The Monster of Light (AiE (Sort of))

>Day Gordon Freeman in Equestria
>It's been a few months since you've come to this world of peace and pastel coloured tiny equines
>But you've enjoyed every second of it here
>The food is excellent
>The work is honest and good
>And you're free here
>Really, truly free
>There's nobody here to tell you to keep quiet for fear of what happens when you say the wrong things too loud
>Nothing lurking in the shadows, watching you
>There's even silence
>You'd never heard just pure silence before you came here
>Always the background noise coming from the telescreens
>But now, you're free
>Finally, after all your life living in fear and hatred
>You're free
>Sure, you may be the only one of your species here
>But that's a small price to pay
>The locals are more than friendly enough for you
>It's late in the evening now, Celestia's sun is setting
>You wander the streets of Ponyville, admiring the cool evening air and the simple beauty of the wooden buildings
>All your life all you saw was concrete and steel. And now you're surrounded by nature in all its glory
>It's all so... Beautiful
>"Anon! Anoooooon!"
>Your train of thought is interrupted by Twilight Sparkle leading the CMC in a headlong rush your direction
>As you turn to face them, they start to all talk at once, excited voices mixing together
>You raise your arms, trying to get them to calm down
"Woah, woah, girls! Easy now! Deep breaths, and explain calmly now, one at a time!"
>The CMC take it in turns to talk
>"We were trying to get our lumberjack cutiemarks--
>"Which didn't work as well as we hoped--"
>"But then when we were taking everything back to Applejack--"
>"We saw something watching us from the shadows in the forest!"
>"At first we were really creeped out, but then--"
>"We got a closer look and it looks just like--"
>"A human like you!"
>You're stunned
>Could there really be another human here?!
>Your heart beats faster, getting excited at the possibility
>Twilight speaks up next, her own excitement showing plain on her face
>"The girls came to get me first so they could know where to find you! Oh my gosh, this is so exciting! I wonder if it's somebody you knew? Ooh, wouldn't that just be the GREATEST!?"
>Well, no time to lose
"Lead me there, girls!"
>The five of you all rush to where the CMC swore they saw the new arrival
>As you draw closer, you look around eagerly
"So? Where'd you see them girls?"
>"Right over there, Mr Anon! There he is!"
>You look over where they're pointing.
>There it is, a silhouette of a man
>But where its face should be, you can't make out any details
>Just a faint red glow
>Your heart starts to sink
>Your excitement fades
>All the old stories you heard return fresh in your mind
>Along with the fear
>The fear of being watched
>The flickers in the shadows that vanished as soon as you got too close
>No, no, no no no nononono
>It's not fair
>You escaped
>You got away from all that!
>Why have they followed you here?
>How have they followed you at all?!
>Is there no escape from that mans iron grasp!?
>Your breathing grows shallow and fast
>Your hands are shaking
"... Girls, get away from here. Right now."
>Twilight looks up at you, smile fading
>"Wh... What's wrong, Anon? Do you... Know this person?"
"That's no person." You clench your fists, trying to get your heart to stop racing, nails digging into your palms. "It's a monster in the skin of a man."
>The CMC look up at you, joy replaced with nervousness.
>"Anon, what are you talking about? What does this--?"
>A flicker of movement from the shadow. You react entirely on instinct.
"GET DOWN!"
>You dive, tackling the girls, aiming to protect Twilight and the CMC from what comes next
>A blinding flash of light, and there's nothing but a black, smoking crater from where you stood
>The ponies look up at you as you slowly get to your feet now
>There's real fear in their eyes now
>Fear of the unknown
>The same fear resting deep in your bones
"Twilight, take the girls and get. Out. Of. Here. Gather everyone else and get back here as quick as you can. This thing..."
>You take a shaky breath.
"... Is my responsibility. I'll cover your escape. Now go."
>"Anon--"
"GO!"
>Twilight lifts the girls with her magic and charges back to Ponyville
>You place yourself right in the path between the shadow and the girls
"Why... I travelled to an entirely different world, and you still followed me here..."
>The thing doesn't move. It doesn't speak
>If you didn't know better, you'd swear it wasn't even aware of your presence here
>It simply... Stands and stares.
"Is there no escape for me from him? Will you hunt me through all space and time just to punish me for leaving!?"
>A chill runs down your spine. You swallow whatever you can of your fear and check your back pocket
>You always carried a knife out of paranoia back in the city... Here, you carried it out of habit
>You speak slowly to the creature, with a mouth dry from terror
"I've seen your face in the shadows... In the places I wasn't meant to be... I've heard them whisper about you... I've heard the men in the bars and I've seen the women lock their doors at night."
"They say your eyes are on fire. They say you'd kill a man for walking the wrong side of the line. But men, they say a lot of foolish things, and in the end the only words I can fight to believe in are mine..."
>You grit your teeth, remembering friends lost becuase they spoke too loudly
>Family gone because they stepped where it was silently said they never should go
>Fear starts to fade: anger replaces it instead, a deep burning fury that's been repressed for fear of the consequences of unleashing it for all of your life
>Summoning up your courage, you yell out
"I will not be told where to stand! I will not be told what to say! Not by man, machine, not by you, not by anyone tonight! You're gonna have to do better than fear! Gonna have to step out of the shadows and fight! And when they see your face again, they will know what it means to have fear dragged out into the light!"
"They say, that city! She's been dead for years now... So death is not something that scares me! So come on! Come on! Step into the light!"
>There's a moment of absolute silence
>Then, a rustle and crack as the shadow steps forward
>Out of the darkness it appears
>It's one, red eye shone out from under the blast shield that covered its face: the gun was now holstered
>Dull, green body armour covers it in its entirety, with a large "W" carved onto its chest
>In its hand, clenched a large blade, one that made your knife look like a needle
>Seeing the face of your fear for the first time, your anger loses its grip on you
>A hard swallow and you speak up again, your last words becoming a mantra to focus you, keep you from losing your mind to terror
"That city! She's been dead for years now! So death is not something that scares me! There's worse things than death there! There's loss and there's silence and sadness!"
"So come on! Come on!"
>You draw your knife carefully, backing away slowly from the assassin without realizing it
>Then, the robot speaks, a cold and monotone voice, utterly emotionless
>"This city... She's been dead... For years now... So death is... Not something... That scares me..."
>Something snaps inside of you
>With a roar, you charge and plunge the blade into where the killers heart should be
>But the blade snaps off
>The assassin swipes across your face: you lean back, and before it can swing again, tackle it to the ground
>You don't know what you're doing: but you've made a peaceful life here, with new friends
>And you're going to do whatever you can to protect it, to protect them, dammit!
>The assassin's arm twitches: the knife is brought up again, aimed at your ribs
>You only barely manage to avoid it, and pin the arm down to stop it swinging back up at your face
>The assassin doesn't care
>It's still repeating what you told it
>"This city... She's been dead... For years now..."
>Shut up, shut up, shut UP!
>You try to wrest the knife away, but the free hand of the assassin reaches up and grasps your throat
>It easily overpowers you and knocks you onto your back, knife forgotten
>All it's focused on now is strangling you
>And it still. Keeps. Talking.
>"So death is... Not something... That scares me..."
>You only have one chance left, one tiny sliver of hope
>The gun
>You reach down desperately, scrabbling to undo the holster
>"This city... She's been dead..."
>The clip is undone. It's open. You try and bring the blaster to your hand...
>"For years now... So death is..."
>Your finger tip can barely reach it... It's being nudged to your hand millimeter by millimeter...
>"Not something... That scares me..."
>The gun falls out of the holster. Your vision wavers, starting to go dark
>"This city... She's been dead..."
>You grasp the gun, place it right into the monsters stomach
>"For years now..."
>You pull the trigger
>A blast of light and the robot is blown off of you, a hole in its middle
>It lands some distance away, as you sit up, hacking and coughing, massaging your throat
>You look over the the creature
>Its eye still glows
>And it's still talking
>You pick yourself up and grasp the knife that it dropped, walking over to its prone form
>As you stand over it, it speaks its final words
>"So death is... Not something... That scares me..."
>You draw the knife across the robots metal neck, and the light in its eyes finally dies for good
>You sit down, panting, catching your breath
"Say a prayer for all the children still sleeping... Say a prayer for all the fathers who still remember..."
>You take another look at the form that had terrorised your city for so many years
"Say a prayer for all the girls who've learned to stand up..."
>You fall back looking up at the stars, as you hear voices and hooves approaching from the distance
"Say a prayer for all the boys who won't surrender..."
>You close your eyes and embrace sleep
>Lord knows you've earned it