//------------------------------// // The party comes next chapter, promise. // Story: Screw Destiny // by CrossRedstone //------------------------------// "Are you sure you're alright?" a concerned Twilight asked, having joined Applejack in showing Ponyville to the two newcomers. "Yeah, sorry 'bout that. I tend to get like this when I'm like super excited." Sam replied with a sheepish smile. "Never thought I'd learn magic. And from Celestia's student none the less." "Oh please, I'm not some extraordinaire pony." "Ah, come on sugar. Don't put yourself down. Ya defeated an ursa minor by yourself for example." "A-applejack! You know it wasn't like that! I didn't just defeat the ursa all by myself." "I heard something interesting." Don spoke up, getting the attention of the others. "You're the element of magic, right?" "Yes?" "Doesn't that make you like...the most powerful unicorn on the planet?" he asked. "W-wha-? How did you come to that conclusion?!" she asked, totally flustered. "Common sense? It sounds like you're magic in person. Or...pony, I guess." "S-stop it already. I'm NOT the most powerful unicorn in Equestria just because I'm the element of magic." "Jeez, just asking." he chuckled. Never going to get used to the hoof-sound-effect. He thought as they walked over a bridge. "So, where exactly did you two come from?" Twilight asked changing the subject. The question almost made the two former humans freeze, but luckily the only thing that happened was Sam stumbling over her own hooves. Don knew better than to come up with an excuse for that question and left it to Sam to answer it. Sam hesitated maybe a moment too long, which may bite back sometime in the future, but she came up with a story. "Don is from Germania. I actually met him there first and we became friends over the two weeks I was there. Fate sure has a strange sense of humor. A month later I see the dude walking towards the same school I was headed." "And of course, she just HAD to scare the shit out of me." the stallion added. "Not to mention I needed to learn this freaking language first. I'm not good with learning new languages." So far the story was true. "Wait, if you were in Germania, how come you never met any ponies? I know there're not many ponies living there, but still..." Twilight pointed out the contradiction. Arrgh, that's why I don't like playing mafioso games. "Chance of fate." Don said, seeing the collapse of the story. "Besides, I left at a pretty young age and never needed any magic lessons. Sam was there for only two weeks. And when I moved, I was even farther away from pony civilization." I think. Don't exactly have a map of the universe with me. "Really? Wow, that's some mighty coincidence." Applejack commented. "So where exactly did ya live?" "Our country is called..." "CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS SOAP BOX RACERS, YAY!!" The shout interrupted Sam and her probably not so throughout made-up story. On the other hand, every brony and pegasister knew this scream meant immediate doom for everyone who stood in the way. And right now, Sam was standing in the way. She got hit by the soap box of the CMC and thanks to what she would later think of being cartoon logic, she was in for the ride, seemingly glued to the cart. "What the...? What was that?" Don asked, looking after the cart, which was becoming smaller and smaller over the seconds he stared after it. "Man, wish I had my camera with me." He talked more to himself, before he ran after the vehicle. Twilight and Applejack followed him immediately. "Ah'm mighty sorry about that!" Applejack shouted. "Mah sis and her friends dunno their limits!" "They're doing this on a regular basis?" Don asked in disbelief. "They're the Cutie Mark Crusaders. They found their club in order to find their cutie marks!" Twilight explained, having a little hard time keeping up with the two earth ponies. "Unfortunately their ideas are often a little....intense." "I'll translate that as insane." XIII In the meantime Sam was screaming her head off. Whether it was the pain or the high speed, her brain wasn't sure. "HIT THE BREAKS!" Sweetie Belle shouted. "THEY AIN'T WORKIN'!" Apple Bloom shouted over her shoulder. "GIRLS, WE HIT A PONY!" Scootaloo pointed in front of them. "HOLY SHIT!" Now normally Samantha was someone who watched her language around little children or fillies in this case. However the possibility of being crushed into a tree didn't exactly helped her adrenaline filled brain. The CMC and Samantha screamed as the tree came closer and closer. Just like in any other (or most) cartoons, Applebloom turned the wheel at the last possible moment, barely avoiding crashing into it. The CMC wiped the sweat off their foreheads. "ROCK!!" The red mare screamed on top of her lungs. It wasn't a big one, but still big enough to cause an accident. All parties involved started screaming again until there was an audible crack. The former human turned her head around, since the sound came from directly behind her. She found the fillies staring at the wheel in Applebloom's hooves, which was no longer attached to the wooden vehicle. "AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" The front right wheel hit the rock, causing it to fall off. The next thing that happened was the body of the cart hitting the ground and thanks to the speed it already had, it flipped over. The last thing Sam remembered was that she didn't feel wood on her back. XIII "Urrgh...what a dream..." "Really? Tell me how to wake up." The deadpan voice of her best friend was like splashing cold water on her face. Sometimes, no, a lot of times Don was just plain annoying. The headache was enough of an indication that she hurt her head pretty badly. The smell of disinfectants entered her nostrils. Yup, she was in the same or at least a similar hospital room to that Rainbow Dash would stay in. A motion with her hoof confirmed a bandaged around her forehead. On a side-note, her mane was now hanging loose. Don was sitting next to her in a chair, although the way he was positioned just seemed wrong to Sam. The next second she knew why it seemed so wrong. He was sitting there in a way a human would position himself on a chair. His front legs were behind his head, while leaning with his back against the chair. One of his hind legs was put over the other one. "That was my first time being unconscious. Felt different than I always imagined." "Really?" the stallion raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, I always thought it would be a really deep sleep. But now...it's more like someone pressed the pause button inside my brain. When I look at my memories it's like watching a movie, where somebody cut out a part of the movie out. It's the best way I can explain it. By the way, how long was out?" "Err..." Don looked at the clock on the wall "around two hours. The docs said you were lucky your horn is undamaged. They made some kind of checkup anyway and...well you can cast magic that much is clear. Just your- I forgot what they called it- the veins that transport energy to use your magic are underdeveloped." "Mhm." Sam leaned back into her pillow. "What happened to the Crusaders?" "Huh?" "The fillies." "Oh, the kids." Don scratched his head. "They got off lucky. All landed in a tree." "How the hell is that being lucky?" The red mare asked with a raised eyebrow. "They didn't even had a scratch on them. They were a little dizzy, but else okay. Though Applebutt wasn't too thrilled about what happened. You were oiling pretty good after all." "Head injury. Looks always worse than it actually is. You know, this is kind of a problem. I have no way of paying-" She didn't get any further, as the door to the room was opened by a brown magic aura. A doctor pony with two crossed syringes as a cutie mark entered the room. "Please tell me that she's gonna die, doc. The world is better off without her." "Hey, I have yet to sell my virginity on e-bay." "Everyone knows that you don't have that anymore." "What do you mean? You sold me yours for 50 bucks." "...Sheesh, forgot about that." The two laughed over the poor stallions face. The best part was, the story was all too true. "Well, it's good to see that you still have your humor. You were pretty lucky with your horn and the damage is only on the surface. You're free to go, after you answered some of our questions." "Sure thing, doc. By the way...about paying my stay here....eh...I'm kinda broke. But I already got a job here, so-" "Why, whatever do you mean?" the doctor asked. "Do you mean paying for your hospital stay?" "Y-yeah, what else?" Samantha asked. The doctor chuckled. "You're from overseas, aren't you?" "Yes." "Ah." He nodded. "Well Miss, here in Equestria the hospitals are supported by the royal treasury." The doc explained. "Really? That's cool." It kinda fit Celestia's personality. Sam got off from the bed and with some help managed to get out of the hospital gown. "Okay doc. you need my name, age, stuff?" The doctor shook his head, causing his short light brown mane to wave. "No, your friend already provided us with the necessary information. However if you want to have a quick look over what he told us-" "That's fine, doc. He may be a lazy bone," "I'm still here, you know." "but he's good with paperwork. The only thing he's really good at." she added, grinning. "Shut up." "But seriously doc, what's up?" Sam placed herself the same way on the bed, as Don was sitting on the chair, except for her front legs supporting her body on the bed. The doctor pony raised an eyebrow, seeing how the two ponies positioned themselves, but decided to concentrate on the matters at hoof. "Okay, first things first, Miss Sparkle already informed me about your...lack of magic experience." "Twilight's here?" Sam asked. "She, the apple, and...the white unicorn, what was her name?" "Rarity, too?" "Yeah, oh and the rainbow gal. They gave the trio one heck of a talk." Don was looking towards the door. I wonder if I somehow messed up the timeline already. Sam thought silently to herself. "Oops, almost forgot your question. To sum it up, I've never used magic in any form, I don't have a cutie mark, I feel all right despite lacking one and my head hurts a little." *GROWL* "Yeah, and THAT." "Hmm, now that's peculiar." The doctor stated. "I have already run every magical test I knew on your friend here," he waved at Don "but couldn't find any abnormalities. Except one thing." "That being?" Sam asked. "Earth ponies have those magic channels too, ya know." Don interrupted. "One thing we didn't know. Only they're running more in my legs than my brain. They're the same state as yours." "Underdeveloped." "Indeed." The doctor looked at his clipboard "Of course I have yet to run every test on you Miss Nights. But if the results are the same, than that means on a magic level you two are as good as foals at grade school age." "Jeez, that good?" Don asked in a sarcastic matter. So much for a little strength boost. "*sigh* So much for learning magic. Is there any therapy for this, like for someone who needs to learn walking once again?" Samantha asked the doctor. "Certainly there're, but I've never seen such severe cases. In any event, Miss Sparkle also stated she wanted to tutor you in magic. While this may seems unprofessional, she IS the student of Princess Celestia. I'm sure she has more of a chance of finding out what is wrong with you and with her help we may be able to consult a therapy." "A doc thinking a civilian is more qualified than he himself? I've seen it all." Don chuckled. "If you say so, doctor. Hey can you help me with my hairband? Is always a pain to put it on without magic." XIII "So what now?" Don asked as he and Samantha walked down the stairs. "With our abilities still on human level, I doubt we'll make much of our stay here." "Don't worry, I'm sure we can get help. Besides I have a theory." Sam said with confidence. "A theory?" The mare stopped walking, causing her friend stumble a little. "Our channels are those of newborn, right? And we just landed in Equestria in what I can only assume complete NEW bodies?" "Yeah...?" "Urrgh..." Sam facehoofed. "Get a hint, dude. I know you're smarter than you always let on." "I'm hungry, cut me some slack." he whined. The red pony took a deep breath. "Look, I don't claim to be an expert or anything, but if we're in bodies that have the potential to grow? Hint. hint." Don raised an eyebrow. "You sure? When the doc examined me he looked like one of those who have to tell somebody that they'll never be able to walk again." "I'm positive on this one. I think of it like that. Someone or something created those new bodies for us, but since magic is pretty new to us we just have to train for it to grow stronger inside us like everyone else in Equestria. I mean, imagine I had the power level of a decent magician and had no idea how to use it." "Explosions? Utter and complete chaos?" "Nah, they got Discord for that in this place." "Who?" XIII The mood was rather tense on the first floor in the Ponyville Hospital, at least among a certain group of ponies, plus one dragon. The Crusaders all looked towards the floor, ashamed of having (let's be honest: FINALLY) accidentally hurting another pony during one their crusades (did I miss an episode? Please tell me). Their older sisters (in Rainbow's case kind of figure), Twilight and Spike were quietly talking with each other, carefully avoiding the topic at hoof. "Urr, how long do we have to wait?" complained Rainbow. Yeah, I was lying. "Rainbow Dash, the doctor said they would be here in a few minutes." "It's already been ten minutes." Rainbow complained again, throwing her fore legs up. "Honestly Dash, you need to learn to be a little bit more patient." Rarity huffed. "There's nothing wrong with being fashionable late every now and then." she said, holding her head high. Rainbow Dash just gave her a look and sighed. "Why didn't they come with the doctor?" "Didn't ya listen at all, Dash? He said they wanted to talk 'bout somethin' alone." "Oh, I can see it right in front of me. Two souls, shunned away by the world for their difference, comforting each other in their embrace. The knight in shining armor, telling her soothing words-" Twilight, Applejack and Spike looked at each other, rolling their eyes, while Rainbow wasn't even listening anymore. "Hey Twilight," Spike got the attention of his sister? (They never really cleared up his relationship, except the assistant part, did they?) "about this Sam." "Yes, what is it Spike?" "I was just wondering. When a unicorn doesn't use magic for too long, doesn't she or he gets magic surges after some time, which can be fa-...ehh...hurt a lot? Or am I mixing something up?" Twilight's eyes widened slightly, as she realized that he was right. "You're right Spike. She SHOULD have had magic surges. But the doctor said her, actually both their arcane channels are severely underdeveloped." "So, what does that mean?" he asked. "I'm not too sure, Spike. But I think we better write to Princess Celestia for a little advice."