Greene Fields under Red Lights

by Europa

Skyscraping

Greene

A chill breeze swept through the air.

Greene sniffed at it, frowning. It was already cold enough, it didn't need to get even colder. She'd asked Fluttershy about that, but the answer had made her even less at ease. The tree leaves browning, approaching snow, it all led to the inescapable conclusion that winter was coming. She hated winter. In her first Home, she'd experienced a winter a few months after figuring out how to keep her Blessing from felling her children. Stinging, numbing stuff had fallen from the sky, and transformed into rain-water-bad the moment it even got near her. What was more it had ushered in an utterly cold era, almost as cold as her Wayward Child's prison, and she huddled her children with her and wrapped them in her warmth.

And now it was to be winter again, soon. She didn't know what to think of that, but the pegasi could stop stop stop the stinging cold stuff, couldn't they?

Still, that wasn't here and now, wasn't here or there or anywhere.

"Going where?" she asked the pegasus next to her.

"W-Well," Fluttershy began. "You remember how you challenged Rainbow to a rematch?"

She scowled at the mention of the hurting-equine. "Remember," she snarled. "Remember her very well."

"Well, she and Twilight have got the course, um, set up for you and her to race. They want to do it now."

Greene grinned. A chance to put Rainbow Dash in her place. She'd been looking forward to this. "Now. Where?"

"Um, this way, if you want," Fluttershy said, continuing her trot. They soon entered Ponyville proper, and Elizabeth, much to her annoyance, found that there were far more equines around than normal. Rarity, the curious pegasus, the Mayor, many more she couldn't identify. They looked at her, whispering acutely.

"There she is!"

" - round two."

" - think she can beat Loyalty?"

"We're um, here Twilight," said Fluttershy at length. Twilight Sparkle was in the middle of the earth pony nest, holding some sort of contraption beneath a front hoof. Around her were crowded several other equines, and next to Twilight Sparkle...

"Oh, hello Eliz - " Twilight Sparkle began.

"Rainbow Dash," she snarled, cutting her off.

The pegasus in question winced, slowly turning her head to look at her. "Hey, Elizabeth." She paused. "Look, I'm - "

Suddenly, in a blur of movement, Pinkie Pie was next to her. " - we're really really sorry!" she shouted, ears flat and eyes watery.

She drew back, left hand slightly raised in surprise. "Sorry?" she spat at them. "Here to talk again?" she challenged.

Pinkie Pie shook her head so fast Greene thought it would fall off.

"Yeah," Rainbow Dash said. "Look, we're really sorry about the raincloud. We didn't know it would do... that to you, and we're really sorry. We cool?"

Cool? She didn't understand that, but a moment of thought and context revealed the equines' intentions.

"No. Hurt me."

Pinkie Pie winced. "Elizabeth, we really are sorry."

"Doesn't change facts. Hurt me, didn't care." She cut them off before they could start. "Even if water didn't stop me, still drench, laugh at that!"

Rainbow sighed. "Look, how were we supposed to know? Nopony else has really ever, ya know, held it against us. We didn't know water hurt you like that."

She narrowed her eyes. "Didn't know," she rasped angrily. "Didn't check!" She looked towards Pinkie Pie. "Go!"

"But, Lizzy - "

"Go!" she hissed, and the equine darted away.

Twilight laughed nervously. Fluttershy nudged Elizabeth's leg, making her look down at her. "Elizabeth, that wasn't nice. She was trying to apologize."

"Apology won't change past. Won't change intention." She crossed her arms, glaring at Rainbow Dash. "Race?"

"Uh, yeah. Sure. So Twi, wanna go over the rules?"

"Um, sure." Twilight Sparkle looked at Elizabeth. "I've set up a range of magical flares. When I hit this button, the first in sequence will light up." She tapped a button on the strange strange strange mechanical box that wouldn't have looked out of place on the Similar world. "Elizabeth, your flares will send a green light into the sky. Rainbow, yours will be blue. Simply enter your respective lights, and they'll go out and the next flare will light up for you."

"Understand," Elizabeth said uncertainly.

"Got it, Twi," Rainbow Dash said shortly after she had.

Several of the equines around them closed in a bit, and Twilight waved them back, much to Greene's relief. They'd started getting close. "Why so many ponies here?"

Twilight Sparkle laughed nervously. "Well, you see, I don't know if you've realized or not but you're kind of a big deal! So when the press somehow found out you were racing 'The Element of Loyalty'," She shot a glare at Rarity, who was mixed into the crowd. Rarity backed down, blushing, and Greene felt a twinge of anger at Twilight Sparkle. What had she done? "They decided to hype it up. Which is why I'm not only going to serve as referee for the race, I'm also going to need to tag you two with a timer spell."

"Timer spell?" she hissed. She did not want this scientist placing her magic on her! What was it going to do?

As if reading her thoughts (Could equines do that?) Twilight Sparkle answered. "Once the race starts, it'll measure the time it takes for you to reach the last flare. So we won't just know who's faster, but also how fast they are."

Greene hesitated. Should she trust her word? She looked down at Fluttershy, who gave her a reassuring nod. "Cast tracker spell," she rasped, echoes quiet.

"Are you sure, Elizabeth?" Twilight Sparkle asked.

"Sure." The unicorn shrugged at Greene's answer, and her horn lit up. A purple glow enveloped Elizabeth and the pegasus she was to race. It intensified, then snapped to dark blue a moment before it vanished. She didn't... feel different. At all. "Follow green beams?" she asked.

"Um, yeah, that's pretty much it. I'm going to guess you're ready - "

"Ready."

" - Rainbow?"

The pegasus nodded. "I was born ready!"

"Alright, both of you step right here, please," she said, indicating a yellow line she'd just conjured. Elizabeth reached it in a single step, Rainbow Dash right next next next to her.

"Hey," the pegasus said. "After the race, can I talk to you about something?"

She growled low. "About what?"

"Just, can I talk to you then?"

She pondered this. On one hand, the equine was likely to try another 'prank' on her. On the other, she'd gotten her point across very very very well last time, and barring that she'd be expecting it and could move away so there really wasn't anything to lose. "Fine." She knelt on the yellow line, placing both hands on it, gently ever so gently digging her feet into the dirt. Rainbow Dash took up a position to her right, wings spread to their fullest extent.

Twilight Sparkle walked in front and turned around to face both of them. "Alright, some ground rules. Rainbow, you're on blue beacons. Elizabeth, yours are green."

She snarled. "Know that!" Did Twilight Sparkle think she was dumb?!

"You're following two identical paths. The race will be around Ponyville several times, then off to Canterlot, a few loops around there, then back to Ponyville for the final beacon. The guards, mainly air patrol, in Canterlot have been notified, and will not interfere. Furthermore, neither of you are to interfere with each other." She looked at Rainbow Dash. "That means no pegasus-magic lightning." Now she looked at Greene. "And no webs to trap her."

"Got it." Rainbow Dash smirked. "You're going down, Elizabeth."

She growled. "Understand rules."

"Alright." Her horn lit up, and a gentle move-thought glow enveloped the box. "On three. One. Two."

Greene tensed. She was going to do this. The rainbow pegasus may have beaten her in a dead sprint over a short path, bu this was a long race - by equine standards, at least - with, presumably, many twists and turns. She could win this. She was going to win this. There wasn't a question about it.

"Be safe," Fluttershy squeaked.

"Three!" Twilight Sparkle's horn flared, and two beams of colored light shot up a short distance in front of Greene. Her legs slammed outwards against the dirt, propelling her forwards in a shower of dirt.

"And they're..." was all she heard from the crowd of equines before she leaped and entered her pillar of light. Immediately it went out, sending a tingle throughout her body. Out of the corner of her eye she spotted another green beam. She landed, and with a burst of strength flew into it, moments after Rainbow Dash reached the first beam. Her next beam was next to the Cube's Corner of Sugar or something along those those those lines. She grabbed the roof nearest her and tossed herself at it, landing and creating a small crater. She couldn't see her next beam so she turned around; there it was, behind her.

She kept the pattern up. Ponyville was a rather small nest, especially compared to Canterlot, so there wasn't much difference in height between the buildings to half allow, half force her to perform some of her more extravagant maneuvers. Each beam of light was no more than a few jumps away. As she flew through the air, she could see Rainbow Dash moving, nowhere near the speeds she'd gone at during their race to Applejack's family. For a brief moment a flash of anger and indignity engulfed her. Was she holding back?! Was this her attempt to 'apologize' for the prank, by letting her win?

The anger faded when she saw Rainbow Dash reach her next pillar of blue light, swerving as she tried to locate the next. She grinned. There it was was was. She couldn't redirect easily.

She let out an airy laugh as she barreled down a street towards her next light, jumping over a group of equines in her way as she flipped once, twice, thrice, and landed in a roll to continue without the slightest loss of speed. She heard their gasps, but paid no mind to it as she reached the light and leaped to the side. She was smart smart smart ever so smart enough to know that, however much the thought made indignity burn her, in a contest of pure speed she would never beat Rainbow Dash. The path to and back from Canterlot would give the equine a chance to catch up, so she needed to build up as much of a lead as she possibly possibly possibly could.

She slammed into the ground next to Rarity's home, and a buzzing ran through her body as the light around her vanished to be replaced by one... all the way in Canterlot, far on the horizon. With a light hiss to herself, she redirected. With a small hop she sailed over Ponyville, and began pumping her legs and arms as fast and hard as she could. The ground beneath her feet cracked and splintered, grass flying by her in undulating waves of green. Canterlot approached rapidly, but she knew that every moment she was running there was time for Rainbow Dash to catch up and that was not not not acceptable!

The mountain rapidly filled her field of vision. Her first green light of Canterlot was near the castle. As she tore up the mountain, the pounding of her feet triggered a miniature landslide behind her. She dove into the light with reckless abandon. The next one was behind her, but it took next to no effort to reach that one. Another one, this time in the castle's area itself. She clung to one of the towers and propelled herself up, flipping over the tower - she noted it was Twilight Sparkle's tower - and landed on the balcony, right in the middle of the beam which promptly fizzled out.

She turned back around, since the next light was in Canterlot City proper. She spotted a streak of colors just entering the unicorn nest, and scowled. Rainbow Dash had arrived.

She snarled, and landed in the next pillar with a stone-shattering crash, sending a radial blast of dirt away from her. She threw her arms and back behind her as she jumped, flipping backwards and landing two streets over in the next pillar. A crowd of equines - mostly unicorns - gasped as she landed. She didn't give them long to gawk; she was already gone.

She kept it up for a while, pushing with every bit of strength and skill she had. And she had a lot of skill and even more strength, and she didn't tire. At one point, Rainbow Dash and her crossed paths, going in opposite directions. Time had seemed to slow down, and Rainbow Dash gave her a nervous wave. She returned it with a glare.

If looks could kill.

She landed atop the highest point of Canterlot Castle for a beam, then scaled the mountain to the next. She stopped to look around for the next beam, spotting it in the far-off Ponyville.

She tore down the mountain, stone flying behind her. As she reached the castle she tensed her legs and shot out horizontally, clearing the castle and falling into the city, where she resumed her mad dash through the streets, battering through the equines not fast enough to get out of her way.

She tore free from Canterlot in moments, pumping her legs faster and faster. Halfway to Ponyville, she chanced a glance behind her, and saw a chromatic trail reach the top top top of the mountain. She snarled. Rainbow Dash would be closing in on Ponyville too! She had a good head start, but she had to make the most of it! She slammed her legs into the ground harder, leaving great brown craters in her wake.

She saw the final beam looming before her. It was the same spot she'd started, and her keen eyes could make out the crowd of equines around it. A glance behind her told her that Rainbow Dash had left behind a splash of colors in the sky, and was approaching very rapidly.

Not not not this time! she thought angrily. There were the final beams. One thousand feet away. Five hundred. One hundred...

She barreled into the final beam. No more showed up, and she felt another tingle around her, a dark blue magic aura seeping out of her skin and suit, turning purple, and fading to nothing. A moment later, Rainbow Dash careened through her own finish line, slamming into an equine and sending the two rolling away as the magic faded from the pegasus.

She cackled airily, even as a kra-kaboom washed over her a moment later. She'd won, she'd won, she'd beat beat beat Rainbow Dash that would show her!

She stepped towards Rainbow Dash, still entangled with an equine, but before she could open her mouth Twilight Sparkle spoke. "Rainbow?"

"Yeah Twi?"

"Please get off of me."

"Yeah, sure," she said, obeying the unicorn, who got up and shook her head.

Elizabeth sauntered over to them, joyous tendrils flitting about her frame. "Beat you," she said to Rainbow Dash, smiling.

Rainbow Dash grimaced, her coat flushed red as her ribs rapidly expanded and contracted, heart pounding wildly. "Yeah," she said slowly, looking in Elizabeth's eyes. "Yeah, I guess you did. Good race, I guess," she muttered.

"Talk to me after race. About what?" she rasped, eager to get it over with. She didn't want to spend any more time with Rainbow Dash than she absolutely had to. She glanced around at the crowd of equines, noticing pieces of currency changing hooves. Where was Fluttershy? She wanted to go back to Fluttershy.

"Give me... a moment," she panted. "Not all of us can't get tired. Phew. Some sprint that was."

Twilight Sparkle had trotted over to her mechanical box, and looked at it with her jaw dropped. "Only... only five... how did...?"

Greene ignored her. "Talk?" she insisted to Rainbow Dash.

"Yeah," she panted. "Twi, can you get me those things I gave you before the race?"

"Yeah, sure," Twilight Sparkle mumbled, though she didn't seem to be focusing. Her horn lit up, and in a flash of purple two white... things appeared in front of her. She levitated them over to Rainbow Dash, who grasped them in a gently-shaking wing. "Alright, everypony! Race over, Elizabeth Greene won." That's right she did.

As the crowd began to slowly disperse, Greene's eyes widened. Equines! Around her! What was she thinking, she'd waited for a chance like this! She dug tendrils of her warmth beneath the soil and surged them outwards from her in a starburst. As each tendril arrived beneath an equine, it dug upward and nicked a fur from their hooves, analyzed and classified their essence, and then retreated to her.

" - listening?"

She snapped her head over to the colorful pegasus. "Yes?"

She sighed. "Of all the - alright, look, I really feel bad about the raincloud, alright? Let me make it up to you."

Oh? Make it up to her? Providing a service in exchange for forgiveness? Now that made sense sense sense, unlike their 'bits'.

"These here, are tickets to the next Wonderbolt concert." She did not have the faintest idea what a 'Wonderbolt' was. Was this supposed to be something she'd like? "It's right after Nightmare Night, up in Cloudsdale. I know you've been wanting to go," Rainbow said, tracing a forehoof over the ground. "So consider this a gift."

Elizabeth considered this. On one hand, she'd be going with Rainbow Dash somewhere she could probably get to on her own. On the other, this was a chance to visit the pegasus nest, and who knew when she'd next get this opportunity? She couldn't very well hold off giving her Blessing to the masses because she didn't like one equine, could she? That would be selfish, and wholly against the equines' idea of generosity.

"Who else coming?"

"Well, it'd be only the two of us," she said nervously. "For a whole day."

She hissed lightly. That was not an ideal situation, but... who knew when she'd get to go to Cloudsdale again? Best get it out of the way quickly so she could go back to collecting essence and protecting Fluttershy. "Fine. Go to Wonderbolt concert. Cloudsdale."

Rainbow nodded, still red beneath her coat but no longer panting. "Alright then, good to know. I'll come pick you up first thing in the morning, day after Nightmare Night. See you then, I guess." She stepped forward and took one of the tickets from her wing and held it out to her with a hoof. Greene snapped her hand out and grabbed the piece of paper. She looked it over once, twice, then placed it on her right side, right above the straps and buckles of her waist, and grew a small mesh over it to keep it in place.

"Fine," she snarled, whirling away as Scootaloo approached Rainbow Dash. She heard snippets of their conversation, about winning fair and square whatever that meant, but tuned it out and hopped to the roof of the nearest building, and then again to the next street, immediately freeing her from the already-thinning crowd.

She tapped her side, and decided to head back to Fluttershy's home. The pegasus would probably be there; she hated crowds about as much as Greene herself did. She leaped two streets over and started heading to the cottage when she heard it. It was a slow chiming, melodious noise and it was like Octavia's she's going there now now right this second now!

She turned and headed towards the entrancing noise. What she spotted was an earth pony on a bench, seeming to focus on a unicorn with a gold something levitating in their move-thought. The move-thought aura quivered in tune with the wonderful music, but then the aura stabilized and it stopped.

"What do you think?" the unicorn asked.

"It was good, but..." the earth pony responded.

Elizabeth didn't hear the rest. The aura around the object faded as it landed in the unicorn's lap. It was a golden arch, closed along the edges, with strings strung across it. She jerked her gaze towards it, eyes narrowing and limbs shaking with nervous energy. Fire blossomed inside of her. That arch, all of a sudden...

... she Wanted it.

She leaped forward at the greenish-blue unicorn. In one smooth motion she grabbed the arch and flew on, rolling once and coming to a rest against a building's wall. She ignored the startled cries of 'hey!' and 'what?!' as she looked over the thing, idly running her fingers along its strings and creating a gentle strum of sound.

The other two equines - the only two in the area, the others were probably still around where she'd had the race and this was on the other side of Ponyvile - were already charging at her.

"Hey!" shouted the unicorn. "Give that back!" A shimmering gold aura enveloped the thing she'd Wanted and tugged feebly, not even generating a budge. Elizabeth ran her fingers along the strings again. "Stupid... alien!" The move-thought transferred to Elizabeth herself. She started once as the magic tried to lift her, but she didn't so much as rise off the ground so she didn't worry, plucking at the strings one at a time.

"Ugh," the equine said, releasing the aura. "Celestia, she's heavy," she muttered before trotting over to Greene. The earth pony had also come up. "Listen, you."

Greene snapped her attention to the unicorn, watching intently as she continued to talk. "That's my lyre. Give it back right now, you hear me?!" she asked, descending into shouting near the end.

"Want it," she hissed, hugging the 'lyre' closer to her.

"Lyra," the earth pony said. "Use your indoor voice."

"We're outdoors!" the unicorn said, turning to the other equine before going back to Greene. "That's mine! Give it back!" The same aura lit up around the lyre and tugged fruitlessly. Elizabeth huffed and hugged it closer to her. "Grr!"

The earth pony shoved 'Lyra' back, who shouted indignantly. "Hello, Elizabeth."

She eyed this new equine. "... hello," she rasped at length.

"My name's Bon-Bon, and this is my roommate, Lyra," she said, gesturing to the unicorn, who was busy pouting. "May I ask why you took her instrument?"

"Wanted it," she said, plucking another set of strings to make the same music Lyra had. Lyra just winced at the noise, and Bon-Bon herself flicked an ear.

"Is there any particular reason you wanted it?"

Elizabeth considered the question for a moment. "Wanted it."

"I... see. You must understand, this is one of my friend's prized possessions, and it's not very polite to steal it from her."

Greene frowned. It didn't sit well well well with her to think she was poorly representing Fluttershy's element. But... the lyre... she hugged it closer to herself. "No."

Bon-Bon sighed. "Alright, lets try something different. What would we need to do for you to give it back to Lyra?"

Elizabeth pondered this. She was loathe to part from something she Wanted but if there was something to be gained from it... hmm, did she have these equines' essence? She could take it without them knowing, of course, but it was always better when she was honest. They deserved to know the part they were to play in the future, didn't they?

"Touch, return." She approached Lyra first. She placed her left palm on her forehead, right hand still gripping the lyre, and snipped a bit of essence, filing it away under Ponyville Unicorn. Then she did the same to Bon-Bon. She frowned, but returned the lyre to its 'owner' and filed the newest essence under Ponyville Anomaly.

Lyra huffed. "About time."

Bon-Bon moved over to her side and elbowed her in the side. "What she means to say is, thank you. Can you please not steal from ponies again? It's very rude." She frowned. "Not to mention illegal."

Elizabeth growled, and began to head onwards to Fluttershy. "Wait!" She stopped, and turned around to face Lyra. "If you don't mind, can we go over to my house - "

"Our house," Bon-Bon muttered.

" - to talk? There's something I need to see about you."

"What?"

"Well..." Lyra said, trailing off. "If you come over, I can show you."

"Fine," she said, following after Lyra as the two equines lead her into a nearby house. She could smell more equines coming, so it was just as well. The interior was an equine home, which meant it was filled with all sorts of things that meant something to them, that made them a little happy for a little time, but were useless to Greene. Bon-Bon shut the door behind her, wisely taking care to avoid touching touching touching Elizabeth.

"Purpose?" she asked.

"Lyra's special talent," Bon-Bon said. "Is playing the lyre. Makes good money at restaurants and symphonies. But she has a 'hobby'," she explained, rearing up and moving her forehooves in a weird up-and-down pattern. "More than a hobby, really."

"It's just a hobby!" Lyra said, having ran forward and vanished into a different room. Elizabeth took a deep sniff. The air had the smell of equines, of those tasteless little foods Pinkie Pie had at the party, and of... something very Similar but just far enough to not rouse her fury. Lyra returned a moment later, holding in her move-thought a metal... thing.

"You've written papers," Bon-Bon deadpanned. "Very long papers."

The metal thing came to a rest on a nearby table, making several empty and one not-so-empty mug jump. "Yeah yeah! Look, they're important things! The way hands develop is highly indicative of how they evolve and what their society is like. Minotaur hands are large, four fingered, and muscle-bound to an extent, since they need to move heavy machinery and twist wheels. Diamond dogs, on the other hand - "

"See what I mean?" the earth pony asked Greene. Elizabeth did not, in fact, see what she meant. "Everypony has a hobby, but not everypony has a hobby they're just as good at as their talent, you see."

" - so I'm really curious as to how your hands are designed. I mean, who knows what we can learn from it? I mean, we got a cure for wing cancer just from your blood, who knows what else we can find? May I have a look?" the unicorn asked, suddenly much closer than she should've been.

Elizabeth snarled. "Scientist?" she asked dangerously, echoes rumbling after her voice like thunder.

Lyra shook her head quickly, mane flopping. "No! This is just something I do in my spare time."

Bon-Bon shook her head. "Well Lyra, I'll just leave you two alone." She smirked. "Wouldn't want to keep sparks from flying, would I?" As the earth pony trotted up up up a stairwell, Lyra sputtered. Had she inhaled wrong?

Still wary, Elizabeth Greene held out a hand towards the unicorn, who began looking at it closely, moving back and forth and whispering to herself things like 'Porous skin' and 'little muscle, controlled further up?'. "Could you wiggle your fingers?" She did so, but had no idea why this equine needed her to do so. "Hmm, highly flexible, five. Hold on." Lyra trotted into another room, and returned with a cube in her magic. She move-thoughted it into Elizabeth' grip. It was a little cube, each face cut up into nine, with a variety of colors scrambled around it. As she held it, a casual twitch of a finger turned one of the sides. In surprise, she dropped it.

"That's a rubik's cube." She lifted it back up into Greene's hand. "The goal is to turn the sides until you get each side to be the same color." Elizabeth held it again, turning the thing over, looking into each side carefully, like it would hold the answer to changing her Blessing. "It's really hard, though, but I want to see how you move it."

Elizabeth was already twisting it. For a few moments she had no real plan, but very quickly she saw the patterns numbers patterns. Left top always stays left top, middle always stays middle. She turned it over, twisted a lower, a right side. She could see the numbers in it. It wasn't like it was a familiar thing; she had doubts the Similars had any puzzle like this! And she could certainly see see see the use, making equines smarter by solving it.

"Hmm, very adept, three joints each, lots of - you're done?!"

Elizabeth held the rubik's cube, head tilted. "Yes," she rasped.

"Already?!"

"Strange?" she asked.

"Uh, yeah!" Lyra took the cube from her with move-thought, looking it over. Idly, Elizabeth leaned against a wall and tapped it gently with her fingers, extending a small patch of warmth. "I mean, seriously! You sure you never solved one of these before?"

"Sure." She leaned into her warmth, relishing the heat, especially since winter was fast approaching.

Lyra cocked an eye. "Whoa! Alright, that's pretty neat."

"Neat? Orderly. What?" she asked, confused.

"Those tentacles!" she said, pointing a hoof at her warmth. "Did they just come out of your hands?"

"Yes," she answered.

"Hmm," Lyra said, tapping her chin with a hoof. "Alright, come over here please." She gestured Greene over to the metal thing. "Put your hand here, on the microscope's stage."

"Why?"

"Well, so I can see closer. Yes, right there, thank you!" Lyra made an odd, high pitched whine, one that Elizabeth knew from her dealings with Fluttershy meant an equine was happy. Elizabeth, with one hand on a flat portion of the metal thing, watched curiously as Lyra stood on her hind legs and peered down a tube of the 'microscope'. Her magic fiddled with several circular things, and then she spoke. "Alright, can you extend some of the mesh?"

She did so, encasing her hand in warm tentacles of red and white. "No, no! That was too fast!"

"For what?" she asked, getting annoyed.

"I need to see how you let that stuff out!"

"Bring warmth to surface, push it out," she said irritably, but she still pulled her warmth back inside.

"No, I need the actual mechanics!"

"Why?" she challenged hotly, her repeats gaining intensity, buzzing louder.

"In case we can use it for other things! Like, weI could develop some new magical technique from it, or mechanical, or something!"

Elizabeth considered this. She considered it some more. Then she decided it made sense, and slowly peeked her warmth out her hand.

"Wow! The pores... oh wow, it's just slithering..." Lyra vibrated in what Greene assumed was excitement. "Alright, can you pull it back in?" She did so, slowly, just just just in case. "Wow, I thought those pores were for sweat."

Elizabeth shivered. Just the thought of water coming out of her body made her want to blast something.

Lyra continued. "You're moving that stuff in and out of them. It's remarkable! I-I need a better microscope for this! I need to see inside! I wonder if Twilight - "

"No," Greene hissed, flashes of I need to know what makes it tick behind her eyes, inside her ears. "Enough." She stepped back, glaring at Lyra, whose eyes were wide and ears alert.

"Alright, alright," she said. Still on her hind legs, she held her hooves up. "I'm sorry! Didn't know you were so sensitive about it. I can deal with what I've got, sheesh. I won't be writing anything on you alone, but I can still use what I've got."

Elizabeth tilted her head. "Good." She undid the mesh on her right side, grabbing the ticket and looking it over. Some equine writing symbols covered it. Cloudsdale, seats 35-D, so on so so forth wasn't important. "Go now?" she asked again, half glaring at the equine. Lyra had scary scary scary scientist tendencies. But... the music...

"Uh, yeah, sure," Lyra said. "I've got a lot to do. Seriously, thanks a ton! I'll be sure to include - "

Elizabeth was already outside. After a short sprint, she was back at Fluttershy's cottage, and let herself inside.

Fluttershy stood next to a little bird, wrapping a long white thing around the blue feathers. Angel Bunny stood on top of a box with a red plus sign, glaring at Elizabeth but otherwise doing nothing. "Alright," Fluttershy whispered, spitting out the white cloth from her mouth. "Try to stay off the wing for a week and you should be all better." Chirp! The bird pecked Fluttershy's hoof, making her blush, before it pranced out of the open door.

"Back," Elizabeth said.

Fluttershy started, her wings flaring out and throwing her into the air with a frightened neigh before she came back down. "Elizabeth! Oh, you scared me." Angel Bunny's glare turned a tad more intense.

Greene winced. "Sorry. Back."

The pegasus smiled. "I saw. How did your race go?"

She laughed airily. "Won, won! Ticket too." She handed the ticket over to Fluttershy. "Cloudsdale, day after Nightmare Night." She blinked and tilted her head at Fluttershy, who for some bizarre bizarre bizarre reason smiled at the motion. "When Nightmare Night?"

Author's Note:

I hope you all enjoyed. Please do leave a comment. Even if it's just to say what you liked and not to point out an error, everything helps; knowing what works is as important as knowing what doesn't.

Enormous thanks to GGKKDAJF for editing this chapter and catching many embarrassing mistakes.

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

Comments

[hs0003]

I find it strange that this story has so few likes.
Anyways, it was a great chapter!

[Thespurgin]

better question is WHAT is nightmare night?

GREENE and nightmare night... that's like a bad horror fic.

[Razzy]

Why hello there, Bonling.

Cya
Raziel-chan