Boundary Point

Xavier stepped off the train and stretched. Rotating in place, he stopped only to quickly dig through his pockets and extracted an orange bottle from their depths. Popping his pills and looking up, he could see that the sun was setting on this alien world. Gas lights were slowly being lit up across the avenue, well ahead of sunset. A pedestal stood where a statue once graced it, and more pegasi than he could count zoomed by overhead. The fried scent of funnel cake permeated the station as a chilly breeze pushed him forward. A far wall to the left, dripping on the corners with the last bits of rain water had a line of ponies with various signs next to them with names. And next to a green crystal pony was a sign with his name.

Xavier approached the mare, who was in the middle of reading a book, when she finally looked up, “Xavier?”

“That’s the name, don’t wear it out,” he answered, looking left and right.

“Well now,” the green pony closed her book with a swipe of her hoof and put it in her saddlebag, “My name is Jade, and I’ll be your escort to the hotel!”

“That’s fine and all, but what about my luggage?” Xavier tilted his head to the pony, who was pushing herself up.

“It will be taken care of. But for now, we have to get you to the hotel. If I understand correctly, tomorrow is going to be a busy day for you.” Jade smiled at Xavier, “To be honest, I thought you’d be a bit taller.”

Xavier shrugged, “First time I’ve heard anyone concerned about my height."

Jade scanned the thoroughfare and replied, “Right, this way."

The two wove past ponies of various types, the scent of baked goods wafted through the air while the ground gave way from a slab of concrete to a riddle of jutting blocks of bricks. Soon the two exited the terminal and on either side were rows of shops. Cheesy and Mc Roland, two human franchises, were both processing lines of ponies and other native Equestrian inhabitants. Green ridging caught the eye of Xavier as he stopped and stared at the shop.

“Do we have time to explore around a bit?” Xavier squinted his eyes as he walked towards the outlet.

Jade turned and approached the shop, skidding a bit to ensure that she stayed in front of the human, “We’ve got all day, though I have to be honest with you,” Jade wrinkled her muzzle, “We shouldn’t stay in one place for too long."

Xavier stopped in mid-step and looked down at the pony, raising an eyebrow. “Is there something I don’t know?”

Jade quickly shook her head, pivoting on her hoofs to face the human, “This is your first time visiting Manehatten, correct?”

Xavier gave a nod, “I’m aware of the city’s reputation, after its secession from the kingdom–”

Jade shook her head, “Manehatten is not some pony village or Crystal Republic protectorate. If you’re not shrewd in your dealings with the local inhabitants, they’ll take you for a ride."

“And what’s wrong with this place?” Xavier squinted his eyes again, biting his lips as he stared at the shop.

“Simply that given its aged, regal look, I think the shop owner might have a problem with you,” Jade closed her eyes as she glanced away, and faced back towards the shop.

“Loyalist?” Xavier took a step forward.

“If you’re lucky, they’ll just want you in and out. On the other hand, if they want to make a scene…” Jade moved herself in front of Xavier.

“It just looks like a bookshop, I’ve never known bookkeepers to have that kind of spine.” Xavier trailed off as he moved his head from side to side, still gazing at the shop.

“Have you met any unicorn bookkeepers?” Jade uttered as a sharp inflection pierced her voice.

“No, but–”

“If you’re so set on visiting a bookstore while you’re in Manehatten, there are other locations that would be much more agreeable to your presence than an old one near the train,” Jade intoned, beat by beat.

“Okay, am I missing something here? I thought you were just supposed to guide me around so I don’t get too lost. Not chaperone me like I’m some teen at prom,” Xavier grunted.

“Prom?” Jade tilted her head.

Xavier froze, and blinked before touching his head with the palm of his hand, “A dance for adolescent humans, typically between ages 15 to 18. Though I can’t recall the particular purpose for the dance, usually there are chaperones there in order to prevent sexual activity,” Xavier took a step to the left, only to watch as Jade followed him step-by-step.

“If it sex you’re looking for, I–”

“No, no, no, not the point,” Xavier stammered. “What I’m trying to convey is I’m an adult and I don’t need supervision to fuck up my life."

Silence drifted over the two, as the sound of hoofs clicking while a myriad of different conversations lost themselves in the echo that was the terminal, slowly overtook the pair. Xavier once again tried to walk past Jade, only for her to cut him off again.

“I think it’s best if we head to the hotel now,” Jade sharply glared at the human.

Xavier froze, glanced left and right. Closing his eyes, he tilted his head back and forth for a moment before exhaling, “Fine, whatever. Lead the way."

Jade gave a curt nod as she led the human away from the shop and deeper into the swaths of matrons scurrying about the thoroughfare. Passing by a pretzel stand, Xavier stopped once again to look at another window. This time, there was a mannequin of a stallion, staring with blank eyes out the shop aperture. Looking up, the human could see the shop’s name, Ferdinand’s. Wrinkling his nose, he gazed into the new shop, where he could see two mares encircling a white stallion as they presented different clothes for him to try. He could see the motions of the stallion exhaling in a tired like manner as he turned to enter a changing booth.

“Come on now,” Jade verbally tugged on the human.

Xavier continued to watch as Jade approached alongside him.

“Something catch your eye?” She asked, looking at the mannequin, “I doubt that would fit you."

“Past the mannequin. If you look into the background, you can see two mares arguing with each other while a stallion is trying on clothes that he is presented with. What’s up with that?” Xavier continued to watch the mares as their argument became loud enough to hear.

Jade pushed up with her front legs, rearing up and facing the window. She wobbled back and forth for a few moments before gracefully letting gravity take over and returning to her quadrupedal stature, “I forget that humans are a monogamous species,” Jade interjected.

“Pseudo-monogamous. In general, the family unit is monogamous, but sooner or later the core reproductive units will abandon each other for what they consider to be greener pastures,” Xavier spat on the ground.

“Try not doing that in front of other ponies, please,” Jade groaned at the human.

“Correcting them on their misgivings of humans?”

“Spitting on the ground.”

Xavier stammered for a moment, finally releasing a quiet, “Oh…”

The stallion soon walked out of the changing booth in his tight orange-black attire, when one mare was finally loud enough so that the duo could hear the exchange outside, “Look how ridiculous he is!”

“Let’s move. If they catch us staring, it’ll cause more problems than it’s worth,” Jade muttered as she oriented herself towards the thoroughfare.

Xavier’s body followed, but he kept his eyes on the trio for as long as he could. He was able to catch a glimmer of the exhaustion in the stallion’s eyes as he was once again forced to change clothes.

Returning to Jade’s lead, the two went ever deeper into the market complex as shops advertising for potion ingredients, bakeries, and party supplies emerged from the crowd. But beyond that, he saw groups of ponies chatting, arguing with each other, laughing and accusing each other. Occasionally he would see a Griffin, or Buffalo. Humans were much rarer to see, but instantly presented themselves because of their height. He saw a man being led around by three mares and a woman escorted by a stallion, though Xavier could’ve sworn that he saw a mare shadowing the two.

The scent of baked goods drifted away as cool autumn air took its place. The green painted on color slowly gave way to brick-and-mortar and stone cobbling, making it apparent that they were in the city proper now.

“From what I was told, this is your first time in Equestria, at least proper, right?” Jade interrupted the silence.

“Yeah, I guess that’s right,” Xavier agreed as he continued to follow the crystal pony, “The very first time was for training. I’ll always remember the pines with the mountains in the background. First time seeing a dragon as well, though to be honest, the chaperones weren’t happy about that,” Xavier reminisced halfheartedly.

“Dragons can be bothersome if they choose to.” Jade replied, taking a turn down the block, “But over the last few years, they’ve made great strides in diplomacy. Though it’s been primarily playing us against the Kingdom."

“That’s going to happen now that your kind is divided up,” Xavier answered looking at the grey and brown cobblestone street where a team of earth pony mares were dragging a large wagon full of lumber deeper into the city, “Correct me if I’m wrong but the Griffin Duchy now has formal diplomatic relations with the Crystal Republic, right?”

“Not just with us, you humans now have an embassy with them,” Jade answered as she immediately stopped, her rear bumping into Xavier’s legs as he tried to stop a moment too late. The pony turned around and gave a quiet smile to her companion, “You humans did a bang-up job breaking up the Queen’s hold on this world. And without one battle."

“Depends on who you ask, also Queen? Are we talking about Princess Celestia?” Xavier gave a confused look towards the pony.

“Did you never wonder why we only have princesses and no queens?” Jade looked up at the human, trying to draw his respectful gaze towards her eyes.

“I just assumed it was a culture thing,” Xavier shrugged.

“The title Queen is only attached to evil princesses,” Jade closed her eyes as she rehearsed, “And what Queen Celestia did was a measure beyond evil."

“The whole raising and sitting of the Sun thing?” Xavier pulled his gaze away from the pony as he took stock of the surrounding area.

“She took advantage of our naïveté, for centuries beyond centuries,” Jade snorted, “How can we not be mad? Especially after her apparent grand plan was to appoint a leader who she could manipulate."

“I get it, I mean, I’d be pissed too if I discovered that all the shrines and religious holidays that we carried out was to a lie, but–”

“But,” Jade finished, “She has lived far too long and is far too experienced to not take responsibility."

Xavier raised his hands and pumped them back and forth in the air, “All right, all right, I’m sorry. I just had this argument hours ago and I don’t want to go through it again."

“See, that’s why I’m here,” Jade nodded in acknowledgment, “You’re far too ignorant for your own good.”

“Of course I’m ignorant!” Xavier hissed at Jade, “I’m trying to relieve myself of it by again, jumping headfirst into unknown territory!”

“Don’t get snippy at me!” Jade folded her ears back as a low growl emanated from her, “You are here at the Crystal Republic’s leisure, and one of those conditions is that while you are in contested territory, you are not to be left to your own devices!”

“Then what was the point of this?” Xavier lifted his hand to his forehead and pressed hard, “I swear to God, is this because I’m a male?”

Jade jumped on a concrete block, her eyes at level with Xavier’s, “Of course it is! You don’t think there are mares and other things here that won’t take advantage of you? What if you get a little excited and decide to take a deep dive only to find yourself in the clutches of some Kingdom spy?” Jade circled around once and let out a little exasperated bark before returning, “I am here to protect you, so let me do my job!”

Xavier narrowed his eyes at his crystal pony companion, a silent frown penetrating his unkempt facial hair, “Let me ask you this, if I had come here on my own dime, would I still have to deal with you?”

“Of course you would,” Jade responded with a snide tone.

Xavier glanced down at the cobblestone walkway as Jade jumped down.

“Now come on, we don’t want to be too late for your hotel reservation."

The two continued into the city as night slowly draped around them. More and more gas lights were lit, and more and more denizens came out as the evening crowd swelled the streets. The sound of a lyre being played blended with the hard spice scent of a fancy restaurant, draped in crimson and black. The icy wind once again was at Xavier’s back, bellowing under his coat. Grabbing the neck of his jacket, Xavier narrowed his eyes at his guide, only to turn to take in the patter of hooves and conversation that gushed from Manehatten. Glowering, he followed his guide, while the hairs on the back of his head stood up.