Twilight - September 19th, 2028Twilight - September 19th, 2028
Rainbow Falls - Mirror Equestria
Normally, the life or death adventures I went on for the sake of Equestria were harrowing, urgent, serious affairs. The way I see things, I’ve gone on six true adventures: Nightmare Moon, Discord, Sombra, Tirek, Sunset Shimmer, The Sirenes. Those are the real adventures, true danger and urgency wrapped up into a package of desperate need. Everything else was well, a day in the office.
This adventure was turning into a day in the office.
I mean, it made sense that we would run into the place Megan lived near the other side of the portal. As I’d realized before, children very rarely go far from their homes. But at the same time, I expected there to be some level of danger involved in finding her.
Nope. Mister Williams told us exactly where she was. We could simply go and get her at any time. Yes, that part would be a problem to solve, but with Jade having access to her magic in this magically barren world was that a problem?
I didn’t think so. Even if it was, we had just spent three hours talking with a very nice old man while trying out recreations of ancient recipes. An old man who was one of the single coolest people I have ever met!
He owned a small ranch house, and a barn. The place reminded me a little bit of sweet apple acres only completely covered with small sets he claimed were historically accurate backdrops for over a dozen different cultures and time periods. As it turned out, Pine’s cooking show was his entire life, and the end result of a life spent as a historian.
Every day he’d put on a period and culturally appropriate costume, and cook a meal common to that culture and time period, with as accurate of ingredients as the common person could hope to afford.
Jade and I spent the afternoon hearing about a half dozen different long gone civilizations while trying a ton of different leftovers from the last week’s episodes. Cheese fritters, some kind of porridge made from dates, roast apples stuffed with figs and mulberries, a flat bread soaked in wine and served with cheese which he’d called a ‘dish from ancient Greece’ but paradoxically wasn’t greasy.
So much amazing food! All of it presented with neat little facts about the culture who made it and of course, how it was prepared! While I could listen to that sort of thing all day, I knew that history wasn’t Jade’s favorite subject, and yet Mister Williams had managed to captivate her as well. He was charming, upbeat, and passionate. The perfect person to host a discussion about something.
No wonder he was able to live off of his show’s proceeds!
We spent the whole day going from set to set, eventually winding up inside his old barn where he had a bunch of different barrels of drinks from each time period as well. While he wasn’t too sure about the drink’s authenticity, I for one loved his strawberry cordial to death, and got the recipe for it.
That stuff was going to become my official drink of choice. I was SO hiring a brewer for my castle when I got back. You couldn’t even taste the alcohol in it! That was the really amazing thing. Sweet, bubbly, a very slight creamy taste, not a hint of that ‘I’m licking a disinfectant’ flavor, but I did feel a bit of a buzz after the second pint.
I could actually have something to drink with Rainbow now! Yay!
Well, not that I wanted to get drunk, but for some ponies, sharing a drink is an important social activity. And until now, I’d never drunk anything I ever wanted to taste again.
“This is just THE best!” I giggled, setting my empty mug down on the barn’s table with a smile and another giggle.
“I figured you’d like it,” Pine chuckled, returning my smile. “I’m afraid I’ll be cutting you off there for the night though. It’s far more potent than it tastes.”
I nodded and waved a hand dismissively. “That’s okay! I understand. What proof is it?” I mused, looking over at Jade and the mug of orange mead she’d been slowly nursing all night. “How’s that taste? Does it also not have that disinfectant flavor to it?”
Jade nodded. “Yes, sorry. But for those of us who like the flavor, this is very good! Do you also brew these yourself?” She asked Pine with a happy smile.
“I brew some of the ales, but that’s all,” he replied. “I have a friend who does the rest of the recipes. My interest is in food, not drink. Of course, if you want the same meal your ancestors ate, you need the drink too… But well, I’m certain you understand how much more I’m interested in the actual food stuffs.”
Jade nodded again. “Yeah. Thanks for showing us everything! It’s been a great day… Um, it’s actually been a day though. The sun’s starting to go down. I guess we should get going,” Jade lamented.
Pine shook his head. “Sorry girls, but I can’t let you do that. At least, not yet.”
Ah. There’s the adventure… Great.
“Why not?” I asked suspiciously, looking at the old man through my narrowed eyes.
He raised an eyebrow. “Because you just drank two pints of a fifty proof cordial, and your sister has had about half as much alcohol. I’m not going to let you two drive drunk. You’ll need at least an hour and a half to get down below the legal limit,” he exclaimed with a baffled expression. “Do they not teach kids how to calculate their blood-alcohol content these days?”
Oh. Well, okay. That was a thing here. Operating a vehicle drunk was a crime. And he had assumed we’d driven out here. So yes. Cover. Spy stuff. Heh, spy stuff.
Bartender, one shaken! Stirred, not martini. Hehe! So cool.
“Can’t say we ever learned that in school,” Jade said with a laugh.
Pine shook his head slowly. “A shame. There’s more important things schools should teach than math, science and history. Don’t get me wrong, kids need to learn those things. But that same kid is going to be pretty useless to society if they don’t know what laws there are, how to function as an adult, how to perform well at a job, and so on… Well, if you want to bunk here for the night, I do have a guest room. Otherwise, if you'd care to listen to an old fart ramble on for another two hours I won’t stop you from leaving then.”
I looked up at Jade and gave her an embarrassed grin. I could tell I was a little buzzed. It wouldn’t be a good idea for us to head over to the Harmony Mountains Mental Asylum right now. Drunk Thaumaturgy was not one of my majors.
Jade took my hint and shook her head. “Looks like sis thinks we should stay the night. That’s not imposing or anything. Is it?”
Pine tilted his head back and laughed, a grin splitting his cheeks ear to ear. “Not at all! I’ve got a bad case of lonely old folks syndrome. Since you’ll be staying the night, would you girls like one more pint?” He offered happily.
“Sure!” I agreed eagerly, feeling like my ears should perk.
Why didn’t they perk? That’s so wier- Oh! Right. Human. Derp!
Pine nodded and got up, refilling all three of our mugs as he asked. “Well, let’s see if we’re having another round, seems fitting to have another conversation. Anything you two would like to hear about? What did we do last? My trip to ancient Mesopotamia in sixty-three?”
“Oh hey!” I asked, eyes widening in realization. “You didn’t tell us about your granddaughter. How about that?”
Pine paused, standing still in front of the barrels for a few minutes.
Oh. oops…
“Um, sorry,” I said with a frown. “I didn’t mean-”
“No, no it’s alright,” Pine sighed. “I did say I’d tell you the story.”
He turned back around, passed us each our drinks then sat back down at the table, chair squeaking in protest.
“First thing’s first. My son, Willow, he’s a scumbag,” Pine grunted bitterly, taking a swig of the rather smelly drink he called ‘seaweed grog’.
Jade winced. I could tell she felt a stab of emotion. To be honest, I kind of swore I did myself.
Pine saw her wince too. “Too much venom in my words?” He asked with a frown. “I know a father is supposed to regard their son well, but you haven’t met him. It’s not like he’s a gang member, or dealing drugs, or anything like that. No, he’s worse in my opinion. Kid was doing well, got a Masters, had a good job at a respectable company. Got married to a very nice woman, had a kid.
“What’s he do then? Decides getting involved with some cult is more important than taking care of his family. Now, I don’t mean he fell for a cult’s bullshit. That would be entirely different. I mean he helped to start a cult with three of his dumbass friends. So he’s one of the ones who decided ‘Hey, I’m going to take this book on an obscure ancient folk religion my dad’s got in his collection and use it to con people out of their free will and cash.”
I frowned, shaking my head slowly. “That’s horrible… I’m sorry for bringing it up,” I admitted, wishing I could do more to show my sympathy than just move the corners of my mouth.
“That sort of thing isn’t illegal?” Jade asked curiously tilting her head slightly.
Pine shook his head and sighed. “Nope! Our fine country guarantees your freedom of religion. How do you disprove someone's claim of being religious? You can’t. So you have to allow ALL religions. There isn’t jack the law can do to stop a cult till it does something illegal,” he grumbled bitterly in reply. “Thing is, Willow leaves his job to take care of that nonsense full time. His wife and little girl aren't getting the support they need.
“It wasn’t a very big cult back then, you see? Small time. Barely enough money to keep itself running. Much less provide for his family. Another layer of scum atop that pond… So his wife doesn't want her poor kid starving and asks me if I can baby sit her most days. I said sure. It’s not good for a child to grow up in that sort of environment. That’s how you get someone who actually believes that nonsense and sees fleecing poor desperate folks for all they are worth as good and noble.”
“Yeah, I can see how that wouldn’t be good,” Jade agreed with another wince. “So you raised Megan then?”
Pine chuckled. “Yeah, I did. Right on from three years old up till nine. Her mother ditched her with me one day, then vanished. Willow never wanted his kid back, so she became mine, unofficially. That’s the key thing to remember. Unofficially,” the old man said, taking another swig from his mug. “Megan was a wonderful girl. That’s not just the old man in me talking, I mean she was genuinely something special. I was far more active two decades ago, and she’d watch me around the ranch. She picked up several skills by watching me. How many nine year olds do you know who can do calligraphy?”
I raised an eyebrow in surprise. “She could do calligraphy at nine?”
“Yeah, and she could do it as young as five. She couldn’t read things written in that old style, but she could make the letters almost perfectly in random sequences,” Pine said proudly. “If I had any knowledge about teaching I would have homeschooled her. Sending her to public school was a waste of her mind. She’d come home bored out of her mind and help me out with whatever I was doing. Other kids wanted to fingerpaint, she wanted help me finish restoring an ancient map of the silk road.
“I made only one mistake with her… I didn’t officially apply for custody. I didn’t think Willow would care about her, or even think about her. If I’d done that, she’d be living free today. Keep that in mind, it’s about to get REALLY important.
“Now despite being bright, Megan was still a little girl. Constantly afraid of monsters, especially these things she called ‘shadow men’. Do you have any idea how hard it is to reassure a little girl that the shadows aren't moving? Grown ass men jump at shadows all the time too. It’s a primal fear.”
“Shadow men?” I asked curiously, my mind thinking about various Equestrian monsters which might be similar to these things. “So like, solid black silhouette which look like a shadow or, what?”
Pine shook his head, reaching up to give his chin an absent stroke as if lost in thought for a moment. “No… No, I recall her saying they were literally shadows. Standing there, like a piece of paper on its edge. She said they lurked near her when she slept, whispering horrible things to her so she’d been too afraid to do anything to them. And that it worked.”
My eyes widened. It was all adding up.
“Nightmares,” I whispered to myself, unable to keep silent.
From what little information I had on dream magic, that’s how a nightmare creature is perceived when it doesn't have a physical body. Somehow, Megan had a connection to the realm of dreams, which meant her strange magic must be some form of… Buck! I really need Luna to tell me how that method of sorcery works!
Pine nodded solemnly. “Yep, that’s what I reckoned too. Poor girl was plagued by nightly nightmares. She never went to bed when you told her. She waited till she was too exhausted to stay awake. After a few years I just let her stay up with me. But back to the story.
“Megan’s nine years old, and we’re in the middle of summer. It’s been raining all day and I knew we were going to have a proper thunderstorm, so I went ahead and flipped the breakers. That might seem like a dumb thing to do, but this old house’s wiring, well, it’s very old, and very poorly done. Last time lightning hit the house, everything plugged in exploded, despite the breakers tripping, surge protector or not.
“I wasn’t having a repeat of that. Figured if I broke the connections before the hit, it would protect everything.”
I held up one hand, “Wait! You left Megan in pitch darkness when she has Nightmares!?”
Pine shook his head quickly. “No! I’m not a total monster, I didn’t trap her in the dark. I put lanterns out all over the house. Even gave her one. A few hours pass and the storm hits and she’s the mother of all thunderstorms. I’m not even sure if you could call it a thunderstorm. You could see entire sheets of lightning hitting the ground a mile long!
“It looked like something out of the damn bible, if you had an alien invasion thrown into that old book. You had the whole bank of clouds going, the electrical screeches and crackles overpowered the god damn thunderclaps… That storm was trying to impress a chick way out of it’s league. That’s the best way I can put it.
“Naturally, Megan can’t sleep through that. A blind and deaf mute couldn’t have slept through that. Poor thing comes sprinting out of her room screaming about shadow people chasing her and bolts outside before I have time to even realize she was running. I get up to run after her and you know what? I saw what she saw.”
“You saw a shadow person!!?” Jade asked, sitting bolt upright for a second.
“You bet your ass I did,” Pine said darkly. “But It wasn’t any ghostly apparition. That thing was solid. Moved right at the edge of the light, and it made sound. There was a real thing after her. From what I saw it looked like a man.”
Pine leaned forward in his seat. “I didn’t load my guns with blanks back then. I believe you know what I do when I see evil,” he said darkly. “I keep a pair of pistols next to my bed. I’d grabbed them and ran outside to give chase. It cost me about two seconds, but that’s an acceptable amount of time to exchange to arm yourself. A bullet can cover much more ground in two seconds than you can.
“I made my way outside, and the whole area is lit up as bright as day from the constant lightning. I catch a glimpse of the intruder running into the woods, it’s not too far, hell you can see from here. That’s what, fifty yards? If I wasn’t worried about hitting Megan, I would have fired immediately. But I waited long enough to check the firing line, and while I am doing that this thing vanishes. Poof, gone. Like Scotty beamed him up the moment my eyes left him.
“I spent the entire night until sun up searching those woods for megan. Never found her. The trail went cold right… Huh…”
Pine paused frowning steeply before shaking his head as if to dismiss a thought. “Odd little coincidence here, last thing I saw from her was a footprint about where you two had your little run in today. That is if I’m remembering correctly.”
“Um, yeah!” I said slowly. “That… That’s pretty weird.”
Jade nodded quickly, making me realize I’d said something too suspiciously. “Twi, it’s alright. I’m certain Pine scared him off with those shots,” she said soothingly before turning to look at Pine and smile. “You know, my husband would probably kill for that pump gun you have. The best thing he’s got at the moment is a replica Lancaster Howdah pistol chambered in ten gauge.”
Pine's eyes widened in honest fright. “Good god, woman! That’s a wrist breaker. Don’t you ever shoot it with those little hands of yours! I wouldn’t have trusted mine not to fracture from that back in my prime,” he yelped, immediately frowning. “I- um, please don’t take that to be anti-woman or anything. I’m just saying, that’s not a gun you shoot safely unless you’re name rhymes with Rick Kithouse.”
As I tried to figure out what name Pine was referencing, Jade giggled.
“He’s a pretty strong guy. If you want something even worse, the one he has now is a replacement for one that got confiscated for being too dangerous. It was an eight gauge,” Jade informed with a playful grin that looked totally adorable on my face.
I should smile like that! Brain, remember to smile like that.
Pine shook his head, the most dumbfounded look on his face. “Kids these days… An Eight gauge four shot hand cannon… Lady, your husband is a special kind of stupid. The sort I liked to hang out with back when I was young enough to get away with being dumb. Heh. That’s not an insult ether. Not from an old fart like me. Anyways… That’s half Megan’s story. You two probably want to know how she got sent to Harmony, right?”
Oh the irony that was the name of that asylum…
I nodded twice. “Yes, please! I honestly don’t know about the last time I heard of anyp- one being sent to an asylum,” I said, hoping my slip would be attributed to being slightly drunk.
Because that’s what it had been.
“Well… A year after she vanished, she came back,” Pine continued. “I don’t know what happened to her, and I don’t want to know. When a little girl vanishes that long and turns up alive but babbling about a fantasy world of pastel ponies… Yeah… You don’t make her think about what really happened. You also count yourself lucky to see a genuine miracle to find her alive and completely intact save for a pair of tattoos. Which she liked so at least that was, well, good. Ish.”
She’d earned cutiemarks!? Well, no, no that would make sense. Considering she did something bucking impossible!
“What did they look like?” Jade asked for me curiously. “Like, was it some sort of clue to find her kidnappers, or something?”
“No,” Pine lamented, leaning back a ways in his chair. “Six small gemstones, five in a pentagon shape with the sixth at the center. Same tattoo on either hip, just mirrored across. No symbol of mythology or anything I know of, and while I am primarily interested in the foods of ancient cultures, I also dig into more obscure parts of history while studying.
“Back on track, when she came back babbling about a magical land accessed Narnia style through the woods, her father took interest. See, the folklore his cult is based on includes a hidden world of magical creatures known as Tír nAill or in English, the Other Land. Yeah… That’s why you say it in Celtic. But, you can see why a conman preaching about a supernatural realm where there is everlasting youth, beauty, health, abundance and joy, and where time moves differently would want his daughter who insists she was there in his grubby meathooks.”
I nodded, sighing sadly. “Yeah I do. What is it with some parents being bucking evil?” I grumbled looking over at Jade. “Did I ever tell you about Trixie’s dad?”
“Didn’t he flog her in the old military style?” Jade asked back, trying to recall the shockingly long list of abuse that mare had suffered. “I’m pretty sure he put one of her eyes out too… Lily fixed her up, right?”
“Sounds like a charming man,” Pine grunted sarcastically.
“He’s very dead,” I replied instantly by reflex.
“Good,” Pine said with honest happiness. “Now, this is where not gaining legal custody of Megan bit me in the ass. The next five years became a major social battle for me. I had no legal recourse to request custody of her, not since her dad magically wanted her all of a sudden.
“But one thing worked in my favor. See, she insisted that she’d been in a world of talking ponies. That didn’t jive with the message Willow was selling, and Megan refused to ‘lie’. Ever. Hell, she actually started a conspiracy theory by being so damn insistent, consistant, and persistant around the sorts of folks who will believe anything told to them with pure conviction.
“That meant Willow needed to dump her. He couldn’t just make her vanish because the state knew he had her, and so he finally agreed to let me take custody. Now, my son and I have a very bad history between us thanks to his bullshit. So when the court saw a fifteen year old girl under oath insisting that she be called ‘Princess’ on the record since it was a real title, as she’d become a pony princess in exchange for creating a magical artifact of immense power… Yeeeeaaahh…”
Pine stopped staring at the floor and rubbed his head awkwardly. “Ever know someone who refused to lie, even for their own benefit in a desperate situation?” He asked sheepishly.
Jade and I nodded.
“Eeyup,” I agreed, playfully mimicking Applejack’s voice.
“Well, since delusional people fully believe their delusions, Megan refused to lie,” Pine groaned, resting his face in his hands for a long moment. “I told her to. I said it would be okay to do it this one time. Nope. Not once. Zero lies.
“The judge ordered she be psychologically evaluated so he could see if any of her testimony at all could even be admissible in court. Willow had her evaluated, and naturally the shrink recommended she be institutionalized as she had one of the worst cases he’d ever seen and well, he didn’t think she could get better without a hospital environment.
“Willow hates me, I hate him. This way he could get rid of Megan and hurt me. So he did. And that’s that. She’s been rotting in some mental ward for the last fifteen, almost sixteen years. I’m not allowed to visit.”
Sometimes, things just click. The pieces fall into place forming a single revelation. I had it happen when I calculated the date of Nightmare Moon’s return, when I worked out how to use the Element of Magic, when I finished Starswirl’s spell, and many other times. She same thing was happening now.
My eyes flew open and mouth tightened in horror. Megan was exactly one rapist father, and one torture chamber asylum away from living the plot to Mare Lacky’s dark urban fantasy novel When the Bow Breaks!
And I knew absolutely nothing about her father other than being reprehensible and I knew absolutely nothing about the place she was institutionalized in!
Oh, dear sweet Celestia no!
The whole point of that series is to watch the hero to rescue foals in the worst situations imaginable! This was a real living person. In almost one of those exact situations. I NEED TO FIX THIS NOW!
How can I fix this? What resources are here other than myself, Jade, and our equipment? Where even is H-
Rainbow Falls. Pine said that the Asylum was located within Rainbow Falls. He was human. With pony colored skin, instead of Lyra’s sister’s humankind which only had white or brown. I was in the mirror world! Backup was available.
“Um, Miss Twilight, are you okay?” Pine asked with a worried frown. “Taking to the alcohol bad?”
“I need a phone! Now!” I yelped, jumping up from my chair.
“Wait you don’t have a phone? I thought you young folk were glued to your phone's,” Pine exclaimed in genuine shock.
“He stole our phones too,” Jade said, giving me a look that screamed ‘cool it!’
“That- I… Well, no, if I recall correctly you can track your phone from a computer. Might as well let him take it so you can catch him. I have an older phone, who do you need to call?” Pine asked as he dug into his pocket to take out an old brick-like lump of plastic which I only recognized as a phone thanks to the physical buttons being in the same shape as Pinkie’s smartphone’s dial screen.
“A friend of mine,” I said urgently, looking at Pine with as much desperation as I could manage.
He returned my look with one of further confusion. “Um… D-do you need tampons or something? I can go pick them up, be faster than a friend driving them to you from wherever,” he offered.
I shook my head. “No, no this is very important. I have a friend who I need to talk to right now, and if she can help me, then-”
Pine handed me the phone. “Hey, calm down. It’s okay. Go ahead and make your call. Your sister and I will just stay here and chat,” Pine said soothingly.
I took the phone and quickly stepped outside the barn through the large double doors. While walking a good ways away from the barn so as not to be overheard I did my best to recall the right number, and punched it in once I was sure. After waiting for two minutes like an idiot with nothing happening, I hit the button marked send and the phone began to ring.
Three rings later, someone picked up the phone. “Hello?” A stallion, er, man’s voice asked curiously.
I eeped. “Um, hi! S-sorry I think I have the wrong number I’m trying to call a friend of mine, and she’s a she and you sound like a he so-”
“This is my wife’s phone,” the man chuckled. “Are you calling for Sunset?”
Holy cow! She married? Already!?
“Yes! It’s really important,” I replied. “Can you tell her Twilight’s calling?”
“Oh hey! Twilight. Long time no chat. I didn’t recognize your voice. Here hold on a sec. Sun? Hey, Sun!” he called loudly.
“Tell that telemarketer to fuck right off for me, Nova. I’m not in the mood to talk to them AGAIN!” Sunset shouted faintly.
“No, it’s Twilight. She says it’s urgent,” Nova called back.
A few seconds and some static later and Sunset’s voice came through the phone clearly. “Twilight? What’s up? How’s Las Pegasus treating you? You didn’t fall for some guy there and need help getting away from a crazy dude now, do you?” Sunset asked with extreme worry in her voice.
“Wrong Twilight, Sunset,” I said after a second of disbelief that she would jump straight to that conclusion of all things.
“Oh. Buck… This isn’t good is it?” Sunset sighed, wearily.
“No. It’s not. At all. Equestria is in a full blown crisis, and I need to get someone out of a mental institution in this world to help stop it,” I explained rapidly. “I need to do it NOW because from what I’ve learned, this poor woman has literally been living the life of the filly from When the Bow Breaks, minus the rape and torture… And I’m NOT sure about her life lacking those things. I just don’t know for sure. It has to stop NOW.
“You said that this world’s Twilight was able to wield magic directly for a time without an Element of Harmony. How?”
“Ooohhhkay! That… I did not need to know that,” Sunset said in a way where I could feel the disgust in each word. “Unfortunately, the magic was achieved through the use of a locket. One which is… Not available.”
“Do you know how the magic it used worked?” I asked hopefully, getting an idea.
“Of course, I’ve had years to analyze everything I learned about it,” she scoffed. “Who do you take me for? A normal person with a memory that can make errors?”
Yep! Sunset’s perfect memory. The reason why Celestia had taken her on as a student, and why I knew she could help me with jerry rigging a solution!
“I have a dufflebag full of enchanted mission gear. I’ll go over it and we can cobble together the right device, Neighgyver style,” I insisted.
“Twilight, listen to me VERY closely. You do not want to use magic directly under any circumstances,” Sunset said adamantly.
Not under ANY circumstances? Well, we’ll just see about that.
“The Elements of Harmony are broken,” I explained as calmly as I could manage.
“BUCK!” Sunset cursed, making the phone crackle in protest. “Look… There IS magic here, okay? Lots of it. The reason you think there isn’t is extremely sinister. I don’t have time to explain it, but I did find out that in short, ancient organization of evil mages and suppression artifacts. If you break through the suppression field, they will know, and they WILL find you eventually. Stick to enchanted items. They can’t suppress those because if they prevented enchantments from working, their own magic suppressors would stop working too.”
“... What?” I asked, lips forming a little confused ‘o’.
“I’m dead serious, Twilight. Stick to enchanted items,” Sunset sighed. “For your own safety. I’m sure you can do it with them. You’re smart. Where are you breaking into?”
“Um…” I said as I tried to remember the name through my sudden onset ‘what the buck?!’ syndrome. “The Harmony Mountains Mental Asylum in Rainbow F-”
“BUCK! WHY!?” Sunset screamed. “Ahhhh! Twilight that’s one of their facilities for containing magic users they can’t control! Do you really need to break into there? Why are you even here to fix the Elements?”
“B-because their creator is institutionalized there…” I said meekly, knowing that it would anger-
“Oh. Well… Ponyfeathers,” Sunset said in a hollow voice. “Okay. Here’s the deal. I help you, you’ll NEED my help, and you take my husband Nova Wing to Equestria. Because they will find me after this and-”
Oh crap, that’s right! Mirror Lyra! She said that Sunset’s counterpart was alive and proved it with letters!
“You can both come back,” I said adamantly.
“I can’t! W-well prison is better there is better than prison here…” Sunset mused darkly.
“Sunset, you didn’t commit manslaughter,” I explained rapidly. “She survived. I have it as a matter of first hoof account. You have done nothing to deserve a lifelong exile and sixteen years is more than enough of a sentence for your other crimes in light of your service to the Crown, assuming you help with this one more thing. You can go home, after helping me with Freeing Megan Will-”
“HER!? OH GOD BUCKING HORSERADISH!” Sunset scream-lamented.
“I have no context for any of this…” I admitted sheepishly.
“She’s a bucking Dream Mage, with Lucid capability, with YOUR power level, Twilight,” Sunset groaned. “I’ve been studying that compound for YEARS now. They have a few artifacts in there that I need. I was planning a burglary and well, I know their special containment procedures. She’s on the bottom level with the extremely dangerous things… I… I think we can get there. Do you have any backup? Any help?”
“I’ve got a changeling Queen with me, and she seems to be able to use her magic,” I said optimistically.
“Makes sense, their artifacts only nullify human magic and- I... Um… Is- Is it Chrysalis? I hope it isn’t. I’m roommates with this world’s Chrysalis and she REALLY wants to, quote, ‘punch my counterpart’s teeth in so hard they come out her rotting asshole,’ unquo-”
“Is your world’s me here? Is that what all the waking me up screaming is about?!” A female voice demanded. “I demand to know where that omnicidal bitch is!”
Oh for Celestia’s sake!
“No, it’s not her. But she’s pretty powerful,” I said, starting to grow exacerbated by the lack of seeing who I was speaking to, and everypony else who was there too!
“No it’s not her, Chrissie,” Sunset quickly replied. “Sorry for waking you up.”
Okay, yeah, no. No. Context needed. Now.
Taking a deep breath to try and hide my anger, I demanded, “Could you explain to me what on Equis is happening over there!?”
Sunset snickered. “This isn’t Equis. So, nothing,” she said with a half hearted laugh
Sunset must have heard my glare through the phone somehow, because she quickly added, “It’s a long story. A very long one. In short, during high school, friends and I try to be magical heros. Turns out there’s an organization that disapproves of that, we stop for our own safety. They ignored my friends because… Um… I don’t know but they did. They kept tracking me though, so I’ve been trying to stay two steps ahead of them. That’s how life looked to just be for the rest of my days, till now.
“There’s an underground magical community. I joined it for my own safety. That’s where I met Nova, and Chrissie. Did you know that the changelings here are burned by the sun? If you don’t, whoever is with you needs to keep out of the sun. It’s bad enough to be fatal.”
I nodded, wishing that gestures could be sent through a phone. “Okay… I think I understand. The three of you are hiding from an organization which is after all of you, presumably?” I asked to clarify.
“Yes. The same organization that runs the place you are breaking into. That’s… One hell of a coincidence,” Sunset mused, pausing for a moment. “What’s Celestia’s favorite kind of cake?”
I raised an eyebrow. “Um, you know that. Why would you need me to tell you? She’s thousands of years old, it’s not like her preferences will suddenly change.”
“Just tell me what kind of cake she likes!” Sunset demanded urgently.
“Banana cream cake,” I replied with a frown. “OH! You’re confirming my identity. Is it that bad here?”
I bit my lip nervously. It was one thing to leave Sunset here as a banishment sentence before we knew any of this. But now? Even if she were guilty of mareslaughter, I’d be getting her out of here.
“It can be,” Sunset informed. “Ever meet somepony more chaste than Cadence?”
I laughed at the idea, almost falling over. “Sunset… Come on. It’s me”
“Yep, it is. You wouldn’t know how laughable that idea is if you weren't,” Sunset said with a single chuckle. “Okay. I trust you. Where are you? We can be at the Hospital by morning if we drive. Can we meet there?”
“I would much prefer we go now. Where are you? Jade could open a portal if you can give her enough information,” I informed.
“We can’t go now!” Sunset explained worriedly. “We’ll need time to load up, and I’ll have to ask everyone here if they can help, or even want to, and I have to tell everyone that you’re letting me go home if we help and-”
“Phone! Give now, please,” Chrysalis demanded.
The phone crackled as it was jostled around for a moment before the changeling’s voice spoke to me directly. “Hey, Princess, right? Are you really giving Sun a ticket home if she helps you break into Harmony?” She asked.
“Yes, I am… And even if she doesn't. I can’t force her to stay here if she’s being hunted down,” I sighed, rubbing my eyes with one hand.
“I’m probably one of the last changelings left alive on this rock. They hunt us too. You want our help now? Let me off this rock, I’ll teleport all three of us fully loaded right to you in the next ten minutes,” she offered. “Deal?”
“Chrissie! You have no idea how different of a world Equis is from this one. You probably won't like it,” Sunset warned.
“This world is only safe for humans who don’t know about magic, Sun. Besides, there’s a me out there who is tarnishing my rep,” Chrysalis grumbled darkly.
“Actually, she died,” I informed as quickly as I could manage.
“How?” Chrysalis asked hopefully.
“Exploded… Twice actually,” I answered with a wince at the memory.
“You can do that?” The changeling mused curiously. “You can explode twice? Crap! Nova! Nova, you won the bet. You can explode twice… Also grab your gear, it’s go time.”
“Um, I didn’t say that I’d take your deal,” I said with a small frown. “Not that I won’t, but you should wait until you know for sure before doing things.”
“So you will?” Chrysalis asked hopefully.
I sighed and nodded. “Yes. I will. On the condition that you remain in my castle until you’re adapted to the world and understand that your natural form is known to be a supervillain who is dead, and that using it will scare a LOT of ponies,” I informed.
“No problem. I disguise myself daily already. That’s fine. I’ve scryed your location, we’ll be at that exact spot in ten. Bye,” the changeling said, clearly about to hang up.
“WAIT!” Sunset yelped, the phone crackling as she snatched it away. “Twilight, what’s your exit plan? Do you have one? Ponyville is under quarantine. They said something about a superbug.”
“I have a rift that we can open at midnight that’s what… Five hours? As soon as it comes we can leave,” I said with a smile. “It’s a portable one too.”
“Good. Are there any civilians around? Because teleports light up the sensor grid like a Christmass tree,” Sunset asked wearily.
“Like a what?” I asked, tilting my head to one side.
“It’s- skip it. Are there any civilians nearby?” Sunset demanded again.
I frowned. “Well, one. Megan’s grandfather,” I admitted.
“You’ll need to get him out too. And it’s probably best he comes with us so she has a familiar face to see when we break her out. Can you break the news to him before we arrive?” Sun asked carefully.
I closed my eyes, sighing internally. This had been so simple just a few minutes ago! Ugh.
“I’ll do what I can,” I groaned. “Just hurry!”
“Will do, just… Be carefull. Okay?” Sunset asked with a sigh the phone going dead with a click.
I looked down at the old phone in my hand for several long moments. How was I going to tell Pine about this? He probably wouldn’t believe it. I know that I would have a hard time believing this if I were him. What could I do?
I’d have to prove that magic was real first. Then prove that Megan hadn’t been lying. But how could I do that?
Her locket! I had her locket. He’d remember that, ponyfeathers he probably gave it to her! But what about the other part?
Jade. Yes, that would do.
I turned around and walked back into the barn, taking care to make eye contact with Jade as I entered. It looked like she and Pine were engrossed in a rather serious conversation, especially since Pine had gotten a pen and paper and seemed to be sketching something out while they talked.
Wishing I could contact Jade telepathically, I did my best to get her attention by waving at her. But there wasn’t anything I could do to-
I paused, frowning as I looked at the center of the table. My pack was open, and Megan’s locket was already on the table.
Did Jade-
Jade looked up suddenly, giving me a nod. “Twilight,” she greeted.
“What’s going-” I began to ask only to be interrupted by Pine.
“Your friend here sneezed and lost her form. You could have told me you were Changelings. I met a tribe of you in Ireland thirty years ago,” Pine answered sounding somewhat shocked, but also in control of himself as he hunched over the map. “I also don’t have any hard feelings about the deception. I’m fine. Just surprised.”
I REALLY needed to do some serious lore reading on this world next time i had a chance…
“Um, how up to speed are you?” I asked slowly.
“On your species and abilities? Not too much I’m afraid,” Pine replied still sketching. “I would love to learn more. It’s not everyday you discover a legend is real. As for your reason for being here, Jade explained it.”
“All of it?” I asked slowly.
“Yes,” Jade replied giving em an embarrassed nod. “He knows we’re here for Megan. We’re sketching out a map of the asylum right now.”
“Hell of a tonal shift to make in the last five minutes,” Pine said wearily turning to give me a feeble grin. “But, well… Don’t take this the wrong way, I don’t want to know what happened to her during that year. Ever. But knowing some of you want to find her and make sure she’s safe… I trust you. So you’ve got all the help this old man can give you.”
I shook my head incredulously. “I- I was literally about to explain the entire thing myself!” I exclaimed.
Jade blushed deeply, making me wonder why she was still using my body. “Sorry… I didn’t know that a sneeze would deshift me,” she apologized bashfully. “And you were on the phone for a while. I had time to explain everything. Kinda did so the poor guy didn't think we were here to kidnap him.”
I took a deep breath to calm myself. It was alright. Everything had worked out just fine. Honestly, it was probably good I hadn’t been here when that happened.
“Speaking of the phone, I called a friend. We’ll have some back up… And we have a problem,” I explained as I passed the brick-phone back to Pine.
“Friend?” Jade asked with a confused frown.
“Problem?” Pine asked with worry in his eyes.
I nodded, and pushed a lock of hair out of my eyes. “Bad news: apparently that hospital is owned by a group of changeling hunting magic suppressing people who use it as a warehouse to store magical things and keep magical prisoners,” I said grimly. “Good news: Sunset’s on her way with friends, so we have three more people for a party of five, two of whom should be able to use magic fully.”
Jade bit her lip. “Well… That’s good. Also bad. But good,” she said looking down at the map.
Pine closed his eyes for a moment, then pushed back his chair, stood up and walked out of the barn without a word.
I turned to go after him, but Jade stood up. “No! Twilight, let him go!” She begged.
I winced and shook my head slowly. “He’s got to be depressed that his granddaughter is-”
“He’s PISSED,” Jade corrected, giving me an urgent frown to emphasize how serious a problem this was. “He mentioned something about being sorry humans skinned ‘your people’ alive. He thinks his grand daughter is in the hands of total monsters and he’s VERY ANGRY. Give him some time to himself. That’s what I sense he needs.”
“Skinned alive?” I asked around the grimace which had formed on my lips.
No wonder this world’s Chrysalis wanted out!
Jade nodded. “Yeah… Let’s… Let’s not get captured, okay? So who is Sunset brining?”
I opened my mouth to reply, only for the flash and pop of a teleport spell completing to interupt me. Nodding towards the open barn door, I said “Let’s go say hello.”
Jade got up, and the two of us walked out to see Sunset standing with two other people. I couldn’t help but notice that Sunset was rocking a black motorcycle jacket again, but that seemed like it was important. The jacket had silver thread embroidered patterns in it which looked like enchantment marks, and the brass plated thick gloves she wore, with the quartz crystals attached to the back of each hand, were DEFINITELY magical in nature.
On her right was a somewhat short stallion- Um man, with pale orange skin and blond hair. He stood protectively close to Sunset, and even with how little I knew of enchanting I could see that the denim jacket he had on was definitely projecting a rather powerful shield spell. I’m certain that his black tshirt and jeans also had enchantments to them, but I couldn’t see any visible markings.
On Sunset’s left had to be Chrysalis. Mirror Chrysalis at least. She was currently taking the form of a tall, muscular woman with black hair and a deep blue near-black skin, with shocking green eyes. While I couldn’t see if her white tanktop and ripped jeans were magical in any way she did have a very large sword strapped to her back, and had two duffel bags slung over her shoulder. So she had to have some serious equipment.
As we walked out the three spotted us. Sunset waved, the male I assumed was Nova nodded, and Chrysalis simply grunted. “Hey.”
“Hi,” I replied, smiling happily.
It looked like we had some real help! All three of them were standing in that same way you see soldiers stand when on duty. Not guard duty, but combat duty. Alert, but fluid. Ready to move at any minute. I’m certain that Shining would approve of them. This was going to work!
“Hi, I’m Jade,” Jade introduced, giving the three a wave.
Chrysalis raised an eyebrow. “Any reason your using Twilight’s shape, or is that just a couples thing?”
“She’s married,” I said instantly, frowning at Chrysalis.
Sunset smiled. “I thought you’d wind up with a girl ultimately. How are you two getting along?”
I felt myself turn red, mortified.
Jade blinked. “Um, no. I’m not married to her… And she’s straight.”
“Uh, that’s not how I remember it,” Sunset exclaimed, honestly surprised. “I mean, yeah she got all butterflies around our Flash, but I still remember that sleep over when- Uh, nevermind. This isn’t important right now. So… Jade, what do you bring to the table? And what gear do you two have?”
What was she talking about? W-wait… Did.. Did she just imply we slept together!? I don’t remember that! At all! Not one little bit!
I- I would never have done that! W-well, maybe if she was in a cute outfit. Um… Wait, what? Where did THAT come from?!
“Well, we have some enchanted items. Field kits issued by the EUP guard with some extra things,” Jade began thoughtfully. “I’m pretty certain that there are mage blades in them so Twilight won't be defenceless. Also-”
Sunset’s eyes widened in surprise as she looked behind me. “Holy crap! Is that the old man you mentioned!?”
Her surprise snapped me out of the building existential crisis I was having, and made me turn around to look.
Pine was walking down the path from his ranch house. He’d changed clothes. The colonial costume had been replaced by a well worn pair of tall brown leather riding boots which had the legs of olive green cargo pants tucked into them, a thick brown leather gunbelt sporting two large revolvers, and a khaki button up shirt.
Also hanging from his belt was a large curved sword, a saber of some kind, in a black wooden scabbard. In Pine’s left hand, he held his shotgun, which he slid into a back holster attached to the harness worn over his shirt with one hand, while slinging two large belts stuffed with shotgun shells over his chest with the other hand.
“Um… Y-yes,” I said, face falling slightly as the old man managed to project an aura of intimidation and outrage which made the former ‘kind old man’ look vanish.
This was the body language of a retired adventured who was pissed the buck off!
“Those three your friends?” Pine asked looking past me at Sunset, Chrysalis, and Nova.
“Yes,” I answered immediately.
Pine grunted in response while looking over the five of us critically. “Well, goddamn it then, lead the way!”