The Impossible Journey Part 1: The First Encounter

by Decimatore123

Chapter 7: The Swarm

Chapter 7: The swarm

When he fell asleep, the machine played back a battle Jake and I fought in...

“That’s right, commander, we got this place surrounded. The men are now inside the mountain and engaging terrorist forces.”

Jake pulled the joy stick in the ship up, raising the altitude. From there, he saw the battle transpire below. The Snake led a coalition of galactic terrorists in his quest for his own empire, and we were fighting one of the larger factions at one of his military bases.

A young pilots voice came over the com channels it was one of Jake's pilots from what I could tell.“You’ve got clear skies! Squad leader, all enemy aircraft and AA guns have been taken down! We now have air superiority!”

"Those artillary batteries won't last long with out that air defense. Our troops are advancing from all sides on the enemy."

A smile of job satisfaction came over Jake's face as another plan fell into place.

“Without those guns, they have no way of defending their escape routes. Good work gentlemen! Tonight, dinner’s on me.” To him his pilots were the best and their performance was more than enough to prove it soon they would be able to fly home and rest. Even though things almost never go like that anymore.

Another voice came over Jake's com line this one was different, not one of his pilots and the transmission was centered around the flagship in orbit.

“Sir, the commander has just asked me to tell you to switch your com line to channel six. Says it’s really important and requests to speak to you alone.”

This struck Jake as odd, because he doubted that the Commander would have anything to say to him that needed that much privacy. But he immediately flipped the switch in his cock pit. He was now broadcasting on channel six and spoke clearly into his microphone, with a slightly curious tone.

“Hawk leader here.”

A deep voice in much more solemn tone answered back. “Am I speaking to Jacob Fischer?”

“Yes you are sir. What can I do for you?”

“I am aware you currently have loaded a long range atomized shock missile for fire.”

“Yeah, that’s one nasty missile. I never used it during my mission to sector forty-three. When I return from this mission it will be removed, sir.”

“I need you to use it.”

Jake was surprised. “On what? We’ve won, sir. This place is going down.”

“Intelligence from a very reliable source indicates that the Snake himself is in that facility. I am authorizing use of that missile. I want you to fire it straight down the entry way. The demolitions experts tell me that the resulting explosion should spread through the entire facility and kill everything in it.”

“A leave-no-survivors policy, I see…” Jake slipped his finger under the small switch cover and flipped it up and pressed a small red button, arming the missile. “When do you want me to fire, sir?”

“Now!”

Jake felt his stomach fall into his seat. “Excuse me sir?”

“You heard me, squad leader, I said fire it now!”

“But sir, some of our men are still in the base!”

“Look, we just received new Intel. It shows that there is another way out that was not in our initial analysis or the schematics of the base: an underground tunnel exists, but we can only locate the entrance from the inside of the base. Our sensor data allows us to see where he is in the building, but if we wait too much longer he could escape. ”

“My ejected pilots as well as infantrymen are still on the attack in the base. I can’t fire this missile. Please, at least give them time to get clear.”

“Pilot, I am ordering you to fire!”

“No.”

“FISCHER, DON’T YOU GET IT?! WE CAN END THIS HERE WITH THAT SKAGLICK'S DEATH! HE IS THE ONLY THING KEEPING THE TERRORISTS FROM TURNING ON EACH OTHER!”

“At what cost? It makes you no better him.”

“SQUAD LEADER, FIRE THE MISSILE!”

“IS KILLING HIM REALLY WORTH ALL THOSE LIVES!?....HUH?”

“We can save countless more lives if that man is stopped here!”

“At the expense of others?”

“They knew what they were signing up for!”

“These are the lives of men like you and me! You’re telling me they are dirt under your foot. You were once an admiral for the U.S. Navy, sir. This goes against all the principles our country stood for.”

“This is no longer the United States Navy. It’s the EDI Armada. The stakes are higher and we're playing for keeps!”

-“You sicken me.”

“I am going to give you one more chance pilot: fire the missile or you will be court-martialed and stripped of your rank and command for insubordination! I'LL MAKE SURE YOU WALK TO EVERY PERSON WHO HAS EVER LOST SOMEONE THEY KNEW TO THAT MONSTER AND APOLOGIZE TO THEM FOR LACKING THE BALLS TO TAKE HIM DOWN HERE AND NOW!” He paused for a moment giving Jake time to take in everything he had just said. “Now fire the missile.”

Jake saw the red button in the center of his joystick glowing red. His hand was shaking and his head was dripping with sweat. His thumb slowly approached the button. “…I’m sorry…” He pleaded.

As a side note, I was in that mountain with my division at that time. I don’t know specifically what happened, but considering I am still alive and he is still leader of the night hawks, something happened that day. I tried asking Jake about it and even though he willingly submitted to the memory analysis, he refused to tell us and we were not permitted to go anywhere past the Irentos Incident due to terms of the analysis.

Jake’s eyes snapped open. He found himself breathing heavily and his heart was racing. He slowed his breathing eventually and tried to calm himself, assuring himself that he wasn't in the cockpit near the base. He found himself completely wrapped in a cocoon made from feathers. He was just the perfect temperature, and Cadence had even wrapped her wing around him in such a way she even covered his feet, despite the fact that he was wearing hiking boots. Her coat was softer than most beds he slept on within the past few months, and he did not want to move. However he was afraid of falling asleep, and he felt very well rested.

He began to move out of the wonderfully warm feather blanket. He slowly moved the wing to avoid waking Cadence, who seemed to be sleeping peacefully. After he had enough room to move without hitting her, he stood up and carefully moved the wing close to her coat. The light in the middle of the cavern hadn’t gone out but it was very dim. Trying to go anywhere out of the small area of light was too dangerous because Jake liked seeing where he was going and didn't know what lay beneath the castle. He wasn’t considering leaving Cadence. Even though he knew he wasn’t supposed to be here, he also knew that he wouldn’t last long on his own without a way out or a light source of some kind. He still had not mastered his fire ability and even though he was able to master the other ones quickly, he was worried about the repercussions of his fire powers going wild and he didn't know if this was the last power he had. But when active all of his powers were in a way amplified as well. He could run faster, his senses grew sharper, and he didn’t feel a single bit pain or fatigue. He even regretted not using his phase ability to get to Cadence faster. He tried to bring out the fire armor, but he couldn't this time. He could still use his other abilities and the headaches he received whenever he tried to use night sight and his aura sensing abilities had gone away, at least for now.

He knew he was safe where he was, but he felt that something else in the caves. He couldn’t sense another aura, but it was more like an extremely dark presence. Jake was unable to make it out. It felt like a soulless being; cold, dark and unnatural. He tried to ignore it, but its presence began to draw closer. He felt like something horrible was following them. For now, his powers were underdeveloped and unstable. His peacemaker was a good weapon to keep him out of trouble, but he didn’t feel completely secure, even if he did have Cadence with him. He took the pack and put it down to take a look at the various weapons I had packed, when he accidentally dropped it. The metal pack fell to the ground and a small rock hit the small blue button I had placed near the upper part on the back side of it. Immediately a small holographic screen appeared. He looked at the screen closely, trying to make out the words written on the screen.

“Welcome to the travel display! Please select which category you would like to browse.”

Jake picked up the backpack by the straps and swung it onto his back again. “What the heck, Richy … ? Where's the manual for this thing?”

He tried to reach his hand up select the screen and the screen immediately angled itself to fit his hands while allowing him to still read of the choices; a feature that I personally loved. He tapped his finger on the weapons tab, and began rummaging through my weapons stash. I learned at that moment he had taken my antique pack this unfortunately meant that all the weapons inside were around a century behind.

He was looking specifically for a shotgun and rifle so that he could have a weapon for close-quarters combat and any long range firefights respectively. He had to be prepared for anything.. He didn’t want anything too big which routed out most of the heavy and special weapons. These other weapons would serve him well later, but down here they would collapse the roof in on him. He took the time to wonder if I wasn't secretly making money on the side by running guns for a crime lord. He managed to narrow down his selection a few shotguns and rifles and soon was ready to go. I honestly don’t know if guns he picked were good ones; I was bored and had gun parts to spare and thought they looked cool. Coincidentally, although they were popular in my childhood years, these guns were now horribly outdated, along with a good portion of the fire arms in the pack. Luckily Jake knew a little more about guns and considered my selection to be decent and chose what he determined to be the best guns for this scenario.

He ended up going with an assault rifle. He wanted a magazine and a decent rate of fire. His fingers moved across the virtual keyboard and the rifle was printed right out of the backpack. It even came with a bandolier strap to carry it on his back and extra mags. However, I wanted to savagely beat him later because this rifle was no longer manufactured and it was vintage. He checked it to make sure it was loaded, and was ready to move on as soon as Cadence opened her eyes and was willing to move. He waited patiently while trying to summon forth his armor of fire. He grew anxious. He could feel the presence he sensed before and it drew closer. He used his night sight and saw the outlines of the rocks and Cadence, who had a soothing cyan aura flowing around her body. It was odd because the aurora did not match the color of the vast majority of the body, such as with Spike. He could feel her mind, which was tranquil despite the fact that she was sleeping in a cave.

He watched over her silently. He kept his vision active to detect the aura of any living thing that tried to enter the cavern. He could see for a good distance, but it did have its limits. He couldn’t see far beyond the end of the entrance tunnel. That distance was the entire length of a football field, however, and his awareness stopped at a fork at the entrance and encompassed a large circle around him. A couple hours passed and Cadence remained asleep. Jake could tell she was in a deep sleep and probably dreaming, but at the same time it was if her dreams allowed her to escape from the situation she was in. He felt a feeling of fear and sadness. He couldn’t sense her thoughts and mental images; only the emotions that she was feeling. She needed to return to the surface where the love of her life was waiting, and Jake was regretting ever coming to Canterlot. In only a few days' time, he caused more chaos than Queen Chrysalis had. He thought they could simply wait for Twilight here, but considering that the cavern wasn’t out in an open area, this wasn’t the location where Twilight was shoved down into these caves.

He heard Cadence begin to stir. He turned to see what she was doing, and her eyes had just begun to open. She lifted her wing a bit and noticed that Jacob was no longer under her wing.

“Jacob?” She asked.

“Right here.” Jake walked over from the rock he was perched on. He was still in his alternate vision mode, and did not see the expression on Cadence’s face. “Jake…! Your….your!"

“My what?"

“Your eyes…they’re…!” She stepped closer as if she was trying to examine Jake's eyes. He decided to remove his vision for the time being to make sure he didn’t miss anything around him that his night vision may not allow him to see. His vision went normal, and he saw her shocked look for a brief moment then it went to confused.

“They’re what?” He asked.

“They were pitch black, like some pony filled your eyes with black water! But it's gone now.”

Jake was never able to see what he looked like while night sight was active because any attempt to see his reflection was met with the fact that he could see straight through objects instead. He took it into mind that his eyes looked weird. It was just a side effect of his power.

“Well, I'm sure it is nothing to worry about.” Jake replied, trying to calm the already anxious pony down. But it still reminded him that he didn't really know anything about his powers, other than the fact that he was tired from exertion of his powers.

“If you say so...So, how are you feeling?”

“I feel much better. My abilities, from what I can tell, are back to full strength, and I feel really, really good.”

She smiled, and got up onto her hooves.

“Another job well done, Cadence.”

Jake heard this, but didn’t see her lips move. “What did you say?”

“Hmmm?”

“A moment ago I heard you say something.”

“Uhhhh…I didn’t say anything.” She didn’t say anything but Jake continued to pick up her thoughts. “What is he saying?”

“I am saying that you said something just a second ago, and you just did again.”

“Is he hearing things? What in Equestria is he-?”

"I'm not hearing things. I know you said something. At least, I think you did..."

"Is he reading my mind?"

“I….don’t know.”

She slowly began to back away from him, not sure what to think. “Okay, what does this mean? I shouldn't let this harm our partnership. He hasn't harmed me and he is just as lost as I am. He needs a strong hoof to guide him through this, and I can do that.” She stopped walking away and came back towards him “You have some truly unique gifts, Jake. This isn't something we see in unicorns or even alicorns they require a spell to be cast and channel their powers through their horns rather than just simply using it as you do. We'll figure out what your gifts bode when we escape to the surface.” She began to move towards the exit tunnel and motioned for Jake to follow.

“Don’t make me a priority. Please…I’m not even supposed to be here.”

“Excuse me...” She immediately stopped and turned her head and made eye contact with Jake. “You are talking to the princess of love. I care for others, and help them when they have nothing else. That means I will care for you, whether you allow it or not. ”

Jake didn't argue with Cadence any further on this point. He just didn’t want her throwing herself in danger for his sake, especially since equestria’s future was on the line . He feared that his presence would alter the future for the worse since he was certain he wasn't originally supposed to be there. But it was in her nature to be kind and loving, so I don’t think she knew what he was trying to do.

She brought the orb of light with them for illumination as Jake was unable to activate his fire power. Jake still sensed that dark presence, and as they wandered he sensed it moving closer and closer. The tunnels seemed endless and the echoes of their steps momentarily deceived them that someone else was in the tunnels, but Jake was certain that the presence was still there. He tried to ignore the gnawing feeling of fear, dismissing it as a side-effect of his powers.

Eventually, the two reached a set of rails probably left behind by the miners that once worked the caves and took the gems as proof of their labor. They decided to follow the rail, hoping it might lead to an exit long forgotten by the miners and Chrysalis. After a long trek, they found themselves in a large cavern. In front of them was a massive canyon with only an old wooden scaffolding that supported cart rails for crossing. The entity was now closer than ever, with the hair on Jake’s body began to stand up straight and he felt extremely uneasy of his surroundings.

“Afraid of heights?” Cadence asked.

Jake went into night sight mode and looked over the edge of the cliff. He couldn’t see the bottom. He kicked a rock off, but he didn’t hear it hit the bottom.

“A little bit…” Jake responded. How ironic, considering he faces these kinds of heights on a daily basis back on Earth.

“I can fly you across,” Cadence offered.

Jake, of course, was more than happy to take her up on that offer. He could feel the presence though, as if it were right on top of them. Before he could get on her back, Cadence yelled, “JAKE, BEHIND YOU!”

Jacob turned but saw nothing. Suddenly, he felt something jump on him from the front, forcing him to fall on his back almost taking him off the cliff. He then felt something begin to claw at his face, ripping pieces of his skin off. He put his right arm up in an attempt to block the invisible force. He felt multiple sharp objects pierce the skin of his right arm. He didn’t understand. He looked and saw the blue aurora was on him. “GET UP, JAKE!” Cadence yelled. Jake turned his vision to normal, and saw his right arm was now gushing with blood.

“Aw, and that just happened! Gah, that is a lot of blood!"

He looked at attacked him. It was stunned by Cadence. Its teeth and claws were red with Jake's blood. It opened its eyes again, revealing two light blue, soulless eyes. It hissed at Jake, and then charged at him. Jake ripped out his peacemaker and fired. The shot echoed throughout the entire cavern and the bullet went straight through the head of the creature. Lime green blood and grey matter splattered on the ground and flew past Jake, unable to aim its momentum and crashed audibly against the cavern wall. The presence of the entity he was feeling suddenly intensified. He heard a loud shriek come from down the tunnel, and heard something that sounded like a bunch of tiny bungs crawling towards him.

“Wha-? Changelings?!” Jake almost stuttered.

“Jacob, get on my back now.” Cadence commanded. She spread her wings, preparing to take off, and Jake turned to hop on.

He held his right hand close to his chest, applying pressure to stop the bleeding. He could see his shirt turning a new shade of grey as it soaked up the blood. His face wasn’t too badly torn up; he only had a few shallow wounds . Cadence took off quickly, her hooves left the ground just as the changelings rushed from the tunnel. She flew at full speed across the canyon and into the tunnel on the other side. The swarm of changelings didn’t peter out and the fiends even began to catch up with them. Jake quickly searched through the medical supplies to find a bandage for his wound. He wrapped the bandages and med tape around the gash and almost immediately the bandages turned red. He turned around and was reminded of his experiences back in Canterlot; the only difference now was that he wouldn't feel guilty about killing these things . He pulled out his rifle and made sure it was loaded and the safety was off. He put his index finger on the trigger and pulled back on it. He could barely see the orb of light that Cadence had summoned. It was keeping up with them, but it slowly grew dimmer as Cadence flew farther. Either she was growing tired or the orb had a time limit. Either way Jake could feel the fatigue and fear within her mind and could feel each breath she used to fill her lungs with precious oxygen. Magic required strength and focus both of which Cadence was running out of.

He continued to fire and watched some of the changelings fall to the ground. Some bullets went through multiple changelings but it became increasingly apparent that the his current weapon wasn't enough. There were more changelings than bullets.

He then felt Cadence panic, but not because of the changelings behind them. He turned to see a dead end ahead of them. Jake activated his night sight quickly and saw the outline of the tunnels. He saw the tunnel reach a fork, with one tunnel going right and the other going left.

“Go right when you reach the end of the tunnel,” Jake said.

“What?” Cadence shouted back.

“You heard me, go right.”

She looked at him to try and signal her disbelief, but her eyes grew wide. "Your eyes! They're-"

“I know," Jake answered, "you have to trust me! Go right!”

Her wings pushed hard against the air behind her, giving her a small boost of speed as she approached the intersection. “Hang on!”

Jake wrapped his hands around her neck and braced for the turn. He felt the g-forces almost rip him off of her and he felt Cadence struggle as his arms clutched her neck desperately. He turned around and found that even with his augmented vision he couldn't see the changelings because they didn't emit any auras. The only thing that signaled him that they were there was the constant sound of their wings flapping in the air and their shrieks and hisses as they chased after them.

Jacob returned to normal and reloaded a fresh magazine and took aim at the changelings closest to Cadence. The changelings began to tail Cadence closely and Jake fired at any changeling that drew too close for comfort. She continued to push herself, even though Jake could feel the stress on her wings. She would soon plummet like a rock if he didn't do something and fast. The orb of light Cadence made was fizzling out from fatigue and Jake desperately needed to see. Jake was burning through the mags faster than my marines down a six pack of Beers on a Friday night. While he was reloading a small portion of the swarm broke formation and bull rushed him. He was able to pull out his revolver before they were on him. He took aim and unloaded on the changelings with great accuracy and results. Unfortunately, six more caught him. Three managed to catch them both. They tackled Jake and nearly hurled him off Cadence. He managed to beat the first one off by beating it with the stock of the rifle. Even out of ammo, he still found it useful and slung it across his shoulder. The other two ran into him full speed , tipping him over. He was now using only his legs to hold onto Cadence and was upside down and very close to grinding his head against the ground. At that speed, if his head touched the ground it was highly possible he would break his neck or lose his head.

The two changelings grabbed both of his arms and began to pull him away from Cadence. He dug his heels deep into Cadence’s coat, and felt her mind wince in pain at the sudden clawing at her coat. He knew that if he lost his grip it would prove to be fatal to him. He mustered whatever strength he had left in his left hand and moved his arm directly into the cave wall, at the speed they were going he lost some skin on that hand from friction burns but the changeling didn’t stay on for very long. In fact, it even left a lime green trail of blood as it tried to hold on. With his other hand now free, he sucker punched the other changeling square in the face. The first punch didn't faze the changeling, but the next few punches hit him like a truck. When it lost its grip, Jake grabbed the changeling by the neck. But when he swung again to catch it square in the face, he suddenly found himself in Shining Armor's suite in the castle and spotted Cadence. He wanted to talk to her, but was afraid it may be Chrysalis.

“I don’t care what you have to do! Something just tried to kill me! I want her dead! I don’t know why I didn’t finish her off in the mare’s room when I had the chance. Once she's gone, my plan is a guaranteed success.”

“What of the other...being?”

“The being that I banished to the caverns? I want him alive. I have never seen or heard of such a being, and that alien technology he -or could it be she?- had...I think he could prove to be useful capital for my ascension. I only need a more powerful spell to work his mind to gain more. I already have these.” She pulled out the two missing rounds from Jake’s revolver. “It appears I can change his perceptions and senses, yet I do not understand how he was able to resist me while I did it. But I have proven he can bleed by changing his senses; it's only a matter time before I strike him again.”

He then found himself back in the cave, clutching the neck of a hapless changeling. He squeezed until he heard some bone breaking. It went limp and he let the changeling fall to the cave floor. Jake stared in disbelief at his hands, unable to comprehend his previous action. He crushed a creature’s neck; back on earth, he couldn’t do that to a normal human. The other changeling was crushed on the wall. Where did this newfound strength come from?

Jake felt Cadence’s magic wrap around him and begin to tilt him right side up. He felt relieved to finally not have to worry about breaking his neck on the rock hard floor of the cave. “Thanks." He said.

“Hey, it’s what…I do,” Cadence huffed as she gasped for breath. Cadence’s reply made Jake realize that he couldn’t beat this horde directly, and she wasn’t going to put up with this much longer. He had already used up all the magazines for the assault rifle, he placed it back in the pack and pulled out a shotgun.

“These guy just don’t quit!” He said. He pulled the trigger and watched as a group of the changelings fell to the ground. He knew Cadence didn’t have much time left as the light from the orb was growing dimmer. With that last shot he had a small moment to go back into night sight and look around the cave. They were flying in a long tunnel that didn’t seem to have to an end, but a few yards away he spotted a shaft that looked like it might be large enough for Cadence to fly through without injuring herself. He had to be wary as he still couldn't see the swarm and it would take time for Cadence to change her direction. He took careful note of the distance between them and the shaft and then switched his vision back to normal. The changelings were almost on him again. He pulled back the pump of the scattergun, loading another round into the chamber, and fired with extreme prejudice.

"Alright Richy, let's see what you got in the line of explosives." With one hand he shifted the shotgun to rest against his shoulder so he could still fire. His aim wouldn't be good and the recoil would be murder to his shoulder, but he needed to get something out before they reached that shaft. Since Cadence would be completely vertical for several moments, he would have to hang onto her neck with at least one hand with the other he could throw the explosives. Thankfully, the shotty also came with a shoulder strap he would need it when they reached the shaft .

"Hmm, let's take a look. Frag grenades...I didn't flunk out of physics enough times to think that's a good idea. C4? No. Splitters aren't powerful enough. PLANET BUSTERS? How the freak does he have those?! The EDI science division doesn't even have those! Well, they're too powerful for use, anyway. Napalm...not trying to burn a forest or a city...Come on, where are they...Ah, here we go, high yield nitroglycerin ! Perfect for this kind of excavation." He pressed the enter button on the holographic keyboard. The pack's computer then immediately pulled six of the explosives. They even came on a bandolier that Jake swung around his shoulder.

"What are you," she paused to breathe for a moment "...doing back there?"

"Get ready to fly straight up."

"What!?"

"I need you to trust me, Cadence. You will be fine if you do it when I tell you to."

"But there's nothing but rock up there!"

"In a few seconds, there won't be any rocks there. I have an idea on how to get rid of these guys, and I need you to trust me, okay?"

He waited, making sure to keep his cool. If he made a mistake now, there'd be untold amounts of brain damage, Cadence would be killed and he would be mind raped into Chrysalis's willing slave. No pressure, though. The sound of the changelings grew louder and louder in Jake's ears. He took into account the time it would take Cadence to turn he body vertical to the ground and guessed the angle she would enter the tunnel in .

"FLY UP, NOW!"

Jake's body began to feel a change in apparent weight as she changed direction. He was holding onto her by her neck and his legs stabilized him below by not allowing his body to be flying freely through the air but rather hanging on slightly to her coat allowing him to hold on without chocking her . His hand fell on the timer button for the charges, setting them for five seconds and praying that the changelings couldn't close the gap between them in that time. Using his one free finger, he activated the spike feature on all of the to cause several long spikes to appear on the explosives, allowing excavators to simply jam it into the rocks without using any means of drilling. He had to throw it at the walls of the shaft and hope it would stick. He crossed his fingers and threw the payload over his shoulder and watched it crash against the wall. The timer was live and it stuck.

"Heh, heh, you're all gonna die !" He leaned in against Cadence, despite the apparent weight pulling him down. "YOU MIGHT WANT TO COVER YOUR EARS!"

Jake's heart was racing he knew it was now up to Cadence to escape the shaft before the explosives detonated. He looked behind and the black mob continued their persute closing the distance that Cadence had made earlier. Cadence shot out of the shaft just as the explosives went off. Massive amounts of fire and rock were thrown out of the shaft as it was sealed away under the rock Jake began to relax a little until he saw changelings still flying at him. It soon became very clear he didn't defeat all of the changelings. Luckily, those were only a fraction of the original horde. "Now this, I can take care of," he quipped as he loaded several more shotgun shells into his weapon.

The orb of light was now almost entirely out. Jake needed to take down the stragglers for Cadence to rest. He took aim at the closest one and fired. The flash of the shotgun muzzle illuminated the changeling's gore spill out onto the cavern walls. The others went down just as easily when they tried to rush him. He nailed the majority of the remaining small mob with one lucky shot. From there, it was a simple matter of picking off the survivors, but even then they tried put up a real fight and began using what little magic they possessed. Jake had a hunch from the image he saw in the changeling's head they wouldn't go directly for him or kill him. He had some importance to the queen and was well armed. But instead they elected to attack the easier and less important of the two targets and lunged for Cadence's wings and hooves. She dodged the changelings as well as she could while Jake set upon them. Only one survived.

"That's it. Fly right in front of me..." Jake said. He lined up his sights, aimed carefully and squeezed the trigger. To his surprise, the changeling dodged all of the pellets of the shot. "What the-? Oh, okay, little man, let's go again." He pulled the pump back and fired again and again and watched the changeling dodge his shots with extreme speed.

He wasn't about to let one changeling get the best of him, especially after all that he had just been through, but somehow it was dodging his shots as if it had mad reflexes . He tried to fire again, but he realized he was all out of ammo. The changeling charged towards the alicorn. Jake tried to reload, but the changeling grabbed Cadence's leg and caused her to jerk, throwing off the unloaded shells.. She tried to shake it, off but its grip was tight. Jake used the stock of the gun to smash its face. Even though he could see it bleeding, it was determined to bring them both down.

Jake continued to beat the ling mercilessly when he heard a small whisper from behind him. "I....can't!"

The tunnel suddenly went pitch black and he could feel himself falling in the air. He lost his grip on Cadence and was thrown into the darkness. He felt his bones crash against the ground and his skin began to burn when he finished sliding against the rocks. He tried to stand, and found himself limping. He heard Cadence sliding against the ground in the distance, and a few seconds later he heard a crash. He feared the worst may have just happened. He heard some rocks move from a way down the tunnel, but he could also hear something hissing and growling. His vision immediately went into night sight he could see Cadence's aura in the distance it was dimmer than it was when he first saw it, but still there meaning for now she was still alive. It wasn't moving so those sounds weren't from her, making Jake all the more anxious. His senses knew something was around him. He couldn't see it, though, even with his night sight. His head was constantly turning, looking in all directions as he heard the footsteps of something getting closer. Suddenly he felt something sharp dig into his back and then throw him hard against the wall, causing him to drop the shotgun. He got to his feet, and drew his peacemaker. He pointed his pistol in what he believed to be the direction of what he believed to be the changeling and fired several shots. He heard it squeal and could see rocks shifting. He couldn't see it but he could most certainly see the objects it was moving. He then heard a voice behind him.

"Jake?"

Jake's heart nearly stopped. He turned quickly, hoping to see what was talking to him. He recognized the voice but couldn't believe it. "Ray?"

"It's me man. I'll explain everything later, but seeing those wounds tells me you don't need a lot of explaining. That thing attacked me, too. It's not safe here. I need a gun to protect myself, give me yours!" Jake saw the aura surrounding him and knew what he saw not to be true. Inside he wanted to believe it was Ray but he knew it couldn't be.

"Jake, it's coming! Give me the gun!" He brought his gun up and pointed it at the changeling.

"Jake, what the hell are you doing?"

"You chose the wrong person to disguise yourself as. That man's been dead for two years. I know this because I had to bury him." He aimed for the head and pulled the trigger and watched the aura fade into blackness. “Don't you dare try using one of my men's faces to trick me again.”

When that was over, he felt the pain spike in his back when he bent down to collect the Winchester.

"How the heck did it know Ray?"

He tried to limp back to Cadence. He never thought he would be this badly injured so quickly. Most of these injuries he could tend to himself, but he wasn't going to be able to do squat without light. Cadence seemed, from the perspective of his night sight, to be simply knocked out. But he was glad she crashed where she did; a little more to the left and she would have flown straight off a ledge that marked a bottomless pit. He didn't see any wounds or other injuries, but he wasn't a medic. Even though she had a pulse and was still breathing if she had an internal wound and was dying from it he would be clueless.

He waited and waited and wondered if she would really be okay. Currently, he was staring at perhaps Canterlot's or even Equestria's last hope.

"I could be responsible for the enslavement of the equestrians ..." He pondered how to get out of the cavern. The tunnels stretched farther than his senses could perceive. Even with his new found strength he wasn't going anywhere until Cadence was awake, for one with his wounds he wouldn't be able to carry her, not that he could carry her to begin with or so he believed.

His injuries also kept him with her, not that he was planning on leaving her anyway. His back was wrecked and he tried something that goes against all medical textbooks that describe treating backs. He twisted his back to left and heard all of the joints and bones crack and the pain was gone. His cloths were torn up from the fall but he could feel where the changeling had dug its claw into his back. He could feel a cut but it didn't seem to bleeding for now he could leave it be. Which left the bite on his arm. He needed light for this one to properly examine it. He put some rubbing alclohol on his arm and it burned with the heat of a thousand suns after the pain he was able to properly bandage it . As for his leg wounds, he didn't break any bones but may have sprained an ankle or over extended a few joints. They needed time to recover properly, which was time they didn't have.

He waited patiently for her to awaken. He tried extending his power out of the cave to see what was happening on the surface. He didn't have much luck. His mind couldn't reach out that far. The only mind he could feel was Cadence's. A few hours passed and her thoughts were constantly changing but it wasn't anything serious. From what Jake could tell she was having a wonderful dream . But his loneliness would soon be over as he sensed another aura not too far away. He got to his feet and saw a purple aura on the other side of the cave wall. "IT'S TWILIGHT!"

A sigh of relief left his mouth as he realized he had just gotten her to the right spot at the right time. But then he noticed Cadence was close to a wall that was about to be blown to bits. "Crud, it's Twilight!"

He mustered whatever strength he had left and wrapped his hands around Cadence's torso and began to drag her across the stone floor. "Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap!" Cadence began to open her eyes, and looked straight at Jake.

"Jake, what are you doing?"

"Trying to keep you in one piece!"

The moment he finished saying that was the moment that the wall was blown open. He was barely able to move her far enough away from the explosion to prevent the debris from hitting her. Cadence eyes instantly went from early morning start to wide awake. The dust settled quickly and he was relieved to see Twilight, but sadly the unicorn did not share the same feeling.

“NO WAIT!” Cadence yelled out trying to keep Twilight back.

Twilight completely ignored the fact that Jake was still holding onto Cadence. Jake knew this was going to get ugly within the next few seconds; he released Cadence and jumped out of the way. Twilight pounced on Cadence; and pointed her already lit horn directly at Cadence’s face.

“Twilight, it’s me!” Cadence cried.

“A likely story!” Twilight spat.

“Sunshine, sunshine, lady bugs awake. Clap your hooves and….”

“…do a little shake…” Twilight finished.

Twilight instantly knew she was talking with the real Cadence, and Jake was standing off to the side observing it all. He remembered this part of the episode and smiled. He was glad Twilight had finally been reunited with the real Cadence and that for now the timeline remained normal despite his presence.

“Wait a minute…” Twilight turned to face Jake and the look on her face was just priceless, the look of complete and utter confusion.

“What?” Jake replied pretending to be clueless.

“Jake?”

But I think Jake's face was the best of them all after that.