Twilight, what's it like to teleport?

by TheExhaustedBrony

Well, Ditzy...

Ditzy Doo is a friendly pony by nature. Everyone loves her blissful attitude towards life. If the residents of Ponyville didn't know any better, they'd say that she was just ignorant. She's always a curious pony who finds enjoyment in learning things that seemed like common knowledge to others. Ditzy always asks Twilight these things because if anypony in Ponyville had an answer for something, it'd be her.

Today, Ditzy has yet another question. Most of them were ones that were simple to answer, at least for Twilight they were. Questions ranged from why apples are red, why can pegasus ponies stand on clouds, and the infamous 'missing bit' question. However, today she had something that caught Twilight off guard.

"Twilight, how do you teleport and what's it like when you do?"

Twilight just stared at the smiling pegasus with a shocked expression on her face.

"Well Ditzy, it's quite complicated and it, uh, might take a while for me to explain it."

Ditzy just gave Twilight a big toothy smile stretched from ear to ear, "That's okay, Twilight, I've got nothing to do today."

Twilight bit her lower lip as she watched her guest park her behind right on the spot where she stood. What was she going to tell her? Explaining how to teleport would be easy but the real problem would be describing the experience. There's a secret pact that was made by Starswirl The Bearded with the princesses that this exact information should not be revealed to any other race of pony.

"You okay, Twilight?" Ditzy cocked her head.

"Y-yes, I'm fine!" Twilight cleared her throat and set her mind into teacher mode, "You want to know how unicorns use magic to perform teleportation spells, correct?

Ditzy nodded her head excitedly, "Yeah!"

"Well, everypony has their own way of doing things, so I can't say that my way is universal, but knowing where you are currently and where you want to go is true for all."

Ditzy raised an eyebrow and put a hoof on her head, "W-what? I don't get it, Twilight. Why's that so important?"

Twilight sighed, slightly annoyed that Ditzy isn't satisfied with what she just told her, "Well, when I teleport, I focus my mind on my surroundings. I make sure to include details such as color, shape, temperature, and the time of day."

Ditzy closed her eyes and gave an affirmative nod as if to say, "of course." Twilight doubted that was the case, however.

"Once I have that mental image in my mind, I shift my focus onto where I want to go using the same technique. Wherever I plan on teleporting to, I make sure I have an idea of what it looks like and so on. You understand?"

"I-I think so?" Ditzy scrunched her face and closed her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Ditzy, but explaining magic to someone that's not a unicorn is a lot easier said than done. To us unicorns it's common knowledge and I feel like there's more to explain but I can't think of any other way to do it." Twilight lowered her head feeling a bit ashamed of herself. Twilight always had answers for Ditzy's questions and felt bad that she couldn't provide a complete explanation for the one she had today.

Twilight waited for a response but received none. Curious as to what the reason for the long silence was, Twilight looked up to see Ditzy with her eyes shut tightly, her cheeks puffed, and her face turning red.

"D-Ditzy Doo? What are you doing?"

Ditzy let all the air out in one loud cough, "I was trying to teleport the way you said but no matter how hard I tried, I wouldn't move. I guess I've got some practice to do, huh?"

Twilight could feel her lower left eyelid twitching slightly in uncomfortable frustration at the sight of a pegasus pony legitimately trying to perform magic. Twilight took a deep breath and remembered that not everyone sees things on the same level and that she should be patient with others.

"Ditzy, you're not a unicorn, you can't use magic, remember?"

The gray pegasus grinned and rubbed the back of her head with a hoof, "Oh yeah, haha! I guess I forgot, my bad."

Twilight wanted to know if Ditzy had even heard what she said, but decided not to be rude.

"Well, that's the long and short of teleporting." Twilight began pushing Ditzy towards the door, "I hope you have a good day delivering mail to the residents of the town."

"Oh yes, I will. Thank you, Twilight! It was so cool! I knew nothing about teleporting until you told me about it."

Twilight smiled uncomfortably, "I-is that so?"

"Yep!"

"Well, if there's anything else you'd wish to know in the future, don't be afraid to ask, alright?"

"Okay!" Ditzy began flapping her wings and spiraling into the sky as she flew away. Twilight waited until she was out of sight before closing the door and letting out a sigh of disbelief.

"Honestly, it's like I'm raising a child." Twilight teleported to her room to find the book she had been reading right as she left it. The pages sparkled as the magic encased the pages with each turn.

"I guess it's a good thing that she's so easy going.” Twilight sat down and started reading, but couldn’t get her worries out of her head. What if she came back for a further explanation, like how it felt, or what went through a Unicorn’s mind during teleportation? That knowledge is forbidden from the other races, so she would have to think of some clever lie.

She wouldn’t mind, would she? Either way, knowing her, she probably couldn’t keep her mouth shut either way. Twilight shook her head to regain her focus. “Need to read.”

Author's Note:

In case you're wondering, why I use Ditzy, it's because when I read the word "Derpy," it just comes off as a gimmick and not so much an actual character. Not that this story is at all serious, but I try to keep things in line.

Comments

[Garbo]

I sense innuendo. But I guess I'll have to read to find out.

[Admiral Biscuit]

Twilight sighed, slightly annoyed that Ditzy isn't satisfied with what she just told her

Should be wasn't

In case you're wondering, why I use Ditzy, it's because when I read the word "Derpy," it just comes off as a gimmick and not so much an actual character.

I feel the same way--in my first two Derpy fics, to avoid any issues, I never named her.

I liked it! Both ponies in character; a good slice-of-life story. Bravo!

[silvadel]

Why would it be forbidden? I mean the only reason I could think of was that other pony races actually could teleport.

[DVAN56]

This is going to be good

Is their going to be any difference between alicorn and unicorn telepotation or are they going to be the same?

[Kalreas]

3648542

Actually, isn't is actually quite a usable term there, given the situation.
I guess it depends on how you read it, but it works either way, considering real-time conversation.

[Admiral Biscuit]

3648597

I can't quote a hard-and-fast rule, but to me the sentence as written comes off as incomplete with the tense change, and implies that Twilight is no longer upset by the end of the sentence. For example:

I was upset my car is on fire
vs
I was upset my car was on fire

The first sentence really needs something to complete it, since it implies that I am no longer upset about my car being on fire.

[Kalreas]

3648639
I can see where you're coming from by using that angle, with the usage of 'was' and 'is' in the sentence, but it can be done differently.

Twilight sighed, slightly annoyed that Ditzy isn't satisfied with what she just told her

With just that information alone, there's no real indication of any past tense writing before isn't is put into play. Not to mention that it is written, generally, in present tense.
Ditzy is, throughout the explanation, still not satisfied with the answer.

Then again, I could just be being stubborn and not fully seeing your side of the discussion, so I could be walking into some danger here.

I apologize if so.

[Kalreas]

3648639

Okay. Conference had.
You're right.

I apologize for my lack of knowledge, sir.

[Admiral Biscuit]

3648688

Glad to help! Tense switching is a common problem in stories--most of which are written in past tense (except for the dialogue). Heaven only knows I had enough trouble with it when I started writing.

If you're interested in reading something written in present tense throughout--just to see how different it feels--you could give my own Here I Am a read.

Also, as an aside: I like to use present tense in dreams. It sets it off from the rest of the story.

[TheExhaustedBrony]

3648706 God, it means so much that you enjoy this story. I've been a fan of yours for a while now :D

[Admiral Biscuit]

3648713
Aww, thanks!

You did a reading of Hearth's Warming Eve way back when. I should put that up on a blog post, 'cause 'tis the season.

[TheExhaustedBrony]

3648735

[blank check]

3648767

The tense switching is something you should fix, too. In case everyone forgot.

[Lag Incarnate]

Knowledge of what it feels like is forbidden to other races? There has to be something extra to that, there's no way a description of a feeling would be bad for others to know, unless you could use it to your advantage.

If not, then Starswirl and the princesses are racist, and I think we've covered that problem a few times.

[Spectrumancer]

...well? What DOES it feel like?

...ah, it's one of those embarrassing secrets, isn't it?

[Admiral Biscuit]

Hey, this is in the 'popular' box!

[crusnikjab]

Missing Bit?

Also you should do a question and answer story between Twilight and Ditzy.

[TheExhaustedBrony]

3652270Three guests check into a hotel room. The clerk says the bill is $30, so each guest pays $10. Later the clerk realizes the bill should only be $25. To rectify this, he gives the bellhop $5 to return to the guests. On the way to the room, the bellhop realizes that he cannot divide the money equally. As the guests didn't know the total of the revised bill, the bellhop decides to just give each guest $1 and keep $2 for himself. Each guest got $1 back: so now each guest only paid $9; bringing the total paid to $27. The bellhop has $2. And $27 + $2 = $29 so, if the guests originally handed over $30, what happened to the remaining $1?

[rip4thwall]

3652327 Hotel's total cash is A, bellhop's is B, guest 1 is X, guest 2 is Y, guest 3 is Z.

Hotel after first part has A+30, and guests have X-10, Y-10, and Z-10.

Hotel gives 5 to bellhop, so hotel has A+25, bellhop has B+5

Bellhop gives 1 to each guest, so bellhop is B+2, guests are X-9, Y-9, and Z-9.

So, totals are A+25, B+2, X-9, Y-9, and Z-9.

And, A + 25 + B + 2 + X - 9 + Y - 9 + Z - 9 = A + B + X + Y + Z.

Shorter version, the guests paid 27 dollars total, and the hotel has 25, and the bellhop has two. The 30 is irrelevant.

[Admiral Biscuit]

3648560

Maybe it's forbidden because it goes through a magical mystical dimension between points A and B.

[Aegis Shield]

I don't get it.

[Tianis]

3652327

Technically its a division error when the bellhop gives it back, the guests paid 9.33 each with one paying 9.34 (that way we dont lose a penny), and he has 2.

The fallacy goes back when you try to figure 25/3 and the bellhop just keeps the change. Its left out to make a nice riddle :P 25/3 = 8.33333333, so when he gave 3 back in change, it meant that they paid 9.3333 each...blah blah im sure I dont have to keep on

I have a similar one that I can prove 1 = -2 using algebra..if you dont catch the mistake XD

[Cromegas_Flare]

The story it self did not make sense to me, but then again.... what fun is there in making sense?

So, keep up the good work.

I guess that the reason why the story is off to me is that Ditzy is not portrayed in the way I imagine her.... but that is a personal preference.

[Ms_Fruit_Bat]

Oh, mystery! I love mysteries! And I love the way you had Ditzy act, it just felt fitting for the show.

[TheExhaustedBrony]

3696486 It's not supposed to.

[Rinnaul]

This was a nice set-up, but honestly, I was a bit disappointed that we didn't find out the big secret. I understand that sometimes you leave the big reveal out, but it didn't feel like the story set up that kind of ending. And I'm aware of jokes where the whole punchline is that there is no punchline, but this didn't even highlight the lack of explanation as part of the humor. It just... stopped.

I could accept a conclusion with the answer, or a conclusion where the story avoids the answer. A lack of any conclusion at all, though, is another matter entirely.

At that point, unanswered questions aren't intriguing, they're frustrating.

[ThePinkShadow]

3875889 I know right?

[MythrilMoth]

This really felt less like a whole, complete story and more like a scene. As written, it's just...there.

[Weird Dragon]

4549797 yea there should be more chapter

[CDRW]

I feel cheated.

[PegaSista101]

Huh. The mystery will never be solved I guess.