Greene Fields under Red Lights

by Europa

Open Conspiracy

Greene

"Higher, mommy!" she laughed, going back and forth on the swing. Her mommy grabbed her as she reached the tip of her backswing, then pushed her forwards. She laughed even louder. "Higher!" Another push and she went even higher. But after that, she started to go slower and lower. She kicked her legs. "Noooo. Higherrrrr!" she pouted.

Behind her, her mommy laughed merrily. "Alright, honey," she said before pushing harder. "But just a few more swings, we have to get back home, remember?"

Elizabeth giggled as her swings reached their great heights again. Her hair flopped infront of her. She could see the rest of the playground around her, children running around with their parents and giggling. Playing on the jungle gym, sliding down the slides.

She laughed again as she flew back, only to be caught by her mommy and sent forward again. She kicked her feet wildly in the air as she once again reached the tip of her swing, watching the blue sky dotted with clouds, the identical rows of white houses down the streets...

... and promptly fell out of her seat. Elizabeth didn't have time to utter a shriek before she found herself landing on her hands and knees. Fire exploded on her knees and made her eyes water. Shaking, she got to her feet and found her mommy already there, wrapping her arms around her.

"Oh Elizabeth, are you alright?"

Still fighting back tears, she wordlessly nodded. Though the falling itself had been really, really fun. If only she could fall without getting hurt at the end. That would be really really nice.

"Do you want to go home so I can make dinner? Get your dress cleaned up?"

Again she nodded, letting her mommy lead her away from the playground. They walked through the streets, filled with ladies in dresses chatting with each other, cars buzzing down the streets, and a few older boys on their bicycles. Sillies. Shouldn't they be doing homework?

She ran into her home excitedly. She had the home, white picket fence and all, aaaall to herself, since daddy was currently off fighting the commies. Well, herself and mommy had the house.

She skipped up to her room to change her dress. She lifted the white gown off of her - certainly not with mommy's aid, she was a big girl! - and admired her orange curls. She lifted a hand to poke one, giggled, and then changed into a new dress, an exact duplicate of the one that had dirt and grass stains all over it now.

She flopped down on her bed and smiled. Getting an idea, she stood, and then jumped off her bed onto the floor. There it was again! Falling was so much fun, why didn't she notice it sooner?

She sighed at the prospect of what she had to do next, but it had to be done. She went to her battle station. She grabbed her weapon. She eyed her mortal enemy warily, and it unwaveringly stared back. This would be a battle of wits. Who could think clearest? Only by matching her mind against the enemy's would she be victorious, and earn the spoils.

She sat down at her desk and, pencil in hand, began scribbling the answers on the sheet of arithmetic questions before her. She wanted dinner. She didn't know why she had to do stupid math from stupid school. Only boys had to learn to become engineers and scientists and... and... other smart people. She didn't want to do that. She wanted to learn to cook and clean like mommy! But she insisted that 'girls should be just as smart as boys' so, math. And daddy wasn't around to tell her any different.

But like any big, responsible first grader, she plowed on, finishing problem after problem until there were none left. With a smile, she slammed her pencil down, dangle-kicked her legs against her chair one more time before hopping out of it, and ran downstairs for dinner. The smell of pasta and meatsauce filled the air, making her mouth water. Yum!

"Hey there Lizzy," her mommy said in that pet name that made her so mad she stuck her tongue right out! Ha! "Now Elizabeth, that's rude."

She pulled her tongue back in, wilting under her fierce brown eyes. "Sorry, mommy."

She smiled, lighting up the world. "It's alright. Come on, dinner's ready."

Their dining room wasn't too particular. There were a few pictures of daddy, a tall man with... with muscles! And his hair buzz-cut! Oh, oh! And a suit! His suit made him look so... military! Elizabeth missed him, but he'd come back of course! He always came back for visits! Ooh, ooh, like on Christmas. Daddy never missed Christmas.

The pasta and sauce was soooo good. Mommy sat at the other end of the square table. Her legs didn't kick because they were so long. Grownups never kicked.

Mommy said grace, though she felt it was with a little less enthusi... enthus... happiness than usual, and then they dug in. She smiled as she ate the pasta. Her eyes glanced up at mommy. Mommy looked back. Elizabeth got a strand of pasta in her mouth. She swallowed that which was already in the back of her throat. She focused, puckered her lips around the noodle hanging out onto the plate, and...

Slurrrrrp!

Mommy burst into laughter. "Oh, oh Lizzy. Don't do that. Women don't slurp their food."

Elizabeth pouted. "I'm not a woman. I'm a girl."

"Girls don't slurp either."

"Mooommyyyy!" she whined.

"Oh relax, Elizabeth. I'm just teasing you." Elizabeth pouted. She hated being teased. She got enough of that in school anyway.

The rest of the meal passed in silence, with the two family members occasionally trading smirks, daring the other to slurp. Elizabeth finished first, scooting away from the dinner table and jumping down from the chair onto her own two feet. "Mommy, can I go to my room to play?"

She nodded, blonde hair flopping up and down in a way that mesmerized her. "Alright, Lizzy." Her mommy also got out of her chair, leaving her pasta for later. She got next to her and knelt to her level, ruffling her hair. "You know, Lizzy," she said. "One day, you're gonna be just as smart as any boy."

"Mommy, I don't wanna be that smart."

She poked her nose. "You already are. You know, I've spoken with Mrs. Reiling, your grades are top of the class."

"I'm only in first grade," she said playfully. "I get points for being cute."

"And the fact that you know that only proves my point." Mommy sighed. "Oh Elizabeth, how can you change between six and sixteen so quick?"

"But if I did that I'd be tall a lot of the time!" Elizabeth countered. Ha! Let mommy try to argue that!

To her satisfaction, she didn't. "One day, Elizabeth, you're gonna be the smartest girl in town."

She smiled, looking at the picture of her daddy, then back at her. "One day, you're going to change the world into a better place."

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

Greene's eyes snapped open. She sucked in a desperate breath. Not for the air itself, but to fill her lungs and lift off the heavy weight that seemed to be resting on her chest. What... what had that been? Was that a 'dream'? She'd heard of those things, of course, but never experienced one. She didn't even remember the dream anymore, but judging by the sinking drowning choking feeling, it had been about Before.

In that case, she was glad she didn't remember.

She'd decided to give sleep a try, and while she couldn't exactly say she liked the feeling of being defenseless, she decided that since there was nobody going to hurt her, she could see what it was like. The feeling of suddenly having lost several hours, hours she could never get back, was so weird.

The warmth she had cocooned herself in, standing up, fell away according to her will, sinking back to the ground. She looked out the window; morning, closing in on noon. She wasn't hungry. Once the final pieces of her cocoon were gone, she was leaning against a wall, watching Fluttershy sleep. She was still on the bed, none of her warmth there, napping peacefully after breakfast. They had stayed up late last night talking, Elizabeth half listening, half trying to forget her failure failure failure from before. Apparently, after the two equines had gone to breakfast Fluttershy came back for a quick nap. It made Greene happy happy happy that Fluttershy came to her room to rest instead of the one that the alicorns had given her.

"Fluttershy," she whispered. Her voice was quiet in and of itself, but as it echoed and bounced around her room, the pegasus awoke.

"Guh!" she exclaimed softly, still clearly startled by her surroundings. "O-Oh. Hello, Elizabeth. What time is it?"

"Almost noon," she rasped. "Twilight leaving soon."

"Oh!" Fluttershy squeaked, getting out of bed, hooves squishing on her warmth. "We should probably go see her off, then. It'd be rude to just let her go without saying goodbye." She put on her saddlebags, though why Elizabeth didn't know.

"Goodbye," Elizabeth repeated. "Thank you for staying."

"Oh, well, I couldn't just leave you here. I'm sure my animal friends will understand." She smiled, opening the door. "Maybe you can visit them someday?"

"Maybe," Greene said. After all, if these animals too were broken, she'd eventually have to Bless them too. "Wait," she said.

Elizabeth knelt to the ground and gently touched the warmth with her left hand. With a flick of her will, she began drawing it back into her. The red and white tendrils enshrouding the room retreated with a wet slithering sound, filling her with blazing heat and strength, like a spool having thread wound onto it sinking drowning choking. Before long, the room was cold cold cold again, but that was alright. She didn't plan on staying there anyway. It had been a nice Home, but she didn't need shelter like Similars did. It was nice, but she knew that the equines found her warmth unsightly. Until she could Bless them, she'd make them as happy as she could otherwise.

Fluttershy's eyes were wide. "Um, okay. That's, um, normal for you I guess."

She followed after Fluttershy, until they reconvened in the main hall of the castle. Celestia and Twilight Sparkle were there as well.

The alicorn smiled at Fluttershy, and the grin changed slightly when her gaze turned to Greene. How odd. "Ah, I see you two are awake. Elizabeth, are you certain you are not hungry?"

"Not hungry," she insisted. "Long without food."

"Ah. I understand, then. You must've been very hungry when you came to Equestria, then, if you can go a long time without food," Celestia said.

"Very hungry," she rasped. "Better now."

"Indeed. Elizabeth, have you come to a conclusion?"

"Canterlot," she rasped. "With Fluttershy. Watch. Sample. Unicorn nest. Then Ponyville, earth pony nest. Cloudsdale, pegasus nest."

The solar alicorn cocked a brow. "I have never in my life heard pony cities and towns referred to as nests, though it would be foalish of me to argue that, considering, well, you. Have you any place to stay in Canterlot? You know the castle's always open to you."

"Don't need shelter," she said. "Don't get expo... expo..." What was was was that word? Ah, there it was. "Exposure."

"If that is your wish, then I will abide by it, Elizabeth." She smirked. "Though, when you go out, do be careful not to terrorize the locals. My little ponies can be..." She eyed Twilight Sparkle. "Skittish, at times." The unicorn pawed at the ground with a forehoof. "Twilight, is it alright if Fluttershy stays in your room during Elizabeth's stay?"

"Oh, it's no trouble." The unicorn smiled. "I mean, somepony should use it."

"Oh, t-thanks, Twilight. You didn't need to do that..."

Elizabeth watched the proceedings with a modicum of interest. Apparently, Twilight was giving her former Home to Fluttershy for the time being while she returned to her current Home. Fluttershy was hesitant about it, yet willing to accept the generous gesture. It warmed Greene's heart. It reminded her that, even broken, the equines could give each other little spots of happiness.

"Bye, Princess!" Twilight said, sharing one last nuzzle with the alicorn. "Bye Fluttershy. Any idea when I'll see you in Ponyville next? Gotta tell Pinkie so she can plan the welcome-back-party she'll throw," she said with an eyeroll.

"Um, Elizabeth?" she asked, looking up at her.

The Evolved realized she was being asked a question she didn't know the answer to. How long would she stay in Canterlot? How long would it take for her to get enough samples? She certainly couldn't sample the entire nest, but...

"Two days," she rasped.

Twilight smiled. "Alright. See you in two days, Flutters," she said, finally departing.

"W-Wait!" Fluttershy said. "Don't you want me to, um, come with you to the, um, train? I-I mean, if you don't want me to then, that's, um, that's fine too."

"You're gonna have our resident alien hanging off your tail. Having me there as well would just make things even more crowded," she said, before vanishing in a flash of light. Elizabeth leaped backwards, hissing in shock. She flinched again when Fluttershy laid a 'comforting' hoof on her. Don't touch me don't touch me how dare you touch me get away get away!

She jerked back, hissing, and Fluttershy cowered with an 'eep', ears folding back. "S-S-Sorry, Elizabeth," she whispered almost inaudibly.

"Don't touch," she hissed, her echoes buzzing loudly with her anger. "Don't touch!"

"Elizabeth," Celestia said, flaring her wings briefly and, once again, cowing Greene. "She meant no harm, let up on her."

Elizabeth relaxed, and the tension seemed to flood out of Fluttershy's body. "R-Right. So, where do you want to go first, Elizabeth? I-I mean, anything's fine with me."

"Out," she said, heading towards the doors. She effortlessly swung them open...

... and leaped far enough back to land on Celestia's throne. Bright bright bright! The sun shot in unrestrained, scorching her eyes. She slid down Celestia's throne, eyes shut tight. She ignored the worried braying of the equines around her, focusing. Slowly, steadily, she opened her eyes, accustoming them to the light. The searing yellow faded, and she could see once more.

Good.

"Bright, better," she said, dashing back to Fluttershy, who eeped at her rapid movement. "Go out," she rasped.

Celestia smiled. "I shan't keep you. There are a few things I need to take care of before Noon Court. However, after you're done, don't be hesitant to visit." With a smile and another scary scary scary flash of teleportation, the alicorn vanished.

"Go out," Greene repeated, starting outside the castle. Fluttershy tentatively followed her, whispering some sort of warning.

Elizabeth hadn't gotten far out of the castle before she'd been... ambushed? Surrounded? Confronted? She wasn't entirely sure of the word.

Seemingly out of nowhere, a group of clothed equines materialized around her, forming a ring held back by the day guards. For the first time, Elizabeth truly got an impression as to just how many colors the equines came in. Many of them held pads of paper in move-thought auras, with writing utensils close by. Others had strange contraptions that occasionally let out a brief bright bright bright light.

They were all talking.

"Is it true that you're an alien from another world?"

"Do you come in peace?"

"Have you been imprisoned by Celestia? Or by Luna?"

"Is this an invasion?"

"Do you have any connections to the return of Discord?"

"Can you speak Equestrian?"

"Can you shoot lasers out of your eyes?"

On and on and on! Elizabeth stood there, as if petrified. Should she answer them? Or would only more questions come? Could she even do that when there were so many coming? She didn't know, so she decided to wait wait wait for them to stop. Sure enough, the equines slowed down and eventually stopped their frantic barrage of questions. They looked at one another, displaying some emotion Greene couldn't quite place, then looked back at her.

One of them raised a hoof. "Um, can you speak Equestrian?" he repeated.

"Yes," she said simply, making the equines step back as her voice rippled around them.

Another one raised their hoof, and Elizabeth's eyes snapped over to her. "What is your name?"

"Elizabeth Greene," she said after a moment's hesitation. That made the equines mutter among themselves about 'What a strange name' and 'Does it even mean anything?. But after a moment, the questions continued, now one at a time.

"Are the rumors true that you have been in Equestria for years, held prisoner by the Princesses?"

"No."

"Do you come in peace, or do you want to enslave us all?"

She tilted her head sideways. "Not enslave, nothing bad. Peace means... do nothing. Bless. Want to Bless." She frowned, irritated at her inability to help them. "Can't yet."

"What do you mean by Blessing?"

She was getting tired of explaining this over and over and over-over-over again. Maybe she'd just neglect to speak of it. "Touch, give of myself. Period of pain. Then, better." She sighed. "Tried already. Doesn't work. Won't try before it works."

The equines shared nervous looks. Why? Were they disappointed her Blessing didn't work anymore? She knew she was.

Greene stood her ground as the questions kept on, but very, very quickly she lost the will to answer. At least Twilight Sparkle's questions all served some purpose. These equines on the other hand...

"Stop," she hissed, and all at once the equines fell silent. "Go," she said irately.

They didn't have to Listen to her, but they left anyway, tails between their legs.

Elizabeth looked around. Where was Fluttershy? There were several of the day guards here, looking at her in some form of what she supposed was admiration. She looked around, backtracked, and found Fluttershy hiding behind the doors Elizabeth had earlier opened.

"A-Are they g-gone?" she asked timidly, hesitating to meet Elizabeth's eyes.

"Gone," Elizabeth confirmed. "Who were they? Foolish questions."

"They," said one of the guards behind her. Elizabeth didn't bother to turn around, instead staring intensely at Fluttershy. "Were the media. Newspapers, tabloids, gossip. Nopony's seen you outside of the castle, so you're a big curiosity. Nicely done handling them, by the way. Never seen anypony just sit there through the initial barrage until they get nervous. All the same, if you're gonna be taking a walk, you'll be crowded."

Fluttershy whimpered.

"Luckily, Her Majesty has assigned us to protect you," the guard continued behind her.

That made Elizabeth whirl around. Standing in a triangle, with the one that had been talking, were three of the identicle equines, one of each type. Talking to her was the earth pony one. "Don't need," she rasped, eyebrows narrowed angrily. Celestia did think her incapable. "Protect self!"

"And Fluttershy too?" the guard countered. "She's leading you around, yes? The Element of Kindness, she doesn't like crowds. Will you protect her from them too?'

"Protect," Elizabeth insisted, fury painting her vision. Would this equine just Listen to her already... "Strong," she said.

"Sorry ma'am, but orders are orders. If you like, we'll stay out of your sight. But do be aware that you'll draw a lot of attention."

Greene muttered under her breath. "Take care of self," she hissed lightly. But the guards were already moving away, closing the doors to the palace and leaving her alone with Fluttershy. She turned back to the yellow equine. "Alright?"

She, no longer having the doors to hide behind, nodded. "Yeah. Let's just, let's just go. Um, if you want. I could show you the gardens, maybe?" She lowered her head. "Oh, but nothing good happened there at the Gala."

"Streets," she said, turning to look at Canterlot. "Ponies there. Streets."

"O-Oh, are you sure?" Fluttershy asked pleadingly. "I mean, you'll encounter a lot of the nobility, a-and I don't think they'll take too kindly to seeing an alien - oh please don't think I'm making fun of you I am so sorry. But. Um..."

"Not worried," Greene said. Though she did not have any idea what 'nobility' were, she wasn't too afraid. The only one who could hurt hurt hurt her was a world away...

"Oh, alright." Fluttershy started walking towards the city. "Follow me, um, if you want to." Elizabeth did just that, following Fluttershy into Canterlot proper.

Elizabeth turned her head back and forth, watching the equines. Most of them, as she had expected, were unicorns, and quite a few wore clothes. As she walked among them, everything froze. Trades stopped. Conversations paused. A pegasus with their hoof in the air kept it suspended as such. They all turned to face her and Fluttershy, and she could see the yellow pegasus shaking under their combined glares.

"What in Equestria is that?"

"It calls that a mane?"

"Is that the Element of Kindness? What is she doing with that... thing?"

"Honey, I believe that's the alien."

"Celestia, why is it ever so hot all of a sudden?"

They all whispered, and Elizabeth looked intrigued. These equines seemed to have their snouts permanently oriented upwards, except for two; a male with a monocle and a pinkish-white female. All of them were staring at Elizabeth, but she supposed that was fine. After all, she was staring at them. Though Fluttershy drew close to her legs, nervous and making Elizabeth prickle because she was almost touching her, she let her. After all, she'd decided that if she was going to be friends with these equines before Blessing them, having them lose what was left of their sanity would not be good.

"Stop staring," she said, her low voice carrying and instantly silencing the muttering equines, which she assumed were the 'nobles' Fluttershy mentioned earlier. "Bothers Kindness Element," she rasped, hoping the showing of authority would help dissuade the equines from bothering them.

That worked on some of them; they continued on their ways, but far more hesitantly. The other continued to stare at her. Her fists clenched. "Stop staring!" she hissed, startling them into leaving them alone. She saw a guard trying to hide from her in an alley smile.

Fluttershy looked up at her, moved away from her legs, and gave a tentative smile. "Thanks. I really don't like being the center of attention."

"Stand out," Greene mused. "Scare away solves. Continue?"

"Oh, yes. Um, there's this sandwich shop Twilight likes nearby."

"Can't eat," she rasped. "Not flesh." She tilted her head. "Not hungry anyway."

"Oh, that's alright then. So, um, do you just want to wander the streets? See what there is to see?"

"Works," she rasped.

Elizabeth Greene frowned. She had not collected a single essence sample yet. She needed to get to it. But she realized that in order to do that, she needed physical contact with an equine. They were scared of her, and simply grabbing them one at a time would rapidly earn her the ire of the alicorn gods. She had to be subtle about this. She had to be sneaky. She needed a place where the equines would not be able to back away from her, but that meant... that they'd probably touch her inadvertently anyway. That made her uneasy, but... it was something she had to do. She'd experienced worse than some equine accidentally brushing up against her. This was something she could do.

"Change mind," she said. "Sandwich shop. Not eat, but watch."

"Alright. Um, if you change your mind and want anything, I'll happily pay. It's this way. Follow me. I-If you want to, that is."

"Want to - wait." Greene's keen eyes noticed something out of the corner of her vision. She turned to view them. Sure enough, it was a pegasus female. She sat on a nearby rooftop, head tilted as she examined Greene. Her fur was gray, the secondary fur color being steely green. Her eyes, a blend between the former two colors, were wide with some emotion Greene didn't recognize, and she had the mark of a closed eye on her hind legs.

She really had to ask about those marks.

The equine's eyes widened, and it scrambled back upon realizing Greene had noticed it. How very strange.

"What was it?" Fluttershy asked timidly.

Greene turned back to her, and they began walking. "Pegasus, watching. Seemed surprised." She considered her situation. "Normal?"

Fluttershy shook her head. "Oh, um. No. That's not normal. I hope you didn't scare the poor dear but... I don't know. Sorry for not being useful."

"No matter. Sandwich shop?"

"Oh! Right. This way, if you want to."

Elizabeth and Fluttershy walked through the streets of Canterlot. Many of the equines, if not all, turned to look at her as they passed, which terrified the yellow pegasus beside Greene to no end. Several times she had to hiss at them to back-back-back away from her, which shamefully was not aiding in collecting essence but there was a time and a place and this was not the time or place.

Eventually, they came to a building - a short rustic one with a black rectangle hanging over its doors, and on that door letters in the strange equine language she had torn from the guard's mind, which spelled 'Subneigh'. There were a lot of equines there, packed closely together. There were tables, some of which had groups of equines sitting there. She noticed the line moving forwards, and they would either go to a table, or leave out through another set of doors. The air was thick with the scent of food, though none of it smelled appealing. Plant eaters.

Of course, the instant Elizabeth entered, the equines turned to her, all action stopping. She had to diffuse this quickly. "Continue," she rasped, and they obediently returned. She hatched a plan, watching the equines move. She figured out quickly how the process of buying a sandwich worked. Most importantly, those returning with their purchases passed right by the line moving to purchase.

She turned to Fluttershy. "Find table. What sandwich do you want? Will buy."

"O-Oh. Would you do that for me?"

Elizabeth nodded.

"Okay. Um. Can you get me the plain bread? Not toasted, and, um, with daffodils and hay." She leaned over to her side and fished around with her mouth in a saddlebag. Elizabeth watched with fascination as the equine expertly maneuvered out a small brown bag and held it out with a hoof. "This should be enough bits. Um, do you know how to use bits? It's alright if you don't but - "

"Don't," she rasped.

"Well, it's, um. Currency." Elizabeth bristled at the term. She knew of currency. The Similars assigned value to nearly everything by how much currency it was worth. Little pieces of paper, smaller pieces of metal, sometimes just limitless currency on rectangles. She didn't understand any of the logic behind it. A thing was a thing, not some value of currency. Regardless, she held the bag, careful to avoid where Fluttershy's mouth had held it and made it wet wet wet. "I'll find us a table. If that's, um, alright with you."

Elizabeth nodded, and got into line. The equines around her were clearly unnerved, but something about her herself kept them quiet quiet quiet and that was nice. She made certain to move a step forward, her leg brushing against the tail of the male before her. She extended small tendrils of her warmth from her suit, wrapping around one of the tail's fur strange and with zero effort, snipping off part of it. The equine didn't even notice as she pulled the purple strand against her suit, wrapping it in red and white tendrils that analyzed its essence before grinding it up and expelled the remains.

Greene focused internally. She saw the pegasus's essence stored, a purple shifting ball with spikes and loops that formed arches. She smiled, and the line moved forward. As that happened, another equine, with a white paper bag in their mouth, accidentally brushed past her.

Greene froze as if petrified. How dare it how dare it how dare it! But she focused regardless, painlessly snipping a single fur and absorbing its essence. She kept repeating this process, and by the time she got to the counter, she'd collected a good dozen samples of essence.

The unicorn at the counter shook nervously as she approached. "H-H-Hello, miss," he stammered.

"Plain bread," she said, her echoes quiet. "Not toasted. Daffodils. Hay."

"W-What?" he asked nervously, sweating through his hat.

Greene narrowed her eyes, her ripples rising in intensity with her irritation. "Plain bread, not toasted. Daffodils, hay. Sandwich."

"Oh. R-Right away, miss," he said, turning away from the counter to nervously relay the orders. He turned back to her. "T-That'll be ten b-bits."

Elizabeth reached into the bag, which thankfully had dried since. She felt something cool and small inside, and pulled out a round golden disk. It had the picture of Celestia on one side, and flipping it over, she saw it had the image of Luna on the other. She handed it out, then rapidly did the same for another nine. She still didn't understand the idea of currency, but decided not to argue it. It was, after all, to get food for a friend.

Elizabeth watched as the equines behind the counter-equine worked at separate stations, moving foodstuff around with practiced precision, each a part of a whole that almost fooled her into thinking they weren't broken. After a short wait, the counter-equine received a white package of paper. As he slid it across to her and she grabbed it, Elizabeth made sure to snatch a fur from his hoof. It was curious. The equines here weren't overly concerned about her presence like Celestia had warned. Or perhaps her insistence to 'continue' scared them into acting normal.

She frowned. She didn't like to be feared feared feared. She wanted them to obey because they wanted to. Either way, the equine took the strange strange strange pieces of metal to do... something with, and she took the plant-food. As she passed the equines in the line, staring fearfully at her, she was sure to bump into them (It was quite crowded, after all) and sample each one's essence. Before long, she made it to where Fluttershy had taken a seat at a table, far off in the corner, as out of sight as possible. She handed the equine both her food and her... currency.

Ugh. She just used currency. Like a Similar. That made her feel sick sick sick.

"Thank you, Elizabeth." Fluttershy looked down. "I, um, hope it wasn't too much trouble?"

Elizabeth shook her head no.

"Well, y-you can sit down. If you want to, that is." Elizabeth sat down, staring across the table at Fluttershy as she unwrapped the sandwich and took a small bite from it, nervously looking around, then growing orange. Elizabeth soon realized why; they were being stared at again! Could these equines not understand her?!

She hissed at them loudly. "Stop staring!" They quickly stopped staring, leaving the Kindness Element to her meal.

While Fluttershy ate, she mentally reviewed the essences she had collected. Each of them had their own color, ever so slightly different from the next but still a deep shade of purple. She looked closer. As she'd collected, she'd ordered. The ones in group Pegasus all had slightly different structures from groups Earth Pony and Unicorn, and those two from each other. Unicorn structures had three loops and one spike on the essence orb, earth ponies had three spikes and one loop, pegasi had two of each. In each, the structures were in slightly different places, and held slightly different shapes. There were differences, certainly, but not enough to draw any definitive conclusions.

She'd need more essence to adapt her Blessing.

Much more.

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

Covert Confidence

Covert Confidence ran.

She had never been so terrified in her life. The alien had seen her. It had noticed her rooftop perch, and she was good at rooftop perching. She was good at keeping things, including herself, secret. That was the whole purpose behind her cutie mark. But the alien had just noticed her, and that made no sense! She'd hid in the sun's glare, kept quiet, stayed in just that innocuous position, everything! But it saw her.

Immediately she had felt uncertainty and worry inundating her. It filled her to the brim until those were the only emotions she could feel. The alien's faint emerald eyes locked with her own, and her bravery and will absolutely crumbled under the predatory gaze. Then she ran. She flew and dashed through the air, getting as far away as she possibly could, coughing and swearing. She had to report this. This could change everything! The alien was controlling the Element of Kindness! Tin Foil needed to know this right away!

She found the familiar yellow and red building in an out-of-the-way neighbor hood with nopony around and nearly crashed into it from her dive. She began pounding it with both front hooves. The alien was right behind her she was sure of it!

"Let me in! Let me in! The earth falls under shadows let me in!" The door flew open, and she stumbled inside, a stallion closing the door right behind her before light could get in.

The stallion was a darker gray than her, his mane and tail steely blue and both cut short. His cutie mark was a piece of tin foil, crumpled into a ball, with pieces of string latching out from it to invisible points. His eyes roamed over her rapidly, then nodded. "What've you got?"

"The alien is in Canterlot," she whispered breathlessly, slumping down on the well-worn couch in the single-roomed home. "I saw it walking down the streets with somepony. Damn it, it saw me." She lifted a hoof to her neck. She could've sworn, she felt its claws wrapping around her throat and choking the life out of her...

"How could you let it see you?" Tin Foil hissed. "It'll be suspicious now!"

"I didn't let it see me!" she whispered. "It found me. I don't know how! It's gotta have some sort of magical truesight! In which case we're not hiding anything from it!"

Her unicorn brother growled, pawing at the mahogany floor with a hoof. "Great, that's just great. You said it was with somepony?"

She nodded. "Right. This is where things go from bad to worse. The Elements of Harmony have been compromised. She's got Kindness under control. I don't know if it's magical brainwashing, or a silver tongue, or what, but the Elements can't be relied on to get rid of the alien."

He swore. "That's just bucking perfect." He sighed. "Well, it's not like the Elements would've been much use anyway. From what I hear, the creature's gotten not only to the foreign ambassadors, but to the... Princesses as well. Without her to aim those puppets, they're useless anyway."

"So what are we gonna do?" she asked nervously. "I mean, we can't just sit around waiting for the creature to phone its friends and... and... do whatever it is aliens do!"

He sighed. "I don't know. I'm gonna have to tell the others. One way or another we need to get rid of the alien." He began to pace back and forth before Covert Confidence. "We can't just leave it alive. That's just asking for trouble. But we can't simply kill it either. It's gotten in deep with the Princesses, and it'll be very hard to reach. However we're going to remove it, it has to be sudden so nopony can know it was me."

Us, Covert thought irately.

"We need more information about the alien. We need to know its weaknesses and strengths." He looked at her.

Covert's blood turned to ice. "No, no, no." She leaped from the couch and backed away. "No no no no no. I am not getting close to that... that thing again! You don't know what it's like!"

"And you know what it'll be like if you don't?" he hissed. "You need to do this. You need to find this... this... Elizabeth Greene and by whatever means necessary get me that info!"

"And what," she asked with fake sweetness. "Will you be doing, dear brother, while I risk life and limb?"

"Contacting the others, having them help you. You know I'm as subtle as Discord when it comes to hiding!"

She rolled her eyes. "Ain't that the truth," she muttered, thinking of the many, many times he had foalishly tripped over his own hooves and spilled barrels when spying on the guard. She loved her brother to death, but...

"Alright, alright," she huffed. "I'll stick my neck out for you this last time," she said. "But you owe me." She stuck her nose up, imitating the Canterlot accent she'd been forced to learn ever since her brother had dragged her out here. "A meal from the finest restaurant in the lands..."

"I'll get you the cherry donuts," he said reluctantly.

"You'd better." She flopped back onto the couch, reliving the moments she'd flown away from the creature. From the Evolved. News traveled fast in Canterlot, doubly so when it was about an alien that had come to subdue the government and take over the world. All the signs were there, Tinny had very convincing arguments. But the thing had been so scary! She was so far away from it, yet she could see the heat rippling off of her, shimmering the air in her immediate vicinity. The gaze it had shot her, promising death as emotions that weren't her own flooded her mind.

What had she gotten herself into?

Author's Note:

I hope you all enjoyed, please leave a comment and a rating. If you spot any errors, please let me know.

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

Comments

[Xomniac]

A conspiracy theory society? That's new! Heh, nice going, now the good guys are mobilizing. This is interesting! Well played sir, well played indeed!

[Dr_D]

I am always amazed at how well you write this story.

[LosZetas]

Getting good :)

[DX-1118 C]

Seriously, all conspiracy theorists and oddity surveyors use violence for every question. I'm glad im not tangled with them anymore.

[Edguy0009]

Stupid detected!