//------------------------------// // Chapter 18 // Story: Sleeping in the Light // by Wheller //------------------------------// Chapter 18 The streets of Ponyville were deserted. Kelso clutched her head in pain as a new memory formed around her. She was tired, her head ached, and worst of all, they had no idea just how long this had been going on. ‘You okay, Kelso?’ Viola asked as she placed her foreleg around her, allowing Kelso to lean against her for support. ‘Yeah...’ Kelso said weakly as she continued to rub her head. ‘Yeah... I don’t know how much longer I can keep this up for though...’ Sparky nodded her head in agreement as they looked around. Most concerning, was the fact that they didn’t know just how much they had left to go. They had no idea how much time had passed in the real world, it could be minutes, and it could be hours. They had no way of knowing for certain, they could make safe guesses that they’d been going at this for only a few hours at the most. Otherwise, they would have been interrupted when the staff of Station SPECTRE came into work. Or, perhaps someone did try to interrupt them, and when the review of the memories ended, they might be surrounded by multiple infantry sections of FutureTec Private Security. That was going to be fun. As they looked around the streets of Ponyville, they all began to notice one thing in particular, everything was so still, so maddeningly quiet. It was as if someone had taken the population and dragged them off in the middle of the night. Everything was completely deserted. Everything looked normal, and there was nothing out of place, except for a large banner that was hanging between two buildings. ‘Welcome Representatives of the World Leaders’ Conference’, it said, in large bold face letters. That’s when they realised, that the denizens of Ponyville had shut themselves up in their homes, and were refusing to come out. ‘I remember now!’ Viola cried out with glee. ‘My grandmother told me something about this!’ ‘Oh? What is it?’ Hopely asked, raising an eyebrow. ‘Grandma Octavia was a Detective Inspector for the Greater Manehattan Police, and she had come to Ponyville in search of a suspect in a smuggling ring, now this is important, because the World Leaders’ Conference is usually held in Manehattan, except for the Conference in year 1 before the Republic! When it was moved to Canterlot at the last minute’, Viola said, as she recounted the details of the story. ‘My grandmother caught her suspect, and when she was taking him back to Manehattan, he asked to use the toilet on the train, my grandmother let him, and when he did, he somehow got out of his restraints, climbed out a window, and crawled along the roof to the next car and disconnected the car my grandmother was in’. ‘Was the suspect a pegasus or a unicorn?’ Dizzy asked, figuring that for such an escape attempt to work, telekinesis or wings would have been necessary. ‘Earth pony’, Viola said with a shrug. ‘Damn’, Dizzy said, taken aback by the revelation. ‘That’s impressive!’ Viola nodded her head in agreement. ‘Unfortunately, my grandmother agreed too, though she didn’t like it in the slightest bit’, she added with a chuckle. ‘Anyway, unfortunately, the breaks for the train were in the caboose, and the conductor and engineers didn’t notice until it was far too late, long story short, the train crashed, some casualties, and the conference was moved to Canterlot for fear of the leaders’ safety’. ‘You know, that memory sounds sort of important’, Hopely mused. ‘You would think we’d be shown that!’ Viola merely shrugged in response, she had no answer for that one. ‘Maybe FutureTec never got a hold of that memory?’ Sparky said, offering a possible explanation. ‘All of the memories we’ve seen have revolved around my grandmother and her friends’. ‘What about that one with my great-grandmother and Graham Cracker in the gaol cell?’ Dizzy asked. ‘None of them were in it except for them!’ Sparky merely shrugged in response, she had no answer for that one. Suddenly, the silence was broken by the rapid clip-clop of hoof steps. Someone was running right towards them. Kelso turned her head to see a pink blur on the approach. It was Pinkie Pie, and she was running along Ponyville’s south eastern road at full speed, a look of panic filled the pink party pony’s face. She breezed by them like a howling winter wind, and kept on running. ‘What is she running from?!’ Kelso cried out. ‘I don’t know’, Viola said. ‘But wherever she’s going this must be what we’re meant to see! After her!’ Kelso needed no encouragement. This was her friend that they were following after all. As they rounded a corner, Pinkie Pie suddenly skidded to a halt in front of group of well armed ponies dressed in crème coloured uniforms, each with a flag of a white cross superimposed on a red background, the flag of the United Kingdom of Welara, embroidered upon the sleeve, and on their heads were brodie helmets. They were marching up the road towards Ponyville, and driving along slowly behind them was a very menacing looking armoured car that had trained its main gun upon her. ‘Assassin!’ one of the soldier ponies cried out as they all turned towards Pinkie Pie. Pinkie Pie swallowed hard; oh she had just gotten herself into quite the mess. ‘Hold!’ boomed a voice from behind them. Pinkie Pie’s eyes rose as she looked at who had spoken. Indeed, descending from the armoured car was one of the largest ponies that one could lay eyes upon, though this pony could not hold a candle to the height of the former Queen of Equestria, the mother of Princesses Celestia and Luna. Standing at two hundred centimetres, with a crème coloured coat and a chestnut mane and beard was a pony that Hopely had recognised in an instant thanks to her being a history major in university. ‘King George of Welara’, Hopely said, in awe of the pony that stood before her. ‘Fools! This is no assassin! Unless she intended to murder me with her own hooves!’ King George said with a scoff. ‘I... what?’ Pinkie Pie asked in confusion. The Welaran King looked at Pinkie Pie oddly for a few moments before he realised that she did not know who he was. ‘Guards, go on without us, I wish...’ By this time, a second pony descended from the armoured car, this one a grey coated stallion wearing a black overcoat and top hat. 'Leonard Spencer', Hopely said as her mouth fell open. 'Who?' Sparky asked. Hopely looked over to Sparky and frowned, giving her a light smack across the face, not enough to hurt her, but enough to surprise her. 'Leonard Spencer...' Hopely began, her voice filled with emotion at Sparky's ignorance. 'Is only the most important Prime Minister that Welara has ever had!' 'Hopely, this is Sparky we're talking about', Dizzy said, patting her friend on the shoulder. 'She barely knows the names of our own Prime Ministers, let alone theirs'. 'Hey!' Sparky called out at the insult as she rubbed her cheek. 'Yeah...' she said, eventually acknowledging that this was true. ‘Your majesty! I must protest...’ Leonard Spencer began before being interrupted. ‘I am talking!’ the King cried out, clearly not about to let his Prime Minster tell him what to do. ‘And I say, go on without me’. ‘Yes, your majesty’, Spencer said with a huff, he was clearly not pleased with being told what to do either, but could he really say no to his King? Yes, he probably could, but he would pay for it later. He, along with the soldier ponies continued on their way into town. After they were gone, King George turned towards Pinkie Pie, and offered her a polite smile. ‘Do you know who I am?’ he asked. Pinkie Pie shook her head no, and an even brighter smile formed upon the king's face and he let out a small chuckle. ‘That, is actually quite a relief, I am King George of Welara, you may call me George, or I suppose, if it makes you feel more comfortable, you may call me “Your Majesty”, I know it can be difficult for some to be informal around one of my status, though just because I am socially above you, does not mean I am better than you, so really, whatever makes you feel more comfortable’. ‘Uh...’ Pinkie Pie said with a nervous chuckle. ‘Hi... George, I’m Pinkie Pie...’ King George smiled at her and stuck out a hoof. ‘Charmed’, he said with a smile. It was clear that Pinkie Pie wasn’t sure how to respond to the gesture. ‘Come now!’ King George said with a friendly smile. ‘I won’t bite, shake! Please! I insist’. Pinkie Pie reluctantly took the king’s hoof and shook it. King George chuckled and gave Pinkie Pie a pleasant smile. ‘Very good! Come, walk with me, we should probably make our way up the road before the South Islanders come up the road and start panicking that I’m without my guard, and consorting with a strange pink pony’. ‘I’m going to have to kill Pinkie Pie if she squanders this opportunity’, Hopely said with her voice full of jealousy. It wasn’t every day that one met the King of Welara, after all, and certainly not quite one of the reputation of King George. His reign had lasted through the World War, and he was his nation’s symbol of resistance against the Schäferhund Kaiserreich. Pinkie Pie and King George began to walk, and they quickly diverted down one of the other roads, making a point to stay out of sight of the Welaran soldiers. ‘They don’t want to leave me alone, they fear I am going to be assassinated, I am not going to be assassinated in the lands of Celestia... and even if someone were to try, it is not as if I cannot handle myself’, King George said with a scoff. Pinkie Pie didn’t say anything; rather, she just continued to follow the king. He turned his head towards her and gave her an odd look. ‘You do not strike me as the quiet type, please; there is no need to be shy. I assure you, I am just as normal as you are’, King George said, flashing a grin at her. 'Oh no! That grin!' Hopely cried out in terror. 'What?' Sparky asked. 'What about it?' 'It's just like your grandmothers!' Hopely cried out, causing everyone to cringe in terror. The King of Welara having a similar personality to Vinyl Scratch? The world could not handle such a thing! Pinkie Pie couldn’t help but smile at the king’s comment, and she eventually warmed up to a genuine smile. ‘That’s what I like to see!’ King George said. ‘I like you, Pinkie Pie; I think you and I are going to get along just fine’.