//------------------------------// // Ch. 13 // Story: A New Perspective // by portaljumper339 //------------------------------// A New Perspective Ch. 13   The organization that Twilight set me to consumed most of my morning, as well as a good part of the afternoon. It seemed that for every three sets I would finish, Rarity would bring in six more. After about six hours, or my eighth cry of frustration, she decided to leave the actual production line and helped me sort, which was nice in her own special way. "I am so glad that you're alright," she said, drumming up a conversation. "Sweetie Belle broke down when she heard that you were missing, and she still hasn't left our tent, even when her friends came to visit." "Really?" "Oh yes. She seems to have taken a real shine to you, and I honestly can't blame her. You've always been so nice to her, what with going out crusading with them, and the time you brought her back home after a long day. I would even venture to say that it's almost become similar to how Scootaloo idolizes Rainbow Dash." "Okay, that may be overstating it a LITTLE, don't you think? Have you even seen how Scoot is whenever Rainbow is brought up? She will not stop talking about her! I think it might actually be a little unhealthy for the poor filly. She needs to become somepony other than the unattainably high standards she sets herself to." "Be that as it may, maybe you should go and see Sweetie. It would certainly raise her spirits to see you. She may get on my nerves to no end sometimes, but she is my sister, and the last thing I want for the poor darling is for her to wallow in... whatever it is that ponies are supposed to wallow in." "Uh, I think the word your looking for is 'depression'." "Yes, that's it! Finally, I can finish that statement without it sounding silly." "Riiiight. Anyway, if you can handle the last of the sorting, then I guess I could go see Sweetie Belle, cheer up the poor filly a bit. Where's your tent?" "Over at the side of the camp that's furthest from the ruins. I didn't want that reminder hanging over us like a cloud of gloom. I think Apple Bloom and Scootaloo are still there. They said something about standing watch outside to make sure that nopony besides you disturbs her." "Got it. Thanks for telling me Rarity." "It was my pleasure." I was making my way to leave when a thought hit me over the head like an iron bar. "Hey, Rarity," I called back. "Hmm?" she responded. "Remeber when we were in Canterlot, and how I gave my little speech?" "Yes, though I have been trying to forget it for quite some time." "Well, I just wanted to thank you for comforting me after I sort of went all emotional on them. That really did help, even if that meeting didn't turn out as well as we had hoped." "You're very welcome. It was the least I could do, especially given the circumstances. Now run along," she added with a smile, waving a hoof at the tent flaps, "you have a date with my sister." As I whipped open the tent flaps, cloak, mirror, and necklace tucked into the satchel Luna gave me, I could only think of one thing.  Rarity could have worded that last sentence SOOOOO much better. =============== It seems that everywhere I went in that camp, there were ponies lining up to shake my hoof or congratulate me on warning the town. Sure, it was nice, and I took it with good graces, but they way they went on about it almost makes it seem as if I had simultaneously cured every disease known to ponydom. I really didn't quite understand all the praise, considering I had done what any sensible pony would have in the situation, but if everypony needed somepony to look up to in this time of crisis, I guess I would have to do. It took me a good fifteen minutes to walk over to the other side of the camp where Rarity's tent was set up, but I could easily recognize it before I was even within shouting distance. The entire tent was dolled up with lace and various other fineries that Rarity had somehow managed to save from the fire. In addition to that I saw Scootaloo and Apple Bloom standing right outside the flaps, stern expressions on their faces and standing as still as statues. Hey, is that who I think it is?" hissed Scootaloo to Apple Bloom upon seeing me. "I think it just might be. Evan!" she called over to me, eyes lighting up as I drew closer. "Hey girls! How are you doing?" "Fine, and we have you to thank for it," answered Scoot. "Fluttershy went around telling everypony how you warned the mayor about the fire, and how you rang the bell. That was undeniably AWESOME! Rainbow Dash would be so proud!" "I'm sure that she would be, but I'm here for a bit of a more serious matter." "Oh, you must mean about Sweetie Belle," said Apple Bloom, eyes filled with concern. "I've never seen her this sad before. She wouldn't even let us in to try and cheer her up, saying that she didn't want to see anypony except you. And, well, since we all thought that you had sort of kicked the bucket, it really didn't help her." "I guess I'd better go see her then. Here's hoping," I said as they opened the flaps up for me.  The interior of the tent was a lot less flashy than the exterior, probably because of the fact that it was barely large enough to fit herself and Sweetie. Over on one side of the tent I saw a small sleeping bag with a tiny white head poking out of it, defiantly facing the wall. "Go away," said Sweetie. Without moving an inch, she caught up a nearby pillow in her magic and flung it straight at my head, which I only barely dodged. "Is that how you say hello to your friends?" Sweetie Belle's ears perked up at the sound of my voice, and she slowly but surely turned around so that she could see me. Her eyes were red and bloodshot from crying, but they still had that unmistakeable spark in them. "E... Evan?" she choked out. "The one and only," I said, getting down to her height. "Rarity said you were feeling kind of down, so like any good friend, I came rushing over." She unzipped her sleeping bag, got slowly to her hooves, walked over me, and gave me the absolute biggest tackle hug ever. We rolled around on the floor of the tent for five minutes, laughing and playing, and just generally having a good time. "Nice to see you too," I said after she had calmed down. "What are you doing here? Everypony thought that you... well, you know..." "Well, as a great pony once said, news of my death has been greatly exaggerated." Sweetie rubbed her head against my chest, grinning from ear to ear with pure joy. "I'm glad that it is. I really missed you, but now that you're back, that means we can hang out and go crusading again!" "Sure does. How's now sound to you?" "You mean, right now? We'd need to find Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, though." "You don't need to worry about that. They've been standing guard outside and making sure that nopony disturbed your solitude. You have a couple of really good friends out there, and don't you forget it," I added, tussling her mane. "Somepony say our names?" asked Scootaloo, peeking her head in the tent. "Yeah, and get yourselves ready, cause we're going out crusading!" "Alright!" said Apple Bloom. "Wait, what are we going to even do? Since the town's sort of bit the dust, we don't really have many options." "Sure we do. There's plenty of things that need to be done in the camp to keep it running, so we could see if our talents involve any of those." "Hey, yeah!" piped up Scootaloo. "We could go see if Rainbow Dash needs any help delivering messages to the other towns!" "Uh, you do realize that only two of us have wings, right?" asked Sweetie Belle. "Oh, yeah. Well, what did you have in mind?" "Ooh, I have an idea. Since I don't think any of us were able to get our capes out of town, maybe we could see if my sister has any extra fabric so we can make new ones!" "Great idea, Sweetie Belle!" added Apple Bloom. "Does anypony know where she is?" "Last I saw of her," I said, "she was in the center tent sorting out bedsheets and whatnot. Twilight would probably know if she went back to the main production line." "Well, I guess that settles it then. C'mon Crusaders, we're off to see Twilight!" We all exited the tent and made our way to the center of the camp with a new spring in our steps, but nopony seemed to have her spirits lifted more than Sweetie Belle. She was hopping along side of me, eyes as bright as diamonds and with a smile to rival Pinkie Pie's perpetual cheerfulness. It brought a smile to my face to see these three as happy as they were, despite everything that had happened. Even in the face of adversity, even among the youngest of us, there could still be joy to be found in life. "Hey, Evan." asked Scootaloo, who drew up beside me while I was lost in my own head. "What's up?" "Do you think that the Apples and the Cakes are going to need any help with making the meals, cause it was really fun the last time I did it." "Well," I began, hoping with all my heart that she had finally gotten the hint about what her talent was, "we're just going to have to find out, aren't we?" =============== According to Twilight, Rarity had finished up the organizing and went back to the production line as a sort of overseer, so we made a bee line for the place. Twilight was happy to see that Sweetie had left the tent, but didn't make too much of a big deal about it, much to my relief. "Hey Rarity, guess who I got to come out of the tent?" I said as we opened up the tent flaps. Rarity turned away from the rough bedsheets that she was working on to greet us, and she lit up when she saw Sweetie Belle standing at the head of our group.  "Sweetie!" she exclaimed, running over to her sister and giving her a big hug. "Oh, this is simply wonderful! How are you feeling?" "Just fine, Rarity," she said, trying to release herself from her sisters iron grip. "And loads better now that the Cutie Mark Crusaders are whole again. Just a quick question though," she added as Rarity dropped her, "do you have any extra fabric that we can borrow? Since we lost our capes in the fire, we decided that we should probably make some new ones." "Oh, of course! We are getting far more than we need from the other towns, and at this point we're making surplus of everything just so that everypony can have some nice sheets." She gestured for us to follow her over to the other side of the tent, where the extra fabrics were being stored.  "You wouldn't happen to have any in maroon, blue, and yellow, would you?" asked Apple Bloom. "Dear, if you can imagine the color, we most certainly have it. Ah, here we are," she said, throwing open a pair of lockers that were jammed to bursting with fabrics of every size and shape imaginable. "Hmm, now let me just see if I can find where..." Rarity trailed off as she examined every single shelf, looking for just the right colors. "Ooh, this is going to be so FUN!" said Sweetie Belle, her joy barely contained. "Maybe this time we could all try making our own, with our own patches and everything!" "But then how would anypony be able to tell that we're part of the same group?" asked Scootaloo. "Well, just by the fact that we're the only three fillys who run around wearing capes on a regular basis, duh!" answered Apple Bloom. "I think it would be fun if we each made our own patch," I interjected, "although, if you ask me, I'm keeping the patch that you three designed for me." "And here we are," said Rarity, balancing three reams of fabric on her back. "We have a maroon cotton blend, and blue and yellow felt for the patches. Will that be all?" "That's perfect!" said Sweetie as I took the fabric from Rarity. "Thanks Sis!" With a quick hug, she, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo ran off to find a sewing machine. I was about to come join them when Rarity stopped me. "Yes?" I asked, turning around. "I just wanted to say thanks, for everything you've done for her. You are a really good stallion, and she's lucky to have you looking after the three of them." "Thanks, and let me just be the first to say that you are lucky to have her for a sister. Now if you'll excuse me, we need to get to work, and we can't very well do that without this," I said, shifting the fabrics balanced on my back. I was just settling into the one open sewing machine that the girls were sitting at when I heard the unmistakable sound of happy bouncing. Needless to say, I hit the ground, taking the girls with me, as a flash of pink flew over my head and into a pile of cloth with a soft thud. "Ha, finally got the better of her," I thought to myself as I got to my hooves. The girls didn't seem any worse for the wear, but were obviously completely confused. I trotted over to where Pinkie was sticking halfway out of a pile of bedsheets, plaintively wiggling her legs. Grasping her firmly by the midsection, I yanked with all of my might and dislodged her from the pile. This had the unfortunate side effect of sending us both tumbling backwards into the girls, and we all landed in one big, delirious pile. Pinkie was the first to pull herself up to her hooves, and she immediately started bouncing, smiling, and just generally being herself. "Hey Pinkie," I said from the pile on the ground, "why so chipper? Well, at least more chipper than usual." "Well," she began, lifting me up, "remember how I was the first pony to see you when you came back, and how we both saw what happened to the town, and how I said that Fluttershy had been looking for you forever and was really sad and stuff, and how you asked me to tell her you were back if I saw her, and..." "Pinkie, Pinkie, slow it down, think before you say each word. Now, is this going anywhere?" "Yes, it is! Or should I say, you are, or at least should be going somewhere right now!!" "Why? What's going on?" "Fluttershy's back! I was in the tent in the middle of camp when she came in. She looked all sad and frowny, though, and kept saying how she couldn't find you anywhere. I really wanted to tell her you were back, but it thought it would be an even better idea to let you go see her! That would be certain to cheer her up more than I could!" My mind had turned into a whirling kaleidoscope of pure joy, and I barely heard what she had said. All I could focus on was Flutrershy, her face etched into my mind in a way that only true love could accomplish. "Pinkie, did she say that she was going anywhere?" I asked, my voice filled to the brim with anxiety. "Well, now that you mention it, she did say that she was going to be staying in her tent for a while. I think that it's on the side of the camp nearest to the town." "Thanks a million, Pinkie, really," I said before turning to the girls, who had been listening in expectantly. "Um, girls, do you think you'll be alright staying here and making your new capes without me, because I reall-" "Ah, say no more," interrupted Apple Bloom with a raised hoof. "Your relationship is more important than anything that we could possibly need for you to do. Isn't that right?" she asked, turning to Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. With murmurs of agreement and nods of heads, they all agreed to let me on my way, but not before one last big group hug. "Thank you so much girls. Now, I don't know if I'll be back anytime today, but try not to have too much fun without me, okay?" "You got it!" said Sweetie, with a wink and a smile. They all gave one last hoof wave as I bolted from the tent, a tear in my eye and a song in my heart, as I made my way to my one true love. Good grief, that was sappy, even for me. =============== Flying to Fluttershy's tent was probably the most nerve wracking thing I'd done since arriving in Ponyville, and that was saying quite a lot, all things considered. I mean, she'd be happy to see me, there was no doubt about that, but she would almost certainly want to know what had happened to me, and I really didn't want to say until I could get everypony else together. But after hiding things from her twice over, I just don't think that the poor thing could forgive me a third time. There would have to be a way around this. I knew I was getting close when I saw the smoking ruins in the distance, and started scanning the ground for any sign of her. Almost immediately I saw her, forlornly tending to her animals. She looked paler than usual, and held her head low. It was the most pitiful sight I'd ever seen, but I couldn't bring myself to land just yet. It'd probably scare her out of her wits. I stayed in a holding pattern above her tent for ten minutes until she went back inside. I landed as softly as I could, and got a better look at her tent. It was really in poor shape, probably reflecting her sadness, and I couldn't blame her. After taking another five minutes to muster up my courage, such as it is, I gently opened the flap to her tent. "Fluttershy," I said softly, stepping inside. She turned slowly, as if she couldn't believe who's voice she was hearing. As my eyes adjusted to the dimmer light of her tent, I could see that she had bags under her eyes, probably from exhaustion and lack of sleep, but they didn't hide the tears that were welling up. Neither of us dared move until Fluttershy held out a hoof to my chest, like she was testing to see if I wasn't just some figment of her imagination. When her hoof touched my chest, she visibly recoiled to find that I was solid. "Are... are you alright?" I asked, hoping that the shock wasn't too much for her. All I saw was her eyes roll back before she fainted, landing on her bedroll with a soft thud. I rushed over to her prone form, hoping that she hadn't hurt herself. "Fluttershy, wake up! WAKE UP!!" I yelled in desperation as a shook her, hard but not to the point where it would hurt her. Her eyes fluttered open, and as soon as she set them on me she started crying. Wrapping her front legs around my neck, she cried into my shoulder while I gently rubbed her back. "Shh, shh, it's okay, I'm here," I whispered in her ear, trying to calm her down. "Everything's going to be fine." "B- but everypony said y- you were," she said through the sobs, "a- and I beli- believed them, and..." "Shh, it doesn't matter what they said. All that matters is that we're together. We're together again, and you don't have to worry anymore." I felt a few tears roll down my cheeks as we lay there in each other's embrace, until she cried herself dry. She got weakly to her hooves and, using her foreleg to dry her eyes, asked in a half hiccup, "But, where... where were you?"  "Let's get the others together, and I'll tell you all about it. Sound fair?" "Well, alright, but, um, could we maybe, sort of, just stay here for a minute?" "Whatever you want, I'll do." "Thanks," she said before dragging over a second bedroll next to hers. She laid down on top of hers and drifted off, obviously both mentally and physically exhausted. Feeling pretty tired myself from all the running around I had done that day, I laid down in the second bedroll and, wrapping my foreleg around her side like I had so long ago in the forest, I nodded off as well, finally reunited with the one I love. And you know what? Despite everything that had happened, all the hardship and tragedy, all the feelings and emotions that had been tossed around on that day, I was still genuinely surprised when I wound up back in that chamber, opposite that unicorn. =============== "Oh great, just perfect," I uttered to nopony in particular. "Can't you even give me ONE moments peace? Just ONE! That's all I'm asking!" Through the firelight cast from the cauldrons, I could make out the unicorn in particular, but something was different about him. For one, his mane was a mess and he had a black eye, in stark contrast to his normally squeaky clean appearance. Even more unnerving were that there were tears in the corners of his eyes. "Woah, what happened to you?" I asked. "You lose a fight?" "In a sense, yes, but that is not why I'm here. I'm here to help, and I'll be damned if you are going to reject my entreaties now." Well, this was certainly unprecedented, to say the very least. "Help, how?" "As you may have already surmised, I am not exactly the same stallion that you met in the Everfree Forest. While I may share his appearance, we could not be more different than the sun and the moon." "Hold on, wait just a second," I interrupted, placing a hoof to my forehead. "You are trying to tell me that you, the stallion that told me to go to the forest which almost got Fluttershy killed, the one that has been haunting my mind like a parasite, are suddenly all nice and friendly and that you are coming to me hat in hooves and asking for me to trust you?" "To put it simply, yes." "Well excuse me for erring on the side of caution here, but I'm finding that just a teensy bit hard to believe, especially because of the aforementioned attempted MURDER!! Why the hay should I believe you now?" "I don't expect you to believe me, or even listen at this point, but I beseech you, just hear me out." "Hmm... fine, but if this doesn't hold up, then I am going to go right on ahead with what I'm doing, and I will leave you to rot in the sun. We clear?" This was probably the stupidest thing I would ever do, but that's what I get for being too nice. "Now, this explanation may come off as being a little far-fetched, but please bear with me. The reason that I've been trying to help you, even when it seems like I haven't, is because I am not in control of myself." "Well that's painfully obvious." "I assure you it is more than what it seems. I mean to say that I literally cannot control my physical form. Many years ago, I was a well respected teacher at Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, and one of the foremost magical minds on theoretical magic. One spring morning, I was experimenting with a spell that could have potentially change the way magic was thought of in Equestria." "Go on," I said, my curiosity piqued, if nothing else was. "Anyway, for reasons that are still unknown to me, even after all this time, the spell backfired, or misaligned, and the magic coursed back into me. This had happened a couple of times before to me, but this time it was different. When I woke up, I found that I couldn't move, and prayed that I wasn't paralyzed. Rotating my eyes so that I could see behind me, I saw a black swirling vortex, with tendrils of energy extending out of it, caressing my stiff body." "And whatever it was that was coming out of that portal took over your body, explaining why you are now trapped within your own body?" "Precisely. From that day to this, the abomination that took me over has been trying to assemble an army from wherever he came from, which explains why he has his cult. He has been able to masquerade as me during the day, and performs this ghastly rituals whenever he can." We both stared at each other, until I couldn't take it any longer and burst out laughing. "HAHAHAHAHA!!! Oh MAN, that is priceless right there! Hoo boy! I've heard some whoppers but, HAHAHA!! That takes the freaking cake right there!" "So you don't believe me?" "Uh, what tipped you off? My riotous laughter, the tears streaming from my face, the fact that I'm HAHA! clutching my ribs in agony right now?! Of course I don't believe you! What pony in their right mind would?" "*sigh* I figured this might happen, but fortunately I have a plan B. Stand still for a minute, would you?" "Alright," I said, composing myself and standing up, "but I don't see how pulling anything else out of your mane is going to-" I was cut off mid-sentence by a flash of white light. When the blinding light had subsided, I found myself suspended in midair, along with him, above a quiet, sunlit study. Standing beneath us was a unicorn stallion that was painfully familiar to see. "Is that...?" "Yes, that's me, approximately seven years ago, and in my last lingering minutes of freedom. Now be quiet and watch." I looked down on the scene, which was unfortunately silent, but I could still tell what was going on. His eyes (that's his past self) lit up, and he quickly jotted down something in his notebook before moving over to a set of lines carved into the floor that had been inlaid with silver. They matched the symbols from Twilights necklace to the letter. He illuminated his horn and fired a steady stream of magic onto the topmost symbol, which quickly spread out to the other five and finally back to the center, where he was standing. A sweat had broken out on his brow while the middle sigil lit up. The energy coming off of it suspended him in the air as his eyes glowed white. Then it all went downhill. The energy in the circle flared, causing him to look around in shock before a massive, blinding explosion shook the room, blasting out the windows and causing the floor to cave. When the light subsided, I could see him on the other side of the room, flat on his back and knocked out, but that wasn't even the half of it. In the center, where the sigil had been, hovered a large glowing portal, with small tentacles of energy extruding out from it. He began to stir on the other side of the room, and noticed with panic that the energy was heading straight for him. Try though he did to get away, the energy reached him and slammed straight into his chest, filling him to the brim with whatever arcane torment it contained. He (that's his present self) stopped it right there, but before he took us back, I could've sworn that I saw a hoof poking out from under the rubble where the floor had caved. "Now do you believe me?" he asked, settling back onto his cushion in the main chamber. All I could do was hold my head in my hooves as I tried to process what I had just seen. "I... I am so sorry that I doubted you." "No apologies are necessary, but we must now act quickly. We've wasted too much time already, and He's probably already ont-" He was cut off by the same earthquake inducing roar that he had punctuated my first visit with. "Oh no, it's Him! Get out, NOW!!" I sure as hay didn't need to be told twice, jumping through the portal before he even finished speaking. My body screamed at me to wake up, but my mind was simply too tired to do so, instead slipping back into a fitful slumber.