Chapter 3 - Glyphs and Calls
For quite some time, she had been keenly aware of her position in life. Called derogatory names when they went over to sell their meager wares in the markets of the Ponyville Slums. Spat on. Kicked. Beaten, but she never dreamed it would come this far.
The utter destruction left her transfixed by the window. She watched as faceless Clone Soldiers marched in to coldly execute any pony, cow, swine, and chicken they could see with bullets between their eyes. But that wasn’t enough for them. They brought in flamethrowers and torched trees, coops, and what little grass they had on the family farm.
"Hurry youngin’! You must take our family heirloom and skedaddle outta here."
Her grandmother pulled the orange filly before a bullet, stray or otherwise, struck her by the windowsill. Immediately the elderly mare slapped around her neck a golden necklace with a prominent apple-shaped crystal jewel in the center. She then placed upon the frightened filly’s blonde-tipped head her father's Stetson hat, the only thing that reminded her of him being alive.
"Move your caboose! They're a’ comin'!"
"What about my sister? And big brother?"
"There ain’t no time! You gotta survive so you can tell the truth to all ponies about our family's innocence and the crimes done by the Chancellor. Oh, there will be hell to pay to her, and you're the one who will do it. Be strong. Your parents and I will always love you."
Despite old age and dentures, the grandmother lifted the growing filly from the floor with her mouth and flung her out the window. The filly fell over and tumbled over a mess of hay before landing in the mud. Before she could call back for her grandmother, she heard gunshots; and then the flickering of flamethrowers.
The farmhouse ignited. Her family was still in there, but there was nothing she could do anymore. Fear and panic triggered her instinct to run as fast as she could until she reached the edge of the Everfree Forest. From there, she saw them: a beautiful, pink-maned and yellow-coated mare and three other stallions dressed in black fascist officer uniforms.
The yellow mare’s beauty could not belie the evil plastered on her face. Surely the other three stallions appeared sadistic as they relished in laughter of the brutal razing of Sweet Apple Acres. Yet it was the calm expression and the focused stare on the mare’s face that the filly felt was the true mastermind of this destruction. She did not laugh over a picnic cornucopia of crustless daisy sandwiches, sliced oranges, and fine wine. She smiled. She just smiled!
Every time she looked at the trinity of apples of her Nature's Call on her flank, she could not forget the day she lost her home and her family. Fate was indeed twisted, because it just had to appear on that very same day.
She had no choice but to look at it. She had a few scars on her left side that needed to be tended to with the salve the purple unicorn gave to her, which she found to be quite comfortably effective. Maybe it had been laced with whatever witchcraft they used during their thousand years of hiding.
She had never expected to be spared by the likes of them. She would not blame them if they killed her on the spot in order to protect their village, but it was worth the risk to hide out from the Clone Soldiers after her tail.
The orange earth pony grimaced as she touched her lips with her front hoof. She also never expected to receive her first "kiss" from a mare--a unicorn no less. But she forced to remind herself that that was mere CPR and nothing else. At least there were still many things common between earth ponies and unicorns.
"Hello? Are you still in there? I'm coming in."
Even with that purple's unicorn's kindness, she still could not fully trust her. The orange pony clenched her katana between her teeth and crouched ready to strike should that unicorn bring her friends along to torture or kill her.
When the false stone doors opened and the lights flickered, Sparkle came inside alone. She was just as startled to see the orange earth pony in a fighting stance that she almost dropped her bag of food.
"You came alone," said the earth pony. "Not very smart of you if you ask me."
"Oh, I don't think you're the type who will kill unless she has to. I think deep down you're a good pony."
"How do you know for sure?"
"I don't know really, but it feels like I can trust you. Here, I brought you some food."
"It's not like I asked for food."
"But you didn't ask to be saved either, did you? So it wouldn't hurt for you to accept charity once in a while."
"Look here, I don' wanna feel like I owe you anythin'."
"That's not what I'm implying, but if your culture works that way, then maybe you can pay me back."
"Great. What do you want then? Slave labor? Magic experiments?"
"I want to know about the surface world."
Sparkle had a wide smile on her face. It wasn’t quite what the orange pony had expected, and with such a request, the unicorn had yet to tell her village about her intrusion. She might as well humor Sparkle for the time being. She was hungry, and her provisions were running low.
So the implied exchange had been made. Sparkle gave her the bag of food, and the orange pony lobbed to the unicorn's hooves the same grenade she threatened to use. Sparkle fumbled with the object in a panic until she realized that the orange pony had been bluffing all along.
"This isn't a grenade," said Sparkle.
"Fooled ya, didn't I? It's actually an apple, a Granny Smith."
"You mean there are many types of apples? Is it safe to eat?"
"That was gonna be my lunch before you arrived with this."
Hesitantly, Sparkle took out the hook that served as the false grenade pin and squeezed her teeth onto the apple's surface. She chewed the first small bite slowly, and appreciating its sweet and tasty juices, she took a bigger second bite.
"It's good! Hey, do you think I can keep the seeds?"
"It's all yours Sugarcube."
"Sugar cube? So up on the surface, sugar come in cubes?"
"It’s the nickname I'm givin' to you."
"But my name's Sparkle. It doesn't exactly match my Glyph."
"Your Glyph?"
"My Destiny Glyph. Maybe it's a different name for earth ponies, but we get them on our flanks when we come of age. Of course, it only gives you a hint on what your destiny will be later in life. I guess you must be an apple farmer since you have a triad of apples as your Destiny Glyph."
It became apparent that the earth pony realized that she was her Nature's Call was still exposed out in the open, and it made her blush. Immediately, she pulled her duster to cover it.
"We call them Nature's Call," said the earth pony.
"But why do you have to hide it?"
"It's against the law in Gaea to display one's Nature's Call out in the open."
"How come?"
"Ponies immediately form opinions of yourself when they see your Nature's Call. When they do, they will form prejudices, discriminate against you, or identify your family bloodline. In Gaea, all ponies are equal. Well, except for unicorns, pegasii, and certain earth ponies."
"So there are unicorns and pegasii on the surface?"
"Well, no. Gaea is populated only with earth ponies, with a few enclaves of zebras, donkeys, mules, and buffaloes. The pegasii live high up their floating continents and a few mountain cities in the west, and they dare not meddle with Gaea unless it's raiding or war. Right now, we're at a stalemate against Pegasopolis."
"Then what about the unicorns?"
"Most ponies in Gaea believe you unicorns are extinct, but we all heard stories."
"Stories like what?"
"Stories like a unicorn suddenly appearing in the sewers of the Ponyville Slums, who was then captured and taken away into Labs. Then there are stories of an elite unicorn tribe ruling over some sort of fabled 'crystal empire' in the north."
"So what do they do to unicorns in the Labs?"
"I don't know for sure, but it's nothing to worry your pretty little head Sugarcube."
"Please, you have to tell me what happens to the unicorns who are captured and taken into the labs."
"What are you gettin' so worked up about? It's not like any of y'all are dumb enough to leave your lil' village of yours."
"How could you say such things? My father crossed the Chasm before I could even remember him, and my brother did the same years ago! Tell me, what happens to them?"
"They kill them! End of story!"
"No... You're lying..."
"Don't y'all unicorns have a history of your own? About the Great Winter a thousand years ago? The assassination of Chancellor Puddinghead? The execution of Smart Cookie? And the Great Pony War? Y'all should be extinct, and the ones in power want to keep it that way! Look, maybe I was being hasty about your pa and bro being killed, but that's the likely scenario. The truth is, I don't know what's goin' on in the Labs, but the only way I could know for sure is by goin' there."
"So Night Light and Shining Armor might still be out there."
"Wait, you know Shine?"
"You know Shining Armor too? Have you run into him? Is he doing okay?"
"I think we got ourselves confused here. I thought you were talking about Shine, an earth pony who helped me escape the prison camps."
"Earth pony? My Shining Armor is a unicorn with a shield and star as a Destiny Glyph. Was his coat white and mane color dark blue?"
"I never really got a good look at him. He was always covered head to hoof in a suit."
"But at least you saw a horn."
"He had no horn. What's your relation to him? You ain't his girlfriend, are you?"
"Egads, no! He's my brother."
"Oh. Um, we must be talkin' about two different ponies. Sorry, I didn't mean to get your hopes up."
"You don't suppose he responds to 'Shiny' when you call him that, do you?"
"A few of us in the rebel cause accidentally called him that. He didn't take it too kindly."
"Not unless it's coming from his sister. It must be him, but disguised as an earth pony. I'm certain it is."
"Even if he is, it's been years since I last saw him. I ain't sure if he's still alive."
"He is! And my father might be too! That's why I have to cross the Chasm and go look for them!"
"Look, I like you and all, but I ain't playin' escort for a pretty mare such as yourself. You’re gonna be dead weight to me."
"I'm not saying that you have to take me."
"Hold your horses sugar. You don't know what you’re getting your pretty lil' self into. Gaea has become a dangerous place ever since the latest Chancellor came into power. She makes ponies disappear, and if you're a unicorn... I hate to think about it."
"They never faced a powerful unicorn like me."
"Or a boastful one. Seriously, do not cross the Chasm, at least not until the Chancellor has been deposed and true democracy restored to Gaea."
"First my mother, then my best friend, and now you? Why is everypony I meet trying to stop me from finding my family!"
"I know the importance of family too, but trust me, they don't want you throwing your life away like this."
"I've had it! I don't want to die here in the caves as the last of the unicorns! And I won't forsake my father and my brother! I'm going to the surface, and you're not going to stop me!"
All of sudden, the entire cave system shook so hard that many of Sparkle's artifacts fell from the shelves and hooks. The orange pony stared carefully at the unicorn with a suspicion that she might and caused the tremor due to her outburst of anger channeled through her magic horn. When she thought more about it, her suspicions began trailing elsewhere.
"Not another cave-in," groaned Sparkle.
"That ain't a cave-in," said the orange pony. "That's a real Fusion Grenade."