//------------------------------// // Chapter 12 - Mail Carrier // Story: The Equestrian Odyssey - A Tale of Two Worlds // by Kamahido //------------------------------// Meanwhile Arc finds himself back in his room in Canterlot Castle. Recalling his armor he steps into the hallway and starts walking. The sun has set and dim lights illuminate the corridors giving off the feeling that even the building itself was bed down for the night. Making his way to Hammer’s office he finds a note taped to the door. “What do we have here?” Pulling the paper off the door he unfolds it to find a simple message hastily scrawled. ‘Meet me in my room’. Shrugging, Arc wads up the paper and tosses it into a waste basket nearby. Walking to Hammer’s quarters he finds the door slightly ajar. Pushing it open as he knocks Arc calls out. “Hammer? It’s me.” “Come on in.” Entering the darkened room he spies Hammer sitting on her couch in front of a roaring fireplace. Closing the door behind him Arc walks over to the couch. However Hammer does not take her gaze off the fire before her. Sitting down next to her Arc joins her in staring at the fire silently. Eventually Hammer breaks it. “Can’t believe her.” “Huh?” Hammer frowns. “Mio. She still wants to talk to me even after I betrayed her and Stingray to help you.” Arc holds up the folded piece of paper. “I have her response to your message right here.” Extending his hand, Arc hands her the note. Hammer sits there staring at the folded up paper for a long moment. Eventually Arc speaks. “You… okay?” “Kinda. This whole thing kinda has me… on edge.” Arc looks at the paper in her hand. “Should I leave you alone to read that?” “I… don’t really know.” “No rush then.” Hammer groans. “That’s not what I meant.” “Oh?” “It just… this is really sudden. Mio contacting me, and all.” “Hard to imagine her wanting to find you?” Hammer scoffs. “Hardly. She’s always been really overbearing to me. Like I can’t take care of myself.” She holds up the letter before continuing. “And I know exactly what this says.” “Do you now?” Hammer nods. “Yeah. She’ll start off analyzing what I did from her point of view before moving on to telling me how it wasn’t how she would have handled it.” “Sounds like this has happened before.” “Lots of times actually. When I joined up with you, part of me was sad that I had to leave my sisters behind. But the other part was happy that I wouldn’t have to put up with them doing this to me anymore.” She wads up the paper and holds it up, grinning. “Well, here’s what I think of what Mio thinks!” Standing, Hammer tosses the paper toward the fireplace. Arc reaches out a hand, grabs it in midair, and pulls it to himself with a Telekinesis Spell. “Hold on there, Hammer!” “What the heck…?” “Mio took a really big risk asking me to deliver this to you. For all she knew I could have read it over myself or asked for a big favor in exchange.” Hammer frowns. “Trust me. I know Mio.” Arc sighs. “I’m sure you do. But I really think you need to hear her out.” “Why are you so interested in this?!” “Because I saw her face when she gave it to me. She was really emotionally drained from writing it.” “It’s late. She was probably just regular tired.” Arc looks his friend in the eye as he speaks evenly. “Hammer… she built a prototype transdimensional portal generator in an attempt to find you.” He holds up the wad of paper before continuing. “Failing that, this was the best she could do.” Hammer moans “Fine. I’ll see what Mio has to say. But the second she starts talking down to me, this thing is going right in the fireplace!” “Fine.” Holding out the paper to her, Hammer takes it, unwads it, presses it against her leg momentarily in an attempt to flatten it, and begins to read silently. Arc waits patiently as she does so. Eventually Hammer turns slowly to him and speaks. “Arc?” “Yes?” “What… exactly was Mio doing when you saw her?” “When?” “Right when you left.” “Sitting in front of a campfire in the middle of nowhere.” “Any camping gear in sight?” “I saw a backpack on the ground nearby.” “No tent?” “Not nearby, no.” “Are you sure?” “Well, it was dark when I showed up to get that note from her. But what’s the big deal with the tent? Or lack of, I suppose.” Hammer holds up the note. “Because Mio says here that she’s on the lam.” “She did mention being on thin ice with The Organization and Stingray though.” Hammer frowns. “That’s not good.” “But why?” “Because Mio’s totally dedicated to the cause. She and Stingray are really close as far as that goes.” “The one thing they agree on, huh? “Right. But let me tell you about this part.” Hammer clears her throat and begins to read aloud from the note. “Dear Hammer. I wish this letter was about happier matters, or even the mundane. However things have evolved since you left us. The Organization has been rather quiet about a certain secret project being conducted inside the vault. Large amounts of equipment and other unknown supplies have been delivered to the base. All are earmarked as being ‘top secret’ and it is not apparent to me what exactly they could be used for or even what they are.” Arc frowns. “How tech savvy is Mio?” “Very. She’s the smart one between the three of us, you know.” “So I suppose this means The Organization is up to something again.” “They’re always working on something. I should know, after all.” “Does she say anything else?” Hammer nods. “Yeah. Let me keep going.” Turning back to the paper Hammer continues reading. “General Mustang himself now visits the vault daily for personal updates. Nothing in writing ever leaves. It appears that even the reports regarding this project themselves are deemed so sensitive as to be worthy of extreme security measures. Such a thing has never been done before now. That alone is cause for concern, to say nothing for Colonel Diva’s most recent mission.” Hammer looks to Arc and grins. “She’s talking about us sending her back to Earth bloodied and beaten most likely.” “You guys hurt her THAT bad?!” “Figured out her weakness.” “What was it?” “A coordinated attack by numerous assailants with diverse skill sets.” “Makes sense.” Hammer grins. “Diva was losing a LOT of blood when she retreated. We tried to capture her but she was out of range.” “It’s fine. But if she was hurt that bad I’m going to assume she’s still in the hospital. Maybe we could go nab her.” Hammer shakes her head. “Nah. Mio talks about that next.” Looking back at the letter Hammer reads again. “When the colonel got back to base, she looked like a grenade had gone off next to her. I thought they were going to rush her to the Infirmary for sure. However they whisked her away to the vault. The most surprising part came an hour or so later when she walked out under her own power. Her wounds were bandaged and she wore a sling. However she appeared well on her way toward recovery.” Arc raises an eyebrow. “So they have a way to quickly heal people?” “That could revolutionize healthcare for everyone both here and on Earth!” “But I doubt they’d be willing to share that information with us. Or anyone else for that matter.” “Doesn’t sound perfected yet though. And for all we know there could be nasty side effects.” “I suppose so. Any more info in that letter?” “Just a few more things. Mio continues by saying… Stingray herself made a single trip inside the vault a few days ago. I noted that she seemed a bit shaken when she emerged, but refused to say a word to me of what she saw. Her only response to my inquiries was that I was scheduled to undergo some kind of procedure within the vault in the next few days. That was when I decided to do something drastic. After work I went back to the apartment, grabbed a backpack from your room, loaded it with some clothes along with some provision and other necessities before heading to my fallback shelter. Picking up all the materials I believed I’d need, I took everything to a very special spot outside Angel Grove and began to build.” Arc nods soberly. “The grove where we opened a portal to Equestria.” “She’s been living out there ever since.” “Lucky for her it’s not too cold at night yet.” Hammer frowns. “It is without a tent or other shelter. After all, it’s not like she could go back and get other stuff at the moment.” “She’s A.W.O.L. right now?” “Right. And Mio knows if she gets caught she might just spend the rest of her life in prison.” “I don’t get it. What’s her endgame? I mean, let’s just assume she could open a portal to Equestria. She has no idea of what awaits her through it. For all she knows the natives over here could just tear her to shreds.” “Mio’s a woman of logic. She weighs the pros and cons of every decision she makes based on the information at hand.” “That’s good.” “Usually, yes. However think about it from her point of view. As it stands, to her at least, the unknown is safer to her than staying on Earth and working for The Organization.” “She believes her chances are better trying to get here?” “Yeah. But I don’t think Princess Celestia would go for the idea of her being here. Mio might have been involved in what was done to her, after all.” Arc frowns. “She could be imprisoned here as well.” “Even still, that’s probably better than the treatment she’d get back on Earth in a military prison.” “So what do you want to do?” Hammer sighs. “I… I don’t really know. On the one hand I don’t want her to be court martialed. But on the other I also don’t want to see her rot in a cell here either.” “Um… considering what she did, Celestia might just sentence her to Tartarus.” “But isn’t that a mythical place?!” “So are Unicorns and Pegasi.” Hammer grimaces. “Good point. Is it… bad?” “Not as much as it used to be, no. But still not ideal, as there are a large number of unrepentant demons living there.” Hammer groans. “Great. There isn’t a good way to do this.” “I wonder how close Mio thinks she is to getting a working transdimensional portal going.” “Not very.” “How do you know?” Hammer groans. “I was wondering that very thing myself earlier so I talked to Sunburst. He said that according to the readings the machine is putting out, she’s way off the mark.” “Did he have any other insights into the matter?” “Just one. Sunburst said that it takes something really powerful to start the reaction necessary for portal formation. While he didn’t say exactly what that thing was, I’m assuming Mio doesn’t have anything anywhere near that powerful at her disposal.” “So it’s probably impossible for her to make the device work. Assuming it was properly… calibrated, or whatever.” “Right.” “Well, I’m not sure we can just sit here and do nothing.” “While I hate to say it, Mio’s probably safest out there in the woods right now. But she could use, uh… a little help.” Arc sighs. “What do you want me to do?” Sometime later that night the sigil near Mio’s machine lights up. Arc appears on it clad in his armor and surrounded by several duffel bags. Looking around he spies Mio leaning against a tree huddled up in a blanket. Walking over to her he taps the young woman’s shoulder gently. She slowly opens her eyes and looks around to no avail. “Wh-who’s there?!” “It’s just the Hero.” Mio sits up groggily and rubs her eyes. “What… what are you…?” “Special delivery.” Casting a Light Spell, Arc gestures to the duffel bags on the sigil. Mio appears confused. “I don’t understand.” “I brought you a few things.” “Oh?” “More blankets, a sleeping bag, tent, food, and toiletries.” Mio stands with her blanket and cautiously walks over to the bags. Reaching out to them slowly she stop and turns to Arc. “What… is the catch?” “Catch?” “I’m asking what I have to offer you in return for this?” “Nothing. Hammer asked me to bring them to you.” Mio appears surprised. “She did?” “Yeah. Your letter made it sound like you weren’t properly equipped to be living out here.” Mio nods as she pulls the blanket around her shoulders tighter. “You can say that again.” “I’ll get the tent set up if you can take over the Light Spell.” Mio grins. “That I can do.” Arc wastes no time getting the tent assembled and sleeping bag rolled out. Turning to Mio as he stands Arc offers he a thumbs up. “There you go. At least that will keep the wind and rain off of you.” “Thank you. Sleeping against a tree wasn’t exactly comfortable, after all.” “I’ll take your word for it. The ground won’t be much softer, of course. But the blankets and sleeping bag will certainly help.” “Please tell Hammer thank you for me.” “That I will.” “Oh! And thank you as well, of course!” “You’re welcome. But in any case I should probably get home now.” “Busy day tomorrow?” “Not… really, no. But…” Mio interrupts him. “Could I… um… could I talk to you then?” “About what?” “There’s just some things I’d like to say.” “Fine. But if this is going to take more than a minute we should get a fire going.” Mio looks away nervously. “It… might.” “You got some firewood around here somewhere?” Mio shakes her head. “Sadly, no. My earlier fire was from just branches I found lying around.” “I did think it looked kinda weak.” “There’s an old dried out log over there. But without an axe, or something…” “Say no more.” Walking over to the log in question Arc pulls the guardanium knife from his ring. Channeling his magic through it he makes short work of the log. Mio gasps as he levitates the now split logs over to her. “How… how did you…?!” Arc chuckles. “It’s all in the wrist.” “What is that thing MADE of?!” “A magical metal that doesn’t exist here on Earth called ‘guardanium.’” “So it’s from the other world?!” “Yup.” Mio appears hopeful. “Can I… can I see it?” “Well…” “I promise I’m not trying to steal it or hurt you. After all you’ve done for me it wouldn’t be right to try and do so.” “Fine. But only after you’ve gotten a fire going.” “Deal.” Arc takes over casting the Light Spell as Mio puts some wood in the firepit. Frowning, Arc looks to her. “You’ve never done this before, have you?” Mio shakes her head. “No, I haven’t. Hammer and Stingray were the outdoorsy-types.” “Watch.” Kneeling down, Arc tosses aside the wood and uses his magic to pull some leaves and small sticks to his side. “Okay, first you put some leaves down along with these small twigs. Then some bigger branches need to be leaned against one another. You keep putting bigger and bigger sticks on it until about this point.” “Then the logs?” “Right. Same formation as the sticks though.” “They support one another?” “Exactly.” Finishing, Arc casts a simple Fire Spell on the leaves in the center. They start to smoke as he looks to Mio. “The leaves burn really easily. Then they transfer that flame to the twigs. Next the sticks catch fire and eventually the logs.” “Working up to it.” “And when the flames eventually die down you can just put another log on the fire. The coals will ignite it.” “Makes sense, thank you.” A few minutes later the clearing is lit by the light from the fire. Arc motions for Mio to sit down next to him. As she does so he holds out the knife. “I believe you wanted to see this.” “Yes indeed.” Taking the weapon, Mio looks it over for a few moments before speaking. “It feels very durable.” “That it is. I’ve yet to even scratch it.” “Can you tell me where it came from?” “It was a gift from a foreign politician to me in return for safeguarding his daughter.” “So it’s expensive?” “Very.” She carefully hands it back. Arc returns the weapon to his ring as he looks to her. “Now then, what is it you wanted to talk to me about?” Mio begins fidgeting. “I just… um… don’t know where to begin.” “Take your time. Now that we have this fire going there’s no danger of us freezing out here.” “Yes, well… that doesn’t really make this easier.” Arc waits patiently as Mio thinks for a moment. “You see… I had this whole speech I was going to make rehearsed in my head.” “Then just go with that.” “I can’t.” “Why not?” Mio groans. “Because I forgot the whole thing.” “Can you give me the cliff notes then?” “I’ll try.” Mio takes a deep breath before speaking. “First of all, I want to say ‘thank you’ for the letter from Hammer. It was nice to know that she’s okay.” “No problem. Just a quick walk for me.” Mio sighs. “And an impossible task for me.” “You should know that your letter meant a lot to Hammer as well.” “It did?” Arc nods. “Yes. She puts up a strong front, but I think she’s feeling a bit homesick.” “Even with Arc there?” “Yeah. An individual can’t compare to an entire world that one left behind.” “I suppose not. Tell me, does she have employment?” “Hammer’s working security for a very powerful individual in that land’s government.” Mio gasps. “How did she manage THAT?!” “I recommended her.” “And they just went for it?!” “Yup.” “Your charisma must be something else then.” “Not really. The politician is a very good friend of mine.” “Ah. Well at least she’s able to care for herself.” “Right.” “Has Hammer been able to make any friends?” “Several actually. She really hit it off with another friend of mine. They had a really rocky start, but are now inseparable when time permits.” “And her relationship to Arc?” “I don’t think I should…” “Is he treating her right?” “Yes. She’s very happy with him.” Mio sighs. “Great.” “You don’t sound very happy about that.” “I’m not. In all honesty I was kinda hoping she would have moved on by now.” “That doesn’t seem likely. But I think this is more than just simple jealousy on your part.” “It… kinda is, yes.” “Do tell.” “I was very surprised some time ago when she told me that her and Arc were going on a second date. She’s never been able to do that before.” “Oh?” “But that’s still better than I’ve done.” “No luck finding someone?” Mio groans. “Right. I’ve never even been out on a single date before.” “Why not? You’re certainly pretty enough.” Mio blushes slightly. “I… don’t really know what to say to men when the chance arises.” “No one is perfect.” “To be completely honest with you… when Arc took me out to talk about Hammer, I… part of me was kind of excited. If not for the circumstances I would have greatly enjoyed such an outing.” “He was just trying to help her though.” Mio frowns. “I question that.” “Well, you’re doing okay right now.” “Because I’m talking to you.” “Is that the only reason?” Mio smiles nervously. “Not… quite. You see… um… you know how Hammer feels about Arc?” “What about it?” “I… I kinda… know how she feels.” “How so?” “Because… I’d like to have a relationship just like she does.” “Not with Arc though, right?” “No. With… with…” She looks away before finishing. “…you.” “Me?” “Y-yes.” “But… but why me?” “Because you’ve always been… fair with me. Even when I attacked you and your followers at Damocles Base I could tell you were holding back.” “Didn’t want to hurt you.” “Even when we fought at our base, you saw to it your troops didn’t kill us.” “I was just trying to get away. Killing you three wouldn’t have helped that.” Mio smiles shyly. “Last time we bumped into each other inside the base I offered to join you. Do you remember what you said?” “Truth be told, no.” “Then I’ll tell you. Rather than jump at the opportunity to acquire someone whom had lots of information on the base, you instead chose to talk me out of it.” “I didn’t want you to have to fight your sisters one day.” “And I thank you for that.” “What changed?” Mio sighs. “Like I told Hammer in my letter, things at the base haven’t exactly been on the up and up lately. Did she tell you about that?” Arc nods. “Yes, she read a good chunk of your note aloud.” “I just feel that we’re losing sight of the original goal.” “To make the world a better place?” “Exactly. And right now I feel as though the best place to do that might be by YOUR side.” “Are you sure it’s not just about reuniting with Hammer?” “There is that too, yes. But I do believe in you and what you’re trying to do.” “What about Stingray?” Mio looks away nervously. “I… kinda hope that she’ll come around if I leave too. At the very least she’ll be forced to question things.” “Why not just leave The Organization then? Move away from Angel Grove and start a new life.” “Like Hammer did?” “I meant here on Earth.” “Believe me, that has crossed my mind. But Earth may not be for me.” “You mean…?” Mio blushes slightly as she speaks. “The way Hammer feels about Arc… I… I think I’m starting to feel that way about… you. Or at the very least would like to get to know you better.” “Wouldn’t that be kinda hard for you to do? I mean… you have to know that Arc and I are friends.” “That may be true. But from what I’ve seen thus far, you’re nothing like him.” “Mio, I don’t think…” Mio interrupts him. “Please understand that I’m not saying this lightly. I’d honestly like the chance to prove myself to you.” She looks to her device before continuing. “And I think I know just how I can do that.” “Huh?” “I understand that someone of your station can’t be with just anyone. They need to be useful to you in some way.” “It’s not so much ‘useful’ as it is ‘trustworthy’.” “Then I propose a test of sorts. Let me finish my machine and travel to your land.” “For what purpose?” “To find Hammer. She knows me better than anyone else, after all.” “But what would that prove?” “I’d like the opportunity to explain my feelings to her face to face. She’ll vouch for my sincerity. So would that be acceptable to you?” “I… suppose so, yes.” “Then I’ll get back to work tomorrow at first light.” Arc sighs. “Look, if you really want to see Hammer that badly I could…” Mio interrupts him. “…take me to her? No, no. I want to do it under my own power. Show her and you that I can do it.” “Very well.” “Thank you for understanding. All I need is some time to figure this new science out.” “Just don’t try to rush it. Haste makes waste, after all.” Mio smiles at him. “Your concern is appreciated. I’ll heed your advice.” Arc stands up. “In any case, I should let you get some sleep. That and I’ll check in on your every so often to make sure you have enough food and other necessities.” “Thank you. Please understand that were the situation not so dire I would just get them myself.” “Anything you want me to tell Hammer?” Mio nods as she stands to look him in the eye. “Just one thing. That I’ll see her soon.”