27 - Organizing the Multiverse
Celestia spread her wings wide. "We will have to extend our duties, if temporarily. We have long been stewards of the sky, but, at least for a little while, we should organize this mess." She looked to Luna. "Sister, your talents will be invaluable for this. You've seen the press of the other worlds more clearly, haven't you?"
Luna quickly nodded. "It is much more obvious when patrolling the dream world. I saw something was amiss before the first of the lost souls began to appear, and it has only grown worse over time."
Lyra rubbed behind her head. "Well... OK. You two have this under control then? I'll get back to Ponyville then." She turned to leave and ran into one of Celestia's large wings.
"Not so fast, Lyra." Celestia gently pulled Lyra back. "For what I have in mind, we need one of your patients. Ideally one with a very strong sense of their home. I imagine they likely had a very hard time adapting, if they ever did. The stronger the sense of their old world, the better for this purpose. Can you think of somepony like that?"
Lyra clopped her hooves together. "Yeah! Sam! I'll... Oh. He... kind of ran away, through Twilight's mirror portal."
Luna snorted softly. "That mare can cause as many problems as she fixes at times."
Celestia shook her head. "Then your mission is clear. Go and recover this 'Sam' and bring him here."
Lyra cringed. "I don't want to drag him back! He's happier there. I'm supposed to be his friend. Friends don't foalnap each other!" She looked to Luna. "That reminds me. The world isn't... falling apart. Why was I supposed to stop him from going?"
Luna pointed a hoof at Lyra. "Failing to stop him from going. Most of the damage that would be done is already done. I just wanted them all in one place, and to not burden another world with our problems."
Celestia gave a gentle smile. "We won't keep him here, or anywhere. We just need him for a few days, then he is a free pony again to do as he pleases, within the confines of the law. He knows you, Lyra, surely you can convince him to come back for a little while?"
Lyra gave a little nod, feeling unable to say no to the palpable warmth and kindness of Celestia. It was like saying no to a good grandmother. She couldn't handle the idea. "I'll do my best. Is it alright if I take a friend with me? Another once-human might help a lot in approaching him."
Luna rolled a hoof. "Do as thou must. The fate of Equestria rests squarely in your hooves."
Lyra cringed as the pressure mounted. She bobbed her head and turned to flee out of the courtroom, lest more demands be heaped upon her.
Sam wandered through the mall, noting there were far more teenagers than adults, which seemed weird. Even manning the shops seemed to have a good number of young adults. He saw the high school, but maybe there was a college nearby too. A college town would explain a good bit of what he saw.
He wandered into the bed store and eyeballed the price tags. Most of the sets were quite reasonably priced, but there was one bed on a raised platform whose price was four times that of its closest competition. Light spilled down from above, and its signage made wild claims of the best sleep any person has ever experienced ever. "Hey," he called out to the peppy looking girl watching the store. "Is it OK to try this?" She bobbed her head, still grinning.
Sam sank down onto the mattress and was instantly asleep. He hadn't even realized it until the girl nudged him awake. "That happens more often than you'd think." She was still smiling. It was a little unnerving how she managed it, but he accepted her hand up. "Did you want to get one? Free delivery!"
Sam shook his head. "A little out of my price range, and I might never get out of bed again."
She laughed at his joke loudly. "I totally know what you mean! How about this one?" She moved over to less expensive models, but seemed to have her eyes on one particular mattress. "This has your name all over it."
Sam approached and saw that she was being literal. It read 'Sam' on it. "I don't remember introducing myself."
"You look like a Sam," said the girl before pointing at herself. "I'm Tammy! Try it out!"
Sam sat on the edge of the bed while looking at its price tag. It was well within his budget. He laid back and found it quite cozy. Not instant sleep like the luxury model, but he'd suffered through far worse than the Sam bed. "Yeah, sure. I'll take it."
"Excellent! I'll have it sent to your apartment right away." She held out a hand, and he put some bills in it. She quickly returned with change. "You have a nice day now!"
"Uh, don't you need the address?" asked Sam with a raised brow.
She shook her head. "We'll find you, don't worry. And you have a month to try it out, but I know you'll like it. Are you new in town?"
"Uh... yeah, you could say that, pretty new." He glanced around nervously. "Is that a problem?"
"Gosh no." She leaned in a little. "We love getting new neighbors. I hope you get settled in soon. Were you invited to the block party this weekend?"
Sam hadn't been to a party of any kind besides a birthday party in years. To have this early 20-something inviting him felt somehow more alien than the bed that had his name all over it. "No? Should I have been?"
"Of course!" She grabbed his hand and squeezed it. "Welcome to the neighborhood! Be there and meet everyone else!" When she let go of his hands, he was holding a little invitation card. Unsure what to make of it, he nodded at Tammy and retreated from the store with all the dignity he could muster.
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Just back away slowly Sam. Don't look anyone in the eyes. Head home and prepare.
Ooooh, the feeling of unreality builds...
I wonder if there's a mirror world to our own which is like Equestria, but duller, and rougher around the edges, with more human like attitudes and mannerisms.
Oops, momentarily neutered there.
AAaaahh! This place is too nice!! Get me out of here! At least in pony land, the body shapes are all different, so the universal niceness is easier to take!
I'm stuck in the uncanny valley!
That.. actually, almost kind of makes sense. With the ponies, you get a sense of this is just who they are, and since they get put in a completely different bucket in your brain, you can accept that easily enough. Ponies are like that, sure.
With the EQG ponyish people, your brain tries to stick them in the human bucket, which then combines with all this surreally friendly behavior and triggers deep cynicism and distrust. You feel like they're trying to con you somehow, and the fact that you can't see how just convinces you you aren't going to see it until it's too late.
6059307 Fixed!
6059316
Wording!
6059304 I think you might have described a good bit of Ponyfinder.
6059304
There is...
Fallout Equestria.
I'm somehow not at all surprise to see EQD-verse have a "stalker" vibe. Personally would have run away at the first manditory musical number. At least if you're a talking horse there's an excuse for it. Talking horse rules. What can you do? There's nothing worse than "almost normal". "Almost normal" is weirder than outright weird, at least in my book.
6059379 That was the vibe I was aiming for, so yay me!
Am I imagine things or are the chapter getting smaller?
6059437 The first chapter was 1,003 words long, and dipped under 1000 at several times This one was over 1.1k. I think we're good?
6059454
It's more a feeling than the actual size. It's happening less with the same amount of words. Like running on the spot. We nearly learned nothing the last chapter and nearly no progress was made. It's nice that you want to write out scenes more, but then the chapter should be longer so it doesn't feel empty.
Meh, there are worse places than the EQG-verse to be stuck in.
6059548 There always are, but yeah, Sam's not been abused in creepy EQG land.
6059433 You did a good job on that.
Fate of Equestria? Hmm. What are those princesses up to?
EQG universe... At first I was cool with all the happy, seemed like a people version of Ponyville... but...
I'm starting to think that the town Sam is living in is the EQG version of same one that the cutie map sent the mane six to in the season opener. Now all we need is some cult being led by a certain Starlight Glimmer and her big 'happy making' staff.
6059945 it's the wrong kind of Utopia for that. The people here have already demonstrated that they are not all equal, Sam could not afford the best bed because they had different prices and he only had so much money that proves that they are not a everybody is equally everybody's happy society.
6060002 Heh, that'll teach me to jump to conclusions face first. Ironic and a little sad that when presented with the society we all wish we could live in, my first reaction is suspicion and distrust. Sigh, too many movies like the 1960's 'Village of the Damned', and 'Children of the Corn', and not enough 'Pleasentville' I guess.
no presser here Lyra if you fall all of Equestria only gets messed up.
good chapter.
Harts Fire
"We'll find you." Wow. I'm starting to get a dystopia vibe here...
Also, Lyra really needs to meddle less in the affairs of princesses, for they are silly and quick to delegate.
The "Sam" bed. "We'll find you." Okay.
Aren't EQG people supposed to have pony names? Acceptable breaks from canon or foreshadowing?
6060656
6061506
6059212
Don't worry, they only want to be his friends; to be such good, good friendly friends to him.
They just want him to never want to leave.
Nothing wrong at all.
Nothing.
I can't help but think the regal sisters are going to go up to try and nudge the two big bubbles apart and find that there's only one big bubble, and the shattered wreckage that may have once been a second big bubble.
Luna: Well, TV-Y .
6061506 Maybe her name is Tamper Pedic. :)
6062014 Welcome to the story! Glad you're enjoying your stay. :)
Yeah.... this Equestria Girls Universe is getting a little too nice for comfort... hmm...
Nicurian Emperor: Organizing the Multiverse has already been done. And done several million years ago. This problem could be fixed quite easily... but it shall not be fixed, as that is the author's problem.
6135133 Liking the story, I gather?
The portrayal of the EqG universe here is distractingly disparate from the canon portrayal.
I keep expecting one of them to say “there is no war in Ba-Sing-Sei”