Chapter 10: Who am I!?

Nighttime in Wanderer's dream…

The scenery was a burning Cantorlot, there were dead ponies all over the streets and stuck to walls via arrows. At a hill overlooking the city was Wanderer standing with his foot on Twilight.

Wanderer: *evilly grins, and speaks in a deep tone* "This is fun, I should do this more often…" *looks down at the pitiful looking Twilight* "But you goody-two shoes always get in my way! I think you all should disappear from every universe I travel to!"

Twilight gasps as Wanderer stomps on her. She looks as if a hundred battles could never equal the pain she felt then and there. She remained silent as Wanderer kept stomping on her.

Wanderer: "So you still want to save them from the destruction they deserve, ah?" *He pulls out his sniper rifle* "Too bad you'll never be able to see a single one of them again!" *Five other Wanderers appear from nowhere. Two hold shotguns, two hold dual-wielding revolvers, and the last holds another sniper rifle. They all aim for Twilight's head.*

Wanderers: "Say goodnight Twilight!"

They all fire at once leaving almost nothing of Twilight's skull… That's when I woke up from the nightmare. It was nearly pitch black in the tent with the light of last night's fire coming through the tent opening. I stepped outside without the Doctor noticing, and sat near the fire. Suddenly an alicorn-like thing approached the fire, and looked at me with her emerald colored eyes as if to say, "May I please?"

Wanderer: "Would you like to rest by the fire? It's much warmer if you stand by it."

Chrysalis: "You wouldn't mind? Because I'm…"

Wanderer: "I don't care much about your past mistakes, just how you'll be now."

Doctor: "Hey Wanderer what's the commotion?" *notices Chrysalis* "I see… what is she doing near the fire?"

Wanderer: "Calm down before you judge. She looks frail and brittle, and if I or you give her our worst hosting skills, she may crack." *looks up at the nighttime sky* "That's not a good way to go."

Doctor: "But this is Chrysalis; the one who-"

Wanderer: "A wanderer like me does not care about your past! Just who you are now!" *looks down at the Doctor* "Besides, how am I supposed to say you are a good guy even after all your nine hundred years? Could be you're the bad guy here!"

Doctor: "Huh, I guess you have a point. Everyone changes, but she won't I promise you that!"

Wanderer: "If you don't like being around her you can go back to sleep!"

The Doctor enters the tent hastily and gets into his sleeping bag (that's what I guess anyway…). I'm left alone with Chrysalis next to the fire.

Wanderer: "So… how was your day?" (Begin music: PW: AA ~recollection-DL-6 incident~)

Chrysalis: "Absolutely horrible; I can't get into any camp, the changelings fled Equestria and left me here, and I can't transform into a human without them knowing I wasn't human."

Wanderer: "You look sad…" *pulls out an ace of hearts* "I wish that I could do anything to help that sadness go away…" *frowns and holds the ace closer* "I feel like I've felt your pain before, but I have amnesia."

Chrysalis: "Oh… I'm sorry for troubling you…" *sideways glance* "Wait your identity is Wanderer?" *I nod confirmation* "Then you could help me get into Ponyville, right? You're famous in those parts for mysteriously appearing just to help ponies."

Wanderer: *mildly chuckles* "Now I hope they don't pray for me to come in to save the day again. You plan very greatly. You deserve the mastermind title. I think with enough effort I can talk them into letting you in, but you need to stay on your best behavior or you can stay outside of camps. I'll also call you a bad dog if you do."

She turns into a dog and sits beside me. I can see why she's queen of changelings, it looks so easy when she does it. I wonder if she has any other tricks up her sleeve. (Stop music)

Morning… On the road to Ponyville with Wanderer, the Doctor, and Chrysalis.

We were almost to Ponyville, and nary could a single opponent stop us. Even though I was the only one with weapons. When we got to the gate we were greeted by the co-generals.

RD: "Hey it looks like you got to the Doctor! Good job!" *they both notice Chrysalis* "What is Chrysalis doing with you! She isn't some pony to be trusted!"

Gilda: "When we met you I thought you were smarter than this! She ruined the Cantorlot wedding!"

Wanderer: "I brought her because she has no other place to go!" *frowns* "You're not going to listen to a word I say are you?"

RD: "She's the queen of changelings! She shouldn't be in our midst!"

Wanderer: "I think a duel is in order…" *holds up a fist* "I shall fight for her honor and you may choose who will fight me bare hoofed."

Gilda: "Is this some kind of joke, a duel? Please save your fairy tales for later."

RD: "I dunno, I think I want to beat some sense in him! Besides it has been too long since I went in a one-on-one duel with some pony." *bows in acceptance* "I humbly accept your challenge! Come on, I know where we can duel safely." *walks toward an open plain* "Everyone not involved please stand over there!" (Begin music: FFVII: Fighting (remastered))

I follow her to the plain and prepare to brawl for the changeling queen's entrance into Ponyville.

Wanderer: "Ready?" *RD nods* "Then let's brawl!" *I charge at an extreme speed for my first attack* "Take this!" *my attack missed*

RD: "Nice try!" *she kicks me up into the air* "you may want to be more careful about where you are." *she flies in with many kicks*

Wanderer: *uses senses to guess where the flurry of blows would start. Grabs Rainbow's legs to counter-attack.* "Too slow!" *holds Rainbow's wings down so they both plummet to the Earth* "You may want to be careful about how you attack!" *lets go of her body and kicks her downwards. Counter was super-effective!*

RD: "Nice counter, but see if you can dodge this!" *She starts a flurry of blows*

The rivals trade blows, but neither gets hurt by the flurry of blows given to both opponents.

Wanderer: "I will never give up! Not even against the strongest of opponents!" *goes into an offensive mode called 'Rush'* "You're going down!" *furiously attacks the mare*

RD: *Takes a lot of blows, but deflects them back* "Listen to sense! Chrysalis is not some pony to be trusted!" *she prepares to use a duel-ending attack!*

Wanderer: *Charges up an ultra-powerful attack* "I trust her, she trusts me! I'll never let go of that trust! Death Blow! Strike of Eternity!" *Sprints in with the attack charged*

RD: "Sonic Rainblast!" *flies into the air and dives towards Wanderer*

The attacks collide creating a rainbow colored nuclear explosion. Both rivals faint… (stop music)

Chrysalis's POV

Chrysalis: "Did you see that explosion? We need to help them!" *I start running, but I'm stopped by the griffon*

Gilda: "Don't go near them! That explosion will have attracted humans!"

Chrysalis: "Get out of my way! They need help getting away if humans have come to where they are!" *I shove the griffon aside as I sprint to Wanderer and Rainbow Dash*

The area looks like it was assaulted by fire and flames; the area surrounding the rivals is charcoal black. In the distance I see an army of humans approaching the area. I have to do this fast! Else the humans will kill them! I pick them up with my magic and pull as hard as I can, but I can only pull Rainbow Dash towards the camp. I notice that Wanderer has a sniper rifle, so I grab it with my magic and aim the sights at one of the humans and start firing, however his rifle is a bolt-action making it even harder to defend the unconscious pair.

Wanderer: *opens his eye slowly* "Chrysie? What are you doing?" *he notices the oncoming wave of humans and starts carrying Rainbow Dash* "Run! Once you get a safe distance start shooting every human near me!"

I did as he said and flew back to the camp wall. However I saw more humans assaulting the camp, so I shot at them.

Wanderer's POV

I pull out my pistol and start shooting at the humans behind me. It was easy to carry Rainbow Dash and shoot at the same time, because of her having hollow bones. I made it halfway before noticing that the camp was being overrun as well as me. I ran down an empty path to ensure that I lost my pursuers. I jumped from tree to tree to make shooting at me a challenge, eventually I lost the pursuers and I jumped down to hide in the bushes with Rainbow Dash. (Start music: PW: AA: Investigation ~Core~)

Wanderer: *quietly* "Rainbow Dash! Wake up! We need your leadership!"

I tried slapping her, but it didn't work; she was out cold! Crap! I shouldn't have challenged her to duel! This stress has put her in a coma I have survived this stress, but she will be incapable to command her troops… this is bad! I started sneaking towards the camp, but was stopped by a group of vigilant humans. I can't sneak away now! I could fight, but I only have a pistol and a knife. I'll have to wait for them to clear out.

? ? ? (Three someones): "Hey you!" *the three young voices shout battle cries as bullets whiz into the human squad*

Wanderer: "Don't shoot and I promise to-oh forget that! Just don't shoot, please!"

I hold Rainbow Dash in front of me as I come out, but I was surprised to see that there were fillies… Strange but true I tell you.

Wanderer: "Are you the ones who shot the humans?" *I gave a questioning look at the fillies without guns* "Where are your guns?"

? ? ?: "Right here!" *suddenly dual mini guns appear from the battle suits. The surprise was super-effectively terrifying*

Wanderer: "Um… okay! Name and rank please…"

Scootaloo: "I'm Scootaloo, leader of this squad."

Sweetie Belle: "I'm Sweetie Belle, tactician and medic."

Applebloom: "Ah'm Applebloom, the scout."

Wanderer: "Nice to meet you all. Do you mind helping me get RD into the camp? She is in a coma and may need medical attention."

Crusaders: *they all grin* "We'll do it, Cutie Mark Crusader Escorts!"

I had the sneaking suspicion that they would do this every time I offered a job, but I let go of it before it could slow me down.

Wanderer: "Hey… how come Scootaloo isn't the scout?"

Scootaloo: "None of your business, mister… What's your name?"

Wanderer: *shrugs* "Not sure. I have amnesia."

Sweetie: "Hey, I bet if we give every human amnesia, we could be at peace with them!"

Wanderer: "Nice thought, but it wouldn't work…" *they all give a questioning stare* "Some may hide just to tell the amnesiac humans that they're supposed to kill your kind. All you'd be doing is throwing them like a boomerang."

Applebloom: "Wow! I never woulda thought that so quickly! Are you a migrant?"
Wanderer: "That's the nice thing you can say about what I am."

We continued towards the camp with some random encounters here and there. The camp guards look drained of morale, but look physically in good shape. I walk towards the medical staff's tent and leave RD there. I start looking around the tent for Chrysalis, but find no trace of her.

Wanderer: "Excuse me, sir…" *the attention of the guard has been caught* "Where's Gilda?"

The guard motion to an overlook (It's an area where you can see the entire battlefield), I thanked the guard and ran there with the Crusaders in behind me.

Gilda: "What do you mean they're dead!? They are a good squad in the heat of a battle!"

Soldier: "I'm sorry, but they're KIA and we don't have another squad to send to that flank!"

Gilda: "For the love of-" *she sighs* "What about them?"

Soldier: "They can't get here quick enough ma'am."

Wanderer: "We have a squad right here!" *they notice that the Crusaders and I have entered the room* "We may not seem like much, but we're a good team, I promise you!"

Scootaloo: "Gilda we can do this! Just give us a chance and I promise we can do better than them!"

Gilda: "Grr… I don't want to send in kids, but we don't have a choice!" *she tiredly sighs* "Go get them, girls… and human."

Chrysalis: "Um… You may need this more than me, Wanderer." *she gives me my sniper rifle*

Wanderer: "Thanks! You stay safe, alright?"

Chrysalis: "Wait!" *she puts on a battle saddle* "Let me come with! I still need to prove I can be loyal to this battalion."

Wanderer: "Okay! You stay in the shadows and wait for the humans to get in your line of sight!"

Chrysalis: "I will make sure none get past the entrance!"

We make our dash to the flank and prepare for the first wave. I climb into a tree and aim my sights on the field in front of me. Sweetie Belle prepares a sentry turret and a dispenser-like device (Team Fortress reference, anyone?). Applebloom pulls out some binoculars and plans to tell Scootaloo where the enemies come from. Chrysalis is barely visible in the bushes near fields end, and even waved at me once. Scootaloo just looked excited for the battle, and even got everyone to cry, "Cutie Mark Crusader Militia," we were ready for anything, but it seems the humans had a lot of time on their hands, because a tank finally greeted us. (Start music: Pokémon Black2 and White2: Battle! Gym leader-final Pokémon)

Scootaloo: "Get out of that tree! There's a tank out there!"

Wanderer: *jumps down* "I need a grenade! Do any of you have a grenade?"

Sweetie: "Take this!" *she pulls a grenade out of the machine* "Wait… the grenade isn't going to do anything to heavy armor! I should have brought an rpg!"

Wanderer: *grabs grenade* "No! This is exactly what I need for tank killing!" *starts a run through the shadows*

Chrysalis: "You do realize this is suicide, right?"

I ignored her and jumped on top of a tree and when the tank was in a close proximity I jumped on top of it. I pulled open the lid and threw the grenade in.

Wanderer: "Skill. Get some!" *jumps off. Lands in a roll and walks away from the explosion with hood up* "That's how you own a tank at close range with a grenade! Add that to the list of tactics why don't you?"

The crusaders just look at me with amazement. I obviously surprised them with that attack to the tank. The rest of the day wasn't as exciting; just keep an eye out for any threats. Eventually we were called back into the camp to be told that the enemy was driven off and we can sleep peacefully for the night.

TO BE CONCLUDED…