//------------------------------// // Chapter 18: Cloud Caravan // Story: The Bridge Between Worlds // by Artemis Orion //------------------------------// Musical Suggestion: Dreamshy - Derpidety **************************************************************************************************************************************************************** Cloud Caravan "... He has broken free." "No matter. Once that traitor returns, we shall deal with him." "But what about his 'friends'?" "Don't worry about them. 'He' will distract them." "But 'He' has been asleep for centuries." "'He' will awaken, when the time comes." "'He' just does not know it yet..." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "We should be at the right height soon." Twilight stood, supporting herself on the side of the huge basket. She never left her gaze at the oncoming sky, although they were already a few hundred feet above the ground. What she was staring at was a layer of clouds. The condensed water vapour combined and formed a large barrier higher in the sky. Soon the Air Balloon would break that barrier. "Once we are above that point, I'll explain more clearly what I meant." She turned back to sit in the cramped carrier that held three other ponies and a Human. The two Pegasi had raced ahead. "But until then, I had better cast the spell." "Quietly now, Twilight. Our dear friend has fallen asleep." Rarity pointed at Keith, with his black hood up, his chest rising and falling in rhythm. He was curled up in the corner of the purple basket. "Oh, he's all tuckered out!" "Hush, Pinkie dear!" Rarity placed a hoof on the Pink Pony's mouth. "Poor colt-er... Ah mean guy. Looks like them wounds din't really help 'im rest." Applejack spoke quietly. "Don't worry, girls." Twilight levitated a spell tome in front of her, reading it word for word. "This shouldn't take a moment." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Wake up sleepyhead!" A shrill voice of an overly excited Earth Pony shook my eardrums. It shocked me out of any form of weariness. "You don't have to be so loud Pinkie..." I placed my hands over my eyes, blocking the sunlight that had managed to get pass my hoodie. "I know! But look where we are!" Flipping down my hood, I opened my eyes. The only other pony in the basket was Pinkie Pie, who was waving her hoof wildly to the outside of the carrier. Grabbing the side of the basket, I pulled myself onto my legs. Still a painful task... But the sight was worth it. For miles and miles, everywhere around us, was a platform of clouds. There was nothing else, just an endless field of clouds, only to be disturbed by the bright sun that indicated midday. From the thickness, I could not see how high we were from ground level, but the lack of other clouds above us gave a hint. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were taking the moving clouds, and placed them in little gaps or holes in the condensation. Slightly below the balloon stood the three other ponies that were aerodynamically-alternative. They stood on the clouds now, linking themselves to the basket. "Welcome to the Sky Desert, Keith!" Twilight tugged the end of her rope, tightening the knot. "Now that's not really the name of this place, but then again, a large collection of clouds never really has one." "So where are we?" I took in the breath-taking sight, shielding my eyes from the sun that beat down on us. It was bright, but the wind made sure it felt cold. "Technically, we're still in Everfree Forest. More specifically, we're above it. With less obstructions and resistance, we should be able to cover more distance overtime." "With this Air Balloon?" I gestured at the rope on the rim of the carrier that connected the Earth ponies to the floating caravan. "Yuppity yup!" Pinkie Pie had clipped her satchel and herself to the balloon and jumped out, without the fear of falling through the clouds. "All four of us will be pulling it along! And don't worry, Twilight says that things are a lot lighter in the air than on the ground, and it's true! But it's not the same with anvils and crates! Trust me, I know!" "And if needs be, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy will help too." The two pegasi flew back to the balloon, now caravan. "That's cool and all, Twilight, but I'd still rather not be tied up to this thing." Raising a hoof at the inflated monstrosity. "It'll only slow me down." "Um, I wouldn't mind... that is if you girls need it..." Fluttershy spoke up from behind Rainbow Dash. "I'm helping too." I lifted my good leg over the edge of the basket, but was stopped by Fluttershy, assertive in her need to care for others. "Oh, nonono you're not even going to walk with your injuries!" She gently pushed me back into the purple basket and blocked me from trying to climb out again. "I'm fine, Fluttershy!" "If you're fine, then you're gonna have to get me out of the way!" A playful, menacing grin appeared behind her pink mane. I froze, mouth slightly ajar and an eyebrow raised. I never thought I would hear words like that come from my favourite pony. That and the fact that I indeed couldn't push past her, even if I wanted to. It was definitely painful to even try. Heaving a sigh, I pushed off the rim back into the basket, defeated. Fluttershy smiled with both triumph and sympathy. She joined me in the basket, placing a light hoof on the injured shoulder. "You're not leaving this basket until you are well and fully recovered." "But I don't want to be some deadweight you girls have to pull around!" "WE DON'T MIND!" Pinkie Pie yelled happily from outside the caravan. Even in a wounded state, she made me smile. "So unless we stop for camp, you're not getting out." I kneeled, leaning on the rim of the basket. "You girls are just preventing me from running off again, aren't you?" I said jokingly. "Not at all, Keith!" Fluttershy giggled. "Anyway, if you ever need anything, let me know. I'll take care of you." "I'm sure Big Mac would agree." "W...What?" "Nothing!" I smiled knowingly, although I think I scared Fluttershy. She began to blush, but took to the skies once more before the conversation could continue. "Is this going to take any longer? I thought this adventure was going to be fun?" Rainbow Dash pouted in the air. "She's right girls. Let's move while it's still bright!" The four ponies began to walk. As they did, the rope began to tighten and pull at the Air Balloon. It glided over the Sky Desert with ease. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We had been travelling for a few hours now. The sun, moved by Celestia's godly magic, began to descend. And because I was stuck in the caravan, I didn't know how far we had gone. I was pretty sure I had fallen asleep at one point. I was frustrated because I couldn't do anything, but at the same time, it was too painful to do anything. I needed something to pass the rest of the time. "This is boring." I spoke aloud from inside the caravan. "Yeah, there's been nothing but clouds this entire way! Nothing interesting round here!" Rainbow Dash restlessly circled the Air Balloon. "Let's tell stories to pass the time, girls." Twilight suggested. "That's a great idea darling! How about I tell all of you about the time I was in Canterlot and met Fancy Pants?" Rarity was about to go on until the rest of the Mane Six interrupted. "Yeah, you told us that story more times than Ah could count." "Been there, done that." "I watched the episode." I added unhelpfully. "Well, I never!" Rarity dramatized her disappointment, and cantered on with her head held high. "Well how about you, Keith?" Pinkie Pie inquired. "Why don't you tell us about 'Humanity'?" I felt my cheeks go hot red. "Oh, you wouldn't want to hear any of that. I'm just an ordinary guy-" "You're the only Human in Equestria! How could you be ordinary?" "Yeah, how did you grow up?" "Did humans ever get Cutie Marks?" I took in a deep breath. I didn't want to talk about it, but now that they had brought it up, I fell back on nostalgia. These questions would have to answered eventually. "Alright... only if you really want to know. It's a long story..." I cleared my throat for no apparent reason. They Mane Six listened intently as they continued walking on. I stared up at the sunsetting sky, recalling and reminiscing. "I was born and raised in Singapore -- You guys won't know where that is. I can't remember much about my early years, but when I was six, I was sent to elementary school. We had no magic, and we couldn't fly. We learned the most basic of subjects, and as we grew older, those subjects would expand and branch off to others. This was in hope that when that person grows up, they would specialize and do whatever they did. Unfortunately for me, I wasn't really good at a lot of stuff. I barely scraped my way through the rest of my education... My parents had to keep making me change schools and waste money in the process. I felt bad for making them do so. Hell, if it weren't for them I wouldn't even have made it to college." "So I just scraped by High School, I took Martial Arts and Breakdancing as co-cirricular activities, and I made a lot of friends. But a lot changed from when I was a kid until now. When I was a kid, I saw nothing bad in the world. Before I was exposed, I thought that the world was filled with good people. People that worked for their day's worth, people that were fair in what they did, and people that would help one another. How wrong I was. The older I got, the more I knew. And I found out that not everyone is going to be a good person. People are ostracized for the most minor of cultural differences. People are stepped on for other people to do better than them. What I really learned was that a lot of people will take advantage of you if you're nice to them. I learned that the hard way..." "So by the time I finished my education, I saw the world in a totally different light than when I started it. In my philosophy, humans could be the end to themselves. I mean we're talking about a species that almost waged nuclear war for a little bit of oil here. I learned that there was never going to be such a thing as a 'free' or 'transparent' government. My father fed me a lot of knowledge that he said would help me 'survive' in today's world, when I honestly had no heart to tell him I didn't care. What I really wanted was an escape. An escape from the constant bile that's thrown at each other everyday. That was when I heard of this show, and now it has become much more than that. Not just to me, but to the great community that you girls have made. It showed us that not everything is something to be taken advantage of, and that friendship is actually something to be cherished. I feel like it was something forgotten in our fast-paced lives." I concluded my 'speech'. The Mane Six wore amazed expressions. "Wow... your world sounds so... different from ours." Twilight spoke first. "It is way different..." I continued to gaze at the red sun. "Could the six of you promise me something?" "Uh... sure. What would that be partner?" Applejack tilted her hat back. "I'll admit that ponies aren't perfect either," I began, "but you guys are still a lot better than Humans. And I don't care how or why you exist. You haven't lost sight of Harmony, and you guys aren't corrupted in the way we are. So please... don't loose sight of Harmony." It was a loose, but serious promise. I didn't want something else that I loved ruined by corruption. "Trust us, Keith. It won't happen. We are the Elements Of Harmony." Applejack spoke with the utmost of confidence. The rest of the Mane Six showed their own sign of agreement. I smiled in reassurance. It felt great knowing this, but something still continued to nag at me in my mind. Something that my Dad had said before, and was proven so many times in real life. The sun was about to disappear beneath the Sky Desert. I then remembered what I was told, and what I had seen countless times. Nothing is pure forever.