My nerves sang with tension.
I was frozen. The orange pony, probably Sunset, panted foggy breaths in the cold air. Rainbow and Twilight stared, eyes huge, as we faced off.
"No, don't answer that." Her voice went calm, hard as ice. She drew herself up, perfect control glassing over her eyes and smoothing the anger from her face. She stood staring for a moment longer. My arm went limp, and I nearly dropped Splinter's horn. "You clearly have...that, by his will. I apologize for my earlier outburst." She turned as if to go. I mentally kicked myself, and my brain lurched into gear.
"W...wait!" I called, my voice nearly breaking. I didn't really want to do this, but I was the leader. We really had no choice, and parting like this felt wrong. "Please....Sunset, if that's your name, please help us." I dropped to my knees. I had no idea if the ponies understood the significance of that, but I even bowed my head to beg for help. "We need your aid. We're hurt, lost, and helpless. Please don't leave us like this."
She looked back, and a hidden tear may have been glistening in the corner of her eye. She inspected me, then turned her gaze to my teammates. Her eyes widened slightly at Twilight.
"Fine." Her voice was flat, but her horn lit up and streamers of magic floated out. "Security." Four complex ward spells drifted into the night. "Shelter." The snow around us, no more than ankle deep, crept slowly together and mounded upwards. A small dome quickly appeared, something like an igloo. "Warmth." A collection of gravel and rocks lifted off the ground and steamed. I could feel the warmth on my face. "Water." She threw a canteen from her pack at my feet. "I am Sunset Shimmer, and I offer this freely and in good faith."
Her formal tone confused me slightly, especially when she assumed a blank, expectant stare.
"Thank her." Twilight advised weakly. "She's demonstrating she won't hurt you; it's a traditional unicorn hospitality...thing. Altered a bit. A promise to help and to guard, at least for a while." She flopped onto the now-dry ground, surrendering to exhaustion. Rainbow watched worriedly, eyes flickering about.
"Thanks." I wasn't sure what to say. "You have my gratitude for this gift." Hopefully that was flowery enough. At my words, Sunset turned to the igloo, the rocks floating behind. She didn't look back as she ducked in.
"Come on." Twilight staggered to her hooves, and towards the hut. "Let's get out of this wind." Rainbow and I followed.
It wasn't warm in the igloo. Anything much above freezing and the shelter wouldn't last, but Sunset carefully buried the warmed rocks around us, and closed most of the doorway, leaving only a small hole there and in the roof for air. It was much, much better than outside. She even cast a minor light spell. As the moon rose, we settled down. The three ponies, completely nonchalant, snuggled together in the middle of the room.
I awkwardly tried to get comfortable by the door.
"Wes," Twilight said, just as I found a half-reasonable position. "I know you have a thing about personal space, but you'll be much warmer if you huddle with us."
"Um." I wasn't really sure what to say. I was cold and tired, and it would be warmer...but besides my space issues, I was a little wary of cuddling up to three xenomorphic young women. Ponies seemed to have different ideas of personal space, but still.
"Come ooooon," Rainbow added. "Stop being such a wuss or you're going to regret it."
I sighed, and scooted over to the pile, settling my back against her side. She draped a wing over my shoulder. It was...nice.
I didn't have nightmares, at least.
"Guys, I found a railroad!"
"Huh?"
I rubbed sleep out of my eyes, awoken by Rainbow's call. I was curled on the ground, cold and stiff and still tired but feeling remarkably better. I shot a dark look at my erstwhile pillow; she seemed entirely too cheerful and loud.
"A railroad, a railroad! I can see it from the sky! It's maybe five minutes flight, if you head three marks north of east! Come on, let's catch a train!"
"Don't we need flares for that?" I still felt half asleep, but the situation was returning to me. Sunset and Twilight grumbled awake, stretching and yawning widely.
"Pff, whatever. I can totally land on a train. But we can get home! The others will go lunatic if we don't let them know we're safe soon."
"Five minutes flight...Rainbow, that could be hours by hoof, at the speed you fly! Don't rush us so much." Twilight rubbed her eyes and followed her out, muttering airspeed calculations.
Sunset gave me another flat look. She was starting to make me a little uncomfortable. I was learning to read pony expressions, and most of them were fairly easy. But from Sunset, I got nothing. Ever since calming down last night, it was as if her emotions had iced over. It was better than the alternative, but she was creeping me out.
"Splinter's horn...should I give it to you?" I asked softly, after a moment.
"He is dead?"
"...yeah."
"Keep it." She abruptly left. I followed morosely. She nodded to Twilight and Rainbow, who where talking and stretching in the sun, and slowly walked east. I shrugged at my companions, took a drink from my canteen, and passed it to Twilight.
"We'd better move out." I nodded to Sunset. "Looks like our host has made up her mind." Twilight fell in beside me and passed the canteen to Rainbow, who zipped into the air and circled above us as lookout. As we walked, I went through my pockets and pack as best I could, arranging my kit comfortably and settling in for a long hike.
"Granola bar?" I offered one to Sunset. She glanced over and hesitantly accepted.
"You know, it's funny." She talked with her mouth full, and her eyes never left the horizon. "When I first picked up Splinter's magic on that old scanner, I was beyond shocked. I put together an emergency pack, and went on high alert. The only thing I didn't pack was food." She sniffed quietly. "I guess I'm still a fool. I thought I'd lock onto him, warp in, save his bony ass, and we'd go home together." Her eyes didn't waver and her voice was calm, but she seemed a touch more vulnerable, if only for a moment.
"Do you want to hear-"
"No." Whatever I'd seen was gone. "No, don't talk about him right now. I've just been through a bit of an emotional storm, and I'm liable to be a wreck when I get...back. But I do want to know. What exactly are you?" Her cool blue eyes swept my figure. "You're like nothing I've seen, except maybe a minotaur. You have no magic, besides that abomination welded to your soul, and that crude link with the perfect Princess' prized purple protege."
I blinked at that. I guess involving Twilight in this discussion is a no go, I thought. I spent a minute thinking my story out, avoiding Splinter as I could.
"Well, this might be a bit tricky," I conceded, but launched in with a will, carefully skirting sensitive bits. "...so, they thought I might be from another dimension or something." I finished, a half-hour later.
"Ludicrous!"
"Come again?" I glanced at her, honestly surprised by her vehemence. It was the most emotion she'd displayed yet.
"Twilight might believe that, but Celestia? She must be going senile."
Oooooookay, I'm missing something here, I thought. I'd assumed Sunset's connection to the palace was completely through her brother. From what I recalled, he'd been a member of the Royal Guard. I hadn't connected Luna's work with missing persons to him at first, because it was such a tenuous link. I didn't remember it until Sunset literally appeared in front of me, and dredged up things about Splinter I barely remembered. Talking about Celestia like that, though, was something ordinary ponies would find nearly unthinkable.
"Look, I've studied dimensional magic. I'm not at the level of the greats, like Sombra, but I'm better off than most. It's very simple. You worked from the multi-verse idea? Multiple worlds, new ones appearing at each quantum decision, creating an infinity of slightly different worlds, allowing yours and ours to exist in the same continuum?" I nodded slowly. "It's complete horse-apples. Either the theory is plain wrong, or it's totally impossible to travel from one reality to another. I can demonstrate it easily.
"Consider this; if an infinite continuum of worlds exists, AND it's possible to travel through it, then because everything HAS TO exist at some point in that multi-verse, someone is planning to appear, ten feet in front of us, right...now." She waved; the snow stayed empty. "You see? Either it's not infinite, or the walls between universes are impenetrable. Either way, something more is going on here."
I turned the idea over in my head; it seemed sound to me.
"So, what does that mean for me?"
"Not a whole lot," she replied coolly. "Either the multi-verse is only near-infinite and you're one of the extreme outliers, you didn't come from another universe, or..." She trailed off for a bit, but finished all in a rush. "Or something from outside the multi-verse moved you."
"I could be from this universe?" I started with the simplest idea first.
"Sure. The universe is huge; who's to say that your world's not out there, around another star? If you only moved through space, this whole thing would be slightly less nauseating to contemplate."
"Such as being moved?" She nodded slowly.
"I don't know why it bothers me so much, but if you were intentionally moved through an infinite multi-verse, it was by something so completely outside the limits of our understanding, it might as well be called 'God'. Who knows what purposes it had for you? I don't like it." She shuddered ever so slightly. I nodded. The idea was chilling to me as well; the thought of being nothing more than a pawn was distinctly unpleasant.
"Either way," she broke into my thoughts, "don't give up the search. I'm confident of my reasoning, but none of this is actually proof. The fact is, you are here. That means, the way back potentially exists. You're only lost if you stop looking."
<"One day we leave,"> I replied automatically.
"What?"
"Sorry, nothing." I waved memories away, and tapped my comm on. "Hey, Rainbow, how're we doing?"
"Another half-hour or so. Not too much farther. But wooo, you guys are slow."
"Hush. We can't all be as awesome as you."
"Don't you know it!" She signed off with a chuckle.
We walked in silence after that.
"Well, it is a railroad!" Rainbow said hopefully. Indeed, but it had obviously lain unused for a while.
"What are our chances of a train?" I asked.
"Not good," Sunset answered. "By the snow, I'd say they don't pass this way more than once a week. And I need to leave; I've already spent longer than I should have with you."
I grimaced at that, but nodded.
"Thank you for all your aid." I paused, then pushed on. "Sunset, your brother saved my life. More than once. I know you said it was OK for me to keep this," I touched my sheath, "but if you ever need my help, let me know. I'll be there for you."
"Thank you, Wes. I may have to take you up on that."
"Would you be willing to take a message for us?" Twilight asked hesitantly.
"No." The reply was instant. Twilight drew herself up to argue, but stopped as Sunset extracted a paper from her pack and passed it over. "This ought to serve, though." She stepped backwards, gathered her magic, and disappeared in a flash.
"Where did she get this?" Twilight's voice was troubled, and she looked deeply confused. I gently plucked the gift from her grasp, and inspected it. It looked like a piece of stationery with an attached ribbon. A crest modeled on Sunset's cutie mark adorned one corner. Celestia's crest was on the other.
"A vivre card," I breathed. "This will go directly to Celestia!" My brows scrunched in confusion, mirroring Twilight's. "But this means..."
"Yeah. She's someone very close to Celestia, whom I've never heard of. Just who is Sunset Shimmer?"
I shrugged helplessly.
"Maybe she's a SPY!" Rainbow exclaimed. I rolled my eyes at Twilight, who rolled them back.
"Maybe, Rainbow," Twilight said noncommittally. "Anyway, let's use this. What's the nearest mile-marker?"
"Six hundred and seventy-three," Rainbow said, surprising us with her prompt reply. "Hey, I had a lot of time while you guys slogged."
"Mhmm." Twilight's pen was already moving. She floated it to me; I skimmed it, and handed it to Rainbow.
"Looks like you got it all. No critical wounds, exhausted, low on supplies and suffering from exposure. Time, place, promise of a full report, weather; looks good, send it on." Twilight rolled the vivre card up and sealed it. It burst into bright flame and the ashes floated away. "Well, that should get our rescue moving. Now, let's find someplace out of the wind and work on our reports." Twilight grinned eagerly at that, but Rainbow groaned a little.
"Hey, look on the bright side," I said. "We finished our mission. We learned something useful. We all made it out. We're still together."
That drew heartfelt nods, and we set out to make the best of our situation until help arrived.
We weren't quite done yet, but I resolved we wouldn't falter on the home stretch.