Chapters The Land of Fire, the last frontier at the south of Equestria. All whom have traveled beyond this point never returned. It was forbidden by the law, but if an adventurer wanted to cross the line, no one would stop him. The last sign of civilization was a small village hidden in the cannon and a lighthouse on the top of a mountain; its light always in direction towards the badlands.
An old stallion walked along the path that lead to the town carrying on his back many sacks with seeds and vegetables; he was whistling a song to make lighter his way. From behind some rocks, the sound of creaks reached his ears making him stop.
“Who’s there?”
Silence. The pony said no more and started to walk again, but the creak became louder. He started to feel fear; a chill ran down his spine. He turned around to found a creature some meters away from him. The creature looked almost like another pony, but its muzzle was filled with sharp fangs and its eyes were of a light blue without trace of pupils. Its body seemed to be covered by many pieces of black shell like an insect. It also had a horn and wings like those of the wasps, its legs and tail filled with holes.
“What… what do you want?”
He said fearful, the creature smiled and rubbed its wings to make a sound similar to those of a cricket. In horror, the pony saw more creatures flying above him and staring at him like manticores ready to attack.
“We need food”.
The creature spoke with raspy voice. The pony let all the sacks on his back fell to the ground.
“Take them; it’s all that I have”.
“Oh no, we don’t want that... we will feed with your flesh”.
All the creatures surrounded him. There was no escape; the pony looked at all sides only to find those blue eyes staring back at him. He closed his eyes on the moment that one of the creatures lunged at him. There was a scream of pain and he opened his eyes to see the creature in the ground with a spear of crystal incrusted on his neck. The rest of the creatures screamed, almost like if they had felt the same pain of its brother.
“WHO DID IT? SHOW YOURSELF COWARD!”
One of them shouted. The answer came in the form of another crystal spear that pierced its back killing it instantly. The pony ran to take cover behind the rocks and in that moment he saw his savior. A tall pegasus landed in the middle of the creatures, her body was of grey color and seemed to shine with the sunlight, her mane of a deep black color with lines of purple moved with the air exposing a horn. The creatures backed away from her grabbing their heads and groaning in pain.
“What are you waiting for? Kill her”.
Said one of the changelings. They tried to use their magic, but the only thing they got was an intense pain. The alicorn used magic to summon a sword and plunged it into the body of the closest creature. There were five changelings more, all of them terrified by her. Two of them tried to attack her but she impaled them with crystals that came out from the ground.
“We need to go”.
The remaining changelings screamed and they opened their wings to fly. She saw this and started to run towards them determined to not let them go.
“ENOUGH!”
An authoritarian voice resounded in the place. The alicorn stopped her attack. Something else fell in front of the changelings in the middle of a cloud of dust stopping their flight. A claw passed through the dust grabbing one of the changelings and crushing it. Another was consumed by the flames that came from the cloud and the last one escaped barely alive.
The pony couldn’t believe what he saw after the dust dispersed. A dragon was standing in front of the alicorn who bowed her head almost like a filly ready to be punished. The dragon looked at her and opened his claw; she stepped on it and waited until she was staring into the eyes of the beast.
“What were you thinking?” He asked.
“They were about to kill him”.
“It doesn’t matter, is not your problem. You can’t just leave the colony like that and put your life in danger”.
“I wasn’t in danger at all, you saw it”.
“Shut up”.
She stayed in silence. “Let’s go back to the colony, your father will know about this”. He said and opened his wings to fly away into the badlands. The pony who saw the ordeal came out from the rocks still not believing what had just happened.
***---***---***
Booker stepped in front of Trixie. The timberwolves shortened the distance and when they decided to attack, he summoned a ball of lava with his hand and threw it in front of the beasts. Trixie saw how the ball hit the ground spreading into many little spots of fire that exploded in the moment that one of the wolves stepped over it and being consumed by the flames.
“MOVE!”
Said Booker pushing Trixie aside when one timberwolf jumped towards her. She saw how Booker’s hand turn into a tentacle made of water and how he used it to grab the wolf smashing it against the rocks. One more appeared behind him, Trixie stood up and charged her horn, a blast of blue energy hit the chest of the beast disintegrating it.
“Thanks”. He said.
Trixie nodded. A moment later she was at Booker’s side with her horn ready to attack. More wolves appeared on the clear, some of them still falling into the lava traps and others avoiding them.
“All right Mr. DeWitt, what’s the plan?”
“I don’t know for how long I’ll be able to use the vigors, so we need to finish with these things as soon as possible, what else can you do with that horn?”
“What you want me to do?”
“I have an idea, but I need you to hold them all on one place for it to work”.
“Got it”.
Trixie’s horn shone intensely, a ring of energy encased the timberwolves one against the other in the middle of the place.
“Hurry up!” She said with a groan.
Booker created another ball of lava and threw it into the mouth of one of the creatures, soon, the body of the wolf ignited and the flames spread to the others. All the beasts were consumed in minutes.
“That was great”.
Said Trixie in joy, Booker sat on the ground tired by the fight and by the use of his powers, Trixie looked at him.
“Hey, are you ok?”
“Yes, give me a moment, I just need to…”
He let out a groan of pain and grabbed his hand, all the powers started to manifest one by one in random ways, crystals that transformed into feathers and then into fire. The unicorn wanted to run away, but she couldn’t, after all, the creature in front of her had saved her life just moments ago, but she didn’t know how to help him.
A growl was heard behind them, Booker saw a bigger wolf appear in the clear and running towards him. He couldn’t do something to avoid the attack. The beast landed on him and pierced his shoulder with its fangs; Booker felt an intense pain and screamed. The beast started to shake its head from one side to another trying to rip the flesh, but a blast of energy crashed on its side sending it through the air. Trixie was now covering Booker with her body, the wolf stood up and howled before charge against the mare, Trixie shot once more and the beast disappeared in midair.
Booker placed his hand on the wounds caused by the wolf, they were deep and he was bleeding at a fast rate, without medical attention he would die for sure. Trixie came to him, she didn’t how to act and the fear was blocking all the ideas that passed through her head.
“Oh goodness, what do I do? What do I do?” She was panicking.
“Trixie, calm down and listen to me”, Booker groaned. “Damn this hurts”. He took a deep breath “Ok, can you try to cauterize the wounds?”
She nodded, her horn lit and she placed it over one of the wounds, but the flesh didn’t close, her magic had no effect on him.
“It doesn’t work”.
“Ok, it doesn’t matter, now we need to reach a town or something”.
“Yes, yes, the closest is Ponyville. C’mon, let help you”.
Trixie used her body to carry Booker back to the wagon. After she helped him to place a tourniquet on her arm, she sat on the front of the cart and used her magic to bring it life. The cart started to move through the woods and soon they found the way to Ponyville.
***---***---***
Ponyville at dusk was a beautiful place, there were ponies walking to their homes and others sat across the tables of the small coffee shops of the town. In the library, another day was at the end for the owner and her dragon friend.
“All right Twilight, that’s the last one”. Said Spike from the top of a ladder while placing a book on the shelf.
“Thanks Spike, now I finally have space for the new collection of Daring Do books that arrived this morning. But it's getting late, let's leave it for tomorrow”.
The lavender unicorn walked to small table and sat on a pillow. Then she grabbed a book with her magic to read it. Spike dropped from the ladder, he went to the chimney to start the fire.
“Would you like a cup of tea, Twi?”
“I’d love to”.
Spike smiled and went to the kitchen leaving the unicorn in total silence, until a desperate knock on the door startled her.
“What in the world? We’re close now, come back tomorrow”.
“SPARKLE, OPEN THE DOOR!” A voice came from the other side of the door, the voice sounded familiar to her.
Twilight walked to the door, and although she was a little worried, she opened it finding a familiar pony on the other side.
“Trixie?” She asked in surprise.
The blue coated unicorn had a worried look and grabbed Twilight by the shoulders.
“Quick, I need your help!”.
“Wait, what? What are you…”
“There’s no time for that, if we don’t do something he will die!”
“What are you talking about, who will die?”
Booker appeared behind Trixie catching Twilight’s attention. The moment she saw him, her mind went blank.
“Sparkle, react, he needs help!”
“Wha- wha- what is that thing?”
Booker rolled his eyes. “Oh please not again”. His clothes were soaked in blood now, his face had lost the color and his head hurt.
“Listen, I’ll tell you everything later, but now…”
Trixie couldn’t finish the sentence. Booker finally lost his forces and fell to the ground between the mares. He could hear Trixie calling his name, but her voice sounded far away. Then looked at Twilight who was in total shock.
“I knew I would regret it”.
He thought before losing consciousness.
*** Some hours later. ***
“He’s sleeping now, the wounds will heal in some days”.
Twilight said to Trixie who was sitting on the other side of the table.
“I didn’t know you knew first aids”.
“You can learn so much from the books”. The lavender unicorn served a cup of tea to Trixie. Her mood was like the one of a nurse now, totally different to the ball of nerves that she was just hours ago. “Now, where did you find… him?” She said like doubting the last part.
Trixie left the cup on the table. “To be honest, he found me. I was being attacked by timberwolves when he appeared. My first reaction was much the same like yours, but then, he protected me, and still I can’t believe what I saw him do”.
“What do you mean?”
“I saw him use magic; he created fire and water with his hands and used them to kill the beasts”.
There was shine on Twilight’s eyes, one that had to see with learning more from the creature sleeping on her basement.
“Did you saw his size? He sure is huge!” Spike said coming out from the basement carrying Booker’s holster. He took a quick look at the handle of the hand cannon and his curiosity reaching its peak in an instant. He was ready to take it out when Twilight called him.
“Spike, take a letter”.
He did so and waited for Twilight to began.
“Dear Princess Celestia, I need to inform you about a recent discovery. I found…”
“Hey!” Trixie said angrily.
“Oh yes… sorry”. Twilight´s cheeks turned pink. “I mean... one of your subjects found something on the Everfree Forest that…”
***---***---***
*** Canterlot Castle Library.***
“Tia, for the last time, what you say makes no sense, it was just a nightmare”.
Princess Luna took one hoof to her temple; her sister was looking for something inside the library.
“I knew you wouldn't believe it, but I assure you, it was a premonition, I have the feeling that something terrible will happen soon".
“You said the same when you dreamed about the eclipse; nothing happened, well, we had a great festival that day”.
“Luna, this is not a joke”.
The princess of the night rolled her eyes.
“Please, forget it; the only thing you will get from this is…” a green flame appeared on midair. “A letter?”
“It is from Twilight”.
Celestia opened the scroll and read the text; Luna saw her sister's face take a worried appearance.
“Tia? Is everything fine?”
Celestia looked at her. “We… We need to go to Ponyville”.
“What have I done? Oh God, What have I done?”
Booker rushed through the empty streets of New York, his mind filled with fear and regret. A man had come to him with an offer he couldn't resist. But now, there he was, praying to god that it wasn't too late.
In the distance, he saw light coming from an alley, when he turned on it, his fears reached its peak. The man of the brown tuxedo, the one that had offered him the deal was standing in front of a glowing wall and seemed to be speaking to someone else. Behind him, a bearded man wearing a black gown was holding a little baby on his arms.
“There´s no time, you need to come through, the portal will close soon”.
A feminine voice commanded.
“No, it is too soon, we need to wait”.
The man with the tuxedo replied and turned to see Booker on the far side of the alley, the bearded man did the same and his face took a desperate expression.
“Hey, the deal is off! You heard me? The deal is off! Give her back!”
Booker screamed while running towards them. The man of the tuxedo passed through the portal and the bearded man followed behind him, but Booker was able to grab him by the arm.
“Give her back you son of a bitch!”
He struggled against the man trying to take the baby away from him.
“Turn down the machine! Turn it off!”
The bearded man screamed.
“No! Give me back my daughter!”
Booker shouted. In that moment, the time seemed to stop as he took out a gun from his vest placing it on the forehead of the bearded man and pulling the trigger. As the bullet passed through his head, the man fell backward freeing the baby from his grasp. The portal closed and Booker leaned against the wall hugging the baby against his chest. He stood there in the silence for some moments; however, something got his attention. With fear, he lifted the bulk in his arms just to find it empty, his baby wasn’t there.
“Anna?”
He asked as tears of anger ran down his face, he let the fabric fall to the ground realizing that he had lost her anyway. He placed his hands over her face and cried.
“I’m sorry… I’m so sorry…”
“Why? You didn’t do something wrong”.
Someone said to him and Booker felt a warm hand caressing his face. When he looked up, he found a beautiful woman in front of him. Like in trance, he stood up never parting his eyes from those deep blue eyes of hers. It took him a moment to realize who she was.
“Elizabeth?”
Booker asked, she smiled and denied it.
“No.”
She answered closing the distance between them and wrapping her arms around him.
“I’m Anna… I missed you so much…”
“A- Anna”.
A smile spread on Booker’s lips. Like if she was made of crystal, he caressed her hair with delicacy and returned the hug.
“How is this possible?”
“I couldn’t bring myself to kill you, not after all we've been through.”
“But that… that means that nothing has ended.”
“Not for me, but for you, this will be a new beginning, you are free now, and that’s what makes me happy, but also…” her voice took a sad tone. “This will be the goodbye for us”.
“What?”
Booker backed away from her.
“The world where you are is the only one without corruption from Comstock or the Luteces, you will be fine there.”
“Of all the universes, did you have to choose the weirdest?”
Both laughed at the question, but Elizabeth’s laughter died in an instant.
“It’s time for me to part Booker, and before you say something, the answer is no”.
“How can you say something like that and expect me to accept it? You said this is a new chance for me; if that’s the case; let it be a chance for both of us”.
“I can’t, there is still something I need to do”.
He noticed the fear on her words.
“Then let me help you, whatever it is, we will…”
She closed his lips with her finger.
“No, this is something I need to do alone; this will close the circle once it for all”.
“Anna, I can’t let you go, how am I supposed to live knowing that you could be in danger? There must be something I can do to help”.
“Yes, there’s something.”
She grabbed his hand and looked at him directly into his eyes.
“Promise me that you will never try to find a way back to me”.
“Anna… you know the answer”.
“Booker, please, you have to let me go”.
Those words pierced his soul, he was about to lose her again, and this time forever. Anna took her hands to her neck and took away the necklace she was wearing to give it to him. He looked at it and then to her.
“I have to go”.
“No, please, don’t leave me”.
He begged. Anna smiled and planted a soft kiss on his lips.
“Goodbye… dad”.
She turned around and walked away from him with tears on her eyes, moments later, she disappeared in the mist.
“Anna! Anna!”
He called her in vain, in the end; Booker was left alone in the dark.
***---***---***
The sun began to rise over the mountains bathing the earth in its light. Inside the library, Spike snored quietly on his basket; the bed at his side was already empty. In the basement, Twilight walked around Booker’s bed taking notes on a small notebook. She was excited of studying what she considered the greatest discovery of all history, a creature of which there weren’t any records and possible the only of its kind.
“The subject presents brown skin with only a thin cape of hair, his head being the part of his body with the biggest concentration of it. The build of his corporal structure seems to be muscular and presents many scars on it; note to self, remember to ask him about it".
Twilight said writing down on the notebook. She walked to a small table where she had placed some of the things that Booker was carrying on his clothes, taking the wallet with her magic, she opened it.
“Private detective, I think that means he is some kind of authority”.
She thought while reading the ID card inside the wallet. Next, she took a look to the coins and bills with those weird pictures of other creatures similar to him and noticed that it had numbers. While studying them, she didn't notice that Booker had started to move.
“Anna”.
Booker whispered and Twilight jumped scared by it. For moment she didn’t move, but her curiosity was her own weakness and finally she got closer to him. Twilight saw how he lifted his arm for a brief moment before it fell over the bed. With a little fear, she softly touched his arm.
“What are you? Where did you come from?”
She asked him. Twilight pressed her foot against his arm with more confidence and slowly ran it over its length until she was touching his face. By the first time, she took her time to study his factions. His face, although serene, showed the shadow of someone that has been battered by the life, like if he was carrying the charge of guilty over his shoulders.
Lost in her thoughts, she didn't noticed Booker’s hand rising over her head until it fell just above her ear and into her mane. She felt the hand going up and down caressing her neck, the sensation felt amazing and although her mind was racing with the idea of running away, she find herself embracing his arm with her fore hooves to keep it in place.
“Sparkle, what are you doing?”
“Whaaaa!”
Twilight felt her heart jump out of her chest, she fell to the ground with a blush spreading on her face; she was so immersed in the sensation of Booker’s caress that she didn’t heard Trixie coming down the stairs.
“Trixie? What… what are you doing here?”
“Well, the door was open and I called you, but when you didn't answer, I assumed that you were down here, did I arrived in a bad moment? Looks like you were enjoying yourself”.
Twilight’s blush reached her ears, Trixie smiled in a devilish way.
“I was… well… is not what it looks like”.
Trixie reached the table taking a look at Booker’s things.
“So, any idea of what kind of creature is him?”
The magician asked.
“Not yet, he looks like a minotaur, but there are huge differences between them”.
“I can see that”.
“I think we will have answers once he wakes up, Princess Celestia will be here later today, I need to prepare a report in case…”
“Anna!”
Booker stood up on the bed screaming the name of his daughter causing both mares to scream and take shelter behind the fallen table. He buried his face on his hands, Twilight and Trixie came out from their cover.
“Mr. DeWitt?”
The lavender mare asked with weak voice. Booker looked at them.
“So… I wasn’t dreaming?”
Both mares denied it. He sighed lying down on the bed.
“How… how do you feel?”
Trixie asked.
“How am I supposed to feel? What kind of stupid question is that?”
Trixie’s ears dropped.
“Hey, if it wasn’t for her, you would be dead already, we’re trying to help, there’s no need to be rude”.
Twilight intervened. He looked at her with anger
“How would you feel if you were stranded in a world where nothing seems to make sense?"
“Well, to be honest, you don’t make sense to us”.
“Like I give a shit”.
“That’s it, I’m done, you can come upstairs when your mood gets better”.
Twilight threw the notebook through the air and left the room murmuring something about using fire to burn him down. Trixie stood there for a moment looking at him.
“What?”
He asked angrily. Her horn shone with a blue aura, she placed Booker’s clothes on the bed and then turned around. He looked at her reaching the top of the stairs where she stopped.
“Is good to see you’re fine, I was worried for you, thanks for saving me”.
Booker looked at his clothes; they were clean and had been repaired. Then, he looked at his chest where some gauzes were covering the wounds caused by the timberwolf and recalled how he had got here.
“Well done Booker, what a way to start a new life.”
After saying that, he looked at his fist. He opened it and found the bird necklace that Anna had given to him causing him to laugh.
“Oh Anna, what am I going to do?”
***---***---***
There were tales that talked about a place of such magnificence that it could leave Canterlot Castle in shame. All these tales were lost in the time now and only a few could remember them. Yet, none of those tales did justice to its beauty.
The Hall of the Patriarchs was illuminated by the sunlight that entered through the windows at the top of its massive alabaster walls making it look like a giant diamond. There, on the center of the hall, a crystal alicorn of deep black mane and silver body awaited in silence. She knew she was in troubles due to her actions to save that old stallion from dying on the hooves of those insectoid creatures, but she just couldn't let that happen.
The door at the end of the hall opened slowly and an elder dragon entered into the room. There was something unusual about this dragon, though he had all the characteristics of any of his kind; his size was barely the double of the alicorn that was standing in front of him.
"Father".
Said the alicorn bowing her head with respect, the dragon used one of its claws to gently lift her face, her deep green eyes staring directly into those red eyes of the beast.
"What am I going to do with you, Seraphi?"
He spoke with serene voice; the alicorn looked away from him.
"Once more, you have disobeyed the most important rule of our kingdom and crossed the frontiers of the colony. I have told you the same so many times, there's nothing for you out there, only danger".
“I wasn’t in danger”.
She said in a whisper.
“What was that?”
“I said… I can take care of myself”.
“No, you can’t”.
“Of course I can, I killed those things thanks to my training, I saved that poor stallion’s life”.
The dragon stared at her with fear.
“Did he saw you?” He said worried.
“Well… I don’t know, I was chasing those creatures away… is that important?
“How could you be so careless? That’s the reason why you must stay here and never…”
Seraphi looked at his father, her rage growing with each word he said until she finally cut his words.
“Why do you still treat me like a filly? I know exactly what I’m doing, I don’t want to spend the rest of my life inside four walls, I want to see the world that lies beyond the mountains, I want to live”.
“You have a life here, one that will last for centuries to come, one on which you will not have to worry for anything”.
“But I’m a prisoner!”
Seraphi shouted, her father knew that in the end she was right about it.
“A prisoner in a land where I don’t even belong… I’m not even a dragon… not even a normal pony… what am I?”
She started to cry, the dragon reached her and hugged her softly; Seraphi buried her face on the soft scales of his chest.
“You are my daughter, and the most beautiful creation of this world, never forget that”
She returned the hug and both remained in silence for some minutes until he spoke again.
“I’ll tell you something, I’ll speak with the leaders of the clan, if they decide that the time has come, you’ll be free to go anywhere you want to”.
Her face showed joy after hearing him say that.
“Are you sure?”
“I’m sure.”
She smiled and kissed him on the cheek. He smiled as well before let her go. He saw her leave the room, in that moment; his face took a stern look.
“I’m sorry Seraphi, but I made a promise. You will never leave this place”.
***
With the dream of finally being able to leave the colony to know the world, Seraphi left the room with a smile from ear to ear, however.
“Problems with daddy again my little freak?”
A mocking voice said behind her, Seraphi turned around taking a defensive posture. Leaning against a column, a young black dragon played with his claws.
“That’s none of your business, Ridley”.
“Oh, did he ground you again? Well, is less than what you deserve for putting the colony in danger, again”.
“I said shut up you filthy lizard!”
Seraphi charged her horn and launched a blast of energy against him, but the energy did nothing and it just faded away after touching the dragon´s body. Ridley launched forward grabbing her by the neck and smashing her against the wall.
“Have you not learned anything in all these years? Dragons are immune to magic. Also, you shouldn't talk like that to your future ruler… and husband”.
He said in a perverse way while opening his mouth, his tongue licking against the alicorn’s neck. Seraphi felt repulse at his touch, using her four legs he kicked against him freeing herself from his grasp.
“I’ll never be your wife, I rather die”.
She spat him in the face and fled from there. Ridley laughed and wiped the saliva with his claw.
“You’ll see it Seraphi, you’ll be mine you want it or not!”
She didn't hear his threat. As she entered her room; she lay on the bed crying bitterly.
***---***---***
Booker was sitting across the table, in front of him; the lavender unicorn was ready with quill and paper to write down everything important that could come out from the row of questions. It didn't pass too long until Booker left the basement to ask for forgiveness, both mares told him that they didn't have grudge against him, after all, they didn't had taken into account the fact that he was still accepting the idea that he was now in a universe totally different and unknown to him.
After making peace, he asked if there was a place where he could take a shower, Twilight lead him to the bathroom on the second floor and giggled after looking at his face of surprise when he noticed the similarities between this new world and the earth, they had electricity, plumbing, radio stations and so many other things that made him feel nostalgic.
Now feeling refreshed, he was awaiting for Twilight to start. He saw the unicorn smiling from ear to ear, mumbling something to herself and could swear that her big purple eyes were shining.
“Does she always acts like this?"
He asked to Trixie, the cyan unicorn shrugged.
“Only when she’s about to learn something new, most of the time she’s in calm”.
Another voice answered and Booker looked at his right finding a small purple dinosaur with a tray filled with blue muffins sprinkled with what he thought were pieces of multicolor glasses.
“Wow, and just what the hell are you?”
“Not the best way to ask for the name of one but hey, I have no problems with that. My name is Spike and I'm a dragon".
Booker raised an eyebrow.
“Ha, if you're a dragon, I'm the Queen of England”.
“What?”
“Nothing Spike.”
“Oh, okay, would you like a muffin?”
Spike said presenting the tray to Booker who denied with the head. Spike nodded and sat on the other side of the table.
This world gets crazier at every moment. Booker said to himself.
“All right, let’s begin.” Twilight’s voice brought him back from his thoughts.
“What exactly do you want to know?”
“Everything”. She said clapping her hooves.
Shit. He thought.
“Okay, my name as you already know is Booker DeWitt and I’m a human from a planet named earth. Back there I lived in New York and I was part of the Pinkerton Agency until I left the force to work as a private detective, you know, people used to pay me to do some works for them, no big deal".
Twilight wrote all he said. “And, do you have any idea of how you got here?” She asked.
“Long story short, I gambled and got in troubles with the wrong people. One day a man came to me and offered to wipe away the debt if I did a job for him. I accepted and went to another city to fulfill the contract, something went wrong and I finished here, looking at the bright side, he was right, the debt got canceled".
He lied; they didn’t need to know more details about his troubled past nor even from Columbia’s horrors. For a moment he thought he was out the hook, until Twilight asked something else.
“While you were sleeping, you mentioned a name, Anna, who is she?”
Booker’s eyes went wide open. “I... let’s pass to other question”.
“Why, is something wrong?” Asked Trixie.
Don’t push it , “C’mon, make another question”.
He was starting to lose his temper, but they didn't take away the finger from the line.
“Is she somepony important to you?” Twilight pressed on.
“Please, another”.
“No, I want to know who and what was your relationship with her”.
Think Booker; say something or you will never take them off of you.
“She… she’s my daughter… I lost her when she was just a baby”.
He finally said. Twilight and Trixie looked at each other with regret.
“Oh, I didn’t… sorry for asking that”. The purple mare said in sad voice.
“It’s okay”.
He answered. An awkward silence fell between them. Trixie was the first to speak after that.
“Mr. DeWitt”.
“Call me Booker”.
“All right… Booker, Twilight didn’t believe me when I told her I saw you use magic, why don’t you show her?”
“I… I think I can do that, but don’t you think this can be a little risky? I mean, a new creature making weird things in a peaceful town? that sure can’t be good”.
“Believe me Booker; this town has seen so many weird things by now that you wouldn’t believe it, I bet that the villagers feel strange when nothing happens”.
With that said, the four of them headed outside the library. Booker stood in front of them with his hands in the air. With a snap of his fingers, a small flame appeared on the tip of them and a moment later, the fire spread to the rest of his hand. Twilight saw in awe how the fire disappeared and was replaced by black feathers. Another snap and his hand got filled with black crystals that emitted some kind of electricity, said crystals turned into ice, then into water, finally, his hand showed a green and yellow glow, a small swirl and the bloody effect of bucking bronco.
“This is amazing! How can you have magic if you’re not a unicorn?”
“See, I told you he was special”.
“By Celestia, you need to let me have some samples to study them, c’mon give me a demonstration of what they do!”
“Hey, hold your horses”.
Booker said, but after realizing what he just had said, he burst in laughter. Both unicorns looked at him in confusion.
“What’s so funny? I have told you, we’re not horses, we’re ponies”.
Said Trixie. Booker tried to speak but he was laughing so hard that even his stomach started to pain. Finally, taking a deep breath his laughter died.
“I can’t remember the last time I laughed like this, anyway, what I was about tell you is that this is not magic, this powers are called vigors and serve as well as weapons and means of defense, all of them are very dangerous, and I hope to never use them again, unless it is necessary. Sorry, but I hope you can understand”.
Twilight pouted, but it didn’t have effect on him. Accepting the defeat she nodded.
“And, what about that beautiful shiny thing you have inside that weird brown thing?”
Spike asked, Booker knew that he was talking about the hand cannon.
“It’s another kind of weapon, one that you should never play with, let’s leave it like that”.
Spike shrugged, however, Twilight made a mental note to take a closer look at the said weapon, she was sure that she could take it away from him while he was sleeping tonight.
“We still have some time before Princess Celestia arrives later today to meet you, why don’t we go and get something to eat?”
Twilight asked them, Booker thought that this world may have a totally different kind of food, but he was hungry after all, this may as well serve him to know his new home a little more.
“Sound’s good to me. What about you Booker”. Said the magician.
“I´ll follow you”.
***
Thanks to god for this!
Booker almost drooled over the eggs and bacon served in front of him, the restaurant was crowded with ponies of all colors, there he noticed that there were three races, unicorns, pegasus and earth ponies, and of course, he was able to catch that some of them stared at him with curios eyes, yet they seemed to do it in a friendly way. Like Twilight had said, the villagers didn’t look frightened or uncomfortable around him.
Leaving those thoughts aside, he took the first bite of the meal and hummed, it tasted like glory for him. Back in Columbia when he stuffed himself with the food he found around, he just ate it all to recover forces, plus the effect of the bullet shield he had obtained from the Luteces, all the food didn’t have flavor or consistence, it only turned into energy.
While they were eating, in the building in front of the restaurant, a group conformed by three griffins and three unicorns stood in silence looking at the cartel above the door. Ponyville´s Bank, the five of them looked at each other, with a nod; the griffins went inside the building while the unicorns remained outside. First there were silence, then, a shot was heard followed by screams of terror. The ponies outside the building ran in fear looking for shelter, inside the restaurant, all the world took cover under the tables, all of them except Booker.
“Booker, what are you doing, get some cover”. Twilight whispered to him.
“Please, tell me you have some kind of police here”.
“Yes, the royal guards will arrive soon and will handle the situation, get down here”.
Booker was about to do it when he saw a group of guards arriving at the scene, however, one of the unicorns shouted something and one of the griffins came out the building with what seemed to be some kind of crank gun like those that the motorized patriots used to carry with them.
“You have ten seconds to surrender, drop your weapons or else we will have to use force against you!”
The captain of the guards told to the group with a megaphone.
“Go to hell!”
The griffin shouted and opened fire. The unicorns of the royal guard placed a shield in front of their comrades to protect them, but with horror Booker saw how the bullets passed through the barrier sending many of the guards to the ground. Vivid images of his battles on Columbia passed through Booker’s mid, this world had horrors too, and he was part of it now.
Twilight saw with fear how Booker rushed out of the restaurant, and getting closer to the window followed by Trixie, they saw how the guards started to return the fire with magic blasts while trying to take their wounded partners out of the line of fire.
“Look!”
Trixie shouted pointing her hoof towards the bank, Twilight and some of the ponies inside the restaurant looked at Booker. One of the unicorns noticed him and shot at him with his magic, to his surprise and that of the ones watching the scene, the magic made contact against Booker’s chest, but it faded in the air.
“He… he’s immune to magic?” Twilight said in awe.
Booker didn’t lose time and launched a blast of murder crows against the unicorn whom screamed in agony as the birds mauled his body and took away his eyes. The griffin saw this and turned his gun against the human, Booker summoned the yellow shield of return to sender and catch many of the bullets that came out of the gun before throwing them back against him. The griffin fell to the ground with his body filled with bullet holes.
“What the hell is that thing?!”
One of the remaining unicorns shouted in terror, a creature immune to magic and capable of catch naked bullets with his hands was something out of their league. He ran into the bank followed by his partner, however, this last one was grabbed by a tentacle made of water. Booker used it to bring it in front of him.
“Answer this and I’ll let you live, how many more are inside the building?”
“T- Three more, please, d- don’t hurt me?”
“You should have thought about that before attacking this place”.
Using the tentacle, Booker sent the unicorn flying towards the royal guards. After that, he went inside the bank. As he entered, he was received by a hail of bullets and ran to take cover behind a pillar; another griffin was barricaded inside an office on the second floor with another crank gun.
“I don’t know what kind of monster are you, but you better leave this place or else we shall kill you!”
Booker took a peek to the interior of the bank; there were ponies on the floor covering their heads, the unicorn was behind a wall on the other side of the second floor with a rifle waiting for him to make a mistake to blow his head off and finally, the last of the griffins and the one that Booker was sure to be the leader, standing in front of the vault with a foal in his claw and a gun pointing to the little one’s head.
C’mon, let me see your eyes.
Booker’s hand glowed with a green light; he just needed to wait for the correct moment.
“Why don’t we talk this out? I bet we can make a deal”.
“You aren’t in a position to talk, you have no place in here, you’re not even a guard, you are just some weird creature in the wrong place at the wrong moment trying to be a hero”.
“You’re right in the part of the place and the time, but let me tell you something, if you don’t let the kid go, I’ll make you regret it”.
“I’ve had enough of this; kill the son of a bitch!”
The unicorn stepped out from behind the wall. Booker launched the possession blast towards him with a direct hit. The unicorn started to shoot against both his boss and the griffin inside the room. This last used the crank gun to kill him. Booker took the chance and taking out his hand cannon, he pointed towards the crank guy placing his head right in the middle of the sights of the gun, he pulled the trigger and the bullet pierced the griffin’s head.
For a moment, he thought all had ended, but a painful sensation like the sting of a bee made of fire on his left arm told him the contrary. The last griffin was still alive and had his gun pointed towards him, and was grabbing the little foal by his mane.
“You bastard, you ruined it all”.
The griffin spat out blood, he had a wound in his right side. Booker smiled.
“I warned you that if you didn't let the little one go, you would regret it”.
“Shut up! I’m going to kill him and then I’m going to kill all inside this damn place!”
“One… two…”
Booker started to count; the griffin screamed with fury and raised his gun. Although in pain, he was able to use bucking bronco sending the griffin into the air.
“Three.”
He pulled the trigger of the hand cannon ripping the head of the griffin from the rest of his body. The little foal ran towards a mare. She hugged him with love and tears of happiness running down her cheeks.
“Thank you, thank you so much sir.”
She told him, Booker nodded. Soon the rest of the ponies started to stand, some of them clapping their hooves and thanking him. Booker placed the gun inside his holster, asked if there were any wounded but was happy to hear that the robbers had only made shots of warning. After that he walked towards the exit, outside a bigger number of royal guards was waiting for him. As soon as he stepped outside, a roar of whistles and applause from the crowd received him.
“The place is clean guys, you take care of it”.
The guards nodded and entered the building. Booker sat on the stairs and the captain of the guards came to him.
“I still can’t believe what I saw, but I have to admit, you know some moves comrade, what’s your name?”
“Name’s Booker DeWitt”.
“Well Booker, we can use somepony like you in the force, why don’t you pay a visit to the headquarters to talk about it?”
“I’ll have that in mind”.
The pegasus nodded, but noticed blood dripping from Booker’s hand.
“You’re wounded!”
“The boss of these guys hit my arm, it will heal soon”.
“I need medical assistance here!”
The captain shouted and two ponies with a white hat over their heads came rushing towards him.
“I’ll let you in good hooves, I got work to do, hope to see you soon Booker”.
The pegasus did his farewell. While Booker was being attended by the paramedics, Twilight and Trixie appeared in front of him, while the magician had an expression of happiness, the purple mare seemed to still be trying to catch the idea of something.
“Booker, you’re hurt?”
“Is nothing Trixie, just a scratch”.
“Did… did you killed them all?” She asked tapping the floor with her hoof.
“I…” Booker was lost of words for a moment. “There was no other option; someone else could have been injured”.
Trixie nodded, “don’t worry, I understand”.
“You… you’re immune… you’re immune to magic”. Twilight mumbled.
“Well, it seems that way, why are you so surprised?”
“It’s incredible! This makes you the second creature in this world that is immune to magic!"
“And the first one being?”
“Dragons! Oh I can’t wait to inform about this to Princess Celestia”.
I don’t know if I really want to meet her after what I have done here. He thought.
As they shared some other words, from the crowd, a green coated pegasus was looking at them. Moments later she walked away from the scene. It didn't took her long to reach an alley between two buildings were she stopped.
“Interesting”.
She spoke with a rather strange voice, like if she were two different beings.
"I think, is time to inform this to the hive".
The mare smiled showing two sharp fangs, her brown eyes turning blue without trace of pupils and flashing with a cyan shine for a brief moment.
***---***---***
Celestia and Luna sat in silence inside the carriage. The sun goddess was holding an old book with her magic as her sister looked outside the window.
“Luna”, Celestia said catching her sister’s attention. “Listen to this, according to the elder scrolls, while Sombra ruled without compassion, there was a pony for whom he cared for, her name was Silver Sapphire, a crystal unicorn. The tales tell that she was Sombra’s favorite maid, he treated her like if she was his most precious treasure".
“Tia, shouldn’t you be thinking in other things at the moment? Like the attack on Ponyville´s Bank?”
The younger alicorn replied, Celestia sighed.
“I know Luna, but for now there’s nothing else we can do, they have one of the attackers under custody, and I already sent a missive to the griffin ambassador asking him for a reunion to talk about the attack”.
“But what really has me on the edge is this nightmare; somehow I feel that it’s related with what Twilight talked about on her letter. Plus, did you read the description of the creature that killed the attackers and how he did it? It sounds like a piece taken out of a nightmare”.
“Yes… this creature is a mystery.” Luna replied. “Anyway, you were saying that this Silver Sapphire was Sombra’s marefriend?”
“Not exactly, the book has nothing about that, yet, it mentions that one day she disappeared, according to the date, it was one year before we fought against him, nopony ever saw her again”.
“And this comes into the matter because?”
“In my nightmare, I saw a crystal mare walking away from the kingdom, what if she was Silver Sapphire?”
Luna was about to say something when the carriage stopped, both goddesses saw that they had arrived to Twilight’s home. The guard walked to the door and opened it.
“It’s time to find out who's this Booker everypony talks about”.
Luna said descending from the carriage, Celestia gulped, she had fear, the question was why?
***
The door of the library opened and both goddesses were received by an excited Twilight.
“Princess!”
The lavender unicorn got closer receiving a nuzzle from both alicorns.
“Twilight, is good to see you again”. Celestia said.
“Yes, and you will not believe what I’m about to tell you, but first of all, I think you should meet somepony”.
Booker appeared in front of the princesses followed by Trixie. Luna looked at him with surprise. However, Celestia with eyes wide open remembered the dark silhouette she saw in the nightmare, her fear reaching its peak.
By the sun, it’s him!
No one could deny that the changeling hive was a place capable of induce fear in the heart of those unfortunate souls that made a wrong turn and ended in the reigns of this creatures. Its green glowing walls, the almost infinite labyrinth of dark tunnels that formed the massive structure, all this combined with its residents made it look like a place taken out of a nightmare. At least a nightmare couldn't hurt you, but in this place, the reality was much more terrifying.
Since the failed invasion to Canterlot City and the subsequent hunt to which they were subjected, the Changeling Kingdom retreated southward in search of a remote place where they couldn’t be found. However, this brought with it hunger and death to the once proud kingdom.
The changelings needed to feed of emotions, they needed live victims to do so and that is something that was rare in the badlands. For their fortune, they found the small village on Skull Canyon right in the outskirts of The Land of Fire; however, the village wasn't enough to feed a whole hive and against all law, the changelings become the hunters and now and then, they killed a villager to eat him.
Things went like that for a couple of years and the hive started to grow almost at the same rate that the hate of the Changeling Queen against the ponies that ruined her plans and that almost doomed her race to extinction. Chrysalis never forgot, she never forgave and over all the things, she wanted revenge.
“Are you sure of what you seen?”
“Yes, my Queen, there is another like them… another alicorn”.
Chrysalis’s face showed no emotion after hearing his minion telling her about his encounter with the unknown being.
“Is there something else I need to know?”
“I think that’s all your highness, all happened so fast that I escaped barely alive. She blocked all our magic, I still don’t know how that was possible and then, this dragon came out of nowhere and…”
“Wait a moment, a dragon?” Chrysalis said somehow surprised after hearing that last part.
“Yes, he killed two more of us, but I can’t tell if the dragon fought against the alicorn, I ran away in fear, I’m sorry my queen”.
The changeling closed his eyes and bowed his head. He didn’t saw Chrysalis standing up from her throne to take a sword and walk towards him.
“I know, trust me; you will not have to worry for it for much more”.
She said. With a quick movement, the blade cut through the neck of the changeling, his limp body felt to the ground with green blood spreading over it. Chrysalis threw the stained sword to one side and remained in silence. After some moments, another changeling walked inside the room and flinched in the moment her eyes stared at the scene.
“Was this really necessary, your highness?”
“There can’t be any witnesses, is not like you knowing about this help either, but I know I can trust you, isn’t it, Arklin?”
Chrysalis said with her green draconic eyes fixed on her, Arklin shuddered and nodded frantically.
“Good girl, now, send a message to Ridley; tell him I need to speak with him”.
“Yes, your highness”. Arklin turned around but stopped. “Oh I almost forgot, it seems that one of our couriers have a message for you, she said is really important”.
“Who and from where is she communicating?”
“Is Kriket your highness, she’s in Ponyville”.
After hearing Arklin’s words, a devilish smile appeared on the queen's lips.
***---***---***
Half of the day had gone on Ponyville when the two unicorns and the human returned to the library. As they entered Booker took off the holster leaving it over the table. Taking a glance to the gun inside of it, memories came to his mind like a bad recount of his past life, but what scared him most was how easy was for him to take a life in this new world.
"It seems that nothing will change, wherever I am, troubles and death will follow me. No rest for the wicked, I guess".
He said with a grim tome. Trixie and Twilight looked at Booker not knowing what to say nor what to think about him. Sure he had told them about what he used to do back in his world, but seeing him go into a fight like he did, even if it was with a good cause, left them with fear and disconcert, he really was a killing machine.
“Booker, is there something bothering you?”
Trixie asked him almost in a whisper. Booker looked at her and then to Twilight who was looking at him with big eyes like pleading for an explanation.
“I…” He began, “I lied to you. I’ve done things… terrible things you can’t even imagine”.
“What do you mean?” Said Twilight, “does it have to see with what happened today?”
“Yes, what happened at the bank is just a reflection of what truly I am. You need to know everything”.
Both mares looked at each other and then at him before nodding. Booker took a deep breath and was ready to start talking again when a knock on the door startled the three of them. Twilight walked out of the room leaving Trixie and Booker in an awkward silence. She saw him sit on a chair and bury his face on his hands. Without a word, Trixie got closer to him and in an act beyond her control started to slowly nuzzle his arm.
“It’s okay Booker, we all make mistakes in our life, and even if what you will tell us is something as bad as you say it is, no one will judge you here”.
Booker lifted his head just to find himself staring into those deep purple eyes of Trixie. Shaking his head a small chuckle escaped his lips just before he reached to scratch behind her ear causing Trixie to laugh.
“Princesses!”
Came the excited voice of Twilight from the other room accompanied by another one that sounded almost maternal. Turning his gaze towards the arch of the door Booker sighed and stood up.
“Let’s finish with this”. He said and Trixie nodded.
The moment he came into view both rulers stared at him with different expressions. Luna tilted her head to one side, her big turquoise eyes showing interest and curiosity almost like a cat playing with a ball of yarn. By her part, Celestia's eyes showed surprise and horror as memories from her nightmare flashed before her, the black silhouette she saw looked just like the creature in front of her, both had same size and form.
No, take a deep breath and wait; you can’t have any conclusions so fast. Celestia said to herself. You have to give him the benefit of the doubt; after all, as Luna said, it was just a dream… just a bad and painful dream… this must be just causality…
Luna walked to Booker and lifted a hoof which he took with respect. “Greetings, my name is Luna, Princess of the Night and co-ruler of Equestria”.
“It’s an honor to meet you, your highness, my name is Booker DeWitt”.
He said bowing his head. Luna smiled and looked at her sister who seemed to be out of her mind. She tried to catch her attention with a nudge to her ribs but nothing happened.
“Princess? Is everything alright?” Asked Twilight somewhat worried by her mentor’s state.
“Tia, come on, you're making a fool of yourself here, snap out of it”. Luna said laughing nervously. Her sister’s words stopped Celestia’s train of thought and she finally realized that Booker was standing mere centimeters away from her.
Finally taking control of her mind, Celestia cleared her throat and extended one of her fore legs towards Booker, “Princess Celestia, and the honor is ours, Mr. DeWitt”. He grabbed her hoof shaking it a few times.
“I suppose that you have many questions about Booker”. Twilight said before any of the presents could say something else.
“Indeed,” Celestia replied never taking her eyes from him, “some of them regarding to what is him and how he got here… and others about what happened today at Ponyville’s bank”.
Booker’s eyes opened wide; here it was, the moment he never wanted to come and yet, the same he craved for, if he really wanted to gain their acceptance and confidence he needed to tell them the truth… all the truth.
“Your Majesties, today’s events were something that I never expected to live in a peaceful world like this, even when my whole life has been a fight for survival and redemption, what you will hear is the truth, a truth that even Twilight and Trixie ignore".
And Booker started to speak, never hiding a detail nor telling lies of the events that had brought him to this moment. And they heard him with interest and open minds, but overall, Celestia heard him in search of something that connected him to her nightmare and at the same time, wishing to not find it.
***---***---***
Ridley soared through the evening sky, his gaze staring into the distance like looking for something. It didn't take him too long to spot what he was looking for and with a powerful flap of his wings he launched towards a small hill. Moments later, standing on the top of the hill, Ridley took a glance to the land that extended in front of him. To his right he could see the remaining pillars of The Hall of The Patriarchs, the only signal of the existence of his colony. To the left, not so far from where he was standing, the lighthouse of the Skull Canyon and its eternal light beam seemed to be a silent vigilant of the Land of Fire, a growl escaped from his jaws and a small cloud of smoke from his nostrils.
Narrowing his eyes he was able to see something imperceptible to others. The beam of light from the lighthouse landed right in the middle of his colony encasing it inside a giant golden dome. Said dome was made of a powerful magic, and whoever that had created it, did it with just one goal in mind, lock up all the life forms inside of it to never let them leave.
“Have you had any luck with the search?” Ridley asked without turning around. Behind him, another figure was standing watching him with interest.
“Don’t you know that it’s rude not to look to the pony you’re talking to?”
“My dear, you’re not a pony”, he said finally turning around to look at the changeling queen, “you’re something much more powerful and valuable, never compare yourself with those low level beings”.
“Hmmm, you know how to please a mare, I like that”.
Chrysalis purred as Ridley caressed her face and brushed her mane with his claw, but just for a couple of seconds before he grabbed her by the neck.
“Care to explain the incident from a couple of days ago? Your minions almost screw up the plan”.
“I know, I already took care of it, there are no witnesses of her existence”.
“I hope so; rumors can ruin everything that we already have. But that must be the last of our worries for now".
“What do you mean?”
“Due to her little appearance beyond the frontier of the colony, Antares is planning to lock her up into the vault once more, if that happens, everything will go to Tartarus”.
“Hush now, don’t talk like that, why don’t you simply take her out by yourself? Or, are you telling me that you can’t take care of a filly? ” Chrysalis mocked him.
"Perhaps you don't understand it, even if I tried to take her out of here, I can't. Look above you, this damned dome is the only thing that keeps me here; I can't leave this cursed land. It is made of the only kind of magic in this world to which I'm not immune, all thanks to Antares and that white bitch".
Ridley let out a powerful roar. Chrysalis gave two steps back staring with fear and admiration at the beast. She knew perfectly that feeling; after all, he was talking of the same being that almost doomed her entire legacy.
"Five hundred years ago, my father and his followers attacked Canterlot and tried to kill Celestia and Luna, but one of them, Antares, betrayed him and showed them how to defeat him. He died thanks to him and not only that, Antares decided that our kind were too dangerous to live in their peaceful land and asked the sisters to put us here. And for us to never leave, Celestia created this force field linked to her own magic and vital energy".
"So that's why you need her?"
"Exactly, Seraphy is the key. I don't know where she came from, or where Antares found her, but when she was freed from the vault the first time, I could feel a powerful magic inside of her, I've seen her grow and became more powerful with the time, her magic is still something beyond mine or the sorcerer's comprehension".
“Then how do you know she’s what we need to break the spell?”
“One day, when she was younger, I opened a path for her to escape; she did and wandered the land for some hours. She reached a small canyon where two unicorns appeared to be stranded, even with the wall of rock between them, the unicorns started to feel dizzy, I saw them tried to use magic just to fail miserably, in order to prove my theory, I paid them a visit, I don't think I need to tell you what happened next, isn't it?"
Chrysalis licked her lips by just imagining what the dragon did to those poor souls.
“Anyway, that day I learned what she was capable of, and in return she knew that there was something more beyond the walls of the colony, and her story of failed attempts to scape began. But her last escapades had been nearly beyond the dome and that have put her father on alarm, no one knows of her existence, and he wants to keep it like that, even if that means to lock her inside the vault again, as I said time is running out, we need to find our scape goat, and we need to find him soon”.
"Well, if that's bothering you my dear Ridley”, Chrysalis smiled, “I think this will brighten up your day".
She tossed him a green glowing orb; Ridley grabbed it and looked at it with interest, his eyes growing wider each minute. The orb stopped glowing after some moments and the dragon smiled.
"Impressive, where did you find this creature? I've never heard or seen something like it".
"One of my couriers found it in Ponyville".
“Looks like this being is our best chance to succeed in our plans, whatever this creature asks for, I think we can reach a deal".
"Right now Kriket is trying to learn more about it in order to understand what would it want in order to help us, I'm sure we will have it working for us soon, the plan goes on".
Ridley looked at the changeling queen and then turning around, his gaze landed on the lighthouse. "You better found what this creature wants soon, I don't think I need to remind you what will happen if you fail me, isn't it Chrysalis?"
Chrysalis’s eyes showed fear. "O- Of course not… Ridley".
***---***---***
Four mares and a dragon stared silently at the human standing in front of them. Booker remained in silence, he had just finished with his story and waited for their reaction, Luna, Twilight and Trixie showed sadness and even the show mare still had tears on her eyes. On the other side, Celestia kept a stoic stance.
No one dare to even say a word and just saw him lifting his hand to look at the letters that he himself had engraved on its back. Luna stepped forward and grabbing his hand she also looked at the letters.
"A.D. Anna DeWitt?"
Booker nodded "A mark that will haunt me as a cold remembrance of my sins... of my past life."
"But you are free now," Trixie said and he saw traces of wetness running down her cheeks, "nothing of that had followed you here."
"Can you really say that? Even after what you witnessed at the bank?" This time it was Celestia who spoke bringing all the attention towards her.
"I suppose you may be right your highness, I had no motives to get into the battle, but it was instinct. For a moment I saw myself back at Columbia, I couldn't just sit idle and saw your subjects getting killed."
"He's telling the truth princess," Twilight intervened, "the guards suffered casualties due to the attack, had it not been for Booker, well; I don't want to even think about it."
Celestia looked at her student and then to the human. I can't believe it; do they all really think this “man” deserves another chance? All the evidence tells me the contrary, there's no doubt now, I need to stop this before it even start.
"May I have a word with you Mr. DeWitt, in private?"
Her tone was cold and filled with authority. "O-of course, your highness." This won't end well ; he thought and then followed the white alicorn out of the library. For moment they remained in an uncomfortable silence.
"Mr. DeWitt," she began.
"Just call..."
"Your presence in our world," she cut his words, "sure is something strange, and yet, expected."
Celestia turned to see him and then started to walk around Booker while speaking. He eyed her, something ringing and alarm deep inside his mind, all of her right now seemed menacing, her tone, her stare, her posture.
"Your story of moments ago although touching, well, the mares inside the house may had been fool enough to ate it all, but I don't believe a single word, you're not what you swear to be, and your actions of today only give me the reason."
"Just hold on a minute." He tried to reply.
"I haven't finished Mr. DeWitt; I suggest you don't interrupt me." She said angrily. "Yes, you're not from this world, I give you that, but I know those of your kind, liars that seek only the corruption and destruction of the harmony and peace that rules this land, but I'll be damned if I let those like you to succeed."
Booker with eyes wide open stared at the alicorn, his own rage starting to boil inside of him.
"Are you fucking listening to yourself, why would I lie to you about something so painful for me?"
"Oh please, I've heard more elaborated stories from some of my most hated enemies; you're not different from them."
"Listen, Celestia." Now he was talking in a harsh tone. "I don't have problems with you, I just want to start again, and I can assure you this, you don't want me as an enemy."
"You're not in position to threaten me DeWitt; you better watch your words." Now they were face to face, eyes locked on each other.
"Right now you only have two options." Celestia continued. "One, you pass the rest of your days in the dungeons, or two, you remain here in Ponyville under strict vigilance and under Twilight's care."
"And what if I refuse both?"
"You have no right to discuss any of them, in both cases your weapons will be taken away from you. Also, in case that you choose the second one, if you ever dare to put a foot beyond the limits of Ponyville or Canterlot, you will be considered as an enemy of the crown and you will be hunted down like the animal you are."
That was the last straw. "And why don’t you put a chain on my neck you bitch?! I bet it would work better!"
Booker shouted, then something hard and cold hit against his face sending him to the ground with blood pouring from his mouth. Standing up with his hands turned into small fountains of fire, he saw Celestia with a hoof on the air, she had slapped him, and he was ready to return her the favor. He walked towards her and two guards stood on his way.
"Move or I will make a rug with you." He told them.
"Easy there pal, surrender now and no harm will be done." One of the guards said but it didn't work to stop the human that kept walking towards his target.
"Booker!" Trixie's voice brought him back to the reality.
"No Booker! Please, don't do something you will regret." Twilight pleaded.
The fire surrounding his hands disappeared. He didn't say a thing; he just turned around and walked away from that place. Behind him, he was able to hear Luna and Celestia arguing about what had happened, the voices of the guards calling him back and.... hoof steps?
"Trixie?"
"Booker, are you okay?"
He laughed. "This is not a good moment to be asking that, but yes, I'll be fine, I just need some time alone." And with that, he kept walking. Trixie stood there and saw him disappear in the distance.
***
Booker didn't know where he was. He just let that the loneliness of the field and the sound of the wind through the trees filled his senses. The sun was setting when he reached the outskirts of the small town, standing there, he let it all out.
"Goddammit!" He screamed. "Damn world! Damn ponies! Damn Celestia! Damn you! Damn you all to hell!" He kneeled on the grass, tears of anger running down his face. "I don't need this, I should have died. I should have remained dead."
That thought stood on his mind for some minutes. When all the frustration finally left him he stood up looking at the evening die.
"Celestia can really be a pain in the ass don't you think, Mr. DeWitt?"
Said a voice behind him. Booker looked over his shoulder finding a pegasus standing some meters away from him.
"And who the hell are you? How do you know my name?"
"I have many names, I choose them according to the occasion, and I know your name thanks to my mind reading powers, just one of the many characteristics of my kind." She said with a grin.
"I don't have time for this shit." He said and started to walk away.
"Mr. DeWitt, I have an important message for you." Booker stopped. "My superiors have their eyes on you and they think that you are the perfect "man" for the job."
"Yeah? Well, tell your "superiors" that I don't give a shit about the job, I have enough problems for a life."
"They told me that you would react like this. I was said to offer all that you asked for in order for you to accept the job."
"Listen, nothing of what you plan on offering me will make me accept your stupid job."
"Not even a way back to your world?"
With eyes as big as saucers he finally faced the mare.
"What... what did you said?"
"If you accept and finish the job, you'll be rewarded with a way back home, how does that sounds?"
Can it be possible? He thought. "And how can I know that it is true? They said that I am immune to magic, that there is no way for me to return to my world."
Smiling she closed her eyes. The body of the mare was engulfed by green flames, the soft fur being replaced by cold pieces of black shell. Stunned, Booker saw the mare revealing her true nature.
"They know nothing Mr. DeWitt. There are far more powerful forces on this world and many ways to use them."
"What the hell are you?"
"That doesn't matter right now, but you can call me Kriket. Now, the question is, will you accept the job?"
Booker said nothing for a couple of minutes. "This job... in what does it consists?"
"Now we're talking. Is really simple, there's a place at the south frontier of Equestria, a place called The Land of Fire, your first objective is to get there, once we reach it…"
"Hold on, did you say "we" ?"
"But of course, I'll be your companion on this trip; I don't think you have a single idea of how to get there, am I right?" He just denied it. "Good. Now as I was saying, I will provide you with everything you will need for this job, and also serve you as a tourist guide."
"You're being really ambiguous about this whole issue, what exactly do they want me to do?" He asked.
"When we reach the land of fire, all your doubts will be clarified. I'll ask once more Mr. DeWitt, will you accept the job?"
“Promise me that you will never try to find a way back to me”.
“Anna… you know the answer”.
“If you ever dare to put a foot beyond the limits of Ponyville or Canterlot.”
“You will be hunted down like the animal you are."
“I should have remained dead."
“Remained dead.”
“Dead.”
“A way back home.”
Booker took a deep breath.
“Tell your superiors… that I'll do it.”
For All That I Have Lost.
The door of throne room opened with such force that its blades crashed against the marble walls sending splinters of stone and wood into the air. An irritated Princess Celestia stepped into the room followed by her younger sister who had a concern look on her face.
"I can't believe it! That "human" thinks he can face me and walk away like nothing has happened? And not only that, Twilight and you think that he just needs some time alone to sort things? What in Tartarus is wrong with you two?”
Luna flinched at her sister's words but didn't back up.
"Tia, don't you think you're letting this affect you more than it should have? I mean, Booker didn't do something wrong, you even heard the guard's general, he avoided a tragedy today."
"Were you even there Luna? He threatened me!"
"No, you're wrong, you attacked him first."
Celestia looked at her sister with annoyance.
"And here she goes again mares and gentlecolts. Why are you so stubborn Luna?"
"Because I'm worried for you!"
"Oh please, I don't need your pity; I've been perfectly fine for over a thousand years without you. Why don't you go play with your little stars and..."
It just took one second for her to realize the gravity of her words, and one more to understand the impact and pain they were causing on her little sister.
"L- Luna, I... I'm s-sorry, I didn't mean to..."
The goddess of the night was in shock, frozen on her place, her eyes shining with tears and a painful expression on her face. Her sister's words had brought terrible memories to her mind, memories that she had tried so hard to forget, those were the same exact words Celestia had told her the day she let the nightmares took her. Celestia tried to hug Luna but she backed away from her.
"You're a monster, Celestia."
Without giving her a chance, Luna disappeared in a bright flash of blue magic.
"Luna! Luna please! Forgive me!”
Her call had no effect, she had hurt her and nothing would change that. Celestia fell to the ground calling her sister's name between sobs and tears.
"Forgive me."
***---***---***
"I can't remember the last time I took a moment to see the moon. It's beautiful."
Booker stood outside Twilight's house trying to decide between talk to her or not, after all, he just tried to kill her mentor some hours ago. Things didn't go the way he would wanted, but in the end, he tried to think that something good came out of it.
Sure that trusting in the words of a strange creature was not a good idea, but it wasn't out of his alley, after all, he had done it before, why not do it again? A way back home was a good offer and if he could be the little stone on Celestia's shoe it sure was a plus, she deserves it , he thought. Sighing, he was ready to knock on the door when the sound of a door being opened came behind him and a small beam of light fell on his back casting his shadow on the floor.
"So… You're back?"
"Shouldn't you be sleeping Trixie?"
She didn't answer. Booker saw her standing on the door of her cart.
"I could ask you the same."
She finally answered, tapping her hoof on the floor of the wagon she continued.
"Booker, what happened today?"
"Sorry, I just don't want to talk about it."
"Oh… okay… I understand. Well, I don't think Twilight is still awake."
"Is that so? In that case, I think I'll stay here."
"Uh? You don't have to spend the night outside… I mean… why don't you come inside?"
Trixie’s words took him by surprise. For an instant Booker remained in silence and took his time to study her reaction, he could almost swear that her cheeks had taken a red shade.
“I don’t think it is good idea, it doesn't bother me to sleep outside, I’ve done it before, more times that those I would like to admit to be honest.”
“C’mon, today wasn’t a good day; you need a good night of rest.”
He thought about it for a moment.
“All right Trixie, I accept.”
She smiled and got back into the cart followed by Booker who after entering looked in awe at her house.
“Wow, it’s bigger on the inside!”
Although Trixie's wagon looked small from the outside, inside it could easily have the triple of its size, it had a small table in the center, a stove, a small wardrobe from which protruded a part of the coat she wore the day he met her and beside it a large bed.
“Is one of the advantages of magic, it helps you to enjoy certain amenities.”
She told him while opening a drawer.
“I think this is yours, I took it while Princess Celestia and you… you know, “talked” .”
She gave him the holster with the gun inside of it.
"Oh, thanks Trixie, I thought I would have to leave without it."
“Oh shit.” Booker thought in the moment those words left his mouth. He looked at her and he knew that she had heard his words perfectly.
“Do you plan to go? To where?”
“I...” “Great, this is just what I needed.” Booker didn’t know what to do, how could he explain her that he had accepted a job in exchange for a ticket back to home?
“Didn’t you hear Princess Celestia? You can’t leave Ponyville.”
“First of all, she can tell what she wants, but I’m not going to accept her conditions, less when these make no sense.”
“She’s afraid of you, Booker.”
“And what the hell does that mean?”
“I didn't catch all the details, but Princess Luna told us something about a nightmare that her sister has had. Princess Celestia swears that you…”
“That I what? Trixie?”
“Forget it; Princess Luna thinks that all was caused by the stress.”
With that, Trixie finished the conversation. Not even she could believe what Celestia had said, however, she couldn't stop imagine the apocalyptic scenery that the sun goddess had described.
“Trixie, what are you hiding?”
“If you want to know, it will be better if you speak with Twilight on the morning, right now is better if you rest.”
Booker decided to leave aside all his questions. “I think it is the best for now”. Without a word, he saw Trixie climb onto the bed and tap the empty space on the mattress at her side. He just shrugged and took off his vest and shoes before getting on the bed. The minutes went by, Booker remained in silence listening to the nocturnal noises and Trixie's gently breathing.
“Booker, where are you going to go?
She asked him. He turned his head and saw her staring at him intently.
“I'm sorry, but I can't tell you, all I know is that I don't plan to come back, or at least i don't know if I will."
A shiver ran down her back when she heard the last part.
"Booker ... I know very well how you feel. I too have felt lonely, desperate, out of place everywhere and that the whole world was against me, I really hope that wherever you will go, you find what you're looking for."
Trixie began to mourn; Booker felt his heart broke into pieces after hearing her. Something in her words made him realize that they shared, in a way, the same sorrows and regrets. Without thinking, he did the only thing that seemed right and hugged Trixie tightly. He felt her body go rigid for a moment, but in the end, he felt her arms wrapped around his torso while his hands roamed her back.
"Thanks Trixie."
She nodded and squeezed a little more her embrace. Both remained like that until sleep defeated them.
***---***---***
Another day went by and Seraphy walked the corridor to her room with a tired expression. It had been just another ordinary day of tests for her showing her powers to the sorcerers of the colony. That always left her without energy, she didn't know why they were always so interested in her abilities, she always did the same for them, levitate things, teleport from one place to another and some other tricks, she couldn't help but to feel like a circus monkey entertaining the crowd.
The worst part of these tests was the chamber. For the last three months, she had spent half of the day inside a metallic bubble, the sorcerers had told her that said chamber served to increment her magic; however, she always felt that it had the contrary effect. In the moment that she was sealed inside the chamber, all her energy started to fade away leaving her unable to use magic or even move. On more than one occasion she had tried to speak about the chamber with her father, but Antares always tried to avoid the topic or told her the same that the sorcerers.
Leaving those thoughts aside, Seraphy closed the door behind her and walked to the balcony of her room. The night brought with it that freshness to the desert that she loved so much and let her aching body rest on a pillow while admiring the starry sky and the full moon that crowned the night. Inevitably, her mind returned to her father. Antares had not spoken to her about his audience with the other leaders of the clan and even he had tried to avoid her for the last few days, always that she went to see him on the throne room, his guards didn't let her enter. Something inside her heart started to tell her that there was no hope, that she should accept the fact that she'll never leave the colony.
"No." She whispered. "If I can't have my freedom by his decree, I’ll seek it on my own and, if the destiny gives me the chance; I’ll take it without hesitation."
Her eyes sparkled with hope and a smile appeared on her lips. Sighing contently, her horn shone with a faint gray glow, the air surrounding her was filled with tiny sparks and soon after a tear appeared in front of her. Closing her eyes, she focused her magic on the tear and it opened slightly with a purple glow coming out from it.
This ability was something she had kept in secret from her father and sorcerers; after all, they didn’t need to know about it. The light of the tear flicked and otherworldly music began to come out from it with a male voice giving lyrics to it.
I see the bad moon arising.
I see trouble on the way.
I see earthquakes and lightnin'.
I see bad times today.
Don't go around tonight.
Well it's bound to take your life.
There's a bad moon on the rise.
Seraphy closed her eyes to enjoy the song, even when it was unknown to her, and as the music went on, she let her worries fade away.
I hear hurricanes a blowing.
I know the end is coming soon.
I fear rivers over flowing.
I hear the voice of rage and ruin.
Don't go around tonight.
Well it's bound to take your life.
There's a bad moon on the rise.
Hope you got your things together.
Hope you are quite prepared to die.
Looks like we're in for nasty weather.
One eye is taken for an eye.
Well don't go around tonight.
Well it's bound to take your life.
There's a bad moon on the rise.
Don't come around tonight.
Well it's bound to take your life.
There's a bad moon on the rise.
***
Antares stood in front of the vault while another small dragon at his side was focusing a beam of light on it.
“Her powers are immense, do you think that this thing will be capable of contain them? She’s not a filly anymore.” Antares asked.
“At first we had our doubts, but after the last session, the vault was capable of suppress her magic completely, her vital signs were decreased to non-lethal levels and she fell asleep."
“Is good to know it. How long will it take until the vault is ready for the process?”
“It will take two more weeks to finally have all the details and errors solved.”
“Good, I don't want to delay this more.”
Antares turned around to leave the room; however, he stopped when the other dragon asked something.
“My Lord, the vault will endure the process, however, and I know that this is not of my concern, isn't there any other way to solve this? Are you really going to lock her away and force her into a half-life state?”
Antares’s face showed sadness.
“Believe me, if there was another way to protect her, I’d gladly give my life for it, for her to never live under the shadow of fear. I can't take the risk of losing her."
With that, he opened the door and walked away, outside, two red eyes looked at him from the shadows.
“Oh Antares, you don’t know what will fall over you, hell will consume your soul, and I’ll witness it, there comes a time when even gods must die.”
Ridley said in a dark tone.
***---***---***
Celestia’s steps were muted by the rug under her hoofs, the pale light of the moon fell over her face as she walked towards a bed were Luna rested hugging her pillow. The white alicorn noticed the wetness on the soft cheeks of her sister, a sting of pain and guilt pierced her heart. Gently, Celestia brushed Luna's mane causing her to awake.
Luna moved away from her touch and rolled over the bed to not face her sister; after all, she still was feeling the pain of her words. Celestia pulled back her hoof, more tears appeared on her already red eyes and her lips moved, but no sound came from her mouth, only muffled mourning.
“Luna… I know you hate me, but please… don’t leave me now…”
The goddess of the night could almost feel the sorrow on her sister’s words, with a quick movement; she wrapped her arms and wings around Celestia’s body nuzzling her soft coat.
“I don’t hate you and I will never leave you.”
Celestia returned the hug. “Can I… can I sleep with you tonight?” She asked shyly. Luna nodded and moved aside to let her sister hop into the bed. A moment later, they lay there embracing each other tenderly.
“Luna.”
“Hmmm?”
“I will follow your advice, I will give Booker some space and time, I hope he can find peace here.”
Luna smiled. “He will, you’ll see.”
***Ponyville.***
Twilight saw herself surrounded by changelings, the creatures looked at her with murderous intentions but the unicorn's face instead of showing fear showed determination and bravery.
"All right beasts, who wants to be the first?!"
Twilight shouted and some of the creatures got closer to her just to be attacked by a blast of crows that came out from the unicorn’s hooves.
“Yes! You don’t know who you’re messing with! I will kill you all with my powers!”
She laughed like a maniac while more blasts of crows; lightning and fire launched by her hit the changelings causing them to scream in pain. She got ready to finish them all, but stopped in her tracks when all of them said her name, even those on midair were frozen and staring at her with eyes wide open and repeating her name.
“Twilight.”
“Wait, what?”
“Twilight, wake up.”
“But I… and all of you… what’s going on?”
***
“C’mon, Twilight, wake up.”
"Just five more minutes mom."
The lavender unicorn mumbled to the voice calling her name. Outside the house, the night was still settled and some hours still needed to pass before sunrise.
"Twilight, please, I need to tell you something."
Called the voice again and this time Twilight felt something cold poking her side. Finally sitting on the bed, she looked at her right finding two deep purple eyes staring back at her.
“Trixie? What are you doing here? How did you get here? What time is it?”
“It’s five in the morning, your door was open and as I said before, I need to tell you something.”
Twilight groaned wrapping the blankets around her. “Can't it wait until tomorrow?”
“It’s about Booker.”
Trixie told her and Twilight sat on the bed again. “What happened? Is he all right?”
“Yes, he got back yesterday’s night; I left him sleeping in my wagon.”
“Thanks Celestia, I was worried for him… hold on, did you just say that he was sleeping… with you?”
Trixie’s eyes shot open and her cheeks turned red.
“W-well… yes… but is not what you’re thinking…”
“He has only some days with us and you already got him into your bed?” Twilight told her with a mischievous smile on her lips.
“Sparkle!” The cyan unicorn screamed. “He was tired and about to fall sleep outside your house, I just couldn't let that happen, okay?”
“Okay, okay, I was just playing with you. Now, what was that so important you need to tell me?”
Trixie mumbled something and took a deep breath. “Booker will go, I don’t know where, he didn't tell me.”
“What!” Twilight gasped.
“Yes, he said something about leaving the town to never come back.”
“But he can’t do that, the princess said that if he leaves Ponyville he will get in troubles.”
“He also said that he didn’t care.”
“That’s enough!”
Twilight got out of the bed and walked outside the room with Trixie following her.
“Where are you going?”
“To speak with him.”
“But he’s sleeping.”
“Too bad, he will need to wake up; he can't just decide to disobey a royal order.”
They left the library, once in front of Trixie’s wagon, Twilight opened the door.
“Booker! What in the hay are you… you…”
“Twilight, wait, he…”
Both mares stood perplexed, the bed in front of them was empty.
“He’s gone!” They said in unison.
"For a moment I thought you wouldn't come."
Kriket said without looking at him, Booker rolled his eyes in annoyance.
"I don't know what could make you think that. I never fail when I make a compromise."
He answered with monotone voice.
“It’s good to know that. In that way I will not have to worry about getting a substitute.”
“Stop fooling around and tell me what will be the plan of action before I change my mind.”
“I don't understand why you take away all the fun to the things.”
Kriket walked until she was in front of him, Booker just crossed his arms waiting for her to continue.
“Well, if you insist.” She started to walk and he followed her. “Our first stop will be Helios , a small city on the Griffin Kingdom. There you will get some “tools” that you will require for the job.”
“Tools?” Booker asked somewhat incredulously.
“You know exactly what I’m talking about. The day of the attack on the bank I was able to see what you're capable of. That weapon you’re carrying is magnificent and if there’s something that distinguishes the griffins from the rest of the races of Equestria is their ability to build weapons, I’m sure you will be able to find something that works for your purposes.”
“I'm starting to get a clearer idea about this job and it's like a bad song that is repeated again and again.”
“Don’t be so dramatic DeWitt, soon you will feel like on your own element.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of.”
Booker sighed and his mind traveled once more to Elizabeth. He was glad that she wasn’t there to see him do the same atrocities that have marked his life.
“We will have to travel for at least 7 days until we reach Helios, this because according to Celestia now you are a fugitive and we will have to avoid the main roads, I don’t think you can pass unnoticed, less when you’re the only one of your kind.”
“I don’t care about her and her rules; they don’t apply to me.”
“You’re tough DeWitt, but you better watch your mouth, she’s the princess for a reason, keep that in mind.”
With that they finished the conversation and walked towards a mountain on the distance. He took the revolver and opened its charger, inside of it there were still two bullets, something that he didn’t like it at all because he will need to rely on the use of the vigors.
“Is there any problem?”
She asked.
“Yes, I don’t have ammo.”
“I don’t think we need it at the moment, also, you are deadlier with those powers you have, to be honest, the guys at the banks didn‘t stand a chance against you.”
“It was just luck.”
“Whatever you say, freak .”
Some hours passed until they stop in a small clear of the woods. Booker leaned against an old trunk while Kriket flew away over the trees. With his eyes closed, he listened to the noises of the surroundings; the wind passing over the pines brought with it the chirp of the birds and the sound of a distant river. For a moment he stop thinking about what he was doing, he forgot Celestia’s threats and his fears leaving his mind in blank.
“Booker, you there?... I miss you. You were the only one who ever... You were my only friend.”
It was only a whisper, a split second that was enough to make him stand up instantly with his senses fully alert.
“Elizabeth!?... Where are you?”
He looked in all directions, but he was alone, or at least that's what he thought until something hit him on the chest and sent him to the ground without breath.
“Booker! What the hay are you thinking?!"
He found himself unable to move, a purple unicorn was standing over him.
“Twilight? What the hell are you doing here?”
He protested moving from side to side trying to shake her off him. Finally, Twilight understood the message and let him stand.
“Booker, I don't know what you have in mind right now, but you must stop, you can't just disobey a royal order, do you want more problems with the Princess?”
She told him with an angry tone, he just crossed his arms.
"That doesn't answer my question, how on earth did you find me?"
"Hmm, I think that's my fault."
Another voice joined the discussion; Trixie appeared behind some bushes and walked to stand beside Twilight.
"I should have guessed."
"Sorry Booker, but Twilight would know it sooner or later."
Trixie lowered her head; he pinched the bridge of his nose trying not to lose the control.
"She's right, did you really thought you could go unnoticed? I thought you were smarter than that. I'm glad that the tracking spell worked."
"Twilight, don't push me... wait, tracking spell?"
"I… I put a spell on your weapon while you were sleeping."
Trixie said to him with a reddened face. Booker wanted to say something but Twilight interrupted him.
"Maybe you're immune to magic thanks to those strange powers you have, but I'm glad that your objects aren't."
"Damn my luck!" Booker thought.
"At least we're still near Ponyville, I think that no pony saw you left the town, we better hurry if we want to return before sunset."
Twilight smiled triumphantly, turned around and started walking followed by Trixie; however, Booker didn't take a single step.
"I'm not going back."
"What?!" Twilight stop and said in disbelief.
"You heard me; I will not return with you, I have a job to do."
He turned just to find that Twilight had appeared before him in a flash of magic.
"Booker, stop joking, you must return with me before..."
"Before what? Before your beloved teacher finds out? I don't give a shit."
"No! No! No! You can't just do whatever you want, she gave you an order."
"She's not my ruler, so leave me alone and go home."
Booker passed at her side without giving her more importance, but something hit him on the shoulder making him stop.
"You're a damn stubborn!"
He gritted his teeth, his patience was reaching the limit, another stone crashed against his chest and he just stood there with his eyes fixed on the blue unicorn.
"Trixie, stop this nonsense."
"You are a selfish bugger, all we want is to help you, make you understand that you're just putting your life in danger by following an ideal that you don't even know if it's real."
"It is all that I have!"
He finally lost it and screamed using a blast of bucking bronco against Trixie. The cyan unicorn floated in the air and Twilight stood there without knowing what to do. She never expected that Booker would attack them.
“Booker? Please, calm down and tell me what is she talking about.”
Twilight pleaded, he finally regained his senses and withdrew his hand, Trixie fell to the ground but when Booker kneeled in front of her trying to apologize to her, she crawled away from him in terror.
“DeWitt took a job in exchange for way back home.”
A pegasus said as she descended between them.
“Who are you?” Trixie asked.
“Just call me Kriket. Now, if you excuse us, we have a long way to go and you're only delaying us.”
“Wait a moment, a job? What kind of job?” Twilight inquired.
“You’re annoying Sparks , has anypony ever told you that?”
The purple unicorn stood face to face with Kriket.
“My last name is Sparkle.” Twilight told her with gritted teeth. “It will be better that you start to talk before I force you to do it.”
“Miss bookworm have claws?” Kriket mocked her. “I would like to see you try, however, I don’t have time for this.”
The pegasus walked towards Booker.
“DeWitt has qualities that I require in order to retrieve something important, if he success, I'll show him a way to return to his own home... or whatever he calls it."
Twilight and Trixie were left stunned at what Kriket said.
“You’re just a pegasus, you don't even have magic?” Said Trixie.
"Do you really think that your childish tricks are the only way that he has to solve his dilemma? There are bigger powers in this kingdom of ours, powers that are even beyond your wildest dreams."
None of them said a word for a moment; Booker sighed and looked towards the unicorns.
“Booker… please, come back with us, we will find a way to help you.” Twilight pleaded.
“No, I can’t, I've made my choice.”
He turned around and walked away from them. Kriket smiled and followed him until Trixie’s voice stopped them.
“If you’re not coming back, then I’ll go with you.”
“What!?” Said Twilight, Kriket and Booker.
“Are you mad!? You can't be serious!” Said Twilight
“He saved my life, is the least I can do for him.”
Booker kneeled in front of her. “Trixie, you owe me nothing, and I can’t let you put your life in danger because of me.”
“He’s right Trixie.” Twilight tried to argue with her. “You don’t know what will happen in this crazy travel that he will do.”
"All my life I've been somepony selfish, there was nothing and nopony I cared about, it's time to change that."
"Awww, what a touching moment, do you want me to bring you a box of tissues?" Kriket said with annoyed voice. "If Miss "I am all powerful" wants to come, she can do it, but she better takes a decision quickly, we are losing time."
Booker looked at the show mare. “Trixie…”
"Everything will be fine Booker, I know how to defend myself, you only guide and I'll follow you."
She said with a smile and determination in her eyes.
"In that case, I'll too go with you." Twilight said stepping forward.
He stared at her with wide eyes "No! You'll stay."
"Of course not, don't you see the advantages of having me on your team? I am Princess Celestia's personal student and protégé, I can be helpful."
Booker took his hand to the bridge of his nose. "I will not make you change your mind, right?"
Both shook their heads.
"All right, but if you are going to accompany me, you will have to do everything I say, when I say it and without discussion, okay?"
“Yes sir!” Both said in unison.
“So, Sparkle is coming too? This is getting better and better.” Kriket thought before said unicorn called her.
“So… bug name , what will be our destination?”
Twilight had a sly smile on her lips, Kriket narrowed her eyes.
“The city of Helios.”
“Helios? That’s at ten days of travel from here.”
“Well, you better start moving that fat flank of yours, Sparky. ”
“It’s Sparkle.” Twilight whispered.
“I think we can make less time with a transport.” Interrupted Trixie.
“And where do you plan to get it? Are we going to steal it? Kriket answered somehow excited.
“"Of course not, just wait a moment."
Trixie's horn shone and slowly, her wagon began to materialize in front of them. A few minutes later, the wagon was ready to travel.
"All aboard, we have to reach a city."
Twilight and Trixie went up to the transport while Kriket approached Booker.
"I want to make something clear, if they come, I will not assure you their safety."
Booker clenched his fists. "I know."
"And I will not be responsible for their lives, understood?"
"Yes, totally."
Kriket smiled. "Good." She gave a few steps and without looking at him she said. "By the way, we better keep the condition of my nature among us by now; I do not want your friends to panic."
She finally pulled away and climbed into the wagon, Booker followed them moments later.
Seraphy dodged the spear easily; her movements were nimble and direct. Her combat training consisted on fighting one or more opponents who, although being skilled warriors, didn't represent a real challenge for the alicorn.
With almost incredible speed, Seraphy stood behind one of the dragons kicking him on his back sending him through the air. Another one charged against her with a spear on his claws and brandishing it menacingly.
Seraphy waited for the right moment and when she had him within the necessary distance, she drew her sword using it to stop the attack. Both weapons crashed releasing red sparks again and again until, using his tail, the dragon managed to hit the alicorn on one side making her lost the balance.
Using the advantage of the moment, the dragon sank the spear in her body but the blade went through her like thin air. Surprised, the dragon looked at his right only to end up Seraphy's the sword on his throat.
"Enough!"
Another dragon said and both opponents lowered their weapons, stood face to face and bowed their heads in respect. Moments later, both dragons that had fought against Seraphy left the room leaving the old master and the alicorn alone.
"You have learned well, my young student, I would also say that I can't teach you anything more." He told her with serene voice.
She didn't answer. Removing some hair from her face, she sighed and walked to a wall where she placed the sword on a shelf.
"Something's bothering you, Seraphy?"
The elder dragon asked, his deep green eyes reflected years of experience and wisdom, eyes that could decipher what others felt.
"It's just that... well, my father haven’t talked to me about what the council has decided about me and my wish of leaving the kingdom, I’ve asked him on more than one occasion these days and he just avoids the subject."
"You must not worry about it, sooner or later he will come to you without you having to look for him, remember what I have teached you."
"Be patient, things come to those that wait for them."
Seraphy closed her eyes and breathed deeply. His teacher nodded taking a small black sphere in his claw. He stood in front of her and ignited the sphere with his breath, it burned completely in seconds leaving in the air a faint shade of purple smoke, she breathed it and her energy returned instantly.
"You are special, my young apprentice, soon you will find your place in this world, I hope to be there when that happens."
"Thanks, Master."
Unknown to them, a pair of red eyes watched the scene from the darkness before disappearing into a scarlet flash. Ridley appeared inside his room moments later with some concern in his reptilian face.
"She becomes more powerful with each session, at this rate, I doubt that the chamber would be able to contain her, if that happens, all my plans will crumble."
Deep in thought, the dragon didn't notice the flash of green flames behind him which died leaving a visitor.
“Ridley.” Arklin called to him.
“What? Oh, it’s you; I thought that your queen would be the one to visit me."
"She sent me; I just came to tell you that the creature is in movement."
"So, he finally accepted the deal?” Arklin nodded and Ridley smiled. “Well done, your race is not as useless as I thought."
The changeling said nothing, deep inside she hated him, being near to the dragon wasn't something she could stand at all, something about him scared and bother her.
“Whatever, that's all I have to tell you, I'll be on my way now.”
"Why the hurry?"
"I have nothing else to do here."
"Oh c'mon, we have to celebrate. I bet your queen doesn't leave you alone even for a moment, please, take a drink with me, it will also help you to feel better."
Arklin looked at him with suspicion. The dragon poured a red liquid inside a couple of goblets and turned to face her. She took the cup and smelled its contain, there seemed to be nothing wrong with it.
Trying to leave that place as fast as she could, Arklin drank the wine in a swig; however, Ridley didn’t do the same and just spilled the liquid from his goblet. The changeling tried to speak but her body felt numb and slumped to the floor while Ridley gave her a wicked smile.
With horror, she felt his claw grab her by one hoof; he dragged her to the bed and soon he was moving his claw over her soft belly. Arklin couldn't move and soon understood the dragon’s intentions.
“You changelings have an exquisite anatomy.” Ridley told her while licking her cheek.
“No! Don’t do it!”
Arklin tried to scream but she couldn't. She silently begged that it was just a nightmare; however, in the moment she felt his claw starting to move down her body and go between her legs she fixed her eyes on the red ones of the dragon and the only thing she was able to feel was fear.
“I’m going to enjoy this.”
Ridley said and forced his tongue inside Arklin’s mouth while tears began to run down her face.
“This is not happening… this is not… Please!... Stop!... Stop!”
***---***---***
Three mares stood outside the wagon while a guard inspected it. Twilight and Trixie had a worried look on her faces disguised just by fake smiles that couldn't convince anypony. Meanwhile, Kriket stared at her hoof like it was the most interesting thing in the world.
"Psst, Kriket." Twilight called her. "Do you think it will work?"
"What's the matter, Sparkle? Do you really think that these feather brains are that smart?"
One of the griffins that was walking outside the wagon came into view and the purple mare cringed a little never letting her smile fall down, the guard just looked at her with raised eyebrows but didn't said a thing.
"Watch your words, Kriket, we don't need more problems, it's already bad enough that we needed to pass through this revision." Said Trixie who was starting to sweat.
"Will you two calm down already. You are the ones acting strange here, stop it or they will really think that we're hiding something." Kriket demanded with hushed voice.
Some minutes later, the guard came out from the wagon, however, he was carrying something in his claw and Twilight and Trixie gasped, it was Booker's necklace.
"Okay, you're clear to pass into the city, just an advice, don’t get too close to the north side of the city, there has been suspicious activity and we're running raids, I don't think you would like to get caught on one." The guard told them.
"Yes, and thank you, we will have it on mind. You heard the officer, girls, let's go." Kriket replied.
She climbed to the wagon, but the other two mares didn’t follow her and they got close to the guard instead.
"E-excuse me, sir?" Said Trixie. "Please, can you give me my necklace?"
The guard looked at her and then to the collar. "Is this yours? Sorry, it was on the floor."
He placed it around her neck, but she felt her claw going inside her mane while the other rubbed her neck.
"Tell me, what are three beautiful mares doing here? We don't see many of your kind these days." His claw rested on Trixie's cheek making her feel uncomfortable.
"We're on a business trip," Twilight said attracting the griffin’s attention. "We're looking for new products to introduce into our market, do you have any hint of what can we found here?"
"Now that you mention it, you should look in the commercial district; I bet you could find some interesting things."
"That sounds great, thank you, we'll be on our way now."
The purple unicorn called to Trixie and both climbed into the wagon, moments later they got lost between the buildings.
"Phew, that was a close call, good that he got entranced with your charms." Kriket said nudging the showmare.
"Shut up… I didn't enjoy it… it felt… it felt wrong…"
"Trixie, are you okay?" Asked Twilight.
"Yes... I just... I need some water..." The blue mare stood up and went inside the cart.
"Ugh, what's the matter with her?" Kriket said with disdain.
"I don't know, let's give her some space." Said Twilight. "Okay where do we go now?"
Kriket smiled. "To the north side of the city."
"I should have guessed." Commented the unicorn with narrowed eyes.
Inside the cart, Trixie was on the bed with her face on the pillow when one of the walls of the cart moved and Booker came out through it. He breathed with relief when he saw buildings passing by in the window meaning that they were moving. He looked at the blue unicorn and walked to her side sitting on the bed.
"Hey, are you okay?" He asked.
There was no answer. Booker put her hand on her shoulder and squeezed a little. Trixie reacted and looked at him.
"Oh, hi, Booker, I didn't hear you."
"I can see that. Are you okay? You look a little shaken up."
She smiled. "Don't worry, I'm fine, I just... needed some rest."
He didn't buy it. "C'mon, you're not yourself, what's the matter?"
She sighed. "Were you that good to understand the females on your world?"
He chuckled.
"I'll take that as "yes" , anyway, a couple of years ago, I was on a city named Manehattan…"
"Wait, don't you mean, Manhattan?" He interrupted.
"Will you let me continue or what?"
"Sorry, go ahead."
"Well, as I was saying, I was on this city and... I was attacked by a stallion and a griffin." She said the last part with trembling voice while tears were falling from the magician's eyes. "They had me cornered on an alley and the griffin had me by the neck while his partner…”
"Oh...” Booker understood what she was talking about. “Did they? You know..."
“No, I was able to escape." She took a deep breath. "I still have nightmares about it and the way in which the guard at entrance touched and looked at me... it brought bad memories..."
“That son of a bitch!” He thought.
“Come here.”
Booker hugged her. Trixie felt safe in his arms and nuzzled his neck.
“Thanks, it helps.”
They remained like that for some minutes.
“Oh, I almost forgot it, here, take it.”
She tried to take off the necklace but he avoided it.
“No, please, keep it, it looks good on you.”
She blushed. “T-thanks.”
“You’re welcome. I know I shouldn’t keep talking about it, but I have a question, how did you escape?”
“Well, I remember… I saw a white light appear behind them and I distinguished the figure of a mare, her fur had soft brown tone that contrasted with her long black mane and she was dressed with a white blouse and a black skirt. They tried to attack her but she hit them with a metallic hook and in the moment I saw them hit the ground I ran from there."
While hearing her, his head started to hurt and his vision blurred, he knew something was wrong when he looked at her face and he felt something wet passing over his lips.
“Booker… your nose is bleeding…” She said.
“I know…” He placed his fingers under his nose, then looked at them covered with the red substance. “It’s a medical condition… nothing to worry about…” He lied.
“Here, let me clean it.”
Trixie took a handkerchief with her magic and softly she cleaned the blood from his face. She took her time to admired his factions; the green of his eyes lured her like a moth to a flame and unable to control herself, she locked her lips with Booker’s.
The contact was brief, just enough for him to be able to feel the softness and warmth of the lips of the unicorn. Trixie parted her lips from his and exhaled the breath she had inadvertently contained. She looked at the man who stood completely surprised by his actions and immediately she knew she had gone too far.
"Booker... I'm sorry! I do not know why..."
She couldn’t say more because the carriage door opened and Twilight came through it.
"We have arrived." She said. "Is everything all right?" She asked when noticed that Booker seemed to be lost in his thoughts and Trixie was on the verge of tears.
"Yes..." He said. "Everything is fine; we will go out in a moment."
"... Okay... I will see if Kriket needs something..." With that Twilight left them alone again.
He stood up, holstered his gun and walked towards the door.
“Booker, please, let me explain…”
"Trixie... we will never talk about what happened here..." The tone of his voice was cold and hard.
"I… I understand..." She said and hung her head.
He just nodded and left the wagon.
The industrial district of Helios was a place to admire, the constant sound of metal against metal, the sound of alarms going off everywhere, the endless flow of smoke of the tall chimneys, everything gave the place a view of another world, if something characterized to the griffin cities, it was their level of industrialization.
Twilight and Kriket stood outside the wagon waiting for Booker and Trixie. Unknown to them, a pair of yellow eyes were peering at them from one of the roofs of the high buildings surrounding their position.
With the shine of the sun helping him to remain hidden, the gryphon stationed on the roof shook his feathers to dispell some of the heat he was feeling, he took his claw to the knapsack strapped to his back tograb from it a small crystal sphere filled with black smoke, after giving it a soft shake, the smoke took a faint red glow.
"Hey Boss, I found those mares you were speaking of, they are in the northern side of industrial district, do you want me to catch them? He said holding the sphere near his beak.
"No." The gruff voice of someone else was heard coming through the sphere. "Two of them are unicorns, you'll need a little help to knock them out, besides, I don't want them to get hurt, those three beauties will be top quality merchandise."
"I can see that." The gryphon said licking his beak, his eyes never partign away from Twilight.
"Prepare the nullification rings, we will be there pretty soon" Said his boss.
"All right, boss as you wish, don't take too long, I'm getting bored here."
The smoke turned black again and the gryphon crushed the sphere with his claw.
***---***
"The Blue Ribbon, restaurant and slaughterhouse. " A shiver ran through Twilight's body in the moment she read aloud the name of the building in front which they had stopped.
"What's wrong Sparkle?" Asked Kriket. "Have you never tried the ham?"
"Well... yes but..." The unicorn shivered again. "It was due to a stupid bet with Rainbow Dash."
"Have you never wondered where that delicacy came from?" Kriket smiled wickedly.
"I'd rather not imagine it." Twilight felt dizzy, especially after seeing a cartel which described all the pieces that were obtained from pigs.
Booker got out of the cart, he gave a quick but detailed look at his surroundings and immediately, images of the courtyards in Fink Manufacturing site reached his mind, that made him feel strangely comfortable, as if he were greeting an old friend.
"I hope I don't have to face a handyman in here." The former Pinkerton agent said.
"Handyman? What's that?" Twilight asked him.
Booker made gestures with his hands as he spoke. "They're bastards of two or three meters high, their bodies are made of metal and the only thing that controls it is the head of the poor idiot fused to the screws and cables, the fastest way to kill them is to shoot them in the heart, but damn if they're agile for their size, that only makes it more complicated."
"Hmm, interesting." Twilight tried to imagine such a monster.
"Leaving aside the stories for foals." Kriket's voice sounded arrogant as ever. "The guy whom we have to talk it's inside the building, let's not waste more time."
Booker looked at the building and something in his mind made him think he had already seen the place before. "The Blue Ribbon... why does it seems so familiar to me?" He told himself.
"Do we really need to go in there?" Twilight said nervously.
"If you want, you can wait in the wagon, scaredy cat." Kriket mocked her. "It won't take that long, c'mon DeWitt."
Twilight gritted her teeth. "That mare is despicable." She thought.
Kriket and Booker went the building while she remained in the street for several minutes until she noticed that Trixie had not left her wagon, Twilight walked to the door of the cart and knocked on it.
"Trixie!" She called her. "Trixie, you are going to come out or what?"
The cyan unicorn finally opened the door, her eyes were red, her cheeks still showed traces of the tears she had shed. Twilight remained silent while looking at her, it was like she was another mare, Trixie looked sad, defeated, there was no trace of the boasting and proud mare she used to be.
"Hey, is everything alright?" Twilight asked.
Trixie wiped her face with her hoof. "Yes... I just have something in my eyes..."
"Yeah, and I'm the princess of Saddle Arabia." Twilight answered rolling her eyes. "Trixie, you can trust me, what's wrong? Wait... Did Booker do something to you?” She said with angry tone.
"No!" Trixie replied hastily. "He did nothing... it was me who did something wrong..."
"I... I don’t understand it, what did you do?" Twilight asked again.
Before Trixie could answer, someone behind them cleared his throat catching their attention.
"Good afternoon, ladies, it is a pleasure to see you again."
A gryphon was standing in front of them, both mares were able to recognize him as one of the guards who had inspected their wagon when they passed thorugh the door of the city, however, Twilight noticed that there was something really wrong, the guard was accompanied by several griffins more, two of them carried nets and another was holding rings with signs engraved in them.
"O-officer, what a-are you d-doing here?" Twilight fel fear.
She knew they were in troubles, she started to back off, slowly approaching towards the wagon. Trixie looked at the other griffins; their eyes were like those of a predator stalking its prey, the sight made a shiver ran down her entire body.
The guard gave a step forward. "You see, it's a very rare occasion to have the “pleasure” of getting visitors like you, and of course, we have certain “needs” in this city that demand to be satisfied."
The entire group started to surround the wagon, Trixie looked at Twilight, desperation starting to get hold of them.
"This is what will happen." The guard continued. "In this moment you have two options. One, you can come with us by your own will, or two, we will have to force you, oh and let me tell you something, you certainly will not like it."
All the griffins started to laugh.
"So, ladies, what is your decision?"
***---***
Booker and Kriket walked down a corridor towards the main room of the building, several tables covered with green tablecloths that had red small lamps over them were scattered throughout the room, for the former Pinkerton everything seemed more familiar, it really felt like he was back in Columbia, for him this was starting to be more than a mere coincidence.
In the far wall of the room was a canteen, its cabinets filled with several alcoholic beverages, or so thought Booker because the labels of the bottles had drawings and letters that he couldn't understand.
At one side of the bar there was a doorless entrance to what appeared to be a kitchen, it's walls and floor covered with white tile. Kriket made her way to a table and took a couple of bottles that contained a brown liquid inside; she came back to Booker giving him one of them.
"Here, I think you need one of these." She told him.
He looked at the bottle with some distrust. "What's this?"
"Stop being such a pussy and drink it." Kriket rolled her eyes.
Booker shrugged. "All right... when in Rome..."
He said and uncorked the bottle, a familiar scent invaded his sense of smell, Booker took a sip of the liquid and his eyes opened wide, the drink was beer and not only that, it was of an excellent quality. In just a few seconds he drank the entire content of the bottle.
"It's been so long since the last time I tasted anything so exquisite." He said with pleasure.
Kriket laughed. "Take it easy champ; this is not for beginners, with only three of these you will end on the ground."
"Who do you think you're talking to?" He raised an eyebrow and replied mockingly.
She was ready to discuss with him about their drinking prowess when they heard someone speaking inside the kitchen.
"We have company." Said a male voice.
"We do indeed." Commented a female voice.
Booker dropped the bottle, he knew those voices. From the kitchen, two unicorns came out, their fur was of a faint blue color, their manes and tails of a brown tone same as their eyes, the mare wore a brown and white dress, the stallion had bow tie around his neck.
"Hmm, surprising." She said.
"Surprising that he has found us?" He asked.
"Surprising that he remains human." She replied.
Booker was shocked, the ponies who he was facing were the Lutece twins. Without thinking it twice, he took his gun and pointed it in their direction.
"Why are you following me?!" He asked with despair in his voice, they just looked at him with serene eyes.
"We were already here." Rosalind told him.
"Why are you following us?" Robert asked.
"No, this is not happening, you better start telling me what the hell are you doing here or I'll put a bullet in your heads." Booker threatened them.
Both unicorns approached at him standing just a few centimeters away.
"Go ahead." Said Robert.
"Since it worked really well the last time." Said Rosalind.
Booker placed the finger on the trigger, he held the weapon until his hand began to tremble but finished lowering it.
Kriket looked towards Booker and then at the unicorns. "You know each other?"
Rosalind looked at her and immediately took a small bag with a blue powder; she took a little and blew it on the face of the pegasus who soon fell to the ground in a deep sleep.
"I prefer some privacy." Commented Rosalind.
"I agree with that." Robert added.
"What the hell are they doing here?" Booker asked.
"Perhaps the same as you." Replied Robert.
"A new beginning is never something bad." Rosalind said.
"Especially after an endless cycle of lives lived." Added his brother.
"How is it possible? How can you be here? I thought I had left all that behind." Booker said.
"It's just a matter of perspective." She said taking a coin.
"I see faces." Said Robert.
"And I see tails." Said Rosalind.
"What do you mean? That this is still part of the circle? "Booker sounded angry.
"Constants and variables." Said in unison Robert and Rosalind.
"But Elizabeth said it was over... that I..." Booker felt a lump in his throat.
"She will be sure of that." Robert said.
"Even if the price is high." Said his sister.
Booker knew there was something wrong within their words. "Where is Elizabeth?"
"We don't know." Said Rosalind.
"The last time we saw her, the waves covered her." Said Robert.
The human felt a pang of pain in his head "... A city at the bottom of the ocean... ridiculous..." Booker said, his vision became blurred for a moment and he felt the chill of his blood falling from his nose.
"It seems that they still have a connection." Said Robert.
"Maybe she hasn't close the circle." Rosalind answered.
"Take me to her." Booker told them.
"We can't." Replied Robert.
"But... why?" Booker's voice almost broke.
"Because she asked us not to do it." Said Rosalind.
"What the hell are you talking about?" He asked again.
"The circle will be closed." Said Robert.
"All the debts will be settled." Added Rosalind.
Booker realized it would be useless to argue with them, if there was a way out, it was already closed.
"If that's true... and I will never see her again... what reason do I have to keep living? What the hell am I going to do here? "
"Perhaps you should think about it a little more, after all, you, as well as us." Said Robert.
"We are where we're needed." Said Rosalind.
"And needed where we are." ended Robert.
Something fell to the floor of the kitchen with a clang; Booker looked away from the Lutece for a moment to look at the door and then looked back just to find them gone, he cursed silently, a feeling of defeat filling his mind.
"Damn! I hate this place." A hoarse voice sounded from inside the kitchen.
Booker looked around and saw that Kriket was standing beside him; she had one hoof against her forehead.
"What... What happened?" She asked. "I remember we went inside and then we took a beer..."
"Like you said, that drink was not for little girls, after taking it you fell to the ground and remained there for the last 15 minutes." Booker lied to her but, the ghost of a smile tryin to settle on his lips.
She couldn’t believe it and wanted to refute, but someone else got into the conversation.
"So you finally decided to come and visit?”
An elder gryphon was looking at them, his only eye studied Booker with amazement.
"I see you brought a phenomenon with you, tell me, what exactly are you supposed to be? A shaved monkey?"
The old guy started to laugh, but a coughing fit ruined his fun.
"Calm down, old bird, we only came here for the goods." Answered Kriket.
The gryphon spat on the ground. "I understand, but first things first, do you have my money?"
Kriket removed her saddlebags placing them on the floor, she opened one revealing hundreds of golden coins, the gryphon licked his beak and spat again.
"Excellent! Now, what exactly do you need, I have plenty of good stuff you may like?"
"We need something special, something that works with black crystal." Kriket told him.
The gryphon raised an eyebrow. "Do you realize that what you're asking for is forbidden material, right? What in tartarus do you need it for?"
"That's none of your business, we want the weapons and you want the money, I think that should suffice you." Kriket retorted.
"Okay, okay, you don't have to get in that mood." The old gryphon raised his claws defensively. "Give me a moment and I'll be back with them."
***---***
Some minutes later, Booker walked towards the exit of the building with a shotgun and a long rifle strapped on his back, his revolver now fully loaded resting on his holster and a bunch on ammo for all the weapons inside a small bag on his waist, magic certainly had its perks.
“So, what’s the plan now?” He asked.
“We need to get a better way to travel; at this rate it will take us more than what I expected to reach our destination.”
Kritet opened her wings, Booker got and idea from seeing her.
“I think we need to get something that can fly, this place seems to be a little more developed in technology, I bet there’s a flying machine near here.”
“Now that you mention it, there’s a ship we can take “borrowed” .” Kriket told him smiling. "You're not so useless after all, shaved monkey ."
Booker rolled his eyes. “Shut up, freak of nature , but I have to admit, I like how that sounds.”
With their new plan established, they left the building just to find an horrific scene going on the street. Trixie’s wagon was on fire and screams were heard down the street. Kriket and Booker rushed on the direction of the voices calling the name of both unicorns. They finally found them, they were inside an energy bubble that was being attacked by a numerous group of griffins, both mares were terrified and screaming.
“C’mon ladies, you’re only making this harder, my patience is running out.” Said the boss of the gang.
“Trixie! Twilight!” Booker shouted getting their attention as well as the one of the attackers.
“You certainly are a strange creature." Said the boss. "Listen, this is not your business, get the hell out of here before you regret it.”
Said the boss of the group, two griffins walked towards Booker laughing and brandishing their weapons.
“You have ten seconds to let them go, you son of a bitch.” Booker started to walk towards them while grabbing his shotgun.
“Are you really going to get in our way and tried to stop us?” Said the gryphon mockingly.
There was a gunshot; the mauled body of one of the attackers fell in front of the gang’s boss, he raised his eyes to see Booker with his arm extended, smoke coming out from the shotgun muzzle.
“You don’t know what I'm capable of, pal, but I will fix that.”
Booker’s hand started to glow until it turned in a fountain of fire, the boss of the griffins felt fear for the first time that day.
The boss of the gang looked at the mangled bodies of two of his henchmen lying on the floor in a pool of blood, he looked up and his yellow eyes fell on the man who still held the steaming shotgun with one arm while his other hand somehow seemed to be enveloped in fire, something that didn’t seem to bother him.
It wasn't the first time he had faced enemies who boasted of being more powerful than him, and perhaps they were, but he wasn't known for being a griffin that was easy to intimidate, so stepping forward and trying to keep his fear under control he walked towards the man, his companions followed him while some more were still trying to break the shield that protected the two unicorns.
"So you think you're a tough guy, isn't it?" The griffin asked him. "Do you think that with murdering two of my boys and with your cheap magic tricks I will desist from getting what I want?"
Booker didn't answered and just placed the shotgun in his back.
"Look at him boys; it seems that the mouse ate his tongue." The boss said sarcastically, all his henchmen began to laugh while surrounding the man.
Kriket looked at the attackers, suddenly she no longer felt so safe. "B-Booker? You have a plan, right?"
Without giving her an answer, the former Pinkerton turned his head to both sides analyzing the situation, his left hand was still on fire and ready to unleash hell, however, the number of enemies to defeat made him realize that he would need a different strategy.
"Kriket." He said drawing her attention. "I need you to get ready; you will need to act fast."
The pegasus looked at him in disbelief. "What are you going to do?"
"Twilight!" Booker yelled at her.
The lavender unicorn turned to look at him, she was very weak and soon the shield would be destroyed.
"Twilight! Listen to me! When I say it, I want you to drop the shield! We just have a chance! Trixie, get ready!"
"Are you crazy?!" Kriket didn't believe what the man was saying. "You're too slow, you can't reach them that fast, in the moment the shield is gone they'll pounce on them."
"Kriket, I want you to fly as fast as possible, you'll have to trust me." It was all he said. The pegasus gulped and nodded.
"I don't know what the hell you're talking about, but I assure you, you and your friend will die here and I'll take those two bitches as a trophy." The griffin told him. "I've had enough of this bullshit, finish them boys!" The whole group pounced on Booker and Kriket.
Booker leaned down, his right hand was covered by suction cups just like an octopus and when the griffins were close enough to him, his whole arm stretched into a large tentacle made of water. With a flick of his arm, the tentacle hit the entire group throwing the attackers in all directions; some of them where launched against the walls of the nearby buildings and others fell on the street.
"Now!" Booker shouted.
Kriket opened her wings and rose several meters into the air before diving forward at high speed. Twilight closed her eyes and dropped the spell, the two griffins that were at her side didn't noticed it, they were so surprised by what the man had done that they didn't realized that the mares were now unprotected.
The boss looked around, his henchmen haven't yet recovered from the attack of the creature, some were stirring on the ground and others had stopped moving at all. He looked back at DeWitt and realized that his hands seemed to be shrouded in swirls of a grayish tone, he saw him extend both arms before moving them strongly towards the front. Booker felt like how the wind launched him with brutal force, his body moved so fast that the griffin only saw his shadow almost shapeless disappear in the blink of an eye.
The two griffins that were standing next to Twilight and Trixie had no time to react, in less than a second they were thrown to the ground by a blast of wind while both unicorns felt their bodies be raised without difficulty by a figure almost formless.
Booker finally stopped several meters away from the group of attackers, he was carrying in his arms to Trixie and Twilight, the effect of the vigor gave him enough strength to keep running even after the power had disappeared.
The boss incorporated as soon as he could and saw Booker running away through the alleys of the place. "What are you waiting for?! Catch the bastard!"
He ordered to his gang, many of them took flight and sped off in pursuit of the human and the unicorns, meanwhile, Booker finally let Trixie and Twilight on the floor so they could move faster.
"Where is Kriket?" Twilight asked.
"I do not know, just keep running, they will soon be upon us." Said Booker.
As if it were a bad joke, he looked back and could make out the silhouettes of several griffins in the air quickly approaching towards them. Booker tried to find a way to have a better advantage over the griffins, however, something collided against him, there was an intense pain in his back as the claws and the beak of the gryphon sank in his flesh. He fell to the ground rolling in an attempt to shake him off with no avail.
Trixie pushed the gryphon off Booker, "You'll pay for that." He shouted and tried to pounce on her, but he found himself in front of the muzzle of the shotgun that Twilight was holding with her magic. The unicorn pulled the trigger; the bullets impacted his body shredding skin and bone. After realizing what she has done, Twilight started to tremble; her eyes were filled with tears while looking at the dead body in front of her.
Booker stood up, he took the shotgun and then shook Twilight's body trying to get a reaction from her.
"Twilight, are you ok?" He told her and she nodded. "Alright, c'mon, we need to move."
The unicorn stood up, her legs were shaking but she was able to keep the pace, Trixie looked at her and saw sadness and regret in her face, she was more that sure that what had happened would mark Twilight for life.
"Over here you idiots!"
Kriket's voice came from the end of one of the alleys where the pegasus was floating a few meters above the ground.
"Where the hay were you?" Trixie didn't sound very happy.
"Keep running you stupid mare, I was looking for our ticket out of this place."
"What are you talking about?" Twilight said between gasps.
"I found a way to escape, we need to get to the airfield, it is not far from here, so hurry up and move those fat flanks." Kriket flew on leading her companions. "Hey, DeWitt."
"What do you want?"
"I think this may be useful, I found it lying on one of the warehouses."
Cricket threw him something, to his surprise; it was a sky-hook, something that drew a big smile on his face.
"Stop right there scumbag!"
One of the griffins shouted when he finally caught up with them and brandishing his spear he tried to hit Booker, unfortunately for him, the former Pinkerton moved aside and took the revolver, time seemed to stop for the gryphon who could only see the flash of sun light falling on the gun before it was fired.
"Kriket, take them out of here."
"DeWitt, this is not the time to be a hero." Twilight told him.
"I need to win some time or we will never make it to the airfield, you three need to move on, I'll catch up with you there."
"... Booker..."
Trixie tried to say something, but another gryphon fell between them holding in its talons what appeared to be an electric baton ready to use it against the unicorn. Trixie full of fear closed her eyes expecting to feel pain, but what happened was something more, a cry of pain was heard and something wet fell on her fur. She opened her eyes and felt her stomach writhed, the gryphon was in front of her, but his body was limp, his chest was torn apart with claws of of the sky-hook passing through him, the attack from Booker was made with such force that the blood had spattered over Trixie's body.
"Get out of here, now!" Booker said as he pulled the hook from the dead body.
"You heard the man, let's move." Kriket and Twilight lifted Trixie and kept running.
Booker saw them leave before turning to face the rest of the attackers who approached him, after hanging the hook on his belt, one of his hands was wrapped in flames while the other was transformed into a kind of crow's claw, he waited for the right moment and released his attack, dozens of crows came out of his hand, the birds were then engulfed in fire and threw themselves against the griffins.
Several of them started to scream in a wrenching way while the birds tore apart their bodies, the lethal combination of the vigors left a large number of the attackers dead over the ground, the less fortunate only ended with serious injuries and with their feathers and meat carbonized, without wasting time, Booker took the rifle and took care of finishing the job with quick and accurate shots, after that, he strapped the gun to his aching back and run away from there.
Twilight, Trixie and Kriket reached the airfield. After looking around to make sure no one was following them, Kriket flew some meters up in the air until she spotted what she was looking for.
"Listen, we don't have much time." She told them. "This is the plan, the zeppelin is being guarded by two huge thugs, I will distract them and lure them away from the machine."
"Wait, that's your plan? You want to steal an airship? Are you're crazy?" Twilight was on the verge of a mental breakdown.
"Shut your mouth and pay attention Sparkle, I need you both go up this thing and get it moving."
"But Booker still isn't here." Trixie intervened.
Kriket was about to answer, but without a word she pushed both unicorns until all three were behind several boxes.
"What in tartarus is wrong with you?" Twilight asked but was silenced by Kriket.
The pegasus gave a brief look above the box and confirmed that about ten griffins, including the head of the band, had landed just some meters away from their current position.
"Damn, these guys don't give up." She shook her head trying to think of something. "This only gets more complicated at every minute."
While Kriket didn't believe her luck, Trixie picked up a box of ammunition from the saddlebag of the pegasus.
"What are you doing?" Asked Kriket.
"I'll distract these guys, you and Twilight reach the airship, get rid of the guards and put that thing in the air."
"Trixie, you can't face them all."
"There is no other option Twilight, get ready to run, understood?"
Kriket peered again over the box. "They're approaching."
Twilight closed her eyes and sighed deeply. "Okay, let's do it."
Trixie nodded and jumped from behind the box. "Hey feather brains, were you searching for something?"
The unicorn shouted getting their attention before she started running; the whole gang instantly followed her. As they disappeared from sight, Kriket and Twilight sped off towards the end of the courtyard where they could see the silhouette of a large dirigible behind the buildings.
Several griffins tried in vain to reach the unicorn, Trixie's movements were quick and aided by momentary energy fields she was able to repel their attacks. She ran between buildings trying to put distance between her and the attacker while dodging boxes and other passersby, but when turning a corner, her hoof fell into a hole making her stumble, she fell with a thud, the pain in his leg didn't compare to the one that she felt in the right side of her torso, it was difficult for her to breath and her eyes were filled with tears.
"Here she is." The griffin called to his comrades.
Trixie threw the box of bullets on the floor, two henchmen soon joined his companion and the three slowly came towards her. Her horn lit up and a beam of energy came hit the package of bullets which exploded instantly, bullets were fired in all directions, many of them hitting one griffin which fell dead. Trixie tried to stand up, but a heavy claw grabbed her by the hair and put her face to the ground in a painful way.
"Listen, whore" The boss of the gang placed a nullifying ring on her horn. "The game is over, now you will tell me where the other two bitches are or I'll make you regret it."
The gryphon that was holding her by the head quickly lifted her making her cry out in pain. The boss made a movement with his head and another of his henchmen grabbed her by the neck and began to choke her.
"Where are they? Answer me!"
A shot was heard, the gryphon that had Trixie by the neck felt a pang of heat and then something cold streaming down his face until his eyes turned red, a moment later he collapsed to the ground with a smoking hole in his forehead. The other gryphon that was holding Trixie by the mane released her immediately, the boss and the rest of the gang looked at Booker who was holding the rifle in his hands, before they could do something, bullets were fired by the human who started walking towards them giving them no mercy.
One by one they were eliminated, some who managed to lift the flight trying to escape where catched and wrapped by electrified tentacles made of water that ended their life in the blink of an eye. In the end, the alley was covered by dead bodies, only the boss of the gang was still alive after that slaughter, the bullets had just destroyed one wing and part of his leg. He began to crawl on the floor, but he felt an immense pain on his back, Booker had dropped his foot so hard on his body that the gryphon could feel and even hear how several of his vertebrae were shattered.
Booker took him by the throat and lifted him until both stood face to face, the gryphon was terrified, as he looked into the eyes of the man before him, he saw with horror that they were full of hate. Booker's hand exploded in flames, the gryphon began to scream in pain as the fire spread throughout his body, his cries of agony only lasted a few seconds before he was consumed by the flames, throughout this, DeWitt did not even flinch.
When everything ended, Booker made his way towards Trixie, the unicorn was very weak, but she was able to feel how he took her in his arms as he whispered that soon she would be all right, in the end, the pain and fatigue defeated her and she lost consciousness.
The House Of The Rising Sun - Part 2.
The House Of The Rising Sun - Part 2.
Everything happened so fast. In the blink of an eye, Chrysalis disappeared from the airship platform while the group of changelings surrounding it used the power of their combined magic to make it descend in just a few minutes. Booker was not able to even defend himself because something or someone hit the back of his head with such force that he was knocked unconscious. Hours later, the former Pinkerton woke up thanks to the feeling of something cold falling on his face.
“Woke up freak, the Queen wants to speak with you.”
Someone told him and Booker finally woke finding himself with his hands tied to a hook that hanged from the ceiling and with the point of a spear pointing at his face. Said weapon was held by another of those strange creatures, its body of a deep black color bluish eyes and green insectoid wings, its face somehow showing fear and admiration of the human in front of him.
“Hey pal, where the hell am I?”
Booker asked while giving a look at his surroundings. The large room was made of black tall walls with greenish and fluorescent orbs incrusted on them, some rays of the sun entered through holes on the ceiling that served as natural illumination, all this giving the place a feeling of belonging to another world.
“It’s good to see that you finally woke up.”
Chrysalis appeared in front him in a burst of green flames. She looked at him with curiosity before she started to saunter around him. He tried to break free, but the ropes around his hands where strongly tied.
“You bitch!” Booker told her trough gritted teeth. “What have you done with Trixie and Twilight? Where are they?” The changeling queen laughed sinisterly and looked directly into his eyes.
“Your little friends are fine, by now. It all depends of you of course.” She turned around while brushing her green tail against his face. “You’d better not test my patience DeWitt, unless you want them to suffer.”
Chrysalis made a gesture to the other changeling, he nodded and used the spear to cut the ropes. Once free, Booker rubbed his wrist but made no move towards her, after all, he wanted to be sure that both of his companions were okay first.
“Follow me, Mr. DeWitt.”
He did as she said and started to walk through a long corridor, many more changelings appeared from different places and rooms of the colony, all of them with their sight placed on the human. They kept walking until they reached an enormous hall, he have to admit it, the colony was a sight to admire, a circular great hall spread in all directions, thousands of changelings passed flying above them or walking over the bridges that connected the structure, a great beam of sunlight that entered through the hole at the top of the structure reached the bottom and was reflected by the green orbs that were all over the place.
Chrysalis looked at the surprised face of the man and a feeling of pride washed over her. “Do you like what you see?”
“I can’t tell that I like it.” He answered. “But it certainly is impressive.”
“Keep moving DeWitt, they’re waiting for us.”
At the end of the bridge, they went down the stairs until they reached a door engraved with runes of blue color. Two tall and bulky changelings stood at every side of the door and when they saw their queen, they bowed their heads before moving aside to let them pass through.
Inside the room, Trixie and Twilight were looking out of the window towards the desert, once they heard the door being opened, their faces showed fear at first, but it changed to happiness and relief in the moment that Booker appeared. They ran towards him and he kneeled to receive them in a tight hug.
“Booker, I was so worried about you.” Trixie told him as she embraced his neck.
“Did they made something to you?” Asked Twilight while nuzzling his face.
“Hey, everything is ok, don’t let them see you weak.” He tried to give them valor, but Chrysalis laughed and he felt them shiver.
“What are you planning Chrysalis?” Twilight growled.
“Oh look at you, you seem so brave right now.” The changeling queen taunted.
“Remove the glyphs and let us show you what we are capable of.” Trixie demanded.
“Why would I do such a thing? Believe me ladies, those glyphs are a protection for you, you would never survive even for ten steps outside this room, so get you better get used to it.”
Booker stood up and faced her. “What do you want with them? I’m here now, let them go.”
“That will never happen, there is so much at stake right now. It is time for you to get ready to leave and fulfill your part of the deal.”
“And what if I refuse?”
Both mares and human glared at the queen, she just smiled and moved aside to let another hulking figure enter into the room. The massive changeling was covered in scars and one of his eyes was missing, still, his figure alone helped to induce fear into the hearts of the mares.
“This is my personal bodyguard and executioner, his name is Goliath, and I can assure you, his methods are more than painful, I don't think you would like to find out.”
Goliath just looked at them and growled. Booker understood that there was no escape from this situation, so he just sighed and nodded.
“All right Chrysalis.”
“No, Booker, you can’t do this, if you help her all of Equestria will be in danger.” Twilight pleaded.
“I’m so sorry Twilight, I need to do this.” He told her and kneeled once again in front of them. “Everything will be okay, I promise.”
Twilight placed her head on his chest while crying, Trixie got closer and kissed his cheek.
“Take care, please.” The cyan unicorn told him.
Booker nodded and stood up following Chrysalis outside the room. Goliath looked at the man go before he turned to see the mares once more, he sat on his haunches and remained in silence as Twilight and Trixie hugged each other.
Chrysalis guided Booker outside the colony where another changeling gave him his gear. Once he checked every weapon, the queen gave him a compass, a canteen made of leather and a couple of large blades made of black crystal, he looked at the weapons for a fraction of second before he just shrugged and placed them on the back of his holdster.
“Follow the direction that compass marks.”
He looked at the object and saw it give two complete turns before the needle stopped.
“And what exactly am I looking for?”
“You will know it once you reach it. Oh, I almost forgot, once you retrieve your objective made your way towards the north, there is a place at three days of travel in that direction called Wolves Cannon , we will leave the airship there for you to retrieve it, the compass will guide you there.”
Booker said nothing and started to walk but after some steps he stopped.
“That way back to my world, does it really exists?” He asked.
Chrysalis smiled. “Of course not, but I think that it doesn’t matter anymore to you, isn’t it?”
Booker sighed and looked behind him. “For your own sake, you'd better not hurt them.” He told her with voice cold as ice and then started to walk until he disappeared behind the dunes of the desert.
From another balcony of the colony, Kriket saw the man disappear in the distance, then she entered into the structure and walked down the corridor. In her way she found many of his brothers and sisters, all of them seemed to be confused as to what was the queen planning, after all, their only source of information were their own rumors. Kriket paid them no mind, she was more focused on seeing someone.
Finally, she reached a red painted door with many flower pots surrounding it, however, she noticed that the flowers on the vases were dead and even some had started to rot with a foul smell arising from the water.
“Something is not right.”
She said to herself before opening the door and walking inside the room. What she saw inside left her without breath. The curtains that covered the windows were torn apart with only some of the sun rays passing through them. The furniture was also turned over and with some plates of food already rotten. Kriket felt shivers all over her body after seeing the condition the place was on.
There was some rustling behind the bed and Kriket rushed to see who or what was causing it just to find Arklin with her body pressed against the mattress. Her once healthy body now seemed so fragile, her eyes had lost the shine they use to have and one of her wings was badly damaged, almost ready to fall apart.
“… Arklin…” Kriket called to her.
She stretched one of her forelegs and her hoof touched softly the body of her sister, but Arklin shouted in terror and tried to get away from her. Kriket rushed and hugged her against her body. She started to run her hoof over Arklin’s back in a soothing way until she stopped shivering. Arklin was still crying but with trembling hooves she embraced the body of her sister.
Kriket kept rocking her and her sister’s body to and fro to try and calm her down until something caught her attention, she reached out with her hoof and passed over the stained surface of the mattress, then she brought it up to her eyes and saw with horror that it was blood, not only that, the color it had made it clear that it belonged to Arklin. There was no doubt of it, kriket knew better than no one that in the whole colony only she and Arklin had blood of a deep red tone.
“Arklin… look at me… what happened?” Kriket asked in fear.
Her sister looked at her and started to talk with weak voice. “R-Ridley… he…” She started to cry again.
“He what?” Kriket felt a lump on her throat.
“He r-raped me!”
Arklin finally blurted out and kept crying with her face buried in the chest of her sister. Kriket’s mind went blank after hearing those words, but just for a moment before she felt the rage consuming her mind. Kriket had to do something, so she grabbed her sister face with her hooves and touched Arklin’s horn with hers. A faint blue glow enveloped both, then a blue mist started to come out of Kriket’s slightly opened mouth. The mist parted from her lips and entered on Arklin’s mouth, it should suffice to help her recover some of her forces.
While she kept feeding her sister, Kriket couldn’t help but think about Ridley, that son of a bitch had dared to destroy what she loved the most and literally condemned her sister to die due to poisonous feelings coursing through her body. He should pay for what he had done, and she would make sure he did.
***---***
The inclement sun shone over him. The wind as hot as the heat of a bonfire struck his face and lifted thick clouds of dust that limited his vision. Even so, Booker walked without slowing his pace, even as his feet sank into the burning sand of the desert. He had already lost count of the hours he had been fighting against the elements of that place, wherever he fixed his sight, only dune after dune were the only things he could saw.
Booker paused for a moment and took the small leather bag tied to his belt. He drank some of the water stored in it, but he barely took a couple of sips since he didn't know for how much longer he would have to keep walking. After quenching his thirst a little bit, he pulled out the small compass from the bag of his pants, the arrow in it rolled for a few seconds before stopping. Booker looked up but once more he only saw the immense desert that stretched before him.
"Something bothers him."
"Or maybe he's afraid"
"That can be a plausible explanation"
"Still, he needs to keep pushing through."
Booker was startled after hearing the voices of the Lutece twins again. At mere five meters away, Rosalind and Robert seemed to be enjoying a tennis game, a very slow and tedious game. They were holding the racquets in a blue faint aura, the same that covered their horns.
Booker looked at them for several minutes, he could even swear that for an instant they had resumed their human form, but it was only for a fraction of a second. The wind blew again and he threw sand into his eyes, after using his hand to rub them, he looked back to the Luteces, but they had disappeared.
He mumbled a silent curse and placed the compass back into his bag before he set off again. An hour later, after he reached the top of a great dune, Booker was left speechless. In front of him, inside what appeared to be a great crater, an imposing construction welcomed him.
A castle of immense white walls like ivory rose proudly in that place, its tall towers crowned with multicolored windows seemed to be eternal guardians of that fallen giant, as if they guarded his eternal rest and for the first time, Booker felt insignificant.
At the top of one of the towers, Seraphy was seated in the shade of a large tent, she closed her eyes and the air around her was filled with tiny electric sparks, in front of her, a small portal opened from which came a faint purple haze. She concentrated her magic a little more and finally got the desired result, from the inside of that portal to an unknown dimension, the sounds of music reached her ears as well as the grave voice of who gave life to its letters.
There is a house in New Orleans
They call the Rising Sun
And it's been the ruin of many a poor boy
And God I know I'm one
The crystal alicorn felt a strange sensation and quickly she closed the tear and stood up walking to the edge of the tower. Her eyes scanned the desert and finally settled on a figure that walked towards the door of the castle. With a powerful flap of her wings she rose in the air and dived down reaching the entrance of the colony in just seconds
The creature seemed to be surprised by her sudden appearance and Seraphy saw it grab what looked like a branch with a hole in its front. Human and alicorn looked at each other for what seemed like an eternity, none of them dared to make the first movement.
“Who or what are you? And what are you doing here?” Seraphy asked to the creature with demanding voice.
Booker put down the shotgun and rose his hands in the air. “Listen, I’m not looking for troubles.” He saw the face of the alicorn turn from a frown to a surprised gesture.
“You… you speak my language?” She asked.
“Well… yes… I came from a city far away from here.” He told her. “My name is Booker DeWitt.”
Seraphy was in shock, the creature in front of her was intelligent and not only that, it, or better said, he was from the world outside her colony. She saw him start to walk towards her with his hands still in the air. At her back, the doors of the castle opened and a group of fifteen dragons in blue armor came out of it. All of them formed a semicircle around the human and pointed their spears at him.
Booker took the shotgun with one hand and to the surprise of the dragons and the alicorn, his other hand turned into crystals that emitted purple sparks. Another dragon came out of the castle, only that this one was black as the night and taller than the others, he even stood over Booker by a head at least.
“What is an Equestrian doing this far away from his home?” Ridley asked to the human.
““Listen, as I already told her.” Booker told him while pointing towards Seraphy. “I’m not looking for troubles, also, I’m not that what you just called me, I’m a human being and I just happen to have lost my way in the storm and ended here, I’m just passing through.”
“Hmmm.” Ridley walked around Booker. “I don't know if I can believe your story, Antares will have to judge that.”
The dragon made a sign with his claw and the others lowered their weapons.
“Follow me Mr. DeWitt, the king is awaiting for you.” Ridley said before he walked into the castle.
Booker dispersed the vigor with a shake of his hand and put away the shotgun before he was escorted into the structure by two of the dragons. Seraphy couldn’t part her eyes from the human as he passed at her side. Something about him made her feel happiness and even hope. She finally walked behind the court and as the doors closed behind them, alicorn and human shared another look.
“So she is the reason why I'm here.” Booker thought.
There was another thing biting at back of his head. He gave another look at the black dragon and he knew what was wrong, the dragon knew his name, the question was how when the only one that had hear him say it was the alicorn?
“... Something stinks here…" Booker said to himself. "... This will be harder than in Columbia…”
The long multicolor ever flowing mane of the sun goddess was the only thing that differed her from the white landscape, her golden horseshoes leaving soft traces on the snow as she moved through it. The cold wind caressed her fur, but it didn’t bother her at all.
Princess Celestia kept walking until, from the top of a small hill, her eyes met the shiny image of the Crystal Tower and at its base, the Crystal Kingdom appeared. A smile spread on her lips. However, in the blink of an eye, the peaceful image turned into one of despair, the Kingdom started to be surrounded by a black dome, the floor began to tremble as a beam of light fell over the city at the same time that the wind brought with it a roar that echoed in the distance. Finally, a huge explosion forced Celestia to cover her eyes, after that, the silence settled over the land. When she opened her eyes; the Crystal Kingdom was no more.
“A millennium has passed from that day… Sombra´s fall…”
Those were the only words that escaped her lips. What could this mean? She had no idea. It wasn´t the first time that something like this happened to her; when Nightmare Moon returned, she had dreamed about it for days, even months before, but now, Sombra was dead and the Kingdom has been restored, why did she had this vision? There was a message for sure, and she needed to found it.
Lost in her thoughts, Celestia noticed something moving in the distance, she came closer and to her surprise, it was a pony, in fact, a crystal mare. She was carrying something on her back, something that moved and cried. The mare stopped to take the small bulk on her hooves, Celestia tried to get a little closer to her, but stopped when a shadow passed above her. In awe, the princess saw a dragon landing just meters away from the mare; it was a juvenile brown dragon that still walked in two legs. When the mare saw him, she smiled and tried to say something, but a scream of pain escaped her mouth and she felt to the ground. The dragon ran and took her in his arms.
“I… I can´t go with you…” She said weakly, “please, you must… you must protect her… they must never find her”.
The mare gave her last breath; the dragon took the small bulk and discovered just a small part of it to look at the face of a sweet little filly that smiled at him. With eyes wide open, Celestia gave two steps towards them just before her body started to feel heavy, like if all her strength was gone, her head started to hurt and suddenly, she found herself face to face with the dragon. He grabbed her by the neck and looked at her with fury in his eyes. Celestia felt fear, it was impossible, this was just a dream, this must be a dream, yet, she was there feeling the claw digging into her skin.
“YOU WILL NEVER HURT HER!”
The dragon screamed, he opened his jaws and a blast of fire crashed into Celestia´s face. She closed her eyes and screamed in agony waiting for the pain that never came. She opened her eyes and found herself in the center of Ponyville, the town seemed to be abandoned and without a sign of life. Celestia blinked and her surroundings changed once more. She was now in the throne room in Canterlot Castle, the windows shattered into pieces, the curtains torn apart and the floor covered in blood stains. She walked to the window and with teary eyes, she saw Canterlot City being consumed by the flames.
“Make it stop… please, I can´t take it anymore”.
She whispered but her words were cut by what seemed to be steps behind her, Celestia turned around to find a shadowy figure almost as tall as her standing in front of her.
“Who… Who are you?”
There was no answer, the figure raised something metallic, there was a click, and the noise of a thunder came from it. The last thing Celestia saw was the letters “AD” burning like fire in the darkness.
***---***---***
"SISTER, SISTER, WAKE UP! WHAT'S HAPPENING?"
Said Princess Luna with a worried tone; she was holding Celestia in her hooves. The sun goddess screamed in terror and threw her arms around hers sister´s neck before she opened her eyes. In the moment she saw Luna holding her, a feeling of peace descended upon her.
"Luna..." She whispered.
Celestia let her fears fade away as her tears wet her sister's fur. What neither of them noted were the five little stains of blood on Celestia's neck.
***---***---***
"He's Zachary Comstock".
"He's Booker DeWitt".
"No... I'm both..."
They took him by the chest and put him under the waters of the river, he saw her face through the blurry stream as the pressure in his lungs started to grow. They kept him under the water, Booker understood what was happening, he needed to die to close the circle, to finally erase all his past, all his sins, and he accepted it. The pressure turned into pain, he tried to breath, but all that he got was water pouring into his body. He stared at Elizabeth for the last time before the darkness and silence took domain of his senses.
After some minutes, he noticed something.
"What's happening? Why I'm I still... thinking?"
Booker asked himself after realizing that somehow he was still conscious. He opened his eyes realizing that he was back at his apartment in New York, the sign in the door wiped away all doubt of it. He searched for something in the desk, then, his eyes fixed in the calendar, the date was October 8th, 1893.
"Is this... is this real?"
Before he could say something else, the cry of a baby took him by surprise, turning his gaze towards the corner of the room, he saw light coming out through the door frame, he kept silence until the cry was heard again. Standing up from the desk, Booker walked to the door, with trembling hand he held the door knob and slowly started to open it.
"Anna?"
He said as the light in the room washed over him blinding him, he put his hands over his eyes trying to see through it, however, the pressure in his chest returned and in the blink of an eye, he found himself being dragged by the force of the stream. Using all the strength in his body, Booker fought against the waters finally being able to take his head out of it and taking a deep breath. The shore was just meters away from him; he reached it and pulled himself out of the water lying there trying to recover his forces.
“Let´s see the facts; I´m still alive, the question is why?”
Booker said to the air, or this was just a bad joke, or his mind was playing tricks to him. He stood up looking at the surroundings. He was in what seemed to be a forest; there were no signs of the Vox Populi or of that religious shit from Columbia.
“Where the hell am I? I need to find a higher place; maybe that will help me to know my location”.
He took a quick look at himself; he was still suited in his clothes, his hand wrapped in a piece of fabric that he took away to discover that the wound caused by the knife in Battleship´s Bay wasn’t there, yet, the mark AD was in the back of his hand.
“Strange...”
He proceed to review his holster, on it, he found the hand cannon with six bullets inside the barrel.
“Well, is better than nothing”.
He thought and started to walk on straight line from the river. Some hours passed before he stopped to rest under a tree. More and more, he started to get into the idea that he wasn’t on Columbia anymore. In fact, after the destruction of the siphon nothing seemed to be in order for him. He understood that there were so many doors to parallel universes, so many constants and variables.
“What if this is just another universe? What if nothing ended at all? That could mean so many things right now”.
Slowly, he took the gun and looked at it.
“Maybe this is another opportunity… if I´m here, maybe there´s another Comstock… another Columbia… another Elizabeth… or maybe I should end things by myself right now…”
In that moment, through the shine of the weapon, something got his attention. Through the trees, he saw letters, so he decided to investigate. With the gun at point, he reached a clear spot in the forest were he found a wagon painted with flamboyant tones, there were some boxes outside of it containing fireworks and other stuff. He walked around the wagon and looked at the sign on one side of it
“The Great and Powerful Trixie, looks like someone has a big ego around here, maybe she can tell me what´s this place”.
Booker walked to the front of the wagon and knocked on the door.
“Excuse me, I think I´m lost and I need some help”.
There was no answer. He knocked once more.
“Hey, is somebody at home? My name is…”
He was about to grab the door knob when a scream came from the distance. Still in doubt, Booker kept silence until another scream was heard. His first instinct was the one of rush towards the point where the scream came, but he stopped.
“No, don´t do it, is not your problem, let the world take its course and walk away”.
He turned around, but.
“HELP!”
The third scream sounded closer, it was all the he needed.
“I´m going to regret this”.
As fast as his legs let him, he ran towards the source of the voice.
“Where are you? Say something”.
Booker called out to the owner of the voice, another scream came from the other side of some bushes. He stopped, took away the secure from the gun and jumped, but in the air something hit him. The impact send him to the floor, but he was able to grab whatever it was and rolled some meters before pinning it to the ground.
To his surprise, he was holding an animal, to be precise, a pony; but not a normal pony, this one had blue fur and was wearing a cape and a hat which fell to let him saw a horn on the base of the pony´s head barely hid by a silver colored mane.
“What the hell? A unicorn?”
Said Booker with a mix of awe and despair. What happened next blew his mind away. The unicorn screamed, Booker screamed, and they kept shouting at each other for a couple of minutes. He let the pony go and crawled away from it, he lift the gun and pointed towards it.
“D- Don´t move… or I´ll blow your head off”.
“MONSTER!” said the unicorn.
“What? No, you´re the monster, you´re a talking horse and not only that, you´re a goddamn unicorn.”
“First of all, I´m not a horse, I´m a pony, and how can you talk like that to the great and powerful Trixie? Show more respect monster”.
“You know what, screw this I´m… hold on, did you said Trixie? So the wagon back there is yours?”
“If you touched Trixie´s home you will regret it.”
“STOP TALKING LIKE THAT!”
Booker shouted and Trixie remain in silence. When she saw him standing up, she noted the difference of heights. Even with her horn she was just standing beyond his navel.
“I don´t know what kind of crazy world is this, but I can´t lose more time with you, there was someone in danger asking for help so…”
“The one asking for help was me, monster”.
“Oh really? If that´s true, prove it oh great and powerful being. What can be so dangerous that you can´t stand it by yourself?”
Trixie started to back away from him while pointing towards something. Booker turned around to find green lights in the foliage that surrounded them. A howl pierced his ears, the green lights turned to be eyes, eyes of creatures made of wood with a resemblance to wolves.
“All right Trixie, I believe you now, and you know what?”
The creatures growled at them.
“Run?” She asked.
“Sounds good to me”.
They started to run, the whole pack of timberwolves howled in unison and rushed behind them. The chase didn´t take too long, Booker and Trixie found themselves cornered against a wall of rocks. Soon, the creatures appeared in front of them ready to feast with their victims.
“I suppose our luck ends here Trixie.”
“Well monster… I mean, sir, can the great and…” Booker looked at her with annoyance. “Sorry. Before we die, can I know your name?”
Booker looked down at his hand, it was shining. With joy, he saw it starting to ignite, Trixie noted this too.
“The name´s Booker DeWitt, and we will not die here today”.
The House Of The Rising Sun - Part 1.
More than a week had passed since the attack on the bank of Ponyville and the news had spread like wildfire to several corners of Equestria. Descriptions of a strange bipedal creature capable of use magic with only his hands and as deadly as a soldier trained in combat not seemed to be very well received for the many races of the land, with this scenery starting to cause some concern, Celestia and Luna had to assure to the leaders of several regions that the attack had only been a local incident, also, they were sure announce to the public that the assailants only work on their own and that they were not part of any criminal organization, something that the only survivor confessed as soon as he was questioned.
But more importantly, that "the human" known as Booker DeWitt was already under strict surveillance and that despite having shown what he was capable of, he did not represent any threat to the population, in the contrary, he had protected the citizens of the small town and that due to this, Celestia herself said she would give Booker the right to become a citizen of Equestria if he wished.
Celestia landed gently over the grass just a few meters away from Twilight's house, she knew that somehow she had to amend things with the newest resident of Equestria and although she still felt some resentment and fear towards him, she also knew that it was for the better and that the best way to start anew was to apologize with him for the way she had acted.
Several ponies that were in the surroundings and that saw her arrive bowed their heads in reverence for their ruler who gave them a motherly smile before they continue with their daily routine. Celestia didn't want to show it, but her legs were shaking at each step she took towards the house, she felt an emptiness in her stomach, mostly because there was no way to know what would DeWitt's reaction be when he saw her again, in that moment, the sun goddess really wished to have her sister at her side, but Luna was very clear and told her it was something she had to face and solve alone.
She finally stopped in front of the wooden door, Celestia raised a shaky hoof and took a deep breath to calm her nerves before knocking on it. There was no answer and she knocked three more times, again there was no reply and for a moment she sighed in relief thinking that perhaps Twilight wasn't at home, however, there was no sign at the door and knowing her student she scrapped that idea and knocked again.
"Just a moment please! I'm coming! I'm coming!"
The somewhat annoyed voice of Spike was heard from the other side of the door, the dragon opened it and after seeing that Celestia was standing on the other side he screamed and closed it immediately leaving to the sun goddess more than surprised.
"Spike, could you open the door please?"
She told him in motherly tone, the door opened again and Spike stood under its frame.
"P-Princess, what a surprise to see you here." He said shakily. "We didn't know that you were coming."
"I decided to come and visit." Celestia smiled and bowed her head to nuzzle his cheek. "Also, I need to talk with Twilight and with Mr. DeWitt."
Spike felt as if something cold had fell into his stomach. "R-really... well you see... about that..." The dragon began to stutter. "C-could you r-repeat the q-question?"
It was at tha moment that Celestia knew there was something wrong, very, very wrong.
"Spike... where is Twilight?... Where is DeWitt?"
***---***---***
The day was coming to an end, with the last rays of the sun painting the sky with orange tones that contrasted against the darker blue of the night. Kriket was in the command room taking care of the controls of the airship while in another room, Twilight was busy healing the wounds on Booker's back. The claws and beak of the griffin had caused deep gashes on his skin, but the unicorn once more had showed her medical knowledge and the bleeding had stopped. Twilight placed the last clean gauze over the wound and then took a syringe filled with a clear liquid in her magical aura.
"This will help to ease the pain." She said before injecting the fluid into his arm
"Thank you, although I must say, a gunshot wound hurts more than this." He told her.
Twilight remained in silence, in her mind she still could see the face of the griffin, the fear in his eyes before she pulled the trigger of the gun, the unicorn also knew that if she had not done it, Booker would have died, however, she felt guilty, she had killed him and nothing would change that.
"Booker... how do you do it?" She asked.
"How do I do what?"
"Forget, how do you wash away the things that you've done?"
Booker looked at her with understanding, he knew that what had happened was something she never expected to experience, he wanted with all his heart to delete the memory from her mind, but that was impossible.
He sighed. "You don't. You just learn to live with it."
Twilight began to mourn in silence, "I think... I want to be alone... for a while..."
She climbed onto the bed and lay over it facing at the wall, Booker nodded, rose from his chair and left the room. He walked to the bridge of the ship where Kriket was looking at a map on one of the walls.
She turned around to look at him "What an adventure we had in Helios, don't you think?"
"Is there any way to send them back home?" Booker asked.
Kriket knew this would happen, but now that she had Twilight on her hooves, she couldn't risk to lose her.
"Before that pair joined our crusade, I warned you this wouldn't be easy."
"I know, but didn't think they would be exposed to so much danger."
Kriket rolled her eyes. "All right, if it makes you feel better, once we reach the land of fire, we will give them this airship for them to return to home safely, okay?"
Booker nodded. "That's enough for me."
Without another word, he left the bridge leaving Kriket alone, the eyes of the pegasus turned green for a moment before she smiled.
"You're such an idiot DeWitt."
Booker walked down the aisle looking for a place to rest, he passed in front of a door and stopped, he opened it and could see Trixie resting on the bed, she had awakened and looked at the gauze she had around her leg, more gauzes were over her body covering her minor injuries.
"Hi." She told him after seeing him standing at the door. "How are you?"
"Not as well as you." He said, "I thought you were a goner."
"It will take more than that to end the great and powerful Trixie." The unicorn said with that boasting tone of hers.
He smiled. "Good to see you've got your good mood again, I'll let you rest."
"Wait... Booker... please... come here." She called him before he left and her hoof patted the empty space next to her in bed.
He shrugged and entered the room closing the door behind him and leaving his weapons and other things on a small table.
"What's on your mind, Trixie?" He asked once he sat on the bed.
"I want to apology with you for what happened this morning." She said without looking up.
"... Trixie..."
"No, please, let me finish." She saw him straight in the eye. "I know it was wrong, but I couldn't help it, you're the first one with whom I feel I can really be myself, the one that complements me, is it really wrong that I feel something for you?"
He looked at her intently. "Trixie, you're a beautiful girl, but you must understand that this cannot be, even if I had feelings for you, I could not give you the love you need, I only will cause you pain, everyone around me gets hurt, I don't want to see you suffer."
Trixie launched herself against him hugging him tightly, "I don't care, I know you can find a space in your heart for me, I don't want to let you go."
Booker took her by the shoulders and separated himself from her body. "Trixie, that's enough! Stop this nonsense at once!"
She shook her head and once more lunged at him, only this time she wrapped her forelegs around his neck and joined her lips to him in a forced but intense kiss. Booker's eyes opened wide, the warmth and softness of her lips plus the feel of her soft fur against his skin were enough for him to forget his inhibitions completely, and after all, they both needed some kind of release.
Trixie parted from him and looked into his deep green eyes, the next thing she knew was that he had pinned her to the bed and that now he was kissing her passionately, she could feel his hands roaming through her body and she couldn't avoid let out moans of pleasure that gradually increased in intensity as she gave herself entirely to DeWitt.
Meanwhile, outside the room, Kriket was sitting on her hind legs while gently caressing her stomach. "Hmmm, it's been a while since the last time I had a meal so plentiful and tasty, those two certainly share something more than just a friendship." She said licking her lips.
***---***---***
Celestia walked down a narrow corridor of solid rock surrounded by hot lava, the heat in the place was unbearable, but she didn't seem to be bothered by it in the least. At the end of the corridor she came to a large rock platform, in its center stood a cell which was surrounded by a beam of golden light, a figure covered by a black cloak moved within the cell.
"The sands of fate move violently and the sun goddess stands before me once again." A deep voice came from the lips of the being. "You must be truly desperate to come to me for help."
Celestia felt a chill go through her body, she knew that what she was doing could backfire at her, but it was a risk she was willing to take.
"What makes you think I seek your help?" She said.
The being laughed sinisterly: "The fact that you brought the key that will release me from my prison.
Celestia closed her eyes. "You're locked up in this place for the crimes you committed in the past, but now I need your talents, that's why I'm offering you a truce, do this for me, and I will reward you."
"Interesting." Yellow eyes seemed to glow within the darkness of the cell. "But tell me, what makes you think that I will not betray you?"
Celestia's horn shone with a golden aura, the key at her side floated and slammed into the lock, the cell opened and with impressive speed, Celestia ended in front of the creature with her horn embedded into its chest, an energy explosion shook the place and she backed away from the being who started to stand up.
"A soul reaper spell? Fascinating, you're more sadistic than I thought, Celestia."
"If you try to betray me or if you try to hurt my subjects, this time there will be no compassion, you will end up dead."
The being never stopped smiling. "Okay, I understand and accept the terms, now tell me, what you need from me."
***---***---***
Booker watched the sunrise from the balcony of the airship, the ship moved slowly over the sands of the desert that seemed to be endless while the sunlight drew its shadow over it, he gave a quick check at his weapons to ensure that they were loaded and ready to face whatever challenge that were waiting for him. At his back, he heard hoof steps and soon Kriket, Twilight and Trixie stood at his side.
"Well, we've finally reached it, welcome to the land of fire." Kriket said almost with relief.
Booker looked at Twilight and Trixie, his eyes remained for a short time over the blue mare. "Okay, a deal is a deal, here is where we part." He said to the unicorns causing both to look at him incredulously.
"What?! What are you talking about?!" Twilight said in shock.
"Oh yes, I almost forgot, Booker asked me to hand over the airship to you, you know, for you to return home." Kriket rose into the air and floated in front of the dirigible. "However, I'm afraid that's not possible."
"What the hell is wrong with you? We made a deal!" Booker took his rifle and pointed it towards Kriket who started to laugh.
"Oh c'mon DeWitt, I can't let Sparkle go, after all, that would let us without an important advantage over Celestia."
"Booker... what does she means by that?" Twilight was afraid.
"What I mean is that..." Kriket's body was engulfed by a green flame that gave way to her true nature. "Someone will be very glad to see you."
Twilight couldn't believe what she was seeing, Kriket had turned into a changeling. In just a moment the airship was surrounded by dozens of changelings more, all with their eyes fixed on the mares and the human, Booker took his rifle ready to finish with the major number of them, but another voice was heard behind them stopping his intention.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you, I don't want to have to explain to Ridley that I had to kill our most valuable tool because you attempted to kill my children."
The three turned round to face the cold gaze of the Queen of the changelings.
"... C-Chrysalis..." The purple mare gave two steps back.
The queen smiled showing her long fangs. "Hello, Twilight Sparkle, is a pleasant surprise to see you again."
"And who the hell are you?" Booker pointed his rifle at her.
"Mr. DeWitt, I presume, is a pleasure to finally meet you, I am Queen Chrysalis and you and I have much to talk about."
