//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: the Strenuous Meeting // Story: An Un-Natural Turn of Events // by NinjaMare //------------------------------// As the train ride was on its way to Canterlot Twilight was studying her human companion over once more, finding his body structure to be incredibly fascinating. Unlike a minotaur’s body, Barricade’s body was more lean and seemed to be more properly portioned. She even recalled what Barricade’s body looked like under his clothes, from how his skin looked smooth, to the fine muscle definition underneath the skin. If Twilight was honest with herself she really wanted to know what his skin feels like. When thinking about Barricade’s skin, she recalled seeing all of the old scars and wounds that he bared, which still brought a frown to the unicorn as she could only imagine what he must’ve gone through to get those. Though after her initial conversation with Barricade about what his world is like, and what has been going on in the last 50yrs to the demographic of the population he belonged to, Twilight wondered what life on Barricade’s world might’ve been like. the human didn’t quite divulge what his personal life was like, in fact Twilight felt like Barricade wasn’t being very all that friendly. Sure he talked to her and was polite…but at the same time, it felt like he was, keeping his distance from her. ‘Does it has something to do with how his life was back on his world?’ Twilight thought to herself as she looked up to Barricade, seeing him sitting across from her and looking out the window, with a bored expression on his face. ‘Even now he hasn’t said a single word to me after we boarded the train. Though it’s not like he’s out right ignoring me.” as the unicorn lamented that her traveling companion had been less than forth coming in conversing with her, she noticed something. As Twilight looked at Barricade she noticed that there was a small black object in his ear. “Hey Barricade.” The mare said to the human, but got no response. “Barricade?” again no response. At this point the violet mare was getting a little annoyed, if not upset as she puffs her cheeks as a scowl comes over her face. “Barricade!” Twilight said the humans name loud enough that it disturbed the other passengers on the train, who have been occasionally casting glances at the odd pair. As for Barricade himself, he just looked a little confused as he turned to face Twilight while taking another black object out of his other ear. “You say something Twilight?” the human asked in a baffled tone, throwing the mares slight anger off as she looks at him. “I called your name a few times, but you didn’t respond.” The mare said with a small pout, but the human chuckled as he gave an apologetic smile. “Sorry Twilight. I was listening to music, and this time I had both headphones in so I couldn’t really hear anything else.” the humans explanation confused the mare as she just tilted her head. “Music? What music? And what’s a headphone?” Barricade then showed the mare the small black object he plucked from his ear, and explained to her what the device was, as well as pulling out another device from his jacket pocket, and then explained what that device was about. Throughout the explanation the mare was utterly fascinated in how amazing these small gadgets were as Barricade explained them to her. “Can I…listen to what song you are listening to?” Twilight asked hesitantly, both out of concern that she might be intruding on Barricade privacy, and partially because she was uncertain if non-pony music was going to be actually enjoyable to listen to. But her cursed curiosity has peaked. Song: Teya Dora – Dzanum. Barricade then leaned over to Twilight and then held the small headphone up to her ear, but the moment that he did so, she heard it! Music! The song was unusual, but not in a strange or weird way. The music had what Twilight could describe as a melancholy melody as it played, but then when she focused on the words, they were unintelligible to her. as she could not understand what they were saying…but somehow, she felt like what the words were portraying. The unknown words brought a small swelling sadness to her chest, as the female voice continued to sing in her unknown language, like she was singing about a sad memory of her past. But then the song changed! The singer then picked up the tempo of the song, repeating a series of words that just made Twilight’s eyes widen as the melancholy feeling turned to one of, beautiful tragedy. Or something close to it. it was hard for the pony to accurately describe exactly what she was listening to, and why this song made her feel such emotions. As the singers voice tapered off into the background as if fading away, like smoke being blown away by the wind, Barricade removed the headphone away from Twilight before looking down at the mare with an inquisitive expression. “So, What did you think?” Barricade simply asked as Twilight just sat there in her seat, mulling over the song she just heard. “It was sad, at least that’s what the music and the singer sounded to me. it was as if the singer was recalling a sad memory. But even so, it was so beautiful sounding.” Twilight said as she continued to mull the song over in her head. “Does the song have a name?” “It’s called Dzanum.” The mare blinked in confusion as she heard the word. “Daznium?” Barricade just shook his head as Twilight tried to repeat the word. “Close. But I’m glad you liked it.” Twilight then asked if she could hear more of the music that Barricade was listening to, and the human obliged her. though this time Barricade removed both of his headphones and placed them in a small container, which he then stuffed into his backpack, and then played more music from his phone. The device playing them for all in the train cart to hear. Twilight and the other ponies in the cart all simply listened, and enjoyed the unknown songs and music of the humans world. some were just as lovely and beautiful as the one the unicorn first heard, others sounded like something Rainbow Dash would listen to with their thumping and heart pounding rhythms, then there were ones that were more sweet and wholesome that acted like a palate cleanser. After listening to at least a dozen songs the train ride finally came to its stop, which caused Barricade to put his phone away, which in turn made the passengers mope in disappointment as they departed the train. Same goes for Twilight as she leads her human companion off the train, and onto the station. “Welcome to Canterlot, Barricade!” Twilight said with pride as she looked towards the tall creature while gesturing to the city itself, while other ponies on the station or coming to the platform all gawked at Barricade. Barricade didn’t initially responded to the unicorn’s announcement for a moment, but he did eventually recovered from the look of shock and surprise he was in. but his comment wasn’t what she was expecting. “It’s so brightly colored here, it’s like it was washed with bleach. It’s kind of blinding.” Again, not the kind of response that the mare expected, but she just brushed it off as she remembered the time that they needed to meet princess Celestia at, so she ushered Barricade to quickly follow her. leading the human through the city wasn’t too difficult, but what was difficult, if not a little disconcerting was all of the ponies just gawking at Barricade. Ponies stopped what they were doing to look at the human as the pair walked by, and unlike the ponies from Ponyville, the Canterlot ponies weren’t ashamed to just outright blurt out some rather rude comments. Calling Barricade a strange, or even ugly creature. Some even talked to each other about Barricade being an exotic pet that Twilight owned, which made Twilight visibly upset. And those were just the majority of stuff the mare heard as they trotted along. Turning to look at Barricade to see how he was handling the gawking, and the rather rude comments that they were saying, the human didn’t seem all that bothered by what the ponies were saying. If anything the human seems more preoccupied in just, examining everything around him, eyes constantly moving scanning everything from the paved roads, the buildings, even the street lamps. The unicorn felt a little more calm seeing as her companion being put off by the lack of hospitable greeting from her fellow Canterlot ponies. ~~~~ ‘Jeez, this place really does look like a child’s toy set. Everything is so neat and clean to the point where I swear it looks like this place came freshly off the assembly line.’ Was all I could think to myself as I followed behind my little chaperon pony. I’ll admit that the city looks nice. It has this weird yet cool, whimsical type of feeling or aesthetic to it, as a good amount of the buildings we passed by weren’t straight. By that I mean vertically stiff, some looked like they were bending to one side, or looked like they were leaning or curing in one direction. Also the bright white, yellow, pale pinks, and other very light colors that almost everything was painted in, really made it looks so cotton candy dolly girl house play set. Honestly after walking the streets for ten or so minutes, seeing a building that wasn’t one of those colors, seemed to be rarer and rarer. As for the locals they were just like the ones in Ponyville, all various shades of color combinations and bodily designs. but there is one key difference between these Canterlot ponies and the Ponyville one, and that was that these Canterlot ponies seemed to actually wear clothes! Though so far most of them were either wearing some kind of shirt, or even a saddle, there were some that wore like a fancy suit jacket, but aside from those ponies there was only a handful of them that seemed to be wearing a full outfit. So far I’ve only seen two stallions wearing a full suit, with jacket, shirt, and even pants. Which honestly looks really weird. There were also a few mares wearing dresses, like really fancy lady dresses, which looked just as weird. Actually, I think seeing these ponies wearing clothes is just weird in general. Turning my attention to my tour guide of the city after we walked, maybe like a few blocks or so, I started to notice that the buildings started to look more fancier…and a bit more sparce. Until we finally came to a section of the city with no building, but a strip of land that looked like the front yard of a wealthy person’s mansion. That’s when I finally took notice of the lone structure we were approaching. A goddamn castle! And this castle looked like it would fit right at home in Disney World, cause it really did look like castle from a cartoon show. Though given the world I’m in now and my previous statements I made about the ponies, that shouldn’t be too surprising. “Um Twilight?” I said aloud as we got closer to the castle. “Why are we going towards that castle? I thought we were going to meet your mentor, in the city back there.” I remarked as he pointed to the city just a block away from us. “No, we’ll be meeting my mentor in the castle. Did I not explain this to you?” the mare stated to me as I shook my head. “No, you didn’t.” I retorted back, before remembering something else. “Actually you never really said who your mentor was. Who is she anyway? Some scholar or something?” the mare shook her head before turning to face me. “My mentor is princess Celestia, one of the two governing rulers of Equestria!” Wait what!? This mare is taking me to meet…her ruler… My mind immediately started to spiral down as thoughts flooded into my mind. This mare was going to take me to one of the rulers of the country, a ruler of an entire nation, and who this mare is a student of! And if she is a student of this ruler, that might also mean she’s also a government agent to these rulers! That’s why she was asking so many questions the night before! Trying to probe me for information about me, and about others like me! is that why she brought me here, did she bring me here so that her mentor could integrate me?! if that’s the cast, and since she’s a queen or whatever of these ponies, she would have guards to ensure I couldn’t escape! “Barricade? Are you okay?” I heard Twilight’s voice as I looked down at her, seeing she was reaching towards me! “Don’t touch me!” On instinct I raised up my force field, knocking Twilight away by a few feet. And before she could say anything, I manipulated the energy of my field to levitate myself in the middle, then as I turned to face back toward the city I used the energy suspending me to launch myself a good 25ft. I heard Twilight yell something, but I didn’t really pay attention to it, I just kept creating a new field before I landed on the ground, and then launching myself until I reached the train station. But as I touched down I saw Twilight just, appeared before me in a flash of light! “Barricade what’s going on? Why are you running away?” “Your taking me to your ruler to interrogate me!” I yelled accursedly at her, notice the look of hurt expression she now has on her face. “I’m not going to be locked up in some room and be poked and prodded like some kind of science experiment!” I was about to create another field around myself but then the mare launched herself at me, wrapping her forelegs around my waist. “Get off me!” I yelled as I tried to pry the mare off. “Barricade I’m not trying to do any of that! and princess Celestia isn’t going to lock you up!” “I said get off me!” I yelled again as I used the energy of my field to pry the mare off me, by having it envelop her and rip her off me. but just as I got her off, Twilight disappeared in a flash of light, reappearing just behind me where she again tackled me. “Barricade just please listen to me!” “Hold it right there!” I heard a gruff male voice call out amongst a gaggle of other voice. I looked around and saw ponies scattered around the stations platform, while several pegasi landed around my field, all of whom were decked out in gold armor. then a few unicorns and earth ponies galloped in from behind me. “What’s going on here?” one of the earth ponies, a white mare, asked as she approached my field. “I knew it! This was a set up!” I yelled as I tried to look at Twilight. “I knew something was fishy when you said your mentor wanted to meet me, and now you’ve got your security goons here to take me in!” “Barricade I don’t know why your acting this way, but I’m telling you its not what you think!” the mare yelled back, her voice sounding a little cracked. And as I managed to get a better look at her, I saw that she was starting to get teary eyed. I was about to saying something else, but I then noticed that the armored ponies—and the local ponies—all looked up for a second before dropping into a bow. Even Twilight let go of me to suddenly bow. Uncertain at what was going on I looked around myself at what could be making the ponies drop into a bow. But that’s when it hit me…she’s here! And my suspicion was made clear when I heard something land directly right behind me. Turning to face what landed I saw a that there was a mare, just as tall as me, and was looking directly at me. Her coat was just as brilliantly white as the city itself, with a long ass horn sticking out her forehead, she even had a pair of wings furling back to her sides. But the most striking trait about this mare was he bellowing mane & tail, which aside from flowing in a non-existent wind, was the same color as an aurora borealis. If I wasn’t nervous, or panicky before, I was now as I stared at this mare while she stared back. “Twilight, what is going on here?” the mare asked in a frankly stern mom voice. “One moment I was going over documents before our meeting, and then the next moment, I get a report from the guards saying that something is happening at the train station involving you, and a strange bipedal creature.” I wasn’t exactly sure what my next should be, I mean I’m surrounded by security, and I have the ruler of the ponies directly in front of me. and since she’s Twilight’s mentor, who knows what tricks or powers she has up her metaphorical sleeves. Right now, I think I’m virtually trapped, so all I can do is wait and see what happens next. And bide my time until I see an opening to make a quick escape. No that won’t work, these ponies can fly, and if the unicorns are just like Twilight, they can just teleport to wherever I was, and then grapple me. or worse, they could just teleport me to a cell! “Barricade?” I looked over to the white mare as she stared back at me, though this time with a more concern look. “Why did you try to run away? And what’s this about us imprisoning you to interrogate you? or that Twilight was tricking you so that we could capture you.” what do I do in this situation?! What do I say here? “Barricade.” The mare’s voice & face grew a bit more firm for a moment before softening. “You must believe me. We are not your enemy. We want to help you, that’s why I asked Twilight to bring you to meet me, so that we both can help you.” I just stared at the mare, suspicion clearly portrayed on my face. “And how do I know I can trust you?” I simply retorted. “I’ve spent most of my life not trusting other people, or people in government positions. cause they either try to trick me, trap me, or imprison me. and if it’s the later, I would be stuck in that cell until either I die, or until someone kills me.” the princess and the ponies at her sides all looked horrified as I spoke. “So forgive me if I don’t believe you. Especially considering the fact I know nothing about of you or your race, and that I’m airing HEAVILY on the side of caution.” The tall pony, horse, whatever she is, looked hurt at my accusation, and my declaration of not trusting them. which actually seemed to make the princess look more hurt than my previous statement of being cautious and skeptical of others. She then approached my field until she was almost pressing her snout against it, and looked me square in the eye. “I understand that your scared, and that you want to be cautious, but being afraid of something before it even happens & untrusting of others before you get to know them, will only make you feel more isolated and fearful. Then you’ll have no pony, or anything, that could make you feel safe or that you can believe in.” “I’m not sure of what happened to you back in your world, but trust me, you are safe here. You don’t need to look over your shoulder to see if some pony is going to get you, or that some pony is plotting something.” “…” “Your safe here. You don’t have to be afraid.” “…” Am I really? Am I really safe here in this strange land or talking ponies? How do I…how do I know I can believe her. trust her, or any of them. It’s been years since I could trust anyone, or that I allowed myself to trust anyone. As I thought those words I reached a hand over to my left shoulder, trying to reach the scar on my back, as a grimace expression steadily grew on my face. It’s been, I don’t remember how long, since I last trusted someone. Trusted enough to call them friend, or someone I could trust to have my back. I looked at the princess who was looking back at me with a worried look, and for a moment we just, stared at each other. “…Can I really trust you?” the mare gave me a genuine smile as she nodded her head. “Yes. And I swear by my sun, that you will be safe here, and that you can trust us.” I just stared at the mare for a bit longer, really gauging whether or not I believed her, or if I should. “Alright. I’ll trust you.” I said as I took down my field, freeing both myself and Twilight. “Thank you Barricade, and I promise that we will ensure that you can truly trust us.”