Exceptional

A/N: As of Wednesday, March 27, 2013, I have cast a spell of MAGICAL RETCON on this story (not to be confused with REPCONN, a subsidiary of Robco). The events of 'Magical Mystery Cure' now take place before chapter 1 of this story, so Twilight is an alicorn and has been throughout this story. I have gone back and changed things to reflect this, though the changes are extremely minor so don't feel compelled to go back and read them if you don't want to.

Also, slight gore warning for this chapter, though it is minor and there for does not require the 'gore' tag. Enjoy!

*********

        Ship crew dashed to and fro inside the cavernous hanger, prepping the shuttle for launch. Four figures stood next to the orbital shuttle, which to a certain white-haired, yellow-eyed doctor's delight, resembled it's imperial counterpart from a certain movie franchise. Three of the four figures were kitted out in full body tactical armour, consisting ofa suit of green painted ceremite carapace armour over olive green fatigues. Three carried AC-94 fully automatic assault rifles, while the fourth had a 10mm submachine gun strapped to his thigh. Phil, who was carrying the 10mm, was wearing significantly less armour then the other three, only having a chest and back plate. He was idly sitting on a supply crate, his helmet next to him, distractedly checking his gun. Since this idiotic mission was assigned, Phil couldn't help but feel a sense of foreboding. Somehow, he knew something was going to go down on that planet, but frustratingly what that would be still eluded him. He turned his attention to Captain Statin, who was about to address the two UNASF marines standing at attention, their visages hidden behind impassive face-masks.

        “Alright, maggots!! This is a standard retrieval mission. We are to infiltrate the settlement and retrieve the probe remnants without alerting the locals. Under NO circumstances are we to engage or otherwise make contact with the native inhabitants. Stealth modulators will be worn and active at all times. I don't want any fuck-ups. Did you get all that doctor?!” Statin yelled out, turning his gaze to Phil.

        “Oh! Yes, of course” Phil said rather distractedly, his thoughts elsewhere. After that acknowledgement, he went back to checking his gun.

        “Hey doc” called out one of the marines with some form of latino accent. “Be careful with that gun, ya might put somebody's eye out!” the two men snorted in laughter before fist-bumping each other. Phil sighed at their stupidity, but felt in a mood to humour them.

        “Well gentleman, I grew up a stone's throw away from the Quebec border, during the francophone insurgency years. I think I know how to handle a gun.” Phil stood up and walked over to the smart ass marine. Phil had a good four inches over him, and he leaned over with a predatory smirk, bearing canines that seemed a little too pointed. “And besides.....do you really think I'd need one?” Phil's smirk grew wider as the marine visibly gulped, before he turned and walked away. Statin turned to the triumphant doctor with a confused look on his face.

        “Wait....you're canadian?” Now it was Phil's turn to look confused.

        “...Yes.....why? Does that surprise you?”

        “Well, I just assumed....you know, the accent.....” Phil's expression had went from triumphant, to confused, and now to annoyed. He sighed and rubbed his eyes before responding.

        “I was born and raised in Canada, yes, but I spent seven years studying at Oxford. In that time I must have picked up some of the local flavour. I am also of english descent, my grandfather, who raised me, having come from London. And besides, I don't judge you on account of your accent, Tex.”

        “Fair enough.” Phil, having decided the conversation was over, went back to his seat on the supply crate. As he waited for the shuttle to be ready, Phil once again zoned out, but inevitably his thoughts always came back to the current situation. Aliens. Mother-fucking aliens. He'd been waiting a long time for this, to meet someone new. Someone who didn't have any prior impressions, any pre-conceived notions, any ingrained prejudice. Someone who wouldn't judge him just by looking at him. It was the whole reason he took this job. He knew he could never find someone among his own species like that. He'd tried. Of course he hadn't expected them to be talking, technicolour horses, but eh, beggars can't be choosers.

        At that very moment, the universe, having the sick sense of humour it did, decided to reinforce his thoughts, as Phil overheard some of the marines' conversation. They were speaking spanish, but any anthropologist worth his salt would know a few other languages, and Phil was definitely 'worth his salt'.

        “....un monstruo estúpido..” at this the men laughed, stealing a few furtive glances in Phil's direction. 'A stupid freak'. Granted his spanish was a little rusty, but he was certain they had just called him a freak. Phil's eyes slowly went slitted, his lip turning up in a snarl. He felt a familiar feeling rising up within him. That unmistakeable feeling that rose in the pit of his stomach like black, venomous bile. That feeling that consumed his thoughts like a gluttonous spectre and replaced them with murderous focus. Rage. Unbidden, those words that had been spoken so many years ago came to his mind, as if to torture him further.

“I could never staywith a freak like you.”

        The flashback was so vivid he felt as if he was there, in that apartment room on that chilly november evening. His fingers twitched, instinctively yearning to reach out and throttle the neck of the whore who had uttered those soul-crushing words.

“.....a freaklike you.”

        His breath came in ragged gasps through flared nostrils. His entire body was nearly consumed with the anger's white hot intensity. A low growl issued from between clenched teeth. He was angry at the admiral, angry at those stupid marines, he was angry at the whole fucking universe for the miserable life he'd been forced to live. But most of all, he was angry at her.

“....a FREAKlike YOU.”

        His heart was pounding in his ears like some hideous demonic drumbeat, calling him to spill the blood of those who'd wronged him, to make them feel the pain he'd felt. Slowly his hand crept towards the handle of his submachine gun....

        Phil was broken from his trance when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Startled, he looked up to see Statin standing next to him, a concerned look on his scarred face. Phil was vaguely aware that the captain had asked him something, but had been too preoccupied with his thoughts to hear it. “U-uh....p-pardon?”

        “I said, are you alright, doctor?”

        “Oh! Yes, yes of course...” After regaining his composure, Phil stood up and looked Statin in the eye, a mocking smirk on his face. “I have the utmost confidence in this mission, captain. You have a fine crew of bigots under your command. I look forward to working with them.” After that, his face soured and he promptly stomped off to be alone with his thoughts. Statin turned to the two marines, glaring daggers at the insensitive morons.

        “Uh...he could understand us?”

        “Oh, you're so surprised the genius anthropologist speaks fucking spanish!!” Statin continued to give them a verbal shit-kicking, but Phil just tuned it out. He walked over to the edge of the hanger, close to where the energy field sealed the ship from the void of space. Phil reached into his pocket and retrieved the small, unmarked pill bottle that he carried with him everywhere. Taking out two capsules, he dry swallowed them before taking a long, shuddering breath. He hadn't had a flare-up like that in a long time. Maybe he was finally starting to go stir crazy, being stuck in a floating tub with thousands of jackasses who thought of him more as a monster then a person for a year and a half. Hopefully the meds would kick in shortly, but before that happened a second feeling would come over him. It always did. Shame. Shame that he'd almost lost control, shame that he could have those thoughts in the first place, shame that he had the balls to even exist. At times like this he was sure that he was nothing more then some sick joke for whatever deity or cosmic force that presided over the universe.

        As if to make matters worse, his leg was flaring up again. Although most of the time it was barely noticeable, to the point most people didn't realize it, Dr. Ackerman actually walked with a slight limp, the last physical remnant of the trauma he'd received many years ago. Occasionally, usually after he had an episode, his limp would worsen. Though he knew it was entirely psychosomatic, the pain felt more then real, and there was nothing he could do about it other then grin and bear it.

        Phil looked out of the hanger at the form of Solaris III, hanging suspended in space like a big blue marble. For a moment, Phil thought it looked like the sun was orbiting the planet, but he just passed it off as residual effects from the episode. It also occurred to him that he could easily jump through the energy field, effectively ending it all in the cold embrace of the void. Shaking his head, he quickly dismissed that thought. Looking out at the the strangely Earth-like planet, once more her words came to the forefront of his mind.....

“But hey...it was fun while it lasted.....”

*********

The party of six mares strode through the woods, some more confidently then others. They walked in complete silence.......well, except for one of them......

“Seventy-nine bushels of hay on the wall!

Seventy-nine bushels of hay!

Take one down!

Pass it around!

Seventy-eight bushels of hay on the wall!”

        Twilight sighed to herself as Pinkie Pie continued to bounce in circles around them whilst singing her idiotic song. She couldn't remember who had bet that she couldn't sing the song all the way down to one. Knowing Pinkie, it was exceedingly likely that she had made the bet against herself. She looked to the other members of her party, and they seemed just as fed up with the pink mare's antics. An idea forming in her head, Twilight cleared her throat in an unnecessarily loud fashion. Pinkie stopped mid-verse, and even more perplexingly, mid-air.

        “Say Pinkie” she started in a fake conversational tone. “You know what would be an even better bet then singing 'One Hundred Bushels of Hay on the Wall' down to one?”

        “Ooh! Ooh! What?! What?!” Pinkie bounced up and down excitedly. Twilight allowed herself a covert smile at how well her plan was working.

        “Seeing how long you can stay silent.”

        “Oh you silly! That's not a bet! It's gotta be in bet form!” Twilight groaned at Pinkie's surprising cunning.

        “Ok....I bet you can't stay completely quiet until we find the crash site and get back to Ponyville.”

        “Ok, what are the stakes?” Pinkie said with a sly sort of smile, thinking she had it all figured out (which, in reality, she didn't).

        “Umm...if you do, I'll....buy a dozen of your.....super delicious super duper frostinglicious cupcake supremes from Sugercube Corner” Twilight struggled a bit to remember the name. The plan was risky, those things were expensive, and had enough sugar in them that they should have been called 'super fattening super duper diabeteslicious cupcake supremes', but hopefully it would pay off. Even if her plan failed, Twilight had seen Princess Celestia scoff down enough cake to choke a rhinoceros in one sitting, so hopefully not gaining weight was a trait of her newfound alicornism. Pinkie's eyes nearly bulged out of her head at the excitement of someone finally buying her special cupcakes.

        “Okie dokie lo- I mean” Pinkie motioned her hoof over her mouth in a 'zipping' gesture before winking at Twilight. With out realizing it the entire group let out a collective sigh of relief. Fortunately the pink mare didn't notice, being to absorbed in the herculean task of staying quiet. They continued on for several more minutes. With no extraequistrial objects in sight, Twilight was beginning to get annoyed.

        “According to Princess Luna, it should be right here!” Twilight stamped her hoof in annoyance. The five mares soon began to bicker amongst themselves, Fluttershy and Rarity suggesting they call off the search, the former because of how frightening it was in the forest, the latter because of all the mud and gunk that could mess up her mane, while Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Twilight insisting they continue.

        Pinkie, meanwhile, was sitting on her haunches and looking about the forest, hoping that if she found something to focus on she could remain quiet. It worked during the magic mirror clone incident after all. Suddenly, she caught a glimpse of something shiny out of the corner of her eye, on the other side of some large bushes. From what she could tell, it was dark yet shined when it caught the light, seemingly foreign to the Everfree. Calmly (well, calmly for Pinkie Pie), she got up and trotted over to the bushes, hoping to get a look at the strange object. When she stuck her head through the foliage, her eyes went as wide as saucers, and she nearly let out a surprised squeak before clamping her hoof over her mouth. She quickly ran back to the group.

        “But darling, this humid air will do monstrous things to my mane!”

        “Rarity, contrary to what you might think, there are more important things then your mane!” The argument was interrupted when a big pink blur landed in the middle of the group. Pinkie hopped from one hoof to another, all the while gesticulating with her forelegs towards some nearby bushes. Curiously, she didn't make a single sound other then some pleading whimpers during her display.

        “What is it Pinks? Did Pip fall down a well?” Rainbow teased. Pinkie whimpered some more, and started pushing Twilight over towards the bushes.

        “Pinkie, I'm sure whatever it is can wai-” Twilight's sentence was ended abruptly by a sharp intake of breath when Pinkie shoved her through the shrub into a small clearing, and she caught sight of....it. Thrust into the earth, in the centre of a small crater, was some kind of shaft. It was long and smooth, and made from strange blackened metal. At the very tip it split in half, revealing an inner cavity. A cavity that could fit a large orb-shaped object.

        “What is it?” mused Fluttershy, her fear momentarily forgotten.

        “I...don't know” Twilight was utterly flabbergasted for the second time in two days. What could this thing be? It had to have come from somewhere on Equuis, maybe from the Minotauren or Griffonian space programs or something. It couldn't possibly have been made by....

        “That's gotta be it” Dash shouted.

        “What's it, darling?” Rarity ask, annoyed at the cyan mare's loud tone.

        “Aliens”

        “Rainbow, would you stop making that face! It's creepy!” Twilight was annoyed at her friend's insistence. 'Aliens, pfft. That's just isn't plausible....right?' Applejack hesitantly trotted up to the object, prompting a frightened squeak from Fluttershy.

        “Hey, there's some writtin' on this thing” Applejack had to turn her head to read the awkwardly-placed symbols. “'Property...of the.....United Nations Alliance.....Space Forces'....what in tarnation does that mean?!”

        “See Dash. Why would aliens write in equestrian?”

        “Ooh! Maybe it's got some kooky, ultra-advanced universal translation technology!!” Pinkie cried out excitedly. Everyone looked at her with an annoyed expression, before what she'd just done dawned on her. “Ah dang” she said dejectedly.

        “Ok! I need some room to get a look at this thing. If you guys could scoot over there for a minute” Twilight announced, the other mares too absorbed in speculating what it was to care. Looking at it with scientific detachment, Twilight noticed a few things. It was made from the same strange metal as the orb, but unlike the orb, any circuits and mechanisms it had were still intact. Unfortunately, the technology this thing possessed was so far beyond anything in her experience that she had no bucking clue what in Tartarus it was! Some kind of delivery system maybe? As she stood there examining it, that's when she heard it.

“Help me! Somebody help me!”

        Startled from her reverie, she turned towards the sound. It was faint, but sounded like somepony in trouble. “Girls, did you hear that?”

        “I bet they'll have tentacles, and cool zzapp guns. That'd be awesome! Ooh! What if they had tentacles and wings! Flying with aliens! That'd be so awesome!!!” Dash exclaimed.

        “I hope they're going to be nice aliens” was Fluttershy's meek response.

        “Eeww! Tentacles?! That'd be just horrific, darling! Imagine making a dress for something with tentacles.” Rarity shuddered at the thought.

        “Uh, girls?” Twilight once again tried to get her friends' attention, but was once more met with failure, them being to caught up in their extraequistrial musings to hear her. She was now faced with a decision; wait for her friends to notice someone in trouble, or go off alone into the forest to help whoever was in distress.“Ok then....I'm just gonna go off to help somepony.....out in the forest....all alone.....” Twilight heard the endangered party repeat their cry for help, more frantic this time, and she knew what she had to do.

        In a move that was probably not one of Twilight's 'thinking' moments (though later on, down the road, she wouldn't regret it in the slightest), she flexed her wings and took off, speeding into the forest to help whoever was in need. The thought of playing the lone heroine gave her a sort of thrill she didn't often experience. Unfortunately, that same thrill made her ignorant of the danger. As she sped through the woods, they became darker and closer together, the trees gnarled and withered, the boughs above more tangled to the point where almost all natural light was snuffed out. As she flew, she still heard the pony in trouble crying for help get closer, but they frustratingly stayed just beyond her reach. Soon the woods became so thick she was forced to land and continue on hoof.

        As Twilight came to a small clearing, the cries ceased. The woods were shrouded in near total darkness, and she was forced to use her horn as a light source just so she wouldn't trip over her own hooves. She was suddenly aware that she was alone in the Everfree, deeper then she'd ever been before, and that the woods were eerily silent. With that sobering thought all the adrenaline and bravery she had felt fled her body much like the residents of Ponyville fled Pinkie's party for the Cake twin's birthday when she cracked out the 'Extra Fun' Doughnuts. If Twilight remembered correctly somepony was still in the hospital getting the 'Fun' scraped off of their retinas. Life-threatening pastries aside, she had come out all this way to help somepony, and she'd be damned if she would let a little thing like nerves stop her.

        “Hello? I heard somepony in trouble, is everything ok?” Suddenly, one of the trees along the path behind her fell with a resounding crash, blocking the way she came. She could find a way around it, but it'd take time, and the tree boughs were too thick and tangled to let her fly out. Then, from the darkness came a low, throaty chuckle. Twilight spun around to face the noise, and the sight made her heart sink. Moving about in the shadows were darkened shapes, twice her size, surrounding her on all sides. Then she smelt it, a hideous, horrid stench more foul then anything she'd ever smelt. It seemed to get worse as one of the shapes approached her. She quickly threw up a force field to defend herself, the light illuminating her foe.

        “'Ello, Poppet” it said to her in a butchered accent, as Twilight came face to face with a pair of sickening yellow eyes.

                                                *********

        “Only you, captain, could think this is a suitable landing sight.”

        Captain Statin had ordered the shuttle to land in a densely vegetated area to the southwest of the settlement. The vegetation would provide ample cover for the shuttle, and it was far enough away from any urban areas that it would avoid notice. They would have to trek through the nearby forest to reach their goal, but seeing as they needed to anyway to retrieve the probe's landing capsule, the captain had decided they could all use a good walk (much to the disgruntled groans of the rest of the team). But when the shuttle drew near, they realized why no one would come looking.

        It was a swamp.

        A big, dirty, mucky swamp, filled with lakes full of thick, horrible, fetid gunk releasing equally thick, horrible, and fetid gas, with a stench so nauseating Phil was sure that in any sane universe that that stuff couldn't possibly be safe to breath. But the shuttle's sensors said it was, and not one to question technology, the captain had ordered the team out of the shuttle and into the thick, horrible, fetid, couldn't-possibly-be-safe-to-breath stench. Phil gagged, hoping the doughnut he'd had for breakfast wouldn't crawl it's way back up his throat. The helmet he was wearing did shit all to stop the smell, and he turned a hateful glare back at the three 'normal' humans accompanying him. 'Damn them and their underdeveloped senses......oh god the aftertaste.....'

        “I wonder what kind'a government they'll have?” one of the marines wondered aloud during a last minute gear-check. “Communist dictatorship maybe?”

        “Nah, man, it'll probably be a fascist dictatorship” said the other marine as he checked the clip in his rifle.

        “You're both idiots. I bet it'll be an american-style republic, just like the good ol' U.S. Of A. Back in the days before the UNA started runnin' the show” noted Statin. Phil let out a disgruntled sigh as he checked his scanner. As he was considered 'non-combat' personnel, he was in charge of the team's Auspex Sensor, a small hand-held device equipped with a wide range of scanning frequencies. The scanner was so sophisticated that it was often joked that it could tell you precisely what time your next fifty bowel movements would take place, or exactly what the colour purple tasted like. Apparently though, his vocalization of displeasure wasn't quiet enough to go unheard by the 'underdeveloped senses' of his compatriots.

        “Oh, and what does his lordship the freak think it'll be?” laughed one of the marines, getting a few guffaws out of his petty insult before promptly getting a fist to the back of the head, courtesy of the captain.

        “But in all honesty, what's your opinion doctor?” asked Statin conversationally, as the marine shot his superior a glare and rubbed his head. Sighing again, Phil never took his eyes from the scanner as he responded bitterly.

        “Some kind of monarchy, most likely matriarchal in nature.”

        “Oh? And why is that?” responded the smarter of the two marines (by only the slimmest margins) with the same bitterness that was in Phil's voice. Phil was sure they only tolerated his presence because they didn't wish to incur the captain's, or even more so, the admiral's, wrath. Finally tearing his eyes from the scanner's read-out, Phil went in to analytical mode, and answered as if the people he was talking to actually gave a damn about what he was saying.

        “Judging from the extreme disparity in the ratio of males to females among the native populace, or what I assume to be males and females, two logical yet opposing conclusions can be made. The first conclusion is that males are held in a high regard, placed on a pedestal and practically worshipped, as their comparative rarity and assumed requirement in the reproductive process ensures they hold enormous sway in their society. The second, and albeit much more likely, conclusion, is that their society is matriarchal, with females holding the majority of power, compared to the patriarchal society practiced by humanity throughout much of our history. As for the monarchy aspect.....I saw several signs that denoted a 'royal' something from the probe's video, including the 'Royal Alchemical Society' and the 'Royal Post and Courier Service', so, logically, it can be inferred that they must be ruled by some kind of royalty” Phil finished his verbal flourish, showing that, despite the statements of a certain auburn-haired information officer regarding his incompetence, he was actually quite good at his job.

        “Ah, you're full of shit, doc” was the marine's equally intellectual response.

        “Really? Well, if you're so confident of your assessment, why not make a little wager? Fifty credits say I'm right, or are you willing to lose to a 'freak'” Phil knew his goading would be successful.

        “You're on!”

        “No way, dude!” interjected the other marine. “Don't do it! If you lose and you don't pay him, he might gouge your eyes out with his thumbs!”

        “That is a fucking stereotype! Never once have I gouged anyone's eyes out, with my thumbs or any other....gouging implement!”

        “I can assure you two the doctor will act with the utmost civility regarding this wager. Right doctor?”

        “I can't believe you even need to ask that, Bert.”

        “Hey, that's Captain Statin.”

        “Anyways” Phil said through gritted teeth. “Are you up for it or not?”

        “You're on, freak!” Phil extended his hand to formalize the bet, though the marine seemed rather hesitant to touch him at first. Eventually he overcame his revulsion and they shared a hearty handshake.

        “Alright everybody, modulators on” the air was filled with a buzzing, warbling sound as the team switched on their wrist-mounted stealth modulators, all four of them disappearing from sight with a faint, sparking shimmer. Though they were all but invisible to the naked eye, the advanced optic sensors in their helmets made sure they could see each other. “Well, doctor, you have the scanner, so lead the way!” stated the captain with a wave of his hand, himself eager to leave the horrid stench of the swamp. Phil, having noted the direction of the probe's landing capsule, confidently led the way into the forest. The marines probably let him go first because, if anything were to go wrong, they could possibly use him as a meat shield. Phil smirked inwardly at that realization. If something actually did go wrong, he was fast enough that before they knew what hit them he would have already dodged behind them. They marched into the forest for a good twenty minutes, with barely any sign of life. Phil swore under his breath as his leg flared up again, momentarily stopping in his advance.

        “Everything alright doctor?” asked Statin.

        “Yeah....yeah, I'm fine....” Phil managed with a hiss of pain. That's when he heard it.

        “SOMEPONY!! ANYPONY!! HELP ME!!!”

'That voice....' Like a rocket Phil took off towards the sound, drawing his submachine gun as he went.

        “Doctor! Where the fuck are you going?!?!” shouted Statin, his voice growing increasingly distant as Phil bounded into the forest. The three soldiers tried to give pursuit, but couldn't hope to keep up with the doctor's inhuman speed. Despite having a limp, Phil could move in great, loping strides, and could even put Olympic marathon runners to shame. He knew someone was in danger, and he had a pretty good idea who it was. He had risked his career by saving her before, and he wasn't going to let that effort go to waste....

                                                *********

        Timber Worgs. It had to be Timber Worgs.

        Twilight shook from a combination of effort and terror as she maintained her force field, the only thing standing between her and a grizzly, protracted death. She had read about worgs in one of her many textbooks, but she had never thought she'd actually meet any. They were exceedingly rare, which, if you asked most experts, was a good thing. Closely related to the much more common, and much less dangerous, timber wolf, timber worgs were at least twice the size of their garden variety cousin, with the strength and toughness befitting of their heightened stature. Though they lacked a timber wolf's ability to reform, the fibrous wooden muscle that replaced their cousin's blocky form granted them enough strength to make a single worg a match for an entire squad of guardsponies. But that wasn't their most dangerous quality, oh no. Every worg possessed an innate resistance to spells, making most of Twilight's defensive repertoire utterly useless, but what made them the horrific danger they were was their intelligence. They were as intelligent as the average pony, and even possessed the capability of speech, meaning they could formulate plans and ambushes to catch unweary prey, which was probably how they caught Twilight in such a compromising position. And if you thought that since they were sentient, they could be reasoned with, you most likely had a one way ticket to being their dinner, but not before they had some 'fun' with you. They made Discord look like a saint.

        “Hur hur hur, we're gonna take your skin, poppet” laughed what was obviously the band's leader, in that cockney Trottingham accent he possessed. How he came to have it, Twilight had no clue. There was at least a dozen of them, maybe more, all of them circling Twilight like a.....well, like a pack of wolves. Twilight shied away from his horrible gaze, praying to whatever powers that be that this was just a horrific nightmare.

        “I want the wings, they look tender” growled another, the timbre of it's voice denoting it was a female. Her eyes screwed shut, Twilight did the only thing she could do.

        “SOMEPONY!! ANYPONY!! HELP ME!!!”

        “Ain't nobody gonna help ya now, poppet” mocked the leader again, eliciting laughs from the rest of the band.

        “Actually” came a voice seemingly out of thin air. “The correct pronunciation would be 'there isn't anybody who is going to help you now....poppet.” The worg leader barely had time to look towards the direction of the voice before there was a blinding flash and a terrific roar, as his wood-like head was nearly turned to mulch before Twilight's eyes, gooey, sap-like blood splattering on her force field. Twilight saw a vague, shimmering outline by the edge of the clearing. Apparently, the other worgs saw it too, as they lunged towards their leader's killer. One of the worgs latched onto what appeared to be some kind of forelimb, and with a familiar buzzing sound, Twilight's saviour became visible.

        He, or at least Twilight thought he was a he, his voice sounded rather male, was bipedal, with two long, skinny legs and a pair of equally skinny arms, almost like a minotaur. He seemed to have brownish tan flesh and a sort of green carapace on his chest, head, claws and feet. No wait....the brown was some kind of fabric, and the carapace was...armour? In his claw he clutched a kind of L-shaped metallic object, with a curved, banana-shaped piece sticking out of it. It must have been some kind of weapon, and a particularly dangerous one at that. Overall, Twilight had never seen a creature anything like it.....or had she?

        The creature struggled with the worg latched to it's arm, and brought it's weapon down to the worg's chest level. With a clicking sound, the weapon flared to life again, it's terrible roar heralding the coming carnage as the worg's barrel practically exploded, sending gorpy wood chips everywhere. What was left of the worg slumped to the ground, but Twilight's saviour didn't have much respite, as the rest of the pack charged him. Two more worgs met grisly ends by way of the creature's weapon, whatever projectiles it fired tearing them to pieces and ensuring the clearing would have a good mulching. Twilight was sure the fight would soon be over, as the creature once more levelled it's weapon at another foe while swiftly dodging the clumsy strikes of the other worgs. But her heart sank when, instead of a roar and a flash, all it did was make a quiet 'click'.

        “Ah fuck!” shouted the creature, throwing the apparently useless weapon to the side as he braced for his attackers to mob him, which they did in short order. Twilight couldn't bear to watch as surely her saviour would be torn to pieces by the ravenous worgs, but instead the creature managed to strike one of the worgs in the face, which was accompanied by a grisly snapping sound, before the worg's lifeless corpse fell to the ground. Continuing it's momentum, the creature grabbed another worg by the forelimb, then swung it across the clearing with such force he ripped the limb from it's socket, before promptly using said limb to beat another worg to within an inch of it's life. Whatever this creature was, it was strong.

        Another worg attempted to bite the creature's face, but he grabbed it's jaws with both of his claws, then forced them open to the point where it's head split in two. The remaining four worgs kept back, growling at the creature as they tried to think of what to do. The creature stood up straight, and Twilight realized the thing was over six feet tall. He was probably taller then Princess Celestia! Squaring his shoulders, the creature seemed to tilt it's head in confusion. “There's something on your face” he said, pointing a digit at the nearest worg, who then tilted it's own head in confusion. Before they could react, the creature lunged forward at a speed that Twilight thought wasn't possible for a being of it's size. It kicked the worg in the jaw with terrific force, splintering several fangs, then with the same movement brought it's heel straight down on it's head, crushing it utterly into the forest floor. "It was pain!" Now, worgs may not have been as smart as a pony, but they definitely weren't stupid, and seeing as they had just had a dozen strong pack reduced to three members by a single creature in less then a minute, they knew when to give up. With their branch-like tail between their legs, the remaining worgs fled yelping into the forest, leaving Twilight alone with her saviour.

        “Well....can't say that was much of a welcoming party” he joked, and Twilight realized he had a very familiar accent.

        “Doctor!!” shouted someone from the bushes, before three more creatures burst out of the foliage. They seemed to be wearing more armour then the other one, were a few inches shorter, and the weapons they carried were much larger requiring them to use both claws to carry them.

        “Huh....*gasp*...ga..wha...*gasp*..where'd ya...*gasp* learn to run like that doc” one of them managed to croak out, both him and another one obviously out of breath, his friend slouched against a tree, only able to gasp desperately for air with a claw at his torso.

        “What the hell were you doing, doctor?!?! You could have compromised the mission!!” said the fourth creature, himself only slightly out of breath. He seemed to speak in a manner vaguely similar to an Apple Family accent. Then he looked past the one who'd saved her, who was apparently called 'doctor', and caught sight of Twilight. “Ah god damn it!! You did compromise the mission!! God damn, son of a bitch, fucking piece of shit-fuck horse crap-!!” Twilight couldn't help but blush at the seemingly endless stream of profanity spewing out of the creature's hidden mouth. Whatever creatures these were, they were obviously foul-mouthed and ill-tempered. “-shitin' piss on a cracker!!!” the creature finally finished after a good solid minute of expletives.

        “You about done?” asked 'doctor' in a calm voice.

        “Yeah, I think so” responded the foul-mouthed one while attempting to catch his breath. “Anyways, what the fuck were you thinking?!?! Dashing off to be some kind'a hero, while you knew we had a mission to complete!! And after I ordered you to make absolutely NO contact with the locals!! If the admiral's gonna have my ass on a plater, he's gonna want to mount yours on the wall of his office!!” Twilight had no idea how donkeys fit into this, but she could tell this one was in charge and that he was definitely not happy to see her.

'Wait....what did he mean by locals'

        “Well, you've left me with no other choice, doctor. Ramirez! Prepare to terminate the alien!” Twilight's eyes widened in shock, not only from the implications of him calling her an alien, but also from the fact that her apparent 'saviours' were about to kill her. One of the other creatures raised his tube-shaped weapon and pointed it directly at Twilight, but before he could activate it, the one called 'doctor' grabbed it by the barrel and wretched it downwards.

        “If you pull that trigger” he said in a low growl “You'll end up like those rather unfortunate-” he looked down at the worg remains for a moment. “.....wooden...things”

        “Are you threatening my men, doctor?” responded the leader incredulously.

        “Perhaps I am, captain. Do you think I would have gone through all this and then just stand by and watch as you execute an innocent civilian?” He turned to Twilight for a moment. “You are innocent, right?”

        “Uh...yeah” Twilight responded, dumbfounded at the strangeness of the situation and unable to think of a more articulated answer.

        “Do you know what you're doing? Are you really going to throw away your life for this....stranger?” said the one called 'captain', himself somewhat shocked at doctor's actions.

        “What makes you think I have anything to live for!” her saviour laughed. Actually laughed, as if it was the most obvious answer in the world, and finding hilarity in his compatriot's inability to comprehend that fundamental truth.

        “Dear god, you're serious” captain sighed. After a pause, he stated “Stand down.”

        “Captain?” asked the other creature.

        “I said stand down!” The creature lowered his weapon, albeit reluctantly.

        “See? That wasn't so hard” doctor said to them, then turned to her and tried to appear as non-threatening as possible. Which was hard seeing as he was twice the size of her and she had just seen him destroy an entire pack of timber worgs by himself. “Well, um...sorry about that. Bit of a....disagreement there. Don't worry, we're not going to hurt you....well, at least I'm not, and I won't let them hurt you either.” He crouched down in front of her, and Twilight instinctively shied away.

        “Is it...is it the helmet? Don't worry, I can take care of that.” He placed both claws on each side of his head and made an upward twisting motion. For a moment Twilight thought he was actually removing it. With a hiss of steam, he took off what was obviously a helmet, and Twilight's first glimpse of her saviour's visage was an unkempt greyish-white mane. But as she got a good look at what lay underneath the armour, her eyes widened, her breath hitched in her throat, and her heart skipped a beat as out stepped a creature ripped straight from her nightmares.

Literally.