Meeting with the less inteligent
The Day Before YesterGen
Chp. 2: Meeting With The Less Intelligent
"Oi Lofty! Catch!" An English voice could be heard from the ground below that the high camera angle showed. Said camera zoomed in a moment later, and then jumped to a cut of a pale pony with a blonde mane and tail running to the side, before jumping up to hit a ball to the ground.
"Watch your head, North Star!" This pony gleefully replied, as another pony ran back a little to head the same red ball back to her.
The two ponies were playing happily on their own, when they heard someone else's voice call over to them.
"So who's winning?" A nasal voice asked, causing the two girls to turn around, and the ball to pass Lofty. She looked grumpy, whereas North Star just looked happy.
"Well we were tied, but now North Star's got the advantage thanks to you, Lickety-Split." Lofty complained.
"Heh. Uh, sorry." The purple pony said, before licking her ice-cream cone. "I guess I asked at a bad time."
"Aw, don't worry about it." Lofty said, before flying over to retrieve the ball. When she got it, she kicked it over to North Star, who volleyed it up into the air.
Before the ball landed back down, North Star kicked it right at Lofty. Instinctively, she kicks it right upwards, watching it fly above her.
"Volley it!" Lickety Split shouted. The Pegasus obeyed, although of her own volition, hitting the ball upwards again.
This didn't go as planned, as it was heading even further behind her when it ascended.
"Uaaahh… Uaaahhh..." Lofty mumbled as she stumbled backwards, losing her balance. She fell backwards and missed the ball.
Now on the ground, she stood up and looked over at where the ball was. Bouncing behind her, before it turned to rolling along the ground.
"I'll get it." Lofty stated, as she flew after the fleeing sphere.
It barely took seconds for the ball to cease it's movement, but only due to someone stopping it with their hoof. Dropping herself to the ground, the pony rolled it back towards her.
"Thanks, Truly. Heh heh, nice dress." She complimented to the mare, before walking away with the ball.
""Truly"?"
Lofty stopped in her hoof steps when she heard a voice that wasn't her friend's. With a puzzled look on her face, she turned around, and saw the doppelganger.
This pony was a pale grey/white Unicorn with a pink mane and tail. She wore pink glasses and a large red cardigan that covered her whole body like a dress, hence the wording from Lofty.
"Not my name, ma'am." She politely said, walking closer to the Pegasus.
"Oh, sorry." Lofty replied. "I-I thought you were someone else."
Her two friends began to approach them too.
"That's understandable. You seem reasonably well-mannered. May I ask your name?"
"Oh, sure. My name's Lofty."
"Salutations, Lofty. My identity is Study Time. As for you two?" Study said, looking at the other two ponies.
"I'm Lickety Split." The pink pony told her.
"And my name's North Star." The English pony announced.
"An equal pleasure meeting all of your acquaintances, ladies."
"Uh, nice to meet you too?" Lickety Split responded, thinking that she understood what she said.
"I don't want to sound rude..." North Star said, looking over the dressed mare. "But what are you doing here, Study?"
"It's a fair question, North Star. I'm here under orders of my mistress; she's like me to research and collect data on this environment."
"Wow. So you're a scientist?" Lickety Split asked, licking her ice-cream again.
"In a sense, yes." The Unicorn answered, lighting up her horn.
In a flash, Lickety Split's ice-cream was replenished with three large scoops. One chocolate, one strawberry and one vanilla.
"Wow!" She said, looking over her new treat. "Thank you, Study!"
"Unnecessary, Lickety Spilt."
"You can make ice-cream appear out of thin air?" North Star asked. "That's..."
"It's not just ice-cream; that kind is special. It has the same texture and flavour that real ice-cream has, only it will not affect the body in any way. You could eat mountains of it if you want, and you shan't gain weight nor face any health issues later in life because of it."
"Really!?" Lickety Split asked excitedly.
"How?" North questioned, looking more puzzled than impressed. That's not to say that she wasn't, but the curiosity was more prioritised.
"I've lived a long time, my new friends. Studying, researching, revising and practicing are my favorite past-times." She replied. "With enough patience, time and practice, I believe anyone can learn and master anything it in a day."
"That's something Wind Whistler would say."
"Another friend of yours?" Study asked.
"Yeah. She's really smart and she's really clever."
"Oh? She sounds ideal for my kind." The Unicorn stated, before thinking to herself. 'These ponies need to work on their vocabularies.'
"You two would get along well."
"The same way the four of us are now? In any case, I shall look forwards to meeting her."
"We can introduce you if you want."
"I wouldn't want to burden you, but do as you wish."
"Wait, Study." Lofty stated, in the tone that there would be a question following.
"Yes, Lofty?"
"You said she sounds right for you kind. You mean for Unicorns? WE have those here, and besides, Wind Whistler is a Pegasus."
"Oh no, I don't mean for Unicorns, and it really doesn't matter what she is. I mean for my faction."
""Faction"? What kind of faction?"
"Hmm..." Study hummed, as she looked down for a brief moment, before looking back at them. "Have you ever heard of Babylon?"
*Sniff* "Ahhh~" A soft voice exhaled, sounding pleased with where she was.
The gentle sound of hooves trotting through dry dirt could be heard, with a gentle hum from presumably the same pony.
"Oh, I do love this time of season." The same pony said, as the camera paned out to reveal them.
She looked almost identical to Fluttershy, except without her wings, green eyes and flowers for her Cutie Mark. She had a bag on her back full of gardening supplies, such as a watering can, hoof-shovels and bags of seeds.
"After a night of rain comes a lovely smell and a new lease of life for my beautiful garden." She said, walking through her proud display of nature. "Now who comes first today? The daisies, or the buttercups?"
She stopped in her tracks when she noticed something that she passed. Something that wasn't there before and stood out pretty well. Turning back, she went to check it out.
Right there, folded on a flat stone table, was a coat. A pitch-white coat, just folded up neatly and left there. Whoever left it there was clearly a perfectionist of some kind.
"How did this get here?" She asked herself, before picking it up and holding it by the collar.
Naturally, it unfolded when she did. It was longer than she was expecting it to be, and looked just slightly taller than her own size. She then realized what it actually was.
A lab coat. One that a professional scientist would wear.
The pony looked around it and checked further. No signs of dirt, dust, rainwater or even any kind of insects, so it must have been put there recently.
"Who would leave this here?"
Now wanting to know the answer, the yellow mare put the coat on her back, just above the gardening equipment and resumed her walk to her own garden.
Although she didn't have to travel far, as another strange figure caught her eye when she turned a corner.
This one was more to her instant understanding: A pony.
A pony with a similar shade of fur to herself, and a green tail and mane in a bobble, with their head down. They appeared to be wearing clothes. A pink sleeve-less top and brown pants. If they were wearing shoes or any headwear, it wasn't visible.
Given their position, they looked like they were eating her daffodils. While she didn't mind, she would've liked to have been asked for permission first.
The yellow pony went up to them.
"D-do you like them? You can take a few seeds, if you'd like."
Judging from the sudden shift from the pony, it looked like they heard her. She braced herself for the response.
Slowly, the figure moved their head up to reveal themselves. Upon seeing their head, the mare hung her mouth open in amazement, and moved to cover it with her hoof.
The pony had a gas mask of some kind on their face, covering their entire head. They looked scary.
"I just need a sample, thank you." They said through muffled breaths. It was most likely a mare as well, given the sound of their concealed voice.
"I... I..." The pony was at a lost for words.
"Ah, I see you found my coat." She said looking behind her.
"Wh... Huh- Oh, y-yeah, I did." She said, frantically looking behind her and then back at her. "I, uh... I thought you might have lost it."
"I see. Well, thank you for the concern..."
The pony looked slightly scared still, especially with the masked stranger now looking directly at her, but tried to be civilised still.
"... Oh, Posey."
"Thank you for the concern, Posey, but I know where I left it."
"Okay. Sorry."
"Don't be. You were curious and only doing what you thought was right. My name is Dr. Babesiosis Seizure, but you may call me Bab Seiz if you'd like."
"Alright, Bab Seiz. Um, what brings you here? Were my flowers tasty for you?"
"I wouldn't know, Posey; I haven't eaten them." The pony replied, as she held up a little vial with some green stems inside. "I only needed a sample."
"Oh. You do research on flowers?"
"I do research on quite a lot of nature. I just love it."
"Really? Me too!" Posey responded, sounding much more uplifted and less afraid now.
"I can tell just from your name alone." Bab Seiz said, before looking around her again. "Quite a majestic garden, I must say. You grew it all yourself?"
"Yup!" She proudly answered. "Well... I can't take all the credit. My friends help me all the time."
"I can imagine. Well, I can see that you're about to get busy with the garden of yours."
"Oh, um, yes I am. It was nice having you her-"
"Would you like me to help?"
"Oh, yes please. I could always use another pair of hooves." Posey responded. "Let's see, we could start with the..."
She stopped herself midsentence when she saw what Bab was doing: moving her hoof about in a spiral shape.
"Um, what are you doing-" Once again, she stopped herself when her answer was revealed.
A kind of water trail was forming at the tip of her hoof, creating and following wherever it went, resembling a kind of dance.
"It's a unique kind of magic, my friend." Bab replied to her unfinished question.
"Wow..." Posey awed at what she saw. "But, I thought only Unicorns could use magic like that."
"Hence the word "unique". Now watch what it can do."
With that, she rose her hoof upwards, and a steady stream of the water ascended towards the sky. It formed a circular pattern in the sky above them, spreading out to float above the whole garden.
"Whoa! That's amazing."
"It gets better." The scientist said.
She twisted her hoof in a finger snapping motion, and the water slowly dropped like rain.
"Wow..." Posey looked on in awe, her eyes widening and glistening at what she was witnessing before them.
The garden was being drowsed in H2O, the whole area receiving the nourishment it needed. Not enough to drown them, just regulating at perfect intervals.
It lasted a little while, before Babesiosis put her hoof down on the floor again. The rainfall ceases, and the remaining what in the air dropped, wetting the garden below.
"Did you like it?" She asked in her muffled mask.
"Like it!? That was fantastic!" The other Earth pony exclaimed quietly. "How did you do that!?"
"It's complicated, but it's basically a type of magic. A magic that even some Unicorns can't learn."
"Oh, wow... But, how can YOU use that kind of magic? Or any kind of magic at all; you're not a Unicorn either."
"It's a long story. Unless you're free at this moment, it would take too long to explain."
"Well, if my garden's been watered like that, then I've got nothing to do right now."
"Really?" Bab asked, before walking next to her, indicating for her to start walking with her. "It all started when I was young, before Babylon came into my life."
"Before who came into your life?" She asked, tilting her head as she began to walk alongside her.
"Babylon. I suppose I'll need to tell you about them before I tell you about me. You see..."
While these meetings were taking place closer to Paradise Estate, on a hilltop not too far away, another pony was spending her morning.
On a patch of grass, with the gentle vocals of the songbirds performing above, another pony set her mind into the novel before her.
This pony was a pale blue shade, with Pegasus wings and a pink mane and tail. Her bowtie was white, and she had five whistle silhouettes as her Cutie Mark.
"So it was said..." She read. Judging from her voice, she was presumable the oldest of the ponies seen so far. "That Midday Tenacity would perform her spell to connect the minds of her followers to link with her own. This magic was deemed to be known as a-"
"Cognizance Connection?" Someone finished for her.
Instinctively, the Pegasus raised her face from her book to identify the face that spoke to her.
An ivory stallion with topaz pupils and passive-flying wings. He donned an ink black T-shirt over an orangutan long-sleeved shirt, accenting his cerulean jeans and black loafers, in addition to his red headband beneath his multi-coloured coiffeur.
"Correct. I would estimate that you're familiar with this non-fiction archive." The sitting Pegasus stated.
"Yup. Read it more times than I can count." He replied, with an oblivious smile.
This (surprisingly) got a small chuckle out of her.
"Where did you get that from, anyway?" The new boy asked her.
"It was laid bare atop my bed in my sleeping quarters when I returned from my morning flight routine."
"... You could've just said "My bedroom"."
"I did just say that."
"..."
"..."
The two Pegasi waited in awkward silence for a brief moment, before the flying one spoke up.
"I'm Weather Pulse." He chirped, offering a hoof.
"The pleasure's mine, Weather. I'm known as Wind Whistler." She replied, taking the hoof and shaking it.
"Nice to meet cha too, Windy." Weather said, breaking the shake, before he thought to himself 'But I know who you are.'
"What brings you up here to this isolated environment?"
"I could ask you the same thing; you're sitting on a cliff reading a book."
"I'm aware. It's a healthy pastime of natural surroundings mixed in with manufactured learning."
"So is doing a pop quiz on a cloud, but you don't see me doing that on Tuesdays." He said, in a mock Snobby voice.
Again, she gave a small laugh.
"You have a very... Strange, yet amusing, fascination about you."
"Uh-huh..." Weather nodded, seemingly looking for a response. "... You're pretty weird as well."
"I beg your pardon?" She laughed, leaving him unsure if she was serious or not.
"Heh heh. So, what are you doing up here? There's a house over there, and you're not using it."
"I'm aware of that building. It's my home. We call it Paradise Estate."
"I call it easy product advertisement." He muttered.
"Excuse me?"
"Nothing. Anyways, how come you're reading it out here instead of inside there?"
"As I said, fresh air is healthy for the mental mindset when practising it in an operating manor."
"So, open a window and read close to that. What if it rains?"
"That'd be unfortunate, but it shan't. By observing the clouds above, estimating their H2O content and taking in the proximity of range, we can approximate the upcoming weather."
"I know, but you know what else can deem weather patterns?" He asked, raising his hoof. "This."
In a second, a blue sphere formed just above it, floating in the air. It didn't take long for it to move fluidly, telling them that it was made out of water. It shifted above, until it seemed to evaporate into a cloud-like substance, and expand around them.
"What is...?"
The cloud stopped growing and ascending when it got big enough to overlap both of them. What was more eye-catching at this moment was that rain started to pour from it.
"Well, this is certainly interesting." Wind Whistler commented on what she was seeing around her. The cloud was shaped in a doughnut pattern, so no rain actually touched them.
"I know, right? It's a type of magic my kind learnt." Weather informed, waving her hoof around in a circular motion.
As he did, the rain began to stop, and snow began to take its place. He did the hoof twist again, and it turned into a strong breeze, and again, before it turned to a steady sandstorm.
"Nice, isn't it?" The stallion asked, putting his hoof down, and the weather stopped and the cloud disappeared.
"I admit that was interesting to observe. You say that it was a form of magic, yet you have no horn, or at least not one that I can see."
"That's more complicated, Windy. Babylon taught me everything."
"Babylon? What kind of Babylon is this?"
"The one where I'm from." He laughed as he answered.
"Well, that goes without saying."
"Yeah, it doesn't, don't it? You know that book you're reading? The mare that you're reading about?"
"Midday Tenacity? I haven't met her personally, but she sounds relatively enlightening. Does she hold some importance to you?"
"She's a Mark. She's my boss."
The next camera shot was by a riverbank. A steady stream flowed by, as the frogs and flies peacefully went about their days.
With the insects and amphibians minding their own business, as was another pony lying by a tree.
"He loves me." A pink pony told herself, peeling the petals off of a daisy.
She was a creamy pink, with a more red-pink mane. Her Cutie Mark looked like a set of hearts with angel wings. More noticeable was her... Stylish dress. A red and white flared dress with a lacy hem to it. A red bow tie wrapped around middle of it, tied at the back. A light red set of shoes on all of her hooves, with white socks on her front legs.
"He treasures me." She continued, peeling another one. Beneath her was a large amount of petals, looking like she had been here doing this for possibly hours.
Meanwhile, not too far way, another Pegasus watched as her friend passed the time. This pony was white with a red mane and tail. No clothing on her.
"Poor thing." She told herself, shaking her head. "Waiting all her life for her one true love. I hope she finds him soon."
"The course of true love never did flow smooth." Another mare said from seemingly next to her.
"Yeah, she- huh?" The pony turned around and jumped at the sight of someone appearing out of nowhere. "Whaa!"
"Nice to meet cha, too." The mare said. She was purple with a combed back blonde mane. She wore a
blue sweatshirt with an orange circle on the front with a star inside. Behind that, she had a purple skirt on, and a pair of brown shoes on her back hooves.
"Wh-what... When did you get here?" The Pegasus asked her, calming herself down a little.
"A few seconds ago. You're Paradise, right?" The pony asked her.
"Y-yes. Who might you be?"
"Carol." She replied, offering her hoof.
"It's nice to meet you, Carol." Paradise responded, accepting the hoof and shaking it for a second. "I've never seen you here before."
"That's because we've never been here before."
""We've"?" Paradise quoted. "Is there more of you?"
"That's right. Me and my friends got here a little while ago."
"Wow. Where did you all come from?"
"Would you believe we're aliens?"
"What? No way... Well, actually, given everything that I've already seen here with my friends, I might believe that. Are you?"
"No. We're called Babylonians. You could say we're from out of town." Carol said to her.
"Oh. Well in that case, let me welcome you to Dream Valley."
"That's nice of you, but you wouldn't need to say welcome if I already felt welcome here, which I do."
"Really? It IS a nice place, isn't it?"
"Yeah, when it's not being invaded by witches or giants every other week."
"Heh heh. Yeah, I guess that's a small hinder- Wait."
Carol looked at her. "Oui?"
"How do you know about that?"
"Because we've met some of them before too. Didn't do us too much good either."
"Oh... That would've helped us a lot, when we had some trouble with them."
"I guess it would. Anyway, what're you doing here, spying on your friend?"
"I'm not spying on her. I was just about to go down and see her, before I met you."
"Ah. Well, looks like she's a little occupied herself." Carol indicated over to the Pegasus below.
As she said, she was talking to another pony.
"He adores me..." The Pegasus continued, pulling off more petals. "He cares for me..."
"Indeed I do."
She stood up and turned around. Upon doing so, she saw someone approaching her, widening her eyes involuntarily as they did. A handsome yellow Unicorn with a parted blonde mane, with a ponytail at the back of it.
"I'm a religious pony. As such, I often makes prayers and offerings to the deities I believe in. My most famous one, as far as I can recall, was about finding the mare I would call my true love." He started, giving her more flowers. "And now, at long last, I believe they may possibly have been answered."
"Oh, darling..." She said, turning her face away and holding her leg in front of it. She then reaches out and takes them. "You shouldn't have."
"You're right; you're beautiful enough. I understand that your name is Heart Throb. Is that correct?"
"Why, yes." Heart Throb replied, looking back at him.
"I thought so. Your name certainly proceeds you."
"Oh sir, you are too kind." Heart Throb replied, blushing even more. "May I ask your name also?"
"Certainly. My name is Illiux." He replied, offering her his hoof.
"Well Mr. Illiux, you've certainly captured my heart." She said, accepting his hoof.
"That's all I could ever hope to capture." He kissed her hoof on the top of her fetlock.
"Oh, sir~" Heart Throb held her own cheeks.
"What, pray tell, are you doing here, by your lonesome? A lady such as yourself surely deserves a more civilised environment."
"Oh, I'm just here on a little stroll." She replied, trying to conceal her blush. "What about you?"
"I'm here on business." Illiux told her. "You might say that I'm running a slight... Recruitment industry. I'm somewhat of a talent and fashion scout."
"Oh? You seek talent?" The Pegasus queried.
"I need not seek what I've already found." The Unicorn responded, caressing her dress gently. "You conjured this yourself, Jawohl?"
"As a matter of fact, I did. You really think this is ideal for what you're looking for?"
"No, my dear; I think YOU'RE ideal for what I'm looking for."
"Oh, darling, you flatter me so." She responded, tempted to hide her face from his comments.
"I don't intend to overdo it, but I only speak the truth, dear."
"Sir~" She cooed again. "How ever have I lived without until now?"
"Good question. I shall ask myself it everyday I recall. Now then, where exactly were you planning on spending your walk to?"
"Oh, nowhere special."
"Come now. It's you; of course it's special."
"Illiux, you are such a charmer." Heartthrob stated, before thinking it over for a moment. "If it wouldn't be trouble, kind sir, would you care to join me?"
The second the question was asked, the smile on his face expanded wider, not so much that it ruined his perfect face, but enough to show his satisfaction with her asking that.
Of course, what the mare hadn't realized was that he was smiling on the inside as well, but his face then was a completely different expression. On the inside, it was a face of sinister and power, as if he was about to get what he wanted.
"My dear... There is nothing I'd love more."
