Yarost'

New Manehatten Shuttle Hub #54

The transport shuttle roared through the air, arching down and leveling off as its ' landing thrusters eased the shuttles' speed.  A large smoke column was rising into the blue skies to the right. Before the shuttle could even be automatically secured to the station, the side door opened with Timeless immediately bolting out of the shuttle.

"Time! Where are you going?!" Silver called out from inside the shuttles' doorway. But Timeless didn't answer as he ran out of the station, his legs carrying him faster than ever. Worry bolted through Timeless' mind as he ran. "Where did they attack? Who got hurt? Is my place okay?". These questions and many more raced through his mind, increasing the worry with each pass. He turned the corner on West and Fourth, taking a right and running up the street to West and Fifth. He could see Humans, Anthros and Ponies alike starting to gather in a large crowd ahead of him. The skyline ahead of him was a smoldering ruin, a good portion of it removed from sight.

"Move, move!" Timeless demanded as he approached the crowd, starting to push his way through, ignoring the cries of 'Hey!' and 'Watch It!'. As he passed through, he could see armed Nation Guard troops. They were forming a line and keeping the civilians back from the zone ahead.

"Please stay back! The area is dangerous." cried out one of the troops. Timeless pushed his way to the front and tried to push past the troops. But his progress was immediately stopped by a pair of soldiers who grabbed Timeless and pushed him back.

"Sir! We request that you stay back." said one of the troops.

"I'm a Fourth Class Engineer! I can help you guys out with whatever is going on over there! Just let me through!" Timeless demanded, activating his RIG HUD to prove his claim.

"Sir, you're still a civilian. If you were Army Corps of Engineers, that's a different story. But I can't let you in." said the trooper on Timeless' right. Behind the trooper, Timeless could see medics coming out with stretchers, covered in bloodied sheets. Timeless could feel his blood run cold as a light purple forelimb slide out from under the sheet, the hoof having been blown off, leaving the bone a jagged and bloody mess. Timeless' world went slow, as if it was caught in Stasis, as he pushed passed the troopers, running to the medics. He could hear the two troopers ordering the others to stop him, and the medics turned to look at him with surprise on their faces.

"Put the stretcher down! Put it down!" Timeless roared. The medics quickly dropped the stretched, drawing their sidearms and training them on Timeless as he dropped to his knees and skidded a bit until he was next to the stretcher. Without hesitation, he ripped the bloodied sheet off the body.

Twilight Velvet laid dead before him, her aged features torn apart by a violent blast, missing an eye and half her face. Her remaining eye stared up at him, the pupil shrunken to a pinprick.

Timeless' mind went blank as he sat there, staring at his dead friend.

Who else had been slain in cold blood? How much damage had been done?

Before Timeless could recollect himself, he could feel two pairs of arms grabbing him by his own arms and drag him away from the scene.

Timeless didn't even resist as they dragged him away.

Memories of Twilight Velvet's kind smile flashed through his mind. How her motherly presence seemed to make everything better. When they first met and she let Timeless work in her book store for the years he was going through College to be an Engineer, helping him with his schoolwork when she could.

How he promised her that he'd help her visit her daughter...

And now she was gone, along with many others.

*     *     *

"The area between West and Fifth to West and Eighth has been totally decimated by what officials are calling, a 'Terrorist Attack'. The attackers used a series of large bombs and set them off around two-thirty this afternoon. The surrounding area has been absolutely demolished as a result of this bomb. Rescue crews and National Guard are searching the debris for any survivors with assistance from residents of New Manehatten. No one has laid claim to this attack yet, and the President has ordered Army and National Guard to set up a defensive parameter around the city. So far, a total of four hundred and ninety-seven..."

Timeless wasn't listening to the news.

He wasn't even listening to the world around him.

His gazed was glazed over and locked onto the tiled floor of New Manehatten General Hospital. Around him, doctors and nurses were rushing to and fro, trying to deal with the constant flow of the wounded or dying. Three nurses had stopped by Timeless and asked if he was okay, and he told them he was, that he was just tired. Slowly, his senses began to return to him, his ears twitching as the sounds of heart monitors and doctors calling orders surrounded him. He looked up, blinking a few times and shaking his head. He watched as a couple nurses, one Anthro and one Human, came rushing by with a body on the stretcher.

"Ma'am. Ma'am!" Timeless called. The Anthro nurse stopped and looked at him.

"Y-yes?" she asked.

"Do you need any help?" Timeless asked, standing from his seat. The nurse looked to her human partner who gave a quick nod.

"Yes, please. How much medical training do you have?" she asked.

"I've been put through at least two years of medical study with my Engineer training." Timeless said.

"It'll have to do. Come on, follow me and Nurse Warren to the ER." said the nurse. Timeless nodded and jogged after the two nurses at they went down a hall. When the tree entered the ER, Timeless was directed to a medical kiosk and instructed to change into a Surgical RIG. Complying, Timeless got changed and came out in a white suit, with a small RIG HUD display mounted to his chest. He entered the surgical suite the two nurses had gone in and got prepared.

"Nurse, who is this?" asked one of the surgeons, a human male.

"Civilian, Doctor Stitch. But he has two-years of training and offered to help out." said Nurse Warren.

"Two-years?" asked Anders, raising a skeptical eyebrow at Timeless.

"That's right. Engineer Fourth Class, Timeless Toaster. Two-years was required to be promoted to the higher classes." Timeless responds back.

"Well, we'll need all the help we can get. Wash up and get a mask and cap on." Anders said, pointing to the sink. After washing his hands and putting on the surgical mask and cap, Timeless went to the operating table and stood across from Stitch.

"What am I looking at here, Nurse?" Anders asked as he prepped his tools.

"Female Anthro, early twenties. Found with a faint pulse at West and Seventh with a large gash across the left of her face and across her stomach." said Nurse Warren.

"Red Heart, get the pumps ready. We may need to evacuate the gashes." Anders ordered. Red Heart nodded, and soon there was a low humming of the air pumps.

"Timeless, was it? Please remove the cover and hand me a pair of scissors." Anders instructed. Timeless nodded and removed the sheet covering the patient.

For the second time that day, Timeless was staring at someone he knew.

It was Sunny Fields.

Timeless could feel his heart rate quicken as he stared at the woman, his mind being set on saving her.

"I won't lose another friend..."

"Timeless? Is something wrong?" Warren asked.

"Do you know this woman?" Red Heart asks. Timeless nods silently and hands Stitch the scissors.

"I'm not leaving, if you're thinking that. I'm not going to lose another friend today." Timeless said in a determined voice. Anders and the nurses looked at each other and back to Timeless.

"Alright. Let's get this started." Anders said as he began to cut away at Sunny's burnt and bloodied barista uniform, revealing her light yellow fur and undergarments.

*     *     *

"Are you sure you can't come back up here?" Blitz asked, concern in his voice.

"Yeah, I'm sure. I'm helping out with the search and rescue operations. They need all the help they can get." Timeless replies tiredly. He had been in the surgery suite for a total of eight hours, fixing up the serious cases as they came in one after the other. He was told that Sunny was going to be alright, and that someone would tell her who saved her when she woke up.

"Do you need a place to stay? I mean, your place was in the blast zone, right?" Blitz asked.

"Yeah...I can probably crash at Rainbow's place for a while." Timeless says, rubbing his tired eye with his wrist.

"Thought you and Rainbow had a falling out." Blitz states.

"It was all a miscommunication. I arrived at the wrong place and missed her party. She's still convinced I bailed on her." Timeless explains.

"Well, good luck Timeless. I gotta get back to work. I'll tell the others you're okay." Blitz says, ending the call. After Timeless closed his RIG HUD, he gave a mighty yawn and smacked his lips. Standing from the chair he was in, Timeless returned to the Medical Kiosk and exchanged the bloodied surgery RIG for his Engineer RIG. Once he stepped out, Doctor Anders was standing there, waiting for him.

"Oh, hey Doc." Timeless says tiredly.

"I just wanted to say thank you for your help, Timeless. I don't think we would've managed to get through all those patients if it were just the nurses and I. You're pretty good under pressure." Anders says, offering his hand for a handshake. Timeless took the offer with his hand and shook it once.

"Thanks. I'm just glad I could help." Timeless says simply with a smile.

"Do you have a number that I can use in case we need some extra hands?" Anders asks, pulling out a small tablet. Timeless gave Anders his RIG Number and told him he could use that. Anders thanked Timeless and walked away, leaving the Anthro to his own business. After Anders left, Timeless opened his RIG Contacts and scrolled down until the name 'Rainbow Dash' was highlighted.

"I hope she's still not pissed at me..." Timeless mumbles as he starts a call. The calling tone went on for a couple minutes before the sounds of a phone being picked up came through.

"Well, if it isn't Timeless." Dash said in a cocky tone.

"Hi Dash." Timeless says in an exasperated voice. "Look, I need to ask you a favor..." he adds.

"After, what, five months you don't call me, and you're asking me for a favor? No way dude." Dash says angrily. "You bailed on me and my friends."

"I told you, I was given the wrong information." Timeless growls a bit.

"Yeah, yeah. I've heard it all. What do you want anyway?"

"I need a place to stay. My place was, well, blown up today." Timeless says in a tired voice.

"Wait, blown up? You mean that bomb that went off today took out your home, along with a good chunk of New Manehatten?" Dash asks in a shocked voice.

"Yeah..." Timeless says quietly. "Please Dash? I'm really tired and need a place to sleep..." Timeless adds in a slightly begging tone.

"Alright, give me a bit. Where can I pick you up?" Dash asks, the sounds of keys being grabbed in the background.

"New Manehatten General." Timeless says simply.

"You're not hurt, are you?" Dash asks.

"No, I was helping the staff with the wounded."

"Alright, I'll be there in twenty." Dash says, closing the call. Once the RIG HUD was closed down, Timeless walked out of the ER and through the packed main lobby. The surgical suites and rooms had all been taken up, so new arrivals were being seen to by the medical staff in the lobby. Some patients were laid out on the seats, while most were laid out on the floor in small clusters. After signing out and telling the receptionist that Anders had him on his contacts, Timeless exited the hospital and stepped out into the New Manehatten night. The breeze passing through the surrounding sky scrapers cooled Timeless off as he gave a tired sigh.

About twenty minutes later, Timeless heard the roaring of a car engine as it drew closer. He stood up and looked down the street, spotting Dash's sky blue Camaro rumbling up to the hospital.

"Get in loser." Dash said jokingly once she pulled up and rolled down the passenger window. Timeless entered the car and looked at Dash. She had been a candidate for a process that turned ponies into Anthros a while back, giving her a very athletic body. Her thin, but muscular body looked almost comical in a large car such as her Camaro.

"Nice ride." Timeless said with a smirk.

"Don't fall in love with it." Dash chuckled as she pulled away from the hospital, make an illegal U-Turn, then drive back the way she came. "And you owe me for this Timeless." Dash said simply, punching his shoulder lightly.

"I know...I just want to get to your place and sleep..." Timeless says sadly.

"Dude, you alright?" Dash asks.

"I...Twilight's mom is dead..." Timeless says quietly. Dash gives a quiet gasp of shock.

"No..." she says.

"Yeah...she must've been right at the blast..."

"I wonder how Twilight is going to take this..." Dash says worriedly.

"Like how everyone else is; mourn and cry, then try and demand answers to why this happened..." Timeless replied, looking out the window. They were driving along the highway that led out of the city, and Timeless could see the cloud of smoke had gotten smaller in the hours since the blast. As he watched the world go by, sleep started to tug at his eyelids as sleep began to shut down his mind. "I'm just gonna...close my eyes..." Timeless says tiredly.

"Okay dude. I'll wake you up when we get to my place." Dash says simply. Timeless muttered a 'Thank you' and closed his eyes, sleep pulling him into its' embrace immediately.

*     *     *

Screams.

Gunfire.

Blood

Inhumane roars.

Fire.

Timeless was caught in a void of these sights and sounds, not being given a moment to stop and take in what was happening around him. He saw blurred images of twisted forms race past him. He heard orders to fall back being given by screaming soldiers. He watched as the twisted forms cut down the soldiers.

Suddenly, he was thrown to the ground. It was dried and cracked, and he heard wind raging around him. Nearby, a discarded plasma cutter laid. He reached for it and grabbed it, staggering to his hooves. He was in the middle of a sandstorm, not being able to see a foot in front of him. As he stood there, a shadow could be seen in the raging sand.

"Hello?" Timeless called out, his voice being drowned by the wind. "Hello!" Timeless roared. The shadow turned its' head to look at Timeless. Suddenly, there was an inhuman roar that sounded wet and mangled. It bolted for Timeless, only giving him a moment to raise the plasma cutter before the form crashed into Timeless. Large, bloodied blades slammed into the ground beside Timeless' head, trying to impale him. Timeless screamed as he kicked the beast off of him, quickly staggering back to his hooves as he fired the plasma cutter with a sudden expertise at the creatures' mangled limbs, blasting the appendages off. The creature fell to its' face and tried to crawl at Timeless, but Timeless stopped it with a couple firm curb stomp to the creatures' body, leaving it a bloody pulp.

Immediately, the sand storm died, vanishing as if it never came. Timeless could see he was surrounded by hundreds of bodies, all of them being torn apart with an unknown ferociousness. Timeless couldn't breath due to the smell of blood and gore in the air.

Then the bones began to snap.

Backs began to bend awkwardly.

Limps snapped to odd angles.

New appendages began to burst from the bodies.

Then the dead rose and turned on Timeless, their bodies twisted and disfigured as they stared at him with clouded eyes.

"Stay back!" Timeless yelled, raising the plasma cutter, trying to keep all the creatures in his view. Suddenly, there was a deep, bellowing roar. In the background, an alien form rose. It looked like a massive, disfigured centipede, its' multiple legs curling and uncurling at it rose. It looked above Timeless, casting a monolithic shadow over the land.

Behind it, the Earth sat in the dusty skies.

"Convergence is soon." said the leviathan creature.

"What's 'Convergence'? What are you talking about!?" Timeless demanded.

"Soon, your world will be consumed." continued the creature. The twisted bodies around Timeless began to enclose around him, their bloodied maws letting out wet growls.

"What are you talking about!?" Timeless roared, keeping his plasma cutter level with the creatures.

"Witness the Goliath!" roared the titanic creature. The front of it opened into a endless maw and began to inhale with a mighty suction. The twisted creatures all began to be pulled in, not even fighting the creatures' inhaling. Timeless dropped to the ground and tired to hold on for dear life, but the creature only continued to inhale.

Timeless began to lose his grip.

He was holding on by one hand.

Then he was soaring into the creature, into the dark maw that awaited his arrival.

*     *     *

Timeless woke up screaming. Dash cried out in surprise and her car swerved on the road a bit. Once she had regained control, she glared at Timeless.

"What the hell, man!? What was that for!?" she yelled. Timeless was hyperventilating, his hand clutched over his heart as he shook in the car seat.

"Dream...bad dream...that's all..." Timeless mumbled, trying to calm himself down.

"Oh...you going to be okay?" Dash asks worried. Timeless nods as he breathing begins to return to normal, his shaking starting to stop.

"Y-yeah...are we there yet?" he asked.

"Another five minutes. You've only been asleep for ten minutes." Dash says. Timeless glances at her dashboard clock and groans. "We'll be there soon. I can order some take-out, if you want." Dash said.

"That'll be fine..." Timeless says quietly.

"Are you sure you're going to be okay?" Dash asked again. Timeless silently nodded and took a calming breath. The two were quiet for the remainder of the drive to Dash's house. When they arrived, Dash told Timeless he could crash in her guest room after dinner. Once they had their take-out Chinese and watched a bit of TV, Timeless turned in for the night.

But he couldn't sleep.

Not since that dream in the car.

And there was one thing that was constantly bugging him:

What was Convergence?