Worlds Apart

by Elkia Deerling

Chapter eleven: what a strange, new world

A dazzlingly bright flash, and the thundering boom of a lightning bolt that struck home, woke Triggerhoof up.

I’m alive! Was the first thought that came to his mind.

A second later, he regretted being alive.

He felt as if his veins had been torn out of his body. Pain overwhelmed him, almost preventing him to think. His vision was still a cloudy green; his wounds hurt badly. Trying to lift a hoof, Triggerhoof soon gave up. With a shock, he realized that he couldn’t even feel his limbs. It was as if he were not really there, that only his mind was awake, and the rest of his body slept. The only muscles he could control were the ones that moved his eyes. And so, he tried to see something.

But he heard something first. As soon as the high-pitched beeping sound left his ears alone and he could hear again, he heard the flapping of wings and the skittering of hooves on concrete.

The changelings had brought backup. He could see them moving all over the place, turning it upside down, looking for enemies. A grey and green blur appeared before his eyes, blocking his view.

“Look, everyone, a pony. I didn’t know there were ponies in this world too. And I think… I think he’s alive,” the changeling said. He prodded Triggerhoof with his hoof.

“Not for long,” another changeling said from somewhere. “Leave him; the poison will get to him soon. We have to find the rest of that strike team, and their base, of course.”

The changeling turned around, and, after giving Triggerhoof a violent kick in the stomach, returned to his comrades.

The pain of that kick sent Trigg gasping for air. He gurgled and let out a few coughs. Blood mixed with poison dribbled on the floor. There he lay, Triggerhoof the soldier. He scolded himself for not being able to do anything, and dying such a useless and pathetic death. He felt his world once again sinking away. He knew that would be the last time.

But something happened that caught his attention. His gaze had turned hazy, and he could no longer identify the individual changelings. They were a grey mist to him. But he wasn’t looking in the mist; he was looking at the colors.

It seemed as if four new colors appeared in the mist. He heard some voices. He saw movement. He saw flashes of light. So many bright flashes lighting up the building and torturing his eyes. Was it just him, or was the grey mist of changelings growing smaller with every flash?

It didn’t matter. His eyelids became heavy again. He thought that he went crazy, that the poison had reached his brains and stirred them up like hot chocolate. His green haze turned to a pink one. It was the last color he saw before that too, slipped away. And the last thing he heard was a high-pitched, squeaky voice saying, “Oh, look, Twilight! I found that archer pony! Wow! He found a really good hiding spot.”

**

Triggerhoof lived.

He was lying on a moldy old couch, surrounded by colors. Slowly, too slowly for him, his eyesight returned to normal. The colors were strange ponies, standing in a circle around him and eyeing him. Triggerhoof didn’t hesitate. He had to turn the situation into his advantage. In one swift movement, he jumped off the couch, landed on his hind hooves, grabbed the first pony he saw, and held her head in a lock.

“Back off, everybody!” he shouted, keeping a firm grip on Pinkie’s head. “Back off, or I’ll snap it.”

All of the ponies recoiled in shock and surprise. They did a few steps back. Twilight’s horn glowed.

And so they stood, silent, looking in each other’s eyes, waiting until somepony made a move. Trigg assessed the situation, flashing his eyes around. He was in some kind of room; there was a set of stairs on the opposite side of the room. But then his attention shifted to his red hide. With a shock, he saw that he wasn’t wearing his suit and his guns. And of course, he wasn’t wearing his gasmask either. A flame of panic overwhelmed him for a second, causing his grip to weaken. These ponies were crazy, entering Ground Zero without radiation protection. He bit his lip; his eyes darted about.

There!

“You, with the hat,” he said to Applejack, his voice wavering, “grab that suit and mask and those weapons and bring them to me—slowly.”

Pinkie frowned and tried to turn around, but Triggerhoof held her tightly in his grasp. “I think you are the one who snapped, sir.”

Triggerhoof ignored her.

Applejack picked up the suit and mask and guns and laid them down before Trigg’s hooves. “Duck,” he said to Pinkie. Together they ducked, and Triggerhoof picked his gear up with his free hoof.

“Archer, just calm down,” Twilight said. “Let go of Pinkie, please. We are friendly.”

“I don’t know that,” Trigg said, eyeing the stairs at the other side of the room. “Better safe than sorry. Now walk, pink pony.”

Triggerhoof managed to take exactly one step towards the stairs, before he slumped down. He couldn’t feel his leg anymore. Actually, he couldn’t feel his entire body anymore. Pinkie Pie slipped out of his hooves. Looking to the ponies as he crashed down to the ground, he saw the horn of the purple alicorn glowing.

He grunted and yelled, “Dammit! What did you do to me?!”

“Muscle-relaxing spell,” Twilight said. Her face was strict, and she walked towards Triggerhoof to look him in the eyes. “We’re going to try this again, archer.”

And with that, Twilight levitated the dark red pony up and placed him on the couch.

Triggerhoof made a grimace. “Why the fuck do you keep calling me ‘archer?’ You don’t know me!”

Once again, all the ponies came closer to Trigg, although not as close as before. They had seen what he could do, so they kept their distance.

Twilight took the word. “We do know you, archer. We tried to save you after you got hurt by that changeling. I think it was about a year ago. We were there when your mother and father held you in their hooves. You vanished with a flash of the glowing cloud, which sent you to Earth.”

“Prove it!” Trigg spat. “Tell me their names. Hell, tell me my name!”

Rarity let out a snort. She became quite fed up with the stallion’s attitude and the way he cursed. She didn’t like him one bit. The only thing she wanted to know was where Rainbow Dash was. “Oh, could you do us a favor and please calm down? We have a couple of questions to ask you as well. First of all, have you seen a blue pegasus pony with a rainbow mane and tail?”

Suddenly, as if Rarity’s words had struck him right on the muzzle, Triggerhoof stopped giving everypony nasty stares. Instead, his gaze shifted to the roof, and his eyes moved. A memory came to him. During that last moment, that very last moment in Equestria, his parents had tried to save him. His parents plus one strange pony, sky-blue with a rainbow mane and tail.

The others saw that Trigg was thinking, and waited for his answer.

“Yes…” he said, softly, “she was with me too, when Equestria was destroyed.”

Twilight gave Rarity a thankful smile. They seemed to have made some progress. “Rainbow Dash tried to save you too, but we have lost her. She was struck by the lightning bolt, just like you. We believe that she is here, on Earth.”

“She’s dead,” Trigg said.

A gasp went through the group of ponies. “What?” Applejack said, “how can you know?”

Triggerhoof gave her a vicious stare. “Because I saw it with my own fucking eyes, that’s why. I saw how everything died with that glowing cloud. There was lightning and magical fire everywhere. That cloud was pure destruction, killing everyone and everything in its path. It killed my parents too.”

“No, they’re not dead,” Twilight said, “they are on Earth too.”

Triggerhoof gritted his teeth. “I know, and that’s how I know they are dead, just like your friend Rainbow Dash.”

“But… you don’t know that,” Twilight said.

“I got lucky,” Trigg said. Then he scoffed. “I suppose. Have you seen in what world you have been thrown into? This is a fucked-up world with constant war and chaos. You Equestrian ponies wouldn’t survive one hour in this godforsaken wasteland.” He swallowed something away. “My parents were weak and soft-hearted, just like the rest of the Equestrians. That’s how I know they are dead, because they couldn’t have survived longer than a minute. Sixty fucking seconds!”

That was not a very helpful answer, but before Twilight could ask him some more—and before Rarity could correct him on his rudeness—Triggerhoof said, “So no, I don’t know where your rainbow friend is. But if I were you, I’d stop looking altogether. Hunker down, find a group of survivors, and try to live for something in this bloody world. That’s what I did anyway.”

Twilight Sparkle stepped closer and put a hoof on Trigg’s belly. She stroked him a bit, bumping over the scars, as if she wanted to calm him down. It only infuriated him. “How did I come to this place anyway? Where the fuck are we?”

Rarity stepped in. “We will tell you, if you stop swearing.”

For a brief moment, Triggerhoof felt like a schoolcolt. But he wanted information. He wanted to get a clear picture of his situation, to gain a tactical advantage. So he shut up.

Twilight Sparkle looked into the red stallion’s eyes. “We found you on the floor in that building.”

“No, I found you,” Pinkie yelled. “Give me some credit, here.”

Twilight flashed a smile, and rolled her eyes. “Yes, Pinkie found you. And then together we brought you here. I looked you over and removed the poison from your body with a magical spell.”

“Where is here?” Trigg asked.

“Just a few blocks away from that ruined building,” Twilight said. “We’re in a basement.”

Triggerhoof’s eyes wandered off for a moment. He silently scolded himself for his panic attack upon finding out he was on Ground Zero unprotected. They were in a basement. There was earth between them and the radioactive world outside. Although he knew that he could still be exposed to radioactive particles in the air, he also remembered that the area around the Channel Twenty-four building wasn’t a hotspot. His Geiger counter had been relatively silent.

When he looked at the mares around him again, Triggerhoof snorted. “I suppose I should thank you all, then.”

“That would be most polite,” Rarity said.

“You should,” Applejack added.

Gritting his teeth, Trigg said, “Thank you, then.” He eyed Twilight Sparkle. “No could you please get rid of that spell or something? I won’t make a move, as long as you won’t make one either. Let’s call it a ceasefire.”

Even though Twilight had no idea what ‘ceasefire’ meant, she could guess at the meaning. She eyed the red stallion, looking into his deep green eyes, wondering if he spoke the truth.

“I say leave him like this,” Rarity suggested.

Triggerhoof wanted to say something nasty to the white unicorn, but restrained himself. He knew he was not going to walk again if he kept acting like an enemy. Instead, he acted like a neutral country.

Nodding, Twilight Sparkle released the spell, and did a few steps back.

Immediately, Triggerhoof sat up straight, but he did so slowly and carefully. As soon as he sat on the couch, he drew in a deep breath. His lungs felt healthy and clean again. Looking at his shoulder and at his side, he spotted two pairs of new scars, left behind by the changeling’s teeth.

Now the mares took a moment to regard this stallion. Of course they still remembered how he lay on the ground, bleeding, during the changeling attack one year ago. They had tried to save him, and had failed at that. But they saw that this stallion was different. Not only had he cut his mane short, and was he covered with scars, but he also felt different. His eyes didn’t portray his soul at all. He seemed to be wearing a mask, hiding his true identity from strangers by putting a reinforced, iron door before his soul. Finally, as Triggerhoof was done inspecting himself, and the mares were done watching him, Twilight Sparkle took the word. While the others still kept their distance, Twilight Sparkle strode forward and stuck out a hoof. “My name is Twilight Sparkle.”

Trigg returned the hoofshake. He couldn’t even remember his last hoofshake. “Triggerhoof,” he said.

Rarity wrinkled her nose. “Such a peculiar name.”

“What does it mean?” Applejack asked.

Casting an irritated glance at Applejack, Trigg said, “It means I am a soldier, ready to kill for a cause. Ready to protect the weak to whom I swore an oath, to whom I made a promise.”

Pinkie Pie jumped up and down. “I think your name is very funny, Triggerhoof. I think I should try it out first. Triggerhoof, Triggerhoof, Triggerhoof, Triggerhoof, Triggerhoof, Triggerhoof! I like the word ‘trigger,’ it sounds funny!”

Trigg frowned at the strange display of the pony he had taken hostage and threatened mere minutes ago. He was wondering whether that pink pony had any idea what she was talking about, and whether she knew what he could have done to her when he held her head in that lock. Trigg smirked towards her. “I guess it is, sometimes.”

“Anyway,” Twilight Sparkle said, “these are my friends.” She pointed towards each of them in turn. “Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack.”

Trigg said nothing.

There was a very awkward silence. Everypony stood still and said nothing. Trigg tried to remember the names. A bit of dust rained down from the ceiling. If there would be any crickets, they would most certainly have chirped.

Pinkie couldn’t bear the silence any longer. “Soooooooooooooooooo, where are you from?”

“That’s classified,” Trigg said. “Look, I’m not much of a conversation maker. I know your names, and I know your purpose, and that’s all I need to know and wanna to know.”

“But you don’t know everything,” Applejack said, now also stepping closer to the scarred stallion. She had seen how he had moved with such ease and such strength, and she knew that he could be a powerful ally.

“I don’t care,” Trigg said.

Applejack was flabbergasted. “You don’t care?! But together we can save Equestria!”

“Equestria is dead.”

“No it isn’t,” Applejack said, waving her hooves in the air. “Equestria is still there, only it’s ruled by them changelings.”

“That’s what I meant,” Trigg said with a shrug. “Equestria is dead.”

“But—“

Trigg cut her off. “I have seen with my own eyes how big that army was. I knew that I couldn’t kill every single one of those changelings with my bow and arrow that day.”

“Then why did you shoot them in the first place?” Applejack said.

“To try and help the citizens who couldn’t fight for themselves.”

Applejack looked Trigg straight into his eyes. “And that’s what we’re trying to do now! We’re trying to make everything better.”

Triggerhoof averted his gaze. “Well, I’m sorry to say, but Equestria is no longer my problem. I have sworn my fealty to other people; people who could actually stand a chance against this world. But I have already said too much.”

Snorting, Applejack said, “No you haven’t. The least you can do after we saved your flank is help us out.”

Triggerhoof stood up, walked towards his gear, and started to put it on. “Then what are your battle tactics? What is your strategy to defeat the changeling army and their queen?”

Twilight Sparkle did a few steps closer, but Triggerhoof didn’t meet her gaze; he was too busy getting into his suit. “We believe that the new element of kindness has been sent to this world by the glowing cloud, just as you were sent here. Once we find both Rainbow Dash and the new element of kindness, we should be able to handle the power of the elements, and use it against Chrysalis.”

Trigg shrugged. “Sorry, not interested. As I said, I have other plans.”

Upon seeing that Trigg was gearing up, Twilight said, “Well, you should at least stay here for a day or two. You still have to recover from such a terrible injury.”

Triggerhoof ignored Twilight. He put on his protective suit, slipped his gasmask over his muzzle, and began to strap his weapons on.

“Oh! What are those?” Pinkie Pie asked, pointing at the weapons and eyeing them curiously. “They look like kitchen tools. Maybe a mixer, or a blender?”

“Guns,” Triggerhoof said. But as he saw the blank expression on Pinkie’s face, he clarified. “Things that will keep you alive in this world. They can be your best friend when you stand behind them, with your wing on the trigger, but they can be your worst enemy if you find yourself in front of them, staring into the barrel.”

Pinkie still didn’t understand, but Triggerhoof was not going to say anything more to her. He tightened the belt so the weapons fitted snugly against his barrel. Then he moved towards the stairs. Before he stepped outside, however, he turned towards the mares once more. “Oh, by the way, how did you kill those filthy changelings anyway? We couldn’t get them down with bullets.”

“What’s a bullet?” Pinkie asked. “That word also sounds funny.”

Twilight made her horn light up; a sparkle escaped from the tip. “We used magic against them. I think that is the only way to permanently… eh…”—she looked over at Pinkie—“get rid of them.”

Triggerhoof nodded. “Thanks for the intel. Let me give you some intel back. If you wanna survive out there, I suggest putting on a protective suit and a gasmask against the radiation. Trust me, you will live slightly longer then.”

And with that, Triggerhoof stepped through the door, back to Ground Zero.

**

Applejack still watched the stairs, as if she expected Trigg to walk right back in, say sorry, and join them on their mission. Of course, that didn’t happen, and only when the thud of the cellar door resounded did Applejack turn around. “Can you believe that stallion?!”

Rarity frowned. “I completely agree, Applejack. He is a horrible pony with horrible manners.”

“After everything we did for him,” Applejack said, “he just leaves like that!”

“Well, we can’t hold him here against his will,” Twilight said with a shrug. “He is free to go wherever he wants. Form what he said, I reckon he is going to his home. Who are we to judge him?”

Pinkie perked up. “Well… he could at least have taken us with him.” She chuckled. “I would really want to see what his bedroom looks like.”

“Probably a collection of heads of his enemies,” Rarity said, sticking out her tongue.

Twilight wanted to bring her friends to order. “Everypony, listen. We will probably never see that stallion again, so—“

“Good riddance,” Rarity said.

—“We have to consider our next move,” Twilight finished, ignoring Rarity’s remark.

Applejack thought for a minute. “Well, I reckon we gotta have to go to a high point, and get a real nice overview of the land. After that, we can see where we wanna go.”

“That’s what I thought,” Twilight said.

Jumping up, Pinkie said, “Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go out there and explore the world!” She bounced in the direction of the cellar door, but Twilight stopped her with her magic.

“Wait, Pinkie. I need to cast one more spell before we go outside.”

“Which one?” Rarity asked.

Twilight gestured for her friends to come closer. “It’s a protection spell. If there really is radiation out there, then the spell will protect us from absorbing it.”

“Good idea,” Applejack said.

Closing her eyes, Twilight Sparkle focused her magic. Tendrils of energy snaked around everypony. The tendrils widened, gained a three-dimensional shape, before transforming into bubbles. There was one bubble for every pony. They slowly drifted over to the mares, until they covered them. Then, with a flash, the bubbles merged with their hides, glowed for a second, and then disappeared.

“That should do the trick,” Twilight said.

“Thanks for the glowy bubbles,” Pinkie said, bouncing towards the cellar door for the second time. The others followed.

Once they were outside, the ponies climbed a rusty set of stairs, to reach the top of the apartment building. Higher and higher they climbed. The stairs creaked ominously. But, they made it to the top.

“What in the hay happened to this place?” Applejack whispered, as she gazed out into the distance.

Before them, the little town continued for some more miles. The skeletal remains of houses and other buildings were strewn everywhere. When Twilight looked up, she could see no sun. The sun was obscured by a thick layer of sickly looking, shifting clouds. A soft wind blew, stirring up some dust. The city was absolutely soundless and lifeless, and there was absolutely nopony and nobody anywhere. It looked like a dead city.

The ponies stood like that for a while, all lined up at the edge of the roof. They couldn’t tear their gazes away from the depressing sight in front of them. Beyond the city were fields of brown and grey, almost a desert. Even if they had a direction to go in, they weren’t even sure if they wanted to explore this world any further.

“Reminds me of the rock farm,” Pinkie said, “but without the rocks.”

Rarity silently wished there would be at least a little bit of color on this bleak palette, just to liven things up a bit. There wasn’t any healthy green or shimmering blue or pretty yellow. There was just grey, black, brown, and more grey.

Twilight Sparkle turned her gaze away from her friends. She couldn’t bear it any longer. She couldn’t even begin to imagine what weapons would be able to bring such destruction and ruin upon this entire world. What would they have fought over, that was worth the annihilation of entire cities?

Applejack waited a moment for Twilight to get her bearings. After a minute or two, she walked up to her and asked, “Where are we going, Twi?”

But Twilight had no idea. She didn’t even know where to begin looking for Rainbow Dash. Everything had seemed so simple when Luna had told her about her mission on that little island in the night. But now, facing the somber reality, Twilight realized that this mission was going to be a lot harder than she thought.

And yet she didn’t lose hope. She used her head. “We should head towards a settlement,” she said. “I’m sure if we find some people, and ask around, a new option will present itself to us.”

“Then which direction do we take?” Applejack said.

Twilight turned around; she had made up her mind. “Not south,” she said, “because that is where the changelings came from. We are going north, and hope to find some kind of civilization.”

“Hey!” Pinkie yelled, “maybe we will run into Triggerhoof on the way.”

Turning around, Twilight Sparkle took one more glance at the destroyed city, and said, “Don’t count on it, Pinkie. Don’t count on it.”