Northern Lights

A sharp noise woke me from sleep.

Groggily, I opened my eyes and looked around. Through the morning haze, I noticed the room I was in wasn't the guest room of the Palace I’d gone to sleep. The walls were dull grey, and the window lacked long curtains, instead being covered by simple blinds. The size of the room was smaller as well - maybe only reaching a third of the guest room’s size. A small bookshelf rested in the right corner. Directly underneath it was a desk with a stack of paper, pencils, and a black laptop resting on it.

Now fully awake, I scanned my eyes around the room. The bed I was in was medium sized with matching blue and red striped covers and bedsheets. And not those monstrously thick covers of the palace beds, with their spade shaped bedposts three inches in length. This bed had no bedposts, and the covers were thin enough to let excess heat escape.

Hastily, I tossed the covers aside and looked at myself. Long tanned legs with black hair greeted me, each one ending in a five toed foot. On my command they each wiggled one after the other. Next, I thrusted my arms into my field of vision. Instead of hooves, a pair of hands were there to greet me.

And then I heard the crying.

It came in quick bursts of sobbing, broken apart by deep, nasally sniffles. Not wasting any time, I grabbed my door handle and flung it open with a quick twist of the wrist. Across the hallway, another door was open, revealing a room with navy blue coloured walls. From it came the source of the crying.

Silently, I walked into the room. Clothes had been tossed everywhere in a rage - like leaves in the autumn wind. Picture frames lay cracked against the walls they’d hung on, and books had been forced off their shelf into a pile of bent covers and exposed pages.

Laying facedown in the center of the bed, sobbing herself dry, was a girl of fifteen. My sister. Catherine.

“W-who’s there?” she choked out, not even bothering to lift her head. Her brown hair was a jumbled mess, sticking this way and that. Several strands littered her bed; the ones she’d pulled out.

“Just me,” I said in my true, masculine voice. But that wasn’t important; this was the most upset I’d ever seen Catherine. What had caused it?

She didn’t move to look at me, opting instead to keep crying into her mattress. Unsure of what to do, I moved beside her and sat on the bed.

Say something! My conscience screamed. At least, that’s what I thought it was. It certainly wasn’t Ri’s voice. Don’t just sit there. She’s hurting!

I swallowed a lump in my throat. “Catherine, what happened?”

“He-” she started, choking back a sob, “He hurt me.”

The words seemed to echo around the room. From the walls, floors, and windows, it whispered its vile four letters.

My heartbeat quickened, and I felt something begin to surface inside me. It was anger. Hatred. Rage.

“Who hurt you?” I asked, fearing the worst.

Catherine looked up at me. Her brown eyes were rimmed raw from crying and crisscrossed with red veins. “S... Shannon..”

Emotions of wroth boiled inside of me like a hot spring. I felt my fingers clench into a fist. “What did he do to you?”

“He-he broke up with me,” Catherine choked out. “We had a fight after music class. He, he said it was my fault. A-and when I tried to hold him... to calm him down so we could talk... he hit me.”

I felt my heartbeat increase tenfold. That bastard; I knew he wasn’t anything but trouble from the first time Catherine brought him home. Always smiling; always so eager to help. I knew it was all an act.

To hell with what you know! The voice of my conscience screamed. Forget him for now. Your little sister is in pain!

My fingers relaxed as the voice continued on. You’re her older brother; act like one. Be there for her.

How? I thought back, staring at Catherine. She’d gone back to sobbing into her mattress again. Gingerly, I placed a hand on her shoulder and gave a few awkward pats. It wasn’t much, but it was all I could think of.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “If there’s anything you need, just ask, OK?”

She shot her head up and looked me in the eyes. “What I need is a big brother to protect me!”

I flinched back from the venom in her words. “Catherine, I-”

“You did nothing,” she spat. “You always do nothing!”

The weight of her words hit me like a sack of bricks, but no response came from me. The voice from before was gone now, replaced by a gush of wind, followed by intense pressure on all sides of me. All this time, Catherine stared daggers at me.

“I need you. Elizabeth needs you. Mom and dad need you. And you abandoned us!”

What? I thought, but the wind stole my words when I tried to speak them. The pressure slammed into my back, forcing me off the mattress. The ground came rushing towards me, and I braced for impact.

~~~

I gasped lungfuls of air and rose from bed, causing a few strands of pink to fall in front of my eyes. Wanting to confirm my species before doing anything else, I raised my left arm. A sky blue hoof came to greet me.

“It was just a dream,” I said out loud in my feminine voice. I couldn’t help but grin dryly; it should have been obvious to me. Catherine’s breakup had happened close to a month ago.

So why wasn’t it? Was my desire for home really so great that it overpowered my basic senses? Or was this just the nature of dreams? Either way, I knew I was going to need a lot of therapy after this.

Sighing, I used the tip of my hoof to tuck my mane behind my left ear. The feeling of my hair against the ear itched slightly, but at least I could look around.

The scene before me was a field of grass and coniferous trees all growing in a neat and orderly fashion. On one side were two metal soccer goals, and on the other was a baseball diamond and sandlot. A cobblestone pathway snaked between them and the treeline. Following down it, I spied a red jungle gym in the middle of a large sand pit. The entire structure was built like a pirate ship. At the front of the jungle gym, two large pieces of plastic were angled so that they created a point, which served as the bow of the ship. A plastic figurehead looked out at the approaching pathway. Flanking the structure on both sides were swingsets. FInally, instead of a bed, I was resting on a wooden bench.

It can’t be, I thought, bewildered. My body slid off the bench and, slowly, I made my way down the pathway. Eventually I found myself standing in front of a bright red sign. On it where the words “Welcome to Hillary Park.”

“It is...” I said, smiling a confused smile. “It’s the park I played in when I was little.”

“I thought you’d enjoy this spot,” A voice said from behind me. Instinctively I curved my neck to look, but there was nothing.

“Ri?” I asked, half certain. It sounded like her voice, but more direct. Like she was right next to me instead of on the other side of a telephone.

“Yes,” she replied. “Isn’t this fantastic! I’ve never been able to directly enter the dreams of those who wear me. Of course, they usually take the necklace off when going to bed. But what does it matter; you’re here, and so am I!”

“Slow down, girl,” I said, turning my head in the direction of the voice. Again I came up with nothing.

“Sorry, I just never expected something like this to even be possible!”

“No, I mean, can you please stop moving? I’m starting to get dizzy over here.”

Ri went silent for a while, which I used to steady myself. By the time my head stopped spinning, she spoke again.

“Only if you promise me that you won’t freak out.”

“Freak out?” I asked. “Why would I-”

“Just promise me, Tyler,” she said. From her voice alone, she sounded on the verge of tears. “Please.”

I sighed and raised a hoof in the air. “I promise you Ri, I won’t freak out.”

Instantly my words were put to the test. A green nose poked out from the left side of the park sign, followed after by a glittering head dominated by two yellow, reptilian eyes. The head turned to me, and an elongated neck slinked its way into view, as thick as a tree trunk, and covered in interlocking scales. The rest of the body soon followed, just as thick as the neck, and displaying a bright orange underbelly. On either side were two sets of wings. The topmost were brown and feathered like an eagles. The bottom ones ended in three long fingers connected by dark brown wing membrane.

My heart leapt into my throat, beating madly. I was looking at a giant winged serpent!

The snake looked at me, smiling a timid smile. “H-hello Tyler.”

“Ri?” I shot out, causing the serpent to wince slightly.

“Now, Tyler, please, you promised not to freak out.”

“I’m not freaking out,” I exclaimed. “See, look at me. Perfectly calm and talking to a giant snake!”

“OK, first off, I’m not a snake,” Ri said. “Second, your muscles are giving involuntary twitches, and your breathing is coming through in erratic short bursts. Both of these are clear signs that you are under severe stress.”

If I still had fingers, they’d have been clenched into fists. “OK, so I am a little taken aback by this. But why shouldn’t I be? I mean, when were you going to tell me you were a giant winged snake?”

“When I knew I could trust you,” Ri said. “Like I told you before, I was not about to lay down and play Twenty Questions with a stranger. And neither were you, for that matter.” She grunted indignantly. “And will you please stop calling me a snake!?”

My heartbeat slowed down as I listened to her. Given the same situation, I wouldn’t have acted differently than she did. Plus, wasn’t I doing the same thing with Twilight and her Princesses? And what would I have done if Ri’d told me her species? More than likely, I’d have taken the necklace off - which, according to her, would have left her in some sort of complete isolation.

Closing my eyes, I forced myself to take in a breath of air. I let it out slowly, then took in another breath. A few cycles later, my heartbeat had dropped back to normal, and I looked back at Ri. Her eyes watched me nervously; her pupils having shifted into a rounder shape. Looking into them, I could see a great deal of intelligence and inquiry.

“OK, I’m good now,” I said, only half sure. “And I’m sorry for that.”

“It’s alright, Tyler, I don’t blame you,” Ri said, coiling her body together. Overall she looked close to forteen feet long from tail to nose tip. “Hey, since there’s no more secrets to keep, perhaps now we should have proper introductions.”

“Sure,” I said. “Though, why don’t you start us off? I think I still need a moment to process this.”

The corners of Ri’s mouth twitched slightly, but she nodded and extended all four of her wings. The leathery ones came around me on both sides, while the feathered ones touched wing tips under her chin, as if she were praying.
“Now announcing Student Ri-Bov-Dis. Four winged daughter of Lord Tal-Vo-Mak and Professor Hik-Esa-Vei. Younger sibling of twin brothers, Lords Ves-Ano-Kai and Ves-Ano-Kro. Member of the Imauikatl Coatla, or Sky Serpents, for a rough human translation.”

“Rough human translation?”

Ri nodded. “I’ve become quite versed in several languages from Earth, monsieur Tyler.”

“I think I’ll have to take your word for it due to time restraints.” I said.

“Oh, of course,” Ri folded her wings and bowed to me. At first I was puzzled, but then got the hint and pressed both my front-hooves together.

“Now announcing Tyler Rannon. Son of John and Mary-Ann Rannon. Elder sibling of sisters Catherine and Elizabeth Rannon. Member of Homo Sapiens, or humans.”

Ri giggled when I’d finished. I turned to look at her, causing some of my mane to tumble back in front of my face. “What’s so funny?”

“It’s nothing,” she giggled. “It’s just that it wasn’t mandatory for you to introduce yourself in that fashion. You could have said it how you normally would have introduced yourself to a stranger.”

“Oh, now she tells me,” I said, rising back to my hooves.

“Hey, if it’s any consolation, you did pretty well for a first time greeting.”

“Um, thanks, I guess,” I said. Because, really, what else could I say to being complemented by something straight from Aztec mythology. Just another uncomfortable question that’ll have to be addressed.

But what kind of time bomb would I be setting off if I asked that? I thought, remembering back to our conversation this morning. Don’t I hate it when people pressure me?

Don't I deserve some kind of answer, I rationalized. From the corner of my eye I could see Ri looking at me with perplexed confusion and worry.

“I’m alright, Ri,” I said, blowing my mane out of my face. “I was just-”

Ri extended one of her leathery wing to pause me. “You don’t need to lie to me, Tyler. It’s clear as the sky above what you were going to ask, and the answer is yes. My species is the one that built the machine that brought you here.”

“So doesn’t that mean you can send me home?” I asked hopefully. “You know how it works, right?”

Ri’s eyes filled with tears. “No, I don’t. I don’t know anything about the machine other than its function.” She paused to draw in a breath. “It was my father’s personal project.”

A wave of emotions began to spread under the surface of my skin; anger being the primary one. “But you said you had a theory about how I got here. You said you could help me get home.”

“And I can!” Ri insisted. “I never lied to you, Tyler. When you first arrived, I didn’t get a look at the archway or the bodies. It wasn’t until the princess mentioned it that I was even sure where we were. Everything has changed so much...”

She’s right, I told myself, the anger already starting to fade. There hadn’t been a single mentioning of any winged serpents in the Canterlot Archives, so Ri’s people would have had to exist here before the ponies fled from their eternal winter. But how long ago would that have been?

“How much about yourself can you tell me?” I asked softly. “You said that there are no more secrets to keep. I won’t force you to tell me something you’re not comfortable with, but if there is going to be any trust between us, we both need to have a general understanding of the other.”

Ri blinked (an impossible action for a true snake) and the tears vanished from her eyes. “There’s not much else to tell, really. I was my father’s youngest, and the only four wing of my generation.”

Something about the way she addressed that final statement seemed offputting to me. “Is there a special requirements to being born with four wings?”

“That would depend on who you ask,” Ri said, her voice faltering ever so slightly. “Next question, please?”

I nodded, not wanting to make the situation worse. With a hoof I gestured to the vacant park around us. “Where exactly are we, and what did you mean when you said I’d like this place in particular?”

The grin that spread over Ri’s face was akin to a professor about to give an extensive lecture. Small interlocking fangs poked from behind her lips, broken only by two fleshy sheaths that more than likely held fangs filled with venom.

I braced myself for the lecture that was to come. To my surprise, Ri extended a leathery wing, almost as if gesturing for me to walk with her. I smiled, and headed down to the jungle gym alongside her. Something about seeing her happy brightened my spirit.

“To be honest, I’m not entirely sure of the circumstances,” Ri said, looking over the jungle gym with passive interest. “But I have a theory. In the past, I have only been able to observe the world around me when worn by another individual, which is true of the current predicament. However, we are able to communicate with one another - something I was never able to accomplish with any previous human. How this came about is anyone’s guess; perhaps it’s because I am in my homeland, or perhaps it has to do with the magic that affected us both during transit.”

“That’s all interesting, but how does that relate to this?” I asked, gesturing around with my hooves.

“I’m getting to that, Tyler,” she said, her voice cracking slightly. “Now, regardless of reasons, this connection allowed me to sense that you were dreaming, but left me unable to assist you in any ways.”

“Could you see into the dream?” I asked. Ri shook her head, and I gave a small sigh of relief.

“Now, without any further interruptions,” Ri continued. “During my attempts to help you, I stumbled upon a memory from when you were young. It seems that, through my prodding and meddling, the memory was able to transfer itself, and by extent my consciousness, into your dreamscape.”

There was a certain excitement in Ri’s voice. It was like a child who’d just finished their first puzzle and was looking to their parent for praise. Except I was in the role of the parent who saw that their kid had skipped a few steps, or left out some important pieces. Once I was sure she was done talking, I spoke.

“Ri, you are aware how scatterbrained that idea sounds, right?”

Her muscles relaxed a little. At first I thought I’d upset her, but then she nodded her head. “Of course it’s an incomplete theory, Tyler. I’m just trying to work with what I have.”

“I know, but answer me this,” I interjected. “How was it you could access one of my memories when you just admitted to not being able to access my dreams?”

Ri shrugged, and turned her head as if in thought. “How am I still alive after so long? How are you, a male human - now residing in the body of a female pony - in another world so unlike your own, and yet so similar? How are we even talking right now? It’s just one of the many wonders that life and magic have to offer us, don’t you think?”

I opened my mouth to retort, but no words would form. Given that I knew next to nothing about magic, I couldn’t really find a good way to play devil’s advocate.

“Alright, I can give you that,” I said. “But how have you managed to go this long without losing your mind? I know if I were in your situation, I’d be trying to claw my brain out by now.”

What little excitement was still in Ri’s body seemed to vanish. “There were times I wanted to do that.” She said, her tone barely above a whisper. “I guess what’s kept me... well, this sane was studying you humans. When my necklace was taken off, I’d go through all the new memories I’d have made from observing your cultures, and try to piece it all together.”

“And how long have you been doing that?” I asked.

Long enough to learn how to speak English flawlessly, The whisper in my head replied.

Ri pressed the tips of her wings together in thought. “I don’t know about specific date I came to Earth, but I was worn by a french woman when she immigrated to Quebec during the Napoleonic wars.”

My eyes widened in disbelief. “The Napoleonic wars took place over two hundred years ago.”

Ri nodded, slow and somber. “That sounds about right.”

Now, any normal, rational human being probably would have freaked out at the prospect of having a centuries old alien living inside their head. But for some reason, I didn’t. Instead, I was silent as my mind tried to process the gravity of the situation. Eventually, I was able to form a response.

“You look great for your age.”

Ri flashed me a puzzled look, which soon gave way to a nervous smile. “Thanks, I think. So, is that the last of your questions?”

“Well, there’s one that’s been nagging at me,” I said. “How did your species build? No offence or anything, but snakes don’t have any-”

I was cut off by a familiar tingling sensation covering my body. Instantly my body was covered in a yellow aura and yanked into the air in front of Ri. Her eyes were covered in the same yellow aura. But right now all I could see were her reptilian pupils glaring at me.

“For the last time, Tyler, stop calling me a snake!”

“OK, OK! I’m sorry, Ri!”

Ri’s muscles relaxed and I felt myself lower back to the ground. The yellow glow vanished from around her eyes, followed quickly by the one around me. Once my senses returned I steadied my hooves and looked back to Ri. She had coiled her body and wrapped her wings around herself in a large cocoon of feathers and flesh. Only her head was visible, nestled onto her chin so her eyes could still see in front of her.

“I’m sorry,” I repeated softly, placing a hoof on her body. Without moving her head, her left eye turned to look at me. “I didn’t mean for it to slip out like that.”

“Just please don’t do it again,” Ri whispered. She looked away from me. “In my culture being called a snake is... derogatory.”

Derogatory. The word seemed to echo in the air around us. Maybe it’s because this was all taking place in my head, or maybe it was due to the weight of the word.

“I’m so sorry, Ri,” I said. “I didn’t know-”

“And now you do,” Her head wormed its way out of her wings, and she smiled encouragingly. “Also, I hope that answered the question of my species construction capabilities.”

“Yeah, it was pretty informative.” I said. “Were humans just unlucky or something not to get magic? Everyone else seems to have it.”

“Maybe,” Ri said, once again in her normal posture. “But I wouldn’t sell your species short. Give humanity some time and you might be able to come close to the wonders my species created.”

For some reason that got a small chuckle out of me. “If we don’t kill each other first, that is.”

Ri went silent and her eyes dropped to the ground. I opened my mouth to speak, but the words were sucked from my mouth. Around me the world began to shake and fade away into blackness.

“Tyler?” Ri called. Or at least, I thought it was Ri. It sounded far away and distant. When I turned to look at her, there was nothing but a shadowed outline.

An invisible wind pulled me backwards into the darkness. I caught sight of a blue shape passed in the corner of my eye before the landscape gave way to a series of bright lights shining through my bedroom window.