Chapter 16
Jacob's parents were among the first non-military Human to speak to princess Luna, but they spoke to her in regards to the location of their son. Luna was finding his mother to be...a hoof-full.
"What do you MEAN he's no longer here?!" She practically shouted at Luna. Luna tried to explain that their son was very capable of taking care of himself, but made the mistake of mentioning that he'd nearly died several times since he first came to their world. "Now you listen here, miss princess! If he's so dang good at taking care of himself then why has he come close to dying, huh? I'll tell you why! It's because you pony-people can't take care of yourselves and he feels it to be his job to do it for you!" Roger tried to intervene, but Agatha would have nothing of it.
"Honey, don't you think that you're taking this a bit too harsh? Jacob is a grown man now, and she said almost died."
"And that's supposed to make me feel better, Roger?!" She whirled on him. "She has no idea where he is in a country full of mythical creatures that is about to be attacked by more mythical creatures!"
"Honey, you're still injured from the fight with that thing from earlier. If you don't take it easy you're just going to make it worse." Agatha stopped briefly to consider her broken arm and then took a deep breath in an attempt to calm down. Roger smirked inwardly. Topic-change tactic almost always works with her! "Fine then. So you don't know where he is now. Where was he when you did know?"
"I sent him back to Canterlot along with several others. For any more information you would likely need to speak with mine sister, whom is very busy at the moment."
"I'm sure she can find a way to make time." Agatha's eyes were burning again and Luna, who had rarely, if ever felt afraid, took a step back. "Send us there." Luna nodded quickly nodded a few times and teleported them into the palace throne room where several startled ponies jumped back from them when they saw the frightful look on Agatha's face. Agatha stormed down the red carpet, her uninjured arm and hand in a fist as she stomped up to a surprised Celestia. Two guards stepped in between them but Agatha, much like her son and husband (and every other full-grown Human) had over a foot's worth of height on them and ignored them.
"You! Horse-lady!" Ponies around the room gasped at her boldness while Roger face-palmed. Celestia's eyes were wide with surprise as she found an angry Human female pointing a finger at her from two feet away. "Where's my son? Your dark-haired sister said you'd know where he was if anyone would."
"You are Jacob Lighthand's mother?" Celestia looked at the man a short distance behind her looking embarrassed. "And his father?"
"Yeah we are." The man said apologetically. "Please excuse my wife, she's a little over-protective sometimes."
"I am afraid that I cannot tell you where he is. I do not know. He asked me for permission to go on a rescue mission for one of my students and a friend of his that had been captured by the Dragons, and I gave him my permission. He took with him some of your people's weapons, as well as two other friends and then the three of them left. This was two days ago." Agatha whirled on Roger.
"I told you that we should have waited by the gateway! Now he's gone off on another dangerous adventure and we can't help him!"
"If I know Jacob well enough, Mrs. Lighthand, he would not have wanted either of you in harm's way. Do not worry so much, if anyone can succeed in this mission, it will be the ponies that went with him and himself." Celestia was only trying to prevent the two of them from running off after him. In truth she had no idea whether he and the girls that had gone with him would be okay or not, but the fewer beings that went after them the greater their chances of success would be. "If you like you may stay in his room until he returns. Some of his things were left behind in it when he went to your world." Jacob's father nodded and said that her generosity was appreciated. Agatha looked as if she wanted to say something else or maybe ask for something else, but could not find the words.
A servant (the same creepy one that Jacob spoke to earlier twice) showed them to his room and gave them a brief tour of it. On her way out she turned her head and eyed Roger from behind for a moment before leaving. That's his father, alright! she thought as she left. Neither of them noticed and began going through his things. Finding nothing of interest they sat down on the bed next to each other and settled in to wait.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
I took several steps into the dry cave, the wind feeling hot and strange against my skin. For a few moments it would be blowing out, and then the flow of wind would reverse and flow inward. That's not wind. That's breathing! I looked around and saw that though the roof was rough the floor was worn smooth and and in some places was scratched as if something with sharp claws had slid across it in the past. Given that this was formerly a Dragon's lair, this made perfect sense. I was about to take several more steps forward into the deeper shadowed part of the cave when two glowing orbs with one darker patch on each appeared before me. Eyes. I cleared my throat and introduced myself and stated my (false) purpose for being here. The eyes blinked lazily and a scraping and scratching noise came from the direction of the eyes. A few moments later a large Dragon was standing above me and looking down almost from the ceiling at the trembling and whimpering bundle I had on my shoulder. I fought the urge to lay a hand on her side and asked to see Drahngov. The Dragon snorted and two puffs of smoke exited its nostrils before it turned away from me and stomped back into the darkest parts of the cave. We waited, my arm growing tired and Fluttershy no doubt uncomfortable both physically and mentally. Again I fought the urge to comfort her and stood silently.
Five minutes later a equally large black Dragon arrived. This one was smaller than I remembered Drahngoc being, and his voice proved him not to be whom he claimed he was.
"I am Drahngov. Why have you come here, foolish one?" He asked in a voice less deep and smoother than Drahngov's.
"You call me a fool and yet you claim that you are him whom I contested with in this Pegasus' village?" I laughed. "Now who's the fool?" The Dragon that was not Drahngov growled at me. "Spare me your hurt feelings, lizard. If you've come here claiming to be him then obviously Drahgov is not here and you are wasting my time. I had come to swear my loyalty to him since there is no gain from joining the losing side and to offer him this fresh Pegasus" I shook Fluttershy a little. "as an apology, but if I am to be insulted by his underlings then perhaps he does not need what else I came to offer." I turned my back on him to show that I did not consider him a threat and then started walking out of the cave.
"Wait!" The imposter called as I reached the mouth of the cave. I stopped but did not look behind me. "What else did you bring?"
"Information." I said slowly so that there would be no misunderstanding it. Information often times had more worth than gold if it was given to the right person.
"On what?" He could not hide a hint of eagerness from his voice. It would seem that someone is hoping to further their standing in Drahngov's eyes!
"It doesn't matter. Drahngov isn't here and I owe you nothing. However," I turned slightly. Not enough so that he could see my face or I could see his, but enough to show that I might be persuaded if the right offering were made. "My arm grows rather tired and I wish to rid myself of this burden without simply giving it away. Might you know where I can leave it? I might be willing to divulge a small portion of what I know in exchange for a place to rest and perhaps something to quench my thirst."
"That could be arranged. Come closer, my little friend, and we shall discuss this in detail."
"Again you mistake me for a fool. You lead the way and I shall follow you. I will not be stepping any closer to your claws and teeth than is necessary." The Dragon kept his face free of any further expression and lead the way back further into the cave. At times I thought I could hear water dripping or another large creature stepping by, but it was too dark for me to tell in most instances. Once in awhile a crack that reached down from the surface above would allow a shaft of light to enter the area, but it never seemed to be quite enough to give me a proper look at my rocky surroundings.
Finally we came to a stop in a better-lit area where another Dragon laid before a cage that held Twilight Sparkle. I was surprised at my good fortune and nearly smiled but quickly wiped it off my face. When Fluttershy also saw Twilight she began to squirm but I poked her in the side and she stilled. Twilight did not notice me and Fluttershy at first, but instead looked at the Dragon leading us. He opened the cage and made a motion with one hand that indicated that this was our destination. I nodded and strode forward, and that was when Twilight saw us.
"Jacob What are you- Fluttershy?" Twilight saw that Fluttershy was tied up and she jumped to her hooves, teeth gritted and face hurt and angry. "You- You traitor! How could you do this?! I thought we were friends!" I sneered as I approached the cage.
"As my people say: 'don't believe everything you hear'." I took Fluttershy off my shoulder and was about to set her down in front of Twilight when to my surprise I found myself shoved into the cage right along with Fluttershy. The door clanged shut and the Dragon that had been leading us roared with laughter.
"Tell me, Two-leg," He said, lowering his head so that we were eye to eye. "how well do you think Drahngov will reward me when he hears that I have captured not just one, but two of the beings that defied him?" I rolled over and ran at the locked door, my hands gripping the bars and my face angry. I had not expected this, and I now I truly did feel like a fool for it. "I will leave you with your little friend until you feel willing to reveal your information to me. Once you do so I shall see to it that you are given a separate cage. Until then, enjoy your stay!" He walked out of the cave laughing again. I banged a hand against one of the bars and then sat down on the metal floor of the cage we had just been thrown in. Instantly Twilight kicked me and began hitting me as best she could with her back hooves.
"You'll pay for this! You'll-" I shoved Twilight away from me and pinned her body to the flooring. When she tried to roll over I used my arms to hold her legs down and I explained the real reason I was here. She didn't look like she entirely believed me, so after checking the 'warden' and seeing that he wasn't actually awake I, with some work and a request to not have my skull kicked in, removed Fluttershy's bindings. The moment she was free Fluttershy leaped on Twilight as best she could and hugged her and confirmed what I'm already said.
"Well you found me, but now we're all stuck in here, and even if I use my magic to get you two out our guard will wake up and kill you two!"
"Let's focus on getting your head out of those bars first. Can you use your magic to teleport yourself out?"
"I could, but our sleeping guard told me that Dragons can smell magical energy. If I try to use it then he'll wake up and-" she stopped and gulped.
"He'll what, Twilight?" In a shaky voice Twilight related Drahngov's orders if she were caught using magic. "And they haven't been feeding me, so it's already hard to concentrate."
"If I can kill the guard," I began, removing the sniper-rifle from my back. "Will that be enough time for you to free yourself?"
"Kill the guard? How? He's a Dragon!" I set the gun on the small stand it had come with, laid down behind it and lined up the sight with one of the sleeping Dragon's eyes.
"Can you, or can't you?" I asked again. Twilight nodded. "Then let's hope the noise this gun makes doesn't draw every Dragon within five miles to us." I squeezed the trigger, felt the kickback, and went almost deaf.
The spent shell popped from the gun and I suspect clanged against one of the bars, but I couldn't hear it. I was stunned for a moment, as was Twilight and Fluttershy, but Twilight shook her head and focused on freeing herself from the cage. The floor began to tremble from what I suspected might be unwanted company, so I stood, aimed the gun at the metal bar that extended from cage's lock that held the door shut, and fired again. I wasn't holding the gun properly and my arms regretted it immensely, but the lock was blown out and I kicked the door open and Fluttershy ran out. Twilight teleported from where she stood to being next to Fluttershy. I looked at the gun I held. Unfortunately I had no idea how much ammunition it held in each magazine because in every shooter I'd played except for one you could expand your ammo capacity for one weapon type or another if you had enough points collected from previously-won matches. I just hope its enough to get us out of here! The soldier had given me a quick tutorial as to how to remove a spent magazine and insert a new one, but I hadn't actually tried it myself yet and got the feeling that now was not the time to stop and learn.
Twilight shouted something that I didn't understand and started running towards the end of the cave we were in behind the now-dead Dragon. I followed but gave a brief glance at my handiwork. The bullet had made a goopy crater of the Dragon's eye and had plowed through his brain and punched a hole through the back of its skull as well. Blood and something that I assumed to be its brains were oozing out from both holes. I felt my bile rising and looked away. At least armor-piercing does in fact, work against them! I joined Twilight at the end of the cave and she pointed straight down and shouted something else that I still couldn't understand over the ringing in my ears.
The vibrating ground became a shake and three more Dragons entered the room. One looked at the damaged cage while the other two looked at the expired Dragon, and then finally all three looked at us.
"How did you get out and how did you use magic to kill him without him smelling it and waking up?!" Their muffled voices asked, sounding nervous and angry. My hearing was getting better, but right now that did not matter very much. Cornered animals. I thought and raised the gun again, aiming for another head as the three began inhaling a large amount of air into their lungs. If me and my friends were going to die, so would at least one of them! Suddenly a blur of color zipped past us and a large blast erupted on one of the Dragons. It roared in pain and clutched at a gaping hole in its belly for a moment before it fell forward dead. What?
"Rainbow Dash!" Twilight cried out in joy as Rainbow Dash threw the other bandolier minus its pins at the two remaining Dragons.
"The one and only!" Rainbow Dash replied proudly as she came to a landing in front of us.
Expecting a second attack one of them ran back into the passage they'd come through and the second took cover behind the Dragon I'd killed. The grenades slid along the floor and stopped against a wall next to the passage before exploding. The blast did not affect the room we stood in, but it did cause the collapse of the passageway, leaving us trapped in a room with a Dragon and no way out save for the opening in the wall that we stood next to. A Dragon that was growing bold again and was peeking over the body of the deceased adolescent.
"If you don't want to die too, you'll stay right where you are, lizard!" I shouted at it, pointing my gun at him. It froze.
"Is everyone here?" Twilight asked, tears of gratitude and happiness forming in her eyes.
"Well of course we all came! We couldn't just leave you to die!" Rainbow Dash declared, making a face. "What kind of friends would we be if we did?!"
"We may all die anyway if we can't get down from here." I pointed out. "Twilight is tired from lack of food and I can't fly."
"No problem! Me and Fluttershy can get you two to the ground in ten seconds flat!"
"So can me jumping off this ledge." I said dryly, pointing at the ground far below with one hand. "I'd prefer to survive the trip down, if you don't mind."
"......it's just a figure of speech."
"Oh. In that case take Twilight first. I can wait." Rainbow Dash nodded at Fluttershy and together they carried Twilight down to the ground.
"You can't escape, you know." The Dragon told me as I waited for the girls to finish. "Even if you make it back to Canterlot we will come for you."
"We will make it back to Canterlot, but before we leave I offer one last warning to Drahngov and your kind, and it's the same warning I gave him last time: make an enemy of the Human race and we'll wipe you out. We're already setting up our defenses around the city. If you come against us, expect to die." I looked over the edge and saw that Dash and Fluttershy were on their way back up. "We have no quarrel with your race as a whole any more than you do with mine. Just leave his army and you will live." They took hold of my arms and I stepped back off the edge.
"Do not think that we are alone in our views of the pony-races, Human!" The Dragon called after me as we sank below the lip of the cave. Does that mean that they have allies too? I wondered. What the Dragon said didn't actually worry me per say because I had absolute confidence in our weaponry vs their bodies, but sometimes even a force armed with better weapons could be overwhelmed through numbers and strategy. More bad news for Celestia. Lovely.
We spent the next several hours jogging (or rather I jogged. Everypony else trotted) away from the hill and any remaining Dragons that might decide to be bold after all.
When we reunited as a group there was much excitement and hugging that took place for Twilight, and then we offered her some of the nasty military rations that Applejack had brought. To our surprise she gobbled down the contents of her package like they were candy. She must really have been hungry! Pinkie must have thought the same thing about them tasting like candy because she imitated halfway through one pack, then stuck her tongue out and tossed it over her shoulder.
"Give me grass any day!" She said, brushing her tongue off and making grossed-out noises.
"Well Pinkie, those are meant more for nutritional value than for flavor. They're not supposed to taste good!" I pointed out, recalling the bland flavor myself.
"Um, don't ya'll think we should be gettin' away from this here place?" Applejack suggested, looking at the Dragon den nervously. None of us disagreed and promptly left.
"So why aren't we using magic to get back to Canterlot? It's a long way and this running is murder on my peticure!" Rarity asked.
"You're welcome to do so if you like, Rarity, but I'm still weak. If I feel better later I'll let you know." Rarity considered this and decided not to say anything. Her own area of expertise magically was not with teleportation, so the idea of trying made her nervous. Rarity had no desire to send them all to an early, unmarked grave by accidentally making them reappear underground. From what she had been told it was impossible for that to occur unless you did it on purpose, but she did not want to test that theory.
"Hey girls?" I said suddenly. What the Dragon said was still lingering in my mind from earlier. "How many other meat-eaters are there in this world? Intelligent ones, I mean, ones that can speak and plan."
"Why do ya ask?" Applejack said.
"Just something the Dragon said before we left."
"Well let's see..." Applejack closed one eye and looked slightly up with the other like I'd seen several of my own people do when they searched their brains. "There's the Dragons, of course, then there's Griffons, and ah've been told that Diamond Dogs eat meat but I don't know fer sher, and then there's the occasional smart Manticor, though they mostly live in Everfree forest and don't come out often..." Applejack listed several other types of creatures including a five-headed Hydra, but commented that most of them were about as smart as the average house pet.
"We have legends of Griffons back home, but what's a Diamond Dog?" Rarity made a sound like she was spitting.
"Those revolting creatures resemble dogs, but they walk like you do and have use their paws like you do. They are obsessed with gemstones and have absolutely no idea how to treat a lady! Hmph!" Clearly Rarity had past experience with them.
"Are they dangerous?"
"Not really." Twilight said.
"Their breath is! I nearly choked to death on it!" Rarity objected. Twilight rolled her eyes while the others giggled. Rarity glared at them.
"Diamond Dogs are more concerned with finding and hoarding gems than they are anything else. I have no idea what they use them for, but for the most part Diamond Dogs keep to themselves except for the occasional abduction of a pony for manual labor." So they would have a reason to side with Dragons: free slave labor. But would they actually do it? Probably only if there was a very good chance of victory. Even so...
"How good are they at digging?" If there was a way for them to pop up out of the ground while our attention was turned on the Dragons they had the potential to do a lot of damage before being taken out, and during that time the Dragons could fly close enough to set us on fire. Canterlot's streets were paved with cobblestones, but I didn't know how deep they went.
"Well hon, they are big dogs." Applejack said, rolling her eyes.
"Right. Stupid question. What about the Griffons?"
"Griffons!" Rainbow Dash said angrily. "One of my former best friends was a Griffon. They are a proud race with sharp claws and a sharper beak, and they make the biggest jerks!" Twilight leaned close and whispered an explanation in my ear.
"Most of us had a bad experience with Gilda, her former friend when she came to visit her about a year ago. Rainbow Dash doesn't show it, but Gilda breaking ties with her hurt. They were friends for a long time." I nodded and decided to drop it for now.
We walked until the sun rose again, stopping occasionally for a short break. One of these breaks turned into a sleeping session and when we awoke again the sun was high overhead. I was shaken awake by Applejack who had also busied herself shaking the others awake.
"Get up! Get up!! We fell asleep and now we're burning daylight! We've got to get going, come on!" I groggily sat up and rubbed the side of my face. I was surprised to find a bit of facial hair and rubbed it again to make sure that I was not imagining it. I was not. It took me forever to grow any facial hair thanks to having more genes from my mother's side of the family in that regard, not that it really bothered me. I hadn't scraped a razor across my face in about a week and it was beginning to show. "Stop sittin' around! We've only got two days to get to Canterlot before the Dragons attack us again! Get yer flank movin'!" Applejack shouted at me, and I was on my feet an instant later. Two days?! Are we even halfway back yet?! I had no idea. The days seemed longer, but that was probably just a combination of my imagination and stress. I don't think we're going to make it on foot. We need something faster! But there was nothing around us except a few trees.
"Twilight, is there any chance you feel up to warping us back today?" I asked, stress entering my voice. Twilight lacked confidence.
"I might be able to get us back halfway, but I don't know."
"What about Fluttershy's house? Can you get us there instead?" Rainbow Dash asked. Fluttershy's house? Why would we want to go there?
"I guess, but why would you want to go there?" Twilight asked, confused.
"Because then we can follow the treeline to where the other Humans are and borrow one of their traveling machines off them!"
"And yeh can replace those explosive-thingies yeh took from me earlier, Rainbow Dash!"
"Hey, it worked, didn't it?" Rainbow Dash said defensively.
A few minutes later we appeared underneath a large tree outside of Fluttershy's house. I hadn't seen it in the daylight before and it really was a cute little place. I would have loved to see more of it, but we have more pressing matters to attend to. Rainbow Dash volunteered to fly ahead of us and see if she could find something for us to use and was gone half a second later.
"Ten seconds flat, eh?" I said after she was gone from sight.
"Eeyep." Applejack nodded.
We decided to wait for her to come back underneath that tree and while we sis a small white bunny hopped out from behind some bushes and hopped right up next to Fluttershy and nuzzled her leg.
"Angel!" Fluttershy exclaimed happily and picked him up and hugged the critter.
"Awww!" I said. The others looked at me. "What? That was adorable."
"No, not that!" Pinkie pie said cheerfully. "There's a big spider on your shoulder!" I blanched and looked at my right shoulder. It was empty. With dread forming in my stomach I slowly turned my head to the left. Sure enough, there was a large, blue-bodied spider with black legs and five green eyes sitting (or maybe standing) on me. I bent my fingers at the knuckles, made a squeak in my throat not unlike Fluttershy had done in the past and fought the urge to scream. Normally spiders did not bother me, but this thing was as big as a tarantula, and was close to being a Wolf Spider in appearance. Aside from the blue body and green eyes, that is. Fluttershy looked over at the spider and exclaimed in excitement again and walked up to my shoulder to get a better look at it.
"Oh my! This is a rare Blue Bee-Bite spider!" The spider crawled down from my shoulder onto my chest and I squeezed my eyes shut until it stopped moving.
"Um, Fluttershy, I'm going to go out of a limb here, but I'm guessing that he doesn't like spiders." Twilight said while stars shone in Fluttershy's eyes.
"Oh, don't worry!" She said soothingly. "It only bites if it feels threatened."
"Just. Get. It. Off. Me!" I begged. Fluttershy lowered a hoof to it and the spider looked up at her. She smiled at it and it climbed onto her instead. I sighed in relief and Fluttershy began cooing to the spider. I shivered and looked up to make sure there were no more spiders of any size. There weren't. I smiled briefly and looked back down to see that the spider had crawled on top of her head and Fluttershy was perfectly fine with it.
A few minutes later Rainbow Dash came back and reported that there were still Humans coming in, though their clothing was a bit different from the first few hundred that had come through, and large machines were being moved in as well.
"They look kind of like that thing we rode in back in your world, but there's weird stuff attached to them."
"Probably attack choppers." I said. "How many were there?" Rainbow Dash shrugged.
"I only saw three, but I wasn't really looking for them. I found a guy that said he's going to be headin' out as soon as his truck's loaded. He offered to give us a ride if we made it before he had to leave."
"Rainbow Dash, you're amazing." I said as I stood up. Rainbow Dash glowed.
"Don't I know it!"
"And oh so humble..." Twilight and Rarity both mumbled, and then looked at one another and laughed. Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow.
"Inside joke." I said.
__ __ __ __ __
Gilda the Griffon pushed her wings as hard as she dared, soaring towards the Canterlot palace over the Everfree forest. Though she and Rainbow Dash were no longer technically friends she still felt obligated to warn her of what was coming for them. She had heard that there were legendary beings called Humans that were joining the fight against the Dragons, as had her nation's ruler, who saw an opportunity to earn the Dragon race's gratitude and perhaps also expand their own hunting grounds by aligning them with their fellow predators. It was her queen's intention that, while the Dragons attacked from one side and drew all the defenders to one place her kind would swoop in from behind and take them by surprise. Though not as large as Dragons, Gilda, being a griffon herself, knew exactly how lethal a Griffon could be in a fight, and her ruler had agreed to send more than twice the number that Drahgnov would be sending.
A lion's roar from behind her warned her that she was being pursued and she tried to urge more speed from her body, to no avail. Gilda looked behind herself and saw that whomever it was that was following her was wearing armor, which meant that they worked directly for the queen. Only her private soldiers wore armor. If this comes down to a fight, I'm going the way of the Dodo! She thought as a bit of sweat formed under her head feathers and ran down her neck to soak into her lion's fur.
The trees below her were a blue of green and brown, the wind a constant sound in what passed for her ears, and her wing muscles burned in a way that they had not since flight school, and still her pursuer gained.
Gilda's hope spiked for a moment when she saw a line of tall beings crossing through the forest, but her hopes of safety were dashed when the Griffon chasing her raked her back with a clawed paw once and then grabbed her back legs and stopped flapping his or her own wings and let gravity drag them down into the trees below. With an eagle's shriek Gilda fell to the forest lands below and crashed through several branches. The two rolled across the ground with the armored enemy landing a few feet away from her. Gilda painfully climbed up onto her paws and was running this time, running towards the line of Humans. If I can just get close enough- She was tackled into another tree and her sides were ripped by extended claws. Gilda pecked at her attacker's face and scored an eyeball. She- it was another she- roared and slashed at Gilda again. Gilda gripped the tree with her forelegs and kicked with both her hind, sending her attacker back a few feet and threw her off balance. Gilda put all her legs on the tree trunk and tackled her enemy back, crashing into her armored chest. Gilda felt pain in the back of her neck, but the other Griffon was knocked to the ground. Gilda swiped at her unprotected face and then once more made a run for it. Normally her pride would not have allowed for such a cowardly tactic, but this was not a fight she had much chance of winning. It was hard to kill an enemy when most of their vitals were protected.
"Hey! Heeey!" She yelled. "Is anybody out there?!" She heard her pursuer crashing through the brush behind her again and burst through the treeline in front of a bunch of startled two-legged beings just in time for her pursuer to pounce on her back and sink her claws into Gilda's throat. Gilda screamed again and threw her body into a roll in an attempt to get free again. It did not work and the claws tore long bleeding lines in her neck. Feeling strangely numb Gilda tried to fight back again when the sound of thunder and metal on metal where there were no clouds reached her 'ears' and her enemy slumped against her and rolled off.
Gilda lay against the ground, breathing heavily.
"Who are- what are you?" One of the two-legs asked.
"I could ask you the same thing!" She replied before passing out from pain.
__ __ __ __ __
"So then we have an agreement?" Drahngov asked the large furry canine before him. Even though Drahngov's height made the Diamond Dog look like the pet dogs that the ponies kept he displayed no fear. Perhaps he is simply too stupid to feel fear. Drahngov thought as the large canine nodded.
"We dig the buildings out underneath their foundations so they sink into the ground during your attack and in return we are allowed to dig wherever we want and get to keep whatever we find." Drahngov nodded his head once. "Simple enough." It belched. "Sorry."
"Excellent. Begin work imminently. We move out in two days, but I want the job already under way in the meantime. But!" Drahgnov held up a single clawed finger. "Be very careful not to cause them to sink until after we have begun our attack. If they catch on to what we intend early, then that could make things...difficult for everyone." He narrowed his eyes at the creature before him. The Diamond Dog nodded and left to gather his pack and the others that come for the deal the Dragons had offered.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
When we arrived at the camp (it looked more like a base now) was even more so active than it had been the last time we were here. A number of them pointed at our multicolored group but for the most part we received no more than a casual glance. The girls had another look around while I returned the sniper rifle and its ammo, but when I tried to return the handgun they insisted that I keep it, saying that an extra weapon was always a good thing to have in times like these. I shrugged and put the pistol back in my bag, but when the guy I'd given the rifle to saw that he pulled me over to their equipment pile and gave me a leg holster for it. I thanked him and then left to look for the truck that was we were supposed to be hitching a ride with. It didn't take long as most of the trucks were parked by the side of the munitions pile. I began asking those that were loading them if any of them had spoken to a rainbow-maned and tailed Pegasus and eventually I got a yes. He patted the side of his truck.
"Be back in about five minutes and my truck should be about full by then." I nodded and went to find the girls. Applejack was sampling fruits that someone had brought from our world and commenting on them, Rarity was having a 'girl-talk' discussion with a journalist that had come through, Fluttershy was looking at pictures of animals that some kid- They brought a child with them?! I almost walked over to the adoring parents and called them idiots for bringing their kid here, but Rainbow Dash grabbed my arm and started pulling me away from them and back towards the truck.
"What's gotten into you, Rainbow Dash? You look worried."
"We need to get back to Canterlot as soon as possible! Luna just told me that my former friend Gilda came here and had been attacked and passed out from pain. After Luna healed her and she woke up again she told her that the Griffon nation has joined sides with the Dragons and will be joining them in attacking us!" I froze. Then what that Dragon told me was true! Things just got more difficult. Dragons were tough, but made for huge targets.
"How big are Griffons?" I asked her.
"I've never seen a male Griffon, but the females are as tall as most of your males that I've seen here. They're twice as wide at their widest point and if the two of you laid down side by side they'd be bigger." So still a decent target, but a lot smaller than a Dragon.
"Any idea how many of them?" Rainbow Dash shook her head. "Does Celestia know yet?" Rainbow Dash nodded.
"Your people told her." That was good, at least. What had seemed to be a near-simple task just might have gotten more difficult.
"Can Griffons use magic?" Rainbow Dash shrugged.
"Gilda didn't, but that doesn't mean that others can't."
"You're right. We need to get back right now. Help me round up the others and let's get moving."
An hour later we arrived outside Canterlot and we piled out of the truck. Unicorns ran forward to help unload the truck we'd come in as well as the others that had come along as well, but we ignored them and headed for the palace. I stopped halfway there and ran back towards the middle class district. The girls called after me and I told them to go on without me.
"I'll join you later!"
I slid to a stop out of breath outside Melinda Jones' house and picked up a large rock and banged it against her door a few times. The eye slot slid open and Melinda looked out at me.
"Oh, on your feet are you?" A rhetorical question. "Come for your wand, I expect?" I nodded, still gasping for breath. She blinked once and then disappeared for a few minutes. When she came back she cautioned me that the output of my wand would be quite a bit more now than it had been and then opened her door and handed (or hoofed) me a pole that was wrapped in somewhat dirty white cloth. I undid the knotted cords that held the cloth in place and wondered at the increased length. It had gone from a wand to nearly being a staff. It was much longer, but now also more slender; only about as thick as my thumb. I feel like I'm going to break this thing!
"I know what you're thinking, and don't worry about fragility. That near-staff will be very difficult to break." I wasn't sure I believed her.
"And you know this how?"
"If you recall, I'm the one that made your wand in the first place. If you can't take my word for it, whose can you take?" A deflection, but she made a good point. My ancestor had already proven that he could not be trusted, so I sure couldn't ask him.
"Thanks." I turned to leave but then stopped. "Hey Melinda, can I ask you for one last favor?" Melina tilted her head to one side slightly. I took that for interest, if nothing else and asked her if she'd be willing to finish Trixie's transformation into a Human. I explained her situation and the reasons Trixie had given.
"That depends on whether or not you're paying me for this 'favor'. Like I told that orange earth pony, my making your wand more powerful was on the house, but this isn't."
"How much do you want?" She shook her head.
"I don't want money. What I want is your help with something. Step inside my house for a moment." I did so, suddenly feeling nervous. What could she possibly need my help for? Melinda closed the door behind me with her magic, and her locks latched and slid into place. My nervousness increased.
"This is going to sound very strange, but I need you to take off my horn. Use whatever method you see fit." I blinked a few times and gaped at her.
"What?! Why would you want me to do that?!"
"Because my being in this form was a curse inflicted on me by my employer for failing at my first task. Originally I took this form to help me complete my task, but after my failure she trapped me in it. I cannot destroy my horn myself because that was part of the curse, but another powerful magic-user can. Once my horn and me are separate I should revert back to my true form."
"Won't that kill you? You're hundreds of years old!" Melinda smirked.
"No it won't. My mother is a Dimra and my father is a Human. Both of them were from another Universe not linked to this one at all, which means different rules of reality. When my father entered my mother's world his aging rate slowed, and my mother was already from a long-lived race. When I revert I might age in appearance by thirty, maybe even forty years, but I'll still have plenty of life left in me." The idea that there might be another Universe or more out there with billions of their own peoples living their lives without knowing about us or perhaps not caring made me feel really small.
"I know that look and that feeling. It will pass. So, do we have a deal?" I saw no other option if I was going to keep my promise to help Trixie. I nodded. "Excellent. Then let's get this over with."
Trixie wasn't hard to find. She was hanging out by a helicopter talking with one of the pilots trying to learn how they worked. She was siting in a pilot's seat while the real pilot pointed out various controls and buttons. I waited for a break in the pilot's speech and then asked Trixie if she had a moment. She nodded and hopped out of the chopper. I asked her one last time if she was sure that she wanted to be a Human and not a Unicorn and again she gave me the same answer. Once she finished I nodded asked her to follow me. She did and I led her to Melinda. Trixie gasped as the sight of her and stared for a moment before walking closer. She looked Melinda over and then looked at me.
"I take it that today is the day?" I nodded. So did she and she turned back to Melinda. "I'm ready." Melinda also nodded and her horn blazed with white light. The light enveloped Trixie and she continued to change. Her hair and eyes stayed the same color, but her tail disappeared and her skin became tan rather than blue. Finally for a brief moment the light that enveloped her seemed to swirl rather than cloud and Trixie yelled that she could feel and touch 'it' again in an overjoyed voice. Magic! She can use magic again! I was happy for her, and for myself as well as I felt a weight of guilt lift off my shoulders.
When the light faded Melinda looked directly at me and waited. I nodded and was about to follow her when I remembered the Unicorn's horn that I still had in my bag. I brought the bag around to my front again- I really need to get some cargo pants with deep pockets or something!- and brought the horn out and gave it back to her. She gripped it like the precious object is was, though she jumped when she first touched it as it zapped her. When she looked at me for an explanation I shrugged. I had no idea why the horn zapped Humans the first time they touched a Unicorn's horn. Though this was not her first time using magic, it was her first time as a Human.
Meanwhile the people and ponies stared at us, though mostly at Melinda this time. It seemed that even though she had lived here for Maker-knows-how-long, she hadn't gone out often enough for the locals to know what she was. Or rather, what she lived as.
"I've done my part of the bargain, Lighthand. Now do yours. Follow me back to my home, if you would." I groaned inwardly. Wording it like that would likely start a bunch of disgusting rumors amongst the other Humans of how 'the wizard did an Alicorn' and it would not take long to be twisted, exaggerated, and then spread to the ponies as well. That creepy servant will be thrilled, but now she'll never leave me alone! But i had made a promise, and I aimed to keep it.
She locked and bolted the door behind us (which would probably only serve to 'confirm' the rumor once it started, if it had not already) and she came to stand directly in front of me. Using her magic she brought a saw that she had out from a tool box and set it on the table. She also had a hammer and a slim punch (the tool, not the drink).
"You may use these if you wish, but I have no preference. But any tool you use you will need to imbue with magic. Also, do not touch my horn until you have removed it, otherwise my magic may fight you." I nodded and declined the use of tools. Using a saw took awhile to cut through anything, and I had the feeling that removing a horn from a living subject would hurt a bunch.
I took a breath and changed my grip on the near-staff. I'm going to need to add some length to this thing so I can actually call it a staff. Maybe some wood like with what Merlin did would work... I shook my head a bit and then asked Melinda if she had any fine-cut diamonds. She said that she did and then asked me why.
"One of the technologies my people have involve using light and diamonds to cut through objects. I'm going to try that here."
"Light? Light and diamonds?" She snorted, not believing me.
"Yes. I think I also need a lens of glass, but since I'm using magic I might be able to get away with it still." Melinda gave me a small diamond (small compared to what Luna had. This diamond was only about a quarter inch wide at its widest point) and I made a light appear. Unfortunately I had no idea as to how to focus it into one point so that it would enter the gem-
That was probably what the lens is meant to do. -
and I eventually gave up and set the gem down. Melinda said nothing, but she didn't need to. In the end I picked up the saw and recalled a surgical saw from a hospital show I'd once watched. It had been used to cut flesh and not bone, but it would probably still be faster than the normal method provided the teeth didn't wear out before the cutting was complete. I pulled the pins securing the blade in place and removed it, setting the handle to one side. Melinda watched me, but said nothing for or against me. I raised the saw up close to my eyes and studied it for a moment. When I was sure I'd memorized the size and spacing of the teeth (they were very close together and only about four milometers in height) I set it down and asked if she had any saws that were larger. She nodded and lifted a tree branch saw out from behind her tool box.
"I normally don't use it for anything, but occasionally someone will want a wooden jewelry box with silver inlay. Carpentry is not my profession, but I've had years of practice." I removed the screws holding the handle on the blade and also removed the handle.
"Do you mind if I ruin it?" I asked.
"As long as it gets rid of this horn, I don't care. I'm leaving this world once I tie up all my loose ends anyway." With her indifference I used my magic to trace out a disc of metal about six inches across and began taking off little triangles along the edge to imitate the teeth of the smaller saw. When I was finished I double-checked to make sure there were no mistakes (there were a few and I had to fix it) and then I sharpened the teeth and carried it carefully back to Melinda.
"This is probably going to really hurt. Do you have any pain medicine you can take in advance?" She shook her head.
"I almost never get sick, and I've always been able to heal any injuries with my magic, so I never saw a need to buy any medicines."
"Brace yourself then." I warned, and lifted the saw with my mind and got it spinning and touched it against Melinda's horn. At first she did not react, but as I cut deeper she flinched and clamped her jaw and shut and squeezed her eyes shut tightly. I felt a twinge of guilt but suppressed it and kept cutting. At the halfway point blood coated the saw and my face was splattered with it. I blinked and wiped it away. Melinda on the other hand, started whimpering. Wanting to end her suffering as quickly as I could I increased the speed and continued cutting. Another twenty five seconds and I was through and her horn dropped from her head and clattered on the floor. What of a stump that remained oozed blood that dripped from the stump and flowed down her head. Tears also ran from Melinda's eyes. And soaked her hide where they ran.
Suddenly the room seemed to be filled with fog and I as I looked around everything that I could still make out looked ghostly. I heard footsteps and a voice that I did not recognize, but saw no one. Not even a faint outline.
"So you actually went through with it. I had a feeling that you would, miss Jones." It was a woman's voice. She sounded old. Her voice was scratchy, yet had a playful sound to it. It seems that you also enlisted another to aid you. Why him, I wonder?"
"Because I sensed your Interference-Presence about him the moment I saw him. I didn't know if I could trust him until recently." I looked in front of me again and realized that I could no longer see Melinda either. The other female cackled.
"He trusts me, you know. He doesn't know me, but he's trusted me with his life many times of late. Do you perchance think he would make a good successor for you once you've gone?"
"That would depend on whether he can survive without your help in the coming battle." Who's help? And what does this stranger mean that I trust her? I don't even know who's talking!
"Yes, I suppose that would be a good final test for him! If he succeeds I shall grant him a reward along with your job, and if he fails...well he'll be dead then, won't he?" She hummed a laugh this time. "Either way, you shall receive your payment once you complete the your last task, and then you shall be returned to your home. Your brothers and sisters have been missing you quite a bit over the years."
"Being stuck in another dimension is an occupational hazard for those in our family's line of work. They'll understand."
"So true. Well then, true form for you, and my influence removed from him!" I heard someone snap their fingers. I suddenly felt a shiver run up my spine and had the distinct feeling that I was missing something. Not necessarily something important, but something was gone.
I looked myself over, twisting my body and raising my arms. Nothing physical seemed to be different, and everything that I'd carried in with me I still had...what had changed? Perhaps it was that 'Interference-Presence' that Melinda spoke of. But who was that other woman?
As suddenly as the fog had come, the fog vanished and left the room as it had been before, save that Melinda's Alicorn form had been replaced by a tall pale-blue and pitch-black pattern-skinned biped woman that seemed to be about sixty years old. Her eyes were purple and her hair bright orange-red. She was slender, well-filled but not over-sized in the chest region, and her hands on both the palms and outside were calloused. Thankfully she was already wearing clothing, but it was odd. It was thin like a light cotton shirt, but it had a shiny surface as if it were made of nylon and the loose bits trailed after her when she walked as if it weighed almost nothing. The cloth was brown and (judging by the stitch) seemed to have been hand-made rather than store-bought. Her forehead was still bleeding a little, but there was no sign of the horn that had once been there, nor did any other equine features remain. Melinda looked at herself and sighed in a glad way.
"It's good to have two legs again! Thank you for holding up your end of the bargain, Jacob Lighthand." She stooped and picked up what had once been her horn. "I will now take my leave of this city, and later this world. I pray that what skills you have will be enough for you to survive the coming fight." Melinda turned to leave.
"Wait!" I said as she opened the door. "Can't you stay and help us fight? I just found out that it won't be the Dragons alone that are going to attack us! The Griffons will be coming too!" Melinda shook her head, her long hair swayed from the movement.
"No. What part I was meant to play in this world is nearly complete and I only came in the first place because I accepted a job. If you should live long enough you will come to realize that one Universe at a time is enough to worry about. Farewell, young magician." Melinda left me standing in her house and also left her door open.
__ __ __ __ __
Melinda strode confidently through the Canterlot hedge maze. It felt good to walk on feet sensitive enough to feel the individual bits of dirt and the occasional patch of grass underfoot. Her sense of smell was not as good in this form, and she was nowhere near as fast and could not fly, and unlike her Alicorn body eventually she would die of old age if her life's occupation didn't kill her, but she had regained her night-vision, her ability to hide in any shadow no matter how small or thin, her digestive track had changed back to omnivorous, and best of all she no longer needed a horn to use magic.
Melinda stopped briefly to stare at the odd Draconequus statue in the center of the maze, noting that there were a few cracks at its feet and then dismissed it from her mind and continued on. She knew what it really was, and guessed that the cracks at its feet probably occurred when Trixie and Jacob fought in the maze by it a few days back. Celestia is lucky that their fight did not last long, otherwise there might have been a repeat of him getting free. She thought as she left the center behind.
Melinda continued onward without error until she at last arrived before the Human statue in the back corner of the maze. It stood alone by itself, grass reaching up from the base to conceal the first two inches of it in green. Melinda ran a hand over the smooth cold stone from one side to another, savoring the sensation, and then climbed it until her eyes were level with the statue's. Melinda raised what was once her horn and held it before its face.
"Zandar! Awaken from your slumber!" She slammed the horn's rough base against his forehead and cracks raced up from the Human's feet, spreading across his entire body in seconds. Light emitted from the cracks and then like dried mud fell from his body and created a cloud of stone dust. Melinda hopped backwards off the pedestal and waited while Zandar coughed on the dust for a short time. When the dust cleared he looked down at her, his mind befuddled.
"What are you?" He asked bluntly.
"I am of the race of the Dimra. I am the first of my kind that your Universe has seen, and probably the last as well. I came for a job, and now that job is finished and I will leave it to whatever fate awaits it." Melinda extended the hand holding the Alicorn's horn out to him. "Here. Use this however you see fit. I no longer have any need for it." Zandar took it and felt cold fill his body, completely burying the warmth that small horn he had sewn into his undergarments had caused. He slowly grinned, recalling what his descendant Jacob had written in his journal. Incredible, nearly-uncontrollable power had just literally been given to him. He watched the Dimra woman turn and walk away for a moment, and then as an afterthought called 'Thank you!' after her. She did not respond, but this did not bother him. After all, he was free.
"Free at last!"