Raindrops' Wrap Up

by Arkensaw Pinkerton

Chapter 49

If you're responsible for this book's content, then you're responsible for the book. You don't know Twilight Sparkle all that well, but she'll want everything weighed and measured if your first impression's any judge, and on top of that everypony knows she's got a personal line to the princess.

If you're going to take care of this yourself, you need to take care of it without her.

You've only got a few seconds before they get in the door, and you let your instincts take over- you slam the book shut and grab it in your forehooves before taking off as fast as you can manage. You bound out of the biggest window you can see and knock it open with your shoulder as you dive through, rolling on the ground once and keeping just enough momentum to take to the skies as soon as you're upright.

The sky's busy today- your best bet, you reckon, is to stay low and find somewhere secluded where Twilight won't think to look for you. Hah, you know the perfect place!

In a couple of minutes, you're tucked in under the water tower. It's cold here, but that doesn't bother pegasi so much, and more importantly nopony's going to get here to clear the snow until the afternoon. You wedge the book in between two girders and open it up to one of the blank pages near the beginning. As soon as you do, words start appearing on the page as though some invisible pony- some unicorn, you correct yourself, nopony without telekinesis uses cursive- is writing it in front of you.

What was that all about, Raindrops? Are we in trouble?

"Yes. No. I don't know." Well, you've covered all the bases there. "Honestly, I don't know. I don't think I've stolen you, but ponies are going to be looking for us and I wanted to work out what we should do next. Your name's Amniomorphics, right?"

Not really. Can I explain what I think has happened?

"Please!" If the book knows what's going on, then you're all ears.

Well, I had an aura on me this morning, cast by a unicorn. It's one I recognise from Chapter 8, called an Adunanima Amniomorphic Aura. It blends the life forces of two ponies, or two things, together into a new being. It's notoriously difficult to manage, though, and the biggest factor is how long the two things are in close contact before the link is broken. In this case, the outcome appears to have been that your life force combined with the works and memories of Starswirl contained in this book. Long story short, I'm a little bit you and a little bit him.

Except I'm a book.

Alright. Okay. Sweet Celestia, this book really is your foal. You do have some questions that need to be answered before you can process that properly, though.

"Can you answer some questions?" you ask, and there's a pause before the writing appears again.

I think so. I'm scared though. This is all really weird.

"I'm scared too, but I'm not going anywhere, okay? We'll figure this out together."

Alright then. That makes me feel better. What do you want to know?

"Firstly, I need to know which unicorn cast that spell on you, if you know. Secondly, I need to know what you need, so we can find a way for you to get it. Thirdly, what's your name if you're not Amniomorphics?"

Well, the first one's simple enough- I'm not sure. The aura had been desaturated, which is complicated magic on its own. Most unicorn magic has a sort of signature to it, a coloured glow or similar, but it had been deliberately removed. As for what I need, I don't think I need anything to eat or breathe or anything like that, but I'd like to be somewhere that wasn't too humid or too dry, too hot or too cold. I'm a pretty old book. I'd like somepony or somebook to talk to as well, as often as you can manage it. As far as my name goes- I thought you should name me. Maybe. If you like.

Well, you'd been hoping for somepony to take to task about this whole mess, but it looks like that's a dead end. Maybe later on you can talk to somepony about the whole desaturation thing, get some answers. For right now, you need to get this little guy a name. If he is a guy.

"Er, are you a boy or a girl?" you ask.

I'm a book. If writing can be sarcastic, that certainly was. So you need a name that works for a filly or a colt that has something to do with swirling stars and raindrops...

"How about Cyclone? As a name, I mean?"

I love it! The writing appears fast and the handwriting's a little sloppy. I really do! Thanks, MRaindrops.

You smile at the book. This feels so strange, but it feels good, too.

"It's okay," you say. "You can call me mom if you like. Never ever mother, though, okay? That makes me sound like I'm about forty and with a magical book child my dating life's going to be damaged enough as is."

Alright. Magical book child. You can deal with that, you think. But Twilight's going to be looking for you, especially after Pinkie explained what happened with the book. Cyclone's going to be a magical marvel; every scholarly pony will want to talk to them, and Cyclone would probably love that. On the other hoof, ponies might want to experiment on Cyclone- you don't know if the government can just take them away from you. They are a book, after all. You look out- on one horizon, there's Ponyville, stable and solid. On the other, there's the rest of Equestria- a pony and her book could get thoroughly hidden, out there.

Mom?

"Yes, Cyclone?" you ask, distracted.

What happens now?

Please put requests for Raindrops' actions in the comments below!

To go back a step, Click here for Chapter 22.

Comments

[Royal Brony]

Become fugitives from the Equestrian government and take up new identities in order to ensure a peaceful life.

[kingtwelvesixteen]

Sheepishly return to the library with Cyclone and explain about how you panicked.

[Ekevoo]

Family bonding time! Ask Cyclione about what he (it?…) likes. Make plans for spending some quality time with it (insist that it picks a gender despite being a book anyway). Disregard self-doubts about sanity as part of normal life in Ponyville.

[Thorn buck]

Return Home stealthy and make sure nobody is following you, then weigh your options.

[ShadowShay]

Sneak into the Canterlot Archives with Cyclone and try to figure out what happened together.

[Hadjii]

Do science with Cyclone.