Ch13 - *Twitch* Gaia save me!

*In the sky between Canterlot and Ponyville, near dusk*

High in the air, Dawn Wings, now back in her corvis form, languidly glided towards the Everfree Forest. It’d been a long day, made longer by the extensive preperations that she and the princesses had made regarding her assignment. She was, quite frankly, spent. While the princesses had offered to put her up in one of the hotels in Canterlot, Dawn Wings had declined, opting to simply head back to the Everfree. Once clear of the city and any prying pony eyes, she’d shifted back to her natural form. Then, calling upon her power, she turned her body to “autopilot” mode. As the gift guided her back to “home,” she let her mind drift back to her final conversation with the ruling incarna.

*Five hours ago, Canterlot*

“Dawn Wings” Celestia had said when the corax and Raven had returned to the meeting room. “We’ve come to a decision.”

“Oh goody.” Dawn Wings deadpanned as she propped her elbow on the table and leaned her cheek on her hoof. “Does it involve being executed? Because I’d really rather not have to deal with that. Dying is such a hassle.”

Celestia regarded the corax for a moment before replying.

“I’m not sure why you’d think that, but, no, you’re not going to be executed, or imprisoned.” Celestia said, her eyes briefly flickering over to Cadance, who looked away. “Instead, we’re going to make a deal with you.”

Dawn Wings quirked an eyebrow as she met the princess’s eyes.

“Oh, what sort of deal?”

“We’re willing extend to you probationary citizenship in Equestria, and provide you with tutelage in our language. Additionally, you will be given assistance in integrating into Equestrian society, as well as be provided temporary lodging in Ponyville until the time that we deem you’ve learned enough to manage on your own.”

Dawn Wings keep a straight face, but subtle hints of surprise and elation began to creep into her eyes. The cultural integration thing she couldn’t care less about, but the prospect of learning their language was more than enough to get her excited. While she could probably pick it up on her own, having at tutor would greatly speed up the process.

“That’s a generous offer. Don’t worry about wherever you were gonna stick me though. I’m perfectly happy staying in the Everfree.” Dawn Wings replied.

“Are you sure?” Luna asked.

“I’m quite sure.” Dawn Wings said dryly, “I’d be far more comfortable there than in town.”

“It is not a matter of your comfort, Dawn Wings. It is a matter of earning their trust.” Luna said, “The ponies of Ponyville are terrified of the Everfree. If they suspect that you are living there, they will have a hard time welcoming you.”

Dawn Wings bristled a bit, but held her tongue. She suspected that the housing thing wasn’t just to ‘make the ponies more comfortable around her.’ It was also a way to keep tabs on her. Though it wasn’t her biggest hang up. On Gaia, she’d never owned a house in any human settlement, nor had she ever wanted to. If she had to, she stayed with friends or contacts in her network. Even her human cover identity, Nicole Alba, didn’t have a permanent residence, only a P.O. Box. Still, she wasn’t willing to press the issue.

“Alright. Fine. Whatever.” Dawn Wings huffed. After all, just because they gave her a place to stay didn’t mean that she’d have to use it. “Can you at least set me up somewhere as close to the forest as possible?”

“We believe that can be arranged.” Luna said before addressing her sister, “Do you think the Apples would be willing to put her up for the time being?”

“Please tell me that the fruits aren’t also sentient and capable of speech. I had a hard enough time coming to terms with talking ponies. I don’t think I could handle living in The Annoying Orange.” Dawn Wings deadpanned.

Luna gave Dawn Wings a look of ‘I’m not sure if I should be insulted or confused.’ “No… the Apples are the family that runs Sweet Apple Acres, the orchard along the edge of the Everfree. Surely you have noticed it during your time in Ponyville.”

“Oh, yea, that place.” Dawn Wings said. “Sure, that’d work. So, what’s the catch?”

“Catch?” Luna asked.

“No disrespect meant, but don’t treat me like I’m an idiot.” Dawn Wings said as she lifted her other foreleg and casually examined the back of her hoof. “I wasn’t hatched yesterday. I know how this sort of thing works, and there’s always a catch. So, lets hear it.”

“Very astute.” Celestia chimed in. “The ‘catch’, as you put it, is we want you to share any and all information you’ve got on the changelings in Ponyville, as well as your cooperation in tracking them down.”

“Oh? What makes you think I can help with that second part?”

“You’ve not exactly been discrete about what you’re capable of.” Celestia said with a knowing smile. “Even if you haven’t been forthright with all of your abilities, you’ve made it clear you are a more than capable investigator. Am I wrong?”

“I can see why you’re in charge, princess. Can’t say that’s unexpected.” Dawn Wings replied as she lowered her hoof and tuned her eyes towards Celestia before flashing a cocky smile. “Well, I was planning to do that anyway, so no skin off my back.”

The princesses and Shining all blinked.

“You were?” Shining asked.

“Why wouldn’t I? I mean, its kinda my job. Sure, I don’t exactly know you and your kind just yet, and to be honest, you get under my skin in a lot of ways, but I’ll be damned if I stood by and just let a bunch of emotion-sucking Wyrm-born ticks do what they please. They certainly sound like something the Eater-of-Souls would shit out into the world.”

The ponies all regarded the pegasus. None of them really had any idea what she was going on about, but they decided it was probably best to just let it slide. For now.

“So, I take it you agree to our proposal?” Celestia said.

“Not quite. There’s something I want your word on before I agree: you keep what I am just between the people in this room.” Dawn Wings said gravely.

“What do you mean?” Celestia replied.

“That I’m not a pony, that this isn’t my only form and that I’m not from your world. Agree to that, and we’re good to go.”

“Why?” Shining asked.

“Call it proper paranoia. I’m not interested in some over zealous nutjob coming after me to yank out my organs or dissect my brain because I’m something new.” Dawn Wings said dryly, causing the ponies to look at her with varying degrees of horror and revulsion, “Besides, if I’m going to help you flush those bugs out, I need to keep a low profile. The fewer people that know what I am, what I’m capable of, or where I come from, the easier it’ll be for me to do that.”

Luna and Celestia shared a quick look before nodding.

“I think we can agree to that, so long as there’s two more added to the list.” Celestia said.

“Who?” Dawn Wings replied.

“My student Twilight Sparkle and her assistant Spike.” Celestia said, “She will be the one organizing your tutelage, and will be your means of communicating with us regarding your progress in tracking down the changelings.”

“She’s not a vampire, is she?” Dawn Wings deadpanned. “Because if she’s a sparklepire, I’m so done with this place.”

Again, the ponies in the room weren’t sure how to respond.

“No… she’s just a pony.” Shining slowly replied.

“Why would you think she’s a vampire?” Cadance asked.

“PTSD caused by some of the worst books in the known history of the written word.” Dawn Wings said with a nauseated shudder.

“My traumatic association with hot, stinking literary toxic waste aside, why do they need to know about me?” Dawn Wings asked as she crossed her forelegs.

“Like I said, she will be aiding you in tracking down the changelings. And if she’s going to be involved, she’s going to have to be in on it.” Celestia said, leaving it unspoken that Twilight already knew that the corax wasn’t native to Equestria, though not the specifics of her ability to change forms. “So, do we have a deal?”

Dawn Wings mulled it over. She didn’t like this. But, if it was just the five in the room and these Twilight and Spike characters, it was a small enough circle to keep things on the down low. And, if she was going to be honest with herself, giving up on this would put her back at square one, which meant she’d be stuck learning their language, and trying to make new connections all on her own. Sure, she’d had peaceful enough contact with Zecora, but the zebra didn’t strike her as typical for Equestria. At least if she agreed, she’d be able to earn the favor of the diarchy.

She didn’t like it, but she liked the other option even less.

“Yea.” Dawn Wings said with a nod. “Not exactly sure what I’m getting myself into here, but, sure, you got yourself a deal sunshine.”

Celestia smiled gently as she addressed the corax.

“Excellent.” Celestia said as she lit her horn and levitated a scroll and quill. Rapidly writing out a letter, she sealed it with a wax stamp, and then levitated it into the air, where it promptly vanished in a puff of green flame. “I’ve just informed Twilight to expect you tomorrow morning.”

“That’s great. And how do I find her?” Dawn Wings deadpanned. “I can’t exactly ask for directions.”

“You need not worry. You’ll find her at the Golden Oaks Library in Ponyville.” Celestia said as her horn glowed and a map materialized in front of the corax. “The library’s inside the large oak tree near in the Northern part of town, right here.”

A point of light manifested on the map, indicating the location in question.

“Hmm. Okay, got it.” Dawn Wings said as she committed the map to memory. She already had pretty good internal map of the town, but having an official layout didn’t hurt. Then a thought occurred to her.

“Before I tell you what I know about the infestation in Ponyville, can you give me a little rundown on the bugs. If I’m going to track them, I could use a bit more info: how do they operate, what’re they capable of, etc. etc. If I know how they work, and what they can do, it’ll make my job easier.”

“We expected as much.” Luna chimed in. “Frankly, we do not know much more than we already told you, but we can accommodate you in that regard. Captain Armor, would you please debrief her.”

“Of course princess.” Shining said before he began his explanation.

*Castle of the Two Sisters, the next morning*

Dawn Wings inhaled sharply as she opened her eyes. Looking around, she saw that she was back in the ruins of the castle, perched in the rafters of one of the old towers. Chuckling to herself, she realized that she’d actually fallen asleep on her trip back. It was another one of those times she was glad that she’d picked up that particular gift back in the early years after her first change. If she’d fallen asleep while on the wing, she was clearly spent.

After rolling her neck and flapping her wings, the corax looked to the eastern horizon, and saw that the sun was just starting to rise.

‘Well, might as well go meet Sunbutt’s student.’ Dawn Wings thought to herself as she flew out of the rafter and landed in the crumbling frame of a window. Looking to the rising sun, she began to go through the motions of her morning prayers, but before she could begin, she stopped, and remembered something that the knowledge spirit had told her. Something insidious, unpleasant, and it was, without a doubt, true.

This sun wasn’t Helios. It was Brigid.

Even with all that she’d been through in the last few days, somehow that really cemented it for her. This sun that she was bonded to and drawing her power from, wasn’t the same sun that she’d known for all her life.

As she looked around at the mountains and the forest around the ruins of the castle, a crushing revelation crystalized in her mind. This world was Equs, not Gaia.

It was the final nail in the coffin. She’d known it intellectually up till then, but it really, finally sunk in: this wasn’t her world. She’d mostly come to grips with her situation. While she wasn’t over the horror and grief of being separated from her home, she was at least coping with it. Instead, the sinking feeling in her gut was something deeper, more spiritual: it felt wrong to thank Helios and Gaia when they weren't providing her with her powers. Instead, she was effectively stealing from two spirits that she didn’t know, without giving them their proper gratitude.

Sure, she might steal material objects on occasion, but she wasn’t going to steal from her patron spirits. That would be sinking as low as the monkeys, and she refused to do something like that.

Instead of reciting her normal oath, she looked into the sky.

“Father Raven, give me the strength to persevere in the face of this adversity. Let me find my way in this new place that I’ve been lost, and let the secretes that I uncover find their way to your ears, that you can tell Gaia and Helios about this screwed up, mind-fuck of a world that I’ve ended up in. I’m sure they can use the laugh.”

“To lady Bridged and the spirit of Equs, thank you for the gift of your light and life, that I may serve my role as your eyes. Though I am not born of your world, I still offer you my services in the hope that I may be of aid to you.”

Straitening up, Dawn Wings called upon the change, and shifted into her equus form. Rolling her shoulders and tilting her head back and forth, she took to the air and launched herself out of the window. Turning north, she began to fly towards Ponyville. She had an appointment to keep.

*Golden Oaks Library*

“Twilight, calm down!” Spike shouted as Twilight ran around the library, yanking books off the shelves only to unceremoniously shove them back seconds later.

“Calm down? Calm down! I can’t calm down!” Twilight wailed, “There’s so much to do before Dawn Wings arrives! The princess is counting on me to help her!”

Spike lowered his head and sighed. Ever since Princess Celestia had sent her several lengthy letters asking her to help that weird pegasus… Dawn Wings… not only adjust to Equestria but also help her track down a supposed changeling infestation in Ponyville, Twilight had been spazzing out. It had started out mild enough, but from the bags under her eyes, and the frazzled look on her face, Spike suspected that she hadn’t slept much last night, if at all.

“And she’s not just any visitor! She’s literally form another world! Do you know how many ponies dream of actually meeting an alien! And I get to teach one about Equestria! What if I mess it up? What if she doesn’t want to learn? Argh!”

Twilight rubbed her hooves against her forehead. A few seconds later, she felt a poke on her side. Taking a quick look down at the source of said poke, she saw Spike standing next to her, holding a sheet of parchment.

“Checklist?” He said evenly.

“Ah, yes! Spike! Thank you!” Twilight all but yelled as she grabbed the parchment in her telekinesis. A list was just what she needed. As she snatched a quill and prepared to write, she noticed that there was already a list on the parchment. Twilight’s eyes narrowed as she read the document.

Things to do before Dawn Wings arrives
1) Take 20 deep breaths
2) Relax
3) Take another 20 deep breaths
4) Stop freaking out
…

Twilight lowered the list slowly and scowled at Spike.

“Har har har, Mr. Funny Dragon. You should take that act on the road.” Twilight deadpanned.

“Are you arguing with the checklist?” Spike said, a wry half-smile on his face as he looked Twilight directly in the eyes. “Seriously Twi, if you’re a mess when she shows up, do you think she’s going to want to learn anything from you? Especially since you made such a “good” first impression back at Zecora’s.”

Twilight winced as she remembered Dawn Wings’ reaction to their first face-to-face meeting. Now, with that bad first impression already looming over her, she had to not only mend that bridge, but also help her learn all that she could about Equestria.

“I’m sure you can do this Twilight,” Spike continued, “but not if you’re spazzing out. Just calm down, be rational about all of this, get yourself organized, and you’ll do fine. I’m sure that once she gets to know you, she’ll be glad it was you teaching her.”

Twilight sighed and lowered her head, looking over the rest of the list. Spike was right, of course. Having the checklist in t.k., she began to relax and think more rationally. This wasn’t the time to be freaking out; it was the time to be getting ready to help out somepony in need. And to do that, she needed to be on the top of her game.

Taking a deep breath, she looked back at Spike, her voice no longer panicked.

“Thanks Spike. Alright, let’s get started… first thing on the list is parchment and mouth pens. Can you grab them from the study while I get the lesson plan put together?”

“On it!” Spike said with a salute before scampering off.

*Outskirts of Ponyville*

Dawn Wings glanced down to the land below her, as it gave way from woodland to meadow, then village. It was still early, but many of the ponies were already up and about getting ready for the day. Turning her eyes back towards the horizon, the corax glided slowly above the town.

She was nervous.

It was the first time she’d shown up in Ponyville in her pegasus form, and she was, frankly, not liking it. She knew she had to play her cards perfectly to avoid being too conspicuous. Not because she was an outsider. Rather, because she was an outsider that was far too familiar with the town. Even if she’d read a map, there were certain ways people behaved when they visited a location for the first time. So, even if she’d wanted to, she couldn’t fly directly to the library.

She needed to be “lost” for a bit, which meant she needed to be seen slowly flying above town and looking like she wasn’t entirely sure where she needed to go. But to really sell it, she’d have to land and “ask for directions,” so to speak. She couldn’t literally ask for them, but was pretty sure she could get pointed to the library if she used a questioning tone of voice and said “Golden Oaks Library” and “Twilight Sparkle”.

The trick would be to keep contact as minimal as possible at first, while making herself as non-threatening as she could. Little towns like this tended to have rumor mills like no other, and news of her arrival would spread like wildfire, and she needed to make sure that the first impression she left was one of “this pegasus is a foreigner, she’s visiting Twilight Sparkle, she doesn’t speak our language, but she’s harmless and we don’t need to worry about her.”

She decided that the best place to begin her act was in the market. But, like going to Golden Oaks, she couldn’t fly there directly. Instead, she had to “meander” for a while, while appearing to be searching for it. Of course, this time it would be easier, since she could fly, which gave her a chance to spend a little less time “lost” because she could use her altitude to “spot” the market.

So, she flew over Ponyville, sweeping her head back and forth as though searching for something. She saw several ponies look up at her as she flew by, their remarkably human expressions only mildly curious, as if to say “Is that someone new? She looks a bit lost.”

It was a good start.

After a few minutes, she arrived at the edge of the market. Slowly descending and gently alighting on the ground, the disguised corax took a moment and started looking around, acting as though she was nervous and slightly uncomfortable. With how early it was, most of the vendors were still setting up shop for the day, while there were only a few ponies other than the merchants present.

Of the ponies that were present, she spotted the ones she had hoped to find: the apple farmer and her little sister. The very ones that she suspected she would be rooming with in the near future. She’d landed near their stall by design, but had done so in a way that she hoped would look like happenstance. The two of them were currently unloading several baskets from a large wagon, as well as some jugs of brown liquid Dawn Wings assumed were apple cider. At the moment, the mare and filly’s backs were to her.

‘Good’, she thought.

Slowly, Dawn Wings trotted up to the two ponies.

*****

“Apple Bloom, can ya’ grab that there sack o’ pink pearls an’ put ‘em on the end next to the Grimes' goldens?” Applejack said as she moved a few more jugs of cider behind the stall.

“Sure thing sis!” The filly replied eagerly as she grabbed the basket in question and placed them where she’d been instructed.

As she organized the jugs, Applejack heard hoofbeats coming towards the stall.

“Ah’m sorry, but we ain’t open yet.” She said without looking up. “Come back in a few and ah’ll be happy to help ya.”

The hoofsteps stopped, but didn’t retreat. Instead, she heard the hooves shuffle, as though the pony in question were nervous.

“Oh, wow! Haven’t seen you around here before. Ah’re ya new in town?” Applejack heard Apple Bloom exclaim cheerfully.

Lifting her head, Applejack was about to reprimand Apple Bloom for being rude, but she stopped once she got a good look at the newcomer. The first thing she noticed about the red pegaus mare was how lanky she was, and that she probably could do with a good meal or ten. Despite her almost anemic thinness, she held herself with coiled ease and confidence, her posture subtly saying she was taking in everything around her and was ready to respond. Her face was a bit more angular than average, but was strangely non-descript outside of that. But what really struck Applejack were her eyes. It wasn’t the unusual black color of her sclera. It was the intensity of them. They were old eyes. Ones that had seen far too much, and carried both a sharpness and weariness that spoke of a level of strife that Applejack could barely imagine.

And those intense, fierce eyes were currently staring at Apple Bloom with curiosity as well as both slight confusion and a touch of nervousness. It was a look that Applejack couldn’t quite place.

“Ah, howdy there.” Applejack said as she overcame her initial shock and approached the mare. “Can Ah’ help ya with somethin’?”

The pegasus turned her head and gave Applejack the same confused look she’d given Applebloom before rubbing her fetlock with a hoof and looking away sheepishly.

Then, she turned back to Applejack and pointed to herself, then her eyes, then gestured vaguely off in the distance.

“Gld Oks Libry?” She said as she gestured to the northeast, her thick accent making it hard for Applejack to understand.

“What?” Applebloom said, “Sis, you understand that?”

“Ah think she’s tryin’ to find Twilight’s place.” Applejack said to her little sister.

“Twil… Twil Spakel?” The pegasus asked before nodding enthusiastically, before pointing to herself, then her eyes, then away from herself. “Twil Spakel!”

With that, she began rambling in a bunch of words that sounded like harsh, almost nightmarish gibberish to the Apple sisters, but included “Twil Spakel” before gesticulating in roughly the direction of Twilight’s place.

“Whoa.” Apple Bloom said as her eyes widened with fear, “Sis, what’d she just say. That sounded crazier than a mountain lion on catnip.”

“Apple Bloom, manners.” Applejack gently admonished, though she was inclined to agree. Whatever language the pegasus was speaking, she couldn’t make head nor tail of it outside of her friend’s name.

Turning her attention back to the pegasus, she saw her still pointing roughly in the direction of Golden Oaks Library.

Nodding, Applejack pointed in the same direction and said “Yea, Golden Oaks Library.” Before flicking her hoof a couple of times.

The pegasus briefly looked in the direction Applejack’s hoof was pointing before smiling and nodding. She said something else in that same terrifying language before bowing her head slightly towards the two sisters, spreading her wings and taking to the air. Looking over her shoulder, Applejack saw the pegasus look back to them, wave graciously, and fly off in the direction of the library.

“You got any idea what that was all about sis?” Apple Bloom asked, before an idea struck her. “Wait, ya think she’s the one Twilight said we’d be puttin’ up for a while?”

“Might be, Apple Bloom. She just might be.” Applejack said as she went back to getting the stall set up for the day. “Guess we’ll find out tonight.”

*****

About 5 minutes later, Dawn Wings landed in front of the hollowed out tree that had to be the Golden Oaks Library. Scrutinizing the tree, Dawn Wings got the distinct impression that, unlike Zecora’s bond with her tree, this Twilight Sparkle didn’t have as intimate a connection to her home. There was no wellspring of spiritual power flowing through the tree. Rather, the symbiosis didn’t seem mutualistic, but rather commensal. The tree was healthy, but while the pony’s presence didn’t seem to be harmful to the plant, it wasn’t beneficial either. Of course, if she wanted to know how the tree felt about its occupant, she could always ask its spirit directly in the umbra.

But that was something for another time.

Trotting up to the front door, Dawn Wings reached out a hoof and rapped on the surface three times. From within the tree, she heard a muffled response, and instantly tensed up.

‘No. No! No no no no no! This has to be some sick joke!’ She shrieked in her head.

Because she knew that voice.

She heard trotting inside the building coming towards the door. She could just leave. Forget all about living among the ponies. Fly off into the umbra and never come back. It would be so easy too. Just open her wings and leave…

The door opened. There, standing in the door, was her stalker, wearing a pleasant smile.

Dawn Wings felt her left eye twitch violently.

If she ever managed to get back to Gaia, she was going to find a way to track down that Malfean. And once she found him, she was going to gore his eyes out with her beak, cut out his tongue, rip out all the tendons in his arms and legs with a pair of rusty pliers, and spend at least three years repeatedly peeling off every inch of his skin with a lemon zester.

Author's Note

Yea, Dawn Wings isn't exactly happy to see Twilight again.