Chapters Rays of multicolored light spread across the floor of the great throne room, shining through the bright stained glass windows. The hues crept up the legs the regal elder princess of Equestria: Celestia. She admired her bright sun as it spread warmth and energy throughout her land. She enjoyed these moments of the early dawn, finding relaxation in her duties to her people, proud to be the pillar of a great nation. And yet, it could not last.
"Ahem."
The princess sighed. "What is it Discord?"
"Well, you said you would like to speak with me this morning, and as you can see, morning is here!" Discord said cheerily, his long serpentine body stretched across a sofa that he insisted on making appear at every convenient time. The Princess hid her annoyance. Since his reforming, Discord had proved useful on many occasions, but he he was still Discord. She had to allow him these moments of harmless, if random, freedom, to stop him from relapsing into his chaotic self.
"You know full well that I meant after the raising ritual." She said calmly. He just shrugged.
"Very well, Discord. I mean to speak to you of your last journey to Las Pegasus. Was turning that park into a marshmallow really necessary?"
"But Princess, did it not stop that Ursor Minor from ravaging the city and spreading..." he licked lips and smiled,"...a little Fun?"
The Princess looked sternly down at the cobbled-together creature before her. "It also destroyed one of the most beautiful parks in the city. You cannot overstep your boundaries. This chaos is-"
"Oh, Princess, THAT was not chaos." said Discord. He jumped up off of his couch, which promptly disintegrated into hundreds of butterflies that attacked and ate each other into non-existence. "Chaos is so much more fun than just feeding an Ursor a giant marshmallow! You know, some worlds are far more accepting of a little bit of fun now and then..."
"Discord, we've had this discussion before; I care not for the dimensions outside of my realm. I know not what creatures have made those planes their home, and would prefer if you would keep to yourself from spying into their affairs." the Princess said, disturbed.
"Oh, but Princess! How many creatures are alive that are gifted with the ability to see across all life? Why I believe its only elementals such as myself that have the ability. Yourself and your sister of course being special cases..." Discord grumbled, stretching to his full height. That was a bit difficult to judge, of course, given his shape shifting nature.
Celestia looked at him sharply at his referral to her and Luna. "We will not misuse the powers that we have gained, Discord! We have dedicated ourselves to protecting Equestria, that is enough."
"What a waste, Princess, really, you should try it! You're even powerful enough to, hm, have a little fun with the...others." Discord bared his snaggletooth in a grin.
"No, Discord! You are forbidden from altering the other planes of life! I may understand and allow you to look into them, but you may not expose us to those unstable lands!" Celestia barked at the devious Draconequus. His grin merely widened.
"Too late..."
Author's Note
Hello and thanks for reading this far at all. I'm looking for reviews of style and character development to better my writing in general, so if my content a little dicey, please forgive me and leave a review anyway. Thanks a ton
Marc was not what anyone would call normal. He was also nothing unusual. As a young child he had been through a lot, but even his therapist said that he had adapted well to normal life.
He still had the odd trouble relating to other people, but that was to be expected. He had however managed to gather about him a few close friends during his time in this city. But that didn't mean he was never lonely. In fact, he was lonely a lot. Which was why he was so excited that Gale had invited him out tonight.
He looked at himself in the mirror for a minute. He was certainly not vain (He never had the opportunity or self esteem for that) but this was Gale, the only friend that he had ever made by himself, without someone pushing them together for his benefit. He couldn't say he was impressed with what he saw there: a medium build young man with a reasonable overall figure, but little else. Short brown hair and hazel eyes were not exactly uncommon, and though he was quite tall he was certainly not imposing or charismatic in appearance. He sighed, but tried a smile. There, better.
Just then, he heard a call over the intercom: "Marc, you have a visitor."
The smile stayed put. He wandered out of his room through the high hall and passed the many baroque doorways towards the large double doors of the entrance. The doorman opened up for Marc, who found himself looking across the large courtyard to Gale at the gate, talking to one of the guards. He waved to her as he began to cross the impressive lawn.
Gale looked as radiant as ever, laughing at some small quip that the guard had made, setting her dark hair waving about her. Marc never failed notice how her hair framed her face perfectly when she laughed. Gale noticed Marc at that moment, and broke off her conversation with the guard to climb back into her car. Marc greeted the guard with a nod as he passed, earning a "Have a good one" from the man, who returned to the gatehouse.
Marc decided to start the evening on a high note. he slid over the hood of the car and jumped into the passenger seat next to Gale, who immediately hugged him and exclaimed, "My god Marc, you couldn't dented it... Its been a while! I haven't heard a peep in weeks! How have you been? You missed such a party last Friday! I tried to phone, but I was told you were with one of the tutors. Anyway, John was there, trying to find a girl, it was so funny...!".
Marc laughed to himself as she continued the one sided conversation all the way down the drive to the main road. Finally, she paused and, looking over at Marc, she asked, " Are you gonna be quiet all night again? Am I gonna have to get you high?".
Not wanting repeat that experience, Marc shook his head and said, "Hi...um...Where are we going?"
His soft voice was not helped by the music rocking car at this point. Marc had organized that amp himself for Gale last year. Gale smiled, "Well, at least you can talk, that's all you need for tonight. Okay, now I know you don't like being set up with people, but its about time you met a friend of mine who isn't utterly insane, so we're going to Signa Square to meet my best girl-friend, San-Marie."
Marc gave her a questioning look.
Gale blushed and blurted, "Not like that! That was like, one time at college...and then that time in Germany, but that was totally different. San-Marie is just a good friend, like you."
Author's Note
Notice a lack of cliffhangers. Can't decide whether or not to use them, since I hate the things when I'm reading. Anyway, thanks for making it this far! hope you continue. Review if you have anything to say, it can only help. I'm still working on this, introductions are the worst for me.
Marc smiled again, then cleared his throat and said a bit louder than before, "So that's why it was so important that I come out tonight? To meet a friend of yours? I hope that's all you're planning." Then he thought of all the times that Gale had planned and evening for him.
"You know what, scratch that, it never is...".
He looked out of the window at the lights of the city. Bright. Glaring actually. He looked back at Gale. She was looking at him intently. "Marc, it's time to get out that old place, you know, every time I walk to that gate, I get chills. Its so...Dead."
Marc thought about that for a minute. She was right, it was quite an imposing building, "Well, I'm stuck there for now, the paperwork still needs to go through."
Gale knew what he meant. After a minute or two of driving, Marc eased into the conversation and bantered with Gale about old times. The pair had known each other a long time. Who would've thought that such a close friendship could grown from a hospital bed?
Eventually Gale said, "Here we are! La Petit!"
Marc looked at the fancy restaurant. It was one of those novelty high class over priced restaurants that people visited to show that they had money to spend. A big abstract sign dominated the glass facade and blocked out the lights shining over the Square. He wondered why Gale had chosen a place where they were both a bit out of place. Time to find out. Gale pulled over and turned off the music before anyone high class heard her mixes. Shortly, they were both staring up at the doorway. Then Gale said in a snooty accent, "Shall we, dear friend of mine?".
That kind of language came easier to Marc, and he used to good effect: "Of course my lovely companion, why ever would we not?".
Gale laughed and led him inside towards some or other person: San-Marie.
Marc found little to be excited about in meeting this new person. He surveyed the entire crowd as he was led around tables and groups. Nothing much to look at, just another bunch of people. When he looked straight he found the blue eyes of San-Marie as she made a cautious introduction. He smiled warmly and greeted what he could only describe as a blonde bombshell.
San-Marie certainly looked as if she belonged in high society. Maybe she had chosen the venue, he thought as he weaved his way through the polite nothings of conversation that followed meeting a person for the first time. It was all so complicatedly needless to him. By San-Marie's third sentence he had already decided that she was a nice person and considered her worth talking to. But she kept on trying to make a good impression - talking about this and that and being overly nice. She was obviously a people pleaser. Eventually Gale caught on as she noticed Marc slowly receding from the conversation. She reached over and touched San-Marie's arm. "Hun, he already considers you a friend, no need to try and win him over."
Marc smiled and nodded. Good old Gale. San-Marie was a little taken aback by this, and stopped talking altogether. Gale sighed, " Well, I'm gonna go to the ladies' for a bit."
She looked at Marc and said, " I'm counting on you to make it work. Do it."
Marc nodded again and leaned over his pathetically small meal and said, "So, San, if that's okay? Cool. You said you've been to Paris?",
Gale smiled and walked away. Marc leaned back and waited for San-Marie to latch onto the story. She didn't, thank God. Instead she said, quite abruptly, "Where'd you meet Gale, anyway?"
She saw the instant change in Marc. The good natured smile simply vanished and she was staring at a completely different person. His face lost all traces of emotion, becoming vacant in a matter of milliseconds. It was decidedly disconcerting. Then he spoke. "Its nice story I suppose."
The sadness was tangible, but he continued, "Five years ago Gale had her tonsils out. There was a complication, and for two months, she couldn't talk. For Gale, that's torture, you know her. I was there at the time with a...battle wound..." he held up his hand, showing a faded yet clear scar running around his left index finger. "Nearly lost the hand after an infection set in." He expanded: "Gale had to go through serious vocal therapy and I was, I guess, a friend in difficult times. Afterwards, when she left, I made a point of staying in contact, and here we are today."
Marc's composure returned towards the end, and by now was back to normal, but it was clear he had left a lot out. Who stays in hospital for two months for a finger? San-Marie said instead, "Yeah, Gale told me once about how she used to be a good singer and all. Its sad that she can't anymore."
Gale arrived before the conversation could continue, and the rest of the evening was spent in relative ease.
By about ten, Gale was restless, Marc could tell. eventually she stood up and proclaimed to all in earshot, " I'm bored! I need to feel some excitement! Come on, guys, there's a club just around the corner!".
Gale practically ran out the door. Marc smiled as he trailed after her, with a decidedly embarrassed-looking San-Marie in their wake.
The club was indeed a rocking joint. Marc immediately bought a round of drinks for the ladies. While he was gone, San-Marie couldn't help but ask Gale about the story Marc had told her. but Gale too, was instantly shadowed. "Did he tell you what he was doing there?".
"He said it was an infection in his hand, but that's not all it was, is it?". Gale shook her head slowly.
"San...Marc was nearly murdered."
Discord was taken aback by just how angry the Princess was with him over this little joke his. " Oh come now, Celestia, they don't think we're real or anything, I just-".
"YOU SHOWED THEM OUR WORLD DISCORD!" The Princess shouted. Guards appeared, looking distrustfully at Discord. Celestia calmed herself and dismissed them; They couldn't hear this, this was too big for regular ponies to know.
Discord smiled and tried to defuse the smoking-mad Princess. "Celestia, they think we're myths, stories for children. In fact they think you to be quite entertaining. I thought that it would be amusing to show them how things work in our world-"
"So you meddled with their heads, making them believe that we are the invention of their own imagination?!" Celestia cut him off again.
Discord sighed patiently before continuing, "It was actually quite impressive, if a do say so myself. The first time I tried, before you and your sister were even born, I overdid it a bit, so I had to quit for a while. Then you and your sister found those Elements of Harmony and..." he grimaced, "put me in stone. anyway, by now they've nearly completely forgotten about us, so I tried again. Now you're a novelty in their world, nothing they think of as real.".
Celestia turned away in disgust."You will cease these meddlings at once, Discord"
"Oh, but of course, on one condition..." Celestia, had a feeling this could not end well. "Let me show you some of their world first."
*****
San-Marie had decided that Marc was too weird. Maybe it was hearing that story from Gale. Maybe it was Marc's quiet manner, the detached air he had. Either way, San-Marie was was more than happy away from the man, getting drunk. She spent the rest of the night chatting to other guys...but her drinks still went to Marc's tab of course. Now she was flirting with one of the men in the corner room; Johansen Smith. Odd name, but he was good-looking, if a bit grabby. After a while, a fizz got in the way of her thinking, but she didn't mind at that point.
Neither did Smith.
By midnight they were making out on the far side of the room. Not at all private, but she didn't seem to care anymore. This was just fun.
And then he was there.
She looked at him in disgust. "What, you see me with a real man and get jealous 'cause you can't have this?"
"You drugged her."
Johansen laughed as he walked away. Everyone who frequented any club in the city knew that man as Mr EyeDrops. But San-Marie didn't go to clubs that often. Now she near passed out while trying to hit Marc. "Why'd you chase him away! Freak!"
Marc drove them across the city; Gale had had one to many herself. Luckily they all stayed in the same roughly the same part of town: The Grand Banks, where only the wealthiest families or organizations could afford a place. All was quiet for the first ten minutes. Then San-Marie remembered something. "So, Marc, who nearly beat you to death, huh? Angry papa? I wanna see those scars-"
The car jerked to a halt. Marc looked straight at Gale. He was angry. Very, Gale turned and slapped San-Marie into silence, a silence that became eerie as Marc turned the car around and headed straight to where Gale had picked him up.
He drove up the long, dark drive, pulling up to the gate. The guard was nowhere to be seen, his shift having ended hours ago. Without a word Marc got out of the car. Gale did the same, intending to talk to him, something! But he stopped her. He leant down and kissed her on the cheek. She sighed in relief; It was okay between them.
But then San-Marie called out again, "Wow, Marc, that's a huge house! you're so lucky!"
San-Marie, frightened, leant away and read, mortified into realization:
"S-State Psychiatric Orphanage"
*****
Marc didn't know what happened. San-Marie had seemed so nice, sweet, the ype of girl one might like to bring home to one's... And then in the space of a few hours, it all went to pot. She tore him up. He sighed. it wasn't her fault, after all. But he just wished he were away from here, this world, with its indifferent and complicated society.
Not that he expected it to actually happen.
*****
Discord moved himself into the new dimension when the Princess paused after his ultimatum; That was close to a yes, right? Anyway.. .He was not sure how best to turn this situation to his amusement, but he decided to take a miserable human. Yes, that would work well; imagine it's face when it saw Celestia! That's when he felt it: a wish to leave the world...not really a sincere one...all the better. In fact, this was perfect.
Marc stared at the creature in front of him, the most hideous mismatch of creatures he could have ever imagined. and it just laughed at him. "Hahahaha! Oh your face! I wish you could see it! Now, you just wished to leave this world, correct? Your wish just came true! you're leaving! Forever, I might add!"
What? Marc stared. No. "No! NO!"
But was too late. the creature snapped its...tail? and with that, Marc was gone. Discord grinned.
What a good morning.
That Could've Gone Better
Marc stared at the door for the next ten minutes. I'm going totally nuts. San-Marie pushed me too far. Just then, his thoughts were interrupted by the the slow creaking of the door. A large pair of magenta eyes slowly peeked into the room, followed by the rest of the nervous looking creature.
It was similar to the previous one in shape, but the colour totally different. A sort of light blue body and...A rainbow on its head? Yes, and its tail. Okay, stay calm. It looks just as scared as you do. Marc looked at the creature and it looked as him. Then, It hunkered down into a ready stance, spreading its...Wings? Damn, this was so weird . It looked ready for a fight.
Not likely, It barely reached halfway up his chest, at best. Not wanting to scare it, Marc held out a hand as a sign of peace, but creature ruffled it's wings at the sight of the bite marks. Oh yeah, those...damn . He stopped and got up, still wrapped in the blanket, and sat on the edge of the bed.
Marc looked over the creature growling at him by the door. He couldn't blame it. If by some far-fetched (VERY far-fetched) stretch of reality, he was looking at a real creature...
Rainbow Dash was confused. First, this weird freak had smiled and shown her its strange foreleg with Twilight's teeth-marks. It looked like a challenge to Rainbow, so she had put it in its place. Now, though, it...He, Twilight had said...looked completely defeated, sitting wrapped in a blanket on the side of the bed, head low, and tears starting to show in his eyes. Rainbow made the connection: This creature wasn't that threatening, he was just scared.
She sat down and tucked back her wings. They looked at each other, both mis-trusting yet hopeful, for a long while.
Then there was a bash on the door, which flew open accompanied by a yell: "Rainbow! you better not ha' harmed that there monster-!"
Applejack tumbled into the room, much further than she meant to. There she was, sprawled the floor directly between Rainbow and the large alien animal.
"Ahuh..Howdy..." she mumbled as she rapidly tried to regain her balance, and back away. She only managed to trip over her own tail and land flat on her back next to Rainbow, who burst into laughter. The embarrassed Applejack noticed that the monster was laughing too.
"Oh, ponyfeathers...Rainbow! Ah felt sure you'da near killed it by now!"
"C'mon, Applejack, look at him! how could I fight a creature so miserable" Rainbow exclaimed. He was chuckling through his tears at the antics of the two friends.
"Him? well...He sure don't look so bad when his laughin' at me." muttered a very perturbed Applejack.
Marc had absolutely no idea what was going on. He finally seemed to have convinced the rainbow thing that he wasn't a threat when another of the creatures burst through the door shouting about something.
Its colouration was again completely different, this time an orange coat and blonde hair and tail. And a hat? What the hell? It had landed rather comically flat out on the floor, before staggering away and falling over again, to the great amusement of the rainbow one. That was just hilarious.
Then followed a conversation between the pair of creatures, with many glances cast his way. Marc took the time to inspect them as they continued to talk in hushed tones. Their bodies reminded him loosely of horses, he guessed, but with beach balls for heads. Were it a different situation, he would not have been able to see them as anything but adorably cute. Of course, their worried expressions ruined it slightly.
At least they weren't aggressive anymore. they just looked awkward.
Rainbow Dash and Applejack stayed there for the rest of the day, with no idea what they were actually meant to do. By the time Twilight returned late that night, Rainbow Dash was sleeping in a corner while Applejack watched the alien. "Hello, Applejack!" exclaimed Twilight, excited at what she had to say. Applejack was startled out of her reverie by the excited pony charging into the room. "Gosh Twilight! You're gonna wake 'im up! he only just laid 'is head down."
"Oh, sorry about that, but the Princess told me of some useful spells that might help us understand him better! Coming from a different place, all my normal spells don't work on him, so I need to do something different. If we can talk to him, maybe we can figure out more about him, like where he's actually from."
"Wait up, didn't the Princess want to come and see 'im by herself? And didn't she already explain where he's from an' all?"
"Well, She only told me that he was from outside of Equestria. I don't know what that means, exactly, but since the Princess told me that direct magic won't work on him, she told me about a translator spell that would allow us to communicate another way, so we can find out!"
Twilight didn't wait to hear Applejack's worried "Uuuh...Are ya sure...?"
Marc had no idea what was going on. He was woken up by an odd buzzing sensation around his head. He sat bolt upright, trying to make sense of his location and company. He saw that the first creature he had seen, the purple one, had returned in the night. She looked tense, or under stress. Her horn has glowing that odd purple again as the sensation increased to a very uncomfortable level. And then it stopped. But something was different.
Applejack cried out when Twilight collapsed after her spell, "Twilight! Oh gosh, ah knew that magic stuff was a bad idea. You okay there?"
But Twilight didn't answer, she only moaned. Instead, Applejack heard a surprised exclamation, "What the hell just...happened?"
Applejack slowly looked up, into the eyes of the creature. Her jaw dropped. Instead of answering, she backed away and kicked the sleeping Rainbow into wakefulness.
"wha'? What happened? I'm up!" What she heard then was a bit of a shock.
"Hello, weird rainbow creature."
Rainbow was, to say it lightly, shocked out of her bracket. She jumped back and stared at the thing that had spoken to her. All she could think to to do was say, "What are you?"
She composed herself then, thinking of her reputation. but his response was even more of a shock.
"My name is Marc. I mean no harm to you and your friends. Please, help me."
Rainbow Dash crouched down and growled. "Likely story"
Applejack whacked a hoof across the back of Rainbow Dash's head. "Can it, Dash, cant'cha see he's tryin' to be friendly?" She said, though in truth she wasn't particularly sure why she said it, when half a second ago she had reacted similarly.
"But look what he did to Twilight! And did you hear what he called me?" Rainbow muttered, rubbing her head.
Twilight mumbled from her position on the floor, "Ugh...did it work?"
Applejack turned back to Twilight, helping her up. "Yeah, Sugarcube, if you mean makin' 'im unnerstanable. it worked, and he's tryin' to talk to us."
"And Rainbow," Applejack snarked, turning to the ruffled pegasus, "Your mane has startled even some ponies ah know, so don't take no offense from this here...whatever 'e is"
Marc was more than a little confused by the banter, but from what the purple creature had said (from her fetal position on the floor), and the response of the one with the hat, it seemed that she had somehow made it possible for them to communicate.
Magic? yeah, right...
The rainbow one stepped forward, mollified slightly by the orange one's words, and said in her unusual voice, "Well, my name's Rainbow Dash, and you're the weird creature here, so be careful."
Applejack was going to reprimand the rainbow mare again but was cut off by an unexpected reply.
"I'm sorry about that, and I suppose you're right. This is very strange for me, and I'd really appreciate an explanation as to why...well, why I am here." Marc finished. He was practicing some serious control here, using slow, controlled tones. He knew that he couldn't freak them out more, for his own safety.
Applejack spoke up, "Well, howdy, uh, Marc? Um, m'names Applejack, and, uh... Twilight, we need some speechifyin' here..."
Applejack looked to Twilight, who rubbed her head, thinking of how to continue. "Ah, yes, my name is Twilight Sparkle, and you've met my pony friends here. Now, this is hard to explain, so let's start with what we know. I know that your name is Marc and that you are a male of your species, a human. You are in the land of Equestria, and the Princess said the you were brought here by a magical experiment that didn't work out. I have cast a spell around you that translates what you say into our language when you speak, and ours into yours when you hear us, like a translating force field. It is imperfect, but it will suffice until I can teach you Equestrian..."
Marc listened to Twilight (Odd name, but anyway) as she explained the situation. Ponies? Okay, that's logical... Kinda. Princess? No idea, store for later. Equestria? Painful name, I hope that kind of pun isn't common here . This magic was a bit freaky, but he had to believe it now. He was hearing the results, after all.
Marc simply nodded and tried to absorb as much information as possible as the Twilight continued. When she got to the part about him being knocked unconscious in this room for three full weeks, though, he couldn't contain a cough of shock.
Twilight looked at the human, worried, but quickly continued, "We kept you hydrated and sustained you on a drip. My friend Fluttershy worked out what sort of diet you might have by your teeth and form, but you must still feel weak and hungry."
Twilight turned to Applejack and whispered, "I hadn't thought to bring food, could you go grab a few things? I don't know what he'll want." .
"Sure thing, Twilight" Applejack replied.
As Applejack turned to leave, Twilight continued, " We and some few other ponies were charged with your care until a safe way to return you is found. Now, any questions?"
Marc looked over at Twilight from where he still sat. Three weeks? what the hell happened to me? He was stiff and cold, and had no idea where to start. Oh, wait...
"Yeah, first, can I have my clothes back, and second, may I have something to eat?"
Twilight was actually a little unprepared for the practicality of the requests.
. Rainbow chuckled at Twilight's indecision. "Well, what did you expect? He's been stuck in bed for three whole weeks! I know what you need, to get outside!" she exclaimed.
Twilight hushed her, "Rainbow Dash!" She turned to Marc and said, "I'm sorry, but going outside is out of the question until we know if you're safe. I'm sorry if this is a problem for you, but we are under orders and there's a town outside; we can't risk it yet."
Marc guessed that made sense. Wait, a town outside? Yes, a town full of these strange adorable pony things waiting to show him a range of reactions who's vastness could only be rivaled by their range of colours... Well, if he could believe magic, he could believe that. Maybe going outside wasn't such a good idea after all. "Don't worry, I think I understand that."
He laid back, looking at the wooden rafters of his confinement cell, and tried to absorb some of what he was being told. Still In the back of his mind was the niggling fear that he had simply gone utterly insane. Oh well, if that's the case, I might as work with it.
The next question he asked was one he imagined the purple pony would want to answer.
"Who is this Princess?"
Twilight grinned.
Rainbow groaned and fell over, "Oh, this is gonna take forever!"
Author's Note
Didn't manage to do much with this one, but still, I think it's better than it was. Anyway, comment and hate or love, whatever you feel like. I used my tenuous hold on the internet just bring you this, so don't leave me hanging!
If only Rainbow Dash had known just how right she was.
It took Twilight another two weeks to explain to Marc everything she considered necessary for him to know. Of course, what Twilight considered as ‘necessary’ involved a vast amount of obscure and vague information that often went completely over Marc's head. Luckily for him, every now and again, Applejack would come around with food and news for the pair, since Twilight had more or less moved into Marc’s holding cottage so as to dedicate herself to Marc's education. They both still needed nourishment, mental and physical, to distract them from Twilight’s ‘comprehensive’ syllabus.
After a while, though, Marc could certainly have done with something other than the constant stream of apples and apple products. Too much pie...Too many fritters and fries...
In this, he received help from the most unexpected source. That evening, while Twilight was dozing in amongst her notes on the Equestrian language and sub-dialects, Marc heard a knock on the barred window of his room: He still had not earned the right to stay in the second room without supervision.
He got off the edge of his bed where he had been putting on the spare pair of baggy pants and a loose shirt that had somehow appeared in a bundle with his belongings, literally the clothes off his back, one day ('Compliments of Rarity', another unicorn, apparently), and walked over to see what it was. He was surprised to see the slats being removed from the outside.
Then he saw, through the growing gaps, a snatch of rainbow-coloured mane.
Marc groaned. Not her. She was probably going to challenge him to another 'hoof wrestle'. The first time, Rainbow Dash had been surprised at how difficult Marc had been to beat; He was surprised that he had been beaten at all, considering her lighter build. But he didn't want a rematch, so he moaned out at her, "Rainbow, please..."
"Shut up, will you, I gotta get these things off." Marc held his tongue as she removed the last of the slats. Then he found himself staring at the large magenta eyes, or, more importantly, the bag she held in her mouth, with its incredible aroma.
Rainbow dropped the package on the small table under the window an answered, "Uh, yeah, a friend of mine, Thunderlane, had a cloud party and there were some leftovers. I figured you'd be tired of apples and Fluttershy said you probably ate fish too, so...I just wanted to apologize for being mean to you the last while."
She was obviously embarrassed. Marc was a little taken aback at this: Rainbow Dash did not seem the type to apologize, no matter how abrupt.
She noticed him pause, and said in a hurt tone, "Well I just was trying to do something nice. I guess I have breakfast after all." She leant back through the window and grabbed the package.
She was about to take off when Marc finally realized what had just happened, and shouted after her, "Rainbow Dash! Please, wait!"
She turned reluctantly to face him, already hovering with the package in her mouth.
Marc sighed in relief, then said, "You just gave me a shock, please, you have absolutely no idea how welcome some fish would be right now. Come on in, if you care to."
She came back to earth and put the fish down. Then she slowly worked her through the window, watching Marc the whole time. When she was in the room, she nudged package of food across to Marc.
Marc smiled at the silent Pegasus, but he had a serious question. "Rainbow Dash, how many ponies eat fish? I had no idea; all I've eaten so far is-"
"Apples, right?" Rainbow interjected.
Marc smiled his agreement
"Well," Rainbow began, "Only pegasi eat fish. Fluttershy says it's cause we need more energy to fly, but nowadays it's only common to eat fish in Cloudsdale and a few other cloud-towns, since we get some energy from magic too. Twilight should explain this, but really, it’s better if you don't mention this to her..." she said.
She was quite uneasy, but Marc felt nothing but gratitude. "This is greatly appreciated, thank you." Marc opened the package and began to eat the very well prepared fish. It even had a slice of lemon on it.
One thing he'd forgotten about in his ecstasy was his tutor in the next room.
Twilight had gone to the locked door when she heard Marc shout, but listened first before entering. Now, she pulled open the door to see a very awkward but mildly pleased Rainbow Dash watching Marc pick at the fish she'd brought him.
Marc sat dead still for a second, before scooting over to the door, the fish forgotten as he tried to hear what was going on. He could hear little through the door until the shouting began.
"You should have asked me before you gave him anything!" Twilight was very mad.
"You wouldn't have let me give it to him! I was just trying to be friendly, you'd understand if you weren’t trying to shove all that history down his throat! He didn't even know that pegasi eat fish!" Rainbow defended herself.
"The Princess put me in charge of him! I can’t have you sneaking in through the window...THE WINDOW!"
Both mares came tumbling back into the room, looking around wildly, and fell in a tangle on the floor. Marc, having heard the commotion, had stepped out of the way just in time. Now, he leaned down to the pair. He touched Twilight on the shoulder. She froze and looked up at him, waiting for him to act.
He said quietly, "Would you like some help?"
Twilight tentatively offered a hoof. Marc took it and pulled her to her hooves, before turning and putting a similarly stricken Rainbow Dash in a seated position.
"I hope you two are okay. Thanks for the fish, Rainbow. Good night."
Then he went to bed.
A Freedom Earned, A Duty Given
Not much could be discussed about the series of events that took place that night, because the next day, the inevitable happened. Marc was eating breakfast of...you guessed it...apples, when an extremely over-excited Twilight stormed in, and began almost pathologically organizing her notes, and babbling so fast that the translator spell she had cast couldn't keep with her.
"Whoa there, Twilight! Twilight, stop!" Marc stepped in front of her, halting her activities.
She stared up at him unseeing for a second, panicked. Then she focused enough to say, "The Princesses are both outside."
Marc straightened and took a deep breath. Finally.
****
Princess Celestia was so very tired. Discord had become very nearly unmanageable over the past few weeks. Only now that he had been 'detained' did she feel it was safe to visit the creature that Discord had summoned. Against her own better judgment, Luna had convinced her to observe the plane from which the human came, to learn what she could of his kind and how he may act. What she had seen had terrified her.
She entered the small holding-cottage that contained the being, trailed by a wary Luna. Twilight looked nervous, as well she should. The human was standing upright by the open door of his room.
Then he slowly stepped forward and...Bowed?
"It is a pleasure to finally meet your royal Highnesses. May I introduce myself?"
Celestia was a little taken aback by his show of good manners coupled with such forwardness. She remained quiet and gestured for him to continue.
"My name is Marc Warner. I would like to thank…To thank you for your hospitality and making sure that I was kept well during my...Incapacitation." Marc finished his address and stepped back to indicate such.
Celestia immediately tried to set aside her misgivings. She had felt so sure that Discord would have brought the most uncontrollable human he could, but his plan seemed to have failed. Of course, that didn’t mean she would be naïve, not again. She looked over to Twilight and Luna by the door.
"Would you give us a moment? There are things I must explain to our friend."
Marc was surprised by the princess's seeming trust in him. Once the other two ponies had left, Celestia turned her attention down to Marc. "Hello, Marc. I am Princess Celestia. I am glad that you are in good health. Has Twilight undertaken your care well?"
Marc felt he was required to be polite but honest here. "Her lessons about Equestria have been comprehensive and informative. I would also mention her friend Applejack in thanks for feeding us over this time. However, there was an incident last night that Twilight will no doubt talk to you about involving Rainbow Dash, but I feel compelled to-"
"Marc, I can see this is tedious for you, so please, speak plainly." Celestia said.
Marc sighed with relief. "Well, um, Rainbow Dash secretly brought me some food, a fish, because she noticed that I wasn't happy on and almost entirely apple diet. She snuck it in so Twilight wouldn't stop her. I thank her greatly and hope you don't punish her too badly."
Celestia thought for a second. "Indeed. I will look into this later, but for now I must explain to you why you appeared here."
Marc sat down. This was what he wanted to hear. "You were brought here by a spirit, an Elemental, a creature that can span the planes of existence, though it must always return to the plane from whence it came. This Elemental is called Discord, and represents all the facets of chaos. Now, did Twilight explain about the elements of Harmony?"
Marc nodded.
The Princess continued, "Twilight and her friends together represent Harmony. At one point in the distant past, there were also Elements of Chaos, the exact opposites of the Elements of Harmony. But, through a process not fully understood now, these elements were bound together to form the being called Discord that we have today. Now, due to the nature of the magic he used, he cannot send you back, but my sister and I are working out a way to return you to your home."
Marc nodded. Twilight had mentioned Discord a few times, but not his origin. "So, if I have to stay here for awhile, how will I ...be handled?"
The Princess smiled. "Let us go outside, shall we?"
Marc was ecstatic. Outside! He didn't care what it might look like, or feel like, or how he may be treated, just so long as he felt some sunshine on his long-deprived skin. He literally needed it.
They stepped out into the glaring light of a summer morning. When Marc's eyes adjusted he saw a very surprised group of ponies. Yes, a group, seven altogether, standing under a tree a few paces from the door. Marc's attention, though, was attracted more to the brilliantly coloured surroundings. He had never seen grass so green or skies so blue. It was all rather awe inspiring.
Of course, it didn't last all that long.
All of a sudden his entire range of senses was assaulted. His eyes by a mass of solid shades of pink, his ears by a rapid fire squeaking too fast for the translator spell to handle, his tongue by an impossibly sweet cupcake that somehow got shoved into his mouth.
Marc jumped back and spat out the confection, before seeing the overly pink pony being bumped out of the way by Applejack.
"Whoa, there Pinky Pie! You gonna scare 'im!" She looked at Marc, smiling. "Sorry 'bout that, Sugarcube, That's just Pinky Pie, she gets a little excited when she meets strangers."
Marc was about to thank her, but the white unicorn in the group stepped forward. "Good morning! I see you are wearing my creation...Marc, was it?" She gave the apparel an appraising eye.
"Ah, so you must be Rarity, I take it. Yes, thank you, you got these almost perfect." Marc replied with a glance at the pants and shirt he had been given. Rarity immediately looked smug. "You see girls! I did get it right!"
Marc was surprised at how easy-going these other ponies were, though they had all heard about him from Applejack, and had seen him at some point or another during his coma. Still, after being locked up like a bomb for weeks, this friendliness was refreshing. But then there was the exception, sitting behind the others with her head down.
Marc assumed this to be Fluttershy, the only other pony whose name he'd heard. She was also the one to whom he owed the most thanks. "Fluttershy?"
She looked up at him as the other ponies moved away."Oh...Hello..."
Marc said quietly, "Fluttershy, I would just like to thank you for helping to keep me alive during the time I was out. If not for you I would no doubt be dead."
Everypony was again surprised by Marc's vote of thanks, but none more than a now VERY embarrassed Fluttershy, who merely squeaked in reply and flew off. Marc hadn't expected that, but anyway, back to the matter at hand.
He turned to hear Princess Celestia speak. "That was very well spoken, Marc, and I'm sure that you will forgive Fluttershy her meekness. Now, my little ponies, I have something to say to you all. First, Marc cannot remain confined like this; it is cruel to keep him so. Therefore, he must be introduced to the town of Ponyville, tonight at the Royal Euphony Concert. I will make arrangements for his inclusion. Rainbow Dash, will you step forward?"
Rainbow did so nervously.
"Marc told me what you did last night. Although you had your heart in the right place, you should not have ignored Twilight's authority. A punishment must be handed to you."
Rainbow looked terrified, and Marc was about to come to her defense but before he could: "It is your task to introduce Marc to the town."
Rainbow nodded and slunk back to her friends. Twilight looked a little dumbfounded. Celestia quickly answered her expression; "Twilight, you should have made a note of what Marc would need to eat, so equally your punishment is NOT being able to introduce Marc to the town." Twilight head and ears dropped.
Marc was a little taken with this incredibly elegant way of dealing with what may have been a touchy situation. A Princess indeed.
"Marc, meeting the town will be difficult, but you will have a friend by your side, so do not worry over-much. Now, my sister also has words for you, in private. She will explain some other things. In the meantime, Twilight, I would like for you to arrange a bed for Marc at Rosewood Cottage. I will see you all this evening." And with that, Celestia took off.
Marc was still thinking about one thing the Princess had said. A friend by your side. Friend. He wasn't sure why, but that did not sit easy in his chest. He had never been good at handling friendship. It just made him think of Gale.
She at least had hands, for god's sake.
"You are thinking of your friends and home, Marc, are you not?" Said Princess Luna, after the other ponies had retreated over the hill in front of the cottage.
Marc was surprised by her vigilance. "Yes, your highness, I was. How did you know?"
She chuckled a little, "You may call me Luna. As the Princess of the night, I am also the Warden of Dreams. I have seen your torments in the night, and have tried to help you forget them on waking."
This really shocked Marc. She was in my head?! But he could be nothing but thankful to her. Dreams that would have troubled him had been soothed by her presence. "Thank you, Princess. I miss my friends dearly. I haven't many, but I consider them near as blood."
Luna was saddened by Marc's words. Unbeknownst to her sister, Luna had secretly used the powers Discord had mentioned to look in on how Marc had lived, and the repercussions of his disappearance:
The State Orphanage stated that Marc had run away. Gale thought it was her fault for the events of that evening and had cried herself to sleep over it every night since. San-Marie had gone into depression, believing that Marc had ended his life over the pain she had caused him. The search for him had long wound down. But he was sorely missed, even by some that never knew his name. He had had a presence in his world that no one recognized until he was gone.
"Marc, please know this; your friends cared for you deeply, and still do. And you have friends here now, too. You have endeared yourself to them so much that they have helped you beyond their duties. We will help you to return when it is possible."
Marc nodded, tears springing unbidden to his eyes. How does she know? But he didn't ask, knowing it would only cause him more pain. "Thank you Princess, for your comfort."
*****
Rainbow Dash had waited just beyond the hill for the Lunar Princess to finish explaining things to Marc. She was nervous as to how the town would react to her introducing Marc to them all. What would the other ponies think of her? I'm going to a laughing stock! But she did not regret giving Marc that meal: She was proud, yes, but Marc needed help, and that was more important. Just then, she saw Princess Luna flying away over the rise of the hill.
Rainbow flitted over to the cottage built against the trees, to see Marc sitting against the wall, his head in his hands.
Marc smiled through the last of his tears, beginning to laugh for no apparent reason. "Yeah, it's just a lot to take in. but I think I'm going to be fine, Dash" he stood up and looked into her concerned eyes.
"How about we start towards town...friend?" He asked.
They both grinned.
They walked towards Ponyville, chatting about what was to come.
Rainbow Dash decided that since she was meant to only reveal Marc to the ponies of Ponyville that evening during the Royal Euphony Concert, She would show Marc the town from a better vantage point. One VERY far from any ponies.
Marc was tired after the first half an hour of marching, but Rainbow Dash didn't seem to notice. The conversation had died when he had to focus more on breathing to keep up with the energetic pony.
Hours later, she looked over to him huffing along behind her on the slope they were climbing. "Uh, Marc? You okay? You look sick."
Marc shot her a glance. "Well, not being outside for over a month may have knocked me a bit. Not to mention being bed-ridden for most of it."
He scrambled up the rocks after her for a bit longer. After what felt like another hour, Marc saw her jump up to a ridge and stand there, waiting for him. He quickly climbed to where she was standing and stood next to her.
Silence
They were standing at the top of a long spur that jutted out of the ground overlooking Ponyville and the edge of the Everfree Forest. The town was quite distant. The sun was starting its descent on the horizon, it's rays angling across treetops. Marc looked around him. Behind him in the hazy distance rose a great mountain, with graceful spires and towers he recognized to be Canterlot perched defiantly on the sheer mountainside.
In front of him grew a great spread of trees: Whitetail Wood. On the border of the proud forest stood the cottages and other dwellings of Ponyville. On the far side he could make out a large Apple Orchard where he assumed the Apple Family lived and worked.
As the rays of Celestia's sun hit the thatched roofs of the town and various shades of leaves between where he was standing and the whole horizon, everything lit up in fantastic colours that put any rainbow on earth to shame. Marc's breath left his body at the sheer beauty that he saw there. The village merged with and complimented the surrounding forests and fields instead of defying them as a human settlement would. The setting touched him in a deep and profound way he never would have expected.
Rainbow Dash scuffed the ground awkwardly with a hoof. She hadn't planned for such a magnificent sunset. It is beautiful though... " Uh, I thought you might like to see everything from a vantage point so you could get around easier-"
Marc reached out a hand and rested it against Rainbow's shoulder, silencing her.
Together they watched the sun go down and the moon rise behind them, bathing the whole vista in its ghostly pearlescent light.
Eventually Marc looked down to Rainbow Dash standing awkwardly by his side. "Thank you for this Rainbow, it's just what I needed."
Rainbow jumped up, Needing to move again. "Don't go soft on me, I just wanted you get a good look at things. Now come on, you wasted so much time that I'm gonna had to fly you back to town!"
Marc didn't quite see that happening. Rainbow's wings looked undersized to him already. He looked up at her questioningly. "I don't think that's physically possible, Rainbow, I mean, I probably weigh roughly the same as you do-"
He had no chance to continue as Rainbow shot down, wrapped her hooves around his chest and lifted off with ease. "See? I told you! DON'T doubt my flying skills, I'm the best there is! And I'm nowhere near as fat as you."
Marc sighed, smiling at her quip, as they sped through the air. How do these ponies break so many rules of physics? Oh well. He merely shifted to a more comfortable position, holding onto Rainbow's hooves for some extra security, and settled in for the flight.
After a while he heard a sweet melodic sound coming from the town square. The concert had already begun. it wasn't a problem since he was only due to be revealed later anyway, but he still felt butterflies. This is gonna be a rough night.
Marc saw the other pegasus barreling through the sky, trying to get a good look at him.
"Hey Rainbow, w-who's that? What is it? Can I t-talk to it?"
Unfortunately, Derpy got way too close in her excitement and her wings entangled themselves with Rainbow's. Marc felt a sickening lurch as the two pegasi tumbled to the ground. Marc ended up falling free of Rainbow Dash's grip.
As he fell, Marc thought, rather calmly, Well, that's that.
But he didn't die. Instead he was hit by a huge uprush of air and confetti, and for some reason a table cloth, that slowed his fall enough to avoid breaking any bones. The ground still hit him with enough force to wind him for a few minutes. He shook his head and tried to find Rainbow Dash and Derpy while attempting to shed the large piece of fabric that had ensnared him. The two pegasi lay in a heap nearby, not moving.
Oh no.
Marc thought that the crash had deafened him, for he couldn't hear a sound. Once he'd rolled over, though, he saw that wasn't why it was quiet.
Standing around him, with looks of shock and terror etched into their usually happy faces, was the entire population of Ponyville.
"Oops."
Author's Note
Sorry for the shortness, guys, I've been working on my other far less acknowledged stories. Seems kinda dumb, come to think of it, since if people don't like the first few chapters, they'll never read the new stuff, will they?
Is this a hint? Yes, yes it is.
Anyway, attack the comments box! He is lonely!
A pin dropped in Cloudsdale would've been heard in the seemingly endless silence. Marc knew that if he moved an inch, mass panic wouldn't be far away. He watched the multicoloured herd as a few of the ponies began backing away, and whispers started to become screams of fear.
But then, pink fate intervened.
"Oh, hi Marc! Did you like my confetti cannon? It sure can come in useful for all sorts of things!" Pinkie Pie leaned against her fiendish device with a happy smirk. She threw a look around the silent ponies before she suddenly hopped into the air and tumbled towards the new arrivals. She ran up to the prone human and threw a hoof over his shoulder. "Hey, everypony! Come and meet my new friend, Marc! Don't be afraid! He just dropped in to visit!"
Pinkie stopped when she heard her own joke, then burst out laughing and fell over.
The ponies seemed torn between what their instincts told them and what Pinkie was saying. Luckily, Applejack stepped forward too. "Howdy Marc. You could ‘a made a better entrance, but now you're here, let’s get you cleaned up."
She trotted over and offered a shoulder to Marc so that he could pull himself upright. His tall stature set more ponies whispering, much to the annoyance of Applejack. "Hey now, don't be rude, He won't hurt ya none. Ya'll heard there was somepony special stayin' out in that cottage by the forest? Well, this here's 'im! C'mon now, be neighbourly!"
Marc pulled himself upright and got his balance after the fall. He looked over to where Rainbow Dash and Derpy were trying to untangle themselves. Relief flooded him just to see them moving gain.
"Hey, would someone help those two, they look a sight" He said, before thinking about it. Twilight’s spell allowed the ponies in earshot to hear his words.
Applejack worked with it, “That’s the spirit! Ah’ll go see about some medicine-y stuff for ‘um, Y’all jus’ get ‘um on their hooves, now.” At this, the ponies seemed to decide that Marc couldn't be much a threat. After all, Applejack had said he was fine and she was honest as they come. Still, the majority stepped away uneasily and went about their business. But some stayed.
A dark coloured Pegasus stallion trotted around and helped Rainbow to jump away from the awkwardly positioned Derpy, happy to be rid of the clumsy mare. "Thanks Thunderlane... Derpy! Why didn't you stay away like I told you!"
Rainbow Dash was incredibly mad. Derpy had just made her crash in front of her entire town, fail the mission the Princess had given her, and drop her friend, nearly to his death! Before anyone could stop her, she turned and flew off with a sheen of mortification in her eyes.
Thunderlane growled at the grey pegasus huddled on the ground before turning back to rejoin the crowd of milling ponies that continued to give Marc a wide berth.
Marc had a clear sight of the poor Derpy as she slowly regained her hooves with a little stagger. Rainbow had landed mostly on top of the grey mar, leaving her far more worse for wear, and it showed. Marc had never stood to see the weak stood upon by the strong; it went against his nature and experience. Rainbow Dash was a great character, but in this, she was wrong.
Marc walked over to the hunched grey figure huddled in the dust.
"Hi, I'm Marc…The alien. Are you okay there, Derpy?" A few ponies stopped and watched as he kneeled alongside the dejected mare.
Derpy looked up at Marc with surprise in her golden eyes. Then her eyes unfocused and she looked down, stuttering, "I-Im s-sorry crashed you into… I mean...Sorry."
She looked miserable as she began to slink away. "Hey, I thought you wanted to talk to me?" Marc pressed. He'd had experience with humans with much the same problems at the Orphanage, and knew where a sympathetic ear could be helpful. This Pegasus meant no harm, and deserved none, in his mind.
Derpy turned to look at him again, looking confused. "Wha'?
Marc sat on the breach-end of Pinkie's Party Cannon, now in the centre of the abandoned area around him. "Come and sit with me, then we can talk a little bit, since you're the only pony not scared of me. You aren't scared, are you?" Derpy shook her head and trotted up to sit on the other end of the cannon. Unfortunately, her weight on the end of the barrel caused the entire contraption to tip down, throwing Marc over the once again sprawled-out Pegasus. Marc sat up and looked aghast at Derpy. "Wow, you have one hell of the skill there."
"Buck it...” Derpy whispered as she sat up. "...s-sorry again..."
Marc smiled, "Don't worry about it, this ground is actually more comfortable anyway. So, Derpy-"
"Ditzy..." she said with some vehemence. "M-my name's Ditzy Doo, n-not Derpy Hooves...J-just 'cause I'm f-friends with T-Turner..."
Marc realized that Derpy must have been an insulting nickname that had just stuck. He nodded apologetically, "I'm sorry, Ditzy, I'll remember that from now on."
He smiled at her until she finally got the nerve to look up at him and smile back.
"Aww! That's too cute!" It calls for a cupcake! And Ditzy, I got you a muffin!" Pinkie Pie ruined the moment slightly, but at least she added some cheer to it. Ditzy fell to her muffin like she'd lived through a seven year famine, And Marc couldn't help but laugh at that.
Applejack noticed a distinct shift in the crowd's attention, towards the area more or less abandoned since Marc's startling entrance. Thank Celestia for Pinkie Sense, she thought. How Pinkie could have known where to aim against the falling rays of the sun was and forever would remain a mystery.
Now, she pushed her way through the press of ponies beginning to surround her to watch in amazement as Marc sat with Pinkie Pie and Derpy, enjoying a snack and laughing like old friends.
"Good job, there, Marc." she whispered to herself, grinning. She carried away the medical supplies she had gathered. The harm had already been resolved.
Marc's head shot up when he heard the speakers turn back on with a buzz of static, followed by a voice over the massive sound system. Marc looked over to the stage set up in front of the large domed town hall as a voice rang out over the crowd.
Marc got up and walked towards the stage. He noticed that the voice came from a white unicorn with a shockingly blue mane oddly prancing about in the sound booth. Shades on a pony. Now I've seen everything, Marc thought, knowing it wasn't the truth.
It took a while to move through the now curious crowd of ponies, but soon he was standing before the stage, looking up at a slightly annoyed grey pony holding, of all things, a cello. He guessed he was holding up her show. The other band members looked just as peeved. Suddenly a microphone hit him upside the head. He instinctively grabbed it and glared at the unicorn in the sound booth. She just grinned.
Marc held the microphone awkwardly, and said into it, "Hiya every...pony."
It was the right thing to say. One or two ponies cheered (Marc recognized Applejack and Ditzy in there), and then a smattering of the crowd followed suit.
Marc spoke again. "Now, I'm pleased to meet you all, and I hope you'll forgive my accidental landing. I didn't mean to scare anypony."
A little more sporadic cheering, but mostly an awkward silence.
Marc cleared his throat and said. "Well, I think I'll bid you all a good night. Enjoy the show!" Marc walked over to the sound booth and handed up the microphone to the pony there.
She looked at him curiously. "Hey, dude, lookin' rough...Tell ya what, come to my place tomorrow, yeah? Rainbow said you were staying at Rosewood Cottage, if you look out the kitchen window, you can see my place; it’s the one with the lightning rod by the big tree."
Marc was very surprised to get and invitation like this. "Thank you, may I ask your name...?"
"Uh, sorry dude, chat tomorrow, gotta get to work, SEE YA!" She shouted as a massive wave of sound blasted from the speakers around her.
The concert started up again. As he quickly scuttled to a slightly less noisy location, Marc wondered how Rainbow had gotten hold of that pony when she had already left. Soon, he was gathered by Rarity as he walked through the crowd, still getting nervous looks. She ushered him out of the square to where it was a little quieter.
Then she turned to him and said rapid fire, "Well, darling, that plan went completely awry! Now, don't worry, the Princess comes out at the end of the show, that was when Rainbow Dash was meant to lead you onto stage, so now she'll cover for you. Anyway I will lead you to the cottage up the road here-"
"R-Rarity?"
"Rarity looked annoyed at Ditzy's interruption, "Please dear, I'm talking-"
"Can I t-take Marc to R-Rosewood? I mean, I-I live t-there an' all."
Marc looked at Rarity, "I think Ditzy can handle it, right? Don’t worry, things went far better than I ever expected. I thought I would be chased away, actually."
Rarity tossed her mane, "Oh please, ponies are far too polite for that sort of thing."
She thought for a second, "Well. If Der...Ditzy is going home too, then I don't see any harm in her taking you there. Just don't get lost again, Ditzy. Sleep well!"
And with that, she headed back to the concert. Marc looked over the roofs of the cottages and saw a tell-tale spray of confetti. Pinkie pie.
"S-should we go?" Marc followed Ditzy Doo up the road in silence or a while before she spoke, much more confident than before, "Um, thanks for not shouting at me or anything, and I-I'm sorry I crashed into you and Dash. I'm just a little clumsy sometimes..."
"It's okay Ditzy, we all make mistakes. But please try not to hit into me again, it really hurt."
Ditzy raised one wing and scowled at all the crushed feathers. "Yeah. I know."
Marc laughed along with her at that, and patted her on the shoulder."C'mon Ditzy, let’s see what Rosewood is like."
Marc realized something then. Rosewood cottage.
The town Home, perhaps?
Images ran through his head of years being shuffled about through halls and empty enclaves, being asked prying questions and being given useless remedies for a problem that could only be healed with time. He couldn't shake fear from his mind; it had been drummed into him by a cold system with little time for sympathy and friendship.
But these ponies wouldn’t do that to him, would they? Sure, the whole locking him up for education thing had been a bit annoying, but it was better than humanity would have managed something like this. And the Princesses…To promise him freedom and then put him in a home seemed so cruel…
Logic fought to regain control. Of course it they should have done that: it made sense. But repressed memories encouraged his irrational reaction. He masked it behind a stony face as he tried to retain his balanced countenance and question his companion; “Ditzy, do your parents own this Rosewood Cottage? Is it…is it like a guest house or something?”
Ditzy bounced up with excitement, ready to gush with pride about her precious home. “Oh, no! My parents don’t live in Ponyville. I look after Rosewood, all on my own! It’s really fun! All the ponies in P-Ponyville who need a place to s-sleep can come there anytime-!”
Marc actually growled. So Rosewood was sanctuary house? So it was a home! Just like that place they made me stay at after my-
He cut himself off, along with a dumbfounded Ditzy, by storming forward a few steps. The quiet that followed was barely pierced by Ditzy’s inquiries; Marc was lost in painful memories he had hoped to leave buried. He had consoled himself about the loss of his friends with the knowledge that he had escaped the system. Now he was convinced that he was simply being thrown under the arms of another.
When they reached Rosewood, the sun was fully down, hiding the building and the hill it perched on from Marc’s downturned eyes. He didn't even hear Rainbow Dash as she greeted him from the roof where she'd been waiting: He stormed through the door and collapsed on the bed a confused Ditzy offered him.
He didn't hear or feel anything around him, he could only think as he cried silently to sleep:
Even here, I'm an Orphan.
Not again.
Author's Note
Okay, if anyone thinks this chapter feels abrupt, you should have read the original version! I added a lot at the end, but I'm still not sure about it. Might work on it still...
A tonne of stuff is about to happen to these poor misguided souls! Oh, I almost feel bad for putting them through this...Almost.
So do you have any helpful comments? Throw them below! The comments box awaits!
Marc woke up with a terrible scratch in his throat and gritty eyes. As hundreds of invasive memories and thoughts washed through his consciousness, he wished desperately that he never had. As he lay there, he tried to think logically about this situation. He tried to rationalize his latest location as simply an attempt to introduce him to the community of Ponyville in as smooth a way as possible. But he couldn't. All he could think was that even these ponies had relegated him to a home for the parentless and social outcasts.
He rolled out of the narrow bed and crawled over to the window. He looked out over the town in an attempt to clear his head; The sun was rising beside the mountain in the far distance. It was such a beautiful view, bespeaking the freedom a promise that seemed to pervade nearly everything beyond. His eyes started tearing up again.
"Uh, Marc? Are you okay?" Rainbow Dash stood behind him in the doorway at the other end of the long, empty dormitory-style room Marc had slept in. She'd been waiting for him to wake up since early dawn, hoping that she had misread his features in the dark of the night before: surely he hadn’t been so upset?
Marc turned and stared blankly at her.
Rainbow, unsure, fumbled with her words, "Marc, I'm sorry I dropped you yesterday, things just got a little out of hoof, with that Derpy flying around-"
"Her name's Ditzy, you know." Marc whispered.
Rainbow barely heard him. Still, he sounded hissing mad. "Oh, I'm sorry. No one calls her that anymore, but I'm glad you made another friend-"
"Friend?!" Marc cried out, "Friend?! I had friends! Not many, but enough to keep me happy. And you know what? My friends back home tried their best to get me out of the damn Orphanage, not trying to put me in one!"
Marc spun around around and sat on the edge of the bed, struggling to suppress his wildly spiraling emotions. This shouldn't be hitting me this hard.And I shouldn’t be taking it out on Rainbow Dash…
Rainbow Dash was very confused. Marc didn't like Rosewood? But everypony likes Rosewood! What the hay is going on?!
"Marc, hey, I'll go talk to Twilight, I'm sure she can help with..." She stopped, thinking about what she knew was in store for her if she even so much as hinted at her mistake to the no doubt scandalized Twilight, not to mention the scorn of other Ponyvillians and probably the Princesses to boot. She shook her head, "Whatever, you know what? I've tried to help, and if this is how its gonna go, then I'm not gonna even bother." She turned and abruptly flew away.
Marc didn't look at the entrance, equal parts remorseful and angry at the prismatic Pegasus. Instead he looked the other way to the archway leading into the next part of the long building that made up Rosewood Cottage. Ditzy stood there, tears in her eyes., "I-I t-thought you l-liked R-Rose...wood."
Marc froze, "Ditzy...wait, I-"
Ditzy trembled as she galloped out the door, crying.
Marc swore into his fist. This had to be the worst day he'd had since arriving in this freaky world. He forced himself up and stormed out the door into the painful sunlight.
He heard sobbing in a tree in the garden, but ignored it and stumbled down the path towards the village, with no idea where he was actually going and too upset to care. They shoved me in a home and think they have a right to be upset… but this was possibly the weakest argument he had ever come up with. Neither Rainbow Dash nor Ditzy Doo had actually decided where he should go, and neither deserved blame. But he couldn’t bring himself around, and it ate at his insides just thinking about turning back to the building sitting sedately on its little hill. He soon found himself in the outskirts of Ponyville, whose citizens shot him worried looks when they noticed his upset face, but he was only aware of them when he nearly bumped into them.
A mint-green unicorn accidentally walked into him, spilling her smoothie on impact. Those pants needed a wash anyway, he thought blandly as he stopped, looking at the mess of blended oats down his trouser leg.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't see you! Are you okay?" Marc looked at her. She looked genuinely concerned.
It came as a surprise when she smiled in an understanding manner and cooed, “Did something happen at the show last night? If you need to talk about it, I’m happy to listen.”
Marc tried to disentangle this kind pony’s tone from that used by his psychiatrists as he responded. “No, I think I just need to get my head straight…” Then he remembered that he actually had somewhere he could be this morning. Might as well visit that odd pony from last night. "Hey, you know where that white and blue unicorn from the sound booth last night lives? I suppose I can take her up on her offer for a visit this morning after all."
The green unicorn literally bounced about three feet off the road. "Oh, yeah, Vinyl! She's my neighbor! Then again almost everypony is your neighbor in a town this small. Come on, I'll show you, I was going home anyway. My name is Lyra by the way." She trotted off down the street without waiting for an answer.
Marc couldn't help but be amused at the bubbly pony as he followed her down the road. Just being exposed to ponies like that would raise his mood no end. It struck him that ponies could actually be excitable with shoving cupcakes down his throat and shooting him with mobile cannons.
Eventually he saw the huge lightning rod poking out of the roof of the relatively large cottage ahead of him. Lyra was already bouncing over to her own cottage across the street with little preamble, "See ya later Mr. Marc!"
Marc barely got a chance to wave to Lyra before she disappeared into her home. Shaking his head with a small smile, he knocked on Vinyl's door and waited. What is that thumping noise anyway?
When the door opened, he was hit in the face by a sheer wall of bass and rhythm that took his breath away. But other than her slightly quivering mane, the unicorn in the doorway seemed unaffected by the thumping sound, her goggles and headphones...No, earmuffs...protecting her from what should have caused her lasting bodily damage.
She punched something on the inner wall by the door, stopping the music before it gave Marc internal bleeding. "Oh, hi! C'mon in! I was just busy working!" She stopped when she saw the state of him; A grimace on his features and most of a smoothie smeared down his trowers leg. "Uh, got little something on ya there...Never mind, come, grab a seat."
Marc swayed slightly as he walked into a spacious living room. Well, it would have been spacious were it not for the literally dozens of speakers and mixing boards littering the room in a random manner, vying for space with a random spattering of plush beanbags and other unrecognizable paraphernalia.
Marc wasn't actually all that surprised, but decided to be polite anyway and go through a proper introduction. "Hello, I’m, Marc, as you heard. I never really caught your name last night, you know."
Vinyl laughed at that. "Oh, that's what you were trying to say when you left! Well, I'm Vinyl Scratch, and...um, Octavia is in her room, there's a spell on it so she can't hear anything in the rest of the house when her door's closed. She’s my…well, you should probably ask her if she comes out today…” Marc sense for dysfunctional relationships shot through the roof at that. With dry chuckle at her own expense, Vinyl changed the subject, “Anyway, How ya doing? How'd ya like Rosewood Cottage? Pretty neat place, huh?"
And in one fell sentence, Marc’s slowly warming mood dropped to arctic levels "What? Isn't Rosewood the town Orphanage? Why would I enjoy being put in a glorified homeless shelter?"
Vinyl was shocked at this, " Whoa, dude, I have no idea what you're talking about, but Rosewood is, like, the most awesome hangout if you're in a jam. I mean, anypony with trouble is welcome there anytime! I have to stay there sometimes when Octy gets mad at me, and that's often, I can tell you. Didn't you and Ditzy get on last night?"
Marc didn't understand how she could seem positive about the place. "Wait, isn't Rosewood a home for ...well, the town's parentless or disabled ponies?"
Vinyl took off her goggles so that Marc could fully appreciate her annoyed expression, "No, no...I mean, sometimes ponies like that do stay there, only because anypony is welcome! Mostly it's just ponies visiting town or looking to get away from it all. Like, Ditzy stays there cause her sister can’t exactly live in Cloudsdale with the rest of the Doo family…you know, ‘cause she’s a unicorn? Ditzy didn’t want to live alone, so her dad made a deal with the mayor that his daughters could look after the place so long as the family helped fund it. And Scootaloo has that wing thing, so she stays there whenever her mom gets called out to the Royal Guard, at least til the little tyke is fit enough to go to flight school in Cloudsdale...Did you even bother talking to Ditzy about what Rosewood was before going there? Please tell me you didn't do anything stupid before you came here?"
Marc went catatonic as he realized just how stupid he had managed to be. "Oh god...I may have said some things I need to seriously apologize for."
Vinyl sighed and sat down on a beanbag. "Need to talk about it first?"
Marc looked down, thinking hard. “In my world...I was in a big orphanage dedicated to people with mental disabilities. I hated it there, I was always being tested and moved around. I may have overreacted when I thought I was being put into another one."
Vinyl looked at him blankly. "Um, I have no idea what you're talking about, why were you in there in the first place?"
Vinyl couldn't absorb that kind of story; it was far beyond what ever happened in Equestria "Whoa...Sorry I...well, yeah, so...” She struggled to find the right words, and eventually gave up all together, “Why don't you head over to Sugarcube Corner and get some breakfast? Maybe you could stop off at the Library and talk to Twilight, its right up the street.” Suddenly, inspiration hit, “Oh, and come back this evening and I'll let ya listen to my latest creation. You'll be the first to hear it finished aside from Octavia and me!"
Marc nodded, "Yeah, I'd like that. Thanks for the help, I really needed that. Sorry for any trouble."
Marc wandered over to the large candy-house that undoubtedly was Sugarcube Corner. A weaker soul could get diabetes just by looking at it. The only other thing nearby aside from cottages was a huge old tree; Certainly nothing like a Library, so he decided on a snack. The ponies inside all looked at him as he as he walked in. A few left.
But most gave him a cheery hello. Pinkie Pie was bouncing around by the counter, pretty much tossing cupcakes at everypony in range.
With a gentle wave, he greeted the hyper active pony. "Hiya, Pinkie. Thanks for last...mmph!"
Marc found another cupcake shoved in his mouth. "Oh, hey Marc! You look sad, so have a cupcake!" Pinkie hopped around way faster than should have been possible. Newton would have hated this place, Marc thought as he swallowed the sweet confection, then coughed.
"Pinkie, not a good idea, you are actually going to hurt me doing that."
"Oh, sorry. Not feeling well? You look sad still, maybe I can help, here's a balloon!"
Marc tried to slap the buzzing piece of rubber out of his face as it whizzed into him. "No, no, Pinkie, i just want a bagel or something."
Pinkie's eyes widened as she gasped, "Ohhhh! Well, come with me! There's a whole room full of Scrump-a-licious treats right back here!" She dashed off, bouncing against the wall over the counter and flying through the door behind it.
Marc trailed her, trying to maintain his patience. When he crossed into the back room, he saw Pinkie Pie sitting amongst truly massive piles snacks and confections, looking at him with a curious angle to her head. "Are you okay? A cupcake didn't help, neither did a balloon...Do I need to sing you a song, or throw you a party? No...? Well, I'm running out of ideas..."
Pinkie jumped up and headbutted him away from the piles of confections into a chair against the counter. "Now you just sit there, Marc, and tell me why you made Rainbow Dash so sad! Even my prank on Spike couldn't make her feel better! And now you're sad too, so if I can't throw you a party, I will listen til you smile, like Twilight always says!" She then sat square in front of him and resumed the curious angle of her neck.
"Um..." Marc had no idea what was going on, but he guessed this interrogation-style questioning was Pinkie's way of showing concern for a friend.
Marc decided that, although Pinkie Pie was mostly insane, she was at least trying. With a little difficulty, he told her a washed down version of the story he had told Vinyl that morning.
"I just got mixed up between what a place like Rosewood means in my world, and what it means here. You...well, the place I stayed in before was not very friendly. In fact, I hated it there. I just...Whatever, yeah, so I got the wrong impression, and now I need to make it up to Dash and Ditzy. Can you help? It'll make me smile."
Pinkie shot up and threw a violent salute, "Okey dokey! I'll go get Rainbow Dash! You go to Rosewood, Ditzy is there, so you talk to her first! See you later!" She disappeared in a puff of confetti.
Marc stood up straight and gathered his wits. Yup, Pinkie was right (If utterly mad); So was Vinyl. He had overreacted and hurt their feelings, and he had to make it up to them, not the other way round
Time to fix this.
Marc stared up the quaint garden path that led from the South Road of Ponyville up the sunny hill to the building that offered peace to all comers. Rosewood cottage was gorgeous in the early afternoon sun, bathed in light and happiness that Marc had so willingly ignored in his own melancholy. Now with the veil of the past cleared, he saw the building for the first time. Following the path with his eyes, he traced the bright trails of flowers all the way the peaked entrance that stood over the unassuming wooden door. Either side of the entrance swept the two housing wings, each with a series of arched halls where the patrons of Rosewood Cottage could find dreams and hope and rest. Now that Marc could see clearly, he recognized the simplistic beauty of, and concept that, underscored this place’s existence; a wholehearted generosity that on earth would simply have been crushed for being so selfless.
Marc, though, had a far more important thing to be considering than the prejudices of his home, which were responsible for his current situation. He had a pony to find . A certain Pegasus, in fact.
Marc stared awkwardly at the building for a few moments more, fumbling with the bunch of assorted roses that reminded him constantly of the pain he had caused with guilty thorns. He wished he had taken the time to learn the meanings of the different colours, but that hadn’t seemed so important when he had no one to hurt. With a sudden shake of his head, he stepped up to the doorstep. The door was wide open, as would be usual, come to think of it. He gulped and called into the quiet building, "Ditzy? Are you here?"
He heard a scuffle in both wings as two sets of hooves trotted towards the door. An orange Pegasus with a purple mane and a grayish-purple unicorn with a straw coloured mane, both fillies, popped from both sides at once, a cheerful greeting on their lips, just to stop dead at the side of the Human in the doorway. "Oh! Hello mister...” the young Pegasus stammered, “We were playing hide and seek, but...”
"She was in the kitchen a minute ago, maybe you should look there!" The even younger unicorn trilled out.
Marc nodded his thanks dazedly and walked randomly down the west wing. "Uh, mister? The kitchen is that way...?" said the pegasus.
Marc turned and smiled at her. He realized how rude he had just been, and replied, "Oh, thank you. What are your names?'
"Thank you for your help. I do need to speak to Ditzy now." Marc waved good bye to the fillies, who smiled unsurely, before he headed to the end of the east wing.
It seemed like such a long walk down the vault-like building. Marc saw the doorway at the end, a bright light shining from within, and the faint sizzle of cooking food beginning to reach his ears. Marc stepped past his nervousness up to it, peeking in. Ditzy stood facing away from him, standing sentinel over two pans in a shaft of sunlight. The scent of frying fish and vegetables reached out to him, and for a second Marc wondered whether such an undeniably clumsy pony should be cooking over an open flame, but he pushed all of it to the back of his mind before nervously knocking on the doorpost.
*****
Ditzy's eyes were still a little red from crying earlier. She snuffled a little as she made supper. She may have been a clumsy mare usually, but when it came to caring for her little sister and anypony else who ever stayed at Rosewood, nopony could question her determination to succeed. After all, it was what she loved doing, and relished in sharing with everypony she met. As she was vengefully prodding the fish and vegetables around in their respective pots, she couldn't help thinking about the one creature unwilling to share in her proudly proffered gift.
Why hadn't Marc liked Rosewood? He'd been upset the night before for some reason, and Ditzy had been worried about him. She still felt bad about crashing into him and Rainbow Dash, but Rainbow had said that he was probably just tired, and that she’d come back in the morning and make everything right again. But when he had woken up, he had looked stricken and angry. He had shouted at Rainbow Dash about not wanting to be friends and wanting to leave Ditzy's precious home, before storming out without a word.
How could he?
That was why she was all the more surprised to see him standing at the kitchen door.
"Hey, Ditzy..." He whispered.
She didn't reply. She couldn't. Words that normally formed slowly on her tongue anyway now seemed to choke her as tears began to build behind her eyes, which totally lost focus. She couldn't take any more mean things he had to say.
Marc looked at her, a tone of heartbreak slipping into his voice as he saw how much pain he'd caused, "Ditzy, I'm sorry for this morning...And I owe you an explanation..." He trailed off as he pulled forth a bouquet of magnificent roses “…I know these aren’t-“
Ditzy stared at the flowers in confusion. “Why did you b-bring snacks…?”
Marc seemed nonplussed by that, but reanimated to discard the flowers on a counter with a humourless chuckle. “Heh, yeah, what was I thinking…? Forget about those, but Ditzy, I really need to tell you something, and I just hope you’ll listen…”
Marc went on to explain to Ditzy all he had told Vinyl and Pinkie, his history, and his previous situation, his parents and their loss, along with his own private realizations about his mistakes that day. Regret leaked out of every word he spoke, as he looked at some point just past Ditzy's shoulder, unable to look her in the eye for shame of his misunderstanding.
"Ditzy," He said in closing, the emotion of the day and his past beginning to wear on him, "I understand if you want me to leave now, but I had to apologize for being so cruel to you. You were nothing but gracious, and you didn't do anything to deserve it..." Seeing no reaction, Marc began to stand away from the door. "Well, I'll get going-"
He didn't get any further, as Ditzy dashed away from her oven and hit him square in the chest hard enough to knock him flat on the floor.
She punched him with a hoof as she stood over him, and said, "T-there...n-now we can s-say we are...even." She nuzzled his neck briefly before she stood up. “And…I’m s-sorry…about your p-parents. I’m… I’m j-just going outside for a m-minute…” And she flew out the door for the second time that day, once again choked up with emotion.
Marc was more than a little confused at this show of aggression/affection, and certainly surprised at Ditzy’s explosive reaction, and her ease in giving him not only forgiveness, but…acceptance? He had expected righteous anger, or at least a cold agreement, not any form of sympathy. He couldn’t process that which he was unfamiliar, and suddenly Marc, in lieu of philosophizing, found himself realizing that the kitchen was now unattended, since he had once more upset the caretaker.
It didn't take long to cook the fish (for Scootaloo and Ditzy he assumed) and the vegetables. There wasn't enough for him, but he wasn't hungry after the very emotional day, and he wouldn't have had time anyway; His stomach was still in a knot as he remembered that he now had to do it all again with Rainbow Dash. The thought of it nearly made him ill.
As if summoned, Marc heard Pinkie Pie calling him from the main door. Marc dished up the three servings and left them on the counter. He doused the fire of the stove and steeled himself for a very difficult apology to come.
He jittered all the way to the door, in time to see the two young fillies skipping away under the lowering light. Marc could not give them more than a cursory glance, as his attention was taken up by Rainbow hovering unhappily above a bouncy Pinkie Pie. Marc was a little taken aback by how Pinkie had retrieved the recalcitrant Pegasus: a piece of rope lead incongruously from Rainbow's waist to Pinkie's foreleg.
“Pinkie said I had to come here for some reason. This better be really good." Mumbled Rainbow Dash, obviously peeved with her awkward position, halfway between freedom and emotion, hanging in the sky.
Marc ignored the impossibilities of Pinkie's methods (Rainbow should have easily been able to just carry Pinkie off) and got right down to what he had to say. He tried to begin in the same way he had before, noticing a gentle snapping of twigs from across the garden. Ditzy sat in her tree watched as Marc tried to explain to the irate mare why he had made such an idiot of himself that morning. Knowing that Ditzy was watching gave Marc some small boost in confidence. He explained the time he'd spent in the system of the state, without freedom, or friendship, and how difficult it had been to earn the right to freely see those left that cared for him, and the struggle it had been for him to keep those friends close despite the apathy of the organization that had controlled his life.
But when he tried to explain why he was in that system in the first place...his family's murder before his eyes... He stopped, and trailed off. He couldn't say it again, not in these circumstances, not with Rainbow just hovering there, expressionless and frozen.
Mac cleared his throat, and said in ending; " I’m sorry…I hope that you can see through to forgive me my actions, it's all I can ask."
Rainbow simply continued hovering in confusion. Yesterday, Marc had been so calm and sweet, allaying the fears of half the town in less than an hour while she had watched secretly in amazement and shame from a cloud above the square. She had waited all night at Rosewood, unable to sleep, just to apologize for her bungle of an introduction, but he had flipped, turning her away as she tried to open up to him. She had apologized more to this human than to most ponies, and he had turned her away. Now here he was, doing exactly what she had tried to that very morning.
Asking forgiveness.
Everypony watched Rainbow hover undecidedly in the air. Marc was beginning suspect an unhappy ending to this evening. He looked down, accepting her rejection. He had hurt her. She had the right.
Suddenly Rainbow shot up into the sky, so sharply that it snapped the rope holding her to Pinkie, earning a squeak from the pink mare as she was flipped over.
Then she dropped to the ground, her nose inches from Marc's as she rested her hooves on his shoulders to look him straight in the eye. "Never, EVER, say anything like that again, and next time, maybe I won’t drop you."
Pinkie cheered as Rainbow pulled Marc into a hug. Ditzy jumped around on her branch, brightening at the heartwarming scene.
Marc sighed with relief. Seconds later, he was grinning. But a certain force of nature crashed through the moment.
Marc ignored how she even knew that fact when he himself had forgotten it as he allowed himself to be pushed, but not before calling over his shoulder. "Ditzy? Come with! I turned off the stove and set out the food; I want you with us!”
She flew over without hesitation, bumping into him accidentally on landing. She ducked her head on reflex, but Marc smiled and patted her on the back, banishing her embarrassment. They walked towards the house in the distance, with Pinkie’s bouncing and Rainbow Dash’s aerial feats to insulate them all against the past day.
*****
When Pinkie knocked on Vinyl's door…with her face… the stone-grey mare from the concert the night before, the cellist Octavia, greeted them gracefully and ushered them through the much tidied living area up to the sounding room.
In a blur, they were all seated on puffy beanbags in front of Vinyl's personal sound booth. "Ya all set?" She asked by way of greeting.
Three ponies and a human all nodded in agreement.
Octavia walked up to her instrument’s heavy case, saying. "Marc, Pinkie came and told us about your predicament today and Vinyl and I," She winked to the smiling unicorn in her booth, "decided that considering the circumstances, this deserved a special piece, something to hopefully ease you all after what must have been a draining day, so here you are..."
As the notes of Octavia's expert movements mixed with Vinyls' perfectly complementary playback, the room was filled with hauntingly beautiful music that filled company's hearts with a spirit of joy and contentment. Rainbow Dash sat up straight, her head gently moving in time with the song, a smile spreading across her face.
Marc looked over to her for a second, happy, before his attention was drawn to Ditzy, who snuggled up to his side and nuzzled her way into his embrace, resting her head on his chest, her expression radiating her relief and joy.
Marc held her as he listened to the two musicians as they swept away all his misgivings and his heart began to soar. He smiled with a peace he rarely knew before, a joy the music promised would come again.
Pinkie could be heard to squee into her hoof in the background as the friends let themselves be floated away on the mesmerizing music.
Author's Note
Aww, ain't that cute?
Some part of me laments this chapter...But the rest of me rejoices! Choose your side and show your team in the comments box! Grrr for more pain or Huzzah for friendship!
That night was the one memory of all his experiences in Equestria that would never dim in his mind. Something about the emotional overload combined with the special effort of a few ponies he had only known for a few days had combined to forge every note of Vinyl and Octavia's song into his mind.
Which was why Marc woke up the next morning humming it. He was laying on a bed in the far east wing of Rosewood Cottage, one of at least a dozen in the same arched segment. Marc swung his head around, absorbing the bright an airy structure around him, utterly at ease. He dropped back to his pillow and thought back to the previous joyous evening.
Then they had slowly strolled to just under Rainbow's cloud-house. Palace more like, but it was easy to renovate and expand, being cloud, she had explained with a hint of pride. Marc said goodbye and somehow found himself attempting what had ended up being called a 'wing five' with the mare, whacking a hand into her feathered wings with a rather anticlimactic ‘thumph’, which resulted in some hilarity.
Then Marc and Ditzy walked Vinyl and Octavia back to their cottage. Vinyl had looked abashed after all the praise she'd received for her work, but Octavia had taken enough for both of them and some to spare. Marc had, to their surprise, hugged them both before thanking them again and beginning the leg back to Rosewood.
Not much had been said the entire night, and nothing at all once they reached the cottage. Ditzy stumbled over to Marc for a brief and surprising nuzzle, and then moved towards a light switch, which had been installed in a very awkward place in the wall. After a few attempts of pawing at the wall in an attempt to start the gas burners, she gave up in her tiredness and let Marc guide her down the east hall to a bed. Marc had fallen on the bed next to her, and had immediately passed out.
Marc only then noticed the smoke pouring from the door a few metres from where he lay. He leapt up, worried, and scuttled over to the door. He came across a group of five ponies waiting there for some reason. As he tried to make sense of why these ponies he'd never seen before (aside from the two fillies from yesterday) were there, and more importantly, why they didn’t seem bothered by him in t he slightest, the group was bombarded with a stream of flying muffins from the kitchen. Marc saw one bedraggled unicorn take a direct hit in the face and fall over, thought not with beginning to eat the obviously delicious treat.
When Marc got to look into the room, he wouldn't have been surprised to see Pinkie Pie standing there, but instead (thankfully) was a confused looking Ditzy spinning around and around, looking for something. "Ditzy, stop, you're gonna hurt yourself!" Marc jumped in and stopped her inches before she whacked her head on the counter, not for the first time by the looks of it. "Oh...Hey Marc...I was just making muffins, but...I can’t find your one, I know it's here somewhere..."
Marc sighed and picked the muffin up off of Ditzy's back. "Here it is… Hey, you've lost your stutter!" He exclaimed.
"Oh, I-I h-have?" Ditzy said, looking self-conscious.
Marc smiled at her. "Nope, there it is again."
She went a shade pinker than usual and giggled into her hoof. "Um...yeah, I st-stutter when I'm n-nervous."
"You know, Ditzy, when I woke up and saw nearly the entire hall filled with smoke and new ponies, I couldn't help feeling a little concerned."
Ditzy sniffed at that. "Yeah, everypony worries about me.’Oh, that Derpy, shes going to blow the whole place up one day!' Well, I won’t, because I love this place, and everypony who stays here. These are some wayponies here for the night by the way. I...did burn the muffins, though."
She looked up at Marc, who inspected his absolutely pristine meal. "Well, there's nothing wrong with mine, see?"
Ditzy, bit a hoof and said sidelong. "I meant the first batch...yeah, I put those in the fireplace over there."
Ditzy suddenly looked a little jumpy and began stuttering profusely, but explained all the same, “U-uh, yes…When I-I w-woke up t-they were all st-staring at you, so…I t-told them about you. T-told them you weren’t d-dangerous” Her darting eyes betrayed her, though, and Marc wondered what exactly she had actually done. He looked himself over wondering what could possibly make the mare so embarrassed. After a few minutes, and not the least amount of pleading, Marc gave up , and simply enjoyed the breakfast he had been given.
Afterwards, the three travelers left for the town with a cheery thanks and some coins for Ditzy's trouble (And medical bills). The three still unnamed ponies, two earth ponies and the unicorn, trotted out the door. The unicorn paused beside Marc, giving him an appraising glance before saying, “Ditzy told us about you. Well done on fitting in around here, Alien. Still, isn’t it a bit early to be sharing a bed with her-?” The unicorn was suddenly bodily knocked through the doorway and out onto the path.
"Yay! Bits!" Ditzy shouted from her new position, the place previously occupied by the traveler. "Now we can go buy some more muffins!"
Marc tried to process this new information, but wasn’t given the chance. He was literally dragged out by the hem of his by now ragged shirt by the anxious Pegasus. Marc walked along in the shade of the flittering Ditzy as she tumbled along towards the town. The annoying thing about a friend having wings, Marc found out, was that they could simply fly away if you tried to talk about something they didn't like.
They came upon Fluttershy by the stream that ran alongside the path, trying to coax out a nervous bank-vole with soft cooing noises, but meeting with only limited success, which was further hampered when Ditzy called out, "Hi Flutteshy!"
The pale Pegasus let out a subdued cry and shot up a tree, where she clung, trembling, before remembering she had wings. She released her hold and landed just in front of Marc. "Oh...hi."
Thus ensued a rather awkward silence, all parties waiting for the next to speak. Eventually, Marc said to the embarrassed Fluttershy. "You know you can talk to me whenever you want, I'm always in town or at Rosewood, and I'd love to talk to you, you must have the most amazing stories about your animals.” Marc glanced back towards the den. Fluttershy whispered nothings to herself and looked as well, in time to see the vole give Marc a terrified glance before diving back down her hole. Realizing that nothing could be done here, Ditzy pulled on Marc’s shoulder and led him towards town. Marc waved goodbye, chuckling at the quiet mare.
Marc and Ditzy were chatting about the various types of treats available in their respective worlds as they walked past the large tree in the town. Suddenly, a door at its base burst open and Twilight leapt out at them adopting a ready stance in front of Marc, with a growling scowl on her face. “Ditzy, step back! Marc, get inside. You have some explaining to do.”
Marc retreated under the glare he found himself receiving. He glanced at Ditzy, who seemed as confused as he felt. When she didn’t fall back, Twilight huffed and, lowering her horn, sent a sizzling bolt of magic between the pair. With her warning shot fired, Twilight leveled her horn at Marc and with the slightest tremor in her voice, spat out, “Get inside, NOW.” Marc had no choice.
The tree house/library was amazing itself, lined with countless tomes of knowledge. In the centre of the room stood four easily recognizable ponies, all wearing golden necklaces set with jewels. Marc felt a tremor of fear run through him, remembering Twilight’s description of the Elements, the most powerful weapons in the Equestrian arsenal. Seeing it leveled in his direction was distressing. He turned back to the door, his nerve giving, but the doorway was blocked by Twilight, levitating her tiara into place as she shut the door. As it shut, Marc saw Ditzy’s worried face in the jam before it snapped shut.
Twilight never once lifted her gaze, glaring at Marc as if he were a poisonous snake. “Once Spike finds Fluttershy, then you won’t be able to escape. We know what you are, Marc, Princess Celestia sent me a letter informing me of your species’ terrible acts! We won’t stand to see you hurting our town.”
Marc backed away from the glowering unicorn, only to find himself surrounded on all sides by the rest of the group. He looked from face to face, noticing looks of anger, fear and confusion, but undoubtedly in all of them, determination. Marc shook his head in a daze, unsure of how this could have happened. “I...don’t understand…”
Twilight levitated a thick pile of pages, the seal freshly broken into Marc’s shaking hands. Even despite his barely elementary understanding of written Equestrian from Twilight’s lessons in the early days, Marc was shocked by the information he found within.
He might as well be doomed.
*****
Princess Celestia reclined happily in her private chambers, feeling content with the day. All she had planned gone off with a hitch. Her talks with the almost always impossible dignitaries that filled her court had blown over calmly, she and Luna had managed to spend some good quality time together, and her letter to Twilight had no doubt met with the expected results.
Celestia was pleased with how she had dealt with the news from Ponyville. Her information had been carefully garnered with much difficult research into human culture, involving many sessions of scrying the human plane with the help of Discord, all tailored in such a way as to come to the only pleasing solution.
Discord had proved invaluable in this regard. His experience in such matters had been key to finding only the relevant information that Twilight should need to see. In fact, Discord had appeared ever so apologetic about his actions, begging to help fix the mess he had made. Celestia had been unsure at first, and Luna still disapproved, but Discord’s repentance had seemed so sincere, and his plan to deal with the human had been perfect. Celestia had even granted Discord the honour of sending the letter off for his part in its creation.
Celestia twisted her majestic form to look out of the long gallery of windows at the rising of the moon on the distant horizon, filled with a calm serenity borne of years of meditation. Luna’s Lights glowed through the night sky, their twinkling forms lulling the Princess of the day into a gentle doze.
Suddenly, a bright green light flashed through the room, jolting Celestia from her reverie. She pulled herself up onto her legal hooves and snatched up the letter hovering briefly in the air. Curious, she untied the ribbon and read through it’s contents:
Dear Pricess Celestia;
The information you shared with me was...enlightening. I will try to follow your suggestions. At the moment he is contained in the library Basement, far from where he can hurt anypony. I will personally attempt all in my power to come to the bottom of this matter. I am so sorry for failing you in this, Princess.
You faithful student: Twilight Sparkle
Celestia shook her head in confusion. Why had Twilight reacted in such a way to a few insights into human sociology? Perhaps some of that race’s customs appeared confrontational, but that was no reason to detain Marc, was it? Celestia only thought to improve Marc’s easing into Ponyville society by clearing up some cultural discrepancies that might arise. As such, she had detailed a letter of human cultural norms to aid in understanding the human. Celestia clucked her tongue in displeasure, but muttered to herself, “I do not think you have dealt with Marc’s introduction in the best way, my little ponies, but…I must trust Twilight to know the correct course.”
Just outside of Celestia’s quarters, a serpentine figure hovered. Upon hearing her words, it flitted away down the corridors of Canterlot Castle, and Discord could be heard whistling a merry tune.
This is terrible.
Marc stared blankly at the floor of the room he was placed in as he sat in the corner furthest from the door. He couldn’t remember much of how he had ended up there. He didn’t want to. Outside, loud words could sometimes be heard through the thick wood of the door, but he was fighting other demons.
They wouldn't do this. Why would they do this? Who gave them the right to do this to me?!
Marc stared at the venomous pile of papers on the floor in front of him. Thoughts flew through his mind as he tried to lock onto what emotion he felt the most.
Betrayal.
It wasn't even Twilight and her friend’s actions that hurt him the most: After what he had read in those notes, he couldn’t blame them. No, only one being deserved any of his hate, the one who sent that malevolent sheaf of xenophobic hate-mail:
Celestia
She had slipped the dagger between his ribs with no warning, no reason. Did she not like how close Marc was getting to one of her precious little ponies? Did she hate the fact that he could live a normal life?
Why does she hate me?
No. Calm thoughts. She’s in charge, she makes the rules. She’s bound to have given Twilight a good reason, right?
Marc scrambled over to the pile of papers, unsure of what he was looking for. His barely passable understanding of Equestrian script would render most of it illegible, but he had to find something.
Something to keep his sanity together.
*****
Twilight stood uncertainly between her best friends. Her head swung back and forth as she followed the loud bickering raging around her. To her left stood Applejack, needlessly bucking a column until books as far as three shelves away were knocked to the ground, shouting all the while, “An’ ta think I FED that evil alien! He ate the apples off of MAH trees! He may as well been eatin’ US!”
Rainbow Dash was the only thing standing between the infuriated earth pony and the solid wooden door that led down into the basement, where, somewhere, Marc was held. “AJ, we don’t know if Marc did all those things! How much of that could possibly be true?!”
Rarity stood against the far wall, as close to the main door as she could. “Rainbow, dear, the Princess herself has warned us! You saw those pages; they KILL hundreds of THEMSELVES every day! He can’t be safe; Discord himself summoned him.”
“Oh, shove it, Rarity, like you even know him!”
Pinkie Pie stood between the factions, right across from Twilight herself. The pink mare’s eyes darted around in confusion, trying to comprehend the sudden venom flying through the air. Slowly, under the weight of it all, she sank to the ground, tears springing to her eyes as she buried her head in her hooves.
Twilight couldn't stand to see her friends fighting like this, but she also couldn't think of a way to stop them. The letter...humans had done so many terrible things...But Marc hadn't ...But he might...
Before Twilight could gather her thoughts in the violent atmosphere, a high-pitched squeak emanated through the room. “Enough!”
All heads flicked in Fluttershy’s direction. She was breathing heavily, her eyes red-rimmed but hard, as she looked at each one of her friends in turn. “How can you just lock him up without any explanation, without any chance to defend himself?” Her eyes rested on Twilight for a second before, bringing a sharp twinge of guilt to her chest, before continuing, “I know that sometimes we can get a bad impression of others. Remember Zecora? We all avoided her, but now she’s friends with all of us.”
Rarity sniffed slightly before answering, “Zecora was different, dear: we have proof that Marc’s kind is undeniably evil, and we can’t allow that to spread here!”
Rainbow Dash flew aggressively forward, shouting, “I said shut up, Rare! Marc hasn’t done anything wrong since he got here!”
“Oh, is tha’ so?” Applejack sneered, “What about tha’ liddle fight you two had jus’ yesterday!”
Rainbow growled down, but didn’t get any further, before Twilight shouted, “Stop!”
She glanced uncertainly around, confused and frightened. The letter from Celestia had been clear: Marc could well be a danger to the town, but the final words at the bottom of the last page rang out through her mind more than any of the catalogued atrocities the preceded them:
It is with great regret that I inform you that the duty falls to you, Twilight, to terminate the alien.
In the silence that followed Twilight’s shout, only a light sniffling could be heard, before Pinkie spoke up. “Well...Marc told me that other Humans weren’t all that nice to him, either. They thought he was broken. If all of them were actually evil, doesn’t that make Marc good...?”
Applejack stopped for a second, thinking, then said, “Pinkie Pie, that is the worst logic Ah ever heard. Think of Gertrude and the cow gang! They – He – ATE cows, Pinkie. That jus’ is sick.”
Twilight looked down at the ground and sighed. “I’m bringing him back up, girls. This time, don’t buck him, Applejack.”
*****
Marc fiddled through the pages, desperately trying to find something he recognized. Accounts of terrorism, genocide, starvation, war and pollution swirled before his eyes, each worse than the last, Some based in fact, some Marc could be sure were fictional, but worse than this, Marc realized, were the insidious truths hidden among the lies. Actions that to humanity were normal would be absolutely diabolical to the ponies of this world. Marc thought about Vinyl, Pinkie and Ditzy, their reactions to his own life story. Was it such a stretch to see them react this way when they learnt how commonplace, even accepted, these things were in Mac’s home world?
He shrugged his shoulder, trying to ignore the two semi-circular marks standing out in angry reds and blues against his skin. Applejack. She sure did have one hell of a buck.
Quashing his rising anger, Marc searched through the final pages in search of anything he might be able to use to vindicate himself, but found nothing. It seemed as if the missive was carefully tailored to portray humanity, and Marc himself, in the worst possible light. And then there was the order on the final page, the order to Twilight...
The door creaked open. Marc quickly dropped the pages to the floor, but they never reached it. A violet aura encased the falling pages, lifting them and reorganizing them as Twilight stood in the doorway, framed by a bright light that cast her featureless silhouette as a shadow over the hunched human one the floor of the enclave in the library’s basement. Her voice cracked as she ordered, “Come with me. We need to talk.”
Marc stood slowly, and took slow steps towards the relative freedom of the illuminated basement as Twilight stepped back. Marc saw her features then, stuck between fear, anger and sympathy. This didn’t stop her from lowering her horn. “Come upstairs. You need to explain your side of the story before we can decide what to do.”
Marc followed carefully. “And do what? Eliminate me?”
Twilight stumbled, but didn’t answer at first. “I...I don’t understand...There has to be a better way...”
She stopped herself from continuing, rather trotting up the stairs, Marc in her wake.
Marc wondered what to think of this. Twilight had second thoughts; maybe there was hope yet, he just had to win her over. A glance into the library proper, though, complicated this minor hope. Applejack visibly tensed on seeing him. Rarity inched closer to the door, ready to bolt. Pinkie looked at him with weepy eyes, silently begging for him to end this anger cycloning the room. Fluttershy stood looking at him expectantly from her corner while Rainbow Dash, on seeing him, immediately flew to just above him. Marc noticed, though, that she never flew quite close enough to touch.
Twilght walked into the very centre of the room, turned around to face Marc, and dropped the pile of pages in front of him. Her friends gathered around her, their array of questioning eyes backing Marc up against the wall. Marc fought the feeling that he was before another evaluation panel, but in a way it was true, only far more was at stake here.
Twilight prodded the papers when Marc failed to react, saying, “Don’t you have anything to say about this? If I were you, I’d take this opportunity to defend yourself.”
Marc’s head shot up. “Oh? Your princess has decided I should die, and she managed to come up with a bunch stuff to support her brilliant idea, whether any of it is true or not. Who would you believe anyway? She in charge; she...makes the rules...” His head slumped forward again as he lost momentum. Rarity huffed at him as she raised her chin, “If you are suggesting that the Princess made up any of that information, you’ll have a hard time finding any ears to listen, Marc.”
“That’s kind of what he just said, Rare,” Rainbow Dash snorted, “Marc, you gotta put this to rest: tell them it’s all fake! Some trick from the Princess to see how we’d handle it...”
“I can’t.”
A series of shocked looks greeted Marc’s statement. He looked up again, from each one to the next. “Most of it is true. But I am telling you now, that it is also a lie.” Marc crawled on his knees to the pages, and began pulling it apart yet again, opening gaps between each individual report, pointing in between each as he nearly pleaded, but almost mocked; “You think this is an account of all human history? Yes most of these things happened, but what about all the stuff in between? Here: You think we went straight from the Punic Wars to the Mongol Invasions to the Dark Ages, to the Napoleonic Era. There were hundreds of years between those events, so many wonders Humanity created! None of them are in here! It makes it sound like the Black Plague and influenza were intentionally spread. Those were diseases, ones we couldn’t control! Lists of the casualties of war, but no mention of those that were saved. Details about the Word Wars that I seriously think might be fabricated. Pages of lost species, but no mention of how we try to save the ones that are left. Why are there no mentions of the wonders we erected, the sights we envisioned, the beauty we created, and still create? This is a horribly skewed view, and if you judge me for it, you should never be able to forgive yourself.”
Six ponies took a step back, but one stepped forward again, aggressively. Applejack nearly shouted, “Ah don’t care what y’all made, but it’s clear as Celestia raises the sun that your kin are murderers! Y’all kill each other over nothin’, and then ya have the cheek ta kill everythin’ else for even less. Fer fun...” She heckled as she backed away, just barely containing her rage.
Fluttershy spoke up, looking at the floorboards beneath her, “But Marc didn’t do those things...Did you?” Her eyes raised and begged him for the answer, one he could happily give. “Of course not, I could never kill another animal intentionally, and certainly not for sport.”
Applejack was about to rush forward with another rant, but Twilight silenced her briefly before asking, “If that is so, does that mean that you’ve never eaten living flesh before?”
Applejack, being freed of Twilight restraint followed up, “Yeah! How do Ah know ya ain’t just gonna come down on the farm and eat Winona, or one of the sheep?”
Marc looked at incredulously. “Seriously? You’ve known me for weeks and you think I’d even contemplate something like that? I will not and cannot kill anything I don’t absolutely have to. Yes, Twilight, I have eaten meat. It was given to me prepared since as far as I can remember. But I’m here now: I won’t go and kill for food when there is always a good apple or salad, which there always has been.”
“And the rest of it?” Rarity asked, “Poisoning your own air? Filling the water with diseases? Covering the ground with foul waste? These are the things of horror novels, and bad ones at that.”
Marc nodded. “Yes. Humans did that.” Responding to the shocked look on her face, he continued, “But that was because we didn’t know any better. There are billions of humans, in every corner of our world. We fought since the earliest days of history to defeat the forces of nature that worked against us. Our world isn’t ordered like yours, we don’t have any real control over what happens. It was only when we won, when we beat all the other creatures, that we saw the error of our ways. You don’t know how much is being done to reverse the damage we hardly knew we could be doing. It is hard to stop a ravenous machine, but humans are trying. And if you think that I could do any of that here, then you truly are blind to the facts. As I see it, the damage our Civilization can do has been curbed, not aided, by our Humanity. One human in Equestria means nothing. I’ll be a curiosity until I either go home or die here. Humans are only strong when they are together.”
The group was quiet. Marc felt a tear in his eye, but let it fall. Celestia was against him: he couldn’t go home, and if she had her way, he would be dead soon anyway.
Rainbow Dash fluttered nearer to Marc, but stopped uncertainly just beyond arm’s reach, warring with herself, before blurting out, “So you aren’t going to snap and kill me?”
Marc gave a humourless chuckle. “Of course not Rainbow, you’re my friend...I think?” He looked at her, hoping for confirmation. After a brief moment, Rainbow ducked in and gave Marc a gentle punch on the shoulder and a smile, before retreating again.
Applejack asked the next question; “You ain’t gonna come ta’the farm and kill nothin’?”
“No, your farm is safe.”
And you aren’t going to pollute our town?” Rarity asked.
“No. I can’t anyway.”
Fluttershy looked calmly at him. “You aren’t going to fight with anypony?”
“No, only to defend myself, and as you can see, I can do that without resorting to kicking anyone.”
Applejack flinched at that.
Pinkie now sat calmly as she frowned in thought. She looked at Applejack’s reaction to Marc’s barbed comment, then spoke out. “And you won’t go and make anymore ponies cry like you did with Dashie and Ditzy, will you? Because I don’t like it when ponies cry, and sometimes songs can’t fix everything.”
Marc gulped, but answered truthfully, “I never want to make anyone cry again. I want to get along and be happy, too, you know.”
Twilight looked at the reconciling but still uneasy group. They were waiting for her input, as their unofficial leader, to wrap up this fiasco and fix everything again. She looked out of the window, noticing the rising sun in the distance, wondering what could have come over the Princess to bring on such a harsh reaction.
Something clearly wasn’t right here. “I can’t see why the Princess would send us this information unless she was trying to hurt you, Marc, but she has no reason to do that, does she? Nopony but us in this room know about this, and I think we should keep it that way. I will write to the Princess again, and convince her that you are safe.”
Marc rumbled quietly, “I don’t think she will change Twilight; it’s clear she’s set against me.”
“I don’t think that’s true, Marc,” Twilight stated emphatically, “If you want us to trust you, then you have to trust me to know the Princess. Something happened to make her react this way, and I’m going to find out what.”
Marc sucked in a breath, barely able to keep a hold on his tongue, then nodded.
Once Twilight got her confirmation, she began to plan out loud, “Well, I think this has been distressing for all of us, but nopony else needs to hear about this now. I can’t even think about this at the moment, but...Marc, I think it would be wise for you to return to your cottage by the Everfree, just until this eases over. I’ll write to the Princesses later today. For now, Rainbow, will you take Marc out there? Applejack, I’m going to ask you to walk with them. I know you’re upset, but just...try, okay? Now I think I’m going to get some air. Girls, lets meet back here in a few hours to-“...SMASH...
The breaking and falling of glass could be heard from upstairs, eliciting a gasp of surprise form Twilight. She looked of the stairwell, seeing a grey and blonde form tumbled down the stairs with a cry.
“Ditzy!” Marc exclaimed, jumping towards her, but Rainbow Dash closed the gap much faster, halting the spinning Pegasus. “Derpy, now really isn’t a good time...”
Rainbow suddenly found herself on the other side of the room, in a tangle of feathers and confusion.
“Ditzy, calm down, we were arguing a bit, but it’s fine now.” Twilight cooed.
Ditzy shook her head violently. “No no! I heard shouting outside! In P-Ponyville! They’re c-coming here!”
“WHAT?!” Twilight bounced up in shock, “But nopony else knows about this!”
Marc growled into his fist in an effort to keep his temper down. “Looks like the Princess thought you might not pull through on her order, Twi. Now the town will make sure it gets done.”
Rainbow Dash shot over top the door and pulled it open a crack. Seeing nopony around yet, she turned back to Marc. “Okay, here’s the new plan: Marc. I will fly you to the cottage, Twilight, you and Pinkie distract whoever is coming. Applejack and Rarity, you guys get some supplies over to the Everfree before anypony figures this out. Derpy, I need you to make a smoke screen so I can get Marc out of here, okay? Let’s go!” Rainbow Dash gave nopony time to react to her plan; she grabbed Marc and bodily hauled him up the stairs. Rainbow found the window Ditzy had smashed through and shoved Marc out onto the ledge. He looked out over the town and saw the approaching crowd trotting down the street. Bouncing excitedly in the belly of the mob, a violet mare with a curly purple and white mane could be heard crying out, “There it is! My Daddy said the Monster was in there!”
The mob cried out as one when they saw Marc standing in the window, but paused in fright when a pair of cyan wings spread behind him. Without preamble, Rainbow Dash pulled Marc straight up into the sky, straining for all she was worth. Below, Ditzy captured a cloud and bucked into rumbling threateningly, discouraging any Pegasus pursuers as Marc and Rainbow Dash soared into the sky.
Rainbows wings gave out at peak of their climb, locking into a glide that angled towards the Everfree as she panted tiredly. “I...don’t think...the cottage is far...enough...not safe...”
Marc held on tightly, afraid of falling again. “Just keep us off the ground, Rainbow! If we can make it to the edge of the forest, it will be fine.”
Rainbow growled. Marc shut up and hung on.
The trees neared rapidly. Brief seconds before impact, Rainbow pulled into the braking turn, directly behind the newly built cottage. Carrying Marc’s weight led her to over judge the landing, causing the pair to tumble up against the wood framed building. Only when they stopped, did Rainbow finally let go. “I promised...I wouldn’t drop you...didn’t I?”
Marc stood unevenly, looking around for any ponies of harmful intent. Finding none, He pulled Rainbow up and guided her into the house for a breather, and to wait for Applejack to return with news and supplies.
Marc thought back on this latest turn of events: The town would be in uproar unless Twilight managed to calm them. It also seemed like the stupidest move the Princess could have taken, no matter how set against marc she might be. If she wanted me dead, she could have just flown here herself and gotten it over with quickly and quietly. Now, the whole town will be upset.
Marc was beginning to see Twilight’s point. So many things just don’t add up here.
Author's Note
Hiya all! Okay, this chapter got looong real quick.
Lets open up some commentary and get some Ideas about this!
The forest was dark, dank and earthy. Scents wafted through on night breezes that never stirred a branch, smelling of loam and all the woody tones of sap and crumbling boughs. Disembodied voices of the nightly creatures played a sweet melody that dulled the senses even as the seeping cold began to drag upon Marc’s tired limbs. The depths of darkness having fallen hours before, Marc found himself standing before a rocky face that soared high into the sky, the only edifice to pierce the unending canopy for miles around. He stood before the rock spur, gazing up at the moon, wrapping himself in the experience of the forest. He had heard of the terrors within; the monsters, the endless winding tracks seemingly made to lead a traveller awry. He felt the creeping night, and felt the soft calls of the trees.
And he found them comforting, for they were free.
The Everfree reminded Marc of his home-world, where nature was allowed to follow its own rules, not running in the guidelines of demi-gods and organizations. No matter how brutal the forest may be, it was still closer to home than the town right now. Marc had not planned to go so deep, nor so far, but the trek had not been half as hard, or at all as terrifying as he had been led to believe. In fact, it was calming.
And so, Marc laid himself to sleep at the foot of the rockface after building a large, smoky fire. The only creatures likely to search him out here were the animals of the forest, and fire would only keep them at bay.
Marc looked into the flames for what felt like an age, listening to the disordered cacophony just beyond his quiet circle of light. The lullaby soothed him, halting the pained thoughts in his mind, closing his eyes and halting his senses.
*****
“This dreamscape is certainly not the usual type. You have an interesting mind, Marc.”
Marc didn’t open his eyes. He simply became aware of his surroundings in one flash of perspective. He was standing at the peak of tall slate grey angular monolith, looking over a rolling plane of blue; an ocean. Posted all around him were ever taller grey spires of either marble or metal, breaking through the high clouds and letting the soft ambient glow radiating off from the towers leak out into the night sky. Every now and again, a tower would flash a different colour; purple, green, red...Gold...before returning to their bland, yet bright steel grey.
It was the golden flashes he looked forward to the most.
“She has a charmed you, I see.”
Marc looked sharply to his left, noticing for the first time the presence he was always aware of. The tall midnight blue Alicorn looked down at him with a look of concern buried in her stern eyes. Marc bobbed his head politely. “Good evening Princess Luna.”
She nodded in return, sitting beside him on the precipice as barely whispering waves roared in the smash on against the tower in a soundless tempest beneath them.
“Er...Luna...Where exactly am I?”
Luna looked down at him and smiled. “Why, this is your dream world. You weren't dreaming this night, so I made one for you. I made the dream, and your mind made the place.”
Marc looked around. “Well, it doesn't say much for my creativity, does it? I suppose you need to ask me something, Princess? Are you wondering why I am still alive?”
Luna did not answer for a moment, gathering her thoughts. “I was wondering why you were in the middle of the Everfree forest, but I did not greatly fear for your safety...should I?’
Marc felt she was hiding something, and couldn't bring himself to fully trust her. Her sister had sentenced him to death, and Luna had to be aware of it. But on the other hand, Luna had been kind to him before, and her presence on its own was soothing. “Princess, you must know why I am here; your sister‘s actions have made her intent very clear. I just want to live in peace where I may, now. Is that too much to ask?”
Marc looked up at Luna beside him. Her expression could have been many things, but rather than anything Marc had expected, it was confusion and hurt she wore. “What do you mean? Have not we done all in our power to make your time here as pleasant as it may be? Celestia’s letter must have greatly improved your time in Ponyville!”
Marc leapt away from the stupefied alicorn, catching himself as the waves below him crashed higher. “What?! That letter nearly got me killed! The town tried to lynch me! Is that ‘a better time’, or that just madness? Luna, I don’t know what game you’re all playing, but I just want out!”
Luna stood as well, but looked down, brow furrowed in thought. “I helped write that letter...”
Marc lowered his head as some icy spray swept over the monolith’s surface, and growled out, “YOU helped write that...that death sentence? How could you do that to me?!”
Luna looked around frantically before staring intently at Marc, saying, “Marc, I didn't write whatever it was you-” A vast crash filled the air as sound finally breached bubble of quiet that had surrounded them, along with a long waling howl that degenerated into cacophonous laughter.
“Oh Luna, haha! Turns out you did find him first, and I lose my own bet! What a shame...” The circling form above them hissed as it took shape.
Marc nearly choked on his own tongue. It was that...that creature that had brought him here, the one Twilight had named Discord. The elemental power of Chaos. Of course he had something to do with this!
“YOU! We should have known thy wouldst have thy claws in this! Thou hast played us and our sister for fools yet again, demon!” Luna shouted powerfully, pushing the sounds of the storm raging beyond the monolith’s surface back beyond the bubble of calm she maintained.
Discord landed with a pirouette and bowed, and small puff of confetti shooting out from behind him and morphing in to ever growing kernels of heavy foam, much of it landing on Marc and squashing him flat.
Discord threw the contained human a cheerful wink before sweeping back up. “Luna, you cannot harm me here! I’m in a dreamscape! Technically, I’ve spent much longer in these constructs than you have, dear Princess. Why, I used to look in on you and your sister when you were but young, promising threatening fillies. I should have dealt with you then, instead of having to deal with you now!”
Luna nearly screamed as she lunged at the infuriating draconequus. But instead of her horn meeting flesh, she found it buried in a giant foam figure of herself wearing a clown wig.
Calming herself, she wrenched herself free and turned to face the devious pest, calculating.
“We see your plan, Discord. Thou wish to confront us? Then do so! Name your field and we shall more than readily stand to crush you yet again!”
“Ohoh, is that so, Princess?” Discord sneered, “We? We? Your sister is not here and your olden-tongue doesn't scare me, little fawn. This is all your fault, you know. You and your sister's. You send me to Ponyville to reform me all over again but for once, for once it actually works! She showed me how to be friendly, to be nice. She made my day, you know that? She was fun without destroying anything. She was my friend. And what did you do? You took me away, held promises of visits to her like a carrot before me and never coming through! Well, if you won't let me have my friend, I will just have to get to her."
Through you.Your sister did me in last time, you were just cannon fodder, to delay me. Very well, then, Luna, I will face you down. Not here, but somewhere equally familiar to our unwitting pawn here.” Discord flicked a claw in Marc’s direction. Marc looked at it incredulously as it landed a foot in front of his nose. He was starting to black out from the pressure on his chest, and his mind was becoming muddled. He stared past the claw, up at Luna.
And she stared back. A light sparked in her eye and determination lit her gaze. She shook herself, heckling in anger, and nodded assent to the still-giggling monster standing proudly on the edge of the tier of cold stone.
Discord narrowed his eyes, his chuckle deepening to a growl. “As you with Princess. Just try an catch me!” He leaned back, falling off of the edge, down into a blinding flash of light. With spread wings and lowered horn, Luna charged after him with a battle-cry, being engulfed in the same light before everything faded to black, and the crashing storm around him utterly blanked out Marc’s perception.
*****
“Marc! Marc! C’mon, wake up you dumb hairless ape!”
His eyes shot open as he exclaimed loudly over the tremulous voice above him, “Hey, that’s uncalled for, I can’t help being my species!”
Marc blinked a few times, trying to reassert his senses, he looked around, his eyes settling on the prismatic mane in front of his face, or, more importantly, the wild eyes below it. “Whoa, Rainbow, you okay?”
Rainbow Dash gave a snort of relieved laughter as she replied, “What? Seriously? You just stop breathing for like six minutes, then wake up and check on me? Get your priorities straight mister!” She stepped back, allowing Marc to rise slowly to his feet.
Marc looked at the Pegasus as she ruffled her wings and sat down, looking up at him. “Rainbow, why are you even here? I thought I left you back in Ponyville.”
She humphed before replying, “Yeah, sure, when Ditzy saw you just walking off into the forest, her first thought was to let me get my beauty sleep. Of course she sent me after you! And trust me, you wouldn't have argued with her either. Now, dude, why did you spaz on the breathing? Do humans just do that sometimes?”
Marc looked down, brow furrowed in thought. “I...don’t quite remember... Luna, it’s got something to do with Luna...”
Click
He looked up sharply, startling Rainbow to her hooves. “We have to get back to Ponyville. I got a bad feeling about this...”
Author's Note
Hey, look, a chapter!
Yeah, sorry about the delays, I know how annoying they can be. My excuses are many and tenfold, but all I can say is that I am trying my damnedest, so thanks for being patient.
I may come back to this one later, but I put a little of everything I could for you guys in here. We're nearly at the hundredth fav, too! But not near the hundredth upvote. Whats up with that? Let's reach that lofty goal, comrades!
Regards
Spike was sick.
Not badly sick, but ill enough to not be sending or receiving letters. Even stranger was his firebreath. Instead of being its usual bright green, it was a pale yellow, tinged with red. Twilight found the combination familiar, and not exactly in a pleasant way. She leaned over the prone Spike as he stared balefully at the ceiling, muttering dully, “C’mon, Twi, it’s probably just a cold. All it is is a headache and a sore throat.”
Twilight fussed a little with a wet towel draped over Spike’s forehead. “But, Spike, you’ve never gotten a cold before; dragons are very resistant to illness. And your fire...its enchanted, it shouldn't just change colour like this.”
Twilight fussed a little more, before returning to the Library’s main floor, where she had all the tomes she could think of that applied to Spikes situation. That being, two. And one of them was about large lizard care.
Twilight had hardly had a good night’s sleep today, or the day before, and neither morning had brought her any more peace. With Spike sick, she hadn't noticed Ditzy missing from her bed yesterday. Not until the tearful Pegasus had returned at mid-morning. Her story did little to inspire confidence, either.
Marc had run. Just like that, he had decided to take his chances in the Everfree rather than trust the determination of his friends. Could she even still call him that? Friend? After what she and her friends had done, it was unlikely. The only pony to stick by Marc’s side through all this was probably curled up on a bunk at Rosewood Cottage, crying herself into a stupor. Twilight sighed as she looked out the window at the afternoon sun. At least Rainbow Dash was out there. If anypony could look after Marc, it was that crazy mare. Maybe she would even manage to convince him to come back, in time.
A loud knock sounded from the door, followed by a shout in a very distinctive voice “Hey, Twilight! Open up before we get seen, will ya!”
Well, that sure was fast. Twilight frowned and trotted over to open the door as requested. She had already worked out what she should see beyond the door: Rainbow Dash and Marc. Not Rainbow Dash pulling a cart filled with straw. Though actually, the latter made more sense. “Hey, Rainbow. Turn the cart around and tip him out through here.” Twilight gestured through the front door, stepping back as Rainbow Dash spun the cart around and tipped it up, unceremoniously dumping all the straw, and of course Marc, onto the library floor. She then flew in herself, kicking the door shut hastily.
Twilight helped Marc as he rolled himself free of the mass of dried grass stalks by levitating most of it upwards. Rainbow Dash, hovering just above Marc, tried to rapidly explain what had happened, only to find herself engulfed in a storm of straw. Twilight, oblivious, bent down and nudged Marc, asking, “Marc, why are you back here? You should have just gone to the Everfree Cottage and sent Rainbow with a message!”
Marc dizzily pushed himself up, twitching to get the remaining stalks off of him before answering, “That was the plan, Twilight, but when we got there, this weird pink earth pony was sitting on the roof. She wore a spinner-cap, for some reason...either way, we couldn’t go there, so Rainbow flew me around to Sweet Apple Acres. We grabbed the cart and...well, here I am.”
Twilight helped Marc stand as she tried to phrase her next question carefully. “Well...Marc, Ditzy came back here yesterday morning. She was...rather upset. I understand that you don’t want to be here anymore, I do. We cannot ever really apologize for what we did, and nopony can blame you for wanting to be alone. I actually think it rather noble. But...why come back?”
Marc looked up at the ceiling and rubbed the back of his neck uncertainly before replying. “I’m not really sure. I slept in the forest last night, and I had a nightmare. I know Luna was there. We were above and ocean and there was a storm...and then someone else appeared, there was a fight, and they disappeared. I felt like I was being crushed. I just have a bad feeling, Twi, about Luna. It was a scary dream.”
“Yeah, right,” Rainbow snorted, “Scary enough to stop you breathing. I dunno about you, Twilight, but this does sound serious.”
Twilight stared at Marc in confusion. Normal dreams didn't affect the dreamer in ways that could hurt them. But in Equestria, there were many forms of dreams. Especially if Luna had involved. “I should research this. Rainbow is right, that isn’t normal. If Luna is tracking you through sleep, we may have to find a safer place to hide you in case the Princesses...well, if they decide to find you themselves.”
Marc shook his head immediately. “No, Twi, Luna didn't mean me harm, that I know. I... don’t think Luna is in on it, whatever Celestia was trying. Or maybe something else is going on entirely...” Marc looked out the window to where the distant mountain city of Canterlot was visible. “I just have a feeling that we’re missing something, but I can’t remember what.”
Twilight nodded and began ripping books from the shelves, each one emblazoned with a title related to dreaming. “Well, at least we have time to study this fully before anything major happens –“
Marc, Rainbow Dash and Twilight were all thrown to the floor as a large bang sounded through the town and beyond. It sounded so like a gunshot that Marc dived for a corner. He spun and tried to gesture the others down as well, an illogical image of Celestia with a rifle somewhere outside, trying to assassinate him. Marc futilely attempted to wave Twilight down, but she was staring quite intently out of the window.
“Looks like everypony just has to prove me wrong today...” She mumbled, before pointing at the mountain in the distance and calling out over the remaining reverberations of the explosion, “That was an emergency flare: we need to get to Canterlot as quickly as possible! Rainbow, call the girls, I’ll get the Elements!”
Rainbow instantly responded, disappearing through the broken window, leaving Marc and Twilight alone on the ground floor. Marc was flabbergasted by the flare and Twilight’s reaction. “That was a flare?! It sounded like a bomb, or a cannon! And you’re just gonna walk right up to Canterlot, where Celestia is, after all this?”
Twilight held a stern expression over her doubts. It was time for action, not moping. “We are the Elements of Harmony; we must help defend Equestria. It is our duty. And you’re coming with us!”
She began pacing, cutting off Marc’s startled cry. “Listen! Your dream, Spike’s cold, the letter, that violet filly we saw; they’re all connected. And I think I know who it is! There’s only one creature powerful enough to rival Luna in a dreamscape, and Discord has been too quiet of late as it is!”
Marc’s eyes dilated as her words reached him. “Dreamscape? Discord...?” Twilight continued talking through her theory, prattling on and marching on circles. Marc sat, odd mental images flashing in his mind as he tried to piece together the memory.
In what felt like no time at all, ponies began trickling into the library. First came Pinkie, then Rarity and Applejack a while later. Both looked somewhat uncomfortable to see Marc again, though whether that was from fear or shame, he never asked. Finally, Rainbow Dash returned, towing Fluttershy by the tail. “I think Ditzy saw us when we passed Rosewood, but we lost her! I was worried she would try and follow us.”
Twilight began spouting her theory again, as Rainbow Dash hooked herself and Fluttershy up the carriage, dumping out most of the straw and making room for its future occupants. Six pieces of jewelry, the Elements themselves, levitated out form their display and wrapped themselves around their owners.
Twilights explanation, rapid and unstructured, left her friends still confused. Marc, now standing to the side of their conversation, was surprised to hear Fluttershy question Twilight first; “But...we reformed him...I helped Discord to be good, how could he go bad again? Isn't this just some big...mistake...” She wavered under the glare of Rainbow Dash, who then turned and called out, “Hay, c’mon, ponies, we need to get moving! That warning went off ages ago!”
Twilight nodded and hustled everypony towards the carriage. “Yes, we need to get moving! Come along, Marc.” When the human didn’t respond, Twilight trotted back and nudged him forward, saying, “what? We can’t leave you here, the town still might react if they see you! And also, you might be able to help us! Celestia didn't send that letter, it was all a lie!” Now get in the carriage.”
Marc found himself wedged between Rarity and Applejack. Not a good place to be. But he had no choice as the carriage took off into the evening sky. The ponies were so busy trying to talk through this rapid development that they failed to notice a grey blur taking off from the other side of town.
It took them about three hours to make the flight to the city of Canterlot, even at Rainbow Dash’s full speed. Much was discussed, but it was mostly useless conjecture, with Marc remaining silent. All comments died, though, when they got closer to the mountain city.
The entire castle was darker than it should have been in the dying sun, as if the light had been sucked from the air. It looked quite unnerving. The guards posted on every battlement and the complete silence of the entire sky made it seem threatening as they flew in between the minarets that pierced the sky. As they landed, a Pegasus guard flew over and reported in a relieved voice, “Elements! Sounds of struggle have been heard from the throne room! We have surrounded the keep with our strongest mages, but they need to know what they are facing...?" Marc realized that the Princess had not even warned the castle guard about the situation: This was serious indeed if Celestia’s full attention was so fully occupied.
Marc hung back, unsure what to do. “Okay, girls! This will be just like the first time we beat Discord: Charge in, zap the one with antlers, and get out. Everypony ready? Okay, let’s go!”
Without even waiting for a reply, she marched all of them through the castle to the grand throne room doors.
After little but a cursory countdown, Twilight threw open the doors and charged her spell. It quickly faded, though when she saw the odd scene before her. She should have expected yet another surprise, in hindsight…
Hovering above in the vast hall were the two most powerful creatures in Equestria, locking in epic, and rather amusing combat. Celestia floated on broad wings, loosing beams of pure light energy at the draconequus fluttering over the throne end of the room. Discord was deflecting the shots by swinging a sofa at each one like a baseball bat. It seemed that he was aiming to hit the bolts of energy downwards into the enormous roiling magenta surface beneath him: A dome. A massive force field that occupied a huge piece of floorspace. Amid the flashes of light and stricken cries of the Princess above, the dome grew bigger and darker with each impact to its surface.
“Luna…Twilight, Luna’s in the dome!” Marc cried, spying the vague outline of the tall alicorn within.
Celestia heard Marc’s cry and glanced back at the group in the doorway. “GO back, my little ponies!’ She shouted, “This is no place for you now!”
Marc was more than happy to follow Celestia’s orders, but Twilight stood firm. “Come on girls, we can do this! We just have to break the force field and free Luna. Then Discord will be finished.” Twilight’s friends aligned themselves. Twilight began charging her spell up even as Marc finally put the pieces together. Oh no…
“Twilight, wait!” Marc’s calls fell on deaf ears as the magical construct raised the six ponies, and built its charge.
Just then, an uneven fluttering could be heard, along with a cry of surprise as a certain grey pegasus tumbled through the doorway and bowled into the airborne Elements of Harmony mid-spell. The entire formation was knocked to the ground as the rainbow beam collapsed into itself before exploding outwards in a blast to rival the Sonic Rainboom, blowing out the enormous stained glass windows along the entire length of the room.
The dome that contained Luna suddenly grew to double its size, absorbing the energy of the shockwave, pressing up against the walls of the room and contouring to the columns. Its colour went from its previous hazy pink to a deep opaque purple before darkening into black.
Celestia gasped in shock as Discord suppressed an impatient chuckle. Twilight turned and gaped at the grey-and-straw-coloured huddled against the wall. "Ditzy… You just killed the Princess…"
All parties were silent as the vast black swirling mass continued to grow, blotting out the noise in its darkness, all save for the sobs of Ditzy, as she saw what she had done.
Author's Note
Hah! Did I make up fr being tardy lately? I hope so. Also, forgive any errors; just point em out, please, and I'll fix 'em.
Anyway, this chapter marks a return to the original storyline. Its faster paced, and I think it works. How about you? Rain with comments! Also, i'm still aimimg for those hundred upvotes, and one thousand views, before I finish this. So lets do it, yeh?
Regards
Twilight began sobbing in near panic until Applejack yanked Twilight's tail and pulled back from the still-growing mass before them, all the ponies sitting in startled silence. Marc hissed at the confused Unicorn with a vengeance matched only by herself seconds before.
"Hey! Twilight, think! The one you should be blaming is over there!" Marc pointed an accusatory finger at Discord, "He lied to you, to the Princesses and wrecked the good time we worked out!"
Disocrd did not respond. In fact, he started laughing.
Marc walked purposefully over to Ditzy. She was beyond words in her state, too worked up to utter anything but strangled sobs. All eyes were on the tall human as he cradled the crying mare in his arms. “Oh, ditzy…It’s fine, It is all fine…”
Discord groaned out into the air, "Oh, please! You have no idea what you’re talking about, you dumb alien!” Discord flew a few loops and landed at the other end of the throne room, perching grandly on the twin thrones on their dais. “Luna is trapped, and given time, will be lost! Dimensions are truly horrid without a roadmap, you see.”
Fluttershy was cowering behind Pinkie Pie, covering her head with her hooves. She glanced up, hearing the voice, but the roiling blackness before her overwhelmed her again. Pinkie tried to console her, but kept her eyes on the mass as well. She looked expectantly at Marc, apparently having worked out the solution that he was only now uncovering.
Applejack stood undecidedly, mincing on the spot. "Twi? We gotta do somethin'!"
Rarity stood by, mane failing as she looked about wildly between Twilight and Princess Celestia. Twilight herself looked deep in thought, Discords words playing about her mind.
Rainbow Dash flew up to the Princess’s side and pleaded, "What the hay just happened? Tell us what to do, we’ll fix it!"
"SILENCE!" Everypony stood stock-still at Discord’s vast shout. Marc Looked up, but Discord could only be seen by those on the wing. Though, at that moment, Celestia allowed herself to lower to the floor, staring resolutely at the dome before her. Marc swallowed hard and carried his weeping friend up to the solar Princess, looking at her boldly and asking simply, “You let Discord write the letter you sent to Twilight, didn’t you?”
Celestia frowned and nodded. The time for apologies or explanations was passed, and time was short. “Marc, this magical field is trapping Luna. That fact that it is still up indicates that she is alive, but…it cannot be broken. I have tried, the Elements tried, but I fear that the energy we put into trying to break it, the closer it comes to severing us from Luna forever.”
“So Luna is trapped…wait, cutting us off from her? Then where is she?” Marc asked, confused, remembering
“Very well, then, Luna, I will face you down. Not here, but somewhere equally familiar to our unwitting pawn.”
“Marc, she is in your home world.”
Marc nodded. The forces of two worlds were focused in the sphere before him. The greatest might in all of Equestria had been bent on breaking it, and it, and it had only grown stronger. So what of something from the other side of the pond?
Damn, Pinkie is smarter than I thought.
Marc shook the idea and whispered in Ditzy's ear. "Hey, now, you'll be okay. You did good, actually. If you hadn’t done that, the Princess would already be gone. You saved her life." He wasn't sure whether this was true just yet, but if he was wrong, it wouldn't matter anyway. This room would probably cease to exist.
Marc walked up to the field, not really sure what he was going to do, but knowing that it wasn't really that bad of a deal. His choices now were to die running from a giant collapsing magic-thing, die trying to stop its break-up, or actually succeed. Of course, going out with a bang would be better than running. He’d tried that. It hadn't worked. If this was his last act, it would be in defiance of that idiotic demon who started all of this.
An idiotic demon who’s agitation suddenly seemed to increase upon hearing the silence from the other side of the field. He flew up over the mass, looking down on the phalanx of ponies watching a lone human walk up to the boiling surface and reach out a hand."What? No! The Princess will die! Do you know how much energy is in that field-!"
Celestia hissed and Discord fell silent. Marc looked back at the group. Twilight had realization dawning in her expression. She looked at Pinkie, who was grinning. The pair cheered then, and incongruous sound amid the ruins and shattered glass. Her friends walked forward and looked at Marc, scared but hopeful, to stand in a line facing him. Marc turned back to the huge force field, and thought. They believe in me now, when it counts; I cannot fail. Here goes nothing.
He stepped into the field. Amid the massive pulses of sound and sensation that hit his body harder than anything Vinyl could have played, he heard the draconequus Discord roar.
Half a minute later he came to on the floor inside a pitch black hole. Before him was a hazy whit light that glowed faintly to dispell the darkness. Marc wondered what had happened. He stood up in the supercharged atmosphere that made breathing a severe task and nearly swam through the mist of static in the giant bubble. He only saw the shape of the figure under the light when he was nearly close enough to touch her.
"Princess!" He coughed out. The air invaded his lungs and chocked him from the inside, electric charges playing through his system. He stopped everything when he felt a voice echoing in his head.
"Marc? How did you get here?"
Marc fell down and sat there under the height of Luna as her aura lit the darkness around them. "Princess…"
"Think, Marc, to be heard."
Oh, great, they're telepathic. No one decides to tell me this...Why?! Marc quickly covers this thought with another, realizing that the Princess had most likely heard that.
"Princess, I am here to help you out."
"Ah, Marc, I could not have hoped for so much." She sounded tired, even in thought.
“Princess, why can't you just bust your way out? Just close the field."
“No, Marc, this is different. I’m in your world. I can see a large stone building and a grassy lawn I am not in my body. Elemental beings can race from world to world if they with, but Celestia and I are not among them. We earned our powers, and so when we travel worlds, as our selves now may,our bodies cannot follow. The field is around me is the membrane that keeps the worlds apart and it protects my body in my absence. But...Something has interfered. Discord. I would fight him, beat him once and for all, but he led me here. In my anger, I did not think he could so ensnare me. I am not as you see me, Marc, I am not with you. I cannot be unless I am returned!”
Marc looked up at the stoic form of Princess Celestia above him. Immobile, completely still. Yes, absent.
“I have tried. My body is my home, and I should able to return to it with ease, but the energy required to return me is being drained by the very air. More and more energy has been added, even after I had stopped trying, destabilizing the construct. If it collapses now, We will be both be stuck in your world.”
Marc knew what was happening; he could see it. The field was trapping pure energy inside it; with nowhere to dissipate to, the level of energy inside the dome had increased way past saturation to unstable levels. Enough to destroy the Princess's body if she could not return to it and break the hold it had on her being. Both them would be trapped on earth.
Home.
The air began crackling.
Marc thought for less time than He thought he should have."Princess, use me. You are talking to me, right? That means that you can somehow connect us, even through this storm. Now it can't be much of a step to send yourself into that connection. If you use my body as a link from my world to yours, you can travel through me!"
"Marc, this will be too much for you. Your mind may not survive the weight of my consciousness."
Marc laughed, "Princess, I have had some heavy thoughts: do it, you are needed still." He stood again and grasped the Princess's neck in a hug. He didn’t know if this was right, but whatever happened, it felt like he was doing the right thing. For the briefest moments, he thought back over his life, and everything that had ever happened. He thought of his family, the orphanage. He thought of Gail. The last thing he saw in his mind’s eye were wo bright happy golden eyes, and he wished them well.
Then he felt a massive wave of memories and experiences rushover him. He was witnessing everything that had made Princess Luna who she was, from her earliest memories, the stars, the great wings of another alicorn, to finding the power that allowed her and Celestia to defeat the raging Discord and spread love and tolerance throughout Equestria. The breakdown of Luna’s mind was at once vast and resplendent, and unnaturally solemn. The moon flashed before his eyes. The centuries of memories began to force his own mind aside, shattering his sense of self and obliterating that made Marc who he was."Thank you, Marc."
Everything went Black.
*****
Twilight watched in trepidation as the massive aura extended, pulsed and began tearing apart the columns of the throne room. Huge pieces of masonry tumbled from the high arched ceiling, crashing into the field and floor with a cacophony of sound as the leviathan dome of pure energy began to ripple and shudder. All of that energy, pent up into one point, was almost unmanageable in its brutality.
Then, it all collapsed inwards to form a single bright light, glowing bright like the sun at midday, before forming a bright impenetrable outline of the Princess in her glaring beauty, her wings flashing light across the room on every beat as she hovered at the centre of the hall. In her embrace, Twilight thought she made out the smaller, still form of their unexpected saviour.
Luna slowly gathered all the power that had built up around her and focused it. She clung to the form in her hooves, but turned and faced the aghast Draconequus hovering before her. She lowered her head, the sheer energy pent up in her figure whipping the air into heatwaves and glowing in dazzling beams from her eyes. She spoke one word for the entire city of Canterlot to hear.
“BEGONE”
The white light rolling off of her body shifted shades and built up into a deep, golden glow. The light began humming loudly, drowning out Discord’s exclamation. No beam of light struck him though: a single, indelible flash, and the entire world knew that Discord was no longer a threat.
He wasn't even there anymore.
Luna allowed herself to be pulled to the ground by gravity and her own exhaustion. She laid out the form of Marc on the burnt stone floor and stood in quiet vigil over the form that had just saved her, and likely her world.
Ditzy looked up from her position, and saw what she now realized she had feared from the second she had seen the carriage take off without her, the very reason she had flown all the way by herself in the hope of avoiding. "N-No! Marc!" She flew over to his side crying out loud as she did. She slid into his side, warm, still alive, and wrapped herself around him.
But Vinyl and Octavia's song had no effect.
All the ponies sat in silence as they stared in grief at the still living but consciousless body of Marc.
Author's Note
There. Have some more. Why not?
The days that followed were some of the worst moments Twilight had ever experienced. The labour in the aftermath of the destruction was taxing, and tensions were high throughout the capitol. Celestia had made few appearances since the…well, what else could pony call it but a disaster? It wasn't even the large-scale destruction of the royal castle, although that certainly counted all on its own. No, it was the aftermath. She had had many adventures with her friends, from releasing the Princess to saving a whole empire, and they had come close to failing on many occasions, but they'd always pulled through, and everypony had ended up smiling in the end. A letter would be sent to Celestia, and that would be that.
Not now. The kingdom was in turmoil over the fate of Discord. Had he been turned to stone? Banished? Destroyed? The Princesses were silent on the subject, infuriating the defense forces and citizens alike. But the ponies that counted had much more important things to deal with. Marc, a strange creature from another world, mysterious and often eclectic, had in the space of a month and a half, gone through many trials and experiences, and come to mean very much to a lot of ponies. The shame of it all was that most only realized it now.
Rainbow Dash kept up the appearance of being strong, but everypony knew something was wrong when they noticed that she had actually cleared the skies on time, even early, every day for a week, before disappearing to her cloudhome every day, almost robotic in her precision and sadness.
Fluttershy had cried in her cottage for days before emerging, even though in all honesty she'd never managed a sentence to the man. She, though, had lost more than just Marc: Discord’s rage, and its causes had come to light. In hindsight, the fact that it could have been avoided by a simple visit was blindingly obvious.
Pinkie pie's reaction had been one of the more visually drastic. Her hair had fallen straight the minute she had seen the body. In fact, it had yet to resume its full spring. Her quietness had started a snowball effect around Ponyville, with nearly all the residents performing their duties with uncharacteristic silence. No one had been assaulted with cupcakes since that day, either.
Rarity had been tasked to make a special suit for Marc, with exact instructions from Princess Celestia herself, for a ceremony. With so little information leaking from the castle a rumour had spread about the nature of the order. A funeral was of course the natural assumption.
Applejack had remained strong, though she did not hide her grief at the first loss in the line of their service. Her greatest emotion has shame. After Marc’s difficult time, her actions seemed much worse in the light of his selfless action. A special tree had been planted in memory of the brave human.
Of course this was all a bit premature and unnecessary, Twilight knew, but she wouldn't give all her friends false hope: this plan would very likely fail.
She trotted around her library wondering where Spike was. They hadn't seen a lot of each other recently, with the whole Discord-bending-the-rules-of-dimensional-space-and-bring-a-human-to-Equestria thing leading her to spend so much time at the now permanently dubbed Everfree Cottage, and now his illness, which was finally breaking. Still, she missed his help, especially now that she needed to find that book on memory spells.
She couldn't use that one she'd used the first times they'd defeated Discord, as that one was too directed to repair this kind of damage, but she knew the perfect tome to help her, if only she could find it… "Ah! there you are, 'Memorandum of Memory Mysteries, part five: memory displacement'."
*****
This was a drastic plan, but Celestia felt sure it would work.
Princess Celestia looked doubtfully at her sister. Luna had been absent-minded of late, often staring into space, contemplative. Celestia had just walked in on her staring at the new stained glass panels going into the newly repaired throne room walls. Unicorns made everything easier.
"Sister, we were meant to meet with Twilight at the holding room a short while ago. Come, we must go." Celestia guided her sibling calmly out of the room.
Luna blinked with surprise, then said, "Sister, I am simply amazed at how things are done in the human world...how much they know...They have made windows almost as bright as ours without using any rainbows, or magic! And their methods-"
"Oh, yes, of course." The two Princesses made their way hurriedly to the holding room, far in the medical wing of the Castle.
*****
Twilight waited nervously for the Princesses to arrive. They would have one chance at this. When Marc had allowed the consciousness of Luna to pass through him, they had merged under the sheer unbalanced pressure of Luna’s far vaster consciousness, leaving Luna with the memories of both and Marc with none. He had gone into another blackout, with his body maintaining life, but his mind technically dead, not even recalling the simplest actions. After what he had done, this could not be allowed. It could not end like that; this Man was a hero now, spoken of in respected circles in tones of curiosity and awe. Ponies no longer looked down on the Alien: They looked up to the Visitor.
And yet, he wasn’t even there anymore. But if they managed this… Twilight knew this was possible, but Marc would never be quite the same as he had been.
It just depended on how different he would be.
She saw the Celestia and Luna round the corner, the latter talking about the wonders of a 'Universe", a vastness far beyond what Equestria had ever known. That was Marc speaking, really, and that needed to be fixed.
All three greeted with the barest formality before entering the holding room with Marc's body on its bed in the centre of the room, surrounded by monitoring equipment and two nurses. He was still, as he had been for weeks now, but some colour had returned to his features of late. It was good that he seemed to have gained some strength, at least physically: This was going to be a difficult and long process; restoring each memory to its proper place. The sequence was all important. Before they started, Celestia had something to say.
"This is the first time memories of one have come from another. If we succeed, it will be a great leap forward in memory magic, but we must remember, this is our friend and helper. He saved our lives; now we must return the favour.”
Luna was the centre of the spell, her mind contributing the memories, in the order she received and remembered them, to the control of Twilight's replacement charm. Celestia kept any backscatter from any magic nearby from interfering, as well as lending her strength to her student in this, one of her greatest tests.
Luna may have had the most powerful mind in all Equestria aside from the elementals, but this form of spell, making two personalities from a fused memory, was taxing her abilities. She focused on the images and emotions that had accompanied Marc through the turmoil of his life, basically reliving all those years with him, through the peaks and the tragic lows that had molded him into who he was.
Slowly, the experiences were fed into his shattered consciousness, and everything he had ever learned, felt, tasted, seen, heard, or smelled was returned to him. In the end all three ponies were, despite their strength, shining with the sweat and effort of the huge task they had attempted.
After what felt like a literal lifetime, Luna gasped and dropped to her haunches, breathing huge gulps of air. "There...there, that is all...I know."
Twilight sat down and let her head droop. Then she tossed her mane out of the way to look at Celestia. The elder Princess stood over Marc's form, and said, "For the gift you gave us, and the pain you felt for our error, you deserve more than you have. The things you wished to learn but never could, the things you never saw but dreamed about. They will be yours in time." She lowered her horn over Marc's slowly rising and falling chest, and it began glowing.
Suddenly it flashed and Celestia dropped back.
Marc moved. First he twitched, then slowly struggled into a sitting position, moving awkwardly, rubbing his eyes. He looked around in wonder for a moment before his eyes settled on the expectant faces of the three ponies before him.
He looked confused. "Hello...um, who are you?"
Author's Note
There you are, less crazy. If you notice any mistakes, plz just point them out, and I'll fix them as quick as I may. Having no editor can do that, you know.
Ditzy hadn't really spoken since Canterlot.
Once she saw Marc lying there, unmoving, barely breathing, she had been unable to process anything past his loss, and no words beyond basic acknowledgments. It wasn't as if she just didn't want to say anything: She literally felt as if she could not speak.
They had had a hard time prying her away from the body. She had tried to hold on, but, hooves being hooves, Twilight had finally managed to get her away. The Princesses had sent Ditzy back to Ponyville on her own chariot with two guards to make sure she didn't do anything silly.
They had dropped her off at Vinyl Scratch and Ocavia's cottage early the next morning. After a hasty explanation to the two sleepy and then shocked mares, the guards and chariot had left in a hurry, with other duties to attend to.Vinyl was one of few ponies still sympathetic to the human’s troubles, having seen his compassion before. She and Ocatavia had tried to comfort the inconsolable pegasus as she cried herself into oblivion on their doorstep. Many ponies had been attracted to the scene by the noise and the sight of a chariot flying about so early. Soon a small crowd had gathered, questions being whispered back and forth before Vinyl managed to pull Ditzy into their living room. She left Octavia to lay Ditzy on a beanbag while she took it upon herself to explain, to the shock of the town, what had occurred.
It was now weeks later, and the Elements of Harmony had returned, all save Twilight, with fuller accounts of the violent and terrible accident. The flash of light that marked Discord’s dissappearance had left the entire land full of anxiety, and the story of the bravery of that strange being they had all so quickly judged after his short time here spread like wildfire amongst the ponies. He may have been received poorly by some, but he would now always be remembered well. And of course, he would be remembered best by a certain grey pegasus.
Ponies were worried about Ditzy's sanity, so much so that she had not been allowed to return to Rosewood. Instead, Vinyl had asked Lyra to make sure that everything went smoothly there. Vinyl and Ocatavia had a concert that week, and most of the musical ponies were formed into a band for the show. Lyra remained mostly because Bon Bon couldn't be expected to look after Rosewood and Ditzy at the same time.
Ditzy spent most days trying to come to grips with what had happened. In some way, hearing that Marc had not actually died yet was an incredible burden on her: She wished she could believe that Marc would come back to her, but after what she had seen other ponies doing by way of remembering him, she felt that hoping for something to happen was pointless. Then again, she couldn't live with that either.
Something else strange had happened. The day after the Elements had returned. Vinyl had led Ditzy to the town hall. There she had been put on the stage with Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity and Fluttershy.
They, and the entire town, had thanked her for saving Equestria.
No one had called her Derpy in a while. All ponies were quiet when they saw her, but it wasn't the usual ponies just ignoring her. They watched her as she passed them, unable to contain their curiosity and concern. She accepted this; After all, she couldn't say anything to dissuade them. Life felt heavy, but she was getting better. Just last night she had managed to ask Bon Bon for another bowl of soup. It was the most she had spoken since Canterlot.
"Miss Ditzy Doo?" The mare asked formally.
Ditzy nodded in response, waiting for the inevitable.
"Miss, I have been sent to inform you of the partial recovery of Marc Warner-"
It took all of Bon Bon and the guard's strength to stop Ditzy barreling through the room to the door. She said nothing, but pain was etched into her pale face as she fought against their restraining holds.
"Miss!" The guard mare shouted. "I am also to inform you that he has been deemed fit to return to Ponyville. He will arrive today at noon!"
Ditzy dropped flat at that. What? He's coming back? So soon? There was a part of her that rebelled against the news, having already convinced herself that Marc could never return. Now he was coming back. She suddenly shook off the hooves of the two mares and took off through the door with uncharacteristic control. That didn't stop her from immediately crashing head first into Rainbow Dash hovering outside the door.
"Ditzy! Ditzy! Calm down! I know this is big, but there's nothing you can do, yet! Twilight has just come back with the carriage that brought the news, now come with me and we'll talk to her, okay? She knows how Marc is." Ditzy shook her head to dislodge the stars behind her eyes, then looked at Dash, shaking. It's true. He's coming back.
Rainbow's eyes softened. She pulled Ditzy into a hug and whispered "Hey, I know how you feel. He means a lot to me too. Come with me and let’s see what news there is of our friend, okay?"
Ditzy regained control of her breathing, and forced herself to answer. "O-Okay...T-Thank you...Rainb-bow."
The two dropped to the ground and began walking towards the Library, with Bon Bon and the guard mare following close behind.
There was already a crowd gathering around the front door, tying to see whoever had gone inside. Dash bulled them out of the way in her hurry to get to the door. She had not taken Marc's loss well. No one had seen her crying in the clouds whenever she was alone. She had tried to lose herself in busting clouds, imagining each one to be the hideous form of Discord. She wished that the Princesses had followed her cries, no matter how loud they had been, to put Discord back in stone. Of, course, she didn’t know what Luna had done, nopony did. She shouldered open the door and let only Ditzy in behind her. The poor grey pegasus was not taking it well so far, tear channels already formed in her cheek fur. Once the door was securely closed, She turned to face the full room. Luna stood surrounded by the Elements of Harmony. Ditzy sat in a corner where she felt safe from too much news at once. Luna spoke calmly to the assembled group. 'My little ponies, Marc is alive and well, but I fear his memories are not as they once were.
"It is better than we feared, though. His memories have begun to assert themselves, but there is much he still does not recall. We, in consultation with Twilight, decided to return the memories of his past slowly, so as not to overload his mind: The magical effects on humans are still uncertain, but he is recalling a few names and faces. There is much to hope for, but still things to fear. We are going to install him in his original cottage until he is stable. But you may visit him this afternoon. Act with discretion, and do not expect too much. As for Discord: He has been banished from Equestria entire. It is not nearly enough punishment for what he attempted, I know, but it must suffice. I must bid you farewell for now, as I must spread these tidings to other parts. Go well." And with that, she left.
In the silence that followed the Princesses departure, each pony was alone in thought. Then Applejack leapt into the air, shouting for joy, "Yaahoo! Marc's Okay!"
Pinkie joined in without a moment’s hesitation, blowing a party whistle and bouncing around the room. Rarity sighed gustily and swooped a hoof to her forehead in relief while Fluttershy buzzed her wings and grinned.
Rainbow smiled and was going to join in before she saw Twilight walking slowly up to her room in silent thought.
Rainbow tore her eyes from Twilight's door and beamed at Ditzy. "You're talking again! Yeah, let's go, the others will spread the news and join us later."
*****
It was only a few hours before Rainbow Dash spotted the carriage coming in to land behind the hill that hid Marc's cottage. She wanted to immediately follow, but Twilight had told her to wait until she had explained to Marc what was going to happen. Then, Rainbow Dash was to meet Marc first, and then slowly each of the others who knew Marc would be introduced, until all the ponies who had been invited were gathered at the cottage. This was thought to be the best way to remind Marc of his friends. Rainbow watched until she saw a flash in the sky before fluttering over the hill into view of the cottage.
Marc was very mildly aware of having seen all of this before. But it felt like another life, as if dozens of years had passed between then and now, not a month as Twilight had said.
He felt fragile, in mind and body. His lungs ached with every breath from the treatment they had received within the energy field. His mind often flashed with memories that had once been his. But there were also those that he knew belonged to someone else, fragments of Luna's mind that had remained with him. That might explain why he felt older than he should. Twilight caught his attention with a hoof of his shoulder, and pointed him towards the hovering form of a pegasus in the air before him. He stared, uncomprehending for a second before recognition flashed with a smile across his face. "Rainbow Dash."
She immediately flew into him, grasping him in a bear hug. "It's good to see you again, Marc!"
It was about half an hour of idle conversation, centering mostly on one troublesome fish from wonths passed, before Marc heard the shouting from the other side of the hill, followed by the sounds of many hooves. Seven other ponies had been invited to see him today, Twilight had said. It sounded as if they were all coming together. Marc was nervous, excited to put names to faces in his mind, but Twilight had said one at a time…
They all crested the hill at once, six running on the ground in chase of one flying impatiently through the air. Marc immediately felt uneasy. There was something that wasn't clicking in his head. They all arrived in a cloud of dust.
Marc struggled to place her amidst feelings ranging from guilt to joy to despair to hope. He looked around again in mild confusion as the names drifted back to him. Slowly. Unable to factor everything t once, Marc shut down for a moment.
Rainbow Dash stayed with Marc so he'd have a familiar face. Marc looked over at her. "Dash...I don't know if this is a good idea..."
Rainbow Dash looked at him worriedly, "What do you mean, meeting the others? We'll try again tomorrow and you'll get them all right, just give it time."
Marc shook his head, "No...Even my own people thought I was crazy before all this. Now...I'm even worse."
Rainbow thought for a second, then jumped into the air and proclaimed ,"You know what? From what I've heard, your 'people' were really mean and hurtful, so if they thought you were crazy then you must be really nice, right?"
Marc laughed at her logic, but didn't get a chance to answer before she landed and continued. "You made friends here. Now, they don't mind waiting for you, because you matter to them. All you can do is be yourself, that's who they care about. Well, that's How I see it, anyway..." She settled down and looked away abashed.
Marc suddenly stopped laughing, and just smiled knowingly at Rainbow. “Hey, you got that first line straight from the Pink mare didn’t you? Pinkie Pie?”
Rainbow looked down and shuffled her wings awkwardly. “Huh…so you remembered that? I suppose that’s a good thing…”
Marc patted her on the shoulder gently. “Rainbow, you are better with words than you give yourself credit for, I remember that much too. Remember that morning at..Rosewood…”
Marc thought for a second. Then he sat bolt upright, a song playing through his mind. Memories seated themselves as he looked at the mare in the distant tree.
"...Ditzy..."
Author's Note
There we are, return to relative normalcy. As is usual of late, I didn't get this to a proofreader, so if you see any mistakes, don't hesitate to point 'em out!
Regards
Ditzy had a warm fuzzy feeling all over for days. The day after Marc had been returned to Ponyville, she had been the second pony to see him. (Only because Twilight was worried that Ditzy would get impatient again, apparently.) But that didn't matter now. Marc had remembered her! They had spent all day meeting the other ponies Marc had befriended: Pinkie Pie had appeared out of nowhere carting her party cannon, loaded with cupcakes. Fluttershy had brought Marc a bunny for companionship, Applejack a barrel of her family's famous Cider (The hard kind, by the way). And Rarity had brought the magnificent suit she had so carefully crafted for him. Vinyl and Octavia had come around early in the day, too, and offered to play a song. Marc had refused mildly, saying he would rather keep the offer for another occasion.
And all the while, Ditzy had been able to sit against Marc's side and watch at the antics of the other ponies, laugh at their jokes and stare in awe as Rainbow Dash put on a show to rival the Wonderbolts themselves. She hadn't felt for one moment as if she didn't belong, or was a nuisance. Rainbow Dash even started calling her Ditzy, and asked if she would like to join her among the clouds. Ditzy had been so proud at that: the best flyer in Ponyvillle asking HER, the clumsy mare who hadn't made it through two weeks in flight school, if she wanted to fly together. But she had declined, not wanting for a second to leave the side of the Man who had made it all possible. And Marc had felt the same way.
After a couple days, Marc had returned to the town, much to the praise the townponies. Vinyl had even gotten together a few musicians and led a small welcome march, which had ended in hilarity when Lyra had fallen over Carrot Top's tail while trying to keep her attention off Bon Bon's teasing her with a smoothie. Marc had been reserved and quiet, thinking abouthow drastic this happy reaction was to the last one he recalled. Not to complain, of course, but the difference was clearly affecting him. And something seemed to be weighing heavily on him, but that was to be expected, given what he been through.
Ditzy had returned to Rosewood, her home, but Marc had had to stay with Twilight so that she could monitor his recuperation. Every now and again, he would still have blank moments, but he was coming along better than had been expected. All in all, Life was returning to normal.
*****
Marc was not the same as he was before, to be sure, but he had a new found clarity about what now had to be done. That evening, he had reviewed in his mind what Princess Luna had told him; The gift that had been bestowed upon him. A choice, and a chance, to fix everything that had happened. To leave everyone - everyONE - happy. It was time to put it to use. But first, he had something important to see to.
*****
Vinyl was having a good day. Her music had been gaining popularity lately after her radio show had taken off, and Octavia had had just been offered a new recording deal that involved a lot of high end living...for two. Marc's return march had not been her highest moment, but given the time and resources available, it had gone over rather well. She was wondering whether or not to start a new project when she heard a knock on her door. She sighed and slowly levered her way out of a beanbag to stagger over and answer (She and Octavia may have celebrated the new deal a bit overmuch).
*****
Rainbow was proud that Marc had finally recovered. Now things could get back to normal. She had gotten back into her old rhythm of being late for work and early for play. As she lay on a cloud, she wondered what she was going to do today. Maybe find Pinkie Pie and pull some pranks? But the mayor still had her eye on them after that indecent in the tax archives. Spike shouldn't have been allowed near all those scrolls alone anyway. So maybe she'd visit Applejack, that mare was always good for a laugh when she got annoyed.
Just then her planning was interrupted by a call from the ground. Marc.
She dropped down to the ground with a cheerful greeting. But as Marc explained his thoughts, she became quiet.
Rainbow Dash had ended up going to Sweet Apple Acres after all, but not for the fun of it. Applejack and big Mac were now several miles out of town, pulling the heavy carts of equipment Marc had asked them to haul to where Rainbow Dash led them. Applejack could not help be amazed at this turn of events. Luna said what now?
Pinkie Pie had a lot to do in very little time. Nopony had told her about the thing at the place with the stuff and all that, but she knew what she was in charge of. She hurried to her preparations, knowing the importance of what was going to happen.
*****
Ditzy was basking on the roof of Rosewood, rolling in the thatch and smiling. What a good day she was having. Marc had said that he would be busy this morning, but it was already starting towards evening, so maybe she could go visit him again. With her mind made up, she was about to take off, only to be stopped by a tired-looking Rainbow Dash. "Hey Ditzy...You gotta follow me, quick, time’s wasting. Everypony's waiting!"
Ditzy took off immediately and followed as Rainbow took off into the evening sky. What is going on? Is anypony hurt? Is Marc okay?
It was nearly an hour before Rainbow finally landed at the base of a hill, quite far from Ponyville. It was even worse for the long circuitous route Rainbow had flown. Now that they had landed, Rainbow nudged Ditzy up the slope towards the summit, a ridge with the outlines of ponies, her friends, and to her astonishment, both Princesses, all looking down at her. But her eyes were locked on only one of the figures. The undeniably human outline of Marc standing in front of them all.
She stopped just below the ridge, looking up. Marc was wearing his magnificent suit that cut his figure handsomely. He jumped down to her and gave her a hug. "Hello, Ditzy," he said with a note of emotion in his voice.
"M-Marc...What is g-going on?"
Marc did not reply. Instead, Luna spoke over the group of ponies, all their eyes turned to her as she explained. "We are gathered here today on the request of our one and only human friend, Marc. We all agree that he has done very well for himself in Equestria. In fact, many of us owe him our lives. But he is not here of his own volition. No, he was pulled here as a cruel joke by a despicable spirit. We, from the very beginning, accepted that one day a decision would have to be made as to whether he could or would be returned to his home world."
Here, she paused and reviewed the assembled ponies, some looking worried, others accepting. She looked at her sister before continuing. "I personally know what it is like to be pulled away from all you know and love, and be turned upon an alien landscape. I of course deserved it, and can only wonder at the pain of being put through it for no cause. Which is why I gave Marc a choice."
She looked down at Marc, who stood solemnly over the terror-struck Ditzy. "No," the pegasus whispered, "No, no...N-No...". Marc hugged her around the shoulders and whispered, "Don't cry, listen."
Luna continued. "I promised Marc that the choice would remain his and his alone. Yesterday, my sister received a letter containing Marc's decision. Of course,” Luna smiled dryly, “ he would not allow the choice to be so simple."
Here Celestia took over from her younger sister, "Equestria is safe now, due to the faith of friends in one another, and the selfless sacrifice of Marc. Thanks to him, Luna is with us, and Discord…He is not. He is gone from our world entire, and we may rest easy. Marc laid out a request that, in the light of all this, I could not object to. We are all here to see it come to fruition. Marc, if you please."
Marc turned and looked Ditzy straight in the eye. Then he smiled. 'Ditzy, you beautiful mare, how could you ever doubt me?"
The group of ponies all began to grin and let out a communal "Awwww!"
Marc pulled the confused Ditzy up onto the ridge that Rainbow Dash had shown him back in what felt like the distant past, almost dreamlike, and all the sweeter for it. Celestia's horn glowed gently as she guided the sun in its path to its resting place, lighting the sky in glorious colours as Marc nodded over to a teary Vinyl in her impromptu music booth. Octavia readied herself and her instrument, waiting for the perfect moment.
Marc whispered to Ditzy as the entire forest was lit in shades of gold and orange, the colours mixing with the slowly turning autumn leaves to bathe the vista in colours of liquid fire.
"I could never leave now. You are all my world, now, And you...You are my home." Marc sat and hugged Ditzy as he held up a wrapped scroll into the burning sky. "And this here is me saying goodbye to what I once was."
Luna smiled as she focused on the magic she about to perform.
Everypony on the ridge stared in awe as the sun and moon rose and fell in perfect sync, lighting the sky in contrasting shades that dazzled the eye. At that moment, chords of beautiful music began to fill the air. Vinyl and Octavia played the piece of music that meant the world to the two sitting in each other's embrace, surrounded by their friends, aware of everything and nothing, staring at the glorious tableau as their senses were suffused with beauty in every way. Majesty lit the landscape, happiness filled their hearts and hope brought life to it all, reverberating through their very souls. Ditzy nuzzled her way into Marc's arms, glowing with relief and joy, reveling in the shared sense ecstasy.
And at that moment of bliss, Marc watched the scroll he had so carefully prepared vanish in a puff of flame, and with it, all his worries.
Author's Note
There you are, guys, the penultimate piece for Change in Perspective, and the completion of this rewritten story!
Regards
Epilogue: Those Left Behind
Gale finished her audition at the club. The manager had liked her performance, so it had gone as well as could be expected.
Winter had just started. There were rumours of growing conflict in the Middle East yet again, and global warming was apparently getting worse. But Gale didn’t really care about the hings that didn’t affect her. It had been over two months since Marc's mysterious disappearance without so much as a clue as to what had happened. This did affect her, very, very personally.
She had worried herself sick for a few days, then gone into denial over that fact that Marc obviously was not just missing. His logical fate had taken her this long to accept. The paperwork had all been written up, all the T’s crossed and every dotted line signed. Gale was signed as Marc’s closest acquaintance – she didn’t know he had done that – and had inherited all of his belongings. It wasn’t much. Other than some clothes, a few pictures and a strange statuette, there had been precious little. Not much of a footprint for Marc to leave behind. She had picked it all up the day yesterday.
She sighed and made her way to the parking lot of the club in the dark, alone. Marc had been a good friend. He would have been there with her when she tried something as big as an audition after so many years.
It had been him that had convinced her to try out for a singing role somewhere. After the accident that left her mute for months, she had never actually taken him seriously, had always said no, she wasn't good enough, but he had disagreed. Now, in his absence, she had honoured his memory by fulfilling his dream for her. And she had succeeded. She had the Tuesday evening spot, three times a month, and every Saturday. If only he could've seen it, he would have been so proud.
It was a rolled up piece of think paper held together with a blue ribbon. She sat in confusion for a second before picking it up and reading the name on the side.
It was hers, written in a slightly square handwriting she recognized instantly.
Oh, God…
Ripping off the ribbon, she quickly unrolled the letter, and scanned the contents. What she read left her in a state of emotional turmoil.
It read simply, yet conciliatorily : Marc was okay. He missed her, and all their friends, but he was happy where he was. And he wasn't coming back.
The last lines read:
I'm sorry for the pain all this has caused to you and everyone I knew, and I hope you forgive me one day. This letter will not be with you in the morning, it will return to whence it came.
Now, turn on the radio.
Confused, she did as the letter instructed. And, to her amazement, a song began to play: Chasing Cars, by Snow Patrol. It was the song she and Marc had listened to on the first night they'd spent together outside the hospital. She’d taken him up to the overview, to say thank you for being there so selflessly as he had. And he had played…this. It was the song she had just sung in memory of him.
She threw down the letter and raced home before emotion overwhelmed her. She stumbled through her front door, tripping over some boxes, carrying the letter clutched in one hand and the final box in the other. She stopped at the hall desk, dropping the box and it’s statuette on the table, and read the letter again carefully.
Then she turned it over and wrote of the back, under the angry stone gaze of the figure:
You're forgiven. Have a happy life, my dear friend.
She pulled out her iPod and put Chasing Cars on repeat. She watched through the night until the letter suddenly smouldered into nothingness, bearing her heartfelt message to her old companion, god knows where.
Author's Note
There we are, the final chapter of Change in Perspective! But not quite the end of Marc's story...or Discord's.
Regards
Twilight staggered back into her library, swaying slightly under the weight of fatigue. She had spent most of the day in Ponyville town square, convincing the ponies that the ‘alien’ they were being rallied to find was in no way a danger. It had been difficult and arduous, but in the end, victory was hers. Mostly.
Certain members of the community were still trying to find him, to end the spell that he had allegedly cast over Twilight herself, no matter how ludicrous that claim was. Trying to explain that Marc had been flown out for his safety by Rainbow Dash had been a stumbling block, thanks to the now widespread assumption that the tall human had killed Rainbow and stolen her wings. It was as if the whole town had given up logic and decided on following chaos.
The violet mare who had led the mob earlier was now nowhere to be found. Nor did anypony remember where she had come from, actually, but her claims alone, which had been along the lines of Celestia’s last letter, had been enough to incite the less accepting ponies into fear. Ponies are herd creatures after all: The actions of a few could easily agitate the rest.
Now Twilight had raised her sights: Celestia had clearly been misinformed, or the letter had been dictated to a particularly otherwise writer, or some pages were missing...Anything to explain away the Princess purposefully sentencing Marc to death. But if she had meant to...if Twilight could send a good enough argument to the Princess and convince her that drastic action was not at all necessary, then maybe Marc could return to the brief peace he had been shown.
Such a letter was far too important to be dictated, but Twilight called for Spike anyway; he had always tried to steady her in her worst moments, and by the moon this felt like one. With Spike ever attentive, Twilight wrote her beseechment with all the care of a thesis, before finally turning to Spike as the moon rose through the library window, shining on the shards of broken glass.
“I think if anything should do it, this letter will, Twilight...” Spike said softly, reading the long letter over.
Twilight responded by collapsing against the table and droning, “I sure hope so, Spike: otherwise I don’t know what to do...Applejack went over to the Cottage earlier with food and supplies, Rarity made a new set of clothes to replace the torn ones Marc has...We did what we could in town; if the Princess disagrees, we could be in a lot of trouble. I just hope we can change her mind.
“Now, send it. There’s no point in waiting” She finished, hoisting herself up as she began hobbling to the stairs.
A clinking sound of falling glass accompanied a panting shadow framed in the broken window over the stairs. A pair of golden eyes reflected the candlelight of the room at different angles. “Twilight? D-did you s-send the letter yet?”
Twilight did not pause as she walked up to the tired Pegasus. “Spike is sending it as we speak,” A small puff of flame and smoke streaked past them into the night sky, “And I did my best. We all did, Ditzy. Marc is safe at the cottage for a while. All we can do is wait.”
“W-well...” Ditzy stammered as she turned wearily, “I’m g-going to check on him. M-make sure Marc is okay.” Her wings spread weakly as she prepared for takeoff. Her leap was arrested, however, by a soft violet glow pulling her into the library.
Ditzy immediately flapped her wings in a vain effort to escape, but soon relented. “N-no...nothing happened…I j-just...He was so nice and...I j-just wanted to-“
“Its okay, Ditzy, I understand,” Twilight said slowly, “I really do. All I’m saying is, be careful. We don’t know what’s going to happen in the next few days.”
Twilight lowered Ditzy to the floor of her bedroom landing, and guided the sleepy mare to the spare bed as she muttered, “N-nothing happened…just…warm...and happy. Y-your letter b-better work, Twilight…” Her final soft whispers were muffled as she collapsed into the folds of the bed. Twilight watched the sleeping mare for a minute before tuning and gazing out of the window. “I hope so too, Ditzy, I hope so too…”
*****
The letter wove its way through the vaultless skies of Luna’s night speeding comet-like across the silent night sky, the faint hiss of its passing alerting none but the keenest ears. It scribed a path almost directly for the vast labyrinth in the sky that was the Castle of Canterlot, not pausing in its urgency to reach the eyes of the Princess destined to read it. The small smokey fog left only its own tail in its wake, and did not vary in its purpose.
Until a heavy paw batted it from the starry sky. “Haha, oh, you nearly got past me this time!”
Destiny cannot resist Chaos.
As the smoke reformed, and claw grabbed it by its tail and shook it until it formed a letter once more, already tattered by its rough treatment. The paw joined the claw in holding the parchment up before a pair of glowing red, yellow-rimmed eyes.
A cold chuckle filled the air, raising into harsh laughter as a serpentine shape separated itself from the inky blackness between the stars and flew towards the still distant mountain.
“Celestia is none the wiser, and my game is still very much in play! And what a game!”
From the castle’s tallest tower, a pair of ice-blue eyes watched approaching shape, suspicion forming behind them.
*****
The morning sun rose belligerently above the horizon, casting a new day upon the residents of Equestria, whether they wanted it or not.
Marc rolled away from the window and out of the light being cast across his blanched features. A night of restless tossing and turning had reduced him staring in turns either out of the window or across at the quietly sleeping – “Snarghh…sniffle…” – restfully sleeping Rainbow Dash on the bed.
She had done way more than she had right to have done for him, and he knew it. There were few even back home who would have fought so hard to protect him, but she, and all of her friends eventually, had risked themselves facing the town. Against the ruler of their world.
It was not a risk he could let them take again. Marc sighed. Celestia was mad to think that such soft-hearted creatures could have followed her command. Perhaps that was her intent to begin with? Perhaps she was unhappy with the current elements and wished them replaced? Marc was unfamiliar with the politics and structure of this society, and after yesterday, not much would surprise him.
That said, it was time to leave. Marc stood stiffly and made for the door. He stripped off the clean new white clothes Rarity had put together for him, rather donning the now-ragged set he had first been given on his arrival in this world. As Marc opened the door, the entirety of what he had experienced seemed the crash in on him. A month had he spent here, if only, what, eighteen days awake? Eighteen days spent mostly within the confines of this very building, and only four out of it. Those four days had been emotional, and painful in many ways, but Marc would never trade them back. For a brief period, he had had choice, and he had squandered it on supplication and ingratiation, only to have it whiplash at his highest moment. Well, this was his choice to make, now. He stepped over the threshold, looking the direction he knew the town of Ponyville. But, in his mind’s eye, he looked past it, over to that other hill near just outside the hill and the cosy hall perched upon it, and the unbiased kindness he had been shown there.
With a sigh, Marc turned away and walked in the opposite direction. The forest may be dark and foreboding, but it held greater promise than a life of shackles, or more likely none at all. I took Marc ten minutes to reach the edge of the wood, where he paused. He considered going deep into the forest, but that was likely too dangerous: better to stick to the edges where magic may still have a calming effect on the beasts within. Marc decided to walk just along the treeline away from the mountains that housed Canterlot. Just as he took the first step, a voice barely cut the air behind him;
Marc shut has eyes tightly for a second before slowly turning to face Ditzy. She sat limply in the grass that verged the wood, string pleadingly at Marc, her eyes betraying hurt that, despite Marc’s wishes, had become all too familiar to her. If there was one thing that Marc could not deal with, it was this.
“Ditzy,” He said, voice dry, “Ditzy, please. I gotta go...I can’t keep seeing this up and down, and all the trouble I’ve caused-”
Her hopeful yet wan smile made it clear that even she knew this was too long a shot. Marc sighed as he tried to begin again. “Ditzy, I know this is hard to understand, but I can’t...”
He was cut off by Ditzy’s sharply thrumming wings. She didn’t take off, but walked resolutely up to, and into Marc, her head butting him forcefully in the chest. There she stayed for a brief moment before pulling back and smiling a bright false smile. “I understand. Y-you don’t want to be p-picked on in town, or by the P-princess. You d-don’t want to hurt any of us, because you’re a nice po- human. And I c-can’t stop you from doing what you think is r-right.”
Marc stared down into her big glowing eyes, barely able to comprehend her reaction. She chuckled at him, averting her gaze. Marc stepped back, away from her. “Don’t follow me.” He said simply, swallowing hard.
Marc smiled sadly, before turning and disappearing into the foliage at the edge of the vast forest. Ditzy turned and fluttered over to the cottage, her head hanging low. She may not have been clever like Twilight, but she knew that she couldn't have stopped Marc from leaving.
This is why Rainbow Dash woke up to a very sharp rap in the ribs. She leapt away from the offending hoof shouting out, "Hey! What's the big idea!" Instead of the human figure she had been expecting, she came up close to the red-rimmed golden eyes of a very agitated pegasus.
"You let Marc run away, R-Rainbow Dash," She hissed too calmly, "So maybe you should go and f-follow him."
With a gulp and not a word said, Rainbow Dash made for the door.
Author's Note
okay, here's a tiding chapter.
Comment and rip apart, you know you want to.
oh, and I'd like to get to one hundred favs and thumbs, so with this goal in mind, do have a look at the top and be sure you've done your part for the glory of [insert your own electrifying speech, I got coffee to drink]
So, anyone want a sequel? Because I finally got around to starting it!
No crazy writing binges this time around, though: I plan on working it out better, so at the risk of slower updates, I will be improving quality, and along with it, hopefully, your enjoyment. As before, any and all commentary will be welcome, and the story is dependent on feedback. If I get none, well, I'll just write whatever takes my fancy.
Nonetheless, for all those folks who have kept any of this story in mind, here begins a new thread of what has become a very...complicated story.
So just click this clicky-thingy here >> Finest Gold and Silver
Regards
Marc hit a stone floor amid a vast crashing sound. The light was unbearably bright, burning his eyes through their lids, shining so bright that he could see the outline of his bones through the hand he help up to protect himself. But seconds after it began, it faded, and he was lying on a cold stone floor. As he unwillingly slipped into a void, he heard a feminine scream and the bashing of metal. What the hell just hit me? He thought. And then he was gone.
Celestia was startled into screaming for the first time in years. Discord's vanishing, and the appearance of this...thing, were terrifying to say the least. It looked dead. Maybe it's fur had been stripped off by the heatflash that heralded its arrival .Discord reappeared then, already laughing at the Princess's aghast expression.
"Discord! What have you done!" She shouted. Suddenly the throne room's doors burst open. Luna stormed in, howling, to ram Discord against the wall by the throat. This sudden charge surprised even the elemental in its ferocity.
"You are not hurt, my sister?" Luna cried, looking to Celestia.
"No sister, but Discord has done something evil this day." Celestia said, looking down at the creature at her hooves.
"Come now, Celestia, this was our deal; I show you a piece of their world and in exchange I abandon it forever." Discord said nervously, the forleg pinning him to the wall blocking off his air. Luna was far stronger than he thought.
"No, Discord. Send it back, and we may not punish you too harshly."
"Ha!" Discord laughed, "You two are no longer in control of the Elements of Harmony!" He bent his neck to Luna's ear and whispered none too quietly, "Thanks to your defiance, the pair of you no longer represent them yourselves."
He turned to Celestia again. "If you want him sent back, you'll have to call in your precious little ponies to clean up...again. I cannot do it, only they can, when he's healed enough, of course. Harmony counters Chaos and all that." He pushed Luna away, and she did not resist., instead stepping back between Discord and her sister.
Discord was triumphant. Celestia could say nothing: what Discord said was true. "Discord... you realize what this means...for you?".
"Yes, Princess, I am aware that I will no longer be allowed to use my powers freely. Until you need help sending him back, that is." With that, Discord turned and left the room, head held high.
Luna trotted over to her crestfallen sister. "Dear Celestia, what has happened here?"
Celestia looked out of the windows at her glorious rising Sun. "Luna, I must contact Twilight Sparkle. At once."
*****
Marc slowly opened his eyes as his mind returned to him, and was immediately aware that something was wrong. He pushed the protestations of his body aside and tried to drink in the subtle warping of reality. Everything was different. Colour was more vivid, textures that should have looked sharp were softened. The very light hitting his eyes felt richer. He saw all this in a moment of pure clarity, as well as the glowing, hovering cloth mere inches from his face.
He shot up and slapped the cloth away, giving a small yelp as he fell off the edge of the bed he had been placed on. To his shock, under the blanket he was covered with, he was completely naked. He whipped his head around, his eyes finally settling on the purple...something, standing mere feet away with its head cocked in a curious expression. He was terrified.
Twilight was surprised when the odd creature shot up over the bed that afternoon. Celestia had warned Twilight of random and possibly violent reactions when the creature woke up during the briefing on this new assignment. This was was why Fluttershy had been rejected as a host for the time being. The Princess had instead built a special enchanted dwelling near the Everfree Forest in which to detain the creature. And now it was awake.
Twilight knew she had to inform the others at once, as well as the Princess, but she wasn't done with it yet. Her curiosity had gotten the better of her over the last three weeks. She had studied the creature, which the Princess titled a 'human', in its sleep. It did bother her that she had done so (downright embarrassed, at some points) but it had to be done. She still couldn't see why this creature was considered so dangerous. Now she could find out. With a sense of trepidation, she cleared her throat and said cheerily, "Hello"
This had to be some kind of sick joke, this weird, if very well animated plush toy. That's what it looked like. Then it looked up and spoke. Whatever it said it sounded cheerful. It had to be fake, otherwise it would be terrified like Marc himself was. Okay, Marc thought, this must be some psych test the doctors thought up to see if I've gone insane or not. He stood up calmly, buoyed by his assuption, and walked over to the puppet thing, He smiled at it, reaching out to touch the plastic head. "you are very well built, I must say. I could almost swear you were breathing an - Owww!" He screamed and jumped back, shaking his hand. The thing had gone into a crouch, the horn on its head glowing a purple light. It was...growling? he looked at his hand. Bite marks. He looked over at the creature, scared again, finally remembering what had happened before he had passed out. You're leaving! forever...
Marc went limp. He just slid to the floor, staring. "What are you?" he asked.
Twilight was worried. why had it smiled at her like that? And why had it tried to touch her? And why had her magical shield not stopped it?! Magic seemed to apply differently to it. She certainly did not mean to bite it, but it was saying things in a strange language. Maybe it had thought her easy to defeat, for it once again looked shocked. Drained. The last words it had spoken had sounded like a question, but what had it said? And her magic...she needed to speak with the Princess about this.
Twilight looked at the human for a while determining if she could turn around without it going for her. Eventually, it made a strange gesture with it forelegs, raising them up to the it's shoulder height, showing her...what? a sign of peace?
Twilight decided that she could back out of the room safely enough. The second she was through the door, she slammed it shut and galloped outside. She looked around wildly for somepony to help her. Seeing nopony at all, she quickly looked up, trying to find that rainbow streak on a cloud. "Please be there, please be there..." she muttered. The she saw a cyan hoof poking over a cloud above her." Oh, thank Celestia! Rainbow Dash! I need help!" Twilight shouted.
The hoof disappeared for a second, only to emerge at great speed with the rest of the pegasus it belonged to. "What's up, Twilight? Is that thing acting up in its sleep again? Need me to pin it down?" said rainbow dash, landing lightly beside Twilight.
"No!" twilight exclaimed, "He's awake! I have to tell the Princess, can you watch him for me?"
Rainbow Dash looked confused for a second, "Him? Its a colt? It doesn't matter, I got your back. but would you mind sending somepony else over, just to be safe, you know?"
"Of course, Ill send the next pony I see who knows about this." said Twilight, already turning to leave.
As she galloped away, Rainbow Dash gulped and went into the front room. The creature was held in the back room, facing the forest. Rainbow walked over, telling herself to be braver than this...she opened door slowly, worried about what she might see.
Author's Note
There you are, some ponies at last. Pls review. Should be getting a bit more interesting from here on in.
