//------------------------------// // Chapter Six: Going Around in Circles // Story: PonySide // by Puzzle Piece //------------------------------// “Welcome to Carousel Boutique. Come in, please. Make yourselves comfortable. I’ll be just another minute.” The white Unicorn was there greeting them and then gone again in a flash of her royal purple mane. Katie and Nathan found seats near the full length mirrors on one side of the main floor’s show room. Thick curtains hung everywhere, dividing the room effectively into small subsections designed to handle the needs of multiple customers at once. “This is a very nice place,” Katie observed, reaching out to feel one of the curtains. “High quality material, tasteful color schemes and functional arrangements all blending together.” “Rarity is one of the best designers I know,” Twilight said. “Her fashion lines can be found in the highest society of Canterlot and as far away as Manehattan.” “Sounds impressive,” Katie nodded, not entirely sure what those names signified. “She’s almost always busy,” Twilight went on. “But she said she had the time to tackle this project. I think I’ll leave you in her capable hooves for now. I’d best get back to the library and continue to look into your other problem.” She waved at them and trotted back the way they’d come. In only a moment, Rarity returned, bringing with her an assortment of tools and materials. She looked the two humans over critically, nodding to herself. “Yes, you do have something of an emergency on your hooves.” She invited Katie to stand in front of the wall of mirrors with a wave of her hoof. “When I saw that material sample, I was intrigued to say the least. In fact, I had to restrain myself from planning an entire line based on it so as to work on this.” She gestured toward some of the materials she’d brought with her and she telekinetically lifted a patch of the burned suit and a square of material that closely resembled it. She let Katie take them to compare. “This is very close,” Katie said, holding the two samples up. “It’s not as firm nor as water resistant from the look of it. But with a bit of tweaking, I think it might do.” “It’s the best I could do on such short notice,” Rarity said modestly. “Oh! You did this just a few hours ago, didn’t you?” Katie exclaimed, remembering that the Unicorn would only have had the morning to prepare. “Now I am impressed.” She handed the samples off to Nathan to examine while Rarity pulled out a tape measure and note pad. “I will of course continue working to mimic the material more closely,” Rarity said, businesslike. “But once I’ve gotten it acceptably close, I’ll need measurements to build models. I only have forms for ponies after all.” She indicated the stands of outfits on display depicting a pony’s shape filling out the garments. “Yes, I suppose it would be helpful to have the correct forms to work on,” Katie said with a smile. Rarity set to work taking detailed measurements of both of the humans. She also took measurements of the damaged portions of their suits. Once she had the measurements for both of them recorded, they sat down and discussed the suit’s design. “Our suits are more than just uniforms,” Nathan said. “They are built with their own internal systems. Mine for example is capable of deploying a cloaking field, rendering me more or less invisible.” “Oh, how marvelous!” Rarity exclaimed. “I would so very much like to see it.” Nathan smiled for a moment before vanishing with a zip. “Or not see it, as the case may be,” Rarity amended, looking from other angles at the slight disturbance in the air where Nathan was. After a short pause, the cloak came down and Nathan reappeared. “It doesn’t last forever but its usefulness is nearly unlimited.” “I should think so,” Rarity said. She then turned to Katie. “And your suit has a separate function?” “Yes. Mine is able to release a cloud of nanites that can mend the injuries of myself and those around me.” Rarity waited on baited breath for a demonstration but after a few seconds, she realized nothing had happened. “Did you intend to give a demonstration?” she asked. “That’s not right,” Katie said, also seeing that something hadn’t worked. She checked a readout on her HUD and then checked her suit’s pack. It was mostly untouched by shrapnel, but she noticed that the burns from the blast were most extensive near the ports that released the regenerative cloud of nanites. That was when she remembered the circumstances of the blast. Her nanite field had been active, covering both herself and Nathan. The explosion of her Beamer must have charged the nanites and overloaded them all the way back to their source. “It seems that the system was damaged. It isn’t functioning at the moment.” “Will we be able to fix it?” Nathan asked with a concerned frown. “Not likely, but I’ll try,” Katie replied, taking the pack off and looking at it more closely. “We don’t have any tools or replacement parts.” “Hmm,” Rarity said, considering them critically. “This is starting to sound like it will be beyond my skills. I’m afraid I simply won’t be able to recreate that kind of material.” “Don’t worry,” Katie reassured her. “It’s an added system, using nanites over the material. The material itself is entirely separate.” “Alright then,” she said, cautiously putting her concern aside for now. “But if you could advise me as I get started, it would surely accelerate the process.” “We’d be happy to.” They all moved up to Rarity’s work room on the second floor and got to work developing the combination of materials required to mimic their suits. ~*~*~ Anthony jogged along behind Major Gadrik through the back alleys of Ponyville. They’d managed to enter the town undetected and the Major was determined to keep it that way. Anthony didn’t think it was worth all this ducking from corner to corner but he stayed silent. It wasn’t his place to argue with the mission plan. Plus, that was a rule he’d been ignoring a lot since they’d met these ponies and he didn’t want to push his luck with the Major’s patience. The Major, for his part, had been surprisingly lax on discipline during their time thus far in Equestria. Anthony attributed it to being caught so completely off guard by their situation. Now that they were moving, the Major would expect rigid adherence to protocol. It was just as well. Anthony welcomed something that made as much sense as his orders usually did. “Hold!” Gadrik whispered harshly, peering down an adjoining street. He held his carbine tightly, ready to swing it up to meet any threat. Not that he expected any of course. But being outside of the command structure was getting to him more than he cared to admit. The fact that this world was completely unfamiliar wasn’t helping. There was an absence of clear objectives, of an opposition that he understood, of the kind of conflict he knew how to deal with. He compensated for it by acting as if some form of enemy could be waiting for them down every path. They made it deep into town and could see what appeared to be a large open plaza marking the town center when a voice stopped them in their tracks. “Who are you two?” The Major spun around and trained his iron sights on the speaker. Even the Corporal flinched in surprise and aimed at the pony, despite having no intentions of firing. “You’re both human right?” she asked. The Major looked at the purple pony closely, noting that she not only had wings like their earlier companions but also a horn like some of those he’d seen passing through town. “We’re human,” he managed. “And you’re a…um, a Pegasus?” The pony inclined her head at his statement. “No. I am an Alicorn. I have both Pegasus and Unicorn traits.” “Alicorn? I’ve never heard of…never mind,” the Major said, shaking his head as he decided he’d just add it to the list of things that didn’t make sense to him. “What is it you want?” “First,” the Alicorn said. “I want you to lower your weapons. There’s no need for them here. Next, I want to know who you are and how you got here.” The words were spoken with authority but in a tone of reassurance and an underlying curiosity. Reluctantly, the major allowed himself to follow the suggestion. “I am Major Finnegan Gadrik and this is…” He hesitated as he glanced at his subordinate. “This is Corporal Anthony Janisson.” The Corporal nodded to the pony. She considered them impassively for a long time. Gadrik shifted his carbine anxiously and glanced up and down the alleys to either side. Behind him, the Corporal was studying the Alicorn carefully, sizing her up even as she seemed to be sizing them up. At last, she broke the silence. “Why don’t you two come with me and we’ll find some place to discuss this situation.” The tone of the invitation didn’t leave much room for refusal. Gadrik’s first impulse was to refuse anyway on principle. But there was something in the other’s bearing that told him that she would have none of it. And in the end, he was forced to admit that he didn’t have the faintest clue what he’d been looking for in town to begin with if not someone who could help them figure out what was going on. He nodded and they began walking. They took back streets most of the way until they approached a clearer part of town. In the center was a large tree, which appeared to be their destination. She led them boldly from the cover of the surrounding buildings and up to a door in the side of the tree. As they got closer, they could see windows in the tree as well as balconies from upper levels. The simple wooden door seemed to open of its own accord when she reached it. She stood aside and gestured for them to enter. “We’ll get right down to business,” she said, closing the door behind them. She gestured for them to occupy one side of the room while she stood facing them. Gadrik felt as if he were being brought before a board of inquiry. In a way, he supposed he was. Anthony stood just behind him, fidgeting to relieve tension. “My name is Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Equestria,” she said in formal introduction. “As such, it is my responsibility to ensure that any foreign intrusion is benign. You are obviously not Equestrian, so I am going to have to ask you a few questions.” Gadrik acknowledged her with a nod. Twilight paused to pick her words carefully. “Since we have already established that you are human, my first question is, do you belong to any country or group?” “Yes,” Gadrik responded. “We owe our allegiance to the Terran Republic.” Twilight nodded and continued. “Second, why did you come here?” “It wasn’t so much that we came here as it was that we ended up here. In fact, we were looking to find out how to get back.” “I take it you don’t even know how or why you ended up here?” Twilight asked. “That would be correct,” Gadrik admitted. Twilight paused to think over his responses. The horn on her head suddenly began to glow and Gadrik tightened his grip on his weapon. But nothing happened except a pair of books and a notepad floated over and hovered in front of her. She read something from in one book, took a few notes, looked at Gadrik and Anthony critically and then took some more notes. “My final question for now,” she said, punctuating the end of her notes sharply and looking up at them. “What do you plan to do while you are here?” Gadrik had to think about that one. Twilight’s gaze bored into him as seconds of silence ticked by. “A Pegasus by the name of Fluttershy was kind enough to offer us a place to stay until we can find a way home.” Gadrik noticed a flash of recognition in Twilight’s eyes at the name. “I suppose we will be there for the most part as we continue to search for some way home. As for the search itself, I’m not even sure where to start.” Twilight seemed unprepared to respond for the first time. She glanced at the stairway leading up to the second level of the tree apprehensively. She even shifted slowly from hoof to hoof and bit her lip as she thought through her next move. Gadrik followed her gaze but didn’t see anything that might cause her discomfort. “I see,” she said after an extended pause. “I will look into the situation and conduct research into ways to help you find your way home. In the mean time however, I must ask you to remain at Fluttershy’s. It would be best if strange creatures were not wandering around our town. I will of course send word to you when I find something useful.” Gadrik considered his options briefly. His conclusion was that this was a monarch in her own country and she had offered freely to help them. He least he could do was follow her wishes, seeing as they concerned her town and subjects. So despite his reluctance to be sent to the sidelines, he agreed. ~*~*~ The walk toward town was pleasant to say the least. Mat had never seen weather this perfect before. The only cloud in the sky was a tuft of cotton that drifted along sleepily. The sun was warming but not overpowering and even in their armor, neither soldier was breaking more than a light sweat. The soft breezes that accompanied them on their journey also contributed to this. The path was long though and they paced themselves. “So what are we even looking for?” Trevor asked at one point. “Mostly wires, tools, and a larger power supply for sure.” “Wires and tools, check. But that power supply part? I’m not so sure about it. You really think we’ll find what we need in this town?” “The way I see it, we don’t know jack about this town. I mean, we just talked to horses, man. There could be anything there. No point speculating until we see for ourselves.” “Guess you’re right. But how do we get this stuff? We don’t have any money on us.” Mat paused suddenly, not having considered that. “We’ll think of something once we know what we’re dealing with.” He tried to sound confident but he was starting to have doubts again. When they arrived, they calmly strolled into town. Many more of these talking ponies could be seen up and down the streets. Some were sporting wings or single horns but nothing overwhelmingly outlandish. It was reassuring to the two soldiers because that meant they weren’t dealing with a multitude of even stranger creatures. As ponies spotted them, they froze and stared as the humans passed. Mat and Trevor didn’t let it bother them since none of the ponies seemed inclined to stop them. “Where should we start?” Mat asked. “There’s always the town market,” Trevor replied. “Okay, and where’s that?” “I’ll show you,” Trevor said with a grin. He walked over to one pony who had been watering a garden of flowers before she’d seen them. The watering can hung in the air next to her, suspended by an unknown force, dripping and empty. She was completely oblivious however, and she gaped openly at them as the human approached. “Excuse me ma’am,” he said, touching the edge of his helmet and nodding politely. “I don’t mean to bother you, but we were hoping you’d be so kind as to direct us to the market?” The pony gulped down her surprise and after a few seconds, she was able to respond. “It-it’s just down the street there. Cross that bridge,” she said pointing. “And then keep going until you get to the tents on the east side of town. That’s the market square.” “Thank you,” Trevor said, bowing slightly. The pony waved hesitantly as he walked away. “That way,” Trevor said, pointing down the street as he returned to Mat. Mat smiled his amusement as they walked off. “See?” Mat said. “Nothing to it. We’ll get what we need and be headed home in no time.” The ponies continued to watch them with mixed levels of astonishment, but after they’d passed, everypony went about their business. After all, these weren’t the first such creatures they’d seen today.