An Unexpected Journey, Discovery of the Heart

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic © Hasbro & Lauren Faust

An Unexpected Journey, Discovery of the Heart

Written by: TOOS0BER

Chapter 2: Deja Vu...

Pain.

I was assaulted by incredible pain while Twilight helped me along through hallway after hallway. Every jostling step sent lightning up my leg and to my brain. Multiple times we simply had to stop, lest I pass out completely. Although, as I glanced at the passages we just passed, fainting seemed inevitable unless something was done fast; dotting the polished, white tiled floor was a trail of blood – my blood. This aggravation was making my leg bleed even faster! Damn it...

“Okay,” I whined. “stop,please stop!” I needed another rest; my still gruesomely twisted limb burned with a fire that surely must have rivaled the sun. Twilight helped me brace against the wall, next to a mostly clear mosaic window that overlooked the majestic city.

“I know you're in pain,” Twilight said gently, “but we need to keep moving! The changelings will be here soon, and we need to get you somewhere safe – and the faster we get there, the sooner we can heal that.” she gestured at my leg with a hoof, then grimaced as she noticed the blood down the hallway.

“I know,” I unintentionally growled, face still tightly grimaced in pain. I realized I'd been rude, and changed my tone, “I know... okay, let's go...”

Just block it out Dustin, I thought, desperately trying to close that door.You've been through worse. Just. Block. It. Damn it that was easier said than done! Aside from taking a bullet to the brain, this was definitely in my top five of most agonizing injuries. When I woke up, I had a sanity-splitting headache fordays. Quickly I also had to shove that thought away; the throbbing leg was bad enough, and I needed my head clear of that mysterious headache.

Twilight patiently waited for me to compose myself, and once more I leaned partially against her. The fact that she barely came to my chest made that exceedingly difficult. It was pretty literal; I had my right hand on her back, using my arm and her body to support my right side since that leg couldn't support so much as an empty Nuka cola bottle – damn it! Thatheadache again! Arrugh!

Luckily this one wasn't as intense as the previous two, and I manged to keep it from slowing us down.

I decided it would be better to focus more on my surroundings.

Every dozen feet or so, along the wall to our left, was more of those mosaic windows, brilliant sunlight pouring in to illuminate the hallway. To our right was a plethora of mostly unmarked wooden doors – also adorned with elegant carvings. The whitewashed stone walls matched the exterior I gazed at earlier, even down to the gold trimming. This place, wherever it was, certainly outdid even the best weathered structures in the Mojave.

For the first few minutes there were more of the armored ponies making their way in the opposite direction that Twilight and I traveled. Nearly all of them slowed to a trot to gaze at me – either confused or frightened at my appearance; many even stared at me in complete, unbridled mistrust. I couldn't blame them.

I wouldn't really trust me either, I chuckled at the dark thought. Somehow that was linked to my memories, but it must have been vague enough to not trigger that headache – for which I was extremely grateful.

In that second later, I was disturbed and slightly confused. Why had I just thought that about myself? Why wouldn't I trust myself? Did I do something in the past? I had no answers at this time; and truthfully, wasn't sure I wanted to know. My mouth turned to a grimace at that thought, a new dark cloud of uncertainty hung over my psyche.

“Incoming!” the startled voice of a nearby armored stallion knocked me out of my thoughts.

The whole room began to change colors; the perfect white and stunning gold took on a shifting, eerie green as freshly cast shadows rapidly danced along the hall. I looked curiously out a nearby window – and felt a shiver rush down my spine as my eyes widened in horror.

Acting on instinct, I picked up a startled Twilight, momentarily balanced on my one good leg. “What are you –?”

I cut her off, “No time!” I shouted as I threw the small horse thing as far down the hall as I could muster, she shrieked the whole way.

As soon as Twilight cleared several yards, the world exploded around me. Once more I could feel intense heat as I brought my leather bound arms up to shield myself again. Before closing my eyes, they swam with an eldritch green flame. The sound of screaming was nearly drowned out by the cacophony of smashing stone and breaking glass. The sound of destruction completely dominated my hearing scape.

So loud was the... I guessed it was an explosion... that I didn't realize I was being hurled backwards until my body came in hard contact with the, now rubble covered and blackened, floor.

“Aaauughh!” I screamed again as my bad leg bounced off a large piece of wall chunk, splattering it wetly with blood – my blood, accompanied by that sickening wet smacking sound. If I wasn't in complete agony, that sound alone would have made me hurl.

I breathed rapidly – which turned into a raucous coughing, since the air was still filled with settling dust. The dust cleared surprisingly quickly, and I just started to make out the damage. A good twenty-foot section of the wall was just...gone. A gouging, ragged canyon separated my side of the hallway from the other. The 'ground' was littered with debris – burnt and blackened stone no longer white, twisted golden metal marred by soot and partially melted, and glittering shards of multi-colored glass; even some chunks of wood were strewn about, some of the nearby doors had been shredded by the impact of...

What the hell hit us?

At first I thought that maybe it was an artillery shell, but that thought was quickly disproved. In the crater dug out from the ground, a figure was rising. Momentarily I thought it was Twilight, and was about to call out in concern for her health. The figure seemed to match, I made out the head and the horn that protruded from the forehead, with the wings unfurled on the creature's back.

Or at least I thought that was her, until an important fact dawned on me: Moments before impact, I had thrown Twilight a good twenty-something feet in order to get her to relative safety. Whomever, orwhatever, was in front of me was barely a couple yards away.

Or, I tried to placate myself.Maybe I didn't throw her... as far as... I... thought?

My own thoughts trailed and ground to a halt as the obscuring layer of dust finally cleared completely, and the mysterious figure was revealed. It had dark fur, no, some form of hard, scaly chitin that looked like it could absorb quite a bit of punishment. The wings I saw earlier were not the graceful purple feathers, but some kind of ghastly translucent green... wings? The only relatable image I could conjure was that of an insect – a ratherdangerous insect, with orange wings, that I must have been familiar with in the Mojave. This was clearly not the same creature, but those characteristics told me that said mystery creature was a huge threat. The horn and hooves were different as well, permeated with holes that could be clearly seen through to the other side.

I stared, jaw agape at what stood before me.No, definitely not Twilight Sparkle...

The dust had long settled to levels that allowed all to be visible once more. I glanced around, and saw Twilight on the far side. She was kneeling on the ground, possibly reeling from me throwing her like an over-sized bowling ball. Just beyond her was another pair of the black chitin covered creatures.

I winced.Damn it! I berated myself,I almost tossed her into anotherof those impacts!

I didn't have any more time to contemplate Twilight, as the first creature – the one closest to me – turned its head in my direction. Its eyes were starkly different from the ponies I'd seen before. They glowed blue and empty, almost soulless. The thing bent its head low, and snarled at me – showing off razor sharp fangs. It turned the rest of its body in my direction, and slowly advanced out of the crater, growling the whole way.

An almost primal fear rushed its way inside my mind, while my body reacted in the complete opposite – completely and utterly calm. The creature before me was practically anightmare come alive! And yet, my physical self was completely unmoved. What the hell was this? I should be trembling, why was I so damn calm?

My eyes examined the, I now realized this was one of the changelings mentioned earlier, it could be nothing else, thing as it approached. Somehow, I knew what it was doing. It was gauging me, judging my stature as a threat, evaluating how much challenge I would present. It sniffed the air mildly – the changeling must be able to smell my blood as it pooled quickly on to the floor. And, was it my imagination, or did it justsmile evilly at me? Uh oh.

The changeling lowered to the ground, muscles tensing underneath the scales – ready to pounce.

In that instant the world swirled away...

…and was replaced with a rock canyon. Around me were dozens of large, rusting vehicles sporting dozer blades of various size and purposes held by bolted mechanical arms and wide steel cables. Towering above was a metal tower construct, a half dozen conveyor belt trams led from the peak to the ground. The hallway before was gone, replaced by blue skies with an unforgiving, more familiar sun. I could smell the cordite of recently spent brass.

I glanced around, and indeed there were dozens of brass shell casings – recently used ammunition. I recognized various calibers; medium rounds that reminded me of five-five-six rounds, the typical red casings that signaled that a shotgun was recently used, along with the massive shells of a fifty caliber weapon. Whoever was fighting here had come prepared with adamned impressive arsenal.

That's when I noticed the bodies.

They all belonged to the same kind of creature, but most of them were sized differently. Some were small, barely coming up to my chest. Others were quite large, and I was certain that they would have dwarfed me by a head or two if I were standing upright. All of them were pale skinned with horns and very long, scary claws – they looked sharp enough to sheer through hardened steel – accompanied by huge maws filled with equally sharp fangs.

With a – somehow – practiced eye, I could tell how each of them died.

Some were riddled with a great many bullet holes, made from a heavy weapon that must have fired five-five-six rounds – perhaps even armor piercing variety, as the exit wounds appeared to have carried much more residual power. Despite this obvious spray, it was clear that whoever shot them had impeccable skill with whatever firearm they used. Others were far more gruesome. With missing heads or limbs; probably created by the fifty from a distance (possibly a form of sniper weapon), or from the shotgun up close.

A snarling growl caught my attention.

Just a few feet from where I laid on the ground, was one of the smaller varieties of whatever ugly creatures these were – except it wasalive, absent the bullet wounds, and very pissed off! With a sudden shot, and making eerie eye contact with those cold, scowling eyes, I realized where I 'was' and what these creatures were...

Oh shit...

The Deathclaw charged, and my body reacted of its own accord.

It opened its wide, drooling canyon of teeth to bite down hard at my face; I blocked with my left forearm. It was then that I noticed my arm wasn't clad in a leather duster, but hardened steel that had been shaped to a human arm.When the hell...?

My mouth screamed while I was transfixed with this fact. The creature, despite the formidable looking armor, bit almost straight through into my flesh, gnawing on my appendage.

I spewed a colorful litany of curses at the damnable thing, my other arm – also covered in an armored sleeve – bashed it repeatedly in its butt-ugly face with a familiar revolver, a Ranger sequoia. Finally the thing had had enough, or I'd given it a concussion, and it released my arm, recoiling and shaking its head wildly.

That was all the opportunity I needed.

Time slowed down, and the forty-five-seventy gov't pistol discharged three times with monstrous booms of power; the recoil rattled my hand, but muscle memory and thousands of rounds of practice kept me on target. The Deathclaw's horribly misshapen head practicallydisintegrated from the heavy rounds, spouting gore and blood like some garish, macabre fountain.

The body fell to the ground in a wet heap.

I paused, listening and searching with my ears and eyes at my surroundings. There wasn't a single sound, and not so much as a tumbleweed's worth of movement. Utter tranquility left in the face of annihilating death and destruction. It was almost therapeutic in a highly disturbing kind of way.

What is this? I thought, transfixed by what had just happened. I had no control over the events, but it felt... natural somehow.

What is this? I got a sense of deja-vu, like it was... I couldn't even really describe it.

What is this, I don't even...?

A voice called my name, “Dustin? Dustin, are you okay?”

It was alien, sweet and full of concern. But completely alien. I didn't recognize it as anyone I knew, but, I also felt like I'd heard it recently.

It called out again, “Wake up! Dustin, wake up! We need to go!” This time a plethora of different and familiar smells assaulted my nose. Cordite, like from before, but freshly expended, with the burning, dry grit of recently disturbed rubble – and fresh blood.

The canyon blurred and disappeared...

…and I was back in the decimated hallway in the city, Twilight looking down at me in concern.

“Dustin! Thank Celestia, you're awake!” she sighed in relief.

“Wh-what...” I swallowed as I tried to clear my voice. “what happened?”

“The changelings arrived faster than expected. You and I were attacked on our way to the medical wing... you...” Twilight trailed off, and her face grimaced in worry and suspicion.

“I what?” I asked, flatly staring into her own face.

Instead of replying, she helped me sit up. The headache had returned, much to my regret. Although I didn't have time to ponder why it came back, or what that oddly familiar vision was. Twilight pointed ahead of us with a hoof.

I nearly jumped in surprise and shock at what I saw. At my feet lay that black chitin covered creature – the changeling – its head completely gone, ripped off in meaty tendrils with an iridescent green liquid slowly pooled on the dust-covered floor, utterly motionless. The floor – in addition to the thing's blood – was speckled with shattered pieces of black chitin.

I then noticed two other things – in my left hand was a smoking Ranger sequoia, clearly it had just been fired; that explained the cordite I could smell, and why the changeling lacked a head. The second was a rapidly spreading burn in my right arm. I examined the leather sleeve, and noted red crimson dripping underneath.

Oh great, just one more place I need to bleed from. Wonderful... I groaned at the sarcastic thought. There were four holes; two on the top of my forearm, and two more on the opposing side, underneath. I recalled that the changeling had fangs, and guessed that it must have bitten me on the arm.

I tested my hand's movement, and all digits, plus wrist, moved without effort. A flesh wound at best.

“What did you do?” Twilight's worried voice dragged me from my meager medical examination.

“I defended myself,” I answered honestly, and more than a little defensively.

“Well, yes, obviously, but the sheer power of that... weapon...” she gestured at the sequoia while taking a step back. I didn't know what Twilight was afraid of – I'd never turn my weapon on someone that was trying to help me.

“We should get moving,” I suggested, and tried to stand. “leg... remember?”

Twilight hesitated for but a moment, but then stood up straight to allow me to brace against her.

It seemed like the hallway we were just in was the only one that had been assaulted, as the hall curved slightly and I couldn't see any other smoking holes further down. Twilight explained that it was a form of 'shock trooper' attack that the changelings used. I was only partially correct when I thought we were hit by artillery – the kamikaze creatures used it as a form of destruction,and a way to get their troops where they needed them. Ialmost admired the brilliant tactic.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” I flailed as my feet began to leave the floor! It briefly felt like gravity was either reversed or disappeared entirely! Either I'm crazy, or I had too much alcohol at one point or another.

“Hold,” Twilight grunted next to me. “still! This isn't as easy as it looks.”

I looked in Twilight's direction, and that massive horn was glowing again. After that I glanced at my uninjured arm, which still held the half-empty sequoia, realizing that it was surrounded by the same purple aura; along with the rest of me.

It was a little difficult, but I froze myself in place despite the panic rising in my chest. Twilight, satisfied with the absence of movement, spread her own wings and began to fly. Together, we both glided over the canyon gap to the other side of the mangled hall.

Taking advantage of the view, and since I couldn't do anything else until we set down, I turned my gaze outside the gaping hole. Even though the battle had only just started, much of Canterlot was engulfed in red and green hued flames. On the ground, ponies in their gleaming armor and changelings with their chitinous plate battled for control. None of the details were visible, as the two of us were in one of the taller towers. I did catch brief glimpses of strong light, and fleeting images of a tall white figure blasting away with what looked like, to me at least, a combination of lightning arcs and glowing plasma.

I grimaced at the scene.Yup, I was dragged into anotherwar. I groaned at the thought.

“Chrysalis is invading again,” Twilight said solemnly as she flapped next to me. “she never learns...”

“Chrysalis?” I asked the standard question. Even so, I could guess that whoever this 'Chrysalis' was, they were leading this attack.

“Queen of the Changeling race,” the winged and horned pony answered as she gently propped me against a wall, then offered her back as my crutch again. We proceeded, leaving the decimated hallway behind when another thought occurred to me. Weren't there two changelings with Twilight while I was fighting my one changeling?

I asked as much, and she smiled at me. “We know how to deal with our enemy,” she answered somewhat cryptically. I cocked an eyebrow at her, but Twilight didn't seem to notice.

While I didn't have any idea what sort of weapons or tactics these ponies used, a two-on-one fight is usually fairly difficult. The changelings had wings and a horn, just like Twilight had; so I assumed they had similar abilities maybe? Oh who am I kidding! I know next tonothing about these ponies; orchangelings for that matter! Arrugh!

With that I let the subject mentally drop.

“I don't think we're on the right floor,” Twilight said next to me.

I thought getting lost was supposed to be my job...?

“Uh, okay?” I said uncertainly.

Just then a carriage appeared outside the window, pulled by a pair of armored white ponies with wings. The door opened, seemingly to beckon me inside.

I looked down questioningly to Twilight, and she looked at me slightly annoyed, “Well you don't want tofall all the way down to the medical wing, right?” she seemed to smile deviously at me – like she was pondering just that if I took too long.

My eye twitched a moment, and the thought of plummeting down hundreds of feet to the ground was... unnerving, to say the least.

As I was about to climb into the...flying... vehicle, a purple enigma once more enshrouded my body. “What the... Twilight?” I looked to her questioningly, and noted that while I was surrounded by the translucent energy, her horn wasn't. Did that mean shewasn't using her... whatever it was... on me? Then why was I...

“Dustin!” I heard Twilight's panicked voice, but her mouth wasn't moving, and it came from a short distancebehind her.Huh? I think I'm losing it.

From a shattered window flew inanother Twilight Sparkle. My jaw, as well as the first Twilight's, dropped.

The second Twilight glared daggers at the first, then turned that gaze to me. She looked more frazzled, a few scrapes marred her purple coat as she looked to me accusingly. “You're with them!?”

I blinked, frozen in place by the second Twilight's magic, with my mind still reeling from the fact that there's two of them.

“Huh?” I answered, “with who?”

The first Twilight smiled maniacally, oh, and her eyes changed colors to an eerie green, and once more that purple aura enveloped me. Although this time it was far more forceful, her intention was to try and force me into the still waiting carriage outside the window. I got the feeling that Idid not want to get in this carriage. I grabbed the top of the window frame and braced my one good foot on the sill, fighting against the mystery force.

Jesus! Whatever this was, it was fuckingstrong! My muscles strained and trembled under the force; especially my right arm with the new holes punched into it. My teeth grit under the pressure, as I looked again to the not-Twilight. The now obvious impostor simply continued to smile and glare at me – the effort appeared to be minimal for her... it. It was only a matter of time before my weakened body gave.

My breath was suddenly forced from my lungs as more pressure – from the opposing direction – started to press against my body. The second Twilight, now inside the broken window, several feet behind the first, had her own horn glowing as she tried to prevent the first from shoving me inside. Despite the fact that I had two forces pinning me in place, I still held fast against the window frame.

Blood built in my face as a sweat broke out on my forehead, face grimaced in agony. It felt like I was pinned in a garbage compactor! A lightheaded fog formed in my brain, a combination of lack of oxygen and increased blood loss that flowed from my right arm and leg.I can't take much more of this!

As abruptly as an explosion, one half of the energy disappeared, and I reflexively sucked in a breath at first opportunity...

...only to have it immediately forced from my lungs as a pair of hooves violently slammed into my chest. My grip faltered, and I was sent careening outside the window. I don't know how far I fell, but knew I was falling because the wind whipped my leather duster about like a wind sock in a category five hurricane. Despite being able to breath again, I lost consciousness.