Falling. The centaur was falling at increasingly high speeds, gravity suddenly ripping his cubicle from the air where it floated. Almost immediately after Commander Root’s end of the com-link fell silent, the entire chamber began to rumble violently as it fell toward the ground. The unbelievably sturdy speakers and cameras that dotted the outer walls of the centaur’s workstation captured every last millisecond of the descent.
A loud explosion filled the half-horse’s ears as he was thrown to the ground by inertia, the box landing in the dead center of the town. All the eyes that had been looking up into his cameras were sent flying every which way by the force of the impact. It didn’t seem anyone had been killed, but without careful examination that was just a hopeful assumption.
Despite being disconnected from the Police Plaza power grid, Foaly’s machines continued to work, electrical currents flowing just as normally as ever. The soft hum of the power confused the disoriented techy as it continued to ring out. The monitors around the cubicle continued to show him the feed from the outer cameras, statistics and readings constantly popping to life as more and more ponies approached.
The sound of metallic banging coming from outside the box is what brought the horseman back to his senses, hearing an urgency and fear in the rhythm of the beat. The cameras only supported that observation, as several dozen armored ponies circled the meteor-like object with spears either carried in their muzzles or in mid-air beside them. One of the larger ponies, wearing armor of a somewhat brighter shade of gold, was directing a floating spear at the door of the cubicle, apparently trying to force it open.
Armor based on Roman centurions, eh? That’s cute, Foaly thought smugly, counting all the ways he could incapacitate the entire crowd of ponies from within the safe box. A simple electrical discharge routed through the wires outside would handle this neatly.
The speakers on the far wall by the main monitor burst to life, “Foaly, do you read me?”
The centaur quickly scoffed, “O’ course I do, Commander. Just had a little fall is all.” One of the monitors switched from a view of a particularly frightened guard to that of the fairy commander, staring right into his helmet’s camera.
“Yeah, we noticed. Made quite a noise. So how’s your little box still working?”
“Not sure,” he shrugged, “but I’m glad it is. It looks like they’re sending in the cavalry, if you’ll forgive the horse pun.”
Holly’s voice called from somewhere off screen, “Are you able to contact the officers back home?” She was breathing heavily almost like she’d just done some physical work.
The horseman sighed, “Haven’t tried, honestly. I’m a bit more curious about these little pony things.”
“Get to work, Foaly! That’s an order!” Julius’s voice exploded through the speakers, causing a decent bit of feedback. The face on the monitor adopted a deep red color, the commander being entirely serious.
Beetroot, the techy laughed internally. He sighed, “I’ll get right on it, sir.”
He quickly trotted to the main monitor in the cubicle and began clacking away at his keyboard, scrolling through windows of gnomish text. One by one, the monitors blinked out, their feeds being linked to LEP helmets of different serial numbers. The only two that blinked back to life were the two issued to Commander Root and Captain Short, the two in the same world as the workstation.
All that returned from any other serial number was static, each monitor scrolling through any unchecked pieces of equipment. The communication feeds were no different. They were stranded in the pony world with no way of communicating with reality.
Foaly quickly reset the monitors to his outer cameras, curious how the citizens of the mountainside town he landed in were handling the situation. He groaned, “No go, Commander. We’re deaf and blind.”
“D’Arvit!” Julius responded as expected. “We can’t contact Haven, the Mud Boy’s out cold, and his device is dead!”
The centaur’s expression fell blank as he asked, “Dead? You mean like a battery?”
Holly groaned, “Yeah, a plutonium battery. Unless they have that stuff here, we’re pretty much chucked.” He could imagine how angrily she was glaring at the apparently unconscious human right now.
“Well, that sucks. What about the other Mud Men? You said there were four in the manor, right?”
The commander scoffed, “Yeah, except only three of ‘em flew in with us. The fourth’s safe and sound in that time stop.” The camera turned to face Holly, who was sitting beside the Mud Boy asleep in what appeared to be a hollowed-out tree. “Artemis collapsed just after your crash, and the other two are out doing gods know what.”
Blue sparks ran down the captain’s arm, jumping from her fingertips to the human they were touching. She sighed, “It’s no use; I can’t heal him.”
“We’ll have to wait it out, then,” Root growled, placing the helmet down on a table with a view of the bed.
The metallic banging from earlier began again, this time louder with more urgency. There were several spears assaulting the box this time. It took everything in his power to keep from activating that electrical discharge and silencing the distraction. Before he could say anything about it, a familiar voice came through the speakers, only barely audible above the noise.
“Sounds like you’re having a party, Foaly!” Mulch laughed, enjoying the sheer insanity of everything that was happening around him.
With a whinny he replied, “Tons of fun! About to be shocking, I’m sure!” The emphasis on the word almost made it sound sinister had it not been coming from the pacifistic half-horse.
Commander Root groaned, “What’s that noise, Foaly? Can’t you shut it up?”
“Of course I can. A couple of volts of electricity will handle the situation swimmingly. But it’s not polite to zap the neighbors, you know.”
“Great,” the officer scoffed, “sounds to me like they wanna shake your hand…”
“I’m playing it safe in here until they put the weapons down,” the centaur neighed, trying to more than mask what appeared to be paranoia.
“Mr. Foaly,” an indifferent voice called out through whatever room the fairies were in, “if you’re half as smart as I’ve been led to think, then you most likely have video and audio bugs connected to the outside of your big box. Use them.” The seemingly-unconscious Mud Boy sat upright without warning, scaring Holly out of her seat. He looked directly at the camera as if trying to drive his point home.
Foaly slapped a palm to his head, understanding what the human meant. How had he not thought of it before? I can communicate with them, try to calm them down. Maybe I can even explain why my box came crashing from the sky… Except he didn’t know why. He had no clue what had brought him where he was or how he could get back.
“Try not to upset the ponies, Mr. Foaly. You are currently in the same town as their leader, a supposedly-immortal magical ‘goddess.’ I daresay it would be a mistake to upset her.” Artemis gave a warning, not only on the fairy’s behalf, but for his sake. If a foreigner were to disturb the peace and create a threat, the odds of another one being allowed within the city would be slim.
The centaur sighed, “Right, goddess, got it.” A large gnomish message flashed up on the main monitor, graphs and numbers accompanying it. “Hey Commander, I think you might want to see this. Put the helmet on…”
Slowly, almost cautiously, he typed in a series of coordinates and sent the on-screen readings to both of the functional LEP helmets. The camera shifted violently as Root put the helmet on and studied the stats in front of his face.
“What’s all this hoopla? Am I supposed to be amazed?”
Right, not good with figures, I forgot. “My workstation is constantly monitoring the atmosphere outside of it, even hooked up in Police Placa. But now that it’s out in the open, I’m picking up readings almost identical to certain types of…well…radiation.”
Holly joined the frame as she shouted, “Radiation? What exactly does that mean, Foaly?”
“Well…” keyboard clacking ensued, more detailed figures appearing on both the monitor and the visor, “it’s a different form of radiation. It won’t kill you, but it’ll definitely limit your magic.”
Commander Root growled, “So is that why we can’t shield?”
“I thought it was because the Book doesn’t have power here…” Holly moaned, a thick blanket of confusion swallowing her. Three theories as to why their magic didn’t work and either one could be true.
Foaly chuckled, “Silly Holly, the Book always has power!” Suddenly, the helmet camera was occupied by a small golden cube in center frame, all attention focused on it. “What’s that supposed to be, some new mineral?” the centaur whinnied.
Mulch explained, “That’s the Book, Foaly. That’s what it looks like in this world. It won’t even open.” The com-link fell silent; none of the fairies wanted to add to the situation. Even Foaly was speechless, unable to comprehend what he was seeing.
“So let me get this right; the Book won’t open, you guys can’t shield, and this world is apparently swallowed in radiation.” The centaur continued clacking at his keyboard, attempting to gather more details on the radiation in question. After several voiceless moments, he neighed, “Whatever the source is it’s big enough to put off steady levels of radiation. My computer can’t identify the type, except that it isn’t deadly.”
“Oh yeah, that’s comforting!” Root growled; the new figures from his scientist’s monitor appeared on his visor.
A sudden spike in one of the bars of information sent a warning tone through both the cubicle and the small building the fairies were in. Immediately turning his attention from the conversation to the outer cameras, Foaly began to notice something odd.
“It seems the levels of radiation around my workstation are steadily increasing, Commander. I’m thinking that they may be deadly at a certain concentration, otherwise there was no need for an alert.” The camera monitors began to blink out, static or blackness taking the place of the images of armored ponies with spears. The loud metallic clanging steadily grew louder and more rapid.
On one particular monitor, a horned soldier shoved a normal-looking pony out of the way before lifting a spear from his back with an eerie glow. The exact moment the aura swallowed the spear, the reading from Foaly’s computer increased ever so slightly. The monitor blinked out as the weapon reached the camera.
“And still you haven’t tried to speak with them, Mr. Foaly,” Artemis’s voice broke through the banging sounds, cold and somewhat foreboding.
It’s called observing, Mud Boy, the centaur thought, a frown covering his face. Taking a deep breath, he sighed, “I have to ask, can these ponies carry things without actually touching them?”
“You mean like telekinesis?” Holly replied immediately, thinking back to the exchange in the hospital. “Yes, they can. One of them even suspended the commander in midair!”
“However,” the young human added, “it is not a mental telekinesis, but that of the manifestation of magic around an object.” With a smug grin he chuckled, “At least, that’s what I gathered from listening to Twilight Sparkle during our ‘interview.’”
Foaly clacked away at his keyboard, focusing his readings on a two yard radius around his cubicle. He whinnied excitedly, “So they carry stuff with magic, not mind? Right. And this ‘goddess’ of a leader, what did she do to reach that status?” Ideas were beginning to connect in the half-horse’s head; small islands of information were steadily growing larger, threatening to meld into one massive one.
The boy spoke objectively, expressing neither belief nor disbelief of what he was about to say, “According to the information I received from Twilight, Equestria’s ruler—Princess Celestia—is capable of raising and setting the sun each day. That is her duty as an ‘alicorn,’ as they are called.” He was met by silence in the com-link and confused looks from his companions.
“She has to control day and night? That doesn’t just happen?” Holly asked, disbelief in light of everything she’d seen flooding her voice.
Even Root couldn’t hold back a grunt, “That’s absurd. This world has to have its own laws of nature. Not everything can be explained by ‘magic.’”
“Shush!” Foaly snapped from his end of the link as he clacked away at his keyboard. He ran test after test, the metallic banging only giving him more reason to work faster. The readings continued to increase as the banging grew louder, and wide-area-scans signaled the spread of the radiation more or less evenly around the entire radius of the scan, excluding directly outside the workspace.
“She raises the sun using her magic, doesn’t she? She certainly doesn’t use her hooves,” the centaur mused, a wide smile stretching across his features. “So what if,” he continued, “the sun itself was made of magical energy?”
Artemis visibly cocked an eyebrow in curiosity, stepping into the frame of the commander’s camera. “Just what are you getting at, Mr. Foaly?”
“What do you think, Mud Boy? The readings around my workstation are higher than yours, and the only differences I can see are that the ponies around me are using their magic to bombard me with spears and it’s almost nighttime on your end.” With the usual smugness returning to his voice, he laughed, “The area outside spikes when another pony shows up with a spear. However, the readings from the internal structure of the building are steadily climbing. Now think, what would be capable of dousing an entire area more or less evenly with energy?”
“I would have to say either heat or light…” the boy trailed off, beginning to see where the centaur was going.
Foaly looked around him, eyes scanning every nook and cranny of the box. He chuckled, “My safe room is composed of super dense, dark metals. Dark colors tend to absorb heat and light, don’t they?” He paused for just a second to let the train of thought sink in, “If the ‘goddess’ uses magic to raise and set the sun each day—”
“The sun would be made of magical energy, which would then release magical energy in the form of light and heat! So the radiation you’re picking up is the sunlight?” Artemis’s mind finally caught hold of Foaly’s train of thought, finishing the observation with obvious excitement. Despite everything in the world that simply didn’t make sense, they had actually reasoned a logical observation out of the nonsense.
The centaur whinnied happily, “Correct! It explains quite a bit with regards to the fairies!” He took some time to type out his exact hypothesis, sending it to Root’s helmet, before continuing. “The Book might not open because this isn’t Earth, as I’m sure you’ve guessed. But, with regards to your magical powers, the energy produced by the sun is just at the right level to negate your basic abilities—shielding and Mesmer—but not strong enough to cancel out the more advanced ones like healing!”
The captain couldn’t hold back her confusion. “Shouldn’t it be the other way around? The Mesmer takes almost no magic to use, so why would we lose it first?”
“No; unlike normal radiation, this magical energy doesn’t drain your magic, only negates it. The stronger the power, the harder it is to overwhelm,” the horseman explained with almost too much confidence.
It was an overconfidence which, to no surprise, Artemis was quick to point out. “These are all assumptions. While they do fit the given evidence, they are not factual. A footprint does not look like a boot, after all.” He stepped in front of the helmet camera with a smug grin on his face, “I must congratulate you Foaly, for you are most definitely intelligent to have pieced such tiny pigments into a work of art.”
“As are you, Artemis, to have opened a hole in space.” A slight hint of contempt carried the centaur’s praise, both genuinely awestruck and annoyed. “I suppose now would be a good time to try and settle these ponies down, eh?”
Commander Root barked, “Please! That noise is giving me a migr—!”
A sharp screech cut off the commander’s voice as the video feed dissolved into static. After just a few moments, all of the monitors faded to black. The lights dimmed, and the hum of electricity all but silenced. The banging slowly faded away, replaced with an eerie emptiness. Through the speakers, a majestic and regal voice called out.
I lost everything but the mikes. Of course. No video, no readings, nothing but sound. Foaly slapped a hand to his tinfoil-wrapped head, disappointment spreading through him. He had just figured out a likely answer to most of his questions, and then the computer went caput.
The voice sounded warm and kind, almost hypnotically alluring. If he hadn’t known better, he would’ve sworn the owner was using the fairy Mesmer.
“Please pardon the aggressive behavior of my Royal Guard. It’s not often a large structure falls on the center of our humble home. I am Princess Celestia. And who might you be?” As the voice spoke, the monitors of the room popped back to life, displaying the soldier ponies as they all stepped back from the cubicle. As the magical radiation retreated further and further, more and more power returned to the workstation.
Despite the steadily-recharging computers, communications with Commander Root remained dead. Scratching his chin in thought, he sighed, “The name’s Foaly, Your Highness. Might I ask your soldiers to extinguish their magic?”
“Of course, Foaly. Stand down everypony.” As if she could see it there, she looked directly into the lens of the camera just above the door, a warm smile appearing on one of the reactivated monitors. As the soldiers onscreen systematically lowered their weapons, more power returned to the workstation.
The horseman scoffed, “Well that was simple…” One of the monitors burst to life with the image of the human genius back in that hollowed out tree. He appeared to be tinkering with the helmet camera.
“It seems to be back online, Commander,” he sighed, half disappointed and half smug.
Root turned the camera toward him and growled, “What on earth is happening on your end, Foaly?”
The centaur opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off by the regal voice from before, “Are there others in there with you? Friends of yours, I presume?”
From somewhere off screen, a voice Foaly didn’t recognize called out from the fairy side of the com-link. It sounded excited and confused at the same time, an amusing combination of tones coming from the owner. “Princess Celestia?!”
“Celestia?” the four non-pony creatures in the building echoed in unison, curiosity taking over.
Before any of the present company could further complicate things, Foaly explained, “I’m talking to Princess Celestia through the mikes and speakers of the workspace, which means she can hear what you say through the speakers near the main computer. Are we all clear now?”
“So whoever you are, you’re acquainted with Twilight Sparkle?” Celestia’s voice asked calmly, almost knowingly.
Twilight cheered, “The creature you’re talking to, Foaly, is a friend of the creatures I wrote to you about!” Out of everyone present, she sounded the most confident in her speech. Confusion and doubt all but flooded everyone else’s tones.
“A friend of the humans, hmm? Interesting.” The princess’s voice remained light and soft, while still carrying a tone of suspicion and curiosity.
I’d hardly say ‘friend,’ but it works for now. “That’s right, I guess. If you would like to talk more personally, I’d be glad to come out now that your soldiers’ weapons are put away.”
It hit him like a ton of bricks before it even hit the princess.
“How can you be so certain our weapons are lowered?”
Captain Short began a chuckle, “Well, he can kind of s—”
The screen blinked off, all audio channels dying with it. Only this time, thankfully, it had been entirely on purpose. Having a potentially seven-way conversation could only end in utter confusion, so Foaly quickly narrowed it down to two.
“I…just don’t think you’re the lying type, Princess,” he chuckled sheepishly.
“Indeed I’m not,” the princess responded light-heartedly. “That doesn’t mean my subjects aren’t, however.”
Am I really about to do this? he thought, taking the tinfoil hat in his hand. I’m about to step into a world flooded with radiation, probably be arrested, and end up interrogated by horses with radioactive magic…
Glancing back once more at the camera feeds to ensure that the ponies were standing down, Foaly sighed, “You might want to step away from the box, Princess.”
“Very well then.”
Princess Celestia stepped back slowly, the crowd of ponies behind her parting to give her room. Once she was an assumedly safe distance from the workstation, Foaly entered a combination of buttons on a small keypad by the door. It slid open with a pressurizing hiss, and he threw a hand over his eyes, the light from outside temporarily blinding him. He heard a few ponies let out astonished gasps as he slowly trotted from the building. A few even let their jaws drop comically to the ground.
Among the short golden-armored soldiers stood the taller pony, a horn on her head and wings at her side. Her long flowing mane consisted of several different colors, each as beautiful as the others. The picture of a cartoonish sun rested on her flank, almost supporting the claims that she controlled the sun. Even Celestia couldn’t hold back her amusement at seeing such an odd creature.
The princess took a deep bow, raising one of her front hooves to her chest. She spoke formally, “Welcome to Canterlot, visitor. I am Princess Celestia, the ruler of this kingdom of Equestria. Where do you hail from?”
Hail, hmm? It’s been a while since I’ve heard someone say it like that. “You’ve probably never heard of it, Your Highness; it’s quite a long way away.”
“Ah yes, you must come from Earth, then?” A knowing smile complimented her features as she rose from her bow.
The centaur couldn’t help but be impressed, “That’s right. Just how much did you learn from Twilight Sparkle?” Whoever she is…
“She was very thorough in her interview with the one named Artemis Fowl. A world where magic doesn’t exist is hard to wrap my mind around,” the princess took a few steps closer to the foreigner, more curious about the contents of the box than about the actual creature. “How were we talking to Twilight just a moment ago?”
“Oh, that. It’s a long story that probably wouldn’t make any sense.”
“Try me,” Celestia snapped, somewhat annoyed and otherwise impatient. “There have been quite a few odd goings-on in my kingdom over the last few days, all following that human’s appearance.”
Foaly snapped to attention, certain that the ‘weird goings-on’ had to be related either to Artemis’s device or to what had brought him here. He adopted a serious expression as he asked, “What’s been happening?”
The princess stepped back from her visitor, rejoining the crowd of soldiers. “I’d much prefer not to discuss it within earshot of the general public. I wouldn’t want to panic my subjects,” she sighed, turning toward the large castle gates in the distance.
Taking the time to re-enter his password in the outer keypad, sealing the workstation from any prying eyes, the horseman cautiously trotted behind Celestia. The soldiers—horned, winged, or otherwise—began to disperse away from the scene, returning to their posts. The two larger horse-like creatures exchanged useless small talk as they approached the massive castle.
Foaly finally had the chance to actually take in the sights of the town. The unusually curved architecture of the buildings and castle towers added a sense of creativity to the town. The color scheme of gold, white, and purple made the buildings pop to life, with small patches of other colors seemingly reaching out toward the viewer’s eyes. The setting sun reflecting from the golden patches of buildings was comforting to the centaur visitor.
But as he approached the castle gates with the princess at his side, everything stopped. The gentle breeze vanished, the sounds muted, and every single muscle froze in place. Looking around in confusion and dread, Foaly noticed that even the birds in the sky had stopped.
An odd voice called out through the still air, “Welcome to Canterlot, horsey! I guess this means the games will start soon.” It sounded cocky, excited, and more than a little demented.
Dear gods, I think I’ve finally lost it…
“Oh no, you aren’t insane…yet! I haven’t even done anything!”
Of course. You can read my thoughts. I always knew this day would come! Shoulda kept my hat…
“Don’t be daft, Foaly! That silly thing wouldn’t help you any!”
Not sure why, but this doesn’t surprise me; this place is already weird enough. So, dare I ask, who are you?
“I’d be more than happy to tell you my name, but that would spoil the surprise! Just think of me as that brainwashing/mindreading sattelite you’ve always been afraid of.”
Right…
The centaur waited for a response, but all that followed was silence. A faint golden glow beamed from someplace in the distance, slightly off to the side of the castle walls. The source was hidden behind a series of hedges, adding an extra sense of mystery to the whole prior exchange. Foaly shuddered in place as a chill ran up his spine.
“Are you coming, Foaly?” Princess Celestia’s voice ripped through the silence, the entire world resuming around her. The sounds of the city burst to life as did the movements of every living creature.
The horseman took a moment to gain his bearings, confusion washing over him. “Did you hear any of that?” he asked, scratching his head.
“Any of what, exactly? Perhaps that fall did more to you than you’re aware.”
“Yeah, must just be my imagination…”
With a warm smile on her face, Celestia tittered, “You’ll be able to rest after a while, but I have a few questions to ask before then. If you’ll follow me now.”
“Of course, Your Highness!”
Something just isn’t right here. Why would a princess come out to greet the alien? As his thoughts continued to swim, Foaly followed close behind his guide, a mixture of confusion and worry knotting in his gut. That voice…and that glow…Were they related? How did I end up here, and how am I going to get back?
Of all the questions that swam around in his head, he could only find the answer to a single one. Despite all of the uncertainty and logical fallacies, one thing was all but certain.
Something really bad is about to happen…