A/N
Yeah, I lied. The "Black Sun, Red Moon" chapter isn't this one. I didn't hold out on you guys, though. No worries. Also, I suggest you read the first part even if you read the sneak preview, as there are a few changes. That is all. Enjoy! Oh, and expect the next chapter to come out very soon!
Chapter Twenty-Six: Hanging Out
The early morning sun hung over the Atlanta suburbs.
It had been quite a while since Lenard Greene had seen the familiar sights of his home town. It had been even longer since he'd seen actually been home. Behind the wheel of his very own car, a small dark-blue coupe he absolutely adored, Captain Greene could finally unwind weeks' worth of stress and troubles, and reflect on the bizarre happenings that not too many could claim to have seen.
"Dragons, flying ships, portals to another dimension or something-"
The car began to drift off of the road as Lenard became lost in his thoughts. "Whoa!" He sawed away at the steering wheel, swerving the car back onto the pavement. In the back, he could hear various objects rolling around in the trunk.
*Sigh.* "Really gotta start paying attention," he thought to himself as he pulled up to an average sized white and blue trimmed house on the outskirts of Buckhead, a well-to-do neighborhood in the Atlanta suburbs.
"Home at last," Lenard thought aloud.
He pulled into the driveway and instinctively reached for a garage door opener on the driver-side visor. He stopped just as he was about to press one of the buttons.
"Oh, right," he muttered to himself.
The house had space for three cars, but his father had insisted on keeping his prized boat in the third one, rather than his own son's car.
"Parking on the driveway, now that brings back plenty of memories," the pilot mused.
He locked the car and was about to walk toward the front door, when he started to hear a strange methodical knocking sound. In curiosity, he began to walk around the yard, searching for the source of the repeated tapping. He walked toward the house, and the noise grew softer. He backed up down the driveway, and the sound grew louder. Eventually, Greene began to home in on the sound, which appeared to be coming from, of all places, his car. Praying that his car hadn't developed some kind of critical fault that made it knock even when it wasn't running, Lenard unlocked the car and popped open the hood.
The knocking stopped.
"Well, I don't think it's coming from here..."
He closed the hood, and the knocking started back up again.
"Gah! What is that?!" The sound appeared to be coming not from the hood, but from the opposite side of the car.
Lenard walked around to the back of the vehicle just in time to hear something move around inside. Curiosity piqued, and trigger finger ready, Lenard opened the trunk.
Staring back at him was a familiar green stallion with a neck tie and a bizarrely spiked mane that didn't match his profession at all.
"Lime Tree?! Lime Tree Hill?! Wh- Wh- What are you doing in the back of my car?!"
"Calm down, captain! This was not solely my doing!" Lime Tree answered
"Are you telling me someone forced you to get into my trunk?!"
"No, but I overheard some of the hoodlums at the camp say that they would be willing to put down a week's bits if somepony could get me or any other of the other officials to sneak out of the facility, and I wanted to see a little bit more of your world than just your sporting arenas."
"Are you nuts?! You could be fired for this! Or worse! You better be glad my trunk isn't airtight, or you'd be in even more trouble! I mean, I'd expect this from Dash, or maybe Pinks, or Spike, but you?! Didn't your princess tell you all not to leave the dome?!"
"How should I know? I was helping Mayor Mare set up a temporary office when that message was shown."
"What?! You were literally standing right next to me!"
"So I was! Fact is, I had Pinkie Pie enter the wager and bet that I would go. We'll split the winning bits when I get back. I'll even throw in a few for you if you keep quiet about this whole thing."
"Though that is extremely clever, I could get court martialed over this! That means prison! Or being shipped off to some remote outpost in Alaska or something! By the way, when did you become so conniving?!"
Lime Tree shrugged. "Desperate times... Besides, I've been to places a lot scarier than your front yard."
Lenard gave the green stallion a cold glare.
"Not what I meant," Lime corrected.
Lenard rolled his eyes. "Either way, you just made a huge mess for me and you! I'm not sure if I should hide you, or introduce you to my folks!"
Suddenly, one of the windows on the nearby house opened up, and a pleasant looking, fifty-something year old, darker skinned woman with black braided locks stuck her head out of it. "Oh Lenny, you're back! I want to hear all about your trip!"
"You know, it wasn't exactly a vacation, mom-" Lenard began.
She uttered a goofy motherly laugh. "Your father and I have been positively stuck to the TV!"
"Yep," a forty-something and much lighter skinned human male emerged from the same window. "It was all over the news, the net, and every piece of paper around, Lenno! I'm surprised there isn't a crowd of people surrounding you right now!"
Lenard and Lime Tree instinctively swung their heads, looking for any hidden media crews.
"I know you've got some neato stories to talk about over dinner," the woman continued, "so wash your hands and come on in! Oh, and invite that little green horsey fellow too!"
The window shut just as suddenly as it had been opened, leaving Lenard and Lime Tree to stare at the closed pane of glass in bewilderment.
Lime Tree turned to the human pilot.
"Well, does that answer your question?"
*****************
The midday sun shown over the Georgia Dome.
Twilight Sparkle, Princess Celestia's ever curious student, made her way down the many flights of stairs between the facility's event seating, and the garages underneath. Along the way, she passed several humans and ponies talking, working, or otherwise going about their duties.
She looked to the left and noticed the crusaders and their friends playing in their new, but questionably sound clubhouse.
She looked over the right and saw Ditzy Doo merrily trotting along with a brown paper bag in her mouth which had the words "Einstein Bros Bakery" on the label.
Ahead, she noticed Bonbon, Jake, and his son Brandon desperately trying to get Lyra to try an anti-snore nasal strip, after which Twilight jokingly rolled her eyes at the resulting goofiness.
The purple unicorn continued on, paying no mind to the various conversations and discussions around her until idle chatter between a technician and a construction foreman caught her attention.
"Hey man, I heard that big ring thing sparked back to life for a couple 'a seconds, even without that other one in fairytale land. Ya know, the big portal thingy?" The technician spoke.
The construction foreman bit into a sandwich, then began talking without fully chewing it. "Mmm-mmm," *Gulp* "I heard that too. One of mah buddies on da base over d'ere said it jus' came back on! He said that they got all kinds o' strange signals and stuff. He said it was da weirdest data he'd ever seen. Even weirder than that "magical" stuff they been studyin'. You got any idea what they was talkin' about?"
The technician shrugged. "I don't know, man. I heard it was in and out in like- four seconds. They don't know why it did it. They thought the portal got completely busted when all these little horse guys came through."
The foreman bit back into his sandwich. "Guess not."
Twilight stopped. "I wonder what that's all about. Maybe Celestia knows. Good thing I was already on my way to speak to her now- That'll keep my time spending as efficient as possible."
The young mare sauntered down another flight of stairs, leading into a large garage under the stadium's seating level. She felt around for a light switch on the wall, then flipped it on. Light filled the large room, revealing a large shipping container in the center of it. She made her way toward the crate, passing by what looked like one of the metal carriages humans seemed to like to ride around in, only this one had tires that were at least twice- maybe three times her height. She paused a moment to ponder what a vehicle like that would be used for, then shrugged and trotted up to the shipping container.
Taking a moment to remember the combination Jake Baxton showed her earlier, Twilight opened the large steel doors of The Crate. She entered the dark chamber and locked the door behind her. She searched for a cleverly disguised switch which had been hidden away in one of the walls. She pressed it, and that same eerie voice responded by saying,
"Welcome."
Twilight put a hoof to a small pane of glass, which glowed for a second, then retracted.
Several screens emerged from the walls of the shipping container. On the large main one, words began to appear:
[User "Twilight Sparkle" verified. Full feature access granted.]
"Uh, thanks?" Twilight answered aloud.
A backlit keyboard emerged along with several instruments and equipment. Twilight noted that the keys were laid out identically to the style of a type writer back home, and the controls suited hooves and hands just fine.
"Please select an option or subject," the computer spoke.
A menu now filled the largest screen:
_____________________________
[Internet Browser]
[Communications Array]
[Sensor System]
[Coordination Charts]
[Weather Mapping]
[AEE Team Factoid Database]
[Multimedia Mainframe]
______________________________
The first option was highlighted, so the purple mare pressed the down key and selected "Communications Array."
"Please Select a contact, or enter a valid set of contact coordinates," the synthesized voice requested.
Twilight selected the first option on a list of contacts, which read: [Celestia at- {warning, location withheld.}]
The main screen darkened, and a rotating rendering of an anomaly with three letters superimposed over it, the AEE Team emblem, suddenly appeared.
________________
A technician noticed a blinking icon on a COMMS display.
"Ms. Celestia, there's a communique coming in for you on channel fourteen. Looks like it's from The Crate. I can accept it for you."
Celestia turned away from a nearby table. "Twilight. I regret I don't have the time to speak with her at the moment. Can you inform her that I can't talk right now?"
"I can do that," the technician answered. "I'll send a generic "call back" notice."
Celestia nodded. "Very well."
________________
The symbol on the screen continued to rotate until more words appeared on the screen, accompanied by the computer's voice.
["We're sorry. The person(s) you are trying to reach is/are offline or busy at the moment. You may attempt to contact them again now, or try again later."]
Twilight shrugged. "Busy. I guess that's understandable. She probably won't be available until tomorrow for that story. Well, there's still plenty to look at here. I've been waiting to try that "Internet" thing they mentioned earlier, but how could they fit all of their knowledge in such a small machine? If it's true, I could easily find out..."
Curiosity getting the best of her, Twilight backed out of the communications page and back onto the main menu. With a- ahem, sparkle in her eyes, she selected "Internet browser."
"Why not? I haven't pulled a good all-nighter in a while..."
**********************
Lime Tree Hill cautiously trotted into the first human house he'd ever been to. Contrary to what he'd believed, the walls were not lined with circuits and blinking lights, the floors weren't multidirectional conveyor belts, and the house had plenty of natural light, rather than cold, industrial florescent ones.
"Though to be honest, I'm not really sure why I assumed that anyway," Lime thought. "So you live here?"
"Yep. I joined up with the Air Force right out of school, and since Dobbins is less than a forty minute drive away, I never bothered to get an apartment. Welcome to the place I like to call home between deployments," Lenard chirped. "Su casa es mi casa. Well, at least until the cops come..."
"Thanks," Lime nodded. "Wait, "Su casa es mi casa?" That's a common expression in another language where I'm from, but here? How is that possible?"
Lenard shrugged. "Well, if English and- Equiish, wasn't it? If the languages we speak are identical, why not all the other ones?"
"Wait. So the fact that two different species on two different planets with two differing cultures and societies could somehow create the same languages doesn't bother you at all?"
"Now that you put it that way, it does seem a little odd-"
"A little odd?!"
"Well-"
"It either defies the laws of probability or rewrites our histories! OR BOTH! That's pretty big!" Lime Tree spun his hooves in the air for emphasis.
"Yeah, I'll leave that to Stuart, Harrison, or little miss purple genius to figure that out. Can't ponder the intricate inner workings of the universe on an empty stomach. I'm going up to eat. You might as well come with me and get that really awkward first contact moment ahead out of the way. I guess you should- uh- wash your hooves?"
"If you say so. Though after I met your mother for the first time, I'm still impartial to going back into the trunk..."
"A regular comedian are ya?" Lenard jokingly punched the oh-so-funny stallion in the shoulder. "For your own good, don't send that resignation letter to Mayor Mare just yet."
"Luuuunnnnnnch!" a female voice cried from above.
"Come and get it," Lenard mumbled.
The pilot and the mayor's assistant climbed up the stairs toward the dining room.
At the table, five plates had been lovingly set with the best set of silverware Lenard's mother could find. A large pot of some kind of soup had been placed in the center.
Lenard looked up from the table. "So mom, what exactly are we having for dinner?"
"Vegetable soup, as not to offend our guest, and the best hay your father could have delivered."
Lime Tree thought a moment on what she meant by "As not to offend our guest," then decided to let it go.
Lenard's face twisted in sudden confusion. "Wait, but- You couldn't have already had this ready! How could you have possibly known?!"
Lenard's father turned on a nearby TV.
...."-and amazingly, the expeditionary forces were able to bring nearly eighty-thousand "Equestrian" refugees and soldiers back with them. The nature of the emergency that forced them back is currently unknown, but the various members of Earth's new guests are settling in at various venues in downtown. The president is planning on addressing the recent events in a broadcast later this afternoon-"...
Lenard's father turned the TV back off. "In other words, your mother assumed that she would run into one of your kind soon, and began to plan ahead. And now I owe someone twenty bucks," He mumbled to himself. "Oh look, she's coming to collect now."
A twenty-something year old girl rushed down the stairs. "Len-Len, you finally came back!" The young woman rushed the poor pilot and hugged him ferociously. She then swiped a twenty dollar bill from her father's hand.
"Jana," Lenard rolled his eyes. "I'd rather you not use embarrassing nicknames when we have company from other planets, or this planet either, to be honest."
Lime Tree held a hoof over his mouth to keep from laughing. Though he held back the guffaw, a snicker managed to escape the assistant's mouth.
Lenard sighed. "I guess I should introduce you all. Lime Tree, meet Joseph Greene, my father-"
"You can just call me Joe," he interrupted.
"Lillandra Greene, my mother-"
"You can just call me- Lilly." she interrupted.
"And Jana, my twin sist-" Lenard noticed that Jana was about to speak. "No! You can't abbreviate it!"
Jana's face fell. "I'll figure one out eventually..." She mumbled under her breath.
"Everyone," Lenard continued, "this is Lime Tree Hill, mayor's assistant- ahem- Vice Mayor of the city of Ponyville."
Lime Tree bowed elegantly. "And let me say that I am honored to meet you all. This is quite fascinating for all of us I imagine."
"Yeah, sure is," Joe answered. "I got a ton of questions for ya, pony man, like first off, how are you going to hold that fork?"
"I'd be glad to answer that question, and any others you might have..." Lime Tree spoke, "-after lunch of course. I'm famished."
Joe and Lilly chuckled.
Jana looked over the meal that had been prepared. "Uh, mom, we're not actually going to eat hay, are we?"
"No," Lilly answered. "That's for our guest to mix into his soup. Besides, we can't properly digest hay, dear."
Lenard Greene suddenly looked very... green. "Uh, I'll be right back." The pilot made a mad dash for the nearest bathroom, leaving the rest of the family in confusion.
***************
Steven Mace and Mike Kaiser walked into The Contrail and took seats at the bar.
"Rations are nice and all, but man it's good to be home!" Kaiser commented as the bartender walked over to him. "Two Yellow Mike's Terry, oh, you want something Mace?"
"Something strong, Terry. I got a lot on my mind," Mace answered.
The bartender nodded. "Hey, don't worry about it. You're my most regular customer. I'll see what I can do." The bartender turned around and started to rummage under the bar.
"You're right though," Mace answered Kaiser. "It is definitely good to be home. But I guess with the dome filled with ponies, we won't be watching the game here."
Kaiser shrugged. "Yeah, I'm sure they'll find someplace for all of them to go eventually. Hopefully someplace that doesn't cut into the season! I was looking forward to this one!"
"Hey, at least we're all safe for the time being. Football can wait," Mace answered.
"Yeah, I guess we can watch the Falcons crush Tampa Bay some other time," Kaiser chuckled.
Mace nodded. "I guess. Just don't let Lieutenant Reed hear you say that."
"Hear you say what?" Gerri pulled up a bar stool.
"Uh, nothing?" Kaiser looked around for the nearest distraction. "Hey Mace, isn't that your Ex-girlfriend? Salvo wasn't it?"
All three heads turned toward a female Army Ranger, the first of her kind, sitting alone not too far down the bar.
"Her name's Christina Jensen. She's a specialist. Salvo is the name of the squad she's in," Steven corrected. "She kinda shook things up when the Army allowed her into the Rangers, and we met on her first mission during a joint operation between the Army and the Marines."
"So when's the last time you talked to her?" Gerri questioned.
Mace sung in his seat. "A year and a half ago. She doesn't want to talk to me now."
Gerri gave him a disapproving teacher-like frown. "Oh please. Mike told me, They only broke up because they got assignments on the opposite sides of the planet, and that they knew they wouldn't see each other for a very long time."
Mace shot Kaiser a look of pure malice. "Affirmative," he mumbled. "Little rat."
Gerri rolled her eyes. "So go talk to her! You aren't on the opposite sides of the Earth right now. She's only like-" Gerri counted. -"thirty feet away!"
The bartender returned with a mysterious dark brown liquid, of which Mace took a long swig of before standing up. "You're right. Can't hide in the corner forever." The exceptionally tall marine walked over to the other side of the bar.
Mike turned to Gerri. "Well, that was nice. I was going to tell him to cut and run, but manning up and talking to her works too."
Gerri shook her head. "You're an idiot sometimes, you know that?"
"You wouldn't be the first to say that." Kaiser stood and struck a dramatic pose. "And with Terry the bartender as my witness, may you not be the last!"
"You have nothing to worry about there. By the way, have you seen the cap? He's like the only member of our old crew that isn't here."
"Nah, he was beat when I saw him last. Probably went home and crashed, though I could have sworn I saw something trying to climb into the back of his car. Probably just my lack of sleep catching up with me."
"With you? Who knows," Gerri shrugged.
Suddenly, the patrons of the bar started to murmur amongst themselves louder than normal. Gerri and Mike turned on their bar stools. The source of the commotion was revealed to be Sergeant Sky Blade, Corporal Star Sabre, and Private Crescent Skies, who simply stood at the door.
Kaiser leaned toward Reed. "Hey Gerri, a unicorn, a pegasus, and an earth pony walk into a bar-"
"Shut up Mike."
The three stallions trotted over to the two pilots, taking notice of the marine excitedly conversing with the army ranger nearby.
"Hey guys!" Kaiser fist bumped Sabre. "I didn't know you were cleared to leave the base."
"Just military personnel right now," Sky Blade explained. "I guess they want to see how things will go."
"More like they want to see if we'll get into trouble," Star Sabre muttered.
Kaiser smirked. "You won't have a problem here, dude. At The Contrail, we're all bros."
"Good to hear, Lieutenant sir!" Crescent Skies yelled.
"You can just call me Mike here, Cresto."
Crescent saluted. "Yes sir, Lieutenant Mike!"
Gerri laughed and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, you guys are always welcome here."
"Well in that case, I'm opening up a tab!" Sabre declared.
Sky Blade chuckled. "You know what? I think we've all earned a good break."
Sabre began to reach into his bags. "Hey, since my bits converted into a lot of your money, drinks are on me everyone!"
The other patrons in the hall cheered. Star Sabre slapped a roll of hundred-dollar bills on the table.
Kaiser eyebrows hiked up. "You weren't kidding! You've got baller status now, man! We gotta go out on the town with money like that!"
"I know, right?" Sabre snickered. "Suckers must have actually thought it was gold!"
Sky Blade shook his head and smiled. "Let's stick with drinks for now, corporal. We don't want to start a ruckus all over the city. Well, at least not more of a ruckus than it already is."
"Right. Drinks it is!" Sabre cheered.
Kaiser laughed, then turned to see Sergeant Mace and Specialist Jensen unashamedly showing their affection for each other, having clearly dealt with whatever troubles that had been between them.
Mike shook his head and turned back to the rest of the group.
"So, I guess it's a good day for all of us then."
*****************
Lenard Greene sheepishly returned to the dinner table.
"Note to self. Hay is not for humans," Lenard mumbled.
"Heck, I could have told you that, son," Joe sneered. "Next time you go to another planet, don't eat the food without thinking first."
Lenard nearly sunk below the table in embarrassment. "I'll try to remember that, dad."
Lenard's mother Lilly set a bowl of vegetable soup in front of her son. "Oh, stop it. He's been through enough over the last few weeks. So, Mr. Hill, tell us about yourself. Where do you come from? What's your favorite hobby? How do you open doors with hooves? Tell us everything!"
"Mom, you're bombarding him," Lenard warned.
"It's no problem at all." Lime Tree nodded. "It'll be my pleasure to regale you with stories from my life."
"Let's see. I guess I should start out by telling you that I'm an orphan. I guess "Lenno" here already knew that. My first memories are very cloudy, but I can recall some of them...
********************
"I remember it was cold, so very cold..."
A little green colt, less than a year old, trotted along a frozen path in unfamiliar territory. His walk spoke of inexperience, and his unruly mane spoke of a lack of a caretaker. He was completely alone.
It was still early in the morning, and the sun was just peeking above the horizon. In the darkness, the little colt stumbled over a small stone in the path, then collapsed in exhaustion next to a large tree. Refusing to stay down, the diminutive pony rolled over on the frozen dirt and stared at the tree above. Despite the winter that had long since taken hold, the tree's branches were full of ripe green fruit.
"I remember being very hungry... The worst kind of hunger; as if I hadn't eaten in years..."
The little colt eyed the dangling fruit carefully. Summoning his last reserves of strength, the little pony planted his hooves and leaped for it. His left hoof came within inches of the delicious fruit, but just couldn't reach it. Undeterred, the colt hopped once more, this time barely touching the lowest hanging fruit.
The little colt grinned. Determined to claim his prize, he prepared to leap one last time. As he pushed off of the ground, a pain in one of his legs ended the jump prematurely, leaving the colt to tearfully languish away under the now unattainable fruit. There was no way he could reach it now.
Surely, he would starve.
_______________
A young mare trotted down a path toward a small town in the distance.
"I wish I could remember more about her. What she looked like. Her voice... But I do remember the warmth. Whoever she was, she must have been a kind soul..."
The mare stopped to take in the scenery. "It's been a long time since I've seen anything other than stuffy old Canterlot. I hope they didn't forget me back home." The young mare stopped and put a hoof to her chin. "I know it's been a while, but they would have missed me, right?"
The ghostly sound of a distant crying child shook the young mare from her thoughts.
"I didn't know anypony else was around," she thought to herself. She looked the area with a quick glance, and noticed that she was indeed alone.
"I'm not hearing things, am I?"
She began to frantically search for the sound, finding nothing until she turned toward a large hill. As she moved closer to it, the crying became louder and louder. Now very concerned, the young mare broke into a full gallop toward the top of the hill. The weeping seemed to be coming from beneath a small tree. She slowed as she approached the tree, as not to spook the small creature taking shelter underneath it. It was a very tiny pony, a colt, cradling one of his legs.
The mare gasped. "Who are you, little one? Wait! Are you hurt?! Where are your parents?!"
The colt knew no words, and could only answer with a sniffle.
"You- You're not even old enough to talk! Surely you couldn't have survived out her all by your lonesome! You must have somepony to care for you!"
The colt simply stared at her.
The young mare snatched up the child in her arms and wrapped her red scarf around the freezing child. After she'd made sure the he was warm, she scanned the horizon for any sign of the child's family. After several minutes of searching, it became clear that the two were alone.
"I guess I'll take you into town. Somepony there has to know who you are!" She turned to the colt, who had now fallen comfortably asleep in her arms. She ran a hoof threw his unkempt mane, which spiked right back up after her hoof passed through it. "How could you be out here alone? Who could have left you here?"
Not expecting an answer, she put the sleeping colt on her back and began to trot toward the small town in the distance-
"-the city of Marence."
*****************
The entire Greene family had their eyes fixed on the green stallion.
"Wow. Did you ever find out who she was?" Jana wondered aloud.
Lime Tree shook his head. "No, but that wasn't the last time I saw her."
****************
A young colt starred at the floor of his room at the Marence Youth Home.
"That room. Too much of my early life was spent there..."
A noise at the door made him look up. A young mare stepped into the room. "I just wanted to check up on you. You've been here a week, and they haven't found any evidence that you even have a family."
The colt cocked his head to one side and starred at her.
"It's funny. I keep expecting you to answer me even though I know you can't talk." The little colt giggled as the mare poked him in the belly. "You really don't have a clue what's going on, do you?"
The colt almost seemed to have a serious looks about his face. The young mare scooped him off of the bed. "I just wish there was more I could do for you," she spoke with a tear in her eye. "I can't be your mommy, but we will find somepony who can."
The colt stared right into her eyes.
"Mommy?"
The young mare froze. "No, no, I'm not your mommy. We're trying to find her. I can't believe your first word was-"
The young pony lifted a tiny hoof and placed it on the young mare's face.
"Mommy," he spoke definitively.
"No, I'm not your-"
The little colt reached out to her again, and the mare silently stared into his eyes.
A passing staff member couldn't help but smile at the touching sight. She left and came back with a camera, then snapped a quick picture of the beautiful moment.
The young mare didn't even notice the flash, as she was too caught up in the young colt's eyes.
"You know, you could adopt him and be that mother he needs," the staff mare quietly spoke.
The young mare wiped her eyes. "You know I can't. After I lost my job in Canterlot, I can barely afford to take care of myself. He deserves better than that. He deserves somepony better than that."
"Don't you see how he looks at you? He doesn't care about jobs or money. All he wants is somepony that can give him the motherly love he needs."
The young mare put the child back onto his bed, "Well then I hope somepony can do that."
"Why not you? Your family could easily support y-" the staff mare questioned.
"Merry, you know I can't. I just can't."
"But maybe-"
"I said I can't, Merry!!" the young mare shouted. The staff mare lowered her head.
"Look. I'm sorry. But I- I couldn't- Please, just find him the home he deserves. I-"
"Mommy?" the child spoke.
The young mare turned to the little colt. "I'm sorry."
The mare galloped out of the room at full stride and didn't look back until she was well out of town. After she was sure nopony else could see or hear her, she broke down into tears.
"I'm so sorry."
***************
Every single person at the Greene's dinner table was fighting back tears, including the person whose story had put those tears there in the first place.
"That's... deep, Lime," Lenard spoke quietly.
"I never saw her again, but I think I've lived my life the way I think that mare would have wanted me to."
Lilly dried her eyes. "Did you ever try to find her?"
Lime Tree nodded. "Once, back when I got out of the orphanage...."
***************
"I'd reached the age of stallionhood, and the youth home could no longer keep me. So I readied myself for the big bad real world..."
A green coated teenage colt finished folding a red scarf into a small suitcase when a knock sounded at the door.
"Who is it?" The colt questioned.
"It's just me, Merry. I just wanted to talk to you before you left. Can I come in?"
The green colt trotted up and opened the door. "What do you want?" the colt spoke, barely concealing his anger.
"Lime-"
"Don't call me that. That's not my name," the young stallion answered.
"It's the name she gave you seventeen years ago, and it's the name you were raised with. Lime Tree, please don't be angry with me. This is out of my hooves. You've reached that age, now you have to leave! I'm sorry, but there's nothing I can do!"
The teenager's face fell. "I know. I just needed somepony to be angry at."
"Lime Tree, is this about-"
The young stallion jumped to his hooves. "Yes! This is about my parents, okay?! I just don't like being put out on the street again!"
"I told you, you were never out on the streets, Lime, and you don't know what happened to your parents, so you can't blame them for this either."
The teenage colt grimaced. "THEN WHO DO I BLAME THEN?!"
Merry didn't answer.
The distressed young stallion sat back down on his bed. "Merry, you and the others are the only family I've got. I just don't want to leave you all, you know?"
"I understand. You can always come back and visit us, maybe someday with a family of your own. This isn't the end for you, Lime Tree. This is your beginning."
The colt crossed his forelegs and sighed. "The beginning of what?"
"You go out there and find out. For all of us."
"Merry?"
"Yes?"
"Now that I'm leaving, can you tell me who she was?"
"You know I can't do that, Lime."
"Why not?! What was she so scared of?! I just want to talk to the mare that found me as an abandoned child! What's so wrong about that?!"
"Lime, she was involved with some things that she would never want you wrapped into."
"Like what?! Tell me!"
"Have you heard about the recent attacks in Hoofston?"
"A little. What about it?"
"The mare that found you was one of the ponies targeted by those criminals, years ago."
"Was she an important figure?"
"Not specifically, but her family was very influential at the time, and the criminals wanted them gone. She knew that taking you with her or even associating with you, could mean harm for you both as a child, and now."
"I don't get it. Why were the Hoofston attackers so interested in her family?"
"She wouldn't even tell me that, Lime. That's all I know."
"I'm going find out one day, and I'm going to come back and tell you. We both deserve to know the truth."
Merry kissed the young stallion's forehead. "And we'll be waiting for you to tell us."
The colt secured his saddle bags to his back and trotted to the door and opened it. "Goodbye, Merry Days."
Merry bowed her head as he left.
"Farewell, Lime Tree Hill."
*****************
"I left the only home I'd ever known that day, but I didn't stay depressed too long. There was far too much to do to let any feelings of mine take over. I had to find a job, some way to support myself. I wanted to attend some sort of college eventually. Either way, my quest had begun. I'd find her, then I'd make a name for myself..."
Lime Tree Hill trotted along the quiet paths towards a small village nestled in a valley, a large saddlebag strapped firmly to his back. A small sigh was planted just off of the path.
"Next town, three miles." Lime Tree sighed. "Might as well be three-thousand miles. I'm beat." He noticed a small shady apple tree. "Food, and shelter? Now that's more like it!" Lime Tree put down his saddlebags and put his back against the tree. "Now I'll just rest here a few minutes and..."
The young stallion quickly fell asleep.
****************
"I've got way too much work to be doing this right now. Maybe I should just- Hey, sir. Are you awake?"
Lime Tree quickly opened his eyes to find a tan coated mare with a white mane starring down at him. "Oh, I am now." He stood up and yawned. "Hmm. She's got a white mane, but she looks like she's in her thirties... Must have been born with it," Lime Tree thought.
The mare blushed at her own pushiness. "I'm sorry. Forgive my manners. It's hot out here and I'm a bit overworked."
"I recognize you from somewhere. You're Mayor Mare, right? That must mean that town over there is Ponyville."
"Absolutely right. You're an astute one I see. Mayor Mare, nice to meet you Mr..."
"Lime Tree Hill, at your service. Did you need something?"
"That depends. Where exactly were you going when I found you here?"
"Anywhere, I guess. I wasn't going to any specific place."
"Oh, I see." Mayor Mare looked a bit concerned. "Where were you coming from?"
"Marence," Lime Tree answered.
Mayor Mare jumped back in surprise. "Oh dear! That's nearly three-hundred miles away! Tell me you haven't made this entire trip on hoof!"
"Yes ma'am, though it didn't feel anywhere near that long."
"By yourself?"
"All alone, miss."
"Then I have a little odd job you can do for me. You see, I was about to go to Trottingham to take part in a political summit. I would have sent my assistant, but she quit on me after just a little paperwork." She gave a stressful sigh. "I'm actually running late as it is. But I think you could make it much faster than I could."
Lime Tree shrugged. "With respect, what makes you think I know anything about politics?"
"You knew I was the mayor, didn't you? That means you know something."
"Well, there's not really much to do but read at the orpha-"
"Exactly. Besides, you don't actually have to know anything. You just need to take notes and bring them back to me."
Lime brought up a hoof in protest. "Miss, I'd like to, but-"
"Nonsense. You'll do fine," the mayor reassured him."
"Uh, well- alright. I guess I can do that."
"Now, we just need to do something about your look. Can't have you representing me like that. Come now, dear. Let's get you a tie and do something with that wild mane of yours."
"I guess, though I kinda like the way it looks now."
"All spiked out like that?"
"Yeah. Back home they said it gave me character."
"Oh you're a character all right. You know what? You have quite an imposing personality about you. I like that. I'm sure it'll put the other dignitaries on edge. I always hated having to listen to them anyway. Perhaps you'll start a new trend in politics. I like you, so here's a proposition. You do a good job at the summit, and I'll give you my snotty assistant's old job. What do you think of that?"
Lime Tree still had his hoof raised in protest, having been frozen by the mare's barrage of words. He set his hoof back on the ground and thought a moment.
He looked back up.
"We'll see about it."
****************
The Greene family sat around the dinner table, hanging from the green stallion's every word.
"And the rest, as they say, is history. I got some strange looks from the others at the summit, but I did my job. Soon, I got another one. That was about seven years ago. The mayor kept me so busy I forgot about my quest, and never really picked it back up again. Maybe, once this is all over, I'll get back to it."
Greene took the first spoonful of what was now a very cold bowl of soup. "That's a pretty interesting story, Lime. You know, I've got a few of 'em myself. Like the first time I flew a fighter jet in combat over south-east Asia. Heck, all of us back at the base have a story or two from the insurrection. Gerri, Mike, Mace, all of them."
"Why don't you tell one?" Jana asked.
Lenard shrugged. "I guess I could..."
"I'm afraid I won't be here to listen to it, son. I'm bushed. I'm turning in for the night," Joe Greene spoke.
"Me too," Lilly agreed.
"Going to sleep? But it's not even that-" Lenard looked out of a window to find the sky completely dark, save for a few stars. "-late. Wow, midnight already? Guess we should all hit the sack."
"Yeah," Jana added. "Uh, Lenny, your phone is ringing."
Lenard's hand reflexively shot down to his left pocket, and pulled out the device in question.
"Ooh, is that a new one?" Jana asked.
"Yep," Lenard answered. "I gave my other one to Lime here." He held the phone to his face. "Huh, it looks like Twilight learned how to use her phone after all." He pressed the talk button. "Hello?"
..."Hi there!"...
"Wait, Spike?"
..."Yep, it's me! Twilight will be so jealous I figured this thing out first!"...
"Uh, Spike, if you have Twilight's phone, where's Twilight?"
..."Oh, you know her. A study-holic She's holed herself up in that crate thing all day. And I mean all day. I haven't seen her since this morning."...
"And she just left her phone lying around?"
..."Uh huh."...
"Guess she doesn't quite grasp the concept of a mobile phone then. Oh, I'm sorry Spike, did you want something?"
..."Just reminding you to come back here tomorrow. I'm sure Twi would have done it if she'd been here."...
"Alright. Night, little dude."
..."Later."...
Lenard put the phone back in his pocket. "Well, guess it's time to call it a day. Guest room's yours, Lime."
Lime Tree yawned "Thanks, and I agree. You can tell your tales over breakfast tomorrow-" He turned around to face Lenard.
"I have a feeling we have a long day ahead of us."
****************
General Locklear was startled awake. "Who- What?"
"The time is coming. The true bringers of the "approaching freedom" are soon to arrive."
"Oh, Veltor. It's only you. Sleep ain't easy here. Can you not talk to yourself out loud?"
"I speak to you, human, and all others of your kind," the old griffin responded
Locklear wiped the sleep from his eyes. "What are you talking about? This another one of your stories?"
"The time for stories is at an end. The Dread Lord approaches. Time is short."
Lock turned his head. "You don't mean-"
"Yes. The creature I have spoken of so many times has returned."
"But in the stories- you said he was dead!"
"Only figuratively."
"What do you mean, figuratively? Is he dead or not?!"
"You will see soon enough. We will all see. Rest now. There will be much for you to do in the morrow."
"In "the morrow," I'm going to be right here in this cell. What exactly am I supposed to be doing?"
Veltor bowed his head. "I was once a very respected member of our society. I still have allies in the inner workings of the alliance. You and your friends here will be seeing them soon."
"Are you saying-"
"Go to sleep, human. A new day will answer your questions."
Locklear sighed.
"Whatever you say, bird brain. I'll just have to wait and see then."
****************
Anomalous Energy Event Team Research and Development Factoid #369: Transanomaly Shuttle Aircraft.
Long before the first transanomaly crossing, we here at the AEE Team R&D department had come up with several designs for aircraft that could safely cross into an anomaly. The first concepts were of amazing new designs, which would be developed for the sole purpose of ferrying a large group of people through an anomaly. However, it was later realized that existing aircraft, such as the Airbus A380, and AC130 could be used for such a task. In the end, the design layout which seemed to work best was the venerable Boeing 747. Unmodified, it would be unpractical, but with months of research and the newer probe data to work with, NASA and the AEE managed to create what we called, "The Transanomaly Shuttle Capsule," or TSC, which is essentially the fuselage of a 747 with NASA-grade solid rocket engines and much smaller wings. Other enhancements included a much more advanced pressurization system, as well enough cargo space to store a small garage's worth of equipment. Because of the aircraft's purpose, which is to enter and land in an environment assumed to have no airports or runways, the TSC was designed to jettison its wings and rockets and land vertically via thrusters and parachutes. This would clearly be a one way flight, meaning that the aircraft is not a true "shuttle."
After only being tested twice, the TSC was chosen as the vehicle in which the bulk of humanity's first forces were sent in an anomaly, in order to rescue Captain Lenard Greene, whose aircraft went down during the first crossing. Having been designed to land more like a lunar lander rather than a normal fixed wing aircraft, the TSC was ideal for the job. A team of more than one hundred and thirty soldiers and scientists was sent in on the craft's maiden and final flight. On arrival, the aircraft was broken up and used to construct the second ACSD array, as intended, ending the aircraft's short career as a success. Both NASA and the AEE R&D sector have both expressed interest in the construction of more of these models.