Anything, but Time

by Revel Montaro

Chapter 5: Hotel California

Half an hour after the decision was made to move forward the Easy Money sailed in through the marked channel and was secured to the docks. Steady Course was both unsurprised and equally annoyed that no one came from the hotel structure to help secure the boat or help with luggage. They knew they were not alone, even upon approach the three had noted and commented on spotting ponies along the beach. Whether they were guests or locals no indication was given and whoever they were they had not rushed to see the arrival once the ship was secured.

Something about the situation or “just an uneasy feeling,” as Sunset put it, motivated the younger alicorn to once again conceal herself beneath her velvety cloak despite the tropical weather and salt spray. The spirit of Rarity would just have to forgive her if anything got on the custom fashion accessory. Celestia would have liked to of rolled her eyes as paranoid nonsense, but could not completely deny that her senses were also leaning to the err of caution. It of course was possible that if the tourism business had been so terrible for the island locals for so long that there simply were not enough ponies on staff to come help with mundane operations such as mooring and valet greetings. That sounded too optimistic even in her own head.

That all changed however when Celestia had stood up and made her presence truly known. Once her hooves touched the docks a portly, lime green pony emerged from the main structure at the end of the docks and up the ramp. Several other ponies emerged from the dunes and came running down the beach to get a closer look at the new arrivals. All of them bent a knee and a few of the younger ones completely threw themselves down into sand. Celestia tried to discourage them, but they had already assumed the worship or groveling positions.

“P-Princess Celestia!” a bright yellow earth pony stammered, “I never thought I would see an alicorn princess with my own two eyes!”

Celestia glanced for a moment back at Sunset who remained on the boat while carefully eyeing the locals. Seeing that Sunset had no plans to help share in the spotlight, Celestia straitened her posture and took up her regal pose she had practiced even while sleeping. “Thank you all for the warm greeting, but please, rise. I am here on vacation. There is no need to throw yourselves in the sand.”

“Vacation? Seriously?”

“Shh!” hissed the lime green pony who had emerged from the hotel. “Of course, Your Highness! We just… did not expect to see you is all. Please allow us, your humble servants, to take your things to our finest room. I, Grassy Rio, owner and operator of this establishment on Pelican Island gladly welcome you.”

“Thank you, sir. Is the room big enough to accommodate my companions as well?”

“If it’s all the same, Your Highness, I’ll be staying on my ship until I’m ready to depart.”

Celestia nodded to Steady Course in understanding. “I guess it’s just you and I, lit-“

“Captain Tempest Fury of Her Majesty’s Royal Guard. I need to inspect the accommodations before we move the princess’s bags to the room,” Sunset interjected before Celestia could finish. “Please, lead the way.” Celestia pouted her lip a bit, but Sunset’s eyes told her mother that it was best to play the part for the moment.

“Absolutely, right this way, captain,” said Grassy Rio leading the way.

The young, bright yellow stallion took the two bags and threw them over his back. Neither Celestia nor Sunset had packed much, but it was still impressive, Sunset thought, to handle both bags without so much as a flinch or grunt. Celestia followed the porter with Sunset just a step behind, carefully observing all their facial expressions and body language with well honed ease. Their reaction to Celestia’s arrival was about what she expected, but their quick turnabout to downtrodden at hearing she was simply on vacation had come as a surprise. They were hiding something, or were too scared to admit they needed help. Further observations would be required. Glad I packed a sword, so to speak.

The room was obviously two regular rooms that had been renovated to be one large luxury suite since both halves were identical, but facing opposite of one another, with support columns added to the middle around a central lounge. The large bay windows had privacy blinds when closed, otherwise they had an uninterrupted view of the beach and crashing waves. It would have been pleasing if the situation was more relaxing, both mother and daughter thought.

The four beds, unsurprisingly, were not really made for alicorns, but Sunset concluded they could probably push the sets together and make two beds that would be adequate. A glance to Celestia told her that her mother had a similar idea in mind. They could probably even put three together and sleep next to one another, which would probably be smarter for security reasons. The entire simple, low tech setup reminded Sunset of a beach villa she and Twi had stayed in along the Greek Mediterranean. That had been a fun week.

With a shake of her head Sunset returned to reality and gestured for the pony holding the bags to enter and set them down. He did so, but did not immediately turn to leave. Sunset reached under her cloak, careful to keep her wings hidden, and fished out a gold bit from her small purse she had.

“Thanks for carrying those, everything looks good.” Sunset offered the bit, the young stallion appearing as if he wanted to say something, but glanced to the door where Grassy Rio was standing, whispering something to Celestia that she was only partly listening to. Without saying a word Sunset Shimmer tried to convey that if he had something he wanted to say privately he could find her later, but was uncertain if he picked up the signal cue. It had been a long time, but Sunset desperately wished she still had her geode to skim what the young pony was thinking.

“I’ll be around in case you need anything else.” He turned to leave.

“You know my name, how about you tell me yours so I can thank you properly.”

The stallion hesitated for a moment longer, glancing over his shoulder, but finally nodded. “Cedar Hill, ma’am.”

Sunset nodded, adding her best disarming smile that she hoped would convey trust. Celestia nodded to the younger pony as well as he quickly slipped out. She thanked Grassy Rio again before closing the door in his face. Without hesitating, Celestia threw a privacy bubble up over the entire room.

“Grassy Rio is not the one in charge here, not truly, and whoever is has him terrified that we have come.”

Sunset had already started moving the beds, but paused to turned and arch her brow. “Did he tell you that?”

“No, but I have dealt with enough sniveling, hoof licking, peons over the years to know when somepony is simply following orders to save their own hide. I could practically smell the fear dripping from his sweat that had nothing to do with the tropical weather.”

Sunset set the beds down, ultimately deciding to put three together and the third to the side in case the captain changed his mind. Celestia smirked and nodded in approval. “Well, do we just investigate on our own or do we call for help?”

Celestia pondered for a moment, tapping her hoof against her chin. “I think until we know more we should play the roles we have chosen for the moment. That of course might be more difficult for you though, ‘Captain Fury.’”

Sunset rolled her eyes and removed her cloak. She concentrated for a moment and lit her horn. With a shimmer of red magical energy Sunset’s wings faded as if there were never there. Sunset waggled her brow and gestured, fishing for praise.

“I have performed illusions spells as well, little sun. As you may recall, I once held a spell in front of crowds for months to hide my pregnancy.”

“Oh, I’m not pointing at my invisible wings, I’m looking for compliments on my butt. Just look at it! Mmmhmm! I have a great rump!”

Celestia snorted and laughed.

----------

As far as Sunset and Celestia could tell they were not the only guests... sort of, but the other ponies they were sharing the hotel with seemed distant and weary instead of relaxed vacationers. They just sat there in the foyer, their vacant expressions and sluggish movements only galvanized the alicorns’ resolve to discover what was ACTUALLY happening on this island. Especially after they had almost no reaction to seeing Celestia.

Sunset had visited many hotels in her long life between two world. Some had been on par with Canterlot Castle as far as size, grandeur, and luxurious opulence. With sweeping architectural design choices that made both her and Twi question the mathematics of what was possible with concrete, steel, and glass.

She had stayed in dumps that would have terrified many “westerners” especially women, in regards to sanitation and personal safety. Another fine example of reading the fine print and not trusting the provided images in the travel brochure.
Sunset had even stayed in similar beachside bungalows that had been little more than logs roped together with palm roofs, sandy floors, and cutout, nonexistent windows. However, they all had one thing in common even if at varying degrees of quality. Service. All hotels were built upon the backbone of being a service industry. The only difference between any place, anywhere in the world, in either world was what you were willing to pay to get those services. That was what you were paying for. Well, that and a bed. Or if you were in Texas at a Best Western for those Texas shaped waffle irons because fresh waffles off the iron are soooooo good.

Sunset shook the thought of waffles from her mind and paused in the lobby to see if she could spot a menu for the evening or anything that would indicate a preparedness for paying guests. There was none. Grassy Rio was by the front desk, but Sunset was unsure where Cedar Hill or any other staff may have gone. She was not entirely sure if Cedar Hill was even staff or just a relative that got drafted.

“Heading out, Your Highness?”

Celestia paused and glanced at the proprietor. “That is correct. The captain and I are going to go enjoy the beach for a bit and then watch Twilight set the sun. I hope that dinner will be ready by the time we return. I am interested to see what your cook can prepare for us.”

The lime green stallion scratched at his nappy burnt orange mane. “We… I will go ahead and apologize, Your Highness, but we haven’t received much in the way of quality meal ingredients in some time. I am afraid that the choices will be… limited.”

Sunset scowled at Grassy Rio in her best impersonation of Tempest Fury. She glanced to Celestia then back to the stallion. “I understand that this island has fallen out of favor with the major travel agencies, we found that fact ideal to avoid major crowds, but a failure to provide even basic quality meals is a serious breach of hospitality management. This will be noted in Canterlot upon our return and may require health and workplace inspectors to schedule a visit soon after we depart.”

“I’m not sure…”

Celestia smiled, her magenta eyes took on a faint glow with a hint of a sparkle in them. If Sunset had been looking at her mother instead of straight ahead she would have recognized the expression as her, ‘Did you really just try to talk back to me?’ look. “I had a sneaking suspicion that I would not be able to get some of the things I desired as well as my more precise dietary restrictions laid out by my regular physician. So, I brought a few crates of my favorites in magical stasis and preservative. Please send some of your staff to the ship and ask the good captain to bring the crates out for you to use. Sooner rather than later would be preferable, sir.”

Grassy Rio fumbled for a bit before finally bowing his head. “At once, princess.” Sunset, still doing her best to imagine what Tempest would have done, pointed her hoof at her eyes and then back at the lime green pony.

With that apparently settled, Celestia continued to the beach with Sunset at her side. Once they were on the white sand and Sunset was certain they were out of earshot she commented, “That was clever of you bringing the extra food. Although, if we end up feeding everypony those supplies will only last a few days instead of two weeks.”

Celestia nodded, enjoying the smell of the salt in the air as the waves gently crashed on the sand before once again retreating. It had been many years, but she once again understood why Sunset also enjoyed the feeling of walking on cool white sand while looking out over the vast, endless horizon of ocean. She and Luna had tried to retire to a beach resort town not long after abdicating to Twilight more than a century ago. Technically they still had a house in Silver Shoals. She wondered briefly if it was empty or if the city had repurposed it for something. A curiosity to check in on later.

Celestia let the thoughts pass as she stared out over the water. She had seen the near indescribable event horizon of the universe itself, but that was a magically induce perspective. It was not the same as seeing the world before her with mortal pony eyes.

Mortality was still such a strange thing to wrap her mind around. She had been an all but immortal alicorn for more than two thousand years and had to make a conscious effort to NOT see what was around her as such a being. The Goddess of the Sun. Sol Invictus they sometimes called her. The titles may have stuck, but as Celestia turned her eyes to the glowing orb as it began to plunge behind the horizon, all without her guidance and assistance, she had to wonder…

“Daughter.”

“Hmm?”

“Are the sunsets on Earth more beautiful than the ones that I or Twilight make?”

Sunset wanted to take the question seriously, she really did. Especially with how earnestly her mother had asked with that subtle undertone of prideful concern. Sunset understood well how it felt to have your artwork critiqued. However, she still snorted and shook her head earning a sour glare from Celestia.

“Sorry, it’s not really a fair comparison. Your sunsets were always perfect. Just the right amount of color. Twilight basically just mimics your work with Swiss watch precision because it's Twilight. Not to take anything away from her, but yeah. She doesn’t add any of her own creativity or touch to it, just more of the same.

“Now, on Earth, the sunset is a matter of planetary rotation and is augmented by whatever happens to be floating in the air at the time. Industrial pollution, charged solar flares, sometimes the light gets really dirty bent and you can see some of the most crimson reds as if the sky itself is bleeding fire. And like I said, no matter where I am this is my favorite time of day.”

Sunset paused hug her mother with an invisible wing. “But back to your question. Like I said, not really a fair comparison. On Earth, sunset just happens. Here, it was the artistic work of my teacher, my mentor, and my mother. Hands down, or rather hooves down. The sunset here is the best.”

Celestia smiled serenely, her eyes unaffected by the glowing orb as the last of it slipped below the water, one last flash of light as if it waved goodnight. “Thank you.”

“If I’m being completely honest though, *I’m* still the most beautiful sunset of all.”

Celestia gave her daughter a friendly body bump before picking her up in a telekinetic field and dropping her into the next wave that splashed over Sunset’s legs and barrel. “You are such a brat sometimes.”

Sunset screeched, “EEEEEEEEEeeee! Cooooooold! Coldcoldcoldwhyisthedamnwatersoooooocold! I thought this was the tropics!”

Celestia jigged her head back and forth while grinning which only caused Sunset to burst out laughing as well, shaking the salt water from her fur. “Okay, fine, I deserved that, but I am what I am.”

Sunset’s expression shifted quickly to a stern face and without even having to turn to look Celestia knew one or more of the locals had approached. Her genuine smile was replaced with a Canterlot royal court mask, a tight lipped smile as she turned, allowing the wind to enhance her already billowing mane. Standing on the top of the dune were three young teenaged ponies, two colts and a filly. At a second glance she did notice the distinct stipe pattern of zebra heritage in one of the colts. Sunset also noticed they looked a bit on the malnourished side. She wondered if Celestia noticed that fact as well.

“Can I help you, my little ponies?”

They each looked at one another then back at the hotel. With a few shared nods the three threw themselves down into the sand before Celestia. The one in the middle, the colt with mostly brown colors and faint black zebra stripes spoke first, almost afraid to lift his head to the towering alicorn before him.

“Please forgive us, Your Highness. I know we are interrupting, but, well if you don’t know you will find out soon enough and you are our best chance to get out of this place alive. Without you, we are all trapped here and are little more than walking dead.”

Sunset came to sit next to Celestia and raised a hoof. “Hey, whoa, slow down there, kiddo. What do you mean walking dead?”

“Please,” Celestia added, “If there is something nefarious going on you must tell us so that we can assist any way we can.”

The three rose, but their expressions remained beaten and crestfallen, ears flat against their heads. The zebra/pony spoke again. “This island has been cursed and we’re all trapped here, unable to leave.”

Author's Note:

Happy Turkey Day week for those that celebrate that sort of thing. To everyone else, Happy Sunday Night.

I had more time today than I probably will have tomorrow or Tuesday so I went ahead and pushed this through. That said, if you spot any grammatical errors please point them out, I don't take offense and would rather fix them.

So, the plot thickens. What is going on? Who knows the truth? Why can't they leave? Are our alicorns trapped in paradise where they will have to engage in tribal warfare or eat others to survive?! Probably not that or it would be M rating.

Come back next week for more. Seriously, just started chapter 10.

Questions? Comments?

Comments

[The Voice in the Water]

Well, that's a serious problem. Hopefully the two suns can figure it out.

[sykko]

Who/what ever has screwed with the ponies/zebras/zonies of that place now has two of the most powerful beings to ever exist. When they face down the big bad, Imma need the biggest bucket of popcorn, for they will have broken one of the most sacred laws of any universe, don't fuck with a redhead.

[Revel Montaro]

11119091
LOL yeeeah.