An Equestrian Princess in New York

by Tallinu

4: And That's How Equestria Was Made (Revised Oct 1, 2014)

4: And That's How Equestria Was Made

My guest was mostly quiet throughout the story, as if listening to a lecture and taking mental notes. I suppose she’d be good at that, unless we’d gotten a whole lot of things wrong about her.

Finally I was done, and Princess Twilight Sparkle, sprawled cozily on the leather sofa in my living room (still couldn’t quite get over that), shook her head in wonder. “So many things wrong with all that, and yet, so much of it is a close match. Astonishing.”

I sat back and drained the last of my soda. “I’m not surprised there are inaccuracies... It was a children’s show. Some of the fanfiction has been pretty deep or adult-oriented, though. But I think now you can maybe understand why I’m so amazed to have you lounging in my living room.”

“Oh, yes. It’s as if Daring Do suddenly popped out of a book and needed help saving the world!” She laughed, and I grinned at her. I hadn’t mentioned the episode where that basically happened, and I pictured some scenes from it. I’d been taking more and more advantage of that aspect of her telepathic translation spell as I told the story... As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. The recordings were better quality, but my own memories were much faster to access.

“Wait, seriously? And Dash helps her do it?” It was her turn to have her mind boggled, and mine to laugh.

“Well, it is all just fiction, right?” I grinned and winked at her.

“We would never hear the end of it,” she groaned, then chuckled wryly. “Okay, here’s the score as I see it. Based on the limited information available, of course. Characterization... around eight out of ten. Setting… four or five. Historical accuracy... maybe a two, if I’m generous.”

“The Elements of Harmony as a mystical super-weapon? No. More of a parable on the virtues that underlie good relationships and the value of working together. Nightmare Moon is a sort of alter-ego that Princess Luna brings out on Nightmare Night… mostly. She once became pretty upset with what seemed like her ’lesser’ station, among other things, but she and Princess Celestia worked it out after a while. That’s a vast simplification, of course. And actually, that’s when Nightmare Night got started. It was Princess Luna’s idea in the aftermath of that reconciliation, and they set it up together. The Summer Sun Celebration is also real enough. But the whole ’moving the sun and moon’ thing is somewhere between a joke about pompous unicorns who think they can control everything and a reference to how much people look up to the Diarchy. Our planet turns and orbits much like yours, and the Mare in the Moon is just a pattern of dark craters.”

“Discord? Very old legend, a god responsible for conflict and the unpredictable nature of the world, usually when people want something to blame. There’s a famous statue in Canterlot, it looks exactly like that, but referring to the time before the Princesses took the throne as ‘Discord’s reign’ is figurative, not literal.”

“Changelings? Real, but nothing like that. Some are nice. Some aren’t. And some are the worst pranksters ever, with their shape-shifting. But they aren’t naturally bug-like. No emotion-stealing. No invasion.”

“My brother’s wedding was wonderful, and although I didn’t find out about their engagement right away, since both of us are often very busy, I did know they were together. Princess Cadenza’s magic can’t create love where none exists, or change its type, only inspire, encourage, and remind us of it. The Crystal City never vanished, although contact was often limited by the harsh weather. Long ago it was indeed ruled by a unicorn tyrant-king, but he was eventually deposed by Cadenza’s ancestors. She lived much of her teenage years in Canterlot as part of an exchange, reaffirming the empire’s loyalty to the Diarchy and taking advantage of our wonderful universities. She returned there with Shining Armor to take over when her father’s age finally made him too easily exhausted by the demands of the throne, though he’s still alive and kicking.”

“As for my wings, I was born with them, just like the others. I spent a lot of my life with them hidden by an enchantment so I wouldn’t be as much of a target... And so I could have a more normal childhood. There was a bit of local unrest during the years around my birth, and we simply never abandoned the arrangement. But after my coronation, there was no longer any point in hiding, and by that time I was strong and skilled enough that I had nothing to fear. My best friends had already known the truth for many years.”

I took advantage of a brief pause to put in a related question. “What’s with all princesses being alicorns, winged unicorns, or whatever you want to call them?”

“Oh, that’s not really accurate. It’s just that most have been born to the noble families descended from Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, or their grandparents. Of course, after so many generations, those families have descendants all over Equestria by now, so it might be harder to find someone who’s entirely unrelated. Some combination of magic and genetic triggers makes us express the traits of all three phenotypes at once. It hasn’t ever occurred in males, so far as we know. The Sisters are the oldest, and they haven’t shown any signs of aging. Others have had normal lifespans, or somewhere in between, although there have been a few accidents… and non-accidents.”

She cleared a momentary glower from her features and went on. “People back then thought The Sisters were a ‘sign’ and pushed them to take power at a young age. Maybe some thought they could use them as puppet figureheads, but they turned into excellent leaders. Although there were some rocky periods, the centuries since then have been a true golden age.”

“You mentioned the three phenotypes… What sorts of abilities do they really have? How do they work? In layman’s terms, at least,” I added with a smile.

Twilight chuckled, clearly pleased to expound on the subject despite my caveat. “Well, A unicorn’s horn acts as a concentrator and focus for our magic, and we can consciously direct it to perform our will at a distance with far more finesse than would otherwise be possible. A thorough list of known capabilities requires a small volume of its own, but by far the most common use, and one that all unicorns are capable of to some degree, is levitation and manipulation of objects. This involves projecting a field into the space occupied by an object and tuning it to interact with physical properties like inertia and momentum.”

“Pegasus flight requires magic fields that surround them to control inertia and air flow, and those fields can be adjusted to disperse or condense water vapor and other atmospheric components. Wings are generally used for stability and propulsion more than simply lift, except in distance-flying, and some pegasi can even hover or glide without using them. Contrary to certain misconceptions, their wings don’t have any particular significance to their flight fields, although their feathers do have certain magical properties, mostly related to strength, aerodynamics, and ice-resistance. Pegasi with exceptional field strength and control can manage pretty amazing feats, like the ‘sonic rainboom’ that Rainbow Dash is famous for. It’s partly a misnomer — she really can travel faster than the speed of sound, she just carries a pocket of much slower-moving air with her to do it. But the ‘rainboom’ actually happens when she slows down suddenly and channels all that energy into a shockwave, cramming it full of as much magic as she can.”

My eyes widened. “Amazing. Oh, and that explains why the wind was so gentle while we were flying, right?”

She gave me an encouraging nod. “That’s right, it’s not always a high-speed thing. I’m nowhere near Rainbow’s skill, of course, especially since I spent so many years grounded, but between instinct, books, and a great trainer like her, I’ve gotten well beyond the basics.”

“I think you vaguely mentioned weather manipulation, too…?”

“Ah, yes. Pegasi are exceptional at manipulating weather and clouds, and they can, under the right circumstances, trigger or direct lightning. Large enough groups can disperse or redirect storms, or even create them if there’s enough humidity. But even magic-infused clouds are still just water vapor, and can’t be used to build anything permanent. For example, Cloudsdale is actually a city upon a tall mountain, just above normal cloud level. It’s an old volcanic caldera, with a lake and some great hot springs. It’s possible for a pegasus to compress clouds or fog into a smaller space, which makes it easier to interact with and gives them more control over it. But it will dissipate over time, and quite rapidly if it’s abandoned. Most of them really can take a nap on one without it dissipating much, though. It’s an unconscious use of their abilities, probably a safety adaptation. And they are very comfortable!”

“Probably a lot softer than a waterbed, too!”

She cocked her head curiously. “A bed of water? How…”

I responded with a mental image. “It’s like a tough, flat balloon with a warming pad below and blankets on top. Unlike an air mattress, they aren’t pressurized, so they have a lot more give. Some people really like them.”

“Interesting. I wonder if that could work for unicorn and earth ponies. Speaking of which… Earth ponies are indeed excellent farmers, but also miners and craftsmen, with an intuitive sense for living things, soil, rock, materials, and how they can all be manipulated. They’re very good at drawing ambient magic from the land to nurture crops, or even to speed the formation of the gems and crystals we have so many uses for. ‘Rock farming’ is a mildly derisive term for the latter, although it’s generally acceptable if it isn’t meant as an insult. Pinkie Pie never calls it by its proper name, for instance, even though she was raised on one — but then again, Pinkie offering deliberate insult is practically inconceivable.”

Twilight chuckled and resumed her description. “Their magic typically bolsters their physical strength, endurance, healing, and even disease-resistance more noticeably than for the others. A common exception is resistance to cold, where pegasi often surpass them. High altitudes can be extremely cold.”

“Oh, and hoof-grip is another field effect, a localized one which we can all use. It’s a less refined, very short-range form of a unicorn’s telekinetic abilities.” She held up the soda can and caused it to rotate slowly around its vertical axis like a top, without moving her hoof at all. “It can be surprisingly dexterous, with enough practice. I’ve seen some people who could do unbelievable sleight-of-hoof tricks.”

“Earth ponies can sometimes extend that ability to other parts of their body, such as their mane, tail, or back, as well. Pinkie really has been known to carry random small objects in her poofy mane, and Applejack’s hat doesn’t fall off unless she wants it to. Her tail scrunchie isn’t just to help keep it clean, either. I’ve seen her open and close gates and swing a rope with it like it was practically another hoof, although she can’t support much weight with it.”

I was having my world rocked so hard, and it was amazing. There was one more thing I just had to know, however. “Okay, and what about ‘cutie marks’?” I gestured to the place on her thigh where the familiar six-pointed star was visible, when the wingtip didn’t obscure it. “Do they really just appear on their own when you discover your special talent?”

“That’s… actually a difficult question. Partly because even we don’t have a firm consensus on how it works. They certainly appear spontaneously through magical means, and not some deliberate act of artistic decoration. And they do tend to have some symbolic connection to one’s talents, goals, actions, or personality. What you may not be aware of is that they sometimes change. And on rare occasions, change dramatically. There are also plenty of people who never receive one, even some with wonderful skills or love for their work. And the ages at which they do appear tend to follow something like a bell curve, but with a bias toward youth.”

“What if you figure in those who don’t receive one?” I suggested. “Would their numbers account for the bias, fill out the curve, if you assumed they got one at some point in the future, or might have if they’d lived longer?”

Twilight grinned. “That’s a popular theory, but it’s not enough to make the data fit with any reasonable assumptions. It’s equally possible that more marks would increase the bias instead. It’s hard to say, without knowing what causes them. Whether it’s your own nature or expectations that give it form, something innate in how we interact with our magic, or some external force that acts upon us, it’s been happening for all of recorded history. All we really have is a description of the phenomenon and a few rare cases where it was caught in action. It’s very hard to study a process that occurs unpredictably and, on average, less than once per individual!”

“Fascinating. And frustrating, I imagine.” I was a little disappointed with that information, and it was clear Twilight shared my sentiments. “Is it just ponies?”

“Yes. Zebras have a widespread tradition of wearing markings, mostly in the same place, and mostly representing a clan affiliation, but that’s just dye and bleach. Most experts believe it got started through their interactions with pony explorers and traders, and spread throughout their culture, developing in various ways across time and distance.”

I took a minute to review the conversation thus far in my head as we both drank from our dwindling cans. “So, for the most part, the show is a lot of fanciful stories based on some sort of visions of characters and scenes?”

“That could be. Our worlds have been converging for decades, and it’s possible some of our magic seeping through carried information with it. As we approach, more might make it across the veil.”

Converging? “Does that have anything to do with why you’re here?”

“In fact, it’s exactly why I’m here. We’ve determined that the risk of attempting a crossing had finally become negligible, and I’m the best there is at spatial manipulation... so I came to have a look and see what sort of threats — or opportunities — we might encounter in the near future.”

“That sounds like you’re expecting things to cross over... spontaneously? Perhaps in both directions?”

She nodded seriously. “It’s entirely possible. I’m not aware of any transference between our worlds in the recent past, like I said earlier. But in the future…”

“I wonder if that might explain things like the legends we have of magic and fantastic creatures, or even the Bermuda Triangle...” She gave me a curious look, and I shook my head. “Tales of boats or aircraft vanishing into thin air in a certain region, no wreckage ever found, even with modern equipment. Most rational people just blamed it on severe weather and unusual ocean currents, crackpots blamed everything from space aliens to time travel, but...”

She shrugged her wings. “Who knows? I don’t have an answer for you, except that it’s possible. And it will be increasingly likely, in coming years, for strange things to happen. Potentially including, but not limited to, unusual magical effects, spontaneous gateways, or localized environmental alterations. We’ve seen a number of events like this before, back through records thousands of years old. But we can’t stop these convergences, only predict them... and prepare for them.”

“So, when you came through your portal, did you have any idea what to expect on our side of it?”

“None. The spell was designed to make sure I’d land in a ‘safe’ place, one where I wouldn’t be in immediate danger from environmental conditions. Solid footing, breathable air, reasonable temperature, and so on… But I couldn’t predict what I’d find on the other side well enough to be more specific than that. Too many assumptions and failsafe conditions can simply prevent a portal from opening at all. You have no idea how thrilled I was when I found myself in the middle of such a grand city!”

“And then the inhabitants had to go and give you such a wonderful first impression of humanity,” I deadpanned.

She responded with a grin. “You’re doing a good job of making up for that. Thanks, Casey.”

“Hey, no problem. Never thought doing my bit for my world would involve interviewing extradimensional royalty, but hey, you live the life you’re given.”

“So. How should I go about it? Informing your world of what’s happening, that is... the good and the bad.”

“There’s a good part?”

“Well, of course! I’m here, aren’t I? And I did say ‘opportunities’. The next decade or two could be amazing for trade and scientific advancement! You’re an imaginative bunch, and you clearly have a higher level of mechanical technology than us. But from what you’ve told me, you have no access to magic... Just imagine what we could learn from each other!”

Cue mind blow number two.

Comments

[Shirohige]

Yes, yes, yes.

[shy sad jaded shard]

Don't look to much to the bright side of things twi hole city's could shift plains and end up in the sea

[jaroslav]

Hmm but cloudwalking would be very important ability for pegasi. They fly alot and the ability to rest on cloud would be important. It wouldn't be good and safe to fly to the ground for evry rest. It's evolution. Those who weren't abel to rest on clouds died when resting on the ground. They don't fall through because their magic telekinetic field make them highly hydrofobic and hold the cloud together.

[Ryvaken]

I retract my compliment. Headcanon misfire