Chapters Finders: Find me in Ponyville
“Worlds apart and worlds together, stand aside, or burn forever… she will belong to me!”
(***)
Human Kyle-
I slowly opened my eyes, looking around the room. A dim blue light was disturbing my sleep. I sleepily wondered what it was from but… eh, leave it for the morning. I rolled over.
Just as I did the face of a black haired young girl filled my vision screaming, “Wake up little boy, there’s something weird going on!” She yelled it loud and my heart practically jumped out of my chest as I threw myself out of my open sleeping bag on impulse and crashed head first into the floor.
“OW!” I yelled, getting up and shooting Jessica, who was currently standing by her own sleeping bag, a glare.
“Did it really hurt that much?” the black haired girl asked. I wobbled to my feet, not so much from the bang on my head than from just waking up. Still, Jessica sounded a little concerned.
So I decided to milk that sympathy a little. “Uh huh… yep… ow,” I held my head.
“Good, means you’re awake!”
“Yes… yes I’m awake,” I was definitely awake.
“And that’s another skill I have. Alarm clock!”
“Yes. And right about now I actually do kind of wish that if I slapped you on the head you would let me sleep for a few more minutes.”
“Yea yea, don’t recommend it. Anyway, what is that?” Jessica pointed her finger and entire right arm at a large blue pool of energy hovering above and perpendicular to the wooden floor the two of us were standing on.
“Looks like a portal… I think. Certainly not something I expected to see in the clock tower.”
“Mmmhmmm… so let me get this straight, if you saw a giant portal with no apparent reason to exist pop up NOT in the clock tower you would somehow be LESS surprised?”
“Well maybe it’s more an issue of nervousness.” I said, scratching my head. “It’s blocking the only exit from the loft here so… yea.” Indeed, there was only one elevator that lead to and from the loft behind the clock face at Jackson Tower, and guess where we were.
“Yea- get over here.” Jessica said, waving me over to herself. I nodded jumping over my mattress to get closer to my friend. I stood behind her and she motioned me to get back as she approached the portal. I actually never have liked being told to cower behind her at a moment’s notice. I saw little to fear directly. I reached out my hand to the blue swirling energy but Jessica slapped it away. “You see a giant field of pulsing blue energy and your first instinct is to touch it?”
“You got another idea?” To myself I did start to wonder if I was being a little difficult here. Course me questioning my logic would be helped if Jessica would use a little of her own.
Jessica held up a hand, electric energy swirling around her fingers. “I could blast it.”
“You’re going to blast an energy portal with electricity and expect what to happen?”
“Ummmm… I don’t know let’s find out!”
I grabbed Jessica’s hand and pulled it down. “Let’s not and say we did.”
“But why would we then say we did? Sounds like a really stupid idea in the first place, doesn’t it?”
I shook my head and grinned a little. Jessica squeezed my hand. Her eyes were wide and looking up. Curiously, I followed her eyes.
“What’s that?” Jessica asked as above us a mass of energy, apparently from the portal, was forming.
“Looks like a hand maybe or…”
“I think it’s a hoof-“ Jessica said as the energy object suddenly shot down and struck me in the back, Jessica’s grip however did not release and we were both pushed into the portal.
As I looked around my eyes were filled with images of what looked like a cartoon playing all around me. Images flashed by me and Jessica at random, Jessica still holding my hand tight as we flew through some strange… existence I guess. The images played all around us… I think there was music too but- then there was a very bright white light-so I actually didn’t get much time to think about what just happened.
(***)
Pony Kyle
I landed forehead first on a stone floor, Jessica splattering on top of me. “Always with the hitting of the head.” I yelled, struggling to my feet, but failing to get up. Would have helped if a certain someone would have gotten off my back.
“I didn’t hit my head,” Jessica declared. “Besides, I just landed on you, so it was actually a pretty soft landing.”
“Thankyou for clarifying,” I said, closing my eyes and holding my head.
“Just helping you look on the bright side.”
Ignoring her, I looked around verbally describing what I was seeing. “So, very nice looking place. Garishly checkered floor, red carpet five inches from where I face planted- very convenient- hanging tapestries, gold all over the place and wow that’s a high ceiling.”
“So this isn’t the home of a hobo,” Jessica chimed back.
“Good guess.” I tried to get up again, but again, SOMEONE wasn’t getting off. “Okay, I think my head has taken enough beatings today, can you take a look around?” I finally said in compromise. Honestly, I knew she was joking around with me, but maybe it was for the best, my head really was starting to throb after two impacts like that.
“Sure thing!” I felt her roll off and was then not too surprised to hear a splat when it seemed time for her to try to get up.
“Seriously though, we do need to reconnoiter, stop playing around and- Jess- where are you?“ I stopped talking when my eyes looked at where I had assumed my friend was. There laid a pony like creature with wings, much like a miniaturized pegasus from Greek legend. The pony’s fur was yellow and it had a blue mane that was absolutely ridiculous, shaped jaggedly, almost like a child’s drawing of a lightning bolt. It also had a long tail that seems to be spread out like the dumb animal had stuck its tongue in a toaster.
“I’m right here,” the pony said, with Jessica’s voice. It smiled… because of course ponies can smile… take enough hits to the head and anything can smile at you.
“Um… I guess the horse has peanut butter in its mouth… so you learned ventriloquism at some point… Jessie it’s past time we got serious.”
“No, actually I’m pretty sure I’m a pony and so are you… I also have wings so that’s a thing.”
I tried to rub my eyes only to notice I had a hoof instead of a hand. “What?” My mind was racing with explanations. None of them were good, but I was trying and that’s what counts when you’ve been turned into a horse… I think.
“Should I be freaking out?” Jessie asked.
“What?”
“You’re a pony.” She explained.
“What?”
“I think you broke, are you still on warranty?” She asked, her smile growing.
“WHAT!?!”
“We are ponies right now. Take it from the horse’s mouth, as apparently that is what we both currently are.”
“You’re remarkably complacent about this.” I pointed out.
“I’m freaking out on the inside.” Jessica looked around. “So how do we get up? One hoof at a time or…?”
I tried this method… and promptly fell back down after using the third hoof. “This is surprisingly complicated.” I had always prided myself on my intelligence however. Surely if I could invent a magnet that could drag a car (or probably just drag me to the car, now that I think about the weight difference there) I could figure out standing on four feet. I pushed up with all four legs. “Just try all four at once.” Jessica followed my example. I then tried walking. “Ya know, it’s not that different from walking on all fours, you’re just not bending your back legs because well… ya know.”
“No I really don’t know anything about this, did I miss something?” Jessica raised her right foreleg. “Hmm… apparently our arms are more flexible than a regular horse-somehow. And I think… yea I can move the hoof pieces just like a hand.”
“Are ponies supposed to have multiple hoof pieces?”
“Okay as long as we’re ponies… let’s stop questioning minor details okay?”
I looked ahead of myself, something catching my eye and asked “And what qualifies as a minor detail exactly?”
Jessica followed my gaze to see a very large dark purple pony looking down at us. The pony had a black adornment of a moon on its chest and what appeared to be blue slippers made of glass. It also had wings and a horn. The most perplexing thing… as though anything about this whole situation were not perplexing… was its flowing mane, being blue surrounded by light purple, the whole thing having an air of being incorporeal and yet corporeal.
(***)
Luna; a few moments earlier-
I shook my head. ‘What could be going on with her?’ I asked in my own head. I just came from watching one of Rainbow Dash’s nightmares. I had watched the events in the dream, hoping to tell her what to do, but I was at a loss.
Rainbow had dreamed that she intercepted a letter to her young friend Scootaloo. The letter was about the little foal having to move away to Canterlot. Then suddenly, right after reading the letter, Rainbow watched as Scootaloo appeared put between two dark figures, one male, one female. A door closed and Rainbow was left in a dark room yelling “But… I can’t… what was I… why!? How can I be the only one who… who… notices?”
Notices what? Scootaloo always seemed like a content filly when I looked in on her. She was happy with her friends and Rainbow Dash… ecstatic that Rainbow had agreed to be her sister. If the dark figures were Scootaloo’s parents and Rainbow thought they abused her- which seemed like the most obvious explanation- I had seen Scootaloo in person several times. The filly was often bruised, but from her own antics, no signs of an older pony beating her up.
Also, if Rainbow had witnessed someone hit one of her friends, I was pretty sure that would have been a situation I would have heard about all the way in Canterlot. Rainbow wasn’t known for her patients in such matters. She probably would have beaten Scootaloo’s mother or father to a pulp if she saw that.
Rainbow also never seemed THAT attached to the girl, and I had assumed the good news about her taking Scootaloo under her wing as a sister was just Rainbow being nice. Not like there was an official proceeding for that, it was more a notion than a legally binding contract. At worst it would mean Rainbow might be tasked with foalsitting a few times. But why be worried about Scootaloo moving away? Couldn’t Rainbow just visit her if she would miss her that much? For one of the fastest pegasi alive, surely that wouldn’t be hard.
I shook my head. There were other duties tonight, not the least of which would be checking into other dreams. Many disturbing dreams crossed my watching eye every night.
Still, I walked the halls of Canterlot palace, trying to work my way through that nightmare. I came into the entrance to the gala area. I started trying to summon the energy to go into another dream I she heard a yell
“None of that!” she heard a young filly yell.
I looked down and saw an absolutely lost looking pair of foals. One was a filly, and the other, looking a little younger, was a colt. The filly was yellow with a mane brushed to look like a bolt of lightning- inventive parents no doubt- and a long tail with hair that was in worse shape than that of Scootaloo. Then there was that colt. Why were boy always so unkempt? He was cyan with a very short mane that was dark blue with yellow highlights. His tail was short and puffed out. Both his tail and mane were a mess and too short to be fixed into much of anything.
The filly started yelling again, “Why is it purplish blue, why is it so big, why is it a half… ghost… thing… why is it looking at me-“ goodness she was rude.
“Because you’re talking.” I spoke up.
“Why is it talking?!” The filly shouted.
Sheesh, did she have another setting for her volume or was it always maxed? Besides “it”? Is that any way to refer to a princess? I closed my eyes in irritation. “Normally I try to be patient with foals, however you are being increasingly rude and have failed to bow to royalty. As you seem… lost… I will take pity on you if you simply bow for now. I’ll address your lack of manners-“
“Yea I don’t even know how to do that, if you’ll excuse me I apparently got turned into a horse about- how long has it been?” the filly asked the colt rather abruptly.
“About five minutes,” said the colt, checking a non-existent watch.
“About five minutes ago. This is shaping up to be a weird night and I’m apparently awake as I can feel the floor and all and I already tried pinching myself.”
Again, I tried diplomacy. It is simply unbecoming for a princess to yell at children. “I made a simple request. I am princess of the night. I simply want the respect I am due. Nothing more.”
“Well personally if I woke up and found two people in my house I think I would be more interested in asking questions than standing on ceremony… just saying.” The filly commented.
I gritted my teeth. Oh I had questions alright, but a few of them would be directed at the guards who let two confused bewildered foals all the way into the palace. “I will ask questions in a minute, just bow. Is that so hard? I am the princess of the night, you will respect me.”
“So what, you’re going to call guards on us?” asked the colt. He actually bowed his head. Well… he was just a colt after all, maybe he hadn’t been instructed in just how to bow yet. He was supposed to nearly prostrate himself but… I understood a simple polite bow for now.
“Close enough in your case I suppose, someone has clearly not taught you children right. As to your question, why would I bother the guards with a pair of foals? As if I feel threatened.” The nerve of implying a princess of the night needed protection in a situation like this. “However if you don’t start showing me respect I may feel it necessary to deal with the both of you most-“
“PRINCESS of the night huh? Then bow to a queen!” the filly shouted. She stamped the ground with her right hoof. A powerful electric surge surrounded her and a bolt of what appeared to be pure lightning shot up from the floor in front of her and just missed my head, arching around my face. “The Queen of Lightning! And who am I addressing that is so ignorant as to call me a fool twice?!”
I backed up. Queen of… was that even a rank? Did lightning need a- No of course not. Lightning was a practical joke, something pegasi kicked out of their storm clouds to scare other ponies on the ground. I always thought that rude too, but Celestia insisted on just letting them have their fun.
The colt shifted uncomfortably behind the filly. “Queen? Jessie I-“
“Roll with it!” the filly snapped at him.
I looked up at the ceiling. That was no mere lightning bolt, at least not the prankster version pegasi actually controlled. That was a natural genuine lightning bolt, perhaps even more powerful. It had blasted a hole straight through the stone. Not a large hole, but still- “Perhaps I should re-evaluate not calling the guards.”
“I should probably correct you that she didn’t call you a fool, she said “foal”, you know, baby horse?” the colt pointed out. “I don’t think she was trying to threaten us.”
“I know the start of a threat when I hear it!” the filly shouted. She opened her wings, only momentarily looking at them with what appeared to be curiosity. She then backed up, pushing the colt back, as if using her wings and body to block her friend from danger.
I only meant to threaten some punishment. Honeslty a bad dream was the worst I would have done. Much more would have been… wait, pegasi can’t just throw lightning- what?
Finders: Find me in Ponyville
Celestia-
BOOM!
Welp… I was awake now. I was definitely awake. I didn’t want to be awake- darn forces of evil, half the time can’t wait for a decent hour can they?
I looked at the mirror in my room. Not exactly a regal appearing princess, my mane still flowing, but my fur was messy and my wings were unpreened. Still, I dragged myself out of bed. I was about to fix my appearance, but… well as if whatever was attacking the palace this time deserved me looking my best anyway. I sighed. Should probably hurry anyway.
I flew out of my window and into the cool night air. I looked down at the entrance to the gala. There was a small hole in the roof. “Sheesh, wonder where the problem is… how I long for the days of subtle villains. At least you could get a good night’s rest.”
I flew in through a window, smashing my way through and landing on the stairs above the room. “Eh em…” I looked down and what I saw looked absolutely dreadful. There was my sister with a pair of foals, A\an earth colt and a pegasi filly, the older filly looking to be desperately trying to protect her friend. The colt’s eyes were darting about, mostly looking at my sister.
Honestly, attacking foals? What sort of a villain does that? I swooped down in front of the pair, casting a spell in midair that granted me my full regal appearance- it certainly saves time in the mornings-. There I stood, wings outstretched, mane flowing and eyes searching for the evil that had forced these two children to hide in the palace.
I nodded, still feeling a little tired, and a bit snarky. “So, Luna, I see you just rescued two foals from something… well I’m up now, might as well battle it together. What is it this time?” I looked back as the filly started shoving the colt back again, this time her head was lowered, as if ready to spring. I eyed the filly, almost pitying her, but feeling a sense of pride in her bravery as well. “It is noble that you wish to defend your friend, however if there is danger you should run and hide. Fear not, the solar sisters will protect you!” I stamped my front hoof, trying to draw out the danger. Not seeing it I turned my attention to the foals, the filly looking like her heart was about to jump from her chest. I would have to calm her later however. I moved to push her with my head and lead them both to safety under the stairs. “Perhaps it would be best if you two hid under the stairs before-“
“GET BACK!” The filly stamped the floor with both of her front hooves. An electric field surrounded the two foals now, myself receiving quite a shock, actually a little more powerful than a few years back when a mischievous pegasi colt decided to prank me. (I do remember having to get the royal guards off him… darndest thing I thought but they didn’t…)
Luna turned to me. “By the way Celestia, I’m not really fighting anything right now save bewilderment.”
I stared in disbelief at the filly. “Did she just…” The only source of that electric surge had to be her… but that was impossible.
“Yes,” said Luna with a nod.
“But she’s a…
“Yes.”
“What?” My eyes darted from the young foal to the ceiling above.
“That was my reaction dear sister,” Luna said. I shook my head. “The yellow one has been refusing to bow and the blue one seems to lack some education in that department.”
“So?” I asked. I think Luna’s priorities were often a little strange. “The yellow one seems terrified.” The filly continued to back away from the two of us, wings spread out. “Apparently of us.”
“That one threatened us,” the filly said, pointing at Luna with her right fore hoof.
I looked down at my sister. My instinct would normally be assuming the filly was playing with her, a silly prank of some kind, however that was not a look of play. “Luna, nightmare night isn’t for another month. You take things too far sometimes. I know you enjoy-“
“I was only scolding them and this one attacked,” Luna defended, pointing at Jessica. She looked up at the ceiling again. “Apparently.”
I regarded the two foals. Messy, small, eyes darting about, but with a ting of curiosity still there. To me, in short, they were adorable. Too bad they seemed scared out of their wits.
“Um… like I said, I am the Queen of Lightning,” said the filly.
I smiled. I was pretty sure that was an empty gesture, the filly trying to wrest control of the situation by asserting some made up title. It certainly didn’t sound legitimate. Still, if it made her feel a little less frightened, why not? “Luna, how rude of you not to bow to such royalty. We will have to discuss your own manners latter.” I whispered to Luna to “play along”. We both bowed our heads and lowered ourselves to the ground. I smiled to myself, strange yes, but this was amusing. The filly stopped backing away, her eyes still darting between the two of us, so much larger than she was. The colt however bowed to us in return, copying our gesture. We rose, the colt again copying us. “You are safe here. You have nothing to fear from either of us.”
“I’m… I’m not really a queen,” the filly sputtered out. Well, good to see I wouldn’t have to figure out how to keep and eventually break that little act.
“Oh?” I asked, acting a little caught off guard. Yes I was laying it on thick, but I was tired and this was fun. “Then what is the truth of the matter?”
“I’m um… I’m um-“
“I really am the son of a lead noble where we’re from,” interrupted the colt. He looked at at the filly. “And she really is my body guard.” I was about to start believing him but… body guard, a filly- no. “We mean no insult to either of you, however she has been trained not to allow others to control her or me in strange and dire circumstances. Surely you understand her position here?”
Luna and I paused looking at the colt. That was… very articulate for a little colt. Finally Luna blurted out. “You are a colt?”
The colt looked at himself. “I… yes? Maybe? I’m older than I look? Um…”
“You sound like a colt, you look like a colt and you’re groomed like a colt, but those sounded like the words of an educated stallion.” Luna pointed out.
The colt nodded side to side. “Well you can’t judge someone based on just a few words but… well yea… I’m about a hundred and ten years old.” Luna raised an eye brow. “You don’t believe me.”
“Your pegasus friend blasted a hole in the ceiling with an electric spark with no apparent source… let me say that my mind is a little more open than usual,” Luna replied. Looking up at that hole again, as did I.
“So I take it that being ponies is normal here… maybe?” asked the colt. “We’re not ponies, we’re humans.”
“I beg your pardon, what’s a human?” asked Luna.
My eyes momentarily lit up, but that was an involuntary reaction, better to temper enthusiasm in public. I dialed back. “Remember that world we sent Twilight to not long ago? She told me about these creatures. They walk on two legs, have very little hair and use mechanical devices in the place of magic. If she was transformed into one of them when passing through the portal. Maybe they just change into ponies when coming into our world.” I looked back at the colt. “I suppose that you then came here unexpectantly?”
The colt patted his friend on the back and the foal finally rested her wings. She still eyed the two of us with unease. “Um… sounds about right. So, how do we get back?” asked the colt.
Understanding a little of what might have been their plight, I began to understand the fear that was in that filly’s mind. We must have looked like towering aliens, and demanding respect as we did probably didn’t help. I wanted to help them, if out of nothing else, than just for the sake of pity. “Well… not knowing exactly which world you came from, I’m unsure. It’s likely you actually DON’T come from the world Twilight went to, as I don’t remember anything about people being older than they look or controlling electricity.”
“Um… real quick, is being blue normal here?” Kyle asked.
“Depends on the pony,” Luna replied.
“I take it that’s not normal where you come from?” I asked.
“Different people are different colors, but none of them blue.”
“I see,” I said thinking aloud. “Then the world where Twilight went is probably irrelevant. Similar, but not the same. I assume you wish to return.” Kyle just nodded. “Then I shall look into the matter.”
“That’s very nice of you,” the filly finally spoke up again, this time sounding considerably less fearful. “Considering I blew a hole in your roof and all.”
“Worse things have happened,” I replied. “If you would bow, it’s still ceremony.” The filly finally bowed, copying what Luna and I and her friend had done. “Now that that is over with, introductions are in order I suppose. I am Celestia, ruler of the land of Equestria and princess of the day. And this is my sister Luna, Princess of the night.” We both closed our eyes and bowed our heads slightly. We looked back to the foals.
“I’m Kyle, son of house Tornin, from the nation planet of Triad. This is my body guard Jessica, of the house Amon,” they both copied out gestures. “I also have no idea where I am, what I am, where to go, what do to… yea.”
I smiled again, trying to appear friendly. “If you two need rest there is a small guest chamber inside the palace.”
Jessica smiled. “That is REALLY nice of you. However, I must decline-respectfully.” I raised an eyebrow. I would have insisted, such a harrowing experience must have worn on such young bodies but Jessica continued. “Can I fly?” she asked looking eagerly at her wings.
“Likely, but it’s not easy to just pick that up,” I answered.
“Is there a place where I can practice?” she continued.
“More importantly,” said Kyle. “Is there a place where I can do some research on… where and what we are right now?”
I sighed. ‘So then,’ I thought to myself ‘A Twilight and a Rainbow Dash.’ “Come. The library is this way. I’ll also alert the guards to your presence so they don’t disturb you. I can suggest a few books to start.” I then looked at Jessica. “The hall leading to it is quite spacious, you can try out your wings there.”
Luna quickly asked, “Wouldn’t she be better off practicing outside somewhere?”
“Body guard, remember?” I reminded her. “I assume she doesn’t want to be separated from her charge.” Jessica nodded.
The two foals followed as we lead the way up the stairs.
“This is REALLY nice of you,” said Kyle. “Why?”
“Do you wish me to be blunt?” I asked back.
“Of course.”
I nodded side to side. “I wake up to find two foals alone, confused and scared out of their wits in my house. No matter how old you really are, you look like children. Frankly I’m tired, want to go back to bed without a fight and this is all out of pity.”
Jessica leaned over to Kyle. “Did she just call us pathetic?”
Kyle leaned back to her. “Do you disagree?”
“Well maybe you’re pathetic,” Jessica retorted.
“I know you are but what am I?” Kyle retorted.
“Apparently a pony,” Jessica finished. I looked back to see Kyle grin. I chuckled at their exchange.
Luna leaned over to me. “That was out of character. Did you just call them pathetic?”
I gave a slight grunt. “I’m tired. Besides I was just being honest.”
“I know my way around the library. Just tell me the titles and I’ll show them the books,” Luna offered.
I sighed in relief. “Follow my sister,” I announced.
Luna looked at me again and whispered. “Is that,” she snickered.
“What?”
“Under your wing… is that Bugsy? He must be over a thousand years old. How does he still exist?”
My eyes went wide as I checked under her right wing. Sure enough, there was a small stuffed animal, my old teddy bear Bugsy, I forgot he was there. “Oh wow, that looks regal… um Star Swirl taught me a permenance spell…” Luna was still chuckling at me, trying to keep the foals from seeing or hearing. I sighed. “I’m going to bed.”
Jessica turned to Kyle. “Is it just me or does the white one have a picture of the sun tattooed on her butt?”
“Is it just me or are we all naked?” Kyle asked in return.
Jessica gave out a loud squeak causing everyone to look back at her. “I just-but I-“
“Just roll with it.”
“But.”
“That’s an order.”
“But…!”
(***)
Luna-
I had been rolling my eyes privately so many times I thought they might bounce out of my head. I had spent twenty minutes reassuring a filly that nudity, of all things, was not something to be ashamed of, and then another thirty in the library teaching a colt how to read without just ripping out the pages. “One hundred and ten my eye,” I said to myself when neither were in ear shot, getting ready to leave the library. I closed the door to the library just to hear the filly crash into something for the nth time. I looked ahead.
“Please leave the door open,” said Jessica. I sighed and obliged her.
I began to walk away as the foal tried to take off again into the air, only to crash into a wall and roll in front of me. “YOU will have to clean up.”
“Not a problem… unless I have to fly… I kinda suck at that.”
“Pardon my bluntness but, that’s an understatement.”
“Still, you’re princess of the night right?” The foal returned to her feet.
“Of course… and you the queen of lightning?”
“That’s actually a self-given title, thought I would put it to use and see if it got any play. Your sister is really nice by the way.”
“So everypony says.” I nodded. “Indeed she is.”
“So are you really. Thing is… if I had to choose… no offence to her… but I’m more interested in seeing the night than the day, if it’s a night that requires its own princess and all. Could you show us around tomorrow night?”
“Surely you both will want to get back on a normal sleep schedule.”
“Ahhh, c’mon… just one night?”
“Are you… begging to see the night?”
“Is that so har-“
I shot my head down to the foal. “YES!” I then righted myself, remembering I always needed to keep my enthusiasm in check, especially with a filly who was scared to death of me not but a few moments ago. “I mean, that is acceptable.” I left, a huge smile going across my face.
(***)
Celestia-
I returned to the library with my sister Luna. “And then she begged to see it, for me to show it to her. Begging to see the night, how many ponies do that?”
I smiled at my sister’s enthusiasm. “Oh dear, it appears I lost this round to you dear sister.” Luna still had problems with feeling overlooked, even after the nightmare moon incident. It was good to see her feeling she was gaining a fan.
As we walked I noticed the sleeping filly, sprawled out the floor like she just crashed in that position and promptly passed out. She was bruised, but sleeping peacefully. Like a normal foal just playing too rough.
We walked past her into the library. Books lay strewn all over a small desk. The colt was passed out next to a reading desk, looking like he was more prepared for when sleep finally won out over him. On the desk was a note.
It was surrounded by several scribbled on pages, two of them comprising one note with giant letters “ALL I WANNA DO IS WRITE A NOTE, WHY DOES THAT HAVE TO BE SO HARD!?!!!
The real note read like this.
“Dear Princesses- thank goodness ponies can read English
Thankyou for the hospitality. I think I was able to glean the basics of how things work around here after about five hours… the very basics mind you. Please don’t mind the mess, my friend and I will clean it up tomorrow night… if it takes us all night… Jessie just crashed into a book case so it might. Yes, we will do whatever work we have to in order to get everything fixed. Jessie is doing her best not to fly around anything that looks expensive.
I have no way of repaying your kindness for now as what few possessions we have aren’t with us and even if they were we’re kind of drifters in our world so you can guess how that goes. Anyway, please know all is appreciated and accept my sincerest thanks.”
Well that was what I was able to make out, having taken care of several foals in the past. Dear me however, Kyle had atrocious hoof writing.
Luna looked around with a sheepish grin. A few of the shelves were damaged but only one knocked completely over and indeed none of the tapestries or decorations had been disturbed.
Blue magic surrounded one of the fallen book shelves and the books that belonged on it as it seemed to automatically right itself.
I raised an eyebrow to Luna. “What?” Luna asked back. “Oh come now, two foals their age trying to lift a shelf that big, that’s impossible. You’re not so cruel as to force-“
“You could just ask the servants.” I pointed out. I pulled a backpack out from my wing and placed it next to Kyle. “They left it in the gala entry. I’m not sure they even knew it was there. I’m assuming it’s his.”
“Did you peak at what was inside?”
“Are you questioning the integrity of your sister? I do not rummage through the belongings of others.” Such a thing would have been unbecoming.
Luna bowed her head. “Of course not.”
“Besides, the bag was open, I just gathered the books and closed it.”
“What books?”
“Tom Sawyer, Sherlock Holmes and two other books… I saw as I put them away…” I looked away sheepishly. “Fine, I also memorized the titles so I could ask all about them later.”
“You didn’t pick them up during the night, I know that.”
“Fine. A guard found the bag, curiosity got the better of me but my conscience stopped me- but I’m over it now.”
“Are you?” A small vial levitated out from under Luna’s wing. “What is this? The oblessance potion? One drink, we switch powers and sleep cycles for a day with no ill effects from sleep deprivation… what is that doing here? Well, long as somepony ISN’T all that interested in walking through the dreams of two completely alien beings to see if she can find anything out… she isn’t curious… I’ll just put it away.”
“Star Swirl hated it when we used that sister…”
“We’re older and wiser now. Surely we can handle switching duties for just one day. You’re not interested in what they dream?” Luna looked down at Kyle. “Maybe we should just wake them up and demand explanations. Truth is I’m getting tired of waiting and I don’t know that I believe that hyper active air headed filly is somehow a body guard, even if she does have some unusual abilities.”
“You mean to try to force them to talk?” I asked. “You can’t be serious. Remember the fight that filly almost put up? It would be difficult to subdue her without injuring her.
“I could easily wake her and paralyz-“
“Absolutely not, can you imagine how terrifying that would be for her?”
Luna levitated the vial again. “I want answers, you want answers. I admire your charity but I also think it is a risk to have a powerful and strange creature in our palace without knowing what she is and have her unguarded. Just humor me sister. Let us both try to gain some assurance about what these two are exactly. You know as well as I do, the true form of a creature is always shown in a dream. Dreams don’t lie.”
Finders: Find me in Ponyville
Some Things are More Important
I had been in other pony’s dreams before, but that was so long ago.
I felt guilty taking the potion, but Luna was right, we needed SOME answers. Perhaps at least something to verify these two were just ponies under a magic spell and not human creatures from another world. Also, I admitted to myself privately, I wanted to be the first one to walk in an alien’s dreams. As I woke up this morning curiosity had just been killing me. I felt like Twilight getting a new book. I couldn’t just set the book down without at least getting a preview.
I started with the colt. I smiled warmly looking at him sleeping so peacefully. I tried to remember some vocabulary Twilight had taught me from the mirror world, just to give what I was probably about to see some context.
“Okay… girl… people… everybody… it should be enough to keep up, I hope.”
I closed my eyes.
Inside a dream there is a trick to observing. You can’t manifest unless you want to take part, and I didn’t. Basically the trick is to just watch and not try to take a form at all. Then you can see anything by just willing to see any part of your surroundings. Of course as an observer you don’t control the dream, so you just have to be ready for a ride.
I looked around to find myself in a room. I looked down to see two creatures rolling on the floor. They were pushing, shoving, laughing… I supposed they were rough housing. The creatures were wearing more clothing than I was used to seeing, even over their back sides… it looked rather distasteful I thought, indecent even… what if they had to use the restroom?
Well, from the looks of their bodies they had no fur, so how else were they supposed to keep warm, I supposed. Both creatures had rather light colored skin. One looked feminine, she was small, with raven black hair on her head. The larger creature looked more like he was a… “boy”, yes, that’s the word… The boy had brown hair and was a good deal larger. Their playing sounded so loud it caused a booming in the room I was currently standing in. The room itself had blurry walls, though I’m not sure if that was because they were items out of focus in the dream, of if that’s how things looked where Kyle came from.
I looked to my right and saw a black haired boy at a desk, smiling and looking to be tinkering with something. He had some kind of device between his hands that he was working on. He pushed a button on it and- well suddenly the entire landscape changed.
I was outside now. The black haired girl was crying. In her hands she held the hand of another human, this hand smaller than hers. I couldn’t make out what the hand was attached to, but I could see the smaller of the two boys leaning down next to the girl, a look of concern on his face.
The boy must have been Kyle himself and I guessed the girl was Jessica. Good timing on the guess as the landscape changed again. This time the boy and girl were hiding behind a bush. Jessica seemed excited. I watched as a very small and young looking human jumped into the arms of an older looking female human… a mother perhaps… reunited with her foal- child?
Did they bring the child back from the dead? Was it a different child? Dreams were always such a mess, and they rarely had cliff notes.
I then watched as those last two scenes repeated over and over. As I watched, it became clear, the hand was indeed of a dead child. However the child embracing his mother was not the same child, it was a different one. In fact each scene was of a different dead child and then a different living child and a different mother.
If I could decode this right… perhaps… Kyle had a job or hobby rescuing children in his world. Eventually the scenes morphed into scenes with strange incarnations of ponies and their foals. If any of this was a faithful portrayal of Kyle’s real life… maybe that was taking things to literally. Who knows? However, yes, the creatures I was looking at were NOT ponies, and when ponies did start showing up… they looked… wrong somehow. They were much more uniform in color from one to another and their hooves didn’t match their bodies.
I opened my eyes again, having left the dream.
Well that satisfied my curiosity about the boy being from another world. It seemed like he was. Of course a dream can never really give you details, but… I walked out and looked at the filly.
What in the world did she dream about?
I was actually more curious about her than him. She was wild and goofy and had so much energy. She was the one who forced me to doubt that Kyle was really as old as he said he was, but she was also the one who… well who opened my mind when she opened the roof.
“I should probably switch back with my sister. That way she can have time to rest before tonight and-“ I paused, just realizing I was saying that out loud as a few servants walked past to clean up the library. I looked down at the foal again. What did she dream about? I have no need to know of course… but then… I looked around. Finally I shrugged, sat down next to the foal, and closed my eyes.
When I looked around, the world around me was dark. I looked down and saw-bones. They weren’t pony bones, no, human bones, but they were bones all the same. I looked up and saw a… man… male human, their version of a stallion. He was holding a skull and grinning. I turned my head to see a black haired girl glaring at him, charges of electric energy flying around her. In her hands two swords appeared.
The man laughed, tossing away the skull. The girl shot forward, impaling the man with her both of her swords, I looked away, hearing the man continuing to laugh.
I then heard boos and shouts of disapproval. I heard grunts and gasps in Jessica’s voice, them sounding frustrated and even shocked. “I… I stopped him.”
“Who stops you?” came a yell.
“No one does!” another yelled.
“No one stops the queen. She must be stopped!” another yelled.
“I will stop her,” came a young voice. The boy, Kyle, appeared, surrounded by darkness.
“Kill her!”
“Destroy her!”
“No!” the boy yelled. The voices ceased. “It’s alright. I’m here. I said I would be with you. I still am. Even…” the boy looked at his hand as it instantly changed into a hoof, “Even now.”
A large white mare, looking like a morphed version of me walked over to him from nothing. “Are you now?” it said.
“Um… Jess… um” he started backing away from the mare. He backed into another dark mare behind him.
“Where are your swords boy… where are yours girl? This is our world. We’re princesses, it belongs to us,” who was speaking I couldn’t tell, I could only understand it was one or both of the mares. “And so then do you. So does he. He’s ours now. And again no one will stop you. No one.”
Kyle looked frightened and the mares were starting to hide him from view. I heard a thumping like the rhythm of a heart getting louder and louder. “No one will stop you. No one will love you. You will be alone, alone, again, alone, again, alone, again, alone-“
I couldn’t take anymore. “ENOUGH!” I yelled. I willed myself to take form between the boy and the mares.
The boy looked up at me. However instead of looking at me with relief, he just raised an eyebrow. “Wa… who… what?”
I opened my eyes, again out of the dream my mind reeling and my heart thumping. What was that?
(***)
Meanwhile, in Ponyville
Apple Jack-
The weather was sure actn’ strange ta’day. Rain, then sun, then rain again- somehow we gots some snow… don’t ask, I don’t rightly know- and at the moment, sun again.
I already talked to Twilight, who had apparently been fielding questions all day long about that very issue. She was apparently on her way to Canterlot to look into the matter with Celestia.
Well… whatever the weather does, it’s summer and the apples won’t ever buck themselves. Thus I gathered up my sister an’ a few buckets and threw em’ over my shoulder… actually I was just playn’ with Apple Bloom on thrown’ er’ over ma shoulder, she loves to monkey around a bit… and headed out to the field.
We’d been bucking for a good hour when speak of the devil on weather, out of the sky came Rainbow Dash. The way she flew in… seemed off. No flurry, no spins or zips, she just flew in and landed. I was about to start on a tirade about her management of the weather, but one look at her depressed face told me this was not the time. Rainbow was pretty immature, so I guessed at something silly upsetting her. “Ya know, our contest to see who’s faster at catchn’ crows isn’t until tonight.” Okay, that probably wasn’t a fair guess, but I had been dealn’ with a lot today.
“Yea… I’m probably going to have to cancel that… stuff is coming up and… well that just doesn’t seem to be very important ya know?”
She didn’t immediately walk up to me or Apple Bloom, she just stood in the middle of the field, looking at the grass for a few minutes, and then back into the sky, like she was thinkn’ a shootn’ right back up into the clouds. However she just stayed there. She kicked a small pebble she found on the ground with her front hooves.
“Somethn’ I can help ya with?” I asked. I had almost never seen her like this. Like she was lost in thought. Now no insult ta’ her but Rainbow was never much of a thinker… I guess that is insultn’ but I just can’t think of how else to say it. She looked off to the right, continuing to play with the pebble. “Ain’t you got things to do?”
“They can wait… they can… they’re not so important really.”
I looked over head at the sky, half covered in storm clouds over Ponyville, and the other half clear over Sweet Apple Acres. “Oh I’d say it’s pretty important. Think your pegasi can move some of dem there clouds over yonder over here? Ma western fields were supposed to get watered today.”
“Yea, I know the weather is wonky today,” her expression changed to one of irritation as she looked back at the clouds over Ponyville herself. “Celestia has been sending weird signals all day about what she wants and no pony can make heads or tails of it. Best I can tell it’s getting weird all over Equestria.” She looked back down. “Still… not that important.”
I raised an eyebrow at her. “It’s kinda your job.”
“Yea, just my job. There are more important things don’t you think?”
“Well… ah mean yea… I’m sure there are.”
She looked over at Apple Bloom, who was buckn’ away at a far off tree, and finally sighed. “Can we talk for a… bit?”
“Somethn’ botherin’ you?”
“Well… yea… can she go do something else somewhere… else?”
I looked over at my sister. Whatever Rainbow wanted to say, she looked serious, so it was probably best ma little sister didn’t hear. “Hey sis? How abouts you go play with Winona on the other side of the farm.”
“Uh, we got stuffs ta do.”
“I know, but Dash needs to talk and-“
“If it’s that big of a bother then maybe I should just go,” Rainbow said, spreading her wings and moving back to take off. “Still… this is a matter of… well… before it’s too late.”
I did NOT like the sounds of that. “It’s no trouble at all,” I said. “We can take a break. Apple Bloom, just go.” With an exasperated grunt, Apple Bloom ran off to the house. I then heard her whistle for Winona. “She’ll be occupied for a bit with that, now what’s on your mind?”
“I’m… I’m a good pony right?”
“Yer rough around the edges, but a pretty good pony at heart. Which, I would say is what really matters.”
“You think… you think I do a lot of good? You think people listen when I talk? You think what I say is well… important?”
“I’d say to me it is.”
“To others?”
“Well. Ya know, ya do have other friends. Yer sayn’ some kinda… off puttn’ things here.”
“Well that fits. I’m having some off putting thoughts.” She sighed and looked down. “I… there’s something I have to deal with… something I have to end… but once it’s over… I think I’m gonna hurt a lot of ponies.” She shook her head. “But… still I think I have to do it.” She looked up at me. “I know normally I don’t ask for this kind of advice, but well… I have to know if I’m making the right decision. I have to end this. For her.”
“End this… fer who… are you sayn’ what I think yer’ sayn’?”
“Maybe… have you noticed with Scoots… things with her… I think she’d be better off if I ended what’s happening with her. She really needs it.”
“You’re talkn’ stuff to do with that little sisterhood thing you got going? If you’re talking this way… look, she needs YOU.”
“I know… I knew you would say that. And well… I’m pretty sure if I do this well… yea that sisterhood probably end too… in fact I’m pretty sure it will. Yea, no doubt that’ll be over.”
“I think I know what’s going on. And… and ah might be able to help ya.” I finally said. I held back a tear, I wanted to look strong. The last thing a pony like Rainbow needs is to see someone gushn’. Probably make her uncomfortable, more than she was probably already feeln’.
“Well yea, I was hoping so.”
Well, this was bringing me back to something I did not at all like to remember. When I went to Manehatten several years ago, I made a friend. Storm Chaser was his name. He was a pegasi like Rainbow. A lot like her actually. Mind you he was just a foal at the time like me but… well Rainbow never has acted that mature anyway. He pulled a few weather pranks on me and played a few games with me when I entered town, and we had a fun little tussle before I left. Nothing much, but enough to remember his name. He told me his address and we were pen pals for about… three years ah reckon. But then suddenly he stopped writn’. I sent a letter to his parents and they sent me a news story.
I was shocked. Somethn’ had been bothering him somethn’ fierce. Whatever it was, he started losing interest in all kinds of things he used to like doing, like writn’ me. Then one day, he just took off into the clouds higher than he’d ever gone before, and just let himself drop. He was… well, dead before anyone could get there.
I cried myself to sleep that night. I swore I would never let one of my family think they needed to do somethn’ like that. They were all wanted and they would know it. I wanted everyone I cared about to feel welcome with me. That way they knew they were wanted and… if it came to it, they knew they could talk to me. Now Rainbow wasn’t family, but she was a real good friend, and in ma’ book, that makes ya the same thing.
I’d also read a little bit on the subject too. “I… I think we need to talk to Twilight about this,” I continued.
“Yea well… yea I think that goes without saying.”
“Glad you realize that.”
“Well of course. She’s gonna need to set things up for when I do this. I’m gonna need her help,” Rainbow said with a nod.
“Now- no. I don’t think Twilight or any of us are gonna help you with that. The only thing we’re gonna do is stop you. You should know that.”
“What?” she said, squeeking it out.
“C’mon, we’re your friends, we’re not gonna let you throw it all away.”
“Scoots needs this!” she yelled.
“Again, she needs YOU!”
“No… not like this she doesn’t. If I can’t have your help… well… I have to think.”
“Now Rainbow-“
“You can’t stop me. I’m going to do something anyway… no one can stop me. I swear it… for Scootaloo… I swear it.” I looked down. This was hard. What was I supposed to say? She thought this was best for her sister? How could killing herself help Scoots? Just what was in her head? “Look… give me some time alright? You try to go to Twilight right now… I’ll do something drastic I swear. But after that answer… I’ve got some thinking to do.”
“Well-“
Rainbow glared at me. “I want you to know, after what you just said… I can’t even believe we’re friends! Well… we’re not anymore.” She opened her wings, reeled back and took off.
That caught me a little off guard, stunning me until she was too far for me to yell after her.
I took off ma hat, a few tears flowing out of my eyes now. I wanted to go running to Twilight, but Rainbow’s threat kept me anchored there… I couldn’t… I had to do this right. Those words hurt, but not as much as Rainbow must have been hurtn’. I knew one thing, I had to be strong for her.
