The mirthful celebrations for my new-found friendship were abruptly brought to a close, as Pinkie Pie backed away from our merry huddle and started twitching uncontrollably. With my eyes widening, I asked her what was wrong.
“It’s her Pinkie Sense.” Applejack pointed out, “What is it, girl? What are you picking up?”
Quivering slightly, Pinkie looked at us and grinned.
“Want to hear a joke?”
“Erm, sure?” I replied with great uncertainty.
“What do you get, when you cross Steve Aoki, Laidback Luke, and Lil Jon?”
“Oh dear.” I spoke blankly, knowing exactly what she was implying.
Before the others could even begin to comprehend what Pinkie had said, the mare raised her head and opened her mouth in preparation to scream, followed by her sounding off like a goddamn air raid siren.
“WE HIT TURBULENCE!”
A heartbeat later, the plane shook more violently than ever before, and I was catapulted into Fluttershy, causing her to squeak like a dog’s chew toy. Pinkie was sent into the tower of suitcases she had been stacking, causing one of them to fall down and hit her on the head. Much to my relief, her bouncy mane seemed to take most of the impact.
“Pinks! You okay?” I hollered over to her.
She responded with a nod, and then launched herself upwards and pounced on the suitcase, akin to an arctic fox hunting in the snow. Shaking my head in amusement, I helped Fluttershy up and apologised for knocking her over; she of course, apologised for having been in my way. Rolling my eyes, I tried to make my way to a more secure location to plonk myself. Things were just settling down, when Pinkie inhaled deeply and raised her head again, sounding off for a second time.
“WE HIT TURBULENCE!”
“Oh for goodness’ saaaaaake!” Rarity wailed as she was thrown across the hold.
This had been the worst turbulence so far, with all seven of us being rattled around like loose coins in a tumble dryer. Applejack tried to reposition herself, only to lose her balance and stumble around as though she were on ice. Tripping over, she knocked into Rarity, who had only just got back up, bless her. The pearly unicorn was sent barrelling towards me and I caught her with both hands.
“Look everyone, I caught a marshmallow!” I sang cheerfully before putting her back down.
“Ugh!” she grunted, brushing herself off and rolling her eyes.
The others all laughed, and then Rainbow Dash inquired if such rough turbulence was normal.
“Yeah, this can happen.” I confirmed, “It’s not always this wobbly, it just depends on the weather.”
“Well, thankfully it’ll be over soon.” Twilight grunted, “It’s been eleven hours, so surely we’ll be landing soon.”
“Oh good, I’ve been going a little stir-crazy I must admit.” Rarity professed with an anxious grin.
“How do you think I feel?” Rainbow Dash laughed.
“Um, actually…” Fluttershy murmured, “I’ve been struggling the most.”
At that, Rainbow scoffed loudly and asked how Flutters could have possibly been suffering more than anyone else. Blushing, she looked at her own hooves and gulped.
“I uh, didn’t go to the bathroom before we boarded the plane…”
Dashie’s jaw almost hit the floor, and it dawned on everyone that ‘Little Miss Parasprite Bladder’ had gone this whole time without a loo break. Almost at once, Rainbow took a knee, bowing before her fellow pegasus and apologising, commending her bravery throughout this humble plight. We all laughed somewhat at that, but felt sorry for her all the same; in the one night I had spent with her, I knew that the poor thing would have been absolutely busting at this point.
As Twilight had predicted, and much to our shared delight, the plane soon came in for landing. We were all startled by the sound of heavy machinery being moved by hydraulics.
“What the heck is that?” Rainbow shouted over the noise.
“It’s too loud!” Pinkie cried out, covering her ears with her hooves.
“That’ll be the landing gear!” I announced.
Realising that we were soon to hit the runway, and with no way of knowing exactly when, I shouted for the girls to get to the sides of the cargo bay and hold on to something. They all did just that, clinging to each other fearfully. Pinkie however, kept wanting to play, and dived head-first into the pile of suitcases. Fearing for her safety, I tried to make my way over to her, which was when we hit the tarmac. With a horrendous jolt, I was propelled straight into Pinkie’s tower of luggage, which finally brought it tumbling down.
“Crap!” I cried out just as the mass of suitcases came toppling over me.
Aside from a heavy plastic one hitting me in the arm, I was unhurt, albeit buried alive. Once the plane stopped shaking quite so violently, the others came over to me, with Applejack and Rainbow Dash helping to dig me out.
“Dude are you alright?” asked Rainbow, offering me a hoof.
Taking it and being assisted to an upright position, I burst into a laugh and professed that I was fine. Twilight’s horn then lit up, and all our coatings of Thermic Hide wore off, leaving us feeling a tad colder. That certainly wouldn’t last for long however, for we were in Brazil now; once we stepped outside, the heat and humidity would certainly be there to greet us.
“So, we’re in Brazil now, yes?” Rarity inquired.
Nodding, I confirmed that the passengers above us would be getting up to leave shortly, and that our hiding place would soon be opened, in order to retrieve everyone’s luggage.
“So, what’s the plan?” said Rainbow.
“Uh, let’s just get our flanks off this darn plane and find somewhere to hide first, then we can make a real plan!” Applejack interjected.
“That’s what I meant, AJ… a plan to get off this thing!”
“Oh.”
Cutting in, I proposed that we left the plane in the same manner we got into it; Twilight could cast an invisibility spell, followed by us sneaking out and making a run for some cover.
“Not going to happen.” Twilight stated, shaking her head, “Even without needing to pressurise this place, my mana’s still too low for seven casts of Invisipone, I’d blue out for sure.”
“Too low?” I repeated, “Twilight, what do you mean? We need your magic!”
“Yeah, well as I explained before, it’s recharging slower than I’m used to.”
“How much slower!?”
Swallowing, Twilight shook her head and said that she had barely recovered any since taking off. Whether it was being on this planet, or something else entirely, there was something affecting her magic.
“Why the hell didn’t you warn us sooner?” I demanded to know.
“I… I thought it would go back to normal on its own.” she stuttered.
Shaking my head, I told her that her lack of communication had put us all in very real danger. Glaring at her, I bluntly asked if she could cast the cloaking spells or not.
“If I do, I will blue out.”
“But can you?”
There was a moment of silence, and with a deep breath, she nodded. At that, Rainbow Dash stepped forward and butted into the conversation, thankfully taking my side.
“Then cast it on us already! So you might lose magic for a week or two, big deal! It’s better than getting caught in this damn plane, and being hauled off to heck-knows where!”
“She’s right.” Rarity chipped in, “A blueout is manageable, getting captured is not!”
I didn’t have to convince her further, the look of fear in Twilight’s eyes told me she had made up her mind. The door to the cargo hold made a loud clunk, and the unicorn quickly lit up her horn and cast Invisipone onto the lot of us, saving me for last. Stumbling back, Twilight let out a heavy sigh, and then collapsed to the floor with a thud.
“Twilight!” Fluttershy gasped.
Rushing over in a panic, we all circled around her, with one of the girls prodding her with a hoof, which garnered no response.
“Well, she definitely blued out alright.” Rarity muttered.
“She didn’t say anything about fainting when it happens!” I exclaimed.
“That’s because it doesn’t happen normally.” she told me, “Only the worst of blueouts bring on fainting, this is a bad one…”
The cargo door clunked again, followed by it slowly opening.
“What do we do!?” Rainbow Dash cried out.
We could debate the severity of the blueout later, we needed to move.
“I’ve got her.” I rumbled, “Everyone keep quiet, and make your way out.”
Inhaling deeply, I slid my hands under the limp unicorn’s body and scooped her up, slinging her over my shoulder in a fireman’s carry. Two airport workers then reached the cargo door and clambered inside to grab suitcases.
“Vamos lá, vamos trabalhar, rápido!” one of them shouted.
Whatever that meant, told me that I needed to get moving. I didn’t know a shred of Portuguese, but I knew that ‘rápido’ meant ‘fast’. Slipping past the men, we were all able to get out and onto the conveyor belt. It was still relatively light outside, but the sun was beginning to set. Hoping to get out of here before nightfall, I slid down the belt in a hurry, carefully jumping off to join the others. Twilight then started to come to, and so I placed her down. She immediately flew into a confused panic, and I quickly explained how I had carried her off the plane, and that we still needed to get somewhere safe.
“If you need, I can still carry you.” I offered.
“I’m fine, and never put your hands on me again without permission.” she spat.
“Where to now?” Applejack piped up, ensuring we remained focused.
“Away from the airport, that’s a start.” I commanded.
We scarpered off across the runway, until we reached a small patch of foliage to catch our breath.
“How long do we have left on these invisibility spells?” Rarity asked Twilight.
“Like, thirty minutes tops.” she replied, “Maybe less for the human.”
“Alright, we need to get a bloody move on then.” I muttered, “Rainbow Dash.”
“Yeah dude?”
“Can you fly up for a moment, tell us where we are?”
Without uttering another word, the pegasus shot into the sky, before returning a few seconds later.
“We’re on a freaking island!”
{Shit…} I thought to myself.
Up until now, I was completely unaware that Rio’s airport was situated on Governador Island, which was sat in the middle of the gargantuan Guanabara Bay. Now stressed and panicked, I rubbed at my temples, trying as hard as possible to formulate a plan. I had to, it was my duty now to guide these girls, and I wasn’t going to fail at the first hurdle.
“What’s the best way off it?” I asked.
“Uh, we’re close to a huge-ass bridge.” she answered, “But there are loads of cars and stuff on it, and there are no walkways underneath.”
“There was in the original.” Pinkie squeaked, “That part did not go down well with the fans…”
“Zip it!” I snapped, not having time for her nonsense, “Where does the bridge go?”
“It goes to the mainland.” Rainbow explained, “There’s a load of trees over there.”
“Yeah, that could work.” I muttered, more to myself than to her, “Erm… uhh…”
Forcing myself to calm down, I took in a deep breath and turned to Rarity, asking her if she had any sort of teleportation or portal magic.
“Darling, I’m sorry, but only Twilight’s capable of such things. The best of my abilities consist of illusion spells.”
I turned to look at Twilight and opened my mouth, only for her to snap at me.
“Don’t even think of asking me.” she growled, “Thanks to you, I’ve just had the worst blueout of my life. I probably won’t have magic for the next fortnight, at least! Now do your damn job and think of a way to get us out of here!”
With my synapses firing harder and faster than ever before, I racked my brains and came up with something.
“Rainbow, those trees beyond the bridge. Are they dense? Could we hide in them?”
“From the looks of things, yeah.”
“Right, you and Fluttershy… take all our bags and fly there.” I ordered, “Find a good place to hide, maybe somewhere to set up camp. The rest of you, with me.”
Everyone shed their gear, which both the pegasi collected. They took to the air and I followed after them on foot, pressing towards the road with the other four sticking close to me.
“What’s the play?” Twilight asked.
“We’re going to get to the road, and see if we can catch a ride.”
“We just got out of a moving vehicle, now you want to get back in one!?” AJ remarked.
Stopping for a moment, I confirmed my plan.
“Not in, Applejack. On…”
We reached the road, and there was thankfully a break in the chain-link fence to get right up to the traffic, where I patiently waited until things slowed down.
“Why are we just standing here? Clock’s ticking!” Twilight barked.
Looking at the approaching vehicles, I spotted a large truck in the distance. As it grew closer, I noticed that it had a trailer behind it, carrying planks, pipes, and other scaffolding materials.
“You all see that big one there? With the platform behind it, with all the pipes and stuff?”
“Ooh, ooh, I do!” Pinkie sang.
“When I say so, get on that platform.”
Without any other plan, this was our best option. The truck came alongside us, and by some sheer miracle, the traffic slowed to a near stopping point.
“Go! Go! Go!” I hissed.
We charged forward and onto the road, clambering onto the trailer just as the traffic began to move at regular speed again; it was as though the very universe had slowed it down for us. I let out a huge sigh of relief, and we were soon enough on the large bridge that took us away from the island.
“So, what’s the next step exactly?” Rarity asked.
Pointing out the greenery up ahead, I instructed everyone to jump off as soon as we reached it, where we would then make for the trees and properly regroup once we were away from the road.
“And… jump!”
We hurled ourselves from the trailer and into the bushes, where we all tumbled into a ditch. The force of the impact dispelled all our doses of Invisipone, but thankfully we were mostly obscured from the road.
“Aaaarrgh! My leg!” Applejack cried out suddenly, “My darn leg!”
Rushing to her side with Rarity, we realised that she had fallen into a load of discarded litter, which included a handful of broken bottles; one of them I noticed, was now slick with blood.
“Oh shit…” I murmured.
“We need to get deeper into cover, let’s go already!” Twilight commanded, not realising how bad it was.
Retrieving Applejack’s hat for her, as it had fallen off, I asked if she needed a lift, to which she shook her head.
“I’m-I’m okay.” she tried to assure me with a stutter, “Really, let’s get mov-ahh!”
“Oh for goodness’ sake, come here.” I muttered.
Despite her protests, I put my arms underneath the mare’s belly and hoisted her up. I then ran off with the others, not stopping until we were properly submerged amongst the trees. Gently setting Applejack down, I realised how bad the cut was. Just halfway up the shin of her left back leg, the broken glass had created a deep nick that was leaking enough blood to make mine run cold.
“We need Fluttershy, now!” Rarity cried out.
AJ lay on her side, gritting her teeth and trying to put on a brave face, but even she knew how bad the injury was. Her leg was slick with scarlet ink, and plenty of it had dripped onto me as I had carried her, blemishing my poor jeans with the blood of a third individual. I wasn’t squeamish by any standard, but as with Rainbow Dash’s nosebleed, seeing the ponies’ blood like this made me feel woozy.
“This is your fault, you know?” Twilight said to me quietly, stepping along beside me.
“Oh yeah, because I put those glass bottles there, didn’t I?” I retorted.
Before she could speak, we heard the beating of wings overhead, followed by Rainbow Dash swooping down and landing close by.
“There you guys are! I was wondering when you… Oh shit!”
Zipping up to Applejack and seeing the injury, Rainbow took no time at all in zooming back to where she had come from, grabbing Fluttershy and the medical bag.
{So much for not failing at the first hurdle…} I thought to myself bitterly.
We had barely been in Brazil for an hour yet, and it was already trying to kill us…
Once Fluttershy had finished stitching up AJ’s leg, she applied a dollop of Oozima and wrapped it with a bandage. We were good to go after that, and we quickly made our way to a spot the pegasi had found to set up camp. Without Twilight’s cloaking magic, we dug in deep, using the foliage as our obscuring veil. The tents were set up, and we spent the night discussing the plan for tomorrow. With Applejack having been instructed to remain seated, it was Rarity who cooked dinner. Once again, Twilight didn’t eat, but this time it was down to being blued out; she was so nauseous that the mere smell of the food was making her convulse. She went to bed early, and we all did the same shortly after.
As I got comfortable next to Fluttershy, it dawned on me that the news would have been out now, back in England. I was officially dead, and although I had originally been excited to think of Jan’s reaction, I now thought of what Oliver’s would be, along with my other friends besides Bruce, who was the only one who knew the truth. Realising that my death would hurt for some people made me feel resoundingly sad. But still, the commitment had been made, and there was no use dwelling on it. Forcing the thoughts out of my mind, I redirected my focus to the here and now, and drifted off with the thought that Fluttershy, my friend, was lying here next to me.
The sound of the busy road nearby made for a restless night, with all seven of us rife with anxiety. As morning arrived, we agreed to aim for a more dense patch of woodland, so that we could properly hunker down and get our bearings, before making the long march to the Orb fragment. Using the South American pages of my atlas, Twilight showed me more accurately where the shard had landed; it was much further north, somewhere in the upper half of the country. At a slow, stealthy pace, avoiding towns and cities, it would probably take us a fortnight to reach it, perhaps longer.
“Well, there’s no time like the present. Let’s get a move on!” I announced.
Using the Offline Maps app on my phone, which thankfully only needed GPS functionality, I was able to check for upcoming hazards, and our first one was right next to where we had spent the night. It was some sort of construction material storage area, though I hardly expected that to be heavily populated. Regardless, we stuck close to the right-hand side as we progressed, using a thin strip of foliage between the site and the bay water as our cover.
Eventually, we were back in secluded greenery, but another snag was now before us; the mouth of the Rio Pavuna River. Easily a hundred metres wide, it wasn’t exactly an easy cross, especially with Applejack’s leg needing more time to remain clean and dry while the Oozima did its work. There was a bridge further downstream, but that involved crossing into an urban area, which we all agreed would be something far too dangerous during the day.
“Suggestions?” I asked openly.
“Ooh! What if we get on a boat?” Pinkie cried out.
“Nope! No more human transport!” Twilight dismissed immediately.
Emitting an amused huff, I agreed with Twilight. Without invisibility, strong magic, or any means of self-defence, hijacking a boat would be both foolish and disastrous. The others all agreed as well, and Pinkie Pie let out a disappointed grunt.
“Fine.” she muttered, “But mark my words, one day we’re getting on a boat, and we’re going to sail it halfway across the sea! We’ll be like a merry crew of swashbuckling pirates!”
“Only halfway?” I asked her.
“Well yeah, obviously.” she scoffed, “Then we’ll jump ship and steal a different boat!”
“Sure thing Sugarcube, whatever you say.” Applejack chuckled.
“You know, speaking of stealing…” Rainbow Dash murmured, craning her neck, “What if we went back to that material site and grab some stuff from there?”
“Thievery, really Rainbow?” said Applejack, raising an eyebrow.
“What? All we’d need is a few wooden pallets or something, we could put a little raft together!”
Humming, I said that it actually wasn’t a terrible idea. The site looked mainly unoccupied, so it wouldn’t be too difficult to find some pallets and some rope to lash it together.
“Off you go then.” Twilight ordered.
“Don’t be ridiculous, we’re going with him.” Rarity tutted.
After a brief altercation, Twilight conceded and we went to the site together, leaving Pinkie and Fluttershy behind to keep an eye on Applejack, who had been ordered to rest her leg for a moment.
“Okay, you all stay by the outskirts, see if you can spot any rope.” I told them, “I’ll look for some pallets.”
They gave nods of understanding, and I left them by the edge of the material yard. I went deeper in, and it didn’t take me long to find some large rectangular pallets that would serve us perfectly. Now all we needed was rope. Heading back to where I had left the girls, I spotted a worker by his lonesome, heading into one of the little modular offices that were always present at large sites like this. It was then that I heard a shout from inside, followed by a scream; Rarity’s scream…
“No…” I breathed.
Sprinting full-pelt to the building, I found the man pointing at Twilight, Rarity and Rainbow Dash, who must have come in here looking for rope.
“Vocês demônios! Eu vou te matar!” he shrieked in Portuguese.
He clenched his fists and took a step forward, and without a second to think, I burst into action. Lunging forward, I wrapped my right arm around his neck, cutting off his air supply. I then pulled him back and away from the girls. Spluttering and flailing his arms around, the man was completely taken by surprise, struggling against me desperately. Not seeing exactly where the exit was, I fell out of the doorway, taking the man with me. Tumbling down the steps together, I twisted my body to remain on top of him, and in the struggle, I accidentally forced his head into one of the concrete blocks at the bottom. There was a loud smack, and he stopped struggling immediately. Letting him go, I scrambled to my feet and looked down at him, panting heavily. With how quickly he had stopped moving, I figured that I had knocked him out, until I saw the splatter of blood against the concrete block.
“Callum…” Rarity murmured from the open doorway.
Rainbow and Twilight emerged too, and upon seeing the body, their ears flattened to the sides of their heads, their pupils shrinking drastically.
“Did you just…” Rainbow started, before trailing off.
I looked at the girls blankly, before looking back to the man, which was when I realised what I had done.
“We need to go. Now.” Twilight ordered sharply.
Snapping back to the urgency of the situation, I gestured to where I had found the pallets, wordlessly indicating that I had found some.
“I uh, found some rope…” Rarity murmured, unable to make eye contact with me.
Twilight ordered Rainbow to go with me and get the pallets, while she and Rarity ran back into the cover of the foliage. Though hesitant at first, Rainbow Dash gave her head a good shake and then made her way down the steps to join me. The unicorns ran off, and as we made our way to the pallets, Dashie gave a loud, awkward tut.
“Are… Are you alright?” she asked.
All I could do was shake my head, causing the mare to purse her lips. Neither of us uttered a word after that, and we silently grabbed a pallet each and dragged them back to the others. Regrouping with Twilight and Rarity, we made our way back to the other three, who all greeted us with enthusiasm.
“You guys okay? Y’all look like you’ve seen a ghost!” Applejack remarked, tilting her head.
There was a moment of awkward silence, before Rarity finally spoke.
“Someone saw us…”
Fluttershy, Pinkie, and AJ all gasped. They of course, demanded to know what had happened, and with a deep breath, Rarity explained in full what had just occurred.
“Wait, you don’t mean…” Applejack began, “Are you telling me, Callum just…”
Slowly shaking my head, I finally forced out a few words, quietly professing that I was just trying to pull him away, with the sole intention of knocking him out, that I hadn’t meant for… for…
{Oh my god…} I thought to myself, my lips trembling, {I just… I just…}
“You saved us, dude.” Dashie spoke firmly.
Looking at me and puffing her chest out, Rainbow Dash suddenly came to my full defence, and emphasised how the man was about to attack her and the others, and that I had rushed in and kept them from harm.
“They both fell down the steps, and the guy just… hit his own head! It was a total accident!”
Rainbow’s words definitely helped to rationalise things, but there was still an uneasy aura amongst us now, because accident or not, there was no denying this; I had just killed someone…
With the pallets tethered together, everyone hopped on, bar Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. The plan was for them to fly just above with some rope in their mouths, tugging our makeshift raft forwards and upwards to prevent it from sinking. It worked without a hitch, and we made our way across the river with ease, with the added bonus of Applejack’s leg staying completely dry. Hopping off, we stepped into the marshy vegetation on the other side and continued making our way north, all saying very little to one another.
We had been walking for some time, when the humidity and heat started to really work away at us, with some being affected more than others. Dropping to her knees, Twilight gasped loudly, squinting her eyes shut and gritting her teeth. If a blueout really was like an intense hangover, then all this heat must have been utterly destroying her.
“You okay?” I muttered, approaching her.
“Don’t you dare come near me, murderer.”
Just hearing the word nearly made me sick. Gulping, the emotions I had been trying to force away slowly bubbled to the surface. Refusing to look at anyone, I began to sniff loudly and continue walking, occasionally wiping at my eyes as I wept to myself.
I had thought stabbing my clone would have prepared me for something like this, but I was absolutely not bloody prepared. What the fuck was happening right now? Just this morning, I was still in England, drinking tea and happily munching at my first Threezie. Now I was on the other side of the globe, and had just taken someone’s life. It felt as though there was suddenly no oxygen in the air, and I began taking deep, shaky breaths. My forehead began to sweat heavily, along with my vision going in and out of focus, and despite all the heat, my skin felt icy cold.
{I just killed another human being. I’ve just… ended… a person’s life…}
That man had been someone’s son, and he very well might have had children of his own. Had I just taken a father from someone, like mine had been so unfairly taken from me? As though I had suffered a blueout of my own, I felt a pounding in my skull and I began to feel nauseous; so unbelievably nauseous. The image of the man’s lifeless body flashed into my mind, along with the blood-splattered concrete. I was almost sent over the edge, now feeling pins and needles in my face. My mouth then began to salivate, and stumbling to one side, I gagged, though thankfully I was just able to keep it down. Twenty-or-so minutes went by in this state, staggering after the girls on the cusp of hurling. After that, the shock began to fade, and my other emotions with it. Trudging on, I dissociated like never before, becoming completely numb to both myself, and the world around me.
For quite some time, the others pressed on ahead, allowing me to keep my distance. They were completely unprepared for this in their own rights, and despite declaring me as their friend just yesterday, I could only expect such a notion was now forfeit. After about an hour, I finally calmed down and forced myself to get a grip, burying the event deep into the darkest recesses of my mind where it belonged. My duty was to protect these ponies, and that was exactly what I had done; I didn’t get to succumb to this shock.
“Look, I know things got a little dicey back there.” I started, swallowing, “Now, firstly I want to say, I didn’t mean for it to happen like that. But secondly, you all need to understand… what happened back there might not be the last time someone tries to hurt you, meaning it might not be the last time something like this happens.”
Sighing heavily, Rarity admitted that as horrible as the ordeal had been, she understood.
“I think we’re just in a bit of shock, darling. We knew there would be dangers, and that something like this might have been plausible, but none of us could have foreseen it really coming to this, especially not so soon.”
“I disagree.” Twilight stated boldly, “I knew this was going to happen from day one.”
Clearing her throat and strutting forward, the unicorn pointed out how she had tried to tell the group of my species’ lust for violence from the moment they had arrived. Sneering at me, she told them that they shouldn’t be surprised in the slightest by this development.
“Let this serve as a reminder.” she went on, “This thing is not your friend, he’s a weapon.”
“No he’s not!” Rainbow Dash shouted, angrily flaring her wings, “It was an accident, and you know it!”
“Call it what you like, but the facts are the facts.”
Turning away from the pegasus, Twilight took a hard look at me and raised her upper lip with disgust.
“Our guide is responsible for another human’s death, and even if it was to protect us, my point is no less valid that he’s a violent creature, and isn’t to be trusted.”
“Well I trust him!” Pinkie squeaked, bouncing forward and giving me a hug.
“You… You do?” I murmured, looking down at her with amazement.
“Yep-yep!”
Scoffing, Twilight asked for one valid example of how I could possibly be trustworthy, in which the pink pony gave a reply so emotionally charged, that it sold the rest of the group.
“He went his whole life struggling to make friends, and then he made some new ones, and the very next day, he made a choice! He chose to keep his new friends safe, even if it meant doing something that might make them not like him any more. If that’s not trustworthy, then my name isn’t Pinkamena Diane Pie!”
“Pinkie…” I breathed, struck by her profound, loving words.
With sparkles in her sapphire eyes, she looked up at me and grinned.
“You’re my friend, and I’m not scared of you.”
That last part had me in tears, and with a big grin, Rainbow Dash came forward and added to the sentiment, declaring that she was still my friend too. Rarity and Fluttershy followed after her, and eventually, Applejack as well. Yet again, I found myself engulfed by a group hug, and despite Twilight’s protests, I was accepted by them for a second time over. What I had done was an act of protection, and with Pinkie spearheading that point of view, we all came to see it. Rarity proposed that we put the matter behind us, under the reminder that Princess Celestia had chosen me for this very purpose, to keep them safe at all costs. Twilight of course, tried to argue with ifs and buts, though they were thankfully dismissed, with Rarity sternly ordering that this was a now closed case.
Continuing our bushland trek with a renewed sense of unity, we walked until the sun set, and after finding a relatively dry clearing, we deployed the tents and got some rest, all equally exhausted from a most trying day. If this was just day one, who knew what else Brazil had in store for us?
Over the next few days, everything for the most part went back to normal. All and any unease surrounding the ‘incident’ had faded away, and Applejack’s leg was all healed up in no time. Mine was too for that matter, without even a scar to be seen from my treetop tumble. We had made a fair bit of progress in distance, especially after cutting through some urban areas in the dark of night, giving us plenty of wilderness to freely move in, including our first real patch of dense Brazilian jungle.
The sights, sounds, and smells were like nothing I had ever experienced. Everywhere I looked was a sea of green, and the sound of birdsong and the buzzing of insects was almost deafening. The smells were so fresh and natural; it put English woodland to shame, that was for sure. Every tree was a giant, mighty and looming; they towered above us like great divine towers, with small rays of sunlight peeking through the canopy and flickering against every surface they touched. At some point, a bright blue bird had flown overhead, and as the days passed, we noticed it sometimes watching us from the trees. Though it never once came close, it was clearly following us.
“Some scenery, huh?” Applejack said to me, noticing my amazement.
“Yeah, I’ve seen nothing like it. It’s like a new world to me.” I answered, still star struck.
“How do you think we feel, Sugarcube? We’re actually on a new world!”
“That’s a fair point.” I granted, chuckling.
Wiping the sweat from my brow, I looked behind me to make sure our stragglers were doing okay. Pinkie and Rarity were practically dying in the heat, and right at the back, was the worst victim… Still reeling from bluing out, poor Twilight had collapsed a handful of times, and required dozens of stops per day to drink water and gather herself. She certainly looked like she was having a hangover, that was for sure; her eyes were yellowed and there wasn’t a passing second where she didn’t look like she was about to be terribly ill.
“Do you have any idea when your magic will come back?” I asked her.
“No, it’ll just happen.” she snapped, “Now stop talking to me, the sound of your voice makes me want to thr-”
“Alright!” Rarity bleated, panting heavily, “I’m queasy enough in this accursed heat, I don’t need you talking about such things. Especially not with that unsavoury attitude of yours!”
Rolling my eyes, I moved up to the front of the group, where I strode along beside Rainbow Dash.
“The egghead still being an asshole?” she asked.
“Yup.” I replied.
We then heard a clatter from behind us, followed by said ‘egghead’ hissing a number of expletives.
“Twilight, language!” Rarity scolded.
“Bite me!”
Realising that Twilight had dropped her water canteen, I went to help her retrieve it, feeling a pang of sympathy for the poor thing. Picking it up and popping the cap off, I passed it to her and she took it without uttering a word.
“Here, I’ll put the cap back on for you.” I offered when she was finished drinking.
“I don’t need your help.” she growled.
“Alright then, have fun with that.” I replied blankly, walking away.
I hadn’t even gone three steps, when she asked me to wait. Turning around, I saw her offering me the canteen, silently begging for the help she had just refused. Taking it from her, I put the cap on and handed it back. She may not have thanked me with words, but her eyes practically screamed with unsaid gratitude. Smiling at her warmly, I made my way back to Rainbow Dash and kept walking with her.
“So, here’s a thought.” started Applejack, “If Twi don’t get her magic back soon, how are we going to pinpoint exactly where we’re going? Like, I know we’re supposed to be going north, but when do we stop going north?”
“That’s a good point.” Rarity concurred.
“What about your gem finding spell?” I theorised, “Twilight may have needed it all the way from England, but now we’re in Brazil, can’t you make use of it?”
With a shake of her head, Rarity explained that just as before, her gem finding spell wasn’t much use by itself. Firstly, it was useless without being within a few yards of a gemstone, as the spell primarily just worked by making them visible through obstructions. Secondly, it was quite a demanding spell, and without a guarantee that it would work, Rarity didn’t want to waste her mana. The last thing we needed were two blued out unicorns. Essentially, without Twilight’s modifications, the spell was a moot solution.
Unless, it wasn’t…
Scratching at my chin, I pondered on the facts, and at last, I had an idea. Using a thumb to clear the sweat from my forehead, I asked if it was possible to bind the gem finding spell to something material. That way, we could use it like a compass.
“Casting the spell outright may not work,” I went on, “but if you enchanted something with it, maybe the spell might work differently?”
It was a shot in the dark, but the response was positive.
“You know, you might be on to something there…” Rarity murmured, “Twilight, isn’t it true that spells behave differently when applied as enchantments?”
“They do.” Twilight muttered, before pointing a hoof at me, “But how do you know about enchanting? I thought humans didn’t have magic!”
Without missing a beat, I quickly explained how we humans were borderline obsessed with make-believe, especially of the medieval fantasy genre, which was brimming with wizards, witchcraft, and sorcery. Though our concept of magic was seemingly baseless, it appeared as though we had struck a lot of the right notes, such as enchantment, intelligence, and even mana!
“Wow, that’s incredible!” Fluttershy exclaimed.
“And hard to believe.” Twilight snorted.
“Look, when we get out of this place, I’ll show you!” I insisted, “But for now, let’s focus, yeah?”
Everyone else was happy with my testimony, and we moved on to the subject of actually enchanting something. Twilight and Rarity explained how it worked, and it was relatively straightforward. Enchanting was a simple matter of infusing an object with a spell. It used a lot of mana, but it was for the most part, easy to perform and compatible with most inanimate objects.
“Okay, so what if we enchanted a stick with it?” I proposed, pointing to the nearest stick on the ground, “Maybe it’ll glow when it’s pointing the right way?”
“A nice first draft, but a stick?” Rarity giggled, “A bit unreliable, don’t you think? It might break, or we might lose it!”
“How about your own hooves?” Rainbow Dash laughed, “Maybe you’ll start walking in the right direction?”
“Erm, how about ‘no thank you’?” the unicorn dismissed, rolling her eyes, “I’ve been dragged halfway across the country at the behest of gems once before, and I shan’t let it happen again.”
Knowing that she was referring to when she had earned her cutie mark, I broke into a chuckle. Pinkie then decided to give an input of her own, though it was hardly a helpful one.
“Beep boop beep!” she squealed.
“Shush Pinkie dear, we’re trying to think.” Rarity hushed.
“Beep boop beep!” Pinkie squealed again, louder.
“Pinkie, Sugarcube, please contain yourself for a moment!” Applejack pressed, trying to settle her down.
“No…” she groaned, “Beep! Boop! Beep!”
“I… I don’t understand.” Rainbow Dash sighed.
Pinkie Pie then walked over to me and forcefully prodded my thigh with her muzzle. I asked her what she was doing, wholly confused by her behaviour, even by her usual standards. Without relent, she continued to prod around my thigh with her nose, far too close to my crotch to be deemed comfortable or appropriate.
“Beep boop beep! Beepity beep! Boop bubba beep!”
“Cut it out, Pinks!” I demanded awkwardly, pushing her face away.
“Vvvvrrrr! Vvvvrrrr!” she buzzed.
“Well guys, it’s official.” Dashie groaned, “This heat’s caused Pinkie to lose her last loose screw!”
I rubbed at my leg where she had been so forcefully sticking her face, which was when I ran my fingers over the shape of the phone that dwelled in my pocket.
“Vvvvrrrr! Vvvvrrrr!” Pinkie continued to buzz.
She hadn’t lost her last loose screw, she was just telling us in her own special way how to make the rest of this whole damn adventure ten times easier. Shaking my head in disbelief, I stared at the pony and let out a heavy breath.
{Pinkamena Diane Pie, you clever little so-and-so…}
Noticing my expression, Rainbow Dash inquired as to what the matter was. Without uttering a word, I reached into my pocket and took out my phone. I then navigated the settings menu and selected the vibration test, to which the device gave off a loud ‘vvvvrrrr, vvvvrrrr’.
“Get out…” Rainbow Dash murmured.
“Unbelievable…” said Rarity, putting a hoof to her mouth.
Applejack then came forward and put a foreleg around her friend, tutting loudly.
“Pinkie, I don’t know how that fuzzy little head of yours works, but I love you.”
“Aww, thanks!” she giggled, breaking into a happy little dance.
Thanks to my experiment with Twilight, along with her exploits in the Flight Control Tower, we knew for a fact that magic and technology could work in tandem. We quickly theorised that Rarity could enchant my phone with her gem finding spell, and if all went well, perhaps the device would display the Orb shard’s location. Choosing not to dilly-dally, I opened up my map application and held out the device.
“Go for it.” I instructed.
Rarity’s horn lit up and she brought it close to my phone. As soon as she made contact, the screen began to flash and flicker. It then began to vibrate intensely, with the phone’s temperature almost becoming too hot to handle. The hairs on my arm then began to stand on end as static electricity radiated from the device.
“Bloody hell…” I mumbled.
Eventually, the glow of Rarity’s horn died out, and the phone screen went black. I touched the screen a few times, but nothing happened.
“Huh, I think, uh… I think you killed it.” said Dashie.
I hit the power button, and still nothing happened.
“Perhaps it needs to cool down.” I suggested, “Phones automatically turn off when they get too hot.”
“Ah, alright.” Rarity shrugged.
With that, all we could do was play the waiting game. We then started to notice that it was getting dark, so we decided to set up camp and have some dinner. My phone wasn’t going anywhere, so whether the enchantment had worked or not, it could wait. As we pressed on for somewhere suitable to set up the tents, Fluttershy made a rather concerning request.
“Could um, could you all go on ahead for a moment? I want to talk to Callum about something in private.”
“Uh, sure, I guess.” Applejack replied, raising an eyebrow.
Shrugging, everyone took off, leaving me alone with the buttery pegasus. I asked her what was going on, to which she nervously crossed her front legs, and then spoke her mind.
“I um… I wanted to ask you something personal, just to be absolutely certain about something…”
“Erm, alright… well, I’m all ears.”
“Back at your old home,” she began, “I don’t think you were being completely honest about something. It’s been on my mind ever since, so I just wanted to be brave and ask you. If, um… if you don’t mind…”
Gulping, I tried to think back; what hadn’t I been honest about? Giving her a nod to proceed, she told me exactly what I hadn’t been honest about, and I broke into a cold sweat.
“Pinkie Pie asked you about the kind of foods you eat, and you said that you eat food similar to us ponies. But I can’t help but notice, whenever you smile… you have some sharp teeth too…”
“Oh…” I said.
{Well… fuck.} I thought to myself, swallowing slightly.
“Do you… um…” Fluttershy started and stopped, trying to find the words, “Do… um… you…”
She looked at me with a troubled expression, not exactly sure how to say it without causing offence. She then gave me a look as if to say ‘you know exactly what I’m trying to ask you’, and she was absolutely right. I knew what her question was, and it was a question that I had been dreading since I had met them. I sighed before giving my answer, preparing myself once again for the fear and mistrust of my newfound pony friends.
“Yes Fluttershy… I eat meat.”