Chapter Three: Accommodation
Celestia woke up. "Thank you, Luna."
Luna was sitting on her haunches on the opposite side of the room, just inside the open double doors to the balcony, staring off into the distance. Now that her connection to the magic of their world had been restored, she was regaining her former stature. Also, her mane was looking less like hair and starting to once again resemble a dark nebula swirling in the heart of the night sky.
She responded wordlessly. "Hmm?"
Celestia got out of her bed. Her own mane looked the same as it had every day since receiving her cutie mark so many centuries ago: like the auroras on display in the sky in the polar regions of their world, and many other Earths besides. The eldest of Equestria's three princesses hadn't experienced bed-head since childhood.
She walked over to Luna and placed a hoof on her sister's shoulder, a hoof that was not at that time clad in her royal golden shoes. "Thank you for showing me that creature's dreams, sister. It confirms everything I've suspected, and validates what I've been doing for many years now."
Tears were making their way down Luna's cheek, but she refused to acknowledge them. "So much anger... at everything, and at nothing. So much hate." She tilted her head back and would have been looking at the ceiling if she hadn't closed her eyes. "He is as we were within the Nightmare. Nay, worse." She moved her head to the opposite extreme and opened her eyes, looking down at the floor. "I was. He is as I was within the Nightmare."
Celestia's hoof moved up and began rubbing the back of her neck. "That was Nightmare Moon. She became part of you, but she wasn't you. This is my sweet sister; this is the Luna I love, and who loves me."
Luna nodded and wiped her face with the back of one hoof before leaning against her big sister. "But how didst thou..." She trailed off, shook her head, and started over. "How did you know? Without dream-walking to tell you what is truly within them, how could you learn what was in their hearts?"
"They showed us," Celestia said quietly. "Whoever sends these beings here robs them of energy to power the transfer, so they always arrive unconscious. The first ones to come here were always unnoticed when they arrived, but when they awoke, they would always head for the nearest city, town, or village. Once there, they always did their best to terrorize our little ponies, not realizing that they were just as powerless as before."
"So they waved about their mummers' props, thinking they had been imbued with vast magical power for no reason save satisfying their deranged wishes? What did they whence it was discovered otherwise?"
"Some broke mentally and went catatonic. Others tried violence without the benefit of these imagined abilities, but they were always quickly subdued by earth pony strength, pegasus swiftness, or unicorn magic. Others tried to kill themselves but were also restrained."
Luna pulled away from her sister and turned to face her. "Thou -- nay, you -- said 'the first ones'. And after? When more of these things arrived?"
"Sister, try to recall your connection to the Element of Kindness. These are beings, not things." Celestia spoke gently but firmly. "From what we learned by interviewing the initial subjects, most of the trouble with them is from them seeing other beings as things. Some of them, not many, have shallow conenctions with others and call them friends, but none of them truly understand the magic of friendship." She looked out the balcony doors herself, taking in the beauty of the night sky before continuing. "Honestly, I think that's why they're sent here. Not to learn, because they've shown they can't do that. I think they're sent here so that other worlds can simply get rid of them."
"I consider myself corrected, sister. That answers not my question. The other beings who arrived after the initial attempted rampages?"
Celestia looked back at her sister. "After I learned to recognize the magical signature of the planar breaches, I began teaching the more promising students of my school how to detect it, as well as many alumni who volunteered to return for one more class. Unicorns all over Equestria now know how to tell when these beings have crossed over, and where to find them. We simply locate them, make certain they remain asleep, and take them to one of the care facilities that have been established."
Luna's eyes widened. "'Facilities', plural? How many of these creatures have been exiled here?"
"Hundreds."
"And... you never thought of simply... killing them?"
"Of course I thought about it, Luna. I think about all sorts of things. Remember when we were little and you accused me of thinking about things too much?"
Luna eyes lost their focus as she looked into the memories of their distant past. One corner of her mouth quirked upward. "I do. There is something of you in your young protégé Twilight Sparkle, I think."
Celestia smiled broadly, a playful gleam in her eyes. "How do you think I knew she was special?"
Luna reached out a hoof and lightly smacked her sister on the shoulder in the universal sign for "Oh, you!"
Their conversation was interrupted by a knock at the door. In addition to two of Celestia's guards flanking the door, there was a member of the newly reinstated Night Guard standing between them and looking expectant. He bowed low, saluted with both a hoof and one bat-like wing, gave appropriate greetings, and declined the offer to enter the royal chambers. Protocol satisfied, he gave the royal sisters a brief verbal summary, then retrieved a sheaf of documents from his saddle bag. He left after Celestia took the report in her magical grip and Luna formally dismissed him.
The stack of papers detailed how the latest human intruder had been found, magically sedated, and was at that very moment being transported to a comfortable, caring place where he would spend the rest of his life. On top of them was a picture, a close-up image of the once-troubled human's sleeping face.
Celestia levitated the photo, holding it up between herself and her sister. "Anyway, Luna, look how happy he is."
"True. And judging by his dreams, possibly for the first time in his life."
"Exactly. And he's young; based on our best estimates, he'll live for decades until our doctors can do no more for him, and he'll be this happy his entire life. The perpetual dream is everything he wants."
Luna looked thoughtful. "You not only protect our ponies, but you give these disturbed creatures a great gift as well."
"I like to think so, sister. The first exiles, the ones who remained coherent, spoke at length about their twisted desires for endless death and destruction. This one's dreams told us all that and more. But anypony -- any being -- can kill. That's not difficult at all. Showing compassion? That's much harder."
There was silence for several long moments.
"I feel sorry for them," said Luna softly.
Celestia sighed. "As do I, sister. As do I."
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To my greatest shame, I can give this modest tale but one upvote. Shine on, my dear Elric. Shine on.
Rejoice my brothers, for true salvation has arrived.
'Twas a thing of beauty. God bless those ponies and their compassion. God bless them.
Splendid. By far the best Displaced fic I have ever read
Since Displaced fans love carnage so much, I'm sure that this fic will grow to be one of the community's new favourites, because that was absolutely brutal.
Better than any displaced story and it shits on the "genre" lol.
The only Displaced fic I didn't downvote.
The first Displaced fic that's actually good. I'm willing to call this art.
Judging from the downvotes, someone's butthurt.
This story is the glorious gloriousness of glory.
I think you need to use a dictionary since this story isn't a parody. Honestly, your gibe is just a lame. Sure it well written, but even a piece of crap made to look pristine is still a piece of crap.
6560928
Let's see... it's a work that imitates other works, and I definitely meant to ridicule. And as the example of the verb form shows us, it can imitate entire genres (or in this case, sub-genres). Not sure what you're basing your statement on, but it looks like I'm in the clear.
Thanks for your concern, though.
6560928 Said the author of a displaced story.
make a bottle ready, you'll need to make a good use of those butthurt displaced fans tears
6560954
tushay, I forgot to check the verb form.
6560957
Also, I am done with this story now. I could make an argument about that, but that would go against my motto.
6560995
That should be touché, which is all the more reason why I shouldn't take advice about word usage from you.
6561005
lh4.googleusercontent.com/-SgXA16EoDKQ/UWJWy-cKGBI/AAAAAAAADOM/1UT7ApHql2E/w800-h800/OOOOOOHHH.gif
6560995
...I'd actually like to see that argument.
~Skeeter The Lurker
6560995
We're not talking about the rap artist, are we?
Because if we are, I'm disappointed.
Brilliant, especially the denoument. And the description of his equipment was priceless, especially the dialable fantasy sword and the top-mounted Xelee starbreaker. (I figured he was going to destroy some astronomical object with that one, because, well, that's what they're for. In fact I'm a Baxter fan, and the starbreaker was one of my inspirations for my Luna's gravity lance beams -- though hers in merely flesh form aren't nearly as powerful.
Oh my, that was a good ending, not to mention the spike heroism.
Unfortunately when Displaced apologists say that good displaced fics exist and are asked for examples they'll probably invoke this.
so the joke is that displaced characters are actually not wanted on earth so they get ported to equestria and immediately put into stasis?
6561185
No, that's just the ending. There are lots of jokes in the story.
Also, might I persuade you to edit some spoiler tags into your comment?
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6555839
Just call me "crazy diamond"...
6560142
"I'd like to start a religion. That's where the money is!"
-- attributed in various forms to L. Ron Hubbard
6560298
It's a wonder why so many people dislike the ponies, as kind as they are.
6560439
See: damning with faint praise.
6560839
Or the backlash could be worse than when I made fun of "Conversion Bureau" stories. Who knows?
6560840
Well, I wanted them to be able to make more sandwiches...
(See my recent blog post about these stories if that doesn't make any sense.)
6560844
Don't worry -- there are plenty of folks who will downvote it for you.
6560867
Garfunkel?
6560880
Probably a few someones, I suspect...
6560906
Remember Jolt Cola? I drank a 20-ounce bottle of that once. I was vibrating.
6560927
How's the gloriosity?
6560960
It's a cheesy movie, but I'm still a fan.
P.S. Firemares can cross a thousand leagues in a day.
6560994
Now that you mention it, I'm kind of thirsty...
6561110
Baxter's stuff is kind of depressing, but damn is it brilliant!
6561169
As I mentioned to someone else, the Most Holy Order of the Paladins of Spike weren't my primary target, but I couldn't resist getting some digs in. Especially since there had been some of that "poor, pitiful Spike" stuff in one of the recent stories covered in Rage Reviews.
6561344
The vision would be even more perplexing if the target of the beating was just a gooey paste on the ground, so I took some artistic license.
6561372
I now feel closer to Pinkie Pie, thank you.
6561390
And yeah, it just didn't seem right having the story end with just an orgy of destruction... especially when having an epilogue of sorts gave me an opportunity for more commentary.
Very kind, thank you.
6561400 remember to drink with moderation
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Nifty. It's a bit funny when a parody of a Displaced fic is loved by fans of the same sub-genre.
If this is a parody of the Displaced type stories (Which I'm fairly certain it is), that is a clever fucking title right there.
6561400
img3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20140627165617/vsbattles/images/f/f4/Josuke_Higashikata_All_Star_Battle.jpg
But you don't look like a stand power...
6561504
Honestly, I was expecting nothing but hate from that direction...
6561508
Indeed it is.
Thank you.
Truly a magnificent work of art.
media.giphy.com/media/TbRXNJJJbgIkE/giphy.gif
Even if the ending does remind me of 'For the Man Who Has Everything.'
6561636
Animated Justice League, right? I could be mistaken, but those lines of dialogue do sound familiar...
6561641
Yup.
Elric, you magnificent bastard!
6561749
6561508 I just fucking got the joke. I'm...I'm going to go sit in a corner for a few minutes.
Looks like the butthurt is growing. Time to step it up a notch.
Story added to the Displaced Group.
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Yes I read it.
No, I couldn't give a shit that it exists.
Yes, I think this was decent writing.
As for this in general, its not really an insult because, they're cleaning the folders and such. They're promoting new creativity.
Yes, I think some of the typical Displaced cliches are stupid, but, you guys are overly cynical. What if pointed out the flaws in any groups you're in? Instead of being an ass(not you specifically Elric) why not try to help solve this problem?
6562067
What? Like how the Human in Equestria group has run out of ideas? Or the Shameless Self Promotion Bureau is full of attention whores? Or that the Humans Are Superior group tend to have nothing but military porn stories?
No need to flame comrade. No one is perfect.
6562088
I was merely pointing out something that has been bothering me. I find anyone who can direct a way to fix the flaws they so cheerfully decide to point out worthy of respect.
That is the greatest explanation as to why the Displaced are... well, displaced.
This has been a very enjoyable, hilarious, and well made parody. A lot more enjoyable than I thought it was going to be. For that I bestow upon you a upvote. May you have a wonderful life you majestic bastard!
6562095
I wanted to demonstrate that bit in the story description about him being not very bright, and forgetting powers was a good way to do that. Plus, if he had started flying at the start, he wouldn't have had quite so many pointless encounters with monsters.
As a writer, it was kind of hard for me to forget he could fly, considering how many power rings he had on that could provide that power.
6562139 Good point, those pointless encounters are what really sold that chapter to me. I especially liked the part were he brought down a meteor from the heavens onto Fluttershy's cottage.
I just had a thought just now; I would love it if someone would draw the protagonist to this story. That would make my year.
6562172
Oh, you and me both!
First, we had the Generic line of stories, Diamond Tiara Systematically Hunts Down and Murders Bad OCs, The Canon Squad, and Wrath of the Beholder Mare (the latter of which could use some work now), which parodied red-and-black alicorn Stus; then we had Fall of the Caribou (the one-shot one, not the one featuring a human protag); now we have this divination of a story.
I'd try to do a coverart for it, but it would come out like a total clusterfuck, and that's coming from someone who's drawn and written clusterfucks before. :D
One fave and upvote; the only Displaced fic I approve of.
Headcanon accepted. An entertaining parody and surprisingly deep denouement. All in all, nice work, though I'm disappointed by the absence of betentacled panthers. Maybe John killed a few without noticing.
What a beautiful, hilarious parody. I do think this is the first time I've upvoted a Displaced story.
This was absolutely beautiful.
First of all, congrats on hitting the Feature box. Seems the time was ripe for a Displaced parody, and this one hit just the right spot.
There were a lot of individual things I liked. It's very carefully and densely written, especially your unreliable narrator. So I'll just say, poor Zecora, casually bumped off without even being named. Poor Spike, being taken at his word in the middle of a case of sulks! I'm glad you had the narrator slam a meteor into Fluttershy's house: any details would have been unbearable.
"Tropical ponies." Your narrator really is dumber than a bag of hammers.