Crashing Equestria

by Zytharros

Day 4

Day 4

---

The following morning, I began assembling some things needed for the day trip. I filled Twilight’s saddle bag with the journal, the group’s notes, and several other small articles I felt were important. She was going to lend me a few bits again to buy my own saddle bag in Canterlot, something we discussed while we were bantering about the journal – “may as well show you around while you’re there”, she had said. Unfortunately, there was no time for my planned workout, but I figured I’d get started on that later. I had just finished packing Twilight Sparkle’s saddle bag and settled into making breakfast when she came down the stairs.

“Morning, T,” I said.

“Morning,” She grumbled. “I didn’t sleep well at all… I’m still worried about my magic.” She began making herself some toast.

“Tell me about it – I barely got any sleep because she was tossing and turning,” Spike complained.

“If I can help it, Twi, I won’t let it happen,” I assured her.

Twilight’s toast popped. She began carefully applying condiments to it.

“I got your saddle bag packed for you,” I said.

Twilight dropped her knife. “What did you do with the stuff that was in there?”

I looked over my shoulder. “It’s over by your desk on the floor in a neat little pile. Don’t worry. I didn’t go through it.”

“Don’t go through my bag,” she said, visibly disturbed. “Just… don’t… ever again.”

“K,” I said meekly. “Didn’t want to cause a fuss, just helping…”

Twilight sighed. “It’s okay… I’m just glad you didn’t go through all the stuff inside. That’s all. The stress from yesterday... you understand, don’t you?” As she approached me, she sighed. “I… just… don’t know anymore…”
She dropped her plate on the table and collapsed on the chair, head resting on her forelegs. Confusion was apparent, even in her breathing. She groaned and flailed a bit before settling down and taking a bite of her toast.

I smiled, “You’ll work it out eventually. I’ll help where I can. Celestia should make everything clear.”

Twilight took another bite of toast. “I hope so… this confusion is tiring.”

---

An hour later, all eight of us, Spike included, had boarded the train to Canterlot and were travelling through some of the switchbacks up to the capital city of Equestria. As it came into view, I was still wondering what kind of technology allowed a city like that to hang so precariously over such a steep cliff. The beauty of the city was astounding, though – a three-tiered, pearly-white city with the castle at the top of the town.

“I can never get enough of the high class and pizzazz that this town has!” Rarity exclaimed. “It just screams ‘me’!”

Applejack smiled nervously. “I never feel right in that city… Too much… uh…”

“Formality?” I asked, completing her sentence.

She nodded and replied, “Yeah, that one.”

“I prefer a less-formal setting as well,” I said. “Somewhere where I can kick up my feet and relax and not be constantly pressed by social pressure.”

Fluttershy was looking out the window, quietly enjoying the scenery. Pinkie Pie was absent from the train car, but I could hear her running around and annoying other passengers. Her voice was as distinct as the sunrise – bright and cheery, and maybe a little abrasive in its’ sharpness. Twilight had her nose in a book, but she seemed uncharacteristically distracted. She would read a page, then flip it over, flip it back, seem to lose her place, and return to the page she just read.

Rainbow Dash had spent most of the trip listening to “20 Percent Cooler” – she had been obsessed with that song since I had shown it to her earlier. She had bought a magically-infused MP3 player on her last trip into Cloudsdale. It was a brand-new product released by a company based in Manehattan and produced in Fillydelphia, and we had traded tracks when we met at the train station. You could tell when she got to the chorus. She rapped the entire chorus and bobbed her head.

“This song is so… awesome!!” Rainbow blurted as it started again… at least, that’s what I assumed.

The only ones who were really interested in conversation were Applejack and Rarity.

“I don’t know why you two have so much trouble with Canterlot,” she said innocently. “It’s just the most hip, happening, and fashionable place in all Equestria.”

“I guess some of us like a place where we can get a little… roughed up,” I replied.

Applejack nodded. “I’d rather get my hooves dirty than spend all day groomin’ ‘em for everypony else’s eyes.”

“Though a good clean-up after a hard day’s work is always worth it,” I said.

Applejack smiled and exclaimed, “Hear hear!” She pumped a hoof to the sky.

Rarity looked a little disappointed that I wasn’t as refined as she thought I would be.

“So, what’s Earth like?” Fluttershy suddenly asked, her head resting atop Applejack’s hat.

With that one question, all pony eyes were on me. Even Pinkie Pie, who I swore was at the front of the train, was there. Our car was towards the back of the train, and I hadn’t heard any doors open or close. Pinkie in person was almost a little overwhelming, to be honest.

I cleared my throat. “Earth is massive. It has all kinds of landscapes, from blowing desert sands to high, mountainous canyons, to cliffs that would intimidate Rainbow Dash, to forests and fields that Fluttershy would fall in fanatical love with. Where I live, it is a long valley surrounded by mountain peaks.”

“Where are your sophisticated areas?” Rarity asked.

I smiled, knowing that question would pop up. “It depends on what you would consider sophisticated. If you’re looking for royalty, you’re looking at either England, Morocco, Japan, or Saudi Arabia. If you’re looking for wealth and parties and things like that, then you’re looking at the U.S., Japan, Canada… any of those countries.”

Rainbow Dash jumped in: “What about sports? Racing, flying, that kind of thing...?”

We spent the next two hours talking about Earth. I tried to tell them what I knew, and grew especially animated with what I was a fan of. Rarity was fascinated with all the wealth located in the G-20, Fluttershy with the goings on of nature, Rainbow Dash with the multitude of sports, Pinkie Pie with the club scene (which I admitted I wasn’t too familiar with), Applejack with my personal home and family, and Twilight Sparkle simply with “knowing it all”. We quickly passed what remained of the two hour train ride this way, and comparing my experiences in Ponyville with those on Earth.

---

We arrived in Canterlot and stepped off the train. I noted that the mountain was literally the only thing blocking the town from having a perfect 360-degree view of the lower valley for thousands of miles around.
The city itself was beautiful, a true sight to behold, and every bit as interesting as Twilight and Rarity had described it while walking to the train earlier. The pearl-coloured buildings appeared to be built in such a way that everything was connected and supported by metal rods tied into the mountain. The city was literally strapped to the mountain.

“Heaven help Canterlot if people find the core of this town’s support system,” I mumbled.
Twilight spoke, “Huh?”

I looked at her, then back at the thick, steel cables. “They hold this town up?”

Twilight nodded. “They’ve remained secure since the founding of Equestria,” she said proudly.

They look like it, I thought, concerned. How long has it been since they were checked… or even maintained?
The eight of us wandered through the town of Canterlot, proceeding toward the castle, but stopping here and there to see different sites. I picked up my saddle-bag – a light green bag with a quill-and-music-note button. The person in charge of the till said it was “a specially-made gift from the Princess” and would not accept my money, so I accepted it and we carried on.

I looked over at Twilight. She was staring at me with a bucketful of questions in her eyes.

Figuring she wanted to find out how the Princess had known we would be stopping here, I simply said, “Ask the Princess when we get there.”

---

We arrived in Canterlot Castle. It was the first time I had ever seen a castle of any kind in my life, and I was in awe at the magnificence of the building. The scope and the scale upon which it rested was absolutely…

“Marvelous!” I said.

After taking it in, we moved to the throne room where Celestia waited. I watched each of the seven members greet their princess… my princess for the time being… in time. Twilight was the only one that nuzzled up to her directly. The rest stood back and watched this reconnection of master and student with pleasant looks. I slowly approached the regal figure bathing the room with a slight luminescent glow, her pastel-coloured hair and tail freely waving in a wind that only it knew. I was compelled to bow before her, not out of worship or anything, but just out of amazement. I stayed down on one knee for a while.

I heard Twilight say, “Princess, this is Zytharros from Earth, the one you summoned.”

I stood up and met her eyes – the kindest, yet most mischievous eyes I had ever seen.

“Would it be fair to say that you don’t mind a disruption of royal protocol every now and again, Princess?” I asked.

She chuckled. “That’s not usually the first question I get asked. However, you’re correct in your assumption, Zytharros.”

“You can’t live with your snout in the clouds all the time, I guess,” I commented. “Not like some ponies around here. You’d drown in the rain.”

Celestia burst forth in laughter. “In all my years as Princess of Equestria, I have never heard that one. I welcome you with open hooves, Zytharros.”

I, Applejack and Rarity chuckled. Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash rolled on the ground, killing themselves with laughs. Fluttershy snorted. Twilight’s jaw dropped agape. She couldn’t believe what I had just done.

“Come. Let’s discuss your findings,” Celestia said, walking side-by-side with the eight of us into her meeting room, “and compare them with what my research team’s found.”

All eight of us moved into the neighbouring room, labeled the Strategy Room. Each of us took a seat. We were soon joined by a team of five other ponies, who were set to present their findings along with ours. Twilight parked herself right beside Celestia. I sandwiched myself between Fluttershy and Applejack, who bookended Rarity with Twilight. Pinkie Pie, Spike, and Rainbow Dash sat near the back of the table, well away from everyone else and without ponies across from them.

I immediately disliked the one who sat across from me – a filly wearing sunglasses, arms folded, and looking down at me. She looked like she had spent too long in the dank depths of Equestria’s dungeons. Her mane and tail were frizzed up even worse than Pinkie Pie’s.

The one a little to my right, across from Applejack, was a pale pony. His face was thin and decrepit, at least a hundred years older than everyone at the table… except the Princess, of course. He was bald and his massive glasses nearly dwarfed his head.

The one who sat across from Fluttershy looked to have the same demeanor as her – quiet, solitudal, caring, and compassionate. However, her harsh red coat and white mane would have suggested a different personality if it hadn’t been for her eyes – those same, shy, reserved eyes.

Rarity was staring down her compatriot across the table. They were comparable in style, both strikingly beautiful ponies, but each in their own way. Regardless, both of them noted a fashion rival in each other… and both were acutely aware of this fact. However, it was unusual for her to react to a stallion rival in such a manner.

Finally, there was the one across from Twilight. Like the grape-coloured magic pony, this one was the obvious leader of the group. Her cutie mark was an omega symbol – as in the epitome of knowledge on everything scientific. She taunted Twilight with some weird eyes and funny faces, but Twilight just stared at her blankly as she did it.

We introduced ourselves and discovered the names of her science research team. The one who sat in front of Twilight was called Luminescence. Rarity’s rival was named Intermittence. Applejack’s table partner was Allegiance. My snooty “partner” was Quintessence, and finally the one next to her was called simply Sentience.
Each member presented their findings, but before we got into anything serious something would pop up that would deteriorate the entire meeting into an argument. Whenever this occurred, I felt a disturbance behind the wall of reality – and to this day, I don’t understand what I felt. I knew something was there. I felt it try to work its way into my mind, and then leave, unsuccessfully completing its mission.

That was how I came to know what to “feel” for.

I saw the waves as this unseen force went from person to person. Rainbow Dash was the first to respond. Her arrogance flared up every now and again. This caused Quintessence to snark back, Twilight and Rarity to jump in and defend Rainbow, Allegiance to badger them both, and the rest of the crew to descend into shouting matches. These waves happened repeatedly.

The third time this happened, in which even Princess Celestia joined in the argument, I noticed Applejack was also wondering what was happening. However, it looked like her words, questions, and even table-smacking demands for silence were falling on deaf ears. She was trying to get everyone to calm down.

I decided to try something. I put out a low level general magic wave. There was no particular spell attached, so it had no effect except blanketing the room with the thinnest of magical curtains. It revealed a pony-shaped disturbance whose silhouette seemed to match up with Tangerine Hopes’. I was only able to catch a quick glance before she disappeared into a void, but I was certain it was her.

After that, there were no more interruptions. I didn’t bring it up that day, just letting everypony speak their piece and allowing the time to pass organically. The meeting went off without anther hitch, and we left with some interesting ideas… and everyone except for myself oblivious to the magical happenings. Applejack looked at me, helpless. She knew something had happened, and it terrified her.

---

Later that evening, I was up studying in the royal library, looking over some of Twilight’s old books that she no longer used. I read up on several things, especially relating to Tangerine Hopes. She had a lot of writings telling of far-off places and dimensions she had visited, but about the middle of one of the books, she began questioning her role in the dimensions. From that point on, her writings darkened. They talked about anger and resentment of those with “fixed locations”, and in one bright flash of clarity realized “with the spell I had created, I had left a piece of me behind in every dimension I travelled to.”

Her writings stopped there. There were no other books, no scrolls, no papers, nothing.

“How did Princess Celestia keep this a secret from Twilight and her friends all these years?” I asked myself.

“Keep what a secret?” a friendly orange Missourian pony asked.

I turned and smiled at Applejack. “Couldn’t sleep either, eh?”

“Not a wink, Zy,” she admitted. “What was that? Back there at the meetin’, I mean.”

I thought for a second, recalling all that had happened. “I think Tangerine Hopes made an appearance,” I said worriedly.

Applejack was mortified. “How come we didn’t see her?!” she exclaimed.

I shivered. My next few thoughts terrified me, but I put them out there anyway.

“She appears to be a crafty pony,” I said. “She wields her magic very subtly, making suggestions to the subconscious of an individual. I felt her darkness enter my mind, become repulsed, then leave.”

“How come I wasn’t affected?” Applejack asked.

I admitted, “I don’t know, A.J. She affected everyone else at that table, almost as if she was toying with us, playing with us, finding out our weaknesses.”

“This is scarin’ me,” Applejack said. “If her magic is that subtle, how can we protect our friends?”

I sighed an “I don’t know”, lying down on a pillow. Applejack did the same.

“Did you feel anything enter your mind?” I asked.

“Well, I did get a mighty fine headache, but I didn’t feel any different beyond that,” she recalled.

I took the book I had just finished reading from the desk it was on. “It seems dimensional magic is very subtle, very picky, and very specific. It requires a great deal of care and finesse to wield. It affects the subconscious, instead of the consciousness of the user.”

“…Say what?” Applejack said.

“What it does is it affects the stuff in your body that just… happens… digestion, your deepest thoughts, breathing… those kinds of things,” I said. “The headache you felt was likely a war between your stubbornness and her will. She was trying to steal your mind.”

“Why that no good, filthy, little, rotten…” she said, flustered by anger. “Nobody takes control of Applejack except me!”

I smiled. “That resolve just saved your neck,” I said.

Suddenly, we heard a creak. “That’s what happened…?” an unusually meek, scratchy voice said.

“Rainbow Dash!” I exclaimed, “You too?”

She had been crying, and pretty intensely too. “I have never been so terrified in my life,” she whimpered. “The things I said… I… they… um…”

I gave her a hug. “It’s okay, Dashie…” I said.

She buried her face in my chest and cried. Nopony had ever seen this side of Rainbow Dash before. Applejack was really worried if Rainbow’s “coolness” was that shook up.

“Tell me what happened!” Rainbow demanded through sobs. “What the hell just happened to me?”

I told her what I had just finished telling Applejack. Instead of getting angry, Rainbow’s face descended into sheer terror.

“My mind is… vulnerable?” she whimpered.

Applejack nuzzled up to her as well. “It’s alright. Zytharros is workin’ on a solution to help us.”

I nodded. “I’m doing all I can for you girls. Say, where are the rest of them?”

Applejack sighed. “Fluttershy got her tail so up in a knot she left for Ponyville right after the meetin’. Rarity is sound asleep. Pinkie Pie is stewing in her room, pacing back and forth and muttering things. Twilight… I thought I heard her crying as I passed by her bedroom. She hadn’t come out all afternoon, since the meetin’ even.”

“I… I was…” another pony said.

“Oh, Twilight…” I said, concerned.

Twilight had dark circles under her eyes. She was an absolute wreck. Sweat drenched her nightclothes, her demeanor was dark, and her mane looked like Pinkie Pie’s.

“Twi-child…” I said without thinking, simply amazed at her suddenly-disheveled state.

Twilight was shocked that Rainbow Dash was in the fetal position, wrapped around me and speechless. I was stroking her hair. Applejack stood above the both of us, looking on.

“Rainbow!” she exclaimed. “What happened?”

I told the two newcomers what I had told Applejack, and Twilight what Rainbow had told Applejack and I.

“Tangerine Hopes?” Twilight asked. “She was at the meeting?”

“I can’t be sure… but the silhouette was the same,” I answered.

“Never again…” Rainbow suddenly mumbled. She leapt up and knocked me over, rage, fear, and pain blending together in a look so fierce it intimidated the rest of us. “Never again will that dimensional… WITCH… touch my mind!”

“Did any of you feel anything enter your minds?” I asked, repeating the question I had asked of Applejack earlier.

Twilight thought for a bit. “Well, there was an odd tingling, like when I use magic, but a little off.”

“And I thought I heard the Wonderbolts saying I was their new leader,” Rainbow said, “just before I got a large, overwhelming rush of pride.”

I nodded. “That’s good. You know what to feel for the next time she attacks.”

Rainbow thought for a second, “Hey, yeah! That’s true! We can wallop her next time!”

“Don’t get two steps ahead of where you are,” I said. “I’m still not sure how to deal with her.”

“So? You just spot the jerk and we pounce,” Dash said. “What else’s there?”

“Well, considering I spotted her just before she disappeared into the fabric of the dimensions, there’s a little more to it than that,” I said.

“She actually disappeared? Before your very eyes?” Applejack asked.

I nodded. “As soon as she felt the magic wave I put out.”

“What spell did you use?” Twilight asked.

I shrugged. “Well, nothing, really… just a general blanket emission.”

“How did you do that?” she asked. “I mean, I thought magic was only supposed to activate when you used a spell.”

“The last time I emitted a spell, back in the library preparing for our journey here, I felt out the magical energy,” I said. “I figured out how to simply release it on the train, and realized it was infinitely easier than any book made it seem.”

“You’ll have to show me some time,” Twilight said.

I smiled. “I will. For now, we should all get some sleep. We have to find Fluttershy tomorrow. That’s going to take some doing, I think.”

“This doesn’t sound like something we can run from,” Applejack said, looking down at the floor while referring to our latest opponent. “She’ll find us wherever we go.”

“If she’s even after us,” I said. “We still don’t know Tangerine’s motivations. Let’s just gather our frightened friends and head home tomorrow.”

Rainbow curled herself up. “I feel a lot better now.”

“Glad I could help,” I said.

“Um…” Applejack squirmed while she was settling down. “Is it okay if… y’know… I sleep here… tonight?”

I nodded. “If you feel it would put you at ease, then I’m fine with it. Same with the rest of you.”

So Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Twilight Sparkle made themselves comfortable near me, Applejack moving the closest. I smiled – these fillies were becoming like sisters to me.

Yet, even as I allowed my energy to wane, I couldn’t stop thinking about Fluttershy. Something about her situation in particular bothered me, and although I got to sleep, it proved a restless and disturbing night with dreams of dark and disturbing ideas. I was glad when I woke up the next morning.