Separation

by Maneiac

Canterlot Bound Part One

        
        I sat alone in my Station, the darkness being replaced by an inverted-colors version of outer space. Beautiful falls short of being an accurate description as meteors whizzed past other stars in the distance. Planets of many hues and colors dotted the horizon and all around me, some with rings made of stardust or other chunks of space rubble.

        “White sky with black stars... who would have thought it could look so pleasing?” Smiling a bit in minor reverie, I turned my attention back to the Station Glass. The art itself contained five draconic head busts, separated by rectangular column dividers. One of these heads did not have scales, but from left to right, the scale colors of each head bust were thus: green, silver, crimson, skip the bone one, and then my face - dark-blue.

Each picture had our heads in different positions. The green one - Sylvan Awrenos - had his face scrunched up in a bemused manner with his head coming in from the left. His vertical rectangle glowed a sickly lime-green color, which seemed to move idly like fog.

Silas’s silver-scaled bust was looking forwards, his mouth curved up in a slight smirk. His backdrop was multiple playing cards and poker chips, his mane piercing through many card faces in a vibrant display of elegance. He’s keeping that smug personality of his too potent. Those same playing cards provided his moving backdrop as well.

Lezara looked too angry to put in words accurately. She was a head of brightly-burning crimson scales, and dark-orange flames danced around her and took on forms of skulls. Her mouth was opened up in a ferocious roar, her face exuding nothing less of pure hatred. The orange flames provided her slightly-shifting backdrop.

I continued to let my gaze wander about the faces I’ve seen. “What the hell does this mean? Now it’s just our five heads; last time, it was all about me. I’m not sure what my Station is trying to tell me here. Damn, it’s been two weeks now.”

Scratching the side of my head, I turned my attention to Lucius’s depiction. The bone head belonging to the creepiest of the Four Dragons was resting on top of a tombstone’s patch of raised earth. A night sky completes the backdrop, and there’s even a constellation of a minotaur in the stars.

My head was the final one, and it was currently sharing a space with Sunset and Donna. Sunset had her horn flared a brilliant light-blue, her eyes closed almost as if in concentration. Donna - unsurprisingly - looked fearful as she huddled underneath my girlfriend. I was the biggest portion, hefting Devotion over my right shoulder as my mane surrounded all three of us in its brilliant sky-blue silk-like beauty. My face was one of...

“Huh.... guess they got it right. I’m not too sure about any of this.” There was little doubt in my mind that my face right now was matching the look on the face of my bust. “I need to know more about these four: Silas, Lucius, Sylvan, and Lezara. Who were they? What are their plans?... why were they the ones representing my emotions?” Too many questions presented themselves to me - same as always - as I turned around and headed for the circling orbs at the edge of my Station.

“Something doesn’t add up, and it’s going to bug me until I figure it out. I hate being left in the dark. No more Hearth’s Fire, and no more Four Dragons. The cost? Blowback, Precision, Dennis, and The Fester; doesn’t really sound like an even exchange to me...” Grumbling, I stepped up to the spinning black orbs with a stoic face.

“The Consciousness Transport; something Io decided to give me. I did think on some possible advantages to it, but I really couldn’t think of anything else.” Scratching the side of my head in deep thought, I continued to stare at the slow-swirling orbs. “Apparently, I can will myself to sleep at anytime now; useful, seeing as how there are some nights were going to sleep just isn’t on my to-do list.”

Lifting my claw ever so slowly up to the swirling orbs, I felt the cold presence of magic at work. The chilling sensation pressed up against my palm like cold air from an air conditioner, and worked its way up the inside of my arm to my shoulder. A shaky sigh left my mouth, a strong feeling of unsurety tingling up and down my spine. “.... I’ll never get used to that.” Shaking my head slowly with a smirk and chuckle, I grabbed one of the orbs and squeezed.

Just like Io promised, I was sucker-blasted through the conjured-space of my Station very quickly, my ears whistling shrilly as planet after planet whizzed by on both sides of my body. My ears flopped around, making me wince when they decided to whip me in the face a couple of times. Nevertheless, I eventually ended up in complete darkness, devoid of any light source.

I was unaware of anything, really. In this small span of constant quiet, one could honestly lose themselves to the serenity of solitude. Squinting, I tried to see past the darkness, before blinking my eyes open.

A ceiling fan was the first object my eyes settled upon. “.... Ah, I’m in Sunset’s house still.” Sitting up, I gave a stretch and a yawn as I scratched at the side of my head. “.... Mmmmm.... good stretch...” Lowering my arms while enduring that strange weightless sensation one gets after stretching grandly, I set my gaze about my girlfriend’s room with a soft smile. The first place my eyes gravitated to was her side of the bed.

My left side was devoid of beautiful mare, and that made me a little suspicious of what she’s doing right now. “... Sunset can’t cook, so there goes that idea. Did she skip off into town?” For some odd reason, my body sent a sensation to my ears, making them twitch; this twitch seemed to quicken my thinking just a tad as I eliminated possible stopping points that my girl would visit on her way through town. “But that’s only if she went into town.”

I wiggled my toes while giving another yawn, not really committing to the idea of getting out of bed yet. “Speaking of toes...” My eyes looked down the length of the bed, and then onto the couch I had carried in from Sunset’s living room so that I could lay down fully. “So glad I did that. It sucked waking up with jelly-legs.” Swinging my legs around, I placed my feet onto the ground and pushed myself up onto them. The cold sensation of putting one’s feet on the ground - the same one that made me lament waking up without socks on in the morning for school while I was human - was now even more noticeable thanks to my warmer body temp.

“Breakfast... laps around the cabin... look for Sunset. Then from there, I have these choices: Jack’s House, Town Square, or the Tipsy Clover.” Nodding at the sound list I had formulated mentally, my day started by making headway out of Sunset’s room and to the kitchen. “Can’t believe she allowed me to sleep in her bed wearing my clothes again; she must’ve been tired after tango night at the Tipsy Clover.”

No movement filled the house aside from mine, leaving me as captive to an eerie silence. “Winter’s settling in quicker than I thought. The last of the leaves are starting to drift off the branches...” Peeking out one of the windows, my eyes came to rest upon the sight of grey skies and almost-barren oaks. The wildflower garden in front of Sunset’s cabin had shedded its colors, the plants all gone off into the cycle of nature until they’re able to return next spring or summer.

“It looks ridiculously cold. I wonder if Sunset’s wearing her scarf and keeping herself warm like she should.” Peeling my gaze away from the window, I moved on towards the kitchen to prepare myself a lovely little breakfast to start the day off. “Busy busy busy, can’t say I’m not. Hell, bees are probably jealous of how busy I am.” My steps were quick and efficient as I pirouetted about my girlfriend’s kitchen; setting a pan on the stove and turning it on while making my way back over to the fridge.

Opening the white treasure box, I couldn’t keep a frown off my face when I realized just how empty it was. There was no food, and there was nothing to drink. “.... Dammit, Sunset; that’s what you’re probably doing right now, getting groceries.” Shaking my head with a roll of my eyes, I gently pushed the fridge door closed and went back over to the stove in order to turn off the eye. Placing the pan in the sink, I turned and made tracks for the front door, reaching it in about five paces due to my new height.

“Good thing she had this cabin of able to accommodate minotaurs... It’d be rough moving about in an eight foot tall home with my new body size.” I gave a slight grumble as I stepped outside into the cold of winter, sucking my teeth minutely at the slight displeasure of a stinging gust of wind. “Note to self: Get a scarf as soon as possible. I forgot how much winter sucks.”

Tucking my claws into my jacket’s bottom pockets for more warmth, I headed out in the direction of Stonehaven. “It’s kinda too cold for laps right now, but I’ll do some when my body adjusts to being outside. Right now, it’s like I’m stepping on daggers with each footfall.” Breathing out a small plume of flame for momentary facial warmth, I hurried on with my pace.

Stonehaven could be seen on the horizon as I cleared the short trek through the barren forest; minotaurs still milling about in the streets and having regular commerce. I gave a smirk at that. “Tough bulls and cows, these lot. I wonder if I’ll find my girl in that sea of dairy animals...” Entering town made a couple of those winter-dressed minotaurs look my way. Some of them gave me thumbs-up through mitts or with bare hands, while others nodded my way and offered grand smiles.

“I guess saving people gets you some respect among the locals.... I didn’t really do anything major, though.” I returned a particularly bright smile from a child licking a candy cane with one of my own, before walking ahead again. My face slowly went back into one of disappointment. “I was just the figurehead to everything; the face of the operation. I honestly didn’t do anything.... just because I wanted to be with my girlfriend and escape, I caused the deaths of many people.”

I sucked my teeth, a frown breaking out now. “What kind of respectable being does that? I’m.... I’m honestly no better than those disgusting Alpha Brothers, putting my needs in front of everyone else’s like that. From the time I went into Granite Podium, it was all about escaping and reuniting with Sunset no matter the cost.”  Stopping in the middle of the road, my head lowered seemingly of its own volition as I sighed deeply. “... For fuck’s sake. The more things change, the more I stay a waste of life.”

A pity party; that is the only acceptable description of what was going on in my head right now. It was a pity party that had me reevaluating all my choices while inside that Mega Warren. My awareness of the surroundings blurred itself into nonexistence as I continued to drive myself deeper into self-loathing with every second. 

“It’s like I learned nothing from my time on Earth. Hell, I even moved out of my old man’s place and lived at the mafia headquarters; there wasn’t any rules other than passing high school, and it was heaven. I could do whatever I wanted and fear not the repercussions because of my second family watching my back.... the power was so intoxicating.” 

I grimaced there, Milly’s lifeless and eyeless body flashing into my thoughts. “Do I even deserve what I have now? Second chances shouldn’t be given to men seeking salvation from their sins; the world would be cleaner if they all just disappear-”

A sudden shifting of my body to the right made me hop on my left foot a bit. Once I regained my balance, I looked at the source to my sudden imbalance quizzically. My confused visage sent Sunset into a fit of giggles as I stared at her.

“You were so lost, I decided to bump you back to reality. If I were to leave you in a white room all day long, you could probably entertain yourself with daydreaming alone, Silas.” Smirking smugly, Sunset levitated about ten grocery bags off the ground and towards me. “Be a dear while you’re still unawares and carry these for me, okay?”

“.... Wait.... what’s going on?” Subconsciously, I had already grasped the bags in my right claw; on the inside, however, I was still mightily confused by the sheer speed of these events unfolding after being lost in thought for a while. “.... She conned me into carrying her shopping bags again. Goddammit.” Frowning at her after realizing what she had done finally, Sunset decided to return my frown with a raised eyebrow.

“Strike while the iron is hot, no?” With that, she turned around and started walking off towards Town Square. Grumbling, I followed afterwards. And it was during our leisurely stroll that I noticed her apparel had changed. She was currently wearing light-blue and white boots that went up to her ‘knees’ for each hoof, and a matching scarf.

“Stylish. I like how she went for her eye-color composition as a whole.”  Humming along to a song playing in my head, I watched as Sunset eventually steered us towards Town Square; that large circle of land that.... currently had many stalls in place. The smells of food, smoke, and... steel?.... wafted out from this farmer’s market-like setup. “... What the hell’s all this about?”

Sunset made sure no one was directly in front of her first, before turning her head slightly to the left for me to hear her better as she talked. “It’s the annual Winter Gathering. It’s a time of celebration for the minotaurs of Bullivia, where they retell stories of their ancestors and the feats they accomplished over piping-hot sweets and soups.”

“... Shouldn’t we get these groceries home first?” I began to mentally question Sunset’s ability to formulate a sound strategy right then and there.

“And miss out on Mable’s carrot soup? You must have lost all sense in that skull of yours.” She entered the thicket of bovines, making me purse my lips in slight annoyance. Even so, I followed after while looking at the many earthen wares being sold or traded off by vendors. Button-eyed bull calf and heifer calf dolls wearing traditional clothing seemed to garner the most attention from shoppers, and the cow running the booth looked very happy to be receiving business.

“I don’t want the food to spoil, is all,” I responded after giving a sigh, turning my head in the direction of uproarious laughter near us. A chuckle left my lips at the spectacle of two minotaurs passing out from drinking their asses off. “... Stonehaven is rowdy around this time of the year, right? I mean, two bulls just passed out from some sort of drinking contest.”

When Sunset didn’t give a response, I turned my head back around. No light-blue eyes, boots, or scarf; no red and yellow chic mane that could wow even the prissiest of hair dressers. “.... What the hell? I turned my head away for just a second!”

Turning around in place, I swung my head to and fro. “Something that small and blindingly-colorful has no business being able to sneak off like that.” Among this sea of black, white, brown, gold, and grey; I couldn’t find my girlfriend worth anything, and it was only serving to get colder.

“Well.... Goddammit! I’m gonna have to start asking around.” Tucking my free left claw into my pocket, I started walking through the minotaurs. I questioned many, and all of them gave me short nods and pointing of their fingers. By the time I had followed all of their instructions, the Tipsy Clover loomed right in front of me. Not only that, but I had to keep a blush off my face as I proceeded forwards.

“Today.... today’s gonna be interesting.” My eyes stayed on the women just outside the club, dressed in skimpy santa uniforms that barely kept some of their cleavage in. “For God’s sake, I can see some pink and black of those nips! Aren’t you all cold!?” I took a deep breath and steadied myself. Going up the steps seemed to be the women’s trigger for paying attention, for I was not prepared to see all those eyes locking onto mine in a seductive manner.

“It.... it feels like I’m walking into a lion’s den....” I took one look at the cow closest to the door and instantly felt all the blood in my body rush to my cheeks. “Holy fuck.... lollipops are for children, lollipops are for children, lollipops are for children!” I couldn’t have walked through the front door any faster than that.

“.... I’m not going to make it at this rate. Jeez....I need to-” Not particularly paying attention, I bumped face-first into something rather soft and jiggly. Instantly, I backpedaled and uttered many apologies, keeping my head low and my upper body slightly bowed to show how sincere I was. “Please don’t be a hot waitress....”

I looked up just to behold an utter bombshell of a minotaur female. "Goddammit..."