CRISIS: Equestria - Divergence

by GanonFLCL

Chapter Five: Changes

Shadows played across the massive expanse of the dining room floor, seeping into the corners and blanketing the walls. A series of dim lights, flickering in and out softly, did little beyond casting a faint glow across the central table. A solid black tablecloth covered the table, obscuring it in the darkness and giving the illusion that the rows of thin, wax candles floated in their golden holders. Plates, bowls, glasses, forks and spoons; the table was set for ten.

This morning, as with every morning, it seated just one.

Silvertongue lifted a large berry to his mouth from a near-empty bowl, his fork steady and firm. He eyed it for consistency and color before eating it whole. For several seconds, he savored the bite, whisking the berry around in his mouth before swallowing. He then pushed the empty bowl away and levitated over a plate of genuine, fluffy pancakes, topped with more of the same berries dripping in their own juices.

Magmaberries were his favorite, and as such were utilized quite often in his diet. The name was for a variety of factors that the berries had: the lava-like consistency of their juicy interiors; their rich color, a deep, burnt red with bright orange and yellow splotches of which no two berries ever had the same pattern; and, their extremely spicy flavor with a savory-sweet aftertaste.

Like any berry, they were capable of being made into just about anything: they went well on their own as snacks, but were best frozen or deep-fried; they worked well as toppings or stuffing for pancakes, waffles, or any other baked goods, where the sugary sweetness helped overpower the heat; they even made delicious syrups, sauces, and dips, especially when roasted or blended.

As Silvertongue took a sip from his glass, he delighted in his favorite purpose for them: the best wine in the world. The flavor was so strong that it overpowered the alcohol content almost entirely; one did not drink magmaberry wine if their intent was inebriation. This only came through an excruciating process that was substantially more dangerous than just picking the berries themselves, and those only grew around the active volcanoes of the Redblade Mountains.

But a properly-made bottle of the finest magmaberry wine was a truly emotional experience. It was as though it had been fermented with pleasure and agony, all the best and worst sensations one pony could ever hope to experience in a lifetime, let alone two or more. The emotional state of the pony imbibing in it affected its flavor from their perspective. If they were sad, the wine could send them into a deep depression; if they were happy, it could fill them with an ecstatic elation.

Or so the enthusiasts would claim.

Silvertongue enjoyed his remaining breakfast one piece at a time, thoroughly scanning the morning's data report as he ate; he did not partake in a single newspaper, but a complete compilation of all the publications together.

The buzz of the intercom drew his attention. "Sir, sorry to interrupt your breakfast, but I have urgent news."

He dabbed his mouth with a napkin, then pressed the intercom button. "Yes, Shroud? What is it?"

"Um… it's regarding Shadowstep, sir."

Silvertongue's nostrils flared. He never took Shadowstep for an idiot that would disregard protocol that required he contact him first. "What news does he bring then?" he asked as he lifted his fork to take another bite of food.

"W-well, that's the thing, sir. He's… he's dead."

Silvertongue paused, his eyes widening just slightly from pure shock. He nearly dropped his fork.

"Sir?"

"I'm sorry, Shroud, but I'm afraid I must have misheard you," he said, his voice barely staying level enough to hide his surprise. "Did you just say that he's dead?"

"Y-yes sir. Tower security found him just inside the perimeter and… and Nurse Soft Touch pronounced him dead two minutes ago, cause of death being severe internal bleeding. I just double-checked to ensure the information was accurate before bringing it to your attention."

Silvertongue took a breath and calmly set his fork down on his plate, his mind suddenly racing as he tried to parse this information together. This was a far different outcome than anything he'd expected. At worst—and this was a long shot—he'd expected Shadowstep to have allowed his targets to notice him, for them to escape and hide somewhere that would take time and resources to uncover; he'd accounted for that possibility and was even prepared to forgive it if Shadowstep had brought him any useful information.

The thought that the idiot would get himself killed was so far down his list of possible outcomes that he'd have been less surprised if Harmonia herself had gotten wind of what was happening and personally came to destroy Nihila while their powers were off-balance, which of course was impossible.

"I see. Thank you, Shroud. Have his belongings sent up to me immediately, specifically his recording drive. In fact… just the recording drive will do. Dispose of his suit and weapons."

"Yes sir, right away. Shall I send word to the nurse that you'll be coming to view the body?"

Silvertongue thought about the suggestion for a brief moment.

Shadowstep, his supposed master assassin, was dead. The circumstances on how he had died—specifically what or who had killed him and how—would likely be interesting. The pegasus typically just killed his targets quickly and quietly; for him to have been injured and killed meant somepony had managed to spot him and then fight back, and extremely well at that.

However, it wasn't the how of Shadowstep's death that really mattered, not now nor in the long run.

Shadowstep had been on a very specific assignment, and unless the idiot picked a fight with some random passer-by in the street, there were only six culprits. No, one; he'd suspected the involvement of a Chronomancer, after all, and had ordered Shadowstep to deal with them if given the opportunity. He'd clearly attempted as much and failed, that much could be extrapolated from this information; the specifics of how it happened didn't matter.

The Chronomancer was clearly not somepony to trifle with lightly.

The why, though, that was the crux of the issue.

"No. Have them proceed with standard disposal procedures, and wipe his records from the archives," he said after his moment's thought. "Any other news to report?"

"No sir. I'll have that drive up to you in just a moment. Anything else I can do, sir?"

"That'll be all, Shroud, thank you."

With that, the intercom was off and Silvertongue was left to his own thoughts again.

Today had suddenly become… quite intriguing.

*****

Silvertongue strolled into his office just after he'd finished breakfast, a tiny device held in his magic that he'd retrieved from Shadowstep's belongings. It was a recording drive which, as its name implied, recorded everything that Shadowstep saw or heard and then stored it onto a portable drive that could be reviewed and annotated at a later time.

He took the device and inserted it into a socket on his desk, revealing an electronic display that sprung upright from the desk's previously flat surface. The device glowed dull blue as Silvertongue's computer interfaced with it; multiple notices and alerts flickered across the screen.

Silvertongue grunted, annoyed that the idiot pegasus hadn't bothered to update his software in, from what Silvertongue could tell, seven weeks. It took a few swipes of his hoof to bat the annoyances away and start sorting through the most recent files, at which point he found the report on Shadowstep's recent assignment fairly easily.

It appeared as a black box with neon green text strewn about and highly-detailed full-color images in the margins. Silvertongue gazed upon it, his eyes darting across as he began to read along. It was incomplete, no doubt in part due to Shadowstep's death, so Silvertongue only had direct recordings to use rather than supplementing them with Shadowstep's summarized notes; it would take longer, but that was no matter.

He noted that Shadowstep had divided each section neatly and that everything was tidily organized, just as he expected of any of his subordinates. He inwardly chuckled at the irony that he prefered everything neat and organized, yet the city he ruled was as disorganized as possible.

Each of the six mares from the prior evening's report had their own section with a wide multitude of notes; Twilight Sparkle's and Applejack's were noticeably shorter, though not so much so that it was a negative, apparently because they'd been in a public place and been harder to spy upon. Still, there was more information here than SIlvertongue had initially asked for, or even expected.

If Shadowstep were alive, Silvertongue would have forgiven him for being late to their meeting, probably even given him a little commendation for the effort. A shame he'd gotten himself killed. He'd been a useful asset over the last decade.

His eyes narrowed as he read the first part of the report, which regarded how Shadowstep had obtained a large portion of his information. The pegasus had adopted the guise of a CIA agent and interviewed an Officer Snapshot, whose name had appeared on the forms that they had reviewed prior to his mission. Just a filing clerk from all appearances, but one that was well-versed in the system and eager to help.

That Shadowstep had subsequently killed the mare was, in his eyes, a necessary evil. If the CIA got wind that one of their agents—one that didn't exist, at that—was involved in the situation, they might try to weasel their way into things sooner than he wanted.

He knew full well that the Committee would stymie his efforts just by merely being anywhere within a hundred miles of the situation. The damned fools would draw too much attention, alert too many ponies, and probably actively involve themselves with these six mares, making it that much more difficult to continue with any of his own efforts covertly.

He could only hope that Shadowstep had been discreet in dealing with the situation, but just to be sure, he'd have his technician, Hard Drive, hack into the surveillance system and ensure that as little evidence as possible was left behind; if Shadowstep was as dutiful as Silvertongue typically expected, Hard Drive was likely already working on it.

Then came the second page of the report, and Silvertongue's mouth curled in a grin as his suspicions were confirmed. A Chronomancer was indeed involved with the situation. More than that, she had been conferring with a counterpart of some sort that hailed from the world that these six mares had originated from. They'd even been discussing sending the mares home where they belonged.

After so many years, all of the theories had been proven true: Chronomancers did indeed deal with the nature of worlds beyond this one. Oh, what he wouldn't give to learn more about how their order and their magics worked. How many worlds were there out there? Were they all similar to his own? Were they different? How different? What purpose did Chronomancers truly serve in these worlds? What was their connection with Void energy?

He had so many questions that it was difficult to keep track of them all. If he had the resources, he'd likely spend countless hours researching the answers and then some, quenching his thirst for knowledge of the unknown. A shame the Chronomancers were so secretive; Shadowstep likely didn't realize just how lucky he'd been to bear witness to what he did.

But that wasn't important. What was important was how the situation that now presented itself could be used to Silvertongue's advantage. He sighed lightly to himself as he perused the report more thoroughly.

The profiles on these six "aliens" were fascinating. It was already substantially obvious that the "Ponyville" story was either a total fabrication or an incredibly odd truth, and he now knew it was the latter. The mare Applejack spoke of the place as though it were real and even mentioned working on a farm with her family. If the mare were being false then she was a natural liar with a skill that impressed even Silvertongue.

Knowing it was true was amusing. Did all towns and cities in their homeworld utilize pony-related puns for naming? That was both incredibly creative and incredibly quaint at the same time; it would take a lot of creativity to come up with enough to populate a nation with such settlements. Surely some would be a bit of a stretch once enough puns had been exhausted.

Another interesting tidbit was that nobody had mentioned yet that the six mares all had accents that would be somewhat easy to identify and that there was no way that the group came from outside the city despite their appearances otherwise, with a single exception.

Rarity, for example, had an accent that suggested she was from Whiteworth Heights, though her focus on fashion might have suggested Moonlight Hills. If one was unfamiliar with the differences in dialect, they might have even been fooled, but Rarity placed certain emphasis on certain words that should have given it away. Both of those were northern suburbs of the Romantique District, a part of the Inner Districts well-known for its fashion, food, and romantic culture, as well as its wealth.

And not a single pony had questioned why this mare had the same distinct dialect of the wealthy, fashion-conscious, and attractive members of some of the city's elite. Granted, it would take somepony with keen observation skills and knowledge of accents, dialects, slang, and the like to notice it, but still, it peeved him that such an obvious red flag had been missed.

He did note with irony that the only pony who seemed to be putting any effort into the fabrication they were going with—even if she didn't know it—was Applejack. That stetson hat perfectly matched the sort of clothing to be expected of a farmer from the southern continent, and her accent was a dead-on accurate impression of ponies from its northern region which was known for its rich coastal farmland. A town existed there these days called Newhaven, which had a modernized port that serviced airships.

The fact that these six were all together, with their vast differences in culture and mannerisms, was all that Silvertongue needed to prove that they weren't who they said they were even without reading the rest of the report. Most ponies would just let those kinds of discrepancies slide; he was not most ponies.

The mare that Shadowstep had murdered, Snapshot, was apparently connected with a Captain Flathoof of the NPPD, who was also conveniently the parole officer for these six mares so that they'd avoid jail time as punishment for disturbing the peace with their arrival. It was more than convenient, actually. Having somepony that these six would likely trust and cooperate with would potentially serve as a tremendous advantage.

He also made note of where they lived: Southeast Point. A relatively new building from his understanding, one currently owned and operated by the Rossa crime family. How this Flathoof had connections there was a mystery—there was a mention of a “Lockwood”—but one he'd look into. More importantly, knowing where these mares lived made it much easier to monitor them. Hard Drive would have more work ahead of him, that was for certain.

Silvertongue was very curious when he re-read through the Chronomancer's page. The Chronomancer of this world was intending on sending these six mares back, that was a given that he had anticipated from the moment that theory had come to his mind. After all, otherworldly visitors hardly seemed like a normal thing, and returning them to their world of origin seemed a natural solution.

What did surprise him—the second genuinely shocking surprise of the day after hearing Shadowstep had been killed—was that the Chronomancer wanted to seek Nihila's aid. He leaned back in his seat when he read that note, briefly shaken from his thoughts. The suggestion went against nearly every possibility he'd considered until this point.

He'd expected her to suggest Harmonia. The goddess of the southern continent was so good and helpful and bright that she wouldn't have given their request a second thought before helping them. Not to mention that she was relatively easy to openly contact in comparison to Nihila; Harmonia's Warden was a public figure, while he—Nihila's Warden—did not even exist as far as the ponies of the north knew.

If it were possible to contact Harmonia from here he had no doubt she would move heaven and earth to come to the mares' aid. So why was Nihila the ideal choice?

Granted, he could understand the hesitation to make the journey from here to Utopia. The northern lands had become so twisted and dangerous that few attempted the journey from here to Hope's Point by land, and what little information he possessed suggested that fewer still actually survived the trip. Even so, he'd have figured the Chronomancer to be resourceful enough to handle such a trip and so had already begun planning ways to manipulate and hinder the journey, none of which apparently mattered now.

Still, even after reading and listening through all of the report, there was something in all this information that struck him as awfully peculiar. These six mares contained enough magic within them to shift their entire world's balance just by going missing, and this world as well just by arriving. The Chronomancer had even confirmed Nihila's observation and helpfully provided a source for the problem, as much as the Law and Chaos distinction seemed misnamed. Was it something about these "Elements" that they were related to? It was unsettling.

It was also unimportant for the time being.

What was important now was alerting Nihila to the developments and devising plans for what to do about the situation before she grew restless. He focused his mind and let his essence waft out about him, an aura of magic that would serve as a beacon for his Goddess and draw her to him like a moth to a flame. She was always watching him, of course, but only by doing this did she know he had news to deliver.

"You summoned me, my Warden?"

Nihila's voice came cool and crisp into his mind, flooding his thoughts with a soothing sensation. He shuddered at the way her essence filled him. Elation and curiosity were not emotions he was used to her feeling, but she'd clearly been delving through his surface thoughts this past hour.

"My lady, I bear news regarding those creatures I discovered."

Her spirit sparked with pleasure, sending a shiver down his spine. "Ah, you flatter me with your efficiency. I am eager to hear how they pertain to the situation."

Silvertongue began to read off information from Shadowstep's report. Every time certain strings of words were used, different sensations flooded his soul as Nihila's essence fluctuated in reaction to their meanings.

The thought that another world would soon be in its death throes seemed to please her, filling her with joyful anticipation that made Silvertongue's entire being feel what she felt. He was in near ecstasy, and only maintained a calm and controlled demeanor because of years of posturing and proper etiquette.

The knowledge that these six, these wielders of the Elements of Harmony, were responsible for the imbalance that was beginning to manifest in this world rather displeased her. That word in particular—Harmony—filled Nihila with so much loathing that it worried even Silvertongue for a brief moment, not for his own sake, but for hers. She wasn't known for subtlety when she was angry.

But, it also seemed to pique her curiosity. The longer these six remained in this world, the more the imbalance would tilt in Harmonia's favor. While it would be only a minuscule proportion, it was the principle that mattered to Nihila, Silvertongue knew. Nihila's initial thoughts were simply to have the six destroyed immediately and be done with it.

The rest of the report revealed that that wouldn't help matters whatsoever. In fact, to Nihila's surprise as well—Silvertongue could feel it in her essence—the Chronomancer wanted her help to send them back. For the first time in countless years as Nihila's Warden, Silvertongue could sense that she was utterly confused.

"It would seem that this Chronomancer is either incredibly wise, or incredibly foolish," she said to him. "Why would she deign to ask me for help? Just because it is easier? I should be insulted that she considers me the simple, convenient path to her success."

"I agree, my lady, it is quite insulting to your immense power to be treated as little more than a cheap whore that this Chronomancer can call upon to aid her," Silvertongue snorted, knowing his choice of words would anger her briefly, which it did. "Perhaps we should contact her instead, demonstrate your reach and might and remind her that you are the true power here in the north?"

Nihila's essence tittered in appreciation. "Yes, that might do nicely. I will make this wretch beg me to send these pathetic mares back to their miserable home. She will regret this insult—"

"Or…"

Nihila paused. "Hmm? 'Or', my Warden? What thoughts dwell in that wonderful mind of yours?"

Silvertongue brushed the thought aside with his hoof and retook his seat. "Ah, nevermind, my lady. It was a foolish thought, it would never work."

"You sell yourself short, my Warden, for I have never known your schemes to be unsuccessful. I would hear this thought of yours. I command you: tell me."

"Well, my lady, as we know, the Chronomancer has no knowledge of how to contact you, which of course would be through me," he said, pacing slightly behind his desk. "While we could just contact her and get this entire debacle over with, I think that perhaps it would be in our interests to let her find me herself."

"Hmm… explain. What use do we get out of allowing those six mares to continue to strengthen Harmonia's influence? Their presence in our world is akin to a virus, and I will not have us simply let this infection run its course. They may believe that staying here longer would be a… good thing."

"Ah, that's just it, my lady: they're the key to all of this, whether it pleases you or not. These six mares clearly have enough power in them somehow that their very presence in our world has shifted the balance of the world in Harmonia's favor, correct?"

"Indeed, as I have said, but— ahh… I see what your mind is planning." Nihila's voice became soothing again and melted into him. "Perhaps we can convince them that Harmonia is not as benevolent as she seems? That her name is nonindictative, and that they should want our aid all the more? Yes, then they will gladly accept a hasty retreat."

Silvertongue grinned. "You're half right, my lady. Yes, perhaps we can convince them of that, and we can use them to our advantage in that endeavor. What if, when they seek out our aid, we manipulated them into serving your whims and desires? We could utilize them as weapons against Harmonia."

Nihila bristled at the concept of being weaker than Nihila, a thought that made Silvertongue's skin crawl. "Yes… yes, I see the wisdom in this plan of yours. But I see not the method for which you believe we can accomplish it. I cannot compel them to obey me directly; their connection to these 'Elements' is alien to me, and their minds and bodies will resist my attempts to corrupt their spirits."

Silvertongue grinned. It was a smug grin, hinting at the clever idea that she had yet to guess. "Ah, but my lady, perhaps you won't need to force them into accepting our offer? If they are seeking our help in the first place, would it not be in our best interest to appear to them as benevolent? To offer our aid to them and only ask for one simple thing in return? That would be when we strike."

"I do not envision them waiting patiently to ally themselves with us when their desire to return home is so great. Should you reveal yourself to them, my Warden, they will surely pester you with this request, and denial of it might turn them away and turn them towards Harmonia's accursed Light."

"Precisely, milady."

He grinned wider and leaned contentedly back into his chair.

"I am not in the position to carry out such an errand anyway. While I have a simple understanding of their personalities, there are a great many things I lack that I would need to adequately convince them that I have their best interests at heart. The Chronomancer acknowledges your nature, after all, and that would logically extend to me as well, would it not?"

"Naturally. All the more reason I see not how this plan of yours could work."

"That is only because concepts such as benevolence and compassion are so contrary to your very nature, my lady. It is not an insult to insinuate that a being of your repute could never hope to understand the inner workings of such innocent minds." He tapped a hoof to his head. "But I do."

Nihila laughed; her mirth was unexpected and rather chilling, like being dunked into a lake that had frozen over. "An innocent mind, my Warden? You? I have seen the atrocities you have committed. The horrors you have unleashed in my name, at my urging. What do you know of innocence?"

"Ah, that might be so, but you recall that I did not always serve you, my lady," he said with a smirk.

"A fair point…" she admitted; it was rare for her to admit a mistake or misunderstanding, and to him felt equally alien. "Carry on, then."

He cleared his throat. "Now, I do not have an intimate knowledge of these mares' psyches, their hearts' desires, their hopes and dreams, or the qualities of their souls. I do not know how deeply connected they are amongst themselves, nor do I know which particular buttons to push to elicit my desired reactions.

"And further, I don't even know which of them exemplifies which Element, apart from Twilight Sparkle who was mentioned directly, and these Elements may prove key to understanding them fully. Though, I may be able to fathom a guess to a few; this report is detailed enough that I could do so given time. But no, I do not believe I am qualified to coerce them."

"You have a plan in mind already, my Warden?"

Nihila forcefully felt her way through his thoughts. His plan wafted through his mind, and she picked it apart and understood it as if it had been her own. She seemed elated to find her Warden was such a resourceful thinker, but then again he knew he always had been; it's why she chose him for the position, after all.

"Ah, you are a most devious schemer. If we cannot coerce them into my grasp directly, perhaps we can do so indirectly. A brilliant idea."

"I thank you, my lady, for your praise." He smiled, feeling a tear come to his left eye as her sensations of warm pride filled his heart, another rare occurrence. "I shall begin my task immediately. While we seem to have a pleasantly broad window to work with, it would be prudent to utilize our time to its fullest, wouldn't you agree?"

Nihila cooed, "I will leave you to your work, my Warden. Call for me again when you are ready to proceed, and I will assist you with the final phase. Until then, I will monitor the Belt of Tranquility and continue my observations of their effect on the balance there."

"Indeed, my lady. I thank you for your blessings."

He felt Nihila's essence leave his mind and spirit. He shook off the feeling of emptiness, a sensation he would never grow accustomed to no matter how many times over how many years he had experienced it. Once his mind was at ease and his wits were gathered, he clicked a button on the table, turning on the intercom.

"Shroud."

"Yes, sir?"

"I need you to make a few calls."

*****

The little box that sat upon the den table of room eighty-four and five was a peculiar device. Flathoof had called it a "Teevee" or something to that effect. It was quite alien to the Ponyville natives, capable of displaying images like how movie projectors back home did, only with a different technology. Twilight had spent a great deal of time trying to discern how the device operated, and even now sat glued to the rear of the device, rather than the front.

"—just pay shipping and handling. And if you call now—"

Click.

"—I'll keelhaul ya, ya scurvy dog! I've got—"

Click.

"—terrible news, Mister and Misses Fudge. Your son is—"

Click.

"—pregnant?! How can you be pregnant, we never even—"

Click.

"—made a scrumptious cake! Best of all, decorating cakes is—"

Click.

"Heeeyyy, I was watching that…" Pinkie said, her eyes as big as dinner plates.

Flathoof leaned to the side to keep her from snagging the remote back. "We can watch your cooking program later, Miss Pie. It's almost eight o'clock, and we need to watch the news. Since you're new around here, you might just learn something."

"Awww…"

The couch in their den was much too small for all of them to sit on, so Rainbow, Applejack, and Pinkie sat on the floor in front, letting Fluttershy and Rarity use the couch proper. Flathoof continued to stand off to the side. He'd arrived about an hour earlier that morning, waking most of them up to get them started on their day. Rarity had made several complaints about interrupting her beauty sleep, none of which were paid any heed to.

With another click, the image upon the Teevee changed again. A delightfully engaging jingle played over a background displaying many sweeping vistas of New Pandemonium City. Bright, shiny gold text floated down from the upper corner of the screen, twisting through the center to surround a circular silver emblem bearing a large, glittering number one.

"You are watching Channel One Eyewitness News in the Morning. With Daybreak—"

The text was swept off the screen to reveal the moving image of a unicorn stallion with a lustrous golden coat and a short, tidy, bright blue mane. He wore a fancy dress suit with a matching tie. The stallion was giving a broad, rehearsed smile that gleamed in an unseen spotlight.

"—and Butter Pecan in the studio—"

The image of a white earth pony mare replaced that of Daybreak. Her curly, cream-colored mane matched the color of her own sleek dress suit, though she wore no tie. She gave a broad grin to the audience as well, and proudly crossed her hooves in front of her chest.

"Featuring Meteorologist, Clarity, with the weather—"

Now, a dull brown pegasus mare replaced the image of Butter Pecan. She kept her shiny black mane slicked-back and wore a dusty jacket with a matching bow tie. She just stared ahead, no smile upon her face at all.

"Stalwart, with sports—"

A burly, sky blue earth pony with a brown mane kept in a short crew cut appeared next. His sports coat was stretched to its limit to fit his physique. He didn't so much smile at the audience as give them an assured, confident nod.

"And Skyline with the traffic—"

A lithe pegasus stallion appeared next, sea green in color with a whitish-green mane styled back in a ponytail. He wore a decorated flight jacket and a pair of matching goggles. He gave the screen a brisk salute, snapping to attention as he did so.

"Hey, that pony's got style," Rainbow said, nudging Pinkie in the side. "He might be almost as cool as me."

"This… is Channel One Eyewitness News in the Morning."

The image shifted to show the first two ponies, Daybreak and Butter Pecan, sitting behind a desk and shuffling papers in front of them.

"Good morning everypony," said Daybreak, light gleaming off his smile. "Today's top stories—"

As he started to speak, his image shifted slightly to the left. Beside him, the tiny image of a red cross appeared.

"Hoof rot season so soon? New Pandemonium Medical reports a rise in cases of the serious disease early this year, and are recommending action be taken by every citizen to prevent the spread."

The image next to him changed into that of a great inferno towering over several buildings. "Also, yesterday's major fire in the northeast Outer District has still not been contained by the New Pandemonium Fire Brigade, and is beginning to spread further outwards in the district. Authorities are worried it may soon spread into Mid-East and Mid-North if efforts to stop it fail."

The image beside him shifted away, leaving just Daybreak again in the center of the screen. "First though, here's your weekly weather forecast with Clarity."

Flathoof snorted. "Seriously? Get to the news about the fire! Nopony wants to hear about the damned weather right now!"

The image panned over to the pegasus mare, Clarity, who was standing in front of a large green screen that quickly flickered to reveal a map of the city with lots of colored splotches plastered across it.

The map was perfectly circular, ironically organized into very precise districts. In the center was the Inner District, the smallest of the three major divisions, which was itself divided into several sub-districts with odd names that Twilight noticed were named after languages, such as Baroque, Romantique, and Sovia.

Just beyond that and covering roughly twice the area were the Mid Districts. She saw that theirs, Mid-South, was covered in the least of the colors, excepting the Inner Districts. The Outer District covered double the area of the Mid Districts, and was divided into two sections: the Outer District itself, and the much smaller area in the south labeled Gate District.

The weatherpony Clarity lazily pointed out a bunch of the splotches of color, and as she traced her hoof along the map, the image slowly changed to reflect the movement of the colors. She didn't seem particularly fascinated with her job.

"Weather forecast for this week," she said in a steady monotone. "Smog today, smog tomorrow, more smog the day after that. Smog all week folks, nothing new. Temperatures are staying steady in the mid-80's, though citizens in Mid-East and Mid-North may notice temperature spikes as that big fire starts moving towards them. I recommend turning on your air-conditioning."

She yawned, then pointed to a big red cloud over Mid-West. "Citizens of Mid-West are advised not to go outside without protective gear for the next three days, starting tonight. All signs point to a freak acid rain storm. Weather teams from Mid-South and the Inner Districts will attempt to divert it, but are not expecting to be able to do much except contain it."

She yawned again. "That's all for the weather, but we'll be back for a second look at the end of today's reports. Back to you, Daybreak."

"Thanks Clarity." Daybreak beamed, his teeth shining bright as ever, and turned to his other side. The image shifted with him. "Now over to Skyline with the morning's traffic report. Skyline?"

Now, the image switched from in the studio to that of the pegasus stallion, Skyline. It stayed steady behind him as he flew through a few smog layers above a particularly busy area of the city, where other pegasi were busy dodging one another for seemingly no reason at all.

They all seemed to be constraining themselves between two lines of floating, bright green lights that wound through the taller buildings. There was a blue line in between the two green ones, with pegasi on one side flying north, while those on the other side were flying south. The two halves were further divided into fourths by white lines, and these were the ones that the pegasi constrained themselves to the most.

The northbound side was where the trouble came in. Two of the three lines of white were instead flashing red, and no pegasi were flying between them.

"Thanks, Daybreak. As you can see, there's some heavy congestion this morning on Northbound Airway Intercity Thirteen caused by a malfunction in the two of the three guiding lines. Traffic Control estimates a three-to-four hour delay for repairs. I'd recommend taking ground routes instead if you're headed for Mid-North, and either Air Intercity Twelve or Fourteen if you're headed anywhere else."

The image shifted downwards towards the city streets, which looked just as congested with all the pegasi above swooping down to take the street level.

"To all of our unicorn and earth pony pedestrians down there, please be on the lookout for wayward pegasi taking illegal highway exits. NPPD units are already en route to try and direct the flow of traffic, but the estimated arrival time isn't for another hour. Now back to you in the studio."

"Thank you, Skyline. We'll be back to you for an update shortly." Daybreak smiled brightly and turned to his left, towards the mare sitting beside him. "Now to Butter Pecan with our top story of the day. Pecan?"

Butter Pecan spoke in a cheerful, though focused tone as the image shifted to her. "Good morning everypony. Today's top story! Hoof rot season is striking our fair city early this year, and there have already been numerous reports of it spreading quickly through the Outer District areas. Doctors are recommending immunization measures be taken as soon as possible. We have more from our correspondent at Central General, Hotwire."

The image shifted from the studio again, this time to a young unicorn stallion standing in a pristine white hallway, holding a microphone with his magic. His coat was a shiny purple, his mane a neatly-combed orange with red streaks. He sported a gold jacket and a matching tie.

To his left stood another unicorn, this one with an off-white coat. His olive green mane and tail spiked out and stood at attention, and from their luster it was apparent he used a great deal of product to keep them so straight. His eyes were obscured by his large lab goggles, and he wore a beige lab coat that draped all around his form.

"Thank you, Butter Pecan," Hotwire said. "I'm here at Central General where the reports of hoof rot being on the rise early this season were first discovered. With me is New Pandemonium Chief of Medicine, Doctor Blutsauger."

The white unicorn nodded with a soft smile as his name was mentioned.

Hotwire turned, hovering his microphone over for the other unicorn to use. "Doctor, tell us a little more about what exactly you've discovered."

The white unicorn coughed into his hoof and adjusted his goggles, then spoke into the microphone. "Ja, well, for the past few hours we have been getting calls from our clinics in the Outer District about these hoof rot incidents. Typically, hoof rot is an early spring illness, und ponies would have plenty of time to get their annual immunization shots. But, if hoof rot were to begin spreading early, before most of the city got their immunizations?"

The doctor then turned dramatically towards the screen. "We'd be looking at… an epidemic." He then turned back to Hotwire. "That was good, ja?"

Twilight noted the doctor's Weimarian accent, a little less thick than that photographer who took an interest in Fluttershy years ago. Photo Finish was her name? It seemed that at least across different worlds the assorted cultures still had some recognizable traits.

Hotwire coughed nervously, his eyes darting back and forth between the screen and the doctor. He tilted the microphone back towards himself. "What sorts of actions are being taken to prevent such an occurrence?" Then, he tilted it back towards Blutsauger.

Blutsauger crossed his hooves in front of his chest and nodded firmly. "I have spoken to the rest of the Committee directly und shown them mein research. They agreed that it would be better to practice caution than to risk toying with the lives of our citizens. I believe your studio will be getting a copy of the issued mandate soon."

Hotwire raised an eyebrow. "Mandate, doctor?"

"Ja ja, I know there are many ponies in the city that do not listen to medical reports or even watch the news, und so I requested that the Committee take responsibility to ensure that all the ponies in the city take action to prevent this potential catastrophe."

Blutsauger turned towards the screen again and pointed at it, wagging his hoof in shame. "Immunization shots are free to all ponies with valid identifications, und all of our clinics are open twenty-four hours a day. There really is no excuse."

"I see." Hotwire lifted a small pamphlet from his jacket pocket and glanced at it briefly, then turned back to the doctor. "For those at home, what are the symptoms of hoof rot, so they may know which ponies to avoid to prevent infection?"

Blutsauger adjusted his goggles again. "Ja, of course. Hoof rot comes in stages, und luckily we are only in the first stage of the disease's run. The first symptoms of hoof rot are tiny green splotches or warts on the hooves; unicorns may also have similar blemishes on their horns."

"And what if they've progressed past that?"

"If a pony is in the secondary stage, then their hooves will be completely green. Now, hoof rot is highly contagious." The doctor turned to the camera rather dramatically. "Do not touch anypony who shows symptoms! Do not let them breathe on you! This is important! I would even recommend wearing a mask and staying at least six feet apart from others to limit transmission of the disease until you can get your shots."

Hotwire nodded. "Thank you for your time, doctor."

"Nein, keineswegs." Blutsauger smiled back and waved towards the screen. "Always a pleasure to do a service for this great city."

Hotwire turned towards the screen and stepped away from Blutsauger. "This has been Hotwire reporting for Channel One. Now back to you in the studio."

The image returned to the studio view, where Butter Pecan was shuffling a paper she had just been given.

"Thank you, Hotwire, and thank you Doctor Blutsauger. As noted in the report, we have just received the Committee's mandate." She lifted the paper she'd been given and began to read. "Issued one hour ago this morning, the Committee has issued an order that all citizens without up-to-date hoof rot immunization records in the past thirty days are to report to their nearest New Pandemonium Medical Clinic as soon as possible.

"They have also issued that anypony that does not get their immunization shots within the next twenty-four hours is subject to forced admission by order of the New Pandemonium Police Department. This mandate will be aired on all stations within the next fifteen minutes, and throughout the rest of the day in hourly intervals. It will also be broadcast every ten minutes on the public broadcast system."

She immediately brightened and turned to her right. "Now back to Daybreak for our next top story. Daybreak?"

"Thank you, Butt—"

Click.

"Awww what?" Pinkie wailed, grabbing the screen. "I thought you wanted to hear about the fire?"

"Bigger news just came up," Flathoof said. He sighed and adjusted his cap. "One thing after another. Come on then ladies, you heard the… lady."

Applejack got to her hooves and followed Flathoof towards the door. "Already? We have all day, don't we?"

"If I'd known about this report, I would've had all of you at Central General an hour ago when the Mandate was issued. I swear, I'm always the last to know these things."

"What's the big deal, though? Why the rush?"

"It's like this. The closest clinic to us is the busiest one in the entire Mid-District. I'm certain ponies are already starting to make their way there. I'd really like to get this done before too long, and the longer we wait here, the longer we'll have to wait there. So, let's get moving. Hop to it."

Twilight stood up and followed after Flathoof and Applejack. "You heard him, girls. Chop chop."

Rainbow groaned. "Awww, but they were about to get to sports. I want to see if they have a skyball league here."

Rarity rolled her eyes. "Honestly, Rainbow Dash, why do you have to be so argumentative?"

Fluttershy frowned. "Oh dear, here we go again…"

Twilight stamped a hoof. "Girls! Really, this is neither the time nor place for this sort of thing."

Both Rainbow and Rarity grunted. "But—"

Applejack stepped in and pushed Rarity and Rainbow apart. They both turned their looks of disapproval towards her instead. "Y'all heard Twilight, let's just get this over with. No more fussin' around. I reckon it won't take that long, and we can get back home and start gettin' to work on more important things. If y'all wanna argue, do it later."

Rainbow sighed. "I just wanted to see if they had a skyball league. Geez, sports was next anyway. It couldn't have taken that long."

"That can wait for later, this is more important. Do you want to get hoof rot?" Twilight asked.

"Well, no, but I mean, it's not that big of a deal. Pfft, we have that stuff back home too, they're making it sound like it's super serious and—"

"That's because maybe it is a serious illness over here?" Twilight tutted. "It might not be that big of a deal back home, but here they're making it sound like it could be deadly. Multiple stages? Warts? Hoof rot back home doesn't work like that. It just makes you smell for a bit."

Flathoof blinked and scratched his head. "You all must have it pretty lucky wherever you're from to have hoof rot be treated like a common cold."

"Even then, it's a dreadful little illness." Rarity shuddered. "Oh my, I remember having it once as a little filly. It made my hooves smell just awful for a whole week. Since then, I've taken great care to watch my health and avoid catching it again. It would drive away business!"

"Ooh, hoof rot stories!" Pinkie giggled, patting Rarity on the shoulder. "Why, I remember when me and my sisters all had it at the same time. They had to declare our rock farm a Class Five Smelly Zone! I didn't like being in quarantine all that much."

Rainbow held her hooves up in defeat. "Fine, geez, I didn't mean to sound like I didn't want to get this done. I was just wondering what the dang rush was for. No need to bite my head off."

Twilight stamped a hoof again. "Girls, please, can we just get going? I'd like to get this done as soon as possible. Right, Captain Flathoof?"

"Right." Flathoof sighed and nodded. He looked at the clock face on the nearby wall. "We're probably already running a little late. Come along, everypony."

*****

The Central General Clinic was shorter than the nearby buildings by a fair margin, nowhere near as tall as Southeast Point. It wasn't particularly wide either, not like Central Database Holdings from what Twilight could see. It was still big, to be sure. Flathoof explained that it had a larger underground portion where they performed the more serious treatments in order to avoid contamination from any smog residue.

The building was a dirty white with large red crosses adorning many of its features. A particularly large one was plastered just above the doors at the front. The doors were large enough to let a few dozen ponies in and out of the entrance at once, likely to accommodate room for stretchers, beds, or other equipment.

"See? I told you it'd be crowded," Flathoof said as they entered the sliding quad doors to the building.

Twilight and her friends' jaws collectively dropped at the sight of so many ponies in a tightly-packed space. A line of ponies stretched down the long hallway ahead of them and all the way around the corner in the distance. A little signpost at the end of the line by the door read:

Hoof Rot Immunizations

Approximate Wait Time:

15:00

"Fifteen minutes doesn’t sound too bad," Rainbow said, giving a hard look to the others. "See? No biggie."

"Those are hours, Miss Dash," Flathoof clarified.

"Fifteen hours?!" Twilight exclaimed.

"Whoa nelly…" Applejack removed her hat and fanned herself with it. "Golly, we're gonna be here all ding dong day."

The ticker clicked, and the numbers on the bottom changed: 15:15.

"Fifteen hours and fifteen minutes?!" Rarity began breathing heavily and fanning herself with a hoof. "Oh my, we have to stand in line with all these ponies for that long? Heavens, this is simply unacceptable!"

The ponies at the end of the line just ahead had apparently anticipated the wait time, and like many others ahead of them had brought cushions to sit on, and little bags of snacks and drinks. Twilight wished she had brought a book, but that just reminded her that they didn't have books here.

"Geez, you weren't kidding," Rainbow said. She scuffed her hoof on the floor and gave everypony an apologetic look. "Sorry I held us up. If I'd known—"

"It wouldn't have made much difference," Flathoof said. "Maybe saved fifteen or twenty minutes, I don't know."

He adjusted his cap and straightened his uniform. "Listen, you six go ahead and get in line. I'll see if I can find something out from the nurse station. I might not be Lockwood, but maybe I can try and work out some sort of a favor."

Flathoof trotted away from the six mares as they took up positions in line. He rang a bell at the nurse station when he got there; it was near enough that Twilight could see and hear him clearly.

A white pegasus mare came out of the nearby room, clad in a white nurse uniform and a little cap with a red cross. "Can I help you, officer?" she asked.

Flathoof gave a bright smile and removed his cap. "Yes. Well, maybe. I'm the parole officer for those six mares over there." He turned and pointed at his parolees. "I was wondering if there was anything you could do to maybe help me get their shots a little sooner?"

The nurse narrowed her eyes and frowned. "You're kidding, right? You want me to try and skip six mares ahead of a fifteen hour line? You must be out of your mind."

Flathoof continued to smile as he tugged his collar. "Eh heh. I know it sounds a little selfish, but they're new in the city and don't even have last year's shots. I'm worried something—"

The nurse sighed and calmly placed both hooves on the counter. "Look, as much as I'm sure that's the case, I simply can't just break protocol and skip them all ahead. This place is a zoo already. Can you imagine the kind of chaos that skipping a few mares ahead of the line would cause? If you think you can hold off a riot all by yourself, then feel free to convince me otherwise."

Flathoof sighed. "Well, it was worth a try. Thanks for your time."

He dejectedly walked away and returned to the other mares. "Sorry ladies, no luck. I'm sure Lockwood might've been able to do something. Knowing him he probably knows half the staff here. We'll just have to tough it out."

"Dang." Rainbow crossed her hooves in front of her chest and slumped against the wall. "This is gonna be so boring. I knew I should've brought a book. I could probably finish the newest Daring Do adventure before we're even done."

"Aw, take it easy, sugarcube." Applejack chuckled, patting Rainbow on the shoulder. "At least we got each other for company, yeah?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"Um, maybe we should think of something to talk about? To pass the time?" Fluttershy said from her hiding place behind Rarity. "I mean, if… if you want to…"

Pinkie started bouncing. "Ooh! Ooh! We should play a game!" She then stopped, and glanced around the room. "Okay, I spy, with my little eye, something white!"

"Is it me?" Rarity asked, her mouth curled in a confident smirk.

Pinkie shook her head rapidly. "Nope!"

Rarity frowned. "Hmph. She usually picks me with that color."

"Is it… the nurse's gown?" Fluttershy asked, peeking out from behind Rarity.

"Nope!"

Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Is it the floor?"

"Pfft, what? The floor is clearly beige, Dashie," Pinkie said. She then put on her best Rarity impression, which was shockingly spot-on. "I mean, really, Rainbow Dash, I know you're not a fashion expert, but you can't tell the difference between beige and white?"

"Well, it used to be white." Rainbow scuffed at a tile, revealing how much dirt was caked on it. "If they ever cleaned it, it might be."

Rarity laughed and nudged Rainbow. "Careful, darling, you're starting to sound a bit like me."

"C'mon you guys, you gotta keep tryin'!" Pinkie shouted. "Something white!"

Twilight hummed and tapped her chin. "The lights, maybe?"

"Nope!"

"The ceilin'?" Applejack asked.

Pinkie put her hooves on her hips and gave the others an impatient glare. "You guys are terrible! Come on! Something white!"

"We give up!" Rainbow exclaimed, waving her hooves around in the air. "Come on, Pinkie, everything here is nearly white! It's a hospital! What did you pick?!"

Pinkie sharply pointed at Flathoof.

"Uh…" He shied away from her accusing hoof.

Her hoof scrolled down his face, to his chest, to his badge, then to tiny, white writing upon it. The NPPD motto: It's a Living.

"Oh for the love of—" Twilight groaned, throwing her hooves into the air. "We can't even read that from here, Pinkie!"

Rarity fumed. "I thought it was a reflection of the light! Really, Pinkie Pie? Really?"

"Hey, come on, I'm just trying to pass the time," Pinkie said. She pointed at the signpost, which they still hadn't even passed yet. "See?"

15:25

"Huh. Did we go backwards?"

"Ugh. Moving on." Rainbow turned to Twilight. "Hey, I know what we can talk about! Twilight, how did last night go? Find out anything about getting—" She then seemed to realize that Flathoof was just half a yard away. "A job? Yeah. Getting a job."

"Well, the Chief Librarian said I was more than qualified for the position and wants me to go in for a follow-up interview… today. Oh." Twilight put a hoof to her mouth. "Oh no. How am I going to go in for an interview if I'm standing in line waiting for a shot? Do you think he'd understand?"

Flathoof nodded. "For a Committee Mandate, I'm sure he'd make an exception. Heck, he might even be in this same line, assuming he lives in Central Plaza and isn't up-to-date on his shots. I guarantee there are probably a lot of businesses closed for the day to compensate."

Rainbow nudged Twilight softly. "Did you find anything else out, Twilight?" In a hushed whisper, she added, "Y'know, anything important?"

Twilight blinked for a moment, then her face lit up as she caught on. "Right. Well no, I couldn't find out anything I was hoping to. I didn't have much time to do my research, sadly. I'd planned on spending all of today there and trying to find out some more but—"

"Excuse me, sir?" The nurse had come over specifically to speak to them.

Flathoof hadn't noticed her walking over and was clearly as surprised as the rest of them. "Yes?"

"It would seem there was a misunderstanding," she said, her smile small and apologetic. "You said your parolees were new citizens, right? Well, maybe there is something I can do for you."

"Oh?" Flathoof asked. He hopped to attention. "Oh! That's good news. Great news!"

"Now, since they're new citizens and all that, they're going to have to go through a routine physical and get some bloodwork done," she explained. "Nothing special. We only have one doctor on staff that can do this right now, which is why I didn't think of it before."

"Well, that's lucky."

"Indeed it is! Our Chief of Medicine had to be here early today for the interview. I've already spoken with his secretary and she says he's agreeing to do it. Though, not without resistance."

"Doctor Blutsauger?" Flathoof blinked and scratched his head. "The Chief of Medicine is going to give my parolees a standard medical exam? Isn't that a bit beneath his station?"

"Yes, typically. But the Board would want him to do it anyway, since…" She leaned in a little and hushed her voice. "You know, we get tax breaks whenever new citizens get fresh medical records, kinda like the NPPD does, yeah? Every little bit helps, if you catch my drift?"

He just nodded and smiled. "Thank you. I appreciate this, Nurse…?"

"Tenderheart," she said. "And don't thank me, I'm just doing my job. To tell the truth, this might put me in good graces with the Hospital Board. All these free immunizations are expensive, and we had to call in extra staff members to see that the line moved as quickly as possible."

"Right…"

Tenderheart handed Flathoof a card. "Here, give this to his secretary and tell her I sent you. She'll admit your parolees no problem. She's expecting you. Take the elevator—" She pointed down another hallway perpendicular to the one they were already standing in. "Up to the eighth floor."

Flathoof nodded and took the card. "Thank you again, Nurse Tenderheart. Come on, ladies. We're in luck."

"Thank goodness," Twilight said. "Hopefully this'll be quicker, right?"

"It should be." Flathoof shook his head as he led them towards the elevators, "It's not going to take fifteen hours, I'll say that much. I dunno, it might take about thirty minutes for each of you, an hour at worst? Longer than just getting a shot, but hey, we don't have to wait in line, right?"

"Well that's a relief," Rainbow said.

The elevators at Central General were much larger than those at NPPD Central Station, so nopony had to be squished next to anypony else. This elevator even played music as they waited, a cheery tune that was easy to hum along to, or in Pinkie's case, bounce along to. The elevator dinged as it reached each new floor.

The eighth floor was nice. The lobby had been a filthy white, clean enough to be passable but not really sterile or hygienic. This felt more like a high-rise office building, not a hospital. The floor was carpeted, and the walls and ceiling were a pristine white. They traveled down the hall to the right-hand side, just before the corner, to a big door made of a blackened wood. It was marked with a gold placard that read Dr. Blutsauger, MD — Chief of Medicine.

Upon entering, they saw the secretary they were to contact, a unicorn mare with a dull blue coat and curly white hair. She was busy filling out some paperwork when they walked in, and hardly noticed them until Flathoof stepped up to her and coughed.

"Can I help you?" she asked without looking up from her work.

Flathoof set the business card he'd been given onto her desk. "We were sent up here from Nurse Tenderheart to see Doctor Blutsauger. Something about getting—"

The secretary lifted the card with her magic and brought it in front of her. "Ah, right, I got her message a few minutes ago. You should count yourselves lucky that Doctor Blutsauger is even here this early, but what can you do when we have a possible epidemic on our hooves, hmm?"

"And we appreciate him seeing us," Flathoof said.

"These six mares are the patients then? May I see their identifications?"

Twilight and her friends all hastily fumbled through their outfits to find where they'd stored their ID cards, then presented them.

The secretary looked over each carefully and entered their information into her computer station. "Hmm, they don't have any medical records on file, like you said. They just got into the city yesterday afternoon, right?"

"That's right."

"And they're already getting medical records taken care of and everything?" She beamed at the mares. "Good for you! It's not often we see new ponies take such quick action. Wait here, I'll inform the doctor you've arrived."

Flathoof nodded. "Thank you."

She left the room, exiting through the large door behind her. Flathoof breathed a sigh of relief, as did everypony else.

"This is going pretty smoothly," Twilight said, taking a seat in one of the office's comfy-looking chairs. "I was worried when we first got here that everypony was going to be unhelpful and rude, like those first few we met. It's nice to see there are other ponies around here that are like you and Mister Lockwood."

Rainbow grunted and took a seat next to Pinkie. "This all seems a little fishy, if you ask me."

"Aw, c'mon Dashie, everypony's gotta get lucky sometimes, right?" She threw her foreleg around Rainbow's shoulder, and got a faraway look in her eyes. "Why, I remember when I was just a little twinkie Pinkie, growing up on my family's rock farm—"

"Here we go…"

"One day, I saw a moving rock and got really scared because, hey, rocks don't move on their own! But it turned out it wasn't a rock, it was a rock lobster! Mom and Pop were super excited, because those are worth so much money to rich ponies as pets! So we sold it, and then we decided to take a vacation at the beach with the bits we made, and everypony got matching towels, and—"

Rainbow leaned over to Rarity. "What in the hay is a rock lobster?"

"—so we were headed there, and we saw a sign on the road that said fifteen miles to the—"

Rarity shook her head and shrugged. "Never heard of one. Fluttershy? Do you know, dear?"

"—and it was set way back in the middle of a field, which seems like a really weird place to put a place called the Love Shack, but I dunno, I guess everypony likes their privacy every now and then, right? So yeah, it was just a funky old shack, and—"

Fluttershy tapped her hooves together. "Um, well, they're little crab-like critters that use rocks for their homes, kind of like a shell. But they typically don't live where Pinkie used to live. They live by the ocean, usually under docks. And they're… not exactly good as pets."

"—so we took it hip-to-hip, rocking through the wilderness, which was really fun! Mom and Pop never liked to dance much except at my parties, so it was really neat to see them having such a good time. I told 'em, 'Mom, Pop, you gotta roam if you want to, even without wings or wheels or'—"

"So what the hay was one doing on her farm?" Rainbow turned to Pinkie. "Pinks! Your story doesn't make any sense!"

"—and it had pink air, which I thought was super cool 'cause I'm pink and stuff, and I thought maybe the air would taste different, but it didn't really, so I was kinda disappointed. All the trees were red though, which was weird. I thought maybe they were like, licorice or something, but nope! So then—"

Flathoof put a hoof to his face and groaned. "I swear, if I have to hear one more of these crazy stories—"

Their attentions were diverted away from Pinkie's bizarre tale when the large double doors opened and the secretary reappeared.

"Doctor Blutsauger will see you now," the secretary said. "One at a time," she quickly added when all six mares took a step forward, "and he insists on doing it alphabetically. That means you're first, Miss…" She glanced at her computer screen again. "Applejack?"

"Oh, well, okay I guess," Applejack said as she trotted forward and past the secretary. "Wish me luck, girls."

*****

Applejack jumped at the sound of the big doors snapping closed behind her. With a gulp, she looked around the new room she found herself in. Doctor Blutsauger's office was, to put it lightly, fancy.

The walls were richly decorated with all sorts of unique, exotic décor, all of it with an eerie medical feel. The lavish carpet felt oddly comfortable under her hooves, like walking on crisp, freshly-cut grass. There were no windows, but she actually preferred it that way since the big city was still unsettling to her.

The massive wall of degrees and qualifications eased Applejack's trepidation. Doctor Blutsauger was clearly a highly-decorated expert in his field. Rather, fields, given the amount of degrees on the wall. She didn't know any of the many different specializations that were listed, though. There were degrees for Cardiology, Hematology, and a few others, none of which she knew the nature of nor really cared to know, truth be told.

Along one of the walls was a display of jars filled with a transparent, greenish liquid and various other… things. Applejack had never paid much attention in school during biology lessons, but she figured the objects in those jars were organs. Certainly now Applejack was less at ease, and wondered how Doctor Blutsauger expected a wall full of pony organs to really soothe anypony that came in here.

The doctor himself soon exited from the side room.

He smiled broadly when the mare caught his eye. "Ah, Miss Applejack, ja? Wunderbar! Let's get this ordeal over with. I did not expect to be coming in today to give physicals und perform any hoof rot shots personally, but business is business, or so they say. Follow me, bitte."

He gestured behind him towards the room he'd just left. Applejack followed, and came into a sterile white room with a large table in the center. The walls were lined with various medical implements.

"Let's take care of a few measurements first. Step over to the device here." He gestured to a machine that Applejack thought looked similar to a scale. She stepped on it, and he came over and began adjusting knobs and levers on the panel. "Now then, I understand you are from the south, ja? Did you take a physical over there any time recently?"

Applejack thought for a moment, and remembered a doctor's visit she'd taken a little while before all of this. "Yeah, some few months ago, I think, to get a cramp in one of my legs looked at. I don't rightly remember exactly when it was."

Blutsauger continued to adjust the scale as he talked. "Do you remember any of the measurements you were given?"

Applejack raised an eyebrow. "Measurements?"

He waved a hoof in a gesture for her to continue. "Ja, your height, weight, things like that? I'd like to have them for comparison, in case there is a large difference in the numbers. It helps to see if you've grown or shrunk in figure, ja? To learn if perhaps there is something in your daily routine or diet that may be affecting you."

"Ah, okay." Applejack nodded, and tapped a hoof to her temple in thought. She came up blank. "Uh, I don't rightly remember if they even took any. I ain't that good with numbers, see, and—"

"Fine fine, it's no big issue," he dismissed. "We can worry about that the next time you have a physical, to see how well you adjust to changing living conditions. Let's see. Ah, height is one hundred forty-one, slightly above-average, very good. You are a tall one, ja! Veight is four hundred twenty-seven, also above-average—"

Applejack turned her head and glared at him. "Well that's a bit rude, doc. Ya sayin' I'm fat?"

Blutsauger blinked. A second later, he laughed. Loudly. "Ach, goodness no. Ha! Ha ha!" He took a kerchief from his coat pocket and wiped it under one of his goggles. "Fat! That is a new one. I will have to remember it for the next Doctors' Ball."

She wasn't sure if she should laugh along with him or not, to be honest.

"Nein, meine liebste, you have some exquisite muscular tone, so the extra weight is all from that." He punctuated this by poking her well-muscled midsection. "You are a work pony, ja? The weight is understandable, given your height. You must do a lot of physical labor, und quite often? From the south, hmm. Construction maybe, or a farm pony, perhaps?"

Applejack blinked and nodded. "Yeah, that's right, I work on a farm. Good guess, doc."

"Ach, I make it mein business to know mein patients on a personal level, ja? It helps make them feel at ease, since many patients feel uncomfortable with a few of the procedures." He tugged the collar of his lab coat and bit his lip. "Speaking of which, for the next procedure, I am going to need you to strip."

*****

"Bonjour. Est-ce que votre réfrigérateur marche? Alors, vous feriez mieux d'aller l'attraper!"

Blutsauger pulled back several inches and looked at his stethoscope carefully.

No, there wasn't any dirt or dust on it. He leaned in again.

"おはようございます！ クレージーホースインザモーニングへ ようこそ！ 僕は アンカーマン クレージーホースです！"

His stethoscope shifted.

"This is your captain speaking, we are currently on our final approach to—"

He kept himself calm; Pinkie only smiled. He coughed, and gave her a relaxed, though quizzical, look of concern.

Pinkie's grin got wider. "What's up, doc?"

Where did she get the carrot from?

*****

"Will. You. Stop. Moving. Please?" Blutsauger gasped. "You are. Making. This. So much. Harder. Than. It. Needs. To be!"

"C'mon doc, you gotta try harder than that," Rainbow said. "Or am I too fast for you? I'm not just a fast flier, y'know. I gotta be fast all over."

"You are not supposed to dodge the hammer," he panted as he lifted the rubber implement once more. Again he swung it down and again he missed as she moved her leg out of the way.

Rainbow crossed her hooves over her chest. "Well that's dumb, how is it supposed to test my reflexes if I just let you hit me?"

Blutsauger sighed and wiped his brow with his kerchief. "I thought I was done with dealing with things like this."

*****

"There we go, all done." Blutsauger nodded as he used his magic to toss a needle into a hazardous waste disposal bin. "That was not so bad, ja?"

Twilight opened her eyes and shook her head, though the spot was still just a little sore. "No, I suppose not."

She'd had to focus her attention intently on a clock on the far end of the room when he'd given her the shot, clenching her eyes shut when she felt the needle just prock her skin. She'd never mentioned it to any of her friends and probably never would unless it came up, but she wasn't exactly a big fan of needles.

"Mmm, this is something that I have not done in a long time," he chuckled. "Bloodwork is such a pleasure. Ah, sometimes I wish I had not gotten this promotion, ja? It is always the little things you miss the most."

"Right." Twilight grimaced as she felt him apply the tiny bandage to the injection area. "So, are we all done here for today? With everything? Please tell me that's the last of it."

"Hmm? Oh, ja, that will be all," Blutsauger said, waving a hoof dismissively. "Tell mein secretary that you are all done, und she will send the tax paperwork to your place of residence. Und she will give you a lollipop too, I think, for being such a trooper," he added with a wide smile, giving her cheek a little pinch with his hoof.

"Oh. Right." Twilight gulped, face turning red. "Um, thank you, Doctor."

Twilight sighed in discontent and left the office. Her friends were all in the entryway waiting for her, wearing varied looks of displeasure or bewilderment at the experiences they'd just gone through. Well, doctor's visits were certainly different here in this new world, that much Twilight knew was for certain.

But hey, the lollipop was blackberry-flavored.

*****

It was good to be back at Southeast Point. Not too many hours had passed, but it was still close to mid-afternoon as Twilight, her friends, and Flathoof ascended the stairs to their apartment. Every time she traversed these stairs, Twilight felt she was becoming more and more accustomed to the climb, and she hoped the others felt as she did. Having a good night's rest, stopping for a little lunch on the way home, and not having to deal with a lot of stress thanks to getting sucked into another world, allowed them a lot more energy for it. Even Rarity barely complained as they made the climb.

It came as a surprise to find Lockwood waiting at the top of the stairs for them, pacing back and forth outside their open door. He looked calm, but impatient.

"Lockwood?" Flathoof pushed ahead of the girls and approached his friend. "I didn't expect you until later tonight for dinner arrangements."

Lockwood greeted them with his bright smile. "Oh, there you all are. Must've been going in for those immunization shots, hmm? Right right, of course you were, silly of me to even ask. How was it? The line wasn't too long, I hope?"

"Fifteen hours and thirty minutes," Twilight said, sighing heavily. "When we got there, it was packed. I've never seen such a crowd in one place before, and I've seen an awful lot of crowds."

Lockwood raised an eyebrow. "Fifteen hours? Really? You're all back awfully early, then."

"Yeah, we got some help from a nurse there," Flathoof said. "A Nurse Tenderheart, to be precise. Friend of yours? Maybe she recognized me or something. I figured you might have had something to do with it, maybe called in a favor knowing we'd be there?"

"Tenderheart? No, the name doesn't sound familiar. I do know one doctor there, though."

Flathoof smiled and nodded. "See, I knew it. It wouldn't be Doctor Blutsauger, would it?"

Lockwood chuckled. "The city's Chief of Medicine? Oh, Flathoof, I think you overestimate me. I know a lot of ponies, but that's a little beyond my reach when social circles are concerned. I had nothing to do with this at all."

Flathoof hummed and scratched his head. "Well that's odd. I guess that nurse or secretary was just really nice then. Shame. I could've gotten some information for you. You'd probably like to meet somepony like that."

He shook his head, then pointed at Lockwood. "Anyway, I know you didn't come up here just to make conversation. Well, maybe you would, but that doesn't look like why you're here. What's going on?"

"Ah, yes, right. Well, I was doing some rounds after a city technician came by to service the phone lines, and when I returned to the lobby, a visitor was waiting to meet our new friends here."

"A visitor? Who?"

"You'll have to ask her. She's just inside."

"Why'd you let her into the apartment?" Flathoof asked with narrowed eyes.

"So that I could keep her within hooves reach, of course. Relax, she seems very nice and has been more than cooperative so far. I'm a good judge of character, you know that." Lockwood gestured for the door. "C'mon, she's been waiting for you. It's good you got here early, eh?"

Twilight, her friends, Lockwood, and Flathoof entered the apartment.

A short icy blue unicorn mare with a snow white mane rested on their couch. She was covered in small, somewhat fresh cuts and bruises, though they were minor enough that they didn't need treatment. The only really bad one was a gash along her ear, which was already bandaged. She wore a magenta turtleneck sweater and matching scarf and beret, the former of which had a few tears in it as if she'd been in a scuffle. Her cutie mark was a crystal made of ice.

She'd clearly been through a lot, but was otherwise awake, alert, and actually enjoying what appeared to be a cup of coffee.

"Oh good, you're here," the mare said after she swallowed a mouthful. She smacked her lips and gave Lockwood a small grin, lifting the cup slightly. "Good stuff, by the way. Ya don't skimp on your coffee, do ya? This is some serious gourmet shit."

Lockwood returned the grin. "I tend to wake up early, and I find that a good cup of coffee gets the day started right. It's a little late in the day for my tastes, though."

"Yeah sure, but I pulled an all-nighter so I needed a little of the ol' pick-me-up. I tell ya, I could go for a real coldie after all this, though." The mare then turned to Twilight and the others as she hopped off the couch. "Well then, let's keep this simple, eh? Cuttin' right to the point, my name is Winter Glow, Chronomancer of Equestria-V, and I'm here to send you home."

Twilight and her friends were, quite frankly, stunned.

Flathoof grunted rather loudly. "Lockwood, mind telling me what you're doing letting crazy mares in here? Bad enough you let a stranger in here in the first place—made her a damn cup of coffee, even—but I figured she was at least sane."

Lockwood huffed and put his hoof over his heart. "Flathoof, I'm hurt. You know me better than that. She told me she was acquainted with Miss Sparkle and the others and seemed to know a great deal about them, so I figured she was a friend of theirs that heard they were in the neighborhood. But just in case, sure, it's not like I haven't been keeping an eye on her until you all showed up."

"She knows our names?" Twilight asked, giving Winter a look.

"Indeed I do, Twilight Sparkle." She turned to the others in the group. "And Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie. I know more than just your names, actually. You lot are a long way from home, and it's my job to get ya back where ya belong. Back to, uh… Ponyville, yeah?"

Twilight's eyes widened. "You even know where we're from?"

Flathoof put a hoof out to stop Twilight when she took a step forward. "She can get that from public records if she knows what she's doing. Probably how she got your address, too." He leveled a glare at the mare. "You're gonna give me a good reason, right now, why anypony here should trust you."

Winter nodded in complete understanding. "Right, yeah, figured ya might get a bit defensive. How about somethin' I know about them that ain't on record, eh?" She glanced at Twilight and nodded. "Like how Miss Sparkle is the prized student of Princess Celestia? Or how the lot of ya are connected to the Elements of Harmony?"

Flathoof shook his head and turned to Lockwood again. "Seriously? You think this mare's on the level after all that gibberish?"

Twilight swiftly pressed forward past Flathoof.

"Whoa, hey! Miss Sparkle—"

"It's okay, Captain Flathoof." Twilight looked at him and gave him a kind smile. "She's telling the truth. I think we can trust her."

"Huh?"

Twilight turned back to Winter. "You say you're here to help us get home, right? How?"

Lockwood scratched his head. "Wait a sec, I'm actually starting to think Flathoof was right on this, because now you're all talking crazy. What does that mean, exactly? 'Get home'? You mean like, back into the Wastelands? No no, wait, she said Ponyville, so… back to the southern continent? To Utopia?"

"We're… not actually from Utopia. At all," Twilight said, shaking her head. "We're from a place called Ponyville, yes, in a country called Equestria, but… it's all in another world entirely. We're not from this world."

"Oh my goodness! I just realized, that means we're aliens!" Pinkie blurted, She wiggled her hooves in the air at Flathoof and Lockwood with a wide smile on her face. "Fear not, ponylings, for we are not the probing kind. Unless you're into that sort of thing, I guess? Wait. No, still not probing you, but you wouldn't be afraid if we did."

Winter cleared her throat. "Strictly speakin', they're from an alternate world to this one designated as Equestria-IV. They were accidentally displaced here and it's my job as this world's Chronomancer to get them back to where they belong. Though I guess 'aliens' is sort of fittin'?"

Flathoof and Lockwood just stared at her and the others for a good, long moment in total silence.

The former stepped past the others and further into the room, moving towards the couch. "I think I need to sit down."

The latter removed his hat and scratched his head as he leaned himself against the wall. "This was definitely not the conversation I was expecting to be having today. Or ever."

Winter just chuckled and shook her head. "Yeah, I realize it's a bit hard to take in. Normally I wouldn't have even let either of ya know about it, but circumstances dictate I've gotta bend a few rules anyway. The both of ya already got yourselves knee-deep in this shit, though, so you're as much a part of it as they are."

She then turned to Twilight and the others, all of whom were much brighter with the information they'd been given; Twilight especially was eager to get to the plan for getting them home already.

"Alright, ladies," Winter continued, "let me give ya the rundown of what the situation is. You six got yourselves sucked in through a portal made of what's called 'Void' energy. Nasty stuff, capable of tearin' whole worlds apart, and it's somethin' us Chronomancers try to put a stop to.

"Now, since you lot aren't in your world right now, I've been led to understand that the seal ya placed on someone called 'Discord' is weakenin', what with ya not bein' there to connect with the Elements of Harmony. Makes 'em not work right, I guess."

"Wait, Discord's loose?!" Twilight exclaimed in a panic. "We need to get back home, now!"

"Yeah, what're we wasting time gabbing for?!" Rainbow blurted.

"We're gonna miss the chocolate milk rain!" Pinkie added, earning disapproving looks from Twilight and Rainbow.

Winter raised a hoof. "Hold on, hold on, don't get your knickers in a twist, ladies. I have it in good authority that the seal isn't breakin' all at once, but that it's a gradual process. I've been given a timeframe of three-to-four weeks before the seal goes kaput and things really go to shit, eh?"

"Oh. Phew, that's relatively good news, at least," Twilight said, letting out a breath of relief. Being taken by surprise by Discord was one thing; giving him time to plot and scheme before getting a chance to stop him again was another. "Wait… three-to-four weeks? That's oddly specific."

"Hmm? How do ya mean?"

"I mean, why give us such a specific time frame if you're sending us home? It won't matter… to us." She paused. "Unless it does. That timeframe is important, isn't it?"

"See, I figured you were smart," Winter said with a grin. "Yeah, so, the bad news is that I can't send ya home right this minute. It's complicated."

"So, wait, don't tell me we're gonna be stuck here for three more weeks?" Applejack asked, removing her hat. "Maybe longer?"

"It's a possibility, but consider it more of a deadline than a guarantee," Winter said with a nod. "If we're lucky, it won't take that long anyway; if we're not, then I'll speak with my counterpart in your world to work on a backup plan."

"Counterpart?" Twilight asked.

"Yup, every world's got a Chronomancer of its own. The one in your world is named Summer Rains. Maybe ya heard of her?"

"That layabout?" Rainbow scoffed. "You're pulling my leg. Summer Rains didn't even make the cut for the weather team. She just stays cooped up in her house all day or takes picnics out in the middle of nowhere. Sometimes in the middle of the night!" She paused. "N-not that I'm spying on her, I just notice things."

Winter shrugged. "That's just what she wants ya to think, then. Trust me, she's a Chronomancer just like I am. It's thanks to her that I found out what's wrong in your world, and she and I put this plan together. She'll be tryin' to make sure that Discord's seal stays stable for as long as she can to make this timeline work."

"I don't even understand how our seal on Discord is weakening so fast or so noticeably," Twilight said, trying to parse all this information out. "Celestia's seal took nearly a year to wear off after the Elements transferred over to us, and was it so subtle that she didn't even notice it."

"I suppose it should be obvious that the six of ya aren't as powerful as Celestia though, right?" Winter suggested; Twilight had to admit that was likely true, and gave a weak nod. "Well, that and your seal was still fresh, so it might've been weaker. Like a… fresh bit of glue, basically: easier to peel apart than when it's had time to dry. Best analogy I've got."

"Well that's kind of a gyp," Rainbow said, crossing her hooves over her chest. "Our seal should be just as strong as the one the Princess used. That's not fair."

"Well, that's just how magic works, eh? Celestia's control of Law magic is significantly greater than any of yours, even combined, especially since only two of ya are unicorns that can use actual magic. At any rate, the longer you're here, the faster the influx of Chaos magic will—"

Twilight waved a hoof to stop Winter from going on. "Hang on, now you're confusing me by bringing up ‘Law’ magic. Chaos and Law aren't really those kinds of—"

Winter held up a hoof of her own. "Listen, Miss Sparkle, I'd love to get into a debate with ya right here in the middle of your dingy apartment, but I'll save us both the trouble and say that every world is different in how it classifies things. It all comes down to the same concept: balance between two opposing forces, and your world's balance is off."

"Just cut to the chase already!" Rainbow shouted from the back. "We get it, we've gotta get home, and we've gotta do it quick. So, what're we gonna do about it?"

"Ah, the plan is rather simple, really." Winter glanced around the apartment. "You lot seem to have gotten yourselves situated with a place to live for now, eh? Basically, the plan is that you're all gonna just go about your days and adjust to livin' in this shithole city while I work on gettin' into contact with Nihila."

"Nihila? Who's that?" Twilight asked.

"One of this world's two alicorn goddesses, specifically that of disparity, darkness, evil, and all that hullabaloo."

Twilight balked. "Wait, what? We're asking an evil goddess for help? Isn't there, I don't know, a not-evil one we can ask?"

"Yup, sure is. Harmonia, goddess of peace, balance, and light."

"Well then let's ask her," Rainbow said.

"Thing is, to get her help we'd need to travel from here in New Pandemonium City all the way south to Utopia. To do that, we'd first have to cross the entire northern continent to Hope's Point, then get a flight to Utopia before we can even contact Harmonia. If we're lucky, the entire trip will take just shy of three weeks, assumin' no delays whatsoever.

"Now, before ya start thinkin' that doesn't sound so bad, crossin' the continent is dangerous. Hundreds of ponies attempt it every year, and statistics show that a group our size is likely to result in at least one death en route. The odds aren't great."

"No, that… that doesn't sound good at all," Twilight murmured.

"Yup, 'cause if anythin' like that were to happen to even one of ya, your world's screwed, and this world's screwed, because there'd be no way to reverse the imbalance."

"Not that it doesn't concern me, but… how come? If one of us had something… happen to us, then why would there still be an imbalance?"

"It's a bit complicated, but the short version is, your souls wouldn't go back to your world, they'd stay here. This world's balance would remain off, and your world would be out one bearer of the Elements, eh?"

Twilight gulped. "That… does sound pretty bad."

Winter shook her head. "After that, the Void would just come right in and start eating away at things in both worlds until there's nothing left. Within a few months, your world and this one would cease to exist, probably yours first. It's not worth the risk."

"So, what, we're just gonna sit here and try to make like we're movin' into this here city?" Applejack asked, scratching her head. "I'm not sure I like the sound of that much neither."

"She's making the outside of the city sound awfully dangerous," Rarity noted. "I know we're no strangers to dangerous things, girls, but perhaps it's best if we don't go running off into it?"

"And just stay stuck in this dung heap? For three weeks or whatever?" Rainbow scoffed. "I dunno, I think I'd rather take the odds. I can probably fly to this Hope's Point or whatever all by myself and get them to send help or something to get everypony else across."

Applejack rolled her eyes. "Rainbow, what makes ya think that just showin' up like that would amount to anythin'? It ain't like we can just wait for ya to make the trip 'n' all. 'Sides that, what if somethin' happens to you while you're all by yerself out there? We'd be in a right pickle and we'd never even know it."

"Aw, c'mon, AJ. I'm Rainbow Danger Dash, this'll be a cakewalk!"

"I thought your middle name was 'Professionalism'?"

"She has three or four middle names by my count, dear," Rarity said with a little grin. "Her parents must have wanted to see how much they could get away with."

"Har har," Rainbow scoffed. "I still stand by my point: I think I can handle it, if you guys are up to give it a try."

"Staying here in the city doesn't sound so bad when you compare it to potential death, Rainbow," Twilight said with a sigh. "I'm inclined to agree with Rarity: I think that staying here and trying to fit in would be the better idea. The safer idea. We don't know all of the particulars of this world's threats, and we all want to get home safe, right?"

"Right…" Fluttershy muttered.

Rainbow glanced at Fluttershy, then sighed and nodded. "No, you're right. I guess we can just stick here where it's safe, even if the city is a big ol' lame-o dungheep." She shrugged. "I guess I'll just have to keep an eye on you guys."

"So, what's the plan?" Twilight asked, turning back to Winter. "How can we help?"

"Well, the main thing is gettin' in touch with Nihila," Winter said, rubbing the back of her neck. "Problem is that there's no easy way to do that. I'm gonna be spendin' my time over these next few weeks lookin' into how to go about it. There's bound to be somethin' resemblin' instructions somewhere in the city archives."

"You mean you don't even know for sure that you can even contact this Nihila pony?" Rainbow blurted.

"I agree, that sounds like an awful oversight, dear," Rarity added.

"No, I know I can contact her, it's just a matter of how," Winter corrected. "Down south, Harmonia can be contacted via a pony known as her 'Warden'. Nihila would have a Warden too, so I need to figure out how to get in touch with them."

Twilight tapped her chin. "You said something about researching the city archives, right? Well… maybe I can help? As part of this whole, uh… lie that we've been telling, I managed to get hired at the Central Database Holdings as a librarian. I'll be around all sorts of research materials."

Winter nodded appreciatively. "Good, good, that'll work out nicely." She turned to the others. "The rest of ya just do whatever ya need to do to get comfortable and stay safe, eh? Ya might need some kind of income so ya can get better clothes, food, maybe stuff to help ya relax or whatever."

"So wait," Flathoof said. All the mares jumped, having forgotten he and Lockwood were even still in the room. "Let me get this straight: these six mares are from another world, and to send them home you need to get in touch with some evil goddess within the next three-to-four weeks. Am I understanding this right?"

Winter nodded as if it was nothing at all. "That's the gist of it, yes."

"Well if you ask me, it sounds like you need some help," Flathoof said.

"And you are? Sorry, got sort of bogged down with all the other discussion and I never properly introduced myself to ya. Right rude of me, eh? Winter Glow," she said, offering her hoof. "Nice to meet ya."

Flathoof removed his hat and shook her hoof. "Captain Flathoof, NPPD. I'm their parole officer. I'd like to think I've helped these young ladies get through their first twenty-four hours here pretty well. And if everything you're saying is true and they need to get home, I suppose I'd be willing to offer up a little more."

"You mean you're gonna help us?" Applejack asked.

Flathoof nodded.

"The better question is, you believe all this?" Rainbow asked. "I mean, I hardly believe it and I'm living it."

"To be honest, I still find it all a bit far-fetched, but there's a whole lot about your original story that didn't make much sense either. If you're really from another world, then things start making at least a little more sense, like how you got into the city without anypony noticing." Flathoof shrugged. "So, what else is there to believe?"

"Well said," Lockwood agreed, patting Flathoof on the shoulder. "If you eliminate the impossible until only the improbable is left, then the improbable must be true. I'm with Flathoof. Anything I can do to help, you just to ask."

Flathoof turned to Winter. "So, we need to keep these girls occupied, safe, and provided for for at least three weeks?"

Winter nodded. "Correct."

"I'm only your parole officer for one week, and we've got one day behind us already," Flathoof said, giving the mares a nod. "But even after that, I'll be sure to keep an eye on you girls. I might not be around as often once I get back to my normal shift, but I'll do what I can."

Lockwood looked to the mares in the line. "Well, I think I can hook a few of you up with some friends of mine if any of you are looking for things to pass the time or trying to earn some bits. I've already got your apartment settled up so that you won't have to worry about rent until after you're meant to leave, anyway."

"We appreciate the help, both of you," Twilight said, bowing her head. "We can't thank you enough for what you've already done for us, and I wasn't really ready to ask for more, but… well, thank you."

"Yeah, you guys are alright in my book!" Pinkie said with a large bounce. "You know what this means, girls? A party! To celebrate new friends and stuff!"

Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Yeah, alright. I guess things could be a lot worse than sticking around in this dump and asking for help from a couple of ponies we hardly know. If that's what we gotta do to get home, then let's do it."

Lockwood clapped his hooves together briefly. "Excellent. I'll get in touch with some friends to see if we can arrange some things. Now, I'm afraid I don't know all of you that well just yet, so if anypony can offer me a few suggestions?"

Rarity raised her hoof first, actually excited from what Twilight could tell, the first time she'd seen Rarity like this since they'd arrived. "Ooh! Back home, I'm a fashion designer, and a rather well-regarded one at that. Since everypony in this city of yours is required by law to wear clothes, I suppose there must be some sort of fashion scene here, yes?"

"Indeed there is! I know just the ponies to talk to, in fact, if you're looking to break onto the scene."

"How about the city's weather patrol?" Rainbow asked. "That was my gig back home. I was captain of the team, actually, so I know all about organizing schedules and assigning pegasi to proper positions and such."

Lockwood tilted his head. "Well, the only 'weather' we get in the city is just smog and the occasional acid rain. I mean, we do have weather teams to keep the latter contained, but they’re exclusively unicorns; pegasi can't touch acid rain clouds, obviously."

"Well… yeah, that makes sense. I don't think I'd want to get within fifty feet of something that could melt my skin off." Rainbow tapped her chin. "Well, how about skyball? The city's got a league or something, right?"

Lockwood nodded in thought. "Well, it's a bit late to join any professional teams seeing as they're midway through the season, but I do know a talent scout for a team in the semi-pro league. If he sees you play, he might recruit you."

Rainbow grinned. "Yeah, that sounds great! Even semi-pro's better than being cooped up in this apartment all day every day."

"Excellent, I'll arrange something with him so that he can give you a look. Their season starts next week so I'm sure he'd be more than happy to pick up some fresh talent."

"I don't rightly know how any of my talents really translate around here," Applejack said, fiddling with her stetson. "I was honest about bein' a farmer back home 'n' all, so unless y'all got some sort o' farm somewhere where y'all grow crops or whatnot, I don't know what to do."

"I'm afraid we don't have anything like that…" Lockwood murmured, tapping his chin.

Applejack stamped her hoof on the floor, looking quite dejected. "Shoot…"

"You mentioned that you do lots of heavy lifting and sorting as part of your farm work, right?" Flathoof asked.

"Uh, yeah, that's right."

"Tell you what, tomorrow I'll introduce you to my dad. I'm positive that there’s an opening in one of the shipping warehouses, and I'm sure he'd be happy to have somepony reliable take it. You strike me as the reliable sort."

"R-really? You'd do that for me?"

Flathoof gave her a little grin. "I don't see why not? It'll be good pay, my dad can help keep an eye on you, and it's right up your alley, too: hard, physical work. I know it's not the same as a farm, but it's something."

"Gee, uh… thanks, Flathoof." Applejack nodded, a slight smile on her face. "Yeah, that does sound mighty nice."

"Ooh ooh!" Pinkie said, bouncing in place. "If we're doing things like what we do back home, I worked at the bestest best bakery in all of Ponyville! Is there anything like that around here? I'm one mean baker, I tell ya. Well, not mean, but— you know what I mean."

Lockwood stroked his chin and nodded. "Yeah, I can work with that. There's a confection caterer that's only a few blocks from here that I've used for assorted charity work I do, so I'm sure if I drop the owner a line she'd be happy to have a new helper on staff."

Pinkie pumped a hoof in triumph. "Yes! Everything’s coming up Pinkie! Woo!"

The group then expectantly looked to Fluttershy, who hid behind her mane and scuffed her hoof on the floor. "Um… well, my talent is with animals, you know, and I, um… I haven't exactly seen any animals around to take care of. Is there something like that around here?"

Lockwood frowned and shook his head. "I'm afraid we don't have animals up here in the north, except some nasty, deadly ones out in the Wasteland that I wouldn't want you or anypony else getting anywhere near."

"Oh, w-well, that's fine," Fluttershy peeped, clearly unnerved by that. "I mean… if that doesn't work, then I was thinking… what if I just stay here at the apartment? You know, make sure the place is clean and neat for everypony when they come home from work? I think I'd like that…" She sighed. "It'd let me feel useful…"

"Oh, darling, you don't need to feel bad if you're not using your special talent here," Rarity said as she rubbed Fluttershy's back. "I'm sure we'll all appreciate your help no matter how you choose to offer it, and coming back to a comfortable home after a hard day's work sounds marvelous."

"Thanks, Rarity…"

Winter nodded. "Sounds like you lot got things figured out then, eh? Good, makes me feel better knowin' you've got somethin' ta keep yourselves busy while I get this all figured out." She let out a breath and headed for the door. "Miss Sparkle, I'll see you tomorrow at the CDH building to start doin' some research."

"Roger that," Twilight said with a smile. "Looking forward to it. Where are you off to now?"

"I've gotta get myself a place to live for the time bein'," Winter said with a shrug. "My last apartment got condemned, let's just say, and it won't do me good sleepin' out on the streets, eh?"

"Finding a place to live on such short notice isn't going to be easy," Flathoof said, eyebrow quirked.

"You could always stay with us?" Twilight suggested.

Winter glanced around the room, then shook her head. "Thanks, but no thanks. This apartment's small enough as it is with six of ya, and I wouldn't want to impose. You're goin' through enough trouble already, eh? No need to add more to the pile."

"We can't just let you go out there without a place to sleep, Miss Glow," Rarity said. "That would simply be unacceptable, especially given how much you're willing to do for us. I know it's your job, as you say, but surely there's something we can do to help you?"

"Unless ya know how to make an apartment available at the drop of a hat, I doubt it."

Flathoof nudged Lockwood. "Hey, landlord, you got any openings?"

Lockwood shook his head. "Afraid not, not one that I'd be able to swing for a single tenant anyway. The owner is a stickler for ensuring that rooms are given to appropriately-sized groups so we don't have to worry so much about missed payments, and I don't think Miss Glow here can afford the larger apartments I do have open no matter how much I manage to finagle.

"However… I think I might have an idea." Lockwood coughed into his hoof. "I hope this doesn't sound untoward, Miss Glow, but you could stay with me. I hardly use all of my space as-is, and you'd be close to Miss Sparkle and the others."

Winter tilted her head and gave Lockwood a quizzical look. "You're serious? Ya don't even know me and you're offerin' to let me into your home to live with ya? Just like that?"

"It's how he does things," Flathoof said, patting Lockwood on the shoulder.

Lockwood shrugged. "Look, Miss Glow, I'd be lying if I didn't say I feel awkward about the offer myself, but I did say I'd help these ladies however I could. That includes making sure you're taken care of as well, seeing as they need you to send them home, right? It's only logical, and it's only right. I'd feel like an ass if I didn't at least offer."

"Huh. I suppose you've got a point." Winter nodded. "Very well. It does make things simple for me, and if you don't have a problem with it then I don't have a problem with it. Just know that I've never had a roommate before, so I have no idea how this works."

"Excellent. Come along then, I'll show you where you'll be staying," he said as he walked past her and headed towards the door. He turned back to Twilight and the others before he left. "I'll be up here first thing in the morning with some answers for all of you regarding my contacts, alright? Hooves crossed."

"Thanks again, Lockwood," Twilight said with a nod. "Again, we appreciate all of this. You're too kind."

As Lockwood and Winter left, Flathoof let out a breath and turned to the group. "Alright, so, since it looks like we're all gonna be getting to know each other over the next few weeks, what say we get started on that? How about dinner?"

"Sounds good to me!" Pinkie said, rubbing her stomach. "I'm as hungry as a hungry hippo!"

"Dinner sounds wonderful, Captain," said Rarity with a smile. "I have the feeling this whole situation is just the start to some beautiful new friendships."

Comments

[KazuoLucas]

Oh so Shadowstep really did have something to do with what happened last time.

[RoboRed]

My memory's a little fuzzy, but did Shadowstep die this early the last time? I know that he died at one point and got rezz'd with gleamy sharp metal bits and a lot more attitude and came back at some really convenient times.

[Teraunce]

10415455
No. He survived the attack, was forcefully made undead, and only truly died much much later.

[TheCommunistDog]

Ah yes!!! lets ask the not so Very Evil Alicorn that 100% won’t just instantly kill us. What a great plan guys! I can’t see anything going wrong with that.

[My name is R]

Well. This title and the last are kind of Meta, if you take them as talking about the deviation.

Magmaberries were his favorite, and as such were utilized quite often in his diet. The name was for a variety of factors that the berries had: the lava-like consistency of their juicy interiors; their rich color, a deep, burnt red with bright orange and yellow splotches of which no two berries ever had the same pattern; and, their extremely spicy flavor with a savory-sweet aftertaste.

Well sure, there's that. But I suspect that tha main reason is this:

the berries themselves [...] only grew around the active volcanoes of the Redblade Mountains.

Hmm... So Shadowstep really did die in the fall. Okay.

Southeast Point. A relatively new building from his understanding, one currently owned and operated by the Rossa crime family.

I guess they didn't sell it after all. Maybe the 'investment' was tha money they could've gotten from selling it?

The original, from a reasonable age:

Hoof Rot is highly contagious. Do not touch anypony zat shows zee symptoms, do not let zem breaze on you, do not interact with zem! Zis is important!

Tha remake made during tha Covid panic:

"Now, hoof rot is highly contagious." The doctor turned to the camera rather dramatically. "Do not touch anypony who shows symptoms! Do not let them breathe on you! This is important! I would even recommend wearing a mask and staying at least six feet apart from others to limit transmission of the disease until you can get your shots."

I see yer takin' inspiration from current events.
I also noticed that you toned down Docter Bloodsucker's accent, though only after I checked the original for that quote.

Und she will give you a lollipop too, I think, for being such a trooper," he added with a wide smile, giving her cheek a little pinch with his hoof.

Umm, Doc? How old do you think she is, 9?
Hold up! How can he even pinch with one hoof?

Just know that I've never had a roommate before, so I have no idea how this works.

That's odd. Did she not share an apartment with her trainer? Or have we changed how Chronomancer succession works?