An Interdimensional Odyssey - Book 1: Stardust

by TikiBat

Ch I - An Extra-Dimensional Dilemma

If I was dead… then the afterlife sure felt a lot like sleeping in an unending sensationless dream. They say that when one perishes, their entire life flashes before their eyes… I can say that none of that happened for me at that moment. In fact, all the usual hallmarks of what ponies assumed constituted the afterlife were notably absent. There was no Celestial Plane, no flaming caverns of Tartarus… not even an eternal field of limbo to greet me. Instead there was an inky black darkness devoid of stars that seemed to stretch on forever. Despite the complete darkness, visions of shadowy creatures reached out around me, but I could neither move nor scream, and instead I was simply an immobile passenger in this strange ethereal world. Panic and all other worldly sensations and emotions were impossible, though, thankfully for my own sanity I didn’t have to endure this complete sensory isolation for much longer.

The first thing to return to me when I awoke was a searing pain that surged through my front right leg. The sensation was almost too overwhelming, and it threatened to send me back to that awful unconscious state on more than one occasion. As I flashed in and out of consciousness, time was impossible to gauge, and indeed what felt like an eternity of pain and screaming was probably a short few minutes. I had no real gauge for what had happened, only that there was a bright flash followed by this unending pain that shot down my leg… or rather, what was left of my leg.

My eyes shot open as I looked at the mangled stump of flesh and bone, and my heart began to race as my vision narrowed. If I was in a more clear state of mind then I might have noticed the pile of rubble that the rest of my body was pinned under, but the pain and disorientation were enough to keep me ignorant of the reality I was currently in. Against what would normally be my better judgement, I tried to thrash and free myself, but the pain only worsened. As my vision began to black again out a voice called out to me, nearly imperceptible, but still nonetheless present.

“Hey you!” It called, followed by a string of unintelligible shouting.

I could hardly respond, but did my best to muster a weak “What happened!”

In the corners of my weak vision, I could see a pegasus running up to me. For all I knew this was the reaper come to drag me to the real afterlife… yet instead of claiming my soul, they simply dropped their bag on the ground next to me in haste and frantically started to shout once more.

“Stop!” The male voice called out. “You’re lucky to be alive and we need to get you out of there fast!”

His calls could do little to rally me though, for in that moment my world was nothing but the searing pain in my leg… and then there was a sharp jolt and tense pain as it suddenly stopped. I must have blacked out once more, and this time there was no further vision— or lack thereof. Instead, I simply flashed awake what must have been hours later judging by the sun’s rising ascent. I tried to move but found that something was restraining me, though the pressure on my lower abdomen was noticeably less intense than before. Instead I used what little strength I had to glance around at my strange savior and the small camp that he must have set up. I let out a small groan and tried to wriggle free of my bonds, but he simply sat there poking the fire as if I didn’t even exist.

My heart sank as the reality of my situation started to sink in. I was missing a limb, had survived some accident, and now I was restrained in some camp by a strange hooded stranger who either couldn’t hear me or didn’t see a need to acknowledge my presence.

Deciding that I needed to be a little more assertive despite the potential risks, I put all of my strength into wording a single question. “Wh..who are you?”

It might have been ill-advised and foolish, but at the same time, I was just some researcher who lived in the countryside… So to say I was out of my element would be a gross understatement. Whether it was a smart move or not though, my question seemed to get the mysterious stranger’s attention.

“You’re lucky to be alive, you know?” The figure sat up and turned towards me. “Sorry I had to zap you, you were only going to harm yourself more. Don’t mind the prosthetic by the way, I had to make do with what I had.”

My heart sank again as I became acutely aware of the sharp phantom pains that shot down my leg. I struggled in my bonds again, but to no avail. The stranger didn’t react verbally, but nonetheless looked at me with a look of concern that clearly conveyed the fact that he wasn’t deriving pleasure from my turmoil… or at least had something to gain from my wellbeing.

Realizing that I wasn’t going to get any answers until I calmed down, I slowed my thrashing and took a deep breath, trying to relax my sore muscles as much as I could. A few long and silent minutes passed as I settled down, and once I felt that I had relaxed enough to ease his concern, I began to ask another question.

“What happened?”

“I don’t know for sure…” The pegasus replied. “But I do know that you were caught in some kind of explosion, and it’s a miracle that you only lost part of your leg.”

“My leg…” I replied slowly. “Can I see it?”

Truthfully, I didn’t know if it was a smart idea to even consider this question, but something inside of me needed closure to prove that this wasn’t all some horrible dream.

“I can unbind you, yes,” The pegasus nodded. “But you have to promise me that you won’t run off or put too much weight on it, and I need you to stay seated. You’re still in shock and I don’t know how you’ll handle this.”

“Please, I just need to know that I’m not imagining all of this.”

My captor nodded and flipped up a blade that was otherwise concealed on a strange gauntlet-like device that he was wearing on his foreleg. “Just please sit up slowly, I don’t want to have to do this again, but I will put you back under if you’re a detriment to your own safety.”

I nodded. “I won’t move too fast.”

“Good,” he quickly swiped at the cable that kept me confined, and following a few quiet snaps my body was suddenly free to move on its own accord again. Keeping my promise, I started my slowly stretching my limbs out, catching sight of the shoddily constructed wooden facsimile of the limb I previously had.

My heart started to pound again, but I simply closed my eyes and took another very deep breath. I wasn’t in any position to run or attack, so I just had to trust the stranger’s words. Deciding that I needed to distract myself, I shifted my focus to the stranger instead. He was a dark blue pegasus with a bright orange mane, and outside of his scavenger-like apparel, he seemed relatively unthreatening.

“Do you think you’re able to sit up?” He asked.

“I don’t know,” I replied, not actually knowing the answer for myself. I eyed my false limb again, gulping as I tested my weight on it hesitantly. “Who are you?”

The pegasus ignored my question and instead spotted me as I slowly sat up. “I know the construction is less than ideal, but I’ll be able to get you a better one as soon as we get to the Hollows.”

“It should be okay,” I partially lied, not really believing that such a shoddy creation could actually fulfill this purpose. But if he was telling the truth, then I wouldn’t need to live with it for long.

With his aid, I slowly put pressure on the leg and began to stand up. Another shock of pain coursed through the limb, and I almost fell from the discomfort. The stranger, having clearly anticipated this, was quick to keep me from injuring myself further.

“Try not to go too fast, you need to get used to standing on it again. it's going to sting for a while, but I can address that better once we get moving. The quicker we get there the faster it’ll take.”

I nodded, but decided I needed to press for more information even if the effort of all of this was wearing me out. “I need to know one thing before I can trust you. Who are you, what happened, and how long was I out for?”

The pegasus looked up and grimaced, “Oh, I’m sorry! I didn’t even consider that you might be disoriented,” He held out a hoof and then realizing the potential awkwardness of the gesture, put it back down. “The name’s Onyx, Onyx Haze. I’m a local scavenger and I usually come here to get some of the stray scrap that’s dropped by the junk dealers who get attacked by passing marauders.”

“Marauders?” I couldn’t help but ask in astonishment.

“Don’t worry, I may not look like a nocturne but I’m one at heart. The marauders out here know that and won’t give us trouble. I’m not a bandit myself, but they know better than to mess with a half-nocturne in this territory.”

“Nocturne?” I asked, even more confused.

Onyx gently tapped one of my webbed wings, “Nocturnal ponies like you. My mother might have been a pegasus, but my father was a nocturne, so I’m something of a mixed breed.”

“I see,” I nodded. “So we’re safe?”

“As safe as we can be for now, especially now that the sun’s rising. As for what happened? I truthfully don’t know, but I can tell you that you’ve been asleep for six hours.”

The time frame was reasonable enough for me to accept, but my head was still foggy, my body still hurt, and if the low grumble of my stomach was anything to go by… I was hungry and sorely in need of a proper rest. Knowing that asking more questions wouldn’t solve any of those things, I decided to just idly nod and save the rest of my questioning for later.

“That’s good to know. Thanks for saving me by the way, I don’t know what happened and I’m absolutely in shock, but it helps to know that I’m not just imagining things.”

“It’s my pleasure,” Onyx smiled. “So, if you don’t mind me asking… what’s your story? Where’re you from?”

“I’m Stardust…” I started, but something seemed off as I started to think through an explanation. For whatever reason, it felt as if a fog had rolled through my mind and kept me from knowing all but the most basic of details about myself. “I’m ummm… from Hollow Shades… and I…” something seemed very wrong and a wave of unease began to course through me. “And I… I can’t remember.”

Onyx flashed me a concerned look, setting his saddlebag down. “Stardust huh? So tell me. What can you remember?”

I shuffled around, trying to get a feel for my new leg. “I remember the easy stuff— my name, where I lived, what I did right as things happened… but I can’t remember much past that.”

“I see…” He pensively replied. “Did you live in Hollow Shades, or were you just visiting it?”

“I lived there, and before I saw the flash I was just sitting in my home.”

“What were you doing in your home?” Onyx pressed for more information.

The question might have sounded condescending if given from any other pony, but it was more than clear to me that he had either lied about being a scavenger, or had some prior history as a medical pony. Still though, it didn’t stop my brain from trying to back up my story.

I closed my eyes and wracked my brain for a brief moment, thinking back to the details I had recounted to you in my last entry, dear reader.

“I was working on an experiment, using some focusing lens to help see these weird shadow creatures that were all around. I don’t know what happened specifically, but there was an earthquake, a big bright flash, and then I thought I died, but I was here.”

“I understand,” Onyx replied, though his tone held a skeptical twinge of concern. “I think we need to get you back to town and into a proper bed. I know a pony that can give you a better examination and maybe make sense of everything.”

A bolt of realization flashed through my mind as Onyx started to lead me forward.

“The lens!” I shouted.

Onyx took a step back and raised a concerned eyebrow. “What? This?” He held up the shattered body of the twins’ creation. “I thought it was just some trinket that the marauders dropped.”

I frantically shook my head. “No, that’s it… that’s what brought me here!”

I hobbled forward and made a swipe for it, but Onyx held it away and nudged me back. “We need to get back to the hollows, Xenith can make sense of everything.”

“No,” I insisted. “That brought me here, it can bring me home… it has to!” I pleaded almost desperately.

This all felt too real, yet one thing I could vaguely remember was the strong dreams I often had— or at least the sensation of how vivid those dreams could be, even if the detail alluded me now.

Onyx was firm in his denial, and shook his head. “Stardust, you’re in shock, you lost a lot of blood, and there’s no telling if there was any damage done when I zapped you. I don’t want to do it again, but I will if I have to.”

I surveyed my options, looking down to my false leg again, and at the vast sandy expanse around me. Seeing no better solution I opted to go with the strange pegasus. “Al..alright, I’ll go with you.”

Onyx smiled and reached down to help steady me. “A wise choice indeed. Try using your prosthetic as more of a crutch, it’s too weak to put all your weight on, but it’ll at least help steady you for the time being. I gave you a powerful pain reliever but that’s only going to do so much, and if we wait out here any longer you might go into a more potent shock. Xenith can help you once we get back to town.”

I tested my limits, awkwardly walking around like some lame dog. The fact that Onyx had spoken this name twice piqued my interest, and in my own pursuit of understanding what was going on, I decided to play along. “Who’s Xenith?”

Onyx watched my progress intently, ready to spring into action at a moment’s notice in case I fell. “Xenith is a nocturne like you. In fact, he’s the town’s resident doctor and the one who trained me. I might not be that great of a medical pony, and I know he’s going to have a few choice words for my work, but I don’t think I did too badly with what I had to work with.”

I stared back at him with a look of disbelief. “You saved my life, that’s more than good in terms of medical training.”

“My work pales in comparison to Xenith’s, but I appreciate the compliment regardless,” Onyx looked around the campsite, eyeing the various trinkets and scrap he had collected. “Now, we should start heading back before it gets too bright out. I only brought enough water for myself, and there aren’t too many friendly settlements around these parts.”

I was hesitant to just wander away to some mysterious town with a pony I had just barely met… but at the same time, I had no clue what I was in for… so what was the harm with sticking with the first friendly face I was lucky enough to see?

I cleared my throat and gave an affirmative nod. “Until I really know what happened I think that that’s a good idea.”

Onyx smiled gleefully. “I know we’ll get this figured out. And you know, Xenith’s going to be happy to have a patient who isn’t just some hypochondriac with a case of the flu too. It’s been a long while since he’s had the chance to actually flex his talents.”

I squinted as I looked over to the sun as it slowly rose further above the horizon. The light stung my eyes, but I would have to make do. I could stay awake during the day, and while I hadn’t in a long while but it certainly wasn’t impossible. Though with the state of my leg I figured the extra fatigue might not be very healthy. “Onyx, I don’t know if this is a thing here, but many of the thestr… nocturnes… back where I come from are nocturnal which means—”

“— that you’re probably tired right now. I understand.” He gave me a sympathetic pat on the back. “Let’s get back to town, we can worry about the finer details later.”

Onyx looked back at me, then to the sun, and finally to his day’s haul that was scattered around the makeshift campsite in various piles. “Okay, I hate just leaving my haul out in the open like this, but I’d say that you’re a little more important than some junk. Go ahead and hop in the cart over there, I’ll pull you back to town,” he said as he gestured past me to a nearby cart.

I shook my head, not needing his pity. “It's fine Onyx, I can walk back.”

“Look,” He held a hoof out to stop me. “I said I’m not as good of a medical pony as Xenith is, but that doesn’t mean I’m not ignorant of the issue at hand. You’re down one leg and you have a rather shoddy replacement… AND there’s no telling what else might be awry. So unless you want me to zap you again, and I should emphasize that I do not want to do that, you’ll get in the cart, and you won’t hurt yourself more.” He said sternly, cutting me off.

“But… Can’t I just fly?” I asked pleadingly, not wanting to have to burden someone… and not wanting to be fully vulnerable either.

Onyx shook his head, rejecting the idea before I could literally get off the ground. “No, not with your leg in the state its in. I don’t want you landing roughly and causing further damage.”

“I… Look…” I sighed, lowering my head. “Alright, fine.” I hobbled my way over to his cart while Onyx extinguished the fire, carefully climbing into the worn wooden cart as he ran over, no doubt to make sure I wouldn’t harm myself while climbing in.

“Alright,” Onyx closed and secured the back door. “Now it won’t be long until we get to town, but here, take this,” he passed me a worn metal canteen. “It's not much, I know. But you need to stay hydrated. If I can at least say one thing to Xenith, it’s that I didn’t let you suffer even more.”

His explanation only served to make me realize how dry my mouth really was, and not seeing any reason to argue I simply shrugged and greedily gulped down the water as he secured himself into the cart’s harness and proceeded to drag the cart down the road, presumably towards “The Hollows”. There admittedly wasn’t much to do to bide my time, so I did what any injured pony stuck in the back of a cart would do; I stared at the passing desert landscape until we finally pulled into a wooded clearing.

I thought that perhaps this might be our final destination, yet Onyx pulled further forward into the forest. As the desert slowly faded into the distance, the sand and rocks were gradually replaced with trees and vibrant plant life. The bright sun soon faded above the thick forest foliage, and while it was a strange shift, it wasn’t as strange as my current predicament was. I couldn’t complain at this, because it was helping to ease my tired eyes after all.

Before I could get too bored, however, Onyx called back to me, sliding his strange goggles down over his eyes and tapping the side of the cart with a hoof. “We’re almost there Stardust, this next part might get a little bumpy so make sure you hold on.”

I was about to give him some smart remark about not having anything to hold onto when all of a sudden I was violently jolted, throwing me from one side of the cart to the other, interrupting my little attempt at humor.

He seemed a little concerned and slowed slightly. “I’m sorry Stardust, the road’s going to clear out up there, it shouldn’t be too much longer.”

“Yeah alright, just give me a holler when we’re there!” I shouted back as I braced myself against the sides with all the strength I could muster.

I had to give him credit, as much as I still had no reason to trust him, he hadn’t outright lied to me yet, and he was clearly doing his best to be as gentle and understanding as possible. The road suddenly smoothed out, just as he had promised, which at least gave me a solitary moment of relief. I hesitantly raised my head over the side of the cart, looking at the dark village we were now closing in on.

I finally had a chance to really look over Onyx, the dark shade making it easier for me to really notice the strange apparel he was wearing. Ponies wearing clothes wasn’t an odd sight, but his certainly were. A strange hood sat at the base of his neck, and his saddlebags seemed incredibly patched together, almost as if he had meticulously repaired them over the years rather than just buying a new set. Looking up, I also noticed the scarf that was draped around his neck, and completing the odd assortment of accessories were his goggles, though given the dark nature of the village I could only assume that they aided his vision much the same way my own two eyes did with the darkness around me.

Onyx dragged the cart further forward and began to slow to a stop in front of a large imposing tree. “Alright Stardust, we’re here. Let me help you out.”

I looked around at my surroundings, noticing several similar structures, with strange glowing mushrooms illuminating the surroundings in their cool blue glow. As he stepped forward I was able to see his goggles better, noting the unnatural red glow that emanated from them, no doubt proving my theory correct.

“Admiring my goggles? They’re an invention of my own design, they work similarly to how your own biological eyes work. I might be part nocturne, though alas my father didn’t gift me his sight.” He nonetheless smiled proudly as he helped me out of the cart, brushing some dust off of my fur.

“I kind of guessed that,” I replied. “So what now?”

“Let’s get you in to see Xenith so we can fix that leg of yours. Afterward, I can show you around town and to my workshop. Maybe we can see about fixing that lens there.”

Seeing no reason to object I nodded. “Lead the way.”

Onyx ushered me in, greeting a few groggy-looking pegasi who wore similar goggles and met my gaze with a look of pitied concern. Onyx spoke up once more, clearly catching onto their sympathetic gazes. “I apologize again for the crude nature of your prosthetic, we’ll get you all hooked up with a better one soon enough. The unicorns don’t like sharing their tech but Xenith has his ways of getting some of it out of their city.”

I raised my eyebrow in confusion once more as I questioned him. “What do you mean by that?”

Onyx stopped and turned back to me, evidently hesitating. “I... I forgot about your predicament. The unicorns are a thriving technological tribe here, though much to the frustration of the others. its rare that they let an outsider into their city, let alone a nocturne. But Xenith isn’t like most nocturnes and was able to pull a few strings. I’d argue that he’s one of the brightest minds of his generation, but perhaps I’m a little biased… he is my mentor after all.”

I began to voice my reply when he suddenly cut me off. “Ah! Here we are! I’d like to welcome you to Xenith’s lab.”

I looked up at the large oak doors we had stopped at, and then back to Onyx. There was an uneasy anticipation building up inside me, but what other options did I have?

Onyx took no time in pushing the large doors open, and with haste, he ushered me into the circular room. The first thing that stood out to me was the large assortment of artifacts and leather-bound tomes that lined the walls. The bookshelves they were displayed in towered as high as the ceiling, and completely filled every inch of the walls. The ceiling itself was an ornately painted dome, and various stars and constellations covered every inch of it. To say I was impressed and a little jealous would be a sore understatement… but can you blame me? I am a historian after all.

Before I had a chance to greedily explore my new surroundings, a grizzled voice called out to us, surprising me at first. “Welcome back Onyx, I take it you were successful this time around?” I gazed ahead at the strange black nocturne with a striking white mane who currently sat in front of a large circular window at the far side of the room. The way he sat in the darkness made it plainly clear why I hadn’t initially noticed him before… well, that and the sensory overload of books and artifacts that I had been so desperate to look at just a moment before. As he turned, I caught sight of his own pair of goggles, which were similar to Onyx’s but with a green glow instead of the piercing red.

Onyx pushed past me, walking up to greet the strange pony who I could only assume was Xenith. “Not quite Xen, as you can see we have a new guest. I found him out in the badlands, trapped under some rubble. As you can see he didn’t quite make it out all in one piece.”

Xenith raised a hoof to his goggles, tapping the side as he scrutinized my makeshift leg from afar. “Follow me, we need to address that as soon as possible.” He gestured to the adjacent table as he began to rummage around a large ornate trunk.

I nervously looked at Onyx, who gently nudged me towards the table. Not really knowing how to respond to the sudden request, I complied and hobbled over.

“I’m… Stardust, you must be Xenith,” I gave a meek reply as I carefully hopped up.

Without turning to greet me, the older stallion simply replied, “That’s a really odd name you know? Are you one of those thestrals from the Crystal Caverns?”

“The what?” I couldn’t help but ask in confusion. Not really knowing how to reply, I shook my head. “No, sorry I’m— ”

Onyx suddenly spoke up, interrupting me. “Xen, is there any settlement in Hollow Shades? Stardust has amnesia, but said he lived there.”

Xenith paused for a moment, walking over to face us. “No one’s lived there for centuries… Only the demons that are still bound to him.”

Demons? Him… none of this was making sense to me, but perhaps some of this had something to do with the strange shadowy creatures I had seen before the flash.

Before I could form a question, Xenith gestured for me to lay down. “I want to run a few tests, make sure your leg isn’t the only thing that’s injured. I’ll take it you slept given how long Onyx was out?”

I hesitantly nodded. “Yes…is.. is there something wrong?”

“As Onyx should know, it’s unwise to subdue a pony that could have a brain injury. Given your lucidity, perhaps you were exceptionally lucky. Though, given your apparent amnesia… I don’t want to rule anything out.”

“Do you not believe me?” I blurted out, immediately regretting how stupid and paranoid I must have sounded.

“If you said you came from the badlands… from Hollow Shades, then no. I do not.”

I raised an eyebrow and sat up. “Why not?” What would I have to gain from lying?”

“I never said you were lying,” Xenith shrugged. “It’s just very unlikely.”

“And why’s that?” I retorted.

Xenith gestured to a large map on the nearby wall that vaugely looked like my homeland… but with a large blacked out region over and surrounding where Hollow Shades should have resided... “The badlands are a strange and cursed place. Every new moon there’s a recurring and unexplainable storm that spreads over them like an ethereal blanket. Anyone that enters the region during it is usually never seen again. You’re the first pony that’s ever been caught there post-storm… and well? It is very unlikely to say the least.”

I didn’t like where this was going at all. “What do you mean Xenith?”

He stepped closer to me. “What I mean is that maybe you’re misremembering things. You said you were from Hollow Shades, but that’s about as far away from here as you can get.”

I shook my head and turned to Onyx. “Onyx! The lens!.. That’ll prove everything.”

The pegasi’s eyes lit up, and in a moment he carefully pulled the damaged machine out from his patchwork saddlebags.

The instant that Xenith caught sight of it, he tore his goggles off and trotted closer. “Where did you get this?”

“It was on him when I found him,” Onyx replied. “I’ve never seen anything like it before, and truth be told, I thought it just some random trinket a marauder plundered.”

The old stallion shook his head. “No, this is clearly something far more valuable than anything they’d ever have…”

“So what does that mean then? I'm not lying?”

Xenith slipped his goggles back on. “That will be determined once you’ve had a chance to rest and once I’ve been able to analyze this to see if it truly is the kind of technology I believe it to be.”

I groaned and rolled my eyes. “Can you just give me a clear answer? I’ve been through hell, am missing a limb, and I still don’t know where I am or what happened. Can you at least give me this?”

“Fine… have you ever heard the legend of King Moondust and the nocturne kingdom?”

I shook my head. “Nope.”

Xenith let out an annoyed sigh and shook his head. “What my pupil is holding is damaged beyond my own repair capabilities, but the design appears similar to forbidden technology I’ve seen in some of my more… ancient volumes.”

“So it’s old tech? Or it just looks like old tech?” I asked.

Xenith shrugged. “I won’t know until I analyze it and see how it works. You said you came from Hollow Shades… if this is indeed based on that old forbidden knowledge… then you might be a rift-walker… A creature that was carried from one point in space and time, and deposited in an adjacent one.”

I was completely baffled by his explanation, because none of it could have genuinely been true… could it?

I probably looked a little confused, and the way I worded my next question drove that point home, albeit a little more forcefully than I intended. “Can you just dumb it down for me? Assume I have no clue what you’re talking about.”

“Imagine it like a unicorn’s teleportation, but instead of two places in one reality its two places in two realities. What I’m suggesting is that your point of origin does not correspond to one in our universe, but rather one in a parallel reality. The ancient technology I believe this to be based on was designed to focus dark shadow magic to allow the user to tunnel through these realities… though I’ll admit the texts never showed a device this small. It will need more analysis though, and before we can do that we need to address your injuries and get a better idea of what happened.”

I could feel a headache coming on, and I just laid back and closed my eyes… for what else could I do to make sense of this? “I’m sorry, but this is all too crazy for me.”

“I wish I could give a better explanation, but that’s all I can offer in the present. Perhaps we’ll be able to discover more, but I need you to understand that this may be something I can’t fully solve.”

Xenith adjusted his goggles again, carefully removing the prosthetic and inspecting the remnants of my amputated leg. “I will commend you Onyx, you did a fine job with this one, it should pair fairly well.”

“What should?” I sat up again.”

Xenith continued to rummage through the trunk for many more minutes until he finally walked back over with a strange case cradled in one of his arms. I craned my neck over to see it more clearly but was quickly subdued by Onyx. Caught off guard I quickly yelled out a response. “What… what are you doing?”

The pegasus stepped back but gave me a stern yet sympathetic look. “You’re gonna wanna sit back for this, it's not going to be comfortable, but it’ll be better than before.”

“What is that even supposed to mean?” I questioned.

“Let him see Onyx,” Xenith chimed in as he unlocked the case and reached in.

Onyx flashed him a worried look. “Are you sure Xen?”

“Yes. Absolutely, he has to know what’s coming otherwise he won’t be able to prepare himself for the pairing process.”

In my prone position, I craned my neck back over to get a better view of what Xenith was holding. “I’m not sure I like the sound of this…”

“You won’t like the feel of it either, at least not when its pairing.” He stepped closer, revealing a strange prosthetic leg that seemed to be made of some unnatural metal. “This is one of the unicorns’ most advanced creations… well, I should say, one of my most advanced creations. It’s a prosthetic that can pair with the user seamlessly utilizing existing nerves… its a bit of a prototype I’m afraid but its better than that glorified peg leg you were getting by with before.”

I looked on at it with concern and started to voice my objections. “I… How can I trust this?”

Xenith smiled. “Because I designed it and the unicorns made it. They’re the premier authority on technology such as this. Consider this a great gift, you’ll likely be the only nocturne in the entire world who has such a device, maybe even the only non-unicorn… a very rare breed indeed.”

I nervously nodded. “Is… is this going to hurt?”

Xenith turned away, adjusting his goggles once more. “Do you want me to be honest with you or would you like the diluted truth?”

I gulped and nodded. “You might as well give me the truth…”

He turned back, this time with his goggles giving off a strange blue glow. “it's going to hurt. A lot. In fact, the pairing process will likely be the most excruciating pain you’ve ever experienced but it’ll only last but a few moments. Once paired it’ll operate and feel just as natural as any other limb you were born with… but this one is so much more.” He said as he shined a section on the leg.

I raised my voice again, the tone betraying my own distrust of the strange pony. “If this is so rare then why are you giving it to me?”

Xenith met my gaze. “If you really are a rift-walker, then we’ll need to repair the machine that brought you here… and you’ll need far more than a simple peg-leg to embark on that journey.”

“Journey?” I questioned again. “Can you just stop being so cryptic for five seconds?”

The older stallion shook his head. “After the pairing is complete.” He reached into a pouch on his waist and tossed a green vial towards me. “Here, take this. its a mild pain reliever, its not going to spare you the pain of the pairing but it’ll ensure that you live through it. This is a prototype after all, and you’re still injured.”

I turned towards Onyx, flashing him a concerned look. “Onyx, can I trust this?”

“You’re going to want to. He’s not kidding when he says its going to be excruciating. The actual modern versions fixed that bug… but well, we can’t exactly get any of those now can we?”

I wanted to point out that subjecting myself to excruciating pain might not be the best idea… but surely Xenith knew that right? Instead of arguing, I simply nodded my head and gulped the strange potion down, feeling a calm chill run down my spine. “Can you at least tell me how it’s going to feel?”

Xenith answered me sternly. “Sure, we’re sticking a new limb on you, a limb with an advanced computer that needs to map your entire brain out in order to function. its going to feel like every single cell in your body is on fire, as if your brain is melting, and you’re going to likely wish you were dead, you’ll probably even feel like it too, but it’ll only last a few moments at most.”

My hooves started to tremble at this. “That’s… not reassuring.”

Xenith spoke up. “Well, you did ask for the truth after all.” He pushed my head back and lifted the prosthetic into place. “Do me a favor will ya?”

I closed my eyes and tried to control my breathing, replying back with a simple “Huh?”

He rubbed a similar-looking potion over the stump that comprised the remainder of my leg. “Try not to vomit everywhere ok? I’m not going to clean it up and I’m sure Onyx sure isn’t going to, so if you do it's your problem to deal with.”

“Wait what?” Before I could verbalize anything further he pressed the prosthetic onto the stump and pressed a button. My entire body lit up in a flaming agony that soon consumed all of my senses. All I could do was scream for what felt like an eternity as fire shot up my spine and ran through my limbs and brain. My heart raced as I screamed myself hoarse, the world around me fading into a blur of color and light as I squeezed my eyes shut and thrashed about on the table. Nothing could alleviate this horrible pain but yet I was still alive… death would have been a mercy, but fate had other plans.

Through the pain, I heard the worried voice of Onyx shouting out in concern. “Xen, his heart rate is spiking! You need to get him under control before his heart bursts!”

“No! It’ll stabilize momentarily! Give him a few more seconds and then hit him with another potion!”

“Are you sure?!” Onyx screamed back.

“I mean... I think so?” Xenith replied a little less confidently.

Onyx’s outraged voice cut through my pain momentarily but did little to actually alleviate it. “You think so?! I thought you designed this!”

“Well… I modified the original… by all means it should still function properly…”

“Great, just what I needed to hear Xen, I knew we should have just gone with the standard models!”

“Wait! Onyx look!”

I continued to thrash about for another eternity as the pain in my head and limbs grew to an inferno… and then, the world went dark...

Comments

[Fistfire]

Interesting beginning.

[Prince Polaris]

[Prince Polaris]

how the hell did I just post an entirely blank comment on accident

anyway me like

[ProgAltRocker]

I have arrived, Zero. I see a good deal of promise with this one

[flutterJackdash]

The pacing. It’s breakneck, the reveals are quite cool but they are coming rather fast, no reason to spoil the mystery. Let the reader work for this stuff. It’s such a cool reveal that it seems disappointing to learn it all so quickly, makes me wonder at whether there will be any questions left going further into the story.

That said, I love the concept you’re proposing. Sort of… Chrono Cross meets Doctor Who.

I’m not usually into all OC casts, but the writing is good enough to get over that and read on.
I’m enjoying this so far, I’m going to continue enjoying it. I can tell. I’ll continue to comment with each chapter as well.