One year after creating transportation through dimensions, Jason Watts discovers a threat from a world of peace.
One year after taking up the role of the Gatekeeper, guarding all rifts in and out of his dimension, Jason Watts discovers something new. Someone has built a version of his original machine that will cross dimensions, but only if they are parallel. Normally, this wouldn't be a problem. But Jason is soon faced with an enemy who has powers beyond that of anyone from his world. These creatures threaten the existence of all life. But how could they come from a land filled with magical ponies?
About a year ago, I invented the Oritronic Gateway Device, allowing travel through alternate dimensions. When the government tried to take it, I was forced to destroy the device and strand myself in another dimension. While there, I learned about the fragility of the dimensional walls and have since been doing what I can to try and stop anyone who threatens them.
I was also affected by residual dimensional energy.
On my return trip, I had to repair a rip in the fabric of reality so the dimensions didn’t collapse. In that process, I was infected with radiation and lead poisoning as well as absorbing all the leaking energy around. This changed my genetic makeup enough so I can do some things most people can’t.
In fact, I think I’m the only one who can do these things.
In the year that passed, I have allied myself with a secret branch of the government that monitors all possible inter-dimensional activity. With their help, I have been able to prevent a lot of different things that could have caused trouble with the technology that I invented.
However, even with these newfound allies and abilities, there are some things I wasn’t prepared for. 4/20/2058 8:23 pm
I was making my nightly rounds when I heard the familiar sound of a Gateway opening. I glanced around from my position in the air and was able to somehow hone in on the location. I dived toward the spot, ripping a rift open to let me into the building and found myself in the middle of a laboratory.
The steel walls around were practically polished around the various machines in the large room. I could see almost everything organized, with the exception of one very large machine in the middle. I outstretched my arm, extending my mind to begin to shut down the machine when I heard a man yell at me to stop.
“This machine is a threat to the integrity of dimensional space,” I said. “Why should I let this continue to operate?”
“Because,” the man said. “It’s not an Oritronic Gateway. It’s a Metatronic one.”
I paused, keeping control over the machine. One thought, and it could be thrown into the Great Nothingness, or Void. I could end all of it right now.
But I didn’t.
The Oritronic Gateway Device was only able to access alternate dimensions. It was the easier of the matrices to build, so I tried that one first. After the events that followed, I didn’t even think about trying a Metatronic matrix.
I stared at him, frozen.
“I was told about,” he said. “The Gatekeeper, right?”
“How did you do it?” I asked.
“Why don’t you let me through and then take it back so you can take a look?” he replied.
I thought for a few seconds. There had to be shielding around the room, or the feds would have already shown up and confiscated it. But it didn’t give too much time. If he was telling the truth, then there was no reason to keep him here. A parallel dimension wouldn’t threaten dimensional integrity unless some super-powerful, ancient artifact came across and the Gateway was closed. And if he was going through, he probably knew the exact universe he was going into.
I released my hold, but stopped him briefly. “I’m going to meet you in three days’ time to give you an update on what’s going on and check in on your end,” I said. “Make sure you memorize wherever you land so you can meet me there at half-past noon in that amount of time.”
“Alright,” he said, turning back to the open portal.
“And don’t tell anyone about this,” I said. “Not unless you have no other choice. We don’t know what kind of technology will be there. They can’t know about this.”
“See you in three days,” he said. Then he stepped through.
Of course, that’s when I heard car doors shut and people coming up to the front door of the house.
I focused around the machine. Theoretically, I could shift the space around it to transport the entire device through space and into my lab. It was almost the same as when I ripped a hole in space to do the same thing.
I tore apart the space around it and watched as it disappeared into the gap in space. Quickly, I jumped through and closed it behind me. 4/22/2058 3:36 pm “A dual-matrix core,” I said to myself. “The man was a genius.”
After keeping the device from the government, I popped it open to see how the man was able to build it with the right matrix. It only took two out of the three days I had, so I would count that as progress.
The rebuilding process was fast enough and I was able to finish putting it back together before dinner.
That’s when I had some friends come over.
Now when I say friends, I really mean the guys in the nameless, faceless government organization.
“What are you guys doing here?” I asked. “I don’t have anything that’s yours.”
“We were simply checking to make sure of that,” said one of the men in suits. “There was a device that opened a Gate between worlds that went missing. Considering we found traces of your holes around, we thought you might have taken it.”
“Now why would I do that?” I asked as innocently as I could.
“Because you would do anything that would inconvenience us,” he said. “And it’s new technology. You have a tendency to take new things to look at how their made.”
I shrugged. “If you want to search, go ahead. You’re not going to find anything.”
I walked into the kitchen and poured myself a drink. Glancing at the men in my house, I asked, “Do any of you want some?”
One of them chuckled, but the rest continued their search.
I sat down and drank.
After a little bit of waiting, they all grouped back together, each man saying the same thing.
“The house is empty.”
“I told you there wasn’t anything here for you,” I said. “Now if you wouldn’t mind, get out.”
They walked out and got into their cars. I watched as they drove off, making sure they weren’t coming back to watch me. Then I went through and checked my house for any video bugs they might have left.
It never hurts to be a little paranoid when it comes to the government.
After finding nothing unusual, I went back down to my lab and set the coordinates. It would take a few hours to properly calibrate, so I could do my nightly rounds before heading off to sleep and the machine would be ready in the morning. 4/23/2058 12:27 pm
I opened the portal. If I was going into a parallel dimension, I had to go through early so I could properly adjust to whatever body the natural inhabitants were. The chances they were human was extremely low.
I stepped through, wearing my armor and weapons in case it was a refugee camp for soldiers to find myself-
-In a nice little meadow.
I looked around a little, noticing a serious height difference. Whatever I was, I was very short. But this actually seemed like a nice place. Green grass, blue skies and homey-looking houses surrounded me. I could also see Pegasi moving clouds away from-
“What?” I said, wondering if I was really seeing that. I reached up to rub my eyes to make sure, only to find my hand was gone, replaced with a hoof. “What?!” I looked down my body, only to find more of an equine shape. “WHAT?!”
“Calm down,” said a familiar voice, chuckling at my reaction. “You’re a pony, get over it.”
“Of all the places you could have taken a field trip to,” I said, sitting down. “First things, first; I need an update from you. How are things going here?”
“Fine,” he said. “Everything is as peaceful as it could get.”
I looked around. “It would appear so,” I said. “So, the government knows you built the machine and they came looking for it. I’ll probably end up having to destroy it when I get back.”
“It served its purpose,” he said. “Maybe you could find some use for it, though.”
I chuckled. “High-end technology in my hands? That didn’t turn out so well last time.”
“Just making an offer,” he said.
I reached back to pull out a device, but only managed to knock it out of my bags with a hoof. I stared at the machine.
“It takes a while to get used to hooves,” he said, walking over and picking it up.
I stared at him.
“What?” he asked.
“How are you doing that?” I asked. “It’s a hoof! There’s nothing to grab with!”
This time, he chuckled. “Like I said,” he replied. “It takes a while to get used to hooves.”
After getting the device ready for a dimensional scan, I heard-no felt something shift. I looked around to see slight shimmers in the light and was about to pass it off as nothing when it happened.
Lights started to flash all around us. I could see things taking shape and surrounding us. I could make out a black, armor-like carapace built into their equine hides and a sickly green power emanating from their very being. Insect-like wings were on the backs and a crooked horn took up a space on their foreheads. I saw the light shimmers reveal more creatures; only these appeared to have different sources of power. Each one had some weird power coming from it, though.
I looked at the things, trying to figure out what they were. That’s when I was pummeled with beams of energy. Some of them were worse than others, like the red ones and the orange ones, but I could feel a deprecating power sucking me dry. My very will power was being drained from me as these beams hit.
The man, pony, who had come here first, was the only one who actually knew what to do. I could see him flip in the air and start attacking a few of the creatures with all hooves. I could see the creature’s armor start to give.
That’s when they all turned on him.
They stopped firing on me and started to attack him instead, not caring for their own that was right there. I could see the flashes of energy discharging and hear the impacts as well as his scream of pain.
“Get out of here!” he yelled at me, barely getting the words out. I could see a stone with some engraving on it being pulled out and a shield came up around us. “You need to go. Deadlock the entire dimension if you have to, but you can’t let them get through.”
I stood, getting my footing next to him. “I’m going to stop these things before they can pose a threat,” I said. “And you’re under my protection. I’m not leaving.”
He looked at me and gave me a small, sad smile before pushing me through the open Gateway. I stumbled back; readjusting to having two legs, and saw a stone fly past and hit the control panel. The now translucent look of this Gateway portal started to close. I pulled my legs in and launched myself at the portal.
But all I met was air.
I looked at the frame and started to move. I had to do something about this. That shield wouldn’t last forever. Nothing does.
I kicked the stone and looked down to see the engraving. It was his only hope to survive a fight against those things and he sacrificed it to get me back here. He gave his life to seal off a dimension with creatures that could shoot energy beams from their heads.
And I didn’t even know what his name was.
I quickly changed what I was doing and started to seal off the dimension. If these things were really that dangerous, I had to keep them out at any cost. I started flipping switches and hitting buttons, slowly locking down the machine. Without it, they wouldn’t be able to break in, at least not any time soon.
After a few minutes of this, I sat down and looked at the now useless machine. I had done what I could at the time, but something still didn’t feel right.
That’s what those things were called. Changelings. And they could do a lot more than just shoot beams of energy. They could shape shift into anything. Certain changelings could only use one emotion to drain you by turning into someone you have a strong emotion toward. Others could invade your dreams like Freddy Kruger. And others could even break into your mind and control you.
I hate changelings.
I had finally gotten enough energy and technology to completely seal it off in what is called a deadlock seal. Nothing can break it except the controller who sealed it.
I was finally finishing up when I got a call on my work phone. I hit the speaker button and answered, “Hello?”
“Jason,” said someone on the other end. “We need your help. There’s been a rift opening close to the city.”
“How many times do I have to tell you not to use that name with me anymore?” I asked, pulling on my gear. “Jason Watts never existed. You guys made sure of that.”
“Just get to the location we sent you,” he said. “And be careful. We’re getting readings from this we’ve never seen before.”
I looked at my computer screen to get the location so I could get there and froze. “That’s not possible,” I muttered.
“Why?” he asked.
“Because that area is deadlocked from anything,” I answered swiftly.
I grabbed my knife and gun and tore open a hole to the abandoned house.
When I stepped through, I could already tell something was off. I could feel a power that shouldn’t be in this world. I could hear the wind rushing around an open rift. I could also see a light coming from the room in front of me.
I pulled my gun and put my back to the wall. Something was happening that had to be stopped, as soon as I knew how it started.
I turned and kicked in the door. The rift was opening wider as the seconds passed and I could make out something on the other side. I didn’t have much time to stop this.
I focused on the rift and pushed with as much power as I could. The edges started to move in and I pushed a little harder. I couldn’t let anything into this world. I had to seal this before anything could threaten it.
That’s when it pushed back with enough force that I was thrown back against a wall. Not as hard as the last time, but still enough to cause stars to flood my vision. I pulled myself up and looked on in horror at what was happening in front of me.
The barrier was a translucent green, showing insectoid creatures on the other end. I could see them coming through the rift and becoming something that should never have existed in the first place.
Human changelings.
Have I mentioned that I hate changelings?
I grabbed my gun from where it had fallen when I was thrown back and opened fire. My shots echoed in the mostly empty room and bounced off the built-in armor. My headshots didn’t even faze them.
Then they raised their hands in unison and fired what blended together to form a single beam of energy that would have killed any human.
Luckily, I’m not human anymore.
I moved faster than I ever had and was only caught by the edge of the beam. Even that was enough to go through my coat and hit my gut. I was regenerating the wound and looked up to see a familiar face battered and beaten. A green glow came from his eyes.
I shoved the pain aside and pulled myself up. I focused as much power as I could into what I was doing, hoping it was actually possible. If not, I was going to die.
I released a wave of pure, raw, savage power at the army of changelings in the room. They all went flying back, some hitting their heads hard enough on pipes that the pipes broke. Others went out the window and fell two stories.
I just kept throwing waves of power at them.
But after a few more blasts, I was wearing down. I couldn’t keep it up forever. I might be able to seal the rift in time, but what would stop them from opening another somewhere else? How could they resist a world ripe for the taking?
Instead of sending another blast, I focused on the blue pony. I reached out and touched his mind as lightly as I could. I could feel the hold another changeling had over him and hit it with as much power as I could muster.
We both fell, screaming. I could barely see the rift in front of me. But I had to do just one more thing.
I reached out and pulled him into this world, throwing myself into that one, using my momentum to push my powers beyond what I was normally capable of. As I fell, I reached into the power-rich environment of the pony world and shoved the gate closed.
5/1/2058 6:27 am I woke up and immediately felt off. Something wasn’t right. My hands felt wrong and my face really hurt. Plus, my limbs felt like they were made of lead.
I looked down and saw my body in a different shape than it should have been.
I was a pony. Again.
I looked around and tried to piece everything together. The previous night was blurred together and I could hardly think enough to remember why I was where I was.
Once I did remember, though, I took a look at the room I was in.
It was four walls of stone and a ceiling with the ratty bed I was in and a can in the corner. A large wooden door was the only obvious way in and out. There was also a single crystal in the ceiling that was emitting a dim light.
I tried to find something out of place, but couldn’t. “Is there anyone here?” I asked aloud, trying to see if I could find that shimmer in the light. Maybe just a shift of air, sound of a breath or even hooves on the floor.
Nothing.
“Fine,” I said, moving towards the door. I started to focus on it and felt a pressure in my head. Dropping the power, I reached up to feel for anything unusual and found a horn in the center of my forehead.
“That wasn’t there before,” I muttered. I wondered what the rest of me actually looked like. I was a nice, slick black, which probably wasn’t common here, considering the pastel colors of others I had seen. I looked back and saw my tail was more of an electric blue with some green in there. I could only imagine my hair, mane, was the same.
I looked back at the door, more ready for what was about to happen. I focused around it and felt that pressure building again. I saw a maroon glow envelop the door and I shoved against it. Hard.
The door moved out, but it didn’t go flying like I had expected. Instead, it flew open and slammed into the wall it was hinged onto, making a very loud noise. I could hear a response to that, but I didn’t have time to find out how much of one.
I ran down the hallway, trying to find a place to hide. There had to be some place I could go, someplace that would at least put a barrier between me and my pursuers.
I jumped into a small broom closet and closed the door as quickly and as quietly as I could. I sat down for a moment and thought. There had to be some reason for all of this. If they didn’t kill me upon entry to this world and passing out, they must nave needed me for something.
I almost had it when I heard something behind me.
I spun around and powered up a charge to blast the changeling behind me and faced them to see the horrifying face of-
-A bunny.
“Seriously?” I said. “How did a bunny get into this place?”
Hearing the pounding of hooves on the door, I picked up the bunny and ran.
It took hours of running before I finally found a way out. By then, I was physically and mentally exhausted. My abilities were weakening, slowly lowering the bunny to the ground. I let it go, preserving my strength, and watched it hop out of the hole.
I started forward and almost got to the hole when I saw a blast of green energy hit the wall next to me and disperse, leaving the wall barely charred. I looked behind me and made a snap decision.
I pushed my will outward, grabbing onto the environment and pulling, tearing a rift in space to escape. I leapt forward through the hole and rolled out on solid ground. Turning around, I forced the hole closed and looked around me to see where I was.
That’s when I was hit in the back of the head with a rock. 11:37 am I could feel the heat of the flames against my face. The walls were hungry infernos, lying in wait for me to run into them. All I could do was scream.
Only I ran as well.
I broke through the door and saw the people on the ground, slowly choking on the smoke. I tried to pull them up to help them out, but I couldn’t. I was too young. Too weak.
A firefighter came through the flaming doorway, right towards me. He picked up my small form and started to walk away, leaving the people on the floor. I could barely breathe to try to yell at him to get them first. I couldn’t tell him to turn around. He carried me out of the building as it collapsed into a burning heap of wood and stone. Pieces of the building flew at us, one hitting my head. I screamed in pain from the burn and-
***********
I bolted awake and upright in a cold sweat. My skin was clammy and my breathing erratic. I reached up and touched the small burn scar on my head, wondering why I was still dreaming about that.
And then I realized I was sinking.
“I just can’t catch a break,” I muttered, standing up to jump.
That’s when I was grabbed by light.
I thrashed in the grasp of whatever was holding me and tried to escape. I would rather be sinking with any way out other than this. I needed to get out.
I pushed against the force with some of my own. I couldn’t just let some unknown take me. In this universe, my knowledge could cause the True End.
Finally, I dropped. Hitting the wood, I rolled off into the water around it. I brought myself to the surface and swam to the edge of the area to get some semblance as to where I was.
After pulling myself up, I realized I had just swum with hooves. “How did I do that?” I wondered aloud.
“You didn’t think,” said a female voice from nearby. I immediately dropped into a defensive stance, reaching for my weapon with telekinesis.
And of course, it wasn’t there.
“Sorry for the mystery,” said the voice. “We had to be sure you weren’t one of them.”
That’s when a purple unicorn walked out.
“My name is Twilight Sparkle,” she said. “What’s yours?”
“You’re a talking unicorn,” I said. “A talking, purple unicorn.” I started to chuckle. “I’m talking to a talking purple unicorn.” I finally just laughed. I couldn’t take it. A purple unicorn was talking to me. How could you not laugh?
“And you’re a talking black unicorn,” Twilight said. “I don’t see what’s so funny.”
I started to pull myself together so I could make up some sort of explanation. She was probably fairly common here. “Sorry,” I said, still chuckling a little. “It’s just been a hard few hours.”
“I bet,” Twilight said, turning around to walk away. I trotted up to join her.
“So what is this place?” I asked.
“This is the Camp,” she replied. “Ever since the Changelings found that spell, they’ve been able to go anywhere they want, except here.”
I looked around. Refugees lay all around me. I could see some in armor, probably soldiers. All of these peop- ponies were hiding here.
All because I let someone through.
“I should just get my gear and go,” I said.
Twilight turned to look at me. “Why?”
“I should just go,” I said. “I need to find a way to stop these things and a refugee camp is not where I should do it. Too many people could get hurt.”
She froze in place. “Did you just say…” she left it open.
“What did I say?” I asked. “I’m just trying to keep the casualties to a minimum.”
She shook her head and started moving again. “I just thought I heard you say something we’re supposed to be on the lookout for.”
I kept moving. “Well if you wouldn’t mind helping me get my things, I’ll be out of your hair-err mane, as soon as I can.”
“Right this way,” she said, taking the lead.
In a few minutes, we arrived at a room. It had a large door with a symbol of the sun engraved on the stone and opened inward. I started forward when I saw it.
This equine was easily the size of a horse. It had a horn on its head and large, elegant wings on its back. The mane and tail seemed to be made of fractured light, flowing in a breeze that was unfelt by everyone else. And the worst part, it had a crown on its head.
“Hello,” I said.
It faced me with a regal face, though it was worn by age. “You are new here,” she said.
“Yeah,” I said. “I was going to get my things, but my escort here might have made a mistake by taking me here.”
“You do not wish to stay?” she asked. “Why is that?”
“I think I should be elsewhere when I make my plans against the things I was escaping,” I stated.
“Why?” she asked. “It is much safer here than anywhere else.”
“I just need to get my things and leave,” I said. “I would like to know where they are.”
She looked back at Twilight and nodded, Twilight then nodded back and left the room, using telekinesis to close the door.
“Um,” I said, using my master wit. “What’s going on?”
“My student apparently thinks you pose a threat to us in some way,” she responded. “And it is best to do this with a quiet environment.” She lowered her head and neared me.
“I am not a threat,” I said, starting to panic. “I came here on accident! I swear! I was just trying to get away from the Changelings so I could stop them.”
Her horn touched my head and the world faded from view.
***********
I heard the lock click open as I turned the tension bar. Another success, another set of equipment.
I walked into the store and grabbed food first. I ate while I gathered more things for the rest of my trip. I would need to check my injuries soon, too.
I sat down, getting dizzy. Maybe I should have gotten care first. That would have been the smart thing to do.
I heard footsteps coming my way and moved behind the bench. In the dark, they wouldn’t see me. I could wait until they passed so I could take care of my injury and finish my scavenging. It would only be a few minutes.
They stopped right in front of me.
I watched as their shoes turned and faced me. I looked up to see a gentle-faced woman looking down at me. She held out her hand and helped me to my feet.
“Let me help you with that,” she said, kindly smiling at me.
***********
I lay in a hospital bed as the police talk in the hallway. My arm was in a sling and I was still a little drowsy from the anesthetic, but I knew they were talking about me. I was a hot topic as of late, with all of my break-ins.
One of the police officers walked into the room. “Under normal circumstances, you would be arrested on the spot,” he said. “But, you have proven yourself to be highly skilled. Ever since you disappeared all those years ago, you’ve done all this. You’ve stayed low on the radar and have shown exceptional skill.
“So instead of arresting you, we were considering recruiting you. Not as an officer, but a consultant.”
I looked at him, wondering exactly why they were giving me this chance. But before I could really think about it, I said something.
“When do I start?”
************
I saw the regal figure step away and caught my breath. “What did you just do?” I asked.
“I was reading your memories,” she responded. “The most important ones stand out the most in the mind. Those are the ones we make the biggest decisions on. I had to make sure your decisions didn’t lead to infiltration.”
I looked up at her. “You’re… extremely calm considering what you just saw.”
She chuckled a little. “You are not the first human to cross into this world,” she said. “And I doubt you will be the last.”
“How many?” I asked, moving towards a glass case.
“Including you, almost five dozen,” she said.
I looked at her, trying to make a face of disbelief. It was a lot harder to do with an equine face. “How is that possible?”
“You are not the only one who thought of a way to get to other worlds,” she replied.
I sat down for a moment, trying to figure out what to do. If I could make allies, I should. It would greatly increase my chances of survival. But if I did, then it would put them at risk.
“I think I will take my things and leave now,” I said.
“I was hoping I would be able to change your mind,” she said.
“Then change it,” I said. “I’ll give you five minutes.”
“Is that how you treat leaders where you come from?”
“You could be God and I would treat you the same way,” I said. “Every minute I’m here is another minute those creatures could figure out what I did. They could find this place because of me.”
“They won’t,” she said.
“How can you be so sure?” I asked.
“Because this area is an open rift in the skin of reality,” she explained, facing me. “The only reason you came here is because of the energy leaking out, drawing you towards it. You’ve probably noticed an increase in energy. That’s from the leak.
“You are not as bad as you think you are, nor are you as dangerous to us. However, to them, you are a great threat. You came through and have knowledge they need for their plans. That is the only reason they left you alive.”
“I already figured that one out,” I said.
“But you haven’t figured out one thing,” she said. “Why are you the centerpiece?”
“What are you talking about?” I asked, starting to back toward the door.
“You will soon see,” she said. “Now is the time to make your choice.”
I started to feel a little lightheaded and almost sat down. I would have if I hadn’t backed into the door. “I’m going to go get my things,” I said. 1:04 pm
I still felt a little off in the equine body, but I was getting used to it. I was using my abilities more frequently, due to a lack of thumbs, but it wasn’t as exhausting as before. And everything just felt, right.
Still a little weird.
I walked up to see the training area and saw Twilight on the other end of it, watching. I started to the other end to talk to Twilight when I saw something happen in the training field. Being the person I am, I stopped where I was and stared for a few seconds.
After that, I focused and tried to lightly tear a rift so I could show these ponies a few things. I could feel the buildup of power, but something didn’t feel quite right.
Then there was a flash of light and I was standing on the floor where I was trying to go.
I felt the world spinning around me, and it stopped suddenly. If I weren’t used to gravitational changes, I would have been floored by the shift.
Instead, I just sat down.
Regaining my bearings, I stood up slowly. I looked at the two ponies by me and gave a small smile. “I didn’t mean to do that,” I said. “But I did try to come down here.” I turned to the green one that had made the mistake. “Do you realize what you did wrong?”
“U-um,” he stammered. “No.”
“Figures,” I muttered. “You let him in your defenses. When your hoof came up to hit, you left the open space for him to kick, or maybe hit you with something a little more lethal. What you want to do is move in with a spin and hit him hard in the jaw from underneath, then follow up immediately with a kick to the ribs.”
I looked at the blue pony the green one was sparing with and nodded. He somehow got the clue and came at me with the same tactic as last time. I demonstrated, using a little extra power to disperse the blows enough so it didn’t hurt him too much.
That’s when I realized the silence around me. I looked at all the faces staring at me. “Carry on,” I said, attempting to replicate the teleportation. Of course, that’s when I was able to open a rift.
I walked through and stood next to Twilight. The green pony moved forward and tried to mirror what I had done alone before facing his opponent.
“I thought you were leaving,” Twilight said.
“I gave it some thought,” I replied, “And decided to stay. All of you could use some real training.”
I turned to face her and could see a small smile on her muzzle. “Glad you could join us. Although, it would help if we knew your name.”
“I’m the Gatekeeper,” I said.
“The Gatekeeper?” Twilight asked, looking at me a little more closely than I would have preferred. “You’re the Gatekeeper? I thought you’d be taller.”
“You’ve heard of me?” I asked, a little confused.
“You mean you don’t know?” she asked. “You’re supposed to-”
“Wait!” I said, cutting her off. “I’ve seen this before. You’re going to tell me about some prophecy and I’m going to try to change it, only causing it to come to pass. I am not falling into that little trap.”
“It’s not so much a prophecy as it is a story,” Twilight said.
“Still don’t want to hear it,” I said. “Something like that always complicates things.”
“Alright,” she said.
I looked back at the training ponies. “How much do they know? About this?”
“They only know that the Changelings have tried to invade once before, and this is a more successful attempt. They don’t know what they’re doing.”
“It took a few days for those things to get the information they needed from that person and build up enough power to open a Gateway,” I said. “That gives us a week, week and a half at most before they open it again and try something.”
“We can’t stop them, even with the numbers we have,” Twilight said. “They have more experience and skill in combat. Plus they can feed off of the emotions of that time.”
“Then let’s get to work training them for the fight of their lives,” I said.
“Now try moving inside and stunning your opponent before they can react,” I said to my students. “If you can do that, you stand a good chance of surviving a fight with a Changeling. But remember to think. Not so much you’re distracted, but enough to keep these things from feeding off of you.”
Twilight walked up to me and smiled. “They’ve come a long way since you started teaching them,” she said as my students practiced.
“They just needed the right motivation,” I said.
“They needed you,” Twilight said. “You’re the reason they might survive an encounter with a Changeling.”
“Don’t forget that I’m also the reason they need this knowledge,” I said.
“You made a mistake,” she said. “We all make mistakes.”
I walked back to the wall and rang the bell for the end of class. “Remember to practice,” I said.
Twilight walked up beside me and looked at me. “You’re not to blame for this,” she said. “You didn’t force them to attack, nor did you even suggest it to them.”
“But I did let the information through,” I said.
Twilight brushed up against me briefly before moving past. I stiffened before continuing to my room. Once I got there, I started to disarm myself.
That’s when everything went to hell.
The front of my room exploded, throwing me against the back wall. I hit the floor and was stunned, only for a moment, but that’s all the time it needed.
I felt something pick me up and smash me against the wall before hitting me repeatedly. I did all I could to block the oncoming assault, but it wasn’t much.
Soon, the thing got in a lucky hit to my head and I blacked out.
***********
I looked at the board, trying to figure it out. There had to be some clue, some misstep that would lead to this guy.
“You’ve been staring at that board for hours,” said my partner. “You need to take a break. I’ll see if I can do anything about this.”
“No offense,” I said. “But you won’t be able to solve this. I’ve been tracking this guy for years and I’m just now starting to figure out where he is and who he took.”
She walked up and leaned against me. “Sometimes you need another perspective. Sometimes all it takes is something from the outside to help.”
I thought about that for a second. I sat down and closed my eyes, saying, “Maybe you’re right. See if you can find anything.”
************
We had a location and were on our way so we could stop the guy. We had to move quickly, as he had just made a ransom move. I drove a little more recklessly trying to get there.
When we finally did get there, I leapt out of the car. I drew my sidearm and got to the door before waiting for anything else. I looked at my partner, her stern look telling me it was time for work. I moved in front of the door and kicked it in, yelling, “POLICE!”
We moved through, checking each floor of the warehouse to find him. When we finally did, though, it was nothing like what we had expected.
The girl was tied to a chair, duct tape around her mouth, with a bomb on the back. The man we were looking for was standing behind her, not looking very worried.
“Disarm the bomb and let her go,” I said with as much authority as I could muster. I had to stall this guy for as long as I could.
“I can’t,” he said, holding up a device. “It’s wired to this. Direct line. If anything interrupts the signal, it goes off.”
“Dead man’s trigger,” I muttered. “Let her go. We can all walk away from this.”
“None of us are walking away,” he said. “You broke the promise. Now we all pay the price.”
He let the trigger go.
I screamed, trying to get to the girl in time to save her, but I was too far away and the bomb blast blew me back. I felt heat and shrapnel rip at me; tearing at my body. I could feel the pressure as if some gigantic creature were sitting on me. My ears popped loudly as the ringing set in.
Then it was over. I carefully rolled over onto my back and looked at where the girl had been sitting with the man behind her. The spot my partner was trying to get into to stop him.
All that was left was bone fragments and a scorch mark.
I had failed.
***********
I slowly returned to consciousness and rolled over onto my stomach. I pushed myself to my hooves and looked around. My room was searched and there were holes outside as well.
I grabbed my things and ran out the front hole.
There was destruction everywhere. I could see craters and bodies all over the place. I checked the ones I came across and was relieved to find them still alive. I could feel something around me, though. Something wasn’t right.
For the second time that day, everything exploded.
I could feel the blast shove me off the ground, almost hitting a wall. My armor took more of the impact this time, making it easier for me to recover and hit the oncoming Changeling.
It stopped in its tracks, stunned, and I hit it again. I pulled my blade and shoved it through the armored hide of the thing before turning around to face the surrounding creatures. I had a perfectly calm expression and was ready to take them on.
That’s when I heard the scream.
At that point, I didn’t care if they were feeding off of me. I didn’t care if my armor was almost useless against their magical attacks. I didn’t care about anything but stopping these creatures before they could hurt anyone else.
I couldn’t fail again.
I pulled my revolver and started to shoot. Each of my bullets hit home in the eyes of my opponents. The only problem was that there were two dozen Changelings and only six bullets. So I fixed that.
I unloaded my gun and pulled a sword out of the armory, swinging it around at my enemies. I used it effortlessly, cutting through them with ease. I would have continued if I hadn’t run out of Changelings.
“Gatekeeper,” I heard the ruler from before say. “Put the sword down. Now.”
I turned to face her. Why should I put the sword down? I thought. I like this sword. This sword is easy to use and very light.
“Stop before you hurt yourself,” she said. “You cannot control it.”
I was about to attack her when I heard Twilight behind her. She limped out in front of me and said, “Put it down. The fight is done.”
Somehow, she got to me. I set down the sword and was hit with a wave of exhaustion and pain. I fell to the side and almost passed out right then. But that would have been too kind.
I stared into the eyes of a dead pony before completely blacking out again.
***********
“It wasn’t your fault,” said the police chief. “You were the first ones there. It made sense to go in and stop him. He was just too far gone. He didn’t care. There was nothing you could have done.”
I could have stopped him,” I said. “I could have moved faster to get the trigger. I could have told her to stay back. I could have saved both of them.”
“No,” the chief said. “You couldn’t have. Accept that. Once you’ve done that, it makes it easier to handle. There was nothing you could have done.”
I simply nodded, not believing the words. I got up and started to go.
“Say it,” he said. “There was nothing you could do.”
“There was nothing I could do,” I said, feeling nothing.
***********
I woke up in a hospital bed. I could see the outline of a yellow pony with a pink mane and tail… and wings?! Right. Pegasi and unicorns. Speaking of unicorns, there was a purple one right in front of me. “How many?” I asked.
“What?” Twilight asked.
“How many did I hurt?” I repeated with that extra detail.
“It wasn’t you,” she said. “The Changelings did it. You stopped them.”
“Not before they did what they did,” I said. “I let the knowledge come here. My dimensional trail led them here. None of this would have happened if I had thought about it. All those injured and dead are on me.”
“How many times do I have to tell you it’s not your fault?” Twilight asked. “That’s in the past. Right now, you’re our only hope of getting through this.”
“Why’s that?” I asked, still thinking about everything.
“Because we haven’t seen fighting like this in over a thousand years,” Twilight said. “There’s an old word for this. War. And I don’t want to see war.”
“Then let’s see if we can stop them,” I said, moving to get up.
I felt a pain shoot up my side and lay back down. I looked at what had happened to me and saw all of the injuries. “When can I get out of here?”
“You won’t be for a while,” Twilight said. “Your injuries are beyond that of even Fluttershy’s skill. She was only able to lessen the extremes. I’m a little surprised you even survived at all.”
“I’m guessing that’s the doctor over there?” I asked, pointing with a hoof.
“Yes,” Twilight said. “She said you’re going to need to rest for a few days before doing anything important. That give us time to plan our next move and-”
“No,” I said. “No planning. They were organized. They set explosives. They’ve been here the entire time so they could catch us off-guard. We need to hit them back as hard and as fast as we can.”
“You need to stay here,” Twilight said. “I trust Fluttershy’s word. You are going to stay here and rest while we take care of everything else.”
I sighed. “You said yourself I was your only hope of stopping this. Seeing as my involvement is more than just spectating, I’m going to be helping.”
“You are going to stay in bed,” Twilight said firmly. “We don’t need our greatest asset killing himself because he thought he should get involved.”
“Fine,” I said. “At least get me a weapon in case something happens,” I said.
“I’ll have one sent here,” Twilight replied. 12:58 pm
I hate hospitals. This was more of a clinic, but it was too much like a hospital for me to enjoy rest. I couldn’t think about anything but what might happen to them without me. I had the one thing that would win this.
And I was stuck alone in a white room without thumbs to twiddle.
I was about to just give up and move around just to do something, but that’s when I heard something from down the hall.
I focused for a minute, and was able to successfully open a rift and step through. I turned to close it, only to see it had closed on its own.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
I felt my ears press against my head as I turned to see the ruling figure standing above me. I gave her a sheepish smile and said, “Um.” Yep. Me and my expert control over the English language. “I got bored and heard something down here.”
“You should be resting,” she said.
“Yeah,” I replied. “I’ve never been too good at sitting still.”
“You also seem to be in much better condition than I was led to believe,” she said, looking at me sternly. “How is that?”
“Injuries don’t like me,” I said, regaining some of my confidence.
She gave me a look I couldn’t quite place. That was a lot harder now that I knew equine facial expressions well. It really is!
“I was wondering what was going on,” I said.
Twilight walked out from around the corner. “We were having a private discussion about that sword you used.”
“What about it?” I asked.
The regal figure looked at me. “What is your name?” I asked her. “I don’t think it would be appropriate for me to keep thinking of you as ‘that regal figure’ or ‘magical ruling horse.’ They don’t really sound good.”
“My name is Celestia,” she said. “I find it odd that you didn’t ask sooner, considering who you are.”
“I tend to be unpredictable,” I said.
“As I’ve noticed,” Celestia replied.
“So what is it about that sword you find so interesting, Celestia?” I asked.
“It’s a sword of darkness,” Celestia replied. “It holds a power unlike any other and has only been tapped once before. That turned into a foe dangerous enough to banish to the Everlasting Nothing. However, it was only a temporary solution.”
“Wait, you can reach into the Void?!” I asked incredulously. “I knew you were powerful, but even I have trouble with that, and I have special abilities that let me do that!”
“It is much simpler in this world,” Celestia said. “We have inherent powers and the energy in our environment.
“But as I was saying, this blade caused the change in that pony’s heart. He was trying to steal the power away from those he didn’t think deserved it, and became the worst monarch in all of history. He was tainted by the dark powers of the Blade. This contamination led to his eventual escape.
“When he returned, he almost caused the entire world to suffer for his mistreatment of others. Only by completely destroying him did we defeat him.
“Now think of what will happen if you are tainted by the powers of the Blade.”
I looked over at the sword and could already feel the pull. “Could I just examine it?” I asked. “I won’t touch it, just look at it. I have a guess as to what it is, but I’m not exactly sure. Not to mention how impossible it is.”
“There is no need for that,” Celestia said. “We know of its origins.”
Twilight walked up to me and held out a very old looking scroll for me. I reached for it, and then remembered I didn’t have hands and took it in my telekinesis.
Sword of Power Blade of Darkness
Properties: Sharp edge, doesn’t seem to dull; nothing available can break it; made of a red alloy; gives off strange power surges; acts like a drug to all users.
Test #1:
The Blade is able to cut through anything we throw at it. Nothing can get past it, or its wielder. It also shows immense strength and stability, not even bending with 700 kilomacs twisting it. We almost broke the machine trying to go higher.
It also shows strange effects on the subject. He seems to be using the Blade more and more often, occasionally sleeping with it. It’s almost as if the sword itself is talking to him to keep him there.
Test #7:
No change at all over the past week, other than the subject seeming to not go anywhere without the sword now. Nothing is the same as it was before. He doesn’t have the same goals. Now he wants to use the sword to not just take the power away, but take it for himself.
Day # 19:
I won’t be able to do much more of this, if any. A great responsibility has fallen to my sister and me.
All because of that sword.
The sword will be called something different as soon as I can correct the title. If only I could have tried it for myself. Maybe then this wouldn’t have happened.
I looked at Celestia over the scroll. “You couldn’t use it?” I asked.
“No,” she answered plainly. “I could barely watch the trials.”
I sighed. There was only one thing it could be at this point. Only one sword could be that dangerous.
5/15/2058 1:49 pm I looked around my repaired room. It had been a while since the last attack, and I was starting to grow paranoid. I thought a little bit, then tried the ‘spell’ Twilight had shown me to find Changelings. When nothing came up, I relaxed a little, but not enough to put my knife away.
I heard a knock at my door and spun to face it. I trotted up to it and opened it to see Twilight standing in front of me.
“They’re moving,” she said.
“Where?” I asked.
“They’re coming up all over Equestria,” she replied. “We can’t even slow them down!”
“They have everything ready, then,” I said. “We need to set up an attack on them, right in the heart of their base. It’s happening today.”
“I’ll tell everyone,” she said. 2:27 pm
I stood in the room, waiting for someone to tell me it was a bad idea. There was always someone.
“Let’s do it,” said one of them.
Twilight got up and started to open the walls. “So you did take my recommendation on the wall armories,” I said.
“It was a smart idea,” Twilight replied blandly.
I pulled her into the hallway for a moment. “You are acting odd,” I said. “Not only do you seem unfocused, but you’re acting even more boring than usual.”
“War isn’t something fun,” she said.
“No, it isn’t” I told her. “But that’s why we have to have fun outside the warzone as much as possible. Not only do we have an enemy to fight, but we don’t know when we’re going to die. So at least lighten up a bit.”
She looked up at me and gave a small smile. “I might just have to have Celestia take away all your books,” I said jokingly. “Then you would have no choice but to come to me in your free time. And you really don’t want to know what I do in my free time.”
She gave a small chuckle at that and hugged me. “Thank you.”
“I am not a huggy person,” I choked out as she squeezed tighter. “Too much hugging, too much hugging!”
She let go and gave me a smile of, Joke’s on you. “You’re good,” I said. “I’ll get you back, just you wait and see.”
We might die in the next few hours, but if that was so, then we would die with a smile on our faces. 4:58 pm
I could feel my heart thundering in my chest. My breath came in quick rasps as I fought my way through the army of Changelings outside their base. Each one was a kill, but that didn’t affect me as much as it did when I first started.
I heard someone scream and I blasted a shot of raw energy straight at the top of their base. The scream told me there was no direct way in, so I had to delay the attack on my world for as long as I could.
I was already starting to feel the strain on my body, and I was the one with extra resistance against wear and tear, physically. Mentally, my mind was screaming at me to stop using my abilities so much. There was too much going on and I had to do something.
So I shot the ground.
I flew through the air as the force threw me up. I pushed myself up and tried to steer my way toward the towering base, but was shot down after a few seconds. I hit the ground and could barely contain a scream as my shoulder dislocated.
I pulled myself up and tried to focus on my knife so I could use that, but my shoulder was too much. I ran up to one of the many large boulders and pushed my foreleg back into place, letting out a scream.
One of the ponies looked at me in confusion. “It hurts more when it goes back in,” I explained. I then sent another bolt of energy at the Changeling behind him. “And you should stay aware! This isn’t training!”
I spun around and faced a half-dozen before hearing the explosion. I gathered up some energy and shoved it all at them in a wave, taking them all out at once.
When I reached the opening, I saw what we were really up against.
There were tall Changelings, all facing the doorway, all with various dark colors as their underlying power. I could barely hold myself together from the onslaught of mental attacks. I was barely holding up to their torment.
And they weren’t even breaking a sweat.
I pulled out my revolver and shot at them. This was the best chance to use the few bullets I had left. I put one in each of them and began to move forward.
And one stood in front of the Gateway.
She was easily taller than the previous ones, towering over me. She had a green glow behind a bluish shell with dark red pits where her all-black eyes were. I could see the sheer power shedding from her hide as she stood there, waiting for me.
“Stop this,” I said, barely able to get my normal voice heard. When she didn’t react, I tried something a little different.
I focused on my vocal cords and spoke with simple intent: demand. “Stop this,” I bellowed. “While you still have the chance.”
The Changeling looked at me with those black eyes and spoke with a rasping, but still loud, voice. “You dare threaten me? I am Queen of all Changelings! You are nothing but a speck to be blown away. You are a fool for such demands.”
I looked at her and changed my posture, standing straighter. “I am the Gatekeeper, of the Human world you are attempting to take, protector of all paths to and from my world. I have the power to turn you to dust so do not make an attempt to intimidate me. I warned you to stop, yet you persist.
“I hereby challenge you, Queen of all Changelings, to a one-on-one duel for the fate of not just one world, but both. If I win, you will surrender your control over the Changelings to me and accept punishment for your crimes. If you win, I will turn in my duty and give you this world as well as my own.”
She laughed. Of all things she could have done, she laughed. And it was a very creepy, rasping, sinister laugh. “I accept your challenge, Gatekeeper.”
I took a slow breath as I looked at my enemy. Everything had fallen silent since my challenge and there were a few too many spectators for my liking.
“What is your weapon of choice?” I asked her.
She formed two swords out of pure energy and held them out toward me. “These are my weapons.”
I looked at her. I had no chance of winning this if I only used one weapon, but I would break the rules of the duel if I used more than the two she held now. Unless…
I reached back with my telekinesis and touched cold metal of the Red Steel Blade. I drew the Sword and my combat knife and faced my opponent. “My weapons of choice are these blades.”
We faced each other in front of the Gateway and faced off.
I attacked first, trying to head off any attacks she might have. I had to hit hard and fast if I had any chance of winning this fight. I brought the knife up and the sword around, trying as hard as I could to not tap the power within. I moved quickly, but not quite quickly enough.
I felt the blade cut over my injured shoulder. I could barely move my knife to intercept so I could keep it from cutting any deeper. I moved forward and felt gravity rearrange as I moved through the open Gateway.
I was holding the Sword and knife and brought them around in a swing that made a small slash across her chest, now that we were more equally sized. She moved through the portal to attack me, but was disoriented from the change to human and moved slowly enough for me to get in a clean attack.
I had done enough damage to her that she was actually breathing hard. I could see her moving a little slower with each strike.
Then she healed.
I could barely comprehend the regeneration in front of me. All of the hits I had made on her were healing before my eyes! She stood there with gashes closing rapidly.
And it gave me exactly the time I needed to get in one more strike.
I swung hard to bring the blade across her legs to cripple her, but it hit hard shell. She looked at me and I looked into her eyes. She moved her hand swiftly, already adapted to the new body, and threw me a few feet away.
“Yield,” she said in that same rasping voice. “While you still can.”
I stared at her and held her gaze as I pulled myself to my feet. I brought the sword forward and it was shot away by a beam of pure energy. I brought the knife around and my hand was grabbed and twisted to drop it. I could only watch as she stared into my eyes, mouth opening wide, showing razor-sharp teeth.
I could see the explosion and feel the heat. I could hear the ringing in my ears and the guilt in my gut. Everything was as if I was back at that explosion, maybe even the fight at the base.
I couldn’t fail again.
I reached deep inside me and brought my powers into focus to build a solid barrier in front of me. She hit the shield with enough force to bounce me off the ground. My vision exploded into stars and I could barely keep my focus on the battle.
All I needed to do, though, was reach down and bring the Sword up.
The upward slice was supposed to hit her hard enough to stun her so I could get ahead in this fight. What really happened was a backlash of energy from the Sword throwing me back and lashing out at my target. It hit her harder than I had imagined and she hit the ground with a thud. I could feel my head almost splitting from the impact against a wall.
I pushed myself to move forward. Step by step, I neared my enemy. I could see fear in those black orbs, somehow. I could tell she was done.
“You have won,” she admitted. “I honor my deals.”
Then I felt a rush of relief as power flooded through me. My vision sharpened and I could touch the minds of ever creature on the other side of the portal that was under her control a few seconds earlier.
I pulled out energy cuffs, knowing they would be the only things keeping her from destroying this world. She may not have control over the Changelings anymore, but she was still powerful.
The former Queen of the Changelings suddenly stiffened, looking at me. “You have not seen your last foe, nor you most powerful. You will soon face another such as yourself and a choice that will destroy you.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked her.
Before she could answer, the feds had shown up. They came in between us and started to move her towards a prison designed to hold enemies as powerful as myself.
I looked across the Gateway at my purple friend. “Any ideas what that was?”
Twilight looked at me, her left foreleg off the ground. “It sounded like a sort of prophecy,” she said.
“Didn’t I say something about those?!” I exclaimed. “Every time something really significant happens after another, there’s some prophecy about whoever was at both. I HATE prophecies.”
She chuckled lightly. “That’s what you normally look like?”
“Talk about a sudden topic shift,” I said. “Yeah. This is what I’m used to.”
“You look strange,” she said.
“Says the talking purple unicorn,” I said, earning a laugh. “Now you understand why I was laughing.”
“I guess,” she said, looking up at me. “You’re going to stay there?”
“I have to,” I said. “This is where I belong.”
“Then this is goodbye?” she asked.
“Nope,” I said, grinning. “I may have to stay here because it’s my home dimension and I have a specific job here, but that doesn’t mean I can’t visit you in yours.”
She looked at me with a smile on my face. “Next time I see you, I’ve got to introduce you to one of my other friends. You’re a lot like her.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment,” I said. “Until next time, Twilight Sparkle.”
“See you soon, Gatekeeper,” she replied.
I reached out and closed the Gateway with my abilities. Sealing the path cut off my control over the Changelings, so I really hoped they weren’t attacking again.
I walked up to one of the cars and sat on the hood. All I could do was waiting for my friend at the head of this government operation to show up so I could explain everything anyways.
It had been a long couple of weeks, and it was time to sit down and relax for a good, long while.