasn't the behaviour of a normal worker, certainly not of someone who helped us by pointing out a way around. That pony knew something and I feel like he had something to do with those damn brigands. He jumped into the river, knowing we couldn't follow him easily like this. I smacked the horn in frustration and groaned, then turned to Bulwark.

"Bulwark, please hand me something blunt, I'm going after him," I said in a firm tone to him.

I stopped the car by the bridge and stepped out of the truck. That pony was already a decent chunk away from us, but I the river certainly didn't make it easy for him to waddle through. Suddenly a wrench appeared in front of me at my upper hands' level, held in the air by Bulwark's magic. I immediately grabbed it with my right hand and flipped it, then put my abilities to use and ran after him, digging small holes in the earth with my toes.

This was nowhere near my true possible speed, but I was faster than him and that's all that counted. With every passing second I got closer to him, with each passing second my desire to grab him and extract a confession grew bigger. I just knew he was involved in this too and that made his life forfeit for me, but I also knew that my escort would frown upon this. Once in range, I chose to jump after and tackle that pony into the water.

"Aaaah!" He screamed once he felt my body crash into his.

I grabbed him by the collar of his neck fur and dragged out of the river and onto the side where our truck was. I let go of and looked down at him, towering over his currently meek form. His eyes went wide and his body shook in cold and fear. My hand itched to swing at him, the desire to knock his teeth out with a good blow became bigger and bigger. I wanted to cave his skull in so that he could join his comrades in damnation. The wrench was already high in the air, ready to descend upon him....but I yielded. He kept on shaking however, even as I lowered the weapon I held...and for right reasons since I still planned on dragging him back.

Upon reaching our truck I saw that Aegis took over the driver's spot, but Bulwark wasn't on the passenger seat. She briefly glanced at me and saw that I brought the delinquent physically unharmed, her expression became filled with a degree of relief. She probably thought we had enough corpses for today. I moved to the back with my wiggling catch and hopped in. Inside I found Bulwark tying the bags to each other with ropes.

"This will keep them from rolling all over the truck," He said immediately after I got in, as if to preempt any questions.

"I brought us a live catch, got any spare rope for him?" I asked and set the pony down on the ground, keeping one eye on him in case he suddenly decided to make a run for it.

Bulwark's horn glowed for a second and then he tossed a coil of rope at my feet with one end smoldering. From the looks of it he cut this length off from a bigger coil using his unicorn magic. I grabbed it and got to work restraining our captive. First I tied his front legs together, then the hindlegs. I used separate pieces of my rope for tying those down, which I obtained by asking Bulwark to cut them for me after measuring out how much I needed. Whatever was left of it I used to tie both pairs of legs together, the rope going along the middle of his body which made it look like a bridge between cliffs. I stood him up on his legs to check how effective it was. He wobbled for a second then fell over.

"You can spare him the cruelty, Rex. We will need him in one piece to interrogate," Aegis spoke from the front, then started the truck and drove us over the bridge. To nobody's surprise, it didn't collapse despite what we were initially told. I looked out of the truck, watching the stone bridge fade into the distance farther and farther away as the truck picked up speed once more. I sighed and hoped that we'd make it to our destination before we get surrounded by darkness.

A few more hours had passed, the night was upon us and with it came the hooting of owls and chirping of whatever was jumping around in the grass. Our prisoner was trying to get some shuteye despite his uncomfortable position, with rather mixed results. I peeked into the driver's cabin to see what was on the road ahead. Exactly in that very moment I spotted a pink wooden sign with colourful lettering saying "Welcome to Ponyville!" Seeing that got a slight chuckle out of me.

"We'll have to make a quick stop by our guard station. You can get cleaned up and then we'll continue on hoof," Aegis said to me and slowed down upon driving past the sign.

Our truck pulled up at a small brick building on the outskirts of the village. I hopped out of the truck and looked at it. At first glance I wouldn't have the slightest idea that this was supposed to be a guard station. There were no signs or recognisable markings which could easily be interpreted as related to guards being stationed here. Aegis turned the engine on and quietly made her way towards the entrance door, meanwhile Bulwark passed the prisoner into my hands by lifting him to me with magic. I held that pony over my shoulder and entered the supposed guard station, being careful to not accidentally smack mine or his head against the small door frame.

The entrance led to a reception room, which had a simple desk, white walls and office furniture scattered around the room. All in all it was a rather bland and very generic room. I moved towards the desk and watched as the two ponies behind me entered the room while carrying their helmets with them. Aegis set her helmet, and the letter that Princess Celestia gave me, on the desk. Bulwark placed his beside Aegis' and turned to me.

"Give him to me. Aegis will show you were you can clean yourself up," He pointed with a hoof to the prisoner I currently held. I nodded and placed him down on the ground in front of Bulwark, then turned to Aegis and followed her out of the room. We entered a small hallway with a staircase at the end of it. She walked ahead and stopped beside a wooden door.

"The shower room is inside, it should be big enough for you. You'll find some shampoo and whatever else you might need, but please be careful to not clog the pipes...they are quite old," She said to me and left me alone, heading back where we came from.

I entered the supposed shower room, only to be met by darkness...the lights weren't turned on. Figuring that it would be moronic to install a light switch, I took a step back into the hallway and looked around the door frame for one. What I found was a button at around my waist's height, so I leaned down and pressed it while looking towards the shower room. The lights inside flipped on row by row, revealing a few shower heads with barriers between them. I entered and closed the door behind me.

Guardsman Stalwart Bulwark
Ponyville Guard Outpost, Jail

I turned the key in the lock and checked the cell door to ensure that it was properly locked. The cells here were usually empty, mostly due to the nature of our assignments and the presence of a separate guard station within the village itself, but today we have a fresh detainee. I'll have to ask Aegis about what to do with him, we aren't exactly equipped or staffed to keep him here for long. His encounter with Rex left him in a near-catatonic state, staring towards the jail entrance and mumbling something about a Tartarus-forsaken beast. He does seem to gradually get better, meanwhile I am just happy that Rex brought him relatively unharmed.

I entered the jailor room and retrieved a folder containing our holding cell log, then sat down at a small desk inside and began filling out a simple form to keep track of who we have here. My magic helped me rummage through the pony's personal items to allow me to fill in his identity, though finer details like occupation or current place of residence were amongst those pieces of information I couldn't find out. I sighed and moved on to writing a hopefully palatable report for our superiors to swallow.

The jail entrance doors opened wide and I heard a pony approach the room I was in. "Knock, knock," Aegis' cheerful voice came from behind the locked door.

"Come in, Viggi," I responded to her and flipped to a fresh page for my report.

The door opened and she came in, holding a bloodied bag in the air beside her. "Already submerged in paperwork? This could wait until tomorrow, after we get some sleep," She spoke to me as she approached the desk.

"My memory is still fresh, might as well be done with this right now," I said to her an set my pen down. "What do you have there anyway?"

"The head of the bandit leader. I figured we should check out bounty board to see if there are any mentions of him there. Such a well prepared band must have a few warrants after them," She continued said to me and placed the bag in a nearby bucket. "Where did you hide the key?"

"You are right, I didn't even think about that..." I nodded in agreement and opened a drawer. Inside was a small key, which I promptly tossed to Aegis. She took the key and used it to open a locked metal cabinet, a sort of spot where we kept things we didn't know where else to put away...and the bounty board.

"Do you see anything?" I asked her while continuing to write.

"Oh my, this is going to be quite the payout," Aegis said in a surprised tone. "It only states the approximate amount, but even that is quite a lot. A couple thousand Bits at least, probably more for taking out the rest of the band,"

"Would you mind turning in the bounty in Ponyville then? You could take Rex to his destination while at it," I looked up at her and suggested.

"I'd rather turn it in tomorrow, after you are done with the protocol. I'll happily take Rex however and then come here to help you with things," She said while closing the cabinet once more.

"That would be greatly appreciated," I said with a smile and watched as she left.

Object C-04 "Rex"
Guard Station

I left the shower a clean man, a fresh man, a man with a few visible wounds that would probably start bleeding if I moved the wrong way, but I digress. My point is, I finally got a proper clean up, one that didn't involve being sprayed down using a hose and cold water while chained. Warm water and some proper, albeit simple, washing supplies. All of this and I even managed to not clog the old pipes that Aegis mentioned, despite ridiculous amounts of clotted blood being washed off. I'll probably have a weird metallic smell to me for a few days, but that's temporary. I tried looking around for a towel, but found none and ultimately left the shower room dripping wet...and still without clothes. I'll have to find some soon enough, as much as those ponies are unbothered by this...I'd rather cover myself up a bit.

I left the hallway and waited by the station entrance door for someone to come to me, while occasionally glancing around the room to see if there was a clock somewhere. Alas, no dice...and no clock to read time off of. One of the doors leading out of the reception opened and Aegis came out of it. She smiled upon seeing me, presumably because I didn't look like a gore golem anymore, however that smile was short-lived as she saw my not completely healed wounds... mainly the stomach wound. It wasn't bleeding, but I still had a small crater there.

"Should I bring a first aid kit? Some bandages?" She said in a concerned tone.

"No, I'll be fine," I said and looked down at myself. "I have had worse," I looked back at her and smiled confidently then yawned.

"I hope you aren't just acting tough, the Princess will have our flanks if something happens to you," She said unamused and walked past me. "Follow me, I'll lead you to your place of stay," Aegis continued and left the station. I reacted after a second and jogged out to catch up.

We took a pedestrian path which led out of the station and onto a sidewalk leading to the town of Ponyville. Evening descended upon us rather swiftly as our surroundings became darker and the moon gradually came into view. I had a strange feeling that there was something wrong with it however, as if it stared back at me. I scratched my head and turned my attention towards the road, just as the streetlights flipped on. They were spread out and not very bright, but bright enough to light up the area around them. They were certainly of an older design, perhaps gas lights? Definitely nothing comparable to LED lights and not on the same level as other modern lights. Their overall design leaned towards what I'd describe as baroque, but with lots more colours and "life" in them, just like about everything with those ponies.

Most of the houses in town had their lights flipped off, blinds closed and a few of them even locked their shutters. A few houses deeper in had their lights dimly lit, enough for it to spill out into the street a little, however there were no ponies or people other than Aegis and I outside. I suppose night life isn't much of a thing here then. Speaking of houses...they lacked any form of conformity. They were all different shapes, sizes and scattered all throughout with no visible divisions into neighbourhoods, very disorganised and inefficient. The houses seemed to be mostly built out of wood, but an occasional brick building did show up, in either case they often had pink elements on their outer layer and roofs were often covered with straw. It reminded me of various missions where I was assigned to some outer colony of the Empire, very similar vibes but with less colours than here. It made me miss the tall spires of Wenkwort...

As we navigated the long paths around Ponyville, the destination of our travel became clear. A pink castle settled atop a crystal tree. A magnificent sight even in the dark, however it must be even greater once sun shines down upon it. The crystal tree looked somewhat chunky and spiky, it wrapped around the walls like grown vines. A "branch" functioned as a platform for the castle's balcony and the crystals themselves were made up of various shades of blue. The castle grew out of the tree's crown, it was shaded pink and looked smooth compared to the tree. Naturally, as is in style with royalty, it was finished off with gold. Gold doors, railings and such. However I couldn't tell right now if it was actual gold or perhaps an imitation. What I did know is that we were approaching the entrance...

"Watch your step," Aegis exclaimed just in time for me to stumble on the stairs and almost fall onto my face.

"Thanks, I'll try," I said while clutching onto the railing which I used to regain my footing, then carefully walked up the chilly golden stairs...this time with my eyes not glued to the wonderful architecture.

"This is it, I presume?" I looked at and asked Aegis who stood beside me.

"Mhm, she'll keep an eye on you from now on. Please do visit us sometime soon," She said to me with a smile and knocked on the door with a hoof.

"One more thing, she will probably be very excited. Be careful," She stated right after knocking, to which I raised an eyebrow.

"One moment please, I am coming!" A female voice spoke from inside the castle. My ears twitched as I heard faint sounds of collapsing piles of books. Aegis didn't seem to pick anything up though. Sounds of hooves clopping against a hard surface reached me soon after, only to disappear after she presumably got onto something softer. I looked around and fidgeted with my synthetic arm while waiting.

My fidgeting was disrupted my the large door creaking open and sending light straight into my face, which was uncomfortable at first as my eyes were already adjusted to the dark. I half-covered my eyes with a palm and watched as the entrance opened, seeing a silhouette of a pony with a horn and wings inside. Was this pony just like Princess Celestia? The doors opened wider while I dwelled on this, revealing a purple pony, slightly taller than Aegis, right in the middle of them. She had a wide smile on her muzzle and looked happy, though her mane was rather messy.

She stepped outside while looking us over. Suddenly her eyes locked onto me, widening in a cartoonish way as this happened. Then out of nowhere...she fainted and flopped onto the ground.

Chapter 12 - Meet your Princess

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 13 - Medical Malpractice

Object C-04 "Rex"
Castle in Ponyville

I spent a couple hours in solitude here in this sewing room, working on rudimentary clothes to cover myself up with. I opted to not use the sewing machine, as in all honesty I didn't have much experience with using one properly and would rather not mess with someone else's expensive looking property. I instead took the matters into my own hands, which I trusted more and was capable of using them to some effect. To that effect I chose the simple thread and needle as my tool, something that I had some familiarity with. After all, there wasn't that much of a difference between stitching up a hole in a shirt or two pieces of textile and stitching a nasty gash shut.

My hands were getting quite sweaty as my work neared its end, as I had only a few more moves with the needle left for the last piece of my new attire to be finished. I took a deep breath and focused on getting the needle through the fabric with my shaky fleshy hand. The thread followed the needle and I swiftly used my synthetic arm to cut it off with a small pair of scissors. I stood up and took a step back from the table to let out a sigh of relief after finishing my work. All it took was some time, elbow grease and a couple instances of stabbing my metal hand with the needle.

I carefully put all the tools I used back where I got them from and closed the white ornate box that I borrowerd a few things from, then turned my attention to the small pile of clothes on the ground. The first piece of apparel I put on was a shirt, which automatically categorises me as a maniac since pants are the first thing a person puts on. There was a reason for this however, as I had sewn small straps on its back to put my broken tail into, so that I wouldn't have to make another makeshift rope to hold it in place. I wasn't able to properly make four sleeves for my arms without butchering the fabric, so instead I made two big sleeves. Not ideal, but it does serve its purpose.

I picked up the pair of pants that were under the shirt after making sure that my tail was secure and wouldn't get in the way. I made them long and baggy to account for potential feats of acrobatics that would otherwise rip through anything that tighter or not made out of specialised Imperial fabrics. I know that up until now I was fighting with pretty much no clothes on, but it isn't something I'd like to do more of. Last but not least, something to cover me up just the way I like it. I pulled on the hood and buttoned the collar of my brand new cloak. It ain't pretty, but it would provide me with a comfortable barrier between myself and I already began imagining it...the public...and their eyes, eyes that would follow my every single step like a hawk, examining and judging me and thinking about how much of a freak of nature I-

KNOCK KNOCK

I snapped my head to the door, the knocking having interrupted me. "Are you in there Rex?" The small Princess' voice could be heard on the other side of the door.

I looked at my shaky, sweaty hands and shook my head in an attempt to clear my mind of the sudden thoughts of public fright. "I-uh-yeah! I'm in here, Princess. Almost ready to come out," I replied and pulled my hood down. I took a deep breath to get myself further under control and approached the door leading out of the room, then pulled the handle.

Princess Twilight stood behind it, wearing a pair of big glasses and had something resembling a lab coat covering her barrel. Overall she looked a lot like a stereotypical scientist, she even had a clipboard and pen to boot. She smiled with excitement and took a few step back while scribbling down things. I presume this has something to do with me wearing clothes now.

"What are you noting down, Princess?"

"Your clothes! It's really interesting how much your apparel differs from ours in build, yet is built upon the same basics! My friend Rarity would love to take a look at these, maybe she could draw some inspiration from this for her next works," She spoke in a quick fashion.

I raised an eyebrow at the mention of her friend. "Rarity? Is she a tailor?"

Her pen and clipboard disappeared in a small flash of purple magic. "She prefers the term seamstress if I recall correctly. It's her things that are in the room I teleported you to. She has her own business in Canterlot, but comes over here sometimes when she needs more peace and quiet than the capital has to offer," I rubbed my chin as she spoke, perhaps meeting Rarity could get me something more fitting and stylish to wear, if she'd be able to work around my unique build...

"Now then, are you ready for your medical examination?" She said to me in the most deadpan way I could imagine while maintaining her smile.

"What?" I asked out of confusion. It was very obvious that she was very curious about me, but this isn't something I expected to come up. I'm no stranger to being poked, prodded, observed, injected or even vivisected on a few occasions. That last one wasn't pleasant and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. I suppose it would come up at some point one way or another, given that I may be a disease risk factor to the native population, but I'd expect to be sent to a general practitioner instead.

"Oh don't worry, it's just a few routine tests that I need to get you through. Princess Celestia asked me to submit some documentation to the Mayor as you may be staying for quite a while here. You have no medical history and sending you to a local doctor would be a waste of potential," She then turned around and walked out of the room and into the hallway.

I followed her out and looked around myself to get an idea of where this room was in this castle. It turned out that it was a part of a bigger, round chamber with coloured sections that each had their door. I came out of the white section of the chamber, right in the middle. On the left were a pink section, the walls of which looked as if someone sprayed generous amounts of glitter and sprinkles, and a yellow section which wasn't as glamourosly decorated, but instead had some moss coming out from under the door. To the right were a blue section which had its walls splattered full of rainbows, clouds and other sky-related things that made my eyes feel itchy. Curiously, I felt the appendages that were supposed to be my wings writhe as I looked upon those rainbow walls. Lastly came an orange section which didn't have anything really special on its walls, but I sensed a subtle scent of a freshy baked apple pie coming from it...

"Are you coming?" Princess Twilight's voice startled me and caused me to turn towards her. "Ah, those are the rooms of my friends. They keep some of their things there for whenever they visit, you might meet them in Ponyville every now and then," She walked up to me as she spoke, her tail swishing at the mention of her friends.

"I'd be happy to meet them, Princess. I wonder how well they'd receive me however," I voiced my concern in a quieter tone and turned away from the doors.

Twilight once again took the lead. "Don't worry about it, I can introduce you to them all the next time they come over here,"

I heard a creaking sound behind us, subtle enough to be missed by most. I looked behind myself but saw nobody there, just the same doors that were now getting farther away. Something felt off though, I felt the sensation of someone staring at me and it wasn't the same as my fear of public... I stopped for a moment and noticed that the pink door was slightly ajar, but there couldn't possibly be anyone in there...the Princess would know about it after all... Must have been just some paranoia acting up, but I pulled my hood up just to put myself more at ease as I followed the pony in front of me.

She took us through a crossing of two hallways, each bearing the same gorgeous crystalline design that permeated through everything. Though now that it looked at it, it looked exactly the same as the intersection I saw upon entering the castle yesterday, but there I couldn't see those huge doors from before. The right hallway lead nowhere in particular, though I presumed it would lead me closer based on where the other two hallways seemed to lead. At the end of the hallway to the right I could see some machinery, tools perhaps. Judging by this it must have been some sort of workshop. I made a mental note to check it out at some point once I got my hands onto something worthwhile, like my equipment.

Currently more interesting was the hallway ahead of us, where Princess Twilight was leading us. I could already see the white tiles that reminded me so much of sterile hospital environments, full of medical apparatuses. I wondered what kind of equipment a pony civilisation like this could have and how much of it would only be available in a place like this. It was a royal castle after all, so I wouldn't expect a lot of things in there to appear in less funded places. I almost bumped into the Princess after she came to a sudden halt.

"Something's wrong?" I asked her cautiously and took a step back to restore the distance I had to her.

"You...well...will have to undress for this. I know you just put your clothes on, but it's important for some of the tests," She told me and turned to me.

"There's a room right here," she pointed to a small and simple door on my right, right before the entrance to the test room. "You can leave your clothes inside and then come to me to get started," She finished then pranced away, full of visible excitement that caused some shivers to go down my spine. I looked around one final time and sidestepped into the room she pointed me to.

Twilight Sparkle
Medical Laboratory

Ohhh yes, yes yes! I cannot believe he is being so cooperative! It is a nice change from the usually suspicious ponies of Ponyville who aren't always keen on being part of my experiments! Certainly, this is my one in a lifetime chance to make some breakthrough discoveries! Thank Celestia for deeming me worthy enough of taking care of her guest of honour, letting me have this opportunity! I just couldn't stop my excitement after he was out of sight, it made me all shaky and giddy like one of Pinkie Pie's sugar-coated cupcakes! I quickly trotted over to a chest in the corner of the room in which I had left my lab clothes and put them on as swiftly as I could. I took one look in the mirror and adjusted the goggles I had on my face, then smiled at my reflection.

With myself now wearing the necessary safety equipment, I could turn my attention to the far more exciting bits and pieces of this. I hopped onto a stool in front of a lab counter and teleported one of the trays before me. "What will I need...hmm...," I asked myself and took a look around the room. "A stethoscope and perhaps a blood pressure monitor to start off, I haven't gotten a chance to try it out yet so hopefully it will work. I'll certainly need a couple syringes, some disposable swabs and cups...," Whatever I listed out loud soon appeared on the tray as my magic rummaged through my equipment and teleported it. "Oooh! I wonder if he will let me use one of the scalpels on him! And maybe that new radiography spell I learned about in one of the books!" A set of scalpels and a green glowing crystal appeared on the tray.

"I'm ready, Princess...uh...Doctor? Do you want me to call you that or?" Rex's voice came from behind me, catching me off guard. I turned around and saw him standing in the entrance without his clothes on.

"You can just call me Twilight, no need for the title. You are an honoured guest after all," I told him with a big smile and hopped off the stool, using my wings to balance my landing.

"Almost everything is ready now," I teleported a clipboard with paper pages and a pen to myself, then sat down at a table by one of the room's walls. "Take a seat, Rex. Let's get these formalities out of the way and get to the interesting part," I noticed his expression become more uncertain, but he did sit down on the other side of the table. The size difference was...quite sizeable, with both the stool and the table being far too small to him. I'll need to write to Princess Celestia to ask if she has any spare furniture for him...

"First I'll need you to sign a waiver for me," I pulled the first few pages that were on my clipboard out and put them in front of him with a hoof. "I'm not exactly what you could call a...licensed doctor, but I can assure you that you are in good hooves. Princess Celestia just wants me to inform others what I might be getting them into when doing these things...and what better way is there than some good old written word!" I finished speaking with a big smile, but then realised that I may have told him just a little too much.

Rex picked the waiver papers up from the table, I could see his eyes scan over the words and his expression change whenever he read what are probably questionable things in his eyes. He looked up at me from the documents and raised an eyebrow.

"With all due respect, may I ask why things like "accidental body swapping", transformation, "unsealing ancient evils", liquefaction and silencing are listed here? I can hardly imagine all of these things being possible at all," He put the documents down and scratched the side of his head with that weird metal arm of his. "Liquefaction is the most plausible out of those I suppose..."

"Don't worry about it all, it's just in case I plan on conducting some magical experiments. Today everything will be mostly magic-free, mostly. There may be one thing I'll want to try, but I'll let you know in advance," I responded in an attempt to reassure Rex and convince him to sign, then floated my pen over to him.
"Eh...can't be worse than getting forcibly treated by a field surgeon. You keep telling him "I'll be fine, it's just a flesh wound," and he keeps trying to sew your leg back," Rex chuckled slightly as he told me what I hoped was just a joke, though judging by his demeanor I wouldn't be surprised if that was true. I just chuckled along and watched as he took the pen from me an signed the document, then turned it around and slid over to me.

"Here you go, Doctor Twilight. What's the next thing on the agenda?" Rex put his hands together on the table.

"We'll need some personal information about you. It's for me to know if there are any areas or issues I should focus on and to eventually get you some identification documents made. Naturally you may refuse to answer questions without providing a reason," I adjusted the goggles on my face and took the pen I gave to Rex in my right hoof.

"First and last name? I know you told me you are Object C-04, but how would you like it to be written down here?" I asked Rex and chewed on my pen, seeing him scratch his chin in the corner of my vision.

"Put Object C-04 as first name and Rex as second name if there's a spot for that, if not then last name, that would be the the best option here," Rex nodded a few times as he provided me with an answer, I complied and wrote his name down that way.

"Next up, date of birth? Age?" My eyes looked him over in an attempt to guess how old he could be, a hard task considering nothing like him has ever appeared here. I'd assume him to be in early to mid twenties judging by his voice alone, but this is hardly scientific.

"Uh, right. That's going to be a bit...harder to explain," Rex said and scratched the back of his neck with a hand. "What day is it today?"

I raised an eyebrow and teleported a mini-calendar onto the table. "It's 20th of June, 1012, why?"

Rex sighed and slumped over the table. "Yup, figured as much. Your time is vastly different from mine. According to your calendar I shouldn't exist for another four thousand years, but that's easily rectified,"

"By calculating your date of birth based on your age," I finished his thought as he stopped talking.

Rex nodded. "Precisely, so listen closely. I technically have two ages, biological and chronological. Biologically I'm stuck at roughly 24 years old, not a day younger or older. However, chronologically I'm 9, maybe 10 years old at best? Though if you factor in the age of the person the Empire based our genome off of...it'd put me at 45 years? It's...complicated as I said. For all intents and purposes I'm an adult though,"

I got the general gist of what he told me, but I still had a confusion carousel spinning in my head. Old yet young? I suppose it was kinda like with the Princesses, but they were older than they looked... "I'll write 24 years old down for you then, considering that's the closest to your "actual age". I have to ask though, with your age being vague at best, how old are you mentally? Did you go through any sort of school or growing up period?" With this question I could satisfy some of my curiosity and fill out the education section of this form.

"Uh, I'll ask you a question," Rex scratched the back of his head with his metal arm. "Do you ever have the feeling that your life began at a certain age? You don't remember the first few years of your life and only started "living"," Rex said using his fingers to put air quotes around the last word "when you turned 4 or 5 years old? It's kinda like that, I woke up in a clone vat looking nearly the same as I do right now with a lot of what I know preprogrammed into my head," I nodded along as he spoke, more or less being able to comprehend what he was getting at with his explanation.

"Yea, it's kinda like that. Except add someone pumping your brain full of things you never knew and probably shouldn't know until much later," He put his hands down on the table upon finishing.

I chewed my pen for a moment before responding. "How high would you rate yourself on the educational scale? I could then write some equivalent of that down, like a university degree,"

Rex tapped with his foot under the table before speaking up. "Honestly, I have no idea. I'm no scientist, you probably know a lot more about certain things than I do and more importantly understand the science behind it. I have plenty of general knowledge, I know enough to be able to mess with my augmentations, weapons and armour, but I wouldn't be able to build anything comparable to that. I'm no chemist, engineer or doctor, but I know a little bit of most things,"

"Military academy would probably fit you the best then, leaves enough room for interpretation and fits your description," I filled the education field in and moved to the occupation field. "Would you like me to put "soldier" down as your job?" Rex nodded in response and I obliged with that.

"We are almost done. I presume you have no family to speak of then? Being a clone and all that?" Could one consider the scientists working on him his parents? Would the person whose genome he was based off of be his mother or father? These potential questions excited me somewhat, as nearly all of us had or have parents one way or another. What kind of personal attachment does a person with none develop?

"The Imperial Bioengineering and Genetics Department, probably the closest thing I'd consider to my parents. The scientists there were nice, though I didn't get to stick around for long. Actually, just leave that field blank," Rex frowned a little near the end, but the frown went away as quickly as it came.

"Right-o, last question. Do you have any chronic illnesses? Do you take any medication on a regular basis?" I hoped he didn't, I'd rather not be risking the entirety of Ponyville by letting him out or compromising my research up until this point, though on the other hoof that'd be an interesting condition to study.

"None at all, I'm as healthy as I can be. Though I can't feel my lower arms." He lifted his lower right arm with his metal arm and dropped it on the table with a loud thud. It seemed lifeless and reactionless to say the least, I could see him try to move it but it didn't work. I wrote that down on a separate piece of paper and put my pen away. "My tail isn't in best shape too. Perhaps you could help me with that? I'd greatly appreciate it,"

"Of course, I'll be more than happy to take a look at that," I offered Rex a sincere smile, getting all giddy once again as I moved away from the table, excitement washed over me once more due to moving on. I teleported my tray full of medical equipment onto the table, then picked the stethoscope, some swabs and cups up with my magic as I approached my patient. "Could you open your mouth for a moment please?" I asked him and picked one of the swabs out.

"Aaaaaaah-" Rex opened his mouth wide and I promptly approached him while wielding a swab. Being closer to him allowed me to see that his teeth looked rather sharp, like freshly sharpened edges of a sword. They didn't look any different from average teeth at first glance, yet I'd expect these to belong to a scary monster. I carefully collected a saliva sample with the swab, repeating the process a few more times until I had half a dozen of usable samples in cups. More material for research is better after all.

Rex closed his mouth as I put the last swab away and adjusted his jaw with a hand.

"Sorry for that, I took too long didn't I?" I apologised for probably making his jaw stiff and uncomfortable.

"It's fine. Let's keep going, Doctor," He said with a small smile as his hand left his jaw.

With an additional boost of confidence from him I swiftly brought the blood pressure monitor to the table and strapped it around his functioning right upper arm. His metal frame made it difficult to fit it around his arm properly, but a little magic and some slight adjustments made it possible. "Do you know how this works?" I asked him while checking to see if I properly connected the monitor with the pump.

"Haven't had my pressure checked in a while, but I know how it goes. Can get rather uncomfortable if I recall correctly," Rex gently tapped the monitor with a metal finger, I felt that he may be judging how advanced this device was by his standards. I picked the button for turning the device on up and gently pressed it with a hoof. The pump whirred to life as the strap around Rex's arm was inflated. I watched the arrow of the manometer go up as more and more air was pumped in.

The arrow had already gone past what is considered a healthy value, showing that Rex was at least suffering from hypertension. I brought my notepad to myself along with my pen and wrote my observation down, however I could see that the pump wouldn't stop. The arrow kept going up, the band around Rex's arm became more and more inflated. I tried turning it off, but the button wouldn't work and Rex looked down at me with slight concern. I attempted to unplu-

BOOM

My ears were ringing as if Pinkie had just shot me out of her party cannon. My vision was blurry but I could tell that I was on down on the ground. I heard some faint voice over the ever present ringing, then felt someone picking me up which caused me to audibly groan.

"H-l-o? P-n-c-s? Are y- -ight?" I looked up and saw that it was Rex speaking to me and waving his hand in front of me. I couldn't quite hear him, so I just nodded along. He shook his head and set me down on some chair, on which I laid down and curled up.

"W-what happened?" I rubbed my forehead and got off the chair when I came back to my senses, suffering from a slight headache.

"The monitor exploded," He immediately responded and kneeled in front of me. "Seems that it got overloaded and malfunctioned, then the overinflated strap blew up and its pump followed suit.

I looked at the table where I set down the aforementioned pump and saw a mere pile of useless scrap. I looked down and frowned, feeling down after having failed at one of the simplest procedures. I even managed to put not only myself but also my patient in danger. I don't know what Celestia saw in me when she entrusted me with this task...when I can't even do this without messing things up.

Rex's fingers snapped in front of my snout and pulled me out of my thoughts. "Are you alright, Princess? Would you like me to bring you something?" I heard his tone turn protective and concerned, reminding me of some royal guards.

"I'm...sorry," I said quietly.

"For what? It's just a little accident and nobody got actually hurt. In fact, I'd be willing to continue this now or at some other point," He stated almost immediately after I apologised to him, returning some of my confidence to me. I cracked a small smile at Rex in return. He was right, it was just a little accident...but it involved someone who entrusted their safety to me. I couldn't stop now if I wanted to satisfy my thirst for knowledge, so I took a few deep breaths and came back to Rex.

Object C-04 "Rex"
Medical lab after accident

Twilight cast aside her now cracked goggles and shook the dust off herself like a cat or dog might have done. I felt her eyes stare at where the blood pressure monitor's strap was and I could feel that she was surprised that I had gotten out of this unscathed. Well, not completely. The spot on my arm closest to where the air exploded was a bit sore and the skin there was red.

"Let's just continue...I'll have to rework that machine," She looked towards the pile of scrap and made it all disappear in an instant by enveloping it in her magic and literally poofing it away. "You won't mind if I take a few more samples, will you? I'll need a blood and maybe a tissue sample if possible," She continued and took a syringe out of her assortment of tools.

I just nodded and stretched my left arm out for her on the table, squeezing my fist a few times to make the veins under my skin a bit more visible. She got more excited and aimed her syringe at a nice spot on my arm, then took a breath and pushed forward. Except she couldn't get through my skin, the needle did poke me but it didn't penetrate deep enough. Twilight seemed surprised, but I didn't react and calmly sat with my arm out. She tried it again with more force, but the needle just snapped and fell to the ground.

"For Celestia's sake....I'm sure those are new needles I got from the hospital," She looked at her broken syringe and put it away, then took a new one and touched the tip. "Ouch!" She yelped and sucked on her hoof for a moment after hurting herself. I couldn't help but get a little chuckle out of this.

"Allow me to help you, doc," I took the syringe out of her hoof and forcefully jammed it right into my arm immediately afterwards, pushing deep into my arm and veins. She looked at me with wide eyes as I filled the syringe with a generous helping of my vitae. I slowly pulled the needle out and placed it on her tray. I saw a piece of cloth in front of my face when I turned back to her, which I used to wipe away what little blood escaped my body. "Now for that tissue sample, would you like my help with that too?"

"Y-yes, of course! Thank you very much!" She hovered a small scalpel over to me. I repeated the process in a similar manner, but now putting a small square of my skin in one of her petri dishes.

"That should be enough, I'll put those away to be processed in my laboratory and I'll get back to you when I analyse the results..." She gently swirled the bloody content of the syringe and then the whole tray and everything on it disappeared. Everything except some sort of green, glowing crystal. "There is one last thing I'd like to try," Twilight turned towards the table and carefully picked the crystal up with her hooves. "This is a brand new spell I want to try out, it's supposed to be able to scan a whole pony and show their skeletal structure, along a few other things,"

Oh, she's just going to x-ray scan me. I guess they don't have those kinds of machines in here, so that might be the next best thing I'll be getting here to check what's wrong with my body. "Sounds really useful," I spoke and nodded as I looked down at the crystal, a part of me wondered if it was strong enough to actually do the job. "Now is the best time to try it out, no?"

She nodded and put it back where it was. "I'll need you to lay down for me though or it won't be able to get a clear imagine," She walked away from me and towards something that was covered with a white blanket. The blanket was pulled off, revealing a simple metal table or rather a bed if I were to lay down on it. I stood up without saying much and walked up to Twilight. "Just make yourself comfortable, close your eyes if you'd like to and I'll take care of the rest," She said with a big, confident grin and a sparkle in her eye.

I sat down then carefully laid down on its cold, hard surface. It was just a bit too small for me as I felt my feet dangle without anything underneath them. Too small like pretty much everything... it's going to be the one thing constantly reminding me that I don't belong in here, is it? I sighed in my thoughts then wiggled on the table to shift myself to the middle as much as I could to spread my arms out somewhat. In the meantime the Princess had pushed a stand on wheels in front of the table, one that I'd expect to be used for holding flasks with mysterious substances. She carefully adjusted the stand using both her hooves and magic, extending or retracting it, loosening or that tightening, all of that with a determined face. A few more adjustments later and she carefully set down the glowing crystal.

"Everything is ready," She said while breathing out and wiping her forehead. "Anything you want to say before I start?"

"I can tell you are really dedicated to all of this. Let's not delay," I cracked a small smile and closed my eyes. I heard a faint buzz which intensified over time. I could hear the source of that noise impact the crystal like someone flicking a wine glass loudly a few times then stopping. One of my fingers tapped against the table in anticipation. My eyelids let some of the newly created green light through them, then I felt something warm moving up my limbs, starting at my feet.

The warm feeling slowly moved up, permeating my flesh and penetrating my bones. The green glow grew stronger and harder for my eyelids to block as the warmth moved upwards. However, soon I realised that the heat didn't disappear from where I had already been presumably scanned. It kept building up, slowly yet surely what I felt went from somewhat pleasant to annoying. My finger tapped faster as my discomfort grew, the heat became less and less tolerable as the operation progressed, but I didn't say anything.

"Uh...Rex?" Twilight spoke up in a concerned tone.

"Hmmh?" I acknowledged her and shifted my hands.

"Are you...uhm...meant to be shedding skin?" She asked.

My eyes immediately shot wide open and I propped myself up with my elbows to look at what she was talking about. There I saw my legs and portions of their skin peeling off or straight up being burnt away, exposing the flesh underneath. Then the smell...no, the stench of burning blood filled my nostrils as the exposed flesh slowly burnt. This could mean one thing.

"Radiation sickness..." I muttered out and immediately laid back down, breathing deeply and attempting to remain calm as my body was microwaved from inside out. Radiation and pollution was something I was exposed to once upon a time, but this reaction is far more extreme than I have ever experienced. Even then it should have been blocked or absorbed by my tissue, but not here.

"Dear Celestia...I have to stop this right now!" I heard her trot closer towards the table.

I raised my synthetic arm with the intention of stopping her. "You can't stop halfway through, you gotta go through with this until the end," I spoke and gritted my teeth as the green rays coming from the crystal washed over my torso, turning the skin red just like it had burnt my legs, but worse. The holes grew slightly deeper as they appeared farther up and I felt my blood turn into flaming hot sauce. I now looked like a victim of acute radiation exposure, as if a reactor had blown up in my face.

"I-I...just hold on tight! It's almost done!" She encouraged me, though I could tell it pained her to watch me like this.

I grabbed the sides of the table and gritted my teeth in pain that overwhelmed my usual pain blocking measures. My hands and fingers bent the metal that they held onto and by now the green rays had washed over my hearts and lungs, knocking my breath out of me for a good seconds. The next few seconds passed way faster than I'd like to admit. The crystal's beams very swiftly washed over my head while my breath was still recovering. Next thing I felt was cold water being sprayed over me from a water hose that I spotted within the corners of my vision. Icy water that somehow extinguished the raging flames within my body.

I slowly sat up without saying a word. Head to toe I looked as if someone had just taken me out of the oven, with some skin still peeling off. These burns reminded me of the moment in the forest, when Bulwark and Aegis tried to heal me but much worse. I heard Twilight try to speak to me, but I didn't focus enough on what she was saying to understand. I just looked myself up and down. I wagered that these would last for at least the rest of the day and luckily they hadn't gone all the way through as I didn't feel any burns on the other side of my body.

What could have possibly caused all of this? Perhaps...perhaps she could figure it out for me? Something these ponies have is having an extreme reaction on me... It attacks indiscriminately, ignoring what I consist of...leaving longer lasting wounds. Regular burns, even radiation ones would be regenerating already, but these ones persist for longer and can actually make me feel acute pain.

"G-guuhh..." I felt nauseous and had to hold onto the side of the table to not fall over on my side. The pony princess slowly entered my field of vision, looking worried and shocked at the same time.

"Dear Celestia..." She uttered quietly, but I was able to pick it up with my ears nonetheless. Water dripped down from my body. Most of the droplets landed on the floor, but a few of them ended up finding their place on the princess' fur. Twilight raised her hoof and moved it side to side in front of my face, my eyes following it instinctively but my expression remaining blank otherwise.

A few minutes had passed, during which Twilight carefully looked over my wounds. She had brought some bandages alongside other medical supplies and was covering up the burns I had sustained. "Nnghh..." I groaned and rubbed the side of my head with my synthetic arm. Moving it felt like moving a limb suffering from a muscle cramp, but mechanical. Twilight stepped away from me upon seeing me move more. "Was...your experiment successful?"

"I...I don't know if I can call this a success-" She swallowed before continuing to speak. "I... obtained an image, but what happened to you-" I raised my other functioning arm to interrupt her.

"N-no, don't trouble yourself with that, Princess..." I cracked a small smile at her. "I knew of the risks..and..ngh..went through this anyway. Don't trouble yourself with...with the outcome, I'll be fine...ghh-"

"I-I looked over the image that the crystal produced..." She said an hovered a black transparent crystal panel with a figure more or less resembling me depicted in green on it. "You told me about your tail and arms...not being quite alright," I nodded to acknowledge as she spoke to me. "Your nervous system isn't connected to your lower arms, thus you aren't able to exercise any motor control over them. Based on the structure of your other biological arm, there are joints that aren't connected either which results in them being...floppy," She was getting very much into her explanation of my conditions while I tried following her to the best of my ability.

"Same can be said about your mechanical tail and those tiny wing-shaped appendages, though the wings have a few nerves connecting them," She pointed with one hoof roughly towards where those were on me. "Additionally, there are some...cracks underneath your skin? In fact, your entire body seems to have a subdermal layer of some solid material. These cracks show signs of healing, especially around areas where you were previously wounded,"

"That...does explain my current condition..." I sighed and straightened myself out on the table. "One more thing, doctor. What caused all of this?" I pointed to my burnt, bandage covered body. "I can hardly believe a procedure like this did all of this on its own..."

"I may have a theory..." She put the crystal plate away and sat down on her hindquarters. "Have you had magic used on you before?" Twilight asked and tilted her head

"Uhhm..yeah, I think. Healing magic was it? Felt similar to this, but not as severe," I told her as I recalled the aftermath of the forest encounter.

Twilight teleported an open book for herself and a pair of glasses onto her snout. "I'll explain something to you. Magic is something that every creature on this planet possesses, it is the one thing that we all have in common. It comes in different forms and every species uses it in different ways. Unicorns can use magic in its pure form, while for example Griffons have mastered the arts of enchantment and magical machinery. Even non-users have magic present in them," She closed the book and put it away. "You, however, are entirely devoid of it," Twilight exclaimed while pointing at me.

"Princess Celestia told me something similar..." I rubbed my chin as I listened. "About how it gave away that I'm not from here,"

"My theory is, your lack of magic is responsible for your severe reactions to it. You seem to be fine around magic, but as soon as its used on you its effects are negatively amplified. Healing spells may not heal as you have...experienced. I don't know how badly you'll react to other types of magic or if you'll ever adapt..."

"So you are trying to say that I should be careful..." I spoke up after she finished her sentence. Twilight nodded in response and stood up.

She took her lab coat off and near instantaneously cleaned up the equipment scattered around the room, having either floated or teleported them away. "You may go get dressed now, I'd like to take you outside to see a bit of Ponyville and its surroundings. Only if you feel well enough to do that, of course,"

"I'd be honoured to have you show me around, Princess," I nodded and slowly waddled out of the room, being mindful of the bandaged burns on my legs. Once outside I entered the small room that Twilight pointed me to previously, where I had left my clothes. I slowly pulled each element on one by one as to not agitate my injuries and made sure to cover up as much of myself as possible using my cloak. I'd rather not show myself to others.. especially not like this. I looked my bandaged body over one last time and stepped out.

"Are you ready? Are you sure you can go out like this?" She asked me in a concerned tone as she saw my covered up form.

"Yeah...just gotta be a bit more careful with myself right now," I shifted in my step a bit and pulled the hood of my cloak out. Twilight nodded and began to lead us out of the castle with me following closely behind her.

"I'll need to pick a few things up from one of my friends, so we will visit her first before I'll show you more of Ponyville. She's a bit shy like you, so you two should get along pretty well," She looked back at me and smiled, then turned into one of the hallways. Through some of the windows I could see that the sun had nearly reached noon, its rays reflecting off some of the crystalline structures and filling the halls with a soft glow. Not too long after we found ourselves in front of the huge doors that Aegis and I used to enter the castle yesterday. Twilight walked up to them, her magic enveloping their knobs and pulling the doors open.

They opened to reveal a town full of vibrant colours, with ponies big and small roaming the streets in far off in the distance. It was a lively picture, as even from here I could see many of them cherishing the day, prancing and dancing around. Twilight smiled and sighed happily, then stepped out of the castle. I followed behind her, but only got the feeling that I would never, ever be able to fit in here....

Chapter 14 - Nature Walk

Princess Celestia
Personal Office

I breathed a sigh of relief upon arriving at my office and finding that no petitioners were waiting outside nor inside. My usually cheerful demeanour was damaged after having to listen to not only the trio regarding the Changeling situation, but also to all kinds of nobles trying to appeal their issues to me after I arrived at my throne room. Before entering I told my guards to not accept anyone wanting to come in here, unless told otherwise. I wished for just a few moments of peace all to myself and I was going to make those moments just right.

I smiled as I found myself by the wood panelling of my office and lit the fire in my chimney with a spell while walking towards my desk. The sun shone right onto my desk, which together looked like it was beckoning me to take a seat on my comfortable chair. I slowly pulled the chair back and gently settled into it, closing my eyes and taking in the silence paired with the crackling of the burning wood. I put my hooves on the desk and rubbed its perfectly flat surface, which made for a satisfying sensation that helped me forget the roughness of the floors in military areas of the castle.

At the same time I opened a desk cabinet and pulled a classy gramophone out with the help of magic. I carefully placed it to the left, right beside me. It was a pretty piece that I acquired at a Crystal Fair a few years ago after spotting a quiet stand that was just barely out of sight. Though it was made out of wood, its crystalline surface shimmered gently in the glow of the flames. The horn had gorgeous engravings made out of liquid gemstones, which crystal ponies were excellent at working with. I levitated one of Octavia's older records and placed it upon the gramophone, then moved the stylus into position. Soon enough my office was filled with the soothing sound of violins and other string instruments.

There were only a few things left that I craved, the first of which was something sweet to give me a much needed energy boost for the rest of the day and to satisfy my sweet tooth as well. I knew that by now the cooks had prepared some cake in castle kitchen, as usual, so I opened a small portal to peek in there. I spotted a very enticing chocolate cake with vanilla sprinkles on it resting on a silver platter, just out of my reach on a kitchen counter. I licked my lips and held a knife with magic, manipulating it to cut a slice just for myself.

Shortly after I was able to pull the slice of chocolate goodness into my office. I also pulled a tray with a steaming tea kettle and some cups on it in, recognising the kettle as the one I always use. I carefully set my bounty down on my desk, smiling in satisfaction and praising the castle staff for being great as always. I poured myself a hot cup and held it up to my muzzle, taking in the scent. It was very sweet, very fruity with mango dominating over all other fruity smells. It must have been just brought in from Baltimare, I theorised. I gently put the cup up to my lips and sipped the hot liquid. "Ahhh...that hits the spot just right..."

My ear twitched as sounds of commotion reached me from outside the office. I remained seated at my desk and took a small bite out of the slice of cake, trusting my guards to take care of the situation.

CRASH-THUD
"SISTER!"

I jumped up at my desk and nearly spilled tea all over myself when the doors were kicked open and the voice of my sister bellowed out of the now open entrance.

"SISTEEEEEERRRRRRRR!" Luna stomped towards my desk, I put my tea away and made some room on the desk by levitating all the things on it away.

"Luna? Isn't it a bit late for you to still be up?" I put my hooves on the desk and asked her with a raised eyebrow.

"We would have been asleep had it not been for you not telling us of your doings," She spoke in a calmer, though still very agitated tone. I moved a chair for her to sit down on in front of me and waited for her to continue.

Upon closer inspection I saw that her usually immaculate dark mane and fur were in a state of disarray, oftentimes a sign of my dear sister having a rough night of guarding the dreams of ponies, but she didn't look tired so it couldn't be that. She breathed heavily, the exhaled air moving the papers on my desk by just a little every time.

"Tia, how many times have we asked you to consult things like this with us?" She crossed her hooves and looked at me disapprovingly. I did promise her to get her more involved with the daytime happenings of Equestria after all... "Before you ask, no, we didn't have to deal with any nightmares this time around. It was a very uneventful night up until we went to check in on Ponyville,"

Oh, Ponyville. Now I had an idea of what my dear sister could have found there. I kept facing her, but looked away and rubbed my hooves in shame at not having told her about our brand new arrival. She took a breath before continuing again.

"We felt the presence of a new individual in there, but by now it is nothing new. Ponyville gets plenty of attention from tourists and magical creatures after all. However, this was different. We saw them enter Twilight's castle, accompanied and led by one of the guards. We tried checking their dreams when they went to sleep, like with any other pony, but found ourselves unable to even get inside their dream realm. A short investigation upon finishing our duty revealed to us that you had let a strange creature roam free in Equestria!" She planted her hooves on the desk and breathed deeper for a moment.

"Ah...Lulu, I was going to tell you about that-" She interrupted me by teleporting a stack of documents onto my desk. I recognised some of them as being part of the changeling camp investigation. That certainly wasn't going to help me convince my sister that Rex wasn't...bad.

"And these documents we received from Investigators haven't made this...Rex...look much better in our eyes. If that's what they can do to a group of armed soldiers, then by stars above, who knows what they'll do to Ponyville? Have you even considered that?" Luna spoke in rapid succession while flipping through pages of the various reports regarding that incident.* "Not to mention the potential backlash from Chrysalis,"

"Sister, please calm down and have a cup of tea," I told her in hopes of getting a few words in and hovered an empty cup over to her, then filled it from the kettle. "I have personally spoken with Rex, I can assure you that Rex means no harm to any one of us. He's just very, very far away from home," I looked to the side, as if wanting to look out of a window and into the distance. "I put him under Twilight's care for a reason. If anypony is going to help him integrate, then it's her and her friends,"

Luna sipped from her cup before speaking up once more. "You put a lot of trust into Twilight, entrusting her with...that. We do hope that whatever you see in them is true, that it won't come back to bite us in our flanks. However, it wouldn't be the first time you were wrong either, therefore we will keep an eye on him still," She set the cup down and stood up. "I cannot place as much trust in them as you did until I see them for myself,"

I got up from my chair and approached Luna, hugging her after getting close enough. She shook her head and cracked a small smile. "Tia, you always manage to disarm us like this..." She sighed and returned the gesture, wrapping her legs around me. "We are just concerned about them doing something bad. Equestria had enough villains in its history already, we don't need another one...especially one like them...,"

Object C-04 "Rex"
Ponyville Proper

A short walk along a quaint path took us deep into Ponyville and its chaotic, scattered, inefficient, yet eye-catching architecture. Unlike during the night, I was able to make out a few buildings more distinct than the others, which felt really unlikely given how unique and colourful the pony residences already were. I figured those must be the town's stores and other businesses, judging by their big front windows and signs. These buildings were far more interconnected too, but there was still a distinct lack of any kind of proper street or road for vehicles that went through the place, save for the one leading into the town. Now that I thought about it, I don't see any vehicles here at all...

"Enjoying the sights?" Twilight asked, taking me out of my train of thought. I looked towards her and saw that she was looking back at me.

"I can't say that I'm not. Not exactly what I'm used to, but this place does feel like out of a colouring book," I responded and slowly motioned with a hand around myself.

"What are you used to then?" She slowed down her trot and walked beside me, though she still led me.

I carefully rubbed my chin with my mechanical arm and thought for a moment, recalling the various locations I visited or was stationed at over the years of active duty. Ponyville reminded me of the small settlements we had to defend from raider attacks, although Ponyville seems to be much bigger than I give it credit for. "I have to say, it'd be an Imperial Fortress in the Arctic that I was stationed at before...ending up here. It's where I could be with others just like me without...all the busyness of a city," I looked around once again, noticing more ponies out and about. I felt some sweat drip down my forehead, so I adjusted my clothes to calm my nerves and to reduce friction on the bandages.

"Your people have colonised a frozen wasteland? That's impressive, I didn't think anyone other than the polar bears would be capable of living in such extreme conditions. Although I presume your technology makes it rather simple," She looked at me with a curious expression as she spoke, a hint of a glimmer in her eyes.

"Air conditioning, extensive heating and very efficient power generation made maintaining a base there possible, but it's definitely not just a set and forget affair. We have to regularly go on supply runs to receive what we need to survive for the following weeks. I crashed in that massive forest crossed with a jungle during one of those..." I sighed and looked down. "But yea, it was nice being there with fellow clones....and I do miss it now that I'm thinking about it..." I shook my head to try and push those feelings away.

"Ehh...the other place I can think of that I got used to would be the Imperial Capital, also called the Wenkwort Metropolis," I continued speaking to not derail the conversation too much and because I saw the Princess feeling slightly guilty over herself.

"Wenkwort Metropolis? Sounds like quite a big city, is it as populous as Canterlot?" Twilight interceded when I finished my sentence. "Does your leader have a castle like the Princesses here do?"

I cracked a smile as I recalled the sights of Wenkwort in my head. I stopped in my tracks and closed my eyes, taking a deep breath before speaking once more. "Imagine being a wayward traveller from faraway lands, having crossed the world far and wide, having seen everything that it had to offer, having interacted with all kinds of people across all walks of life. Even all this wouldn't prepare you for the wonder that the Imperial Capital is," I felt a sense of pride grow within me as I spoke, a familiar flame of belonging being lit inside me.

"Setting foot within the metropolis will have you greeted with streets wider than imaginable, bustling with life at all times of the day with more people than one could get to know in a single lifetime. Stores, galleries and various other businesses lined up within walking distance of each other, with products and services that one couldn't imagine in their wildest fantasies. No matter where you went, you'd never be too far away from anything you could possibly need in life," I spoke enthusiastically and probably sounding like I was massively exaggerating. Personally I never spent much time on the ground there, being averse to all kinds of public attention...

"Woah....I find it really hard to believe that anyone could achieve such things, but given that you are living proof for how much is possible..." Twilight looked for a moment like I had shattered her perception of the future, but I could feel the stars in her eyes. Perhaps she'd have a new vision to strive towards in the far future...? I...had no idea how long these ponies lived for after all...

"That's not everything, the top levels have plenty to offer too. Tall spires stretch as far as the eye can see and far beyond the horizon, their balconies dotted with gorgeous gardens and their roofs having anything anyone could need to relax on a nice day outside. It was the complete opposite of the city life below, resembling far more a calm day in a small town neighborhood," I had gone on walks across the spires before and while there were still many people there, I was far more comfortable right there," "Lastly, the Imperial Palace. I genuinely cannot tell you much about it, as I haven't seen the inside of it for myself in a long while, but it is the tallest and biggest building in the whole Metropolis. A symbol of power and prestige of our Imperial Dynasty," I felt obliged to put a hand on my chest upon mentioning it, despite feeling slight pain when doing so. "It looks somewhat like a pyramid, but flattened halfway through and with a massive complex on top of it," I finished speaking and opened my eyes, the image of Wenkwort fading back into memory once more.

Twilight didn't respond for a good few minutes after my monologue, she just stared into the distance. I carefully tapped her head with my right hand pointing finger, which made her jump up. "Eek!- S-sorry I must have...uhm...dozed off for a moment there. If all what you telling is true, then it's no wonder that you also came to be," She said and looked me over. "I suppose you consider us inferior as a result, we probably won't get anywhere close to any of that in anytime soon..." She spoke in a hushed tone and resumed walking.

"Well, that's the thing about the world I'm from. There are as many tribes as there are actual settlements and Wenkwort is one of a kind. More often you'll see conventional cities, just flashier. Besides, you have to do everything with hooves, I can't even begin to grasp how it works and how you make anything work with that," I spoke and pointed towards her hooves with my hand, which somehow fulfil the function of both hands and feet. "Besides, we all have to start somewhere," I smiled softly towards her as I spoke and followed her, then looked back ahead of myself. I haven't even noticed that we had passed most of Ponyville already and were nearing a path leading into a forest. I'm just glad that we didn't encounter any crowds...

The forest that we strolled into was a lot less overwhelming and all-consuming than what the ponies call the Everfree, I could look in any direction and it wouldn't just be a wall of green.. It was reminiscent of the mixed tree woods back home. I gazed around myself and took in the sights as I followed the Princess. Tree crowns were swaying freely in the cool wind, with leaves swirling through the air as they occasionally fell from the branches. Though the chill breeze felt somewhat prickly to my skin. I pulled my hood down, not feeling the need to hide anymore, took in the sounds of tiny critters making melodic noise and enjoyed the chirping and fluttering of birds. Moments like these were when I was really glad to have very sensitive ears.

"It's very calming out here, isn't it?" Twilight asked out loud. "Do you enjoy nature a lot?"

I pulled myself out of the immersion and looked down towards her. "I tend to appreciate places like forests, where there aren't many others. However, I never had much of a green thumb or great relationship with animals," I responded to her and put my working hands together behind my back. "This friend of yours, is there anything I should know?" I figured I should ask her in case there's something I ought to avoid doing...

Twilight stopped walking and tapped her chin with a front hoof, which somehow wasn't dirty at all from walking on dirt. "Hmm, there are a few things. Living all the way out here, she has gotten very good at gardening, you'll see for yourself when we get there. That means, be mindful where you step," She said the last bit in a slightly authoritative tone. "However she's best known for her love for animals," Twilight put her hoof back down and resumed walking.

"Oh? Is she a veterinarian? Would make sense with Ponyville being so close to wilderness," I exclaimed while glancing around, using the woods we were in to make a point.

The Princess shook her head. "Close, but not exactly. Think of her more as a caretaker or forest ranger. She keeps watch over the animals here and helps them if they are in need, approaching each and every one of them with kindness. Having her own gardens helps a lot with that, giving her a lot of space to work with,"

I nodded and felt impressed by Twilight's description of her friend. It was by all means a very noble deed, dedicating oneself to such extent to help little critters in need. This information did alleviate some of my hidden concerns regarding her potential reaction to getting to know me, but it also made me think if she'd see me as one of the animals. I didn't look like one of the local residents after all and...well, humans are animals after all, just smarter.

We continued along the path, slowly approaching a forest clearing off in the distance. "She must be a great friend to have, going by the way you speak of her," I said after a short moment of silence.

"You guessed correctly, but you haven't met all of my friends yet. We make a great group when together," She giggled upon finishing the sentence and sped up.

Few minutes had passed and we finally reached the forest clearing. It was a refreshing sight, seeing the sun shine through the opening in the thicket onto the green, juicy looking grass below. Ahead of us stood a very, very big house. Focusing my vision on the huge building ahead, I saw that its walls and roof were covered by a generous layer of bushy leaves, branches and vines. It looked chaotic at first glance, but I could see that they were all trimmed pretty evenly and made a nice round shape on the roof like a big, grassy mound. There were windows, and in some spots even bird houses, of various shapes and sizes sticking out of the green depths, some of them having roofs that were covered in dark green moss. This building in its entirety reminded me in a way of a hermit dwelling, as it was a decent trek away from Ponyville and to an unsuspecting eye could blend into the forest environment...were it not for the path leading to it and everything else surrounding it.

We stepped out of the forest thicket and into the clearing itself. My eyes adjusted to the rays of sunlight washing over us as we traversed the packed dirt road further. The closer we got to the house the more colourful our surroundings became. Grass gave way to a vast variety of colourful flowers, both tall and short. Their enthralling scents filled my nostrils, further enhanced by my modifications, and gave off the feeling of peace and calm. Bees buzzed around, gathering pollen from blooming specimens before disappearing in the distance.

The two of us approached an earthen bridge that allowed passage over a small river that cut through the vast greenery, coming down from one end of the forest and flowing towards the other. I stopped right before it and watched as Twilight crossed, though she stopped halfway through when she noticed I wasn't following her.

"Are you coming?" She asked.

"Is this bridge...safe? It doesn't look particularly sturdy on the outside..." I carefully tapped it with my foot. I was mostly concerned about it being able to withstand the combined weight of my body and its augmentations. I wasn't afraid of falling should it break, I just didn't want to accidentally ruin a nice bridge. I looked at it from the side and saw that it was overgrown with vines and had many roots sticking out of it. The river wasn't that big to be honest, I could probably jump over it easily now that I think about it...

"It will be fine, my friends and I crossed it many times together," She said with a reassuring smile and stepped onto the other side. "See? I made it through no problem!"

I shrugged and told myself that I was being needlessly worrisome, then walked onto the bridge. I looked over the sides of it and down at the clear river water. I could see the bottom of it really well and it looked as if it was really refreshing, should one decide to have a drink from it. There were some rocks at the bottom, though nothing out of the ordinary. I felt the earth shift beneath me slightly as I crossed the bridge, so I made sure to get off it as soon as possible and onto the other side. "Well, it seems you were correct, Princess," I said to her, to which she chuckled and walked off towards the cottage.

We passed by a variety of garden plots set up along the path, with many smaller paths branching off towards plots farther away. With a quick glance I saw that they were filled with all kinds of vegetables like carrots, cucumbers, cabbages, potatoes and more. As we got closer to the building the vegetables were replaced with berry bushes, tomatoes and even fruit trees. It was a bountiful sight to behold, though I imagined that it was quite a hassle to tend to all of this. I barely noticed we were already at the door when I turned my attention back to Twilight.

"Be so kind and wait out here for a bit, I'll tell you when to come in," The purple pony looked up at me and spoke with a smile. I nodded to her without saying a word and watched as she entered the house, leaving me all alone out here. Without anything better to do, I sat down on a bench that happened to stand beside the door. Occasionally I looked over the burns from Twilight's experiment, just to check if the regeneration process had already started.

I didn't hear any sound coming from the inside of the huge cottage since I sat down. Not even the slightest creak of floor boards or a hint of a conversation. Perhaps the walls were thick enough to dampen the sounds enough or they were really quiet... I looked up at the sky and watched as the clouds ever so slowly moved from one end of my vision to the other. Everything was as calm as it could be.

Rustle rustle

Out of a sudden my attention was drawn to a bush that stood on the border between the thicket and the clearing. It was quite a big bush, big enough for critters or even small animals to comfortably hide within. It rustled again, dropping some leaves on the grassy ground as it shook. I stood up from the bench and turned towards it. Upon focusing my eyes on it for a moment, I could see a silhouette behind it...a very big silhouette. Then two small yellow eyes appeared and it felt as if they were staring back at me. Then a paw emerged from the shadows, a big bear paw...

Its hulking figure came out into the open where I could clearly see it and be surprised by its sheer size. It was by far bigger than any bear I have seen in my life up until this point and would definitely tower over me should it stand up. I wouldn't be surprised if it weighed well over a ton in its current state. I sat still, hoping that the bear wouldn't pay much attention to me and just went away after taking whatever it was that it wanted. Fighting bandits or those bugs was one thing, but a massive predator is something else, especially when I'm covered in burns and far from prime condition. Not to mention that Twilight's friend probably wouldn't enjoy me beating up animals here...

It didn't work. It did NOT work at all. Maybe somehow it could smell my burnt flesh or something, but the beast stared me down and crossed over the river without as much as a second thought. It was on a clear approach to me and by its stance I got the idea that it wouldn't be a pleasant meeting. I could try scaring it off and if that fails...well I'll do what I have to do to keep myself and the ponies inside safe. I stood up from the bench and raised my arms to make myself appear as big as possible, then screamed at it. "RAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHHH!"

"RAAAAAAWWWRRRRRR!" That fucker just stood up stood up and bellowed back at me around twice as loudly. That son of a bitch had shown no signs of backing off and neither did I. I took my cloak and shirt off, as I didn't want my precious apparel to be potentially shredded into nothingness. This left me bare-chested and with bandages exposed to the wind. I stared back at the bear once more as it stood up in a show of supremacy. I stretched out and heard a few bones pop back into their proper spots after I had spent a while on the bench.

The servomotors in my exoskeleton whirred as I dashed towards my beastly opponent. My lower arms flopped behind me as they were no longer held in place by my clothes. I felt pain as the bandages rubbed against my burnt flesh, making it harder to concentrate. The bear got back down on its four legs and began its own charge towards me, roaring and leaving clouds of dust in its wake. I aimed to strike first and try to knock it out with a firm uppercut blow with my synthetic arm to its jaw, ideally bringing this to a swift conclusion.

Mere seconds later we were already at a few arms' lengths before each other and ready to strike. The bear raised its massive right claw while roaring more, just before I cocked my synthetic arm to execute a strike of my own. I assumed a low stance right just in time to avoid my head being clawed to shreds as I made the last few steps, then used the momentum to uppercut it in its jaw. I managed to hit it right where I wanted to. The force of my punch had pushed the bear up onto its hindlegs and made it stumble back, but it wasn't going down like I hoped to. I fell onto my right knee afterwards, as a sudden surge of pain spread throughout my limb after moving it, just like in Twilight's med lab. This...nhgh...crystal thing really fucked me up..agh.

I tried to get up and stand up straight, but I looked up just in time to see another claw descending upon me. I raised my left arm and used my exoskeleton frame to parry the powerful blow. The force of the impact I had just stopped caused me to drop onto both of my knees, but then I saw my opening. I kept my arm up for a bit longer to push the bear's arm away from me before dodge rolling to the right. My opponent got down on its fours while I used the momentum from the roll to get back up in a near instant. My plan had failed and now I saw that it would take more to beat this bastard up, thought now I felt my adrenaline rising as the fight properly began.

I raised my arms and assumed a fighting stance, keeping my eyes on the bear while slowly circling around it. Both of us were waiting for an opportunity to swipe at one another, some opening that could spiral into an exchange of blows. I stepped onto a pile of loose dirt and got an idea. If I couldn't find an opening, I would make one myself. I grinned and kicked the dirt alongside a few rocks into the beast's eyes. The bear groaned and tried to wipe it off with one of its paws, leaving me free to strike. I ran up towards it and executed a spinning roundhouse kick straight to the side of its face. It flinched to the side when the first blow landed, but I swiftly followed it up with my second leg, then a heel strike from above to it's dome when I was facing it again.

This sudden burst of movement and exertion from me put me in a state of severe pain however, as my magically burnt tissue reminded me of its presence once more. The pain was slightly dampened by now thanks to rising adrenaline, but it still stung like hell. This proved enough of a distraction for me that it left me open to a counterattack from the bear. I saw its brown mass barreling towards me in the corner of my vision before feeling the impact right to my stomach. Air was knocked out of me as I fell down onto my back mere seconds later.

I saw its maw wide open trying to chomp right into my stomach, right where all the juicy, squishy and chewy intestines are...behind a layer of damaged subdermal armour. I had enough time to react to raise my left arm and jam it into its bite before it could bite into me like a steak at a buffet. "Nghhh, you tenacious motherfucker..," I said as I held back the jaws full of teeth away from myself and then dished out punch after punch into its face with my right arm. The metal of my cybernetic arm was enough to keep it busy, akin to giving a dog a chew toy. Every punch I dealt made the bear's grip on my arm weaker. At this point the pain I felt was being drowned out as the fight raged on, and I redoubled my efforts as a result. I felt confident enough to attempt to break out of this situation.

I had to somehow break out of this position on the ground, as the bear's mass didn't make it any easier to fight. I waited for an opportune moment, watching as it chewed my arm and kept on growling. Its slobber was covering a good portion of my torso at this point. I saw my chance arrive after one of my blows, which made my opponent try and adjust their toothy grip on my metal limb. As soon as its teeth were lifted ever so slightly and its jaw was loosened, I adjusted my legs in such a way to try and push the bear off myself and perhaps onto its two legs.

"Here goes nothing," I thought to myself and pulled my synthetic arm free from its maw. The weight of the bear descended even harder onto me and brought it close enough for me to just about feel its hot breath on my skin, but this only made my legs more and more compressed, and ready to apply their accumulated force. It took a slight faltering in the bear's push for me to let my legs spring out like a tense coil. "Grraaaahhhh!" I screamed as I put more of my own strength into the push, which soon enough brought results. The beast stumbled backwards after I got it off me and I used the momentum from my legs going back down to jump up and straighten myself out like a recoiling spring.

The tides threatened to turn once more against me when the bear attempted to pounce on me, but this time I didn't let it take me down to the ground. I braced myself and stood my ground, grabbing it by its paws and pushing its mass and force. My servomotors whirred and whizzed as they put out everything they could in my current state, which was just enough to for me to not get crumpled like an empty can of soda. I stared it down in the eyes, sweat flowing down my forehead, my bandages and burnt skin covered in dirt. Straight up killing this animal would have been easier, but killing it wouldn't make much of a good impression on Twilight's friend. Besides...this in of itself made for some decent combat practice.

This stalemate couldn't last forever and I was going to bring this to a decisive end. I stepped closer to the bear, once more getting within the range of breathing down on each other. The height difference was much more apparent like this, but with it looking down at me I could do something really, really risky... I jumped up from the ground, using the beast's paws to lift myself up higher while jumping, then bashed it in the face with the full might of my forehead. That caused it to recoil, so I jumped again and again, each time headbutting it and causing it to become more disoriented. It let go of my hands during one of my leaps, then slashed at my stomach. The claws ripped through my bandages and cut into my skin, spilling blood onto the ground. I groaned in pain, but didn't stop. I avoided another swipe, which was aimed at my head, then struck it with a low blow just below where I assumed its ribcage was.

That made the beast recoil enough to give me more room, so I punched it again and again, left hook, right hook, to the stomach, to the face. I admit, this bear was as tough as a damn solid boulder, but it couldn't stop me once I really got going. Every attack drove it further and further back towards the forest, every attack made it retaliate with blind attacks and in the heat of the moment, I went in for the finishing blow. I ducked under its swiping claws and wrapped my arms around its waist, planting my legs firmly on the ground in the process. In this moment I felt my adrenaline spike, in this moment I felt just like before all this, in this moment I lifted my foe off the ground accompanied by the sound of growls and spinning servos. I gritted my teeth and maintained my grasp all the way through until I suplexed it over my head, which made the ground shake upon impact.

I slowly stood up from the ground, a cloud of dust all around us. I instinctively readied myself for the bear to counterattack...but that never attack never came. As the dust settled, I felt the warm trickle of blood over my bandages, I felt the pain of my burnt skin return from the exertion of this battle. I slowly stepped towards my defeated foe in a near mechanical manner. It was still alive, still breathing, but clearly I beat its fighting spirit out of it. I placed a foot on its chest, which made it groan and drew its attention to me once more. I looked it on the eyes and saw an expression of resignation. I grinned to myself, drinking in the satisfaction and further asserted myself over it by pressing down with my foot. I took my foot off its chest and aimed at its head...

Then I felt a moment of clarity and saw what I was about to do. "No..." I said quietly to myself and set my foot down on the ground, then stepped back from the defeated beast before falling onto my knees. I shook my head to take myself out of my adrenaline-induced state, I took deep breaths to calm myself down and to clear my thoughts. I had taken it down...that was enough... I couldn't let my instincts overtake me and make me do something I would very much regret down the line....something that would very likely ruin Twilight's and her friend's impressions of me... I wasn't a mere killing machine after all...

"Dear Celestia, what happened here?!" A female voice called out from the direction of the hut, a voice different than that of Twilight...

Prologue

16th of June, Year 5563, Northern Imperial Fortress Abakon.

"Ring, ring, ring," went the alarm clock beside my bed that woke me up every single day and forced out of bed, so that I may silence it before going through my daily morning routine. It was just barely out of the reach of my hand, just enough to make me get up and prevent sleeping in; as much as it annoyed me, it was me who put it there on the nightstand for that exact reason. I stretched out my arms and legs and listened to the ever so satisfying sounds of bones popping back into place as I straightened myself out. I yawned and set off in the direction of my bathroom.

The autodoor swung wide open as I approached it, and I was immediately confronted by the tall mirror hanging on the wall right in front of me, compelling me to approach. My hand moved down its surface and I took in the feeling of its smooth and cold surface which reflected my visage as I gazed into it. I took a step away and looked at my whole reflection, sinking deep into thought as my eyes wandered up and down my exposed body. Sleeping in clothes was never comfortable for me and I tended to avoid it unless absolutely necessary like during deployments, when dressing and undressing wasted time.
The first thing that would catch a regular person's eye was the fact that I possessed, not two, but four arms, one of which was clearly cybernetic, namely the left upper arm. They weren't particularly muscular or out of proportion, the non-cybernetic arms fused seamlessly with the rest of my body as if they were always there and they certainly felt like it, though they were much stronger and tougher than regular arms, being able to effortlessly lift hundreds of kilograms of weight or throw people around like flesh puppets.

The cybernetic arm itself was as much, if not more capable than my other appendages. It was mostly there for utility reasons as it contained dozens of tools and devices, which one may find useful. Things like laser cutters, power drills, miniature scanners, geolocators and more, all of which was possible thanks to tiny nanobots which flowed through my veins alongside my blood, though it was impossible for me to turn my fingers into kinetic blasters or my palm into a plasma thrower, no matter how awesome it would be.

Contrary to what one may think, I didn't have four legs, instead I had two genetically enhanced legs which were far more capable when compared to regular limbs. Those two wonders of science could outrun even the fastest predator this world had to offer, even allowing me to race against some of the Imperial vehicles without as much as a single drop of sweat. The downside is that they took me a long time to get used to them and many painful visits to Mother Earth, even now it was hard for me to maintain balance when running at neck-breaking speeds.

I chuckled to myself as some of the memories of my less than fortunate attempts at running played back in my mind. In the corner of my eye I noticed my tail moving about, likely a result of my spontaneous laughter. I turned around, my back now facing the tall mirror which confronted me a couple minutes ago. My eyes wandered down to my rear and looked at where the tailbone in the human body was located. Normally humans don't have anything there, but the bright minds at the Department of Combat Augmentations of the Imperial Research and Development Bureau have decided to that it'd be a great idea if they installed a tail there, which they did. The metallic contraption attached to my body sometimes felt like it had a mind of it's own, though it was probably just my brain that spontaneously sent signals to it. Should be logical considering that I was able to control it quite easily once I focused a little bit on it.

The main reason for the tail being a thing in the first place was to help me balance myself and to have another limb to do day-to-day tasks with. Yet that wasn't enough, there was a medium-sized circular hole at the end of the tail, which contained a stinger that could puncture through flesh, bone and metal alike. Truly a marvel of science and engineering. Its structure resembled that of a feline tail due to their flexibility.
The same couldn't be told about the two small sets of white feathered wings implanted into my back. They were the result of an ambitious project to allow humans to fly, but the wings were made too small and weak for that to be possible. These ones were the fourth attempt at making them usable, which succeeded to a degree. They were still too small to allow people to take off, but now they were able to grow to eventually make it possible, albeit the process was quite slow.

I turned my attention away from the mirror and to the sink that was to my left. A small cabinet was located above it containing various hygiene products. I grabbed a tube of minty toothpaste and a toothbrush onto which I put the aforementioned toothpaste. I knew that I was running low on toothpaste and that there wasn't any left in the fortress supply depot, so I did my best to use as little as possible while brushing teeth so that I wouldn't run out of it before the next supply run.

I checked my teeth after I was done brushing them and left the bathroom, the autodoor opened as I approached it and then closed after I stepped through it. I made my way over to the wardrobe on the other end of my room and opened it, there weren't many apparel choices available to me as all the clothes had to be custom-made due to my very unique build.

My unique build also included a highly advanced exoskeleton seamlessly fused with my body, working to further enhance my already impressive capabilities. It was a relatively new addition, but it has by far exceeded the expectations of all engineers who worked on designing it. It made me even faster, even stronger than before and increased the amount of mechanites inside me, allowing for passive self-repair and regeneration. I grabbed then put on a plain white t-shirt and black trousers and left my bedroom once I was ready to go and do my duties for today.

I stepped out of my bedroom and into the hallway which stretched out as far as the eye could see, both left and right corridors were equally long for one reason or another. I turned right and began walking towards the next objective on my daily routine list, the cafeteria. The hallway itself was painted exclusively white including the floor tiles, additionally it was almost completely empty save for some potted plants on pedestals. These seemed to be the only things that weren't white in here. I walked past many doors, most of them locked and leading to empty bedrooms that were built for future personnel.

After minutes of mind-numbing walking I finally arrive at a set of closed double doors, above them was a sign labeled "Cafeteria". I put the palm of my cybernetic arm on a scanner by the door and seconds later a robotic voice came out of the scanner speaker. "Biometric signature recognised, access granted." I removed my cybernetic palm from the scanner and watched the doors to the cafeteria opening.

I stepped into the cafeteria. "Hey everyone," I said out of habit upon entering and to my surprise none of my compatriots were to be found inside. At this time of day they usually sat at one of the tables, talking about whatever came to their minds at any given moment. My tail twitched slightly as I walked further into the cafeteria. "I guess I will have to eat alone today," I said to myself after looking around the cafeteria again then opted to get something to eat.

A single nutrient bar dispenser stood by one of the cafeteria walls right next to a tray holder, which was next to a tray cleaner. Forks and knives were provided too of course. We rarely got any fresh food or actual meals here and most of the time have to eat these nutrient bars, anything else has to be requested at least two weeks before a supply run. This month's bar flavour choices were rather good compared to other months, we got the plain bars which tasted like generic bread at best and hardtack at worst and the unique flavours for this month are strawberry and beef, separate of course. I pressed the button for a beef flavoured bar...and got nothing.

"Out of stock!" A voice from the dispenser speaker said, making me groan because I wouldn't get my artificial meat flavour. "Strawberry isn't a terrible choice either I guess..." I thought when I pressed the middle button on the dispenser and hoped to see a red bar appear...to no avail. "Out of stock!" The dispenser voice said again, to me it felt almost like it was mocking me. Resigned, I pressed the button for a plain nutrient bar and finally got something that I could eat. I took a tray and put the bar on it alongside a knife and a fork then sat down at one of the cafeteria tables.

Several minutes and one rather unremarkable meal later I got up from the table I sat at and disposed of the tray and tupperware. Deciding that it was time for me to get on with my duties I approached a holographic display conveniently placed in the back of the cafeteria labeled "Imperial Orders". I traced my finger down the short list of fortress personnel, there were four of us here in total and we were all equally modified. My finger arrived at the bottom of the list and read the orders out loud to myself. "Object C-04 Codename "Rex", Order: Deliver monthly supplies from the capital to the fortress," being referred to as an "object" by the headquarters was nothing new, but it stung nonetheless.

I left the cafeteria through a different door and stepped into what one could call the exact same hallway I was in before, though this one would lead me to the residential complex exit. I began walking forward and turned right midway through my journey, a couple minutes later I arrived at a heavy steel door clearly labeled "Exit". My cybernetic palm touched the scanner by the door which unlocked and opened it for me. I went through the first door and into what I could simply describe as an airlock, the door behind me closed and I could feel the fresh arctic air pouring into the airlock as the second door opened.

I stepped out of the airlock and into the frozen snow-covered wasteland outside, I felt the fresh layer of snow underneath my bare feet and took a deep breath to take in the feeling of cold breeze gently blowing in my face. The cold, despite being several degrees under 0°C, wasn't an issue to me nor my body in the slightest. I set my sights on a different building a short walk away, a building where I could retrieve my equipment before moving on to do my job.

Once again I encountered a heavy door, this time leading into a different building. There was a sign built into the wall by the door labeled "Armoury" and a button right under the sign. I pressed it and the door opened in an instant, revealing a contraption similar to the airlock I went through to leave the residential complex though this one contained a full body scanner. I stepped inside and the door behind me closed with a heavy thud, followed by a robotic voice coming out of a speaker. "Biometric body scan required, please stand on designated spot." A circle on the floor lit up right under me as I already stood in that exact same spot and soon after an array of sensors and other equipment thoroughly scanned my body. "Access granted," the circular light went dark and I went through the now opened doors and into the armoury.

Far off in the distance, crates upon crates of equipment could be stacked on top of each other, all of them were out of synthetic materials and labeled with bold red letters. Closer to me were countless shelves full of armaments from big to small, from simple to complex, an old-school revolver right next to a state of the art plasma handcannon and so on. But none of these were things that I wanted or needed. I walked past the shelves and past the stacked crates up until I found myself at the end of the building and in front of four armour stands. Each stand had its own set of power armour and a number, I went to the fourth stand and approached it. The stand bursted into life upon detecting me being close enough and began assembling the armour around my body, meanwhile a hidden wall compartment opened which revealed a long green container inside. The armour restricted my additional limbs, but I got used to it over the years and simply ignored the discomfort. I stepped away from the stand after the process was complete and took the container out of the hidden compartment.

I left the armoury and headed towards my last destination on this base, the only landing pad we had there or rather it was the only pad that we actively maintained, other pads were buried underneath the arctic snow. A familiar aircraft greeted my eyes as I approached the landing pad, the pride of our tiny yet advanced fortress airforce, the "HIM Phoenix", a multipurpose VTOL that currently served the role of our cargo freighter. A two-engined beast running on what our scientists dubbed "stellar fusion cells", this vessel can fly for months without needing to refuel and it only takes a few hours to get from here to the capital at the allowed speed. It was the only thing resembling a vehicle that we had in the fortress and the only way of leaving it, other than running through the frozen wasteland for hours or even days without stopping.

I put down the green container I carried on the hard concrete landing pad and pressed a button in the back of the ship. The button quickly scanned my finger and shortly after I watched as the boarding pad came out of the ship and deployed itself with one end ending up on the concrete. I picked the container up from the ground and walked up the pad and went into the ship through a door that had just opened. Once inside, I stored the crate away in a secured lockbox then made my way over to the door leading inside the cockpit. My cybernetic palm touched the scanner by the door and a male robotic voice spoke. "Welcome aboard, Pilot Rex."

I stepped through the door which led me into the cockpit and sat down in the pilot's seat "MAI, proceed with the startup procedure," I said after sitting down and taking my helmet off. The voice or rather MAI, responded a second later "Vessel startup procedure initiated, SF reactor is being engaged. Incoming transmission for Pilot Rex from Flight Control Tower Abakon."

I wasn't surprised by the call at all, it was probably just one of my compatriots who had to double check everything. "Accept call," I responded to the Mobile Artificial Intelligence and turned my attention to the cockpit comms.

"Looks like you've finally hauled your rear to the plane, Rex," a female voice spoke to me through the comms console.

"About time really, those supplies aren't going to fly themselves here are they?" I said with a slight grin. "Either way, I just received meteorological prediction reports from some of our weather stations. Your flight path to the capital through the Arctic will be quite sunny, other stations will upload data as you pass by, like always," the female voice continued.

"You don't have to lecture me on this every single time Eve," I spoke into the comms microphone after rolling my eyes in annoyance.

"I know, but protocol is protocol. You are clear to take off, praise the emperor," Eve said to me through the comms before the transmission was terminated.

"Activate takeoff sequence 5-5-0, destination Wenkwort," I spoke to the ship's computer and took hold of the steering wheel.

"Initiating takeoff sequence 5-5-0, destination: Imperial Capital, Wenkwort Metropolis, estimated time until arrival: 5 hours at speed limit," the ship's Mobile Artificial Intelligence responded, the ship's engines whirred to life, the flight computer began displaying various data including the meteorological data from Abakon and the snow around the landing pad had molten rapidly. Within few seconds, the ship took off from the ground and I let go of the steering wheel after takeoff was complete and let the autopilot take over. I leaned back in the pilot seat, turned on the radio and relaxed for the time being.

Around two hours later, roughly halfway through my journey to the Imperial Capital, the vessel's MAI spoke through the speakers in its male voice once more. "Incoming video transmission for HIM Phoenix from Outpost Jhor."
I turned the radio off and sat down properly to avoid the unnecessary unpleasantries with outpost command and responded shortly after. "Accept call, enable video feed."

A holographic screen sprung up before me and I saw a man in his mid 50s on the other side, he cleared his throat before speaking. "HIM Phoenix, this is Comms Officer Jacob from Outpost Jhor," he glanced down at what I presumed to be his notes before continuing to speak. "We are uploading the latest meteorological data from nearby stations, your flight route will be calm and quiet with low probability of rain or snow. As always, remember that no weapons are allowed to be visibly holstered while in the capital and to wear your armour at all times so as to not scare the civilians. Once at your destination you may use landing pad 203. Praise the emperor," the man finished and I didn't have time to respond before the transmission ended, I shrugged it off and decided to take a nap.

I suddenly woke up to sirens screeching and heavy turbulences shaking the ship like a can of coke, I quickly scrambled to my feet and looked at the map. The autopilot changed course moments after I fell asleep and the ship was charging right through a storm. I began trying to turn the autopilot off to reverse the course manually, but was constantly met with a response from the MAI. "Access denied, access denied, access denied, access denied..." I couldn't turn the autopilot off which meant that I was locked out of being able to steer the ship. Suddenly my train of thought was interrupted by a flash of light. "Fucking hell!" I shouted after a lighting almost struck the vessel. I turned to the ship comms and began inputting all kinds of emergency codes, hoping that one of them would override the MAI or at least result in someone remotely turning it off. The sound of thunder filled the cockpit as a lightning struck my ship, causing various electronics to flicker on and off for a few seconds.

None of the codes worked and the storm only grew stronger the longer Phoenix was in it. The sounds of thunder became as loud as the alarm sirens themselves and together could deafen any regular person. I groaned in anger and desperation, trying to think of any possible way to get out of this situation, then the plane shook once more and I fell to the ground. I swiftly got up and saw that we were flying right into a flash storm inside the storm. Having a bad feeling about this I sat down on the pilot chair and strapped myself to it and soon enough the ship was assaulted by a barrage on lightnings hitting it. The sirens became distorted and the alarms stopped which indicated that electronics began to be fried and my worst fear was confirmed shortly after. A great explosion erupted, rocking the entire vessel and Phoenix began to descend at neckbreaking speeds. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" I screamed and watched as I could do nothing but witness the ground approach and the world fade away as the ship made impact with the ground and I lost consciousness.

Chapter 5 - Out of the Woods

Object C-04 "Rex"
HIM Phoenix Crash Site

I watched as the fires caressed the meat, making the fat in it sizzle and the flesh itself gain a darker green colour. My head meanwhile was full of thoughts, thoughts about what to do next. This...attack dashed all my hopes of staying here and just waiting things out. The first animals have found my "camp" and now only more will come as time goes on. I had to choose, do I stay here in the middle of this lush jungle or do I move out of my camp.

I pushed those thoughts aside for a moment as I had decided that the insect meat looked cooked enough. I held the branch up to my mouth and eagerly took a bite out of it. The previously present sweet taste was now much milder and reminded me of caramel. Damn...when have I last ate some proper caramel...or even candy. I ate my bug steak while looking at the flames, there was something relaxing about them, something I couldn't quite put my finger on...

I repeated this process a few more times, eating myself full of freshly cooked meat and in the meantime deciding that leaving would by far be the best option. I didn't know when I'd get another chance to eat so well and travelling on an empty stomach is a bad idea. An hour must have passed by the time I finished my last cut of meat. I stood up and looked towards the crashed ship. "I'm sorry friend, I'll have to leave you here. Maybe I will come back here someday to check on you..." I sighed and dumped the rest of wolf wood into the campfire, causing the green flames to jump high into the air.

I retrieved the horn trophy I took from the corpse of the fallen insectoid and put a thin vine through it, then tied it around my neck like a necklace. It wasn't much, but every little success should be celebrated. I used this moment to remove the vine that tied my unresponsive arms to my body, as it was quite damaged from the fight, then grabbed a brand new one from the vine pile, which I then used to tie my arms back to my body. Lastly, I picked my sharp metal piece up and cut the vines which kept the bug hanging on the tree. I threw a quick glance at my water collecting contraption, a small part of me had hoped that some water was in them and that I'd be able to at least wipe the blood off of my face. Alas, that hope has been dashed.

Deep within the jungle

I slowly moved in the direction in which I went out for my hunt and stopped right before the clearing above me ended. I turned my head and looked back at my camp for the last time. I frowned slightly and turned my eyes towards the depths of the jungle. I made up my mind and I had to follow through now. Taking a deep breath, I began to walk, following my path back to where I killed the insectoid.

I kept my head lowered as I closely backtracked my steps, looking at the barefoot prints in the ground. Occasionally I encountered slightly dried drops of green blood on the ground. I stopped at one of the bigger ones and kneeled to get a closer look. Perhaps the smell of blood attracted those...creatures... They didn't look like they could smell though... I sighed and stood up once more. I looked straight ahead and continued my journey.

The blood trail grew more visible and around a couple hundred steps later I arrived at the scene of the hunt. It looked almost exactly the same as when I left it and this is where my steps ended. "Hmmhh..," I thought out loud. "Where could you have come from?" I said while looking around for a track I could follow. I looked around for a minute and found something. "Aha! There you are," I exclaimed and looked at hoofprints in the ground. They were the size of the insectoid's leg and led me into the bushes where it came from. I smiled and eagerly proceeded to follow the track.

I kept following the hoofprints, which at times proved to be harder than I anticipated. Sometimes they disappeared only to reappear behind some fallen log or huge bush, as if that creature was hiding or running from something. Although...that would be impossible, insectoids I know don't know any kind of fear and fight until the last drop of blood in their veins. Maybe they....no, that couldn't be possible at all, I shouldn't think too much about this.

I heard something move through the jungle. I felt my hearts skip a beat. I swiftly jumped back and got down on the ground behind a log. The sounds came closer with every passing second. Was it another one of those wolf things lured here by the blood? Have I brought something bigger upon myself? I swallowed my saliva and listened closely. My left ear twitched as it caught more movement. This thing wasn't here alone. I remained low and waited with bated breath for what's to come.

I heard leaves being crumpled as the things came closer...their steps growing more audible. Soon enough I saw a black figure...no, two black figures walk past me. They must have not noticed me hiding here, so I grabbed a nearby rock with my right hand and carefully stood up. I hid behind a tree and peeked out. Turns out that those things were more insectoids, looking almost exactly the same as the one I got earlier. "What were they doing here?" I asked myself in my thoughts while clutching the rock in my hand.

I noticed that the insects stopped, I hid behind the tree again and looked up at it. An idea popped up in my head, I dropped my metal piece and I began to carefully climb up the trunk. Synth arm first then the feet while the other arm held onto the trunk itself. I made my way up the tree at a steady pace while trying to remain quiet. I pulled myself up onto a thick branch and looked at the insects from above where I saw them looking at the ground, roughly where I followed the track of my prey. This was a perfect opportunity for me. I walked to the beginning of the branch and got myself a running start before jumping high and at them.

"Nghaaaaaah!" I screamed while mid-air, causing these insects to look up at me, only for them to witness me crashing into one of them. I wasted no time and held the bug I crashed into down by the throat. It wiggled and squirmed, trying to get me off while throwing its hooves at me. I responded by bashing its head with the rock. The insectoid's chitin yielded and it began to bleed, but I didn't stop. It took a few more bashes until it was completely motionless.

I immediately turned my focus to my other target and saw just in time that it was running away from me. I rushed to get up, but tripped over the corpse underneath me and landed face first in dirt. I looked up and saw that insectoid gaining more distance, a quick look at the ground made me realise that it was running back towards its hive. I scrambled to my feet and got up shortly after to chase after it. I sped up and gradually decreased the distance between myself and my target, I tried to run faster...but my legs wouldn't let me. Nonetheless I easily caught up and chucked my rock at the bug. It tumbled to the ground with a wound on its side.

I swiped the rock from the ground as I ran and pounced on the fallen bug, landing partially on it. I held my rock and turned the bug to face me. "You aren't going back to your hive this time." It stared at me then my rock with a mixture of animal fear and desperation as I lifted it up high above my head to deal the fatal blow. I swung down with full force.

"Please...don't...kill...me,"

The rock crashed down into its head, the force of impact crushing chitin and bone indiscriminately. Its blood covered my hands and lower part of my torso while the body itself squirmed for a moment afterwards. I let go of the rock and looked at what I've done wide-eyed. Did...did that thing just speak? It couldn't be possible, insectoids don't speak our language! They are just...mindless monsters! But it...this one did and...I had just killed it.

I stood up and felt a strong sense of guilt wash over me like a torrential downpour. "If this...thing...could talk- No... I...," I quietly said to myself as I stared at the lifeless body. Its blood puddled around the head and I began to feel sick to my stomach. I shook and backed away step by step. It was at this moment that I realised...that I killed sapient creatures...for no reason...and ate one! "W-what have I fucking done?!" I exclaimed loudly.

I felt myself back into a tree as the world began to spin. I felt nauseous and instinctively covered my mouth with a hand. But it wasn't enough and I puked all over the jungle ground, emptying my stomach of everything I've eaten today, now in half-digested form. I caught a glimpse of the green flesh of my first victim, it reminded me of how much joy I felt when I first bit into it...now it was replaced with guilt and disgust. My body felt heavy, my legs gave in and I weakly slumped down on the ground with my back against the tree. I raised my bloodied hands and looked at them then back at the corpse. They were covered in blood, not just my own, but theirs... I've killed before...but this...this was murder...this was cold blooded murder...and I did it without as much as a second thought... I felt nauseous again and laid down on the ground, shaking and breathing heavily from the shock.

Feldleutnant Flügel
Everfree Infiltrator Camp

I sat hunched over at my desk, looking at one of the first entries of my journal, back when I cared more about our actual task than just surviving this place. Several plans describing possible ways of infiltrating Ponyville were scribbled across the pages. A memory flashed back in my mind, a memory of one of the first meetings around the camp to discuss what we were going to do, until one day we just stopped. We remained here in hopes of someone reaching out to us, I haven't lost anybody until today...

I sighed then got up and left my tent, a part of me hoping to see my soldiers back around the campfire, huddled close, doing small talk and laughing as the fire crackles. Instead I found silence and a gloomy mood...they knew... they felt something was wrong, most of them haven't even left their tents. I felt it too, a tingle...an itch in the back of my head, that gut feeling that the worst thing imaginable is going to happen. I walked past a pair of changelings and went through the flap to the quartermaster's tent.

He sat there at his desk, reading the same book over and over again. He glanced up at me as I entered his tent.

"Sir? Have you come for an ink refill? I'll have it right here in just a second." He put his book down and reached around the back into one of the many wooden crates.

"That's...not what I came here for, Andreas," I approached his desk.

He turned around and looked at me with a curious expression.
"I need something to soothe my nerves," I responded and rubbed my head with a hoof.

"You are lucky sir, I have something that just might help you," The quartermaster reached into a crate beside his desk and placed a half-empty bottle of Equestrian whisky on his desk.

I took the bottle from him and took a swig from it. I swirled it around in my mouth before swallowing and setting the bottle back on the table.

"You have to do something, sir," He suddenly spoke up. "Everyone's mood went down the drain and they can feel that something is out there. If you don't, then it will just get worse. They might even-"

"Are you suggesting that they might desert?" I glared at him with a raised eyebrow.

He shook his head. "I wouldn't even think about that, sir," He took the bottle from the table and put it back in the crate. "I was going to say that they might take matters into their own hooves,"

"Hmmh...that...would be an issue..," I sighed. "Get out the guns and ammunition," I continued firmly. He got up from his desk and saluted, then turned around and began going through the crates. I left him alone in the tent and looked around. The pair from earlier was now sitting over their ration cans by the unlit campfire. I walked to the centre of the camp and cleared my throat.

"ATTENTION, YOU LAZY SODS, GET YOUR FUCKING ASSES OVER HERE RIGHT NOW!" I shouted and the reaction was immediate. Changelings rushed out of their tents and formed a single line in front of me.

"Now listen carefully, because I will NOT be repeating myself. As we all know, our comrades should have returned by now, which means that something has happened, something is out there in this forest, jungle or whatever this fucking cursed place is! We will not be staying here a single day longer. I do not care, if I will get court martialed for desertion or insubordination, I do not want anymore of you turning up missing. Thus, I order ALL of you to retrieve your weapons and uniforms from the quartermaster this instant and to be combat ready in no more than FIVE MINUTES. We will march out as soon as they return or the sun sets. Dismissed!"

They saluted as soon as I finished and formed a line to the tent, the mood seemed to change too. They were now given something to do to draw their attention away at least a little and perhaps the prospect of leaving this mess breathed new life into them. In any case, I turned back and returned to my tent.

Object C-04 "Rex"
Jungle, more jungle.

My shock had subsided for the most part, yet I kept staring at the lifeless remains of its eyes. I slowly stood up on shaky legs with one hand on the tree to support myself. I couldn't stay here and beat myself over this forever, I had to soldier on...yet I will never forget this... My free hand took hold of the horn trophy and promptly ripped it off my neck. I slowly walked up to the corpse and kneeled beside it. I placed the horn in its hooves and quietly spoke. "I...I am sorry..." I tried to say more, but couldn't find any appropriate words.

I stood up once more and slowly walked away from the murder scene. I went in the direction the two bugs ran, if they were heading towards a hive, then I'd find more creatures like them and perhaps I could get help...and perhaps even make it up to them for what I've done... I sighed and kept walking with a sunken head, leaving behind drops of green blood.

I caught a glimpse of a trail, a trail of hooves. I briefly stopped and followed it with my eyes, it led even deeper into the deeper into the foliage, although there was something odd about this. A forest began around where I couldn't see the path anymore, two different climates so close to each other was unheard of... I looked up and ahead, then began to follow the trail.

Every step through the forest brought me, hopefully, closer to my way out of here. Frankly, I was getting slightly sick of seeing nothing but green and brown all around myself, with only a few clearings in the thicket where the sun could shine through. I walked for hours and then I heard something that sounded like chatter. I crouched and carefully got closer to where the voices came from.
The first thing I noticed was a lit campfire and a few dressed figures sitting around it and holding something. I took a few steps forward and saw that they were the same insect things as the ones from jungle. They wore uniforms? Hmh...that means they are most likely soldiers, does that mean the three I...murdered...were soldiers too? I guess it makes me feel a little better about earlier... knowing that I didn't kill civilians...but this meant I attacked soldiers and now I was covered in their blood...

A group of three walked around as I moved closer to the camp. I stopped behind a bu- SNAP

"Did you hear that?" A voice spoke.

"It came from over there." A different voice spoke.

"Did they come back?" Another voice said.

"It came from behind that bush, I'll check it out," The first voice spoke and the speaker turned in my direction, while the other two stayed behind. It...he took his rifle out and slowly stepped towards my hiding spot. I froze in place and waited with bated breath as the soldier got ever closer, hoping that he'd lose interest. I was too big to escape without getting spotted by them. His bayonet sank into the bush.

"What in the-" He looked at me and I looked at him. "INTRUDER! EVERYONE TO A-"

His screaming was interrupted by me standing up and grabbing hold of his rifle, then slamming it against his face like a club. The wooden handle splintered as the bug yelped and fell to the ground. Swiftly, I sank the bayonet deep into his neck, ushering in a flood of green blood. In the background, similar creatures rushed in our direction while fellows wasted no time in firing off their rifles at me.

I was looking at the body of my victim when the bullets hit me and bounced off, barely even wounding me. It felt a lot like being stung by a particularly angry wasp. This meant my subdermal armour was apparently mostly functional by now. I looked at myself then at them as they kept on firing bullet after bullet, while the other bugs prepared to engage.

"HE'S NOT GOING DOWN!" One of the two shooters shouted.

"AIM FOR THE EYES!" The other one shouted back.

I ran up to them just as they were aiming at my face. They got a few shots off before I struck, but none of them hit the intended target. With a singular blow from my leg, both soldiers found themselves knocked away to the side on the ground and on top of each other. I noticed in the corner of my eye that what I presumed to be the remaining soldiers were now ready to join their comrades in the fight. They scattered themselves around the camp and even hid behind cover, so I turned to them and raised my fists in preparation.

I bolted towards the closest one, right in front of-

"AAAAGHHH!" I felt a powerful blow being dealt to my back and dropped to my knees, screaming in pain. It felt like someone was igniting thermite to burn a hole through me. I groaned in pain as I looked behind me. The horn of the insect I first struck down was glowing and he grinned at me while coughing up blood. Just then I felt another blow right where the first one landed, making me scream and drop to the ground. I looked up with my eyes and saw the others slowly stepping towards me.

I felt the time slow down, my breaths growing heavier, my vision gaining an orange hue. I felt the adrenaline rushing through my body and numbing the pain. My thoughts were flooded with only one thing, an insurmountable battle lust! I shot up from the ground and roared at my foes as my limbs were filled with newfound strength. They stepped back, I could see their fear and grinned. I was built to fight and if they want a fight, they'll get one. I turned and walked to the dying insectoid, I looked at him then raised my foot.

"CRUSH"

The nuisance has been dealt with. I turned around once more and was greeted by their horrified expressions. I wiped my foot against a patch of grass and pounced at my next target, right in the middle of everyone else. I pinned him to the ground with my body, others snapped into action and began firing bullet after bullet at me. I began to slam the bug's head with my arms like an angry gorilla, watching as with every slam more and more life escaped from it.

I got up with the corpse in my synthetic hand and wielded it by a hoof like a mace. With one swoop I slammed it down onto one of the two bugs who I kicked to the tree. The force of impact caused several cracks in its and the corpse's chitin. I swung again and again, splattering blood from both bugs all over the place. Bullets kept on hitting me with brief pauses as they reloaded, every now and then a bullet struck the spot on my back and made me wince, yet it only drove me into more of a frenzy.

I grabbed the other bug of the pair firmly by the throat with my right hand, still holding onto the corpse mace in the other. He dropped his rifle as my hold tightened and instead struggled to free himself. Bullets kept on hitting my back injury and made me groan in pain. I swiftly turned around and held the insectoid in front of myself like a meat shield. He was extinguished, his body riddled with bullets of his own comrades. In the background I briefly caught a glimpse of one of them looking out of a tent the moment the corpses fell out of my hands.

They kept firing round after round at me, despite their situation being utterly hopeless. "AAAAAAGGHHHHH!" I roared at the three remaining soldiers and dashed towards them. I took hold of two rifles, tearing them right out of their hooves, then drove the bayonets through their hearts and impaling them with the rifles. The last soldier dropped his weapon and turned to run away, yet it was too late for him. I pulled him towards me by his tail. I heard him scream as I grasped his head, then it was all silence. He fell to the ground just like the others.

"YOU DAMN BASTARD!" A shout came from the direction of the biggest tent, it came from a big bug with a shotgun in his hooves. He ran towards me and fired buckshot, which didn't do much more than regular bullets. I picked up a rifle and chambered a round. The trigger was visibly designed with hooves in mind, but that didn't prevent me from shooting him in the head.

I dropped the rifle and looked at myself, I was covered in blood, theirs and my own. Their bullets scratched me at most, yet some of them drew blood. I turned my sights towards my last target, the bug hiding in his tent. My rage began to subside as I walked towards and entered it. Inside I found him holding a revolver in shaky hooves. I got close and spoke loudly. "SHOW ME HOW TO LEAVE!" In response he pointed his hoof to my right. I grinned, satisfied by the answer, and was about to leave when I spotted an officer's cap in his tent. I raised my palm, coiled back, then slapped him unconscious with a single blow. I tossed him onto my shoulder and left the camp in the direction he pointed.

I jogged through the forest, but as the rush of adrenaline began to wore off, so did my speed. I slowed down to a walk and looked at the bug I was carrying. Once I did, I felt compelled to stop. There was a big rock nearby which I sat on and laid the bug down on the ground beside me. His uniform and chitin were stained with the green blood which I had on me. At this moment a thought appeared in my head. "What have I done?"

I looked at my hands, insect blood was dripping off of them and tiny pieces of chitin were stuck in the skin. In a fit of an adrenaline and hormone fueled rage I slaughtered a camp of random soldiers... I sighed. What I've done was...reprehensible... Granted, I did start it...but this battle lust was...overwhelming like never before. But...this is what I've been made for, I've been created to fight and kill, why am I so...remorseful? I was a tool of the Empire, I should be feeling good, proud of myself that I've defeated an enemy! They weren't even humans after all, why did I care?! I've fought similar monsters for years and these ones are the ones that made me feel bad?!

I closed my eyes and tried to clear my mind. My actions today left a lingering thought in my head, was I actually just an object? Was this my only purpose? To kill? I've never thought about it, since I never felt divided like this. I loved to fight and most of the time I just followed orders, yet now I had no orders...no purpose given to me. But...there was also nobody here who regarded me as just the means to an end. The thoughts stopped at last and I slowly got up. I picked the bug up and placed over my shoulder, then resumed my journey. I'd have to figure this out at some point...

The air began to feel less humid and thicket clearings became more commonplace as the tree density decreased. A sort of light in a tunnel appeared in front of me, which filled my heart with hope. Was this what I thought it was? My breathing accelerated. I held tightly onto my captive and began to run towards the light. Branches broke underneath my feet, yet I didn't care about the noise that made. I leapt over a few logs that were in my way and charged through a bush.

Rays of sunlight hit my face and made me instinctively cover my eyes with my free hand. I stopped in my tracks shortly after and let my breathing slow down. I took in the scent of fresh air and slowly moved my hand away, revealing a great plain stretching all the way beyond the horizon. Drops of sweat trickled down the side of my dirty face, while I watched in awe as the sun had begun to set. I cracked a slight smile and took a few steps forward towards it, walking on the soft grass under my feet. Finally, I was finally outside this fucking jungle. With some luck I'd-
"HHHHNMHNNHHHNGGHHHMNNHH-!!!"
"Thud"

"Hey Bulwark! Look what I got!"

"What do you have there, Aegis? Hah! That's quite the monster you caught! Other guards are going to be really jealous."

"It went down easily, just a single spell! It looks quite heavy though, come help me carry it."

"In a moment. It looks like it found something interesting in the Everfree. A changeling? Hmm, I'll go fetch the car."