Lessons from Another Dimension

by HolyOrdersOtaku

Chapter 10: Return to Greatness

In spite of the fact that Bass had told Twilight about his nightmares the evening before he went to sleep last night, he still lost sleep to his dreams. They were worse this time, and it was because of Luna’s revelation last night; it may be a realistic possibility that he will never go home.
He crawled out of bed and looked in the mirror. His mane was tangled and messy. This was something he still hadn’t figured out yet, and it made him envious of unicorns and their magic. Sure, he wasn’t as hair crazy as most women he knew were, but even a man needs to keep his hair well kept. There was only so much he could do with his hooves without a brush, however, so he decided it was good enough and left the bedroom for the downstairs dining room.
This time, Spike was the one cooking. “Good morning, Bass. Sleep well?” he asked.
“Not really. Does this world have coffee?” Bass asked in return.
“Sure. Twilight drinks it at night usually when she stays up late for her studies. I can make some if you want.”
“Yes please. I like my coffee with milk and heavy dosage of sugar. It’s too bitter straight up.”
“On it. Here, have a blueberry muffin for breakfast. There’s more in the oven.”
Bass looked at him. He looked around and saw that the muffin he was being handed was the only one. “You don’t make them one at a time, do you?”
“No, I make about twelve at a time. I just ate eleven of them,” Spike declared proudly before moving to the coffee brewer.
Bass ate the muffin with haste, worried Spike might still be hungry. Twilight came shuffling in. “Good morning, Spike. Good morning, Bass. You two are up early,” she said groggily.
“Actually, I’m up at the same time I was yesterday,” Bass replied.
“I’m going to help Rarity this morning, so I had to be earlier than normal. But, Twilight, you actually slept in,” Spike added.
“Really?” she asked.
“Yeah. I tried to wake you but you wouldn’t budge. Why were you so tired?”
“I guess I’m just a little exhausted after we met with Princess Luna last night. The discussion was very,” she paused to consider the word.
“Tiresome, exacting, strenuous, arduous, grueling, exhausting, wearisome, demanding, rigorous, taxing, tough, tedious, trying; any of those?” Bass asked.
Twilight put a hoof on her head; she clearly had a headache. “All of the above. It gave me nightmares just thinking about you being away from your home. I mean, I moved out of my parents’ house but I can still go and see them whenever I want. You’re stuck here, Bass. It must be so unbearable.”
Bass frowned. “It’s saddening. But, I come from a world of humans. I don’t know a whole lot about ponies, but the human heart is one of the strongest parts of any human being. I don’t mean my physical heart, either. The human heart is capable of great and powerful deeds. For good or evil, humanity is able to bend anything to their will through sheer determination alone. If I were to set my mind to adapting to this world and living here for the rest of my life, it would be a task well within my reach. It would be a long and hard road, but so long as I don’t give up, I can do it.” He smiled then. “I just hope I don’t have to just yet.”
Twilight smiled. “That was amazing Bass.”
He smiled wider. “Add that to your notes. That is the first lesson of today; humanity can accomplish anything it sets its mind to.”
She nodded. “I will.” A knock came at the door. “I wonder who that could be. The library doesn’t open for another hour.”
“I’ll get it,” Spike said. “Here’s your coffee, Bass. Milk and extra sugar.” He set a mug, filled just below the rim with coffee, on the table.
“You’re an efficient assistant,” Bass teased.
“I try,” the dragon retorted. He waddled away to answer the door. From the next room over Bass and Twilight heard, “Hello?” as the door opened. Then, almost immediately, Spike screamed and the door was slammed. He came running back to the dining room. “Twilight! It’s…well I mean…she’s here!”
Twilight and Bass exchanged looks. “Who’s here, Spike?” she asked.
“Her! The pony who did the stuff to you!”
Bass looked at Twilight. “Does that narrow it down any?”
Twilight shook her head.“Not really. I’ve been imprisoned, warped, exiled, injured, flattened by a piano, and a few other things since I’ve been here. Spike, just tell me who it is.”
“She’s at the door!” Spike exclaimed.
“Should I go see or do you want to?” Bass asked.
“Would you? I need to eat breakfast hand have a cup of that coffee before I do anything else. And Spike? You need to use you’re big boy words and tell me who it is!”
Bass chuckled and walked on three legs, trying to hold his coffee mug in his other hoof. Difficult as it was, he was able to get to the door without killing himself or spilling his coffee. He opened the door to greet the pony behind it.
In front of him was a blue unicorn mare with a silver mane and tail. On her flanks was a wand and cape like shape of a cutie mark. She looked worried and was startled when Bass opened the door. “I’m terribly sorry about Spike,” Bass said with a smile. “May I help you?”
“Who are you?” she asked somewhat rudely.
Bass gave her a quizzical look. “Bass Chord. I’m staying here for a while. It’s temporary, of course. Now, may I help you, miss?”
She became flustered. “Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to come off as rude. I swore I wouldn’t do that anymore since that fiasco two months ago. My name is the Great…er, sorry. My name is Trixie; Trixie Lulamoon.”
“Pleased to meet you, Trixie. How may I help you?” Bass asked again.
“I was wondering if Twilight Sparkle was home. I would very much like to meet with her.”
“Sure, wait here for a second and I’ll see if she’s ready. We were just in the middle of breakfast, so I hope you understand.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt. I knew I was early, but I felt that I needed to do this as quickly as I could so I wouldn’t have to prolong my stay in Ponyville,” she flashed an apologetic smile.
Bass nodded and lightly closed the door. He returned to the kitchen where Twilight was eating a muffin and had a confused look on her face. “Trixie is her name. She wants to see you, Twilight.”
“Spike finally told me who it was. Why would she want to see me, though? I forgave her for what she did already, and I don’t harbor any grudges with her. And considering she learned her lesson last time, I doubt she’s here to duel me again,” Twilight replied.
“Sounds complicated. She seems a little nervous in my opinion. Maybe it’s a more personal visit than just revenge or grudges. Maybe its emotional.”
“Maybe,” Twilight said. “Go let her in please.”
Bass nodded, sipping his coffee; he had let it cool long enough, and it was now the right temperature. He also noted that Spike put just the right amount of milk and sugar into it. “Great coffee, Spike,” he commented to the dragon before walking back to the door.
He opened the door and Trixie was still waiting patiently. “So?” she asked.
With over exaggerated seriousness, Bass said, “You may enter!” He held his coffee bearing hoof in a position to shuffle her into the door. “The Mistress Twilight will see you!”
“W-what?” Trixie asked, confused.
“I’m joking,” Bass said. “But seriously, come in.”
“Oh. Okay,” she replied nervously. She walked in and Bass closed the door with one of his hind legs and led her to the dining room.
“H-hello, Trixie,” Twilight greeted.
“Hello, Twilight Sparkle,” Trixie said, still sounding nervous. “I’m sorry for interrupting your breakfast. I didn’t realize you woke up this late.”
“Actually, I’m usually an early riser, but I didn’t sleep so well last night so I overslept.”
“Oh, I see,” Trixie replied. An awkward silence filled the room. Spike and Bass looked at each other and then back at the mares. Bass cleared his throat, which startled Trixie back into a speaking mood. “Oh, I’m sorry. You’re probably wondering why I’m here, aren’t you?”
“While I won’t be so rude as to say I don’t want you here, I am curious, yes.”
“Well,” Trixie took in a deep breath. “Ever since the Alicorn Amulet incedent, no pony has been willing to let me work. I mean, they didn’t after the Ursa Minor incident either, but this was worse. I’ve actually been chased out of towns because of what I did under the amulet’s influence. If I had known how it would have affected me I would have never spent all that money for it. I would have harbored a grudge against you longer, but I would’ve been able to live with it eventually. We never would have met again, and I never would have caused you and your friends so much trouble.”
“While that’s true, you never would have learned a valuable lesson from it. You’ve become a better mare for it, where as you would still be full of resentment without it,” Twilight assured her. “You may have made a lot of ponies angry, but you can start to make amends now, can’t you?”
“That’s actually why I’m here. I don’t know the first thing about making and keeping friends. You’re an expert on friendship, are you not?” Trixie asked.
Twilight smiled. “So, you want to make friends? I’m sure I can help you with that.”
“Really?”
“In fact, he is the perfect candidate for your first friend,” Twilight said as she pointed at Bass.
Trixie and Bass made eye contact. Bass shrugged. “I’m game. I’m easy to get along with.”
“I don’t know, you seemed kind of rude when we first met you the other day,” Spike said.
“Have you ever been ripped from house and home and found yourself in an alien land surrounded by creatures that, according to how you know things work, should not exist and to also find out that your body isn’t the one you’re used to and that you may never go home?”
Spike shook his head. “I did leave home once to see how other dragons lived,” he pointed out.
“Try doing what I did. You’d be pretty pissed off at everything too, little bro.”
Trixie stared at Bass. “What?” she asked.
“I’m not that confusing am I? That’s all you say to me,” he said teasingly.
“I’m sorry,” she said, sounding pitiful.
Bass immediately felt a pain in his chest like he was about to suffer a heart attack. “Hey, I was just teasing. Don’t take it so hard,” he said apologetically.
“You see, Trixie,” Twilight chimed in. “Bass here isn’t from our world. He was transported here by unknown means, and he has no known way back home. He’s living with me and trying to learn about our world for now. We’re hoping he can go home eventually, but as it stands he can’t. Thus, he makes the perfect candidate. He hasn’t been here to know what you’ve done, and even if he were to know the whole story he would still be unbiased because he’s an outside party.” She turned to Bass. “Right?”
“Live and let live, I say. I’ve made friends out of plenty of enemies, so I’m sure I can look past her faults.”
“Oh no!” Spike exclaimed. “I’m gonna be late to help Rarity! I’ve got to go, Twilight.” He made his way to the door in a hurry.
“Be sure to let Rarity know that Trixie is here and that she wants our help. I’d hate to keep the girls in the dark, after all,” Twilight said. Spike agreed and left.
Bass remembered an event from the previous day. “Well, if you want to let your friends know, then I suppose this is as good an opportunity as ever for me to pay Applejack a visit. She offered me some cider yesterday for helping the Crusaders.”
“Crusaders?” Trixie asked. “As in religious knights?”
“No, actually. Three little fillies that call themselves the Cutie Mark Crusaders. I find it humorous, personally,” Bass explained.
“That’s a good idea!” Twilight exclaimed. “You can take Trixie to Sweet Apple Acres and tell Applejack while I go tell Pinkie and Fluttershy.”
“What about Rainbow?”
“She’s probably sleeping in Applejack’s trees or something. If not, she’ll be there eventually. Whoever runs into her first will tell her, I suppose.”
“One question,” Bass raised his coffee mug filled hoof. He forgot he held it, as it was empty now, so he placed it on the table and raised his hoof again. “How do I get to Sweet Apple Acres?”
“I have a question,” Trixie said. “Do I have a say in this?”
“Nope,” Bass said enthusiastically. “You’re drinking cider with me today, hun~!”
“Hun? How dare you give me such a nickname. It’s Trixie or nothing at all!” Trixie exclaimed.
“Then I’ll call you Silver, or Blue, or maybe even Lady,” Bass declared.
“What!?”
“You’re awfully energetic all of a sudden,” Twilight pointed out.
“What can I say, I’m looking forward to the apple cider,” Bass replied.
Trixie sighed. “You are aware that the last time I was here I enslaved half the town. I believe Applejack lives at Sweet Apple Acres, correct?” Twilight nodded. “I made her do a lot of stuff. Like make grape juice.”
Bass put a hoof around Trixie. “You’re missing the point of making amends and becoming friends, Trixie.” He flashed her a smile. “You have to take chances and try to make peace with your enemies before you can be friends. There is no easy way, so you gotta do what you gotta do. Some people go their entire lives living in regret of the things they did to others but never once did they try to make things right. You, on the other hand, are here right now. That shows that you want to at least try to fix things, and you know what my sister always said when she started something, even if she knew she couldn’t finish it?”
Trixie shook her head. “What?”
“She would say ‘I’m committed!’ and try to do it anyway. So, I want you to look me in the eye and tell me what you are right now. Are you so afraid that you’ll fail that you’ve given up before you’ve started, or are you committed?”
Trixie looked at Bass in awe before turning to Twilight, who was jotting Bass’s words down on another piece of paper. She repeated his words in her head a for a moment before looking him in the eye with a determined expression. “I’m committed!”