3 - Lady of the Harbor
As if to make up for the puny size of her office, Livingstone’s house was… not extravagantly gargantuan, but still rather large for one pony. Her dining room, in particular, had more than enough room to accommodate Twilight, her friends, and her guards for lunch, as well as Idube and Livingstone. Twilight guessed it was set up for these kinds of guest dinners, if Livingstone had once had personal contact with the king (she’d already forgotten said king’s name, unfortunately). The house itself was only a slight ways back into the jungle and built of strong, thick brick that was about as regular as regular could be. It was a bit too bare for Twilight’s tastes, with barely any decorations, but to each her own.
Livingstone nudged a bowl of pepper stir-fry (or, as Idube called it, pilipili hoho stir-fry) towards Twilight. “So, what was the trip to Zebrabwe like, hmm?”
Not a big fan of spicy things, Twilight simply passed the bowl to Zecora, who took Twilight’s serving in addition to her own and dug in with gusto. “Uneventful,” Twilight said as she helped herself to some rice pancakes instead. “Smooth sailing the whole way across. But when we first made landfall about fifty miles north of here, we ran into some zebras coming out of a river.”
Applejack looked up from a plate of pale green pear-esque fruits Livingstone had called a fenesi (this being a Zebran term, Twilight had to remember that the plural was mafenesi and not fenesis or feneses). “They had these funny-lookin’ suits,” she said. “Kinda like nets. They pointed us here and said the river was too dangerous for us to try.”
“And I saw no reason to not believe them,” said Twilight. “I could probably protect myself and anyone that wanted to come with my magic, but I figured, better safe than sorry. I didn’t know what the danger was, after all.”
“You made the right decision,” Idube said gravely. “I do not know what kind of protection you have, but your journey would have been very dangerous if you had gone upriver.”
“Long story short,” said Livingstone, “Zebrabwe’s not like Equestria. The jungle looks out for itself, and only for itself. And…” she leaned in towards Twilight. “It. Does not. Like you. At all.”
She leaned back. “You said the river was, what, fifty miles north? Yeah, that one’s bad this time of year, yes. The air’s so thick with bugs — all of them carrying disease — you can barely see. The viboko are even bigger territorial bastards than usual. There’s the crocodiles that can wait for hours for the right chance to grab you and drag you under. And that’s just the start. You go up that river without knowing what you’re getting into, you die. End of discussion.”
Twilight gulped. Yeah, definitely a good idea that they hadn’t gone up the river.
“Of course, that particular river’s among the worst of the worst,” said Livingstone, “but the jungle’s quite unforgiving compared to anything in Equestria, yes. Your route, it’ll be risky, but it’ll be a lot safer.”
“So what were the net suits for?” asked Spike around a mouthful of coal. Hearing of his usual eating habits, Livingstone had offered up some coal as a, as she put it,“less-refined but hopefully still tasty alternative”. Spike said coal lacked some of the rich aftertaste of gems, but had one heck of a kick.
“Defense against the bugs,” said Livingstone. “Netting like that can keep insects off, or at least keep them from biting you. Protip: put them around your beds, yes, and you won’t wake up the next morning with every square inch of your coat covered in mites.” She shuddered. “Not a pleasant experience, let me tell you.”
“So why d’y’all live out here if it’s all so dangerous?” asked Applejack. “Can’t y’all just move inland or somethin’?”
“Three reasons, yes,” said Livingstone. She nipped a bite from a rice pancake she called a kibibi (plural vibibi). “First, and you may have seen this, we run a rather expansive seaweed farm out here in the lake.”
“I saw some zebras pulling some seaweed out of the water with a big net earlier,” said Twilight. “I thought farming was what that was.”
“This particular type of seaweed,” said Idube, “is prized both as medicine and as food, and is quite difficult to grow properly. Proper cultivation of the seaweed supports most of Bandari Mji’s economy throughout the year. We are not the only such farm in Zebrabwe, but demand is high.” She paused. “Very, very high.”
“Hmm, yes, yes, indeed,” said Livingstone. “Perhaps a bit risky, to have so much riding on the production of a single good, but there haven’t been any problems thus far.” She took a sip of ginger tea. “Reason two is nearly identical: there is a kind of mushroom that only grows in the jungle that is worth more than its weight in gold. Also used as medicine and food, but, ah…” She laughed softly. “Very dangerous to actually get and bring back. Those zebras you met earlier were probably foraging for some. Incredibly perilous, that, much more than I could do. Idube here, maybe.” She nudged Idube in the shoulder.
“Do not try to flatter me,” said Idube. “I may be a jungle guide, but to be a harvester is far beyond my league.”
“Only because you don’t push yourself,” said Livingstone. “Now, last reason, right? Finally, and this is important, yes… We live out here because of the jungle. It’s so dangerous, it makes Bandari Mji hard to get to. No one comes out here if they don’t have a really good reason. See…” She rubbed the back of her neck. “You were probably wondering what I was doing in an almost-empty warehouse, yes? Well, it’s actually technically illegal.”
“What?” yelped Twilight, her eyes widening. That was just great. Her contact with royalty was a criminal. Okay, “technically” a criminal, but that didn’t really change anything. That could explain why getting to the king would be a mite tricky. She stood up out of her chair. “Just wh-”
“Whoa, whoa, hold on now,” said Livingstone, putting up her hooves. “It’s for a good cause. Calm down and let me tell you, okay, yes?”
Twilight held her position, staring at Livingstone. On the one hoof, she was breaking the law. Good intentions or no, that couldn’t be good for getting them to the king. But on the other, if she was so isolated out here, did anybody know she was breaking the law? They still had a chance. And maybe she was telling the truth about it being a good cause.
Eventually, Twilight chose the latter and reluctantly settled back into her seat. “Hit me,” she said. She could at least give Livingstone a chance to explain herself.
“Alright, so,” said Livingstone, “it was just after the last time I’d arrived here, about six years ago. I’d come to Bandari again. And one day I’d heard about this law that had just gone into effect. It forbade zebras from leaving Zebrabwe. Didn’t give a reason or anything, just said no. Now, normally, that’s not a problem, Zebrabwe’s got more than enough stuff within its borders and zebras rarely leave. But there’d been rumors of some zebras, who’d heard about me and previous adventurers who’d come over and decided they wanted to see what Equestria was like.”
Twilight’s doubts started sliding away; she could already see where this was going. Livingstone was trapped here by something she didn’t — couldn’t — see coming and was probably just looking for a way to get back to Equestria, maybe with some zebra adventurers in tow. Of course, she could be completely wrong about that, but that didn’t seem likely. What else was there?
“So Bandari Mji is a kind of… secret gathering place for zebras who want to leave Zebrabwe for Equestria,” said Livingstone. “They hear rumors, and the really dedicated ones come here. Why do you think that you just happened to run into zebras who spoke Equestrian? I’ve been teaching them for when they head over. Unless they get really good at it-” She nudged Idube. “-and then they start teaching others. We’ve been trying to build a ship, but zebras…” She coughed. “…Let’s just say that they are not exactly great shipbuilders.”
“Not at all,” said Idube, shaking her head. “We have never felt much need to expand into the sea.”
Livingstone spoke up again. “I’ve wanted to leave, but, well, that law. It’s why I haven’t been back in years. I mean, do you really think I love it here so much that I’d immediately drop absolutely everything in Equestria to move here?”
Idube fired a dirty look at Livingstone.
Livingstone didn’t notice. “I do love it here, don’t get me wrong,” she continued (Idube’s glare softened and she quickly buried her muzzle in her food), “but when I decide to stay here, I’m going to get all my affairs in order back in Equestria first and tell everypony what’s going on. It’s just that we’ve been trying to help get the law repealed or secretly build an oceangoing ship for a good amount of zebras, and we, we’re not really that great at either, no. That warehouse? That’s my starting point when — if — we finally get it all sorted out.”
And Twilight’s last bits of doubt were gone. It was hard to fault Livingstone for being a criminal when her “crime” was just trying to get home, and she wasn’t even hurting anybody. If it counted against her (which it probably didn’t, if she was this isolated), oh, well. Maybe Twilight could argue her case. She could be good at arguing.
But there was something in Livingstone’s explanation that just didn’t add up. Something that Twilight couldn’t put her hoof on. It was that annoying sensation where she knew something was wrong, but rather than being able to point to what was wrong, she had to go with the vague, “I can feel it.”
Livingstone was still talking. “Your friend over there, Zecora-” She pointed across the table at Zecora, who perked up slightly at the sound of her name, but didn’t say anything. “-she must’ve gotten lucky and found an opening when she left. But when you’re transporting a lot of z-”
And then it clicked in Twilight’s head. Or rather, she figured out what didn’t click. “Actually, wait hang on.” She glanced at Zecora. “You didn’t hear of anything like that when you left Zebrabwe, did you? You didn’t mention it at all earlier.”
Zecora pulled her muzzle from her third helping of pilipili hoho, swallowed, and shook her head. “Believe me, I was unaware a law like that had been declared. I had faced no opposition when I left on my expedition. If laws had tried to block my path, I would have told you when you asked.”
“How long have you been in Equestria?”
“In years? Just four and not much more.”
Twilight turned back to Livingstone. “But you said you came here last time just as the law was going into effect, and you came here six years ago, right?”
“Correct.”
“Something’s up,” Twilight murmured as she tapped her chin. “Zecora should’ve heard about the law, one way or another. She can’t’ve just not heard about it and sailed off towards Equestria.”
“Y’don’t suppose how y’all heard about the law was faked, was it?” Applejack asked. “Can’t see why, but maybe there’s something goin’ on with that.”
But Idube shook her head. “We learned about the law through a missive, and it has King Inkosi’s own seal on it. If it is a fake, it is an exceptionally clever one that is probably more trouble than it is worth.”
“Stranger and stranger,” muttered Twilight. “So do you think that’ll affect us at all? We’re foreigners. Are we going to have to go politicking? I hate politicking.” To put it mildly. Whenever she had to do some political finagling to get something done, it left a bad taste in her mouth. It just didn’t seem right, to have to do something completely unrelated to what you wanted done in order to get results.
“Honestly, I can’t say,” said Livingstone with a shrug. “You might be welcomed with open hooves, you might be thrown out immediately, you might be greeted with a resounding eeehhh. We never heard any reason for the law, so it’s impossible to say why it’s been passed.”
“Great,” said Twilight, convincing nobody. She was missing the situation in Equestria already. She never had to go in this blind in Equestria.
“And I’ve tried to get to King Inkosi,” said Livingstone, “tried to ask her what’s go-”
“Wait, hang on,” said Applejack. “I hate to derail this, but… ‘her’?”
Livingstone and Idube exchanged glances. “Yyyyeah,” said Livingstone. “Inkosi’s a mare.”
“But you’re callin’ her ‘king’. Why ain’t she queen?”
Livingstone and Idube exchanged glances again, this time for longer. Eventually, Livingstone sighed and said, “It’s a linguistics thing. With a few exceptions, Zebran nouns make no distinctions between gender, and rule of Zebrabwe goes to the firstborn child regardless of gender, so I just translated the title of their ruler as ‘king’ and the ruler’s spouse as ‘queen’. It fits more with the semantics of Zebran that way.”
“Pardon?” Applejack asked, cocking her head.
“The ruler of Zebrabwe is called a king,” Twilight said, “whether they’re a stallion or not.”
“Oh. Why didn’t y’say that?”
Livingstone’s eye twitched and she looked like she was about to hurl a chair through a window. Twilight sympathized. But before anything could come of it, Idube cleared her throat very loudly and said, “Our attempts to contact Inkosi and find the intent behind this law have all ended in failure.”
“Yes,” said Livingstone, emptying the remainder of her glare on Applejack. “We’ve never been able to actually get through to Inkosi at the court, and have always been rebuffed.” She stared at Twilight, her eyes boring into her. “But now? It’ll be pretty suspicious if she ignores a diplomat with an offer of alliance from another country. You might be able to help us.”
It was an admirable goal. The problem was that it wasn’t the goal Twilight was here for. If it was up to her, she’d help Livingstone, but she had obligations to a whole country that she needed to fulfill. “I… I don’t know,” she said. “I’d like to help, I really would, and it hurts me to say this, but I don’t think I can afford put aside my o-”
“Oh, heavens, no!” said Livingstone, recoiling a little. “You’re an ambassador, Princess, I could never ask you to abandon your own mission to help little old me! It’s just that our goals kind of align, so you could help us if it’s on the way, yes.”
Zecora looked up and swallowed her mouthful of pilipili hoho. “It seems to me, point of fact,” she said, “that you should scratch each others’ backs. Your first steps are both of a sort: get Twilight to Inkosi’s court. Once she’s there, the stage is set to ensure both your goals are met. From there? Well, I cannot know.” She shrugged. “We shall find out as we go.”
Much better. “Okay, that, I can do,” Twilight said with a nod. “So do you have a plan to get me to… What was the capital’s name, again?”
“Kulikulu,” said Livingstone. “And, yes, yes I did. I was planning on taking you right there tomorrow, in fact.”
Idube frowned. “And how would you plan on doing that?” she asked. “Kulikulu is miles away.”
“We’ve got a spare impundulu, don’t we?” responded Livingstone. “I’ll ride that, and Princess Twilight and her guards can come fly with me. The rest of her party will have to take the long way, but…”
Her voice slowed to a halt as she realized that everyone was staring at her, even Idube and the previously silent Stormwalker and Cumulus. Silence had fallen with the force of a 10-ton weight. Livingstone shied back as she looked at everyone in turn. “What?”
“You want me to leave my friends behind?” Twilight asked incredulously.
“No!” protested Livingstone. “They’ll come to Kulikulu, b-”
“Will they be coming with us tomorrow, yes or no?”
“Well, n-no,” Livingstone said quietly, “but-”
“Exactly what in tarnation makes you think that’s a good idea?” asked Applejack. “Why can’t we all just travel together?”
“W-well, it’s,” said Livingstone, “I, it’d just be a good idea to get Princess Twilight through the most dangerous part as fast as possible, to be sure nothing happens to her, a-”
“I’m so glad you’re lettin’ us still go through the jungle,” muttered Applejack.
“We’ve only got one impundulu!” said Livingstone. “Look, if, if I could take you all at the same time, I would, but there’s not enough room to take you all on!”
“Then why are you splitting them up in the first place?” snapped Idube. “Does it not make much more sense to keep them together and ensure they all reach Kulikulu in one piece, at the same time?”
“I-it’s… I mean…” Livingstone looked away from everyone for a moment. “Princess Twilight’s the most important one, yes? So why not get her past the most dangerous spot ASAP? If anyone else in her group could fly, I’d say, absolutely, they can come with us, but they can’t, so… It’s, it’s not personal, alright? It’s just the way the cards are falling.”
It was, in Twilight’s opinion, a stupid way for the cards to fall. This created all sorts of issues they didn’t need. Splitting the party could only lead to trouble. And even if the jungle was dangerous, it couldn’t possibly be so dangerous that she and everyone else couldn’t travel across it together with some help, right? She had plenty of magic, and if zebras went through the jungle without it, surely she could go through the jungle with it.
Livingstone was still talking. “Look, in the time it takes for your friends to get to Kulikulu, you can learn the protocol for the royal court, alright? It’s, it’s hardly necessary, but it’ll get you into Inkosi’s good graces easier. And that’ll make your job easier, and… and… yeah.” She swallowed. “It’s, I know it’s kind of awkward, but I think this is the best course of action, yes.”
Twilight fold her ears down and glared a devastating Princess Glare at Livingstone, who tried to take it but couldn’t help quailing back. “And what about a translator?” Twilight asked. “If I have to leave Zecora behind-”
“I’ll translate,” Livingstone said hastily. “I wrote the book on it. Literally. I wrote the first and so far only Equestrian-Zebran dictionary. And no offense to Zecora, but she hasn’t been in Zebrabwe for years. I know what the political situation’s like, and I’ve been in the court. I know I’m not as familiar as her, no, but I’m more knowledgeable in the specifics, yes.”
Livingstone wasn’t going be dissuaded. Not for anything. Maybe, if this was back in Equestria, Twilight could bring the weight of the last few years of her princesshood into play. But Livingstone had barely known her for two hours and was still adjusting to the idea of Luna being a princess, let alone some random pony she’d never heard of. Twilight was sorely reminded of politicking and how much she hated it.
“Fine,” she scowled. “I’ll go with you tomorrow.”
“Okay, um, good,” said Livingstone. “That’s, um, good, yes.”
For several extensive moments, no one said anything, or even ate their food. They just sort of picked at it, no one wanting to look up. Then Idube loudly cleared her throat and nearly shouted at Spike, “So, tell me: what, exactly, does coal taste like?”
Twilight leaned over the railing of the Log Flume, staring down at the water. She could’ve gone into Bandari Mji, looked around a bit, tried to see some of zebra culture. But she didn’t. She just felt too drained after that lunch.
She’d brought Spike, Applejack, and Zecora along to Zebrabwe because they needed to go with her for whatever reason. And now she felt like she was just… abandoning them. She wasn’t, of course, they’d meet back up in Kulikulu, but now she was leaving them behind so she could go on ahead. Even if they slowed her down, she ought to stay with them.
And would it all be worth it, anyway? Exactly what was there to gain from just her going straight to Kulikulu? Time, sure. But time was one of the few things they weren’t lacking. They had plenty of time. They had oodles of time. Twilight had planned on this trip taking a few months; a few more days here and there wouldn’t make much of a difference. She could learn some of the formalities of the court, but that would mean Applejack, her aide, was behind, and that could cause all sorts of awkward.
It was Livingstone’s… “fault” was too strong a word, but it was the closest one Twilight could find. Livingstone’s fault. Why was she so pushy about Twilight leaving tomorrow? Shouldn’t she have learned a little more patience in the past six years? I’ve waited half a decade, I can wait another week. Or had her patience just run out a long time ago? I’ve waited half a decade, and I’m not waiting much longer. Twilight could sympathize with the latter, at least; she seemed alright, but Livingstone could be hiding some severe homesickness. She hadn’t planned to stay in Zebrabwe, after all. She could have a family, told them she’d be back in a year, and then found herself unable to go back. That, yeah, that could make someone want to push a bit harder.
Twilight decided she’d ask Livingstone about it tomorrow, hopefully in some roundabout way. She’d give her an out, since that was a personal question, but she’d find the answer if she had any luck.
Behind her, someone cleared their throat. “Your Highness,” Stormwalker said, “I think you’re looking at this the wrong way. Livingstone just wants to protect you. I agree with her, we should get you to Kulikulu as fast as possible.”
“Really,” muttered Twilight. “And just leave the rest of my friends behind?”
“Yes.”
It was the matter-of-fact way she said it that made Twilight whirl on her. She was just standing there, her face a complete blank slate. “So, what,” Twilight snapped, “you think it’d be okay to abandon the rest of the party in the jungle if it’d keep me safe? Is that it?”
“I never said that,” said Stormwalker. Her voice hadn’t changed one iota in tone, pitch, or volume, and her body language was the same as ever. “Don’t put words in my mouth. It wouldn’t be okay, but it might be necessary. Princess, you are, unequivocally, the most important person for miles. It’s my job to keep you safe. And I will keep you safe.”
“You’d be doing a fine job of it, making the Princess of Friendship ditch her friends to save her own skin.”
“I hate to break it to you, Princess, but not everything can be solved with friendship. If I had to abandon the rest of the party to keep you safe, I would. I wouldn’t like it, but I would do it. Even so, it’s unlikely that something that bad would happen, but better safe than sorry.”
Twilight glared at her and turned back to the ocean. “Glad to see you’ve got your priorities in order,” she said darkly.
“As I said before, you are the most important person here. It’s good that you’re humble, that you downplay it, but that doesn’t make it any less true. And because of that, for me, your safety is absolutely paramount.” There was a clip-clopping of hooves on wood as Stormwalker walked away.
If it was possible, Twilight felt even more drained before. The worst part about it was that Stormwalker at least had a point. She was the most important person around, or at least the most important Equestrian. She was the whole reason they were here. She was the one all the hopes of friendship with Zebrabwe were riding on. If anything happened to her, that could mean the end of it. Not for forever, but for a long while. With Celestia and Luna tied up with their celestial bodies and Cadance in the Crystal Empire, it was unlikely someone as high-ranking as her could afford to come here for a long time.
But although the logic was sound, it didn’t make her feel any better. If anything, the very idea of “leaving your friends behind is justified” made Twilight feel all the more miserable. And the thought of losing Applejack, or Spike, or Zecora just so she could be okay was… She didn’t want to think about that.
Someone else spoke up. “Hey, Twilight.”
“Hey, Applejack.” Twilight couldn’t even muster up much emotion for that single sentence.
Applejack walked over and leaned on the railing next to her, her brow furrowed with concern. “What’s up, sugarcube? You look down.”
“It’s nothing,” mumbled Twilight. “I’m just being silly.”
“No, y’ain’t,” said Applejack. She chuckled softly. “Really, Twi, y’all should know better’n tryin’ to lie t’me by now.”
“It’s…” Twilight sighed and ruffled her mane. “We shouldn’t be splitting up tomorrow. You and I and all of us should be staying together until we get to Kulikulu. If the jungle’s really as dangerous as Livingstone says it is, it makes a lot more sense to have me and my guards along to help with protection.”
“I know. Believe me, I think we should stick together, too. But I don’t think this is just about you. I think Livin’stone’s scared somethin’ might happen to you, and then that might strand her here.”
“Huh? What do you mean by that?”
“Twi, we’re the first ponies she’s seen in years. I don’t doubt she likes it here, but if she wanted to come back to Equestria even just a little at first, that might grow an awful lot. And we’re the first chance she’s got for gettin’ back. Considerin’ how many ponies come to Zebrabwe, maybe the only chance she’ll get.”
“So,” Twilight said slowly, “she’s afraid that if I go into the jungle and die, she’ll be stranded here forever.”
Applejack nodded. “Exactly. That might shift your priorities a bit, don’tcha think? She’s hidin’ it well, but I think she’s panickin’ at the mere thought of you gettin’ lost in the jungle, now that she knows she has a good chance of gettin’ through to the king.”
“I can handle myself! There’s only a one percent chance something will happen to me! Point one percent, as a matter of fact!”
“And for her, point one percent is probably point two percent too many. But she probably doesn’t know it’s only point one percent.” Applejack looked Twilight in the eyes. “You and I both know you’re more’n capable of this. But Livin’stone? She doesn’t know that. She didn’t see us fight Nightmare Moon, or Discord, or the changelin’s or…” She waved a hoof. “All the rest, y’know? She doesn’t know we’re heroes back in Equestria.”
“I guess,” said Twilight, “but-”
“Hang on, I ain’t done yet. Her only experience with princesses is with Celestia, which ain’t much of an experience at all, for most ponies. She probably thinks your life is all cushy, and you’re one of those blowhards who thinks two or three steps into the Everfree is the same as, well…” Applejack gestured towards the shore, at the jungle. “…goin’ deep into a jungle. She’s afraid you don’t know what you’re talkin’ about.”
An idea popped into Twilight’s head, and she pulled her forelegs from the railing. “Then I’ll tell her about all that,” she said determinedly, taking a step towards the gangplank. “She’ll know all about what we’ve done, and th-”
Applejack darted between Twilight and the gangplank (it wouldn’t matter much, thanks to Twilight’s wings, but it was the principle of the thing) and lightly put a hoof on her chest. “Hey, now, it ain’t that easy. Y’really think she’ll believe all that? Just think a little about all we’ve done, and then try to tell that all to somepony who’s already skeptical of your abilities.”
Twilight slowly put her hoof down on the ground and groaned internally. Applejack was right, of course. Everything she and her friends had done sounded like some silly, disjointed adventure serial. She could already see Livingstone’s reaction. And after we defeated Nightmare Moon, protected our town from a dragon, ended years of animosity between buffalo and frontier settlers, re-sealed a spirit of chaos, and calmed down a giant rampaging dragon, we prevented a bunch of changelings from invading Canterlot during a royal wedding, and- Hey, hey, where’re you going? This is the totally honest, not-at-all-made-up truth, I swear! I’m not done, I haven’t gotten to how we saved a lost empire from its evil ruler or reformed the spirit of chaos! I haven’t even been made princess yet!
And, really, that was just the tip of the iceberg. Her and her friends’ exploits were almost too unlikely to be true. It was possible — neigh, probable — that there were ponies in Equestria that didn’t believe all of them, even though those ponies could’ve been witness to those events themselves. Livingstone didn’t even have that much. Why should she believe them?
Stupid isolationism. Stupid lack of stupid contact. Stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid.
Twilight hung over the railing and muttered angry nothings. “This is stupid. This is so stupid.”
“I know, sugarcube, I know,” said Applejack, patting her on the back. “But it won’t be forever. We’ll be back together in somethin’ like a week.”
“I know that. Doesn’t mean I have to like it.”
“Me neither.” Applejack glanced over her shoulder and flicked her tail. “And watch out, here she comes now,” she whispered.
Twilight looked around Applejack. Livingstone was slowly coming up the gangplank, alternating between staring at Twilight and staring at the boards beneath her hooves. Applejack quietly walked away, giving Twilight and Livingstone their space.
Livingstone slouched up next to Twilight. “Hey, Princess,” she muttered.
“Just Twilight,” Twilight said, not looking at her.
“Huh?”
“No titles. I don’t like titles.”
“Oh. Sorry, Twilight. Um, listen.” Livingstone kicked at the deck. “I know you don’t like the idea of leaving tomorrow, and I can understand that, but I-” She glanced away. “I’ve only got your best interests at heart.”
Do you? thought Twilight.
“It’s dangerous out there, yes,” continued Livingstone, “but if you and I and your guards go tomorrow, we’ll skip the worst of it, and we can get to Kulikulu by evening. And you’re the most important pony here, so, so it makes sense to get you around the risky bits quickly.”
“But not my friends,” said Twilight flatly. “They need to go straight through the jungle.”
“They’ll be in good hooves!” protested Livingstone. “I’ve been arranging a group of zebras to help them get through the jungle and to Kulikulu. They’ll be safe. Idube’s leading them, and I know her. Believe me, your friends will be safe, provided nothing goes catastrophically wrong. It’s just if you and I go, there isn’t a chance for anything to go catastrophically wrong, no. If I could take them with me, I would, but I can’t.”
Your friends will be safe, provided nothing goes catastrophically wrong. Oh, sure. Like that was encouraging. Twilight sighed. “Can I at least bring Spike along?” Even if he was a dragon, he was still a baby dragon, and probably at the most risk of any of them.
“That’s your dragon, yes? You’ll carry him? Then sure, as long as you can keep flying.”
That was something, at least, but compared to what Twilight wanted, it was barely anything. She sighed again and slouched over the railing a bit more.
Livingstone stepped up next to her and hung her forelegs over the railing. “I know this is hard for you,” she said softly, “and it might be hard for you to get to sleep. So, um, if you want, yes, you can use one of the guest rooms in my house tonight. It’s not much, but they’re comfy, and they don’t rock like this ship does.”
It sounded nice, Twilight had to admit. But she wasn’t in the mood for nice. “No thanks,” she said, “but I think I’ll be fine here tonight.” It helped that the protected nature of Bandari Mji severely lessened the amount of rocking of the Flume. Twilight suspected she’d sleep better tonight than she had on the trip over.
“…Okay,” said Livingstone. She shuffled her hooves around. “If, if you want to see what Bandari Mji is like, I’d do it now, and, remember to say your goodbyes tonight. We’ll be leaving early tomorrow, and I mean early.”
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7149283 Even if it seems like a good fortune, unforeseen situations should still raise a few red flags.
Maybe they should have taken an airship...
I know there are innocent explanations, but the whole 'No! Just you and me! I'll be the translator!' screams manipulation.
C'mon Twi, have a little genre savvy. If this whole setup doesn't shriek "ulterior motives" in your ear, nothing does.
Now, despite you pointing out that it kind of makes sense that Livingstone wouldn't have confidence in Twilight's abilities (even though that's almost definitely not what's going on here), that still doesn't explain why Equestrian bodyguards think that they're anything short of functionally useless in this world. Like, the fact that these guards maintain any illusion that they'll ever be in a situation where they have to make a decision concerning a princess's life, much less thinking they'll still have a skeletal structure after they try to assert authority, is laughable.
Is it just me (it isn't!) or does Livingstone act kind of suspicious?
Good chapter!
Can't wait to see where it continues!
Found a small error:
You are missing the point (litterally!).
I'm really enjoying this story, I've always been a fan of stories where the ponies go to visit far off lands. The conflict in this chapter was handled perfectly. I can see Twilight reacting to having to leave her friends behind like this. Also I wonder who are the ones making it impossible for Zebras to leave?
So gondwanda is ba sing se?
7290551 Good grief I hope not. I can't handle another idiot king and boring bear.
7351786
HEY THAT BEAR WAS A GOOD BOY.