//------------------------------// // Chapter 19: Am I Not Welcome Here? // Story: The Protectors of Harmony // by Delta Blade //------------------------------// Chapter 19: Am I Not Welcome Here? August 9, 2558 0735 hours Ponyville Sweet Apple Acres Another clear morning over Ponyville. If anypony had woken up from a long, deep sleep, he or she would have been unable to guess that there was a war going on; that is, except for the UNSC Infinity parked up above. Even from their farm not too far off, Applejack and Big Mac thought the silence from town didn’t quite feel right. The element of honesty and her brother had been out working the farm for just over an hour by now, when an unknown face approached the front gate. “Who’s that?” asked Big McIntosh, noticing the curious mare first, prompting his sister to look where he was looking. She was wearing a tan jacket over a white t-shirt, with a plain-black cap on her head, carrying a dual travel-satchel across her back, suggesting that she was from out-of-town. “Well, we ain’t gunna find out without askin’ her,” said Applejack. The two began trotting over. As they got closer, they saw that she was a grey-coated earth pony with braided mane, blonder than Applejack’s, complemented by natural, sky blue eyes that would’ve been obscured by her cap if she were not looking up at the apple cut-out, wooden sign hanging from the entrance; while her face and physique were both stunning and beautiful, it was heavily contradicted by her darkened demeanor. She didn’t look so happy, and in fact, if Applejack didn’t know any better, she almost looked depressed; the cowgirl just assumed anypony would look that way after a long journey. “Howdy stranger!” she greeted the anonymous visitor, looking her way now instead of up at the sign. “What brings you to the Apple Family farm?” “Work…I’m, looking for work,” she said, with a mildly anxious smile. “And, a place to stay; your farm wouldn’t be hiring, would it?” Big Mac and his sister looked at each other in doubt for a moment before turning back to her. “Nnope,” was all he said. “What ma big brother means to say is,” Applejack interjected. “We just met ya, so…” “Please,” she said, with slight desperation in her voice that caught the two Apples off guard. “I have nothing left right now, I-I…” She trailed off, but it was enough to seem genuine. “Well, I suppose extra help around the farm never hurt anypony did it?” said Applejack. “Eyyup.” Applejack could then see slight confusion in the newcomer’s eyes, as if wondering if those were the only two things her brother ever said, before shaking herself out of that trance. “Oh, thank you!” she said in joyous relief, wiping her own, misty eyes with a sniffle. “Thank you so much!” “I…hope you weren’t expecting to get much pay though,” Applejack continued. “That’s fine!” said the mare. “That’s perfectly fine, I…just so long as I have a place to stay. A roof over my head and food to eat, right?...Even if it’s in that barn…” “Goodness!” said AJ. “Don’t you worry. We got a guest bedroom and everything; we’ll take care o’ya until you can find your own place!” “Oh, thank you!” the mare breathed in pure relief. “I don’t know how I’ll repay you!” “Your work will be payment enough dearie,” said Big Mac, confirming for her that he could say more than just two words. “But first,” said Applejack as she placed a hoof onto the unidentified mare’s chest as said mare began stepping onto the Apple’s property. “I gotta know yer name. Gotta introduce yerself at some point if we’re gunna be workin’ together, ya know?” The mare held out her hoof immediately. “Greybl-*cough**cough*” she choked, presumably from being parched. “Excuse me, uh, the name’s…Grey!…Abigail Grey.” Applejack only held a skeptical look on her face as Greyblade held her hoof out to her once again, before replacing the look with a more welcoming smile as she took said hoof in her own. “Well, welcome to the farm Abigail,” she said as they shook hooves. “Big Mac’ll show ya to yer room.” As the grey earth pony trotted her way past Big Mac and towards the barnhouse, Applejack went over and whispered to her brother. “That was strange,” she said to him. “We ought-ta check ourselves when around her.” “I’m sure she’s fine sis,” Mac whispered back as he began following the newcomer. “She’s just tired is all. I’d watch yerself if I was you, since you have a habit of judging books by their cover, if’n you know what I mean.” “I jus’ don’ think she’s bein’ very honest with us is all,” said Applejack dismissively. “Just keep your eye on her? I’ll keep workin’ the field fer now.” . . . 0805 hours “Did she act suspicious at all?” asked Applejack. “Not in the slightest,” said Big Mac with an amused grin. “She went ta rest on her new bed, and was passed out a few moments later!” . . . 2030 hours Greyblade stirred awake with a start. She was on her stomach, resting on the most comfortable mattress she’d ever been on, and her face had been stuffed into a pillow; her black cap had fallen off her head, bounced off her nose, and onto said pillow before her. It was dark outside, and the only light that now filled the room came from the open door behind her. She realized that whoever opened it, had only just opened it, and that was what had shaken her from her slumber. Turning over onto her side to look behind her, she found that a very young filly, wearing a red bowtie, was the one holding it open. “Evenin’, Abby!” she said in an oddly cheerful, yet melodic young voice. “We, uh, fixed ya some dinner! In case you were hungry?” “Uhm, sure,” was all she could say in response, faking a smile while holding her hoof up to shield her eyes from the incoming light. “Be right down!” “Great! See ya soon!” *SLAM!* Dark again. As her eyes began readjusting, Greyblade turned all the way onto her back and stared blankly at the ceiling. How the hay did I come up with that name? she asked herself, with disgusted sarcasm. Abigail…very bucking original. Memories of recent came flooding back to her: of the castle guards giving her merely some clothes to wear and a pair of saddlebags; of said saddlebags carrying nothing more than a map, two pieces of bread, some toothpaste, and a toothbrush; set free to make a new life. She had decided to make her way to Ponyville. To this very farm…because farming was all she knew back home, aside from war. Home. She could not entirely remember the day she had gotten her cutie-mark, a single gold-and-black-hilted dagger, but she did remember the first time her parents had called her Greyblade; the first time in her life that she hadn’t been referred to as merely, grey filly. Suddenly, she had a purpose. And off she went to the most elite training her country had to offer. To be a warrior. A leader. She immediately shook her head, attempting to stop the swell of guilt she began feeling upon her shoulders; she instead tried to go back to remembering how she had gotten into this room, after nearly stumbling onto Sweet Apple Acres. She had been so tired, that she had neither taken off her jacket nor unbraided her mane; it seemed truly a miracle to the Dalepony that she had managed to stay upright during the entire conversation that morning. Another memory came to her of dropping her saddlebags some ways between the doorway and the bed. Feeling somewhat rested, but still a little drowsy, she got up out of her new bed to go pick them up off the floor, only to find that they had already been hung up on the opposite end of her room. How polite… she thought as she shook her head, slowly trotting towards the door. I don’t deserve this… . . . Greyblade was surprised at how hungry she really was. The mare was just barely avoiding scarfing down her food in order to keep it polite! Despite these efforts, Granny Smith had quietly noticed the entire time. “You can’t fool an ol’ timer like me,” said the elderly pony eventually. “I know when a girl’s not had something to eat in a while!” The earth pony in question looked up from her food to see that everypony’s eyes were upon her. “Sorry,” she said after swallowing. “It’s just that, I’ve…been travelling for a while, with very limited rations, you know?” You’re SUCH a terrible liar! she thought to herself. The truth was, Greyblade had never seen so much food available for just one pony, as back home, her “city” of Thatchholm was really just a communal barn where the limited yield of the crops were shared amongst the populace; the amount of food in front of her, before she started eating, had been more than even what the King would have available for himself to eat! But despite the outright lie, they all seemed to believe her with their nods. All except for one pony; the orange earth pony across from her simply kept her slightly unnerving and skeptical stare. She didn’t say anything though, so Greyblade decided to not pay much further attention. “Well, I’m glad yer enjoyin’ yerself then, missy,” said Granny. “Uh, Granny? She has a name?” said Applejack, now with a subtle smirk on her face as she both continued to look at and leaned in towards Greyblade. “It wouldn’ be mighty polite o’ ya ta, not call our guest by her first name, na would it?” Everypony in the room except for Granny Smith now felt a palpable tension in the room as they continued to eat. “Oh, o’course! Where ma manners?” said Granny with a mild chuckle. “I’m glad yer enjoyin’ yerself, Miss…Miss…oh darn, it seems you’ll hafta fergive me! I’ve fergotten yer name?” Greyblade’s heartrate had been rising the moment Applejack said what she had said, realizing what the cowpony had set in motion, dreading having to answer the question Granny Smith had just asked; it was now plainly obvious how much the cowpony mistrusted her presence. The Dalepony had been racking her brain to recall the name she had come up with on the spot. Miraculously, she managed to remember just in time! “Abigail,” she said with a smile, hiding how stressed she was. “Miss Abigail,” said Granny. “I’m glad yer enjoyin’ our dinner.” “And thank you so much for making it.” “Ah, don’ mention it!” With this, everypony continued their meal, though Greyblade found her appetite to be slightly ruined after what felt like a very unwelcoming, subliminal confrontation, preventing her from tasting much of her food thereafter. Out of the corner of her eye, she could still see Applejack’s untrusting gaze was still unbroken. . . . After everypony had finished eating, Greyblade went straight up to her room and shut the door. “Why me?” she asked herself quietly, still with her hooves on the doorframe. Even she herself wasn’t quite sure what she was getting at, yet she was beginning to feel incredibly emotional for some reason. As she made her way over to the bathroom, she finally took off her clothes, thinking that, perhaps taking some time to defecate and brush her teeth would take her mind off things. . . . After washing her hooves, she simply stared into the mirror; undoing her own braid, she began to think about just how much had happened in only a couple of days. She smiled at the memory of laughing along with her subordinates, joking around and having a good time the morning of the invasion, just a few hours before they would armor up and ship out; keeping the pleasant memory in mind, she looked into the mirror once again, this time paying real attention to what she was seeing. She realized at that moment, for the first time in a while, just how beautiful she was; symmetrical, her head and body all the right proportions, her naturally straight mane caressing the sides of her face and falling naturally around her ears. Still, she couldn’t help but frown once again, preparing her toothbrush; something still wasn’t quite right. She began thinking about why that was as she started brushing. Though she had still managed to find a home, it was not the most welcoming place; could that be it? No. It was deeper, and much more troubling. She spat into the sink, finished attending to her dental hygiene; as she was wiping the excess toothpaste from her mouth with a small towel, that’s when she remembered. A silent pang of guilt struck her in the stomach. She froze, wide-eyed and towel in hoof, as she recalled the dreadful recording shown to her the day before. She looked back at the mirror again as the towel fell to the floor, seeing her blue eyes become misty. She looked away almost immediately, leaving the bathroom and turning off the light behind her; suddenly unable to look at herself, she entered the darkness of her bedroom once again. How could she have forgotten the recording? How could she forget about what had happened to her friends?! Why me? she asked herself again, this time understanding the pain she felt. Why did I have to live?! Now whimpering and on her knees in the middle of the room, her thoughts were becoming a maelstrom. I helped coordinate the attack. I led them into battle. Applejack is right to be suspicious of me. I attacked her people. She has no reason to help me… Soon, Greyblade wanted nothing more than to scream. It wasn’t cold at all, yet she found herself shivering, hugging herself across the chest to perhaps find solace in her own embrace; it was as if she were back in the dungeon cell! Desperately, Greyblade looked for something to cling to, something that the dungeon didn’t have. The bed. The Dalepony practically dragged herself over to the foot of the bed, but when she got there, she could no longer help herself. I got them all KILLED! she shrieked mentally. I’m the pony least deserving of even a bed to sleep on! It was there that she broke down, finally allowing herself to grieve. She turned and put her back to the foot of the bed before sinking down onto her haunches as she sobbed. Her face was contorted in anguish as she let out all her bottled emotions, knowing it was now okay to do so, when nopony had to see her weak and vulnerable. To keep anypony from hearing her outside of the room, she had to cover her mouth with one hoof and tightly hold it in place with the other. She grieved for nearly twenty minutes, until she finally managed to pull herself onto the bed and quietly cry herself to sleep. . . . August 10, 2558 0730 hours The Mild West Appleloosa Shadow Company had long drove ahead, punching deep into changeling-controlled territory; the marines of Gypsy Company, meanwhile, were preparing for their journey upon their recently arrived mammoth and pelicans. Alpha platoon was loading up in the big rig, along with warthogs and other heavy weapons. Icebreaker sat in a circle atop the machine, the lower levels too busy for sitting and chilling out, as they discussed the preceding day. “We shot up every piece of furniture we could find, and there were no stragglers,” said Private Eugene 'Shifty' Phillips. “None! Are we unlucky or what?” “Either they were killed by their friendly artillery strike or they decided to call it quits early and get shot outta the sky,” said Sergeant Alex Thompson. “We’d gone into the clocktower relatively early on, so…” “Yeah, that’s probably it,” responded Shifty. “It better fucking be.” “Let’s hope they don’t decide to use more of that artillery in the future,” said Gunnery Sergeant David Alvarez. “We should keep wearing our masks though, so that normal bolts of their magic will be guaranteed to not kill us.” The rest of the squad nodded their heads in agreement. “I still can’t believe they’ve found a way to penetrate our armor,” said Private Oscar 'Sydney' Morgan. “Hey man, we tried,” said PFC Ogden Jenkins, putting a hand on Sidney’s shoulder. “All we can do now is minimize the danger; like Gunny said, just keep your mask on.” As Sidney nodded in response, Captain Robert Peterson came around the corner, having walked up from below. “Icebreaker,” he said as the members of the squad in question raised their heads from out of their circle like meerkats. “You’re needed aboard the Infinity.” They only gave each other confused looks before getting up like they were told. Once they were outside the mammoth, Peterson directed all six members of Icebreaker into a Pelican that was parked right next to it. It was at that time that Alvarez decided to speak up, knowing that they were now all out of earshot. “Sir?” said the Gunnery Sergeant over the Pelican’s engines. “What’s this about?” “Dunno, it’s top secret,” said the Captain over the noise as well. “But something tells me you’re gunna be glad it is…” . . . August 10, 2558 0753 hours Ponyville Sweet Apple Acres For the first time in a long time, Greyblade woke up naturally. No alarm clock. Nopony rapping on her door. Nothing. She simply awakened as her own body saw fit. The Dalepony couldn’t remember a time when she’d felt this well rested. She slowly sat up and scanned the room, smelling breakfast downstairs. She hadn’t gone under the bedsheets, since it was so warm both inside and outside, and so was able to simply scooch herself over to the bedside when she heard hoofsteps approaching her door. “Abigail?” came Applejack’s voice after three knocks from the other side. “Come in,” said Greyblade. The orange mare opened the door and walked in, not wearing her signature Stetson hat. “Ya sleep aight?” she asked. “How’ya feelin’?” Her demeanor was very different from the previous night, much softer and more empathetic. “Fine,” was all Greyblade could say, looking away as she was unsure of what AJ was getting at. She crossed her arms and hugged them tight, almost like she was pouting, except she wasn’t. “Listen, I wanted to apologize for yesterday,” said Applejack, causing the Dalepony’s ears to perk up. “You have ta understand that I ain’t used ta strangers livin’ in my house, ya feel?” Greyblade was about to retort when she realized that Applejack really didn’t know a thing about her, where she came from, or what she did; otherwise she would have told her off and that she neither needed nor deserved her sympathy. “I-I heard you cryin’ last night,” AJ continued as she came and sat on the edge of the bed with Greyblade. “An’ I felt mighty guilty fer it. I didn’t make ya feel welcome, and that ain’t what a friend should be doing ta anypony.” The blue-eyed earth pony simply stared back at her in silence, unsure of what to say. “Fer that, I’m sorry,” said Applejack finally. After some time, Greyblade gently placed a hoof on one of the cowpony’s legs. “It’s okay,” she said with a calm smile. “Apology accepted.” This mare really knew how to get the truth out of somepony, as the grey earth pony had decided the truth should come out now rather than later; she was about to tell her that she needed not feel guilty, that it was her own fault that she cried, that she was not even Equestrian, everything! That is, until Big Mac burst into the room yelling, “Sis!” Both mares whipped their heads around to look at him, sweat rolling past his wider-than-usual eyes. “Wha-?! Big Mac? What’s got ya so worked up brother?” asked Applejack. Alarmedly, he delivered the bad news, simply stating, “Rainbow’s gone missin’!”