Chapter Four: Negotiations
Princess Luna yawned sleepily as she watched her older sister read the letter over for what had to be the twentieth time, her eyebrows creased in worry.
"You can read it as many times as you wish Tia," mumbled Luna, stretching. "I doubt the contents will suddenly rearrange themselves into something different. What has got you so bothered anyways? You are usually in such a joyous mood when reading a letter from your student."
Princess Celestia paused, looking up at her younger sister. One look at the distraught expression on her face snapped Luna out of her sleepy state, concern welling within her.
"Has some disaster befallen our friends down in Ponyville?" she asked, voice filled with alarm.
Celestia paused, a hesitant look on her face as she seemed to contemplate her next words very carefully.
"Not exactly." She said, looking back down at the letter. "At least, not yet. But the situation down there is cause for concern. What do you make of this, little sister?"
She handed the letter over to Luna who looked over the contents. As she had figured out by now, it did not contain Twilight's usual heartwarming report on her lessons in friendship. Apparently, some sort of creature had been discovered near the town. Luna quirked an eyebrow as she read the description.
"What kind of creature is this, Tia? I've never heard of anything like it before."
Celestia looked out the window into the night sky, an unreadable expression on her face as she admired Luna's work. Several moments passed before she turned back to her sister, a solemn look on her face.
"It is a creature called a human." She stated. "They are a strange race from ancient times, one that used to rule over the planet. I won't go into how I know of them Luna, but I will say this. They are unpredictable. Some can have a heart of gold, just like anypony else. Others?" she shook her head, sadness in her eyes. "Let's just say they make Nightmare Moon look like Fluttershy."
Luna froze, the unpleasant name of her alter ego bringing back painful memories. There was something so bad that it put that raging nightmare to shame? What kind of disaster could something like that wreck on Equestria?
Celestia turned, trotting towards the balcony.
"What are we going to do, Tia?" whispered Luna, still in shock.
"I wish to confirm its intentions." She said, spreading her wings in the moonlight. "I will head down into Ponyville to speak with it. It's highly possible that it doesn't intend any harm. While I'm out, I would like to ask that you take over the royal duties in my stead."
"Of course Tia." said Luna, trotting up to her sister. "I'm assuming that the purpose of your visit is to surprise your student?"
She was smiling slyly, and Celestia grinned mischievously.
"Of course, little sister. It has nothing to do with strange ancient creatures showing up that may or may not threaten our way of life."
"That's what I'll tell the court then. Good luck Tia."
Celestia nodded, her wings spreading out as she pushed off the platform. Luna watched as she disappeared into the night, a look of concern on her face.
"Be safe big sister."
I woke up slowly, my body feeling numb and heavy. My head felt like it was in a heavy fog, my eyes bleary and unable to focus. Some sort of strange aroma was wafting through the air, something that reminded me of a shaman's tent. Straining, I tried to listen in on my surroundings.
I could hear voices, but couldn't make them out. The sounds were muffled, my head spinning far too much for me to really focus on them. I could kind of feel something touching my back, a cool sensation mixed with a slight sting, but they were far too dulled for me to make out what was going on.
Suddenly, I became aware that there was something in front of me. Someone. It spoke in a strange voice, its tone soothing and calm. The aroma increased, and I realized some sort of powder was being sprinkled in my face. The effect was immediate, my body relaxing instantaneous, my senses fading out as I slipped back into unconsciousness.
When I next awoke, I could hear a little better, see things somewhat clearer. That cool sensation on my back was still there, but the stinging feeling seemed to be more acute this time. I winced, realizing that something was touching my back.
Instantly my memories reminded me of my injury from earlier, the claws that had ripped into me from behind.
Whatever was touching me was doing something to those wounds. I winced again as I felt something cold being rubbed into the torn tissue. Something was trying to patch me up. Whatever it was, it was trying to help me.
Turning my head slightly to the left, I let out a low groan. I tried to look at whatever was helping me, but I couldn't muster the strength to move my head far enough. Instead, I decided to take in my surroundings.
I was in a strange looking room of some sort, odd decorations all around that kind of reminded me of African culture. There were strange masks on the walls in the shape of horses. Various bottles were placed about, some sitting on shelves, others hanging from the ceiling. Candles flickered around the room, casting soft shadows on the walls, and in the middle of the room there was a large cauldron that bubbled with a pinkish liquid that practically seemed to glow.
Suddenly, three concerned sets of eyes came into view.
They were the fillies that I had rescued earlier. They looked me right in the eyes, the one with the red mane trying to hold back tears. The person behind me whispered something soothing to them, and they left the room, the red one pausing to give one last glance at me before leaving the room.
The one behind me stopped working on my back, walking forward with a bag in its mouth. I recognized it as that zebra from earlier almost immediately, understanding what was about to happen again.
The zebra looked into my eyes, its gaze calm and reassuring. I returned the stare for what seemed like an eternity, weighing my decision. Finally, I relented. I nodded consent, and that same aroma wafted into my nose again, unconsciousness starting to take hold. This time I simply let it take me, knowing full well that I would be fine.
Zecora felt a small twinge of relief as the creature nodded its head in consent. Even if it was only a little, she had gained the being's trust. Sprinkling the dust in its face, she waited for it to slip back into a state of unconsciousness before returning to work.
The claw marks on its back were deep, but manageable. She had succeeded in stopping the bleeding, and was right now in the process of cleaning the wounds and applying some herbal medicines to help the healing process along. After that was done, she would just need to stitch them up and let the medicine do the rest.
As she worked, her mind went back a few hours ago. She'd been on her way back to her hut when she had heard the fillies screaming, the sounds of the manticore echoing through the trees. She had rushed to the scene just in time to see this creature do… something… to it. The strange device it held had shot fire at it, but had not harmed it. As the manticore fled and the creature collapsed, she had stepped out into the clearing.
The Cutie Mark Crusaders had come running up to her, crying as they tried to tell her what happened, but too upset to be able to give her a clear picture. All she could really tell was that this creature had saved them, and had shielded Applebloom from danger. That had really been all the convincing Zecora had needed.
As she looked at the creature now, though, she wondered just what it was and what it was doing out here. The Everfree was a dangerous place filled with many odd creatures, and finding an unknown being was not unheard of, but this particular creature was intelligent, way above the primal beasts that roamed the forest. When she had stared into its eyes, it felt like staring into the eyes of another pony. It was most intriguing.
Shaking her head, Zecora set her thoughts aside. There would be plenty of time later to figure this puzzle out. For now, she needed to finish stitching it up.
The answers would come in time.
Collin's mouth hung wide as he stared at the beautiful creature in front of him, an expression that was almost mirrored by everyone in the room save for Twilight. She, oddly enough, had a look of delight over her face, as if she were seeing a relative of some sort for the first time in months.
The pony was huge, about the size of a real horse, though it was sleek and slender. Her hair was multicolored, waving like it was in a breeze, though the air in the room was fairly still. Her white body seemed to glow slightly, almost as if she were emitting her own light, a tattoo of the sun shining brightly on her flank. Beautiful golden jewelry adorned her body and hooves, lit up and shining from the unnatural glow she was emitting. Majestic wings were tucked at her side, much large than the ones that Fluttershy had, and long sleek horn adorned her forehead, much more magnificent than the short rounded one sitting on Twilight's forehead.
What caught his eye more than anything else, however, was the sparkling golden crown on her head.
He was dealing with royalty.
Instincts kicked in immediately, born from years of working in diplomacy. Collin did his best to bow from his sitting position in the bed, wincing as his ribs protested.
"There is no need for you to bow to me my dear." said the beautiful creature in a serene voice. "I would not have you injure yourself further on my account."
Collin's jaw dropped, his eyes widening. It had just spoken to him. In completely fluent English. The creature gave him a curious look, a slight hint of amusement on her face
"Forgive me, my lady." he said, quickly recovering from the shock and jumping right back into diplomacy mode. "I am just surprised to hear my own tongue spoken by someone in these lands."
"There is nothing to forgive, my friend. Twilight has told me of your arrival, but not of your name. May I have it?"
"My name is Collin Reeves. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. May I ask yours?"
"I am Princess Celestia, co-ruler of these lands. It is a pleasure to meet you Mr. Reeves."
"Please, just call me Collin." He said, smirking. "Mr. Reeves just makes me realize how old I am."
Princess Celestia laughed, smiling at him.
"Very well Collin. Likewise, you may simply call me Celestia when we are not in company of somepony from outside of this room . I am not one to fuss over titles."
By this time, the other ponies had recovered from the shock of seeing the two converse. Twilight asked something of Celestia, her eyes wide with excitement. Celestia responded, laughing as Twilight's eyes grew wide in wonder. Turning back to Collin, she addressed him.
"Now that we've introduced ourselves, I would like to get down to business. It has been long since a human has graced Equestria with their presence. Would you mind telling me how it is that you have come here?"
"Certainly. You may want to make yourself comfortable though. The explanation is fairly long."
With that, Collin launched into his explanation, recalling the details as best as he could, Princess Celestia listening with a serene, yet unreadable gaze. He frowned inwardly as he recounted the story, finding her lack of reaction unnatural. Had he told this story to someone else in her position, he would be greeted with either wide-eyed wonder or complete skepticism.
It was almost as if she'd heard this story before.
She knew something. There was no doubt about it in Collin's mind. She knew something about what happened, and he was bound and determined to find out what it was and how she knew it.
I woke up once again to the familiar sight of the strange room, this time fully awake and fully aware of my surroundings. My wound ached and throbbed, the pain having arrived in full along with my senses, but I shoved it aside as I sat up, curious as to where I was exactly.
Looking around the room once again, I made note that it really did look like a witch doctor's hut. The bottles contained all sorts of different things ranging from herbs to glowing liquids, the masks lining the walls looking very African in design. One thing I hadn't noticed before was the add shapes and angles of the walls, made completely of wood with the occasional vine or two. It was like I was sitting inside a hollowed-out tree.
That calm voice came from behind me again, the one I had associated with the Zebra, and I turned towards it, noticing a plate of food in its mouth. She (or he, I couldn't really tell at this point) placed it down on the table besides the bed, looking into my eyes before it said something again.
"Sorry, I have no clue what you just said." I muttered, shaking my head.
Its eyes widened, that calm expression disappearing for the first time since I'd met it. I almost smirked at the satisfaction of wiping that infuriating look off its face, but decided at the last second that it would be better to mind my manners for the moment. It had just saved my life after all.
Instead, I simply pointed to myself.
"Mathew Kane."
It looked at me, instantly understanding the introduction. It repeated my name, stumbling over some of the syllables. I repeated my name a few times until it grasped the pronunciation well enough to satisfy me. It smiled, repeating my name one last time.
"Mathew Kane." It stated, a friendly look in its eye. Gesturing its hoof towards itself, it spoke its name.
"Zecora."
After a few tries of my own, I mastered the name and shook its hoof, surprised when it seemed to understand the greeting.
Three shouts came from behind me suddenly, and I found the three little fillies jumping up on the bed talking excitedly.
"Applebloom!"
"Scootaloo!"
"Sweetiebell!"
The talked extremely fast, jumping up and down as they went on, and I found myself reeling under their barrage of words, the onset of a headache forming as things progressed. I shot a look of desperation at Zecora, who chuckled to herself (at this point I had decided it was a she) before she jumped in to rescue me from their onslaught. She said something to them, their eyes going wide in wonder, and they looked at me in stunned silence.
Then they started to talk even faster.
I slapped my head in frustration, Zecora now sporting a look of pure unabashed amusement at the scene.
This was going to be a very long night indeed.
Collin frowned, completely unhappy with how things were progressing. Celestia had proven herself quite the opponent despite her appearance. He had tried to get her to slip, to find some sort of hint as to how she knew so much about the human race, but she seemed to dodge and deflect his attempts at every turn. The more she did this, the less he felt he could trust her.
Moreover, he was completely at her mercy as to what was going to happen.
"So Collin," said Celestia, her serene voice shaking him out of his thoughts. "That was quite the tale. It appears that you and your friend have been through quite a lot. What is it that you plan to do now?"
Collin shifted uncomfortably. This was it. What he said here would determine his fate. Gathering his thoughts, he steeled himself.
"We are currently working on fixing up the vault. There are some mysteries we are trying to solve as to what happened to make our slumber so long. In the meantime, we would like to try to establish relations with the town. We find ourselves in need of food supplies, and establishing some sort of agreement with the town would really help us out. We are willing to work for our food, and we have talents that may be of use to your people."
"Interesting." said Celestia, not once breaking her poker face. "Well, I'm sure we can work something out with the town. My little ponies are very kind, especially here in Ponyville. I will leave the details to Twilight for establishing some sort of agreement on obtaining supplies. As for your housing arrangements, I would rather have you relocated into the town."
"While I appreciate the gesture, we should be fully capable of living on our…"
"I insist." stated Celestia, a stern look in her eyes. "There are many dangerous things in the Everfree Forest. I have no problem with you traveling there to work during the daytime, but I want to have you return to the village every night before sundown. Moreover, I want to have our language issue resolved as soon as possible. Living within the town will help you to overcome that barrier much faster than hiding away in the forest will. I shall have Twilight teach you our language while you are here. As long as you behave yourselves, you will be welcome to stay for as long as you desire."
Collin nodded slowly, not thrilled by the stipulations but unable to argue. She had pretty much laid down the law. He was going to have to accept her offer as it is, with no wiggle room.
"Could be worse." He thought, shrugging his shoulders in surrender. "They could've decided to house us in their dungeons. They may be doing pretty much the same thing, but at least there won't be chains and concrete walls involved."
"I thank you for your generosity, my lady." stated Collin, bowing his head. "If there is anything we can do to repay your kindness, please do not hesitate to ask."
"There is one more thing I would like to ask of you before you are relocated." said Celestia. "I would like to meet with your friend and speak with him. He sounds like a fascinating person, and I would like to get to know a little more about him so we may decide where to place him."
"You mean you want to know if he's a threat or not." thought Collin, scoffing inwardly.
"Certainly. I would be glad to introduce the two of you. Perhaps tomorrow morning we could set out to meet with him?"
"Do you think you will be alright? I don't want you harming yourself further on my account." said Celestia, eying his bandages.
"Nonsense." stated Collin, puffing his chest out and furiously ignoring the pain that accompanied the movement. "I am not so old and frail that I would snap under my own weight."