A.N. Alright. This will be one of the ideas for this story that I can't get out of my head. There will be easter eggs, allusions and some slight crossing over, but not enough to make this a crossover story. I'm hoping that It will stop bugging me if I write it down. Anyway read and review and no hate mail please. I don't need anymore stress.
Alastair hated his life. Or non life. Well what would you call it if no one was aware of your existence? He was erased. No one even recognised him. Not since he had figured out how to mess with the coding of existence. Everything had a value. It wasn't something that he had known at the time, but he had learned. Unfortunately, he had removed himself from the fabric of reality. There were many other world where he could go to. Different realities, and worlds that spawned into existence when others thought of them. Imagination was a powerful thing. Books, movies, video games. People painstakingly built up these worlds and gave them rules, but they could never understand or expect them to actually form into alternate worlds.
Alastair had visited many worlds, and had lived in this non-existence for a long time. Some places had different time schemes, others didn't have time functioning the same way. Like that one where everyone lived in a constant loop. Others each day passed without change. No one aged past a certain age, but there were ways that the world kept things in check. No world was the same, but others were so exceedingly similar, that they'd group together, or even have bridges across to the nearby worlds.
Alastair had gained from his mess up. He knew world coding, and had met the beings that resided in the seams between worlds. He was able to "Hack" his own coding to give himself abilities and made specific programs that he could run with a codeword. All in all, the only problem was loneliness. The only one who had it worse was that weird melty skeleton that was imprisoned between the seams of the worlds and his own.
Alastair had long since given up on staying on a world. The world's "Anti-virus" if you will, would always boot him out eventually. There were beings that could jump to other worlds like the pair of hands that worked with many different worlds, but they were still bound to their specific world to an extent. Alastair had no world. He was practically a glorified firewall because he had to remove demons from worlds. They were random, though one seemed to prefer the central reality.
Suddenly a pulse shot through the seams. Alastair felt the presence of the worst one of the demons. Practically a dimensional computer virus, it would bind to worlds and change their coding. It was almost like the embodiment of all the problems with technology and it seemed like it was always looking for perverted fuckery to create.
"Oh no you fucking don't you son of a bitch," Alastair said as he gave chase. The demon simply called itself Virus and seemed to be composed of multiple consciences. It jumped from world to world. Using the seams as conduits tearing holes between worlds to help increase it's speed. Alastair shot through the seams after it, running patchwork programs onto the holes to repair them. Because of the lack of specific rules because of it's lack of existence, almost anything could and would happen. This included gravity being on or off, ability to fly and even teleportation to an extent.
Alastair finally caught up to Virus as they were passing by a world that Alastair hadn't paid attention to before.
"Import scout rifle; target Alastair; run program," Alastair said. Almost instantly, the gun materialised in his hand. Virus stopped and Alastair got a look at him. It was always disgusting, but this time was horrid. Virus was a mass of tendrils colored black and purple. Several thrashed around and in the center was a small screen that had flashing code running across it. Tendrils lashed out at Alastair as a speech bubble appeared on the screen.
"Why do you torment me so?" Virus asked.
"Because you fucking destroy everything!" Alastair called back as he began to blast the tendrils as thicker tentacles began to lash. Alastair saw the speech bubble pop back up.
"I do not destroy. I simply repurpose and inhabit," it said.
"You're a parasite," Alastair argued. A tendril snagged the gun in his hands and he teleported away. "Import scythe; target Alastair; run program." A scythe materialised a bit more slowly than the rifle, but it's size made up for it. Alastair immediately reengaged the mass of disgusting that was his foe. He sliced tentacles and the screen began to show a buffering symbol. The tentacles withdrew as the tendrils spasmed jerkily. Alastair flew towards the screen and raised the scythe. Suddenly a tentacle lashed around him and stopped his movements. The buffering sign was replaced with a smiling emoji and then a speech bubble.
"I am much faster than you think. A computer such as I will never fall to you," Virus said in the monotone of computers. Suddenly the two were racing towards the planet. "I suppose this world is as good as any." It whipped the tentacle around and threw Alastair down through the seam and into the world. It quickly followed.
Alastair was hating his non-life. He needed to remove Virus before he entered the world, or he could begin changing the very life code to support himself.
"Import sniper rifle; target Alastair; run program", he said as the requested item appeared in his hands. He looked through the scope and fired again and again, quickly going through the magazine. Virus blocked each bullet with a tendril and before Alastair could reload, crossed over from the seam and into the world. Alastair could only watch in aggravation as Virus blinked out of sight as the villain used the world's coding to transport to another location. Alastair turned towards the ground to see it much closer than he would have liked. Alastair groaned. "Shit!"
Alastair carefully stood up. The fall hadn't hurt as much as it should have, because he was still integrating into the world from the seam. From what he could tell, he would just have a few bruises. As he looked himself over, he gave a quick check as to how he looked. While in the seam, most didn't have tangible forms, and the ones that did were rather undetailed. At best, they would look like blurred figure. It made interactions with others hard to accomplish as they would need to leave the seam to actively communicate.
Alastair was above average in height at five feet eleven inches. He was toned, but still rather thin. His dark brown hair was messy and and while not very long, reached down to his neck. His bright blue eyes quickly scanned the area. He was wearing a long black coat that reached down to his knees. Underneath, he wore a deep red shirt and a pair of jeans. A black belt circled his waist and held two sheaths for knives on each side. His footwear was a pair of sturdy leather boots.
"Import shotgun; target Alastair; run program," he said as he took in his surroundings. He put the gun into a sheath on his back not once taking his eyes of the forest around him. "Import handguns; target Alastair; run program," he said as he carefully checked the ground for tracks. He was ambidextrous with his shooting and could use a gun in either hand. The forest was silent and that was the problem. When nature was silent, it meant a predator was nearby. Alastair's thick coat would protect him from a lot, but it didn't protect his face, hands, or much of his legs.
"Where are you?" He asked himself as he kept his weapons ready. He walked through the forest on alert which was probably the only reason he lived. A growl erupted behind him and a weight slammed into his back. Alastair rolled and turned to see a wolfish creature that appeared to be completely made of wood. Alastair wasted no time and pulled the trigger. Splinters shot out as the bullet punctured the wood near the creature's eye. It dropped dead and Alastair turned to see many others of the wolves stalking him. His eye twitched. He really didn't have time for this. He needed to track down Virus before he attached to the world code. The wolves attacked and Alastair began to battle. He began to shoot each wolf that came close, shattering the wood that they were made of. One leaped at him and he slapped it to the ground before shooting it in the head. Little by little, he was being surrounded and Alastair did not like it.
A wolf bit his leg and Alastair cried out in pain before shooting the wolf's head clean off. He grimaced at the blood running down his leg and began the failing battle once more. More and more of the wolves died and Alastair was conscious of the rapidly dropping amount of ammunition he had in the handguns. Finally, it happened as the gun no longer fired. Roaring in outrage Alastair threw the guns at the wolves before pulling out his shotgun. He clubbed a wolf with the stock of the gun and began to run. Every now and again, he would turn and fire into the pack, bringing more wolves down with each blast. A wolf got to close and leaped at him. Alastair was forced to roll to avoid the creature before finding himself surrounded again. He blasted the shotgun again and another wolf fell. The remaining wolves were hesitating as they had lost a great deal of their pack. Alastair idly wondered if wooden wolves could be called timber wolves before taking another shot at the group. Two more fell and the rest began to retreat. As the wolves retreated, Alastair felt the adrenaline running out and began to hobble away with the shotgun used as a cane.
To his surprise there was an orange horse with a cowboy hat on it's head. He stopped to look at it and momentarily forgot the danger.
"Look out!" The horse called to his surprise and he turned to see a wolf having leaped at his unprotected back. He barely lifted the shotgun before he was slammed to the ground. The shotgun against the beast's neck was the only thing holding the snapping jaws from his face. Alastair rolled and held the beast down with his knee before shoving the barrel of the shotgun into it's mouth and pulling the trigger. The beast's head exploded and pieces of debris flew through the air. Alastair felt a pain in his chest and saw a large piece lodged in his chest. Several gashes in his chest from the wolf also decorated him.
"Oh dear Celestia!" The orange horse said and Alastair recognised it as a female. "C'mon. I'll help yah." She quickly came over and helped him to stand. He turned to look at the horse and saw that she was much to small to be a horse, maybe a pony. She had a blonde mane and tail and both were tied back. Her bright green eyes were filled with worry and on her flank she had an image of three red apples.
"Fucking perfect. I better be hallucinating," Alastair grumbled. Loss of blood was making him dizzy. The two walked through the forest, though Alastair wasn't sure how long it took. He tried to focus and saw what looked like a farm. He wasn't sure, but that was what it looked like. He stumbled and the pony helped him back up. Darkness began to creep around his vision and he found he could hold himself up no longer. Alastair collapsed and fell into unconsciousness
Alastair groaned. His head was pounding and his vision was gradually returning.
"Oh!" a voice exclaimed. "He's waking up!" Alastair heard movements and murmuring around him. As his vision returned he found himself looking up at the ceiling of a hospital, complete with curtains and the like. He carefully sat up and groaned at the pain. He turned to see several faces peering at him. They seemed to be the same kind of pony as the one that he saw before.
"Oh creators above," he moaned. "I was hoping that was a hallucination!" He looked again and they were still there. There was the orange pony from before and next to her was a bright pink pony with a thick frizzy mane and bright blue eyes that accompanied a huge grin.
"Hey there!" the pink pony said suddenly. Alastair jumped. "I'm Pinkie Pie! What's your name?"
"Don't scare the poor dear!" Alastair turned to see a white pony with a purple curled mane, and deep blue eyes. And on her head there was a horn?!
"What the hell?!" Alastair shouted. "Where am I? What world is this?"
"What do ya mean?" Another voice piped up. Alastair looked up to see a bright blue pony with wings, red eyes, and a mane with every color of the rainbow.
"That's it," Alastair groaned. "I'm going crazy. Only explanation."
"Why would you assume that?" Another pony asked. This one had a horn too. It's fur and eyes were purple and her mane was an even darker purple with a streak of pink running through it. Alastair simply looked around dejectedly and saw two other ponies. One was yellow with pink hair and blueish green eyes, and wings folded against her back.
"Where the hell am I?" Alastair asked before looking down to see himself completely naked except for a sheet. "And what the fuck did you do to my clothes?"
"Well how do you expect for you to get treated with all that material in the way?" He heard one say.
"Alright fine. But before anything else, who the fuck are you? And why are you all ponies?" Alastair replied.
"Oh!" The pink one said while bouncing up and down. "Pick me! I know their names!" She proceeded without waiting for Alastair's answer. "I'm Pinkie Pie, the orange one's Applejack, the white one's Rarity, the purple one's Twilight Sparkle, the yellow one's Fluttershy, and the blue one's Rainbow Dash!" She finished with a huge grin. "Oh! You're in ponyville in the country of Equestria!" Alastair was still trying to match up ponies with names and the names had taken him off guard.
"Oh you're awake!" a new pony walked in and said. This pony was white with a pink mane that was pulled back into a bun. She wore a nurse's cap and had blue eyes to go with it. "It's about time. You've been out for a long time. I'll just need you to sign this medical report and you'll be free to go."
"How will I pay you? I don't have any of your currency," Alastair asked.
"You don't need to," the nurse replied. "There is no cost for medical assistance. It's paid by the country."
"Seems expensive," Alastair. "How does that, no never mind. Do I sign with my full name?" The nurse nodded. Alastair was conflicted. He hadn't had to use his name before as Alastair was more of a title that was given to him. Finally he signed with a mix of that and his old name. Samuel Alastair Myrrh.
"Well Mr…." the nurse trailed off as she looked at the signature in confusion.
"Myrrh," Alastair supplied.
"Myrrh," she repeated. "You're clear to leave." She turned and began to leave.
"Umm, where are my clothes?"
"They're on their way to be discarded. We had to cut them away to treat you," she said.
"No!" Alastair shouted. "I need those! Where are they?"
"I'll get them," the nurse said as her ears laid back as she shied away from his outburst. She quickly left and the ponies looked at him with confusion.
"Why would you need those distasteful shreds?" Rarity asked. "They can't have any use can they?"
"Why would you give a shit?" Alastair snarled. "Maybe you shouldn't fucking assume!" Rarity stepped back at his vehemence and the others winced.
"Here they are," the nurse said. "I don't know how but…" the clothes were there completely intact. Alastair snatched them away and quickly checked to make sure he had everything. He relaxed slightly as he found that everything was there. Even the things in his pockets were still there. He looked up and saw everyone staring at him.
"They're made to repair themselves. Now get the fuck out so I can get dressed," Alastair growled. They winced but left. He quickly pulled on his boxers and checked the bandaging all around his chest and leg.
"Damage analysis; run program," he monotoned and pulled out a smart phone from his pocket. Those in reality were smart, and this was a very useful device that allowed him to write coding directly. He glanced at the diagram of his body. There were multiple lacerations on his chest, several going very deep. There was also a deep wound in his leg from the bite. He pulled up another diagram. This one had five points labeled strength, speed, recovery, resistance, and jump. The points formed a pentagon and inside it was another pentagon. This one was about half the size and was filled with a deep red.
"Allocate power to recovery from strength and jump," Alastair commanded. The pentagon became distorted pointing more towards the recovery point and shrinking away from the other two. Alastair felt his wounds healing quickly. The sensation was uncomfortable, like spiders crawling all over him, but it was manageable. He felt his wounds knit themselves up and stretched. He unwrapped his chest and leg and noticed the new scars. He sighed as he counted up his numerous scars again. This was why he hated being confined in the worlds.
"Revert to standard stats," the pentagon reformed. He stretched and pulled on his other clothes, but keeping the coat held in his hand. His weapons would have dissipated because they weren't from this world, but it would be manageable. He stepped out and saw the same six from before all conversing. He wasn't sure how he felt getting free treatment, but it was over and done, so he would just pay it back later.
"Here are these back," Alastair said before handing the bandages back to the nurse. The nurse looked at him in alarm. "Don't worry, I'm all healed."
"How'd you do that?" Rainbow dash asked.
"None of your damn buisness," Alastair growled.
"Hey!" Rainbow shouted indignantly.
"Don't bother me," Alastair said before walking away. "I've got more important things to do."
"Like what?" Rainbow asked.
"Nothing you would even come close to comprehending," Alastair said coldly. He walked out into bright sunlight and saw ponies all around. They were of all different colors and he noticed that some had horns or wings, but all of them had strange pictures on their flanks. Alastair was surprised that he hadn't noticed them before. He shrugged and continued on. Finally he came to a bridge and stopped at the top. The land was nice, but it almost looked like it was out of a kids show. Too many bright colors to be natural. Still it was peaceful and that was all the more reason to find Virus before he started changing things. Alastair pulled the phone out of his pocket. He had made a few changes to it in the seam, and he wondered if it would work.
"Size up," he commanded. In front of him a blue holographic screen about the size of a large computer screen blinked into existence. "Duplicate," he commanded again. Immediately another formed. "Open world edit keypad," he said. A keyboard like on a computer flashed into existence but it had many more keys than usual, some having special symbols. Quickly he accessed the coding and looked through it. A world's code was filled with specific programs that outlined effects like gravity or even something as simple as an insect. Each object had it's own coding and so to actually going through it would take a long time.
"Search for inconsistencies," Alastair said. None showed up. Alastair eyed his battery life. It was draining to use this for too long, and if it ran out of power, he'd have no way to find Virus. He pulled up his universal money. If he was going to stay here, he'd need to transfer some funds to their money. He looked up the rates.
"At least the rates are consistent," he commented. "How much should I transfer? It'll take up a lot of power. Eh, twenty bits should be enough for now." The funds began to transfer directly into his pocket. He looked at the battery power again. It had dropped very quickly. "Damn," he rubbed the back of his head absently. "Set command; search for inconsistencies. If found, alert me immediately; end command."
"Who you talking to?" a happy voice suddenly asked. Alastair jumped. He turned to see Pinkie pie with a huge grin.
"Just the computer," he answered. "Why the hell are you here?"
"Well I was going to ask you where you were staying." She asked. "But what's a computer?"
"I've got no clue," he answered with suspicion while completely ignoring her second question. "And I wouldn't tell you even if I did know."
"Wellllllllllll," she said with a huge smile as she began to hop in place. "There's a hotel you could stay at! But I'm sure anypony would lend you a room!"
"Nope!" Alastair answered quickly. "I don't take favors. Just where is this hotel?"
"I'll show you!" She said all too happily.
"No thanks. Just directions," he quickly said, not wanting to spend any more time with this pony than absolutely necessary.
"Okie dokie!" she said. "It's just down the street on the right!" Alastair began to walk that way and found her following him.
"Can you not?" he asked. She didn't answer. "Okay, I tried to be nice, but obviously that isn't working so I'll reiterate my answer. Fucking go away!" She looked hurt for all of one second before perking back up.
"Okay!" She said. "I'll just see you later!" She then speed away in a way that Alastair couldn't possibly come to understand. Finally he shook his head and began to walk away.
The hotel was small, but that was to be expected in such a small town. There was a sign that was outside with the rates. Ten bits a night.
"Holy shit!" he cursed. "Fuck that!" He walked away fuming. He only had twenty bits. He'd need a job to even get anywhere in this town. He had enough money for food for a little bit. But who would even hire him? Plus it would just slow him down on his search. His stomach growled and he winced. He doubted that anyplace would sell meat. These were ponies after all. Having no idea where to go, he walked into the market to see if there was anything he could by for food.
Almost immediately he noticed ponies staring at him. His face hardened. It was something he would get used to. Most worlds at least had humans, so he didn't have to deal with it. The stares were annoying.
"Hey!" He called out. "It's not nice to fucking stare!" The stares went away though they did glance back at him. He walked up to a stall with many different foods, though all of them seemed to be apple. A huge red pony was behind the stall and he didn't seem to care about how he wasn't a pony.
"Is apple all you sell?" Alastair asked sarcastically.
"Eeyup," the pony replied.
"Hmmm. How much for the pie?"
"Two bits."
"Done," he slid over the bits and took the pie. The pie smelled delicious. He walked down the street while wondering how he'd eat the pie. He doubted they had silverware. Finally he found himself in an open grassy area where there seemed to be some picnic tables. He sat down and drew one of his knives. Cutting the pie and then eating the pie with his hands proved to be very messy. Though this was a bit of a hinderance, the pie tasted delicious all the same.
He pulled out his phone again and checked the programs. The integration into this world had gone without a hitch, though it was unlikely that the rest of the time would be the same. He checked the coding changes that had been implemented on his body and was pleased to see that they had all stayed in effect, though his attributes had been reduced to base power again. It was usual when he came to a new world.
As the sky began to darken, Alastair looked round for any outcropping or place to lie under. Finally, he decided to just lay on the bank under the bridge. He wouldn't fall in the stream, but would still have some cover if it started to rain. He laid down and quickly fell asleep.
A.N. Don't expect me to update regularly. I have other things to do as well as another fanfiction. Anyway, new chapter sometime later.