//------------------------------// // Getting to Know Each- Wait What? // Story: Cause and Effect: Discord's Truth // by Coltsguy //------------------------------// The good news, it was sundown by the time I reached Ponyville. The bad news, there was still quite a few ponies left to gape at the strange creature waltzing through town. It took us several hours to make it to Ponyville at my slow pace and the sun had set about less than an hour after we had left. Sundown itself was interesting, however. Just like I thought, as with sunrise, the setting of the sun was much faster than one back on Earth. It took just a few minutes for it to finish here unlike back home. I made that comment to Twilight and she told me about the princesses raising the sun and moon. I made a remark about how cool that was and continued on without anything more said on the subject. Other subjects, however, were a different story. Being quite the student, she had to ask questions about all kinds of things such as housing, transportation, agriculture, and many other different topics. I answered all her questions as best as I could considering that the information I had wasn’t particularly useful for anything in particular. After all, I was more of a jack of all trades and nowhere near a master of anything. About the only thing I was pretty good at was video games and I don’t even think they could conceptionalize that let alone know what I’m talking about. Equestria was pretty much a pre-industrial civilization. Electronic media was a bit outside the realm of their understanding right now. Then again, it may not be too far off considering that there was an episode with a movie projector in it. Oh well, something to think about later. One of the more interesting things I noticed was how there seemed to be quite a few houses on the road to Ponyville. It actually made me wonder how I went straight to Fluttershy’s house without running into any others. I went across relatively open fields and didn’t see a single house until I reached there. How did that make any kind of sense? None of those thoughts helped me as I reached the town proper and caught the stares of the citizens of Ponyville. There weren’t that many ponies wandering around since it was now after sunset, but there were several dozen ponies still out there and none of them could avoid staring at the big hairy creature. “So, Spike, still think they won’t make anything of it?” He looked up at me. “Awww, don’t worry. They’re all just curious.” “Curious isn’t the word I would use for some of those stares. Please tell me it’s not too much farther to your place Twilight.” “No it’s not that far. In fact, you can see it now.” She pointed to the library that was her home. I looked on in amazement. That place put the images you saw on the t.v. to shame. While, yes Fluttershy’s house was basically the same, this place looked a great deal more impressive. Winows and balconies of every size were strewn all across it. There were several spots in which the leaves were trimmed to look like odd symbols. A few lanterns were strung from various places to give it a soothing glow in the darkness. The whole site seemed to give off an aura of tranquility that even Fluttershy’s house seemed to somehow lack. I suppose I could chalk that up to the fact that the place doubled as a library. That got me to thinking. Why didn’t anybody ever visit the library? I don’t mean nobody came by at all. What I mean is that you never saw anybody come to read any of the books in the library other the Twilight and her friends. Wasn’t this the town library? Why didn’t anybody show up to get a book from it? I banished those thoughts as we made it to the entrance of the library. The door there was one of those split level doors that you see in a barn. The ones that you could unlock and only the top swings open. I think those were made with large four-legged animals in mind so that they could look outside without getting loose from there. Not sure if I was right or not as I ducked near-horizontally inside the doorway. The interior was pretty cool too. The wood had been hollowed out in a manner that worked functionally in each capacity that was required for it. It was quite odd how the enclaves for the books were rounded while the stairs were at perfect angles though. Wood doors in wood doorways looked weird to me somehow as well. All in all a very nature friendly adaptation. “So,” I began, “you live in a library?” “Yes. It is wonderful living here. It lets me study in peace.” “I guess that’s not really surprising.” “Unfortunately, I don’t really have a place for you to stay. I have a couch that you can sleep on, but it isn’t very big.” “I guess that’s fine. I can figure it out on my own somehow. I’m honestly not even sleepy right now. I think that’s probably because I’ve only been awake for three or four hours.” “I can understand. Can I ask you some more questions for a bit?” “I don’t see why not.” “Good! I’m going to write a quick letter to the princess and then I can get back to the questions!” “Sounds fine, Twilight.” I was actually a little surprised that she hadn’t already sent a letter to the princess about me. By that, I mean she came to Fluttershy’s house to see me. I think. She also came there with Spike. Why didn’t she send a letter then? I guess I could probe that with some general confusion questions. “Hey Twilight?” “Yes?” “How long will it take for that letter to get to the princess anyway?” “Not very long at all. Spike is about to send it right now.” I look past her to Spike who took a deep breath and lit up the scroll with his fire. “Wait a second; I thought you were sending that letter to the princess. Why did Spike set it on fire? And how the heck did it burn up so fast?” That second question was more me being curious than thinking about the situation. “Spike did send the letter to the princess. Spike uses his dragon fire to send the letter to her magically. That’s also why it burnt up so quickly.” “I…guess that makes sense. So, why didn’t you send one to her back at Fluttershy’s place?” “I had gotten there only a bit before you came down the stairs. I didn’t have the time to take a look at you especially since Rainbow Dash and Applejack stared yelling at each other and I had to break it up. I’m assuming that’s what woke you up.” “Actually, I woke up a few minutes before that. It did, however, get me moving downstairs. Why were Applejack and Rainbow Dash fighting? Was it my fault?” “Sort of. Fluttershy was telling us about who you were, what you were doing there, and how you got hurt in the first place and Applejack started to yell at Dash for being too reckless. Rainbow Dash started yelling back saying that she was just doing it to protect Fluttershy from some creature that looked like it was sneaking up behind her. Things just got out of hoof from there. I finally had to separate them magically and told them they shouldn’t be fighting with you recovering upstairs.” “So I guess it was my fault.” “Again, only sort of. By the way, how did you recover so fast?” “That’s a good question. I know it didn’t hurt when they kicked me in the house, but I really felt it when Rainbow Dash speed tackled me from behind before that happened. I did feel pretty sore after I woke up, but by the time Fluttershy was asking me how I felt the soreness seemed to have already gone away. That just doesn’t make sense to me. Whenever I felt sore back home, I usually ended up feeling sore for days. I got over this in, what a couple of hours? Maybe even less if I was only sore while I was conscious.” “That does sound quite unusual.” “I get the feeling that it’s the environment. I didn’t have any of these capabilities before I came here.” “It’s possible, I guess. There could be a lot more factors than just your new environment that are affecting you that could have led to this outcome.” “True, however, environmental causes are the most likely in this case. I would like to rule out these things in order to come to a reasonable conclusion.” “As do I. Although, there are still some questions I would like to ask you if that’s alright with you.” “Well, considering I have no idea how to get home I really don’t much of anything other than time on my hands. Go ahead Twilight.” Time just seemed to fly by as Twilight kept up her onslaught of questions. She asked me about everything that she could think of asking. The topics she wanted to know most about seemed to be science related. It was so like her to be curious about that. That isn’t to say that she didn’t talk about anything else. She asked questions about biology, infrastructure, sociological and theological topics. Several of those questions actually surprised me. I wouldn’t have expected some questions about theology from someone who believed their princess may or may not be a deity in her own right. I, myself, didn’t really think they were goddesses. They were ultra-powerful creatures who could wield the primal forces of nature. Then again, a lot of different ponies could do that. Earth ponies affected the growth of crops. Pegasus ponies could manipulate the weather. Unicorn ponies could create things with their magic. The princesses just had the same power only dialed up in magnitude. I even included Princess Cadence in that category. She could manipulate the hearts of all ponies. That was a powerful ability in its own right. In all honesty, I totally believed that if Twilight had enough time, she could train her magic up to that level. The questions went on for hours. To be perfectly honest, I was actually wondering where the princess was the whole time. I would have thought that finding out about some mythological creature showing up in her kingdom would get her to show up personally and in a timely fashion. Then again, Princess Luna watched over Equestria during the night. Celestia was probably still asleep right now. Other than during the gala and the wedding, I had never even seen Celestia awake during the night that I could remember. Of course, sometimes I have to remember that I always think I know more than I really do. I may know about it, but I still have yet to do anything about it. Before I knew it, the sun actually started to shine through the windows of the library. I don’t think I’ve ever spent an entire night talking to anybody in my entire life. The staying up the entire night part was definitely a familiar experience, though. Good times and bad times they were. “Wow, I can’t believe that it’s morning already.” “Huh?” asked Twilight. I pointed at the windows and she was shocked to see that she had indeed spent an entire night talking to me. “Oh my gosh! I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to keep you up all night.” “It’s alright Twilight. Like I said earlier, I wasn’t very tired at all. In fact, I still don’t think I’m that tired right now.” My stomach decided to make itself known at that time by groaning loudly. “Being hungry, however, seems to be more of a concern right now,” I said and gave a weak smile. Twilight giggled a little at my statement. “Well, we have been up all night talking. Maybe we should get something to eat.” “That sounds nice. Do you have any food around here?” “No I don’t. We’ll have to get something to eat someplace.” I froze up a little at hearing that. That meant leaving the library. That meant exposing my big, old self to the townsfolk. No, not that kind of exposing. Quit that kind of thinking right now. Besides, I’m still not comfortable being the center of attention. This would definitely bring attention to me. “Are you sure I should leave the library? I don’t really want to cause a panic.” “I don’t think you’ll cause a panic. Several ponies saw you last night and nobody panicked then.” “Yeah, well then I was flanked by you and Spike and they still stared at me then. Spike’s still asleep now, and I think that there will also most surely be children out there too. I’m pretty certain I mentioned how I seem to be able to scare little kids with my mere presence.” “I think you’re just being silly. It won’t be that bad. Trust me.” “Alright, alright. I still think this is a bad idea.” Twilight opened up her door and went out and waited for me to leave as well. I finally collected myself and ducked outside. My sudden presence was met with several gasps and stares. I was definitely uncomfortable there. I was really wishing I had a shirt on as well. I don’t have a problem with that when it’s just me in my place, but I was outside in front of dozens of ponies and it just left me feeling like my skin was crawling. I was met with more of the same as the two of us traveled around. I honestly wasn’t a hundred percent sure where she was taking me, but I had my suspicions. About fifteen minutes later, they were confirmed. Sugar Cube Corner. “Why is it that I’m suddenly getting this odd feeling that something is just not right?” “What do you mean?” “It’s a giant gingerbread house and you’re asking me what I mean?” “It’s not really made of gingerbread. It just looks like it.” “Still, I’m just getting a weird vibe from it. Not weird like the Everfree Forest, but weird as in out of place.” “I think you’re just imagining things.” “Maybe...” We continued up to the front door and Twilight went on inside. I was pleasantly surprised at all the really nice smells coming from inside even as I remained standing outside. A cacophony of delicious aromas assaulted my nostrils and made my appetite even greater. It was quite pleasant if I do say so myself. “Mr. and Mrs. Cake? Pinkie Pie? Are you here?” I could hear her ask from outside. “Oh Twilight! Is that you? Sorry, we were still finishing up setting up for the day,” she said from the back of the store. “That’s alright, Mrs. Cake. I’m just here with a new friend of mine.” “A new friend!?!” That is all the warning I received before a pink bullet flew in from the back. It stopped right in front of me in the doorway revealing a pink on pink pony with an ear to ear grin. I had actually expected her to suddenly appear right behind me, but I guess gag conventions made it less likely. “Wow, I’ve never seen you before! I always like meeting somepony new! My name is Pinkie Pie! What’s your name?” “Hello, my name is Seth.” “Seth? That’s a funny name!” “In the Bible where it came from, my name means Chosen of God.” “Wow! That sounds really important! It still sounds funny though! Kinda like how kumquat sounds funny! Do you think kumquat sounds funny because I think kumquat sounds funny!” “Yes, kumquat sounds funny.” “I know right? But that’s not important right now. What’s important is that you’re new in town! Which means,” she stopped and turned around and brought out a cannon from nowhere. Wow, that looked really odd when it happened right in front of you. “I’m going to throw you a ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ party!” I covered my face with my arms as her party cannon went off in my face. I was expecting to get hit with something as it went off. However, nothing happened. I slowly opened my eyes and was met with a peculiar sight. Pinkie Pie, her cannon, and all of her decorations were all being suspended in midair. They were all held aloft by a soft, blue light. I looked around to find the source and noticed Twilight looking at me. “Who the heck is doing this Twilight?” “I think you are,” she said and pointed at me. “What? But I can’t use magic!” “Look at you hand!” I did as she told and looked at my hand. The tattoo on my left hand was glowing the same blue color as the others. As soon as I noticed, the glow stopped and everything fell to the ground. “This may be the coolest thing that has ever happened… to…” As I said that, my vision began to whirl and I fell to the floor. “Are you okay?” asked Twilight. “No, but at least this time, it wasn’t Rainbow Dash’s fault,” I said as I lost consciousness.