//------------------------------// // Act 3 Chapter 27 // Story: Collision Code // by SSJRandomMaster //------------------------------// Act III: Collision of Wills Chapter 27: A Glimpse Into The Mindset ------------------------------------------------------ Ponyville General was the town’s local hospital. It was also the only hospital. Though it certainly wasn’t large compared to hospitals in other cities, it was just enough for Ponyville. It was well-equipped enough to handle sick ponies and workplace injuries. But even if it was a hospital based in the center of town, it wasn’t prepared for what was happening at that moment. That very hospital was where the guard had taken them.   “We’re here,” he said.   Upon entry, everyone quickly took in the fast pace of movement. Doctors moved from one hall to another, and nurses talked to each other rapidly before moving on to the next room. It seemed like an epidemic had hit… and chances were that it had. The guards who brought them there pushed past the craziness and towards the front desk.   “I’ve brought them,” he said.   The pony sitting behind the front desk was Nurse Redheart, her eyes bloodshot and her mane unkempt. The day could have gone better for her, it looked like. She nodded to the guard before rising from her seat and walking out to where the others were waiting.   “Thank you for coming on such short notice,” she said, “I wasn’t sure who else to call… we don’t even know what’s causing this!” It was clear that Redheart was as frantic as the rest of the doctors. Every doctor and every nurse in the hospital was met with something their combined experience couldn’t handle. All their years of study had failed them when they had needed it the most.   “Take a deep breath, Redheart,” said Twilight, placing her hands on the nurse’s shoulders, “I take it they’re in intensive care?”   Redheart nodded.   “Please, take us to them, and explain as much as you can.”   With that, Redheart nodded and took in a deep breath. She then turned, beckoning them to follow.   “It started late last night. There were reports of ponies hearing something from inside another’s home.”   “Screaming?”   “Yes,” Redheart paused for a moment, rubbing her temples. She noticeably shivered before continuing on, “It started with one. Then before we could even begin to examine him, two more appeared.”   As they continued their walk, Redheart seemed to be getting louder. In addition, a sound began to mix in with the usual hospital buzz, but they couldn’t place it quite yet.   “We’ve run every kind of test we could from medical to magical. We even tried sedation, but no medicine would make it stop!” Finally, they reached a door marked “intensive care”, a large, air-tight door with an electrical lock. Even on the other side of this door, they could hear the sound, just loud enough to overcome what should be blocking it from reaching the opposite side of the doors. Redheart stared at the door for several seconds, reaching up to undo the lock. But before she touched it, she retracted her hand and held both close to her, shaking her head.   “Please,” she said, turning around, “I’ve spent hours hearing it… hours of not being able to do a thing to stop it. Please… don’t make me hear it again…”   Who among them could blame her? Even they couldn’t bring themselves to hear the tortured screams of one of their own for very long.   “You’ve done what you could,” said Twilight, “Leave the rest to us.”   Redheart stared back at the group through grateful eyes and nodded. She excused herself and made her way back to the front of the hospital. When she was out of sight, and more importantly, out of earshot, the latch to the door was finally undone. What followed was reminiscent of when Twilight opened the door in the library.   Only it was much, much worse.   It wasn’t just one scream they were hearing, but several, all at once. They walked through the halls, trying in vain to tune them out. As they walked, they could see into the different rooms. Ponies were screaming in their beds, tied down so they couldn’t move and hurt themselves. Doctors and nurses were doing everything they could to help them, but it was clear they didn’t know what to do for it.   “It’s awful…” said Rarity.   “It’s gonna get worse before it gets better,” said Applejack, but it was clear even she couldn’t stomach it.   “She’s right, though,” said Twilight, “If we can’t cut him off in the dream realm, these numbers will just keep increasing…”   But what could they do? Twilight didn’t have the time yet to dig out her old research. And even if they did, there was no guarantee it had anything that could help them.   “I wonder,” John looked through the windows to the room in from of him. Several ponies were lying there, all in a nightmare, “All caused by the same being…”   The gears in his head started to turn as an idea surfaced. To the others’ surprise, John opened the door to that room and stepped inside. Instantly, the doctors turned their attention to him.   “Excuse me but—“ The doctor didn’t get much of a chance to get a word in edgewise. John had pointed to the door, staring at him and the nurse.   “Out…” John said.   The doctor was going to speak up, but he knew better than to argue with a large dragon. Plus, Twilight was there, and she’d nodded to him. It was enough for him. Once he and the nurse were out of the room, John closed the door behind them. They watched as he walked up to one of the beds and stared down at the screaming pony.   “What’s he doing?” asked the doctor, now outside with the others. They were all as clueless as he was. John placed his hands at the foot of the bed and closed his eyes. Then, he took a deep breath.   All or nothing… After a few seconds, John’s eyes finally opened, and just as before, they were glowing. But the glow wasn’t limited to just there. After a few more seconds, another glow began to emanate from his forehead.   “He couldn’t be…” Twilight said in shock. Before anyone could question what she meant, something shot out of John’s head. It was a magical link which made its way to the other pony and connected to his own forehead. The very moment it did, the link’s color changed, and the aura of magic went wild.   John’s body jolted as the link thrashed about violently. It was just like when Corey was thrown into a nightmare during their link. However, unlike last time, the link didn’t explode. It held on strong. John’s body trembled as he grunted from the sudden strain rushing through him. Right now, the others had no idea of what was really happening, and right now, he was glad for it.   He could feel all of it: the fear coursing through the body, the anguish, and the growing desire for it all to end trying to penetrate into his mind. John didn’t fold. He strained his mind, which in turn strained his body. John’s grip on the bed increasing, his claws piercing the wood. The others weren’t able to do anything but watch the struggle.   “Just what is he trying to do?” asked the doctor.   “He’s trying to meld with the nightmare…” The others looked at Twilight in disbelief. John had heard it first: once a victim was ensnared, there was no way to wake up. They found themselves wondering: why would he purposely try to throw himself into one?   “Is he crazy?!” said Rainbow, “We gotta stop him!” She was about ready to bolt right into the room, but Twilight stopped her.   “You have to trust him, Rainbow,” said Twilight, “Princess Luna wouldn’t have given him this power if she thought for a second that he couldn’t handle it.” Rainbow looked back at Twilight for several seconds before turning back to John again. They all looked on for what felt like hours, but it wasn’t even a minute. With the combinations of the pony’s screams and John’s strain as he tried to connect, they wondered how much longer they had. How much more would John take before something gave.   Something eventually did break, and fortunately it wasn’t John. Rather, it was the link connecting himself to the other pony. After it shattered, the glow in his eyes disappearing, John staggered back and fell on the ground. Beads of sweat ran down his face as he took several deep breaths. Finally, the others ran into the room, the doctor checking on the patient.   “Nothing’s changed…” he noted.   “That wasn’t…my goal…” John said between breaths, his head spinning from the mental assault he’d endured.   “Then what was?”   John’s legs trembled, but he managed to stand up, and for a moment, his eyes shone.   “To remember,” he said, “I’d felt it when Corey was put into a nightmare. I didn’t think much of it back then. All these ponies’ nightmares are forged by the same magic, and it’s all connected to a single source. I had to go back in and feel it firsthand one more time, so that I could never forget it. The magic he has… I can feel it now, and I can feel it in every pony currently under his spell in this hospital.”   John’s eyes stopped glowing, and he gave off a grin of success.   “I can track him now…” ----------------------------------------------------- The doctors were informed of the cause of the ponies’ strange illness. Though it eased their minds that they finally knew the cause, it didn’t make them feel better to know there was absolutely nothing else they could do to help the ponies other than try and keep track of their vitals. Though the visit had only served as a rude awakening to the others as to how many more ponies were now under Kurama’s spell, there was a single silver lining.   “We got what we needed,” though it wasn’t easy to get, John was still glad he’d managed to find another way to even the playing field. Now, all that was left for him was to try and put it in action from the inside of the dream realm.   “Oh yeah…” Rainbow stopped in front of John, “About that…” John looked down at her for a moment and raised a brow. Rainbow hovered up until she was eye-level with him, and before John could react, Rainbow whacked him straight on the top of his nose.   “Okay… ow,” John said, holding his snout, “Can I ask why?”   “How about the fact that you went all lone wolf on us??” she asked, “You could have at least told us what you were planning!”   John had managed to take on a lion twice his size without flinching. He’d taken on that shadow creature up north, too. Yet a five-foot tall pegasus managed to make him sweat more than either of those threats.   “Rainbow, listen,” said John, “I know it was risky, but I couldn’t afford not to do something. It’s not just Corey’s life that’s on the line now, it’s all those ponies in the hospital too now. I’d do the same if it was you too.”   Rainbow’s face scrunched and she turned around before anyone could see her get flustered.   “Yeah, well, at least try to remember we’re here for you in this,” she said before beginning to walk off. John simply stood there for a moment, rubbing the back of his head. Then, he followed after her. The others remained behind for a bit longer, having seen that entire display.   “Am I the only one?” asked Twilight.   “Not this time, darling,” said Rarity, walking off with Applejack and Fluttercruel, leaving Twilight alone for a few moments. She blinked, and reflected on what she’d just heard.   “‘This time’?” ----------------------------------------------------- If you asked anyone who’s ever had a dream, they would all most likely have one dream in common: “the running dream”. Ponies would often find themselves running the whole time. Not one could say why they were running. Perhaps they were trying to get to something, or trying to get away from something else. Regardless of the reason, they would always end the same way: the dream ended before the dreamer could find out why they were running. But it always raised the same question: if they hadn’t woken up at the moment they did, would they have found out?   Through a seemingly endless rocky terrain, something small was running as fast as possible. It ducked between rocks ever so often, as though trying not to be seen by something that may be watching. This small thing was a pony, a filly to be exact. As she sat there hiding behind a rock, her whole body trembled. Tears streamed down her face as she looked around, trying to find something. After several seconds, she could see that there was no one else around, and for a moment, she looked relieved.   That is, until she saw something more, and it took everything she had to not scream. She pressed her knees to her chest and placed her hands over her head.   “I wanna go home…I wanna go home,” she whimpered over and over. Her requests came to a stop when she heard something land right in front of her. Slowly, she looked up, and what she saw caused her pupils to shrink. There was now a large, shadowy figure looking down at her, and with a wall right behind her, there was nowhere to run.   “P-please, don’t eat me!” she said, kicking at the ground. The shadow then moved, kneeling down closer to the filly to reveal itself as:   A dragon.   “I’m not going to eat you,” he said with a chuckle. The filly stared back at him for a while, not quite able to believe him.   “You… you’re that dragon that fell from the sky?” she asked.   “That’s right,” said John, patting the filly on the head, “You can call me John.”   “Mommy said you helped a lot of ponies,” she said, “C-can you help me? I want to go home!” she said, grabbing onto his arm. John smiled and picked her up from the ground.   “That’s why I’m here,” he assured her.   “I think not…” The filly began to tremble again as the voiced echoed around them. A few feet in front of them, a shadow seemed to come out from the ground. Soon enough, it took the form that John remembered.   “Ever the eyesore…” John said to the blur, “Go on home, kid, I need to have a word with this blurry man here.”   Again, John put his hand to the filly’s head, only this time, his eyes began to glow. Within seconds, the filly’s body began to fade away until it was nowhere to be found. The moment the filly was gone, John’s expression changed, no longer needing to fear scaring her further.   “About time I found you…” he said, taking a few steps to the side.   “Curious,” said Kurama as he did the same, “I thought the first time was nothing more than a dead pony’s dream of survival. And yet, here you are, once again in someone else’s dream. I can only wonder how you managed such a… ‘perk’.”   John had stopped listening the instant Kurama brought up Corey.   “That reminds me,” John said, extending his wings, “I still owe you for that. While we’re at it, let’s add Fluttershy to your penance.”   Finally, John launched forward towards Kurama, breathing fire just as soon as he could. Kurama jumped out of the way of the flames which turned the surrounding rock into magma. John had anticipated the dodge; it was all that Kurama had done since revealing himself. With a swift kick, John launched one of the rocks towards Kurama, and this time, John managed to hit his mark. The boulder crumbled and Kurama was launched back, though not for very long. Before he could even touch the ground, Kurama’s body suddenly slowed to a stop, and he began to float in mid-air.   So he can fly…that’s new, John noticed, but this was a dream. It wasn’t too surprising. John flapped his wings and took off as well, dashing like a spear towards Kurama. He backed away, maneuvering around the rocks, but John simply charged right through them. He was closing the gap quickly, but Kurama was ready. From around him, several rocks jolted out of the ground and began to move around him, forming a blockade. But John wasn’t going to have any of that, and after taking in a deep breath, he let out a large stream of fire which engulfed the stones, melting them.   For a moment, John thought the magma would douse his opponent, but before it could even move, the molten liquid began to glow. It then began to move in, but not in the way that John had hoped it would. The magma spread apart before spiraling around Kurama in a continuous stream. Then, without warning, the stream shot forward. In a matter of seconds, the stream wrapped itself around John until his body was nowhere to be seen. Then, the molten rock began to cool rapidly until all that was left was a massive chunk of black coal.   Kurama finally landed when the coal settled and took a step forward.  However, when the coal’s surface started to crack, he knew to back away. John let out a roar as the coal cracked and shattered completely, totally unharmed. Dusting himself off, he looked back to Kurama.   “You can stall all you want, but at some point, I am going to get my hands on you, and believe you me, I intend to make it count.”   “We’ll see about that,” For a split second, John noticed something. It was just behind Kurama but still close to his body. To his eyes, there appeared to be two tendrils. Even though they were blurred, he could swear they were on fire. He wasn’t sure what they were supposed to be; was he trying for another attack?   It didn’t matter, though. He was already well-prepared to face Kurama the moment he felt his magic in the dream realm. John launched forward, not wanting to give Kurama chance to run away again. To his surprise, Kurama didn’t. Instead, the blurred opponent extended out his magic covered hands and charged as well. Within seconds both combatants locked hands, and a shockwave of magic was caused.   The moment they made impact, John could feel the magic beginning to try and take over. But just like last time, he was about to resist it. However, unlike last time, Kurama wasn’t trying to back away the moment he did.   “Finally grew some nerve?” John taunted, but once again, Kurama didn’t react. The two continued to push against one another, the ground beginning to crack under the force of the two. John gave it one last push, seemingly gaining the advantage. Then, something changed in the blur.   John was close enough to see him turn his head away, as though he’d noticed something, before turning back to John.   “Clever…” Kurama said. John knew what was going to happen, but he didn’t want to give him the chance. He let go of Kurama’s hand and raised his fist to the air before swinging it down with all his might. But regardless of how much he put into it, all John managed to hit was the air. john rolled from the force of the punch, quickly standing on his knees to see that Kurama had vanished yet again. John let out an annoyed grunt as John slammed his fist into the ground.   “Not this time!” he shouted, and within seconds, John’s own form vanished from the dream as well. ----------------------------------------------------- Even though John had found a way to search for Kurama in the dream realm, it wasn’t enough for the others. If the attack on Fluttershy had taught them anything, it was that Kurama was most likely searching for dreamers, even in the day. He was searching around the clock for even the slightest instance of sleep from an unsuspecting victim. They knew they couldn’t afford to waste time, especially after what they’d seen in the hospital. So they set off again, aiming for anywhere they hadn’t already searched the first time.   They searched for a while, fearing that just as before, their efforts would turn up empty. But in the final moments before the feeling would sink in completely, something was spotted. In the grass, Applejack noticed an off pallet to the color.   “Is that…?” Applejack ran up to it and kneeled down next to it, and a smirk spread across her lips as she realized what it was.   Blood…   It wasn’t fresh, but she could still tell what it was. She’d remembered that the guards had said they’d managed to injure Kurama during their first encounter. Looking up, Applejack put her fingers in her mouth and whistled for the other searchers. After gaining their attention, she motioned for them to follow her. As they walked, they remained low. If there was a chance that Kurama was near, they definitely did not want to be noticed now.   Not even the sound of the grass being crushed underfoot could be heard as they inched forward. As they did, Applejack noticed more trails in the grass, more drops of blood leading towards one direction.   Almost there…she thought to herself. Already, Applejack began to feel the increased anticipation. Either they find him, or he finds them. Regardless of which, they were going to be face-to-face with him soon enough.   The walking came to a stop, and Applejack raised a fist to make everyone wait. In the distance, she noticed something: a grass hill just in front of them. But it wasn’t a hill alone. In it, was a large hole, almost like a cave.   This has to be it, Applejack thought to herself. It was the only spot that the blood trail lead to that could be used as a hiding spot. She raised her hand higher, alerting them to be ready for her signal. The wait went on for several seconds, everyone waiting for the signal to fight. And the signal came, but not in the way they were expecting.   Just before Applejack could lower her hand once again, something erupted from the cave: a spiral of flames which not only engulfed the hill but also formed a wall of fire all around them. It was clear now that in the end, they were the ones who had gotten dropped on. From within the flames, something stepped out.   “Alright, everyone ready up!” called out Applejack, “This time, we’re the ones who’re gonna fight back!!”