//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 // Story: The Kindness of Strangers // by Wheller //------------------------------// Chapter 3 Twilight Sparkle made her way into the high street, the entire town had been heavily damaged by the dragon's rampage, but she found herself unable to focus on the town. 10 metres to her front, the ball of light continued to shine, though it was dimming, reaching the point where it would go out entirely. "Princess Celestia!" Twilight called out. The ball of light faded entirely, and standing there was the pony that had saved the town. It was not however, Princess Celestia. The pony turned and looked at her. The Alicorn was clearly male, grey with an equally grey mane, but what stood out the most where the creature's eyes. They were blood red, and seemed to glow when looking into them. Twilight stopped in her tracks, realising that this was not her mentor. "Oh. Hello!" she said nervously, "I'm sorry, I thought you were someone else." The Alicorn did not reply, it did however continue to stare at her intensely. "I'm Twilight Sparkle... We have you to thank for saving us, don't we?" No reply. "What's your name?" Twilight asked an awkward smile formed on her face, trying to break the ice between her and the newcomer. No reply. An awkward moment of silence later, Twilight spoke again "well, I really should go find my friends, thank you for helping us." She turned to leave. "Hold." The Alicorn said in a deep, commanding voice. Twilight stopped in her tracks, and turned back around, as if she didn't have any control over it. "The date, what is the date?" the Alicorn asked. Twilight thought for a moment, "It's September 22nd, year 1001 of Celestia's reign." The Alicorn did not reply, instead, he walked towards her, Twilight's first instinct was to run, but she felt as if something was keeping her from doing so. The Alicorn passed her. "Overdrive," he said. Twilight turned and looked at him, "excuse me?" she asked as the Alicorn passed. "You asked for my name. You may call me Overdrive," The Alicorn said. "Oh, well nice to meet you Overdrive." Twilight said with an awkward smile. The Alicorn did not reply, rather it spread its wings and with a leap into the air, took flight, perching himself on a small cloud high above Ponyville. The Alicorn sat down; facing the east looked out into the country side. Twilight watched him for a moment, and then remembered her friends. She rushed back to the hill to make sure everyone was okay. She discovered that the Hill had become far more crowded; stragglers who had fled had found their way here. Twilight walked up to her friends. "It's safe. The town is clear." Twilight said. Rarity walked up to her, "did you speak with the princess?" "It wasn't the princess," Twilight said with a concerned look on her face, "it was an Alicorn, and he said his name was Overdrive. He asked me what the date was and then he took off." Princess Luna looked at Twilight with awe, "an Alicorn? That's impossible, my sister and I are the only two Alicorns in Equestria." Twilight shrugged, "and yet there is a third. I think we should talk to Princess Celestia about this... Has anyone seen Spike?" "I saw him!" cried a voice from behind the ponies. Twilight looked to see that it was Pinkie Pie, a very strange looking Pinkie Pie, even by her standards. Pinkie Pie's hair was straight. Something that Twilight had only seen once before during her last birthday. "He said he was going back to the Library to find parchment for you. He figured that you'd want to send a letter." Pinkie said smiling. Twilight gave a sigh of relief. She hadn't seen her assistant since this morning, and had almost completely forgotten about him. The group of seven set out from the hilltop into the Ponyville Library. Spike was already there, gathering up parchment, ink, and quills lying around the library, which was a complete mess. Not a single book was left on the shelves; they must have all fallen off during the attack. "Spike! You're all right!" Twilight said with another sigh of relief. "Of course I am," the baby dragon said, "I just wanted to get everything ready for you." Twilight smiled, she was glad to have such a dependable assistant and friend, "Take a letter. Dear Princess Celestia, Today Ponyville was attacked by a dragon from the Everfree Forrest, but was defeated upon the arrival of a mysterious pony, an Alicorn, calling himself Overdrive, as I'm sure you know, you and your sister are the only Alicorns known to exist. If you could please reply to this with haste, I would be appreciative, something isn't right about the situation and I think it needs you're direct attention..." Twilight stopped suddenly, her eyes widened, "Oh my gosh! How could I be so crass!" and took off running out the door, her friends were quick to follow. Twilight made her way to the building in which she had seen Floppy Disk beaten against several times. She had watched as he'd been mutilated against it. How could she have let her excitement of the prospect of the Princess being here get the better of her, she was supposed to be a good friend. Floppy's body was gone, however there was significant evidence of what had happened left over. Blood had splattered over the wall and the ground where Floppy spent his last moments alive. Twilight vomited, she had never seen so much blood. Her friends arrived, and a look of horror formed on each of their faces, everyone knew instantly it had been a grim end for the pony who had so gallantly sacrificed himself for them. "Send the letter Spike." Twilight said weekly as she vomited again. Spike nodded, and sent the letter with a breath of green flame. -- Overdrive sat on his cloud looking east. He did not blink, he barely breathed. Instead he just looked to the east; however he felt something coming his way. He turned to look as a wisp of magical smoke floated through the sky towards him. Using a bit of magic of his own, he grabbed the smoke out of the air, and it reformed as a letter, which he carefully opened and read. It was about himself, no less. He rolled the scroll back up and sent it on its way. Several minutes later another one came back; he caught this one as well, opened it up, and read it. Satisfied he knew what it said, he rolled it back up and sent it on its way. These ponies were conspiring against him. So be it. If it was an enemy they wanted, then an enemy they would get. -- The Princess' letter arrived quicker than Twilight Sparkle thought it would, and considering the content of it, she wasn't surprised. Twilight Sparkle: I will arrive within the hour. Princess Celestia. "The Princess is coming here." Twilight said. "So quickly?" Rarity said with surprise, "and look at the dreadful state of everything! We're not ready for a princess to come here!" Applejack rolled her eyes, "in case ya fergot, the town was just attacked by a dragon! Ah course it looks bad! There ain't nuthin' we can do 'bout it now." Pinkie Pie was looking off into the distance, having a quiet conversation with no one in particular about the day's events, nopony was really paying her any mind until she turned to address the group. "Well today's been fun and all, but I got a lot of work that needs doing. I'll see everypony later," Pinkie gave a wide smile, but went unnoticed as her eyes grew very small and began to twitch slightly. She walked off giggling. "Oh Monty, you're so silly!" The group watched as their friend departed. "Ah worry 'bout that pony sometimes." Applejack said. Rainbow Dash nodded, "I think stress has pushed her a little over the edge." "A lil'?" Applejack asked with a hint of sarcasm in her voice. "Her hair's gone all straight, an' she's been talkin' ta herself since the dragon showed up." Twilight shrugged, "We'll check up on her later. We've got more pressing matters to worry about right now." -- Princess Celestia sat in the back of her carriage as it made its way towards Ponyville. She was worried to say the least. While dragons were chaotic creatures by nature, it was unheard of for one to attack without provocation. Twilight Sparkle's letter had been rather vague, but the princess surmised that this was because her pupil knew little about the attack all together. The Princess didn't know which prospect was worse, the idea that a dragon attacked without provocation, or that a Ponyville denizen might have provoked it. Worse still, she did not know the identity of the dragon in question. Equestria had treaties with the Green and Purple Dragon flights. If this dragon belonged to either of these races, then it would lead to a major diplomatic incident. Ultimately, the Princess decided to worry about it later, she was more concerned with the well being of her subjects. Particularly, Twilight Sparkle herself. The carriage landed and came to a halt. The Princess was about to step out, when the guard who was pulling it cried out. "Make way for The Princess!" The Princess looked at what was going on, standing in the middle of the road was the Grey Alicorn that Twilight described in her letter, he remained silent, and did not move when commanded. "I said: make way for the Princess!" the guard said again. Silence. The guards unharnessed themselves from the carriage, ready to deal with this pony by force. "Guards, that will be enough," Princess Celestia said. She stepped out of the carriage and approached the Alicorn. "Hello, I am Princess Celestia." she said as she approached the Alicorn standing in the road, it's glowing red eyes staring intensely at her, "I understand that we have you to thank for saving this town. I am very grateful that would take it upon yourself to protect my subjects, and you have my thanks." Silence. The Princess felt rather uneasy by the pony's silence. This was rare, she almost never felt uneasy about anything, but there was something about this Alicorn that was simply unnatural. "May I ask your name?" The Princess asked, trying once again to break the ice with the stone cold pony. Silence. "Well then, if you'll excuse me, I really must be on my way." Celestia said she attempted to walk past the Alicorn; however, he extended his wing to block her passage. "Hold," he said. His quick movement caused the guards to leap into action, but the princess quickly called them off. "So you do speak," the Princess said. "My name is Overdrive." the Alicorn said. "I am protecting this village from chaos itself." "And I am grateful that you have taken up such a task, but I must ask that you allow me to pass, I rule this village." The Alicorn was silent for a moment, but folded his wing in, "Indeed." The Princess walked past him, followed by her two guards, Overdrive kept his eyes forward as they passed him. The Princess was unsure of this Alicorn, she had looked into his eyes, and she had seen nothing. This pony knew no fear, no anger, and as far as the Princess could tell, no emotion at all. She turned to her guards. "I do not wish the public to know I am here. Please return to the castle. I shall be quite all right on my own." The guards nodded returning to the carriage and leaving with it. The Princess made her way through the empty streets to the Library, which she entered to find her prized pupil and her friends gathered, speaking solemnly about a pony called "Floppy Disk." Twilight looked as the door to the Library opened, it was Princess Celestia herself standing in the door, and she walked in and closed the door behind her. "Princess Celestia! I am so glad you are here!" she said as she bowed respectfully to her mentor. "Hello Twilight Sparkle," she said, she looked into the corner to find her sister sitting in a chair, looking solemnly at the ground, "Hello little sister." Luna looked up at her, "Hello big sister," she said in return. "Twilight I am sure that you are very anxious to discuss today's events with me, but first, you must no longer send me letters via magic. When I received your letter it had already been opened, and I would suspect, read, by another party. Letters are no longer a safe means of communication." the Princess said. Twilight's jaw dropped. "Opened? By who?" "Let's just say I have my suspicions." The Princess said she thrust her head upwards, attempting to indicate the town's new 'Lord Protector' as the culprit. And I even met Oberlander Cromwell. This new pony puts him to shame. The Princess thought to herself. "How do you know it was Overdrive?" Twilight asked. The princess shrugged a little, as if slightly unsure, "I suppose I don't know for sure, but it takes a powerful magic user to intercept your letters. I know of no one else who has magical ability like that. From now on, you should use the regular post. Less chance of an interception, it will take longer, but the message will stay safe." -- Derpy Hooves, postal worker. That's who she was, the wall eyed Pegasus was in the middle of her rounds. Nothing stopped the post from being delivered. Not rain, snow, or an attack by dragons would stop Derpy Hooves from making her deliveries. She had just finished, and was preparing to return her bag to the post office when she heard someone call out. "Postal worker!" came a booming, yet emotionless voice from the east. Derpy turned to look at where the voice came from, she saw an Alicorn sitting on a cloud, staring at her. Derpy made her way over to him. "Hi! I don't think I've seen you before, I'm Derpy Hooves!" Derpy said with a lopsided smile, the way her eyes were oriented made it difficult to look at someone with anything that even resembled a normal expression. The Alicorn said nothing. "Umm... was there something you needed?" The Alicorn tilted his head slightly, and after a moment, spoke again, "Yes. I have a package to send." The Alicorn produced a small, prepaid shipping box, and handed it over to the mail pony, "be gentile with it, it is delicate." "Uh... okay. I can do that, no problem!" Derpy said happily. The Alicorn nodded at her. "Thank you... Derpy, I am very appreciative." The Pegasus flew off happily back to the post office, where she deposited her bag, and set the package in the processing room. She smiled happily as she walked out of the office. The post office exploded. Derpy did not even hear it. The shockwave sent her flying into the building on the opposite end of the street, blood splattered all along the side of the wall, her wings mangled by the force of impact, Derpy fell to the ground, dripping in blood, she tried to move but found herself unable, her leg was broken, and she felt blood running down her face and into her eyes. She looked up and saw the Alicorn who had given her the package not 10 minutes before walking towards her. "I'm... sorry," she said weakly. The Alicorn said nothing. Derpy succumbed to darkness. -- Twilight Sparkle and her friends rushed out of the Library towards the origin of the explosion. The Post Office was on fire, and if it didn't get under control soon, it would burn down the entire block. "Fluttershy! I need your help," Rainbow Dash said, "We need to get this out!" Fluttershy did not reply she was looking at Derpy lying on the ground. "So much blood..." "Fluttershy! Focus!" Rainbow Dash shouted. Fluttershy recoiled, and then shook her head, now was not the time to get distracted. Rainbow Dash looked at Fluttershy and Princess Luna, "gather as many clouds as you can, we need to get this fire out now!" The Pegasi and royal Alicorn leaped into the air, and off they went. Twilight looked at the post office as it burned. Why was this happening? Why was this town a magnet for horrible things? Another thought popped into Twilight's head, what if it wasn't the town? What if it was her? "Twi!" Applejack shouted at her. "She's still alive!" Twilight turned around, Applejack was leaning over Derpy, her ear to her chest, "she's breathin' an' her heart's a beatin'!" Princess Celestia stepped forward, "She needs to be taken to the Royal Hospital in Canterlot. I will get her there safely. I'm sorry Twilight, but for now, you're going to have to deal with this on your own." The Princess stepped towards Derpy, and magically teleported the injured Pegasus away. Twilight didn't know what to do. She was the de facto leader of her group of friends, but now she was at a loss, too much was happening at once. She panicked and ran off head long. "Twilight!" Applejack called out, ready to go after her, but was quickly stopped in her tracks. "Let her go," Rarity said, "She'll be Twilight again when she's ready." Applejack didn't quite understand what she meant, but nevertheless stayed put. Twilight burst into her Library and slammed the door behind her. She collapsed on the floor in tears, and let out the loudest scream she possibly could. Spike dashed into the main from one of the adjacent rooms. "Twilight, are you all right?" he asked. "No!" she screamed at him, "no I am not all right!" her head drooped into her hooves, and she cried, cried harder than she had ever cried before. Spike attempted to comfort her, but she quickly pushed him away, "leave me alone Spike." she managed between sobs. Spike did not reply, rather withdrew to another room, allowing Twilight to vent her frustrations. Night had fallen, by this time Twilight had stopped crying, mainly because she had run out of tears to cry out. She sat on her bed, face first in her pillow, the last thing she wanted to do interact with the world. Spike was asleep, Twilight felt guilty about the way she had treated her friend, he cared about her and she had pushed him away. She would be sure to apologise to him in the morning. Twilight heard a knock at the door, she groaned. The last thing she wanted to do was talk to anyone, and she considered not answering it. The knock came again. Twilight sighed, and rose from the bed; she trotted down to the first level, and opened the door. She gasped in surprise, standing before her was the grey Alicorn, Overdrive, his glowing red eyes seemed to pierce her flesh and she recoiled in an imagined pain. The Alicorn said nothing. "Um, hi," Twilight said nervously. "Is there anything I can do for you?" The Alicorn looked at her for a moment, "Yes." "Um, come in? I suppose?" she said nervously, she couldn't imagine what Overdrive could want with her. "What can I do for you?" The Alicorn looked at her. "You have been crying," he said plainly. Twilight was taken aback, in the short time that she had known the Alicorn; he had never given a response that quickly. "How do you know?" She asked him. "I know," he said. "Tell me what ails you." Twilight spilled everything, as if she couldn't control herself, she found herself sharing everything she had felt with Overdrive since yesterday morning. She told him about her guilt, she had watched Floppy Disk die, but didn't care about it. Derpy had been seriously injured, but she didn't care about it. "I am an awful friend," she said, wrapping everything up. The Alicorn was silent. "Twilight Sparkle, tell me, do you know anything about South Island?" he asked finally. Twilight looked up at him, "South Island? Of course, it's a continent in the South Sea, the world's smallest; ponies from Equestria only settled it 300 years ago." The Alicorn nodded, "I am not interested in the Ponies of South Island. What do you know about the natives?" Twilight wracked her brain for information, she knew that Kangaroos and Wallabies were two groups that were native to South Island, but she knew very little about them. "Are you familiar with the Wallaby tradition of the walkabout?" the Alicorn asked. Twilight merely shook her head. "Walkabouts are a spiritual journey undertaken by the Wallaby, the idea is that when you have lost yourself, when you are unsure of who you are or what you are becoming, that one has to go out and find themselves, The Wallaby will wander the desert of South Island with nothing but a knife and their wits, until they find themselves." the Alicorn said. Twilight looked at the Alicorn in confusion. "What are you saying?" "I am saying that you have lost yourself, and that you need to go find yourself," the Alicorn said. His horn lit up, and he produced a 15 centimetre long sheathed knife, he placed it on the table, "you will need that."