Boundary Point

Jade climbed up the deep brown wood stairs of the hotel, her head hanging low as she panted, taking in the hotel’s vanilla scent. She had checked the war memorial, scoured the park, combed the campus, and had thrusted herself into greater Manehatten to find the human. And now she was walking up the stairs of the hotel hoping, like last time, Xavier brought himself back to a point of safety. Her eyes flashed blue as she saw a glimmer of amber light beneath his door. Quickly running to her room, she grabbed a key in a hiding spot beneath the armoire, and dashed back out. She tasted the metal as she returned to the front of the human’s room. Shoving the key in with her mouth, the intricate brass vibrated as the sound of grinding gears rumbled, then stopped, unlocking the door.

Pushing the door open, the mare could now hear rummaging from the other end of the room. On top of the bed was a bag with two strips running along its length and cloth next to the bag, covering two items up, one much longer than the other. Suddenly Xavier emerged from the bathroom, a stubby knife in hand as his face was now clean-shaven. His head of hair was cut, the long globs of frazzled knots replaced with simple red streaks. His face was now free from the bramble bush of hair that had become a weed atop it, revealing a circular scar underneath his right earlobe. All this while wearing a black bandana, covering his forehead. Jade narrowed her vision as she caught the sight of dark bags under his eyes.

“Do you,” Jade panted, with her ears focused forward. “Do you know how long I’ve been looking for you?” Jade gritted her teeth as the color red flashed across her eyes.

Xavier said nothing as he tossed the knife to the bed, glanced lackadaisically at Jade, and then turned, once again returning to the restroom. As he turned, the twin tails of his bandana flowed out with him, flung around by centripetal force.

“Come back here! I’m talking to you!” Jade rushed towards the restroom. Turning, she lunged at the human. He dodged before she could make contact, only for her to then let her front two hooves touch the ground and pivot her rear legs. She turned to see that he was already holding a pile of towels against his chest as her buck made contact. The human flew out of the restroom and back out of the main sleeping area when a sudden red light erupted from the boundary between the restroom and the rest of the suite. Jade once again pivoted 180 degrees, returning the way she came. Lunging forth at the crumpled human on the floor, a translucent crimson barrier rose, glistening between the two rooms and repelled her back from the bedroom. She crashed atop the large bath and shook her head. Its gentle shimmer zigzagged around her and the bathtub before converging behind her.

Getting back up, Jade looked at the barrier. Snorting, her tail swished as she checked the floor and saw that a large inscription had been set up on the other side. She backed up and jumped forth at it again, only to slam against hard vermilion light and be repelled. “What is the meaning of this? Xavier!”

The man pushed off the messy layers of folded towels that now covered him and let out a sore groan. “Normally, I would apologize,” the human moaned as he got up, and stumbled over to the edge of the barrier. “And I did not want my time in Manehattan to end like this, but then again, you did just try to crack my sternum in two so… Here we are.” He looked down at the symbols and circles that weaved in and out of each other, then sighed, “I hate wasting my only vial of salt bound ink on something so pedestrian as this. But using Equus’ seeds as the fulcrum always demands a nontrivial sacrifice. You know, it’s the only fulcrum that refuses to work with metal bound i-”

“What did you do? What did you do!” Jade screamed, stomping her front hooves on the ground.

Xavier looked up at Jade with two weary eyes, “Don’t worry, the inscription will end in 18 hours. Honestly, I wouldn’t have prepared for this, but you did nip my ankle, so…” Xavier turned his back to Jade and returned to the bag he was packing.

“Oh ho ho, when this is over, you’ll wish I bucked your leg off!”

Xavier continued to pack, opening his large suitcase and moving clothes into his bag. “Which is why you are in there, and I am out here,” Xavier murmured. “You know, I’ve seen ponies crater a man’s head in with a buck like that. Is that how you treat all your guests? No, wait, let me guess. Just the stallions to put them in their place, right?” Xavier turned to face Jade, his sharpened gaze focused on the pony behind the barrier. “Either way, I’m surprised that they told you so little about me. Such as my propensity to slip through my leash. Would have saved you the aneurysm.” Xavier further narrowed his eyes at Jade, “Though with Luna out there, better safe than sorry, right?”

“You do realize that the Crystal Republic and the Union are not going to just let you walk away, right? You owe them!” Jade growled, her flat teeth bared.

“Owe them? Owe them!” Xavier threw his suitcase from the bed to the floor and rushed over to the seal that held Jade as she finally caught sight of his cut up and bruised face.

Jade’s ears folded back. She took a step back as her surprised expression mouthed, “What in the-”

“Your Crystal Republic and Union owe us! Every day you get to breathe the free air and look longingly at the winter wonderland, was paid for in full by us. Every day you get to freely worry about not living up to your disgusting brands, or look to the south and fear a paper princess, or have the opportunity to cope with the trauma of being enslaved for years was paid for in blood. Our blood.” Xavier ripped off his right glove and quickly unwrapped his cloth and shoved the scarred right hand at the barrier’s edge, “We mutilated ourselves so that you and your paymasters could even have the privilege of a choice. We butchered ourselves because your kind were so incompetent, half of you let one pony dominate you, and the other half was unwilling to commit to true total war and pay for victory in blood. I," Xavier stuttered, looking at his exposed limb, "I forfeited my will as an individual and became a tool for the chain of command to save your kind. Your kind let this war get so out of hand, it spilled over into another fucking universe! Let that sink in Jade, another universe. So you better thank your lucky stars you got us and not something far more horrific. So if you’re going to speak of debts, let’s start with your debt to us.”

“We oppose the Queen together!” Jade shouted back, her eyes narrowing.

“See,” Xavier shook his head, chuckling. “That’s my problem with you lot. Say what you will about the Kingdom, they have a healthy fear of us. You guys? Sure, we shook up the status quo, but you cling to us like we’re saviors who have your best interest at heart.” Xavier let out an exhale and said, “Did you know that where I come from, our court system has a case slowly worming its way up to the top court? It’s about a crystal pony who was given expedited citizenship. She doesn’t want to come back to Equus. ‘Too many terrible memories’ and ‘The only place she can be safe from magic is here’. But I promise you Jade, if that case hits the Supreme Court, they will reject her on the basis that only humans can have citizenship. You know what that means?”

Jade's ears stayed folded as she kept her steely gaze on Xavier.

Xavier snarled, “It means that after everything, after so much human and pony blood was spilled on the field of battle, that one of the strongest nations on earth can’t even be arsed to recognize you all as equals. I’ve known ponies that rescued entire groups of humans, who risked life and limb to help, but giving you the right to live among us and pay taxes?” Xavier’s voice rose as he let loose his mocking voice, ‘Oooh that’s a slippery slope! What if we are required to give Terran Horses citizenship as well’!”

“They wouldn’t do that,” Jade growled. “And you didn’t try to make us into your puppet!”

“Give. It. Time.” Xavier uttered, scratching his cheek. “Earth is the only real safe place to manufacture the ammo for the weapons that the Crystal Republic bought. Again, made by us. Same thing for the Union. With obsidian fragment coated weapons systems and obsidian tipped ammo, we are your only real protection from Celestia’s forces. So your governments will eventually be subservient, good little puppets. Only we didn’t need Sombra’s magic to do it. Just your own fear and ambition.”

Xavier closed his eyes and took a step back as he rebound his hand. Jade caught sight of the cartoon pictures that made up the bindings: several baby unicorns playing between repeated instances of the sun and moon. The mare said nothing as she watched the human put his glove back on and move his bag and wrapped items to the exit. Poking his head out of the room, the human stuck his hand to the other side and returned it with the key Jade had used to get in. Pocketing it, he closed the door and did a once over of the entire room, gathered a few things up from the countertop next to the shelf and shoved it into his pockets. Then, as swiftly as he had gathered his things, he took off his coat and tossed it atop the bag.

Walking to the alarm clock, he quickly set it and twisted the gears three times before putting it back down, plopping himself onto the bed and pulling the surrounding covers.

“What in the…” Jade narrowed her eyes at Xavier as he adjusted his pillow.

“I’ve been up for way too fucking long. I am going to take any sleep I can get,” he yawned as he closed his eyes.

“When I get out of here, you’ll wish you ran as far as you could!”

“Me too, Jade, me too,” the human said as he turned twice in the bed before laying to rest.

“Second edition of Summa Sologica, fifth edition of the Treatise of Order and…” the sea green pegasus mouthed as she examined the books that Twilight deposited on the countertop. The small bookstore was filled to the brim with old books. Piles and piles that lay scattered as the walnut wood glowed a deep brown while the scent of old paper lay atop it. “Commentaries on Starswirl by Moonshadow, Impressive, impressive. Tell you what, all this together? 300 bits.”

“300 bits! You do realize that’s a second print edition of the Summa Sologica right? That by itself is 320,000 bits!” Twilight hissed, her ears pointed at the sea green pegasus.

“Maybe in the Kingdom, but last time I checked, we’re not in the Kingdom,” the pegasus smugly said. “And regardless, your Treatise of Order has seen better days, and Moonshadow is not exactly important beyond her work on magical orrery. So how about this,” the pegasus opened up her cash drawer and started laying out bits in front of Twilight, “150 for the first one, 100 for the second one, and I’ll take those commentaries out of your saddlebag for 10 bits.”

“That’s only 260 bits,” Twilight frowned, ears now folded.

“And it’s only going to go down,” the pegasus leaned forward, glowering. “Don’t think I didn’t see that ring over your horn, thinking you could cover it up with your bangs. Waking me up at this time of night and pulling the books out with your mouth told me everything I needed to know about you. 240 bits.”

Twilight narrowed her eyes as she proceeded to take each book by the mouth. All of them were thick, old things, their leather covers, each one with a different, tiny engraved griffin on the bottom left corner, protected their contents. Nearly dropping her books twice, she put them awkwardly in her saddlebag. Squatting clumsily as she backed up, putting herself under the worn and aged saddlebag, then she lifted her hind legs, allowing the saddlebag to rest on her spine. Snorting and giving the shop mare a set of narrow eyes, she turned to leave the shop with her head held high.

“230 bits, final offer!” the mare shouted as Twilight left the antique bookstore. Staring at the dark, night sky, she swished her tail once, and sighed as the door closed behind her. Luna’s fullmoon still hung overhead as the gaslights flickered and the scent of the city rolled in. The wind blew, hurling pieces of paper past Twilight and down the road.

Twilight bit her lower lip as she walked the cobblestone streets of Manehatten. Looking left and then right, she saw a mannequin with a simple yellow dress on it. Shaking her head, Twilight burst into a run as she nearly skidded from street corner to street corner. The sound of hooves slamming against rock, bellowing as she reached full speed. The burning of muscles rarely worked warmed up Twilight’s core as she finally arrived outside a carousel shaped boutique. Twilight lifted both her front legs and began slamming her hooves against the door.

“Oh my, what’s all this racket? Can I hel- Twil- Dusk!” a white unicorn with blue mane exclaimed, the mare’s ears were fully pointed at Twilight.

“Rarity, I’m so, so sorry that-” Twilight began before she was cut off.

Suddenly, magic enveloped Twilight’s rump, squishing her as she was pushed forth into the boutique, the door slammed shut behind her.

“Are you okay? This isn’t the usual Wednesday breakfast, darling, what’s going on?” Rarity said as she peered out the window. “Did they change their mind and decide to come for you?”

“No, no, I…” Twilight shook herself off as she winced her eyes. “Rarity, I think I rutted up.”

Rarity waved her head towards the back of the boutique as she magically closed all the blinds. The sales floor was large and spacious, with many white and beige places for customers to sit and examine Rarity’s craftsmareship. The room was darkly lit, as a hint of lemon fluttered about in the air. A well-organized room, the only mess here was the large, brown supply crates scattered about, that even Twilight raised an eye at. She glanced at several of the pony mannequins that were lined up as she walked to the coffee table. Some with completed, lavish dresses, while others looked more patchwork than expensive seamstress work, with pins poking out from every side. Ivory Opalescence laid on her prim and proper bed, unmoving, atop the coffee table. A smile popped forward from Twilight as she looked at the cat, “All these years, and not aged a day.”

“Some beauty never tarnishes darling,” Rarity said, taking her seat.

Twilight sat down and explained everything, the heartsong, the ring, the human, the agents.

“So that’s why you’ve been out and about without flank paint,” Rarity cooed as she leaned her head to the side and looked at Twilight’s brand.

Twilight shot up her elbow to her head as she winced, “I completely forgot about that.”

“Well, luckily there are enough mares with poor fashion sense in this city to copy your mark that you probably just appeared a somepony pretending to look like you,” Rarity hummed. “But you can’t be serious, a human?”

Twilight nodded, her ears drooping.

“That doesn’t make any sense, how-”

“I don’t know Rarity,” Twilight lowered her head. “He doesn’t seem to understand we’re a herd now.”

“Of course he doesn’t,” Rarity said, her mane slightly bouncing.

“Huh?” Twilight raised an eye and an ear as she tilted her head.

“Twilight, how many humans have you interacted with since the awful business in Canterlot?”

“None, though honestly it’s mostly because I never sought them out,” Twilight said.

Rarity shook her head, her ears fluttering for a moment, “Darling, since you have arrived here, from our conversations you’ve kept to yourself and to the bookstore. Even in Ponyville, you would put yourself out there on occasion. Which, after everything that has happened to you, is quite understandable.”

“Rarity…” Twilight glanced aside and lowered her eyelids.

“It’s not your fault darling, thankfully you kept in touch with me, but not to put too fine a point on it Twilight, he’s not of this world, he isn’t going to behave like Big Mac or Shining.”

“Wait, you’ve interacted with humans?” Twilight tilted her head, ears thrust forward as her eyes widened.

“Oh plenty, they may be out of this world, but they all have fashion sense. Any species who wears clothes almost all the time must understand the importance of aesthetics,” Rarity nodded. “Being the Element of Generosity helps too, of course. Many humans who make it over want to meet me. In fact, I’m in the middle of negotiations over putting my name on a line of clothes on earth, though I can’t say much more about that.”

“I’ve only met one other, Gerald, he and Applejack are,” Twilight trailed off.

“Oh? And do you think?”

Twilight shook her head, her mane shifting from left to right, “I don’t think it will work out between them. And that’s ignoring the summons.”

Rarity stuck her tongue out to the side in disgust and lifted the corner of her lip for a moment, “I got one of those dreadful letters commanding me to come to Canterlot next Summer’s Dawn too. I’ve written to Sweetie Belle about it, but she is currently taking up a post as Study Musician in Cincinneighti after getting her Doctorate i-” Rarity stopped, and shook her head. “I won’t be answering it though. And hopefully Sweetie Belle will refuse it too.”

“But, I thought you loved the idea of Cant-”

“Darling, the Canterlot of our youth is not the Canterlot of today,” Rarity gave Twilight a knowing look. “Sure, it’s still opulent and beautiful, but it is no longer the center of Equus. Not like Manehatten. And other cities have their own scenes as well.”

“M~maybe the referendum in a few hours will change that,” Twilight bit her lower lip.

“Darling,” Rarity looked at Twilight with enormous eyes and frowned. “I sincerely doubt that.”

A pause grew between the pair, the quiet of the night crept through the parlor and wrapped itself around the unicorns. The thud of a sign hanging out the window would occasionally echo throughout the building while the scent of vanilla lazily rolled in.

“Can you tell me why a human might be belligerent? My Eques doesn’t seem to comprehend that we’re a herd now,” Twilight asked.

“It’s a simple difference in cultures,” Rarity nodded. “So long as the Knight and Eques are not in herds themselves, when they discover each other, the herd is formed. So, from his perspective, I would assume that he thought he was being forced into a relationship with you.”

“But we’re forced into relationships all the time,” Twilight stammered. “Herd Step-Mothers being brought in, herd step-siblings, prearranged herdships…”

“True Twilight, but if he is, I suspect, from a section of his world that highly values consent? He would fight you tooth and hoof over it,” Rarity nodded, then smiled. “Humans that are by themselves are highly individualistic, an admirable quality, especially when it comes to fashion. Very much like you.”

“Me?” Twilight spat out, her fur on her spine standing.

“I remember you telling me stories about how you would be so focused on your studies in Canterlot that you pushed other ponies and their attempts to befriend you away,” Rarity said. “And you studied alone, by yourself.”

“That’s different!” cried Twilight, looking away to the left, then to the right. “Celestia gave me full access to the Castle library, Tartarus, she gave me my own library to work from!”

“But did you commiserate with other academically inclined ponies?”

“N~no…” Twilight muttered, finally looking Rarity in the eye.

“Just think of this being a situation where the tables are turned,” Rarity chuckled. “You’ve already gotten him to agree to meet with you again rather than running away from you. Just turn on that personable charm you have, and he’ll be following you like the Lead Mare I know you are soon enough.”

“I guess,” Twilight moaned. “I don’t think he can understand what he has now. He’s more worried about some side effect than us,” Twilight moped.

“Well, maybe you can teach him,” Rarity beamed at Twilight. “But you didn’t just come here to vent, not without flank paint that is.”

“I need your help. First things first, I need a new saddlebag,” Twilight cast a look at the worn bag she slumped off at the entrance. “Something for long-distance travel, we’re going to be hoofing it all the way to an abbey.”

“One of those dreadful abbeys? Why?”

“It’s how I got him to meet with me again, if I don’t lead him to one, he said he will just try to find it by himself,” Twilight frowned, her ears limping.

“Let him!” Rarity laughed, “Just let him know where he can find you and let him get so lost that he will have no choice but to come back to you for help.”

“I didn’t think of that,” Twilight raised an eye. “But he’s very resourceful,” Twilight looked down and shook her head, “He… he might know some things that he should not know, and he’s shown a willingness to use them.”

“Well, if you decide to lead him to one, will they even let him in? Will they even let you in?” Rarity raised both her eyes as she shifted in her seat.

“Well,” Twilight looked to the right. “I’m hoping that because of the sanction edict, they’ll have heard nothing of the outside world of the last 10 or so years. If that’s the case, I can introduce myself as the Element of Magic, use my implied authority, as far as they’re still aware of, as Celestia’s protégé, and look for whatever he’s trying to find.”

“Twilight,” Rarity’s mouth was creased in the corners. “That’s an awful plan.”

Twilight looked down at the floor, “Rarity, what have I gotten myself into?”

“Well, the first thing I would have told you was that heartsong was a bad idea, but you’re already in the thick of it, and you don’t need that right now,” from across the room, Rarity’s horn glowed as she lifted Twilight’s saddlebag and brought it in front of them. “Next, since you’re going, we need to get you a proper saddlebag, something for long-distance and high carrying capacity.” Rarity looked at Twilight and sighed, “I think we can use this as the basis, I just need to make some adjustments and add some extra material so that you can carry more. Also, I’ll have to remove the underskirt and replace it with something that won’t chafe. And if I do it just right, it will be long enough to also cover your hip. It will feel weird walking at first, but you’ll get used to it, and you’ll have something to cover yourself if you’re out of flank paint. This will take me a few hours though.”

Rarity levitated her seamstress glasses and started examining the worn saddlebag midair. She rotated the object as she focused on it, spinning it left, then right, then rotating it to its side. One pouch slipped open and a folded yellow dress with a pink bow slipped out, gliding gently, hitting the floor like a drop of water.

“Twilight, is this?”

“Yes, it’s the one you made me for my birthday,” she weakly smiled. “Even when I was exiled, I kept it with me. To remind me of better times.”

“Oh Twilight, you do know that I threw that together at the la-” Rarity turned to Twilight and saw her staring off into the distance, smiling. “Right, but why did you pack it now?”

Twilight shrugged as her ears fell flat, and she hid her eyes beneath her bangs, “Humans wear clothes all the time, and we are not on good terms right now, so I thought that having something to wear might help him lower his guard around me, and that’s my favorite dress, so…”

“Say what you want about humans,” Rarity said, gently lifting the dress and placing it on her table. “More ponies could follow their lead with regards to wearing clothes.”

Twilight lowered her head and nodded, her mane gently following, “Thank you very much. I also need to ask you to do me another favor. I won’t be able to store my library of books in my apartment, could you-”

“Of course. Just leave your keys with me before you leave. Though, be honest with me Twilight,” Rarity turned away from the saddlebag and looked directly at Twilight, her ears facing the mare. “Are you going to need some extra bits for this?”

Twilight muttered out, “Yes.”

Rarity smiled, “Don’t worry Twilight, everything’s going to be okay.”

An hour had passed as Rarity worked on the bag, seamstress glasses and ears at full focus on the project in front of her on the second floor. She was biting several pins and needles in her mouth as she sewed the extensions to the old saddlebag atop the mannequin, covering its hip. Next to her were three sheets of paper she quickly drew on, giving viable locations of pockets and straps. Letting her inner tailoress take over, over a decade of practice on both aesthetically pleasing dresses of her youth and the pragmatically practical saddlebags for the war took over. She did not have to think. She knew what needed to happen next. Where to place the next stitch, where to slice a snip off.

Rarity stopped and pulled the pins and needles from her mouth and let out an exhale. Her work studio was a combination of living space and workspace. Her bed was off to the side, while next to it, her collection of bolts sat orderly, hung against the wall. She looked over at the davenport. Her old friend, laying atop it, sleeping. Smiling, she called forth a blanket hanging nearby and gently covered Twilight with it. Turning away from her, she walked downstairs as Opalescence, having just woken up, tread up the stairs. They passed each other as Rarity reached the bottom floor and approached the window that had a fine blue and pink dress placed neatly on a mannequin for all the world to see.

Biting her lower lip, she magically lifted it up, moving it away and started moving crates and boxes, making sure the names on them did not show out the window, doing her best to barricade it. Then she moved to the next display and repeated the action. Once they were all blocked, she pulled the chair she had been sitting on only an hour earlier and jammed it beneath the lever door handle.

Looking at the room, Rarity closed her eyes. She had stopped by Twilight’s yesterday afternoon, then to her place of work, only to find a single stallion running the shop. Then she stopped and focused on a memory. Days ago she overheard a warning when out with a business partner. Then, 16 hours ago, when she took the measurements of a friend of a friend for her dress, did that same warning creep up. A warning that she did not want to take seriously. A warning she decided to take seriously. A warning about the referendum.