//------------------------------// // Familiar Faces // Story: Angels and Demons // by lunabrony //------------------------------// Alicia smiled lightly, seeing his enthusiasm, and her voice assumed a warning tone. "I think this Novaria seems more bark than bite, she's just looking out for her little girl. Norman, I must warn you, about one thing, if you are sure about this." Always a catch isn't there. Embarrased by his wild exuberance he gathered himself up again, scratching the back of his head with a hoof. "Sorry for the outburst.. what's the fine print?" "I must apologize for involving myself in your personal business, but you deserve a warning. If you were to... shall we say... 'get with' Angel, you would be unable to return to this realm. May I offer my suggestion of keeping things... platonic? If she is as kind as you say, I'm sure she'd understand." Alicia paused following giving her warning about courting the alicorn. Having as much power as she did, one might think that she would not want anything, being able to summon or create whatever she wanted. But alas, she was not as selfless as Angel was. "Alright, so assuming I send you back to Equestria right here and now, on top of you being able to come and go as you please, what do I get out of it?" She asked with a curious smile. "Nothing is free, you know." A trickster is asking me what I can give. "A lot of bad stories about wishes starts out like this" We had our stories of genies, he thought. So what could he give that you'd want. "You're supposed to ask me some small thing or favor, something that seems trivial and later it'll be revealed to be very significant… at least stories with creatures like you typically go like that. What do you want Alicia?" He offered up his arms helplessly. The draconequus looked offended, and clutched at her chest dramatically. "I'm hurt. You really think I'd try to take advantage of you like that? After ALL we've been through together?" Despite the fact he'd only met her several hours earlier. She glanced about his room, and her eyes settled on the bit that Angel had given him, which she pointed out. "How about that? It's useless to you here." He went over and picked it up, turned it around. Was it just a bit? He wanted to be sure as much as he could. Was there any hidden magic? A message? A way of communication? Experimentally he touched his horn to it, trying to see if he could activate some latent magical powers inside it. Any small hidden writing? Anything? There was no magic, no hidden messages, no hidden meaning. He may not be able to use magic, but he'd at least be able to sense magic. He sensed a powerhouse of it coming from Alicia. The bit was just that, a bit, a gift from one friend to another. Nothing, it was just a bit. Technically it was the only bit he had, when he got to Equestria he'd be broke. "Where am I going to turn up if I teleport to Equestria? Evodia? Or somewhere far away?" You could at least go out of your way to figure out these things. Alicia shrugged. "Technically, I can't transport you to Canterlot, I'm not...exactly allowed in Canterlot anymore. They have a thing against the draconequui race, sins of the father and all that, you know. But I'll get you as close as I possibly can." She promised, taking the bit from him. "If you can't find Angel, ask around, surely somepony knows where she is." She hesitated only a second. "Ready?" He considered it for a moment. "Alicia, I don't know who you are. Discord is something new to me. If you're helping me, I'll be friendly to you." Had he simple been overly skeptical, it was something he was about to find out. "Don't be a stranger… and thank you for helping me out in this world. I'll see if I can't pay you back some day" He made sure not to word it as a promise, since he didn't really know her intentions. That wasn't very pony of him, distrust, but then again, he had been a human for most of his life. Alicia saluted him, and snapped her claws. For a brief moment, everything went black. Teleporation was something he doubted he'd ever get used to. He landed on his face, upon a friendly WELCOME mat sitting inches away from a large, bright red door. Well that was unpleasant. The thought of being able to switch between worlds was gratifying, he might not have to give Angel up after all. It was Equestria for sure, he knew that just by the bright vibrant colors, before he even saw all the ponies going about their business. Three or four stopped near him, all of them complete strangers asking if he was alright. "I'm alright, bad teleportation.. I uh.. need to find my way back to instructor." It was a lie, he hoped it would pass. He had no idea how easy or hard it was to teleport. Since he didn't see it too often it seemed likely that it was fairly difficult, and fairly difficult things can go fairly much wrong. "I seem to be in one piece.. did both ears arrive with me.. okay, I'll be fine." The ponies assured him he was alright, and went about their way. The red door he was standing in front of cracked open, and he found himself looking into the eyes of only the second dragon he'd ever seen in his entire life. Except this one was purple with green fins, and had a half eaten sapphire in one claw. "Whoa. Dude, you need to work on your landings. I watched you crash through the window." The little dragon snickered. "You alright? Nothing broken?" "Teleportation mishap.. I uh arrived a few very long steps away from where I should and uhm.. a few steps too high above ground. Could you tell me where I've arrived?" He hoped he wasn't too far away from Canterlot, he needed to find Angel and stat. Had she said something about a library? The dragon shook his head. "You don't know where you are? You must've hit your head harder then you thought. This is the Ponyville Library, everypony knows that." He said with mild amusement. "Normally I'd offer you more of a reception, but Twilight is away on business, so you'll have to forgive me if I'm a bit behind. Come inside if you need to." He swung the door open. Ponyville library, it was always possible that this was where Angel had gone. "Have you seen a white alicorn by the name of Angel? We got seperated, and I'm wondering where she went. She's.. uh.. teaching me about teleportation" Not that far off, since she'd taught him what to expect when she teleported him from his world this one. "I've tried coming back to her, but I can't find where she's gone" The dragon wandered into the kitchen, which was an enormous mess covered in flour and what appeared to be some sort of batter. "Angel? Sure I know her! She's the traveling nurse, right? She stops into Ponyville sometimes on emergencies. You want some jewel cake? I'm super determined to actually make it this time." Jewel cake? How did that work, the thought of teeth breaking against the hard translucent rocks. He shuddered. "No.. thanks… I was wondering if she's been by here, recently? A few hours ago?" It was always possible that he was lucky, or more likely that Alicia would have known more things than she had let on. Again, the dragon shook his head. "Naw, I haven't seen her in a couple months. She's real nice though, always brings gems for me when she stops in." He drooled slightly. "Tell you what though, we have a guest staying here this weekend that MIGHT be able to help you. Want me to call her?" "Sure thing." Jewel cakes? Dragons ate jewels? What had the dungeons and dragons rulebook guide said about that? Silver never had many opportunities to play that game with people. Perhaps he could introduce it to ponies! At the moment his main thoughts were on finding Angel, as quickly as he could, he had a bad feeling. "Great. I'll get her. Quick suggestion for you... fix your mane. It's a mess." He said, in a tone indicating it wasn't really a suggestion, but more of a 'do it anyway' type thing. He left the room, singing to himself. "Twilight's out of town, so its time to make.. make myself a jewel cake! Dum da dum da dum..." Mane's a mess? He found a mirror if that was all possible, at the moment thinking about where Angel would have gone. She had contacted him, tried to, but it had been difficult, why? Had Novaria already set up a magical blockage? Was Alicia unfriendly after all? Something had prevented her from coming to Earth, otherwise she would have. Something was wrong, because she had gone out of her way to contact him. So if not this library, then which one? There was a huge in Canterlot, that was his best bet. A few minutes passed. He heard the now familiar clop of hooves in the hallway, before the biggest pony he'd ever seen entered the room. Her coat was a deep purple, and her mane... he'd never seen anything like it. It seemed to be made of starlight. She smiled at him, a smile which held years of patience and wisdom. "Good evening, Silver Key." She said kindly. "We trust thou art enjoying your stay in Equestria?" Princess, he saw it immediately from the wings. She was even taller than Novaria, ergo older. Luna, he'd seen her sometimes in artwork and her name had come up during some discussions with Angel about this world. The one who raised the moon? Awe settled on him, and shame that he was now trying to find out how to best proceed in getting her help. The truth. With a short genuflect he went straight to business. "Princess Luna, I fear princess Angel is in danger" He didn't know whether Angel still had the title, even if she didn't pull the duty. The mare of the night smiled upon him. "Angel is not a princess, Silver Key. Thus is her right. We would have guessed you'd be aware of that. If she were a princess, she would not have time to do what she loves to do, nor would he have time for meeting new ponies like you." She explained. "But you are half-correct. While she is in danger, it is not life threatening. Not at the moment, at least." She knew, that made things easier. "I have to know. I'm not from this world your highness, she offered me to come here as a trip. However I realized that this world was different from mine. Less evil is here. In order to protect her from my world, I told princess Novaria about all of this, she ordered me home, and so I went. However in getting there.. I was still a pony. I only turned into one when I got here. Then I got a message from Angel.. but I didn't understand it, the voice was garbled." Since Novaria already knew, it did no harm to add this information to Luna's knowledge. Luna frowned slightly, but she did not appear upset. "Be calm, Silver Key. My sister and I hath been aware of this for some time. We study the intentions of all ponies who come to Equestria, to ensure they are not a threat. Granted, we are occasionally wrong, but we know that despite the world you come from, you are good." She said. He nodded. Inside he felt strange, a pony from this world had called him good? He'd been afraid the badness from his world had been leaking out of him. It was the cause of such relief. Coming back here he would risk harming Equestria as such. He bowed his head. And decided to let her do the talking. This wasn't his situation to control. She continued to explain. "When entering our realm, just as you are bound to our form, you are bound to our rules. You would be unable to perform such acts even if you wanted to. However aside from a few high ranking ponies, knowledge of such acts is nonexistent, and I trust you will not burden my little ponies with such horrors." She cast him a wary glance. "Only Novaria, only to keep Angel from going to my world." Unable to do them? Must be some powerful spells. That kind of magic couldn't restrict all kinds of evil, but he was glad that it protected this world from harm. He agreed to her caution "I won't tell anyone of those things, your majesty… where.. is Angel?" He had to know. It was then that he knew Princess Luna was keeping something from him. Perhaps not intentionally, but she knew, and she was avoiding it. "You are a good pony, Silver Key. Even if you go back to your world, you are always welcome here." "Princess.. you're hiding something from me. I've asked you three times about Angel, starting out with that question, and you haven't answered it. I need to know" He already knew. "She's gone back to my world hasn't she? Searching for me?" Idiot, he was an idiot, what had he expected would happen? Tell her mother about a world of fears and horrors ponies didn't dream of, and then tell Angel who had shown love for him that he was going back there… had she found out that he'd done it protect her? If that was the case then of course she would have gone. Tears formed in his eyes. Please Luna tell me I'm wrong, he thought. Luna looked into his eyes, an apologetic sigh escaping her lips. "I do not know her reasoning, outside of an unparalleled desire to see you again. But yes, Silver, she went to find you." She said gently. She had hidden herself the first time he'd met her, so she wouldn't appear as a pony. But he had seen her. Who was to say others couldn't see her as well? No time to stand around and explain his world to the princess. "Is there any assistance you can give me. She's in mortal danger! Mortal!" He needed a search team. He needed spells. "Teleportation magic? A tracking spell? Anything. She never left the hospital I was in.. she can sense hurt, she'll be drawn to it… for crying out loud Luna, she's an innocent pony in hell! Quick, any help? If not, then I'm teleporting back now" He had to be quick, the princess had inadvertent wasted an ocean of time. He could have been there searching for her. Angel wouldn't have known where he lived, she wouldn't have had any idea where to find him. But she loved him, was it any wonder she wanted to find him? She'd likely run to the other side of Equestria and back if only he asked. "I'm sorry, Silver Key. I am a princess, yes, but can only do so much." She said gently. "If you had said this in the beginning I'd have had thirty seconds more." He was disgraceful, he was angry at himself and it affected his manners. "Forgive me Angel, Luna… wish me luck" No assistance then. Activating what magic Alicia had given him to teleported back and landed… in the garden outside his house.