Time Ticks on

by Golden Script


18. Piece of the Past: Nemesis' Vindication

Luna was tied up, Discord was off in the field doing something to prepare for the impending battle, and I was sitting around wondering when my life went to shit. I decided that it was when I sent Christy to the car before I heard a rustle over by Luna. She was struggling against her binds, which caused me to think about what she’d done, which lead back to the virus. Not enjoying where this was going, I walked out towards the field.

“Discord! I’m going to take a walk!” I called to the Draconequus.

“Yeah, sure.” He mumbled to himself, still focusing on his structure, which I couldn’t quite identify at the moment.

I began my walk deeper into Whitetail Woods, giving Luna a wide girth.

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SEVERAL MINUTES LATER

I was just walking through the forest with my hands in my pant pockets, sulking about Luna and her betrayal.

‘How could she do that? It just doesn’t seem like something that she’d do.’ I thought to myself as I pulled my hands out of my pants. ‘I guess you don’t really know a man until you hold him over a volcano. I never should have doubted you, Shan Yu.’ I had a quick little laugh at that, but quickly got back to thinking. ‘I just wish I had someone to talk about this with.’ I sighed, resting my hands at my sides. When I did so, I notice a lump in my coat’s pocket. ‘What’s this?’

I reached into my coats pocket and pulled out a vial. Not remembering putting anything in said pocket, let alone the vial, so I briefly wondered how it’d gotten there. My wondering was interrupted when a voice rang out in my head.

‘I am Nemesis. The Hunter. The Pursuer. Those who would seek to harm others for their own benefit are my prey. If you need my help, simply take this vial in your hand, and call upon me. I will aid you in kind. Your enemies will flee before my wrath, but there will be nowhere they can run, nowhere they can hide that I will not find them. I will hunt them down.’

When the voice rang out I dropped the vial, more from surprise than anything, but quickly realized I was in no danger and picked it back up again.

My mind was abuzz with questions about the vial, but I didn’t know how to get the answers.

I decided that my best course of action would be to ask for this “Nemesis’s” help.

“Nemesis, the Hunter, the Pursuer. I call on you; come to me!” I held the vial up, hoping to get better reception or something.

Far above me, a swirling vortex of colors appeared in the sky. I blinked in surprise; I hadn’t expected anything to actually happen! From the vortex fell a large figure. It took a few moments for me to realize he was falling straight towards me, and I moved out of the way just as a massive crash sounded from behind me.

...Ow. I definitely don’t remember that hurting last time. When the smoke cleared I took a good look at the strange being, deciding to ignore the voice in my head for the moment.

To my surprise, he looked human! Well, almost. He was big, very big; his skin looked discolored and mangled, but most of him was covered by a large black trench coat; and as he stood up, I noticed that he held a long, black cylindrical object in his right hand and his single eye was glowing red. He looked around the area, and I heard the voice in my head again.

The woods this time, doesn’t quite look like the Everfree though. Now I wonder where my summoner is... I decided that I should be cautious, but it wasn’t a crime to have fun, was it?

Using my watch I moved directly in front of him, and resumed time with my face only an inch or two from his.

The reaction was exactly what I’d hoped for; his eye widened and he jumped a good two feet in the air as he stumbled backwards. Gah! What the fuck?! He raised his weapon at me, but after a moment he lowered it again. And you must be my summoner, then? That was...a good one.

“Why, yes, I do believe I called upon a Nemesis, though I was expecting something more… quadruped.” I said, taking a moment to look him up and down once more.

Expecting a pony, were you? Nemesis latched his weapon onto his back and crossed his arms. Sorry to disappoint, but ordinarily when you summon someone, it’s most likely going to be another human… He hesitated at the end of the sentence, and added onto the end, ...mostly.

“Duly noted.” I said with a simple nod. “I can only assume you are wondering who I am. My name is Michael Faraday, the champion of Discord, and the Lord of Time.” I bowed with my arm crossed over my chest, showing as much respect for the creature with the rocket launcher on his back.

Nemesis nodded, and did a similar bow. During which he responded with You may call me Nemesis, though my human name is Nicholas Fringe. He stood up, cocking his head to the side as he stared down at me. Lord of Time? That’s a hefty title. And Champion of Discord? If I might ask, how’d you earn that title?

I was a bit stunned when he said his name was Nicholas, for that was my Family given name, though I had the mind not to voice this thought quite yet. “Well, the Lord of Time only refers to my complete control of the flow of time. I could bring it to a standstill, slow it to a snail’s pace, or speed it so Millennia are mere seconds.” I pulled my watch out and fiddled with the lid as I said this. “As for being the champion of Discord… well, Discord has challenged the Celestial Sisters to a duel. Seeing as they are all extremely powerful beings, a fight between them would decimate the land. To avoid the destruction of the land they wish to have, the three of them have agreed to pit two beings of roughly similar strength against each other. I am fighting for the King Discord, and will fight for him until my dying breath.” I concluded.

Time control huh? What I wouldn’t give to be able to do that in MY universe… He grumbled a bit, then listened to the rest of my tale. KING Discord? So we’re at that point in time, are we? Nemesis turned away for a second as if in thought and turned to face me again. I’m curious, what made you want to side with Discord? He helped me out a lot in the past to be certain, but for every good deed he does, there is ALWAYS something he seeks to gain from it.

“Discord is the lesser of two evils. He may torment his subjects, but he doesn’t use them as science experiments.” I growled at the thought of what the Sisters did to their ponies.

Science experiments? Nemesis shifted his stance and his eye glowed white. What do you mean?

I felt the bile rise in my throat just remembering what they’d done to that poor little filly. “The Celestial Sisters, Luna and Celestia, use their ponies to try and create weapons. Living weapons. They call them B.O.W.s. To create them, they inject a virus in their bloodstream and watch as flesh becomes rotten and minds descend into madness. I bore witness to the horrid act and was powerless to help. There was no sense of remorse or mercy. The scientists even used children! I had seen a small filly who had killed her parents because of this virus. It was sickening.” I crossed my arms, trying to comfort myself.

Nemesis’ eye widened and went from white, to blue. He went eerily quiet as I finished telling him what I saw, but when I was finished his stance had visibly slackened. His ‘voice’ was barely above a whisper. ...Michael, I don’t want to be the one to tell you this, but if I won’t, no one will. Discord is manipulating you again. He paused for a moment, going on a moment later. All of what you saw is very true. It has happened, and will continue to happen, just… He paused again. ...not in THIS universe.

“What do you mean ‘not in this universe’? There’s only one universe.”

Have you ever heard of the theory of the multiverse? Nemesis stretched his hand out and panned it over the sky. Well, in short, it’s not a theory. There are millions of other universes, all where alternate scenarios happen. I come from one where all that you saw is true. A company called Ellura takes ponies no one would miss off the streets and tests their virus with them. He sighed, turning away from me again. A virus that they acquired from me.

“You mean… he lied… again?” It was a mere whimper, but enough to be heard. While my body stayed still, there was a war in my mind. The side that said that this… Nemesis was lying, and the side that said he was telling the truth.

No, he told you the truth, but only partially. It’s not a truth that you should know about, or have to deal with. I saw Nemesis eye turn to red again as his fist clenched. But...it is very true. They turn ponies, griffons, minotaurs, manticores, anything that they can mutate into biological weapons, mutated monsters built for war. He shook his head and turned to face me again. Discord is using you. He showed you that so you would side with him.

My head was racing, back and forth from Luna to Discord to the filly and back to Luna. ‘Who should I trust? Should I take a risk and listen to this guy? Should I crawl back to Luna on my hands and knees? What do I do?’

Suddenly, my mind reminded me of something that he had said earlier. “You said that it was your fault they had the virus… how did that come to be?” I asked, desperate for anything to distract me from the battle raging in my head.

Nemesis blinked, but began to explain. I wasn’t always like this… a monster. he said the word monster with such hatred in his voice that it caused me to stagger a bit. I was a regular human. Not unlike you, minus the powers over time. He did his impression of a grin at me. I even had a normal human life. Till my friend and I decided to go to comic con. I decided to go as the antagonist from Resident Evil 3, Nemesis. He was a biological weapon built by the Umbrella Corporation using the t-virus. While I was there, I met an old man who had a perfect replica of Nemesis signature Rocket Launcher. He tapped the weapon on his back as he said this. Oddly enough, he let me have it for free. But when I took it… well, I woke up in the Everfree. And I wasn’t in a costume anymore, I had actually become Nemesis. I took a trip into a nearby town. Imagine my surprise when it was filled with Ponies. Talking ponies, at that. He laughed dryly, still remembering what had happened his first day. I tried to talk to them, but all they did was run around and panic at the sight of me. Wasn’t long before Princess Luna and Princess Celestia came, and seeing me as a threat, they attacked me. The battle was long, but I got away. What I didn’t know, is that along with becoming Nemesis, I also got the virus that was used to make him running through my bloodstream. Sighing at the Destruction he caused, the being before me continued, A sickness swept through the town where we had fought, and Princess Luna and Princess Celestia hired some doctors to find the source. They used the blood samples left over from my battle with the Royal Sisters and formed a company known as Ellura. And well… He paused, frowning. I think you can guess what happened from there. Power leads to corruption. Always.

As I listened to his life story, I realized something. “Tell me, did you mean to leave the virus behind to infect the town?”

No. He slumped. It’s one of my greatest regrets, actually.

“When you realized what you’d done, did you try to help?” Was my next question, as simple as it was.

Of course I did! A bit of rage tainted his voice. The next time I saw them, they already had doctors working on it! Every time I showed up I was attacked! I tried to reason with them, but they wouldn’t LISTEN! As he shouted the word listen he roared, turning to punch a nearby tree, sending it falling to the ground. He took a moment to catch his breath before he looked over at me again. ... Sorry. I lose my temper sometimes.

“It’s fine; only a few more.” I assured him. “Once you noticed that Ellura had started making bioweapons, did you try to stop it?”

It was before they even started making bioweapons. he sat down on the tree stump he’d created. Once I learned that they had gotten the virus in the first place, I tried to stop them. I destroyed the shipment they were using to get the virus to another town, but there were several others that I wasn’t aware of. Of course, the royal sisters took this as me trying to destroy the only cure they had for my disease. He air quoted the word disease.

“And after all of that failure, are you still trying to do good?” I sat down in front of him and looked up at the behemoth of a man with a small smile.

He raised his head to look down at me. Yes. I am. I was turned to stone for a thousand years, so Ellura had a lot of time to become rooted in Equestria. He sighed. That’s what makes it so difficult. I WANT to do good, but… He looked down at his hands. I can FEEL him. The real Nemesis that is. The one who doesn’t have a conscience, the one who is willing to kill everyone in his way to accomplish his mission. And in a universe where his mission doesn’t exist… His fists clenched. I can only imagine the damage I would do, if I ever lose control.

I stood up and put my hand on his shoulder. “Then you’re a friend in my book. Call me any time you need help, including battle, to show the sisters exactly what was happening, or even just to talk like we have here. I’m always willing to help.” My smile grew genuine as I patted him on the back.

Nemesis nodded, and grabbed my shoulder, patting it back. Thank you. I needed someone to talk to, about this. He stood again. What about you though? What are you going to do now? The battle raging in my head came to the forefront of my mind once again, and it nearly knocked me to my knees. I caught myself on his shoulder, though he didn’t seem to notice the weight shift.

“I… think I have a lot to think over. Thank you for bringing those facts to light.” I struggled to say as I stood under my own power once again.

He nodded, taking a step back to give me space. In that case, unless there’s any more help you need I should get back to my universe. I’m sure Twilight’s already freaking out and wondering where I went. I sort of fell into a portal that appeared under my feet, while I was walking with her.

“That’ll be a conversation to have.” I said with a chuckle. “Well, I’ll see you around!” I waved as he took another step back. “I declare that our contract has been completed.” I said, feeling that it was the right thing to be said in the moment.

The same portal from before appeared behind him and he simply walked through.