• Published 5th Dec 2012
  • 9,644 Views, 1,296 Comments

Tangled Roots - Bad_Seed_72



The CMC know that Babs Seed was bullied in Manehatten, but how bad could things really have been?

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Shadows Of The Night

Shadows Of The Night

“Citrus, do youze know where youze would see checkered flags?” Babs Seed asked, sitting at the dining room table with her sister.

Supper had been a quick mishmash of leftover casserole and blanched carrots on the side, Allspice feeling much too tired to whip up an entirely original menu. The two fillies didn’t mind. The Orange guardians had missed the nightly meal, Father Orange meeting with an important client in the city and Mother Orange cutting vendors’ paychecks at a distributor’s shop. The three shared in an excellent feast, stomachs full to bursting, politely declining Allspice's prior mention of dessert.

“Checkered flags? What, are you wanting to enter a race, Babs?” Citrus Blossom answered, posing a question of her own.

Babs shook her head. “No, I was jus'… wonderin’. Somepony in class was talkin’ 'bout ‘em.” Nice catch.

Allspice similarly had no expertise to offer in this field. “Sorry, kid. I can’t think o' anythin’ dat would involve flags wit’ checkered patterns on ‘em, except races.”

Swallowing her disappointment, Babs Seed replied, “Dat’s okay. Thank youze both fo' tryin’.” Sheesh, iffa it ain’t one riddle, it’s another, ‘round here… checkered flags… checkered flags… races… racin'…

“So! Tomorrow is a big test day, isn’t it, Babs?”

Babs grinned, confidently flashing her pearly whites. “Youze betcha!”

“’Bout what dis time? Don’t tell me youze teacha is drawin’ diagrams wit' foals hittin' brick walls an' frozen lakes again…” Allspice muttered, wary of her employer’s apparently eccentric instructor (and that was putting it in polite, corporate terms).

Giggling, her fears were relieved and then exacerbated with, “Nope! No mo’ gravity lessons! Dis next test is 'bout nuclear energy!”

Allspice face-hoofed, mumbling something about tax evasion and public schooling.

~

Declining Citrus's generous offer of studying assistance, Babs Seed sought sanctuary in her bedroom after helping Allspice clear the table. The Orange Family Mansion was quieter than usual, neither of its breadwinners reunited with the rest of the family. Business is known to be a jealous mistress, and she had stolen away both of her lovers for the night.

The moon had begun to grace the sky as Babs poured over her preparations, burying her desk under stacks of notes and textbooks. Her mind wandered with rebellious frequency, lighting upon much heavier subjects than the test material.

Try as she might, she couldn’t bring her mind to completely focus. After she’d caught herself reading the same sentence about nuclear fusion five times in a row, comprehending nothing, Babs Seed slammed the tome shut and rose from her desk.

She ruffled through her saddlebags, retrieving her crimson Cutie Mark Crusaders cape. She tied it around her neck and trotted over to the window, letting the cool night air send it hovering in the breeze.

Tomorrow was much more than just a simple test day; it was the day Quick Step would be bringing in the new capes. Tomorrow, they would truly become Cutie Mark Crusaders at last. Only in appearance, however, not in spirit, were they deficient. It seemed that the new Crusaders had already exceeded the benchmark for strength of character.

Though the troops hadn’t mentioned the Lucky Toss incident to her, its significance was not lost on Babs. Whereas, prior to the founding of the little club, bullies like Lucky Toss would be permitted by silence to commit their acts of disgrace without backlash, now there were four foals who challenged their tyranny. They had done it without prompting, without warning, without training. They had simply stood up against the juvenile delinquent because it was the right thing to do.

The right thing, Babs thought, watching moths begin to seek out the flickering flames of the streetlights below. Dey knew what ta do without bein’ told. Dey didn’t have ta learn no lesson, do no damage, almost crash a giant golden apple inta a lake ta learn how ta behave…

As much as she wished to be over this, to move beyond the past, Babs could not find true forgiveness for her own self. The last nightmare had escalated all feelings of remorse.

Unfortunately, there was no sacrifice she could make at the altar of Mother Galaxia, no letter she could write to Princess Celestia, no candy she could donate to the statue of Nightmare Moon to erase her guilt. Even the Turner-angel, the representative of her conscience, brainstormed no solution; “he” seemed to be absent these days, as disappointed as the vision of the stallion within her dreams.

Babs sighed. It’s gonna be anotha long night. Time fo' mo' exercise.

She sidled away from the window and lowered herself to all four hooves. As she began a furious set of push-ups, feeling the muscles in her shoulders and chest flex and tear, her thoughts turned to the CMC again. Dey’re mo' than I imagined, mo' than I expected… braver foals than I’ll eva be. Maybe dey don’t even need me there, or in the first place.

No, another voice echoed within her consciousness. You’re mistaken. You were and are necessary. Everything happens for a reason.

Everythin’? she challenged. Tell me ‘bout reasons when I tell youze 'bout gang-ponies an' glass bottles, Diamond Tiara an' Silver Spoon an' all o’ ma madness.

“Tell me then,” she hissed, accelerating the pace of her calisthenics, feeling her hooves begin to burn. The voice gave no response this time, filed somewhere in her depths by the discriminating hooves of Doubt and Skepticism.

Within less than an hour, her body began to betray her in its caloric depletion, and Babs Seed fell to the carpet, falling asleep almost instantly as she landed.

~

The streets sang their siren song, calling out to the expectant, pricked ears of everypony in Manehatten. They sang of freedom and wanderlust and fulfillment of dreams. Chained by society, imprisoned by debt, ostracized by expectation, ponies far and wide flocked to the street’s pathways for relief. The roads burst at their expertly-stitched seams, flooded with equines of all sizes, statures, colors, races, and temperaments.

Pegasi zipped throughout the blue skies, performing barrel-rolls and daring dives to awed audiences. Unicorns drew their own crowds by casting levitation and minor transformation spells, drawing gasps of wonder and delight. Earth ponies, through it all, kept the bustling roads secure, stable, clean, busy, and happy.

They were the merchants, the vendors, the business-ponies, the security officers, the law-ponies, the street-sweepers, the light-tenders, the backbone of service and society itself. They possessed their own kind of magic, wisdom and strength channeling through the mantle of the Earth itself through their hooves. They were lesser in no way to the others, the foundation on which all depended.

Truly, it was a majestic scene of harmony, that Manehatten street.

Babs Seed trotted up the road, amazed at the sight of the bustling street. So many ponies were here. So many new friends could be made.

She galloped over to an ice cream vendor’s cart and politely asked for a strawberry milkshake.

A sea of dark, deep, emotionless eyes turned to her, pupils widening into blackness. The whole of the street stared at her, as if her speech was an accident of Nature or a cruel science experiment gone mad.

The ponies gritted their teeth as the skies blackened, high noon turning to the grim of twilight in a wink as it had in Discord’s days. The mass of equine flesh began to stomp towards the foal, one hoof at a time, whites of their eyes glowing yellow and those demonic pupils hungrily gazing upon her.

She felt herself backing up, backing up, backing up, squeaking out tormented cries. “W-w-what’s wrong? Why are youze all lookin’ at me like dat?!”

“Blankflank,” one of them seethed, the offender’s identity impossible to judge in this ominous clump of enraged populace.

“Fillyfooler,” another spat.

“Sinner. Traitorous, incestuous, worthless sinner.”

This time, the voice was not one but many—no, not many, but all. The entire ocean of quadruped flesh, blood, and soul moved towards her—one mass, one mob, holding no torches or pitchforks in their hooves or jaws. Their lack of ornamentation mattered not. They were a sight to behold, and just as deadly as lynch-riots of old.

They began to laugh, every mare and stallion and foal in time, approaching her with torturous hesitation. In the crowd, Babs saw many she knew—including some belonging to her own family and friends—among the ranks of the army approaching. She cried out to them, screaming their names.

“Why?” she pleaded, feeling the scene begin to close in around her, awkward backward steps jettisoning her into a narrow alleyway. “Why? What do youze want?!”

“Revenge,” came the crowd’s answer.

Her hindhooves met a graffiti-stained wall of concrete behind her. She panicked, turning to her obstacle and running her hooves over it in a desperate search for a something to climb. The wall was as smooth as glass and far too tall.

She turned to her left and right, scanning for any sign of escape. Her only way out would be past the crowd, which had begun to proliferate into the alleyway, filling the small corridor with lines of soulless ponies. All eyes were on her, and they looked ravenous.

The attention she craved and yearned for all her young days seemed laughable now. The entire population of ponydom—the weight of Equestria itself—bore down on her, mere inches away, sure to smother or trample her under its hooves.

Claustrophobia stealing her breath, the cowardly filly laid down on the cobblestones, head in her hooves, bobtail shielding the sight of her blank flank in a last plea for mercy.

Suddenly, the wind began to howl like a pack of timberwolves, clouds gathering and darkening the sky to a pitch black around her. Lightning blazed and thunder boomed, a crack of a whip halting the march of the mindless ponies in their tracks.

With wings spread and eyes glowing white, the evening star descended from the heavens.

Shivering, Babs Seed peeked through her hooves to see a tall, violet alicorn protecting her, powerful wings spread wide in defiance.

“BE STILL, AND DISSIPATE, SPIRITS OF THE DEEP,” the ruler of the darkness bellowed, voice making even the concrete walls tremble at its significance.

Babs gasped as the entire crowd disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Her tormentors had been nothing but mere shadows.

The alicorn spun on her hooves, offering a hoof to her ward. “Rise, Babs Seed. I am Princess Luna, guardian of the night, warden of dreams, riser of the moon.”

Babs Seed accepted the gesture, pulling to her hooves before she bowed low in respect. “T-thank youze fo' savin’ me, P-Princess Luna,” she said, eyes to the ground, voice humble and shaking with gratitude.

“Rise from your hooves, child. No need for formalities,” Princess Luna said.

Stumbling as she rose on all fours, feeling drained of all strength, Babs Seed asked, “Where am I? Is dis jus' a dream?”

Luna nodded. “Indeed, child. I assure you, you are asleep. Your slumber these past moons has been dreadful, and full of nightmares, has it not?”

“Yes, Princess.”

“Why is your heart so troubled, young one? Walk with me, and tell me your worries.” Princess Luna strode alongside her subject as the pair trotted out of the alleyway, an empty Manehatten marketplace greeting them under the moonlight.

“I… I don’t know, Your Highness,” Babs said. “I… I jus'… I can’t—“

“Truly, you do not know? Are you so certain?” The alicorn’s eyes met with the foal’s, casting no judgment. Smiling softly, she added, “The eyes are the windows to the soul, young one. The trouble in yours is evident. There is a storm brewing in your spirit, is it not?”

Confused, Babs bounced back, “Iffa youze already know, why do youze ask? Forgive me, Princess…”

Luna giggled, stifling her gentle laughter with a forehoof. “Oh, Babs Seed, it is because you are the one who is in the dark, not I.

“Some things are hidden deep within our hearts, little one,” she whispered, majestic mane illuminating her as she spoke. “Some fears, some troubles, some nightmares we sweep under the rug, hoping that they will go away. They will not. The nightmares will continue, until your fears are faced.

“What are you afraid of the most, Babs Seed?”

Princess Luna stopped in her tracks, purple irises meeting green below, the streets of the mob empty and silent but for the whisper of the wind.

“… Bullies?” Babs Seed offered.

“Really? That’s it? Is there anything else?” Luna asked. “Anything more than the hooligans of Manehatten cobblestone?”

“… I… I don’t know.”

Without a word, Princess Luna began to focus her magic, gallant horn glowing with holy white light, her irises and pupils disappearing into a blinding absence of all color. Babs watched in a mix of amazement and terror as her guardian rose off her hooves, powerful wings spreading and levitating the regal evening star into the air.

“Let us explore, then, your deepest fear, what you have wanted so long to forget,” Princess Luna thundered, and the atmosphere exploded into a blinding flash of white light.

~

Babs Seed was falling.

She struggled against gravity, flailing her hooves, seeking a branch or a root she could grasp onto as she sped down, down, down, a raindrop falling from the cloud cover to the ground below.

Finding no escape rope, she screamed, “Luna! Luna! LUNA!”

With a cloud of smoke, Princess Luna appeared and began to fall beside her, immortal and mortal plummeting together to their doom.

“What do you feel right now, child?” Luna called over the rush of velocity in their flattened ears.

“Scared!” Babs shrieked, stunned at the regent's insane question. What did it matter what she felt if she was going to die?

“And…?”

“P-powerless!”

“Ah. Now we’re getting somewhere,” hummed the princess, smiling. The pair increased in momentum as they fell into the bottomless pit, blood defying gravity and staying still within their veins.

Incredulous that she was still conscious, Babs Seed cried out, “Princess Luna! Please… make it stop!”

“Not until you come clean, Babs Seed. You are safe now. This pit is endless, and here I am, falling with you. Do you really think I would let anything happen to one of my most precious subjects?” Princess Luna asked, raising an eyebrow on her upside-down muzzle.

“I-I guess not!”

“See. Do not worry. My method may be madness, but I mean you no harm.” Against her better judgment, Babs Seed chose to believe her and nodded rapidly.

Granting her one more grin, Luna continued, “Now. Think, my subject. If this pit had an end, what would be going through your mind right now? Who would you be thinking of?”

“Ma’ an' Da’… Citrus… an' Allspice too… the Ponyville CMC… Applejack, Big Mac, Granny Smith… Turner… the Manehatten CMC,” she answered between breaths.

Princess Luna asked, “And of those ponies… who makes you feel loved? Who makes you feel at home, makes you feel that you belong? The Ponyville residents, or the Manehatten ones?”

Though the answer seemed obvious to Babs Seed, almost too easy, she could not bring herself to respond. She had never considered such thoughts before. Was Luna tricking her? Isn’t home the place you’ve always been, the place you were raised? Isn’t love what is given to you by the ones who’ve brought you life, regardless of how harsh or distant or jumbled it may be? Isn’t belonging a reflective question—wasn’t everypony born where they should stay?

Babs Seed wanted to ask those questions, but her vocal cords did not comply, software disconnected from hardware in the space between mind and muzzle in her continued freefall.

The evening star, one of the two wisest ponies in all of Equestria itself, found her answer anyway.

“You see, Babs Seed, what you fear the most is not Card Slinger or his drones, nor the wrath of your savior, Turner, nor the judgment of others for your flank or your actions. These are manifestations of your troubles, sure, but they are mere illusions in the face of your true fear. Your true fear... is powerlessness. You feel powerless, playing the cards that are dealt to you. You have had little choice in the matters that have defined your life, that have cultivated you as you are in the present.

“You were born in a city of power and prestige, yet you value neither of these things. You were born into a family of wealth and want, though you desire something you have never truly received from them. You were made to be a late-bloomer, a little seed to develop its roots on its own, yet you came into a community that has no patience for the smallest delays, let alone true soul-searching.

“Now, do you see, Babs Seed, why we are falling? We are facing what you have faced for so long, yet you do not acknowledge your struggles. Your life is defined by your fear—your powerlessness, your lack of control. But, there are two sides to our coin, little sapling. You also fear the possibility of your own power—you have little experience wielding it and you fear becoming corrupted by it, should you taste it one drop more.

"Your mistake in Ponyville and your siding with their bullies seems to confirm your fears of yourself. So, you choose the devil you know and let fear take you instead of leaving yourself to your own devices, in the event you may choose wrongly again. Hence, your dreams of being trapped or pinned or surrounded are realizations of your true fear.

“Remember... Fate has not given you much of a choice in your circumstances, young one... but she will not be this ruthless for long. My little pony, there will come a day, very, very soon, where you must become the master of your domain, the captain of your soul, lest your ship meet an iceberg in the fog and be lost at sea. The road shall fork before you, and only you can make the choice of where to blaze.

“Do you understand, Babs Seed?”

Babs Seed felt gravity release its grasp, velocity decelerating into a gentle stop as the bottomless pit began to lose its definition. Below the alicorn and the filly was a deep, black lake, snow falling in steady flakes and ice floes decorating the scene.

Understanding at last, she answered, “Yes, I do, Princess Luna.”

Princess Luna smiled as her horn began to glow again, magic taking hold of her form. “Follow your heart, little seed,” she called as she began to dissipate into the background, the winds howling as their master returned to the molecular moon once more.

Babs Seed was falling again, and this time, she was ready. Priming her hooves for landing, adjusting her body in a cat-like pose, she reached bottom at last, diving deep into the cold waters.

As she swam up to the surface, she felt no more fear.