"Are you..are you a...human?"
His outfit was something she'd never seen in any of the Rarity's designs.
He wore a red jacket, a tight, black undershirt underneath it, and white jeans that went down to his red shoes.
And holding up the drape of red cloth to his waistline was a buckle with the word 'FREE' on it. On his head was the headband she saw worn by the
man she'd first seen in the book. Twilight wondered if this was the same man from the photo. He held his weapon in his left hand. From how it had been used,
Twilight judged it to be a sword. Yet it looked like a large stick made of metal. Despite the sword's odd shape, it did do some considerable damage to those beasts.
"Yeah," he said in reply, "and you're a talking pony. First those monsters...then you. This is turning out to be a weird day for me."
"Me too," said Twilight. "I don't know how I got here and...I've got to find a way back home. Can you help me?"
Twilight hoped the man would say yes. But his eyes were on the state of the village. It didn't seem like he had any interest in her problems.
"Are you the only one here?"
Twilight nodded.
"I'm Sol. And you are?"
"I'm Twilight. Twilight Sparkle."
"That's your name? Hilarious."
The little pony frowned. "And what kind of name is Sol, anyway? Is that all there is to your name?"
"No. My full name's Sol Badguy."
"And my name is weird, how?" Sol held back from pointing out what he thought was funny about her name.
"Never mind that. Do you know how to fight?"
Twilight looked down and slid her hoof in the dirt, a bit embarrassed.
"No, I'm more of a...magical type of pony. A unicorn. I feel that physical violence doesn't solve anything."
"Whatever gets you through the day, kid. But if I didn't show up here and save you, you'd be dead by now."
"Yeah...good point. So, can you help me get back to my home?"
Sol shook his head.
"Look. I'd help you out if I could. But I came here to get down to business. I have to rid this place of these monsters and find out what's behind all this."
Then the man stood back up and started to walk away. "Take care of yourself. Don't get killed by the monsters, okay?"
The monsters. Twilight felt a fear within her about them. How would she, a pony with no real experience in mortal combat, fare out here in the wilderness
on a mysterious island? Dealing with fierce, evil creatures who had no qualms about eating her up? In a heartbeat, she ran after Sol and got in his way.
Sol frowned, annoyed to see her once again.
"What is it now?"
"Please! I...I need your help!"
"I told ya, I can't send you back home."
"But can you protect me? From the monsters..and stuff?"
Sol groaned. He scratched the back of his head with his sword and turned away from her face. He glanced back at her to see her pouty lips.
That's when he realized for the first time how big her eyes actually were. As she stared at him, he felt his resolve weaken.
Tears were close to making their escape from her eyes. That was it. He couldn't stand it. This pony was impossible to say no to.
"Fine. Sure. Let's go."
"Y..you mean it?"
"Yeah. Come on." He started to walk on through the village. Twilight was quick to hurry after him. She kept up with his two feet on her four hooves,
walking by his side all the while.
"I'll let you tag along for now. Maybe after I find out what's the story with this island, I can work on finding you a way back home. That good for you?"
Twilight nodded.
"Good. Why don't you tell me more about this home of yours?"
"Oh, you mean Ponyville? It's a nice, peaceful place with lots and lots of ponies. Everypony there is friendly and..well, I wouldn't say everypony.
But everypony I know is nice."
"Everypony? Boy, what kind of world do you live in? So you have friends there, I take it?"
"Oh, yes. I have a lot of good friends. First, there's Applejack. She's a pony who's really tough."
"Tough, huh," teased Sol. "How tough we talking?"
"Tough enough to chuck a bunch of grapes using only her face!"
"Whoa," said Sol with a laugh, "that IS tough."
"I know! She's really..wait, are you being sarcastic?"
"Nope."
But before she could determine if he was, another green hopper beast showed up. It lunged at Twilight, baring its deadly claws. Twilight stood still in terror,
but Sol reacted, slamming the beast's body to the dirt with one fist to the brains. Once she was sure it was safe, Twilight used a hoof to poke at the monster.
It didn't move, not in the least. She wagged her tail, happy to have Sol as her protector.
"Wow, Sol! You're really strong!"
"Thanks. But it's not something I'm proud of." He moved over the monster's carcass and walked on. Twilight soon followed after him.
"I mean it, Sol. You're probably stronger than Applejack! And she's the toughest pony I know. Next to Rainbow Dash, that is."
"Again, it's not something I like to talk about."
"But why not? You're human, right? I read that humans have fragile bodies, just like us ponies do. But you don't have the use of magic like I do.
So seeing that kind of physical strength from a human being is...just amazing!"
"But I'm not human."
Twilight didn't understand. "You're not human? Then...what are you?"
"I'm what you might call, a Gear."
"A Gear? You mean, like in a clock?"
"Something like that. Gears are different. You could say we're like the gears in a clock. But we're unstable parts that don't operate the same as others do."
"Uh, I'm going to need to know more than that."
For no real reason, Sol held his sword high above his head. He tilted the blade, reflecting the rays of the sun on his face.
"Gears are basically beings genetically altered by science. They can be composed of anything. From humans or animals. Or both. They live on instinct and their only
desire is to kill anything in sight." Twilight then came to a stop. She gave Sol a fearful expression.
"Does that mean, that you..?"
"No. I was lucky. I was a prototype Gear. And after a couple of years, I put this headband on. It retains my humanity and keeps me from warping into a monster."
"Oh, that's good. But these Gears...who would create something so evil?"
"Someone I should've taken out a long time ago. But I'm workin' on another case right now. In due time, I swear I will exterminate the Gears from this world."
Once Sol was done talking, he lowered his sword and gazed up at the clouds.
"But wait. If you're a Gear, won't that mean you'll have to...that is...you.." She didn't know how to bring up the contradiction she saw in Sol's mission.
"Once I've gotten rid of all Gears, I'll finally be able to rest."
The little pony then looked up at Sol with sad eyes; she knew what he meant by that.
"Hey, I feel like I got to ask. What's with the book on your head?"
Twilight's eyes went up to the book from before. She was still balancing it on her head.
"This is a book I had with me on my arrival here. Hey, where are we, anyway?"
"Isene. It's some isolated island in the middle of some nation. Nothing special."
Just like in the book, thought Twilight. She could barely believe this was real. Maybe she was actually in the book, somehow?
"Back to that book...having the weight of it on your head will hold you back. Sooner or later, those monsters will return. You'd be better off
without that paperweight."
Though it was what got her in this mess, Twilight didn't want to get rid of the book. It might be the key to help her get back home.
"No! I want to hold on to it. Just in case."
"Well, in THAT case.."
Sol searched the area for something. Soon, he'd spotted it: the dead, charred skeleton of a horse. It had burnt reins in its mouth, and a saddle with bags
attached. He went to the horse and pulled off the saddle bags, then brought them to Twilight and placed them on her back. The saddle and its bags were both gray
and worn out, but were the perfect size for Twilight. The pony grimaced, knowing that she was wearing an accessory left on the body of something that had
been dead for a long time.
"Ewww! This is disgusting!"
"Get used to it. I'll just put your book in here." Once Sol put the book in one of the saddle bags, he closed the flap back on it. "It looks good on you."
"I really don't want to wear this!"
"Just give it time. Let's go."
Hours later, the two had left the village and came upon a huge structure. The moon rose slowly over the horizon, putting it in full view. It was an old mansion.
"Hmph," said Sol. "We need a place to sleep for the night. This will do."
Then Twilight heard a hum coming from one of the saddle bags.
"What's that sound?"
"I think it's the book," said Twilight. She opened the saddle bag flap and pulled the book out. One of the pages was glowing red. When she turned to the glowing
page, the light faded away. On the page was the picture of a perfect mansion. Twilight noticed it to be the same structure she and Sol were in the presence of. In
the description under the image, she read the text aloud: "Liberia Mansion. A wonderful castle made for the people. It's owner is Master...ummm..."
The name was scratched off the page.
"Well, whoever owned this mansion sure didn't keep it in good shape."
"That book," said Sol, "did it just give you info on this place?"
"I think so. I'm not sure how, but I think it's fueled by some sort of magic."
"The words in there are not relevant to the present. This entire island is a shadow of what it once was. And I need to find out why."
"Could a Gear," asked Twilight, "be behind all of this?"
"Yeah, maybe. It may be inside that mansion, waiting for us."
So they went in the front door and into the old mansion. On the inside, there were worn-out pillars holding up the ceiling. Twilight wondered how they got so
damaged. Were they aged by time? Or was it done by the monsters? Suddenly, strange moans filled the air. Twilight's eyes darted everywhere, in fear of the
unknown. "What was that?"
Sol pulled out his sword, ready to fight. "I don't know. But I'll kill it when it shows."
The moans came from the open doorway at the end of the long hallway of pillars. The sound of something moving was coming up the staircase. Reaching the top
of the stairs, Twilight recognized what it was from her books. It was the figure of a woman.
"Ooh, ooh, ooh! I know this one! That's a woman! A human female, the opposite gender of man!"
"How's that exciting?" Sol wasn't one to be so easily affected by the curves a woman.
"According to one of my books, human females are gentle, kind, and..." But her words fell short once the figure came out into the light for them to see.
It had the body of a woman, alright. Complete with slender arms, thin legs, even breasts. She had everything...except a head.
"Aaah! What is that thing, Sol?"
"Doesn't matter. It's dead." Sol ran towards the feminine figure and sliced through her. Immediately after Sol's attack, its body fell to pieces on the floor.
"Hah," said Sol with a grin, "too easy!" He went back to Twilight in a nonchalant walk. He didn't notice the pieces of the figure reforming in a menacing, purple glow.
"Sol," cried Twilight, "look out!"
Sol moved in time to dodge an arm swung at him from the still incomplete figure. He then blocked another arm with his sword. Seeing the danger he was in,
the little pony decided that she had to help him. Using her horn, she aimed for the figure's chest and fired out a shot of magic. Once it made impact, the figure's body
exploded, sending its pieces everywhere. Twilight suspected it would quickly re-form itself and attack again. But after some waiting, the pieces didn't move.
She did it. Twilight had won.
"You really did a number on that thing, kid," said Sol. "Good job. I don't think it'll be getting up anytime soon."
"Thanks," said Twilight. "It wasn't much. I just used my magic to separate it's body parts."
"This thing was just a mannequin," said Sol as he picked up a piece of the figure. "But it tried to kill us."
He gave a piece of it to Twilight, who carefully observed it.
"Is it possible that it was animated by magic?"
"No, this one was alive."
"Alive?"
Sol placed his hand on the mannequin's arm. "I can feel..human emotions. A desire to exist. There's something human in here. I know it."
"What does this mean?"
"Hard to say. We'll encounter more of these as we go further in this mansion. Sure you don't want to go back to that village?"
Twilight got mad at the suggestion. "I'm sticking with you, whether you like it or not. Get used to it!"
"Putting your hoof down and sticking to your word? I like that." Then Sol threw the mannequin arm aside.
"We got to keep going. There's bound to be an empty room where we can sleep for the night."
Continuing through the mansion, they deal with more monsters: some undead bats that try to suck their blood, more female mannequins of death, and more run-ins
with the hopper beasts from the village. Between Sol's brutal blows and Twilight's magic, the two were able to fight off the monsters and find an empty room.
The room looked as crappy as the rest of the mansion, but it had a bed and a window. Although, the bed had no cover and the window had been boarded up by
bricks. Sol put his sword under the pillow and lay down on the bed. He was about to put his head to rest when he noticed Twilight settling down on the ground
next to him.
"What are you doing down there, kid?"
The pony looked up at him and said, "What does it look like I'm doing? I'm going to bed!"
"On the floor?"
"You already got the bed, and I didn't want to be rude, so..."
Sol groaned as he scooped Twilight up in his arm and placed her on the bed.
"There. How's that?"
"Hey, what are you doing?"
"A kid like you," said Sol as he lay Twilight's head against the only pillow, "needs a good bed to sleep in. I don't mind letting you have the pillow if you take this side.
I'll sleep on the other."
"Stop treating me," said Twilight, her face blushing once again, "like a kid! I know I'm not as tough as you, but I can handle myself, thank you very much!"
Sol shrugged. "Sure, sleep on the floor. It's right there, if that's what you want."
He then turned over and fell asleep. Twilight didn't want to be mean to the one protecting her from certain death. But she didn't like being thought of as being weak.
It hurt her confidence, and she valued her self-confidence almost as much as her loyalty to her friends. She was pulled from her state of mind by the cold chill of the
pillow on her cheek. Wanting to make up for a lack of warmth, she moved closer to Sol, hoping to generate a little heat. As she slept that night, she had a dream of
her home back in Ponyville. In the dream, she was fast asleep in her nicely made bed next to a bookcase of perfectly organized books.
