Chapter 19- The Holy Trinity and Driving Through Reality
Okay, I've been excited about writing this chapter for a while. It is darker, but I always enjoy writing action scenes so
Also got to go to a dinner last night where Eli Manning gave a speech and interview, which was pretty cool. Well, except for the fact that he was so far away that he might as well have been in NYC while I was home watching on television ha-ha.
Well, thanks for reading and reviewing so far and I only own my OCs.
Hotel- Night
A little while after their escape from Discord's men at the police station, the group reached the hotel. Alex parked his car near the entrance, in the area that guests often pulled into before unloading all of their bags and luggage. Carl pulled the police cruiser up right behind Alex's SUV and stopped. Once everyone was outside, they began to make their way up to the rooms where Carl's family and Pete's parents were.
Now, Pete still wanted to unfreeze his parents, but he knew that they wanted nothing to do with him and he really did not want to walk into another shout down where he would get disowned for a second time. After all being disowned by his parents once was enough for him, and the knowledge that he had to go through it again was heart wrenching.
As they started up the stairs to the rooms, Pete looked down at Pinkie Pie, "Pinkie?"
She looked up at him with a smile, "Yeah? What is it Pete?"
"Can you…" Pete gulped and let out a sigh, "can you come with me to wake my parents up, please?"
Pinkie Pie nodded happily, "Of course! Hey, maybe we can convince them to change their mind about our relationship."
Pete nodded slowly, but he knew that course of action was not going to work. He knew that as soon as his parents woke up, they'd berate him just as they had before they were put under the spell and before.
Once they reached the floor that they wanted, everyone jogged off to the room where Carl's family was. Well, Carl's family plus one baby dragon stuck in mid-conversation, after being interrupted by the spell.
They got to the room and pushed the broken door open.
"Jesus what happened to the door?" Carl asked as he noticed some pieces of wood from the frame on the floor scattered on the floor, "It looks like it was kicked in, and Discord's men only opened the door."
"Are ya impressed?" Applejack asked with a grin.
Carl looked down at her and gave her a "not bad" face before walking into the room after Twilight. The three beings on the bed, Spike, Anna and Lisa, were, as predicted, still in the same position they had been in before Discord's men stormed the room after apparently using a key from downstairs to enter, as Applejack had to break the door. They were also still colorless. The television was now showing nothing but static, as the satellite dishes downtown were most likely destroyed from the riots.
Twilight shut her eyes and pointed her horn at Spike. "I hope this works." She muttered as her horn glowed purple and soon, color returned to the dragon and Carl's two sisters.
"…that Louis and Rarity aren't a good couple." Spike finished his statement that he was in the middle of speaking before he was frozen. He then looked around and put his claw to his head as if he had a headache, "What the…?"
Anna and Lisa both collapsed onto the bed in exhaustion and looked up at the ceiling.
"Ugh I feel like I just got back from a soccer tournament." Lisa groaned as she put her hand to her face. "Against the woman's U.S. national team."
"Same here." Anna replied in an equally exhausted manner.
Twilight ran over to the bathroom where Lauren was and did the same thing to her that she did to Spike and Carl's sisters. When the color returned to her, Lauren was still brushing her teeth until she suddenly realized something didn't feel right. The spell made her clueless as to what it was other than how sore she felt. She then looked down at Twilight and the mass of kids and ponies that were in her room, many of which she hadn't seen before.
"Um…when on Earth did this happen?" she asked with a mouth full of toothpaste before realizing that she was drooling. She quickly spat into the sink and washed her mouth out.
Suddenly she felt Carl hug her with such force that she felt like she was going to topple over. She looked down with a confused expression, "Um…okay?"
Carl looked up at her, "I'm sorry mom it's just good to see you back to normal."
"Back to normal?" she asked. "What do you mean back to normal?"
Carl sighed and Twilight stepped forward, "Maybe I should explain…" she began before Pinkie Pie went up to her and tapped her shoulder.
"Um Twi, I'm super sorry to interrupt, but could you pretty please unfreeze Pete's parents first?" she asked.
Twilight nodded and looked up at Lauren, "I'll be right back Mrs. Lewis."
With that, she trotted off to Pete's parents' room.
"While she's gone, let me get started in explaining everything to you mom." Carl began and Lauren nodded, still visibly shaken by being frozen, even if she didn't realize it yet.
Meanwhile, Twilight went into Pete's room to see his parents in the same position that they had been in when Pete went to see them with Alex. She walked up to Pete's parents and stopped, "Wow why…why are they crying?" she asked as she looked back at Pete, who was just looking down at the ground with a sad expression on his face before looking back at Twilight, "Unfreeze them and you'll find out." He muttered with a sadness that appropriately reflected his facial expression.
Twilight nodded and leaned into Pete's parents and unfroze them, only to have their color return and the sight of Pete's mother crying into Pete's father's shoulder. Except now it was audible, and now Pete's father looked up at Pete with his still hate-filled eyes.
"What are you doing back here?" he growled at his son, rather, his former son.
"Saving you." Pete answered flatly.
"I told you before to get lost, and I thought that you listened." Pete's father growled, "You lack that much respect for me that you go against my wishes and come back?"
Pete didn't answer with anything other than an angry glare.
"Pete, why are you back here?" Pete's mother asked as she looked up at him with tear-filled eyes that now showed just as much contempt as his father's eyes did, "and why is that thing here?" she asked pointing at Pinkie Pie, who just sat in a corner not saying anything up to this point. Of course, being addressed, she could no longer hold her tongue.
"Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds…" she began only to have Pete's mother cut her off in the meanest way possible.
"I don't want to hear anything from you monster!" She hissed, causing Pinkie's mane to deflate and her eyes to swell with tears. But the sight didn't stop Pete's mother, "You warped our son into a sicko and for that, my husband should teach you a lesson."
This was all Pete could take before stepping in front of her "Don't you dare threaten her!" He shouted while looking from his mother to his father, "neither of you will lay a hand on her, do you understand me!"
They were silent as Twilight and Pinkie Pie watched from near the doorway.
"I love Pinkie Pie and she loves me," Pete growled with a venomous tone, "and I don't care what you, or anyone else thinks. For the first time in my life all I care about is what I think about her, and what she thinks of me. Nobody else matters."
"It's wrong and disgusting to…" Began Pete's father before Pete cut him off with his hand.
"According to who? Society!" Pete shouted, "The same society that nit-picked everything that I had to say until I became a wall-flower, afraid of what people would think about me? The society that didn't care that I was sick, even when they thought I had cancer! Why should I give a fuck what they think when they only care about me when they want to degrade me!"
"How dare you," Pete's mother said angrily, "we were there when you were sick, we supported you…"
"And now you're proving that you were no better than anyone else!" Pete shouted, silencing both of his parents in shock at their usually timid son's outburst. Pete finished, "You don't have to disown me as your son, because in my eyes you aren't my parents anymore."
And with that, Pete turned to leave. He was about to exit the room when he stopped and looked down at Pinkie Pie. He got down onto his knee and looked at the still depressed mare in her tear filled-eyes.
"Pinkie Pie?" he asked with a comforting tone, even if his voice was still a little shaky from shouting down his parents.
She looked at him and gave a small sniffle. She didn't say anything but her face showed interest in what Pete was going to say.
Pete didn't say anything else, he just leaned in and planted a passionate kiss on her lips that he never thought he would have the courage to do. Pinkie's eyes shot open and her mane puffed back up. Twilight gasped and covered her mouth with her hoof as Pete's parents just stared blankly at the sight of their son making out with Pinkie Pie.
Pete and Pinkie hugged each other as they continued to kiss, Pete glaring up at his parents while still kissing Pinkie Pie, his eyes having a look that showed his contempt, and how his kissing wasn't just his means of cheering up the pony that they had hurt, but also an action that was equivalent to telling them "fuck you". He broke the kiss and stood up. Pinkie Pie looked much more cheerful and her face red with her blush as she stood up from her sitting position as well. Pete looked back at his parents one last time before he stormed out, both Pinkie and Twilight on his heels.
Before she left, however, Pinkie Pie managed to tauntingly stick her tongue out at Pete's parents, who were now frozen in place. Not by magic, but by the shock that Pete had given them by showing his love for Pinkie.
Pete shut the door behind him and looked down at Pinkie Pie, who looked back up at him. "Was that a real kiss or was it just to get back at your parents?"
Pete got down again to her eye-level so he was mere centimeters away from her face, "Both."
He then kissed her in the same way he had in his parent's room. As they were making out, Twilight giggled and trotted back to Carl's room, deciding to leave them alone. Outside of Carl's room, Rarity and Louis were sitting against the wall. Louis was practicing his aura, which was white, like Rarity, by thinking about her. The white light danced around his fingertips and his eyes also glowed in the same, white colored light for a second before he stopped. Rarity began to clap her hooves together.
"That was quite impressive Louis." Rarity said wit a grin.
Louis looked back at her and smiled, "Well I have you to thank. After all, I can do this because I'm thinking of you."
Rarity blushed and waved her hoof as if to brush it off, "Oh you."
Twilight walked by them and entered the room to see Carl talking to his mom and sisters. Spike was also listening, but when he saw Twilight come back in, he hopped off of the bed and ran over to her.
"Twilight! Oh wow, I was listening to Carl's story." He said with a look of worry, "Are you all right? Sorry I didn't ask earlier I had no idea what happened."
"It's okay Spike." Twilight answered with a smile, "I'm fine and I'm glad that you're safe."
As they talked, Fluttershy and James were both in the bathroom. James still felt guilty for scaring her so much, and Fluttershy was trying to make him feel better.
"I'm sorry I almost lost myself back there Fluttershy," James muttered sadly, "I almost lost myself to my rage and…I hurt you emotionally."
"James it's okay." Fluttershy said as she placed her hoof onto his thigh, "I understand your frustrations and feelings towards that pony, and I am happy you feel so strongly about me."
"Yeah but I should have remembered that you were there," James said, "and should have known that you'd want me to be the bigger man."
Fluttershy nodded and a smile and they hugged.
"James you'll always be the kindest boy I know." She whispered back to console him.
Back outside of the bathroom, Alex was pounding the television, trying to get a station to work, any station.
"God-damn it." He muttered.
"Need a hand?" Ryan asked as he turned away from the window. He and Rainbow Dash had been looking outside at the distant fires in the city, Rainbow Dash had a scowl on her face while Ryan just stared unemotionally at the destruction before he turned to Alex.
"No…I…" Alex gave the television one last channel change when he finally reached a local news station that wasn't all static, "…got it."
Alex sat down on the carpeted floor beside Applejack, who had been watching Alex trying to work the television. Both of them watched in shock as images of downtown Wilmont came up on the screen while the news reporter went on about it.
"The destruction in downtown Wilmont continues tonight as the rioters are now fighting against military forces after an attempt by the Buffalo S.W.A.T. team failed to take down Mayor Christopher Drocsid earlier tonight."
"Wow." Applejack muttered in shock before Alex grabbed the remote.
"Okay let's see what else is on that isn't depressing."
He changed the television that had once been TBS, but now only showed images of destruction and chaos, but it wasn't images of Wilmont that were being presented.
It was Rome.
Alex's jaw dropped as the male reporter went on, "Again this is breaking news as anarchist forces have grown all over the world. From a small city in Upstate New York, to the capital of Italy."
Alex changed the channel to show another news report, this one covering Los Angeles.
"Fire has engulfed the entire city and people are evacuating on the packed Highways, to get as far away from the city as possible."
"It's everywhere," Alex muttered, "It's not just Wilmont, it's the entire world."
"From humanity's desperation, chaos can arise." Ryan muttered without moving from the window.
"What?" Alex asked without looking away from the television. Applejack meanwhile was just staring at the screen in shock as the images of anarchists firing guns and destroying property with their bombs and Molotov cocktails flashed on the screen.
"Just like in Nazi Germany," Ryan continued, "evil and chaos arises when people are desperate. Like when the economy sucks, and unemployment is high. Like it was here."
"I don't understand why that would cause anypony to resort to violence like this." Rainbow Dash said as she looked up at Ryan, who continued to look out the window.
"Dashie I've told you how this world is different than Equestria," Ryan muttered, "people resort to horrible means to survive when they're desperate, oftentimes pinning the blame on others while ignoring the actual cause. You should know how violent people are." Ryan gestured to Rainbow Dash's bandaged wings.
"What's the actual cause of their issues?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Depends on the society." Ryan muttered, "but my parents weren't the cause, and neither were the people that lived in my neighborhood. That didn't stop them from taking the blame, though, and it cost them their lives."
"But ain't Discord controlling them?" Applejack asked as she finally looked away from the television to look at Ryan. Alex turned the television off and shook his head muttering, "Fuck this world" over and over again.
"Not all of them," Ryan answered, "and I wouldn't be surprised if defeating him doesn't change a damn thing about the anarchist gangs; I actually expect us to only stop a small amount of the violence and hopefully it'll be shrunken enough for the army to put an end to."
Applejack walked over to the window to join Ryan and Rainbow Dash. Alex stood up and did the same.
"Twilight I want to come with you!" Spike complained after Twilight had told him to leave town with Carl's family.
"Spike no," she said in a demanding voice, "you're going with Carl's family. I'll tell the Princess to bring you back to Equestria when we're done."
"But Twi…"
"But nothing Spike," Twilight said before sighing, "Spike, I care too much about you to let you be in the danger we're going to find ourselves in. This world isn't Equestria, trust me." Twilight said as she closed her eyes, the horrors from that night flashing through her mind. The chanting, the sky aglow with the orange tint of fire and destruction, and chaos before she opened them and looked back at Spike, "Don't complain. Please just go with them, you'll be safe. I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if something happened to you."
Spike looked like he was on the verge of tears when he ran up to Twilight and hugged her, "I don't want you to get hurt either." He said sadly as tears began to roll down his cheeks onto Twilight's violet fur. "You're like my sister, and I'd hate to see something bad happen to you."
She patted the small, crying dragon on the back to reassure him, "Nothing will Spike; I promise."
Carl, simultaneously, was telling his mother and sisters to get out of town.
"Where do you want us to go?" Anna asked.
"Away, just get away from all cities for now. Binghamton should be fine. Go to Uncle Damien's and stay with him until this blows over." Carl said.
"What about you." Lauren asked nervously. Carl closed his eyes and sighed, knowing that his mother would hate what he had to say.
"I have to fight Mom." He said, "If I don't, the world's done. Not just Wilmont, not just New York, the world."
Lauren nodded in understanding before looking at Anna and Laura, "Grab your stuff girls, we have to get out of here"
They nodded and proceeded to pack up their things to leave the hotel. Carl sighed and decided that since he was going into battle, now would be the best time to break the news to his mom about his relationship with Twilight, even if he wasn't quite ready to do so yet.
"Mom, wait." He said as Lauren stopped packing for a second and looked at her son with a worried expression, like she feared that he'd say something bad.
"What is it Carl, what's wrong?"
Carl took a deep breath, "It's about me and Twilight," he could feel the pressure rising in his eyes as tears tried to push their way out even though he was doing everything to keep them back, "I…I love…I…"
Lauren put her hand out to stop Carl from continuing. Carl looked into his mother's eyes, her kind, comforting eyes and smiling face, as she said what he never expected her to say, "I know, Carl. And I'm okay with it."
Carl raised an eyebrow and Lauren put her hands onto Carl's shoulders, "Carl you found a girl that loves you just as much as you love her, that's rare to find at any point on one's life, and from experience I know that you cannot let someone you love get away from you." Carl could see her tearing up herself as she remembered Carl's father, and how he had died right when they had fixed their relationship and realized how they never stopped loving each other.
Carl also couldn't hold back and he fell into Lauren and cried into her, mumbling "Thanks mom." to her. He also eventually started to smile as the pain of his father gave in to the relief for his mother's acceptance.
Twilight had been watching this from where she was sitting on the bed, next to Spike, and smiled at the sight, knowing that the tears were more joyful now, before she turned back to the sight of Alex, Ryan, Applejack and Rainbow Dash looking out of the window She could see the glow of orange that had haunted her mind since she was in the cell earlier that night.
Eventually, Carl's mother and sisters, and Spike, all left. Pete's parents were gone as well, but there was no emotional "good-bye" for them, only a teenage son that went from being timid and nervous about what other people thought about him, to being more of his old self. In fact, he began to joke around with Pinkie Pie a bit after they left by doing what he did best before the high school society silenced him; saying whatever came to his mind as they both sat in the hallway outside of the room that his parents were in earlier.
Unlike all of his past "friends", Pinkie Pie loved hearing him come out of his shell and say his own random jokes and sayings that often made no sense. Louis and Rarity, who were still in the hall as well. Watched as they talked and talked.
Louis' eyebrow raised, "So much for being shy."
"Oh that's just what Pinkie Pie does Louis," Rarity said with a chuckle, "she will bring even the most quiet and coy pony…or person in this case…out of their shell. She truly is remarkable like that."
"Ahem!"
Louis, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Pete all turned their attention to James, who was standing in the doorway of Carl's room.
"You guys might want to come in here now."
With that, the four beings all got up and went into Carl's room to see why James had told them to come in. Inside, they saw everyone and everypony around one of the beds as Twilight stared down at something on the mattress.
"What are you guys doing?" Louis asked as they approached the group.
"The chest opened while we were gone," Carl answered, "inside there's a scroll with a message on it."
"Really?" Pinkie Pie asked before she bolted to the mattress and pushed her way in-between Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy.
"Oh my, careful Pinkie." Fluttershy said as the pink mare pushed her to the ground.
"Geez Pinkie! Don't shove us!" Rainbow Dash said in a sterner way before shoving Pinkie Pie back, but Pinkie just ignored it and continued to peer onto the mattress.
"What does it say?" Pinkie Pie asked as she leaned closer to the piece of paper that was on the mattress. Suddenly the paper levitated into the air up to Twilight's level and she began to read it.
"In a time of chaos, in a world that thrives off of it. Twelve elements, bound by friendship and love, will bring harmony. Their elements found in places bound to their traits. Magic and Honesty found in profession. Loyalty and Friendship found in recreation. Generosity and Laughter found in relaxation. Three places equally spaced, three places entwined in importance. The magic of love will be the guide, to the location of the elements."
Twilight looked around the paper at everyone and everypony.
They were all confused, and quite honestly Alex summed up the confusion by simply saying, "What the fuck does that mean?"
"It sounds like a prophecy," Fluttershy said confidently before retreating to her usual, unsure self, "um…or maybe it isn't."
"No Fluttershy, it is a prophecy." Twilight said with a nod, "but I can't make heads or tails of it. All I know is that it seems to tell us where our elements are."
"And where would that be?" Applejack asked.
"Wherever it is," Twilight, said as she scratched her chin with her hoof, "they seem to represent profession, reflection and relaxation. And they're equally spaced."
"That doesn't help us at all." Pete muttered.
"Yes it does," Carl, said before looking up at the others, who all gave him confused stares.
"How do ya reckon?" Alex asked, not realizing he slipped into his southern accent until the words already came out of his mouth. "God-damn it." He muttered in realization of his slip as Applejack just looked up at him and chuckled.
"It's the Holy Trinity."
"What?" Ryan asked.
"Wait, what's the Holy Trinity?" Louis asked.
"That actually makes perfect sense." James said with a nod, "yeah because don't they represent profession, recreation…"
"…and relaxation, yes." Carl finished his sentence. Louis just looked around at all five boys who seemed to understand what Carl was going on about, making Louis feel annoyed that he was left out.
"Will someone please explain to me what the fuck the Holy Trinity is?" Louis asked.
"It's the three places in Wilmont that are in a triangular shape and spaced out by about a mile and a half." Carl muttered, "Each one represents the three mains parts of the average teenager's life."
"It's a running joke we have at Wilmont High, which explains why a private-school kid like you wouldn't get it." Ryan said looking at Louis.
"That's a joke? But that's not very funny." Pinkie Pie said with skepticism.
"We can't all be as wacky as you," Carl said with a chuckle, "anyway profession is Wilmont High School, because that's where a teenager's main job is, school."
Rainbow Dash leaned into Twilight and whispered, "Learning as a profession?" she then nudged Twilight, "It's perfect for you Twi." Twilight just glared at Rainbow Dash who looked away, but was smiling in a teasing way.
"And recreation is Wilmont Park since that's where most non-school-sponsored sporting events are held." Carl added.
"Perfect for meatheads like you." Twilight teased Rainbow Dash, making the rainbow-maned mare's eyes widen as she turned to Twilight.
"Hey come on!" Rainbow Dash complained.
"What, I'm just getting even with you for your insult." Twilight said, as she looked away, her eyes closed and a big, accomplished smile on her face.
"Please, egghead is almost a compliment."
"How so?" Twilight asked.
"Girls!" Carl shouted, drawing Twilight and Dash's attention. Both girls' heads were side-to-side as they looked at Carl. "May I continue?" Carl asked.
"Sorry." Both girls muttered.
"Thank you," Carl said before letting out a sigh of relief, "Now, the last place is relaxation, which is the mall."
"Ugh, the mall again?" Alex groaned, "Why does it seem like all roads go back to the mall?"
"Because we've been there a lot with the girls?" Ryan asked.
Alex groaned and rubbed his temples in annoyance. "Thank you Captain Obvious." He muttered
"So," Fluttershy said as she took a small step towards Carl, "do we…um…split up?"
Carl nodded, "Yes." He then looked down at Twilight, "Twilight and I will go to the school with Alex and Applejack."
He looked up at Pete, Pinkie Pie, Louis and Rarity, who were all surprisingly in the same place, "Pete, Pinkie Pie, Rarity and Louis, you go to the mall."
He finally looked over to James and Fluttershy, "And James and Fluttershy, you go with Ryan and Rainbow Dash to the park."
Twilight proceeded to use her magic to copy the prophecy into two other copies before levitating one over to Ryan and the other over to Louis. She kept the main copy floating in front of her.
"Here's a copy of the prophecy for each of you in case you need to re-read it." Twilight said with a smile.
They nodded until Ryan spoke up, "Wait! We don't have a car! My truck burned with my neighborhood and my parents'…." He stopped and took a deep breath. Even though he was suppressing his sadness quite well for the group, Ryan was still mourning his parents. "…my parents' BMW is back at the hotel I stayed at."
Carl turned to Twilight, "Twi, could you teleport them to the park?"
Twilight shook her head, "No I can only teleport myself and other things to places that I know the location, and I don't know where the park's location well enough."
"So you can't teleport us to the school then, right?" Carl asked and Twilight shook her head.
"What about us to the mall?" Louis piped up, "You've been there a few times."
Twilight groaned, "Ugh, I usually only teleport short distances! If it's long distances it has to be to someplace that I know well otherwise you could get dropped out of a portal someplace way off."
"So you teleport with portals?" Ryan asked.
"Yes, but why is that relevant?" Twilight groaned.
"I just wasn't sure what method your magic teleportation spells used to get from place to place, whether it was portals or de-atomization or whatever." Ryan said with a shrug, "it was just a question I've had for a while. The idea of breaking up into individual atoms freaks me out."
"Wait Carl you teleported that police truck maybe…" James began but Carl shook his head.
"No I'm not going to risk everyone by teleporting them. What if we wind up in Kentucky or something?" Carl said defiantly, "no I don't have the experience to pull it off yet."
Ryan then looked back at Carl, "That still doesn't change the fact that we lack a car. You have your sedan downstairs and Louis has his car. We have nothing…except Alex's SUV." Ryan said as he looked at Alex.
"Oh no," Alex said as he shook his head, "you are not taking my car."
"Why not, we don't have an option!" Ryan shouted.
"Dude, just use the police cruiser!" Alex shouted. "You still have the keys to that!"
Ryan shrugged, "Well...it's just an SUV would be more useful if we were being chased and…"
"Okay fine." Alex rolled his eyes and tossed the keys to his truck to Ryan, "You're a little bitch, you know that?"
Ryan looked down at the keys and smirked before looking back up at Alex and jingling them in front of his face, "Yes and now I'm a little bitch with a badass truck."
"Well, I'm glad that's settled." James said with a sigh, "May we get going?"
Everyone nodded and started to leave the hotel room. Ryan was on his way out when Alex stopped him in his tracks by grabbing his shoulder. Ryan looked at Alex who pointed at him with his pointer finger, "If you get one scratch on my car, I'll get Twilight to personally de-atomize your ass to the moon."
Ryan nodded and walked out of the room, followed by Alex. Behind them, Rainbow Dash leaned to Applejack and whispered, "Does Alex know that it's the Princess that banishes people to the moon in jokes?"
"Ah don't know just keep movin'." Applejack answered as they continued down the hall.
The last ones out of the room were none other than Carl and Twilight, and Carl had another question for Twilight.
"Hey Twi, let me ask you, when did you and the girls defeat Discord?"
"Autumn of this past year." She muttered, "Why?"
"Just curious. So Equestria and Earth both have the same timeline?" Carl asked. "A day here is a day there?"
"Yes."
"And your brother got married to Princess Cadence about two months ago?" *(Remember this is late June of this year since they are rising seniors in High School and school in NY ends around June 14-20th)
"Yes."
"Hang on, one more question Twi," Carl continued as they reached the staircase and began to descend the flight, "Discord has been our mayor for two years, and he's lived in Wilmont for eight, yet you said that you fought him less than a year ago. How is that possible?"
"Discord split his soul in two, send one half here and kept one half in Equestria." Twilight added before looking up at Carl, "sorry if I forgot to elaborate on the whole "his soul is here" fact when I first met you."
"You mean after I passed out in my room?" Carl asked as they reached the ground floor. Twilight chuckled and gave a nod.
"Right, now are you done asking questions or are you all set?"
"No I'm good." Carl said before Twilight laughed a bit more.
They all ran out to the cars and got in. Once everyone was settled, they drove off towards the city. Carl's car was, obviously at the head of the group, and behind him was Alex's SUV, which Ryan was driving ever so carefully after the threat that Alex had given him.
And by ever so carefully, I mean purposely driving erratically right behind Carl's car so Alex saw him and got aggravated.
Alex, who was sitting in one of the back seats of Carl's car, rolled the window down and shouted back at Ryan, "Ryan you are an ass-hole!"
He pulled his head back in and sighed, rubbing his temples in aggravation.
And, finally, behind Ryan and James was Louis' car driven by, obviously, Louis.
In Carl's car, Carl was keeping his eyes on the road ahead, but didn't just keep his focus on them. He was looking out at the downtown area that was engulfed in fire. As they got closer, he suddenly got worried.
"I can't just bring the girls through a war-zone." He thought in worry as he approached the bridge that led into the city. He knew that once in the city, they would have to split up and go their separate ways to avoid suspicion, and they would be driving into a city that was on fire, that the military was flooding and fighting in against a group of murderous anarchists that had explosives and guns.
They would be getting a first taste of our world in all of it's "glory", concentrated into one, small place.
And their innocence would be lost, and they would be scarred for life.
When he saw what looked like tanks and military vehicles in the city; that was the last straw.
"We can't do this yet." Carl thought and just before they reached the bridge he slammed the brakes on his car. Ryan, who was following closely in order to piss off Alex, swerved and slammed the brakes on Alex's car to avoid hitting Carl.
Louis screeched to a stop inches from Alex's SUV, and therefore saved Ryan's hide.
"What the fuck Carl, why did you stop!" Louis shouted before opening the door and stepping out of his car, slamming the door shut behind him.
"Oh now Louis don't be brash." Rarity said as she sat back up in her seat after being whiplashed from the quick stop, "I'm sure he has a perfectly good reason."
"Um, Rarity." Pete muttered as he pointed to her mane. She turned to see him pointing at her mane. She looked up and, now scared, grabbed the rearview mirror to get a better look at what Pete was pointing at.
When she saw her reflection, she gasped. Her mane was askew and messed up from Louis slamming the brakes on the car, which, as previously mentioned, caused her head to jolt forward and, with it, her perfectly styled mane. Her face turned red and steam appeared to be coming out of her ears.
"CARL!" she shouted before opening the car door with her magic and storming out in a huff before slamming the door behind her with her magic. "Carl you messed up my mane! I'm going to buck you where the sun doesn't shine for this!"
Pete smacked his face as Pinkie Pie leaned to him, "I think you may have made her a little mad."
Outside, Louis stormed up to Carl's car to see that Alex was standing outside and holding his hand up. Rarity also stormed up and stood beside Louis with an angry look on her face.
"Hang on, Carl need to talk to us guys." He said, "It's about the girls."
Louis stopped and looked to see Carl hunched over the steering wheel with his eyes closed and his hands gripping the wheel so tightly that his knuckles turned red.
"Carl, are you all right?" Twilight asked as she sat next to Carl in the passenger seat, "why do you need to talk to us?"
"Twi, go outside." Carl muttered before looking up at her with tears in his eyes, "I'll be out in a minute."
She nodded and got out of the car. Carl proceeded and motioned for the guys to follow him.
A minute later, all of the guys were huddled up and talking to each other while the girls waited outside to see what the hold-up was all about.
"What do you think they're talking about?" Fluttershy asked.
"Maybe they're going over different ways to get into the city?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"No, no I don't think that's it." Twilight muttered as she kept watching Carl as he talked to the others.
"Then what is it?" Applejack asked.
"I have no idea." Twilight muttered with some worry while not taking her eyes off of the boys. "But I don't think it's good."
Meanwhile, in the group of guys, Carl had just told them what the needed to do, and that is warn the girls about what they were going to see.
"Is that necessary?" Louis asked.
"Yes," Carl muttered, "guys, they come from a world where the worst battles involve punches and party cannons. What they're going to see down there are guns, fire, death…everything that's horrible about our world in one place."
"You're right," James muttered, "after all they're too innocent to go into that warzone without any warning."
"So how should we tell them?" Ryan asked.
Carl sighed and stood up and walked over to the girls. All six of them looked up at Carl, whose face showed how serious the situation was.
"Carl what's wrong?" Twilight asked.
Carl took a deep breath in, and then exhaled before looking down at Twilight, his mare-friend, his innocent, sweet mare-friend that he loved with all of his heart, and who he never wanted to see terrified.
And he was afraid that she'd lose all of her innocence after what they were about to do.
"Twilight just to make sure you really can't teleport us to the other side of the city so we don't have to go through it?"
She shook her head, "No. I don't know Earth well enough to teleport long distances here."
Carl nodded, "Okay because what you see when you go down there is going to impact you six more than you can imagine."
"Oh how? Is it fun, like an amusement park ride? Like the ride of chaos?" Pinkie Pie said excitedly. "That would make a really fun attraction at the Grand Galloping…"
"Pinkie this is serious." Carl muttered harshly before calming himself down. "Girls, there's a reason why so many guys watch your show. Many people watch it simply for entertainment, but others…like us, we watch it for you girls…and the escapism your adventures give us. I know I've told you this already but I think it's deeper than you understand."
"What do ya mean?" Applejack asked.
"There's a reason so many people in the military are bronies." Carl said, "at least that's what I've heard. It's because your adventures are so innocent and fun. And even when you girls are in danger we all know it'll work out. Not to mention you're all more pure in your hearts than anyone in this world over the age of ten."
"Carl we know how you guys use…." Twilight began but Carl cut her off.
"No Twi, you don't. You've never seen our version of fighting…our version of war…like what's going on down there." He said pointing to the city.
"Our wars are chaos," Alex added, "I'm not sure how you guys fought wars, if you have any, but I can guarantee they are nowhere near as horrifying or…tragic as ours."
The girls all looked at the boys with confusion, except Twilight, that is, because she now looked worried as the chanting and fire-lit night sky filled her mind, causing her to shake in fear.
"We have to go through the city to get to the suburbs, and to our elements." Carl said, "If we don't, it'll take way too long. I just want to warn you girls that what you see down there…if you lost faith in our world, please don't lose faith in all of humanity, because that's not representative of us as a whole."
"And please don't lose your innocent nature." Ryan added, looking at Rainbow Dash's wings, scared about how much of her innocence had been lost.
The girls nodded, but it seemed like only Rainbow Dash and Twilight had somewhat of an idea about how horrendous the warzone city would be. Everypony else just seemed befuddled or worried.
"We won't." Twilight said, "you six have been great to us, we could never lose our faith in you or humanity as a whole."
"Yeah and we won't be altered mentally if that's what you're worried about." Rarity said, "I'm sure we'll be able to handle it."
Carl nodded, "I hope you can."
After that, they split back up into their groups, but now each car had a different method.
In Carl's car, Carl and Alex were in the front seat while Twilight and Applejack took the backseat.
"Girls I want you to stay down; close your eyes and cover your ears." Carl ordered. Twilight and Applejack nodded and did just that.
In Alex's car, Rainbow Dash sat in the passenger seat next to Ryan so that James could sit back with Fluttershy, as she would most likely be the most scared out of all six of the girls and needed James to be by her. Ryan turned to Rainbow Dash, "Okay Dashie I want you to..."
"I'm not cowering from this Ryan," she answered as she looked at him with stern eyes, "I can handle this."
"You don't have to be brave all of the time." Ryan said and Rainbow Dash nodded.
"I know," She then turned back to she was looking out through the windshield. "But I saw the news and I know what to expect down there." She said, referring to the horrifying images of Leigh Heights that she had seen on the television earlier that day.
Ryan sighed in defeat, knowing that he'd never convince her to listen to him. He turned to James and Fluttershy, "James keep her down and talk to her."
"No problem." James answered as he got down and began to whisper comforting things to Fluttershy, who was cowering on the back seat, scared out of her mind about all of the things that were possibly awaiting them down in the city.
In Louis' car, Pete was in the back with Pinkie.
"Pinkie, I want you to cover your ears, close your eyes and sing s loudly as you can every song that you've sung until I tell you to stop."
Pinkie Pie grinned, "Really!"
Pete put on a fake smile and nodded as Pinkie jumped up, "Yay!"
"Rarity I want you to do the same." Louis said but Rarity shook her head.
"No Louis, I intend to see what Carl was talking about and see how much he has exaggerated everything."
"He didn't exaggerate Rarity." Louis sighed and shook his head, "Please, you don't have to sing, but cover your ears and close your eyes. If you don't you'll regret it."
She rolled her eyes, "Fine."
She then covered her ears and closed her eyes.
In Carl's car, Carl let out a deep sigh and turned to Alex, who looked back at him with a nervous look before giving his friend a small nod, "It's time." Alex said flatly.
Carl nodded back and slowly started across the bridge before accelerating to the normal speed of about forty miles-per-hour. Behind him, Ryan was keeping his distance, not "horsing around" to piss off Alex anymore, as this was no time to joke. Behind him, Louis was also cautiously crossing the bridge as Pinkie Pie was singing her "Giggle at the Ghosty" song to start of her sing-a-thon.
Carl looked out of the drivers' side window to see the city coming closer and closer on his left, the fires burning in every part of the city.
"Try to avoid the main roads, it'll probably be less chaotic." Alex muttered, but Carl was already trying to find the least chaotic way through the city, but no matter where his eyes landed, he saw a fire burning or military vehicles fighting against mobs of anarchists.
"I don't think that's going to help." Carl muttered as he finished crossing the bridge and continued forward until they reached a division in the road, the one directly in front of the car had tanks blowing up anarchists who were either shooting at them with their own guns, or firing while driving closer to the tanks in cars and trucks that they had converted into makeshift war vehicles. Carl took a sharp turn to the left, hoping that the street he turned down would be less chaotic.
He was wrong.
As soon as he turned, about a block away, a small shop exploded into fire as a tank shot a round at a group of rebels that had turned the store into a bunker that they were firing at the army from. They were right back in the middle of a warzone. The bodies of the anarchists went flying from the shop. But like many pests, killing a few only angered the rest, who swarmed over and began to put all of their effort into destroying the tank with their guns and homemade explosives. Carl and the others were on the same side of the road as the army, which was fortunate as it meant they weren't completely surrounded by the anarchist forces.
As soon as Carl saw the fire and war going on around him on the street he was on, he panicked and sped off down another road, which was slightly less chaotic than the one they were just on, but not much.
Ryan tried to follow Carl, but a tank that was taken over by anarchists after they had killed the operator fired at a building that was at the corner of the road that Carl turned down. Ryan brought his car to a stop just before the dust from the explosion reached him.
Rainbow Dash just kept staring, but her mouth was open and her eyes were unblinking. Ryan realized that the five-story building that had been shot was now starting to tip over. The fires that engulfed it had weakened its structure significantly, and the last tank shell that was fired at it was the last bit of force it needed before it could no longer support its own weight. Ryan quickly sped off down the road where the war was occurring to avoid the collapsing building. Louis wasn't far behind as the building that was shot crumbled to the earth, sending a massive dust cloud down the street after Louis and Ryan, almost like a small, volcanic cloud of ash.
"What's that noise!" Fluttershy screamed fearfully from the back of the truck after she heard the building collapse and gunfire surround them, even though her eyes were thankfully still closed, so she still couldn't see the horrible sights around her.
"It's nothing Fluttershy," James said reassuringly before he leaned up to Ryan and whispered, "Get us the fuck out of here."
"What do you think I'm trying to do!" Ryan screamed back as he looked up, watching as anarchists began to chase after them, firing bullets into Alex's truck. Before entering the warzone, the only damage to the car was the broken window that Applejack shattered to save Alex from his stepfather. Now, only after about thirty seconds in battle, the windshield was cracked, two more windows were broken and there were bullet holes riddled on the side of the truck.
Louis' car wasn't faring much better. As Pinkie changed songs and began her "Smile" song, Louis was busy trying to get them out of the hell-storm. Rarity had already opened her eyes and took her hooves away from her ears out of curiosity, only to immediately regret doing so when she saw the dust cloud from the destroyed building behind them surround Louis' car, making them lose sight of Ryan in the grey dust.
"Shit, I can't see anything." Louis muttered.
"Where'd Ryan go?" Pete asked as the dust began to seep into the car through the cracked windows, causing everyone to start gagging, including Pinkie Pie, who had stopped singing as it became harder to breathe. She opened her eyes and her happy expression that she had while singing disappeared as the car finally burst through the dust to be met with the sight of more fire, destruction and anarchists. A military Jeep was overturned and on fire, while a fire hydrant was destroyed, sending a long, powerful, continuous blast of water into the air as they drove by.
"What is this!" Rarity shouted in horror as she watched a soldier get shot execution-style on the side of the street.
"Rarity! I told you to close your eyes!" Louis shouted angrily, even though he was more worried about her innocence and safety at the moment than angry at her disobedience.
But Rarity didn't even bother responding as she saw an anarchist running over to the car with a lit Molotov cocktail.
"Louis!" she screamed as she pointed her hoof at the anarchist with the bomb. Louis saw him and, instead of stop like the man in Leigh Heights did, Louis accelerated his car and smashed into the teenager, causing him to roll over the top of Louis' car and drop the explosive onto one of his comrades, setting both of them on fire.
Pinkie Pie looked back and saw the two teenagers rolling around in the fire until they were both motionless.
Pete was no longer looking at the war outside; instead he was looking down at Pinkie Pie. "Pinkie Pie?"
Pinkie didn't respond, she just covered her ears and closed her eyes before she sunk back into the seat and began to cry. But not in her exaggerated, gallon of tears, Pinkie Pie way. She just cried softly, as if she was too sad to even let out loud, comical sobs as she did in the show.
In the front seat, Rarity wasn't crying like Pinkie Pie was, but she was just as horrified. In fact, she was so scared that she couldn't cry at all. Her eyes were wide and her hooves were covering her mouths as she began to slightly hyperventilate.
With Ryan
Ryan had lost sight of Louis and now knew that all three groups were on their own to find their way out of the battle. James was in the back, leaning over Fluttershy to both protect her and whisper comforting things to her, how he was there for her, how nothing bad would happen to her. James hoped it helped her feel better, even though he knew that she wasn't completely safe in this situation.
Ryan kept driving, making sure to avoid all gunfire that he could, until he was finally able to turn down an alley. He sped down the dark, musty space between two buildings, both of which were on fire, and stopped when he felt like he was safe from the majority of the battle. He turned to Rainbow Dash to ask if she was okay, only to see her still looking straight ahead, eyes not blinking and face unemotional, yet still sad.
"D-Dashie?" Ryan asked as he tapped her shoulder. She slowly turned to Ryan and her eyes began to fill with tears before she lunged at him and wrapped her forelegs around him, sobbing into his shoulder. Her body was shaking, and Ryan's heart broke at the sight. Here was the normally strong and brave Rainbow Dash, never afraid of anything and always so stoic, reduced to a heap of tears and fear. Not even her fear before the Young Fliers' competition was close to matching the sadness and terror she had now, and Ryan knew that. He hugged her back, "It's okay Dashie, it is okay we're going to get out of this."
She looked up at him, "This…this is chaos in your world?" she whispered and Ryan nodded, "But…but this is even worse than what I saw on the news."
"This is why we need escapism like your show." Ryan muttered before Rainbow Dash began to cry some more, falling into Ryan's embrace again.
Ryan began to rub her back again while she cried to comfort her. He looked back at James, who was crying as well. Fluttershy's eyes were still closed, but she was also in tears, as if the noise and imagined horror was enough, and the horrors she imagined still were no match for what they drove through.
"Are we safe?" Fluttershy asked as she tried to open her eyes, only to have James put his hand over them.
"No Fluttershy not yet. Ryan…" James said as he looked up at Ryan, "…get us out of here…please"
Ryan nodded and broke his hug of Rainbow Dash before looking her in the eyes, "Dashie…." She was still crying and didn't hear Ryan. Ryan sighed, "Rainbow Dash…"
She looked up at him, "…now will you listen to me and close your eyes and cover your ears?"
She nodded and proceeded to curl up into the seat with her eyes closed and her ears covered. Ryan felt awful for her, and how their reality had made both girls so frightened, especially Rainbow Dash.
Ryan turned his attention forward and drove back into the chaos.
Carl's Car
Carl had hoped that driving down the less chaotic street would mean an easier drive out of the city. Turned out, however, that they eventually found themselves in an even worse area, where there were clearly two sides fighting. Jeeps, tanks and other military vehicles amassed on one half of the street; soldiers shooting from the ground were around these vehicles as well. On the other side of the street, the anarchists fought with a line of their own vehicles, specially equipped with guns and tank parts they had quickly managed to screw on from tanks that they had overtaken and broken apart so the parts could be utilized. Hell, the anarchists had about two tanks on their side that, apparently, some of them knew how to operate quite well. Not only that, but they even managed to put a turret on the back of a Chevy pick-up truck.
"Carl!" Alex shouted as a tank on the anarchist's side made it's way forward, its barrel pointed directly at Carl's car. Carl quickly turned into a building that had windows on the ground floor. The sedan went straight through the glass, but Carl didn't stop once he was inside. In fact, he drove through the building, knocking over everything in his path. He went be elevators, information desks, and even a lounge, until he managed to smash through the other end of the building and turn just as the shell from another tank destroyed the building right in front of them. He turned quickly to avoid the debris, only to have the windshield of his car get blown to bits.
He could hear Twilight and Applejack in the backseat scream at the sudden explosion followed by shattered glass. Neither Carl nor Alex got any glass in their eyes, but some glass did hit them. Alex had two slices on his cheek and forehead that were bleeding while Carl's lip was gushing blood. He quickly went down another street to avoid more chaos and, finally, found the expressway out of the city. He wasted no time in getting onto it and heading off to the school.
"We're out." Carl said with a sigh of relief, "We're out."
Suddenly he felt someone hug him around the neck tightly and cry into him. He didn't need to look at her forelegs to know it was Twilight.
"Carl…are you okay?" she asked as she looked at his cut-up face. Carl nodded.
"Yeah." He nodded before looking at Twilight, "are you?"
Twilight's tear filled eyes looked directly into Carl's before she shook her head and cried more.
Carl looked over to see Alex and Applejack hugging each other, Applejack crying as Alex tried to console her.
Alex looked over at Carl and gave him a worried and sad look.
Carl could tell that both of them were thinking the same thing.
"What have we done."
Eventually, Ryan pulled onto the highway, followed by Louis, who had finally managed to catch up to them. Rarity was still unmoving and staring forward until Louis put his arm around her. She then fell against his side and nuzzled against him as tears began to fall from her blue eyes.
Meanwhile, Pinkie Pie was still crying against Pete's leg as he held onto her shaking body.
Fluttershy finally opened her eyes, which were filled with tears, and turned to see James staring straight ahead with eyes that were like those of a veteran with shellshock.
Rainbow Dash eventually sat back up and took a deep breath as Ryan turned to her.
"Rainbow Dash; are you okay?"
She nodded before responding, "I don't want you to stay here. I want you to leave this world with me, it's…it's too terrible. When I go back I'm not leaving you here."
Ryan leaned over and kissed her forehead as she leaned against his shoulder as they continued to speed down the road to get closer to Carl, who was still quite a distance away.
In Carl's car, Applejack and Alex were still holding each other as Twilight rested her head on Carl's shoulder.
She was no longer crying, but she kept sadly whispering the same thing, "I want to go home…I…I want to go home."
I hope that was different from other means of breaking the news to them about the horrors of our world.
Anyway, I did hopefully fill in some gaps from earlier with some of Carl's questions and Twilight's answers.
And I also would like to thank this source: /topic/5928-teleportation/page_st_20 for giving me ideas on the theories of teleportation that could be used, as it is never explained in the show (that I know of)
As of now I am not completely sure how this story will end. I have a direction that I want to take it, but how I'll go about it still remains to be seen. Also when I am done here I plan on possibly making an MLP story that's based on Inception (Ponies and Nolan, how can I pass up?)
Anyways; thanks for reading and thanks for the reviews.
And, as always…
Go Giants! Go Rainbow Dash!