//------------------------------// // 5 - Truth [EDITED] // Story: Remember, Always // by TheFullCrumb //------------------------------// The train slowly slid to a stop in the Canterlot station. Looking out a window, Volt could not help but feel overwhelmed. It reminded him of the medieval towns he had once visited, the clever recreations made by enthusiasts who had too much time and money on their hands. When he trotted out, he waited for Twilight, her friends, and Dawn, watching to see if any of the refugees would get off as well. Sitting on the bench, he started looking around at the various ponies of Canterlot. They seemed very... opulent. That made him very uncomfortable. “I remember the last time I dealt with those who were, well, opulent.” He watched Dawn come out, trailed by Twilight, still rubbing her eyes, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, who was repositioning her hat after the wind from a busted window – Volt remembered he would eventually pay for that sometime – and Rainbow Dash. Volt trotted up to Dawn and shook his head. “Me and those who live in opulence, we don't mix. The last time I met some like that, we ended up in a fight, though I won. For a few months afterwards, wherever I went, the friends of the one I had beaten senseless followed me around, trying to find some way to get me back for what I did. They never got a chance. The police didn't like them, which meant they sided with me when I got attacked.” He stared at the sky. “Pretty clear up here.” “Considering what happened, it's better in the mountains where it's harder to get into a city built onto one.” Volt merely shrugged and began trotting, looking at everything. “This is quite... strange.” He tried talking to a Canterlot pony, but that one turned up his nose and trotted away with an air of superiority. “And that's why I don't mix.” “You are mostly covered in soot, you know.” Volt looked in a mirror. Dawn was right, he was covered with soot, though it was thinner in some areas. “I guess I am. There should be a place to get a bath around here, right?” ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Volt stood in front of two of the largest doors he had ever seen. On the front was emblazoned a symbol of a pony taking a bath. “Are you absolutely sure I'm allowed to go in there? I'm not some kind of hero, nor am I the type who has an overabundance of money.” Twilight pushed him towards the door. “Come on. I came here a lot when I lived here. Don't be scared, Volt! Just go in!” The large doors swung open to show several rows of what appeared to be maids with their noses in the air. Volt stared at them in fear as he tried to escape from Twilight, who had apparently gotten her friends to keep him in one place. When the maids saw Volt, they turned up their noses and trotted away. “Snot-nosed nobles. Never caring for anypony below them.” Twilight stared down at Volt, who was now getting up. Volt turned back to Twilight, with a scowl on his face. “I'll do it, but because I like tormenting these kinds of peop- I mean ponies.” He trotted forwards to the front desk, where the clerk backed up as he stood there. “W-What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be, you know, not in Canterlot?” He pulled off the red shirt and showed the clerk his bandages. “I need a bath. A warm one. Also for Twilight Sparkle and her friends.” At the mention of Twilight's name, the clerk perked up. “Twilight? Oh, I'm sorry, my dears. I did not recognize you with all that... um, soot on your faces. I'll go tell them to get the private baths ready.” Volt turned back to Twilight with a quizzical expression. “Private baths? If you tell me your parents were snot-nosed nobles...” “Well, they were hard workers, they worked for everything they had, which made them the only noble-ponies to do so.” A butler, who seemed obviously disgusted at Volt's appearance, with bloodied bandages and soot covering him, looked down at the ground, motioning which way to go. “This way, girls.” When Volt tried to go with them, the butler stopped him, anger flashing in his eyes. “No, you cannot enter. This is for more... important ponies. You will have to go somewhere else.” Volt stepped forward, putting his nose right in the butler's face. “I've seen an entire town almost burn to the ground. I had to help pull charred corpses from the wreckage. I could have died in that blaze myself as well! Does that not count for anything around here?!” Volt stared and forced himself forwards until the butler fell over backwards. Volt looked up to see that most of the staff were now staring at him with angry looks. “So, is this how it is? This whole bath building is only for nobles? All right, I get it. I'm out.” As he was leaving, he noticed Dawn standing by the door. “You're not going to have a bath or something?” “Snot-nosed nobles who cannot understand that injuries mean that somepony needs more care than a stinking noble.” He shot an angry look back at the butler he had left on the floor, frightening him into scurrying away. “How about you?” “I don't like nobles all that much, and Twilight and her friends are very important here in Equestria. It's not like we can do anything about it.” Volt sat down beside Dawn on a bench outside the baths. A guard came up and stared at them as they sat down. “Sir, you should be moving along. There's no loitering allowed here.” Volt's eye twitched as he tried to control his anger. “I just sat down. You're going to make me move just because I just sat down?” He was doing his best to control the rage now forcing its way up into the forefront of his mind, but it was a losing battle. “I have just about had it! 'Oh, you're not important enough to have a bath, so leave!' 'You can't sit there, that's loitering if you've just sat down!' Can you tell I'm not happy?!” The guard raised a spear to Volt's throat. “You need to go.” “Really. You're really going to do that, aren't you? If this was where I was from, I would slap a brutality charge on you!" He moved his head slightly, moving forwards to put his face in the guard's. "Do it. I dare you." "Volt! Stop it!" Dawn was shouting at him, although it sounded far away. Volt turned to see the shaft of the spear impact his face slowly. He was out within seconds. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Volt woke up in a dungeon. Where, he could not tell. He tried to move, but felt shooting pains moving, forcing him to stay still. “What's going on here? Why am I in a cell? What, did I offend some idiotic noble?” A voice from outside the door to the dimly-lit cell startled him. “Shut up, prisoner. You threatened a guard. That is a punishable crime. Just be glad we did not kill you.” Volt struggled again, stopping when the pain started up. “So, you're just going to keep me locked up in here? Sheesh, and all Twilight tried to do was get me into those baths.” He laid back and stared up at the window. It was small, with thick bars.Volt stared at another pony who was in the room with him. “Ah, another one. You got put in here too?” “Yeah. Who are you?” “I have no name, I am but an echo of a pony, a pony who has been here too long, with memory that faded along with it.” Volt struggled again, trying to break loose. “I'm afraid that those bindings are quite secure. They're meant to break your spirit, prevent you from ever hoping to escape.” “I will escape, you can be sure of that. I saved a town, while most of those snot-nosed nobles have been given what they have on silver plates.” He stared at the pony, who had two red pinpricks focused on Volt. As it came into the light, it was like nothing Volt had ever seen. It was chained up in restraints like his, but it was a pony, with holes- a changeling. “You're a changeling. How did they even capture you without you getting sent out into the far reaches by Twilight's brother?” The changeling laughed as it moved back to its corner of darkness. “I was not one of the changelings that Chrysalis had used to invade. But they don't understand that. There are two groups within the changelings: those who are controlled by Chrysalis, and those who are immune. The need to feed on 'love', as she so 'lovingly' states, is her need for dominance. She is but a usurper who uses foul, dark magic to elicit the reactions she wants, using spells that are forbidden, even to changelings. I have seen only a handful myself, but they can remove the immunity that us Red-eyes have against her control. The Green-eyes, the ones that Twilight's brother expelled, they're the ones that are evil, not my kind.” “So, there are two groups? Why does it not state it in history books?” “Because then they'd have to acknowledge that changelings can be good. All we are is puppets to Chrysalis. She planned on Twilight's brother and his wife expelling her from the city, so that they would be unprepared. She planned it all, pretending to be shocked when she was removed from the city of Canterlot.” The eyes turned to look at the door of the cell. “I've tried myself to bust out of here before, but that door is what keeps me in. It's enchanted.” “So, how why would that guard treat me like I was less than the common pony? I mean, really, this is not what I expected at all from them.” Volt sighed and tried to wiggle, finding that he was also chained to the wall. “Well, they chained you to the wall. That must mean they really have it in for you... I'm sorry, what was your name again?” “Volt Ward. Now, please answer my question.” “One thing at a time, kid. Chrysalis has never lost interest in Canterlot, nor in Equestria. The love that the ponies feel for one another, it makes her envious of them. She is the one that feasts upon the love that one might have for another. But she wouldn't trust any changeling to keep tabs on Canterlot, no.” “Hey, for the purpose of remembering, can I call you Red?” “Fine.” Red moved into the light, a broken horn adorning his head. “She has various spies among the ponies of Canterlot, mainly those who feel that a societal shift is necessary." “Shoot.” Volt sighed, staring at the window again. “If Twilight knew where I was, she'd get me out.” “Yeah, she would, but how would she know that she could trust you? You're in a cell with me, a changeling, and from what I've been told, she doesn't like us all that much.” Red stared from his dark corner once again. “Her spies are the reason my horn's broken.” Volt stared at the door, in deep thought. “Yeah, you're right. Being in a prison cell is not the way to go to get somepony to trust you.” Volt sighed and stopped struggling. He stared up at the ceiling as he decided to go to sleep. “Better to sleep than to know I'm in here, right?” ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ When he looked around, he was once again on top of the hospital, on the edge about to jump. He pulled himself back, staring at the railing. “I was going to jump, wasn't I?” A voice behind him startled him. “Yes, you were, and you would have died. I'm sorry for what's happened, really, I truly am.” A pale man in a business suit kept his gaze locked on Erik. “I never intended for what has occurred. You were supposed to become a part of their populace, remaining happy and pain-free. I was a fool for believing that I could change someone.” Erik moved forward, patting his hand on the man's shoulder. “If this is all your fault-” He grabbed the man's arm. “-then you're coming with me, you jerk!” As they both ran towards the edge, the businessman struggling, Erik shouted as much as possible. “You're the reason I cannot remember anything! I won't hardly remember this dream, as it will feel like that, a dream!” They tumbled over the railing, the wind dying down as events started over again. Erik watched the man pull out a stopwatch and press a button on it. “You really have no idea what's going on, do you?” ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Volt woke up, barely remembering what he was dreaming about. He could barely remember the other dreams he'd had, as if they were some kind of past life that somepony else had once had. He looked around. Red was gone, and his restraints were undone. The door was still bolted shut, but he was fine. Looking down, he saw the bandages gone. Scars ran all over his body like a network of spiderwebs, intricately connected to be something bigger. “What?” I am definitely certain that I was in severe pain a while ago. How long was I out? Looking out the window, he saw it was night-time. There were no ponies around, making him feel very alone. He slid back down the cell wall until he was lying down. “Well, I guess that's that. I'm stuck in here when I should be out there, trying to prepare them for something that they won't be expecting this time.” His monologue was interrupted by Celestia opening his door. “I'm sorry, Volt. The guards could not explain why they were holding you, they just said that one of their number had brought you in and tossed you in here, ordering the rest to guard you while you were restrained.” Celestia levitated a lantern onto a ceiling hook, illuminating the room. Volt stared at her. “Why would you do this for me? Really, I'm nothing but trouble, it seems.” He stared down at the ground as Celestia walked slowly up to him, extending her wing around him. “All of my little ponies are dear to me. This was an injustice on a guard's part, but for some reason, they cannot find the one responsible. They will find the guard responsible.” She stared down at Volt with a motherly expression. “Eventually. But you needed to talk to me?” Volt trotted beside her as they made their way to the throne room. “It's about a changeling that you and the Elements fought. Specifically, Queen Chrysalis.” Celestia went absolutely pale when she heard Volt mention Chrysalis, much paler than her already pale coat. “Chrysalis? But she was banished from Equestria! How can this be about her?” Volt stared up with anger at Celestia, anger that was not directed at her. “You failed. Or, those who banished her failed. It was a simple safeguard you should have had in place. Did you even check where she was sent?” Celestia looked out the window. "Several groups of guards were sent to locate the landing point of the changelings and their queen, but they never returned." She turned back to Volt, a frown forming on her face. "I see where you're going with this." He pointed with his hoof to smoke coming off of several distant towns. “Many of those towns are burned to the ground because of her. Ponyville was saved only because, through the efforts of various individuals, they were able to get the ponies there moving in time to stop it.” Celestia stopped to open a large door, revealing an enormous round table with various constellations inscribed into it with gems. Twilight and her friends were already there, along with Red, who sat across from them. “They were waiting for you.” Volt sat down at the table, taking a spot beside Red, who was grinning from ear to ear. Volt turned to him with an irritated glance. “What are you so happy about?” “I've never been a part of anything before.” The smile faded when Celestia brought out a map, showing the extent of the changeling attack. “Many of the towns in the countryside have been reduced to mere foundations, forcing many to flee from their homes. But, there happens to be one place that still stands. Volt?” Volt put his hoof right on Ponyville. “Chrysalis hit here, and she hit hard. She was expecting the town to be asleep. I don't think she had taken into account that I was there.” He looked down at the map. “To tell the truth, I don't think she even knew I was there at all.” He pulled his hoof away, staring down at the map. “All roads lead to one destination eventually.” Volt tried to pick up a pencil nearby, but each time he did, it slipped out of his hoof. Twilight shook her head and looked to Celestia. “I don't think he has any idea how to use his magic. But considering what's happened, I don't think he has time to go through the training that I did.” Twilight glanced back at Celestia, who nodded. “Volt, could you please stand still? You need to understand a little about how to use magic before you can do anything useful.” Volt turned just as Celestia hit his head with her horn. A flash of light burst into being as it connected with Volt's mind. As it contacted, however, the light turned dark, and fizzled out. Volt stared at his hooves in curiosity. “Did you actually do anything?” He looked over at the pencil, and wondered about picking it up. “Unfortunately, I was not. Something about your magic refuses to allow me to share knowlege. I don't know what it could be, truthfully" “Well, then We've got to go with plan B." Picking the pencil up in his mouth, he drew lines from all the afflicted towns to Canterlot. He set it down to speak. “Right here. The city we sit in now. It's going to become a warzone.” He looked over at Pinkie Pie and frowned. “Should have let me have the name Warpath. You have no idea what you're getting yourselves into.” Celestia nodded when she looked at the map. “So, Chrysalis' final goal is Canterlot. Can't say I'm too surprised, considering her last attempt.” Volt shrugged. “If she's operating on any level of tactics that I know, then her attack could be at any time. She may have allies as well.” His voice trailed off as he stared out the window. Another thick plume of smoke floated from another town, that one far away from Canterlot. “I have a fair idea of her plan.” He brought his attention back to the table, tapping the map with his levitating pencil. “If you're worried more about your ponies being attacked, then you'll send more guards out, leaving your forces stretched thinly enough to where she could just waltz in and take this town with barely a fight.” Why do I feel so smug? It's what I learned from trying to write a military story. You have to know what you're talking about before you attempt to portray yourself as the one who understands the tactics. Volt looked out at guard ponies gathering in the courtyard. “Well, if you can't use magic, you could always talk with Twilight's brother about tactics..” Every eye in the room fell on Rainbow Dash. Twilight looked at her hoof, seemingly deep in thought. “You know? That's not a bad idea. Princess Celestia, what do you think? Celestia?” They all looked around, and noticed that Celestia was not in the room. Red chuckled. “Took you that long to notice, huh? She left already. Said something about talking to the Captain of the Guard, maybe teaching him a few things about tactics?” Red smirked at Volt, who was less than pleased. “This is a fight that cannot be taken lightly, Red. Can I count on your support?” Just as Red was about to give his answer, Celestia returned with what Volt assumed was the Captain of the Guard. “Captain Shining Armour, I would like you to meet Volt Ward. I'd like for you two to work together, create new tactics for our forces.” Volt trotted forward, extending a hoof. “Let's get down to business, shall we?”