What Hurts More

by FerociousCreation

Nervouscitedness

What Hurts More

Ch. 5

Having my textbooks weighing me down, I somehow regret having Princess Twilight Sparkle grace me with her presence and then tell me to do my homework. Not only did I have to carry several hundred pages packed into boring subjects, my guitar was beginning to slip off of my shoulder. But being the better man, I choose not to ask one of the girls for my help. Guys are supposed to be the ones carrying their things.

I walked beside the otherworldly girl while the other Twilight Sparkle was on the other side of the group next to Pinkie Pie. Sunset Shimmer stood in the middle and was walking just a few feet ahead of us, leading the group toward the portal of hers and Twilight’s world.

“Ooooo!” Pinkie Pie squealed with joy, unable to contain herself. “I’m so nervouscited!” Looking to everyone else, she asked us, “Aren’t you?”

“I’ll be honest,” Sunset Shimmer rubbed her shoulder, “it will be nice to come back to Equestria.” Her body began to rumble as we all came into view of Colt Pillar; perhaps she was more “nervouscited” than Pinkie Pie. “I wonder if I can still use my unicorn magic as much as I did before. It’s been awhile since I have been a pony.”

My body froze the instant I heard Sunset Shimmer say “unicorn magic”; I nearly drop my books from shock. A unicorn?! Like, a horse?! No, a pony?! She did say that, right? I knew Twilight, Sunset, and the others used Equestrian Magic, but I never thought it would be… pony magic? My assumption was that their magic was from a powerful horse or something like that. My mind tried to picture Sunset as a unicorn, and all that went to mind was something out of my sister’s storybooks; tall, long, wavy mane, pointy horn. After taking a few steps ahead of me, the four girls turned to face me. “What’s the matter Flash?” Princess Twilight asked, noticing my surprised face.

“J-just getting a better hold of these books,” I lie terribly with an even more fake smile. “Yup, just… adjusting myself.” Shuffling myself as I say “adjusting myself,” I try to make the books seem like they are loosening from my grip.

With her caring hands, Twilight offers to take them with open arms. “I can help you with those.”

“I-it’s fine.” I hold out one hand as means to stop her from assisting me any further, but that only causes them to loosen even more. Quickly, Twilight advanced forward and prevents the top book from toppling over. She stares at me with wide eyes before shying away with a flushed face. It would have been better for the textbook to fall over so I could have embarrassed myself instead of you having to do it.

“You do seem surprised,” Sunset spoke, bringing Twilight’s and my attention to her.

Not wanting to hide it, I ask, “You said you can’t wait to be a pony again, right?” It was hard to believe that my ex-girlfriend was a unicorn, but it is better to find out now than being surprised when I arrive at Equestria.

“Yeah, I did.” Her wrist covered her mouth to hide a smirk probably. “What did you think Equestria was?”

A magical world where cute fuzzy creatures hop around open fields? I would have said that outloud, but didn’t to try and not offend the princess, thinking her world was strange. Even though it was starting to sound strange enough. “I- could guess there are a lot of ponies there?”

“Actually,” my world’s Twilight interjected with a finger held up, “most of the inhabitants there are ponies. There are no humans there.” She gestured a hand to Sunset Shimmer. “Sunset here is the one who told me a good amount of Equestria.”

Of course I am thrown out of the loop and ignorant to the magical world. Then again, I don’t spend as much time with Sunset or her friends than my own. I am sure the answer will be yes, but I ask anyways, “So, if I go to Equestria, I will become a pony?”

“Yup!” Pinkie Pie beamed. I can only guess Sunset Shimmer told her that she could. “I don’t know what I will look like when I enter Equestria, but I can’t wait!” I knew that I was not holding the best of expressions, now knowing I am going to be a magical pony in another world. It did sound interesting and very alien at the same time. Something inside me hoped it was not some girly pretty place, but I cannot judge it just yet; I haven’t been there in the first place. At the corner of my eye, I saw the princess frown, glancing and looking away from me.

“If you don’t want to go, that’s fine,” Twilight spoke weakly, her expression sagging into a frown. I feared she had a more powerful ability than Sunset’s mind reading ability on touch, and could read mine from a distance. Perhaps asking if she does have telepathy right now would be out of place. And probably rude as well.

“I would love to go! I bet your world looks great. Besides, it is probably going to be cool to be a pony.” That was maybe one-tenth of a lie. I am definitely curious to see Princess Twilight’s world. What I am worried about is if I enter Equestria and not like her for- No! My head shakes the thought out before it poisons my mind. If Twilight is fine with my looks, I should have no problem with her pony form.

“Are you sure? I mean, I do hope you like how I- I mean, others look in my world.” She walked forward and placed her hand on the glass door, looking at Colt Pillar.

Knowing my words would be the only way to help, I come from behind and say to her, “You like how we look in my world, right?” Without looking or saying another word, Twilight only nodded. “I am sure you and the others will look just fine.” I wait with a smile on my face, hoping she turns around to see it. Thankfully, she does look to me and shares a happy grin along with my own.

Pushing the door open to the outside world, Twilight holds it for me and gestures to the portal. “Then let’s get going!”

***

There I stood in front of the glass mirror with my reflection staring back at me. My books now weighed heavily in my backpack and I saw the neck of my guitar sticking up from behind my back in the reflection. “Just step forward when you are ready,” Twilight spoke, her voice sounding very nice and calm. It was still a hard thing to believe. I was about to enter another world, even if it might be some little girl’s fantasy world… or at least, nonfiction fantasy world. My body shook a bit, being a little nervouscited myself. But determined to enter into another dimension, I look back to see both Twilight’s, Sunset Shimmer, and Pinkie Pie watching and waiting for me.

With a wave of my index and middle finger, I say, “See you on the other side.” My leg, now more eager than my mind, moves on its own. When my head reaches the inside of the portal, I get quickly sucked in by some invisible source. I try to observe what my eyes can see, but the dimension twists in a swirl of bright colors as I spin wildly. My body feels like it is being pulled, then pressed together as I am dashing through a world of colors. Unable to contain what was happening, the vision around my eyes begin to darken.

And then I pass out…

***

“Hey Flash, is that you?”

A voice echos beyond my conscious.

“Yeah, it is me,” I answer weakly. Opening my eyes, I see a familiar blur shade of purple and green. “Is that you Spike?”

“In the flesh. Or shall I say scales and not fur!” Spike replies proudly. After a moment of silence he spoke again, “So, what are you doing here?” Before answering anymore of his questions, I need to know where I am first. Lifting my head up from what I can assume is the ground, I blink and regain my vision. Now that I can see, I get a better look at the dog I met before. But instead of the dog I knew back in my world was no longer a dog, but looked to be a dragon! In a sudden rush of adrenaline, I hop to my two feet, but end up stumbling onto my hands. But when my hands touch the ground, I couldn’t feel my fingers. Glancing at my forearms, I see no fingers, but hooves! Looking to my legs, I see that they are the same as my arms! And to my back, I see a stubby tail! And on my back, I notice my back back has changed! It was like some sort of sattlepack or something. How did that happen? My guitar didn’t look damaged or different, so that was a good thing. And as I looked to a convenient mirror to my left I saw my reflection. Along with two ears that pointed upwards…

I realised that I have become a pony! Obviously, I did know that it was inevitable that I would transform into one. It was just… too much to take in at once.

“Take it easy,” Spike spoke. “Twilight flipped out when she and I entered your world and I don’t want you to do the same.” Turning to the small dragon, I saw him holding his claws in front of him, attempting to pacify me. Taking deep breaths, I manage to lessen my adrenalyn, but I still shook with a nervouscited attitude. “So what are you doing here, exactly?” he asks again.

“Friendship problem,” I mumble, rotating my body around, still looking at my reflection. My hair looked much longer than my human hair, but not by much. On the side of my light-orange body, there was a wing. With my new feature attached to me, I fan them outwards and give them a good flap. Okay, I am definitely glad I came! This was amazing! I was a pegasus! I could feel my smile almost reaching my eyes, unable to contain my happiness. When I was a kid, I always wanted to have the ability to fly; then again, who didn’t want to have a chance to do that? “This is cool,” I mutter as I admire my new body. The only thing was missing was my clothes. Where did they go? But nothing was showing so I didn’t care.

Overall, I didn’t hate the way I looked; it was much more awesome than I could have imagined. Sure, I was a pony, but it wasn’t how I expected; especially me having wings.

“Megh…” Spike shrugged. “Being a dog in your world was cool I guess, but I prefer my simple dragon self.” I would have to agree with him on that. Going from being a dragon to a dog sounds like a poor downgrade if you ask me.

Looking around, I find a nearby table to place my now transformed backpack and guitar onto. The table was littered with books and scrolls with inscriptions I could not comprehend. But that was not the main feature of where I was. My eyes glanced around a large room with a tall sealing with a nice mix of light and dark-blue stone. Tall bookshelves wrapped around the room and towered over everything with a book filling every shelf. A window stood several paces away from the dragon and I, beaming afternoon light into the room.

Finished with seeing where I was, I look back to where I came out of; and what I saw was a mix of machinery, wood, and a mirror held in a horseshoe frame. A swirl of pink twisted on the glass, hardly showing the reflective surface. “Who made this?” I ask out loud. Surely Spike wouldn’t mind answering my questions.

“Twilight did.” His arm bumped into me and I had to look down to see him smirking at me. “She totally flipped out when Sunset sent a message to her, saying you were thinking about her.” My face gravitated away from Spike as I knew I had an embarrassing smile look on my face. “And by the looks of things, you two might be a thing in the near future.”

“I don’t know about that,” I chuckle a three-tenths of a lie. Of course it would be nice to have her as a girlfriend, but I have to see how things play out before getting into another relationship. Speaking of her, Twilight, nor the others have entered this world. Taking a step forward toward the portal, I mumble, “Wonder where they are…”

“Umm, I wouldn’t get to close if I were you,” I hear Spike say, but ignore his words. Standing in front of the mirror, I can feel the heat from the portal. Then again, my face was literally inches from it. Suddenly, a purple face came forth, giving me no time to react. Twilight’s nose pressed up against mine and her eyes widened, trying to comprehend who was before her. Behind he I hear Spike snickering as Twilight and I bunched against each other. I saw her face redden as she realised it was me and my own most likely did the same.

“H-hey,” I stutter, taking a step back from the portal. As I do, I get a better look at her pony self. Twilight’s fur was the same color as her skin and her hair was as long as her human form. As for a tail, it was long and pretty. On her forehead was a horn, and I jumped to the obvious conclusion that she was a unicorn. But on her sides were wings. Was she a pegasus? Perhaps she is a princess pony by having both wings and a horn. Regardless, she looked… cute; even beautiful. Now I know what it is like to be stunned by the grace of a princess. But I couldn’t stare blankly at her for too long; rather not make things awkward between us. “So, where are the others-”

“WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!” Pinkie Pie was shot out of the portal and slammed into Twilight, causing her to come careening toward me. Attempting to use my newly gifted ability, I spread my wings and try to fly away. But I only get a single flap before the princess crashed into me, along with Pinkie Pie on top of her. “That was fun!”

“I beg to differ…” Twilight grunted as she laid on top of me, her arms and legs sprawled out on me. As for myself, I was on my back with two ponies crushing my ribcage. Without having anyone ask, Pinkie Pie got off of the princess and Twilight got herself up onto her feet. Or hooves…

Standing over me, Twilight gave me her hoof to help me up. “Need some help?” I didn’t answer the rhetorical question and take the offer of assistance. After standing on my own, Twilight and I notice Pinkie Pie circling in place, trying to get a better look at herself. From what I saw, the now pink pony had a fluffy pink tail to compliment her wild curly hair.

“Glad to have you back,” Spike replied as Twilight and I looked to see him standing by the small table. He looked to Pinkie Pie and asked, “Did you… bring Pinkie Pie along with you.”

Twilight shook her head and said, “This is Pinkie Pie from Flash’s world.” Interesting she would say it was my world, as if I own it. I am no prince in that world, that’s for sure.

Finished with her spinning, Pinkie Pie gestured to a picture of three balloons on her flank. The one in the center was a yellow and the ones beside it were sky-blue. “Is this a cutie mark?” Cutie mark? Do I have one?

“Yes it is,” Twilight speaks while I tend to look at my own butt. Never did I think I would ever care so much to look at it until now. “I assume Sunset Shimmer told you about them.” I didn’t hear Pinkie answer the question, but I did hear her squeal with joy. I was too busy looking at an image of a shield with a lightning bolt shooting down in front of it. Neat!

“What is a cutie mark?” I ask, turning a head to Twilight.

Looking to me, the princess replies with a smile, “In my world, they show yourself and others your special talent.”

“Interesting…” Giving it thought, I wonder about my special talent. The only thing I got going for myself is that I am a musician. Other than that, I am just a high school student. I wonder why my cutie mark is nothing associated with my skill of a guitar player… “Is my skill protecting others?” I ask, not sure if my cutie mark is who I really am.

“If I remember correctly,” Twilight spoke with a scratch of her chin, “the Flash Sentry in this world happens to protect my sister-in-law, Cadence in the Crystal Empire.”

“Shut up!” I bark with an excited grin.

“I think you should.” Twilight gave a playful shove to my shoulder. “You asked the question. I just simply answered. Remember, I am the Princess of Friendship. I wouldn’t speak against like that to me if I were you.” I laugh a little before I feel my ears fall back, perhaps knowing I am a bit intimidated by the statement. Maybe I should be careful with my words; I know nothing of the customs in this world. But before I get a chance to apologize to her, Twilight chuckles and apologizes first, “Sorry, I was joking.” She smiles as she puts an arm around my neck to assure she meant it.

“I hope so,” I respond with a bow. “I wouldn’t want to upset her majesty and have her gallant pegasus knights fall from the sky and strike me down.”

“She might do just that if Twilight even had any guards,” Spike grunted, folding his arms. “I tell ya, things would be a lot safer at this castle if there was someone on watch. Like this one time, there was a mare who was Starlight Glimmer, and-”

“-And with the power of friendship,” Twilight interjected, scowling at the biped dragon, “we were able to have her change for the better.” I had no idea who this Starlight Glimmer was, but it sounded a bit like Sunset Shimmer. Two syllables in each word. Perhaps just like Sunset, Twilight was able to reform Starlight.

Speaking of Sunset…

“Where is Twilight Sparkle and Sunset Shimmer?” I ask Pinkie Pie. When I turn to see her, I notice she is using her tail to bounce up and down. She didn’t have a horn or wings, so how was she- It didn’t matter.

“Sunset Shimmer said something about taking her time before entering.” Pinkie Pie shrugged before looking to the mirror. “Maybe she is still nervouscited about coming here to Equestria.” Twilight walked up to the portal and looked at the swirl of pink and white.

“I wonder if she is all-” Two bodies fly out of the portal, causing Twilight to once again come careening toward me. Pinkie Pie was able to use her tail-bouncing power to spring herself up into the air and avoid being hurt. Unfortunately, my wings have yet to work, which makes me an open target. Now, three ponies collide with me with my head hitting the ground with a smack. I try to cradle my head as pain shot through my skull, racking by brain. But being on the bottom of a dogpile can seriously weigh a guy down.

“S-sorry!” Sunset speaks, noticing herself being on top of Twilight and I and quickly gets off. As for the other Twilight, she lookes like she fainted; not a surprise considering I did the same thing. Using her magic of telepathy, the princess lifts Twilight off of her and gently places her down. Now with both Twilight’s off of me, I can bring a hoof to my head to rub it gently. Again, Sunset says to me, “Sorry about that. Portal traveling can be quite... forceful.”

“I can tell,” I mutter, trying my best not to swear. At least now no one else is coming through the portal. Before bringing my attention to the passed out pony, I get a good look at Sunset Shimmer. Her hair was her usual long, fire-like color, along with a long tail and same reds and yellows as her mane. The cutie mark on her flank was a red and yellow sun, much like her hair. But at the center of the image was a swirl of red and yellow as well, mimicking the yin and yang symbols. The only thing that would make it look like the iconic Chinese token, is if each swirl had their own dot. But her looks are not important right now; Twilight is the main focus right now.

With Twilight laying quietly on the ground, I walk over to her and gently nudge her shoulder, “Hey Twilight, are you okay?” Thankfully, I can tell which Twilight was which; my world’s Twilight still had her bun in a nice bunch and a pair of spectacles rested on her face. Princess Twilight, Sunset, Pinkie Pie, and myself waited for some form of a response. Her body stirred for a moment before opening her eyes, and everyone sighed with relief, glad to see her come to.

Bringing her hoof to her head, my world’s Twilight rubs her head. “Take it easy,” Sunset speaks. But the moment she spoke, Twilight looks to what she thinks is her hands and sees it like it was a stump of a limb. Giving herself a quick lookover, she screams loudly. Everyone but Spike winces at the loud shriek, covering our ears with our own hooves. My head stings with pain as the sound is somehow more amplified.

“I am getting a strange case of deja vu,” Spike muttered as he looked at the panicking unicorn. Twilight tried to stand up on her back legs like I did before, but fell forward onto her forehooves. Looking to the mirror left to the portal, Twilight’s eyes widened at the sight of her reflection.

“S-so I am a unicorn here in Equestria,” she spoke with a shiver in her voice. Don’t worry, my reaction was the same. Looking to her doppelganger, Twilight asked, “Can I cast magic here?”

“Just like any normal unicorn,” Sunset Shimmer replied with a smile. Normal unicorn she says… Perhaps normal in this world, but there are no “normal” unicorns in mine.

Instead of looking joyed with her new self, Twilight’s eyes filled with tears and fear. “No.” Slowly, she turned around and started toward the portal. “No no no no! I can’t be here!” But before she could even get within jumping range, Pinkie Pie intercepted her path.

“Why not,” she asked with an expression we all wore on our face: concern. “Twilight is our friend remember and we are all here because of nightmares, right? Well I mean, not me because Sunset Shimmer knows what goes on through my head. All I am here for is to supply you all with frownies!”

“Yeah, I do know what goes on through your head…” Sunset commented, her face looking disturbed. Maybe Sunset Shimmer’s mind reading abilities can have their flaws and read… everything someone is thinking about.

Looking back to us all, Twilight held her head low, still defeated by what is going on through her mind. Though I do not blame her for what she is feeling and I don’t expect her to get over her nightmare in a day. Or maybe she can with the help of the Princess of Friendship. “I am afraid of my magic Twilight,” she says to her other self, her voice cracking with fear.

Walking over to her, the princess placed a hoof on her shoulder. “I know what it is like to lose control of magic, but I also know how to control it. Why don’t we all go to the Cutie Map chamber so we can discuss Flash’s and your nightmares.”

Suddenly I realized that I needed to talk aloud about my dreams to her. Now I wanted to leave through the portal with a heroic leap. But… it’s best that I don’t. Perhaps it is better that she knows.

Comments

[Mix-up]

This looks likes a massive improvement over the chapter 4. Flash is still a bit whinny, but that would be perfectly expected when he is going into a world he knows nothing about and have his species changed in an instant, and he is still taking it rather good. Still, he seem to be curious about the world that he find himself in, and is finally getting out of his funk that he previously was in, and asks the interesting questions of if he would still be attracted to Twilight or not. I think it is odd that Sunset would be worried to use her own actual unicorn magic rather then the one she uses on the EQvers which should feel much more familiar to her then the other kinds she had used. Still I wander what will happen during her meting with he former teacher will go long for her. I am a little worried of having EQG Pinky followed, I hope that the rest of of the girls will not follow her as for other similar meetings, previous attempts there is an endless and pointless comparing of notes all at the same time. I wouldn't mind both Pinky interacting together.

I am looking forward to see the next chapter now.

[Ultimate Warrior of Zera]

I imagine suddenly becoming a different species can be disorienting. Can't wait for the dream discussion.

[Godiswithus3]

Oh jeez, it's gonna be an awkward conversation.