AtDD II: Cross Dimension Road Trip

by StrawberryGamer

The More Things Change...

Owwwww…

Okay, how many times in a row have I woken up in pain? Four? Five? I’ve lost count at this point. Ah well, the good news is that at least wherever or whatever I seem to have been laid upon to rest is really soft. I tried actually getting up and out of bed, but the pain made me recoil, so I just settled for opening my eyes.

You know, in the… one, two... five days I’ve been a pony, I’ve seen some very odd, yet so familiar things. I’ve seen my room, if I was a girl. I’ve seen Equestria from the inside. I’ve seen Pinkie Pie working at Cinnabon. I’ve even seen another me. That was all blown out of the water by what I saw.

The walls of the room I was in were a sleek, polished-looking black color. They were decorated by glowing white lines running all over the walls, providing a passable amount of illumination. To my left was a desk with the satchel I had, along with some kind of headset with glasses attached. There was also a pair of transparent white socks. To my right was a dresser with an odd futuristic-looking alarm clock and a picture frame. The alarm clock showed the time on a holographic display, rather than an LED one like I had back home. The picture frame showed what looked like me with another pony, though it was hard to tell from where I was. In front of me was some sort of television monitor or something of the sort. It was a flat black rectangle on the wall, outlined by more of those glowing white lines.

The first thing that came to mind was that this place looked like something straight out of Tron. All we need is a light cycle and we’d be set. The second thing was that this obviously was not my guest suite, nor was this remotely like anywhere I’ve been before. So that begs the question… Where the fuck am I and how did I get here?

I tried to search my memories. Let’s see… I was at a party. I know that much. The dress is in that satchel. How it fit in there, I don’t know. I guess the satchel is pretty big on the inside. No, focus Sunny. It’s weird that I just refer to myself as Sunny completely, right? Blargh, bad tangent! So I was at the party, and then… and then my friends showed up… And they… attacked me? No, that can’t be right… Something else happened… But what? I can’t remember…

Of all the times for my shitty memory to come back and hit me in the face, it was now. Sighing, I worked through the pain and sat upright. Come on Sunny, you’ve been through worse. Just get out of this incredibly comfy bed and find out what the fuck is going on. Deciding my thoughts were wise ones, I quickly jumped out of bed. The pain would go away eventually anyway.

I made my way to the dresser and took a look at the picture frame. That was definitely me in the picture. But I had no idea who the other pony was She resembled the room I was in. A mostly black colored alicorn with glowing white lines all over her body. Her mane and tail were glowing white, and she had striking blue eyes that almost looked… artificial. Well, I would put it past this pony to have some sort of cybernetics done to her, based on that look. I noticed a left and right arrow button on the frame, and figured the frame was electronic. Ah hell, let’s see what other pictures are on this thing.

My hoof somehow pressed the tiny left button and I was greeted with a new picture. This time it was of a group of ponies I didn’t know. There was a white unicorn mare with something I didn’t recognize on her back, a cyan earth pony mare holding a wrench that looked way too big to be of any practical use, a dark purple pegasus mare that looked like she had something done to her eyes, a green earth pony mare who looked rather cheerful, a nerdy looking pink unicorn mare that reminded me of Twilight, and once again, me. The more I looked at this picture, the more confused I became. Why was I in these pictures? Who were these ponies? What the actual fuck was going on?

Putting the picture frame down, I opened the dresser. The only things in there were a couple pairs of stockings and a dress. They also matched the Tron-like quality of the room and that alicorn. I closed the dresser and looked at the alarm clock. The holographic display read 10:42pm. So it was rather late at night. Whoever lived here must be asleep. Now… How do I leave?

Sure, laugh now, but remember when I described the room? I didn’t mention a door or window, so I have no idea how I got in here, or how to get out. Perhaps there’s a hidden door somewhere. This was a very futuristic, or at least a very Tronlike room, so that was not out of the question. I looked around the room for something that resembled a button. I did eventually find a circular depression in the wall. I pressed my hoof to it, but it didn’t react. Maybe if I twist? I twisted my foreleg to the right and the black walls quickly turned into white walls, giving the room much better illumination. Well… I can see clearly now, at least. The room as it was was just a bit too dim.

I saw another indent in the wall and noticed it had the image of a lock to the side of it. I pressed my hoof to it and twisted right again. It didn’t budge, so I twisted left and the lock opened. A portion of the wall immediately slid away, revealing a doorway. Well, I found the door… Almost immediately, I heard faint voices from somewhere else in the building.

Looking out the door, I was on the second floor of a sizable house. In front of me was a hallway that overlooked the first floor. I snuck to the balcony and peeked down to see two of the five other ponies in that picture. Mainly, the two unicorns. They hadn’t noticed me yet, so I decided to keep it that way for now, and listen in on their conversation.

“Are you sure she’ll be okay? We don’t even know what did that to her.” The white unicorn said. I’m gonna assume she was talking about me.

“I’m sure. While she seems to have suffered a mild concussion, it was probably just the result of her hitting the ground too hard or something,” the pink unicorn responded, “you know how Sunny gets during training.” Yep. Definitely talking about me.

“I still think we should tell the princess. Her aura was completely out of control, and I fear something bad may have happened to her head. Those kinds of injuries do not suggest an accident.”

“So you think she was attacked? By who? Who could stand up to Sunny and win?” Um, anyone with a brain and an ounce of strength can, numbskull. I’ve already been defeated a few times. Then again… scratch the brain part.

“I don’t know Sugar. I think it might have been a unicorn who knew their way around a mind-altering spell, considering her brainwaves were vastly different than what they normally are.” Well that’s one name down.

“...You make that sound like you regularly study our brains...” She sounded concerned, and I would be too if somepony-er, someone decided to study my brain without me knowing.

“Well, I got bored and decided to conduct a harmless experiment on our neurological activity, to find a pattern. I did, and when I checked Sunny, that pattern was completely shattered. It’s like she’s a completely different pony.” Because I most likely am, you stupid smart mare.

“So what does that mean? And please, in Equish.” Heh… Equish.

“It means her personality, knowledge, skills, and even possibly memories will be completely different.”

“What do you mean by possibly her memories?”

“I mean that she won’t have her memories of us. A skilled unicorn with a lot of planning could fabricate a lifetime’s worth of memories and implant them into a pony, but more than likely her memories are just gone or very fragmented.” Well that’s a scary thought. Twilight could have just completely shattered my memories and conception of who I was with just a little more forethought. I’m glad she fucked up.

“So what do we do then, Starburst?” And there’s the other name. Now I know at least who these two are.

“Simple, the powerful harmonic frequency of her Element should restore her to the Sunny we know and love.” Wait, what? Element? Like, Element of Harmony? Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh fuck! I’m out of one frying pan, then right back into another, much fancier one. I wonder how much they’d believe me if I told them I was a dimensional traveler, and not their Sunny. If they have no experience with the multiverse, probably very little. Neither Starburst nor Sugar brought up the idea of an alternate Sunshine, which meant I was probably boned. I needed a plan.

Sniff sniff.

...First, I needed a shower. Then, I’d make that plan. Moving away from the balcony, I went looking for a bathroom. My eyes spotted another one of those button things on the wall. Eh, I’ll call them buttons. It’s easier on my brain. I pressed the button and another door opened. The inside was easily recognizable as a bathroom.. Then again, the bedroom looked like a bedroom. Maybe it's just doorknobs that are always hated by the future. I shut and locked the door behind me. Being confronted in the shower was just something I didn’t want.

The shower itself was a decent size, so I wouldn’t be uncomfortable with my wings open. There were no knobs, so it took me a moment to find some way to turn the water on. A small panel caught my eye and I pressed it. It flipped and showed what I can only describe as a holographic control panel for a shower. That was it. This panel was only for the shower, and yet it allowed for so much control. Control over the exact temperature of the water in Celsius, Fahrenheit, Kelvin, and even some temperature I didn’t recognize, and will probably avoid for my own safety. It also control over exactly how much pressure the water would come down at, which I found odd, but could understand. Though water pressure was again, something I would not touch for my own safety. These two settings I could understand, but like an unneeded infomercial, there was more. The lighting specifically in the shower, the color of the water; it even had the option to automatically apply shampoo and conditioner, as well as a quick-dry option.

Tentatively, I pressed my hoof against the holo-panel. Strangely enough, contact was made with the light. So it was like hard light or something? The technology behind what should have been a simple shower just baffled me. Was this what those ponies had to deal with on a regular basis? This was insane! Then again, this could just be a luxury for upper-class ponies. Anyway, I had a shower to take. It took a moment, but I found a suitable setting for me.

As soon as the water turned on, my body was flooded with relief. It was like the stress of the last few days was being sucked down the drain with the water. I actually felt like my old self again, if only for a moment. I considered using shampoo, but this wasn’t my house. Ah fuckit, if I’m going to take a shower, I might as well go all the way. Taking a bottle of lavender-scented shampoo, I began washing my mane and body fur. I reached to turn the water off, but then I realized something. Oh, forgot the tail. Once that was done, I gave myself a little more time to rinse the soap out and then turned the shower off.

As I found a towel and started drying myself off, I realized something. Unless the room was soundproofed, the others know I’m in here, and just took a shower. There was also the fact that I forgot to make a plan while in the shower. Ah well, I’ll wing it. I finished drying myself and went to the door, putting my ear against it. By the sound of muffled voices on the other side, I could rightly assume they knew I was in here. Right, well no more beating around the bush. I’m clean, and ready for whatever this world has to throw at me. Unless it’s Stud Muffin, because fuck Stud Muffin.

The door, after being unlocked, opened to reveal the two ponies, Sugar and Starburst. I’m sure they had last names, but I didn’t know them. Sugar had a white coat and yellow mane. Though, what I didn’t see before is that her back is speckled with colorful dots. Seeing that her cutie mark, now that I can see it, is a cookie, I can guess her last name. Starburst had a pink coat and a purple mane, which was done up into a bun. Her cutie mark was three six-pointed stars. Oh great Dew lords, if she’s a Sparkle…

The three of us just kinda stood there for a moment, awkwardly smiling at each other. A cough from Sugar broke the silence. “So… You’re still Sunny, right?” She asked, getting a slap in the back of the head from Starburst for that.

Starburst gave Sugar a brief look of annoyance, before turning back to me. “Sorry about that. We were just worried about you. When we found you unconscious, we had know idea what happened to you.”

“To be honest, I don’t know either. I think I was attacked, but I can’t recall who did it.” I said in return.

“Well in that case, we’ll do our best to to find this villain and bring him slash her to justice!” Sugar announced, pumping a hook up in the air. “You just take it easy, and try not to forget us.” She added, which prompted another slap from Starburst.

“Sorry about Sugar. We were discussing how you might have had your mind tampered with by whatever attacked you. Please, we would like to be proven wrong. Tell us you know who we are.” Starburst pleaded.

I just let out a sigh. “Sorry to disappoint, but I don’t.” I admitted. Sugar and Starburst both suddenly looked very dejected. “Though if it makes you feel any better, if someone did mess with my head, it wouldn’t be the first time this week.”

Comments

[Eon333MS]

I haven't really read this series yet. But it seems somewhat similar to a conversion bureau scenario. Is it?

[StrawberryGamer]

7314501 It's coincidentally similar. I did not try to make a TCB story. Any similarities to TCB is purely coincidental.