• Published 4th Sep 2013
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Greene Fields under Red Lights - Europa



After an eternal moment of failure and fear, Elizabeth Greene awakens once more. But... where is she? She doesn't understand.

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Making the Future

Greene

The time had come.

At long last, this short, second Time for Waiting had come to an end.

She snapped her eyes open and pulled her sleeping-cocoon back inside. Yesterday, she'd been filled with burning, nervous energy and later, crushing depressing self hatred and doubt, and then even later, thanks to Fluttershy, happiness and hope. Now, however, there was only cold too cold purpose and Reason.

She walked inside to Fluttershy's house and noticed that the equine was still asleep. Grabbing a nearby piece of paper, she - using her nails - scratched/tore a message.

Fluttershy,

Going to Canterlot, raise family. Speak with alicorns. Invite you later.

Be safe, worry not,

Elizabeth Anne Greene

She place the letter on the bedstand and turned around. She descended the flight of stairs and turned to the right. There was the dress dress dress Rarity had made her, plastered to the wall with tendrils. She briefly debated taking it with her, even if not to wear, but no. Not yet. She had something to do.

She left the cottage, ignorant of the animals scurrying around, and set her sights on Canterlot. With a push of her feet she was off, tearing up the dirt behind her as she charged at a casual place towards the mountain. Even at a light jog, she crossed the distance rapidly, and within minutes she was tearing up the mountain and bounding into Canterlot.

Once in the unicorn nest, she stopped moving. Many of the equines around her stopped what they were doing and turned to look at her. Pieces of currency remained on tables. A child's tongue just inches away from ice cream. A pegasus had been on his hind legs, ready to fly, but now stood suspended.

She smiled at them warmly. "Hello," she rasped, making many of them wince as her voice echoed around the street. She found the new Blessing within her and began to emit it in invisible amounts, filling the air around her with it. She looked up at the castle and began to walk there at a slow, leisurely pace. Equines she passed stop to look at her, then as she passed returned to their business. She made sure to walk next to the densest groups, occasionally bumping into them by accident. It didn't matter.

She exited lower Canterlot and entered upper Canterlot, where the 'nobles' lived. By then, she could feel her Blessing clinging to a few hundred equines, felt it pulsing in her veins and her mind. She reached out to those seeds and stroked them. 'Not yet,' she told them, making them only sit in the equines' bodies. Not change them yet. 'Wait for all, wait for command.'

The nobles were a bit more reluctant to approach her. They whispered nervously about her, and she could smell their fear. Elizabeth didn't let it deter her. She spread her Blessing among them as well, keeping it subdued. To her delight, their bodies didn't start rejecting it like they had last time. Instead, her Blessing simply sat in them, dormant. Waiting. Like her.

She didn't go straight for the castle. She made several rounds around Canterlot, lower to upper to lower back to upper, her Blessing seeping through the air around her, picked up by the winds and blown around the nest. Much of it didn't find anyone, instead falling to the ground outside the city, but she was rapidly Blessing them and that made her so happy happy happy! A hundred, five hundred, a thousand, fifteen hundred. She remembered reading, when she first arrived, that Canterlot had a population of five hundred thousand. It wasn't that much; she'd seen three times that on the island city back on the Similar world.

But it'd be a start.

She found herself in a market square, equines exchanging worthless items for items with worth. She sat on a bench and extended a web of tendrils beneath her feet, into the ground, and spread them out beneath the stones. She made the tendrils poke up from the ground and touch the bottom of several clothed equines' hooves, but instead of pinching away a piece of their fur for essence like she would've in the not-so-recent past, she sent her Blessing through her feet, into the tendrils, and up into the equines. Two thousand.

The market square she was in was decently busy, extremely busy, so she remained there for a while, using the system of webs she'd created to repeatedly Bless equines as they came and went. Three thousand. Four thousand. Five thousand. That was one percent of Canterlot ready.

As the sun continued to creep up from early morning to late morning, she found her seat besieged by newsponies.

"Elizabeth Greene, why have you returned to Canterlot for the first time in a month?"

"How do you feel about having your blood used to make medicine?"

"Any comments on the upcoming Equestrian Games?"

She sat still, blinking through the initial barrage of questions just as she had the first time. Once it was done, she pointed at one of them, a female unicorn. "Question?" she asked her, retracting her warmth and standing up.

"Er, yes. Eyewitnesses have reported seeing you in Cloudsdale last week, for a performance by the Wonderbolts. What is your opinion of the aerial group?"

She shrugged. "Good at flying, bad at flying, wouldn't know. Impressive still." She patted the equine on the head, Blessing her directly on top of the Blessed air wafting around her.

"What do you think about the upcoming elections for mayor of Hoofington?"

"Don't think anything about," she rasped, patting and Blessing the male pegasus.

"Are you currently involved with anypony romantically?" asked another.

She shook her head no, idly Blessing that unicorn. She went through each newspony, answering their questions and Blessing them in turn. As time passed, she eventually was free of them. She looked up at the castle. It'd be Noon very soon. Time to give Celestia the first part of her repayment.

She leaped and bounded her way to the castle, diffusing her Blessing into the air behind her as she went. There was the castle, and the gate, it was... closed. And there was a line. She walked up to the end and looked down at the equine right infront of her.

"Line? Why?" she rasped and echoed.

He stiffened, and turned around. He was an earth pony, dark blue primary color, bright green secondary color, and a mark of two masks; one smiling, one laughing. This equine, like many in Canterlot, wore clothes over his front half. Elizabeth couldn't make heads or tails out of his red/white striped outfit. "O-Oh," he said, looking up steadily. "Oh my."

"Line? Why?" she repeated.

"It's N-Noon Court s-soon," he stammered as if it explained everything, shivering in his hooves. When she didn't stop looking into his brown eyes, he continued. "There's a line to see Princess Celestia, she can't possibly attend to everypony at once." He turned around and looked at the line of - she counted for a moment - seventeen equines before him. "You're actually quite lucky, usually it's much busier." He tilted his head. "Or maybe it's the Midnight Court."

"Understand," she responded. While she waited, she sent more tendrils through the ground, Blessing every equine in the line before her. The moment the blinding sun reached the top of the sky, a voice announced the beginning of the Noon Court and hearing petitioners and the line was moving. One by one, the equines walked forward after being 'announced', and after a few minutes the line moved forward again and the process repeated. Greene took the opportunity to dance through the bodies of those she'd Blessed, feeling her gift pulsing inside of their flesh, waiting for her command. She turned around, facing a substantial line behind her, and blinked.

When she opened her eyes, everything was red once more, sound muted and herself blazing a brilliant, dazzling white. She'd left a trail of yellow mist behind her, and even from this distance she could see those she'd Blessed, her Blessing sitting inside of their bodies as globs of yellow, giving red-Canterlot a faint orangish tint to it. She blinked again and brought her vision back to normal. It was her turn now.

"Announcing - " The pegasus guard blinked, before shouting into a contraption. "Elizabeth Greene, ambassador to the Evolved!" A moment later, she heard someone repeat that inside. A moment later the gates opened, and Elizabeth strode in to the Noon Court.

Celestia was just as she'd remembered, magic and flowing mane and all. She sat on her throne, looking at her with wide eyes. "Elizabeth, it's good to see you."

"Good to see you," she said with a slight incline of her head, smiling.

"Indeed! Tell me, why have you come to court?" Celestia's gaze turned stern. "Has something happened? I heard about what happened in Cloudsdale - "

"Want to repay," she corrected, cutting off the alicorn. Several of the guards gasped, but she ignored that. "Was kind to me, want to give back."

Celestia laughed. "Oh, I appreciate the gesture, Elizabeth, I truly do. However, I'm afraid Noon Court is for ponies - or in your case, Evolved - who have an issue they wish to address with me."

"Is an issue," she explained. "Issue is want to give gift. Blood again."

Celestia's eyes widened at blood, but then the smart alicorn must've understood what she meant, and gave a small smile. "I am very happy to hear that Elizabeth, but I'm afraid I am busy right now. If you'll wait in that hall until Noon Court is done," she explained, extending her right wing and pointing towards an adjacent corridor. "I will happily come with you to Doctor Lymph's work station then."

"Will wait," she said, dashing into that hallway with a clap of air. She leaned against a wall and extended a small amount of her warmth, and waited. She heard, in the background, the rest of the Noon Court being discussed, but paid no real attention to it.

Then, there was the clip-clop of hooves in metal, and Celestia stood next to her.

It was refreshing to look at someone at eye eye eye level again.

"Right this way, Elizabeth," she said with a smile. "I have already sent the summons for Doctor Lymph to meet us." Elizabeth fell into stride next to the older of the alicorn sisters, and soon they were once again the infirmary. A large white place, equines moving about, the smell of machines and liquid-not-water and illness. She passed beds, seeing that there were a lot more equines resting in them than she'd seen before, so she spread her Blessing to them as well.

Celestia was constantly being Blessed, but she was just as fast purging it from her body. Just as well.

The alicorn lead her to the same room she'd first been - tested - on in Equestria. And just like then, Doctor Lymph was there. Unicorn male with dark brown fur, pale gray secondary, clothes that she'd concluded, after seeing Ponyville's hospital, were 'doctor' clothes, and a white splatter as his mark.

He bowed to Celestia, rose, and then smiled warmly. "Hello, your highness. Hello to you too, Elizabeth."

"... hello," she said coldly, Blessing the unicorn as she did so.

"On behalf of the Royal Pathogen and Vaccine Research division, thank you for your time, Elizabeth." His smile broadened. "I am very thankful you decided to give blood again." He frowned. "Will... you be okay with it?"

Elizabeth stiffened as he grasped an iron and glass needle in his muddy move-thought. "N-Not okay," she admitted. "Needles bad..."

Celestia's golden magic overtook Doctor Lymph's. "Elizabeth," she said soothingly. "Do you want me to take the sample?"

"Yes," she hissed, as stiff as a board. This was for Celestia, she reminded herself as she closed her eyes. This was for Celestia, she reminded herself as the needle prodded against her left hand, where she weakened the flesh to let it in. This was for Celestia this was for Celestia this was for Celestia this was for Celestia it was over.

She opened her eyes and looked at her hand, the tiny wound already gone. The needle, now filled with a small amount of her blood, floated over to Doctor Lymph, who took it in his own magic. He nodded to her. "Thank you very much, Elizabeth." He looked at the alicorn in the room. "I'll get this down to analysis right away, your highness."

"Please do, Doctor Lymph," Celestia said. The unicorn trotted out of the private room, the door swinging shut behind him. "I'm very proud of you, Elizabeth," she said.

"How so?" she asked.

"I know of your past experiences with needles, I know it must've been difficult to do this." Elizabeth opened her mouth, but Celestia answered the question already building repeats in her throat, holding up a hoof to cut her off. "Twilight wrote me a letter, she was very concerned about you. I hope you do not hold it against her?"

"Can't, wrote to you," Greene admitted with a gesture of her hand. "Trust you."

A wide smile appeared on Celestia's face. "Thank you, Elizabeth. It means much to know that. If I may ask, what precisely are you doing in Canterlot? I imagine it wasn't just to give us a second sample of your blood."

"Repay you," she said, her echoes intensified in the small room. "Did so so so much for me, pay back. Blood first part of gift. Second part comes later." Elizabeth tilted her head and frowned. "When can I speak with Luna?"

Celestia smiled. "She'll have a moment free after Midnight Court ends, I'll tell her you were looking for her at dinner. Until then, I hope you enjoy your stay in Canterlot."

Elizabeth smiled and nodded. "Will be at end of Midnight Court line," she promised. Internally, she checked her Blessing. Five percent, good good good. "See then." She tilted her head. "Goodbye, Celestia. See later."

"Farewell, Elizabeth," she said. Then Greene dashed out of the infirmary, saturating the air with her Blessing as she did.

She got lost in the castle, of course, but two kind kind kind 'servants' showed her the way out, and she Blessed them in return. Once out of the castle, she climbed to the top of the mountain.

Stones still rolling down the slope where her powerful legs had shattered the cliff, she gazed out around Equestria. In some places it was cloudy. In some places it was sunny. She thought she could see Cloudsdale. She looked down the hill at Canterlot, and smiled. Her Blessing was spreading quite rapidly; the pieces of it drifting about in the air eventually reached an equine, and she kept emitting more of it, so things were very very very good.

She curled over, placing her hands over her stomach. Power boiled inside of her, around her, through her. Her body burned, and as the fire rose to her head she placed her hands over her throat as if she were choking, small droplets of blood flying from her mouth. She writhed for a moment more before she shot her arms to the side and released her Blessing. Had any equine been looking up, they would've seen a small red cloud erupt atop Canterlot's mountain, swiftly dispersing in the wind, but her eyes saw none doing so.

Her Blessing slowly drifted down the mountainside, but Greene was faster. She charged back into Canterlot and resumed her leisurely stroll, Blessing anyone she saw. Ten percent. Fifteen. Twenty. Thirty. The sun set and the moon rose, and she continued.

There were much fewer equines out once darkness had set, which always confused her. The night time was so much better. It was the perfect level of light, no blinding burning sun always in the corner of your vision, trying to blind you. If anything, it would make sense to sleep through the day. Oh well, it did not matter. By the time the half-moon reached its pinnacle, and she waited at the back of the line for Midnight Court, she'd gotten fifty percent, and each Blessing was holding back. As new equines arrived, she gestured them ahead of her.

She was starting to feel the effort of that, actually. She'd never done anything quite like this, but for the alicorn sisters it would be worth it. It wasn't hard to hold a quarter million seeds of her Blessing back, but it did take effort, and she could certainly see it becoming hard by the time she'd Blessed all of Canterlot.

"We regret to inform you," a night-type guard said, reading from a scroll his horn floated. "That Midnight Court has reached its conclusion. If your petition was not answered, we ask you attend next night's Midnight Court, or tomorrow's Noon Court, for a resolution." There was a lot of grumbling from the equines, and even one that shouted and argued with the guards that reinforced why she was spreading her Blessing. Within the span of five-maybe-ten minutes, she was alone in the castle courtyard, save for guards.

There was a rush of wind, and someone landed behind her. She whipped around to see Luna who was, like Celestia, exactly how Elizabeth remembered her. She smiled broadly. "Elizabeth Greene, it brings us great joy to see thou!"

"Good to see," she responded in kind, smiling. She liked Luna. She made the sky not-too-bright.

"Come, come!" Luna said, taking to the skies and flying to one of the castle's towers. Elizabeth followed after her, leaping and running up walls, until they arrived. She remembered the spot. It was the same place Luna and her had spoken, so many weeks ago. She placed her hands on the railing and coated it in two splotches of red flesh. "We see thou art just as fast as we remember!" boasted Luna. She sat down. "We must ask, why hast thou asked to see us? Our sister did not mention much, it is plain she hoped thou would inform us?"

"Gift," she explained. "Did so much for me, kind kind kind, pay back." She looked out at the city beneath them and smiled. "Gave blood for Celestia, give blood for you."

"... we do not understand, thou wishes to enlist in the Royal Guard? Granted, reports of thy abilities would certainly make thou a valuable soldier. Likely why nopony in the echelons of politics has tried to take advantage of thou, now that we think about it."

"No no no, not soldier never soldier," she rasped, backing away and shaking her head furiously. "Blood test first day, wing cancer cure from. Blood at noon for Celestia, blood for you now," she explained.

"Ah, we see." Luna looked down and, under her breath whispered, "A pity, thou would hath been a most valiant guard. There would hath been epics about thee." She looked back at Elizabeth and shook her head, the night-sky-mane sending a sprinkle of stars flying out. "In any case come! We shalt teleport us to the infirmary to proceed with the extraction of blood!" Luna's horn lit up with blue magic, and Elizabeth braced herself -

- she never could have been ready for teleporting. She stumbled as she briefly lost her balance, breath hitching. They were back in the same room, but it was empty and dark which was good. Luna's move-thought produced a needle from a drawer and menacingly floated it to Elizabeth. She winced and stepped backwards.

The needle stopped and Luna's face softened. "Apologies, our sister informed us of thy past history as well. We shalt be careful Elizabeth, thou hast our word." Elizabeth relaxed and allowed the needle to approach, again softening the flesh in her hand. She looked away as Luna did the deed, and relaxed immediately afterward. "We art done. We thank thee, Elizabeth." Luna stepped forward and clasped her on the back with a wing, making Greene hiss and jump backwards, writhing with red and white.

"Don't touch!" she hissed indignantly. Only Fluttershy got to touch her! Noone else, not even Celestia and Luna. Maybe Cadance.

"Apologies, Elizabeth," Luna said while raising a foreleg to her chest. "As we were saying, we thank thee, Elizabeth, for aiding us in making life easier for our little ponies."

She smiled. "See you later," Elizabeth said, heading to the door.

"Oh?" Luna asked, raising an eyebrow and smirking. "Thou can't stay for lunch? We art wounded, Greene."

"Things to do, see later." She pushed open the door and paused, looking back. "... goodbye." Then she was gone.

She kept at it, spreading her Blessing to the equines of Canterlot throughout the night until the sun rose once more, by which point she had seventy percent. When she blinked her eyes and the world turned red, Canterlot was a delightful shade of orange, like Applejack's coat. She ran around Canterlot, looking for her destination... there!

She landed on a building just outside the Beethooven Concert Hall. She could hear equines talking within it, and smelled the Holy-Child-Eyes one. What had been her name? Octavia Philharmonica? Yes yes yes, that was right. She formed a little seat with her warmth and reclined in it, filtering out the background sounds of Canterlot and focusing her tremendous hearing into the building. There was the talking of many equines there, as she had expected. She really couldn't be surprised; it was very good music. Still, she sorted through the chatter-braying sounds until she heard what she wanted.

An equine bellowed within, and the others went silent. From her seat, Elizabeth smiled. The typical greetings, saying the not-important name of the music and the not-very-important names of the players. And then it started and...

... she swayed, her eyes slipping shut. Like before, it was good good good music. The parts Listened to each other, flowed and jumped and hurried and slowed. She really liked this music, and the brass instruments bellowed with great strength even from her distance, she could hear the music so well well well even outside the Beethooven Concert Hall!

The intermission came and went.

She slipped a tendril down the building, through the concrete, and into the Concert Hall, where she then began to divide it out. She poked a good fifty portions of her warmth out of the marble, and forced them to release small, unseeable puffs of her Blessing into the building before she pulled them back. It wouldn't do to scare the equines; after all, large amounts of her Blessing did look like blood, and that made the equines scared and that made her sad.

The music went on.

She mentally counted seventy five percent. She was making good progress. Though it was getting getting getting annoying to hold her Blessing back; she was so tempted to just release it and let it do its work, the Reason for everything she did, and save those who'd been kind to her of the burden of free will. But no. She had to do this right, she owed it to the alicorn sisters.

At length the music, much to her disappointment, ended. She stood and pulled the last bits of her warmth back inside her skin and suit, then scanned the crowd for Octavia Philharmonica.

Nothing. She leaped to another building. Nothing. Another building. Nothing. Another building. There! In a single bound she reached the earth pony, shattering the ground beneath her and making the equine jump, almost dropping the case on her back.

"Octavia Philharmonica," she greeted.

"O-Oh," she said with a breath, holding a forehoof to her chest. "Miss Greene, you startled me. I did not see you at the performance, so I didn't assume you were in Canterlot."

"Was. Outside, listen."

Octavia Philharmonica frowned. "I appreciate you coming, ambassador, but it would've been much more appreciated had you paid for a ticket and supported our ventures."

"Currency strange," she said with a frown. "Don't understand. Metal useless. Not important. Said would Bless when back."

Octavia Philharmonica took a moment to think about what she'd said. "Oh! Oh yes, I do recall. I am most honored that you would Bless me, Miss Greene."

She nodded, giddy, and reached out a hand to the equine's forehead. She pushed a small amount of her warm Blessing into her, and pulled the hand away. "Done done done," she said airily, tensing her legs. She could've always just effused a small amount into the air and let that Bless her, but that felt so... impersonal.

"Oh no, please stay a while," she said, and Elizabeth relaxed her muscles. For the Holy-Child-Eyes equine, she would. "Do tell, what brings you to Canterlot?"

"Celestia and Luna kind kind kind when I arrived, pay back. Chance to see you listen to music."

"Hmm, that is quite understandable," she admitted. She winked. "I'll let it slide... this time. However if you want to listen to one of my performances, please do pay the fee for a ticket. It may not make sense to you, but rest assured bits do make life... much easier for us."

Elizabeth sighed, but nodded. It didn't matter, really. If everything went well, Octavia Philharmonica would never have to do another performance again to take care of herself. She'd miss miss miss the music, but it was a small sacrifice. "See later," she rasped before leaping away. She landed on another roof and sprung away, flipping twice in mid air before landing in a roll, seeking a high spot so she could see Canterlot and where she had yet to spread her Blessing. Seventy eight.

***-_***_-***-_***_-***-_***_-***

The second day came and went with ninety-five percent. During the second night of her stay in Canterlot, she'd managed to raise the amount of Canterlot she'd Blessed even higher. Of course, by the end of that it'd been getting harder, since she Blessed the majority and it was hard to get those who remained. Still, she'd gotten a very large amount, and there were always equines coming to Canterlot and leaving Canterlot, so she'd be satisfied with almost one hundred instead of one hundred.

Besides, once she stopped holding back her Blessing, the stragglers would also be Blessed.

She stopped radiating her Blessing into the surrounding air as she perched on the highest of the castle's towers. She gazed out at a red world. The sound of flapping night guard wings was almost inaudible. Once or twice she'd gotten a strange look by them, and she looked back at them and the yellow light sitting patiently in their veins. All of Canterlot was lit up, and it warmed her heart to see that.

Ninety eight.

She hadn't met either of the alicorns tonight or yesterday, but that was fine fine fine. She'd already given them the first part of their present, and now she could finally give them the second part of her gift.

Canterlot, fixed.

None of the equines' magical anythings seemed to detect her Blessing, which wasn't a surprise or a concern, since it was unlike anything they'd ever witnessed. Either way, it was almost almost almost time to begin. She felt giddy and nervous. Should she do this? She knew that some of the equines would be angry, fearing that which was different, just as she heard they had feared Zecora.

But just as it went with Zecora, it would go with her. They'd fear her change, and then they'd understand it wasn't bad.

Still, she couldn't help but feel a little fear and self hatred. This was irresponsible of her. They were happy enough, and not everything that was broken had to be fixed. But... she owed it to them. She couldn't just stand by and let them suffer through omission. And she had Fluttershy to help her. Fluttershy. Everything would be alright. She'd write Fluttershy a letter, run to her house tomorrow night, and place the invitation to Canterlot there.

Ninety nine. The moon set and the stars were washed away.

She took a deep breath and looked to the horizon. It was very dark, and cold, and lonely. Despite the throb of her Blessing in her veins and the effort to hold back the five hundred thousand instances of it, she felt lonely. Not not not for long. Nobody would ever be lonely again. Not while she drew breath. Ninety nine percent was close enough. It was time to begin.

The first rays of the sun broke over the horizon.

Elizabeth Anne Greene stopped holding back.

Author's Note:

I hope you all enjoyed. Please do leave a comment. Even if it's just to say what you liked and not to point out an error, everything helps; knowing what works is as important as knowing what doesn't.

Thanks to GGKKDAJF for editing!

I do not own MLP or Prototype, Hasbro and Activision do so respectively.