Fred Walsh: Diverted

by Baguettedood

Chapter 25 – Cooldown

Chapter 25 – Cooldown
"Although it was Princess Cadance that did the exorcism of Potens Daemonium, it's still a learning experience for me. I know who I'm gonna call, if possible, in case I need help with an exorcism, or I can try to carry the knowledge into Midgård and do it myself. That is, if demons ever show up. So, probably not.

"Anyway, it's nice to know that yet another mission – is that really the right term here? – is finally over. Now I can rest until the scientists can pull themselves together and keep trying with that wormhole. Wait, am I a test subject? They said last time they had never sent anything through. I think I know why."

---

Fred, Cadance, Twilight and Shining lingered outside the briefing room, calming down after their experiences over the last few days, including the recent counterattack.

“Well, we're becoming quite the demon hunters,” Fred spoke out as he realised his statement. “Which is weird, considering I'm terrible at fighting,” he criticised.

“You took part in the attack of 796, didn't you?” Twilight responded.

“Yeah, and I couldn't fight back then either.”

“Twily,” Shining Armor began, “since you're no longer in danger, you can return to Ponyville if you'd like,” he said.

“I really should go back,” she sighed. “I didn't really get a chance to properly say goodbye before I left.”

“We can take you to the train station if you're ready,” Cadance advised.

“Is it crowded around this time?” The human still had aversions against civilian ponies seeing a six-foot-tall bipedal hairless ape walking around the city.

“Commonly, transport is only used by travelling salesponies. On occasion, others do go along. It's unlikely that anypony else is there,” she replied.

---

The four reached the train station, acting casual. As expected, the only pony there happened to be the train driver, waiting for passengers. The bearded stallion looked forward, paying light attention to the four blobs in his peripheral vision, but not paying any mind to their actual structure.

“I hope my friends are okay.” Twilight hoped for the best as she boarded the train.

“Goodbye.” Fred waved to her with his watch hand.

“We'll see you again,” Cadance said.

“I probably won't, though,” he pointed out.

Before the train departed, two earth ponies – one mare, the other stallion – approached the platform and spotted the human.

Fred lazily turned around to face the newcomers. He turned back. “You lied,” he stated to the alicorn before looking at the two ponies again. He unlocked the Scavenger Watch and opened the virtual ID card again. Instead of displaying it vertically and accidentally performing the Black Power gesture, he rested it against his chest. “Fred Walsh: demon hunter vigilante, keeping Equestria safe from... well, demons..”

Surprisingly, the two earth ponies accepted the explanation and stepped onto the vehicle. The train departed once the driver realised no new passengers would come onboard.

---

“I find it strange how quickly we're disbanding after the job is done,” Fred noted out loud.

“There's no longer a reason for us to protect Twilight,” Shining Armor replied. “We can still see her another time, but we should allow her some breathing room.”

“Suppose so,” the human nodded. He checked the time on his watch. It read 6:02 PM. “Doesn't seem as if it should be this late already.”

“You'd be surprised how time flies,” Cadance mentioned.

“If time's flying, wouldn't that mean I was having fun? I really am insane if I enjoy fighting demons.” He closed his eyes and exhaled deeply.

“Not always, but none of us have had downtime lately, you're exhausted,” she advised.

“Yeah, you're right. I'm just going to go lie down for now.” 'I also want to calculate Pi on their scientific calculators, but I don't know the dimensions of a perfect circle.'

“Before you do, Fred,” Princess Celestia stepped out of the nearby corner. The others thought he could see some green smoke rising upward. “I'd like to show you something.”

'Isn't this how horror movies start? Then again, so do pornos so I'm discarding this thought.' “What is it?” he asked.

“I'm sure you recall the harmonic rubies used to bring you and Potens Daemonium here some time ago,” she began as she motioned for him to follow.

“The displacement gems,” he added. “I saw a picture of the prophet with one on his staff.”

“Indeed. That would explain his knowledge.”

Fred hadn't travelled around this area before. They went down a few sets of stairs to a lower point in Canterlot Castle.

“I thought it best to put them somewhere with high strength,” she continued as she led him into a room with a medium-sized door.

Inside he saw a mostly-white room, a few metres in either direction, with many fragments of a ruby around the ends. Approximately nine in total, each piece measured about one cubic centimetre. Each was supported by a small piece of wire holding them in place a little bit out of the wall. White light came from the ceiling, despite there being no windows, and they reflected onto the gemstones, causing the room to shimmer a faint red.

“You kept these?” He became a little amazed at how well the harmonic rubies were stored.

“There was also an energy surge nearly a week ago, when you returned,” she remembered.

“So these throw a bunch of energy all over the place when a wormhole opens?” he asked to clarify.

“Only the one linked to the universe it originates.” She did so. The alicorn moved to one of the rubies, opposite the door. “This one.” She pointed to it.

“That's Midgård?”

“I believe so.”

“Also, you said a while ago that both our planets are called Earth, but I don't think you should be the one who gets the name while I use Midgård. From now on, you can be Terra Fabula – That is, Land of Myths.”

“Very well,” she accepted.

“Do you hear something?” Fred took notice of a buzzing noise increasing in volume, before it became accompanied by the structure shaking. The ruby opposite the door also began to glow brightly. “Of course...” he muttered and rolled his eyes.

An ear-piercing BANG sounded in front of the two. Fred charged his right hand with magic in reflex, disoriented by the sound. After he and Celestia were done tending to their ears, a yellow oval-shaped object could be seen. Nearby guards rushed to find the source of the explosion noise. It was a wormhole.

Comments

[SouthernmostDogs]

Yay.

[Baguettedood]

1350781

1338831

1325333

I see you like celebrating.

[SouthernmostDogs]

1351424

Funny thing is, I got first post on those chapters. Before you ask, I did read through them in their entirety.