Dear Journal,
When I asked Luna if there was a way to show ponies what I saw today better than just talking about it, she gave me this. It’s a memory spell, set into the crystal. I tried it, so I know it works. It’s… really weird, but I think it would be weirder if I wasn’t already me. Make sure you’re sitting, and touch your head to the crystal… Oh, and if you’re human, don’t do it. It’ll melt your brain. Thaumic radiation. Whatever, yeah.
So I won’t write any of it, not right now. Kinda overwhelmed. Heading back home tomorrow morning.
—Lonely Day
* * *
You’re nervous, more so than you can remember. This is really saying something, since in the last few weeks you’ve watched your home burn down, met with a group of magic-sapping armored humans, lost your body, and traveled to another universe. Being nervous (terrified really) has been generally true of your life since the Event that took everything away.
At least that nice unicorn gave you a dress to wear, elegant yet functional fabric in a lower layer of light cloth and a coat of similar design (but no real leather this time). The manecut helps too, since without careful straightening and styling it gets frizzy and disgusting in the humidity.
Of course, you hate when your mane is this long, but the lovely mares doing the styling refused to hear of trimming it. “It really brings out your eyes,” they said. “But you look so mature,” they said. You didn’t have the heart to argue with them, probably because you were overwhelmed then too.
You’ve been overwhelmed during your entire trip to Equestria, and a trip to Canterlot Castle has not made that easier. Towering marble rises all around you, and slip-on horseshoes click lightly with every step. Your tail is slightly less annoying than usual when it’s braided like this. You will probably keep it this way if you still have one when this conversation is over.
Your guide in Equestria, the bright yellow mare named Sunset Shimmer, is beside you, leading a path through the labyrinthine halls she obviously knows. “The stairs are the worst,” you hear her say. “I think maybe Princess Luna made her tower so tall to discourage ponies who weren’t really serious about meeting her.”
There are a great deal of stairs, and ponies don’t make them nearly so tall as humans do. It means many more steps to climb the same distance. “Could you do that thing again?” you ask, not sure of the word. “Where we just appear somewhere? That seems easier than climbing.”
You aren’t out of breath, though. You just offer out of politeness, since you can already hear her getting out of breath. It really wasn’t Joseph’s fault; even a pony born on four hooves is a wimp compared to you.
You’d still take the horn if you could, but you doubt that will come up. To your immense surprise, you haven’t seen any trace of unhappiness with one’s species here in Equestria. The earth ponies seem just as adapted to their role among the sweat and the plants as the pegasi are to soaring through the skies and the unicorns are to their magic.
You’d think it was something in the water if you hadn’t been drinking the water every day you’d been here.
“No, it’s not… a big deal,” she says, trying not to sound out of breath. She doesn’t do a very good job.
You get to the top, and Sunset stops at the door. “I’ll be waiting out here,” she says. “I think you’ll like the princess. She knows what it’s like to struggle.” You didn’t really understand the story when Sunset Shimmer had told it. Something to do with nighttime not being cool enough? It hadn’t made sense, like lots of things.
Even so, you take a step closer to the mare, ears flattening involuntarily to your head. You don’t want to say so, but you don’t like the idea of being away from her. She’s been your guide for a week now, always within reach to answer your questions and make the fear go away. It’s probably something to do with being younger. At least you’re not a foal. Could’ve been worse. “You can’t come with?”
She pats you on the head, and you feel more relaxed. “Sorry Day. It’s got to be just you. I’ll wait out here, ‘kay? I’ll be right here no matter how long it takes.”
You force a smile, then walk past her. You see a pair of huge ebony doors, carved with intricate representations of the stars and planets. Beyond them is a Princess of Equestria, a being so powerful she can move celestial objects with a thought. Beyond them is the reason humanity vanished. Maybe the mare inside can make everything right again. You intend to ask.
As if the door can sense your intention to use it, the wood begins to quiver, opening inward into a darkened room. You hurry inside, mostly because you’re afraid you’ll give up and turn around if you don’t.
The doors slide closed behind you with an ominous clicking sound, plunging you into the darkness of the room. Pony eyes haven’t gotten better in the dark as you got more used to it.
This time things are different, though. As you look up, you see a thousand swirling lights. The shapes resolve into a spiral galaxy, its arms elongating and seeming to fill your vision completely. You see millions, billions of stars, and the light from no two are quite alike. It comes with sound too, each star putting off a roar of radio that’s been shifted into your audible range. Beset by so many, it’s almost like the crashing of the waves.
You manage not to fall over, but only just. Your perception of time returns as you realize the room wasn’t quite so dark as you thought. The stars far above you in the vaulted ceiling provide a curtain of light that makes everything on floor level very clear. There is a pony standing there, a pony unlike any you have ever seen before. Your first glance almost tricked you into thinking she was part of the light show above you, because her mane looks like a swathe of the night sky, waving silently in an unseen wind.
“Welcome, my little pony.” She’s closer than you first thought, only a few meters away. You remember what Sunset told you and drop into a hasty bow. You nearly fall over in the attempt because you’ve only been a pony for three months and you still have the coordination of a blue whale writing calligraphy. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet one of you in person.”
Princess Luna returns the bow, though much shallower. You take this as a sign to rise, which is good, since you would probably fall on your butt otherwise. Then, to your great surprise, she extends a hoof to shake. You’ve seen ponies do this during your week in Equestria, but you never expected anything like it from royalty. You touch hoofs gently, afraid anything more might shock you with magical energy, or at the very least be a disgusting faux pas.
She giggles delicately. “What name would you prefer I use? Sunset tells me you’ve been using ‘Lonely Day’ while in Equestria, correct?”
You nod.
“An unfortunate choice. Let us pray it isn’t prophetic.” She looks you up and down, her gaze intent. You can’t meet those eyes, not even for a second. At once, you become a believer in the stories you’ve heard about her age; there’s a weight and weariness that would take you thousands of miserable years to acquire. “Or would it be more appropriate to use your true name, Alexander Haggard?”
Her words trigger a sudden cascade of emotions actually strong enough to drop you to your knees. Maybe before losing a few years you would’ve had the will to force back the rogue emotions; no longer. Anger, fear, and shame all flash through in an instant, followed by the cold grip of something more powerful than them all. The cold grip of self-loathing, deeper than any other feeling in your soul. “H-How?” you manage to squeak. “I never even told that name to Sky.”
The princess looks down on you with big, expressionless eyes. “Why not?”
No answer is forthcoming, though you consider your reasoning for some time. Eventually you stammer out an unsatisfying, “I guess I thought it was easier to heal from something if I wasn’t constantly reminded it was missing. My friend Moriah… she used to complain about it constantly, and she was always unhappy. I guess I thought if I just tried to keep living the same-” Your voice catches in your chest. You didn’t come here to talk about your pain. Not specifically, anyway. You couldn’t care less about all the cruelties the transformation inflicted on you so long as your fellow humans can be restored.
You feel the brush of wings on your shoulders in a brief, light hug. You’ve never felt wings quite like those before. It’s enough to still the tears you hadn’t even felt you were crying until then. “In fairness, I return an answer for yours: I’ve seen your dreams. All beings with soul enough to dream, dream together. The vastness of space and all eternity between us might blur and distort those images, but you have not been so far away since your arrival.” She turns away, walking towards a low table by the wall. You can see several objects resting there, though it’s hard to make them out through your tears. “Even had I not been told, I would have known one of you had come. I watched you very closely, even though you did not know it. I've been watching you and every other pony from your world.” She chuckles, though there is more bitterness there than humor. "With as few of you as were left behind, it has not been difficult."
She turns to face you again, and you see a flash of guilt in those huge eyes. “That is why it has taken this long; we had to be absolutely certain you among all others were fit to act as emissary for us. It would have been better to leave your people ignorant than to give our knowledge to one who might abuse it.”
“Am I the one?”
Luna answers by levitating one of the objects across the room towards you, setting it on the ground at your hooves. You see it now; saddlebags. They look far better than anything you could’ve made, with a stylized sun on one side and the moon on the other. You move to open it, but find one of Luna’s hooves on your own, preventing you. “Wait! You must hear first, or you will not understand.” She gestures at the center of the room, below the spiraling map of a galaxy.
“Your people are owed an explanation.” She gestures at the saddlebags again. “In there we have written the truth in great detail. This will serve your people well, but not so well as one who may hear and inquire as the truth is presented to you. We have already learned that, however similar, humans are not ponies. You do not think quite the same way we do, and an answer that might satisfy ponies might leave your species frustrated for the rest of time.”
You nod in complete agreement and follow her below the map of the galaxy. As curious as you are about what the strange saddlebags might be (sized too big for your age!), you care even more about how to reverse the change to humanity. With luck, all the magical knowledge ponies ever learned would be useless to humanity anyway, since they are all about to lose their horns and wings.
“When I have finished, feel free to ask whatever questions you may have. I ask that you hold them for the time being, since I expect a complete understanding will eliminate most of them.”
You nod, that gesture like many others seeming to cross between species.
“Very well.” The map begins to shift, zooming towards the center of the galaxy. “Let us begin with magic.”
I'm actually disappointed that Alex
iswas a male.I've never come across a story with gender changing that I thought worked well. I know I'm going to get this down voted but all it comes off as something M. Night Shyamalan would do.
Sorry Starscribe
The POV shift was a bit jarring- not much- for a moment before I realized what was going on. Then it was just cool.
I don't suppose that surname was a Last Unicorn reference?
Props for some clever foreshadowing all this time, and to all the folks who picked up on it. As with the codes, I'm a little bummed at not having thought of it first even though I never really put thought into the question- just wanted to see where the story took me in its own time. I actually read the first chapter in a male voice like my own, then afterward switched to female because it seemed an appropriate twist, and my mind just kept on with it.
Anyway, onward...
6163932
I think its neat , all the pointless commenting over it and it turns out everyone was right and wrong.
After over two months of speculation, over-analyzing and waiting it has been confirmed.
A was a human male, now a female pony.
I could both hug and slap you right now, Starscribe.
So here it is.A three-chaptered epilogue,yes?
Finally my pro-humanistic brain will gain answers.Logical answers.
If not,I'll bring a tiny nuclear reactor to the Canterlot and then watch how ponies would react on what while I drinking russian folk drink.
Alright, so a three part finisher, looks like it was meant to end eventually but... I don't know, I'm going to miss it.
Now we'll get a explanation over everything, male to female deal? Alright, I wonder if it goes over the same sexual knowledge as 'Life of a Winning Pony' where females with enough 'love' energy can have a kid. I think she would be pleasantly surprised with that.
6163932
... Look, I'm not going to say ANYTHING about your opinion, I mean I don't like gender swapping either unless it's done in a short comedic way, or it's handled VERY well, I get what your saying.
But down-voting the ENTIRE series because of this ONE detail, that is not a driving point to the narrative or anything else is kind of overreacting, it's like X-Factor levels of 'push the button and your DONE', not taking in account the rest of the act.
Please, prove me wrong and give me MORE reasons why you think this WHOLE story deserves a down vote, and I will accept your opinion with a professional acceptance, and not because you happen to hate one theme of it.
Ooooo, looks like the gender swap theory was right all along.
Woah, so the dream realm is cross-species and universe-spanning? That's gotta give some impressive reconnaissance capabilities.
HA!!! She said it!!!
Also, what's up with the sudden switch to a second person narration style???
6164533 Actually I think what Wacky meant was that their comment was the thing that'll get downvoted due to their opinion. Which was the case so it seems.
6165046 IMO it was pretty clear - Day's thoughts at the moment were too wild/incensed/off-the-hook to make coherent journal entries, and cover everything that needed to be covered. So the memory
orbcrystal (sorry, wrong series!) was used.Not a fan of second person narrative. This wasn't as bad as some, I'm just not generally a fan of that POV.
6165400 Agreed.
First person was probably out as it is too close to the journal entries. Third person might have worked, though...
Why would reveling Alexander's name make Him female? It just doesn't fit. Sure maybe Moriah was foreshadowing it but I don't buy it. If I was gender swapped I think I would write about it the moment I could. Maybe I am in denial but I don't think he was gender swapped. ( Ok maybe I just want the DayxSky Ship to work . THIS SHIP WILL NOT SINK!!!
Let the baby making begin!Huh? Alexander Haggard? All the gender bender theroists were right? Ah man, I thought Moriah, maybe, but Alex was a bit more of a stretch to me. Still it ties most of my questions about Alex up, and I'm sure the other two chapters will finish off the rest.
Also to everyone who doesn't understand why the shift into second person narration, it's supposed to be that we are using the memory crystal. Took me a minute or two but honestly I like the idea.
6163932 I completely disagree, however I feel I must upvote your comment in order to compensate for those (rude) individuals who have downvoted what is clearly just a fair opinion.
Also, I may be completely wrong but I'm sure I've seen "Alexander" used as a girls name before.
I honestly would have enjoyed the genderbending twist a lot more, if I hadn't been subjected to the incessant pointless speculating (over everything else more important) over the past month of reading this story. By now I'm just sick of hearing about it. It's finally all confirmed now? Thank god.
6163932
Yeah, I kinda wish Alex was female-female myself, woulda been a good aversion of stereotypes with her/his back story. And like Alex and Moriah both...?
Wait, so, Is Alex male, or is he a female-turned male, or male-turned-female? I'm confused.
6298397
Ditto. Up until now, I thought Alex was a guy.
Wait a min! How in the world did people think Alex was a girl???
The whole story saids he is a guy....
People do realize Alexander can be a girls name, right? Although to be fair the Alex I know has it spelled Alexzander, but still.
We have proof she was a he before the transformation and tried her best to forget it so she doesn't break down. One mystery solved, a whole can waiting in the next chapters!
I am so confuzzled.
When did Alex Turn into a girl?
7602096
I believe it was when she got hit by either the first or second blast of magic from Moriah. I'm unsure because there isn't much context surrounding it. The picture of him/her after the first hit just felt different.
8362835
Actually, I'm certain that it was the Princess' transformative magic. Moriah also used to be male, Alex simply doesn't advertise it.