Boundary Point

The wind was at Xavier’s back as he meandered around the park. The smell of the pond nearby announced itself while the trees swayed gently, waving the human towards his goal. Looking to his left, and then to his right, he picked up the pace as he carried a bouquet, six red, four blue, three Orange, two yellow, two violet, one teal and one green, that was less like a flower and more like a weed. His eyes focused on his aim: A Memorial. As he approached, he saw that there was a statue of many mares, circled by each other’s side facing outward in an aggressive, proud posturing. Unicorn, pegasus, earth pony, all three principle tribes were present and accounted for. Beneath them, a sign that simply said:

To our daughters, sisters, mothers and comrades.
What he tried to take, can now never be stolen.

Xavier paused at the front of the statue as his eyes focused on the bronze coloring with pigeons trying to desecrate something that simply refused to be tainted. He simply looked at the memorial for a time, as his nonplussed face slowly shifted as he abided.

“Paying respects, huh?”

Xavier turned to see a yellow mare with wings sitting next to him. Her cutie mark was a simple cloud with the sun behind it. “I really should’ve come here sooner,” he said, while laying the flowers carefully next to the other flowers that encircled the memorial.

“Did you know any Manehattan soldiers?” the Pegasus inquired as she kept her eyes focused on the memorial, but her left ear was firmly pointed at him.

“I thought this was a general memorial, not just for Manehattan service members,” Xavier said as he dug around his pockets, pulling out an orange bottle and popping a pill.

“It isn’t, but it’s obvious if you look at the mares. What do you think is missing?” The yellow Pegasus asked, turning a slight eye on her provisional companion.

“Well, there’s obviously no griffins or dragons, what’s your name? I didn’t catch it,” Xavier said, rotating to see his temporary consort.

“Seashell,” the yellow Pegasus said as her ears flickered back and forth for a moment before returning their attention back towards the memorial.

“Seashell? With that cutie mark?” Xavier raised an eye.

“What can I say?” she gave a mellow smile while looking down, “Dad was an Earth Pony who loved the sea, and besides, by the time my cutie mark appeared, it would’ve been a hassle to go and change it.” Seashell sighed, flickering her tail for a brief moment.

Xavier turned back to the memorial and went on, “Like I said, no griffons or dragons. And I’m guessing the lack of subtle shine on the Earth ponies is meant to convey that none of the ponies here are crystal.”

Seashell nodded as she stretched her wings, “That’s how you know it’s really just for the Manehattan ponies. So many others gave their lives, including your kind, to stop him, and not even so much as a side note.”

“That’s just the way of the world, isn’t it,” Xavier said, as he shoved his gloved hands in his pockets. “But I’m not exactly going to give them flak over it. This memorial will do.”

“Who did you lose?”

“Well, that’s complicated,” Xavier said, turning away.

“I’m guessing at least six of your kind, four Crystal Ponies and three Earth Ponies?” Seashell answered, “With so many other colors, I don’t want to make a guess.”

“Counting the flowers that I laid,” Xavier shook his head, pointing to the red batch, and began. “Six crystal ponies and four humans, so you just got the two swapped. You’re right on the money with the Earth Ponies, with the yellow and violet being Pegasi and Unicorns, respectively. Oh, and the Teal is for Thunderclaw, a griffin who…” Xavier trailed off, “Anyway, I’m impressed that you picked up on it.”

Seashell shrugged, “Everyone tries to bring meaning to this place,” The mare pointed a hoof at a rose and a blue flower. “The rose is for a Griffin I knew that joined up in hopes of getting Kingdom citizenship, the blue one is for my herd-sister, she held the line at Galloping Gorge and as her just reward, she was given a burial at New Cloudsdale, next to the waterfall. Quite beautiful if what I’m told is correct.”

“Why wasn’t she buried here?”

“Manehattan had just seceded and as punishment, Celestia buried them in the kingdom,” Seashell’s ears snapped back as she gave a short laugh with a quick cry at the end. “Who knows, maybe if we vote to return, I might get to get them to bury her in her rightful home.”

“I’m sorry,” Xavier slowly nodded towards the mare.

“Nothing for you to be sorry about,” Seashell let out a sigh, “Though I do wish that they would just let us bring her home.”

The two stood next to each other as the wind ruffled the flowers ahead of them. No scent permeated the place of memory, and the sun started to set behind the tall buildings.

“Well, it was good meeting you Seashell,” Xavier gave a nod as he turned and started to walk away.

“And your name?” Seashell asked before Xavier could take two steps.

“Xavier,” the human said, turning around to face the mare.

“It was good meeting you, Xavier,” Seashell gave the human a simple smile as she walked the other way and thrust out her wings in both directions. And with a simple flap, launched off the ground, over the trees and out of sight.

Xavier stepped out of the zoo as he slid his ticket into the depths of his wallet. Shoving it back into the recesses of his pockets, he looked around and pulled his hood over his head. Stepping onto the street, he began to meander through the city, occasionally looking up when a sign caught his interest.

Stopping by a pet shop, he looked into the window and saw a greater variety of pets than anywhere on home Terra. Small toothless crocodiles and owls in cages were either fast asleep or relaxing in the quiet blue ambience that was the interior of the shop. Looking away, Xavier groaned as he saw Sun Ray’s pizzeria, claiming to be the first one in Manehattan with giant neon red letters. A human was eating outside by her lonesome, while behind her was a party of three Unicorns drinking pints of ale with their pizza.

The crowd thickened as twilight took over the city. The dark sky was graced by a gibbous moon that begged all to relish and play at the night it brought forth. And whispered that it was okay to shun and sleep through the daylight that would come after.

Xavier slipped into a grocer and looked around. The scent of hay hit him first, before he saw the advertisement of organic hay hanging near the entry. Winding through, he saw oats sourced from across the Great Sea, salt supplements, and of course, the human imports. Candy from his home planet filled the tiny nook in the shop, along with the earth counterpart to many equestrian goods. Wading through the bright florescent lights of the store, he approached the front counters and saw a few papers from the local press. Two of them with pro separatist front covers, arguing that Queen Celestia had warned that if Manehattan did not return to the fold, there would be dire consequences. One paper was different. Its front-page headline, said the Kirin trade ministers were meeting with a delegation of humans and were considering reopening trade with the rest of greater Equus.

Slipping past the registers with both mares and stallions checking out patrons, Xavier emerged back onto the street and took an immediate left. Following the crowd of not just ponies, but other denizens and humans as well, Xavier passed by a bar with a neon blue shot glass called Rumbler’s when the scent of lager gently wafted past him. Glancing in, he could see a busy mare pouring out drinks to various ponies when he heard a loud whistle to his right.

“Hey there hot stuff,” said a unicorn with a beige coat and wood brown mane. She eyed Xavier, and sat her drink down, “Why don’t you come sit down here a moment?”

Xavier simply lifted his right hand and shook no as he left the scene. The mare got down and followed him, her tail swishing from side to side, saying “You know you look a little lonely tonight, come on, have a drink with me!”

Xavier picked up the pace as he pretended he didn’t hear her. Letting out a snort, the pony galloped and attempted to block his way. “Come on now, don’t you want to make any friends? I’d like to be your friend.”

Xavier attempted to sidestep his pursuer as she kept herself in front of him and giggled, “Playing the Bronco, I see, two can play at that ga-“

The mare looked up and then froze in place as her eyes were locked with the two white and green spheres in Xavier’s head. They were wide and unflinching, his expression serious at the point of focused intent. Then slowly the mare thought they were lit ablaze, focusing everything they had on the one that tried to ensnare them. Not one word escaped his lips as he continued to stare the unicorn down.

“Hey, umm,” the unicorn let out a quick chuckle that immediately ceased as the human in front of her kept his optical units locked on her own pair of eyes. Then, the fur on her spine stood up and she ran, swerving past the human that she was trying to stop and back into the bar.

Xavier let out a sigh of relief as his features softened. Scratching his beard, he breathed in and out for a time, his eyes half lidded until a final deep breath emerged. Glancing back for a quick second, he dusted himself off and he continued to walk again.

For an hour more, Xavier continued to wander the streets of Manehattan. Passing by a fire station, he saw the intersection of cobblestone, and smiled. He spied the sign that pointed towards the train station platform and followed it. Double checking to make sure the hood of his cloak was snuggly overhead, he returned down the principal thoroughfare from whence he had come from. Only the sound of chains clanging out from empty stalls accompanied him as the wind gently pushed his back. That was until he finally arrived at the green bordered bookstore when at last, silence took over. He approached the frosted windows and tried to look inside. While he could see the nearby books, everything else behind them was a blur, with the sole exception of a lavender smudge off to the back. Taking a step to his rear, he approached the door and pushed it open, where the scent of books slammed into him.

In the back, a lavender mare behind the register briefly looked up before returning to whatever it was she was doing. Xavier approached the first display where several copies of ‘The Secret New History of Equestria’ lay. Picking one up and opening it to a random page near the back, Xavier read:

=-=-=
“That is to say, the Crystal Empire is mum about what exactly happened to Sombra. But the scant few details keep referencing ‘Seven Sages’ that put an end to his reign of terror, with evidence of these being the extra dimensional humans that spilled forth from the gateways Sombra created. Could these beings be in league with the Dark King? Hardback Trotter had this to –”
=-=-=

Xavier groaned as he shut the book and placed it back down. Looking around, he approached the fiction section as he started browsing the titles on the shelf: Daring Do and the Forbidden Sanctum, The League of Extraordinary Dames, The Lost Filly of Forlorn, Maximum Mare versus the Abomination from Beyond the Stars.

Picking the last book up, Xavier bent over and glanced through its pages, pausing at a page near the middle of the book, and started to read:

=-=-=
“Halt you extradimensional Biped!” cried Maximum Mare, her horn of many colors pointed squarely at the creature with soft claws, “Your reign of terror is finally at an end!”

“Curse you Maximum Mare! My plan to overthrow Princess Nightfall has been foiled by you for the last time! Have at the!” screamed the scaleless, featherless, and furless beast as she roared forth.

“Just because you are immune to my magics doesn’t mean that the room is immune!” exclaimed Maximum Mare as she ripped a column off the interior of the building with her magic and threw it at the abomination. It slammed into her and tossed her across the room, she let out a wild yelp before crawling back to her only two legs.

“Enough of this!” screeched the human, “Behold my true form!” the creature used its own blunt claws to grab either end of its mouth, pulling hard, she let out a roar as-
=-=-=

“Finally, some good fucking literature…” Xavier mumbled as he bent over further and turned the page.

“Can I help you?” An aged feminine voice behind him asked.

Xavier straightened up and looked at the mare with red and white coloring, closing the book with a finger right on the page he was reading. “I was just browsing around, might be interested in buying this,” he said, raising the book on high.

The mare gave a jittery smile and folded her ears back as she said, “Great, great, well if you could just move along to the register and make your purchase, we can get you in and out in a jiffy!”

“Yeah, but I don’t know if I like the book yet or not,” Xavier said, lifting the book up for a second time before letting his arm fall back by the side.

“Well, umm… we don’t want our customers just blocking the way for the other ones so…” The white unicorn proceeded to give a strained smile towards the human as her mouth slowly morphed into a grin. She kept eyeing between the human in the register, a flash of yellow sparked in her pupil.

“I mean, I just don’t know about this book, it seems to have a promising start. But I’d like to read a little more before making a decision,” Xavier gave a curt nod toward his customer service representative.

“Well, if you really want to read for free, you can always go to the library,” the peppermint mare spoke between her teeth. “So I’m asking you, either make the purchase or leave.”

Xavier stood still. Looking around the store, he saw that the only other bodies in the complex besides him and the mare in front of them were the register pony and a stallion next to her. Beyond that, the lanes between the shelves were clean and lacking of any life, it’s dark green walking carpets devoid of even dust, “I apologize, did I insult you? If so, I’m sorry.”

“No, no, there was no insult, but we would appreciate it if you either just bought the book you have in your, ugh… hoof… right now or leave. Regardless, the store is closing,” the mare said as she jolted her head towards the register.

“It’s awfully early to be closing, what time is it?” Xavier said, as he glanced at the upper part of the store for a clock to latch onto.

“Oh, um, yes, of course it’s early, we’re closing early because uh, taxes. Yes, the tax inspector will be here soon and we wouldn’t want you to feel unwelcome,” she said as her head jerked again towards the register.

Xavier froze and carefully scanned the store. Then he looked at the unicorn mare in front of him and asked, “Why would the tax inspector care about customers?”

“Well, you see,” the peppermint mare’s eyes danced back and forth, “It would be great if we had everyone on deck for this in case they had any questions. And if we had to deal with you and the tax inspector, we could end up paying more than we can afford in taxes and…”

The tips of Xavier’s mouth creased up slightly as he said, “Oh, you have a problem with humans I see, and if the tax inspector were to see that-”

“No, no, we don’t have a problem with humans here,” the unicorn hostess again tried to speak between her teeth. “Oh, it’s the tax inspector that has a problem with humans. Yes, you see, if she were to catch you here, she could make a big deal of it and well…”

“So it wouldn’t be a problem if I came back tomorrow?” Xavier asked.

“Oh! Well, you see, these inspections can take days, even weeks,” the mare shook her head, “The tax inspection should be finished in oh, October?”

“What kind of tax inspection takes that long? Don’t you just need to hand him a copy of your accounting books?”

“Oh silly,” the peppermint mare lifted a hoof and waved up and down, “You see, things work a bit differently here in Equestria, you understand.”

“No, I don’t,” Xavier exhaled, “Wouldn’t a tax inspector only be interested in your money flow and maybe property value? And I’m willing to bet that they send someone else here to evaluate the property, but even then –”

“Ha… Look, if you’re not going to buy anything, just leave,” the mare said, her eyes narrow. “And besides, I doubt you’ll even like pony literature, not enough tree living, you know?” as she turned and motioned Xavier to follow her with her head.

“No, I don’t. Again, you’ll have to explain why I care about if the characters in the story live in trees or not,” Xavier said as he narrowed his right eye at the attendant.

“Well, you see, pony literature is all about ponies and ponies don’t live in trees,” the mare chuckled as she violently motioned with her head towards the door. “Trust me, ‘The Fox Brothers’ can help you with all your human literature needs.”

“I’ve been there,” Xavier look to the left as he put his free hand in his coat pocket, “And they didn’t have anything I was interested in.”

“Oh, that’s just too bad,” the hostess shot a curled smile at Xavier, “Now if you could just leave.”

“What’s your name?”

“Peppermint, now please –”

“Peppermint, can I speak to your manager? I have a, well, strange feeling that you’re having an issue with me personally,” Xavier said as he put the book he was holding atop the shelf he was standing next to.

“Good news for you! I am the manager, now,” Peppermint narrowed her eyes and growled. “If you do not leave, I will umm,” a strain smile emerged from her face, “I’m going to have to make you leave.”

Xavier raised his gloved hands and gave a deferential nod to the manager. He walked past his hostess and walked towards the door with the unicorn slowly following behind him, “It’s too bad, you’ve got a real nice shop here, has a real bibliophile’s vibe to it.”

“Great, great, glad we could impress you,” the mare said as she approached the door. The light bubblegum glow from her horn enveloped the lever door handle, pulling it down with a click, “Please, don’t come back.”

A soft song began to make itself known. It danced through the air from the depths of the shop like a single spider’s thread floating in the wind. A nasally voice lifted the tune, and its lyrics echoed throughout the store. Xavier shook his head for a second, placing his gloved hand atop his head before returning to his previous position. Then both the human and unicorn took a brief glance towards the back of the store before setting their sights on each other again.

🎵Fyoî, Fyoî, rêt-khe dhung lech chu, ba khê mu hu môtsam? 🎵

The human put his gloved hands to his head, shaking it for a moment.

No wonder you're in so much pain, You're doing it all wrong.

Returning to the mare in front of him, he began, “Before I leave, you had your shake, but I will have mine. You’re a rascal, a rascal with no respect towards-”

Xavier stopped once again as he clutched his sternum, shaking his head.

Here, let me show you how to do it right.

🎵Fyoî, Fyoî, ta-khe tur chup ôhce... 🎵

“🎵-Turp tur ôhce, oûb ta... 🎵” Xavier sang at Peppermint. His hands slammed against his mouth as his eyes widened and looked left and right.

“What did you say?” a voice rang out from behind the register. Xavier turned to face the voice and saw a lavender unicorn staring at him. She blinked. He blinked. The mare leapt forth from her stand on the register and down onto the ground as she ran towards Xavier.

“Excuse me?” The manager said, “You know what, never mind, just leave before I get the police.”

Xavier froze, staring at the oncoming purple smudge. It galloped past the register and past the shelves. Xavier’s spine whispered one, and only one thing to him.

And then he turned and fled.