Lost In The Multiverse

Getting to the town is taking longer than I thought because there are more curves and slopes on the

road than I had anticipated, only prolonging our trek. Besides the road, there are other problems as well. Bugs

I can’t identify are biting me and Jimalh, who’s starting to look worse than when we started. Fatigue continually

weighed upon him for quite some time now, and I could have sworn he was close to dropping multiple times

with the way he was staggering and how heavy his breathing had become.

The light provided by the moon was cut off by the clouds passing above us were floating right

between us and the moon. To make matters worse, these clouds were moving at an excruciatingly slow pace

and left us fumbling in the darkness. If Jimalh were a pegasus again and he wasn't as tired as he was, we wouldn't have this problem.

Despite what first-glance assumptions would tell, it was possibly around 80 degrees Fahrenheit (27

degrees Celsius), plus the humidity is high, making it seem hotter. Combined with my heavy trench coat and

carrying a warm, sleeping human on my back, I was sweating from the combined factors, causing us sultry conditions.

These damn bugs are causing me problems bordering severe measures. I can feel them on my face

and underneath my clothes, refusing to be drowned by my sweat, biting me and making a defenseless host out

of me. They’re pulling my attention away from everything else and are making my instincts scream at me to let

Twilight Sparkle fall to the ground to free my hands to combat these parasitic devils.  They’re starting to mess

Scratch them. Let the girl go and scratch. Jim is scratching himself. That joyous sound he’s making

on his skin makes you envy him, right?

These battles end as fast as they start, resulting in countless, instant battles. Even with my adept sense of focus, I was wavering. Doubts and questions were entering my head.

Where are we going again? Oh, yes, a town down the road. Why? Um, to find Luna. How long have

we been out here? Who gives a fuck anymore.

I didn’t expect relief to hear Jimalh speak to me after such a long period of unnecessary silence.

However, that relief is counteracted by what it was he had to say.

“Hey, Isaac? What do you think will happen when we reach the town in the middle of night, because I

doubt that anyone will be up and about or welcoming strangers in such mangy condition as we are this late at

night.”

Dammit, why didn’t I think about that?

It’s true that we do look squalid and looking for a place to stay for the night when we don’t even know where we are makes us look rather suspicious, especially since our story for being here is easily too far-fetched for people to understand.

Aside from me having a sleeping girl on my back, I doubt we will have any saving grace for us once we

reach anyone. It wouldn’t be the first time it’s happened to me, but I don’t want want Jim to be stuck out here  like I’ve been.

“Either way,” he said, “whatever happens then will happen sooner than it would have a few steps ago,   right?”

He looked at me and tried to manifest a full smile, which was an expression mixed between weak

genuinity and a sense of doubt. I didn’t want to see him like this. I want him and Twilight to be out of this heat

and out of these bugs and somewhere safe. Although they are not as use to these conditions as I am, Jim’s

taking it better than most others like him; at least he isn’t bitching about how this or that hurts or how he

wants to go to sleep.

How did all of this happen, anyway? Was it because I met Twilight that we’re here now? Or would it

have made any difference in the first place? After all, I allowed her to cast that viewing spell at my house, but

that was just helping someone out. It could’ve been anyone trying to use that spell and I still would have let

them use it because of who I am as the final member of an extinct species besides Jimalh.

Going down the road, my mind begins to recall accounts of me meeting Twilight back in Equestria

somewhere around a year ago.

                                                                  ----------------

A year ago

Jim and I were sitting in the main room in the large plantation-style house that I built five years ago when we first came to Ponyville. We have been living in Ponyville for five years, which was a fairly quiet time; if disaster were to come, it would fix itself if given time, unlike most other places I’ve been where I was normally the one who had to resolve shit that people have started for no damn reason. I had come to know a

reasonably-sized group of civilians there over time and set up some connections.

This was four years before the return of Nightmare Moon, and at the time I was away helping out Big  Boss during the Peace Walker incident, so I had no involvement in that, but it was an interesting story to hear from Jim, who was there at the party when it happened and somehow got a black eye and a busted lip in the confusion and went home to hide until it was over. Damn, that was funny shit. I was laughing about it afterwards and he wouldn’t talk to me until I took him to Sugarcube Corner to get him half a dozen donuts. It’s amazing how childlike he is, given his vast age; although it’s true for me as well.

What I did get involved in was Discord’s return, mainly because I was not amused with the concept of the place I lived at for the time being had been turned into the chaos capital of the world. Even though I felt this way and decided to confront him about it, my mind was changed immediately when I saw it raining chocolate milk, which made me walk straight up to Discord and thank him personally. I even shook whatever the hell he had for a hand and didn’t even shoot him full of holes when I figured out he flipped my house and made it float in midair, even though it didn’t fail in pissing me off. My other problem with it was that I couldn’t find Jimalh anywhere until the world regained order and having it turn out that he was one of the long-legged bunnies I kept seeing running around.

Aside from that, the new Ponyville was rather entertaining; long-legged rabbits, clouds shaped like some sort of checkerboard, an endless supply of bakery sweets falling from who-the-hell-knows-where at any given moment, and did I forget to mention the chocolate rain? Damn, I hadn't had that much fun in at least a thousand years.

However, I knew it was not to last and something had to be done about it, and in Ponyville, what better way to do that then kick back and let six mares as dysfunctional as they were discolored at the time take care of it? Sure enough, my theory was proven right and the situation was taken care of in, according to fucked-up chaos time, probably eight weeks, but was actually around a couple of hours.

After that, I got better associated with the brave local ponies who imprisoned and even reformed Discord using a spell that seems a little violating of someone’s individuality.

My first stop was Twilight Sparkle, the purple mare that was unknowingly destined to become an alicorn and rule alongside the three other princesses: Celestia, Luna, and Cadence alongside her husband that almost no one gives a shit about even though he’s a badass piece of military epicness and the Captain of the Royal Guard.

"Good morning, sir. How can I help you?" Twilight Sparkle greets me as I entered her home and library.

I love it when people tell me good morning.

"What do you mean? Do you mean to wish me a good morning, or do you mean that it is a good morning whether I want it or not? Or perhaps you mean to say that you feel good on this particular morning; or are you simply stating that it is a morning to be good on?" I ask with a hint of amusement in my voice.

Twilight stops for a moment to think about what I had just asked. She was actually the first person I’ve met thus far (besides Jimalh) who actually took this question seriously and was determined to return to me a proper answer. She responded with,

"Very well then, sir, I mean that I am wishing you a good morning."

"Thank you. Would you mind telling me your name?”

"Oh, where are my manners. My name is Twilight Sparkle."

"Nice to meet you, Twilight Sparkle. Folks around here call me Eagle Fury”

“What can I do for you, Mr. Eagle Fury?” she asks

“Would you happen to have any adventure books that you would care recommending to me?” I asked politely.

She brightens up upon hearing my request and looks over to a bookshelf and starts levitating down a small stack of books. She tells me that these are her most recommended books and I take her word for it as I search the pile.

Searching the collection set in front of me, the book that interested me the most was a book with the cover sporting a picture of a mare with the look of that of an adventurer standing in a safari in front of an ancient temple. The title stated that her name was Daring Do.

Twilight all but jumped in her skin when she noticed my curiosity in the book and looked at me with a bright expression someone would expect from a treasure hunter within arm’s reach of a head-sized chunk of ruby. I can tell she’s ready to give me her history on this book and I wonder just what it is I’ve come across to get such a reaction from someone who has her face in books more often than anyone else I’ve noticed in town.

“Are you interested in that Daring Do book? This is one I definitely recommend if you want a worthwhile adventure book if you haven’t already read this series. Do you know Ponyville’s cloud manager, Rainbow Dash? Don’t tell anypony, but she thinks she’s almost as in love with this series as I am and she is obsessed with it and read it over multiple times, which rarely occurs with her because she normally can’t stand books. There have been days when it was all she talked about and it got on everypony’s nerves. Well, except mine, of course, and those were days when neither of us could keep quiet and needed to just be fangirls about it and talk about how awesome we thought Daring Do was and everything related to her we could think of. Especially when the new books came out and me and her strived to be the first ones in Ponyville to get the first copies when the bookstore that had it opened that morning. Both of us would agree to a race to see who could finish the book first, and I always won by a landslide. With as much as I read and how slow Rainbow Dash is with reading, there really wasn’t a race, even with all the work and sleep she blew off to get done first, while I could follow my normal schedule, with a little tweaking, and be done before she got halfway through the book. The lesson she learned the hard way, don’t mess with librarians when a book is concerned; especially when she’s determined. If you’ve ever seen her stagger or look as if she could fall over if she stood still, the race was most likely the reason for it. Of course, even without the race, she would still stay up too late in her bed rereading it. I keep telling her that her health would suffer if she kept that up, but she wouldn’t listen. I tried getting her to read other adventure books to get her into the spirit of reading, but I was always unsuccessful because she told me she didn’t want to read anything besides Daring Do, no matter what I tried. I guess that’s what you call imprinting, right? There was this one time when Rainbow Dash finished reading volume three again and she...”

And that was all I heard before I tuned her out. I knew she was still talking about the book, but I wasn’t sure what she was saying. Instead, my attention was redirected towards how she was talking and not what it was she saying. She was absorbed in her topic and used outward gestures and facial expressions to convey and amplify her portrayal, so I had a sense of what it was she was talking about even though I wasn’t listening. It was clear to me that she wasn't going to slow down or stop anytime soon, and it was quite a ways before I came back into focus and actually listened to her talking. I knew she was still talking about her friend Rainbow Dash and something about a lucid fantasy.

“...and then I told her that was flirting with the fine line between biggest fan and just outright creepy obsession, but she objected and said it wasn’t weird that she had that sort of fantasy and I was no different, but just because I’m a bigger fan than her doesn’t mean I don’t have control over myself. Daring Do could be the only the book series I read and I could have my room plastered with her merchandise -not that I have my room completely covered in Daring Do merchandise or anything like that- and I could still have more self-control than that. However, there was this one series that I read a year or so ago and I will admit it-”

“Um, may I please check this book out now?”

She looks as if my question confused her, but then realizes that she’s been talking nonstop for the past forty-seven minutes with me mostly listening to what she had to say about Daring Do and Rainbow Dash’s obsession with her and is quick to apologize.

“Oh no.  I’m sorry, mister. I wasn’t trying to make you wait here and listen to me ramble on about this. That’s what happens when people get me started on books; I just go on forever talking about them and lose track of everything else in the process. Celestia knows how many ponies I’ve warded off like an exorcist doing that. I’m just like Spike whenever he gets a new comic book; he buries himself in it and won’t change subjects until he cools down about it or I have him busy with assisting me in the library for days because of what there is to do in here. Or like Rarity when she starts reading romance novels while working and ends up making apparel that she themed out of the novel-”

“You’re doing it again.”

Clearly frustrated with herself, she has the book checked out and silently hands it to me. The expression of self-irritation on her face causes both of us to avoid eye contact with the other. I pick up the book with my magic, thank the vexated librarian, and place my new source of entertainment in my black leather saddlebag.

“Once again, I’m so sorry for keeping you here for so long.”

“Don’t worry about that. It was my decision to come in here and talk to you for a spell.”

Twilight looked more confused now.

“You came in here to talk to me?”

“Well, yeah. You and your friends are really interesting if you can undo a world’s worth of chaos. I wanted to meet you guys in person so that I could have an idea of what you all are like.”

Twilight looked confused, as if I had said that the princess was actually a dragon or something.

“You… came in here,” she started slowly, sounding confused, “to… get to know… me? For… stopping Discord?”

“That’s right.

“But I saw you and him acting like you two were old friends who just met each other after a long time.”

“Oh,” I said, “ You saw us being friendly to each other?”

“Well, I saw you with him when I flew over in the hot air balloon chasing down Rainbow Dash and noticed that you left just before me and my friends came to imprison him again using the Elements of Harmony.”

“Yeah, I decided to stay out of the way of all of that, so I took my leave and left the rest to you guys when I saw that all of you had magic charms and looks of confidence. It was interesting to see a rainbow turn him to stone. Especially in the way he looked when he realized he was done for. ”

A silence radiating from Twilight told me she had a question hanging over her. I could tell she would be haunted by it if she kept to herself, so I asked her what was eating her.

“Did you see Pinkie Pie when she was drinking the choc-”

“Yes. Yes I did.”

She facehoofed and sighed. “Pinkie.”

I smiled at her and commented, “Don’t worry. I did the exact same thing when nopony was looking.”

She looked at me with one of those ‘you-can’t-be-serious’ looks and said, “I can already see you two being the best of friends.”

I grinned stupidly and said, “Actually, we already are.”

Her expression metamorphosed from ‘you-can’t-be-serious’ to ‘did-I-just-hear-you-right?’

“You’re a friend of Pinkie’s?” she asked.

My grin stayed. “I was her friend for over a year longer than you were, to be accurate.”

Once again, her expression evolved from ‘did-I-just-hear-you-right?’ to ‘you-have-to-be-kidding-me’

“She’s never told me about you before. I’ve heard about a few of her others friends besides those of us who use the Elements of Harmony, but she never once mentioned you.”

“Pinkie Pie’s never said anything about somepony she called ‘Mr. Muscle Pants’?”

“She calls you that?”

“Against my wishes.”

She rolled her eyes. “I wouldn’t put it past her to call other ponies by strange nicknames. I could see why, though”

There was no doubt as to why Pinkie gave me the dubbing ‘Mr. Muscle Pants.’ I was a gray-colored unicorn that had the body of a strong Earth Pony: tall with sculpted muscles that could not be hidden. This body was suited for me anyway because I could use magic for weapons that required hands and muscles that allowed labor-intensive actions. Other unicorns rarely look like I do, so eyes get turned my way every once in a while.

It irritated me that Pinkie Pie never told her friends about me. We weren’t dating or anything like that, but you’d think that as often as we met up and hung out that she’d at least say something to her friends.

“Has she ever spoken about a skinny pegasus with faded-orange fur, a black mane, and bright yellow eyes? Usually hangs around with me?”

“Not that I know of. Have you asked anypony else in our group? Try asking Rainbow Dash or Rarity.”

I shook my head. “It’s fine,” I said, “don’t worry about it.”

“Anything else I can help you with, sir?”

Sir? I thought we skipped past the formalities by now.

“No thanks. I got what I came for.”

“Alright then. Enjoy your book, sir.”

“Please don’t call me ‘sir,’ it makes me feel old.”

Truth be told, I’m likely older than Celestia, which can’t be proven unless I know her actual age which only Princess Luna knows, but I always say it’s all about psychology. Jimalh knows this, and occasionally uses it as his weapon against me if I piss him off enough.

“Sorry, mister.”

“Know what? Just call me ‘Fury,’ alright?”

“Alright.” She waved as I exited the library. “Have a nice evening!”

                                                                      ----------------

I quickly came back to reality when I saw my first true look at the city. The moon was finally showing again and it let me see better. Me and Jimalh were both surprised by what we saw.

It was bad: most of the town was overgrown with plant life, it looked like no one had lived here for years, the buildings were in terrible condition-they were cracked and faded out, some of the dusty windows were either cracked or busted open-, and cars were falling apart, but by the looks of them they were made after the start of the 21st century. This was not what we were expecting.

These surroundings put me into survival mode. I no longer minded the bite of the bugs or the weight of the sleeping princess on my back. I felt that there was danger around here somewhere, and to me, it only mattered that I keep those who were under my care protected. Just like I protected everyone when the spell went wrong  with me using all of my power to stabilize them in the jump that would otherwise have ripped them apart with no mercy.

Jimalh speaks up. "It doesn't look like we will have to worry about what people wil think when they see us now, do we, Isaac?"

"No, but first we need to find a place to rest and rehydrate. In the morning, we'll find a change of clothes and get out of these damn tunics, go through all the stuff we brought with us and head out to find Princess Luna."

He surveys the area around us to find suitable shelter, clearly in no objection of finding a resting spot. He points to an old two-story house a fair distance away where we were from.

"Hey, Isaac, that house over there looks like a good place. Let’s go."

As we head over to the house, I start to plan. Something colossal happened here, and dammit, I wanted to check it out. And I would, too, given that we need to know our surroundings.

The house was an absolute mess when we entered (the front door would not open so I had to kick it down), because it looked as if whoever lived here before either left in one hell of a hurry or there was a raid. Clothes and personal belongings were scattered everywhere: on the floor, across the furniture and even up the stairs to the second floor. I made my way up the stairs to the bedrooms.

Choosing the first room I saw, Jim cleaned off the bed for Twilight to lay on (he mostly just tossed everything into a pile) and I laid Twilight down on the bed. Then I turned my eyes to Jim who had not said a word since coming into the house. I’m surprised he didn’t flop on the couch as soon as we came in, as miserable as he looks. Perhaps he forgot he was tired. Would’nt surprise me if he did.

"Jim, find a place in here to get comfortable and get some rest. You look like shit, man."

"That might be so, but you don't look any better than I do."

“And before you get any damn funny ideas, do not get into her bed and sleep with her.”

“Gotcha. I’ll buy her dinner first.”

“Ha ha, very funny. You ain’t got the money for that, anyway.”

“So I should sleep in another room?”

“No. You two should stay together until I get back. Wait right here.”

I exited the room and looked in the others that were in the hallway and a futon mattress that was surprisingly orderly with sheets and a pillow. However, it was obviously meant for a girl because it was entirely pink and sported floral patterns. I dragged it back to the other room and set it next to Twilight's bed in the first room.

“Alright, Jim. How’s that?”

“That’s a pretty badass bed.”

“It has a girly pillow cover and pink sheets on it, and you’re calling it badass?”

“It’s still a really good find in this trash heap of a house."

"True, but I wouldn't exactly call it badass."

"Whatever. Can you help me take off this tunic? I hate sleeping in pajamas and this thing is sweaty.”

“Why do you need my help with taking off your tunic?”

“I forgot how to use a human body because I was a pony for so long.”

“Are you actually serious? It was only five fucking years.”

“I haven’t done the whole body-changing thing as many times as you have and I forgot some of the motions of these human rituals.”

I helped him out of his clothes (thank God he was wearing boxers) and he tested the bed. It was painful to see how much it suited him in some way. Twilight was still asleep, which I found miraculous. I reach into one of my coat pockets and hand Jim my Colt 1911.

"Take this, Jim. If you hear anyone trying to come in here besides me, for whatever reason, shoot them. Don't ask questions, don’t sympathize with whatever sob story they might have, don’t think about the ‘children’, just aim, shoot and try your damnedest to keep you and Twilight in one piece until I get back. This world that we’re in appears to have been in some sort of disaster, it's sure to be dangerous and I need to see if I can find out any clues as to what we may face."

"But what about you, Isaac?" he asked, "Don't you need this gun also since you’re the one who’s going to scout the area? There could be traps around here somewhere."

"I still have the Makarov from that dead woman when we got here, remember? Now get some sleep and I'll see you two in the morning. And for fuck’s sake, don’t end up shooting Twilight, okay?"

It was clear he wasn’t going to respond to that, but he knew it was possible and simply nodded.

I left the room and went down stairs and started to take stock of the equipment. I have 5 clips of ammo for the MK22, which would be 40 rounds of ammo, seven clips for the Colt plus the one in the Colt, meaning 56 rounds in the clips and a few loose rounds and one clip for the Makarov with one of the bullets used, which was obviously aimed at me earlier, a tack knife, Jim's hatchet, a trench knife, duel shoulder holsters, and a ripe banana.

Wait, what? Why the hell is there a banana, of all things, in my fucking pocket? I guess I should keep it in case I get hungry, though.

Leaving questions for later, I then checked my inner pockets and found something unexpected. A Cuban cigar, a gift from Big Boss ,and from Solid Snake an unused pack of The Boss brand cigarettes.

Sweet. I got some smokes for later.

Putting everything back up in my pockets, and the MK. 22 back into the holster, I threw the stupid tunic I was wearing off of me and onto he floor and looked around for some real clothes. There were some denim jeans that fit me pretty well, a pair of old U.S. Military combat boots, a long-sleeve T-shirt, and a lighter for the cigarettes. I put my coat back on and quietly checked on Jim. There was a chance he might try to shoot me, so I quietly called his name from behind the room’s threshold in the hallway.

“Hey, Jim,” I whispered, “can you hear me?”

I could hear him going for the gun.

“If you come in here, I’ll shoot you,” he whispered back.

“It’s me, you dumbass,”  I replied,  “Isaac.”

“Oh,” he whispered when he saw me coming into view, “sorry. I thought you left already.”

“No. I just came back to tell you I was leaving.”

“Okay,” he replied, “bye.”

At least he was prepared to shoot someone. That’s good.

“Hey, Isaac?”

“What, Jim?”

“Please don’t die and leave me here alone with the girl in this potentially fucked world.”

“Of course I won’t,” I said, “just who the hell do you think I am?”

And with that, I left to check the surrounding area. I would have put the front door that fell over up against the front threshold again, but it had

The world outside still looked like it’s been abandoned for years. Since there was another house in front of us and the road only went left and right, I wondered which way I should go first.

Screw it, I’m going out the back door instead.