//------------------------------// // Chapter Three: New Life // Story: Over There // by Boltstrike58 //------------------------------// Rarity hummed to herself as she strolled through the Ponyville marketplace. It was a new day in the small village, and business ponies were out in abundance to sell their wares. From food to flowers to small appliances, nearly everything a pony could want was available. The fashion pony had spent her morning sewing some new outfits, and was on her way to buy lunch, which she planned to eat alongside Fluttershy. She was making her way towards Applejack's stall, where her farmer was selling the produce as usual, when she noticed something that gave her a small pause. A familiar red pegasus was standing around, just outside the stall, pulling a few bits out of his saddlebags and counting them between his hooves. Recognizing him from Pinkie Pie's party the night before, Rarity trotted over to him. She wasn't very familiar with him, but she could never pass up the opportunity to perform a good deed. "Hello, Swift Wing!" she greeted. "How are you settling into Ponyville?" The stallion spun around on one hoof, making Rarity immediately regret coming up behind him. However, his gaze relaxed once he saw who it was that'd sneaked up on him, and he gave her a genuine smile. "Hello, Rarity," he replied. "I can't complain, I guess. I did find some work this morning, so that's something to be cheery about." "Oh, that's wonderful news, darling!" Rarity replied, genuinely happy for him. "It'll be delightful to have some new company in this town." She looked down at Swift's hooves, noting that he only had a very small amount of bits to his name, and her nature immediately kicked in. "Why don't I buy you lunch?" "Oh, no, I couldn't ask that," replied Swift Wing, shaking his head. "You barely know me, you don't owe me a thing—" "Nonsense!" Rarity insisted, her magic enveloping his bits and placing them back inside his saddlebags. "I know how hard it is to manage your money when you're just starting out, let me give you a bit of a breather!" Swift shrugged, though Rarity was certain she saw the ghost of a smile graze his face. "Well, alright, if you insist. But you have to let me pay you back for it, sometime." Rarity simply smiled back. She was used to ponies hesitating to accept her generosity, but at least this stallion wasn't fighting it. She remembered the time she'd had to practically pin Applejack down just to get her to accept Rarity treating her to a spa day. Swift Wing, on the other hoof, seemed to realize exactly how futile it would be. "I'm having lunch with my dear friend Fluttershy this afternoon," Rarity continued, "would you care to join us?" "Well, I wouldn't want to impose, but I also wouldn't mind having somebo-er, somepony to eat with." "Wonderful!" proclaimed Rarity. She marched up to Applejack's stall. "Applejack, could we get two apple fritters to go, please?" She levitated a few bits onto the counter. "Sure thing, Rare," said the farm pony, producing the items and passing them over. "Y'all doing alright, Swift Wing?" The stallion smiled politely. "Just fine, thanks. It's a nice change of pace from what I've been dealing with for the past few years." Rarity passed him his apple fritter, which his front hooves fumbled around with before he got it solidly balanced on one hoof. "Come along, darling! We mustn't keep Fluttershy waiting!" Swift Wing followed Rarity closely to the edge of Fluttershy's animal sanctuary, the unicorn keeping half an eye on her new companion as they went. Being a business pony, Rarity had picked up a great deal of knowledge on body language, and she was keen to learn about Ponyville's newest resident. She'd noticed yesterday that he tended to take small steps, as though he had trouble keeping his balance on all four hooves. He hadn't spoken much at the party, though Twilight seemed to have brought him out of his shell a bit. Now, he was walking a bit more confidently, though having to keep his apple fritter balanced was throwing him off. His eyes tended to wander, taking in all the sights that Ponyville had to offer. Rarity chalked up his odd behavior as normal shyness, which made sense, considering his status as a newcomer. He'd come around in his own time. Once they'd reached the animal sanctuary, Fluttershy flew out to great them, Angel sitting quietly on her back. "Hello, Rarity," said the pegasus, her warm smile present on her face. Then she noticed their guest. "Oh! Swift Wing, it's a pleasure to see you again!" Rarity smiled slightly at how willing she was to greet a stranger. A few years ago, Fluttershy would've been terrified of anypony she didn't know. "Hello again, Fluttershy," Swift replied, simply, sticking out one of his wings in a waving gesture. His wing then pulled backwards a few times, bending awkwardly against his side, before he managed to fold it properly into place. "I simply had to invite Swift to our little lunch date," Rarity explained. "You don't mind, do you, Fluttershy?" "Not at all," said the pegasus. She laid out a meal for herself and Angel, consisting of a small salad and a few loose fruits and vegetables. She spread out a small picnic blanket for the three of them to sit on. Swift Wing plopped himself down on his rear between the two of them, before taking a large bite out of his apple fritter. "Wow! They weren't kidding when they said Applejack's stuff was the best in Equestria!" he exclaimed, greedily chewing and swallowing. Fluttershy and Rarity both smiled. "I may enjoy my fine dining," said the unicorn, " but for sheer taste, the Apple family simply cannot be beat!" Angel, meanwhile, had taken an interest in their guest, similar to the interest he took in every stranger. He hopped over to Swift's hoof, poking it gently with one paw. Swift looked down at the rabbit, who returned the glare with much more intensity than expected from such a small animal. Angel pointed to Swift's apple fritter, and mimed taking a piece off of it. "Angel, we've talked about this," Fluttershy said, her voice stern, "you can't just demand food from everypony you meet." Angel attempted to glare back at her, but Fluttershy responded with a low-intensity Stare, forcing him to back down. She looked back at the stallion. "I'm sorry. Angel really is a kind creature. He's just a bit greedy." "It's fine, I promise," Swift replied. "It's not a big deal." He reached up to his apple fritter with another hoof, attempting to break off a small corner piece. However, the second hoof pushed the treat out of the first, causing it to land on the blanket. Swift Wing groaned in annoyance, as the two mares watched. "Do you want some help, darling?" asked Rarity, her horn already starting to glow. "I can—" "No, no, it's fine," Swift quickly answered, bending down. "I got this." He used his muzzle to break off the corner of the fritter, then pushed it over to Angel with one hoof. The rabbit looked down at the small piece, before giving a put off look to the stallion, as if to say 'That's it?' However, another Stare from Fluttershy calmed him down, and he ate his piece without protest. Fluttershy, meanwhile, kept her eyes on their guest as he ate. The lack of dexterity he'd just displayed had been rather odd. Sure, everypony slipped up every now and then, and perhaps it was nothing more than that. Still, she noted how odd it was that he hadn't even tried to use his wings. Pegasus wings weren't like minotaur hands or dragon claws, of course, but in a pinch, they could be used to manipulate objects. He could've easily held the fritter in one hoof and brushed the piece off with his wing. Then again, she supposed she was being too judgmental. Not every pegasus was a master at maneuvering their wings in unconventional ways. Heck, Fluttershy herself wasn't the most dexterous with her wings, considering she didn't fly very often. She decided the stallion had merely made a mistake, and left it at that. "So, Swift," she began, after swallowing her bite of carrot, "I'm assuming you managed to find work in Ponyville already?" "A little," replied Swift. "The city council doesn't have a lot of long-term stuff available right now, so for the moment, they have me doing odd jobs around town. Just stuff that doesn't get done every day, things that other ponies don't have time to do. Wash windows, clean gardens, that kinda stuff. Nothing glamorous, but everypony's gotta start somewhere, right?" "I can't argue with that," said Fluttershy. "As long as you're making enough to live off of, I guess you can't really complain." "Yeah." Swift looked off into the distance, taking another bite of his apple fritter. "It's kind of an odd thing, starting out all over again. You build up your life, but all of a sudden, something happens, everything falls apart, you fall all the way to the bottom again. You spend some time wishing you could just go back to the way things were, but eventually, you accept what you've been dealt, and you just take whatever you can get and start building again..." Fluttershy and Rarity both stared at the stallion in surprise, Rarity's jaw hanging open with her own apple fritter raised halfway to her mouth. Neither mare was able to find the words to respond. Finally, Rarity managed to gather her thoughts. "That...was profound, Swift," she declared, twiddling her hooves. Swift Wing seemed to snap out of the stupor he'd been in, ears standing at attention, as he glanced between the two mares. A faint blush began to creep into his face, though it was hard to see through his red fur. He awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck with one hoof. Fluttershy felt a twinge of empathy for him, knowing how easily she herself got embarrassed. "Er...s-sorry about that. I guess I just started to ramble, and my brain didn't catch up with my mouth..." "No, no, it's fine," Fluttershy insisted. "You honestly sounded like you knew what you were talking about. It was very interesting." "Indeed," Rarity chimed in, "though I must ask: are you alright? You sounded like...you had problems that—" Swift Wing suddenly glanced at the clock tower. "Oh, look at the time! I'd better get back to work! Sorry, ladies, thanks for your company!" With that, he scarfed down the last bite of his apple fritter, jumped to his hooves and raced off towards Ponyville. Rarity and Fluttershy both stared after him, confusion filling their heads. Twilight had wanted to get back to researching the anomaly right after Pinkie's party last night, but Spike had insisted that she needed some sleep. Realizing the wisdom in her assistant's words, Twilight had gone to bed, but had also gotten up extra early the next morning, diving into her books on ambient magic and magical surges, joined later by Spike and Starlight. However, she'd learned from previous research projects to take breaks, mostly to eat, so as not to drive herself to exhaustion over this. Spike and Starlight had both sighed with relief. "Well," Twilight declared, closing her copy of 'Magic All Around Us: Understanding Equestria's Magical Field,' "I think we can say for certain that whatever that surge was, it wasn't natural. There's no way any everyday magic pulse could become that strong." "So something had to cause it," Starlight followed, "but what? Is there any spell that could cause that kind of disturbance?" Twilight placed her head in one hoof, deep in thought. "I honestly don't know for certain," she admitted. "It would've had to have been a pretty powerful spell to ripple across the entire world like that. I know Discord briefly felt it when Celestia, Luna, and Cadence transferred their magic to me, but not like this." All of a sudden, there was a loud pop, and the aforementioned Spirit of Chaos appeared out of nowhere, dropping down onto Twilight's table with a thump. Twilight frantically ignited her horn to catch stray books that went flying off the table. "My ears are burning. Did somepony mention me?" asked Discord with a chuckle, as his ear literally burst into flame. Of course, since it was Discord, no one panicked. "Uh, hi, Discord," said Spike, flapping his wings until the two were eye level. "Did you need something?" "Oh, not particularly," admitted the draconequus. "Is there anything wrong with just dropping by to chat? Isn't that what friends do?" "Well, not that we don't appreciate your company," chimed in Starlight. "But I don't suppose you could do it another time? We're very busy researching a magic anomaly." "That little earth shaker from yesterday? Huh. I didn't even know you were aware of that." Discord raised his lion paw to snap his fingers again, only for Twilight to interrupt him with a loud, "Wait! You felt that too?!" Discord gave her a deadpan look. "I'm the most powerful magical creature in Equestria. OF COURSE I felt it." "Oh, right, sorry," Twilight replied, sheepishly. "Listen, do you know anything about it? We're trying to figure out the cause, but right now, we've just eliminated anything natural." "Well..." Discord mulled over his thoughts, stroking his beard, which sparked with electricity. "It's not an effect I've felt very frequently. I recall something like it when the Pillars and the Pony of Shadows disappeared into Limbo, but—" "Yes, yes!" exclaimed Twilight bouncing on her hooves. "That's it! A shock wave across our plane of existence, which is tied to magic! What could cause that? Something passing through the barriers between dimensions! Something from a different dimension, like Sunset Shimmer's world!" She jumped up and down a couple of times, but froze all of a sudden, as her eyes widened. "Uh oh..." "What? What is it?" asked Starlight. "Something touched the barrier of our dimension. That means...more likely than not, something came through. Into Equestria." Twilight's wings snapped outwards, and she began hyperventilating. "What could've come through? What kind of monster could be ravaging Equestria as we speak?! What—" "Twilight! Twilight!" exclaimed Spike, shoving a paper bag against her mouth, allowing Twilight to take deep breaths into it. "You're Twilighting again! Calm down." Twilight kept breathing, but managed to slow down and take deeper gulps of air, the bag slowly inflating and deflating as she did so. Eventually, she pushed it away from her face. "Thanks, Spike, I really needed that." "As entertaining as your breakdowns tend to be, I agree with the dragon," Discord admitted. "But still, this isn't a matter to take lightly. Even I'm not sure what might've slipped into our reality." "Do you think it could be something dangerous?" asked Starlight. Twilight shrugged. "If it were some mindless monster, I think we would've heard something about it by now," she guessed. "For all we know, it might be some creature that accidentally got transported from its own world, and is now lost in Equestria." "So we should probably find it, right?" asked Spike. Twilight turned back to the pile of books, determination fully visible in her eyes. "Definitely. Whatever it is, somepony has to find it."