//------------------------------// // 3. Exploration // Story: Teamwork // by NoMoreNormalcy //------------------------------// Tomorrow was a bit of a startle for Breezefeather. She was woken up to a gasp and a startled yell with a yell of her own in the mix. Seems that it’s the same no matter where you go – farm folks wake up early. Breezefeather calmed down once she recognized the voice belonging to Crystal as her screaming went to excited shrieking and giggles. Chants of “you’re real!” bounced off the walls of the barn and Breezefeather had to do her best to try to calm Crystal down long enough for her to do the rest of her chores. The storm had come that night. Breezefeather had slept through storms before, mostly because she had been too worn out from arranging and organizing the clouds for them to do anything else. The ground was muddy and covered in puddles here and there. She returned her borrowed blanket and bid farewell for the time being to the family after finding them individually around the ranch. Next, she flew up to find some clouds to rest on. The thing about it was, the clouds were much too high. She was amazed at how high up they were, even the lowest laying clouds were just out of her reach. If there were only some stratus clouds, I might be able to get at those, Breezefeather thought. Instead of flying higher to the thinner air, she flew around and to a forest nearby and rested in a strong, thick branch of a strong deciduous tree, surrounded by conifers. She lifted her left pastern, which still had the bracelet on it and said, “I wish Desiree was here right now.” From thin air, Desiree’s voice was heard, “As you have wished it, and so it shall be!” With a swirl of her trademark pink smoke magic, she materialized in front of Breezefeather. Desiree then bowed graciously, “What is it that you wish now, Breezefeather?” The mare smiled, “Well, it seems that if I want to explore, I’ll have to take your advice to heart and wish for a form that blends in, and I know how to make it work, too!” Desiree smiled and made the motion to continue. “I wish that my bracelet would turn me into a clothed human version of myself if I were to say, ‘no hooves please’ to my bracelet, and to turn back into my mare self with the phrase, ‘hooves please!’” Desiree quirked an eyebrow but simply said, “So you have wished it, and you know the rest.” Pink magical smoke then drifted from her hand and floated to the bracelet around her wrist. The bracelet glowed briefly and then settled back to its usual appearance. “Real quick, why those phrases?” Desiree asked, genuinely curious. Breezefeather shrugged and replied, “Who’d say them in normal conversation?” The genie made a face and nodded, as though to concede the point. “I’m going to test it out!” “Might I recommend-.” Desiree started but stopped when she heard, “no hooves please” and Breezefeather was suddenly a young woman with an average weight if a bit slim in stature. Same chocolate brown skin in place of a coat of hair. Same white freckles, only smaller and more plentiful. Same cloud-white hair on her head, only instead of a strip of mane, her hair covered the top, sides, and back of her head. Breezefeather was sure if she had a mirror, her eyes would still be the same sky blue. She wore a white t-shirt, blue jeans, and brown boots. Her grin threatened to split her face, “I look great! I can’t wait- woah!” She suddenly wobbled, unused to the new center of gravity she had with being bipedal. Her arms swung around, and she grabbed onto the tree itself. Desiree had a simple smile. “Not a word.” “I didn’t say anything,” Desiree defended, hands up in a non-threating manner as though surrendering. She, however, looked Breezefeather in the eye and smirked. The mare-turned-human looked back to the ghost and relented, “Okay, what were you going to recommend?” “Oh, dear, it slips my mind at this time, so sorry, Breezefeather.” Breezefeather’s lips became a fine line as she stared at the ghostly woman. “Fine, I can guess. Hooves please.” At the utterance of the phrase, she turned back into a pegasus, still clutching the tree. She then let go and pushed off enough to gain some distance and began hovering. “I’m going to go to the nearest town and try out being a human! I’ll see you later, Dessie?” The ghostly genie frowned, “It’s Desiree. Anyways, I’ll let you to it. Perhaps while you explore, you’ll get more wish ideas? Just call for me when you think of them!” With a wave of her arm, she disappeared in pink smoke. “Okay, that was cool.” Breezefeather made it back to the house and told the family she found a magic item that could turn her human and back and she was going to use it to explore. The parents warned that if it was actually a ghostly item, it might not be too healthy for her to use. The children, however, were all for it, wanting her to show off her new form now. Breezefeather felt she had to comply. Upon seeing her new form, the parents relented, especially saying, “Seeing as you aren’t a child, let alone one of ours, we can’t force you not to use it. But avoid those Guys in White! They’ll probably detect your fancy bracelet and try to capture you!” The mare agreed if only to not hear of any horror stories that the family may have heard. She said her command phrase and was a pegasus once more and flew to the city she now knew as Amity Park from the ranching family. Breezefeather was quite ecstatic to be in the city. The only city she’s been to before was Cloudsdale, and their architecture was flourished and fancy, able to defy gravity what with all the clouds it was made from. Breezefeather looked around and with her sharp eyes, didn’t see anyone looking up or at the alleyway she had chosen. The alleyway was, in fact, empty and sparse. Touching down, she whispered the command phrase into the bracelet and Breezefeather was that same human again. She took a tentative step and found that her balance as a biped was the worst. She fell on her face more times than she’d care for. After a full thirty minutes, she managed to stand upright and walk at a moderate pace without falling. Perfect. Walking out of the alleyway, Breezefeather then decided to explore the city. A few times she came across some buildings with dark windows and used their reflective surfaces to check out her face. Indeed, her freckles were all over the bridge of her nose and her cheekbones and her eyes were certainly that same sky blue. Pleased, Breezefeather resumed looking around. Pony-less carriages littered the roads, some parked and others in motion, most a single color, others the same taxi color that she’s seen rarely in Ponyville. She saw a multitude of businesses and regretted not having her money pouch with her filled with bits to make a purchase, that was if they used bits around here. Still, she explored. Her discoveries in the city were cut short, however, by the sound of a siren and flashing blue and red lights. She’s heard of police in cities like Winnyapolis and Manehattan, but she’s never had the chance to see them before. In a pony-less carriage that was black and white with red and blue lights flashing on top rolled up what had to be a police vehicle, simply because the word was plastered over its form multiple times. Officers in blue uniforms missing the traditional hat sat in the two front seats. A multitude of strange items littered the interior of the vehicle between and behind the two of them on a metal rack separating the back seats from the front. A wheel was operated by the officer furthest from her towards the center of the road and the officer closest to her looked at her from behind dark sunglasses. “Miss, what are you doing out here on a school day?” Confused, Breezefeather thought it over before replying, “I’m exploring the city?” It wasn’t meant as a question, but she couldn’t help her confusion. “Am I not allowed?” “Ma’am, you are supposed to be in class right now,” said the furthest one, slightly irritated. Breezefeather laughed, “Oh, I’ve already graduated. Have a good day, officers!” As she started to walk away, however, she heard the click of a handle and boots hitting the concrete behind her, “Miss,” Sunglasses called out to her, “come back here, please.” Though phrased as a request, Breezefeather just knew it was anything but. Slowly, she turned around for both not to trip herself nor to give the officer any reason to tackle her. “I’m sorry, officer, but I’m nineteen now, I don’t need to be in school. I just found myself here in town one day and I decided to explore while I’m here.” The officer only responded by tilting his head down to glance over his sunglasses to give a look that conveyed disappointment and something that said, “You’re joking, right?” Breezefeather groaned and walked over to the officer. “You do have an ID on you, right?” “Eye-dee?” she parroted. “What is that? You mean my papers, like a birth certificate? I don’t carry stuff like that with me!” Sunglasses closed his eyes tightly and tilted his head to the ground, “No, ID. Like a driver’s license, student identification card, state photo identification card, a passport, things like that.” Breezefeather tilted her head to the side, “A driver’s license?” Her thoughts went to the pony-less carriages and drew a conclusion, “I don’t have a need for something like that. I have two perfectly good wi- legs. Two perfectly good legs.” The officer didn’t seem to notice the near slip, “So you mean to tell me, that if you really are nineteen, you don’t have a driver’s license?” Disbelief colored his voice. Breezefeather placed one arm on the other and kicked a foot slightly, sheepishly. “Is that a bad thing?” Sunglasses sighed and shook his head, “No, it’s not, but it makes it harder for me to validate anything you say.” He took out a pair of what looked like slim hoof shackles to her. “Sorry, Miss, but it’s procedure and I need to take you to the school. To make sure you don’t run off or do anything stupid, I need to cuff ya for a bit.” She put both her hands on her face and groaned. Great, just great! This is just what I needed, to get arrested by the law. She held out her hands, palms up. Well, at least they aren’t taking me to jail. The officer clamped the cuffs on her gently, making sure they didn’t pinch or hold too tightly so she got circulation through her wrists. He opened a door to the back seat for her and gently guided her in so she wouldn’t bump her head on the ceiling of the interior. The door closed after her and the sunglasses officer clamored into the seat in front of her and with a quick whir of the sirens, they eased off the side of the street and cruised down the road. Groaning, Breezefeather leaned back into the seat. I wonder if Dash will think this is hilarious. Her thoughts stopped for a moment and went back to Ponyville. I wonder what they’re doing, now? Princess Twilight might be interested in the idea of another world to explore with strange bipedal creatures or even ghosts. Rainbow Dash would probably want to fight them all. Pinkie Pie would, well, she’s Pinkie Pie, she’d try to make friends. My co-workers might be worried about me, though I wouldn’t put it past everypony to write me off as a lost cause if it’s too dangerous to look for me. She recalled the vastness of the Ghost Zone. That place is huge! “Things not going your way, Princess?” the driver asked. “I’m not a Princess. What would make you say that?” Breezefeather asked, confused. “Let me guess, you don’t get what you want so you make up a little white lie, huh?” “Uh, no.” She thought for a moment. “You don’t believe I’m nineteen, do you?” Sunglasses interjected, “Sadly, I don’t think he does, Miss, but even if you are telling the truth, it’s hard to tell these days, which is why I recommend first chance you get to grab your birth certificate and head to the DMV to get a photo ID.” Driver replied bitterly, “Don’t put some silly idea into her head, she’s probably lying so she can run around, and smoke weed all day. Teens these days.” “Why would I want to smoke weeds? That doesn’t sound fun or pleasant.” Breezefeather was getting more and more confused. “MJ? Marijuana? The Devil’s Grass? Good God, girl, did you grow up sheltered or just plain dumb?!” “Hey!” She cried out insulted, “That’s uncalled for!” “I’ll have to agree with her there, McCreedy, that was really uncalled for,” Sunglasses agreed. Officer McCreedy simply harrumphed. The rest of the ride was in silence, though not that far. They parked in a blacktop parking lot next to a square building that had the word “Casper” written on the front of it, as the door was opened for her by Sunglasses. She managed to look at both of their name tags for once and concluded the grumpy human was indeed Officer McCreedy and Sunglasses was Officer Knowles. McCreedy stomped up the stairs and pulled the front double doors open almost violently, caught barely by Knowles as he gently guided Breezefeather into the building. Inside, it was very much well a school. A long hallway with lockers that were doubled up, staggered doors on each side of the hallway. The hallway ran to her left and right a few ways before turning right and left respectively, and a hallway in front of her to a different set of interior double doors. From the little windows, she could see a variety of teens from under to almost her age milling about, holding trays. Must be the lunchroom, Breezefeather thought. Her thoughts were jostled by the gentle urging of the officer as she was led to a door that was labeled “Principal Ishiyama.” Is she Neighponiese? Breezefeather couldn’t help but think, recalling how very Neighponiese her name sounded. Officer McCreedy knocked loudly on the door as Officer Knowles took his sunglasses off. The door opened and a woman with features that if you were to put them on a pony, made her look very Neighponiese as well. She wore a purple dress suit with a red necktie and a white undershirt and a bit on the large side. “Yes, how can I help you, gentlemen?” “May we come inside and discuss a few things?” Officer Knowles gently requested as he nodded to my direction. The woman looked concerned and nodded, “Right this way, gentlemen.” Inside and seated, Breezefeather looked around the office. There was a desk with the “Principal Ishiyama” written on a little placard that stood up on the front and the woman sat down at the desk, confirming her identity. There were two, simple wooden chairs in front of the desk that neither man sad down at but Officer Knowles gently guided her in front of one and gently pushed on her shoulder. She sat down, but not before turning a bit behind her and saw a wall of glass that looked to view a meat locker of some sort. She could only tell that it was meat from the giant lettering on one of the boxes proudly proclaiming “MEAT” on its visible side. Once seated, she faced Principal Ishiyama with no small amount of confusion. “It seems you’ve found a truant teen, officers, however, I don’t recognize her in the slightest,” the principal said, almost equally confused at the chocolate-colored teen in front of her. “I’m nineteen. I already graduated,” Breezefeather tried again. McCreedy wasn’t having any of it, “And I’m a magical princess. Get over it, Cupcake. You aren’t squirming out of this one.” “I’m not squirming out of anything! I literally am telling the truth!” Breezefeather rose her voice just enough to be heard by all parties inside the office, and possibly anyone outside the door. “Why won’t any p- body believe me?” McCreedy grew incensed, “Oh yeah, then why don’t you have some form of ID to back up your story?” He leaned down and pointed a finger in her face, “Face it, you just can’t handle someone calling your bullshit!” “McCreedy, that’s enough!” Everyone looked surprised to see that Officer Knowles was upset himself, glaring holes into Officer McCreedy. “You have been nothing but rude to this young lady.” “Young lady, pah.” “Just because she doesn’t have a way to prove anything doesn’t mean anything she has to say as less credible,” Knowles explained. “Also, you’ve been like this all week, what is wrong with you?” McCreedy didn’t respond and simply grit his teeth at first. Finally, he spoke up, “I’ll be in the car,” and stormed out of the office, slamming the door on the way. Knowles looked disappointed, before turning to Principal Ishiyama and had an apologetic tone, “I am so sorry about my partner. I really don’t know what’s gotten into him.” Ishiyama nodded understandingly and asked, “Let me check and see if we have any information for this young lady. What is your name, miss?” “I don’t think you’ll find me, because I’m not from this town,” Breezefeather explained. “Anyways, you’re free to try, I guess. My name’s Breezefeather.” Ishiyama looked confused, “Breezefeather?” “Yup! Just Breezefeather. All one word.” Confusion wore on the principal’s face even more as she went over to a filing cabinet and sifted through the files. As she did so, Breezefeather turned back to the screens and looked at the strange, strange meat locker. Officer Knowles followed her gaze. “Yeah,” he said in a hushed tone, “that was there when I went to school here. Don’t know why they value meat so much to put as much surveillance on it as they did. Why so much meat, too? Borderline wasteful if you ask me.” He then turned back to the principal and Breezefeather did the same, trying not to question why humans, being omnivores, seemed to value meat almost in equivalence to gold in her eyes. The principal was now at the desk, simultaneously sorting through more files and using some strange equipment. It looked like a screen like the surveillance screens, only the pictures moved as she worked a small instrument with a chord with one hand before moving both to what looked like typewriter keys and a chord leading from it as well. Both chords led to a box underneath the screen. Ishiyama frowned more and more as she continued her search, clicking from the little instrument and clacking of the keys was heard. After a few minutes, she turned in her chair and faced the two, “I’m afraid I’m not finding anything about a Breezefeather in my records, past or present.” She appeared apologetic, “I’m afraid you might have to check your records to see if you can find her, or even at the federal level. I’m sorry.” Officer Knowles sighed, “It’s quite alright ma’am.” He gently held Breezefeather by the upper arm and guided her up. “Come on, let’s get downtown to get you squared away. Not to mention figure out what’s going on with my partner.” Breezefeather didn’t think she was to hear that last part, but pegasus hearing was all that it was cracked up to be, and she heard every word. “Okay. I’m not actually under arrest, right?” Breezefeather asked worriedly. Officer Knowles chuckled a little bit, “No, no. Not having an ID isn’t illegal, but it does make our job harder. Come on, we’ve got a cozy little corner we can use to write down some info and see if we can’t run you through our systems.” Officer Knowles lead Breezefeather out of the office. “Thank you for trying, Ms. Ishiyama.” A nod was his reply and they were on their way.