Space Ponies
By Boss Hoss
Chapter 14, Names Change, but the Song Remains the Same
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An unseen shadow flitted from rooftop to rooftop as a trio of ponies came to the Golden Oaks Library, silhouetted against the evening sky...
~~~~~~~~~~~
As Twilight and Rarity entered the Library ahead of him, Scott stopped just inside the door, looking puzzled. He craned his head back and looked outside, then leaned back inside. Twitching his ears thoughtfully, he walked back out to mentally measure the tree trunk as he walked all the way around it...
After a confused glance at each other, the mares went back outside, followed by Spike. They watched the stallion trot around the tree and poke his head in the door before sitting down next to the Library sign, while both Twilight and Rarity looked at him with growing curiosity and frustration.
Finally, Twilight gave an exasperated sigh and looked over his shoulder, trying to see what he was focused on. "Scott, just what are you looking for?"
Nodding in agreement, Rarity fluffed her indigo mane with a hoof "Yes darling, you are acting just like Twilight when she's caught up in some experiment."
Ears popping upright, Scott suddenly realized he had gotten too caught up in his thoughts and was being rude. Sheepishly, the bay stallion got up and bowed the mares inside. "I'm sorry, girls. I just had a big idea hit me. I did not mean to ignore you fine ladies."
Quickly following them inside, he turned to them as he sat down on his haunches and gave them a serious look.
"Actually, I wasn't sure from the original... art, but after seeing this library in "furson" several times now... Well, I've definitely noticed this place is larger on the inside than the outside."
He pointed around them with a hoof, sweeping it in an arc. "Look, the floor of the main reading room is as large, or larger, than the apparent outside trunk of this tree, and there's more than one room on this floor. -Not counting the kitchen which is an actual extension built on in the back."
Blinking at him in surprise, the mares turned their heads to look at each other, then at him before giggling and shaking their heads. Spike guffawed as he came down stairs. He comically rolled his eyes and sat on the bottom step before giving Twilight an "Is he serious?" look.
Yes, this was definitely not the reaction Scott expected.
After a moment, Twilight levitated her notes and quill back out of her saddlebag.
"Sooo, Scott... You act like this is something... unusual. Don't you have dimensional expansion spells for buildings back on your world? It's quite common in Canterlot. It took ages to simplify the spells originally created for Canterlot Castle, but it was so worth it since space is often a premium up there."
Rarity nodded agreement "Why yes, darling, they are all the rage wherever it can be afforded! I had it put on my boutique as soon as I could pay for a renovation. It was a total building makeover, as 'twere..."
Staring up at the ceiling of the Library for a moment, he smiled sheepishly and tilted his head back down to look at the mares, shaking it in wonder.
"Sorry, we only know this in theory. It is common in Fantasy and Sci-Fi stories where it's called a Tesseract. One role-playing game even wrote up the hut of the legendary witch, Baba Yaga as a place so huge inside, it had forty-eight immense rooms, each separated dimensionally in kind of a giant cube arrangement. Outside, it was no bigger than a typical garden shed.
This is why our cities stretch up to the sky. We can't make a building increase its inner space except by physical means, so we just add more floors instead of stretching them."
He would have brought up the TARDIS, but didn't want to 'out' the Doctor just yet if Twilight had heard the time machine's name in passing.
Eagerly, Twilight scribbled down notes about the Tesseract as something to research and a reminder to have him tell it in more detail. "Fascinating!"
Just then, Twilight's note taking was interrupted by a knock on the door of the library, and a voice muffled by the thick wood “Hello? Twilight? I need in, right away!”
Sighing at the interruption, Twilight trotted over and opened the door with a magenta glow, followed by a purple Pegasus sweeping the door open in a fluid motion and using her wingtip in a mid-air pirouette to close the door. "Good! Everypony's here."
Twilight was already rattling off a well-rehearsed response by the time she noticed the mare was already inside. "Excuse me the Library is closed for the eve... Lieutenant Dash!? I'm sorry, is there an emergency?..."
Scott and Rarity both looked in surprise at the mystery guest, with Scott speaking first; "Um Twilight? Who is this?"
Rarity on the other hoof gasped in alarm and stepped ahead of the stallion protectively. "Oh! Miss Dash! Whatever is the matter? You look quite worried..."
Pushing her shamrock-green mane out of her eyes, the Pegasus mare leaned to one side and "toed up" a hoof in a casual manner. "Twilight, Rarity, Nice to see you as always. There's no emergency, I just need to speak with Mr. Skybright over there." she said, with what she hoped was a reassuring smile.
As he stood up with a clatter of hooves, Scott blinked and swiveled his ears down in worry. "Me? Lt. Dash? This isn’t about the lights flickering earlier today, is it?"
The mare twitched her ears and her dark purple eyes narrowed as if a suspicion was confirmed. "So that was you, then?" She looks over to Twilight, "Panic surge?"
Sheepishly, Twilight nodded to the Pegasus. "Afraid so. It was his very first one, unfortunately coming from a full grown stallion and not a foal...” She gave a polite cough and looked toward Scott, then back. "Well, he's an unusual case, to say the least."
Sighing and shaking her head, Lt. Dash gave a cursory glance around the room. "Judging by the aftermath, his power now nearly matched yours when you were a foal. Anyway, I just have a few questions that are... unfortunately, work related, so if you have a room the three of us can discuss things in? I'm afraid you'll have to wait outside, Lady Rarity. You too, Spike."
Rarity’s eyes shot open in surprise, a moment before she gave a scandalized gasp and nicker, before sputtering out "What? Moi? Why I never..."
Sighing, Twilight gives her an apologetic look "I am sorry Rarity, but you are the center of town gossip. Help yourself to some tea in the kitchen while we go down to the basement, please, Rarity? Oh, and Spike, please keep her company, okay?"
Spike looked indignant at being left out as well, but being told to stick with Rarity shut him up before he could get started.
Meanwhile, Rarity pouted and fumed a bit but eventually sighed and gave in... "Fine, Royal Guard business it seems. Very well then…" as she flounces her way to the kitchen, with spike skipping along behind her, tiny red hearts trailing him like soap bubbles.
With that out of the way, Twilight nods, satisfied. She nudged Scott with her hoof and looked to the winged Guardspony. "Walk this way please..." as she quickly heads to the basement door and opened it for her guests.
Fighting the urge for an old joke, Scott mentally chuckles and barely keeps himself from teasing out loud; * If I could walk like that, I'd be a gelding... *
Raising her voice, Lt. Dash called out to Rarity while she was still in the room. "I’m sorry about all this, really. I'll come by the boutique later and let you use me as a dress model, Rarity," she said, smiling a little. After receiving a smile in return, she followed Twilight and Scott down to the basement.
Lt Dash carefully noted the bay Unicorn stallion was having some trouble walking down stairs and nodded to herself. Satisfied at finding another clue, she jumped off the top of the stairs and quickly flew around the room. Her purple eyes carefully checking behind every object before she hurled a blanket over a mirror and made sure the bottom of every bin in the room was visible.
Puzzled, Scott watches curiously as the Lt. made her detailed security checks "Why the mirror...? Oh, yeah... a certain pink wonder..."
Placing a hoof on his shoulder, Twilight gives a nervous * ahem * "She's not the only one that can look through mirrors, Scott. If you are ready Lt. Dash, I can cast a sound absorbing shield whenever you like."
Thinking for a moment, the Pegasus tapped her chin with a hooftip. "Yes, especially around the door, I'm sure Lady Rarity will be listening as soon as she's made her tea. Did I miss any bins? I really don't need Pinkie popping her pink posterior into this..."
Twilight points to one in the shadow of a tree root in the back wall "That one I think. Just a moment and..." She closes her eyes and creates a pink glow that covers the walls, floor and ceiling. "The shield is in place, Lt. Dash... Kind of like blowing a bubble in a box."
Quickly, she makes sure there are no convenient places for Pinkie to pop out of and then moves over to land and stand near Scott, looking him up and down in a no-nonsense manner before giving him a playful smirk, offering a Brohoof to bump.. "Good evening, Mr. Skybright. I am Lt. Starshine Dash of the Royal Guard. Sorry for all the mystery, sport, you're the new guy, huh? Not bad looking, though we need to work on your name first thing's first."
Bumping her hoof as she spoke, Scott blinks in surprise. "Um, my name? Is Scott that much out of place?" He looks the puzzling mare over, starting to wonder now if she is like Lyra too... His mind suddenly raced! *Wait a moment, she had not flown once inside the building since she landed, except to check the basement. You couldn't keep Rainbow on the floor with anchor chains. It's ingrained by a lifetime of flying. Is she?... *
Meanwhile, Twilight watches, her head swinging from one to the other like a tennis match, wondering what's going on.
A moment later, Scott's suspicions were confirmed when the purple Pegasus casually toed up on a hoof and spoke.
"Well, Scott is about as out of place as my name, Tara was. Skybright is fine, but you're going to want to either stick with just that or put something else around it. Maybe if you had a perfect Scoltish accent, but..."
With that, she walks around him like a REA drill instructor, examining him closely. Finally pausing at his Cutie Mark, snorting slightly and flicking her tail in annoyance. She shook her head and sighed "Great, another vague one. Well, seeing as you’re stuck as a pony permanently thanks to those “bumper stickers”, I’ll have to go over the rules.”
Turning her head in adorkable puzzlement, Twilight looks at them both. Her eyes widen suddenly, acting like she has the glimmer of something on the edge of her memory. "Tara? That’s familiar somehow… Wait? Excuse me, rules, Lieutenant? Scott practically just got here! Why didn't Princess Celestia send me rules about him?”
Scott looks a bit stunned by the mare's subtle revelation, but watches as she looks him over “Um, one of the versions of my OC was named Star for a first name, and I just carried it over when I converted them for FiM, but... Rules, Miss Dash?”
Lt. Dash trots around in front of the other two and bobs her head back and forth, "Sorry, Twilight, apparently her nibs is exercising Opsec or testing your initiative. Even Dragonmail isn't immune to eavesdropping, after all. Heck, I only just now found out he's here myself.
As for you, Noob... Mmm, Star's okay. And yes, rules. All human-turned-ponies like us have to follow a certain set of rules;
Rule Number One... -Added at the head of the list since the Summer Sun celebration last year and punishable by semi-permanent moon-tenancy... By the way, what was the last episode of the series you saw, assuming it existed?”
Scott gulps, wide-eyed in sudden terror, managing to squeak out "Um, M-moon banishment?!?” He coughed and fought to steady his voice “Ahh… T-the last one I saw was "Best Night Ever". When I left, it was several days from the premier of Season Two."
Hearing that, she let out a breath in relief. "Okay, good, so I don't have to worry about you mucking with the timeline. I have enough trouble with the good Doctor and resisting the urge myself... That's rule number one, by the way: “Don't mess with the timeline!”
When I left, it was the end of Season Two," she sighs, looking sad, before shaking herself of those sad thoughts, "And I got here just after 'Dog and Pony Show'... It's been hard... Anyway, did anyone tell you about Pinkie days? I'm assuming you met Lyra, she’s kinda' obsessed about hands...”
Scott... "Star" gulped and nodded while Twilight deliberately sits on her hooves, avoiding making notes by sheer force of will. "Yes, Ma'am. I did meet her, right before I came to the spa. She actually shared a flashback with me on her coming here over a decade ago with her parents. Lyra was very adamant about those times and to beware of them... Um, are you the Pegasus she mentioned, Ma’am?"
After a moment's thought on who Lyra knew, she shook her head no.
"Actually, no, they both work on the weather team. I... Well, my job title is "Special attaché to the Element of Laughter," but really I patrol the border of the Everfree to keep out the smaller monsters and liaise between Canterlot, Monsieur Magnet, and Zecora for intel on anything bigger than a Manticore."
She suddenly took a deep, shuddering breath, and pointed toward Twilight. "As far as Pinkie days are concerned, you need to stay inside, or at least out of sight of any of these six mares, no matter how close you are to them.
This is also something that I've been told was once very rare but has become more common. That apparently started shortly before the Summer Sun Celebration Last year. It seems both those days and Rule One are tied together somehow. My eyes used to be orange, Bon-Bons voice has changed a few times, and Time Turner's voice lost its wonderful accent."
Eyes wide, Star gulps "Um, I s-see...The effect of the show on Equestria sounds like how high end quantum physics experiments work all right. It's a bug that scientists cant observe their experiments without affecting them. I will definitely keep that in mind.”
One of his ears suddenly lopped sideways at a thought before he asked “Ummm, I saw a notice for the Running of the leaves in a few days. While I know this is not last year’s episode, is that going to be safe to be in?"
Shaking her head in mild bewilderment, she gave him a lopsided grin. “I don't know about an experiment, I think it's just dimensional bleeding. It'll be safe if you want to run, but I'd recommend you sit this one out if you haven't been here that long, or do more of a walk than a run,"
She grinned and shook her head a moment to get back on track “Yeah, so anyway, Rule Number Two is “Stay inside on Pinkie days!” -unless you don’t value your style or gender. Poor Caramel...”
She shook her head sadly for a moment, making Scott... Star... wonder how well she knew the original Caramel.
Rule Number Three: “If one of the Princesses say "Jump," you say "How high, your majesty?" We're a unique, unknown factor to Equestria. We also tend to be on the higher end of pony talents. What do you think my cutie mark is for?"
Star peers around the mare to double check what he saw as he made a mental note, blushing a little since Twilight was watching him checking a mare's flank. * Hm, "Dimensional Bleeding" sounds like a perfect name for the effect... *
"Since it's a shooting star, I would say speed... By the way, I don't know how high my magic will be, but I've always dreamed of doing it so it should be my talent. I've definitely got a lot of catchup to look forward to. How about you?"
Here she definitely showed herself worthy of her name, puffing out her chest and flaring her wings into a hover a few feet off the floor while she spoke in a cocky tone. "I got my Cutie Mark during a war-game between a Pegasus and Unicorn division by becoming a magical comet and shattering a shield made by fifteen Unicorns, all trained Royal Guards. I probably would have failed if... err... Never mind, spoilers, sweetie," she said with a half-grin, "You'll probably be pretty powerful someday, but try not to draw attention to yourself. For the same reason, you'll hardly see me in town on non-Pinkie Days.”
Scuffing his hoof, Scott watched as the mare unconsciously flexed her wings, like she was mentally preparing to leave.
“Other than those three rules, everything else is just common sense. I might need to have you come by and fill out some paperwork, but other than that I think we're done."
With that, the purple Pegasus grinned and offered a hoof, “Just have a good time, and enjoy your new life, Mr. Star Skybright, feel free to call me Starshine when I'm not on duty and being serious and stuff..."
Now the proud owner of a new name, “Star” smiled and put his hoof to hers, feeling the telekenetic fields stick for a hoofshake "Thanks, I hope we can compare notes sometime."
Twilight cleared her throat to get her attention "Excuse me, The princess has made this incident with Scott... um, “Star” a test to figure out the how and why of all these changes. May I refer to this little chat in my notes for Princess Celestia?"
Turning toward the lavender mare, Starshine brushed a lock of the sky-blue streak in her mane from her eye. "I'll be happy to include the full text of my report once I've finished it. I should be finished after dinner, barring any interruptions. Which now that I said that, Pinkie's going to show up and distract me for at least two hours..."
Shaking her head in sympathy, Twilight smirks "Thank you Lieutenant Dash, and I quite understand. Now I know where she goes when she's not walking in on my experiments..."
Scott, now Star, suddenly looks up as something occurs to him "Oh, Ma'am? I just wondered about the "Dash" part of your name. Is that legit with a certain "Rainbow" around?" He looks at her with open curiosity as he waits for an answer.
Her ears perk up in surprise at the question. A very good one for a noob like him. Starshine grins, "Well, technically, Dash is a tribal designation. We're both members of the Dash clan, her by blood, myself by adoption. A pegasus without a clan is either a traitor or a failure, so Captain Ironwing inducted me into the clan when I graduated from the academy. It's one of the smaller clans, but we're all fast flyers. Do you have any other questions? I'd be happy to answer whatever I can."
His ears suddenly droop in worry as he looks from one mare to the other "I'm not stepping on anypony's hooves with "Skybright" am I? Is "Sparkle" a Clan?"
Twilight giggles and waves a hoof reassuringly as she settled into Lecture Mode(tm) "Oh no, you aren't a Noble and there are no Skybrights among them. Sparkle is the name of our "House" -Our Family name. House Sparkle is admittedly a minor noble line, but just big enough to get the attention of the School I tested for."
Nodding, Starshine chimed in "A lot of unicorns are part of some minor house or another. Even Rarity is part of House Filigree, but the House is even smaller than Sparkle. Earth ponies are either part of a vast family like the Apples, or just have small nuclear or extended families, like the Pies."
Suddenly feeling a bit overwhelmed, Star shakes his head wryly "It seems I have to learn some things before I can even think of some questions. Is there someplace I can reach you if I have more that Miss Sparkle can't cover?"
At that, Starshine smiles and nods as she flies up to the basement door, "Sure! If you need me for anything, I'm in the house that's halfway between the edge of town and Fluttershy's cottage, anypony can show you. If I'm not there, I'm either at Sugarcube Corner, the market, or out in the Everfree, so, if you don't see me in town, leave me a note and I'll get in touch later."
A musical chime filled the air as Twilight turned off the sound absorbing shield. “Thank you for coming over, Lieutenant Dash. I'm sure you have given him food for thought...”
* As well as me.. why don't I remember about you being human? * she wondered
“..Have a good evening.”
“And you as well. Buy me lunch sometime, and I’ll try and answer any other questions you have,” With that, she opens the door and flew toward the Library entrance.
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By the time the pair of unicorns made it to the door, Rarity and Spike had already trotted over to let the purple Pegasus out. As soon as she was gone, Rarity trotted back to where they stood, with Spike in tow. She cast a puzzled glance at Star, then back over her shoulder, toward the door. “Well, darlings, given how hush-hush Miss Dash was with this little escapade, should we continue on in the same manner? It's becoming something rather like a Con Mane movie if she resorted to a sound shield just to speak to him.”
Twilight rubbed her chin for a moment, then nodded “I agree. She's got me a little spooked wondering who could use this knowledge for ill, but better safe than sorry, at least for tonight. Spike? Could you whip up some treats and bring them down, please?” She winked and did a little sing-song to prod the hatchling “...I have some ruuu-bieees for yoooouuu...”
Instantly the little dragon snapped a salute “Yes Sir, ma'am! On my way!” With that, he scampered off to the kitchen, while the ponies headed back down to the Basement Lab.
Rarity looked around in shock as she walked down ahead of Star. “Oh my! Darling! This place is a décor disaster area! Is that wall actually dirt?!”
As she levitated some chairs in through the door, Twilight giggled “Actually, yes, the root walls don't seem to have total closure down here. I'd prefer they were all paneled over for security if nothing else, but it seems to work.”
Rarity shook her head in wonder as she sat down. Spike was there instantly, holding her chair for her “For you, Milady...”
The fashionista giggled “Such a nice Gentledrake you are, Spike!”
Blushing, Spike quickly set up a tray of cookies and punch on a fold-out table. "Here you are, some of my famous homemade triple-decker nut-crazy vanilla cream cookies!"
Twilight smiled and pulled out a list of questions to ask and tapped the stack of paper to the table to straighten them. "Thank you Spike. Scott, er, Star, before we begin though, I just wonder; If Lieutenant Dash is also from Earth, how the hay is it possible she's from the future?"
Grinning eagerly at having Twilight ask his opinion, Star shook his head "As far as science can determine so far, Alternate Worlds can flow at different rates of time. She might be from a timeline very close to mine, but just a year or so ahead time-wise. Either that, or how someone gets here can make a difference on when they get here."
Tapping a quill to her chin, Twilight hummed thoughtfully, "Good theories. We'll see what the Professors make of that. Okay now for the official questions.
First, what is your world's name and what is it like?"
Rubbing his nose, Star thought how to best answer her "My world is named Earth, or Terra in the more common ancient name. Our Sun is also called Sol. Some forward thinking Scientists who wrote Science Fiction on the side have designated it the Sol/Terra system, a system of nine planets, or eight, depending on which governing body of Astronomers you believe. -And yes, I'll explain that in detail later...
The Earth itself has the same climate ranges as this world, except it runs itself like a planet wide Everfree Forest."
All three native Equestrians gasp in shock. Twilight ulps "I was wondering what you did if you have no Pegasi. Do you control the weather at all?"
Sheepishly, he shakes his head "So far there are experiments attempting that using microwaves and cloud seeding, but any successes are just rumor so far. Weather kills more people than any war, and is often a historical cause for war when famine and plague strikes because of weather turmoil."
Rarity shivers "Ugh! Simply dreadful, darling! How can weather cause plagues and such unpleasantness?"
He sighs "Simple... Severe droughts, floods, or unending wet and cold can wipe out crops and provide the right conditions for biting insects and vermin to spread unchecked. They were driven to shelter with people who's bodies are weakened by malnourishment and catch the diseases they carry.
With food and water gone or contaminated, bandits or foolish leaders used to invade a neighbor country as a safe haven or to take their food, or the neighbor country will invade, taking advantage of their weakness to settle old grudges."
Staring, Twilight drops her quill to the floor and fumbles for it with her magic "Oh Celestia! It sounds something like the Age of Chaos!"
Star nods "Going by just the name alone, you probably aren't far off. The whole Universe back home seems to run on controlled chaos. It seems to cycle between naturally harmonious systems decaying, collapsing into Entropy, and resetting themselves into Order, over and over. Wherever there is life, Nature endures and rebuilds.
As far as we can tell, over 95% of all species that have ever lived on the Earth have become extinct in cyclical waves of destruction every few million years. Earth might now belong to a kind of intelligent dragon instead of humans if the dinosaurs hadn't been killed off about Sixty-five million years ago by a giant asteroid and it's aftereffects..."
At this moment, Spike faints and falls over with a hollow clunk. Rarity gasped and fanned the little dragon, glad for the distraction. "Oooh, poor Spikey-Wikey!.."
Shaking her head and smiling at Spike's antics, Twilight looked to Star. "At least he's in good hooves. So, tell me about your... previous species?"
He raised his head and nodded, then closed his eyes to concentrate. "Lets see, Humans, scientific name; Homo Sapiens Sapiens. The oldest known fossils of which are from about... umm, 120,000 years ago, known as Cro Magnon man. There was only one other hominid we shared our world with at the time; Neanderthal man. Apparently, the latest genetic evidence from Europe is we absorbed them into our tribes instead of exterminating them as rivals as Anthropologists have believed for so long. "
Humans seem to be a macrocosm of the races of Equestria; some are like Diamond Dogs in their behavior toward others, some like Griffons, Some like Dragons, a great many like Donkeys and Mules, and most... are like Ponies. We just do our best to get along just like you do, and hope it all works out despite dealing with the jerks that make our lives Hell."
Nervously, Twilight licked her lips and took a deep breath, then let it out as she looked steadily at the former human. "I already suspect your answer since you have little or no understanding of how we use it, and have mentioned your whole planet is running wild.
Here goes; Is there magic on your world?"
Star sighed and rubbed the back of his head "The usual answer by everyone back home is "No", but my answer has to be "I do not know." because what Pinkie did there is impossible by most scientific standards.
It could be that there is some magic, just no easy way of accessing it. The Christians and Muslims were quite thorough in... "removing" those in antiquity who may have had a yes or no answer. All the New Age worshippers claim some success with the bits and pieces of writings that survive, but I take that with a grain of salt. Similarly, Psychic research like the CMC tried is not even considered magic at all."
Ears perked forward, Twilight wrote quickly "So, until such time as a unicorn comes to visit and takes readings, it might be "no"... Interesting..."
Now that Spike was awake again, Rarity waved a hoof "Ooh! My turn Twilight!"
Twilight gave quick smile. "Are you going to ask about Earth fashions?"
Giggling, Rarity shook her head "I am saving that for later, when he can spare an hour or so in my boutique. No, this is one I have been curious about, and simply cannot wait for you to work through your list..."
She turned in place and looked into eyes the color of her own "Are there... Ponies on Earth?"
Star took a deep breath and nodded to Rarity "Yes, but nothing like here. Our ponies are just a smaller breed of horses back home. Unfortunately, they are about as smart as Applejack's Wynona.
They bear the same relation to you that apes do to humans. Some are smart enough to open doors, but their brains are mostly geared for interacting with others. They can barely count, but their social life is as complicated as office politics or a wolf pack's society."
He paused and looked at Twilight, since he was now in full lecture mode. The irony was lost on Twilight as she gave him her full attention as he spoke, her quill scribbling rapidly on a scroll.
"-That social life is the key on how humans got into a symbiotic relationship with dogs and horses. We had so much in common that way. Horses got shelter, steady food, a stable herd-life, and protection from being eaten by predators, and humans got the strength, speed, and companionship of the horse. Only one region made it to civilization without the horse, the wheel, or metal tools, and they were crushed 600 years ago by Spain when the American continents were discovered.
For good or ill, history was written from the back of a horse.
Now, horses aren't vital to civilization anymore and most have become fancy pets and close companions. Some still work farms and logging jobs here and there like Big Macintosh does, and others have become a sort of royalty in Horse Racing, Show Jumping, Polo, Rodeos, and other Equestrian sports. Others have been bred down to, well, our size and classed as "Ponies" for working in tight spaces and have since become some of the most adored pets ever."
Spike could not hold it in any more, his snickering from behind his claws breaking out into full-blown laughter at the thought of Twilight and the other girls wearing collars and being treated like dogs. He eventually stopped when three pairs of pony eyes leveled a death glare at him.
Suddenly, Rarity did a double take, looking up at the nearest clock "Oh! Oh my goodness! Dears, we best end this quickly and get Sco... "Star" over to the Prancing Pony! Mrs. Latchkey will close the doors for the night if we do not hurry!
Sighing, Twilight stood up with a cracking sound from her back as she stretched like a cat. "Ugh, fine! We keep having to stop just when we get on a roll, too. I'm starting to think I need to treat this like a Sorting Day and just set a day aside to have just Star and Myself..." Rarity smirked and raised an eyebrow, making Twilight blush "..A-and my friends, of course. Absolutely NOTHING awkward happening AT ALL!"
Rarity giggled "A tragedy I am sure. Still, foal steps for both sides learning about each others cultures... and social mores'..."
Both of the darker unicorns blushed shyly as Twilight dispelled the sound barrier, while Rarity shepherded the stallion up the stairs.
Fuming, Spike brought up the rear, his draconic instincts stoked by Rarity's words as he glared at the stallion. Twilight was practically his mother, after all.
~~~~~~~~~~~
A few minutes later, Rarity hummed a jaunty tune as she opened the door to the Prancing Pony, followed by Twilight carrying the former human's luggage, and the ex-human himself. "We are heee-re!~ Oh, Mrs. Latchkey! I am SO sorry for bringing him here so late! Such a distinguished guest and all. We lost track of time..."
A rose-colored matronly Earth mare with a pink bee-hive styled mane and slight jowls, accented with wire-frame bifocals and a peach shawl smiled warmly from behind a register desk. While she wore an old-fashioned burgundy dress, her Cutie Mark of a brass key was repeated in the trim and decorations of the skirt. "Quite all right, dearie. We still have vegetable stew and butter rolls left. Lodgings are normally ten Bits a night, or fifty Bits for a full week. -But for you Rarity, I will make it forty Bits."
Giggling, the two mares touched hooves " We'll do a week to start with and see where that goes. Twilight?"
Nodding, Twilight floated a pouch over to the Innkeeper "Agreed! I'll have to sign for him though. The Crown is covering his lodgings, Mrs. Latchkey."
Smiling, the Earth Pony nodded and took the pouch, sliding over the Registry and a room key. "It will be up on the second floor, third door on the right, Mr..."
He carefully took the key in the corner of his mouth, wincing at the metallic taste and spoke with an optimistic tone, using the name that would define his new life;
"...Skybright. I'm Star Skybright."