Fluttershy may need to step up now
Raiden woke up in his room later, he was outside his Cyber Suit and back as a normal person.
"Damn, what happened, last thing I remember was-"
"Raiden!" Fluttershy happened to be next to Raiden and she greeted him with a light hug, "I'm glad you're ok"
Raiden looked surprised, "What happened?"
"Liquid attacked you and left you for dead", Fluttershy explained.
"Damn...I though I could take him with my cyber body...hey where is it? Was it removed?"
"Yeah, they used that machine, how does that machine work anyway?"
"It was made by a man who refers to himself as Doktor, it allows my body to become Cyber for missions, and when I'm taking a break, I use it to get back into a more human body, looks like they switched me in my unconsciousness"
Fluttershy kept the embrace, "I like you this way, easier to hug you, and when I press my ear against your chest, I can heart your heartbeat...it's very soothing"
Raiden returned the embrace, "I'll admit, it's better hugging you with just my regular body, I feel you better, plus somehow I can even feel the kindness radiating off you"
Fluttershy giggled, You can hug me anytime you want for as long as you want, I can stay in your arms forever"
Raiden cracked a light smile, "You're cute when you get all sappy"
"You're cute when I do this", Fluttershy kissed his cheek, causing a blush from Raiden and causing him to turn his head away.
"Come on Fluttershy, this is a bit weird for me"
"Yeah, I know it is", Fluttershy gave a sly smile to Raiden.
Raiden raised his eyebrow, "You're pretty evil sometimes"
Fluttershy giggled, "I guess I learned a thing or two from Discord"
"The chaos guy? Yeah I think you have"
Fluttershy looked into his eyes, "For the record, I still have a crush on you"
Raiden smiled awkwardly, "That's nice..."
Fluttershy just smiled at him some more with a satisfied face.
Soon a whole had passed by since Fluttershy's arrival, since then they've had one other mission, a brief infiltration, only with Snake, Raiden & Fluttershy, and instead of having to fight, they just needed to sneak in and take pictures of some documents enlisting of plans Liquid had.
Fluttershy handled herself well, though she didn't have to do much, other than maybe alert Snake or Raiden of an enemy, there were minimal enemy casualties.
Also during those two weeks Fluttershy had continued her combat training, mainly her CQC, she had taken to it well, she was able to use it during her mission with Snake & Raiden, though they were slightly annoyed at her constant apologizing to any enemy she hurt.
Soon came the day where it was decided that Fluttershy needs to learn weapons training, but despite her protests, her near death experience with a soldier had encouraged Snake & Raiden to believe some weapons training couldn't hurt, hopefully she never needed to use it but it's a nice back up to have.
Fluttershy entered the training area, wearing her vest, but very nervous.
"I still don't know if I want to do this, I don't want to really hurt anyone"
"No one wants to, but sometimes it's better to know this stuff, even if it's a last resort", Snake said.
"Yeah, it's no different than doing a fire drill or something, it's good to know but hopefully you never have to use it", Raiden said.
"Kinda weird to prepare a fire drill that's taught in schools to a life or death situation like this", Akiba said.
Raiden face palmed, "First off, Fire drills are life and death situations too, if you don't know how to deal with a fire, you could die from the fire, and second, since she's in a battlefield now, a solider, that she chose to be, she needs to learn the weapons, hopefully she never needs to kill anyone, but if anything, she can just carry around a tranquilizer or something"
"If you say so, I still don't think she should be using weapons, she's WAY too cute to be using weapons, she needs to stay our world peace mascot", Akiba said.
"World peace isn't that much of an option anymore, at least not now, first we deal with Liquid", Raiden said and turned to Fluttershy, "Now you have no experience with weapons correct?"
"Yes...well once I jousted with my friend Rainbow Dash...but I got scared during the joust and I lost pretty badly", Fluttershy answered.
"Joust? Wait she didn't stab you did she?" Raiden asked, obviously concerned.
"No, it wasn't a real sword, it had a ballpoint at the end, and we had armor so I wasn't hurt...well not that much"
"Why were you jousting anyway?" Akiba asked.
"To make other ponies happy and get their minds off King Sombra, this was when we first encountered him and not the more recent encounter", Fluttershy said.
"Well it's something, let's get started then", Snake said.
Fluttershy was given a handgun, "I took your lack of fingers into account and had Otacon modify the gun so you can shoot it with your hooves"
Fluttershy nodded and aimed the gun at a target bulls eye that was set up.
"Fire!" Snake ordered.
She fired the gun once and dropped it, the loud bang plus the recoil startled her.
"Careful with that", Snake said.
Fluttershy nodded and grabbed the weapon again, she fired again, and stopped, making sure she could get used to the sound and then aimed at the bull's eye.
She fired at it, but didn't do too well, barely hitting anything.
"Looks like you'll need a lot of practice", Snake said.
The next few hours were spent on Fluttershy practicing several weapons, from handguns, to shotguns, to machine guns, and then with knives and such.
Fluttershy started improving over time and also took time to polish up her CQC skills, slowly Fluttershy was becoming a solider, but she maintained her cheerful personality for the most part, mostly thanks to Raiden, who always made sure to remind Fluttershy on things that keep her cheery, Raiden didn't want Fluttershy to become completley devoid of emotion.
Two days after a training event, another mission was called into; Snake, Raiden, Meryl & Fluttershy had to do a group invasion of a place from previous plans shown from Liquid.
They were taken to the spot by Drebin, once they left the van Snake started making plans.
"Ok, we need to stay together for this part, we're gonna sneak through the area until we get deep enough, then we gotta grab the info Otacon needs"
"The ones about REX?" Raiden asked.
"Exactly, we need to see how different this REX design might be than before, a few days ago some of Mei Ling's soldiers infiltrated this place, right before thet were wiped out they did send some info that gives us belief that REX had some development here before being shipped to a different base"
"Sounds good, you ready Fluttershy?" Raiden asked.
Fluttershy had just put on a bandana similar to the one Snake uses, "Yeah, I'm ready!"
Fluttershy had her vest as well, and was carrying an M4 Rifle on her back, as well as a combat knife on her shoulder & an M9 Tranquilizer on her side leg.
"Remember, try to avoid combat, until we get in deep enough, otherwise it's gonna be a harder fight", Snake said.
He then started leading the group through the base, first they had to go through a courtyard, Snake would scout an area to make sure it's clear, then instructed the others to follow.
Fluttershy also did her part, getting a nice bird's eye view and pointing out areas they can go to.
Soon they were inside a building and started sneaking around the halls.
They quickly entered an office area to some useful information.
After rummaging through some drawers, Meryl found something useful.
"Hey check this out, this talks about the Metal Gear stuff"
The others checked out the Documents, talking about REX and some info they did in the hangers.
"Good, we head there, grab the info and we leave, hopefully find the place Liquid's at and put an end to this", Snake said.
They all moved until they found a staircase and started heading down, at the bottom were a few solider guards.
Snake & Raiden snuck up on then and used CQC to knock them both out, then hide their bodies from other potential soldiers.
They snuck around the bottom floor and constantly avoided patrolling soldiers.
Once they reached the hanger they realized the door was locked with a Retinal Scanner.
"Damn, how do we get in?" Snake asked.
They heard some talking as two soldiers approached, so each one hid.
"So how long before this machine the boss is making becomes ready?" one asked.
"Not sure, he said probably by next month", the other said.
"The boss really wants to go all out with this"
"Yeah, well I need to go check out the hanger"
"Good luck, especially with that creep lurking around there, I thought he was dead"
"Me too, some things just can't be explained"
While one solider activated the scanner and went in, the other continued his patrol.
"We need to grab that one, we gotta be quick about it before he...Fluttershy where are you going?" Raiden asked.
Fluttershy had flown towards the other solider and got in front of him.
"What the hell!? Who are..." the solider stopped talking when Fluttershy gave him 'The Stare', causing the solider to just stand there all freaked out.
Fluttershy moved forward, causing the guy to move backwards, still in somewhat of a trance.
Snake, Raiden & Meryl looked amazed.
"How is she doing that?" Meryl asked.
"Fluttershy did tell me once that she controls some of her animals with a stare, maybe it has an affect on humans too", Raiden said.
"That girl continues to amaze me"
Soon the solider was right near the scanner.
"Snake, Raiden, Meryl, do what you need to do", Fluttershy said.
They realized what she meant and grabbed the solider and held his face to the scanner.
"Retinal Pattern Recognized", a computer voice said, allowing the door to open.
The four went in after Fluttershy shot the solider with a Tranquilizer dart, putting him to sleep.
They snuck through the hanger, most of the soldiers there were pre-occupied with maintaining their aircraft to notice them.
"Looks like they got a flew planes", Raiden said.
They went to a nearby office and found the papers they were searching for.
"Here it is, the plans for REX, let's leave this place and get these to Otacon", Snake said.
As they were leaving the office, they started sneaking back, along the way a camera had caught the group and set off an alert.
"Dammit!" Snake said, soon soliders made their way to the group's location.
"Looks like we're doing this the hard way!" Meryl shouted.
Snake & Meryl grabbed their assault rifles and shot the oncoming soldiers, Raiden grabbed his High Frequency Blade and slashed at them, taking each one down in one quick swift.
Fluttershy stayed behind, preferring not to engage in combat.
Snake & Meryl used the duck & shoot tactic while Raiden took several down quickly with his lightning bolt action.
One solider tried to sneak up on Fluttershy but she felt his presence and attacked him with CQC and took him down and shot him with the M9.
After everything settled, the soliders were dead and Snake still had the info.
"Let's get out of here before-"
"Ah!" Meryl shouted as she fell over, a knife sticking out her shoulder.
Everyone looked up to see where the knife came from, the culprit standing on a plane.
"It's been a while", he said, licking another knife.
"Oh God...it's Vamp!" Snake said.
"He should be dead! There's no way he's still alive!" Raiden shouted.
"I told you, I am immortal", Vamp had an evil smile on his face, then eyed Fluttershy, "So is that the pony I heard so much about?"
Fluttershy looked a bit nervous, this man was freaking her out.
"What's it to you?" Raiden asked.
"I wonder what the blood of a pony tastes like", Vamp jumped off the plane and approached the group.
Fluttershy was a little freaked out, "What is he!?"
"That's Vamp, he was a member of Dead Cell, he has a habit of cheating death", Raiden said.
"Not this time, kill him!" Snake shouted and shot at Vamp several times, causing him to fall over.
"Wow, that was quick", Fluttershy said.
Vamp then rose up back to his feet, licking his teeth in an evil smile.
Fluttershy looked like she was ready to just run off, the only thing preventing her from leaving was remembering her duty as a solider, not to abandon her friends and allies.
"Don't worry Fluttershy, we can handle Vamp, just tend to Meryl", Raiden said.
Fluttershy saluted and went to Meryl, who was trying to get the knife out her shoulder.
"Let me help", Fluttershy pulled the knife out, causing some pain from Meryl but she was able to take it.
"Thanks Fluttershy", Meryl said.
Fluttershy helped Meryl up, "We need to get you out of here"
Meryl grabbed her gun, "You kidding? It's gonna take more than a knife to stop me!" she joined Snake in shooting Vamp, who this time was dodging the bullets and tossing more knives.
Raiden ran over to Vamp and started cutting and slashing at him, Vamp blocking some attacks with his knife and avoiding others.
While Snake shot at vamp, he tossed a knife to Snake's gun, knocking it out of his hand, Snake then immediately grabbed a handgun and shot Vamp, but Vamp dodged those bullets too.
Raiden continued to slash at Vamp but he was able to stab Raiden and kick him back.
Vamp then rushed to Meryl and cut her arm and kick her down.
Snake grabbed a knife of his own and stabbed at Vamp but he grabbed Snake's forearm to stop the stabbing, Vamp tired to stab Snake but Snake stopped in, Snake then kneed Vamp in the gut a couple of times and then punched Vamp back, Raiden ran in and kicked Vamp down.
Vamp growled a bit and tossed more knives at the duo, only for Raiden to deflect them with his sword and Snake shooting at Vamp, causing Vamp to dodge again.
Vamp rushed in and kicked Snake down and knocked over Raiden.
Meryl attempted to attack Vamp but he threw a knife at her leg, causing her pain and then he punched her down.
Vamp then eyed Fluttershy and approached her in a menacing way, while licking his knife, "Cutting you will be quite interesting"
Fluttershy looked freaked out and grabbed her machine gun, "Stay back, I'm warning you!"
Vamp held his arms out, "Go ahead, taken your best shot, then acknowledge your demise"
Fluttershy wanted to shoot but between her nervousness on using a gun and the fact that it might be useless prevented her from shooting.
Vamp grinned and immediately grabbed Fluttershy by her neck and pressed her against the wall.
"Looks like my knife is about to taste some pony blood", he readied the knife to stab but Raiden had tackled him down and started punching Vamp.
"Never put your hands on her!" Raiden said while punching.
Vamp blocked a punch and hit Raiden with a punch of his own, but Snake was ready with the assault rifle he got back and shot Vamp, taking him down a bit, Raiden then started cutting and slashing Vamp, and punched him across some crates.
vamp got up and did his best to hold in the blood as he started to retreat.
"I'll play with you another time!" Vamp threw a flash grenade to hide his escape, the others looking agitated.
"Damn Vamp! Why is he still alive!?" Raiden asked.
"Not sure, let's just head back", Snake said.
They all eventually made their way back to the hanger, Otacon got the info, and heard about Vamp.
"How can he still be alive? Why is he still alive? Damn, I was hoping we'd seen the last of him"
"We'll figure this out soon Otacon", Snake said.
While they spoke, Raiden had reverted back to his human form and sat on the bed, Fluttershy approached him.
"Did I do good today?"
Raiden nodded, "Very good"
Fluttershy hugged Raiden, "I couldn't have done it without your help"
"I may have helped, but you still put the effort, plus you have good innovaton, like that stare you did, good way to take charge"
"Speaking of which, remember when I boldy took charge?"
Raiden thought, "Oh yeah, that day you kissed me"
Fluttershy nodded, "I still have a crush on you, I don't think it's passing"
Raiden sighed, "I'm not good for you Fluttershy, you deserve better"
"But Raiden-"
"Look, the last girl I was with...well things started falling apart soon, believe me when I say you don't want a part of me"
Fluttershy just focued on Raiden, "I still wanna take a chance, I may end up going home at any point, I want no regrets", Fluttershy nuzzled against Raiden's neck.
"You're too cute sometimes, but to be honest, the chances of this actually happening is slim", Raiden said.
Fluttershy then kissed Raiden, held it for quite a while, "I think I can pull it off"
Raiden just glared a bit, "I will admit, when you set your mind to something, you really have a passion for it"
Fluttershy giggled and nodded, "Being bold has it's perks"
Raiden rolled his eyes and Fluttershy rested her head on his chest, she loved the sound of his heartbeat, Raiden hugged her close, even if he barely had romantic attraction to Fluttershy, or at least that he was willing to admit, he still cared a lot about her.
Later on while they were all eating a meal prepared by Sunny, some pancakes & eggs, a magical build up started happening nearby.
"What's going on?" Otacon asked.
"Not sure, Fluttershy do you know?" Snake asked.
Fluttershy shook her head, "Not exactly, seems like magic but that's rare in this world"
Soon a letter materialized.
"A letter? Wonder what it is?" Fluttershy asked.
They checked the letter.
Dear Fluttershy, I hope you're ok and this letter reaches you, you don't wanna be back home, everything's a mess, King Sombra is ruling with an iron hoof, he has a lot of ponies under his control, some more willing than others, but your animals are safe, Discord made sure of that, I really miss you, and your soothing charming voice, amazing that you're normally afraid of dragons, but know that this dragon wants to see you again so badly, Love Spike
Fluttershy smiled and shed a small tear, "I miss you too Spike"
The others pitied Fluttershy a bit, they felt bad thather world is going through it's own war.
Soon some pictures arrived with a note.
I think you'll like these.
There was one picture of Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Applejack & Rainbow Dash, one of Discord, one of Tree Hugger, one of Spike & one of her animal friends, including Angel Bunny.
"This is so nice of Spike to do", Flutteshy said, then introduced who was who to the others.
"Wow, a dragon, that's so cool", Akiba said.
"That Discord guy looks really weird", Meryl said.
"This is great, wonder how they found me though?" Fluttershy asked.
Snake picked something up from the floor, "Maybe this thing helped?"
Fluttershy observed it, "My Element of Harmony, but it's supposed to be on the Tree of Harmony"
"I guess they really needed to find you, this was more important", Raiden said.
Fluttershy looked at it, "I guess so"
Raiden continued to look at the pictures, "You're friends look cool, that Rarity girl looks pretty fancy I'll admit, and that Applejack pony has a nice hat"
Fluttershy nodded, "I gotta get home soon"
"We'll help you", Raiden said.
Fluttershy nodded as they continued to watch look over the pictures.
An old villain has returned, perhaps more to come.