Killing Time

Chapters

Blood & Cake
Princess & Queen
Heartstrings
Partners
Dilema at Dawn
Regeneration
Decisions
Journey
Deadlocked
Pocket Watch
Badlands

Blood & Cake

The body was fresh and the blood had yet to congeal. So much was wrong with this scene I couldn’t even choose a place to begin. The cake half eaten and half wedged into the knife wound was quickly falling apart having absorbed too much blood. The frosting smeared across the grass as if there had been a struggle. My eyes narrowed and I wiped away the frosting from the cutie mark on this once alive pony. An hourglass with sand counting away the seconds as time moved ever onward into the future. I picked apart a small piece of cake that had no blood and pocketed the evidence then stood and my assistant handed me my fedora. Slowly shaking my head I turned from the corpse and motioned for the unicorn to follow. She stood on two legs and walked with me away from the police ponies.
“Second death in a week.” I said with biting my lip.
“Ponyville hasn’t had a murder in… I don’t know when.” Lyra shrugged her shoulders.
“I’m going to go visit Miss Pie.”
“You think she did it?”
“No, but she knows Cakes… that know cake.” I started walking. “Heartstrings, I’m counting on you.”

I don’t know if she saluted or just dropped back to four hooves. I did not know much and that bothered me most of all. Here I was a crack detective from the Chicago beat. So far removed from anything I knew or anyone. First friend I’d picked up since coming to this Equestrian land was a unicorn with a lyre on her flank. She’d called me majestic and shed a tear when my appearance vindicated something that she knew deep within her very soul. The rest of them treated me as a curiosity. Quickly I had assumed my previous role as private investigator. And with a murder on my hands there was no time to lose. Little did I know it at the time but this was the beginning of my end.

It was nearly dusk by the time I’d made my way to Sugar Cube Corner. The shop downstairs was closing for the night but I did not want to talk to the owners yet. I went around the back and ascended the stairs knocking on the apartment on the third floor. Silence was the only greeting I received. I tried my luck at knocking once more yet there was no reply. Sighing to myself I retreated down the stairs and entered the front of the bakery. The cakes were closing up their display cases and boxing the unsold goods for the day.
“Oh Johnny, we’re closed for the night.” Mrs. Cake smiled as she put cupcakes into a box.
“I’m here to ask a question.” I reached into my pocket and withdrew the crumbled cake piece.

While she looked at it her expression changed from puzzlement to confusion. I continued to hold it in my palm for a minute longer waiting for something to register across her face. The two of us remained silent in that moment until her husband broke the stillness by coming in from the kitchen. He spared a quick glance between the two of us before coughing slightly.
“Hello Johnny.” He said before picking up a box with his teeth.
“Mr. Cake.” I replied. “I found this and I was hoping that the two of you could tell me if you sold any cake like this recently.”

Mr. Cake took a couple steps forward and sniffed at the crumbs in my hand. I could feel the hot breath from his nostrils as he inhaled and exhaled taking in the scent from the crumbs. He licked his nose and nodded towards his wife. He knew what it was and she was still staring at me. Was she in shock or had I just caught her at an odd time? It was not until a soft voice called out for their mother that she blinked and excused herself to go take care of the twins.
“Yes now I remember. We sold a cake to Derpy much like this one nearly two days ago. Yellow vanilla cream with mint orange frosting.”
“I thought she liked muffins.” I put the crumbs back in my pocket and brushed my palm clean.
“Muffins are like catnip to her. She’s in every couple days buying more. But she also wanted the cake for a special occasion. If I remember right she said it was some pony’s birthday.”
“Any idea who?”
“Can’t say that I know who. We get weekly birthday requests. Lot of ponies in Ponyville that have small celebrations.”
“Thank you Mr. Cake. I think I’ll go find Derpy.”
“Wait Mr. Northrain. Before you go I have a box of muffins for her. They are day old but she loves them all the same. Let me bag them up.”

I wasn’t a damned delivery service but I took the package all the same. I had to admit even being day old they still smelled delicious. It’d been awhile since I ate but I put the slight rumblings of hunger out of my mind. It was time to find Derpy. Ditzy Do. Bubbles. Iron butt. She went by many names but everyone knew her. Most ponies tried to avoid her clumsiness. Some saw it as a curse and avoided her at all cost. I saw it as cute. On our first meeting shortly after my arrival she ended up tripping me with her wings. I sailed ass over tea kettle down a hill before she slowed me down by using herself as a cushion. That would have worked beautifully except that I was going too fast and bounced off her into a bramble patch. Scratched up and bruised we both laughed at the misfortune.

She had a place outside of town that she shared with a live in. I’d never met him but I had seen the two of them together in Ponyville. The walk did not take long but the sun was starting to set and the sky shifted from blue to hazy orange. Off in the distance I could see a cottage with a chicken coop. Fluttershy’s place full of harmony and woodland creatures. She was a regular Snow White and every time I went there I expected seven little dwarves to show up with pick axes in tow. She even sang to the animals and they sang back. Fluttershy and I… well that’s another story altogether.

When I approached the house it was in a state of shambles. Part of the roofing was missing and there were thin tendrils of black smoke rising through the holes. I grabbed for my gun and felt nothing inside my coat. The holster was there but the piece had been missing ever since I’d fallen down the rabbit hole and ended up here. Forgetting the lost gun for the moment I set down the box and rushed towards the house pushing open the front door with enough force to splinter the frame. I stumbled into the smoky interior only to see a very confused looking Derpy and her friend staring at me. My first impression of the scene was utter hilarity. An oven door was broken and smoke was pouring from the appliance. The roof had been destroyed by flying pieces of iron door and Derpy was trying to put out the fire by throwing paper on it. Her friend was valiantly trying to stop her from making the fire larger. I took a step back outside and picked up the box of muffins. With a whistle I opened the box and I saw that all of her attention was completely diverted from the oven fire to what was in my hands.

“Muffiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiins!” Was the cry that ushered forth as she rushed forward in a blur of blonde mane and grey wings. The impact sent me to my ass faster than a round of fisticuffs. She threw her front legs around my neck and gave me a kiss on the cheek then she started eating one of the muffins that had tumbled from the box. I stood brushing the dust off my coat and pants then looked towards her friend who had joined us. Brown hair and coat with an hourglass cutie mark on his flank.
“Terribly sorry about her manners.” He spoke and I was surprised to hear a British accent.
“That mark.” I took a step towards him and he backed up. “I knew I had seen it before on you. Two other ponies are dead and both have the mark.”
“Oh what this? Well it’s… common… It’s a common cutie mark. Two others dead you say? Stallion and Mare?”
“Yes. One with blue coat and white mane and the other white coat and red mane. Unicorn and Earth pony.”

He looked to the side for a moment in thought and Derpy raised her head from the box of muffins, crumbs falling off her lips. She nudged his neck with the tip of her nose and he nodded. Something silent had passed between them. There was a recognition of whom the dead ponies were and the both kept quiet for a few moments longer. She returned to her feast and he with a sigh turned his backside to me and started heading into the house again. “There’s something I need to show you.” He said and disappeared inside.

I followed hearing the sound of crunching muffins behind me and reentering the smoke filled house. The friend was standing in front of a blue box and he turned around to face me. There was something in his eye that made me feel uneasy. An expression I couldn’t quite translate into words even if I had a decade to do it. Something deep and universal. Mysterious yet comforting with a hint of pity. I shifted my gaze to the oven and before I spoke he answered my unsaid question.
“She tried to bake a big muffin and it exploded. I’m not entirely sure what she used but I think it was some kind of explosive powder that she got from the delightfully rhyming Zecora. Now before I show you this I need to tell you who I am. I’m like you. Well that is to say I have two hearts and a number of other features Humans don’t have nor ponies for that matter but at the heart or hearts rather of the matter I am… mostly… I was in appearance as you are.”
“I… what?” I stammered.
“What I am saying is that I am Human in appearance but for now I’m a pony.” He stated so simply.
“How does that even work?”
“I awoke here with my Tardis and I was a Pony. Strange that I don’t have the clothes I usually wear or the sneakers. I love a good pair of red sneakers but here I am or rather there I was without clothing and have you noticed that this entire place is a nudist colony unless they want to dress up for some occasion then they slap on a gown that leaves nothing to the imagination and prance about.”
“Nudist colony.” I said trying to keep up with the strange little pony.
“Exactly. That’s such a strange thing to see here. Well on… in either case. I am the Doctor and this is the Tardis.”
“Sorry,” I said shaking my head. “I’m still trying to wrap my head around nudist colony. You said you are Human?”
“As Human as I can be but not right now because I am a pony which is most peculiar. I’m the Doctor, this is my Tardis and welcome.”

I was going to ask another question but he opened the door to the box and I thought I saw an optical illusion beyond. I put my head into the door and immediately stepped back. I looked around the exterior of the box. I’d been to London once a decade after the war and these were on corners. Typical police box. Yet this was just about as typical as seeing an Italian sharing a plate of spaghetti and meatballs with an Irish dock worker. The interior was larger than the house I had just… I was just… I was standing in.

With a grin he pushed me inside using his head and I stumbled down the ramp towards a central control area with typewriters and a large blown glass ornament inside of an even larger glass tube. The entire interior was bronzed or painted bronze or golden yellow or any number of shades of color that fit a thousand names but aren’t exactly any of the shade of yellow that you’d be able to put a label to. He trotted past me to the control panel and pressed his hoof against some button .
“It’s… bigger…” I stammered again.
“On the inside yes. Time And Relative Dimension In Space, Tardis. Now about those ponies you said had died. They were named the Corsair and the Monk. Friends of mine as it were. The cutie mark we share is pretty common on Gallopfrey.”

“Someone is murdering ponies with time stamps.” I scratched the stubble on my chin and shrugged my shoulders. How was it possible that there was an entire room within this small box? I was not a scientist and the most I had was basic understanding of high school physics. It was all pretty much beyond me and so I tried not to let it trouble my mind yet there was the nagging tickling sensation against the base of my neck that I should know the answer.

Tipping the brim of my fedora I leaned against the railing and watched the Doctor rummage through a chest under the control panel. He picked up various items with his teeth mumbling about how this was not it and that was not even supposed to be in this time line. After a couple minutes he pulled out a small green disc and tossed it to me. Reaching out my hand I barely caught it after a miserable attempt as it danced about my palms in an attempt to free itself from my clutches. Fingers tightening I held it to my chest then pulled it away examining the disc. One side of it was jade green and iridescent like the wings of a beetle. The other side was yellow green with a very slight streak of red through it. I looked up from the disc with puzzlement on my face.

The Doctor pushed a lever and pulled a rope then shouted towards the entrance. “Derpy!” She came zooming in with the half eaten box of day old muffins and slammed her butt down on the floor with enough force for me to feel it through the soles of my scuffed leather shoes. He smiled and pushed a button then narrowed his eyes slightly. There was something entirely unsettling about that look. I tightened my hold on the disc for fear that I’d suddenly lose my grip on it.

“I’m going to show you something that happened before you arrived. Something vital that I believe is part of the puzzle. She’s a queen you know. Queen of an Empire that consists entirely of changelings. Absolutely blows the mind… well… if you can’t comprehend it.” The blown glass ornament inside the tube started moving up and down with a groaning that sounded like someone trying to push an old Volkswagen uphill during a hurricane. With a flick of his tail we were off into lands unknown.

Princess & Queen

I used to be just your average Joe walking the streets of Chicago looking for whatever it was that people paid me to investigate. The greenbacks were always lacking so I had to pick up odd jobs here and there. Escort service for some politician, driver for a wealthy widower and even bare knuckle boxing for enough scratch to make it to the next meal and clean a couple shirts. Nothing I had been through had prepared me for anything like this.

One moment I was standing in the Tardis with the Doctor and Derpy then the next I was lying face down in a rose bush. There had been an explosion and a yelp then suddenly I was flying out of the Tardis and landed in a patch of thorns. The sharp hooks tore at my suit and skin ripping open several fresh wounds. I wanted to cry out in pain but I held my tongue and did the only thing one can do in a situation like this. I gripped the bush and pushed myself up feeling the bite of the torns into my palms and wincing. I was slowly able to retreat to the ground only being snagged a few dozen times. My coat was completely ruined and I considered tossing it aside but you couldn’t get quality clothing like this for a Human in Equestria. I’d have to have someone mend it for me.

I heard raised voices and turned my head seeing that I was in a rather large garden outside of the main chamber of what I could only assume was a palace. Inside several ponies were arguing and one in particular was yelling at the others. I knew her well from the streaks in her mane to the cutie mark on her flank. Twilight Sparkle was running around then suddenly looked defeated and hunkered down as every pony inside the chamber exited. She lay down on the steps tears in her eyes.

Leaning up against the glass I peered in about to tap on the pane to have Twilight Sparkle unlatch it from the inside when somepony else came trotting back in. Something unknown was said between them then Twilight was enveloped in a circle of green fire then melted through the floor. The taller pony stepped to the throne and I took half a step away suddenly freezing when her gaze locked onto me. She stared for a few seconds and I could feel them ticking away with each beat of my heart. Her eyes narrowed and my feet took flight propelling me away from the glass window and into the garden as fast as I could go. I stumbled over a stone wall and rounded a hedge skidding to a halt only inches in front of her. She spread her wings wide and raised up on her hind legs to make herself appear larger and more threatening.
“Who is this that spies on the princess?” Her voice sounded like a knife edge coated in venom.
“I don’t know. Who did you see?” I moved my hand to adjust my fedora then realized it was absent.
“Enough with the questions. What manner of creature are you?” She leaned in and sniffed at my torn coat.
“I thought you said enough questions.” I rocked back on my heels ready to run again.
“Enough with your questions. Now answer me truthfully what are you? I’ve never seen any pony or beast such as you before.” She licked the back of my hand seemingly enjoying the taste of my skin.

“I’m one of those two legged ponies.” I almost laughed remembering that in Mongolia Human meat was sometimes referred to as two legged horse. Almost… until I came to the realization that here was a pink winged unicorn… alicorn I thought Twilight Sparkle had said the term was. Here was an alicorn ready to kill me for watching her throw the purple book worm through a floor with some mystical power I couldn’t even begin to comprehend. My apprehension was building as she bared her mouth and I saw fangs that had not been there before. In a quick burst of the same green fire her appearance shifted from somewhat beautiful to considerably more insect like. Her legs had holes and her skin was black with a green hue. Insect like wings and a horn weren’t my biggest concern at the moment. Her mouth opened and then she lunged at me with speed I’d had never of guessed possible.

I jumped back and hit the hedge, it served as a barrier preventing me from going anywhere. Her fangs ripped into my right arm and she lapped at the blood as it flowed down. I did not struggle at first afraid that she would rip my arm away from my body and devour it. Her shimmering emerald eyes were locked on mine and after half a minute of drinking my blood she unlatched her mouth from my arm and licked her lips with a satisfied smile.

“I have never tasted any one such as you before. The love that courses through your body is unlike any pony I have encountered. I need more. I need all of you. Your queen needs love.” She advanced and opened her jaws wide bringing them to my cheek. I expected her to tear into my face much as a bear or mountain lion would yet instead she licked from my cheek to my nose. Her fangs brushed against my skin but did not sink in. Her tongue darted out again to make contact with my skin and I braced myself to be treated again as a salt lick. Instead of feeling her on me I heard a high pitched whine that only increased in volume and she shrieked jumping back and covering her ears with her hooves. I pushed away from the hedge feeling lucky to still be alive.

The Doctor rushed around the bend with a glowing metal light pen in his mouth and Derpy was fast on his heels with my fedora in her teeth. She tossed it to me and I make an awkward attempt to catch it as I ran towards them. Placing it on my head I turned when I was standing beside the two and raised my fists knowing it would do me no good against this queen insect pony.
“Doctor.” She hissed and fluttered her wings.
“I…” He dropped the pen from his mouth and it ceased the noise. “…see you’ve met Chrysalis.”
“You are with him?” The queen turned her attention to me.
“Sorry about this, I meant for the meeting to be covert and that did not exactly happen as planned. Derpy…”
“I just don’t know what went wrong.” She shrugged her shoulders and wings at the Doctor.
“…Derpy pressed the wrong button and sent us all in different directions…”

He was about to finish talking when Chrysalis raised up on her legs and hurled something green and dripping towards us. Derpy knocked me out of the way and the Doctor caught the ball of slime full on. He was suspended inside of it unable to move. Using her green magic Chrysalis raised him to the under arch of a buttress and suspended the Doctor inside the liquid which was solidifying into the shape of a cocoon. The grey Pegasus and I jumped to our feet while Chrysalis was distracted and I grabbed the light pen. She shouted something about turning it on and I felt around for a button or a switch.

There was no way that this was ever designed for hooves and I had no idea how the Doctor had used it. He must have had a talented tongue for there was no other way for a pony to manipulate the buttons. I pressed one and it did nothing. I drew my finger across a second with the same result. The third switch I held down and the annoying whining started up again rapidly growing in intensity. Chrysalis turned on her hoof and charged towards me with the speed I’d seen her use before against my arm. I raised the light pen and pushed the switch fully forward. The tip glowed bright blue and the screeching whine grew so intense my ear drums felt as if they were likely to pop. She jumped straight into the air and flew off leaving the three of us alone for the moment. Removing my finger from the switch on the pen it became dormant and I tucked it into my coat pocket.

There was a moment of stillness as Derpy walked over to the cocoon and looked up at the Doctor inside. He was motionless but his eyes were trying to communicate something. Pulling the switchblade out of my coat I flicked it open and held the blade offering the handle to Derpy. The cocoon was just out of my reach and it took her a moment to realize what I wanted her to do. She closed her mouth around the handle then flew upward slicing the outer skin of the cocoon open. It dumped the Doctor to the dirt with a splash of slime. She dropped the switchblade near my feet and landed next to him licking his face clean of the goo. I leaned over and picked up the blade wiping it then closing and returning it to my coat.
“I had not intended it to go that way.” The Doctor said trying to nudge her away from his face.
“This tastes pretty bad.” She winced and shook her head.
“Why do you keep licking it then? Honestly some ponies.” He turned from her towards me. “That was the Changeling Queen. What happens here in about a couple hours is vital and important to what is happening in the future. We weren’t supposed to meet her but it seems the timeline allows for two Doctors.”
“Two Doctors?” I picked up a small chunk of slime that had solidified on the dirt.
“Well I am here now and then I am there now also. Or I will be there but I know that I am here. About now I should be down there in the city with Carrot Top and a couple others. The wedding will be taking place in just over an hour and I’ll be inside the main chamber.”
“Carrot Top is here?” Derpy looked up from the patch of clean dirt she was licking.
“She’s somewhere around here at the moment. That’s not important though we can’t cross her timeline since we are already in it. Or rather our past selves will be in it.”
“Does it ever get confusing?” I asked tossing the slime chunk away.
“Oh yes.” He smiled and nodded his head. “I’ll have my sonic screwdriver back now thank you.
“The what?” I was beyond puzzled.
“The sonic… that thing in your pocket that makes noise.”

I drew it from my pocket looking over the pen with the light and tossed it towards him. He caught it in his mouth and then it… disappeared. I’m not entirely sure to this day where it ended up but I know for a fact that he had no pockets on him and it was suddenly not there. My attention was distracted enough by Derpy spitting out the dirt she had licked to get rid of the taste of the slime. The Doctor shifted his gaze from her back to me and noticed the bite marks on my arm. He looked at them closely then shook his mane vigorously.

“No this is not good. Not good at all. Chrysalis has never tasted a Human before and now that she has your blood on her tongue she won’t soon be forgetting you. In fact I dare say this makes you a rather large target in her eyes. She will actively pursue you. The best thing I can do is to help throw her off your…” He was never able to finish that sentence. Green fire erupted between us and I turned quickly on my heel seeing Chrysalis standing on four legs with her eyes narrowed to small green slits. She said nothing as the fire consumed me and pulled me down into the darkness. I heard the Doctor yell something and I thought I heard the sonic… whatever it was turn on yet there was nothing I could do. It felt like drowning as I was sucked through the stone into something underneath.

Heartstrings

When I was a boy I spent a summer with my aunt and uncle in a coal mining community in eastern Utah. They were poor people and it was the type of poor that you don’t see in the slums in a city. They lived out among the sage brush and rock barely scratching a living from the earth in the form of black dust. Some of the local boys decided to go exploring the old unused mine shafts and I went with them. I was separated from them in the labyrinth of tunnels and ended up alone in the dark for a couple days. By the time they found me I was half crazed and shivering. There was the better part of a year recovering from that back at my mother’s one bedroom apartment in Chicago. I always had to sleep with a light on for fear that the dark would come and take me back down to that cavern.

Here I was a grown man of thirty years and I stood with shivers running down my spine. There was a soft light that permeated the walls made of crystals. It was not dark but it was still a cave under the ground and I was trapped. I tried to steady my nerves from shaking. It had been twenty years before that I had my last encounter with a cave. I thought I had gotten over it. I was wrong. I silently prayed for a way out or for someone to show up so I did not have to brave this place alone.

There was a mirthless laugh that echoed off the crystals and filled the cavern. Her face… Chrysalis’ face appeared on several of the crystals and she pulled her lips back in a menacing grin. “I’m going to keep you down here for my personal service after I am done with everypony above. Don’t go wandering now these caves are treacherous and full of obstacles.” She resumed her laugh and the face disappeared. I sat down trying not to shake. It was just a stupid cave I kept telling myself. Nothing to be afraid of.

According to my watch I was there forty minutes before a bouquet of flowers landed at my feet. In the moments shortly after it hit cave floor I tried to think of all the reasons that it would be here. Where had it come from and why was it in this place. My thoughts were interrupted as three unicorns slammed into me and knocked me to the ground. I tumbled with them and skidded across the floor. I pushed myself up off the ground and retrieved my fedora before looking at the three would be attackers. Much to my surprise and delight my partner was shaking her head. Flowers fell from her mane and when she turned her gaze to me her eyes became very wide and she jumped towards me.
“Oh my gosh! It’s true! It’s really true!” She was saying quickly moving her head up and down looking at every part of me.
“Heartstrings calm down, yeah it’s me. What are you doing here?” I said dancing around with her erratic movements.
“You know my name? Wait how do you know my name?” She stopped short rising on her hind legs and looking me directly in the eyes.
“We’re partners. Of course I know your name.” I raised a brow thinking that the impact messed up her memories.
“I’ve never seen you before but it’s true. Humans do exist! You have to tell me everything. You have hands, let me see your hands!”
“Hold on, stop it.” I raised my hands and she stared at them. “I saw you this morning in Ponyville. Remember I asked you to follow up on some leads about the murdered mare with the hourglass cutie mark?”
“What did she look like?” I had not noticed the others stirring but a blue unicorn with white in her mane stepped over to me. “What did the mare look like?” She asked again when I was too slow to answer.
“White coat and red mane. Earth pony.” Lyra touched my hands with the tip of her nose and grinned.
“So Ali is dead. Give me details on the scene. Describe to me exactly what you saw.” The blue unicorn demanded.
“You know her? There wasn’t much to go on. She’d been stabbed and there was cake stuffed into the wound.” I had to push away Lyra when she started licking my hands.

The blue unicorn looked down at her hooves for a moment in thought. There was that same distant comprehending look in her eyes that I had seen in the Doctor’s. I was on the verge of telling her about the Cakes when Lyra nudged my side with her horn hard enough to hurt. That was the last straw; I was not going to be a punching bag for her. I balled my fist and narrowed my eyes until I saw that she was motioning to something else beyond them.

My apprehension came back full force as two figures were slowly approaching from the murky darkness. For the second time I found myself wishing I had maintained hold of my gun. The soft light reflecting from the crystals illuminated the figures and my fear became relief as Derpy and the Doctor approached from the gloom. They were both covered in scratches and dirt but looked mostly intact.
“Ah Johnny I see you’ve met the Dentist.” He smiled towards the blue unicorn. “Right now on the surface there are hundreds of changelings causing a mess but it will all be cleaned up by my past self and some valued friends.”
“Not all of us go by those silly pet names you keep trying to use.” She looked up from her thoughts and scoffed. “Before going by the Doctor what was that name you wanted us to use…”
“It’s not important. Everyone’s forgotten it.” He shrugged.
“I haven’t.” A smile tugged at the corner of her lips.
“You wouldn’t dare.” He stopped cold and stared at her.

As they were talking Derpy had walked around us and gone to the silent unicorn making sure she was alright. Until now she had just been sitting there watching everyone. It looked like she was having trouble accepting that any of this had happened. Lyra Heartstrings assisted Derpy having forgotten about me and my Humanity for a brief moment.
“No I won’t say the name yet. Ali’s dead.” She reached up and pulled out a flower from her mane with her teeth.
“The Corsair is dead as well. Someone is killing us and in a most gruesome way. Honestly what is with the cake though? Who uses cake in a murder? Fantastic as it is.” He shrugged his shoulders again.
“The cake… Of course the cake.” I rubbed my forehead having forgotten about it completely. “Derpy, the Cakes said that you had bought a Yellow vanilla… orange… crème… frosted… mint… That you had bought a fancy cake for somepony’s birthday. Who was the cake going to?”
“Oh… yeah the cake was for you.” She smiled and licked her lips. “I don’t know your birthday and you never said so I bought the cake for you and figured if it was not your birthday we could eat it anyways. But… well I only had one slice of it until the cake was taken from me.”
“Who would steal a cake?” The Doctor turned his focus on Derpy.
“Oh she did not steal it exactly. She just ran off with it.” Derpy tilted her head slightly.
“Who did?” I asked stepping towards her.
“Alissa. It was a delicious cake and I guess she got greedy.”
“This brings about even more questions. It’s not like the Monk was a thief. She wouldn’t have taken the cake under normal circumstances. If certain probabilities are eliminated than what is left however impossible must be the truth.” The Doctor raised his nose in the air and confidently walked towards the blue unicorn… the Dentist.
“What remains?” The Dentist asked bluntly.
“I haven’t a clue.” He turned and walked back the way he had come.
“That really takes the cake.” Derpy said and the two of them burst into laughter.
“Fat lot of help you both are.” The blue unicorn focused upon me and inclined her head. “I’m Minuette Colgate, a Time Lord as is our fair Doctor here. Just call me Colgate.”
“So you are Human looking but a pony right now?” I asked her.
“No I’ve always been a pony. Oh… right I see… He’s the Human looking one who just happens to be a pony right now. I’m the pony that’ll always be a pony. Time Lords come in different shapes and sizes but we all share one key trait in common.”
“Running.” The Doctor looked back over his shoulder.
“Not that. Although there is a lot of running. We all have two hearts and a personal connection to the time vortex.”
“That’s two traits.” Lyra spoke as she rejoined us. “So what’s your name?” She nudged me with her horn again much lighter this time. “I’m Lyra, Lyra…”
“Heartstrings yeah I know.” I stopped her then scratched behind her ear a favorite place for her. “I don’t get why you don’t recognize me. We are partners. Did somepony screw with your brain kiddo?”
“Yes some princess did.” Colgate narrowed her eyes. “The princess Mi Amore Cadenza. Lyra and Twinkle were helping me investigate when the princess cornered us and hit us with a mind control spell.”
“Don’t stop… right there…” Lyra was mumbling and thumping her hoof.
“You know her but she does not yet know you. The time lines have crossed.” Derpy spoke while she and Twinkle came towards us.
“They’ve crossed?” I raised a brow in confusion.
“You weren’t going to meet until later in the future or you were destined to meet now. It’s never linear when dealing with time. So you’ve met but you already know her and she has no idea who you are so she’s just meeting you now for the first time.” The Doctor nodded.

There are moments in life that cause someone to halt everything and assess the situation. Usually these are associated with asking a girl to marry you or making that big decision to put down most of your life savings on a horse that you are pretty sure won’t pan out but the odds are too great not to try and you need the money to fix whatever in your life that can be fixed with more money. There I was standing giving the old finger scratch to a pastel pony with four others inside a cave and my anxiety was forgotten for the moment. I couldn’t remember when I had felt less troubled in the past few years. It was fleeting but I kept hold of that feeling for as long as I could while the Doctor and the Dentist talked among themselves.

We left the chamber heading out the way that Derpy and the Doctor came in. An hour of walking through winding stone corridors with intense crystal formations and listening to the Doctor prattle on about whatever the hell it was he meant. Lyra stayed by my side the entire way asking me questions about where I was from and what kind of things I had done. It almost seemed like she was crushing hard on me and perhaps she was. The two of us in her future and my past had only been partners for a couple weeks yet in that time we had grown close as friends.

There was that moment three weeks before that I awoke covered in mud half in a pond that I was found by that first pony. Heartstrings bless her heart had been passing by or was doing something around there and had seen me appear rather suddenly and violently heading into the ground from a hundred feet in the clouds. She’d helped me up and pushed me over towards Fluttershy’s cottage.

From the first time Lyra Heartstrings had laid eyes on me she knew me and I never really cared to dig deeper into it because she was tight lipped. It was just a confirmation of something to her. It was as if we were old lovers reconnecting after a hundred years apart. There was just that sense of knowing somepony deep within my soul without having ever met her before.

The six of us emerged into the twilight a couple miles from the castle in the edge of the city of Canterlot. Reconstruction was under way after an attack that had left several buildings damaged and ponies were slowly picking up the pieces of their lives. I crouched and grasped something silvery in the dirt. Holding onto it I stood and brushed away the grime revealing a large locket. Pressing the latch big enough for a hoof it opened showing pictures of two ponies I’d never seen before. Something like this hit hard for me. Somepony out there was missing it and here I was standing with it like an idiot not knowing if they were dead or alive. I dropped it back into the spot I had picked it up from for them to find it if they were looking.
“Chrysalis really made a mess of this place.” Twinkle spoke for the first time in my presence.
“It’ll all be taken care of. There’s still a wedding and all the ponies of Canterlot will be there to enjoy the fun and forget the attack. Oh in fact right now Derpy and myself are there watching the real princess be married.” The Doctor pulled out his sonic… thing… from where I still don’t know and activated it.
“You running off again?” Colgate sighed.
“Always on the move. We’re running a couple months ahead of you and need to get back. This was supposed to be a quick hop to show Johnny Northrain here that Chrysalis was assuming the role of the princess.” He hit a switch and the pitch rose beyond my hearing.
“Nothing with you is ever a quick hop.” Colgate nudged him with her nose then stepped away to Twinkle and Lyra. “The three of us need to get going and help the people recover but first lets go to the real wedding.” She trotted away and Twinkle followed her with Lyra hanging back looking at me.
“Go, I’ll see you soon.” I told her with a smile.
“I won’t see you for a while.” She said with tears threatening to spill from the corners of her eyes.
“Hey kiddo, you and I are going to do great things together. You are the very reason that I’m even alive in the first place. Go on now.”
“Okay Johnny…” She turned on her heels and started walking away.
“Hey Heartstrings…” She turned her head to look at me and I removed my fedora and got down on one knee to her eye level then I put the hat on her head. “Enjoy the party.”

She jumped at me throwing her front legs around my neck and kissing my ear. I returned the hug and ran my fingers through her mane while patting her shoulders. There was something she whispered… something so slight I couldn’t quite make out the words over the groaning of the Tardis as it appeared. I thought for a moment she said I’ll be there for you yet the words weren’t loud enough for me to be sure. She broke the hug and I wiped a tear from the corner of her eye with my thumb. Turning once more she ran hard with her new fedora towards Colgate and Twinkle catching up with them. I pushed myself up to both legs and turned around towards the Tarids, Derpy and the Doctor.
“Ready to go back?” He asked as Derpy opened the door and walked inside.
“Yeah but I have one burning question.” I said.
“Ask away.” He walked inside with me following and the door closed behind us.
“If you could summon the Tardis at any point why the hell did we walk out of the caves?”
“Because sometimes doing the easy thing isn’t always the right thing.” He smiled and started pressing buttons on the console again.
“Happy birthday Johnny.” Derpy grinned and kissed the tip of my chin.
“It’s not my birthday.” I couldn’t help but smile.
“You gave Lyra hope and friendship. That’s more important than any birthday present.” She sat down on her hind legs and watched the Doctor work.

Friendship being more important than a birthday present. That was one concept I stood behind. Most of the friends I had made in childhood had died or moved away by the time I was in my mid-twenties. Before coming here I could count no one as a trusted friend anymore. The utter absurdity of life caused us all to drift apart. If Equestria had taught me anything it was that friends, true friends are more important than anything else.

Partners

I screamed and they wouldn’t stop. A thousand of the little insect like ponies chattering away pulling at my skin and tearing chunks of my body apart. My cries were drowned in the collective hum of two thousand wings beating. They held me down and dissected me piece by still living piece until nothing remained except a blood stain on the ground. Their queen lowered her lips to my warm blood and drank it all savoring the taste. Behind her I could see another changeling taller than the others with a shadow that was human. The corners of its mouth came up in a sadistic grin.

I sat up quickly in bed and slammed my head against a support beam. Falling back down to the sheets I held my palm against my forehead fully expecting blood. It was a dream. A god damned dream about being rendered into a thousand pieces. I put my feet on the cold floor boards of the attic and stood stumbling over to the wash basin that was filled with lukewarm water from the night before. Dousing my head in it I held myself under for a few moments to clear my mind. The water ran from my hair as I pulled my head out and trickled down my rumpled shirt.

The first rays of dawn were coming through the small window and touched my arm as I stood there with my hands resting on the sides of the stand. The sunlight shown upon a blackened patch of skin and it immediately consumed my attention. The skin was leathery and such a dark green that it appeared black. The patch of skin was exactly where Chrysalis had latched onto my arm and drew blood. I could still remember her fangs breaking the skin and the look on her face as she drank. It was the same damned look in the dream and that caused me to break out in a cold sweat.

So far this place had been a nice mix of love and harmony with the occasional argument thrown in. When the killings began and when Chrysalis attacked it all turned completely upside down. A week had passed since the events in Canterlot and the reconstruction was proceeding just fine. No pony had been killed which was a blessing in itself. Some were still unaccounted for which to me suggested that there had been Changelings there for a while.

The skin I couldn’t do anything about. I did not know if it was spreading or it was just a side effect of having that vampire latch onto me. I touched it again and winced at the sting. Part of me wanted to flip out my switch blade and lance it. I considered for a full minute giving into that part and taking steel to my own flesh. With a soft sigh I stepped away from the wash basin and stepped out of my sleeping clothes. Having bathed the night before I was ready for the morning with a fresh suit courtesy of miss Rarity.

The evening of our return I stayed with Derpy and the Doctor to help them clean up the mess for a couple hours before walking back to Ponyville. I had been staying at the only inn and using a bed far too small for my nearly six feet of height. I hadn’t know it at the time but Lyra and a couple others had been repairing and refurnishing an abandoned house for me to use. When I came back to town the first pony I encountered was Rarity. She was on her way with bags back to her boutique when her mouth dropped open and she rushed over wondering at the state of my clothes and my appearance. I tried to calm her and tell her that everything was fine but she would have none of it. She insisted on paying for a trip to the spa which I was very reluctant to go. I still don’t get what the appeal was of sitting chest deep in mud only in my boxer shorts. After the bath and a couple bandages from Aloe and Lotus the two caretakers of the Spa, Rarity took me back to her boutique and made a quick set of pants and shirt for me to wear. It was nothing fancy and felt pretty comfortable. She told me that she’d have a couple suits in the week and I left trying to give her some of the bits I’d earned but she’d have none of it.

I was heading back to the Inn when Lyra stopped me in the street. She was wearing my fedora with a hole cut out for her horn. I looked her up and down and smiled. She ran towards me and threw her legs around my neck again kissing my ear in the same way she had back in Canterlot. We kept the embrace for a few moments to the shock of many ponies passing us.
“I missed you.” She said to me breaking the embrace and stepping back.
“I just saw you a couple hours ago.” I told her with a soft laugh.
“Yeah and I just saw you but all this time I couldn’t tell you how I met you. I’ve been keeping this in a chest waiting to wear it.” She shook her head and the hat stayed secure.
“It suits you, really does. Right now though I’m tired and I need sleep. Can we pick this up in the morning kiddo?” I stifled a yawn behind my hand.
“Actually we have a surprise for you.”

She led me away from the inn towards the market to a small house that was a good fifteen feet high with two stories. It had a fence around it and a tiled roof. Two other ponies were waiting outside. One with blue and pink mane and yellow coat. The other was Applebloom, Applejack’s little sister. I’d seen her before at the market but never by herself. Lyra was all smiles as she introduced me to her best friend Bon Bon and Applebloom.

The three of them had been working over several days to repair the house. Lyra had bought the property for a business from the mayor and put her savings towards it. The sign out front read in silver letters Heartstrings & Northrain. Private Investigators. I did not know exactly what to say. The fact that this little aqua pony would do something like this for me… for us was a pretty grand and beautiful gesture. She pushed me inside and I saw that the first floor had been made up to be an office. Everything that we could need was inside. All of the furniture second hand and even a couple built to accommodate me. Applebloom took particular pride in the wood office chair she had created for me. I sat in it and rested my arms on my desk looking around the office. It was just fantastic.

They had one more surprise waiting for me upstairs in the attic. It was a small space with a slanted ceiling but it had a long bed, a wash basin and stand, chest and wardrobe plus all the other little furnishing a bedroom typically needs. I hugged each of them for the gift then promised Lyra we’d pay off her investment as soon as possible. I sat down on the edge of the bed and soon fell asleep.

Within two days we were up and running looking into a dozen cases around Ponyville and a couple in Canterlot. Most of it was the typical petty stuff that might ruin a relationship but a couple of them were serious cases. Primary in my mind though were the murders of the time stamped ponies. The next day Rarity delivered the first of three outfits for me including everything from shoes and socks to a new fedora. She took particular pride making clothes for a Human and I promised her that I’d make sure everyone knew it came from her boutique.

Coming back to the present I tied my tie and adjusted the collar of the shirt. Snappy was the only real word that came to mind for the clothes. I walked down the stairs leading to the kitchen and fixed myself a quick breakfast of bread and zap apple jam. The stuff was insanely delicious and worth every bit I paid Mr. Rich for the bottle. After my short breakfast I walked to my desk and noticed a scroll on the surface with the royal seal. There was a hastily scribbled note from the little dragon Spike laying on top of it.

This came early this morning addressed to you. I let myself in. Hope that’s ok.

-Spike

I chuckled at the thought of him sneaking in to leave the scroll on my desk then as an afterthought putting a note with it. I opened the scroll and read the words a couple times before setting it down and leaning back into the chair.

Mr. Northrain

We know that you were present during the Changeling Crisis. We seek an audience with you to discuss your involvement and to pursue the options available to us. We would greatly appreciate it if you were present at nightfall this evening. Meet us at the palace.

-Princess Luna

Twilight Sparkle had talked my ear off for hours about the Princesses Celestia and Luna. Everything she could tell me she had and most of it unfortunately had gone into one ear and out of the other. They knew I was there but how much did they know? I rubbed the black skin through the sleeve of my coat. What options were available to them? Did they somehow think I was responsible for Chrysalis and her attack?

The words weighed heavy on my mind and I had not even noticed when my partner entered the office. She sat down on the edge of my desk and looked at the scroll. Her hoof played with the edge of it for a couple seconds while she remained silent seeing my grave expression. I sat up and grabbed the scroll then stuffed it into the drawer of the desk.
“This is good right? An audience with a princess?” She asked.
“I don’t know. I don’t think they want to drink tea and invite me to tour the grounds. They’d not be calling me there if it were over something trivial.”
“You are the only Human around. That’s got to count for something right? They know about you don’t they?” She rested a hoof on my shoulder.
“Miss Sparkle’s been sending letters about me. I don’t know how they took it though. It could have been any number of ways. That they’ve waited a month to say anything troubles me. That they also want to talk about Chrysalis troubles me even more.”

There was a knock at the door then it opened and Twilight Sparkle and Spike entered. The two of them approached me and Lyra. Twilight had loaded saddlebags and Spike was carrying another bulging back and struggling under the weight. I stood from the desk and took the pack from him setting it aside. He exhaled in relief and sat in a small chair near the wall.
“Johnny since you were going to Canterlot I thought I’d come along with you on the train ride. I mean if that’s ok. It is ok right?” Twilight asked with a hopeful grin.
“Yeah I’m alright with it. When do we have to leave?”
“Oh not for a couple hours but I wanted to get an early start. You know you can’t ever be too early to an audience with a princess.” She smiled.
“I’ll meet you at the train station when it’s time.”
“Okay then. I want to go over proper etiquette when meeting a princess with you on the way. Spike we need to get more quills. Also we should bring that book on…”

She trailed off as I handed Spike the pack back and they two of them left the office. Lyra sat at her own desk going over some of the papers and notes she had. I sat back down behind mine and felt as if I wanted to go back to bed. I stood up and walked to the kitchen grabbing a bottle of apple juice for myself and one for my pony partner setting it down in front of her before taking a few sips from mine.
“Any progress on the missing cat?” I asked her in between sips.
“She was just found at the Ponyville tower catching mice.” Lyra shifted a piece of paper.
“There’s not really much here that warrants a case. Sorry Heartstrings I did not know that Ponyville was so…”
“…bland?” She asked looking up from the papers.
“Well, yeah. I mean I love it here but there’s no work to be had. We have to look elsewhere if we want to pay up on this place. Chicago was always tearing at its own throat and there was work there. That’s Human nature though. Ponies seem so much more peaceful.”
“Might be the vegetarian diet.” She offered a slight smile.
“For the last time I don’t miss eating meat. I couldn’t eat it anyways around here not when the pigs talk to you. I loved a good plate of bacon and eggs. At least we can still get the eggs.” I leaned back in the chair once more.
“Fluttershy has the best chickens but she won’t give up any egg. Poor dear believes that most of them will become baby chicks.” She sat down the papers.
“Tell me about Bon Bon.” I grinned when I saw a slight blush on Lyra’s cheeks.
“Oh… um… why? What do you want to know?”
“Since I met her we never talked about her. You say she’s your best friend. When did you two meet?” I folded my arms across my chest watching her.
“A couple years ago when I came here from Canterlot. She was one of the first friends I made in Ponyville. We just kept running into each other and then started hanging out all the time. I guess our relationship just progressed from there.”
“She’s nice. I’m glad you have friends like her.”

Lyra stood from the desk and walked into the kitchen saying nothing. I’d seen it pass between them the first time I met he friend. That admiration that borders on more than just the love between friends. I’d had it once or twice with the people I grew up with. I wouldn’t have called her a lesbian. I doubt they even had a word like it in Equestria. Instead I’d just have said they were good friends and left it at that. It was absolutely none of my business nor was it anyone else’s.

There were a couple hours until I had to board a train and head off to my possible execution. I was being paranoid thinking that they’d straight up kill me but you did not survive in some of the parts of the city I’d lived without keeping the paranoia stoked to a high level. It kept you on alert for whatever may come your way. I’d grown a bit too lax around this place and I couldn’t bring myself to go back to the way I was. For better or worse Ponyville and my friends had changed me. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Dilema at Dawn

I had slept little during the night and when the morning came and the sun rose I greeted the first rays of light standing at the tall window of my bedroom. Clad only in pants and bandages I looked out over Canterlot from my view within the palace. It was a beautiful city that was remarkably clean. I looked towards the tallest tower and saw Princess Celestia there with a telescope nearby. It was as if she suddenly became aware of my attention on her and she shifted her head to the telescope pointing it in my direction. When I rested my hand against the metal frame of the window she raised her head and moved inside the tower disappearing from my view.

I’d seen that look a hundred times before. It was something only women could do and it had always perplexed me how every single one of them regardless of species could pull it off. She had been stone faced with a slight narrowing of her eyes and down turning of her lips. Reserved anger directed towards me and I could feel it over the gap that separated us. What had sparked her anger? I had an idea but there was no way I was going to ask her directly.

I stood at the window for half an hour more just watching the city below and the palace come alive with motion. While I watched the distant ponies the door opened with a soft click. I felt the light electric tingle of magic in the air and turned around slowly seeing my partner levitating a tray of porridge towards me. She sat it down on the small table against the wall and offered me a shy smile with her head slightly lowered. I walked over to her and knelt down putting my good arm around her neck giving her a hug.
“You couldn’t have done anything.” I whispered to her.
“I should have been there.” She said choking back tears.
“I wouldn’t want you hurt.”
“YOU were hurt!” She shouted and I cringed slightly.
“I’m ok now.” I let go of her and pushed myself to my feet.

To disprove what I had said or just to show me that I was not ok she touched my shoulder with her horn. It was not hard at all and she did not mean it to be malicious. Even so that did not make it hurt any less. I bit my lip hard to keep from yelping and I staggered over to the breakfast she had brought me. Sitting down I started to eat spoonful after spoonful of sweet porridge.

“Yesterday,” She sat in the other chair opposite me. “There was panic. When I received the letter from Twilight that you’d been hurt my heart sank. Ponies are seeing the attack against you as an attack against Canterlot. I came in the middle of the night on a train and had to be searched from horn to hoof before I was allowed to come see you in the palace. They wouldn’t have let me even go to Canterlot if I was not your partner.

“Johnny I’m worried about you and about this. Twilight told me everything you told Princess Luna. Chrysalis is after you specifically and… you… you don’t want to be under her power. Not even for a moment. I couldn’t do anything. Somepony else had taken over my body and voice. She’s already messed with me once. If she wants you then she is going to have to go through me.”

I finished off the last bite of my breakfast then set down spoon and chuckled lightly. Here I had nearly been killed by my former friend who was an agent of the Queen who had enslaved my current partner and who had also bit my arm. I was slowly turning into a Changeling myself and the icing on the entire FUBAR cake was that I had been shot with my own gun. I couldn’t help but laugh at the situation.
“It’s not funny Johnny.” She put her hoof loudly on the table.
“It’s absolutely hilarious Lyra.” I leaned back in the chair and gave her my most winning smile. “I asked Miss Sparkle about Chrysalis when we were on the train. She told me everything that she could. I think I know why she wants me… why she needs me and not Nickolas.”
“I’m listening.” She said flatly.
“When she was banished to the badlands the princesses met with a group of ponies and created a barrier so that she couldn’t get out of there. Her brood by now has starved and most likely died. She wants someone to start a new brood.”
“You think she wants to mate with you?” She rolled her eyes. “Typical stallion. A woman shows any interest in you and you think all she wants to do is roll with you in the hay stack.”
“I know she does but I don’t know exactly why. Nickolas was already too much a Changeling when she found him. I’m still human and if she wants to create something different… well… Sparkle said that the brood that attacked here looked like ponies. She needs to mate with me before I become a Changeling.”
“That’s all and well Johnny but I think you just have sex on the brain. When was the last time you had any?”
“When was the last time you did?”

I’d never seen her turn that shade of red before. She stammered over saying something for a moment then slammed her hooves on the table and stood up quickly. She galloped out of the bedroom without saying anything else and the door slammed behind her. I stood from the chair and returned to my position looking out of the window.

I’ll freely admit that I loved Lyra Heartstrings but not in a way that would ever cause me to want to… copulate… with her. We were more than just partners. We were close friends. The thought of cross species bedroom antics did not really sit well with me and I pushed it out of my mind. I had struck a nerve when I asked her and she became a tomato. Perhaps she had not fully admitted it to herself yet but there was something more than just friendship there between Bon Bon and herself. For me though sex had always led to something bad and more heartache and pain then I cared to have. The last time I became involved with anyone Nick stepped in and took her away from me. One bad relationship after another turned me off to the whole affair and I’d stayed clear ever since I…
“The magic administered has healed you greatly in only one night.” Princess Celestia’s voice came from behind me.
“Sweet Celestia!” I exclaimed and turned around quickly. I had not even heard her come in.
“I see you’ve picked up some of the pony sayings.” She raised her head and looked down her nose at me.
“Could I please have some clothes?” I couldn’t think of anything else to ask at the moment.
“You shall be provided garments. I believe that your friend Lyra Heartstrings brought a change of clothing with her.”
“Princess…”
“Celestia.” She said coldly.
“Celestia… what happened… I did not know he was here.” I shrank back slightly.
“It is of no concern. You’ll be going back to Ponyville as soon as you are able to travel.” She turned and started trotting towards the door.
“It is something to be concerned about. Chrysalis may not be able to come here but someone else can and they did.”
“Were you going to tell me about the killings?” She turned and pushed her nose to within an inch of mine. I had to step back or fall over. “When were you going to tell me that my ponies were dead because of this man turned Changeling?”
“I… I don’t know when… or if ever.” I whispered.
“If not for my student Twilight Sparkle I would have never known.”
“I’m sorry. I need to find the Doctor. The disc he gave me is the key to all of this. He’ll be able to tell me more.”
“Go then. Find the Doctor. I would appreciate it if you did not overstay your welcome here at the royal palace. You may stay until you are well enough to travel. Good day Mr. Northrain. “

After she left I was furious. Several times I picked up the porcelain bowl and nearly threw it at the window. I understood why she was angry with me. I understood it entirely too well and my rage was not directed at her but she had served to stoke it treating me like an unwanted house guest. I was angry at myself for allowing any of this to happen. When I found that first body at the edge of the forest I fell right back into my old profession without ever asking how any pony felt about the death. I never took their feelings into account and went on working when the second, Alissa had been found. It was no wonder Mrs. Cake acted as she did when I came to talk to her. I had stood there with a glare and cake crumbs in my palm not saying a word. She had no idea what to do and so she froze up until her husband broke the silence.

I was an idiot. I was absolutely unsympathetic. I was pathetic. Of course Celestia would want me gone. What had I done since I’d come here besides screw with the way things were? Sure I’d made friends like Lyra and I was even accepted but really I was just that stupid boy that felt that he knew better and was going to get to the bottom of everything. That same kid that at twenty three shot a man to death because he thought that he was the guy that he was after. I never served time for that but I was kicked off the police force. I’d always had a chip on my shoulder since then and I had never let it go.

Nick was my responsibility. If I hadn’t gotten so piss poor drunk one night that I ended up sleeping with the girl then treating her as if she was just a play thing he wouldn’t have stepped in. I wouldn’t have fought with him. We wouldn’t have ended up here and the ponies wouldn’t have died.

Regret is a bottomless pool that continues to suck you down. The more you focus upon it the more you start regretting until it kills you. The only way to overcome it is to just stop cold and step away. I stepped away from the window and went to the bed. I had planned on lying back down and closing my eyes but there was a package on the sheets. Brown paper wrapped with a twine bow. I opened it and my second suit from Miss Rarity was inside. Lyra had gone to the trouble to fold my clothes then pack and wrap them. How did I thank her? I asked her when the last time was that she had been laid and talked about the Queen wanting me. I felt like such an idiot that I did not dress for a few minutes.

The pain in my shoulder prevented me from pulling on my shirt and I had to get creative to slip my arms inside and button it up. The tie was nearly impossible but I only almost passed out once while tying it. As far as the slacks and suit coat and vest those went far easier. The shoes weren’t leather but they had a nice shine and fit the suit. I don’t know what miss Rarity made them from but they soles felt thick and cushioned my steps.

On a small dressing table were the contents of my pockets from the night before. I put tissues and various other things in the pockets of my suit coat then slipped my switchblade into the hidden sleeve pocket I had requested. The last and final touch was the Fedora. Lyra had not been wearing hers having probably left it outside the bedroom. It was bad manners to walk into some establishment or residence with a hat on. I waited until I opened the door of the bedroom and stepped into the hall before putting it on. There were no guards posted and there really was no reason for them to be there. I was not going to start trouble here in the palace. I just wanted to be gone for a bit and I’d decided to walk around Canterlot. If those ponies had not seen a Human they soon would.

“Johnny!” I heard my partner’s voice down the hallway. She was galloping towards me at full speed. “There’s been another killing!” She pulled up short skidding on the carpet of the hall and catching her breath for a moment. My plans were forgotten and I bent down to look her directly in the eyes.
“I’m sorry I’m such a jerk sometimes.”
“Wh… what?” She said still breathless.
“That was completely rude of me to say what I did earlier.”
“Forget about it. We need to go. Its another pony with an hour glass cutie mark.”
“Colgate?” I asked suddenly fearing she’d been the victim of Nickolas.
“No… somepony else.”
“Kiddo, grab your hat.” I tapped the tip of her nose and she trotted towards her room.

Regeneration

Some walls are built to keep things out. The type of things that can cause harm or just scare people and ponies or make a general annoyance of things such as rain, snow and the occasional bear wandering around through the town. Other walls are built to keep things in such as those of a prison cell or the chamber where I was currently sitting on a chair made for ponies with my back aching and my shoulder protesting the position I was sitting in.

Across from me was the corpse of another hourglass pony laid out on a bed with a sheet draped over its face. This chamber was deep within the castle cut off from the outside world and held four of us including the dead pony. Minuette Colgate and Lyra Heartstrings occupied positions along the wall watching me as much as they did the corpse. I had been told to wait by Colgate and remain silent. Wait for what? We’d been here ten minutes waiting for nothing. I could heart their breathing echoing off the stone brick of this deep place.

The walk from the palace to the city had taken me longer than I wished. I had been shot only a day before and my body groaned the entire way against the motion. My arm though healing had hurt too much and I had to make a sling with extra bandages just to restrict its movement. When we approached the scene it had been marked off and inside the watch maker’s shop was the dead pony. There were no marks on the body and no blood to be seen. I had expected a shooting since Nickolas still had my gun and had stated in the note that he would use it. Colgate called for a stretcher and draped a sheet over the pony then we made the journey back to the palace and deep into cells that had no reason for existing in a peaceful world. They must have been a dark secret of the palace from times past for there was no recent usage of these chambers.

There was a break in the sound of three breaths as the door opened and the Doctor entered carrying a lantern in his mouth. He sat it down and it added to the other hanging from a hook on the wall. He came and sat in the chair next to me and tilted his head to the side.
“I lost the disc that you gave me.” I told him and heard a sigh from Colgate.
“I said be silent.” She scolded me. “We won’t hear it if you talk.”
“It’s already starting but it will take a bit since he’s pretty far gone. It’s alright for him to talk Dentist.”
“I told you not to call me that Doctor.” She showed her annoyance in saying each syllable of his name loudly.
“Well I’m not going to call you Colgate. Sounds like a toothpaste. In fact it is on some worlds.” He turned his gaze towards me. “So you lost the disc? That’s not particularly good… what disc was that now?”
“The one you gave me. You said it was part of Chrysalis or from her.”
“Oh so Chrysalis has returned?”
“Of course she’s returned. You were there when she attacked us.”
“Glad to know I survived.” He smiled and looked back to the body under the sheet.
“Doctor I lost the disc.” I started to become flustered. “Chrysalis has four of the five now. The only one left belongs to Colgate.”
“Oh good.” He nodded and brushed up against me for a brief moment.
“Good? That’s all you have to say about it? Damn it Doctor she has four of the tokens she needs to break the barrier that five of you put up on the badlands and all you have to say is good.” I growled at the last part.
“Johnny,” Colgate spoke from behind me and I turned around. “He jumps around in time so much that he’s not been there with Chrysalis and us yet.”
“With me Mr.… Johnny… love the name by the way. With me I have not met you yet. I will but right now I haven’t but that does not mean that I did not because I did just now as I entered the room which means when you see me for the first time I’ll already know you but you won’t yet know me. It’s confusing if you don’t have the type of mind to follow it. Timelines are always intersecting in strange ways. So what are we waiting for exactly Dentist?”
“We’re waiting for him to regenerate.” She rolled her eyes. “You said so yourself that it had already started.”
“I say a lot of things and I can’t always be sure of them. Who’s he going to be this next time I wonder. Hopefully not ginger.”

Having given up understanding the two Time Lords I turned my head forward and closed my eyes. They continued on goading each other and talking about people and placed I did not know. The word regenerate came up once more and I started to ask what it meant when Lyra’s hoof pushed against my good shoulder and she nodded towards the body. A golden glow came from under the sheet and there was a sudden brightness through the fabric. Suddenly with a collective explosion of golden light the sheet dropped free and a completely different pony sat on the bed.

The old pony had been a combination of blue and creamy white. This new one had an orange mane and a tan coat. He stamped his hooves a couple times on the mattress then stood up and clicked his tongue feeling the teeth in his mouth. To the Time Lords this seemed as if it was a perfectly natural thing to have a pony completely change from one version to another. Lyra and I we were struck speechless while the tan pony suddenly found himself looking at his reflection in a mirror that Colgate had supplied.
“Oh that’s interesting indeed. New voice as well and higher pitched. I wonder if I still like apples.”
“Apples are rubbish.” The Doctor tossed something to the tan pony.
“Good evening Doctor. Or is it morning? Hard to tell down here.”
“It’s always morning somewhere. Right now though we need to get down to business.”
“You brought along a Human? You are Human aren’t you? Fantastic a Human. I haven’t seen one of you in Equestria in probably a decade.” The tan pony smiled then threw a medallion around his neck, the one that the Doctor had tossed to him.
“I thought that Nickolas took that.” I stared at the medallion. It was one of the tokens.
“Nickolas is the other Human I presume? Well not quite Human but once was. I stopped time locally and he was just far enough away that it did not affect him. An unfortunate side effect of that is being for all intents and purposes dead until your body catches up to current time.”
“If you weren’t dying why did you regenerate?” Colgate asked from my side.
“Oh I was definitely dying. He thought he’d be sneaky and put poison on my tea cake. It would have worked… I did eat it… and pretty much I died. Except stopping time gave me enough time to start the process and he thought he was so clever in coming for the token yet he did not know that I’d already that very morning given it to the Doctor.”
“Yes and a fine thing you did Crusader.” The Doctor nodded.

I stood from the chair and took off my hat running my finger over the brim. Stopping time coupled with dying and not dying and then coming back from the dead but as a new pony was all too much for me. I excused myself from the chamber and headed up towards the surface where there would be fresh air and something I could comprehend like the sun or a cloud or… anything beyond all this craziness. My partner followed me without any words and even though I became lost twice blessedly she said nothing. Finally I emerged into a courtyard through a door and exhaled as soon as the sun kissed my skin. With my hat back on my head I sat down on the grass folding my legs under me and Lyra sat directly in front of me her yellow eyes staring into my blue.
“How in the hell am I supposed to understand any of that?” I exclaimed slapping my good hand down on the grass.
“I don’t quite get it either.” She shrugged her shoulders.
“I think we should probably go back to Ponyville. Go back to the boring missing cat cases and just forget about any of this.”
“That’s probably a good idea but what about Chrysalis?”
“To hell with her.”
“I’m all for giving up under some circumstances but not this time. She’s out there and she wants a way back in and I can’t let her do that. You can’t let her do that.”
“I know… but what can we do Lyra? She’s powerful and Nick is a Changeling and now we have Time Lords that come back from the dead and stop time and I’m just a guy that’s been shot and slowly turning into a Changeling.”
“You have something else going for you.” She offered a weak smile.
“Celestia is furious with me?”
“Well that, but you look good in a Fedora.”
“You don’t look so bad yourself kid.”

I tapped the tip of her hat and we both shared a soft laugh. There really was nothing that either of us could do at the moment. Nick had failed in killing the… Crusader I thought the Doctor called him. He’d failed and also failed to retrieve the token which meant that there were still two out of their hands. That was something to build hope upon but I don’t rely on hope. Hope is what you have when all is pretty much lost and it gets you nowhere except a cold grave or a dark alley. The people I knew that had relied on hope ended up dead. Sometimes I wondered if they were the lucky ones not having to deal with life anymore. I shook my head and dismissed the thought. That type of thinking led back to regret and back into that deep abyss.

I pushed my hat off my head and lay back on the grass feeling the cool blades against my skin. Lyra slumped beside me and closed her eyes letting out a long sigh. I probably should have stayed in bed and my shoulder was killing me but I was never the type to stay down when an injury happened. My first year on the force I’d been stabbed by a crook who was trying to mug some poor random victim. They stitched me up and I drank half a bottle of whiskey and was back on the beat the next day. No down time for Johnny Northrain. Of course that was before I’d been shot. The wounds did not even compare in pain or severity. At least there was magic here that could help mend my shoulder but even that still took time.

After a few minutes of sun bathing with my thoughts Colgate joined the two of us. We sat up and she dropped a pocket watch in front of my feet. It was my watch and I picked it up seeing that there was something different about it. The bullet dent was still in the face but inside had been completely replaced and the roman numerals were slightly glowing blue against their usual black. My hand went to my coat pocket and felt nothing.
“I had this in my pocket when we were waiting for the Crusader to regenerate. How in the hell was it fixed in that short of time and by who?” I asked her slowly getting to my feet.
“Don’t be angry at him but the Doctor stole it from your pocket. He went back a couple days and had it fixed then brought it to me and was waiting outside the chamber door when I exited. The Crusader… now I’m using that nickname. Chrono repaired it and added something extra.”
“What did he add?” I brought the glowing blue numerals close watching them cast a soft light.
“You only get one charge. After that it’ll be completely useless and revert back to being just a standard broken pocket watch.”
“What did he add Colgate?” I asked her again.
“He had to take out the gears you understand. Needed the room for the machine. The hands are what you use to set it. At most you can only get twelve hours out of it. You just move the hands to what time you want…” She quieted as she explained.
“What did he do?” I was starting to get annoyed as she avoided the one question I had.
“Don’t be mad the watch couldn’t have been repaired. Well it could have but this is far more useful than a pocket watch. The Doctor said you’ll need it and you’ll understand when to use it. Just remember that you only get one use out of the watch.”
“Colgate…” I said very slowly moving the watch from my face to look directly into her eyes. “What the hell did he put in my watch?”
“A machine to stop time.”

Decisions

In the days since leaving Canterlot there had been no plan. We returned to Ponyville and somewhat settled back into the routine of finding lost items and pets. Most of my attention had been focused upon coming up with a plan of action yet the paper sat blank on my desk waiting for me to write down what should be done. The only weapon I had was my switchblade and that’d be next to useless against the Changelings. I could just imagine trying to fend off a group of them with three and a half inches of steel. The ponies had no firepower to speak of and even something as simple as a sling shot was lost on them. How would they ever use it with their hooves? I’d spent some time consulting some of Twilight Sparkle’s books on weaponry but it was all pretty much useless or pageantry such as jousting lances that were attached to armor. None of it was practical for me and I’d thought about having a blacksmith make me a few blades yet there was none to be found. Even though they had hooves these ponies did not wear horseshoes and had no need for a smith. All the rest of the metal objects they used came from Trottingham or Canterlot.
I needed to make a decision if we would fight Chrysalis directly or try something else. I needed to decide what the alternate decision would be. I needed a drink more than anything at the moment. For the third day in a row my mind drew a blank on what to do. I’d had enough of sitting around waiting but I couldn’t come up with a solution. Grabbing my hat and coat I headed out for a walk away from Ponyville and the blank sheet of paper.

I waved at and chatted with a couple ponies on the street yet I wanted to be away from them all. I stepped lightly going past Sugar Cube Corner just in case Pinkie Pie suddenly burst out of a bush and greeted me. I escaped unscathed and continued on past Fluttershy’s and Derpy’s homes. My walk brought me deeper and deeper into the woods until there was a solid wall of rock blocking my path. I touched the outcrop with the palm of my hand feeling the warmth of the sun through my fingers.

There was a time years ago when I was sitting in a club nursing a bad hang over. Black coffee with a lot of sugar was my medicine as my head would not stop aching. I held onto that porcelain mug as if it were my only pillar of support in a rolling ocean. The Coffee was hot against my hand as I held it there for a couple hours until I felt well enough to climb into bed for a week. Just as I got up to leave the club a woman took the stage and started singing as the black men behind her played Jazz. The song was sweet and dark just like the coffee I’d been drinking near a gallon of. I stayed and listened to her sing a couple more before she left the spotlight and backstage we’d had the dressing room to ourselves. I don’t know what I said that day that made her let me in or what I’d said for the next year that kept her around. It was that voice of hers though that I fell hard for. When the time was up and everything ended I found myself going to various clubs trying to catch just a fragment of that perfect singing voice.

Pulling my hand away from the rock face I turned to go and I heard that same damned voice. No it wasn’t quite the same. The owner was sweet and unrefined but still sang with the emotion that had once ensnared me. I stepped through the undergrowth and around the trees to find the source and saw a small filly with the zebra Zecora ahead of me. They were gathering plants into a basket and she was singing while picking the flowers and leaves. I leaned against the nearest tree and folded my arms across my chest just listening to her. I knew I’d seen this pony somewhere before but there were so many of them in Ponyville I could never remember all of their names.

A soft sigh escaped my lips as her song mellowed my heart and the zebra looked over her shoulder spotting me only twenty yards away. She inclined her head and went back to picking. Neither one of us wanted to interrupt the sweet filly that sounded as if she was a perfectly tuned bell. Of course I’d seen her before; she was Sweetie Bell the sister of Rarity. I laughed at my slowness of recognizing her and when she stopped singing I tipped the brim of my fedora towards her and made an awkward bow. Standing hurt a little but my shoulder had mostly healed in the four days since being shot. Whatever magic Celestia had used saved me weeks of pain.
“That was simply beautiful. Does it have a name?” I asked letting my hands drop to my side.
“It’s my own song.” She said shyly and put her small bundle of flowers into the basket.
“You should sing that in a night club in Canterlot. Get a bass to play the background and every pony would toss you roses.”
“I’m not that good.” She squeaked.
“You’ve the voice of an Angel.”
“It’s good to see you up and about after hearing of your injury I had many a doubt.” Zecora smiled.
“Lyra’s been making sure I don’t overdo it. Zecora you don’t happen to have a bottle of whiskey at your place do you?” I asked with just a little hope.
“Whiskey is all fine and good if you are a Human and want a head full of wood. What I have brewed with my stirring stick will not give you an alcoholic kick.”
“What’s alcohol?” Sweetie Bell asked dropping more flowers into the basket.
“It’s a potion that helps you forget but once it wears off you just feel worse.” I walked over to the basket and looked at the plants they had gathered. “You need more of these types?”
“We will make a special thing for Sweetie Bell and her ability to sing.” Zecora nodded.

I set myself to task helping them gather the ingredients and even convinced Sweetie Bell to sing a couple more songs while the three of us worked. It was not long until the basket had been completely filled and I carried it back to Zecora’s hut following behind the two ponies with a smile at the corner of my mouth. Neither one of them really cared what I’d done in my past or if they did they never asked. The days following my arrival they were in shock but some of the elder ponies had seen a Human before. Two weeks later they had accepted me as a new resident and there was an unwritten code of conduct that I’d seen. Many followed it close but some were less strict on how they treated everypony in Ponyville. There was harmony and joy to be had in droves. Sadness the kind of which I’d grown up with and known nearly every day hardly existed out here.

That’s why that first murder had been such a hit to the community and I’d seen it through the lenses I’d always worn. It was just another body to me. I wondered if some of these ponies had really gone through hell trying to cope with the fact that someone had killed a pony. I was not going to let it happen again. Seeing Sweetie Bell and hearing her song had been all the motivation I needed. By the time the brew was finished and bottled I had a plan. Rarity had shown up soon after to pick up her sister and thank Zecora for making her a special potion. The two of them left and I was alone with the zebra for the first time since coming here. She looked at me over the cauldron with those knowing mystical eyes. She set to work making something while I removed my coat and sat it next to a giant painted African style mask.
“I’m going into the Badlands.” I stated and she merely nodded.
“This I have known since the seeds of destruction had been sown. The Changeling Queen was not content to sit in the badlands and simply vent. ” She tossed a reddish vine into the mix.
“Is there anything I can take with me that will help? I have a knife and a broken pocket watch. That’s not much compared to what awaits me there.”
“You’ll need to pack supplies for three for you will have some company.”
“Three? Who are the other two that will be going?” I rubbed my shoulder watching her work.
“Heartstrings will accompany you and Derpy Hooves will be number two. When you came back to Ponyville they stopped by fearing you to be ill. Both asked for help to cheer you up and I gave each of them a full cup. You have good friends that care and in your mission they want to share.”
“What do I do then?” I asked as she stirred the mixture and brought it to a boil. “I don’t want to put them in a situation where they could be killed or turning like I am. Once I’m there how am I going to fight Chrysalis much less defeat her?” I refrained from mentioning Nick.
“You will do what you must do for answer your own questions only can you.”

She gripped the stirring stick in her teeth and added something else to the mixture. I turned away from her and looked at the mask while she worked. I’d seen things like this in a museum before. They had been faded and slightly warped by time but this was brightly painted in green with a white rim and red facial markings. It had been carved from one piece of wood and there was fringe made of braided grass all along the edge. The time it must have taken to create this was incredible. Zecora and the zebras did not have hands nor did they have magic so they had to be working with their hooves and teeth using rocks to carve out the wood. She had several masks like it lining the walls and all of them different sizes. Dedication was the word that came to mind for someone like her. Dedication to her culture and to those she considered friends to want to help. She’d done so much good for the town and they all appreciated it.

Lyra had been there for me through a lot and at times I took her for granted. It was the addition of Derpy though that threw me for a loop. She wanted to come along and I couldn’t exclude her but I hoped the two of them knew what we were getting into. With Lyra’s magic we might just stand a chance. Having Derpy along to… no… we were all going to die. That little pony bless her heart was a walking time bomb of unintentional destruction. I started laughing and couldn’t stop. Turning around I saw Zecora look up over the cauldron and raise a brow. Every time somepony had set Derpy to a task she royally messed it up sometimes with hilarious consequences and other times so badly that it couldn’t be fixed. All I needed to do what get her to use that bubble brain of hers against Chrysalis and just sit back and watch. The entire badlands would go up in a firestorm and I wouldn’t even have to lift a finger. Picking up my coat I finally stopped my laughter and wiped a tear from the corner of my eye.
“I am happy you find my mask so funny. I was wondering if I needed to calm you with a dose of honey.”
“It’s not the mask although that’s a great work of art. It’s Derpy. I think I know how to use her to our advantage in the badlands.”
“Do not presume to use a friend or you’ll be alone in the end. Allow her natural talent to come out and the enemy it shall route.”
“I won’t use her in any way she does not agree to. I wouldn’t do that to a friend.”
“Very good for her and you yet right now I’ve finished your brew.
“What’ll this end up doing?” I asked trying hard not to fall into her rhyming cadence.
“It will keep you from having thirst but before entering the badlands you must drink it first. There is dose enough for three one Human and two pony.”

She ladled it out into three small earthen bottles and stopped them with a cork. I slipped them into different coat pockets and bid her a farewell. Leaving her hut and the Everfree Forrest I had a plan sketched out in my head. I did not even need the paper anymore. I’d be taking the fight directly to the Changeling Queen. She still needed two tokens to break the barrier and I would make sure that she would never get them. If she wanted me as nick had said then I would go and offer her my head. Sighing at my own thoughts for rhyming I kept walking on ready to tell Lyra and Derpy that the plan was strong.

Journey

Through the woods and over the mountains to the Changeling Queen’s house we go. Sure I’d changed the lyrics a bit but the song was appropriate. We’d set out that morning after I had commissioned Rarity to make a back pack for me the day before. While I waited for her to finish the job I gathered Lyra and Derpy and explained to them my intention of going deep into the badlands. They offered protests saying that it was too dangerous but I wouldn’t be swayed away from what I felt needed to be done. Within an hour they agreed to come with me and we gathered what gear and food would be needed. The next day Lyra had her saddlebag, I had my back pack and Derpy had a small belt with pouches to keep her light enough for flying.

As the first day drew to a close we had reached the far edge of the Everfree forest. My shoulder was not quite good enough to haul the weight of the pack without protest and to help I had used a broken branch as a walking staff. We made camp in the shadow of a large oak tree and helped ourselves to a cooked dinner. Sweet potatoes baked in the coals of a small fire were delicious. It had been years since I had gone camping. As a kid it was the thing I did with my cousins every summer in Michigan. Out here it still held a bit of the same thrill having to sleep outdoors and gather your own wood for a fire. After the meal Derpy quickly fell asleep and I lay down on my back using my pack as a pillow.

The stars were beautiful. I couldn’t tell you if they were the same ones I’d seen in Chicago. I never really bothered to learn any of their names or patterns. That was business for Astronomers and living in a city that always had so many electric lights I never understood what they saw in the stars or why they wanted to study them. Here in Equestria I’d looked up a couple times but never really paid attention. They were simply gorgeous. So many of them sparkled and every time I focused upon an area of black after a couple seconds I could see other dimmer stars there. The band of the galaxy was clearly visible and a few meteors streaked through the sky and burned out. I had completely missed this living in a city. Even as a kid I never really looked up at the sky preferring to look at the flames of the camp fire instead.
“You haven’t told me your intentions.” Lyra spoke up breaking my concentration on the stars.
“I told you where we are going.” I shifted around to look at her.
“What happens once we get there?” She sat up and planted her front hooves on the ground.
“Did I ever tell you about being a cop?”
“Yes you have and don’t change the subject.”
“I served on the Chicago Police Force for almost two years.” I continued on seeing her roll her eyes. “There was a lot to deal with. Corruption and murder were nearly a daily occurrence. This bright eyed young man entered into the department about a month after I had started. He was going to change the streets and make them safer for everyone. He lasted a week until he was gunned down in a random act of violence. His little brother decides that he’s going to become a cop and find the people responsible. A year and a half later he joins and gets posted with me as a partner. Both of us are walking the streets for the next four months. The kid was good and we ended up cracking a lot of skulls in that time. We finally find the guy who put a magazine into his brother and we arrest him.

“I was running late one evening for the start of a shift and the kid decided to go on ahead without me just to the first area where we usually talked to an Italian grocer. By the time I caught up to my partner the grocer was dead, his wife was bleeding out and my partner was nowhere to be found. His body was floating in the river two days later with a thousand cuts and his eyes plucked out. I followed what leads I could and ended up putting three people in the hospital and another in the grave because of what they did to my partner. The police knew it was me but they couldn’t prove any of it. I was let go and put under watch for a while. The guy they assigned to watch me was a detective and he started teaching me how to be an investigator.

“I’ve told you how violent the city was. How much blood had been spilt in three decades. I hope Equestria and Ponyville never see anything like that. That’s why we are going to the badlands. I am pretty sure that the Changeling Queen won’t be satisfied with just imprisoning ponies in cocoons. She’ll want to start a war against Equestria in the hope of bringing it all down. If I have to lose everything I have left to stop her then that’s what I will do. I’m going to walk up to her and stab her directly in the heart.”

There was a long period of silence from Lyra. She looked down into the dirt and moved her hooves from side to side pushing it around while she struggled with her inner thoughts. If she left my side now and never wanted to speak to me again I wouldn’t blame her. Making a decision to actually kill someone was not something to be taken lightly. I’d done it once before to a street rat yet this time it would be different. The guy back then only had a gun in his hand. This Queen had powers I did not even comprehend. I could play her desires to my advantage if I could just get close enough to use my switchblade on her. Then of course there was Nickolas to contend with. I had something in mind for him but I wouldn’t tell either of the ponies about it. Once the two of us had shared a bond as deep as brotherhood but now I did not know where we stood. He’d shot me, he’d taken my girl that I did not really care too much about and now he was serving the Queen I had decided to kill.
“I don’t want you to die.” She said in a whisper her voice choking.
“I don’t want to die either.” I sat up using the staff to help me.
“You are so set on going in there that you can’t see that’s exactly what will happen. She’s not going to play it safe. She will end up killing you. You… you don’t… she was not inside your head. You don’t know what she’s like in that twisted mind of hers.”
“No kiddo I don’t. What happened to you and what’s happening to me I don’t want to even chance that on another pony. I’ve got the watch. If it comes down to it I can freeze time and stab her. Then it will be done.”
“What about the Princesses?” She looked up with tears in her eyes.
“What about them?”
“This isn’t the city Johnny. If you kill somepony they won’t just lock you up and give you trial. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna will… will… I don’t even want to think of what they will do to you. If you kill her you can’t live in Ponyville. They won’t let you even live in Equestria. They may banish you to the badlands as punishment. Where will we be then?” She stamped her hoof and Derpy woke up.
“I told you I’d give up everything.” I stated.
“There’s got to be another way. We can make another barrier or trap her in a dungeon or something else than you being exiled. We could get the Doctor to take her on the Tardis and put her someplace where she can never hurt another pony.” Lyra wiped away her tears.
“You could but muffin won’t work that way.” Derpy stifled a yawn and stretched her wings.
“I forgot about the Tardis. Why doesn’t the Doctor help us jump in time and stop her before any of this even happened?” I focused my attention on Derpy.
“Because it’s never that simple. He already knows what happens and he’s been pretty quiet about it. All he told me was to fly fast when I saw you with a rock. My muffin won’t change the time line if he can help it.”

I wanted to protest and tell her that he could have given us something useful as a hint but I kept quiet. The Doctor was in so many damned places in time that I couldn’t keep any of it straight. Derpy seemed to have no problem sorting any of it out. She had the reputation of being a little slow and very clumsy but the fact that she could keep everything straight about the Doctor showed a great well of intelligence within that brain of hers. I laid back down on the pack and sat the staff aside. A couple times over the next hour I started to say something but it never came out. The three of us slept under the stars and just after dawn we resumed the journey towards the badlands.

A small mountain range lay ahead of us and it took another day to reach them. That night under the stars there was an even smaller fire than before and we all slept quickly after the meal. I had restless dreams of spiders biting my arm and when I woke I expected to have a hundred new bites. The only marks were the old ones from Chrysalis. The patch of skin that had changed was a few inches long. Progress was slow but eventually in a few months or even a few years I’d be a Changeling. I was determined to kill Chrysalis before that happened. I was doomed either way to be exiled and not live with my friends anymore. Better a fate that I chose myself then one that was thrust upon me.

I pulled on my coat and we gathered our gear. The path leading through the mountains took us a few hours to cover. There were no trees here and the tallest thing was scrub brush that came up to my knees. The land was hot and arid with little water to be seen. This was just the mountain ring that ran around the true land to the south. The border was not marked and the mountains gave way to cracked desert devoid of plants and any life that I could see. There was no wind and it felt like an oven. Lyra had her hat to shield her eyes and Derpy used her wings. I took off my coat and rolled it up putting it into my pack. The heat was unlike anything I’d ever encountered. Horrible for a Human and two ponies.

Figuring this was good enough I pulled out the three bottles from Zecora handing one to Lyra and another to Derpy. Unstopping the cork I smelled a foul mixture within that had not smelled this pungent when it was being brewed. I downed it as quickly as I could tossing the bottle aside as soon as the last drops were in my body. It tasted worse than it smelled but I felt a tingling around my mouth and down my throat. Suddenly the heat did not seem so bad anymore and my body was not quite as warm. I saw the other two gag on the potion then toss their bottles aside.

It had been two days of walking to get here and it looked like it may be another two days until we reached our destination. Somewhere within this place was the means to an end. Celestia forgive me if I screwed this up. Using my staff as a support we three headed into the heart of the badlands.

Deadlocked

Some scientist once said that the reason we fear vampires was because the fangs reminded us of a time in our ancestral history where we were chased and hunted by Saber toothed cats. Trust some scientist to try and rationalize fear. As a kid you fear so damned many things it’s impossible to keep count. Spiders and bats and your friend’s drunk father with a baseball bat. Eventually you grow up and get over your fear of such things. Spiders are just eight legged eating machines that kill the nasty bugs of the world and bats are just the airborne version of spiders filling the same role. Eventually you break a bottle over that bastard’s head for hitting your friend one too many times and you don’t fear him anymore. You don’t fear anything like that until you are confronted with something so beyond your experience and understanding that all you can do is fear. You start to appreciate that at your age something can still make you afraid. You start to embrace the feeling as your heart quakes. Fear is a powerful emotion if you learn how to use it. Unfortunately for me I never did.

My fear was running wild but I did not fear her. I had absolutely no fear left for what she could and probably would do to me. My heart was racing and my blood was cold because I’d just been ripped away from the one pony I valued more than my life itself and thrown before the Queen of the Changelings. I was down on my knees praying to Celestia and Luna and God and whomever else would listen that she had only taken me and left Lyra Heartstrings alone. I could cope with my death at her hands. That was easy enough for me to do. I couldn’t bear the thought of my friend being subject to the Queen’s whim again.

I raised my eyes from the ground with tears threatening to spill from their corners. She stood on all four hooves with her nose in the air much the same way Celestia had looked at me at our last meeting. Her tongue snaked out and licked her lips as she approached. I stood and balled my fists ready to do… what? I couldn’t fight her. There was no way I’d even hurt her. My knife and gun were gone and my hat had been lost. I liked that hat… it had been a gift from Rarity.
“You came to me my servant. You came to find me.” She loomed over me even though we were at eye level.
“I’m not going to let you win.” I croaked my throat hoarse and dry.
“It’s not about winning anymore. I need you. I need you with me and as a part of me. You and I will start a new clutch and we will hatch the strongest brood I’ve ever birthed.”
“I won’t be part of anything with you.”
“I repulse you like this. That can be changed.” Her skin crackled with that same green energy and she shifted form into Celestia with the matching voice. “I can be any pony that you wish.” Her form changed again into Luna. “Any pony at all. The only thing I require is that you love me. I’ll give you the entire world of Equestria. Everything will be yours my servant. You’ll have power and pleasure and every little desire of your heart. Love me and I will be your slave.”
“I want nothing. You have nothing you can offer that will make me join you.” My breathing was hard from the pain in my body.
“Not even if I looked like this?” Her form changed to that of Lyra.
“Don’t you dare assume her shape! Don’t you dare defile her!”

I screamed and hit her with my fists. The attack was feeble and she laughed it off changing back to her normal form. Her wings fluttered and my rage boiled hot. The fact that she had assumed Lyra’s form trying to get me to be with her angered me so much that I hardly felt the pain anymore. I wanted to break that horn off her head and ram it down her throat. I wanted to stand over her body as she gasped for air and I wanted to watch her die.

She stood on two hooves and her skin crackled again. Her form changed from a pony into a Human. Her skin became softly sun kissed and her hair was dark green and straight. Her eyes almond and her lips supple. She was clothed in a Chinese robe that shimmered green and black and her face was so beautiful it hurt to look at it. My rage quickly boiled away as I beheld this Asian beauty before me. She reached out a hand with long fingernails and touched the tip of my nose. Her eyes glowed a soft green as she smiled and canted her head to the side.
“I can be anything you wish…” Her voice was like silk sliding on chocolate.
“…anything I wish….” I echoed enraptured by her eyes.
“All you have to do is love me.” She drew her finger along my cheek and around behind my ear.
“…all I have to do…” I couldn’t help myself she was just so inviting and desirable.
“Is love me.” Her mouth came forward and she flicked the tip of her tongue over my lips.”
“…love…. I…. love….” I stammered trying to resist.
“Yesss….” She hissed drawing her lips to my ear and licking the inner curves.
“….lyra.”

It was the slightest breath of a whisper in her ear and she drew back. Before she could pull completely away from my face I pushed my mouth forward and bit down hard on her ear. She pushed me away with a yell and danced backward shifting out of that gorgeous Chinese form into her normal insect like version. I spat a small chunk of her ear from my mouth and wiped my tongue on my sleeve. She growled and there was pure fire in her eyes.

“How dare you attack your Queen!” She rose up and her horn began to glow. I fished in my pocket for something, anything to use against her. My hands clamped down around the pocket watch and I drew it out. Flicking open the face I set it for something. I did it too fast to see if it was twelve minutes or twelve hours. She threw her head forward and an orb of dripping green slime hurled itself at me. I dropped to my knees and it sailed past my head. I pushed the winding button on the watch and nothing happened. I pulled it out and pushed it again. Still nothing and she was summoning another orb to use against me. I slammed the watch down onto the ground angry that it did not work. I grabbed a large rock and raised it over my head. The damned watch was useless. The Crusader had gutted my watch and given me back a piece of junk. I brought the rock down hard into the face breaking it apart. There was a loud fizz then a spark and suddenly it exploded in electric blue light. I threw myself back and my arms up to shield my face. Something heavy hit my side hard and tumbled me out of the way. I heard a scream then the light dissipated and there was only silence.

I pulled myself up and saw Derpy with blood coming from her nose. I picked her up and checked her face. She gave me a weak smile and her wing was at a bad angle. I touched it and she cried out in pain. Ripping away the sleeve of my coat I tied the wing to her body with her crying the entire time. I couldn’t make a splint with no wood around and this had to do for now. It was broken and she wouldn’t be able to fly out of here. I hugged the little ditzy pony and she cried more. I joined her in shedding tears happy that my friend had not abandoned me. I felt so bad that she had been hurt and I pulled her to her hooves.

Spinning around ready to face Chrysalis I braced for an attack but she stood there silent. Her face was contorted in a scream and she was on her hind legs rearing up. She never moved and we waited a full minute before I picked up a small rock and tossed it. It stopped just before her suspended in the air unmoving as she was. I couldn’t make any sense of it. There was nothing that I could see stopping her from killing Derpy and myself. The rock and she were frozen in place. The remains of the pocket watch were scattered around the ground some of the pieces were suspended in front of her and others were far away. It had exploded and…

I turned hearing the whine of the Tardis before it appeared. Slowly it phased into existence and the sound stopped with a low pitched bell. The door creaked open and out of it ran a blur of aqua that crashed into me. She licked my face and kissed my lips and was completely unapologetic about hurting me. I did not care in the least. Lyra was safe and she was pinning me down. We were both crying and hugging. My body was torn up and my blood was on the sand but she was safe and that’s all that mattered.

The Doctor stepped out and tended to Derpy’s broken wing and bloody face. In between the kisses some from her and some from me I finally pushed her away enough to stand up. My legs gave way and I slammed back down on my ass hard. I gave up and just sat there with Lyra curling up in my lap. We were both exhausted from the ordeal and did not want to leave each other. I’d been ripped away from her and there was no way right now I’d chance a repeat of that.
“It exploded?” The Doctor asked seeing the pocket watch in pieces. “Oh now that’s very interesting. She’s Deadlocked.”
“Deadlocked?” I looked up over Lyra’s horn and asked the Doctor.
“What exactly happened?” He shot his eyes back to me and Derpy was standing at his side.
“The watch wouldn’t work. I tried to stop time just like Colgate said and it bloody well refused to work. So… I… broke it with a rock.”
“You broke apart a temporal device?” He grinned from ear to ear.
“Yes…” I said quietly.
“And it exploded.” He stated
“In blue light.”
“How did you escape?” He asked trotting towards me.
“Derpy slammed into me knocking me out of the way.” I looked to her and she had a smile just as big as the Doctor’s. I felt as if I had missed something important.
“You told me to fly fast when I saw him with a rock. There was a flash of light and I could see anymore. That’s when I ran into him.” Derpy beamed at the Doctor.
“You did perfect… muffin…” He nuzzled her neck and she blushed. “If Derpy had not hit you at that moment you’d be deadlocked just like the Changeling Queen.” He turned back to me.
“What the hell is deadlocked?”
“She’s beyond my help now. The device exploded and you sealed her in time. That light was the energy of the vortex exploding outward. Anything it touches gets locked into time. You effectively killed time for her. She won't age and she won't experience anything. Derpy got you away just before it could envelop you. Chrysalis… was not so lucky.” The Doctor shrugged.
“She’s permanently frozen like that?” I asked not quite believing it.
“I can’t break a deadlock seal. There might be some pony that can but for now she’s not going anywhere. You did well Mr. Northrain. You did quite well. Come on, let’s get back to the world and get you all some medical care.”

I tried to push Lyra off my lap but she was too tired and sore to budge. I picked her up and carried her towards the Tardis. The four of us stepped inside and I slumped down on the floor. The Doctor started her up and we jumped away from the badlands.

I’d fallen asleep on the Tardis. When I awoke we were in Canterlot and I was in my room again. One of these days I swore that I’d have to visit the bed without being injured. Lyra was sleeping next to me and next to her was Bon Bon. The three of us fit in the bed well enough. I guess Lyra did not want to be apart from me and Bon Bon wouldn’t leave her. I put my arms around both of them and fell back asleep. The dream was a pleasant one.

In the month following the recovery I had healed completely from the bullet and the battle in the badlands except for the small patch of skin that was still there. The gift from Chrysalis. We’d all met with Celestia and Luna. The Princesses recognized our effort in stopping Chrysalis from returning. It was subdued with no fan fair and I preferred it that way. Celestia put her nose against my forehead kissing it and telling me that I was welcome at the Palace. The train ride back was uneventful and our return to Ponyville went barely noticed. Twilight Sparkle knew what we had done. She asked me so many questions that I had to push her out of the office. No other pony in Ponyville knew what had happened. They asked Lyra and Me why we were away so long and we just told them that we’d been visiting in Canterlot. Life returned somewhat to normal.

I have to admit that I love Lyra Heartstrings but it’s not the kind of love that makes me want to marry her. It’s the kind of deep seeded love that makes me consider her my truest friend. When everything was going to hell she saved me. She put herself in harm’s way to pull me out of it. It was because of her that I was able to resist Chrysalis and stop her. I love that little pony and I grew to love her friend Bon Bon as well. The three of us settled into a good life for a while. Nothing lasts forever though. And I’m honestly glad that it doesn’t.

A month and a half after the badlands Spike burst into the office and tossed a scroll down on my desk. His sudden appearance caught me by surprise and I spilled my apple juice all over my shirt. I grabbed a towel from the kitchen and mopped up the spill. He picked up the scroll and waved it in his tiny claws.
“Johnny you have to read this. It’s from the Princess!”
“Okay Okay.. here give me that.” I took it from his hand and unrolled it.
“What’s it say?” Lyra asked from her desk.
“There’s been a murder…” I looked up from the scroll and turned my eyes to her.
“Where?” She stood from the desk and trotted around it.
“We’re going to leave on the next train and the Princess Celestia has asked for us specifically to investigate it. Get your hat kiddo… were going to Manehattan.”

Pocket Watch

My brain wanted to jump out of my skull and drop alongside the track as the train made the journey from Ponyville to Canterlot. I thought that Twilight had talked my ear off before but this time it was purely different. She assumed the role of asserted teacher making sure I understood every piece of etiquette there was before moving on to more. There was only so much I could take in one sitting and I kindly excused myself from the car and headed towards the back.

I liked her but god damned she was annoying sometimes. Twilight knew everything or knew a way to find out everything about the universe around her. She was pretty much the most intelligent person that I knew. That first week I’d been in Ponyville she ground through so many quills writing down what I knew about the Human world which was not much. I graduated High School and went on to start working for the force. Did pretty well for a couple years until something happened and I became a PI.

I reached into my vest pocket and pulled out the small green disc the Doctor had given me just before my last time coming to Canterlot. I ran my thumb over the surface looking at the ribbons of different translucent shades. It was pretty but associated with Chrysalis the Changeling Queen. It was something I had thought about throwing away or giving back to the Doctor multiple times yet it always seemed to want to stay with me just a bit longer.

I heard the door slide close from the car behind me and I looked up from the disc seeing a pony wearing a vest and a pocket watch. I looked back down at the disk running my finger over it once more before the hairs on the back of my arm started standing up. I could feel electricity in the air and I looked up again seeing that the pony was standing in front of me. He pulled on the pocket watch chain with his teeth sliding it out of the vest pocket and held it dangling from his mouth. The face of the watch as it spun by… it was my watch. I’d carried that watch for years since I was let go from the force. The last time I saw it was during the middle of a fight with my former friend. It had my name engraved on the back of it. I reached out for the chain and the pony jumped back.

Small green sparks of electricity jumped from the pony as it stood on two legs. The shape of the pony shifted to Human form. As the green light moved over it the face two dark brown eyes stared back at me. With a slight grin he dashed away into the next car down the line. I couldn’t believe who it was and I ran after him holding onto the disc.

I burst into the car and caught the pocket watch as it was thrown at me. My shoes skidded to a halt on the hard wood floor and the man I used to call friend raised my lost gun aiming it at my chest. I held the watch in one hand and the disc in the other considerably confused about the entire situation. He ran a hand over his scalp then smiled in a way that never touched his eyes.
“I’ve been looking for you.” His voice was harsh and raspy. Not at all like it had been when I’d seen him last.
“Nice to know that you care. What the hell are you doing here Nick?”
“Every waking moment she devotes to talking about you. How you taste, how you feel and how all she wants to do is make you her love slave.” He took half a step forward pulling the hammer back on my snub nose .38 special revolver.
“What are you on about?” I ran my thumb over the disc unconsciously.
“That’s her token. That’s what I came for but I’ll be coming for you soon. Why don’t you just give it to me Johnny and I can be on my way back to the Queen or you and I can finish this right now. What do you say?”
“Finish what Nick? I don’t have any idea what you are talking about.”
“How long you been here Johnny… a month? See I’ve been checking up on you and it’s been a month of pretty much paradise. You even got yourself a little assistant. Me, it’s been hell. You ended up in that small farm town and I ended up in what they called the badlands. No food out there and no hope.”
“It’s going to be alright Nick. You are here now and these ponies can help you.”
“Why were we even fighting Johnny? I can’t remember.” He took another step closer and his hand started shaking slightly. “Two weeks I was out there licking rocks until I find one of her brood and I killed it and ate it. She finds me a couple days later screaming in pain as my body starts changing. I’m one of them now Johnny. This isn’t even what I look like anymore.”
“You’re a Changeling?” I took a step towards him and he tightened his grip on the pistol.
“It’s all got to do with their bodies. I ate the poor bastard and now I’m like him. How’s it feel? Her bite? She’s got enough of her saliva in you that you should have started changing by now. See here’s the real kicker that makes me laugh. By the time she found me she’s already tasted you. Keeps going on about you every god damned waking moment. She can’t come through the barrier on the badlands but I can.”

I took another step towards him and I did not even hear the first shot. My body tensed as soon as the lead bullet hit me in the shoulder and I pulled both arms to my torso. The second shot imbedded itself into the cover of the pocket watch. I dropped the disc and he rushed towards it keeping the revolver in his hand. I fully expected a third shot to come and it never did. As soon as his fingers closed around the disc he launched himself out of a window breaking through the glass and changing while in the air. His body shifted to an ugly black thing Human sized with insect wings and cold emotionless green eyes. The creature that had been my friend flew off with the prize he had come to collect and I dropped to my knees.

There was a flurry of activity surrounding me as ponies came out and saw the blood and broken window. I’m not entirely sure what happened over the course of the next hour. I was bandaged and asked questions then told to stay lying down on a table in the dining car as the train made its final approach into Canterlot. My shoulder felt as if someone had lit a fire in the bullet wound. I couldn’t move it and had to be helped into a carriage and rushed towards the palace. They had a make shift stretcher prepared for me and Twilight and Spike lead the way through the corridors to a room where more ponies fussed over my wound.

Sometime during the commotion I had passed out after doctors worked to remove the bullet. Whatever they had given for the pain was not working and my sleep was short and dreamless. When I awoke my shoulder was completely bandaged and my fingers were numb. The area Chrysalis had bit on my arm was bandaged as well and blood had leaked through the wrapping. I sat up slowly in the bed with a grunt and saw that Twilight was at my bed side with a book. She set it aside and tried to offer any help she could. I assured her that I was alright and made her stay where she was. The door to the bedroom opened and in stepped both of the princesses. Beyond them I saw the guards waiting outside.

Saying that they were beautiful was like saying that a sunset was orange. There were so many levels of color and depth to both that you couldn’t really appreciate either unless you were there to witness them. Celestia stood tallest of the two and her hair was in a continual state of flowing. Her younger sister had bits of starlight in her mane and eyes that always looked like they were on the point of sadness. Twilight had stood up when they came in and backed away slightly. With the three of them at the foot of my bed I suddenly felt very insecure and small.
“I am glad to see that you have awakened.” Celestia spoke and inclined her head. “What happened on the train has everyone in a state of panic.”
“I’m sorry for what happened. I never imagined that anything like that could.” I said weakly.
“Do you know what attacked you?” Celestia lifted her head to look me directly in the eyes.
“He was a friend. His name is Nickolas Falcon.” I let out a grunt as I shifted position on the bed. “Last time I’d seen him we had been in the middle of a fight then I blacked out and ended up outside Ponyville. He said he’d ended up in the Badlands.”
“Why did he attack you?” She asked.
“The Doctor gave me a small green stone disc. He said it was her token and he had come for it. I tried to appeal to him but he shot me.”
“I see… anything else that happened?”
“He’s a Changeling now. I don’t know how but he said he killed and ate one of them.”

Her gaze turned from me and I felt easier when she was not staring. I’d half expected to have to explain what being shot meant yet the two princesses seemed to understand it completely. They exchanged a silent look between them. Twilight Sparkle seemed to shrink back into trying to escape any notice. Celestia’s eyes snapped to her and she told her student that she’d like to see her outside alone. The two of them exited the bedroom leaving the younger Princess at my bed side.
“What is your name?” She asked in a quiet voice.
“Johnny Northrain.”
“Your real name.” She walked around the bed and stopped only a foot from my face.
“Johan Nordregen.” I said just above a whisper.
“Deutsch?” She asked mimicking my whisper.
“Ja.” I nodded slightly and she took in a breath. When she exhaled I felt it hot against my cheek.
“You aren’t the first Human that has come to Equestria. There have been others over the past millennia. Our worlds exist side by side and every once in a while someone or something slips through. Why do you go by Johnny?”
“There was a war and my family changed our names to American ones.”
“There was a war here long ago and several Humans fought in it. They actually had a large city deep in the heart of the forest. During the time of Discord they were all killed and the city was forgotten. My Sister and I remember. A couple other ponies remember.”
“I…” I winced as I shifted again on the bed. “…don’t…”
“Are you in league with the Queen of the Changelings Johan?” She brought her nose so close to mine they almost touched. Her eyes narrowed and her horn was dangerously close to my forehead.
“Honestly no I’m not.”
“Do you want to destroy Equestria?”
“No I don’t.”
“We are at such a disadvantage.” She stepped away and turned pacing slowly. “We knew of the Queen yet thought she would never present a threat since she was in the badlands. She attacked us directly under our hooves and nearly took apart the entirety of Equestria. When did she bite you?”
“I…” I choked and coughed trying to get words out.
“We know and we saw the marks on your arm. This is most distressing. When a pony is bitten by a changeling they slowly become one or die. We did not know that Humans could undergo that same change. We will do everything we can to halt its progression and keep you Human. Rest now Johnny Northrain.”

When she left the room seemed to get a bit darker. That was just me being silly. Why would a princess of the night actually… reflect… perhaps there was something to that moon mark on her flank. Under Celestia’s gaze I felt like a boy being scolded by his mother. Under Luna’s I felt like a cheating lover that had been caught in the act. I lay my head back against the headboard and closed my eyes for the moment.

There was a soft click and I opened my eyes seeing nothing except my pocket watch sitting on the nightstand by the bed. Turning my head around I saw nothing in the shadows and the door was closed. The watch had not been there when Princess Luna had spoken. Was it possible for something to move that fast? I picked up the watch and turned it over seeing the remains of the lead .38 Special bullet in the face. I opened the face and a folded piece of paper fell out. There was a big crush mark where the energy from the bullet had hit the watch itself and dented the backing of the face pulling off a large circular chunk of paint. The glass had shattered and was gone. The gears still worked yet the hands had broken off. It make a loud click every second instead of a tick. I unfolded the note and mistook the brownish red letters as being inked. The words made me shiver. I looked at the letters again and saw that they were written in blood. It flaked away as I scratched at it with my fingernail. Setting down the note I grimaced. So was what it had come down to. This is where he stood. The note simply said…

Four bullets left. Two ponies already down. Three remain. I’ll see you around Johnny.

Badlands

The scouts had spotted us near sunset. We ran through the dry creek bed as hard as we could trying to get ahead of them before they descended. Derpy flew over shouting at us as they drew closer. She dropped to the ground and ran with us around a bend in the creek before we were stopped by a cliff. Skidding to a halt I dropped the pack to the dust and hefted the staff feeling the strain in my wounded shoulder. Streaking through the sky like a black blur the first of the scouts thumped into the ground and lashed out at me with its fangs bared. Raising the staff I cracked its skull with the hunk of wood over and over again until I was sure it had died. The second scout came at us just as fast and Lyra threw up a wall of dirt with her magic. The scout was unable to avoid it and crashed into the wall with a wet crunch. The third turned and headed away as fast as it could. Derpy crouched ready to launch herself after it but I halted her and we watched it disappear from view.

I picked up the pack and we climbed the ridge overlooking the valley below. Even if Derpy had caught up to the Changeling she had no weapons to fight it. The point of coming here was to give myself to their Queen and I wanted her to know that I was here. We started walking down the ridge towards the valley floor and I slipped on the loose gravel and tumbled down into the dirt below. Once I stopped I had to bite the stick to keep from screaming out. My shoulder had struck a couple rocks and it was shooting lances of fiery pain up my neck. I rocked back and forth trying to get the pain to subside and focusing on anything else at the moment. I’d been too damned eager and had not paid attention to where I was stepping.

My companions came to my side with concern on their faces. I pushed away their attempts to help knowing that it would do no good. I’d not broken anything just smashed it and it would stop eventually. Slowly I used the staff to stand up and leaned heavily on it. My entire side was twitching in the aftermath of the pain and I continued on leaving Lyra and Derpy little choice but to follow. Over another ridge we went and down into another valley. This had been five or six… I was not entirely sure since one looked the same as the last. Hours we had been walking and the day was coming to a close.

As the last rays of sunlight disappeared behind the mountains I heard a solid thud on the rock behind me. Turning quickly I did not raise the staff in time before two human hands shot past it and gripped my wrists. Nickolas was as naked as the day he had been born and grappling with me. Lyra struck out with her magic trying to separate us and Nick moved quicker than I could follow. One moment my partner was aglow with magic and the next she was skidding across the dust. I growled and lashed out with the staff only meeting the air and tumbling forward. Derpy raised on her hooves intent on fighting.
“See to Lyra!” I shouted at her.
“I knew you’d come. A little bird tells me that there’s this guy in a hat walking through the badlands. I was just about to go out and kill somepony else. I would have missed your appearance.” Nickolas put himself between Lyra, Derpy and me.
“How could I stay away? This place has been so inviting.” I was breathing hard and raised the staff again ready to strike.
“She’s ready and waiting for you but I don’t think you’ll be making it to her. See… I’ve decided to just kill you and be done with it. Do you know how annoying it is for her to go on about you every damned day? I’m the one serving her but she wants nothing to do with me.” He approached slowly keeping out of the range of the staff.
“It’s not my fault I’m the better man.” I moved to my left and he followed.
“You always were at first until you decided to just ignore everyone.” He matched me as I slowly circled him away from Lyra and Derpy.
“You aren’t a saint Nick. How many times did you screw me over and I looked the other way?”

He lunged towards me and I haphazardly swung the staff completely missing and his fist connected with my stomach. It was enough to put me on my knees gasping for air. He stood over me looking down with contempt and I moved my gaze past his legs seeing Lyra standing slowly. I lashed out with the staff again and he caught it in his palm. Wrenching it from my grasp he cracked me in the side of the head with it before tossing it away. I fell to the ground with stars in my eyes and rolled onto my belly trying to crawl away through the rocks and sand.

I felt that electricity in the air as he shifted and a clawed foot pressed firmly into the middle of my back. It kicked and shredded the coat and my skin. I screamed out a harsh guttural cry feeling as if someone has just taken a nine tailed whip to my backside. I tried to crawl away again and something big collided with Nick sending dirt in all directions. I sat up and pushed myself up off the ground seeing Lyra with her head down in a charging posture with her horn sparking yellow magic. She had thrown a mass of dirt at Nickolas and he was just digging himself out of it the tip of his insect like head the only part showing above the pile.

Before I could stop her Lyra ran directly towards him bringing up more scoops from the ground ready to use them as a weapon. Nickolas broke free of the pile and raced towards her using his chattering wings to give him speed. He dodged her attacks and collided directly with her sending my friend end over end into a ditch. He raised his clawed hand ready to rend her flesh with it and I screamed out with all the volume and fury I could muster. With his attention focused on me I started walking towards him. He matched my slow pace with his arms tensed at his side. Each step brought us closer to the end of this fight. I did not have much left in me and he knew it.

A decade after the close of the war and London still had not fully recovered. There were bombed out buildings from HE-111’s and V-1 attacks. Entire sections of the city had just been abandoned and the cleanup was slow at best. It had been near one of those police boxes so much like the Tardis that I’d met Nickolas Falcon. He was from New York and had come here for the same reason I’d crossed the pond. It always came down to either business or a girl. In his case it was both and in my case it was business. We swapped stories being two Americans in a sea of Brits. I told him where to come find me if he ever headed out to the Windy City and he told me where to look him up in the Big Apple. We went our separate ways and lost contact.

A year later he was in Chicago beat up and bleeding. He stumbled into my office with an envelope of cash and half a bottle of Jameson. The guys who came in after him left on a stretcher after the ambulance had to haul their asses down stairs. It was because of that fight that we became fast friends. He relocated to Chicago and we were in trouble nearly weekly with someone. As the years passed I stopped seeing him and we grew apart.

It was then that I introduced him to the girl. They hit it off that night and again that morning and once more that evening. I’d only learned about it because she let it slip on accident. I threw her out of my life and I asked him to come to my office. We’d been up and down those stairs a thousand times outside of the small cramped room. I shouted at him and he threw a punch. I kicked his butt out of the office and drew my gun ready to shoot him. He grabbed my arms and threw his weight forward. We tumbled down those damned stairs and by the time I woke up I was cold, bruised, battered and in the company of a pony.

She was on the ground and struggled to get up. I couldn’t help her right now even though every part of my body wanted to rush to her side, pick her up and get her the hell out of here. I couldn’t see Derpy and I hoped she had run away. If I failed to stop this… thing… this creature here and now then he’d kill both of my pony friends. He’d also kill more in his vain attempt to gather the favor of a Queen who could care less about him. What else did he have now that he was one of her brood? As he approached I steadied myself and drew in a deep breath trying to calm the fear in my heart. I did not care if I died but I’d be damned if he would take Lyra with him.

I rushed as fast as I could towards his mutated form and he laughed and met me head on. Our arms outstretched collided and our palms interlocked. He was pushing me back and my feet scraped over the rocks. I had nearly no strength to fight back against him and the force of his arms felt like they were pushing my shoulders out of my sockets. Our faces were inches from each other and his green eyes narrowed as he pushed harder. My resolve was ready to crumble into dust and I reared back my head. He took it as a sign of my defeat and pressed with more intensity but stopped cold as soon as I threw my head forward and slammed it into his. We both staggered with the head butt and I flicked my wrist freeing the switchblade from the hidden pocket. Through the stars running around my head I saw him clearly enough to flick open the blade and sliced his forehead with it.

He growled and stepped back with green blood running down his face. I’m not sure where he had been keeping it but he drew my snub nosed revolver and fired a shot at me. He shouldn’t have missed but the blood in his eyes was blinding him and the shot tore through my hat only half an inch from my head. I wrapped my arm around his and he slammed the pistol into my face. It hit hard against my cheek but before he could pull the trigger I brought the switchblade up then down with all my force into the base of his neck. The skin gave way and it sunk up to its full length in his artery. He dropped the gun and kicked me to the ground.

I fell against the top of a cliff. While I had been trying to get him away from my friends he had pushed me up against the edge without me knowing it was even here. My was head suspended over the abyss and my hat fell off flying down into the darkness beyond. I sat up but his foot kicked against my chest and he pinned me to the ground. With his hand shaking he drew the switchblade out of his body and dropped it with a clang of metal on stone. He leaned over me with his fangs shining in the moonlight and threw his mouth towards my nose. This was pretty much it. He had vicious enough teeth to tear apart my face and end my life. I had nothing left to fight with and I braced myself for the oncoming bite. A fraction of a second before he would have connected with my flesh he was suddenly wrenched backward and there was a loud crunch and pop that echoed through the badlands. He screamed the most unnatural sound I’d ever heard and turned quickly forgetting me. Both of his wings were gone and blood was pouring out of the empty holes. He started running away from me and towards something yet he was hit directly with a boulder and both Nickolas Falcon and the rock flew over my head. I could see the details of the claws in his feet and the structure of his half insect and half human leg as he went past me. The rock had sent him into that dark abyss and I heard them hit the bottom. I’ll never forget what a body sounds like when it’s crushed by a rock like that. There was no doubt in my mind that Nick had not survived.

I rose to my feet with every part of my body wanting to give up. My blue eyes saw Lyra Heartstrings grunting with foam coming from her nostrils. She had used every ounce of magic possible to tear Nick’s wings out then hit him with the boulder. They lay between us like two translucent oil slicks. I stepped over to her dragging my body and wrapped my arms around her. She collapsed in my embrace and we both lay on the hot ground not moving. I tried to look around for the gray Pegasus but I couldn’t see her. She had to have run away during the fight and I thanked Celestia that she was not in the same state as the two of us were. Lyra licked my nose and I tried to laugh but I hurt too damned much.
“I’m sorry.” She said so quiet I almost missed it.
“You did what you had to. For me… for us.”
“I love you.” She whispered in my ear.
“I love you Heartstrings.” I told her.

After laying there for what seemed half an hour I eventually gathered the strength to push myself up off and get both of us to our feet. My former friend was a mass of goo at the bottom of the cliff and here I was with my best friend in a worse state than if I’d been struck with a Ford while trying to cross the street. She looked up at me with a smile then her expression turned to horror as I was enveloped in green fire. The circle spread around me and I thrust my hand through trying to reach her. The fire burned off the hair on my arm and singed my skin. It drew me out of sight and I thought I could hear my partner scream.