meanwhile...: Tales of the Berylverse

by Shinzakura

Walls and Bridges, Part I

Onscreen, the black and white hand-painted letters displayed the words THE END in a deco font while the tinny orchestral crescendo from a bygone age played its final tune. A second later, the screen went to the Amazon Prime Video selection screen, suggesting other classic movies for the two viewers.

“So what’s next?” Code Break, taking a swig from his Coke, asked.

“What about The Royal Rascal?” Jade Lily suggested. “It was her favorite movie.”

It was a Friday afternoon and she’d already finished her class for the day, and he didn’t have any classes on Fridays. So the night before, the two agreed to watch a marathon of Shrinking Violet’s favorite films in memory of her. Both of them were dealing with the loss of the woman who had died a month ago and missed her for very different reasons. This had been exacerbated by her family coming to pick up her belongings earlier in the week and now with those gone, it truly felt as though Shrinking Violet was finally and tragically departed.

But it hadn’t been an entire loss: their shared grief had brought both Code and Jade together, and they had become the closest of friends. When Jade had told this to Braeburn, a part of her was worried that he would be jealous, but being the jovial and caring man he was, he was glad that they got along so well; the three of them even had dinner together the night before Braeburn flew back to Hawaii, where the two bonded and Braeburn elicited a promise from Code to make sure nobody would mess with Jade, to which Code agreed.

She gave herself a private smile – while no one would ever be a replacement for Violet, Code himself was a good friend to have and it pushed away the loneliness she felt, especially since with Violet gone, her ties to Sandstone and the others seemed to fade away with her. The last things she wanted to be was alone here for the next four years, and having a good friend made it all the easier.

“She loved that old film?” he asked. “I…I didn’t know that.”

Seated across from him, Jade adjusted her ponytail. “Well, even though the movie’s from the 1950s, she always loved Dashing Dancer’s portrayal of the king in it. Her mom even said that…that….” She paused, grabbing the tissues from the coffee table.

Looking at her sadly, Code said, “Take your time, Jade.”

Sobbing into them, she added, “Her mom said that when she was a kid, Violet wanted to be able to dance like Broadway Melody, and it wasn’t until she got into coding that she changed her mind. Even still, she made a CG animation that got her accepted here.”

The look in Code’s eyes grew distant and sad. “I remember that: she showed the whole class on the first day. I….” He paused to gather his own feelings. “I just thought it was the most amazing thing and I knew she was going to go places just from seeing that. And now?” He shook his head. “It’s not fair. I mean, it doesn’t make sense why she was up there to begin with, but why did the edge just give out like that?”

“I don’t know,” Jade said, wiping her eyes and feeling a stew of emotions she hated. Part of it, of course, was the fact that Violet wasn’t here to engross over the film and swoon over the big dance number between Dashing Dancer and Broadway Melody. But just as much was the lie that she had to keep up to Code – that Violet had been brutally murdered by a girl that had been someone Lily had thought was a friend, only to turn out to be a timberwolf in a rosellama’s clothing.

Iris Nightshade had turned out to be a member of a human based cult called the Ordo Duodecim that, inexplicably, had access to both human and Equestrian magic, and so she’d been taught in it and it had only been due to Jade’s previous life as the apprentice of one of Equestria’s most vaunted mages that had saved her. But even still, Iris had paid for her failure with her life, and at that moment, Jade had briefly seen who she thought was the true master of that cult, and she had never been more frightened in her life. If anything, it had paused her life in a way she had never dealt with before, even when she had to deal with Braeburn’s sister being inadvertently corrupted by the Wonderstones.

By coincidence, that same event ultimately led to her meeting someone she never would have thought existed: the alicorn daughter of Princess Celestia, namely, Princess Sunset Shimmer. Having been a servant of Celestia’s mother, Queen Faust, Jade remembered the former alicorn as nothing more than a young filly with a cheery smile and a sweet tooth that her master, Lord Starswirl had indulged, perhaps a little too much. But now, the timelost Jade had found that Celestia had grown up to be the current monarch and had a daughter whose power likely outstripped even Celestia’s own. But Sunset had been a very different royal than Jade had been used to, and even though Jade had declined to return to her position as a mage of Equestria, she promised her friend that she would help whenever she could.

But she was afraid to. The Eyeless Man’s gaze seemed to bore into her soul, as though he knew her deepest secrets. And given that Iris had been here and had inserted herself into Jade’s life so easily…maybe he actually did.

But that was past now, and the (possibly) dream-based messages from her liegelady Queen Faust had told her she would be safe. But even in that, there was a price: the world had to believe that Shrinking Violet, a sweet-natured girl with anxiety issues, would take her own life that way. Thankfully, however, fortune’s wheel spun and had delivered a blessed coincidence: during the official investigation, it had been noted that the dorm roof, which students were allowed to hang out on and upon their own Violet had helped tend to the small garden, had loose tiles. Thus, the Campus Police had determined it had been an accident and that while tending to the garden, Violet had stepped on a broken tile and had lost her footing. Now, the campus was adding railing to the dorm rooftops, and everyone could rest easier knowing that Violet had not wanted to take her life.

Everyone, that is, except for Jade, who had lost two friends that week as well as her own confidence. And if this Eyeless Man was someone who could even get at Sunset Shimmer, she knew she stood no chance against him.

She put her own arms around her in comfort, wishing it had been Braeburn’s embrace, that Queen Faust could be here to let her know that she was safe, that her old master, Lord Starswirl, would assure her that she was not as powerless as she felt and that even though she was no longer a unicorn mare with a promising future in magecraft, she was a woman with a boundless potential and future.

Unaware of her thoughts, Code went over and hugged Jade, which was what she needed. “Hey, I miss her too. We all do, and if I’d just talked to her more instead of being a moron, maybe she would still be alive.”

Wiping tears from her eyes, Jade looked at her friend. “No. It wasn’t your fault, Code. It…it was no one’s. It was…an accident.”

It was then that keys jiggled in the door, and a second later, a dark-skinned girl with pink and sea-blue hair and tan eyes, wearing a midriff and short jeans walked in, carrying a pair of pizzas. “Hey, let’s not order from that place anymore, okay? They put pineapple on the pizza again. Who the hell orders pineapple on pizzas?”

Code looked at the newcomer. “Hey, I like pineapple, okay?”

“Yes, and I also see you like putting the moves on my roommate.” Code blushed and pulled away, much to the new girl’s amusement.

Jade recomposed herself. “Pearl, you know it’s not like that.”

“I know, but I’m your roommate, okay? I’m supposed to tease you like that. Besides, I’m kinda jealous of that hunk you’re engaged to.” Pearl sighed. “I wish I could find someone like that of my own.”

“I’m sure you will,” Code assured her.

“You volunteering?” the girl asked and the moment Code blushed she laughed again. “C’mon, let’s eat the pizza. I’m sure we’ve got a bunch of other movies to get through as well.”

The day went on and so did the films: The Royal Rascal, Just an Old Fashioned Love Song, Singin’ in the Rain, Three-Part Harmony, and Under the Desert Moon. Dinner that night was Chinese take-out, courtesy of a restaurant that Code knew about. After that, they spent time gaming on Jade’s XBox, with Code ultimately coming up as the victor of their impromptu Halo tournament.

Finally, defeated, Pearl stood up…and slumped back on the sofa. She had a glazed look come over her eyes. “I…I don’t feel so good,” she moaned.

“Did you take your medicine?” Code asked, concerned.

“No, I hate that stuff,” Pearl commented. “Do you mind carrying me to my bedroom?” she asked in a weak voice. “And Jade—”

“Yeah, I’ll get your medicine for you. But you were the one who told me that you had to take it or else you lose your strength. I shouldn’t be the one to remind you.”

“Yeah, I know,” she murmured softly, as Code gently picked the girl up and carried her over to her bedroom.

A few minutes later, Code took that as his cue that he needed to leave for the day. As Jade saw him to the door, he asked her, “Is she going to be okay? I mean, she felt really light, more like I was carrying my kid sister than a grown woman.”

Jade grinned. “Or maybe you’ve been taking Brae’s advice about working out in the gym a bit?” She reached over and briefly felt his bicep. “Trust me, you’re a lot stronger than you think.”

He grinned and with his other hand, scratched the back of his head. “Yeah, maybe. Anyway, I still need to work on my homework for Monday. Just…make sure Pearl’s okay, alright? Wouldn’t want anything to happen to her.”

Jade blinked. “Code, are you…?”

His eyes widened. “No! I mean…I don’t know, okay? You know I liked Violet, but….”

“Look, as your friend, I would say it’s perfectly natural to care for someone. And I think Violet knew you like I do now, she probably would have tried to fix you up with someone. But I think Pearl’s got a boyfriend or something. Not sure.”

“She doesn’t act like it.”

“Yeah, but you know how she is.”

“I guess. Anyway, I’ll talk to you later. Night.”

“Night.” Jade watched her friend as he walked down the hall and waved to him as he got into the elevator. Once she closed the door, she immediately cast the security wards around her room, then went over and activated the portal to her home in Heavener. Finally, with the portal open, she went over to the bedroom and effortlessly picked Pearl up, carrying the girl through the entrance. Something odd had occurred today, and Jade had to figure out what it was.

An hour later, she levitated a mug to her muzzle, her left forehoof scratching her mane in confusion. She’d spent the past hour going over the programmatic spell layout and it made zero sense. But then again, that was her fault for using something that was technically illegal…well, as far as Equestria was involved.

After Sunset’s warning about the Pink Pearl 1.0 magical construct leaking way too much mystic energies, Jade had spent a few days trying to figure out a way to improve that. After all, the constructs of her “parents” that she left here did the job effectively, given that nobody in Heavener had a clue about magic. But out at college, where she’d already been attacked once before, that was a different story and that meant she had to be more careful about it. She’d been lucky that Iris wasn’t as trained as she was, but she couldn’t afford a second instance.

Her ears drooped about that. Iris. Despite everything, Iris had been a friend, and everything she’d done had been because she’d been raised in the cult known as the Ordo Duodecim – she hadn’t known any other way. And she’d been executed – and worse, somehow erased from the memories of virtually all that had known her, save for Jade herself. She wondered if that was the Eyeless Man’s way of taunting her, like a predator playing with its prey before going in for the kill.

She shuddered at that thought. She already suspected a couple of people of potentially being cult members, and unlike Iris, neither of them was friendly to her. They weren’t antagonistic either, so it could be that she was being overly paranoid, but the fact that Timeline was constantly looking at her during class or that she always seemed to see Golden Brocade in the same places as she usually went made her uncomfortable. She thought about asking for help from Sunset, but if she did that, it would put her back in a position where she would be reporting to a royal once more – where her life wouldn’t be hers.

I know Sunset wouldn’t think that way, but…. She groaned. The last thing she wanted to think about was the ethics of the whole situation right now. Maybe she was being a coward for metaphorically burying her head in the sand over the whole thing, but truth be told, it would be just one more thing she was already hiding from everyone she knew.

Like what she was.
Like the truth of her “family”.
Even her age, in a manner of speaking: Given all that occurred, she was probably the oldest living creature on the planet.

She brushed aside the thoughts and walked away from her notes, instead heading over to a series of holding tanks, all of them giving the room a very creepy sci-fi vibe that was accented by the magical crystals glowing at their base. It had been the book that Applejack had given her, via Sunset, that had given her the idea of how to improve Pink Pearl, and it was a currently banned method in her former homeland.

During the Moonfall War, Nightmare Moon had used golems – not like the legendary stone constructs that human myth had, but ponies made out of flesh and magic. There were, unsurprisingly, equivalents in human magic: homunculi, tulpas, simulacra. And Pink Pearl 2.0 was one of those, because unlike her previous version, she had a physical body. Powered by one of the few remaining Wonderstones that still had a charge left, she was, for everyday appearances, a human version of her old friend, with some details of the human version that Jade had researched. The human Pink Pearl lived around a century ago, and there were just enough details of her life that she was able to inject into the golem’s own. Thus, Pink Pearl, a girl from Ding Dong, Texas (and wasn’t that a ridiculous name for a town?) was studying business at MTU.

And at first, it seemed pretty cool: Jade had something akin to a normal life once more, even if it meant the next time Braeburn came over, she would have to have Pearl “head out of town for the weekend” again. And with the limited personality that Jade had programmed into Pearl, she was able to do a lot more than the previous one did, including grocery runs and other stuff like that; it certainly made Jade’s life much easier.

But I never programmed her to flirt, Jade noted as she looked at the golems in their tanks. And come to think of it, she’s never had pineapple, so how would she know what it tastes like? Jade had to put some of her own personal experience into the personality matrix, but to make sure that she was a separate individual and not a blatant “clone” of herself, she fudged the data a little, adding a bit of Braeburn’s, Summerfree’s and Skateaway’s tastes and opinions into the mix as well.

But now Pearl was starting to do things that weren’t in her programming. Was that why they were made illegal? Because they started forming their own opinions and choices? It was uncomfortably like creating new life, now that Jade thought about it, and if that was the case, she didn’t have eight golems in tanks down here, but eight clones of Pink Pearl.

The thought unnerved her.

Then there was the thought of Code. Code was her friend – someone she trusted. It was clear, despite his protestations, that he was finding himself attracted to Pearl. And was she reacting to rudimentary coding, or…actually giving hints? She hadn’t created the golems to be a full person in that regard; underneath the clothing, they were as anatomically correct as girls’ dress up dolls.

What if Pearl, within her coding and Wonderstone “heart”, actually was attracted to Code in turn? And if Jade tried to stop that…would she be interfering in someone else’s relationship? Could they even have a relationship?

She swished her tail in circles, a bad habit of hers that her master, Lord Starswirl, had often chided her for. He’d told her often that it was unprofessional and unbecoming of a mage, but in her pony form, she’d never broken the habit. He was no longer around to gain advice from…and she wasn’t sure she could talk to Sunset about this.

Maybe Sunset’s right that I need to come clean to Brae. I love him and he loves me, right? Does it matter that I’m not really human? I’m going to always be his, whether marefriend or girlfriend, and I couldn’t love another.

She sighed; that was going to be a difficult thing to talk about. Especially the part when she had to admit that she’d already been married once before, even if the marriage had never been consummated and her husband had ultimately declared her dead and married another. Hell, technically she was still legally dead in Equestria, unless Sunset had taken care of that, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to know the answer to that, either.

And all of this was on top of her problems with the Ordo Duodecim – and trying to live life as an ordinary African-American girl in the US, which itself came with baggage that she barely understood because she wasn’t really that when push came to shove. And unlike Pink Pearl, Jade’s own counterpart was still alive and present, even if on the other side of the country. There would always be a chance of running into her.

Leaving the room, she decided to head to the main house and get some sleep. She still kept this place in shape since it was her home, and she didn’t feel like being back in her dorm. If anyone came by her room, the magic spells would ensure that no one would see the portal that led here. Even if for some reason someone had to enter the room for emergency purposes, the magic would keep things secure.

But I thought I was secure. And then Iris came into my life.

She slept uneasily that night.

The following morning, she found herself cooking her favorite eggs and bacon with toast. She’d changed to her human form again, and was hoping to spend a day just walking around the comforts of Heavener, not wanting to deal with the golem or her various problems in life or anything like that. She’d already thought of telling people that she’d come to town for a weekend because she needed the break from school, and it was a realistic enough excuse.

She went to go grab the keys to the van to take a trip over to the Apple Farm – may as well go see her future in-laws while she was in town – when the alarm in the house went off. To anyone else, it would have seemed as though the smoke detector was on the fritz, but Jade had set it that way on purpose: it was an alarm that something was going on in the secret room. Setting up a spell, she immediately darted out the door and towards the barn, pushing past the hologram of the rusting tractor and into the room downstairs.

If those bastards from the cult want me, they’re going to have a fight on their hands. She paused for just one second more, just to cast a secondary spell, one that would go off if the unthinkable happened: if Jade were to fall in combat against a member of the Ordo Duodecim, not only would the safeties built into the property go off, causing a localized earthquake, destroying everything, but warning notifications would go to both Sunset and Applejack to take care of things. It wasn’t something she wanted to do, but someone had to stop the cult.

Besides, if she was dead, that meant that someone had to explain why…and only Applejack could explain that to her family. It was a reluctant responsibility the teen had taken on for herself, and as she reached the last steps, Jade wondered if she would have been brave enough to make the same choice if she were in the blonde’s shoes.

No. AJ’s far braver than I am, she decided. But there would be no time to find that out.

Rushing into the space, she called out, “I KNOW YOU’RE HERE! SHOW YOURSELF!” as she brought a magical blast to her palms. She was better at fighting in her natural form, but given the shape of the room, it necessitated that she remain as a human.

“Jade?” she heard a voice ask, and the minute she heard her name, she knew she was fucked. This wasn’t the worst-case scenario, but it was nonetheless nothing good. She found herself standing in the room, blazing power in her hand, looking at Code, who was sitting in a yellow puddle and looking up at terror at the vats. Thankfully, the yellow fluid in question wasn’t what she thought it was at first. In getting here, he’d apparently knocked over a few of her alchemical reagants.

That was about the only good thing.

“Listen, Code, I can explain….” she said, knowing damn well she wasn’t going to be able to explain any of this, not easily. Then there was the matter of how he got here.

“What the fuck is going on?” he gasped. “And what are you doing to Pearl?” He then blinked and realized that it was Pearls, plural – and that the girl in question…wasn’t really a girl.

He did the only thing that was natural – he passed out.

If there was a thing that Code Break could say, it was that he had a very normal life. Growing up in London, Ohio, his mother ran the London Diner, one of the best eateries in town, while his father was the mayor. Granted, that wasn’t saying much, given that the town was less than ten thousand in population, but he’d like to think that he’d had a normal life, no different than those living in the big city to the north – Columbus, the state capital. Growing up, he wasn’t much different than his peers, having been interested in videogames and computers like so many his age, and the weirdest thing that had ever happened to him was the time his older sister accidentally got him drunk when he was ten.

But as he woke up in an unfamiliar bed hearing two voices in the distance, he knew that his life had just taken a very odd turn. This was underlined when he got out of the bed and went to the window, looking out at a farm and a view that he knew wasn’t the MTU campus in any way shape or form.

It was then that there was a knock at the door, and he called out, “Uh…come in, I guess.”

The person who came in through the door was a beautiful girl who appeared to be just a bit younger than he was. Taller than him, she also had muscles that framed her body. Her long blonde hair trailed down her back, and the look in her green eyes was one of a weary expression. It was clear that whatever was going on, this girl knew all about it…and it wasn’t anything new to her by any stretch of the imagination.

“How are you feeling?” she asked him.

“I….” Code searched for words, then decided to just get to the heart of the matter. “Where am I and what the hell’s going on? And for that matter, who are you?”

The girl laughed. “Well, you’re direct, Ah’ll give you that. I’ll answer the latter, first. Name’s Applejack. As to where you are, you’re in mah friend’s house in Heavener, Oklahoma – eastern part of the state.”

He blinked. “Wait – did you just say Oklahoma?”

Applejack nodded. “Hey if you think that’s bad, about thirty minutes ago, Ah was all the way out in California.”

“What?”

“Not kidding. Look, you hungry? Breakfast is downstairs, if you’re interested. She owes us, anyway.” Applejack yawned. “Especially since mah ass was asleep just before Ah got here.”

“Huh?”

“Ah did say Ah came here from California – you try dealing with a two-hour time difference in a matter of minutes. Anyway, let’s head downstairs and get some breakfast and we can talk. Trust me, you’re going to need the coffee.”

“Am I dreaming?” Code asked. “Someone pinch me.”

Applejack gave a wry grin. “Sorry, not my type, sugar. Anyway, just come on down when you’re ready. It’ll give her enough time to come up with a way to apologize and an explanation. And believe me – we’re both owed an explanation.” With that, Applejack went through the door, leaving Code alone in the room.

Oklahoma? But that’s impossible! And yet…the window he looked out of didn’t look like Michigan by any stretch. It didn’t even look like there was a town, much less a city, nearby – and MTU was practically in the middle of Houghton. Looking out the window again showed the barn, a van, and endless stretches of farmland, occasionally broken up by a tree or other rural structure in the distance.

Holy shit – I am in Oklahoma!

Amazed and confused, Code decided to go downstairs and meet up with Applejack. His life was already getting weird…how much weirder could it get?

Author's Note:

Hey, you know what’s cooler than cool?
Updating the TVTropes page!

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