//------------------------------// // Chapter 8: Profile // Story: Ponyville, USA // by Rox //------------------------------// - MSNBC - " - at the top of the hour we have received a statement from the White House that the rumors of a second settlement of Equestrians has appeared on US soil have been confirmed as true. This new settlement, located in middle Washington state, is believed to be smaller and the initial statements indicate that it is unlikely that this is the beginning of perhaps an invasion -" - ABC - " - here is the first images out of Washington, and as you can see the sight is absolutely spectacular." "Now, John, I'm sure we're all wondering what’s the story with the waterfalls around this settlement is. Is that oil slick shining off or perhaps something we should be even more concerned about -" - NBC - "- validates some rumors of other settlements appearing in remote areas around the globe, not to mention that strange incident in Germany has become a major trend online in the past couple days -" - FOX - " - how can we be sure that this isn't the beginning of something bigger? All we have right now is the word of one of them that this is some sort of weird accident, and that it may be. But whether it's an accident or something that was done on purpose, I think it is clear that we need to distinguish which is which so that we can take care of it before it goes from a strange fluke to a potential catastrophe -" - Asher - "Heads up!" Asher reached up and snagged a book with the practiced reflex of a third baseman before it collided with Applejack's head. He tossed the book back into the growing mess of literature on the library floor, watching for more hardcover missiles as Twilight tore through her collection at breakneck pace. She had been at it for several minutes, looking for a particular book that poor Spike seemed to have misplaced. "Does she always get like this?" he asked Applejack. "Sometimes," she replied, sighing a little. "She gets worked up when there's somethin' magical she doesn't understand yet that comes around." "You should have seen what happened when I told her about my pinkie sense!" Pinkie Pie added as she dodged another book being tossed aside. "That day was craaaa-zyyy!" "I'll say," Fluttershy mumbled quietly. Asher considered asking what 'pinkie sense' was but then decided that he would probably get a clearer explanation from Twilight. Most of what came out of the pink pony's mouth rarely made sense. "So, where's Rainbow Falls?" he said, redirecting his attention to the Equestrian Atlas in his hands. Applejack looked over and pointed to the western coast of Equestria. Looking closer, Asher found the town labeled by a little dot not far from Seaddle but south of Vanhoover. So, if the geography matches up the same that would put it in Washington State. Of course, if that's the case then there could be a really serious problem on the horizon. "Found it!" Twilight exclaimed, rising from the pile and levitating a little cerulean colored book above her head. "The Guide to Rainbow Falls!" "That's what you were looking for?" Rainbow Dash cried. "How's that gonna help?" "Magic always happens for a reason, Rainbow Dash," Twilight lectured. "I've never been to Rainbow Falls so I need to learn all about it to see if there's any connection between them and Ponyville. If we can figure that out, it might give us a clue how to reverse the spell and get us back home." Somehow the idea that this wasn't entirely random didn't sit well with Asher. Up to this point all of them had been looking at it all like a freak occurrence of nature, which oddly enough was more comforting. The thought that anything was controlling it would be a hard one to swallow. Twilight set the book on a slanted desk so that anyone could read it from behind. The invitation was well taken as everybody gathered around, even the three newcomers (who still looked really nervous at just the sight of him and his brothers). Asher was glad for his height advantage allowing him to see over all their heads, though he was too far away to read any of the small print. But he could see some of the pictures, and assuming they weren't incredibly detailed but extremely artistic renditions, the town looked nothing short of amazing. "Okay...Rainbow Falls. Founded in 350 AF by a small clan of pegasi settlers...located high on a plateau, used as a relief base during the Manticore stampedes...the only known location in Equestria of naturally forming liquid rainbows..." Twilight summarized as she skimmed the pages. Asher recalled the brief conversation where Rainbow Dash and even the quiet Fluttershy had laughed at him about how rainbows were supposed to behave. Liquid rainbows...... "Feel the rainbow, taste the rainbow..." he mumbled quietly with a little smile. "Oh, you don't want to taste the rainbows!" Pinkie Pie suddenly said, surprising Asher. "I tried, Suuuuuuuper spicy!" The ponies in the room snickered at that, and though Asher didn't get it he didn't push it so as to let Twilight continue her reading. But, she didn't end up saying anymore as she continued her speed read of the book until she finally snapped it shut with her...magic. Well, when in Rome... "'Nother dead end, Twi?" Applejack asked. "Yes," Twilight sighed, sitting back with an exasperated huff onto the floor. "The only two things Ponyville has in common with this town is that they're both from Equestria and they're both in mountain ranges, but even then Ponyville's in a valley. They were founded in different eras, by different ponies, and for different reasons." "Well that could be something," stated Asher. "Sometimes being too random is a sign of a deliberate act." Twilight's ears twitched at that. "But...no, that would be impossible," she said, shaking her head. "The magic it would take to physically transport an entire town across another dimension is beyond even that of the Elements of Harmony, and even if it was that wouldn't explain Rainbow Falls being dragged along too. And if it was just like teleportation even the Princesses wouldn't have enough power to do so on their own." There were a few buzzwords that caught Asher's attention in those couple of sentences, like how the "Elements of Harmony" were brought up again, and made a mental note to ask about them as Twilight kept going. "I'm sure Discord couldn't pull off something on this scale either, even though I could totally see him doing this as some sort of prank," she said. "Ain't that the truth," remarked Applejack as Rainbow Dash and Pinkie nodded in unison. "Didn't he make that mini reality for my sister and her friends that one day?" said Rarity airily. "Yes, but that was localized chaos magic, not physical movement," answered Twilight. Wait, what? Just how often does this happen? "Still, it could have been," Rainbow Dash said with a look of deep distrust. "Now girls..." Fluttershy began in a disciplinary tone, though she was cut off as Twilight continued her discourse. "So I don't have any idea what to think. It seems too strong to be just random, but it's too strong to have someone behind it," she finished, rubbing her hoofs into her hair with frustration. "Not to mention we barely know what it is." "That does seem to be a bit of a quandary," said Rarity. Asher just shook his head, wishing he knew more about their...magic than the basics he had been given that morning. It seemed to have a science to it that he would bet was similar to metaphysics, but do you know how many people actually know metaphysics? Nobody! It's entirely theoretical! Even from just looking between Twilight and Rarity he could tell there was definitely different levels of ability and understanding among the ponies themselves, so what hope did he have? "So, what do we do then?" the black pegasi from Rainbow Falls asked. "You flew all the way here, right?" Twilight asked. "Yes," the three answered. "Did anypony try to stop you?" "Well, we almost collided with this huge, metal, flying whale with wings but it didn't come after us..." Rapidfire started. "Hold up!" Rainbow Dash cut him off before staring at Asher, silently demanding an explanation. "Probably a passenger plane. It's the fastest way to travel a long distance for us," he explained, stifling a chuckle at the apt description the pegasus had given. "Anyways, about over Salt Lick City we noticed that two smaller flying...machines were following us, but they didn't ever come too close until we got to Mt. Canterlot," Rapidfire finished. So they just let three of them fly over half the country? Are they just tossing containment out the- "Oh." It finally clicked in Asher's mind about why they had not caught wind of it until that point. Why no one had told them despite what had to be at the very least hours of awareness. A test, it was simple as that. The government wanted to see what they would do when left on their own. "Twilight..." - Twilight - Twilight would probably have felt more stunned had Princess Celestia not had a habit of giving surprise tests like that all the time. Actually, it sort of made sense even if the idea that these humans had kept the truth from them for any length of time ticked her off. Rainbow Dash had vocalized those thoughts for her while Asher explained his theory. "So the bottom line is, how do we pass?" Twilight asked. Asher didn't answer, for plainly he wasn't sure either. "Maybe...we could write a letter?" suggested Rarity. "Wave some flags around?" said Rainbow Dash with a touch of sarcasm. "Surrender?" Fluttershy offered quietly. "Throw a party!" Pinkie Pie yelled, setting off a small confetti bomb that caused Asher's brothers to jump. "Those are...what?" said Asher, brushing a streamer off his shoulder. "You do like parties, right?" Pinkie asked. "Yes," said Asher. "But I'm not sure..." "Yay! Party tiiiime!" Pinkie Pie sang. "Wait! Do humans play party games?" "Er..." "Pin the tail on the pony? Charades? Bob for apples? Piñatas?" "Uh, yeah. All of the above, but..." said Asher, raising an eyebrow. With that Pinkie Pie clapped her hooves and sped out the door, no doubt off to collect her party supplies. "Um...wow," Patrick said, leaning away from the wall and looking out the door at the speeding pony. "She really likes parties doesn't she?" added Jonathon. "Yeah, and they are totally worth it!" said Rainbow Dash. "I have no idea what just happened," Asher mumbled. "Just Pinkie being Pinkie, don't worry about it," Twilight said. "How do we talk to your...president?" Asher pulled out a small device with a screen, on which were some numbers that Twilight assumed was the time. It was already late afternoon. "I think I have an idea," David said nonchalantly as all turned to look at him. "It goes to the basics. People are scared of what they don't know." "Same can be said for ponies sometimes," said Twilight. Considering she once saw three of them collapse in terror at a stampede of bunnies, that was a bit of an understatement. "So the best way to limit their fear is to tell them all about you," said David, with an odd edge of challenge in his voice. The human's misgivings about them were apparently revived in light of recent revelations, and Twilight supposed she might share the same feelings if the case were reversed. "I wouldn't mind sharing more information if it put their fears to rest," said Twilight. "I already agreed to do so even though no...body has shown up yet." "Okay, genius, how do we do that?" Asher asked his brother, glaring his own disapproval at his sibling's tone. "It's not like we could just set up a Facebook..." Asher stopped short, an idea lighting up his eyes. "I know what we can do, but we're gonna need a better camera than my phone," he said excitedly, and then without even letting Twilight or the others ask what the idea was he said, "Follow me to my house, and somebody find Pinkie!" And with that the black-capped human ran out the door, leaving everybody staring after him in silence. It was kind of ironic considering what Pinkie had done just a few moments before. "First: What's a Facebook?" Rainbow asked. "Second: shouldn't we be following him?" "Right, Rainbow Dash, you find Pinkie Pie and meet us down there," said Twilight. "Perhaps you should come with us as well, Rapidfire, Midnight, and Cosmic." The three pegasus looked a little wary at the prospect but nodded, a reaction Twilight suspected she would not have gotten were she not a Princess. With that she trotted out the door to find Asher returning towards them and beckoning them on. He wasn't too hard to catch up with. Though he had long legs it seemed that he was not able to maintain his top speed for very long, and even then the average pony's gallop was easily faster. Rainbow Dash split off and into the air to look for their hyperactive friend as they jogged their way through the park. They only stopped when a gray meteorite with a blonde mane and amber eyes crashed right next to them, causing everypony's heart to skip a beat and Asher to throw up his hands and cry out, "What is with you ponies and coming out of nowhere!?" "Wait! Can I come too?" - Sgt. Michael Ellsworth - This was boring. Unbelievably, unendingly dull. When Sgt. Ellsworth's squad had been assigned to the post by the orchard path, the station nearer to the aliens than any of the others, he had been excited at the prospect. But what they had found was that very little happened. Even with the town not even a mile away it was an idyllic piece of America's heartland. All they did, and all they had done for the last couple of days, was essentially just glance at members of the Burgess family as they came and went from the town. He had hoped with the news their superiors gave them this morning of the second town might shake things up but so far.... "Hi, sir!" the oldest son, Asher, jogged by him, startling him a little. "We're just going to the house, and don't worry about the, uh, guests. They're with me." Ellsworth blinked at him and turned back to the path. As he did, the purple one that called herself Twilight Sparkle trotted past them giving them a cordial, "Hello." He couldn't even manage words due to his surprise as she went by, and would continue to be unable to do so as more of them strut by. Dozens of them, mingled with a members of the human family who each gave the same wary/apologetic look their way. Just like their Princess, several of the ponies gave cheery "Hello's" and "Hi there's" and even "Nice day ain't it?" "Um, Sarge?" one of his squad got his attention, looking for instructions. "L- let them pass," he stammered. "Kowalski! Radio HQ and inform them of the situation." "What do you think's going on?" another squadmate asked. "I have no idea," he replied, scratching his head and musing about the adage of being careful what you wished for. - Andrew - Mr. Burgess slipped into the well worn leather seat and primed the gas pedal as he turned the key in the ignition. The engine on the red '70 Mustang roared to life, it's rumble filling echoing his backyard shed. He had built this addition last summer as a place to work on his hobby, something he hadn't gotten to do much of while he still worked. But now that he was retired, he had all the time in the world. He left the car running as he clambered back out and opened the hood. There was still a funny clunking sound coming from somewhere in the engine block and he hadn't been able to quite pinpoint it yet. "Hey Dad!" one of his sons called out to him as they crossed the yard behind him. They were reaching the age that the oldest three were starting to sound a lot alike so he couldn't exactly tell who it was without looking, so he just waved as he kept his eyes on the engine. He leaned over to see if it was something with the intake valve. "Whoa, so that's what the inside looks like!" The young voice startled him enough that Andrew hit his head on the lifted hood. Rubbing his head he looked over to see the same little orange one that Asher had brought in the first night, accompanied by her two other little friends, the name Scootaloo surfacing in his memory. The three little creatures were all hanging off the edge of the car, supporting themselves on their front legs so that they could all see inside. "Looks really complicated," remarked the white one. "I'll say! That float we built had way less contraptions in it," the one with the pink bow added. "Yeah, but listen to that rumble!" Scootaloo said. "It sounds way more awesome!" Andrew looked around and noticed that there was a herd of the ponies on his back lawn, with two of his sons mingling with them. A few of them were nearby and were watching him from a short distance with curiosity. Andrew thought about demanding what they were doing there, but he discovered that deep down he just didn't care at this point so he'd let his wife and sons take this one. "Um...You three want to help me fix it?" "Really?!" They all said in unison. He had no idea why he offered, seeing as there was probably no way they could actually help, but he really did mean it so he nodded. "Sweet!" Scootaloo cheered. "What did you call these things again?" "Cars." "Alright! Cutie Mark Crusader Car Fixers!" they all suddenly cheered in unison, each clapping a hoof together. This should be interesting. - Applejack - Applejack watched in cautious fascination as Asher had flipped out his "laptop" and was busy getting it ready for...whatever he was planning. "Hey David, why don't you go down and find out who's in charge at the barricades down there and see if we can get a phone number to talk to DC." Asher said as his fingers tapped rapidly on the smallest, flattest typewriter she had ever seen. "Why me?" his brother asked indignantly. "Because it was YOUR idea…" "But, wait! I have no idea what you're doing!" "You said we need to get out some information and for that we'll need internet." "Then you go down!" "Can't. Busy. Mom! Where do you keep the good camera?" Asher asked as he jumped up and walked right through the TV room to another part of the house. David gritted his teeth and growled a little before throwing his hands in the air and walking towards the front of the home. "Twilight, what's goin' on?" Applejack asked as she, Rarity, Fluttershy and Twi found themselves alone in the kitchen. "I think he's planning to share our information on the internet," she said. "Ok. What's that?" "It's this powerful research tool that is kind of like a...invisible library that has almost all the knowledge they have," Twilight explained, motioning over to the glowing device on the table. "Asher told me anything that gets put on there anyone in the world can see with one of these computers." "Exactly," Asher said, striding back into the room and holding a small and very strangely shaped camera. "I was thinking that maybe we can make a video where each of ya'll can introduce yourselves. Since so many of you guys followed us down, here it'll give us a huge sample. The more people know about you, the less freaked out they're likely to be. Maybe we can even give a little tour of the town or something." Applejack looped a comforting hoof around Fluttershy as she noticed the mare shrinking in abject terror. Maybe Fluttershy should skip out on this one. "When you say video, ya mean like those movies?" Applejack inquired. That'd sure be interestin'. "Uh-huh. It won't look quite as fancy but it still looks pretty good," the human replied. He flipped open one side of the contraption and there was a small beeping noise. "Here, say something." "Uh....Hi," Applejack said. Another beeping sound followed and Asher came around. On the other side of the little flipped part was a little screen, where Applejack watched a confused picture of herself say, "Uh.....Hi." "That's somethin' else," she then said in real life. "Yep. Let's take it outside," Asher said, waving them to follow as he walked back out the back door. Applejack followed Twilight and coerced Fluttershy with Rarity's help to at least come outside, both of them giving promises that she didn't have to do anything she didn't want to. The backyard had many of their fellow Ponyvillians spread about doing various things. Lily, Rose, and Daisy were all tending to a fledgling garden on the side, with Carrot Top apparently adding advice. Derpy seemed to be trying to get a game of tag going with a few other pegasi while her much more mellow husband Time Turner looked on. The biggest crowd was towards the Burgess's barn on the far left of the yard, where several were watching something going on. A low but loud roar sent Applejack diving for cover, not sure what to expect. The skies were clear, and nopony was screaming. She looked over to see that it was coming from the group in front of the barn, where she also noticed a familiar pink bow. Applejack's brain kicked into protective mode for a moment, but she forced herself to be calm as she got up. She ambled over and through the crowd to see Asher's dad getting out of one of their vehicles where a whole mess of metal parts were visible to everypony else. Applebloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle, all three of whom were covered in black smears, were bouncing up and down in apparent celebration. "Well that's... one way to fix an engine," said Mr. Burgess uncertainly, slamming the cover down. "That would have been interesting to watch," Twilight said, coming up beside Applejack. "Eh, it was kinda boring but the sound it makes is pretty sweet," said Rainbow Dash, who flew down from where she had apparently been watching from a perch on a cloud just above. Applejack looked around and noticed Pinkie Pie had also arrived to round out the group. "Okay, everypony, listen up..." Twilight called out. Her royal voice was coming along nicely, and she used it to sum up what they wanted to do. - Indianapolis, Indiana - State Capitol - "He wants to do what? Sir, I would advise against that." "What do you think Gene?" "Hmm. I think young Mr. Burgess has actually given us something quite valuable." "That occurred to me as well. They're practically gift wrapping information for us and all we have to do is let them post it on youtube?" "Well that, and he also said to pass along a message that the Princess wishes to speak directly to you soon. He said something about 'preventing a problem.'" "Very well. Inform them that we'll restore the internet access to allow them to post, though have Secretary Grant review it first. And somebody clear up some time this week and inform Governor Looper and anyone else involved. I think we need to arrange a meeting in Washington." - Asher - "There's an 'e' at the end of her name," Rarity said, pointing at the screen. "Belle like the french spelling then," Asher replied, typing in the missing letter. "There, so the name of their club is the...what now?" "Cutie Mark Crusaders," said Twilight. Strange name. "Okie Dokie," Asher continued, finishing the last touch and clicking the final render button. The editing was nothing fancy, but the video was about ten minutes long and full to the brim of some pretty interesting stuff. He had filmed the profiles of 47 different ponies, where each one would look into the camera, give their name, and following the example of Rainbow Dash then showed off what their cutie mark looked like. Some chose to do it together, like these three Asher had nicknamed the flower ponies, two pegasus sisters named Flitter and Cloudchaser, and of course the Cutie Mark Crusaders. They had even managed to coax Fluttershy into saying her name into the camera, however inaudibly. They also trooped back up to Ponyville and shot footage of them doing a fair collection of different activities. He caught Rainbow Dash and two other pegasi named Blossomforth and Star Hunter (some of their names were pretty awesome, particularly among the stallions) pushing around clouds and then stomping on top of them to make them rain, as well as a less fortunate Derpy Hooves zapping herself with lightning. Asher mentally added the note "pegasi at least partially resistant to electricity" to his memory when the cross-eyed mare walked away essentially unharmed. They also showed Applejack harvesting an apple tree by kicking it in the trunk, an earth pony named Ocatavia Melody playing the cello, and then a montage of several unicorns using their levitation to perform different little tasks like writing. It was short, but people were going to eat this up. All he needed was.... A knock at the door surprised him. "I'll get it!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed and she shot off to the front before anyone could protest. "Hi!" David followed her back but then stopped as Secretary Grant walked in followed by two secret service. As per usual, she didn't look especially pleased at anything, and was brusque in her tone. "Princess Twilight Sparkle, Mr. Burgess, we were informed that you have produced a video and would like to post it on the net?" she asked politely, but stiffly. "Yes indeedy!" Pinkie Pie said bouncing happily into the room.. Asher smiled a little but quickly stifled it as he watched the Secretary and the Secret Service guys give such uncertain looks at the pink pony. Straightening her thoughts back out, the Madam Secretary said, "I was hoping I could review it before it was made public. After that the President has agreed to return the internet access as per your request." "Go right ahead," Asher said, standing up and moving aside. It was good timing considering they had just finished it. The ponies followed suit and made a path for Mrs. Grant. Asher leaned over and clicked the play button and turned the volume all the way up as everyone leaned in to watch their creation all the way through for the first time. Asher watched the Secretary for most of the video, gauging her reactions as best he could. Her emotions didn't appear to change much from "sour", though he did note a slight surprise when they came to the unicorn magic part. That was the only section that made him nervous, seeing how previously protective the government tended to be. "Well. I see no reason why this cannot go on," she declared as the video ended. Rainbow Dash gave a little whoop from her position at the back and bumped hooves with Applejack as the others smiled in response. "May we have the raw footage as well?" Deciding it was a worthy trade, Asher opened his camera and slipped out the digital tape, handing it to her and hoping that there wasn't some important family video on it. "Very well," she said evenly. "The internet will be restored within the hour temporarily during which you can post the video. Now, if I may Princess." The Secretary turned to the purple pony, "We were informed that you would desire a meeting with the President and he has agreed. He wishes to invite you and any escorts to Washington D.C. on a day in the near future. Would you accept?" Twilight stole a glance at Asher during which he nodded very quickly. That was more than they could ever hope for. "Yes, ma'am, we would be honored," Twilight said with a slight bow. "On behalf of the President of the United States, I thank you," Mrs. Grant said. And with that she turned to leave, her secret service in tow, and a few moments later the front door slammed. "What's Washington D.C.?" Twilight asked immediately afterwards. "It's our capital, and that is the best news we've gotten all week," Asher said with a smile. "I have a question!" Pinkie declared, jumping up and waiting for everyone to turn to her. "Can we party now?" she asked with a powerfully innocent look. All she got for an answer was laughs and Asher guffawing the word, "Sure." - Canterlot - Celestia - The preparations were going well. Calling a council of world leaders was no easy feat, and the last time it had been done on this scale was after the banishment of Nightmare Moon. But everypony's mind was going to be needed for this crisis, and they had readily answered. Equestria was not the only one to lose a town, though all indications were that the magic event was so far strongest there. "Your Highness, we have received word the delegates from Shetland will be here within the hour," a guard courier said with a bow. "Very good. See that they are accommodated as soon as they arrive," she instructed, and with another bow the guard left. "Sister, how fares our plans?" Celestia turned and nuzzled Luna affectionately as she walked in, "They fare well. We nearly have all the representatives present, and the hope that our combined efforts can preclude and reverse the magic can move towards being realized." "It is well indeed." "All there is left to do is to summon one more for assistance," Celestia continued. She stood from her throne and prepared the summoning spell, charging the magic through her horn. There was a little flash and.... Nothing happened. Luna looked at her quizzically, probably just as stunned that a spell of her sister's had apparently failed. Such a thing hadn't occurred since they were quite young. Celestia stood still and just blinked for several moments. Perhaps she had slipped up on part of the spell. She tried again, this time carefully going through the steps like she had as a student, and cast it. Again, nothing. But for this spell to fail that meant - "Oh no...." "What is it, Tia?" "He's gone."