Still a collaboration effort on part of Vocbox and Renegade—with some editing help from my friends! MLP FIM belongs to Hasbro n Hub Network, may their marriage be forever. Songs within belong to their owners as indicated.
Rarity had reached Ponyville by train along with Fluttershy, and immediately set off for her boutique. It wasn’t terribly out of the way; she just wanted to make sure Sweetie Belle, her sister, and Opal, her cat, were alright. She opened the door, calling out to the two of them.
“Sweetie Belle? Opal, darling? I just came to check up on the both of you! Oh, what’s this?” A note was stuck to one of her ponnequins, and was labeled with her name on it. Rarity read the addressed note aloud: “Rarity, I went out to find my cutie mark with Applebloom and Scootaloo, wish me luck! Signed, Sweetie Belle.” Her face turned to anger, this wasn’t the first time she had just left without permission to play with the Cutie Mark Crusaders. But then her face was overtaken by fear; what if they went to the Everfree Forest? They had done so on a number of occasions, but if they went there today… “Oh, no! Sweetie Belle, I’m coming!” and Rarity burst back out through the door, and ran straight to the area designated that Strife had appeared in.
Coming up on the area, it was a small clearing with a portion of the usual brightly-colored trees. It was close enough to the Everfree Forest that most animals stayed away from it, but there was a small lake that had obviously been used recently. Rarity took not that the water had settled, but the area around it was very wet, and hoofprints were pressed near the edge that led away from the lake for a short distance before fading. There was no sign of the CMC, as it was easy to tell where that troublesome trio of fillies had been, so Rarity allowed herself a sigh of relief.
“Phew, I can’t believe I immediately thought the worst of Sweetie Belle and the others; at least now I can get on to the job Twilight entrusted me… Now, if this lake is the area Strife was attacking, why is the only evidence a set of hoofprints?” Rarity looked into the water, the telltale sign of flowing fabric catching her attention. “Hmm? What’s this?”
Levitating the tattered jacket and pants out of the water, she was dumbfounded—what could have possibly worn such oddly shaped (not to mention dreadfully out-of-fashion) clothes? She looked deeper into the water for anything else that would clue her in to what manner off creature these clothes belonged to. She found a few things at the bottom, and levitated these above the water as well. They appeared to be some kind of boots for a creature with an elongated hoof, but inside them was a child’s doll, a small unicorn with randomized colors and no cutie mark. On its hooves read “Made in China”, not that Rarity had ever heard of such a place in all of Equestria.
“What on Equestria could this possibly mean?” Rarity mumbled to herself. “I suppose I’m too late, for whatever was here does not appear to have remained in the area.”
Just then, a clamor of birds and other animals sounded from the direction the hoofprints had led. That must be it, Rarity believed, that must be Strife, or at least his doing. She trotted over to the tracks, and once she was sure they led towards the disturbance, she galloped towards its source. As she came closer and closer to where she guessed the animals had run, she noted the mountain that held Canterlot Castle was the direct path. What was this monster that would head directly for the castle from the Everfree Forest?
Her answer came as she cleared the next thicket of trees—she had been traveling into Everfree in order to follow the monster, and now came upon a pride of manticores! Stopping suddenly with only the tiniest of a “Meep”, Rarity backpedaled behind the thicket once more. She looked again, and she saw a deep blue unicorn who had somehow managed to get himself into a tree that the manticores were surrounding; he was obviously why they hadn’t noticed her intrusions seconds earlier.
It was then that the mystery pony realized there was hope again, and called out for her, with enough wisdom to know directing his yells would only get the manticores’ attention drawn towards his would-be savior.
“I could use some assistance please, maybe a distraction in another direction so I could get down and we could get out of here?”
The manticores didn’t notice her even after the strange stallion’s outburst—this was Rarity’s chance! Levitating some nearby fallen branches, she changed them into pony silhouettes, and placed them on the opposite side of the clearing. Making one branch snap loudly near them, the manticores looked over to the noise’s source with unnerving alacrity, and pounced at it in a flash. The window of opportunity was wide open now, and the stallion that was in the tree leapt off it into a bush. Seconds later, he popped out, and while shaking branches out of his mane, he dashed in the direction he saw Rarity from when she had entered the clearing. She was a bit ahead of him, waiting for him to come her way, and as he galloped full speed past her, she followed, eventually taking the lead.
“Thank…you…so much…miss!” the young stallion managed to say between gasps as they ran.
“Don’t mention it, darling! Just run!” Rarity replied. It became clear that as often as she had been running with her friends this way and that all across Equestria, this particular sprint had not drained her nearly as much as she expected it to. Rarity smiled to herself, then began to lead the two of them through the winding thickets to the clearing she found before entering Everfree. “We’re almost there, just keep going!”
Minutes later the two had safely returned to Rarity’s home: Carousel Boutique. It was safe after they broke from Everfree, but they didn’t stop to see if the manticores were there until they were inside. The navy blue unicorn stallion was holding one of his forehooves to his torso and breathing heavily while sitting on his haunches, gripping his necktie in what passed for a grip with hooves.
“Sorry, but I never quite caught your name; I am Rarity, I own and run the boutique we are currently in.” She introduced herself hoping to begin the conversation to a point where he explained what exactly it was he was doing in the Everfree Forest that got him surrounded by manticores. Luckily, the bait worked, and he talked.
“Thank you, Rarity. My name’s King…” he trailed off for a second, his eyes glossing over, and then he returned to normal. Neither unicorn noticed as a mark resembling three eyes appeared on his flank. He continued where he left off, saying:
“Rapids. King Rapids is my name. I was, uh...” His eyes shifted again, and returned seconds later. “I-I’m sorry, my second sight is, is… weird.” He shook his head and refocused his eyes, blinking a few times before finishing. “Haha, well, my name is King Rapids, I used to be an investor—second sight helps when I can tell whether or not the investment will help or not. I was in the Everfree Forest because that’s where I woke up. I couldn’t tell where I was so I headed straight towards Canterlot Castle, as it was my best bet for getting out of the forest. It surprised me too, because here I am, out of the forest!”
King wasn’t just pulling out words at random; he had seen into the future and knew exactly what to say for Rarity to believe him, right down to the name. It was a bit scary for his ability to suddenly manifest, and he had seen just enough to understand what to do. Flashes of future moments in which he had answered truthfully and been under suspicion, and when he lied and everything fell apart, and the balance between them both. It had happened in the first instant. The second instant told him what Rarity would have said next, her inquisition to what he did and why he was in the forest. It had seemed imperative to tell her of his second sight because her next question was to be one that would involve what he was doing. Afterwards the visions had ceased, but not before showing him one more thing—the being that had sent him here.
“My plan is just about complete. All that remains are those infernal six, and then NOTHING can stop me! I’ll become a TRUE GOD, AND ALL SHALL KNOW MY NAMESAKE! I AM STRIFE! HAAAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA!!!”
“Well…” Rarity was surprised—second sight? Could he truly see the future? “…I’ve certainly never met anypony with the ability to see the future.”
“Oh, well it isn’t as great as it sounds—it’s not exactly an ‘on command’ kind of ability, but it comes up when it’s important, usually.” King answered quickly, Rarity’s comment reminded him suddenly of all the pronouns he’d have to replace pony-wise if he wanted to keep up his charade.
“Alright, well, I have to go now, but feel free to browse until I come back! Tata!” Rarity left, rushing towards Spike, who had been left in the library. She needed to send a letter to Celestia, and Spike’s magic breath was much faster than taking the train. When she reached the great tree, she telekinetically knocked twice. It was late in the afternoon, but Spike should still be awake, she hoped. To her relief, Spike answered quite quickly.
“Oh, hey Rarity!” Spike was enthusiastic to see her, like always. “What do you need?”
“Spike, take a letter, please. I need to inform Princess Celestia of an impending attack.”
“Oh! I’m right on it!” Spike disappeared for a second, then popped his head right back into the doorframe. “Come on in!” A few seconds later, Spike had attained a quill, ink, and parchment.
“Ahem. Dear Princess Celestia, at the site I investigated near the border of the Everfree Forest, I found evidence of a being I’ve never seen before. Following its trail, I came across a unicorn with second sight who had been chased up a tree by a pride of manticores. It is my belief that the manticores might be under Strife’s control, and that we may have more than just Strife around causing all of this. Signed: your subject, Rarity.”
“…your…subject…Rarity. I’ll send it right away, madam!” Spike rolled the parchment in one movement with skill only granted by being Twilight’s number one assistant for his entire life, tossing it into the air and breathing his magic green flames. The letter sailed out the window with unerring accuracy; it would reach the princess in seconds. “Is…that all, Rarity?”
“Yes, Spike, thank you very much! Well, I must return, I’m entertaining that unicorn stallion I found as a guest, and I don’t want to leave him alone longer than necessary—it’s rude to leave one’s guests, after all.”
Back at the boutique, King was slowly adjusting to the situation. He had just been rescued by one of the “mane 6” and was now inside her residence. She really was generous, he guessed. He realized he had left a hole in his story: he had only woken up there in the forest, and had answered as such. Apparently his second sight didn’t think it was important, but King knew better; he would just keep his mouth shut and remember to come up with something, should suspicion arise. His thoughts were interrupted as Rarity opened her boutique door again.
“Sorry for the wait, I just had to send a letter to the princess about those awful manticores. What could have made them attack you anyway? They aren’t exactly known for roaming in packs.” Rarity stopped for a moment and wondered what to do. She had saved this gentlecolt, but where was he from anyway? Not Ponyville, for sure. Rarity was sure she would’ve seen Pinkie Pie throw a party for the poor stallion before. His cutie mark was a set of three eyes arranged in a pyramid; the bottom two eyes were closed but the top was open. Strange, but she had seen stranger, she supposed.
“Ah, well I may have wandered into their lair. I wasn’t sure which way was ‘out’ of Everfree, so I headed for the mountain.” Remembering what he said earlier, King quickly added: “Second sight kicked in and showed me going that way and exiting, so I figured it was safe. That’s when I accidentally stepped into their territory, and got stuck up a tree.”
Rarity had decided that that was enough questioning the poor stallion, and it was time to see if she could get him someplace to stay before she headed back to the castle for her rendezvous with her friends.
“So, have you anyplace to stay?”
Pinkie Pie wasn’t very happy getting so few lines, and being effectively written out of the previous conversation. In fact, she was bummed!
“It’s not fair you know. Maybe if I had more lines everypony would be our friends faster and we wouldn’t have to have split up…” Pinkie looked straight at the monitor. “So let’s hurry up, up UP so we can be together again and throw a PARTY!”
Pinkie had been like this since she left, springing across the fields and plains North of Canterlot to The area near Trottingham. She had said, frequently enough, that if anypony was there for a scene change she could just jump in and save some time. There wasn’t, however, and now she had to hop skip and jump her way there all by herself. Trains didn’t head directly to where she wanted to go anyway. Somehow, Pinkie knew that her target had already left the area they were in and where to go to find them.
“Yeah! It’s almost like I’m reading the narration or something, but that would be silly because you can’t read narration of course because this totally isn’t a story being typed up by some strange colt with fingers or anything, that’s be just plain silly!” And with that, Pinkie giggled.
After a few more minutes of traveling, she had reached her destination. Pinkie bounced past a light brown pegasus filly with a yellow mane. She was sitting on her haunches and crying softly, burying her muzzle in her forehooves, and couldn’t even see that Pinkie was right there. Pinkie Pie, being herself, was saddened by this stranger, and decided immediately to help her smile before continuing.
“Hey there!” Pinkie popped up right in front of the sobbing mare. “What’s got you so sad?”
In-between sobs, she choked out: “She, she yelled at me… I just wanted to know, and now I-I…” the filly continued to cry, unable to finish her sentence.
Pinkie’s ears flattened beside her head. How was she supposed to cheer her up? If only some idea happened to come to her… and then it did! Pushing a stage in front of the filly, Pinkie got on it and pulled out a microphone. And, predictably, she began to sing.
“Chin up, chin up
Everybody loves a happy face
Wear it, share it
It'll brighten up the darkest place
Twinkle, sparkle
Let a little sunshine in
You'll be on the right side
Looking at the bright side
Up with your chinny chin chin!
Chin up, chin up
Put a little laughter in your eyes
Brave it, save it
Even though you're feeling otherwise
Rise up, wise up
Make a little smile begin
You'll be happy hearted
Once you get it started
Up with your chinny chin chin!
Chin down, you can't come frowning
Turn around
Starting, clowning
Think sad
Your troubles double
Think glad
They burst like bubbles
Chin up, chin up
Every little time your spirits wilt
Chin up, chin up
Give your attitude an upward tilt
Twinkle, sparkle
Make a little fun begin
You'll be on the right side
Looking at the bright side
Up with your chinny chin
Chin up!“
Pinkie, upon finishing the song, was tangled in a web that spelt out “Chin Up” and nonchalantly hopped out of it without disrupting the web at all. She trotted over to the pegasus again, who was no longer crying.
“Do you feel any better?”
“-snf-Uh…uh huh. Thanks miss.”
“No problem-o!” Pinkie was felling better now that she had helped this girl out. “My name’s Pinkie Pie, what’s yours?”
“My name is Gabrielle.” Sensing that Pinkie Pie wanted to know why she was crying, she added: “I met another pegasus, she’s white with a black mane, and well, I saw her as I was flying overhead and then some stuff fell on her, so I sat in a tree to see. I fell out of the tree and apologized for watching her, and she yelled at me, a-and she told me to-to…” Gabrielle was tearing up again. “She said to, to back off, and leave her alone, and she was so angry.”
“Well, sounds like SOMEpony is in dire need of a friend, if they’re so closed-hearted to yell at somepony over something like that.” Pinkie struck a pose as though this was her undertaking. In truth, it was something she loved to do: making friends. Beyond that, her keen Pinkie Senses led her to believe that this mystery mare was exactly who she was here for. “Do you wanna come along too, Gabrielle?”
“Sure Pinkie Pie. I-if that was all she was mad about, th-then maybe I could be her friend too!”
The two of them then headed in the direction Gabrielle had last seen the white mare run off to. On the way, to pass the time, they chatted and laughed, making silly faces or doing somersaults.
“So what’s your cutie mark for?” Gabrielle inquired.
“It’s to show how much I like parties and throwing parties! I like to see everypony smile, and a big party makes it alllll worthwhile! Heehee, I rhymed. So what’s yours?”
“Mine’s a symbol of my favorite thing—performing! I like playing music for others, and I like to do acrobatic tricks, so when I managed to do them both together, my cutie mark appeared! So, yeah, I really like being in the spotlight.” Gabrielle was a lot more talkative now, as well as relaxed.
Minutes later the duo had come to a small shelter of large branches up against a bush. Poking out from the side was a black tail—the two guessed it was likely the pegasus Gabrielle had met earlier. Inside it was indeed the black and white mare, but she didn’t notice her two unexpected guests because she was in the throes of another nightmare. After thrashing for a few seconds, tears fell from her face before she calmed down again. Pinkie decided it was best to wait this one out. Pinkie resumed conversation to pass the time.
“So what’s her name?” Pinkie asked.
“I don’t think she gave her name, and she left before I gave her my name.”
“Where’s she from, do you think?”
“Her accent was kind of weird, but I only noticed her because she teleported, she didn’t seem to come from anywhere.”
“WOW-EE-WOW!” Pinkie got a little too loud from her excitement. “So she’s a pegasus that can teleport? Or maybe a friend of theirs teleported her, but that’s not how teleportation works. Hmmmmmmmmmmmm…”
In the ruckus of Pinkie Pie’s fascination with the girl’s mysterious teleportation, the girl awoke, gripped with fear as two distinct voices conversed just outside her makeshift tent. People were only trying to get close to use her. It was always like that. Xena was strong because she wouldn’t let anyone use her ever again. Even though as a human, she had gotten exceptionally good at fighting, she never got over her fear of others. As a pony creature with wings, she had lost a measure of confidence. She had forced some of her clothes back on to her new body, not much of it fitting but the coat, but that kept her wings in, which she needed to balance when running. This, of course, is what she planned to do. This plan of running away, however, did not work because of one very simple factor: Pinkie Pie.
“Hi!” Pinkie’s head poked right through her tent. “Sorry to wake you but I’ve got a couple of questions for you. Can you really teleport? Where are you from, what’s your name?”
“AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!” Was Xena’s reply. This was understandable—even without her history, being snuck up upon by someone or somepony else when you were sleeping is frightening.
“No, it’s pronounced: HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!” Pinkie enthusiastically creamed alongside Xena.
After a few more seconds of simultaneous shrieking, Xena finally stopped to catch her breath. Pinkie Pie did not appear to need to and went right back to conversing with Xena by bombarding her with more questions.
“So! Why did you yell at Gabrielle like that? What were you doing out here at a Strife Site? Why are the clothes you have not shaped for your body? Why did you just freeze up?”
Xena had stopped moving almost immediately after Pinkie Pie said Gabrielle. Gabrielle was the name of her one and only true friend, a doll she was given by her grandmother when she was five years old, the very same doll she had with her a few hours ago in Germany that had not traveled with her. But the thought of Gabrielle traveling with her suddenly felt more real, this was when Gabrielle herself, the pegasus, poked her head in the tent’s flap. She had the exact same color scheme! Was it fate, was it chance? Xena was overcome with emotion at the prospect that her friend had not only traveled with her to this new place, but had also come to life. Remembering how she had yelled at her not too long ago caused her to tear up.
“I’m sorry.” Xena was now actively crying. “I’m so sorry, Gabrielle, I didn’t know, I’m so sorry!” Xena got up and wrapped her hooves around Gabrielle, who smiled. “Can you ever forgive me?”
“Yeah, I can do that miss… what’s your name again?” Gabrielle put a hoof around the crying mare’s head.
Xena didn’t think that maybe she wouldn’t just have her friend for free, and she was supposed to become her friend on her own. Oh well, Xena thought, if this is all I have to do to have my friend in real life, then it’s easy.
“I’m Xena Darrow.”
“And I’m Gabrielle, but I think you knew that already. I forgive you.”
“Will you be my friend?”
“Sure thing, Xena.”
“Would you be my friends too?” Pinkie Pie came up from below, grabbing both of them in a hug.
“Of course!” Gabrielle replied.
“I guess so, so what were those questions you were asking?”Xena had stopped crying and was grateful to Pinkie Pie for bringing Gabrielle here so Xena could apologize to her.
“I’ll ask ‘em on the way, I think you gals should come with me.” Mission accomplished: Pinkie Pie style.
Richard was a clever pony. As he made his way towards the town, he had already come up with a few tricks to wow the crowd. All he needed was a bit of money before he could start putting that money to use, improving his shows to a point that he wouldn’t need to spend any in production, which would turn 100% profit as fast as humanly (ponily?) possible. His excitement was showing outwardly as he chuckled to himself. His happy thoughts were interrupted by a small voice off to his side.
“Um, excuse me.”
“Huh? Who’s there?”
Behind a bush, a yellow head with a long pink mane popped up. Richard stopped to look at the sight. At least this proved it; the inhabitants were brightly colored horses. It was when she flew out from behind the bush that he was legitimately surprised.
“Whoa! A pegasus!” He was a unicorn, so it was to be expected that other legendary horse types existed. Were there also centaurs, seahorses, and the four horses of the apocalypse? Well, it couldn’t be any more outlandish than the large red worm with wings he saw before getting here.
“Um, if you don’t mind, have you seen anypony weird around here?”
“Weird? Nah, I haven’t seen…anypony weird.” Oh boy, pronouns are different here. Better get used to them if I want to fit in, Richard thought. “In fact, the only pony I’ve seen out here is you.”
“Oh, well, it’s just that you’re out here, all alone near the Everfree Forest and…it’s dangerous.”
“Oh.” Dangerous in the woods, got it. Unfortunately this means I’m suspicious, I better come up with an excuse for coming out of a place apparently well known for being dangerous. “Well, that’s because I wanted to see how tough I was by proving that I could go in and come out unharmed.”
“But you could have been hurt! Or worse! Oh…my!” The yellow mare was suddenly concerned about this stranger, and the sudden change was making Richard uncomfortable.
“Uh, yeah? That’s the point isn’t it?” As soon as he said it, he knew it was the wrong answer. The mare’s face widened into shock, then turned into a disapproving frown. Her eyes intensified…and then she calmed down.
“That’s very irresponsible of you, mister. You’d better hurry home before you worry anypony else…if that’s alright.”
“Yeah.” Richard was just sure he had narrowly avoided something fearsome, but couldn’t place what it could have been. Shaking his head, he hurried towards the town. Before leaving he noticed three butterflies imprinted on the yellow pegasus’ sides. Weird mark, he told himself, and continued along.
Likewise, Fluttershy noticed the stallions flank was bare before she had begun her stare. It was just like the Cutie Mark Crusaders, she supposed, not knowing their talent and trying to force it by doing a great many things, many of which were potentially dangerous. It didn’t feel right to be upset at a pony just because they were trying to realize who they were. With a sigh, Fluttershy resumed her path towards the Everfree Forest.
Fluttershy had been inspecting the area specified for a few minutes, noticing nothing out of the ordinary save for a small clump of dirt that had roots sticking out of it, as though it were upside-down. She didn’t know what to do; was she supposed to warn everpony that something dangerous could be headed to town? Was there anything here at this area to begin with? She decided that it was probably for the best…and a lot safer, if she just went back to Ponyville and told Rarity what happened. And so she hurried back to the Carousel Boutique.
On the way back, Fluttershy noted that the stallion she saw from the forest wasn’t on the path. Perhaps he really did go hurry home, she thought, or maybe she spent too much time near Everfree. In any case, she knocked on the boutique door.
“Umm, Rarity? Come out please, that is, if you’re home.”
“Just a minute, darling!” It was definitely Rarity on the other side of the door. Maybe this meant she had already handled her spot’s disturbance? A few seconds later, Rarity opened the door. “Ah, hello Fluttershy!” Rarity seemed surprised. “I’m entertaining a guest right now, is it something important?”
“Um, well, I think so, there wasn’t anything or anypony where I was supposed to go. What do I do?”
“Oh! Well, perhaps you should have Spike send a letter. I did, after all.”
“Alright. See you…later I guess.”
“Tata!” And with that, her boutique door was closed once again.
With an audible sigh, Fluttershy walked towards the library. “I hope Spike doesn’t mind.”
“Hope I don’t mind what?” Spike’s voice came from around the bend of Rarity’s boutique.
“Oh! Spike, I need you to write a message to the princess!” Fluttershy looked up to see Spike along with Sweetie Belle.
“Hello, Sweetie Belle, have you discovered your talent yet?”
“No, and we even spent time looking in the library! We’re running out of good ideas…”
“Oh…my. I’m sorry. Well, your sister is just inside with a guest, so please be quiet when you go in, alright?”
“Will do, Fluttershy!” Sweetie Belle went inside the boutique. Unsurprisingly, what followed were a few crashes and shrieks from Rarity.
Fluttershy winced before turning her attention back to Spike, who had already pulled out a pen and parchment.
“What? Gotta be prepared to write at any time, y’know?”
Fluttershy nodded. “I need you to write down that there wasn’t anything where I went to check for Strife. I don’t think there were any monsters involved, and I only found one set of hoofprints leading away from that… one…” Fluttershy remembered how the hoofprints lead away from the site, but not towards it. It wasn’t out of the ordinary to see the hoofprints because she met the stallion on the way there, and didn’t think about how strange it was until now.
“That one what?” Spike asked, having written down everything else she said already.
“Oh, nothing, I have to go find the unicorn who I met on the way there, hold off on sending that letter, if it isn’t too much trouble.”
“You’re the boss, I guess. I’m going back to the library now; I was just walking Sweetie Belle home.” What he really wanted to do was see Rarity again, but now she had guests, and he didn’t want to be rude. “See me there if you want to finish your letter.” With that, Spike trudged back to the library.
“See you later, Spike.” Fluttershy tried to remember what the stallion looked like. He was a yellow shade with a long mane that held a single streak of brown in it. That shouldn’t be too hard to find, she hoped. Walking into town with her new task didn’t make her feel better, but it had to be done.
Richard hadn’t had a great time on his side either. Every time he tried to get a good setup and perform for some cash, he had been laughed off by the phrase “blank flank” and it had begun to actually faze him. He noticed, after a time, that all the larger horses (or ponies if the pronoun anypony was to be used as a base) had a different mark on their back legs. He was no animal specialist because the war had removed most animals from existence back home, but he was sure ponies weren’t so randomly colored or have these pictures on them naturally. It only seemed to really upset him when two small ponies had called him a blank flank. Logically, this meant it was something these things got as a child, and so he was an adult that had less than a preteen in this society.
He stopped his attempts at performing and had begun to just observe all the other ponies, attempting to blend in and see what he could learn. What he discovered was that there were an equal number of ponies with wings, with horns, and with neither; among them, most were female. Unicorns like him seemed to be able to utilize a telekinesis and do other things; he saw one light a torch with their horn. He was also able to view their mannerisms and positions: most ponies lied down or sat on their haunches, save for a single mint green pony that sat in a chair eerily similar to a human. Eye contact was used frequently during conversations, most greeted with smiles and waves before conversation. In addition, so long as he wasn’t getting anypony’s attention he wasn’t teased about his “blank flank”. At this point, he decided to just take a walk around the town and get a better feel for it, as well as looking for a possible place to sleep or eat later.
His walk led him through the entire town. There was a library, town hall, sweet shop, an orchard within view of the town, something labeled a boutique, and a couple of various stores for mundane things, each store specializing in it. No such thing as Walmart, here. The money type being exchanged was coins, of which there were three types: gold, silver and copper, called bits and cents. His best shot at discovering what all these things meant was the library, but when he reached it he found a sign that read, in English of all languages, “Closed, be back in a few minutes” and sighed quite audibly.
“Whatcha need?” a young voice behind him said.
“I just gotta check a few books out is all I need, do you know where the librarian is, or is it too late to go in?” Richard turned and found a small purple and green…dragonling? Now he was sure of it, there was probably every kind of creature in this place, no need to ever be surprised again, just expect everything to talk, he told himself.
“Oh, right. I’m Spike, the assistant to the librarian, Twilight Sparkle.” Spike proudly introduced himself. “Go on in, I’ll just unlock this…” Spike pulled a key out of who-knows-where and put it in the lock. “…door. Need help finding a book?”
“Uh, I’ll look for it myself. I’ll give you a holler if I need something, ok?”
Richard took a moment to rationalize a few things. Twilight Sparkle was a pony’s name, and Spike is a dragon’s name. He had heard similar names while in town, Heartstrings, Diamond Tiara, Snails and the like. If he wanted to avoid suspicion he would need an equally weird name. Stepping in he noticed there were many shelves, and even a ladder. It became obvious quickly that he was going to have to concede some pride first—there was no way to check every book by hand (hoof?) and no way to use the ladder. He was going to need that telekinesis, and he’d have to ask for it.
“Hey...do you have a book on magic?”
“Pshh, only like, a ton of ‘em. What do you need?” Spike replied with a roll of his eyes.
Shoot, he didn’t want to specify. Sacrifices must be made, though.
“On telekinesis.”
“Huh?” Spike looked like Richard had asked him how to breathe. “Why do you need that, aren’t unicorns naturally good at it?” Suddenly, Spike covered his mouth for a second, then said: “I’m sorry, uh, yeah I’ll go grab it.”
It was like being handicapped, Richard supposed, a unicorn without magic was probably considered as such. Oh well, he’d get over it just as soon as he tapped into that magic. He was already imagining ways to utilize it in his performances, cutting costs on things he would need for the more advanced tricks. Now he was excited and eager. Spike had retrieved the book from the top shelf (good thing Richard asked, he’d never have found it) and placed it on a nearby table.
“Good luck… what was your name again?”
Oh come on, Richard was definitely unprepared for this; he needed more time to research names first. Pull it together, man…think…think…a nickname he had once maybe? It’d have to do.
“Flashcard.” Well, now he had committed himself to it. Better memorize this point too, he thought dryly.
“Alright. Good luck, Flashcard”
An hour had passed, and Fluttershy still hadn’t found that strange unicorn. Well, she didn’t want Spike to wait all night, so she went directly to the library. To her surprise, upon opening the door she found the pony she had been looking for deeply engrossed in a book. He didn’t look up, but Spike did.
“Hey Fluttershy, didja find that unicorn?”
“Um…well, yes?” Fluttershy pointed to Richard. “That’s him.”
“Whoa, neat coincidence. That’s Flashcard.”
At this point, Richard realized he was being pointed at by the same yellow pegasus as earlier. Well, this was a surprise. And now they knew each other’s names. He hoped that she wasn’t going to talk to him yet, he wasn’t done assimilating pony mannerisms. Heck, he wasn’t even finished reading Magic for Colts and Fillies, something he assumed was the equivalent of a beginner’s book for boys and girls. He had tried to use his “innate unicorn ability” earlier to no avail, and had forced himself back to reading.
“Um, Mr. Flashcard, if you don’t mind, I found something that was weird and I wanted to know if, maybe, you knew something about it?”
“What is it?” He hoped he had enough patience to sit through all of her ums and maybes.
“Well, it’s just that your tracks lead to a place that something big happened in, but there’s no evidence that you came there in the first place, and I was wondering if maybe you fell there, or teleported, or maybe…” she trailed off, and Richard couldn’t hear her. “…so, um, yes.”
“I didn’t catch that last thing.”
“If maybe you came out from Everfree Forest.”
Wuh-oh. “Of course not.” Think quickly: backstory is about to be needed, here.
“Well, if you aren’t from the forest, did you see anything out of the ordinary? Monsters?”
“Nothing, it was a relatively uneventful walk. You were the only pony I saw, no monsters, I swear.”
“Oh…alright.” Fluttershy ended the situation right there. Not that Richard was complaining.
This girl seemed pretty shy; he didn’t have to worry about her prying into his history. Speaking of, this girl’s mark was 3 butterflies, and her personality was shy. Flutter + shy; her name had her mark and personality. Well shoot, his name would fit right in, he supposed. Richard was a little flashy, and primarily used card tricks to start off his wealth back home. He hoped this revelation wouldn’t affect him any, and checked his flank to be sure. Phew—still blank. It would’ve been awkward to have a card on him, literally, at all times. These names were a correlation to the pictures, but not what caused them. Maybe he’d study them next now that he didn’t need to bother looking at names.
“Good luck discovering your cutie mark, Mr. Flashcard.” Fluttershy began to leave, having finished her business with Spike while he was lost in thought.
“My…cutie mark.” He managed not to be too loud or sound like he was asking a question. At least he had a lead to what those marks were really called. “Hey Spike, can I get a book on that as well?”
After breathing green fire on a scroll, which disappeared in a green mist out the window, Spike turned his attention back to Flashcard.
“Yeah, just one second!”
“Thank you.” Maybe tomorrow would be more promising, Richard hoped. Attempting to use his telekinetic power again, he managed to get the page to turn. Instead of awe or surprise, he chuckled. Then again, maybe tonight held all the promise he needed.
Rainbow Dash was speeding along to her destination, careful not to unleash a Sonic Rainboom, because that might scare off whatever she was going to fight. Well, fight wasn’t usually in the to-do list, but it happened often enough that Rainbow decided it’s probably be better to be prepared for a fight. It wasn’t a fight OR flight instinct, she had a fight AND flight instinct! Talking wasn’t her strong point anyway. Strife was in for a world of hurt when she got there, she told herself.
Nearing the approximate area (like she was going to bother memorizing where she had to go) R.Dash managed to spot another pegasus standing on a cloud, looking directly at her. As she got closer, she noticed that this off-brown colored pegasus with a grey mane had donned a white cap and held a shiny stick in one of his hooves; it began to swing the stick around, sending reflections of the sunlight right into RD’s eyes.
“Ugg! I hope you’re ready for a fight, because you sure are starting one!” Not that the pegasus could hear her from so far away.
The pegasus appeared to put the stick in a scroll-case of some kind and then looked back at her, unmoving.
“Aha, you got the idea already, huh? Nopony messes with me, Rainbow Dash, the strongest and fastest flier in all of Equestria.” Again, it couldn’t hear her…no, wait: he. At this distance it looked like a stallion more than a mare. Once Rainbow Dash was within yelling distance she shouted: “Hey you! Don’t go anywhere!”
He apparently obliged, and took a sitting position. Great, maybe this would be over on her end faster and she could go back to her friends much quicker!
“Alright, let’s start with who you are and why you’re out here.” Rainbow decided to be on the offensive for this conversation.
“I believe one must give their own name first.”
“You mean you don’t know who I am? I’m Rainbow Dash, the fastest flier in all of Equestria!” She was a little huffy he didn’t know her.
“I am called Captain Barracuda… Mrs. Dash.” Rainbow Dash, what kind of whacked-out name was that? Made sense though, what with her rainbow colored hair and being ‘the fastest flier’ etc. Barracuda knew how to talk, and even sound respectful to those who he believed weren’t deserving of any patience or respect. Some brash native girl wasn’t going to get the upper hand.
“And why are you here?” RD demanded.
“I have my own reasons.” He flashed a grin.
“Why…you! Alright! That’s IT!” Rainbow got right in front of Barracuda’s face before he even noticed she moved. “What in the HAY are you doing out in the middle of nowhere? Are you a SPY? Is it a fight you want, huh? Bring it!” She jumped back and made a pose like a boxer, punching (if you could call it that) a few times.
In reaction, Barracuda leapt back and drew his sword, pointing it directly at RD.
“I advise you not to take that tone with your elder, foal.” More word filtering, huzzah. Swears and insults alike, it seemed, were under scrutiny. “I am a soldier, if that wasn’t clear when I announced my rank as Captain. Listen up, and listen good; your actions have consequences, no matter what. It would behoove you think a little before running your mouth with accusations.” That should take care of that. “I am out here, for your information, because I got the idea that something was happening that I should want to stop. It appears there is nothing here or upon the water’s surface, so I would take my leave now, were I you.”
“Well…then…what were you waiting on me for!?” It seemed the bluff was successful, so Barracuda sheathed his weapon again.
“I was unaware if YOU were the occurrence, and so I waited to confirm it with my own eyes.”
“FINE. Then, one more question, what’s that thing you’ve got?” RD pointed to his cutlass.
“This is a sword, of course. What are they teaching you in basic training these days, I wonder?” Throw a little truth, a little insult…this girl should get the idea.
“You!” her face twisted in rage for a few seconds. “Don’t think this is over!” And with that, she sped away, back the way she came.
As Barracuda looked around, he found that in the opposite direction of her flight was naught but clouds and ocean. If he wanted to find civilization, his best bet was to follow the prismatic hot-head, or at least go in her general direction. At least her rainbow contrail proved useful as a beacon, all he had to do now was keep up.
One hour later Bartholomew S Barracuda learned an important lesson: if they say that they are the fastest, they probably mean it. He had lost sight of the blue blur and her rainbow trail, and was struggling to stay in the air. He knew he could rest on a cloud, but there were no clouds in sight either. Normally, Barracuda would never think of landing in what he considered enemy territory, but he had no choice; he couldn’t chance pushing his newfound wings past their limit.
Gliding down took forever, but he wasn’t sure where to land anyway when his mind took a bad turn: he realized that his only landings had involved clouds. God have mercy. Flapping furiously to slow his descent, his glide had got him more inertia than he wished for. His struggles ceased abruptly, when he got to know a tree a little more intimately than one should. Surprisingly, he was fine, though he felt…flattened.
“Urg…” was all the speech Captain B. could manage.
Peeling himself off of the tree, he shook his head and took another look around. He was now at the border of a large valley. Well, wasn’t this a pleasant sight: a section of land untouched by civilization, untainted by human influence. Taking over this world would definitely be profitable, and the only inhabitant he had met didn’t know what a sword was, so it was going to be easy as well. But for now, he had to hurry and find somewhere to rest that was easily defendable while his wings rested from their strenuous use.
From behind the tree, a voice spoke.
“I trust you find your current state pleasing, Barracuda.” It was Strife… or more correctly, an image of Strife. “I know how eager you were to fly again, and now you can fly all the time.”
“Strife, what is it you’re after anyway?”
“I’m after something simple, Sam. I’m after my own namesake. I thought I told you that before. Oh well, no need to work semantics. I just stopped by to congratulate you on escalating this euphoric conflict; you know, only you and Stillwater have accomplished anything worthwhile in these last 30 minutes.” The image stayed still, occasionally flickering like an 80’s movie hologram.
“I don’t care. What I want to know is how I’m supposed to have a war without materials, intel or backup.” Barracuda glared up at Strife, expecting an answer. He was promised a war, after all.
“I think you know the answer to that, Captain. You do it YOURSELF. Though, did you really want that intel?”
“The less I know, the worse off I am. Spill it.”
“Well then, your opponent is a goddess of the sun accompanied by one goddess of the moon, leading an army of 350 soldiers wielding magic.”
“I’m facing WHAT?” Shock placed the captain right onto his flank. Magic, Goddesses; what in the ever-loving hay was Strife going on about?
“So long captain, and good luck.” The image faded.
Time passed as Barracuda tried to wrap his brain around what Strife said. Was it even true? Magic existing? Strife called himself god once; perhaps he meant two others at his level of influence? And he sat there, frowning harder and harder.
“Then what the hay am I fighting THEM for!?”
Rainbow Dash was almost back to Canterlot now. Soon, she thought to herself, she’d show that jerk captain a thing or two. She just had to complete her duty first, and relay what she saw to the princess. Easy as pie.
Applejack, having traveled twice to reach her destination found the designated area predictably empty. Letting loose a long sigh, she continued and went all the way to Appleoosa, just to make sure nothing had happened there earlier. For all her effort her reward was nothing but a wild goose chase. The stallion from the desert still hadn’t woken up yet, so she decided to ask the most social of Appleooseans: her cousin, a yellow earth pony, Braeburn.
“Nope, sorry cousin AJ. I haven’t heard about anything unusual lately, besides your surprise visit, and I didn’t hear about that at all! So is this ‘big emergency’ what you’re visiting for?”
“Well, it sorta is, Braeburn. But if nothing’s goin’ down, then that’s all there is to it. Otherwise I’d have to ask about seein’ anypony new, or strange creatures running about.” Applejack chuckled for a few seconds before remembering that she DID have something else to ask about. “Oh yeah, I found a green feller, an earth pony, between here an’ Canterlot. His head’s wrapped up, and he was wearing a large cloak. He seemed lost; did anypony fittin’ that description come from out here?”
“Hmmm…” Raising a hoof to his chin, he looked like he was in deep thought. Seconds later, he spoke again. “…can’t say that he sounds familiar. Which way was he headed?”
“He just kind of stumbled around, walking in a circle. He said he was lookin’ for plants before he right fainted on me.”
“Well, I’ll put the word out, but I really don’t remember anypony like that being from here. Maybe he’s from Canterlot?”
Suddenly, Applejack remembered that everypony had agreed to meet up back at the castle. She had already taken a few hours to travel, with and without the train’s help.
“Well, I’m gonna find out soon enough. I gotta head back to Canterlot, an’ fast. Ah’ll take him there myself, and if he wants to come back here, I’ll take care of the bits.”
The train conductor looked at Applejack funny when she hoofed him the bits, but still allowed her to carry onboard the unconscious pony. After all, she was an Element of Harmony, the element of Honesty to be precise. There was nothing untoward going on, se she was let on without hassle. Hours had passed, and the green stallion still hadn’t stirred. He had been taken care of well enough by the physicians at Appleoosa, and he was force-fed enough water to keep from dehydrating while he rested from his heatstroke. All that remained now was the wait for him to regain consciousness.
“Jus’ who are you?” Applejack wondered aloud.
The trip to Canterlot ended without incident, and Applejack opted to take her unconscious friend to the castle. It wasn’t like she knew where the hospital was anyway; she never much cared for the big cities.
Twilight Sparkle and Blake Stillwater appeared in Celestia’s audience chamber. X was taken off guard by the teleportation and started to feel sick, taking to one knee and holding his mouth just in case. After recovering, he stood back up and noticed Twilight, who had begun a kind of bow and looked at him with an expectant expression. She bobbed her head one way and raised her eyebrows. He followed her direction and noticed where he was: a throne room with someone in the chair. It was a large white horse with wings and a unicorn horn. Its mane was flowing without aid of wind, and resembled the colors of dawn. Its hooves were adorned with gold, and it had a golden necklace with a single purple jewel inside it, identical to a tiara on its head. After a few seconds, he got the idea that he was most likely in the presence of royalty.
“Oh!” He got back down on one knee towards the white horse; a little ashamed he hadn’t gotten the hint as quick as he thought he should have. He looked to the purple unicorn to see if she was going to say anything. As luck would have it, she began to speak.
“Princess Celestia,”
Aha, it was a girl, and her title was princess. Good to know, Blake thought.
“I have returned to inform you that at the specified site at the ancient castle of the royal pony sisters I found this…male…something.” She looked over at the bizarre biped again before returning her gaze to Celestia. “I believe that Strife sent one of these to every location, and Strife himself might be at one of the others, I want to check up on each of my friends, and leave this being here while I do so.”
“Rise, my most faithful student.” Celestia bade her student up with a motion of one of her hooves.
This purple one is under direct tutelage of a princess? Yeesh, what kind of people were these ponies? Blake’s eyes widened, but he said nothing.
“I already know that Strife is not at any of these disturbances. Your friends are already meeting with the others that he has sent.”
“What should I do, then?” Twilight inquired.
“You should probably learn some more about your friend here, as well as teach him a few things, he seems confused.” Celestia chuckled to herself. “Go on and wait in the hallway for your friends, I am sure that the couches and chairs will be a more comfortable wait than the floor in this antechamber.”
Walking out to the hall, Twilight realized that they still hadn’t introduced themselves. Once they sat down, the human in a chair and Twilight lying on a couch, she cleared her throat.
“A-hem. Well, I’m sorry I didn’t say this earlier. I’m Twilight Sparkle, the protégé of Princess Celestia. And you are?”
“I’m…” Blake wondered for a second if he should give her his usual spiel or a standard introduction before deciding on his first option. “…Blake ‘X’ Stillwater, the strongest one-man army in the Americas and Defender of the… the…” He lost the word. He practiced this speech every day, and now that he was saying it, he forgot the last word! “…Innocent!” Aw, come on! Now it sounded like a lie because he took so long. Better to just tell her the normal description. ”I fight for those who can’t defend their colonies, fighting off bandits and the like. It pays pretty well in food and stuff because we don’t have a currency after the war. Oh, and you didn’t seem to know what I was. I’m a human.”
Twilight looked at him incredulously for a second, and then went back to talking.
“Well, nopony has ever seen anything like you before, so where are you from? We’re in Canterlot Castle in Equestria.”
“Canterlot sounds like Camelot. Huh. Oh—it’s a horse pun! I get it. I’m from the United States of America. You know, I never heard of anywhere called Equestria on Earth, so what planet is this?”
“Earth.” Twilight looked at him with one eyebrow raised. “And I’ve never heard of an A-Mare-Ica.”
“Haha, man, these puns slay me! Mare, America, anypony, anybody. Well, no joke though, this is Earth? You got the same constellations like Big and Little Dipper, Orion’s Belt, Cancer, Taurus, Gemini and stuff?”
“Yes, we do, in fact. So what are those things you’re carrying anyway?”
“This is my gear; I never leave home without it.” He pulled each item out as he described it. “This is my shieldblade. It’s a sword big enough to be a shield, and its thick enough to stand up to bullets. This is my shotgun. I only use it when--”
Stillwater was immediately cut off from Twilight’s shrieking.
“Hey, I’m not gonna shoot you with it.”
“Those are weapons!”
“Yeah, I said I fought bandits, words aren’t half as effective as bullets! What did you think I meant?”
“Those things KILL, Blake! Putitawayputitawayohhhhh sweet Celestiaaaa!”
After putting the weapon away, Blake sighed and slapped his forehead with his hand. Of course, the thing that you need fingers to use is the thing that freaks out the person (pony?) without fingers. How did they even know what those things were? After a few more moments of awkward silence, Twilight began to speak again.
“You haven’t… killed anypony before, have you?”
“Pshh, no. I can safely say I haven’t fired at any ponies. I only shoot monsters.”
“Like manticores or basilisks?”
“Actually, that’s what I came here to do: fight monsters. But no, I haven’t shot a literal monster; just those who were inhuman. I don’t know what ‘bandits’ pass for here, but where I’m from, they kill anyone and anything that gets in their way. They slaughter men and women alike, steal their food and belongings, torture children, kidnap young girls… definitely not the acts of a human.” Blake’s hands were cleched so tightly they were shaking. Bandits were what made him so great back home, but they were everything that was wrong with home too.
“That’s horrible!”
“That the bandits do that, or that I’ve killed a bunch of them?”
“BOTH!”
Twilight had become suddenly afraid of Blake, as murders were not only the worst thing a being could do to another, but that murder is practically unheard of in Equestria. If she had any doubt that Blake was telling the truth before, this threw all that doubt out the window. Nopony or any being has been murdered in thousands of years. Even Discord was imprisoned in stone twice instead of being put to death, regardless of the threat he posed to Equestria. The concept that anypony, or human for that matter, would ever kill another made her sick to her stomach. Silence resumed, and they just sat there, waiting.
(Chin Up is from the cartoon of Charlotte’s Web)