//------------------------------// // Imaginations from the Other Side // Story: I Can Read Names in Clouds // by Yuu //------------------------------// After the last note was played I heard the familiar ringing in my ears, then ponies begun their stomping again. Many ponies even asked for an encore, and we repeated one song and played a new one. When the music finally stopped and the stage lights dimmed, I found something pink before me. “How do you feel?” Medley asked. She sounded somewhat serious. “I’m not sure. At one point I felt like my thoughts were burned out, and my memory was frozen. You know, I still have these dark spots from the lights.” I looked around for a handkerchief, then I remembered I had one in my bag backstage. “Did… did you like it?” “Are you joking?” She smiled. “I loved it! Everypony did!” I noticed the musicians also came and stood next to me. “I can quote the song you have performed,” Harpy said. “Without a song or a dance what are we? Ponies love music, singing and dancing.” “Oh, yes.” It made me smile too. “I am the girl with white hair, I wanna sing it out to everybody.” “And you did,” Melodic Song said. “Was it like a performance in your world?” “It was a bit similar. At first I felt anxious, I had only sung before humans. But soon after I begun, it was like I dissolved in the music.” “Was it good?” Juvenile Grape asked. “I think so, I felt something positive from the audience. The strange thing is that for some reason I feel conflicted now.” “Don’t worry.” Medley came closer and suddenly hugged me. “If you want, then start to laugh; if you must, then start to cry.” I closed my eyes to centre myself. Soon a thought came to me. I raised my head and blinked several times. “Is it possible I missed something?” “You can always sing here again,” Medley said without letting me go. “And, as you have sung to us, sometimes quietness is stronger than motion and silence is stronger than sound.” She finally released me and offered me a handkerchief in her hoof. “Maybe you should walk around a bit, to feel the earth under your hooves again,” Melodic Song said. “It should help you to turn your attention from the performance to the world around you.” “Thank you, thanks everyone. I will do this.” “And by the way,” Harpy said, “if you feel hungry, ask Gloaming when you get back to her, she should have some food.” I nodded to her. Fortunately, Medley arranged the post-concert activities, like recovering the stage and cleaning everything, so I didn't have to stick around for long. I took my backpack and left the stage to walk for a while. After ten minutes or so, Gracia found me and proposed we go to the library. Medley and Curiosity decided to stay behind and catch up with us later. When we arrived, Gracia knocked on the door and Gloaming let us in. I looked on the table and noticed some of the books Gloaming had read when we were discussing doppelgängers before. “So what about these doppelgänger ponies?” I asked. “Why are your friends so sensitive about them?” “You see, there are a number of issues.” Gloaming looked down at her forelegs. “We know almost nothing about them, but they know a lot about us. Many of us are feeling very vulnerable because it seems anypony might not be a pony.” Gracia looked around at Gloaming’s books and only turned her ears to us from time to time. Gloaming sat down on a pillow, moving her flank a bit to the left, then a bit backwards, before speaking again. With these small random movements she didn’t look confident, more likely she was nervous or upset. “I know it sounds silly,” she said, “but I fear that I could be talking to the real Curiosity one moment, then we part ways, and next time I see her it would be a doppelgänger.” I didn't know what I could say. Was it inappropriate to hug her, because we barely knew each other? I could just remind her about the methods of checking a pony’s identity, to reassure her. After some thinking I decided to sit next to her to begin with. “I believe you and your friends will find a solution...” I began, but my dilemma was suddenly solved by Gloaming, embracing me with her forelegs. “I'm sorry,” she said, her speaking interrupted by quiet sobs. “I can't talk about this with my friends, I can't talk with the queen. I understand it is an irrational fear, but...” I turned to her and carefully hugged her in return. Gracia remained quiet in another part of the room. “But I feel like I can speak with a complete stranger like you, for some reason,” she continued, her voice steady now. “I guess I thought you could help us with this issue, what a silly filly.” Smiling, she feebly kicked herself in the head. Could I help her? Could I promise anything, when I knew even less about these shape-shifting creatures than the ponies did? “I can try, just don't give me too much credit,” I said. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” She sprang on her feet and hugged me firmly. Did this mare have an off-switch somewhere? Would she start jumping around me next? “Hey, have you seen Curiosity?” somebody asked. The entrance door was open and Rainbow was looking inside the room. “Oh, sorry if I'm interrupting something, but I can see she isn't here, so see you later.” The door was closed in silence. “Let's find the others and discuss what we can do,” Gloaming said as she stood up, now with a broad smile and wet trails under her glimmering eyes. She opened the door and retrieved Rainbow. Curiosity and Medley also came to the library after a minute or so. “So, everyone’s ready to go?” Gracia asked, once all the members of the expedition were gathered. “I will send you to the group that disturbed the wedding.” “Are there more of them?” Curiosity asked, wincing. “Of course, but you should contact one of them first.” “And how do you know that?” Rainbow stretched herself in Gracia's direction. “Maybe you’re one of them, luring us into a trap.” “I can send you there. Only two ponies except me can do that,” Gracia said. “And no doppelgänger can. I’m going to demonstrate it very soon.” “Well, I could believe that,” Rainbow said. “So, you can arrange a party—” Gracia said. Medley threw her forelegs in the air, but Gracia shook her head with a small smile. “Sorry, not that kind of party. I’m going to send you to the doppelgängers. I will open a door for you.” Gracia nodded to the entrance of the library. “I see,” Gloaming said. “I propose that Medley goes with Rainbow and Snowy Clothes. You should take some food and water, you can use it yourself or share it with the doppelgängers, if needed.” “Just give me a couple of minutes to prepare,” Medley said. After she finished speaking, she left the library. “As a precaution, I will report to the queen if it takes you too long,” Gloaming said. “Wait, how soon will you return? If it takes several days...” “Don't worry,” Gracia said, “Medley can return everyone in a minute. If something happens, Snowy Clothes can fly them back in an hour.” “Both of them?” Curiosity asked. “I could try,” I said. “In that case I will start to worry in sixteen hours.” Gloaming turned to me and Rainbow. “Please send a message, if you are going to be late.” Medley came to the room with three sets of saddle bags, giving one to me and one to Rainbow. I still had my backpack, so I rearranged it slightly to make myself comfortable with both. “We’re ready!” she said. Gloaming nodded. “Please remember to let me know if anything happens. And in case of danger, come back immediately! We don't need any more fights with them.” “No fights, got it,” Rainbow said. Gracia pointed on the entrance to the library. “When you go through this door, you will find yourself within a ten minute walk from their camp.” I nodded. Gracia opened the door. Beyond it was the same street I had seen before. I went through anyway, after Medley, and the world around me changed instantly. Around us was a sparse plain, dotted by bushes and surrounded by small hills. “Wow,” Rainbow said. I looked around and noticed an open fire half a kilometer from us on the plain. Rainbow noticed it too, and quietly showed Medley the direction. We nodded to each other and went towards it. Soon I saw several tents around the fire, lit further by the occasional torch on the periphery, and later a cart with something dark. We were still too far away to distinguish smaller objects. Something was being cooked, but not just cereal or hay. It smelled like meat, these shape-shifters probably cooked it recently. Someone sat behind the bonfire, someone with dark features and equine proportions. Medley suddenly stopped and pointed ahead. Someone else was outside the tents. We slowed down to look there and I studied the body. The creature was dark grey, certainly equine in proportion as well. I couldn’t tell if it was a grey coat or gray skin, without fur. I waited probably a full minute, but I didn't see it move at all, not even to breathe. I shifted my gaze and noticed one of the legs was bent unnaturally, and there were several black wounds on the body. It was the source of the cooked meat. Rainbow finally snapped from her trance-like state and moved her gaze away from the body. She nodded and we followed her to the camp. There were two more bodies, one of them piercing its fangs into leg of another one. Suddenly I felt cold around me. Someone gently pushed me to the cart. Had I gazed for too long? I didn't think I wanted to explore this camp further, but I heard a small whisper from Rainbow. “Look!” And I looked at the cart: there were ten or so bodies, laid one on another. And a pile of branches with hay under the cart. And two flaming torches stuck nearby. The smell was filling my head, overwhelming my senses. I couldn't breathe. Someone else sobbed next to me. Oh, that was Medley, I remembered then. Rainbow hugged her for some reason and looked aside, at the moon, that had risen already. We stood together for a couple of minutes, then went to the central bonfire. There was a taller than average, dark grey mare with a tangled greenish mane, sitting near the fire. Flames danced silently in her green eyes. How could these creatures make such quiet bonfires? I hadn't heard a single crackle. She also had something at her lap, it was another shape-shifter. Was it sleeping or... Or... Why were my eyes wet? She turned her head to us, quivering. Was it sorrow on her face? Her eyes were fireless, like she had lost all reason to live.