(Author's Note: I have never been to Britain, I have never seen the queen except on TV and in pictures, and I have never seen where she lives, and I have no idea if she is anything AT ALL like she'll be in this fic. Because of this, if I am COMPLETELY off the mark, then we can say it's an alternate Earth.)
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Chapter 14
"Where are thine people? This location is rather empty." Luna asked, looking around.
"This location has the reputation of being haunted." I explained. "Those that don't believe it probably don't think this location has any value, so it just stays empty."
"Haunted? Ha!" Rainbow Dash scoffed, but her a tightness around her eyes said that she at the very least believed in the possibility of that being true.
"It isn't haunted, but it was once the source of the magical backlash that twisted Everfree forest into what it is today."
"You know this how?" The Unicorn in our group asked.
"There was a message along with a visual memory that Mace Lighthand left for our family in one of the stones on that pile there." I pointed at the still-ruined Stone Arch Gateway. "If you touch your horn to our family symbol, You can ask Mace about it yourself." Curious, the Unicorn asked what the symbol looked like and I drew it in the dirt for him. He looked at it for a moment, then nodded and began to look through the pile after conjuring up a light above himself. "While he does that, I'll see if I can arrange some transportation for us." I took my bag off my back and dug around in it for my cell phone. I turned it on and checked the battery. I had about three quarters of juice left. More than enough.
I scrolled through my contacts list until I came to the number the Taxi driver had given me. I dialed him up and waited. One ring. Two rings. Three Rings. On the fourth someone answered.
"This had better be important, pal. Do you have any idea what time it is?!" A grumpy voice answered.
"Not really, no." I replied in a cheerful voice.
"It's close to eleven P.M. You've got fifteen seconds to say who you are and what you want before I hang up, starting now."
"I'm Jacob. The guy with the talking ponies?" I heard on the speaker what sounded like a spit-take. Apparently the driver had a drink next to his bed. I did the same thing back home.
"Is it really you?! I saw you on the news the other day! You and those friends of yours! Good job on killing that monster!"
"Glad I could help. Listen, you wouldn't happen to own a flat-bed truck or a large van or a bus, would you?"
"No I don't, but my neighbor has a large van. Why do you ask?"
"Because I need a ride to the nearest news station, and I've brought more ponies and a non-crazed Alicorn with me this time around. Ya think you could help us out?"
"I did say that it was eleven at night, didn't I? Can't you come back sometime tomorrow?
"It may be eleven here, but it's morning in the pony's world. If I wait until tomorrow then it'll be night time for them and they will have trouble staying awake. Besides that we're kind of on a time table here and can't stay long. I wouldn't ask you to do it if it wasn't important. I like sleeping too." The driver sighed and didn't respond for a moment. Just when I was starting to think he'd hang up he said that he'd help as long as I payed him the normal rate.
"Where are you? Out in that field again?"
"Yeah. We'll meet you at the road."
"Alright. I'll be awhile, but I'll get there."
"We'll be waiting." I shut my phone and slid it into a pocket (not the one with the lighter). I turned to the rest of our group who had been watching me with interest.
"What sort of magical device was that?" The earth pony asked. Another male.
"Not magic at all. Science. Our world has no magic on its own except a warped version of it called Voodoo, which mostly deals with hexes. Using this device I can speak to another Human on the other side of the planet so long as they have the same type of device and it is functioning as it should be."
"How convenient!" The earth pony said. "I wish I had one of those! It would make for a lot less time spent writing letters and waiting for replies!"
"That was the general intention when our race first invented them."
"How much did you pay for it?"
"I paid thirty dollars for it, but my currency is different from this country's. But having these wouldn't do you much good without the signal towers that pick up and send what is said. You'd be better off buying several walkie talkies and conveying your messages from one to another instead. Of course, then you'd need something to recharge them with, but you might be able to find a magical substitute for electricity."
"What's a walkie talkie? And what's electricity?"
"A walkie talkie is an older version of a cellular telephone. That is, an older version of the device I just used. Electricity is a tiny, controlled version of a lightning bolt."
Suddenly we were surrounded by the same phantom trees that I had seen when I had first come here. Everypony ignored me at that point and stared at the wonder around them. What I had seen before now repeated down to the most minute detail, including Thanatos and Mace walking form the gateway, which I had missed the first time around.
"Uncle Thanatos!" Luna exclaimed, reaching out a hoof to him. Her hoof passed through him and Thanatos showed no sign of having seen, heard, or felt her.
"It's an illusion, princess Luna." I explained. "I'm sorry." Luna drew her leg back and said nothing. "This is what I saw on the night, or day, that I first came to your world. This is when Mace and Thanatos burned down this forest and then returned to Everfree to later seal the monsters inside it."
The illusion ran its course, the figures speaking, the trees smoking and burning, the lightning raining down all around us, and then it was gone again as if it never had been.
"They were incredible! Such power and skill!" The Unicorn said, sounding like a fan witnessing his favorite football team win the Superbowl. "How in the worlds could they have possibly lost to the Everfree mutants?"
"Mace left the horn he'd inherited behind, and was already exhausted when they went back into Everfree. What happened after they sealed Everfree off is anyone's guess other than Thanatos being turned into a Bloody Hoof." There was a sharp intake of breath from all those that stood there except me and Rainbow Dash.
"Do not say that name!" The earth pony said, looking about nervously.
"Thanatos? A bl- one of the Twisted Ones?" The Unicorn looked aghast. I nodded.
"He followed us into my world and tried to kill my parents and the two ponies that came with me here. We fought him here, and later in town and eventually put him down."
"What's a Bloody-"
"Silence!" Luna commanded, looking a little spooked herself. Rainbow Dash shut her mouth with a click of her teeth coming together
"Ask me again some other time and I'll tell you, Rainbow." I said. "In the meantime we need to get to the road. If you'll all follow me?" I started walking away from the ruined gateway. The others followed.
"Hey, Human?" It was the Unicorn again.
"Yes?"
"I was told that you could use magic. Is this true?"
"When certain conditions are met, yes."
"'Certain conditions'? Like what?"
"Not to be rude, but why do you care?" I asked.
"Because I am a historian that was chosen to be an ambassador for my breed, and my area of expertise is on the subject of Humans. I'm taking notes."
"Am I allowed to tell him, your highness?" I asked Luna. She was surprised that I asked. "Given the source and his job, should he be told?" Luna looked at the Unicorn a moment and then shook her head.
"No. Perhaps in the future after we have returned to Canterlot, but not today." The Unicorn was disappointed but did not complain.
Trixie increased her speed and tapped me on the shoulder. I leaned over a bit and she whispered a question in my ear asking why I didn't tell him.
"Because my people's journalists are very nosy and sometimes pushy when it comes to finding out information, and because I don't trust my race with that information. Right now we are in the process of hunting elephants and Rhinoceros to extinction because their horns are worth a fortune to every nation even though hunting them is illegal. If those same poachers that hunted those animals found out that magic for Humans to use was as easy to get as killing a Unicorn or drugging it and sawing off their horns, they'd do it in a heartbeat and sell it to the highest bidder." Trixie gave me a horrified look. "Not everyone is like that, mind you, but just enough of them are that I'd prefer to keep that information to as small a group as possible."
"Your people like nothing from the legends!"
"A lot can change in just twenty years, Trixie. It has been hundreds since my people were sent to this one from yours." A cold breeze blew through our group and both me and Trixie shivered. The ponies seemed unaffected by it (much to our envy) and I asked Trixie if she was still sure that she did not want to be changed back into one. She replied that after that wind she was reconsidering, but her tone didn't say that she was being honest about that.
Eventually we came to the road and stopped to wait. Thirty minutes later our ride arrived and the driver from before stepped out and stared at each one of the figures before him. We traded introductions with one another and then crammed ourselves into the van. I let Trixie sit up front in the passenger seat buckled her in. She asked what the belt was for and I explained that it was meant to act as a safety precaution in case we got into an accident. Later at the end of our ride she told me that she had never traveled that fast before and was looking forward to the next opportunity.
Even at this late hour people were still out and about running errands or just out enjoying the crisp evening air. A few of them glanced at the van parked by the side of the road, and a few others looked at me twice and told me I looked familiar. I replied that I got that reaction often but said that I did not recognize any of them.
The building we parked next to was near the center of town and towered above every other building on the street, though it wasn't much wider than your average suburban house. From the roof there were numerous satellite dishes pointed in several different directions and bright red and blue lights that shaped into their name: NEWZ FOR YOUZ. That sounds more like a radio show than a news business!
"Are you sure this is the place?" I asked the driver (he said his name was Benzel) doubtfully while the others stepped or jumped out of the van.
"You asked for the nearest one, and this is it. If you don't mind my asking, why did you come back and why are there more of you? Are there more monsters loose here that I should be worried about?" I shook my head.
"No, we came for an entirely different reason. Just watch TV tomorrow and you'll see."
"If you say so." Benzel yawned and covered his mouth. I walked over to his window and handed his what money was left in my wallet. I was officially broke now and wondered how I'd get home now if I survived the trials ahead. I guess I could always use magic. The mental image of me literally riding waves and running across the water past boats and swimmers while they stopped and stared open-mouthed made me smile, but a nudge from Trixie brought me back to the real world and I walked up the three steps to the door and let us in. I held it open while the ponies clopped through and stopped on the other side in front of a desk that was currently unoccupied. It looked like your typical pressed wood with a brown plastic coating meant to make it appear to be real wood at a distance. The room was blessedly heated and I removed my jacket and stuffed it into my pack. A single lamp sat on one side of the desk and a dead potted plant on the other. The whole desk was about six or seven feet long and rose in height just below my chest. There was a small silver bell sitting on the upper edge of the desk in front of us so I pressed the little button on the top. A clear 'jing!' sound came from it and a few moments later a woman a little older than myself came out from a doorway. She wore tacky red-rimmed eye glasses, her hair was brown and curled but frizzy, and she looked like Tommy's mother from Rug Rats. She was carrying a steaming mug of coffee.
"Good eveni- nuh?!" She dropped the coffee mug and it shattered on the floor, the coffee pooling amongst the shards. Her eyes darted first to Luna, then to Me, then to Trixie who stood next to me, then to the Unicorn, then to the earth pony, and then swept over us from left to right. She rubbed her eyes and looked at us again, and then began to speak in gibberish.
"Be-ist something wrong with her?" Luna asked me. I looked at Luna and then looked at the woman, and back at Luna and laughed. My laughing seemed to break the woman's state of stupification.
"It's you! And them! You're- you're-"
"They have names. The tall, dark, and lovely one with wings and the horn is princess Luna of Equestria. The girl next to me is named Trixie. The Unicorn and earth pony are called-" I stopped, realizing I didn't know their names. "Actually, I don't know their names." I turned to them. "Would you mind introducing yourself, gents?" The earth pony said his name was Thorn Brightmane. A rather unfitting last name with his mane being a very dark gray. His body was also gray, but a lighter shade. The Unicorn called himself Reginald the book keeper. He had no last name. "I'm assuming you already know who I am, so let's cut to the chase: I'd like to schedule an interview for us. When is your next available window?" The woman squeaked and turned and ran out of the room. A few more moments later the sound of someone running up wooden steps reached our ears, and then a few moments after that the sound came again, this time above our heads.
"Yes, I must conclude that something is indeed wrong with that Human." Luna said.
__ __ __ __ __
Inside Drahgov's father's old lair Twilight Sparkle had been placed in a small cage that had been stolen in in a time long passed. Had it been made from iron it surely could have corroded to the point of uselessness even being in the cave and out of the wetter weather that sometimes came through this part of the world, but it was made of copper, and copper wore away slower than iron did. The cage's age could not be fully known by any except he who had stolen it, but he had died. As it was Twilight guessed that it was older than she was because it was completely covered in green. Not that this knowledge would help her escape, unfortunately. Twilight was under guard ever since she had been tossed into the cage and the lock was turned. At first it was the female Dragon from earlier, who glared at her with resentment, but Twilight didn't know what for. Later that evening a smaller bright orange male was watching over her. Having nothing to do as the cage was barely large enough to fit her inside it, Twilight laid down and began thinking of possibilities of escape, and imagining how her friends would come to her rescue. She knew that any attempt they made would likely be doomed to failure and hoped they wouldn't try, but she also knew them well enough to know that they would regardless of what she wished.
When they arrived Drahngov had pointed a claw at her and warned her a second time that if she tried to use her magic for anything at all her horn would be broken off. He even went so far as to bend the bars outward a little, pull her head through, and then bend them back so her head would be stuck outside the cage and her horn would be within ready reach if need be. It was not a very comfortable position, but Twilight reasoned that it could have been worse. Such as them eating me!
The following morning it seemed to be the female Dragon's turn to guard her again, and as soon as the room was empty she crept closer and examined Twilight as if looking for something specific. Twilight was even sniffed.
"I cannot imagine what made my parents so affectionate of you short-lived creatures that they would give away my unhatched brother to your ruler." She snorted and two puffs of white smoke came from her nostrils making Twilight cough. "You're tiny, you're weak, and you don't even live long enough for our kind to leave our childhood stage. What makes you so special?" Twilight didn't respond. "Perhaps they thought you might make a good meal for him once he learned to hunt. I cannot see any reason else they'd just hand him over."
"What are you talking about?" Twilight finally asked. The Dragoness' eyes glinted.
"Do not tell me that you don't recognize my coloration! Both my father and mother were purple and green as I am, which means that my little brother also must be! I smell him on you, which means that you're the Unicorn that has been taking care of him the last few years. Where is he?" She demanded. She's talking about Spike! Now that she mentions it, she does have the same coloration as him. Why didn't I see it before?
"You won't find him in Canterlot. He evacuated with the other citizens of Ponyville." It wasn't until after she said it that Twilight realized that blurting that out might not have been the wisest of things to do given that their two races were at war. The Dragoness' eyes narrowed.
"Where is this place at?" Twilight shut her mouth and refused to say anything else. She had already just put the lives of the Ponyville ponies in danger but saying that little bit, she was not going to doom them. The Dragoness snarled and bared her teeth. "Drahngov said to keep you alive, but he said nothing about keeping you healthy or intact." The Dragoness extended a clawed hand. Their points shone in what little light there was. They looked lethal. They were lethal. Twilight began to sweat, but still didn't say anything. "Tell me where to find my brother and I won't hurt you, or your precious villagers. I only want him to be safe, and if he stays with your kind, he won't be. Every Dragon that has sided with your kind has been put to death, or will be soon. I will not let him die for you."
"And what would you do if you had him? He won't join you in helping to kill us." The Dragoness looked around the room to make sure that they were alone still.
"I would take him far away from here back to his clutch nest. Drahngov is old and strong, but he doesn't know where all of his race dwell. I can hide him away and keep him safe. Now," The Dragoness traced a claw under Twilight's chin. "Will you tell me, or not?" Twilight thought long and hard about it, and eventually concluded that some gambles were worth taking. I want Spike to be safe too, and I know now that the farther he is from me, the better off he'll be. Tears dripped from her eyes at the thought of either seeing him dead or him being forced to watch her die protecting him. Twilight nodded and said to look near the bases of several mountains near Ponyville.
"I don't know where it is exactly, but if he is still with the refugees then he'll be near one of them."
"You are too vague." The Dragoness grumbled.
"I myself have never been to the evacuation point. When a new mayor is elected the previous tells the successor where to go and should a crisis occur that mayor tells the others where to go. I was out of town when they were attacked, so I don't know where they went." The Dragoness turned away from Twilight and headed for an opening in the wall. As she spread her wings Twilight called after her. The Dragoness turned her head back on a sinewy neck. "Please, if you find him, don't tell him that I'm here. He'd try to come after me." The Dragoness nodded and leaped from the cliff, soaring away into the distance.
A few hours later the male Dragon that had watched her the previous shift came in and looked about the cave in confusion. Twilight was still in the cage, but the she-Dragon that was supposed to be guarding her was nowhere to be seen. At first he suspected that the Unicorn had used magic, but the air lacked the smell that normally indicated magical use. That scent was unmistakeable, which meant that the guard had to have left on her own accord, which bothered him. Could she have perhaps been a spy for the ponies? That didn't strike him as something that she'd do, but other rebel Dragons had surprised him with their choice of loyalty. He needed to report this, but now he was faced with another issue. If she had just left a little early and he reported her for being a traitor and it was proved otherwise then he himself might be suspected of being a traitor trying to cause in-fighting. In the end he decided to let it go and plopped himself down in front of the trapped Unicorn and daydreamed about the upcoming day he'd been given permission to eat her.
__ __ __ __ __
Sometime near three A.M. Queen Elizabeth received a gentle shake awake by one of her servants. (The term of servant was not really accurate anymore, but many of her relatives still insisted they be called this and so it stuck.)
"I am sorry to disturb you, your majesty, but there is something you should see on the television. It regards the Alicorn sighting the other day." Elizabeth was suddenly not tired at all and sat up in her over-sized bed. She yawned and made a motion for him to leave the room. When he did she got dressed and followed him out into a large room whose centerpiece was a ping pong table. There were also a few plush chairs and a couch and a low wooden table in front of the couch, but what drew her attention at the moment in the large empty room was the sixty five inch flat screen HDTV on the wall. The servant picked up the television's remote and turned the tv on, setting it to channel fifteen. The queen gaped at the sight of another Alicorn (this one blue) and the other creatures behind it. A pony, a Unicorn, a Pegasus, a strange blue-skinned child with a pony's tail in her hands, and a Human. The sight of this alone was a shock, but when the Alicorn began to speak the queen's mouth dropped. Apparently it was taking part in an interview being given by the 'Newz for Youz' news building.
The Alicorn introduced herself as a co-ruler of her kingdom and said her name, as well as the names of those that were standing with her. When she was asked what it meant to be a co-ruler she explained her duties as a princess including the ludicrous duty of raising the moon every night after the sun had been set by her older sister. Several questions were asked concerning what things were like in a world without mankind, and once Luna had given a description the queen suddenly wanted to go on a vacation there. This urge melted when Luna got to the main reason that the young man called Lighthand returned with them to Earth.
"Our nation is currently at war with a race that thine people might know from your legends as Dragons. Long ago in ages forgotten by thine people our two races stood together against them and fought them off. Our magics are powerful, but there are only so many of us and our weaponry has not advanced much in the last two thousand years. Young Jacob tells me that thine race drove them to extinction here centuries ago. We have come to ask for thine assistance once again. If thee dost not help us, we shall lose, and our nation shall be destroyed."
"You must realize that asking a nation currently at peace to suddenly leap into another world and join in a fight that isn't ours and really would not affect us if you lost is a little absurd, don't you? Especially considering that one of your people attacked us a few days ago?" This time Jacob stepped forward and answered.
"Thanatos was insane. Do you blame those related to a mentally unstable person if he or she decides to attack others?"
"I personally don't, no. But what about asking us for help when you offer nothing in return?"
"We didst not come with nothing." Luna objected, and turned her head to a saddlebag that hung from her back. She lifted it with magic and moved it out in front of the two men interviewing them, whom stared at the floating bag in amazement. "Take it. I am told by Jacob that you Humans value the stones inside." Curious, the two men opened the bags and upended their contents on a table. The two of them gasped in astonishment as over two pounds of finely-cut, flawless, precious gemstones clattered across the table and spilled off onto the floor. There were rubies, emeralds, topaz, amethysts, diamonds, and a number of others as well, and each were at the least half the size of a fist.
The queen also gasped. Such a display of wealth was something she'd only seen in movies, or more usually, cartoons. Of course, if she had wanted to she could have that many gems, but it would probably cost her her half of Buckingham Palace if she wanted the same quality and craftsmanship on top of them being the size that they were.
The two men picked one up and then another, examining them, knocking them against one another and against other surfaces as if trying to see if they were real or not. Not that you can find out doing something as mundane as that unless they're made of glass. The queen thought, looking at them like she thought they were morons. Which, at the moment, she did. This was certainly worth waking up about. The queen did not need the wealth that princess Luna had offered, but this would almost certainly draw the attention of every ruffian within a thousand miles.
"Bring me a telephone at once!" The queen said. "Dial the closest police station to that building where the broadcast is taking place." The servant bowed and began walking away. "Don't walk, run! This is important!" The servant ran.
When he came back she informed the man in charge that she was in fact the queen and that his services were required.
"Drive over to the Newz for Youz building in the town that had the winged creature attack it and station several cars outside and around the building. I think that this place may be raided tonight by several local gangs within in the hour."
__ __ __ __ __
"Dear God, are these real?!" Asked the shorter of the two, his hands full of several gems.
"I see what Jacob claimed was true." Luna smirked. Gemstones were almost as common in Equestria as fish in the ocean. Greed could, almost as often as a sense of justice, draw volunteers to a cause. Celestia would not approve of this method, but Celestia was not here. In this both she and Jacob shared the same opinion and were grateful. Luna had not told him of this plan, but it seemed to have the effect that she intended, and if Jacob's people really were witnessing this in their homes like he said they would be then she would likely return to Equestria with over a thousand recruits from several different nations. Jacob doesn't trust the majority of his people very much, though, so I shall need to be wary of them as well. Luna used her magic to gather up the various stones of color and shape and type and once more placed them into the saddlebags and sat the bags on her back. "They are indeed real. We are willing to pay anyone that shalt come, but bear in mind that the danger is very real as well. There will be a chance that those that join us will not be coming back afterwards."
"I think a person would jump out of a plane without a parachute for a chance at getting just one of those gems!" The taller man declared. Luna did not know what a plane or a parachute was, but took that to mean that it would most certainly bring help. Unfortunately, it also brought something else: Trouble.
Downstairs several windows were busted in and figures climbed in through them. The receptionist was knocked out and then more came in through the main entrance. These ones had guns of varied types, but most were handguns. One of them lifted a record book out from under the unconscious woman. He read trough it and then smiled and looked at the others.
"Second floor from the top, guys. Says it right here." He showed them the book and tapped the most recent entry.
"Alright. Get in, get the gems, and get out. We'd have to be fools to think that we're the only ones that have seen what that horse was carrying." The others nodded, and began to search for steps. Once they had been found all fifteen of them stampeded for it and headed up. They had left five outside to give warning is trouble showed up so they'd be ready to run or fight.
Three sets of steps a and a few aching legs later the gang burst in through the correct door (they had gotten the wrong one four times in a row previously) with those armed first. The door slammed against the wall and the pointed their weapons at the group ahead of them.
"Hands up! Give us your loot or die!"
Luna looked at them and then looked at the two men who were conducting the interview.
"Is this part supposed to happen as well?" They shook their heads frantically, looking terrified and their hands reaching up for the ceiling. Luna looked at the intruders and told them to come back later.
"Are you stupid or something?" One of them asked, sounding angry. "Don't you have any idea who we are?!"
"No." She replied, and turned to look at Jacob, who had also raised his arms but had been whispering something to Trixie. "Do you know who they are?"
"If I had to guess, princess Luna, I'd say that they're robbers. I'd also say that you should put up a barrier that can stop physical attacks."
"Why? They are on the other side of the roo-"
"Hey! We're talking to you, stupid bitch! Give us your gems or we'll kill you!" Luna was confused at being called a bitch being as a bitch was the term for a female dog and she was not a dog or even canine in nature, but she did not appreciate being called stupid or being threatened with death. Luna glared at them and did as Jacob advised.
"Clearly thou dost not know whom I be either, otherwise you wouldst mind thine tongue! Apologize or be punished for thine insolence!"
"I've had enough, Johnny." Declared one of their group. "Show me the color of a horse's blood."
"Actually," Reginald began. "we're ponies, not-" The room filled with the sound of gunfire which drowned out whatever else Reginald had meant to say. Both Trixie and Jacob covered their ears as did the two men, who chose to dive behind the couch they had been sitting at. Bullet holes peppered the place where they had been sitting less than a second later. The camera was miraculously left untouched by the cloud of bullets that flew across the room but for a single glancing hit on one of the camera stand's legs. Meanwhile bullets of every type that the thugs were carrying pinged off of Luna's shield and ricocheted off the shield and struck everything all around them. Windows shattered, as did picture frames, coffee cups, and anything else fragile. The thugs kept shooting until they ran out of ammunition, but not a single bullet got through.
They stared dumbfounded. Their guns had never failed to kill anything they had shot at before unless they had missed, and the sparks from the bullets' impacts against the shield were proof enough that they had indeed hit something. But they could not see what.
"Hmm. Perhaps it was foolish of me to believe that science could best magic in terms of effectiveness after all. Come, Jacob. We've wasted enough time here."
"With all due respect, princess Luna, you're being overly critical. Our weapons are made to kill non-magical creatures, and the kind they are using are mediocre at best. Military-grade weapons are by far more effective, though I still doubt that any of them could break through your shields. Thank you for making it cover all of us, by the way." The ponies and Trixie nodded and said similar things. Luna's horn glowed brighter and all the thugs suddenly collapsed snoring to the floor. Luna's horn stopped glowing and the two men that had dived behind the now-ruined couch (events not related) crawled out again and stared stunned first at the sleeping would-be robbers, and then at their undamaged camera, which was still broadcasting live.
"Either way, it is clear that we are not welcome here and so we shall leave. Perhaps there is some method we can use that will at least allow us to not all be destroyed." Luna sighed. She really had hoped that the history in this regard could repeat and mankind would stand proudly with them once more, but it would seem that it was not meant to be. The only thing an offer of wealth as incentive had brought was the worst they had to offer.
A loud jingling sound was made from an object on a wall nearby. It had been to the right of the gunmen, and so had escaped the bullet barrage. One of the men conducting the interview looked at the other and then stood up and went to answer it.
"Hello? Yes, this is Newz for Youz. What?!" He looked at princess Luna and motioned for her to come forward. He placed a hand on the speaker and said in a voice not unlike that from a nervous Fluttershy: "Queen Elizabeth wants to speak to you!"
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
After the local cops arrested the guys (and one woman) that had broken into the TV station and stopped staring in disbelief at the live mythical creatures in the studio they informed us that we would be transported to a secure location where we could better be protected from more incidents like this.
"Considering how ineffective the first attack was, I doth not think another shall be a problem."
"You might have no problem protecting yourself as long as they stand near you, but what if you become separated? Not all of our criminals are morons like this lot were, and some might even have sniper-type weapons and could kill them or you before you knew they were there." Luna looked at me for confirmation, and I nodded. "Allowing them to dump those gems out like that was a very foolish decision, if you'll forgive my directness, your highness." Luna sighed.
"Clearly even though there is still much to learn in my own world there is even more in this one. Whom may I speak to to learn at least the basics?"
"Learning the basics of Human interaction between cultures takes years, your highness." I cautioned her. "This is due not only to how they live their lives, but to difference in languages as well. It just happened to be coincidence that both myself and the people of this country have English as their native language and that you understand it as well. If I had been born in France or China, or Portugal, I suspect you would not be understanding a word I'm saying nor would I understand you." Luna sighed.
"Is this another reason you were hesitant to come back here for help?"
"Actually I had not thought of this issue until after we were on television. I have no doubt that there is someone who will be translating what was on TV within the hour, though. The whole world will be aware of this within a day or so."
"All the more reason for us to get you moving sooner rather than later." The policeman declared. "If you'll come with us?" He pointed at a van that was arriving. This one was larger than the one we'd come in.
"Where are we going?"
"First we're going to an airport where A transport helicopter will be picking us up, then we're going to land down in London."
"England's capital?" I asked. "Why there?" Luna explained for me.
"When I spoke to their queen on the-" She stopped.
"Telephone?" I offered.
"Yes, that. When I spoke to her on the Tel-le-phone she said that she very much wished to speak with me concerning our needs. I agreed to speak with her, and she said that transportation would be provided."
"Woah! The actual Queen of England?!" This has got to be the coolest day on Earth I've ever had! I'm actually going to get to see the queen in person! I suppose another person might think that stepping into another dimension full of talking ponies that could do magic would be the coolest day ever, but given that the talking ponies weren't on Earth, and my first day involved being chased by a Dragon, I did not agree.
Our ride in the van was uneventful, but convincing Rainbow Dash and Reginald to board the helicopter afterwards was a pain.
"If we Unicorns were meant to fly we'd have been born as Alicorns!" Reginald objected stubbornly, and sat down on the ground much like a dog refusing a bath.
"I am perfectly capable of flying there myself and I can probably go there and back eight times before you can!"
"But you don't know where we're going, Dash." I pointed out. "Besides that, if people saw a blue streak zipping back and forth above their heads it could cause a panic."
"A panic? Are your people really that skittish?" Rainbow Dash frowned.
"Not all of them, but some people have a tendency to overreact to just about everything, and panic has a habit of being catching." With an exaggerated sigh Rainbow Dash agreed and plodded reluctantly up the ramp and picked a spot on the floor. Now for book-boy.
"You might have convinced her, but I'm not-"
"Reginald! Cease to waste time and board this thing!" Luna commanded, sounding annoyed. "Every minute you waste is another minute that I could be spending readying our homeland!" Reginald blanched and did as he was told. Huh. I guess being royalty has its perks. I followed suit and sat myself down on a rather uncomfortable seat bolted to the floor and wall and buckled myself in. I had never ridden in a helicopter before, or flown in or on anything at all, so this was kind exciting for me. My opinion soon changed as the propeller blades spun up to top speed and the noise drowned out everything else,nearly including hearing myself think. I used to think that was just a stupid way of a parent telling their child to be quiet, but now I knew better. The next time I have to ride in one of these things and I know it I'm going to buy a pair of earplugs first! Provided I had money first, of course. Right now I was broke.
A good hour later we arrived outside of the Queen's home and landed near the entrance. When we disembarked Rainbow Dash yelled over the noise the helicopter blades were making to say that she hoped never to ride in one of those again. I heartily agreed. I would not have minded the chance to fly one, but that was a different story.
As we approached the doors there stood the two almost cliche guards dressed in red and black and staring blankly straight ahead. I had the sudden urge to do the also cliche action of making faces at them to see if they'd even raise an eyebrow, but Rainbow Dash beat me to it, hovering at eye level with them while she did so. True to their reputation they didn't seem to react at all, though it made me wonder if these guys were actually robots in disguise given that others had at least stared at them and checked to see if they were hallucinating.
"Ugh, you have guys like this here too?! Maybe this London-place is your version of Canterlot!" I had seen the Pegasus version of these guards, but unlike ours, that just stood there even in nasty weather, the Equestrian guards looked intimidating.
Luna and Thorn had already gone indoors and left myself, Rainbow Dash and Reginald outside. Reginald had stayed to see if these guards were indeed the Equestrian equivalent, and he was not disappointed. He jotted down a few notes, included a quick sketch of their clothing, and then also followed Luna. I took a step closer to the guard and tapped Rainbow's shoulder and asked her to leave the guy alone.
"He probably has to put up with enough tourists each day without seeing a real live Pegasus too. What do you say about giving him a break?" Rainbow Dash flew closer to the guard until their faces almost touched. Her eyes narrowed.
"This isn't over, buddy! Round two starts later!" Then she backed off and flew through the still-open doors. I chuckled and followed.
Inside it was cool, but with how large the building was I was not surprised. Keeping this entire building well-heated for just one month must have cost a fortune. Inside we found that once more Luna and the others had gone on without us with the exception of Reginald who trotted from one part of the room we stood into another, stopping to look at architecture, paintings, plants, and other assortments. He looked like an archeologist that just discovered an intact and undisturbed mummy's tomb. His quill scribbled furiously and he frequently dipped it in an ink well for more.
"Wow! It's really big in here! I can fly around with ease!" She bumped into a chandelier and quickly grabbed it to stop its swinging.
"Sure you can, as long as you watch where you're going." I said with mild sarcasm. "Just remember that anything you might break here is probably over fifty years old and likely very expensive."
"Me break things? I'd be more concerned about Reggie." She pointed a hoof at him as he began messing with a suit of armor that I wasn't sure was purely decorational.
"You there, Lighthand!" He called to me. I looked at him. "Come here a moment." I looked at Rainbow Dash and shrugged, then joined him by the armor. "What is the purpose of this odd clothing?" He tapped a hoof against the metal and it clanged hollowly. He seriously doesn't know this? Canterlot's guards wear armor.
"That's our version of armor. We used it for protection in times of war during the middle ages."
"Ah. Just making certain. You don't use it anymore, though?" I shook my head.
"Why not? I would think that something like this would still provide excellent protection."
"Only against the weapons of that time period or something similar. Most of the things we use for weaponry these days make armor pointless." Reginald scribbled more notes down and then moved on to another area. "You know, you could just go to a library and read up on history if you want an overview of what's been going in this country over the centuries." He stopped.
"Ancient historical records are available to the public here?"
"Well I don't know about here here, that is, where we're standing, but every library I've ever been to has books on history in them. We even have audio recordings of certain events and-" I stopped. "You know what? I'll just introduce you to a computer later. Then you can look up whatever you want." Reginald raised an eyebrow but then went back to studying his surroundings.
Rainbow Dash was still hovering form one part of the room to another, her wings making surprisingly little breeze.
"What did he want?"
"Details on Human armor." I looked around. There were several doors made of wood, but other than the area that Reginald was studying I had no idea where to go and there was no one around to ask. There was a camera in one corner of the room but not much else of interest. "Any idea where we're supposed to go?" Dash shook her head.
"Nope. I got in the same time you did, remember?"
"I guess we'll just wait here, then?" Rainbow Dash snorted.
"You can if you want. I'm going to explore this big place!" Rainbow Dash flew to one of the doors and tried to open it, but a doorknob proved to be impossible for her to grip with her hooves.
"Need a hand, Rainbow Dash?" I asked, walking to where she fussed over the knob. I reached down and gave it a twist and a push. It opened for me with no problem. She frowned at me.
"Ha ha ha." She said before flying through. I grinned and followed her. Overall it was an interesting place, if a bit elaborate. Where Celestia's palace had been mostly practice with minor decorations, it seemed that everywhere I looked there was a huge painting or a stained glass window or a tapestry, and it wasn't just the walls that were decorated. The floor itself could be a work of art. Don't mistake me, I thought it was very beautiful, but it just seemed to be a bit much at times. We passed several dozen bedrooms, but most of them were locked. The ones that weren't looked like they were either something out of a time capsule, or had been adapted to the modern era. The more modern ones probably actually have people that stay in them from time to time. We also passed a photo booth to which Rainbow Dash asked to get her picture taken once I explained what it was. To my surprise photos were free from this booth and so we had a photo-moment. We altered the backgrounds several times and once altered it so that I had a copy of Rainbow Dash's wings sticking from my back and her mane covering my hair as well. I looked so ridiculous that both of use laughed at the image for a full minute before we finally had our fill of jollies and printed the lot. I was the only one that had pockets, so I was the one who carried them, but Rainbow said she wanted a set for herself as well, so I pushed the button for 'reprint' and pocketed the second strip of photos as well.
Eventually our wanderings led us to something interesting. It was a mural that depicted a scene from the legend of King Arthur with his mythical adviser Merlin. The yellow-haired and bearded King was leaning over a four-legged wooden table that had a grey ink well with a quill sticking out of it and there was also what I presumed to be a map that Arthur pointed at, looking grim. Merlin looked less concerned than Arthur did. In fact, he almost seemed to be smiling like a grandfather watching his grandson puzzling through a difficult mental obstacle. He was bald on the top of his head, but the rest had curly gray hair. He also had a beard that reached down past his waist. In his one hand he held a scroll, and in his other was the typical Wizard's Staff from stories. The lower third and upper third were made of wood and was intricately carved with many runes and other such symbols. The lower wooden part reached just above his knee, and then the staff became a lighter shade of brown and ceased having symbols, but had several diagonally-carved lines in it right up until it reached the upper third of wood where the symbols resumed. Had King Arthur been standing Merlin would have been two inches taller than him, but Arthur's frame by far made him more intimidating if an enemy were to face them. The rest of the mural depicted a mostly-bland room but for the green curtains on either side of a window.
"Who're these guys?" Rainbow Dash asked, looking at them.
"The man in the armor and red shirt is King Arthur. The old man is his adviser, Merlin, whom supposedly was a wizard. They're figures out of one of this nation's most popular legends, but no one knows for certain if they ever really existed." Except for my ancestor. He made mention of both Arthur and his father in his journal.
"Hmm." Rainbow Dash rubbed a hoof against her chin and narrowed her eyes, her gaze directed at Merlin's staff. "Those lines look familiar..." She hovered off the ground (she had gotten bored with flying in such an enclosed area and for a time had walked) until she was level with the second section of Merlin's staff. Without touching the painting she traced the marks with a hoof. Myself, I was more interested in Arthur's face. He was serious, but there was no anger in his expression. He looked as if he were preparing a strategy for war or perhaps a quest for his knights. I would have loved the chance to meet him! So many stories have been told of this man and his knights and Merlin, it would be an absolute honor to meet them just once! I knew that it could never happen, even with the aid of magic. Knowing my luck I'd screw up the timeline and I'd never be born or maybe Christopher Columbus would not have been and if I had been born then I'd be vastly different than I was today. It was just better not to try it.
"I've got it!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed loudly. I jumped and then asked her what it was that she had 'got'. "I know why the lines look familiar now! That part is a Unicorn horn!" I blinked, not believing, and then examined it closer myself. Now that I knew what I was to be looking for, realization slammed into my mind like ton of bricks. So Merlin was a wizard! But Uther had taken the horns from anyone who had them, so where did he get his from? Perhaps Arthur gave them to him as a gift? The only place I could think of that might have such records would be the royal library (if there was one). King Arthur was supposed to have ruled from this continent (or island, depending on how you looked at it), so if he ever truly existed it stands to reason that either royalty or perhaps a museum, if anyone, would have documents or copies of them left over from that era. It was a long-shot at best, and I highly doubted that under any circumstances would I be allowed to look through them. Not that it really matters anyway. I've got all that I need already.
Before we could enter the next room a man dressed like a butler entered through another door other than the one we'd come in through and asked us to follow him.
"Both rulers wish to speak with you." Rainbow Dash landed and we followed the man on foot and hoof.
We passed through several rooms and corridors, and one more painting of Arthur and Merlin, this time depicting them standing before a Manticor, Arthur's face a snarl, his shield up, deflecting the scorpion tail while Merlin's staff glowed with blue light. Merlin looked about ready to hurl whatever he had prepared from his staff. In the background peasants and soldiers alike fled while their king and the old wizard fought for them. Bloody cowards! I thought resentfully. That is their King and they're leaving him to fight alone?! Before we passed it by I read the plaque underneath it it: Arthur buys time for his people. Then I realized that he had probably commanded them to run and felt somewhat less bitter. But I still would not have left him.
Eventually we entered a room where Luna, Trixie, Thorn, and England's queen stood. The queen was asking a question of Luna, but stopped when we arrived. First her eyes went to Rainbow Dash, and her eyebrows raised.
"Now I see why you called her 'Rainbow Dash', Princess Luna." Luna nodded, a small smile on her face. Then her eyes went to me. "Ah, so you are the young man from the other day's news." I nodded and began to bow, but she waved a hand at me and frowned. "No, no, don't bow. Or kneel, or kiss my hand, or any of that political nonsense. I've gone through enough of that in earlier years and we have more important things to do right now. First question is for miss Rainbow Dash: young lady, you've outrun a Dragon. How fast would you say you had to fly in order to do that?" Rainbow Dash shrugged.
"Well, if I had to guess I'd say I was going about seventy miles an hour. The Dragon was going a lot slower when I left him behind, but I had to make sure that he'd follow me a ways from Ponyville first."
"How fast did the Dragon fly?"
"At top speed I'd say about fifty miles per hour. It was a clear day, so weather and wind wasn't an issue."
"I see. Did it attempt to breathe fire while pursuing you?" Rainbow Dash nodded, a cocky smile spreading across her face.
"Oh yeah! Every time I stayed stayed in place for more than five seconds it tried to roast me, but I'd swoop up into the air, loop around that slow beast and then I'd swoop underneath him and be right back where I started, save that he'd be as mad as a hornet with a kicked next and would try putting on even more speed!" Rainbow Dash brushed her forelegs with one another like she was dusting herself off. "Of course, it was never enough to catch me!"
"Fifty miles per hour." The queen repeated. She glanced at Luna for confirmation.
"That is indeed the average speed recorded for Dragons. There are breeds of Dragons that fly much faster than that, but they are rare nowadays, and are much smaller in comparison. They also do not breathe fire, but instead spit highly effective acid."
"How much smaller?"
"About his height." Luna said, pointing at me. "But from what mine sister tells me we have very good relations with them and they should not be a problem."
"Could they be convinced to join you?" Luna looked uncertain.
"I do not believe that they would. They are not our enemies, but they are still Dragons. It would be like trying to kill one of your own family." The queen nodded.
"I feel it fair to tell you this, princess Luna, though I am queen in title, it is more of a traditional role than a role that grants me any true power. This is not to say that I do not have any at all, but I cannot command armies as my family could a few hundred years ago. I could provide your people with food supplies, but if you want military might, you will have to convince the Prime Minister, who runs most of what happens politically in this country now."
"What is a Prime Minister, and where might I find yours?" Luna asked.
"I will have all the information you need brought to you by my good servant here." The butler-looking man that had led me and Rainbow Dash to the others sipped his head and left the room. "In the meantime make yourselves comfortable. I feel I must apologize for how you were treated by those men that attacked you earlier. There are both good and bad people in every country, and while sometimes just saying a rival's name can make them aggressive, you are lucky that you were not set upon by every criminal in town when you poured those gemstones out for the whole world to see."
"I shall refrain from doing so again in the near future, I assure you." Luna stated. The queen nodded and then asked where the Unicorn of our group was. I answered.
"He's examining everything from suits of armor to paintings and probably any other Humans he's come across. Reginald is a historian for Equestria and his specialization was Humans and their culture. This is like Christmas day to him."
"Then I suppose I can let him enjoy himself a little while longer. In the meantime, young man, what are your thoughts on the situation in Equestria?"
I ran through my mind all of the guards that had fought against and died fighting the Dragons that had attacked Celestia's palace. I thought of all the towns that had been destroyed, and the fact that the only thing they really had going for them was magic, and now using fireworks as explosive ballistics. As I had before, I came to the same conclusion: we either didn't stand a chance, or had very little of one.
"As princess Luna said earlier on TV, if we don't get help, and lots of it, we will lose. Whether or not Earth offers to help I will still go back and fight because I love that world and those in it, but we could really use, if nothing else, a weapons upgrade. They're still using Middle-Ages weaponry over there, your highness. It's effective in its own right, but what we really need for this is armor-piercing bullets, anti-air rockets, and the people trained to use them. If we don't get at least one of those weapon types, and people that know how to operate them we're toast. Burnt toast."
"What about this powerful magic that I've seen you and that purple Unicorn and the Alicorn that you put down use? It seemed rather dangerous."
"Only in one-on-one battles in our case. I'm not trained to fight multiple opponents at once and lack the blunt power to even attempt it, and the first and last time I killed a Dragon I nearly killed myself in the process." The queen's eyes became wide.
"You slew a Dragon by yourself? How?"
"I used a bolt of lightning and shocked it to death. According to the leader of the Dragons attacking us he was one of the weaker Dragons. And was his younger brother."
"His younger brother?" She was surprised, and a bit of realization of a very real possibility entered her face. "So it was you that started this war, then?" The queen asked. Luna stepped in.
"No, this war was a long time coming. Drahngov merely used young Jacob as an excuse to initiate. All Jacob did was defend himself."
"If you do not mind, I would like a demonstration of you both using magic." Her face was calm, but there was a faint eagerness to her voice. Given that the only place she'd seen magic in action was a pooryl recorded cell phone video, I was not surprised. The chance to see real magic must feel to her like it had felt for me to be using it and knowing it for what it was.
"I cannot use magic unless certain conditions are met, your highness. I apologize."
"I fail to see what this will accomplish," Luna said. "but what would you like to see?"
"In all honesty I would have liked to see you two duel. I have heard many stories of magic, but have never seen it performed in person."
"In a duel between us two I would have no chance of victory, your highness." I said. "Luna is over one thousand years old, and has been one of those that have been teaching me to use magic. Having us contest one another would be like having a pro-wrestler fight against a rookie."
"Hmm, I see. But what did you mean that you can only use it under certain circumstances?" I hesitated and looked at Luna first again. My gut told my that I could trust her, but...
"You may tell her." Luna allowed. I nodded and explained the reason behind it.
"So then, if I were to walk up to Luna, place my hand on her horn and concentrate, I could use magic?"
"Well yes, but I would not recommend starting with Luna. There is a huge difference in power-pressure from a Unicorn to an Alicorn. For a mental picture, a Unicorn would be a kitchen sink's tap water, and an Alicorn would be a fire hydrant."
"May I request then that we bring Reginald here?"
"You would like to try your hand at magic, your majesty?" I asked. She smiled.
"Of course. If our roles were reversed, wouldn't you?" I nodded. To be told magic was real would make one scoff. To see it performed might lessen that a bit, but to actually perform it yourself, that would take away all doubt and be a treat.
Luna closed her eyes for a few moments and then opened them again.
"He shall be with us shortly. I just sent him a mental summons."
Sure enough Reginald trotted in with papers bulging out of his pockets and breathing rapidly. He also had discarded his feather pen for a common ink pen that someone must have given him.
"You summoned me, princess Luna?" He said, breathing slowing.
"Yes. Approach the Human woman and allow her to touch your horn." He seemed puzzled at this command and a little uncomfortable but did as he was told. Elizabeth tentatively reached a hand for it and then jumped.
"He zapped me!" She exclaimed. Luna began to give a displeased look Reginald's way, but I quickly explained that the same thing had happened to me the first time I touched a horn.
"I don't know why it happened, but it did." That seemed to satisfy Luna and the queen reached again. This time she did not jump and held onto him.
"Is this warm feeling normal?" She asked me. I nodded. Queen Elizabeth held up one empty hand and we waited. Nothing happened. She made face and then looked about the room. Her eyes stopped on a cup of tea on a silver tray and she reached her empty hand for it.
"Remember to picture it slow-" I tried to caution her, but I was too slow and the queen of the U.K. was splashed with warm tea. I winced. The cup had indeed gone to her hand, but it had flown too fast and slapped into it, causing the splash.
" -ly floating to you." I finished. "Don't be upset, I did the same thing the first time I tried to move a cup." Poor Reginald was also splashed by some of it. It ran down the side of his head and he tasted it with his tongue.
"Oh my, that is good tea! What kind is it?" He asked, suddenly in a good mood.
"Green tea." The queen answered absently, picking at her wet outfit with the hand that had held his horn. "Not my favorite, but not bad." She let her outfit be and relaxed her arms.
"I've not had this kind before. Could I perhaps trade you something for a few of the plants?"
"Trade..." Queen Elizabeth snapped her fingers. "Now that could be something that might be incentive for our involvement. Depending on what it is that you offer, that is. Gemstones will only have so much value for so long before my citizens catch on that a rock is a rock no matter its color."
At that point the conversation became Luna's, Reginald's, and occasionally Thorn's as well. I had no reason to remain present, so with Trixie in tow I left to let them converse. Once out of the room I decided to call my Mom and Dad and tell them I was back. I got their voice mail (not surprising given the hour), but not them. I left them a simple message and then put my phone away, but then remembered that I had not spoken to Travis in forever. At the very least he'd want to know if I was still alive. Knowing him (and that the times of day differed on the other side of the world) he'd be awake playing online video games on his computer as long as he wasn't working.
A few minutes later he picked up. (A few minutes because I had to call him a few times. Like usual.)
"Oh. My. Gosh! Dude! Is it really you?!" He practically shouted into the phone. "Where the heck have you been?! No wait, don't answer that, I know where you've been. The whole world knows where you've been! Have you seen yourself on the internet yet?! People are making music videos of it and-" I interrupted him. Travis was a bit on an internet nerd, and if I hadn't, he'd have gone on all night giving me every little detail.
"Dude, as cool as this fame must seem to you, I haven't had the chance to savor it as I've been too busy. Have you seen the news yet?"
"News? What news?"
"Turn on your TV, Travis." He was silent on his end for a minute or two, and then he started rambling on about my latest appearance on TV. Most of it were questions he could answer on his own if he had stopped talking to listen to most of it. I told him this and his stream of questions stopped for a few minutes. When the video looped I could hear him gasp and figured it had gotten to the part with the gemstones.
"Oh man, this time the image quality is so clear there's no way anyone that knows you could mistake you for anyone else!" I heard muffled gunfire in the background and he said 'woah!' before more silence on his end. "DUDE! Are you still in the U.K.?"
"For the moment. In two days I'm going back to where I've been for about a month."
"Which is where, dude? That Equestria place?"
"Yup. And I'll be fighting for my life as well as the lives of thousands of pony-people."
"If I hadn't seen that video of you and the two horse-things and now this bit on the news I'd think you were high or something."
'Even though I've never been high?"
"Hey, you never know, someone could have spiked your drink!"
"Yeah. Anyway, how go things back at the store?"
"Well, ever since I posted on headbook that you were working at my store and we were best friends we've been getting reporters and wizard-wannabes looking for you coming in. Some of those magic-wannabe people were creepy, Jake! There was this one fat lady that kept tossing powdered sugar around, and this biker-looking guy that carried in a dead body and he got arrested for murder by the security guard, and-" He rambled off several other incidents, wach one weirder than the last.
"So then business as usual, then?" Travis slurped on something and then belched. It was probably some kind of energy drink. Travis was a caffeine junky.
"Yeah, pretty much."
We would get some weird people in our store every week. That we now had an infestation of people who thought they were magic-users wasn't really surprising. In one instance that neared a Halloween night an entire cult wearing ninja costumes came in wanting to buy rubber chickens. When told by several associates that we did not sell rubber chickens, they fell to their knees on the floor and started crying out to their deity asking her why they were unable to find their ceremony icons and from there were forced to leave by a local police guy that patrolled our store once in awhile because they were causing a disturbance. "So how's the queen reacting?"
"Better than I expected, but according to her it's the Prime Minister that we have to convince to send help."
"Yeah man, didn't you know that already? Official the queen has more power than he does, but she has less maneuvering room than him. You should have come here, man! Do you have any idea how many of the rednecks in my development would jump at the chance to mount a Dragon's head on their wall?!"
"Probably plenty, but the gateway is here in Welsh lands, Travis, and I don't know if it can be moved or how to open another one. More importantly I don't think a shotgun is going to amount for much for long-range combat, and only an idiot would want to fight a Dragon up close."
"Shotguns? That's only the stereotype. My one neighbor? He owns an M16, and made his own version of a mortar canon." What?!
"How the heck do you know that?"
"Because someone tried to break into his house last week. When the cops finally showed up the guy had twenty bullet holes in him. I later found out that owning that kind of gun in this state is illegal, but due to both a judge and a gun shop owner being a friend of his they let him have them anyway. Come to think of it, I haven't seen Rick in a few days. Maybe he's on his way to you!" Travis laughed. "If you do see him, tell him that his ex wife was looking for him, will you? Oh yeah, and how have you been?" Asking how I've been as an afterthought. I rolled my eyes. He always did have a habit of forgetting common courtesy in a conversation until the last minute.
"Well I'm stressed from a situation of one of my friends in their world has been abducted by Dragons, I've nearly died twice, I've found out magic is real and that I can use it, and my sleeping schedule is out the window due to it being day there when it's night here."
"But you're still sane, right?" he said in a look-at-the-bright-side voice.
"Yeah, there is that at least. So, are you recording this conversation?"
"You know it." That was another thing that he did. He recorded every conversation that he'd ever had since five years ago just in case he needed one for legal reasons.
"You're going to put this on Headbook, aren't you?"
"You know it! It's my way of sticking it to The Man! Free distribution of media!"
"Even though you could probably sell it to a news station for a few hundred dollars?" He was silent for a moment.
"Well, maybe I'll give The Man a break tomorrow." I laughed and then he did too. "But on a serious note, if it really does look like you don't stand a chance, don't go back, man. It's not your world, and it's not your fight."
"Travis, I haven't told anybody else this because I didn't think they'd believe it. I doubt you will either, but we've been friends for a long time, so I hope you'll take my word for truth." I told him what Celestia had told me concerning Earth being an Echo Dimension and also explained the repercussions of the Dragons wiping their way of life out.
"That's why I have to go back no matter the risk. I'm not fighting just for another world, I'm also fighting for ours. And to everybody listening to our conversation out there, you should be, too. We don't need money, we need actual grab-a-gun help."
"Nice sales pitch." He said dryly. "Now we just need a sad-looking puppy staring at the listeners while that's going."
"You can do that if you like, it might even help."
I was suddenly tapped on the shoulder by Trixie. She asked if she could say something on it. I asked Travis how he felt about talking to the blue girl from the news clip. He was ecstatic and said that would get him the most views for the week. I rolled my eyes again and handed it to her. I explained which end picked up sound and showed her how to hold it and then gave it to her. She then asked several questions such as where he was, what was the weather like over there, what was his favorite color, etc. She mostly seemed excited about Using the Human's version of magic. I grinned at it, remembering my own incredulity when I'd been first told about cell phones and how they worked. In my own mind it had seemed like magic at the time.
After a dozen questions or so she handed it back to me and said Travis wanted to speak to me again.
"It's like communicating mind-to-mind, but you're speaking instead of thinking! Are you sure that you Humans don't use magic, but just in a different way?" The way she worded it made me think. Perhaps what we did was a form of magic! We studied nature, we copied it, and then manipulated it in a way that got results that we wanted. True, we used our minds and bodies to utilize it rather than minds and will, but it still accomplished much of the same thing. With smoke and mirrors we could create visual illusions to fool the eye. With metal tubes, pressure, a spark and a flammable liquid we could create a stream of fire. With cranes we could lift an object that weighed tons. Using flying machines we could lift ourselves off the ground and soar higher than birds. What would happen if we took modern technology and traveled back a few hundred years? They would call it sorcery. After all, how else could a mere Human do these wonders otherwise?
The thought made me grin.
"You could be right, Trixie, and we're just too blinded by legends to see what's right in front of our faces." I turned my phone over in my hands. "Magic is right here, and we use it every day of our lives without realizing it! We are the Sorcerers of Science!"
"What was that?" Travis asked in a nearly muted voice. I raised the phone to my ear again.
"Just a realization about our society. So what do you think of Trixie?"
"She reminds my of my youngest niece. Questions, questions, and more questions! Still, I guess every world has its children."
"Trixie is actually a teen in her true form. She messed up a spell and went from being a Unicorn to being an almost-Human. Because ponies differ from us in terms of physical maturing and she's eight years old in her true form she turned into a kid."
"How does she feel about that?"
"She hated it at first and kept trying to find a way to change back, but she's gotten used to it and likes the idea of living longer than forty years or so."
"They live only forty years? Why?"
"Why not? That's how long ponies live in our world."
"It is?" Finally, something he didn't know that I did!
"Yeah."
"That's kind of sad, man! You said you have made friends with some of the locals, right? You're probably going to outlive most of them!" That was very true, and it was depressing. But did the sorrow of losing them later? Only time would tell for sure, but for the moment I was glad to call them my friends, short life or no.
"Well if we die fighting then I guess that won't be an issue, will it?"
"I mean it man, don't go into that if you can't win!" He sounded worried now. "You know that my uncle died when he signed up for the war. I don't want to lose my best friends to it too!"
"I'll call you again before I leave, Trav." I didn't want to have a guilt-trip conversation with Travis. Almost every time I did he won out, and this wasn't something I could just walk away from. "Bye." I ended the call and turned my phone off. I felt a bit like a jerk for just ending it there, but I knew he'd call me back if I didn't turn it off.
"Conversation didn't end well?" Trixie asked. I shook my head. I had hoped to just talk normal and maybe bring up my morale a bit, but instead it had gone almost the opposite way. It was good that the business was doing okay, and it was good to hear Travis' voice again, but he was right about Twilight and the others. Even if we did win as long as I lived a normal healthy life they'd die a long time before I would. I had put that from my mind before, but now it was on the surface again and the thought of watching them grow old and die so much faster than myself made my heart ache. Is this how Luna and Celestia feel watching the subjects that they befriend age and die? How can they stand it?
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Yeah...lost track of how long this was going. Sorry that this chapter's kind of bland but I work better in a world where anything can happen as opposed to our limited Mundania (Xanth series reference). I promise I'll get everybody back to Equestria by the end of the next chapter...unless someone wants to stay, that is.
Let me know if I made any errors so I can fix them in the future, 'kay? :)
Funny spoilers alert!
Trixie plays video games in the next chapter!