//------------------------------//
// The Lost One- part 9 
// Story: The Changed One 
// by peacevic 
//------------------------------//

The Lost One part 9

Twilight met me as I made it back to the Tardis. "Hey, took you long enough. We were starting to get worried."
"I had to go a different way than the Doctor."
"Speaking of, he's having the Tardis scan for another signal." She tilted her head towards the time machine.
I sighed. "No luck on the files we pulled?"
"Unfortunately, there was nothing that could help us." Her eyes lit up in excitement, and she started talking faster. Anything science-related was sure to intrigue her. "No theories on dimensional travel or parallel universes, but there were some ideas for some sort of superweapon that, with some modifications, could be applied in other fields of-"
She stopped suddenly and pointed at one of my forelegs. "Is that yours?"
I looked down and immediately saw what she was asking about. It would've been hard to not, as the blood almost looked purple against my green fur. Didn't exactly blend with my color scheme.
"No." I didn't bother lying. There was no way she would've believed me.
"Damn it, Verdant!" She shouted, borrowing one of my phrases so that she wouldn't have to profane her teacher. "You're supposed to be redeeming yourself! You're supposed to be proving you're not a monster!"
"That superweapon was not theoretical! He was going to use it and bring even more suffering to this fucking place!"
Her wings flared in anger. "So you destroy the weapon!"
"We did! But that wouldn't stop him, he still had an army of Raiders! It was him or the innocents!"
"So you just killed him?!" She scoffed. "It doesn't even bother you, does it?"
I opened my mouth, but no sound managed to come out. A life, even one as worthless as the Ranger's, was still a life.
Twilight saw my hesitation and her expression softened. But it was only for a moment. "I can't even talk to you right now. Just- just get inside. Wipe yourself off before Derpy sees you."
I did so and followed her through the door. We were greeted by a beeping sound and that of the Doctor cackling in excitement.
Derpy noticed our entrance and flew over. "The Doctor just picked up another energy signa-cha-whatsit!"
"Where's it coming from?" Twilight trotted over to stand by the Doctor. The fact that she was pointedly not looking at me was just fine. I didn't care at the moment. About anything.
"The Tardis has pinpointed the point of origin as... Fillydelphia."
That snatched my attention. "Fillydelphia?"
The Doctor nodded. "That's what it says."
"We should ignore it."
They all looked at me like I was crazy, and in all honesty it was insanity to pass up our (at the moment) only lead. Twilight got in my face immediately. "What's going on in Fillydelphia, Verdant? What do you not want us to know about?"
"If I didn't want you to know about something, why would I tell you about it?"
The Princess pushed pushed me up against the console and screamed, "Because if you don't, then by Celestia I'm going to hurt you!"
"I've already been hurt," I said with a smirk. "Pretty badly, in fact. So if you happen to have another stasis pod handy, or if you're willing to put the Doctor at risk again, then go ahead. Be my guest."
She let me go. "Not physically." Such a reasonable voice. "I'm going to hurt you emotionally."
"How?" I dusted myself off as I countered her threat. "I can barely remember anything about my past."
"Are you doubting my ability to figure something out?"
I shook my head. "No. I'm doubting your willingness."
"Since I met you, you've been putting me through the worst experiences of my life." Her voice lowered to a whisper. "Try me."
"Twilight, I'm sure Verdant has a good reason he doesn't want us to go to Filly." To back up her supportive words, Derpy moved to stand by me.
I saw Twilight's eyes flick towards the pegasus, then back to me. She smiled.
I knew what she was thinking. Derpy was the only one who was more or less okay with me. Who tried to be understanding. Who was willing to give me the benefit of the doubt.
That would probably end if she found out what I'd done.
"Fine. You can see it for yourself."

Once again we stood overlooking the worst of ponykind. The Tardis had a knack for picking the most picturesque of views.
Derpy gasped as she saw the misery. "How could anypony do this?"
"How could they not? Give anybody absolute power and they'll almost certainly abuse it. My world's history is proof enough of that."
"It's not exactly fair," Twilight interjected, "to compare ponies to your humans."
I turned to face her. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"This place is a story in your world. One you read for fun!" She gestured in the direction of the slave pits as she spoke.
"We don't read it for the RAIDERS, Twilight! We read it for LITTLEPIP! We read it in the hope that there's something BETTER we can aspire to! That we can stumble, and make mistakes, and still be worthy of the life we've been given!"
"Enough!" The Doctor pushed us apart. "Whatever problems you two have with each other, they don't matter right now. All that matters is getting back to Equestria. The one that isn't a death trap."
Twilight looked away. "Fine."
"Fine," I echoed.
"Good." The Doctor threw a leg over my shoulders and led me a bit closer to the city. "Now, judging by your reluctance to allow us to come here, I take it this is one of the places Littlepip visits?"
"Yeah."
"What can you tell us about it?" he asked.
I shrugged. "It's what it looks like, really. They use slaves for labor and when they get bored they make them fight to the death. Place is guarded by an army of- wait."
"What is it, Verdant?" Derpy stepped up beside me and squinted at the city, trying to see what had given me pause.
"It just seems like the security isn't as tight as it was made out to be in the book. But, why would they increase security before..." I shook my head. "Never mind, it's not important. Let's go."
I led the way to the city. Once we got about halfway, I stopped and turned to the others. "Alright, from here on out keep your eyes peeled. The boss of this place has a bunch of griffin guards."
"Yes, yes he does," a voice said from above me.
"God Damn it!"