//------------------------------// // Chapter 26: I Made My Move // Story: Through the Aurora // by Starscribe //------------------------------// Theo stumbled into the lobby of the Feather building about an hour later. She hadn’t seen any sign of Sharp or Emerald trying to stop her. That hurt plenty in its own way—she’d ran away as though she were being followed, but she didn’t actually know that she was. Maybe they didn’t care. The lobby was spacious and mostly empty, with a single reception desk by an elevator on the far wall and a large fountain in the center. So ponies did have them. They just weren’t installed in magical crystal castles.  There were actually three figures in the room, not just the mare behind the reception desk. Two burly-looking stallions blocked the way to the stairs. They wore suits instead of the metal armor more typical of ponies, though they were bulky enough that she wouldn’t have known if they had a handgun tucked away somewhere. Stop being paranoid, Theo. They’re not going to hurt you. This place doesn’t even have guns. “I’m afraid we don’t take visitors without appointments,” said the mare, watching her skeptically as she approached. “Whyever you’re here, you’re probably lost.” “I’m not,” she said, pulling out the letter from her saddlebags and placing it on the table between them. “Kate Alasie gave that to me. She said I should show you, and I’d get to see her right away.” The secretary looked annoyed, glancing once at the guards by the elevator. One began to make his way over—slowly, casually. Trying not to be obvious. Theo ignored him, watching as the secretary looked the letter over. Once she saw the strange language, all her annoyance and apprehension vanished. She didn’t seem able to read what it said, but that didn’t matter. She passed it back after a few seconds, then bent down to a metal box in front of her with a few buttons. Not much resemblance to Equestrian technology, but she already knew to expect that. “The VIP you’ve been waiting for has arrived, Miss Feather. Should I send her up?” The response came back just as quickly. “Directly, please.” “Right this way.” She gestured at the elevator. “Mr. Bullion will show you up.” Theo slipped the letter away again, then approached the elivator. She hardly noticed the way Bullion clearly trailed behind her. She didn’t wonder what he might do if she tried to leave now, not at all. Theo stepped into the elevator, and wasn’t entirely surprised to see a pony standing by a complex set of levers. Bullion reached over him with one thick hoof, flipping the lever highest on the board. There wasn’t even a number next to it like the others, just a little Feather symbol. He nodded hurriedly, cranking at a wheel until the lever shut, then pressed cautiously on the lift lever. It was nothing like a modern elevator, of the hydraulic type she’d ridden in most often in her life. This one smacked her into the floor with the abrupt weight of gravity as they started to rise, with the operator-pony carefully manipulating the dials at every inch. As they rose, the glass on the far wall became a window out of the building. Theo watched Manehattan rise all around her, then fall again as they rose above even the tallest native structure. Feather’s headquarters was bigger than any other structure in the city. Finally they came to a jerky halt, and the operator rang a bell. “Penthouse,” he said, cranking the door open for them. Bullion waited behind her as before, until Theo stepped out into the space beyond. It was vast and luxurious, everything she might expect from the CEO of a gigantic, successful company. Kate’s desk was near a window, which had to be separated into panels rather than sheets. Apparently Equestria didn’t have structural plate-glass. Another side of the room was dedicated to chalkboards, bookshelves, and a workshop of sorts. Prominent in one corner of that workshop was a rugged laptop, weirdly large just like Theo’s own camera. It was pretty old, with the painfully-thick bezels of older generation computers. But the screen was on, and the computer hummed quietly. Windows 7. Another stallion in a suit waited by a door on the far side, a thick earth pony just like the one who had led her up here. There was nopony else in the room, though she could almost hear voices of urgent activity through the floor. This space was peaceful, but the rest of the building was still an active company. “You must be Theo Pichler,” Kate said from her desk, remaining bent over something. A large blueprint, with a drafting compass and square spread beside her. She was a hippogriff, just like Theo expected. Even so, she bent down and fumbled with the necklace, pocketing it on pretense of removing her scarf for the heat. “Did you really come here from Earth?” Theo asked, crossing from a granite floor and onto a soft white carpet. It seemed perfectly selected for her claws, just soft enough for her to appreciate in a way a pony never would. “Are you human?” She watched her face, searching for any sign of recognition. Had she been lied to? Was Sharp right after all this time? “Forgive me, I haven’t used English in a long time,” she said. Her voice was halting, her words thickly accented. She hadn’t removed any jewelry, assuming she had even been wearing any. She wore little clothing, only a white vest and a little loop of silvery metal on her head, almost like a crown. Almost. “I did not think I would.” She sat up, extending a claw towards her. “Forgive me for not shaking your hand. Can’t reach that far.” Theo nodded, relaxing. Thank God, she’s real. She settled the scarf back into place, then searched for a seat. There were none on the other side of the desk, and after a few seconds she just settled onto her haunches. The desk was apparently chosen to be just too tall to get a good look at what it might contain from this side. Kate must be sitting in a pretty tall chair too, to seem so big.  “I can’t believe there was someone else here!” Theo exclaimed. “All this time, you’ve been… running Apple.” Finally this new creature showed a little emotion. She smiled knowingly, glancing over her shoulder at the gigantic Feather logo framed there in the glass. “You know that, but they don’t.” She flicked one wing towards the window. “But I don’t think you came to tell them, did you?” Why did I come? She opened her mouth, but couldn’t find an answer, and just closed it again. “No. I didn’t want to come here at all… Kate?” She glanced to one side, at the laptop. “Were you actually prepared for this trip? Or just luckier than I was?” “I don’t think I’d call landing here lucky by any definition,” she answered. “Though… if I remember Sleighsburg, it’s halfway to frozen already. So perhaps you’re lucky that you didn’t die before you could find help.” “There was a pony there when I landed… I think maybe you might know him. Sharp Edge? He’s a blacksmith in Sleighsburg, expert on the Doorway…” “Oh,” Kate’s expression went suddenly cold, and one claw scraped on the heavy wooden desk. “We’ve met. I’d prefer not to discuss him.” Theo shivered in spite of herself. She wasn’t here to argue with Kate, she’d done enough of that with the pony who saved her life. She was here to escape from all that. “He doesn’t matter. I’m trying to get back home.” For a second, Theo thought she could see Kate’s face harden again—but she was probably just imagining that. “I believe I was entirely thorough in my letter.” She rose from her desk suddenly, pacing past one section of gigantic window to a stone model not far from the desk. Theo recognized it suddenly—it was the Doorway, perched precariously atop a tall desk. It was elevated high enough that Theo’s primary view was of the mechanical underside.  Whoever had crafted this had done so with spectacular accuracy, right down to the large support-section in the center, and the control box with its mysterious openings.  “I’ve been here for years, Theodor.” She raised an eyebrow at that, resting one claw on the side of the desk. “That’s, uh… strange name.” “Don’t even get me started,” she said, letting a little of her annoyance through. “I wasn’t female on the other side. They call me Summer Ray on this side. Less of a headache.” Kate winced, patting her shoulder consolingly. “I’m afraid I have no solution to that particular problem, not with all the wealth and resources I have amassed. I expect you’ve experienced an inadvertent side-effect of the Rosen bridge. The machinery that creates it is more than a little complex, as you can see.” She leaned in, squinting at the model. “You’ve been studying it for years, and you can’t get it to work again?” She nodded solemnly, walking past the model to one of her large drafting areas. She removed several huge scrolls from the desk, climbing up using a ladder on tracks to reach. Guess she didn’t find the time to learn to fly either. “The bridge isn’t entirely artificial, The—Summer. Is that alright?” She didn’t actually wait for confirmation, spreading the first of the large scrolls over whatever she was sketching. “See, Summer?” She’d seen maps like this, false color overlays of radiation superimposed on topography. It was precisely the sort of map that the Observatory might’ve produced, though far less precise. Here each patch of color was obviously done by hand, with imprecise blurring between each real observation rather than computational modeling. She did see. In the center of the map was the large ramp, and the structure underneath mostly buried in snow. The bridge. All the colors were distributed randomly, in entropic patches. “When the bridge is activated…” She spread the second one, exactly over the first. Now the door itself was bright orange, with reddish fading to purple spread around it and every random patch of radiation gone.  Theo didn’t know exactly what was being measured here, and there was no scale. But the meaning was clear enough for her to see.  Kate supplied the answer. “The bridge doesn’t open to just anywhere. Think of it more like… a stargate. Did you ever watch that show?” Again, she didn’t wait for her response. She didn’t even seem to care. “You need a door open on the other side. So far as I can tell, this planet once had a much more advanced culture than it now possesses, one that explored well beyond the two worlds we know about. Equestria itself might be a distant colo—whatever, I can see you don’t care. My point is, their bridge on this side generates a phenomenon reliably that can—with exceptional rarity—be generated naturally. A precise configuration of difficult-to-produce high energy particles, either stabilizing an existing bridge or creating one. I’m afraid the specific science exceeds my grasp.” And you were afraid of her, Sharp? If anything, watching the creature in front of her reminded Theo of Sharp himself. Hopelessly invested in her own craft, to the exclusion of everything else. She was even talking about nerdy TV shows, that Theo had seen thank you very much. “Are you with me so far?”  Theo nodded hastily. “You’re saying the hippogriffs built a stargate here in their world, and used it to connect to spontaneously-generated conditions elsewhere.” She nodded. “Yes, excellent. I forget you came from the Observatory—of course the basic principles wouldn’t be too much for you. I’ll condense. I believe the ancient civilization traveled from this world to many others—in each, they would send an expedition knowing they must succeed or die. The faction who arrived on our planet either failed to create the bridge on the other side, or, as I think is more likely, they did complete it. But after contact with our species, they chose to destroy it. “In either case, the result for you and me is the same. Even if the bridge was working on this end—and it doesn’t appear to be—there is no device on the other end to stabilize a connection. You can’t open a door that isn’t there.” She puffed herself out, spreading her wings a little. This was the moment she’d been building towards, the one she’d been preparing for. “We can’t go home, ever. Whatever conditions brought you here were fundamentally an entropically inconceivable accident. Even if we could repair the device on our end, you could end up anywhere. The trip would never be worth the risk.” Theo stared out at the model, letting the weight of those words settle on her. Certainly they were discouraging—they were meant to be. But as she thought about it, she realized she was worried about nothing. She grinned, bouncing suddenly up and down. “I think we might’ve accidentally discovered the thing that hippogriffs have been using for all these years!” She circled around the model, voice eager. “Barrow Observatory was recently commissioned by Graz University to perform a high-energy particle observation experiment. I was in the process of upgrading the array when I ended up here. It wasn’t an accident—it happened the instant I switched on the diagnostic. And I know it must still be working on the other side, because the next day I got a radio reply!” She started pacing back and forth, barely even watching Kate’s expression. She couldn’t easily tell what emotions the other hippogriff might be feeling in any case, with her expression a mask like that.  “I think if we can get the bridge on our side fixed before the experiment ends, we should be able to cross right back! We can go home, Kate!” She reached out, settling one claw on her shoulder, before being casually brushed aside. “I wish it were that simple,” Kate answered, her voice seeming strangely cold. “Summer, you don’t know how complex the machinery is on this side. Even I barely understand the gateway. Its components are mostly spells, not mechanical or electrical. Even when physically damaged, they apparently mend themselves—but not correctly. I’m certain that if the door’s power reserves weren’t already depleted, your arrival finished that task. You saw yourself—when you opened the door a second time, you were not able to return home.” Summer stopped, frowning to herself. “How do you… know that?” “Because you just said you got radio contact,” Kate said hastily. “If it was more than that, you wouldn’t be standing in my office.” “Oh, right.” She relaxed again. “I think you’re right about power—but that’s a solvable problem. We can go south to the hippogriffs, and ask for their help.” Kate shook her head again, turning away from the model and looking out at the setting sun with a distant, pained expression. “Again you run up against a barrier I have already encountered, Summer. The hippogriffs are not a cooperative faction. They seem… determined that the door never be opened again. Their fear for whatever is on the other side well exceeds irrational. Even a mention of humanity often results in hostility.” Theo slumped onto her haunches in front of the desk, remembering her experience with the ambassador. She hadn’t exactly been treated well during that conversation. As soon as he’d seen proof of her humanity, he’d tried to get her locked away. At least Kate hadn’t tried to do that. She spoke English, and she had artifacts from Earth. Theo wasn’t crazy! “If they’re so afraid of us, wouldn’t they be trying to get rid of us? You’re from Earth, and so am I. We’re loose to do whatever we want in Equestria. And apparently… we do a lot.” She glanced over her shoulder at the vast office again, and the designs framed on the wall. Kate shook her head. “We’re in Equestria. They don’t seem to care how much trouble we cause as long as we leave their nation-state alone. If you tried to go to Seaquestria, you’d see for yourself. They’d lock you up and throw away the key. But… you don’t have to worry, Summer.” She fumbled in her drawer, removing something. An envelope, with something heavy inside. It thumped onto the desk between them. “I wrote to you with a promise that we humans would stick together, and I meant it. I’ve amassed… more money than any one person can spend. So long as you’re in the city, I’ll make sure you live just as well as I do, no strings attached. But if you want to work for Feather, I’m sure we can find a place for you. Whatever your technical background, I guarantee you’re beyond every living person on this planet. Unless you’re an electrical engineer, in which case you’re beyond everyone else on this planet.” She chuckled, mostly to herself. Theo didn’t laugh along. Theo reached out, scooping the envelope off the desk and turning it over in front of her. It wasn’t sealed, she could glance inside easily. A single scrawled note, and what looked like a house key. Kate was offering her a life here in Manehattan. A comfortable, well-appointed life. From the total lack of signs of aging on Kate’s face, it was one that would probably last a decent long while. Longer than a real bird lived, anyway. “Don’t you want to go home?” She wasn’t sure where the words came from, but she asked them anyway, settling the envelope down on the table in front of her. “The experiment on the other side only runs for… another year? There’s limited space up there. That’s assuming they didn’t end it already, which… I’m going to assume, because my disappearance shouldn’t reflect bad on the project. But still. We have a window we could use to go back. Maybe it will be hard, maybe we have to convince the hippogriffs to help us. “But look at all this!” She gestured around with her wings. “I know what’s convincing to most people, money. Maybe all we have to do is buy off a hippogriff to come with us with their… necklace-things. Whatever they are. And you said it yourself, you’ve been studying the portal for years now! If anyone can fix it, you can.” Kate sat back in her chair, her expression going hard again. She settled both claws on the desk in front of her, tapping them impatiently as Theo ranted. At least she didn’t interrupt until she finished.  “Returning to Earth is too dangerous,” she repeated, like the words of some sacred mantra. “You probably won’t even end up on the right planet… and more importantly, even the attempt would upset a delicate balance of factors I have been working very precisely to control for almost a decade.” She spun her chair around, turning her back on Summer as she looked out the window. Out in Manehattan below, the lights were coming on. Buildings lit up, and spotlights began to shine on billboards. Many were for Feather products. Did she buy those specifically, or does she just own all of them? “Maybe you haven’t taken the time to look, but this world is an opportunity, Summer. There are virgin soils out there, never touched. Ancient land still belongs to the ones who first settled it. There’s no hole in the ozone, the oceans aren’t rising.”  She spun back around, folding her claws across the desk. “We have a responsibility to these creatures. We aren’t just here to enjoy the luxuries that creating things for them provides. We’re prophets from a… doomed time. With my guidance, this planet can be kept from making the same mistakes as the one we left behind. Yes, that takes money, and exploiting certain resources… but the goal was never to keep civilization primitive. Even if I could leave today, I wouldn’t. Who would guide them if I don’t?” Can’t they guide themselves? If you already think they made better choices, why would bringing us help? “Okay.” Theo raised her wings defensively, backing a little way away from the desk. “I’m not trying to pressure you to leave, I’m sorry. I know you’ve been here a lot longer than I have. Obviously you’ve worked things out. You learned their language, you built this whole… company. That’s a lot to give up. But what about me? Let me take your bits and… travel south. I already have some friends who were willing to make the trip.” Maybe if they don’t already hate me, they’ll still be willing to go. “They can take me down there. I might not even need your help, but… I wouldn’t say no. Maybe you could let me borrow what you’ve learned about the portal. If you have any designs, or technical sketches. I’m more of a software developer than an electrical engineer, but I can probably understand whatever you wrote.” Kate’s expression remained unreadable. She tapped two claws on the desk, in a way that seemed casual to Theo, like a tick. Except that the guards on both sides of the room suddenly straightened, turning towards them. They still didn’t move—she was just getting their attention. “I already explained this, Summer. I’m not going to explain it again. I’m sorry you lost Earth. But if you go back, your disappearance will be impossible to explain away.” She folded her claws across the desk again. “Can I be straight with you? I’m going to be straight with you.” Theo nodded, rising to her claws and approaching the desk. “What do you think is going to happen to this place if those…” She cleared her throat. “If those people on the other side of that portal figure out what’s out here? A virgin world, uncorrupted, unspoiled. Perfect. You said it yourself, they might’ve accidentally discovered the way across. Combination of some… new telescope and the aurora. I’ve known it was possible for some time, since I had to build something similar to get here in the first place. For all I know, that university found my old designs.” Summer’s mouth hung open, but she didn’t interrupt. She did keep glancing over her shoulder, wishing she’d listened to Sharp a little more with every moment.  “The balance I keep is on both sides of the doorway. Pressure on the hippogriffs to keep away from their old artifacts—otherwise, they might end up opening a door they should’ve left closed. And pressure on Earth, not to discover this. Obviously something must’ve been different about your crossing, or we would have had half a dozen people here by now. But no one fell here after you did. That means we’re still safe over here.” She slumped forward, rubbing her temples with two claws. They weren’t actually sharp—she’d apparently trimmed them so close they were almost like fingers. Almost. “If none of the other difficulties before you will deter you, then listen to this, Summer. I am the most powerful person in Equestria. Even their monarch doesn’t have the eyes I have. Yeah, it fucking sucks that you lost your dick. It sucks you lost your family, or maybe your lover, or I don’t really care what. Cry about it, you’ve earned a good cry. “But when you’re done crying, look me in the eye and realize you aren’t going home. I will not allow any hint of the bridge to be seen on that side. I will do anything to prevent that information from spreading. I’ve bought politicians, I’ve manipulated archeological funding boards. I’ve made ships never reach their ports.” She tapped the desk again, and the guards began to approach. Slowly, keeping their distance. Earth ponies of that size would be faster than she was, and much stronger. There would be no getting past them to reach the doors. “Take that envelope, live a life of luxury. Maybe help me save this planet, if you want to. Or don’t, just drink and fuck and die. There’s no cocaine here, but I could probably get you a metric assload of opium if you wanted it. I’ll get you anything you want, so long as you stay where I can see you, and don’t try to open things that should stay closed. Are we clear?” Summer backed away from the guards. She was already up against the desk—so she moved to the side, towards the bookshelf. “We’re clear,” she said, opening the envelope and holding up the key. “So this… this is somewhere for me to live?” Kate relaxed. “Yes. Now let’s see sense for a moment. We don’t need to be enemies. Humans should stick together. Just enjoy what I want to give you, and don’t give me grief. It isn’t a bad life here, really. Equestria might seem primitive, but it isn’t as culturally different as you think. For all you know, you might forget about being a man.” Summer moved in a blur, slamming her shoulder into the model. It tumbled, heavy stone and metal table crashing right into the window. The glass shattered in a spectacular spray of multicolored shards. “The fuck are you—” The first guard lunged for her. Summer dodged, climbing up on the wrecked desk and leaping out the opening. Glass dug into her side and one of her back legs, but she ignored it—it didn’t hurt much. She didn’t even think about the distance, and the spectacular drop down below her. She spread her wings and flew.