Chapter 19: Filled with Strange Creatures
Theo had been in government buildings before, when she’d been gunning for her current position. Current, former position.
Either way, she found the inside of the embassy strikingly similar to plenty of identical structures she’d visited before—polished marble floors, too high ceilings, and metal banisters. It was all about showing stability and casual wealth for anyone who visited. They represented whole nations, after all. They couldn’t do that without showing off.
Once through the doors, Theo didn’t see any more guards—it was all hippogriffs in fancy clothes, as expensive as the part of the city they’d found themselves in. More than she’d ever seen in one place before. Because you’ve only seen yourself in one place before, stupid.
The reality she’d first observed with the guards outside was true even for the diplomats and politicians inside—males hugely outsized her, and would’ve dwarfed her pony companions waiting outside.
But more than just feeling small, Theo couldn’t help but feel the profound sense of being where she didn’t belong. While these creatures smelled like fresh perfume and walked around with their beaks held high, she had dirt and sticks in her mane from rough travel, and wore almost nothing.
None of her human clothes had been worth carrying off the wreck of the Horizon, and so they would probably lay there to rot away once the elements got in. She expected to be screamed at any moment for the indecency of walking right into a civilized town with just a vest—but none of the birds cared.
The same bird who had let her inside pointed her down the spacious hallways, directing her up the stairs to a towering wooden door. “The ambassador is on the other side,” she said, voice low. “He already knows you’ll be coming. Wait here, and the door will open when he’s ready for you.”
The door opened, sparing Theo the awkward buildup. “Nevermind. He’ll see you now.”
Through the door, a male towered over her, because of course it would be another male. They smelled… different, just the way the ponies did. After being around Sharp for so long, getting used to this would be its own burden. She wasn’t sure she even wanted to try.
“I’m told your name is Summer Ray,” he said, smiling amicably. “And I can see you’ve, uh… possibly had a stint of bad luck in Equestria during your visit, eh?” He gestured into his office. “Come, sit. Seaquestria is here to help.”
It cannot be called that. Theo followed, glancing back once at the mare who had led her here. But that was the same creature who had refused to let her pony friends in on account of their race—hardly a creature she should be counting on to protect her in here.
The office was far more lavish than the embassy outside—here the trim on the walls was clearly actual gold, with painted designs set into the wood with incredible precision. Even the plush on the chairs felt expensive as she settled down in one, and it gave just a little under the weight of her body.
I really shouldn’t be getting used to this.
“I am Ambassador Stratus Skyranger,” he said, grinning politely at her. “I suppose you can think of me as our highest representative here in Equestria. For every hippogriff who visits, I’m the one to help in situations like yours. Please, uh…” He glanced back at the sheet of paper in front of him, and nearly bungled her name. You just knew it. “Summer Ray. Tell me what happened.”
“I don’t think you’ll believe it,” she said, without a trace of irony. “I wouldn’t have believed it myself if I hadn’t seen it.”
“You’d be surprised how many say that,” he said, leaning back in his chair and grinning politely. “Don’t worry about having to convince me of much, Summer. I’m really here as a point of emergency contact. Generally I’ll help however you need, no matter how crazy it seems. It’s justifying the help I give you once you’re back to Mt. Aris that’s the real sticking point. Incidentally, it is a crime to lie to me, and birds lose their passports for lying. But based on the way you and your, uh… your companions… looked outside somehow I don’t think you’re lying.”
“I’m not,” she said. She reached into her saddlebags, removing her inert tablet from inside, still in its protective case. Whether or not the OtterBox had been enough to withstand the pond, she still didn’t know—it hadn’t had any power left to begin with. “Do you know what this is?”
The bird pulled it closer, then held it up. “A rather poor mirror, I imagine. But I can’t see what that has to do with me—if I wasn’t clear, Summer, tell me about what you need to solve whatever difficulties you’ve encountered here in Equestria. If there are legal measures that should be taken—a robbery, perhaps, or something similar. I’ll do whatever it takes to see the situation rectified.”
“My airship crashed,” she said. “And I was hoping for passage to Mt. Aris for myself and my two companions. I need to talk to the creatures there about—”
He raised a wing, silencing her. “Airship crash—that would explain the way you look.” He passed back the tablet. “Passage home is one of the simplest and most common types of help we offer. Though I’m afraid it isn’t available for, uh… creatures who don’t call Mt. Aris home. Even getting permits to visit there can be difficult during some years. Security, you know. Nopony wants to risk another Storm King.”
He made it all sound so reasonable, except that of course she could never agree to that. What was she supposed to do after reaching the hippogriff city? She didn’t imagine for a second she would know what to do there without Sharp’s help.
“Maybe… could you help us get a salvage crew out to the airship instead? That would be better—Sharp and Emerald are my friends, I don’t want to leave them behind. Sharp saved my life—” And then I saved his. But saying that probably wouldn’t help her case.
“A salvage and repair crew for an airship,” he said, leaning back in his chair and looking down at his claws for a moment. “That would cost… quite a bit more than just one airship ticket home. Is there any… reason the state would take an interest in your airship in particular? Why not have your clan wire you the money?”
It was now or never. Theo glanced down at the tablet on the desk between them, with its perfectly machined corners and narrow bezels. This product of her world was one of few reminders she had of her home. But why should she hide it? If Sharp had known about Travelers and the Doorway, then certainly the ones who had built it would know even more, right?
“Because I don’t have a clan,” she said. This time she didn’t wait, not giving him even a moment to interrupt and prevent her from finishing what she had to say. She turned over the tablet. “I didn’t come from Mt. Aris, but from an ancient portal in the frozen north. It’s in Alaska, but that doesn’t mean anything on this end… my pony friend studies aspects of all this, he called me a Traveler. This is my species here, my mother and father and me. This is how I’m supposed to look.”
Stratus stared at the image for several long moments. He looked like he wanted to take the tablet, but now Theo held it out of reach. If this bird took anything from her, she might never see it again. She wasn’t about to give up her last picture of her family.
“I admit, that’s… certainly the most creative story I’ve ever received,” Stratus said. “But I did say it was a criminal offense to—”
She reached into her bag, removing the radio and settling it onto the table. She twisted the dial all the way up, ignoring the burst of static. The speaker filled the room with uncomfortable hissing, at least until she pressed a few of the buttons on the side with her claws.
It might’ve been hard for her, a few weeks ago. But now she’d been a hippogriff long enough that precision like that was simple for her. She navigated to “Recorded Messages,” and played the first one back.
It was Corey’s voice, recorded some time ago. Before winter shift even began, or at least Theo thought it was. An older recording for sure. “I just got a report that you had permission to make a few modifications to the aurora experiment. Want to fill me in on what you’re doing out there, Theo?”
Corey’s voice was deep, his pronunciation completely unfamiliar. Even to Theo, the tone felt like it didn’t quite settle against her ears.
“Sure thing!” said her own voice, in accented English. “What I know, anyway. Mostly just the alma mater grateful they have boots on the ground for a pet project. Wasn’t my department—”
Theo reached up, twisting the dial until it went off. Stratus had gone completely still, staring at the radio. Good thing the alien language had made such an impression, because she wasn’t sure how much longer the battery would last. I really have to do something about that.
“I have more evidence,” she said, her voice absolutely confident. “I can speak that language you just heard, and write in letters you can’t read. I can demonstrate technology unknown to you, I can—”
Stratus smacked his claw on the desk, hard enough that its finely polished surface dented from the impact. “You’re mistaken,” he said, each word coming out forced. “There are no Doorways. There are no Travelers, no First Inheritance.” He reached down sharply, removing a pad of paper from inside a drawer in front of him and settling it down on the desk.
“It’s obvious you’ve been… in Equestria too long. You’ve been adversely influenced by their mythology. You’ve taken some of it for yourself. This is unfortunate, but have no fear. Seaquestria is ever a kind and understanding nation. We will provide care, until you’re cured of this… unique delusion. I’m going to need to take that contraband from you as well.”
Theo rose, hastily stashing her possessions before Stratus could reach them. “I’m not from Seaquestria,” she said flatly, her foreleg searching desperately for something, anything she could use. There were hard plastic SSD cases, there was some charging cables with nothing to plug them into. A shaving kit. Lots of pony camping supplies. “I didn’t even tell you about the Doorway, but you knew what it was called.”
She kept backing up, all the way to the door. “I don’t want your help anymore.” This ambassador doesn’t want this getting out. I need to talk to the ones in charge.
But how was she supposed to do that, if she got carted off to some… avian insane asylum?
Stratus ignored her, leaning down to a metal box on his desk. It hissed and cracked, then he started speaking into it. “Embassy watch, I’m going to need you here.”
Theo’s forelegs closed on something else, something that had been buried so far in back she’d almost forgot she had it. She hadn’t thought she would need it. Her flare gun.
She swung it out in one smooth motion, aiming it aggressively at Stratus’s head. “Don’t say anything,” she ordered. At pony size, the flare gun was gigantic, like a gun some crazy Victorian might’ve used to hunt elephants.
Stratus’s eyes widened, and she could tell instantly that he jumped directly to fear. He knows what a gun is. “Delay that. I’ll call you back.” He pressed the button again.
Theo advanced, eyes widening with her mad plan as it formed. The gun looked imposing, but there was little chance of it actually killing when she fired it. Unless she burned the building down by mistake, or something similar.
“You’re not dragging me off,” she said, getting as close as she could to Stratus. Confusion and terror screamed in the back of her mind, but their voices were weaker than the adrenaline she felt. I am not going to vanish into some dark building for the rest of my stupid girl bird life. I’m going home. I’m getting my old body back. No matter what.
“You’re going to tell me what you know about the Doorway. Right now.” She backed up suddenly, yanking the window curtains closed. Has anyone seen us yet?
“It’s…” Every word seemed to cost him, and his eyes never left the barrel. “Exactly this. As though you needed any further proof. Travelers… should be forgotten. That world is incredibly dangerous, and its denizens were even dangerous then. How much worse have they—well, obvious, isn’t it? You really are one of them if you’ll point that at me.”
She ignored the insult, if that’s what it was. “I just want to bucking go home, piss-for-brains! I want to go back up the doorway the way I came and never come back. Helping me gets rid of a danger.”
“You could ask the queen,” he whispered, voice low. “You could ask the queen, except you’ll never see her. I’ve been given… other instructions. If any creature like you ever emerged. You can’t be allowed to spread disinformation. You can’t endanger our city after we only just regained our independence. We have enough despots of our own without importing more.”
Her eyes narrowed, but she wasn’t sure how much longer she could keep up the ruse. He already knew who she was—she was recorded visiting here. What higher authorities did she have?
She nearly dropped the not-gun right there in surrender. But she could still see the picture of her family, refreshed in her mind’s eye thanks to the image on the tablet. If she surrendered now, she knew somewhere deep down that she would never see them again. Almost as bad, her new friends would be just as lost. Sharp and Emerald were the only things that had made this alien world tolerable, and they’d be taken too.
Unless she acted fast.
“You have a bucking escape tunnel, don’t you?” She advanced, shoving the gun towards his head. “Open it, right now. And if you try to call for help—” I’m screwed, because I can’t stop you. “I’ll show you just how dangerous Travelers can be.”
He rose from his desk, backing up towards a bookcase. Amazingly, when he rapped on it with two claws, it actually swung backwards—there really was a tunnel, though it was so short it couldn’t go much further than the embassy wall. “You’ll never make it out of the city. Canterlot is going to be—”
She hammered the reloading mechanism on the flare gun, causing the round in the barrel to pop out a few inches, ejecting from the spring.
He jerked, whimpering as he covered his face with one foreleg. But of course, she hadn’t fired—rather the opposite, making the gun into something that couldn’t.
“I don’t think you’re going to do that,” she said, hoping she sounded more confident than she felt. She didn’t have real weapons—couldn’t make a real threat. But she could lie. “I already went to Celestia. The ponies all know about me. What do you think they’ll say when I don’t come out of here?”
Stratus swore angrily under his breath, and she was sure she heard his claws grinding suddenly against the fancy wood floor. “You have no idea what you’ve done, Summer. Ponies… they’re all too bucking curious for their own good. If they open that Doorway… but maybe that’s what you want. You were always an invader.”
Theo ran. Past where Stratus half blocked the entrance, spinning around to point the gun at him as she left. The tunnel didn’t go far—she could keep pointing it at the ambassador all the way to the heavy wood on the far side. She shoved the bar to the ground with a back leg, then slipped the flare gun away.
The door was enormously heavy—so heavy that she could barely open it. But she was spared whatever might’ve happened if she had to ask the ambassador for help by some old-fashioned determination. She gritted her teeth, braced her shoulders up against the wood, then shoved.
She dropped onto the floor on the far side of the door, spat out into a narrow alley between the embassy and several of its neighbor compounds. Theo didn’t pause to look behind her and see if she was being followed—she just ran. She ran along the side of the embassy, keeping her head down. She could only wish she had a jacket or something else to obscure what she looked like—but she didn’t, and there was no chance to find anything now.
She emerged on the high-street beside the embassy, half-expecting her friends to already be arrested. But they just sat on the pavement with their backs to the wall—they hadn’t been dragged off somewhere, or interfered with at all. Did my threat actually work? Whatever part of her had been afraid they would abandon her faded into the background until it was gone. Of course they would wait for her—and here they were.
Sharp Edge rose to his hooves, glancing curiously in her direction. Theo didn’t shout for him, just darted over to him and pointed down a different alley, before slipping away there herself. The guards hadn’t seen her, right? She couldn’t stop to be sure. If we just had damn cell phones, none of this would be an issue.
She felt the high walls of the fancy shops close in around her—eyes peeked out from a few tiny windows, and she could only imagine what they might be thinking. But this was no dangerous neighborhood of a human city—there was no graffiti here, no broken needles or signs of police violence. It was just a street, cut off from the much larger ways into shops that faced the public.
A few seconds later and an out-of-breath Sharp rounded the corner, with Emerald gliding through the air behind him. The child didn’t seem to care much where they were, or even think anything was out of the ordinary. But Sharp glanced around, concern written all over his face. “Summer, why are you hiding?” he asked, as soon as he was close enough to ask without his voice carrying.
“How were the other hippogriffs?” Emerald asked innocently, ignoring Sharp’s urgency. “Did they give you what you needed?”
For once, Theo ignored her question. “The ambassador tried to steal my stuff and… I don’t know, I think he wanted…” She shook her head. “No time to explain, not here. We need to get out of the city. Can we do that?”
He glanced down at the pouch around his neck, fumbling with it with one hoof. His head twitched once, ears flat. When he spoke, there was obvious embarrassment in his tone. “There’s a small town near here, a place called… Pony-something. I might have enough bits to get us second class tickets for there. But we’ll be flat broke after that.”
“We need to do it,” Theo said, voice urgent. “I don’t know what we do when we get out of here—but we need to get out, right now. The only reason we’re not all arrested is my bluff, and I don’t know how long he’ll buy it. The sooner we’re gone, the better.”
It wasn’t quite the exit from Canterlot that Theo imagined. She could sense Emerald’s disappointment to be leaving such an important pony city so quickly—particularly since there wasn’t time to just stop and explain the danger. But to Theo’s intense relief, her companion Sharp didn’t ever stop her or demand proof of what she was saying—he just trusted her, even when the decision seemed incredibly foolish.
She thought about making a detour to the Feather Store, and stocking up on overpriced crap they could sell on for more bits. But given what had just happened, her contact at Feather might be the last friendly face Theo had left. She wasn’t going to chance the bits she could use to get there on a gamble that they wouldn’t get arrested for attempting to “rob” Canterlot while they were at it.
There were no hippogriff police searching the streets for her, but dozens of ponies in their gold armor with dull spears and shields. She imagined every pair at every street corner were looking for her. Sometimes she swore they were watching her, noting her movements and her destination. But none ever stopped them.
Before night came, they were on the train again, speeding down the mountain from the incredible pony capital towards a place called “Ponyville.”
They might be in second class, but their car was completely empty—apparently, there weren’t many ponies who made the evening commute on uncomfortable wooden benches on the back of the train.
“Here,” Sharp said, settling a little basket of apples between them. “Came with the ticket. Better enjoy them, because this is the last of our bits. If we get hungry after this… it’s grazing, I suppose.”
“I don’t think hippogriffs can graze,” Emerald muttered, taking an apple in her mouth and grinning with delight. “Oooh, they do taste better when they aren’t dried!”
“I don’t know what grazing means,” Theo whispered. “But that was necessary. Thanks for trusting me.” She sat back in her seat, letting the gentle rumble of the railroad ease her into something like relaxed.
“Of course I trust you,” Sharp said, a little tensely. “I hope you’ll trust me too. There are creatures we can trust, and creatures we should avoid. But… what happened in there, Summer? That was your embassy. They should’ve been helpful. Not… sending you away terrified.”
“You sure you want to know?” Theo asked, nervously. “At least if I don’t tell you, you might have… deniability. Okay, I have no idea how your laws work. But I think you’d be better off saying that I tricked you into helping me if this goes wrong.”
“We can still say that,” Sharp said. “But I probably won’t. Say it.”
Theo glanced at Emerald, about to ask her to leave. But then she thought about where a child might go if she was alone on a train. Considering what had already happened, did she really want this pony off on her own? Knowing things she didn’t really understand seemed like the lesser of two evils.
She explained what had happened as quickly as she could, omitting nothing. She wasn’t thrilled to admit to the pony that she’d had to lie and threaten her way out of the building—but if Sharp Edge was going to keep helping her, he needed to know what she’d done. She did trust him. After all, he hadn’t left while she was in the building. He could’ve finally left this nightmare behind, left her to the ones that were supposed to care for her. He hadn’t.
“So that’s why we had to run,” she finished, when they were all the way down the mountain. They were already slowing—no wonder they’d been able to afford the trip with even their meager bits to spend. “I’m not sure how long he’ll buy the bluff. And the instant he tests it, he’s going to find out the whole thing is a lie.”
“Yeah.” Sharp slumped forward in his seat, resting his head in his hooves in a way that was almost human. It certainly didn’t look cute, that just wouldn’t make sense. And ponies smelling better was just familiarity, she didn’t have any bias in the matter. “Well, we’re on our way to… Ponyville. Should be small enough that the embassy doesn’t care to investigate. He’ll think you’re off somewhere important, if he even looks for you at all. We can… hope that even if he does investigate, he won’t push too far. You did embarrass him. Getting away, when he had you completely trapped like that… that’s very brave. I don’t know if I could do that.”
I didn’t think I could, until it was escape or never see home again. But when she tried to say that, she saw the sunset behind him through the window, and her words turned to mush. “Y-yeah,” she said lamely, her ears flattening.
“It sounds like a Daring Do adventure!” Emerald called from beside her, actually gleeful rather than intimidated. “Take me with you next time! I could’ve helped!”
Thank god you weren’t with me. “Sure, sweetie.” She reached out, patting Emerald on the head. “I don’t know what a daring do is, but yes. I don’t want to get separated like that again.”
“Coming up is ‘Daring Do and figuring out how to hike across a continent because we’re out of money’,” Sharp muttered, just a tad petulant. “And ‘Daring Do and the cramped tent we have to sleep in’.”
At least I’m with people I like.
“We’ll figure something out,” Theo said, without a clue how they would. But that was a bridge she could cross once they got to Ponyville.
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Dunno what Theo’s thinking, but when the flare gun’s that size, being on the receiving end of it is not gonna be fun.
Well, the birds are now confirmed hostile. Onward to Feather... to possibly be betrayed again.
First Inheritance? Glad of you to start blurting out state secrets to the "invader" when she doesn't look like she knows what's going on.
If the queen wasn't behind this conspiracy to hide the doorway, who is? Either way, a trip to the mountain is more or less impossible now. Especially with what just happened.
It's proximity means it should be the first place they look. Especially since they know Theo and the gang will try to lie low.
I hope Twilight Sparkle comes into the mix. Ponyville, you know.
How did Theo know about the secret exit?
Well, this is a situation and a half. What the hay happened with the Doorway and the Travelers way back when?
Oh well, I'm sure we'll find out eventually. But now, time for some Ponyville shenanigans! Ooh, will Sunset Shimmer play a role here? Because I'd be totally down for that.
9719061
An opulent room belonging to a race paranoid about being conquered; I'd call it a good hunch.
9719210
My guess? They came in at the worst kind of time and place, negatively coloring their impression of us. It could be said that the humans they met are completely different than the Americans of today. Now we're more of a "We Respond in Kind" type of people.
That went well I suppose for admitting all your secrets and a closed off area with guards
Hahahaha
9719359
Tell that to what's Iraq.
9719315
It's either that or a slightly less opulent panic room. Escape tunnel can be used as invasion tunnels too after all.
9719486
They're on the extreme brutal end of the range, yes. The average comes out to that though. Pacifists and near pacifists balance it out to that point.
Must contact Purplesmart. Only one you can trust right now.
To Twilight, the ultimate Egghead! Something tells me they'll get along just fine....
I'm suddenly wondering if Theo stumbled into the real reason that research team was up in Alaska.
Welp, turns out the advice from the Feather lady about not going to the hippogriffs was a good suggestion.
Doorways? First Inheritance?
A visit to Ponyville, very traditional.
"Unless they're summoned by a magical, crystal coffee table and escorted by a princess."
"Does that happen often?"
"More than you'd think."
In any case, looks like the Feather CEO had the right of it. Humans are hippogriff bogeymen who can't be allowed to exist, and it's not clear whether Stratus will pursue Theo to the ends of the Earth or pretend the whole thing never happened. Or both. Official and unofficial actions are two very different things, after all.
In the meantime, off to the chaos capital of Equestria. The locals could be bery helpful indeed... if Theo trusts them enough to open up. Or if she experiences enough Pinkie exposure. Then it's inevitable.
Hmm. Speaking of Pinkie, she's probably stayed penpals with Skystar. Goodness knows what royal tidbits she's picked up, assuming the royal mail hasn't been censored to within an inch of its life.
I am starting to enjoy this series of yours, I hope to read more soon.
> Says Travelers are bad because they are despots that spread disinformation.
> Denies facts and spreads lies, then tries to steal an innocent person's belongings and possibly imprison them to protect the lies.
Congrats, horsebirdfish, you're the very thing you claim to oppose. You might want to set aside the mindless puppet behavior and engage in some critical thinking and self-reflection. Maybe then you'll eventually stop being a horrible person.
9721701
I... Wouldn't call them a horrible person. Especially this early, not knowing their side of the story. Hippogriffs seem terrified of Travellers. What they're doing might not be nice, but they seem to consider it necessary in order to protect themselves. I wonder why...
I hope they interact with the student 6. Maybe Thoe could learn more about why hippogriffs don't like humans from Silverstream. Even if she isn't anyone important she could've still heard about them in stories from her childhood.
Can't have Sttarscribe w/out racism... ponies toward Theo, hippogryphs toward Theo, who did nothing wrong except be in the wrong place at the wrong time...
9724886
Being terrorized by ancient myths suddenly coming true might be a rational explanation for his behavior...
...except for his comments about his queen, as if there's the slightest chance his queen might be a little more reasonable and actually try to help Theo get home...
But we mustn't have any of THAT, now can we!!
And the plot thickens
Ah the OtterBox protecting things universes over
I was surprised at their feasibility in close range.
Getting caught would have either been a death sentence or a mind wipe or being put into a prison for the rest of your life. I say if they want to flat out end the lives of anyone who comes through, then give them a reason to fear you. Make some weapons and be ready when they come for you because rest assured, they WILL come for you and you had better be ready to do whatever you have to when the time comes. Assume they're all out to kill you and act accordingly. Take the necessary action and have no regrets.
10219375
4:15 Jesus did not expect iron man.
anyways thanks for the video. and the interesting new channel to check out.
really hoping it's one of those heavy duty service flare guns and not the red plastic ones nowadays