//------------------------------// // ■□ The Mare Who Came in from the Sun □■ // Story: Table for Two // by KitsuneRisu //------------------------------// With a gasp, a flutter of her lungs, and a shake of her wings, the young mare staggered backward and bumped against the doors that would have let her out had they not been quite thoroughly stuck. She brushed aside a few ungoverned strands of hair from her face and stared. She stared at the wooden floor and the beamed ceiling. She stared at the polished oak bar that lined the back wall. She stared at the flourishing plants that nestled themselves away into every nook and cranny. She stared at the amazing array of paraphernalia that sat cozy behind a counter to the right. She stared at a table in front of her. It was a round table with swirls and spirals ingrained into the woodwork; chipped and well-worn where untold years had left their mark. But yet, it was finely lacquered over, and sheened under the orange glow of a lamp that hung from the ceiling. And there, under the only light that illuminated the room, sat a stallion. “Come. Take a seat,” he said, as gentle as a pat of butter. He held out his hoof, motioning to a chair that was suddenly available. “Please. Stand not on ceremony.” The young mare did not move. She huddled to herself, one eyelid lower than the other, heavy breath echoing her heavy heart. “W-where am I?” she asked, her voice cracking like stained glass. She winced as a sharp pain lanced through her forehead. The stallion tilted his head slightly and stared at her over his round black spectacles. “Is it not clear? This is a cafe. This is The Cafe.” The mare turned around and peered over her shoulder through the giant Prench windows into the darkened streets beyond. There was a wooden signboard sticking out from the front of the entrance that said exactly what the stallion mentioned. ‘The Cafe’ was carved, cursive script into an oval plank, and there it hung, dancing ever so gently with the midnight breeze. “No. No. This isn’t right,” the young mare whispered. “This place is wrong. I can’t…” She doubled over, clutching at her head, a burning fire suddenly engulfing her mind. It sparked up as if from nowhere and quickly reached an intensity that brought her to her knees. “W-what’s happen...ing?” she cried out, gritting her teeth. “Alright. It’s alright,” the stallion said, unperturbed but quickening his speech. “Stay calm. It will be alright.” The mare remained on the floor, groaning, doing everything within her current power to push aside the pain. “Listen to me,” the stallion continued. “Listen. What is the one strongest thing on your mind right now?” “Nggg…” the young mare grunted. There was the pain. There were a score of questions about her current situation. But for some reason, an unlikely feeling remained in the pit of the back of her skull – something that she should very well not be thinking about given the circumstances, but yet, there it was. “I…” She breathed. “I want a c-coffee.” “Good! One coffee. Here you go, miss.” The young mare stood up, brushing a few drops of sweat from her cheek. Although her breathing remained heavy, all traces of pain were suddenly gone, as if they never were to begin with. “Pain gone?” the stallion inquired, resuming his regular pace. “Then. We are fine for now. Please. Have a seat. And here’s your coffee.” The cup stood upon the table, full of hazelnut latte. It was her favourite of the coffee-related beverages, and it had always been there. “Wait… what?” The young mare scratched her head. “When did…” “Oh, don’t mind it. It’s safe to drink.” “No. I mean… but… has that always...” the young mare pointed at the coffee. “What’s… what’s going on here? What is this place?” “The Cafe.” “No. That’s not right. This place – it doesn’t exist.” “Hm.” The stallion hummed. “What is the last thing you remember?” “I was… walking home from University. And suddenly, I felt like I really needed a coffee. Here. At this… cafe that doesn’t exist.” “And how do you know this cafe does not exist?” “Because it doesn’t! I walk this way home every single day! I know this place wasn’t here yesterday!” “Curious.” “What is? Who are you? What have you done to me?” the mare peppered, stepping back a bit more to circle the room. The stallion seated at the table had a strange overbearing presence of being underbearing. It was like trying to accept him was something that you wanted to brush off. As if it was an impossibility that made you question what you just saw. He was a shadow cast by darkness; the first instance of deja vu. The young mare wasn’t sure if he was really there or not. But clearly, he was. He was speaking to her. She was in this strange place and she had no idea why. He spoke again. “Isn’t coming in here what you always do?” “What are you talking about?” The young mare walked back up to the front doors, giving them a shake. “I have never been in here before! This afternoon I just decided to get some coffee! It was the first time! And… now it’s night! What did you do to me?” She turned, glaring at her host. “What did you do to me?” “I did nothing. It is still the middle of the day. You could leave right now and it would be the exact same time as when you entered this place.” “Yeah but the doors are locked, aren’t they?” The young mare danced around the tables, looking for another exit. “So they are.” “How did you… make me want to come in?” “You’re not supposed to have realised that, you know.” “Realised what?” “As I’ve said. You were not supposed to have suddenly felt like having a coffee here. You were supposed to have always come here three times a week after your schooling, and… today was no exception.” “How can I have always done something that I never did?” the mare continued to speak to the room as she moved to the bar, rummaging through equipment and throwing aside cups in search for a lever or button or switch that would pop the doors open. “Well. These are the facts,” the stallion said. “It seems, curiously, that you are now able to see beyond Experience.” The young mare stopped assaulting the dishware, stood up straight and gave her wings a good shake.. “What does that even mean, ‘beyond experience’?” “It has to do with why I have called you here.” “Who… are you?” the young mare asked, staring at the back of the stallion’s head. He had made no effort to turn. He continued sitting there under the spotlight, facing the doors. “I am The Owner of The Cafe.” “Yes, but who are you?” “I am an arbiter attempting to save a life.” “Alright.” The mare stomped back to the table, knocking down a lamp in the process. “Alright. You want to play that game? Fine. Why have you brought me here?” “You recall the pain that you felt earlier?” “Yeah?” “A lot more is about to come.” “Is that a threat?” “That is a fact. A few days ago, you were struck by an errant fluctuation in Experience, right here in this very spot as you were walking home.” “What?” “You now have experiences that you have never gone through. It is similar to the way that I brought you here. I gave you an experience that would not occur until we met and I gave you your coffee. The process would have gone much smoother had you not been aware. But your awareness made you realise it never happened. And it brought you pain before I could make the experience happen.” “How could I have gone through things that I haven’t? That makes no sense! That just makes no sense!” “Yes. It wouldn’t to you. But regardless, in order to make sure that you don’t suffer, we will have to equalize you.” “Equalize.” “Yes. We will have to now make sure you actually do all the things that you have already done.” “You’re crazy.” “You’ll die.” “Die.” “Yes. Die.” The Owner nodded nonchalantly. “You will not be able to exist in harmony with the rest of Experience. Experience will try to remove you.” “I just… I mean…” “I understand that this is a very strange set of circumstances. But you must believe that all I wish to do is help.” “Why would you help me?” “Why not?” The mare dropped back into silence. Her mouth flapped open and shut as she tried to summarize the whole thing back to herself. “There is… a simple way for me to prove to you what I am saying is true.” The Owner interrupted. “You have never been here before, yes?” “Definitely!” “Then I want you to remember the times that you have.” “What?” “Just remember. As if you were recalling anything else. It’s the same process. Just remember things you’ve seen while you were here.” “But I’ve never be–” “Just remember.” This was unfathomable. This was beyond that. This was stupid. The young mare closed her eyes. Applejack and Pinkie Pie. Rarity and Rainbow Dash. She threw her eyes open with a gasp. “Yes?” The Owner asked. “I… what? I… I’ve been here before.” “Well, from your perspective, you haven’t. But you have. And that is why Existence is trying to erase you.” “I’ve been here four times before.” “No. More than that. Many more. You only remember four times at the moment.” “But… Princess Luna and Sweets? Why’s Sweets talking to her? And why’s she so young?” “Experience is universal.” “And they all happened here. In this cafe. Is this some kind of weird set-up or something?” “No, no. I assure you. There are reasons.” “So let me get this straight. You’re trying to help me experience all these events so that I would have actually experienced them, or else my head will explode.” “Much worse than a paltry explosion. But yes.” “Yeah.” The young mare’s eyebrows flicked up and down in stunned disbelief. “And how do we do this?” “Well. It’s simple. The Cafe will handle all of it. These events will come, once in a while, on an unfixed schedule. All you have to do is wait for them and be present when each experience happens.” “But some of those memories were so… I mean… Princess Luna and Sweets? That would never happen. And that looked like it was many years ago.” “Oh, no. It’s happening right now. But also yesterday and tomorrow. And some of them may not come from your experiences, but from someone’s experiences. Although some will be yours alone, and only yours. It's complicated. But no matter what, they will all happen here. They’re all happening here right now.” “Right now?” The young mare looked around the empty cafe. “Yes.” “Across time and space. So this cafe is some kind of… time… machine dimensional gate thing?” “No. Don’t be ridiculous. We don’t travel through time and space. Time and space travels through us. Or more precisely, The Cafe. And there is no such thing as infinite dimensions. Only infinite Experience.” “I don’t get it.” “That is to be expected. But you will. In time.” “So time does exist.” “I… am just going to say yes. It’s easier that way.” The Owner nodded. “Yeah. Thanks.” “My pleasure.” The young mare shook her head, looking around distractedly. “So,” she finally said. “Yes?” “I have a few questions.” “And I would like to answer them.” “You said you tried to change my… thingie. Make me feel like I had always come here. But that didn’t work.” “That’s right.” “Why didn’t it work?” “It is probably an aftereffect of your brain being ripped open by an errant bolt of Experience. It's happened before. Not for me, but it's happened before.” The young mare raised an eyebrow. "I'm not the only one who's... had this before?" The Owner nodded slightly. "You've... helped other ponies before?" The Owner nodded again. “So, what’s this bolt thing, anyway?” “It was caused by this place. This place is… or perhaps will be, to someone, a site of extreme importance. It will mean something very much to a great number of individuals one day, and sometimes, when that happens, Experience can leak.” “Okay. These… experiences. In my memories I’ve only remembered ponies that I sorta know. Why?” “Because Experience and knowledge are tied together in the weave of understanding. The moment you experience something, you are acquainted with it. So you can never experience anything that you don’t already know. But who knows what else you will see? You may even run into yourself one day. Maybe even more than once.” “Why are they all about two ponies chatting?” “That was the original experience. It echoed.” “Something that inspired a great number of others was… just two ponies having a talk?” “Why not? Conversations are powerful things. Perhaps it was a momentous agreement. Perhaps it was the words that started a war. Perhaps it was simply a proposal of love. Conversations can be illuminating and life-changing. I am quite partial to them myself.” “Can I… see that experience?” “No. It does not belong to you.” The mare chewed her lower lip. “This is just like philosophy class at the Uni.” “I hardly think this philosophical.” “Whatever. Look. Just… do me a favour. Give me a couple minutes to digest this. I… you’ve gotta have some kinda inkling of what I’m going through here.” “Yes. Of course. I have dealt with similar situations in the past. Please take as much time as you require. There are still a few days worth of time left before you start feeling some unwanted effects. It would be good if you could come to terms with this ultimately. Even if you do not, I will still be obliged to take you through the process anyway. I hope you will eventually see that I do this merely to spare you from a most terrible demise.” The young mare blinked heavily, casting her eyes downward. Thoughts passed through her disquieted mind as she considered all that needed to be considered. But bouncing amongst the questions was just one tiny fact that was demanding to be clarified. “You’re not… a pony, are you?” the young mare asked, looking back up. Or perhaps it was more of a statement, said just to bring that slight bit of known to the unknown. "You're not even mortal. Not even like the princesses. Right?" The Owner remained silent. “Alright then.” The young mare’s head tilted up and down, not even enough to be called a nod. But it was a nod in spirit. She took a seat by the window, the same one from her memories, and stared out into the darkness. Beyond the semi-frosted panes of glass, everything looked foreign. It seemed as if things were so very far away, and while everything looked familiar, it did not feel as if it were anything more than a backdrop on a stage. The Cafe gave off a strange tinge of colour that the young mare felt more than saw. It carried a spirit that shifted and danced through the air, whispering moments into her ear. But what it came down to was trust. Either she was willing to accept this strange stallion’s explanation of events or not. There was a mystery behind one curtain, and the threat of death behind the other. The choice should have been clear, but mysteries were not always pleasant. She sat for what felt like an hour, that passed into a day, that passed into a week, all within a minute. Thinking. Thinking. Thinking of the past. Thinking of the future. There was a time when she would have gladly jumped into something like this just because of how cool it was. There was a time when she was a bit more excited. She was older now, but still. Maybe she could make the best of it. That had always been her style. “You are about to witness a great many conversations,” The Owner said, appearing by her side to stare out into the empty streets. “All here. Different times. Different ponies. It may be sunny one moment but snowy the next. You may see the most unlikely of events and the most unlikely of conversationalists. The Cafe will accommodate. You will adjust. Each new day will feel different, and sometimes it might even feel as if it were a story told by a different narrator altogether. It will be disconcerting at first. But you will adjust.” “I… understand.” the young mare nodded, her soft cerise mane falling back across her face. One half of her mouth turned up into a smile. “You know what? I guess this could be fun.” “Well then. Miss Scootaloo?” The Owner said, turning to give her his best smile. “You appear to have had time to consider. Are you ready to begin?” “Yes,” Scootaloo replied. “Yes I am.” ~=~ Freshly fragrant. Steam. Wooden cup. Just a quirk, but something unique. Applejack stared out into the rest of the room. It was warmly lit, stained glass lamps lining the bar, soft music playing in the background. The Cafe was always half-full at any time of the day. Everything was gentle. Everything was smooth. It was heavy in browns and greens; a place full of the classic touch of the city, back when cafes still had a bit of its own life to it. Hers was a straight black. No cream. No sugar. Just Applejack and the coffee. She took a sip. “Ya know? I never really liked coffee,” Pinkie said, dropping into the seat across from Applejack Applejack quirked her eyebrows at her new companion over the cup she had raised to her lips. “Heya, AJ!” Pinkie returned the greeting. And sitting at a table apart from the two, hooves gently cupped together, sat a young mare, watching closely.