Chapter 9 Old wounds
Chapter 9: Old wounds
In the base of the Eternal Knights, Sunless Isle, the capital of the Lunar Republic back in the civil war, White Wolf meditated, it helped her to relax. Her mastery of the druidic arts had made her skilled scryer and farseer. Visions came to her in her moments of focus. Visions of the past, present and future. She found herself in a desert, hearing fighting sounds in the distance. The mare decided to investigate it.
But what she saw now, terrified even her as she saw the fight. Fletcher Fray was fighting against some kind of beast, she couldn't see what it was exactly but Fletcher was losing against it. The beast threw him to the ground, ready to impale him. “Now, you will pay for what you did to me!”
“Stay away from him!” White Wolf grabbed one of her knifes, throwing it towards Fletcher’s attacker, the knife stopped in midair, falling harmlessly to the ground.
Wolf was shocked upon seeing that, yet quickly charged at the attacker in an attempt to save her friend but the unknown beast swiftly blocked her attack, throwing her back before raising a knifeover his head to bring it down with considerable force.
“Fletch!” Wolf screamed before she woke up from her meditation, heavily breathing, cold sweat on her face.
“White Wolf, what's wrong?” Midnight Blade asked worried, hanging upside down when sleeping. Due getting torn out of it from Wolf's scream, he lost his balance, landing on his head. “Ouch!” He rubbed his head, getting up.
“Maybe you should put a mattress under your sleeping place.” The Pegasus advised, her voice still shaken.
“Yeah, I should. What's wrong?”
Wolf took a deep breath and told him what she saw. “Sounds like somepony we know.” Midnight suspected, but he wasn’t sure.
“Could it be…Prisoner Epsilon? I hope not!” The blue pony exclaimed in fear.
“If it’s really him, question is how in Tartarus did he wind up there? This is going to be chaos back at the Royal Palace. Sending Fletcher was risky enough but now we've got a stallion like him running around where Dinky could be?” The bat pony replied, wondering of it could be possible.
“I just hope Fletcher and Dinky will be alright.” Wolf sounded worried, her expression concerned.
“Let's hope so. He vowed to get that filly home even if it killed him. Sad to say, with this new turn of events, that just became a whole lot more likely.” Midnight was sure, his expression showed slightly fear.
“Me too, I don't want to imagine how much worried Dinky's family is about her.” She had seen how worried they were when Fletcher departed, having sympathy for them.
“I agree, I still remember how desperate Derpy was when Fletcher promised he would bring Dinky home. The accident was very unfortunate for all of them.” He had also sympathy with the filly’s family, still remembering how they hopeful looked at Fletcher.
A quiet sobbing reached his ears, noticing that White Wolf was looking at the ground. “Are you crying, Wolf?”
The mare looked away. “Just having something in my eye.” She replied with a shaken voice, the bat pony noticed a tear falling down from her eye.
While Midnight wasn’t the best at comforting others, Wolf and Fletcher were like a family to him. “Wolf, you can talk with me about this, you know this.” He spoke in a gently tone.
“No, I'm not crying! I'm just...” Wolf hastily replied before looking at Midnight with tear filled eyes. “I'm worried about him!” She exclaimed.
The stallion wrapped his forelegs in a hug around her. “Shh, calm down, I know you are worried and I am too. Right now, we can only hope and pray for the best.” His voice was comforting.
“It’s been a few weeks since then! We're supposed to be a team. We've never been separated like this since Saracen and Domino went missing. Supposing he dies out there...Alone...Unprotected...In another world...No-one will know who he is or where he came from. This last vision was shorter and darker than the last...We're losing him. If he stays in the world Dinky is suspected to be any longer, I won't be able to look in on him. If we lose him...we may never know.” The Pegasus replied, afraid if this could happen.
“Mom? Uncle? Are you alright?” 3 young yet robotic voices asked worried, 3 foals walked in, one a unicorn, the second a Pegasus and the third a bat pony, resembling the Eternal Knights when they were foals but looked like robots.
“We are alright, Wolf Cub, we just talked about Fletcher’s mission.” Wolf replied.
“When is daddy coming back? Is he alright?” Fletcher’s counterpart asked worried.
“I don’t know, Fletcher Junior, right now, we can only hope for the best.” Wolf replied with a concerned voice.
“He’s gone for weeks! We miss him!” Midnight’s counterpart named Mid-Mite exclaimed, missing him terrible.
Without hesitation, White Wolf walked over to the drones, comforting them. “Shh, don’t worry, I’m sure he will return safe and sound. Now, back to your beds with you.” She spoke with a motherly voice as she got them to their beds, Midnight looked at this with a warm smile.
Some time ago, Fletcher had been accidently landed in the human world due an accident, those robots were a…gift he was allowed to take home. While he, Midnight and Wolf cared greatly for those “children” after getting used to them, Midnight wondered sometimes how Fletcher could let convince himself to accept this.
“The kids are in their beds again. I don’t know why but I enjoy their company.” The mare blushed slightly looking down to the ground.
“Me too, helping us keeping our home clean, bringing us breakfast, I’m fascinated sometimes how advanced their Al is for being ‘foals’ not to mention capable of showing emotions.”
“Yeah, quite impressive. Now, how can we be sure it’s not…him?”
“There’s only way to find that out. To the secret lab!” the stallion exclaimed, raising a hoof into the air, before they moved to a wall where a crescent was mounted on it with two wings, one to the left, one to the right of it.
“Pull the lever!” the Bat pony pointed to the right wing.
“This lever?” Wolf asked in return, as Fletcher had once accidently hit the wrong lever, causing a…embarrassing situation for Midnight.
“I worked out the bugs.” He replied proudly.
“Just checking.” The mare pulled said lever, a turntable got activated, bringing them to the other side, being placed into a rollercoaster. White Wolf raised her hooves, screaming in joy as it went down to the lab.
As the cart reached a looping, it stopped in it, causing them to be in the air headfirst. “What's the point of this rollercoaster again?” Wolf wanted to know.
“Just for fun. And it throws off intruders...sometimes literally.” Midnight replied to her before the ride continued.
the roller-coaster ended at a buffer, both ponies got thrown out, landing gently on the ground, now wearing white lab coats and goggles, doing a bro-hoof.
“Okay, let’s check the files of him.” Midnight pressed a button on the grand scrying pool in the House of the Rising Moon which acted as tactical map and database.
A small contraption, looking like a female goat’s head out of wood activated. “Master Midnight, Master Wolf, how can I be of assistance?” It asked with a robotic but feminine voice.
“Search the database for anything regarding Prisoner Epsilon, Nanny.” Midnight replied.
“Commencing search.” Nanny did as told. She was an android Fletcher had been kept from his father along his bow and an airship.
A view of the database appeared, switching between different files until Nanny had found what she was looking for. “Search complete. Prisoner Epsilon, former trainee in the Knights Academy, having earned a reputation as a bully, being a member of the Prowlers in the civil war. Due committing several war crimes, he was sentenced to be a test subject for project Ashfrost Studies. He broke out during the experiment and vanished shortly after. Status unknown, extremely dangerous.”
“While I couldn’t see the creature directly, the way it attacked Fletcher was very similar to Prisoner Epsilon. If it is really him then…Fletcher is in great danger!” Wolf realized, now, even more worried about him.
“Affirmative. Calculations of current factors dictate that Fletcher Fray has a 50% probability of success.” Nanny replied, having an unusual concerned tone in her voice.
“I hope he comes back safe and sound. Thank you for your help, Nanny.” The bat pony thanked the android.
“You’re welcome.” Nanny replied before she deactivated.
“I think we should report this to Princess Luna. If Prisoner Epsilon is really out there, it could be very dangerous for Dinky.” Midnight suggested
“I agree with that.”
The princess of the night arrived as fast as she could after being informed that Midnight and Wolf had to talk with her.
“Your highness.” Both Eternal Knights bowed.
“Rise. I came as fast as I could. What is your urgency?” Luna asked kindly.
“Your highness, I had a vision regarding Fletcher.” Wolf explained what she had seen.
The Alicorn listened to everything with interest and patience. “Oh my…if this vision turns true, then Dinky is in great danger. But sadly, there’s nothing we can do but to wait and hope for the best. I know how much you care for him but it had taken too much magic to teleport you all to the world Dinky got located. I’m also worried for his safety, it’s a great risk he took but also a brave act of him. I really wish myself there would be a way to help him.”
“We understand.” Midnight replied before the Princess left.
“I don’t think I can take it if he dies.” Wolf told with concern, looking to the ground.
“There’s nothing we can do right now but to think positive. Any good visions lately?” Midnight asked curious.
The Pegasus, smiled, then chuckled. “Yes, I have. I saw in one vision, that Fletcher returned with Dinky, having grown on her. As such, he became her Uncle, even you and I became a part of the unicorn’s filly.”
“How’s that?” The stallion asked confused.
“Well, Pinkie Pie threw a party to celebrate Dinky’s return and due her habit of welcome new ponies in town, we were invited too and due Fletcher’s new status as hero, we got kinda loved too, even Dinky’s family wanted us to became a part of them.”
“Okay…”
“And not only that, that filly Scootaloo had a great interest in me, finding my fangs cool.”
“Well, given that you two have some things in common, it wouldn’t surprise me. And Rainbow Dash?” He asked, imagining she would be quite jealous about it.
“She got along with me, often having races. And you befriended Apple Bloom.”
Slightly blushing, Midnight said, “As she wasn’t afraid of Zecora, that makes sense.”
“And, we all 3 had with, Dinky, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom the same kind of race you did with Luna when she was a foal.” The mare smiled.
“And who won?” Midnight asked interested.
“I woke up before the race ended, but I had said a draw.”
“I see. Now, we can just wait and see what vision becomes reality.” Midnight replied to her, wondering what would happen.
“Right.” Wolf replied, letting out a sigh, both had the same thought.
Please Fletcher, be alright.
At the same time in Canterlot
Purple Patch was breakfasting, having a toast and tea, enjoying it as the door opened and his good friend and assistant, Wagensroll walked in. “Good morning, my friend. I hope you have slept well.”
The Earth pony looked rather like the opposite, appearing to be very tired, letting out a yawn. “Do I look like I had slept well? I’d like to see how you’d try to stay calm if your relative would be away in another world.” Wagensroll replied, making himself a glass of juice and a bowl of oatmeal.
Patch held his hooves up in surrender. “Sorry, didn’t mean to upset you.”
With a guilty expression, Wagensroll replied, “No, I need to apologize. Since Fletcher departed to find Dinky, I sometimes have nightmares about his wellbeing.”
“Well, speaking as somepony who's ancient ancestors...as far as I know...died long ago, I can't say I know how you feel. But speaking as somepony who's examined Fletcher Fray's life, deeds and legend, I can safely say he's still got a good chance of survival, wherever he ended up. Try to think positive. We both know how experienced he is. What happened to your confidence?” Patch asked, trying to cheer him up.
“It’s still there but that doesn’t mean that I’m not worried.” The green stallion let out a sigh.
“Understandable. We can only hope for the best. And I will inform you as soon as possible when Fletcher returns.”
His friend smiled. “Thanks; I appreciate that.”
“That’s what friends are for.”
There was a knock on the door. “Wonder who could that be so early in the morning.” Wagensroll answered it.
As he returned, Patch asked, “Who was it?”
“A message from Princess Luna.” He sounded worried, his expression was showing concern. “It says, Fletcher may be hunted by a so called Prisoner Epsilon.”
“That doesn’t sound good. I hope he will be alright.” The librarian got uncomfortable at this, Wagensroll too, but the latter could swear he had heard of that before.
“Epsilon...I think I heard that name somewhere before.” The green pony walked to bookshelf a looking through the books. “No, nah, nope…”
He threw the wrong books away, Patch dodged them as good as he could. “What are you looking for?” He asked curious.
“Ah, there it is. Ashfrost Studies, A project to create immortal warriors by using prisoners of war, one of them had the codename Epsilon as prisoner. He went berserk and broke out, leaving a trail of destruction.”
“You mean it is the same guy?”
“I have no doubt about it.” Now, Wagensroll sounded confident again.
“Any information about what this guy was like before what happened to him?”
Wagensroll looked over the notes and replied grimly, “Let me put it this way. He was captured at the Battle of Wainfall.”
“You mean...he was with the Prowlers?” Patch figured out, shocked to hear this.
“Yeah.”
“...curd.” Patch shook himself at this thought.
“My thoughts exactly. By all accounts, he wasn't an entirely harmless individual even before joining the Prowlers and in both his old life and new, there was nothing he liked more than killing.”
“Then I hope Fletcher can defeat him.” Now, even Patch was worried for Fletcher.
“He's a highly experienced veteran and has survived many things others wouldn’t survive. I actually feel honored to be related to him.”
“As would I, my friend, as would I.” Patch smiled before the bookshelf behind him creaked and an enormous tome fell out, he quickly dodged it. “Ha! I saw you that time. You'll have to do better than that, big guy.” He exclaimed at the book, putting it back where it belonged.
Wagensroll rolled his eyes, Patch had the habit of talking to his book, that was one of the many things the green stallion liked about his friend.
“Now, let’s enjoy the day and do our work.” Wagensroll suggested and Patch nodded.
“Righto, my friend.”
As they got started with the day, Wagensroll let out a barely noticeable sigh.
I really hope you don’t run into that pony, Fletcher.
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I know clop authors have a stereotype, but does anything kill immersion like children writing military fiction?
8961256
I'm afraid I can't follow what you mean
8961260
Reader immersion. You know, that state of being someone has when they're reading. Or in layman's terms, "getting into it".
8961263
I know reader immersion, I just was confused what you meant with your question.
8961266
It was a riff on your attempts to write military fiction. I could've gone the "Call of Duty squeaker" route, but I thought some subtlety would be the best route.
...
You have a race car bed?
8961275
No, I'm 21.
8627500
I was just curious. Besides, I like the CMC. If the Background character and 2 OCs were voiced, what would they sound like? I narrate character's voices in my head when I read.
8961342
Well, I imagine Dinky with a young, innocent voice, Katja to and Blau more with a eager voice I suppose.
Well, the chapter looks pretty good so far but one key criticism to this chapter is that the characters have a habit of going over the same point twice or thrice.
Try to cut down on dialogue that addresses what's already been explained or it feels dragged out without substance.
Like here. I mean, of course there's a 50% of failure if there's a 50% of success, they're opposite outcomes. One will explain the other if you get my meaning.
Also, I noticed this in your other fics, robots or Artificial Intelligence rarely if ever refer to themselves in first-person. Its more convincing otherwise.
'Affirmative. Calculations of current factors dictate that Fletcher Fray has a 50% probability of success.
Also, don't have characters just put it out of their mind at the end because that indirectly suggests the audience should do the same. Keep the characters tense and you'll keep the audience tense.
Patch could offer a cure-all for dread and uncertainty?
"Tea?"
8962145
Okay. The thought was supposed to show their worry about Fletcher. And the foal drones, I thought uploading this chapter when the last chapter of Freedom's call is done would avoid confusion for the readers. Could be a good question if the personall is aware of them or Fray's last "adventure". I could imagine they would chatter about recent events or about the Knight's missions, sinmilar to the Mother base soldiers in Metal Gear 5.
8962147
I know. My issue is that once the point's made, it doesn't need to be remade.
I'd keep it ambiguous about whether this is a tie-in.
Otherwise someone will probably scour the story for inconsistencies or plot-points.
It always happens with stuff like this. Trust me.
8962151
OKay I keep that in mind. What would you think about the personal, I mean it's a interesting question.
8962154
Yeah, the conversations would be good. Just remember that circumstance is always to be considered.
8962179
Of course, I mean, Fray's absence here and In freedom's call would most likely be known by them cand also he's status after returning home in Blood in the Sand. But I'm not sure if they would aare of his first atventure on EArth or the foal drones, or how they would react to them if they were awre.
8962183
Keep it a mystery. More potential.
8962203
Of course.