7 - The Salient Script
Chapter 7: The Salient Script
Primum couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
“I don’t get it… we’ve been doing this for so long…”
The Echelon raised an eyebrow, uncrossing her foot and leaning forward in her chair. The chair groaned as she tapped the desk with a finger. It felt like the temperature had dropped, though that was impossible, the notion of temperature didn’t extend this far into the Root.
“It’s a verified Work Order.”
Primum swallowed. “I can see that, ma’am, it’s just so sudden… I’m responsible—”
“There’s been a restructuring. We thank you for your many years of service.” The Echelon’s eyes blazed with muted intensity. Her piercing gaze forced the Head Auditor, a venerable bureaucrat of Reality holding his post since almost the Beginning, to cringe and bow his head.
“Yes, ma’am.” The Echelon was new, but her Authority was clear as day. The letter, accompanying the Work Order—and held in his shaking hands—was marked with the undeniable Salient Script of the Author. The orders were inviolable. But still, they’ve had this job for so long…
“You’re sure? Without the Auditors, Reality will become—”
The Echelon did not hesitate. “I’m sure. And I have permission. Must I spell it out for you?” Her lips twisted in distaste with the drawn-out conversation. “Carry it out. I expect it done by the end of the cycle.”
“W-What will become of us?” Primum couldn’t help stuttering over the words. He felt like Reality was dissolving around him. “Where will we go? What will I tell them?”
The Echelon brushed off a piece of lint on her uniform. “I’m sure you will figure that out yourselves. There is no longer a place for you here.”
“Yes, ma’am.” The Auditors had to be called back from all corners of Reality, there was paperwork to be done. He glanced at his desk and sighed. Lots of paperwork to be done.
“Good.” The Echelon rose from her seat in one fluid motion, picking up her staff of office on the way out. “Don’t make me come back here again.”
Primum nodded quickly. Nobody in their right mind wanted the Echelon to pay them a visit, once was enough in an Eternity.
————————
On the way to the Crystal Empire, Luna decided to take a short detour to see Celestia. Though an alicorn’s wings could bear a long-distance trip, the effort non-stop would likely be exhausting, so she would conserve some energy and steel herself for the arduous journey ahead.
Also, she wanted to see her sister and tell her about what had transpired after she had left.
The ponies of Canterlot were often thought to be a snobbish lot. This was not entirely true, it would only apply to those that frequented the palace and had grown fatally attached to the fineries that only those in the upper echelon of the socioeconomic ladder could afford. The rest of Canterlot was alive with the hustle and bustle of ponies of all types and flavours. On instinct, instead of immediately alighting at the castle, Luna decided to trot her way up the street.
The sights and smells of Canterlot filled her lungs and immersed her eyes. The bubbling murmur of vendors and patrons frequenting the stores filled the air. It reminded her of old times where compatriots would do the same on the open market, before a rift had separated her from her sister, duty, and country. Luna was glad that her ponies were so forgiving of her. Everywhere she went, they gave her grateful grins, as if she had saved the world rather than threatened it. The little waves and the sincere greetings were enough to bring tears to her eyes. She settled for a reflection of their warm adoration with a subdued, but sincere, greeting back.
Luna made her winding way through the streets that were more like the mortar between the cobblestones underneath her hooves than the planned design of a town architect. Canterlot seemed more organic than the flat grey divisions that fitted block by block in other more modern cities like Manehatten. Truthfully, Luna preferred this more olden style. While it was certainly less ‘efficient’ than other denser designs, the charm exuding from the quiet terraces to the bustling inner markets felt truly like an extended home rather than a city.
“Princess, Princess, it’s a Princess!”
“Oh, you’re right, it’s Luna, Princess Luna!”
Luna shook herself from her thoughts, realising that she had stopped near Canterlot station. Around her hooves were the wide eyes of a few precious foals that had approached her, eyes sparkling with curiosity. Their mothers and fathers stood to the side, waving frantically at the children to leave their Princess alone. Judging from the little signs and badges, it looked like it was a school outing, with the foals accompanied by their parents. A tour of the city, perhaps?
One parental pair was almost jumping up and down in panic-stricken fervour as a filly tugged on her mane.
Luna bent down with a smile. “What is it, little one?”
The filly was beside herself with barely contained excitement. “What’s it like, being Princess?”
Luna didn’t immediately reply. Instead, she turned to her parents and caught their attention. They straightened and gave a slight bow, but she waved them off and gestured to the little filly they were trying to catch the attention of. Looking helplessly embarrassed, they waved their acquiescence for her to interact. She picked the filly up and smiled at her, placing the little one on her back.
“Would you like to see things like I do?” she whispered. The filly squealed and nodded vigorously. The rest clamoured to join her, but she laughed them off, telling them perhaps another day. Her back would not forgive her if she carried so many.
“Thank you, Princess,” the filly said, hugging her neck as she made her way to her parents.
“What do you see?” Luna asked.
“My parents, the city and a lot of smiles,” the foal replied.
“That’s what it is like, being Princess. I see what you see, hear what you hear, and feel what you feel.”
Luna set her down gently beside her wide-eyed parents.
“F-Forgive us, Princess, she’s such a curious foal,” her mother stammered with a bow.
“Nothing to forgive, my subjects. You have a lovely foal.”
“Thank you, Princess,” her father said with a proud grin.
Luna turned away with a smile, thinking that it’d be nice if every day could be like this one. Her thoughts turned back towards her initial purpose, and of Exuviae’s devious plots, Cadance’s plea for help, and the strange presence of the mythical humans that were shrouded in mystery. She heaved a despondent sigh. There were always weeds that needed tending in a such a sprawling garden.
Luna almost turned to the castle, but froze with a stare as Canterlot station caught her eyes. Amongst the recent arrivals, ponies, a few griffons and maybe a dragon or two, stood a much more exotic creature. It stood erect on its two feet, looking about curiously without a care in the world, and had stepped out onto the platform.
A human, the creature which they had been looking for so intently, had just fallen into her hooves.
————————
“The Princesses have claimed it, they appeared to have captured our little calling card.”
“WHAT?!” A clawed fist slammed into the desk, the resounding bang echoing around the room much like dragon’s crackling roar. Hardline didn’t so much as twitch.
“I assure you, sir, the Princesses have the human.”
“Why didn’t you send the best team? They would have recovered the human straightaway.” Eyes narrowed dangerously. “You have disappointed me, Hardline.”
Hardline didn’t say anything, he merely stared at his master. The griffon stood, chest heaving, giving a glare that would have seared through stone. When Hardline remained passive, awaiting either judgement or clemency, the griffon stifled his instinctual response to tear the office apart and took a deep breath. He visibly calmed down.
“No, wait, perhaps I was immature with my assessment.” The griffon flexed his claws and took another breath. “I should allow you to explain yourself.”
Hardline showed no emotion, earning approval from his master.
“Thank you, sir.”
The griffon turned towards the window, staring out into the cold grey granite and shale cliffs. “Yes, you have been unquestioningly effective in the past. You must have a scheme, hmm?”
“Yes, sir. The griffons we have sent are tracking the human. I was being cautious, sir, just in case the human has something up its sleeve. I would not want to expend our assets too easily if we underestimated the human. A small gamble, sir, if you will. If they were successful, a human in your pocket, if not, not a great loss.”
“Quite right, quite right, Hardline. Logical as always, I’m sorry to have doubted you.”
“Thank you, sir.”
The griffon raised an eyebrow. “You do have a plan for recovering the human?”
Hardline bobbed his head, managing to look both prideful and subservient at the same time. “Yes, sir.”
“Good, let me know when you have completed your task.”
“As you wish, sir.” Hardline began to turn away when the griffon tapped his desk with an aged claw.
“Just a moment, Hardline.”
“Sir?”
“Which team did you send as our calling card?”
Hardline paused almost imperceptibly. “Sir, I—”
“Enough, I know.” A claw tapped the table. “Perhaps I was too hasty.”
“Sir—”
“Don’t bother, Hardline. Do not make any further moves.”
“Sir, I must—” Even before the words were out of his mouth, Hardline knew it was a mistake.
“You must what, Hardline?”
Hardline stopped himself just in time.
“Nothing sir, as you wish.”
————————
Luna was rooted to the spot. She was unable, for the moment, to think of the next move. Fortunately, the human saw fit to promptly fill in that role. It pointed excitedly, whipping its head around so fast that its long mane of hair, so long it almost touched its waist, swung around and hit a pony exiting the carriage after it.
The pony let loose an exclamation and stumbled to the ground, the human following quickly after him to help the poor stallion out. The human no longer held Luna’s interest when she spotted the stallion. Even from this distance, Luna saw that the pony looked all bones and gristle. The gaunt, emaciated-looking pony looked as if a mummified corpse had been brought to life. The way he moved, all smooth motions and calm regard, reminded Luna of the way a predator of the night moved, had it taken the form of a pony.
Looking on, Luna got over her initial shock with a firm shake of her head. She reminded herself why she had stopped by in the first place. Her sister needed to know she was headed to the Crystal Empire. But what in Equestria was a human doing in Canterlot out of all places?!
The human chattered something to the pony and he shook his head. From behind, a few more figures stumbled out, looking more like a travelling circus than ponies departing from a train. A massive pony, a stallion that dwarfed the others in comparison with his bulk, stood impassive as a couple of other ponies, wearing matching brown coats and crumpled top hats flanked him. They protectively ringed a filly looking like the sky was going to fall down on her at any moment. Somehow, she figured the human had something to do with it all.
Steeling herself, Luna strode forward, preparing to introduce herself. First she would—
“Hey there! My name is Secant, how do you get your hair to do that?”
Luna didn’t even have the opportunity to open her mouth. With a surprised blink, she stared back. The ghoul-like pony had chased after the human and stopped breathless in front of her.
“Secant, stop bothering the poor…” He trailed off when he realised who he was addressing.
“Princess Luna!” he spluttered, giving her an awkward bow.
The human leaned in. “Is she important?”
The pony shot to his hooves. “Of course she is! She’s one of the rulers, a princess! Didn’t the title give that away?”
Secant, the human, seemed to ponder this statement, as if it were a profound fact that required deep thought.
“Ah…” She reached out and touched Luna’s mane. “Is that why it’s all flowy?”
“Stop that!” He hissed at her.
Luna finally found her composure. She felt sure it was lost somewhere in the cracks of Canterlot’s cobblestones, but she managed to gather it up and remake it into a shadow of her former presence.
“Yes, well, no harm done…?”
“Mortimus,” he answered, bowing once more. “This is Secant, a human, incidentally a creature we were going to ask you about, but now we have—” he glanced back behind as four other ponies crept nervously forward “—another issue.” Mortimus coughed politely. “This is Raven, Bricker, Swiper and Wile, we’ve… met under extraordinary circumstances.”
Luna was about to ask another question, but stopped midway, suddenly aware of the faint whisperings as the beginnings of a crowd formed. Ponies glanced their way, curious of the ongoings. Now was not the time to begin an interrogation.
“Why don’t we… discuss this back at the castle? I was on my way to meet my sister, actually, but I’m afraid I will not be sticking around. There is urgent business to attend to in the Crystal Empire.”
Mortimus looked surprised but visibly suppressed with another slight bow. “Of course, your Highness, thank you for granting us an audience,” he replied smoothly. Mortimus tugged at the human to follow his example, but Secant was staring at Luna with an uncomfortable intensity that made Luna swing around and start towards the castle.
“Hey,” Secant called out, stopping her in her tracks. “Why is she bigger than all of you?” The human paused with a frown. “Does she eat more? Is that why she is so… large?”
Having already turned around, Luna was glad that they couldn’t see her shocked expression. From the muffled yelp, she was sure Mortimus had answered Secant’s question with a suitable response.
“Okay, okay, I was just asking,” Secant grumbled. “No need to hit me.”
I beg to differ, Luna thought to herself snidely.
———————
“Hey, so we’re going to be travelling together.”
No answer was particularly forthcoming. David casually took in a few of the murals as he racked his brains for something to talk about. He didn’t particularly want to dive into the interspecies diplomacy of two countries… or nations… or whatever they would call it, he was unsure. Whatever it was, it made him uncomfortable, and he usually avoided discomfort as a matter of principle. Keeping things distant, and quiet was often a good idea when he was keeping track of records and personal information. It wasn’t exactly a job that required much interaction with people. File and save. Maybe move something from one part of the airport to the other.
Coming to think of it, it all started when he went for his shoe. He didn’t like losing things, but his mind usually kept track of one or two things at a time, and the rest… well he couldn’t be expected to keep track of little things like shoes anymore. He let loose a sigh as the unexpected thoughts of Earth popped up in his head. What the heck did he think he was doing? What did he hope to achieve? Was he crazy? Maybe the idea that he was still having some sort of hallucination after being clobbered in a back alley stuck in his head. Maybe, deep down, he didn’t think any of this was real. He raised a hand in front of him. Was he real?
“Are you okay?”
The diminutive statement laced with shy apprehension knocked David out of his headspace. He stopped suddenly, watching Hyaline hesitate mid-stride and gently place her hoof down. Unlike Exuviae, Hyaline had rounder, softer features, and while Exuviae had vicious, sharp fangs and a piercing gaze, Hyaline had an uncertain wavering look and small fangs that barely protruded from her mouth.
David drew his bottom lip through his teeth before he answered with a question. “Why do you ask?”
Hyaline shrunk back slightly, and David regretted his harsh tone. He took a few steps forward and gestured for Hyaline to follow. He needed to walk and talk.
“I’m sorry,” David muttered, running a few fingers through his hair, “I do miss home.”
Hyaline was silent for so long that David almost turned around to check if she was still behind him.
Eventually, with reluctance underscoring her words, Hyaline spoke. “I’ve heard tell that: ‘home is where your heart is’. Or, that’s what some ponies say.”
David blinked, then chuckled sombrely. “I don’t think that really applies in this case.”
Hyaline came alongside him. “Do you know that we feed on emotions? I can sample your emotions using our magic.”
“Your mother mentioned as much.” David shook his head. “But no, thank you.”
“I can feel your heartache. You want to go home.” Hyaline paused slightly. “You miss something.” She paused, studying his face. “No, more like someone.”
David stood in mute shock. “You can get that all from my emotions?”
“No.” He turned around to see Hyaline shaking her head. “I can’t sense anything that deep, yet, but I’m good at figuring it out… my mother says that’s a good trait as well.”
David raised an eyebrow. “But Exuviae never said anything about—”
Hyaline looked uncomfortable. “She might not have mentioned it because she thought it might give you an advantage.”
“And you don’t?”
“I do but…” Hyaline frowned at his expression. “I knew you’d find out eventually.”
David’s wariness turned to curiosity. “Why are you telling me all this?”
Hyaline bit her lip, her eyes shifting away to wander among the murals on her side of the tunnel. Her eyes roamed the art as if to find the answer buried in them.
“I-I might not have my mother’s strength, or her power, but I do know that lies aren’t the best way to start an alliance.” She turned back to him. “You seem like you care, despite what you say.”
David rubbed his right arm self-consciously. “What are you talking about? I just want to go home.”
Hyaline rolled her eyes. “If that was all you cared about then you wouldn’t have tried to protect that pony we took with you, or you would have abandoned us the moment you got in contact with the Princesses.”
David shrugged. “What do you want me to say?”
Hyaline galloped a few lengths in front of David and forced him to stop.
“Why are you helping us? Tell me your real reasons.”
David sighed. “Why do you want to know? You’re getting help, you’re getting what you want.”
“And you don’t ask questions when a stranger offers you a bag of bits?”
“What’s a bag of bits—”
Hyaline growled something under her breath. “Forget it.”
“No, wait.” David wiped a hand across his face. “Look, I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.”
Hyaline glared at him. “My feelings aren’t hurt.”
“Okay, that came out wrong.” David sighed again. “Right, let’s…” He glanced around. “No seats, huh?”
Hyaline merely stared at him with an unimpressed pout.
“Alright, I guess I owe you some form of explanation. I did have someone. She wanted me to be… more, I guess. Something a little more than just who I am.” He gave Hyaline a weak smile. “Did you ever have that feeling? Of wanting more, but you’re just too afraid to try? That was me. All the time.”
Hyaline trailed her hoof through the loose dirt of the cave. She nodded glumly.
“I know what you mean,” she muttered.
David sighed. “They say back on my world: ‘Better to regret it than to never have tried at all.’ I was a zero-conflict person. I just wanted to stay out of sight, out of mind. I was never a fan of just jumping right in and potentially upsetting someone.”
The changeling looked at him with eyes that said she was more than a little surprised. David noticed that though they were green, a little blue crept in, giving it an almost sea-green colour. Hyaline was first to break contact.
“I guess I can see where you’re coming from,” she said, “but why the sudden courage, the change of heart? What changed when you got here?”
“You want to know the truth?”
Hyaline nodded.
“Nothing changed. I’m still scared witless. The only difference is that I’m beyond that.” He swept a hand around the caverns. “I mean can you imagine what it would be like to be trapped in another world? Then suddenly thrust into the centre of it without so much as a chance to catch your breath? What would you do?”
Hyaline either couldn’t answer, or wouldn’t.
“I’ve decided to take this as far as I can. Do something different for once.” He sighed, giving a faint, derisive chuckle. “But I guess I can do these things because I don’t really believe.”
“Believe what?”
“That this place is real.”
Hyaline frowned. “Of course this is real.”
David shrugged. “To you, maybe, but how can you be sure?”
“Of course it’s real. I can feel it’s real.”
“And so can your dreams, but how do you know they’re fake?”
Hyaline shifted on her hooves, giving him an uneasy look. “Y-You just know.”
David lifted a finger, pointing it straight at his head. “It could all be this, a product of my mind.”
Hyaline stared at him. “Then whatever you do here will have no consequence. Are you saying you don’t care what happens here?”
“Honestly, I have no idea. It’s just a thought that keeps recurring. I think it’s why I’m able to step out and do all I did. Maybe, deep down, I’m just waiting.”
“Waiting for what?”
“Waiting to wake up.”
———————
Hyaline stared at the human, questioning, perhaps for the first time in her life, whether her mother had made a sound decision. The human was undoubtedly not right in the mind.
“You’re not serious are you?”
David shrugged. “You wanted to find out my reasons for helping you, there they are. I hope you’re satisfied.”
Hyaline pursed her lips. “I’m not.”
David smiled. “Well, if anything, we’re talking, which is a lot better than a few minutes ago.”
At that, Hyaline had no answer. It was true, she realised. All this time they had been talking, revealing more than she ever intended to and speaking more than she ever thought she would. She didn’t know what to think. Clearly the human was a strange creature with some sort of power to compel her to respond. It had to be magic. There was no other explanation.
Maybe… maybe her mother had been right after all.
She glanced at the human from the corner of her eye. He stood there, looking at the murals on the walls.
“Hey,” he said suddenly. Hyaline nearly jumped out of her chitin.
“W-What?”
He glanced back at her with a raised eyebrow. “Ever see these before?”
Hyaline stepped up to the wall, looking at the vague figures of humans and ponies performing rituals. She peered at them. They looked the same to her, after all, they hadn’t changed in all the time that she’d been raised in the caves.
David caught her blank look and pointed to a few figures. Hyaline peered at them, not comprehending, then the human shifted his finger to the right…
She gasped.
“Crazy, huh? Why do you think they drew that?”
“I-I don’t know,” she stammered. She really didn’t.
“Humans look like they have the same sort of shifting ability as you guys, huh?”
On the walls, painted in faint, fading colours of ancient dyes and ink, were humans… turning into ponies, griffons, dragons, and even some creatures that Hyaline couldn’t identify. Why would the drawings in these caves have something like that? Did her mother know? Whatever the implications were, they weren’t good.
———————
When they entered the hall, Secant couldn’t help but gape. In fact, Mortimus was sure that the tireless human had been gaping all the way since the mountain-borne city had popped into view as they emerged from the train tunnel leading to Canterlot station.
“Secant, would you calm down?”
Secant stopped darting around and melded back into their loosely-formed party. “Sorry, but there’s—”
Mortimus rolled his eyes. “I know.”
“And—”
“I know.”
“Also—”
Mortimus shook his head, giving a half-hearted shrug. There was no use dampening Secant’s experience. Most ponies probably did the same thing when they first saw the castle; it was pretty impressive. Contrasting sharply to the excited babbling to his left was an ominous silence to his right. Sneaking a glance, Mortimus found Raven fidgeting, looking increasingly worried with every minute that passed.
“Feeling nervous?” he whispered discreetly.
Raven hesitated, then turned slightly, murmuring out the corner of her mouth. “We’re getting side-tracked.”
Mortimus licked his lips. “We can’t really refuse a Princess, Raven.”
“Then we should find a way to slip away, any second now my sister could—”
“It’ll be fine,” he said, patting her back. “We’re as safe as we can be. Look at Bricker, he’s a picture of patience.”
Raven snorted. “Bricker’s always like that.”
“Indeed he is. Take a note.” Mortimus nudged her with his flank. “Muzzle up, eyes forward now.”
Mortimus was gratified to see Raven’s jaw firm up in response. “Of course,” she said, flicking a few stray mane strands with an imperious lift of her head. “That’s a given.”
“We’re here!” Luna announced, gesturing up at an imposing set of wooden doors. “My sister should be beyond. I will check, please stay here.”
With that, Luna disappeared through a semi-visible adjunct door. The rest of the group waited in the imposing silence of the expansive antechamber. They were all acutely aware—perhaps due to the fact that most of them were criminals having recently committed a crime—of the attentive gazes of the royal guards situated at the obvious exit points.
“Anypony feel like being on the other side of Equestria right now?”
Bricker glanced at Wile, and for once looked liked he agreed.
Moments later, the side-door that Luna had used popped open and instead of the Princess, a guard spotted them and beckoned them forward.
“Why don’t these doors open?” Wile wondered aloud.
“The doors open on special royal occasions, for diplomatic meetings and the such,” Raven replied.
Mortimus clicked his tongue. “How’d you know that?”
“My mother used to work in the Courts.”
Seeing the look on her face, Mortimus didn’t enquire any further.
A head poked through the door, it wasn’t Luna, but one of the guards.
“Come in,” he said in a surprisingly gentle voice. He beckoned them through. “Just step in and remember to give a little bow, but the Princesses won’t mind very much if you break etiquette.” He spotted Secant and blinked. “You won’t have to, of course.”
Secant tilted her head. “I don’t?”
“It is customary to show a sign of respect, but since you aren’t a citizen of Equestria it’s not obligatory. You may choose to do so if you wish.”
Secant tapped a finger to her chin. “Thank you, I think I might.”
Mortimus nodded to the guard, grateful for his ten-second primer on royal decorum. He was at a loss around here, the fanciest event he was a part of was the local Mayor’s funeral. Even then he was a figure more tolerated than respected, so he’d stuck to the edges and made sure he was an inconspicuous as possible. Even at a funeral, he reminded ponies too much of their own mortality.
Trailing behind the guard, they shuffled in, all hunched shoulders and darting glances. Each pony taking in the austerity and grandeur that thrummed through what could only be described as the centre of Equestria. This was Canterlot, the seat of power, the centre-point of a nation. Though the thrones were empty, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna stood side by side just ahead of the dais and both wore serious expressions. A little thrill of unease worked its way down Mortimus’ spine as he approached the two Princesses and gave a clumsy bow.
“Presenting assorted guests of Princess Luna, Mortimus and company.”
Raven raised an eyebrow at the chamberlain’s introduction but said nothing. Secant saw everypony else bowing, and belatedly bowed too, accompanied by a no small amount of chagrin.
“Welcome.” Celestia’s voice was satiny with an ancient acuity that seemed to shroud her like a mantle. “My sister tells me you have a request?”
After a brief moment of hesitation, Mortimus spoke up.
“Yes, your Highness, we’ve come to ask for help with…” He shared a look with Raven, who bit her lip, but nodded along. “With a certain Organisation.”
Celestia tilted her head. “Does this Organisation have a name, and what would you like us to help you with?”
Mortimus cleared his throat and nudged Raven.
“Now or never,” he whispered under his breath.
Raven, almost stumbling over her hooves, came forward.
“It’s about my sister.”
—————————
“Discord?”
The draconequus was lying on a burbling cloud of clothing that shifted and squirmed underneath his weight. Occasionally, a garment would be ejected from the ‘cloud’, but would quickly rise back up into the bulk and be reassembled. He didn’t seem to have heard her call.
“Discord!”
His ears perked up and the sinuous neck swivelled his inquisitive gaze towards Twilight.
“Twilight! What a lovely surprise.”
For some reason, Twilight doubted his claim.
“Why are you here?” She distantly recalled Celestia mentioning that she should talk to the draconequus, but Twilight thought she might have to drag him out of wherever he hid himself, when he wasn’t in Equestria. She didn’t think he would drift across her path, literally.
“Why Twilight, is it a crime to enjoy the day?”
“Twilight, let’s go, Discord’s a waste of time,” Rainbow muttered, giving him a glare.
Pinkie licked her lips. “Is that a milkshake?”
Discord blinked innocently. “It is. Maybe you’d want to listen to me, if I gave you this little treat?”
“Discord, we’re not so easily—”
Pink hooves gripped her shoulders. Serious blue eyes locked with her own. “Twilight. I think we should listen to him.”
Twilight rolled her eyes, but shrugged. “Alright, I guess there’s no harm in—”
Discord snapped his claws and the rest of Twilight’s sentence was drowned out as the whiplash in scenery took the words out of her mouth.
“W-What?!”
Discord tutted, waggling a claw. “Not the right question, Twilight.”
She hardly heard him.
Around her were glowing points of lights suspended in the air. They floated serenely like dust motes lit by the morning rays of the sun. Underneath her, was a metallic platform that seemed to be suspended in a void, though ahead was a form that dominated the boundless space. A massive structure that resembled something of a silvery double helix twisted into the space as far as the eye could see. A low hum seemed to shake the air whilst slow, lazy pulses of energy crackled around the structure.
It felt… alive.
“W-Where are we?” Twilight managed to say. She glanced around. Her friends weren’t around, only Discord.
“Now that,” Discord said with a mischievous smile, “is a very good question.”
—————————
Discord gestured to the double helix. “You can call that the Root. It basically houses everything about Reality.”
“Reality?”
“I guess you could call it the centre of Life itself.”
Twilight didn’t know how to respond.
“B-But how can everything have a centre? That seems…”
“Impossible? Spoken like a fish in a pond.” Discord snapped his claw again.
With a flash, everything changed. They were no longer standing on the platform, but on a strange surface that was transparent, with a fierce blue light above that seemed to crackle with dangerous energy.
“Don’t look at that too long,” Discord warned, putting a paw in front of her eyes. When she looked at him, his eyes were alight with impish passion. “It can drive you insane.”
“Where are we now?” Twilight managed to get out.
“This is what the local beings call ‘The Registry of Mortals’. It houses a ‘Record’ for everything mortal.” Discord pulled a book from a nearby shelf. Twilight glanced around, suddenly there were ordered shelves around her, like a library.
“H-How?”
“You get used to manipulating Reality when you’ve been around as long as I have. Don’t try it yourself right now, you have to be able to fold ten dimensional space.” He licked a paw and flipped to a page. “Interesting. Is it true you wet your bed the day before—”
“W-What! How’d you know that?!”
Discord waved the book in front of her muzzle. On the cover it read: ‘Twilight Sparkle’. Twilight couldn’t comprehend how she knew it, because the title was written in a language she hadn’t seen before.
“This book is about you.” He put it back on the shelf, just as Twilight reached for it. “Ah, ah, ah! Don’t touch it, this Record goes both ways. You destroy it, and it could destroy you. You’ll do well to remember.”
“Really?” Twilight stared at the book with uncertainty. Could a book like this really do that? What kind of place had something like that? It was imposs— She caught herself before she could go down that path. With Discord, there were some things that weren’t impossible.
“I don’t believe you,” she accused, gaining a little of her nerves.
Discord placed a hand to his chest. “I’m offended! Would I lie to you, Twilight Sparkle?” Seeing her dour look, Discord rolled his eyes. “Need a demonstration? That’s very… Twilight of you, Twilight.” He summoned another volume. “This is mine. Take a look.”
Twilight suspiciously took the book in her hooves and opened it up. The pages filled with writing as she read it. She marvelled at the animated script, it flowed down the pages smoothly, like water. There was a problem, though.
“I can’t read—”
The words were still indistinguishable, but suddenly she grasped its absolute meaning.
Registrant: Discord, Entry: Present, TMD: e2I93J
Location: The Registrant is currently within a restricted area. Last known location: ERROR
Time of Death: ERROR
Record:
Twilight Sparkle was reading the Registrant’s entry as the Registrant observed her. The Registrant was feeling bored and so decided to take the Record back—
“Hey!” Twilight felt the volume slide out of her hooves as Discord took the book back. “I didn’t get to read anything.” She frowned, trying to recall the writing, but it wouldn’t form in her mind. Try as she might, the writing didn’t ‘stick’. “How come I could read it, but not remember it?”
“The writing is done in the Salient Script, something every living being apparently recognises. You can’t remember what it tells you, unless you’re meant to. Not that it’s of much use anyway, because it’s not a real Record.” Discord shrugged. “If you want the real deal, you’ll have to go to the real Registry of Mortals.” He smiled. “Not that you’d find it there, either.”
Twilight blinked. “So wait, this isn’t the real Registry?”
A roguish grin decorated the draconequus’ features. “No, that would be quite the feat. I’ve never been there, actually.”
A thought crossed Twilight’s mind. “Wait, but then how did you know about my past?”
Discord waggled a claw in front of her face. “Hiding a book within a book in a library? A tree within a forest! Clever, but diaries are just begging to be read.”
“What?!”
Discord continued, ignoring her. “I couldn’t just pass it by when I was snooping—oops, I mean, innocently checking academic references in your library. I wouldn’t be able to read your Record, anyway, because I’m not supposed to. Your other secrets are safe in that diary.”
Twilight added the diary transgression into her growing list of grievances she had with the impudent draconequus. She gritted her teeth, and tried to focus on what was important. There was time enough to do something about his antics later. Right now, she had to learn more about the human and this strange world Discord had shown her.
“How do you know it exists? And why are you showing me all of this?”
Discord frowned in disappointment, his expression showing that he’d expected get more of a rise out of her. He shrugged, continuing on. “Finally getting to the point, Princess Twilight Sparkle?” Discord emphasised her title mockingly as he waved a paw airily. “How I know is a secret. As to why I’m showing you this…? Well, you could say that there’s a bit of trouble about.”
“Trouble?”
Instead of immediately answering her, Discord summoned a flickering image of various humans cloaked in a dark robe, each holding onto a staff. They seemed to be looking straight at her with a severe expression, as if she were a foal that had misbehaved. The judgement in their gazes were not helped by the fact that some had the cowl of their cloak over their heads.
“A long time ago,” Discord said, “the Auditors disappeared.”
The Auditors! Twilight remembered the name from Cadance’s letter.
“You know them?” he queried mildly.
Twilight shook her head. “No, I’ve heard it mentioned.”
Discord leaned in, a dangerous smile gracing his lips. His eyes gleamed with curious intensity. “Really? You must tell me about it later.” Just as quick as it had come, Discord’s intimidating stare went. He continued as if nothing had happened. “These Auditors were responsible for one thing: To keep Reality in check.”
“What?” Twilight was dumbfounded. “How is that possible?”
Discord shrugged. “I don’t know everything, despite what I look like. They just do, often with instruments given to them from another part of the Root. Probably from the Author herself.”
“The Author?”
Discord grew quiet, choosing not to answer immediately, but to look out into the void. Somehow, Twilight found this serious side of Discord, something she’d never seen, to be more disturbing than whatever maddening method of mayhem he usually had up his proverbial sleeves.
“The Author,” he said. “An immensely powerful being that was said to be the spark of Reality, and of Life, itself.”
“You said she. Is the Author a mare?”
Discord smiled at that. “Who knows? Maybe it’s a fashion she wears it like clothing?”
“What?!”
“Oh, don’t be surprised, Twilight. Common sense doesn’t apply too much in this place.” He cocked his head. “Which is ironic, considering…”
Discord crossed his arms. “I’ve been doing a little looking here and there, but the key seems to lie with you.” He sighed. “Don’t tell me how I know this, but you, the strange creatures in Equestria calling themselves Auditors, Dwellers or humans, are all connected in this grand web of schemes.” Discord frowned in a moment of silence, then flicked a paw like he was shooing a fly. “Never mind, I think you can handle it. The whole of Reality collapsing seems more like your job, not mine. I’ll take you ‘back’.”
Twilight waved a hoof to stop him. “Hang on, I thought you’d be all over the idea of Auditors going missing, if they correct Reality, like you said, then wouldn’t you like them gone?”
A sinister smile graced his lips. “I like a game with replayability.” Then he snapped his claw.
Twilight found herself back in Ponyville.
“Where’d he go?” Rainbow asked, looking around.
“Where’s Discord?” Twilight looked around. The draconequus was gone.
“I dunno, he was here a second ago!” Pinkie said cheerfully.
Twilight shook her head. The infuriating creature was always here when you didn’t want him, and always gone when you did.
“Oh, let’s not bother with him.” She muttered it more to herself than them.
“You okay, Twilight?” Rainbow asked.
“I’m fine, I have to think about it. Everything’s just so fractured. I need time to piece it together.” Twilight started moving again, her hooves headed off automatically to the castle library. With a shared glance at her response, Rainbow and Pinkie reluctantly followed in tow.
———————
Twilight was deep in thought, so the first time Rainbow said something, she didn’t register it.
“I’m sorry, what?”
Rainbow looked annoyed, but repeated herself. “I saaaaaid.” She paused while Twilight cringed a little. “Aren’t the caves that way?” She pointed a hoof towards the mountains. “Are you sure Discord didn’t do anything to you? You’ve been really quiet since we met briefly.”
Twilight shook her head hastily. “No, no.” She didn’t like keeping a secret from her friends, but how was she supposed to explain something she barely knew anything about? “We’re going to make a pitstop at the castle.”
Rainbow sighed. “Books?”
Twilight nodded as Rainbow groaned. “Also something else.”
“Oooh what is it?” Pinkie said, perking up. “I thought we were going to meet some new changelings buuuuut books are okay too!”
Twilight frowned. “Not every part of my life revolves around books, you know.”
“Could have fooled me,” Rainbow said. “When was the last time you put something ahead of your books?”
Twilight’s blank expression turned to embarrassment. “Okay, but just because I can’t think of an instance where I’ve done so, doesn’t mean…” Twilight stopped in her tracks.
“What?” Rainbow asked looking at her friend in confusion. She followed Twilight’s gaze. “Oh.”
Pinkie cocked her head. “Looks like we won’t have to go to the caves after all!”
There, standing casually outside the castle, was the human.
————————
Written was examining the Crystal Heart.
“How does it work?”
“Well the emotions of the Crystal Ponies activate the—”
“No, no,” Written said, tapping her staff on the ground impatiently. “How does it keep spinning?”
Cadance looked at the Crystal Heart, then back at the Auditor. “Magic?”
Written seemed to be deep in thought, and didn’t look like she’d heard her. “No, the mechanics are all wrong. There are some Realities where that’s true, but this is not one of them. Why…?”
Written circled the Crystal Heart while Cadance and Shining shared a worried look. It was one thing helping the odd creature find another one, but the Crystal Heart was a foundational artefact of the Ages. It was immeasurably valuable, and for some reason, Cadance felt nervous letting the self-proclaimed Auditor of Reality near it.
“Maybe you should look at it later, for now, we should help you find your human.”
Again, Written didn’t seem to hear Cadance. She kept up the dialogue with herself. “It seems to be warping reality by itself, but that’s impossible, every device needs a user.” Written turned around suddenly, startling Cadance. “Magic? What else is magic?”
Shining took point, lifting a rock with his magic as a demonstration.
“See, this is—what, hey!” Written had touched his horn. Immediately the magic cut out and the stone fell to the ground.
“How did she do that?” Shining spluttered, backing away and clutching his horn.
“Hmm.” Written rubbed her fingers together. “Tingly.”
“What?”
“Reality warping always feels like this. How do you manage to do that without the proper equipment?”
“Equipment?”
“Yes, you have to have the proper equipment. The only way you could do that would be if you were authorised as an Auditor and had created a—” Written stopped mid-sentence, tapping the point of her staff and muttering something while doing so.
Cadance sighed in frustration. “Now what?”
————————
“What do you think she’s doing?” Shining asked, looking slightly exasperated.
“I don’t know,” Cadance replied, almost at the end of the rope herself. “She keeps saying things that make no sense and sniffing around more like a dog than… whatever she is.”
Written had taken to touching the walls of the castle with her staff and muttering incoherent statements in a strange language that Cadance couldn’t parse. Whatever language it was, it was probably best they didn’t know. Her countenance had darkened considerably than when she started. Curious citizens and guards alike had watched the royal couple trail behind the baffling creature as it meandered through the castle in a seemingly random pattern.
“You think we should—” Shining started, but was interrupted by a sharp squeal from Written.
“Aha!”
Cadance trotted forward. “What is it?”
“I knew there was a reason why things around here were so strange!”
Cadance shared a look with Shining, but stayed silent, though confused.
“The patterns on the floor, the ceiling, the makeup of the charges and everything around here thrums with the Authority of an Auditor.”
Cadance cleared her throat. “So what does that mean?”
“There were Auditors here, I’m sure of it! Something happened to destabilise Reality around here and the Auditors present cast a particularly powerful system to keep it in check. It’s absolutely insane. The level of Reality warping equipment concentrated just to keep it going, is pretty much…” The rest of her sentence faded away, her staff falling to the ground with a dull thump.
“Are you alright?” Shining asked tentatively.
The atmosphere had changed from epiphanic euphoria to sinister silence.
“Everything we had.” Written turned towards them with a frightening look on her face. “Why is this universe the centre of things? This is supposed to be on the outer edges, near the Isles of Reality. Nothing links this universe to anything!”
“Are you saying that something happened here in Equestria?” Cadance bit her lip. Would it affect them? “Is it related to who you’re searching for.”
“I’m not sure,” Written replied uneasily. She leaned on her staff. “The layout is so complex. It’s designed to enforce Reality in this Islet universe, but with that much power, Reality warping should be impossible. How can you creatures do it? It doesn’t fit.”
Shining tossed his head. Most of the answers the Auditor was talking about was making him confused. “Well, what are you going to do about it?”
Written gripped her staff and sighed. “First thing’s first, I have to locate that Dweller. There must be a reason why it’s here.”
“Dweller?”
“Another being that looks like me found its way to this Reality. It’s the same Reality shift that I picked up before that.”
“Reality shift?” Cadance frowned.
Written caught the expression and shrugged her shoulders. “I suppose you’ll want an explanation. You’re quite powerful Reality warpers, and while usually you’d get a citation, I get the feeling that this is an endemic problem seeded through this bizarre universe. Further investigation is required. I’ll need to reprioritise.” Written swayed on her feet. “Ah, and this mortal form comes with all the inconveniences as well.” She clutched her midriff. “Oh what’s this? Hunger? How peculiar. Is it fatal? It feels like it.”
“Not exactly.” Cadance shared another look with Shining and shrugged. “We’ll get you something to eat.” She turned to Shining. “And we’ll have to wait for a reply from Twilight, anyway.”
Shining frowned at that. “I wonder how Twiley’s doing, she would have found a way to reply by now.” He clicked his tongue. “She’s probably doing much better than we are.”
————————
Upon exiting the caves, David scanned the skies and took in the terrain. With a sharp rock, he’d torn strips of cloth out of his loose-fitting gown and wrapped them around his feet, over the bandages. He winced, hoping there weren’t any particularly sharp stones out down the mountain.
“What’s wrong with your uhm…?”
“You mean my feet? They’re really soft, so I have trouble walking around on them.”
Hyaline seemed dumbfounded by the idea. “How do you get around?”
“Using shoes?”
Hyaline seemed to have a different picture of shoes, because her face scrunched up.
“That must hurt, they look soft.”
David caught the look. “Probably not the shoes you’re thinking of, not horseshoes, if that’s what you call them here, although you’d probably just call them shoes—” he stopped himself before he got too far “—I mean hard coverings to go over my feet to protect them. My feet aren’t much harder than my hands.”
He wriggled his fingers in front of her face. Hyaline was making a visible effort not to look disgusted, so he stopped.
“They’re quite useful, see?” He petted her on the head.
“Oooh, that’s strange.”
“Eh, you get used to it.” He removed his hand.
Hyaline followed his hand with her eyes, looking strangely wistful.
“What? Never had anyone pet you on the head?”
Hyaline cocked her head. “No, not really.”
“Oh.” David finished up tying the last of the knots in his makeshift footwear. “Anyway, I’m done, should we get going?”
Hyaline considered his feet and then glanced back up at David. “Maybe we should carry you?”
“We?”
Hyaline gestured behind him and David spotted five changeling drones standing stiffly at attention. “Oh right, these guys.”
“We might be smaller compared to you, but we’re surprisingly strong.”
David waved off the offer. “Thanks, but it shouldn’t be too far.” He shaded his eyes against the sun, it was making its way towards noon. From their vantage point, all he could spot were steep cliffs and the winding tracks of a river etching the ground with blue.
“It’s best not to go that way,” a voice said beside him, making him jump. It was one of the changeling drones who had been silent up until now. “The Bogg is a hard place to navigate through and it probably wouldn’t be comfortable walking with your feet like that. Climbing along there you can cut through grass and relatively level terrain before arriving at the pony town from the west.”
David was surprised, but nodded genially. It made sense. “Thanks…?”
The changeling drone blinked at him.
After a considerable pause, David felt the need to prompt the changeling.
“Your name? I’m asking for your name.”
The drone continued to look at him blankly. David turned to Hyaline, who was preoccupied with something in the ground.
“Uhh, a little help here?”
Hyaline glanced up. She had been looking at a small patch of green in the copper-coloured dirt. It was an island of vegetation in the otherwise sterile desert-like landscape. As far as he could tell, it was a dandelion that happened to embed itself in the rocks. It wasn’t blooming, but the leaves were distinctive. David caught himself. Would they be called dandelions here? Would they even be similar?
“Sorry,” she said quickly, “I’ve never seen plants this up-close before. I’ve heard a lot about them. I was just wondering what type this one was.”
David blinked in surprise. “Oh, well, that’s a dandelion.” He hoped it was.
“Oh okay, thanks.” Hyaline shook herself, blushing a little. “We didn’t have many of those. Plants, I mean.”
If she lived the majority of her life in the caves, then David could see what she meant.
“Ahem, to answer your question,” Hyaline continued, “communication for us doesn’t happen that way. We don’t use ‘names’ so often. Royalty is different for diplomatic purposes since other races feel the need to call things by name.”
“Right, but if I’m going to be travelling around with these guards, I’ll need to know which one is which.”
“Really? Can’t you tell?”
“How?”
Hyaline looked miffed by the question. “By the texture of their chitin.” She said it in a way that made David feel like he had just asked what colour blue was. “It varies between each changeling.”
David studied the accompanying guards with a careful eye. “Erm, I can’t see any difference between them. They all look the same to me.”
Hyaline cocked her head. “Interesting, I guess only changelings, griffons and dragons can tell the difference.”
“Ponies can’t?”
“If they try really hard, they might. I’ve never asked since my mother doesn’t seem to like talking about them too often.”
“Any particular reason?”
“Something happened between her and Princess Celestia, but she’s never said anything about it. I’m taught things that only really relate to how we’re supposed to ‘deal’ with them.” Hyaline looked embarrassed at the lack of information. “I don’t know too much about what happened between them, but I know it was something serious.”
David nodded thoughtfully, then gestured ahead to the guards. “Since you all know the way forward, I’ll let you lead. You need something to distinguish each other…” David pursed his lips. This was going to be hard. The changelings were fairly monotonous. He couldn’t tell gender just from the voices. Besides, all of it was due to some passive magic that Hyaline was using. He tried not to think about it, magic in itself was something crazy to think about all on its own.
“I’ll think about it,” he said, dismissing their attention with the wave of his hands. “I guess later, when I get to know you guys a little better.”
————————
“Just up ahead is a pony settlement. The one you came from just before we… invited you over.”
David gave Hyaline a wry look as she squirmed a little on the spot.
“I-I didn’t have anything to do with that, it was mother’s idea.” She tossed her head. “N-Not that it matters anyway, you were fine.”
David chuckled softly. “You’re surprisingly easily flustered, aren’t you?”
Hyaline rolled her eyes. “Everything about this is new to me. You’re the first creature I’ve talked to that’s not a changeling. This is the first time I’ve been out of the caves. And this is the first time I’ve been sent on a mission from my mother.”
“Wow, you’re like a real royal shut-in, aren’t you?” He was more surprised that Exuviae had entrusted such an uncertain mission to her daughter without prior experience. Either she had faith in her daughter, or her situation was getting pretty desperate.
Hyaline glared at David.
He threw up his hands. “Hah, sorry. I just say what I think.”
Hyaline rolled her eyes. “I can see that.” She signalled behind her. “Get your disguises ready.”
“Pre-made disguises?”
Green flames wreathed her form as she smiled. “Something like that. It’s up to us to decide what we look like.” After transforming, David registered a pony with sea-green eyes looking through turquoise and mauve streaked hair. A strange symbol adorned her flank, looking like a pair of shooting stars over the daybreak.
“Like it?”
“It’s, uhm, I’m not sure I’m qualified to answer to the nature of beauty for different species.”
“Just say I look nice, or pretty,” Hyaline growled with a pout. She put on a haughty expression. “You don’t have much experience with the opposite gender do you?”
David shrugged, but didn’t give her the satisfaction of anything more.
“Okay, we’re ready. Let’s just go in,” he said, instead.
Hyaline huffed, but nodded anyway. She stopped him with a hoof as he rose.
“What?” he asked.
“You’re just going to waltz right in?”
“Yep.”
“Don’t you have a plan for this?” she hissed, shooting the town a wary look.
“Yes. We talk to them. So we’ll have to meet them right?” He dodged the outstretched hoof and ambled towards Ponyville without a seeming care in the world.
“This creature is crazy,” Hyaline muttered, watching him go.
————————
It didn’t take them very long to get noticed.
“Uhm, are you that creature the Princesses were looking for?”
David stopped in his tracks. There were a bunch of small ponies at his feet. They barely reached over his waist. He realised from the higher pitched voices and the youthful, guileless expressions, that these were probably children of sort. He scanned the area around and realised that he’d stumbled into a playground.
He threw a look behind him and saw that Hyaline and the drones hadn’t followed him in.
“I’ve got to get going…” He made to leave but the circle of curious foals closed around him.
“Hey, hey, what exactly are you?” This one was white with a curly mane. Her voice squeaked.
“I’m a human.”
“What’s that?”
“It’s a—” he didn’t get the chance to finish.
“Where are you from?”
“Don’t you know what a human is?” One of the others strutted forward with an imperious look. “Daddy told me about them.”
David cocked his head. Maybe some information was worth gathering before heading straight into the centre of town?
“A human is a creature that has incredible powers.” She flicked back her mane as she recited her knowledge with a smug confidence. “You can be healed if they touch you and their hair is good luck.”
The foals stared at him with renewed interest that made David break out into cold sweat.
“So he’s like, really valuable?” Another one with an orange coat and a yellow mane had a smile that looked more at home on a wolf than a pony.
“What do you think we’ll get if we catch him?”
“How do you know it's a him?”
“You can tell by his voice!”
“Oh yeah? Like you could tell in Guess Who?”
“Like that matters—hey he’s sneaking away!”
David had taken the opportunity to carefully extract himself from the bickering foals while they were distracted. The tableau was frozen for a handful of seconds. A human, with his foot half-raised, and on the other side, a cluster of foals, all staring at him.
David broke into a run.
“Get him!”
————————
They were still following him even after he left the school grounds and followed the path towards the town.
Solid regrets were contemplated amidst the upending of barrels and scrambling around ponies and carts.
Why didn’t I have a plan? Should have asked Exuviae or Hyaline for a map or something.
“Hey!”
“Watch it!”
“Sorry!”
“Dear Celestia, what has this—”
The voices were lost in the pounding of his heart. He drew ragged breaths as he rounded a corner.
“There he is!”
“Oh, for the love of—” David quickly reversed directions and headed out the alley.
“Go around the other side!”
Not good. They were starting to organise themselves. Wait. Why the heck was he running in the first place? The mistake was sneaking away. They smelt fear, and children were up for a game, anytime. Didn’t they have school, though? Shouldn’t they have stopped at the boundaries of the school playground?
He skirted past some ponies chatting idly about the weather and a spa treatment. He hopped over a table and past some chairs. There was a fountain nearby, with a horse in mid-prance. Some ponies relaxing by the fountain, had turned curiously to the source of commotion.
“Hey, is that the—”
“Why are the foals chasing it?”
David skirted the fountain and rounded a corner. Up over the roofs of the houses was the glint of the crystal castle he had spotted on his first visit to the town.
Maybe I can find the ponies that helped me before.
He rolled his eyes.
Although Hyaline could lend a hand… or hoof.
In the distance he heard a clanging. Looking back, he saw the disappointed looks of the foals as they sighed and shook their heads, trudging back the way they came. One gave him a particularly long, uncomfortable stare, but eventually joined the others, galloping to catch up.
“Saved by the bell,” David huffed, slackening his pace. He took the opportunity to collapse on the ground and catch his breath.
“You look like you’re enjoying yourself.”
“Argh! Don’t do that, you scared me!”
Hyaline chuckled, moving to stand in front of him and looking somewhat imperiously at him. “That’s why you don’t go casually wandering around without a plan.”
“I’ll… keep that in mind,” David muttered, getting to his feet again. “We might as well go wait near the castle.”
Hyaline glanced at the castle and back at him. “Okay. The goal is to meet the Princesses anyway, so I guess this is as good a place as any.”
David stopped at the doors and wondered if he should knock. As he was about to lift his hand, he heard a conversation of sorts.
“Okay, but just because I can’t think of an instance where I’ve—”
Hyaline cocked her head. “I guess that solves that problem.”
David spotted Twilight and waved nonchalantly.
————————
“Hello.”
That was David. The human. Standing outside her castle.
“W-What are you doing here?!” Twilight gasped, taking a couple of steps back. “And who’s that with you?”
“Oh this? She’s uhm… someone. Listen, I need to talk to you.”
Twilight didn’t know where to begin, it was quite unexpected.
“How did you escape?” Rainbow blurted ahead of her. She stopped at a hover in front of David’s face, forcing him to take a half-step back.
David looked at Rainbow blankly. Then turned to the pony with him and whispered something. She shrugged and shook her head as David placed a hand over his face and sighed.
Rainbow frowned. “What’d he say?”
Twilight repeated what he said.
“How’d you know what he said?”
Twilight shook her head pursing her lips. “I’m not sure, but maybe he knows?”
David, having only been exposed to one side of the conversation merely shrugged. “I might have an idea, but it might be better if we do this inside.” He gestured meaningfully at behind them. Curious ponies had perked up and were looking at the proceedings with varying levels of interest.
“Oh, right.” Twilight opened the doors and invited the human, and his strange companions, in.
———————
Inside, David took in the spacious cavity that served as the main hall. The walls sparkled with brilliant intensity that seemed to make the whole place glow. It was as if the light streaming in the windows complemented the crystal’s luminescence, and were ancillary to the function of the crystals.
“It looks bigger on the inside than it does on the outside,” he commented, eyes wide.
“Ahem, well, it’s just great,” Twilight replied. It seemed that he was so unexpected that she was at a loss to direct the conversation.
Hyaline chose that moment to step forward. She gave a slight bow. “Princess Twilight, we’d like a moment of your time.”
Twilight twitched, but broke into a polite smile. “Of course, of course, uhm, I’ll try and get some tea ready and why don’t Rainbow and Pinkie keep you company while I do that?” The end of her sentence was spoken much more rapidly than the beginning and by that time, Twilight had retreated to the other end of the room.
Rainbow, a pony that was familiar, said something to Twilight, but in her haste, Twilight had already ejected herself out of the room. With a grumble and a sigh, Rainbow nickered, saying something to ‘Pinkie’, which he assumed was the really pink pony. A heated conversation of sorts ensued between them, but finally Rainbow said something, patted Pinkie on the shoulder, and then dashed off after Twilight.
Pinkie sat there smiling nervously. She also looked like she didn’t know what to do.
David stood in the hall, shifting uncomfortably.
Hyaline turned to David. “You know, maybe I should shift into my form so you can speak with the ponies?”
Pinkie looked surprised, as if finally registering Hyaline and the other drones’ presence.
She asked Hyaline something.
“Uhh, yes.”
Pinkie made a gesture and threw out a hoof, which Hyaline shook after a moment’s hesitation.
“My name is Hyaline. Nice to meet you too.”
Pinkie said something and waved her hooves around with a face-splitting grin.
“Oh, okay, maybe later. Right now might not be the best time for a party.”
Her ears drooped slightly.
“Don’t feel bad, maybe after my mother works out something with your princesses.”
Pinkie cocked her head and asked her something.
“No, I come from down south, just past the Bogg.”
Pinkie’s expression was even more confused.
“I’m a changeling. Yes. No. No.”
Pinkie smiled. Then said something in a cheerful tone.
“That’s very kind of you. I hope we can get along.”
Pinkie nodded emphatically, bouncing up and down.
“What happened?” David asked.
Hyaline turned around, her face bearing a bemused expression.
“I think I made a friend.”
———————
Rainbow caught up to Twilight as she stumbled into the kitchen.
“Hey, what’s up with yo—”
Twilight made it to the sink just in time.
“Woah, Twilight, are you okay?”
Twilight’s eyes were slightly glazed as she responded queasily. “Ugh, I feel awful.”
Rainbow put an arm around her friend. “What’s the matter?”
Twilight turned the tap on and let the water wash away her breakfast, meagre as it had been.
“I just felt suddenly sick, I don’t know why.”
Rainbow considered the possibilities and came to one conclusion.
“You think it’s the human?”
Twilight thought about it briefly, then shook her head. “I don’t think so…” Though it didn’t look like she was fully dismissing the idea. “It felt like it was my magic. I feel nauseous, like I had overstrained myself.”
“Hey, I heard you come in, and—woah, what happened to you, Twi’?” Spike had entered the kitchen casually, but rushed forward as Twilight staggered a couple of steps.
“We don’t know, Spike,” Rainbow explained for her, as Twilight held a hoof to her mouth. “Something about her magic.”
Spike dashed to a cabinet and quickly set up a teapot and a kettle. He spooned something into the kettle as he continued. “Does it have something to do with the new guy in the foyer?”
Rainbow shrugged. “Maybe, I kind of think so, it’s a bit of a coincidence.”
Twilight nodded approvingly at whatever Spike was doing to help.
“Thanks,” she said, taking a couple of deep breaths. “It’s going away now, ugh.” The chair scraped back as she got onto her hooves. “We need to talk to David and—” heurk “—do some research.”
“You should lie down,” Spike shot back, eying the alicorn critically. “You might make yourself worse if you do anything else.”
“Hey, he’s got a point. If you—” Whatever Rainbow was going to say, it flew from her mind as Twilight fixed her with a determined look.
“I’ve got to do this,” Twilight said. “There’s something bigger than all of this wrapped up in that human, I can feel it!”
Spike sighed, but looked like he wasn’t going to argue the point. “You can go back out there,” he said, watching the kettle. “I’ll bring up the infusion when it’s done.”
“Thanks, Spike,” Twilight replied gratefully.
“Don’t mention it,” Spike answered wryly. “I don’t like making this, though, so please take it easy.”
Outside the kitchen, Rainbow asked the question.
“What’s Spike making?”
“It’s a sort of drink that helps with magic exhaustion. I don’t use it, but sometimes a spell might catch me off guard, or an unexpected complication in the thaumological flow causes a—”
“Alright, alright,” Rainbow said hastily. “It helps you feel better, right?”
“Right.”
Twilight was looking better, though Rainbow agreed with Spike, she needed to rest. The only problem with that was Twilight also happened to be the best pony to help with her own condition. She also knew a thing or two about overexerting yourself, so Rainbow didn’t want to push it. It still made her worry, though.
——————
When Twilight came back, Hyaline tried to explain the outline of the situation to her.
“Now don’t be alarmed, but I’m a changeling.”
Twilight shrugged. “I knew that.”
Hyaline blinked. “How?”
“There are changeling detection spells impregnated into some of the crystals in the walls, they glow a different colour when there’s a changeling nearby.”
Hyaline looked around.
“Oh.”
She morphed out of her disguise.
“At least that makes explaining this a little easier,” Hyaline remarked. “Okay, how about—”
“Actually, you might be feeling a little uncomfortable standing around in the foyer. There’s a small room with a large table that can fit you all,” Twilight interrupted. She swept around them, looking a little worse for wear than when they had originally met her. “Please come along.”
Forcing the rest to follow, Hyaline was acutely aware that the momentum of the conversation had ebbed from her lead and smoothly lay at the hooves of the pony princess. She bit her lip, trying to suppress the image of admonition her mother would have given her for letting that happen. A strong lead was always important in any negotiation.
The exchange hadn’t been lost on David.
“Tried a little something, didn’t you?”
Hyaline sighed. “I guess I don’t have the presence that mother does.”
David did that weird ‘petting’ thing again with his hand.
It… feels kind of nice.
“Don’t worry, there’s something worrying these ponies, and I don’t think it’s you,” he said.
Hyaline didn’t miss the tight focus of attention fixed on the human throughout the proceedings. The ponies were interested in the human for sure. Did they know what humans were capable of? Suddenly, Hyaline felt a little naked. What if the ponies decided to take the human for themselves? Would she and her small guard be able to stop them?
“Just here, you can take any seat you like.”
Ahead was indeed a large table. Some attempt had been made to decorate it, with small candelabrum placed evenly along its length, though not lit. There were chairs, which Hyaline disliked, but put up with. There weren’t much in terms of seating in the caves. Besides, how do you even sit in the chair? This Twilight Sparkle was a new princess, but she was a formidable opponent. The chairs were there to make her uncomfortable and she knew it.
——————
Twilight noticed that Hyaline looked uncomfortable in her seat. The other changelings, still in their own disguises, also looked at unease with sitting down in a chair. Only David didn’t seem to mind, though he barely fit in his seat, his knees were forced up almost to his chest.
Maybe it would be more comfortable for her guests if they did stand around in the foyer?
Twilight still felt a little queasy, but suppressed the feeling by faking a nonchalant smile. “So,” she began, “what brings you here?”
David looked at Hyaline.
“My mother wants to establish a ‘partnership’ with Equestria.”
Twilight, expecting the conversation to turn to the subject of humans, was surprised.
“Why?”
Hyaline tapped her hoof on the table. “If you know anything about changelings, then you know we don’t have an abundant food source, right?”
Twilight nodded.
“You might be able to solve our food problem.”
“What?!”
Hyaline gestured around herself. “With all this magic that you have, there must be some way you can help us.”
“And why would we do that?!” Rainbow interjected. “You changelings were sucking the life out of us just a while ago.”
“They weren’t the same changelings!” Hyaline shot back. “We aren’t that desperate, and we do have a line we don’t cross.”
“So destabilising geopolitics in the region using deception and fraud is fine?” Twilight posed with a smirk.
“T-That’s—”
Pinkie tapped the table to get everypony’s attention. “Hey, Twilight, I think we should listen to what she has to say.”
Twilight hesitated, looking back at Hyaline. She looked distraught. A small feeling of guilt settled like a stone in her abdomen. “It won’t hurt to hear what she has to say.”
“Just don’t expect us to rush into anything,” Rainbow muttered.
Hyaline took a steadying breath. “It’s like this. Mother wants to secure the future of our Swarm. We want to solve the problem of our food, but we can’t keep going about it like we did before.”
Rainbow snorted, but Hyaline chose to ignore it as she continued.
“Out of all the races around here, the ponies seem to be doing the best. You’re further along than any other species, but we changelings are lagging behind. We need a way to put our interests forward.”
“That sounds like you want us to help you get stronger,” Rainbow said, eyes narrowing suspiciously. “What if magic’s the way we need to fend off a changeling attack? Maybe you’re planning something similar to Chrysalis?”
Twilight didn’t think the changelings were going that route, but there wasn’t anything really attracting them to this proposition.
“What do we get out of it?” she asked.
“Keep in mind—” Hyaline was about to add something else, but David interrupted her.
“Hey, I can’t hear what the others are saying, can you do that spell?”
“Oh right, sorry.” Hyaline’s horn glowed slightly, then faded away.
That instantly got Twilight’s attention. “What spell was that?”
“It’s not really… it’s kind of a translation spell, of sorts.”
Twilight blinked. “But a translation spell is very complex. You’d have to match the linguistic patterns, grammar, colloquialisms…”
Hyaline smiled. “A changeling doesn’t work off the language of speech, but rather the language of emotions.”
Twilight leaned back, understanding dawning on her features. “So as long as they feel emotions.”
“We can understand them.”
“Hmm.” Twilight rubbed a hoof along her chin, deep in thought. “You realise that changeling magic is fundamentally different from pony magic?” A corner of her mouth twitched up in amusement. “There’s no guarantee we could help you out with your request.”
“I understand, but—”
“We’re willing to try.”
“You are?” Hyaline spoke up hopefully.
“We are?” Rainbow Dash spluttered.
“We are!” Pinkie added in for good measure.
“Yes,” Twilight said, with a smile, “in exchange for the human.”
“I can’t give you that!” Hyaline exclaimed.
“Isn’t that why you’ve come with him?”
“N-No, at least, he was just here to help with negotiations.”
“Well, he’s helped by being a part of it.”
“I didn’t mean literally!”
“Hey! Can you two stop acting like a bunch of five year olds and act like the leaders you’re both supposed to be?” David interrupted, looking annoyed. “I swear, if it weren’t for the fact that you looked so different, you’d fit right into the federal government.” His gaze swept around the participants, taking in Twilight and Hyaline who were a little embarrassed. “First off, I’d like a little agency here. I don’t like being ignored.”
“Now,” he continued, taking a deep breath. “Let’s go about this logically. There’s a reason you want me, right?” He directed the question to Twilight.
Twilight wasn’t comfortable answering the question. They were, after all, after the human. It was partially due to the fact that he was valuable to the changelings, and partially due to what Doctor Stable and Nurse Redheart had found out about him. The human was a goldmine of information, but suddenly Twilight was aware of the fact that she had treated him as little more than a bartering chip. She had allowed herself to be carried away in the heat of negotiations.
“Can’t answer? Alright,” David spoke, breaking the silence. “I guess enmity for each other can’t easily be thrown aside, and maybe it was too quick for us to ask for trust.” He cleared his throat. “You strike me as a reasonable being, Twilight. Why don’t you stop thinking politics and start thinking about what you want to do?”
What I want to do? Twilight thought to herself. Twilight had been so focused on trying to do what others thought was right, that she didn’t consider it herself. What would I do?
Twilight needed some time to think about it. She needed time to research…
Wait. That was it. Research.
“I think there’s a lot we can gain from each other,” Twilight began, shifting her focus to Hyaline. “Changeling magic is academically new and foreign, and it is based upon emotion-driven magic, one of the most powerful types in Equestria. We can try working something out.”
“Really?” Hyaline looked relieved, for a moment, then turned wary. “What do you want in exchange?”
Twilight waved the issue away. “Like I said, there’s something we can learn from each other. We can finally turn the conflict between our species as prevention, rather than treatment. We learn a little changeling magic, you can possibly get an alternate food source. Or one that’s… not so reliant on ponies.”
“So you’ll do that for us?” Hyaline smiled giddily.
“Well, all I can promise right now is to talk to the other Princesses about it. I doubt I could just go right ahead and commit ponies into this endeavour without consulting our government. It will also take time, of course.”
Hyaline nodded genially. “Right, of course.”
Twilight held out her hoof.
“So we have a deal?”
Hyaline stared at it apprehensively, but firmed her stance and bumped her hoof against Twilight’s.
“Yes.”
———————
“Good, now onto the second matter. David. I’d like to speak with you, alone.”
“What?” Hyaline stuttered.
“What?” Rainbow said.
“Okay,” Pinkie said with a smile. She looked like she wanted to talk to Hyaline.
“Sure,” said David.
Twilight waved at David to follow her as she made for a smaller, fairly nondescript side-door.
He stopped when Hyaline tugged him back. “Hey, why are you going?”
David shrugged. “She wants to talk to me. I don’t see why not.”
“But it could be… a ploy.”
David smiled. “Of what? The Princess, here, just brokered a diplomatic agreement with you. I’m pretty sure she wouldn’t want to endanger or renege on it so easily.”
“But…”
“Let’s put it this way. Do you think she could do that?”
“Yes.”
“Do you think she would?”
“No,” Hyaline admitted, “but you have to be careful.”
“I will,” he said reassuringly. “They saved my life before, which has to count for something. I’d say that’s worth at least a private chat.”
“Okay,” Hyaline said reluctantly. “But get back. You’re important to us.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” he said, giving her a thumbs-up. He smiled, to make sure she understood that it was meant to be an encouraging gesture. He forgot that these creatures didn’t have thumbs. She didn’t look confused by his hand sign, and smiled back.
David followed the unicorn with wings and wondered where things were headed next.
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*before I read this chapter* Well, at least it's not The Salient Green
I believe the word you're looking for is emaciated (looking abnormally thin or weak, especially from illness or hunger), as emancipated is what Lincoln did for the slaves to set them free.
Awesome chapter, hope to see more soon!
7362836 You gotta tell 'em... SOYLENT GREEN IS PEOPLE!!!
Hmm... Auditors were in Equestria... Hmm... And other plots...
7362874 I was thinking more along the lines of: Human Blood is made from people! - "Yeah, no shit?
" 
7362874
pinkie.mylittlefacewhen.com/media/f/rsz/mlfw8668_small.jpg
cdn.meme.am/Instance/Preview?imageID=84688&generatorTypeID=&panels=&text0=unsure%20if%20shameless%20self%20insert&text1=or%20solid%20plot%20device.&text2=&text3=
Kill the human! Take and drink his blood! Strip the flesh and salt the wound!
Seriously though, catch and kill that human when you can. I want to read about him dying. :)
Good story so far. Chapter 5 and still waiting on him to die.
I reread chapter 6 thinking it was chapter 7, I was very confused for a minute there. :P
7363315 Soylent Green again
Why, though?
7363430 Was I supposed to root for the human?
7363462 I haven't seen a clear hero or villain yet, but do you wish that everyone except the ones you root for to die? You would either have to root for very large and sort of undefined factions, or a story will have to introduce a lot of characters, for you to get the way you want by the end of a story, unless you greatly prefer stories about apocalypses
Also, wouldn't killing the human kind of end all of this prematurely?
7363676 Dude, I came here for Human Blood.
Not Bloody Lecture.
7363832 *backs away* Alright, my mistake. I didn't realize that your comment was not the kind that invited to dialogue.
7363898 Wait!
Take one step forward please.
7363987 ... Okay *takes a step forward*.
I bet you're gonna punch me or call me an idiot or something like that now.
7364003 (hugs you)
I forgive you. I do not hate you.
You are an important person to the world.
7364021 Oh... thank you
You too *awkwardly hugs back and then discreetly checks pockets*
7364067 I didn't rob you, numb nuts. XD
7364086 Well, I guess I'm gonna have to keep looking if I wanna find my garage keys then
(Sorry for stinking up your comment-section, sunnypack)
7362867 Thank you for that. Spellcheck will be the death of me, for sure!
7364092 It's fine :P I don't really police comment sections.
7364092 He will forgive you. I'll take the blame.
this story started out reminding me of Douglous Adam Something with a deep universe and a main character blearily stumbling through it as strange things happen to it. It's definitely strayed from that. Not that that's a bad thing. i look forward to seeing what this story will become.
You mean Exuberance
7363305 I think the Author is actually Lauren Faust. Which is hilarious to me, for some reason.
I love this story but it it's confusing at times,
PLEASE CLEARIFY FOR ME
1. How did he understand the fillys and the random ponies, and how did they understand him?
2. How did the auditor and the old pony get wraped up with the criminals?
3. When did these criminals jump in the story?
Once again, love the story, but im confused.....
As much as I liked the premise, I can't seem to get drawn into this massive, reality-spanning adventure story. I had hoped for something light about misconceptions, or maybe a dark-ish story about a human running from ponies who want to harvest his vital fluids and organs.
7365202
Point 1 is a serious plothole.
Point 2 and 3 happened two chapters ago.
7366418 Thank you
So chp. 5
7365202 7366418 I assure you, it's wholly intentional. Not a plot hole.
Reality Auditors The Echelon
What is Life.
If reality was physical I would bend it twist it out of recognition. I will strip the cosmos of the most beloved things. I will rain hell and pain upon my foes I will burn your house down with lemons. Then... then... THEN! I'll take a nap.
7362874 Soylent Green is my kind of people.
7367545
Yes.
I like the part with Discord and "replayability." I hope Written meets him.
My guess is ponies are the descendants of all the fired auditors.
Lets have a lime party in crystal meth castle!
The perky, pretentious, purple, pony princess was partially predisposed with patrilinear paleoanthropology, whom lives penuriously, was recently perambulating around town with a perfidious individual pestiferously, pranging the pessimal, phantasmagoric planet.
I put way too much effort in that.
And even then it was still bad.
I want to like this story, but the plotline is all over the place. We start this chapter with one character who hasn't even been introduced, move to another that isn't tied to the main plot yet, go to a third thats also only tangentally related, move on to a side character who may become important someday, finally have a brief cameo by the protagonist followed by more barely related characters bafore going back in time to play catch up with the main chatacter for a bit.
It looks like you are spending all your time planting seeds and justifications for future plot twists and very little actually advancing the plot.
All of this explaining and justifying are, to me, background noise to the actual story, which I thought revolved around David and to a lesser extent Secant and their experiences and interactions. But lately it's looking like this might be the story of missing Auditors. Or perhaps it's about a Changeling alliance. Or maybe its about an Auditor trying to figure out the mystery of Equestria? Maybe it's really about a Canterlot crime ring? Perhaps it's about Luna being accepted again? I don't know. There is no unifying storyline to all this, it's just a hundres random stories mashed together.
So there's something happening with Twilight, and it's not good.
And Discord's actually worried about Auditors missing? Well, there's definitely something way worse going on.
But the gang will get to the bottom of it.
Heh, I can imagine Hyaline's embarrassment when she found out that she was discovered even before she realized something was going on.
Thankfully for her, Twilight is (usually) pretty reasonable.
But David shutting them both down form their argument was great. Way to go!
So now a proper discussion without a language barrier.
Let's see how things go on Celestia's end. Eventually.
All in all though, another great chapter
Well, I am finally finished reading up to what has been done so far, and my thoughts are that things need to actually move more than they have been. David has shown up in Equestria, been saved, taken to a hospital, kidnapped by Changelings, made an agreement and is now at Twi's castle. That's pretty fast for his character arc, but it has been unbelievably dragged down by everything else happening in the background. His struggle seems fairly minute anyways; at first, it seems Equestria was basically a blip on the cosmic scale and oops, now it's really super-important, but his journey still feels like a complete background story.
I'm mildly surprised that Twilight was so willing to accept she was a tiny speck in the grand scheme of things, at least supposedly. It's a good thing she didn't decide to bully David and the Changeling princess too much, or else David would certainly have been turned off from the idea of open diplomacy with Twilight's attitude.
Also, of course Twilight thinks the creator is a mare. How species-centric of her
It's a reasonable question.
It feels like forever since I’ve read this story. It’s good to be back.
I’m also interested to see where this newly formed arrangement with the changelings is going to go. As well with the other “humans” that are each in their own unique situations.
This was a fun chapter to read. I found it funny that David got chased all over town by a bunch of children.
I’m off to read the next chapter!
7379680
But isn't that what Life is like?
Hundreds of stories mashed together and made into a confusing plot of this and that with no coherent end to the madness that exists both within and without the current mass of morality and mortality til the end of time?
Did that make sense?
Probably not.
In short, what you said about the plotline being all-over the place is exactly what I love.
It's both confusing and yet it makes sense in a way.
That's probably just me though.