//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 - A Red Letter Day // Story: The Foals of Harmony: The One Free Stallion // by Rainy Meadows //------------------------------// “Funny you showing up on this day in particular,” said Twilight as I followed her. “We’ve been helping ponies escape the city on foot. It’s a pretty dangerous route to the Doctor’s lab through the old canals, and we’re finally on the verge of an easier way.” She stopped. We had reached a room with a single vending machine for soda propped against the wall. “Here,” said Twilight, “let me buy you a drink.” She pressed a code of buttons into the vendor, and the front swung back to reveal a hidden door. Smeg, these ponies were smart. “Oh, and by the way, it’s good to have you back.” It was my turn to blush as we entered Sweet Apple Basement. It had the appearance of what had once been a rather tidy workspace. There was a desk covered in the normal kind of clutter everypony finds on a desk: overflowing stacks of papers, the odd idle machine etc. There was also a tank containing something I didn’t recognise, and a slightly tatty red rug on the floor. In addition, next to a suspiciously blank piece of wall was a crooked photograph showing a certain six ponies in their mid-to-late teens, seated around a table covered in crumbs, wearing messy ballgowns and laughing their flanks off. “Presley! Presley? Dang that- where in tarnation’s he got to now? Presley? Come outta there!” “Uh-oh,” said Twilight. “Applejack? Is everything okay?” “Oh,” said Applejack, straightening up, “hey there Twi, din’t see you there. It’s almost okay; Presley’s got outta his crate again. If Ah din’t know better, Ah’d almost say Lightnin’ was trappin’ and... well, Ah’ll be a son of a parasprite. Hex! It is you, isn’t it?” Before I could say or do anything, she had pulled me into a hug. “I found him wandering around outside,” Twilight explained. “Bit of a troublemaker, isn’t he?” “We owe a great deal ta you, Hex,” said Applejack as she released me, “even if Trouble is your middle name.” “No it isn’t,” I said, “it’s Arthur.” “I gotta say, Hex,” said Applejack, “you’ve arrived at an opportune time. Twi’s just installed the last piece of the resurrected teleporter.” “No,” said Twilight, “I can’t take any credit. We were only following the Doctor’s blueprints.” “Why d’you have to be so humble, Twi?” asked Applejack, rolling her eyes. “Let’s just see if this things works,” said Twilight. It was at that moment that Lightning Strike saw fit to enter the room. “Well?” he said. “Is he here?” “You mean me?” I asked. “Man, Hex, you stirred up the hive! We can’t keep him here long, auntie AJ, it’ll jeopardize everything we’ve been working for.” “Not to worry,” said Twilight, “He’s coming with me.” “That’s right,” said Applejack, “this here’s a red letter day! We’re ‘bout to inaugurate that there teleporter with a double transmission.” “You mean it’s working?” asked Lightning. “For real this time? ‘Coz I’m still having nightmares about Opalescence.” “Uh, what about Opalescence?” I asked, and Twilight shrugged. “Not to worry, Lightnin’,” said Applejack, “the Doc says we’ve made a whole lotta major strides since then.” “Um,” I said, “what’s this about Opalescence?” “I have no idea,” Twilight said to me. “Auntie AJ?” said Lightning. “Since Hex ain’t in the streets any more, d’you think we could see to getting him outta that daggy jacket?” “What?” said Applejack. “Oh yeah, almost forgot. Lightnin’, Ah’m givin’ you the honour.” “I gotta get back to my shift,” said Lightning, “but alright.” He used a keypad to open a garage like door, and inside was a glass case containing nothing other than an HEV suit. I was completely in awe. “Wow!” I said (screw maturity, this was cool). “This is for me? That’s awesome! And you’re just giving it to me?” “How else are you going to AARGH!” Lightning’s comment was cut off when a headcrab, the first I had seen in seventeen years, leapt off the top of the case and onto his head and I jumped back in horror. One of them? Here? “Damn it!” shouted Lightning. “Get this thing off me!” “Presley!” Applejack’s voice was unusually stern. “Now you get off Lightnin’ before you do somethin’ y'all regret.” Reluctantly, the headcrab jumped off Lightning and onto a nearby cabinet. “Not quite Fluttershy level, but it does the trick,” she said. “Auntie AJ!” said Lightning, and he wasn’t happy. “I thought you were gonna get rid of that damn parasite!” “Ah’d like to see ya try to make me,” said Applejack. “Nothin’ to worry ‘bout, Hex, Presley here is debeaked and completely harmless. The worst he might try to do is, uh, mate with your head. Fruitlessly.” Presley gave an approving screech. “Just get it away from me,” said Lightning. “Over here, Presley,” Applejack said as she removed her Stetson (a rare moment) to make room for her pet, “c’mon down!” Presley obviously thought ‘Nope, not gonna happen’ as he leapt instead onto a raised platform stacked high with crates – some of which crashed to the floor – and crawled into a ventilation shaft. “Aw, horseapples,” Applejack swore. “It’s gonna be another week before Ah can coax him outta there again!” “Longer, if we’re lucky,” said Lightning. “I take it he’s not an animal person,” I whispered to Twilight. “You have no idea,” she murmured back. “No reason to wait any longer,” said Applejack, “you gonna get into that suit, Hex, or does Twilight have to put it on for you?” “No,” I said, “I think I can manage.” I saw the obvious and badly hidden disappointment in the purple unicorn’s eyes, so to make up for it I didn’t object to her watching me take off the jacket and climb into the suit. Hey, what’re friends for? Not that I considered her just a friend - I wanted her to see. “Ah see it fits you like a glove,” said Applejack. “Well, the glove parts do, anyway. The Doc made a few minor adjustments, but let me just acquaint you with the details.” “Let me, Applejack,” said Twilight, and she floated the clipboard over. I smirked – even seventeen years on, she never missed an opportunity to read. “The Mark V Hazardous Environment Suit has been redesigned for comfort and utility-“ She stopped in mid sentence when a loud alarm began to blare it’s presence. “Oh, now see, that’s what I was afraid of,” said Lightning. “We don’t have time for this! At least get that thing juiced up, Hex.” “There’s a charger on the wall just over there,” said Applejack, pointing at what looked like a small engine sticking out of the wall. “The Doc modified your suit to draw power from Combine chargers. You’ll find ‘em wherever they patrol.” “Meanwhile,” said Twilight, “let’s get this show on the road.” While I waited for the suit to charge up, Applejack straightened the photo on the wall, when then moved aside to reveal a retinal scanner. ‘Wow,’ I thought. ‘Whoever this Doctor is, he must be a genius.’ The lasers took a scan of the earth pony’s eyes and what I had thought was a suspiciously blank patch of wall slid aside to reveal another room. Inside was a large mess of computers and wires along with a platform in the middle of the room, which Twilight got onto, and a set of guard rails closed behind her. “Hex, you stand by that panel there,” said Applejack, “and wait for my signal.” A screen on the wall flickered into life and an earth pony appeared. He had a golden brown coat, a brown mane and blue eyes. His cutie mark was an hourglass with golden sand pouring through it. “Applejack, you there?” he asked in a voice that was harrowingly familiar. “We’re here, Doc,” Applejack told him. “Sorry, we had a bit of a hold up on this end. Look who decided to show up!” The stallion looked to me, so I gave him an experimental wave and said “Hello! I’m Hex.” “You’re not who I think you are, are you?” he asked. “He sure is, Doctor,” said Applejack. “We’re gonna send him and Twilight straight to you, then y’all can introduce yourselves properly.” “Are you and Rarity ready for us, Doctor?” asked Twilight. “All set this end,” said the Doctor, because who the smeg else could it have been? “Then let’s get started,” I said. The platform Twilight was standing on began to slowly rise off the ground, emitting a low pitched hum. “Okay,” said the Doctor, “let’s see: the massless field flux should self limit and I have clamped the manifold parameters to include CY Hilbert and GC orbitfold inclusive. Conditions could not be more ideal.” “Um,” said Lightning, “isn’t that, like, exactly what you said last time?” “Uh, yeah, about Opalescence?” asked Twilight. “Initializin’ in three, two-“ The panel next to me exploded in sparks and a plug dropped out of a socket, right next to my right eye. “Aw, horseapples,” Applejack swore, “what now?” “Um, Applejack?” said Twilight. “The plug?” “I’ll take care of it,” I said, and I levitated the plug back into its socket. “You gonna let Hex throw the switch?” asked Lightning. “Go right ahead, Hex,” said the Doctor, and I flicked the switch next to the plug with my hoof. “Final sequence commencing now.” “I’m not looking,” said Lightning, peeking out from behind his foreleg. “Uh, okay,” said Twilight. She stared at the platform uncertainly, screamed, and vanished. “Did it work?” asked Applejack. “See for yourself,” said the Doctor, and Twilight leaned over his shoulder to wave at us. “Hey Applejack!” she said. “Hey Hex! Hey Lightning!” “Hello, auntie Twilight,” said Lightning in the average ‘bored teenager’ voice. “Good job, Hex,” said the Doctor. “Throwing that switch and all that? I can see that your years of poring over science books really pay for themselves.” I gritted my teeth and forced a smile at the irony. “Your turn, Lightnin’,” said Applejack as I stepped onto the lowered platform and the guardrails dropped behind me. “Gee thanks, auntie AJ,” said Lighting, and he took up position where I had stood mere moments ago, just as the same alarm from earlier began to blare into the room. “And not a moment too soon,” I pointed out. “Excellent,” said the Doctor as the platform began to rise, “initializing in three, two- would you be so kind?” “Good luck out there, Hex,” said Lightning. “Amen to that,” said Applejack. “We’re ready to project you, Hex, bon voyage and best of luck in your future adventures, final seque-“ Another alarm began to resound, but this one sounded a lot more local. I watched in horror as Presley, Applejack’s prized pet headcrab, leapt out of a vent in the ceiling and tore out some wires connected to the teleporter. “What is it?!” Applejack demanded. “It’s your bucking headhumper! What did you think it was?” asked Lightning. “Presley? Elvis! No!” Lightning shouted “Look out!” at about the same moment that Presley leapt at my head and the teleporter malfunctioned spectacularly. Suddenly, I was on a beach, and Presley was happily lunging at a murder of crows that had settled there, and moments later I was back in Sweet Apple Basement again. “He’s back!” shouted Lightning. “Is Presley with him?” asked Applejack. “Forget about that thing,” I said, “and smegging help me!” Then, in another flash, I was at my intended destination, with the Doctor, Twilight Sparkle, and Rarity looking on with faces of concern. “He’s coming through!” shouted Twilight. “Rarity, any ideas what’s going on?” asked the Doctor. “I’m not sure,” said the white unicorn, “it seems to be some kind of interference.” “Just stay put, Hex, we’ll get you out of there,” said the Doctor. “Easy enough for you to say!” I shouted before Rarity yelled “Something’s pulling him away!” and then I was in a rather dull office. There was a desk, a monitor behind it, and a familiar blue unicorn seated at a fancy chair. “What is the meaning of this?” she demanded. “Who are you? How did you get in here?” Just like that, I was gone, and this time I was back in Sweet Apple Basement again. I swore, if anything else unexpected happened after this, I was going to smegging lose it. “He’s back!” Lightning shouted. “Screw this; I’m getting him out of there!” “Yes, yes!” I said. “Get him the smeg out of here!” “You can’t just walk in and out again!” said Applejack. “The field would crumble you like a cookie!” “We just lost Hex,” said Twilight, “what the hay is going on?” “That’s a very good question, Twi,” said Applejack, “I think we’re getting some kind of interference. Don’t worry, Hex, we’ll-“ BAM! And I was back in the Doctor’s lab again. “There he is!” Twilight cried as Rarity said, once again, “We’re losing him!” BAM! Trixie’s office again. She was talking into the monitor to a creature which looked like a cross between a maggot and an elephant seal. “The stallion I saw,” said Trixie, “I’m all but certain it was-“She swivelled around in her chair, and her eyes narrowed dangerously as she uttered the word “Hex.” BAM! Now I was in the middle of the ocean. An alien shark was about to eat- BAM! I was outside a window, looking through at Applejack’s back. “What d’you mean he ain’t there?” I heard her asking. “He didn’t come through,” said the Doctor, through another screen that was displaying his face. “Then where is he?” “Have you tried looking behind you?” Applejack spun around and cried out in fright. I didn’t want to think what I must look like after where I had just been. “Shut it down!” the Doctor commanded. “Shut. It. Down. Now!” Finally, I was able to move properly again. I sucked in great greedy lungfuls of air; dirty though it was, I didn’t know how much more of it I would live to breathe. “Hex, run!” shouted Applejack. “You have to get outta here, or you’ll blow our cover!” “Get down and outta sight!” I heard Lightning yell. “I’ll come and find you!” So I ran like hell, making my way through the area around the building. I came to an area of concrete, with a ledge up above me, and I could clearly see the gargantuan steel skyscraper, which for some reason was changing shape. “Hex!” I looked up and saw Lightning Strike standing on the ledge above me. He had a crowbar cupped in his wing. “The Citadel’s on high alert!” he shouted. “I’ve never seen it lit up like that! You’re gonna have to take the route through the old canals to the Doctor’s lab; it’s pretty dangerous, but there’s a bunch of resistance members running the underground railroad! I’d come with you, but I gotta look after auntie AJ!” “Anything else?” I asked. “Oh yeah!” said Lightning. “The Doc said you might be able to make use of this.” He threw down a crowbar, which I gratefully caught with my telekinesis. “Thank you!” I shouted. “Don’t mention it!” Lightning replied. “Good luck out there, Hex! You’re gonna need it more than anything. Except perhaps a gun! I’ll see you later!” And with that, he re-entered Sweet Apple Basement, and I started to make my way through the underbelly of City 17.