Then You Will Know The Truth
The sun's unhindered rays streamed through my window. Now that the clouds were gone, and the surrounding snow was but a memory, waking up to a warm house was a nice change for once.
I had been brought to Equestria at a pretty gloomy time, winter. I was no Elsa, and every time someone started singing Let It Go, I always made a point to ruin it by shouting "the cold always bothers me every day!" with my oh so pretty singing voice. Coming to this world robbed me of that joy, but also granted me the peace from having to hear it sang during the freaking summer!
Back home, the occasional snow flurry was okay, here it's like these pegasi were a couple of jackasses with snow globes, shaking them every few minutes. Said jackasses also made the snow melt, so I couldn't stay mad at them.
There was a troubling lack of scent in the air. Breakfast was usually already started by now, since Daniel made it a habit to wake up before me. I hadn't heard him sneak in during the night either, which prompted me to check on him before I continued with my morning routine.
His door was still open, and everything in his room was the same as it was yesterday. I shook the first assumption from my mind. He had been taken to Cloudchaser's house to sleep off what that dick Thunderlane did to him, maybe he woke up later than expected and just decided to stay.
With a shrug I left my brother's empty room and set about making my own breakfast, regrettably we were out of meat. Last night had been amazing, ponies really made the best drinking buddies, so long as you didn't try to keep up with them. It was still pretty impressive that consuming that much booze did next to nothing to them.
Amethyst Star and Rarity had been super nice as the day went on during Winter Wrap Up. I had even earned a few fans, one unicorn in particular who had spread the news of what human hands could do like wildfire. I liked unicorns, they were more inquisitive than the other two types of ponies, once they weren't afraid of something anymore, that is.
"Faking falls, stop and stall, take it al-hmm?" my singing was interrupted by a few knocks on the door.
"You sure took your time didn't you?" I asked opening the door, surprised to see Twilight Sparkle instead of my brother.
"I didn't know you were expecting me, sorry to keep you waiting." Twilight smiled, playing the question off humorously.
"Sorry Twilight, I thought you were somepony else." I confessed, stepping aside to let her in.
"No worries Isabella, I'm sorry if I interrupted something. Has Daniel made it back yet?" Twilight asked.
"I haven't seen him since yesterday morning. I'm starting to get a little worried about him. This Cloudchaser girl, she's not the type to hide a body if something went wrong, is she?" I asked, making Twilight laugh.
"Don't be silly, Cloudchaser is a kind hearted pegasus. Daniel couldn’t' be in safer hooves." Twilight replied.
"Okay, if you say so," I shrugged, convinced Twilight wouldn't just give a complement like that to another pony if she wasn't certain of their character. "So what brings you all the way out here?"
"You actually. You see, Rarity told me about what happened yesterday and I'd like to run a few test, if you're okay with them that is." Twilight poked her two forehooves together as she gave me a hopeful smile.
"You're not going to probe me or anything, are you?" I asked.
"No no no, I would be noninvasive, I promise!" Twilight defended.
"I've got nothing better t-" before I could even finish my sentence I was inside the same room that held the mirror that had brought me here.
It no longer held the stone that granted access to my world. Twilight had been rather swift about ensuring its presence was erased from the books, the other princesses were supposedly in agreement as well and aided in the endeavor.
"Now then, time to see if there's some credibility to this "healing touch" of yours." Twilight said walking over to a small table that had a few devices that I was unfamiliar with.
"Oh, hey Izzy." I heard Spike's voice from behind me.
"Hey Spike, how's my favorite reptile?" I asked, giving the baby dragon a quick hug.
"H-hey cut that out," Spike squirmed in my embrace. "I'm good, just the same old same. I'm glad the sun's finally out and the air's starting to warm up again."
"No kidding, I don't like cold weather either." I said.
Twilight audibly cleared her throat, clearly trying to gain our attention; well, mine at least. Spike left the room and carried on about his business, leaving me alone with the purple book worm.
“Now then, let’s get started shall we?" Twilight asked.
---
What felt like an eternity passed within the room. Several devices were pressed against my hands or other areas on my body. True to her word, Twilight's investigation remained external, not even asking me to so much as open my-.
"Could you open your mouth for a second?" Twilight sheepishly asked.
Well so much for that. I thought as I complied with her request.
The alicorn clapped her hooves together excitedly as something that looked like a thermometer was placed in my mouth before closing down around it. She was clearly enjoying this a bit too much, in the name of science of course.
“This should give us our answer; so far the other methods haven’t been able to pick up anything.” Twilight explained.
I tried to focus on the device, crossing my eyes in order to see the readings, which were nothing more than a few notches against a glass surface, just like a thermometer from Earth. The key difference was the liquid inside this one was a shade of teal that started to remind me more of a glow stick than a medical device the more I thought about it.
“Interesting…” Twilight murmured before taking a few notes.
“What?” I asked nervously.
“According to this, you do have a bit of magic in you!” Twilight replied excitedly.
“Wait, really?” I asked after pulling the device from my mouth, trying to comprehend what the markings meant, but science symbols hadn’t been covered in the books I had under my belt so far.
“Yes, it’s extremely passive mind you, much more passive than an earth pony’s is, but it’s there! Oh my gosh this is incredible! This brings up an entirely different series of questions!” Twilight started bouncing excitedly.
“Heh, you’re not going to lock me up like some lab rat now, are you?” I asked jokingly.
“I guess I got a little carried away there. I don’t plan on locking you up, but now I’m curious if your brother has a similar trait, if so that means that…oh my gosh…this changes so much…” Twilight said, pacing now in an attempt to contain her excitement.
My brother with magic, that was a scary thought. His stupid table top game was pretty deep into that sort of thing, along with big guns and swords that looked like chainsaws. He hated it when I called him captain cardboard, after he built those two hunks of junk that were supposedly really hard to blow up in the game. I threated to burn them both with a lighter once.
“You seem to be thinking about some pretty big changes.” I commented as a book levitated in front of her.
“I was reminded of something your brother and I discussed, if you both share this-well, if all humans share this trait then it’s a pretty impactful discovery for quite a few reasons.” Twilight said.
“Good reasons I hope. I guess there’s no way of telling how to improve this magic your little doodad says I have?” I asked, looking down at my hands.
“I’m afraid only trial and error will help with that, the same as all magic. Even then there’s a chance you can’t improve it, as exciting as that is to think about.” Twilight replied.
The clock sounded, alerting both of us to the time. Surely my brother was home by now, or at least on his way. It’d be good to have him back as a human, then Twilight could poke on him like she had me.
“If we’re done here Twilight, I think I’m going to see if Daniel’s made it back yet. I haven’t seen him all morning.” I said, standing up.
“Fair enough, thanks for your help yesterday by the way.” Twilight beamed.
---
Daniel was still missing in action, but Twilight had assured me that Cloudchaser was a trustworthy pony. For the pegasus’ sake, she had better be. Even though my brother and I didn’t always see eye to eye, if there was a single hair out of place on his head, there would be hell to pay.
The trip home had reminded me that there was a distinct lack of a certain food group we really couldn't do without. Fluttershy was the pony to see when a meat predicament arose. Despite her timid and sweet demeanor, she somehow managed to produce red meat which raised several questions that I didn’t have the courage to ask.
The mental picture of a butchery hidden within some sort of shed found its way into my mind. I envisioned Fluttershy cackling like a mad mare before delivering the killing blow to some poor bunny or goat, or maybe even…no, even she couldn’t be a cannibal, that was taking things too far.
I knocked once on the pegasus’ cabin door to be greeted quickly by the serpentine creature Daniel had referred to as Discord. I braced myself for some sort of crazy magic trick, but was mildly disappointed when nothing unusual happened.
“Well hello Miss Isabella,” Discord grinned widely at me. “What brings a human to this neck of the woods?”
“Discord, I wasn’t expecting you to answer for Fluttershy.” I laughed nervously.
“Hah! I’ve still got it even without my power.” Discord gloated.
“Wait, you’re powerless right now?” I asked.
“It’s all part of a little game I’m playing with Celestia. She thinks fate actually has some sort of grip on you humans, but I know better. Humans have that nifty little gift of freewill, unbound by something so trivial as fate.” Discord replied.
“I still don’t see how not having your powers has anything to do with this.” I folded my arms in mock disappointment.
“All part of the game, Celestia is sitting in her room right now, unable to perform any of her duties for a full twenty four hours. The catch is that I have to be…bleck, normal, as well. I won’t crack first though, she’s probably pacing right now.” Discord laughed.
“So has the lord of normalcy seen Fluttershy?” I asked.
“Very funny, and of course I’ve seen her. I’m unable to get back into my own house with my powers gone which is why I came here.” Discord replied.
A little red flag was slowly starting to rise in my mind, something about Discord’s power being gone, and my brother’s sudden prolonged absence couldn’t be coincidence. Perhaps Cloudchaser hadn’t done anything to him.
Before I could ask him about his power’s side effects should something like this happen, Fluttershy appeared in the doorway. Seeing her reminded me of why I had walked all the way out here in the first place.
“Hello Isabella, how are you today?" Fluttershy asked sweetly.
"I'm good Fluttershy, I'm here for," I looked around to make sure no other ponies were stopping by to pay the kindhearted pegasus a visit before continuing. "The goods."
"The goods...oh, I understand, one moment." Fluttershy said disappearing into her house, leaving me alone with the powerless lord of chaos.
"So, has she ever told you where she gets that stuff?" I asked.
"My dear, there are questions even I prefer not to know the answers to." Discord replied.
Fluttershy returned with a saddle bag that contained the goods, said goods being meat. The curiosity of where she acquired it finally got the better of me and I couldn't resist asking, I had to know. I didn't want to keep eating dead ponies, if she was in fact a cannibal.
"Fluttershy, I've been meaning to ask, where does this come from anyways?" I asked cautiously, slightly dreading the answer.
"Griffons." Fluttershy replied with a shrug.
"You kill griffons?!" I felt my blood run cold.
"Oh goodness no, there's a nice delivery service that drops off the meat. It varies from hydra to basilisk, but nothing that wouldn't be safe." Fluttershy said nonchalantly, almost as if she were talking about the weather.
"Hydra...I've been eating a hydra..." I mumbled quietly.
"Well, fish have been part of the selection too. You haven't just been eating hydra, Twilight made the suggestion actually." Fluttershy explained.
"Good to know I guess, before I find out about some secret pill you guys have been giving us I think I'm going to go see if Daniel's back yet." I said with a nervous laugh.
"You mean he never made it home?" Fluttershy asked.
"When you say it like that it makes it sound like he was murdered. No he wasn't home the last time I was there, I'm starting to get a little concerned about him." I replied.
"I hope he's okay, I can't imagine anypony that would want to hurt him." Fluttershy said, her ears drooping.
"I hope so too Fluttershy, I'm sure he is." I said not wanting to leave the pegasus' company on a sour note.
---
I was grateful that Fluttersyhy wrapped the meat in some sort of scent proof material, since walking through town with the scent of dead...something in on me would have probably raised a few concerns. That was the last thing I needed after having improved my standing with these ponies.
The door to my brother's house slowly started to open as I approached it. I felt a wave of relief wash over me, only for it to be drawn away as I saw Twilight and Applejack in the doorway. Twilight seemed to have red, puffy eyes, which did little to ease my mounting fears over my brother.
"Uh, not to be that girl, but what were you guys doing in my brother's house? Is he back?" I asked hopefully.
Twilight opened her mouth to answer but sighed instead, turning to Applejack. The farm pony nodded before stepping forward, looking up at me with forced determination.
"No, he ain't, truth is we can't find him. Twilight and him had a fallin' out of sorts and-" Applejack started to explain.
"I told him to leave; I didn't think he would actually do it though!" Twilight exclaimed quickly.
"Whoa whoa, calm down. What did you two get in a fight over that was that intense?" I asked, motioning for them to follow me inside before other ponies decided to start listening in.
"He came to me this morning about an hour after you left, still under Discord's spell. That wasn't the only thing off about him though, I could smell her on him. He...slept with her, I was just so mad that he would abuse a spell like that..." Twilight said.
"Huh, I'll be damned, he actually did-never mind. Twilight, I don't think he was deliberately abusing the spell, I doubt he could since Discord is powerless right now anyways, but I am curious how he's still a pony if that's the case though." I said.
"Discord's powerless?" Twilight and Applejack asked in unison.
"Yeah, I just saw him at Fluttershy's about a few minutes ago. He said something about a bet with Celestia." I replied.
Twilight put a hoof to her mouth in thought. I could only imagine what sort of magical equations she was running through her head. It made me wonder just what Discord's actions might have caused.
"I think he's magic locked...that would explain his appearance. I can't be certain of its side effects though, since this isn't normal magic we're dealing with, and that still doesn't-" Twilight said.
"Twilight, not saying what my brother did was right. I mean, if ponies are his thing he should get them to love him for who he is, but what's wrong with him falling in love with one? I mean, it sounds as if you're against the idea of it entirely." I interrupted.
"I'm not against him falling in love!" Twilight snapped.
"Twi, you had Rainbow Dash and Rarity spy on him, and not ta be agreein' with a sour deed, but fate don't bring two ponies together fer no reason. Right now he's a pony like you and me, so why is this eatin' at ya sugar cube?" Applejack asked.
Twilight bit her bottom lip, taking a few steps away from us. For a few seconds it seemed as if she was contemplating teleporting away, like we had caught her with her hoof in a cookie jar.
"I...I liked him, as a human." Twilight said quietly.
Things were finally starting to make sense, now, and shed a fair amount of light on the alicorn's behavior. At first I was a bit shocked that a pony would confess to liking a human, but the more I thought about it, the more sense it made.
There weren't many alicorn's, four in total, and there were only two humans. Perhaps Twilight wanted to be with a being like herself, one that she could relate to, or maybe there was a deeper reason that I was unaware of. Whatever the case, I was still impressed to hear the words come from her mouth.
"Twilight, why do you like my brother?" I asked.
"I...had a crush on a human once. When I went back for a visit once, he had found somepony new, one who didn't have royal burdens, or have to worry about making time for him. Somepony that would always be there." Twilight sat down as she revealed the truth.
"When I saw your brother, he was scared and alone, but I could tell he had a good heart. As time went on I started to-" Twilight shook her head before she finished her thought. "None of that matters now, he likes Cloudchaser. I told him I never wanted to see him again...I've lost him as a friend now too...and I don't know where to find him. You probably think I'm selfish now." Twilight said quietly.
I felt pity for her; she was surrounded by friends, but was still alone. It was a feeling I had come to accept and grown used to traveling to so many places. I had been in her shoes before, figuratively speaking, and knew how hard it was to watch someone you had feelings for fall for someone other than you.
"Twilight, you didn't lose him as a friend," I knelt down to hug her making her flinch in surprise. "And I don't think loving someone makes you selfish. They have to love you back though." I was joined by Applejack who wrapped her forelegs around the princess.
We stayed like that for a while, friends had disputes, and one night stands hardly qualified as love at first sight. I kept these thoughts to myself; right now silence was the wisest approach until the alicorn was ready to talk.
"We need to find Discord, he can sense magical disturbances." Twilight said, pushing out of our embrace, wiping a stay tear from her eye.
"He's powerless for twenty four hours Twilight, how is that going to help?" I asked, derailing plan A.
"Hey, any of ya'll know what this here means?" Applejacks asked, bringing with her a note with rather sloppy writing on it.
"Fil...something, wow that is crappiest writing I have ever seen." I said looking the note over.
"The only other pony that would have come in here would have been your brother. He probably wrote this with his mouth, since he doesn't have hands at the moment." Twilight reasoned.
"Fair enough, but what does Fil mean?" I asked.
"If he did run the only thing Ah can think of would be Fillydelphia. Reckon he's headed there?" Applejack asked looking to Twilight.
"It makes sense. We have to bring him back, there's no telling what might happen if the spell remains in place for too long, especially one from Discord." Twilight replied.
"I think you need to handle Discord, I can't guarantee his safety if I see him right now. We'll meet you at the station." I said.
"You're coming with us?" Twilight asked.
"Daniel is my brother, he's just acting a little crazy right now." I shrugged.
Twilight nodded wordlessly before disappearing. I didn't have the heart to tell her that I was also coming along to make sure she and my brother didn't get into another fight.
---
“Ouch! Easy on the ear!” Discord yelped, as a purple light engulfed his ear, giving him little option in following Twilight up the stairs of the station. Spike had decided to tag along as well, giggling at the creature’s misfortune.
“Now, tell them what you told me!” Twilight barked, releasing Discord’s ear from her magical grasp.
“Fine, no need to get bent out of shape about it. Your princess is right, if he’s still walking around as a pony then he’s magic locked.” Discord said.
“What else did you tell me on the way here?” Twilight asked through gritted teeth.
I crossed my arms, staring the serpentine creature down. I secretly relished the sight of him recoiling from my gaze, now powerless to do anything about it, daring him to make some sort of smart remark about the situation.
“H-he should be fine, really! I mean there’s the one in a million odd chances that he might stay like he is, bu-agkh.” I didn’t give him the chance to finish, slamming him against the side of the ticket building.
“Find him, and change him back, or I’m going to rearrange your already misconfigured body!” I growled.
“I don’t have my pow-auh!” Discord began to gasp for air as I slip my elbow against his throat.
Twilight held Applejack back, a small smile on her face as she allowed me to vent my frustration out on the lord of chaos for a while. Twilight had a brother as well, I knew she could relate to my anger that had fear intermingled for his safety.
“I don’t care about some stupid bet; I don’t care if you’re doing it for a charity for pony cancer or some other grand cause! You do whatever it takes to get your power back, or I’m going to gouge out your eyes, go buy a strap on and skull fuck you!” I roared.
“Whoa…hostile.” Spike said quietly.
I removed my elbow, allowing him to breathe once more. I kept my soul piercing gaze on him, letting him know I meant business.
“You’re asking the impossible; my powers are sealed in an hourglass right now. Until the last spec of…what are you doing?” Discord asked looking over at Twilight who had pulled Spike to the side.
“Oh, writing a letter for your surrender.” Twilight replied.
“Are you mad? I’m not going to surrender to Celestia!” Discord huffed.
“Hey Applejack how much does a ‘toy’ cost anyways?” I asked, winking at her.
“Not too much I reckon.” The farm pony replied, winking back.
“Okay, okay. Just tell her to break the hourglass and everything should go back to normal…mostly.” Discord mumbled.
Spike finished writing the letter, happily showing Twilight for her approval. With a nod from the princess, the little dragon rolled the scroll up and breathed out a small green flame onto the parchment, causing it to disappear.
A few minutes passed in relative silence, all eyes locked on the lord of chaos. I was about to speak up when a light surrounded Discord, presumably the end result of the hourglass he spoke of being broken. He turned to grin at me mischievously, only to shy away once it occurred to him I wasn’t fazed by him, powers or not. Being in protective big sister mode makes you pretty intimidating.
“Right then, shall we go to Fillydelphia?” Discord asked.
“That’s the idea…what’s the hold up?” I asked.
“I’m waiting for the train, my powers just returned to me after all. You didn’t really think I’d be able to just teleport where ever I wanted to the second they returned did you?” Discord grinned.
“Looks like we’re waiting on the train then.” Twilight sighed.
“What exactly do you plan to do with the human Twilight? You know it’ll be hard to concentrate with all the stares and occasional scream of panic.” Discord mused.
“That’s not going to work Discord.” Twilight said, stomping a hoof against the wooden deck.
---
The train ride was oddly pleasant all things considered. While I couldn’t fathom why Daniel called Discord a friend, I didn’t mind being in the company of Twilight, Applejack or Spike. Things were a bit awkward though, now that my…perspective was a bit off.
“I can’t believe you talked me into doing this.” Twilight groaned, slamming a hoof against her face.
“I’m good at what I do.” Discord laughed, reclining in his seat.
“Don’t sweat it Twilight, it’s not…so bad, just a little weird getting adjusted to.” I said blowing on my mane a bit as it drifted over my left eye.
Through some sort of witch craft, Discord had managed to get all of us to agree that it was a good idea for me to be as inconspicuous as possible. By that, he meant blending in as a pony myself, which to any sane being would have raised red flags since such a occurrence had gotten us into our current situation.
A coral pink coat now covered my smaller body, while a similarly colored horn broke the ordinarily flat surface of my skull. A long red mane and tail, with pink streaks running through the fine hairs complemented each other nicely. To top the look off, what looked like a sextant was branded on my flanks.
“So does this mean I can do magic now?” I asked, growing frustrated with my mane, continually covering my left eye. I had no idea how Fluttershy tolerated the hai-mane style.
“Casting a spell isn’t just something you will to happen. It’s a process that takes a lot of work to master.” Twilight said.
“Just a thought. Honestly though, I never expected to be a unicorn.” I shrugged, turning to look out the window as the train neared our destination. I could only hope my brother was okay.
Stats
Page generated in 0.038 seconds
Total duration
1,051 users online
2,054,643 hits today, 2,782,760 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Here I was, pondering the question I asked several chapters back. Wondering if my asking that, as often as I do, is legitimate and necessary... While I'm still convinced the question of why certain things happen in stories, mainly when I don't feel the answer given (through the story itself) is not full enough for me, this is one of those times I should've waited patiently for a full explanation. Hope I didn't cause you to feel like you had to put it in there sooner, or at all, than planned.
I also hope they catch that fucker...
Huh. So Daniel became a pegasus, and he's admitted to feeling the desire to fly when he was younger. Izzy is a unicorn, and it was just discovered she did have low levels of magic in her...
pre07.deviantart.net/bee3/th/pre/f/2013/071/c/e/fluttershy_stay_out_of_my_shed__wallpaper_by_assualtpony-d5xvg8f.jpg
Y'know, considering that Twilight showed up on the middle of Izzy cooking breakfast, and then immediately teleported her away, it's a good thing that Daniel's house didn't burn down.
Also holy moly Izzy is a badass.
But so does Applejack... this argument seems somewhat invalid.
It makes sense to me.
i did not see that coming
You know you're of an older generation (and very likely Canadian) when you hear mention of a song "Let if go" and you first think of this:
https://youtu.be/4XhCnKknVbo