Infinite Ponygram

by Fullmetal Pony


Exploring the World, Making Friends Pt. 1.

Legendaria- Twilight Sparkle

Twilight heaved trying to slow what felt like her heart trying to tear itself out of her chest. The fall from what had appeared to be the upper atmosphere had not hurt one bit and a part of her mind had even recognized that friction had not been in play. Those facts did nothing to relieve the sheer visual terror of plummeting to the ground with nothing to stop her other than a strange force that slowed her down near the end and deposited her smoother than any parachute could. As soon as she had touched the ground, she had crumpled and was still trying to catch her breath.

She managed to steady herself after a bit and got up. Her legs shook a little. With a slight blush on her face, she looked around and sighed when she saw she was alone. “Professor Dominguez could’ve at least warned me about that.”

Calmed down, she looked ahead. Her jaw then dropped. She had been so focused before about others spotting her in such a frazzled state, the great tree in front of her had eluded her notice. Or, perhaps her brain, still recovering from the fall, had not recognized it as a tree. The trunk spanned a good third of the horizon. She followed its titanic base up and up. Clouds drifted past some of its lower branches while most of its true canopy remained hidden. Through the clouds, she could make out blurry shadows of what looked like immense branches and leaves that shielded her from the sun’s direct rays. Yet, it was still fairly warm out. The game’s box had made note of a time dilation mechanic so while the temperature IRL was still crisp, it could be an entirely different season here.

Taking in the impossible sight, Twilight also saw that to her left and right were large bodies of water that curved out far into the distance and appeared to loop either to or around the great tree. Its size made it difficult to grasp the actual scale of the geography around Twilight.

As she traced the bodies of water back to the tree, she noticed at its base there was a collection of spires. Looking closely, she saw turrets, ramparts, and stained glass. Closer to her, a wall rose up from the shore. Ahead on the path was a large gate which was opened a little in the middle to allow a stream of people through.

Taking a breath, Twilight ventured forward.

Drawing near the gate, her eyes widened. Some guards with even longer and pointier ears than hers stood at either side of the gate’s opening. Lustrous platinum hair flowed out of their shining helms. Great bows rested on their backs. Even Twilight recognized them as elves.

With their identical armored look and stiff stances, they were like statues compared to the crowd going in and out of the city. People with skin tones that made Twilight’s hardly noticeable were the most common. The people were also adorned with tails, horns, and ears of all varieties. Some Twilight could recognize as based on animals from Earth, but others were completely foreign. A few people even had extra arms and legs. Twilight was sure she caught a glimpse of one woman with eight eyes and a man with just a single central pupil.

They were still recognizable as people though. In the crowd, there was also a creature that was bipedal but covered in scales and had a head that resembled a dinosaur’s with a tail to match. It loomed over the rest of the crowd, matched only by an only slightly shorter cat-like humanoid with twin tails nearby.

Are kids able to play this too? she thought, given the cat humanoid’s bikini top.

Aside from those in the rough category of “humanoid” there were also things that seemed more like beasts. All of them were either pulling carts or had people riding them. There were scaly things that seemed very close to dinosaurs, large possibly flightless birds that Twilight was certain she had seen before, and great horned beasts that looked so fluffy Twilight felt an urge to go and pet them. To see what appeared to be just regular horses mixed in with the fantastic menagerie brought Twilight back to the task at hand. 

“The festival takes place in this lovely little town called Ponyville,” Celeste had explained. A bit of drool gathered at the corner of her lips. “Oh, the cakes on an average day are good, but for the Summer Sun Celebration…” She blinked when she realized Tiara was staring at her and wiped the corner of her mouth while trying to pass it off as if she were coughing into her hand. “Well, it’s less than a day’s trip from Legendaria’s capital and the fare is manageable even from the start. That should give you plenty of time to get used to things and have fun!”

The way she described it is more like a trip than playing a game, Twilight thought. She then looked at her hand and opened and closed it a few times. As one of the dinosaur-like creatures passed by, hauling a cart, she felt the ground shake just a bit with each of its steps. It let out a small blast of air and a wisp of its warmth brushed against Twilight. The wisp also carried a slight stink to it that reminded Twilight of her biology classes in college when they had gone to a farm for a weekend of research. The scent was supplanted by a leafy medicinal smell that tickled Twilight’s nose as it wafted out of the cart.

“You’d think that sale would be a bit better of a deal,” a man with scales like a fish running up his arms grumbled. “Nothing really if you’ve played for any amount of time.”

“Hey, it’s a good sale for beginners and the magic section wasn’t half bad,” chimed a little ball of light floating next to the man. Taking advantage of 20/20 vision in-game, Twilight saw that the ball was actually a tiny glowing winged girl.

“Anyone with a High Rank Job could tear through you even if you read all those books.”

“You could’ve also gotten some fun stories to read too,” the faerie pouted.

“If I want to read, I’ll read it on DIN or a forum.”

“Ugh! You are such a damn ludo!”

Twilight hadn’t understood much of what the pair had said, but taking note of the keywords, she approached one of the guards.

“Uh, sorry to bother you, but is there some sort of book sale going on?”

“Indeed!” the guards proclaimed with a volume that made Twilight jump back. “Every sixty moons we hold a grand sale of treasured tomes, artifacts and fine wares in the square. It’s just to the right when you enter the gate!”

“You really need to tone it down,” the other guard sighed. He turned to Twilight and lowered his head a bit. “Sorry, he’s a bit new.”

The other guard blushed and, in a much more casual and flustered tone, said, “Hey, I was working hard on that.”

Twilight couldn’t help but chuckle. “My brother would’ve really liked this little tutorial.”

“Tutorial?” the newer guard cocked his head.

“Yeah,” Twilight said, thinking of playing along and testing the AI’s limits. “The procession of all these incredible creatures, those two NPCs clearly directing me to the sale, you two with your little routine. It’s really nice.”

“What are… Ah!” The newer guard spotted the jewel on Twilight’s hand. “A newbie eh?”

Twilight blinked. “Did something go wrong in the programming? I thought being a new player was what triggered this whole ‘go to the book sale to learn basics’ event?”

“Yeah, I can see how you might think that, but let me ask you this…” The newer guard pointed at his companion. “Which of us do you think is a tian?”

“A what?”

“An NPC.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Both of you?”

“Well,” the newer guard beamed, “seems I may be a little overenthusiastic about announcing the sale, but I’m doing good at my job!” He then removed the gauntlet from his left hand, revealing a crest of a helm. “I’m a player, what we call here Masters.” He pointed to his companion. “My senior though is a tian.”

“Huh?” said Twilight. Of the two guards, the newer had come off as far more scripted while the older guard had appeared much more flexible in his manner of speech. “But you look almost alike.”

“Oh, that.” The newer guard then removed a ring from his pinkie finger. In a flash, he was now in jeans and a t-shirt that depicted an elf in the midst of whipping his head back and forth while screaming into a mike. The guard’s hair had changed to a blazing blue but his ears remained the same. However, there was now a softness to his face, fuller lips, and two noticeable mounds pressing against the image of the elf death metal concert on the shirt. “I’ve been playing an elf from the beginning but when I saw Istafur here I finally found the perfect elf.”

As the elf-girl swooned, Istafur gave her a small whap on the back of her head. “Enough of that, Magis. You’re on duty now. I can stand the mimicry, but only if you copy my work ethic too.”

“Right, right, sorry!” Magis put the ring back on and transformed back into a spitting image of Istafur. “Anyway, the first bit of time in Dendro can really throw you for a loop, but I can assure you, nothing here is scripted… well, except for plays obviously. For tians, though, this is life and I couldn’t be happier!”

Istafur whapped the Magis again, this time harder since she was in armor. “What did I just say?”

“And what’s this about magic?” Twilight interrupted.

“Oh well,” Istafur stuck out his chest, “Legendaria has the best collection of books on spellcasting you’ll find in the world. Altar may have had their Arch Sage but they could never boast the number of casters we have. The stuff at the sale is up for anyone to buy though so nothing too dangerous, but I’ve seen quite a few great wizards and witches start at the sale and work their way up to High Rank jobs.”

“I even heard The Sun and The Moon fulfilled their first job requirements with a book at one of the sales,” Magis said.

“Can’t say if that’s for sure, but you never know what you may find.” Istafur smiled at Twilight. “So, enjoy your time here, and welcome to Legendaria!”

Magis waved Twilight off while Istafur sighed at the newer guard. Twilight gave a small wave back but her mind was drifting as she turned toward the gate and made her way through.

The streets inside the capital, like outside the gate, were filled with a swath of creatures both humanoid and animal-like. They moved in all directions but a good amount were flowing to the right of the gate. Twilight followed along and the wide street opened up even more into a large square. Patches of the square were taken up by sheets that were spread out and stacked high with books as varied as Legendaria’s inhabitants. There were stalls as well that were also filled with literature. Amidst the tomes were other things: wands, staffs, cloaks, and other trinkets that all screamed “magic!”

Twilight went over to one stall in particular that caught her eye.

“Welcome!” said the seller. Twilight noticed his eyes glance at her hand. “See something you like?”

“You’re allowed to make stuff like this?” Twilight pointed to a white staff with a distinct set of patterns interlacing the top of it.

“Hasn’t been a problem yet. Though unfortunately I won’t be able to sell it to you.”

“Why not?”

“Try picking it up.”

With a furrowed brow, Twilight reached out and picked the staff out of its holder. It remained in her hand for a second and then slipped and clattered to the ground. “Sorry!”

Twilight bent down to pick the staff up, but it slipped out of her hands each time. The seller stepped out from behind the stall, crouched, and picked the staff up with no problem. “Maybe it wouldn’t have been an issue if you’d stopped by when I started playing, but now I can’t seem to make anything for noobs. Level fifty is my limit.”

“You’re a Master too?”

“Yeah, I’ve always been big on model sets and props but IRL I haven’t got an artistic bone in my body.” He flipped his hand around, revealing a crest comprised of a collection of chisels in a circular pattern and grinned. “Here I can make as many replicas as I want and they actually work!”

“Can you actually do magic?” Twilight asked.

“Oh yeah.” The shopkeeper angled the staff forward a bit. “Mostly rely on my Embryo for work, but I got a few spells to help out with crafting.”

The staff glowed and a massive ball of light sprung out.

“Gah!” Twilight shielded her eyes but was still seeing spots.

“Oops!” The light vanished. When Twilight’s vision cleared, she saw the shopkeeper was looking a little embarrassed.

“A reminder to not cast in the vicinity of the sale,” came a voice from a spot above the center of the square. “Items damaged or destroyed will be paid in full.”

“Is it okay for new players to even be here?” Twilight asked. “Couldn’t we set something off?”

“Do you ban children from libraries just because they may be loud?”

“Fair, but I don’t think they might accidentally shoot a fireball or something.”

“Ah, you’d need a job or skill first that allows you to use spells and then consciously cast and use MP. It’d be impossible for a complete noob to use a spell.”

“Hmm, well, thanks for showing me the staff.”

“Anything else I can interest you in?”

“Anything that I can buy below level fifty?

The shopkeeper slapped himself on the forehead.

Moving along, Twilight perused around for a bit. As she picked up books to inspect them with the shopkeepers’ permission, she noticed other shoppers were also skimming the books, but a few of their eyes moved right to left or up to down rather than left to right.

“Ooooh! You noticed too?”

Twilight yelped and the book she was examining flew out of her hands. It was caught in midair by a pink hand.

Twilight turned to see the hand’s owner. Everything about this person was pink. Her skin was a bright pink, her floofy hair was a deeper shade than her skin, her long skirt was a very faint tone, and her vest bordered on maroon. The only things that were not pink were her boots, a trio of balloons etched into the back of the hand holding the book, and shocking blue eyes. Shocking not just for their intensity but because the color filled the full sockets. The girl had no irises or pupils, it was all just blue. A pair of antennae, also pink, drooped from her brow. In place of a nose, she had two slits in the middle of her face. Barring the hair, the girl reminded Twilight of signs she had seen dotting the road when she had gone to Vegas. Before she could think more about the adventure her brother had gotten into, the girl spoke up.

“Hi!” she proclaimed. She stuck out her free hand. “I’m Pinkie Pie!”

“Uh, hi?” Twilight took Pinkie’s hand and gave it a loose shake. Pinkie returned it with a grip and a shake that rocked Twilight on her heels and then onto her toes.

“It’s really cool you can already spot the tiny things! I love spotting them too. They’re so much fun! I’m really hoping I can spot a big one though! Then maybe I can have a party with the kitty or the caterpillar again!” Pinkie pressed closer. “Oh, I almost forgot to ask, what’s your name?”

“T-Twilight,” she gulped. Pinkie’s language had proven to be as alien as her looks. Though, Professor Dominguez also did not fully make sense when talking about Dendro.

“Just Twilight?”

“Twilight S-sparkle.”

“Hmmm.” Pinkie finally let go of Twilight’s hand and brought it to her chin. “That’s a pretty good one. Shows a real commitment. It’s not as much fun when people just use something that sounds like an email address. Oh right, did you want this?”

Twilight took the book after Pinkie thrust it back at her. “I was thinking about it, but a lot of these books are a bit too much for a new player. Too many terms I don’t know even if there’s some sort of translation feature.” Twilight glanced down. “Some of this history does sound a bit interesting though.”

“Tell me about it,” said Pinkie. “If this world were more like a game, it might be easier, but where’s the fun in that?”

Twilight blinked. “What do you mean?”

“Well, games are pretty clear in terms you need to know, but here it’s kinda like traveling without a tour book or guide.” Pinkie’s smile broadened. “That being said, I always love helping out new Masters and I’ve had a really good feeling that some new Masters today are going to make a big splash!”

“That’s probably not going to be me.” I just want to play enough so Professor Dominguez lets me get back to research after all. Twilight then thought of something. “You wouldn’t happen to know the best way to get to Ponyville, would you?”

Pinkie had a sharp intake of breath and lifted off the ground. She dropped back down and pressed close to Twilight. “You’re going to Ponyville? For the festival? Right-right?!”

“Yes?” Twilight winced in the face of Pinkie’s explosive excitement.

“Yay!” Pinkie exclaimed. She wrapped an arm around Twilight’s back and spread her other arm wide. “Don’t you worry! I’ve got the best ride to Ponyville! I knew I was on to something! Oh! I’d better go make adjustments! Can’t forget the crepes either! Meet me at the gate you came in from in an hour!”

Pinkie unglued herself from Twilight and sped off with enough force to rustle the nearby books. Twilight stood for a second pondering if the past few minutes had actually occurred or if it was some unexpected side effect of Dendro’s hardware affecting her mind. Accepting that she at least now had a ride to Ponyville, she went back to perusing with an eye on the time.

It was a little later that she came upon a stall operated by a middle-aged woman. Her hairstyle was a bit more vibrant than reality would have allowed with its crimson red and shock of purple— it reminded Twilight a little of Charlotte’s. Wiping a little sweat from her brow, Twilight looked over her wares and spotted a well-worn tome.

Opening it, Twilight savored the scent and the texture of the parchment, perhaps a bit more than the other books. What truly caught her attention though was the title: A Treatise on Magic. While the cover seemed worn, the ink looked fresh. Turning the page, Twilight read. Her pupils focused. Her grip tightened. Her eyes raced back and forth. I… I can understand this! Finally! Digestible terms! Oh, this is really all making sense now! If I can apply some of this with what I know… Yes! Y—”

As she devoured page after page, her fingers brushed over a crystal embedded in the book. It was a tiny thing that could easily be mistaken for an illustration, especially since the book at that point was talking about how a spell was a crystallization of a user’s magic points and concentrated thoughts given form.

Would you like to accept the job of Mage?

Yes! Twilight thought, too enraptured in finally getting her first true stepping stone into the unknown world of magic.

You have now obtained the job of Mage.

“Hmmm?” Twilight looked up from the tome for the source of the voice.

“Oh-ho,” said the shopkeeper. “Quite interested in magic, eh?”

“Uh, what just happened?”

“You just became a mage, my dear.”

Twilight blanched. “Oh my gosh! I am so sorry! I didn’t mean too! I just got so into the book that I—”

The shopkeeper raised a hand. “Think nothing of it. I must’ve forgotten this book had a job crystal too, but you did no harm to it and becoming a mage is a simple task. I’ve seen many new Masters in my time, and it’s nice to see those so passionate for the art.”

“Well, I do like to research and this presents a lot of opportunities. It’d be nice if I had more time to explore it, or if it had some practical applications.”

“Ah, that’s right, Masters don’t have magic from where they come from,” the shopkeeper mused. “Well, at least not magic the way we have it. At its core though, magic is about making your thoughts manifest and grasping the ungraspable with your will. I have seen magic do many wonderful things. Just look at the friend you made.”

“Friend?” Twilight then realized the shopkeeper was talking about Pinkie. It would have been hard not to notice that compressed mass of energy. “We just met. I don’t think we’re friends yet. I don’t really know how that ties into magic either.”

“You and that girl reached out to each other and seized upon a connection.” The shopkeeper grinned. “That’s magic in my book. Oh, and as to time, I hear that it flows differently between our worlds as well. So perhaps our world will offer you a chance to explore with time you didn’t have before?”

Twilight thought on the shop keeper’s words and smiled back at her. “Thank you. I think I’d like to buy this.”

“Certainly.”

Twilight paid and turned to head back to the gate. As she did, she paused and remembered that since she was going to be heading out of town, she wanted some nourishment, which was not included in her starting equipment. Pinkie had mentioned crepes which did sound good, and Twilight was interested in how taste worked here. That left the question of how vital food and drink were and the more immediate issue of securing water.

Given everything I’ve seen, drinking unclean water could be just as dangerous here as it is in reality. Even with modern amenities, tap water in foreign countries is a no go. Oh!

Without having taken a step, Twilight opened the book again and flipped through until she found what she was looking for. “Here we go. Now to just give it a try.”

“Wait!” the shopkeeper cried.

A second later, a ball of water appeared over Twilight and the shopkeeper. Gravity handled the rest.

~~~

The starting allowance all new players were given was just enough to cover the soaked books. The shopkeeper had even been nice enough to dry them off after Twilight had paid. Twilight had not said anything but she had memorized how the heat spell was used with proper precision to dry the books without substantially damaging them.

Twilight was also thankful the starting equipment’s item bag lived up to the explanation Humpty had given. Despite now carrying a small library of books, it all appeared as nothing more than a small bag Twilight kept tucked under her shirt.

The incident did leave Twilight without food though. She thought back to Pinkie’s reaction to food and her mention of adjustments. Given how friendly Pinkie was, Twilight was optimistic that food would not be too much of an issue. Perhaps in one of the books there was a spell for conjuring a meal or at least a snack.

Although that gets into an expenditure of energy and conservation of mass issues. Especially since I’d probably expend more energy as MP to make the food than I would get back from eating it. Although that assumes magic just draws energy from the user and not…

Twilight was pondering many aspects of magic as she moved past an alley on the way back to the gate. A blur of orange filled her vision and smashed into her. The world spun. She glimpsed a hoof, blond hair, and a hat. Someone hollered but their words couldn’t get through the ringing in Twilight’s ears. Then, everything went black.