//------------------------------// // 11 Avidity // Story: The Mother City // by Quicksear //------------------------------// Shit. I'm dreaming, aren't I? I'm standing on a breach at midnight. Thick, oily waves sluggishly collapse at my bare feet as I scan the water, looking for something. I don't know what, or why, and since this dream just became lucid, I would really like to know. I feel a wash of emotions: eagerness, fear, anger, sorrow. They assault me from all sides, and I can't tell which ones are mine or not. I just know what everything is feeling. The strongest emotion, though, is alarm, and that is coming straight from the sea. I'm just standing there as I feel many people approaching from behind. The black water sloughs back and forth in agitation as beams of light crawl down like an illuminating curtain to halt just above my head, setting the air ablaze while the water turns black as pitch. I turn slowly to look at gathering silhouettes ranged along the berm above the small beach, many of them carrying what I immediately knew to be guns, silhouetted in the beams of many cars' headlights. I feel the thoughts of the ocean behind me shift, fear replaced with a rapid calculating process, throwing numbers into my head: R5, 5.56, Z88, 9 by 19, R3, 7.62...behind each number innumerable, incomprehensible calculations about speed, control, and trajectory that fade into the hissing of the waves now about my ankles. Every spectral figures on the berm waits, as I wait, for an unknown signal, some sign that this scene would end. I watch them, wishing I could move, but knowing that, no matter what, I am destined to see this play out. Someone shouts, and a spotlight beam rakes across me. There is no point in running now. I hear angry mutterings, cries and demands, but they're lost in the agitated swash of the ocean, the black, frigid water climbing my calves. I finally open my eyes and stare straight up at the figure behind the spotlight, the one shouting, and simply stare. I have nothing else to do. And suddenly, the water washes back, and I'm standing under the light, the shout and the crack that drops me to the bare sand in gasping pain. The world swirls, and suddenly, I'm watching the wet bedraggled figure bent low over the lit white sand, the water pulled back from him to reveal a growing pool of an even darker liquid. And then the world goes white. ***** My eyes flared open. I roll over, gasping and clutching at my side. I feel nauseous, as if I've been punched in the stomach. Well, wasn't that the creepiest thing I've ever dreamed? "...Eep...!" I scowl and roll upright, clutching my head. "<-Ugh, Wha...What's going on?->" I looked around before my sore eyes settled on the shaking bundle of butter-yellow and pink at the edge of the doorway. "<-Oh! I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you!...I'll just...come back later...->" Fluttershy mumbled, backing away through the door. "<-No...ugh...->" I cleared my throat, and my head, as I rolled out of the bed, "<-It's wasn't you Fluttershy, I just had a bad dream is all.->" She seemed uncertain, but I waved her on. She shrunk back, but continued, "<-Oh...well, okay then. Andrew wants to do something, but we didn't know what he's saying or if you said it was okay, so...->" I raised an eyebrow. "<-Why would you think I would need to...whatever, yeh I'm up. Be there in a minute.->" Fluttershy nodded with a small smile and left, leaving me with my thoughts. Last night had ended on a very, very, flat note. No one spoke a word after Twilight explained the situation to the girls, and so the wait for Sarah had become some special level tedious. The only high point was Sarah telling us that she had gotten us allowance to stay by lying through her teeth and saying that the guest house was now full of free-thinking gypsy-bard hippy-people. Her friend's apparently very liberal parents had agreed to let us stay, even going so far as to provide us with waterproof sheets. It was very hard to keep the reasoning for that from Twilight, but by god I did my best. There were still things Twilight did NOT need to know... Shaking off those thoughts, I focused on the foremost problem at hand: Right, where's my pants? Awkward morning rituals over, I stumbled my way out of my room into the hall. With only four bedrooms and eight of us, we'd logically paired off, two to a room. I was surprised to see Pinkie Pie happily bunking with Twilight, but if anyone was likely to forgive and forget, it was Pinkie. And Twilight had needed that. Fortified with this memory, I walked tall into the living room, prepared for what the day would throw at me. Andrew, though, looked far less ready. Unkempt and shell-shocked-looking, I suddenly realized why the girls may have felt uncomfortable letting him outside. He was currently wrapped so intently around a cup of coffee - no doubt heavily fortified - that he seemed unable to hear Applejack talking to him: "<-Come on now, Sugercube, Ah know you said ya had a nightmare, but we c'n all jus' wait a while an' calm on down...->" "<-AJ?->" I asked skeptically, "<-He has literally no idea what you are talking about->" She gave Andrew a gentle pat on the back before turning to me, smiling thinly, "<-Well, it's tha best Ah c'n do right now, ain't it? It seemed ta calm him down some.->" I nodded to her and walked around into Andrew's field of vision, cooing. "Hey dude, how you doin'?" He gave me an annoyed look, one most commonly associated with delusional homeless people. "Why 'd'you stop AJ singin'? Sounded cool. I'm fine, I...just had a bad dream. It actually had a good point: I was just gonna go clear our trail, so to speak, but, Twilight stopped me. Also, coffee. And I'm pretty sure Pinkie is trying to make cupcakes." A glance towards the kitchen to established that there were no natural disasters occurring, so I felt comfortable in focusing on me ragged friend. I nodded to him, "Well, I'm sure whatever you've thought of is as good an idea as any. Go for it. I need to sort this magic thing out with Twilight ASAP. Where'd she go?" I looked out a window and noted that the sun had only just begun lighting the horizon. I wouldn't blame Twilight if she had gone back to bed. So far I'd only seen Applejack and Fluttershy, though Pinkie was apparently cooking up a storm. Some warm food would be great for breakfast. Might make that conversation easier. I gave Andrew a pat on the shoulder and turned away to walk towards the kitchen. Pinkie might know if Twilight was awake, after all. I heard Andrew open and close the front door, probably going out for some air to think after his bad night. I poked my head around the corner to see not only Pinkie, but Applejack and Rainbow Dash all poking at gathered ingredients, implements, and appliances. Pinkie was scowling at a bag of flower, AJ was headbutting the oven and Rainbow Dash seemed to be in deep conversation with a toaster. I was stuck between facepalming and bursting into laughter, and ended up leaning against the doorpost, chuckling and shaking my head silently. It took a few moments for Pinkie to see me, but seconds after she squeaked in surprise, AJ was on the other side of the room and Rainbow Dash was missing entirely. I swallowed my laughter with difficulty as the kitchen door swung closed on a Rainbow contrail and nodded to Pinkie. "<-Mornin' Pinks. By the way, you pull the tab at the top of the packet, open's easily. I'll come and help you guys in a...no, like this, Pinkie...yeah, that's the way! Oh, and AJ, the oven works with these little dials, see? And You open it here...->" Needless to say, I ended up making cupcakes. It was an...enlightening experience. Pinkie did not sing, unfortunately, though she did hum a lot. Applejack kept trying to make a cupcake pie, though we managed to dissuade her by using an apple as a distraction. Seriously, I spent about half an hour tossing an apple back and forth with the orange pony while Pinkie finished up the cupcakes and shoved them - awkwardly - in the oven. Even after that, AJ and I played our little game of catch right up until Rainbow Dash stuck her head through the door again. I was going to make a smart-aleck remark about her getting reacquainted with her best friend the toaster before I noticed her worried expression. “<-Uh, Marc, you might wanna come out and talk to Twilight before she busts a nerve.->” I immediately dropped the apple and stood up, worried. “<-Why, what happened? She okay?” Rainbow looked nervously behind her, at the yard that extended all the way down to the bird sanctuary among the trees. “<-She’s fine, everything was fine, we were just chatting an’ stuff. She got antsy when Andrew drove off though...->” I blinked. “<-He did what?->” Rainbow looked confused for a moment, looking at Applejack, “<-I thought you said...->” I didn’t hear the rest of what she said; I spun and pulled my phone up to my face - oh, damn, its cracked - and called Andrew. By god, he’d better have a good explanation... Click, “Hello? I’m driving, could you-” “Andrew! Dafuq you doin’?!” “Uh...what?” A weird, static-y beeping sound interrupted the call, but I pushed on regardless, “You took the bus? Why?!” “Well, I told you about that dream I had...We need to get rid of the bus before we get spotted in it: the damn thing’s a dead givaway!” “...!...Good point. Still, you said nothing about a dream, and we coulda planned this out better! You gave me a heart attack.” That loud beep zapped my ear again, cutting off the first part of Andrew’s reply. All I heard was “...and I have a bicycle, so I’ll be fine. see you in an hour.” Click. “Ugh, great...” I mumbled, dropping the phone on the counter. I made my way out the back door and into the yard. Pinkie Pie and Applejack watched from the doorway as Rainbow Dash perched on a clothesline...wait, what?! I took a massive double-take at the gently swinging pagasus. Ignoring, ignoring, ignoring... I looked about and spotted Twilight in an equally surprising position: Up a bloody tree. I tried to call out to her, even waving about underneath her branch, but she was just staring intently up at the pass between two peaks of the mountain above us. After about five minutes of waving about and croaking in the pre-dawn light, I finally sighed and climbed up to her level. “<-Hey Twilight, what the hell is wrong?->...oh my...” I held onto the trunk next to Twilight and looked out over the smallholding. Through the trees, I could see an unmistakable flash of red and blue. My throat dried up. Cutting through the silent, heavy air, I heard above me the unmistakable, if distant, droning of a helicopter, and up in the pass, even more lights flashed to life, just as my phone rang. I answered with numb fingers. “Hello?” “Hi, uh, Marc? We may have a problem...little fuzzy-type problem.” I stood up taller, trying to see over a rising purple mist. “Dude, you at the pass? Cuz there’s a-” I was cut off by that grating beep again, and suddenly it hit me: “Dude! Chuck your phone and get the fuck outta there! They're tracking our cells!” I turned and threw my once-pride-and-joy as far into the heart of the bird sanctuary as I could. I turned back to shake Twilight, but was surprised to see the purple mist had risen even further, hiding, well, everything around the smallholding in a thick, impenetrable blanket. And only then did I notice Twilight’s horn, faintly glowing. Holy crap, she’s covering the whole valley! I touched Twilight’s shoulder, saying calmly, “Twilight, good job, but we really have to get out of here, right now.” The huge bank of fog turned a dense, dark grey as Twilight visibly relaxed and turned to me. She gathered herself, resolve in her eyes. “<-Andrew is in trouble.->” I nodded. “<-I know. It’s my fault: I didn’t think that the police might track our...It doesn’t matter, we have less that ten minutes to get you girls somewhere safe, maybe in the sanctuary or something->” Twilight raised an eyebrow at me. “<-Marc, we’re going to save Andrew. You can drive, right?->” Is it just me or do I have absolutely no control today? “<-Uh, yeah, I can, but how does that...->” And Twilight took off, calling out, “<-Rainbow Dash! I need your help!->” And then I was sitting alone in a tree. I turned and hit my head into the bark. “What the hell is going on?!” I heard a siren cutting dully through the mist, and snapped back to reality. I shimmied down the tree and dog-trotted to the house. Applejack was standing outside and craning her neck up in an effort to track her flying friends. As I neared her, she gave me a hard look. “<-They found us already, didn’t they?->” I sighed and nodded. “<-Yeah...Yeah they did. Come on, we need to get out front. I think Twilight may be about to do something...rash.->” Applejack smirked as she trotted in behind me, “<-Wouldn’t be our Twi if she didn’t!->” Of course. I nearly tripped over Pinkie, who was very carefully icing her cupcakes, and saw Fluttershy sitting uncertainly in the lounge area, as well as Rarity peeking dozily out of her room to inspect the noise. With everypony present, I called a meeting to order. “<-Okay ponies! We need to get moving. Twilight is outside with Rainbow...doing something, so get your things. Front door, five minutes!->” I ran to the room I’d shared with Andrew and grabbed our belongings. It was only now I really saw how far we’d fallen: Andrew had nothing but a hat to his name here, and I had lost everything but my bag and the clothes I wore. I even had a bit of a hobo beard starting up. Well, it might act as a disguise. I shoved everything (meaning nothing) into my bag and made for the door. Pinkie, Applejack and Rarity were quietly discussing the mornings events while snarfing cupcakes while Fluttershy stared nervously out of the window. I nodded to them all. “<-Okay girls, you got everything?->” “<-To be frank, dear,->” Rarity deadpanned, “<-We don’t have anything to forget.->” I smirked at her. “<-Yeah, me neither. What a sorry lot we are, eh?->” Just then, Fluttershy ‘eep’ed. I glanced at her, and incidentally through the window she stood by. Outside, rolling to a stop, was a blue-striped white truck with a proud set of blues and twos mounted on the cab. FUCK!! I dived forward and pulled Fluttershy into the shadow of the door with her friends, jostling Applejack and Rarity out of the way. “<-Police!->” I hissed, “<-Get down!->” I heard the muffled squeak of a car door opening, a pair of thudding steps I imagined being made in steel-capped boots. My brain began racing, looking for exits, planning the escape. “<-AJ, you head on through and check if the back door is clear. Rares, look out on the left. Fluttershy, you come with me and Pinkie...->” “<-Hi Twilight! Hi Dashie!->” I spun to Pinkie, aghast. She stood in the window, waving energetically at all and sundry outside“<-Pinkie, get back from there!->” I dived forward and pushed the brightly coloured pony back replacing her form with my own. I found myself in the window space, eyes wide as I looked straight into the eyes of- Rainbow Dash. Deadpan stare. Is it sad that I wasn’t even surprised? “<-I don’t even want an explanation. Just get out of the way, RD.->” With a smirk, she complied. I pushed myself up and opened the door. There, in the misty and tree-covered drive of the guest house, was a slightly dented police truck, a very haughty looking Rainbow Dash, and Twilight, carefully levitating two passed-out police officers into the bushes. What. The. F- “<-Twilight, please, in the name of all that is holy, please explain to me what is going on.->” Yes, I begged. I literally got on my knees and everything. Twilight gave me a confused look. “<-You didn’t work out what I was doing, I thought you’d...->” “Twilight, you were so blocked up I never got a whiff of your plan! Your mind’s like stone, I can’t read you even now!->” I scowled. And I couldn’t. The connection with Twilight had made me really sensitive to picking up on her thoughts, but right then, it was like she wasn’t even there. Twilight realized what I meant, because at that instant I felt her presence. I’d barely noticed it’s absence, but I welcomed it’s return. She nodded to me. “<-Sorry about that...I had a bad night, and I guess it left me tense. Either way, here’s a car, let’s go!->” “<-Seriously?!->” I gasped, “<-We can’t steal a cop car! You know how much trouble we’ll get in!->” Twilight raised an eyebrow while Rarity snickered behind me. Even as Twilight spoke, the others were making there way to the back of the truck. “<-How much, Marc?->” Under Twi’s smug look, I frowned. “<-Well, imagine if they pull us...over...->” Who pulls over a cop car? And we’re already on the run from the cops, so what difference does it make? I looked up at Twi. “No gloating, smart-ass. Let’s just go save Andrew already, before he drives off a cliff.” Twilight flittered to the passenger door while I climbed into the driver’s seat. A quick gloss over the truck's archaic control system, and I was ready to go. I glanced at the Police serial number over the radio, committing it to memory, before looking back at the ponies in the bed of the truck. I started reversing out of the drive, saying, “<-Hang on, girls, this might get a bit bumpy.->”