//------------------------------// // (15) // Story: A Four Letter Word // by RealityDowngrade //------------------------------// Watching the shifting crowd of, nearly, chest-high ponies, all I could manage to think about was just how far from home I was. Canterlot, full as it was with shimmering, golden spires and perfectly groomed ponies just didn’t faze me the way this place did. The high white marble walls, the elegant furniture, and sleek fixtures that no one gave so much as a thought because it was simply the norm, all of it was still… familiar, in a medieval sort of way. A place where the doors are all tall enough to walk through without stooping. A place where I could find sinks and chairs built up for someone with two legs, though that might have had something to do with being a hub for interspecies communication, even if such things had become rather quiet recently, though it was probably meant to double as a way to inspire awe at its grandness. Even the desert, something I had never seen back on Earth but from pictures, was manageable. I already knew they existed, even if seeing it in person was just so much more. But here, now, in a crystal palace grown from magic, it was almost like stepping onto the moon. Ms. Sparkle’s castle, something of an eyesore from the outside, was nothing short of breath-taking on the inside, once you found the right room. Much of the castle, as the Princess of Magic herself had personally shown me after everyone had gotten a few hours rest, was large, empty, and starkly bland, even with the shimmer of twining blue and purple crystal that merged through the walls and floors. And then, there was the library. A simple set of deep-blue crystalline doors emblazoned with Ms. Sparkle’s cutie-mark opened up to a floor of cloudless crystal. I actually managed to mistake it for air until I caught the muted shine of light arcing through it to the piercing royal-blue sheets of crystal just some inches beneath it, and even then, the large snowflaking facets only served to highlight the glimmering snow-white inlay that shot through the blue that, angled as they were, wound all too naturally through and around the floor and shelving, glints of rainbow just kissing their edge. It was like looking into a fairy-tale, even without the talking unicorn, pegasi, and earth-ponies. “Hey there Wayde,” Pinkamena smiled up at me, her bobbing pink curls blocking my view of the floor in my quiet corner of the library, “enjoying the party?” I could have said no, wanted to say no. Sure, the ponies were certainly friendly enough, Pinkamena having introduced some of her friends to me a few times, during which I was forced to pull up some shadows before word got out that I really was there, gaining me a couple inches in belief in the process. They just weren’t going out of their way to talk to me afterwards; it was not a big deal. I certainly hadn’t gone to any trouble to remember their names myself, I was still going to go home after all, so it wouldn’t matter. So yeah, it wasn’t enjoyable, but it wasn’t un-enjoyable. All the same, I found myself smiling, and said, “Yes.” “Great,” she beamed, grabbing my left hand between her forehooves, “Because I need your help with something?” “Okay?” I said, blinking my way through the crowd of ponies we hurried through, “What for?” “This,” she said with, what I assumed was, mock-seriousness as we broke through a ring of ponies to an open wall where the picture of an eyeless green earth-pony wearing a grey business-jacket looked past his question cutie-mark to where his tail should have been. “Somepony needs to fix this picture,” she said, grunting back a chuckle as she kept her ‘serious’-tone, “here,” and held out a brown paper-tail on a small plastic-pin on an outstretched hoof. Peering down my nose to the small, flimsy piece of paper, whatever misgivings I had suddenly felt... unimportant, though I couldn’t place why. Pinching up the pin and paper between my thumb and forefinger, a small bubble of thought rose up in my mind: ‘This could be fun,’ it said. “Ok,” I shrugged, feeling well enough now to at least entertain the thought, as Pinkamena motioned me down with a smile, placing a white blindfold over my eyes, and spun me around on my heels a few times for good measure. My first thought was just how well the blindfold was working, it was firmly in place, but I could still feel it moving just under my eyes, where at least a few specs of light should have reached me as I weaved across the open floor, arms outstretched, until I felt the poster and the wall behind it. ‘Enchanted, I suppose,’ I thought a bit ruefully, running my fingers over the edges to get a good feel for the size, trying to remember the exact shape of the drawing in front of me while a second thought wordlessly took shape. “Heh,” I grinned to myself, pinning the ‘tail’ to the picture before raising both of my hands to the blindfold. “Yes,” I whispered before turning aside to show off the green pony’s new mustache, much the audience’s chuckling-amusement, Pinkamena’s snort of laughter, and my own swelling sense of comedic-pride. “Hee hee, Okay Shoeshine,” Pinkamena grinned as I handed the blindfold quickly back to her, holding out another paper tail to a pastel blue earth-pony mare with a curling, almost cloudishly so, grey mane, “your turn.” Shoeshine had just taking the ‘tail’ and blindfold in turn, when I caught sight of another circle just off to the left in its own little corner. ‘Best not to disturb,’ I thought, looking at the scattered ponies between me and my new interest, and, looking back to see Pinkamena giggling at her job as pony-spinner, I slid down into shadow amidst a few gasps and pricks of sudden fear, flowing across the gentle sparkle of the floor’s crystal until I pulled up on the wall, stepping out to just outside the circle. I didn’t quite believe it when I saw it. I mean, I’d heard about it, but I figured it was just some trumped-up movie cliché or something, but there it was, a small glass soda-bottle, spinning in the center of the small ring of seven ponies, of who Rainbow Dash seemed to have enthralled. And with a, well, I wasn’t quite sure how she managed to get the bottle to spin with the bottom of her foot, but she did, and much to everyone’s disappointment, it ended up pointing at open space halfway between a grey and a yellow stallion. One skinny white stallion with taped-glasses and a bit of acne poking through his fur pulled out a protractor and a ruler from his saddle-bags to measure whose turn it was, when Ms. Dash suddenly looked up to me, down to the bottle, then up to me again, a small grin sprouting on her face. But, as I attempted to take a polite step back, her smile only grew, and, gently pushing the nerd-pony back, raised an eyebrow and in a husky tone said, “You’re not afraid of a little truth or dare, are you?” ‘Chuckle and say no, then walk- No, say no Then chuckle as you walked away,’ I thought, even as I took a step forward, and, with a heat in my chest that surprised me, frowned, and stated quietly, “No.” “Well?” she replied, sweeping a hoof in my direction. ‘Truth. Show her no fear. Show her you can part with any information and still hold the advantage,’ I thought, matching Dash’s smug little grin with a scathing smirk. “Dare.” Everyone in the circle immediately ‘ooo’-ed at my quiet declaration, save Ms. Dash, whose only response was to flash a thin line of teeth under slitted eyes. “Okay tough-guy,” she said, eyeing me up, “I dare you to,” she paused, putting a hoof to her chin. Then, as the idea finally came, her features melted into total concentration, on me, and said, “I dare you to Pinkie Promise you’re not out to hurt Equestria or my friends.” The circle and several yards from it fell silent, their eyes all on me. I hadn’t expected that, not from Rainbow Dash the impulsive, self aggrandizing hothead. Not from the slothful weathermare. But from the Element of Loyalty? From the pegasus who would charge a dragon, point blank, for raining ash, choking an entire town? Maybe I didn’t give her enough credit? Inhaling silently through my nose, the mood going murky as the silence began to grow at the edges, I knew I couldn’t, shouldn’t act too familiar with them. Not until Princess Luna or Celestia had informed them, or gave me the okay to at least. So, keeping that firmly in mind, I asked, “And how is that done?” Flapping up into the air, just enough to make sure none of the others blocked her from my line of sight, Dash said, “You say, I Pinkie Promise, make the promise, then say cross my heart,” crossing her heart with a hoof, “and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye,” and gently pressed a hoof into her eye before letting it fall onto the other, crossing them over her chest once she finished. I nodded. Then, raising my right hand, extended my pinkie-finger, and said, “I Pinkie Promise, it is not now, nor will it ever be my intent to harm you, your friends, or Equestria. Cross my heart, and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye,” and gently palmed my right eyeball. The crowd looked to Dash, who just flapped wings, face unmoving, and then, she nodded. “Alright, yer good for now,” she grinned, gently returning to the floor. “Uh, it’s your turn,” she added, rolling her eyes as I continued to stand there. “Oh,” I said, the general hum of the crowd returning as room was added to the circle, where I took a cross-legged seat. Reaching over I gave the bottle a spin, and, now that I was closer, I was able to hear the quiet chiming as it rubbed against the floor until it came to a halt, pointing at Rainbow Dash. “Truth or Dare, Ms. Dash?” “Just Dash,” she muttered, rolling her eyes again, “and dare, duh.” Putting a thumb under my chin, I hoped my pretense would give me enough time to find… something, anything in the massive white-space that had scattered my remaining thoughts. I was not good at this game. But, with a grumble from my stomach, roused from its slumber now that I had managed to take an actual number of steps out of the corner I’d secluded myself in, I came to the ingenious solution of daring Dash to wade through the crowd herself and bring me a plate of snacks. Maybe pigs-in-a-blanket, or some of that cheesecake I’d seen earlier on someone’s plate. But, no sooner had I opened my mouth when a hush fell over the entire crowd, then, in a reverse-wave, began to bow to the floor. “Rise my fellow ponies,” I heard Luna command through several thick, Twilight-sized bookcases, as I turned a finger in my ear sympathetically. “I am here to speak with The Elements of Harmony and Wayde.” “Well, that’s us,” Dash said, winging off as I stood up, only to U-turn back once she saw me heading towards the wall. “Hey, the Princess is that way,” she pointed with a hoof to the library’s entrance. “I know,” I said, pausing just one more step from face-planting against it, and, sticking a foot into shadow added, “I’ll see you when you get there,” and hopped the rest of the way in, the sounds of Dash’s bluster disappearing behind me as the world turned to a moment of blur then to blue as I zeroed in on Luna’s fear, peeling out of the bookcase just to the left of The Princess of the Night and the hallway behind her. And, much to my smug satisfaction, I’d managed to beat everyone, except Pinkamena, who was waving at me. I waved back, and no sooner had I put my hand back down then the others rounded bookcases and broke through crowds as they semi-circled up around Princess Luna, and, much to my pleasure, Rainbow Dash arrived last. Landing next to me, she leaned over and, in a low tone, said, “I’m going to crush you in a race as soon as we’re done here.” “Whatever you say snail bait,” my mouth shot off before I could catch it. Well, maybe not entirely before I could have. Dash didn’t get the chance to respond as Princess Luna turned her attention back to the crowd, and said, “Please return to your merry making my subjects, your friends will be returned shortly, I need but a few moments of their time.” Turning her attention to the seven of us, she said, “Please, may we have this discussion in the kitchen,” briefly dipping her eyes to the floor, “I’m afraid I’ve a rather busy night ahead of myself and have yet to break my fast.” “Of course Princess Luna,” Twilight smiled, “this way,” she pointed to the right of the door. “You need not resort to such formality Princess Sparkle,” Luna said, nodding to the purple alicorn, “this is your home. Please, lead the way.” “Hee,” Sparkle blushed, “of course. This way,” she said, exiting the library as the rest of us followed down the next two rights in to the kitchen, a strangely regular looking place. The floor was still crystal, but the table tops and cupboards that lined the walls were wooden with a restaurant sized stainless-steel double sink sat at the far end of the room. On the other two, sat a large stove-top oven and fridge respectively, both metallic, and both painted a homey looking shade of white. “Is there anything I can get for you?” Sparkle asked. Nodding Princess Luna, said, “A large cup of coffee, black as you can fea- as black as you might easily manage.” The Princess of Magic nodded, her horn alighting with violet cloud as the rest of us circled around the small white-tiled island in the center of the kitchen. “Now,” Princess Luna said, looking to the girls, “while I’m sure what I’m about to say may seem a bit strange, I’d like to explain what Mr. Molan is doing here.” *** The stench of coffee was the only thing that permeated the room in its silence as the Elements of Harmony continued to stare at Princess Luna in various looks of concentration. Then, in a rather disturbing act of unison, looked left and right at each other. When no one else spoke, Luna, taking a brief glance at me, took the initiative and said, “I know this is a lot to take in…” “Of course it’s a lot to take in,” Dash frowned, giving me a mean look as she flapped into the air. “I mean, I mean,” she muttered, looking at her hooves. “I sorta know what you mean Dash,” Applejack said, “I mean, yeah, it’s kinda, well, a lot unsettlin’ knowin’ that somepony else knows so much about us, but like the Princess said, there are discrepancies between this show and us. But even if there weren’t it still wouldn’t be us, and, well, if you’re really gonna get so bent outta shape about this, then I guess you’d better trash all of your Daring Do books, seeing as how she’s real too.” That took some of the wind out of Dash’s sails, dropping a few inches closer to the floor. “And another thing, it’s hardly this feller’s fault if he reads or watches something in all innocence, just enjoying something that for all intents and purposes was meant and supposed to be fictional. Ah mean, for all we know every last bit of fiction we have is real someplace else. We’ve already been inside a comic book, who’s to say you couldn’t push a little bit more magic into it and make a universe out of it?” “It wouldn’t be tha-” Twilight began to say. “Well spoken Applejack,” Luna nodded. “Eh, you get a lotta time to think while mindin’ the crops. Used to make-believe I was buckin’ badguys from those pirate books I used to read when I was a filly during harvest time,” Applejack shrugged. “So,” I added tentatively, drawing everyone’s attention, “what can I do?” “You?” Pinkamena gasped, hoping to the door as she pointed a hoof to the hallway, “You can get right back to the party with the rest of us and have some fun.” Then, turning to Luna added, “come on, we have just enough time to squeeze in three and a half party games before you have to go,” and was gone. “But,” was all Twilight had to say before the others, looked to each other, and ran back for the party, sweeping up Twilight as they went. “Well,” Princess Luna said, pointing a dark-blue wing to the open door, “I do like games. Let us make haste.” “Yes ma’am,” I smiled. There was nothing else to be done.