Lessons from Another Dimension

by HolyOrdersOtaku

Chapter 5: Monstrous Appetite

Chapter 5: Monstrous Appetite

Your magic white rabbit has left its writing on the wall. We follow, like Alice, and just keep diving down the hole. We’re falling and we’re losing control. You’re pulling us, dragging us down this dead end road.

Bass could almost actually hear the awkwardness in the room for a few minutes, but as time went onward the air returned to normal and the eight, which included Spike, just had a good time. Bass learned a few more things about Equestria, such as the economy to a certain degree. He was terrible at math, so he didn’t want to even think about comparing the bit to the dollar back home, but seeing as how it was made of gold he wagered it was worth a bit more than a dollar. He laughed internally at his unintentional pun.

He also learned about the weather. Back home he found the weather to be fascinating as nature rampaged uncontrollable or sat idly by while the heat of Sol warmed the Earth in comfort. When he was little, he used to be afraid of storms and such, but one day (and he doesn’t really remember why) he decided he would step outside onto his front porch and watch the storm rampage. He remembered feeling calm, even a trace amount of serenity and inner peace. While the wind blew and the lightning struck, he felt he was seeing something incredible. And it was through the rough Rainbow Dash that he learned, by sheer accident really, that the weather in Equestria was boring and uninteresting by his standards. That conversation went a little like this:

“Rainbow, shouldn’t you be home right now? You have a busy day tomorrow, don’t you?” Rarity asked in that posh voice of hers. Bass felt he was wearing that word out, but he still liked it.

“Nah, the boss is on vacation this week, so I’m in charge until he gets back. That means everyone else is doing the hard work,” Rainbow Dash replied. Bass cocked an eyebrow, thinking that she sounded a little irresponsible to be an Assistant Manager. Or, at least, that’s what he assumed her role was for her work…whatever it may be.

“But isn’t tomorrow supposed to be the first major storm of the year now that winter is over; the first big rain to replenish all the water reservoirs for the farmponies and such?”

“Well, yeah, but all I have to do is tell them where to put the clouds while I sit back and watch. I won’t have to actually get directly involved unless something goes wrong. Like, if we were to have an unexpected tornado because one the newbies screwed up, then I would step in. Otherwise, I’m supervising.”

Bass was trying to figure out what her job must have been, but the cloud moving and a tornado occurring due to a mistake threw him for a loop. “I’m sorry, miss Dash,” he said, jumping into his polite speech again. “What exactly do you do for a living?”

“I’m a weatherpony. We make it rain, storm, snow, and occasionally hail if the situation calls for it. Tornadoes are a required occurrence on a rare occasion, but that’s only about once a year at best that we do that, and we tend to keep them under control…most of the time.”

Applejack glared at Rainbow as she finished that statement. “Ya need ta keep ‘em under control all the time. We had ta rebuild the barn over a year ago because of you, remember?”

Rainbow groaned. “I said I was sorry, didn’t I? Besides, what’s it matter? You rebuild that barn at least twice a year!”

“Because it keeps getting destroyed!”

“You asked me to destroy it last time, remember? Sonic Rain Nuke ring a bell?”

“That’s not what Ah’m talking about!”

“OKAY!” Bass exclaimed. “I think we’re getting a little side tracked, don’t you?” The two mares nodded. “Okay. Next question: why the hell do you need to control the weather? Shouldn’t the weather do its own thing?”

Rainbow shook her head. “Only in the Everfree Forest does the weather occur on its own. Everywhere else we have to make it happen, otherwise it won’t happen. Get it?”

“Uh huh…that’s insane. Back on Earth the weather just happens. We may have a really wet rainy season, or a very bad drought, and there will be nothing we can do about it. Sometimes we think we know what it will do but then it’ll surprise us.”

“Wait, so your home is like the Everfree? Does that mean its full of trees and wild animals too?” Twilight asked.

“No, actually. Er, well, yes and no. That’s a tad complicated to answer. You see, there are seven continents on my world. I’m from a continent called North America. The Americas, which are North and South, weren’t discovered until about six hundred years ago, and we have history that dates back over six thousand years or more, and that’s just the recorded history. God knows what there was before that. Anyway, Europe, Africa, and Asia were pretty well populated and still had wild areas that weren’t inhabited, but then the Americas were discovered. Of the native people that actually lived there before they were discovered, very few build permanent residence, so the majority of both land massed, which stretched almost perfectly from the North Pole to the South Pole, was wild and unexplored,” Bass replied.

“But it’s not now?” Twilight asked.

“No. I say that with both regret and thankfulness. Most of it has been destroyed in the last two hundred years to make way for a growing nation. Now, the country I live in makes up half of North America, and very little of it is wilderness. There are a few places that are fenced off and protected by the government to allow the wild animals to live in peace away from civilization, but even those aren’t completely safe from hunters, both legal and illegal.”

“Hunters?” Fluttershy asked. “You hunt and kill animals?” Under the fear in her voice, Bass could have sworn the he sensed disgust.

Shit, he thought. I shouldn’t have said that. “Well,” he said. “You see, we, uh…” He realized there was no other way around it, so he decided to jump straight into the meat and potatoes of the problem. “Listen, I didn’t want to tell you this because of what you are, but this is a problem I will have to face here eventually. My kind doesn’t survive on fruit and vegetables alone. Our bodies are different than most creatures on my world. Yes, we do need fruit and vegetables, but they only provide half of what we need to keep our bodies functioning. We also eat meat.”

He could feel the eyes on him now. Rarity cleared her throat. “So, that’s why…”

“Why I made that cheesy joke about my question being classified? Yes.”

Of all of the ponies gazes, he felt Fluttershy’s the most. He looked at her and saw not what he expected. He expected disgust and contempt; instead he saw curiosity and compassion, and maybe even a hint of pity. “You’re species is a race of omnivores, then?” she asked. He nodded. She smiled. “Nature is so fascinating, isn’t it?” she asked the others.

“Uh, Flutters? He just admitted to having eaten other animals. Doesn’t that bother ya?” Applejack asked.

“Oh, normally yes. But, he wasn’t originally a pony, and so his biology was once completely different. What his body needed when he was a human is only natural to him. It’s not that he’s evil or a monster, but he simply needed meat in addition to fruits and vegetables to survive.”

Twilight couldn’t help but agree it would seem, and so she turned to Bass. “Did everypony…”

“Everyone, actually. We aren’t ponies on my world, remember.” Bass corrected.
Twilight blushed in embarrassment of her mistake. “Did everyone eat the same foods?”

Bass shook his head. “Before I go into detail for that answer, do you really want to know my diet?”

“Well,” Twilight started. “First, a simple yes or no question: did you eat pony meat? You seemed to imply that ponies exist on your world, or at least similar creatures.”

Bass winced at the question. “Me specifically: no. My country: not that I am aware of. Anywhere else in the world: It all depends on where you go. Some do, most don’t, and not for any particular reason other than there are other meats available. That or pony is an acquired taste. I don’t know. Haven’t eaten any myself, nor have I ever really wanted to. After this experience, if I can go home, I will never touch pony meat.”

Twilight shivered. “Not exactly the answer I was hoping for, but oh well.” She looked at the others. “Do you girls want to know?”

Rainbow shrugged. “I’m okay with him eating meat in his other body. It doesn’t bother me. Remember, I was friends with Gilda. Need I remind you that she’s a griffon. They eat only meat for their primary diet.”

Flutteshy shook her head. “It doesn’t bother me, but I think I would rather have that conversation with him in private so I can understand his species more. But, um, that’s only if you want to.”

“Well, Ah’m good,” Applejack said. “Ah suppose Ah can’t really judge him for how his body works, but Ah’ve heard enough to suit me just fine.”

Pinkie shrugged. “Meh, I don’t really care.”

Rarity shook her head. “I think I’ll pass. I’m sorry if I find the thought of eating another living creature distasteful, but I would rather not hear about his meaty exploits.”

“Well, I don’t care if the votes are outnumbered, due to Applejack and Rarity not wanting to know, I will not disclose the information at present. However,” he turned to Fluttershy. “If you really want to know, then we’ll set up a time to discuss it.”

“Fluttershy nodded excitedly. “Oh, yes, that would be wonderful. I just have one question: when you turned into a pony, did your bodily needs also switch over?”

Bass shrugged. “I don’t know if that would be psychological or physical really. I mean, my body’s needs may have changed, but I’ll go ahead and admit that my head still wants me to have meat.”

“Hmm,” Fluttershy said. “I’m sorry for asking, but may I have a peek inside your mouth? I mean, I totally understand if you don’t want me to, and I don’t want to force you into anything…”

Bass interrupted her. “Go ahead. “I’ve got nothing to hide at this point.” He scooted closer to where she was seated and said, “Aaaaaaaaah!” His mouth was open.

Fluttershy put a hoof on her chin as she inspected his teeth. Her eyes seemed to go wide for a split second, but the sight quickly vanished as she regained her composure; Bass may have been the only on to notice. “You’re teeth look normal enough,” she said. “We can have our chat tomorrow if that’s okay with you.”

He closed his mouth. Normal, eh? Who’s normal? Bass thought. “Sure,” he said with a smile.

And that’s how the eight of them passed the time, essentially. Twilight bid them farewell, and showed Bass to the guest room once more. “I guess I’ll take you to Fluttershy’s cottage tomorrow, since you don’t know the way.”

He nodded. “Thank you, Twilight,” he replied. “I’m sure I’ve been a real pain in the ass for you today. I was in your bed, I was rude, I made you act, and now you know I eat meat and the like. This must have been one of the roughest days you’ve ever had.”

She smiled. “You weren’t here when we fought Discord.”

“That dragon-horse-goat-bat dude?”

“Yes, him. He kind of almost destroyed everything we love when he first broke free. We only recently released him again, this time on purpose, to sort of ‘tame’ him.”

Bass laughed. “You’re not much older than me, yet you’ve clearly led a more interesting life.”

“I don’t know. Your world sounds interesting to me,” she said with a smile.

Bass returned the smile. “Who knows; maybe one day you’ll visit it.”

Twilight continued smiling. “Good night bass,” she said as she left his new room.

“G’night, Twilight,” he replied before laying in his new bed. However, in spite of how tired he was, he was doomed to not rest well. He was plagued by nightmares all night long until the sun came up the next morning; all because he wasn’t home.

Author's Note:

Whew, I finally got around to writing another chapter. What with work, school, and stuff I have to do around the house I didn't know if I would ever get around to it. I've barely touched my original content stories either, which saddens me greatly. I have a pair of characters that need to be shipped, but they aren't ready yet, and at this rate I don't know when I'll have them ready. But I digress. Remember when I said this story would happen as though Equestria Girls didn't exist. I apparently lied. Consider this in the MLP timeline to be before the Season 3 finale, and thus before Equestria Girls, but not like they won't EVER happen. As for if Bass can go home or not...we, we'll see.

Next time on Lessons from Another Dimension: Bass visits Fluttershy and hides the truth about his restless sleep from Twilight! Coming to a fimfiction near you in some unknown future!

Comments

[Bateman66]

This may be tad bit negative in opinion, but I really do want to express it concerning your story. The concept of your own character in Equestria is a fantastic idea (heck, it's a great idea creating fresh stories rather then using original show characters). But the concept of having a newly made character with the Mane six seems kind of counter to what the whole idea of creating an OC. I heavily suggest having your character go on their own adventures and flesh out their own personality instead of hanging around ponies who already have that going in the official show. I've really wanted to express this to other authors before, and in no way is this a personal attack on you or your ideas. I mean, I did the same exact thing with my first fic story, and looking back, it really was fun to write, just didn't seem to have the quality I wanted. IDK, this might just be me rambling, but I really do encourage you to give your character more individual attention, he deserves it.