//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 // Story: Salvation Through Destruction // by RoflLuxRay //------------------------------// Salvation Through Destruction: Based on concepts from: The Conversion Bureau, by: Blaze Chapter 3 “It’s fifteen past eleven, she should be awake by now” I thought to myself with a big bowl of cereal in my hands. The small table next to the living room was lit by the morning May sun. The TV was filled with brainwashing crap, so was the radio and the newspaper. Every morning was a quiet one for me in that cottage, one of the reasons why I bought it with the sole purpose of hiding Twilight Sparkle. With every munch I took, I went all over again over the checklist for my unexpected visit to Equestria. I had foreseen it, but not so sudden. “Laptop, check. USB flash disk, check. Projector, check. Pony attire, check. Briefcase, check. Documents, check” repeated over and over in my head. “What time is it?” I snapped and spit the food in my mouth straight back into my plate. Twilight screamed in shock. “I’m sorry!” she yelled after her loud, high pitched scream. “It’s ok. That was the last spoon of cereal, I was about to finish anyway” I said in calm voice, cleaning up any chewed cereal that fell off the plate. “What time is it, again?” she sat on the opposite side of the table. “Sixteen past eleven, you slept ten hours and forty five minutes. Cereal? Tea?” I reached for a plate on the shelf next to me, her eyes opened wide and she shot up straight from the table. “We’re going to be late!” she took my hand and dragged me all the way to the backyard. It was a sunny day; some of the flowers emanated a scent that filled the air and made the surroundings truly come to life. “Oh yeah, you’re supposed to report to Celestia at noon” I forced my arm away from her tight grip, “hold on a second, I must go for my briefcase. You get ready, I’ll wait for you in the car” she stood there with giving me a rare look, I ignored her and went inside the house to retrieve all that I needed for my travel. It took me a few minutes of last moment organizing and grooming in the second floor, but once I descended the stairs, I saw Twilight standing in the middle of the living room arms crossed. “I said wait for me in the car; and why haven’t you changed your clothes?” I frowned at her purple pajama. “We don’t need a car or change our clothes, silly. I can go to Equestria from anywhere, come with me” she walked outside seemingly confident. “Look Leighton” she turned towards me looking down, “I’m going to take you to Equestria with the purpose of you sharing your plan with Queen Celestia, got it?” “I totally understand, Twilight. I am prepared” I replied with confidence, tightening my left fist. “Okay… Here I go” her horn began glowing in an intense lavender color that quickly covered the whole backyard in a soft purple aura. From the borders of this aura, lightning bolts began to focus on one area in front of us, eventually creating some sort of black hole. “Grab my hand!” she moaned from exhaustion, I took her hand with a mixture of fear and excitement. The aura suddenly turned red along with her horn, the sound of a huge vacuum sucking the air around us began emanating from the black hole. “Jump now!” she leaped into the dark hole, pulling my hand along. Everything went dark around me; it felt like falling straight into abyss. I remember her voice in the distance, audible, yet not understandable. My body changed, more like readjusted, morphed; filling me with an unimaginable pain. I gave into the pain after noticing I could not see myself, I just closed my eyes and hoped the pain would end soon. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Leighton? Leighton are you alright?” I heard a feminine voice in the distance as my light struck my slowly opening eyes. “Did it work? Do you remember who you are?” “I feel like I was just ran over by a train, punched in the gut and dragged five miles by a horse, but if you ask me who I am, I will proudly identify myself as Leighton McRae” I said as I stood up, rubbing my head with a hoof, I noticed the feminine voice was a purple equine with a horn on its head. It was Twilight in her pony version. “You look great, you’re one proud Pegasus. Even though I’m not a huge fan of your color” she said walking towards a bookshelf next to us. It was in that very moment when I noticed we reappeared in a library. “According to this, my spell should keep you fresh and full of your memories during your stay in Equestria, please enjoy yourself” she headed up a spiral staircase in front of me; the architecture was something I had never seen before. It seemed like the insides of a tree. “Can anybody give me a mirror?” I asked as I tried my brand new hooves around. “You don’t say anybody in here, you say anypony, oh, and there’s one in the bathroom, left of the kitchen” her voice echoed in the wooden walls, I followed her directions and found a somewhat pleasant surprise in the mirror. “I look good…” I examined every single part of my body, my skin was colored red and my mane was a little browner than usual, let alone the couple of wings that appeared at the sides of my torso. They were there but I couldn’t feel them. “Twilight?” I asked with some concern, “what is that tattoo I have on my ass?” “Oh please!” she shouted with anger, “you say flank in here, not ass. That’s why we teach our manners to you humans first” she appeared next to me suddenly, “and you have a cutie mark? Most humans don’t have one, let me take a look” The look in her eyes was of one of a person who is merely curious, but nevertheless, a pony looking at your flank is a pony looking at your flank. “Yes, it has a pen and a sword. Can I remove it?” “No, of course not!” her fascination towards my ‘cutie mark’ made the expression in my face change, “sorry! I guess I’m a huge fan of your cutie mark, I had never seen anything like it. It means that you already discovered your special talent, something you identify yourself with; and it has something to do with pens and swords” “I enjoy writing, for I was once a journalist for the Liverpool Echo. Greatest days in my life” my mind suddenly filled with memories of those days when I was in my early twenties, “It was also the time of my life where I used to get the less sleep hours” I added with a smirk. “Twilight, are you home-” a small, purple dragon walked into the house with a note in hand; it let out a massive scream the moment my eyes met with him, “who the hell is this guy Twilight, is he a burglar? Back off!! You’re not taking anything!” it threatened with nothing more than a small piece of paper on hand. “Is this how guests are treated on Equestria? With a small dragon threatening you with a mere sheet of paper?” I implied in a sarcastic way, walking towards him in the most respectful way my hooves allowed me to. “Twilight, this pony is creeping me out. What’s with his voice…?” “Don’t be so harsh on our guest, Spike. He’s a new friend of mine; I met him back on earth. His name is Leighton McRae” Spike glared at me with furious eyes. “Pleased, to make your acquaintance” I offered a hoof, expecting to receive the equivalent to a handshake. He only stared at my hoof, rudely walking past me. “Is he a human? How come he can remember his life on earth? Why is he here? Celestia is going to demand explanations,” “He saved my life back on earth, the least I could do to repay his actions was to offer my help,” Twilight said as she approached a stand with ink and pen. “My specie faces annihilation. I come here with a plan to save us through your lifestyle; do not be afraid, Spike, I mean no harm to your people.” “I don’t usually like humans…” the small dragon glared at me with the same eyes from before, “but when I do they have a cool accent” his face turned happy suddenly for my surprise, “I just love the way you talk, do every human talks like you?” “I’m glad to see you two can get along. Let me write a letter to Celestia with my report, Spike, show our guest around,” her purple horn began glowing once more and the pen floated around, writing on the paper next to her. “Alright, Mister Leighton, follow me!” the now joyful dragon signaled me to follow outside, where a marvelous, colorful town appeared before me. Again, the architecture was simply breathtaking. A mix of impossible structures along with a large pallet of color gave the town its life. Around, lots of ponies walked past us, seemingly happy and waving hello at each other as if they were friends since the very moment they were born. It was clear that the life in this town was simple, lovely and quiet. “What’s the name of this place, Spike?” I asked astonished by my surroundings. “Ponyville, a small, peaceful town here on Equestria. Lovely, isn’t it?” “You bet your flank it is…” I couldn’t help but to notice the fact that I felt assaulted by everypony’s eyes. You could tell everyone knew each other in this place. “Here we live our lives in a simple way, though we got a lot of things going on. With the whole human immigration issue we sure have lots of more visitors every day.” “What’s the criminal occurrence in this place?” “We don’t have any of that. Everypony here is honest and straight, we don’t need to steal each other’s property or fight over something. But if we do, we take this to a court where a judge decides who’s right and both parties sign a treaty where they compromise to submit to the judge’s decision.” “So… you don’t have nothing like murder or kidnapping in this place?” I looked at him with skepticism drawn all over my face. “Nope, no murder or kidnapping. Why are you asking stuff like that?” he countered with a frown of his own. “From where I came from, people have fights even over who should keep a dead body. Coming to a place like this… is… weird to me.” “I see…” Spike stopped and pointed towards a building that had the appearance of a chocolate cake, “That is Sugarcube Corner. If you want to try the most delicious cakes on earth, that’s the place.” “The architecture is something that shines above the rest of this lovely town, is it local developed or nationwide fashion?” I stared at the muffin on top of the building. Spike giggled immediately after my question, “I just love the way you talk! Anyway, if you turn around this corner you’ll find the marketplace, where you can buy from food to souvenirs.” “In England, when you make a question, it is a common courtesy to take the bother to answer it, Spike,” I said calmly, hiding the hot pot of anger I was inside. “Ah, so you come from a place called England?” the jolly dragon asked innocently, it was clear that he didn’t had the intention to offend me. “Yes, it’s a large portion of an island in the north part of the earth. It is actually part of a larger kingdom, called the United kingdom, that compresses England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland under a single flag, even though each kingdom remains apart from each other by recognizable borders.” “Do everyone in the United Kingdom talks like you do?” his eyes filled with an unmistakable spark. “Yes, but it’s different from place to place. My accent is native to Merseyside and is commonly referred as Scouse, but you have the Scottish accent, the Geordy, the Mancunian… There are lots of different accents all across the United Kingdom.” “That’s awesome…” he looked down as if meditating, “I know! I have a couple of friends who have accents too, you should totally meet them!” he began sprinting suddenly towards a building shaped similarly to a carousel. At first I couldn’t find the correct rhythm to run properly as a pony, but after a couple of meters, I found it to be more efficient than human sprinting. I could now feel what was like to gallop at full speed. Spike genuinely broke into the building; he stepped inside without ringing or knocking. My education forced me to stay outside until the host allowed me to enter. I could hear Spike’s voice repeatedly shout ‘Rarity’ inside the building. Eventually, a feminine voice with a mid-Atlantic accent replied politely to wait. “I have a pony with me you should totally meet. Leighton, come inside it’s cool!” he shouted from inside. “Spike, my education forbids the act of me wandering inside somepony’s house without the host’s permission.” “My-my!” a white pony with a horn like Twilight popped up from the door dressed in a purple gown, “you have the manners of a true gentlemen. I am Rarity, proud owner of the Carousel Boutique.” “I am Leighton McRae, Lady Rarity,” I gently took her hoof and kissed it, “a pleasure, to make your acquaintance.” The white unicorn giggled in delight; Spike glared at me with furious eyes again, “I would gladly have you enter my chambers if I wasn’t swamped with work this evening. Where are you from? Your accent is distinctive.” “I am from Knowsly, England,” Rarity’s face suddenly changed to one filled with doubts. “Oh yeah, he was not born a pony. He’s a human that Twilight brought along with her,” Spike interrupted as he walked to my side. “Really? Such a lovely accent you humans carry, darling. And what brings you here, Mister McRae?” for my surprise, I was not discriminated as I thought I would. “I come with a proposal for Queen Celestia. Humanity will soon go extinct, and I plan to save it through your lifestyle.” “That’s amazing! I would love to have more humans here, imagine all the different fashion styles that would come along with them. The possibilities are limitless!” her body language was classy, and her accent distinctive. If she wasn’t a pony I would probably find someone like her attractive. “Alright Leighton, we have to go. Twilight probably finished her letter by now, so we should really go,” Spike nervously added, grabbing one of my hoofs and pulling me away. “Alright then, Leighton, darling. If you’re ever around town and wish to have an outfit that lives up to your… class, my humble establishment is always open for you. Consider it a personal favor,” she winked her eye as Spike pulled me away from the Carousel Boutique. We walked back towards the library in a somewhat awkward silence. “You know, Rarity’s accent is similar to mine. It’s known as mid-Atlantic accent back on earth,” Spike continued to ignore me; it was easy to tell he was mad at me. “What’s the matter mate?” I politely asked while placing a hoof on his back. “Nothing,” he hissed and pushed my hoof away from him. “I’ll analyze this to figure out what is wrong with you…” I took a deep breath; this however, did not stop us from walking out way back to the library, “Rationalization? No, time is too short, not enough time for proper digestion of thoughts, must be an immediate response. I was polite, Rarity was polite, doesn’t seem to carry negative thoughts towards her. Subject deliberately walked into Rarity’s chamber without permission, she didn’t seem startled either by my or his presence though. It must have been something I did. Unlikely, I kept a polite atmosphere and conversation, subject interrupted communication between Rarity and me, no, must be symptom, not a cause; must have been the fact of me talking to her. Attitude, seventy five percent of the word exchange occurred between her and me along with her expressive body language. Subject interrupted communication between me and Rarity due to feeling separated from her attention, a feeling commonly known as jealousy; ergo, you probably have feelings for her. Am I correct?” Spike stared at me jaw-dropped, “yes?” he said with a weird look in his eyes. “I knew it” I knocked on the pink wooden door of the library, “Come on in, it’s open!” was the response from inside “After you, Spike,” I politely opened his door under his weird gaze, after shutting the door close; I realized Twilight had a paper in hand. “Quick Spike! Send this to Queen Celestia,” she handed the paper over to the dragon, which held it close to his mouth. He blew green air towards the paper and it vanished into thin air. “I’m assuming that’s a pretty fast way of sending letters?” “Yes it is,” Spike giggled, “We usually get her response in a few minutes.” “Ok Twilight, what’s next?” I asked with a worried voice. “We wait for her response,” she turned towards a shelf behind her, the horn in her head began glowing and a book was lifted into the air. “I presume you told her that I had a plan to present.” “I did. Don’t worry Leighton, whether she approves or not, you’ll present your plan to her,” she glanced at the book in front of her face. “I am very grateful, for this opportunity, Twilight,” I bowed in a reverential way; she blushed and hid behind her book. Suddenly, Spike shuddered and burped. “How rude!” a paper flew straight from his mouth into Twilights hands. “Already? That was quick…” she opened the letter and cleared her throat and just before Twilight could begin reading the paper, the look on her face turned to show fear. “This can’t be good.”