The Wander Through Lands Unknown

by Tomas Lutwig

Chapter 45; Even More Problems

Celestia lowered me to the ground the cool grass sending a shiver up my spine. A hand almost instinctively finding it's way to cover my shame as the others took action around her. Sundance rushed back to the forest, her horn glowing brightly as she let out some sort of shrill call that seemed to echo with an unnatural loudness.

“James, are you well?” the question fell on my ears making me face the white alicorn before me, worry etched into her regal features.

Blinking, I shook off the strange shock that tightened my throat, “I think so...” I started, still trying to shake off the abruptness of the teleportation. As my thoughts started to settle from the screaming mess, my eyes shot open. “Celestia, you're going to want to plan an attack, the-”

The alicorn raised a hoof, “I know” she stated, the forlorn tone of her voice silencing me completely. “The changelings have captured my little ponies for centuries. We have stumbled across these changeling strongholds before, but unfortunately our scouts either never returned, or when we managed to rally enough of the guard to fight off the changelings and take it from them the changelings had vanished, with little more than green slime to speak of their occupation.”

A mixture of shock and horror crossed my face as my eyes fell to the grass. Memories of my own captivity returned only to remember the disgust that came to mind at the idea of being trapped in the dreamlike state the ponies I saw were. “Th-there must be something you can do.” I tried, an obvious plea in my voice.

“As much as I wish we could do something, let alone the Princess herself, we're unable to attack the changelings without significant numbers. The changelings may not be as powerful as we are in an upfront assault, but they stick to the shadows waiting for the right time to strike, only openly fighting with another species when absolutely necessary or when caught off guard. All that is leaving out their Queen, who could easily wipe out a small platoon of unicorns.”

Turning towards the approaching unicorn, I opened my mouth only to find myself wrapped in a pair of hooves, the strength of which popped more than one of my out of place vertebrae. After a few moments of the warm embrace, the hooves retreated revealing a warm smile from my unicorn friend. “I'm glad you're safe.”

“As am I, Wanderer. While I can only imagine what the changelings have done to you, please speak to me if you feel the need. I'm always available to help my friends.” Celestia said making me turn to look at her. Worry was still etched into her features.

Nodding in acknowledgment, a hint of sadness showed in her eyes before she turned to talk to Twilight and Rarity. Looking up at Sundance, I had to keep myself from letting my feelings get the better of me. 'That was part of my training wasn't it... Emotion management, or whatever they called it'

Some of my thoughts must of shown through on my face as the unicorn gave a sad smile, “Don't worry, we'll have you back to normal in no time.”

Despite the confidence that showed on the mare's face, I felt as though I wouldn't be the same ever again. An urge to simply leave this place screamed from the back of my mind. To someplace I could simply live, without anything trying to capture or imprison me.

Putting the thoughts to the back of my mind, I simply nodded the affirmative.

Shifting uncomfortably, I wondered what I should do.

Celestia had teleported me once again, this time leaving Sundance and the majority of the rest of our small 'party' to either attend to their duties or await the return of their friends. After millions of questions on what had happened, and finding a sheet to wrap around myself, I explained what had happened to the best of my ability, sans the dreams.

“I believe it would be wise to come back to the castle. After such an... experience, a psychological evaluation would be best. Seeing as we know of your past incident”

Looking up at Celestia, I chocked back on the retort that came to mind. 'A past that you and your sister didn't exactly help with huh?' I took a deep breath and shrugged. “Honestly, Celestia, the idea is not very attractive. Right now I would rather just take some time to collect my thoughts and...” 'And figure out what's real and what's not' “And just get some rest” I finally finished, a hand coming up to my head.

Compassion crossed the alicorn's face, a hoof rose up and wrapped around my shoulders as she pulled me in for a hug. I was uncomfortable at first, half-nakedness aside, I didn't quite know how to react. After a moment something seemed to click as emotions welled up. Biting my tongue I wrapped my arms around her neck, accepting the comfort and fighting back the emotions from making me break down.

I let out a few heavy breaths before reluctantly letting go. The question hung in the air and was obvious on the alicorn's face to which I nodded. “It's fine, just been a while since I had a good hug” I said with a surprisingly honest smile.

“I understand” she said returning the smile. The happiness faded from her looks all too quickly however, replaced with worry. “As a friend, I still suggest that you see someone to talk to, but I won't force you. However as a ruler I must insist that you see somepony before you return to your duties. You will be given the time needed to recover, be it days or months. Whenever you believe yourself ready, there should be an effective psychiatrist in town who the royal guard are regularly sent to for mental exams.”

I nodded before she continued. “For the time being I'll request a few guards to take over while you are out of commission.”

A small part of me wondered why they bothered, seeing as how there hadn't really been any guards in the small town in years, but I kept my mouth shut.

After a goodbye and promising to inform her of any great changes, the princess left, leaving me alone in the seemingly new barracks. A shiver ran up my body, partially from the lack of clothing, partially from the sudden loneliness. Shaking my head as I held myself, I walked back into the bunking of the barracks.

Simple beds and trunks lined either wall of the room, the symmetry broken only by the one bed missing it's sheets and an old backpack resting on one of the rather familiar trunks. A door on the far side was labeled simply as Washroom with a few metal cabinets on either side. Either cabinet held a fair assortment of medieval weaponry ranging from swords, of varying sizes, to spears and maces.

Normally I would have been surprised at the lack of any ranged weaponry, but at the moment I walked over to my bag and started sifting through it. My hand almost immediately fell to something spongy, making me look into the backpack confused. Pulling the object out, the black foam spear tip stared back at me.

Memories trickled back as I looked over the ineffective spearhead. Grief spilled into my mind, tensing my stomach and making my chest hurt. Anger started to replace sorrow causing the foam spearhead to fly across the room at breakneck speeds only to bounce harmlessly off the wall to rest on the floor, the foam unaffected by the anger. Other objects found themselves to my rage, causing an old water bottle to take to the air followed by bark, vines, leaves (the gentle fluttering down of said leaves would have been comical in any other situation), until the backpack was empty save an MP3 player who's blank screen showed my own disheveled and tear streaked visage.

'I never did figure out a way to recharge the battery on this thing...' I thought fingering the object fondly. Uncoiling the earphones I put the buds in my ear before pushing the 'on/off' button. The screen flashed white with the maker's emblem displayed for all to see. A few seconds later, the normal screen came on with a multitude of options. Glancing at the battery meter, sadness echoed through me once again, knowing that I had maybe one song left before it was dead.

Acting quickly I scrolled through going to one of my favorite songs, one I had heard so many times, the starting guitar accompanied by soft violin sent shivers down my spine and brought back lyrics.

Every time when I look in the mirror, All these lines on my face getting clearer~

The song went on making me lay back on the simple bed, rage forgotten even as my bag fell to the ground with a dulled thud.

A chuckle ran through me as the song reached it's chorus, “Sing with me...” I started continuing even as the music suddenly stopped, “Sing for the years, Sing for the laughter, Sing for the tears”

A sad smile formed on my face as I closed my eyes and continued belting out the lyrics to a song I didn't believe I'd ever hear again. Tears returned to my eyes again, this time pooling in the lowest part of my eye before finally spilling over at the corners.

Finishing the song, I let out a sigh. 'I swear, I'm such a wimp' I thought gingerly taking the earbuds out and sitting up. Clicking the 'on/off' switch again simply loaded up the logo before displaying 'Battery low. Powering down.' and returning to a blank screen. 'Does make me wonder if I couldn't take this to a unicorn and have them charge it back up though'

Re-wrapping the chord around the dead device, I put it back in it's place in my bag before looking around the room.

Another sigh echoed through the empty barracks as I got up. 'Really should clean this up' I thought before shaking my head. 'I need a hot shower first.'

Author's Note:

The long awaited return! Or maybe not. Either way it took me longer than it should've to write this chapter, and probably reads like it did!
I also must apologize for it's lackluster length.
Hopefully I'll be able to turn these out more often than before, taking almost four months, ridiculous!

I wish you all a happy new year and a wonderful year to come!