//------------------------------// // New Surroundings // Story: Rarity on Earth // by whatmustido //------------------------------// You both eye the canister. You hear Anon whisper something that sounds like, “Fuck,” but you might have been mistaken because the front door and back door explode open and you can’t hear much for a second. “Rarity, run!” He charges the way to the entrance of the house when an armored figure jumps in front of him and hits Anon in the face with the end of his gun. The gun that is now pointing in your direction since Anon is on the floor. You don’t remember starting to scream or trying to cast a spell, but you feel magic pooling in your horn. “IT’S GLOWING!” “STUN IT!” You turn to try to run as Anon had told you to when you hear a sharp popping and then feel something pierce into your back. That’s all you have time to feel before the magic in your horn shoots off and the world goes white. You wake up some time later surrounded by four similarly armed and armored humans. As soon as they realize that you’re awake, they all jump to attention and point their weapons at you. You hear one speaking into his helmet. You think he said, “She’s awake.” You take a look around the room before trying to sit up. One of them says, “Rarity, if you try to leave this room we will hurt you. You are welcome to roam around but if your horn lights up bad things will happen.” “How… how do you know my name?” “Your friend Kain Smith told us. He also told us that he told you his name was Anonymous.” You hop off the bed and all the men jump away, still pointing their weapons at you. “What did you do to him you ruffians?” “As of right now, he’s in solitary confinement until we break word about you to the world. Then, he will be sent to jail and ultimately prison.” “For hiding me so you couldn’t experiment on me and cut me open? That’s what anypony would do, you monster!” The group of humans looks around at each other before their spokesman says, “No. He’s going to prison for dealing drugs, poaching, assault if the charges are pressed, and owning illegal weapons. Did he really tell you that we would cut you open?” “Well… yes. Isn’t that what you’re going to do?” Before the spokesman can answer you, the door opens. “At ease, men,” the new human says. This fellow is not armed or armored. He’s in a relatively fancy dress uniform. You could see room for improvement, but it is something you would be proud to put out of your boutique. “I don’t think Miss Rarity will be attempting to harm any of us. Isn’t that right, ma’am?” You eye him warily. You may have advanced personal defense lessons, but you couldn’t take on four armed humans. “I will not escape as long as you don’t try to hurt me.” He nods. “Marshall, stay here. The rest of you, return to duty. Miss Rarity, would you join me at the table?” He seems polite… And even though three of the guards are leaving, you know more can be called up at need. “Very well, mister…?” “Colonel Ide, at your service.” He leads the way to the table and the two of you sit. The human you presume to be Marshall stands away from the two of you, though he watches you warily. “Now, would you please explain what you are and why you are here?” “I thought you spoke to Anonymous?” He nods. “We did. He has proven himself unreliable. We don’t want any of what he says to be tainted by the drugs in his system. Please, explain it again.” “Very well… I am Rarity, a unicorn pony from Equestria. I was helping a friend of mine with a spell and she accidentally sent me here. I traveled along a road for nearly a day before trying to sleep in an abandoned building. I… Er, I accidentally burned it down. Anonymous found me near the fire and offered to take me to his house. I accepted.” He nods. “We found the remnants of the fire while we were setting up a containment field. How did you burn it down?” You blush, recalling what made you do it. “I was trying to kill bugs. I’m just not very good with that kind of magic.” “Interesting. Can you show me some of this… magic?” He pulls something out of his pocket. “Can you lift this?” You concentrate and do so, pulling the object out of his hand. “It’s quite simple, really.” “I’m sure. You can explain it later. I need one thing from you before I can let you start asking questions, Miss Rarity. Do you swear to never harm a human unless you know you will be harmed if you do not defend yourself?” “That is… a hefty swear to take, Mister Ide. I don’t know how long I’ll be here. That said, I have no intentions of harming anypony…” You consider your options. It's pretty much swear and risk future problems or don’t swear and probably rot in this room until Twilight can get you back. “I swear, Mister Ide. Now, what will happen to me?” “I need to explain your position here before I answer that question. You are a mythological creature that is able to do what our scientists say should be impossible. You burned down an abandoned property through personal recklessness and used magic to incapacitate two of the members of my squad. They are in the medical ward with severe bruising and concussions. That was self-defense so it will pass. But what would you do if a creature capable of arson and wounding two well-trained and heavily armed soldiers appeared in your land?” You look away, not liking where this is going. “I… apologize for hurting your soldiers, Colonel. I wasn’t trying to cast magic, it was just reflexive. I don’t even know what happened. The last thing I remember was somepony saying ‘stun her.’ The magic I had pooled should have dissipated as soon as I was knocked unconscious.” “Interesting…” He leans back in his chair. “Here is what will happen, Miss Rarity: We will study you and ask you questions for a few days until we know more about what makes you tick. If you cooperate and our scientists decide you are relatively harmless, we will introduce you to a few more high ranking officers and eventually the president. Then, the world.” “But… you think I’m dangerous. I hurt two of your troops! And… Anonymous said you would cut me up…” “Your friend Kain—or Anonymous, whatever—is a criminal. Of course he’s paranoid of the government. He’s probably also seen too many science fiction movies. The truth of the matter is that the government is not a faceless organization that is made of mindless automatons that just want results. It is made up of real people that want the best for the world and their country. You are the first proof of sentient life elsewhere in the universe. It would be criminal to ever hurt you or let you be hurt. I won’t lie, you’ll basically be a prisoner. But you’ll be well taken care of and we will do our best to get you home.” “So… you won’t cut me up?” “Nope. If I had to bet I’d say you’re going to be the biggest celebrity this world has seen in decades, if you’re interested in that.” Well, that’s… something. If, of course, this fellow is telling the truth. “How can I trust you?” “You can’t, of course. But to be quite honest, you don’t have a choice in the matter. You can try to resist, but we already have people working on how to counteract the magic you have.” Well that certainly doesn’t sound good. But if nopony in your world can, surely these humans can’t either. “Now, do you have any other questions?” You rack your brain, trying to come up with something you need to know. “You mentioned a… containment field, was it? What is that?” “We had to make sure you didn’t have any dangerous germs or parasites that would be lethal to humans or anything on this planet. We have… some experience with that, you could say. You certainly didn’t have anything from this world in you, but there was nothing there that would hurt a human. Probably.” “Parasite? Are you saying that I’m unclean? I’ll have you know…” No, don’t let him get to you. He’s just being careful. And he was grinning… “Nothing personal, ma’am. We’re taking no chances with this. There are three and some change hundred million people in this country. The Black Death killed something like a third or more of Europe back in the day. That’s one hundred million people dead if we take a chance of you not having anything that might hurt us.” You stopped listening at three hundred million. How is that possible? Canterlot alone had less than ten thousand ponies! He notices your confused horror. “Don’t worry about the Black Death. We figured it out ages ago. And we checked you against everything as well. You should be safe.” “No, no. three hundred million? How big is this planet?” He shrugs. “I’m a military man, not a geographer. Three hundred million isn’t that many, though. China has over a billion. Why?” Your mouth drops. “Im… impossible!” “Not really. If you’re interested in the history behind that number, I can get some books or a tutor sent up here. It’s really not important, though. Hey Marshall, you got some guys into history, don’t you?” “Yes sir. Evans is big into that. More the war stuff, though, and that’ll give our guest here the wrong ideas about us. I can talk to him, though.” “You do that. You have any other questions, ma’am?” You sit, stunned into silence. If this human was telling the truth, there are more humans in this place than there are anything in your world. That’s just… that can’t be right! “Well alright. I’ll tell the scientists to finish their preparations. Marshall and his squad will be your guides around the base. Stick with them and they’ll do you right. Try to leave them and we’ll start having problems. Your first stop will be with a biologist and veterinarian. They’ll get your diet set up. Marshall, I’ll pay you later.” He grins. “Yes sir. And some advice? Never make bets with NCOs.” Ide just sighs. “Yeah, yeah.” He stands and pushes his chair in. “You’ll be leaving within fifteen minutes, ma’am. We can set up all you need later. Bathroom’s in the door on the right.” He walks to the door and opens it. Before he can get out, you finally remember one more question you need to ask. “Can I ever see Anonymous?” He looks back. “If you do, it’ll have to be in your free time. You’ve got a busy schedule, and he is a criminal.” You look askance at your ‘guide.’ “I was just wondering… If he’s going to jail anyway, is it possible that he could be assigned as a… permanent bodyguard of sorts?” You admit, Anonymous scares you in some ways, but… there’s something about him that’s wrong. No pony turns to drugs and crime for no reason. Maybe forcing him away from it and keeping him where you can help him will do him good. You owe him for taking you in, after all. “That is unconventional and unlikely. I will ask, but prepare to be told no. He is still in the reserves…” He shrugs. “We’ll see.” With that, he finally leaves you alone with the imposing soldier. “So… who are you, sir?” “Sergeant Marshall, army rangers, attached to the recently formed extraterrestrial protection group.” Almost none of that made sense to you. “Are you able to answer any questions as well?” “I can certainly try, ma’am.” “Please, call me Rarity. How did anypony know I was at Anonymous’s home?” “As I understand it, the police and FBI were watching Kain’s home for some time. He’s a dealer, has been ever since he got off active duty. The FBI was watching him because they think he’s using overseas contacts to get some of his supply. From what I was told, you were seen in satellite pictures taken just hours before we raided his home. The FBI was going to use normal SWAT teams since he was known to be armed, but once they learned about you they called in a favor and got a DELTA team that was on standby at Bragg. That’s all I know.” That didn’t really tell you much. “What’s an FBI?” “Federal Bureau of Investigation. They deal with internal threats to national security.” “And a DELTA team?” “A group of the most heavily trained and armed soldiers that our country has.” “Satellite?” “A machine in orbit around the planet that’s used to take pictures or communicate around the world.” Well that is impressive. The fastest communication you’ve seen is Spike’s fire breath, and even then there’s a delay of a minute or two. You sat in silence for a few moments, just trying to take everything in. “So… if China has over a billion and this country has three hundred million… how many humans are on the planet?” He shrugs. “Far as I know, over six billion. I don’t really keep up with that.” That’s, quite frankly, horrifying. Although… “How much is a billion, in this world? Just so I’m sure, you see.” He closes an eye, thinking. “Like, nine zeros? Three is a thousand, six is a million, nine is a billion.” Yeah, that’s definitely horrifying. The two of you sit in an awkward silence for a few minutes before you ask another question. “So how is this world, honestly?” “It’s pretty nice. You get a few assholes like Kain that break laws and make the rest of us look bad, but on average I would say that humans are decent people. Easily misled, though. But there were a whole helluva lot more people trying to kill Hitler than supporting him, so I’d say more humans are good than evil.” “But… they were trying to kill somepony!” He grinned. “Lady, Hitler was one of the most evil people to ever disgrace this planet. It would have been an honor to put a bullet in that fucker.” …Rarity, you aren’t in Equestria anymore. “Man, I shouldn’t be talking to a cute little pony about this. I’m sorry, ma’am. I bet you’re from a world with pegasi that fart rainbows or something.” You can’t help but bark a laugh at that, thinking about Rainbow Dash. “Yeah, I know that’s not right. Still, I bet it’s nicer than this place.” “No, no, you’re actually correct. I have a friend of mine that leaves a rainbow trail when she flies.” His mouth drops. “Oh, were you joking? No, there are pegasi where I come from. Are they mythological creatures here too?” “…Yeah. Uh… you got griffins?” You nod. “Dragons?” Another nod. “Manticores?” Nod. “Minotaurs?” Nod. “Hydras?” Yep. “Holy Christ. Trolls? Cockatrices? Sea serpents?” Nods for all. “Yeah, your world sounds terrifying. I think I’ll stick to this place.” “Come now! I’m sure a soldier like you would be just fine.” “With my regular kit, yeah. And if I had my whole squad, definitely. But this fucking gun has rubber bullets.” Well that’s good to know. You imagine rubber will hurt, but you doubt it could kill you. You want to keep asking him questions, but you also need to get ready for the day. “Is there a shower in my bathroom?” “Yes ma’am. We don’t know much about your physiology or anything, so it’s made for a short human…” “It’ll be fine, I’m sure. Tell any guests that I will be ready shortly. And again, call me Rarity. Ma’am just makes me feel old.” “In private, maybe. In public, ma’am it will be. Rules and regs, the life of a soldier.” “Yes, yes. I know about that.” The cute soldier that taught you defense classes was much the same. He was willing to do a bit more in private, though… You shook yourself and went to the bathroom. It was reminiscent of Anonymous’s, though it was much easier to start the shower. And thankfully, there was hot water! You take a very short bath, sighing when you realized that was no soap or shampoo. A knock on the door interrupted your attempts to style your mane. You open the door to find one unfamiliar human waiting, with another giving stern words to Marshall. “You can’t just leave her alone! You’re supposed to watch her.” “I have my orders, and you can’t countermand them. You are a scientist, not a soldier. Talk to the colonel if you want my orders changed. Until then, I am to respect her privacy and treat her as I would a VIP.” The person chewing him out was not amused by that. The one that knocked on your door didn’t seem to care as much. “Rarity? I’m Doctor James. That’s Doctor Tilson. If you would come with us, we can start getting you fed and get a more personalized room for you.” That would certainly be a blessing. You haven’t eaten in who knows long. “Lead the way, doctor.” Tilson opens the door and James follows him. Marshall nods for you to go and he follows you, shutting the door behind him. “Right this way,” James said, taking the lead. Everypony you pass in the hall stops to stare at you. Frankly, it’s somewhat creepy. But you imagine if any of them made it to your world they would be stared at just as much, so it’s fair. The walk isn’t that long. Sadly, though, you don’t pass any windows. James opens a door and waves you through. You and Marshall enter first, followed by the two scientists. In here, you get to meet your first female human, who stares at you with fascination. “This is Doctor Hernandez,” James tells you. “I’ve been itching to meet you, ma’am. When the feds called me and told me they finally got an alien, I thought they were admitting to Roswell! I have to admit, this is much more fascinating!” You have no idea what she means, but you hope it’s good. “It’s nice to meet you too, dear. I don’t mean to seem impolite, but I do find myself famished, so if we could finish these tests soon so I could eat, I would be ever so grateful.” Tilson nodded. “Yes, that would be good. The sooner we can finish the sooner we can start analyzing the results so the real science can begin. James waves a hand to his left. “Right this way, ma’am.” He leads you to a table where there’s a list and a pencil set out. “If you could, mark off everything here than you cannot eat or that is bad for you.” You grab the pencil with magic and the three scientists gasp. Marshall’s reaction is scarier: He flicks a switch on his weapon and raises it a little. “They weren’t lying… “Impossible! James was smiling. “Not impossible. She probably isn’t from this reality, though… The question is, why does she follow the rules of her own despite being here?” You just start reading over the list and marking things off. For the most part it was simple. You could eat vegetables, grains, fruits, and meat. You couldn’t eat metal, plastic, concrete, or anything like that. There is one thing, though… You gasp in horror. “Why is this on here?” You shove the paper at James, demanding an answer. He grabs the paper and looks over the list. “Let’s see… blood of the innocent and flesh of human infants.” He looks up at you. “It’s quite simple. Can you eat that?” The other two humans look at each other. “The hell kind of question is that?” “Which intern even wrote that damn list?” James just says, “Miss Rarity?” “Well… I could, but why would anypony want to?” He shrugs. “Beats me. I’ll have to talk to the intern that wrote this list. Just mark it off and keep going.” He passes the paper back to you and you continue reading over, somewhat perturbed. You hear them muttering in the background but you can’t make out what they’re saying. Soon enough you’ve filled it out fully and passed it back. Tilson rubbed a patch of hair on his chin. “Interesting… you can eat meat?” Hernandez nodded. “She’s an equine, of course she can eat meat. I’ve never seen a horse kill to get any, but they’re definitely opportunistic omnivores. Have a cookout with one nearby and they’ll eat scraps or pull stuff off the grill.” Tilson shrugged. “You’re the vet. Now, Rarity, if you’d come this way I can take a small blood sample.” You don’t like the sound of that. And you really don’t like the sight of your own blood… But he’s a doctor. Surely it can’t be that bad. You follow him to another table where a few vials are set up. “Hernie, where should I take blood from?” She walks up to you and gently caresses your neck. “Jugular. Now, Rarity, this will hurt a little, but unless you have no pain tolerance at all it shouldn’t be too bad.” You’re a big mare, Rarity. Surely you can handle it… When Tilson pulls out a needle-like thing, you can’t help a whimper. One of Hernandez’s hands goes to your head, gently scratching at your ears. You sigh in pleasure before you realize what you’re doing. How did she do that? You don’t even notice as Tilson prepares and then pokes you with a needle, too lost in what the human mare is doing to your ears. Of course, you definitely notice when she stops. You flinch at the expected pain, to find that it’s already over. “How… how did you…” She grins. “I grew up around horses and ponies. Looks like you’re about the same as they are, at least physically. We’ll send word to the mess hall that they can serve you whatever we’re eating. That’ll be fine until we can analyze the blood.” That’s when you notice the vial full of red fluid and feel your legs grow weak. You quickly look away, not wanting to see it. Tilson grins and asks, “So she can eat a lollipop?” “She probably could. Do you really still carry those around?” “Hey, I was a doctor before I was a biologist. You never know when you need to calm down a crying child.” He reaches around behind himself and opens a drawer, pulling out a round thing wrapped in plastic. He pushes it in front of you. “You were a good patient, dear.” You take it with magic, looking it over. James grabs it by the stick and takes the plastic covering off, revealing… “Candy?” “Candy,” Tilson answers with a nod. “I’m not a filly, but…” You slip the candy in your mouth, sucking on it. You soon determine that it’s blueberry. James looked over to your ‘guide.’ “Marshall, you can take her to the mess hall now. We can do more tests later. Lord knows she needs some food. She was out for two days, after all.” Two days? Sweet Celestia! You were probably in some manner of magic coma or something. “You got it, doc. Come on, ma’am.” You follow Marshall out of the room after a few more ‘byes’ to the nice scientists. “After lunch is a trip to the physicists. They are very interested in your magic. Depending on how long that takes, you’ll have a trip to the historians to talk about your world and its politics and yada yada. They’ll be very interested to hear about the other races.” “So... do I have any free time?” “You’ll have some. More, after a few days. But everyone’s in a rush to meet you and study you before you get introduced to the president.” “Just what is a president, anyway?” “Our country’s leader. Kain mentioned that you guys had a goddess princess or something. He’s our version of that, but he has much less power. The historians can teach you about democracy and all that good stuff.” “…Right. Now, you keep mentioning countries, but Anon told me that you’re the only sentient race on the planet. Why are you divided into countries?” “Long story and if I tried telling you I would get something wrong. You’ll have to ask the historians. Humans are just a very divided people, I guess.” Odd, but okay. Thankfully, you arrive at a large cafeteria style place soon enough. There aren’t many people in there. But everypony that is there is staring at you. Marshall pays them no mind and begins herding you to the place the food is served. He grabs a tray and guides you along the line, letting you pick out what you want. All of the food workers stare at you the entire time. “Aren’t you going to eat?” you ask. Marshall didn’t seem to be interested in grabbing a tray for himself. “Not while on duty, ma’am.” “Please, I insist!” “I can’t, not while I’m watching you. I ate already anyway.” You don’t like it, but you can’t make him eat. “Very well… Where will we sit?” He leads you to an empty table and sets your tray down. The chairs aren’t made for your body, but you make do well enough. As you begin choking down the extremely mediocre food, you realize that your table didn’t stay empty for long. A random human has joined you and asks, “What are you?” Before you can answer the human’s rude question, Marshall fiddles with his weapon and says, “Private, this weapon is loaded with nonlethal rounds. I will not hesitate to shoot you if you don’t leave Miss Rarity alone while she eats.” The private opens his mouth but Marshall beats him to it again and says, “This gun is fully automatic, boy. Imagine thirty rounds of rubber bullets at point blank range, all fired within five seconds.” The other human very quickly leaves. “I would have answered him, you know. There’s no reason to be so uncouth.” “I know, ma’am. But I was told to respect your privacy and to make sure others do as well. Unless you invite someone to sit with you, your eating time is private. Plus, I like scaring the new guys. It’s funny.” Humans are crazy.