CRISIS: Equestria - Divergence

by GanonFLCL

Chapter Four: Catalyst

Twilight and Flathoof stood in the hall outside room eighty-four and five. They'd come out moments before, as the room itself had become much too cramped for them to bear, what with eight ponies trying to organize an apartment that was meant to house four. From outside, it was still easy enough for Flathoof to keep an eye on his parolees without bothering their move-in.

So, when Twilight requested a conversation with him away from the others, he'd obliged without question. Of course, she hadn't realized that her topic of conversation wasn't going to be met with that same cordiality.

"Let me get this straight," Flathoof said, sighing and holding the bridge of his nose. "You want to leave your friends here to tidy up your new home because you want to go to Central Database Holdings? And you want to go right now?"

"That's right," Twilight said. "I figured it would be a good idea to start looking for… work, and as soon as possible, so I want to take a look at their facility and get used to their system a little before I apply. Officer Snapshot was nice enough to put in a recommendation, and even if she only did it because of you I still plan to use it."

"That's not what I have a problem with. It's that you seem to think I'm going to just let you go out on your own."

Twilight rubbed the back of her head, knowing that was likely going to be the hard part to negotiate. "Well, I just didn't want to bother anypony else with my errands. I can get a bit absorbed in my work sometimes."

She elected not to mention that she was going to spend most of her time at the library doing what libraries were intended for: studying. Specifically, researching this perplexing new location as much as she could. What little she could gather from talking with Flathoof and Lockwood was not enough to quench her curiosity, nor enough to figure out what she'd need to know to get her and her friends home.

She had planned to take as long as she needed, but hadn't accounted for requiring an escort.

Flathoof shook his head and sighed. "While that is all well and good, Miss Sparkle, and I commend you for taking some initiative in looking for employment, I can't just let you go by yourself. You're on parole for one week, remember? Until then, all of you have to remain in my custody. So, if you want to visit the library, you'll have to wait until after everypony here is done so you can all go."

Twilight's face fell. "Oh. I was hoping to get a head-start on it."

Truthfully, she wanted to do it with as few distractions as possible. If she were allowed to "get in the zone" and start her research by herself without any interference from her friends, she hoped she would be able to get plenty of information in very little time.

Not that she didn't appreciate their company, but some of her friends weren't exactly the best study partners. Rarity and Fluttershy might be of help, and if the right subject matter was involved she could probably rope Rainbow into it too. Pinkie could be a help or a hindrance—it was all up to chance—and Applejack just wasn't the researching type. She didn't want to force them all to go.

"I am sorry, Miss Sparkle, but rules are rules," Flathoof said.

Twilight sighed. "I understand…"

The door fell open, and a gray form tumbled out onto the dirty carpet of the hallway. Twilight, shocked at the sudden intrusion and with everything lousy going on, leapt a good foot into the air and lit up her horn defensively.

After shaking himself off with a slight huff, Lockwood got back to his hooves and addressed the two surprised ponies with a sheepish grin. "Um… ow?"

Flathoof narrowed his eyes at the new addition to the conversation; he didn't seem at all surprised that Lockwood was there. "Snooping as usual, Lockwood?"

Lockwood brushed off his jacket with a wing. "Now now, Flathoof, surely you don't intend on keeping this young lady from trying to make her way in the world, do you?"

"I don't think this is something you can help with. This is my duty as their parole officer. I have to keep them all in my sight, as much as I'd like to think I can trust them. It's a stupid rule, I know, but it's there."

"So why do it alone? Surely you could get some help?"

"Look, I know it's a two- or three-pony job, but I can't expect any other officers to jump at the opportunity to foalsit a bunch of new citizens. Not that I trust many of them to do the job anyway, or not to try anything fishy."

"Perfectly understandable," Lockwood said. He pointed his hoof teasingly at Flathoof. "But, you seem to be forgetting that there is somepony you can trust to keep an eye on them. Somepony who's always willing to lend a helping hoof, and not just to his closest friends but to anypony in need."

"You?" Flathoof said, his eyes half-lidded.

"Of course!" Lockwood grinned as he straightened his jacket collar in mock offense. "Sheesh, who did you think I meant? Some random pedestrian out on the street?"

"Lockwood, this isn't a game. I know you like to help and all, but rules are rules, and as much as most other officers wouldn't have a problem breaking them, I do."

Twilight took a deep breath and relaxed. Too many surprises today had put her on edge. "But didn't you break some rules in getting us through all this?" she asked.

"'Break'? Nnnope." Flathoof nervously tugged his collar and glanced at Lockwood's cheeky grin. "I mean, okay, city regulations have so many loopholes and workarounds that, well, a pony with the knowledge of how it works could probably get around them. Snapshot happened to know just the right boxes to fill and marks to make."

"Just like the tax code loopholes I'm going to be working around to get my new tenants a solid start without paying first month's rent immediately," Lockwood added, playfully nudging Flathoof in the ribs. "And you know all about that too, don't you? Don't be such a hypo—"

"Okay, fine," Flathoof interrupted. He took a deep breath. "I guess if I've abused a few loopholes here and there already, no harm in going the full mile."

Lockwood beamed and gave Twilight a sly wink. "Precisely! I'm sure there is something you can conjure up to let somepony you trust be an additional caretaker for these lovely young ladies? Unless…"

"'Unless'… what?"

Lockwood narrowed his eyes and his smile broadened. "Unless, you were planning on keeping them all to yourself?"

Flathoof stammered, "H-hey now, don't accuse me of that kind of—"

"Aww, you sly pony you!" Lockwood placed his leg around Flathoof's shoulder. "I should've figured it out from the get-go. I didn't think you had it in you after all these years. Which one is it then? I'm guessing… is it Miss Sparkle here?"

"What?!"

"What?" Twilight asked, utterly lost.

"Well, what with the whole 'trying to keep her in my sights' thing, I figured—"

"It's not Miss Sparkle!"

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "What's not me? What are you two—"

Lockwood laughed heartily. "Oh ho ho, I see! Suddenly you fancy yourself a ladies' stallion, and saw the opportunity to flaunt yourself in front of six eligible—"

"Enough!" Flathoof blurted. He took a deep breath and straightened his hat. "Fine, what did you have in mind, if it'll shut you up with these ridiculous ideas of yours?"

"Well I'm not too well-versed in NPPD rules, really. That's supposed to be your department. There must be some sort of workaround that would allow a civilian to assist you in tending to your parolees, though? Like a… deputy or something like that?"

"Well…" Flathoof mused. "I suppose I could list you as a third-party caretaker. It wouldn't really be questioned either, seeing as you're their landlord and all." He rolled his eyes and sighed. "Fine, have it your way. You always do."

"Excellent."

"I'll have to contact the station and get Snapshot to file the paperwork. I need to get a good signal, so I'll be just over here," Flathoof continued, pointing at the nearby window on the opposite end of the hall

"Go right ahead."

Flathoof trotted over to the window, loosened the latch, and opened it. Then, after a quick look outside, he began talking into the walkie-talkie strapped to his right foreleg; Twilight couldn't hear the conversation, though.

While Flathoof was occupied, Twilight took the opportunity to converse with Lockwood. "Thank you. Both of you. I don't know what we'd do without your help. We were all in rather dire straits, and nopony else in this city—"

"Say no more, Miss Sparkle." Lockwood gave her a wide smile and patted her on the shoulder. "Believe me when I say I know just how unhelpful most of my fellow citizens can be. We're a rare breed, ponies like Flathoof and I. It's why we're such good friends!"

"It's a wonderful thing to have in common," Twilight said, thinking fondly on the bond she and her friends shared.

"And I've formed similar relationships with many of the ponies in this city and even some elsewhere, all of whom I feel I can give a similar level of respect and trust to."

"How many ponies do you know?" Twilight asked. "My friend Rarity is quite popular where we come from. I don't even know half the ponies she does."

"Oh a great deal of ponies, believe me," Lockwood said. He feigned exhaustion, as if knowing so many individuals was a physically taxing endeavor, earning a light smile from her.

Twilight pursed her lips in thought and tapped her chin. "This city seems so vast, how could anypony possibly hope to know so many?"

Lockwood beamed and flittered his wings proudly. "All it takes is one good friend, and you can move from there. You'd be surprised who your friends know, and who your friends' friends know, and so on."

"Makes sense."

"I know ponies from all walks of life, in fact. Take this building's owner, for example. Rich folk like him always appreciate a good, resourceful pony, so he'll be willing to look the other way when I give a vacant apartment to a bunch of parolees I just met. And not all of my friends are upper-class, either. Some are less… reputable than others, but they're handy when I need a favor,."

Twilight gulped. "You mean… like criminals?"

Her eyes nervously darted back and forth. It was bad enough that Lockwood had joked about murder earlier, but now he was claiming to be acquainted with criminals? Just who was this pony?

"Oh no, no no no, not at all," he dismissed with a rapid wave of a hoof. He then stopped and hung his head. "Well, okay, technically some of my friends are considered criminals by the system, but I assure you that their crimes aren't harmful to anypony. No murderers or thieves or anything like that. They're just guilty of some crimes against our city's wonderful government," he added.

His mouth bore a sneer, and his eyes had narrowed at that one word. Government.

"You could say their crimes are doing as I do: helping others by getting around the way the city's backwards and sideways and upside-down laws work. Falsifying documents, illegally obtaining goods such as medicine, that sort of thing. But, we can discuss that another time, if you'd like."

Over by the window, Flathoof could be heard finishing his call, clicking his walkie-talkie with a hoof, and turning back towards the apartment door. Lockwood pointed off in that direction. "Oh, here comes Flathoof. Don't mention my… other friends to him. He might not approve, you understand?"

Twilight nodded. "R-right."

She was sure Lockwood was on the up-and-up, but now she was slightly concerned about taking his offers for assistance. It wouldn't get them in any more trouble, would it? No, surely not. After all, he was clearly somepony who worked around the system often himself, and he was still considered respectable enough that he was close friends with a high-ranking police officer.

Right?

"So," Flathoof said as he stomped over, "I just got off the line with the station. I wish we'd thought of this sooner, because I could have asked Snapshot to take care of it while we were there and it'd be done by now. She got off duty maybe an hour or so ago, and the silly filly forgot to punch out again."

"That won't be a problem, will it?" Twilight asked.

"No, the night shift guy will fill everything out and get it done, because even he knows not to shirk duties given from ranking officers. I'm more concerned about it being done right. I'll get Snapshot to look it over tomorrow."

"So then, we can go?" Twilight asked, a hopeful grin on her face.

"Yes yes, we can go," Flathoof said.

Twilight excitedly clapped her hooves together. "Excellent! I can't wait to see this library. I wonder if it's anything like the one back home?"

Flathoof shook his head, but kept a smile on his face. "You're sure you can handle the rest of them, Lockwood?"

Lockwood looked into the apartment and watched as Rarity helped Fluttershy dust some of the cabinets in one corner of the room. Rainbow and Applejack helped one another rearrange the furniture, though the two were debating on where the couch they were carrying should go.

Lockwood shook his head, worry-free. "I don't think—"

Pinkie tripped over a rug and dropped the dusty mats she'd been carrying. They flew all over the room, spreading dust over everypony and everything. Rarity squealed in horrified disgust, Fluttershy started to cry, and Rainbow began to scold the pink earth pony openly. Applejack just hung her head in disappointment.

Lockwood chuckled and tugged his collar. "Uh… I don't think it will be too much trouble."

Flathoof laughed and slapped Lockwood on the back. "I hope you know what you're getting yourself into. Come on, Miss Sparkle. We'll leave my good-mannered companion to tend to his new-found flock."

The pair turned towards the stairwell to leave, but were stopped by a voice behind them.

"Now hang on just one doggone minute." Applejack stepped in front of the two of them, her eyes darting between the pair. "If y'all're takin' a little stroll, perhaps ya wouldn't mind if I joined ya?"

"You want to join us?" Twilight blinked and gave Applejack a quizzical look. "We're going to the library, Applejack. It's not a place you'd usually volunteer to go, if you don't mind my saying."

Applejack narrowed her eyes. "You sayin' I ain't got no book smarts?"

A pause. "Do you really want me to answer that question?"

Applejack gave an aggravated sigh and shook her head. "Nevermind. I'm just worried about ya goin' by yerself."

"I'm not going alone, Applejack. I've got Captain Flathoof with me," Twilight said, patting the stallion on the shoulder. "He's in law enforcement, remember? He'll keep me safe. No need to worry or—"

Applejack stomped her hoof and gave Twilight an indignant look. "I know that, Twi, I just wanna keep an eye on ya, that's all. And to be honest, I don't think I can take much more of Rarity's complainin' about the dust 'n' dirt. If she starts whinin', well, I won't be held responsible for what might happen."

Twilight raised an eyebrow and nodded, beginning to get the idea that it might be better not to argue. "Oh, well okay then. If that's alright with you, Captain Flathoof?"

"I don't know why it wouldn't be." Flathoof shrugged and walked past Applejack towards the stairs. "Very well then, come along Miss Applejack. I suppose we could use the company."

Applejack smiled. "Thank ya kindly."

*****

"That's a library?" Applejack whistled. "This place is—"

"Huge," Twilight completed.

Central Database Holdings was a large building, taking up not one, not two, but four full city blocks. While not as tall as Southeast Point, it still towered over the ponies walking the streets below. Lines of pulsing, neon blue lights highlighted the contours of the building's black metal exterior, from the edges of the structure to the indents that dotted it. Many of the lines flowed towards the largest indent on the front of the structure, indicating the entrance.

Twilight gulped. "If the dimensions are what I think they are, Applejack, then this building's bigger than all of Ponyville proper. Excluding Sweet Apple Acres of course."

The newer, shinier metals looked out of place compared to the buildings around it. Flathoof explained that this was because Central Database Holdings was a relatively new building compared to the rest of the area, and that most of the surrounding landscape had needed severe reconstruction to accommodate the structure's needs. Specifically, the insertion of a massive series of wires and cables beneath the streets, needed to power the center and transmit information to and from it.

That last bit confused Applejack, and from the looks of it, even confused Twilight. They were used to letters and packages, and thanks to Spike were also familiar with the magic of dragonfire-fueled mail services. Transmitting information through cables and wires, though? How was that even possible?

Flathoof gestured at it with a hoof and addressed Twilight. "Expanding on what I briefly explained earlier, this is the central depository for every single piece of data and information the city has available to it. That means research, literature, art, documentation, news recordings, public records, legal statements, etcetera."

"They must have an absolute ton of information stored there," Twilight mused, her voice tinged with awe.

Applejack nodded her head and removed her hat. "Dang, and all this here place does is hold books?"

Flathoof tilted his head. "Books?"

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, books. You said this place is a library, and libraries hold books, amongst other things, like documents and newspapers. Just like this place does. At least that's what you said."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Flathoof said. "The city’s database is entirely digital. Any written information gets copied into the computer system, then the paper documents are disposed of. Most ponies don't even bother writing things on paper anymore, besides legal documents since the NPRD insists on making things difficult, and the newspapers because… well, it's in the name. But even those get digital copies."

Twilight turned white. "Wh-what? No. No, you're joking. You must be joking."

His stern face said that he wasn't.

"They don't have books here, Applejack!" Twilight grabbed Applejack's side and shook her friend in a fierce panic. "They don't. Have. Books!"

Applejack eased Twilight off of her and held the flustering unicorn steady. "Whoa there, sugarcube, ease up a bit. He said they still got all your info stuff in there, just in a new way. What'd ya call it again?"

"A computer?" Flathoof scratched his head. "You don't know what a… huh. Well, what difference does it make anyway? Come on, let's not dilly-dally around out here." He turned to Twilight and patted her on the shoulder. "Miss Sparkle, since you're looking for a job, we're going to talk to the Chief Librarian. That's your best bet for getting in."

Twilight murmured, "Right. Yes, of course."

The trio entered the building via the glowing blue door at the front. It slid open automatically at their approach. This didn't surprise Flathoof at all, and it only seemed to cause Twilight a little surprise. Applejack, on the other hoof, had been spooked and nearly leapt onto Twilight in shock; doors didn't just open on their own. After she calmed down, they entered properly. Inside, they strolled down a long, black hallway that led to another door, which also opened at their approach, and led them into the main lobby.

It was then seen that it wasn't anywhere near as big on the inside as the outside. The room was still very large, and blanketed with desk after desk. There were enough desks in the room that Applejack was certain that they could probably build a small town out of them.

Upon these desks were the strangest things Applejack had ever seen. They looked like small windows, but instead of being clear, they glowed white. She could see little images moving on some of them, sometimes words, and the ponies at some of the desks were able to manipulate the images with their hooves.

True enough, there wasn't a single book in sight.

They approached the central desk, where they requested the Chief Librarian's presence. While they waited for the receptionist to fetch him, Applejack took the time to pick up and examine the shiny, crystal nameplate that sat on the desk.

"Oooh, fancy."

An olive green unicorn stallion with a neatly-combed lime green mane popped up from behind the desk. He wore a plaid tweed jacket adorned with a tag reading Chief Librarian, and large-rimmed glasses that were too big for his face, giving him every impression of a librarian.

Applejack, surprised, fumbled the nameplate, dropping it to the floor where it shattered. Everypony stared at it in stunned silence.

"Eh heh. Oops?" she murmured.

"That's alright, I have fifty more of those under here." The unicorn promptly reached under the desk, grabbed another nameplate, and replaced the broken one. "Though I'll say I'm used to only small foals breaking them."

His eyes remained narrowed as he spoke. His tone dripped with boredom. He didn't even seem to be looking at any one of them in particular. "Greetings and welcome to Central Database Holdings. I am Chief Librarian Archimedes. How may I be of service to you on this extraordinarily busy day where my time would be better spent elsewhere?"

Twilight coughed into her hoof, then gave a pleasant smile. "Yes, hi… I'm new in town and was looking for some kind of opening position, if you have one available?"

The librarian rolled his eyes. "Our job openings are always limitless because nopony wants to work in a stuffy office building pushing buttons all day. Not when there are more exciting jobs out there like bus driver, garbage stallion, or window cleaner. Who has time to bother sorting through all the information in the city? All the things that we have to send to everypony else that keeps them running? Yes, stars forbid anypony want to help with that."

Archimedes ended his rant with a loud inhalation of air through his nostrils. "At any rate, do you have any qualifications?"

"I worked at the… Utopian… Central… Library. Yes. Utopian Central Library. In Utopia. Because that's where I'm from," Twilight added with a nervous, awkward smile.

"Utopia, huh?" Archimedes raised an eyebrow and looked at Twilight as if she were a bug. "Are they still using hard-copies over there or have they stopped being such barbarians and finally made the transition over to digital materials?"

"What's wrong with hard copies?" Twilight scoffed.

"It's so easy to lose hard-copy material compared to digital data, either to damage or to thieves. Irresponsible, really. Not the case with digital. We have backups of our backups of our backups, and everything sensitive is quadruple encoded to prevent unauthorized access." He cleared his throat and continued to give her the same disinterested look. "But I digress. What types of materials are you familiar with?"

"Well, I'm used to hard-copy materials," Twilight said. "But I'm—"

Archimedes rolled his eyes and waved a hoof dismissively. "All well and fine. You're a librarian, so that means you can read, and that means you can learn. It's not that difficult of a transition, really. You're actually learning to use something easier. None of that decimal system garbage I'm certain you're accustomed to."

"Hey, what's wrong with the decimal—"

"Before I consider your employment though, I'll have to see how quickly you can adjust to using our database. I don't need another brain-dead lout on my staff, not after that last idiot nearly deleted half the city's registry when I asked him to change the name of a folder."

"I can assure you, I'm not an idiot," Twilight said.

Archimedes nodded his head, though clearly not really believing her answer. "Right, well, we'll soon find out. First, tell me why you're being escorted by a police officer." He turned to Flathoof. "Care to explain, Officer…?"

"Captain Flathoof. She's on parole," Flathoof said. "New in town, didn't have identification. You know how it is."

Archimedes frowned, giving Flathoof a quick once-over. "I suppose I shouldn't question why they were allowed past the Gate without identification?"

"Bit of a management mishap. Paperwork got messed up. They're only on parole because their attempt to get ID caused a ruckus downtown. Accusations of disorderly conduct and the like."

Archimedes hummed, then shrugged. "Doesn't sound like anything that might threaten my life or my work." He turned to Twilight again. "Now then, if you don't mind, Miss… forgive me, I didn't get your name, either."

"Twilight Sparkle," she said, bowing her head slightly.

Archimedes turned back to Flathoof, and pointed at Twilight. "Miss Sparkle here is going to need to come with me to provide background information and proof of her capabilities. Dreadfully sorry, but I can't allow anypony else into the Database Hub."

Flathoof narrowed his eyes. "Oh really? Why's that?"

"We have a strict policy: two ponies at a time, no more, no less, one of whom must have a Librarian Database Keycard. If I go about making exceptions here and there then I may as well not have the rule in the first place. Rules are rules, you understand."

"Right. Her parole says I have to keep her in sight at all times." Flathoof stared at Archimedes, not budging an inch. "Surely you can do whatever it is you need to do within close proximity to me? Rules are rules, you understand."

Archimedes stared right back. "My apologies, Captain. I hate to sound uncooperative, but I can assure you your superiors wouldn't have any trouble with my stipulations. I've done my share of research on the NPPD rules and regulations, and know that you can allow your parolee out of your sight if they're going in for a job interview. I trust that won't be a problem, will it?"

Flathoof balked and stood speechless for half a second. "Nnnope, no trouble. I understand. Rules are rules. But I suppose, then, you also know there's a time limit imposed on that rule?"

Archimedes waved his hoof. "Yes yes, we have an hour before you come barging in and start barking orders. Come along, Miss Sparkle."

Twilight gave a pleading look to Applejack as she was escorted away.

"Well, she'll be fine for now then, I guess," Flathoof said, breathing through his nose, clearly not used to having his authority challenged so directly. "Today has just not been working out so well. I need a cup of coffee."

He looked around and saw the library's mini coffee shop in the corner, with a sign over it reading CDH Café. He turned to Applejack and gestured towards the shop. "Come along, Miss Applejack. I'll buy you a cup too. We might be here awhile."

"Oh. Alright then." Applejack started following Flathoof towards the shop. "Well hang on, I thought ya said she was only gonna take an hour?"

"Yes, but I suspect Miss Sparkle will likely want to go a bit above and beyond if she can. I think I can trust her not to go running off and leaving you alone." Flathoof held the door open for her, and helped her pick out a table. "Besides, she'll want to look into other avenues of employment appropriate for her talents."

"You'd trust us that quickly?" Applejack asked, taking a seat at a corner table.

Flathoof chuckled. "I've learned over the years how to tell whether or not a pony is trustworthy. I tend to stick close to those who are."

Flathoof left Applejack and headed up to the counter, where she saw him order two large coffees. He returned a moment later and set her coffee in front of her, before taking his seat and immediately sipping from his own cup.

"Oh by the stars that's good stuff," he said, breathing deep.

Applejack stared at her cup for a moment, unsure what to make of the thick liquid that Flathoof had called "coffee". She knew what coffee was, certainly, but this didn't seem like any coffee she knew.

It was black, like any good coffee was, but it didn't really have a smell to it. Applejack sipped slowly at first, then took a bigger sip before setting her cup back down and exhaling sharply. It didn't taste bad, certainly; then again, it didn't taste good either. Bland, flavorless, yet at the very least palpable.

Applejack felt a sense of emptiness as she drank it, noting how good it also wasn't. They hadn't been here in this new place for very long, but already she was feeling extremely homesick the more she thought about what she was missing.

She remembered Apple Bloom waking up early and making coffee for her and Big Macintosh one morning. Her stomach turned at the thought of it. Whatever that little filly's cutie mark ended up being, it was not going to have anything to do with coffee. Still, even though this was among the worst coffees she'd ever tasted, it reminded her of home. She missed her family dearly.

Applejack felt nervous being alone with Flathoof, even if that had been the reason she'd come along to the library in the first place. Something about him piqued her interest, and it was more than just his honesty and hard-working mentality. She couldn't explain it.

When they'd been together in that elevator back at the station, she'd been squeezed next to him a bit too closely. She'd smelt a certain aroma on him that reminded her of home in a way. Nothing like apples, soil, or open air. This city didn't have those things anyway, or so she thought. But, the scent was still somehow familiar. The smell of soot, metal, and hard labor. Where would he get such a scent working in the city like this? The police station certainly lacked any of those things.

Flathoof broke the silence. "I'm glad I get to spend some time with one of you one-on-one. Trying to focus on six ponies at once has been proving challenging.You're all so… different. How did you all come to be such close friends?"

"Well, some of us knew each other before Twilight moved to Ponyville," Applejack explained, knowing there was no point in not mentioning Ponyville anymore. She couldn't bring herself to say "Utopia" unless it was absolutely necessary.

"Rainbow and I met 'cause she's with Ponyville's weather patrol, and I run the biggest farm in town. Her patrol team has to keep up a regular rainfall schedule, see? And Fluttershy, well, she's real good with animals, and we've got a few animals on our farm too."

"I'm only vaguely aware of what a farm even is, but it sounds like it's complicated work," he said with a nod. "Pretty neat that your farm got you in touch with so many friends."

"Yeah, but we weren't exactly 'friends' then, just, uh… what's the word? Acquaintances? We all got to know each other better when Twilight moved in. I guess she's kinda like our glue, 'cause she brought us all together. Weren't until Twilight came into the picture that I knew Rarity or Pinkie too well outside of seein' 'em in market every now 'n' then."

"How'd Twilight manage that?" Flathoof asked.

Applejack nervously took her cup in both hooves as she considered the tale. "Well, she was sent in from the big city to organize a big event 'cause our town was gonna be hostin' it. All five of the rest of us were picked for big parts of the event, 'cause we're the best at what we do, so she had to meet us first. Kinda took off from there."

Applejack elected not to mention the entire Nightmare Moon incident and the Elements of Harmony portion of the story. There might be time for that some other day, but for now it seemed a waste to try and explain something that Flathoof would likely never believe. She'd experienced it herself and it was still a little too whimsical to accept.

Flathoof nodded and took another sip of his coffee. "I suppose I can understand that. Lockwood has been much the same for me. I can't count the number of ponies I've met and had good relations with thanks to his involvement. That's his special talent, building up these little social networks of his."

"Well shucks, that's kind of a neat talent to have, ain't it? Somethin' like that’d probably help me make all kinds of business deals.”

"He's close with my family too. My mother just adores him. She tries so hard to get him to visit more often."

"Y'all got family here?" she asked.

"Of course I've got family," he said, confused. "What, they don't have those back in Utopia either?"

Applejack frowned; she knew he was joking, but it wasn't all that funny. "That's not what I meant. I mean, my friends never say much about their families. Heck, I knew Twilight for a year before she even mentioned she had a brother. I only found out he existed when she got invited to his weddin'. I was just wonderin' if y'all were the same, forgettin' to mention anypony else."

"I assure you, I'm not forgetting anything." Flathoof took another large gulp of coffee. "So, you have family back home?"

"I do." She sighed. "I miss 'em already…"

Flathoof smiled warmly. "The way I look at it, your family is always with you, no matter how far away you are. Even if it's across the world, they'll always support you, right?"

Applejack nodded and gave a small smile. "I suppose. I just worry about 'em, that's all."

"What are they like? Any brothers, sisters?"

"One older brother, Macintosh. We all call him 'Big' Macintosh 'cause he's… well, he's a big guy. Hard worker, just like me. Good with math, but I ain't never seen him open a book so I ain't got any idea where he gets it from. Who knows what he gets up to in his free time.

"One lil' sister, Apple Bloom. She's… well, she's—" Applejack hesitated for a moment, then shrugged and smiled broadly. "She's Apple Bloom! Been a lil' bit obsessed with gettin' her cutie mark, and she won't listen to reason about givin' it time.

"Also got lots 'n' lots of cousins, all part of the 'Apple Clan' as we call it. I won't go through the whole list though or we'd be here all day. Got a grandmother, Granny Smith. She's gettin' along okay… but me 'n' Big Mac are worried she don't have long…"

Flathoof took another sip of coffee. "Parents?"

Applejack's smile dropped, and she stared into her coffee like it was the only thing in the world to look at. "I don't want to talk about that, if y'all don't mind?"

"I apologize." Flathoof frowned and put his cup back on the table. "If I brought up any bad memories—"

"Don't worry about it none." She shook her head and took a sip of her own coffee again. "How about you? What's your family like?"

"Mine?" Flathoof blinked and scratched his chin for a second. "Okay, I guess I can tell you. I've got my mother and father, Shortcake and Stouthoof. Two younger brothers, Thickhoof and Shorthoof. One younger sister, Pattycake. The stallions on my father's side have all been Foundry workers for generations. And, as my father says, 'the Hoof line has always been attracted to great chefs', so that's what my family's mares have all tended to be."

Applejack found herself recalling something Pinkie once called her, "best baker ever". She shook her head. Why did she think of that at all?

He laughed and drained the last of his coffee. "Very traditional, you understand. I'm a bit of a black sheep, if you will. The first stallion in over twelve generations not to work in the Foundry. I gave it a try out of high school but decided it wasn't for me. Nearly broke my poor father's heart."

Applejack scratched her head. "What's a Foundry?"

"Oh, it's the major factory center in Mid-North. They make just about everything in the city that gets used for construction purposes of all shapes and sizes: metal smelting, tools, things like that. Not an easy job, I tell you. A lot of physical work, and there's always a risk of serious injury." She could hear the sadness in his voice with that last bit.

Applejack nodded. While she had only a vague idea what a factory was, it seemed like it was a lot like farm work, in a way: lots of physical labor, long days, and his family all did the same kind of work? Well, except himself, of course.

"Why ain't ya there with your family, if they all do the same kind of work?" she asked, remembering well her own younger days and hopes of being different by moving to Manehattan. "Sounds to me like that'd be mighty supportive for 'em. What made y'all change your mind?"

Flathoof chuckled as he sheepishly ran a hoof through his mane. "You can thank Lockwood for that. He was a wimp back in school and got picked on a lot. He still is a wimp, but at least he knows how to take better care of himself these days. I didn't like seeing my friend getting bullied around, so I stood up for him when he couldn't. Guess I kind of just ran with the idea of standing up for ponies, thought maybe the NPPD was my true calling."

"Looks like ya made it big there," Applejack said. "Still, y'all sound like ya ain't too happy about it."

Flathoof chuckled. "Oh, you would not believe the grief my family gave me for that. 'Not joining the family line', 'risking your life for strangers', 'working around all those crooked good-for-nothings'. It took them time, but eventually they understood why I wanted to do it, and since then they've supported me all the way. Helped a lot that Lockwood had always been another son to them. He's very convincing."

"Do ya still live with 'em? I know my friends don't live with their families no more. Far as I know, they don't even write or nothin'. Twilight didn't even know her brother was gettin' hitched 'til the week of the weddin'! Can you believe it?" Applejack shook her head in disbelief.

Flathoof nodded. "I certainly can. It's expensive moving out and living on your own around here. Unless you've got connections like Lockwood does, of course. My dad's too proud to accept much help, though, otherwise Lockwood would've probably hooked us up someplace nicer by now."

Well, now she knew where he got the smell. If he lived with his family and they all worked at that factory, then their whole house probably smelled like that at all times of the day, probably even overpowering the smell of whatever foods his mother and sister whipped up.

Flathoof shrugged. "Plus there's the practical reasons. My status as a police officer gets them a tax break, but only if I'm living with them. It's uncomfortable, sure, but I manage. My family needs every bit we can get, ever since…" He trailed off, then gave her an apologetic look. "Well, it's a long story."

"We got time, sugarcube." Applejack blushed when she realized she'd accidentally called him by the pet name she gave to all her friends. Where had that come from?

"Well, my brother, Thickhoof, got injured on the job about five years ago, when I was still just a rookie. Lost the use of his hind legs. He has to use a wheelchair or crutches to get around these days."

Applejack frowned at the dejected, faraway look in his eyes.

He sighed and batted his empty cup around between his hooves. "I had to work extra shifts for three years—most of my family too—just to pay his medical bills and to make up for the tax payments that he still has to meet. Lockwood has been a big help, getting us breaks whenever he can, but there's a limit to how many miracles he can work out."

Applejack smiled. "Well now, that's real nice of him."

"Like I said, my mother adores him. Kept trying to hook him up with my sister even though we're— even though the two of them don't see eye-to-eye." He gave a little laugh and used his hooves to draw out a round shape. "She's too big and loud for the poor guy. He likes a more, uh, soft and delicate type I think. Y'know, somepony like himself."

Applejack nodded. "I'm sorry to hear about your brother. I know I worry about things like that all the time. My brother got hurt a while back. Nothin' big, but it kept him outta work for a whole week. I was worried sick, and that ain't countin' havin' to double my workload to make up his. I kept worryin', 'what if he don't get better?', so I pushed myself a lil' too hard just to prove I could do the work of two if that ever happened."

"So you all work on your… farm together then? What kind of food do you grow? Is it any good?"

"You betcha!" Applejack smiled, glad to bring the topic back around to happier things. "Best darn apple crop in all of Equestria, if I do say so myself, not to toot my own horn or nothin'."

Flathoof scratched his head. "I'm afraid I don't know what an 'apple' is."

"Oh. Well shoot, yeah, of course ya don't. I can't see how anypony could grow apples around here anyhow. Well, we grow other things too, sure as shootin'! Carrots, celery stalks, corn, that sorta thing."

"I'll admit I've always kind of wanted to have real food more often, but it's not cheap." He sighed in disappointment. "I'm kind of disappointed you didn't bring anything with you. Not that it would've made it through customs, of course, not without a trade license and all that."

Applejack raised an eyebrow. "Uh, 'real'? What in the hay does that mean?"

"Well like you said, this isn't exactly the best agricultural center," he said, swirling his hoof around above him. "I mean, we live in a smog-covered city surrounded by a barren wasteland that we oh-so-creatively named ‘The Wasteland’. So, we make synthetic food. Well, the Dolor company does anyway. They've got kind of a monopoly, but hey, you don't want to taste the knock-offs."

Applejack eyed her coffee with extreme disdain. It wasn't real coffee? Sure, she admitted it tasted a little funny, but she'd chalked that up to it just being an odd brew, not it being fake.

She gulped. "So, uh, what do y'all use to make it if ya don't got any crops?"

"Ponies."

Applejack turned white and was glad she hadn't been drinking the stuff at that exact moment, but was horrified that she'd already finished half her cup.

Flathoof started laughing. "Sorry, sorry, just a joke. I've got to remember you girls don't really have much of a sense of humor like we do. That whole 'Dolor Green is Ponies' thing is just a sick rumor. I've seen their facility myself, and I haven't seen anything that made me think the rumors were true."

Applejack continued to tremble, and pushed her cup away from herself as far as she could.

Flathoof tugged his collar and gave her an apologetic smile. "C'mon now, Applejack, you've just gotta relax. If you're going to hang around Lockwood for any amount of time, you're going to have to get used to some of his jokes. He's much better about it than I am. Or worse, depending on your point of view. He's got the tone of voice down perfect."

"R-right…" She gulped and eyed her coffee, deciding right then and there not to take another sip, just in case. "Heh, w-what a silly thought, usin' ponies as food. Heh. Heh heh…"

As the two of them continued to talk, neither took much notice of an icy blue unicorn mare in a turtleneck sitting several tables away, hurriedly scribbling in a notebook.

*****

"Easy now. Just a little more to the left. A little more… aha! Perfect. Wonderful work darling!" Rarity said to Fluttershy as she helped her straighten a cleaned set of curtains over a cracked window. "Oh it is so good to have an extra pair of delicate hooves like yours available, my dear."

"Thank you." Fluttershy blushed, her face obscured behind her mane. "It's nothing much, really."

"On the contrary, darling! With your help, we'll have this hovel looking spic and span in no time at all. Why, it might even just be liveable!"

Inside room eighty-four and five at Southeast Point, cleaning had really gotten underway now that there was more room to move, even if there were less ponies to do the work. The few bits of furniture left in the room by a previous tenant—and not a murder victim, hopefully—were enough to help them turn the cramped apartment into a comfortable home. It wasn't anything particularly fancy, but it was clean enough that it would serve them for as long as needed.

"And then we can begin decorating for the party, right?" Pinkie asked. She started bouncing in a circle, giggling into her hooves. "Oh boy, I wonder when we can go start shopping for—"

Rarity interrupted, "Pinkie, dear, that is really neither here nor there at this point. I think we should focus more on getting everything all cleaned up, then getting some rest. Maybe we can think about the party tomorrow, hmm? Besides, we don't have any money for supplies like that just yet, and I'd feel rather awful asking for any more charity from our generous friends."

From the doorway, Lockwood gave a light-hearted chuckle. "My dear Miss Rarity, with a face like yours, I'm quite surprised there isn't already a line of stallions lining up to give you gifts."

Rarity smiled back at him. "Oh ho ho, don't you think that just by doling out charm that you can get out of helping us tidy up, Lockwood. Come on then, be a good stallion and—"

A voice came from the stairwell. "Mister Lockwood! Mister Lockwood!"

Lockwood turned around and stepped into the hall to find the source of the shouting. "By the stars, what's all the commotion?"

A light purple earth pony mare bounded up the stairs and hopped into the hallway, landing next to him with a thump. Her sides heaved as she tried to catch her breath, and she put a hoof over her chest to calm herself. She rested a foreleg against Lockwood to steady herself.

"Thank goodness I found—" She took a breath. "Hold on—" Another breath. "Give me a minute—" She exhaled greatly. "Whew! Okay. I'm good. Mister Lockwood!" She grabbed his hoof and started dragging him towards the stairs. "You gotta come quick! There's another gas leak!"

Lockwood chuckled dismissively. "Whoa now, what are you getting me for then? That's Fixit's job, you know that."

The mare kept dragging him. "Mister Fixit's on his way!"

"Okay, so?

"It's in eighty-two and twelve thirty!"

Lockwood nearly tripped. "Aww, no, not those two again. Didn't we tell them last time they had a leak that they'd used up their allotted repairs for the month?"

She pleaded. "I know, sir, but you gotta—"

Lockwood held up a hoof to stop her from talking. "Fine fine, I'll take care of this. Go on, I'll be right down."

He grumbled and turned back to the four mares in the room that had watched the whole thing unfold, then started pacing back and forth rapidly, his head slowly shaking back and forth in thought.

Rarity coughed into her hoof. "Trouble, I take it?"

Lockwood sighed and straightened his jacket. "There's a pair of tenants down in eighty-two and twelve thirty that are real… basket cases. This is the third leak this month. We don't know what's causing it or if they're even at fault, but they're making a stink about it. I need to calm them down before they start trouble again, at least until Fixit shows up to… well, fix it."

He took a deep breath. "Okay, this is going to sound really irresponsible, but I need to take care of this. My primary job has to come first. Can I trust you all to just stay here and keep cleaning?"

Rarity and Fluttershy glanced at one another, then back to him and nodded. "Of course you can, darling."

Rainbow snorted. "Pft, you guys are lucky we're not real criminals, I'll tell you that much."

"I know, I know," Lockwood said. He smoothed his mane back with a hoof and straightened his jacket. "Look, I've gotta get down there. Just hold tight, okay?"

He turned back around and headed down the stairwell, leaving the four mares alone in their room.

Rarity turned to Pinkie and tutted. "Well? Don't stand around, dear. I'd like to have everything tidied up before Twilight and Applejack return. So—"

A loud crash sounded from the kitchen, causing Rarity to snap her head towards the violent clatter of flying pots and pans. "Good heavens, Rainbow Dash, what are you doing?!"

"I'm trying to clean up over here, what does it look like I'm doing?"

Wielding a duster in her mouth, Rainbow stirred up a frenzy in the small kitchen area. Small cooking appliances leapt away in fear of her rapid cleaning. Huge clouds of dust tumbled directly onto other mounds of dust, spreading the mess rather than getting rid of it. If Rarity had planned to give the kitchen a good once over before, now she was desperate to fend Rainbow away.

Rarity stomped over to Rainbow, and yanked the feather duster away from her with a contemptuous snort. Immediately, she set about the enormous task of repairing the damage the pegasus had caused.

"It looks like you're taking a few big messes and turning them into a whole lot of smaller ones!" Rarity scolded, shaking the duster in Rainbow's face and covering the pegasus with dust. She then spun around in place, dusting the cabinets and the counter tops while she hummed a spirited tune.

Rainbow gave her an exasperated look and snatched the duster out of Rarity's magic. "Pfft, what does it even matter, anyway? It's not like we're going to be here for that long."

Rarity scowled, snatching the duster right back. "Regardless of how long we're here for, this is our home for now, and it wouldn't be right to—"

"This isn't our home, Rarity." Rainbow snatched the duster yet again, and batted it back and forth in the air above her head to keep it out of Rarity's reach. "Have a little faith in Twilight. She'll figure out something and we'll be back home in a jiffy."

Rarity looked offended, and grabbed the duster with her magic again. Rainbow held tight, tugging on it to keep Rarity from getting it back.

Pinkie loudly chomped down on another scoop of popcorn from her seat on the couch. Fluttershy glanced at the bag—she didn't know where it'd come from—then at Pinkie. Pinkie wordlessly offered her some, which Fluttershy hesitantly took. Butter-flavored, with a hint of salt.

Rarity continued to argue even as she fiercely fought for control of the cleaning instrument. "Are you implying I don't have any confidence in Twilight? I'm merely preparing for the off-chance that whatever solution she discovers isn't going to just immediately whisk us away and take us back to where we belong. It's called 'preparedness', Rainbow."

Rainbow pointed an accusing hoof at Rarity and started to speak, dropping the duster to the floor in the process. The chintzy wooden handle snapped in half as it hit the tile. Rarity and Rainbow gave each other nervous stares for a moment. Fluttershy cringed from her seat on the couch.

Pinkie coughed, almost choking on a popcorn kernel. Fluttershy tapped her back to help dislodge it.

Rarity rolled her eyes, grabbed the second duster from the nearby countertop, and got right back to her cleaning.

Rainbow huffed and pointed her hoof at Rarity again. "There you go acting like even if Twilight finds something that'll get us home, we'll be here long enough that we may as well—"

"Treat it like our home away from home, yes," Rarity interrupted. She pushed her way past Rainbow and started dusting around their tiny stove. "What exactly is your objection to being practical, Rainbow?" she asked, turning and jabbing the duster at the pegasus again. "If, Celestia forbid, we end up being here for a while, wouldn't it make sense to at least be comfortable?"

Rainbow rolled her eyes and, once again, yanked the duster out of Rarity's grip. "It's not that I'm not being practical, it's that I want to have faith in my friend to figure this all out."

She then stamped a hoof and jabbed the duster at Rarity for a change, getting dust all over the unicorn's face.

"Ptth, ffth," Rarity spat. "Rainbow Dash, really!"

A gasp sounded from the couch, followed by a quiet shush.

"I could ask you the opposite!" Rainbow shouted. "Why are you so determined to think the worst of the situation?"

"Me? I'm just trying to make sure that if the worst does happen, we don't get caught without a backup plan. Twilight would do the same thing."

Pinkie popped up between the two arguing ponies and wrapped them together in a tight hug. "Hey, turn those frowns upside-down, you two! I'm sure Twilight'll come through just fine. She's always been super-reliable in the past, right?" She dropped the two ponies in her grip to repeatedly tap a hoof to her temple. "Well, I mean, except for that time with the Parasprites. That was all me that fixed everything. Twilight just made it worse."

Rainbow narrowed her eyes. "So you're saying we should look to you for answers, Pinks? Because last I checked you were more concerned with throwing a party than with trying to get us home."

Rarity tutted, shaking the duster she'd managed to snatch back in Rainbow's face again. "Don't get started on her. She's just trying to make this whole experience more pleasant for all of us, and to thank our new friends. It's the least we could do to show our appreciation."

"And that's another thing!" Rainbow shouted, throwing her hooves into the air. "You guys are all so trusting of these two new ponies, who helped us for no reason whatsoever except to be 'nice'. It all seems pretty suspicious to me. What if they're up to something, huh?"

"And you think I'm the one assuming the worst? Listen to you!" Rarity turned her nose up. "I don't even want to think about what you think they could be up to."

"Yeah, I bet you wouldn't." Rainbow turned towards the den. "How about you Fluttershy? At least tell me you have some suspicions about 'em."

Fluttershy squeaked and tried to hide behind the couch. She thought she'd done a good job of not being noticed. "W-well, they both seem… nice. I can, um… I can tell when a pony is really being kind to me, or if it's just an act. Rarity's right, they don't seem like bad ponies at all."

"Urgh, whatever. I'll believe it when I see it." Rainbow grabbed the duster out of Rarity's hold again, and started sweeping a pile of dust under the kitchen rug. "If it'll shut you all up for a little bit I'll just get back to cleaning on my own."

Rarity grimaced and put a hoof to her mouth. "Oh dear, you're not really going to just sweep that all under the rug are you? Good heavens, that's counter-productivity at its finest."

Pinkie pulled a third duster out of her mane and passed it over to Rarity.

Rarity took it, paused, then shrugged. "Nevermind. Here, Rainbow, at least let me help you."

"Phew…" Fluttershy breathed a sigh of relief and leaned back against the couch. "Oh, if you girls don't mind, um… I'm going to take a step out for some fresh air. All this dust is bothering my nose."

"Go right ahead, darling," Rarity said, keeping the rug aloft in her magic as she tried to prevent Rainbow from sweeping any more dust under it. "You deserve a break."

Once she'd stepped out of the cramped little room, Fluttershy looked about and spotted only one other pony in the hallway with her: a janitor wearing… a turtleneck and a scarf? Odd clothes to wear while doing cleaning. They stood facing the corner away from Fluttershy, busily doing something with one the wall panels, it seemed.

Figuring that her friends were well out of earshot, Fluttershy let out another deep sigh of relief. She was glad the argument had settled down before it got any worse, more importantly that Rainbow hadn't forced the issue of sharing opinions. She hadn't wanted to share her own fears and tribulations about the whole situation.

Truth be told, she was actually somewhat glad to hear that she wasn't the only one frightened at the prospect of being stuck here forever. That meant she wasn't alone. She still hoped that Twilight would come through, of course. She knew she would, but how long would that take? How long would they be here? A few hours? Another day? A week? Months? Years?!

In her focus, she almost did not notice the janitor busily sweep past her and head for the stairs.

Fluttershy gave a nervous peep just before the janitor got to the stairwell. "Oh, um, excuse me, I think you dropped something."

Fluttershy trotted over and picked up a notebook that the janitor had misplaced. As she delivered it, she couldn't help but notice what was in the notebook. Was that a sketch of her? She was used to that kind of treatment even back home—she had been a model after all—though she didn't much like the attention.

The janitor grabbed it in a hurry. Fluttershy now noticed the janitor was an icy blue unicorn mare; she hadn't assumed one way or the other, but still, it was nice to have confirmation.

"Bloody hell, how did I drop— oh, I mean, thanks."

Fluttershy smiled. "Um, are you some kind of artist? In your spare time, I mean?"

The janitor glanced back and forth between her notebook and Fluttershy's eager expression. "Well, uh… yes! Yes. Ya could say that. I'm taking, uh sketch classes. Yup. Sketching… stuff…"

"Your drawing is very nice," Fluttershy said. "You really captured my image. It's very lifelike. Oh, if you don't mind my saying so," she added; some ponies hated getting critique, after all.

"No no, not at all, thanks for the compliment." The janitor tucked her notebook back into her sweater pocket and started backing towards the stairs. "Sorry to run, but I've got other floors to tidy up. Pleasure speaking to ya. Bye!"

And just like that, the janitor was hastily down the stairs. She was in such a hurry that she seemed to skip entire floors on her way down.

"Such a strange pony," Fluttershy said.

She turned and headed back towards the apartment.

Then, she stopped.

There was a breeze coming from the window at the end of the hall. She coughed a little as the smoggy air started to waft in. Had the window just been opened? There wasn't anypony around now that the janitor was gone. Fluttershy trotted over and closed the window with a click, took a breath of cleaner air, then turned back towards the apartment again.

*****

Winter set her things down in her den and hurriedly hung up her scarf and beret. She took a deep breath, and opened her refrigerator to help herself to a snack, a thick tube of Dolor Yellow this time. It was not her favorite flavor by any means—when chilled it tasted like too-sour lemons—but it was packed with nutrients that would re-energize her after galloping across the city in pursuit of a lead.

Summer had insisted that whatever was happening needed urgent attention, so she was going to get Winter's best work.

Once Winter felt relaxed and well-fed, she clicked her stopwatch and opened the door to her grandfather clock. A brief check around the room revealed nothing out of the ordinary. As she closed the door behind her, she noticed that it didn't click just right, almost as if something had been caught in the hinge. She tried again and got the same result. She scratched her head, then shrugged.

Damn door always has problems, she thought. Ah, I'll fix it when I'm done.

She cantered over to her communications screen and clicked a few buttons to open up her emergency channel. That's where Summer would most likely prefer to be monitoring the most, given the situation. It rang once. Twice.

As expected, Summer did not take long to answer. Her visage appeared on the other end of the monitor, and Winter could tell she had been quite busy these past several hours. It was nearing daybreak in this world, and thus likely in Summer's as well. Had she been up all night?

"Oh good, you're back already," Summer said.

"You alright there, mate?" Winter asked. "Ya look more rooted than I do."

Summer rubbed her eyes. They were just a little bloodshot. "Don't worry about me, Winter. Somethin' is definitely the matter on my end, so I'm hopin' that you're going to help me find out what, or rather who is causin' it. Please tell me you've got some news? Good news?"

"Well, I decided to keep my distance from them for now and just observe from afar," Winter explained, taking out her notepad. "I figured if I just came right out and started spoutin' all the timey-wimey shit, they'd just panic or get confused, or worse get excited. I don't want to get their hopes up or anythin' just yet."

Summer nodded. "Oh yeah, you said they're not going home for probably a month or so anyway."

"Right, so if they start gettin' anxious they're liable to break character and start soundin' crazy. Might make it more difficult to get them sent home later on."

Winter shuffled through her sketchbook and opened it to the most recent drawing she'd made first. It was a rough but accurate sketch of an earth pony with a curly mane and tail, and a cutie mark of three balloons. She'd noted in the margins that the pony was very, very pink.

Winter read from her notes on the back of her paper. "This is… Pinkie Pie. Really energetic, kind of a fruit loop. She kept talkin' about gettin' a party started, bugger all if I know why. Any bells?"

Summer tapped a hoof to her chin. "She looks familiar. I might have seen her around Ponyville, but I can't put my hoof on anythin' just yet. Just keep goin', I'll think of it. Who's next?"

Winter flipped the page over. This time, the sketch was of a dainty-looking unicorn with a curly, well-groomed mane and tail and three diamonds making up her cutie mark. Winter's scribbles said she was white with a purple mane.

"This was Rarity. She was a right figjam, very—"

"I'm sorry, she was a what? A figjam?"

"Eh? Oh. It means she's really full of herself, yeah? Figjam's an acronym."

"Forrr...?"

Winter rolled her eyes. "Stands for 'fuck I'm good just ask me'."

"Ah." Summer coughed; she wouldn't be quite so accustomed to that sort of language where she was from. "Carry on."

"Yeah, so she was very prim, very proper, very tidy, but she also seemed practical, and just wanted to get settled in case they couldn't go home anytime soon. She's on the right track far as I'm concerned. Anythin'?"

"Again, very familiar," Summer mused. "Gosh, I think I know these mares, but I can't think of what would make them significant. I know I should, but frack if I can remember."

"Maybe ya need to get some sleep?" Winter said. "We can continue this in the mornin'."

"No time for that," Summer dismissed. "Just keep goin'. It's just that my head's goin' a mile-a-minute right now, so I'm a bit fuzzy on the details doncha know."

Winter shrugged. "Well, alright then."

She flipped to the next sketch, a short-maned pegasus that was noted to have a rainbow-colored mane and tail, a lightning bolt-shaped cutie mark, and a light blue coat.

"Rainbow Dash. Very loud, sort of a figjam herself but in a different way. She meant well, though, like she was tryin' to be brave for the others. Made a pretty big fuss about bein' here and acceptin' help from strangers."

Summer frowned and rubbed her temples. "Aw geez, that name sounds familiar. Rainbow Dash is a bit of a celebrity around Ponyville, doncha know. Fastest flyer I've ever seen."

"So ya know some of them, but you're not seein' anythin' useful?"

"Right, I'm not seein' the connection between them all yet. For cripe's sake, I know there's somethin' important about her, but I just can't remember."

On the next page was a timid-looking pegasus with a long, flowing mane and tail. Those were noted to be light pink, like the butterflies that composed her cutie mark. Her coat was noted as being yellow.

"Fluttershy. She was very quiet." Winter gave a small smile. "She's a cute sheila, eh? Really lived up to her name. I'm kind of worried about what might happen to this one. My world isn't all sunshine and gumdrops."

"I don't really recognize her," Summer said, "but she must be connected if she was with the others."

Winter nodded and flipped her notebook page again. "Well at any rate, those four were settlin' in at their new apartment. I've got no idea how they managed to get one so quickly. Anyway, I found the other two bein' escorted by a police officer. I guess they got into a little trouble for not havin' any ID."

Summer frowned. "Aw geez, that's not gonna mess things up, will it?"

Winter waved a hoof. "Nah, no worries, mate. They're likely only on parole or somethin', so they won't be escorted all the time or for long." She pointed at her sketch of an earth pony wearing a hat, with a triple apple cutie mark adorning her noted orange flank. "First, Applejack. Mentioned working at a Sweet Apple Acres?"

Summer sighed and ran a hoof through her sweaty mane. "Frack! I recognize that name too. Everypony in Ponyville knows who Applejack is. That farm's been in her family for generations. And I know these girls are all connected, too, but I can't put my hoof on it."

"Well, it sounds like they all lived in your town so it makes sense that they'd be there. But why were they together? And why were they near the portal at the same time?"

"I'm thinkin', I'm thinkin'. I wanna say it's because they're all friends and… I dunno, maybe they were havin' a picnic?"

"Wouldn't explain why they're causin' an imbalance just for bein' gone, though."

Winter scratched her head, then flipped the page to reveal a unicorn with straight-combed hair and a starburst cutie mark, her coat noted as being a light purple. "Last, Twilight Sparkle. Kind of a bookworm, which must be a huge blow for her here, what with so few books in the city and all that." She paused. "Crikey, mate, you okay?"

Summer's face had gone white on the other end of the line. "Aw geez, awwww geez, I recognize her."

Winter brightened. "Oh? Good! But, uh, ya don't look happy about that. Is somethin' wrong?"

Summer pointed her hoof at the screen. "That would be the prized pupil of none other than Princess Celestia herself. I knew these mares looked familiar, and now I remember why. Frack me sideways, I've been so stressed out lately I didn't see it. Now it all makes sense, doncha know. Those are the bearers of the Elements of Harmony!"

Winter looked back and forth between the sketch and the screen. "The Elements of what-now?"

Summer sighed and put her hooves under her chin. "Okay, it's like this. In my world—and most worlds similar to mine—we've got six relics that represent individual aspects of Law: the Elements of Harmony. They used to just sit around and do their job on their own thanks to Princess Celestia, doncha know?"

"Oh yeah, I think I read about those in trainin'," Winter said, recalling some of her basic history classes. "This world doesn't have anythin' like that. So what's the trouble if they just do their job on their own? What's it got to do with these six?"

"Well, ever since Nightmare Moon returned and was defeated, the power of the Elements were transferred from Princess Celestia to those six mares. I don't know which of them is which, besides Twilight Sparkle bein' Magic, but the others are Honesty, Loyalty, Generosity, Kindness, and Laughter.

"To balance them out, we've got Discord, who's basically pure Chaos in physical form, doncha know. In my world he's been beaten twice, once long ago by Celestia and Luna, the other recently by those six. His seal broke after the Elements changed hooves, eh?"

"So that's where your problem is, then. That seal is breakin', so Discord is causin' the imbalance without these mares there to counteract it." Winter leaned back in her chair and breathed deep. "Sounds like a right mess."

Summer shook her head and took out her Timekeeper. She clicked it a few times, shaking her head at each display of figures she saw. "You don't know the half of it, believe you me. See, when they left my world, their seal on Discord weakened almost immediately, probably because it's still fresh and they're not as strong as Celestia and Luna, doncha know?"

"Just goin' from bad to worse, eh?"

"Oh yeah. Not to mention that anythin' chaotic near him will cause that seal to weaken faster. Luckily, Celestia put his statue somewhere where he won't be exposed to too much. I hope."

"How long do we have, then?"

"Let's see…" Summer tapped her Timekeeper a few times, then groaned. "Aw geez, the seal might break within the next four weeks, and that's bein' generous," she explained. "I'd say realistically you're lookin' at three."

"Strewth! You're not giving me a lot of options here, Summer."

Summer sighed and nodded. "Frack, Winter, I wish I could, but we can't afford to wait until you get natural portals again. This is a mess. I doubt anypony would mind if we took drastic measures here. Emergency Measure Five sounds appropriate, doncha know."

Winter nodded. "The ol' artificial portal, eh? I'll need a huge amount of magical power to tear open a portal manually, but one of our alicorns should do the trick. Nihila seems like the smart choice."

Summer raised an eyebrow. "I won't say I know much about your world there, but isn't she… y'know, evil?"

"That she is, but it's the logical decision," Winter said matter-of-factly. She tapped her head with a hoof. "Think about it. I've got three weeks to get these sheilas home—four if we're lucky—and a trip from here to Utopia to see Harmonia will be cuttin' that awfully close, and that's assumin' we can get a flight out of Hope's Point easily."

"Hmm… yeah, I suppose it might be risky tryin' to make it all that way in such a short time, especially if you don't have a guarantee of transportation."

"Not to mention that my wilderness survival trainin' isn't exactly up to par for a group that size; I took advanced combat trainin' for my elective."

"You would do that wouldn't you?" Summer chuckled. "Well, why not just take a direct flight from your city, though? Don't they offer that?"

"Because I'd have to get seven tickets, and the prices, let me tell ya, they'd blow your bleedin' socks off. You'd have to be richer than rich to afford seven of the things; eight, technically, since I'd need to make a round trip. HQ can't just make that many bits appear out of thin air, eh?"

"Well shoot, that's a fine pickle then."

"Strewth. So, I don't think I could safely get them down south in time. If I had an extra month I might risk it since we'd be able to take it slow and steady, but not with this itinerary."

"Still, you think Nihila would actually help you?"

Winter tilted her head. "Yeah, why wouldn't she?"

"Because she's, uh, evil, doncha know? I think we've established that."

Winter dismissed the worry with a wave of her hoof. "No worries, mate. She might be evil, but she's not stupid. Those six leavin' your world caused a shift in the balance, yeah? Well then their arrival would logically do the same here. Look, I'll prove it."

Winter took out her Timekeeper, popped it open, and twisted a few dials to display some graphs and figures on the screen, which she then showed to Summer. "See? It's not a very big swing, but my world's got an imbalance brewin' too ever since those sheilas showed up. Hell, should just get worse the longer they're here."

"Okay, so… what does that mean for your plan?" Summer asked.

"Simple: like I said, Nihila isn't stupid, and she's likely already realized that Harmonia is the dominant power now, even if only by a fraction of a percent. She won't stand for that, and I'm willin' to bet she'd be glad to bring things back to normal, which means sendin' these mares packin'."

Summer gulped. "What is she, uh… thinks killin' 'em might be easier?"

"If she does, all the energy that's causin' the imbalance'll just stay in this world and she won't be able to get rid of it, and I'll make sure she understands that. Sendin' those girls home is the only option she has. I just have to get in contact with her… which I don't know how to do," Winter admitted.

"Is that gonna be difficult?"

"It might take some time, but hopefully not too much. Now that we've got a plan in action, I can have those six sheilas lend me a hoof in figurin' things out, eh? No worries at all."

"Well, if you think it'll work, I'll trust your judgement on this. You know more about your world than I do. I'll try and keep things calm over here to buy you as much time as I can, doncha know."

"That'll do nicely."

Summer smiled. "Okee doke then, just keep in touch, and… hmm…?"

Winter raised an eyebrow. "Eh? What's wrong, mate?"

Summer shook her head and rubbed her eyes. "Sorry. I think you might be right about me gettin' some sleep. I could swear I saw somethin'— look out!"

A split second later, and Winter would be just a bloody smear on her own video screen.

As luck would have it, she had very good reflexes.

A black-clad pegasus bounced off of her as she ducked at the last second. His gleaming dagger twirled over her head, embedding itself in the monitor and shorting it out.

Winter breathed rapidly. The blade had barely nicked her ear.

Her assailant did not remain disoriented for long; he was upon her again, a violent flash of blue and black.

"Crikey! What the bloody—"

She ducked out of the way of a swift buck.

"That's the idea!" The pegasus laughed. "A Chronomancer, eh? I thought your order was just a fable. Well, sorry about this, my little clock cleaner, but your time has run out. Ha!"

Winter sneered and steadied herself. "Great, here come the puns," she muttered to herself.

The pegasus unsheathed another knife and bolted towards her, a maddened demon out for blood.

She lit her horn and waited until he was point-blank, then blasted him with a steam of ice-cold magic.

He slammed into the low ceiling, but quickly shrugged it off. He grinned down at her like a madpony and licked his lips. "You've got some fight in you!" he growled. "I haven't had to work for a kill in ages, darling. You're making this fun. I think I'm in love."

She didn't reply, merely steadied herself for his next attempt, keeping her horn lit and her jaw set.

"No witty retorts? Come on now, I thought we had something special here," he chortled. When she didn't give him the satisfaction, he huffed. "Well then, if you're not going to be fun, let's just get this over with."

He rushed at her again. She expected another charge and was ready to blast him.

He surprised her by flinging his dagger towards her; she had to raise a smaller shield at an awkward angle to deflect the blade. It was enough for him to close in and tackle her.

They rolled together and slammed into the doorway of the clock, tumbled into the apartment den, and crashed through the coffee table. Winter felt her head slam through one of the table legs; that'd leave a nasty bruise for sure.

He pinned her when they came to a stop at the sofa. She saw that at least he'd been hurt too. Blood dripped from his mouth; shards of glass were embedded around his eye; one tooth was chipped.

Those injuries didn't stop him from putting pressure on her throat or giving a low, self-assured laugh.

She lit her horn, but did not blast him away; he was heavy enough that it might not work and would just waste her energy. But, with his attention all on her, he couldn't see behind him where her magic was gathering and freezing moisture in the air.

Just to sell the image, though, she used a little magic—a pitiful amount, really, since simultaneous spellcasting was difficult—to weakly push him away; naturally, he didn't budge an inch. He just laughed at the attempt.

"So, this is it then?" he snickered. "I take back what I said: you're boring. Once I found out what you were, I was expecting more from this encounter. A witty back-and-forth while we traded blows, maybe? A little more fighting spirit? A challenge, maybe?"

She struggled to keep his hooves from crushing her windpipe, not easy given his size compared to her, but she managed. She just needed a few more seconds; just a little more ice.

"Look at you, writhing on the floor like every other desperate victim out there, just as worthless as a common whore," he said, shaking his head. "I went through a lot of trouble coming up with different ways I was going to kill you, but this? This isn't even fun. No pleading, no choking for air? Even your face doesn't look scared enough!"

She clenched her teeth. Just a little more.

His jovial smile dropped entirely; now he just looked angry. "Come on!" he spat. "Say something! Beg for your life at least, you stupid bitch!" He pressed down on her throat harder, practically throttling her. "Cry out for mercy! Beg! Beg, damn you!"

She muttered something under her breath, too quiet for him to hear.

That brought his smile back. "There, was that so hard? You're going to have to speak up though." The pressure on her windpipe let up just slightly, and he leaned in close. "What was that?"

Her panicked expression—fake, of course—turned into a cheeky grin. Though it hurt to breathe, she managed to get out the words clear as crystal: "You talk too much."

He let out a yowl of agonizing pain as a spear of ice pierced through his midsection, clipping through the base of his left wing. The ice melted as soon as Winter dropped her focus on it to blast him off of her.

The pegasus slammed hard against the adjacent wall, giving Winter ample time to get up and recover, coughing all the while now that she could breathe again.

When she glanced over at him, she could see a certain fire in his eyes. If he wasn't mad before—

Then, to her surprise, he vanished into the shadows of the corner, melting into them like water.

It came so out of the blue that Winter wasn't sure what to make of it. She wracked her brain trying to think of what kind of magic—unicorn magic—that was and how a pegasus was using it.

She almost didn't notice him reappear in the shadows behind her, almost didn't notice him approach. But, thanks to his injured wing, he wasn't able to move swiftly and silently through the air; he had to step on broken glass and shattered wood.

She turned in time to duck another dagger thrust; where was he getting all these knives from, anyway?

He was quick, far too quick for an average pony to handle. Winter's remarkable reflexes were the only thing keeping her from getting impaled. He was ferocious when he was angry, but she preferred him like this: quiet.

After dodging a few thrusts, she went on the offensive, not with her magic but by slamming her hoof up into his jaw. He hadn't expected it—nopony expects a unicorn to use their hooves in combat—and fell back after the strike; she might be much smaller than he was, but she knew how to hit and hit hard.

She moved to press the advantage, leaping forward to clock him again.

He just slipped away into the shadows, vanishing beneath her as she landed on the floor.

"So, that's how it's gonna be?" she muttered.

She recognized the magic now. Umbramancy. Shadow magic. A very potent magic school that allowed one to manipulate shadows. In his case, he could move through them and appear anywhere else in the room. How a pegasus could use it she didn't know, but there was no mistaking it.

But Umbramancy had one key weakness: it required shadows to manipulate in the first place.

Winter took a deep breath and quick-charged a potent light spell; it was taxing on her magic, but it would solve the problem right here and now.

The spell struck the ceiling and cast several bright glares throughout the room, like miniature suns on a cloudless summer day. The light cascaded around the room in an instant, bright enough that Winter had to squint so she wasn't blinded.

The room was engulfed in light. No shadows. No place to hide.

The pegasus stood just a few feet to her left, his good wing hastily lifted to shield his eyes from the glare.

And she was ready for him.

One blast from her horn knocked him back. Another slammed him into the window, hard enough to shatter the glass.

And another shoved him right outside.

She was surprised to see him tumble and fall; she'd expected him to take flight, actually.

She cautiously stepped over to the window, horn aglow. She was no fool; he could be hovering just beneath the windowsill, waiting for her to lean over so he could pull her outside.

But she was ready.

She did, in fact, lean out the window to see where he'd gone, her magic prepped to slam his face into the side of the building if he tried anything.

But when she glanced down, he wasn't there. To the left? Nothing. The right? Nothing. Above her? Nothing.

He was gone. If he'd fallen down to the alley below, she couldn't see him from this high up; if he'd taken off into the sky, the smog was so thick up there that she couldn't see him through it. Plus, with that Umbramancy, he might have very well slipped into the shadow of the building.

So, as far as she could tell, he was gone without a trace.

"Shit," she muttered as she backed up into the room. "Guess I'm not askin' him any questions."

She shook her head and walked over to her grandfather clock. The door was busted open completely, the glass of the window shattered and strewn about the room.

Winter stepped inside and used her magic to close the door, putting a shield spell over it to keep it shut. It wouldn't be a permanent solution, but she didn't need it to be.

With that done, she grabbed her Timekeeper off the desk where she'd left it, then tapped a few buttons on the keyboard in front of her broken monitor. "Summer? Are ya still there?"

No response.

"Summer Rains? This is Winter Glow, reportin' in. Do ya read me?"

The speakers on the station gave a low crackle, followed by a familiar voice.

"Winter?!"

Winter let out a breath, relieved that the station hadn't been completely busted. "Good to hear ya, Summer. Where were we? I think we were gettin' ready to move—"

"Forget that shit! For cripe's sake, girl, are you okay?!"

"Yeah, I'm alright," Winter said, brushing her ear with a hoof; it was still bleeding, but not as badly. It'd leave a scar for sure, though. "Been better."

"What the hell just happened? Why can't I see you?"

"Just some yobbo tryin' to take my head off. He broke the monitor, so we're stuck with audio only."

Winter couldn't see Summer's face but she could just hear the other mare's indignant expression. "How can you be so calm when somepony just tried to kill you?"

"What good would it do me to be in a panic? I'll let you do the panickin' for me, thanks very much."

Summer grumbled. "Winter…"

"Relax, Summer, no worries here, eh? I dealt with the bastard for now, and if I've got time I'll try to figure out why he attacked me, but we've still got work to do. What's HQ's motto? 'Stiff Upper Lip' and all that shit? I just gotta keep movin' forward."

"You never cease to amaze me, Winter. Fine. I'll work on my end to keep things smooth and safe to buy you all the time you need to find a way to send those girls home."

"Good. Now obviously, I'm not gonna be in normal contact over the comin' weeks. Protocol says that I've gotta recycle my TARDIS in the event of a breach and all that. Can't exactly live here in this apartment, either, so I'll have to work somethin' out."

"Aw geez, Winter, I hope you're gonna be okay…"

Even though Summer couldn't see her, Winter smiled. "I'll be fine, mate. Just worry about yourself and the work on your end, and let me worry about me."

"Okay…"

"I'll try and get ya some updates over the Timekeeper when I can. I know it's limited, but hey, we gotta work with what we've got. At least I've still got it on me, eh? Imagine if I'd lost it! Ha!"

"Winter, you're a dope sometimes, but nopony's stupid enough to misplace their Timekeeper." Summer sighed. "Take care of yourself. Be safe."

"You too, Summer."

Another crackle from the speakers, and then silence.

Winter sighed, took her Timekeeper out of the grandfather clock with her—dropping her shield in the process—and grabbed her scarf off the rack by the door. With a glance towards the clock, she twisted her Timekeeper's dial twice, then rapidly clicked it several times.

The clock glowed white for a brief instant, then dimmed, now nothing more than a normal grandfather clock. The pocket dimension beyond had been sent back to HQ to be recycled. A shame, really; she'd just gotten the place looking the way she liked it.

She made sure she grabbed a few supplies and stuffed them into some saddlebags before she left; she wouldn't be coming back here for a while yet—with all the damages to the apartment she'd be thrown out anyway—so she'd need to take as many necessities as possible: her identification; a few tubes of Dolor products; a spare scarf, beret, and turtleneck identical to the ones she was wearing; and all the bits she had.

Satisfied with her preparations, Winter headed out her door without even bothering to grab her keys.

Comments

[Teraunce]

Well there's a change.

[My name is R]

So, Winter beat Shadowstep in their first duel. I doubt he's dead, though it is possible. More likely he'll be in trouble with Lord Perfectionist. ... Oh come on, I should know this one! ... Silvertounge!
Well then, I think we've reached the first major divergence.

"I'll try and get ya some updates over the Timekeeper when I can. I know it's limited, but hey, we gotta work with what we've got. At least I've still got it on me, eh? Imagine if I'd lost it! Ha!"
"Winter, you're a dope sometimes, but nopony's stupid enough to misplace their Timekeeper."

I resent that remark. I ain't stupid, just forgetful. It's not the same. And Ticker wasn't stupid either, no more than Winter here, ignoring that faulty door. Ya gotta watch fer those things.

P.S. I thought Winter was an earth pony for some reason. I looked back at her introduction, and sure enough you said she was a unicorn.