//------------------------------// // Prologue, Part 3: Departure // Story: The Embassy // by bossfight1 //------------------------------// Prologue, Part 3: Departure Creed’s House, September 23rd, 2:55 PM “Are you sure you have everything?” Mom asked. “Mom, if you ask again, I’m hanging up,” I said, rolling my eyes. “Listen, it’ll be alright. Susan said she’d check on the house now and then, I spent the past week packing, and I’ve locked all the doors and windows.” “Okay, you know me...” Mom said over the speakerphone. “Yes, unfortunately...” I said with a smirk. My parents were delighted to hear about my “volunteer work”, if only to get me out of the house. They were eager for me to find work, anything to get me away from my computer. Finding a job around Rockport was freaking impossible; anywhere hiring either never called back, or had a job that gave me stomach pains just thinking about it. “So when will the cab get there?” Mom asked. “You live on a dirt road, he might have a hard time finding the house...” She was interrupted by a honk outside. “Oh, whaddya know...” I said. Despite assuring Mom I had everything, I did my sixth sweep of my room, making absolutely certain I wouldn’t leave anything I’d planned to bring. “All right, my cab’s here, I’ll call you when I get a chance, all right?” “All right, honey, have a safe flight!” She said. “Love you!” “Love you too,” I said before hanging up. I took a breath and kept scanning the room. “Okay, let’s see; human clothes of questionable necessity, phone, electronics, chargers, emergency cash, laptop, toiletries, batteries, snack for the road, house keys, wallet, passport,” I stopped to take a breath. “Journal, stationary, books... christ, glad I have a big duffel bag... Anything else...” I snapped my fingers, getting that nagging feeling I was forgetting something. My eyes fell on the green rock on my bed. “Oh, might not wanna forget you...” I grabbed it and threw it into my ‘quick-grab’; basically, the bag I throw my essentials (wallet, phone) into for easy access while travelling. I turned off the light and grabbed my doorknob, but stopped; this was it. This would be the last time I’d be in this house for a while. When I walked out that door, I’d be brought to Equestria... There really was no better word(?) for it; I was, as Pinkie would put it, ‘nervo-cited’. I took a steady breath before bolting to the entry way. I picked up two of my four bags and walked out the front door. An unassuming cab was in the driveway; dirtied with the passage of many miles driven, and with no taxi-brand to identify it. I was made uneasy by the lack of any license plates, but assumed there were measures taken to prevent any legal trouble. I hurried to the cab, and the trunk opened. After another trip inside the house and stowing everything in the trunk, I got ready to get in the back seat. I stopped, a niggling fear in the back of my mind. I held up a finger to the driver I’d not gotten a look at yet and hurried back to the house, double checking every room, door and window before finally feeling satisfied. I went to the front door, triple-checked that it was locked and, with a sigh, shut it. I ran back to the cab and got into the back seat. “Sorry, I’m leaving the house alone, needed to check everything...” I said as I shut the door. “It’s no problem, sir,” the deep-voiced driver said. I turned to get a look at him and jumped in my seat with a “JESUS!” Sitting in the driver’s seat was a pony; a unicorn stallion with a white coat, brown mane, and wearing a chauffeur's uniform. “Are you all set?” He asked with a smile. I stammered, gesturing between him, the steering wheel and the windows. “How the-- what-- how-- the pedals-- WHAT?!” I took a breath. “How are you driving this thing? And what if someone saw a pony driving a cab?!” The unicorn chuckled. “Don’t worry, Mr. Creed, we’ve got things figured out. We’ve enchanted the windows to show a human driver. As for how I’m driving...” The unicorn’s horn lit up, and a yellow field of magic enveloped the parking brake. The car shifted into drive and pulled out of my driveway, making me feel somewhat guilty for doubting the pony’s driving ability. I made to buckle up, but first looked out the rear window. I watched as my house shrank in the distance before the car pulled off the dirt road and onto the pavement. With a sigh I buckled up and faced the front again. “So...” I said. “What’s your name?” “Stoker,” the unicorn said. “Normally around Canterlot I chauffeur the magic-driven chariots, but Princess Celestia conscripted me to drive you to where the portal is.” “And where’s that?” “In a small city you call ‘Sand Point, Alaska’,” Grey said cheerfully. I blinked several times. “...Soooo... We’re gonna be driving through Canada... to Alaska... in a cab.” Grey shook his head. “Nah, not all the way. We’ll be there in a few moments, actually...” I raised an eyebrow as he pulled onto a dirt road, leading into a thickly-wooded area. As the car rolled to a stop, Grey’s horn remained lit as he began looking in every direction. After a few moments the light faded. “Good, nopony’s around... Er, nobody.” He popped open the glove box and withdrew another stone similar to my own, only this one was a bright red. His horn lit up again and he touched the tip of it to the stone. The rock instantly lit up and began spinning, rapidly increasing in speed. Remembering my history with rocks like this, I squinted and looked away. A sudden, violent jolt made me jump; I fell to my right and smacked my head against the window. Cursing, I rubbed the right side of my head. “Christ, what was...?” As I opened my eyes, my jaw dropped; gone was the wooded drive we had parked in. We were now in an empty parking lot just on the edge of the ocean. Down the shore I could spy a small harbor town, the docks lined with covered boats. “Welcome to Sand Point,” Grey said. “Population, 976.” “Small town...” I mused, still rubbing my aching head. “Yep; perfect for our little project. You were the last pickup I had to make today, I just have to ‘cover our tracks’, so to speak.” He turned around to face me. “Bring your stuff into that warehouse behind us.” I turned around and spotted the rustic warehouse in question. “They should be all ready for you in there. Good luck!” I turned back and held out a hand. “Thanks...” He placed his hoof in my hand and we shook. I hopped out of the car and pulled my stuff out of the trunk. As I hefted my two heavier bags up I heard a soft whooshing sound. With a flash the cab vanished behind me; it disturbed me just how comfortable I was getting around all this magic. I carried my bags to the warehouse and banged on the garage door. “Uh, hello?” I called. The normal door to the side opened, and a familiar face peered around it. “Hey, Creed!” Shannon said cheerfully. “Glad you could make it!” She hurried out the door, ran up and threw her arms around me in a hug. “Same here,” I said, hugging her back with slightly less enthusiasm. “Here, I’ll get the rest of your things, you just head on in, we’re already sending people through!” Shannon ran over to the rest of my bags and hoisted them up with surprising ease. I walked through the door she came from and passed through a small office. Heading through another door we found ourselves in the warehouse proper. The place was empty, save for a large stone structure that was exactly what a portal should look like; like Stargate, only with runic stones in place of all the science! “Ah, welcome!” A familiar voice said. I turned and smiled when I saw Princess Celestia approaching me. I gave a modest bow, which she laughed off. “It is good to see you here, Creed.” “I feel good being here...” I said. “Listen, I, uh... I really don’t how to...” I took a breath. “Thank you for this chance. I know you might still have some doubts...” “Not as many as you may think,” Celestia said with a wink. She turned to regard Shannon, who was still easily hefting my bags towards the portal. “Let’s let Creed go first, Sugar Cane.” “Wait, what?” I asked, looking at Shannon. She smiled and nodded. “My real name is Sugar Cane,” she said. “I grew up in Fillydelphia.” “You’re a pony?!” Shannon nodded eagerly. “Yep!” She laid my bags on the ground and flexed her fingers. “And I gotta say, these things are just great! It took me like a week to get the hang of it, but now I’m worried about going back to hooves after seeing just how awesome they are!” Celestia chuckled. “Don’t worry, Sugar, you’ll have plenty of chances to be a human again.” She turned back to me, donning a serious look. “Now, Creed, while I appreciate your enthusiasm, understand that travelling between worlds is not exactly... subtle. Portal energy is rather unstable, which is why opening one for long periods is so difficult.” I frowned. “I’m not gonna come out on the other side with three extra arms, am I?” Celestia giggled and shook her head. “No, but the experience might be disorienting, frightening even. I know you’ve already made up your mind by coming here, but if you wish to reconsider...” I shook my head. “No, this feels... right. I... I think I’m ready.” Celestia smiled and turned towards the portal. “Once you arrive on the other side, you will become a pony. We have ponies on the other side who will help you acclimatize to your new form.” I laughed. “You know, after what Lauren-- er, Princess Brushstroke told us, about not knowing what we’d become, I’ve been trying very hard not to have a preferred pony type. How do I know I’ll even become a pony on the other side? What if I’m a griffon or something?” Celestia laid a foreleg across my shoulders. “Only one way to find out!” She said encouragingly. I nodded and stepped towards the portal. I could feel its energies causing the hairs on my arms and neck to stand up, like I was approaching a nexus of socks rubbing against new carpet. Each step made my heart race faster; my inner coward started screaming that I say ‘Fuck it’ and run out the door, but the rest of me quickly stuffed him into a burlap sack and started beating him with baseball bats. Finally, when I was literally inches from the shimmering portal, I stopped. My brain hesitated to make me take that last step. I turned to Celestia and Shannon/Sugar Cane, who gave me patient smiles. I turned back to the portal, grimaced and screwed my eyes shut. “Goddammit!!” I threw myself in.                 -                -                -                -                - All I could remember from the portal itself was a swirling mess of arcane energies like I was being brought to Christmas Town; other than that, though, I only focused on my panicked screaming. I felt like I was miles underwater, the pressure squeezing me from all sides, but at the same time I felt my spine being stretched like silly putty. The discomfort was either the feeling of being brought between worlds, or my body being morphed into that of a pony, possibly both. “OHDEARJESUSTHETWISTINGTHEHEATOHDEARGODWHATTHEFUCKWASITHINKINGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA...”                 -                -                -                -                - Wham! I landed hard on a stone floor, feeling my arms and legs as though they’d been twisted and forced into the wrong positions. I lay there groaning, my face remaining in an expression of pure pain. “Excuse me, are you alright?” A female voice a few feet away said. “Not particularly...” I said strainfully. I slowly rolled to my left side and made to took in my surroundings. Instead I caught a glimpse of a plain gray hoof where my left arm should have been. I stared at my new limbs, my new body, the black tail twitching madly, the itching hint of a mustache at the end of my muzzle (fucking MUZZLE)... I angled my head towards my flank; it seemed to depict a book with a game controller on the cover. Makes sense, I thought. Always wanted to be a game writer... I noticed I didn’t have wings, meaning I was either an earth pony or a unicorn. Slowly, tentatively, I reached a foreleg up towards my forehead. I felt something protruding from my skull. I nudged it several more times to make sure it was there, and gave a laugh of joy. “Unicorn! I’m a unicorn!!” The female voice from before gave a laugh, reminding me of her presence. I looked up, and my jaw dropped at the purple alicorn mare standing a few feet away. Princess Twilight Sparkle opened her mouth to greet me, but in a moment of fanboyism I threw myself onto my hind legs on instinct. “I MADE IT!” I screamed proudly. “I’M IN EQUESTRIA--” Whump. The faceplant kinda dampened the mood.