Lessons from Another Dimension

by HolyOrdersOtaku

Chapter 2: Lesson One Starts

Chapter 2: Lesson One Starts

I’m sick of the same thing [same thing], some thing’s wasted every day. I’m making some changes [changes], changing everything I know.

Twilight tried her hardest to hide her excitement. Nopony in all of Equestria could have tried anywhere near as hard as she was right now. If Rainbow Dash could even think about trying this hard the Wonderbolts would recruit her in a heartbeat. Twilight tried so hard that she would have been given three medals, two trophies, and a promotion from great unicorn to Holy-Crap-Why-Aren’t-We-Worshiping-This-Mare status if she were succeeding. She was not.

Bass, in turn, tried his hardest to ignore the awkward air that Twilight was unintentionally giving off as they rode the train towards Ponyville. Needless to say, he too was failing. Miserably so, actually. “Ahem,” he cleared his throat. “Could you, you know, not stare into my soul right now?”

“Oh!” Twilight exclaimed. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to stare. I was just thinking about what Celestia said.”

“Yeah, I heard. We were both there,” he said somewhat coldly.

Twilight was put off by this statement (which was most likely his intent), but she held her tounge. Bass sighed.

“Yeah,” he said. “I know, that was rude. I apologize. For all of my rudeness, actually. I’m usually much more polite and well mannered.”

“Why should now be any different?” Twilight asked.

“Everything is just as it should be with you, but for me I’m in a completely different boat. I’m not even sure if this boat floats at the moment, or if I’m just blessed to be in really shallow water.”

Twilight smiled. “While I understand what you mean, that was quite poetic. You’re using metaphor to refer to being on an alien world.”

Bass looked at her with slight surprise. “I’m impressed. Most people I talk to don’t know what the hell I’m saying because they don’t understand my choice of words.”

She blushed. “Well, I’m actually quite well read. I like to read virtually any book I can get my hands on.”

“That explains it then,” Bass said with a smile. “We’re both bookworms.”

Twilight clapped her hooves together in excitement. “Well, there’s one thing we can talk about at least.” Then a thought struck her. “Wait, aren’t you a musician?”

“Not really. I just like to play bass guitar. I’m not professional. Never even considered going pro.”

“But you’re cutie mark says that it’s your special talent. Surely you must be good at it.”

Bass gave her a quick look, then stared out the window. “Lesson Number One: My world and your world are miles apart in social structure. This whole ‘special talent’ thing has potential to get you somewhere in life back in my world. Just because someone is a fantastic painter doesn’t mean they’re going to become a billionaire from it. In fact, my world focuses more on practicality. It’s advisable to find a career in something you like doing so it doesn’t feel like a dead end job, but it should still be something productive that makes money so you can live properly.” He looked back at her and was surprised to see a pad of paper and a pen floating nearby covered in a purple aura. The pen was writing down every word he said. He couldn’t help but smile, as he found the sight somewhat humorous.

“Give me an example. What do you do for a living?” she asked.

“Well, I’m actually a university student, so I take whatever jobs I can get during the off time in the summer before going back to school in the fall. Last summer I worked in manufacturing, and this summer I was working a public government job.”

“What kind of government job? Were you an office assistant or something?”

Bass laughed. “I like to read well enough, but I can only take so much non-fiction. I prefer reading stories. No, I worked for the street department of my town. My job was to keep the town clean and to repair the street, street signs, and street lights. Manual labor, of course, but it was alright.”

Twilight jotted down all of what he just said. “You hinted that it was advisable to find a career in something you like to do. Why haven’t you done that yet?”

“Actually, I technically have. I’m just not working it yet. That’s the point of university. It isn’t just a place for you to learn for fun, you know. You pick a major, study that field, and find a job in said field. Like me, for example. Even though my ‘special talent’ is playing the bass guitar, I’d be more likely to be hired if I was a teacher, so I’m studying to teach literature.”

Twilight blushed. “Yeah, that’s about like universities here. I honestly don’t know what I expected to hear as an answer.”

Bass shrugged. He looked to the seat beside Twilight. Sleeping soundly was the little dragon called Spike. “So, now it’s my turn to ask a question. I’ll keep them simple for now. Question one: what’s his story?” He motioned towards Spike.

“Oh, him? He’s my assistant. He’s also kind of like a little brother, actually. It was my magic that made his egg hatch, and I’ve taken care of him ever since.” Twilight beamed with pride.

“You caused him to hatch? Why didn’t he hatch on his own?”

“From what little we know about dragons, because most of them don’t live in pony populated areas, I’d wager that something has to happen to make a dragon hatch. All dragons are born with an innate form of magic, so I assume that’s how most of them are born under their own society. Spike’s egg was found abandoned long before I was born.”

Bass smiled. “I think it’s an insult to call yourself his sister,” he casually said, trying to sound rude.

And it worked. “Hey, now! You’ve only been here for a day! How dare you mock me and Spike!”

He laughed. “I did not finish my point, Ms. Sparkle.” Twilight was taken aback by the formality of the statement. “I have an older sister. I understand one hundred percent how the relationship between big sister and little brother functions, and what it looks like. You may not realize it, but every action you take with Spike there, whether it's minute or major, gives off an aura of care and love that is far too great to be that of an elder sister. That’s what I like to call motherhood.”

“M-motherhood?!” She asked, shocked. “H-how could you even get that vibe? You’ve barely seen me act in any particular way with him?”

“There’s a reason I chose to study literature, Twilight. Not only do I like to read, but I also write. It’s to my benefit to understand and notice even the simplest of actions and mannerisms. Without that ability, I couldn’t write any characters.”
Twilight was lost for words. Bass continued, “For example; Let’s say I was to write a romance novel. Let’s call our hero Mark, and our heroine Lindsey. Mark and Lindsey love each other. Some things happen. The End. What’s wrong with that statement?”

She placed a hoof on her chin to think. “There wasn’t a story, nor was there any character to it. It was just a statement of fact about Mark and Lindsey.”

“Exactly. Now, let’s change it around a little bit,” Bass cleared his throat. He began to speak in a dramatic voice. “Mark stared intently into Lindsey’s deep sea blue eyes. Within their dark pools he could see his own grass green eyes reflecting back at him, though darkened by her eye color. She stared right back at him, unsure of what to say. The events of the last week had scarred both of them, literally and figuratively, and moments ago she was uncertain that anything could work out between them ever again. But now, as she stared into Mark’s caring eyes, she knew she was a fool to believe such a thing. ‘I love you,’ he said to her. ‘I love you, too,’ she replied. The pair embraced in an amazing, romantic kiss as the sun set. The End.”

Twilight stared blankly at him. “There is no way you came up with all of that on the spot,” she said.

“As a matter of fact, I did. So, what did you infer from that?” he asked.

“Well,” Twilight began. “They’ve been through many trials. Their bodies have been injured, and so have their hearts, but they still believe in each other enough to stick together. We know that they care deeply for one another. But I still don’t get your point.”

“Through minor descriptive terms, such as actions, colors, or moods, we can detect and understand different subliminal messages. Without knowing exactly what they’ve been through, we still know that they’ve gone through a lot. That is the way I see the relationship between you and that dragon of yours. Minor actions speak volumes, Twilight.”

Twilight quickly wrote down everything that he had just finished saying, and read back over it several times to try to remember it. “I think I’m going to enjoy this far more than I should, Bass. I can’t wait to introduce you to my friends.”

“Your what now?” Bass said, somewhat surprised.

“Surely you don’t think I can’t make friends?” she asked, teasing.

“Oh, hell!” Bass exclaimed. “More people I have to explain my situation too. I’d rather not advertise that I don’t know a thing about this world.”

Twilight winced. She took another note, mentioning Bass’s excessive usage of profanity as a potential public problem. “Well, I’m sure they won’t mind. Except, Pinkie Pie will want to throw you a massive ‘Welcome to Equestria’ party, I’m sure.”

“Oh sweet salty Christ no,” he said swiftly.

“Sweet salty what now?”

“Uh, nothing,” he replied. An idea came to him then. “Twilight, how good of an actress are you?”

“I’m not bad. I was in the Hearth Warming Eve play in Canterlot for the third year in a row. I often get told how well I play my role. Why do you ask?”

“Among my many talents, I’m not a terrible actor. I mean, I’m not great, but I could be a lot worse. I specialize in improvisation. I don’t know what my story will be, but whatever I come up with to explain my presence, I want you to roll with it, okay?”

“Well, we do have a music festival coming to Canterlot soon,” Twilight said. “I could say that you’re a friend of my brother’s who decided to stay in Ponyville for the coming weeks until the festival arrives. We could say that you’re in a band or something.”

Bass rubbed his chin with his left hoof. “I like it. Although, there are two major flaws in that statement. Actually, make that three. One: I don’t have my bass. Two: I don’t have a band. And Three: I don’t know how to play bass with these!” He waved his hooves about.

“Hmm,” Twilight thought. “Well, we don’t have much time to plan out a skit for your cover story. You better just take that scenario and modify it as you see fit. You said you were good at improvising.”

“How much longer do we have?” Bass asked.

The sound of metal grinding on metal came, and the conductor yelled out, “All stop! Next stop; Ponyville!”

“About that long,” Twilight said with a nervous smile. “Better think fast.”

Bass facehoofed, having forgotten that he even had hooves, and therefore bruised his forehead by hitting it too hard. “This is gonna be a long day.”