Remember, Always

Chapters

1 - The End Starts the Beginning
2 - Bygones
3 - Epiphany
4 - Ruination (Minor Edits)
5 - Truth [EDITED]

1 - The End Starts the Beginning

This is the new, updated version. I was not particularly happy with how short the beginning was, so I actually made it longer. Now, you'll see this as soon as the site decides it wants to update it, and I want your honest opinions, readers. That would be appreciated very much.

~See you on the flipside ~ Acheron

The train rumbled as it moved swiftly through the underbelly of the city. At that time of night, it would have been packed, but only one person sat on it that night. He moved his wrist around, flexing it until he heard it pop. He grumbled when he heard it pop, as that was the limit he could move it. Rolling up his sleeve, he ran his finger down a scar that started at his wrist, ending four inches down his arm. He rolled his sleeve back up and stared at the ceiling.

“Stupid metal plate.” Reaching into his pocket, he fished out a medical report dated to a time four months before. It detailed out the surgery that they had to do, which limited mobility of his hand. He could feel tears stinging his eyes as he read it. No, don't start now, not now. This is serious! His train of thought was interrupted by the sharp ringing tones from his cellphone. Flipping it open, he stared down at the screen, recognizing the number from a doctor at the hospital. “Hello? Uh, yes, this is Erik. N-No, I'm not working, I was just on my way home- what?” He dropped the phone as the tears came back in full force. When the phone hit the ground, the doctor on the other end of the line was frantic.

“Erik? Erik!” He let the doctor drone on as he slid his hands over his eyes and covered his face. Standing up, he turned around and slammed a balled-up fist on the Plexiglass window in anger.

“No, no no! This can't be happening!” He slid back down into his seat, pulling out his wallet to look at the picture of his father. It was torn, with several age marks. It was the only photo he had left of his father, and soon, it would be all he had left of his father. Erik slowly picked up his cellphone off the floor of the train, stuffing it into his pocket as he stared into the darkness of the city as the train passed onto a rail bridge. The train slowed down for another stop, which meant twenty minutes until a closer stop. Reaching between his legs, Erik dragged out a bag of his, fishing around in it for his journal. Finding it, he flipped through the entries for the past two weeks. As he read, he began to feel even more despondent than he had before. A voice startled him, making him look wildly around.

“I'm sorry it came to this. I really am.” Erik glanced both ways that the voice could have come from, but there was no one there who could have said that. He glanced down at his journal, and found he had opened to the previous day's entry.

“'They won't tell me what's going on with him, but I know the truth. There won't be anything left for me, nowhere, not one single iota of anything. I want to die. I want to stop the pain. I want to die.'” He flipped through five more pages, which were filled with the one line at the end of what he had read out loud to himself.

When the subway stopped, Erik could hear the engine whine down, shutting off for the night. He made his way to the open door, stepping off onto the deserted platform. Walking towards the exit, he took the stairs, coming up to street level. As he came out, thunder crashed overhead, and rain started to pound down, casting reflections on every flat surface around. Erik stared up at the sky, the rain mixing with his tears as he watched it fall down. Walking forwards, he looked up and down the street he was on. Nothing was stirring, nothing was there. The street was deserted. To Erik, it felt like everything was dead, the exact same that he felt at that moment.

“No, this isn't happening. No, I'll wake up tomorrow and my father will be sitting there with a plate of breakfast sausages and eggs for us both to eat.” He continued to mutter to himself as he slogged his way through his waterlogged trek to the hospital. The rain seemed to fall harder and faster as he kept up his pace. Come on! Move it, Erik! You can't let yourself slow down now! He forced his stubborn legs to move faster, jogging through the rain to the hospital. The grey structure of the hospital, a large, glowing red cross on the front, seemed to grow out from the darkness the rain had brought. Erik stopped for a few mere seconds to stare at it before continuing on. Streaks of water ran down his face, stinging his eyes as he continued to force himself closer to the hospital. Reaching the front door, he walked through into the blinding brightness of the lobby's interior. A nurse held her hand up and tried to make him go back out the door.

“I'm sorry, sir, but you'll have to get your medical attention from the shelter, not us-” She stopped when Erik held up his hand, panting as exhaustion hit him hard.

“Just, uh, give me a minute, okay? Where's your nearest washroom?” The nurse pointed to a blue door at the end of the hallway. Erik smiled, nodding as he made his way over. Stepping inside, he shut the door quickly, locking it before bending over the toilet and retching. The sheer amount of emotions he was feeling he could not describe, but it made him sick to his stomach. Standing back up, he looked in the mirror at himself. There was dirt down his face, streaked because of the rain, and his normally unruly brown hair lay plastered to his head. He shook his head in disbelief. “I really do look like one of those people at the shelter.” He wiped his mouth, spitting what remained of what had come up into the toilet. He pulled his jacket off and threw it into the garbage can in the corner of the washroom. Examining his face again in the mirror, he snatched paper towel from the dispenser and rubbed his face until it was semi-distinguishable as something other than a mud-washed mask. He stepped out and approached the nurse again. She turned, tilting her head in a confused manner.

“May I help you sir?” Erik pointed at the front desk.

“Erik Lance, here to see the Lance you currently have residing here. Please, though. The call I got from the doctor said to get up there soon.” The nurse went pasty white when Erik asked her.

“U-Uh, right this way, sir!” She motioned for Erik to follow her to the elevator, where a maintenance worker with a sheet-covered gurney walked out, taking it in the direction of the morgue. She stepped inside, looking at the floor. “So many die here, now, and they have no family that wants to see them. What is so special about your father?”

“He's the only person who has ever cared about me at all. My boss hates me, my co-workers are agonizing to be around, and I hate... well, everything. There's nothing that I can even do for a hobby anymore.” He looked at the elevator's floor indicator counting up.

“From what your father said, you were a writer?”

“Not serious, but four months ago, an accident happened that destroyed any hope of writing stories anymore. Two weeks ago, I tried typing out a story on my old laptop.” He stared at the ceiling, trying to push the memory out of his head, attempting to flex his hand so as to not focus on the event to much. “That's when the accident happened. There was only one neighbour who actually decided to help me get my father to the hospital. She had a heart attack three days later. She's dead.” He put his hand on the nurse's shoulder. She turned to face the haggard expression of Erik, squealing a little bit in fear. “Was the surgery successful? The doctor said to come right away, but didn't explain why.” He held his hand over his face. He did not have the heart to tell her that he had already assumed the worst.

When the elevator stopped, a doctor walked out of the nearest room, shaking his head.

“I don't understand what went wrong. The surgery was a success. He should be on the road to recovery, not laying there- oh, Erik!” The doctor approached Erik, frowning. “You may want to give your final words to your father.” Erik pushed the doctor into a nearby wall in anger, holding him by his collar.

“What did you do to my father? Answer me!” The doctor held up his hands in defeat.

“There was nothing we could do, Erik. The surgery was, by all counts, a stunning success. But something infected your father, we don't even know what it is. It's unlike any virus we've ever seen. Best to say what you have to, and hear what your father has to say.” Erik released the doctor and walked slowly into the room. He knocked on the door, alerting his father of his presence.

“Hey, Dad. Came in to see how you were holding up after the surgery.” Erik grabbed an armchair from beside a nearby table and set it beside his father's hospital bed. “You've got a good view from here.” He made sure that he was in the darkness so that his father could not see his tears.

“Don't patronize me, Erik. I taught you better. I already know. Dying, it's like going to sleep, except more painful, and you don't wake up.” His father face him, showing a white-haired, hollow-faced man who looked on the verge of death. “If your mother was alive-”

“Please, just don't mention Mom, okay? Just don't.”

“I never fully got to say how proud I was of you. You persevered, even through an obstacle that made it almost impossible for you to write.” His father started coughing, making Erik leaned forward before his father slapped him away. “Don't treat me like an invalid. I deserve better, not groveling, but what really matters. A son that continues to persevere, no matter the circumstances.” His father stared at the window, looking out at the clouds. “The sun don't shine anymore, huh? Darker and darker this city became after your mother's death. It's a beacon of hopelessness now.”

“Dad, please-”

“I want to be alone now, with my thoughts.” Erik nodded and left the room, staring at the doctor. He shut the door as silently as he could. He did not say anything, but the look on his face said everything. He had lost the last thing that mattered to him, and there was nothing left. His job barely paid enough for him to live off of, and his father had no money because of the bills that had to be paid. He stared at a window and starting smiling, but the smile was not normal. No, this is all a dream. I'll wake up, and my father will be there, sitting with a plate of breakfast sausages and eggs, and we'll eat them, together, like we always did. Like we used to. He started to snicker as he moved towards the roof access. He turned to face the doctor, smiling in his state of insanity.

“Time for Erik to go now. Bye-bye, doctor man.” He starting shaking as he walked up to the roof, stepping out into the rain once more. The roof was barren, except for a railing, but no one had come up there in a long time, the weather not permitting. He staggered to the railing, staring down. He thought he saw his father waiting down there, smiling with open arms. He's waiting for me. Waiting to catch me in his arms. Dad was always protecting me. Why can't he protect me now? Because there is no more Dad. No more, as he is gone. He gripped the railing tightly, throwing his head back and screaming into the storm. “Why did you take my father from me!” He turned around, not fully comprehending what he was doing, when the doctor came running through the door, holding a syringe of what Erik, in his unstable state, assumed was something to kill him. “No, you're not going to hurt me. Not like you did my father.” The doctor advanced, now flanked by attendants, security guards, and nurses.

“Erik, I understand you're in a dark place right now, but this-”

“You don't understand!” He laughed manically into the wind. “No one ever understood me like my father did! No matter what you say, there's only one thing left for me now.” He ducked under the railing, holding on as he stared at the parking lot, where the form of his father still stood.

“Erik! Killing yourself won't prove anything! You'll be just another statistic, another body to be catalogued in the morgue! Please, just step away from the railing!” The doctor backed up when Erik turned with pain on his face.

“There's nothing left for me, anyways. Don't pretend to care about me when you didn't even get paid enough to keep my father alive.” He let go of the railing, the tears flying from his eyes as he fell. As he fell, the wind felt as if it was dying down, and he could barely feel the rain, barely hear the screaming of people as he plummeted past their windows. He smiled and closed his eyes, silently awaiting to be embraced by his father again, in his own horrific end.

An end which did not come. Erik opened his eyes to the countryside. More importantly, an untouched countryside, as if no human hand or tool had ever touched it. He smiled and stood up. As he tried to stand, he lost his balance and fell over. Feeling all over his body, he was shocked to find that there were flat objects hitting his body. Crawling backwards in fear, he looked down at his hands. Well, they would have been hands, if they had not been replaced with two dark brown hooves. Staring at his feet, he could see the same thing. Trying to think back, he simply could not remember how he had come to that place. He lay back and stare at the impossibly blue sky. In the city, there had always been storms. The sun never came out, and gloom had set in. Here, he felt he could smile without pain. As he smiled, tears fell from his eyes. Looking around, he could not understand why he could not remember what had caused it. He remembered all the pain, but he could not remember what was associated with it. Content to just lie still, he was about to take a nap when a loud, rambunctious voice came out of nowhere and startled him. Sitting up and looking around, he spotted no one around, until he looked straight up, and came face-to-face with the biggest smile he had ever encountered in his entire life. To tell the truth, it reminded him of the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland, one of his favourite movies.

“Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie! I don't think we've met, and I know everypony in Ponyville! What's your name?” Pinkie, as the strange... pony called itself, sat down on the ground. What puzzled Erik was not the colour of her coat, but rather, the fact that she had been floating above him. On nothing.

“I'm not giving out my name until I figure out just what is going on. I don't give a rat's ass about who you are, I just want to know what's going on!” He stared at Pinkie, who looked confused.

“What's a 'rat's ass?'” Erik startled at that, realizing he'd said something he did not mean to.

“Sorry. Whatever you do, do not repeat that in polite conversation. Or any conversation, for that matter. Anyways, ponies, Ponyville? What in the world is going on here? I... I don't know how I came here, nor why I am here.” Pinkie dragged him to his hooves, snickering as she watched him stagger.

“You're not a normal pony, Mr?”

“I said, I don't want to tell you until I get some answers!” His eyes went wide as she pushed him forward from behind with her nose. “H-hey, what are you d-doing?”

“There's no use sitting here by yourself, silly! Come on, let's go meet everypony in Ponyville!”

Erik was horrified. Pinkie had not been kidding when she said “everypony.” It seemed like the entire population of the little hamlet they had entered had come out. Their numbers did not shock him, nor did... Pinkie... anymore. The fact of the matter was, he realized he was no longer on Earth.

“What?!” He went wide-eyed at the myriad of colours around. One small little... filly, he believed he had overheard some other pony say they were, approached him. A strange orange-coloured one, with a pink mane. It reminded him of a Popsicle... for some bizarre reason. He looked down at her.

“So, who are you? What do you do? Why are you here?” She sat down and stared at him with curious eyes.

“I won't tell my name, but I'm a writer. I write stories.” She smiled, her eyes closing as she laughed. Two other fillies joined her.

“We'll be the Cutie Mark Crusader Name Givers! Let's think of a name!” The three sat down and brainstormed, all while Erik tried getting their attention, to no avail. He sat down and sighed, raising his hooves in defeat. He was still getting used to having hooves. When he got tapped on the back by a hard, round object, he snarled and backed away, thinking someone was attacking him. When he saw it was a cream-coloured pony – could not tell the gender, he had to ask how at some point – with a bubblegum-pink mane. It was weird. That pony reminded him, again... of a Popsicle. Either they would all remind him of one, or he was just- his stomach startled growling.

“Great. Hunger. Just had to strike now, of all times, didn't it?” He looked at a nearby pile of hay, and licked his chapped... lips. He did not know the anatomy of a pony. It was never something he wanted to explore. Biology had never been one of his strong points, though, it had occurred to him that the info in the class might have been useful at some point. He silently rebuked himself for falling asleep during those classes instead of paying attention. He was about to go for the hay when he stopped. “Wait, hay? Why am I feeling the need to eat... hay, of all things? French Fries, a salad, those sound good. A salad... with... bacon...” His eyesight grew dim. He could feel himself slowly fading.

Rain. He could feel rain on his face. A doctor, running at him with a syringe, a devilish grin on his face, saying something about the brightness of the world. It was like he was on the roof of a building again. A building he knew all too well.

“What's going on? Where am I? Answer me!” The doctor snarled as he lunged.

And Erik woke up. He could clearly feel the rain. As he looked up, he saw a watering can tipped over, pouring slowly out over him. With a frown, he got up out of a bed and looked around. He was in some sort of library, though whatever passed for a library would impress him a great deal. The city's library had closed down in favour of computer networks. People hated to talk to each other. He looked up the stairs to a door. It was curious to him in a way. It... seemed normal enough, but it appeared locked, even to an untrained eye. He stared at it, and then back at the watering can. Picking it up with his teeth – he could not pick it up with hooves; for him, that breached the laws of physics – he got a running start and lobbed it out the nearest window in a fit of anger. The watering can crashing through the window must have woken up whoever slept beyond the locked door, as he heard rumbling and crashing as someone, or pony, tried to get to the door. Eventually, though, it slammed open, and there was... a unicorn, glaring at him with fire in her eyes. Erik could literally feel the colour drain from his face. He thought he knew scary, but that... that unicorn, well, she was scary beyond all reason with that look in her eyes.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, I didn't mean to! The thing was dripping on me the entire night! I had to throw it out the window! Whoa, stop it!” He watched as her horn began glowing, then felt himself being lifted off the ground and tossed out the window as well.

“Did you have to do it so early in the morning?” He got up and stared around. She was right, it was pretty early. He scratched his head, confused.

“I don't get it at all. Why did she have to do that?” A window smashing. An image of a lamp getting thrown past him out a window. Bloodied knuckles, a fight. A robbery in his home. Well, not his home anymore, he could feel. He lay back on the grass and stared up at the dawn sky. It was beautiful. He was about to get up and look around when a large ball slammed into his face. Knocked backwards, he could taste blood in his mouth from the blow. He bolted back upright very quickly. “Hey, what's the big idea?” He looked around. No one, or pony, was around. There was a note attached to the ball. Two words. He did not understand what they said, but he could read them. “'Remember.... always.' What's that supposed to mean?” He pulled the note off and held it close to himself. He eventually passed into sleep again, but not before the dream again. The rain, the roof, the doctor, everything except the most important details, like where he had been, what had happened, and why. “Why. Why is always the question, isn't it? 'Why are you doing this?' 'Why am I here?' 'Why are you doing this to me?' That's the question any being will ask most of the time, just why.” Eventually, he started to snore, waking up a nearby family of chipmunks who decided to rain nuts on him while he slept.

When he awoke again later that morning, he pushed himself up off the ground, a layer of miscellaneous nuts covering him. He could see the unicorn busying herself dusting the library. Walking around to the front, he opened up the door and stepped inside, startling the unicorn. She reared up and fell backwards.

“W-who are you? What are you doing here?” She stopped speaking when he laughed.

“You tossed me out a window. The least you could do is apologize. Unless you don't want to. Where I'm from, no one ever says they're sorry, no matter what they do.” He sat down, staring at all of the volumes of books. He had not noticed the night before, but there were hundreds of books. Everything in the city had been digital, meaning libraries had no place anyways. It felt good to be in a bit of the past for him. He breathed deep and sighed.

“S-so you're the one who broke the window, and tried to rob me?” Erik stopped as Twilight seemed scared. He thought hard for a moment about a question that had been bothering him. He and these ponies spoke the same language. It made no sense.

“I broke the window, but I was tossing out a watering can. Somebo- I mean, somepony brought me to your library and put me in a bed directly below a watering can.” He stared up at the ceiling, trying not to make eye contact. “Though... something is strange about this world, and... the one I came from.” He looked back at the unicorn to see her blinking with wide eyes.

“Your world? What do you mean, 'your world?'” She crept closer to Erik, who back away slowly. Erik silently cursed about forgetting that he should be quiet about that sort of thing before he got answers.

“Nothing. Just forget I said that. But anyhow, it would be better to talk if I knew your name. I'm- well, I'm a writer, so that's gotta count for some kind of name, right?” He sheepishly smiled at the unicorn.

“I'm Twilight Sparkle. So, your name's Writer? Strange name-”

“No, my name's not Writer, I am a writer! I write stories, books, that sort of thing!” This made Twilight perk up, pushing her out of her anger and into curiosity, which scared Erik very much.

“You write? Books? Let me have some, I'd like to read them at some point!” She started mumbling to herself as Erik backed away slowly.

Just back away slowly, Erik. No need to make this... pony any more crazy than she already is. This place is screwed up. I don't give a rat's ass how interesting I am, I'm getting out of here! Erik was about to gallop away – he did not understand how it worked, but he could... albeit very poorly, with a lot of tripping – when he ran smack dab into Pinkie Pie, who had apparently been waiting for him at the door. He glared at her as she smiled.

“Hey, hey, hey! Wanna be my friend? I know you do! Everypony wants to be Pinkie's friend-” He pushed her aside as he walked past, looking back to glare. His voice was grim when he spoke.

“I don't want to be your friend, Pinkie. And another thing? Referring to yourself in the third person is a clear sign of insanity. Leave me alone.” Erik galloped away, running into a few market stalls as vendors opened up a Ponyville market full of strange and interesting wares that would have dazzled anyone besides Erik. He wanted home, and his memory of what caused so much pain while he slept. His mind kept drifting back to the dream. He felt thoughts of... death, pain, and sorrow, a need to feel free for once.

He sat on a mound of dirt outside of a large apple orchard, staring at the sun in the sky, trying to burn his retinas out so he could not see any more of the overly cheerful town. He knew that this was not natural, but a part of him said that “sometimes illusions are more truthful than any reality you face.” He sighed and lay back, but not before another pony stood over him. At least this one did not grin like the Cheshire Cat. He found that eerily creepy about Pinkie... and her lack of physics. On his way out of town earlier, he saw Pinkie pop out of a small flower pot, apparently following him.

“Rough day, eh, pardner? Ah reckon you met Pinkie Pie, right?”

“She's persistent, I'll give her that. I don't want to be here. I'm not supposed to be here. Why does she want to be my friend? No one, or pony, ever wanted to be my friend! No, all they did was-” He realized that the pony, an orange mare with a light blonde mane, was giving him a quizzical stare.

“Whaddya mean, nopony ever wanted to be yer friend? Ah think ya just need time ta adjust, that's all!” With that, she left Erik sitting with a lot of questions, starting with...

“What just happened?” He got up and followed her, sticking by her side as she trotted between the apple orchards. “Hey. I meant that I'm really not used to it. I mean, I've never had anyone to talk to, ever.” The mare turned and smiled at him. Erik had not noticed before, but she had the most curious shade of green eyes he had ever seen. They were... well, they were perfect green. No shades, no variances, just green.

“Ah'm Applejack, and this here farm is Apple Acres. Big Macintosh, Applebloom! We got a guest! Try and be nice ta him!” She left him in front of a very large stallion who stared at him with a look so calm, Erik doubted even someone who was unconscious could look so calm. A little filly with a yellow coat and a red mane stared up at him with a questioning expression. She began leaning forward to stare at Erik as he brought himself down to her level. She leaned too far, falling on top of his head.

“Mmph mph mmph mmph!” She looked down at Erik, giving him a strange look. “I said, you're on my face! Get off!” She hopped off, letting Erik breathe as he stood there panting.

“Ah, sorry! Ah didn't mean ta do that. Just got a bit carried away, heh.” Erik looked at the stallion, who still seemed utterly calm. That... actually scared him that some creature could look so stupidly peaceful. He pushed the stallion's face a little bit.

“Ah wouldn't recommend doin' that, pardner.” Applejack trotted out with a big smile, and a large apple pie on her head. Setting it down on a table beside the porch, she waved all three of them over. As they sat down, Applebloom began staring at the pie with greedy eyes, much like the younger brother of a former 'friend' of Erik's. He bowed his head, muttered something, and smiled.

“I'm definitely ready for some pie!” He had been truthful with them about everything. His dreams, however, did not leave much for explanation. He grabbed a piece of pie and lovingly munched it down, his hunger finally sated as he sat there and sighed. He looked at the others. They stared at him with strange looks, then began laughing when he belched. He was about to apologize when Applejack held up her hoof.

“I brought out this pie to celebrate a new friend, Mr?” Erik stopped eating to stare at Applejack. His mind was a blank. He glanced around, eventually at his own side. A strange mark was on his side; however, it was not what he expected. There was a sword, with two lightning bolts shooting out of the sides.

“Warpath. Mr. Warpath.” They seemed genuinely scared when he said it. “Okay... that's not my real name.” To cover up, he lied. “I... uh... don't really remember my name.” A zoom behind him had him sitting upright as a familiar voice shouted.

“What? He doesn't remember his name! Well, we can give him one! Warpath is not a name that will make you very many friends. Think, Pinkie, think!” She stared at his flank. “Your Cutie Mark is very strange-” She was stopped by Erik as he flipped around and held her by the shoulders.

“What's a 'Cutie Mark?'” She pointed at the mark on his flank and giggled.

“That's a Cutie Mark, silly! It always appears whenever somepony find that extra-special talent that makes them so special! Yours is quite unique, so your name has to be unique! How about... Storm Surge? No, too stormy. Power Swing? Nah, too odd.” It was another filly who had followed Pinkie Pie that piped up with a name.

“What about Volt Ward? A sword is not only for offence, but for defence as well. At least, that's what my daddy always tells me.” It was obvious that not even Pinkie knew this small Pegasus. She was almost jet black, with big blue eyes, and a voice that made even Erik's heart melt. Erik bent down to the Pegasus and smiled.

“What's your name?” She backed up and hid behind Pinkie Pie, visibly afraid of Erik, now Volt Ward.

“I-I'm S-Shadow Wing.” She ran away quickly, leaving all parties present with a lot of questions. Pinkie immediately ran off to try and find another pony to make into her friend. As he looked at Pinkie zoom away in a pink-coloured blur, he shook his head. Nothing made sense. He turned back to the table. Pie made sense. The ground made sense. Applejack's family... being ponies, that was a little far, but they made sense. It was something he could anchor his mind on, prevent an early onset of insanity. He remembered many of his family members had succumbed to something like it. His father had even told him to anchor his mind to something that made sense, or else he would lose his mind. Volt turned to Applejack.

“Thanks for the pie. It was delicious. I hope I can visit again. Of everything I've experienced, you three make the most sense out of all of it.” He trotted away, still licking his lips, leaving the Apple family to ask each other questions about what exactly Volt Ward had meant.

Making his way back to Ponyville was more difficult than he had imagined. The route seemed straightforward, but it was not, in all reality. When he eventually arrived, a cerulean Pegasus with a rainbow mane came zooming down from the sky and began laughing at Volt. He could feel the hairs on his back stand on end as he got angry. He hated it when anyone laughed at him, and now a pony was laughing at him. His anger exploded, and so did something else, because a bolt of electricity arced out of somewhere and zapped the Pegasus, flinging her away.

“What? What was that just now?” Volt looked around, trying to figure out what he had just done. Finding a puddle, he looked at himself. He was a unicorn, with deep red eyes, a dark brown coat – he had assumed that since he had seen his hooves earlier – and a black mane. He was quite dark coloured, and he got some strange looks, which meant he must be some kind of aberration, instead of something different. Just ignore them, Erik- wait, I've got to blend in. Volt it is... this is going to be harder than I thought. He moved steadily, trying to gain his bearings. He was about to turn down another street when a dark shadow loomed over him from above. Staring straight up, he could literally feel his jaw hit the hard ground.

“You have got to be kidding me!”

2 - Bygones

Author's Note: I didn't expect such a response from FIMFICTION. Thank you all for this, It makes me feel accomplished as a writer.

Now, this is a more... painful chapter than I planned, with the nightmares, so, if you don't want to, you'll be able to skip over those parts. The nightmare parts are relatively small NOW.

Pinkie Pie leaped from the structure onto Volt, tackling him and squeezing him in a bear hug. Volt attempted to speak, but was cut off from his supply of oxygen.

“I've been looking for you everywhere! I really want to be your friend!” She eventually relented and let Volt breathe, dropping him when he starting coughing and sputtering.

“What was that for?! I didn't expect you to try and kill me!” He spat on the ground. “And I hate being surprised. Never, ever do that to me, ever.” Volt trotted away as Pinkie followed him and started telling him all about strange adventures she had been having during the week. Just make it look like you're paying attention, Volt. Don't want to tick the lack-of-physics pony off, never know if she might destroy the fabric of space and time as you know it! She yammered on in his ear about how stalks of corn came to life and attacked an orange farm far away from Ponyville. Eventually, he had enough. Holding her steady so she would listen, his expression was grim and angry. “Listen here, Pinkie Pie. I don't want to be your friend, okay? You won't stop telling me about things that have nothing to do with me, and you almost killed me. You're annoying, presumptuous, and think that everything revolves around you.” He relented and looked away. “Just please leave me alone. I don't need this kind of crap to deal with right now.” He galloped as fast as he could away. He stopped and turned. Pinkie's mane had turned from springy and altogether unkempt to unnaturally straight. He put his head down. Great. Just had to do that, didn't I? What's the worst I can do? Well, apparently, I just found out! He meekly walked back to Pinkie and sat beside her. “Pinkie-”

“Go away. You don't want to be my friend. I don't need you as a friend.” Volt thought hard. He couldn't leave her like this.

“Pinkie, I've been under a lot of stress, okay? I didn't mean most of what I said. I did mean the leave me alone part.” He put his hoof on her shoulder. She looked up at him with tear-strewn eyes. “I'm not used to anyo- anypony asking to be my friend. It feels... unnatural for me, okay?” She sniffed and stared at him. Volt had to look away. Puppy-dog eyes on a pony... was really, really weird for him.

“You really mean it? You do want to be my friend?” She bounced up, her mane returning to its random, strange pattern, which seemed the norm with her. “Volt wants to be my friend!”

“Whoa, hold on there, Pinkie. I do need a friend, but could you not go overboard? I've got some... problems that not even a friend could help with.” Volt stared at the ground. Another voice piped in, startling him. When he looked up, it was the unicorn from the library.

“What kinds of problems that a friend can't help with? From my experience, Pinkie Pie can deal with anything, even ghosts... oddly enough.” Volt turned away from them both.

“My nightmares.” He laid down on a nearby bench and stared up at the impossibly blue sky, watching the cerulean Pegasus doing tricks in the sky. The unicorn stood over him, a blank expression crossing her face.

“I don't think I follow.” Volt stared at her.

“These are nightmares that do not have a reason. But it feels like I am actually there-” The nightmare flashed in his eyes. “There's one that varies each time I see it. I'm on a roof-” He could feel the rain as if he was there, staring up at the sky. “There's a thunderstorm all around.” Lightning flashed, scaring Pinkie and the unicorn. “And there's a doctor. Except he varies. The two times I've seen him, he's been a madman and a psychopath. Talking about the brightness of the world, or something like that.” He looked up at Pinkie Pie, who looked utterly baffled.

“I really don't get it. Twilight, do you?” The unicorn Pinkie had called Twilight stared at her.

“I don't think I fully understand. It's a dream that is so realistic, it feels real?”

“No- gah, you don't understand. I don't think you ever will.” He got up and trotted away, leaving the two mares to scratch their heads in confusion, trying to make sense of what he said. I knew it was too good to be true. My nightmare... it has to do with me, in some very personal way. Wait, was that thunder? Oh, you have got to be kidding me. Rain began pouring down on him as he walked along. It made him feel even more miserable than before. But all of it, it feels like... something I've lost. When I wake up, I try and search my memories, but nothing like that ever comes up. It's like... I'm missing something. A big piece of me. When I try to find those, I get pain. What am I missing that hurts so much? He plopped himself down on a block of wood just sitting beside a building. He looked at the ground, wondering what it all meant. A voice beside him broke him out of his train of thought.

“Hey, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle! Ah found him, the super-cool unicorn I told y'all 'bout! He's right here!” Volt looked to his left and saw Applebloom. He smiled and got up.

“Hey there, Applebloom. What are you up to right now?”

“Cutie Mark Crusadin'! We're off ta get us something ta do!” She was joined by a little orange Pegasus with a pink mane, and a white unicorn with a purple and pink mane. He remembered he had seen them before, on what had been his first, well, day in the strange place he found himself in. His stomach grumbled, forcing him to think about food.

“Before you go, could you tell me where I could eat? I'm really, really hungry.” He was surprised that they stared at him with big smiles.

“Follow us!”

Volt had memorized some of the streets – he could remember things very well: data, names, places... he had to in order to be a successful writer, or at least, he had thought that was what he needed – so he knew some of the areas somewhat well. When they brought him to what looked like a sandwich shop with several tables in front, he watched what other ponies ate. Hay between two slices of bread did not seem very appetizing, but he found it made him very, very hungry. Holding up his hoof, a pony from inside came out. She had the biggest smile he had ever seen- Wait, he thought, second biggest smile. First goes to Cheshire Cat Pinkie. That still freaks me out that she can do that.

“What would you like today, sir?” She handed him a menu, and stood there, still staring at him with a ridiculously huge smile. It was starting to freak him out slightly. He concentrated on the menu and settled on what he would have ordered, a cucumber-tomator-lettuce sandwich. As the mare walked away to get his sandwich, he put his head on the table and sighed.

“It's like what I used to eat a lot when I was writing.” Meat was too freaking expensive anyways. Stupid low wages. Whenever I get back, I'm going to go to the manager of the department store and laugh in his face when I get published. When , not 'if', Volt. You are going to get published, don't forget that. You just got to... find someone who's capable enough to handle your... unique storytelling. A plate hitting the table signalled that his sandwich was there. Looking at it, he could not fathom any other way to make a sandwich look even more appetizing than it already looked. Whispering under his breath, he thanked whatever governed this world for the food and immediately began eating. As he ate, he could taste some sort of sauce. When it hit his tongue, it burned. Hot sauce? Really? You have to be- He looked down at the menu to see what he had gotten. Spicy Salad Sandwich. Man alive, am I dense. He finished the sandwich, murmuring to himself about remembering next time to order something without hot sauce in it, and thanked the owner and cook of the shop for the sandwich. As he walked away, he realized he had forgotten something. Getting closer, he noticed some gold coins lying on the ground. Picking them up, he placed them on the counter, leaving the owner happy, as he had left a tip as well.

After walking for a bit, Volt found the strange need to sleep. Staring up at the sky, he reasoned it was still the middle of the day.

“Eh, whatever. I'll sleep.” Laying down on some straw nearby on the ground, he promptly fell asleep.

This time, the nightmare was much, much different. He was a small kid, in a run-down home. He could see what appeared to be an older sibling arguing with his mother. He was not in control, as his body lurched forward with his hand outstretched towards what he could see now as his older brother. He could not understand what they were saying, but he could see his older brother grab a knife from the counter and wave it around in a threatening way.

“Mama, no!” He could hear the voice of his younger self crying as he tried to get to his mom, but stopped when he saw his older brother slash her throat. He fell down and started crying as his mom sank to the floor. Almost immediately, his father, seeing what was causing Erik/Volt's younger self to cry, flew into a rage. He charged at his brother and grabbed the knife. Holding the hand of his older brother, Erik/Volt's father slammed the blade of the knife down multiple times upon the wrist, removing the hand and throwing the brother into a nearby glass-paned door.

“Get out! I hope you die for what you did!” His father came back in and picked him up, cradling him. He could understand his father's words now. “Don't worry. I won't let anyone hurt you, Erik. No one will ever hurt you again.”

Volt woke with a start. There was sweat all over him. He felt himself, making sure nothing was missing. When he looked around, he realized it was night-time.

“Have I really been asleep all day?” A voice beside him made his skin crawl as soon as it made noise, but calmed him when he realized who it was.

“Ya sure have been, sugarcube. Applebloom and I were looking fer y'all the entire afternoon! Didn't think ta look near Redheart's clinic.” Volt slowly pushed himself off the straw and sighed.

“Thanks for looking for me, Applejack. I ate at the sandwich shop, and afterwards felt the need to sleep. Around mid-day, I think it was.” He shook himself off and smiled at Applejack. “Let's get going.” Walking beside Applejack, he felt... safe. But something was... missing. It had been nagging at him, but something was missing. Searching his memory, he could not tell- wait. “It's a funny thing, dying.” Who said that to me? Who was that? He could not place the name, or the face. He could see the person in his mind, but they did not seem like someone he would associate with. Their face was old, disheveled, marred in places with scarring. He could... remember a room. One of his books was by the person's bedside, 'Truth and Reconciliation.' He had written it as a story about his own life experiences, but had made it more of a fictional account so as to not make it seem like he was writing an autobiography. A lot of the publishers he had talked to hated autobiographies. “Wait, if you came looking for me, does that mean you want me to stay with you?” Applejack smiled at Volt.

“Applebloom's taken a likin' to ya. She wants y'all to stay with us at Sweet Apple Acres.” Volt smiled at her as they kept walking. “So, when I found ya, you were shaking somethin' fierce. What was goin' on?”

“Nightmares, Applejack. Some not even I could ever explain to you, and you seem to understand me better than the others.” Volt looked away as Applejack continued to stare at him.

“Maybe a softer bed'll make y'all sleep better.”

When they arrived at Sweet Apple Acres, Applebloom was apparently already asleep, because when they passed by her room, there she was, snoring soundly as she laid there. She's probably got good dreams. Why can I not have any good dreams? Applejack opened the last door on the left of the hallway, coming up from the stairs.

“I'm expectin' y'all to be up early tomorrow. Ya gotta help with apple-bucking, since y'all are living with us now.” Volt hopped onto the bed and rolled around. It was incredibly soft. He looked over at the window sill. Sitting there was a black cat with yellow eyes. It stared at him for a while, then closed its eyes and went to sleep. Volt sat up and stared at Applejack.

“As expected. What is truthful about anywhere is that no one gets something for nothing.” Volt laid back again, staring at the ceiling. It looked... strange. It reminded him of an old bedroom of his, back where he had grown up. Where he wished he had grown up. Truthfully speaking, due to his older brother, he had never really had a childhood. He remembered the fun times, but nothing of it was fun that a child would have, he realized. Wow. I'm really that messed up, aren't I? He sighed and fell asleep again.

The roof again. The doctor was replaced, this time, by a soldier with a shotgun. He stared at Erik with malice, shouting something about there being no more brightness in the world because of Erik. It made no sense. He tensed up as the soldier came forward, and lifted his hand. He was shocked to find he could actually move the hand. The soldier came closer, the malicious expression turning to one of regret.

“I'm sorry for what happened, Erik. I never meant for any of this to happen.” The soldier dived off the side of the building Erik was on. A few seconds later, a loud crunch echoed throughout the recesses of the building. Then everything faded to black.

The morning came as a much needed reprieve from his painful sleep as Volt woke up. It seemed fairly early, but by looking out the window, he could already see Applejack already in the midst of the task she called “apple-bucking.” It appeared that it was, literally, bucking apples.

“Really. That's... not that clever, actually.” Sighing, he trotted to the end of the hallway and stopped. He stared down the stairs at a very large dog. Dogs frightened him very much, and no matter what anyone, or anypony said, to him, they were devil spawn from hell. The dog ran up the steps and knocked him over. In his mind, it was attacking him. He looked behind him to see Applebloom getting up and rubbing her eyes, staring at him with a dog on his chest.

“Volt? Why d'ya got a dog on yer chest? Whose dog is that anyways?” The dog bounced off of Volt, leaving him to groan in pain as it ran out the door, and caused something to fall, as both Applebloom and Volt could hear Applejack scream out in surprise.

“Ah, ponyfeathers!” Rushing outside, Volt saw Applejack standing in the midst of a large pile of apples, with an overturned cart beside her. Volt galloped up, leaving Applebloom to fall over laughing at her sister's predicament.

“Applejack, are you okay?” Righting the cart, he began helping her put the apples back in their buckets.

“Some dog came out o' nowhere, tippin' ma cart! All that hard work!” Volt smiled at her as she began helping him with the mess. He frowned when it hit him that the dog that had jumped on him had attacked her.

“I don't like dogs at all.” Not just that, they're demon spawn! Demon spawn! I don't think she would understand, but they're demon spawn, from hell! Volt kept that part to himself, preferring to not appear to be, well, a sissy afraid of dogs. Lots of people were afraid of dogs, especially the big ones, like the St. Bernard! Those things could kill someone like me!.. well, maybe not now, of course. Once the apples had been packed up, Applejack sat down and sighed.

“So, y'all don't like dogs, huh? Not that many 'round these parts, but some get mighty big.” Moving around to the front of the cart, she hitched herself up – how she did it without help, and so easily, Volt could not even begin to guess – and started towing it towards town. Volt trotted beside her on the way.

“No. Don't tell anypony, but dogs... they scare me.” A voice behind him scared him out of his mind when it screamed out what he had just said.

“Wait! You! Are! Scared! Of! Dogs?” Volt turned around, his face burning with embarrassment. He came face to face with Pinkie Pie, who was now laughing. “How can you be scared of something that's so utterly cuddly! Dogs are awesome!” She was laughing. Volt had explicitly told her to leave him alone, and she had violated their agreement.

“They are demon spawn, okay! All they do is want to hurt me, bite me, try and eat me! You also just broke our agreement-”

“You didn't Pinkie Promise!” Volt stared her down until, for some odd reason, she started sinking into the ground.

“You don't get it, do you? I said to Applejack, 'Don't tell anypony', and here you are, announcing it to the whole world! Why not just tell them I can't sleep and have nightmares of something wanting me dead, huh?” The last statement he made apparently scared her, as her eyes went wide. She hunkered down, which for him, meant one thing. “Oh no, Pinkie, please don't!” She began bawling her eyes out as he backed away. Applejack stared at him.

“Ya know, that wasn't nice of y'all to say that to her, Volt. I reckon you should apologize.” She stared him down with the angriest look he had ever seen.

That look could melt steel, sister. I hope you don't set yourself on fire or anything. Volt turned back to Pinkie and sat down beside her, even though she was a full two feet into the ground. “Pinkie, sorry. Just, I don't like it when anypony just announces something of mine that's incredibly personal to the world. For me, it's like giving up who I really am inside for others to see blatantly. You just don't do that with me, capiche?” She nodded and stopped crying. At the moment, she sat in a mini pool of her own tears. Volt scratched his head in confusion. Nothing she does will ever make sense, will it? As he helped her out of her own tears, he noticed, in the corner of his eye, Applejack nodding in satisfaction. Hey, at least I speak my mind. All it seems like you do is tiptoe on eggshells around her! “Oh, look out, I offended Pinkie Pie!” What will she do, bawl me to death?.. Actually, considering that pool of her tears, she probably could. Note to self, do not test previous theory. Thunder cracked overhead as rain started up again. Unfortunately, he was in a stand of trees, and from his knowledge, standing underneath a tree during a lightning storm was a one-way ticket to a fresh self-barbeque, and that was one route he did not want to take. “Pinkie Pie, get on my back!” He helped her up, making sure she was okay as he galloped towards an open spot near the barn. When he arrived, he looked up in time to almost be struck by a bolt of lightning. He tried dodging, but they started moving too fast, as if somepony was throwing them at him. When he stopped moving, a rumbling issued forth from the ground. It made a sound similar to muffled laughing. A large bolt of lightning blasted out of the clouds, straight at Volt.

“Volt! Lightning!” Twilight came running up the road, right in the path of the lightning bolt.

“Twilight! Look out!”

3 - Epiphany

Volt had barely enough time to gallop over to Twilight and knock her out of the path of the bolt of lightning before it struck, taking the full force of the lightning himself. Twilight watched as he contorted in the air, writhing in pain. Oh, the stupid things I do to keep others safe. This doesn't hurt as much as- Ow! Not cool, not cool! He slammed into the ground, smoke trailing off of him. He groaned weakly as he tried to get up.

“That... really... hurt.” Pinkie Pie rushed over to help him out – how she had avoided being hit by the lightning bolt, Volt would never know – pulling as hard as she could. Applejack came rushing over to try and drag him out of the hole he was in.

“Don't worry, sugarcube, ah'll have ya out of that there hole in no time at all!” As he watched them try and help him out, his vision started to blur, and he blacked out, falling unconscious.

The nightmare... it did not feel like a nightmare. He could feel everything, from the rain, to the ground underneath his feet. He was on the roof, but this time, the doctor was replaced by his older brother, wielding a very sharp knife.

“Come on, Erik. This time, you're going to die!” Erik ducked as his brother lunged, kicking out his brother's feet, sending him sailing over the edge. Looking over, he could see that his brother had landed in a nearby river. Spitting, he turned and walked back to the centre of the roof. The roof access door slammed open, and around eight policemen came on the roof, pointing their weapons at him. Erik chuckled and stepped back.

“Well, this might be the end of the road for me.” The policemen screamed at him, but he could not hear them. He could not feel the rain anymore, nor the ground.

Then he woke up. He was sitting in his bed that Applejack had given him. Looking around, there was Applejack, Applebloom, Twilight, and Pinkie Pie, plus three others he had not met before. He looked down at his own body to see a large portion of his body bandaged up.

“How long... was I out?” He glanced over at Applejack.

“'Bout three days, sugarcube.”

“That's good- wait, why is Twilight bandaged up? I thought I pushed her out of the way of the lightning.” He had not noticed it during his look at the room before, but Twilight was indeed injured, with what looked like a bruise on the right side of her face.

“Uh, yeah. You were so peaceful, I thought I would try to change your bandages, but then you started thrashing around... and this happened.” Volt tried to get up, but was pushed down by one of the three he did not know, the cream-coloured Pegasus with a bubblegum-pink mane.

“Please... please don't get up. You're really hurt... and I don't think it would be good if you moved any more.”

“Fluttershy, he was out for three days. I don't think he needs any more time for 'not moving.'” Volt looked at the cream-coloured Pegasus, the one Twilight had called Fluttershy.

“Thanks, Fluttershy. Concern for my well-being... that's something I've rarely seen.” He forced himself to get up, and started coughing. Looking up, he could see that Fluttershy looked really nervous when he got up. “Don't worry, just something that happens whenever I get hurt, and haven't moved in a while.” He managed a slight smile, while hiding how much pain he was in. Man alive, she was right! I shouldn't be moving, heck, I shouldn't even be alive! I feel like I've been hit by a freight train! He walked slowly to the door, holding himself up with various pieces of furniture along the way. As he stood by the door, he felt another pony help hold him up. He looked down to see Twilight help him along.

“Thanks for saving me, by the way. I don't know what would have happened if I had gotten hit, Volt.” She smiled up at him as he weakly nodded.

“Maybe you should help me back to bed.” As Twilight helped him back to bed, he began chuckling. “I just realized something. Pinkie Pie was on my back for a while, and she didn't get hit by the lightning. How does that work?” All eyes in the room fell on Pinkie Pie, who sat there with another one of her Cheshire Cat smiles, the kind of smile that scared Volt a little.

“Silly! I jumped off before he ran at Twilight to knock her out of the way!” The cerulean Pegasus, the one Volt had zapped before, piped in.

“That was super-cool the way you galloped in and pushed her out of the way! I wish I had been there to see it!” Volt shook his head in amazement.

“Word travels fast in small towns.” He laid back again and stared up at the ceiling. As he stared, he noticed a spider making a web in one of the cracks. Almost as soon as it finished, a loud thump was heard from outside, and the spider fell on Volt's nose. “Could somepony please get this spider off my nose?” Twilight smiled and levitated it off of him. A voice calling out caught her attention. Looking out the window, she had a quizzical expression on her face.

“Princess Celestia is standing outside, girls. Maybe she has something for us?” Almost as if on cue, a small purple-and-green dragon – at least Volt assumed it was a dragon. It reminded him of Barney – burst into the room.

“Twilight! I've been looking everywhere for you! The Princess wants to meet Volt, who, according to her, 'is the stallion who saved her faithful student.'” Everypony's eyes turned on Volt. He suddenly felt very uncomfortable.

“Uh, I don't think that's such a good idea. The last time I ever met somepony in authority, it didn't end very well.” The mayor had gotten a restraining order on me. Not my fault I was trying to keep people from spraying her with paintballs. Well, heh, I guess it was. He felt himself float above the ground in a bubble of purple energy. Looking down at the rest, he noticed Twilight's horn glowing. “Ah, that makes more sense... I think.” Sitting comfortable in the bubble, he drifted along behind Twilight and her posse as they descended the stairs, only once getting stuck behind a door. Outside, a very tall pony stood. Wearing what appeared to be crown jewels – he could only guess, he had never seen anything like them before – she stood quite regally, waiting for them.

“Hello, my little ponies. I trust you've all been doing well?” She looked up at Volt. “Well, mostly well, it would seem. How are you, Volt Ward?” Twilight let Volt slowly down on the ground. He swayed for a little bit before regaining his footing.

“Fine, though, confused. The lightning bolt should have killed me, yet it didn't.” He glanced at Celestia for an answer.

“I don't believe I can alleviate your confusion, Volt, but I can give you some understanding. I've been given some reports by townsponies that you zapped Rainbow Dash here with an electric bolt. That's available to only a few ponies, that kind of magic.”

“Really?” So that's what I hit her with in my anger.

“You must have been able to absorb some of the electricity from the lightning strike, which would explain why you were injured, but not outright killed.”

“Well...” That... actually makes me feel kind of awesome. Not sure what to say. Volt nodded, smiling. “Thank you, Princess. That does alleviate my confusion.” Celestia nodded and charged her horn with energy, disappearing in a brilliant flash of light. “But that still doesn't explain how I got here, or anything about what's happening to me!” He glanced over at Twilight, who had a little bit of a giddy grin on her face, like a schoolgirl who has just gotten something she always wanted.

“You've got some incredible magic! I can help you learn how to use it!” She levitated him into the air once more, albeit more rough. Fluttershy tried to get Twilight's attention, but to no avail.

“If you experiment on me, Twilight, I swear, you won't know the end of it.”

When they reached Twilight's library – Volt assumed it was hers, considering she lived there – the same dragon from before opened the door and ushered them in.

“Spike, how has the cleanup been going since the storm three days ago?”

“Fine, but it would be nice to have some help.” She opened another door, this one going down a bunch of stairs to a dark area, dimly lit. “So, that's Volt? I imagined he'd be-”

“If you say 'bigger', I swear I'll fry you senseless.” Volt's threat seemed to make Spike shut up – the dragon's name apparently. Volt would have never guessed it at all – which was a welcome reprieve.

“I wasn't going to say bigger, all right! I was going to say different.” Spike ran up another flight up of stairs nearby and sat on a small chair, watching Twilight and Volt as they descended the dimly lit stairs.

“Hey, Twilight?” She looked up and stopped, a serious expression replacing a smile from earlier.

“What is it, Volt?”

“Well, where... exactly... are you taking me?” His question was answered when several overhead lights flickered to life above him, and brought into view several pieces of equipment that would make a comic-book super villain a happy camper at Christmas. “Forget I asked.” Setting him down, she had him don a helmet that reminded him of a combination of a colander, Christmas lights, and several AA batteries. “What's the point of all of this?”

“To determine what allowed you to absorb the electricity! Something like that could revolutionize the way we think! Power from storms! It could be-” She took a breath, much to Volt's chagrin. “-amazingly wonderful.”

“You done?”

“Yeah.” One of the machines, which, to Volt, looked like an old reel-to-reel tape recorder – he knew someone who had owned one – except it printed out strips of data on paper, instead of output on a computer screen. A long strip of paper zipped out quickly, much faster than Volt would have expected. Twilight ripped it out of the machine and quickly scanned it. Her expression changed to one of fear, and Volt could only begin to guess what the data had said. “Uh, Volt? Something's... wrong with the equipment.” He pulled the helmet off and stared at her.

“That's all?”

“I've needed to replace these for a while. They're getting quite old, and they break down fairly often.” A machine across the room spewed smoke, blanketing the room in a dark fog. Volt dropped to the ground, making sure he could breathe. On his right, he heard a thump as Twilight fell over.

“You have to be kidding me. Did she not ever get a lesson like this? 'If you see smoke, get low to the ground. There's clean air down there.'” Breathing deep, he held his breath as he moved forward and nudged himself under her, gritting his teeth. For crying out loud! Why is she so freaking heavy? It feels like I'm trying to lift a Hummer! He concentrated on putting one hoof in front of the other, getting to the stairs, and climbing. He could see a figure at the top of the stairs as he slowly, but surely, made it to the top. As his vision cleared and he could see the library, he collapsed into a coughing fit. As he passed out, the last thing he saw was Spike standing over him with what could be considered an angry expression.

“I've been here before.” He looked around. He himself was in a hospital room, lying down in a bed. He reached up and felt his forehead. He was bandaged. Bringing his hand back into view, he saw it had blood on it. A nurse entered and locked the door.

“I'm sorry, but we couldn't do anything for you. You will never walk again, or do anything again, for that matter.” Pounding at the door signalled another staff member was trying to get it. The “nurse” picked up a scalpel and held it to Erik's throat. “You let my son die, so now you die!” The door broke down to policemen armed with stun prods. The “nurse” faced them and held the scalpel to her own neck. “I'm going to do it! Don't think I won't!” As a police officer advanced to attempt to disarm her, she slit her jugular, blood spraying everywhere, all over everything.

Volt woke back up, putting his hoof to his head. Another nightmare, but this one had been different. It felt so... familiar, but yet it felt alien to him. Looking around, he saw he was sitting in a hospital bed. Twilight was in a bed beside him. Spike was sitting in a stool, angrily glaring at Volt.

“What's your problem, dragon? I tried to save her, okay? The least you could do is say thanks.” Spike got off his stool and brought himself very close to Volt's face.

“If you weren't here, Twilight wouldn't have gotten hurt.”

“Why don't you just get out of my face? I took a bolt of lightning to save her. I'd do it for anypony.” Volt laid back, exhausted. Just that little bit of exertion had tired him out. A loud knock at the door startled Spike. When he opened it, a ball of happiness entered the room. Pinkie Pie bounced in with Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Applejack, and the sixth one. Volt still had to ask her name. Ignoring him, they all concentrated on Twilight. Volt pulled the covers off of himself and tried to get up. None of the others were paying attention. When he looked over by the window, a form all too familiar was sitting there. It was himself, but as a human.

“You realize that you've acclimatized to another world, right? Volt Ward, the pony who refuses to die. Has a nice ring to it. They're ignoring you, mostly because, right now, all this is in-” Erik tapped Volt on the forehead. “Your mind. When I leave, it will all seem different. You will remember what I've said. There's one more thing before I go. Who you are, and what you do here, is entirely up to you. It's a parallel similar to our world. Remember that.”

Volt woke up again. Well, he had been awake, just not fully aware. Shadow Wing, the strange black Pegasus filly, was sleeping in a chair near the window. Spike was staring at Twilight with a look of worry. Volt smiled at Spike.

“Don't worry. She'll be okay. Just be glad I got her out of there before she breathed in any more smoke.” Glancing back at Shadow Wing, he could see she was starting to wake up. Her yawning was like watching a small kitten yawning... it was too cute. “Hey, Shadow. Glad you're here.” He smiled and laid back. She timidly approached, pulling a stepladder behind her. Clambering up it, she was at eye level with Volt.

“You're a strange pony, you know that? First a bolt of lightning to the face, and that barely fazes you, then one of Twilight's gizmos catches fire, and you have enough willpower to force yourself to drag her out of the smoke.” She put her head on his leg and began falling asleep again. “But... you're... really... soft...” She began quietly snoring as Volt stared up at the ceiling.

“Sheesh. This is an odd turn of events.” What am I going to do? That dragon doesn't like me, at least, I don't think he does. I've got a Pegasus who is unnaturally black – the rest seem all pastel colours – and I have withstood a lightning bolt to the face. What is going on here that I am not seeing? Volt wracked his brain for the clues, but none were presenting themselves. “Something here is going on, and it's affecting me, down to my own memories.” Why he had seen himself, his human form, why he had this feeling that the world itself was not as it seemed, these questions forced their way into his focus as he tried to concentrate. All of this. There's something they're not telling me. Do they know? Did that machine tell Twilight what I really am? Is there something about this world that's going wrong, and- No, I'm overthinking this. The answer has to be much simpler. Bringing his focus back to what was going on around him, he listened into the conversation a now conscious Twilight was having with her friends.

“I don't understand it at all. The machine printed out a series of meaningless numbers and letters. It doesn't make any sense.” Volt flipped over to face them.

“A cypher.” They all stared at him like he had suggested that they all go bathe in a vat of honey. “No, I'm serious. Cyphers are cryptic messages hidden within plain sight, often within books. Many authors I knew could disguise a message within a page of a book. Twilight, how did the numbers and letters come out?”

“In a random sequence, a number beside every letter. Why?”

“Because you've just been sent a cypher. Something in it was instructions for your machine to destroy itself, but only that one machine.” Spike handed him the thin sheet of paper. “There are twenty six letters in the alphabet, which corresponds to each number.” Reading it all, it started forming in his head. “An offset of 13. Each letter is off by 13 spaces. The letter A is M, and so on like that!” He handed it back to Spike, who started scribbling down the message. When he had finished, the message was short.

“The message says, 'Kill them both.'” A loud gasp was heard throughout the room.

“'Kill them both?' But who'd have a grudge against you two?” Volt stared out the window.

“There's something going on that somepony isn't telling us.” Outside, in Ponyville, something bright flashed. Shielding his eyes, Volt was surprised to see that Ponyville... was now burning. “But that doesn't matter right now! Spike, did you put out the machine that had broken down?”

“N-No?”

“Then we've got a firestorm on our hooves.” Volt stood up, groaning. Even though some of the others in the room tried to push him down, he forced them away. “I won't let anypony get hurt because of me.” He slowly moved towards front doors of the hospital, trying to keep himself from focusing on the pain. Just keep moving. Get out the front doors, and out to the street. Organize an effective fire-fighting force. There has to be... somepony who can help. He fell over, trying to move. No, it can't end like this! I need to save them, save them all! Rainbow Dash stood over him, frowning. He reached up and grabbed her, pulling her down.

“H-Hey! Let go-”

“Listen to me! You have to get a group together to get water on those fires! Start with the source – Twilight's library, then move out from there! Hurry!” Rainbow Dash zipped away, to where, Volt did not know. Four others galloped by, going to Ponyville to help try and put it out. Twilight stopped by him, with Spike on her back.

“You've done enough, Volt. Let us handle this-”

“You don't understand!” He coughed while he spoke, forcing himself up off the ground. “I'm doing this so I can be a friend to those in need! Do you understand, or are we going to banter this while your library and the town are burning?!” He slowly trotted forward, each step full of pain, as he forced himself towards Ponyville. If I can get near some water, I can figure out a way to get it on the fire- rain barrels! They have to have rain barrels somewhere, right? Glancing around quickly, he noticed four barrels with pipes sticking out of them. Twilight stood beside him.

“You've done all you can do! We can-”

“Get... those rain barrels! Take them to the library, and put out the fire! Your friend, the cerulean Pegasus, she'll... meet you there! Go!” Twilight looked like she was about to argue her point, when she stared at Volt. His face was set, a look of determination and strength. She nodded and levitated the barrels, running towards the epicentre of the fire. He looked up at the sky. “Go on. I dare you.” He noticed several Pegasus ponies pushing clouds towards the fires. Rainbow Dash was leading them.

“Come on team! Let's take out those fires!” Volt forced himself to gallop, making his way to her.

“What good are clouds going to do?! We need water!” Volt backed up when Rainbow Dash glared at him.

“These are rainclouds! We've got all the water you need right here!” To prove her point, she manoeuvred her cloud over a fire, and hopped up and down on it. A torrential downpour rushed out, obliterating the fire.

“All right, then! Get moving! I'll do what I can down here!” What can I do? I don't even know how to do anything! What good will I be? He kept trotting, blocking out as much pain as he could. He looked at the tree where Twilight's library had been. He saw her throw the rain-barrels at the fire, putting out most of it. Overhead, Pegasus ponies were bringing rainclouds in to tackle other fires that had sprung up. As he kept moving, a figure darted from one shadow to another. “Hey! Stop right there!” A dark Pegasus filly came out of the shadows. “Shadow Wing, what are you doing?! It's not safe here!” He backed up when she laughed, and grew to a larger size. There were holes in her hooves, and insect-like wings on her back. She started laughing in a strange voice.

“You really think that you can stop us? My subjects will feast upon the love that is within Equestria, and become ever stronger!” Volt stared at her with fire in his eyes.

“And you think I'll just stand by, and let you commit what my people would call genocide? Fat chance!” Volt was growing angrier by the minute. “You won't get away with that!”

“I've already gotten away with starting fires in Ponyville! This will be nothing compared to my invasion of Canterlot! You ponies won't stand a chance!” Volt pawed the ground with his hoof.

“And when you do, I will be there, waiting. And you'll wish you hadn't messed with Volt Ward!” He spat on the ground as the strange being flew away on her insect wings. “This won't be good. If this was just the precursor to something bigger, we might not be able to defend” This is just like when someone set fire to my science project in Grade Four, and told me it would be me later. I was able to defend against him by making myself ready, but can something like that be a parallel to this? How can that be even close! Twilight came rushing up as the light behind Volt died down.

“They've put out most of the fires. Many portions of Ponyville will have to be rebuilt, but at least we got to it in time! Though... my books. Most of them caught on fire.” Twilight put her head down.

“Twilight.”

“Yes, Volt?” Volt could clearly see the tears in her eyes.

“It wasn't your machine that caused this.” Twilight sniffed and looked straight at Volt.

“What? What do you mean?”

“Something... did this deliberately. She mentioned something about an invasion of Canterlot. That we could not hope to defend against her.” Volt watched as the sun began to cut through the smoke and shine on Ponyville. The shadow on Volt's face, however, remained. “What happened here, there's something coming. And there might not be anything we can do to stop it.

4 - Ruination (Minor Edits)

There will be rewritten chapters soon. Due to less stress in my life currently, I am good to write this now.

Let the return of awesome writing commence!

Volt could not sleep at all the following night after the fire, and the attack by that strange insect-like pony. Whoever she was, she reminded him of a chameleon, in the fact that she had impersonated a pony to get into Ponyville to set it on fire. Her plan... had actually been quite clever. But what shocked him was the fact that she could become anypony, well, that's what he assumed. The truth of the matter was, his mind was running wild with all kinds of likely scenarios about what kind of “invasion” that pony meant. Getting out of bed, he gripped his side as the pain shot out again. He coughed and quietly crept along, trying to make sure not to wake up Applejack or any of the others. He could not understand how they could sleep so soundly after a disaster like that. Anyone he knew would have had nightmares for weeks on end. Trotting out the front door of the Apple family house, he made his way along the road to Ponyville.

When he arrived, he surveyed the repairs. The construction ponies were asleep, as he should be, but they had gone overboard with how fast they had completed repairs on the most damaged structures. Twilight's library, however, was not. There was paneling on the side, a stalwart attempt at repairs, but the truth of the matter was that the library had been all but destroyed. Sighing, he trotted slowly over, pushing away ash from the front door so he could enter.

“Twilight?” He looked up the stairs to the purple unicorn staring at the charred remains of what Volt could only assume had been a bed.

“Everything, gone. All the books, all my equipment, all of my research. Gone.” Volt slowly walked up the stairs and came up behind her, startling her.

“I know you're grieving – I would be too, if I were you – but I need your help. Specifically, your memory.” Volt sat her down on one of two chairs that had survived the fire. He sat on the other one, staring at her.

“Why do you want me to help you now? My library's in ruins-”

“And a lot more would have been in ruins had you and your friends not acted sooner. I'm here to figure out what exactly you will be up against.” He tore a piece of his bandage off and handed it to Twilight. “Here. Your face is absolutely covered in soot.” As she wiped off some of the soot, he stared out the window.

“What I'll be up against?”

“Yeah. I guess I have to explain it a bit further before you'll get it. Listen, when the fires were still being fought, I came across what I thought was Shadow Wing, the black Pegasus filly, but it morphed – yes, don't look at me like I'm insane, morphed – into an insect-like pony. Reminded me of a chameleon.” Volt watched as Twilight hopped back upright, teetering a little as she approached the ledge that overlooked the remains of the library. He backed up as she concentrated, and a single solitary book, untouched by the fire, floated in front of her.

“This might help you.” She levitated it in front of Volt, opening the book to a page about creatures Volt had never heard of before.

“'Changelings. Ruled over by Queen Chrysalis, they feed... off love' – bizarre source of food – 'and are sworn enemies of the kingdom of Equestria.' Well – that's her!” Volt pointed to a picture of Queen Chrysalis. “That's the one I saw!” The book was pulled away from him as Twilight stared at the picture in fear.

“I thought we had banished her to the farthest place from Equestria.” Volt grabbed the book and sat down with it.

“Obviously, it didn't work. From what I can garner from what you just said, you, and those five friends of yours, fought against Chrysalis and won? She set fire to Ponyville!”

“Well, it wasn't really us... more my older brother and Cadence. Their love created a barrier that expelled the Changelings from Canterlot when they last tried to invade.” Volt slammed the book down, startling Twilight again.

“Uh huh. That plan seems like it was doomed to fail from the start.” He opened the book again and returned to the chapter on Changelings. “Man, these Changelings really don't pull their punches, do they?” Volt looked up to see Twilight staring at him with a look of curiosity.

“'Pull their punches?' What does that even mean?” She looked down at the book, gawking at a timeline. Volt could surmise that she had never looked at the timeline before.

“They declared war on nation after nation, and brought each one low. Except. For. Equestria.” He tapped his hoof on the book's map for emphasis. “That means that an initial assault was mounted before, but repelled. Another assault was beaten off by a barrier field – sounds like some pretty crazy stuff to me. But this assault, I don't think this 'Queen Chrysalis' is going to let up, even once. She seemed pretty determined during the fire.” He glanced at a chest. It was scorched on the outside, but appeared relatively untouched. “Hey, what's inside of that chest?” He backed away as Twilight protected it.

“The books I deemed most important that I locked up for safety.” She pushed the chest into a corner and sat on it, glaring at Volt.

“As I stated, the fire was caused by Queen Chrysalis. Focus on that, and stop glaring at me like you're going to kill me. It's starting to freak me out.” Twilight reluctantly got off the chest and slowly plodded towards Volt. “Good. Now-” Twilight zipped back over to the chest, glaring daggers at Volt. “Twilight, if this is going to happen every single time I say something, then I'll be better off trying to talk to a wall. At least I might have a chance of cooperation... maybe.” He left the library, letting Twilight cower with an angry stare on top of her “personal” chest. Volt shook his head. It's like she doesn't want to help figure this out. Sheesh. I'd better talk to Pinkie Pie, if she is awake.

And awake she was. She stared at the charred ruins of what Volt could only assume had been her home. The previous day, Volt had to help pull four corpses from the smoking wreckage, handing them off to another rescue team. Pinkie had watched it the entire time, staring at him with tears. He shook his head to dispel the memories.

“Pinkie, I did say I was-”

“Go away. Nopony can help me anymore.” Volt sat down beside her and stared at the wreckage. Volt felt compelled to say something, a memory of something that did not feel bad to him at all, but a little humorous.

“There was a fire, like this one, but much worse. A brush fire that got out of control where I once lived. Small town, great residents, good food. The place I was staying in was burned to the ground, most of my things that I had brought along destroyed, and the one thing I could think of was that I had a half-eaten veggie sandwich sitting on my bed, and I wouldn't be able to finish it.” He looked down at Pinkie Pie, who stared up at him with tears. A small smile crept across her sooty face.

“All you were worried about was the sandwich?”

“A lot of the stuff I had lost could be replaced. I mean, I had lost work for a chapter of a book I had been working on, but that was no biggie. That sandwich I had made myself, and that was all I cared about.” A voice behind them startled Volt out of his little tale for cheering Pinkie up.

“Most of that stuff... really happened to you, didn't it?” Another unicorn approached, cerulean, with a white mane. She was... interesting, to say the least. She did not hold herself up high like some of the other unicorns he had met did.

“You bet.” He walked away from Pinkie as her smile grew back to its full Cheshire Cat glory, and she started bouncing around again.

“The sandwich too?”

“Yeah... I didn't care about the sandwich that much. The brush fires they had... they didn't really affect me all that much. It was like a minor annoyance in my way than a full on problem.” He trotted over to a nearby untouched bench and sat down, motioning for the other unicorn to sit down.

“I'm Dawn Aurora, by the way.” Volt stared at her flank. It looked like a star with the Northern Lights surrounding it, Aurora Borealis.

“Fitting name. I'm Volt Ward.” She sat down and stared at the darkened sky. The clouds had billowed larger with the addition of the smoke. It'll take weeks for that to clear. That's going to cause a few problems.

“You helped organize rescue teams, right? Even while injured?” She poked tenderly at his bandages, to which he grunted in pain.

“Please don't do that. No, I didn't. I organized the fire-fighting effort, but Twilight Sparkle organized the rescue effort. We had to pull a lot of bodies from the burned out buildings. I don't think I've ever seen so many dead in, well... ever. It's not something you generally witness on a daily basis. I mean that truthfully.” He kicked at a small pile of ash near his hoof.

“That must have been horrible. I was supposed to move in to one of the vacant houses today, but there's nowhere to live, now. I only heard about what you did from hearsay, some of the ponies that fled the fire.” She glanced at Volt, who looked away.

“You don't know the half of it.” Why does she keep looking at me? Why does she find me so freaking interesting? It's making me feel weird. Volt stared at the ground, deliberately trying not to make eye contact with the mare beside him. He could feel something lightly bump into his side, sending a shooting pain through him. Looking to his side, he saw that Dawn had sidled up next to him, and was now cuddling next to him.

“Is it okay if I do this? My sister... she was in that house when it burned down, wasn't she?”

“I didn't know any of the dead. You'd have to ask the Mayor about that... if there is one now. With all the dead, I wouldn't be surprised if this town became a ghost town.” He watched her eyes as she started to cry. “Hey, don't feel like that. I'm here, don't worry.” Volt stared at her as she cried. He felt a little pang of pain for her, but just a little. He put his hoof on her back, patting her gently. “They all lost something. I never had anything here anyways.” He stood up, letting Dawn fall on her side.

“Where are you going?”

“I've got to check on the rest of them. See how they are holding up.” Volt stared straight up at the dark sky again. No Pegasus ponies flew through the air. He sighed, shaking his head and continuing his walk. Ponyville had taken a heavier beating from the fire than he had first assumed. Dawn was just one of many who had lost something. Twilight was one who had lost everything. Passing burnt-out husk after burnt-out husk, he saw that the damage was far more extensive. Even more ponies were sitting in front of their former homes, just staring at the ground in shock. It's like a ghost town already. There's still so much damage. So much that cannot be fixed. Lives that will never return to normal. He put his head down as he plodded along, staring at the path ahead. The remains of a vendor's cart sat in the middle of the path in a heap of ash. Skirting around it, Volt kept walking, surveying the damage. He came to a building he had never been to before. It was barely touched. Reading the lettering on the sign, he barely made it out. “'Carousel Boutique.' Hmm, interesting. I'd best check this out.”

Opening the door of the Carousel Boutique was quite hard, as several large trees had collapsed against the door. Volt tried pushing them out of the way, to no avail. Sighing, he looked around the sides, hoping for a back door. On the exact opposite side, he came across what seemed like a rarely-used door.

“Better than nothing, I guess.” Pushing it hard, it swung open to reveal another unicorn, staring at him with fear.

“G-go away!”

“Hey, relax! I'm here trying to see how everypony is holding up after the fire. Your building was barely touched at all, asides from several trees across your front door, but nothing that can't be rectified easily.” She seemed to calm down when he said that, and let him in. As he entered, several candles lit up, showing something that Volt had not expected. Many ponies who had tried to escape the fire had gone to Carousel Boutique, and he was now staring at them. “Wow. I never knew- I mean, I didn't expect this. Are there any Pegasus ponies here?” No pony raised their hoof. “Well, that messes with that. It's good that you're doing well, miss.”

“My name is Rarity. It would do you good to remember it.” She pushed him against a wall and kept her voice low. “But please, could you get them out of here? Fashion does not work well with a large crowd.” She stared at Volt as he chuckled a little bit.

“All right, I'll see what I can do.” He moved to stand in the centre of the room, staring around at the various Earth Ponies and Unicorns. “Okay, everypony. The fire was dealt with, so you're free to move out. Now, we will definitely need some help with the repairs, so anypony who wishes to stay in Ponyville, raise your hoof now.” Only seven ponies raised their hooves. Volt sighed. “All right. Those of you who wanted to stay, you need to find a place for you to temporarily live in. Unfortunately, the Carousel Boutique is not such a place. Everypony else, you can get going to wherever you were headed before.” Volt was going to mention that they should move out orderly, but was met with a stampede of ponies leaving, the seven who wanted to stay sitting in front of him. “All right, then. You heard what I said before. You should probably get on that. It will be a while before Ponyville is back to normal. Well, as normal as it can get after a disaster like this.” Volt left the Boutique, moving around to the front to look back at the devastated Ponyville. “I have to figure out how to fight Chrysalis. I can't be milling about, gawking at her when the time comes. I'll have to be ready. I guess I'll have to go to Canterlot.”

Volt came upon what he assumed was a train station. It was far enough from the town that the fire had not “hopped” from a nearby house to it.

“Well, at least some basic infrastructure survived. Now, if there was a train...” He trailed off, looking around. No pony was around, not even a stationmaster. Sighing, he trotted inside to be met with the ponies he had said that they should get going. “Well, isn't this a surprise? When is the next train coming?” He turned around and came face-to-face with Dawn.

“Not for a long time, I would say.” She stopped speaking when Volt motioned for her to follow him outside.

“Dawn, now is not the time for that. You need to give them hope, not despair. With despair comes dissent, and with dissent comes a division.” Volt decided to sit down on the edge of the platform. “So, what's going on with the train? Problems?” He turned to see Dawn shaking her head.

“I don't know. I just know that the train hasn't come in a while, and... well, it's starting to worry a lot more than those inside the station. The stationmaster galloped off last night in a panic. Wherever he is, I hope he's safe.”

“So, the stationmaster basically lost his mind and ran off?”

“Pretty much.” Dawn stared down at the ground as she joined Volt at the edge of the platform. “It's kind of peaceful, if you don't think about all of the dead bodies.”

“It won't be peaceful. Whatever peace there was in this town is now gone. This town would need residents willing to rebuild, not run. All I see now is a broken place with a broken population.” Murmuring voices from behind startled him. He turned around to see Twilight, along with Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie standing there. “What are you doing here? You should be making sure you didn't lose everything.” In response, Twilight levitated a chest in front of her.

“You're going to go to Canterlot, right? We're coming too. This is as much your problem as it is ours.” They stepped forward, determination in their step. Volt chuckled and shook his head.

“All right, then. I won't stop you. But, according to Dawn here, train's not coming for a while.”

“Ya mean that there train, pardner?” A whistle made Volt back up from the edge in surprise. Sure enough, there was the train. As it stopped, several ponies got off and began unloading what appeared to be large crates of supplies. Volt approached them to see for himself.

“Assisting with rebuilding?”

“You know it. As soon as we heard 'bout the fire, we got as much as we could together. We'll try and get this place ship-shape as soon as we can.” Volt left them to their unpacking, and was about to get on when Rarity grabbed him and pulled him out. Before he could object, she forced a kind of shirt, a dark red one, over him, covering up the bandages.

“That way, you won't get hurt as much.” She smiled sheepishly and boarded, followed by the other three. Volt looked towards the end of the platform, where a small dragon stood waving at them. Volt waved back and stepped inside. He had never been inside of a train, and he did not consider the subway the same as the train he found himself on. That train was very strange for him. Sitting down in a seat near the back of the car he entered, Volt stared down at his hooves in thought. So, word travels fast, huh? That's better than the city, where you'd have to do your own research without someone telling you. That makes things easier. He looked up to see Dawn sit in the seat directly in front of him. She smiled with closed eyes as she sat down.

“Dawn, I don't want to hear it.”

“But-”

“No. I don't. Don't even pretend to understand what I've been through. I should be dead, and yet I am not.” Volt stared out the window. The “refugees” - really, the ponies who were too cowardly to stay back and rebuild... well, some were – began piling on, filling up other cars but leaving the one Volt Ward was in alone. When the boarding was done, he could hear the conductor yelling for late boarders. A light tug, and he felt the train start moving. As the outside scenery moved past, he slowly began drifting into sleep. Before nodding off, he saw Dawn staring at him with worry.

“Volt? Volt, are you okay?”

He was most definitely not okay. He stared around at his surroundings, trying to make sense of it when it hit him: he was in the week before what he felt had been the worst day of his life. He was at home, sitting at the table, typing away a new story. His father came over and started reading over his shoulder. Smiling, his father patted him on the back.

“That story should do it. Whoever doesn't take that is a fool.” His father pulled a knife out of the drawer and was about to start chopping up some lettuce for a salad for dinner when the power went out. Erik saved his data and shut down his laptop when he heard the faucet break, and a scream from his father.

“Dad? Dad?!” He scrambled around, trying to find the flashlight that his father kept hanging on the wall for such emergencies. He eventually found it. Pressing the switch, it flickered on, illuminating everything, including his unconscious father lying on the floor. “Dad!” He knelt down, feeling his father's pulse. It was very, very weak. Looking down, he saw what looked like a piece of the faucet stuck in his ribs. He could feel the tears stinging his eyes as he fished around in his pocket, pulled out his cellphone, and phoned the hospital.

“I'm sorry, but your call cannot be completed.” He lowered the cellphone as he stared at the wall. He lifted his father slowly, watching the blood trickle over his hands as he moved towards the carport of the house. As he made it outside, the power came back on, and one of his neighbours came running towards him.

“Erik, what happened?” Through tears and occasional sobs, Erik tried to explain.

“T-The f-faucet exploded. A-A piece of it hit him in the ribs. Please, help me!”

Volt could feel the tears stinging his eyes as he woke up. Twilight, her friends, and Dawn were staring at him with worried looks.

“What's going on?” Dawn sat down beside him, putting her hoof around him.

“You were crying in your sleep. And you repeatedly said 'Help me, please! Please help me!' You had us worried, Volt.” She was shocked when Volt pushed her away.

“A nightmare. They've been getting progressively worse, and they show no signs of going away.” I remember... something. Something, but I can't tell what. Pain, an explosion. Blood. He remembered the nightmare, but it had been a nightmare. He stared down at his hooves. It had... felt real. He reassured himself, saying that it could not have happened to him. Dawn glared at him.

“It was most certainly not just a nightmare, Volt! You were crying in your sleep, for Celestia's sake!” Dawn stared at him with increasingly worried eyes.

“It was just a nightmare, so leave it at that. I do not wish to have this go any further.” He turned and stared out the window. They passed through another town, with the train not even stopping. It had been burned completely to the ground They didn't have enough time to save themselves. Revenge tactics. Low, but this 'Chrysalis' seems to know terror tactics well enough. While the authorities are too busy with-

“Those poor ponies.” Volt turned to watch Fluttershy stare out the window as several ponies dragged charred corpses out of many of the ruined homes.

“They never had time to react. They were hit when they least expected it.” He saw very few survivors, but they were shivering, shaking. They're shell-shocked. Traumatized. I don't think they ever expected somepony to do this to them. He felt the train begin to slow down. Watching the survivors, he followed them as they galloped for the train. “They've lost everything. I hope they're able to find a new life.” He got up and trotted towards the back of the car he was in. Staring out the back, he could see various plumes of smoke trailing into the sky. Several were far away, but Volt knew what they entailed. He gritted his teeth in anger. “I hate her! I hate Queen Chrysalis! She is going to pay for what she's done!” Though he did not notice, his horn charged up and blasted a bolt of lighting at the window, shattering it. He panted, trying to get it under control. He turned around to see all the ponies in the car with him reared up against the back wall.

“P-Please calm down, Volt!” Volt ignored Dawn as he sat down in the closest seat.

“I won't calm down until I see Chrysalis, dead and buried in an unmarked grave.” He growled as he stared at the floor. The others sat down in the seats far from him. She's caused so much pain and suffering. I won't let this happen again! I won't, I just won't! He fumed in his rage as he sat there, absolutely silent. He could hear somepony swallow, then come up to him. Looking up, he saw that Twilight had sat down in the seat across from him. “What do you want, Twilight?”

“I've never seen a pony get this angry before. Are you sure you're okay?”

“From where I'm from, this would be a minor footnote in the history of anger. There were others that had to be held down by several others. I'm okay, I just needed to vent.” He pulled the shade down and stared at the ground. “Just seeing... so much destruction, it really makes me angry. When I meet Chrysalis again, so help me, I will tear her apart.” Well, I hope it doesn't come to that. Remember, you haven't killed, you're just getting really angry. Remember that, and you'll be fine.

“You don't mean you'll tear her apart, literally?”

“No, Twilight. It's just, if this happened where I come from, the one responsible would be tried for genocide, the mass murder of a single group. At least, I think that was the definition.” He lifted up the shade to see in the distance a grand walled city on a mountain. “What's that?” Twilight trotted over to the window and smiled.

“That's Canterlot. I hope they're okay, especially the Princesses.” She turned to a confused look on Volt's face.

“Princesses, plural? There's more than one?”

“Only two. One is the ruler of the night, while the other is the ruler of the day.” Twilight removed herself and went back to her original seat as Volt watched Canterlot grow slowly bigger as they drew closer.

“I'll talk with the Princesses. I hope to the high heavens that they know what to do.”

5 - Truth [EDITED]

The train slowly slid to a stop in the Canterlot station. Looking out a window, Volt could not help but feel overwhelmed. It reminded him of the medieval towns he had once visited, the clever recreations made by enthusiasts who had too much time and money on their hands. When he trotted out, he waited for Twilight, her friends, and Dawn, watching to see if any of the refugees would get off as well. Sitting on the bench, he started looking around at the various ponies of Canterlot. They seemed very... opulent. That made him very uncomfortable.

“I remember the last time I dealt with those who were, well, opulent.” He watched Dawn come out, trailed by Twilight, still rubbing her eyes, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, who was repositioning her hat after the wind from a busted window – Volt remembered he would eventually pay for that sometime – and Rainbow Dash. Volt trotted up to Dawn and shook his head.

“Me and those who live in opulence, we don't mix. The last time I met some like that, we ended up in a fight, though I won. For a few months afterwards, wherever I went, the friends of the one I had beaten senseless followed me around, trying to find some way to get me back for what I did. They never got a chance. The police didn't like them, which meant they sided with me when I got attacked.” He stared at the sky. “Pretty clear up here.”

“Considering what happened, it's better in the mountains where it's harder to get into a city built onto one.” Volt merely shrugged and began trotting, looking at everything.

“This is quite... strange.” He tried talking to a Canterlot pony, but that one turned up his nose and trotted away with an air of superiority. “And that's why I don't mix.”

“You are mostly covered in soot, you know.” Volt looked in a mirror. Dawn was right, he was covered with soot, though it was thinner in some areas.

“I guess I am. There should be a place to get a bath around here, right?”

Volt stood in front of two of the largest doors he had ever seen. On the front was emblazoned a symbol of a pony taking a bath.

“Are you absolutely sure I'm allowed to go in there? I'm not some kind of hero, nor am I the type who has an overabundance of money.” Twilight pushed him towards the door.

“Come on. I came here a lot when I lived here. Don't be scared, Volt! Just go in!” The large doors swung open to show several rows of what appeared to be maids with their noses in the air. Volt stared at them in fear as he tried to escape from Twilight, who had apparently gotten her friends to keep him in one place. When the maids saw Volt, they turned up their noses and trotted away.

“Snot-nosed nobles. Never caring for anypony below them.” Twilight stared down at Volt, who was now getting up. Volt turned back to Twilight, with a scowl on his face. “I'll do it, but because I like tormenting these kinds of peop- I mean ponies.” He trotted forwards to the front desk, where the clerk backed up as he stood there.

“W-What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be, you know, not in Canterlot?” He pulled off the red shirt and showed the clerk his bandages.

“I need a bath. A warm one. Also for Twilight Sparkle and her friends.” At the mention of Twilight's name, the clerk perked up.

“Twilight? Oh, I'm sorry, my dears. I did not recognize you with all that... um, soot on your faces. I'll go tell them to get the private baths ready.” Volt turned back to Twilight with a quizzical expression.

“Private baths? If you tell me your parents were snot-nosed nobles...”

“Well, they were hard workers, they worked for everything they had, which made them the only noble-ponies to do so.” A butler, who seemed obviously disgusted at Volt's appearance, with bloodied bandages and soot covering him, looked down at the ground, motioning which way to go.

“This way, girls.” When Volt tried to go with them, the butler stopped him, anger flashing in his eyes.

“No, you cannot enter. This is for more... important ponies. You will have to go somewhere else.” Volt stepped forward, putting his nose right in the butler's face.

“I've seen an entire town almost burn to the ground. I had to help pull charred corpses from the wreckage. I could have died in that blaze myself as well! Does that not count for anything around here?!” Volt stared and forced himself forwards until the butler fell over backwards. Volt looked up to see that most of the staff were now staring at him with angry looks. “So, is this how it is? This whole bath building is only for nobles? All right, I get it. I'm out.” As he was leaving, he noticed Dawn standing by the door.

“You're not going to have a bath or something?”

“Snot-nosed nobles who cannot understand that injuries mean that somepony needs more care than a stinking noble.” He shot an angry look back at the butler he had left on the floor, frightening him into scurrying away. “How about you?”

“I don't like nobles all that much, and Twilight and her friends are very important here in Equestria. It's not like we can do anything about it.” Volt sat down beside Dawn on a bench outside the baths. A guard came up and stared at them as they sat down.

“Sir, you should be moving along. There's no loitering allowed here.” Volt's eye twitched as he tried to control his anger.

“I just sat down. You're going to make me move just because I just sat down?” He was doing his best to control the rage now forcing its way up into the forefront of his mind, but it was a losing battle. “I have just about had it! 'Oh, you're not important enough to have a bath, so leave!' 'You can't sit there, that's loitering if you've just sat down!' Can you tell I'm not happy?!” The guard raised a spear to Volt's throat.

“You need to go.”

“Really. You're really going to do that, aren't you? If this was where I was from, I would slap a brutality charge on you!" He moved his head slightly, moving forwards to put his face in the guard's. "Do it. I dare you."

"Volt! Stop it!" Dawn was shouting at him, although it sounded far away. Volt turned to see the shaft of the spear impact his face slowly. He was out within seconds.

Volt woke up in a dungeon. Where, he could not tell. He tried to move, but felt shooting pains moving, forcing him to stay still.

“What's going on here? Why am I in a cell? What, did I offend some idiotic noble?” A voice from outside the door to the dimly-lit cell startled him.

“Shut up, prisoner. You threatened a guard. That is a punishable crime. Just be glad we did not kill you.” Volt struggled again, stopping when the pain started up.

“So, you're just going to keep me locked up in here? Sheesh, and all Twilight tried to do was get me into those baths.” He laid back and stared up at the window. It was small, with thick bars.Volt stared at another pony who was in the room with him.

“Ah, another one. You got put in here too?”

“Yeah. Who are you?”

“I have no name, I am but an echo of a pony, a pony who has been here too long, with memory that faded along with it.” Volt struggled again, trying to break loose. “I'm afraid that those bindings are quite secure. They're meant to break your spirit, prevent you from ever hoping to escape.”

“I will escape, you can be sure of that. I saved a town, while most of those snot-nosed nobles have been given what they have on silver plates.” He stared at the pony, who had two red pinpricks focused on Volt. As it came into the light, it was like nothing Volt had ever seen. It was chained up in restraints like his, but it was a pony, with holes- a changeling. “You're a changeling. How did they even capture you without you getting sent out into the far reaches by Twilight's brother?” The changeling laughed as it moved back to its corner of darkness.

“I was not one of the changelings that Chrysalis had used to invade. But they don't understand that. There are two groups within the changelings: those who are controlled by Chrysalis, and those who are immune. The need to feed on 'love', as she so 'lovingly' states, is her need for dominance. She is but a usurper who uses foul, dark magic to elicit the reactions she wants, using spells that are forbidden, even to changelings. I have seen only a handful myself, but they can remove the immunity that us Red-eyes have against her control. The Green-eyes, the ones that Twilight's brother expelled, they're the ones that are evil, not my kind.”

“So, there are two groups? Why does it not state it in history books?”

“Because then they'd have to acknowledge that changelings can be good. All we are is puppets to Chrysalis. She planned on Twilight's brother and his wife expelling her from the city, so that they would be unprepared. She planned it all, pretending to be shocked when she was removed from the city of Canterlot.” The eyes turned to look at the door of the cell. “I've tried myself to bust out of here before, but that door is what keeps me in. It's enchanted.”

“So, how why would that guard treat me like I was less than the common pony? I mean, really, this is not what I expected at all from them.” Volt sighed and tried to wiggle, finding that he was also chained to the wall.

“Well, they chained you to the wall. That must mean they really have it in for you... I'm sorry, what was your name again?”

“Volt Ward. Now, please answer my question.”

“One thing at a time, kid. Chrysalis has never lost interest in Canterlot, nor in Equestria. The love that the ponies feel for one another, it makes her envious of them. She is the one that feasts upon the love that one might have for another. But she wouldn't trust any changeling to keep tabs on Canterlot, no.”

“Hey, for the purpose of remembering, can I call you Red?”

“Fine.” Red moved into the light, a broken horn adorning his head. “She has various spies among the ponies of Canterlot, mainly those who feel that a societal shift is necessary."

“Shoot.” Volt sighed, staring at the window again. “If Twilight knew where I was, she'd get me out.”

“Yeah, she would, but how would she know that she could trust you? You're in a cell with me, a changeling, and from what I've been told, she doesn't like us all that much.” Red stared from his dark corner once again. “Her spies are the reason my horn's broken.” Volt stared at the door, in deep thought.

“Yeah, you're right. Being in a prison cell is not the way to go to get somepony to trust you.” Volt sighed and stopped struggling. He stared up at the ceiling as he decided to go to sleep. “Better to sleep than to know I'm in here, right?”

When he looked around, he was once again on top of the hospital, on the edge about to jump. He pulled himself back, staring at the railing.

“I was going to jump, wasn't I?” A voice behind him startled him.

“Yes, you were, and you would have died. I'm sorry for what's happened, really, I truly am.” A pale man in a business suit kept his gaze locked on Erik. “I never intended for what has occurred. You were supposed to become a part of their populace, remaining happy and pain-free. I was a fool for believing that I could change someone.” Erik moved forward, patting his hand on the man's shoulder.

“If this is all your fault-” He grabbed the man's arm. “-then you're coming with me, you jerk!” As they both ran towards the edge, the businessman struggling, Erik shouted as much as possible. “You're the reason I cannot remember anything! I won't hardly remember this dream, as it will feel like that, a dream!” They tumbled over the railing, the wind dying down as events started over again. Erik watched the man pull out a stopwatch and press a button on it.

“You really have no idea what's going on, do you?”

Volt woke up, barely remembering what he was dreaming about. He could barely remember the other dreams he'd had, as if they were some kind of past life that somepony else had once had. He looked around. Red was gone, and his restraints were undone. The door was still bolted shut, but he was fine. Looking down, he saw the bandages gone. Scars ran all over his body like a network of spiderwebs, intricately connected to be something bigger.

“What?” I am definitely certain that I was in severe pain a while ago. How long was I out? Looking out the window, he saw it was night-time. There were no ponies around, making him feel very alone. He slid back down the cell wall until he was lying down. “Well, I guess that's that. I'm stuck in here when I should be out there, trying to prepare them for something that they won't be expecting this time.” His monologue was interrupted by Celestia opening his door.

“I'm sorry, Volt. The guards could not explain why they were holding you, they just said that one of their number had brought you in and tossed you in here, ordering the rest to guard you while you were restrained.” Celestia levitated a lantern onto a ceiling hook, illuminating the room. Volt stared at her.

“Why would you do this for me? Really, I'm nothing but trouble, it seems.” He stared down at the ground as Celestia walked slowly up to him, extending her wing around him.

“All of my little ponies are dear to me. This was an injustice on a guard's part, but for some reason, they cannot find the one responsible. They will find the guard responsible.” She stared down at Volt with a motherly expression. “Eventually. But you needed to talk to me?” Volt trotted beside her as they made their way to the throne room.

“It's about a changeling that you and the Elements fought. Specifically, Queen Chrysalis.” Celestia went absolutely pale when she heard Volt mention Chrysalis, much paler than her already pale coat.

“Chrysalis? But she was banished from Equestria! How can this be about her?” Volt stared up with anger at Celestia, anger that was not directed at her.

“You failed. Or, those who banished her failed. It was a simple safeguard you should have had in place. Did you even check where she was sent?” Celestia looked out the window.

"Several groups of guards were sent to locate the landing point of the changelings and their queen, but they never returned." She turned back to Volt, a frown forming on her face. "I see where you're going with this." He pointed with his hoof to smoke coming off of several distant towns.

“Many of those towns are burned to the ground because of her. Ponyville was saved only because, through the efforts of various individuals, they were able to get the ponies there moving in time to stop it.” Celestia stopped to open a large door, revealing an enormous round table with various constellations inscribed into it with gems. Twilight and her friends were already there, along with Red, who sat across from them.

“They were waiting for you.” Volt sat down at the table, taking a spot beside Red, who was grinning from ear to ear. Volt turned to him with an irritated glance.

“What are you so happy about?”

“I've never been a part of anything before.” The smile faded when Celestia brought out a map, showing the extent of the changeling attack. “Many of the towns in the countryside have been reduced to mere foundations, forcing many to flee from their homes. But, there happens to be one place that still stands. Volt?” Volt put his hoof right on Ponyville.

“Chrysalis hit here, and she hit hard. She was expecting the town to be asleep. I don't think she had taken into account that I was there.” He looked down at the map. “To tell the truth, I don't think she even knew I was there at all.” He pulled his hoof away, staring down at the map. “All roads lead to one destination eventually.” Volt tried to pick up a pencil nearby, but each time he did, it slipped out of his hoof. Twilight shook her head and looked to Celestia.

“I don't think he has any idea how to use his magic. But considering what's happened, I don't think he has time to go through the training that I did.” Twilight glanced back at Celestia, who nodded.

“Volt, could you please stand still? You need to understand a little about how to use magic before you can do anything useful.” Volt turned just as Celestia hit his head with her horn. A flash of light burst into being as it connected with Volt's mind. As it contacted, however, the light turned dark, and fizzled out. Volt stared at his hooves in curiosity.

“Did you actually do anything?” He looked over at the pencil, and wondered about picking it up.

“Unfortunately, I was not. Something about your magic refuses to allow me to share knowlege. I don't know what it could be, truthfully"

“Well, then We've got to go with plan B." Picking the pencil up in his mouth, he drew lines from all the afflicted towns to Canterlot. He set it down to speak. “Right here. The city we sit in now. It's going to become a warzone.” He looked over at Pinkie Pie and frowned. “Should have let me have the name Warpath. You have no idea what you're getting yourselves into.” Celestia nodded when she looked at the map.

“So, Chrysalis' final goal is Canterlot. Can't say I'm too surprised, considering her last attempt.” Volt shrugged.

“If she's operating on any level of tactics that I know, then her attack could be at any time. She may have allies as well.” His voice trailed off as he stared out the window. Another thick plume of smoke floated from another town, that one far away from Canterlot. “I have a fair idea of her plan.” He brought his attention back to the table, tapping the map with his levitating pencil. “If you're worried more about your ponies being attacked, then you'll send more guards out, leaving your forces stretched thinly enough to where she could just waltz in and take this town with barely a fight.” Why do I feel so smug? It's what I learned from trying to write a military story. You have to know what you're talking about before you attempt to portray yourself as the one who understands the tactics. Volt looked out at guard ponies gathering in the courtyard.

“Well, if you can't use magic, you could always talk with Twilight's brother about tactics..” Every eye in the room fell on Rainbow Dash. Twilight looked at her hoof, seemingly deep in thought.

“You know? That's not a bad idea. Princess Celestia, what do you think? Celestia?” They all looked around, and noticed that Celestia was not in the room. Red chuckled.

“Took you that long to notice, huh? She left already. Said something about talking to the Captain of the Guard, maybe teaching him a few things about tactics?” Red smirked at Volt, who was less than pleased.

“This is a fight that cannot be taken lightly, Red. Can I count on your support?” Just as Red was about to give his answer, Celestia returned with what Volt assumed was the Captain of the Guard.

“Captain Shining Armour, I would like you to meet Volt Ward. I'd like for you two to work together, create new tactics for our forces.” Volt trotted forward, extending a hoof.

“Let's get down to business, shall we?”