Chapter 8: A Chance Encounter
Jen and Echo were so preoccupied with her unusual appearance; they missed what the unicorn had said at first. Though the night pony seemed far more fixated on her companions than on the speaker. “That’s Trixie Lulamoon…she’s a wanted criminal. And THAT’S a changeling…they’re ALL criminals!”
The ‘changeling’ looked indignant. “Oi missy we ain’t ALL criminals, that’s racist plain an’ simple. How’d ya like it if I said ‘hey that’s a night pony they all suck blood an’ eat foals’ hm?”
Despite the situation Jen smirked down at her friend. “He’s got you there.”
“Tak enough!” The strange unicorn barked sharply. “We are not here for you to engage in banter with bizarre looking ponies. We are here for the thief and killer.”
Jen looked from the changeling…from Tak to the unicorn, then to Trixie standing behind the pair. The sky above should be bright and sunny but under the trees it was almost dark as night. She could see a faint glow coming from beneath the show mares’ obnoxious hat.
“Look I think you got me confused with someone else, I’m not a thief and I’m DEFINITELY not a killer.” Jen had hoped to reason with the weird mare, but the look in her eye showed she wasn’t here to talk.
“You wear your pilfered goods brazenly upon your arm. Tak and I witnessed you and your flying companion pass through the chasm over the still smoking corpses of my kin. You will return the shield and surrender yourself to justice, or I will take you by force.”
“Now hold on. I’m not surrendering anything and this was given to me!” Jen backed up a step, hand drifting to the hilt of her sword.
The unicorn snorted and her horn flared with a reddish light. “Tak deal with the flier!”
The changeling’s horn flared with eldritch green light as a blast of magic ripped through the clearing angling for Echo, but the young night pony was already airborne, wings pumping fast as she sped like an arrow at her foe.
Jen stumbled back fumbling to draw her blade as the unicorn charged. The mare was on her before she could fully draw it so she abandoned the attempt, bracing her shield for the coming impact. She was not disappointed. The unicorn spun and slammed her hooves at the girl’s chest but Jennifer snapped her
shield down to catch the blows. Even so she shrieked in surprise as she was suddenly sent airborne herself, crashing through the thick brush and smacking solidly into a tree with enough force to crack it.
With a wince the girl landed on her feet as the tree slowly toppled over behind her. She’d seen Rainbow Dash plow head first into a tree going faster than most cars, with little more than some dizziness to show for it. Her back was sore from the impact, but she landed on her feet relatively unharmed…the earth pony physique making it feel practically painless. Giving a soft grunt she drew her blade and lifted it to meet the expected charge…only to find herself alone.
Cautiously she stepped forward, eyes scanning the thick brush all around her. A rustle in the leaves overhead saved her as she instinctively raised her shield, in time to meet the mares’ next assault. Somehow she’d gotten over here and into the trees above. She crashed down on Jen’s raised shield with enough force to make the girls arm go numb…but it seemed the unicorn was surprised her quarry didn’t immediately buckle, and instead snapped out the pommel of her sword catching her in her unarmored belly and launching her back into the air.
Jen’s jaw fell open as the unicorn twisted in midair and landed on the tree behind her, hooves seeming to stick solidly to the vertical surface. With a growl she lunged for the astonished human.
-Echo-
Echo’s good mood had soured quickly. And her day had been off to such a good start too. The filly was dipping and darting through the high branches of the great trees, always the buzzing changeling right on her tail with frequent bursts of magic to try and knock her from the air. She cursed the fact that she’d not bothered to don her armor before departing the castle. ‘Won’t make that mistake again…if I live through this.’ She thought.
“C’mon kid land an’ I’ll make this quick like! I don’t wanna hurtcha really, our problem ain’t with you!”
The cadet grit her teeth and flipped suddenly darting over the surprised changelings head and bucking him with her hind hooves as she passed. “If you got a problem with Jen you got a problem with me!” Echo allowed herself a triumphant smirk, looking back and expecting to see the bug creature dropping like a rock. Instead she saw his body flare with green fire as he got…bigger. Longer legged, the solid blue eyes gave way to vivid red with pupils not unlike her own.
“Right then, hard way it is little filly!” With a snarl he sped forward suddenly far outclassing her speed. Echo let out a howl of pain as his horn flared while he passed, scorching a burn in her flank.
The pain was great enough she almost fell from the air, her wings faltered for several beats before she pushed it aside and forced them to work again. If the changeling was this much trouble Jennifer had to be having a hard time of it too. “You’re not the only one with tricks.”
Eyes blazing fiercely Echo’s jaw snapped open and she let loose a keening wail powerful enough that the air was distorted by the waves of sound rolling from her throat. Tak’s eyes went wide as the sound waves over took him and it felt like whole body was vibrating and threatening to shatter at any second. With a howl of his own he snapped his wings shut and plummeted below the tree line and out of sight.
Still ignoring the sizzling hiss from her flank Echo darted down after her opponent. She had to make sure he wasn’t going to cause trouble…this wasn’t an ordinary changeling obviously. He was on his hooves on the ground, barely standing and looking ready to topple at any second. Wanting this over quickly she sucked in her breath for another shriek…when suddenly a pale pink lasso of light snapped shut over her muzzle pinning it closed.
With a gasp she remembered there was another criminal in the clearing, and she looked to her side to see the line connected to Trixie’s horn, the unicorn strengthening her spell and forcing Echo to land.
“Get to Umbra and finish this quickly Tak! I can’t keep the sky shroud and her bound at the same time for long!”
Groggily the changeling nodded and his wings buzzed again lifting him into the air. “Be careful with her, she’s a lot tougher than she looks.”
The unicorn was too busy desperately trying to keep her focus to respond…and Tak buzzed by her toward the other battling pair.
-Jennifer-
Jen was…not doing too badly she felt. She hadn’t managed to catch this crazy mare with her sword, but she’d delivered a couple solid bashes with her shield and she herself wasn’t feeling hurt despite taking a buck to the hip. It throbbed dully but her choice of going into this with the earth pony charm was really paying off.
The unicorn was fast though. REALLY fast and REALLY strong. Definitely at least an equal match in strength and Jen’s better in speed for sure. The only advantage she seemed to have was that she was armed while the unicorn fought bare hooved. Oddly enough she didn’t seem to be using her magic for anything more than jumping and running up trees.
They were circling each other warily, each waiting for the other to make a move. “Look…I don’t wanna fight you! I don’t even know who the heck you are lady!”
The armored mares red eyes glared harshly from beneath her helmet. “I am Umbra, Princess of the Spiderkin. Are you truly so callous you have forgotten taking the lives of my kin so soon?”
Realization dawned on the girl. “Spiderkin? You mean those…giant spiders in the tunnels? You’re talking about THEM?”
“Yes! Them! Thirteen of my scouts, slaughtered by you and your companions!”
Jen scowled. “They attacked us first! We were defending ourselves!”
Umbra’s eyes flashed with rage. “Liar!” She charged as she shrieked. Jen briefly recalled her recent lesson with Luna. ‘Never lose your temper in battle. If you get angry you stop thinking and if you stop thinking…’ Turning smoothly she easily side stepped the unicorns’ reckless charge, then brought her shield down hard in the small of her back. With a grunt the mare collapsed and Jen wasted no time swinging her leg up in an awkward kick and sending her arcing through the air. She probably could have finished it on the spot by stabbing with her sword instead of shield…but something about killing a pony struck the girl as very wrong.
Intending to make sure she was definitely out of the fight Jen charged through the brush after her, shield raised. With a gulp she found herself face to horn with the changeling…Tak she thought his name was, and then she was blinded as a flash of green caught her square in the face. Reeling back she tripped on an exposed root and hit the ground hard.
A sudden weight smashed into her back forcing her harder into the ground, then hooves began to rain blows about her head…now THESE she was feeling, earth pony physique or not. Each slam of a hoof sent pain reverberating through her skull and she wanted to do nothing but let consciousness go.
An ear piercing keen split the air and the weight was flung off her, she head the changeling howl in agony as Echo’s sonic attack ripped through him again. With a groan Jennifer blinked rapidly, her vision slowly returning. It was a struggle to get to her hands and knees but she was slowly pulling herself up. She caught a glimpse of her friend darting overhead and tackling the changeling, hooves flailing and a constant barrage of shrieks right in his face.
Finally Tak slumped to the ground, unable to remain awake from the furious assault. “Hn…thank Echo…look out!”
So preoccupied with the changeling, Echo failed to notice the unicorn had gotten up, and caught a buck straight to the face. She didn’t even have time to cry out as she soared through the air and slammed on her side against a tree. There was a sickly snap as her wing was crushed between her body and the tree, then the filly hit the ground and lay still.
Umbra stomped to Jen’s looking down her muzzle at the slowly recovering girl. “This farce is ended.”
Now Jennifer definitely had increased power in her arms from the earth pony charm. Enhanced stamina, much thicker skin and stronger bones. But there was one thing earth ponies had in spades…and one thing you never wanted to stand near when you were in a fight with one. And that was indescribable hind leg strength…or just leg strength in this case. Hands set firmly in the ground before her Jen didn’t look back. She just said one word.
“Eeyup.” Then bucked her leg out and smashed it into the armored unicorn’s side. She was rewarded with a very satisfying shattering sound, and the sight of Umbra propelled away from her at speeds that would make Rainbow Dash envious. She crawled to Echo’s side and had to choke back tears at the sight. Her muzzle was bloodied and she had several cracked teeth. The cadets’ wing was bent and twisted at odd angles along the length.
She gasped aloud as Echo’s eye cracked open. “…she packs a wallop.”
Jen laughed now. “Well so do I…come on let’s get you…back…” She trailed off at the sudden flare of red light coming in the direction she’d sent Umbra sailing in. Both girls watched as she stalked back to the pair, one side of her armor shattered and gone…and a large feathered wing flared in her fury. Her whole body was sheathed in a crimson aura of magic.
Jennifer felt Echo shiver in terror at her side. “She’s an alicorn…” She barely whispered. “Jennifer you have to run! You can’t beat her! Alicorns are fueled by magic; she’ll only get stronger the longer you fight!”
One of Twilights (many) lectures flashed through the girls head. She’d been curious about the princesses and asked her about them…where they came from and that sort of thing. “Well nopony knows WHERE they originally hailed from. Some ponies think that the alicorns were created by the world itself, living embodiments of its magical power.”
Jaw set firmly Jen pushed herself to her feet, sheathing her sword. The alicorn…Umbra didn’t seem to care that she was suddenly unarmed. Inarticulately shrieking with rage she charged again. And again Jennifer side stepped the wild attack, but this time she slapped her shield arm over the unicorns haunches, her other hand gripping the jewel at her neck.
She could almost hear Twilight’s voice. “Well nopony can exist in your world in their natural state for long because of the lack of magic. You see all living things on our world draw power and life from the air around them, and without it well…we’ll grow sick and lose our strength quickly. It’s why we had to visit your world as humans!”
Jennifer’s arm was burning from the intense aura radiating around Umbra, but she held on and focused on Discord’s jewel. She felt the vortex of light raise up and engulf herself and the raging alicorn, then they dropped. Umbra panicked, snapping a hoof out and catching Jen in the chin. The girl’s head snapped back and she drifted away from her in a daze. The vortex shuddered and ended more abruptly than she was used to.
She was not standing on the solid ground outside her uncle’s cabin like she’d expected. She and Umbra were in the air…she caught a glimpse of buildings a lot taller than anything in Petoskey Michigan, then they were falling. She had NO idea where she was, only that she was dropping into an alley between too buildings. Desperately she reached out and snagged her hand around a fire escape, but she was falling too fast and the bar came loose, dropping her hard on her back to the concrete below.
Umbra fared no better, not even getting the slight slow in descent Jennifer had, she slammed hard onto the pavement cracking the stone and wobbling for a moment…before slumping over.
Already her aura was flickering and fading. And she looked confused and disoriented. Jennifer groaned and rolled onto her side, getting to her hands and knees again than slowly sitting up, regarding the dazed alicorn. “You ready…to…talk yet?”
The unicorns response came as a primal blast of magic, catching Jen square in the chest and launching her through the alley out into the street beyond. Shouts of alarm rose from the people on the sidewalks as she slammed hard into the building across the street and dropped to the ground landing on her feet then dropping to her knees with a little groan.
“Guess she still packs a wallop…” She winced as she heard the sound of camera phones clicking, and peeked up with a scowl. Most of the folk were just gawking as she picked herself up off the ground. She could see Umbra charging from the alley her way and she hastily drew her sword brandishing it at the crowd. “Move! Get outta here!”
NOW they were screaming and running from the sword waving lunatic…for the most part. A few of the braver and more curious sorts spotted the source of her distress…and the camera phones went off again to document the winged…horned…glowing horse engaged in combat with the sword wielding teenage girl. Most just figured it was some kind of stunt for a movie.
Umbra’s magical aura was flickering in and our sporadically but it hadn’t faded completely. She was still augmenting herself with whatever internal magic reserves she had on hand…and they were apparently formidable. Jen managed to fend off her charge with a well-placed shield, but the alicorn was growing wise to her tactics such as they were. She allowed the girl’s shield to push her, and spun with it rising on her hind legs and slashing the razor sharp ridges of her foreleg armor guards across Jennifer’s stomach.
Instantly Jen’s mind flashed back to the fight with Discord…the fight where she’d almost died from a nearly identical wound. Now it was her turn to shriek inarticulately in rage and panic…Luna’s lesson flown from her mind as she began to whip her sword in a rage fueled flurry. The sudden shift in the girl’s mood shocked the young alicorn who found herself rapidly backing away into the street. By now they’d drawn another crowd…some beginning to wonder if this really WAS fake or not.
The girl’s terror fueled adrenaline rush wouldn’t last long, but she didn’t waste it. Her sword opened up cuts on Umbra’s face and legs and only a timely twist of her body saved the alicorn from being skewered through her flank on the side with her shattered armor. Not knowing what else to do, the reared on her hind legs slamming her forehooves into the ground and releasing a burst of her stored magic, flinging the berserk girl back into the wall.
Jennifer had thought her plan a good one…if the alicorn was away from Equestria she’d weaken like any other pony. But it was taking too long…and she was tiring faster than her opponent. If she could use her magic…poor as she was at it, it might give her an advantage. Umbra seemed incapable of using either of the very basic magic’s that, while Jen wasn’t GOOD at, she could at least call upon. The downside was if she gave up her earth pony durability likely one blow from the fierce mare would finish her.
She glanced at the charm bracelet during the lull in the battle. It seemed Umbra needed a moment to collect herself as well. Jen had no idea if it would work…but she had to try. Hesitantly she carefully spread her fingers, tapping both earth and unicorn charms at once. She felt the familiar rush of magic, and an audible gasp from the crowd. She also felt something comfortingly familiar…her horn had returned, and her muscle had remained. With a scowl she sheathed her sword again and stood.
“This is the last time I’m asking you to stop fighting!”
The gathered spectators looked from the girl to the pony, the latter spat to the side. “I will not stop until you lie broken and beaten at my hooves!” She lunged forward…only to come to a grinding halt in mid-air. The crowd seemed unsure whether to gasp at the talking horse…or the girl with the glowing horn holding the talking horse in some kind of aura. Umbra writhed and squirmed in the girl’s unrefined telekinesis. Jen had little control over how hard she gripped anything and she was sure it was causing no small amount of pain to the mare.
Jen knew Twilight and Rarity could manipulate anything just by thinking about it…but she needed a bit more of a physical approach. Hand outstretched to help her focus, she clenched her fist and her aura tightened around Umbra who let out a wail of pain. Gritting her teeth Jennifer made a lifting motion…and the pony slowly rose into the air. Once she felt she was sufficiently high enough, the girl slashed her hand downward and her aura propelled the alicorn mare into the pavement, hard enough to throw up a huge dust cloud and leave a small crater.
The crowd began to slowly edge toward the crater looking in. There lay the pony…very much unconscious, the shards of her armor scattered about her prone form in all around her. With a grimace Jen touched the earth charm alone, and her horn vanished…as did the massive building headache fortunately.
Letting out a slow breath she sank to the curb, head in hands. Several tense moments passed before someone finally approached, a younger guy, maybe a couple years older than her. “Hey uh…you alright?”
With a little chuckle she ran her hands through her hair, looking up with a wry grin. “Sure. Sure I’m good. Where am I by the way?”
He blinked at that. “Uh…New York?”
“City?”
He nodded slowly.
“Cool…I always wanted to see New York…oh man...” There with the crowd she spotted it…what could only be some kind of reward from god, Celestia whoever. A hot dog cart. Pushing herself to her feet she trudged to the vendor who watched her approach wide-eyed, as if he expected her to sprout another head or something. “Dude…all I have is gold; can I give you like…a pile of gold for a hot dog?” She dug a handful of bits from her pocket, and his wide-eyed look went from horror to delight.
“Missy you can have the whole cart for all that!”
“I think just…two hot dogs’ll do. And a coke.” She plunked the pile of coins on his cart and accepted the horribly processed meat, taking a moment to inhale the smell before biting into the first. “Oh wow…I mean…they say New York has the best but….wow.”
The guy from before approached again. “So uh…what the hell happened here?”
Jen shrugged and popped the last bite of the first dog in, swallowing quickly. She was hungry. “Oh…crazy magical pony attacked me. They get weak in our world so I brought us here to make it a little more even.”
He could only slowly nod. “Oh uh….cool?”
“Well she was trying to kill me so yeah pretty cool…I mean I…” She paused to bite into the other treat. “…I feel bad. I’m not big on violence but y’know…crazy alicorn tries to kill ya, what’re you gonna do right?” She was too sore, tired, and bleeding too much to really bother with some nonsense song and dance number.
Another slow nod. “…right. That…makes sense?”
A few of the braver folks were climbing into the crater, prodding the downed pony curiously. The sound of approaching sirens began to keen over the air and Jen groaned. “Ugh…I guess that’s my cue to go…man I wanted to see the Statue of Liberty.” A couple quick bites demolished the other hot dog, and she chugged the pop, tossing the trash in a bin.
“Hey hey wait! Go? You just…magically appear and have a big fight with a magic pony in the middle of the city and you’re going?”
She shrugged at the guy. “What else am I gonna do? Get arrested and dissected in a lab or something? Besides she’s dangerous. I can’t just bum around the city and wait for her to wake up and go nuts again.”
“Well uh…I mean If you WANTED to you could come back after she’s in…pony jail? I could show you around.”
This was a new situation for Jen. She’d done her best to keep a low profile in school. She never dressed to draw attention to herself and pretty much avoided every human being her age like the plague. A guy wanting to what? Take her out? …and kind of a cute guy at that…was new to her. He was a little taller than she was which was nice since she was always tall in school. He had kind of a scruffy look going for him, tears in his jeans and a faded black Metallica t-shirt. He had nice looking eyes though, a pale blue, almost grey color. “Uh…maybe? I mean I’m pretty busy. Plus I don’t really know you? This doesn’t strike you as weird?”
Now he was grinning a bit. “Me asking a strange cute girl out is weirder than sword fighting a magic talking pony?”
He had a point there. “You got a point there. It’s weirder to ME I guess?” She laughed a bit. The sirens were definitely getting closer, but she was suddenly feeling reluctant to leave. “I’m Jen by the way.”
“Ok Jen…I’m Alex.” He drew a pen out of the back pocket of his jeans and took her arm gently in his hand, writing his number on it. “Gimme a call if you wanna hang out.”
She was blushing a bit as she took her arm back. “Uh…yeah ok…Alex. Maybe I will.” By now the cops had actually arrived and were approaching the scene. Jen had a number of fingers suddenly pointing her way. “Ok definitely time to go.”
She slid down into the crater with Umbra ignoring the shouts to stop from the cop. Frowning around at the scene she knelt down, resting one hand on the unconscious pony while her other went to her jewel…she willed them back to Equestria, leaving a very stunned crowd of people around a suddenly empty crater.
Jen breathed a sigh of relief as they emerged from the vortex back in the forest where she actually intended to go. The adrenaline rush was definitely gone by now and she ached all over…especially her stomach…AGAIN she thought with a grimace. Ignoring the incapacitated pony and changeling she limped her way to Echo…only to stumble as her vision suddenly cut out, replaced by a pale pink haze. “Wh…what the hell NOW?!” She didn’t like swearing…she always thought it was low brow, but she was at the end of her rope.
“I’m sorry girl but I can’t let you take them to the princess or whatever you’re planning. Friends aren’t something I have an overabundance of and I’m not losing them now.” Jen turned toward Trixie’s voice frowning. “I’m sure this is little consolation but I tried to talk her out of this…apparently she was very good friends with the…ghost? Of your sword or something along those lines.”
“I…don’t care about them. How’s Echo?” She wasn’t about to start arguing with the unicorn, she was too tired.
“She’s fine…well not FINE but she’s not dying. She’s asleep, unconscious…I don’t know. She’s breathing fine. I’ll send up a magical flare. Help will be coming soon.” Jen could hear her leaving…and suspected the changeling and alicorn were being held in her magical aura. “Is…” She seemed to want to say more. “…never mind. Of course she’s fine.” Then Jen heard rapidly retreating hoof steps.
With a sigh the girl first sat, then flopped on her back on the snowy ground. “…he WAS pretty cute…”
She didn’t know how long she’d been asleep for, but she was snapped awake by a less than gentle nudge with a hoof. She blinked and was pleasantly surprised to see anything…but more so to see Luna looking down at her in alarm. “What happened? Who did this to you?!”
Concern in her eyes the girl looked to where Echo had fallen, and breathed a sigh of relief as she was being tended to by a pair of guards. “I saw Trixie…the mare who was with Discord? I made Echo land and she lured us into a trap. Some…alicorn mare named Umbra was working with Trixie and a changeling…I think his name was Tak? I thought you, Celestia, and Cadence were the only alicorns princess.”
Luna suddenly grew very still. “Describe her to me.”
Jen frowned and rubbed her head. Her stomach was still bleeding but not as badly. “Uh…solid black coat. White mane, red eyes. Kinda spooky looking really.” She blinked as Luna was suddenly just…gone. A bright pillar of silvery light engulfed the princess and she vanished along with the light. Sitting there blinking dumbly for a few more moments she looked over her shoulder. “…can I get a lift to Ponyville guys?”
Ponyville it turned out was not very far from their location at all. The guards had loaded Jen and Echo into a larger chariot and they were being rushed into the (annoyingly familiar to Jen), hospital in town. Echo was rushed off to an operating room for her wing…while Jen was forced onto a gurney and taken to an emergency room for her cuts. A healing spell and several stitches later and she was back in what she suspected was her old room. Seeing Doctor Gentle Touch brought a little smile to her face. “We have to quit meeting like this doc.”
Despite the situation the stallion chuckled. “Well let’s see. Two new lacerations to go with the old one. Three broken ribs, a dislocated shoulder…we had a lot of fun trying to set THAT back into place with your crazy arms. Good thing I studied up on that in case little Spike got injured. Also you have several bruised vertebrae, and one has a hairline crack in it. Another good blow to the back and you’d likely not be walking again anytime soon. The back of your skull has SIGNIFIGANT bruising and was in danger of cracking wide open. Decide Discord wasn’t enough and you picked a fight with the princess?”
“Close! She was a little alicorn. Well little by their standards, she was like normal pony size.” Jen’s mood was drastically improving with the introduction of wonderful pony painkillers. “And a changeling, he’s the one that messed up my head.”
“I sincerely hope that’s the medication talking or that is a truly horrifying possibility that someone as powerful as our Princesses is running about attacking everypony they come across.” The doctor slid her chart into the holder at the end of her bed. “You just get some rest, we’ve notified your mo-“ Jen’s look cut him off. “Miss Pie and she’s on her way.”
Jen lay back and was about to let herself drift to sleep before she shot back up. “W…wait Doctor! What about my friend. Is Echo alright?”
He was frowning as he turned back to her. “She’s a bit of a tricky case. Her head wound we can treat fine…but she’s the first one of those we’ve ever had in the infirmary, maybe even in Ponyville. Her wings are like nothing we’ve ever seen. We’ve called for Fluttershy to come take a look; she has experience with all sorts of animals and if your friend’s wing is close enough to an actual bat’s she may be able to help.”
She sighed as he left. It was good that Echo was going to live…but the cadet seemed to love flying. Though Jen was sure if anypony could help her it’d be Fluttershy. “Ugh…Pinkie’s never gonna let me out of her sight again after this.”
Almost as if on cue she heard the shrill sound of a panicked Pinkie Pie shrieking. “Where’s Jenny?! I’m never letting her out of my sight again! This is all my faaaaaault!” Jen didn’t need to see her to know the water works had begun. Though more than likely the mare hadn’t come alone and one or more of her friends was hard at work consoling her.
Steeling herself for the inevitable, Pinkie Pie burst through the door and gasped at her charge’s condition. Once more Jen was heavily bandaged and in the hospital. With a cry Pinkie flung herself at the girl…who braced for impact, only to breathe a sigh of relief as the hyperactive pony was snared in a shimmering magenta aura. “She’s hurt Pinkie; I don’t think she wants you bouncing off her chest right now.”
Twilight and Applejack entered in close behind, the latter nudging the door shut. “What in th’hay happened to ya THIS time?”
Jen offered an embarrassed shrug and motioned for Twilight to let Pinkie down. She did and the pink mare DELICATELY climbed up on the bed with Jennifer, nosing at her in concern. “I got waylaid by an alicorn.” With a little smile Jen rested a hand on Pinkie’s back. Having her close was making her feel better.
The unicorn in the room scoffed. “Don’t be ridiculous. None of the princesses would do this.”
“Well I didn’t say it was one of THEM did I?”
Farm pony and librarian shared a confused look. “Well those are the only alicorns in…in the whole world!”
The girl could only offer a shrug. “Well she had a unicorn horn and pegasus wings. Pretty sure that’s an alicorn. I told Luna about her and she I dunno…beamed off to find her I guess.”
Twilight was shaking her head. “This is all very odd. Why don’t you start at the beginning?”
So she did. From spotting Trixie in the air to the end when she mixed two charms to slam the rabid mare to the ground with her magic on earth. Her story got little gasps here and there when appropriate.
“Oh I hope your friend’s ok…she sounds really nice!” Pinkie Pie seeing that the girl wasn’t in life threatening condition had settled down some and was content to rest against Jen’s side.
“She claimed to be princess of the SPIDERKIN? I’ve never even heard of them. Do you think she meant those giant spiders we fought in the tunnels?” All three could practically SEE the gears turning in Twilight’s head.
Jen nodded. “It seemed that way. She seemed a little crazy though so I guess it’s hard to tell. Still that would explain an alicorn no one’s ever heard of right? If she’d been living underground her whole life?”
The little scholar’s eyes lit up at the promise of a mystery. “It would! I need to research this; there might be some mention of these spiderkin in Clover the Clever’s library! I’m glad you’re ok Jennifer, I’ll be seeing you soon!” And she dashed from the room without waiting for a goodbye.
With a little chuckle Applejack rose to take her leave too. “Reckon I should get back m’self. Ah’ll be sure’n let everypony know yer alright.”
Then she was alone with Pinkie. The party mare was perking back up but still looked a little morose. “I’m really alright Pinkie. Did uh…your dad come by?”
Now her head snapped up. “Oh did he come by alright…JUBILANT SURPRISE.” She giggled. “AWESOME name by the way! Apparently his granddaughter singlehoofedly saved the Pie family from being thrown out on their tails.”
“Oh man you shoulda seen me at the castle. It was a disaster!” She recounted the weekend’s events, Pinkie taking great delight in the antics of her first evening there…though she promised to have words with Princess Luna about how mean it is tricking somepony like she did. “So there I was in the throne room, thinking I was SO clever. If I was going to impersonate your filly I had to have a name you’d pick right? So I was very proud as I announced it. Then your dad was like “I need to know how old my granddaughter is.” And I nearly had a heart attack!”
They both had a good laugh at that. Pinkie tilted her head rolling lifting Jen’s arm with a hoof. “What’s with the numbers?”
“O…oh uh…I sorta…met a boy in New York? He gave me his phone number…”
“Oooo! Was he a cutie patootie! I bet he was to catch YOUR eye.” Pinkie’s smile was wide and bright again.
With a non-committal shrug Jen looked away embarrassed. “I guess. I mean it’s not like I can have a serious relationship with a human back home. Pretty soon I’m gonna be as pony as anyone else in Equestria.”
“Well maybe. That doesn’t mean you can’t be friends and have fun while you’re still human though right?”
“Yeah…I guess. We’ll see I mean I did tell Luna I wouldn’t use my amulet too much.”
The pony’s lips pursed a bit. “I don’t know that you should be using it at ALL Jenny-bean…but I trust you to be responsible. You haven’t done anything bad so far, I don’t think you’re gonna start anytime soon. Just remember what the princess said, it’s a one way street and now that the process started if you try to spend too much time over there you’ll get sick.”
With a little nod Jen sighed. “I know Pinkie. I’ve only been back uh…four times if you count today which wasn’t exactly a social call. I get little headaches after an hour or so but nothing serious. I promise I don’t regret my decision, I don’t plan to go back to STAY…just I miss my dad and uncle sometimes.”
“Aw it’s alright Jenny-bean. Everypony can get home sick sometimes.”
A gentle ‘ahem’ came from the door, a nurse standing there. “I’m sorry ladies but visiting hours are ending. Jennifer needs her rest anyhow Ms. Pie. You can come back in the morning.”
Giving Jen an affectionate nuzzle on the cheek Pinkie hopped down. “You heard the nurse Jenny-bean! Lots of rest! I’ll see you bright and early tomorrow!”
A smile and a wave and Jen was alone in the room again. Not for long however, another gurney was being pushed in a little while later, Echo sleeping soundly on it. Her wing was wrapped tightly and sported a brace keeping it up and open. A doctor gently levitated her from the gurney to the bed next to Jen, a fretting Fluttershy trotting in close behind.
“Oh Jennifer you look…awful.” The pegasus seemed torn between hovering over her patient and her friend.
Jen just waved her hand dismissively. “I’m fine. Well…not FINE fine…but I look worse than I am.” ‘Just a few cracked and broken bones’ she thought, but no reason to get Fluttershy more worked up. “How’s Echo?”
Decision made for her Fluttershy settled next to Echo’s bed. “The poor dear wasn’t in good shape. I…don’t want to go into detail but she needed a lot of healing magic for her head. I was able to set the wing so it should hopefully heal up good as new in no time.” She glanced at the closing door then back to the bed ridden girl, her voice lowering. “The doctors asked me to stay close by to talk to her when she wakes up. I’ll just stay here if…if that’s alright with you?”
Settling back and closing her eyes with a smile the girl nodded. “Yeah Fluttershy…that’s alright with me.” She was so tired she lifted the wakefulness magic she’d cast over herself, and almost instantly fell asleep.
The nightmares were there of course. As if they’d been hovering on the edge of her consciousness just waiting to pounce once she let her guard down. This time it wasn’t just the single shadowy construct with a sword. It was joined by a second shadow, a pony with blazing red eyes. They took turns slashing, bucking, and pummeling her…the end was the same as always and she jerked upright in the hospital bed suppressing a scream. Fluttershy was sleeping on the sofa in the room. Jen angrily reactivated the magic to keep herself awake.
“Bad dreams?”
With a little jump she looked over to her side to see Echo peeking at her from the corner of her eye. “Oh Echo…I was so worried!”
They kept their voices low to let the pegasus sleep. Echo forced her cocky grin on. “Psh a little thing like a full on buck to the face from a rampaging alicorn isn’t gonna keep me down. Er…for long…I hope…” She looked at her broken wing at that point. Her smile faded. “What happened? Did you uh…win?”
Jen took a sip from a cup of water on the stand by her bed. “I did. I drug her to my world…pony’s get sick and weak there. It wasn’t easy even after that…well…it was once I grew a horn and magically slammed her into the street. I don’t have very good control but I was looking to take her out not do a tango.”
“We make a pretty good team huh? Changeling prince and an alicorn?” Echo shakily reached a hoof out for a bump, Jen obliged.
“How d’you know he was a prince? He didn’t seem very…princely.”
“The eyes. Regular drones have solid blues, royalty have different colors. We had to take like…tons of boring classes on the subject after the big invasion.”
“Invasion huh?”
The girls spent the rest of the night sitting up talking. Echo doing the bulk of it, Jen wanted to hear all about the big invasion of Canterlot during the royal wedding a couple years back. Fluttershy was awake of course…and kept peeking up at the chatting fillies. Part of her said they should both be resting, but it was nice to see Jennifer with a friend her own age. Oh she and the girls cared about her, but it was more like a little sister relationship than a true friendship.
Feigning just waking up she stretched with a yawn. “Goodness it seems you two are wide awake for it being so late.”
The youngsters jumped at the sudden interruption, both looking like they were caught by their mother staying up late at a sleepover. “Er…sorry Fluttershy. Echo’s nocturnal and I uh…”
“Had trouble sleeping. I figured Jennifer.” The yellow mare dropped off the couch and approached the night pony. “And how is your wing feeling Echo?”
“Eh…sore. I’m guessing it’d hurt a lot more without that.” She waved a hoof vaguely at the IV feeding her pain killers. “You the one who set it?”
“Mmhm. We don’t see many of your kind in Ponyville and the doctors hoped my experience caring for animals would help you. It just so happens I had to set a poor little bat’s wing much the same way a couple weeks ago. A couple weeks of resting it and you should be in the air in no time.” Fluttershy smiled gently.
Echo was a bit unnerved at the kindness the pony was showing her. She still wasn’t used to normal ponies reacting to her without fear. “Well…thanks ma’am. I really appreciated it.”
“Oh it was no trouble at all. Really. It looks like you girls are going to be alright, so I think I’ll be heading home. Try to get some rest please.”
Once the mare was gone the girls settled back in their beds again. It was quiet for a time before Echo spoke. “Hey…how come you don’t just…make all your wounds disappear? I mean you could do that right.”
Jen shrugged, eyes drifting to the pendant resting against her chest. “Probly. But…I really try not to use this. I probably coulda turned Umbra into like…a rabbit or something but…I don’t want to push my luck. I really do try to use it sparingly.”
The sky outside was brightening and Echo was looking drowsy. “Why don’t you get some sleep? I’ll snag a book from the cart when it comes around again to keep myself busy.”
Echo didn’t seem interested in arguing, and soon Jennifer was alone with her thoughts. If Umbra was an alicorn, how many others were there out in the world…hiding or forgotten or just…keeping to themselves? And if there were others who exist or existed…who exactly was that a statue of in the gardens?