//------------------------------// // At Least I'm Still Alive. // Story: Across the Dimensional Divide // by StrawberryGamer //------------------------------// Owwww… So this is what it’s like to have the wind knocked out of you… I can barely breathe, my side hurts like hell, and I think the trip through the portal numbed the rest of me. Or maybe I’m just only half passed out, because my brain is awake, but my body doesn’t want to respond. Let’s just say the feeling is… odd, to say the least. There was a term for this I learned in school… What was it...? Oh, that’s right. Sleep paralysis. Though, doesn’t sleep paralysis make it so you can’t feel a thing? I obviously feel like I got the wind knocked out of me. I’m damn lucky Skittles didn’t break anything. So if I can feel that, why can’t I feel anything else? I dunno how long I laid there, on who knows what. I couldn’t see. I couldn’t hear. Even the pain numbed and I could no longer feel. It could have been a few minutes. It could have been a few hours. I’ve lost track of time. It gave me time to think though. About my situation. About my body. About my friends. I wonder how they’re doing. Are they planning a rescue? Are they continuing the quest? I dunno. I’m all alone wherever I am, so I have to make the most of it. All alone in this pathetic mare’s body. Mare. That fucking word keeps echoing in my head. The fact that I’m a fucking chick. Every time I think I’m okay with my situation, being a mare, I get that illusion shattered by something. Usually that fucking pervert Stud Muffin. If I never see him again I will be a very happy pone. But really, aside from the gender swap, this body is actually marginally better than my old one. A little tougher, I can fucking fly, and I’m adorable as a kitten. ...I have been spending way too much time in this body. Why the fuck did I think that? By the Great Petunia, I will find a way back home before I lose myself to this body. I was done thinking and had started mentally humming the song Pika Girl when I heard voices and felt my ear twitch. Wait a second… I HEARD voices? I FELT my ear twitch. HOLY SHIT! It’s a fucking miracle! I tried opening my eyes. Nope, still nothing. I guess it was just my ears so far. “Hey, who’s that pony?” One voice said. Female. I recognized it as Sweetie Belle’s. Oh great, did the Cutie Mark Crusaders find me? Guess I better watch my mouth. If I could ACTUALLY FUCKING OPEN IT! “Ah dunno. Never seen her before. Is she asleep?” Another voice, this time Apple Bloom’s, said. Just one more. “Of course not! Who just sleeps in the middle of nowhere?” And there is Scootaloo. “Well Rainbow Dash likes to sleep in the middle of nowhere.” Sweetie Belle commented. “Pssh, she sleeps on clouds. In the sky. Duh.” Scootaloo defended. “Same difference. Anyway, should we wake her?” Apple Bloom asked her friends. There was a pause. I’m guess they nodded and tried to wake me, but I couldn’t feel their bodies touching mine. Then the pain in my side came back. Dammit! Don’t fucking kick there! OW! Fuck! “She’s not waking up. She looks like she’s in pain.” Sweetie Belle said worriedly. WELL NO FUCKING SHIT SHERLOCK! Of course I’m in pain! “Should we take her with us?” Apple Bloom asked. “No. Let’s take her back to the clubhouse. It’s closer.” Scootaloo answered. “Put her in the wagon. I’ll take her to the clubhouse. We’ll have to skip Twilight Time today.” Twilight Time? What the fuck is that? Is Twilight the ruler of this world and she devotes a time each day to praising her? If so, fuck me. Up the ass. With a FUCKING SPOON. I dunno when I was lifted onto Scootaloo’s wagon, or when I was brought to their clubhouse, but when I slowly started getting the feeling back in my body, I could feel a blanket over me. I tried opening my eyes again, and I got fucking blinded by the light I could finally see. Fucking finally. I got my senses back. My eyes scanned the room, and I could see Scootaloo with her back turned to me. I could also hear someone coming in from outside. I quickly shut my eyes again to feign sleeping as I heard the door open. “Oh, Twilight, you’re here. We just found this mare lying in the middle of the field. We couldn’t wake her up. Oh, and she was wearing this bag. I haven’t opened it yet.” Scootaloo explained. Oh great, the ruler of Twilightland was here. Fucking fantastic. “Well that was very responsible of you. And even more so to come right to me. Good job.” I heard Twilight say. Uuuuuugggggghhhhhhh, get this bitch away from me please. Right now Twilight is WORST pony. Followed by Skittles and that fucking asshat Stud Muffin. “Thanks Twilight!” The three said cheerfully at once. That kind of synchronization creeps me out. At least they didn’t get into my stuff? What did I have in my bag? There were a few bits… I think I borrowed a book from the RV... I didn’t put the phone or laptop in there… The note from Pinkie was in there… Oh shit! The note from Pinkie! If someone else reads that… I haven’t even fucking read it! Fucking buttsacks on ice. I better get up before they get into my shit. I took it slow. I slowly opened my eyes, let out a groan, and worked my stiff muscles. I did not go unnoticed. “Oh, she’s waking up!” I heard Twilight say. I stood up, fully opened my eyes, and winced in pain as my side once again started hurting like hellfire. Maybe something did break after all. Or Rainbow is just really good at inflicting pain. I held a foreleg to my side and sat down. “Owww…” Looking over, I saw Twilight and the Cutie Mark Crusaders staring at me. Though, there was something off about Twil-SHE HAS FUCKING WINGS!? “Are you okay? You look hurt.” Twilight said, stepping closer. I almost didn’t hear her. I was too preoccupied with the two additional limbs on her back. I did respond though. “I-it’s not that bad… Just took a nasty blow to the side. Some jerk gave me a good kicking.” I replied. “It won’t hurt for much longer, I hope.” I hope. Twilight stepped closer. “Well I have a little healing spell that should fix that pain in your side. Here, let me help.” Her horn lit up and I saw my side start to glow purple. Um, no. Since when has a magical shortcut ever worked? I jumped back. “No thank you Twilight. I’m quite resilient enough to let it fix itself.” I say that as I wince in pain once again. Eh, it’ll go away eventually. But I refuse to let Ms. Magical Backfire touch me. For some reason, I noticed her jump back a bit as well, a shocked look on her face. “That’s… very odd. I felt a tinge of residual magic on you. Felt… familiar…” Oh great, she’s getting suspicious. “I’ve never seen you around before. What brings you to Ponyville?” I shrugged. “Oh, I just kinda... fell in." I mentally booed myself for that joke. "Don’t really know what to do next. Hopefully find my friends.” It was the truth. Not the whole truth, but the truth. “Well… We can’t leave you here. And you’re gonna need rest if you want that pain in your side to heal up.” Oh no, I can see where this is going. I’m not staying with Twilight and that’s final. “So you can stay with me for a day or two. Just until you’re better.” How about no? Yeah, I’ll go with no. “Thanks for the offer Twilight, but I’ll pass. I’d rather not be a burden. I’ll walk it off.” I insisted. Nope, not falling under cliche fanfic trope #WhoGivesAFuck. Twilight frowned. “You wouldn’t be a burden. I have more than enough space and-how do you know my name?” She asked. “I overheard it when I was brought here. I wasn’t passed out. I was merely suffering from a strange case of sleep paralysis.” I answered. Once again, totes truthfully. “Oh. Well what do you mean by strange?” She pressed further. “I mean, I don’t know why I had it in the first place, or even where I was and what I was doing there.” That might make her suspicious though, but it’s the only answer I can provide. “Odd… I don’t usually hear about situations like this. Maybe it was problem with teleportation?” She suggested. “Let’s go with that. I’m not trusting that unicorn to send me anywhere again. Now I’m separated from my friends and I’d really like to find them again.” I stated, starting to stand up again. A spike in pain sent me back into a sitting position. I groaned in frustration. “Well that settles it. If you won’t accept magical treatment, you’re coming with me to rest.” Dammit, I don’t wanna go with her. It’s too clicheeeeeeee. I felt her magic lifting me up to put me on her back. “And thank you three for finding her.” She said to the CMC. “You’re welcome Twilight.” The three little rugrats said at once. Stilllllll fucking creepy. Twilight also levitated my bag, which is good. It wasn’t forgotten. So I just laid there like a pathetic wreck on Twilight’s back. Not my idea of a good time, let me tell you. Oh well, it gives me time to come up with a plan. As Twilight walked out of the clubhouse, she looked back at me. “You doing okay back there?” She asked politely. I sarcastically gave a reply. “Oh, great. Never friggin better.” Sarcasm was apparently not lost on the mare. “Well I’m only trying to help. What’s your name anyway? Sorry I didn’t ask before.” “Sunshine. Can I go now?” Twilight chuckled. “Oh come on. It won’t be that bad. I think you’re gonna love my friends. And it’s just for a day or two.” She insisted. “And the last few days have been quite long for me. Trust me, I don’t think we share the same views.” I snapped back. “What bugs me though is the residual magic I felt on you. It felt very familiar, like my own, but a bit different. Where are you from?” Oh fucking wonderful. She’s suspicious. Well, I had to come up with something. Should I just let the truth out? It would make things a bit easier on me. Or it could get me in a lot of trouble. I sighed. I’m not good at making up believable stories on the fly. “I’m from-” “Heeeeey Twiliiiiiight!” Oh thank the pizza lords above. Pinkie’s here. “I saw you walking and then I saw the pony on your back and-ohmygosh I just remembered! You gotta come with me and see Dashie’s new tricks! Comeoncomeoncomeoooooonnnnnn!” She started tugging on one of Twilight’s hooves. Twilight looked back at me. “I told you, I’m resilient. I’m good at walking off pain. Just go with her. I’ll be fine on my own.” I insisted. Again. Twilight sighed. “Fiiine… But I’ll come looking for you after this. Oh, and here’s your bag back.” She said, setting me and my bag down. I slowly stood up and strapped the bag to its rightful position. Never taking this fucker off again. Except when I sleep. Ignoring the pain in my side, I watched Pinkie lead Twilight down the road. I turned and noticed what looked like a fast food restaurant. Hmm… I did just eat… but it was only one slice. I might as well try true Equestrian food. Or as true as you can get with a burger joint. Well, it’s not true hamburgers. Probably hay or something. Walking inside, I noticed several ponies sitting at tables, and one standing in line. The one in line was a simple white pegasus with a black mane and tail, though the her eyes and the front of her mane were a striking red color. And she had a pinecone cutie mark. Odd. I stood in line behind her as she ordered, then she moved to the side for me to order. The cashier was wearing a silly looking uniform. Good thing I don’t work here. This uniform seriously clashes with my colors. “Welcome to Hayburger, home of the Hayburger. Can I take your order?” He asked for my order. I looked up at the menu and “hmm”ed softly. “I guess I’ll take a number two, plain.” I ordered. I was never one for condiments. The cashier nodded. “Okay, that’ll be ten bits please.” I nodded back and took ten bits from my bag and put them on the counter. “Alright Miss, your order number is 63. Please wait a few minutes while we prepare it.” Fucking hell, again? Even this world hates me. I stood beside the mare, and she looked at me. I awkwardly looked back. “Um, hi… I, uh… like your mane…” I said, probably sounding like an awkward antisocial person who has gone out for the first time in 2 years… That didn’t mean anything, I just threw that out there as a crazy comparison. I swear. She smiled. “Thanks. I like your mane too. It’s cute, in a sort of tomcoltish way.” She said back. Well, that’s the first time someone actually called me a tomcolt. I’ll fucking take it. I smiled back. “Thanks. I try to pull off the tomcolt look, but the universe conspires against me.” I said, feeling more confident talking now the ice has been theoretically broken. “I’m Sunshine, by the by… the by. Sunny for short.” The mare giggled. I dunno why. “Sunshine, eh? Doesn’t sound that tomcoltish to me.” Yeah, tell me about it. I blame Twilight. “My name is Starstreak. Star for short.” Star’s order came first, then mine. I decided to sit with her. If I’m going to be here for even a little while, might as well make a friend or two. “So… I’m kinda new here. Anything interesting you can tell me?” I asked. Hopefully I could get some sort of news, or even gossip. I needed something to work off of. Star shrugged. “I can’t say that much has happened really, ever since the whole Tirek fiasco. I will say this though. Twilight and the Mayor have been having disagreements over her new castle. The Mayor eventually stepped down and let the whole thing slide though.” Well that was a decent enough explana- “Wait, what castle? And who’s Tirek?” I probably sounded extremely stupid for asking, but at this point, who gives a fuck? NOT ME! Star gave me a confused look. “Were you living under a rock or did you bump your head? Ya know, the evil centaur that nearly drained Equestria dry of magic a while back? And how did you miss that big crystal castle just outside Ponyville? Look, you can see it from here.” She said, pointing out the window. I turned and saw the top of a big crystal castle… HOW THE FUCK DID I NOT SEE THAT SOONER!? “...Huh… Like I said, I’m pretty new here. Like, really new.” I said. I think I said too much, but I might as well admit to her the truth. Then I remembered something. “Oh, right. Food.” I chuckled and started eating. Honestly, I didn’t expect the food to be as good as it was. Oh well, it was delightful. Hooray for pony taste buds! Star continued giving me a confused look. “Where are you from then? Another world?” She asked, probably joking, but it’s nonetheless true. I nodded. “Pretty much. A whole other dimension actually.” I looked up at her. She just stared at me. “Um… Did I say something weird?” Of course I did. I just said I was from another fucking world! The look she gave me was odd and confused. I swear she was about to call me insane or something, even though I already kinda am insane. Then, all of a sudden, she jumped up and got really close to my face. “Wooooow! Really? What’s it like? Is it like our Equestria, or is it a land of Walruseseses?” She asked excitedly. Well at least I'm not the only nutjob around here. I politely booped her nose, pushing her muzzle away from mine lightly. “You know… You and Pinkie would get along nicely… But no, this world is very different to the one I come from. Though it’s a welcome change to not be running for my life anymore.” Hmm, perhaps Twilight was onto something. Oh right, the note! I’ve yet to read it. I got into my bag again and pulled out the note. I began to read it. Dear Sunshine, I know I’ve been hard on you these past couple days, but I want you to believe me when I say I’ve done everything in my power to spare you. Sending you to wherever you are now was an act of mercy. I wish I could have just sent you home, but something seems to be keeping me from doing so. Wait a few days, then find a way back. I’ll be waiting with more news. Show the note to the Twilight in that world. She’ll help you. If there isn't a Twilight in that world, my next best guess is to find her equivalent, such as a strong unicorn or somepony like that. Good luck. Sorry for doing this, Twilight Sparkle I sighed. Well that answers things, just not in a way I’d hoped. I looked at Star, still sitting across from me, eating, but at the same time, giving me a worried look. “Is something wrong?” She asked. I rolled the note back up and put it in my bag. “Not… well, yeah. Nothing has gone my way. First, I get dragged away from home and stuffed into this body, then I have to run for my life, now I’m trapped here. The physical changes I’ve gone through were bad enough, but I think I’m starting to slip mentally too. I’m honestly scared right now. Scared that I won’t be able to get back home before I lose myself to this stupid feminine form.” I opened my eyes, not realizing I closed them, or that I started crying again. “Dammit… I’m sorry you had to see me like this…” I wiped the tears from my eyes and looked up to see Star giving me a warm smile. “It’ll be okay Sunny. I’ll help in any way I can. Things’ll get better, you’ll see.” She sounded sincere. I couldn’t believe it. She supported me and believed me? Just like that? Are all ponies just so trusting? No, this was not the time to doubt friendship. I felt fresh tears start flowing and wiped them away. “Thanks… It means a lot to have someone to turn to.” I dunno why, but I felt like hugging her. I’m gonna chalk that one to the feminine part of me. Maybe she’s bi… Blah, why am I thinking about this? Bad thoughts! Go away! The rest of the meal went smoothly. I basically filled Star in on my adventures so far and she listened, occasionally asking a question about what or where something is. My favorite question was “What is a pizza?” to which my answer was “Best thing in existence.” She seemed eager to try it. Maybe I’ll find the ingredients to make some for her. I left the Hayburger with a full belly and a reasonably better mood. Star left with me. “So… want to come see my place? If you have nowhere else to stay, you can bed with me.” She offered. “I-I mean, sleep with me-gah, I mean sleep at my house. Like, on the couch or… something like that.” She added hastily, her cheeks as red as her eyes. I gave a very amused chuckle at her offer. “Sounds good. I’d much rather spend the night with you than Twilight.” I answered, which seemed to calm the mare down and cheer her up. “Speaking of which…” I added, noticing the purple pony princess coming back this way. Twilight walked right up to me. “So, is your side still bothering you? And who is this?” She asked, motioning to Starstreak. “This is a friend I made while in that Hayburger place. I’ll be staying with her. But we’re not done yet. I’m gonna need to check the library later.” I said. Twilight looked saddened at the mention of the library. “The library was destroyed some time ago.” “Oh, um… I’m sorry to hear that… So… You got any books in that castle of yours?” I asked carefully. Didn’t want to upset her further. She seemed to shake off the sadness and nodded. “Yeah, follow me.” She started walking towards the big castle. Star and I followed closely behind. As we got closer to the castle I started to take in its full… well, it’d be stupid to say glory. It’s a major eyesore. Looks kinda like a tree though. A weird, crystal-y eyesore-ish tree… “So, what kinda book are you interested in looking for?” I heard Twilight ask me. I diverted my attention from the castle back to it’s owner. “Well… How do I put this? Theories on dimensional travel.” Twilight stopped dead in her tracks. “Dimensional travel? But…” I could almost see the gears in her head turning. “Are you…? No… But that would explain… Was that my own magic I felt? It couldn’t have been.” Okay, now I think I see smoke coming out. You’re thinking about it too hard Sparkle. “But what if…” Her thoughts were halted as I took the note and threw it in her face. “Read it.” I said simply. Twilight took the note and read it, quietly mumbling as she did so. About halfway through, her eyes widened and her jaw dropped. I swear some of those gears exploded. “So… does that answer your question?” I deadpanned. Twilight took a deep breath to try and calm herself before she answered. “Yes… I think that explains it… just fine.” She floated the note back to me. “So… I don’t think I have any books on that subject. However, I have something I think you might like. Come on.” She once again started walking, with my new friend and I following. Once we reached the inside of the castle, I felt a sense of magical castle being bigger on the inside. I don’t know what could have sparked that. Perhaps it’s the GIANT FUCKING HALLWAY with windows that I’m pretty sure don’t even show anything outside. Taking a look through one of the windows, all I could see was white. Yep, these windows are bullshit. I turned to Twilight. “You know these windows don’t work, right?” I asked. She seemed to pause. “Really? I never noticed. I haven’t had this place for very long. It just kinda appeared.” Um, what? “Appeared? Like how? I don’t get it.” So I was then given a ten minute lecture on her recent adventures. Something about keys and a box, and the box gave her and her friends some sort of power. Rainbows must have been involved. Rainbows are always involved. She brought up this Tirek fucker again. Some fucktard centaur planning global domination. Like that always works out. So apparently the box magically gave her the castle. So, at the end of it, I was given a very unneeded lecture that probably just gave her ego a little boost. “You know, all that could have been summed up with ‘it’s magic, bitch. Deal with it.’” I deadpanned. Twilight gave me a deadpan back. “Was the swear really necessary?” I smiled and nodded. “Yep. I held it in around the fillies and I’ll hold it in around any other younglings, but all I see around me are grown mares.” Let the lesbian orgy commence! I would have been brutally beaten if I said that last bit out loud. Let’s keep it a closet fantasy for now. I chuckled as Twilight groaned and rolled her eyes. “Fine, just hold it in around my friends too. Especially Spike and Fluttershy.” She warned. I shrugged and hovered over her head. “Whatever you say, Princess Naggyplot.” I said, giving her nose a boop and chuckling as she scrunches it in frustration. Starstreak gave a giggle as well. Continuing to follow Twilight, we reached a room that reminded me of the Round Table. Just… without the table. Six thrones sat around nothing in a circle, each with one of Twilight’s friends cutie marks, as well as twilight herself. There was also a smaller throne next to Twilight’s throne, most likely for Spike. I hovered above the circle of thrones and sat on Rainbow’s, looking to Twilight. “So what do you have to show me? Is this it? Because it’s cool, but not what I’m looking for.” The alicorn shook her head. “No, it’s down this way.” She moved on into another hall, where once again we followed. Another walk ensued, and we found some stairs. My old nemesis. We meet again. Of course I still had my wings, so I beat the stairs. There weren’t that many stairs, so it was a small victory. But it is still a victory nonetheless, so I took pride in it. At the bottom of the stairs was a smaller room that contained a mirror hooked up to a rather large and very contrived-looking contraption. It just kinda left me baffled at why this is here and what purpose it serves… unless… “Is that a portal generator?” Twilight smiled at my deduction. “Close, but not quite, though you’re clever for figuring that much out. The mirror here is a portal to another world, but it only opens every… 30 moons, I think? Somewhere around there. I have it written down somewhere around here. Anyway, using this, I’m able to jump start the portal to activate when I want to.” She explained, then went into another ten minute lecture on the complicated arcane sciences involved with it, in which at the end of it I swear I heard a slightly altered version of the Pythagorean Theorem. What I find more surprising though is the fact that I actually noticed that. Holy shit they do teach you things in school. Star’s head was reeling and her gears were in overload by the end of the lecture, but since I didn’t try overthinking it and only payed attention to the important bits, I managed to piece some of the lecture together. Apparently she has a phone book which is connected to an identical book in the other world, and she uses that to establish a connection. But since the mirror leads to that world anyway, I don’t suppose it can be used for free travel. “So you can only make a portal to that one dimension… What if you could make a new portal generator?” Twilight seemed to think it over. “It could work, if you got something I could get a signal to the other world to as well as a portal exit coordinates so it doesn’t end up in a random location.” she said. Hmm, I could see a problem there. I’d hate to end up in Australia, or Gaben forbid, North Korea. It would be a pain in the ass to get home then. “I dunno about that, but I have quite a few things from the other dimension you could probably use. My bag, the note, a book, or the phone I got.” I replied. I dunno if it was possible to get a connection back with these items, but if anyone could do it, Twilight could. She gave it some more thought. “I suppose I could try and make one over the course of the next few days. The note said you had time to find a way back, so I don’t think there is any rush. Yeah, I think we can do this. No problem.” That was good news. So I wasn’t stuck here and Twilight’s instincts were right. Not Princess Sparklebutt over here, the other Twilight, working for Führer Sunbutt. I smiled. Things were looking okay for once. “Great. So I’ll leave that to the expert then. I’d like to see this home of your’s, Star.” I said, turning to my new friend, who nodded. With that said and done, we left Twilight’s castle of eyesores behind, possibly until tomorrow. After Ceru and Charcoal went through the portal, they expected to find Sunny within minutes, if not hours. Sadly for them, they weren’t so lucky. They were luckier than Sunny in that they weren’t paralyzed upon exit, but for some reason they were sent far from where Sunny was: all the way to Canterlot. So they spent an hour looking around the nearby streets and buildings in case she did end up there, but they figured searching around a city the size of Canterlot was a lost cause if they didn’t have a lead. “It’s hopeless. Canterlot is just too big to find her.” Ceru complained, shuffling her hoof on the cobblestone. Charcoal shook her head. “It’s not hopeless. We just need to rethink our strategy. Let’s find somewhere to take a break. You know anywhere we could stop and rest?” She asked. Ceru nodded. “I used to visit this donut shop nearby. We can break there.” She led Charcoal down a couple streets until found a shop run by a Donut Joe. Entering the place, they took a seat at a table as Donut Joe approached them. “Good afternoon ladies. What can I get ya?” He asked politely. Ceru and Charcoal looked at each other, then back at Joe. “A glazed donut for both of us please.” Charcoal requested. Joe nodded and gave them both their donut. Charcoal paid for the donuts and Joe left them to talk. Ceru picked up the donut and nibbled on it, feeling a little better. “So, what’s the plan from here?” She asked. Charcoal nudged her glasses up a bit. “I say we continue looking around, ask some locals, and if we still can’t find her, find a cheap place to stay for the night.” She suggested. Ceru nodded. “Sounds like a plan.” She continued nibbling on the donut. “I do have a spare room you can rent for the night.” Donut Joe intervened from across the counter. “Sorry for listening in. It’s been slow today, and you’re the only ones here right now. So what was that about finding somepony?” He inquired. “We’re looking for a friend.” Charcoal answered. “We think she is in Canterlot. Yellow pegasus. Sun cutie mark. Sound familiar?” Joe shook his head. “Can’t say I do, ma’am.” The black pegasus mare sighed. “Okay, thanks anyway. And we might take that offer of yours.” “Okay. I close at 10. Come by just before then.” Joe said, then went back to whatever he was doing. “Say… what if Sunny isn’t in Canterlot at all? What if she ended up somewhere else?” Ceru wondered. “And what if she didn't?” Charcoal countered. “We can’t be sure until we know for sure. But if we don’t find her by the end of tomorrow, we’ll try looking for her in Ponyville next. That’s the next best location.” She looked at Ceru, who had just finished eating her donut. “This has been on my mind for a while. Ever since we got here, in fact. Before you broke Twilight’s shield, you said you weren’t an earth pony. What are you then, a unicorn?” She asked. Ceru sighed. “I knew that was gonna be brought up sooner or later.” She used her hooves to part her mane to reveal the smallest stump of a horn possible. “I lost my horn years ago. I know they say horns are supposed to grow back, but mine never did. Though, instead of losing my magic, I can now channel it with my hooves.” She explained. “But your magic is unstable because you don’t have a proper channel for it. It just kinda flows through your body to your hooves instead of going right to the horn huh?” Charcoal questioned further. Ceru nodded. “Exactly.” She looked at the donut Charcoal still had in her hoof. “You gonna eat that?” Charcoal let out a soft chuckle. “Yeah, sorry.” She said, eating her donut. When she was done, she got out of her chair. “Alright. Let’s go back out there.” She turned to Joe. “Thanks for everything. We’ll be back tonight.” Donut Joe watched the two mares leave, somewhat confused by their conversation. “It never gets boring around here, at least…”