//------------------------------// // Negotiations // Story: My Little Teelo: Masquerade // by Ardwolf //------------------------------// In which Emma must prove herself and Mist Chaser finds duty surprisingly harsh. Earth, Sunday afternoon, May 29, 2013 12:23 PM “All right, young lady, it’s time you told us what really happened,” Jacob said sternly, staring hard at his daughter. “No more half truths or evasions! Start at the beginning and tell us everything.” The three were sitting in the Halstead’s living room. Emma sat in an armchair while her parents shared the couch. “You know about the keepsake, so I can skip over that, right?” Emma asked calmly. Her mother nodded. “John and Elaine came over yesterday morning with Teelo’s martial arts instructor and a private investigator. They explained about Equestria and the ponies so we know the basics. Start from when you left the house and went to Teelo’s.” Olivia said. “Okay. After I talked to all the figurines a lot of what Teelo had told me about what happened to her made perfect sense. She hadn’t actually lied to me at all—she just left out some critical details. I bet you think I’m doing the same thing, don’t you?” “Of course,” Jacob snorted. “You don’t want us to know how bad Equestria really is because you know we’d never let you go back if we did.” She met her father’s gaze calmly and said nothing. The silence stretched out uncomfortably. “Well? We’re waiting,” Jacob growled. “For what?” Emma asked. “For you to tell us what happened,” Olivia interjected before her husband could snap at Emma. “Why would I do that?” Emma asked mildly. “You have no intention of letting me go back so there’s no need to tell you anything. I’m home safe. My little adventure,” Emma made air quotes, “is over. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go grieve for my friend.” “What? Sit down!” Her father nearly shouted. “We’re not done here!” “Oh?” Emma said, cocking her head. “You won’t let me go back. Was there something else?” “We haven’t decided whether you can go back or not, Emma,” Olivia said soothingly, giving her husband a warning glance. “Is that true, Daddy?” Emma asked, watching her father. “You tell us the truth and we’ll see,” he said after a pause. “No holding back.” “I’ll make you a deal,” Emma said, leaning back in her chair. “I tell you everything, every single gory detail. But in return you listen to everything, both the danger I was in and the protection that kept me safe.” “You’re in no position to negotiate,” Jacob told his daughter angrily. “You’re lucky we don’t lock you in your room for what you did.” “I’m in the perfect position to negotiate,” Emma didn’t raise her voice. “You have something I need. I have something you want. I’m asking you to be fair. That’s not unreasonable.” “Fine,” Jacob said grudgingly. “Now what happened?” “So much that it’s going to take a while for me to tell it all,” Emma said quietly. “I know you’ll have questions, but it will be quicker if you wait to ask them until you hear everything. It’s been a very, very busy two days for me. I promise you I’ll tell you everything that happened but you need to promise to listen until I’m finished.” “Okay, Emma,” Olivia said quickly. “But you have to tell us everything.” “I will. So long as you listen,” Emma warned her. “I guess it began when I was looking at Princess Celestia’s figurine, trying to figure out what it was. I didn’t have a clue so I jokingly asked her who she was. When she actually answered me I freaked out. It took me forever to get my courage up and go back to talk to her. “The funny thing was she thought I was Teelo, and kept calling me Lady Teelo. You know, like Teelo was nobility or something. None of the other figurines did that…oh.” She paused, as though something had occurred to her. “You know what? She knew I wasn’t Teelo,” Emma said with sudden certainty. “Now that I’ve seen the real Celestia in action, I’m certain of it. Her figurine must have been hiding its real abilities, pretending to be just a simple toy. She was testing me. Wow.” “What do you mean?” Olivia asked, in spite of herself. “Celestia never does anything without making sure she’s got at least six different options,” Emma answered automatically, eyes unfocused as she thought it through. “She’s always ten moves ahead of everyone else and keeps her options open so she can be as flexible as possible to take advantage of any situation. Then she nudges events in the direction she needs them to go.” Emma’s eyes focused. “Mom, she was testing me from the first time I picked up her figurine. Those figurines are echoes of the real ponies, the essence of who they are. So Celestia’s figurine is the essence of her, and she’s been a queen in all but name for a thousand years. She’s a goddess.” Her parents exchanged confused glances. “Don’t you get it?” Emma demanded. “She knows more about people than anyone ever. Not just her own ponies, but all the other races she has to deal with. Griffons and trolls and cows and zebras and dragons and minotaurs and who knows what else. How they think. What they want. What they’re capable of. And she’s part human.” “What!” Jacob exclaimed. “She’s a horse, Emma. Well, a unicorn with wings, but still a horse! She isn’t part human. That’s impossible.” “Yes, she is. All ponies are, Daddy. When we were on the train going to Canterlot Teelo told us the story of the Bridge of Days. Sun Hammer backed her up. He said his grandmother told him the story when he was growing up. Teelo’s ancestors, the original clan O’Gara, settled in Ireland a long time ago. They lived with magical horses called kappas—no wait—capails? Capalls! Those horses could speak, and cast magic. There was an invasion and the humans and Capalls knew they’d be wiped out. So the leader of the Capalls made some kind of bargain and created the Bridge of Days. But when it was first created only animals or spirits could pass over. So when a Capall and its rider fell in battle their spirits merged with a Shetland pony and the pony was sent over the Bridge and became an Equestrian pony. One third pony, one third Capall, and one third human.” “That sounds like a fairy tale, Emma,” Olivia said doubtfully. “You did just talk to a winged unicorn not fifteen minutes ago,” Emma pointed out. “Magic is real, Mom, and it works on Earth just like in Equestria. I’ve felt it firsthand. Twilight let me ride her when we teleported from Canterlot to the Bridge.” The girl shuddered. “That was freaky. I literally tasted the rainbow and smelled music while we were in the weird place unicorns go while they teleport. It was beyond bizarre. Is it really so hard to believe ponies are part human? They can talk.” “We’re getting off the subject,” Jacob said brusquely, not really wanting to deal with what his daughter had just told them. “This is why I didn’t want you to ask questions until I was finished,” Emma said mildly. “Where was I? Oh yeah. I talked to all the figurines and then thought about all the things Teelo said had happened to her. Everything fell into place. All the things that hadn’t made sense before suddenly did. I never could help her because we never dared talk about the things she told me. And I knew keeping everything so secret was tearing her up inside. But now I could help her. So I did. “I knew about the spare key to get in the house and I went inside quietly so they wouldn’t hear me. I heard Sun Hammer first. I knew it was him because he sounded just like his little statue. “Anyway, when I got there Sun Hammer was telling Teelo about some pony named Princess Cadence, who ruled a Crystal Empire that vanished centuries ago. I didn’t really understand what they were talking about because Teelo said that Cadence had been Twilight’s babysitter or something which made absolutely no sense. Then she told him about the My Little Pony cartoon. And they started talking about Teelo’s fight with Discord. I remember he said it was like a legend come to life and would have made a great cartoon. “Then her Mom and Sun Hammer got into an argument and Teelo got into it too so I decided I better let them know I was there.” She chuckled softly. “You should have seen the look on their faces. But it stopped the argument cold. “Of course Teelo wanted to know why I was there so I told her about the figurines. Apparently Princess Celestia never told her the figurines could talk, so she was as shocked as you probably were when you found out. “Anyway, I flat out told her since I’d talked to the figurines and seen Sun Hammer she might as well tell me everything. She didn’t really want to, and when she did the first thing she said was that Equestria was dangerous. I want to be very clear about that. She kept saying it right until the Bridge opened, so you can’t blame her for what I did, all right? She warned me. Repeatedly. With lots of shouting. So it isn’t her fault I followed them. “Why in the name of God did you follow them?” Jacob demanded. “Because I didn’t believe her. I’d seen the cartoon, Daddy. It’s about little colorful singing ponies. How dangerous could it be? Besides, she needed my help. You may not realize it but the last couple of years have been really hard on her. It turns out she has PTSD from the time Discord kidnapped her.” “Wait, she was kidnapped?” Olivia asked, appalled. “I thought she ran away from home!” Emma shook her head. “No, that’s just a story she made up. After all, would you have believed the truth?” “No,” Jacob admitted. “I’m still having trouble believing it even after meeting that purple unicorn.” “She was kidnapped by the god of chaos, named Discord.” Emma said. “In the end she fought him and if Celestia hadn’t intervened she’d have killed him. That magical club of hers is seriously bad news!” Anyway, Twilight turned him into stone statue right after that. But it kind of messed up Teelo since she couldn’t talk about it. All she told me was a crazy man kidnapped her. He wanted to use her to get revenge. She swore me to secrecy. But ever since the kidnapping she’s been obsessed with that Krav Maga stuff and she’s always really jumpy and skittish.” “I never realized,” Olivia said softly, “Poor Teelo.” “So now you want a case of PTSD?” Her father demanded. “This place is sounding worse and worse.” “Not the same,” Emma said. “You need to listen to the rest without interruption, because there’s a lot to get through. Okay?” He grumpily waved his hand in acquiescence. “Teelo spent the next two hours telling me about her second trip to Equestria. This time Matt and Evelyn went with her to find Princess Celestia. Discord’s sister, I think her name was Tishana or something, kidnapped Celestia and Sun Hammer came to get Teelo. But Celestia managed to escape on her own and they had several fights with Tishana before Pinkie Pie of all ponies, tricked her into breathing some magic powder that turned her to stone. That’s why Teelo was late coming back to school this year. “Oh, and before she came back the Troll King tried to marry her,” Emma laughed, the first real laugh she’d had since returning from Equestria. “He thought he needed to in order to keep his throne, but his advisor and Princess Luna came up with some alternate plan instead. That’s why Søyle is the king’s wife, but Teelo’s the queen. It’s not about saving the world this time, Daddy. It’s political. This whole trip is about diplomacy. She’s supposed to bond with the trolls, learn their language, and that kind of stuff.” “If that’s true then what was that fight you got caught in?” Her father demanded. “Well, once we went through the Bridge and Teelo found out I followed them she kind of freaked out. She got her troll bodyguards to guard me while she made plans with the commander of Celestia’s guards to fortify the clearing until Subtle Dancer could open the Bridge again since he can only do it every four hours or so. “We had just been introduced to Søyle when we heard really loud bangs and found these six foot tall insect-unicorn things had crash landed on top of the chariots and destroyed them. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention there was a big ring of torches surrounding us, with all the guards inside, along with the chariots. That meant those things were inside the torch ring too. It was just getting past dawn in Equestria--they’re like five hours ahead of us. “At the same time we find out an army of changelings has surrounded us, and their queen, a big changeling named Chrysalis, started trash talking Subtle Dancer while she was hovering high up in the air. “That’s when things went crazy. Subtle Dancer told the wing commander to deal with the big drones and that he’d deal with the army. “What, all by himself?” Jacob asked, nonplussed. Emma nodded. “Teelo started glowing red all over and her eyes turned dark grey. No pupils, just flat gray circles, like a dead thing. It scared me when she did that. She had this nasty snarl on her face too, but her voice was creepy calm. “The trolls pulled out their own clubs, long slender iron things that were almost as tall as they were. Teelo asked Søyle to protect me and Søyle swore to keep me safe or die trying.” She paused. “That was the danger, Daddy. This is what you were afraid of. That Equestria is too dangerous to even think of letting me go back. But before you make up your mind I want you to hear what happened next. Will you do that? Will you listen?” “I said I would,” He replied gruffly. Emma nodded. “I was terrified. I thought we were going to die. And then Chrysalis yelled to her army to kill us all.” She held up her hand as her father started to say something. “Listen. The changelings charged us and were about to hit the torch ring when Subtle Dancer threw his spell. They were like five feet from the torches when the torches turned into freaking flamethrowers. Every single changeling within sixty feet was killed on the spot. I doubt they lived long enough to feel anything. All that was left of them were charred lumps of charcoal. A few on the far edge of the fire lived, but they got burned so badly they lost their wings and their eyes.” Her parents were shocked into silence. “Celestia said that when a pony is forced to kill someone a part of them dies too. So I can’t imagine what it cost Subtle Dancer to do what he did. He saved every one of us, Daddy. Without him I’d be dead right now. So yes, I know exactly how dangerous Equestria is, better than you do. But you’ll notice I’m not dead. He protected me. A single unicorn protected me from an army. He protected all of us. “That attack killed at least half her army. Chrysalis was so angry she screamed for the big changelings inside the ring to ignore everyone else and kill Subtle Dancer. That’s when Teelo flew up in the air and smashed Chrysalis so hard she ended up buried five feet in the ground. Then she hit the two guards escorting Chrysalis and they just—splattered.” “Don’t exaggerate,” Olivia reproved her, looking nauseous. “I wish I was, Mom. The guards turned into red goo that splashed when it hit the ground. They looked like they’d come out of a blender. That club of hers is unbelievable. Anyway, Teelo fell about three stories and hit the ground—and then sprinted back into the fight. It was the most amazing thing I’d ever seen. It was just like a superhero movie or something. “By that time two of the big changelings had slipped past the pegasi. Sun Hammer killed one but the other landed right on top of Subtle Dancer. It tore him up pretty bad. Broke his shoulder and nearly cut his throat in three places. I think Stitch said he had some broken ribs too. The trolls got there in time to drive it off, but then it came after Søyle and me. Even when they broke its legs it was still trying to get at us. Søyle finally killed it with her claws. She almost tore its head off—and no, that’s not a figure of speech.” “Oh my god,” Olivia covered her mouth in shock. “How can you even consider going back after that?” Jacob said incredulously. “What makes you think we’d ever let you go back?” “Because the protections worked,” Emma said quietly. “I wasn’t hurt. Even in the first real battle Equestria’s had in hundreds of years not one person on our side died. Subtle Dancer was badly hurt but he’ll recover. The changeling threat has been destroyed forever. The worst already happened, Daddy. It’s over.” “So you’re saying you show up in Equestria and just happen to get caught up in the first battle they’ve fought in hundreds of years?” Jacob scoffed. “I wasn’t born yesterday, little girl.” “Ask Twilight,” Emma said shrugging. “She’s a princess, Daddy. She’s privy to all the government secrets. She already told you it was a freak event and won’t happen again. If you won’t believe a princess then who will you believe?” Jacob stirred unhappily on the couch, but settled back. “Let’s hear the rest of it, Emma.” “You’ve already heard the worst of it,” Emma said sedately. “I’ll be the judge of that. The rest of it. Now,” Jacob grunted. “When Teelo took down Chrysalis the rest of the army just collapsed and started moaning, except for the big changelings, I have no idea why. They ended up having to kill all the big changelings because they went berserk,” Emma said. “That’s when Sun Hammer yelled that Subtle Dancer was hurt and Stitch, Teelo, and I got busy saving his life. Stitch told me where to put pressure and I did that while he told Teelo how to put stitches in. I actually had to tie the last few knots for her because at the end Teelo’s hands were shaking so badly. I guess the adrenaline wore off or something. He finished examining Subtle Dancer while we were doing that.” “It didn’t bother you?” Olivia asked with raised eyebrows. “Doing something like that?” “Of course it bothered me, Mom. To be honest I think I was in shock. But when Teagan went off to arrange an airlift for Subtle Dancer I got to talking with Stitch. Well, his real name is Cloud Maker, but they call him Stitch because he’s a medic. He made jokes and gave me some advice. It made me feel better.” “What advice?” Olivia asked, still at sea over all this. “He said the battle was over, that nobody died—at least on our side, and he called that a win. When I asked him about the rest of the changelings he told me not to worry about it because it wasn’t our problem. Teelo and the wing commander would deal with it. “Anyway, Teelo and Stormwind came back arguing about the airlift. He didn’t want to split up his troops, but Teelo got him to do it finally. She can be pretty persuasive when it’s important. Anyway, after that Stormwind said he bet Chrysalis wasn’t really dead. After all, she’d actually beaten Celestia in a fight once. So Teelo had the trolls dig up her body.” Emma grimaced. “That was pretty gross, like something out of a horror movie. She was all smashed up and bleeding everywhere. It looked like every bone in her body was broken. Her chitin was just one big web of cracks. “Then Teelo started straightening her body, you know, so she wouldn’t look so awful. I remember it took her a long time. When it was done Teelo said a short prayer and apologized for killing her. It sounds really stupid now, but standing there it just seemed like the right thing to do, you know? “It turns out Chrysalis wasn’t actually dead. While we were watching her she started to twitch, and little bursts of green magic started repairing the damage to her body. So Teelo ordered Sun Hammer to make this Indian sled thingie and tie her to it.” “Indian sled thingie?” Jacob asked, brow wrinkling. “You mean a travois?” “Yeah, a travois,” Emma nodded. “Once he was finished everybody noticed the changelings had stopped moaning, which Teelo said meant they were probably recovering along with their queen. Anyway, Chrysalis wakes up and she and Teelo had a pretty intense argument. Teelo threatened to kill her if she didn’t order her army to back off. Chrysalis didn’t believe her until Teelo pulled a pretty nifty trick. Apparently she had brought her MP3 player along so she played a song for Chrysalis, I don’t know which one it was, but it must have been a really scary one because the queen did a lot less trash-talking after that. Teelo kept talking about how long it takes humans to learn self-control, and that she hadn’t finished learning it yet. She was trying to psych Chrysalis out and it worked. Then the queen tried to trick us but Teelo wasn’t fooled, and after a few more threats on both sides Teelo actually pulled out Crush. Chrysalis surrendered and her changelings left.” “What was the deal between Chrysalis and Subtle Dancer anyway?” Jacob asked. “From what I gather, Chrysalis was angry with Celestia, but knew she couldn’t kill her without killing herself and her children in the process,” Emma replied. “Celestia raises the sun, so no Celestia, no sunlight. But killing Subtle Dancer would be like killing the head of the FBI or something, it would have been a pretty big deal. But the one she really hates is Twilight’s brother Shining Armor. Apparently she’d invaded Canterlot a few months ago and it was his shield spell that finally broke the invasion—but in the process a lot of changelings got crushed when the shield pushed them out of the city because they were inside buildings and stuff.” Olivia shuddered. “It wasn’t deliberate,” Emma said noticing her mother’s expression. “It was an accident. I don’t know all the details but she blames him for killing half her children. Apparently changelings are like bees and live in a hive or something, so she really is their mother. “Chrysalis sent all but the wounded ones away, because she said the wounded ones were blind and would die if she did. Teelo agreed to let the wounded changelings stay. She had to override Stormwind, who thought it was a trick. See, changelings are called that because they can change their shape and appear to be anyone they like. Stormwind thought some more of the big changelings were pretending to be wounded. He was really fighting Teelo about it when she said the most awesome thing I’ve ever heard. She said she knew it was risky, but sometimes you have to take that risk. Because we aren’t the monsters, and we do the right thing, even when it isn’t easy, or safe, or particularly sane—because it is the right thing.” Emma looked levelly at her father. “That’s why I’m going back, Daddy. It’s the right thing to do. Teelo needs my help. She needs another human being to be there for her while she’s in Hejm. I’m the only one who can do it. The trolls will protect me, and they are amazing fighters. The city is a fortress, and there are honest to God wizards there too! Getting to and from the city I’ll be traveling either by flying chariot or in a convoy of thirty trolls, along with twenty of Celestia’s finest guards.” “The bottom line is, yes, I did something stupid and yes, it could have ended badly. But it didn’t. The reason it didn’t was because I had protectors. When I go back I’ll have even more. I can be very useful there and more importantly Teelo needs me there. I will come back, in one piece.” Jacob’s reply was interrupted as the outer door slammed. “Mom, I’m home!” A young boy’s voice shouted. “In here, David!” Emma called, watching her parents with a slight smile. ooOoo “Are you the courier Mist Chaser?” A colt almost old enough to be called a stallion addressed the stallion as he lay bonelessly on a massage table. The masseuse stopped working on Mist Chaser’s left wing root. “Ooohh, yeah, that’s me. What’s up kid?” Mist Chaser cracked open one eye, taking in the colt’s uniform. A chill of apprehension blew threw him. He just knew what the colt was going to say. “Faerie Mist presents her compliments. By order of the Princess you are to report to her office immediately to fly a dispatch directly to Hejm.” Horse apples. So much for my R&R, he thought grumpily. Oh well, Pillow Soft got the worst of the knots out of my wings. I just hope it’ll be enough. “Tell Faerie Mist I’m on my way,” he said in a steady professional voice. There was no sign of the tantrum he was throwing inside his head. The colt bowed and withdrew. Sighing, he worked his way off the table and settled the bill for his interrupted massage. Just once I’d like to get an all-expenses-paid vacation and not have to fly a single body length for a whole week, he thought morosely as he retrieved his satchel and started trotting back to the castle. He avoided flying, putting it off to give his sore wings more time to recover. He felt another twinge of unease when he was admitted directly into Faerie Mist’s office. She hoofed over a thick packet which he slipped into his courier pouch. “The princess asked me to apologize for interrupting your recovery time,” Faerie Mist said brusquely. “She wants you to fly directly to Hejm, but you needn’t strain yourself. Chariot-pace is fine, but the packet is eyes-only, for Kongen Fjell. Do you understand?” “Yes, Lady Mist. I will hoof-deliver it to none but the Kongen,” Mist Chaser said, coming to attention. “Very good. Have a safe flight, Courier.” Faerie Mist reached for a document in her inbox, clearly dismissing him. Relieved at escaping the volatile mare’s office with his feathers intact the courier moved at a brisk walk toward the closest landing platform, fluttering his wings slightly to work out the last of the kinks. By the time he reached the top of the messenger tower his wings had improved from screaming at him to merely lodging belligerent notes of protest. Sighing deeply he leaped into the air, a grunt the only sign of his discomfort as he settled into what pegasi in Royal service universally called chariot pace—the speed free-flyers used to escort chariot pullers. Three hours at chariot pace wasn’t considered particularly grueling for members of the courier service, who often flew long unescorted missions to Equestrian embassies in other countries. Such flights could last in excess of ten hours. However Mist Chaser had just made the flight from Hejm to Canterlot at twice chariot pace. While not an outright sprint it was still faster than most pegasi could hold for any length of time. In short, even at chariot pace he was going to be exhausted by the time he reached Hejm. With a deep sigh he started watching the scenery passing below to distract himself from the ordeal. ooOoo The last half hour was the worst, he decided. The troll mountains had been visible from the time he took off, but it was only a half-hour from his destination that he could make out the actual mountain Hejm lay beneath. His wings had been aching already and each minute in the air that passed made the ache worse as the small black opening in the mountain crept closer. Had he been rested it would have been boring. But the ache made his patience evaporate. Come on, come on! He chanted to himself, each wing beat making him grimace from the soreness. He debated finishing the flight on foot, but knew from long experience a half hour in the air meant a two-hour trot on the ground. Not to mention it wouldn’t be a straight and level trot either, the mountains around him guaranteed that. There were also beasts in these mountains he did not want to encounter on the ground, especially since he knew if he landed he wasn’t going to be able to get back up in the air quickly. So outwardly stoic and inwardly cursing like a sailor he toughed it out. It was with a sense of relief he spotted the small building that served as the Trollish customs station in the gathering twilight gloom. Gliding down tiredly a few hundred feet from the building as they demanded all fliers do he walked slowly toward it, stretching out his wings with a groan of relief before folding them gently. I’m going to feel this in the morning, he thought to himself. Maybe I can get Lavender to give me a discount on a wing massage. Lord knows I need it. Pillow Soft did what she could but I’ve abused my poor wings until they’re ready to fall off. Lost in the thoughts of how good a wing massage was going to feel he didn’t notice the customs station was far too quiet until he was about to step inside. A growl was the only warning he got before something massive charged toward him from the darkened interior.