Us and Them

Chapter 9

Off on the Wrong Hoof

The four day minimum on the grace period before Celestia let any of us go anywhere felt agonizingly long. We weren’t allowed to move from Canterlot, and Celestia wouldn’t even bring the remaining four Elements to Canterlot in case Epoch noticed their movement. All we could do was sit in the Court Gardens, getting to know each other, as if we hadn't already been together for our entire lives as ponies.

Each of us were doing our own activity to keep ourselves from getting bored. Dusty was walking through the gardens, sniffing flowers, and occasionally whistling. Twilight was reading a book that I imagine she had taken out from the library. Lyrica was off in a corner singing. At the moment, the song was "Sharp Dressed Man" by ZZ Top (that mare could sing anything). Rainbow Dash was practicing her flying tricks, flying around the gardens while performing flips and rolls.

The pristine gardens, with their vast selection of plants, were a calming place. One could come here and be alone with their thoughts. One could be at peace here. Or, one could disrupt all of that to get in an argument.

“Look. All I’m saying is, I don’t really think that just because you’re a princess, I should listen to whatever you say.” Tycho was at it again, the only one to resist the possibility of originally being a human. Now he was arguing with Luna and I as we sat on some benches in the middle of the garden. He was probably the reason why there weren't any animals near us.

“Listen Tycho. This all just makes too much sense. I have memories from being a human, Lyrica sang a song from Earth, all three of you act just like my friends, if it got any more human, we would be back on Earth already. I know you don’t want to leave, I sure don’t, but we’re here to do a job.” I tried to talk some sense into him. It was like trying to talk to a brick wall. A brick wall that had a short temper and bad manners.

“Yeah, I know. That’s all you’ve been saying. I’m saying that I don’t think I want to help if it means I have to leave here.”

“What if we find some way around that? Is that possible Luna?” I shouldn’t call out to others who aren’t paying attention, it’s embarrassing for all parties.

“Hmm? What did you ask?” Apparently Luna's thoughts were elsewhere, despite her sitting with the two of us.

“Could we find some way not to head back to Earth when we finish here?”

“Well, Tia said that the spell was unstable and would only last three weeks at most, so I’m afraid there’s not much we can do.” Side note. Oh My Celestia, She actually calls her Tia.

“But we could find some way to circumvent that, right? A- I don’t know- a strengthening of the spell to make it permanent?”

Luna was about to respond when Celestia walked into the courtyard with a pegasus guard at her side. It was pretty clear this guard was one of the more important guards, as he was wearing much more “functional” armor than the normal guards- a helmet that covered the entire head, a much more solid breastplate, and it was all covered in scratches and dents- most likely from training exercises (or maybe he had seen some combat). The armor looked like it could take hits in a fight, as opposed to the fancy gold plates that most guards wore.

“Alright ponies, we’ve gotten our report back from the scouts we sent to the ruins.” He said loudly enough that everypony in the courtyard (and I felt like all of Canterlot) could hear.

“What’s the word, pony-bird?” I asked. Have I ever mentioned that I can’t bring myself to respect authority?

“The scouts have confirmed that there is a large black alicorn walking the halls of the ruins. He has not made any aggressive moves yet, but we’re staying on high alert.”

“Does this mean that we can finally go somewhere and do something to stop this guy?” Tycho asked.

“Yes. Your first stop will be Ponyville to pick up the remaining four Elements. After that, you will venture into the Everfree Forest to reach the ruins. From there, your ultimate goal will be to subdue Epoch. If he surrenders peacefully, take him here. If not, it will be up to you to decide what to do.”

“Right. Pick up Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie. Then we head to the ruins. Stop Epoch, and bring him back here if he’s feeling nice," I repeated. "Sounds easy enough. Shall we get going?”

“No. It’s a six hour walk for most of you, so you will leave tomorrow.” General Fancy-Pants responded.

“Couldn’t we just fly?” Twilight asked. I was wondering the same thing. The trip was a lot faster and easier by air.

“Epoch would no doubt see any motion in the sky. I don’t want anypony in the skies. We are putting a ban on all airspace travel until further notice. That includes you.”

“Well, you do have a point,” I conceded. “It’s best that we try and lay low if we can.”

“Okay. We will make our leave for Ponyville first thing tomorrow morning” Luna confirmed. Celestia and General Fancy-Pants (nothing will stop me from calling him that) left the courtyard, leaving our gang of seven alone in the courtyard again. Tycho, Luna, and I got back to our previous discussion.

“Anyways, I’m just saying that there had better be some way to come back here. I’m not going back without a fight.” Tycho started, raising his hooves to accentuate his willingness to fight for his right to spend time with Dash.

“I’m just not sure it’s possible to do that.” Luna admitted. “You’re talking to the wrong princess.”

“Look, Tycho, I know how you feel about this, but I don’t think it’s worth-” I began.

“I DON’T CARE WHAT EITHER OF YOU THINK!” Tycho shouted before flying off- probably to find some clouds to rest on while he simmered down.

“Should I talk to your friend before he gets into more trouble?” Luna asked.

“No, I don’t think that’d help. It’d probably make things worse, in fact. I think he just needs time to cool down and get his head back.”

“What just happened?” Twilight asked as she and the others approached Luna and me. Rainbow Dash was towards the back, looking embarrassed.  I could tell that she was well aware of the fact that whatever Tycho had done, it had somehow involved her.

“Oh, Tycho was just being Tycho. Don’t worry about him. He just needs some time to cool off, if I know him” I responded.

"Oh, well... okay then" Twilight said as she went back to read the book she had taken from the royal library. Rainbow went off on her own, Dusty continued calmly walking the garden, but Lyrica lingered, choosing to strike up a new conversation with me.

"So are we really gonna go on a big adventure and fight bad guys?"

"Yep, and we're gonna kick the pants- uh... We're gonna show him who's boss," I responded (nope, still not used to living or speaking as a pony).

"Are we really, or are you just saying that to cheer us up?"

"Honestly, I have no idea. We're facing someone who could be stronger than all of us combined. But like Celestia said, we're Equestria's only hope. I don't want to think what would happen if we don't win."

Lyrica didn't take this news well. Her lower lip started to quiver, and her eyes widened and began to shimmer with wetness. Oh Celestia save me, she's starting to cry.

"Nonono! Don't cry! Don't- Oh no, you're crying." I begged as she broke out into a full-out bawl. All I could do was hug her to calm her down, an act that made Luna chuckle. "Don't you dare. Don't say a word." I commanded, though if I hadn't said it in such a stern voice it would've been begging.

"Oh I won't say anything, I wouldn't want to interrupt the two of you."

"You're worse than your sister. When this one calms down, you're gonna get your just desserts."

"Yay! I love dessert!" She exclaimed with a laugh before flying away to avoid whatever wrath I could unleash upon her.

"WE ARE NOT THROUGH HERE!" I shouted back at her. Great. Tycho hates Luna and I, Luna's making fun of me, and Lyrica's using me as a crying pillow. We haven't even started our journey and we're already getting into fights. How could this get any worse?

Oh right. Epoch.