Greene Fields under Red Lights

by Europa

Running and Run Ons

Fluttershy

Fluttershy took a small bite from her dandelion sandwich. It really was a nice sandwich. The bread was light and fluffy, the flowers crunchy and sweet, the lettuce crisp, and a whole number of other delightful things. It was easily one of the best sandwiches she'd ever had. Oh, but don't tell that to any of the other sandwiches.

Still, she hardly even noticed the taste of the sandwich. She was alone in the Princesses' private dining room alone with, well, said Princesses. The tension was thick enough to touch. Not to cut with a knife, though, that wouldn't be nice to the tension.

"So..." Princess Celestia began. Fluttershy cringed, her ears folding back. "Elizabeth Greene."

"Y-Yes, Princess?" she asked timidly.

"We need to talk about what happened yesterday," she said kindly, her and Princess Luna's meals long eaten. "I don't want to wake her up just yet; I want your perspective on what happened."

"Um, I don't know..." she said quietly. "Wouldn't Elizabeth be better to ask? Oh, but it wouldn't be nice to wake her up. Um..."

"Take thy time, Fluttershy," Princess Luna said. "This is most important to understand how we may proceed with the interrogations - "

"Questionings," Princess Celestia corrected.

" - interrogations of her assailant. Fluttershy, please recount to us what happened between Elizabeth Greene and the poor earth pony she sent to the hospital." Her throat clenched. Hospital?

"W-Well, it happened really fast," she stammered, suddenly very interested in her sandwich. "I don't really know what happened."

"Start at the beginning," the Solar Princess said. "Whenever you're ready."

She took a deep breath. What if she left out something important? What if she mistold the story, her memory failing her? Still, her mouth moved and her lips formed the quiet words almost by themselves. "I-It happened really fast. We were walking around the city, um, trying to find someplace to have lunch. Then somepony shouted and... well, we turned around, and this stallion bucked Elizabeth in the stomach!" She shivered. That had been really mean of him. "But, she just got really angry."

She shivered, but continued. "She's really strong. It all happened so fast. She flew down the street with him, then part of the way back, and then..." She choked on her breath. "I became so angry. And it wasn't on my own; she was angry, and it was making everypony else angry. She made me so angry I could barely breathe, I thought I was going blind from it!" She grimaced. "I told her to stop, and she did, and then the guards separated her from the poor stallion she'd almost knocked out."

"Hold, Fluttershy," Princess Luna commanded. "What is this about Greene's anger making thou blind?"

She shivered. "It was... it was as if Discord had corrupted me again, made me hateful, and combined it with what he did with, u-um, Pinkie Pie, hating everything. I was so angry at everypony, and... and all the colors in the world drained away. Everything was gray."

"Elizabeth Greene..." Princess Celestia said with the faintest undertone of anger. "... manipulated you mentally?"

"I-I'm sure she didn't mean to!" she said hastily. "I mean, I think I was feeling what she was thinking. She's done that before, and I don't think she knows she can do it."

"What doest thou mean 'before'?"

"W-Well, sometimes when she's really curious, I get curious. When she's really happy, I get happy, like at the concert. Or when she's really confused about something, I feel confused even though I, uh, know what the thing she's confused about is." She pondered her words momentarily. "N-Not to make her sound stupid or anything!" she added hastily. "I-I doubt I'd do nearly as well in her world. She's learning very fast, all things considered!" she said meekly.

Princess Luna nodded. "The emotional leak Twilight Sparkle told us about," she mused. "Evidently Elizabeth Greene is capable of extremely intense emotions, if transmitting her raw emotions can offset vision." The Princess sighed. "What we have here appears to be a case of self-defense taken to excess. If the reports we hear art true, Greene is in the right, barely. Still, we must make sure she doth not commit murder next time somepony touches her." Princess Luna looked dead straight at Fluttershy. The words sent a chill down her spine. Murder. Murder was excessively rare in Equestria, to the point of not happening once in... well, the last half of her life. She could remember Greene; she'd been ready to do just that. She was ready to murder that pony. To end his life.

She nibbled a little more from her meal, even though the discussion was enough to ruin her appetite. It wasn't that she was angry at Elizabeth. She was just... really scared. After all, hoofspikes were very sharp.

"All the same, after you've spoken with her," Princess Celestia began. "It would do well for you two to leave Canterlot as soon as possible. News gets around quick, and not everypony will learn the whole truth." Her horn flashed, sending a jolt of fear through Fluttershy's stomach. Had she done something wrong? Two slips of paper materialized before Princess Celestia's plate. "I took the courtesy of getting you two train tickets to Ponyville."

She nodded quickly. "Thank you, um, Your Majesty."

"It was no problem, Fluttershy," Princess Celestia said with the wave of a slippered hoof. "I have already sent Twilight a message by magic as for when you two should be arriving, so no worries about nopony being at the train station."

She blushed and squeaked out a 'Thank you'. The Princess really didn't need to go to the trouble. She'd have been happy to do all this herself.

"It would be," Princess Luna began. "In everypony's best interest for thou and Greene to reach Ponyville as soon as possible, out of the immediate spotlight of Canterlot. We shalt handle the investigation, and shalt send for Greene when necessary. Till then, tis best to keep her out of way of doing harm. Hopefully, she shalt stay in Ponyville long enough for us to get a grip on the situation."

Fluttershy nodded. She felt sick, the thoughts of yesterday still playing out in her mind. "Um, Princess...es... do you want me to go talk to her now?" She gently took the tickets and placed them under her left wing.

Princess Celestia nodded. "That would be best, Fluttershy. You may take your breakfast with you, if you want."

She shook her head fervently. "O-Oh, no, I'm not hungry. Really." She gave the alicorns a gentle smile, and they relaxed. She pulled out of her seat. "Um, thanks for breakfast. Please tell the cooks that the sandwich was really good. I-If that's alright with you, Princesses."

Princess Luna nodded. "We shalt do so, gentle Fluttershy. Now, best be on thy way. Thou has a train to catch."

With one last, timid nod, she slipped out of the halls, not daring to meet any of the guards in the eye as she passed them in the halls. As she closed in on Twilight's old room and, by extension, Elizabeth, a few of the servants gave her greetings. She tried to return them, she really did, but what could she say?

The door opened, and warm dry air assaulted Fluttershy's nostrils, making her wrinkle her snout. She softly closed the door behind her and trotted over to the sleeping figure in the corner...

... then again, should she? How much time did they have before the train left? She manipulated her wings and the adhesive magic in her hooves until she could look at the tickets directly. Friendship Express, first class (Oh, she'd have to thank the Princesses when she saw them again. She felt so bad for not thanking them for that in particular) at... 11:30. What time was it now?

She looked at the clock Twilight had on a table littered with papers. 11:20.

"Eep!" she squeaked, placing the tickets back under her wings and rushing over to Elizabeth. She was in the same spot she'd fallen asleep yesterday in her typical knees up, head down, hands under position on the ground. Red and white tendrils had crawled over her form, so Fluttershy couldn't see anything besides her closed eyes, twitching underneath their lids frantically. She tentatively approached the sleeping Evolved.

"Um, Elizabeth?" she asked softly. She was certain she'd have to try again to wake her up; she did often have to speak up with others, even when they weren't sound asleep. But her eyes snapped open with a suddenness that made Fluttershy rear onto her hind legs with a surprised whinny and then fall ungracefully onto her back.

Elizabeth Greene took a deep breath, and by the time Fluttershy had gotten back on her hooves, she was on both feet, web of tendrils gone. "Yes?" she asked sharply.

"Um, Elizabeth, it's time to, um, go to Ponyville."

Unease flooded her as Greene spoke. "How soon?"

She blushed. "Well, in ten minutes. Less. A-And it's a long trip to the station, so we need to hurry. I'll even need to..." She gulped. "Fly," she said weakly.

Elizabeth was silent for a while. Her fingers flexed, her eyes narrowed, then widened, and she smiled ever so slightly. The aura of wariness didn't abate. "Idea. Hold on to me. Will make trip fast."

The vision of a broken pony on the ground flashed through her mind. Greene's face, contorted with unfathomable hatred, ready to take a life. "Are you sure? I'll be touching you," she asked warily, not quite meeting Elizabeth's eyes.

A flash of red and white tendrils. "Will manage," she said haltingly. She turned to the tower's balcony. "Come. Go to Ponyville," she rasped. Nodding, Fluttershy followed. Outside, the wind was sharp and crisp, carrying the smell of the city below up to the castle. It was slightly moist as well, the benefits of being on the good end of the mountain's rain shadow. She felt, well, bad for the bad side of the rain shadow, but it helped to know that the pegasi kept it from drying out too much. Above, the sun poked through a partial cloud cover, casting drifting, nebulous shadows on the earth below.

Elizabeth sat, back to her. "Climb on." Fluttershy did, placing her forelegs around Elizabeth's neck and her back legs around her waist. She winced; Elizabeth really was very hot to the touch. She squeaked in fear when she felt the familiar tendrils crawling over her form, just as hot and also pulsing with Elizabeth's heartbeat. They tightened against her, pinning her to Greene so she couldn't let go if she wanted to. Her wings were left free, though tendrils crawled under them and kept the tickets pinned.

"Um, Elizabeth?" she asked nervously as the Evolved began to approach the ledge. "A-Are you really sure about this?" she asked, trembling peacefully. Not violently. Who would tremble violently?

"Can cover your eyes if you want," she said. She never would have guessed Elizabeth just woke up from a day-long nap.

"O-Oh, would you please? If you want to, of course." Tendrils began closing in on her face, and Fluttershy closed her eyes as they sealed over her lids, rendering her blind. Good. Now she didn't have to see what Elizabeth was about to do. Only hear... and, and feel.

"Going," she said. And then Fluttershy's world turned upside down.

If she had to guess, she'd guess that Elizabeth had flipped over the balcony, grabbed it with one hand and flung herself at the tower's, well, tower. The scraping sound, along with the fact that they weren't falling as fast as she'd expected, would have led Fluttershy to believe Elizabeth was sliding down the tower, using her feet for friction.

Or she would've, were she not busy screaming.

There was a jolt, and then she felt her mane and tail flopping through the air as Elizabeth did a flip. She screamed, but then Elizabeth spoke, her echoes piercing the winds whipping around them like a knife. "Quiet!" she hissed. Fluttershy tried to clamp her mouth shut, but the screams building inside of her wanted out, and she could only fall weightlessly for so many times before the jolts at their ends made her scream again. In response, Elizabeth moved the red and white tendrils some more, until they covered her mouth to muffle her terrified screams.

It was a good thing she'd not eaten much.

After an indeterminate length of time, Elizabeth Greene's wild and haphazard movement stopped. She didn't slow down, though; if anything, settling into what Fluttershy guessed was a dead sprint only made her go faster. She buried her snout into Greene's neck, using her body to shield herself from the worst of the winds so she could still hyperventilate through her nostrils. She'd known it would be bad, but this bad?

Her stomach lurched when Elizabeth leaped up, presumably onto a roof, and continued her sprint. Then again when she dropped back to street level, jarring her bones. But what could she do? She'd agreed to this, and besides, they were late. Probably because she'd taken so long getting back to Elizabeth after her late breakfast. The Princess probably had given her plenty of time and she'd squandered it.

After several long, long minutes of the wind whipping through her fur, muffled screams of panic and several moments of nearly throwing up her small breakfast, began Elizabeth to slow down. Fluttershy could hear ponies talking around her, and she wanted to hide because she knew they were talking about them. At length, Elizabeth stopped, and her tendrils retracted, lowering Fluttershy to the ground. She gasped and panted fearfully for several long moments, her coat matted with sweat, before Elizabeth knelt next to her.

"Train?" she asked, the aura of unease still there.

Fluttershy got to her hooves unsteadily. It was deadly silent around her. There was the Friendship Express. Oh dear, what time was it? She spun around, searching. She found being handled by an earth pony, holding it between his hooves and polishing its glass cover. 11:23.

It took them three minutes to get there. It had felt like longer, though, hadn't it?

Still, seven minutes really wasn't a lot of time, was it? She found her way, wobbling, onto the train, Elizabeth following after her like a lost puppy (Oh, but don't tell anypony she'd thought that!) as she presented the tickets to the train operator near the First Class seats.

"Alright," he said, hoofing them back to her. "Right this way, miss Fluttershy," he said, stepping to the side and opening the path to the First Class cabin. He eyed Elizabeth. "Would you like any help finding your way around?"

"Oh no," she said. "Thank you, um, for the offer. B-But I don't want to trouble you."

He shrugged. "It's no trouble at all, miss, but if you insist." He nodded in at the train, gesturing for them to go on. He shot Elizabeth one more glare as she trotted past into the interior. The inside really was very nice. Red velvet seats, carpeted floor that was nice on her hooves, and they were the only ones there today. Oh, a wall clock above the door forward to the next cabin so she could know how much time before they'd arrive. The tickets had said 3:00, so now she could keep an eye on it. Yay.

She sat on one of the seats, placed her saddlebags into a compartment, and oh, they'd already prepared lunch for her! She was rather hungry after her meager breakfast, and it wouldn't be nice to let the food go to waste. Oh, but what if Elizabeth was hungry?

She glanced at the Evolved, who'd taken the seat across the aisle, leaning against the window and looking out at the countryside. Motionless.

It wasn't as if Elizabeth could eat an omelet anyway, not with the daffodils and alfalfa seasoning.

After a few more minutes, the train started up, and they were on their way, headed to Ponyville. Fluttershy was really excited to see her friends again and introduce them to Elizabeth. She wasn't quite sure of how she'd get along with them, though. The image of her face screwed up in fury, or in pain as she vomited up blood, were still fresh in her mind.

They'd cross that bridge when they got to it. At the moment, though, Fluttershy could see faces outside of her window, and she, suddenly realizing this, blushed fiercely and pulled the inside curtain over to hide from them. Only when she was sure, after about a half an hour of her and Elizabeth sitting in awkward silence, that they had left Canterlot did she pull back the curtains to gaze outside at the countryside of Equestria rolling past.

She could hardly wait to see her animal friends again. Even if it had been only, what? Three, four days? Even then, she missed them. She hoped Angel Bunny hadn't given Spike too much trouble.

"Why did you stop me?" Elizabeth asked suddenly, startling her.

She wheeled around on her seat, choking on the piece of omelet before swallowing it down the right pipe. "E-Excuse me?" she sputtered between coughs.

"Why did you stop me?" Elizabeth repeated, echoes low and nearly inaudible. She hadn't shifted from her position; her arms were still crossed, and she still leaned against the window, eyes lazily looking out of it. She hadn't extended that mesh from herself, which was odd and a little worrying.

"Stop you from what?" Fluttershy asked. "I-I'm sorry, I really am, but I don't know what you're talking about."

"Pony yesterday," she said. "Why did you stop me? Should have killed him."

Ooooh. "Elizabeth, killing anypony is wrong, regardless of what they do to you."

She turned over, frowning at her. Fluttershy shuffled backwards under the intense, predatory glare fixed her way. Had she said something wrong? She'd said something wrong, hadn't she? "Deserved to kill," she rasped hotly, echoes growing ever so slightly in intensity. Unease, anger, and worry began nipping at the back of Fluttershy's mind. "Wanted to hurt me."

"That doesn't make it right," Fluttershy said, her voice soft but not stuttering. The seriousness of what they were discussing gave her some small measure of almost-confidence. "Everypony has ponies they care about, Elizabeth. What about his parents? Siblings, if he has any?"

"Not important," she hissed. "Parents should have taught to listen. Not to hurt." She shook her head. "Broken broken broken," she whispered, seemingly to herself. "Can't bless," she mused. "By the time I can, easily make many others unable to be blessed, hurt. Should've killed."

"Elizabeth, this is a pony you're talking about!"

"Yes, I know," she said. "Point?"

"You can't just talk about ponies' lives like they're numbers. We're more than that."

"Each more," she agreed. "If they conflict, then numbers."

"No, Elizabeth," Fluttershy said. "They're never just numbers. Not even when you have to pick."

"You're wrong!" Elizabeth shouted, anger and how-dare-she-think-she-understands washing over her with almost physical force, making Fluttershy lean back in her seat with a startled neigh. "Wrong wrong wrong! Loved ones conflict, have to pick larger good! Have to look at numbers!" She quieted down, seeming to draw into herself much like Fluttershy herself often did. "I had to pick," she whispered. "I had to pick. One hurting, or the many he hurt."

"Um, i-if you don't mind me asking," Fluttershy squeaked from the window she had backed up into when Elizabeth began shouting. "W-Who are you talking about?"

Her eyes turned downward, voice sorrowful and low, which was only emphasized by the repeats and the fact that her emotional leakage turned to misery, bringing tears to Fluttershy's eyes. "My son. My poor poor poor wayward child." Her hands clenched into fists, turning even whiter than before under the pressure. "The things he did... oh the Similars had truly broken him." She blinked, holding her eyes closed for a few seconds before opening them back up. "He killed my other children." Fluttershy gasped, drawing her hooves to her mouth. Her son... what?! "Killed them by the dozens. No sorrow. No mercy. Broke them, cursed them, devoured them for the strength to continue killing." They both shivered. Her wayward child, whoever he was... he sounded like a complete monster. Who kills children? Their siblings? Eats them?

"Oh," she whispered. "T-That's horrible."

"Had to pick. Him or my other children. Picked others." Elizabeth traced a finger over her window, which squeaked as it left behind a blood-colored slime.

"You could have tried to help him."

"I did try!" she shouted. "I tried and talked to him but he wouldn't-couldn't listen and whenever we met face to face he wouldn't listen either! And..." She choked on her next words. She bowed her head and began to fiddle with her fingers. "Partly my fault. Similars drove him mad but... came to me. Didn't know me." She sighed. "Ruined it. Blew my first impression. Oh my son..."

"Um, Elizabeth, if you don't mind me asking, what did you do?" Fluttershy asked nervously.

She closed her eyes. "Hit him. Came to me, didn't realize it was him at first. Thought he was the Similar that had cursed him, they looked so alike! Attacked him, tried to kill him, avenge him. First hit, touched him, and I saw the truth. He wanted answers, so I gave him what I could, but even that hurt him oh I'm so so so sorry..." she trailed off.

She shook her head and got back to it. "Made myself his enemy. Didn't mean to. Should have stayed with him, apologized, explained, but the time for waiting was finally over! I had so many things to do!" She shook her head. "Not more important than him."

Fluttershy sighed as the emotional aura finally let up, letting her focus on the gentle rattling of the train again. "Elizabeth, you made a mistake. And even if you're right about being forced to choose between one and many, that still is no reason to have tried to, to - " The word tasted like ashes in her mouth. The very idea made her want to hide under a table more than usual. " - murder that pony. There are other ways to defend yourself. You could've just, um, held him down, or something."

"Only way to be sure," she rasped. "Only one way to make sure he'd never hurt hurt hurt me again."

"Um, Elizabeth? That's not, um, that's not true. There's always another way. There's always, always a better way than killing somepony."

"Like?" she hissed.

"You could, um..." She hesitated. This really wasn't a comfortable topic for her, but she could tell it bothered Elizabeth a lot. Meanwhile, the train went forward, uncaring of their hopefully-not-an-argument. "You could've, um, just scared him off. Or, you know, tied him up with those tendrils."

"Not permanent," she said.

"It doesn't have to be, Elizabeth," she stressed. "You don't need to hurt anypony to get your point across. Use your words."

"Like he did?" she hissed, eyes narrowing.

"Elizabeth, you need to be the bigger pon - err, Evolved. Just because somepony sinks to those levels doesn't mean you have to."

"Implies killing's bad," she pointed out.

"It is bad, Elizabeth," Fluttershy said. Oh, how was she going to do this? It was clear that the views on killing were so very different on Elizabeth Greene's home world. "When you're d-d-dead, you can't ever hope to improve yourself. If somepony's bad, they can still redeem themselves." She gazed out her window, trying to find Canterlot. "No matter what they've done in the past," she whispered, suspecting Elizabeth would hear her. She turned back to the Evolved. "If you kill them, you remove any hope of them getting better."

"Or any risk of them getting worse," she said simply, like she'd been waiting to say that.

Fluttershy sighed, resisting the urge to rub her temples. After all, that would be rude, even if Elizabeth probably wouldn't understand the gesture. "But what if they would get better?"

"What if they would get worse? Could get better, could get worse, could stay bad. Two to one." she countered easily.

She suppressed a frustrated groan. Greene was more stubborn than Angel Bunny! At least he often conceded a point to her. Elizabeth wasn't budging, and what was worse that she, by some twisted, horrible logic, made some sense. But Fluttershy knew the Princesses would be disappointed in her if she didn't get Elizabeth to agree not to kill anypony. They didn't have to tell her that, she knew that's what they'd expect. Probably. But if it wasn't... oh dear. Maybe she should just stop?

... but they'd started this, and Elizabeth didn't strike her as the kind to let a topic go easily. She had one more thing she could think to use in her convincing. The Golden Rule.

"Elizabeth, how would you like it if somepony killed you for doing what they thought was wrong, without giving you a second chance?"

Elizabeth froze. She held her awkward position for one second, two seconds. Then she brought her feet up onto her seat and wrapped her arms around her knees, shivering violently. She closed her eyes, as if she was seeing something she didn't want to see. Maybe she was. Oh no, had she brought up the 'emotional trauma' Twilight said she had?

"U-Um, Elizabeth?" she said nervously. "I'm sorry. Whatever I said was wrong - "

"Quiet," she hissed, not moving anything but her mouth. "Please, don't talk."

"Okay," she whispered, looking away from the troubled Evolved. The rest of the trip passed in a tense silence. Once or twice a waiter or waitress came to ask if they wanted anything to eat or drink. Fluttershy politely turned them down each time, profusely thanking them for the offer, while Elizabeth was still catatonic, though she occasionally gave off waves of fear and horror and don't-want-to-go-back that made Fluttershy feel ever so sorry for upsetting her, but she worried she'd upset the alien more if she tried to apologize.

At length, the train began to slow as they approached Ponyville. Fluttershy tried once more to try and talk to Elizabeth.

"Look, Elizabeth, I'm really sorry. I said something that bothered you. I'm sorry."

For a moment she didn't respond. Then, "Had worse." The echoes were sad yet powerful, filling up the cabin. "Your beliefs, my beliefs." She shuffled, sitting in what Fluttershy assumed was normal for her species, looking her straight in the eye. "Will defend myself. Will protect myself and my blessing. But..." She sighed dejectedly. "Will try not to kill. Try your method." Elizabeth shivered. "Old methods didn't work, no no no, not at all."

Fluttershy smiled. "Thank you, Elizabeth. I can only ask you to try. It's all anypony can ask you to do."

"Try," she mused, looking up at the ceiling.

A moment later, somepony came through the curtain at the front of their cabin. "Excuse me Miss Fluttershy, Miss Greene, we're arriving at Ponyville. Please prepare yourselves for departure."

"O-Oh," she said, cowering under the kind look of this mare. "Thanks for the warning. Really, thank you."

She smiled, but it turned forced when she glanced at Elizabeth. Fluttershy really couldn't blame her. Elizabeth was scary. Oh, but she was really nice too! She turned her mesh into a blanket for her at the concert. "Just doing my job, miss," she said before vanishing.

Fluttershy got out of her seat and pulled her saddlebags out, putting them on her back. Elizabeth pulled in the red slime she'd left on the windows and, with a gentle push, soared out into the aisle and onto her feet, leaning against the rows of seats with an almost bored ease. It was the gentle waves of apprehension that gave her feelings away. "Follow you," she rasped.

Fluttershy nodded nervously. Oh, she hoped there weren't too many ponies outside. How many ponies were on the train today? Oh, she knew she should've checked. She hesitated, stepping out. There were a lot of ponies out there, clamouring with each other. Not many, given that Ponyville was a rather small town, but more than enough. One or two unicorns levitated signs into the air. 'Buttercream'. 'Heartstrings'.

She was just beginning to panic when Elizabeth arrived next to her. "Don't worry," she said, reading her thoughts. "Go. Protect my friends."

All eyes turned to them when they left the train, forcing Fluttershy to keep her head down. "Stop staring!" Greene hissed. "Stop stop stop!"

They did so.

Fluttershy spotted Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie standing off to the side of the main 'crowd', looking intently at her and Greene. Elizabeth was looking just as intently at them, and Fluttershy felt like she was sizing them up. In a flash, Elizabeth crossed the distance to them and, in a voice that cut through the background chatter, asked one word. "Elements?"

Fluttershy galloped up to them. Rarity was looking up and down Elizabeth, taking her in. Pinkie Pie was quite literally vibrating, though her gaze seemed to be focused... somewhere. Applejack's neck was craned back, her jaw open.

"Holy smokes," she whispered, apparently in awe.

Fluttershy trotted next to the Evolved. "Girls, I'd like you to, um, meet my new friend, Elizabeth Greene," she said, gesturing up at her with a hoof. "If you want to meet her, of course."

Applejack gulped, fixing her hat with a hoof. "Howdy there, Miss Greene. Please to meet, ah, your acquaintance."

"Elements?" she repeated insistently.

"Ah, I suppose. I suppose I'm the Element of Honesty." Applejack nodded towards Fluttershy. "Ya've already met Fluttershy and Twilight."

"Have met," she said.

"Well, then let me be the first to welcome ya to Ponyville, Elizabeth." Applejack drew herself up in a show of bravado, despite the minor apprehension washing out from Elizabeth Greene. She held out a hoof, and after a moment of hesitation, Elizabeth shook it. Applejack grimaced during the hoof/handshake, but toughed it out and placed her foreleg back onto the ground when she was done. "When you got a moment, see if you wanna head on over ta Sweet Apple Acres - "

"Apple?" she asked.

"Err, yeah." She said. "Ma family owns the best apple farm in Equestria."

"Don't eat apples," she rasped. "Not edible to me."

Applejack's ears flattened. "Oh," she said. "That's right, Twilight mentioned to me ya'll were a, err, carnivore." Rarity and Applejack shared a glance. At the mention of Elizabeth's diet, a pulse of fear made Fluttershy whimper. It wasn't like she was unused to dealing with carnivores, but instinct was a powerful thing.

"Eat flesh, yes," Elizabeth confirmed.

"Um, girls, if you don't mind me asking, please don't mind," Fluttershy began. "Where is Twilight? And, um, Rainbow?"

Rarity shrugged. "Oh darling, you know how she can be. She got back from Canterlot and locked herself in her library, researching about something about 'Nosokinesis' and 'Liquefied movement of flesh outside of one's body'. We've only heard of her when she sent Spike to get groceries."

She frowned, looking down. "Oh dear, I do hope she's okay."

"Oh don't worry, sugarcube. It ain't like this is the first time Twilight's gone on a study-spree. As for Rainbow, she's got a shift right now, so she might drop by later."

"A-Alright," Fluttereshy said.

There was a large intake of breath, prompting Elizabeth to whirl around with a surprised gasp, coming face to face with Pinkie Pie.

Somehow, somewhen, Pinkie had acquired stilts.

"Are you the alien?" she asked simply.

Elizabeth blinked, and took a step back. Pinkie, controlling the stilts like they were part of her, stepped forward. "... yes?" Elizabeth said.

Pinkie took in a deep breath. "Oh my gosh I never thought I'd ever meet a real live alien I mean I've met a Princess a corrupted Princess that same Princess uncorrupted ooh ooh and another Princess that wasn't really the Princess and another that was her and a griffon and a showmare and five of the Elements of Harmony oh but that's not really a big surprise cause I'm one myself so I guess I'd have met all six but can you really ever say you met yourself cause you're yourself or maybe you can huh I've never really thought of that have you ever met yourself Elizabeth? Ooh, ooh, can I call you Lizzy? I think that's a great nickname and I should know I call myself Pinkie and Dashie Dashie..."

Fluttershy shuffled her hooves. She knew Pinkie Pie could be a bit... much whenever you first met her. She really hoped Elizabeth didn't get angry at her for invading her space. Though judging by the look on her face (Assuming it meant the same thing on a pony as an Evolved) the reactions to Pinkie Pie were universal.

"... So I think I can call you Lizzy unless you have any problem in which case just say so! Ooh, ooh, say, you're an alien right? That means you must have all sorts of neat-o sciencey stuff like Twilight does do you have neat-o sciencey stuff like Twilight does you must I mean just look at your suit it's all future-ey and stuff cause it's gray and got all those straps and tubes on it do you have a shrink ray or a materializer-er-er-er oh I can just think of all the party tricks you could come up with those things ooh ooh ooh! Or pranks! I could shrink somepony down to itty-bitty-foal size and... hmm! Oh, oh! I could shrink myself and pretend to be in Cheerilee's class! I could play all SORTS of pranks with the foals there and..."

Elizabeth just blinked. Fluttershy was really getting worried. Pinkie hadn't stopped for breath yet, and while that was par for the course, it really did worry her she'd hurt herself one day. Until she reminded herself that this was Pinkie Pie, so there was no danger.

"... that's not even to get started on what I could do with all the construction ponies by crawling under their hardhats oh but I'm such a silly filly we're not talking about pranks we're talking about how you're new in Ponyville and even though Twilight told us you were only passing through Ponyville before visiting Cloudsdale that's as good as an excuse as any to introduce you to everypony and I mean everypony because I'm friends with ever-y-pony in town and the last two times somepony that wasn't a pony came to Ponyville it really didn't go all that well I mean Gilda was a big meany-pants and I was really wrong about Zecora but that's no excuse..."

Rarity and Applejack's eyes were both starting to get lidded. To be honest, Fluttershy herself was getting hypnotized by the ongoing sentences. The pink mare was literally vibrating in her stilts, while Elizabeth blinked in an owlish, adorable way.

"... so now you get to be invited to your 'Welcome to Ponyville miss alien-from-another-planet' party though maybe I should change the title I mean alien kinda means from another planet unless you're talking about immigrants so maybe I should keep it, oh and don't worry about not being able to eat anything I did prepare a party for Gilda and I looked up afterwards what kinda things carnivores like to eat at parties so you'll be a-okay and I'm not telling you when the party's coming so it'll be a surprise but you know it's coming so it's a kinda-surprise, so just look out for that, I mean Twilight told me you got all jumpy when you were surprised." Pinkie finally, finally took a breath, a deep gasp of air that seemed to empty the atmosphere, but it seemed to be more from surprise than anything else. "I NEED TO GO PREPARE THE KINDA-SURPRISE WELCOME PARTY!" she shouted.

With stilts still attached, Pinkie Pie bounced out of the station.

The three of them turned to Elizabeth. Several other ponies that had watched the spectacle and knew Pinkie Pie also watched, eager to see what the alien's reaction was.

Elizabeth blinked. She opened her mouth, held it open for a moment, and closed it. She opened it again, narrowed her eyes, closed it again.

She blinked for the second time.

She opened her mouth and took a breath to talk, but then frowned and let it out, closing her mouth for the third time. Finally, she seemed to make up her mind.

"I don't understand," she rasped.

Rarity sighed. "Yes, Pinkie Pie can be very... intense. Did you grasp what she meant at the end?"

"... something about a surprise," Elizabeth said after a lengthy pause.

Rarity giggled lightly. "Yes, well, Pinkie's special talent is to throw parties, so she'll likely throw you a surprise party some time very soon. Don't be too startled when it inevitably happens, dear. We all had to go to one, and so will you. Don't worry, they're quite fun."

"Fun," Elizabeth said simply.

"Mmhmm. With that said, darling." Rarity wrinkled her nose. "You simply must stop by my store, the Carousel Boutique, so I can help you with your... interesting choice of fashion. I don't know what customs are like back home for you, but you are simply not a neutral color!"

Applejack scoffed. "Just try not to frou-frou her up too much, Rares."

"Why, perish the thought!" she said, holding a foreleg up to her chest. Rarity turned to Fluttershy. The latter instantly felt apprehensive. Oh dear, had she forgotten something? "Fluttershy, are we still on for our spa date tomorrow?"

She nodded hurriedly. "O-Oh, of course, Rarity! I wouldn't miss it for the world." She looked at Greene. "Maybe Elizabeth could join us? I don't think she's ever had the chance to go to a spa," she said, keeping what she suspected of the 'cold dark place' to herself for the time being. It really wouldn't be nice to talk about that without Elizabeth's permission, would it?

"May try," she rasped, shifting her weight side to side.

Rarity smiled. "Excellent! I'll see you in my Boutique, hopefully sooner rather than later, no?" she said, winking mischievously at Elizabeth. With that complete, Rarity turned around. "Now you simply must excuse me. I left Sweetie and her friends at my home, and we're approaching the first quartile time it usually takes for them to destroy something."

"Goodbye," Elizabeth said, apparently understanding 'first quartile'. Rarity trotted out of the train station.

Applejack raised an eyebrow. "Mind explaining what 'first quartile' means? Don't know as much fancy math as Twilight or, apparently, you do."

"First quartile, probability," she rasped. "Below median. Below first quartile are one fourth of samples in a set, above are three quarters. Lower estimate."

"How do you know that, Elizabeth? If you don't mind me asking, that is."

She frowned, placing a head to her forehead. Then she winced, lowering her hand. "Don't remember."

Applejack raised the other eyebrow, and Fluttershy blinked. "Sweetie Bell, Scootaloo, and Apple Bloom have wrecked Rarity's home so much she has the time it takes them ta do so down to a science? Oh, I am gonna have some stern words with that filly!" she said, stomping off, ears flat in anger.

Fluttershy wilted under the awkward silence. "So..."

"Pinkie Pie, Rarity, someone named Rainbow are Elements?" she asked, the crowd around them moving on now that the life of the party had bounced away.

"O-Oh yes," Fluttershy said hurriedly. "Pinkie's the Element of Laughter, Rarity's the Element of Generosity - "

" - Leaves Rainbow as Element of Loyalty," she mused. "Interesting."

Fluttershy smiled. "Yeah, I, um, guess that's us." She smiled. "If you want, we can go to my cottage? I can introduce you to Angel Bunny. You two would get along so well, I think." Fluttershy paused. Hold on. If Twilight was on another study-spree, and Spike was helping her...

... who was watching her animals?

She gasped. "Oh no!"

Author's Note:

I hope you all enjoyed. Please do leave a comment (I can see how many of you are viewing!) Don't be shy.

I do not own MLP or Prototype, Hasbro and Activision do so respectively.

Comments

[89ingenting]

Already commented on an earlier chapter, but just to let you know... this crossover is brilliant. Keep up the good work!

[trondason]

I don't see Elizabeth's spa visit going well. Massages are out, so is the hot bath, which leaves the steam room, which she probably wouldn't like.

[Doctor_Brony1234]

Elizabeth isn't gonna love that massage, Rarity. She'll tear his/her throat out.

[LosZetas]

Later in this story do you think you could bring blackwatch there? I'd be interesting see what Elizabeth will do with the "Similars".

[Razzy]

Elizabeth's reaction to Pinkie was priceless.

Cya
Raziel-chan