• Published 31st Aug 2014
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Collision Code - SSJRandomMaster



A hidden message leads to two friends getting themselves stuck in Equestria. Meanwhile, a long-forgotten evil begins to make its move...

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Act 2 Chapter 7

Act II: Collision Course
Chapter 7: Shadows Out of Sight
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Pins and needles filled his consciousness. Those annoying pricks became more and more painful as time went on. Eventually, it became time for Corey to awake, his first waking breath taking the form of a groan. One of his hands went over his face, minding the horn—he’d woken up too many times to know that his life in Equestria was not a dream. Corey sat up, realizing he was on a soft surface that felt very familiar.

One of his eyes creaked open. He was met with a sight he didn’t expect offhand to see: the very familiar sight of Twilight’s room. His other eye opened; both eyes opening wide. Everything was silent; at least, he couldn’t hear anything yet. Corey’s head rotated as he surveyed the room.

What happened? Corey thought, rubbing his still sore forehead, Last I remember, I was

His hand went to his face, where he vaguely remembered he was bleeding from. He felt the feeling of gauze; a bandage was over his cheek now. Corey lowered his hand, stunned.

“Did I…make it?” Corey asked, one hand going to his face, “It’s all a blur…I—I can’t remember anything…I must have passed out again…”

A sudden, loud noise from another room in the library startled Corey, causing him to look towards the closed door of his room. He found himself clenching his teeth, feeling a sudden feeling of déjà vu overcoming him.

“Please…” Corey grumbled, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed. Another loud bang came from what sounded like downstairs, and Corey immediately tried to stand up and move towards the door.

His body vehemently protested this; his knees buckled under the pressure and he staggered, slumping forward. Eventually, Corey fell flat on his stomach, letting out a sharp grunt as he was forcefully reminded he was in a fight earlier. However, his paranoia was getting the better of him, and he needed to confirm that everything was really alright. So, with a few small grunts, Corey rose to his feet and began making his way to the door again.

Another loud bang; it sounded like it came from the right. Corey opened the door and quickly began to walk out of the room, only to bump into someone he didn’t notice straight away. Quickly, Corey instinctively reached out, trying to correct his error.

“Oh!” Twilight cried out, stumbling a bit before Corey caught hold of her arm. Steadying herself, she realized who it was that bumped into her, “Corey!? You’re awake?”

“S-sorry,” Corey said, immediately looking away, “I, uh, just woke up, and heard a loud bang…I wanted to make sure…”

“Don’t worry,” Twilight responded, “All of those creatures were dealt with. No more have shown up around here since then.”

Twilight looked over Corey as he finally released her. Even though she was happy to see he was awake now, a second look at him revealed his knees were wobbling just a little. His posture was also off; though he almost always had his shoulders down and was always hunched forward a bit, he seemed to be more front-heavy than normal.

“That’s,” Corey started, his legs shaking as he moved his foot back, “Good to hear…”

His knee buckled as soon as he finished taking that step. Corey fell flat on his rump, a sight which caused Twilight to gasp.

“Corey!” Twilight leaned forward, looking down towards him, “A-are you…”

“I-I’m fine,” Corey didn’t even sound convinced of that; he was wincing. His legs shifted a bit before they began to move, “Considering…”

Corey’s legs bent at the knee and his arms moved directly to his sides, but as he attempted to push himself back onto his feet, something very obvious occurred to Twilight: Corey couldn’t even stand in his current condition.

“You shouldn’t be up right now,” Twilight said, standing up straight. Casting a levitate spell, she began to tug Corey upwards, gently, until he was on his feet. She didn’t stop casting the spell just yet; physically helping him walk, she began making her way towards her room.

“Here, let’s get you back in bed,” Twilight continued, “I was about to come in there to check up on you anyway…”

Corey cast a small look back at her; she wasn’t sure why he seemed surprised for a half-second when he saw that. However, he seemed to relax and didn’t object to Twilight’s suggested course of action. Soon as they passed through the doorway, Twilight spoke up again.

“What happened here while I was gone?” Twilight asked, “Would you mind telling me what happened?”

“Well,” Corey groaned, “After…after you two left, I continued to try to practice floating things. But I couldn’t really focus too well. I was too worried about what was going on.”

Twilight nodded, letting Corey sit down on the bed. He let out a small groan as he did so, and let out a few more grunts as he started to lie down again.

“I really can’t blame you for being worried,” Twilight said, “None of us really knew what was going on.” Her gaze softened as she remembered she still had to tell Corey what was up. But, she felt that could wait, just a little longer.

“So, what happened?” Twilight asked again, refocusing the conversation, “Just tell me everything…”

“Alright, well, uh, I decided that I wasn’t going to be able to, um, to concentrate…”

Corey began to tell his side of the fight, though it was clear his memory was a little fuzzy. It was almost as bad as listening to him try to explain computers. He said that he heard glass breaking downstairs; that much checked out. He went to go investigate it, and the creature eventually threw Spike at him; the last absolutely clear memory he had of the event. After that, it seemed like Corey was trying to remember important details; his face showed strain from that moment onward. It was clear that from then on the details began to run together.

However, when Corey began to describe what he had tried to do in order to resolve the situation, Twilight had to stop him.

“You sent Spike for help and tried to take it on by yourself?” Twilight asked, “I mean, it makes sense, but why didn’t you try to get the help too? You knew you were outmatched…”

“I…I don’t know,” Corey stuttered, looking away, “I wasn’t thinking. But it didn’t seem to want to let Spike go, so…”

Corey continued his recap. The fog seemed to be incredibly dense inside his head as he continued onward. At some point, he revealed that he’d decided to try to get the fight outside. He had tried to lead the creature to the door with limited success, but eventually; he wasn’t sure when it happened, but he’d managed to lead it to the door.

“…the absolute last thing I remember is being knocked out of the door and outside…” Corey finished, “After that…” Corey closed his eyes, his brows twitching as he tried to urge a memory out, “Nothing.”

Twilight sat across from him, nodding, a stern expression on her face as she took in his tale. Eventually, she spoke up again.

“Are you sure you don’t remember anything else?” Twilight asked.

“Y-yes,” Corey nodded, “I-I told you what I could clearly remember. There were a few fragments in there, but I’m sure they were part of the fight. But the last thing I remember was being knocked outside…”

There was a silence in the room. Corey felt it was time to ask the question that was on his mind.

“Well, since I-I’m okay now,” Corey said, “What happened? Did one of you make it back and finish it off?”

“No,” Twilight said simply, “I still don’t know what you did, but you were the one who finished it off.”

Corey’s gaze shifted at this, and Twilight soon found herself looking at an unfamiliar sight: two hazel eyes looking right into hers. Twilight blinked at the sight. She wasn’t sure why, it seemed…weird, somehow. Besides the fact that it was the first time he’d looked into her eyes.

“Really?” Corey asked dryly, clearly not believing her, “How did I do that, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Well,” Twilight started, putting her palm to her chin, “After we managed to fight off the group that had assaulted John, we realized we were missing one—the one that came here.”

“How’d it get this far out?” Corey asked.

“Can’t say for sure,” Twilight said, “All I really know is it managed to give everyone the slip. When I realized what had happened, I had rushed back here, hoping that I was wrong and that you and Spike were safe here. But I came back to find you outside, clearly beaten up and facing down a creature I’d hoped you wouldn’t have to.”

Corey watched Twilight intently, wondering what happened now.

“It ran at you, and you screamed, throwing out a punch at it,” Twilight said, “But when you did, your magic surged. And with the surge came a spell I’ve never seen before.”

Corey shifted a little in the bed, blinking as she said that. Corey wasn’t sure if he could believe it, but Twilight didn’t seem to be lying to him about this so far; she wasn’t looking away, she wasn’t freaking out, she was talking to him very clearly, and seemed to be struggling to believe it herself.

“When you threw out the punch, green runes appeared over your forearm…” Twilight said.

“R…runes?” Corey asked, unsure if he heard her right. Twilight, however, heard a sort of knowing tone in his voice.

“Do you know what those are?” asked Twilight in response.

“Well, so-sort of,” Corey responded, looking slightly away, “But I’m probably not thinking of the right ones…”

“Would you like me to tell you what they are?” Twilight questioned again, “I can explain them if you want me to…”

“N-not yet,” Corey stuttered, “I want to hear the rest of this…”

“Well, there’s not much else to it,” Twilight responded, “But when your punch hit the creature, the runes seemed to trigger a reaction; I’m not quite sure of what exactly happened, but I know that the end result was an explosion of tremendous force. It blew the creature’s upper body up, and had enough force to also knock you off your feet.”

Corey looked again to Twilight; it wasn’t quite as direct as it was when she first told him that, but she could still sort-of clearly see his eyes. He blinked a couple of times; he looked in a couple of other places. It was clear to Twilight that he was having a hard time believing her.

“Corey,” Twilight said, getting his attention. A slight smile on her face, she continued, “I’m still not sure what you did, but please, believe me. You were the one who saved you. I wouldn’t have said what I said if I didn’t see it with my own eyes.”

Corey’s gaze shifted away again. He looked up towards the ceiling. Even though Twilight could no longer see his face directly, she could see him start to smile. Just like when he’d first successfully projected his cutie mark, it was a brighter smile than he normally had; one that showed hope and confidence that he could move on to a life here, one that showed he could advance. He reached up to cover his mouth for just a moment, but allowed his arm to rest at his side.

“I…” Corey started, failing to hide any excitement in his voice whatsoever, “I see.” He finally rolled his head over to face her again, “So…what are runes?”

Twilight blinked. Maybe it was the fact he was actually smiling again, but for a moment she’d almost gotten lost. And that was the second time since she’d gotten him back into the room where he could rest.

“Oh,” Twilight said, “Well, runes are, by themselves, a sort of writing system used by ponies of all kinds eons ago.”

“Sounds about right,” Corey said.

“Well, that’s basically what they are,” Twilight said, “But a single rune can mean several letters at once. It was essential to how spells were cast back in the days; even unicorns, who could tap into their magic reserves on their own, had to use them due to the speed they could be cast once written out.”

“So,” Corey responded, trying to understand what he was being told, “What you’re saying is that they were essentially portable spells that any pony could use?”

“That’s exactly it,” Twilight smiled to him again; Corey finally shifted his gaze away for a few moments. She continued, “Runes were used very often back in those days, but…”

Corey looked over again, “But…?”

“At some point, any information on runic magic just…cuts off,” Twilight said, “Like it suddenly dropped off the face of the earth without a trace…”

“So, y-you’re saying I wrote runes with…with my magic, which in turn created some kind of spell on the spot?” Corey asked after a small pause.

“Y-yes,” Twilight said, “I’ve never read about any kind of magic like that. Usually the runes themselves are inactive until ponies activate them; it’s a similar force to projecting a cutie mark, from what I’ve read. This is the first time I’ve seen runes used to cast spells on the spot while themselves being generated by a unicorn’s spell!”

“Wish I knew how I did it,” Corey groaned, leaning back.

Twilight paused, looking aside. Her palm went back to her chin as she thought back to what she saw earlier today.

I’ve never seen runic magic until today, Twilight said, But I haven’t seen the magic that gave those creatures life either…I might be overthinking—No! I can’t be. But still…

Corey watched Twilight’s expression, unsure of what she was thinking about; that is, until she said something to herself.

“I’m definitely going to be up late trying to find out…” Twilight whispered.

“Haven’t you done enough of that recently?” Corey asked her. Twilight immediately whipped her head around to look at him, having not expected him to hear her.

“H-huh?” Twilight asked, looking to him. Corey flinched only a little bit, but he’d already said it out loud.

“I…” Corey started, “H-haven’t you…Haven’t you kept yourself up all night enough recently?”

Twilight’s mouth hung open at the question; she wasn’t sure how to respond. Corey wasn’t sure how to take her silence either, and kept right on going.

“I mean, I-I’ve seen you go downhill the past few days,” Corey said, “Worrying yourself sick over something, I didn’t know what; I…I still don’t know what. I-I just don’t think y-you should…should worry yourself sick over it…”

Twilight finally stopped faltering as Corey continued on. She sighed, looking down, her hands resting on the bedside.

“I…I guess you’re right,” said Twilight after a moment of silence, “I spent all this time worrying about getting you involved…and it happened anyway. I know I owe you an explanation now more than ever…but…but I’m afraid of what could happen when I tell you…”

Twilight shifted a little as an unfamiliar feeling came over her hand. She looked down, and was promptly bewildered to find Corey’s hand holding hers.

“Y-you don’t have to,” Corey stuttered again, “N-not if you don’t want to. But please…don’t torment yourself over it.”

Twilight looked up, unable to stop herself. For the second time that day, their eyes met. His eyes were alight with concern; there was no mistaking it now that he was looking right back at her. It was almost the same look he’d given her before Rainbow barged in to tell her what was going on. Except his expression had an urgent quality that wasn’t there before.

She couldn’t quite understand what that feeling in her chest was; it was there, but only for a moment. Twilight gave a small smile to his expression. Corey’s gaze flicked away for a moment again; he looked slightly uncomfortable, but nonetheless returned it.

Twilight closed her eyes, her smile soon fading as she recalled what she was told. Corey said earlier he’d want to worry about whether or not he could handle it, but she wasn’t sure how well he’d take it.

Their worlds were nothing alike, from what she could gather.

“Okay,” Twilight released a small sigh, moving her hand slightly. Corey lifted his hand, unsure if she wanted it back; unsure how long he’d been holding on to it. He eventually rested his hand just centimeters from Twilight’s, “A…a few days ago…”
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The others didn’t even know Corey was being informed of the events that took place a few days ago. However, the remaining Bearers took it upon themselves to explain the situation to John in light of what had just happened. Given now he was more or less involved in the whole thing.

Rainbow had taken charge in recounting what they were told; John was completely silent the whole time. John didn’t even really react too much when he heard the gates of Tartarus were forced open.

“So that’s about it,” said Rainbow, “After that we tried to act like nothing happened, while trying to get ready if something did.”

“And on top of that we had you two to worry about,” Applejack chimed in, “Ya’ll were tryin’ to adapt to a new life here. We didn’t wanna add anythin’ else to your plate.”

The others gave a collective nod of agreement. The room fell totally silent, all eyes now on John who had yet to say anything. John himself was far too deep in his own thoughts, slowly taking in the information the others had shared with him.

Something’s not right… John thought to himself, I just got told that all hell literally broke loose. Anyone who heard this would be completely terrified. Heck, even they admitted they were shaken. But…

John paused, directing his attention towards his chest. His heart was beating slowly, rhythmically as he stood there, processing the story.

Why am I so…calm?

“John?”

Hearing his name snapped John out of his thoughts. Only now could he see the others looking back to him, all concerned.

“Sorry,” John said, rubbing the back of his head, “I guess it’s a lot to take in all at once.”

“Can’t say I blame you,” said Rainbow, “We were all the same way when we first heard this. You also gotta promise not to tell anyone. We only told you because we’re afraid what happened today might be connected.”

There was an air of uncertainty in the room as Rainbow finished her statement.

“Soon as he gets up, we’ve gotta tell Corey ‘bout this too,” Applejack said, “May not be good for him, but like Rainbow said, what happened might be related to that breakout.”

At this, John’s thoughts went to Corey. As far as he knew he hadn’t woke up yet. Twilight had went upstairs on her own to see if he was alright; she hadn’t come back yet. Now, John wondered if she had taken it upon herself to tell Corey the situation. And if she had, John had one question on his mind.

How’s Corey going to handle this?
---------------
“And—and that’s what’s been going on,” Twilight finished, her eyes closing, an uncomfortable look on her face. Corey laid back in the bed, his eyes wide. He knew, more or less, what Tartarus was, but he couldn’t imagine what or who else could have possibly come out of there.

A breakout at Tartarus!? Corey thought to himself, struggling to absorb the information, From the sounds of things, it’s not who actually did break out; but then, if it’s not him, who could have escaped?!

As he continued to process the information he was told, his breathing rate began to quicken, and his heart rate began to steadily increase. He felt sweat began to form on his brow. It wasn’t by any means an alien feeling; Corey knew he was starting to feel fear all over again.

What kind of monsters did they lock away in there, other than the one? Corey thought, his mind rapidly whirling about, Murderers? I didn’t even think they had those! But they do…they do! And the gates of that place were wrestled open and some of the worst scum on the planet managed to get out?!

Twilight watched Corey’s response. At first she would have dared say he was taking her story in stride. Now, however, she could see the warning signs: the million-yard stare, the quickened breath, the sheen of sweat. It was clear he was unraveling at the seams. Already she began to regret telling him the news; alas, she couldn’t take it back now.

“I-I’m sorry,” Twilight stuttered, having dreaded this kind of response. Corey’s eyes briefly glanced over to her at the sound of her voice, but he remained facing the ceiling, “I know this must be a lot to take in, Corey.”

“A place designed to hold in the worst this world has to offer,” Corey said, his voice sounding dangerously monotone; not unlike when he first woke up after realizing he’d gotten himself stuck in this world, “The gates broken wide open and some managed to get out…of course it’s a lot to take in.”

“But…” Twilight paused for a moment, reaching out for his hand, which by now had curled into a fist, clutching the sheets beneath them. He hadn’t moved it from where it was since the start of the story, even when her hand went back to herself.

When she finally took hold of it, she realized his hand was clenched so hard it was trembling. Corey failed to respond to her touch, still looking up at the ceiling.

“Corey, please, look at me,” Twilight said. Corey released what only vaguely sounded like a sigh and turned his head to face her, “I promise you, I won’t let anything happen to you…”

Corey found he couldn’t say anything. It was comforting, at the very least, to hear such a good thing. Maybe, maybe he could—

No, came that inner voice of his again, overcoming his initial thought processes.

What? Corey thought.

Is this really what you want? asked that inner voice, To just sit back while everyone else protects you?

Corey’s response changed before it even left his mouth.

“…No.” Corey said, ending his pause.

“Corey?” Twilight asked, immediately concerned.

“Up until today, when I was up against that creature,” Corey responded, “I…I never really knew what it f-felt like to be…to be useless. You all fought six and came back completely unharmed. I barely even ‘fought’ one…”

Twilight felt the hand she was currently holding grab the sheets tighter.

“And look at me now, barely able to stand on my own…my own two feet.”

“But that’s not your fault,” Twilight said, leaning towards him just a little, “You’re still learning the basics of magic.”

“That may be, but…but,” Corey continued, “Didn’t you say I used a spell on that creature? One that used runes? Even if by accident, isn’t it possible I could do it again?”

“Well,” Twilight paused, “In theory, I suppose so.”

“Then please…” Corey said, turning to face her directly for the third time that day, “You have more knowledge on this stuff than I could ever hope to have. Please…please teach me how to use the spell again. So that if—“ Corey paused, wondering if the word “if” was really appropriate, “—if this ever happens again…I won’t be the one everyone worries about…”

Twilight’s heart bled out for Corey, it truly did. She understood the feeling of being completely powerless in a situation all too well. And it was a feeling you did not want to feel more than once. Even so, she was still concerned. Corey managed to survive his encounter by the skin of his nose. And even that was down to luck.

But would he be as lucky a second time? Twilight thought, looking up to meet Corey’s eyes. There was fear there, there was no questioning that, but after a double-take she could see something was mixed within it, an emotion she’d seen many times from her other friends enough times to be able to pick it out with a little effort.

Determination… Twilight thought, And once a pony finds it, there’s no getting them to back down. His heart is set on this...and I don’t think I have the heart to refuse…

“Okay,” Twilight said at last, “I’m not sure how, but I’ll help you try to reuse that spell.”

A smile began to spread across Corey’s face once again.

“But on one condition,” Twilight added quickly, “We still don’t know much about this spell other than it knocked you off your feet and drained you of a lot of magic. So until we can get a better understanding of how you use the spell and why, you can only attempt it under my supervision.”

Corey didn’t voice any objections, not that he had any to begin with. Knowing he had her support was enough for him. He loosened his grip on the bed at last.

That spell was enough to destroy the creature I fought with just one hit. If I can master it, I’ll be able to help them, Corey thought.

“Thank you,” Corey nodded slightly.

Twilight stood, extending her hand out to Corey.

“Think you can stand now?” she asked.

“I can try,” Corey said, taking her hand once again. It took some effort, but he managed to stand himself up. His legs still felt heavy, but not nearly as much as they did before. If he focused on it, he could manage to walk around without falling.

“Good,” Twilight said, “You should be better after a good night’s rest, then we can try to figure out that spell. But until then, how about we check on the others?”

Corey nodded, taking a few, slow steps forward. As he tested his ability to walk, Twilight’s thoughts went back to what had happened earlier, and felt the familiar feeling of uneasiness creep its way into her heart.

That attack couldn’t be a coincidence, Twilight thought, If it was connected to the breakout, then this won’t be the last strange thing we’ll see. If it does happen again, we’ll all need to be ready…
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Inside a dark cave, far removed from society in general, there were stirs of darkness. Echoes of cries of revenge bounced around in the moist cave air. However, one chamber of the cave was lit up; two figures stood within it with what looked like holographic screens surrounding them. One wore a cloak, and was the size of a regular pony. The other was exceptionally larger, even bigger than the black and blue dragon seen in one of the screens.

Of course, those screens weren’t just any screens. They were replaying scenes from the action from earlier. Currently, two of the screens were actually showing static; the other five were shot from a point of view that suggested they were from the viewpoints of the strange creatures themselves.

“I must say, I expected the Six to play their part,” said the smaller, pony-sized figure, its voice distinctly feminine, “Those two newcomers, however…when did they get there?”

“What’s the dragon doing fighting alongside those ponies?” scoffed the larger figure, its voice distinctly masculine, “Stupid. I could crush him in an instant.”

“Of that, I’m not so sure,” the feminine figure said, looking up to a screen just before it turned to static—John having punched out one of the creatures, “As unskilled as he is, he was still able to stand up to seven of the manikins on his own for a while.”

“I don’t get it,” said the larger figure, “Why’d you send just seven of those things? Why not send the rest of us and just be done with it?”

“Patience,” said the smaller figure, “I merely wanted to establish the players before we began making our moves…”

“ ‘Establish the players’…” said the larger one.

“Is there an issue?” The smaller one’s voice gained an icy edge to it, her head turning to the larger one. The larger one took a step back, distinctly…afraid, perhaps?

“No,” the larger figure said, “But from what I’ve seen, the only ones I’ve seen that can actually fight out of all of them are one of those pegasus ponies and the earth pony…”

His gaze went to the sight of one of the screens. It had been a bit hard to make it out ever since John had tossed it off, but it was now facing down a green unicorn. The manikin charged into what looked like a glowing punch, but what made it glow, neither could tell; the picture was too blurry. The next moment, the holographic screen filled with static.

The two watched the remainder of the battles, until each screen was filled with static.

“Overall, I’d have expected more out of Celestia’s pieces,” spat the female figure, lifting her hands and dispersing the screens. The cave darkened as the screens went away, “But nonetheless, her players are locked-in now. As for us, we’ve had ours since our escape.”

“So now what?” asked the larger figure.

Patience,” The smaller figure sneered, causing the larger one to draw back, afraid, “You will play your part very soon. But first, I need to make sure the opposition knows what they’re dealing with…”

Author's Note:

And that's how we end this one. So what's going on now? And what does that mysterious pony-sized cloaked creature mean by "pieces"? Find out next week!

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