Chapter 5: Contractor
A few days passed in uneventful study. Each day Luna would visit, asking about what she had learned and quizzing her at random. She kept trying to call emergency services, though each time there was nothing more than an endless ring.
Each day Hayden tried to learn when she might be going home, and each time she was rebuffed. She memorized a complex series of lies, which taken together would explain who she was and where she’d come from. Only her unique physical traits—slitted eyes, sharp teeth, and bat wings—wouldn’t be easily explained away via that method. At least her glasses were distracting enough that ponies could (hopefully) be made to believe that what they saw was caused by the glass. Hopefully.
There was no explaining away her wings, and nothing to do about her teeth except keep them covered.
The more Luna explained how it was going to work, the more it felt like a fool’s errand. “They aren’t going to believe I’m one of them!” she finally exclaimed, after her fifth day of studying. “I have every detail of that story memorized. Let’s pretend I get all these books memorized too. What does that do? I laugh at one joke, or eat something, and they see my teeth. Or maybe one of them sees me in the dark instead of bright light, and they catch a good look at my eyes. It won’t work! It’s too precarious!”
Princess Luna didn’t argue with her. She didn’t shout her rage at Hayden’s lack of respect, which she was constantly forgetting. “You’re probably right,” she eventually said, sitting down on her haunches, and staring down at the floor. “We might be able to fool one or two ponies in carefully-controlled conditions. But the court is anything but. That’s my problem. It’s easy to do what they want when you know what they expect. But you can never predict what that’s going to be. Every day is a new challenge, and the rules change so fast. Faster than I can keep up. That’s my sister’s gift, not mine. But… Star Swirl should have a spell for you soon. Something you can wear that will hide you from observation. The court is already abuzz with you. Everypony wants to meet you. We can’t just take you away now. It might be worse for me than if the court saw you were a monster.”
“I’m not!” she shouted, slamming the book closed in front of her with one wing. “I look almost exactly like you do. I don’t fly around sucking blood, I don’t haunt crypts or chase kids around with chainsaws. Why would your people think I was a monster?”
Luna chuckled. “I don’t know what most of that meant… but your question has the same answer either way. You look and act differently than they do. You’re not from the herd. That means you’re a monster. All I do is spend most of my nights awake, and yet to hear some of the sermons preached about me, you’d think I’ve sworn myself to Chaos Himself.”
“That’s stupid,” Hayden said. “You’re not serious.” She hesitated, but Luna’s expression didn’t change. “Woah, you’re serious.”
“Unfortunately,” she said, nodding. “Are not your ‘humans’ as closed-minded as ponies? Or are they a more enlightened race? I… did not see them well, when I brought you here. My chance to study was limited.”
“They’re…” Hayden paused, thinking. “We’ve had our superstitions over the years. Killed over them, a long time ago. I guess… I guess they’re still killing over them in some parts of the world.”
“Perhaps we are more alike than different, then. Ponies do not kill each other, but we have fought wars. Griffons, dragons, minotaurs… we have fought them all. And won, to Equestria’s great pride. But when the battles are over, and the swords begin to rust, there are those among us who itch for enemies. I suppose I fill that role for some ponies. Night is a frightening thing—too dark to see in without a light, where in days long ago we feared teeth and claws coming for our foals. Some of that memory must remain.”
It was her turn to shrug. “Would you… mind telling me what you want me to do, Princess? It must have something to do with integrating me into the court. I’ll be able to do it better if you explain. Then I can do it for you, you can send me home, and we’ll both be happy.”
She chuckled. “For now… continue your studies. I’m sorry, you’ve convinced me about the…” She gestured at her own eyes. “We will not be able to convince the nobility you are ordinary. Leaving this room must wait until then.”
“So I’m stuck,” she said, glumly. “Reading books in a tiny cell. I’m a prisoner.”
Luna nodded sadly. “It’s for your own safety, Human Hayden. I have done everything I could to make your time here comfortable. If there is anything else you require…”
“What about supplies?” She gestured at the “facilities” on the far side of the room. “I can do better than that shit. Just give me the tools… doing something physical would be good practice for moving around, and it would give me something to do to work off the stress of being trapped here. Like… prison pushups. Only they end with indoor plumbing.”
“Indoor… plumbing,” Luna said, her voice growing distant. She stared out the window again, eyes losing focus. “Metal tubes that produce hot and cold water on demand.”
“Yes!” Hayden exclaimed, hurrying over to her and looking up into Luna’s face. “That’s exactly what I mean! Have you seen it before? Are there humans somewhere on this planet?”
“No.” Luna turned abruptly, ears flattening to her head. “I was just remembering… when I was younger, I…” She shook her head. “It is nothing. Deliver your list to my steward. Nightbreeze will provide you with anything you require. So long as it doesn’t involve digging your way through the wall.”
So that was what she did. Learning that she might not leave at all until someone had invented a new kind of “magic” to hide what she looked like was more than a little depressing, but at least she had something to distract herself with. Having a project she was excited about could make even a bleak few weeks feel interesting. Her bedroom was… an extremely desperate project.
Fortunately she had a whole lifetime of experience to work with. Hayden had spent years doing general contract work. She’d put in walls, done basic plumbing and electricity. Everything she would need for a project like this. Assuming she’d been in her own world, with access to a home improvement store. Without the supplies, she soon discovered she would have to reinvent a great many wheels.
Princess Luna would only permit so much of her time each day not be spent on studying, so that meant she had to use what time she did have as efficiently as possible. She drafted a basic design to give her bedroom running water—a design that began with a gravity-fed tank on the floor above her, trickling down to a secondary tank over her fireplace (to be kept hot by the fire she kept burning all the time) which would feed a basic sink, toilet, and tub. Waste would still drain right out the castle walls as it had been doing (she couldn’t install sewer lines in the whole castle, after all), but water should hopefully make things slightly more sanitary than they had been.
She had no fasteners, no pipes, not even concrete.
At least Luna hadn’t been lying when she said she would give Hayden anything she asked for. That ended up including an enormous tub on the top floor to use as her tank, plus dozens and dozens of clay pipes fired in same kilns the castle used for making fine porcelain. She had to teach them a better recipe for mortar, and provide more designs for the sinks, faucets, and toilet.
Whenever possible, she did the manual labor herself. But she wasn’t very coordinated, even after weeks of practice. So she needed help, and that help often came from Nightbreeze. She was still the only pony permitted with her alone, other than the princess herself.
Hayden had done her best to prepare the site as she would’ve for any other job back on Earth, which meant she’d covered anything of value on that side of the room, laid down cloth to catch leaks and prevent damage to the floor, and kept her tools in good order. Tools the castle blacksmith had made for her, probably at enormous expense.
“I struggle to see the purpose in all of this,” Nightbreeze said, hovering in the air in front of the wall where they’d just managed to attach the next section of clay pipe. It held when she removed her hooves, the fastener as secure as Hayden had hoped without cracking the pipe as her last attempt had done.
“I’m guessing this isn’t the sort of hobby most of your guests prefer,” Hayden said, checking the position of the pipe against her design. It took a little concentration for her to avoid looking more closely at the pony flying there—something she tried to ignore with greater determination each and every day. They’re animals. I shouldn’t be noticing how they look. But just because she thought that, and knew it on an intellectual level, that didn’t mean her brain was as easily convinced. The longer she remained here, the easier it was to forget the differences and remember the similarities. The touch of one warm body was what she really wanted after all this time locked in this room. The rest was just details.
“No, it isn’t.” Nightbreeze landed a few feet in front of her. “I’ve known some to sew tapestries for their own walls, or to compose beautiful music to fill their halls. Common mares make candles, or coats for winter. But construction? You’re not even an earth pony! Your cutie mark suggests more important work than this!” Then she blushed, ears flattening as she looked away. “Forgive my boldness, my Lady. I know it isn’t my place to ask such things. But…” She stared at her uncovered flank, at the design there.
It looked a little like Princess Luna’s moon design, in reverse—a waning moon instead of a waxing one, mostly obscured by cloud. Hayden had learned from her studies that “cutie marks” were incredibly important for ponies, and those that depicted heavenly bodies were considered portentous. But she did not know why. In the last week she’d spent far more time building than she had studying, despite what Luna thought.
“I have no idea,” she said, honestly. “Where I come from, I didn’t have this. But Princess Luna’s magic brought me here, so I guess they’re connected. Ask her what it means.”
“You don’t know what it means?” Nightbreeze sounded pitying. “That’s… I’m sorry Hayden. I don’t know how I would live without knowing my purpose.” Nightbreeze’s own mark was a flagpole, a plain white flag either half raised or half lowered.
“Really?” Hayden’s eyebrows went up. “What’s an ass tattoo have to do with your purpose?” She lowered her voice to a mutter. “Couldn’t you just take it to mean whatever you want it to?”
“No!” Nightbreeze turned away from her, ears flattening. “Honestly, Lady Jest. For a pony as noble and rich as you are, you can be ignorant sometimes. A cutie mark isn’t a tattoo! And we don’t get to decide what it means! A pony’s talent is what it is.” She trailed off abruptly, turning sharply to face the closed (and locked) door.
Hayden heard it too, thanks to her gigantic ears. Luna was coming down the hall towards them, very quickly. She could only tell it was Luna thanks to her voice, which came through the shut door high and anxious.
“Really there’s no need for your involvement, sister! I can resolve the situation—”
Hayden felt her heart sink. Whenever Luna spoke of the dangers to her living here, Princess Celestia was always the first on the list. Celestia was the one who had the power to banish her from Equestria… or kill her, if she decided it was necessary. And here Hayden was, standing completely naked in her room. She’d removed the fake wings to avoid damaging them while she worked with plaster and clay and filled the room with dust. But what could she do now? The hoof steps were almost here.
Nightbreeze apparently thought quicker than she did. She reached into the wardrobe, removing a long cloak in dark gray cloth Luna had her wear whenever she walked anywhere in the castle. She’d worn it each time she went to see the wizard Star Swirl, and nopony had been able to see her through it. Hayden stiffened, helping Nightbreeze settle it on her as the lock began to turn on its own.
Hayden lowered her head, flattening her ears and letting the cloth come down over her. She could barely see the door anymore, yet she heard Nightbreeze drop into a bow. She did the same thing, turning her bow into an awkward curtsey halfway through when she remembered that prostration was only for the lowest class. She’d studied that… but she doubted it was a rare mistake to make.
Even only seeing a pair of long white legs, Hayden could sense something in the room with her she’d rarely sensed from Princess Luna. It was like a live high-voltage wire had just walked into the room, with charged plasma arcing periodically between her limbs. The smell of plaster was replaced with ozone.
“Y-your highness,” Nightbreeze squeaked, barely louder than a whisper. “F-forgive the lady’s condition. It is my fault she is not more presentable, I…”
“Nonsense.” The pony that must be Princess Celestia gestured. Hayden couldn’t see it, but she could see Nightbreeze rise to shaky hooves. Hayden did the same, hoping it was the right thing to do. “I did not announce myself… my surprise visit wouldn’t have had much point if I did.”
Hayden couldn’t make sense of her scent, but her tone changed, suggesting she was smiling now. She could feel the eyes on her, like the guidance system of a ballistic missile. “I want to have a word with the mare interesting enough to become my little sister’s first lady-in-waiting.” She chuckled. “From what I can see, she’s every bit as interesting as rumor suggests.”
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I hope young Celestia is friendly... You have to wonder what she is like if Luna went Nightmare Moon due to her sister not even noticing her plight.
So everypony thinks that if you are different (in any way) you are a monster? Interesting
In this time. A cutie is important to them to the point that you would dedicate to what it means?
I'm starting to think that maybe Celestia is more understanding than Luna thinks...
Wow nice chapter
Well, getting caught doing random construction work on her room during their first meeting seems like a pretty good way to not look like a monster. Even if Celestia sees the bat wings now, her first impression is surely going to clash too much with the idea of Hayden being a monster to take it seriously.
... You know, it's times like these that I wish there was a pony named Cliffhanger. Just so we could all have the pleasure of cursing him.
When Luna was younger? Not-yet-royalty younger, to learn of trades?
and thus, celestia
Construction! Celestia! Dun dun dun
On the contrary, it might actually be the most important work doable by the protagonist (whatever Luna has in mind is probably going about this the entirely wrong way). Changing the society through advanced construction techniques and ideas about what should and could be constructed could go a very long way. Heck, just introducing the concept of sanitation and attempting to advance it properly would push several fields far forward, and improve the quality of life for everyone who was caught up in that.
Hmm... Plumbing in the princesses' past. Most intriguing.
Ah, medieval prioriities. Construction is a peasant duty. Surely nothing important can come of it.
And Celestia could prove much more understanding than Luna goves her credit for. "Could" being the operative phrase. We'll have to wait and see.
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Cliffhanger, hanging from a cliff ~ That's why he's called Cliffhanger~
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