The Equestrian Event

Jay’s eyes opened to see streams of light cutting through the open window curtains from across the room. As he sat up and rubbed his face, a series of violent, rasping coughs exploded from deep within his chest.

“Shit,” Jay said through broken heaves.

He swung his feet over to the side of the bed and planted them on the floor. Standing himself up, he stumbled over to the open bathroom door, thankful that the room had one. He turned the valve on the sink faucet as far as it would go, letting a the water cascade into the bowl with such force that it began to splash out onto the counter.

Jay cupped his hands and splashed the cold water on his face. Turning his head sideways, he drank from the spout and spit the water back into the sink. He then shut off the faucet and grabbed one of the white towels from the nearby rack. After patting his face dry, Jay stared at himself in the mirror.

His eyes were bloodshot. The capillaries were reddened in such a way that it was if someone had drawn a perfect line from one corner of his sclera to the other. Dark rings had formed underneath his eyes as well, making it look like he hadn’t slept in days. His hair was a mess; his shirt wrinkled from sleeping in it the night before.

Standing up straight, Jay walked over to his bag, which was laying on the floor. He picked it up and dumped its contents onto the bed. Sifting through the pile of paper, pens, and technological devices, he found the small pill bottle that he had used the morning before. Twisting off the cap, he poured a single capsule into the palm. He stared at it for a moment before pouring out two more and tossing them into his mouth.

It was tough to swallow all three at once, but Jay managed to do so without choking. He looked into the bottle and noticed it was empty. Sighing, he placed the cap back on and began to shovel the contents that was strewn about the bed back into the bag.

Shortly after, he combed his hair, put on his boots, slung the bag over his shoulder, and left the room. He locked the door behind him and made his way down the wooden staircase at the other end of the hall.

Taking a moment to scope out the lobby, Jay saw the mare who had checked him in sitting at the front desk, sorting through some papers. He walked over to the reception table and leaned up against it. Noticing his presence, the mare looked up at Jay and flashed a nervous smile in welcome.

“Good morning, sir!” she said. “Did you have a pleasant night?”

“Pleasant enough, thank you for asking,” Jay croaked. Hearing the sound of his voice, Jay attempted to clear his throat.

“Would it be too much to ask for a glass of water?” he asked.

“Of course not, sir,” the mare said. “I’ll be right back.”

The mare trotted to the back room and quickly returned with a glass of water and an envelope.

“Here you are, sir,” the mare said, setting the glass on the counter, along with the envelope.

“What’s that?” Jay asked before he took a long swig from the glass, letting the cold liquid rush down the walls of his burning throat.

“A guard came by earlier and dropped off this letter,” the mare said excitedly. “I was told to give it to you as soon as I saw you.”

“Thank you,” Jay said. He traded the now empty glass for the envelope and tore open the seal to reveal the letter inside. After unfolding the piece of parchment, he began to read.

“Meet me at the Canterlot Train Station as soon as possible. - Twilight”

“Guess it was one of Luna’s guards who delivered it,” Jay thought with a smirk.

He folded the letter back up and placed it in his pocket. He then took the key to his room and placed it on the counter next to the glass.

“I’ll be checking out now,” Jay said.

“I see,” the mare said. She opened up the guestbook and wrote a few things down. “Thank you for staying with us. Have a wonderful day!”

“Thank you,” Jay said. He smiled at her for a moment, then turned to leave.

Stepping out into the fresh morning air, Jay put a hand over his eyes. He then remembered his sunglasses and pulled them out of his bag. Now that he could see through the glaring light much easier, Jay pulled out his travel map and began searching for the quickest way to the train station.

When he had found the best route, Jay placed the map back in his pocket and began to walk in the direction of the train station. However, as he passed by the storefront window of a silversmith, something caught his eye.

Looking through the glass, Jay saw rows of chains, pendants, and other trinkets. All of them were quite beautiful. Whoever made the pieces was obviously quite talented.

But that wasn’t what caught Jay’s attention.

Resting at the center of the display, its chain coiled up in a small, black box, was a pendant. Its red color made it stand out among the golds and silvers that filled the window, but Jay would have recognized that twisting shape anywhere.

It was the symbol of the marker.

Jay took a deep breath and opened the shop door.

Inside, it was like any other jewelry store. Glass cases displayed elegant works of metal and rock. Behind the center display, there was a blue unicorn who was hard at work polishing the edges of a gem.

Hearing the sound of a potential customer, the unicorn looked up to see who had entered his store. Like many others though, he abruptly became quite skeptical when he saw Jay.

“Pardon me, sir,” Jay said. “I had a question about one of the pieces in your window.”

“Which one are you referring to?” the unicorn asked.

“The red one,” Jay said. “The one that looks like a bunch of twisting horns.”

“Ah!” the unicorn exclaimed, now focused on the prospect of a business dealing. “That is my latest work. Would you like a closer look?”

“If you don’t mind,” Jay said.

“Not at all!” the unicorn beamed. He trotted out from behind the counter and over to the window. Opening the display, he carefully withdrew the box containing the pendant and returned to Jay.

“I just finished this piece this morning,” the unicorn said. “I had hoped a shift in design would attract new customers. It looks like I was right!”

“May I?” Jay asked, holding out an open palm.

“Be my guest,” the unicorn said as he passed Jay the box.

Jay carefully picked up the pendant by its chain, letting it rotate in front of his eyes. Red gem was set between outlines of silver to form the floating curves of the Marker. The pendant was about an inch long and a little less than half an inch wide. A single silver jump ring was placed through the ‘v’ of the Marker’s shape, connecting it to the long silver chain from which it dangled.

“What can you tell me about this design?” Jay asked, still examining the pendant. “I can’t help but feel that I’ve seen it somewhere before.”

“Honestly, you may very well have,” the unicorn said. “I can’t really take credit for the design, as I was only inspired by it.”

“Where did you come across your... inspiration?” Jay asked placing the pendant back into its box.

“Strangest thing, actually,” the unicorn said, his head turning to the front window. “There’s an alley just two blocks north of here that I pass on my way to the grocer’s. The other day, I walked past it and saw this symbol painted on the alley wall. Now, I’m no supporter of vandalism, but I found this symbol to be so striking that I quickly sketched it to add to my design list.”

“How much do you want for it?” Jay asked.

“Well, with the gauge of silver and the stone used…” The unicorn thought for a moment.

“How about this?” Jay interrupted.

He pulled out a handful of gems from the bag he had been carrying and dropped them onto the glass display case. They landed with a unanimous clinking.

“I- you…” the unicorn stammered, his eyes locked on the pile of stones.

“I- I think that will suffice.”

“Pleasure doing business with you,” Jay said. He then closed the pendant box, placed it in his bag, and walked out the shop door.

******

It didn’t take long for Jay to find the alley that the silversmith had mentioned, even though the bright morning sun cast dark shadows on the walls, making it rather difficult to see. Jay pulled out the small rectangular device he had used the night before and held it up to his mouth.

“Activate visual capture, preset five,” he said. The device beeped and a bright light activated on the back of it. Jay slowly panned the device around the alley walls, searching for the symbol.

The light cut through the blackness, revealing a streak of red paint on the marbled wall. Jay backed against the opposite wall and raised the device in an attempt to better view the entire symbol. As it was, the painted symbol was almost as high as the entire wall. Much larger than he was expecting.

“Well,” Jay said.

"That’s not good.”

******

It took Jay about half an hour to make his way to the train station. The streets were much more full that day than they had been before. When he finally did arrive, he found Twilight waiting at on the platform by herself.

“There you are!” she exclaimed when she saw Jay. “I was beginning to think that you hadn’t gotten my letter.”

“I just had to run a few errands before-”

Jay choked on the last word and let out a series of rasping coughs, doing his best to cover his mouth.

“Are you alright?” Twilight asked once Jay had finished. “You look…”

“Like shit,” Jay said. “Thanks for noticing. It’s a new style that I’m trying out.”

He walked past Twilight and looked at the train that was sitting ready on the tracks.

“We the only passengers again?”

“This is the last train in or out of Canterlot,” Twilight said, recalling her distaste for Jay’s sarcasm once again.

“No pony is allowed leave the city until the Codex is found.”

“Lot of good that’ll do,” Jay said as they boarded the train. “Codex is probably out of the city by now.”

Finding the spot they had sat in the day before, Jay promptly flopped himself down in it.

“What makes you say that?” Twilight asked, taking her seat.

“There’s no way the Marker is in Canterlot,” Jay said. He crossed his leg and leaned back in his seat. “No reason to stick around. The thief probably sent the Codex wherever it needed to go before the robbery was even noticed.”

“How do you know that the Marker isn’t in Canterlot?” Twilight asked.

The train shuddered as it began to move, its whistle blowing as it departed.

“The Marker’s signal can be blocked if there’s enough to contain it,” Jay explained. “But the signal is still growing. If it was in Canterlot, we’d have noticed by now.”

He reached into his bag and pulled out the Marker pendant he had bought from the silversmith.

“By the way, I found something you might find interesting,” Jay said, passing the pendant to Twilight.

“What is it?” Twilight asked, examining the symbol.

“The symbol of the Marker,” Jay said. He pulled out the device that he had recorded the alley walls with. “Inspired, by this.”

He showed Twilight the images he had taken.

“Every time I’ve encountered a Marker, I’ve seen that symbol,” Jay explained. “The Markers all seem to say the same things, no matter what world there on. Makes sense if there from the same DNA blueprint.”

“Do you think the thief put it there?” Twilight asked.

“Not likely,” Jay said. “Perhaps one of their associates. Another Unitologist.”

“What’s a ‘Unitologist’?” Twilight asked. She passed the pendant back to Jay.

“Someone who worships the Marker,” Jay said. “They probably have some other name for themselves around here. Something more culty sounding.”

“Why would anypony create a cult to worship something that makes them go crazy?” Twilight asked, tilting her head.

“If I wanted you to do something, but was going to kill you afterward, do you think I would tell you?” Jay asked.

Twilight’s lips tightened and she scooted back in her seat.

“The Marker puts things in your head. Thoughts, images, all to help it achieve its goal,” Jay said. “Whatever that may be. Often, it promises eternal life. An evolution of sorts. It’s not so hard to found a church around that.”

Jay stared out the window at the landscape and said nothing more.

“Well…” Twilight began. “I was thinking about what we should do when we got back to Ponyville. Rather than staying in the library and doing absolutely nothing, I thought it might be fun for you to meet some of my friends. You know… In the spirit of… Friendship?”

“Celestia told you to keep me busy, didn’t she?” Jay asked, still looking out the window.

“Wha- No!” Twilight exclaimed. “I- You… Yes. She did.”

“Alright then,” Jay said. “Let’s do it.”

“Wait, really?” Twilight asked, surprised that Jay was so accepting of her initial lie.

“Why not,” Jay sighed. “But we need to get something to eat first.”

“As it just so happens, my friend Pinkie Pie works at one of the best bakeries in all of Ponyville,” Twilight bragged, raising a hoof to her chest.

“How many bakeries are in Ponyville?” Jay asked.

“That’s not the point,” Twilight huffed, lowering her hoof. “Bottom line, Pinkie works where there is food. We can visit her and get something to eat.”

“Fine,” Jay said, closing his eyes.

“Wake me when we get there.”