Chapter 20
Deja Vu
Looking around, Twilight is freaking out a little and Pinkie is blissfully bouncing in place while everyone else is mostly neutral, Better reaction than what I was expecting...
"So we are not real!," Twilight puts a hand on her forehead and takes a step back in disbelief, Spoke too soon...
"For someone so OCD'ed, you are certainly not taking in a lot of detail," I say half joking half condescending
"But you just said our world is a play- teevee show, whatever, which was written by somehuman with a name that is exactly the same as our deity of creation!!," a few strands of hair pop out of her mane, then she gets nose to nose with me with a psychotic grin, "DID I MISS ANYTHING?!!"
"Yes," I put on a sly smile
Twilight stands up straight and her eye twitches, then she goes through every emotion imaginable, but Applejack places a hand on her shoulder
"Ah may not be as smart as you, sugarcube, so would you mind explainin' how Luis and Rick are here?," AJ looks at Twilight a bit knowingly but very smug
Rarity notices what AJ is doing and jumps in, "Yes, darling, if our world is fictional then how are two very real gentlecolts in our town hmm?"
"I would like to know too," Fluttershy meekly says, "If you don't mind me saying"
Twilight starts to look between Rick and me. Rick looks at me for a second and then realizes what everyone is getting at, "Twilight you can't be fake if we are here, relax"
"It would definitely be impossible for me to be fake, seeing how awesome I am and all"
Twilight shrinks a little in embarrassment, "I guess I didn't take that into account, hehe"
"There you go, Twinkle Sprinkle, nothing to worry about," I hear a snort coming from someone, a few chuckles, and Rainbow in full laughter
"As Amusing as we may find thy byname for Twilight Sparkle, that was no nice of thee to comment,"
"Dear Sister, you need to learn to live a little," Celestia places a hand on Luna's shoulder with a smile
"Speaking of live, you probably don't want to stay in a crowded hospital room all day, and I'm pretty sure we'll be out later today soooo..."
Rick looks up in thought, "I guess," he looks at me, "Quick and I- AND Thinker, were going to see if I could do some enchanting stuff with my ability," He definitely blushed this time, "It might be related with programming after all,"
I turn to Celestia and Luna, "Wait, don't you two have a country to run?"
Luna turns to Celestia, "Dear sister, we might have neglected our royal duties for long enough"
"Let us at least say 'goodbye' to everypony," both of them turn to the rest of the room, "It appears our royal duties can wait no longer. We will be taking our leave"
"We thank you for your presence," Rarity does a lady bow, Holding an invisible dress and everything, everyone else did a normal bow
"See you later, mom and aunt Luna,"
"Give our best regards to thy friend Noctis Umbra," Luna Gives me a wink
I recoil a bit, wide-eyed, "S-sure," I turn to everyone, "I'll be seeing you in a bit, see you guys later," I lay on the bed with my arms propping me up, "I need some sleep guys, I had a very interesting night"
"We'll leave ya to it then, sugarcube"
"Sleep well, Luis,"
I lay down with my hands behind my head, "Don't worry, I will," I close my eyes and sigh which turns into a yawn, "I didn't think I was this tired, jeez," My eyes snap open and I see Celestia kissing my forehead, Ookaayy then..., "Uhmm, what are you doing?"
"Is it not normal to kiss your son good night?"
"I don't know," I turn to Rick who has his hand hiding a smirk, "Is it?"
"Sure it is," a chuckle escapes his throat and he coughs to try to hide it, "On babies!," he bursts out laughing with Rainbow and Spike joining him, and Pinkie giggling like a maniac, Of course..., they finish laughing and there is a knock at the door
"Come in," I sit up in bed
The door swings open and Dr Stable comes through followed by Noctis wearing a pair of round frame glasses, she is looking down a bit embarrassed fidgeting in her stance a little, She looks so... cute. Though she could still hand my ass to me, even if she doesn't know it. Doctor Stable in the other hand is going through some notes on his clipboard
"You might want to close your mouth," I do so as I give her an embarrassed look with a chuckle, she gives me her iconic troll smile as she straightens her posture, Oh. My. God... I have Trollestia as my mom...
"Well, apart from her memory loss, her eyesight has diminished since her last record I have access to," he looks up to the rest of the group, "Don't get me wrong, her eyesight is still above that of an average pony, but her batpony status should have given her a better results. Nothing too concerning though, so that's good, just needs the glasses to keep her vision in good condition," he adjust his own glasses as he changes pages with his magic, "As for you prin- right! Luis, your eye exam shows your human vision rivals that of a batpony's and I must simply see this for myself"
"Can we do this when I'm not exhausted?," I yawn again
"Right, probably a good idea," he adjusts his glasses, "We wouldn't want to askew the results," he walks out the door
I look at everyone in the room and-, "Wait! Where is Cadance?"
"She left during thy story. Something with having 'duties left at the castle,' as she mentioned"
"Right about where you said-" Twilight takes out a scroll, "and I quote, 'that mother-effer stabbed me in the back with his gosh darned dagger using his flipping magic'," she puts the scroll away
"You even said 'see you later' you silly human," she chuckles
I look at her a bit confused, "I did?"
"Yes siree bob," she puts on a huge grin
I just stare blankly, "Well then. I guess I AM tired"
"From what the doctor told me, you didn't have any sleep, and you fought those ponies the whole night," I turn to Noctis, who is still embarrassed, Just tell her there's no need to feel bad, you idiot
'I-uhmm..." Just say it "The glasses suit you," I feel my face get warm as Noctis looks at me with a smile, still slightly embarrassed, At least she's not looking down anymore
"Thanks"
"Very er-ahem ... Cute, I guess," I feel my face get warmer, I have no idea why I said that. Well I do, it's the truth but... I think... .... I like her, her accent, her mannerisms, her eyes- specially her eyes, so entrancing, hypnotizing-NO! What it is is that I barely get social interaction, that's what it is, my brain is simply confusing that with affection... But those eyes are beau-
"Luis, are you okay? You look a little red," Noctis don't bring attention to it
"And you've been staring at a wall for a while, are you having some sort of human episode of something? OOOHH! Were you thinking of something? Was it ice cream? I love vanilla, but chocolate is better, actually mint is delicious, but rocky road is a good combination and- mmh hmmhm," AJ puts a hand over Pinkie's mouth and starts dragging her to the door
"Sugarcube, ya are goin' to be needin' yer strength for whatever comes next, see ya," AJ goes out the door with Pinkie
"Rest well, and when you get signed out, meet us at the library ," Twilight walks out
"I hope you dream of nice things," she follows Twilight out
Rainbow flies next to my bed, in between me and Noctis, and wiggles her eyebrows at me with a smug look, then she turns to Noctis, "When you get out of this place, lets have a race you and I," she flies out the door
Rarity walks up to me, "Darling, we need to get you some clothes befitting of your title"
"Hey, what's wrong with what I have?"
"Its very drab, darling," she grabs my hoodie and looks at the zipper, "This is low quality machine stitching, and don't get me started on your pants"
"Then I won't get you started on my jeans"
Rarity sighs, "I'm just trying to give you some advise as a friend. When you have time, come by the Carousel Boutique, I'll make you something nice and worthy of a prrince," She rolled the 'r', of course she rolled the 'r'
"I'll try," Rarity walks out, Spike gives me a two finger salute and flick, and follows Rarity out. I see Rick giggling to himself, "What's so funny?"
"It's going to be so frilly," he lets out a few laughs
"Har har," I turn to the princesses, whom are whispering amongst themselves and giggling, "Mom, your going to- *yawn* sorry. You're going to have to teach me that spell later, I'm too tired"
"Do not worry, dear, there is always time"
"We will be seeing you soon, my nephew," with the glow of their horns they teleport away
"OH COME ON!!," Celestia reappears behind him, he jumps back, "AGHH! Don't do that,"
"Almost forgot you," she teleports them both out
I lay down on the bed with my forearm over my face, "It's official, I've been more times in the hospital here than in my world. And it's only been a little over a week!"
Noctis giggles at my over exaggeration, "You complain too much," I look at her with a smirk, "First you're too tired to do anything and now on your hospital visits," she rolls her eyes a bit mockingly
"Honestly, I always feel tired, I'm only yawning now because I'm more tired than usual," I look at the clock on the wall, Half past 12, what to do, what to do..? The care package, oooh, that's an idea , I get up from the bed, "hey Noctis, want to see something cool?"
Her ears perk up as she ever so slightly tilts her head, "What is it?"
"Just follow me"
On our way to the little park behind the hospital we passed a few ponies who looked in amazement as we walked by. Probably because the morning papers said I was a new prince, and not only that, but also adopted directly by Princess Celestia. I mean who wouldn't be surprised to see such a high profile individual in such a place, in a small town no less. I guess my height being similar to that of Celestia's also helped with their astonishment.
Back on topic thought. Noctis kept asking what I was going to show her, but I kept responding as vague as possible. Responses such as "You know, it's a thing" or just a simple "Stuff". I found a good clearing and I'm ready to get my next airdrop, grenade in hand
"Come on, tell me. What is it?" Noctis start to playfully pull on my arm, "And I know it couldn't be that thing in your hand. It's too small to be anything impressive"
I smugly smile at her, Oh how wrong you are, I pull the pin and let the lever fly out, I love that 'ping', so satisfying, I toss the canister as soon as the smoke starts to pour out, "Look up"
We both look up to see the crate appear and start falling, "What is it?"
"You'll see," the parachute deploys and disappears as the airdrop touches down, "And now we open it"
I walk up to it, Noctis close behind, and undo the locks lifting the top open. Inside there's two holotapes, but one is- Green?! What??
"What are they?" she innocently asks
"They're holotapes and they contain abilities I can use"
"You mean 'things' right? Because, how could they have skills?"
"I don't know how they could have skills, but they do," I scratch my chin, "Although, I'm not sure about the green one. It's the first time I see one of those," Let's see here... I grab the green holotape and look at it all over, Nothing out of the ordinary, it's just green, the normal boot up sequence happens, but instead of just showing what the modules has, it goes to a small menu with two options. The first option is just called [Information], the second is just [Modules], Well, what do we have here? Is this your doing, Aleksandrs?
...
You haven't said anything in a while. Are you ok?
Sorry, I just feel bad for the comment I made earlier. I didn't think it wou- ... Nevermind, and by the way, that holotape is from them, the council. I started color coding them; orange is random, green is them, and yellow is me
"Soooo," I turn to Noctis who's now peaking at my pip-boy, "What does it say?," This feels... familiar, very familiar...
I select the information letter and start to read, 'Hello Luis, this is the council reaching out directly to you to give you the news, we believe Aleksandrs might have over corrected a few aspects of your abilities as a response to our request [...] and so this 'quality of life update,' if you will, has more video game based mechanics that should have been at your disposal from the beginning and a few that were modified after the miscommunication. Best regards, the council' that was a book and a half to read...
"What does 'update' mean? And what is 'quality of life' in this contex? I don't understand it"
I look at her quizzical expression, "It might sound weird to you, but basically a 'quality of life update' is there to fix any, uhmm, oversights I guess, that came with my powers when they were given to me"
"I think I get it... Maybe," she ponders for a bit, "What type of oversights?"
"Like it said, my 'level up' system wasn't what they wanted so they're making it better"
"And who are they? Who is this council?"
Oh shit... She read the whole thing, "I have no idea," She now knows more is going on that meets the eyes, whatever it might be...
Dude, I'm literally just a story teller. I give ideas that feel original, that's the whole job description. Nothing more, nothing less
So no demon threat that might cause extreme amounts of chaos?
Not that I'm aware of. Just remember I live in the present, just like you
"And who is this 'Aleksandrs' stallion the letter mentioned?"
"I guess he's just an observer with limited power over what happens to me," I rub my jaw slightly, "More specifically, what abilities, skills, powers, whatever you want to call them, I can get," Noctis cocks her head in thought
And now I can attach to her
That sounded very weird
I realize that. What I meant is that because she knows about me I can see the world through her
Oh, that's cool. Will you talk to her?
I can't, just you. I would need an extended permission for that
"Weird," Noctis's expression lights up again, "So what new abilities did you get?"
I open the [Modules] page, and it has the modules I already have that will be affected plus whatever the want added, "Let's start with what changed, ok?" She nods, "Ok. Now I level up more like in a game and gain skill points I can use to enhance my abilities and attributes, as well as letting me unlock new skills that fall within what I have and might be able to learn. Unlike the previous system in which I only get luckier with what I get from the care package"
"So you could learn a completely new fighting style in less than a second?," she looks at me confused
"Basically," she just gives me an 'mhmm' in return
The last module that was affected was my 'enhanced control' one. Now I'll have to equip stuff through the pip-boy, but I can favourite a limited amount of items and apparel to equip and re-equip without the pip-boy and I can increase the number of favourite items by equipping a holster, but it limits that item to what ever the holster is for, and pouches limit on the size.
The last change made by this update was a 'Lore' module, basically the council doesn't want me using any exploits from the games I might get, instead the game items with act as how they are described by the lore. All I can say is two things, "all those tutorials by 'the spiffing brit' wasted" and "no fortify restoration loop, damn"
I explained things to Noctis as well, just in case something, I really don't know and because she now knows and it doesn't hurt, right?
"Any questions?" Noctis starts to ponder, then looks back at the crate
She returns her gaze back at me, "What about the other one?"
I take it and inserted into the pip-boy, "We are about to find out," the boot up sequence finishes and I read what it is, "It's a companion module. Like the name suggest I can now have a companion who will have a simplified version of my leveling ability, but no new abilities or inventory, just a slight boost in their abilites when with me"
"Ohhhh! Uhmm..." Noctis blushes a bit, looks down, grabs her hands and starts to fidget with them, "Could I... you know.. be er... what I'm trying to say is... well..."
I lift her face, "Would you like to be my companion?" immediately her face lights up and she starts to bounce a little as she nods. Then a hologram appears infront of her, from what I can see, it says 'Would you like to follow Luis?' with a check mark and an 'X' underneath
"Woah!" Noctis starts to examine the apparition and with and unsecure 'uhhm' she presses the check mark. I then see her name and an HP bar appear in my vision, and at the same time she jumps back and starts to look around in a fright, "What's going on?"
"By any chance, are you seeing a bunch of bars and things in your vision?" she rapidly nods, "That should be your status bars. You have an HP bar, that's your Health Points, basically ha much damage you can take before you can't fight anymore. I don't know if you see it, but there should also be another one with my name on it"
"Yeah, it's so odd. Is this what you see?"
"More or less, yes," I look back at the crate, It's still here, which means... I lift the foam and-, "HUH??" I pick the item from the crate and the box poofs out of existance. I look at the thing I'm holding in my hand in every angle possible, "It's a PKE meter... from the Ghostbusters..." Is it affected by the lore?
Nope
Huh? Oh, thanks!
No prob
"What's a PK-, that thing?"
"This is a PKE meter, Psychokinetic Energy Meter. This will help with finding ghost,-"
Magic items and even collectables *cough*smoke grenades*cough*
"-Magic things and more airdrops," I'm definitely favouriting this, I turn it on and immediately see a problem, The natural magic of the world is causing a lot of interference, damn, I put it away
"How did you even do that?"
I turn to Noctis, "Huh?"
"Where did the thing go?" Oh! That
"I put it in my inventory. Uhmm, think of it as a pocket you can't see," a yawn scapes my mouth
"You should probably go to sleep before you colapse"
"Probalby a good idea, let's go Red," we start walking towards the hospital
"Red?"
"Right, you don't remember, sorry about that. We kind of made a deal, you'd let me call you 'Red' and forgive me if I told my mom, Princess Celestia, I was a cotton headed ninny muggins," Noctis immediately covers her mouth in surprise, I give her a reassuring smile, "Don't worry, she agreed," I chuckle and put my arm over her shoulder
"What did you do that I had to forgive you with-with that??"
"I was being a cotton headed ninny muggins," I crack up in laughter
We enter the room and I just head for the bed, "Wake me up in like an hour or something," I drop on the bed and almost immediately fall asleep
I'm sitting in a mess of countless doors, no floor, no ceiling, and no walls, "Here again... great, I wonder what is it this time," I stand up and begin to walk around in search of the new door, "What am I having doubts about now?"
After a while of looking I find nothing, That's odd, there has to be something... maybe I feel hopeful for once, with a blur, the scenery changes. The doors surounding me are now few and far between, and the background is no longer infinite darkness, but instead a simple white hallway
I start to count the doors, "...30, 31, 32... 33. Which one is the new one? I haven't been here in far too long..."
A little while latter I find the new door, I grab the handle, "Here we go..." I open the door, It's just Noctis in the room, smiling. The sight warms my heart, "I do like her... why? Why Noctis...?" The room changes to the dream Luna made us have together to apologize, and the scene plays out and it returns to Noctis
I sit down and think about what's the importance of that moment to me, "She felt bad even if it wasn't her fault and put all the blame... on herself... ... I... I know how that feels... I was raised like that," I fly out of the room into another, this one with my pissed off mother inside, and a scene from my childhood plays, the day I realised she was no mother to me
I was 6 at the time, we had just returned to the house from the amusement park, and my brother went to a friends house after the trip. It was just me and my mother in the house
"HOW COULD YOU?!!" Her hand going across my face, "DO YOU KNOW HOW EMBARRASSING THAT WAS FOR ME?!" Her hand making contact once again
"I-I-I'm s-so-sorry, I couldn't h-h-e-help it," Her closed fist coming down on my head
She mocks me and just get even angrier, "You puked all over the place!" Her slap throwing me to the floor, "This is why I can't have nice things," her venom bleeding through her words. She walks up to the closet and looks at me as I look at her on my hands and knees, "You, always ruining everything," she opens the closet and reaches for a belt, "And we were having such a nice day to," her face twisting into a psychotic smile
I start to cry, "Please don't"
She mocks my pleas and makes the belt snap loudly , "With that attitude, no wonder your dad left!"
"B-bu-but he c-calls everyday"
"SHUT UP!!!" she lifts the belt ready to whip me
I shut the door, breathing heavily, I lean on the door and slide down to a sitting position, "I don't think Noctis went through something like that, though," I chuckle, "And I still don't get how that applies to me liking her," I feel getting pulled again, but I hold to the door for dear life
The feeling stops and I let go, "I think I've had a more than long enough trip through memory lane, thank you," I cross my arms and legs, "I guess I'll just wait til I wake up"
A door appears infront of me, I raise an eyebrow. Luna comes out of the door, stops dead on her tracks and looks back into the doorway she just came through, "We must have taken a wrong turn..." She turns back into my dream and looks around, examining the place while humming
Luna jumps in surprise as she spots me sitting there, "Hi," I give her a single wave
"This is thy dream? We have never layed eyes upon such... ... I am speechless," She stays looking around the area
"Well, it isn't exactly a dream per se," How do I explain this? "It's more like me actively avoiding dreams. This are my memories more or less"
Luna keeps looking around in amazement as I stand up, "Thou have so many," she reaches for the handle of the door I was just at
Without hesitation I grab her wrist and stop her, "How about we see... my, umm likings, yeah," I change the scenery back to the white hallway and open the first door I get a hold of
"We- *cough* I had the feeling of this for quite some time now," she smiles at me, I then turn to the room, ...Of course... It's the Noctis room, The walls are now decorated with a few pictures of my memories with her
I walk up to one and grab it, smiling as I see Noctis on the ceiling of the throne room looking down on me in the picture, The day we met... and what a shit show that day was, I chuckle to myself and show Luna the image, "Remember this? That was a really crazy day," Luna smiles at my comment, but then her expressions turns sour
"I am still remorseful for what I did to thy- your hearing," She looks down in shame
"Don't worry about it," she looks at me, "The body heals, and you were concerned about me. That's more than I can say for most of my actual family. Anyways, I messed up worse... If I hadn't stopped her from doing her job, then Noctis..." I hang my head, I wonder how she feels... probably some resentment towards me
"My dear sister told us- me that Noctis Umbra was quick to follow commands she deemed worthy," That's right she's a royal guard, there has to be a file on her, "She also mentioned that the training Noctis Umbra recieved was similar to that of Royal Guard Captian Shinning Armor, made for greater judgement and individual action"
"I know how to make it up to Red. If you could get me her file, I'll help her with her memories"
"Are thou sure? I mean, Noctis could follow the Royal code and refuse to become your special somepony"
"I don't care, I've been alo- like that my whole life," And if it makes her happy, I'll be fine, "I just want to help her, and I think this will help"
"As you wish," The walls of the room start to blur, "It appears you will soon be in the waking world. I will honour thy request and inform mine sister of your decision"
I bow a little, "Thank you"
I open my eyes to be face to face with a sleeping Noctis, I immediately panic and fall off the bed, "What the hell?," I slowly rise from the floor and just look at her on the bed