Mistakes Were Made / Lost Elements

Mike turned to the women gathered before him.  Well, this should be an interesting gamble.

“Ladies, I have a proposition for you.”

“Speak it sug, unless you’re thinkin’ funny business.”

Applejack’s smile was sincere as she spoke. So was the heavily implied threat of future pain should he step outside the bounds of propriety. Mike’s eyes widened in surprise at the implication.

“Wait, what? Good god no. Nothing like that. I need help, plain and simple. That was one of my biggest clients. My boss isn’t in town and I need some extra man power to get the job done. If you ladies help me knock this and any other necessary jobs out while you’re here, I’ll gladly supply you any food you need as well as the best I can rustle up for sleeping accommodations.”

A moment of silence ensued at his statement. Twilight was first to respond followed by Rainbow Dash.

“What would we be doing?”

“Yea. How the hay would we do it anyway? We don’t know anything about any of this stuff.”

“That would be what tomorrow would be for. You’d receive the ultimate crash course in what I do for a living and we’d proceed to go from there. Depending on how things go, I’d feasibly be able to take three of you to the job site while the other three stay here. That’s if we take the truck though. If we take the van,”

Mike received several looks of confusion at the unfamiliar words.

“The van is the big white machine outside. The red one is the Truck. Anyway, should we take the van, only one of you can come with me, but we’ll be able to bring more tools and equipment. The truck, on the other hand, can haul four of us.”

“So, you’re going to try to teach us everything you can about this job that you’ve been doing for…?

“Eight years. I apprenticed into this when I was fifteen.”

“Okay. Eight years, in less than a day.”

“Pretty much. It’s an insane gamble, but I need help. You would mostly be there to give a simulation of productivity. All I need you to really do is learn more than the maintenance guys know about the equipment. Trust me, that’s not much.”

Rainbow gave a derisive snort.

“Maintenance is their job. I’m fairly certain that what they know beats the heck out of anything you might be able to teach us.”

“That’s where you’re wrong. They only call people like me when they have no clue what to do. I’m a specialist. They’re not. The same five or six guys in that place are responsible for maintaining everything. They have a wide range of very nonspecific expertise. I happen to have a very narrow range of very specific expertise. You just need to fake it for a day.”

“Ah ain’t comfortable lyin’ to folks.”

“In your case, you wouldn’t be. You would actually be helping me move the weights. I’m willing to bet money that you’re the only one in this room who’s got the muscle to haul those suckers around for any real length of time. You said over dinner that you worked on a farm right? That’s the kind of endurance we’ll need.”

“I couldn’t get that sucker to budge though.”

“Not that weight. We only use those for crane type equipment. If you go back out there, there’s a pile in the corner of smaller fifty pounders. Those are what we’d be using.”

“Well shoot. Ah could do that easy.”

“Good to hear. Well, ladies, what do you say? Scratch my back, I scratch yours?”

Applejack shot him a glare laden with much less implied violence than her previous expression. Mike immediately raised his hands in defense.

“It’s just an expression! You help me and I’ll help you!”

“Ah’m gonna have to keep my eye on you…”

“Applejack dear, in terms I believe Mike would appreciate, ‘shut it’. His request is entirely reasonable. I for one am in. Although, I fear I won’t be of much use. I certainly can’t lift much…”

“No worries, we’ll hop on that tomorrow and figure out what each of you is capable of and go from there. In the meantime, there are only two beds here. I need to figure out how I’m going to get you all back to my place.”

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After a large number of suggestions were proffered and rejected, only one was determined to be feasible. Mike would drive his little hatchback with Twilight, Rarity, Pinkie and Applejack in tow. It was revealed, much to Mike’s surprise that Fluttershy was also capable of flight. They would don what cold weather gear was available and follow at a safe distance from above. Being unable to lose the highway for fear of losing them, the trip took roughly twenty minutes.

The house they arrived at was a relic left over from the fifties. It was a two story affair with the lower level half submerged. The lower half of the building was covered in faded washed out brick to just above the basement windows. The upper portion was covered in an unfortunate yellow color of newer aluminum siding. The cracked driveway was short and the meager front yard was littered with a few small trees. Near the end of the drive, was a standard mailbox that had clearly seen better days. The porch that graced the front of the building was little more than a raised concrete step flanked by a pair of false support beams that were linked to the underside of the small roof overhang. It certainly was not the prettiest building on the earth, but it was undoubtedly home.

As he ushered everyone indoors, Mike looked to the sky. Seriously. What’s the deal? It’s mid April. Why is there still snow? With a sigh, he bemusedly shook his head before following the women inside. Since it happened to be the largest room available, everyone had gathered in the upstairs living area.

“Okay, ladies, time for another grand tour. Downstairs is the laundry area, as well as two bedrooms you’re welcome to use. One is through the double doors at the far end of the main room. The other is down that tiny little hallway of to the right of it. It’s got a bunk so two of you should be able to crash there without bugging the tar out of each other. The other door back there is a bathroom with a small shower in it. I’ll teach you how to use that tap in a bit. Upstairs there’s one spare bedroom and of course the couch here.”

He gestured towards the aging black leather piece of furniture.

“It’s got a pull out bed in it, but if that’s not okay, the bedroom in back had a larger mattress and so the does the one through the doors at the far end downstairs. There’s another bathroom up here with a tub if you want to relax a bit. The other two rooms that aren’t obviously kitchens or laundry are a storage space and my room. Then of course, there is the deck. Go ahead and chill out there if you like at any point during your stay.  Quite literally in this blasted weather…”

The verbal tour was completed just as the other had been. That is to say that there was a large amount of hand waiving and noncommittal gestures with only the vaguest information given. After this was done, he offered to answer any questions that may be had. Attention was immediately diverted to the large TV behind him. After a brief explanation Mike simply requested that it be left alone until later in the week. In the meantime, unlimited access to his personal library was granted to anyone who had any interest.

At the mention of a library, Twilight and Dash seemed to begin salivating. Twilight requested reference material of any kind while Dash simply held up the Paperback she had brought from the office. Tapping her finger on the cover for emphasis after each word she stated, “More. Of. This.”

“Oh god. I forgot about that thing. Sure. I’ll grab you the entire series. I use those to kill my lunch breaks. Nothing like a god old fashioned tale of ridiculous daring do, right?”

“Wait! You have Daring Do!?”

Mike gave Dash a questioning look as he turned back toward the quivering mass of excitement she had become. Twilight caught this. The look on her face was one of utter shock.

“Daring Do? How is that possible?”

“I’m not sure what you mean…”

“What do you mean you don’t know what I mean? You just said you had Daring Do!”

“Rainbow, that’s impossible.”

“Am I missing something?”

The others simply looked on in confusion as they watched the verbal debacle before them. Twilight began mumbling something about magic that was utterly incomprehensible to the rest. Dash and Mike simply kept going back and forth for several seconds, neither realizing that his turn of phrase was in fact a popular fiction series back home, or rather, that the popular book series back home was in fact, a mere turn of phrase here. After simply watching the goings back and forth for a moment or two, Rarity was the first to speak up.

“My friends. I fear you’ve managed to misunderstand each other. Mike, was that another one of your, ‘expressions’?”

“Was what another one of my expressions?”

“’Tales of Daring Do’?”

“Yea… Why, is that a thing where you guys are from?”

Dash, seemingly heartbroken, slumped onto the couch. Unshed tears began to well up in her eyes as the glimmer of hope for something from home was lost. Twilight, oblivious to Rarity’s observation continued mumbling under her breath. Mike, not certain what he had done wrong, yet still feeling guilty, slumped into a chair that sat in front of a small writing desk that sat along the far wall of the room. Rarity, recognizing the apparent anguish in her friend’s eyes, sat down and put a comforting arm around her shoulder before turning to address their host.

“I’m sorry dear. I’m sure it was an accident. We’ll be home soon. Mike, as you say, it is indeed ‘a thing’ back home. Daring Do is quite possibly the most popular fiction series in all of Equestria. It’s also Dashie here’s personal favorite.”

“Oh. I’m so sorry. I had no clue.”

“I know dear. It’s alright.”

“What’s it like? I mean, what kind of stories are they?”

As he asked, the light bulb within clicked on. The old Indiana Jones novel that she still clutched must be the closest thing to her beloved books she had seen. What he initially considered an overly emotional reaction to something simple and childish suddenly became clear as well. These women were far from home, impossibly far. There was nothing familiar about anything to them. He had unwittingly given the multihued woman a ray of hope, only to stomp it out like a rather distasteful bug. He cut the response off with a wave of a hand and continued while pointing to the book in her hands.

“Hold on. I feel like an idiot. Dash, how close is that to Daring Do from back home?”

She looked up from the floor, rubbing her eye with her free hand. Clearly, the seemingly inconsequential idea of having a book form home to read had hit her far harder than she had anticipated. No one in the room begrudged her the outburst.

“It’s almost exactly like this. Except, you don’t get to pick how the story goes.”

“Ah. I’ve got you covered. Have you ever seen a movie? Are those a thing in Equestria too?”

“Yes darling. We have them. I’d much rather read though than sit in one of those rooms and stare at a grainy picture for an hour. Why do you ask?”

“Rarity, things are a bit different here. Dash, cheer your ass up. I’ve got just the thing. It sure as hell isn’t like what you’ve got at home, but it’s about as close to seeing that book happen in reality as you’re going to get. “

With those words, he strode across the room to the cabinet near the television and began sifting through the DVD cases. As he walked past, Twilight was snapped out of her reverie. She started to ask him something but he ignored her words continuing his search. Many a confused and skeptic look was shared as he sifted through the titles. Twilight was first to speak this time.

“Mike, what are you doing?”

“Introducing you all to the wonders of technology and doing my level best to cheer Dash up,” he stated blankly as the titles blazed through his fingertips.

“I don’t need chee-“

“You’re full of crap Dash. I’ve been lost on the other side of the world before,” his tone grew soft as he spoke.

“I know how it goes. At least some of it. I actually had a place I could go to if worst came to worst. You’re just stuck with me. You don’t know where you are and have no way to get back, yet. In the meantime, you have to deal with my seemingly astounding level of ignorance until a better option presents itself. If a better option presents itself. I can’t help you get home.  All I can do is help the trip not completely suck. To that end, sit back and watch.”

With a look of triumph on his face, Mike raised the title before them. The title read,  “Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade.” Turning on his heel, he inserted the disc into the player and fired up the TV. As he did so, he gave them a brief lesson on what contained within the film they were about to watch was based in fact and what was based in fiction. It suddenly seemed rather important to make a clear distinction between the two.

“Alright, I’m gonna make us some popcorn. After this, we should probably hit the sack. We need to be at that office again by noon at the latest tomorrow if we’re going to have any hope of pulling this off on Wednesday.”

As he made his way to the kitchen, he had a sudden realization.

“Um, Fluttershy?”

“Y-yes?”

“It just occurred to me that this particular movie might not exactly be to your liking.”

"W-why do you say that?"

“There is a scene where a man’s face is melted off as his flesh dissolves and rots whilst his bones turn to dust.”

The realism of the sound emanating from the television and the clarity of the image had them stunned as the fanfare blew and the opening credits began to role. They all looked in horror from Mike and back to the television.

“I might also add that the character in question is not real, no one was harmed during that scene, and that the character in question is a Nazi.”

His statement was met with confusion.

“The guy who dies that way deserves it.”

“How could anypony-!?”

“Nazis, historically speaking, murdered anywhere from several hundred thousand men, women and children to several million.”

This statement of fact was met with horrified gasps. Fluttershy looked physically ill.

“Tell you what, that scene used to scare the bejesus out of me as a kid. I’ll let you know when it comes so you can turn away. Okay? I’ll let you all know.”

The movie began.

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“Ohmigoshomigoshomigoshomigoshomigoshomigoshomigosh! That was awesome! That part where Indiana was being dragged behind that giant metal thing with the men inside was so cool! Then the part where his dad ruined that thing they used to fly… Do humans like you really use machines like that to fly? My favorite part though was when-“

Much to everyone’ surprise, the enthusiastic speaker was in fact Fluttershy. She simply could not get enough of the idea of the selfless hero versus the unabashed unquestionably evil villains. Though, she was not a particular fan of the character of the father, courtesy of a scene involving some birds and a rather unfortunate fighter pilot meeting a gruesome and fiery end due to an umbrella of all things. Once she realized that it was in fact all entirely fake and that no creatures were hurt or killed, she took to the rest of the film quite well.

Dash on the other hand simply stared at the now blank screen. Her expression was unreadable. Her demeanor was one of utter shock. The rest seemed to enjoy the film well enough, but where no great fans of the ridiculous exploits. Twilight was interested in the various myths and legends spoken of in the film and said as much as she and Rarity did their best to extricate the normally hyperactive Pinkie from behind the couch.  Applejack sat looking at Fluttershy with a bemused look on her face. Seeing the normally calm and demure and terrified creature sing the praises of, whatever the heck it was that they had just watched, was truly something to behold. Mike waved a hand in front of Dash attempting to gain her attention.

“You, Earth to Dash, you alright there?”

“Huh? Wha-?”

“You okay?”

“Yea… I just… That was…”

“Awesome! I know!”

“Wait, Fluttershy?”

Mike snickered at Dash’s realization of the most avid fan in the room. The two discussed the film at length while the rest of the bunch decided on sleeping arrangements. Once the rooms had been chosen, the two former pegasi joined the conversation regarding temporary house rules. Soon after, everyone made their way to bed. Before turning in himself, Mike collected the books he had promised and doled them out to those who had expressed an interest. The night was sure to be interesting.

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“You are strange, creature. You are prideful yet humble. You are cruel but kind, broken yet whole, a child within but aged without, and yet still wise beyond your years. You hate not instead of love, but because you love. You guide and protect those you feel responsible for, yet you abandon them to their own devices. You love lesser creatures, yet you eat of their flesh. You possess great skill but no ambition. You are a living breathing contradiction. What are you creature?”

The voice spoke out of a black void. There was no other sound. There was no other sense. There was no light, nor dark. There was no gravity. No walls or barriers marred the black. There was nothing but the voice. Mike attempted to respond, but he had no mouth. When he tried to look down, he realized that there was no body. With this realization, he found himself looking down upon his own form as though it had been there the entire time.

Mike saw himself standing before him through the eyes of another. His naked form simply floated within the void.  Yet, there was no other present. Attempting to move his body, he found that it responded as it normally would to such commands. He still maintained control, though he was not actually occupying the… vehicle? As the voice continued its list of contradictions, images flashed behind the head of his body. From his vantage he could see what stories the images told.

Some were his past. Many were distant memories. Friends, family, those he had loved and those he had lost stood alongside those he had gained. There was no distinction. There was only fact. These were those he had some to know. His past actions were played out as on hundreds of tiny flashing screens. Moments of pain, and sorrow played alongside moments of purest joy and happiness. Confusion furrowed the brow of his body. His greatest dreams and darkest secrets flashed before him. Each was vivid as though they were happening in this instant.

What was this? Who was that voice? As these thoughts came to mind, his body voiced them.

“What is this place? Who are you?”

“Who I am is unimportant. This place is your mind. It is a gateway to your soul. You are dreaming Michael.”

“This is no dream. I know when I dream. My dreams are lucid. This is no dream.”

“It is creature. You are not in your world anymore. You are in mine.”

“Wrong. If this is indeed a dream, this is my world.”

With his declaration and affirmation of self, the perspective suddenly shifted. He looked out through his own eyes. His limbs were his own. His voice was his own. This dream, was his own. As such, it was his to mold, his to shape. The void around him began to shift. The empty expanse gained shape and definition. A stark white floor bloomed from beneath his feet. Stretches of the floor rose up fully enveloping his body. After a moment, the floor withdrew leaving him fully clothed.

His garb was a stark contrast with the blinding white floor and obsidian walls that surrounded him. He had clothed himself similarly to how he had the previous day. He wore blue jeans, with black leather boots and belt. His shirt was pure blinding white and his vest ash grey. Around his neck was a loose crimson neck tie.  The sleeves were rolled to above the elbow. Slung across his hip was a strange tool pouch, much like that which he wore in the field.  On his hands he wore a pair of dark grey and black fingerless gloves and a silver engraved ring on his left middle finger.

Reaching into the pouch, he withdrew a cigarette and began to smoke as he began to antagonize the unknown voice.

“Show yourself. You dare to invade my privacy; I demand to know who is here. I have seen some shit in recent history. I have no qualms in waging a one man war.”

“So I see.”

Images of recent events, well preceding the arrival of his guests, began to sift through in front of him. Walking in the dead of night, keeping watch over his family. Fighting to save a friend. Driving hundreds of miles to simply put a stop to the madness. Climbing a literal mountain solely to defeat his own internal daemons.

“These aren’t me fighting. These are what happen when I compromise. This is what happens when I fight.”

With a wave of his hand, the images shifted. Driving, with reckless speed. Tools being used as physical weapons. Taking another’s place to survive. Standing alone, surrounded, radiating fear, pain and loss. Standing, his back to a woman, the fist of another man in his hand. Lying, beaten, broken and crushed in the middle of a lamp lit street. Running, through water and darkness, searching and calling for those lost within…

“I see you fight creature. I know that you fight. I am here to understand why.”

The images shifted once more. Many the same, but enhanced, changed. A woman hiding in fear from an unseen attacker clutching a cell as the car comes to a screeching halt. Thieves destroying his father’s work. A nameless soul on the ground at his feet. A man readying an intoxicated blow. A man shredding an envelope, his face an expression of hatred as a small silver ring falls to the floor…

“I ask again. What are you creature? Why do you fight?”

The images of his reasons, his purpose, caught him off guard. His anger at the intrusion faded. He had never examined his reasons for those things he had done. He had simply done them. There had never been time to think. There was only ever time to act. New images appeared.

Beaten, broken. Injured. Lost. Alone in the darkness. His possessions gone. These, he was not the hero. There was no hero. There was only a singular victim.

“I’m a survivor. I fight so that people I care about don’t have to.”

“You knew very few of these others.”

“I knew that I was once them. No one came to my aid.”

“Why aid them then?”

“Why would I not?”

“No others did.”

“Do you have a point?”

“That is my point.”

Silence reigned for what seemed an eternity.The voice seemed to convey a hint of satisfaction. Whatever it was, whoever it was, was happy with whatever had been said. It was happy with his reasons for the things he had done. Ike suddenly realized that whoever they were, was no aggressor. They were afraid that he may be the aggressor.

“So. While it’s great to have the pleasure of examining my entire life before my morning shower and in my sleep to boot, who are you? Why are you doing this? Even better question, how?"

“I guard the night. I stand between nightmares and dreams.”

“Sandman? Interesting. Your voice strikes me as feminine. Who are you? You just watched my entire life fly by. Give me that courtesy.”

“You would not know us.”

“If I did, I wouldn’t be asking.”

A loud sigh echoed through the space. There was clearly no need for any formality or mystery on either side.Neither intended harm, only to prevent it. A soft clopping of hooves drifted from a corner. Slowly, a shape began to form. The black of the walls shifted forming a vortex. The black of the spiral shifted to varying shades of blue. As he watched, the colors spun free of the rotating mass and began to take shape. Soon, a stunningly alien, yet stunningly beautiful, creature stood before him.

The creature before him was equine in form, but was colored shades of dark blue. Its mane seemed to contain the entirety of the night sky as it flowed upon an invisible cosmic wind. The creature wore barding decorated in an ever shifting pattern of phases of the moon. A great pair of wings sprouted from the creatures back, arcing against its body in an unnaturally graceful curve. The face it bore contained a large pair of expressive eyes with irises of a deep azure blue. In the center of the creature’s forehead was a pointed horn.

Mike’s eyes widened in surprise. The creature that stood before him was something that didn’t exist in any of the myths or legends he was familiar with.

“You may call us, ‘Luna.’”

“Please, call me, ‘Mike.’”

The creature smiled.

“It is a pleasure to meet you, ‘Mike.’”

“I have to ask. Why the ridiculous charade? Was that really necessary? I assume you have something to do with my unexpected guests…”

“I do indeed. I know nothing of you or your kind. Your species is unknown to us. My teacher, student and friend is presently in your care. Through no fault of her own, she became your charge. We seek to discover a way to bring her home, and discover who is responsible for her appearance in your world.”

“I’m gathering that someone sabotaged her spell?”

“We believe so, yes.”

“Why me?”

“You were not chosen. You were simply in the right place at the right time.”

“Interesting.”

“That is not all that you would say is interesting. Who are you among your people?”

“What do you mean?”

“What is your station? Whom do you lead, what armies do you champion? Your memories show none.”

“I have no, ‘station.’ I’m just an ordinary working class joe.”

“That is not possible.”

“How so?”

“We are only able to communicate this way with our subjects who are within our kingdom. Or those with Royal blood.”

“Well, I’m certainly not one of your, ‘subjects,’ and, unless I missed something, I don’t have any kings or queens in my family.”

“Your mark would dictate otherwise.”

“My what now?”

“The mark emblazoned upon your chest.”

Mike looked down to see that the vest he had conjured forth from the aether was emblazoned upon the chest with an image. The image was that of the silhouette of a man standing tall with his arm outstretched holding a pair of balances. It was in fact, his company logo. He began to laugh.

“That’s not a mark of royalty. That’s the company I work for. Traditionally, it is the symbol for those born under the constellation of Libra. It is also an ancient symbol for justice and equality. The balance represents the final judgment. The man symbolizes god. I repair scales. None quite so important as the one depicted here, but the importance of the work is irrelevant.”

With a soft smile, she responded.

“That is not the mark we refer to.”