Portals: Shattered (Book 6 alt)

CHAPTER TWO: THE WALL

Beep, beep, beep . . .

        The Doctor patrolled Ponyville’s main street, sonic screwdriver in hoof. He promised to split the work with Blast and Kevin by taking care of the shards while they rescue everypony. Now, his sonic scanned the air for any irregularity in the fabric of the dimensions.

beep beep beepbeepbeepBEEEEE -

        Doctor ducked to the side, narrowly escaping an invisible shard. A sound wave fired from his sonic, one too high to hear. It echoed from the shard and returned, bringing with it the magical signature from the shard. Just a slight increase in the sound wave’s frequency and the shard rattled to pieces. It was now a cloud of particles. It could no longer harm anypony.

        The Doctor read the data scan. “Gallifrey help us,” he said aloud.

        That blue stallion was right.

        “Got that?”

        “Yeah, but . . .” Kevin started. They were seated back in Blast’s lean-to. For whatever reason the Blizzard had insisted he keep his outfit. Kevin wanted to ask, but restrained himself. “Where did you learn all this? I mean, how did you -”

        “Been talking with Doc,” answered the blue stallion. “It’s clear he knows what’s going on.”

        “Then why aren’t we going with him? I mean, I know you can generate portals and all, but wouldn’t it be easier on you to just go with him?”

        “Given that, yes, our team fighter needs to be kept in a fighting shape, we do still need to know where we’re going. And that’s, put politely, not something the TARDIS always has. We need something to take us exactly where and when we need. So both options - my magic and the TARDIS - are out of the question. This will introduce a third.” He held up a tiny gunmetal gray box.

        He’d already established with Kevin the thing was called the Visuac. It was a device built by the Doctor specially for this mission. This machine used Blast’s magic as a power source. By generating portals through the Visuac Blast could save his energy for those situations where survival mattered most. Not only this, but since his magic was its power source, he would be able to tweak his energy signature to tell it exactly where and when they wanted to go.

        “Are we off, then?” asked Kevin.

        With a curt nod from his friend the Visuac fell to the floor. A beam of green magic leapt from Blast’s horn. His eyes, in concentration, narrowed to tiny slits. His magic arced, as if magnetized, to the machine - which in turn spat out the magic into a circle. A black membrane formed inside the circle, which quickly grew into a portal.

        Simultaneously the two stallions jumped through.

THUD!

        Kevin faceplanted in a strange world.

        It was a world of bland colors. Greys and blacks and olive greens blanketed the scenery like some dull disease. Tasteless houses lined the street. Somewhere far away, there was some commotion. Some . . . things were driving on the streets, almost like carriages, but with no horses.

        There was a shrill noise. Kevin looked up to see one of the things heading straight at him. It gave him just enough time to dodge before moving on. Kevin turned to Blast. “Where are we?"

        “1980 Berlin,” the Blizzard replied, “or so says the Doctor.” The look on his face was cold as steel. “Apparently this is where this portal is sending everypony.”

        “Where are they?”

        “Dunno. I’ll call the Doctor and see what’s going on here. Something about a wall, I think.” He took a quick look around before adding, “Actually, let’s find someplace to camp first. I don’t like this place.”

        “The Berlin Wall,” confirmed the Doctor.

        Along with the Visuac, the Doctor also gave Blast a headset he could hack into with the Tardis. This way they could keep in touch wherever they were. Blast and Kevin were now hidden in an underground garage. It was fairly empty, featuring only a rack of shovels and rakes along one wall. The headset was on speaker so both Blast and Kevin could listen in.

“Come again?” Kevin asked.

        “The Berlin Wall. It was built to divide east and west Berlin. Its construction divided families and lost jobs from each half for the next thirty years.”

        “That’s terrible!” exclaimed Kevin.

        “Yes. This must be where the portal is taking everypony - I scanned the magical signature from the shards. This is the time and place. Some, I believe, appeared here in east Berlin, and some others in the west. To bring all of them back you will need to conquer the wall somehow.”

        “Alright alright,” said Blast, with an almost irritated tone. “What exactly are we dealing with?”

        “Well, if you wanna get through obviously first you gotta deal with the actual wall. About 40 miles of concrete barrier, backed by a good layer of fencing.”

        “Doesn’t sound too difficult.”

        “That’s where you’d be wrong. Behind that is a place they call the ‘Death Strip’. It’s got guard dogs, floodlight-equipped watchtowers, bunkers, anti-vehicle trenches . . . all full of soldiers with orders to shoot escapees on sight. That place is loaded, I tell you.”

        Kevin cut in. “Have others found a way?”

        “Oh, they’ve found all sorts of ways. Some would drive through the Death Strip. Some dug tunnels underneath. Tartarus, some even made it over in a hot-air balloon.”

        “Interesting,” Blast said, almost to himself. “Thanks for the info, Doctor. We’ll keep you posted.” With this he reached for the POWER button.

        “Wai -” the Doctor started. Neither of them heard as Blast shut out the communications.

        Kevin scratched his head. “So how are we gonna do this?”

        Blast took a deep breath. “I know a way. But we’ll need two of those . . . things.”

        “Those things that almost ran me over?”

        The blue stallion only nodded.

        “Oh boy.”

        “SLOW DOWN!” yelled Kevin.

        The infamous wall of Berlin was rushing toward the pair. They were seated inside one of the things Doctor explained was called a “car”, gaining tremendous amounts of speed at the graffiti-encrusted concrete wall. They’d used pieces of a second car to modify this one. Kevin seated himself as comfortably as possible in shotgun. Blizzard Blast took driver’s seat, rooted on all four hooves to the seat as his insane driving took over. A green glow held the pedal to the metal.

        “SLOW DOWN!” Kevin repeated himself. “YOU’RE GOING TO KILL US ALL!"

        The Blizzard made no reply. He sped up. The wall neared.

        And they made contact.

        Now, driving a regular car into the Berlin Wall was risky. Ramming into concrete with such force could total it. And then the driver would have the guards to worry about. Or worse, they could get killed by the impact. Simply too many things could come of it. Who knows what could happen?

        Blast knew what would happen. Because this wasn’t a car.

        It was a bomb.

        The duo was sent flying. The car was completely consumed in flames. A gaping hole blew itself into the wall. Concrete flew everywhere. The two stallions - barely protected by Blast’s telekinetic fields surrounding them - tumbled end over end into the Death Strip.

        Kevin’s vision was knocked black. He heard someone shouting. “Get me some guards! Two unidentified intruders sighted!” His vision was just starting to clear when floodlights flashed in his eyes. A hoof raised to block the stunning light and he blinked.

        “Come on, guys . . .” Kevin attempted. “Can’t we settle this over a cider?"

        There was soft white sand all around them. Pinned between two watchtowers, uniformed men surrounded the two. They each wielded some variant of gun - some rifles, some chain guns. In the crowd also were a number of guard dogs. Each a German Shepherd, they growled at the intruders.

        “No?” tried Kevin. He shrank into the ground and whispered to Blast, “I sure hope you can take these guys.”

        “Get behind me,” Blast growled. He stood taller now than Kevin, shouldering the battle’s weight completely on his own. His four hooves immovably planted in the ground, he glared stubbornly at the men.

        One soldier raised a pistol to Blast’s forehead.

        He pulled the trigger.

        A mare rushed down the hallway.

        It was a very dark hallway, lit only by a row of spotlights along the ceiling. They did very little to light the area, their energy dissipating quickly to darkness. The mare’s face faded in and out of the black fog as she ran.

        She came to a halt in a dimly lit room. Bunkbeds lined every wall. Crammed into them were prisoners. Prisoners of every shape and color, all held there by the wishes of one terrible human. She drifted past each of them now.

        “Ma’am,” she said to the one before her. “We’ve located our target.”

        The second mare turned to the first. A scar lined her cheek and she took a dark tone. “Pardon, Sunset?"

        The first mare, the one called Sunset, was intimidated by the scar. She struggled to repeat herself. “We’ve found the source of the energy signatures. Our troops are in position.”

        “Good. Move in.”

        The bullet froze. An icy frost covered the tiny object. It floated now, as if in zero gravity, aimless and harmless.

        Blizzard Blast prepared for battle. His eyes glowed green with the Blizzard State flowing through his veins. The Element of Honor, clipped to his hoof, sparked green. An aura around him, however invisible, grew black with hatred. The sound of cracking glass froze itself into the air as his double swords appeared beside him. Along their edges flowed twin rivers of liquid torment.

        Around them the soldiers did not waste time. A number of them fired their chain guns. Three of the dogs leapt to attack, their fangs steeped in hostility. And the sandy earth exploded into battle.

        A blue field leapt from the warrior’s horn. Any bullet that entered it came to the same fate: floating through ethereal space, frozen. Storms of them flew toward the two, only to float there tumbling end over end. Green auras surrounded the attacking dogs. A slice of green flew from one sword as it carved the air. A watchtower fell to pieces. One hoof gestured to the side and its debris scattered across the spectral sand.

        Suddenly a light appeared in the night sky. A buzzing, whirring noise whooshed over the scene. A thing came flying at them. It was a blue thing, shaped rather like a box - a tiny box not much taller than a pony. A little light atop the box pierced through the night. The windows ringing the top of the box did crazy rolls and flips. The thing was the TARDIS, tumbling end over end through the night sky.

        It came careening for the ground as it neared the scene. The TARDIS smashed into the earth head-first and spat out at Blast, who other than the Doctor.

       “Blizzard Blast!” he exclaimed. His british accent flowed over his words. “There’s something I need to tell y -”

        “Doc! The guns!"

        “Oh -” Doctor looked around as he drew his sonic. “Task at hand. Got it.” He aimed his sonic as it whirred to life. It glowed, and a gun rattled to pieces in a soldier’s hands.

        “Good. Keep going!” said Blast as he threw the dogs aside. The frozen bullets floating around him swirled into a tornado. Some flew to the now unarmed soldier, catching on his uniform. They threw him off to the side. More guns crumbled to sand, and more soldiers were flown aside.

        Soon there was only one left. The Doctor fried his gun. An object flew at him from Blast. It pinned him to the other side of the Wall. The glowing blue object exploded, blowing a gaping hole in the barrier. A hoof waved and a wall of ice - stretching from one hole in the wall to the other - froze into existence. On the other side the rubble from the watchtower spread apart to make another wall.

        The Doctor looked around. The trio was standing alone in an empty passage through the Wall. “Righty-o then,” he said curtly. “Job well done, now as I was saying - hey, watch the tie!”

        He was cut off yet again. A number of uniformed ponies jumped out of nowhere at the three. There were four or five of them - each with a war uniform and each with a gun. Among them Kevin recognized only two: Lightning Dust, who had just grabbed the Doctor, and was that . . . Sunset Shimmer?

        The golden-maned mare peered through a laser sight at Blizzard Blast’s forehead. Uncertainty filling her eyes, the rifle lowered and her head cocked at the trio. Her uniform, however blank, was occupied by one gold medal. “W-what are you two doing here?” she asked unsurely.

        “NONE of your business, traitor,” spat a rather venomous Blizzard Blast. His eyes glowered poisonously at those around him. “Now will you get rid of this disabling spell and release the Doctor? NOW?”

        It wasn’t until then Kevin realized that Sunset had probably put a disabling spell over Blast. Was that why he wasn’t fighting back? Is it now Kevin should use his own powers? Take the situation into his own hooves?

        The frozen moment ended. Sunset raised the rifle to her face. “Sorry, Blizzard . . .” On cue Lightning Dust and the other ponies dragged The Doctor away. “We’ve come too far now. Dust!” she yelled over her shoulder, keeping her eyes on the duo. “Get the Doctor’s machine there. Its technology could be useful to our . . . cause.”

        The Doctor tried to push off the ponies taking him away. “Blast! What I needed to tell you -” he was cut off as they handcuffed him. They dragged him with them into the TARDIS. “This is going to be harder than we thought!”

        “What do you mean?”

        The Doctor barely managed his last words before he disappeared behind the cobalt blue doors. “You were right!” Sunset Shimmer sat down at the TARDIS’ doorstep, still aiming at Kevin and Blast. She remained there as the machine drifted away and shrank into a tiny dot in the sky. “You were riiiiiight!”