One More Day

by Fire-Dash

Questions

Chapter Four
Questions

{Twilight}

They lead us into a large courtyard, dark and dingy with those same white lights hovering above our heads. Looking up, I realize we must be underground. The roof of this place is supported by several metal and wooden beams as well as what appear to be tree roots set deep in tightly-packed dirt. The smell in here is musty and old. The air is dry and little puffs of dust form under our hooves as we walk. They obviously haven't bothered to build paths in this section of wherever it is we are.

In the distance there are several small structures but I can't make out details. To my left is a bright white building perfectly clean and polished. It looks so out of place it almost seems sinister. There's a steel door out the front but no windows. In fact, I don't see windows on any of the buildings. I guess there's no use for them down here.

To my right, I see a dark navy-blue building coated with dirt and infested with cracks. This building looks a little more at home down here. So far, the cleanest thing in this place does appear to be that white structure. I wonder what goes on in there.

We've past those buildings now, so I assume we must be headed for one of the smaller structures in the distance. I start to wonder just how far underground we are, or how long all this has been here. There's so many buildings and this place certainly took more than a day to dig out and support. How many ponies are working here? Where are we?

We shift direction, heading over to a darker corner of the courtyard. Overhead, the floating lights are following us, bobbing up and down like buoys caught in a current. I can just barely make out where we're going. It appears to be a sort of stadium. I can spot the layers of seats set up like stands at a sporting event. As we get closer, I see there are already ponies sitting there, looking hurt and frightened and confused. Just like us. At second glance, I notice that these ponies appear to be all male. That must have been why there was another steel door in the white hall. That was the room for the male ponies.

They escort us into the stands and Nova looks grateful for the seats. She can barely move her back legs at all now and the frustration, anger and pain is very clear in her face. We're seated in the fifth row next to a light brown former pegasus with a deep auburn mane. He looks a little younger than me, though not by much, and he doesn't look up when we sit down. Just stares at the back of the chair in front of him. He moves only to re-adjust the silver-framed glasses perched on his nose and shift his position slightly.

I turn to Nova. “There's so many ponies here,” I say. “How could they do this all in one night?”

She looks distant for a moment, thinking. “Maybe they didn't. We don't know how long we were asleep.”

I don't like that idea. It makes me feel so powerless. Helpless. It's not a good feeling. I've got no control. I'm blind and deaf to the world now. No direction. No time.

I've never been so lost.

“I w-wasn't asleep,” the colt beside me says suddenly, still staring ahead.

Nova and I exchange glances before looking over to him. “You weren't?” I ask.

The light brown pegasus shakes his head. “I-it was d-dark, and I w-was unable to m-move, but I w-wasn't asleep. I-I heard them.” He has a prominent stutter and the words don't seem to be forming very easily for him. He's struggling.

“Heard them?” I ask.

He nods. “I h-heard them. They s-said... they said, 'd-don't bother with the f-filly, sh-she's too young." Th-then some mu-muttering and a sc... a sc-scream.” He stops for a moment, his breathing becoming irregular. “Then they y-yelled, 'enough! G-get that one out of h-here and h-hel-help m-me.”

He's shaking now but I need to know what else he heard. Maybe he knows where we are. “Anything else? Did you hear them say where they were taking you?”

He shakes his head. “N-no. They j-just talked about getting m-more subjects.”

“Subjects?” I look at Nova, then back to the pegasus. “Like in a kingdom?”

He looks down, thinking, remembering. “N-no. Can't be. They were t-talking about an exp-experiment. C-called it 'divine'.”

“Divine? What—” I don't get to finish my sentence.

The stallion who led us here is on the stage, standing tall and looking proud. “I'm sure you all are wondering just what is going on here,” he begins in a large, booming voice. “But I'm afraid that the information I can give to you right now is limited. Allow the Doctors to explain.”

He steps aside and two ponies in white jackets take his place. The colt sitting beside me starts to panic when he sees them, trying to get away. I quickly reach out to stop him. “It won't do any good,” I whisper. “Where can you run?”

He sighs and takes a deep breath. “I-I know,” he whispers back.

The two 'Doctors' smile and the one on the left, a light green mare with a white mane, speaks first. “You may not realize it yet but you are all very lucky ponies,” she begins. Her voice is steady and her expression unreadable. “You have been chosen for a very important and revolutionary movement. We cannot tell you much now but in time we promise you will understand.” She steps down and allows the other Doctor, an ocean-blue stallion with a turquoise mane, to speak next.

“At the end of this meeting, you will all be escorted to the blue building near the cabins. That is the cafeteria. You will each be served your lunches and we require that you eat all you can and drink plenty of water. You will need your strength for the Afternoon Tests.”

“Tests?” Nova whispers. I shake my head at her. I have no idea what they're expecting of us. What exactly have we been chosen for?

The Doctors step down and the light blue stallion takes their place. “I know you're all confused, that is to be expected,” he says, “but do not be afraid. We are creating something divine. Something powerful. You will all be a part of something so much bigger than yourselves. You will see. In time, I promise you will see.”

And with that he steps down, leaving us with more questions than before.

* * *

{Pinkie}

We're going to Rarity's boutique next because she's the closest. I told Rainbow that I could go to Sweet Apple Acres really fast to get Applejack while she and Fluttershy go to Rarity's but she said we need to stick together. I guess that's 'cause we're all so mixed up and confused, it's better we stay close.

Everypony else looks okay, I guess. Though some of them look a little confused and worried. I don't know what's wrong but when I ask, they just avoid me and Dashie's not letting me chase after them.

As we walk down the road, I get this sudden urge to sing. It's so strong that I just can't help myself. I burst.

“We're finding our friends,
to figure all this out.
This feeling never ends,
but I'm not gonna pout!

We'll find the cause,
everything's okay,
we'll figure out
what's wrong today—”

“Pinkie!” Rainbow yells, stopping me. “I'm not in the mood for singing right now, okay?”

I tilt my head. “Not in the mood? But I'm just trying to make everypony feel better.” I frown. I don't like how upset my friends are. I want to make them happier.

Dashie sighs. “I know, Pinkie, I'm sorry. I just... I hope everything's okay.”

I bound over to her. “Everything will be fine, I promise. Are you sure a little singing wouldn't help? It always helps me when I feel down!”

“I'm sure,” she says, still looking upset. I keep bouncing around her but I don't smile. I don't know what else to do. Then I remember the emergency containers of bubble soap I have hidden in several places around town.

I grin and bound over to a bush, reaching inside and pulling out the container. I stir the wand around and pull it out. “Rainbow, Fluttershy! Lookie here!” I let out a puff of air and several bubbles burst out, floating and dancing in the air. The sunlight forms little streaks of colour on their shimmery surfaces.

“Pinkie,” Rainbow starts but I don't let her finish. I dip the wand in again and blow two more bubbles, one shaped like Dashie and the other like a cloud. They both run into each other but the cloud pops first while the little Rainbow stays whole a while longer.

I catch a slight smile forming on Fluttershy's face and I beam. “Yeah! That's it! It's going to be fine.” I blow a few more bubbles before Rainbow glares at me and statches the soap away.

“You can blow bubbles later, Pinkie. We need to find the others first.” She narrows her eyes.

I look down. “But... you're upset.”

She gives a sharp sigh and turns around, back on the path to Rarity's. “Of course I'm upset! Something's wrong here and I can't figure out what it is! Singing and bubbles aren't going to work. I just need to find out what's going on.”

“Are you sure nothing'll work? I have bouncy balls and noise-makers and all sorts of things hidden around Ponyville! You never know when somepony might need cheering up!”

“It won't work, Pinkie,” she says again. “Let's just find Rarity, okay?”

I frown, turning my head down and dragging my hooves as I walk.

“It's okay,” Fluttershy says, moving over to me. “Rainbow's just frustrated. When she calms down, I'm sure she'll love your songs and everything you want to do.”

I nod. “Yeah, I know. She'll feel better once we find the others. I'm sure they're okay. They'll know what's wrong and then all we have to do is fix it and everything will be good again.” I grin wide. “And I'll throw a party to celebrate!”

Fluttershy smiles and we hurry after Rainbow.

Suddenly, we stop.

“Dashie?” I ask, bounding over to her. “What's—” I gasp. The door to Rarity's boutique is thrown open and inside fabric, materials, pencils, papers, buttons, accessories and jewels are tossed everywhere, covering the floor and all the desks and everything in sight.

Oh, this is not right at all! Rarity's shop is always so neat and pretty. What happened?

Rainbow runs inside. “Rarity?” she asks, searching the room. “Where are you? Rarity?”

I bound in as well and Fluttershy follows cautiously behind me. “Where is she?” I ask, looking around.

“Oh, I do hope nothing bad has happened,” Fluttershy murmurs, her voice wobbly.

“What's going on? Rainbow cries, stomping her hooves on the ground.

“I-I don't know,” Fluttershy replies. “I don't like this.”

“Oh thank goodness you're here!” a familliar voice exclaims from the doorway.

I spin around. “Rarity!” I bound over to her. “Are you okay? What happened? Why is your shop all torn up?”

She frowns, trying to remember. “I-I've lost something,” she begins. “Something very important.” That's when I notice just how exhausted she looks. Her mane is messy, her eyes are weary and she's still a little out of breath.

“What did you lose?” Fluttershy asks, her expression full of dread.

Rarity shakes her head slowly. “I... I don't know. I just know that I have to find it. I've searched the whole shop and nothing's turned up. I thought one of you might have an idea as to what it might be so I went out looking for you.” She pauses, then tilts her head. “Why are you here?”

“We were looking for you!” Rainbow says. “We've all had this same strange feeling that something's wrong. We thought you might be able to help.”

Rarity sighs. “I haven't the slightest idea. All I know is that when I woke up, I had the overwhelming feeling that I'd lost something important. Something so important that I just had to find it that instant. I haven't even eaten yet. I've been too busy searching.”

Rainbow starts to pace, muttering under her breath, “what does it mean? What's going on?”

“M-maybe we should go find Applejack now,” Fluttershy suggests.

“Yeah!” I exclaim, hopping up and down. “We'll figure it out in no time once we're all together!”

“I hope you're right,” Rainbow sighs. “I'm so lost right now I don't know what to do. All I know is we have to fix this. It can't just be a bunch of weird feelings and coincidences. Not when it's this strong.”

“Don't worry, Dashie!” I reassure her, throwng a foreleg around her shoulders. “When we're all together, there's nothing we can't do!” But there is something inside me, something really deep inside me that says this is worse than we know. Oh, I hope we can fix this and be happy again. I don't like seeing everypony so distressed. I want to help but I don't know how anymore. Something's very wrong and all the songs and bubbles and parties in the world aren't going to fix it.

Comments

[Alpha Scorpii]

Ah, Pinkie and her bubbles. I love it when you do that.