Drifting Through Realities

by Thadius0

Chapter 4 - Your name isn't on them!

Drifting Through Realities

Chapter 4 - Your name isn't on them!

I strode out of the hospital in a darker mood than I had any right to have. I recognized this about myself and shook my head to at least slow it down. But really, the idea of being stuck in a nation of magi, ruled by goddesses, until I died of old age!...

I liked tech-worlds! Tech-worlds were predictable! Magic worlds were highly erratic! There was, more often than not, nothing stopping an intrepid mage from making his will into reality! Oh sure, there were, sometimes, some barriers or limits or rules regarding proper magic usage, but usually it was more of a question of available power, and if they didn't have it, they knew someone who did! Hell, sometimes the rules were more like guidelines!

"Xavier, give me the filter I proposed to find the crystals, we get to test it now."

There was a clicking noise, and then my right eye was awash in blue. Casting my eye up and down the streets, I paused as it fell on a building just up the road. I actually began to grin, then whistled at the sight. "That's a lot of crystals."

Sitting in a mostly-neat pile was a beacon of light, at least to my right eye. There were a few that had been separated from the rest, most likely to be studied as they hadn't gone too far away from the main mass, but by far the majority were being held in one location. I walked up the road and ignored the comments flying behind me. I could deal with racism or xenophobia another day. I had fools to save from themselves before I took the first road out of here.

I then decided, once I reached the door of the building in question (One Canterlot University, it said so over the door) that I really, really wanted to get out of the city. Therefor, there was no time to waste. Xavier, give me 'door-breaking' power in the leg, I'ma kick them open.

Yes sir, but for the record, I don't think this wise.

I felt the rush of energy and smiled. Your suggestion is noted. Time to cause property damage.

I raised my right leg, kicked the door in, and promptly took a knee. Backlash is a bitch. No, really I met a goddess named that once, complete bitch. She was in charge of vengeance, karma, and people getting exactly what was coming to them. Needless to say, we did not get on well. I personally think it's because she can't keep or get a boyfriend worth anything, and subsequently, hasn't been laid in eons.

After a moment to recover from the sudden expenditure of energy, I drew myself back up and stared at the terrified pony behind a desk. "Small, blue crystals. Which way would I go to find them?"

She wordlessly pointed to hallway located to her right, and I thanked her before checking with my eye again. 25...15...5....this must be the room.

I elected this time to merely push the door open, but hard, and was greeted with three ponies in lab coats standing around a massive pile of crystals that jumped as the door slammed open. Not saying a word, I walked towards the pile of crystals, dropped to one knee, shrugged my pack off, and began putting the crystals inside it.

And kept doing it.

And kept doing it, despite the fact that the pack was significantly smaller than the original pile. Thank you, whatever number early jump it was that got me a Bag of Holding. And thank you, brain, for coming up with the idea to ask an elf to later on modify it into a proper backpack. Granted, it still had its limits. It could theoretically store an unlimited amount of items! I would still feel a portion of their weight, though. If I could get it to be blessed or enchanted, it would function even better, but I had my doubts about that ever happening.

One of the ponies nearby started to object to the fact that I was taking their valuable research materials, and I halted in mid-grab before slooooowly turning my head to face him and switching my right eye to a decorative red filter.

"Is your name on these crystals? Are they actually yours? Do you have any claim to them, like a receipt?"

He stammered a bit before shaking his head reflexively, but rallied. "I am a researcher here at Canterlot University, and these are our research materials! Human or not, you cannot just barge in here like that and take them from-"

That was as far as he got before I narrowed my eyes and spoke up again. "The most hold you have over them is that they're your current research project. Whereas I can claim them by the fact that I brought them into this world with me and likely know more about them than you ever will. Ergo, I will thank you to stop and stay out of my way."

I then returned to shoveling the crystals into my pack, I was nearly done. A different pony spoke up then. "If you know so much about them, then why are you taking them from us?"

I didn't even look at this one while responding, I merely tested my pack to see if I could lift it comfortably. Thankfully, it wasn't too much of a weight increase. "Because children never respect the flames until it burns them. However, in this case, you are not ready for the fire or the burns."

I looked to the right with my blue-filter and noted that yes, the final few crystals were in there, likely being tested, as they were only a short distance away from each other. A quick check beyond the door between the two rooms made the blood in my veins run cold.

It wasn't the melting point test, or the acid test, or the hardness test. Nor was it the battery of, I suspect, magic tests. I say I suspect because I didn't intend to stick around and see what those devices did.

It was the test that would expose one of them to electricity, most likely conductivity. I quickly ran to that one, but it was too late. Someone had thrown the switch, and the crystal began to glow. I held my breath, hoping, praying, that the ponies were smart, and slash or did not have access to too much electrical power.

Thankfully, the crystal changed color. From dark blue to really light blue, and seemed to give off little pulses, like a heartbeat. I sighed in relief and picked it up in my right hand. Xavier, drain it, now.

Yes, sir.

I clenched my right hand, and the glow faded from the crystal. I then looked at the other tests and shook my head. "And none of you thought to...simply ask me?"

"To be fair," I heard from behind me as one of the researchers actually dared to answer, "Would you have told us?"

I thought about that, then sighed and shook my head. "Not unless there's a serious need for this sort of power, no. It's literally a step up for most realities. That is, once they properly figure out how to harness the power of one of the crystals."

I plucked the crystals from the testing benches, reached behind myself, and dropped the last of the wayward gems into my pack. I had just turned around and begun my trek back to the lobby when I felt a familiar sensation. It bugged me as I tried to remember, but when I returned to the doors I had kicked in, I knew.

It was Presence.

Every God and Goddess has an aura, I call it Presence. It lets you get a feel for who and what they are and embody. The closer you are to them, the more of an idea you can glean. For example, Pelor was Light, Strength, Healing, and more common than not, the Sun.

This Presence had at least that element in common with his. Sun, yes, all its warmth and heat. Motherly, like every mortal was her child, but also, do not piss off mama goddess. Kind and Gentle, like a spring breeze. And finally, Honesty. As though no lies would or could be told by her.

...Like I bought any of those last two. Ever hear of final kindness? 'Tis better to put down a mortally wounded creature than to let it suffer for hours on end. And just because one is honest doesn't mean one can't lie.

Damn the Fae! I'd only run into them once, and I was damn glad I'd Drifted off as soon as I did!

...Ahem. Yeah. Just because no words that passed their lips were lies, doesn't mean that they couldn't purposely mislead, misdirect, fail to answer, or simply twist your goddamn words on you. I'd learned real quick a few Rules they had to abide by, mostly by watching them get used on each other, and wormed my way out of their Courts. It was about then I'd decided I needed a weapon, which would eventually lead to Origin.

...Damn, I get sidetracked.

I walked out onto the street and saw what could easily pass for a horse back home, were it not for the wings or horn. Just as I made that observation, the Presence slammed into me, causing me to clutch at my heart with my left hand while my right pulled out Origin and activated it. Instantly, the sense of divinity lessened. I still knew she was there, but now I wasn't overwhelmed by knowing. I then realized that somewhere in there, I'd fallen to one knee, and snarled at myself mentally for falling into any sort of pose that could be construed as 'kneeling' 'praying' or 'subservient' before a Goddess. After taking a few deep breaths, I pushed myself up and looked this Goddess in the eye.

The first word that came to mind was simply regal. Were she to be pulled across the sky in a chariot and proclaim her sovereignty o'er all the land back home, I got the feeling that nobody would fight her on that. Her ha-...mane and tail flowed in an ethereal breeze, and were all the colors of a sunrise. Her coat was purest white, her regalia was gold-and-amethyst, and her eyes were a rich purple.

We held each others' gaze for a moment, then she looked at my sword, then back in my eyes. "Am I to assume that your sword functions similarly to Alex's knife, in that it helps you deal with magic?"

I shrugged at that. "Magic can't touch the sword, thanks to how it was made. Not many things can. I actually had to come up with a way to safely store the blade before I had a hilt for it because I got tired of cutting myself on it. That was an interesting experience."

She nodded at my explanation. "Very well. I am Princess Celestia, and I-"

I shook my head and held up my left hand. "Say it right. We both know that's not the whole truth."

She sighed and looked to the sky, stating rather than asking the next bit. "You're going to be difficult, aren't you."

I snorted at that, it was as close as laughing as I allowed myself to get in the presence of deities. "Ma'am, I have been dicked over by every god and goddess I have met save one, and the only thing Joseph does is answer questions I pose to him. And since it's pretty much a certain thing that I won't be running into him again, explain to me why I should trust any deity?"

She looked to me and smiled a small, motherly smile. The smile your mother gave you when you said you didn't know why things fell to the ground. A 'you'll understand when you're older' smile.

I hated it.

"Because they were not us."

I hated that even more. My right hand clenched Origin even tighter as I responded with as calm a voice I could manage.

"And just like that, Celestia, you've lost points in my book. Wanna know why?"

I turn around and yell at her over my shoulder as I begin looking for a way out of this city.

"They all of them, every other god and goddess I've ever met, said the same thing before screwing me six ways to Sunday! And then, they did it again on the sabbath!"

-----

Vinyl had caught up with the human just as he walked out of Canterlot University and witnessed the exchange between him and Princess Celestia. It was mostly composed of the human yelling at the Princess, which, quite simply, nopony thought anypony would ever be able to get away with, him demonstrating that his sword helped him deal with magic and the aura of the Princess, and then him stalking off through the city again.

She didn't care that he didn't trust magic.

She didn't care that he didn't trust the Princesses.

She didn't care that he'd likely not react well to having a unicorn stalker, which she fully acknowledged she was behaving like one.

Rumors were that Jumpers were damaged on the inside, in places you wouldn't be able to get without giving them a good bit of rye first. Occasionally externally too, but those were minor hurts compared to the things they'd done or seen or been subjected to.

If he was more damaged than her, she'd kick herself for not trying to talk to him and trying to show him that he didn't have to be alone. That ponies could know hurt too.

Tartarus, if Octavia knew the rumors, she'd likely join her on her little human-hunt. Maybe even take it over.

Comments

[xXLotSoFriendshipXx]

This is so f**king hilarious!!!....
And I don't know which reason to say first!!

[Luna-tic]

4778713 "How true, yes how true" said the mama kangaroo.-sussical the musical.