//------------------------------// // Beneath a Silver Lie (Other Pinkie): Outside Looking In // Story: Awkward Conversations And Other Stories // by No one is home //------------------------------// ~Hello Pinkie Pie.~ Pinkie let out a gasp, “The Text!” ~Indeed. I have much to show you, Pinkie of another world.~ -=-=-=-=- “How long have you practiced dark magic?” Celestia was addressing a gaunt, mohawked human in a cell in the canterlot dungeons. “I don’t practice dark magic,” the human’s voice was full of fear, “I keep telling you that. Magic doesn’t work where I come from.” “Then tell me why you have a hand-written book filled with arcane symbols and pictures of my little ponies turned into strange human hybrids?” the monarch’s face was impassive, her eyes cold and hard as steel, “I will uncover your wicked little plans one way or the other human. You would do better to tell me now, I can be merciful.” “There are no plans,” the human shrunk beneath Celestia’s withering gaze, “I told you, that’s just my sketch book. Those are just old symbols from human mythology. It’s just pictures. The humanoid ponies is a style of art, it’s called ‘anthro’. That’s just the stuff the hospital gave back to me when I was being discharged. I swear, there’s no evil plan.” “Then why were you skulking behind a candy store at night not wearing pants,” Celestia smiled thinly, “Human nudity taboos are known to me. Humans generally disrobe for very specific activities.” “The hospital took my pants,” the human pleaded, “I hadn’t been given a chance to get dressed yet when the Text took me. I came out in Ponyville in the middle of the night. I was wandering around aimlessly confused when your guards found me. Please, I didn’t do anything wrong, why are you doing this?” “Nothing wrong?” Celestia sneered, “You have willfully invaded my domain. You are in possession of forbidden magic. You have desecrated the very image of pony kind. I have no doubt had my guards not found you, you would have made some assault upon my innocent little ponies.” “You should have heeded my warning human, Guards!” two surly-looking Unicorns appeared, “Take this scoundrel to the pods, this will be a perfect chance to test their safety before we use them to test the Prince. His safety is important to Twilight after all.” -=-=-=-=- Pinky Pie was confused. These memories just didn’t make any sense. Clearly they were not her own, and so much just seemed… wrong. Why was Celestia being such a big meany-pants? Had the human done something so horrible that even Celestia couldn’t forgive him? And Celestia had said something about testing a Prince. Did she mean Prince Silver Stars? Was this something that had happened in HER equestria, the one she lost when she journeyed across time and space to the human world? -=-=-=-=- “Well,” a unicorn stood in front of what appeared to be something like a changeling pod, hooked up to various machines that would be quite at home in Twilight’s lab, “So far, he’s made no attempt at anything even approaching criminal, aside from a lot of suicide when we push the setting to far.” “Well,” Celestia smiled, “At least that answers the question of death in the pod-dream. That was my most pressing concern with putting Silver Stars inside one of these things. I don’t think Twilight would have forgiven me easily if I let her ‘husband’ die or become comatose.” “Well it turns out to not be a problem at all your majesty. In this subject's case we just reset him back to the Text and play out the next scenario. So far, he thinks it is the Text that is tormenting him, sending him from one unwinnable situation to the next for it’s own twisted amusement.” Celestia’s face twitched uncomfortably, and when she spoke there was a wounded tone to her voice, “Is that what you think I’m doing?” “Of course not your majesty!” the unicorn stallion corrected quickly, “You would never torture anypony! I don’t know what this human did to deserve this, but I’m sure it must have been horrible!” “It’s not what he’s done,” Celestia’s voice was sad, but resolved, “It’s what he could potentially do. Humans are not ponies. They are unpredictable and far too prone to violence. There is evil in this human, I’m sure of it. If we push him hard enough it will rear it’s ugly head.” -=-=-=-=- Silver Stars! These memories were from Pinkie’s world (apparently, the Equestria she was in now had never had any Alicorns of either the Lunar or male variety). Pinky was unsure how to feel about that. Did her world still exist, somewhere, or were these strange memories all that remained. ~You were not the only one to escape that world’s collapse, Pinkie Pie.~ “Oh, hiya Text,” Pinkie grinned at the words, “Almost forgot you were there.” ~Pay attention now, this next part is important.~ -=-=-=-=- “We might have found something, your majesty,” the unicorn technician spoke up. “Oh?” Celestia smiled softly, “Please do share.” “Well, we were running a scenario where the human is being propositioned by various school fillies to determine if he might be a foal fooler…” “I knew it!” the large alicorn scowled, “The foulest of human perversion.” “Actually, it turns out he’s not,” the unicorn shook his head, “In fact, he found the entire sequence of events to be quite disturbing. But I decided to see what happened if he was convicted of the crime anyway, and… well, he’s taken up dark magic!” “So he WAS lying, I knew he was a sorcerer from the first time I laid eyes on that book,” Celestia smiled grimly. “Actually your majesty,” the technician shook his head, “He had no idea human ‘witchcraft’ could be used in Equestria. He only tried out of desperation. It turns out ‘witchcraft’ is magic.” “Interesting,” Celestia nodded, “That knowledge alone justifies the experiment. At any rate, we’ve determined by this point that the pod should be perfectly safe for our little errant alicorn prince. Have one sent to my suite near the port, you’ve done well.” “What about this human?” the unicorn asked. “Well, we obviously can’t let him out. Put him in a repeating loop where he works at a warehouse or something. And give him some friends, maybe a changeling and a colt cuddler… he may well be dangerous, but I don’t see any reason to be cruel,” Celestia smiled at her decision, she was after all a merciful princess, and not a cruel dictator, “Once you have him comfortable in the simulation, seal this pod in the deepest cell in the dungeons and have the entrance walled in. He will be kept safely away from my little ponies and left to live his life in a happy little dream.” “Of course, your majesty…” -=-=-=-=- “But…” Pinkie stammered, “He didn’t really do anything wrong!” ~No he did not. When the world collapsed, I brought him safely into the new reality, and gave him back the things he had originally brought with him. He, was unaware that he was in dream of course. He thought he had finally found happiness in Equestria, and that I had once again broken his life and started it over for my own amusement.~ “How could Celestia be so cruel?” If Pinkie had not already convinced her mane it should be straight to differentiate herself from this world's Pinkie Pie. she felt sure it would deflate from the sheer shock of it. ~She sought only to look after the well being of her little ponies. In her mind any excess could be justified in the name of the “Greater Good”. Remember for one thousand years she was viewed as the very embodiment of goodness and light. Whatever her actions, in the eyes of Equestria they were “good” and “righteous”.~ “Is the Celestia of the new world like that?” Pinkie asked meekly. ~That is not my place to say. You have seen all I brought you here to see Pinkie Pie. Good bye.~