3 - Spring Festival
The later in the day it became, the more excited the ponies became, not that Twilight was paying any attention. She was busy trying to do something, anything, with the jumble of pieces that had once been a phone, then a portal to a world she never asked for.
Sunset had tried to stay at her side, but Twilight was growing angry and hysterical and trying to calm her down was just making her more angry, so Sunset decided to give her some space. "I'll be back later." She left the hut as Twilight grumbled and fiddled with parts awkwardly with hooves she wasn't used to having.
She wandered the town and noticed a pony that was actually her size. The mare stood out in the sea of small ponies easily, to say nothing of her also being made of metal. Sunset blinked as she approached the curious horse. "Hello?"
The pony turned towards her with a mechanical sound, ears swiveling with the turning of gears. "Hello. Are you also here for the Festival?"
Sunset put a hoof on her chest. "I wasn't planning on it, but here we are..."
"The gods work in mysterious ways," agreed the mechanical pony. "It is a shame that the clockwork festival and this one do not coincide, or I would truly revel. It is good that the little ponies don't seem to mind, but it's not the same."
Sunset tilted her head, confusion growing. "I'm sorry? Assume I'm from far away." Not a lie at all. "Can you explain what you mean?"
The mechanical pony blinked with the tink of metal on metal, some steam escaping from her sides. "Oh, you've never met a clockwork before? My tribe once defied the gods, and this is my punishment for it." She offered a hoof. "Please don't be scared. It's not a communicable thing."
Sunset reached forward hesitantly and clopped hooves. "So you're... I mean, you're not a machine?"
The mechanical mare tilted her head. "No more than you are a bag of meat. I am constructed of metal, but I grow, I hurt, and I will die. One day a year, I can even love, physically..." She glanced around. "It is not the day the short legs dance."
Sunset recoiled a little bit. "I must sound rude, um... miss...?"
"Rolling Precision, but Roll is fine." Roll smiled at Sunset. "Be careful in your dancing."
Sunset waved a hoof. "I won't step on any hooves, promise."
"It is not their hooves I would worry about." Roll raised a brow. "They will see you as an available mare and I get the distinct impression you are not aware of the nature of this dance."
The way Rolling was speaking and the energy building in the town and the way she had already been spoken to was giving Sunset an increasingly good idea. "Did we just walk into..."
"Yes. Everything you just imagined, but worse. On the positive, they are extremely gentle and loving. If you say no, they will not press." She leaned forward a little with the soft hiss of adjusting limbs. "That will not stop others from approaching. There are many of them. If you don't wish to dance, this is your last chance to leave before it begins."
Sunset took a few steps back. "They wouldn't..."
"Force? No! No..." Roll sank to her haunches. "I told you, they are gentle creatures. They want to love and be loved. It's just that one 'no' only sends one away, so another may ask, and another, and another. So long as you're not with someone, it is an open invitation for anyone who hasn't yet found a partner."
Sunset cringed a little. "But... you?"
"What about me?" Roll rose to her hooves in a smooth interaction of gears. "I may consent to a few brave ponies that approach me, but nothing will come of it. Nothing can, save for my people's special day." She smiled ruefully. "If I had the choice, I would place it on this day, and I would dance with them and their goddess."
"Wait wait, you've seen their, um, Lashtada was it?"
Roll nodded. "Certainly. I've attended this festival two times. This is the third. She has appeared at each one. It is truly remarkable. She doesn't ask for or command great attention, she... just does what everyone else is doing. She is a pony, for this night, and she seems to like it. Her people like it. I suppose not many others permit this sort of behavior..."
Sunset slowly shook her head. "This is a bit overwhelming for me. Maybe we should..." She took another slow step back. "It was really nice meeting you, Roll."
"And your name is?" she asked with a deadpan, staring at Sunset.
Sunset blushed as she was called out. "Sorry. I'm Sunset Shimmer. Sunset is fine. It really was nice meeting you, but I, hmm. I should go." She turned and fled back towards Rose's hut and the Twilight she hoped was still there.
On the way, her eyes were drawn to a gaunt striped pony, a zebra. The zebra was speaking to a small gathering of the short legs, "This will be the last dance. Perhaps for a short while. Perhaps it will be the last the world sees. Death comes for all, and you are no exception, avatars of birth. You, who are shaped like young ponies, will see your resolve tested cruelly and possibly with finality. I cannot say for certain, only what my mistress whispered in my ear, as is her way."
The small ponies seemed far from impressed. They waved off the doomtidings. One of their largest, who was still pretty small, rose up above the others. "We will dance, and she will dance with us. It's what we do, and what she does. We make her smile, and she brings joy with her from the heavens. What are you even suggesting?"
The zebra spoke, but the low words were drowned out by the crowd. Sunset shook her head as she galloped past and shoved open the door to the hut with her magic, scurrying inside. "Twilight?"
"Mmm?" Twilight looked up from her jumble of parts with bloodshot eyes and quivering hooves. "I keep trying to... It doesn't work. Nothing works. I can't... Nothing works..."
Sunset closed the door behind herself with her magic as she watched Twilight break down. "Twilight, stop." She set a hoof on one of Twilight's, forcing it to the ground. "Stop!"
Twilight seemed to really see Sunset for the first time, blinking. "Sunset?"
"Enough..." She kept the hoof down. "You tried your hardest."
Twilight started to brim with tears as she sniffled and quaked. "But I didn't... I mean... We're really stuck! We're stuck and we're going to die..."
"No! You stop that right this moment." Sunset's horn glowed as she picked up the jumble of parts and started to put them away as quickly as she could. "We're fine. Sure, we haven't figured out how to go home, but we will, and we have each other, right?"
"R-right..." Twilight slowly rose to her hooves. "Right... Maybe we're approaching this from the wrong angle."
"Hmm?"
"This is a whole world of magic. Maybe the phone was just the wrong answer." She forced a smile. "Maybe we have to use magic?"
Sunset nodded. "As good a reason as any, but, look, we have to go."
"Why?" Twilight fidgeted with her glasses nervously. "Is something wrong, besides the obvious?"
"The festival everyone's getting excited about." Sunset sighed softly. "Unless you want to learn where baby ponies come from, this may not be the best place for us, and it starts at sundown exactly." She pointed outside despite the lack of windows. "You can't see it from here, but trust me, that isn't long away."
Twilight went a deep red in her cheeks as the situation became clear to her. "Can't we just say no?" She shook her head with disbelief. "They said we didn't have to, um, dance if we don't want to, right?"
"Or..." Sunset looked around for any missing parts. "We can leave and avoid an increasingly awkward situation. Besides, they're all so... it's like thinking about a kid." She shivered softly. "Even if they're as big as they're ever going to get."
"They're cute," argued Twilight, looking like she was recovering from her failed attempt. "Not that kind of cute, of course, but I don't think they'd hurt us." A hoof came up suddenly, striking herself on the head. "And I'm falling right into a trope. Of course they could be a problem, welcome to a world of magic." She let out a sigh as she settled. "Where do we go?"
Sunset leaned against the closest wall, making it lean dangerously. "I don't know..."
"So we're just going to run in a random direction?" She shrank a little. "As awkward as this all is, it's better than what I guess is out there. I don't want to be eaten by a dragon or mauled by a tribe of angry goblins."
Sunset looked ready to argue it, but thought better of it. "Look, maybe... we should be taking the time to learn the area. Once we know where to go, then we can go." An idea came to her. "Ah! I met a pony on the way here. You won't believe it, but she's made of metal."
Twilight swayed a little. Metal ponies? Why not... "And...?"
"I don't think she lives here. If anyone knows where to go, she would. Let's look for her." Sunset finished looking around. Whatever they had brought, she was sure she had. "Come on, there's nothing to wait around in here for."
Together, they departed the small hut and discovered the town transformed. With the sun sinking over the horizon, the dancing had begun. Actual dancing, with the small ponies celebrating life and joy eagerly. Food was set out, giving off a variety of tantalizing smells that some of the ponies availed themselves of when not dancing. It seemed the less acceptable activities were at least kept out of sight, at least so far as they could tell.
They would gesture towards a private place, the other with them would nod, and off they'd go to do whatever it is that they wanted to do.
Sunset's eyes scanned over the crowd, looking for the metal pony that was a giant compared to most, though about the size of herself or Twilight.
Twilight looked around cautiously, just behind Sunset. "They don't look dangerous to me." As parties went, it was a party. Nothing... "Oh."
She gawked at the bright pink pony. She was a little taller than the smaller ponies around her. Her eyes were shrouded by her locks and she spoke in a gentle tone that was somehow audible despite the distance and noise without sounding loud at all.
"My wonderful children, the time has come again. Shall we dance to celebrate the spring? The world awakens from its slumber, love blossoms, and it is time to prepare for the next year." She stepped forward through the crowd, losing mass with every step. Soon she was just another pony, and she danced.
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I smell a Megaman reference.
May the Sun Queen have mercy on Sunset and Twilight, they are going to need it. Or since it soon will be night the Moon Princess would be appropriate.
Yep, definitely not long before the massacre if bone tribe zebra is to be believed.
And yay, clockwork pony! Clockworks are cool.
I wonder why Sunset doesn't think of asking the goddess to send them home?
Ooh, sapient clockwork. Didn't realize that was a thing in Everglow. Very neat.
Poor Twilight. Trapped in another world without electronics or thumbs. Still, at least she knows what to expect... though that's not a guarantee that all of her knowledge will be accurate. Still, with Sunset by her side, I like her odds of survival.
Two rather novel typos:
It took me a bit to parse this. You should probably wrap the no in single quotes to indicate it's a hypothetical bit of dialogue and not a misspelling of some kind.
Consent to. It's how the verb works.
7295019
The goddess is probably too busy gettin' busy anyway.
Besides, she just learned this goddess really wants people to have lots of sex. What kind of a task would a goddess ask for in return for a boon?
My only problem with is with this sentence:
It took me a couple times to read it before I got it. It also has a slight typo since it should be "away"
I havent read the books or resources in detail or for a while, but I seem to remember theres a conflict between Lashtada and Callistra, and its due to Lashtada behaving as her name. That which occurs in the basement and dungeons, not in the bedroom. I could have it the wrong way round etc.
Rise of the Clockwork Stallions. But only one day a year? That must really Brassie them off. Ive only spotted Automata etc in generation, and again, each race is pretty much seperated from every other race, even Hybrids and Halfs can only be pre definied races etc, as the whole character basis is still set on a bartering style system, instead of centralised standard translational monetary basis.
After all, when you have Gods involved, you can meet any possible combination of traits and abilities its possible to get.
I mean, how much trouble would the party be in if in the forest they came accross a Nymph, Grey Goo hybrid? Or if she joined the party and they entered an Orthodox Village etc?
Would SciTwi and Sunset be there to bring Magitech to The Clockwork Equines, so they can advance out of their curse? I mean, for each curse, by the rules there has to be a get out clause somewhere? Mainly because Gods ahve been hit by them enough and need a way to break them?
Who is the Zebra following? Mwangi shamanism is a major possibility, but I seem to remember there might be a brutal version?
7295169 .....you're saying the story tags would need to change?
7295155
7295204 Typo repaired!
Things can only improve from here, right?
7295155 I know, I love living constructs like warforged, it's one of the reasons I love Eberron so much. "Screw medieval stasis, we're having a magitech industrial revolution."
7295212 You are mixing up Everglow and Golarion. The two will never meet since different companies own the IPs for each.
more angry so, Sunset - more angry, so Sunset
hysteric - hysterical
sends one way - sends one away
Twilight slowly raised - Twilight slowly rose
they dancing - the dancing
availed themselves when - availed themselves of when
so far they - so far as they
*****
I Like Roll, from what little we've learned about her. This chapter has the most interaction with a clockwork pony than I've seen to date in your Everglow stories and I have to say that I'm intrigued. I hope we see a little more of Roll and other clockwork ponies in the future.
Running away into the untamed forest with no supplies or provisions in the cold night can only go well for Twilight and Sunset, right?
7295612 Typos fixed, and I want to release the chapter sooo bad. I wrote it up earlier today and mmm. What flack will I receive for it...
7295691
Well then, I eagerly await tomorrow's chapter!
Fun!
Keep going! ;)
Well, asking for help could work... mage Twi did get involved in Lashtada's return, after all. Most certainly the goddess remembers. That would mean getting more intimate than they're willing with at least her, thought.
But possible nonetheless! Kinda anxious to know what our duo will become. Two wizards a bad adventuring party make.
I cannot put into words how messed-up that is.
three...will be the fourth
or
two...will be the third (She speaks in the past tense about something she has not yet done)
missing space
Thank goodness
7298859 Typos fix'd!
You could say that again...
Finally finished this chapter. The short Legs sound so lovely and kind and loving. And can throw some fun partys it looks like. It is a very big shame what happens to these ponies so full of love
7296466
Or is this in the past before A Dangerous Sparkle, when the tribe of little ponies were wiped out and enslaved? The zebra makes me think that's the case.
I'm gonna guess that that guy is one of the bad guys.