//------------------------------// // Answers...sort of... // Story: Strange New World // by Conor Colton //------------------------------// Strange New World Chapter Six: Answers...sort of... Chris had left the outskirts of the now destroyed city of Canterlot, leaving only a burning wreckage and a now broken-nosed Prince Blueblood. He marched onwards to Ponyville, his next destination and where he would hopefully find answers as to what was going on. The entire time he walked with his six friends following, all he could think about was the strange entity he remembered as ‘Shade’. A few things raced through his mind, all relating back to the demonic wolf. A few previous questions were answered and yet more were raised, however one thing was certain in his mind; that figure with the red eyes that spoke to him and was present in his visions...was Shade. Chris kept his eyes forward, hardly looking back at all to see if the rest of his party was following. Luckily all six of them were, still carrying their individual Elements of Harmony. They continued walking over the steep, verdant hills outside of Canterlot before somepony, being Twilight, actually said something. “Chris, just slow down for a second please!” Twilight pleaded as she sped ahead and stopping Chris in his tracks, “Now you said you’d explain what happened back in Canterlot, now is the time to explain.” She stated as she stepped from side to side, trying to block off Chris at every angle. “Twilight you don’t understand, we need to get to Ponyville, we need to find Zecora!” Chris pleaded with the unicorn, desperate to get the answers he needed. But unluckily for him the mare wasn’t budging. “Well if I don’t understand, then now’s the time to make me understand.” The unicorn stated with a stern expression and an authoritative stance. Chris knew he had to explain. “Alright alright...I’ll tell you guys what happened. But we can’t laze around, I’ll tell you as we’re walking.” Chris stated as he walked past an accepting Twilight. He collected his thoughts and started to recall the events, “Okay, so after everypony was knocked out by Shade...” Chris lead into, hoping everypony remembered who Shade was. “Anyway, after that I woke up inside the castle, it was in some room very high up, I never got my bearings. Shade and one of his lackeys...Nox I think his name was, had me tied up in this weird relic or something, I couldn’t get out.” Chris continued as he looked back to gauge everypony’s reaction; sufficed to say there was a lot of jaws located below the knee. “And Shade was doing something really strange with the Elements, he was using me as a sort of conductor when he made the Elements like they are right now, apparently he was after “The Element” which didn’t make much sense to me. This went on for a bit until...until the Princesses showed up.” Chris said as Twilight’s eyes literally widened beyond normal means. “What?! The Princesses were there?! What happened?! Were they hurt?! Did they make it out okay?! Chris, answer me!” Twilight stated with desperation. “Okay! I...I don’t know...the two of them freed me and told me to ‘Seek answers’...” Chris led into. “And the Princesses!?” Twilight stated with near tears in her eyes as she held Chris’ face. “...After they freed me I grabbed the Elements and ran for it...I don’t know what happened, Shade ran for me, the Princesses ran for Shade...there was an explosion and I went out the window...I don’t know if they made it or not...” Chris stated, as he was met with a tearful unicorn. Twilight lashed out at Chris, hitting him with her hooves with tears streaming down her face. Chris wasn’t phased by the violence and simply allowed her to let it all out. “Why didn’t you do something?...You could have....you could have done something!” The unicorn stated as he ended up crying on the stallion’s shoulder. Chris patted her on the back in hopes it would comfort her as the others gave their attempts to relax the unicorn. “Now Sugarcube, don’t y’all be getting depressed on me now. This is all tragic but this is a time when we should be pulling together, not getting all teared up.” Applejack stated directly. “Yeah! Besides, if that ‘Shade’ or whatever his name is did anything to the Princesses we’ll give him the old Equestrian style butt whooping.” Rainbow stated as she hovered and punched the air. “Yes dear, as Rainbow stated, that brute will get what’s coming to him if I have any say in the matter.” Rarity stated rather proudly. “And we’re with you every step of the way Twilight....we’d never let one of our friends down.” Fluttershy stated, without a hint of hesitation or cowardice in her dialect. “Aaaaaaaand! Like Chris said, the Princesses could still be alright. We don’t know for abso-posit-ertainly!” Pinkie stated, still happy despite the current events. Chris couldn’t help but smile at all his friends lending their support to the mare crying on his shoulder, he wanted to say something as well. “Yeah Twilight, like Pinkie said, they could still be alr-” Chris was interrupted as he gasped and another vision entered his mind. In it there was Shade, standing in flames, holding two alicorn skeletons. The wolf looked at Chris straight on. “Don’t be so certain Chris!” Shade stated as he slammed the skeletons on the ground. As their skulls broke Chris was taken back to his present situation, with everypony looking at him inquisitively. “Did you have another vision?! Was it about the Princesses?!” Twilight asked, once again on the verge of tears. Before Chris could respond he heard Celestia’s message in his head again. “Seek answers...” Chris remembered as he looked to Twilight. He lifted her head and told her straight to her face. “Twilight listen to me...This is a tragic time but for now we need to get to Ponyville and find out what’s going on...okay?” The pony said as Twilight wiped tears from her eyes and looked at Chris straight on. “...Okay...” She said as he hugged Chris as a way of thanking him, whether it was for staying alive or helping her calm down, Chris didn’t have the foggiest notion. Regardless Twilight joined the others as they all trotted at full speed to Ponyville. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ However, back in the still burning city of Canterlot, Shade was pacing back and forth in the room where he had previously held Chris. The wolf kept pacing until he stared out the destroyed window to witness the destruction he had brought upon Equestria. He would normally revel in such devastation but he just stared, breathing heavily as he did. Nox approached him slowly, trying not to upset his master. However Shade knew he was there. “Yes Nox...what is it?” Shade demanded as he wanted to know why he was being interrupted. “Lord Shade, the preparations have been made...” Nox stated, keeping his tone direct. “Good...so how soon can we have a party out there to bring him back to us?” Shade asked once again, not making eye contact with his subordinate. “....Sunset, Lord Shade.” Nox stated. Shade turned like a flash and lunged for the other wolf’s throat, enclosing it in his claws. “Sunset?! Do you know how much he could get done in that time?! Answer me, worm!” Shade demanded as Nox gasped for air. “Shade, put him down this instant!” Another voice boomed from across the room, and with it stepped out another wolf, this one was undoubtedly female. Shade dropped Nox and turned his attention to her. “You would do right to remember your place, my love!” Shade said as he snarled at the female. “And you would do right not to address your mistress in such a manner! You know as well as I do that the creatures you want to go after him can’t survive this world’s natural sun!” She stated. Shade raised a claw to her and snarled once again. “.....Very well...You win this round Ruby...But so help me if you ever question me again, you will not need the sun to die!” He said as he lowered his claw and returned to looking out the window. “....Both of you...come here...” Shade requested as his subordinate and his mistress answered the call. “....This..is the dawn of a new age...A new age of power, of destruction...it will be...” Shade led into as he turned and slashed at both of his subordinates, sending them to the ground. He continued on, “My age...and if either of you go out of line again...I will not hesitate to cut off the loose ends...” Shade said as he snarled at the two with a magically charged paw pointed at them. “Y-yes Lord Shade!” The two of them stated as they ran to their assigned duties. Shade looked out the window again and began speaking once more. “Wherever you are Chris...I will find you....You cannot run from me forever....I am Shade. I am eternal. I am absolute. I AM DEATH!” ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ After that, Chris and his party of friends were nearing the scenic town of Ponyville, and as they got closer and closer Chris wondered how he would explain this situation; not just about Shade but of where he actually came from and about earth and humans and all things relating to that. He hoped it wouldn’t come to that. As the seven of them entered the town they were met with varying degrees of looks from ponies. The seven all proceeded to Twilight’s home once again, to get their bearings and to check on a few friends, namely Spike. Before Chris had a chance to open the library door Spike flung it open in the pony’s face, Chris recoiled and rubbed his nose as he gave Spike an unamused expression. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ “...Sorry.” The dragon stated as he made way for everypony to enter. When everypony was inside Spike shut the door with haste, almost as if the seven of them were being followed. The dragon turned back to the group and began the conversation, “What happened?! We saw it all from here! What happened to Canterlot?! What’s going on?!” Spike asked with a great sense of urgency and desperation in his voice. Before anypony could respond with a coherent explanation Chris stepped forward. “One of these guys can tell you, right now I need to find Zecora.” Chris said as he walked towards the door, only to be stopped in his tracks once again by Twilight. “Chris why is it so vitally important that you talk to Zecora? This disaster happens and you instantly want to see her. What’s going on?” Twilight demanded as Chris recoiled from the mare leaning towards him with flaming eyes. “Okay Twilight, just calm down. When we have time I promise I’ll explain everything but for now I really need to see Zecora, she might have some answers to this okay?” Chris said as he was met with silence...until Pinkie spoke up. “Pinkie Promise?” She asked inquisitively. “Yes, I Pinkie Promise. Now we need t-” Chris was cut off once more. “Do the actual Pinkie Promise.” The pink mare insisted. Chris sighed and obliged. “Ugh...Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my ey- Oh geez!” Chris said as he managed to mess up the most vital step of a Pinkie Promise. “Okay, now we can leave everypony! We gots answers to get.” Pinkie stated happily as she hopped out the door. As everypony and Spike followed suit, the dragon asked Chris a question. “How did you know how to do a Pinkie Promise?” The dragon asked curiously. “....I heard horror stories of ponies who broke Pinkie Promises.” Chris stated as he watched Applejack look away as that topic was brought up. Chris shrugged and followed. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Back in the burning capital city, Shade still stood looking outside through the broken window as Nox and Ruby went about their assigned duties and reported back in every now and again. Shade continued to stare as the sun got ever more closer to passing the horizon. He just stood there, awaiting the night, until he was interrupted by Ruby. Who brushed up against his side as Shade didn’t seemed phased at all by this. “Are you alright my Lord? You look rather stressed...” Ruby said in an attempt to comfort the demonic wolf. Shade merely grunted as Ruby continued, “Well soon my love, soon he will be back with us...and then nothing will be able to stand against us...” She stated as she continued to brush up against Shade. “She’s correct Lord Shade, by sunset we will have all we need to fi-” Nox was cut off by Shade’s booming voice. “Still your tongue Nox...leave us...” The dark conqueror ordered as Nox sheepishly obeyed the command and left. “Did you have something private to discuss dear?” Ruby said as she looked up at Shade. “.....In a manner of speaking...” Shade said as he looked back down at his mistress, “I have a question for you, Ruby...when the human escaped...where were you?” Shade said as he was met with a confused look. “Wha-” Ruby was cut off as Shade’s eyes sparked red and his gritted teeth gleamed white. Before Ruby knew it she was being held by the throat by Shade, dangling outside the newly broken window. “You were in the city were you not?!” Shade said as he tightened his grip, “You were mopping up any resistance were you not?! And yet you still couldn’t find him?!” Shade exclaimed as his expression became more fierce with anger. “Please....my love.....I was alone...he could have easily....slipped away...” Ruby struggled to speak as Shade threw her back inside and sent her to the ground. Shade walked over and raised his claw and prepared his sharp claws. “You mopped up every pitiful pony in that city, and the one you let escape was the most important to our plans?!” Shade said as he prepared his strike even more. “Not every last one of them my Lord....there were some...some who escaped...” Ruby admitted as she tried to get back up, but Shade slashed and promptly sent her back down. “....Today isn’t a good day for you my love...you only live because I care for you as much as I do...but like I said, my dear...” Shade said as he leaned down and whispered in her ear. “Loose....ends!” Shade said as he trailed her across the ground and threw her into a nearby pillar, breathing heavily afterwards. Shade looked out onto the horizon and saw that the sun had nearly reached the edge of the horizon. The wolf grinned and chuckled slightly, “Nox! Prepare the raiders!” ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Several miles away, back in Ponyville, Chris and company were entering the boundaries of The Everfree Forest in their search for Zecora, with the eight of them wandering as the moonlight streamed through the trees. Chris kept his eyes forward, not even asking for directions from everypony else and he knew where he was going and what he was looking for. Twilight approached Chris once again with a question. “Uh Chris....how do you know Zecora?” She asked as everypony and dragon looked at Chris skeptically. Chris’ vacant, almost systematic expression locked up to make a rather melted face. “Uh....” Chris started as couldn’t help letting out a cliched gulp, he saw no point in holding back, “Well....this may sound hard to believe but...I think Zecora gave me a warning about all of this...” Chris led into as he was met with raised brows all around. “Let me explain. When me and Twilight were going through Ponyville the first time, I ran into a zebra...at least I think...she gave me some sort of dark premonition...the only zebra I’ve ever heard of around here was Zecora.” Chris concluded as he was met with still more strange looks. “Well....now that we done got that mess settled, let’s go get us an answer of two.” Applejack stated as everypony followed her lead. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Not long after, the group had reached the rhyming alchemist’s hut. Chris stood as everypony walked in with him following shortly after; however the hut seemed noticeably empty. “Uh.....hello? …..Zecora?” Rarity asked as elegantly as possible, whilst trying to avoid certain chemicals spilt on the floor. The eight of them continued to search until Chris decided to lift up a tarp that was hanging over a table. Almost right away the pony was met with a bright flash and some odd smoke that caused him to cough. He was then met with a Zebra in his face. “Have you gone ma-.....who are you?” Zecora asked as Chris stood there confused. “Who am I? We’ve already me-” Chris was cut off by Zecora shoving a hoof in his mouth. “Can you not hear the whispers of the night? Do not centre us in their sights!” Zecora said as she scrambled about to collect various things. “Zecora, what are you talking ab-” Twilight asked as she was also cut off when a bag off beads was placed in her mouth. “I speak of the demons that plague our land, the issue you seem not to understand!” Zecora stated as the zebra breathed heavily. “I think she’s talking about what happened in Canterlot.” Rarity said as Zecora kept whizzing around the room. “Yes, it’s true, that horrific raid! Cut through the city as fine as a blade!” The zebra said in an ever increasing tone. “Listen just calm down, why are you in such a rush?!” Chris said as the zebra stopped and faced him. “Why am I in a rush, is that what you ask? Well perhaps if you would stay on task! Our capital city has been ravaged and burned, and your only concern right now is to learn! Learn about why I’m in such a hurry?! Well I’ll tell you once child, your vision be blurry! To obscure your eyes to such a threat, you do not know anything I’d bet!” The zebra stated to Chris, blowing off steam. “Well no, that’s why we came to you....we thought you would have some answers!” Chris stated, as he felt he was going away empty hoofed. “What is that of which you speak? I have the answers that you seek?” Zecora asked as she pointed to herself. “Well yes, I would think so....you were the one who warned me about Shade and all of th-” Chris was cut off by Zecora gasping and her eyes widening. “......Did you just say Shade? In your head it must've been made!” Zecora said as she ran to her bookshelf and pulled out an old dusty tome. She flicked through the pages and began to read. “It was foretold from the very start, since the first beat of the new world’s heart. That one day all the land will be enslaved, then an ancient debt repaid. On that day when a Shade arrives, the countdown begins for Equestrian lives. And the only hope for this world to live, is the arrival of one-” Zecora said as she stopped mid sentence. “And that’s where it ends....” Chris said, as he was following along the whole time. Everypony turned to him surprised. “Wait....was Zecora talking about y-” Applejack led into as all of them heard roaring and screeching from Ponyville. They all rushed towards town, including Zecora who took the book with her. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ After some sprinting and vigorous flying all nine of them entered the town, only to find one thing; everypony in town was standing there, dumbfounded at what they were seeing. Chris joined their gaze to see a large pack of what appeared to be, demonic monsters, with skin as black as coal, and eyes that shared the same colour as blood. Aside from that there was no defining features, all looked the same and all looked deadly. Chris stood there with an open mouth and breathing heavily, as he could have sworn all of these beasts were staring at him. Chris got a sudden pain in his head and all he could hear was Shade shouting. “Charge!” As all the beasts did just that and began to break for the town square, towards Chris and his friends. Chris and all the other ponies began to make haste in the opposite direction. Out of his peripheral vision Chris could see ponies being pounced on by the rampaging monsters, all screaming out in agony as those same screams were quickly cut short; Chris could only imagine as to why. As Chris and company ran they were cut off as it seemed these beasts were coming at the from all angles. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Everypony sprinted in various directions, and before Chris knew it he was separated from his friends, not wanting to turn back as a sizable group of monsters were chasing him. Chris ducked into a nearby alleyway to avoid the sight of the monsters. As he scurried down the alleyway he heard some rustling in a nearby corner. He looked and saw a small door covering a window to a small crawlspace. Chris approached it slowly, reached for it and pulled it away, expecting the worst. Instead he was met with three familiar, albeit terrified faces. Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo all were hiding in this small crawlspace and looked up at Chris with hopeful, yet tearful expressions. “Chris!” Sweetie Belle chimed off with. “Y’all came back!” Apple Bloom added as she held back more tears. “We knew you wouldn’t forget about us! Cutie Mark Crusaders never forge-” Scootaloo retorted as she was quickly cut off by Chris. “Girls, shhhh! You’ll get their attention!” Chris stated whilst keeping his voice at a whisper. “What are those things Chris?!” Sweetie Belle asked with a look of concern in her face. “I dunno Sweetie I dunno...the important thing is that we keep quie-” Chris was cut off by all three of the girls screaming and pointing behind Chris. On the building above was one of those beasts. It leaped down and smacked Chris out of the way, instead reaching for the girls. Chris gasped and reached for the nearest thing he could find, a rusty lead pipe somepony had thrown into this alley. Chris let loose with a massive swing, clobbering the monster on the head as it shed blood. The beast turned and lunged for Chris, the pony keeping him at a reasonable distance with the pipe. As Chris struggled he looked to the girls and yelled to them. “Go! Get out of here! Find somepony! Find anypony! Just go!” Chris said as the girls did just that. Once they were clear of the alleyway Chris broke his guard and swung for the beast’s head again, once again connecting. The beast was stunned by this swipe, giving Chris a chance to dart for an escape. He made a sharp turn as he exited the alley, only to find Ponyville on the verge of ruin. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Buildings burned, ponies ran and screamed, monsters rampaged. Chris took this all in for a moment before he was tapped on the shoulder and was given some words. “Chris! Chris! Wake up! Can you not see what’s going on?!” Rainbow Dash yelled at him as the stallion turned to her. “Look it doesn’t matter, I’m air lifting ponies out of here with some other pegasi so come on!” She stated as she lifted the stallion into the air and began to fly. “Chris....you’re a lot heavier than I thoug-” Rainbow stated as she was cut off by Chris exclaiming. “Rainbow look out!” Chris yelled as a monster pounced on the rainbow pegasus from a nearby roof. Rainbow managed to shake it off but in the process had dropped Chris...right into the library. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Chris peeled himself off the hard wooden floor of the establishment and saw that was alone here. He observed the outside and saw all the chaos unfold, he wondered why this was happening, then it hit him. He was responsible. Shade said he was necessary and then Chris put two and two together in his head. “They’re after me.....they’re after me!” Chris stated as he turned to see a rather confused Rainbow Dash floating there. “Chris...you’re saying those...things out there came for y-” The mare’s sentence was cut short as Chris had developed a plan, he opened a closet filled with magical supplies and alchemy reagents. Rainbow looked rather confused as the stallion began to take hooffuls of beakers, placed them on the floor and filled them each with any random chemical he could find. Chris then rushed and looked about until he found what he needed, a fuse, and a rather lengthy one at that. He placed one end of the fuse in a bottle of liquid with a skull and an explosive symbol on it. He gave Rainbow the other end and instructed her. “Listen Rainbow, I don’t have time to explain. I need you to take this fuse a safe distance away from the library and when I give the signal, light it!” Chris stated with confidence in his plan. “Uh...okay....I don’t know where you’re going and this doesn’t look safe at all....I like it!” She stated as she whizzed outside. Chris then began the next phase of his plan. The pony scaled the rest of the tree-house and came out on the top of it, carrying a bottle labelled ‘Custom chemical: Pinkie Party Starter’. Chris threw the bottle on the ground near him and it erupted in a shower of light, some funky music, and several strands of confetti. All the beasts attacking suddenly turned their attention to Chris. The pony gulped and started yelling. “Come on! Over here! I’m the one you’re looking for! I’m the one who made your ‘master’ Shade look like an idiot! So come on, I’m right here!” Chris stated as he closed his eyes and accepted what was to come. All the beasts that were present in the town began storming for Chris. He was about to conclude his plan and carefully scale down the tree, but a monster had jumped from another rooftop, tacking Chris and sending him back down into the library. Chris was crowded by the beasts as they clawed in a mad frenzy towards him. Chris clawed his way out back to the roof, still with monsters trying to pull him back. “Rainbow! Light the fuse!” Chris stated as he was pulled back into the frenzy. Rainbow had heard the signal. She had to improvise so she grabbed the nearest unicorn, being Twilight. The pegasus conked her on the horn and held the fuse to it, a spark igniting it and sending it towards the library. Chris scrambled to get free from the beasts, he used them as stepping stones as he jumped to the roof. He saw the fuse that was unexpectedly close. He ran for the edge and jumped. The chemicals ignited in a chain reaction, causing a massive explosion that rocked the town, burned the library and sending Chris flying, landing not so far from Rainbow, Twilight and the others. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The stallion composed himself and stared at the burning wreckage of the library as the town was silent for a few seconds. That silence subsided though when Chris took a few steps forward, turned around and addressed everypony that was still alive. “Okay everypony listen! We are all in grave danger right now! We can’t stay here...if we do, we die!” Chris said rather bluntly before continuing. “Everypony needs to scatter away from here...and away from Canterlot! The only way any of you will be safe is if you are as far away from here and Canterlot as possible!” Chris stated as everypony looked at him with questionable eyes. “He’s right, y’all need to save yourselves! And this is the only way right now...take whatever you can carry that belongs to ya and hightail it!” Applejack added to Chris’ point as the two of them nodded to each other. “Well...you heard the stallion? Move it! The sooner y’all get out of here, the better.” Applejack said as she went to help the survivors salvage and prepare, the earth pony was assisted by Pinkie, Rarity and Rainbow. Chris walked past Fluttershy, Twilight and Spike but was stopped in his tracks when he saw a purple hoof extended out in front of him. “Chris....what...what do we do?” Twilight asked, with her eyes brimming with tears. Chris looked around and saw Fluttershy and Spike making the same faces, trying to hold back their grief. Chris put a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder and addressed her concern. “I don’t know, what happened here is tragic, what happened in Canterlot was tragic...but we have to focus on one thing at a time. We need to figure out what’s going on and how we can stop it.” He stated firmly as Twilight rested her head on his shoulder again. “We need....we need to stop Shade...” Twilight stated as she shivered whilst holding back tears. Chris gently lifted the unicorn’s head up and nodded to her face. Then let her go so she could help however she could along with Fluttershy and Spike. Chris continued walking before he was stopped yet again by three small fillies, one’s who he had saved. All three of them looked up at him with tearful eyes as they all hugged his legs. Chris knelt down and addressed them. “Girls, girls....It’ll be okay...” Chris stated as he attempted to comfort them. “Cutie...Mark...Crusaders.....never forget Chris...” The three of them stated whilst snivelling. “Yeah, never forget....Now you all need to go and find your families...” He said as he sent them on their way. Chris then walked past Zecora and addressed the zebra, “Zecora....I need to see that book again.” He stated. “Why? Where are we going?” The zebra retorted. “I don’t know..that’s why I need the book. I think it has some answers” Chris stated directly.