Dimensions of the Elder Gods

by Balkanboy

Of Mice and Monsters

Chapter 6: Of Men and Monsters

Celestia watched as the monster threw himself into the portal and disappeared into thin air. There was nothing she could do now, and no way she could track him without a possession of his.

The first thought she had was of Luna’s safety, and when she saw that she was bruised and battered, she worked herself up into a rage.

‘That thing thought it could come into MY castle and hurt MY family!?’ She exclaimed, catching Luna completely by surprise.

‘Oh, hey sister, you’re here...’ Celestia embraced her, squeezing the life out of her.

‘What did it do to you? It didn’t break anything did it?’ When she relinquished her grip, Luna stumbled backwards, panting. ‘Your leg! It hurt your leg didn’t it?’

‘No, no he didn’t hurt me, that, that thing did.’ She jabbed a hoof at the dimensional shambler’s corpse that had gone previously unnoticed by the white princess.

‘Oh.’ She furrowed her eyebrows. ‘That.’ Luna limped round her to get a better look at her face. Judging by her expression she seemed to recognise what it was. ‘I’ve told you many times to have that portal shut down Luna, and now you known why.’

‘You know that that thing is?’
‘Yes, I’ve had a few encounters with them. None as messy as this though... I didn’t know you could cast such violent spells.’ She turned, looking at her questioningly.

‘Oh that wasn’t me, that was the other monster.’
‘The other one? Why would he help you?’
‘I think it might have been less about me, and more about himself.’ She nodded understandingly.

‘I know what that’s like.’
‘You do? How?’ Celestia waved her away.
‘That story is for another time sister, we’ve got a monster to catch."

She removed all the furniture barring the doors, and they swung open, half a dozen guards falling into the room. They shot up, ready to fight whatever it was that was threatening their princess, but the sight of the body told them that whatever had happened, it was probably over.

‘Guards, take the body to the...’ What were you supposed to do with the body of a monster? She remembered something about cremation from her experiences centuries ago. ‘...furnaces. Burn it.’

The guards dragged it away looking rather pale, the sight of blood and brains oozing a bit too much for them, Celestia watching them as they did so. Hopefully there wouldn’t be any more cases of monsters. The poor ponies wouldn’t be able to handle much more violence.

------------

The yellow ponies eyes slowly opened, though at first she wasn’t sure that they had opened. It was still just as pitch black, though after feeling the sting of her eyes slowly drying out, she was sure that they were open.

‘H-hello?’ Her voice seemed to be absorbed by the walls, whatever they were made of.

‘Fluttershy, yer awerk!’ Slate answered groggily.
‘Is that y-you uncle Slate?’ She heard some shuffling and felt a dull thud next to her.
‘Ish me a’right,’ his voice answered, closer to the floor this time. ‘You okey?’
‘Yes, I think so,’ she said, rubbing her now throbbing head.
‘Thash good...’

‘Uncle Slate?’
‘Yesh, mah deer?’
‘Why do you sound so... drunk?’ He shuffled around some more and a sharp clinking followed.
‘They put sum thin’ in the water... can’t tell what but it tayshts damn good.’
‘Oh.’

She fell silent, listening to the sounds that made it through from the outside. The hoof beats of the guards were quite faint, the only other sound being their muffled idle chatter. After a good few minutes or so there was another thud followed by snoring.

Once she had worked up the courage to touch the sides of the cage, she realised that a large, heavy woollen sheet had been draped over it. Pushing forward, a shaft of light penetrated the darkness of the inside revealing a bowl and cup set for her as well as Slate’s twitching body on the other side of the cage. Her hoof was smacked away by a guard outside.

She was now faced with a dilemma. She could either eat the food, or go hungry. Eating the food may have some questionable side effects, but Uncle Slate had only said there was something in the water, and even then he seemed to be unconscious rather than dead. Going hungry would mean, well that she went hungry.

She pulled the bowl closer to herself. It’s for the best that you eat something, after all how are you going to get out of here if you don’t build up your strength? she thought. Slowly, she lowered her face to the bowl and took a bite. Mashed potatoes. She had another and another, until soon the bowl was empty, licked clean of its contents.

She was shocked, she hadn’t realised just how hungry she was. She felt her forehead. Her temperature seemed the same. There was no difference other than no longer being hungry. Maybe the food was safe to eat after a-

------------

Tyral peeled back the sheet ever so slightly and peeked in. Both ponies were sound asleep, Slate snoring loudly.
‘That’s what I like to see, compliant prisoners.’ He set the sheet edge back and returned to his position sitting at the front of the carriage that carried the cage. The trip was going to take five times as long thanks to the cage, because they had to find a way through the brush and go around obstacle on the road. He would have much preferred to carry the prisoners on their backs, though if that monster turned up there was no doubt they would need it to hold him in.

Come to think of it, the monster would probably try to break its friends out, and it was currently the middle of the night, the perfect time for such an attempt. Probably try and lay a trap along the road or try and reroute them to a more favourable ambush position. He chuckled to himself. This monster obviously wasn’t smart if it thought it could ambush him and his troop.

‘Mildia.’
‘Yes sir?’ She responded, coming closer to the officer.
‘I think we should stop for the night don’t you?’ She hesitated. They never got rests. Was it a test of some kind?
‘Uh, sir we’re perfectly fine, we can continue on.’
‘No, I can see you’re all tired out!’ He said louder this time, attracting the attention of everyone. ‘I’ve decided we’re going to stop for the night soldiers. You’ve all been marching for six days straight, it only makes sense that you’d be aching for a rest.’

They all looked at each other.
‘Uh, yes sir.’ They all responded in unison. They immediately set to work pitching tents and preparing food.

He probed the surrounding area for any sign of the beast, but his spell came up with nothing. It wasn’t around.

‘Soldier!’
‘Yes sir?’
‘Get a fire going, and make it quick, it’s getting cold.’
‘Yes sir.’

Hopefully the smoke would attract it to their position where they could capture it, maybe kill it if they had too. Until then, he would occupy his mind with something to hide his restlessness. He needed that monster.

------------

Peter had debated what cool position he should be standing in when the ponies showed up until Franko had scolded him for acting like such a child, so he had settled for sitting on one of Twilight’s (small) chairs and shining his shotgun with a strip of cloth.

CREE-AAAA-KKK

The ponies were almost to the top of the stairs.

‘So much fer surprsin’ it...’ He thought he heard one say.

There were more creaks, and what sounded like someone complaining until they reached the top of the stairs. First came the pink pony that had been at the cottage. She came bouncing up somehow silently, which confused him substantially and stopped smack bang in front of him.

‘Fooooouuunndd hiiiiiim!’ She shouted out. He glanced at her nonchalantly.

Don’t act like an idiot.

The rest of them spewed into the room, carrying an assortment of household items in less than menacing fashions. They circled him, obviously afraid of him to some degree, though the pink one was still quite oblivious to anything that was going on.

‘So do you have a name?’ She asked, suddenly standing still, staring at him expectantly. He wiped his forehead. There were five of them and one of him. With his shotgun he could theoretically them all, though truth be told, he wasn’t sure whether that would work out in practice.

‘It’s Peter.’
‘Hi Peter! What brings you to Ponyville? Are you just passing through or-’
‘Pinkie Pie!’ Called the purple one. ‘Get over here! Don’t make friends with it, it’s dangerous!’ Pinkie Pie looked conflicted. There was a potential new friend sitting right in front of her, but she wasn’t allowed to talk to him. It didn’t make any sense. Her tail hadn’t been twitching, her hooves tingling, nothing. He couldn’t be dangerous, but Twilight seemed to know more about the subject, so she complied.

‘Peter, I’m placing you under citizens arrest!’ She announced. Peter looked up at her.
‘You can do that?’
‘Yes, I can.’ He folded his legs.
‘Well do you mind telling me what for?’
‘W-well your dangerous.’
‘Dangerous? I’m not dangerous, I’m harmless, like a... a mouse.’

‘Ya sher don’t look like no mouse,’ commented the orange one.

I should hope not. We’ve already got enough problems as it is.

He checked how many bullets he had in his inside coat pocket.

Huh. What? I thought there would be less, I mean, not that I’m complaining or anything...

He looked back at the ponies and noticed that the cyan one had a bloody nose and, despite what seemed to be a little anger, was shying away from him just a little.
‘Hey uh, sorry about that. The kick of adrenaline got me a little... excited I suppose.’ She nodded slowly, but didn’t seem any calmer than before. It was probably going to be a bit of time before she would even think about beginning to trust him.

He stretched his arms, the mares all taking a few steps backwards which he took notice of. He got up and started moving slowly towards the white, purple maned one who backed away.

That’s a nice change. What is? Usually I’m the one backing away from the big bad monster. That’s because you are the monster. Exactly.

The mares weren’t moving, just focusing on him.
‘Are you all just gonna stand there or...’ Twilight roused herself.
‘Uh, yes, I don’t actually want you around, so would you please, uh, leave now?’
‘Or what?’
‘Sorry?’
‘Or you’ll what?’

Twilight hadn’t thought that far, which was odd considering there wasn’t much to think about.
‘We’ll remove you.’ She said firmly.

How politely put.

‘If you say boss, but uh, who’s going to help you get your friend back then?’
‘My friend...’ Twilight mentally berated herself for forgetting that one of her best friends, Fluttershy, had been kidnapped. ‘Why, we will, of course.’
He scoffed.
‘You? Are you sure?’
‘Now wait just a minute,’ the white one interrupted, ‘We’re the elements of harmony, we’ve saved Equestria from disaster three times now. I think we now what we’re doing.’ He shook his head.
‘Do you? Well what’s you’re plan?’ She stuttered. ‘Exactly.’
‘That’s not fair. If yer so confident, why don’t you tell us yours?’ Asked the orange one.
‘Mine? I was gonna try intimidate them with my shotgun.’

They all looked blank. ‘This thing,’ he said shaking his gun about.
‘That? What can that do?’ Asked Pinkie Pie enthusiastically. He looked about.
‘Uh, well I’ll show you later. So, miss, uh...’
‘Sparkle,’ Twilight responded quickly.
‘Miss Sparkle, when were you going to go save her?’
‘Tonight. They’ll be stoppi-’
‘Wrong.’ Twilight looked quite annoyed at being interrupted. ‘The night is the worst time to be sneaking about.’

All the ponies looked at him in disbelief. ‘I know that goes against all popular belief, but when you’ve seen what I’ve seen, you’ll know what I’m taking about.’
‘Right...’ They stood in silence.
‘So do we have a deal?’
‘I suppose so...’
‘Good.’ He walked right past them and down the stairs leaving them confused.

‘Is there anything to eat round here?’ He called out. The girls looked at each other and shrugged.

Downstairs he noticed that Twilight’s dragon, what was his name... Spike was in what seemed to be the kitchen eating a gem of some kind..
‘Hey there.’ He jumped. ‘Any food in here?’ The dragon pointed at bowl of fruit salad. ‘More vegetables...’ He grabbed the bowl and started chowing down. He was taking all the food he could get right now.

Spike was backing away fearfully from him, trying to get to the door. Peter looked up and motioned at him to come sit next to him. Spike looked about hopelessly before resigning himself to his fate, falling onto the chair with a dull thud.
‘So, tell me something interesting about Ponyville.’ Spike raised his eyebrows.

Well you’re acting rather forward. I’m happy. Why? ...I don’t know.

‘It’s the disaster capital of Equestria, I suppose.’
‘It is?’
‘Yep.’
‘It can’t be that bad.’
‘Oh it is. Something happens at least once every week here, whether it’s an infestation or a uh, heh, rampaging dragon...’

A rampaging dragon. On second thoughts maybe I’m not so happy.

Peter finished off the last of the apple slices and wiped his fingers across the sleeve of his coat.
‘That was quick,’ said Spike.
‘Tell me about it...’ Spike looked at him blankly then shrugged. He noticed that the five mares were all peering inside the room at him trying to be inconspicuous.
‘Yes?’ They quickly retreated out of sight. He sighed. He instinctively reached for his flask again, then remembered, again, that he didn’t have it.

Do you think they have any alcohol? I doubt it.

His next move was to reach for his pistol, which he once again remembered that he didn’t have.

What happened to my pistol? You, uh, lost it don’t you remember? Just after that shoggoth turned up. Lost it? Yeah, um, lost it, yeah that’s it.

He stood up and took a few steps away from the table. Suddenly, he felt extremely fatigued, dropping his shotgun. He fell to his knees trying to keep his eyes open. He looked up and saw the white one coming towards him, her horn glowing.
‘Sleep now...’ He voice drifted off into his mind and he fainted.

------------

When he awoke the first thing that hit him, was a hoof. A cyan hoof.
‘Wake up!’ She shouted.

Someone’s still sore about the incident.

He looked down and saw that he was tied to a chair, a small chair that was very uncomfortable to be sitting on. He didn’t recognise where he was, the room around him quite bare. There was a bed to his right with a table and a stack of books on top of it. The walls had a bluish tint to them and when he looked out the window he could see clouds rolling by. At the exact same altitude as him.

Just where in the hell are we? Dunno, maybe a mountain?

The other four mares were there as well.
‘Are ya sure you’ll be okay Rainbow Dash?’ Asked Applejack
‘Yeah I’ll be fine. Besides, it’s not like he’s going anywhere,’ she laughed.
‘The spell’s going to wear off soon, we’d better go.’ Said Twilight. They all walked out the door saying their goodbyes to Rainbow Dash. The pegasus turned to him.

‘Looks like it’s just you and me alone, Peter.’
‘Look if it’s about the head butt, I told you I’m sorry,’ he pleaded. She trotted up to him.
‘Oh yeah, thanks for reminding me.’ She hoofed him square in the nose, the cartilage breaking with a crack. ‘Now we’re even.’ The blood ran down his nose, getting caught in his scrawny goatee and in his teeth. She walked over to a doorway on his left. ‘I’m gonna go eat something. You’d better not try and get out. I’d hate for you to get hurt.’ He spat out the blood and clenched his teeth.
‘Is that supposed to be a threat?’ She smiled.
‘Nope.’ And she was gone.

He started moving his hands about trying to get a feel for the knot. It was masterfully done, and for a moment he thought it would be better if he just gave up.

He shifted his weight forward until he was standing on his own two, tied feet and started hopping around the room. There seemed to be an absence of anything sharp in it.

What about the kitchen? She’s in there. It’s your only chance.

He heard her hoof steps coming back, so he hobbled over to behind a pillar.

This’ll never work.

He couldn’t see her expression because he was too busy trying not to get seen, but he did hear a gasp followed by plates shattering. He looked round just in time to see her fly out the door.

That was easy.

He hopped through the doorway and came into a smaller room, one with a kitchen counter on its left side and a dining table for two on his right. To his relief there was a knife laid out on the table next to a loaf of bread and some apples. He promptly grabbed it and cut his bindings.

Next was his shotgun. He went back into the bedroom/mainroom and started souring for his gun. He went from room to room, trying to keep them as untouched as possible checking draws and closets but he couldn’t find it. Oh god not again...

He left through the front door. The first thing he noticed was just how misty it was. The second thing was that he was, in fact, falling through then air, hundreds of metres above the ground.

(Sorry for the delay, I had serious writers block, and my exams are threatening to drag me into a dark whole of all work and no play. I cannot wait for them to be over (although as soon as they're over there'll be more after, so... yeah) so that I can get back to the usual write something everyday. Now, back to hitting the books...)

Comments

[Gamaliel]

and that children is why you should always watch where your going!

[Adamanthys]

The mane six are a little too ooc in my opinion. (bunch of assholes, especially dash) But besides that im liking where this story is going.

[Balkanboy]

242291

Thanks for the first real criticism I've gotten so far. Don't get me wrong, I prefer to hear good things, but of course without any feedback how could I improve?

I actually agree. They are out of character, in fact the more I think about it the more I regret not using OC ponies instead, and having the mane 6 only have cameos. What's done is done I suppose. I'll revise this chapter a little, maybe try and make them less of a 'bunch of assholes'.

[Ducreux'ed]

well i liked it.