Crossing Anthology Two

The next morning, everyone gathered around the Ponyville Town Hall, regardless of their fears. They knew that if their Princess had words to say, then they must listen to them. Princess Celestia stood upon the Town Hall balcony on its second story; guard ponies from Canterlot surrounded her, standing near her was Twilight, and the mayor of Ponyville. Jonah and Cole were inside the second floor of the building, awaiting their queue to properly introduce themselves to the world. A safer atmosphere followed Princess Celestia, a warm sense of trust and optimism began to alleviate the worries of the ponies as she spoke;

“Citizens of Ponyville, it has come to my attention that an attack was brought upon a school in Fillydelphia a matter of days ago. A cringing thought has been placed into our minds, and in the past we have never had to worry about something as shocking what has happened recently. But our hearts have to be strong and unite, and prepare for the worst that may come from the threat we face. With new allies on our side, and our hearts together, there is no doubt that our odds outweigh the mysterious fiend. Fillies and Colts, Mares and Stallions, I introduce to you… Jonah and Coltrane!”

Jonah and Cole heard their queue; they began walking to the Balcony from where Princess Celestia called. As Cole walked, he said to Jonah;

“I don’t like being called ‘Coltrane.’ I mean I’ll use it for my signature or whatever, but hearing it out loud makes me sound uppity.”

To which Jonah then said with a laugh;

“Cole, we’re not black, we don’t use the word ‘uppity.’ It makes us sound ignorant.”

Both of the boys laughed together, and then quickly smothered the joke with inviting smiles to all of Ponyville’s population. Jonah and Cole waved to the mass crowd of ponies, they all retained their depressed and hopeless faces, and if anything they were confused by the boys being human. Princess Celestia spoke to the crowd again;

“These two young men have braved many obstacles in their years, just last year they defeated a horrible foe that threatened the very existence of their home planet, Earth. Now they have come here to aid us in our struggle and cease the casualties brought by the strange character among us.”

Jonah and Cole stood there, silent as the Princess continued her uplifting speech. Eventually the Princess’s speech concluded, she walked into the second story of the town hall where the light shining though the tall windows bathed her white coat. Her appearance was similar to that of Princess Luna’s, the both shared the same face and style of hair, only Celestia’s was rainbow colored instead of dark blue and purple. Princess Celestia’s wings were much larger in comparison with Luna’s, as well as her horn. She motioned to Jonah and Cole to follow her; they did as implied by her and walked behind her. Cole’s attention to Princess Celestia was snatched away by Twilight who ran after him;

“Cole, I need to talk to you. It’s about Halie…”

Cole seemed confused as to whom to follow, Princess Celestia said to Cole;

“Go on, Coltrane. I will talk with Jonah.”

Cole was annoyed, and then followed Twilight for a private matter. Jonah stayed with Princess Celestia, she spoke to Jonah;

“It’s good to have finally met you boys. My sister and I have researched your colorful adventures from before, and feel you two are the perfect solution to our problem.”

Jonah smiled brightly, but said nothing; he was not sure how to respond. Princess Celestia continued;

“Let’s take a moment to know each other before the press conference begins.”

Jonah still wasn’t sure how to respond, he felt like the Princess knew him more than she was letting on. Little did he know that the Princess has secretly watched his entire adventure, ever since a mysterious invader stole unicorn powers from Equestria over twenty years ago. Those unicorn powers were modified and eventually found their way to Jonah’s older brother, from which the powers spread to those he came in contact with, including Jonah and his friends. Jonah did not know of the Princess’s deep knowledge, and only asked;

“Okay, so… what is there to know about you? I’m sorry it’s just I’m not so good with introducin’ myself unless something really spontaneous happens. Kinda like how I met Cole long ago.”

Princess Celestia thought for a moment;

“Hm, well I’ve been the ruler of Equestria for over a thousand years, and I represent the sun. It is my job to raise and lower the sun, just as it is for my sister to raise and lower the moon. I can tell that you’ve become acquainted with Twilight as well as her friends, am I right?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“Has everything been okay with them?”

“Yeah everythin’ has been just fine so far, Applejack gave us a place to sleep, and Fluttershy has pretty much begged us to be our doctor. And… hm…”

Jonah kept trying to think of something to say, Princess Celestia waited for a response. Celestia looked into Jonah’s eyes and saw nervousness he jittered around and shook a little; she put a hoof on his shoulder and said to him;

“Just say what’s in your heart.”

Jonah flinched a bit and looked back at her, the Princess’s eyes looked so gentle to him, so nurturing. Jonah felt calm for once and said with a laugh;

“How do you raise the sun? Do you use some kinda muscle toner supplement?”

Princess Celestia laughed a little, Jonah laughed with her.

Three Months Later:

A time of peace was among the ponies, to Jonah and Cole’s knowledge not a single soul had been brutally murdered since the school shooting. General Canis had not updated them on any missions or objectives. The ponies were less afraid now; they were outside again, enjoying freedom. The serial killer had not been found, so it was unsure if he was dead or still alive. Regardless of the serial killer’s ambiguous status, there was still the issue of Mina. It had been three months, and Mina was nowhere to be found, not a clue was been given as to where she could have been, all of the mysteries were much to Jonah’s worries. Twilight and Cole had been closely watching Halie, and came to the unfortunate conclusion that what she saw at the school in Fillydelphia affected her in some form. Not long after the shooting, Halie saw everything differently; she was sensitive to loud noises and certain colors. Twilight finally decided to research more into psychology, and eventually diagnosed her with post-traumatic stress disorder. Cole was been advised by Twilight to keep constant surveillance on her and to calm her during any ‘episodes.’ But the situation also came with a brighter side; as Cole and Halie was definitely becoming a closer couple.

Since Princess Celestia and Jonah met at the Ponyville Town Hall, the two befriended each other. Celestia would come to Applejack’s barn and have Jonah and Cole meet her outside; she would then teleport them to Canterlot where she resided. Canterlot was clean, far more populated than the country style setting of Ponyville. The majority of ponies that lived here were unicorns; it was surprising that the serial killer never made a mark there considering unicorns were his primary target. It was almost as if the killer never even set foot in the unicorn city, or maybe it was because he was afraid that too many unicorns could retaliate.

Jonah, Cole, Halie and Celestia would walk the beautiful and shining streets of Canterlot. The city was held on a mountain side, the view of Equestria from such a height was breathtaking. Jonah and Cole would admire the lush green land and how it blended with the snow covered mountains in the distance. Halie could not take it in; the height of the city was too great for her to mentally bear.

One night, a thunderstorm was scheduled to be in Canterlot; Jonah, Cole, Halie and the Princess were walking together as usual. The sound of thunder was brewing, and then an ear gouging strike of powerful and eye blinding lightning struck the tallest tower in Canterlot. Halie screamed at the noise and jumped back, she fell to the ground in a puddle of rain. She looked down to her wet clothes, damp and ruined, she thought to herself, “Why can’t things be like before?” she cried quietly, and Cole kneeled to her and held her close;

“It’s going to be okay, Halie…”

Halie sobbed more, she didn’t say a word. The depression resulted by her delicate sanity blew through her like debris from an atom bomb. Cole hugged her tighter, he looked up and over to Princess Celestia;

“Princess, I need to take Halie back to the barn…”

“Of course, Coltrane. And Halie, I hope you will feel better.”

Halie gave no response; it was as if she was deaf to everything except Cole’s words. Cole turned to Jonah;

“Jonah, could you stay here for the night? Halie and I need to be alone, it’s very important…”

“Yeah, I’ll stay… I can try to find a hotel or somethin’.”

Celestia turned to Jonah, and said;

“No Jonah, you may stay with me in my private quarters.”

“Thanks, Princess. See ya tomorrow, Cole.”

Cole smiled to Jonah and nodded while still saddened by Halie’s status. Princess Celestia’s horn glowed a yellow color, and Cole and Halie were gone within seconds. Jonah stood there for a moment, observing the spot Cole and Halie had just sat. Princess Celestia drew her wing across Jonah and pulled him to her side, they walked together.

Later:

The royal home was large and filled with shiny objects and soft furniture. The home was the highest story of the tallest castle in Canterlot; the tower was cylindrical so the rooms were set up in rings. The outer ring was the living space, surrounded by one glass window that stretched all the way around the cylinder, and from the floor to the ceiling. Princess Celestia took Jonah by the hand;

“Why don’t I give you a tour?”

The Princess walked and Jonah followed. She led Jonah through the outer ring, pointing to a balcony and finally revealing a kitchen on the opposite side from the living space. Princess Celestia opened a door between the kitchen and living space, bring Jonah to the inner ring; her bedroom. The bed room ring had a bed on one side the one opposite side was a fireplace. One-fourth of the ring was a bathroom blocked off by a two walls between the bed and fireplace. The middle of the ring led to the largest room of the home, the core of the cylinder. Jonah attempted to open the door, but it was locked. Princess Celestia walked behind Jonah and said;

“Oh that room is unavailable. Fun fact; it’s completely impenetrable, and can only be opened with my magic. Why don’t we go to the outer ring and talk? We’ll make us something for desert.”

Jonah looked back at her and nodded, Princess Celestia felt a twinge. She immediately said;

“Excuse me, I have to use the restroom, go on and have a seat on the couch. I’ll be in momentarily.”

“Sure.”

Princess Celestia walked to her bathroom. Jonah listened for the door to shut; as soon as it did his curiosity ensued. Jonah returned to the locked core room, he peered into the keyhole of the room. The keyhole did not look like any other that he had seen before; it was a complete circle, almost as if a unicorn could stick his or her horn inside and lock it with magic. It was large enough to look into though; however the room was shrouded in darkness. Jonah activated his power, just so his eyes could glow and reveal anything to him. His illuminated eyes only brought a faint light, and the only thing he could make out was a strange shape in the center of the room. The shape was tall and rectangular; the darkness covered the bottom of it as well as the floor. Jonah gave up and deactivated his power. He heard the door open from the bathroom, and ran to the couch in the outer ring to remain unsuspicious. Princess Celestia exited the inner ring seconds later; Jonah was on the couch leaning his head on the soft cushion to make it seem he had waited a while. Princess Celestia said to Jonah;

“Sorry about that, come, let’s bake some cookies together.”

Princess Celestia winked at him; Jonah smiled at the idea and followed the Princess to the kitchen.

It was time to be treated to a lovely desert. Being served any sort of food or beverage by a Princess was unthinkable to anyone in Equestria. Jonah had no clued what sort of luck he had that night, neither did he know what he was getting himself into later on...