//------------------------------// // Starting Again // Story: Rearranging Perspectives // by The Dimension Traveler //------------------------------// Rearranging Perspectives Chapter 2: Starting Again _____________________________________________________________ The last train to Ponyville for the day was moving at a fair pace across the land painted in reds, oranges, and yellows by the setting sun. Amongst its few passengers were the six mares known as The Elements of Harmony and the only Human ever known to Ponykind. The Elements were happy to be heading home to their friends and family and were currently chatting with each other to pass the time. Sam, on the other hand, was keeping mostly to himself whilst deep in thought. Eventually, Twilight noticed her new student’s slightly melancholy mood and excused herself from her friend’s chatter. “How are you holding up?” Twilight asked “I’m fine, all things considered,” Sam responded, “A lot happened today and I’m looking forward to putting some sleep between me and today’s events.” “You’re handling all this pretty well. I don’t know what I’d do if I suddenly woke up in your world. I’d probably keep telling myself it’s all a dream or something,” Twilight remarked “I’m just operating under the assumption that all this is real until proven otherwise. It saves me the time and effort of offending someone by trying to disprove their existence. Besides, if it is just a dream or something, then I don’t know how long I’m stuck here and I’d be better off just playing nice with everyone anyway,” Sam said “Sounds logical to me,” Twilight replied “In any event, there’s no use griping about it. I’m here and the sooner I accept all that entails the better it is for everyone involved. The sooner I can start really enjoying it too. One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind and all that,” Sam quipped, “That’s a reference to human history, so you’ll know all about it eventually.” “How much of your history do you know?” Twilight asked “It was my second favorite subject in school. So you’re lucky I’m the one who ended up here and not one of the vast majority whom loathe history,” Sam remarked “That’s good, I want to learn everything I can,” Twilight said “It’d be my pleasure to attempt slake the thirst for knowledge you posses,” Sam responded and the two talked about various subjects until the train pulled into Ponyville Station. “Applejack!” “Rarity!” “Rainbow Dash!” The group had barely exited the train when they were ambushed by three young fillies “Where’s the cute repellant? I think I might get cavities just from exposure,” Sam snarked and the three fillies turned from their family/role model and gaped at the human. “What are you?” Asked the one with a red bow in her mane “This is Sam, and he’s a human. He’s going to be staying with me as my student,” Twilight responded before Sam could. “Cool!” The three fillies chorused “Ah’m Apple Bloom!” “I’m Sweetie Belle!” “I’m Scootaloo!” “And we’re the Cutie Mark Crusaders!” They cried together “Cutie Mark Crusaders?” Sam asked “Yeah, we’re trying to get our Cutie Marks!” Sweetie Belle answered “And what are Cutie Marks?” Sam asked hesitantly. He wasn’t sure he wanted to know. He was known to snark uncontrollably when confronted with too much cuteness, after all. “Cutie Marks represent a pony’s special talent and appear on the flank when a pony discovers his or her talent. Pinkie Pie’s balloons represent her talent for parties,” Twilight explained “Oh, I thought they were just tattoos or something,” Sam remarked “Don’t humans get Cutie Marks?” Apple Bloom asked “Not insofar as I am aware, no,” Sam replied and the CMC gasped “That’s awful! How do humans know what their good at?” Sweetie Belle asked “We figure it out through trial and error; usually more error than trial, but that’s to be expected,” Sam responded “Ya can talk to Sam tomorrow, Apple Bloom. It’s gettin’ late and Ah’m pretty sure it’s past your bedtime,” Applejack said and started walking off. Apple Bloom reluctantly followed her older sister. “Applejack’s right, come along Sweetie Belle,” Rarity ordered and they left the station as well. “I should probably be getting you home too, squirt. See you guys tomorrow!” Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo left as well “Come along Sam, we’re going to be up early so we need to get some sleep,” Twilight instructed and Sam followed his new teacher to her library. “Spike, we’re back!” “Welcome home Twi-AH! It’s a monster!” As soon as the young dragon caught sight of Sam, he ducked behind a convenient pile of books. “Spike, stop that! Sam isn’t a monster, he’s my new student!” Twilight admonished “Student?” Spike repeated questioningly “Princess Celestia appointed me as his teacher. As such, he’s going to be staying with us,” Twilight responded “Oh, um, OK then, my name’s Spike!” Spike greeted “I’m Sam,” Sam said “Now that introductions are taken care of, let’s get to bed. I’m exhausted,” Twilight remarked and after showing Sam to his new room, they all quickly fell asleep. The next day, Twilight and Sam were both up at what many would consider an unholy hour: 5:00. The reason for this was simple; both wanted to find out how magic affected Sam and waylay any possible health hazards. Thus, student and teacher were down in Twilight’s laboratory with Sam hooked up to all kinds of equipment. “These readings are fascinating!” Twilight nearly squealed as she read the printouts “We haven’t done anything yet,” Sam noted “We may not have to. According to this, you’re passively assimilating the magic around you and converting it into some kind of new energy! Even more incredible is that you’re getting a 75% efficiency rating!” Twilight exclaimed “Is does this new energy pose any risk to my health? More importantly, how much magic can I accumulate before it hits critical?” Sam asked “I don’t know about the unknown energy, but if you continue to accumulate magic at the same rate, it’ll be two weeks before you start to feel the strain and three before it becomes critical. Hopefully, if it comes to that, we’ll find a way to help you vent the excess magical energy,” Twilight answered “What about that new energy? Can you tell me anything about that?” Sam wondered “It doesn’t appear to be too radically different from magic, but we won’t know for certain without field tests. In fact, given the current readings, I have a hypothesis. It’s possible, that long ago humans were able to use their own kind of ‘magic’, but for one reason or another lost that ability. Now that you’ve been immersed in our world, which is filled with magic, your body is using it as a jumpstart to allow you to be able to use your own magic. If I’m right, you should eventually stop absorbing magic once yours reaches the point of self-sustainability,” Twilight theorized “Come to think of it, I wouldn’t be too surprised if you’re right. There are records of people living to be almost a thousand years old a long time ago. If those records are truthful, then their longevity might be linked to this magic. The only thing that bothers me is how humanity lost its magic,” Sam remarked “There’s also the possibility your magic will be different from that of old because it was restarted using our magic and it has been dormant for a long time. Who knows if it’s changed over that time?” Twilight pondered “We’ll probably never know, since we don’t have access to any records from my home world. That doesn’t mean we can’t theorize,” Sam commented “There’s also another question; how do you harness your magic? You don’t have a horn like unicorns do,” Twilight observed “No, but we have fingers!” Sam wiggled them to emphasize his point. “They’re long, thin, and somewhat pointy; not unlike a unicorn horn.” “You’re right! That’s probably how you’ll channel your magic,” Twilight agreed “Twilight! Sam! Breakfast is ready!” Spike called, putting an impromptu end to Twilight and Sam’s hypothesizing. After breakfast, Twilight, Sam, and Spike made their way to Town Hall. It had been decided that the best way to integrate Sam into Ponyville was to gather up everyone in Ponyville and show them all at once. To that end, Princess Celestia had sent a letter ahead of them to let the mayor know what was going on and what needed to be done. “This is going to be a lot of fun, if Spike’s reaction is any indication,” Sam quipped “Don’t even think about purposely scaring ponies! This is about making good first impressions!” Twilight barked “How could you accuse me thinking such horrid things?” Sam asked in a faux wounded tone. Twilight returned with a level glare. “Even my limited experience with your sense of humor should answer that question.” She deadpanned “The bucket in the doorway is a classic!” Sam protested, but Twilight ignored him. They arrived at Town Hall and took their positions while the mayor gave the populace a quick rundown of the situation. When called for, Sam stepped onto the stage. After all the weird things that had been going on in Ponyville since Twilight’s arrival, the residents were fairly desensitized to oddness. So other than a general muttering amongst themselves, the only reactions were one mare crying ‘The horror! The horror!’ and another mint green mare shouting ‘IN YOUR FACE BON-BON!’ Once the dog and pony show was done, Sam and Twilight returned to the library so they could get to work on Sam’s first and perhaps most difficult lesson: learning how to read and write in Equestrian script. Thankfully, for the sanity of both parties involved, both Sam’s native English and Equestrian had a twenty-six letter alphabet; unfortunately, Equestrian only five vowels. Equestrian didn’t have a situational consonant/vowel equivalent of Y. As that first day wore into night, Twilight and her student worked hard to teach him Equestrian and progress was made. Neither was distracted from the task at hand and long hours began to pay off. However, in a realm beyond mortal comprehension, a dark being watched from its throne; waiting for its moment to strike. It watched and it laughed from atop its throne made of the corpse of untold numbers of species it had destroyed, their decay halted by its power. Its unknowing pawn clearing its path. “Soon,” It murmured to itself, “Soon.”