//------------------------------// // (11) // Story: A Four Letter Word // by RealityDowngrade //------------------------------// It was with some trepidation that Princess Celestia, accompanied by her sister, Princess Luna, listened to their castle guest’s report on his disappearing act. From the mages it had been verified that there had indeed been a recent dimensional distortion, though without a physical anchor to guide the multitude of interlacing magics, let alone lock upon Wayde for his initial trip, the event was, as of now, a working example of impossibilities in motion. However, this would, hopefully, not remain so for long given some of the trinkets that had passed through with him. The energy readings they gave off were like nothing anypony had seen, but, for now, only the future could reveal what the wisps of dimensional-magic clinging to the harmonic matrices around them might truly entail. Wayde, however, was another story. His trip had been much longer on his side of things, much to the gloating of a few theorists on time-dilation in conjunction with certain modes of dimensional travel, and once he had been found, sitting in the royal statue gardens of all places, he had been nothing but cooperative in the ensuing investigation. However, it was his attitude, or rather, a lack of it, that had been cause for some concern. Yes he was helpful, but his affect, the way he spoke and moved, had become muted. His description of his trip might have been said to be wholly unemotional were it not for the undercurrent of shame which were clearly highlighted when his own actions were mentioned. Even contending with the fact he had been brought into a world where analogues of the princesses were less than scrupulous, he still chose to shoulder much of blame. It was remarkable, in a way. He recognized his want for a show of valor had indeed hampered his insight, but the way he let the blow strike him, how it shaped his actions, one might have thought he was doing little more than sulking, but the look of determination in his eye, small as they were, alien as they were, seemed so similar to the look she saw in the eyes of her own guards, the steely look of determination to never make that mistake again. At least, that’s the impression Celestia had once she and her sister had exhausted their line of questioning, giving Wayde his leave. Once alone, Celestia turned to her sister, who had remained largely silent throughout the whole exchange, and was now pouring a steaming cup of coffee from her favorite kettle, a simple silver pitcher enchanted to hold the temperature of the liquid housed within. However, rather than adding her usual three lumps of sugar, Luna was, instead, taking the midnight-liquid in stride, quaffing the entire cup’s worth in one go. ‘Oh dear,’ Celestia worried. In the intervening time it took for Luna to pour out another cup, this time taking the time to plop in a few cubes of sugar and a dob of cream, Celestia took a silent breath and said, “An interesting report, all things considered.” Luna remained silent, but gave a nod while levitating a small spoon to stir her, now, sweetened concoction. Pressing forward, Celestia added, “And what are your thoughts?” Luna continued to stir her steaming drink, and, stalling for time, took the time to wipe and gently replace the decorative-spoon upon the tray. “Straight to the point as ever Tia,” she muttered, though a hint of mirth just dusted her firm tone, “with that in mind, his violent words at the culmination of his frustration give me cause for concern.” Waving off her sister’s oncoming response with a hoof she added, “And no, I only mention it in concern for his own well being. He reminds me all too much of myself before I… fell,” she sighed, frowning as she dropped her gaze from her sister's. “Oh Luna,” Celestia whispered, extending a wing to rest atop her sister’s back. “Thank you,” Luna smiled weakly, leaning into her sister’s embrace before continuing at a more reasonable volume in the intimate space, “Well, while this might be too forward, I think it would be all too prudent to begin introducing him to more kindly interactions. As beneficial as physical training with others can be, more peaceable activities may be of some benefit at this.” “Interesting,” Celestia replied coyly, taking a sip of the sugar she’d diluted with a spot of zebrican red-tea, nudging one her sister’s wing with her own, tipping her to the side, “might you have anything in mind then?” “As a matter of fact,” Luna bluffed, masking her telling blush behind an extending wing to ‘retaliated’ against her sister’s ‘attack’, “I’ve already got somepony in mind.” *** Opening my eyes, shocked, as much as I could manage that is, that I had gone an slept an actual portion of the night, I began the laborious process of sitting up, starting with placing my elbows at my sides and slowly pushing out my chest, only to flop back down at the sudden and familiar contraction of pain that drew at the center of my chest. Sighing, I slowly pushed myself up to a sitting position anyway, I wasn’t going to do myself any favors by just lying in bed like a lump. Gently sliding my legs over the side of the bed I made my way to the bathroom in hopes of running some hot water over my rib-cage and the screaming muscles beneath to see if it might settle them back down. If not, I’d see if I could find some sort of muscle relaxant. Starting the shower, I gingerly stepped into the Jacuzzi-sized hole in the ground, careful to keep from any excess movement, and holding my breath, only to let out a huff of displeasure as the gentle stream of steaming-water fell from the shower-head and shattered upon my dim grey-flesh. Ever since Princess Celestia and Luna had interviewed me over yesterday’s failings, I couldn’t get rid of the feeling something terrible was coming. They hadn’t proclaimed any punishment, but that just meant they were just busy coming up with something suitable. Honestly, I’d lost track of all the times my sand had come to nip at me through the night, but eventually they just gave up. “Woo,” I mumbled, swirling an index finger in the victory that I could bind up my emotions tight enough for an honest to goodness physiological-backlash the likes of which had shamed the likes of my living-nightmares to leaving me to wallow in solitude for the remaindered of a night. Taking in a breath, relieved to feel that whatever muscles clung to the underside of my ribs unclench, if only a little bit, and exhaled into the low beating of water onto tile. ‘Today is a new day,’ I thought, extending an arm, watching as the water spiraled into a new direction down my hand, ‘and it won’t get any better if I worry myself to the point of harm… some more. If it didn’t help me in college, then it’s not going to help me in Pony Land.’ Moving out of the shower, and beginning to do what little cleaning I could manage on my clothes, I began to wonder, not for the first time, what exactly had begun to happen to my life. All things considered, I had a roof over my head, food to eat, and a comfortable bed, so I really shouldn’t complain about something as pitiful as being sorry over having super-powers, even if I didn’t fully understand them. The dodge-ball games were certainly fun, even if I had been losing every game so far. But the guardsmen were certainly cool enough, they’d even gone so far as to invite me for lunch over at the mess a few times. But none of that stopped the niggling thoughts scraping away at the back of my mind: ‘time waster’ and ‘what physiology scans?’. The only thing that really kept them from turning to full blown worries was just how little I really knew about magic in this world. Gently wringing out my cloak and placing it over the empty counter-top, I bent down, to what would have been a comfortable height for a pony, to the drawer with the hair/mane-dryer. Watching as tiny streams of steam began to rise, I briefly wondered at the seemingly mismatched levels of technology, electricity was definitely a thing, though maybe it wasn’t, I hadn’t had to plug the thing in after all. And kicking off from that mystery, would it would be any use for me to go to the library and see if there was anything I could do in finding my way back home? It really wasn’t that far-fetched. The Princesses had clarified much of what I’d learned from the show and comics, how much of a peeper that made me feel like notwithstanding, and while not everything had turned out to be true, like Twilight using mind control to cause a problem, but rather had a bit of a mental episode where she thought she had, and neither had she ever refused to use her magic on thuggish villains because of some far-fetched law about ill-gained squatters rights, but Nightmare Moon had indeed been considered a fairytale, and if something as important as that had been relegated to the realms of fiction, then it stood to reason that there could be others as well, others that a practitioner of the natural, for this world, sciences might overlook. Sliding on my, slightly damp, but warm clothing, I wondered who I’d have to notify for a trip to the library. Of course I’d need to find some breakfast first, and I made my way out of the bathroom and to the bedroom door, but, as I placed my hand upon the knob my vision swam. When it returned, rather than seeing an empty hall from the opened door, I instead found my head had turn back to the bed, my eyes glued to the shadows beneath, a small spark of desire suddenly bursting into a full blown need. Looking down, concerned at how hot my palms were getting, only to find my fingers scrapping against them, I slowly tilted to the side, my teeth grinding, falling to shadow on the floor and flying to the darkness beneath, the deeper darkness blooming, perfectly framing the lights of the creatures around me, save a single annoyance which had the utter temerity to flare. *** Sliding out slowly from under the bed, I rubbed my temples through blinking eyes and getting re-used to the bright light of the guest-room. Blearily looking to the gilt clock above the door, it hadn’t even been a full minute. Typically, or, at least I had imagined saving a child falling to their death while certainly a worrisome affair wouldn’t leave one with a splitting head-ache. Gingerly lying on the cold of the carpet, I let out a grunt, glad that at least touching the floor wasn’t making me feel any worse, I wondered, and not for the first time: what the hell is wrong with me? It, it was a light. And it had flared in ‘the deep dark’, pressing and pulling at the back of my eyes, and something, something so loud, something that needed to see the child’s delicious fear. “Uuhhgh,” I moaned as tiny motes of memory surged through my mind’s eye, my own eyes throbbing in sympathy: Falling pony. Cave shaft. Wrapping an arm around him. Slow down, no Gwen Stacy. Such fear he’d never see his parents, and his home where he felt… safe. It was so obvious where he lived, I just… through the dark, and there it all was. Groaning as my eyes gave another vicious throb, I let the thought go, and just let the dulling pain ride its way out. Why had the fear just ... bloomed like that? Why had it been so tantalizing? Was I getting stronger? Was it bad? probably Whatever it was, I needed to let the princess know the next time they or the associates came around. Until then, groaning, I raised myself to my elbows, I wasn’t going to let this opportunity to either find myself a way home and/or find something to suck up or erase my powers. Hell, this place was so chock full of magic you could stumble into a magic comic-book store and not realize it ‘til you were smack dab in the middle of the story. And those were some good odds as far as I was concerned. Stumbling to the door, only to realize what I’d forgotten, I moved back to the night-stand, fumbling with the drawer until I could pull out an honest to goodness ball-point pen and scratch out a note on my journal which had, thankfully, been returned to me. Tearing out the finished note and placing it at the center of a hastily made bed, I fell through the floor, determined to do something at least marginally useful and find the nearest library, certain that something called The Canterlot Archives would hold just about everything except what fell under the category of fiction. But that’s academia for you. *** Eyes forward, Luna, mentally reminding herself to wear a small grin upon her face, was rather glad Fluttershy had taken up the impromptu invitation she’s sent via carrier owl last night, but her head was still a swirl she and did not wish to intimidate the poor dear any more than she had already by an inopportune frown whilst deep in thought like the one she'd shown only minutes previous when she had met her with her royal guards at the locomotive station. “uhm, well, are you really sure I’m the right pony for the job?” Fluttershy asked, her doubts only doubling as she spied the animal sanctuary she had made such a fool of herself in during her first Galloping Gala at the castle. “Indeed,” Luna replied, matching the cream pegasus’s nearly hushed tone, the little dear really was rather excitable. “Though, I hope this isn’t too much of an imposition,” Luna amended, “I know this is all rather sudden, but I am quite concerned for Our guest, and, while I wish to help him, I would prefer the council of somepony who has had dealings with, shall we say,” tilting her head, “are uniquely powerful.” “P-powerful?” “Yes, both I and my sister are still impressed with how well you managed to reform Discord,” Luna nodded, “and, should this particular… individual, meet to your standards, I will attempt a, shall we say, a form of schooling so that we might have a better grasp of their powers.” “oh,” said the Element of Kindness, though Luna was hard pressed whether to attribute this to flustering to the compliment or her general temerity . Fluttershy was so often paired with the other Elements as a whole, though this was of little enough concern, after all, this particular pegasus had been sighted balking fully grown dragons with little more than a look. “um, well, I don’t mean to pry, but just who are we going to meet your highness?” Fluttershy asked, letting her pale-pink mane fall over nervously over her right eye. “Ah, yes,” Luna said, her worry sending her smile to waver for but the smallest of moments, “recall when you were brought to Saddle Arabia a few weeks back?” Fluttershy nodded silently, and, keeping abreast with the princess, remained quiet as she listened to the facts of what had been happening as they were presented to her. Much of the sordid details, of course, was left out, but Princess Luna made it clear that Wayde, as he called himself, the bringer of nightmares, was her intended charge. His ability to pass through objects was noted, if underplayed for the sake of not wishing to undermine security, and ended with this morning, the Princes having ordered the guards to postpone Wayde’s movement tests, though, honestly they had gone on long enough, having begun to turn into something of friendly competition instead. Not that there was anything particularly wrong with such activities as they tended to breed comradery, Luna was just… wary, of any perceived misconduct, unconscious or otherwise, for having a game that was constantly six versus one, even if her guest made no outward protests, though of course this last thought was kept to herself. Just before the final corner to the guest chamber was rounded however, both ponies were cut off by a pegasus guard coming from their intended destination. Coming to attention as soon as he saw the Princess, his golden-armor glowing in the sunbeams that caught on his armor from the long windows above, he saluted quickly before silently winging over a folded piece of parchment. Taking the slip in her indigo aura, Luna gently unfolded the message, reading quickly the short note within. “Thank you Sergeant, you may leave,” she nodded to the guard, who saluted in kind before smartly stepping aside in the wide hallway and made his exit. Fluttershy watched as Princess Luna gave a slight frown, her brows knitting, before her previous smile fell back seamlessly back into place. “Is everything alright Princess?” “Oh yes,” Luna replied, not skipping a beat, “though I do suppose we’ll be having our meeting a bit farther away than I planned. I am terribly sorry for the inconvenience.” “Oh there’s no need to apologize,” Fluttershy replied, blushing slightly at realizing she’d told a princess to do something. “Thank you Fluttershy, you are too kind. Though, if it’s all the same to you, I should like to visit the kitchens before we leave. Tell me, are there any pastries you’re particularly fond of?” “Well,” Fluttershy blushed, taking note of one of the many ornamental hanging-clocks they had passed on their way here and saw that it was just a few minutes ‘til noon. *** Sighing, I got up as another cloud of nightmare-sand faltered, the book it held within itself falling to the floor as the sand continued to swirl around, trying to regain cohesion and re-grip it. Sweeping back the platter-sized puff, the grains sparkling their individually contained fears into my mind as they made contact, reshelved the book and moved back to my table on the second floor of the Lime Stone Library. Returning to my latest find, a compendium of fables, the current one now about a cobalt golem and her octopus companion. I sat back down on the floor, unable to sit in any of the pony-sized chairs, and breathed in the scent of pine-shelves and the mingling scent of book-bindings and the pages within. Closing my eyes, I took another breath of the familiar library-air, and pulled back the failed cloud of sand to… wherever it was stored when I wasn’t using it. Weeks ago I could easily remember making singing turret-replicas, hammocks, and even shovels, so why was it so difficult to hold and move things now, let alone illustrated children books that couldn’t weigh more than two pounds at most? And it wasn’t even that they were ghosting through the material, rather, it seemed as if the sand was simply getting exhausted, if that was the right word for it. It certainly wasn’t alive, not like when I first saw it, it was too… static-y, nothing like real people or their fear. The best thing I could think of was comparing it to an advance computer program more than anything, but that was about all I could figure out other than that each grain held an individual fear. What was so different now? I didn’t feel forgotten, though, that was objectively hard to really tell given I’d just come from a wasteland of belief back to a country I’d… God, I’d terrorized an entire country. The book fell from my fingers, the back of my head banging on the thin rug and the stone-floor beneath. Here I was worrying about my fucking sand when I was The Boogeyman, house-invader and terrorizer of families. Fuck Wayde. Raising an inhumanly grey-hand to my face I wondered, ‘do I really deserve to get back to Earth?’ The thought brought on a new wave of disgust and I slammed my hand, knuckles first, back to the floor as images of exploring a new world filled my head. How dare I? “Whatever,” I mumbled, sitting back up, rubbing my hand, my morning declaration surfacing to nag at how complaining about this wasn’t going to help anyone. With one last sigh, I started back for the book until I felt a familiar wave of fear. It was Princess Luna, I’d recognize that chilling vigilance against future self-corruption anywhere. ‘Oh crap,’ I thought, and moved to place the three other books I had with me back on the shelves. She wasn’t alone either, though, I was pretty sure the second one was the librarian I’d met at the front desk when I came in, but I couldn’t place the third and final bubble of fear, but whoever they were, they were simply riddled with it, even more so than the guards I normally came across. It wasn’t nearly as big as the “immortal” alicorn’s, but they were working on it. Finally hearing the sound of hoof steps, I leaned into the sound, my imagination running wild with thoughts of what kind of warrior would be so well versed in enough threats to hold so many fears. “-trangest thing,” the old mare chuckled softly, “a puddle of shadow sprouts up into a hornless-minotaur and asks for the foal’s section of the library. Guess jailers down in Tartarus have families too, but I’d no idea they were a royal guest.” “Indeed,” Princess Luna replied in a cheery library-tone, “though, might I ask if he said or asked for anything else?” “Mmm,” the librarian thought, their echoing hoof-falls pausing. She had looked pretty old, if wrinkles actually meant anything here, she’d been reading the whole of our ten-second exchange to boot, “can’t say that he did Princess. Just asked for the foal’s section then glided on up to the stairs.” They soon rounded the corner of the P-PR’s book-row and into the reading foyer just within easy looking distance in front of the children’s section. “Ah, hello Wayde,” Princess Luna grinned. “Yes ma’am,” I replied before I realized I hadn’t been told to do anything yet, glancing behind to the pony still hiding behind the shelves I added, “should I go to the training field now?” “Actually,” Luna smiled, “I was hoping you might join us for lunch.” “There will be no eating in the library,” the faded-green librarian interrupted, her eyes squinting behind a pair of horn-rimmed glasses. “Of course,” Princess Luna nodded before turning back to me and said, “I was actually hoping you could join us in the gardens.” I nodded, unsure of what exactly she meant. “Wondrous,” Luna smiled, closing her eyes, as her horn glowing for a few moments before it gave a blinding flash of teal. Blinking the spots of pink from my eyes, the sudden feeling of flower-scented wind and a stomach lurching into my mouth was more than enough to throw me off balance. It was clear we were in some sort of park, or garden, if the patches of white on long fuzzy green things were any indication. The little nodes of fear of everyone beneath on the first floor of the library had gone, a ring of space now surrounding the three of us in the a garden, the royal garden as I spotted the walls of Canterlot Castle and its pointed dome-spires atop it, my vision returning. “Fluttershy,” Princess Luna intoned softly, “I should like to introduce you to Wayde Molan.” ‘Ohshit,’ the thought popped, my body to stiffening, not unnoticed by either parties. Fluttershy, hiding half of her face behind her long pink-mane, took the initiative, trotting over a few steps closer to me from behind the princess and said, “Um, hello Mr. Molan, I’m Fluttershy.” “It’s a pleasure to meet you Fluttershy,” I reflexed, standing to attention and giving a small nod of my head. I’ll give fear that, it can readily help pull me in to mind my surroundings, though typically that’s ended up meaning I fall into ‘formal mode’ in new situations for fear of making a fool of myself otherwise. Makes parties a bit of a slog, but then again, I never gone to many parties. “Well, let’s not waste any more time shall we,” Princess Luna beamed, turning towards the castle, or at least, that’s what I thought as we went up the packed-dirt path. Passing a bush trimmed into a knight’s chess-piece I followed behind Princess Luna on the left as Fluttershy took up the right, though she made sure to walk directly beside the princess. ‘Where did this come from,’ I wondered silently. ‘Okay, a pony I’m not technically supposed to know and the princess have invited me to lunch, but why? I’ve previously had a disgusting melt-down after landing in another Equestria, letting myself be played like a – ooo, I didn’t know flowers could look like that – dyeyegh… just how much was Fluttershy told, and what was I supposed to do?’ -onderful, just in time,” Luna said, shaking me from my spiraling line of thought. Looking up from the flower path I saw two pegasi land by a large white gazebo, each balancing a covered silver-platter on their backs, and as they walked past the two guards stationed just to the sides of the steps, they quickly made their way up and then… down, only to reappear the next moment with a smile to their princess and their burdens gone. Nodding to the guards, Luna moved up first, followed by Fluttershy, and as I tailed behind I saw the sunken table within, painted to match the rest of the gazebo save for a few wispy flowering-vines around the edges, and the covered platters the two servers had brought with an added silver pitcher and three matching glasses. Taking a seat on the padded circle-bench, finding both it and the height it left me at the table surprisingly comfortable, I looked up to the two ponies in silence, making sure to smile. “So,” I asked, though not impolitely, “what, might I ask, is the occasion?” “The occasion,” Princess Luna replied, her horn alighting the pitcher as it poured its icy-pink contents into the three glasses, “is that we wish to get to know you better,” and moved the glasses to each of us as pitcher lightly knocked upon the table as it was set down. “And what is it that you ladies want to know?” I asked, briefly eyeing Fluttershy, who looked down into her cup, before returning my gaze to the princess. “Okay, but why is-” “My friend,” a deep voice purred, a yellow talon filling my vision before it pushed my head to the table, a new bubble of fear filling in the space above me soon after, “I’ve been looking everywhere for you, and, AH. GASP! You didn’t forget about tea with your bestest friend Discord did you. Oh Fluttershy,” Discord sniffled dramatically, a few oversized crocodile-tears plastering my hair even closer to my head than normal, “I thought you cared?” “Oh I do Discord, and I’m sorry that I wasn’t able to let you know in time, but Princess Luna asked me to come to Canterlot and-” “Pfft, and what?” Discord scoffed, taking his claw off my head to cross his arms, “come to see if the magic of friendship could reform the darkness?” He chuckled, flicking my nose with the fluffy end of his snaking red-tail as he floated over to her, “you DO know that’s why Princess Luna here is the princess of the night and not the dark, right? She’s redeemable, the guiding light in the dark. It’s kind of in her name, you know, la luna. Heck, even I’m technically redeemable since my mmm,” he flexed his lion arm, a picture of an anchor blooming in the bulging show of muscle, “magnificence, is merely a chaos to your order. But him,” he pointed from behind the witness stand, Luna flaring her wings as she was lifted up on the judge’s stand that rose from the ground to flank it, “just look at how the shadows cling to that dark little creature. Ya’know you really should just call this whole thing a wash and come back home with me and have some nice, relaxing tea.” ‘That’s it.’ “I don’t care if you are my hero,” I growled, feeling strings of black-sand rising from the corners of my mouth, “no one besmirches my honor like that.” “Wha’d you say?” Discord chuckled, raising his left eye and brow, followed by his eye a moment later. “Discooord,” Fluttershy said, in, what, I think, was a warning tone, “did you read my personal mail, again?” “Hold on Flutters,” Discord said, sliding Fluttershy closer to the princess as he took up the intervening space, his eyes still pointing in my direction , “Wha’d you say?” ‘Jerk.’ “Did I stu-stu-stutter?” the sides of my mouth twitching as the sand's touch. “Nooo,” Discord replied, his smirk peeling off the side of his face to better show its toothsome-entirety, eagle claw stroking at his small beard, “I don’t suppose you did.” “Well Discord?” Luna asked, her tone eerily calm. “Mmmmmm, I duh’no. Interesting response. Could go either way. Buuut,” he hummed, floating over towards me as his head spun behind to look at Luna, “I for one think I make an excellent role-model,” his chest puffing out in a spray of downy red-feathers, “so he’s either a brilliant evil-master-mind, or, Celestia forbid, an honest person. Muahahaa… huh?” He paused, looking up to the sky, “oh right,” and snapped his fingers, a small green cloud bursting into existence over his head crackling with yellow lightning, “Muahahahahahaa!” Still grinning, the last echoes of his laughter dying away with the shrinking green cloud, he gave a quick snap of his tail and was gone. Recovering first after a quick shake of her head, Fluttershy squeaked, “I am so sorry about that, I completely forgot to leave Discord a note and-” “You needn’t worry Fluttershy,” Princess Luna winked to her, taking a dainty sip of what I was now sure was a strawberry-smoothie, “everything is just fine. And,” she added, turning to me, “I’ll be seeing you later tonight Wayde,” she paused, taking another sip, “I think it’s high time we started doing some real science, away from all those stuff lab-colts, yes?” “Uhh,” I managed to say, shaking my head for yes, my frustration finding itself slapped aside as confusion waddled its preponderance into my mind. “Excellent,” she grinned, “now, let’s start off with something simple. What’s your favorite color?”