//------------------------------// // [7] [S4E05]-Flight to the Finish // Story: Another Displaced Human Dilemma // by The Grey Pegasus //------------------------------// Another Displaced Human Dilemma By: The Stardust < 7 > Something About Flying to the Finish? Page flip. "What are you reading today, Stardust?" I kept my head buried in the book I was reading, yet answered Twilight. "World history. Some stuff about geopolitics. With some added cross-referencing with recent publications and newspapers." Twilight walked over to the table where I had this stuff laid out. Really, I'd practically had claim to the back room of the library all to myself. "Oh! That's interesting." She paused. "By the way, it's almost time for our planned session." "Huh?" I looked up and looked at the clock in the room. Oh, right, Twilight scheduled a study session today. A study of me, that is. "Oh, okay. Sure. Just... let me finish this page." Twilight sidled up to me to see what I was reading. "Oh. You really meant world history. I thought you'd be reading things about our closer neighbors. But halfway across the world?—" "Other hemisphere, actually, but still northern hemisphere." "Well, that's true. We have some interactions with the ponies there, but they're so far away, I actually haven't read too much into our foreign relations with them." That got me to stop reading and look at her. "Wait, you're not actually too familiar with these ponies?" Twilight shrugged. "Not really too much of my area of expertise. I mean, I know some basics about them, but nothing expansive. It's not really knowledge I'd find useful to know off of the top of my head; if I need to learn something, then I'll just go find a book to reference." "I guess foreign policy isn't exactly a concern of yours." Twilight raised a brow. "Well is it one of yours?" I thought about it for a bit. "Well... I... grew up with the ideology that global politics was something important. So... I guess you could say so." Twilight telekinetically grabbed a quill and a notepad. "Well, this wasn't exactly what I had planned for today, but I think we can work with it." "You want to make my interest in world events today's topic?" I asked. "To figure out why you don't have a cutie mark yet, it's important to build as complete of a picture of you as I can," Twilight said. "We've been over this already." "Well, they haven't," I mumbled. "They?" Twilight paused. "Well, I'm beginning to believe more in the part where you're as weird as Pinkie Pie, in certain ways. But we'll pursue that line of thought another day. At least you don't drive me insane." "So... where do we continue off from?" "You could start by going over briefly what you've read about," Twilight said. "Which cultures, countries, places." "Well, I did start off with the obvious ones," I replied. "Sort of going outward from Equestria—especially those with some presence in Equestria. So far, I've gone over the Gryphons, the Zebras, and some stuff over the Crystal Empire. Which, I might add, has a whole new interesting dimension on the political stage, ever since Equestria's recent annexation of it." I waited for Twilight to finish writing down the notes. She lifted her head once she had finished. "Is there more?" "Well, there's the Yaks further up north." A Season 5 addition, I might add. So... so long for keeping outside factors separate from the story. Yeah, probably. If ever. "You've definitely gotten farther than the Yaks though," Twilight said. "Based off of what you were reading." Ooh. So now it's time to plug details for other stories of ours! "Well, I got really curious about what was directly across from Equestria, all the way around the globe. Some country called Annamitia, populated by creatures called kapirs; they're kind of basically jungle equines." "That's interesting," Twilight said with a hint of a smile. "And then those ponies," she said, pointing her quill at the books on the table. "Those guys. The Tarpans. Bit smaller than the average Equestrian, I might note. Also, their government has a tight control on magic, enchanted items, and other such things throughout their country. I read that Celestia's rubbed some shoulders with them about Equestria's own freedom of magic. Apparently they don't like the idea of possibly highly destructive things randomly popping up." I shrugged. "Then again, who can blame them for not wanting an apocalypse every few months? Their reaction to Luna's return was quite interesting, according to a paper I read." Twilight looked genuinely interested in that topic. "I can... see where they might be coming from. I wonder how they guard against all the wild magic though..." I shrugged again. "Better management of resources? Tight-hoofed control and stern, cold regard for what they deal with?" "Ugh," Twilight remarked. "That's a clash of culture I'd be interested in reading about later. Later," she emphasized. "This is still all about you and why you're a matured pony without a cutie mark." "I can tell you that politics is not what I intend on doing with my life," I said flatly. "Traveling, then?" Twilight suggested. "You must have some sort of attraction to the idea of traveling, and going to different places." That was true enough. After all, that was a real fact. "Not to mention that, well, you're here because you chose to go on a journey of self-discovery." And that was an in-universe 'real' fact. "I suppose so." "Right then!" Twilight said, writing down more notes. "Open to idea of traveling to different lands... What about interactions with others? Would you say that, when you travel, you're there for the culture or the country?" Interesting question, Twilight. "I'd say the latter. Interpersonal relations are something I'd prefer to keep to 'as necessary'." Twilight's face scrunched up. "So... do you mean in the general sense of interpersonal relations, or just when going abroad?" I raised a brow. "I... guess you could say in a general sense, though I'm not really averse to building up relationships with others I find I would get along with." "I see..." I could see the gears working in Twilight's head as she tried to consider what life options were laid out for me, according to this new information. At the same time, she was taking into account information from previous interview sessions—which none of you readers will know, because obviously those were time-skipped over between now and the previous chapter. I figure that after a few more sessions, Twilight's going to have a list of fields I could look into for further information, and see which one I should consider. Or reconsider, according to my untold backstory. What a mess. <<+>> After finishing what was yet another interesting session of talking with Twilight, which, to be honest, felt like I was just talking to myself for the most part, I found myself out wandering Ponyville. A chance to clear my head, and to Twilight, to go build some better familiarity and relationships with the town and its ponies, given that I was staying here indefinitely. And yes, I know it happened within a transition, but I'm really serious about conversations with Twilight feeling like I'm talking to myself. And not just in the sense that I'm writing this story, but quite literally her character is such that our personalities are really quite similar. I guess that's what introverted thinking and extroverted intuition get you. An insatiable appetite for stuff of all sorts. "... Hearts, as strong as horses! We've got hearts as strong as horses!" "Oh hey," I noted to myself out loud. "Catchy tune. And high-pitched voices. Must be the Crusaders. Sweet, a catchy Crusader song. Hard to go wrong with those." And then I noticed an oddity. Or felt it. It's weird to describe. But in short, it's that feeling I have when I feel the show cameras rolling. "We're in a Crusader episode, aren't we?" I glanced back at my blank flank. God, that term just rolls off the tongue, doesn't it? Especially for such an accurate, simple description. "Catchy tune, Crusaders. Of course we are." Though, the show cameras were doing something odd. I summed it up with a single question. "How do the song montages even work?" The song ended, and—"If that's the best you've got, we're going to win for sure." "We already have the most divine routine planned." Oh, it's those two little pricks. I decided to leave right then, because I always thought those parts of the episodes were kinda 'meh' at best, and irritating at worst. "... But you know what you don't have?" "Your cutie marks! Blank flanks, blank flanks—" As I got farther, the pestering of Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon faded out. "What—what are you looking at?" That... that did not seem like it was the intended dialogue flow. That usually means I messed something up, right? Huh... what do I do, what do I do... Ah—right. The proper thing to do when in possible focus is to act like nothing's wrong. "May the best ponies win!" I heard Silver Spoon declare. Scootaloo met the challenge. "Game on!" See? Move along, like nothing's wrong. ... I really wish you just kept on being quiet this time around. "Hey! Hey, mister, hey!" No, Apple Bloom, I'd rather not. I did, I just wasn't mentally speaking it. The filly trio skidded to a halt in front of me. Sweetie Belle spoke up first. "Hey, you're that pony who's new in town!" "Uh huh..." I simply nodded. "And you don't have your cutie mark!" Scootaloo finally said. I simply stared at her, conveying the same 'uh huh...' with my expression. Except, this was actually more of 'uh huh, no shit'. "Do other ponies ever bug you about that?" Apple Bloom asked. I shrugged. "If they have, I haven't noticed." "You seem like a pretty normal pony otherwise," Sweetie Belle said. I rolled my eyes. "I try my best." They don't know half of it. "So... how's it like?" Scootaloo asked. "Being grown-up and without a cutie mark." Believe me, I really wanted to tell them what it's like to feel like life is just trying to crush you. "Just something you deal with," I answered them. "Including the weird looks ponies give?" Sweetie said. "Here's a good tip—realize when you should care what others think about you and when you should just ignore them. It's easier to see and chase your potential that way, as well as keeping in sight what's important to you. You'll live better if you focus on what you think is important, instead of what others think." Scootaloo spoke up. "But... what if you're not sure about what might happen? What if you never live up to it?" "Uncertainty is a part of life that you'll have to learn to live with, and then ask yourself how much you'll let it stop you from trying anyways." I patted her on the head and began walking away. "Remember—don't let things stop you from trying, and always keep in sight what's really important to you." With those tidbits of information, they were left pondering over it, allowing me to walk out of that frame, because I'm pretty sure I don't have that much things to do on-screen-wise for this episode. <<+>> "Ponies... ponies... ponies..." My walk around Ponyville took me to the inner town. Seeing that I was going to be staying in Ponyville for the foreseeable future, I began coming here more often to get myself more accustomed to the town. Honestly, it was a fairly... normal place, for the most part. I suppose there's oddities here and there, but that happens everywhere. Even back home. The town, as everyone already knows, has that old-timey feel to it. Cottages and similar architecture. Small businesses. Fairly close-knit community. Somewhat close to probably what we'd think of when we imagine old people going on about 'the good old days'. Ponyville is, overall, that quaint community that it's portrayed to be. Enough of that fluff, though. Today, as I made my way through town, I kept an eye out for postings or anything of the sort. If I could find a place to stay that was cheaper than the inn, I was definitely going to check it out. Because that bag of bits I gave myself all the way back a few chapters ago? As repeatedly mentioned during then, this was reality now, and reality means that my wallet doesn't get magically refilled. Reality means you slowly drain your savings as long as you don't have income. Speaking of income, Twilight did agree to reimburse me by some monetary amount while I remained the subject of her study. So there was that, at least. I should really put more reading into finance and economics in Equestria. Hm, I'm rambling. Am I getting weird stares? Because you know Ponyvillians are quirky like that. When do I get to? Without having to go by my own volition? And by that, I mean by hitching onto the plot. "Oh hey, I recognize this name," I noted to myself out loud. I tore off a sheet of paper with the name and address. "Lucky Clover. He's one of those more prominent background ponies. And god knows my luck is almost as bad as Twilight's." I looked around, as if that would help me locate said background pony's place. "I'm also getting this strange vibe about this... it feels like plot advancement. No... wait, not just that. It feels like I've finally dusted off something that's been sitting on a shelf for three or four years..." <...> You know, if you wiped my mind about something related to this, it's only gonna bug me more that I can't remember what exactly it is. Something tells me this is only something that really matters between us two. That last statement is really going to bug me for a while. Can't you just, I don't know, advance the plot a little faster for me? To spare me some of that irritation? Keep my mind busy? "Oh!" Ask and I shall receive, I guess. I instinctively turned to the mare to my side, slipping the room posting under my wing as I turned. "Um, excuse me!" Hey, she's prominent enough to get her own character tag!... And this is a very specific character choice, isn't it? "Are you new in town?" Roseluck asked me. "I am," I answered. "I just couldn't help but notice you picking out that ad," she said. "That's Lucky's ad, isn't it?" "It is," I said, slightly raising a brow. "Why?" "Oh! Well, seeing that you picked it out, I'm assuming you're looking for a place to stay," Roseluck continued. "The inn really charges quite a bit..." she added, mumbling. "I am..." "He's a wonderful pony, if you choose to stay with him. Do you think you'd want to go inquire with him right now?" "Excuse me?" "Well I'm... good friends with him, and I was going to have lunch with him today," Roseluck said. "If you'd like, I'm sure he'd be fine if I brought along a prospecting pony. I mean, maybe I caught you in time for a reason!" "You don't know half of it." I rolled my eyes. "What was that?" Crap, I said that out loud, didn't I. "Well, uh, sure, I guess," I answered her properly. "If you think it's fine." "Wonderful!" she smiled. She motioned me to follow along. "My name's Roseluck. What about you?" "Stardust. Pleased to meet you." "Hm," she hummed in affirmation. As we walked, she kept glancing at me. "If... if you don't mind me asking, do... do you happen to be related to Lucky?" There's that weird feeling of me unable to remember something again. "Uh, no. Why'd you ask?" "Just... a resemblance," Roseluck said. Resemblance... Well, I've always been skeptical whenever someone told me like I looked like someone else, and that's happened a lot, so I will take that note with the same attitude. It's the grayscale, isn't it. <<+>> Among the things that kept my thoughts busy while walking with Roseluck were, in no particular order, her own interesting, smooth-feeling color scheme, if that makes any sense, her usual pairing with Time Turner-slash-Doctor Whooves in fics, and the fact that she was noticeably petite in size. Or maybe I just got used to Twilight and her slightly enlarged alicorn frame. Said thoughts, weaved amidst actual conversation, as to not be rude, got us to Lucky's home with much reduced irritation on my end. The less time I have to dwell on thoughts that irk me, the better. "Hi, Lucky!" Roseluck greeted upon the door opening. "Hi, Roseluck," Lucky returned warmly. "Who's the stallion?" "A prospective tenant!" Roseluck answered. "I caught him looking at your ad, and after a short conversation, I figured maybe I should just go ahead and introduce him to you." "I'm Stardust," I introduced myself, sticking out a hoof in greeting. Lucky reached out to return the greeting. "I'm Lucky. I guess Rose already told you some things about me?" "She did." "You know, one of the first things I thought about him was that he looked like you after waking up on the wrong side of the bed," Roseluck giggled. Lucky tilted his head slightly, looking at me. "He does, a bit, doesn't he?" he finally agreed with an expression of interest. "Uh... well if both of you think so," I said. "At least our eye colors tell us apart easily?" His blue gave his overall color scheme a 'cooler' feel, while my copper irises gave mine a 'warmer' feel. Not to mention that my brighter platinum grey. As a short note regarding color theory. "Haha, luckily, eh?" Lucky said. "Maybe you should get your mane restyled just to make it harder. Hey, if you choose to stay with me, I'm sure neither of us will hear the end of it for a while." At that moment, there just seemed to be a rush of thoughts in my head. Realization. And... memories? ... And... one of those things I seemed to have remembered involves me tripping as I realized these same exact thoughts. At least I was just standing. You gave me back some of our memories, didn't you. I look a lot like Lucky. That's supposed to be the 'trigger'? Mind telling me more? Oh gee, thanks. Nice to know that I was saved from at least one instance of minor suffering. Anything else? Ah... right. And so the 'Rapture' last name is because... right. <2013 was a fun and productive year in a somewhat different regard.> I got out of my own head and looked at Lucky again. Who was, as of this moment, still occupied with a conversation with Roseluck about their lunch plans. Hm. He's a sharp-looking guy. Not a bad choice, I'd say. "So are our plans still good for going out to lunch?" Lucky asked. "Of course!" Roseluck answered. "Do you think it would be good to bring Stardust along, maybe get to know each other more and see if he'd like to stay with you? Get some business out of the way, as it were." Lucky made a face for a blink-and-I'd-miss-it moment. "Lunch today was your idea. I don't think I'd mind. How about you, Stardust?" I shrugged. "Sure, I didn't have anything planned today." <<+>> It was another leisurely stroll back to the business area of Ponyville, where I now found myself sitting at an outdoor table for at a small restaurant, at the generosity of my two hosts. "So you're here because you're working with the Princess, huh," Lucky said. "Mhm," I mumbled through the sandwich in my mouth. "Must be important work," Roseluck said. "Well," I said, "it is to her. Enough that she offered to pay me some amount while I worked with her." "How long is that going to be?" Lucky asked. "Neither of us really know." "Then you're in luck, because I have that room open indefinitely," Lucky smiled. Roseluck leaned towards me. "He likes the extra income," she whispered, "even though he doesn't really need it." She smiled back innocently at Lucky. Lucky rolled his eyes, smiling. "Or, I'd just like to share what I have with ponies that can benefit from it, because not everyone is always up on their luck." "And having another pony around to help with the house," Roseluck added. I decided to have take a swing at it. "For when you're not around?" They shared a glance. Roseluck smirked. "Well, I think you two are ready to make more formal arrangements, wouldn't you agree, Lucky?" Lucky raised a brow, but made no objections. And before he could say anything further, we were interrupted by someone else. "Rose! Rose!" We turned our heads to the voice. I gasped as I recognized the stallion that had just trotted up to us. "Rose, I just learned that there's going to be a fun event in the Crystal Empire in a few days—" "Oh my god, it's the Doctor!" I exclaimed under my breath. While struggling to hide a grin. The brown stallion paused in his words. Then he bit his lip for a moment as he looked at me. "... Excuse me, do I know you?" While keeping my grin from getting any wider, I just shook my head. "Hm! Perhaps later then." "You were saying, Time?" Roseluck said. "Right!" Time Turner-slash-maybe-Doctor Whooves continued. "So the foals from the Ponyville schoolhouse are going up to the Crystal Empire in a few days to perform their entry routines for the Equestria Games! And you know how fun these things are to spectate. And it's a chance to visit the ever-interesting Crystal Empire! What do you say?" "That sounds like fun!" Roseluck replied. "Fantastic!" Then he looked at me. "And you—you I will perhaps speak to at a later time." With that, the curious pony turned around and left. "See?" Roseluck said. "Now you've got someone to keep you company and help your housework!" "Lucky me," Lucky said, seemingly holding back a chuckle. Well, I guess that resolves that. <<+>> "So you're finally getting out and about meeting other ponies!" Twilight said. "Guess so," I answered. The lunch yesterday with Lucky and Roseluck ended pleasantly, but today was when more formal business would be conducted, now that the landlord had found a willing and agreeable tenant. That was later, though. Right now, I was hanging out at the library, because, well, writing me doing something else is probably more work then other-me is willing to do. Yeah, I'm sure Twilight doesn't have anything else productive she can do, either. "That's a wonderful development for you so far," Twilight said. "If I take my own experiences when I first arrived in Ponyville as the basis, I'd say you're well on the path to being a better you." "A better me?" I said, unamused. "Well, clearly something needs to change with what you've been doing so far, because you still don't have your cutie mark." I guess she has a point. "... Maybe?" Twilight changed the subject. "So what's your rent?" "No numbers yet," I answered. "That's for later." "Once you find out, then we can get to figuring out how much I'll be paying you per study session." "Are you going to publish a paper on your findings?" I asked. "Of course!" Twilight answered. "I, as a pony skilled in magic and devoted to studying it, will eventually use it to give back to academia." "Well okay then." Twilight examined my expression. "You're wondering why I'm willing to pay you, aren't you." "Yeah, kind of." As is everyone else, probably. "Though, if I had to guess, it's just you treating this professionally." "Exactly!" Twilight said. "If I'm going to be writing an academic paper on the subject, then I'll be professional with my source for helping to further knowledge." Still, I have a feeling I'm going to need to do more stuff around town, lest I go bankrupt. And one reason being that it's probably good for diversifying the plot. <<+>> So a day passed during that section divider, and right now, it's the morning after that. Currently, I was at the train platform with Lucky, who had offered to carry the small luggage Roseluck was bringing along to the Crystal Empire for her and Time Turner's stay. "He's a good lad, you know." I turned my head, and there was that brown stallion again. "Hm?" "Having company around will be a good thing," Time said. "Do—do you and Roseluck go on trips often?" I asked. "If I hear of something interesting to see, she's a willing companion." I looked at Lucky and Roseluck, a few steps down the platform. "Does that get between them in any way?" "Oh, not at all! Lucky's a great sport about it. He likes to see Rose have a good time." "Do they ever go on trips with each other?" "They do. Different experiences, though." The train conductor made an announcement. "Crystal Empire, all aboard!" "Well, that's us. Later, then." Time Turner left my side and went to get Roseluck. "How's my favorite routine going today?!" I turned my head to the excited voice, clearly belonging to no other than Rainbow Dash. "Oh I just can't keep it in!" You know, it wasn't until Rainbow arrived that the Crusaders waiting on the platform registered in my head. They'd been there for the past few minutes also waiting for the train, but I hadn't really taken it to mind, and I guess they didn't notice me either. It was then that I also noticed the show cam hover around. That reminded me! So what ended up happening to the Crusaders this episode anyways? Because... we're definitely still in that Crusader episode that, chronologically, started a few days ago. Uh, yeah. Why? Uh... wait, what? And that means...? But the outcome for the Crusaders was still the same? Well, okay then. Go with what works. I scoffed. God knows we need the same. I watched as the three Crusaders and Rainbow boarded the train. I guess that was that. "Hey, Stardust," Lucky said, having walked over to me. "Let's get out of here and get something to eat. What'd'ya say?" "Yeah sure. Let's get out of here."