Out of the Light

Out of the Light

by glorg

Chapter Two

Fillydelphia Freedom

“See??  I told you.  Aliens,” declared Pinkie Pie resolutely.

“Shush, Pinkie dear,” whispered Rarity, holding her forelegs together in a posture that screamed of uncertainty.  I’m sure most of us looked the same.  In fact, I’m positive I did.  Celestia forgive me, I wasn’t holding myself together much at all.

“...What in Equestria are those... those thangs?  They’re all kinds of unnat’ral, Twilight.  Makin’ me uneasy and the like.”

“I...I don’t know, Applejack,” I admitted sadly.  Rainbow Dash stepped back severely, looking more bewildered than ever.

“You don’t know?  TWILIGHT SPARKLE, Princess Celestia’s star pupil, doesn’t know?  Look, you’re the biggest egghead out of us all; if you have no idea what these things are, then...”

“It’s not good,” offered Fluttershy.

“‘Yeah!  Jeez.  This just keeps getting lamer and lamer, man.”

“You’re telling me,” replied Spike.  Much to my surprise, however, Spike began to walk in the direction of the park.  Impulsively, I lashed out to grab his shoulder.

“Spike?  What are you doing??  You have no idea what those things are, much more what they would do if you approached one!  What if they don’t even speak our language?”

“But Twilight—”

“No, Spike.  You can’t approach them.  We should all just turn around and head back into—”

“Nice cosplay!”

I know all of us practically jumped out of our skins when the foreign voice seemingly appeared out of nowhere.  Hastily, all of us turned around, ready to combat any assailants.

Thankfully enough, no such course of action would be needed.  Upon facing the voice, we were greeted with the sight of two Spike-sized things: pale of color and dark of hair, one’s mane was short and spiky while the other’s was long and straight.  I was not entirely sure, but I was under the impression that they were stallions, or at least males.  The one with the short mane smiled widely, whereas its long-haired twin remained almost aloof.

“Uh... come again, sugarcube?”

The short-maned one laughed.  “Wow, you even have the voice down!  That’s so cool.  Isn’t that cool?”

“Yeah,” agreed the long-maned one.

“Um, excuse me, Mr. Alien sir, but what does that even mean?”

“Oh my God, dude!  She has Pinkie Pie to a T!  Wow.  How about that.  Hey, are you heading to a comic convention or something in Philly?  I didn’t think there was anything coming soon—”

Pinkie gasped loudly, stepping back (and accidentally crushing Fluttershy) in horror.  “THE ALIENS KNOW MY NAME.  IT’S A CONSPIRACY, TWILIGHT!  Stand back scary-wary aliens!  I have super-antennae-laser-machine-guns on my chest and I’m NOT afraid to use them.”  For emphasis, Pinkie grabbed her so-called antennae and aimed them threateningly at the thing, apparently entirely convinced that she could turn them into weapons.

The long-maned one chuckled slightly, and the short-maned one put up its hands almost mockingly in defeat.  “Aha, you got me, you got me.  I’m an alien to a pony, right?”  Still smiling, the thing put one its hooves (or rather, hands) in front of its mouth and leaned toward me.  “She’s really good, but the method acting’s a bit much.  Like I said, are you guys heading to Philly?”

Even upon the intriguing revelation that the things spoke the same language as us and were not hostile, I was still nervous, on edge.  The short-maned one, especially, had baffled me entirely.  It seemed to be familiar with us, even calling Pinkie Pie by name, and had called us... what had the word been?  “Cosplay”?  Not in my dictionary, but I could learn it, quickly enough.  Tentatively, I leaned forward to engage in its secret dialogue.  Something else it had said had caught my attention, as well.

“You said something about ‘Filly’?” I asked quietly.

“Yeah, you know, Philadelphia.  I could tell you guys weren’t from around here, so I figured maybe you’d gotten turned around on the turnpike or something.  You know where you are right now, right?”

“...Not a clue.”

It guffawed at my response.  “Yeah, that happens.  You’re in New Jersey right now.  Listen, just follow that road, it’s called Prospect Ridge.  Follow it all the way down and make a left onto the Black Horse Pike, there’ll be an exit on your right to 295.  Just keep going  and you’ll see signs for Philadelphia.  Take the exit.  Make sure you have EZPass or some change for the toll to go over the bridge, and you should be able to find where you’re going from there.  Got it?”

“...Yes?”

“Awesome.  Okay, well... we gotta go.  But love the costumes!  Keep it up!  Even your Spike looks pretty legit.”  Spike, looking perplexed, inspected his claws quizzically.

“Yep,” said the long-maned one, and they headed off together, trotting in tandem.

“What the hay was that all ‘bout, Twi?  Ah swore Ah heard som’thin ‘bout Fillydelphia,” said Applejack, staring curiously at the pair as they disappeared in the distance.

“You heard right, A.J.  I-I don’t know how the spiky-maned one knew about Fillydelphia, but it did.  You don’t suppose...?”

“Suppose this really is Equestria and everypony has been transformed?  Oh darling, that sounds simply awful.  You really don’t believe the spell could be so colossal, do you Twilight?”  Rarity put her hand to her forehead, contemplating the immensity of such magic.

I realized later she’d likely been feeling for her horn.  The one that no longer existed.

“I don’t think so, Rarity.  But this situation becomes increasingly more and more peculiar as time goes on.  Recognizing Pinkie Pie and Spike... it’s all just so very odd.  I honestly don’t know.  ...I’m sorry.”

“Dude, let’s just go to Fillydelphia,” stated Rainbow Dash nonchalantly.  “I dunno if YOU were listening, but I caught that... thing’s... directions.  We get there, we find out what’s up with this place, and then we kick alien butt!”

“...Kick alien butt...?” repeated Fluttershy slowly.

“Yeah!  Oh... oh c’mon, there’s no way you guys DON’T think we’re dealing with aliens.  Okay, I know it’s Pinkie, and she’s got her weird Pinkie Pie thing going on, but seriously, that’s like the best explanation any of us have.  I guess I’m just too awesome and know what’s going on more than any of you guys.”

Applejack rolled her eyes.

“Agree to disagree, Rainbow.  But at the same time... it’s conceivable that heading to Fillydelphia would be a good idea...” I mused.

“Got another plan a’brewin, Twilight?” said Applejack.

“I think so, Applejack.  Spike?”

“Yeah, Twilight?”

“I was wrong.  Go around and speak to as many of the things as you can like you were planning to.  I’ll go with you, along with anypony else who would be comfortable speaking with them.  We need to find out more about this Fillydelphia first, as well as... I believe it was called ‘New Jersey’, correct?”  Several of the ponies nodded in agreement.  “Right.  Everypony, split up into groups.  Remember, don’t leave anypony alone, we still don’t know if there any hostiles in this place.  Ready?”

“That’s a big 10-4, Twilight,” grinned Applejack.

“Alright everypony, what did we find?”

Regrouped around a weathered old bench, I looked from friend to friend, anticipating any response.

Rarity cleared her throat and stepped forward.  “Well, Pinkie Pie and I tried conversing with several of the... erm... things, but many of them simply refused to speak with us.  I’m under the impression it might have been—”

“The Queen Mother Alien telling her little babies not to talk to us because they know that we know what they know but we don’t really know what they know but they think we know what they know so it’s almost like we know what they know we know what they know!  But, you know... not!”

Rarity raised one eyebrow in a questioning manner.  “Er... why, certainly, Pinkie Pie.  Marvelous thinking, dear.”  Rarity leaned in to whisper in my ear.  “This pony ruined every chance we had to talk, she made a ruckus every blasted time one of them came near her.  I’m terribly sorry, Twilight.”

“It’s okay, Rarity.  What about you and Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy?”

Fluttershy smiled sheepishly.  “I didn’t really talk to many of the things, Twilight, but I did talk to the animals.  They said that Fillydelphia is a very big city where not a lot of animals live; there’s lots of trash and the air smells funny.”

“Yeah, well, while she was chatting it up with the squirrels, I was actually talking TO the aliens,” proclaimed Rainbow Dash.  “Some of them were jerks, but I got a few to spill the beans.  They said Fillydelphia was in, um, ‘Pencil-vania’, or something like that, and that we could probably take a ‘bus’ or a ‘cab’ there.  Believe me, I asked if we could just walk or whatever and they were like, ‘What?  No way, it’s too far’, and I was like, ‘Naw uh, not for me’, and they were like, ‘No lady, we’re pretty sure you physically can’t’, and I was gonna fly there just to spite them, but then I remembered I don’t have wings anymore, so I just kicked some dirt on the ground and walked away.”

“...Sugarcube, that makes jus’ ‘bout no sense.  But Ah got down ta bus’ness with some of ‘em too, ‘long with Twilight and Spike.  They kept mentionin’ som’thin ‘bout a thing called the ‘Metro’?  Ah plum don’t know what it is, but we figured from what they were sayin’ that it’s some sorta train that runs to Fillydelphia a couple towns over.  They were kind enough to even give us some directions.  Plus, we managed to mooch off some parchment and a pen from one, right Twi?”

“Correct!  Spike’s been writing down any important information we would need as we’ve been speaking, right Spike?”

Spike lifted his head up from the parchment and gave an encouraging thumbs up.  “Check!”

“Excellent.  Alright, everypony: we know what the game plan is, right?”

“Um, go to Fillydelphia?” answered Fluttershy.

“Exactly.  It sounds like it might be a long journey, but I’m sure we can find our way there easily enough.  Be it ‘Metro’ or ‘bus’ or ‘cab’!” I declared.  I felt like such a hypocrite, because I didn’t really have true confidence in my own words.  The pit in my chest had become more like a monkey on my back, dragging me down with despair.  It was... well, shocking.  I’d never been so despondent about a situation before in my life.  Was there really anything different to this little mishap from the millions of others we had all run into together?

My heart said yes.  My brain told it to be quiet.  Nevertheless, the monkey remained.

“And then we take down the Queen Mother Alien Overlord?” proposed Pinkie Pie.

“...Sure.”

“Yay!” she exclaimed, falling over herself in excitement.

“Come along everypony, let’s head to the top of this hill.  The alie... the things told us that this road would be able to bring us to the Metro.”

“OR we could go the other way and just head straight to Fillydelphia,” protested Rainbow Dash.

“We’ll see, darling.”

The hill was actually quite large, almost creating a sort of valley.  A single, paved road ran through and disappeared over the horizon, but no carriages or coaches had passed through since we arrived.  I began to wonder: what if these things were a primitive race, sort of ascetic in lifestyle?  I could feel no magic, and none of our inventions seemed to be present, save for the roadwork.  Something about that train of thought made me feel almost... comfortable.  As if we were higher beings and these things, a frightening prospect originally, were really just undeveloped.

Power and its implication is the dirtiest comfort you can ever have, reader.

I was approaching the top of the hill with newfound confidence.  We would be okay.  We would find a way to get Princess Celestia, call for help, and go back home.  Easy as Pinkie Pie.

Imagine my surprise, then, when the metal monstrosity roared by as fast and fierce as a dragon.

Frozen in my tracks, I shut my eyes fearfully.  I had not seen that.  I had not seen a blur of green zoom by.

“Oh my gosh, did anypony else see a blur of green zoom by?!” squealed Pinkie.  She sounded almost excited by the prospect.

Almost as if in response, a succession of blurs flew by from either direction: black, blue, red, white, black, silver, red, black.  They roared as dragons, moved as dragons, and emitted smoke as dragons, but something about them insinuated an artificial nature, something far removed from anything a dragon was capable of.

“What in tarnation are those... those devils?  They’re fearsome, for sure, but Ah can’t help but be reminded of the coaches back home.  Tain’t anypony pullin’ em, but Ah see wheels.”  Applejack guardedly stomped at the last strip of grass before the road began, clearing her throat in a nervous manner.

“I daresay I’ve made the same observation, Applejack.  Oh, how horrible!  Stranded abroad, mutated beyond recognition, surrounded by monsters, dressed in this manner without any other outfits... woe is me!” moaned Rarity.

“Dude... chill out, alright?  They’re probably just stupid little carriages, that’s all.  Check it out, I’ll stop one dead in its tracks.”  Apparently convinced by her own words, Rainbow stepped forward.

“Um... Rainbow?  I-I don’t think that’s, uh, such a good idea...” said Fluttershy.   Rainbow Dash waved her off, looking expectantly at the passing monstrosities.  One came along at a relatively safe pace, a big blue horror, and Dashie looked back at us with a mischievous glint in her eye.

“Watch this,” Rainbow smirked, and as the monster advanced, she leapt into the road, pointing an accusatory finger in its direction.  “STOP!  I’m Rainbow Dash, and I want you to—”

She never finished the sentence.  The monster attempted to stop, but its screeching halt went too far, and before I knew it, our multi-colored friend was sprawled out on the street.  Nopony could move.  How could we?  It had been just the blink of an eye, and she was down for the count.

No, the only motion came from the monstrosity; I watched incredulously as one of the things appeared out of the monster’s side,  looking quite distressed by its incident with Rainbow Dash.  Its mane, chestnut in hue, reminded me of Spike’s... well, spikes.  It was tall, almost wiry, favoring clothing with the motif of skulls and darkness, and I was sure the glint of metal on its face was due to copious amounts of piercings.

Somewhat of a scary thing, to be honest.

It ran out and knelt down next to Dashie, gazing down with concern.

“Oh, Jesus.  Ohhhhhhh God.  Oh man.  Lady?  Hey.  Hey, lady?  Lady?  Get up.  Crapcrapcrap.  GOD, what the HELL??  WHY DID YOU JUMP IN FRONT OF MY CAR?  ...Damnit damnit damnit.  Lady?  C’mon lady, please please PLEASE be okay.  Please?  I’m... I’m sorry I hit you, alright?  Just-Just get UP!  Shi...”  It paused, turning its head slowly in our direction.  “H-Hey!  Are you with her?”

Shaking off the stupor, I nodded and rushed down to her side as well.  “Rainbow?  Rainbow Dash, wake up.  You’re not dead, I swear.  We’re all her friends, sir.  She gets into crashes like this all the time; she should be up and about soon enough.”

“Are-Are you sure?  I mean, I wasn’t going that fast, but she doesn’t look too good...”

As if in reply, Dashie mumbled and attempted to focus her wandering eyes.

“...On second thought, maybe not.  Um, perhaps we should get her to some medical attention?”

The thing, biting its fingers (could I do that?  I made a mental note to try later), ogled me with wild eyes.  “Huh?  Oh, yeah.  Good idea.  Um, I don’t know if, uh, if moving someone with a concussion or whatever is dangerous or not, though.  Do you have any idea?”

Studying Rainbow Dash, she seemed to be almost with it, her purple eyes coming closer and closer to focusing.  “I believe if we were very careful in moving her, we could transport her to your...”

“...My van?  What, you don’t want to call, like, paramedics or whatever?  Aren’t you... aren’t you going to file a police report?”

I raised an inquisitive eyebrow.  “I’m sorry?”

For the first time, its face relaxed a little.  It was almost handsome, if terrifying.  “No way.  NO WAY.  You are NOT being that nice.  No way.  That’s... ugh, damnit.  Man, now I feel even more bad.  L-Look... um, if I took all of you guys to, like, the hospital, and made sure she was okay, would that be fine?  Fair and square?”

Leaning back, I took a moment to ponder the stranger’s agreement.  “If we went in your, uh, ‘van’... would you be able to take us to Fillydelphia?”

Its face lightened up with a large smile.  “Philly?  Hell yeah I could take you to Philly!  I live there, man!  I just went to the ‘burbs to visit one of my friends.  Uh, which hospital do you want to go to?  UPenn, Thomas Jefferson, Temple...?”

“The best one.”

“Alright, UPenn then.  Um, I-I think, anyway.  Here, I’ll open up the backdoors, can you get your friends to help us out?”

“Certainly!  C’mon, everypony!  Let’s help Rainbow Dash into the ‘van’!”

“Every-what?” said the stranger.  Quick as lightning, the rest of group had circled Dashie and were gingerly carrying her into the back of the monster with the stranger and I.

“...Lame...” Rainbow mumbled under her breath.  Fluttershy shushed her, combing back Dashie’s hair gently.  Fluttershy had crawled into the monster as well, seemingly to be Dashie’s pillow; I imagined it was because she didn’t want Rainbow’s head to rest on the cold metal of the “van”.

“You got her, right?” asked the stranger, peering in through the hole.

“Oh.  Um, of course.  She’s in good hooves, don’t worry,” smiled Fluttershy.

“Uhh... sure,” the stranger said, obviously puzzled.  It finally occurred to me that perhaps our colloquialisms made no sense in their language.  Maybe they’d never even heard of hooves before, or ponies.  The thing shrugged and pointed to me.  “Alright, you come up front with me.  The rest of your friends should climb into the back, make sure she doesn’t get tossed around too bad.  I’ll get you to Philly ASAP, yeah?”

“Excellent!” I replied, jumping in through the back and climbing over the seat.  Sprawled before me were switches, buttons, and all sorts of gauges I had never seen before.  “Interesting...”

The stranger climbed back into the monster on the side he had originally exited from, staring at what I was inspecting as well.  “Oh, it’s just vintage.  ‘69 Ford Econoline.  It used to be my dad’s.  I, uh, didn’t catch any of your names, actually.  Name’s Dom.”

“Hello Dom, my name is Twilight Sparkle.  That’s Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity, Spike, and our friend you hit, Rainbow Dash.”

“Um, hello.”

“Howdy doody, alien!”

“Pleased ta meet you, sugarcube.”

“Charmed, darling.”

“I like your mane.”

“...20% cooler...”

Dom drew back in his seat, his eyes flitting back and forth between each of us.

“...You’re pulling my chain, right?”

“I’m sorry?” I said.

“OH.  Wait.  I got it.  Those are your ‘new’ names.  Got it.  Hey, make love, not war, got it.  I’m all for that hippie peace stuff, man.  Goin’ Walden and whatnot.  Major respect, for real.”

“Uh... sure?”  I had no idea what the stranger was talking about, but he seemed comfortable with the idea, so I felt playing along would be of no harm.

“Awesome.  Alright, everyone ready?  I’m about to kick this baby into high gear.”  True to his word, the “van” coughed into life, and even though I was digging into the inside of the monster with terror, I couldn’t help but smile.  Coincidence, it seemed, had somehow miraculously worked in our favor.  Very soon, we would be headed to Fillydelphia.

Of course you, reader, know it is Philadelphia.  I was so ignorant.  I still am.  It took me so long to realize that single, sober fact.

Beaming, I looked ahead at the rapidly moving landscape.

“Filly, here we come,” I murmured.