//------------------------------// // 72 - Considerations // Story: Synch // by sunnypack //------------------------------// To be honest, I had no idea what to do with the information that held in my small circlet. I’m not sure if this future had come to pass, how it came to be recorded on the Synch, or how I could prevent it from occurring. Out of curiosity I had asked Twilight if time travel was impossible. I meant it as a joke but amazingly she nodded her head. “I can tell you first-hoof that time travel is possible. It’s also very dangerous and not very helpful”, she explained with a rueful shake of her head. She smiled at me playfully, trying to break me out of my fugue. “What? Planning on doing some time travelling?” she joked, giving me a nudge. I grinned. “Maybe”, I replied, strolling away from her. “Ha ha, good one… wait, you weren’t serious were you? Wait! Say something!” she called after me frantically. I laughed maniacally. Oh well, it wasn’t as if I could use the time spell even if I could, back on Earth. It seemed like this world and my own were connected along lines I couldn’t see. I was trying to see the patterns but every time I tried, it felt like the puzzle shifted and became harder, it didn’t seem fair. “Nothing is ever easy”, I muttered to myself, heading towards my room. I felt a little guilty actually, living off the kindness of the two royal pony sisters. Every time I asked them about it, they laughed it off as if kindness and generosity were things to be taken for granted. I guess here, these sorts of things were given and taken freely. Or maybe I was just lucky with the ponies I met. I met Prince Blueblood by the way, he was a surprisingly decent chap. “Oh, hello there, you are an interesting specimen”, he had commented when we first met. “The specimen can talk”, I replied with a hint of irritation. “Oh, pardon me. Let me introduce myself, I am Prince Blueblood”, he pronounced, with a little pomp. He promptly excused himself. “Sorry, force of habit”, he apologised meekly. I can tell you I was at a loss. Twilight had told me to stay away from Prince Blueblood, that he wasn’t a very good pers- pony. I wanted to give most peo- ponies the benefit of the doubt but your friend’s opinion does tend to cloud people’s judgement. “I can’t say that I know you”, I lied easily. Best to test the waters. “Oh, thank goodness, there are some ponies with the tendency to exaggerate claims about me, I was worried that might cloud your judgement”, he babbled, tagging along as I continued my journey towards my room. “It’s just that… other ponies have all wanted to approach me because of my looks, or my status, it’s probably why I’m mostly a misequinthropist”, he continued, I puzzled over the last word. “Misquinthropist?” I enquired, with a confused expression. “It means I’m a pony that has lost faith in other ponies”, he answered, flicking his mane. “Ah, must be similar to misanthropist”, I replied, nodding. “Misanthropist?” he shot back, eyes questioning. “One that has lost faith in humans or humanity. Fortunately, I am not one of them”, I responded, giving a light chuckle. The Internet before the extranet could make anyone a misanthropist though. Blueblood was silent for a while before asking me another question. “So, I can safely assume you are not from around here?” he asked politely, to which I nodded readily. “I’m surprised Celestia or Luna has not told you of me”, I said, shrugging. “It’s not as if I’m a state secret anymore. To answer your question though, I don’t think I’m of this world, at least not in any meaningful sense.” Blueblood looked impressed. “Oh they wouldn't tell me, I’m not a foreign diplomat, or anything of that sort. I only take care of maps and the like. Too many ponies, otherwise”, he explained. I nodded. It made sense. “If you don’t like ponies, why are you royalty? You’re surrounded by ponies”, I pointed out. Blueblood shook his head. “I may be surrounded by ponies but because I am royalty they keep their distance. Keep a pompous enough attitude and everypony goes away”, he replied, looking pleased with himself. “Seems like you have your system all figured out”, I said, finally arriving at my room. “Well, we’re here”, I stated, standing awkwardly in front of the door. Oh yeah, Emilia said something. “I know it’s not my room, per se, but would you like to come in?” Prince Blueblood looked regretful. “As much as I’d like to learn more about you and your no doubt fascinating world, I must get back to work, there are boundaries to be draw up”, he finally said, casting me a final apologetic glance before trotting away. I smiled. I think people just misjudge him. A misequinthropist. Right. ----- In between my views of the video logs, Celestia and Luna had carefully monitored my null ‘pull’ as they dubbed. Through careful observation it seemed my ability to nullify magic was linearly capped at a certain rate. I didn’t have quite enough momentum to create a magical vortex that would suck all of Equestria’s magic in one go. Unless I went and hugged a power magical artefact, of course but that would be stupid. I decided to expand my knowledge of this world, my Synch helping greatly to speed things up. If I learnt the old fashioned way without nerve-stimulated input I doubt I could retain even a fifth of the information I absorbed. The Synch did a good job with the translations but I forced myself to learn the new system of writing without the translator, only resorting to it as a last resort mechanism. Twilight was excited that I had suddenly become a keen and interested student. I thought about how convenient technology made it for me to learn things at such an accelerated rate. Twilight would probably squeal in delight if she got her hands- I mean -hooves on this technology. It was only for a few days but I managed to brush up on most of the history, culture and major elements of pony society. I found out about Nightmare Moon and I felt a deep loss for Luna, but at least we were in the same boat, struggling to keep up with modern Equestria and the new experiences threatening to drown us. At least I didn’t have any duties to speak of. Actually, speaking of elements, I found out that Twilight and her friends had become the bearers of the Elements of Harmony. What a mouthful. Anyway, apparently I saved someone important from the diamond dog mines, well helped at any rate. That was probably why Celestia and Luna were so quick to trust me. The next time I saw Twilight I gave her a hug and a thanks for helping me out. Overall, my life had become somewhat of a routine. I would wake up, ponder about ways in which I could get back to Earth and prevent a global catastrophe, give up. Go have breakfast, spend the rest of the day studying about Equestria and their magical, scientific, historical and cultural advancements. Have some more food, dine with Celestia or Luna and perhaps be joined by Twilight or Pinkie and then just go to sleep and repeat. In fact the routine only changed slightly when Pinkie announced she was needed to help babysit- I mean foalsit some foals. Ah, I hated using these pony mannerisms but unfortunately I was getting used to some of them, letting it slip from time to time. It frustrated me to no end. Pinkie and Twilight decided to leave together, Twilight saying something about having to take care of someone named Spike. When they left, I felt alone in the castle as if it suddenly became a lot emptier. I even started to miss Twilight’s rambling lectures, or Pinkie disturbing my concentrated studies to go have some fun or both of them nagging me to go outside and enjoy some fresh air. On the same night they left, I was invited to a garden party to meet the nobles of Canterlot. Since I was no longer a secret, the Princesses wanted me to met everypony, since I was stuck here for heavens know how long, I was bound to become somewhat detached, I didn’t want to go through the effort of making any more friends. I started depending on the royalty for company and though Celestia and Luna were obviously happy to entertain me, they were busy running a whole country and couldn’t spend as much time as I hoped with them. Prince Blueblood was more available but even he had a myriad of duties that required his personal attention. Evidently, the princesses had decided that I needed more friends so they invited me to the garden party. They probably misjudged me, because despite appearances, I was not a socialite. I don’t go out of my way making friends and I mostly act friendly to those I share familiarity with. If you believe me, you can probably reflect on how well I did when I first met Twilight. Or how my first impression with the royal pony sisters went, dragged in like a criminal and just slightly pissed off. Yeah, I wasn’t the best guy to start a friendship. In any case, I wound up at the garden party, dressed in my old Earth clothes that I refused to throw away, even though they had prepared and tailored a nice suit for me. I didn’t know how they got a pony to measure me and tailor a suit to fit me without me knowing, but they somehow did. I didn’t wear it though and I thought I saw a flash of disappointment flicker across Celestia’s muzzle when she saw me enter the party without the attire. The upper echelons of society were all present at the party, all looking serious and pompous. I found myself sequestered in a corner, trying to eat a canapé, or whatever it was, in peace. “Oh my, I see that perhaps you are not from around here”, a voice interrupted me while I ate. I looked up to see a stallion and what I presume to be a beautiful wife accompanying him. I don’t know, I was still trying to get pony aesthetics down. The stallion introduced himself. “My name is Fancy Pants and this here is my partner Fleur de Lis”, he announced, gesturing with a hoof to his partner who nodded her head with a smile. “A-a pleasure”, I stumbled, I wasn’t really good with making myself sound regal and such. “Oh no need to stand on ceremony, how are you with the party?” he inquired, turning around to regard the party guests with me. “Not really my area, I’m afraid”, I responded with a shrug. I couldn’t tell you who or what any of these ponies did and why they were so important to Canterlot. “Oh? What is your area, if I might so inquire?” he directed at me, still gazing at the multitude of guests. I relax a bit. Glad he wasn’t speaking to me directly. “I’m a scientist of sorts, also a bit of an engineer”, I said, well it was true in training if not by official degree or trade! Fancy Pants looked impressed. “You are quite skilled for one so young, at least I presume you are young?” he asked me, still casting his gaze around the courtyard. There were no ponies that caught his eye and I was beginning to wonder who exactly he was looking for. I spotted Celestia and I quickly excused myself. “I’m sorry, but I need a question that needs answered”, I said rather brusquely, striding forward to meet Celestia. An entourage of ponies asking or pleading for something surrounded her. I knew from the way that they carried themselves, my passive Synch knot analysing their body language. They may not have overtly revealed themselves as such but they were all sycophants or parasites, wanting something or other from the princess. I made eye contact with the princess, raising an eyebrow. She excused herself, heading towards me. The ponies did not follow, somewhat wary of me. All they had been told was that I was kept as a matter of protection for Equestria and I was here to acquaint myself with the nobility of the land. “Ah, Celestia, eager to get away?” I commented snidely. She tossed her head and returned my grin with a demure smile of her own, unruffled. “All ponies have their wishes, great or small, they are not diminished, for being a bore”, she replied easily, as if she were quoting an excerpt. I chuckled, remembering where it came from. “Said the wise white alicorn pony way back when”, I laughed, nudging her. Some nearby nobles saw the gesture and gasped, horrified I presumed. “Everypony here are such a stickler for etiquette and rules”, I commented but turned serious. “But I’m not here to talk about that.” Celestia just tilted her head in bemusement. “And what troubles you?” she asked steadily, eyeing me. I tapped a finger on my chin, thinking about how to phrase the question. Perhaps this setting was too public? “Shall we move someplace more private? I’m not sure if this is a state secret or not”, I asked of her, she nodded in agreement heading off towards a side door. The garden party members watched us leaving like a hawk, chattering to themselves like a bunch of squirrels. Not that I had ever seen a squirrel in my entire life, probably a possum, yeah more like possums. Where was I? Oh yeah, secret talk. We ended up moving into a small guest room in the castle, close to where the party was held. Celestia closed the doors and did something that made her horn flash for a moment before gesturing for me to start speaking. “What is on your mind, dear?” I cleared my throat, having phrased the question. “I was reading some ancient books on races”, I began, pausing as I tried to gauge Celestia’s reaction. Her expression remained neutral. “It talks about something called alicorn ascension”, I continued, once again pausing to gauge her reaction. Celestia remained unfazed. “My question is… could we possibly use that as a means to get me back?” I asked, shooting Celestia a questioning glance. Celestia didn’t speak for a while, her eyes taking on a faraway look as she considered what I had asked. “As far as I know, alicorn ascension does create the necessary power to break through and stabilise a cross-dimensional traversal without mirror stabilisation. In fact that is how we can perform the ascension without destroying everything in a mile-wide radii. Unfortunately, we won’t know the next time an alicorn ascends” she explained sadly. “Cadance is an ascended alicorn, right?” I asked suddenly. Celestia nodded. “Will she have an absurd lifetime like Luna and yourself?” I queried, giving Celestia a sidelong glance. Celestia chuckled. “Ascended alicorns will live just as long as they would without ascension”, she explained, I felt a little disappointment. Hey, maybe if I could become an alicorn I could live forever. Hey, it was worth a shot, it’s the Holy Grail of modern science, next to the cure for cancer and fixing global warming (we still haven’t gotten rid of that, our ancestors were uncaring weren’t they, whoever uses fossil fuels? Sorry, tangent). I was disappointed. “Don’t be disappointed, I can guarantee you immortality is not all that it is cracked up to be”, she smiled, taking me under her wing. I scuffed the ground. “Yeah, what would an immortal human even do, anyway?” I muttered to myself as we exited the room. I didn’t make any friends at the party, by the way.