I lurched up in my bed, fingers grasping for the pistol that wasn't there. I could feel adrenaline pumping through my veins, and a strange feeling of cold washed over me. I took a deep breath and held it for a moment. My memories swirled around in my head, the most recent just finishing its course. Not the first time I had a nightmare...

I rolled off the bed and took a quick glance at the clock on the wall. Five-thirty. Not too bad, seven hours of restful sleep... except for the dreams. Regardless, I needed to do something...

I rubbed my eyes for a moment, clearing my mind. Who would be awake this early in the morning, it was, after all, a little too early for most people. Wasn't there some sort of military here...?

v^V^v

The military barracks weren't hard to find, as at almost every single corner, there was a guard or two. I was on my way there now, awake and ready for action. In my line of work, being in and staying in top condition was a priority. I guess old habits die hard... they've survived even four billion years. My armor was back on my body, and my adaptive helmet, more of a cowl or hood, really, was attached to my neck, hanging backwards as a hood would.

I exited through a door into a sort of courtyard. A rush of cold air brushed past me, and with it, an overpowering but familiar scent. Good, I was in the right place.

I jogged down towards where a group of ponies stood aligned at what I could only call attention, their backs to me. A voice was addressing them from the far side, and it sounded somewhat familiar. The voice began detailing the drills for the day, and I began to move. Passing between the guards and drawing a few looks, I made my way towards the head of the rows, hoping to find their officer. He might be slightly annoyed to see me here, but I'm fairly certain he would be mostly accepting...

I finally reached the front, and a relatively surprised Shining Armor paused his lecture for a moment. He tensed up, and his brows furrowed, but after a moment, he relaxed once more.

"I figured you would end up here, Virus." He said the name with as much disgust as he could manage, but compared to what we could do back on Earth, it was nothing. "It seems like a soldier can't stay away from the field."

"Yup. I hope your leg's doing better. You wouldn't want to fall on it again." I raised a pair of fingers and made a pair of quotation marks in the air, and his brows furrowed again. "I'm here to get some exercise, habit and training, you know." I spoke nonchalantly, my tone bright and pleasant, regardless of the bad blood between us.

"Oh really...?" He spoke for a moment, and then stopped, thinking. "How about some sparring? I'm sure some of my troops would love to test themselves against a new opponent, not to mention a highly trained one..."

This game, really? It's going to be like an old Bruce Lee movie. The guy would beat the daylights out of ever single one of the bad guys minions and henchmen, then finally turn around and beat the crap out of the villain. Oh well, it'll be fun.

"Sure, why not. I could use the practice, if I'm going to be stuck here. What are the RoE's?"

His face lit up with a malicious grin. "Knockout, try not to break anything, but sometimes, you just can't help it, right?"

I smiled back at him. "Of course. Shall we start?"

With a wave of his good leg, Shining Armor's troops split and surrounded us. He backed away, reaching the edge of the gap, and called out to his troops. "Alright guards, which one of you wants to try out the old-Biped first?" I saw quite a few eyebrows raise and eyes widen. Apparently they knew what old-Bipeds are...

A few moments passed, and not a single guard stepped forward. Shining Armor's smile began to seem quite forced.

"Alright, whoever volunteers can take a day off after today." Some hooves shot up into the air, evidently ponies eager to not have to work. Laziness knows no bounds.

The first pony stepped up. He was a burly pegasus stallion, probably one of the more brute-force types. I began considering the possibilities.

How can he attack? He has wings, so his flanks won't be entirely unprotected. He can probably fly, and that means add a little force to body-based hits, using his wings to propel himself. His hooves are bludgeons, wings can, for lack of a better term, buffet me, and other than that, he can use them to trip and poke.

He snorted once, and pawed the ground with his right forehoof. His wings unfolded slightly, preparing themselves for use.

He's about to attack, the classic animal body language of breath intake and higher breathing rate, alongside the tensing of the wings and the pawing of the ground... if I can take him off balance, the wings will try to compensate, not his hooves. He'll try to pull back and away, not down and roll. He's a quadruped, meaning if I get above him, I can avoid most hits.

The pair us were standing about ten feet away from each other. Not very far, but not close enough to lunge from a standstill. I stepped forwards once, and then sprung up off my right foot, jumping towards him.

The pegasus reared up onto two legs and his wings flared out, keeping him balanced. I brought my foot around in mid-air, swinging at his head. As expected, he blocked the kick with his foreleg, one wing pushing to the opposing side. The resulting impact was not only a block but also a deflection and a hit packed into one. Not bad.

Landing back on my feet, I grabbed his forelegs and dropped to my back, extending my leg out from underneath me. As I pulled his body down, I slammed my foot into his rib cage. His body braced on my leg, and I continued the roll, pulling his forelegs down. As he hit the ground, he staggered and swung one of his legs. I was already moving. I rolled out from underneath him, knocking aside one of his hind legs, and sprung to my feet as he fell onto two knees. I charged him, lowering my shoulder and tucking in my head. I felt a whoosh of air and the slap of a wing against me, but I didn't stop. My shoulder rammed into something thin and I heard a satisfying *crack*. Pushing the pegasus to the ground, I stepped back for a moment. The pegasus's wing left wing lay at an unnatural angle, and he was trying once more to get back up. Shining Armor said knockout, right?

I stepped back twice, and then charged towards the downed pegasus again. He tried to lift his head, but it was in vain. Just as he looked up, I stepped off my left foot. My other boot rocketed towards his head, and he could do nothing to stop the solid thunk that came after. He was out cold.

I unfocused from the downed pegasus and looked around once at the crowd. They were all standing silently, shocked at my brutality. That seemed to be a pattern.

"What? He said until knockout... by the way, you may want to call a medic or something." Even Shining Armor looked annoyed. Apparently after I dislocated and broke his foreleg, he still thinks his ponies can win.

"Anyone else want to have a go? I'm sure you might actually be able to land a hit or two." I laughed at their lack of reaction. Apparently these guards are the best of the best...

My taunting was interrupted by a messenger pony, a pegasus. He handed, or hoofed, a letter to the captain, and then hurried off. Shining Armor opened it without hesitation, and he scanned it over once. "It's for you. The archaeologists want you to help them with some stuff." He passed it over.

To Virus,

As a member of the very civilization we are researching, it would be spectacular and more than optimal if you were to assist us in the excavation, retrieval, and analysis of several artifacts we have located inside the cavern where you were originally found.

Please meet us in front of the Castle at 9:00 A.M. sharp if you wish to join us. We are hoping you accept.

Author's Note

I got old-Bipeds from the Geth name for the Reapers.