Worlds in Words

by Ravenmane

Comparing Notes

The evening wound down quickly, three fillies and a baby dragon yawning for several minutes made us all get the hint. Despite my protests, Twilight insisted on carrying Spike on her back as we made our way back to the library.

“We never did discuss my sleeping arrangements Twilight,” I said to her at the threshold.

She spun around in surprise. “I suppose you could share my bed. It’ll be cramped but it’ll be better than the floor after all.”

A blanket on a stone or wooden floor was what I dealt with often in the city. Beds were a rare luxury, at least ones that survived. Merely being offered a bed was like heaven. However, when she led me to her room I saw the size of the bed. We’d barely fit if we shared it. Reaching into my bag, I grabbed my blanket. “I’ll be fine on the ground Twilight, there’s just not enough room.”

She was putting Spike into a basket and tossing a blanket over him when I spoke. “No, you could use a comfy bed. I’ll sleep on the floor.”

I had already curled up, resting my head on my arm. “Sleep tight Twilight, I’ll see you in the morning.” After rustling a little, I went right to sleep.

*****

When I woke the first thing I saw was a field of black, a pink stripe in it made me realize something. Sure, I was still on the floor, but Twilight had curled up next to me on the floor with her own blanket. Sure, it was a noble gesture, but we just couldn’t share a bed. It’d be awkward and we’d be sore.

I got up and packed my blanket back in my bag, going instead for the books and parchment. Before getting to work though, I’d need something I could smell: coffee. I followed the aroma downstairs and into the kitchen to see Spike making breakfast for three. He only glanced up at me before going back to making pancakes furiously.

“Morning,” I said as I stifled a yawn. It seemed amusing to me just to say it, not being able to tell if it was morning or night for so long made the whole concept silly.

Spike grumbled, “Nick.”

I gave him a skeptical look. “What’s on your mind; isn’t healthy if you keep it bottled up.”

He pulled the skillet off the oven and set the last pancake onto a large stack. “I dunno, maybe the fact that you and Twilight were sleeping together on the floor.” His voice was protective and I could understand that plain as day.

“She wanted to share her bed and I’d rather we both weren’t sore all over in the morning. There just wasn’t enough space so I elected to sleep on the floor. She must’ve felt guilty and slept on the floor too.” Spike rolled his eyes. “Hey, if you could sleep on the floor easily and you were offered a bed to share would you? I mean like if you weren’t in a relationship with them and the bed’s that small.”

“Well,” he honestly was thinking about it, “no I guess not. I mean I’d take the bed if they were being insistent, but I’d take the floor if they weren’t.” He paused for a moment while pouring me a cup of coffee. “How can you sleep so well on the floor?”

“I’m used to it.” I took a sip. “There aren’t many well preserved beds in the D’ni city. That means we sleep on the ground, on benches, and so on. I’m used to uncomfortable places.”

“Well then,” came Twilight’s voice from behind me, “I guess that means we’ll need a guest bed or a couch for you Nick.”

*****

Midway through the morning, we had everything set up for a binge of learning and rediscovery. Before me were books on Equestrian history and law, but before Twilight were my notes and several tomes in an alien language to both of us. On the other hand, Spike had left us to our work after shelving books that we didn’t need.

“It would help me figure things out if you had brought your first journal Nick,” Twilight called over to me after a few hours.

I looked up from a volume of Equestrian law, “a cave-in and I didn’t agree on my desire to keep my journal.”

“What about the second one? You made mention of it here.”

“My second journal isn’t very important,” I went back to reading and just spoke over the book. “It was filled with vague statements; you must be reading about the library. I have a complete list of the books there at the back of that journal.”

I had to learn a lot if I was to avoid making assumptions about everything. The economy seemed to be held together by a thin layer of tape, at least from the point of view of the law books I had access to. Twilight had to confirm that since Princess Celestia’s sister Luna returned most laws had a massive overhaul… repeatedly.

“When Princess Luna began to review the laws that were passed since she was banished she made our laws actually make sense. I mean they made sense to begin with, but now they apply to several different variables. So as opposed to having say, twelve laws that covered one thing, now we have a single law that covers all conditions.”

To me, it seemed as though Princess Celestia tried to maintain too much at all times. I think the country needed Princess Luna too much for one ruler to function even as long as she did. “So, if Princess Celsetia banished her sister to the moon for a thousand years, just how old are they Twilight?”

She paused with whatever she was reading and stared at me from across the room. “Weren’t you ever told to never ask a woman about her age?”

“It’s just a logistics thing. The average human lives for around eighty years, and those two are clearly over a thousand. I may be biased, but honestly it makes no sense to me.” These kinds of arguments just cropped up from time to time, and usually ended with both of us going back to our respective books.

By nightfall, Twilight was deep into the D’ni journals and I had gotten into classical Equestrian history. All day the only noise aside from the occasional argument was the scratching of quills and the rare frustrated groan.

*****

After a few days of work, we both had a better grasp of the other’s way of life. Twilight figured out about my analytical mindset, complaining that it wasn’t detail oriented enough. On the other hand, I found the amount of neglect on several key figures’ lives to be frustrating. Now however, we were both pouring over the dead language, discovering exactly what we could figure out.

“So,” Twilight had gotten used to writing out entire passages on a chalkboard. “This passage talks about the linking books and how they’re an extension of the descriptive book right?” She drew large brackets over the segment in question.

“Not quite,” we had gone over this several times today, “it covers that the linking books are referencing the descriptive book for a few key paragraphs. Think of it as a synopsis for the location of the linking book.” It was way past midnight; we were running on nothing but caffeine.

“Okay, so we have most of the details about making a linking book here right?”

I nodded, our notes were very thorough, and we did in fact figure out most of the mechanics about linking books. What impeded us was the lack of a linking book to test our theories with. Eventually we’d have to make a trip to the city to hunt one down.

“Let’s plan a trip for later on,” I gave a yawn, “for now we should get some rest.” Soon we were putting out the lights and trudging up to our respective beds, having gotten a second one after polishing off the history and law books.

*****

It was around noon when I finally got up and Twilight looked like she was fairing just a little better than me, just as tired but not nearly as close to going back to bed. We both tried our best to look presentable after being motivated by the bright sun.

“Right,” I was repacking a few essentials, “so we’re not doing this alone right Twilight?”

“Yes, I think we can get some help from a few ponies. Rainbow Dash will probably help us if she isn’t doing anything tonight. We might also be able to get Applejack, it isn’t harvest yet.”

“What about Rarity or Fluttershy?”

“I doubt we could get Rarity to help. The city hasn’t had residents for centuries right?”

“At least a few hundred years, of that I’m sure.”

“She isn’t going to like it at all; she doesn’t like getting dirty per se.”

“And what about Fluttershy?”

“She can be afraid of her own shadow at times. I mean we can ask but I doubt it. But why didn’t you ask about Pinkie?”

“I’m not quite sure what to think about whenever I see her. She doesn’t make much sense and I’m not sure if we want to draw too much attention to ourselves. She can be rather loud after all.”

“I guess so, how about you try to recruit Rarity while looking for Rainbow? I’ll get Applejack and, if we’re lucky, Fluttershy.”

“Deal, see you in a few hours okay?” We both left in different directions, Twilight off towards the farm just outside of Ponyville while I went towards Carousel Boutique, checking the sky for Rainbow Dash as I went.

---

Author's Note: I've enjoyed a little creative feedback, but if you've got questions, suggestions, or ideas feel free to tell me. Truth be told, I'm still walking around in the dark, much like any of the games in the Myst franchise. I'm mapping some stuff out, and we'll be heading into the D'ni city in the next chapter. Will Fluttershy be willing to go? Can Rarity bring herself to go? I'll tell you sometime, just not now! Thanks everyone for reading!

Comments

[CTVulpin]

I have to give you props for doing a Pony/Myst cross-over, just on principle. However, I'm not too fond of the particular approach you're using. It seems like just another Human in Equestria story to me, and those are a dime a dozen.
Don't let my opinion stop you though. I just thought I ought to weigh in.

Have fun.

[Ravenmane]

383954 Thanks, don't worry though. I'm getting there. If I was writing this for myself I'd have gone far past where I am now, but that's cause I know where it would go. If I take my time I think I'll have a better story overall. Besides, by taking my time I can also share it. I have to explain a bit here and there without just saying "if you want to get some of it go to mystlore," I don't want to be a jerk like that.

[WorldWalker128]

Many wonders can be found in books, but sometimes, on rare occasion, when the right conditions are met...those wonders can find the reader as well...
-Me, hoping for one such event to occur.

-
Eagerly awaiting the next chapter.
-
There were a few spots were a semi-colon or a comma might have been used, but other than that there was little to nothing wrong with it.
and sleeping sounds like a good idea...

[Ravenmane]

383993 Sleep is overrated... *snore*

[Shpoople96]

384002
Ha, who needs sle ...*yawn*... ep!