//------------------------------// // 3. Isn't Right // Story: Finding Home, Discovering Life // by That Colt //------------------------------// “Madness need not be all breakdown. It may also be break-through. It is potential liberation and renewal as well as enslavement and existential death.” ― R.D. Laing Twilight Sparkle allowed her hand holding the letter to fall limp over her knees as she threw her head back to stare into the clear blue sky. She inhaled deeply, savoring the fresh scent of a gentle breeze blowing from the Everfree forest, ruffling her mane as it pulled a few tell-tale strands from her lips. Her responsibility. As princess. She had wanted more responsibility, beyond smiling and waving at various state functions. She had also wanted to study Vasili, to learn about his world. Learning the differences and the similarities that lay between Equus and his “Earth”. Yet she couldn’t deny that her mentor , as always—well, almost always, correct. There were lots of unknown variables. Enough to make even a pony as foolhardy as Rainbow Dash think twice. Twilight pursed her lips, allowing herself to fall back into the soft grass-covered hill that ran along the north side of Ponyville. What if… what if Vasili was some kind of criminal? She couldn’t be sure. He had not refused most of the questions once Rarity had provided him with a pair of linen pants. He had answered clearly, if not briefly. Only giving greater detail when asked. He had responded at the time with intelligent, if not overly detached questions of his own. Most regarding his arrival, how long he had been unconscious, etc. As far as she could tell, he was being truthful. Then again, she closed her eyes enjoying another breeze, she had no basis to compare his behavior. His candor could be how his kind lies, deceit could be part of their culture. She held the letter up to the sky prying her eyes open once more with a sigh. Princess Celestia raised other good points. Like her, Twilight was fairly confident that her fellow ponies would welcome the errant human in the midst without issue. Her mind jumped track with a smile mid-thought, picturing the mint green Lyra Heartstrings going positively gaga at the prospect of meeting Vasili. Someponies might be a little more welcoming than others. How welcoming Vasili would be of ponies however, was yet to be determined. She still knew so little about him, his people or his world that she could barely begin to make judgments. All she had to go off of was several hours of conversation, which in retrospect had Vasili showing about as much reaction as a stone golem, her own gut feeling that his reaction just wasn’t normal, and of course the similarities between the world Sunset Shimmer now called home versus Vasili’s Earth. She glanced over Celestia’s response once more. At least she wouldn’t have to do this alone, as she had when she had gone after Sunset Shimmer. She had her friends close by, parents a day trip away, brother a week at the most… It was Vasili who was going at it alone. Frowning, she released her grip on the letter, allowing the paper to curl back into the rolled form it had been sent in. She didn’t need to imagine how that felt, she had been very lucky to find counterparts to her friends on the other world, only cementing her theory that Sunset Shimmer’s world was either a demi-plane spun off her own reality at least, if not her theorized shared demi-plane that also connected to that of Vasili’s origin. Which, if it was a prime material plane as she thought, he would have no counterpart friends here. There could be similarities, they had noted several in their discussion the previous night. Language for one, blessedly. Concepts such as gravity, force, and mass had been discussed finding little differences though sharing the basic underlying concepts. One concept that had been completely foreign to Vasili had been magic. She wasn’t entirely shocked by this, magic had been unknown in Sunset’s world too. Apparently, in his world, magic was either a parlor trick affected by slight of hand or it was a quasicultural ideal steeped in myth that pervaded everything from literature to something he had called video games. In retrospect, she had been equally shocked when he had brought up the concept of Chemistry. Superficially, the discipline sounded a great deal like Alchemy in regards to the aspect of combining various elements, that term had not caused any confusion at all she thought sarcastically, to create different materials or effects. That is where the similarities between the two ended, as Alchemy was based on drawing out the ambient energies of various ingredients to perform various effects. Chemistry, on the other hand, seemed to be entirely a material based science on pure physical reaction, which in turn could be used to do anything from energy generation to matter state change. Twilight giggled, her wings uncontrollably spreading wide beneath her at the thought of learning an entirely new form of science. Vasili seemed educated, perhaps he had a library? She kicked her legs up allowing her excitement to propel her into a sitting position. She looked out over the large sections of house and piles of debris that the construction ponies had moved to the vacant land shortly after their rather violent arrival. This was part of her responsibility too. Her responsibility as princess. As princess. Twilight shook vigorously in delight. All the worry and trepidation grown in her own mind, seeded by Celestia’s letter as well as her own neuroticism melted away for a few blissful moments of pure elation. This was her responsibility! So much more than a smile or a wave. So much more than a library. It was her first true responsibility as a Princess. “Yes! Oh Yes! It’s mine! All mine! yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!” Twilight vigorously exclaimed fully extending her wings, arms raised high in celebration. This was almost as good as learning an entirely new subject…almost. “Dang, somepony’s bouncing the hots for the hill or riding one bump’n hot dream!” Twilight froze at the unmistakable voice at her back, her face flush with embarrassment. “Vinyl! Such a scandalous insinuation! Erm, Or was it?” Twilight relaxed slightly hearing the familiar voice tinged with equal indignation and confusion. She turned, peeking over a single lavender wing at the two very different ponies standing at the top of the hill only a scant distance away. “Chill Sister, cool vibes, dig? I was only tossing.” The club born speech spilled from the off white, red eyed, earphone wearing unicorn standing next to Rarity half shaded by the taller mare’s parasol. Vinyl Scratch was wearing simple clothing for her tastes at least. A basic white tank-top showing only tasteful amount of skin atop a double belt suspended pair of denim pants which both hugged her thighs, but were cut low enough to allow the upper half of her cutie mark to show. Her normally ever present sunglasses lay nested in an unkempt mane of lighting blue streaked hair. “Um, well I suppose?” Rarity smiled nervously at the mare with electric blue hair. Her eyes betraying a slight confusion at the punk ponies unique vernacular. Twilight rose to her hooves to face them with a smile, her mind translating Vinyl’s singular speech pattern to something more coherent. She slipped the rolled letter into her skirts left pocket, before beating her powerful wings, driving her in a short arc that placed her before the newcomers. “Rarity! Thank you so much for coming!” Twilight embraced her friend. “It’s good to see you Vinyl, but what are you doing here? And where is Lyra?” The artist also known as DJ-pon-3 gave her an odd look, one part insulted and one part a filly about to burst into tears. The color of embarrassment rampaged across Twilights features as the callousness of her own words clicked together. “Oh no! Vinyl….I, Um… I’m sorry that you’re here. Oh ponyfeathers. Not what I meant.” She was getting flustered, her mind running leaps and bounds ahead of her mouths ability to pace. Completely oblivious to the smile growing on Vinyl’s lips. “It’s just, I was expecting Lyra… Not that your company isn't as good! If not better! Wait, that’s not fair to Lyra…” She found herself silenced by a calloused finger upon her lips. The smaller mare looked up at her, rave ready body wracked with the convulsions of a pony desperately trying not laugh herself to death. “Cool vibes, cool vibes Princess, I was just tossing. Lyra had to bail. Some riot with Bon Bon. Rares hit gold halfway and tapped me up for the assist on her way here.” Vinyl pulled her hand back. Finally some semblance of self-control a smile plastered across her just shy of coltish face. Twilight blinked once, twice before returning Vinyl’s expression with some added snark. Now comprehending the meaning of the other pony’s words. “Very funny Vinyl.” Twilight placed her hand on her own forehead in relief. “Did Rarity give you the details on what I needed help with?” Vinyl opened her mouth to speak only to be cut off by Rarity’s haute laugh earning the prissy pony a quick glare before the DJ’s purple frames fell into place over her eyes. “Oh my yes, Twilight. I tried to recruit Lyra, but she was having some sort of tiff with Bon Bon. Fortuitously, I happened to run into dear Vinyl here enroute and enlisted her assistance in exchange for a brand new ensemble for her upcoming tour in Stalingrad.” Rarity spun her parasol absently as she obliviously repeated the majority of Vinyl’s own message. “Yo Rares, echo?” Vinyl poked Rarity with a hint of amusement. “Hmm? Oh sorry dear, I didn’t hear an echo.” Rarity responded much to the entertainment of the other two ponies present. “Rares locked me for some boss new duds in pass for some fixer magic? I can dig it, even if she misses the cue.” Twilight nodded, pursing her lips before cautiously posing a question to the entertainer. “Do you know any restoration spells out of curiosity? It’s ok if you don’t.” This would be important, Twilight reminded herself as Vinyl began to talk about her magical abilities. A mending spell was trying to fix a broken plate or torn garment, even when used over a large area. Her new plan however, was a different story. The original plan had been to have Rarity and Lyra cast mending spells in concert with her, and then use her own larger reserves of magical energy to expand the spell over the scattered sections of Vasili’s disassembled home. Had she gone through with this, it would have restored the home to as close to complete as possible. This however would not solve an issue that Twilight had overlooked when forming the plan in the pre-morning hours, operating on a distinct lack of sleep. An issue made clear by the lingering message at the end of Celestia’s letter. She had overlooked the rather obvious fact that humans most likely did not own possessions designed to one, travel between realities, and two, tumble through the air rapidly before being caught in a certain alicorns levitation spell. Hence the wisdom present in the suggestion of a Make Whole spell rather than a mending spell. A mending spell, which most unicorns knew, allowed the caster to restore the physical structure of an object if they had at least a basic idea of what it was supposed to look like. What the spell could not do, was repair damage to functional objects or the form to objects the caster did not know about. By comparison, a Make Whole spell was a far more taxing endeavor. It relied on the concept of object memory , the theory that each object at each point in time had exact substance knowledge of every facet of its own being. It required larger sizes of object, thus chances were good that the piles of debris, mostly from the part of the house she had destroyed, would remain just that, piles of debris. Her brow furrowed. Great, just another way I messed up yesterday. “Yo! Equus to Twi-bright! You receiving?” Vinyl snapped her fingers before Twilight’s eyes breaking her out of her brooding disconnect. “Sorry Vinyl, I spaced out there, what did you say?” Twilight withered under both her own continued embarrassment and a brief concerned gaze from Rarity. “I can spin some fix it, mending for the small, make whole for the big. Mom’s got a righteous gig as a civic mage back in Manehattan. Made sure her little Scratchie could spin spells with the best of them.” Vinyl repeated, a slight tinge of annoyance touching her voice. “You know a Make Whole spell? Excellent!” Twilight clapped her hands together, melancholy banished as quickly as it came. “ Because that’s the spell we’re going to use to put this house back together!” “That scrap’s a house?” Vinyl cocked her head to the side. “Yup! And we are going to fix it all up!” Twilight responded. “Twilight…” Rarity was cut off by Twilight before her sentence could even form. “I originally wanted to use a mending spell, but that would only fix the outside of the house…” Twilight spun, letting loose a small figment of her magic into the land before her bringing to life with purple iridescence a vast glyph-inlaid casting circle to encompass the house fragments. “Twilight, Darling. There is one slight….” Twilight cut Rarity off once more now, a gleam in her eye as the raw magical energies began to fill the air. “Celestia suggested a Make Whole spell instead. It will put everything, well, mostly everything back together! No problem. Throw in this expansion spell I’ve inlaid into the ground and the three of us should have no issue making the magic happen.” Twilight giggled at her own pun, so lost in her own element she barely noticed Rarity’s gentle touch on the side of her face until the taller mare had succeed in turning her face away from her own spellcraft. “Darling, There is one slight problem.” Rarity’s warm tone betrayed a hint of regret as she looked apologetically into Twilight’s eyes. “I don’t know a Make Whole spell. I never studied such advanced magics.” She smiled, leaving her hand on Twilight’s cheek. “Oh, Rarity…I…” Twilight was speechless. It was safe to assume almost any unicorn would know a mending spell. She hadn’t stopped to consider the possibility that she might be the only pony in Ponyville that was capable of such a high level spell. “ah, ah ,ah.” Rarity moved her hand down to Twilight’s chin, coaxing her face up slightly until their eyes met. “Twilight, come now. While I may not have your, or apparently Vinyl’s repertoire of spells,a lady of my caliber is hardly useless in situations such as this.” She pulled her hand back from Twilight’s face, taking one half step to face the housing fragments. “After all…” she paused extending her now free hand, a blue aura of power surrounded her horn. “I am…” her tone lightened as the blue aura separated from her horn into fast moving motes of light, each headed to another fragment of the house surrounding them in a glow of their own. Twilight’s mouth dropped at what she saw next, she heard Vinyl gasp at the display herself. Rarity, in a truly impressive feat of magic, slowly, expertly, and apparently effortlessly, lifted each and every one of the massive fragments no less than five meters off the ground. “Damn.” Breathed Vinyl. “Rarity…I..uh” Twilight moved to her side, eyes held wide in wonder. She had known Rarity for years, she knew that few unicorns could match Rarity when it came to the precision levitation she used daily. But never would Twilight have guessed that behind that finesse also lay such power, or that Rarity could wield it so gracefully. As if sensing her thoughts, Rarity tilted her head down to look at Twilight, half lidded eyes glowing in tune with her now active magic, a slight curve to her lips betraying her obvious enjoyment at the attention gained from her fellow unicorns. “A master of levitation.” Rarity finished. “This is incredible, Rarity you're incredible! This…this level of power, and you’re not even straining!” Twilight's mouth didn’t close, her mind was lost trying to calculate exactly how much magical force her feather weighted friend was exerting to defy gravity on such a scale. “I’ve met Grand Wizards of Celestia’s court who could barely lift a pair of loaded apple carts for more than an hour…this…I…How long can you keep this up?” Rarity tilted her head, pressing a finger from her free hand to her lips thoughtfully. “Why, I must say I don’t know dear. If I had to venture a guess, I would say until my legs get tired from standing.” Twilight's eyes hurt. Not from the glow, not from any irritation in the constant breeze blowing over the hill from the forest. They hurt from widening even further at her friends response. Until her legs got tired? Was she bucking serious? “You gotta be tossing Rares. ‘ight?” Vinyl chimed in moving to Rarity’s other side equally as shocked at the display as she was the ivory pony’s admission. “Not at all Darling, Precision is after all, little more than the proper application of power. I spend hours upon hours, day upon day working with levitation as my only assistant. Think of this as, hmm, how to put it. Letting loose?” Rarity closed her parasol, tucking it gently under one arm. “Granted, such a...grandiose display may leave me more than a tad drained for the next day or two.” “Rarity if you can keep this up, then Vinyl and I can cast the spell on the entire house at once. Rather than having to stop when parts need to be moved! We’ll be done in no time!” Twilight was bouncing in place, excitement once again fueling her. This would work, she would make this work. More importantly, her friends would help her. “Rarity, I have no idea what I would do without you.” Twilight began to walk down the hill towards the edge of her magic circle with an extra spring in her step, Vinyl in tow. Rarity smiled, ignoring the pressure building at the base of her horn, before she followed suite. “Few ponies do Darling.” Χ Once, Vasili had dared to dream about exploring brave new worlds, meeting new civilizations. Of boldly going where no man had gone before. He smirked inwardly at the once dream. It had been the dream of a child not yet broken, a mind not yet aware of how the world worked. It was a foolish dream, cast aside like so many others in the name of survival, perseverance and responsibility. Thus, like all dreams, its purpose was to die and be laid to rest. “Vasili? Um…are you ok? We can go back to the suite if you really want too.” A soft half whisper broke him from his fugue. He blinked rapidly, his hand was on the door knob leading from the empty lobby of the hospital to what he was told was Ponyville proper. Raising his head slowly he caught his reflection in the mirrored glass of the door and past that the visage of the owner of the half spoken words. Her name, if memory served, was Fluttershy. She was Ponyville’s resident veterinarian. She had been the one sitting on the edge of the bed when he had awoken, and she had been the one who had brought him the plain white linen shirt he now wore atop the one size too big linen pants. She had been the one who had, with some minor coaxing from him, explained his situation. Fluttershy was no doubt attractive by her species standards…pony standards he reminded himself, thoughts momentarily drifting back to the long hours the night before spent in a rapid fire, overly sterile question and answer session with the pony who called herself Twilight Sparkle. This isn’t right. “Fine, just thinking.” He forced one side of his mouth into an upwards curve directed at the pony reflection in the glass, soliciting a blush from beneath the pale yellow coat on her cheeks. She is attractive by human standards too. He wasn’t going to lie about this fact, especially not to himself. Granted she was a good foot taller than he was, though most of the ponies were. She had what could only be described as a generously curvaceous figure, long flowing pink hair framed her face perfectly, downcast as it was, as if she was trying to make herself vanish. Her wings twitched nervously, no doubt at his gaze, her cyan eyes briefly lifting up to meet his own grey eyes in the reflection. “Oh…um, ok.” She fidgeted under his examination, drawing pangs of guilt in his own mind as an uncomfortable tightness built in his chest. “We, um…should really get going. I know Twilight wanted to talk to you about your house.” He nodded, breaking eye contact with a deep breath and turned the knob, allowing the door to swing inward with a gust of fresh air. He took his first steps into a new world, a child’s dream made real by providence stirring the corpse ash of once dead dreams. What was he expecting? He really didn’t know, he didn’t dare guess. Rather, he found that he lacked the desire to guess. This isn’t right. He had looked out at the town below from the window in the hospital suite. He had seen other ponies, he had seen the straw thatch rooftops, the white brick and stucco construction. He had seen the streets and plazas and even the edge of what appeared to be a train station. His mind had accepted these facts, reducing what should have been amazement to the bland realization that this is how it should be here. After all, these ponies walked on two legs which ended in hooves rather than feet. They manipulated their world with two hands and observed it with two eyes. They spoke with mouths, tongues and he assumed vocal cords. They listened to words with two ears and reasoned with what was between them. Granted, some of them had wings, like his escort, which allowed them the admittedly enviable freedom of flight; whilst others possessed horns that as Twilight claimed, allowed them to use what she called magic. Form follows function. He thought, for the most part, these ponies functioned identically to humans. They most likely used tools based on simple machines as mankind did, they most likely required shelter, and given the fact that one of his welcoming party had introduced herself as a farmer, it made sense that they most likely required agriculture. Thus, it made perfect sense that the form of their constructs, of their very civilization would follow similar rules as his own. His first few steps into a new world unfortunately ended in a stumble on the over-sized stairs leading down from the hospitals entrance. Thankfully, before he could even register the sound of a wings beating, Fluttershy caught him, gently preventing him from performing a firsthand inspection of the walkways composition via direct facial-to-pavement interaction. He frowned, momentarily ignoring the larger females touch. He had forgotten to compensate for the slight difference in size. The ponies were larger than he was, thus it made sense that everything would be to scale. This isn’t right. He had become aware of the size difference when he faltered getting out of the bed, he had made his observations, practiced moving on the furniture prior to Fluttershy’s return. Yet, he stumbled again. This isn’t right. Fluttershy was speaking to him, her unheard voice distant yet close. His chest was tightening, his mind forcing a vice around his heart. He had stumbled again, he wasn’t here. He was on a soccer field, a looming figure held him. Then came the first impact across the face. The second to the sternum. The figures words just as distant, just as silent. He didn’t need to hear them as the third strike struck him upside the back of the head. He had stumbled…again. He had failed. No, This isn’t right. That soccer field was a world away. That figure long dealt with. That experience long past. He strained against the errant memory to gaze up into Fluttershy’s alien features. Twisted as they were with concern, with fear, his mind returned to a thought briefly entertained before. She was attractive. The pink haired pony possessed a figure that could only be described as generously curvaceous. From her exceptional bust, her not-to-thin-waistline, her rounded hips and fitting thighs which drew attention to the impressive asset hidden behind her long flowing tail. She seemed to be comprised of little more than perfectly proportioned softness. She was talking again. Atlas was whining. This isn’t right. She was pulling him, gently back towards the hospital. Her movements unsure, she was worried. He was making her worry. He closed his eyes, he fought the tightness in his chest, the unreality of his situation. He felt the prison bars of rationality lock into place. He felt her soft touch through the linen shirt he wore. He could hear her now, repeating his name. He opened his eyes banishing the aberrant thoughts. “Vasili, oh, please be alright. We should go back inside.” Fluttershy was stricken with worry. Thus caught by surprise when he grasped her hand, she reacted with a startled “eep!” as he removed it from his person. Breaking their contact. “I’m fine.” He droned, noting the doubt so plainly visible across her face as he used a shaking hand to calm the large grey dog beside him. He forced his face into a crooked smile in the hopes that the change in his demeanor would illicit a similar change in her as if it would to a human.. “I’m just a little dizzy, you know how it is falling out of the sky, walking down two steps. Gravity and I have not exactly been on the best of terms lately.” This isn’t right. Fluttershy’s doubt didn’t vanish nor did her concern, but it was successfully muted by a smile and innocent giggle. She flexed her wings, wingspan roughly equal to twice her height he noted, burning off what he guessed was nervous energy as she took a step back. “That’s good to hear. Um…I was worried you’d have to go back into the hospital.” Her voice elevated slightly, remaining scarcely below what could be considered conversational. “I’ll be fine, I’ve had worse exits from hospitals.” He looked out to the town proper seeing the buildings slowly lose their definition. As he forced his unfocusing eyes back to clarity, he noted that he needed to find or replace his glasses if he was going to function here. “We should get going, don’t want to keep Twilight Sparkle waiting eh?” he waved his hand in the direction of the town proper as Fluttershy gave a quick nod. They walked in mutual silence through the busy boulevard leading to what he assumed was the center of town. It was a market of some sort, a bazaar that wouldn’t be out of place in the far east of his world. Ponies talked, bartered, bought and sold goods before him on the wide boulevard that crossed the entire township. This isn’t right. Other than the occasional prolonged glance from the population, consisting of significantly more females than males he noted, they didn’t react to him as he followed Fluttershy along the road. Had positions been reversed he could only imagine the panic that would ensue. Indicating that perhaps there was more than a fair share of differences between the social rules that governed their worlds in relation to the alien. This only added to the surreal feeling of his entire situation, a new world built around not-so-new rules. They passed a schoolhouse, a sign in its yard advertising a PTA meeting, a town hall proudly displaying a community service announcement in a proud testament of normalcy. But…he paused mentally. This isn’t right. The school house was far too large, it’s style evocative of colonial New England, the Town Hall far to European, to modern-faux-classical to fit in among the vaguely medieval theme, yet sporting the occasional cable and antenna alongside a brick chimney. The juxtaposition, ever increasing as they reached the north side of town, made it hard to believe that this was not some bizarre dream cooked up by his overtaxed and frankly…over indulged mind rallied against the prison he had so recently placed his perception in. If only he could— ♫“Hooray! He’s here! Welcome! Welcome! Welcome! Welcome! A super awesome amazing welcome to you! Welcome Welcome, Welcome! This song is just for you! Oh how do you do?” Ooooooh, Welcome, Welcome Welcome to Ponyville today! This one mare party’s just for you! Welcome Welcome ,Welcome! Come on now! Don’t stare! You can join in too! Welcome, Welcome, Welcome! This song is just for you!! A super awesome amazing, ultra special, perfect welcome…just…for…you!”♫ Vasili found himself devoid of rational thought, as he stared in partial horror, partial awe of the purely pink pony before him. She was breathing heavily, having erupted from the unknown into an elaborate song and dance routine the moment he and Fluttershy cleared the last of the homes on the main boulevard. This isn’t right. They stood in silence for what seemed like an eternity. Vasili felt his eyes strain held wide for so long staring at the slightly pudgy pony he had been introduced to as Pinkie Pie before him. She was significantly shorter than Fluttershy, which placed her significantly closer to his eye level. She had a wide grin plastered across her cherubic face, her large blue eyes glistened expectantly above her ample heaving chest. She carried on her a collection of interconnected musical instruments, most of which he recognized save for the scale. Less than a score of seconds ago she had been playing them all simultaneously. “Pinkie! What did Twilight tell you about a party?” Fluttershy towered over her petite, by their measurements he noted, friend. He had not spent much time interacting with Fluttershy, a few words in the morning, mostly from her, his self-concerning episode outside the hospital, and none on the walk across town; he did however get the instinctual feeling that this behavior was outside her norm. Pinkie Pie seemed unfazed by Fluttershy’s changed demeanor, she brought a finger to the tip of her muzzle with a small giggle, then broke into an uncannily perfect imitation of Twilight Sparkle. “Pinkie, don’t organize a large party for him yet, we don’t know how he’ll handle being here.” She pulled her finger away from her muzzle as she disengaged herself from the collection of instruments before returning to her own voice. “And I didn’t! No large party! Even if it would have been the most super awesome most excellently righteous hey-you-fell-out-of-the-sky-and-now-you-are-here-so-welcome party!” The excitable, if not somewhat juvenile sounding pony now free of her musical contraption was playfully bouncing in place with a pleased expression. Fluttershy, apparently over her short lived assertive moment, held a hand to her face as she retreated into her mane shaking her head. “Pinkie; why?” Her voice seemed so distant, so far away. Pinkie on the other hand, simply cocked her head in apparently confusion. “Duh! So he’ll smile! He didn’t smile at all last night! Lookie!” She grabbed a flabbergasted Fluttershy at the hips, coaxing a surprised squeak from the timid female as Pinkie Pie spun her around to look at Vasili. Who to her surprise was indeed smiling. This isn’t right. His face ached, his eyes held wild, no longer in surprise. The muscles around his mouth protested in vain, held for too long in the awkward pose of apparent amusement. He had ceased to pay attention to the two mares bickering before him, he had ceased to care about the lack of reaction to his presence on an alien world, the oversized clothing he now wore or the absurd normalcy of the town. His eyes were locked above both the heads of Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, gazing up over the small open plain separated from the north of Ponyville proper. His eyes were locked on a point, not too far off the ground by any standard, and more specifically, his eyes were trained on his house. His flying house. His glowing flying house. It was glowing blue. His flying house was glowing…blue. His body quaked with laughter. It was a deep laugh born from a mind simply giving up any attempt to rationalize what it was being exposed to. His house was flying, hovering really, gently floating in the air surrounded by some sort of blue aurora. This isn’t right. “My house…It’s flying.” He sank to his knees, laughing himself closer and closer to hysteria, oblivious to the concerned faces of the two pink haired ponies before him or to the increasingly high pitched whines of the large dog which had so faithfully followed him step for step. He couldn’t hear the shouts coming from behind him as he clenched his arms chest aching painfully in response to the euphoric spasms desperately trying to retain understanding. “This isn’t right…” He tore his eyes away from the home, now slowly lowering towards the ground, white wooden panels vibrant as the day they had been painted, stone masonry devoid of mold and staining, even the deep blue photovoltaics that covered the majority of the houses roof gleamed in the daylight brightly as the moment of their inception. “This…” he stopped talking as images flooded his perception, a kitchen table, a workbook, mathematics, he didn’t understand. A massive hand, striking him. He wanted to understand, he needed to understand. The hand came back, it’s strike just as vicious, just as demanding—The vision fell away from his mind as a large orange hand rested on his shoulder from behind, alerting him to twist away reflexively. His eyes were narrow, each held wide in his hysteria fading as he looked into the concern green eyes of the farmer from the evening before. She was talking to him, his heart was racing, thundering in his ears as he fought off the panic eating away at the corners of his mind. This isn’t right. “Ya’ll right sugarcube?” She repeated getting only the slightest of nods from Vasili as his laughter subsided. “My house…” He droned wearily between guffaws. Applejack looked at the now resting domicile, brow arched before turning to look over her shoulder at a hovering prismacolor haired pony who rolled her shoulders in shared confusion. She took a deep breath and tried once again to place her hand on Vas’s shoulder, slower this time, making sure he could see it coming and that it was not a threat. “What about it?” She made contact, Vasili shuddered as if struck. Closing his eyes while digging his teeth deep into his lower lip. He remained motionless for a moment, not even breathing reminding himself that much like the soccer field, the kitchen table in his vision was a world away. Separated not only by dimensions but by decades of time. “Vas?” The massive orange mare asked, her voice thick with concern. He needed to answer her, he knew that. Then the mental bars of his mind snapped into place suppressing the errant and tumultuous emotions like they always did, like they always had. Vasili raised his head to stare at Applejack, looking at his own slack expression reflected in her eyes. It appeared as if he was not as much looking at her, but past her, as if he was looking a thousand yards further than any one point. He answered, voice robotic, devoid of emotion. It’s tone cracking only from the strain his earlier cachinnation. “My house…” he repeated. “My house was flying.” He turned to look at his dwelling, now resting on the green grass at the bottom of the hill. “And that…” he noted, cocking his head in acknowledgement.That Twilight Sparkle was talking with two other ponies before it, both had horns. They seemed to be in celebratory spirits. Interesting. “An’ what sugarcube?” Applejack gave a gentle squeeze to his shoulder, first directing his attention to her hand. It was large enough to cradle his head, its texture rough even through the linen clothing. Evidence of a life spent working, yet the warmth was kind, reassuring. Nonthreatening. He met her eyes again, though admittedly to her it would appear as if he was staring past her blankly. “That isn’t right.” Vasili’s eyes drifted back to his house. Nothing about this was right.