Portals: Shattered (Book 6 alt)
ooooooooaaaaaaahhhhhhhh -
Blizzard Blast yawned, baring his teeth like a lion. At first his eyes squinted shut. With a stretch they melted open. Until his adventure with the Elements of Unity, he’d never had a true, permanent home - he went where the wind took him. With the help of Ponyville - mostly of his love, Twilight Sparkle - he was able to build himself a place to live: a lean-to shed just inside the Everfree Forest. The scenery before him was that of his new home. A folding table centered the shed. A filing cabinet, adapted into a dresser, was built into the wall at one side. A hat rack stood beside it, occupying various coats and hats. The structure was built of beautiful maple wood. Blizzard Blast was now occupying a blue sleeping bag in one corner, sided by a burnt stub of candle. The air was as frigid as one could expect at morning in the forest. Blast teleported from his resting place. A flash of light dissipated as he appeared before his dresser. Green auras summoned a number of items to life. They picked themselves up and floated toward the stallion. “Got to look good,” he told himself. He was leaving for the greatest way to start the day: taking his mare for a refreshing morning walk. A comb floated to his aid, sweeping his mane into perfection. A snow-white vest put itself over his back, buttoning itself with flashes of green. Simultaneously a bow tie of the silkiest blue came to life, tying itself before his eyes. Over that came a fine black blazer. Before he knew it he was fully dressed and ready to meet his love.
Knock, knock, knock. The door opened. “Blizzard Blast?” asked the baby dragon that answered it. “Hi, Spike,” answered Blast, smiling pleasantly. “And yes. If I may ask, is Twilight home?” Spike appeared confused. His dragon eyes blinked and he seemed lost in thought. Blast politely repeated himself. “Is she here?” “ . . . I just thought she already went with you.” “You mean she’s gone?” “Yeah.” “That’s . . .” Blizzard Blast searched for the right word, “odd.” At exactly that moment, a mare of mint fur dashed to him. Her frightened eyes darted around like some dinosaur was going to come eat her. “Blizzard Blast! Oh thank goodness you’re here!” “Calm down, Lyra,” Blast reassured her, still unsure what was happening. “What’s the problem?” “Have you seen Minuette? My mom? I can’t find her and I’m afraid!”Okay, Blast thought. Twilight disappearing was weird, but this . . . Before he could finish the thought, a gray blur tackled him to he ground. It was Octavia. “Do you know what’s going on? Vinyl’s missing!”Suddenly ponies started flooding him and all sense melted to chaotic chatter. “What’s happening?” “He’s a Blizzard. Maybe he knows.” One stallion in particular, a respectful earth pony, nudged through the crowd to reach Blast. Octavia got off of Blast and he stood to meet the pony. His trademark green tie hung from his earthen coat. His blue eyes filled with concern, looking into the Blizzard’s. It was the Doctor. “I’m so sorry,” he began. “The portal . . .” It was not until precisely at that moment Blast fit the pieces together. “Oh no.” His eyes swept over the crowd before him. Ponies of every color and race were present. Here and now, each of them felt pain. Each felt the loss of somepony dear to them, a hole in their hearts. In every pair of eyes there was suffering, there was a scar. He had failed every single one of them. Hanging his head, the shamed Blizzard said only, “I’m so sorry. I can’t help you.” The crowd fell dead silent. They watched, longing for some rescue, as Blast paced away in silence. He made his way out - the crowd parted around him so it wasn’t too hard - and followed the path back into the Everfree Forest. He waited to fall out of sight of those he hurt, and made a mad dash for somewhere - anywhere. Just to have the illusion he was accomplishing something. Anything for that illusion.
A lone white pegasus gave chase. What was that Blizzard thinking? He didn’t cause this tragedy - no one did! He had no reason to blame himself for the hurt everypony now felt. And besides, what was this going to do about the task at hand? Kevin thought about what he had to say. “Ah, Kevin,” said Blast’s voice. The pegasus whirled to find the voice’s owner. Was he really thinking that hard? Was he paying no attention to what surrounded him now? He halted and searched for Blast. He found the blue form through some trees beside the trail. How did the Blizzard see him coming? Kevin scrambled through the trees toward him. He found himself standing by Blast at the shore of a forest pond. The ground came high and overhung the water, and this was where the two perched. Blizzard Blast was a mess. Dirt stains rattled his once fresh blazer coat. A button had come loose on his silky white vest. In his reflection could be seen his solemn face. His closed eyes were eerily tearless. His scar burned as brightly as ever. “Why?” he finally spoke. “Why, friend, did I let this happen? Why did I let my guard down? What did I do wrong?” Kevin responded quickly. “Nothing. This was an accident. You did nothing to cause this. No one did. These things just happen on their own.” Blast was silent. Kevin sighed. He waited a minute for the words to come. “You can tell a lot about somepony . . .” he said finally, “by the way they treat books.” Blast kept his eyes slid closed. Where could he be going with this? “Ponies like Twilight, for example, know how to respect books. Like the priceless pearls of wisdom they are. Likewise, she is a priceless pearl.” Blizzard Blast finally opened his eyes. Was Kevin trying to remind him of his loss? In a calm but stern voice he replied “You’re not helping.” “Just hear me out,” Kevin patiently maintained before he continued. “Then there are the monsters. The ones that burn books for their amusement. But the really tricky ones, are the ones that find a book already hurt.” Against his unsurety of where Kevin was going with this, Blast’s interest perked. “What does that say about them?” “Nothing.” Kevin stamped a hoof as if making a point. “Yet. That pony did nothing to cause that book pain. The situation had only come upon them. It is what happens next that defines who they truly are. They have not yet failed. It is their call to action. “Do you remember when Twilight was captured by Mane-iac? What did you do?” “I . . .” “You followed your instincts. You came to her aid, and saved her. Not only that, she alongside you and your family defeated every shred of evil on the planet. You saved everyone. “What about when Bellus returned? What did you do?” “I failed,” came the answer with a voice flat as a rock. “Perhaps you’re not omnipotent,” Kevin replied. “But you did teach Bellus a powerful lesson. You taught him the pain he brings down on everypony beneath him. Not only this, you also transported Sunset Shimmer back to Equestria. She, in turn, saved everyone. So you, in a way, saved not only your love but everyone in Equestria. “You’re always telling yourself what a failure you are. I am telling you now, not only for yourself but for Twilight and everypony you love: stop lying to yourself. Step beyond your shortcomings, and open your eyes. Deep down, I’ve really looked up to you. You’re such an amazing pony, Blizzard Blast, and you don’t even know what you’re capable of. Now is your call to action, royal warrior. You have seen what has come upon Equestria. Will you pass by, blaming yourself for this tragedy? Or will you do something about it?” The piercing green eyes of Blizzard Blast had finally opened. They were deep in thought now, a plan forming somewhere in the labyrinth of his soul. The silence persisted. The forest around them had quieted. Not a sound pierced the air. Blast turned to his friend. “Thank you,” was all he said before walking away. “Wait,” said Kevin. The blue unicorn halted, his back still to him. “Let me come with you.”
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!”