Between Two Worlds

It has been one week since Ethan’s hangover and six days after his meeting with the Griffons. Said meeting which ended pretty well, with a dinner in the royal kitchen. The king and the ambassador of the Griffons were more than pleased to learn that Ethan was omnivorous, and by extension, liked meat. The three of them had an interesting talk about the different kinds of meat and their personals tastes. Finally, after a cup of tea with some blueberry muffins, the two brown half-lions/eagles with wings left the Palace, happy.

Needless to say, Celestia was also pleased. Thanks to his presence and the many things he had in common with the griffins, the prospect of being at war had become impossible. In the best case, the human helped to improve the relation between the two species and was proud of that.

Not even two days after the meeting, Luna and Applejack apologized for their attitude at the contest. Their sincere apologies and the look on their eyes when they say it was more than enough for Ethan to accept to talk to them again. After a few researches with the help of Twilight, the young Gray has found an energy source which could help him to go back on Earth: a bolt of lightning. All he needed was a thin metal rod connected to his GPS and to the plasma engine which will create the wormhole. Fortunately, the weather team has planned a big storm for today.

The writer was running in the streets of the city. He already stopped at Sugarcube Corner, Carousel Boutique, Sweet Apple Acres and Fluttershy’s cottage to say goodbye but none of the mares were present. Stopping in front of Golden Oak Library, he saw a parchment pinned against the door.

‘The Library will remain closed for the next days due to a last minute meeting with the Princesses and all the Elements of Harmony. Please come back later.

Twilight Sparkle’

A heavy sigh escaped his lips. It pained him to not be able say goodbye to the mares.

“Too bad I couldn’t see them one last time… but I can’t wait another scheduled storm to go back on Earth. Time is against me.”

Then, he walked back to the field where his car was. It took him a good fifteen minutes to arrive at destination. Being as organized as the Element of Magic, all his belongings were stored on the backseats, thanks to the trunk which was used to have the major part of the plasma engine. Ethan opened the door of the Skyline and sat on the conductor seat before closing the door. The blue/green screen of his media browser lit up itself, showing some information.

[Beginning of the storm in two minutes and forty-one seconds]

Using his right hand, the ex-soldier began to write and memorize the coordinates of the Earth with the virtual keyboard which appeared on the LCD screen.

[The coordinates have been memorized…departure sequence activated. Objective: Planet Earth]

A smile grew on his face.

He turned on the V6 1500HP and began to drive. At first, Ethan made a few sprints to warm up the motor and the tires. At the moment his computer told him it was time, he decided to stop his car a few kilometers away from Ponyville. Looking at the sky, he saw it was covered in dark grey clouds, ready to unleash the electricity they had in them.

Like when he had his race with Rainbow Dash, the human drived at full speed, near 250 mph. It was at this moment he saw a beam of golden light in the sky, coming from his left. He turned his head in this direction and raised an eyebrow. A few more beams followed after the first one. The frequency with which they appeared on the sky was vaguely familiar for the young man. His brain choose this moment to found the answer: it was a S.O.S coming from Canterlot! Twilight and the others had problems or were in danger!

As quickly as his fingers could move, he replaced the coordinates of the Earth by those of Canterlot. Fortunately, one of the clouds chooses this moment to release a bolt of lightning, right on the car. The second after, a black portal opened and engulfed the Nissan inside, making it reach the speed of light.

A very loud detonation echoed in the city which broke the windows of the houses around the white and golden Castle. A black portal appeared from nowhere, the grey and blue Skyline left it. Then, the portal disappeared.

[Warning! The plasma engine had received heavy damages from the travel. It can’t be used anymore]

“Shit!” swore the human, walking out of the car.

[A large amount of unknown creatures have been detected inside and around the castle. Please proceed with extreme caution]

“That’s what I thought.”

Then, Ethan opened the trunk and took two things from it: P90 and Spas-12. Unfortunately, he only had one magazine for the first and nine rounds for the latter. Rushing inside, he saw that most of the guards were on the ground, unconscious or maybe dead. He continued to sprint until he reached the double doors which separated him from the mares. Strangely, his instinct told him they were closed by magic.

The human took something in his hands, it was beige and rectangular with an inscription on it: C4. He put it against the doors before taking a few steps back. One pressure on his phone and it exploded, leaving a hole. Walking inside with the P90 in his hands and raised, he looked around him to finally see the two Princesses, the Mane Six and Spike in front of him, a few meters away and under a golden bubble. And between the human and the ponies were one or two hundred of strange creatures, covered in black shell with holes, big blue eyes, a horn and wings. One of them was as tall as Celestia but he/she had a long blue mane and his/her eyes were different. They looked like those of a reptile or a snake.

“Well, well, well. What do we have here?” asked the taller creature, female by her voice. “It’s the first time I see something like this. What are you?”

“I could ask you the same question.”

A light laugh escaped her lips.

“Fine. I am Chrysalis, Queen of the Changelings.”

“Major Ethan Gray. Human.”

Strangely, the Queen smiled. The young man didn’t like it at all.

“So, it’s you the strange creature who appeared in Equestria three weeks ago. Interesting, I’m sure I could find something for you to do.”

“Why are you here?” he asked, tightening his grip on his weapon. “What do you want?”

“But, Equestria of course! First, I want this country to feed my childrens and then, conquer the world!”

“Sorry but even if I understand your motives, I can’t let you do this.”

At this moment, he pulled out something from his belt and launched it in the middle of the ‘bug-ponies’ before rushing to the eight mares and one dragon.

“It’s about time you show up Ethan, we need your help!” said Celestia, in a desperate tone. The shield she created around began to break because of the Changelings’ earlier assault.

“The fate of Equestria is in your hands. They’re too powerful, even for me and Luna. Do you understand?”

He perfectly knew what she meant and nodded.

“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of them. Go now!”

The two princesses used the distraction to teleport themselves and the other mares outside the castle. Ethan used the grenade launcher of his P90. The bullet exploded slightly above the front door, sealing himself and the creatures inside. He emptied his magazine on the Changelings who were still blind, thanks to the flash grenade. Then, he threw away the useless gun to take the shotgun in his hands. One detonation, one death. But after nine corpses, he had to do the same thing as with the semi-automatic gun.

At this moment, dozens of changelings entered the throne room.

“Looks like I’ve got more company, let’s have a little fun!”

“You think you can beat us? You’re all alone and nopony can help you. Even Celestia is not strong enough to win against my army!”

Ethan smirked.

“I don’t care. If I can’t defeat all of you, I want to be sure to take as much as possible with me.”

Maybe for the last time of his life, Ethan activated his black and red armor which slowly appeared on his body, finishing by the helmet.

-- A/N: Listen to Guile Theme from Super Street Fighter IV (or FF VI - The decisive battle) for more epicness before reading what's going to happen --

[Check-up...]

[HUD: Enabled]

[Radar: Enabled]

[Thruster: Enabled]

[Tranquilizer dart: Enabled]

[Energy shield: Enabled]

[Assimilation Module: Enabled]

[Missiles: Enabled]

[Ice Module: Enabled]

[Plasma Module: Enabled]

[Electric Module: Enabled]

[Emergency Energy Tank: Waiting]

[All systems are online and functional]

“Let’s finish this!”

Then, the human unsheltered his two guns, one in each hand. The Glock 17 on the left and the energy gun in the other. All the creatures rushed to him. The sound of multiples detonations echoed inside and around the castle. Celestia, Luna and the Mane Six could hear it, even if they were outside the building. Each time it was heard, a changeling died but was quickly replaced by two others.

The young man jumped and rolled on the side, dodging some green magic shots. He pushed a little button on the left side of his Glock 17 and ejected the magazine while firing with his second weapon. The others clips were tied against his left thigh and hip, thanks to a magnet. He moved the gun to it and reloaded.

Thirty-four left, more to go!

One of them charged him. Quickly, he gave it an uppercut, followed by a very powerful kick in the chest. He sent his victim against one of the wall of the room. The others looked at him, very pissed. All this time, the grin never left his face, even if he was the only one to know it, because of his half-opaque red screen.

“There’s no way you can defeat us! Submit or die!” yelled Chrysalis, anger and annoyance in her voice.

He laughed. It was a frank laugh, coming right from the heart.

“There’s one thing you have to know about the humans. We’re the craziest creatures in the universe: if we fight something dangerous, we are stupid enough to prefer die than declare forfeit. Unfortunately, I’m one of them. So, go fuck yourself, you and your minions. Oh….and one more thing: contrary to ponies, humans rarely show mercy to their enemy, even none sometimes.”

“In this case, you’re going to DIE!”

“Ladies first! Come get some!”

Again, the young man with grey hair pulled the trigger of his weapons, hitting his target each time. Changelings fell on the ground, a single bullet right between their big blue eyes.  And those who he couldn’t kill with his guns, Ethan tried to injure them badly, breaking a neck, a wing, a leg or a nose with his legs or elbows. Thanks to the light weight of his exoskeleton, he could move freely, without any restraint and avoid most of the magical blows they sent him. Even if his shield protected him against the projectiles, he didn't want to push his luck too far.

Unfortunately, one of them had the opportunity to kick him behind the right leg, forcing him to kneel down. In a quick move, he put his left hand in his back and fired three rounds. Then, he gave a round-house kick to one of them who tried to stab him in the neck. Some of the 'bug-equines' tried to use his moment of weakness to hit or kill him but only met pieces of metal which flew right on their head or heart.

A single drop of sweat fell down his left cheek. Even if he was a soldier and one of the best, he was only human. Ethan had his limits, like anypony else. But he didn’t care. He knew it was surely his last fight. He was going to die here, and was absolutely not afraid by this fact (or maybe a little). But, whatever could be the cost, Ethan had to take Chrysalis in his fall. The Queen was too dangerous to let her alive.

His second magazine dropped on the floor and, quickly, he reloaded again. Honestly, the writer didn’t know if he could win. He never doubted in his capacities but they were so many. Maybe one thousand…or even more. But he couldn’t give up.

Twenty changelings charged right at him. He aimed and fired.

"Hey Chrysalis! With my balls on your face… I'm sure you'll looks like a turkey."

"How dare you provoke me with such words! You will die when I'll authorize you to do it!"

"Try me."

Then, in perfect sync, all the Changelings present in the throne room charged at him. His eyes widened when he saw how fast they were. Without a single second of hesitation, Ethan activated his thrusters and jumped back to dodge the swarm. He allowed himself to exhale before pulling again the triggers of his guns.

Two of them tried to bit his left leg but he kicked them in the head, sending the duo through a window. Unfortunately, this move was enough to distract him and be used as an opportunity to weaken him. A Changeling flew behind him and restrained his movements.

His mind began to panic at the moment he saw the others catching up. The Major put more energy on his thrusters to harm his foe. The two of them collapsed in the ceiling, making the black bug lose his grip on him.  Finally, all the creatures were on him and the added weight slowly forced the human to land on the red carpet. What worried him next was the level of his energy shield. It lowered quickly, maybe too quickly for him.

There was only one explanation for this: the Changelings were using their magic to feed on his armor energy source! And soon, he’ll be defenseless. Less than two minutes later, which was an eternity for him, all the weapons and equipments he had were disabled. Finally, the dark exoskeleton disappeared. His forehead was covered in sweat, his chest was quickly rising and falling. Ethan was standing with one knee and one foot on the ground. He tried to stood up but couldn’t because of the exhaustion.

Slowly, the bug-ponies made a few steps back to let the human freely took his last breaths. A small smile, which quickly grew into a grin, could be seen on the Queen’s muzzle.

“I was telling the truth when I said you couldn’t win against us but no…. you had to be stubborn and try to save the day.” said the tall Changeling, confidence and pride in her voice while walking to him. “Look at yourself. You may come from another world, have better weapons than us.” At this moment, she stopped a few inches from him and lowered her head at the level of his left ear to whisper the next words. “But in the end, I win. And don’t worry, I’ll take great pleasure to break the minds of the two mares you love before transforming them into broodmares.”

Ethan chooses this moment to lose it. If there was one thing he hated, it was to hear someone…or somepony in this case, threaten his loved one.

The Major plunged a needle where his heart was.

“Emergency systems activated. Emergency Energy Tank activated. Remaining amount of blood: six and a half liters” said a robotic voice, echoing in the room.

He stood up on his legs and directly looked into Chrysalis’ eyes. When she saw the way he looked at her, she couldn’t suppress a shiver. There was a monster behind those eyes. Quickly, he rushed to her, crouched with his left hand forming a fist before jumping to hit her under the chin while turning on himself, delivering a very powerful uppercut  (also named Shoryuken). His first attack was quickly followed by a round-house kick which send his victim against the goldent throne.

Her minions rushed to the human, trying to kill him. A powerful surge of energy surrounded his body and pushed them back. He was again covered by his exoskeleton. Looking around him, Ethan spotted his energy gun, ten meters away from his position.

A sigh escaped his lips.

He couldn’t reach it in time. There was only one thing he could do to save Equestria.

[Self-destruction activated]

Slowly, the different parts of his armor disappeared to from a growing ball in his hands. After ten seconds, his armor was completely compacted into a black sphere with a small screen and a keyboard. He wrote the number: 007 on the screen with the keyboard before pushing the button Enter.

The Queen emerged from under the rumbles and saw the ball. Ethan smirked before launching it at her. The bomb was glued to her chest.

“Payback time, you little bitch. I hope you’ll have a good time in Hell.”

Seeing this, all the bug-ponies rushed to Chrysalis, trying to remove it but it was futile. The young man quickly rushed to the nearest window, hoping to reach it in time. The bomb exploded and Ethan was pushed back by the blast created. He began to fall but, fortunately, his body was covered in gold and teleported just before he could hit the ground.

Ending Theme

He reappeared with his back against the left side of his car. The writer watched the throne room disappear in front of him. A sigh of relief escaped his lips. It was over.

The sound of hoofsteps reached his ears.

"Is Chrysalis dead?" asked the white ruler.

He nodded, not even making the effort to look in her direction.

"The bomb was glued to her torso, it's impossible she could have survived to something like this, even with her magic."

"Thank you. It’s what I needed to hear. Ethan, we, ponies of Equestria, are in your debt. I would be honored to..."

"Oh no ma'am, I prefer to do things my own way."

Celestia laughed.

"You thought I wanted you in our army? No, I'd like to make you an Equestrian citizen."

"I see. Thanks for the offer but I think it's a little too late." replied the young man, before coughing blood.

The white Pegasus with horn smiled sadly.

"Is it time, Ethan?"

He returned her smile, joy in his eyes.

"Yes. Yes, it is."

“Why?”

“My armor has an emergency system which can only be activated at my will. Unfortunately, and thanks to the Changelings, the energy tank was empty so…I needed another energy source to make my suit appear. This source was my blood. I used it to initiate the self-destruct mode and it aggravated the progress of my disease.”

Weakly, the Major put his hand in a pocket, inside his jacket, and took its content before giving it to the ruler. The latter opened the letter with her magic.

"Read it out loud, they have the right to know."

At each word, the tone of his voice weakened.

Dear Princess Celestia,

Today, I…, ‘she could see a few drops of ink on the parchment, seeing that he was searching the right words to write’,...Today, I learned a lot of things. I learned to open my heart and talk freely about what I feel or think. Because if I hide those kinds of things to my friends, I could hurt their feelings. And in the end, I could lose their trust. I already did it in the past and I think I learned my lesson. I already know about friendship and love but here….it’s different. I mean, I know it sounds silly but it was easier to speak with Twilight, her friends, you and Luna than with those I frequented on Earth. I could talk a lot of thing with them more naturally than with the others humans. Maybe in another life I belonged to Equestria, who know?

To be honest, if I wasn’t dying, I would have stayed for the rest of my life with all of you, in Equis. But I wanted to see again my old friends before facing the death. Especially Ian, my mentor, to thank him for everything he did for me. For being the paternal figure I never had. And my best buddy, Anthony, for his crude and dirty jokes...I almost died of laugh a few times because of it. I also use this letter as a testament to give some…gifts to my friends: my books belong to Twilight, I hope she'll like them. My IPod which contain all the songs I have is for Vinyl, Applejack and Luna have my sketchbook and half of my jewels. Rarity can add my spare clothes in her wardrobes. Rainbow Dash will be happy to possess my car. I give the other half of my jewels (which are in the truck of the Skyline) to Fluttershy, she can sell it to have the necessary bits for feeding her animals. Unfortunately, I don’t have anything physical for Spike or even you Celestia but…I forgive you for everything you did.

You have my friendship and a special place in my heart for the rest of eternity. I have one last, silly thing, to write but…Friendship is Magic. It always was and will always be.

I’m sure it's only a goodbye.

Your faithful human and friend, Ethan Alexander Gray

At the end of the letter, the tall white mare was crying. She didn't care anymore about her image as a kind but distant and emotionless ruler. When she lowered her head to him, she saw his smile was still here and his eyes were closed.

"Ethan?" asked Celestia.

No response.

She knew he was not with them anymore. Luna tried to make a step forward but her older sister stopped her, shaking her head. The others ponies who were with them began to look away. Lulu and Applejack were in each other arms, freely crying the death of their lover. Tia walked to them and opened her wings to wrap them in it, as a gesture to comfort them.

"Don't worry, I'm sure everything will just be fine." she whispered to her little sister and the orange pony while looking at the magnificent twilight, with the lowering sun and rose-red clouds.

Using her magic, Celestia opened the car and took a white book which was on the passenger seat. It was written: 'Sketchbook' on the cover. Without a word and still using her magic, the Sun Goddess looked at the drawings. Seeing this, the others mares and the drake walked to her side, also watching. Every one of them was on it, caught in their best behavior by his eyes.

Then, a last picture appeared on the sketchbook. It was showing him, wearing his black and red armor with his energy gun in his right hand, his helmet between his arm and right side and his left hand up, at the level of his torso, in a sign of 'thumb up' and with a smile on his face. Something was written under the drawing:

"See you next time!"

Despite their sadness, the Mane Six and the two rulers smiled at this. Even if Ethan said it now belonged to Applejack and Luna, it was for all of them, to keep a part of him in their hearts, as a last gift.

The End.