Chapter VII

Wally burst from the water beneath the stream with an unconscious Candy on his back.

“H-hold on sis!” He gasped as he swam towards the bank. “I got ya! I got ya!”

He collapsed on the muddy bank in a pant. He rolled Candy off of his back and pressed his ear to her chest.

“She’s breathing!” He gasped in relief. “You’re breathing! Thank Celestia!”

He looked around in desperation. He wasn’t sure where he was. The blast had thrown him into a forest and it looked like a bomb had gone off. Trees were uprooted and thrown about, broken branches stuck from the ground like jagged teeth and the water in the stream was brown from the upset earth. Wally grimaced and looked down at his back right leg. There was a nasty gash and blood was flowing freely.

“Oh no!” He gasped. “Oh no!”

He rose to his hooves and grimaced in pain. He lifted his leg to keep his weight off of the wound.

“Somepony!” He called. “Anypony! Help!”

Suddenly, across the stream, Wally spotted a shadowy figure clad in a brown cloak.

“Hey!” He called. “We need help!”

The figure turned its back and disappeared into the trees.

“Hey! Wait!” Wally called.

Wally looked down at his unconscious sister. He looked back at the place the figure had been and groaned.

“Don’t go nowhere!” He yelled running to the stream.

With a grunt of effort, he jumped onto a log and began to make his way across the stream. He made it to the other side and looked around for any sign of the mysterious figure.

“Hey!” He yelled. “Are you there? Are you hurt?”

He saw a shadow move through the trees.

“Hey!” He called after them.

He ran into the trees and followed the cloaked figure through the trees. Every time he felt like he was beginning to feel lost the figure would appear again but Wally never managed to get closer than a few yards. He went deeper and deeper into the forest until he began to hear voices. Wally broke into a gallop, running through the trees and ignoring the throbbing pain in his leg. He came to a clearing and gasped at what he saw. Dozens of figures that walked on two legs were walking around. There was a bang and the pony fell backward over a log.

“Lielle!” A feminine voice cried. “Thank the nine! Are you injured?”

“No. No, I’m fine Esmeralda.” Another feminine voice replied.

“Where is your aunt? I thought she was right behind you?”

“She was, she… she told me that she was staying and then shoved me into the portal herself.”

“Gods...”

“Is everyone alright?” Lielle asked.

“Yes, we’re fine. Where’s-“

Another bang. Wally peered over the top of the log and saw a large green skinned figure with oil black hair and sharp tusks. He stumbled on the spot and two more armored figures helped him stay on his feet.

“Shahk! Are you alright?”

“Yeah.” He grunted. “Yeah, I’m fine! Get off of me.”

He jerked his arms away from the armored figures and popped his neck.

“Gods that was truly an awful feeling. Like I’d been submerged in liquid lightning.”

There were more bangs and flashes of light as more and more of those figures began to appear. Many wore heavy suits of armor and all of them wore clothes. Soon there were so many that Wally stopped counting. The forest clearing was now full of two-legged creatures of all shapes, sizes, and colors. Most looked kind of like apes except with much less hair while others looked like bipedal cats and lizards.

“Sweet sisters of the sun and moon,” Wally whispered to himself. “They’re ALIENS!”

The figure that was identified as Lielle looked around in a panic.

“Where are Bastian and Bartleby?” She asked.

“I don’t know.” The green one said. “They were right behind me.”

As if on cue there was another bang and another one of those things appeared in a burst of light.

“DARE!” He yelled as he fell to the ground.

A bag appeared out of thin air and landed on his head. Bastian growled in anger and rubbed his head as his eyes watered from pain.

“Bastian!” Lielle gasped. “Are you okay?”

“Damn you Bartleby!” Bastian roared.

“Bastian! What happened?” Shahk asked.

Bastian looked around them and took quick note of his surroundings, his eyes darting all around them before settling on his friends.

“Bartleby, he... he stayed behind," Bastian said. "He threw me through the portal to stand guard along with Savos and Mirabelle.”

The group was quiet. A shadow fell over the green one’s face and he sighed.

“Damnit. God dammit! This... this is awful news." Shahk muttered in disbelief. "We need to do a head count. How many made it through the portal?”

“I have all of the sick and injured from the Inn with me.” An orange-robed alien said.

“How many Blades are here?” The green one said. “Sound off!”

Figures dressed in suits of armor made of overlapping steel plates raised their shields and there were several cries of “Aye.”

“All of the students made it through,” Lielle said.

“Eight hundred and seventy-eight in total.” Bastian sighed looking at their numbers. “I scolded my brother for bringing more people to our camp and we arrived with less than we started out with.”

“We’re lucky to have made it all.” An alien with grayish blue skin and pointy ears said. “It could have been a lot worse.”

“That only leaves us one question,” Shahk said. “Where in oblivion are we?”

They were silent for a moment. Bastian looked around and his eyes fell on the spot where Wally was hiding. Wally’s eyes widened and he ducked down.

“I saw something!” Bastian said.

“Crap crap crap!” Wally thought.

There was the sound of scraping metal as everyone with a weapon drew it. Wally cursed again and clamped his hooves over his mouth.

“What was it?!”

“A monster?!”

“A dragon?!”

“No,” Bastian said. “It was not a dragon. It was something else. Something… new.”

“I’ll have a look,” Shahk grunted as he hefted his hammer.

Wally heard footsteps approaching him. He wanted to run but his leg had gone numb from pain and failed him. He cowered down and tried to make himself as flat as possible and covered his eyes with his hooves. A shadow fell over him and he slowly uncovered his eyes. Standing above him was the massive green creature with black eyes and wicked looking teeth. Every inch of him save for his face was covered in armor and he was holding a huge looking hammer made from a metal the same color as his skin. The creature’s eyes widened and his mouth dropped open.

“Uh…”

He looked back at his party. He looked down at Wally.

“It… uh…”

He turned around and walked back to his group, a dazed look on his face.

“Shahk? What is it man, speak!” An armored clad alien said.

“It uh… It’s… a green horse.” Shahk said slowly.

“THEY KNOW OUR KIND!” Wally gasped in terror.

“What?!” A voice chuckled.

“Shahk, are you sure that you are not seeing things?” Lielle asked. “You must have hit your head at some point.”

“I didn’t hit my head!” Shahk grumbled indignantly.

“You have blood on your brow!”

“It’s not my blood!”

Bastian stepped through his friends and slowly approached the fallen tree. He looked down and Wally Melon and Bastian Bellrend laid eyes on each other for the first time. They stared at each other for a few minutes, both unable to speak either from shock or fear.

“Huh.” The alien said looking down at Wally. “That’s… interesting.”

He slowly walked back to his friends.

“Bastian?” Lielle asked. “What is it?”

“Go on then! Tell them! Green horse! Real as you like!” Shahk insisted.

“Technically it’s a pony,” Bastian said quietly. “It’s too small to be a horse and too muscular and developed to be a colt.”

“What?!”

There were stampeding footsteps and soon Wally was surrounded by the aliens.

“It really is green!” A figure said through its helmet. “How about that!”

“And it’s hair! Look at its hair!”

“Why is it wearing clothes?”

“Is that a saddle? Maybe there’s a rider nearby?”

“If there is he may not have survived. The surge of energy from the gateway devastated this place.” Bastian said looking around.

“Oh, it’s hurt.” The orange-robed figure said. “Poor thing.”

It knelt down next to him and Wally jerked away in fear, silently hoping that probing was just a rumor. The creature cooed gently to calm him and gently stroked his neck.

“Esmeralda,” Lielle said cautiously.

“It’s fine.” She said. “What harm could it do? Poor thing looks scared to death.”

“It’s okay my little pony,” Esmeralda said. “Don’t be afraid.”

Esmeralda’s hand glowed with a golden light. Her hand hovered over Wally’s wound and she said something in a language he couldn’t understand. He gasped and closed his eyes as the pain and fatigue left his body and was replaced by a soothing warmth. He looked down and saw the wound on his leg close and the blood vanished from his coat leaving only a small scar behind.

“There you go.” She said.

Wally shakily rose to his feet and flexed his leg.

“Wow, thanks.” He said.

Everyone gasped and horrified looks crossed over the alien’s faces. Esmeralda screamed and fell backward on her butt. Bastian’s brow raised in mild surprise. A heavily armored knight fainted, falling backward with a clatter.

“It talks! It talked!” Several people screamed.

“By the nine!” Shahk roared. “A talking green pony!”

“It really talked Ma!” A little girl said excitedly. “Did you hear it?”

Bastian took a cautious step forward and cleared his throat.

“D-Did you say…”

“Yeah, I said thanks, buddy,” Wally said.

“You… you can talk?” Bastian asked. "You can speak?"

“Yep. Leg feels good. I appreciate it.”

“N-no problem.” Esmeralda said trembling.

“Do you have a master?” Bastian asked. “Someone who can help us?”

“No one tells me what to do but my momma,” Wally said.

“Your-“ Bastian scoffed. “You’re wearing a saddle. Who rode you?”

“Oh, this? This was just for my cart.” Wally said. “Don’t suppose I’ll need it now, though.”

“Look,” Bastian said. “My name is Bastian Bellrend. We don’t wish to cause any harm. We just need help. We have sick and wounded here. Is there somewhere you can take us to find help?”

“The name’s Wally Melon. There’s a town nearby but how do I know this isn’t some kind of alien trick?” Wally said suspiciously.

“I assure you, we are not Daedra. This isn’t a trick.” Bastian said.

“What-dra?” Wally asked.

“D-Daedra?” Bastian said. “Immortal beings of Oblivion? They… torment mortals?”

“Hm...” Wally said.

He walked around Bastian and inspected him and his group. They didn’t look dangerous. Sure, they were armed to the teeth with weapons but they looked more scared and confused than anything.

“Promise?” He asked.

“I promise.”

“Shake on it,” Wally said extending a hoof.

Bastian clasped the hoof in his and shook it, surprised that had been so easy.

“Great. Well if you’d like I can take you guys into town.”

“We can’t move everyone at once. There are too many that are injured. The other healers and I can keep them stabilized until you can send help.” Esmeralda said.

“I’ll come with you,” Lielle said.

“That isn’t necessary,” Bastian said. “You stay here and make sure these people are taken care of. Shahk, as of now, you are acting Captain of the Blades. Maintain a perimeter around the party at all times until I return with help.” Bastian said.

“You can count on us,” Shahk said. “But are you sure you want to go alone?”

“These people need you more than I do. I can handle myself. Besides, I don’t think that… pony has ever seen anything like us before. There’s no telling what inhabitants dwell in this world and seeing a small army of alien creatures with weapons might send the wrong idea.” Bastian replied.

“Look, I have a sister I need to check on," Wally said impatiently. "In hindsight leaving her alone on the bank of the river might not have been the best move. If you’re ready, we need to get moving.”

“Yes, I’m ready," Bastian said picking up his bag.

"Be careful." Lielle urged him.

"I'll be fine," Bastian said adjusting his bags straps. "Just don't let your guard down just yet."

Bastian turned to the pony and nodded.

"Lead on."