//------------------------------// // Ch. 3- The Road to Ponyville // Story: Friendship is Magic Redux // by paiohelohelo //------------------------------// “Twilight Sparkle, are you still in bed?” Twilight could recognize her mom’s voice, even as she struggled to regain consciousness. “Just a minute, mother.” Twilight managed to mumble out, eyelids still closed. It must have been Sunday morning because she could smell the assortment of waffles and pancakes down in the kitchen (she couldn’t smell the syrups but she relished their presence nonetheless), as well as that delicious, exotic coffee her parents loved so much. Right about now, her mother, father and brother would be downstairs, ready to start the day with a little bit of each other’s love and company. “Twilight…” Didn’t Shining Armor say something about interning in Washington, D.C. this year? “Twilight….” Oh, she really hoped she finished her Trig homework… for this weekend… “Twilight, dear, wake up.” Twilight’s eyes shot open. Not from suddenly realizing that she wasn’t in the time or the place she was dreaming about, but from realizing that she had slipped on her elbow upon which she was resting and whammed her forehead full on the tinny metal of the derelict jeep they were currently driving in across the barren landscape of Ethiopia. “Motherf- !” “- Oh, honey, so sorry, you should get some ice from the cooler in the back, that’ll probably welt right up.” Appreciating the irony of that little moment, Twilight rubbed her aching forehead and scanned out her window. Yup, Ethiopia was still craggly, brown and sandy from where she could see. She had lost track of exactly how long ago they left the airport at Addis Ababa, but she was sure that she had the exact time written down somewhere in one of her notebooks in the back, along with all of her and her mother’s equipment and supplies. They had been continually driving eastwards towards Somalia, only stopping occasionally for water or gas for what seemed like days. “We’re almost there, dear, so you’ll have to be awake when we reach the checkpoints.” Twilight looked around. “I’m sorry, are you seeing something that I’m not?” Velvet smiled. “You really believe the US Government would set up a clandestine laboratory out in the middle of the Ethiopian desert and not take all the precautionary measures to protect it?” Twilight didn’t see him at first, the first sentry. They were driving along the same dusty road when suddenly he appeared on the side, in the distance. He was an equally dusty old Ethiopian man, guarding a red and white striped wooden pole across the way. As they got closer, Twilight noticed that he was wearing the same camo- colored Ethiopian National Defense Force uniform that the guards at the airport had on, only caked in a light red. As they got close enough to pull over, she also saw that he seemed very relaxed, smiling in a very friendly way and holding an old wooden stocked rifle that Twilight was pretty sure wasn’t even loaded. They stopped right in front of the barricade and Velvet smiled at the man. He smiled back. “Attam oolte!” he greeted. “Attam oolte,” She greeted back. “Where, are- you… come?” the man asked in mincing English. She didn’t miss a beat. “From The Dominion of Her Royal Highness Princess Celestia Everstar to The Path of His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie.” Twilight glanced at her mother. Was the tremendous heat finally getting to her? The man only smiled, slowly nodded, and limped towards the barricade to lift it by hand. The Twilights simply drove on as before. “From ‘Princess’ Celestia to Haile Selassie?” Velvet didn’t bat an eye. “Oh, just military code. They pretty much run the entire security bit.” Her daughter looked back. “Yeah, American tax dollars at work.” Her mom giggled. “Oh honey, that’s only the first checkpoint.” Soon enough, as they continued driving, Twilight saw a second guard post. It was getting darker, and the rocks around them were starting to grow into massive boulders on the sides of the roads, all along the sparse trees. As they approached, she noticed two guards, American soldiers, standing in front of what seemed to be a chain link fence with barbwire over the top. In four languages a red and white signed proclaimed that the area was off limits to civilians. As before, Velvet slowed down at the barricade. When she stopped, one soldier, never moving, simply asked her: “Where are you going, ma’am?” Again, Velvet responded: “Towards The Path of His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie.” “And where is this path located?” “Wherever Particular Ponies Congregate.” Once again, the soldiers opened the barricade and let the dusty jeep on through. The longer and longer they drove on, the less and less snippy Twilight became. Soon enough, the first stars of night appeared high overhead, and the boulders at the sides of the roads became sheer cliffs of ancient rock with the tiny remains of trees clinging to their tops. It wasn’t long before they came upon a long, gray anomaly in the endless expanses of brown, red and tan. As her mother drove closer, Twilight noticed that it was a long wall made up of pure metal stretching from the cliff on one side of the road towards the other. At regular intervals along the wall there seemed to be bulletproof guard posts where American soldiers armed with big, black machine guns bristling with shiny bullets sat behind thick armor plate attached to their weapons. At the very ends near the cliffs stood illuminated, high- powered searchlights. “Now, honey, I know you did some research at Edwards, but you really need to keep calm as we get through this last check point, ok?” Velvet asked her daughter evenly as they approached the large group of soldiers at the wall. “Ok, mom,” Twilight agreed, eyes fixed on all their guns. One soldier made a motion for the jeep to stop. The others quickly took their positions surrounding the jeep, their weapons drawn and cocked, pointing their deadly payload at the passengers inside. Twilight felt her heart race. What did her old philosophy teacher and her mother get her into now? “Just stay calm,” Velvet reminded as a soldier walked up with an M4 in one hand and a strange looking telescope in the other. He looked at Velvet, and then at Twilight. Her previously pounding heart was suddenly frozen solid as he glared at her suspiciously. “What’s your destination, ma’am?” “Canterlot.” Was all that Velvet simply replied. “And how do you plan on getting there?” the guard seemed bored, like he had asked these questions hundreds of times. “Through The Eye of The Alicorn.” Again, Twilight glanced at her mother. Who came up with this stuff? “Name?” he asked. “Dr. Twilight Velvet Sparkle, Harmonics Division.” The guard raised his strange telescope at Velvet’s face. It sprung out a bit and a green beam of light scanned her face and eyes. The guard looked at the other end. “Identity confirmed.” He said as if he wasn’t surprised at all. He turned to Twilight. “Name?” She started to panic. Oh, geez, this was going to be very awkward. “Um, um… um… Dr. Twilight Velvet Sparkle… as well.” The guard looked at Velvet, and then at Twilight. And then he looked back at Velvet. “She’s my daughter. Newbie for The Development Division.” The guard looked at them both for a second, and then proceeded to scan Twilight Junior. As he did the other guards surrounding the vehicle seemed to perk up and hover their fingers over their triggers. Twilight was now very, very sweaty and very, very anxious in the dying Ethiopian heat. The guard checked the other end. “Identity confirmed,” he pronounced, and the soldiers surrounding them relaxed their weapons. “Drive right on in.” “Thank you,” Velvet offered casually and smiled as the humongous metal gates opened up. Twilight Junior breathed a very visible sigh of relief. The guard with the scanner curtly nodded. “Welcome back to Camp Ponyville, ma’am.