One Way

by jroddie

27: of Stetsons and Protocol

Chapter 27

My skin began to grow clammy. I looked down through the small window through which the small violet unicorn could be seen. She was connected to the box by bundles of tubes and wires. The top of her head could not be seen, because she seemed to be wearing a large, heavy metal helmet. The helmet was connected to the entire box via luminescent purple wires and hoses. She seemed to be wearing a respirator of some kind. Her body had numerous electrodes attached to it, and I could barely see the wires leading away to a tiny little screen that looked like an ECG machine. She was not lying down, but was somehow keeping herself afloat in the air. The entire interior of the machine was glowing with a brilliant reddish-purple. I looked back to her head. It was almost completely covered in metal, wires, and tubes. I understood what the respirator was for.

“They’re keeping her alive.” I whispered, in complete horror. I turned to Luna, who was looking at me with the same expression.

“We need to save her.” She said. I nodded, and placed my hooves against the metal box. I closed my eyes and concentrated.

“What are you doing, Edwin? We need to help her!” She said, taking into consideration my extreme lack of magic.

“It’s something that Marcus taught me when I was originally in the Nether. We’re rather strong when we need to be. Numbereds don’t need to use magic to manipulate things, most of the time. The world around us speaks, tells us what it wants, what it needs, what it sees. Sometimes, all you need to do is listen.” I said, and I began to feel the dull pulse of the monstrous machine. It was trying to keep Twilight alive, but I had no idea why she was even in it to begin with. I ran my hooves all over the side of the cube. I paused over a certain space, feeling the swirls and eddies in the metal that formed while it was being forged. I placed my hoof over one of the whorls, and I opened my eyes. My hoof was in the upper left corner of the cube, next to one of the claws that kept it mounted in the ground. I looked back at Luna. She was staring at me with a slight longing in her eyes that I could not figure the cause of. I turned back to the vile machine, and pressed into it with my hoof.

The metal was immediately caved into a bowl with a resounding thump, as if it was just hit with a baseball bat. I removed my hoof, and looked at it. Nothing bleeding, nothing hurt. I looked back to the dent in the cube and saw the impression of my hoof inside of a shallow crater. I smiled, and punched the metal with my other hoof. I was pleased to hear and feel the thick metal squeal and break, creating a puncture in the armor. I hooked my hoof through the hole, and closed my eyes again. I flicked my ears about and around, trying to hear what there was to hear. I opened my eyes in a flash. Heaving my entire body to the right, I pulled on the puncture. the metal squealed and shrieked in protest, but peeled back. I looked at it surprisedly, and then heaved my body again. The metal protested again for a second, and then let itself be pulled back the rest of the way. I unhooked my hoof from the thick sheet and stomped. My limbs felt all funny, like I was laying on them for a long time. I shook myself to get rid of the strange sensation. I looked back into the container.

“Wow.” Luna said, astonished. I turned my head to look at her.

“What?” I asked.

“Are you sure you can’t use magic?” She asked, completely in awe of what I just did. Her expression was in complete contrast to what I felt like. I was extremely tired and afraid for my life.

“What’s the big deal?” I asked, and she pointed with a hoof past me.

“You just ripped a hole through two inches of steel with your bare hooves. Not many ponies can do that.” She said. I turned back to the wavy ribbon of rent metal, understanding what I just did. I turned back to Luna and tried to explain.

“It’s like you... I mean, it’s... Well, Numbereds don’t have strength like normal ponies. We can be physically strong, but... Strange things happen around us. Some ponies would call it ‘good luck’ or something like that. Things usually go our way.” I tried to reason while remembering Marcus’ lecture in the Nether. Luna made a face of disbelief.

“Good luck? You just tore open a solid steel container like it was cardboard box.” She said, doubting my explanation. I shrugged.

“I don’t fully understand it myself, it’s just that-” I was cut off in the middle of my exposition by a pained moan. I turned to look at the imprisoned unicorn. Her hooves were twitching, and she seemed to glow brighter than before. The tether of the claw stiffened, and the tardis was thrown. She continued to moan, almost crying, like something would moan after it got punched in the stomach. I immediately rushed up to the mare. I reached up a hoof to tear off the cords and wires attached to her, but the glowing purple aura around the devices would not allow me to touch them. It wasn’t that they were causing me pain if I touched them, but they would simply not allow themselves to be touched. My hoof stopped a fraction of an inch away from the glowing purple wires. I lowered my hooves, confused.

“Here, I can do it.” Luna said, navigating carefully around the sharp edges of the box. She looked down at the imprisoned unicorn, and her horn began to glow. Twilight immediately relaxed, and she slumped over the wires and cords that were her jail. The purple glow immediately left the cords, the unicorn, and the entire cramped space. Gravity took hold of her and she fell, snapping the few tubes and things that were under her. Luna turned to me after this transpired, and said;

“You have three minutes until she can use magic again.” She said, and backed away from the pony. I rushed up to the periwinkle mare, ripping the machinery off of her. The electrodes fell away, followed by the dual clangs as the respirator and helmet fell off. I gasped as I could see her without her coverings. Her face was deathly pale, and one of the purple streaks in her hair seemed to have turned a solid grey. She wheezed as she inhaled. Her eyes were closed, as if she were sleeping. I paused for a moment, simply unable to comprehend what this mare went through. My bout subsided and I lifted her off of the ground and onto my back. I turned to Luna. She said nothing, but ran to the tardis. I followed as best as I could.

“‘Bout time you two showed up!” The Doctor said, crawling out of the blue box. Luna and I looked at the box questioningly.

“Will it still work?” I asked. Twilight wiggled lightly and muttered something on my back. The Doctor got out of the toppled tardis, brushed the dust from his shoulders, and turned back to look at it.

“Not within the next hour. I need time to right it. The internal dimension is not calibrated for being on its side, and the console itself is extremely difficult to access. You would be better just teaching it to tap dance.” The Doctor said. I was about to say something, but Luna interrupted me.

“Where is Cleo?” She asked. I looked to her incredulously. The Doctor did not turn away from the tardis.

“She’s busy trying to get out of her chamber. It had a slight problem with the door, just a teensie bit jammed. I figured that she would be well enough on her-” He was interrupted by a voice behind Luna and I.

“You’re very meddlesome, Mister Shell.” Said a flowing, masculine voice. I stiffened at once, about to turn and face him, when the Doctor said something startling to the orange Angelic that I knew to be there.

“Under the authority of Equestrian Immortal Affairs Council, I invoke clause fifty-three of the Ta’eik protocol.” He said with a voice of overpowering authority. I shivered slightly as I turned my head to look at the Angelic. I could see Twilight on my back, and the Angelic doing something very odd. He was hovering in mid-air, hoof outstretched, and wings unfurled. The wings were not flapping, which placed the Angelic in the ‘odd things’ category. He seemed to be completely frozen in mid-air. I was about to turn to the Doctor to ask the obvious question when Luna beat me to it.

“Why is he floating like that?” She asked, obviously afraid.

“I invoked clause fifty-three of the-”

“Yes, but what does that mean?” I stopped him before he could get ahead of himself.

“Well, pretty much, the Ta’eik protocol is like a general assortment of restrictions and rights imposed on the immortal populace of Equestria. About twenty years ago, a strange, strange group of powerful unicorns wove a spell that when a certain sequence of words were spoken, an immortal would be either prevented from doing or become able to do something. The day after the spell was wrought, a rulebook was sent to every single immortal being in Equestria. It’s rather nice, bound in red leather, gilt trim-”

“Focus.” Luna said. The Doctor looked at her for a moment, but then seemed to find his lost train of thought.

“Ah. Yes, well, clause 53 specifically prohibits immortals from killing other immortals. The exact wording escapes me currently, but that is the general gist.” The Doctor said, again turning to his upended machine. He sighed heavily.

“This is going to be trouble.” He muttered quietly. I turned away from the Doctor and the claw to stare at the Angelic. The body he occupied was fit, most certainly. It’s shoulder and back muscles were extremely toned, making its legs look slightly disproportionate, but barely. The orange wings were splayed outward, the flight feathers extended. I leaned in and sniffed. I was surprised by what I found, so I sniffed again. I was correct, she smelled like a campfire. I was about to turn away from it when I saw a flutter of movement out of the corner of my eye. It was another Angelic, holding Twilight’s throat in an outstretched hoof. She appeared to be conscious now, as she was grabbing at his hoof, trying to get him to let her go. The Angelic itself seemed to be very different than other Angelic I had seen before. He was tall, rather lanky. He was wearing a black leather stetson, but there was something odd about him that I could not place a hoof on. He grinned at me with perfectly white, square teeth.

“Boss ain’t gonna like you runnin’ off with this here engine.” He said with a light southern drawl, giving Twilight a little shake. She coughed lightly “Tain’t yours, is it?” he added. I sneered at him.

“She isn’t yours, either. Let her go!” I shouted as menacingly as I could. The Angelic shook his head, still smiling. I noticed what was different about this Angelic. He wasn’t a unicorn.

“Don’t think that I will. We done burned through five engines before we found disun. Besides,” He paused, snaking a long pointed tongue out of his mouth to lick Twilight’s cheek

“I kinda like how disun tastes.” He said when the tongue returned to his mouth.

“Listen, Angelic, I-

“Slim.” He retorted.

“What?” I said, letting the rebuttal seep through my threat.

“M’ name’s Slim.”

“You don’t need names. You’re all the same.” Said a strong feminine voice behind me. I turned to stare at Evangeline, glowing a bright golden with luminescent white eyes. I turned back to the Angelic, Slim, who looked significantly more afraid than before. He gulped, and Twilight struggled with renewed effort.

“This ain’t any a yer business, Three. This between me and ‘im. That, ‘n I got his lady right here!” He said, giving Twilight a shake. Evangeline sighed.

“You must be the most ignorant and stupid Angelic that I have ever met.” Evageline said, her voice dripping impatience and hatred. She rolled her eyes, but it lost effect because her pupils were not visible. The Angelic looked at her confusedly, and Evangeline pointed to Luna in explanation. The Angelic’s expression visibly sagged.

“Oh.” He said.

“Yeah” Evangeline said. There was a crushing moment of silence, while everypony sized up their opponents. I dissected the scenario in my mind, flipping through multiple scenarios where Twilight would be separated from the Angelic. I decided on a course of action when Evangeline’s eyes turned red and she fired at the Angelic. The searing red beam of energy blinded me for a moment, but not for a very long time. I saw the red beam flying, and then something odd happened. It was a familiar sensation, one that I had felt before, when I almost died chasing Celestia. Reality itself seemed to warp and bend, like a wet piece of paper. I watched the beam of brilliant red shoot straight for Slim, and still following a straight line, arced away from him and flew up into the sky. I stared at this blatant disregard for the laws of physics as long as I thought that I could get away with it. Slim whistled in admiration, and wiggled his black stetson above his curvy grey mane.

“It’s been quite a while, Eva. Ahm a lil’ rusty, and Ah really don’t think that I can be up fer another one a dem, least not tonight.” He said, panting lightly. As he finished, the Tardis materialized with the familiar wooshy noise. I looked back behind me, at the Claw, and I still saw the blue box in the grasp of the deadly metal phalanges. I looked between the two tardii, extremely confused. Slim sighed, and dropped Twilight into a gasping heap onto the forest floor, strewn with the broken tree limbs.

“Aw, shucks. Ah suppose yew can have ‘er. That Claw is really just a one-shot deal, and I suppose it dun been fired. Besides...” He trailed off, licking his lips with his long, pointed tongue.

“The best things in life are worth waitin’ fer.” He said knowingly. Twilight shuddered, and was lifted by an aura of blue magic and levitated over to Luna, Evangeline, and I. The Doctor, as if by cue, stuck his head out of the upright tardis.

“I should really say, at this point, to get in the tardis, no time to explain, but that just isn’t true right now. I’m just in a hurry. Get in.” He said, and disappeared inside of the Tardis. Our small group looked at each other in confusion, and then walked over to the awaiting box. I looked over to the Angelic, Slim.

“I’ll kill you next time, Slim. It’s a promise.” I said. Slim laughed and set himself down on the ground, curling up into a ball. He tilted the coal black stetson so it covered his eyes.

“Ya jus might, Five. Ya jus might.” He said, and began to snore lightly. I thought about killing him for a moment, but set myself against it. No more fighting, not today. I walked into the awaiting tardis.

“Good, Edwin, Let’s get a move-on. Put Miss Sparkle right in there, if you don’t mind, Luna.” The Doctor said, pointing from his console to a green inertia chamber. Twilight, surrounded by a wavering blue aura, floated inside of the machine. There was a hiss and a panel slid shut, concealing her from the rest of us. I suddenly found my surroundings too much to cope with, and my mind retreated into unconsciousness.

“Ed?” Asked a voice lightly. I opened my heavy lids to see blue. I smiled and closed my eyes again, smelling oranges.

“Luna...” I muttered. “What time is it?” I asked groggily. She understood the underlying meaning of my question.

“You are confronting Sebastian right now, I think. The Doctor said that he would come in a few hours to come and answer some questions. You can sleep if you want to.” She recommended. I shook my head, trying to rise from the rug. I found myself to be intertwined in Luna’s wing. I smiled, knowing that she covered me with it while I was unconscious. I smiled, lying back down on the rug that was our bed. I looked at the bookshelf, and one title jumped out at me. I pulled the red tome from its happy home, and read the golden lettering on the spine as it floated over to me.

“Ta’eik Protocol.” I said aloud. Luna shuffled, presumably looking at the book.

“Yes, I can’t believe that I still have it. You can read it later if you want.” She said. I hummed an assent, but found something wrong.

“Later? Why not now?” I asked. Luna chucked lightly, snaking a warm hoof over my side to lay across my chest.

“Because I’m not intending on sharing you with anypony for the next day, book or otherwise.” She whispered into my ear. I grinned and rolled over to face Luna. She was smiling, her eyes reflecting the early morning sunlight outside of the window.

“I think I like that.”

“You better.” She said, and silenced me with a kiss.

Comments

[Sonicbrony66]

Giggidy.

[yusha]

d'aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaw

[Ice]

73559 I don't think she's immortal then if she did

[jroddie]

73559 The clause only applies to immortals that heard the clause said. Evangeline was rocketing in from Celestia knows where.

[DragonxFlutter]

Ed you sly devil! If Celestia knew you was gettin' it awn wit' 'er sister, yeuud be right dead.

Ugh. My head.

[jroddie]

75511

[Darkness_take_you]

He's going to the moon now, then that is going to the sun