//------------------------------// // Chapter 11: Empty // Story: Fire and Thunder // by computerneek //------------------------------// “Thank you,” she says.  Again, she’s not sure where the veggies came from- all she can see here is grass, but the hearty salad they’d just prepared for her contains at least three different (delicious) vegetables she can’t identify.  It’s almost like they can make something out of nothing! She’s sitting on top of…  She’s not sure exactly what it is, but it’s enormous, made of metal, and had been moving very smoothly at a pace similar to a decent gallop.  It has stopped now, after reaching the grass, while she eats. “Will you be okay after I leave?” she asks the nearest spider, once she finishes eating. To this it answers immediately.  “I will be okay. This-” another spider emerges from the hatchway, carrying something- “will let us never be alone.” She tilts her head.  “Never be alone?” She looks closer at the objects in the second spider’s… claws?  Arms? She’s not sure what they are, but it’s good with them. The objects appear…  Interesting. “Do you want it?” The spider asks. “Um, sure,” she says, accepting it in her hooves and raising them up to inspect them.  This one would clearly go on her ear; this one is more like a- Oh! It’s her own copy of those ‘jewelry’ pieces Fluttershy had come home with!  “Oh! Thank you!” She puts it on. “You’re welcome.” She tilts her head.  “You can talk with it?” she asks; she’d heard the answer only in the ear she’d put it on. “And hear,” it answers, with the spider.  “Only when you wear both parts.” She nods slowly.  “So… when you talk with it, only I hear?” “Yes.” “Awesome!”  She pumps a hoof, then pauses- she’d broken back into Equestrian.  “Uh, very good?” She scowls at her hooves for a second, and finally shrugs.  “Eh.” The spider makes a pleased noise.  It’s not a word- but it makes her think of a smile. She watches the scenery fly past the window.  It’s five days after that movement; it had taken that long for her to recover from so long on poor meals enough to make the journey back to the train safely.  She’d left on this adventure two weeks ago, on a Friday evening; now, it’s Friday morning, and the train she’s riding is reportedly just a few minutes away from Ponyville.  She’d had to leave her new friend behind; however, as he had pointed out to her after they moved, the ‘jewelry’ he had offered allowed them to communicate over long distances. During the interim, they’d spent a lot of time working on her vocabulary.  Her book called the language ‘English’; he uses the term interchangeably with ‘Concordiat Standard’.  They’ve figured out quite a few additional words- and some more complicated word patterns.  Like how they actually do have a word for “don’t”...  At first, she’d thought she’d be stuck saying it as ‘do not’ forever. But that’s solved.  Now that two weeks are passed, and he tells her he confirmed she will never need any medicine again (she’s not sure how he did that), she’s finally returning home.  Finally able to return home. Which reminds her.  Something else they’d done while she recovered her strength was to review her map.  As it turns out, Ponyville is actually out of her little earpiece thing’s maximum range- but he had a solution.  Three hours it had taken to build it, but the somewhat bulkier ‘relay’ box hiding inside her brand-new saddlebags should let her travel anywhere she wants on the Equestrian map without going out of range.  He’d used a few words she has no reference for in his explanation of its range; she’s not entirely certain what a ‘light-second’ is, but the moon had somehow made its way into the discussion. Following all those revelations, she had spent some time discussing Equestria with him.  He’d seemed eager to learn, yet similarly interested in staying out of sight. She hadn’t mentioned it but, if he were ever to become a pony, she figures the Royal Intelligence Service would probably let him in without a second thought.  It had been just hours before she left when he revealed that all the spiders are as disposable as the individual hairs on her coat!  Apparently, he- as the giant machine she’d ridden, self-identified as a ‘Bolo’- simply controls them, like she does her magic. They possess no life- nor mind, truly- of their own. Oh- but Ponyville is coming into view!  It’s about time she gets back home- and she knows Bonbon worries about her.  More than once the agent has offered to set up a standard RIS security grid around her home, just like the one around the shop; more than once she has declined.  She doesn’t need that, at least until she joins; she’s not sure if they’ll let her refuse it then.  But then is then, and now is now. She eagerly waits as the train grinds to a halt, and she finally jumps off, onto the station platform.  She expects to be instantly bombarded by ponies that missed her; however, the platform is empty, save those getting off the train- or in other words, save only herself. She leaves the station, looking up and down the deserted street.  “Hello?” she asks the empty air. “What’s wrong?” the English voice says in her ear. She glances around quickly, and mutters back, also in English.  “This should be a busy street, but there’s nopony here.” It had taken her a few minutes, just yesterday, which words choice would best approximate the meaning of the Equestrian word.  Her still nameless friend has a freaky good memory, so it doesn’t present him a problem. “I’m only picking up a worrying amount of interference.  It doesn’t look like jamming.” She scowls.  “I think we’ve got our first…  Job? Task? Uh…” “Mission?” She tilts her head.  “What’s that?” “An important assignment of some sort; I believe you’re referring to an upcoming investigation on why the street is empty?” “Uh, yes, something like that,” she mutters.  She glances up and down the street. “I should probably start by finding Bonbon; she’s the expert with this kind of thing.”  She used Bonbon’s regular Equestrian name; the rest was in English. A soft chuckle floats into her ear.  “You do realize you’re talking to an expert in infiltration and investigation tactics, right?”  He’s shown a willingness to follow her language choices. This bring her pause.  “You are?” He makes a noise that reminds her of a nod. “Awesome!”  She looks up and down the road again.  “So, uh, where should I start?” “You’ll probably want to start by hiding your saddlebags somewhere safe; they contain nothing useful for an investigation, and will only slow you down in a dangerous situation.  I would recommend someplace you can snatch them from at a run, in case you are pursued.” She nods slowly.  “So, really anywhere.”  She smiles. “As a unicorn, I can teleport them to me.” “That is true.  If you’re going to be teleporting, though, I would recommend using it to remove yourself from a dangerous situation- into a hiding spot, preferably- rather than to bring your saddlebags to you.” “So, if I were to hide them in my basement- nopony knows I even have one- and teleport myself in there if things get a little dicey…?” “This is your hometown, Ponyville?” “Uh, yes.” “And you’re confident in your home’s security against possible attacks?” She smiles.  “It only looks like a log cabin.” “How far?” “It’s on the edge of town…  A kilometer or so?” “And the train station is…?” “Not far from the edge.” “Go for it- but don’t move too fast, it wouldn’t do to draw attention to yourself.” She nods, trotting down the road.  A quick glance towards her flank indicates that the disguise she’d used for the return journey- a lighter brown coat, with a dark brown mane, but otherwise the same as her outbound- is still holding.  Her disguise will have been silent; she’s calibrated the spell to make it look like she’s holding her peace whenever she’s speaking english. She smiles. “Oh- my disguise is still holding, too.” “Helpful, but don’t rely on it.” It takes her close to fifteen minutes to reach her house and let herself in.  On his recommendation, she had dropped her disguise somewhere nearby; it wouldn’t do for her to draw attention by entering her home while looking like she’s somepony else entirely.  Even so, she hasn’t encountered a single additional pony yet. “Still nopony?” She nods.  “I’m not getting the danger vibe, though.”  She locks her door, just to be sure, after checking the room for intruders- and proceeds to check the rest of the building, coming up clear.  “My house is clear, at least. So, still a safe zone?” “I wouldn’t count on it, but it’s going to be as good as any.  Make sure you lock the door when you leave.” Five minutes later, she’s deposited her saddlebags in her basement and slipped back out the front door, undisguised.  She looks up and down the little street she lives on. “Any recommendations for where to start?” “Assuming this isn’t a plot against you, any living or working spaces of loved ones might be a good place to start; such may offer clues to what happened.” She nods slowly.  “So, Bonbon’s Candies.  She lives above the shop- but it’s on Main Street.  Is that a good idea?” “No.  Reset your disguise someplace, then stick to the smaller, less-traveled streets; watch for potential attackers everywhere.  You may want to catch a look at Main Street at some point; this is most likely to reveal what happened. If it has one, you’ll want to approach that shop from a back entrance.” She glances around, and sets off at a trot.  Less than two minutes later, she’s in a nice little alley, with nopony nearby- and she resets her disguise.  Now, she trots out from her hiding place, heading up the dirt road towards the town center. “Alert- I’m picking up a chuckle, sounds unfriendly.” Her eyes widen, her earth pony stallion disguise mirroring that.  “How far?” “Close.  I’m sorry, this thing wasn’t designed for this.” She scowls…  And her swivelling ears pick up the chuckle.  She pauses on the roadway, looking around steadily.  “One there… Two there, two more there… That all?” “I’m detecting six distinct patterns, aside from your own.” “So, there’s probably- Aah!”  Her disguise mirrors her startled yelp correctly, even though it (also correctly) muted her speech.  A stallion- number six, unless she misses her guess- had jumped out of hiding in front of her. “Look who we have here,” he leers.  “And to think, I thought everypony would be at the funeral.” She raises an eyebrow, not failing to notice the others- she had their positions down right- emerging as well.  “Funeral?” she asks him. “Who for?” He snorts at her.  “Hah! Somepony died and you don’t know who?” “I’ve been out of town,” she sighs.  It’s taking much of her concentration to keep her fear down; she knows that, if she shows none, gangs like this one will often leave her alone, moving on to find more interesting prey. “It was a mare,” he jeers. The one to his right pitches in.  “A useless mare.” The next one.  “All she ever did was walk and talk.” Another.  “Never did anything useful for Ponyville.” She interrupts the stream.  “I do believe we’ve developed that you don’t like her,” she states.  “What was her name?” The first one answers her.  “Pah! She wasn’t even worthy of a name!” She resists the urge to facehoof.  “Are you telling me you don’t know her name either?” This was the wrong thing to say, though; he’s infuriated.  “You-! Of course I know her name! How dare you insinuate that I don’t know that?” “Well, what is it?” He growls, crouching in an attack stance; too bad for him she’s a unicorn, and they’re all earth ponies.  “You’ll be joining her in the grave today.” He charges… And his companions do too. And, with a pop of magic, they all crash into each other and she gallops away, completely unharmed.  “Whelp, I’ve figured out what happened,” she mutters, in English. “How’d the fight go?” “You were right about the teleport thing.  I dodged- they’re busy beating each other up.” “Ahh.  So what happened?” “A funeral, supposedly.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen one that drew the entire law-abiding population of Ponyville, though.”  She trots up a side alley towards Main Street, and peeks out. “Yep, definitely a funeral procession.” “Anypony you recognize?” “Uh…  Only in the crowd.” “Any way to join the crowd?  This could be the fastest way to gain information.  As a matter of fact, if there’s nopony suspicious, you might want to do it undisguised; such will allow you to find friends amongst the crowd to ask.” She nods, glances around, and drops her disguise before she emerges.  Well, drops is one way to say it- she keeps her headset and magic aura invisible, as well as disguising her English as silence. By Celestia, the crowd is huge!  Did Celestia die or something?  It takes her several minutes to locate her friend, Bonbon- right as the procession stops, at that.  Bonbon is at the head of the trail, in front of the coffin… Definitely somepony important to her. She works her way towards the top of the crowd, listening to the eulogies being spoken- but fails to catch any specific names.  Finally, she reaches the top of the crowd. The line waiting for their turn to give eulogies. Finally, as she joins the back of that line- she knows everypony in town, even one or two Pinkie doesn’t- she asks the mare in front of her whose funeral it is, alongside an apology for not knowing. The aforementioned mare turns out to be Fluttershy, wearing her jewelry.  “Oh, no worries,” the pegasus mutters, glancing back and gazing at her hooves.  “It’s…” She trails off, and looks up again, staring at her. She waits a few seconds, and tilts her head.  “Is something wrong?” she asks.