Chapter 2: The Reacquaintance

Arc I: Purge

Chapter 2: The Reacquaintance

Perspective: James, last name unknown

Are you kidding me? This can’t be happening. Okay, let me explain. Remember how I first came to Equestria? If not, then let me explain that. I was sitting on my chair in the bedroom of my two story house one day. I started nodding out… only to be violently woken up by my chair falling to the ground… only it wasn’t my chair. I had somehow fallen into an entirely unfamiliar world. And now that seems to have happened, but I’m not in another world this time… only I now find myself in a different region of the same world.

I take a quick look around before standing up, finding myself shirtless. Man, and that was a really good shirt. Rarity outdid herself on that one. Eh, I’ll just have to go back into town to…

Wait a minute… I just realized I’m nowhere near town. I remember this general area. This is the Whitetail Woods… this is where I originally found myself when I first came to Equestria. A quick look around confirms my suspicions. Then I realize that this is the exact spot where I came here the first time.

I start panicking. Am I stuck in some kind of temporal loop? That would make no sense… and now I’m looking around, trying to identify specific features that were such the first time around. I quickly snap out of it, hoping against hope it isn’t the case. But at least one thing comes of this: I found my way out once before, I can find my way out again. I look for the tree with the knife embedded into it… only to realize it wouldn’t be there in the first place. I had put it there myself, so why would it be here if I came back in time? It wouldn’t. That’s a problem.

I wrack my brain, trying to think of the direction I went in, but the trees are strangely arranged in such a way that trying to find the way I originally went causes me to quickly become disoriented. I take a knee and wait a second for the dizziness to stop, a second which wuickly turns into a minute, and so on, until I find myself on the ground. Huh, I didn’t know I… was tired…

I rub my eyes and wake up to find myself in the same area. I quickly notice the dizziness has stopped, but I can also tell by the fact that it is nighttime that I must have fallen asleep. I get up and start walking in a random direction. I also decide to check if my cutie mark is still emblazoned on my shoulders and collarbone. I look down at my chest… and yes, there it is. That’s a load off my chest.

I feel for my magic… well, it’s weak, but it’s there. At least I know I can get it back… wait, where even did it go? I could swear I… actually, did I do anything? I have flashes of what seems like violent memories… a black gem… a twisted face… and blood… lots of blood…

I am thrust away from my thoughts when I hear the growl of a timberwolf. I quickly backtrack and find a suitable tree to climb up. I send what little magic I can access to my legs and feet to lessen the coming impact, then I draw a knife, much to my own displeasure. I brace myself, and as the timberwolf starts searching under the tree for me, I drop from the branch I’m standing on and land with my knife in its throat area.

The timberwolf struggles for a moment before it collapses limply on the ground and its wood starts decaying to a grayish color. I try my best not to wince at witnessing its death firsthand, but it still come out what I see it changing colors and decaying so quickly. In fact, when its dead wood splits open to reveal a colony of termites eating away at the wood, I promptly turn around and lose last night’s dinner.

It takes me a few minutes to regain my composure, wiping away the remnants on a stray flat rock. I stand up and try to shake off the lingering nausea, but my body isn’t having it. I just try to walk it off, looking for anything that will tell me how to get out of here. I really don’t want to stay here any longer than I have to.

After another hour of walking, I find a small, worn path that leads out of the woods. Wait, why didn’t I find this last time around? Whatever. I decide not to dwell on it as I continue walking along the path.

Several hours later finds me resting near a tree, eating a couple apples. Man, all this walking made me hungry. The weird thing, though, is that I didn’t even notice it until I bit into the apple.

I get up, climg up the tree I’m resting on, and grab a couple more apples befor eclimbing back down. I’m on the path that connects Vanhoover to the ancient Old Canterlot castle. I’m also on the fringe of the Whitetail Woods, along the border to the Everfree. I am already stocked on food, because the way I’m getting to the castle, I’m going to need it.

I finish the walk to the Everfree, and then channel what little magic I can muster into my legs. Then I start running.

One Day Later

I’ve been slowly making progress toward the castle. Based on where I am now, the gorges around me and my constantly walking across unsteady bridges, I’d say I have about two miles left to go.

I take an apple out of my jean pocket and take a quick bite, savoring the crunching sound of my teeth sinking through the skin, savoring the sweet, crisp taste.

I continue to eat it as I walk the rugged, long-unused path to the Everfree Castle.

About twenty minutes later, I find myself standing in front of a long bridge that drops down into a foggy ravine. No doubt this will be the death of me if I’m not careful.

I eat one last apple before starting to cross the treacherous bridge. On the other side, there look to be some stable planks, but I’m going to have to move quickly to get past them, because the rope on that side is barely attached.

I grab the rope on the left side, the part that looks sturdy, and I’m glad I do, because I hear a snapping sound, and when I look back, I have to plant my feet on the side of the planks on the left as the entire right side of the bridge breaks and falls until it’s hanging below me.

I begin a more precarious trip across the left side of the bridge as I hear the entire bridge creak loudly. I start moving faster, but keep my pace relatively slow, so that I don’t make any mistakes and fall to my death.

About ten minutes later, I finally make it to the other side, but not without more rope breaking, and a few planks falling off. I run to a tree and collapse against it, breathing heavily. That was intense, even though it was just a bridge. I actually thought I was going to die back there.

A few minutes later, I slowly get up and continue along the path, munching on another apple from my bag. As I walking, I notice things I hadn’t before. I had been here before, but I’m pretty sure that cave wasn’t there before. And that tree was uprooted when the Elements fought Nightmare Moon… so I am in the past. Damn.

First things first, I need to make it back to Ponyville, or at least see if Nightmare Moon is back yet. If I have gone back in time, those two things are givens.

Suddenly, I find the forest around me getting much darker. Wait, I remember this. This is where Fluttershy and the others had to banish the darkness that hap seeped into the trees. Well, a little magic on the ground should flush out Nightmare Moon’s little ploy… I touch my hands to the ground and focus my minimal magic to the ground, spreading it in… And there we go. You though you could hide. Sorry, but all those late night study sessions with Twilight helped me access and focus my magic, even if only a little.

I walk in the direction of the retreating mist, only to find it crosses the bridge… whcih is just fine. Okay, what? It nearly killed me trying to cross it; how is it in such good condition? I get ready, eat an apple, and start sprinting across the bridge. I know it still isn’t sturdy, because I can hear the wood creaking under my feet.

I barely make it across before the bridge snaps on one side completely, and on one side on the other. Then I watch as the weight becomes too much for a simple piece of rope to hold, and the last piece of rope breaks, and the bridge tumbles into the ravine. I wince as I hear it grinding against the rocks, and then the splash of water as it lands in the river at the bottom.

I start walking on the path to the Castle, and I find it funny that it’s right next to the one I used to get here from the Whitetail Woods.

When I see a white flash of light, I become very worried and immediately start running down the path, grabbing yet another apple from my bag and biting down into it. If this is what I think it is, then I’m going to need every ounce of energy I can get.

Five minutes later, I’m finally at the castle, breathing heavily and eating the last apple in my bag. I throw the core away and slowly, cautiously walk inside.

Upon entering, I notice the castle is in the same decrepit state as it used to be… or will be? Agh… if this is a temporal loop, then it necessitates the need for a whole new set of grammatical rules and terms.

I walk through the first corridor and take the stone path to the top floor, noticing the various stonework designs with some respect. I wonder why the ponies never came back for any of this. It would make for some beautiful architecture in the big cities.

Upon reaching the top floor, I see the bright light again and run forward, across the old stone bridge, and break down the door that leads to the Elements. I fall into the hallway, but quickly recover and stand up, moving forward faster than before.

I quickly reach the hallway, and sure enough, I see the others paraded around the stonework, with no Elements in sight. I run past them. I need to get to Twilight before Nightmare Moon can do anything bad to her.

They start running after me, but I increase my speed with what little magic I have in my reserve so that I am putting distance between us.

I run forward and find the stone door less than fifty feet away. With barely a thought, I rush the door and hurl myself into a drop kick, the force barely being enough to open them, being made of stone and all.

I gingerly pick myself up and move into the room. I notice things are drastically different. First, the Elements are scattered around the room, not a single one having been damaged.

The next thing I notice, though I don’t know why I didn’t notice it first, is Twilight unconscious, her body leaning against the column next to me.

The most striking thing I notice is a human with short wavy brown hair flying about him as if in a strong gust. The air around his body is distorted due to his use of magic, which is a beautiful combination of sky blue and yellow. He is holding what looks like an ancient Sunsword in his left hand, and a slightly worn shield with Luna's secret corp symbol embedded into it on his right arm. Nightmare Moon, on the other hand, has her magic activated, but is hesitant to use it for whatever reason.

Suddenly, the man goes into action, using his magic to bolt towards her, bashing her with his Moon shield and disorienting her, allowing him to get two glancing blows in on her midsection with the sword before she forces him back. During this, he's trying to use his voice to get her to... change? "Please, I know you can overcome this. You were better before this; don't let it overwhelm you, Nightmare Moon!"

Since the two are occupied, I run to Twilight and pick her up. I slowly and gingerly move back to outside the door, and set her down as the five ponies from before come running in. They all immediately move to Twilight’s unconscious form as I promptly turn around and go inside, pushing the stone door shut so that they can’t interfere. According to what I remember from talking with Fluttershy, Twilight’s determination in the face of certain doom was the whole reason they had unlocked the power of the Elements to defeat Nightmare Moon with. Seeing as how Twilight is unconscious, that isn’t going to happen.

I take cover behind a worn pillar as I continue to watch the fight. Nightmare Moon seems to be on the offensive now, as she is launching blasts of purplish-black magic at the man, who blocks the first two, but misjudges on his timing and gets struck by the third, sliding back a couple feet. I can see his eyes now. They are an icy blue, and what looks like blue translucent magic is ringing the area around his eyes.

The man suddenly embeds his shield into the ground, runs forward and launches a punch at her. At first, it doesn’t look like it lands, but I see a translucent fist made of his magic hit her square in the chest and send her flying back near the window, where she skids to a stop. Then her eyes start glowing white, and I see the human turn and try to grab his shield, but he’s pulled to her in what looks like a gravity manipulation attack. He manages to avoid her horn trying to gut him like a trout, then he hits her square in the jaw and sends her flying, sending her into a pillar, which subsequently starts developing cracks in the bottom as she extricates herself from it.

She then launches a beam of purplish magic at the man, who puts his arms up in a cross formation, trying to block it primarily using the sword. He skids along the ground as he is pushed back from the sheer force of the beam. Just as he is about to hit the wall adjacent to me, he manages to redirect the beam with a flourish, sending the energy through the window behind Nightmare Moon and into the night sky.

“Dammit, come on, Nightmare Moon!” He suddenly roars out in a rather moderately pitched voice, trying to do whatever he can to gain the advantage. He extends his left arm and looks like he’s about to grab something, but I’m surprised when I am barely able to see his magic shooting out in a random direction almost faster than I can follow. It suddenly stops next to Nightmare Moon, who doesn’t even seem to notice. She doesn’t notice anything is amiss until the man pulls on that… line… and suddenly moves from his position to the end of the line - right next to her - in the time it would take me to blink.

She only registers his extremely fast movement when he spins around and plants a heavy steel-armored boot in her face, sending her into the column next to the window and nearly shattering it. She quickly extricates herself from the remnants of the column, a look of sheer rage on her face.

Suddenly, she teleports right behind his guard and shoves her horn towards him. He barely manages to react in time, grabbing it and using it as a means of flipping over her. Just as he lands, though, her back hooves lash out and send him flying clean through the column in front of me and causing me to back against the wall to avoid the debris.

The man gets up just in time to have his head smashed forcefully against the heavy stone wall next to me, sending him through it as well. He gets up in a daze, but I know something is wrong when she suddenly teleports to the broken window. Just as he’s going for another attack, she suddenly turns into a tacky blue mist which shoots out of the window at the speed of a bullet train.

The man, now alone, runs to the window and lets off a short string of curses before making another line with his magic and subsequently disappearing, just as the stone door behind me is kicked open by… three other humans? When did they get on this planet?

The three men walk toward me with a sense of urgency. The man on the left has short, spiky black hair and a rather soft-set face, with brown eyes and a sharp chin. He is wearing a set of what looks like robes meant for battle, like those kimonos many ancient Japanese warriors would wear, but it also looks like metal has been woven into the fabric, allowing for sufficient mobile protection.

The man in the middle has short, very spiky blonde hair and blue eyes set upon a rather square face and round chin. He is wearing a light gray open-tied haori with a magatama motif set upon the collar and arm and ankle cuffs. He also has a golden staff in his left hand with what looks like a spirit net set into the top. Nine golden orbs float in an ovular formation above and behind him, and are rotating slightly.

The man on the right has short, unkempt brown hair and blue eyes set upon a round face and smooth cleft chin. He is wearing an advanced kevlar mesh vest over a dark brown muscle shirt and metal elbow guards that seem to hang loosely to provide flexibility for movement. He is also wearing a pair of black carbon fiber pants with metal kneeguards and black combat boots. Strapped to his belt are pouches for two different types of grenades, a small weapons holster holding a .44 magnum silver plated pistol, and two other compartments whose purpose I cannot discern. This last guy kind of creeps me out. He seems like one of those ex-military blackwater rejects. I never really liked the military. Back on Earth, I basically thought of them as the leaders’ way of saying “screw you” to every other country and weakening them at the same time. Well, that, and the fact that I had a bad experience with someone like this when I was a teenager.

“Are you the only one here?” The man on the left speaks in a rather moderately pitched voice that has a little bit of a gravelly tone to it. “We saw the white light and came to figure out what it was.”

“Well… yes and no… I was watching a fight between some man who wielded magic and a sword… and this mare from legend called Nightmare Moon…” I almost immediately notice the man on the right chuckle to himself a little bit.

“Nightmare Moon, huh? Well, shit; that means I did come back in time.” He speaks in a rather high voice that sounds like it has a little bit of a southern accent to it. “Well, if that’s the case, guys, it looks like we’re going to have to stop her.”

The man in the middle, who, now that I think about it, is rather young, turns to him. When he speaks, his high-pitched tone of voice only further cements that belief. “Really? You told us that the Elements banished the darkness inside her heart. How could she be here?”

“For you two, this will be your first time seeing her. For me, though, the Elements told me about when they fought her. If we’re currently in the timeframe where Nightmare Moon escaped, then that means I’ve gone back in time; I don’t know how, so don’t ask.” The man seems to show an impressive amount of foresight; just as the young man prepares to ask another question, he raises a gnarled hand and basically answers his next question before he can even bring it up.

“Alright, so we’ve got a situation on our hands here, only you have any depth as to what you’ve been told, and said mare is gone. Which means we have to find her quickly, before she can cause any unforeseen damage.” The man on the left retorts in an exasperated tone, unwilling to let the conversation go on any further.

He steps toward me and looks at me with a hint of interest. “You said you saw the battle?” I nod nervously. “Then that means you’ve more experience with her firsthand than any of us here. Even his anecdote can only be construed as speculation. Can you come with us?”

“How long?” I nervously ask, dreading, yet expecting the answer to come.

“Not long. At least however long it takes to find and subdue this Nightmare Moon, anyways.” I figured as much. I slowly nod. “What’s your name?”

“Me? I’m… I’m James.”

He extends his hand for a handshake. I slowly take it. “Starkiller.”

“Umm, pardon… but that sounds more like a title than a name.”

“That’s because it is. My actual name is Galen. Come on, let’s get going.” He turns around and starts walking toward the open stone door, the other two turning to walk with him. I gingerly start to follow. Something tells me this is going to be a long week.

Author's Note

Well, there's your weekly chapter! Tell me what you thought, and don't forget to tell me how well I did writing James's character, because I'm kinda new to this whole outside OC usage. See you next week!