//------------------------------// // Chapter 17. World of Loathing, Part 1. // Story: Meta Gamer in Equestria: Odyssey // by reflective vagrant //------------------------------// Starlight suggested Fluttershy and I move discretely to where I would be living and try to lay low, but I was prompt to shut the idea down. I knew hatred enough that I wasn't going to be able to hide forever, and it would be best to make it clear as day to the ones that might hate me as to my legal situation. The hatred was inevitable. Trying to hide my very presence would only help fuel their paranoia further in the long run. Fluttershy agreed with the sentiment and said she would support my choice fully, though I could tell she was a little scared of what it would mean. Starlight could only sigh and say she had business elsewhere. That left Fluttershy and myself to not sneak quietly to her house. That was to say, my new residence. However, we didn't exactly make a grand parade about it either. Fluttershy and I simply took the most direct route to her house. Or at least what she said was the most direct route. Even so, the prison was so far away that it was late into the evening before we reached town. The ponies that saw us when we arrived freaked out in different ways. The children were hurried off and others ran away, shouting to the guards. While we tried to be as discrete as we could without outright hiding, we still had a bit of a time getting there. We were stopped three different times by crystalline guards, whom Fluttershy had to show the paperwork for while I had to lay down in the dirt with as an unimposing and submissive posture as I could. Thankfully, a few the higher officers of the town's guard had been informed and one flew in to confirm this to the lower guards. The one that was the messenger got irritated enough by the third incident that he ordered the third set of guards to escort us through town to her home. We came to our destination and I found it to be a proper cottage with a nice bit of countryside and light woodland surrounding it on the outskirts of town. That wasn't what had my attention at that moment, however. Outside the little cottage was a small but growing crowd of angry ponies. Apparently they had realized where I was going and were organizing their protests. I could hear a lot of jests and rants that were aimed at me as we approached. A lot of standard mob stuff like, "that thing doesn't belong here!" "We aren't really letting that thing go free, are we?" "That's one of the invaders! Why are we letting it stay here!?" were being shouted. The high ranking officer that already had ruffled feathers from the last time he had to escort us came flying in and landed in front of the gate, demanding silence. He planted a sign that had my picture on it into the ground at the edge of the property and shouted. "We held our weekly town meeting two nights ago and this was one of the topics discussed. We informed the town that an inmate from Iron Quarry Penitentiary who had been charged with espionage and consorting with the enemy was cleared of all charges upon the completion of an Astral Judgement made by Princess Luna and that the inmate was going to be released into Ponyville for reintegration under an RRE officer." His disheveled mane and bloodshot eyes glared the townsfolk down as he added a tone of anger and pulled out a bit of paper to read from. "You had the right to object to the idea then. Yet you all agreed with Cranky and Matilda when they said, 'If Princess Luna did all that and found that they weren't guilty then there's nothing to worry about. We don't mind a new resident,' and moved on to the next item." "That's before the townsfolk found out it was one of them!" A grim looking unicorn called out. "That thing is dangerous! It's only a matter of time before it hurts somepony!" The head guard looked squarely at the new voice in the crowd. "Chancellor Neighsay, this is a local matter of Ponyvile and you are not a resident. Furthermore, despite your disapproval and history for throwing your political weight around beyond its intended domain, the laws of Equestria state that all sentient races are legally equal in rights. It has been proven that he has performed no crime and it is expressly forbidden from stating an inmate's race in the local approval stage of the RRE process because of such potential bias. Their criminal record is the only factor allowed to be weighed." The guard then stamped the sign down further into the lawn and signaled the guards to ensure I could pass without incident. "Which is what anypony will suddenly find themselves with if they so much as lay one hoof on, over or under this lawn with the intent to harm or harass the..." The guard paused and focused intently on the sign as I passed him on my way to the house. "...'Water genasi' known as the proxy 'Moss' that resides here. Now disperse." The crowd seemed to backup a bit more as the Chancellor came up to the head guard. "You and all of Princess Celestia's favored ones are far too lenient on outsiders. Mark my words, Equestria will suffer from offering 'friendship' to the likes of them." They stared at each other like two bulldogs growling through a fence. The head guard met his glare spark for spark and spoke back to him in a grated voice. "If I'm disturbed from my son's belated birthday party one more time because of this tonight, I'm going to have to show you just how 'lenient' the law is required to be to a pony willing to incite a riot." I went inside as I heard the head guard call out to the crowd, "I said disperse!" * * * The crowd had dispersed and I was sitting on the couch patiently while Fluttershy worked with the guards on something outside. When she came back inside and offered me tea, I could only shake my head and sigh as I pressed on my amulet. "I know I said I shouldn't hide, but that pony was kinda right. The people of my home world are dangerous. Trusting me is a big risk. I've already hurt you once." She took a pause at this to think about it. With a warm smile she gestured me to follow her into one of the rooms next to the main area of the cottage. "I think that's just your trauma and tiredness talking." She opened the door to reveal what seemed to be my bedroom, complete with a set of beds joined together into a larger makeshift bed to fit my comparatively larger form. "We can talk more in the morning. For now get some sleep and try to feel better." She had just about left before turning back to me. "And don't worry, you are more than safe here." Her tone, while still overflowing with the soft spoken kindness that she practically radiated, had an uncharacteristically strong and oddly comforting sense of confidence in it. Yet, I had no idea why it did. With this she left me to my room. All I could do was take off my dirty furs then lay down on the first bed I didn't have to curl up on to fit on. I did my best to get to sleep and let the noises of the owls and other nocturnal creatures in the surrounding area remind me that I wasn't in prison anymore.