Chapter 21: Towards the Sun
Of all the unicorn mages in Equestria, there was one among them who had gone on to become recognized as the authority on portals and portal magic. Unfortunately for Princess Luna however, Twilight Sparkle was passed out face down, on one of the tables in the library of the Castle of Friendship. Despite the room being brightly lit by candles, the lateness of the hour had defeated the intrepid alicorn, and she now lay on a table snoring softly under close guard by the stacks of reference volumes gathered around her.
The two alicorns had spent a good chunk of the previous night, the past day and deep into the current night researching any possible way to expand the size of the portal so that Luna could pass through it. Every line of research had led to a dead end that promised either the destruction of the portal or the death of Granny Smith and every member of the Apple family in Equestria with her, through magical backlash.
“Sleep, friend Twilight,” Luna said, sighing as she pulled down yet another stack of tomes with her magic. “You have done your best, but it seems the quest may be mine own to accomplish.”
“Oh, we’re all pullin’ for ya,” Granny Smith said, appearing as if by magic at Luna’s side.
“How? Where?” Luna said, sputtering in surprise. “How did you manage to sneak up on me?”
“T’ain’t hard with ya half asleep on yer own hooves,” Granny Smith said, chuckling. “Brought you and Twilight some snacks, but it looks like yer the only one that’s gonna have any.”
“Thank you, Granny Smith,” Luna said, gravely accepting a mug of what smelled like cider and a bag of small somethings. Looking in the bag Luna saw what looked like a large number of beans, if beans came covered in hard candy shells.
“Heh, those are somethin’ Pinkie Pie and Bon Bon put together,” Granny said, at Luna’s look of inquiry. “There were this here bean, and we used to make a kinda tea out of ‘em. Powerful good at keepin’ a pony awake, but they tasted purty bad. So, Pinkie dumped them in chocolate, but the chocolate was getting messy, so Bon Bon went and coated them in candy.”
“Wonderful,” Luna said, shoving a hooffull of the candy and chocolate coated beans into her mouth. “Oh! I see what you mean, Granny. The bean in the center is quite bitter, but acceptable with the candy and chocolate.”
“Heh, Gloaming first found the beans out Arabica way,” Granny said, smiling with the memory. “He’d send the beans to me through the mirror and I’d send him cups of the bean tea back. Said it was a darn shame he couldn’t make himself bean sized and come back that way himself so I didn’t have to send him cups of the stuff one at a time.”
“Yes, I can see how that situation would have been less than ideal,” Luna said, then paused to frown for a moment. The old mare’s words triggered a memory in the lunar princess, but her fatigue muddled brain couldn’t nail it down.
“Somethin’ wrong, Princess?” Granny Smith asked, lifting an eyebrow in curiosity.
“Luna, please,” Luna said, smiling at the elderly mare. “The services of you and your family have more than earned your right to use my name, in private at least.”
“Heh, well thank ya kindly,” Granny Smith said, sipping from her own mug. “This whole thing about tryin’ to see Lee Ung’s kin, seems to have you worked up in a powerful way.”
“It does, Granny,” Luna said, leaning back and washing down another bitter sugary mouthful of beans with the cider. “They brought comfort to my Tantabus in its last moments and to me, the Tantabus was more than family. It was a part of me and I, a part of it. I sent it on the mission which brought about its end, and so it is my responsibility to ensure that it is honoured as it should be. That it was the descendents of the pony you helped makes it even more important to me.”
“Heh, you remind me of Applejack’s friend, Fluttershy,” Granny Smith said, sneaking some of the candy coated beans from the bag for herself.
“Fluttershy?” Luna asked, in confusion, her mind thinking of the timid yellow mare. “Why her?”
“Most folks don’t know it,” Granny said, taking another pull from her mug, “but that mare has a powerful strong sense of responsibility. Even if she does wear her heart on her wing, she’s got a will to get things done that I ain’t seen anypony slow down.”
“You may be right on that. Twilight has written to my sister more than once about the… “ Luna’s voice trailed off as the sugar and caffeine jump-started Luna’s mind and the conversation triggered the memory she’d been after. “That’s it!”
“Don’t wake the castle, Luna,” Granny said, shushing the alicorn, who looked embarrassed by her outburst. “What’s it?”
“Fluttershy wrote my sister a friendship report a while back,” Luna said, her mind now bringing the memory fully to the fore. “There was an incident with the breezies. Twilight changed herself and her friends into breezies so they could fit through the small opening to the cavern where the creatures live. The opening wasn’t much bigger than the hoof mirror. Twilight can do the same for me!”
“Hang on a second there,” Granny Smith said, trying to slow Luna down.
“I can be there in a few minutes,” Luna said, crossing the floor toward Twilight. “She can cast the spell and I can urk.” Luna’s flow of speech was halted as quickly as her forward motion as Granny Smith grabbed onto her tail.
“You ain’t thinking this through yer… Luna,” Granny said, around a mouthful of magical hair. “Now come back, sit down and drink yer cider. Let poor Twilight sleep and I’ll tell you why I cain’t let you go.”
Luna rocked herself back a bit, releasing the tension on her hindquarters and looked back at the old mare archly. There were at least a dozen ways that Luna could break free or remove her tail from Granny’s mouth in an instant, and she knew Granny Smith knew it. That meant that Granny Smith was trying to help her, in her own obstinate way.
The ‘direct approach.’ So very much like her grand-daughter, Luna thought. Aloud she said, “Your reasoning had best be sound, Granny Smith. Elder or not, there is always a warm cot in the dungeon for those who lay hooves on royalty.”
“Sit on back down and lemme say my piece,” Granny said, opening her mouth and letting the starry mass fall free. “Afterwards you can decide if you wanna give me a change of scenery.”
“Fair enough,” Luna said, walking back to the table she had just left. “Tell me why I should stay my hooves from fulfilling my obligation at once.”
“Princess, you ever been a miner?” Granny Smith asked, sliding a fresh mug of cider toward the princess.
“No, but I have visited the dreams of many of them,” Luna said, frowning a bit as she dredged up the memories. “It is a hard life for many, often filled with peril.”
“Darn tootin’,” Granny said, blowing out a sigh. “An’ not to take away anything from ya, but you cain’t really understand what it’s like to be a miner until yer actually in a mine.”
“I see,” Luna said, rubbing her chin in thought and realizing Granny was indeed making a very good point. “Please then, enlighten me.”
“Enlighten,” Granny said, laughing. “That’s a good choice of words to use with the ‘Princess of the Night’.”
“Granny Smith, please?” Luna asked, leaning forward to touch her forehooves to that of the old Earth Pony. “Tell me why I cannot just go through the portal now as a breezie.”
“Sorry, that was jest too funny,” Granny said, apologizing to the the Princess. “Okay, let’s say Twilight makes with the zippity-zap and you go through the portal. What are ya going to find on the other side?”
“Why, the mine, of course,” Luna said, puzzlement in her voice.
“You don’t know that,” Granny Smith said, looking Luna straight in the eye. “That mine’s likely been abandoned fer a long time now. It was a coal mine if memory serves. Coal mines tend to fill up with water, or they fill with gas that goes ‘kaboom.’ You could even pop out right into rock from a cave-in and go ‘splat’ the second you get through.”
“Oh!” Luna exclaimed, her ears going back in surprise. “So you’re saying—”
“I’m sayin’,” Granny said, interrupting Luna, “that if you ain’t careful you could be dead the second you go through. Alicorn or no.”
“That’s what I was afraid you were saying,” Luna said, and her whole demeanor seemed to collapse in on itself. “Granny, I don’t think you have to worry about spending time in the dungeons.”
“Dang,” Granny Smith said, causing one of Luna’s ears to pop back up in surprise, “and here I was hoping for some nice quiet time to catch up on mah knitting.”
“Not this time, Granny,” Luna said, sighing. “Thank you though, for your advice. It seems my trip through is not to be.”
“Oh, don’t go selling yerself short there, Princess,” Granny said, getting off the chair with a popping of her old joints. “It takes four shoes to get a pony shod, after all. You’ve solved one problem, now you move onto the next one.”
“I think perhaps,” Luna said, her mouth yawning wide despite the caffeine infused sugar in her system, “that the next problem can wait until I’ve gotten some sleep.”
“Always knew you alicorns were smart ones,” Granny said, with a small cackle. “C’mon Princess, lets go rest our tired bones.”
With the quiet grace of a stalking panther, Jean Pederson crept into the bedroom her daughters shared. It was a few minutes before the dawn was scheduled to come up and she didn’t want to miss the transformation of her girls back into their human selves. Not that both of them weren’t the epitome of weaponized cuteness, but she wanted to feel her girls arms around her and not pony hooves. The sky brightened outside and the mother of two held her breath in anticipation. As the sun crossed the line of the horizon Jean swore she could feel those first few rays as they stuck the roof of her house.
The sunlight slid down and came in through the window at long last. There was a slight light, a blurring of form and where Seeker had been a moment before, there now lay Romy Pederson. Jean leaned down and lightly touched the forehead of her youngest, smiling. She looked over to where Rowan was sleeping and had to stifle a gasp.
Under the covers Rowan was still the yellow and black form of Shield Maiden, and as Jean watched her daughter breathe over the next minute she realized that for whatever reason, Rowan was remaining a pony. Sighing, she softly ran her fingers over her daughter’s mane, accepting the reality that she had a daughter, that at least for now, was staying as she was. A pony.
Bowing her head, Jean murmured a quick invocation to Epona and The Lady, got up and left her daughters’ bedroom as silently as she entered. She ghosted her way into her kitchen, picked up her phone and swiftly dialed a number. After a long moment she put the landline phone back down, shaking her head. The power was still out and the phones with it, at least until tomorrow when the Hydro crews got to work.
With barely a sound, Jean slipped on her shoes and coat, stepping out into the brisk mid-spring morning. There was still a biting chill, but the clear sky overhead promised that the day would be warm and Jean moved with purpose from her home, across the street and into Arnold’s yard.
“Who the bloody blue blazes,” Arnold muttered, as he woke to the sound of someone pounding on his back door. “I’m sure I’ve got everyone’s jobs done.” With a groan he levered his large frame out of his bed, and putting his feet in slippers he threw on his old housecoat and made his way to his back door.
“Jean, what are you doing here?” he asked, opening the door to see the lithesome frame of his neighbor. “Not that you aren’t welcome, but it’s barely morning.”
“Romy’s a girl again,” Jean said, without preamble, “but Rowan’s still a pony. I was going to call but the phones…”
“Right,” Arnold said, his mind still spinning up to speed. “Come on in.”
Arnold held open the door for Jean and they walked in to his kitchen together. With the motions of long habit he slapped the power switch for his coffee machine, opened up his fridge for a jug of milk and got out a carton of eggs. Jean smiled as she sat down, not bothering to remind Arnold about the power. He’d figure it out sooner than later, and she recognized the habits of someone who was definitely not a morning person.
“I never would have taken you for a bunny slipper person, Arn,” Jean said, leaning back in the comfortable, yet solid kitchen chair.
“Hmm?” Arnold said, and another level of sentience was gained as more of his brain woke up. “Oh, ya. Well, they’re warm and comfortable so, why not?” He frowned for a moment at the unresponsive coffee machine on his counter.
“The power is still out,” Jean said, unable to resist the urge any longer. “You’ve got a gas stove, right?”
“Ya,” Arnold said, his mind at last reaching full wakefulness. “I’ve got an old camp coffee pot too.”
“Tell you what,” Jean said, touching Arnold’s arm. “You go check on Billy and I’ll get the coffee started. Deal?”
“Thanks Jean,” Arnold said, padding through the house toward his son’s bedroom.
He opened the door, went in to the bedroom and came back into the kitchen a few minutes later. Jean had already the gotten the gas stove fired up and running. On one burner, a cast iron frying pan was beginning to heat up, on a second stood the old camp percolator, blue flame blazing merrily beneath it.
“My god,” Arnold said, reverence in his voice as he watched Jean whisk a set of eggs into a bowl, adding some spices with a quick flick of her wrist. “You never did say what kind of witch you were, but I swear it must be ‘Kitchen Witch’.” Jean laughed at the comment, setting the bowl down to get out some coffee mugs in anticipation of the percolator finishing its job.
“There aren’t any particular kinds of us,” Jean said, continuing to put together breakfast. “One of the nice things about being pagan is that there is no set ‘way’ to do it. Just the way that feels right to you. Besides, getting breakfast going for you isn’t anything special. Just me making up for waking you early. How’s Billy?”
“A sleeping angel,” Arnold began, “with hooves. I thought the kids were going to change back.”
“Romy did,” Jean said, reminding him. “I’ve got no clue why she’s been the only one to go back to being a child again.”
“Been over to the Harding’s yet?” Arnold asked, as Jean held her hand over the frying pan to see if it was hot enough.
“Not yet,” Jean said, a roguish smile crossing her face. “I came over here first for some reason.”
“You awake?” Romy asked her sister, nudging a furry shoulder. “You up?”
“I am now,” Rowan said, yawning and looking up at her sister. “What’s the big deal?”
“I’m back to being just a kid again,” Romy said, disappointment clear in her voice. “You’re still a pony.”
“I am?” Rowan asked, holding a hoof up in front of her to confirm that she was indeed, still equine. “Hey, I am! How come?”
“I dunno, wanna go outside and play a bit before Mom makes you stay inside again?” Romy asked.
“Ya, sure,” Rowan said, scrambling her legs to get out of her bed. “Where is Mom anyway?”
“Saw her going across the road to Mr. Kye’s place,” Romy said, as she went to head downstairs. “I bet she was going over to see if Billy was still a pony too.”
“Maybe,” Rowan said, as she descended the stairs at a slower rate than her sister. “I think they might be starting to date or something.”
“Mom and Billy?” Romy asked, incredulous as the sisters headed to the back door.
“No,” Rowan said, rolling her eyes in annoyance. “Mom and Mr. Kye.”
“Huh,” Romy said, slipping on her shoes. “Hey, you don’t need to put on shoes when you’re a pony.”
“Nope, guess not,” Rowan said, heading into the back yard. “Mmm, the sun feels good.”
“It’s nice,” Romy said, then threw a ball to her sister. “Catch!” Rowan didn’t seem to notice, her eyes had become closed with her face turned to the rising sun like a flower. The ball, unstopped by horn or hoof smacked straight into Rowan’s face.
“Ow!” Rowan said, opening her eyes in surprise. “What was that for?”
“Didn’t mean to,” Romy said, apologizing. “You kinda zoned out there.”
“Yah, I guess I kinda did,” Rowan said, and she closed her eyes again to face the sun. “Guess I missed being outside after being stuck in the house all day yesterday.”
“You’re acting weird,” Romy said, eyeing her sister suspiciously. “I’m gonna go find Mom.” A short while later, Romy came back with her mother, Arnold in tow behind her.
“It was tho weird, Mom,” Romy was saying as she came around the side of the house to the back yard. “She was just staring up at the sun, and… “
“Hi Mom,” Rowan said, idly kicking a soccer type ball against one of her shields. She looked in confusion at her sister, her mother and Mr. Kye. “Um, what’s up?”
“She looks fine,” Jean said, looking at her older daughter and seeing nothing unusual, or nothing that was new and unusual, in any case. “Arn, you see anything?”
“Looks normal to me. Well, as normal as things get nowadays,” Arnold said, then he looked around behind him. “Hey! Where’s Billy? He was right behind me.” Everyone went over to Arnold, heads swiveling as they peered about looking for Billy.
“There he is!” Romy shouted, pointing to the road. As the two parents followed the line of the pointing hand, they could see the brown furred form of Iron Hoof standing in the middle of the street, his eyes closed and facing the early morning sun with a blissful smile on his face.
“How long until we reach Brightly Harbour?” Shaushka asked the captain of the large flat vessel they were on.
“Figure about seven hours once we get moving,” the man said, peering out across the flat deck of the self-propelled barge. “Longer if the weather doesn’t hold.”
“Is the weather going to be a problem?” Shaushka asked, hugging herself as her imagination painted her a terrifying picture of the vessel she was on trying to weather a storm.
“Shouldn’t be,” the man said, the very epitome of a grizzled sea captain with his hat, greying beard and heavy coat, “but you never assume anything, and you always make allowances for what the sea throws your way.”
“Okay,” Shaushka said, putting her hands back in her pockets. “Anything else I should let my people know?”
“Your lot has been with me before, so they know to stay out of the way of my crew,” the captain said, checking some gauges. “Your first time out?”
“Ya, first time on something other than a ferry, and the first time in charge of a crew like this,” Shaushka said, feeling safe to open up to the captain as it was just the two of them in the wheelhouse.
“Let me give you a couple of words of advice then, if you’ll take them from someone who’s been managing a ship’s crew for a few years now,” the captain said, to which Shaushka gave a nervous nod. “Ride them hard, reward them well, don’t sweat the small stuff, and if someone comes after one of your crew, you back them up all the way. Do that and you’ll have a crew that will follow you into hell and back again.”
“Well, I don’t intend to have them running power lines into hell, but I get your meaning,” Shaushka said, a smile ghosting across her lips. “Anything else?”
“Not really, but if you could do something to get all these float planes out of the way I’d be grateful,” the barge captain said, gesturing to a small air show’s worth of float planes nearby. All of whom seemed to be either getting ready to take flight or loading passengers and cargo.
“Not something I can really do anything about, sorry,” Shaushka said, apologizing. “Is it normal for them all to be clustered around like this?”
“There’s maybe one or two, this time of year,” the captain said, frowning. “There’s at least a dozen out there right now, all waiting to take off.”
“Waiting?” Shaushka asked, puzzled. “For what?”
“Clearance,” the captain said, chuckling at Shaushka’s ignorance of the local area. “‘ZEL’ may not be a big airport, but they are close enough to control seaplanes. So they all have to file flight plans, request take offs, and generally wait until they’re allowed to leave.”
“Huh,” Shaushka said. “Any idea why there are so many planes out there?”
“I’ve got an idea, but why don’t you grab my binoculars there and check the planes out,” the captain said, nodding toward a pair hanging on a hook nearby. “See if I’m right.”
“Okay,” Shaushka said, grabbing the binoculars and focusing on the planes loading cargo and people one at time. Her eyes were filled with the sight of cases and jackets with logos like “BCTV,” “CBC” and “Global News.”
“Those are all news crews,” Shaushka said, and the old captain nodded. “They’re all headed for Brightly.”
“Likely,” the captain said. “Although there is going to be one really funny thing when they all get there that I’m betting none of them planned on.”
“What’s that?” Shaushka asked.
“The only place you can put a float plane down around there is the harbour or Carmanah Lake,” the captain said, smiling broadly now. “Brightly Harbour is five miles from the town itself, and Carmanah Lake is three. I sure hope those folks are up to a nice spring walk with all their gear.”
The laughter of Shaushka and the captain filled the wheelhouse, rivaling the roar of the first plane to get clearance and snarling its way skyward.
You didn't think I was going to make it easy for Luna to get to Brightly, did you?
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Correct me if I'm wrong but has not Luna, in the show, more than once, turned into sparkly "shadow" like a ghost to slip past watchful eyes and through locked doors? Maybe it was just a Nightmare Moon thing. If she can harness that ability again, I don't see why it couldn't solve the problem of a flooded mine as well as any cave-ins or dangerous passages.
Curious how the ponified children reacted to the sunrise. Not that they're solar powered or anything, that'd be silly. I do wonder how long it'll taken them to figure out why some remain a pony and others reverted to human...
I kind of wonder when all three alicorns will get frustrated enough that they flush out the mine from one end to the other with a triple horn enema of Magic, ha!
8956301
Aye - with the plethora of magical options available to Luna - from turning into magical mist to shielding to simply teleporting a mile up to telekinesis to ridiculous durability (which Granny should be in no position to lecture Luna on), any natural hazards she could conceivably face on the other end should be near non-issues. This felt like a very artificial/hamfisted way of delaying Luna. Kinda disappointed about that.
8956556
I can see why her arrival would want to be delayed-- the press isn't there yet! That and having an alicorn on site would be so OP.
8956556
Granny has a point here...
Alicorn or not, Earth is mostly magicless (with the exception of the gem the Tantabus used and the cute little ponies) so the only magic Luna would have traveling through the portal would be what she has stored. As a Breezie, she would have a lot less than she would as an Alicorn, and say she faces something dangerous like a cave in, or heaven forbid magma upwelling from the Ring of Fire under the Pacific, she would be toast.
Wonder why Seeker changed back to human? At first I thought it was Cutie Mark related, but then I remembered that she got the Pink Floyd Cutie Mark, so that's out. Then I considered that maybe it was Earth Pony related, but Billy's still a pony, so that's out too. My only other guesses are that maybe it's family related somehow, but I guess we'll have to wait until the next chapter (or maybe later) to find out more.
In other news, darn reporters. I hope none get cleared to take off. XD
8956854
I don't think Earth being magicless matters any for Luna - she, like all the ponies, produces her own magic and the environment wouldn't help or hinder her any (unlike Tantabus, which is an artificial construct not a living being). Though granted, being turned in to a breezie might lower her output until she turns back. Though she doesn't even really need to turn back, so long as she can go straight into her magical mist form.
It might be a good idea to go through as the magical mist in the first place, actually. Unless there is something about portals that would prevent her from making the transition in such a state, that should be by far the safest way to cross. And finding out the immediate conditions on the other end shouldn't be impossible either, via some sort of a probe either material or magical. These are all very, almost trivially solvable problems.
8956878
All I will say about the changes is that there is a reason why some ponies changed back and others didn't, and it was something planned from the beginning with this story which will be continual in the story from here on. Future chapters should help you, and the parents, discover what that reason is.
8956936
I look forward to seeing what that reason is and how it affects things.
As for Luna, she's not at her best right now, so she's likely not thinking things through all the way. Maybe after she's had some rest she'll be able to come up with a plan.
I'm embarassed to say that It only just hit me what kind of bean they're talking about!!
just one is needed.
8957346
Fixed! Thank you.
8957397 You're welcome.
Let's see if they can figure out how to transform back before the news crews arrive.
Or if Luna has the impeccable timing to show up just as they arrive. Not sure which one would be more amusing.
Am I the only one who noticed that?