//------------------------------// // Chapter 22 // Story: Hegira: Option Gamma // by Guardian_Gryphon //------------------------------// The barrier between Earth and Equestria. Not so much a true barrier, as a spatial membrane. A threshold between worlds. The membrane’s barrier-like qualities were merely the result of the Thaumatic imbalance between the two pockets of spacetime. Since Thaumatic radiation was so reactive, objects that were capable of surviving in such an environment could easily handle transition into a less charged universe, such as Earth's, and the return trip as well. The problems only arose when matter transited from the less charged universe to the more charged universe. Wrenn didn’t understand the actual physics behind it, but someone had once used the illustration of legos to explain it to him in layman’s terms. Matter from Earth’s universe had all kinds of color patterns in it’s lego blocks. Equestria’s matter had many of the same colors, but in wildly different patterns to suit the addition of a new color or two. Since the first law of thermodynamics stated that matter and energy could not be truly created or destroyed, only changed or transmuted, Earth’s matter could not simply disappear when it crossed the barrier. Instead, the matter would be broken down to its ‘component blocks.’ If the object was sufficiently simple, such as an air molecule, a drop of water, or an ingot of raw iron without additives, then it would swiftly recombine in the proper ‘pattern’ with the proper ‘new blocks’ included. If the object was more complex, such as a life form, the recombination wouldn’t happen swiftly or precisely enough, causing all the ‘blocks’ to fall apart violently. Essentially, nothing would be left but base elements, and the dissociation process would release energy akin to the dissolution of bonds seen in a fission reaction. That was the primary reason there was no known way to simply ‘adapt’ a human’s quantum ‘block patterns’ short of Conversion. The recombination required certain new quantum signatures to exist, and those new patterns had been found to be fundamentally, deathly incompatible with human DNA, or anything even remotely similar. If you happened to be an Earth life form, such as homo sapiens sapiens, that meant you would come out of barrier transit as a roughly person-shaped carbon dust cloud; blown away by the small to moderate explosion produced as the instant dissociation of your atomic bonds manifested as pure energy. On the other claw, as Wrenn understood it; if one was an Equestrian life form, one could cross the barrier with trace elements of Earth, such as oxygen in the lungs, without suffering any pain. The molecules of the simple non-living substances would adapt fairly seamlessly. Transit tended to do odd things to complex matter, such as food, so anyone who was planning to cross the barrier from Earth in the direction of Equestria was advised to do so on an empty stomach, or risk severe indigestion at best. Injury at worst. Thus, to stock up on more food, and take on one of Sildinar’s chosen new team members, the group would have to stop at the port of Foals’ Haven. Wrenn was looking forward to seeing Equestrian ships, and getting a glimpse of their lifestyle. He was not looking forward to meeting the new Pony. In his mind, there was no replacing Skye. It was nothing personal, but he didn’t see the need to add in someone new and untried so soon. It felt wrong somehow, as though it was dishonoring the memory of a fallen comrade. A unit of soldiers was analogous enough to their little group that Wrenn figured some of the same rules were applicable. He had seen teams fall apart before due to the inclusion of a new soldier too soon after the death of a squadmate. The interpersonal tensions were often too complex to handle, and were severely exacerbated by the grief of loss, and the suspicion of new faces. It was often times an explosive mixture. Seeing the Barrier in person, for the first time, put all other thoughts out of Wrenn’s head. The moment it came into visual range, it became impossible to ignore. The sheer scale of it demanded the attention of the brain in the way only a planetary-scale large imposing object could. It looked like nothing so much as a God-sized soap bubble. A shimmering semi-transparent wall with an ethereally fluidic aspect, enhanced by the subtle, but visible rainbow patterns that slowly danced across its surface in multi-kilometer long bands. Air didn’t pass through the bubble by diffusion, the pressure was not sufficient, but sometimes water did due to tidal forces in both worlds, producing strange eddies and currents along both edges of the membrane. There had even been a very few sightings of Equestrian fish in Earth waters, before they either turned back to their own ocean, or the lack of sunlight, edible plants, or prey starved them to death. Wrenn craned his head, first left, then right, taking in the extent of the Barrier. A recent newscast had cited its radius at just over one thousand kilometers, which meant that a very slight curvature was still visible from up close, especially to Wrenn’s Gryphon eyes. The shimmering wall also stretched up vertically to his sight limit. The bubble had touched the very edge of Earth’s atmosphere, but didn’t seem to be going any higher. The general shape of the phenomena actually appeared to be conforming partly to the shape of the planet as it consumed it, leaving it ‘squished’ into an oblate spheroid wider than it was tall. Through the Barrier, a dizzying sight was laid out for all to see; A window into another world. The time differences between Earth and Equestria were negligible at most of the intersect points, approximately 1.618 seconds, so it was night on both sides of the membrane. The weather patterns, however, were startlingly different. On the Earth side, the usual layers of gray clouds were visible, pushing up against the bubble, splitting to meander around it. But on the Equestrian side, there was a clear night sky, filled with billions of vivid bright points of light, distorted only by the bubble, and occasionally occluded by a stray fluffy white cloud. Casting a glow so strong it actually passed out through the barrier and provided some luminescence on the Earth side, was a massive silver disc of light. With a shock, Wrenn realized what it was. The Moon. Or Equestria’s moon, in any case. Equestria wasn’t a ‘planet’ like Earth, but more of a 'disc-world,' so far as anyone could tell. Hypothesis about Equestria's origin, particularly that it was an artificial construct, were still flying fast and thick in the astrophysics community. The shape of the world was why matter from Earth was creating more land on the other side of the bubble. More of it could be used to create visible ground, since so little was required for the rock beneath, by comparison to Earth. According to tests, there was no asthenosphere, mantle, nor core to Equestria. Just a layer of crust roughly twice as thick as Earth's in total. The group approached the barrier and slowed to a hover. Varan called out, “Exhale just before you cross, or you’ll be sorry.” Wrenn raised an eyebrow, Carradan snorted, “Why?” Kephic chuckled, “Because if you don’t, it usually results in a week long case of the hiccups.” Upon seeing Wrenn and Carradan’s disbelieving expressions, Kephic shrugged, “I don’t know why. But believe me, it's true. I’ve seen it, and it’s not pretty. But it is funny.” Varan smiled slightly, “For those of us who know better, anyhow. Shall we?” He exhaled and darted across, his transit momentarily producing ripples in the barely visible rainbow patterns inching across its surface. Carradan glanced back and forth between Wrenn and Kephic, “Might as well... I feel like I should yell something....” The salmon colored Pegasus thought for a moment, then dived through the barrier as fast as he could screaming the whole way, “GERONIMOOOOOOOO.....” Wrenn looked on in amusement, “He’s not always the most creative of sorts, is he?” Kephic chuckled, and prepared to cross himself. The black and white Gryphon paused when he noticed Wrenn’s transfixed expression. “What?” Wrenn shook himself, “I just.... Its not every day you step into another *world.*” Kephic nodded, beating his wings in a backwards motion to rejoin his friend, “I know what you mean. When I first crossed over to Earth, it was an... Emotionally moving moment. Exploration is quite a thrill.” Wrenn took a deep breath, “Well... Here’s to exploration then.” He exhaled as far as he could, and dived towards the barrier. Passing through the membrane was easy. Wrenn hadn’t expected to feel anything, but for a split second there was the impression of pushing through a tiny bit of resistance. He didn’t know it, but the sensation was the result of differing temperatures on the two sides of the bubble creating a small standing pressure front. And just like that, Isaac Wrenn wasn’t on Earth anymore. The first thing to hit him was the smell. As he filled his lungs with Equestrian air for the first time, he experienced a normal atmosphere for the first time in his life. The effect was shocking. The air itself almost had a flavor, a sweet and salty tang from the ocean below mixed with the subtle promise of blossoming plant life not too far away. Wrenn had been born into a post-biosphere Earth; To him, clean living air was a sublime discovery. The next discovery, or rather re-discovery, was the sky. The moon and stars had been surprising before, but now that he was actually seeing them, actually flying under them, it was a whole new experience. He nearly fell out of the sky, he was so preoccupied with staring up at the blazing pinpricks of multicolored light. It was almost like looking at a painting, it was too beautiful to be anything other than contrived created artwork of the highest form; The way the patterns drew the eye along, the subtle variations to the shades of black and deep blue in the non-emptiness behind them. Wrenn had to remind himself with a jolt that art was exactly what it was. The moon itself drew his attention next. It was producing enough light that his eyes could process everything with the same detail as if it were under daylight conditions. The quality of the light fascinated him. On Earth, the only light quality besides ‘artificial’ were the sickly shades of teal the sun’s filtered light produced as it passed through the ruined atmosphere. Equestria’s moon rendered everything in a blue-tinged shade of liquid silver, lending life to every edge of every feather, and every crest of every wave in the ocean below. The world felt so enormous. So real. So alive. Being under a true sky, over a living ocean, seeing everything under real light. It was very nearly too much for Wrenn. He finally managed to regain enough of a grip on his senses to notice that Carradan was having a very similar transcendental experience. The Pegasus was busy mouthing ‘wow’ as he gaped at the star-strewn expanse above. Kephic and Varan were busy with their own examination of the world. For them it was home, but a home they hadn’t seen in a year. It wasn’t unexpected to them, or new, but it was deeply refreshing. In such a case, absence did make the heart grow fonder. Kephic finally had to shake Wrenn out of his trance, “Come on! I’m starving, and it's a good few hours of full speed flight to Foals’ Haven. If we don’t start now, we won’t have the energy to make it. Besides, you haven’t seen *anything* yet.” Kephic hadn’t been exaggerating. A seven hour flight was a grueling prospect without food. Wrenn wondered why they couldn’t have eaten an Equestrian meal beforeclaw, but the question answered itself almost immediately; If the food was overly tainted with Earth molecules, it was too big a risk. Despite the increasingly nagging pain in his stomach, he found his attention divided fairly equally between the sky and the sea. He was immensely interested to discover that he could see, at times, schools of fish darting by in search of food, or currents. Animal life. Other living beings besides Humans and Equestrians. It was such an impactful sight, that it held his eyes for hours. Somehow the images were at once familiar and alien. Against the backdrop of his Human memories, seeing a living fish was an incredible new experience. But to the Gryphon instincts that were also part of him, the fish was familiar. An enjoyable easily accessible food source. And Wrenn was in desperate need of food. He only debated with himself for a moment. On the one claw, the other Gryphons probably hadn’t suggested it because it was a great deal more macabre in Human terms to snag something live, kill it, and eat it raw. On the other claw, he was very hungry, and didn’t feel any sort of compulsion to avoid the inevitably messy aspects of eating a raw animal carcass. He tucked in his wings and stooped, flaring to glide along the surface of the ocean. On a whim, he splayed out one claw and ran his index talon through the water, producing a fresh cool mist of salty liquid that hit him full in the face. He stuck out his tongue and grinned like an idiot at the taste; Clean, sharp, fresh. He scanned the waves ahead, and picked out what looked to be a reasonably sized fish. Wrenn beat his wings twice to catch up, then took a quick swipe at the creature. He missed miserably. It wasn’t that his eyes couldn’t account for the water diffraction, but he hadn’t thought out his approach properly, and the fish had seen his shadow. The water produced too much resistance for his claw to catch up in time, and the silvery piscine darted off into the invisible watery depths before Wrenn could try again. On the next attempt, Wrenn felt his talons sink into the creature’s scales, and he quickly flared his wings to pull the wriggling prey from the water. His instincts told him exactly how to kill the fish as kindly as possible, and he had a decent idea of how to remove the head. As he climbed back up to join the group, he fell to removing the scales with the sharp edge of one talon. Carradan turned away, looking slightly queasy. Kephic looked genuinely impressed, he shot a knowing glance at Varan, “I told you we shouldn’t bother easing him into it.” Varan shrugged, and dived after his own meal, tossing off, “It seemed prudent at the time.” over one shoulder. Kephic chuckled, Wrenn snorted, “Don’t ‘ease’ me into anything. I’m one of you now, I want to dive straight in.” Kephic nodded, “I was hoping you’d feel that way. Now, I’m going to go find a meal before Varan takes all the good prey.” He spared a glance for Carradan, “You’ve seen worse! Fish have to swim, we have to eat.” With that he dived rapidly to join Varan, leaving Wrenn to continue scaling his fish. He felt sorry for Carradan, given that he didn’t have any food to sate his hunger. Wrenn resolved to make sure the reporter got a big portion once they made it to Foals’ Haven. When the last scales came off, Wrenn lifted the fish to his beak, and used the sharp edge to tear off a strip of the raw inner meat. As he chewed, flavor exploded on his tongue. In an instant, synthetic meat became the most disgusting thing in the world. A whole new way of thinking about food took hold, the culinary equivalent of a colorblind person seeing the full spectrum for the first time. Wrenn’s hunger only served to magnify the experience. He scarfed down the rest of the fish, only stopping short of the membranous tail. He found the bones fairly easy to crush inside his beak and swallow along with the meat. No sense in wasting good nutrients. Around the time Varan and Kephic returned, Wrenn pulled ahead to net himself a few more fish. Carradan was obviously doing his best to ignore the meat consumption, but Wrenn could see on his return trip that the Pegasus was having a hard time ignoring the sound of crunching bones. Wrenn finished his second fish as quietly as he could, and despite the fact that he felt like he could stomach at least two more, he refrained for Carradan’s sake. After an extended period of silence, Wrenn asked, “How can you tell we haven’t started off in the wrong direction?” Varan pointed up, “Stars.” Kephic nodded in agreement, “It’s fairly easy to memorize the patterns and how they correspond to a map. I’ll show you if you like.” Wrenn smiled, “Well it’s not as if I get GPS reception here.” Foal’s Haven had once been a small seaside town known only for being home to a pineapple plantation, and being one of Equestria’s three ‘ports’ by the loosest possible definition. It had been called ‘Pineapple Glen’ in those days, and it has seen, at most, a ship every two months. When Ponification became a reality, the town had turned into the Equestrian nation’s fifth largest municipality overnight. The constant influx of newfoals had lent the town its new purpose, most of its streams of revenue, and finally its new name. The first sign of the town was not the sight of a shoreline over the horizon, but rather a ship. Wrenn had intellectually understood that Equestrians must build ships to bring newfoals across the ocean, but he had never really thought to visualize them, and never bothered to do an image search. The craft was wide and tall; Built for space, not for speed. A Carrack , not a Sloop. It looked to be made of wood, painted up in white with gold trimming, which seemed to hearken to Celestia’s own heraldic colors. Bright blue pennants topped the masts, snapping in the breeze, their semi-reflective edges glowing in the moonlight. The ship bore surprisingly complicated rigging given that it had to be maintained and sailed by creatures lacking in opposable digits. Wrenn looked closer, and noticed that the entire design was centered around accommodating either hooves or magic. He wouldn’t have thought it tenable until he actually saw it. The sails were large, white, and square, with the Equestrian royal seal subtly worked into the center in an unobtrusive shade of beige. All in all, the ship brought to mind the word ‘galleon’ more than anything else. Except that Wrenn very much doubted that an Equestrian ship packed any sort of armaments to speak of. As the group passed over, Wrenn spied a few Ponies on deck, a group of crew and newfoals, staring up with a mixture of curiosity and concern. Apparently Gryphons were not a common sight in those parts. Not yet in any case. The ship wasn’t travelling with much alacrity, so it was a speck, left far behind, by the time Foals’ Haven itself came into view. Wrenn hadn’t been sure what to expect of an Equestrian port, except that it would be nothing like any port he’d ever been to. No concrete, no steel, no sleek civilian hydrofoils offset by the gunmetal gray of a shark-like military vessel. Foals’ Haven was like nothing so much as an old Earth Caribbean seaport. Quaint wooden piers served as a safe resting place for three more galleons, framed from behind by the warm glow of candle-light emanating from the windows of multi-story wooden dwellings. Even at such a distance, Wrenn could see the vast differences from any other settlement he’d ever been in. There was no sign of electricity, no form of transportation besides the ships and the streets, and no obtrusive orange haze from halon lights emitting bloom through the smog. There was no smog at all. A few moments later, the town was close enough for him to pick out Ponies in the midst of their comings and goings. That was a touch of familiarity. From one city that never slept to another. Wrenn found it almost poetically fitting. Judging by the swarm of activity focused at the docks, the town was well aware that a ship of newfoals was arriving shortly. They were decidedly unaware that a flight of Gryphons was preceding it. Their arrival did not generate the panicked reaction Wrenn feared, but it also did not go as unnoticed as he might have hoped. The group alighted in the central square, which opened on one side to the port itself, and was surrounded on the other three by two story shops, inns, and a tavern, with space cut into the opposite side for the main thoroughfare. Many of the Ponies stopped to stare, which swiftly turned to whispered conversations. Movement and routine resumed gradually, but Wrenn could tell that the presence of so many Gryphons together was slightly unnerving to anyone who had to come close to them. He suspected it was alleviated in part by Carradan’s presence in the group. Seeing one of their own walking and talking with Gryphons was bound to ease some of the concern the natives seemed to be feeling. Varan and Kephic seemed to have an idea of where they were going, so Wrenn simply followed, devoting most of his attention to taking in the sights. It was quite an adjustment, to be surrounded by people, but not by Humans. For a few moments, he became fascinated with cataloging cutie marks, and trying to discern their meaning. It lent a whole new aspect to ‘people watching.’ Another few moments were spent thinking about the texture of the cobblestones under his paws and claws, before the group finally stopped in front of a tavern. The name, ‘Lotus and Lilac,’ was tacked up above the door in large violet letters, along with a stylized pair of flowers. Kephic nodded at the door, “This is where Sildinar said our new companion would be waiting.” Carradan grunted, “Forget the new guy... I’m *starved!*” They filed inside, to be greeted by a homely central room; Wood floors, candle chandeliers, oaken tables, and a big fireplace in one wall containing a small merry blaze. Wrenn was surprised to hear upbeat piano music coming from a small box in the corner. It had a peculiar trumpet-like protrusion made of brass, and a needle on an arm hovering over a spinning black disc that seemed to be driven by energy stored in a wound spring. It took Wrenn several seconds to realize what it was. A phonograph. He had never actually seen one, but he had read descriptions of it before. Even though he was no longer overridingly hungry, the smell of food and ale was strong and pleasurable enough to make Wrenn’s stomach growl. Carradan looked as though his nose was actually going to drag him to the bar. Kephic sighed, and nodded, “Alright then, come on Stanley, let’s get some food in you before you keel over. I am not going to carry you the way Wrenn had to. I don't need that much excercise.” As the two made their way over to the bar, Wrenn managed to catch Carradan’s response, “Are you calling me heavy?” “More like big-boned...” Varan made a sound somewhere between a low chuckle and a snort, “Come. Our new companion is likely to be in the upstairs room. We’re looking for a royal guard Pegasus, that is as much as Sildinar told me.” As they slowly meandered to the stairs, being careful to avoid knocking over any chairs, Wrenn raised an eyebrow, “Royal Guard? As in Celestia’s Royal Guards? The ones who always seem to be the same colors?” Varan nodded, “The same.” Before Wrenn could ask how they all turned out the same colors, and how a pacifist race could have a standing ‘fighting’ force, Varan cast a glance around the room and made an interesting observation, “It is unusually empty tonight, considering they are expecting newfoals in.” Wrenn shook his head, “That’s probably *why* it’s almost empty. Everyone's down at the docks right now. Give it 'till twenty minutes after the ship puts in. You won’t be able to find squatting room on the floor it’ll be so packed.” Varan started up the stairs, “You sound as if you speak from experience.” Wrenn chuckled as he followed, “I was part of a unit embarked on a destroyer for years. Trust me; Some things about port towns are universal.” Varan nodded, “In that case, we should collect our new companion and find somewhere else to make introductions.” Wrenn found himself in hearty agreement. Gryphons were ill suited to close crowds. It aggravated battle senses and territorial instincts simultaneously. The upstairs room was a cozier twin to the main hall. The chairs were more plush, the tables seated fewer, and the hearth, which was tied into the same chimney, took up more of the wall. Wrenn appreciatively noted that the tables all had an inlaid chess board, but that immediately set his mind spinning, trying to reason out how tables that looked older than contact could possibly have a board for a game that originated on Earth. Before he could pursue his musings further, a white Pegasus with a bright blue mane, and gold adornments caught his attention. The Pony was most definitely the color of one of Celestia’s royal guards, and was wearing the same armor Wrenn had seen a dozen times in newscasts, right down to the helmet which had been set on the table for convenience. The only thing that seemed out of place, was the fact that this particular royal guard was a female. That was something Wrenn had never seen in person before.