Emancipation

by Sukasa

Chapter 2

Vancouver was an interesting place back then. Not nearly as much of a traffic nightmare as it is now, of course, but even then it was obvious that the city hadn’t grown with the future in mind. As I said we made the ferries early enough to catch an early one over, but trying to get from Tsawwassen terminal to our hotel was a chore and a half. Sure, the highway from the terminal was fine but after we tried to get onto the Oak Street Bridge, traffic just went to hell. I remember being amazed by the sheer number of vehicles around us, too.

When we got to the hotel, I still have trouble believing that I didn’t pass out from sheer surprise. Noah hadn’t spared any expense, and had gotten us a room at the Fairmont of all places. To this day I still don’t know how he managed to afford that, or how he convinced them to drop their ‘no animals’ policy for my sake. I do know that the porters and staff weren’t particularly pleased about the whole thing from the looks they gave me but whatever Noah had said obviously worked. We stayed the night in a small two-bed suite overlooking the art gallery, which was where the rally was supposed to be held. The fountain was mesmerizing as I recall, the lights illuminating the streams of water as if they were streams of fire and light. I know I’m waxing poetic, but it was really quite a sight to see. Nowadays ponies don’t have to deal with that sort of rejection, despite how short a time period it’s really been.

Of course, the day of the rally just had to have something go wrong, even if you don’t count the obvious. As I recall, our first problem showed up when the front desk either forgot or decided not to give us our wake-up call. The only thing that woke us up for that was Noah’s phone, which still had an alarm set on it.

Bree-e-e-ep Bree-e-e-ep Bree-e-e-ep Bree-e-e-ep Bree-e-e-ep

I rolled over and tried to ignore the alarm’s screaming. It sounded like it was coming from Noah’s phone; he’d probably just turn it off and we’d get to sleep in a little more. This bed was surprisingly comfortable considering it wasn’t even mine, why would I want to get up and ruin the moment. Wait. Not mine?

Oh, right. We’re staying in a hotel, because the rally is today. Before I could rouse myself though, everything started to shake. Really, really quickly.

“Ah, crap. C’mon Vera, we need to get up. Hotel must have forgotten to call us, we’ll be late if we don’t get moving!” Noah never woke me up like this. Just how late were we, anyways? Stealing a glance at his phone gave me all the answer I needed. An hour late. Noah wasn’t fond of missing deadlines, so it shouldn’t have surprised me. I groaned and rolled over to the edge of the bed. Easing myself down onto my hooves, I shook my head and trudged to the mirror. Surprisingly, my hair didn’t look half bad, I just needed to brush it a bit. Slipping on my hairbrush, I ran it through my hair a few times to get it straight, and hobbled over to my bags. Depositing the brush back in them, I bent down and tried to flip the bags on.

Why is it that things always slow down before they go sideways? Even as my bags flipped up, I could see that I’d messed up -- they were about to hit the table instead of swing past it. Thunk. Noah’s speech notes from the night before went everywhere, and he just groaned.

“Oh shoot! Sorry, Noah!” I apologized, “I didn’t mean to do that!” The notes had been spread all over the table, and two had landed on the edge of the window sill. I scrambled for those first and managed to pin down one with a hoof, but the other one fluttered out the window. I groaned as the card floated away. At least I’d seen what the card had written on it; they were single-sided so I was sure I hadn’t missed anything. The only word on the card was ‘Equality.’ Noah sighed and began to sort and restack the cards while I continued to watch the card drift down. Looking up from the card to the plaza in front of the Vancouver Art Gallery, I noticed the crowd already assembling together. Wow. That was a lot of people down there, and my skin prickled at bit at the idea of being in front of that many people even if I wasn’t going to be the center of attention. From the window you could see everything, including the stage the art gallery had set up for the rally and everything.

I slid the card I’d managed to catch backwards and bit onto it, depositing it onto the table carefully. Bleh, when was the last time they cleaned that windowsill?

“Sorry, Noah. I managed to catch this one, but another card wound up getting out. It just said ‘Equality’ on it though.”

“It’s alright. Accidents happen, and at least I’ve got the speech memorized by this point. Have you got everything?” Noah asked, grabbing his own bag and shuffling the speech notes into it.

I looked over towards my bags, still lying on the floor. Apart from the hairbrush, I hadn’t taken anything out of the bags last night, so I was good.

“Yep, I’m ready to go. You?” I asked as I put on my bags, managing to miss the table this time. Noah nodded and got up, grabbing something from his bedside table and — ah, his watch. I remember getting that for him as a birthday present last year. I’ve almost never seen him without it, actually. I think he only takes it off when it might get wet or scratched up.

Stepping out into the hallway I waited while Noah closed and locked the door. We’d decided to only stay the one night and just catch a ferry back after the rally instead of hanging around, probably see a couple of places before leaving. I was really looking forward to seeing Science World, apparently they had a pony-themed exhibit going!

Noah and I took the elevator down to save time, and I waited by the doors while Noah paid our tab at the front desk. Some of the staff and almost all of the guests watched the two of us, most of the guests wearing rather unhappy looks. I suppose they were rather put off by that, even though I have no idea why. I just kept my head down and waited for Noah to meet me by the doors, making sure to avoid eye contact with anyone else. Once we stepped outside, the morning sunlight hit us both pretty hard judging by Noah’s reaction. It was a surprisingly bright day and the sun was reflecting off the buildings right at us. I had to squint for a while until my eyes adjusted to the light, but when they did I gasped at the number of people assembled. In between when I’d looked down from the hotel room and now, it looked like the number of people in the plaza had doubled! Goosebumps pricked their way down my spine; that was a lot of people and the sight was more than a little intimidating. Being in that big of a crowd wasn’t a particularly enjoyable proposition. What if someone was planning on carrying out one of those threats they’d sent to Noah? I was about ready to run the other direction but, when Noah started walking towards the crowd, managed to swallow the urge to flee and headed over there myself.

As we crossed the street to the gallery plaza, I was able to see a lot more ponies present than I'd been able to from the hotel room. There were plenty of normal ponies, but what really caught me off guard were the unicorns. I mean, I know they exist but actually seeing one is a surprise. Back in Qualicum Beach there aren't any, and as far as I know the closest unicorn to there actually lives down in Victoria. So I might have stared a little bit, I admit. It wasn't until I realized that Noah hadn't stopped and I had that I stopped staring at the ponies in the crowd and ran to catch up with him, passing a few people on the way. Only one person noticed me, and even then that was only because I'd apologized to him for accidentally knocking over his backpack as I passed him. He just mumbled something and rooted through his backpack with a worried expression.

When I caught up to Noah, he was up on the platform they'd erected on the steps, talking with a policeman in red serge and some guy in a business suit. I guess the officer pointed me out, since Noah turned and waved me over.

"Hey. Sorry we got separated. Meet someone you knew?" I shook my head no. "I see. Anyways the RCMP went around this morning and it looks like those threats we got last week haven't panned out at all, so we're good to go to today. I told you we didn't have much to worry about."

I let out a small sigh of relief. The bomb threats had really worried me when we got them; since they were the first ones the RCMP had really thought credible. Hearing that nothing had come of them meant a lot, because at least now I knew Noah was safe. And everyone else here, too.

"I have to finish going over a few things with the gallery people before we can kick the rally off, do you want to do anything?" Noah asked, interrupting my line of thought. He looked like he had a lot on his mind, and I figured it would be best if I let him deal with the rally for now.

"No, not really. Just wanted to see a few places after. I'll, uh, go do whatever until you're ready. That okay with you?" I didn't really want to hang around onstage. Too many people watching what was going on; I'm not one for that kind of attention. Stepping off the side of the platform I worked my way through the crowd to the fountain. There were a few ponies there, and there was a small air bubble big enough to move around relatively comfortably in.

I'd barely had time to sit down by the fountain before a unicorn came over and sat down beside me. I shifted slightly uncomfortably but didn't say anything beyond a short hello. I guess this wasn’t enough, as she sidled a little closer.

"You were staring at us like you’d never seen a unicorn before, girl.”

I jumped a bit at the unexpected observation, as I wasn’t ready for conversation. She had manilla fur, and auburn hair. That horn really stuck out at me, and was kind of distracting./

"Uh, o-oh, yeah. I haven't. Sorry, my name's Vera." I stammered out, embarrassed.

"Don't worry about it, honey. Might want to cull the staring, someone might take offense yeah?" She laughed. "I'm Shelley. Where ya' from?"

"Qualicum Beach, actually. Caught the ferries over last night."

"You come with anyone?"

"No, just my brother." I replied. "He's just up dealing with stuff on stage right now, since he’s actually the organizer for all this."

Shelley caught on faster than I expected. "Wait, your brother's human? How'd that one happen?"

That was a loaded question, if there ever was one. "It's a long story. He was just a kid at the time, and I don't remember any of it since I was maybe a few days old or so."

Shelley, for her part, just nodded. "I know that feeling. I've been a pet as long as I can remember, too." Wait, pet? I gave her an uncomprehending look. "Yeah, see?" Shelley tilted her chin upwards, exposing a small blue collar mostly hidden by her hair. "It's not that bad. I at least get to sleep inside. How about you? I guess it’s a bit different for you, huh?"

I felt pretty bad at that, and it showed. "I, uhm have my own room and bed." Shelley just stared, her face showing a mix of shock and envy.

Before either of us could say anything else, another pony bumped into me. Stammering an apology, I excused myself and made for the steps. I didn’t get far before I got knocked over, jabbed in my left flank by something hard.

Pain is strange. It can drive people, sometimes protect them, and other times it can be quite upsetting. Between my discomfort from that conversation with Shelley, being bumped, and the ever-thickening crowd I panicked as I got to my feet and tried to see what hit me. I couldn't see anything that would have done it, and the only person who jumped out at me was the guy with the backpack from earlier walking away, the logo on the back of his hoodie quickly getting lost in the crowd.

With no idea who or what hit me, I could only think to get out of the crowd as quickly as possible. The steps would be safe, I needed to get to them. They weren’t far, I could get there. Just had to run. And I did. I might have bumped into a person or two on the way, but I didn’t care. I just had to get away from the crowd, and the steps were the right place to go to do that. Scrambling up the steps I felt my hooves slip from under me, and before I could react I could suddenly taste... concrete. And my muzzle hurt. A lot.

“Whoa girl. You all right?” Noah. Safety. Figures he’d be the first one to notice me faceplanting. I groaned and rearranged my hooves to be under me, rather than splayed every which way as he came over and knelt down beside me.

“You okay? You look like you saw a ghost or something.” I nodded, embarrassed to be the center of attention.

“Sorry. Something hit me and I panicked.” I sighed. “The crowd was a little much, and then something wound up hitting me kind of hard. I guess I just got spooked and panicked.” Noah simply nodded in understanding, and gave me a quick hug.

“Tell you what. There’s a small coffee shop – you can go around the crowd – that’s usually pretty quiet, and friendly to ponies. Even with all the people here, it should still be quiet enough for you so you don’t have to get spooked again. I’ll come get you after we’re done, okay?”

That was good enough for me. If all I had to do was skirt the outside of the crowd until I got there, that was something I could handle. I murmured thanks to Noah and got to my hooves. Turning to look at the crowd, I noticed that the sidewalks around the art gallery were far less jammed, and it should be easy enough to get through. Quickly thanking Noah again, I stepped gingerly through a few reporters who were jockeying for position near the front of the stage. A few of them sent me some dirty looks, I think I might have bumped a few of them earlier. My ears pressed flat against my head as I quickly slid past them this time without hitting anyone or anything.

I crossed the road and turned right, intending to head down the farthest sidewalk and around to the coffee shop that way. I could see various media trucks parked down the road, with thick black cables streaming out from nearly every one of them. People have to get their news, I guess. Continuing down, I passed a few first aid ambulances set up to help people with minor cuts and scrapes. One poor kid looked like he’d fallen and cut his knee, judging from the tears and bandage.

It wasn’t long before I’d made my way around the perimeter and was standing, looking for my destination. True to what Noah said, there was a small coffee shop on the opposite side of the plaza, almost straight down the line from the steps to the fountain. As I made my way there, I could make out that the door was propped open.

Reaching the coffee shop, I stepped inside and off to the left, looking around. A few people watched me as I came in, but then went back to their own business. The shop was a lot more full than I had expected from Noah’s description. Various chairs seemed set aside for ponies in the corner, and a couple of them were open. I trotted over to one of the open chairs and hopped up. The hopefully fake leather upholstery was somewhat unforgiving, and it took a bit to get comfortable. I gave an unsure smile and nod of greeting to some of the other ponies who had noticed me, and they responded with warm smiles of their own. Two of them immediately popped out; one was a large red-coloured earth-model stallion who looked like he did a lot of physical work, and the other a smaller purplish unicorn mare.

“Here for the rally too?” The largest pony asked. I looked at him and nodded back.

“Yeah. Crowd was a bit much for me, though.” I answered. He merely hummed in response.

“Are you here with anyone,” this time it was the unicorn who spoke up, “or are you alone?”

“Well, my brother’s the one organizing the event, actually.” Hey, I could at least be proud of what Noah’s doing, right?

“Really? I thought the organizer was human.”

“Well, he is. I just call him my brother since we’ve been that way since before I can remember.” I answered as a look of comprehension came over the mare’s face.

“Oh, I see. That explains a lot actually. I think I’ve met your brother then– Noah, right? I think he’s spoken about you a couple times.” The mare was leaning forward a bit now, and she seemed rather.. excited about it all. It was kind of disconcerting actually. I guess her companion noticed, since he laid a hoof on her shoulder and gave her a calm glance.

“O-oh, sorry. I guess I got a little carried away. May I ask your name?” She asked, blushing embarrassedly. I had to smile slightly at the sight.

“Yeah, Vera.”

“That’s a nice name. Vera, this might be a strange question, but you wouldn’t be...” I nodded.

“Yep. designer, but don’t blame Noah. It’s a really long story, but the short version is that they rescued me from a field and decided to take care of me.” I explained, the mare nodding in understanding. Being designed has a bit of a stigma attached to it for ponies, not necessarily of positive distinction but just... difference.

A throat-clearing interrupted us before our conversation could progress any more. “Sorry to interrupt, miss Ivories, but someone asked me to leave a note for you and bought you a drink.”

“Ivories”? That was an odd name for a purple unicorn. I looked to her, expecting to see her take the letter, but she seemed more confused than I was.

“Sorry? I think you might have the wrong name, nobody here is named Ivories” she said.

The barista shook his head. “No, the guy pointed you out quite clearly ma’am,” he said, pointing to me, “White fur and black hair, he pointed you out quite clearly down to the tattoo.” Now I was confused. Now, I don’t exactly make a point of pointing out that tattoo in my ear — because I didn’t even know what it stands for or even what it’s supposed to mean — so for someone to know about that tattoo when it’s normally covered by fur...

“He just asked that I give you this note and any drink on the menu under five dollars, before walking out. Maybe someone you knew? He was wearing some sort of hoodie” The barista guessed. I took the folded note from him and had to blink a few times. It was the speech note that had fallen out the window from earlier, folded over.

“Huh... Thanks? I don’t know why they’d call me Ivories though.”

The mare seemed a bit vexed as well. “They described you really well. Are you sure you don’t know who they are?”

I nodded. “Yeah... I’ve never been named Ivories, and nobody I know has ever tried to call me that. I really wish I knew how that person knew about the tattoo in my ear. Better yet, maybe they know what it means? I never did learn.”

As the barista left I unfolded the letter and took a look at it. Where ‘Equality’ had been written down was scratched out, and there was one word written in below, in blotchy red pen. It felt like any warmth in the room just vanished when I read it.

“Boom.”

I didn’t wait to explain anything to the mare despite her questioning expression or do anything other than run. The attempt didn’t do any good though.

I’d barely touched the floor when something punched me sideways. The windows cracked and shattered and everyone else in the shop seemed to fall the same way, as if gravity had suddenly decided to change. I remember only an overpowering noise and the sound of the glass shattering before my head slammed into something fleshy and I blacked out.

Comments

[LucidTech]

Very nice chapter, as always Sukasa.

[Mr Pones]

Fucking great that someone actually came up with an interesting AND original concept for their story for the first time ever. I'm sick of seeing all these shit fics and side fics that cling on to some pointless "universe" in an attempt to gain more notoriety/ "fuel their imaginaion" (lazy asses)

In short, congratulations on gaining my at a glance approval, something that a few fics rarely get nowadays.
25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mcyjq2qFy61rexdsgo1_500.jpg

[SpurBrony21]

at first i didn't understand. now I know, its just beautifully written!!!

[Sukasa]

1870667
AU tag is a lot of different things. But yes, I don't think I've seen anything similar to this yet.

2058881
Thanks

2059225
I'm glad you like it, thank you for the feedback

2060758

[Garbo]

lolwut I have a fic with the same title as this.

[Sukasa]

For anyone who has given this a dislike; I would love to hear what parts of the story played a role in your decision. I can't improve if I don't know what I'm doing wrong!

2093553

So you do.