Princess Luna is supposed to be her sister's equal. She watches over 12 of every 24 hours, after all. But she isn't, and everybody knows it. Equestria adores the one who brings warm, sunny days, and ponies sleep through her nights. Even her sister sometimes seems to forget that she's supposed to be one of Equestria's ruling diarchs.
Luna seeks help from the only pony she thinks can make a difference: Star Swirl the Bearded. He provides a spell, one she can use to change herself into the pony she wants to be.
Unfortunately for her (and the rest of Equestria), things don't go quite as expected.
Updates Wednesdays, though it may update a little quicker at first as the Fimfiction version of this story catches up to the one posted on Patreon. Cover by Zutcha, as always. These just keep getting better, don't they?
This is a Patreon-sponsored story, written for Aurora Gleam. So tremendous thanks to them for making this adventure possible.
o this looks to be vary interesting.
Oh dear. This is no Goetic daemon of the mind. This is a person. And now Luna's going to have to deal with a justifiably incensed abductee.
Well, it'll certainly make her stick more in the monds of the courtiers.
Looking forward to seeing where this one goes.
Huh. I wonder how easy it will be to undo this mess. If at all.
I agree with the language decision. Some old english for shits and giggles is cool, but an entire story might get pretty annoying.
It seems that the bearded theorist's theory is a bit flawed.
That might be fun.
Turns out the alien abduction problem was actually a pony abduction problem.
Also, apparently any inadvisably cast magic by Twilight is just her following in a long distinguished tradition of great mages doing the same.
Oh, wow. This looks to be very intriguing. Subbed.
i wonder what kind of civilization lives with in my mind
Luna you dun goofed.
...Actually, no, Star Swirl. This is all Star Swirl's fault.
How did anyone mistake another full universe for the inside of Luna's mind? Pretty big mistake to make.
media.giphy.com/media/9aXNIJ22JQpvG/giphy.gif
"Hmm... This spell either pulls things into this universe from others, or allows one to pull part of their mental world out into the physical world."
"Starswirl! I need a spell that will allow me to change parts of my personality!"
"I have just the thing!"
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By simply not considering that something other than what they think is happening, is happening.
Star Swirl was so preoccupied with the (not inconsiderable) dangers of what he thought the spell did, that he forgot to consider that it might do something else entirely.
Thus begins the strange tale of Hayden and the living planetarium. Poor thing. I get the feeling that throwing the spell into reverse is much easier said than done. And going by your track record, I have the feeling that there may be some upcoming pronoun confusion for him or her. That or batponies are extra-squeaky.
Still, Luna may have made a friend... if Hayden can ever forgive her. Also, there are now several pieces of advanced technology in the castle. I wonder how many Star Swirl has already claimed for analysis.
Bat ponys are the best
way better then the rest
goooooo!! Bat Ponys!
Interesting. Let's see how this one goes.
He should soon realise his legs don't actually bend wrong though. Only the proportions are wonky.
I'm a little surprised at the prescription on his glasses was still correct after all that magical manipulation.
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You missed a fine opportunity there. Here, let me show you how it's done.
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Booo!
This explaination as to why she thought it was her mind and not another world is about as good as any. After all, if there were similar fauna and flora in what should be my soul, that makes much more sense than another universe just so happening to have the same ecosystem as my world. So I do like how this is going.
Another outstanding start to yet another intriguing Starscribe story! I can't wait to read where one will take us!
Ah, yes -- what an exciting lead in for the inevitable 'self discovery' chapter. Man, our late human in for a deep shock!
Ah, the ol' gender switcheroo. A classic.
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Buh dum tiss
I had a feeling there'd be a gender swap. Given that Luna was shaping the body into what she thought was an exorcised part of herself it makes sense that she'd make it female.
Should "limbs" be "hands"? In terms of limbs, Hayden has more than ever!
"Surely you must be important."
"I'm not important, and don't call me Shirley."
Yeah, Hayden's in for a most rude awakening if s/he ever finds out what happened in the rear. Still, reflexes appear functional and there are some ponies around to befriend should he ever take that option. Of course, someone who was mistaken for the incarnation of Luna's introversion won't exactly jump at that opportunity...
I do wonder how explaining his accessories will go. And where his gun is at the moment. In any case, looking forward to the next installment.
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A piece of unimaginably advanced weaponry for such a time... That he can't use because hooves
Poor Hayden, missed the opportunity to install himself as a noble. Would make things easier for sure. But let's see how he reacts to everything else, it's bound to be amusing.
I have to ask if giving Hayden the surname Powell was a reference to "No, I'm Not A Brony, GET ME OUTTA EQUESTRIA!"
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time to introduce such wondrous technology to Equestria.
Pretty by the numbers so far. I'm really just waiting to see how that whole, " The real question is whether Equestria will survive her mistake," thing turns out. You always manage to cook up something interesting thought, so I'm looking forward to whatever that might be considering the time period.
I was asking myself if he could hear her.
It was at this moment they knew... they fuck up
Maybe now they'll discover that that world is real...
So Hayden is your name, I see...
What would her sister do if she discovered him? (If he can be considered him anymore). It has something to do with the summoning spell?, maybe Celestia thinks that everything that cames from there is dangerus? Past experience? Or maybe is something else? I don't know...
As for Luna to me it seems that she still thinks that Hayden is a part of her...
And also... judging by the cover, Is he a thestral? There are more thestrals in Equestria in this time? Or is he the first one?
This story goes to my Tracking folder yes or YES!!
You have no idea...
So He IS a thestral.
So he is a SHE. I don't know why I am not surprised
So she is the only thestral in existence? My assumption was correct? She'll populate the world with more thestrals? Will I stop asking more questions?
A REALLY good story with Weekly updates. WHAT ELSE CAN I ASK FOR?
I am looking forward to the next Wednesday. I want to see where this goes.
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I know! Classic Starscribe.
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You would be surprised how many scientists in real life have done the same thing on purpose or accident. Like Marie Curie who discovered Radium and Polonium... and while she did try to prevent people from marketing tonics and other products with the little understood elements because of potential danger. She sadly died of aplastic anemia most likely related to the amount of radiation she was exposed to while discovering those elements. As well as undoubtedly her tests with Uranium and how it electrified the air around it.
Point is: if you understand little about something. many things can go wrong. Likely things you never knew even existed prior to it happening.
I'm surprised he doesn't mention that he was also male. Anyways I can't wait for him to start talking about technology that's beyond their imagination and the knowledge to back it up. That'll show that Princess Luna screwed up.
Oh, I am seething here. You've perfectly captured the frustration of dealing with a know-it-all who actually knows nothing.
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I suppose he–or she, now– simply chose not to. If they don't believe that she was a person of her own before being summoned, it's likely that they wouldn't believe she used to be male.
You may want to change that from intense to slight. Otherwise it sounds more like the amount of pain one could expect if Starswirl scalped her.
Well, at least they aren't completely dismissing out of hand the possibility that Hayden really is from another world. It could be worse.
They have a deal. This make things more interesting
For a moment I tought that they had realized that s/he is her/his own person/pony. But no, they didn't.
I'm asking myself what can show them that they are wrong and had kidnapped someone from their world. 
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I'm with you
I'll be here the next week to see what happens next
Ah, there is the cowardice. Accepting such a vague request without any details.
Granted, it's not like Hayden has a lot of choice here, but there are so many questions, so many things to consider. After all, did not Luna's steward assume Hayden was Luna's concubine? Is Hayden not in mortal peril from Luna's sister and other ponies? What could Hayden do with an unfamiliar body that Luna couldn't get somepony else to do? How long will this arrangement last? Hayden risks permanent consequences every moment in Equestria for no benefit save appeasing the unrepentant kidnapper, Luna, and her teacher who has little to no regard for Hayden's existence.
Fuck these ponies, they've massively screwed him over and show no compassion about it. Hayden needs to cast "science" and show Luna and Star Swirl why humans are an apex predator on their planet.
What respect, Luna, is a kidnapper particularly owed? :P
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A change in species is a bit more jarring than a change in gender, no matter how some stories might say otherwise. Sure, it's important, but bigger things are on her mind than a slight change in plumbing. She'll most likely tell Luna once things settle down, or be too embarrassed to. Either or.
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Depends Hayden's level of education. Remember: humans are nothing special beyond being sapient. Ponies are sapient too, so the only reasons humans are more advanced is luck that Hayden didn't pop into existance a few thousand years into the futute. Sure, pony culture holds back things a bit, bit that's just a cultural thing, not a species thing.
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But Hayden is familiar with certain bits of human technology beyond Equestrian culture. Demonstrating knowledge that Luna doesn't have should help to demonstrate his actual independence from her.
Although, given Hayden is the first ever batpony and the general style of Starscribe's humans-in-pony-bodies stories, I expect Hayden will make a life for herself in Equestria, permanently.
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Sorry, but that's not true. Humans are humongously resilient when compared to mammals of similar mass. Bigger and smaller too.
We are built for endurance and adaptability, being able to digest an enormous range of animals and plants, even nearly rotten ones. We can exert effort for longer than most if not any other mammal because of how our muscles are composed, and our resistance to trauma is legendary. Most animals would be incapacitated by a broken member, and straight out die from shock at losing one. Humans, comparatively, pretty much shrug those and keep on living, even way before modern medicine. Our wound recovery is also quite fast, if a little ugly from the mass of scar tissue. And our immune systems are only surpassed by extremes like sharks and comodo dragons. Not to mention our unparalleled capacity for fine manipulation.
Basically, we are quite special even beyond sapience, but since it's the norm to us we don't notice it.
But do consider those are in a human that grows up having to face nature and suffer with it. We city folk are rather weak in those areas, but because our body wasn't put through it's paces.
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I never denied any of this. I was literally only talking about technology and capacity for knowledge, nothing else. And since MLP is a fictional world, the ponies were designed EXACTLY like humans in the mental department. With maybe a few minor instinctual differences, their brains appear near identical to us in the show.
Disclaimer: I know my taxonomy and evolutionary biology, meaning I know full well how unique humans are in a physiological sense. I also love humanity and what we have accomplished. I even think if there was another sapient being IN REAL LIFE that they would think nothing like us, and perhaps there are other sapient beings and they just lack the linguistic and textile capacity to create a society and manipulate their environment (such as dolphins, as they lack hands, and octopus, as they lack a social structure/language capacities to really advance beyond being smart). However, in this context alone, humans and ponies are identical in the brain department BY DESIGN, which is a completely different story than true biology arising from natural processes.
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Let us hope her knowledge of technology is practical and not passive. After all, very few people could give a description of the tech they use that couldn't be dismissed as imaginative, yet still sci-fi, elements to a primitive culture. After all, even though the idea of a helicopter has been around for millennia -- seriously, the earliest references for vertical flight was around 400 BC in China -- no one was able to make one until the logistics were worked out and society as a whole were able to specialize enough for the concept to be feasible, making individual parts cheaper (specialization and mass production are crucial to making a modern society). The average Joe does not know the logistics to much at all. Man power is still a huge factor, as specialization and hundreds of years was needed for our modern society to come about. Anything she tries to start will be slow going if her knowledge is spotty. Ideas are easy, specifics and proof of concepts are hard.
Seriously, the best she could do is claim that certain things are possible. She may be able to influence their society into the industrial revolution, but the tools needed would still have to be invented beforehand, something I doubt she could help with. She would also have had to pay attention in science class and remember all the mathematical equations she was taught, which would be fantastic if unlikely. Even I only remember about half of the basics.
Magic could help, granted, and it could even skip some of the difficult hurdles in starting an industrial revolution. But that would be up to the author in how he wants to do things. I'm open to anything, really. I trust the author very much at this point and can suspend my disbelief to an extent.
Thinking about it, she could have been the trigger for why trains were invented so long ago in Equestria, yet everything else is so primitive. A few ideas could create a few neat inventions, such as trains, but then once her practical knowledge ran dry Equestria stagnated. Maybe. Could be interesting.