Strange New World

by Conor Colton

Indication

Strange New World
Chapter Seven: Indication

Chris and his friends were still in the recently ravaged town of Ponyville, him and a few others wanted to leave the town as soon as possible, as it was inevitable that Shade would send more troops; which in Ponyville’s current condition would spell nothing but total destruction for the once charming town.

Chris continued to pace through the smoking streets and looked around to see how everypony reacted to the destruction. Sufficed to say, this wasn’t a pleasant sight. He saw nothing but depression, young ponies looking for their parents, but the tragedy was that they might not see them again, the old and injured struggling to walk, complete chaos and madness.

The pony approached the wreckage of the recently destroyed library, he ran his hoof over the smouldering remains and sighed with great discontent. He still saw all this as his doing. Shade was obviously after him and if he had never escaped, Shade wouldn’t have sent these monsters after him. Chris felt no relief, no positive thought crossed his mind, he only felt guilt.

As he continued to look over the rubble he noticed Twilight, walking beside him and looking over the wreckage herself. Chris gave a passing glance to her, seeing that she was still upset. Chris couldn’t blame her, so much had happened in such a small space of time, she needed time to process this during this momentary silence.

“......I’m sorry.” Chris said as he looked at the ground in disgrace.
“Sorry? What for?” Twilight asked as she turned her attention to the pony, rather than the wreckage.
“Everything. If I had never came here you guys would have carried on as normal, and none of this would have happened...Shade sent those things after me...all this destruction is because of me.” Chris stated as he slammed part of the wreckage with his hoof.

“What are you talking about? If you weren’t here these monsters would have probably still been destroying the town...And Shade would still be here, if anything you’ve given us a fighting chance now.” Twilight retorted as she placed a hoof on his shoulder.

“Yeah, you gave those meanies a good whooping!” Pinkie added as she also walked towards the wreckage.
“You shouldn’t beat yourself up over this, Darling.” Rarity retorted, following Pinkie.
“Yeah man, besides....That was awesome!” Spike interjected as he was walking alongside Rarity.

Chris took the unicorn’s hoof off his shoulder and responded to his friend’s encouragement.
“No you guys don’t understand! I think Shade is here ‘cause I’m here!” Chris exclaimed as he was met with confused pony faces.
“What do you mean?” Twilight asked with a genuine want to know the answer.
“Because Shade showed up when I did!” Chris explained.
“Well yeah, when you showed up in Ponyville...But you’re from Manehattan, you make it sound like you both just came out of thin air!” Spike retorted as everypony looked back at Chris once again.

“Uh...well...there’s actually somethi-” Chris led into as he was interrupted by a slight tapping on his head, he looked up to see rain pouring down on him and his friends. Applejack came up to the group along with Rainbow Dash.

“Alright y’all, we got ourselves a problem.” Applejack stated. “We got injured ponies and this weather ain’t helping none, they need someplace to hunker down if they gonna get treated.” The earth pony stated as she looked around to see the wreckages everywhere.

“Yeah! And the shelter they need, they ain’t gonna find it here!” Rainbow added in a rushed, panicked tone. Chris and all his friends began to ponder over their next move.
“Well they certainly can’t stay here, poor dears will catch their death of cold.” Rarity started.
“Yeah but not before more of those monsters come and catch them first!” Pinkie stated as she panicked.
“These guys can’t stay here, that’s for certain.” Spike added.
“Yeah, just like Chris said. The further they’re away from Canterlot, the better.” Twilight retorted.

“I will do what I can to help the hurt and sick, but if they are to live, they must leave quick.” Zecora added as she walked towards a group of hurt ponies.
“....She’s right, okay guys, do as we were doing before. Get everypony on their hooves, get them as much supplies as they can carry and get them out of here. We got our own places to go...Speaking of which, Zecora I need to see that book again.” Chris stated as he and the zebra went to retrieve it.

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Back in the decimated city of Canterlot, high in the castle, Shade was waiting for a report on the current situation. He paced back and forth as minions similar to the ones that raided Ponyville were busy with construction and other such duties.

“Uh....Lord Shade. I have a report on the human situation.” Nox said as he entered cautiously.
“Nox, I’d rather have the details of the report than your declaration of having one...Get over here.” Shade said as he turned to his second in command. Nox paced slowly to his leader. “Hurry up!” Shade ordered as Nox recoiled and picked up the pace.

“Yes Lord Shade!” Nox stated. “I have the results of the attack, Lord Shade.” Nox added.
“Well? Out with it!” Shade demanded as Nox recoiled once again.
“Yes Lord Shade....The human...the raiders weren’t able to capture him.” Nox stated as he expected the worse.
“Hmm...well did they at least recover the body? I’d hate to send them to do scavenging.” Shade retorted as he walked to the throne and sat down upon it.

“Uh...My Lord I believe there’s some miscommunication here...” Nox answered.
“What? Are you saying he’s alive?” Shade stated as gritted his teeth at Nox.
“...Yes Lord Shade.” Nox stated as he braced for the worst, but what he got was surprising.
“Well I’m sure he won’t make it far, those were some of the best raiders I could scrape together, they’ll hunt him to the ends of the world.” Shade stated as he grinned in victory.

“Uh....My Lord...they can’t follow him...” Nox stated.
“What? And why is that Nox?” Shade said as he got off the throne and paced towards Nox, the second backing away as the superior got closer.
“Lord Shade....they’re dead.” Nox stated as Shade glared hatefully for a few moments.
“Nox...it’s not a good idea to play tricks on me...Those were my finest raiders....No possible way the human could kill them....I despise jokes, Nox!” Shade said as he lifted a razor sharp claw to Nox.

“My love...it is true...the raiders have perished.” Ruby interrupted as she walked into the throne room under construction.
“Lies! Prove it to me, give me access to the human’s mind again!” Shade demanded as Ruby did just that. She placed a magically lined paw on Shade’s head. The wolf could see into Chris’ mind and he saw all the past events unfold concerning the attack on Ponyville.

“......Nox.....Ruby....leave me for now....I need to reevaluate...Enter before I say and you can leave the same way the human did...but there’ll be no water for you at the bottom.” Shade stated directly as his subordinates did just that.

When Ruby and Nox exited via the same door they turned to each other to converse.
“It seems we’ve underestimated the human, Mistress Ruby.” Nox stated to the female wolf.
“Yes, it would appear so, Nox...But there’s is always chaos to wreak. Even though the human isn’t with us I saw the destruction the attack caused, it was quite invigorating to say the least.” Ruby retorted with a devious grin, showing her white teeth.

“Yes, we must look at the positives in these situations, Mistress Ruby...And I suppose I should extend my gratitude to you.” Nox stated.
“What ever for?” Ruby asked with a raised brow.
“For entering when you did, I would have much rather avoided the treatment Lord Shade was going to give me.” Nox stated directly, showing not very much emotion.
“My pleasure Nox, I would much rather you didn’t get hurt either, you are a valuable asset to Lord Shade.” Ruby added.

“Thank you Mistress Ruby.” Nox stated as he kept a stance similar to a military line up.
“You may choose to call me simply Ruby, Nox.” Ruby retorted.
“Yes of course....Mistress Ruby. But if you’ll excuse me I need to prepare a replacement raider party.” The wolf stated as he walked off to do just that, leaving Ruby and several sounds of Shade venting his rage in the throne room, or rather on it.

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Back in the smoldering village of Ponyville, Chris was flicking through the pages of Zecora’s ancient tome. However no matter how hard he tried he couldn’t comprehend the meaning of the texts. Even with the help of his friends he couldn’t make sense of it.

Chris continued thinking for a good hour and made little to no progress.
“Maybe if....No that doesn’t make sense...But what does make sense here?! Ah!” Chris exclaimed to himself in desperation as he ran his hooves through his hair in contemplation. But as he did he was approached by Applejack.

“You doing alright, bud’?” The mare asked with a hopeless expression on her face.
“No Applejack, I’m not...This book more than likely could tell us what to do next...And I can’t figure it out!” Chris exclaimed as he pounded a frustrated hoof on a piece of rubble. Applejack walked closer and put a hoof on the stallion’s back.

“Don’t fret none, Sugarcube. You’ll figure it out...And if you can’t, we got Equestria’s brainiest unicorn with us....I ain’t talking ‘bout Rarity.” Applejack stated with a slight chuckle and Chris returned one. “But...I came to tell ya we’re ready to clear out o’ here.” Applejack retorted as her expression sunk.

“Everypony’s ready to leave?” Chris asked, with his expression also sinking.
“Yup...ready as they’ll ever be...Nothing can prepare ya for what happened...I know you’re hurtin’ over what happened Sugarcube but we gotta look ahead don’t we?” The blonde earth pony stated.
“Yeah...you’re right Applejack...” Chris stated.
“Yup, ‘course I am, I never lie.” Applejack retorted as she was about to walk with Chris. But that one line made Chris remember something.

“You guys still got the Elements?” Chris asked with slight concern.
“Yup! Don’t worry none...We’ve had our dim moments but we won’t lose track of ‘em now.” The mare proudly retorted as the two of them walked towards the crowd of ponies gathering at what was left at the townhall. And surprisingly, the mayor has survived and was addressing the crowd.

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“Now now everypony! This is a delicate situation but we mus-” The mayor led into before she was cut off by a rather irate, Cranky Doodle Donkey.
“Delicate?! We’ve lost our homes, our possessions and some of us even our loved ones! What do you know?! The town hall looks untouched!” The donkey stated before he was calmed by the female donkey beside him. But his rage had started off the crowd.

“Yeah! You were locked up all safe in there while the rest of us suffer-” An angry spectator was cut off as Twilight stood in.
“Now everypony just relax! What could the mayor have done?! It was complete chaos!” Twilight interjected as she was backed up by all her friends, minus Chris and Applejack.
“Well then, get us somepony who did do something!” The spectator demanded before the crowd cheered him on.

“We have, he’s right here!” Applejack retorted as both her and Chris walked on stage. Chris took the smoldering stand after the mayor backed away.
“Twilight’s right! Don’t blame the mayor!” Chris demanded.
“Well then who are we gonna blame?! Tell us that! I say we blame you! You’re new here, when you showed up all this bad stuff started happening! Why should we listen to you?!” Various members of the crowd demanded.

“Because I have seen this evil up close! I’ve looked into it’s soulless red eyes! I know what it’s like and I know it won’t stop! It will send more monsters and more ponies will die if we don’t leave now!” Chris stated authoritatively.
“We’ll die if we stay anywhere near you! We all heard what you said before the explosion! You’re who they want! You’d have to be stupid to go along with your plan! You’re a bad omen!” Several other enraged ponies stated. Chris just stuttered, no able to get a word out. But the crowd’s outbursts were silenced when a faint voice spoke up.

“Well then I guess I’m stupid!” Sweetie Belle stated as she walked away from the crowd and towards Chris. She was quickly joined by the other Cutie Mark Crusaders.
“Yeah! Me too!” Scootaloo added.
“Me three!” Apple Bloom retorted. Suddenly Chris was gaining support, all his friends stood behind him and stood proud in defense, even Spike.

Various ponies Chris recognized came out of the crowd and to his side; Granny Smith, Big Macintosh, Mr and Mrs Cake, their babies, Cranky, Matilda and even the mayor just to name a few.
“You don’t wanna follow me? You think I’m a bad omen? Fine, stay as far away from me as possible! Get out of here and find somewhere safer! We’re leaving Ponyville now!” Chris stated as the crowd dissipated and ponies started doing just that.

Chris turned to his friends and all the ponies who came to his side, his three little filly friends in particular. “Girls...Thank you, that was a brave thing you did.” Chris stated to the three fillies.
“No problem! It’s nothing compared to what you did anyway. Cutie Mark Crusaders look out for each other!” Scootaloo stated proudly, “So...when we leaving?” The small pegasus asked. Chris looked back to his group of friends, one zebra and a dragon.
“Girls....You can’t come with us...It’s too dangerous.” Chris stated as he saw the fillies’ hearts sink.

“I’m sorry but you all got to run along with your families...Just get as far away from Canterlot as you can okay?” Chris asked as he was met with tearful nods. Chris turned towards his group but looked back for one last message, “Girls...Cutie Mark Crusaders for life...Stay safe.” Chris added as the three of them left. The stallion walked over to his friends with his head hung low. Rainbow Dash put her hoof on his shoulder as she hovered a few feet above the ground.
“Come on...Let’s g- Wait....where’s Rarity?” Twilight asked as the group looked about for the unicorn who had vanished.

The group heard creaking and rattling behind them, they all turned with wide-eyed expressions.
“More of those things?!” Spike asked as he hid behind Twilight. Over a nearby hill came Rarity, towing along a large carriage filled with dresses and other ‘beauty supplies’ as the cart was labelled.

“Okay everypony, let’s be of- ...Must I?” Rarity asked as everypony glared.
“You must!” Everypony and zebra stated, Spike not getting into this. Rarity let off a distressed moan before kicking off her harness and joining her friends as they walked out of the town.

“If it makes you feel any better, Rarity, you don’t need all those things to look beautiful.” Spike stated.
“Why thank you Spike-Wikey.” Rarity said as she pinched the dragon’s cheeks, “But all that wasn’t for me...” Rarity led into as she was met with a raised dragon eyebrow. “I even had a little hero outfit for you, perfect for adventur-” Rarity was cut off as Spike interjected.
“I’m sure the next group of monsters will find more use of those anyway.” The dragon stated as the group exited Ponyville.

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A few hours later the group had travelled a large distance from Ponyville, all the while with Chris flicking through the pages of Zecora’s book. Despite his best efforts, he still couldn’t make any sense of it.

The group had no idea where they were going, they had left most of the town walking away from Canterlot, but in a different direction than them. The group just wanted to be far, far away from Canterlot.

Not long after the town had become a simple dot in the distance, had everypony began to feel fatigued. They had done a lot of walking today and needed a place to rest. They found a small clearing at the bottom of a hill and near a small lake to set up camp. After some minor assembly all of them had a place to sleep for the night.

“So what do we do now?” Twilight asked the group.
“Well some of us need to get some shut eye, but somepony’s gonna need to stay up and keep watch...maybe two...I volunteer.” Applejack stated.
“Yeah, I’ll stay up too.” Rainbow retorted.
“Oh! Can I stay up?! Can I, can I?! Please, please please!” Pinkie begged.
“We only need two ponies, Sugarcube.” Applejack argued.
“Yeah! But I’m super duper hyper right now!” Pinkie debated.

“Go to bed Pinkie!” Spike yelled from underneath his tent, almost dozed off already. The pink earth pony admitted defeat and headed towards her stylised tent.
“Yeah you guys go ahead and do that, I need to look over this book again.” Chris stated as only Twilight turned around.

“Chris I think you should get some sleep too, you’ve had it rough today...Way more than the rest of us.” Twilight pleaded as Chris continued to look through the book.
“Twilight I’m fine, I just need to figure this out...” Chris said, not even lifting his head.
“Chris look at me, you need sleep!” Twilight debated.
“I’m fine!” Chris said, snapping at the unicorn. The entire camp went silent.

“.....Okay....Well if you want to accept your limitations and actually think about things....You know where to find the sensible ponies.” Twilight stated as she walked towards her tent.
“Fine...” Chris answered as he lifted the book and walked away from the campsite, to a small tree on top of the hill.

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Chris marched up the hill with great discontent and rested against the tree, making an effort to face in the opposite direction of the camp and began reading through the book. As usual, Chris couldn’t make any sense of it. He continued in this cycle of hopelessness until he heard a faint rustling behind him. He turned quickly to see Twilight standing there with a nervous face and twiddling her hooves. Chris didn’t say anything and merely turned his attention back to the book.

Twilight rested on the other side of the tree and was facing the camp. The two ponies didn’t make eye contact but Twilight sparked up a conversation.
“What you reading?” Twilight asked.
“This book.” Chris answered.
“Find anything?” Twilight continued as she carefully began shuffling around the tree towards Chris.
“No.” Chris stated directly.

Twilight kept shuffling around until she sat right beside Chris, however the stallion showed almost no reaction not counting a passing glance from the stallion to the mare.
“Need any help?” Twilight asked gingerly.
“No, I’m fine.” Chris retorted as he didn’t take his eyes off the pages. That was until Twilight placed a hoof on the text, getting the stallion’s attention.

“Chris...Listen to me....I’m sorry.” Twilight stated as she hung her head in disgrace. Chris didn’t say sorry back, instead he just moved the mare’s hoof and continued reading. “Chris listen to m-” Twilight led into before she was cut off by Chris.
“No Twilight, you listen! I need to figure out what this book means and I need to do this alone!” Chris stated.
“Why? Why can’t you let somepony help?!” Twilight demanded to know.

“Because this is all my fault! All those ponies died and lost everything they owned because of me! It’s my responsibility to figure this out...but...I just can’t do it!” Chris said as he slammed down on the book and sunk his head into it.
“Chris......It’s okay....I understa-” Twilight said as she was cut off both in her sentence and placing a hoof on Chris’ shoulder.
“No...You don’t Twilight.” Chris stated as he closed the book and walked off, Twilight following to try and reason with him.

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Chris didn’t respond to Twilight’s insisting attitude to help, and before long the two had reached a new location, the edge of a lake. “Chris come on! Will you please listen to me?” Twilight pleaded. Chris sat on the shore and opened the book again, trying to hide his face in it. Twilight sat down next to him.
“Chris please just say something!” Twilight begged. Chris looked up and saw how teary eyed the unicorn had become. He gritted his teeth and grunted in defeat before putting the book in his lap.

“....Twilight, please don’t cry over this.” Chris pleaded.
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said what I did....I must have made you feel terrible.” Twilight sobbed. Chris finally put the book to one side and faced the unicorn.
“Twilight, I started this and I shouldn’t have snapped at you...” Chris added.
“No it’s my fault...I should have known how you felt, you’ve been through so much more than anypo-” Twilight said before she was cut off by Chris putting a hoof on her shoulder.

“.....I’m sorry.” Chris stated before hugging the teary unicorn. After he did however the two of them were stunned by a bright flash coming from the lake. The pair covered their eyes as it came into view that two figures were stepping out of the lake and standing in front of them. The figures, were Luna and Celestia.

“Princess! Oh I knew you were okay!” Twilight exclaimed with a large smile before running up to the Princesses. But when Twilight went to hug the sun Princess, she passed right through, like she wasn’t even there. Upon further inspection Twilight and Chris could see the Princesses both shared a seemingly, translucent figure, likely ethereal.

When the two of them realised, Twilight’s heart sank and her eyes widened. Then the realization hit her. “No....you....you can’t be dead....NO!” Twilight said as she ran for the Princesses again, passed through and landed beside Chris. She would have done it again but Chris held her back. The two ponies looked at the ghostly alicorns with open eyed expressions. Soon after, one of the Princesses spoke, Celestia.

“Birthplace...” Celestia started.
“Harmony...” Luna added.
“Make haste...” Celestia continued.
“Shade....Death.” Luna concluded.

“What? What’s that supposed to mean?” Twilight asked the royal, ghostly figures. They said nothing, and began to walk back into the lake.
“No! Please! Don’t leave! We need you! I need you!” Twilight desperately exclaimed as she tried to break free of Chris’ grasp, but the unicorn couldn’t manage it. Once the Princesses had descended into the lake, Twilight gave up her struggle and instead turned to Chris. She leaned on the stallion and began bawling her eyes out.

Chris held her close and took the flailing hooves she batted against his chest before finally calming down, “....I’m sorry....Please, please don’t hate me.” Twilight begged.
“I don’t hate you Twilight....You’ve lost love ones...I haven’t...You have every right to be sad or angry.” Chris said as he hugged the unicorn in an attempt to comfort her.

Then something clicked in Chris’ head, relating to what the Princesses had said. “...The book!” Chris said as he reached over and grabbed the book again and flicked to a specific section entitled ‘The Birthplaces of Harmony’. Chris scanned the section until he found a particular piece of text. “Twilight, look.” Chris said as he pointed to a verse for Twilight to read aloud.

“It is said that when the darkest tide descends on Equestria that the blessed Elements of Harmony will become as corrupt as the night’s cold embrace. For life to be returned to Equestria, life must return to the Elements. Return them to the place they were born, and watch them light as evil’s scorn.” Twilight read before slowly turning to Chris and smiling.

“You think?” Twilight asked.
“Why else would the Princesses tell us about it?” Chris stated sarcastically with a smile. The unicorn wrapped her hooves around the stallion’s neck and pulled him in for a hug. The two of them then headed to the camp to inform everypony else.
“Chris....Thank you.” Twilight stated.
“For what?” Chris asked with a raised eyebrow.
“For everything, for saving us, for staying alive, for finding this out...Just thank you.” The mare remarked with a smile.
“....No problem.” Chris retorted with an equally as pleasant smile.