Chapters DELTA MACHINE
Twilight Sparkle paced nervously, her hoofsteps making quiet noises on the floor. She was waiting for her friends to arrive at the library, and she could wait for them patiently much longer. Pinkie Pie had promised Twilight that she would round everyone up. Twilight knew that Pinkie Pie would never break a promise, but they were supposed to have been at the library over an hour ago. Being the punctual pony that she was, Twilight couldn't help but feel slightly annoyed at her friends.
"Relax, Twilight, Rainbow Dash was probably napping again," Spike said, patting Twilight on the shoulder comfortingly.
"Maybe something is wrong!" Twilight fretted, stamping a hoof, "After all, Pinkie Pie never breaks a promise!"
"Everything is just fine," Spike said, rolling his green eyes. Twilight wasn't sure that she believed Spike, but she did have the tendency to worry. Twilight had many times over-thought things and over-reacted.
Suddenly Twilight heard knocking at the door. She quickly bounded towards it, flinging it open with a swift and eager motion. There stood all of her friends. Pinkie Pie was bouncing in place, excitedly, and she immediately bounded head-first into Twilight's library.
"Twilight!! Guess what!! We stopped at the cotton candy stand and they were selling it for half off!! HALF! OFF! I ate so much I almost puked!"
Twilight chuckled, immediately cheered by Pinkie Pie, and turned to her friends. She gestured a hoof, beckoning all of them into her home.
"Welcome to my world, step right through the door!" she greeted, and her friends entered. Applejack tipped her hat off to Twilight, then threw it onto her coat-rack with precision. Fluttershy and Rarity smiled at her, and Rainbow Dash took another bite of cotton candy. She yawned widely, looking very tired.
"This stuff fills you with energy, at first, but then it's like tranquilizers or something..." Rainbow Dash said to no one in particular and Twilight took the bag away from her.
"Next time leave this stuff at home. You're an athlete Dash, you don't need this anymore."
"I am SO glad to be out of town square!" Rarity announced as Twilight shut the door, "There are so many drama queens!" The white mare flipped her mane and took a seat on the floor with dignity.
"Yeah...ALL the drama queens are gone..." Applejack chuckled. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie broke into laughter and Rarity looked annoyed.
"Applejack, you are a devilishly poor sport!" Rarity cried, rolling her own eyes.
"Ah'm the devil, am Ah?" Applejack rolled her eyes, "Well, Ah tell ya what, if Ah was the devil Ah'd have it made. Ah'd probably even delay all my master plans and leave this lil' town. Devils like big towns, Ah s'pose. Ah might like one, too."
"Don't even think about leaving us!" Rarity shrieked, hugging Applejack affectionately. "This may be a little town, but we need you here!"
"Ooh! Ooh!" Pinkie Pie cried, bouncing, "If Applejack where the devil she would apple-buck with eye lasers! And penetrate souls! And bleed into dreams! And-"
"Dude, Pinkie, relax!" Dash barked, "Stop losing control!"
"Girls!" Twilight finally decided to speak up and called her friends attention quickly. Their heads all turned immediately and she smiled at them happily. She was proud of herself, very proud of herself. Today she would show them all that she had learned one of the greatest magics of all...
The age reversal spell.
"I've gathered you here today because I have mastered one of the most frustrating, infuriating, and difficult spells of all time."
The girls all looked extremely intrigued, especially Rarity, being a unicorn herself.
"Is it a color spell? Can you change my coat color? That would be so cool! Then I'd be Purplie Pie! Or Orangie Pie! Or Greenie Pie! Or maybe even Rainbow Pie! GASP- Then I'd be a lot like Rainbow Dash! We could be sisters, Dashie! What do you say, Rainbow Pie and Rainbow Dash?! Twilight!! Did you learn a color spell?" Pinkie Pie screamed, running around the room excitedly and pointing out objects of special colors.
"No, Pinkie, I didn't learn a color spell," Twilight calmly replied.
"AUGH! NO! NOW RAINBOW DASH AND I CAN'T BE TWINS!" Pinkie screamed, seemingly agonized. In all reality, she was only slightly disappointed.
"Actually, Pinkie Pie, and everypony, I've learned the age reversal sp-"
Suddenly the loud, piercing scream of a foal rang through the air. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy suddenly flew into the air, alarmed, and everypony else rushed to their feet as well. The scream suddenly became louder and was immediately accompanied by a loud, hollow thud directly outside of Twilight's library.
Twilight and her friends immediately ran out of the library and towards the sound. The screaming continued, screams of a filly who sounded extremely tortured. Following her keen ears, Twilight listened for where the sound could be coming from. It was located to her left, and Twilight followed her ears briskly. Racing towards the sounds, a sickly sight soon came into view.
Screaming and crying feverishly, a tiny whitish-pink filly with silky red mane. The aforementioned mane was tangled and clearly very windblown, and the filly's body was covered in cuts and bruises. Most alarmingly, however, she had two broken wings that were cracked at the bone. Blood poured from her open wounds and the filly wailed louder and louder as short time passed. Her crimson red eyes looked all around, alarmed. She had a broken foreleg, and it hung limply. She wobbled in place and seemed extremely dizzy.
"Celestia!" Twilight Sparkle cried out, alarmed. She thought carefully, wondering if she knew any healing spells. None came to mind, but Twilight would look at a few books once she made it inside. Rainbow Dash quickly swooped and gently lifted the tiny filly up and looked to Twilight for answers.
"Twilight, do you have any bandages?" Fluttershy asked, "I'm very good at taking care of animals who need help."
"We don't have any!" Spike cried, shaking his head.
"I don't! There aren't many injuries that could possibly happen in a library!" Twilight panicked, feeling hopeless. There had to be some way to help the filly.
"Ah've got bandages at Sweet Apple Acres, but Ah suppose that town square is nearby enough. Ah could go pick up some for ya, Twilight," Applejack offered, urgently, "Ah'll even take Pinkie Pie with me."
"That would be excellent!" Twilight responded, grateful for Applejack's offer, then turned to the rest of her friends, "Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, we'll help this filly."
The filly had not stopped crying and tears were soaking Rainbow Dash's shoulder. Suddenly, with one heave of her entire body, the filly vomited all over Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash jumped, crying out, and held the filly a little away from her.
"Let's get her to the hospital!" Dash exclaimed.
"Darling, please, that Emergency Room takes hours and we clearly have no time to lose! Let's get her into the library and see to her personally!" Rarity exclaimed, running back to the library immediately. Pinkie Pie and Applejack quickly ran towards town square and the rest of the friends ran into the library. Rainbow Dash hovered quickly, taking the filly with her own hooves.
"You can lay her on my bed," Twilight told Dash, "I'll clean the sheets later."
Rainbow Dash nodded and flew quickly to the bed. She put the filly down gracefully, laying her delicately atop the sheets.
"What's your name?" Rainbow Dash asked the sobbing filly.
"Delta Machine," the filly replied, her sobs beginning to quiet down into moans.
"Your wings are broken!" Dash cried, not sure what else she could say.
"Welcome to my world," the filly sobbed. Rainbow Dash took a step back, not sure what to think, and looked at her friends for some sort of answer. They couldn't help her.
"We found bandages at the general store!" Applejack announced, she and Pinkie quickly entering the library. Pinkie Pie was carrying a bag in her mouth, and Rainbow Dash immediately flew down and took it from her with one hoof. Dash flew back to the sobbing filly and unwrapped the bandages. She suddenly realized that she didn't know anything about wrapping a wound and looked at her friends for help.
"How do I put them on?"
Twilight immediately took the bandages from her and began methodically wrapping up the shaking filly. Delta Machine looked straight into Twlight's eyes as she began healing her and broke into a new kind of sobs. These were grateful cries.
"Thank you," Delta said, her crimson eyes piercing Twilight like no other eyes she'd ever seen. Delta wasn't a strange looking filly, but she wasn't particularly ordinary either. Her colors were very vibrant and very...red. Twilight wondered what kind of genetics warranted that. Her parents must have been very unique ponies.
"You're welcome," Twilight responded, smiling at the filly warmly. Delta quickly started to wrap up her crying fit, whimpering and sniffling, but no longer crying.
"Ya doin' okay, sugarcube?" Applejack asked Fluttershy, putting an arm around her friend. Fluttershy looked downcast and afraid, clearly very confused about what events had just unfolded. Fluttershy blushed as she looked at her friend for comfort.
"I'm fine, Applejack. Thank you," Fluttershy always felt especially timid around Applejack and she wasn't sure exactly why. Lately she had been thinking quite a lot about the subject matter, and she had made a few realizations. She wasn't near ready to state them yet.
Applejack just made her feel so small. Every time her country friend was around, the legs beneath Fluttershy grew weaker and she almost had to crawl around. It made her feel confused, but at the same time strangely contented.
"Are ya sure you're okay?" Applejack asked, concerned. She looked Fluttershy straight in the eye, blue meeting teal.
She was lost. She was found.
"I'm really okay," Fluttershy confirmed, smiling bashfully. She then turned from her friend and walked up the stairs of Twilight's library. She intended to meet this new filly. As Fluttershy approached the bedside, she felt extremely nervous. Her sensitive nose could pick up the smell of blood and she could see that the little filly had been crying. Most noticeably to Fluttershy, however, her mane was a mess.
"Hi there, uh, Delta Machine," Fluttershy began, looking around for a comb, "m-my name is Fluttershy."
"Hi," Delta whispered, looking ashamed. Fluttershy spotted a hairbrush lying on Twilight's dresser and she plucked the item up with a hoof immediately.
"Can I brush your mane out? If that's okay with you, of course..." Fluttershy asked, embarrassed to be touching the filly. The yellow mare could see twigs and grass entangled in her mane, and she hoped to help the filly in any way possible.
"Yes," Delta replied, softly. Fluttershy gingerly began to comb the little tangles of of the filly's mane, which was a vibrant red. She combed a few snarls out as delicately as she could, and the filly's soft hair cooperated pleasantly. The lighter, subtle shades of pink in her mane were very lovely and Fluttershy quite admired them.
"You have a lovely mane..." Fluttershy noted, softly. By then Twilight was done bandaging the filly up and she looked a lot better.
"Does anypony have ice for those bruises?" Rainbow Dash asked, looking Delta over again.
"If only you'd brought that up earlier," Applejack sighed. Even when irritated, Fluttershy thought, Applejack sounded quite lovely. Fluttershy again felt weaker than usual.
"I probably have some ice somewhere in my cottage or something," Fluttershy said, feeling her tongue move in her mouth as she suddenly babbled strange language. Fluttershy had been rather talkative throughout the entire ordeal!
"Ya really think so?" Applejack asked, climbing the steps and making her way towards Fluttershy.
"Uh...maybe I do..." Fluttershy said quietly, combing a twig out of Delta's mane. The little filly finally stopped sniffling and looked around at the ponies carefully.
"Who are you?" Delta asked, carefully.
"I'm Pinkie Pie!" Pinkie announced, shaking the little filly's bruised hoof briskly. Twilight batted Pinkie's hoof away, noting that Delta's hooves probably felt terrible. Every bone in Delta's body that wasn't broken was probably hurting.
"I'm Twilight Sparkle," Twilight explained considerately, "and these are my friends Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Spike."
"I'm a dragon!" Spike announced in case anypony had trouble distinguishing species.
"A dragon?" Delta asked, peering at the green, scaly Spike with inquiry. She turned to Twilight next, and stared at her for a few good seconds.
"Are you okay, Delta?" Twilight asked, growing uncomfortable. She suddenly felt like an idiot for asking the filly such a stupid question.
"What is that thing on your forehead?" Delta asked.
"You mean my horn?" Twilight asked, confused.
"I've never seen one," Delta stated, "And where are everypony's wings? Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy have them, but where are the others?"
"Twilight, Pinkie, Applejack, and I don't have wings," Rarity said, "We're unicorns and earth ponies, dear, we were born that way."
"You mean...you can't fly?" Delta asked, confused. The corners of her mouth began to twist into a smile.
"No, darling," Rarity said, shocked, "Have you never seen a unicorn or an earth pony before?"
"I don't even know what you mean. What's a unicorn?" Delta asked, yawning.
Twilight exchanged glances with her friends, alarmed. Fluttershy put the hairbrush back where she found it and stepped away from the curious filly. Delta yawned once more.
"What is a horn, Twilight?"
"Are you tired?" Twilight replied, avoiding the strange conversation.
"Very..." Delta sighed, "May I sleep here?"
"Of course you can, darling," Rarity replied, stepping towards the bed and pulling the covers up above Delta Machine delicately.
"I wont sleep long," Delta promised.
"I don't mind how long you sleep for," Twilight replied, concerned at how strangely the filly was acting. Didn't she know that she was welcome to rest as long as she wanted? She had just broken her wings in a death-defying fall, miraculously unharmed in many ways.
"Just...leave me here...forever more..." Delta replied, resting her head on the sheets, "I found the peace I've been searching for."
"I can't find anypony who looks like her, and nobody has even heard of a filly named Delta Machine." Rainbow Dash recounted, scratching her head. Twilight shook her head. Every single bit of evidence they collected for where this filly came from led to no where.
"Fluttershy, what did you find?" Twilight asked, turning to her quiet friend.
"Well, um, a schoolteacher I came across had Delta in her class. She said that she was awfully quiet, and rather odd."
"You ran into Miss Dandelion?" Delta piped up, her already large eyes widening further. She was sitting on the couch wrapped up in a towel, sipping on a juicebox. Twilight had just given her a bath, and was beginning to get used to carrying the tiny filly around the library. Twilight had learned healing spells to fix the cuts and bruises, but the broken foreleg was more difficult to heal.
"Why didn't you bring this up sooner?" Twilight scolded, not meaning to hurt Fluttershy's feelings. She was very frustrated with the whole situation. What kind of parents didn't go searching and hollering after their filly?
"I'm sorry, Twilight," Fluttershy apologized, feeling ashamed.
"It's fine, darling, Twilight is simply irritated," Rarity assured her friend, giving her a big hug.
"Did you ask this schoolteacher about Delta's parents?" Twilight asked, trying to wrap her head around the situation.
"My parents are dead," Delta said simply, taking another sip of her juice box.
All six ponies turned curiously and stared at the little pale filly sitting on the couch. While some of the others didn't seem to care, Twilight was absolutely shocked, and couldn't believe Delta hadn't brought this up sooner.
"Delta, why didn't you bring this up earlier?" Twilight demanded.
"I thought you knew. They didn't come looking for me or anything."
This hadn't been the first time they were baffled at her attitude. Delta Machine fell from the sky not even knowing what unicorns or earth ponies were. She seemed to live in a world of her own, mentally.
Twilight took a seat, sighing deeply. She was ready to bring up the big topic.
"So, how did you get to Ponyville?"
"Well, sometimes I slide away, silently, but this time I kind of...lost myself," Delta answered, hardly answering the question.
"What does that even mean?" Rainbow Dash asked, her wings flapping impatiently.
"I think I know what she's try to say," Fluttershy said quietly, remembering her own experiences in flight school. She, just like Delta, had always been the odd one out. She remembered always shying away from other ponies just to have some time alone, like she thought Delta was explaining.
"What do you mean, sugarcube?" Applejack coaxed, nudging her friend forward. Fluttershy felt security in Applejack's support, and began to speak.
"Well, I used to try to set myself apart from whatever group I was in, and just try to get lost in my own thoughts. I can understand where she's coming from."
"Is this what you're talking about?" Twilight asked, gently.
"You don't understand!" Delta cried, "It's true, I did leave school grounds, but I swear I was on my way back. There's this field of cloud, bouncy and soft, you see, and all I wanted to do was to see it. I was just walking through it, and there was this hole that I fell through."
"I don't buy it," Dash spat, "there are a million flaws in your story. We heard the way you screamed. How could nopony have heard you?"
"It really is the middle of nowhere..." Delta said quietly.
"How far did you walk to get there?" Dash asked, suspiciously.
"Well...I just wandered off, really. And it was still the early morning. There was school recess, and I just left and walked away."
"You just left? Just like that?" Twilight asked, dumbfounded. She never, ever would have left school.
"Nobody saw you?" Dash stomped, clearly frustrated.
"Nobody pays much attention to me."
"You're still just a little filly! With a bright red mane! And trust me, I know, when you have a bright mane the teachers can't keep their eyes off of you."
"She was probably too busy to notice me gone. I hardly talk anyways," Delta admitted, calmly.
"So nopony heard you, nopony saw you leave, and you weren't found missing from school? And you have no parents?" Twilight scratched her head, finding all of this to be too much to handle.
"One last flaw in your story," Dash barked, pacing as if she was interrogating the little filly. Delta gazed up at her innocently, seeming completely unaffected.
"Wow Rainbow Dash, you're being so incredibly serious and skeptical, you're even making Twilight look chilled out! Delta is just a filly after all, a silly filly, but a filly! I mean, her name is super weird and she looks sort of weird and she's kind of apathetic, is that even a word did I say it properly, but you're crazy!" Pinkie Pie piped up, and to the surprise of the others she simply hadn't spoken much.
"Look," Dash continued, ignoring Pinkie's comment, "I have this little orange filly, she's my biggest fan. Cute thing, not that I even like cute things, but here's the ironic part: she can't fly more than a few inches off the ground. Still, if she was under serious stress, she would find a way to float or get back up on those clouds. When I was your age, I was making Sonic Rainbooms."
"Sonic Rainbows?" Delta asked.
"I'll show you sometime, when you're feeling up to it. All I'm saying is that no pegasus can't fly. Even the tiniest fillies can fly. Even Fluttershy over there, who has a talent related to animals, can fly pretty well."
"Thank you, Rainbow Dash." Fluttershy smiled at her friend, genuinely happy to hear the praise.
"No problem, Shy. Anyways, Delta Machine, you couldn't even fly under serious pressure?"
"I never could fly." Delta looked at her wings, wrapped in gauze and cracked at odd angles. Pinkie and Rarity took steps towards her in case she began to cry or whimper, but the filly made not a sound. She just stared at her wings, her wide red eyes shining, adorned with long eyelashes.
"They'll heal up just fine," Rarity assured the filly, "I know they will."
"Ah'm sure you'll be able to fly someday, sugarcube." Applejack smiled and adjusted her hat. "As a matter of fact, my cousin Honey Crisp fell and broke a wing, but now she's workin' just as well as before!"
"You think I'll...fly?" Delta asked, her eyes filling with hope.
"Absolutely-tootly!" Pinkie chirped, bouncing.
"Wow! I...I'm in heaven!" Delta exclaimed, smiling more enthusiastically than they had ever seen. Fluttershy smiled at the little filly, meeting her joyous eyes. She was a little soul, but she'd leave a hoofprint. Fluttershy would have to set aside special time to talk to her one-on-one.
Author's Note
I filled this with lyrics. If you find any not from "Heaven", I will follow your account.
