[Passage]
Twilight Sparkle was busy cramming as much of the overwhelming amount of information as she could into her hungry brain. Her eyes were glued to the pages since the instant she opened the book when it displayed a multitude of maps and images of a entirely new world. Every description and excerpt she came across pieced together the world's political boundaries, cultural territories, and geographic wonders, as well key points about topography, politics, and science. It was almost like a fantasy world for ponies, especially those who enjoyed fiction. Twilight adored fiction.
What was more mind-boggling was the fact that the book was only one in a potentially larger pool of knowledge that the humans possessed. She wondered if they had libraries near here, no matter how small. Any amount of books would do, but the more the merrier. A stream of questions poured into her mind like flash flood overcoming a large waterfall.
So much history, so many countries, so many people. The moment she glazed over an estimate the global population of human beings, her eyes widened. Why so many? Equestria easily had less than one percent of all humans on the planet. Ponies wouldn't reach a billion for a long time, let alone six.
As for types of humans, that matter was a little more complicated.
She was so lost in the book that she had forgotten everything around her, including the voice of a certain pegasus pony standing right next to her. The voice was muffled despite no obstructions to her ears.
“Twilight?” Rainbow chirped, nudging the unicorn with a hoof.
“Hm?” Twilight mumbled without looking up from the pages.
“Are you listening?”
Another nudge finally brought Twilight back to the present.
“I'm sorry, what was the question?” she said, finally looking up.
“What does the book say?” Rainbow asked.
“Oh, uh, it just shows me where we are,” Twilight lied. The book showed much more than that. She hadn't actually found where New Zealand was on the map yet, she was too busy with short summaries of human history and famous landmarks. Because she wasn't finished reading the book yet, she wanted to read every section before forming any sort of synopsis.
“Is that all?” The blue pegasus tilted her head.
“Let her read, Rainbow Dash,” Cadence cut in. “She needs some time to finish.”
Rainbow obeyed and stepped back to give Twilight some room to read. She looked around the room once more. The female human and the pink alicorn—who were no longer themselves—were busy learning how to walk like each other. It was boring watching them fail a few times before getting it right.
When her eyes landed on the lobby door, she smirked defiantly. Who says she has to stay a prisoner in this house forever? It was time she stretched her wings and, if possible, make things right with the other humans. Besides, she couldn't stand being cooped up in a room all day long.
Cadence was too busy to notice a deep creaking sound of metal hinges while instructing Kate how to walk like a pony. In turn, Kate would teach Cadence how to stand and walk like a human. “Now, as we were saying, you're gonna want to put your forelegs...”
Twilight quickly got back to the atlas in front of her and let her friends talk. She really wanted to join in, but a new book from another world was too good to pass up. It seemed some habits from her Canterlot days never died.
There were so many sections and subsections on the human world. The learned that the name Earth was used to describe the name of their entire planet instead of the soil beneath their feet. She didn't know if they used it both, but is was a definite possibility.
She was a little heartbroken when the section called 'Planet Earth' never went any further than that. Her life would have been complete if the book featured astronomy or some other field of science. Even a single diagram illustrating the solar system would have been most helpful. Taking into account the amount of books on the shelves and those riddled on the floor from earlier, there was a good chance at least one of them was a science book.
She flipped the pages and eventually landed on the major differences in human physiology, but only briefly. Twilight didn't expect to find an entire rundown of everything about everything. No such book could exist, unless the humans found a way to bring together all their knowledge into one convenient location.
The next section mentioned human evolution, which was strange concept at first glance.
Humans seemed to only differ in appearances by value of skin tone rather than hues of fur color. Apparently skin color served a purpose. The pigmentation in the skin helped humans develop a resistance to ultraviolet radiation laced in sunlight. Interesting. The darker the skin, the more resistance. Twilight was surprised a book of maps like this had that kind of information. Perhaps this book was a guide to the human species or a basic manual. The vibrant color of ponies, however, had no survival qualities whatsoever. Even though coat color stayed consistent among families, it can be completely random at times—like Pinkie Pie for example—and primarily served as a pony's identity before getting a cutie mark. Nothing more.
The section ended there. Twilight had no doubt there were more books on the subject. This just gave her the basics.
According to the book, there was only one type of human, but divided only through cultural, ethnic, and genetic differences. Reading a little more into the brief description of such characteristics, it seemed race—as it was generally called—had created countless problems among those of differing skin color and cultural perspectives. The further she read on, the more it intrigued and bewildered her. How could beings be so advanced, yet continue to struggle with internal fears and prejudices. Was there no harmony and peace throughout their world?
Witnessing firsthoof the kind of conflicts these humans endured by observing Stanley and Lucas, perhaps not. Although, her observations weren't nearly enough to determine if they accurately reflected all humans.
It was then that the word 'war' was used to illustrate the nature human beings and their history. She was almost forced to close the book on herself when the excerpt she was reading went on to say that war was highly common throughout the globe and history and had gone so far to transform peaceful civilizations into authoritarian empires. Even though the lacked depth on the subject, she just couldn't read that part. So, she skipped to the next section.
Twilight let out a quiet sigh of relief when a picture of a large city started off the next chapter. In fact, there were several photographs of different cities of different countries. Her mind started doing backflips on the sheer scale of the city skylines compared to cities in Equestria. Even a place like Manehattan was dwarfed by the tall structures of a human metropolis. Under each picture read the name of each city: New York, Tokyo, London, Singapore, Los Angeles, Chicago, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Seattle, and... Fillydelphia? No wait, it's spelled differently, but the pronunciation is nearly identical. There's no way the similarities is a coincidence.
More relief set in when a map of the world was finally shown—all other maps she saw were merely separate parts of the greater picture—as it appeared from space. Wait, space? This image... a photograph! No, a compilation of thousands of photographs. She was inclined to believe anything the book told her, including the fine print below the image the medium it was created in, but the fact that humans were able to send a camera that high in the sky was mind blowing.
Twilight shook her head from trying to think of an explanation on how that was possible. Without anything more than this book, she wasn't sure if it was anything worth worrying about. Humans, oddly enough, shared the same language as ponies. Even the written form was spot on. That was one thing she simply could not wrap her head around. The fact that they were separated by an entire universe—assuming it was a different universe or some distant planet—should render their languages so different that neither species would be able to communicate or understand one another.
This went against everything she believed about alien life on other planets. Even Equestrian was a difficult language to learn. None of this made any sense to Twilight.
The lavender unicorn slowly realized she was skipping around the book rather than reading it chronologically when a section on climate change was addressed. Only then did she realize that the book had no particular order of events based on their occurrence in history anyway, like it was all one big fact printed in one single tome.
After climate change and a short paragraph on some place called Greenland, another section talked about government. It listed a dozen different types of systems, many of which were familiar, including democracy and monarchy—which Equestria was a little bit of both. Each country of the human world had its own rules—some more defined than others—and each government was a part of something called the United Nations. As the name implied, it was a conglomerate of almost all nations that existed in the modern world. A total of one-hundred and ninty o-
…
Twilight had to stop reading when that number entered her mind. Next to the number of humans on the planet, that number was unbelievable. Her mind had been suffering from information overload that poured into her brain in the last five minutes. 191 nations!? Why so many!? She yelled in her head. How are they able to maintain that many political entities under one unified system of leadership?
Twilight closed her eyes and took a long breather. This was the moment when even an intellectual mind like hers was overworked to the point of contracting a headache.
After taking a moment to pause for the last time, she looked back down at the book to continue reading. When a section called 'religion' appeared as a subsection of nations, she closed the book. She was almost hyperventilating from the many times it mentioned conflicts of human rights, clashes of two different peoples, and wars for dominance. Twilight had never read a book so full of new information, yet have the information be so far removed from what she had expected.
“Done already?” said Kate through Cadence's voice.
Twilight closed her eyes for a second, then snapped her head up.
“No no, I'm fine,” she sputtered.
“Something wrong?” Kate asked with true concern.
“Do you have a book that is less... broad?”
“What do you mean?”
Twilight got her hooves and walked over to the pile of books on the floor where Lucas had hit the floor.
“A book with more... …” she paused for a few seconds. “Specifics.”
“What subject are you looking for?”
Kate used her basic training of walking on all four hooves to join the purple unicorn in finding a new book to read. She kicked some of the hardcover books out of her way and flattened the pile by sifting through the books on the top first. All the while, Twilight was staring blankly at the pile without moving a muscle.
Cadence tried to stand up, but wobbled in place and was forced to stay on her hands and knees. She grunted at her failure to maintain balance and crawled next to Twilight. She noticed something was bothering her closest friend. She waved a hand in front of the mare's gaze.
“Twilight? Are you alright?”
The unicorn turned her head and blinked as if she forgot where she was.
“What was that?”
“I asked if you were alright.” Cadence tilted her head a little. “Are you sure you're okay? You're were just staring at the books for a while.”
“I was?”
“Were you thinking of something? You appeared to be in thought.”
“I don't know.” Twilight shook her head. “I just remembered what I did yesterday morning.”
Cadence widened her eyes. “Before teleporting here?”
“I believe so,” Twilight replied.
“That's great news! You know how we got here then. You have the answer.”
“Well, I don't know exactly how or why yet. I only know what I was doing a few hours before.”
“Oh... well how long until you can recall the full memory?”
“I can't say for certain, this memory just came to me all of a sudden, like somepony lifted a blindfold from my eyes,” Twilight surmised. “Maybe the side effects of the spell are wearing off and my memory is returning to me piece by piece.”
“Hmm,” Cadence put a hand to her chin. “Then why can't I remember anything from the same time? We did teleport at the same time. Or do the side effects of amnesia wear off a varying rates?”
“I think it may be because you no longer inhabit your own body, thus not capable of accessing your most recent events from your past just yet.”
Twilight and Cadence bounced ideas back and forth. Even though their guesses were clearly speculation, they had reason to suspect that the nature of the teleportation spell was not an accident. Twilight vividly remembered receiving a letter from Princess Celestia which granted her access to the Crystal Archive in the library of the Crystal Empire. Before the empire's resurgence, the books and knowledge of the crystal ponies had long been forgotten.
Twilight had trouble making the connection on the nature of that single letter and their apparent teleportation to a different world. Often times she could piece together events in her head quite precisely, but in this instance, she did not have every piece of the puzzle. A key event was still missing.
When she and Cadence had no more leads on the probable cause, they looked at Kate for a response, only to find her sitting absolutely still while staring blankly at the wall.
Lucas reconciled in his thoughts. He agreed to stay as long as Stanley shaped up, because if not, he made it clear that he would quit again at the next sign of trouble. He hated to admit that his younger cousin was able to change his mind with strong sentiment, but he could tell the remarks were far from fake. They were as sincere as sincerity could get.
Despite his agreement to keep his job, the captain still packed his things from his cabin bunk into his travelers backpack filled with his belongings, including his old excuse for a laptop, shiny MP3 player, black binoculars, and a couple of his favorite H. G. Wells novels.
After stuffing his backpack full of all the things he cared most for, he zipped it up and slung it on his shoulder. Stanley was next to him pack a few of his own things for himself like his GPS and satellite phone. Even though the boat wasn't going anywhere anytime soon, they still didn't want their belongings out in the open where anyone can find them. They felt safer where they could see them, especially for Lucas.
Lucas took one last look at his wrinkled bunk and made through the rest of the boat. Being Kate's captain, he had access to her fishing manifests and schedules, as well as the registration and license for the ship. He sighed when he stared at the chaotic mess of documents all over Kate's cabin. He didn't have enough time to organize everything, so he started searching for the most important of information that would be unwise to leave unattended. Some of the papers were confidential.
With the boat dating over thirty years, Lucas had wondered if Kate's family owned others before it. Her business did trace back to the 1920's, so how did they manage to survive the competitive market with only one vessel? He had yet not found one shred of information or contract that she—or any other of her family members—intended to expand the small business to other cities or ports in order to increase revenue or profit, assuming such an agreement existed. Not once had Kate mentioned expansion and whenever he brought up the topic, she always replied with the same answer. Tradition.
As old school as that sounded, Lucas liked tradition. He was all for sticking to family values and heritage, but to a certain extent. The economy was total whack these days as opposed to the sixties. He just thought Kate could use a little more buyers of her goods after having to recommend it several times—all of which she refused.
Lucas finally found what he was looking for and put them in his backpack. The rest of the papers were replaceable. After taking care of what needed to be salvaged, he stood up and stepped to the cabin entrance. He was about to leave when he remembered his cousin was behind him. Any other day before this, Lucas would have just left Stanley on his own again without saying anything, but because of recent events, his heart and conscience wouldn't let him. He turned to call out to him.
“Are you coming?”
A few seconds of shuffling bed sheets, the ruffling of nylon from a backpack, and a zipper being fastened, Stanley emerged from the small cabin.
“Yeah, I had to get a few things,” he said.
“So you DO think it was a good idea to come here,” Lucas accused.
“I never said that. I might as well get my things while we're here. I don't want to leave it out in the open when someone can come in here and take our stuff.”
“You do realize there's nobody around, right? There's not a soul for miles.”
“I'm just saying, you can never be too cautious.”
“Of course you- … never mind.” Lucas didn't want to argue any further. In fact, he didn't want to argue with Stanley at all. If they were going to stick together from now on, it be best if he improved his approach. “We should get outta here.”
Without a second to spare, both men exited the cabin and made their way to the main deck of the boat. The brightness of the sky blinded them for a few seconds until their eyes adjusted. Stanley almost tripped over the fishing net and fell over the edge.
They looked around for any changes in weather or any other boats nearby that they can see. It reminded them on how alone and isolated they really were to the rest of civilization. The closest town to the north that rested on a bay was about six miles up the road from the station. The next large town from that—Gisborne—was about thirty miles south. Despite the shortage of people, it was one of the most beautiful places on Earth.
“That reminds me, did you call the coast guard?”
Lucas stopped at the question. He had completely forgotten about the coast guard. The whole fiasco with the ponies at the station and Kate's freaky mind swap had officially purged the idea from his mind. He thought a reasonable excuse would bail him out.
“I haven't gotten around to it yet. I was gonna do it this morning, but as you know, we have bigger problems.” He pointed a finger to the bridge. “You're welcome to try the radio if you want?”
“But that's your job,” Stanley groaned. “Aren't you gonna do it?”
Lucas stared at him silently for a few seconds, and then shook him head.
“Nope.”
The captain abandoned his ship by reeling himself down the rope ladder hanging below the side of the boat.
Stanley huffed and rubbed his forehead. As sad as it was, he had no idea how to operate a simple radio.
While waiting for Lucas to jump to the beach below, he looked towards the hill across the beach. A sharp rainbow streak shot straight up into the sky and then away towards the tall cliff in the distance that was the natural monument to the locals of the area, even if it was just a small mountain peak used to guide sailor to the harbor back in the day.
Stanley was slow to realize that he had been staring off into space for a minute or so. He could already see Lucas walking along the beach. He quickly vaulted the railing and climbed to the sand. With more weight on his back than before, his pace was slowed significantly, but was still able to catch up to his cousin.
“Hey man, did you see that?” Stanley said pointing at the sky above the hill.
“What?” Lucas looked up, but saw nothing. “Don't tell me it's a UFO because I don't believe in those anymore.”
“Never mind. I probably just imagined it.” The navigator shook his head and reached into his pants pocket. “Oh, um, do you want this back?” He held out the medical report. Lucas' answer came with him snatching the paper from Stanley's hand.
“You carried it around all this time, but never told anyone,” the young man continued. “It seems to me like you were really bent of holding on to it.”
Lucas looked down at the small piece of paper that had been the bane of his life for years. From the day the doctor gave him the bad news and diagnosed him with incurable neurological disease, he always kept that copy with him at all times. He tried to let it go ever since, but throwing away the report did not get rid of the disease.
“Oh, uh, yeah thanks” he mumbled, swallowing the saliva in his mouth. “I keep it in case I need it, and I gotta say, it came in handy for once.”
“You didn't have to be so dramatic about it.” Stanley laughed.
Lucas laughed with him. “You left me no other choice. You were the one who was so uptight about yesterday. But I'll admit it, I regret leaving you there alone.”
Another period of silence lingered between the two as they continued to walk on the the dry sand of the beach. The gentle white waves of the coast was so soothing, it was hard not to interrupt their enchanting sound that calmed their nerves. There was no better time to spend with Lucas than an incredibly mundane stroll on the beach with nothing but their closest possessions and each other.
It was close to noon time. With the sun's rays beaming down on the beach, bouncing vibrant colors of the serene environment in all directions, it was the perfect setting to alleviate any negative emotions from the darkness within most people.
This time, it was Stanley's turn to reform. This was the point he had been waiting for a long time. To feel like he belonged somewhere with someone he really cared about. All it took was a few fights and magical ponies to tear him apart. It was up to him now cross over to the light and set things straight for the better.
About halfway to their destination, Stanley began to worry about the future after letting his thoughts wander aimlessly.
“So, uh, about Kate?” Stanley said as he adjusted the straps of his backpack while walking in the most casual manner he could maintain.
“You told me to forget about her.”
“No, I told you to not let her be the one who controls your life. Not shut her out completely,” Stanley clarified.
“Okay, so what about her?” Lucas repeated.
“You're gonna tell her what happened to her boat?”
“Of course not,” Lucas said a matter of factly.
“She's going to find out sooner or later.”
“That's why I'm not going to tell her, I'm going to show her.”
Stanley already hated that plan. Even though it would be more convincing, it was the reaction he was most concerned about. If Kate flipped out that her boat was grounded, there's no telling what she'd do. Losing his job seemed the most plausible since she already revealed her intentions for Lucas.
Also, it just so happens that Kate is not who she normally is anymore, so his dislike for the idea grew even more. One more reason to upset her was one step closer to having to hitchhike on the highway. He preferred to stay employed than have his life shattered with those two words everyone has heard at least once.
“Don't you think we should just tell her instead? Maybe she'll go easy on us then.”
“I don't think she's going to do anything to us, so it doesn't matter.”
“How can you know that? She can just give us up with a second thought.”
Lucas stopped walking and put a hand on his cousin's shoulder.
“Dude, stop worrying so much, everything will work out. Just trust me on that.”
Stanley wasn't sure if he wanted to. Striving towards a life certainty and bold inquiry, trusting someone on a whim did not suit him so well, but if he wanted their relationship to work, this was a good place to start.
“Fine, we'll do it your way. I don't know how though, considering she's not in her own body anymore.” He chuckled at that thought once more. He still couldn't get over it. “But I take your word for it.”
“Good. Now I need you to let me do the talking.”
Stanley put his hands in his pockets and tried to keep his mind off of Kate for the rest of the way.
*Whoosh*
A sudden distinct wave of wind whizzing behind them made them flinch. The men quickly turned around the find out was flew by with blazing speed enough to displace the cool air around them to cause such a sound. When they found nothing out of the ordinary within plain sight, they looked at each other and shrugged, assuming it was just the wind playing tricks on them.
When they turned back around, they nearly jumped out of their skin when a blue rainbow-haired pony was standing directly in front of them look at them curiously. They immediately put their arms up in cowardly defense.
“Dammit you!” Stanley snarled.
The pegasus did not react in a way expected. No retaliation or threatening pose came. She simply cocked her head to the side, looking at them innocently. Her expression was more pleading than aggressive.
“What do you want?” Lucas growled.
“I saw you two walking, so I thought I'd drop by.” Rainbow tried her best to keep her cool while attempting to smile. Her behavior had been improving, but the only thing that would strip the guilt completely would be to talk to the humans personally in a more friendly manner. She needed to face her fears she wouldn't admit she had.
“That's all?” Stanley frowned. He then tapped Lucas on the shoulder. “Let's go, man, before this clown beats us up again.”
Both men walked around Rainbow Dash and continued up the beach, leaving the pegasus standing alone. Unbeknownst to them, Rainbow was thinking whether or not entailing a casual conversation with them was a good idea. She was never good with plans.
“I'm sorry!” she suddenly shouted with a hint of regret in her voice.
She stood with her back towards the humans as they turned their heads in surprise. Sucking up the courage to face them again, she slowly turned around with her head held high. With her recent change of heart and soft side flowing through her, she was ready to correct her mistakes.
“I'm sorry I hit you both. I wasn't thinking straight, I was just... afraid... that you were going to hurt us. I was just protecting my friends. I know you would to do the same for your friends. It's just that we've been under so much stress lately that I get a little carried away.”
Lucas and Stanley examined the pegasus' facial features for any sign that would hold true to her word. The longer they looked into her large magenta eyes, the more they could see how solemn they were. They remained silent to let her speak.
“I know now that you're not dangerous monsters anymore and I don't want you to think I'm one either. Twilight told me to stop assuming and I shouldn't judge you. I don't want to lose her as a friend. She trusts you and I will to do the same. If we can work this out, we can go home and you won't have to hear from me again. Can you forgive me?”
Rainbow swirled a hoof in the sand bashfully. Her head slowly fell while the humans gazed upon her. Their stares gave her the feeling that they were considering rejecting her proposal.
Lucas shrugged.
“I don't know it we can forgive you, but if you want to make it up to us, just promise you'll never do it again.”
Stanley leaned in the captain's ear.
“Is that it?” he whispered. “That's kinda weak. Make her do something for us.”
“I promise,” said Rainbow, giving a salute.
“And how do we know you'll keep your promise?” Lucas asked, not quite sure if he should believe her.
“I'm the Element of Loyalty,” she said proudly. “I'm always loyal to my friends.”
“Oh, so now we're friends, huh?” Stanley jested, making a face the closely resembled contempt. “That's not how it works. Unless you can prove it, we have nothing left to say.”
Rainbow's head dropped again. The conversation kept veering off in a direction she didn't want to go. She expected it to be easier to fix her wrongdoing with her words, but apparently she needed more practice in that department.
Stanley turned and began walking away. Lucas watched his cousin storm off towards the hill until he was just out of range. He faced the blue pegasus once more and displayed a more relaxed expression than before.
“I'm not the one you should be talking to,” he professed in a low voice. “If you really want to make things right, then maybe you should stop thinking about yourself and more about others.” Lucas stood there to let Rainbow figure out whom he was talking about.
Her head perked up as if having an epiphany. She pointed a hoof at Stanley, who was already walking halfway up the hill.
“Oh, you mean-”
“Yes, exactly,” Lucas confirmed.
“I don't know if he'll listen. What can I say that will change his mind?”
“I already changed his mind,” he noted. “Now it's your turn. Don't tell me you're afraid to try.”
“Afraid? Me? Pfff, never.” Rainbow laughed nervously.
“Then what are you waiting for. I'll watch your back I case thing get ugly. Stanley is unpredictable. I know.” Lucas ended, rubbing the bridge of his nose.
Rainbow Dash nodded, and just like that, she was gone. The pegasus rocketed straight up in the air and swiftly sped towards the hill where the other human grumbled off to. As she flew closer behind Stanley, she decided to be a little more considerate and land a few meters behind him. Surprising him did play out well, even when it was unintentional.
She quietly watched him reach the top of the hill. She was about to do the same, but she stopped when came to an abrupt halt. His head dropped a bit. Rainbow took the opportunity to approach the man. He gave no indication that he was aware of her presence.
Stanley slowly gazed skyward and then looked off to the side, resting his eyes on the ocean. Rainbow ducked below the top of the grass so he wouldn't notice her in his peripherals. From what she could tell, he seemed to be having a hard time being alone. She heard him sigh before he changed course and walked to the edge of the hill. He waited at the very edge of the cliff for a moment, taking in the view as the light above the water reflected back into the atmosphere. He took off his backpack, got down on his knees, and sat down, dangling his legs over the edge of the cliff.
Rainbow Dash sighed. If there was a time when she felt pity for another pony—or in this case, person—this was the first. She slowly waddled over to him and sat down right next to him without a moment's hesitation, staring off into the blanket of blue before her just as she would back home.