//------------------------------// // Down on the Ground // Story: Gravity of the Situation // by DJSkywalker //------------------------------// *****(Twilight’s P.O.V.)***** I had my friends all gathered around me after listening to Kat’s tale of how she arrived in Equestria and how she first met Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Her story was… different, from what I expected. When she came bursting in at the castle claiming she would kill my mentor, I truly believed her to be another villain like Nightmare Moon or Discord. But now, now I wasn’t so sure of that. “Well, what do you girls think?” I asked my friends. “She ain’t lyin’, Ah know that much,” replied Applejack. I was hoping deep down that she said that Kat was, but it was for naught. “Are you sure about that AJ?” Rainbow Dash asked with an incredulous look. “After what she pulled at the castle, I don’t think we can trust her.” “Now Ah never said nothin’ ‘bout trustin’ her. All Ah'm sayin’ is that she told us the honest truth about her origins. Ah frankly don’t trust her neither, but at least she ain’t a liar.” “Despite her uncouth manner at the castle, Kat seems like a lovely young lady,” Rarity put in. “We’ve all seen and heard of what she is capable of, but she hasn’t laid a hoof, or whatever it is she has, on us.” “I like her! Even if she can be a big meanie pants, she certainly doesn’t show it.” Always the optimist, Pinkie Pie. “I don’t trust her either, girls,” I said. “Not after what she’s said she can do. What do you think, Fluttershy?” She was the only one who hadn’t said anything, yet. “Oh, um, well I think that we shouldn’t take her to the princesses. Not yet, anyways,” she responded quietly. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. How could she think that? “What are you talking about, Fluttershy?!” Rainbow burst out again. “Why shouldn’t we take her to the princesses? Kat is a danger to everypony on the planet! She needs to be locked away.” Fluttershy started glaring at Rainbow. “Rainbow Dash! How could you? You’re not seeing it Kat’s way! She’s hurting, deep down.” “Hurting from what?” I’ll admit, I was curious to know as well. “Don’t you see, girls? Kat is friendless!” Pinkie gasped out loud, though I just kept my attention on Fluttershy. Could she be right? “Kat’s only real friend was Dusty and he’s not here anymore. She once thought the princesses were her friends, but right now I highly doubt she still thinks that way. Kat is all alone.” Right there, right there is where it finally sunk in. Kat wasn’t just upset about losing Dusty, no, she was upset because now she was truly alone. Being the only one of your kind in Equestria would be awful, to say the least. But Dusty probably made it alright for Kat. He was always there for her from the sound of it, and having him taken away left Kat all on her own. I really didn’t even bother to think of it until Fluttershy pointed it out. Nopony deserves to live like that, nobody, either. “Then what should we do?” asked Pinkie who now had a somber expression. She must have realized it, too. From the look of it, all of my friends came to the same conclusion I did. “Why don’t we take her to Ponyville?” Fluttershy offered. “We can help Kat. The princesses told us why they took Dusty away. Maybe we can teach Kat that they didn’t mean to hurt her. To help her see that it was just an accident. At least she won’t be alone.” Fluttershy’s plan did make sense. It would also give us chance to keep an eye on her for the princesses and maybe I could learn a little bit about her culture and her powers. Seemed like a win-win to me. That is, taken that Kat doesn’t destroy the world with her gravity powers before then. Ah well, cross that bridge when get to it, knowledge awaits! “I think that’s a good idea, Fluttershy!” I praised her. “That way we can keep an eye on Kat and maybe get her to calm down in the process.” “I don’t know about this. Sounds like bad idea written all over it,” Rainbow added with a cautious look. “Yay! Ooh! Maybe Kat would like to be friends! You think she would?” Pinkie was once again bouncing around with her happy smile. It brought a smile to my own face seeing her back to normal. “She just might, darling. She just might.” Leave it to Rarity to calm down Pinkie. “Well, Ah suppose it wouldn’t hurt to give the poor girl a chance,” Applejack said thoughtfully. “Ahh shoot, why the hay not? Those powers of hers might be useful. Long as she don’t go usin’ them on anypony.” “Then it’s settled, we ask Kat to live with us in Ponyville!” With the plan in place, we went to ask Kat how she felt about living with us. She didn’t give any indication that she minded, though that little tidbit about going insane and then sane again was fascinating. I can’t wait to hear more! And so, with Kat in tow, we headed off in the direction of Ponyville. It was a quiet walk, almost awkwardly quiet, so I decided to learn a little about our new companion. “So, Kat, why did you run from the Princess earlier?” Okay not the best way to start conversation. Kat looked at me funny, but answered my dumb question anyways. “I saw that Celestia had far more power than me at the time. I knew I would be no match for her so I ran off.” “So you’re a coward?” Not helping Rainbow. “No,” Kat scoffed. “I just need to wait for my powers to come back in full. After being so stiff for a while, I need time to recover. Then Celestia will be no match for me.” “Really?” I asked curiously. I wonder how powerful Kat really is? “Hey, at one point I was the strongest being on the planet,” Kat said boastfully, causing us all to stop in our tracks. We stared at her with big, wide eyes of shock. “It’s true. Even the dragons bowed to me after I kicked their emperor’s butt up and down a mountain.” “You’ve fought dragons?” asked Fluttershy meekly. “Mmhmm. They’re definitely the toughest creatures I’ve had to fight. The minotaurs were just incredibly stubborn, while the griffins were just aggressive and hot-headed. The griffins were definitely the easiest war we ever fought. They never stood a chance.” “Wow. Ever kill anypony?” Rainbow asked nonchalantly. I was about to berate her for such a question, but Kat spoke before I could. “Any pony? No, I’ve never killed any ponies before. Dragons, minotaurs, and griffins, yes. Those I have killed before. We suffered no casualties on either side during the Zebra altercation, surprisingly. I did learn a few tricks from some of their martial artists, though. Changelings, too. I’ve killed changelings.” Kat looked off into space after mentioning the changelings. Something about those creatures seemed to disturb Kat deeply. Though, I wondered what changelings were? I don’t think I’ve ever heard of such creatures. Another thing to ask Kat once we got to the library. Then Kat shook out of her self-induced stupor to finish. “But, ponies, no. I have never ever killed a pony before. And the only time I will break that rule is when I face the princesses. They will be my first, and last, pony kill.” Okay, and we’re back on that subject. Kat was starting to look angry again, so now was definitely not the time to bring up the princesses reasons. Later, hopefully. Then I saw that we were starting to come out of the woods, I smiled as we exited only to be shocked as spears were pointed in our direction. “Kat Shifter! By order of the Royal Guard, you are under arrest for attacking Princess Celestia!” Oh, boy, not good. *****(Kat’s P.O.V.)***** Okay, so let me get this straight. I walked for hours with a group of mares through a forest only to come out surrounded by Celestia’s lapdogs? They really think they can take me? Me, of all creatures? This… this could be fun. “Wait, your last name is Shifter?” asked the pink one with puffy mane and tail. Ah, Pinkie, that’s it. That’s her name. “Yes, Pinkie. I thought I would need one to sound a little more impressive, so I decided on Kat Shifter. Not all that original, I know (the princesses had their little giggle fit when I came up with it), but it works. Now, can we go into town, now?” “What about the guards?” asked Twilight. “Pffbt,” I scoffed. “They can’t do anything to me, I’m too powerful.” “Ah thought you said that you were weak at the moment?” “Weak when compared to Celestia, Miss Applejack. For any other creature, I am perfectly fine with taking them on.” “Hey!” shouted the lead guard. “Stop ignoring us and back away from my sister and her friends!” “Sister?” “Shiny?” asked Twilight. “Shining Armor? What are you doing here?” The lead guard took off his helm to reveal a white unicorn with a blue mane. “Get away from her Twily! That creature is a wanted criminal and needs to be brought to justice.” “Are we almost done?” I said with a bored look. “I was promised a bed tonight and I would very much like to get to town before dark.” I started to walk towards where the ponies had indicated the town was, but the guards just pushed more spears in my face. “You really want to do this?” “You can’t hope to handle the Royal Guard!” Shining Armor said with a growl. I rolled my eyes and lit my hands with power. “You talk too much.” Suddenly all of the guard ponies were forced onto the ground by invisible weights, all of them struggling to even stand up, let alone move. I looked to the girls and saw them staring wide-eyed. “I call it ‘pressure’. Another I came up with while trapped. Each of those ponies is now feeling the planet’s gravity times twenty. And—oh?” I look and see that this ‘Shining Armor’ was actually standing again and staring daggers at me as he tried to move. “Impressive, most impressive. You are definitely one tough stallion, unfortunately,” I raised up my hand and so did the pony, “you are way out you league, boy.” “Hey, put me down! I am the Captain of the Royal Guard and I order you to—“ “Shut up!” I growled at him, and he did. His mouth was clamp shut, and I didn’t even have to do it for him. “Listen and listen good! Tell the princesses that we will meet again and soon. However, any pony, dragon, griffin, whatever, that they send after me next, I will destroy them. Now leave! Or will have another pony deliver my message.” I covered my body in aura as I spoke the last sentence. I was always told that it scared ponies to see my like this. “Um, Miss Shifter?” called one of the guards I was crushing. “Yes, little pony?” I answered with a teacher’s tone. “The princesses don’t actually know we are here. They didn’t send us; we kinda came after you against their wishes.” She laughs nervously in embarrassment. I will admit, that took me by surprise. I really did think that these ponies had been sent by sunbutt to take me in. “She’s not as stupid as I thought.” “Well then, you all will have an interesting talk with the princess when you return to Canterlot, won’t you? Just deliver the message and get out of my sight.” I was rapidly losing patience with these fools. “I will never surrender!” Shining Armor proclaimed, still floating. I sighed. He was making things more difficult then they needed to be. “Look, I get that you are trying to be heroic and brave in front of your troops, but it’s just making you look like a stubborn idiot. You can’t protect the princesses from me and they know that. Just go back to your guarding in Canterlot and leave this to the true powerhouses, mmkay?” I know I sound like a bitch here, but this guy really couldn’t take the hint. Sorry Twilight, but your brother is a big doofus. Twilight then walked over to where I was keeping Mr. Armor floating. “Please, Shining. Stop this, Kat is far too powerful for you and the Guard. She will be just fine in Ponyville. We will make sure of that.” I don’t think I quite like how she said that. Shining Armor floated there silently for a moment, glaring daggers at me then let out a big sigh of defeat. “I accept your terms, Shifter. We will return to Canterlot.” “Thank you.” I lowered him down to the ground. “I am glad that this did not lead to an altercation between us. The only ponies I plan on killing are the two that wronged me and I plan on keeping it that way.” I snapped my fingers and the rest of the guards were freed from Pressure. “Now get out of my sight.” The guards reluctantly stood and followed Shining Armor to the train station. I smiled and turned back to the mares. “Well, shall we?” They nodded slowly and once again led me into town.