Times Forgotten

It's one thing to lose the ability to use magic... but when it's your back legs... it's a whole other story. Because I couldn't walk on my own, Red had to carry me atop her back for the rest of the way. I was unsure of how much I weighed, seeing as how Red did not struggle with me on her back. Either she was strong for a mare, or I was light as a dang feather!

The area surrounding us seemed the same, save for mounds and mounds of wreckage littered about. These mounds were made up of a menagerie of miscellaneous everyday-items, trash, and rubble. Every once in a while, I'd see what looks to be obliterated vehicles scattered; dirigibles it would seem. Long green shafts jutted out of the mounds; tank barrels it would seem. It couldn't have been more obvious of what this was: a war zone.

Wow, this world never ceases to be depressing.

I had very high hopes of being able to walk again, but the journey to be rid of this problem is long and excruciating. Being on somepony's back wasn't the worst thing in the world and it seemed okay at the start, but the more I stayed on the less comfortable it became for me and Red both. I could now feel Red trembling from the extra weight she's carrying, which indicate that I must have been very heavy for her.

"How much further?" I asked her, breaking the silence.

"Thankfully," She strained, "we're getting closer."

"So, this town were headed to, is it particularly safe?"

"Well, it's been a sanctuary for it's citizens, as well as drifters, for over three decades."

"And this doctor, who is he exactly?"

"He's an elder pony, yet an impeccable physician and spellcaster all round. Do not worry, this town is full of decent ponies with no intention of spilling innocent blood."

"That's good and all, but is there any ponies in the area who might know something about what happened to this place?"

Red looked reluctant to answer. "I can't say for certain. I never thought to ask."

"What if this doctor knew something?" I suggested, "Maybe he might know?"

"As old as he is, I do not even believe he was even around long enough to have gained any knowledge."

"It wouldn't hurt to ask."

I may not know this pony as she did, but there could be a small glimmer of hope that he may hold the answers I'm looking for. Answers to questions like: "What does the star cutie mark on that tree mean?", or "Who was that alicorn I saw in my dream?" I had to have been letting my hopes fly around in my head, and thinking that I'll find answers quickly... foolish me.

After about a half hour or so, Red Yarrow pointed out our destination: the town she mentioned. Unlike Glanchester however, it was larger in size, and appeared less rural. The closer we came, the better I saw the buildings, which were--sort of--better looking than Glanchester. Large crowds of ponies were abundant, streets were busy, yet that's all I could see from that distance. Also like Glanchester, a latticed gate stood between us and the populous town.

Four guards adjacent to one another stood in front of the gate, instead of two. All of them wore a different sort of armor than the Glanchester guards: full bodied armor suits, made up of softer materials than metal. In fact, their armor hardly looked metallic at all!

As we approached, the guards immediately took notice and stood firm. One of them, a plum colored pegasus stallion, came up to us us briskly.

"State your business, traveler!" He demanded.

"I mean no ill will upon you." Red answered vaguely.

"I sai--!"

"Lay off'er, ye uptight gowl!" a bearded guard defended, "That'd be Red Yarrow, The Lancer! She's been to this town before, many times."

"Is she?"

Red only nodded in confirmation.

"And what about this one on her back?" He inspected.

"He cannot walk properly. That's partially why we came."

"Jus let'em in already." The bearded guard said, annoyed.

"Ugh! Fine." The guard replied begrudgingly.

The plum stallion fiddled his hoof in his pocket, obviously for a gate key. The other three guards moved off to the side to make room for the gate. Once the gate lock clicked, he pulled it open. He stood firmly as he held the gate.

"Alright, in you go. Have good day in Steeldale."

Without so much as a single glance at the guard, we headed inside, towards the crowd of civilians. Even though I couldn't feel it, I knew my back legs were dangling freely against Red's plot. Hopefully she was fine with it. When I looked back, the plum guard made a distrusting expression. Much like Swift Pansy... but less humorous.

It was strange, really, how such a town could look so lively in a world like this.

Unusual indeed.

Even though the skies remained overcast, the town's colors shone brightly still. Some ponies looked better or worse than others, like how a few ponies lost a few legs, an eye, or even wings for that matter. Ponies were either draped in mismatched clothing and armor or well dressed and particularly clean. Stray cats flocked alleyways, fighting among themselves in a yowling, whirling blaze.

The air smelled like petrol and edible grease, possibly coming from a food stand on the side of the street. Whatever was sizzling on the stand smelled unbelievably good. Just thinking about it made my stomach grumble.

"Famished, Vagabond?" Red asked casually.

"Yes," I replied, "very."

"It would be unconscionable to let you starve. We may as well fill our appetites first, before we see him."

"If the food's as good as it smells, I'll be eternally grateful."

She walked me over to the stand to order our food. The sensational aroma was enough to make my mouth salivate, craving for the unknown delicacy. Once we were close to the stand, it was then that I got a better look at the culinary creations. Needless to say... I didn't expect what I saw. The "food" looked brown, like it had been burning for some time. It smelled good, yet I wasn't so sure how it tastes.

"What can I do ya for?" The owner of the stand asked politely.

"We'll have two of your burgers, please." She ordered.

"Comin' up, Miss Yarrow."

Does everypony know her in this town?

Once he was finished with flipping, he handed us our burgers. They tasted different than what I predicted; chewy with a strange, gamey flavor. And that was when I realized... I was eating meat. Yet, I didn't hate it! Or feel nausea! Ponies don't--or shouldn't--eat meat... right? Evidently they do now.

"So, any exquisite details on your meal?" Red asked as we walked away from the stand.

"It tastes fine." I replied.

But I feel so guilty about eating another animal! How much more of this should I take?!

Once our stomachs settled, we headed off to a large, rectangular building that appeared in shambles. An old hospital, most likely. Half a wall was exposed, and rubble littered the area, yet nopony seemed to mind the appearance. They must have been used to seeing it, however long it's been built. I, myself, was a little more than put off by it, but I trusted that Red knows what she's doing.

Some parts of Steeldale had been covered in tall, unkempt, brown colored grass, like where the hospital stood. Several mangy dogs were scavenging for a meager scrap of food through the grass.

Hopefully this, 'doctor', can fix my legs, I thought, eager to be rid of my temporary disability.

"This is it, this is the place." Red announced. "He should be inside. Soon, you will be walking again."

As soon as we came to the hospital's doors, a white mare dressed in a lab-coat--akin to the color of her coat--greeted us. Her mane was dark brown, and kept in a tight bun. Her face was expressionless, like she was unfazed by my ordeal.

"Take a seat," She told us in monotone, "the doctor will be with you shortly." She then ushered us inside.

"Thank you ma'am." Red replied whilst walking to the waiting room, "What is he working on this time?"

"Removing tumors. What is the state of the patient?"

She must have been here for so long, nothing would surprise her, I'm betting.

"He has been paralyzed from the waist down; he can't walk."

"Of course. Luckily for you, it won't take him long to fix him up." She muttered something afterwords, but I couldn't tell what she said.

The nurse led us to what's supposed to be the "waiting room", which was just a small room with ugly ripped wallpaper. The room had about ten or so plastic chairs lined up against the back of the room. No other patients were present at the time, so we were the only ones there. Red backed up against the chair and asked me to push myself onto the chair. I did so swiftly.

I couldn't feel the seat beneath me. I wished I did, though. Red sat next to me, making sure I didn't fall face first onto the floor. The nurse left within two minutes of us sitting.

As I sat, I began contemplating about my ventures... again. I still wondered about the alicorn from my dream and what she meant by "the reason you exist". I pictured the purple alicorn from the nightmare when I closed my eyes.

Is she real? Does she really know who I am, if she is? I pondered on this for some time. The alicorn was purple, so if there is any purple alicorns around, I would have to ask her some questions.

After about fifteen minutes, Red shifted her head over to me.

"What?" I asked, puzzled.

"Nothing, just..." Red replied uncertainly, "I'm still trying to wrap my head around this predicament, as it were. From emblems on trees, to cultists who are after you... I have to wonder why. Whatever is going on, it must be pretty dire."

"If I didn't have amnesia, I might know something. But I don't. And that's why I want to find out. I want to know what happened here; why everything is the way it is."

"I see. Not a very full fledged goal, but still."

"Full fledged?" I was somewhat offended by her remark.

"Well I mean, if you do find out what happened to our world and rediscovered your past, what then?"

"I guess it all depends."

She was right, it wasn't exactly a well conceived plan. Either way I look at it, there was always going to be a change in plans. Whether or not it happens right away or sometime later, was beyond me.

Fortunately, the nurse came in and announced, "The doctor will see you now."

About time!

"Follow me."

I climbed back on Red as she crouched down, eager to get the procedure done. As soon as the nurse began leading us down a narrow corridor, I got more and more antsy.

The floors were checkered, the paint on the walls was chipping, and the only source of light came from rod shaped lights on the ceiling. It was not as bad looking on the inside compared to the outside, but the place was still in a bad shape. Admittedly, the inn in Glanchester looked better than this. There were the occasional plaques posted along the walls, as well as a few portraits; one of which looked like a rather feminine stallion.

Hmm... if it weren't for the short mane, I'd swear he looked like a mare. I thought as I stared at the portrait.

Something about the portrait made me feel... intrigued. He looked rather beautiful for a stallion, and I was half hoping that he was the doctor. If that had been the case, then I'd have some eye-candy to look forward to. I was feeling rather excited about it for some reason, I couldn't understand why.

Alas, it wasn't him. The nurse left as soon as he came into view. The "doctor" that Red mentioned was not the feminine stallion I was hoping for; rather it was an older unicorn stallion. He had no mane to speak of, but had a patchy blue beard to compensate. His left eye was drifted in one direction, while his right was fixed on us. He wore a messy lab-coat, covered in numerous substances.

"Oh! Why if it isn't lil'l o'l Red!" He said delightfully, "Come for that physical, are we?"

"No, doctor, that is not why we've come." Red replied respectively.

"Alrighty then. Now uh... what seems to be the trouble?"

"Well, my friend of mine has become handicapped from the waist down. We were hoping that you could use a spell, or something, to fix him."

"Oh, okay. At first I thought that fellow on yer back had locked onto ya, er somethin'."

"WHAT?!" Both of us exclaimed indignantly.

The sickly doctor then began to cackle like a mad pony. "Ha! I was just messin' wit'ya!"

What a pervert!

"Anyway, Doctor," Red desperately wanted to change the subject, "can you help him?"

"Yeah, Yeah, I'll help'em!" He giggled gleefully.

"You sure we can trust him?" I whispered into Red's ear.

"Of course." Red then muttered something under her breath, an irritable air.

He led us into a room with a--surprisingly--sterile hospital bed. There were wooden cabinets along the square walls of the room, as well as a desk with a few medical instruments splayed. Aside from that, the room appeared relatively tidy; not at all what I had expected from an unclean, old stallion.

Red placed me atop the bed so the doctor could get to work. As she did so, the older stallion started to examine my lower back, which I couldn't see.

If only it was that feminine stallion. I would have been more comfortable if he was examining me, instead of this old fart.

"Well," He announced, "Fortunately for ye, the bones weren't completely broken. Now uh... how'd this happen anyway?"

"A rock pelted him." Red answered simply.

"Ah. Makes sense."

"And how do you know that from just looking at it?" The way I said it came off as rude to the elder.

"When ye been fix'n up patients fer years, you tend t' learn a thing er two. I've used x-rays on many patients, but I ain't gonna bother for yer situation. I got it covered for ya!"

I was able to turn my head towards the old coot as I laid, watching his horn glow a bright white. His horn emitted a bright white orb which absorbed into my lower back, causing it to illuminate. Within an instant, I felt a strange tingling sensation, followed by sharp pain. I gritted my teeth as I groaned from the unpleasant feeling.

Oh, gosh, it hurts!! I said to myself, trying to withstand it.

However... in spite of all that... there was a promising sign: my hoof twitched.

"I can..." I said incredulously, "I can feel my legs! I can feel my legs again!!"

I felt so relived at the result that I tried to stand up on the bed... only to fall back down soon after. My smile faded to a disappointed frown.

"Wha--?!"

"Oh yeah, forgot t' tell ye." The doctor spoke up, "The spell takes a while to kick in. Ah mean, sure, ye did feel yer legs twitch, but ye gotta wait a little while for yer t' heal back up!"

"Oh dear," Red sounded embarrassed, "I completely forgot that. My apologies, Vagabond."

How did you even become a doctor?!

It had taken nearly an hour before my back legs were sturdy enough to walk on. Since then, Red and I had left the dilapidated hospital, and moved on elsewhere; a motel to be specific. The building was surprisingly in a better shape than the hospital and was slightly more appealing in appearance.

As for why we rented a room in a motel, was unclear to me at the time.

I was so happy to walking again, I trotted around the room several times, having no desire of sitting down. While I was enjoying my leisure, Red appeared antsy and alert... and possibly miffed by my trotting.

"Well, I can see you are enjoying yourself." Red asked, trying to mask her irritation.

"Considering I am able to walk again," I replied, "yes, I'm definitely enjoying myself!"

"Hmm."

"Is there something wrong, or...?"

"Shh!"

"What?" I whispered, confused by her actions. "Did you see somepony?"

Red then shoved her hoof over my mouth like last time, removed it, and then moved it over her mouth, in a zipping motion.

"I've been in a bit of a debacle for the past week or so." She explained carefully, "A certain sentinel has been on my tail ever since that past week, and at first I thought that bulky creature was far off... but no. He's not. He's here, in Steeldale."

"Who?" I asked, apprehensive of what she'll say.

"They call him--no, it: Einherjar, The Violet Knight."

That... name... I...

It was like time had completely stopped... as if the world itself had been paused. My head began to ache, and my body started to shiver. I was taking shorter breaths as I stood in absolute horror, as if I was being constricted. My eyes were locked in one place, as if I were staring at a thousand yards.

"--abond! is somethi--?" Red's voice was so faint, I could barely hear her.

The whole room began to fade out as an eerie vision emerged. I started to see quick flashes of somepony, purple, but blurred. It was difficult to make out what was happening, yet the image of the blurry pony moved briskly towards me. My body was immobile, paralyzed with fear. From what I could make out, the pony appeared to be levitating something; a weapon of sorts. As the pony rushed towards me, he raised the weapon to hack at me.

I tried to scream, but I couldn't... I was unable to. Indistinct voices flooded my ears as grim imagery flashed every second. Images of blood... violence... rape... and more prominently... death. Death... and more death. I could only describe a few of the images: a pony being violently shot in the head... a foal's body melting into a congealed mess... a mare, falling into a black abyss... and lastly, a stallion forced into pleasure. Sights nopony should ever see, or experience.

"VAGABOND!!!" Red's voice echoed.

As soon as it arrived, the images vanished, and I returned to the room. I breathed heavily, unsure of what just happened.

"Vagabond! What the hay happened?" She asked, worried of my well being.

"I think I remembered something!" I told her. "I know that name somehow. I think I saw that pony before!"

Her eyes widened, alarmed at what I said.

"You saw Einherjar?" Red did her best to keep her voice low, "And lived?!"

"I-I don't know. I saw a purple colored pony try to kill me... that's what I could recall."

"Bloody hell... we have to get out of here, now!"

Hastily, Red started unfastening her spear from her back, readying herself for a fight.

"We're leaving? Now?!"

"Yes! Right now! If the Knight's after both of us, we'll be dead before we can get out of Steeldale!"

Without hesitation, Red practically dragged me out of the room so I could keep up with her. I protested a little before she let go of me, allowing me to run alongside her. We rushed down the halls briskly as if being chased. Ponies left and right were stunned and unamused by our display. One of them, the manager, stood in our path angrily.

"What is the meaning of this?!" He shouted.

"Apologies." Red panted, "We'll be checking out immediately!"

"Why? What for?"

"No time to explain!" I said hastily, "We have other places to be!"

"All right, all right. No need to get too antsy. If you like, I could--"

"I'm sorry, but we're really in a hurry!"

He said nothing, but stepped aside for us to be on our way. I did my best not to disturb any more guests as I ran, Red meanwhile was dashing ahead of me. More ponies stared questionably at the two of us, possibly curious as to why two ponies are dashing for the exit.

The whole experience felt very familiar to the one I had back at that inn, being chased by that masked pony. Only this time we weren't being chased, rather we were aware that a threat was coming for us. That and I was not alone. It almost felt... safer, yet it still didn't shake away the heart pounding fear.

As we came to the stairs, we slowed our pace so that none of us tripped; the last thing we need is another crippling injury. The staircase was slim and twisted, so one of us had to go down first while the other followed. I let Red go first, since she was in a bigger hurry. One hoof over the other we briskly descended, each of us fearful of what may happen next. Every step mattered here.

Below us was the lobby, much nicer looking compared to the inn. Several ponies were down there, minding their business. Once Red came to the bottom, she waited for me, eager to leave a soon as possible. As I came to the last step, Red dragged me with her teeth by the shoulder to the glass entrance doors, wasting no time. Despite my attempts to escape her vice-like grip, it didn't work.

Red Yarrow pushed the glass doors with ease as we finally exited the building. We were out on the sidewalk at that point. She turned her head from left to right, scanning her surroundings for the assassin. She eventually let me go. As relieved as I was to be free from her mouth, I knew we weren't out of danger just yet.

"Do you see him?" I asked, trying to keep the fear in.

"Thankfully, no. But Einherjar could be anywhere." Red replied worriedly, "It would have been bad enough if he was a regular pony... but he's not."

"What do you mean?"

"He's an alicorn."

"WHAT?! How can he--?!"

"I don't know! He had wings and can use magic!" She then explained, "I only caught a glimpse of him--or it. The Violet Knight--as it's name suggests--wears a violet colored suit of advanced, technological armor, made up of precious metals. The alicorn is armed with a N90 machine gun, from what I remembered. He is, without question, extremely dangerous."

"I gather that, but how are we gonna get out of here fast enough?"

"I... I wish I knew. I saw the Knight a few blocks away from the building when I viewed through the window. The armor it wears is bulky, but not so cumbersome. If it wanted to, the Knight would have absolutely no trouble flying over us, gunning us both down swiftly. In summation, I do not have the slightest idea how to get away."

This is it... we're doomed!

"Wait! Maybe we can make a break for the exit!" I suggested.

"Have you lost your mind?!" She said, exasperated. "Did you not hear what I JUST told you?"

"What other options do we have?"

As flustered as she was about my plan, she only sighed and said, "Fine. There's no other option left, I guess."

My blood was pumping as I said, "Then lets not waste anymore time!"

I started to sprint as fast as I could, Red dashing right behind me. We stayed along the sidewalk rather than run out into the road; the less the assassin could spot us the better. I did my best to prevent contact with any passerby, to keep the momentum going. The faster we could get to the exit, the sooner we'd be out of the town of Steeldale.

My heart was racing from not just running, but also from the the thought of the plan backfiring completely. I knew it wasn't a fully realized, complex plan, but that didn't matter. Survival mattered above all else.

The gate where we last entered was just several yards ahead. I smiled at the sight of it, and sighed in relief for it. The guards were still stationed at their post on the other side the gate, except for the plum stallion, who stared directly at us. As we got closer, I noticed he that he was smiling. A rather... unnerving smile.

Why's he smiling like that?

The plum stallion lingered for a moment--and galloped off to the right.

"Hey!!" One of them yelled, "Where ya going?!"

Just as he said that, something was coming down from the sky. From where I was, it looked like a meteor plummeting towards the ground. Only it was no meteor... it was much worse than that.

"GET BACK!!!" I screamed at Red, turning tail and running the other way.

When object made impact, it exploded. I may not have seen it, but I saw the flash and felt the shockwave that sent both of us flying several feet in the air. All I could hear was pinging in my ear; all other sounds were muffled. I couldn't even hear my body smack the ground. I could hardly move, but I had to get out there.

I saw Red who also got up but limped as she tried to walk. When I tried to help her, I limped as well. I didn't know if it was possible to survive a blast like that, however it didn't matter. I was alive and so was she.

And yet, in that moment... things took a turn for the worst.

When I turned to look at the damage done by the blast, I witnessed a figure moving out from the black smoke and fire. Emerging from the wreckage was the one responsible... a pony clad in armor; bulky and highly advanced. The pony bore a helmet with a horn on the front, glowing v-shaped visor over the face. At it's side was the machine gun Red mentioned, almost as large as the figure itself. It's wings were tucked just above the gun. As the armored assailant drew closer, I could recognize the color of the armor... Violet.

Oh crap, it's him!

"We're too late!" Red shuddered.

Einherjar approached with a quickened pace, hellbent on finishing the job. I noticed Red was too afraid to make her move, not even trying to reach for her spear. I opened my bag for the knife, but that was only going to do so much. I levitated the knife towards the armed foe, aiming for any potential weak point. I thought I saw one on its neck, so I threw it with all I got.

The knife darted at the armored pony... but was quickly caught by its magic. I gulped when I saw it turn orange and melt before my eyes.

"You're gonna have to try a lot harder than that." It said, voice warbled by the helmet.

We are so screwed.

At that moment it unfurled its wings and hastily rushed towards me, pining me down with tremendous and painful force.

"Vagabond!!" Red shouted.

She tried to assist me by finally taking out her and attempting to lunge... but to no avail. As soon as her spear tip came close to him, The Knight walloped Red with an armored hoof, knocking her back a few feet.

"How dare you?!" I screamed angrily, desperately trying to escape the alicorn's grasp.

While futilely attempting to free myself, I caught a glimpse at an emblem on its flank. My mouth gaped when I saw it: the six pointed star! And it was surrounded by five smaller stars, just like the one on the tree! The middle star was pink, while the others were white.

"Go on! Kill me!"

After a short pause The Knight warbled, "No."

"What?"

"I need you alive. You're no good to me dead, and neither is the Princess. You two are coming with me."

"Princess?! What are you--?"

Einherjar's horn glowed a reddish pinkish colored aura as it's head lowered close to my face. The last thing I could remember... was a sudden flash of light. And once again... the familiar blackness.