Parallel

A/N: Buckle up, shit is about to get real.

Edit: It seems I forgot about Spike a bit. Just a quick fix.

Chapter 8: The Way Home (Part 1)

I knew that as soon as I opened my eyes they wouldn't be greeted with sunlight. Luckily they weren't greeted by anything that wanted to eat me either, that was the main thing I was worried about. I let out a yawn as I stood up and stretched to the best of my ability. It was just as gloomy outside of my tent as it was inside, and when I made it out I saw Applejack in the middle of camp, slight bags under her eyes.

I made my way over to her and sat down next to her, "Couldn't sleep?"

"Ah got a bit."

"Just a bit, huh?"

"Whadoya reckon would happen if this doesn't work?"

"Then it's up to the doctors."

"How's she doin'?"

I let out a sigh, "She's stabilized, which is good... just..."

"Just?"

"She won't wake up, and there's a few other things that are bugging me too. Pinkie kind of freaked out a bit before we met you guys at the Everfree forest."

She tilted her head at me.

The action was cuter than it had any right to be.

"Freaked out. Ya mind explainin'?"

"Something weird happened the other day when I woke up in the hospital. I went outside to get some fresh air and smoke..."

"Smoke?"

"Erm... don't worry about it, I was taking a break. This guy appeared out of nowhere, and he looked and acted really weird. Then he touched my head and I passed out and had a flashback."

"A flashback o' what?"

"I'd... rather not talk about it. He talked about how chaotic humans were like it got him off or something. It was really weird."

Applejack's eyes narrowed, "Did this fella happen ta introduce himself?"

"No."

She huffed and dug her front hooves into the ground, "We need to wake Twi up, an' fast."

"Why? Do you know this guy?"

"I ain't sure, but it sounds a mite familiar."

I heard a tent flutter behind us. When I turned to see who had just woken up I saw Rainbow Dash rubbing her eyes and yawning, "What the hay are you two doing up so early?"

I smiled, "Morning Drill Sergeant. If you're gonna be training me you need to shape up a bit more."

Dash glared at me for a second before relenting and letting out a sigh, "How much do we have to go?"

I shook my head, "From what Spike and Applejack were saying last night... quite a bit."

"Well let's wake everypony up and pack up camp."

That was the best idea I had heard in a while. The sooner we could do this the sooner we would be able to help Twilight and Tammy.

The weather was excruciating that day. Despite the sun not being able to break through the clouds it was as hot as a Summer day in California. The humidity in the air was thick and bugs were attacking us left and right. I felt like we were some sort of military task force sent out on a secret mission under the enemy's nose. I was never spec ops, I wasn't badass enough; if I was I would still be in the military and not having nightmares.

Well... it wasn't possible for me to have nightmares anymore as far as I could tell.

The heat did nothing to help our speed.

No one spook unless it was absolutely necessary, there were a few times when we had to start in a different direction and Spike would point them out, but other than that it was completely silent.

The front they had been putting on the day before had completely vanished.

We were tired, we were hot, we were worried, and worst of all we were six ponies and an incredibly small dragon in hostile territory with no idea what would attack us next.

We kept moving though...

At least until we reached the swamp.

It looked murky as all hell, and I couldn't tell what was lurking under there.

By now all hints of a sky above us had vanished, nothing remained but trees and vines. At our hooves was a muddy ground that stuck to us like a parasite, slowed us down, and made it even more exhausting to walk.

I saw something bubble in the murky water and frowned, "Well," I said, "Now what?"

Spike pocketed the map in his bag and walked to my side, "This swamp goes for miles, we don't have a choice but to cross it."

I heard Rarity let out a noise that was something between a groan and a whimper, and I could almost hear Fluttershy quaking behind me.

"Alright," I said, turning around to face the other ponies, "Listen up everypony. Fluttershy, Dash, you two can fly. Dash, I want you both to fly above us and keep an eye out for anything weird. Applejack, you're with me. Rarity, I know you hate getting dirty but Unicorns can do magic right? Twilight used it on me when I got here." Rarity nodded meekly, "Good, then you're on point, if something attacks us I want you there to restrain it."

Rarity frowned, "Oh, but I..."

Applejack nudged her friend and smiled gently, "I know ya ain't good at that kinda magic Sugarcube, but Twi ain't here. You can do it, I know ya can."

Rarity smiled sheepishly and waved a hoof, "O... of course I can."

I nodded, "That's the spirit. Pinkie Pie..." Pinkie was in front of me and giving me a salute before I could blink, "You're our rear guard, keep an eye on our flanks and make sure nothing sneaks up behind us."

Pinkie frowned, "You want me to watch your butts? I dunno if everyone would be okay with that, would you be okay with that Dashie?"

Dash looked panicked and blushed a bit, looking from side to side, "Wha... I don't even... why would you ask ME?"

Pinkie smiled, "Because silly. I wanted to make sure it was okay!"

I rolled my eyes, "Listen, no butts... flank as in direction."

Pinkie's eyes widened, "OOOOHHHH, well you should have said that in the first place silly! I was confused for a second cuz I thought you wanted me to watch your keesters, that's a weird thing to ask, even for me!"

At least she was aware of how strange she was.

"What about me?" asked Spike.

"You're our navigator," I said, "So you'll be on my back with a good view and no swamp gunk in your face. Hopefully it doesn't get too deep, if it does we can probably swim, but we'd be at a huge disadvantage if we got attacked by anything while we're swimming."

Pinkie grinned, "Okie dokie lokey!"

And we were on the move, with Rairty at the front of Apllejack and I, Pinkie taking up the rear, and Dash and Fluttershy floating above us for air support minus bombs.

It was the best I could come up with on short notice, but it worked pretty well and we started a good pace.

Spike would guide us where we needed to go, and luckily it didn't seem like the swamp was getting any deeper.

It must have been about three hours before Spike said something, "Look!"

I did look, and I was relieved to see what appeared to be light at the edge of the swamp. I looked up and saw sunlight creeping through the endless green and smiled.

Rarity frowned, "Uch it's about time. It will take me a month to get all this gunk out of my poor hooves."

We were there...

Then I saw the bubbles.

They started small a few meters in front of us, then they grew larger and larger.

"Rarity!" I shouted.

Rarity, on a dime, whipped around as her horn started to glow. The bubbles ceased movement.

I looked up, "Dash, can you see anything from up there?"

Dash flapped a bit lower to get a closer look and frowned, "I don't know, I see a shadow."

"Rarity, can you hold that thing down?"

"Not for long!"

"Alright everypony! Move! Go around and get to shore!"

We were exhausted after traveling the entire day and spending a good chunk of that time in the swamp so we moved slower than we should have. Spike tossed his bag and jumped from my back, scrambling to the shore.

We were all around except for Pinkie Pie, who was at about the halfway point, when she let out a shriek and was pulled under the water.

Dash panicked, "Pinkie!"

I heard something shatter and Rarity screamed. Turning to face her, I saw her get blown back into a tree.

That wasn't good.

"Applejack!" I shouted, "See if you can rope Pinkie! I'll get Rarity!"

There was no hesitation. Applejack had her lasso out and I started moving as fast as I could in the chest murk to reach Rarity, who had fainted against the tree with her head thankfully about the surface.

As soon as I reached Rarity an inhuman roar sounded behind me and I turned just in time to see Applejack pull Pinkie up to the surface, gasping and coughing for air.

Then it came out of the water.

The thing must have been at least fifteen feet tall, and was bulky to boot. Its skin didn't look like skin, it was more like a green armor. Its eyes were red and its maw wide and lined with sharp teeth. Just looking at the damn thing sent shivers down my spine.

Then I remembered that feeling...

"DOWN DOWN DOWN!"

"AMBUUUUUSH!"

"GET THE FUCK OUT OF THERE!"

"JENKINS MOVE!"

It was like I was there again, holding a gun in my hands and fighting for my life. After what seemed like an eternity reality returned to me.

I moved like a man possessed.

Wrapping my left hoof around Rarity and pulling her away from the tree, I looked up again, "Dash, hold that thing off!"

"That's a swamp monster!" she shouted back.

"I don't give a shit what it is! Applejack help her!"

I started moving, hauling Rarity to shore as fast as I could.

Luckily she wasn't that heavy, but it was still dead weight.

I turned my head in time to see Dash dive bomb the swamp monster like a complete badass and give it a hoof right in its eye. Applejack followed up with her lasso, which she had somehow widened to accommodate the bulk of the monster. It screeched when Apple jack wrapped its arms and Dash went for its other eye. The swamp monster flailed about like it was having a stroke.

I made it to shore with Rarity just in time to hear Dash shout, "Fluttershy, get him!"

Fluttershy? What the f....

Then I saw the shy girl, Felicia Shirley... Fluttershy, the girl who loved to take care of and feed animals, get on eye level with a swamp monster and glare at it.

It was the strangest thing I had seen, and up to this point I had seen a lot of strange.

"Now you listen up!" she shouted, "I don't know what you're thinking you big bully, but you better knock it off. Right. NOW! You almost drowned my friend Pinkie Pie! Didn't your parents teach you better than that?"

Then I saw something even stranger.

The swamp monster went limp and let out a little whimper, as if it were a child being chastised by a parent.

The swamp monster let out a guttural growl of surrender and slowly sunk back into the murk.

We were safe.

I reminded myself to never fuck with Fluttershy.

We broke the forest wall and were greeted with what appeared to be miles of plains covered in green grass, and not but a mile away was what seemed like a strange ruin.

"OO OO There's the veil!" shouted Pinkie, bouncing forward without us.

I sighed and followed with the rest of the group, hanging back a bit with Fluttershy and Dash, "Alright," I said, "What the heck was that?"

Fluttershy blushed and looked away.

Dash laughed, "Fluttershy has what we affectionately call 'The Stare'."

"The Stare?"

Dash nodded, "That's right. Able to subdue targets up to two hundred meters away, and when coupled with vocal scolding reaches a level capable of taking down even the most powerful of dragons. If Fluttershy would get her butt in gear and race a bit more she might even be able to catch up to me one day."

I let out a low whistle, "I didn't know you were such a badass Fluttershy."

The yellow pony turned even more red.

Dash grinned, "What's that mean? I love the sound of that word! 'Badass'. It's almost like it was made for me!"

I let out a laugh, "Well it DOES pretty much mean super awesome."

"Cool, I've got a new word to describe how awesome I am!"

We chatted like this the whole way, and it didn't take us long to reach the veil.

It was a stone archway that seemed like a gate with a slight shimmer in the center of it.

Apllejack stepped forward with a few small bottles in her mouth and planted them in my pack, "There's the medicine Twi needs, yer gonna save her, right?"

I nodded, "Yeah, yeah I'll get it to her right away."

Pinkie lurched forward and hugged me, planting a kiss on my cheek, "Thank you SOOOO much Billy! You're super awesome!"

I felt my face heat up a bit and laughed.

"You guys should all get back to Ponyville. Hopefully I'll see you soon. I don't know how I'm connected here, and I don't know what'll happen when I go through that veil. If I don't see you all again, it's been great."

Rarity frowned, "Oh don't think like that darling. Surely there's a place like the veil in your world that you're about to emerge from, otherwise it wouldn't be much of a gate."

"Yeah!" shouted Dash, "Worse comes to worse you could just waltz through that and fly over Everfree Forest to get to Ponyville. I mean, you need practice, but you know HOW to do it, you could just practice on your own now."

I nodded, "Yeah, I guess that's true."

Applejack grinned at me, "Now get goin', and don't be a stranger ya hear?"

I smiled...

And then I ran through the veil.

My eyes opened slowly, and it felt like I was in an awkward position.

I managed to untangle myself and found that I was sitting on some sort of concrete floor.

It was almost completely dark, but I smiled when I felt around and my hand, with fingers, touched the saddlebag I had been wearing.

It worked, I managed to bring the medicine back to my world.

There was a moment of joy when I realized Twilight would be okay...

And then a moment of dread when the floodlights came on and I saw that I was surrounded by a bunch of street bangers pointing guns at me.

I heard slow clapping, and as my vision adjusted I saw HIM make his way through the crowd with a shit eating grin on his face.

"Hello William. We've been waiting for you!"

I gritted my teeth.

The bastard stepped forward, still with that grin, "I don't believe I properly introduced myself last time. My name is Discord, and I am here to have FUN!"

A cold sweat built on my forehead as he started to laugh.

It was the laugh of a madman.