//------------------------------// // Moderate Success // Story: The Human's Guide to Equestria // by Siras-chi //------------------------------// Blank Slate stared at the letter his publisher had sent him. He had already read it twice, and a third time through wouldn’t change its contents. Nor would that action change the contents of the check now sitting on his desk. In truth, the number of zeroes on it was close to the amount predicted by the publisher - but Blank Slate had thought number just a bit too high in the first place. Yet there was no denying it: The Human’s Guide to Equestria had become a moderate success. It wasn’t topping any best sellers’ lists, but it had been purchased by a not insignificant number ponies. And maybe some of those that bought it had actually read it! And maybe it found her. A knock at the door shook Blank Slate from his thoughts. “Come in, Crystal!” he yelled from his desk. The door opened and revealed a young pony, not yet done with the last of the changes brought by her teenage years. “How did you know it was me, sir?” Even after her recent sessions and her work under a licensed therapist, her voice still shook when talking to someone in authority. The crystal ponies are a bit skittish when others seem to know exactly what they are doing. “Crystal, we’ve been over this. First off, you’re the only one who could possibly be here right now. B, you always knock in the same way. Three, yes you may go home for the night. I can close up shop.” Blank Slate knew Crystal’s questions by heart at this point: most of them had been asked on repeat since she started working for him. “Thank you Mr. Slate, sir. I shall see you in the morning”. Slate waved her off, his prior attempts to have her drop the honorifics all having ended in failure. With his assistant gone he turned back to the letter and its contents. It seems that his book had received enough sales for a first time author that someone had wanted an interview. An actual interview with the writer of a potential new genre of science fiction literature. Blank Slate thought that sounded pretentious, but to those who didn’t know the origins of the book science fiction would best describe it... He considered it auto-biographical. He pondered what would happen if he told the truth as he walked home through the Crystal City. Would he be locked up as delusional? Would his license to practice be revoked? Would his house, given to him by the state for moving here, be revoked? Blank Slate stopped where he was and attempted to slow his breathing. A panic attack. It wasn’t the first time he’d experienced one, and it probably wouldn’t be the last. Fortunately there were few other ponies trotting around. Blank Slate knew the risks of publishing his life story. He knew that it would most likely be treated as fiction. It gave him leeway. It let him be on the same page as everypony else, and let him get his message out to anyone that might be in the same situation as him. He knew that last part was unlikely. He was a billion to one chance: a surge of wild magic bridging the gap between worlds. A complete fluke. Yet there was a chance that this world contained another human in disguise. At least one other. In his panic he hadn’t noticed that he had stopped outside of a Hey Burger! Now that his panic had left him, hunger filled the gap. After a brief moment of thought, Blank Slate decided to celebrate his newfound moderate success and splurge on fast food. Besides, he didn’t feel like cooking that night. The first thing he did when he returned home was remove his glasses and curse whatever was behind the magic that brought him here for making him near sighted. The second thing he did was to float his hay burger onto the table. Even after living in the Crystal City for three years, the fact that Hey Burger! was the fast food of choice still baffled him. Not just because he preferred Great Grif’s. Three years and the only franchise that sold fish still hadn’t spread here. Blank Slate missed meat. Regardless of the lack of seafood, Blank Slate liked living in the Crystal Empire. It was a beautiful place, and the population still needed help. Sombra had done such terrible things to the Crystal Ponies that a therapist was in high demand. It also helped that he knew what it was like to discover that everything you knew and loved had changed overnight and almost nothing was recognizable. To find that you were cut off from people you loved. That you never got to say good bye. That after all this time you were unsure if the person you loved most in any world had even... Calm down. Just another panic attack. His hay burger was undercooked tonight. That was the other reason Blank Slate preferred Great Grif’s - they always got his order right. Not that the Crystal Empire didn’t have its own delicacies. Crystal Wine and filtered light were indescribable to those who lacked the ability to process raw magic. The ranchers who had been serfs under Sombra lived like princes now that they had control over their own profits. His meal finished, Blank Slate decided to write back to his publisher. He had too many clients to head back to Canterlot for an interview, but if it could be recorded at the Crystal Empire’s new radio broadcast tower he’d be happy to do it. Even treating it as fiction, he felt that his book could help those who found themselves in a new world- one way or another. Interviews were fun anyway, especially for something as simple as this. It wasn’t like when he was younger. There was less riding on this. First thing in the morning he would send it off. For now, though, he would read more of the new Daring Do before bed. For the most part, today had been a great day. His clients had made great progress, Crystal Shards almost considered calling him Slate, and he had discovered that his book had become a moderate success. If his luck kept up, maybe he’d even get a good night’s rest. That night, like almost every night, the worst dream and the most beautiful nightmare played in his sleep.