13 - Echoes of the Past
Lyra woke to a pounding on the door. Sweetie Drops got up first and went to answer it. She barely got the door open when Samantha shoved her way in and fell to her belly, sobbing.
This got Lyra moving, rushing over to the downed form of the pegasus and checking her over. She looked starved and bruised. "What happened?"
Samantha provided no answers at first. Lyra and Sweetie gently hefted her up and got her onto their bed, and got her to drink some water. Eventually, Samantha looked ready to talk. Lyra smiled gently. "Go on, I'm listening." She suddenly thrust up a hoof. "Oh! I believe you now, about the human thing. I've seen it."
Samantha shook her head. "I wasn't a human."
"What?"
Samantha curled. "I was a pony... I suddenly remembered where the rest of my family was, and I went to find them, but the house was empty, and when I tried to leave, something landed on me from behind and started pummeling me."
Lyra drew in a distressed hiss. "In Cloudsdale? I heard it was such a nice city."
Samantha shuddered. "I woke up in a cage, and they wouldn't feed me. They said they'd make me forget again. I'm not a human!" She grabbed at Lyra, pulling her closer. "I'm a pony."
Lyra nodded mutely, unsure how to feel. "It's OK to be a pony..."
Samantha smiled and flopped back, falling asleep.
Lyra slipped out of the room and gently closed the door before turning to face Bon Bon. "I don't understand anything anymore."
Sweetie Drops pulled Lyra into a soft hug and they staid together a quiet moment before she pushed Lyra back. "I'll keep an eye on her and make sure she's OK. You should check in on the others."
Lyra kissed her wife on the cheek and fled the house, mind abuzz with possibilities. Were all her charges actually ponies? What kind of magic could give them such... complete memories? Who would even have such complete memories? She kicked a rock on the way, frustration running hot through her body. "Maybe it's just her," she said out loud. "They came from different places. Let's not jump to any conclusions..."
She arrived at their house and knocked softly on the door. "Besides, that wouldn't even start to explain Lucy. No, they can't all be involved in this."
Shattered Stone opened the door with a smile, which melted away quickly. "You look horrible, Lyre butt."
Lyra quirked a smile at the awful name. "Samantha's back, and brought more questions with her. She's safe. I wanted everypony to know that."
"Do you want to come in?"
Lyra changed her mind. She didn't want to talk with any of them right then. It would just alarm them, and to no end. She couldn't prove anything one way or the other. She couldn't test for anything. Her shoulders sagged. "No..."
Shattered reached a hoof for her shoulder and shook it. "You're always welcome here, Lyra. If we can help, let us know."
The door shut gently, but it felt like the slamming of a vault door, and Lyra had no idea what was being kept in or out. Lyra wandered the town, trying to clear her thoughts and work out a plan, any plan. She ended up at Sugarcube Corner, a costly mistake. Spotting her down expression instantly, she was faced with the town party planner, Pinkie Pie.
"What's the fuss, gus?"
Lyra perked an ear at her. "What?"
"You're looking downer than the hole I dug for Gummy's birthday!"
Lyra tried a moment to figure out why one would dig a hole for a pet alligator, then gave up that line of query. "I'm having a hard time doing my job, and I'm worried ponies are being hurt because of it."
Pinkie put a hoof to her chin while making soft tsk tsk tsk sounds. "That won't do. I know what'll cheer you up." Lyra opened her mouth to object when a muffin was stuffed in her snout. "My rainbow surprise super-swirl muffin!"
Lyra was forced to eat the muffin. It tasted of sugar overload, but there was something spicy in there that teased her senses. "Not bad, but they're still in trouble."
"What kind of trouble?" Pinkie leaned nose-to-nose close with Lyra.
Lyra shrank back. "The kind I should be working to solve, not eating cupcakes about."
"It's a muffin," corrected Pinkie. "Well, good luck!"
Lyra retreated away just in time for her top hat to start buzzing. She gave it a flick and an image of the front door of the human-ponies appeared before her eyes. Samantha was there, knocking on the door. How did she get away from Sweetie Drops? Oh there she is. Bon Bon was right behind Samantha, pointing back towards their house and urging her to go back to bed.
Samantha shook her head. "No! They're going to come after me. I don't want to be alone."
Bon Bon smiled gently. "You won't be alone. I won't leave the building."
Samantha pointed at Bon Bon. "You're nice, but small. They'll just shove you out of the way, and maybe hurt you. Just go home."
The door opened to reveal Thomas, who looked quite surprised to see Samantha, and all the more surprised when she pushed past him into the house. Bon Bon sighed softly. "Please watch out for her. She's very upset." Then she walked away, probably back home. Lyra couldn't blame her and said a quiet thanks to her.
Lyra dismissed the image and turned back towards the house. The first source of answer was up and about, she should start there.
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Um...
Not Displaced humans?
Damn. Wait, maybe Samantha makes that up... or they thought she was someone else.
OK... I thought that all these ponies were humans but now there is a change in the dynamics I don't know what to think
I was not expecting that to happen!
6017550 Not Displaced humans, Humans can be in Equestria without the whole 'I am Globlor the Devourer, Merciless Destroyer, to summon me press the teddy bear's belly 76 times and the left paw twice' and the pointless jumping into each others stories. Some are good, but others are just a continuation of wearing a good idea out with 'lol so funny' and power-trips among other things.
6017458
That grammar... but anyways, to reinforce 6017481 by pointing out the flaw in your logic:
There are these things, magical they seem, known as tank engines, where the water and coal are stored on the locomotive itself instead of a separate tender.
I know, amazingly magical, isn't it?
beamishtransportonline.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/lewinnrm-470x260.jpg
th04.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE/i/2012/059/7/d/gwr_pannier_tank_engine_6430__02_by_tyrie2001-d4r9g70.jpg
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fe/LBSCR_J1_class.jpg
Albeit sure, the locomotive shown in MLP is supposed to have a tender, as it is based on the American Standard 4-4-0, like is usual for most cartoon steam locomotives, and the engine has no visible water tanks or coal bunkers. (Which would mean that engine would have an extremely limited range.)
But such a discrepancy is common amongst cartoons. I'm not exactly sure as to why, I guess animators like it better that way? *Shrugs*
Anyways though, if you're going to nit-pick things like that than the locomotive shouldn't even function, as there are no connecting rods from the pistons to the wheels, hence there is no way for the locomotive in MLP to turn pressurised steam into useful motive power.
Obviously though, no one points that out because most people understand that it's a child's cartoon and thus it will come with an inherent lack of fine details.
ok this is a vary unexpected twist.. I like it.
Harts Fire
Did NOT see that coming...
6017255 Rarity takes Manehatten it's shown in an office building.
6017187 That can work on a matter of expectancy given that other ponies were able to directly observe her at all of those times leaving her no actually other space to fit into. By excluding those instances you are still creating a pick and choose realitty not a functioning source from what we have in media to so, so once again for your Equestira you may as well dismiss anything and everything that doesn't agree with your view anyway instead of trying to answer how it all works as we've seen it function.
Now this rasises questions is she really a pony? Still was a human? A human put into a real ponies body? What about the fact that Lucy has no parents missing a foal? are some of them human others not? Or do some of them have an actual pony inside their head as well?
6017814 I thought Lyra was putting down her thoughts fairly frequently? What made sense to her, what didn't, what she thought she should try next, and etc.
6017590 ...you misunderstood. I didn't mean to capitalise displaced, I just automatically did. What I meant is, they are 'humans' who were not dimensionally misplaced, but rather drugged and make-believers of that they are humans. My bad, capitalised the wrong word. And some of my favourites are humans in Equestria without Displaced, if you believe it or not.
Hmm. Several new things.
They have valid-like human memories, with motor functions attached. Using Fictional Psycology at least, that means they cannot have made it up without having also had some kind of assist on learning alien motor functions.
Additionally, one of them recovered Pony-like Memories, and then was kidnapped. It is implied that said group was responsible for the human memories and suppressing/replacing the pony memories. I don't think it said how she got away.
Still plenty of ways this can work.
Aside from actual displacement+Polymorph...
Memory Clone, from a real human. or Transplant.
Artifical memories. While a group having similar memories as such is odd, if artifical, obviously they can all be compatible. If you can implant memories, it is probably possible to implant motor functions.
Even in Equestria, those motor functions could be copied from a Minotaur, who has at least similar locomotion. Assuming their legs have the same structure, I would have to look for a picture. Also young dragon as possibility, albiet unlikely due to tail.
I don't know what's going on any more!
Chapter has me like:
dafuq just happened?
... not what I expected in Cloudsdale...
... I have a feeling that this is going to the pits soon... and I love it
What's really hilarious about this is Lyra's tested them for transformation magic up and down, but didn't even consider that it might be a memory replacement going on, with not a transformed horse hair on their bodies. Twilight even used a spell like that to restore her friends, once! I mean, unless she's not a princess. I actually forgot to pay attention to that... but, Shining Armor! Want it Need it! Mind magic is a thing! Holy mackerel, Lyra herself got hit with a mind zapping spell at that wedding. And it doesn't even occur to her, ha!
Aannnd it just started going dark...
Welp, let's see where this takes us
>I suddenly remembers where the rest of my family was
du u meen 'remembered'?
>Lyra kissed her wife on the cheek and fled the house, mind abuzz with possibilities. Were all her charges actually ponies? What kind of magic could give them such... complete memories? Who would even have such complete memories?"
I see a lonely quotation mark
6161450 Fixed!
For this story, this is one of the most frustrating things going on. Huge sudden changes in the attitudes of the characters and the environment of the moments themselves.
The other thing is the 'narrator' talking to the readers.
Went from normal to dark in 10 seconds flat.
6061911
I mean, she has stated that that kind of magic is really really hard to replicate as it requires a massive amount of energy, and I don't think that such levels are possible by a common pony, so things seem really strange.