The Elements of Harmony and the Savior of Worlds

by RK_Striker_JK_5

Chapter Nine

Twilight and Megan appeared once more in Ponyville, at the edge of the Everfree Forest. Twilight looked up at the hole, then at the sun. "Well, here we are!" She waved a foreleg at Ponyville. "Ready?"

Megan nodded and followed Twilight as they entered Ponyville proper, passing by the thatch-roofed houses and places of business. Already, merchants were opening stalls in the town square and shops were opening their doors and hanging out 'open' signs in their front windows, stepping out and greeting their first customers. A few stared at Megan and Twilight or glanced at them through the corner of their eyes, but quickly turned back to their business.

They approached a large tree with a sign planted in front, depicting an open book. There were several windows and balconies carved out of the wood and built into the trunk with an observation deck and telescope at the very top. Twilight paused in front of the double-door and waved a hoof. "And welcome to my home away from Canterlot: the Ponyville Library!"

Megan giggled as Twilight opened the door. She ducked her head as they entered into a rather large reading room with tables, desks set against the wall, and shelves and freestanding units lined with books. She stood up straight in this rather expansive area and looked around, pulling a random tome from a shelf. Megan flipped it open, running her fingers over the pages and rune-like pictograms inside. She put it away and picked another book at random, this one written in English. "Well, if I need to know where Danielle is, this'll be the first place I look."

Twilight looked over from a set of books she was cataloging and sliding into place on their shelves. "She likes reading?" she asked, eyes widening slightly.

Megan nodded as she put the book away. "She's got a partial scholarship for the University of Kentucky, but even with residuals from my novels and the work Mike and I do..." She trailed off. "We'll get her there, even if I have to go find a diamond mine!"

Spike walked down a flight of stairs. "Hey, 'sup?" He waved a hand at her while rubbing an eye with the other. He spotted Twilight near the back of the first floor. "Ah, Twilight, did you forget what today is?"

Twilight turned around and trotted back to him, passing a stand where Owlowiscious perched and slept. "Let's see, Spike. It's Friday, the Weather Patrol has a storm scheduled for this afternoon— "She suddenly looked up at Megan. "Oh, sorry. We control the weather here in Equestria..." She cocked her head to the side. "Did you know that already?"

Megan nodded. "Yup."

Twilight nodded, then looked back to Spike. "So, what'd I miss?" She rolled her eyes. "Honestly, Spike, there's nothing I can think of besides showing Megan around Ponyville and—"

There was a sudden thumping at the door. Twilight's eyes widened and she hopped a bit. "Oh, no! Oh no oh no oh no!" She dashed to the door, opening it with her telekinesis seconds before she, Megan, and Spike reached it. "How could I forget what today is?"

Twilight and Spike exited the library, finding a gray-coated pegasus hovering a few meters off the ground, wings flapping, and Equestrian Postal Service-issued saddlebags stuffed with letters. She wore a harness strapped to a rather large wooden crate swaying back and forth on straps. A tiny gray-coated unicorn filly with matching saddlebags stood beneath the pegasus, face scrunched in concentration and horn glowing. "Book delivery for... Twilight... Sparkle... " Ditzy Doo-Whooves panted out, eyes crossed even more than usual.

Twilight smacked her forehead with her hoof. "Today's the day we get new books and send back the old, worn-out ones!"

Spike smirked. "Told ya."

Megan stepped out, ducking beneath the door frame. "So, what's—Eek!" she shouted as the crate swung at her head. Her whole body glowed as Twilight latched onto her with magic, dragging her down and out of range.

Twilight looked up at Ditzy. "For Herd's sake, Ditzy, drop the crate!"

Ditzy nodded and reached back, tugging on a strap with her mouth. The crate plummeted to the ground, hitting and shaking the ground. The other unicorn's horn stopped glowing and she dropped to the grass, panting. Ditzy landed beside her, wrapping a foreleg around her. "Muffin, are you all right?"

Dinky Doo opened her eyes and nodded, still panting. "I'm all right, Mama!" She rose on her shaky legs. "Did I do good?"

Ditzy nodded, her lazy eye drifting over so both focused on Dinky. "I wouldn't have gotten as far as I did without you, Muffin." She reached behind her and pulled a clipboard out of a saddlebag with her teeth, holding it in front of Twilight. "Sisfign here pleath."

Twilight floated the clipboard out of Ditzy's mouth and signed it with the attached pen. She suddenly blinked and craned her head and neck around, spotting Megan as she rose to her feet and dusted herself off. "Oh, sorry!" She stepped back. "Megan, I'd like you to meet Ponyville's number one mailmare and her daughter, Ditzy and Dinky Doo-Whooves."

Ditzy's left eye drifted away, but the right remained focused on Megan. After a few seconds, Ditzy held out a hoof. "Pleasure to meet you!"

Megan smiled and grabbed Ditzy's foreleg, shaking it. "Same here." She looked down slightly at Dinky, who was hiding somewhat behind her mother's right wing. "Hi, there," Megan said, holding out a hand.

Dinky buried herself in Ditzy's primaries and primary coverts, but Ditzy unfolded her wing and motioned at Megan with it. "Come on, Dinky," she said gently. "We both know Miss Twilight isn't friends with anyone bad." She looked back up at Megan. "Sorry. Dinky can be a bit shy around new... new..." She trailed off, cheeks turning red. "Ah..."

"I'm called a human," Megan explained, placing a hand on her chest. "And don't worry; I'm a mother myself. I remember that phase all too well."

Dinky swallowed and looked up at Megan. "N-nice to m-meet you."

Megan knelt down, holding her hand out again. Dinky took a step forward, rubbing her cheek against it. The filly smiled and toddled forward a bit and Megan hugged her. "Nice to meet you, too." She let go and stood up, looking to Ditzy. "So... do you have schools or apprenticeships here in Equestria?"

Ditzy's right eye looked up. "What? Oh! It's 'take your foal to work day'." She glanced down at Dinky and grinned, patting her daughter on the head with her wing. "My Muffin is helping me with my rounds." She looked back up at Twilight. "Do you have the old books packed up for shipment back?"

Twilight's shoulders slumped and her head hung low. "I've been so busy with that darned dragon and Megan and Applejack and—"

Spike held up a hand and waved Twilight off. "Oh, don't worry. I got it covered." He ran inside and there was a sudden scraping and grunting. "Little help here?" he called out from inside.

Twilight gasped and trotted inside. She emerged a few seconds later, Spike on her back and a wooden crate floating behind her. "Spike, when did you get this done?" she asked, a smile on her face and spring in her step.

Spike held out his arms and shrugged, cocking his head to the side. "Owlowiscious and I got them all rounded up for you this morning and last night when you were busy with—" he glanced to Megan and swallowed "—well, with... studying!" He pumped his fist in the air. "And science!"

Twilight blinked and chuckled. "Right..." She looked at Ditzy as the crate lowered to the ground. "You going to be all right with this?"

Ditzy held up a foreleg in salute before spreading her wings out and jumping into the air. She landed on the crate and secured the straps to handles on it. "Neither rain nor late Winter Wrap-Up nor parasprite infestation shall stop this mailmare from her appointed rounds!" She jumped into the air, flapping her wings for all they were worth. The crate lifted off a few feet, swaying.

Dinky gasped and she closed her eyes tightly. Her horn sparked and the crate steadied itself. Mother and daughter slowly led the crate off away from the library.

Twilight glanced to the door and a crowbar floated out, wedging itself under the lid and prying it off. She sighed as books floated up and through the door, stacking themselves in piles around the reading room. "I can't believe I forgot this," she muttered. Twilight glanced up at Megan. "Sorry."

Megan waved her off, then snatched a book out of midflight and opened it up. "Oh, it's okay. These things happen." She leafed through it, brow furrowing before closing it and looking at the cover. "Besides, I'm not sure how long I can stay anyway. I gotta get back and go to my workplace and fill out paperwork there. You've got—no!" She rolled her eyes and held it up so Twilight could see the cover. "A Tail of Two Fillies? Have you no shame?"

Twilight blinked. "What?"

Megan groaned. "Oh, come on! That's one of the worst puns I've ever heard! Well, maybe not the worst, but it’s up there."

"Pun?" Twilight repeated. She took hold of the book and gently floated it out of Megan's hands. It landed on the grass in front of Twilight and she sat down, gently gripping the cover with her mouth and opening it. "How's it a pun? What is it a pun of?" She leafed through some of the pages, chuckling a few times. "Ah, Dewey. What insane antics you get into." She closed the book and floated it into the library. "So?"

Megan blinked. "What? Oh!" She shrugged. "Back on Earth there's a book called A—Wait!" She grabbed the last book and read the title. "Frankenstallion?" She looked at the picture of a misshapen stallion with stitches running all over his body, with three cutie marks. "What's this one about?"

A groan came from Twilight, and she rolled her eyes. "Oh, it's some dumb one about some mad scientist who stitches together body parts to make new life." She flung it into the library, almost taking Megan's fingers with it. "The number of scientific inaccuracies in it are astonishing!" She shook her head, sending her mane swishing about. "Lightning doesn't bring someone to life. It can kill you if you're not a pegasus!" She met Megan's gaze and shrugged. "Well, Nightmare Night's coming up, so the horror section gets expanded."

Megan nodded. "Of course." She took a few steps forward away from the library, looking around at some of the houses. "How old's Ponyville, anyway? Looks like a nice little town." She chuckled. "Man, lots of building since I was here last."

Twilight swallowed. Her head darted around. "I—well—you see it's—" She suddenly focused on Mayor Mare as she trotted toward them, wearing a saddle with a small plastic box attached to it and a cable leading to some earphones. "Mayor!" she cried out, galloping forward and skidding to a halt right in front of her. "Please tell me you're coming over to berate me for pushing Pinkie Pie on you!"

Mayor Mare blinked. "What?" She shook her head and smiled. "No, dearie! Actually, I'm rather glad you did." She leaned in close and winked at Twilight. "Turns out she's rather a good secretary. Who knew?" Mayor Mare leaned back over her shoulder and pulled at the cord, popping the earphones off. "Actually, I'd like to talk to you about my new Trotman radio. It's picking up some... well, listen to it yourself!"

Twilight floated the earphones up and over her twitching ears. She bit her lip as she listened. "It's... music, but I don't recognize the song."

Megan knelt down and held out her hand. "May I?" She waited for Twilight to float the earphones over into her hand. She looked the clips and speakers over before holding it up to her ear. "Wait..." Megan's brow furrowed. "This sounds familiar."

Mayor Mare looked at Twilight down her snout and over her glasses. "I met her yesterday, right?"

Twilight's jaw opened slightly, closed then opened again. "You... don't remember?" She waved a hoof at Megan. "This is Megan, from the balloon and dragon and last night and getting Pinkie as your secretary?"

The Mayor rubbed her chin, then her eyes widened, and she smiled. "Ah, yes!" She looked up at Megan, blinking twice. "So, anything?"

Megan arched an eyebrow. "I..." She paused, falling onto her butt and eyes widening. "Oh... oh no!" She dropped the earphones to the ground and shot to her feet. "It's really nice to meet you again, but I've gotta get going. Twilight, let's go and come on!" She turned and ran off, digging into a pocket while shouting all the while.

Twilight looked to Mayor Mare, then to Megan, and then back to the Mayor before galloping off. "We'll see what we can do!" she shouted over her shoulder. She caught up with Megan as she ran to the hole. "Megan, what the hay's the matter?"

Megan finally pulled a slim plastic rectangle out of her vest and slid it open. "Equestria's getting signals from Earth!" She exited Ponyville and stumbled to a halt near the hole. "Please, please—" The phone beeped and Megan let loose with several bouts of colorful language as she looked at the screen. "I've got bars!"

Twilight slowed down to a trot, stopping right next to Megan. She snorted and stomped at the ground. "Okay, that's it! I'd like a little bit of an explanation, please! The radio signals I understand, but what's that thing you're holding and why did you mention 'bars'?"

Megan looked down and held the phone in front of Twilight's face. "Sorry, sorry! This is a cell phone, Twilight, and—"

"Wait, that's not a phone!" Twilight blurted out. She twisted her head around, looking at it. "It's... it's so small! The one at the library's mounted to the wall and is the size of your torso. And it's the only one in Ponyville!"

A gentle coughing from behind caught both Megan and Twilight's attention. They turned and saw Mayor Mare standing there, earphones once more clipped to her ears. "Actually, City Hall has a phone too." She leaned in close to Twilight. "It's a desktop unit too."

Twilight's jaw dropped and her eyes became the approximate diameter of saucers. "A desktop unit?" She hopped from hoof to hoof, bouncing around Mayor Mare. "How could you afford that? It took a rather large portion of one of my stipends for the wall-mounted phone!"

Mayor Mare batted her eyes at Twilight. "Well, when you're as powerful a mover and shaker as I am, then you'll learn how to grease the wheels, so to say." She placed a hoof on her chest. "Besides, Ponyville needs to step into modern Equestria! And I shall—"

"Wait, 'powerful a mover and shaker'?" Twilight repeated. "I'm the Princess's personal student! I'm the one she contacts if there's a problem around here." She leaned in, arching an eyebrow at the Mayor. "Who the hay—"

"I think we've got other problems than phone allocation!" Megan held her cell phone up and waved it about. "Twilight, bars on a cell phone show how much signal is getting to it. And right now I've got a signal through the hole!" She grabbed Twilight by the upper arms, shaking her. "Do you know what this means?"

Twilight's head shook back and forth, eyes spinning. She grunted and pulled away. "Yes, and so?" She waved a hoof up at it. "I can see different sky up there from Ponyville's pattern! Of course it's a physical tear! What'd you expect?" She eyed Megan. "And... why is it bad that signals are leaking through?"

Megan sighed and waved at the hole. "Twilight, if signals are leaking through from Earth, then it's probable signals are leaking through from Equestria to Earth. That means it's possible to be triangulated back—"

"What?" Mayor Mare interrupted.

Megan focused on her. "Well... traced back to my house and the hole. And I doubt explaining away the rainbow on the other side as 'modern art' is gonna hold forever." She swallowed and caught her breath, steadying herself before continuing. "Which means humanity will find out about you, and all of Equestria!"

Twilight and Mayor Mare exchanged a glance. Twilight looked back up and her jaw worked a bit. "And... this is bad how again?" She held up a hoof. "Megan, what, is your family the exception? Are others of your kind slobbering monsters that kill ponies?"

Megan sank to her knees. "Well... not all of us. Some..." She looked away and wiped her eyes. "Some of us can be pretty nasty. Humans can be... evil." She waved her hand about. "I just know something would go wrong."

A smile crept onto Twilight's face. "Megan, ponies aren't perfect." She looked back over her shoulder at Ponyville. "Trust me on that. We're not all one type, and I figured out from talking with your family last night that humans aren't all the same, either, but I'm not gonna judge all humans based on the actions of a few. And I hope you don't do the same either."

Megan glanced away from the ponies and wiped her eyes. "Well... some of us can be pretty nice." She coughed. "Thanks, Twilight. I guess sometimes we're so blinded by our own faults, we don't see the strengths. It takes a good friend to remind us of that."

Twilight beamed, but her lips twisted. "Hmm, that might make a good report." She looked back up slightly at the kneeling Megan. "Come on, Megan. Let's get you to Sugarcube Corner. We'll get some muffins—my treat!"

Megan stood up. "Thanks, Twilight." She suddenly looked at her phone. "Wait, one thing." She walked to the hole, looking at the screen. "Bars, bars..." She passed under it and past the angle of Rainbow Dash's entry. "No signal!" she shouted, waving the phone at Twilight and Mayor Mare.

Mayor Mare blinked. She looked to Twilight, but shook her head. "I doubt it has much to do with me." She turned and trotted back off to Ponyville. "Got a lot of work to do, anyway. Ta-ta for now!"

Twilight rolled her eyes as Megan walked up to her. The pair ambled back to Ponyville. By then, the town had fully woken up. Megan waved at several ponies as they passed. Some of them looked at her with mild fear, but most waved back and made the attempt to smile.

They approached a three-story building decked out to resemble nothing less than a building made of cake, with candy-cane poles, chocolate-colored shingles, frosting-shaped, gutters, a cupcake-inspired top floor, and lights resembling candles. There was a large gathering of ponies outside the front doors, most of them murmuring.

Twilight trotted ahead and approached a light-coated stallion wearing yellow shorts over his haunch and flanks, sporting sideburns, a mustache, and cradling a tennis racket in his left foreleg. "What's going on, Ace?"

Ace looked over and held his racket up high. "Sugarcube Corner's closed!" he shouted, sending three mares scattering. He gestured at the door and a sign hung there. "Some big order for tomorrow, but I need my protein shake, Twilight! How else can I lob missiles over the net and teach my students in the ways of tennis?"

Megan blinked. "Maybe... go to another shop for your energy drink?" She chuckled nervously as Ace twisted around and glared up at her. "What?"

Twilight made her way through the crowd and read the sign. "'Closed for large order. Sorry, will reopen as soon as possible'." She sidestepped over and glanced inside the window. "I wonder what's going on inside!"

---

"Cup Cake, I've got the next batch ready!" Carrot Cake shouted. He gripped the tongs in his teeth and extracted the tray of hot muffins from the oven, placing them on a counter before grabbing a pan of raw dough and placing it inside.

Cup Cake, Carrot Cake's wife and co-owner of Sugarcube Corner, nodded and took the tray of muffins over to a table with her own tongs. She set them down in front of Pinkie Pie, who kicked at the table legs. Somehow, this popped the muffins out of the trays so she could scoop them out. She used her own set of pink tongs to pick each one out, set them onto a grate for cooling and took the still-warm tray over to the dishwasher rack.

Pinkie Pie returned to find another set of muffins awaiting her. She giggled and kicked the table legs. "This is gonna be the best party EVER!" she shouted, pumping her forelegs in the air.

"Pinkie!" Cup Cake barked, her frosting-shaped mane bobbing as she set a tray of cupcakes next to the muffins. "We've got a lot more batches ready!"

Pinkie nodded and stood up on her hind legs, holding up a foreleg in salute. "Yes, ma'am!" she shouted, going back to her muffinbucking. A small grin was still plastered on her face. "Best. Party. EVER!"

Comments

its as good as always (And yeah i can understand megan fear, some humans are jerkwads!! hope megan see the cmc next.

ps lol at the phone scene

[DreadedCandiru2]

Sorta cute that Twi doesn't quite realize how closely the two worlds parallel, isn't it?

[Fareseed]

I can realy understand Megans fear there.

[Lord_Kalbario]

454853 i agree, there may be good people but there can certainly be some horrid individuals who would like nothing more than to destroy something so pure

[Fareseed]

512560
Or use it to get some money.

[mercenaryx]

Looking at you Hasbro.

[BenRG]

Now... as Equestria apparently has to have some form of electrical system working to make telegraphs work, I wonder if it would be possible to put a relay tower in Ponyville to connect Equestria to Earth's telecomms network?

"Cutie Mark Crusaders Phone Pranksters YAAAYYY!!!"

[Deus]

Good thing Equestria doesn't have computers... if they started getting our internet.... *shudder*

[White Wolf]

"Ah, Twilight, did you forget what today is?"

Twilight turned around and trotted back to her assistant, passing a stand where Owlowiscious perched and slept. "Let's see, Spike. It's Friday, the Weather Patrol has a storm scheduled for this afternoon-"She suddenly looked up at Megan. "Oh, sorry. We control the weather here in Equestria..." She cocked her head to the side. "Did you know that already?"

Megan nodded. "Yup."
______________________________________

G1 didn't have weather controlling Pegasi. Only G4 does. So Megan's response should have been: "Sorry, Twilight, but weather controlling Pegasi are a new one for me.

[SennenRyu]

1550673 That was explained in a flashback in an earlier chapter.

[Kage no Brony]

512560

... Says the guy with an Overlord avatar...

[Starcat5]

Don't worry, Megan. North Korea finds one dead unicorn, and it's leader starts touting the fact around like it makes him legitimately awesome.

Give the US exclusive access to an entire planet full of live, English speaking, tool using unicorns (and more), and our leaders will be too busy trying to give N.K. the raspberry to do anything too stupid.

[AppleTank]

Should've called home

[MariusIoannesP]

1732982 That has to be one of the most awesome thing's I've ever heard.

[MariusIoannesP]

And the horseapples are about to hit the fan! I'm starting to like this story.

[FancyFan]

1550673
This was addressed in a previous chapter. Megan was around when the princess ponies bestowed weather control powers to the pegasi.(pegsuses)

Ok, am I the only one really interested in the whole phone thing with the Mayor having spiffy new desktop version?

[Pinklestia]

muffinbucking? Thats an AWFUL pun, plus you don't buck muffins!

[Bliss Authority]

512560 And we know this because Cupcakes exists.

[Dan]

A pet peeve among techies is people talking about signal strength in arbitrary "bars" rather than proper DbM (Decibels per miliwatt).

[ZealousChristian24]

Well, this should be fun...

[Alchemystudent]

Megan, ponies aren't perfect

YES! Someone remembers that little point! Sorry, biut its a sticking point with me when everyone on a HIE fict treats Equestria as a paradise when they forget the whole story started off with- A princess losing her mind because ponies were afraid and did not respect her art enough!! Its not perfect and I don't want a perfect Equestria. I want the Equestria where Twilight is paranoid, Pinkie is insane, and Trixie is egotistical.

However, I alos love MEgan pointing out that yes, there are some awesome humans too. And considering this is a world with the DND guys, Joe, and the bots...I have to agree.

[Cerulean Voice]

Radio signals leaking through; dragons on their way; Sugarcube corner closed for a huge party? Ermahgerd, all Tartarus is breaking loose!
Things are shaping up for it to be one hell of a party...

[Leave a Whisper]

well now shes right in the sense that its not a good thing. we gonna see the sea ponies too? maybe the stone bobs and crab nasties?

[jacen]

5124428
... And how would Megan detect and measure the signal strength? By noting how many bars the cell phone displays. It's not like she's carrying a precise meter to detect and measure the signal strength, after all.

While imprecise, it is perfectly understandable that a non-technician would use the common, if erroneous term.

[Prismmirror]

The princesses in this are reminding me of the asari from Mass Effect. Have a large cache of revolutionary technology and cultural artifacts which are several technology/cultural cycles ahead of their time? Release them slowly over a long period to:
1. Allow for gradual adaptation to new ideas, both social and technological.
2. Ensure your country and political faction's technological superiority for as long as possible.

Now I'm curious how many pony puns are plagiarism vs coincidence.

Also: Go Twilight! Way to not be a xenophobe. Hope the humans as a whole will reciprocate.

[Thranx]

Megan stood up. "Thanks, Twilight." She suddenly looked at her phone. "Wait, one thing." She walked to the hole, looking at the screen. "Bars, bars..." She passed under it and past the angle of Rainbow Dash's entry. "No signal!" she shouted, waving the phone at Twilight and Mayor Mare.

This is probably the one time that one should be happy with no signal on their phone.