The Trouble with Gryphons

by Broniesrponies2

Flames of Impending War

"This universe has changed. Very slightly, but it has. Another human entered it three months ago." I said

"We knew about that." Midnight interrupted.

"Here is where things get interesting. I am not from this universe. My brain works differently from yours. When we went to sleep last night, there were many differences to how things are now. One of them is in this room."

"What?"

Kriea echoed Midnight's response to that.

"An alteration was made to this universe last night. The human entered then."

"But you just said that he has been here for three months."

"He has. And from his point of view, this universe was never different. The only reason that I am saying this is because I have the memories of the old version of this universe in my head. The new memories are there too, but they are separate and I can compare them. My speculation is that somepony traveled back in time and through dimensions to try and prevent me from coming here. They evidently failed, but the question is, what really happened. Normally, I would cease to exist. Since this is so obviously not the case, it means that they traveled to a different universe from mine, but one that was almost a precise match to mine. What we are seeing here is the prevention of paradox."

"Again, what?"

"A paradox is when two things in a timeline conflict with one another. The grandfather paradox is when someone travels to the past and kills their own grandfather for whatever reason. When their grandfather dies before their father/mother can be conceived, they were never born. That means that they could not have gone back in time and killed their own grandfather. It creates a never ending loop that can cause unforeseen consequences. My theory has always been that when anyone travels backwards in time, the universe branches. There are an infinite number of branches where the person did travel backwards in time and there are another infinite where they didn't. In one of those infinite number of universes, where the time travel happened, I traveled through dimensions in the same way. It means that I traveled here at precisely the same instant as he did. Everything was changed here last night, but the changes happened at one instant to every single point in time."

"So, we are in a different universe?"

"Not quite, we are in a different version of the same universe."

"So, what is different?"

"Too many things. The General is more panicky and this kingdom is more prepared to fight than in the original universe. I don't like it, but the specifics of the situation are basically the same. For now, what we need to do is-"

Josh! Get out of the embassy! Now! came Luna's voice in my mind.

"Everyone out, now! Not just the room, the embassy." I said, before asking questions.

A mob is coming. They are going to-

"Oh shit. We have to evacuate the embassy. Quickly. Midnight, get Night Raven and get him out, give instructions to the guards on the way. Kriea and I will head out through other means. There should be a door out of the basement. We will go that way."

I grabbed Kriea by the arm and we started moving. We ran through the basement, looking for another door apart from the familiar one. Kriea started pulling me to the side. I looked in the direction and saw the door as well. I overtook her, letting go of her hand in order to sprint at the door. I ducked my shoulder and rammed it at top speed. The impact jarred my shoulder, but nothing broke. The door buckled, cracks forming in the wood as it bent away from me. I stepped back and kicked it open, splinters showering my leg and a piece of the door hitting my knee. I had no idea where we would end up, but I needed to get Kriea away from the mob. I looked down to see blood on my leg. I pulled up my pant leg to reveal a light gash on my knee. I ignored the pain, grabbed Kriea's hand and we ran again down a corridor, just as the first of the torches arched into the building.

Down a corridor, turn left, run, a door. The same process of ripping through it. On the other side was a storeroom with another door at the end. There was serious pain in my shoulder as we started running through to the opposite door. I cast my eyes about, looking for anything that we could use. My eyes alighted on a crowbar and I snagged it as we ran past, the simple action of reaching out and grabbing the tool sending another wave of pain across my shoulder. We continued running. Above us, the sounds of panic and roaring flames were the symphony of our flight, my pulse pounding in my ears to provide a swift percussion tempo to the dramatic overtones. We arrived at the next door. I barely slowed, the crowbar slammed into the gap between the door and its frame. My body hit the wall on the other side, dragging the crowbar with it.

The door popped off of its lock and swung free, the wood around the deadbolt ripping and tearing. I bounced off of the wall and sprinted down the corridor with Kriea behind me. We saw another door. This one was surrounded with a bright, yellowish light. Again, my crowbar dropped into the gap and the door was ripped away from its lock. Sunlight gleamed through the gap and onto the floor behind us, seeming impossibly bright compared to the gloom of the past night. We sprinted through the doorway and ran up the stairs beyond. The enchantment suddenly kicked in. A long and thin object whirred from the left. I pushed Kriea to the side and dove, rolling instinctively. The pain from my shoulder blocked my thoughts for a second. I felt a light pricking on my neck. As the pain quickly subsided in my adrenaline rush, the other enchantment kicked in, reporting on the non-native substance in my body.

I jumped up, ready to fight. I had to eliminate this new assailant before the sleeping agent from their dart worked on me. I took a step, then dropped. I was unconscious before I hit the ground. The last thing I remembered was Kriea's voice, yelling slurred words at my unknown attacker.
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"Damn it." I said, running down the corridor of the hospital. Red light streamed up and down my legs. I sprinted more quickly than any human could naturally run. Sliding, I pushed open the door at the end of the hallway and started running again. The reception area was right in front of me. I jumped over a gurney and pushed my way through the doors and into the lobby of the hospital, only to see the person who could only be Princess Celestia. A pair of guards in full armor flanked her on either side. They spotted me as I ran over, drawing swords and preparing to fight. I kept my cool, feeling the other stir. I silenced it with a thought, stopping mere inches before I ran into the blades. Celestia looked at me, then waved a hand. The two soldiers stepped back, their blades unwavering.

"Now, I met one of you. You were charming, unhurt, normal and has recently been sent off to be my diplomat in the Gryphon Kingdom. You, however, I haven't met. I have known about you since you arrived, but never met you. Can I assume that you and he are the same, or must I see you as another person entirely." Celestia said.

"What you see is very different from what you know. There were differences in our arrival. The chief difference being that I was conscious for the entire trans-dimensional event. I know what happened. I know what can happen. I know what I can do. I don't believe that you will have any problems with me. What is more important is that I need to get to him now. He is in danger and I need to save him. Also, I will need some more clothes." I looked down at the hospital gown that was covering my body. They had also given me a shirt and a pair of boxers, but other than those three garments, I was uncovered.

"I see. In which case, we shall fetch you some clothes, then I will send you there." There was a glowing flash of light, then we were gone from the lobby.

We reappeared in a massive room. There were folded and hung up clothes in the section that we were in. They appeared to be uniforms. Beside them was armor and weapons resided beyond that. The doorway was behind us as I strode up, pulling off the hospital gown and taking up a pair of pants that looked about the right size. It dropped to the floor and got kicked off to the side as I pulled the clothing on. They were slightly too large, but a belt from a nearby shelf sorted that problem. I pulled off the hospital shirt and threw it off to the side. Celestia watched as I dressed myself in a full uniform. I spoke as I was tying the laces on my boots.

"Armor and weapons?" I asked.

"Yes. I want him to live, so you may need them. Do you know the circumstances?" she asked

"Yes"

I straightened and then walked to the armor, strapping on greaves and vambraces. Next, I found a chainmail shirt, pulling it over my head. I ignored the helmets and other armor pieces, walking to the weapons. Two shortswords were belted to my waist. I strapped their scabbards together behind my back, enabling me to draw both weapons simultaneously without crossing my arms. Next, a longsword was strapped across my back. Finally, daggers were secreted in various places on my person, including the insides of my greaves and vambraces, one at my waist and four buckled into their sheaths arrayed with the shortswords at my back.

"He had two enchantments. I will need them." I said.

Celestia nodded, then closed her eyes. Her horn glowed and I felt her magic pour into me. I picked up a knife and closed my eyes. I tossed the knife into the air, feeling its passage with the spell and feeling the reflection of its own mysterious life-force. I caught it deftly and tossed it back onto its shelf.

"Okay, I am ready." I said.

I had better get some time when we land.

Only if we have to fight.

Fine. Just don't come crying to me if you get killed.

Our argument was interrupted by the flash of light.

Author's Note:

Finding this fun to write actually. *looks at previous sentence* Oh god my grammar. Anyway, let me know what you think of the last few chapters and tell me which style of this would be best. Writing for one, then the other in separate chapters, Writing for one, then the other in the same chapter, Writing them both, a bit for one, a bit for the other, switching multiple times per chapter. Let me know what you all like.
Otherwise, it has been a pleasure entertaining you and happy reading.

Comments

[Broniesrponies2]

3372203 I know about the speed advantage, the issue is that you actually have next to no protections your hands. That is how I won the fight in the chapter. I agree with the kabar as a primary blade, but my secondary would be a six inch tanto.