Once all of the proper introductions were made, Twilight rid the library of the now broken and useless cage. She and the other ponies sat on cushions she had provided in a semicircle around Remulus, who had declined a cushion when asked. It was just as well, Twilight doubted that she had anything that could fit the wolf's size. The moon was just beginning its ascent, so Twilight had Spike bring everypony tea.
When Twilight had first brought Remulus to the library, Spike was a bit wary of him, "Twilight, are you insane?!" he had asked, "What if it goes on a rampage and destroys Ponville?!"
"It'll be fine, Spike," she had insisted, "All evidence points to it being highly intelligent. It didn't hurt any of the guards in Canterlot, and according to Applejack it even saved Apple Bloom. And Fluttershy's here, so there's nothing to worry about."
Spike shrugged, "Okay, but when it trashes the library, I want it on record that I called it."
Twilight suppressed a sigh, "Noted."
So when Spike brought the refreshments balanced on a large tray, there was a tense moment when he caught Remulus' eye. For a moment they just stared at each other, and Twilight was afraid that Spike would be too afraid to approach. After a deep breath, Spike went around and laid cups of tea in front of her and the girls. When there was one last cup left, Spike walked up to Remulus, albeit slowly. Spike held the tray out to Remulus, offering the cup of tea to him. Remulus' tail lifted and coiled around the handle. He lifted the cup to his lips, took a sip, and hummed, "This is really very good. What is your name, young dragon?"
Twilight had yet to inform Spike that Remulus could talk, so she was impressed when Spike seemed to shrug it off and answered, "I'm Spike, and thanks," he added indicating the tea.
Remulus inclined his head, "Greetings Spike, my name is Remulus. Tell me, is a dragon that lives amongst ponies a common occurrence?"
Spike shrugged, "Not that I've heard. As far as I know, I'm the only one."
Remulus hummed again and took another sip of his tea, "I would be interested in hearing your story sometime."
Spike visibly brightened, "Really?" Remulus nodded, "Sure, but as tell me yours too."
"Fair enough," Remulus sat his cup to the side and offered his tail to Spike, "I look forward to it."
Spike seemed unsure of what to do with the offered tail, so he just gripped and shook it with his claw, "Same here," Spike then turned to leave and addressed Twilight, "If you need me for anything, you'll know where I'll be," he flashed a comic book at her.
Twilight rolled her eyes and said with a smile, "Are you sure you don't want to stick around?"
"Nah, besides I doubt I'd understand even half of what you'll all talk about. Later."
The mares all gave Spike their various goodbyes before he vanished upstairs. Twilight beamed at Remulus, "You handled that really well," the wolf said nothing and continued to drink his tea. Twilight too that as a sign to move on, "Alright, there are a few things that I'd like to ask," her horn lit up and a large stack of papers roughly half her height appeared next to her. Only a fraction of what she had originally wanted, but the girls had talked her down some.
Remulus sat his cup aside, "I, too have many questions as I'm sure the rest of you do as well," he added with a glance around the room, "so I propose this. You ask a question that I will answer, and then I will ask a question and we continue in that fashion until we are all satisfied. Agreed?"
Twilight nodded, "That seems fair. Girls?" The ponies all agreed.
Remulus nodded back, "You may have the first question."
Twilight opened her mouth, but Pinkie beat her to it, "Can I pet you?"
To say that Twilight was horrified at that question would be an understatement. Rainbow stifled a laugh behind her hoof, while Applejack facehoofed. Remulus however merely stated, "No,"
"Aww," Pinkie's ears flattened in disappointment, as did Fluttershy's for some reason.
"Now for my first question. When I first arrived, I noticed four different types of pony, however from my observations of this town and what I saw in the mountain city there was only one winged unicorn. My question is this, am I correct in assuming that she rules this land?"
Twilight answered, "Yes and no. The pony you are referring to is Princess Celestia. She and her sister Princess Luna rule this country of Equestria equally."
"A diarchy?"
"Precisely."
"Interesting. Your next question."
Twilight was beaten to the punch yet again, this time by Applejack who glared at Remulus, "Yeah Ah got a question. Just what were ya doing on mah farm, and why'd ya steal from mah family?"
Remulus didn't react to the venom in Applejack's voice, and answered calmly, "I had gone through quite an ordeal prior to and after my arrival here. I was near starving when I found your farm and was following the scent of cow when I came upon your barn. When I learned that the cows of this world were as sapient as you ponies, I quickly came to the conclusion that eating one would be a terrible tragedy. So with no other options before me, I ate the apples.
"I assume that you all realize that I am not an herbivore, but I want you to know that I do not eat sapients. And I know that, despite my desperation, that I still stole from you, Applejack. At the moment all I can offer you is my apologies, and a promise that I will one day make it up to you," he lowered his head near to the ground.
Applejack scratched the back of her head, clearly uncomfortable at Remulus nearly prostrating himself before her, "Aw shoot, Ah was just looking for an apology. Ah hadn't realized what you'd been through," she chuckled and walked up to him and held out her hoof. "Ah accept your apology, and seein' how ya saved mah sister and all, Ah reckon y'all can go ahead and call us square."
Remulus lifted his head and looked at her hoof, unsure of what to do. He settled by tapping the flat of his paw to her hoof. Applejack smiled at him and returned to her cushion when Remulus asked, "Your sister? Apple Bloom?"
"Eeyup, how'd ya guess?"
"The two of you share similar...scents," Twilight raised a brow at his pause, "Now, my second question, your marks. From what I've witnessed the marks on your flanks have some bearing to either your names, your occupations, or both. I also noticed that the younger ponies do not have any marks, so I believe that it's safe to assume that they are acquired later in life. Now while I'm curious if your names have any bearing on the marks you'll receive, my question is this. What exactly are they?"
Twilight was about to answer, but what he had said had thrown her for a bit of a loop. Until that moment she hadn't ever questioned how closely related some pony's name and their cutie marks could be. If she were being perfectly honest, the thought never even came to her, but now that Remulus had pointed it out...
"They're called cutie marks," Rainbow said, cutting off Twilight's train of thought.
Remulus raised a brow, "Please elaborate."
Now in familiar territory, Twilight shoved that future study topic to the back of her mind and began giving a brief lesson on cutie marks. She started with the basics; when a pony discovers their special talent and how their cutie mark would reflect that. Then she moved on to telling her own personal story of how she acquired hers, with her friends telling theirs soon after.
When they finished, Remulus had a troubled look on his face, "So this is a world of destiny," he mumbled to himself, though Twilight overheard. Before she could ask why that seemed so troubling to him, he continued, "The three young ponies in the woods. They do not have their marks, and they called themselves the Cutie Mark Crusaders. I assume that their crusade is to find their 'special talent?'"
Rarity and Applejack gave a longsuffering sigh, "Those three have been tryin' darn near everything to get their cutie marks," Applejack said.
Rarity nodded, "They've become so desperate that they're willing to put themselves in harms way. Not to mention how filthy they all get," she added, scrunching her muzzle in disgust.
"I had noticed," Remulus said with a small shrug. "Your next question."
Rainbow spoke up, "You said you were a shapeshifter. Why didn't you turn into a rock, or a stick, or something when we were chasing you?"
The wolf's ears folded back, and he looked away almost like he was embarrassed, "I...cannot. First of all, I can only shift into living creatures. An ape, a bird," he tapped his chest, "a wolf. Secondly, this world is so saturated with magic that it is overwhelming my own."
Twilight's ears perked up, "You have magic of your own?"
"I have studied several dozen different schools of magic. From incantation to alchemy, from arcane to psionic. All of that is useless to me now though until my body acclimates to the flows of magic in this world. At the moment I doubt that I could cast a simple fire spell," Twilight had stopped listening. Instead her mind was racing at all the potential knowledge she could gain from an intense study session with Remulus. Just the two of them alone in her basement surrounded by books, and papers filled with notes on the different types of magic that he could teach her. And he used "world" again as if he came from another one. Wait, if that's true...but my spell couldn't have... She was so out of it that she didn't notice all eyes in the room were on her, until Rainbow flicked her with a wing, "Huh...what?"
"You're drooling, Egghead," Rainbow said with a snicker.
Twilight felt around her mouth and indeed felt a bit of moisture. Her cheeks grew hot as Rarity levitated a napkin in front of her, wich she took with a look of gratitude. After making herself presentable again, she cleared her throat and said, "Your next question, Remulus."
"Very well. I believe I already know the answer to this, but I would like confirmation. Your princesses, Celestia and Luna. Celestia has a mark of the sun, and it is obvious what Luna's mark might be. Their special talents, do they have anything to do with the sun and moon?"
Rainbow answered, "Uh, duh. The princesses only raise them after all. Everypony knows that."
"I did not. That is why I asked."
Rainbow raised a brow, "How could you not?"
Remulus didn't answer and instead turned his head towards the window where moonlight was just beginning to stream in. He hummed again before turning back to the ponies, "Your next question."
It was finally time to learn what Remulus meant every time he said "worlds." Twilight opened her mouth, "Ooh, ooh!" only to shut it again with a frustrated growl when Pinkie hopped in place, attracting Remulus' attention. "When Twilight had you in that bubble of silenceness, you managed to escape by shooting some golden ray thing out of your mouth like bleh!" Pinkie opened her mouth wide, with her tongue out, "What kind of magic was that?"
Twilight's interest was peaked, and she silently thanked Pinkie for her question. While she was desperate to know for sure whether or not Remulus came from another world, a chance to learn about a new type of magic, and much sooner than she had planned, was a very close second in priorities. The thought almost made her squeal with delight. "That was not magic," only to have her heart drop at Remulus' answer. "What I did was one of the most basic forms of a technique called energy manipulation," Remulus didn't give the ponies a chance to ask before he went into further detail, "Every action a creature makes requires energy, from running or flying at great speeds, to something as simple as blinking.
"Some species in a great number of worlds," Twilight's eye twitched, "have perfected a way to take that energy," Remulus lifted his tail tip up in front of them, "focus it to a single point on their bodies," the tip of his tail began to glow with a faint light, not unlike a unicorn's horn when charged with magic, "and direct it outward," the glow around his tail condensed into a golden sphere of light that hovered just above his tail.
Twilight and her friends gasped in amazement, and Twilight couldn't help but ask, "What would be the main point of such a technique?"
"Combat. Pure physical energy can be quite destructive when used offensively, and be a great defensive shield."
Twilight gulped, almost dreading the answer "How destructive?"
A shadow passed over Remulus' face, all but confirming Twilight's fears, as the ball of energy shrank and vanished, "I believe it is my turn for a question."
"Oh, alright," Twilight noticed a shift in his mood and, looking around, she saw various looks of concern on her friends faces. She decided to drop it for now.
"This will be my last question, as I'm sure any others I have can be answered in one of these books," he gestured to the library around them, "My question is for you, Twilight Sparkle."
"Oh, okay," Twilight smiled, confident that she could answer any of his questions to his satisfaction.
"Were you the one who summoned me to this world?"
Her smile fell and her ears splayed back, and she became acutely of every eye on her. He asked the question as if he already knew the answer. Was he angry with her? Did she pull him away from some important task, or maybe a special some...wolf? Her mind was ablaze with such questions that she didn't realize that she had remained silent until Applejack laid a hoof on her withers, "Twilight, you okay, sugar cube?"
"Huh? Yeah," Twilight looked to Remulus, who had been patiently waiting for her. Sighing, she looked him in the eyes and answered, "Yes, yes I was,"
Remulus blinked, "I see."
"You're not mad, are you?"
He tilted his head, "Why would I be mad? You didn't intend to bring me into this world, and this isn't the first time I've been forcefully summoned into a world, either. I have become quite accustomed to it."
It felt as if a weight had been lifted off Twilight's shoulders. Her smiled returned, as did her inquisitive side, "Would you mind explaining what you mean every time you say 'world?'"
Remulus took a breath, "It's complicated."
"Would you mind un-complicating it then?"
"Are you certain you want to know? Explaining will take some time, and knowing will not change anything for you."
"Even so, the way you keep referring to 'worlds' as separate things leads me to believe that you are not from ours. However the spell I cast was not designed to, nor powerful enough to cross into other worlds. To be honest, until recently, I had even doubted their existence. So I would like to know the truth."
The girls all looked to Twilight with various levels of shock with Rainbow exclaiming, "Wait, what?!" but Twilight kept her focus squarely on Remulus, giving him the best determined look she could muster.
In the end, he relented, "Very well. May I borrow a book?"
"Of course," Twilight levitated a book from one of the many shelves and laid it front of Remulus. At the same time she prepared a long length of parchment and quill before giving Remulus her full attention.
The wolf opened the cover with a claw and laid his other paw on the first page, "Now imagine for a moment that this one page represents your world. Everything you know is contained within the boundaries of this paper. Rarity, what did you have for breakfast this morning?"
The mare was surprised at the sudden question, but quickly composed herself, "Oh, well my younger sister made the two of us pancakes to share with fresh squeezed orange juice. So I had toast with jam, and a bit of milk."
Twilight's stomach lurched a bit at what Rarity had had to endure with her disaster chef of a sister. A sympathy shared by the others, if their various expressions were anything to go by. Applejack even patted her withers in a "there, there" fashion.
If Remulus found Rarity's answer, or their subsequent reactions odd he didn't show it. Instead he flipped the page, and laid his paw on the backside of the first page, "Here in this world, you instead had apple juice. Here," he indicated the adjacent page, "your sister mad you that toast and jam," He flipped a small hooful of pages, "Here, your significant other made you breakfast," another hooful of pages, "Here you skipped breakfast altogether. And finally here," he flipped to the last page in the book, "you don't even exist."
Remulus closed the book, "Every living thing makes choices at almost every moment in their lives. Whether to wake up early, or to sleep in. To talk to a stranger on the street, or to walk on by, or even something as simple taking a left instead of a right. You make one choice, somewhere in another world another version of you made a different choice. And in yet another world, an entirely different choice is made. Infinite choices, infinite possibilities, infinite worlds."
Twilight gasped, "You're talking about multiverse theory."
"So that is a thing here? Yes, however it goes much farther than that," Remulus stood and backed up to a bookshelf. He lifted his hind leg and kicked the shelf with such force to cause all the books to fall around him. Normally Twilight would be quite livid at the wolf's treatment of her precious books, but her inquisitive side was far too fascinated with what he was saying, and was eagerly awaiting to hear more.
Remulus lifted a book with his tail, "Here is a world where magic doesn't exist," he laid that book down a ways from the first, the picked up another, "Here dogs and cats evolved to walk on their hind legs, and became the dominant species of their world," that book was laid down closer to the first, but not by much, "Here creatures live on the body of a massive creature called a titan. Here creature can bend the elements of nature to their will," and he went on listing more and more fanciful worlds and placing books down before them until they were laid out in a grid like pattern. Some were closer together than others, and some were isolated from the rest.
"Hold up a sec, Remmy," Applejack said, rubbing her head with a hoof, "This is all startin' ta go over mah head."
"Indeed," Rarity agreed, "and it's all beginning to sound like one of Sweetie Belle's fantasy novels."
Remulus shook his head, "There is no such thing as fantasy. Your confusion is understandable. As I said before, knowing will change very little, so I can stop now if you wish."
Twilight shook her head frantically, "No no, please go on. This is absolutely fascinating!" she laid aside her second parchment of notes, and levitated a third with her quill at the ready, "Now what did you mean with the statement, 'There's no such thing as fantasy?'"
"The world I was born in is called Earth. It is a near magicless world where science and technology advanced to a point where, when I left, we were scouting other planets in our galaxy for a habitable climate. The dominant species is called human..."
"Human? Is that what you really are? How'd your civilization develop without magic? And how...?" Twilight was silenced when Remulus' tail pressed against her lips.
"One set of questions at a time, Twilight Sparkle."
Twilight felt her face burn, and she gave a sheepish smile when his tail pulled away.
"Yes I was born a human, but I have not considered myself one for quite some time," Twilight opened her mouth to ask another question, but quickly closed it when Remulus raised his tail threateningly. Fluttershy giggled at that. "Now to answer your first question, Rainbow Dash."
Rainbow, who seemed to be dozing off, jumped at the sound of her name, "Uh...yeah?"
"What was the title of the book you were reading?"
Rainbow visibly brightened, obviously excited to finally be able to follow the conversation, or just to be able to gush about her favorite book series. Twilight couldn't tell. Dash grabbed her book from where she left it on Twilight's couch, and rushed back to Remulus and held it out for him to take, "It's called Daring Do and the Temple of Fate!" Remulus laid the book down, and flipped through it aimlessly as Rainbow gave him a synopsis on it and the series as a whole.
Remulus interrupted her with a question, "And the author? Have you ever met them?"
Rainbow scoffed, "Have I ever met her?" she grabbed the book and flipped to the first page. She nearly shoved the book in Remulus' face to show him the author's signature, "I've been to nearly every book signing from here to Trottingham! She knows me by name, and we're practically sisters!"
Twilight had to roll her eyes at that, remembering the fiasco where the author's agent had to file a restraining order against Rainbow. Her ears perked up when Remulus turned to her, "Tell me about her,"
Rainbow protested that she could tell him everything about Yearling, but Twilight new that Remulus would only want the basics and wouldn't be interested in what her favorite flower might be, "Well she's a unicorn pony named A.K. Yearling. She was born in Baltimare," Remulus raised an eyebrow, "and started writing the Daring Do series nearly a decade ago. She has a husband and three foals..."
"Enough, thank you," he pushed the book back to Rainbow, "In this world, the author of Daring Do is just that, an author with a fantastic imagination. But if you remember what I said before about infinite possibilities, then in another world Yearling is a pegasus mare who studies archeology and just so happens to get caught up in events that threatens the world, and then writes about them and sells the story of her adventures as fantasy novels to fund her expeditions. In another world, she is all of that minus being an author," he took a breath, "Do you understand what I'm telling you?"
Rainbow Dash and Applejack shared a look, Fluttershy shook her head, and Rarity looked to be in deep thought. Pinkie Pie nodded along as if Remulus' explanation was obvious, but Twilight was staring at the books on the ground. She knew that Remulus had placed them with purpose, but only now did she understand what that was.
Twilight gulped. She was afraid to ask, but she had to know, "What you just explained isn't just true for...our world is it?" she gestured to each of the books, "Each of these worlds, all with their own infinite parallels and the worlds beyond. Somewhere somepony...something in a world completely different from our own..." she couldn't finish, the thought so unbelievable.
Remulus nodded slowly, knowing what she was going to say, "What we call 'imagination' is really subtle links to things or creatures of other worlds. Rainbow, being an avid fan of Yearling's work, there's little doubt that you have imagined scenarios for Daring Do yourself. Maybe even putting yourself in them?"
Rainbow's face reddened horribly, "N-no way! That kinda stuff's for weirdos!" she turned away with a huff.
Remulus hummed, believing her as much as anypony else, "Regardless, whether it is your fan stories, this very moment, or a child of another world being lulled to sleep by the story of six ponies and the wolf, it all exists. There is no such thing as fantasy."
Silence reigned in the library once more as they all tried to digest this new information. Nopony knew how to react. Should they be scared? Fluttershy certainly was as she was eyeing the books on the ground as if something might jump out of them at any moment. Maybe they should be excited, then again it's also possible that he could be lying, though Twilight couldn't find a reason as to why Remulus would lie about this. Twilight couldn't wrap her head around the thought that all of her and her friends struggles over the years could be nothing more than entertainment for some creature in some world she'll never see. On the other hoof, how was reading about Daring Do, or any of the other multitude of fantasy novels in the library any different? Somehow that thought calmed her.
"I see you have realized, Twilight Sparkle," Remulus' voice broke the silence, "While in some worlds we may be nothing more than a story, what does that change for us? Look around and you'll notice that nothing has changed. This is still the library, you are all the same ponies, and this will still be your town tomorrow."
Twilight found her voice, "How is it that you know all this?"
"Experience. I once met someone I was connected to, and he me. It was...I do not recommend it."
"And how many worlds have you been to?"
"Countless."
"How?"
Remulus placed the tip of his tail between two books, "Between the worlds exists a space that is viewed differently by all who see it. For me, it is a swirling vortex that I navigate with a ship designed to handle pure nothingness. It is here where I enter different worlds, and it is where your summoning spell ripped me from."
Rarity cringed, "When you put it like that, darling, it sounds painful."
"Extremely."
Twilight's stomach dropped at his words, "W-what?"
"I said that being summoned to this world was painful. It felt like I was being ripped into two, put back together only to ripped apart again."
No...
"It was the reason why I had shifted into my wolf form. It can handle far better than my human form.'
What have I done? Twilight felt the tears build in her eyes.
"Although I suppose it was my fault. I shouldn't have fought against it so..."
"I'm so sorry!" Twilight's exclamation stopped Remulus, "I-I had n-no idea what I p-put you through!" Twilight's tears were flowing at this point
"Twilight..."
"I-I never meant t-to hurt you. I-I just..."
"Stop..."
"First the f-fury, and n-now this! I shouldn't have casted that spell, I know that, but my own stupid curiosity got the better of me, and so many suffered for it! I'm the worst! I'm..."
Twilight fell silent when a large par gently landed on her head. She looked up through her tears into Remulus' brown eyes, "Enough," he said, his voice calm but firm, "It was impossible for either of us to predict this. So do not blame yourself."
"B-but I..." Remulus pressed the tip of his tail against her lips.
"Listen to my words, Twilight Sparkle," he proceeded to wipe away her tears with his tail, "I do not, nor will I ever hold a grudge against you for this. It is not the first time I have been forced into a world, and I doubt that it will be the last. Though if you still feel like you owe me some sort of debt, I would be very interested in learning about this world, especially its magic. If, of course, you would be willing to teach me."
Twilight sniffed and gave him a small smile, "I'd like that."
Remulus nodded and removed his paw, "As to the fury incident, while I would like to hear details, there are others here who would like to reassure you," when he stepped away, Twilight immediately became the center of a tearful group hug. Her best and closest friends all let her know that they didn't blame her. That nopony in town hated her, and that she was in fact not the worst pony. Twilight's tears returned, and she returned their hugs.
After a few minutes, they pulled away and found Remulus staring out of a window. "It is late," he said when he noticed them, "I believe we should save anymore questions for another time."
The girls all agreed and said they all had an early start tomorrow, except Rainbow Dash to nopony's surprise. Fluttershy approached Remulus, "If you have no place to sleep, you're more than welcome to stay with me."
"Thank you, Fluttershy, but no. I will not be staying in this town."
Pinkie gasped, "But you said you'd be back, and I haven't even thrown you your party yet!"
"And I will return, but I will not be making my residence anywhere in or around this town," he gazed outside again, "For the duration of my stay in this world, I will live in that forest.
`Remulus' ears folded back at the sound of six voices simultaneously shouting, "NO!" he was then subjected to each of them explaining why the Everfree Forest was to be avoided. The stories of erratic weather patterns, to poisonous plants, to dangerous beats only made him raise a brow.
Eventually e said, "Very well, I'll stay here, but only if you can tell me that if I were to walk into the middle of town in full daylight, that I will not cause a panic," nopony could look him in the eye. They all knew how skittish the townsponies could be, and they all remembered what had happened with Zecora a few years ago, and she was a fellow equine. "Exactly. Besides, the forest sounds like a perfect place for a dangerous beast such as myself. I will be fine."
Pinkie narrowed her eyes, "Do you Pinkie Promise?"
Remulus blinked and looked at one of his paws, "I do not have pinkies in this form," after another exchange of cultural similarities, Remeulus went through the motions of the infamous Pinkie Promise, and promised to return the next evening, "What an odd ritual," Twilight giggled in agreement. "Well then, it was nice meeting you all. If you need me for anything before tomorrow evening, then come to the edge of the forest and call for me. I have committed all of your scents to memory, so finding you will be no trouble."
Pinkie jumped up, "Wait, you can't leave yet! New friends have to part with a smile!" she said, giving him a toothy grin.
Remulus tilted his head before something behind them caused his eyes to go wide with shock. Seeing his surprise, they all turned around, only to see nothing more than the rest of the library. When they turned back, Remulus was nowhere to be seen, ad a window was left open.
Pinkie giggled, "Got me again."
"Spike?" Twilight opened the door to her room, "Spike, are you awake?" she was answered with a loud snore. Sighing to herself, she gently closed the door and made her way to her study. Sitting at her desk, she levitated a parchment, a quill, and some ink and laid them on the desk. She spent a few moments gathering her thoughts before she dipped the quill into the ink and began to write, "Dear Princess Celestia..."