There was much that Arcane was afraid of for her first steps into Equestria, and almost all of it was tied to the reactions of her fellow ponies. She had always known that Celestia didn’t judge her—that she didn’t even care what Ashton decided to be. Or more precisely, that Celestia would care very much and would ultimately only allow her to choose things that would lead to her long-term satisfaction.
The princess’s initial allowance might as well be a lifetime of religious absolution, all concentrated down into an instant. Yes, you would be more satisfied this way. No, I’m not going to give you a lecture about how broken you are.
The part of Arcane that wanted to run and hide from everyone who would remember the way she used to be was certainly there, no mistaking it. But for as much power as that little sliver of herself had, there was another part that was more powerful keeping it at bay. The part that wanted to be accepted.
The simple act of walking through Wintercrest Castle was its own little parade of new sensations, one that she didn’t fully understand or yet appreciate. Her body was a little awkward, her legs lanky and somehow elegant at the same time. Her tail twitched entirely of its own accord, not covering nearly as much as she would’ve wanted. And the shirt didn’t help—it covered nothing at all of what a human would’ve considered worth hiding.
“I think I…” The words came out in an embarrassed blur, before she even fully realized what she was saying. But she had no desire to stop. “I think I understand why ponies are so particular about walking next to each other. You don’t have to look at anyone’s genitals this way.”
Domino nearly choked. Laughter, but also embarrassment deep enough that his ears flattened completely, and his tail tucked between his legs like a shamed dog. It was in his smell too, in a way that she couldn’t have even described before. An acidic, flighty smell, like he was about to take off. Or maybe that was the way he opened his wings halfway. There’s a lot of muscle under there.
“Yes, uh… yeah,” he said, not even close to maintaining eye contact while he said it. “You must’ve thought about that when you designed Wintercrest. You made the costumes, didn’t you? The, uh… customs? Why didn’t you write a culture that had the human taboos if you wanted them here?”
“I did, at first,” she said. “But during those early days, the system wasn’t great about doing what I wanted. I inherited lots of the classes that Celestia used for simplicity of systems design, and ‘pony’ means something to her in the abstract. Not just a shape for a body and colors for the fur. It’s the collective sum of cultural archetypes and physical…”
Domino had gone from avoiding her to staring, his eyes just a little out of focus. She knew that look, and made her own horn spark faintly in response. She backed away just a bit. “Are you listening?”
“Yeah.” He turned, speeding away down the hall. “Yeah, sorry. I just forget sometimes how much you know about all this.” You always liked the smart ones.
She almost told him the truth, right there. The words danced over her tongue like ghosts. ‘I’m not changing back. This is me forever now. I hated the way I was and never admitted it to you. You don’t have to feel awkward about it. In fact I was hoping you would ask me out so I could use this date I’ve been planning for the last few weeks…’
A set of little hooves pounded on the ceiling over her head, momentarily distracting Arcane from what she wasn’t brave enough to say. Soon enough a little pony emerged from the stairs around the corner, smacking into her like a warm sack of bread. Pegasus ponies were hollow-boned and light, and Violet wasn’t even fully grown, but she was also moving about as fast as a pony could in the hallway’s tight quarters.
“You’re back!” she squealed, practically crying with relief. “You’re finally back, Arcane!”
“I…” She gave up trying to fight the hug, and accepted the embrace instead. “Yeah, Violet. I’m back.” She held her for a few seconds, but this time it was the pegasus who pulled away first.
Violet frowned deeply, glancing at the shirt and her unruly mane, before looking back at her brother. “Domino, is there something you should’ve told me?”
“No,” he said. “I mean, maybe? We were going upstairs to talk to you right now.”
“Arcane looks different,” Violet said, straightening suddenly and circling around her.
Arcane tucked her own tail self-consciously, blushing deeply. She froze, holding as still as she could. But it was more curiosity than anything. Was Domino’s sister really that perceptive?
“The real Arcane Word wouldn’t wear pajamas around the castle. She wouldn’t look like she just woke up from a nap.” Violet settled onto her haunches, her wings twitching a little as she worked through it in her head.
Domino opened his mouth to explain, but Arcane silenced him with a glare.
“But my brother got really upset when Celestia tried to give us replacement ponies. Besides, if you’re a copy, why wouldn’t you act like her? Always pretty, always has her hair up.” She puffed herself up a bit, lifting her tail high behind her and tucking her wings in close.
“I like the way you’re thinking,” Arcane said. “That’s… real deductive. I can see why you’re so good at saving Wintercrest from danger.”
Violet grinned proudly, momentarily distracted by the praise. But then her expression hardened again. “I think you’re here to give us bad news,” she finally said. “You didn’t have time to get fancy for it. Something really bad happened. The Outer Realm is… exploding. And you’re gonna be gone forever.” She sniffed, wiping her eyes once. But however much she fought, she was only a kid. She couldn’t win the war with her tears.
“Almost,” Arcane said. “There was a big disaster in the Outer Realm. I don’t know…” Probably don’t need to tell a kid that I died. “I emigrated to get away. I’m dressed like this because your brother wouldn’t give a lady her privacy. He barged right in before I was properly dressed and dragged me out.”
Violet sniffed, freezing again. She glanced slightly to one side, eyes settling on Domino. The question was obvious, even if she didn’t ask it.
Domino nodded, though there was something awkward about the way he did it. “Arcane will be staying in the castle with us… for a little while. I think she’s planning to leave, uh… when were you leaving, Arcane?”
Never. I’ve been waiting to live in my creation since the first day I started crafting it. “We don’t need to worry about that,” she said dismissively. “Today is…”
Violet flung her forelegs around her neck this time, squeezing tightly and whimpering. “You’re… real?” she asked. “No more pretend? No more vanishing while we’re talking? No more risk of you dying and never coming back?”
Arcane patted her on the head, gently peeling the little pony off her. “I am a unicorn, Violet. I’m probably still going to vanish occasionally. But… not the way I used to, no. I live in Equestria, same as you. I’m not going to die.”
Over her shoulder, Domino was glaring. Last time you looked that intense, I was inviting you to live with me. But whatever he was thinking, he didn’t correct her.
“Good.” Violet beamed at her. “I’ve been waiting for this! I know my big brother’s been waiting even longer, so he could—”
Domino cleared his throat loudly, interrupting her. “Why don’t we head down to the kitchens? I’m sure your chefs will want to come in and make something special for your first meal in Equestria. And I’d like you to meet Plum Blossom in person too.”
“Sure,” Arcane said. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to have a few minutes to put on something… real, first.” She straightened, fluffing up her tail the way she imagined a noble unicorn ought to do. It would’ve made her blush even deeper, if Domino wasn’t standing in front of her. So he wouldn’t be able to see regardless. “Violet, you’re right, it does feel a little like I’m wearing pajamas.”
“Of course,” Domino said. “Take as long as you need. I guess you’ll… probably just use time magic for that.”
That was quite a good idea, except for one obvious problem. Arcane couldn’t actually use the magic this character had spent her whole life learning. Or more precisely, she still had all the spellcasting memorized, could’ve rattled off every aspect of the magic system by rote, but didn’t know how to translate keyboard and touchscreen input into something she did with a bone poking out of her skull.
But she wasn’t going to admit it. “Just, uh… one thing.” She lowered her voice to a whisper, though she didn’t speak much quieter. “I’d like you both to keep this secret, if you could.” My siblings are in here right now and if they find out they’ll expect me to change back into my awful old self instantly. “I have, uh… enemies, here in Wintercrest. I need to keep them from finding out I’ve emigrated as long as possible. You can keep my secret, can’t you Violet?”
She nodded eagerly. “Of course, Arcane! I’m real good at secrets! And… Domino spends most of his time with you, so he won’t tell either.”
He shoved her. “I do not. But I won’t. Err… I will. I will keep it secret, Arcane. I promise.”
She reached out, hugging him with one foreleg around his neck. She settled up against him, feeling his taut muscles against hers, easily holding her weight. Below that was a powerful scent, mixed with a hint of musk and ozone. “Thanks, Emmet. Thanks for looking out for me.”
She forced herself to let go, turning away from him and hurrying down the hall before her own scent could betray her. She could only hope her body language wouldn’t already do that.
She couldn’t actually go that fast, but she didn’t turn to look back. She reached the massive master bedroom without interruption, and slipped through the doors with the relief of any introvert glad to finally be alone. This time she turned, eyes fixing on the little lock.
Suddenly, she could feel the lock, from the screws holding it to the door to the deadlock running through the wood and stone, and each of its oiled tumblers. She twisted, and the lock clicked.
The sensation faded, leaving her momentarily dazed and staring. “I really am a unicorn.”
She was really a lot of different things. Arcane turned, taking a few hesitant steps over soft carpet. It rubbed against her hooves’ sensitive frogs with each step, the velvety caress of luxury carefully chosen.
Everything in her bedroom was carefully chosen, designed for the purpose of one day coming to live here. She stopped beside the bed, rubbing her leg up against the silk and shivering. Outside, her perfect little storm raged on, making the castle pleasantly chilly against her coat. Flames burned low inside her fireplace, just enough to warm the space before it and fill the room with flickering orange, but not take away the gloom of evening.
Arcane walked past the still-open wardrobe, through a wide stone archway to the bathroom. Here her hooves transitioned to polished marble with Victorian fixtures, with a mirror as tall as the whole room running along one side. She hesitated beside the massive tub and it’s several dozen different soaps, holding her nose down close to the nearest bottle and inhaling.
Tea tree, strong enough that her skin prickled in anticipation without even dispensing any. Domino and I could do a lot with a tub this size.
She shivered, dismissing the image as quickly as it had come with a hint of guilt.
And do what, admit I’m broken?
To be fair, she didn’t feel terribly broken at the moment. She moved and stretched, closing her eyes and just letting the sensations of being wash over her. If Celestia had been there to ask, she would’ve been forced to admit just how very satisfied she felt.
She didn’t rush this time, now that she knew she was safe and none of her friends were going to barge in on her.
You’re supposed to make it so our brains understand being ponies. Celestia had done that, at least in the ways that mattered. She was awkward and clumsy, but she had a feeling that a real brain in a real horse body would’ve just died immediately. Equestria was more about the experience, and less about the underlying realities.
Arcane Word satisfied her curiosity about the fidelity of Celestia’s simulations in every way that mattered, before finally taking the time to wash her hair and choose a proper outfit. Even a foal had known something was wrong at a glance, she couldn’t have impressions like that spreading around Wintercrest.
Even if I could be human again, I wouldn’t change back. Not if it meant giving this up. Now all she had to do was figure out a way to tell her friend that, before the lie took on a life of its own and she could never escape.
But at least for a little while, she could deal with her issues “tomorrow.”
She was allowed to enjoy it, at least for a little while.
Domino could take only so much pressure. Just now, Wintercrest Castle might as well be some kind of bomb, compressing him until he was about to explode. Violet could mock him for his feelings for the pony that didn’t exist—she was too young to understand.
Some part of him wondered if Ashton might’ve felt differently if he’d come to Equestria when he meant to, instead of being dragged there far earlier than he wanted. Maybe if he’d been able to live out a human life, he’d be more open to trying out one of the characters he’d written so carefully.
But now it didn’t matter. Humans could fight and struggle, but in the end Celestia always won. And who lost?
In the real world, there was only enough room for so many winners. His parents had been, right up until they weren’t. Him and Violet, not so much. But now they were in Equestria…
It was fairly late, late enough that in a world of ordinary rules he might’ve felt tired. But he didn’t, and he had a feeling that the bat he was looking for would feel it even less. He reached Plum’s door, and opened it without knocking. But when he made it to her bedroom door, then he slowed, knocking one hoof tentatively up against the wood.
“Plum, are you in there? Plum Blossom?”
A squeak answered, then a thump. Finally her voice. “One… one moment.”
It took her a few minutes, minutes of rummaging around in her bedroom, and doing other apparently quite-loud tasks like rearranging the furniture. Eventually the door opened, and she peeked out.
Unlike the awkward and clumsy Arcane, Plum had dressed up. She wore some kind of traditional jacket, something he might’ve described as a kimono, but a more rational part of his brain insisted couldn’t be. Different part of the world, different culture. Was she already dressed formally, was that casual, or… “It seemed like the castle was busy tonight. I hope I’m not a bother.”
From the inside of her room, she’d been bothering her furniture a great deal. Building some kind of fort, maybe trying to sleep way up by the ceiling. Is that what that thump was? He didn’t plan on asking. “It was pretty busy, with—” He’d promised not to tell. “The Lady’s preparations. She can be difficult to work with sometimes—” and brilliant, and beautiful, and infuriating…
“Oh.” She looked down, pawing at the carpet. “What can I do tonight for you, Domino?”
Not what your tone is implying right now, that’s for sure. It might be that he was imagining that, but she sure did sound inviting. Was that why she’d worn that silk gown, open right down the front? Was that some kind of…
I am not doing that. Celestia, I know you’re probably behind this somehow. This isn’t the kind of relationship I want.
Or at least, he didn’t want it to start this way. “I’m friends with a dockworker who said I could borrow her bathysphere whenever I wanted. Apparently the storm has really calmed down. Want to go down and see the fish? Apparently the Seaponies aren’t actually that scary, despite the stories. I don’t think they’ll hurt us.” Because I’m not into that part of the game. I’ve never been in danger and I don’t think it’s going to start today.
“Bathysphere.” Plum pushed the door open wider, emerging into the hall. “After a storm? You aren’t afraid of waves, or… not monsters, you already said.”
“Not really,” he admitted. “I’ve seen pictures of how it looks down there. The Seaponies build real delicate, and I don’t think that stuff could survive if the waves were an issue. I, uh… I planned on going with somepony else, but…” She doesn’t exist and she’s going to change back so she can date some stupid hacker after she emigrates. “I think we should go. If you’re interested.”
“Sure!” She blushed, looking down again and lowering her head in a polite bow. “Sorry. I should be more… subdued. And probably not be excited. I know there’s nothing more I can do for my friends—but I should be trying to help them anyway. Even the impossible fight would be… worth having.”
“No.” Domino cut her off with a wing. “That isn’t how Equestria works, Plum. I know you didn’t want to be here. Lots of ponies didn’t when they got here. And you’ve got lots of good reasons to be stressed. But if I’ve learned anything from my time here, it’s that… you shouldn’t feel bad about liking it. Celestia designed the whole world so you would like it. I haven’t been underwater yet, but I’m pretty sure it will be awesome too. Kinda like diving in the Bahamas, or the Virgin Islands, or… guess you’ve never been scuba diving before.”
She shook her head nervously. “Too cold, too expensive, too dangerous.”
“Well, this is Equestria.” He rested a wing on her shoulder, for just a moment. She didn’t push him away. “Nothing’s dangerous here if we don’t want it to be. And… even if you do want it to be, it isn’t. Unless Celestia changed her mind about letting you die.”
“Said she would,” Plum muttered, looking downcast. “Liar.” She kicked at the stone with one hoof. “Already know I can’t do it myself, either. Tried… everything I could think of.”
He shuddered at that thought, and suddenly the chaos in her bedroom made a great deal more sense. He nudged her forward down the hallway, away from whatever was waiting back there. “Yeah, we’re going. You’ll like it. And who knows, maybe we really will be lost at sea. Win win, right?”
She didn’t laugh at the desperate joke. She did leave her fancy robe-thing behind, choosing a more practical raincoat for their trip out. Domino himself considered digging one up, but in the end elected not to bother. The moisture beaded and drained away from his coat without much effort, making the light rain outside barely even a thought. The cold wasn’t strong enough to get through the warmth of pegasus feathers.
They got a late-night carriage down to the docks, then Domino called up a favor or two. It was no big deal really, once he asked. His friends were eager to do something for the pony who had done so much to mellow the Lady of Wintercrest.
Soon enough they were clambering inside the huge brass bathysphere, suspended by a thick rope from the edge of the docks. He’d been right in his forecast of the ocean currents—the worst of the storm was over. The wind had died down, and the waves only lapped at the wood under their hooves.
Even so, Plum shivered and quaked to be out on her own, and didn’t stop clinging to him until they were inside the velvety confines of the bathysphere.
Domino paused at the controls, looking them over for a moment and going over Low Tide’s directions in his head. He better remember everything he’d been told, since there wouldn’t be anypony to help.
Through the huge window, he caught a glimpse of Low Tide waving from the dock. She tapped her bundle of research notes, a reminder for him to track anything interesting they found during their trip. Finally he settled into the seat, gesturing for Plum to do the same by the huge front observation window.
“Hold on, we’re going down!” He slid the crank-lever, and they jerked into the water abruptly, splashing to the side. Plum flew right out of her seat, smacking into him and taking them both to the ground. Domino struggled under her weight, though there wasn’t much of it. He pushed carefully, crawling free and reaching for the controls.
Now that they were under the surface, only the even purple glow of magic from the controls illuminated the old-fashioned pod. Domino offered his hoof to Plum, then clambered back into the control chair.
This wasn’t a submarine, and he could do little more than bring them up and down. But so far, he could only see gray water.
“What are we, uh… what did we come down here to see?” Plum asked. “I didn’t think you had much to see on the east. Or… this is Equestria. Not a real place.”
“I grew up on the other side of the country, so it was mostly kelp forests and lots of cruddy visibility,” he said, eyes scanning the controls for the specific switch he was looking for. Finally he found it, and he slammed the switch on.
The water outside lit up with a cone of bright yellow, fading rapidly as distance increased. But what it did show was the edge of an underwater cliff, right on the edge of the dock. No wonder Low Tide always deployed the bathysphere here. I didn’t know continental shelves could be so close to land.
Maybe they couldn’t, but Equestria didn’t much care about little details like that.
Plum pressed herself to the glass in front of him, staring at the wildlife outside. Bright corals slid past, surrounded by schools of sleeping fish. Even the animals needed rest, apparently.
The life outside quickly transformed from the rugged variety adapted to survive the waves and tides to the colorful, tropical variety. There were soft body corals and dazzling, delicate life extending from the cliff’s edge out towards the sub.
Domino took one last glance at the instruments, then dialed up the speed of the crank. They sped up, down into the gloom vanishing away beneath them. There was light somewhere down there, and he was willing to bet it was within the bathosphere’s effective depth.
Metal creaked, and the air-pump hummed quietly. “How deep can we go?” Plum asked, her wings spread nervously to either side. Despite her apparently begging Celestia for death, there was genuine worry in her voice. “Is it safe? This thing is… old.”
“Oh, it’s safe,” he promised. “This thing makes trips down to R'lyeh all the time, that’s what Low Tide says. It’s something of an open secret that we exchange tourists. See the amazing ‘land’, no fish and no tides! Or… swim out from your bathysphere to take a look at… all this.” His eyes glazed over as he looked outside. “We could go for a while.”
An incredible array of multicolored fish scattered around them as they descended, dancing around the bathysphere and leaving little glowing trails in the water. Like they were performing, almost.
“No.” She shook her head vigorously. “Wonderful out there, but… no. Min-Seo is waiting for me. Until I know she’s safe, and the others… I can’t pretend. I can’t hide from the danger out there, just because I passed it into someone else’s hands.”
“Right.” I bet Arcane would want to do it. There’s probably some adventure she’s been planning about diplomacy with the undersea world. He was probably written into that adventure.
And just like the one who had written it, none of it would be real.
“We can still enjoy the fish for a bit though, can’t we? A few minutes down here… even if we don’t go looking for Seaponies.”
“Sure,” Plum said, looking back out the window. “That could be fun.”