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// Pocket Watch 
// Story: Killing Time 
// by JohnnyNorthrain 
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	My brain wanted to jump out of my skull and drop alongside the track as the train made the journey from Ponyville to Canterlot. I thought that Twilight had talked my ear off before but this time it was purely different. She assumed the role of asserted teacher making sure I understood every piece of etiquette there was before moving on to more. There was only so much I could take in one sitting and I kindly excused myself from the car and headed towards the back. 
I liked her but god damned she was annoying sometimes. Twilight knew everything or knew a way to find out everything about the universe around her. She was pretty much the most intelligent person that I knew. That first week I’d been in Ponyville she ground through so many quills writing down what I knew about the Human world which was not much. I graduated High School and went on to start working for the force. Did pretty well for a couple years until something happened and I became a PI.
I reached into my vest pocket and pulled out the small green disc the Doctor had given me just before my last time coming to Canterlot. I ran my thumb over the surface looking at the ribbons of different translucent shades. It was pretty but associated with Chrysalis the Changeling Queen. It was something I had thought about throwing away or giving back to the Doctor multiple times yet it always seemed to want to stay with me just a bit longer. 
I heard the door slide close from the car behind me and I looked up from the disc seeing a pony wearing a vest and a pocket watch. I looked back down at the disk running my finger over it once more before the hairs on the back of my arm started standing up. I could feel electricity in the air and I looked up again seeing that the pony was standing in front of me. He pulled on the pocket watch chain with his teeth sliding it out of the vest pocket and held it dangling from his mouth. The face of the watch as it spun by… it was my watch. I’d carried that watch for years since I was let go from the force. The last time I saw it was during the middle of a fight with my former friend. It had my name engraved on the back of it. I reached out for the chain and the pony jumped back. 
Small green sparks of electricity jumped from the pony as it stood on two legs. The shape of the pony shifted to Human form. As the green light moved over it the face two dark brown eyes stared back at me. With a slight grin he dashed away into the next car down the line. I couldn’t believe who it was and I ran after him holding onto the disc. 
I burst into the car and caught the pocket watch as it was thrown at me. My shoes skidded to a halt on the hard wood floor and the man I used to call friend raised my lost gun aiming it at my chest. I held the watch in one hand and the disc in the other considerably confused about the entire situation. He ran a hand over his scalp then smiled in a way that never touched his eyes. 
“I’ve been looking for you.” His voice was harsh and raspy. Not at all like it had been when I’d seen him last.
“Nice to know that you care. What the hell are you doing here Nick?”
“Every waking moment she devotes to talking about you. How you taste, how you feel and how all she wants to do is make you her love slave.” He took half a step forward pulling the hammer back on my snub nose .38 special revolver. 
“What are you on about?” I ran my thumb over the disc unconsciously. 
“That’s her token. That’s what I came for but I’ll be coming for you soon. Why don’t you just give it to me Johnny and I can be on my way back to the Queen or you and I can finish this right now. What do you say?” 
“Finish what Nick? I don’t have any idea what you are talking about.” 
“How long you been here Johnny… a month? See I’ve been checking up on you and it’s been a month of pretty much paradise. You even got yourself a little assistant. Me, it’s been hell. You ended up in that small farm town and I ended up in what they called the badlands. No food out there and no hope.”
“It’s going to be alright Nick. You are here now and these ponies can help you.”
“Why were we even fighting Johnny? I can’t remember.” He took another step closer and his hand started shaking slightly. “Two weeks I was out there licking rocks until I find one of her brood and I killed it and ate it. She finds me a couple days later screaming in pain as my body starts changing. I’m one of them now Johnny. This isn’t even what I look like anymore.”
“You’re a Changeling?” I took a step towards him and he tightened his grip on the pistol.
“It’s all got to do with their bodies. I ate the poor bastard and now I’m like him. How’s it feel? Her bite? She’s got enough of her saliva in you that you should have started changing by now. See here’s the real kicker that makes me laugh. By the time she found me she’s already tasted you. Keeps going on about you every god damned waking moment. She can’t come through the barrier on the badlands but I can.”
I took another step towards him and I did not even hear the first shot. My body tensed as soon as the lead bullet hit me in the shoulder and I pulled both arms to my torso. The second shot imbedded itself into the cover of the pocket watch. I dropped the disc and he rushed towards it keeping the revolver in his hand. I fully expected a third shot to come and it never did. As soon as his fingers closed around the disc he launched himself out of a window breaking through the glass and changing while in the air. His body shifted to an ugly black thing Human sized with insect wings and cold emotionless green eyes. The creature that had been my friend flew off with the prize he had come to collect and I dropped to my knees. 
There was a flurry of activity surrounding me as ponies came out and saw the blood and broken window. I’m not entirely sure what happened over the course of the next hour. I was bandaged and asked questions then told to stay lying down on a table in the dining car as the train made its final approach into Canterlot. My shoulder felt as if someone had lit a fire in the bullet wound. I couldn’t move it and had to be helped into a carriage and rushed towards the palace. They had a make shift stretcher prepared for me and Twilight and Spike lead the way through the corridors to a room where more ponies fussed over my wound.
Sometime during the commotion I had passed out after doctors worked to remove the bullet. Whatever they had given for the pain was not working and my sleep was short and dreamless. When I awoke my shoulder was completely bandaged and my fingers were numb. The area Chrysalis had bit on my arm was bandaged as well and blood had leaked through the wrapping. I sat up slowly in the bed with a grunt and saw that Twilight was at my bed side with a book. She set it aside and tried to offer any help she could. I assured her that I was alright and made her stay where she was. The door to the bedroom opened and in stepped both of the princesses. Beyond them I saw the guards waiting outside. 
Saying that they were beautiful was like saying that a sunset was orange. There were so many levels of color and depth to both that you couldn’t really appreciate either unless you were there to witness them. Celestia stood tallest of the two and her hair was in a continual state of flowing. Her younger sister had bits of starlight in her mane and eyes that always looked like they were on the point of sadness. Twilight had stood up when they came in and backed away slightly. With the three of them at the foot of my bed I suddenly felt very insecure and small.
“I am glad to see that you have awakened.” Celestia spoke and inclined her head. “What happened on the train has everyone in a state of panic.” 
“I’m sorry for what happened. I never imagined that anything like that could.” I said weakly. 
“Do you know what attacked you?” Celestia lifted her head to look me directly in the eyes. 
“He was a friend. His name is Nickolas Falcon.” I let out a grunt as I shifted position on the bed. “Last time I’d seen him we had been in the middle of a fight then I blacked out and ended up outside Ponyville. He said he’d ended up in the Badlands.” 
“Why did he attack you?” She asked. 
“The Doctor gave me a small green stone disc. He said it was her token and he had come for it. I tried to appeal to him but he shot me.” 
“I see… anything else that happened?” 
“He’s a Changeling now. I don’t know how but he said he killed and ate one of them.”
Her gaze turned from me and I felt easier when she was not staring. I’d half expected to have to explain what being shot meant yet the two princesses seemed to understand it completely. They exchanged a silent look between them. Twilight Sparkle seemed to shrink back into trying to escape any notice. Celestia’s eyes snapped to her and she told her student that she’d like to see her outside alone. The two of them exited the bedroom leaving the younger Princess at my bed side. 
“What is your name?” She asked in a quiet voice. 
“Johnny Northrain.” 
“Your real name.” She walked around the bed and stopped only a foot from my face.
“Johan Nordregen.” I said just above a whisper. 
“Deutsch?” She asked mimicking my whisper.
“Ja.” I nodded slightly and she took in a breath. When she exhaled I felt it hot against my cheek.
“You aren’t the first Human that has come to Equestria. There have been others over the past millennia. Our worlds exist side by side and every once in a while someone or something slips through. Why do you go by Johnny?”
“There was a war and my family changed our names to American ones.”
“There was a war here long ago and several Humans fought in it. They actually had a large city deep in the heart of the forest. During the time of Discord they were all killed and the city was forgotten. My Sister and I remember. A couple other ponies remember.”
“I…” I winced as I shifted again on the bed. “…don’t…”
“Are you in league with the Queen of the Changelings Johan?” She brought her nose so close to mine they almost touched. Her eyes narrowed and her horn was dangerously close to my forehead. 
“Honestly no I’m not.”
“Do you want to destroy Equestria?”
“No I don’t.”
“We are at such a disadvantage.” She stepped away and turned pacing slowly. “We knew of the Queen yet thought she would never present a threat since she was in the badlands. She attacked us directly under our hooves and nearly took apart the entirety of Equestria. When did she bite you?”
“I…” I choked and coughed trying to get words out.
“We know and we saw the marks on your arm. This is most distressing. When a pony is bitten by a changeling they slowly become one or die. We did not know that Humans could undergo that same change. We will do everything we can to halt its progression and keep you Human. Rest now Johnny Northrain.”
When she left the room seemed to get a bit darker. That was just me being silly. Why would a princess of the night actually… reflect… perhaps there was something to that moon mark on her flank. Under Celestia’s gaze I felt like a boy being scolded by his mother. Under Luna’s I felt like a cheating lover that had been caught in the act. I lay my head back against the headboard and closed my eyes for the moment. 
There was a soft click and I opened my eyes seeing nothing except my pocket watch sitting on the nightstand by the bed. Turning my head around I saw nothing in the shadows and the door was closed. The watch had not been there when Princess Luna had spoken. Was it possible for something to move that fast? I picked up the watch and turned it over seeing the remains of the lead .38 Special bullet in the face. I opened the face and a folded piece of paper fell out. There was a big crush mark where the energy from the bullet had hit the watch itself and dented the backing of the face pulling off a large circular chunk of paint. The glass had shattered and was gone. The gears still worked yet the hands had broken off. It make a loud click every second instead of a tick. I unfolded the note and mistook the brownish red letters as being inked. The words made me shiver. I looked at the letters again and saw that they were written in blood. It flaked away as I scratched at it with my fingernail. Setting down the note I grimaced. So was what it had come down to. This is where he stood. The note simply said…

Four bullets left. Two ponies already down. Three remain. I’ll see you around Johnny.