//------------------------------// // Making Lists // Story: Just SMU and me // by ErraticOverlord //------------------------------// I feel much better after getting something to eat, and I finally head back to the library after continued assurances to my friends that I was alright. I'm vaguely aware of Spike traveling alongside me, but at present I'm focused more on the odd things that have been happening. I make a mental note to make a checklist later, but for now I need to compile what I know. First, there's the hospital. The setup was too harsh to be any normal hospital, then I was moved to the one in Ponyville without being told, why? I need to see what I can find out about Doctor Synapse; he's the only link I have to that other hospital, the room I woke up in. Second, there's Rainbow Dash. She was the first to find me after my accident and took me to the hospital, but she isn't here now. I need to talk to her about the state she found me in, see if anything she can remember can help shed some light on what happened. Besides that, I need to find out why she's in Las Pegasus. She must have left sometime in the four weeks between dropping me at the hospital and my getting out. I need to talk to her, soon. Third, there's the questions I was asking before my accident. They could be unrelated, but it seems too coincidental that it all happened at the same time. If I was asking these questions trying to find something specific, I would have kept notes on it. I find the notes and I find the answers. Maybe this should be my top priority. Fourth, there's the out of place book. It seems useless, but there must be a reason it was in the wrong place; I wouldn't do that unless I knew I'd need to find it later. Maybe this has something else to do with Rainbow Dash, and that's why she left. No, I'm grasping at straws, I need to focus. Finally, the biggest strange thing of all, my Supplementary Memory Unit. This is the most important thing to figure out of all. Primarily, I need to figure out exactly what it is, who put it in there, and why. I can't shake the feeling that I'm missing something important in the list, but I shake it off as more idle paranoia. If it really is something important, I'm sure I'll remember it later. I focus on the biggest question, first. SMU? Yes, Princess? Do you know who designed you? My creator was a collaboration between Princess Luna and a number of her personal advisors. The advisors in question were all experts in matters of the mind, physical and magical, and numbered a total of four different races. The Princess decided that the more race diversity there was in the project, the more unique point of views would be provided. Did Princess Luna decide to design you on her own? Unknown if the project was commissioned or for private benefit. Okay, that doesn't work. What about this: what were the four different races involved in your design? Pony, Buffalo, Changeling, and Draconequiss. Draconequiss? Discord? The individual identities of the participants are unknown. How did Princess Luna get access to Changeling advisors? Unknown. The more you don't know, the more I think that's on purpose. Understood. Yeah, I got that. Spike and I make it to the library and I suddenly get the impression that Spike's been staring at me for the entire walk over. "Is there something wrong, Spike?" He crosses his arms. "I was about to ask you the same thing. Come on, Twilight, you haven't said a thing since we left Sugarcube Corner." I smile. "Thanks for being concerned, Spike. I'm mostly just trying to figure things out." Spike doesn't look satisfied, but he drops it anyway. I mentally add investigating Luna's project to my list. Ponies and Buffalo, I can understand, but Discord and Changelings? I get the feeling only Princess Luna can tell me exactly what SMU is. The only question is, will she? The question comes down to how much of these problems are problems, and how much is paranoia. If something is wrong, if Princess Luna is doing something wrong, asking her about it will only let her know I'm investigating. On the other hoof, if nothing's wrong, or Princess Luna isn't a part of it, finding out more about what SMU is will give me the information I need to get me on the right track or lay my worries to rest. I can hear Spike putting on another pot of tea, so I take a slight break in my ruminations. I look around the almost familiar library. Earlier, I had only been here a few minutes and I'd been with my friends. Now, though, I can tell where everything's changed. I've gotten new books, I can see them in their places on the shelves, but besides that, I can also see missing books. Most of the missing books were probably checked out. This is a library, ponies check out books all the time. But, there's something wrong with some of these missing books. Ponyville is a small town, one founded and mostly populated by earth ponies. The unicorns in town generally have other interests and talents than magic, most unicorns who do have an interest in magic go to Canterlot. Canterlot hosts one of the best magic schools in all of Equestria, the palace Archive, and the Archmage's quarters as well. But in Ponyville, the only pony who's interested in most forms of higher magic is me, but some of these checked out books are very advanced. This boils down into three possibilities: the first one, some of the ponies in Ponyville checked out these books because they're genuinely interested in the information contained. I have lost a lot of time, so it could be that new ponies interested in magic moved in, or a pony I already know became interested in magic. The second possibility is that I was reading these books, myself, and I haven't finished them so I didn't put them back on the shelf. The third possibility is that for some reason these books were stolen, perhaps even by my attacker. The most likely option is the second one, I read books on magic all the time and I rarely put them back before I'm done with them. Second most likely is that some ponies in town checked them out because they'd suddenly become interested. The third possibility is by far the least likely, yet it's still a possibility, I can't discount it. Spike walks in with the tea. I grasp the pot with my magic and start to pour it, the teapot shakes and falls out of my telekinetic grip. I sigh and rub the bridge between my eyes. "I'm sorry, Spike, I forgot that my magic probably atrophied. I'll clean it up." He shakes his head. "Don't worry about it, Twilight, you really need to take it easy. This hospital business really has you shaken up. What happened that has you so worried?" He's too good to me. "Really, Spike, I'm probably just worrying over nothing. Do you know where the books I was reading are? I'd like to look at some of them before I turn in." It's not a lie. Everything I said was one hundred percent accurate, technically. He grins, visibly relieved. "Sure thing, Twilight. I'm glad you're feeling better." He takes two steps toward the stairs, then stops, lifting a claw up to scratch the back of his head. "Actually, I kinda forgot you told me to hide some books you were working on, so it's gonna take a bit to get them. I'll head out for them in the morning, but right now it's pretty late. Do you want me to get some other book from the library?" Why would I tell Spike to hide my books? Unknown. I wasn't asking you. I think for a minute. "Blue Sky's Guide To Pegasus Flight, my faithful assistant, and some tea. I'll, uh, I'll let you pour it this time," I say, blushing. He nods and goes off to do his assigned tasks while I head for the stairs up to my bedroom. I expect for things to be as surreal and slightly out of place as everywhere else, but, to my surprise, my bedroom is exactly the same as I left it. Well, thank Celestia for small favors, anyway. It'll be nice to do some reading in a familiar place. Spike comes upstairs with the tea and the book and sets it down next to me, falling over onto his bed and falling asleep instantly. With much difficulty, I use my magic to open the book to the bookmarked page again. I study it for a while. Why would I bookmark this page on pegasus magic? SMU, what do you know about the way pegasi fly? Pegasi normally glide using natural air currents found all around Equestria. When there are no air currents, or the pegasus in question wants to fly faster, they release magic into the air and burn it as a means of propulsion. Burn it? Like a firework? Similar. So, this burning, does it create a trail behind the pegasus? Not always, but if enough magic is burnt this way a trail can occur. What if a pegasus released and burnt a lot of magic at the same time? What would happen? I ask this, but I think I already know the answer. Similar to a firework, there would be an explosion, speeding the pegasus far beyond normal air travel speeds. This would require a severely high amount of magic to do, however, as magic would need to be released for speed to build up before the explosion, so it does not tear the pegasus apart, then the explosion itself would require additional stores. How powerful would you say such a pegasus would theoretically be? Their power would be roughly comparable to Princess Miamore Cadenza. Cadence? Is this just pegasus magic? Negative. Total magic. I shut the book. So that means Rainbow Dash, and her Sonic Rainboom are as powerful as an alicorn? How? Why? Hang on, she was supposed to have done a Sonic Rainboom as a filly, how could nopony tell her about this? How could she not have been recruited by the Wonderbolts or even Princess Celestia? I rub the sides of my head, where a splitting ache now resides. I reach a hoof over and take a sip of my tea, spying a little slip of paper coming out of Sky's Guide. I take it and hold it in front of me. What's this? 'C U V C B Z R A N', it reads in tidy black letters. It's drawn by hoof, but every shape is meticulous, without error, except for the second 'C', being smudged. Some kind of code? I tuck the piece of paper back in the book and put the book on the nightstand next to my bed. I'll have to solve it tomorrow. Tonight, I sleep. I try to listen for SMU's snores, again, for a while. But when I don't hear them, eventually I give up and slowly drift to sleep. My last thoughts before I'm fully asleep are this: Oh, yeah. I remember what the last thing I should investigate is, the thing I forgot earlier. I should find out why I didn't use my magic to protect myself from a pony wielding a chair leg. I yawn. That's weird.