Vistatores Ab Altrivs Regni
Fluttershy stretched her legs as she pushed herself off the chair. "So, that was Mars. I'd tell you about my trip to Venus, but... there's a party going on and I'm the guest of honor after all."
"Right!" Twilight nodded, glancing at the sun. "We were up here for... forty five minutes?"
"Forty-six and thirteen seconds." Fluttershy chuckled at her bewildered expression. "Votum is very useful to have on hoof."
"It sure sounds like he is," Starlight commented. "I'm... not sure how I'd adjust to having a voice in my head."
"It's actually not all that difficult," Pinkie commented. "The tricky bit is getting them to stay focused."
Rarity rolled her eyes. "Oh, right, yes. Why am I not surprised you'd be the one to say that?"
"You're one to talk," Rainbow quipped as they trotted back into the palace. "You had your whole Shadow Spade thing, and you can't tell me you weren't having the internal monologue of some sort."
Applejack snorted. "Now where in the hay didya learn the phrase Internal Monologue?"
Spike rose a claw. "Guilty."
Fluttershy waved her hoof as they reentered the main hall, acknowledging the various cheers from the crowd. "We can talk about our mental stability later. Right now, I just want to spend time with my friends and family and fellow pony."
"Right...." Starlight coughed. "I'll just... go, then."
"No, I really was serious about needing you and Twilight later. And unless you've got a connection with Harmony I don't know about, you'll get lost in this castle if you go wandering."
Starlight blinked. "Is... that actually a thing? Is that why the rest of you don't get lost?"
"I... don't know?" Rarity managed. "I just always seem to find my way around in here."
"Huh, yeah." Twilight frowned. "Now that you mention it, Spike and I never really got lost in here either."
"Give the castle a few weeks to get used to you," Fluttershy advised. "It'll get easier."
"I don't know if the castle is alive like that," Twilight pointed out hesitantly.
"It was grown from a tiny seed," Fluttershy countered. "Of course it's alive."
"Well, if we assume it has the mentality of a tree, then how would it be able to keep Starlight lost?" the alicorn asked. "I mean, trees are rather docile."
"Just because it's tree-like doesn't mean it's a tree," Fluttershy pointed out. "Also, I've met some pretty non-docile trees."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Let's just say that when you're on Venus, the term Migratory Forest takes on a whole new dimension of meaning..."
The party continued long into the afternoon. Fluttershy meandered about, always attended by one of her friends or family members, and caught up with various ponies; the cutie mark crusaders were eager to tell her of their newfound marks, and in turn all but demanded she show off her 'cool new robot parts'. A few ponies were drawn in by holographic images of another world and its inhabitants, oooing and aaaing at creatures of strange grace and visions of technological wonder.
But time went on, as it always did, and eventually the last guests were saying their farewells. Fluttershy gave her little brother a tight hug. "It really is good to see you again, Zephyr. I hope I didn't pull you away from your latest grand idea."
"Wha... no! No. Of course not, I mean, even if you did, you're my sister, and--"
Futtershy put a hoof on his mouth with a smirk. "I'm just teasing, Zeph."
"Oh." He nodded. "Right."
"Look... I know I haven't been around so much, with the whole... Elements thing, and now the thing where I went to an alien world, but... you know I'd support you in whatever you decided to do."
"I know, I know--"
"As long as you decided to do it," Fluttershy added firmly.
Zephyr grinned cockily. "Hey, come on, you know me."
"Yeah, I do. That's why I'm adding that caveat." Fluttershy sighed. "I'm... I'm going to be very busy in the next few weeks, months, maybe even years. And that means I... that means you're going to have to learn how to live without my guidance. You could be a great pony at whatever you tried, if you just... stuck with it. For once." She shook her head. "I... just... please, Zeph. Don't be afraid to fail, and don't be afraid to pick yourself back up again."
"I--"
"Please. For me, Zeph."
Zephyr frowned for a moment, only a moment, before ruffling her mane with a grin. "Sure thing, Flutter Butter. I promise."
Fluttershy sagged in relief. "Good. That's... good. Look, why don't you and Mom and Dad get going, I... I have things I need to talk with Twilight about. Things about... what happened, and what's going to happen. It's all going to be very technical and boring and... yeah, like I said, I'm going to be busy."
"Alright, alright! I can tell when I'm not wanted."
Rainbow Dash scoffed. "As if."
"See you later Flutters!" Zephyr waved as he and his parents walked out.
"Catch you on the flipside!" Fluttershy replied with a broad smile as they walked off.
Rarity turned to her with a quirked eyebrow. "...Catch you on the flipside?"
Fluttershy blinked, before managing an awkward giggle. "Yes. Well. Um. I'm... I spent a whole year in another world, some... some of the slang... um... What I mean is I... well..."
"Catch. You on. The flipside."
"...Oh come on, it works, right?"
"...I suppose," Rarity conceded reluctantly.
"So!" Fluttershy cleared her throat. "Anyway. Twilight, Starlight, could you come with me to my cottage? And... Pinkie, well, you're probably going to want to hear this too, so..."
"What about the rest of us?" Rainbow asked.
Fluttershy rolled her eyes. "It's going to be a major egghead talk, Dash. Like, numbers, equations, parabolic arcs, non-eweclidean geometry, sines and cosines and thaumic temporal quantum. There is also going to be science."
"But you're bringing Pinkie in."
The yellow pony gave the pegasus a flat look.
"...Uh... fair enough, I guess." Rainbow hovered back for a moment, before narrowing her eyes. "Hey Starlight. Don't give her any trouble!"
"Trouble? I'm not going to give her trouble, I--"
Fluttershy sighed. "Rainbow, I can handle myself, alright?"
"...Right. Still." Rainbow pointed her hoof from her eyes to the unicorn. "I'm watching you." She flew off without another word.
Applejack rolled her eyes. "Right, well... Take care o' yerself, Shy. Ah'll be on tha farm if ya need me."
"Oh, yes. Actually, I should head over to the boutique, start work on a new ensemble for you." Rarity trotted off with a smile. "I have so many ideas, darling, I promise I'll be over first thing tomorrow--"
"Maybe make it some time in the afternoon? Oh, and Applejack! Tell Rainbow that we're all meeting up tomorrow, in the afternoon. After. Noon. Alright?"
Applejack quirked an eyebrow. "...Sure thing, Shy...?"
Fluttershy smiled innocently.
"...see ya then?"
"Yep!"
"...Ah'll... be gettin' a move-on, Ah guess." Giving Fluttershy one last wary look, she trotted away.
Twilight looked from her to Fluttershy. "Sooooo... what was that all about?"
"Oh, I didn't want to ruin the surprise," Fluttershy replied casually.
"Oooo! A surprise!" Pinkie bounced in place! "I love surprises! Can I know what it is, please please please please pleeeeeeeeeeeease?"
"Can you keep it a secret until tomorrow?"
"Of course! Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!"
"Well, it's pretty simple. I'm going to be having guests."
There was a pause.
"But... you only just got back," Pinkie pointed out.
"Wait." Twilight's eyes went wide. "Wait. Wait, are you... are you saying that the aliens... they're coming here?"
"Mmhmm. Sometime tomorrow morning, I think."
Pinkie Pie proceeded to perform one of her patented 'Slow Inhalation Of Sheer Excitement And Gradual Levitation' actions.
Fluttershy's ears folded back with a wince. "Pinkie, could you, um, tone it down a bit there? That's a little much for me now."
"Oh. Okay." Pinkie returned to the ground. "Can I bounce around while chanting oh my gosh in a high pitched voice?"
"Yeah, sure."
"OHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMY--"
"--GOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!"
"Two hundred fifteen," Fluttershy noted with some astonishment.
"Two hundred fifteen what?" Twilight asked.
"Pinkie said Oh My Gosh two hundred and fifteen times."
Starlight gave her a look of amazement. "You were counting that?"
"No, Votum was."
"...That is both impressive and creepy."
Fluttershy gave her an amused smile. "Interesting that you, of all ponies, should say that." She cut off Starlight's reply with a wave of her hoof. "But bringing things back to the matter at hand, I don't know exactly when they'll be here. The plan was for them to wait for two weeks while I prepared everypony, except apparently I've only been gone three months on this side."
"Oh, right, the time dilation!" Twilight nodded. "That would complicate matters."
"I've had Votum run the numbers. There's roughly a two to five time ratio--two days here is five days there. Which is really weird because their day is actually thirty, forty minutes longer than ours... And being fair, I'm rounding a bit and trying to account for unexpected stuff from their side of the equation, and I'm assuming the time dilation is a static factor--which it might not be. So..." Fluttershy shrugged. "Basically, I know they're coming, and I think they're coming tomorrow morning. Hopefully before afternoon. If nothing goes wrong."
Pinkie Pie sighed. "It's going to be awful hard to plan a welcome party for guests when you're not sure when they'll be here."
"And I'm going to have to stay up all night waiting for them." She pointed a hoof at a wooden sign hammered into the lawn. "I mean, I left them a note, in case they came early, but none of my animal friends came to get me at the party so... they're not here yet."
Twilight frowned at the sign. "I... can't read that."
"Not surprising, it's in the Vector language. Basically it says to wait here if I'm not here and explains the time dilation issue. I hope it's not necessary though..." Fluttershy sighed, turning to her. "So, what I need you and Starlight here for is to... basically watch for magical intrusions into this reality. It will probably be them, but the tether is still experimental and they don't necessarily know what's going to happen."
"Right." Twilight nodded, turning to Starlight. "You think you're up for this?"
Starlight bit her lip. "I... guess I can, it's just I don't know if I'm the best pony for... well... first contact."
"Of course you aren't, silly! That would be me!" Pinkie proclaimed. "Well, kind of. Maybe Fluttershy is the best for first contact, but she's already contacted the aliens, so this would be second contact. But luckily I have my emergency alien welcoming kit stocked and ready! Except it's in Sugarcube corner, so I just need to go get it. I'll be back before you can say Vlorginzarch'mporfinkarikitykatchykuri!"
She zipped off into the distance.
"Vlorginzarcham... zarch... zarch'm...?" Starlight blinked, turning to Twilight. "What?"
"It's Pinkie Pie," Twilight replied. "Don't ask me to explain it."
"Well, it might take her a while before she gets her kit," Fluttershy mused, "so she probably chose a complex tongue-twister on purpose."
"...Huh." Twilight nodded thoughtfully. "I guess that makes sense. Never thought I'd see the day."
"Well, if you spend enough time with Discord, you figure out how to see things that don't make sense." Fluttershy paused. "Speaking of... where is he, anyway?"
"He's kind of been gone ever since you were," Twilight said. "Nopony knows, exactly..."
Fluttershy frowned. "That's... not good. What if he's hurt? What if the tether hurt him, and we don't know it?"
"Fluttershy--"
"You have that summoning spell, right? The one you used when the vines were attacking Ponyville. Can you use it to bring him here?!"
Twilight opened her mouth.... and facehoofed. "Why didn't I ever think of that? Of course I can! Hold on--"
The glow of her horn grew more and more intense, magic spiralling through arcane patterns in the space of seconds. There was a great flash and then Discord was before them--hovering in midair and grappling at--
--there was something threadlike about it, in the sense that it was wispy and fragile, but the shape was more akin to a ladder, if a ladder had five sides and was made of crystal and twisted in ways that suggested it might actually have more sides just outside the visible dimensions. They couldn't tell if it was all one thing or four separate things he was holding with his claws paw and tail; they seemed to shrink or fade into the distance, or possibly both, depending on how you looked at it.
Discord turned to Twilight with an annoyed look. "I'm quite busy right now princess--Fluttershy!" His mismatched eyes went wide. "My word, what happened to you?!"
"It's a long story that I'd be quite happy to tell you, but first of all--" Fluttershy pointed at the undulating formation. "What is that and why haven't you talked to anyone since I vanished?"
"I don't know what it is, exactly, but I do know it's what snatched you up." Discord tugged at the assemblage, tightening it. "I've been spending all this time keeping it from drifting away--I was hoping somebody would come check up on me, just so I could send them after you."
Twilight bit her lip. "Um... sorry..."
"Well, whatever. She's back, so I suppose--"
"Don't let it go!" Fluttershy cried.
Discord paused. "What?"
"Don't let it go," Fluttershy repeated. "If that's what I think it is, then it needs to stay here as long as possible."
"I can't hold on forever," Discord grumbled.
"You've held on for three months... or thereabouts. I have friends on the other side, they're bringing an anchor point."
"What?" Starlight demanded. "When were you going to mention the anchor point?"
"...Literally right before Pinkie interjected and got me thinking about Discord."
"Oh. Okay."
"Are you the pony that was messing with time?" Discord growled.
"...Um... yeeeeees?"
"Well, congratulations. This thing has knots in it because of you!"
"Knots?" Fluttershy asked.
"Yes, a lot of temporal knots." Discord paused. "...How long were you on this... other side?"
"...a little over a year," Fluttershy admitted.
"Right. Well, as soon as this gets anchored, I'll see about untangling the knots as best I can. After," he added, "I get to greet you back properly."
"I'm back!" Pinkie declared. "Oh hey Discord! We missed you! And Fluttershy. Has she told you about her adventures in another world?"
"I only just got here," Discord grumbled. "But I certainly want to know what happened."
Fluttershy smiled. "Well, let's see if I can get you caught up. It all started when, in the middle of watering my garden, the world went all... strange..."
"...so we agreed that going to Venus was the best idea," Fluttershy finished as the sun began to rise the next morning. "And, well, that's about where I got to with everypony before I decided to stop telling the story and come back here."
"That's quite the tale," Discord said. His head was resting atop his hooved leg, a fair distance from where his body still struggled with the semicoherent endpoint of the tether.
"And it's not even complete yet," Fluttershy agreed.
"Oh no, certainly not." Discord glanced around, before leaning in. "I take it you haven't told the others about what else you have installed in that new eye of yours."
Fluttershy glanced at the yawning Twilight. "No... not yet. There's a reason, though. I want to break it to them gently, piece by piece..."
"I suppose that would be the kind thing to do. But then..." Discord tilted his head. "Would it be the honest thing? Or loyal?"
The yellow mare sighed. "Discord... this is going to be a big enough adjustment as it is. I am going to tell them... just not yet, alright?"
"Oh, I don't disapprove. A little chaos has always been worthwhile, in my opinion. I just hope they'll be able to understand why you kept it secret."
She glanced at the ground. "...so do I, Discord. So do I."
For a moment, they were silent.
Then Discord's ears perked. "I think... yes. Yes, something's coming through the tether."
Fluttershy's eyes shot up. "Right. Twilight! Starlight! They're on their way!"
Starlight snorted as she woke up. "Hmm... wha--"
"The aliens, Starlight!" Twilight shook her head, forcing her tiredness away as she shook Pinkie. "Wake up! Wake up, they're almost here!"
"Dunwannabrkroks...."
"Pinkie! New friends! Party!"
Pinkie's eyes shot open. "New friends party?!" She near literally sprung to life, running around as Starlight pushed herself up with a grumble. "New friends party!"
"Pinkie, you're at around a seven out of ten," Fluttershy said. "I need you to bring it down to a four, alright?"
"A what?"
"A four. This is their first time in Equestria, they are not quite prepared for..." Fluttershy glanced at Discord. "A lot, so, just... calm down a little, okay?"
"Right. Right! I am awake and under control." Pinkie tapped her head. "Got my party instinct battened down."
"Good, good--"
Discord's head flashed back onto his body, and he quickly shifted the shifting endpoints of the tether toward a blank patch of ground. "Here they come!"
A ball of light grew--or perhaps, it rolled from a great distance, falling out of the strange construction. Unnatural ripples of lightning flew as it hit the ground and unfolded, lancing into the dirt as quickly as it could. The bright object coalesced into six forms, growing less and less strange as the brightness slowly began to dim, till at last they could be seen without the blinding aura.
The moment the light show ended, Fluttershy fluttered up to the six creatures with a broad smile. "You all came! Oh my gosh, this is amazing, I was wondering if one of you would have to stay.... behind..."
Fluttershy's smile faded when her eyes fell on one in particular, a black-and-white serpentine creature with a feathery purple crest, a tightly-trimmed tubelike garment, and awkwardly avoidant blue eyes.
"Spectral Navigator Ekundayo Śniegowski." Her tone was as dry and level as a desert. "I was not expecting you."
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Woo~! The cyberpunk-esque space adventure continues!
Well, this explains the "talking into the mirror" scene, and Discord, and stuff!
Ominous Ending is Ominous!
Hope Zephyr improves!
Hmm... Is the Tether, actually crystalline, or what?
And the mirror portal does exist in this story, as mentioned with humans in Chapter 3... Gonna think more about that...
That's really clever. Bonus point for that.
I really want to think you misspelled euclidean, but this is MLP, so it could very well be you making a play on ewe = female sheep.
This was cute.
"Sudowoodo might look like a plant, but it's actually a rock type."
Good to see this back! Thank you!
Seems there's someone Flutters is rather not a fan of. I wonder who else made it through, though.
.....................
Nope. I got nothin'.
orig00.deviantart.net/7310/f/2015/081/9/f/super_fluff_by_captainpudgemuffin-d8mrzj0.png
Fluttershy: What's your biggest concern, now that you're back home?
9051835
It took me a few tries, but I managed to say it..
9051808 Honestly, the surprising bit is that it was a sheep that pondered out geometry in Equestria. Then again, ancient Fleece did have a ton of philosiphers and mathmaticians.
9051885
I think it might be because the abbreviation of sergeant is sarge. People assume the abbreviation is properly spelled for the unabbreviated version.
Discord: So you held that... abduction thingy down for 3 months (give or take) and just waited for someone to find you? I'm assuming that was so preoccupying that you couldn't spare any time or effort to notify somepony that you found the thing?
Fluttershy: So, out of all the places you've seen on your journey, do you have any favorites?
Twilight: think you’re going to be able to replicate the tech with the blueprints? It’d be very helpful if Shy has access to replacements if worse comes to worse, and that those with missing limbs can get a new lease on life
Aw yes. Probably my favorite ongoing story on FIM.
"No promises. She broke my Map."
In any case, very interesting to get some answers to the mysteries of space and time surrounding this story. Now to see just what history Fluttershy and that snake person have with each other. I can't imagine it was all that pleasant. Still, hopefully this will be an overall positive experience. And if it isn't, two of the most powerful mages ever, the avatar of chaos and Pinkie Pie are on standby.
Really, the first three are overkill.
So yeah, just to test out the word, I had to say Vlorginzarch'mporfinkarikitykatchykuri aloud and carefully. Thankfully I think I did not butcher it and wow was it trying to test my vocal cords! However, my roomies just asked me to please stop summoning the eldritch abominations.
Anyone here surprised that Pinkie know Eldritch? I'm not. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if she WAS secretly an Eldritch Entity.
i am loving this
9051882
You didn't accidentally summon any demons, did you?
If Twilight is immortal, does this mean that she can’t keel over from a month of studying? Without any food or water?
Fluttershy, you have to wonder how much change you're going to have to bring to Equestria to maintain your status quo and by that I mean some of your more important enhancements. I highly doubt transporting from the Vector universe is easy or cost efficient.
9052483
look up the fic Truthseeker
Fluttershy: "f it were possible or became to take your friends to the otehr worlds to show them it would you?"
Twilight and Friends: "Would you go?"
Discord: "What do you think of Fluttershys new look?"
Ha, that didn’t sound like a warm welcome.
9052483
Gods, I hate to do this because I'm afraid of the answer...
Pinkie, how did you end up knowing the Eldrich tongue?
BTW, another great chapter (no, that last bit wasn't addressed to you, Pinkie. I was talking to the pink text).
Well, this is good progress! I would ask pointed questions, but I'm fairly certain they would be answered later in the plot and/or are major spoilers for the source material, so...
Fluttershy, I guess we'll be meeting your friends pretty quick, but just in case, ever meet any Field Saviors? I don't imagine you'd meet any directly in your line of work with the Corp., but with the adventures you've already been dragged into it wouldn't really shock me...
8679156
You're the guy who came up with the house rules for Tails of Equestria. Correct? Y/N
9052935
you're actually asking... brilliant, no I'm obliged to give you the answer that Pinkie would.
*ahem*
Weeell, I really don't know myself. I think it had something to do with that 'Welcome back to Reality' party I threw for some odd-looking fellows, just before I got to Ponyville.
9051804
What you see of the tether is 3 dimensional representation of an eight plus Variable Super String Algorithm.
Of course it's knotted up. A tether has more twists in it than the rubber band in a toy plane's motor. Pinky could tell you about that.
Discord should know better than to straighten it out completely.
I'm assuming most readers of this story are also familiar with Stardust. The Twilight Xcom story.
But if you aren't or haven't read it in a while, the author did make a non cannon chapter where it was Fluttershy instead of Twilight who got thrown into the XCOM world.
Its a short and hilarious read.
https://www.fimfiction.net/story/100455/12/stardust/what-if
Well now that's quite the interesting reaction!
Here's a question:: What's to keep them from monopolizing Equestria?
9052483
If course she is, she's The Pink Lady, bringer of fun and parties. Her avatars exist across countless worlds. The unfortunate incident with the mirror clones proved her full magnificence is too great for mortal minds to comprehend, and the clones were unable to cope, resulting in their less than stellar performance, although they did try, bless them. If that episode with Rarity opening her new store in Manehattan is to be believed, one yet exists; whether she is an extension of the Lady's will or her own entity is yet to be determined.
Also Pink Lady is a type of apple, so in a manner mortal minds can't comprehend she's somehow related to Applejack.
Nice work, keep it up.
9065477
And it all makes sense now...
@ Fluttershy, Twilight, Starlight, Discord, and to an extent Pinkie: Could you say that the object Discord is holding for the last three months is a tesarack or something similar?
@ Fluttershy: In your opinion how would the vector society react if a 100% all natural human were to pop in like you did?
@ Reinhild: (insert previous question here, plus additional question) Would you try to be one of the first vectors to try and "get your freak on" with them or would you let the opportunity pass you by?
9100056
You now realize that the vectors can now access the EQG mirror.
Please sir, I'd like some more....
Just wanted to let you know that this has been quite an enjoyable read; there's a good pacing to the story, with enough unanswered questions and avenues to explore that it has me dying to know more. Here's hoping the next chapter is soon!
The waiting... it hurts...
9052420
*cough* Little Tree *cough*
9462632
Don't forget who inspired Moth with that one.
Aaaaand there it is again. Et tu, Caretaker?
9202932
And they have random musical numbers (at least when there is Equestrian magic around)... in other words, they randomly activate the Master's Voice without meaning to. That could be... problematic for diplomat relations. Good thing Equestrians are such good.diplomats, and control the portal to the EqG world, or a second Earth might get nuked.