Chapter 11
‘Thought’
“Dialogue”
“Words in a foreign language.”
“Quoting in thought”
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“Well?” Chris asked in a flat tone from his spot on the bed. Applejack was nervous, the whole situation was way over her head and she always hated when she didn’t even know enough about the situation to have an opinion.
“Well, what?” Twilight responded.
The alien creature that had been captured over three weeks ago was sitting right here in front of her in Twilight’s bed and she couldn’t really figure out why he seemed to be so cranky. Twi and the princess had told her he had made a run for it around lunch time. Was that the reason, cause he got his flank handed to him? If it was, it seemed awfully juvenile to the blonde cowpony.
After a few more minutes of tense silence Chris sighed and hung his head “Look if you’re going to kill me, can you just get it over with, I don’t have all day.”
The room went nuts.
“WHAT!?” Twilight screamed, shock was easy to hear in her voice.
Rarity babbled incoherently, trying desperately to regain some composure.
Pinkie instantly flipped from happy and bubbly to looking like she was on the verge of tears.
Fluttershy’s mouth fell open and she stopped trying to pull Soarin away.
The princess’ eyes narrowed, her face unreadable.
Spitfire looked just as stunned as anyone, but quickly buried it behind a calm professional exterior.
Soarin pressed his weapon closer, seeming to still be angry about the bloody nose… and everyone seeing Fluttershy give him a black eye (which had been hilarious).
Fleetfoot never moved from her place in the corner. She didn’t even flinch at the creature’s strange accusation.
Then there was Rainbow…
Rainbow Dash quickly closed the distance between her and Chris. “What the hay is your problem, huh!? No pony has tried to hurt you since you showed up, so why don’t yo-“
Rainbow was cut off abruptly when the human actually growled and took a swipe at her. She dodged easily enough while Applejack had the presence of mind to conveniently step in between Soarin and Chris, preventing any issues with the business end of a sharp spear and an already angry stallion, while getting ready to buck the suddenly hostile alien square in the jaw.
“BULLSHIT!” Chris shouted at his collected audience. “You tried to kill me! If you had hit me- forget kill, you would have torn me in half!” He shifted his glare towards the three military ponies. “And you! You broke into my home, assaulted me, destroyed my property, kidnapped me, and locked me in a cell for three weeks with no clothes and barely any food!” Finally his gaze turned to the shivering Twilight and the now glaring princess. “You almost kill me every time you’re in the same damn room!” he shouted, jabbing a strange appendage at Celestia. “And last but not least, the purple witch here has been doing God knows what to me for weeks! So, if you wouldn’t mind, either just kill me now and get it over with or let me go home!” Chris finished panting softly, the rest of the room silent as the grave.
“Please be cal-“ The princess was cut off by a sudden, distinct sproing from behind her. The entire room slowly turned their heads to look at the still shivering lavender mare, cowering behind Celestia’s hooves. The sound came again. Sproing. AJ noticed strands of Twilight’s mane popping out of place. Poor Twilight looked like she was about to have a Want-it-Need-it grade breakdown.
“I’m not a witch…” Twilight whispered, almost too quietly to hear.
“Twilight, are you-“ Celestia was cut off again as Twilight suddenly shot from under her mentor’s hooves and into the face of the suddenly terrified alien. The magic shielding him from the Princess’s presence faded, leaving him to gasp and sputter, clutching his chest, not daring to cough with the psychotic mare only inches from him. Celestia gasped and quickly took over the isolation spell.
“I AM NOT A WITCH!!!” Twilight shouted in his face. Her horn glowed suddenly and AJ quickly shifted her weight, ready to pounce and pull Twilight off of the poor thing. But Applejack wasn’t quick enough. Twilight tore the supports from one of the bookshelves over her bed, sending a cascade of literature down on the head of the alien. Chris shouted and threw his hands up over himself, too late to stop most of the damage. He scrambled away from Twilight and the other ponies falling off the bed with a loud thump, he clawed his way into a corner and curled his legs over himself and trembled in terror of the manic librarian.
Celestia suddenly cleared her throat, drawing the room’s attention away from the alien shivering in the corner. “I think my student and I need to have a little chat in private.” Her horn glowed a brilliant gold and suddenly she and Twilight vanished in the loud pop of a teleportation spell.
The military ponies, sans Fleetfoot, looked around nervously. Pinkie Pie still looked heartbroken. Fluttershy, somehow the least stunned by the outburst, was trying to coax the terrified creature out of the corner. Rarity just stared with a strange, vacant look on her face before finally uttering a single word the cowpony would not have ever imagined coming out of the high class mare’s mouth.
“Woah…”
“Yah can say that again Sugacube.”
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‘Ok, nothing to be afraid of. Just breathe in, and breathe out, breathe in... and breathe out.’ I slowly forced myself to calm down from the scare of a lifetime. If I were a betting man I would wager that that incident just shaved off about ...hmmm, a decade’s worth of my miserable existence.
My senses slowly returned to me and, to my surprise, my vision was filled with a pair of giant, blue eyes. I nearly freaked out again, but the eyes turned out to belong to the yellow and pink one, one of the two pony creatures I didn’t despise. When she finally managed to get me to look up, she sighed in relief and turned to the rest of the room.
“Ummm… If you don’t mind, could you clear the room please I think we will get a lot further if there were fewer ponies crowding the poor dear… Umm, especially you guardsponies. I mean, no offense but… you know.” The little yellow mare cast a meaningful look towards the Jerk. For all her quiet demeanor, I was surprised how ready the others were to follow her advice.
“Don’t gotta tell me twice.” The Jerk’s boss lady mumbled. She and the quiet one I smacked with a Bible the day this whole mess started quickly trotted out the door. “Come on Soarin, let the mare work.” She called back into the room. The jerk, now known as Soarin… Actually, I think I’ll just keep calling him “Jerk”, Followed after his boss trotting out of the room.
The Rainbow one, who had set me off so spectacularly, waved goodbye to them and shot me a smug look, I returned it with a glare. I hoped would burn right through her.
“Umm, Rainbow Dash, if you wouldn’t mind, could you go too?” The yellow and pink one seemed to slowly get quieter and quieter until her voice was just a squeak.
“What?!” Rainbow Dash half shouted.
“We aren’t going to get anywhere if he isn’t relaxed, and he won’t relax if you don’t leave… Umm, I'm really sorry about this.” The yellow one pleaded.
“Fine! I’ll just go hang out with the Wonderbolts.” Rainbow Dash huffed before blasting through the larger window in the room into the wintry day. Wow she was fast… Wait… how did she not just shatter the glass? Ugh, nevermind.
Once she was out of the room I let myself relax uncurling out of my spot in the corner and stretching out my cramped legs. There were only four ponies in the room now, my favorite yellow one, my second favorite pink one, an orange one, and a white one, both of whom I had only met once before. The yellow one called my attention back to her by cautiously touching my calf and giving me a sorrowful look. “I'm really sorry about my friends; they didn’t mean what they did, honest.”
Didn’t mean what they di- Oh hell no! My anger flared up again, only to peter out as I felt just how exhausted I really was. I was actually surprised at myself, I had never blown up at anyone like that in my whole life. Then again, I had never been assaulted and kidnapped before either. The stalled anger came up as a sigh of frustration and exhaustion. “Look, errm, what was your name again?” huh weird I hadn’t actually ever caught the yellow ones name.
“Oh, I'm sorry how rude of me, my name is Fluttershy.” She hurriedly replied.
“Uh, right, Fluttershy…” ‘Weird names allround.’ “Look, I’ll make you a deal. I don’t want to hurt anyone, but your friends have done a lot of things that have been really bad for me in the last few weeks. If you just let me go, I’ll go back to my town and you never have to see me ever again. I won’t hurt anyone, or anything, I’ll just go home. Sound good?” As soon as I finished the pink one let out a loud wail and started sobbing. ‘Was it something I said?’
“Umm, actually-“
“Now just wait one apple buckin’ minute there. Poor Fluttershy here can’t make that decision, ya jus’ have ta wait for tha’ princess ta’ get back!” the orange and… blonde one stepped forward.
I scowled at her, a little peeved at the interruption. “And you are?”
“Mah names Applejack, I run Sweet Apple Acres. We grow the best apples in all of Equestria. She introduced herself with a little flare, apparently undaunted by my hostile tone.
“Well Applejack, I haven’t done anything wrong. I didn’t hurt anyone, I didn’t steal anything, I even stayed on my own land. I have been arrested without cause and illegally detained, so you can imagine I don’t really see a need to deal with whoever is in-charge. All I want is for no one to assault me again on my way out of town.” I glared at her, hoping to get her to back down.
“Sorry partner, the princess is in charge. She can do what she thinks is right, and right now that’s keeping you under her hoof.” She replied returning my glare equally.
Just as I was about to quip about getting trapped by some kind of race of fascist horses, the pink one suddenly appeared beside me and wrapped her hooves around me in the strongest, bone crushing-est, hug I’ve ever had the displeasure of experiencing.
“I’M SORRY!” She wailed right into my face. She was crying so hard that her tears reminded me of a busted fire hydrant.
“Help! Can’ breathe!” I gasped through her hug. The other ponies in the room just giggled at her antics.
‘God help me.’
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“Princess Luna!” A night guard burst into her chambers, running past a nervous looking mare hanging around the door to the royal bedroom to find the princess of the night pacing back and forth in front of a roaring fireplace. “Princess.” He greeted with a short bow. Luna returned the gesture with a nod of her head.
“Report.” She said evenly despite an eager tinge to her face.
The night guard saluted sharply and began to relay his message. “The 3rd Unicorn corps. detected the object. It appears to have left Canterlot airspace and is starting to descend over the town of Ponyville. We have already sent word via dragon fire but there hasn't been a response.” He finished and stood at attention waiting for the princess to either dismiss him or give further orders.
“Has my sister been notified of the situation?” Luna asked after a moment of contemplation.
“No, your Highness. She scheduled an outing to Ponyville around noon but she has yet to return. As of the time I left the intelligence center they were preparing the dragon fire to send a notification.” The guard replied never leaving his stiff stance.
“Very good, thank you for the update noble night guard.” Luna turned and returned to the fireplace as the guard saluted once more and quickly left the room. The Mare that had been nervously pacing near the door followed her over and flopped down on the same cushion she had occupied an hour ago.
“What are we going to do?” she moaned burying her head in her hooves. “If my superiors find out I took something like that off of Academy grounds without permission they are going to fire me!”
“Do not worry my little pony, surely a letter from a princess would stay their hooves in the matter. They will not be able to touch you should I forbid it, Professor Beaker.” Luna replied as she looked into the cheery flames dancing in the hearth.
“You would do that for me princess?” Crystal Beaker perked up.
“Of course, intelligence dealing with the safety of the kingdom should be delivered quickly and pass through as few hooves as possible. If this information had been slipped to the wrong pony we could have had the other nations trying to wrest this new resource from us within the day. No, you did the right thing coming straight to me.” Luna ruffled the mane of the nervous doctor like one would a foal. “You shall never come to harm for doing the right thing, not if I have any say in the matter, and if the day that a princess of Equestria has no say in such a matter ever comes to pass, I fear such things will be the least of our problems.” Her face dropped out of her serene smile as her thoughts turned to more serious matters.
“The issue still remains, what are we to do with the Everfree City? According to what you have told me, the machines there are likely to contain enough platinum to destroy most of Equis if it were to fall into the wrong hooves.” Luna paused, her mind was racing trying to come up with the best course of action. ”We cannot be as obvious as to assault and secure the city, such a reckless act would leave us with innumerable changeling infiltrators within days.” She mumbled to herself.
“Princess? I have an idea you might find worthwhile.” Crystal Beaker grinned deviously her earlier nervousness now just a faint memory.
“Yes? What is it?” Luna leaned her head in closer at the professors beckoning. After a few short whispers the princess sprouted a grin of her own. “Professor that is brilliant!” Luna looked like she might die any second from excitement. “I shall make all of the arrangements soon, expect my summons within the week.”
“Thank you your highness.” The professor bowed and made her way out, her crazy grin back on her face.
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“Ahm bored.” Apple Bloom rolled over on the small pile of hay that occupied a corner of the Cutie Mark Crusaders clubhouse.
A heavy sigh came from the opposite corner where Sweetie Belle was attempting to do her magic homework. “I’m sorry, I just can't seem to get this right.”
“Don't sweat it, the only thing on the crusading list was garbage pony anyway.” Scootaloo fluttered her wings in the corner trying to get them to lift her off the wooden floor.
The orange light from the setting sun flooded into the tiny clubhouse. The three fillies all let out a collective sigh of boredom.
“Well we might as well get an early night. Its the weekend tomorrow so we can get to crusadin’ bright an early!” Apple Bloom rolled off her spot on the hay pile.
“I guess you're right, c’mon Sweetie Belle.” Scootaloo joined Apple Bloom in a slow trot out the door.
Sweetie Belle picked up her magic homework and glared at it. Why couldn't she get it? It was only a simple levitation spell! She sighed again and started to follow the other two when a small whistling sound caught their ears.
“Whut’s that?” Apple Bloom asked. The three girls stopped and listened as the sound grew louder.
“Sounds like its getting closer!” Scootaloo whispered.
Suddenly a loud crash shook the tree house and a board fell from the ceiling. The fillies were starting to panic and run but then a tiny silver marble fell from the hole in the roof, smacking Scootaloo on the top of the head.
“Ouch!” Scootaloo rubbed her bruised noggin with a hoof.
The tiny silver marble came to a rest in the floor right in between the three of them.
“What is it? Sweetie Belle asked amazed the tiny little thing had hit their clubhouse hard enough to shake loose the ceiling boards.
Scootaloo buzzed her wings and stomped angrily over to the small sphere. “I don’t know, but it hurt! Stupid marble!” She kicked it.
The moment her hoof touched the silver sphere Scootaloo shot into the air, smashing her already abused head into the ceiling and punching a hole right through the old wooden roof, where she promptly got stuck.
The other two fillies looked back and forth at one another then down to the innocent looking sphere as Scootaloo dangled from the roof, groaning in pain.
“Get me down from here!”
Author’s Note: Forget children with matches, this is fillies with a flamethrower! mUAH HA HA HA! I also actually came up with the chapter title this time! Woo! go me!
Co-Author’s Note: Oh God. Pinkie’s crying... HIDE THE SHARP THINGS!
-Admari