Eq Renaissance Part 23 (Ed)

   Pinkie Pie poofed back into existence.  She almost bent over double with her mouth wide open.  She was certain that she was about to lose her lunch after the jarring teleportation.  Yet the nausea disappeared almost as quickly as it came.  When she straightened back up, she noticed she was in some kind of manicured forest glen, perhaps a park, and up through the trees she could see the palace and the cliff it was perched upon.  She was also still holding on tightly to the hands of her friends.
   “Don’t let go,” Twilight said.
   “Oh God,” Pinkie knew what was going to happen next, but didn’t care for it, and didn’t have a chance to prepare.  There was another flash of purple light, then they were out standing in the middle of a field of tall grass.  Canterlot Palace was now further off in the distance.  Pinkie felt that wave of nausea again, but it wasn’t as strong and it went away even faster.  Teleportation must be an acquired taste, she thought.  She also noticed a curious smell of ozone, like that electrical fire that one time she spilled the soda on the back of that television.
   Twilight didn’t even give a warning the next time.  One second they were standing there, the next they were gone, having traveled several hundred yards away in less than any measurable amount of time.  Pinkie noticed the Canterlot Palace didn’t look that much further away than last time.  Now that Twilight didn’t have a high vantage point, she couldn’t teleport as far as that first time.
   She could teleport faster though.  Scenery started to flash by them, first every couple of seconds, then more than once per second.  It was terribly disorienting.  Pinkie felt the nausea again, very mild but constant, a bit like being on a small boat in waves.  Sometimes they would be standing in bright, warm sunlight, the next they’d be in the cool shade of a deep forest.  The very air was changing around them; she could feel it in her lungs as she drew a single breath.
   Twilight was carefully avoiding any roads or towns or any other populated areas.  The others could tell, based on the scenery that was flashing past them, that they were on their way back to Ponyville.  The urban areas were giving way to the tell-tale rolling farmed fields.  In some ways, they felt comfort that they were returning to their homes, even though they knew they had never been so far away before.
   It was too much of a strain on Twilight.  They stopped in a forest, surrounded by bushes and well screened from any possible witnesses.  She released Pinkie’s hand and bent at the waist, placing her one hand on her knee for support.  The others let Twilight catch her breath.  Then they noticed that Zecora too was sweating profusely and out of breath, as if she had been assisting Twilight in the powerful magic.
   “We should go to me,” Zecora said.  “Go around Ponyville and go straight into the forest.  If you mean to hide from this Celestia, that is the place to do it.”
   Twilight was still gasping, and didn’t answer.
   “Whaddya mean go to you?” Applejack ask.  “You mean the pony version of you?  Or the zebra version of you or whatever it may be?”
   “Applejack!” Rarity said, appalled.
   “Why don’t we go to Twilight?” Pinkie asked.  “I mean pony Twilight not people Twilight.”
   “Yeah,” said Dash.  “She’s closer.  She’d know what to do.”
   “We would have to get through Ponyville to the library and all while unseen,” Zecora said.  “That would be too difficult.”
   “I vote we go to Twilight anyway,” Applejack said.  “After all we been through, I don’t want to go back into those woods.  Who knows how worse they are on this side of the mirror.”
   “I don’t know how this version of Twilight might react,” Zecora said.  “She is easily startled and quick to overreact.  She may inadvertently cause more harm than good when suddenly confronted with us in this appearance.  No offense, child.  You still have some things to learn about magic and the unexpected.”
   Twilight shook her head, indicating that she hadn’t taken any.
   “I vote with AJ,” Dash said.
   “As do I,” Rarity added.
   “No,” Twilight finally spoke up before Pinkie could offer her opinion.  “No.  You’re both right.  They’re both poor choices.  I’m taking us somewhere else.”
   “Where?” Dash ask.  “To who?”
   “I’m ready,” Twilight said, offering her hand instead of an answer.  They formed a chain again, and in a purple flash they were gone.

   Summer had come early to Equestria; it wasn’t even the solstice yet.  It was particularly welcomed by the ponies who liked such weather, as during the last two years the summers had come late, and had been unusually wet and cool.  Maybe with a little coaxing, the pegasus ponies could be convinced to keep the weather this way all summer long.
   The sun was bright, and already warming things up despite the early hour of the day.  The winter snow pack was melting fast, which meant that the little brook beside the cottage was running high and cold, burbling as it went.  The trout were enjoying it.  An audience would only have to wait a short time before seeing them leap out of the water to snatch a fat bug from the air.
   The bugs themselves were enjoying the weather as much as anybody.  They had hatched early, and in large number.  The flowering trees and bushes were positively vibrating as large swarms of bees buzzed around them.  It was an orgy of pollination; legs danced among stamen and pistils, shaking loose the thick pollen, ensuring the plants would be swollen and gravid with rich fruit before summer’s end.
   That was what Fluttershy was doing now, watching the bees as they went about their business.  She had already inspected the little vegetable garden she grew behind the cottage.  It had been sowed right at Winter Wrap-Up, and the seedlings were already getting big.  Then she had gone out the front door, and strolled along the little path, where the thick vines of morning glories, and the hedgerows were being attended by the bumblebees.
   Then she went out into the untilled fields, where wild flowers grew, and birds built nests of grass right on the ground.  Everything today seemed so vibrant and alive.  At moments like this, Fluttershy felt her happiest.  Everything seemed to be just like that day she had first fallen out of the sky.
   There was a noise.  Her ear twitched.  Fluttershy turned her whole body around, startled.  Then her heart leapt into her throat.  There was something coming out of that little stand of trees, off in the distance.  It was some kind of... animal, something Fluttershy had never seen before.  It was a ways off, most ponies wouldn’t be frightened of its appearance at this distance, she thought, but she herself was terrified.  She felt like running.  Then she saw that it was hurt.  One of its limbs, an arm she supposed, was missing.
   “Oh my goodness,” Fluttershy said, as she went trotting over to Twilight.  “Are you hurt?  Are you OK?”
   “I... I’m okay,” Twilight said.
   “Oh, you can talk?” Fluttershy asked.  She had stopped a little short of Twilight, perhaps a bit more wary of her than she would have been with a simple beast who couldn’t talk.
   “I can, yes,” Twilight said.  “I don’t mean to startle you.”
   “Are you sure you’re not hurt?  You’re not in any pain?”
   “Thank you, no,” Twilight tried to smile at the undeserved kindness of this little pony.
   “But you’re crying,” Fluttershy said.
   “I’m okay, I’m not in pain,” Twilight tried to explain.  “I’m just happy to see you.  I’m in trouble, though, and I really need your help.”
   “You poor thing, of course.  Come to my house and I’ll do everything I can for you.  But... you’re... you’re Twilight Sparkle, aren’t you?” Fluttershy asked.
   “Yes,” Twilight said, grateful that she wouldn’t have to explain, but surprised nonetheless.  “How could you tell?”
   “You have the same voice,” Fluttershy said.  “Also, I think there’s something about your eyes.  You have the same purple eyes.  I don’t know how to explain it.  You’re not my Twilight Sparkle, but I can tell you’re her.  And also... well... you’ve been hurt...  Just like my Twilight.”
   “Hurt?”  Twilight ask.  “You mean I’ve been... I mean your pony Twilight, she’s been hurt too?”
   “Yes, but she’ll be just fine.  I can take you to her if you’d like, I’m sure she’d be interested to talk to you.  Why don’t you come back to my house?  It looks like you haven’t eaten in awhile, and I could fix you some lunch.”
   “That sounds wonderful, Fluttershy.  But I should tell you, I’m not alone.  I have some friends with me, but we all need some help.”
   “Oh?”  Fluttershy shuffled her hooves.
   “I didn’t want to bring them out until you’re ready.  I didn’t want to startle you.”
   “Thank you.  You’re very thoughtful, just like my Twilight.  I’m sure she’d do the same.  Um, they can come out now, if they want to that is.”
   “OK, guys,” Twilight called back into the woods.  “I think we’re going to be fine.”
   Fluttershy breathed a sigh of relief.  She didn’t recognize what creatures these were, but she recognized who they were.  Here was Applejack.  Rainbow Dash.  Pinkie Pie, unmistakable behind that big pink hair and that cheerful smile.  Rarity.  Even Zecora was here.  Fluttershy was surprised that she wasn’t frightened at all, even when they came over and gave her strange hugs with their strange arms.  “But, um, where am...  I don’t see... well, OK.  If this is everybody, then let’s go.”

   You can’t see anything.  There’s not a hint of light in this little room.  All you can feel is the pain in your chest, and the sick, nauseating sensation it brings.  All there is the hard cold stone floor.  There’s a bowl, but all it contains is straw.
   It’s impossible to tell how long you’ve been there.  You came back to consciousness fairly soon after you were hit, but you’ve drifted off to sleep and back several times.  In the blackness, sleep comes easily, but strangely.  Feeling the growth of hair on your chin, you can guess that you’ve not been here for more than twenty four hours.  It feels much longer, it feels like its been days, weeks.  Part of that is the pain.  Part of that is the darkness.  Most of it, though, is the waiting, the endless waiting for the inevitable.
   You don’t have to wait much longer.  The sound of their metal shoes on the floor is loud, and you can hear them coming from down the hall.  There are eight legs, two ponies, one with a longer stride.  You still find it hard to believe, but one of them is using a ring of keys.  Then it’s unlocking the door.
   The light pours in.  For a brief moment, your eyes sting worse than your ribs.  The light pushes you back, as if it’s a solid physical presence in and of itself.  You slink back against the far wall, pressing your shoulders into it.  Your pulse rises, your breath quickens, but you can only take half a lungful before your shattered ribs scream in protest.
   It’s not just the light streaming in, it’s her presence, she’s practically glowing herself.  There’s a white hot blaring light to her, complemented with every color of the rainbow.  She’s unmistakable, of course.  Her form is different than anything you’ve ever seen, yet you know her instantly, she’s got the same presence, the commanding authority, the same soul.  There was a time, that time being most of your life, when you would have bent your knees to her, you would have given your life for her.  No all you do is cower, and try to block out that terrible light.
   “First, I would like to apologize,” she tells you.  It’s that same voice, velvety and smooth.  It’s domineering, yet warm and motherly at the same time.  You’ve heard it all your life, on the radio, or on television.  Your mother heard it, and your grandmother, and all your ancestors going all the way back, back before any records your family still keeps.
   “We have other facilities.  Other... cells, where we could have put you.  I wasn’t informed until recently that you were down here in this particular place.   My guards tell me they were uncertain where to put you.  Some of my little ponies were in the more modern cells, and the guards were unsure if your appearance might cause unnecessary disruption.  That’s the only reason they placed you here.”
   You say nothing to this.  You unsure what you’d say anyway; you don’t usually talk much.
   “Secondly, I’m sorry that it came to violence.  I sincerely wish that could have been avoided.  Perhaps if I had been present at the time, we could have avoided all this.  Perhaps we could have just talked in through.
   “And I’m terribly sorry you’ve been hurt.”  She lowers her horn towards you.  The thing is several feet long, and sharpened to a tip you can’t even see.  You flinch, thinking she might just run you through right now and end your misery.  You’ve faced death before, but the sight of that horn pointed at your chest terrifies you like nothing else.  The flinch, of course, sends stabbing pain throughout your body.
   The pain is receding though.  Her horn, you notice, isn’t lunging forward, but has a pale glow to it - not an imagined glow - but a real, magical one.  She waves it side to side, and you realize she’s healing you.  It’s an odd feeling, both warm and cold at the same time.  Your bones are knitting themselves back together, and you can feel every moment.  It’s the pain, though, or the absence of it, that is the most extraordinary thing.  The relief you feel is immeasurable, like an enormous weight is being lifted off your shoulders.  You laugh just once, in spite of your circumstances, now that it’s gone.  There’s a sharp familiar pain that comes shooting back, but it’s blunted and dulled now, a ghost of its former self.
   “Be careful,” Celestia says, “please.  I haven’t healed you completely.”  She sees the reaction contort your face.  “Not because I don’t want to, I’m unfamiliar with your anatomy.  But perhaps that’s something we should discuss next.
   “You see, I know what you are.  You’re a man, aren’t you?  And you could have only come through my mirror.  That’s never happened before.  I’ve only learned of your kind through ancient whispers, told since before I was born.   There are descriptions of you in the oldest books in the deepest parts of my library, but they’re brief and vague.  I confess, I know little of your people.
   “It’s a shame, really, it all had to happen like this.  There was no need for trouble.  I can understand how you must have been frightened, having come through to a world you’re not familiar with.  I can understand why you tried to run and get away.  I think I know why your friends fled when the guards came.”
   You realize now that she’s closely reading the expression on your face.  Too late, though, to stop from reacting.
   “Yes, I know you came through with others.  That’s alright though, don’t be frightened.  I mean you and them no harm.  I’d like to help them any way I can, just like I’ve helped you.  They’ve run off though.  You don’t know where they’ve run to, do you?”
   Everybody thinks you’re stupid, but you’re not that stupid.  You say nothing.
   “Is there a way I could contact them?  I also imagine they must be terribly worried about you, having left you behind.  Can you, at the very least, tell me your name?  If I could contact them, I’d like to tell them you’re here, and that you’re safe now, and that all we want to do is help you and your friends.  This was all a terrible misunderstanding.  Isn’t that right?  So may I ask again for your name, please?”
   It sounds reasonable to you.  You think about it.  Apparently this princess takes your slowness in answering for a refusal to answer at all.  A lot of people make that sort of mistake.  She keeps talking.
   “Are there there wars on your side of the mirror?” she asks, apparently unaware she’s started a completely unnecessary one herself.  “I think there must be.  If there are wars, then there are soldiers.  If a soldier gets captured by the other side, it’s okay if he tells them his name, isn’t it?  In fact, it’s almost an obligation on his part.  Nothing bad can come of it.”
   You open your mouth to speak.  She’s right on that account.  Name, rank, and serial number.  It’s in all the movies and books.  In fact, you yourself are a soldier, or at least you were for an hour or two before you deserted.  Perhaps there’s irony there, given you turned your back to Celestia.  You’ve got a name.  You have a rank - private.  They even gave you a serial number, though you’ve long since forgotten it.
   You freeze just before you speak, now thankful that you’re slow.  You have a name.  Your name is Big Macintosh.  The problem is, you’re not the only one with that name.  Everything you’ve seen and heard leads you to believe there’s a Big Macintosh here on this side of the mirror.  He’s just like you, except he’s a pony.  He’s probably out breaking his back on the farm, if he’s lucky.  If you tell her your name, that will lead her to him.  It could lead her to your sister on this side, and her friends.  If your friends have fled anywhere, they’ve probably gone there.  Celestia is too slick by far.  She almost had you.  There’s really little hope for a dumb hick like you except to keep your mouth shut.
   You close your mouth.
   Her eyebrow raises.  “You won’t at least tell me your name?”
   You say nothing.
   “Very well,” she says.  “A man has come to Equestria, yet he’s chosen to remain anonymous.  There’s nothing I’m going to do about that.  There are ways I could make you talk, of course, but I’m not going to do anything against your will.
   “You see, I like to, at the very least, consider myself a kind and just ruler.  My little ponies are happy and well off.  We have peace along our borders.  I’ve done everything in my power to turn my kingdom into a utopia.  Oh, it’s not perfect, but I do everything I can for my country and my ponies.”
   “So I want you to understand something.  I love my ponies, dearly.  I will do everything in my power to protect them and this land.  Understand, sir, that my kindness, my generosity, my friendship... none of that will be extended to anybody who threatens my land.  I have terrible power beneath my exterior, all of my will, all of my magic will be used to defend Equestria.  Enemies have tried before, and they’ve all been destroyed.  You can trust me on that, do you understand me?”
   You nod.  It’s the first communication you’ve actually had during this discussion, interrogation, whatever it is.
   She stares you down.  Her eyes seem to fume, and you can’t press into the wall any harder.  Her horn glows, but this time the door behind her opens.  Something flies through under the power of her magic.
   “Then do you mind telling me what this is?” she asks.
   Your heart has never sunk lower.  Its your pistol, the one you stole from the guard on the other side.  You brought it because you thought it might save you, now it may doom you all.
   Again she mistakes your slowness for obstinacy.  “Nevermind.  You don’t have to tell me.  I know exactly what this is.  It’s a weapon.  It’s a terrible weapon, and you’ve brought it with you, into my land.  My guards tell me you wielded it at them but didn’t use it.  If you had, you’d be dead now.  If you had hurt one of my guards I’d have trampled you myself.  The mere fact that you’ve brought this here terrifies me.  These don’t exist in Equestria, and for good reason.”
   You close your eyes, thinking she might kill you here and now.  She’s your princess, the same as the other, and you’ve enraged her.  You’ve never been on her bad side before, and now you almost feel as if you deserve to die.
   “I’m sorry,” she says again.  “But given your refusal to talk?  Given you won’t even tell me your name?” She looks at the floating gun in front of her.  “And in lieu of this?  Well, you’ve given me no other choice.”
   The gun floats away.  Celestia backs out the door, then it swings shut.  Darkness swallows you again.