The Dimensions of Polyn

Chapter 6: Another Me.

Everyone gathers in the main living room. The small pink and red couches clash with the hey bales that are shedding random hay everywhere. Sitting on one of the bales, Applejack starts by addressing the group as pinkie flops around on a cushion that has fallen to the floor.

“Okay, so I just saw a bunch of Displacers get thrown into some kind of fiery twister that destroyed part of my barn and scared my cows to death. Then the same twister was sucked up like a vacuum by your fancy cylinder. What just happened?”

Sitting on an older couch, across from them, the two dimensional travelers are consistently distracted by the pink pony that refuses to sit still. Pinkie stands up all of a sudden and chimes in, talking very fast.

“How do you know that armored guy? How do you make a tornado? Come to think of it how are you Polyn but not really Polyn?” Pinkie doesn't allow any time to answer her questions and takes a big tired breath after her ranting. Winona starts barking again. Even though exhausted, the pale gray unicorn looks over at her guard companion, shrugs and decides that she needs to spill the beans.

She tells her story. Often Pinkie talks out of turn and asks a strange question. At one point the impatient Polyn breaks and shouts at her.

“Do you want to hear this story or not!”

She also had to explain things in a way that Applejack would understand. A simple, hard working farm pony like her had difficulty understanding complicated technology, which she often referred to as a boondoggle.

They all eventually realized that Polyn was telling the truth, and with the guard from her world reaffirming her facts, no one could have made that kind of crazy story up, it was just hard to believe. After more questions from Pinkie, the guard felt like asking some questions of them.

“How long have you been working at this farm?” Kallan asks.

“As long as I can remember.” Applejacks voice is muffled by the apple she is munching on.

“Why would you build a barn next to a haunted forest?”

“The forest is a great source of fruits, wood, and seeds...and it wasn't haunted when we first got here. We just decided that the forest was worth it.”

When the barn needed supplies like, extra hay, kitchen utensils, or tranquilizers for Pinkie, they relied on a shipping company out of the neighboring towns and occasionally the larger cities. The owner of that company was also Polyn. They had a good business relationship with her company, earning more than enough bits to keep the farm running.

Surprisingly, Pinkie was great at negotiating business deals. Her many associates always left with a smile, no matter if the deal was fair or not.

Kallan isn't done with his questions.

“What do you mean, It Wasn't haunted before?” he asks. motioning a hoof toward the couch.

“Several years ago, the ponies settling in the forest, suddenly left. I guess they had gotten fed up.”

Polyn talks in the gap, unexpectedly.

“Why did they get 'fed up?'”

“They found some old ruins, or temple. I don't know much about it, the settlers pretty much kept to themselves.

The wind begins to blow through the open windows. Apple jack gets up and closes them.

After tying up some loose ends and making every one feel a little bit more comfortable. They all decided to go to bed, It had been a long night.

Polyn is given a place to sleep in the upstairs attic. It is useless, she can't sleep. Her mind was filled of thoughts of where she might go next, what she would do if she ran into her other self, the Displacers, the staff's abilities and of course, Lyra.

Her friend had made her choice but still, there was a hole in Polyn's heart that she once filled. She was still angry at her for choosing to stay behind and she knew that Lyra would be trapped in the neglect of that tyrant Julius, who would use her kindness and generosity for his own selfish ambitions. Even now he was probably trying to find another way to invade worlds with his resources and his army. She was free from a life of physical entrapment, but still trapped in her own thoughts and worries.

The sun shines through the window. Pinkie Pie jumps on the bed.

“Come on, get up. There is so much fun work to do. We can move some of the cows to the pen, and then we can squish some berries to make juice, and then...”

Polyn gets out of bed immediately trying her best to ignore Pinkie. She goes down the stairs and into the bathroom. Her mane is a mess. Luckily there are plenty of grooming tools in a small chest on the floor. Wiping the crust from her eyes, she levitates the scissors to cut her mane a little but she stops before doing so. It was always kept short around her eyes to be out the way.

With her past left behind, there was no reason to do things the same way and she was free of having her life chosen for her. Maybe this time she would let it grow out a little. She also had to splash some water on her face, and clean and adjust the harness which was the only extra clothing she had, plus it had storage pockets and holders for the staff.

Exiting the bathroom, Pinkie surprises her with a balloon.

“You seem a little down. As I always say, there's always room for a balloon.” She stands up proudly, “That's an official Pink-ism.” Kallan walks by them during their awkward moment.

“How come I didn't get a balloon?”

“Because you didn't ask me, silly!”

Pinkie pulls a balloon out of nowhere. Polyn tries not to outwardly display her irritation.

“Where's Applejack,” she asks, finally giving in and taking the balloon.

Applejack is in the field preparing the soil for seed planting. The three exit the house and Pinkie bounces ahead of them toward the fields.

Polyn turns to the guard.

“Thanks for your help last night...What should I call you?”

“I'm Corporal Kallan Thunderhoof of the twenty-third brigade, Equestria city.”

“Are you going to go somewhere? I don't think I get us back to the city, nor would I want to go back.”

“It's no problem, It get's pretty boring guarding things all the time.” He smiles, “I have had to guard your friend Lyra and other government families almost everyday back home. She certainly did talk about you a lot. Believe me, I've heard of Protector Polyn. You should have been trained as a guard special forces. You are pretty capable, based on what I saw at the lab plus last night. I heard you have saved your friend from all kinds of things, including a dragon and some unmentionable thugs.

“They weren't thugs, Polyn says, “they were Elites who thought It would be fun to take some commoners prisoner. I didn't see any guards helping us then.” She pops her balloon.

Kallan clenches his teeth in embarrassment.

He Takes his balloon, and goes over by the barn to keep Pinkie busy while Polyn chats with Applejack about the situation. They sit on the hey bales in front of the grazing cows. Not very fond of small talk Polyn gets right to it, asking about the source of the Displacers.

“Most of the settlers who lived in the forest ended up burying their dead in the underground place there. They must have been living there for a while if they had generations of families. They never really came this far out, but I've heard stories of an evil zombie pony who lives in the ruins but those are just rumors. I would guess the displacers would be due to the dead ponies in the tomb coming to life.”

Applejack gets up and continues with seed planting, putting them in her mouth and then sprinkling them into small holes in the field.

“Do you think that something in the tomb might be causing the Displacers to uh... leave their bodies or, something like that?” Polyn is visibly uncertain. Applejack spits the last seeds out in a chunk.

“You know about as much as I do about it,” Applejack replies. I was thinking about checking it out now that the displacers are attacking the barn, but thanks to you they are gone now.”

Polyn nods at Applejack. The blond pony goes to the cows and inspects them. The confused unicorn moves over to the barn, takes out the staff and tries to speak to it.

“Do you have any info uhh...” The screen lights up. “My identification number is 2-8rui4924.”

“Can I call you Rui,” Polyn asks.

“Indeed, an abbreviated name would suit me better.”

“So Rui, do you know anything about the Displacers?”

“According to my scans, the ruins, several miles away are letting off a large amount of magical energy. I can't be sure, but with that amount of power something in the area could be capable of creating a manifestation of the deceased. In addition, the way that they travel in groups and their motivations may suggest an intelligence or a design of some sort. They were attacking the barn directly, when they hadn't before.”

“Will they come back?”

“I'm sure that whatever created them can simply Displace another set of creatures.”

“So they're ghosts?”

“Yes and no, they are a recreation of the dead with magic, not a re-animated dead or undead. As long as the bodies lie in the tombs, there will be more.”

“Then our next goal will be to go to the tomb and see what is causing all this.”

“That sounds appropriate. If the magical force from the tomb is strong enough, I may be able to open up a gateway to another plane, based on the signature I got from the earlier encounter with the Displacers and based on our current synchronization level, the success rate of transfer is 75 percent.”

The encounter last night was beneficial for both Polyn and the newly named Rui AI. Already she could see the power of It. By continuing the journey across worlds, both of them could learn about each other and gain more power and abilities. A desire for power started to brew inside her. Her quest to find her freedom, to make a world without corruption had begun, but what would she use this newfound power for...

After a short day of camaraderie, Polyn was anxious to check out the forest tomb. It was about mid afternoon when the other Polyn would be making her delivery. Having two of herself in the same place would be a little strange and might really confuse things. She decides not to stick around.

Kallan wanted to join her, even though he was having far too much fun joking with Pinkie and helping around the farm. He is a natural worker with a sense of adventure and enjoys working a job with motion and life instead of having to deal with nosy elites or standing around guarding things.

He takes off his helmet revealing a long flowing blue and blond mane. He also removes his bracers and leggings. He keeps the breastplate but takes off some extra sections so it fits better. He has very large hooves, much larger than the average colt.

“That is so much lighter, ready for adventure...am I right?”

“Let's go before it gets too dark.” the obviously determined mare starts walking.

“She is way to serious.” He thinks to himself.

They had only gone a little ways into the forest when Polyn suddenly stops and sits down behind a large tree root. Kallan is baffled.

“What are you doing?”

“I want to see myself.”

“Are you serious, you wanted to get going?”

There is no more word from her. With a sigh, Kallan collapses next to her lying on his back with his hooves in the air. “I could be exploring an awesome tomb right now.” He says to himself.

Random wildlife scurries around. The wind blows gently with sudden gusts that strike without warning. One of them knocks Kallan onto his side. The trees above are thick and don't allow much light to come in. The occasional light ray is a warm welcome.

Things are pretty uneventful for a while. The two sit in silence simply waiting. Kallan twirls his hooves around and takes a short nap, getting up occasionally to watch a deer or a squirrel having only seen them in old books. Unlike a book, Polyn is hard to read. Saying one thing and then changing her mind and doing something else. At least when she finally decided, she was dedicated.

The two finally notice Applejack moving around the side of the barn near the cows. A wooden cart pulled by a large red colt comes out from the distance. It has several bales of hay, two cows, wood and some extra tools. Kallan sits up.

“Hey, do you know who that is?” He leaves no time for an answer. “That's Big Macintosh, Applejack’s brother. Pinkie told me how large he was.” From their hiding place, they are able to hear the conversation from a distance.

“Did you remember to bring all of the supplies for the repair big brother?”

“E'Yup!”

“Good to hear it. Polyn's sleeping again isn't she?”

“E'Yup!”

“All right, wake up Polyn this ain’t no time for sleeping.”

It was hard to make out the figure in the back of the cart. There was some commotion in the back but eventually her doppelganger made her way to the front. The resemblance was perfect. Here she was the same pony, Another Polyn.

Thoughts began to flow around. How many worlds were there? Was there an Applejack or Pinkie Pie in her world? Could one world effect the other? The world obviously was different with a different Polyn, in attitude and everything. What if there was a world where an evil version of herself existed? She becomes dizzy and stops her thought process.

“It's really you, that's insane! Do you think there's another me also?” Kallan is thinking out loud. Polyn stands up swiftly and starts walking immediately in the other direction.

“So you've seen what you want to see? Don't you want to know if she has a weird voice or a bunyon on her toe you don't have? What if she is really an alien or something.”

Polyn ignores him, having already seen what she wanted; to confirm the existence of another and nothing more. Kallan rolls his eyes.

“I hope she's not always like this.”

He follows her further into the forest.