Finding Rosy
One late evening in Ponyville, lights awakened in the windows of neighboring houses to the library, as ponies lifted their heads and rose from bed at a cry of such agony, that they held their foals closer, and worried for the future of Equestria. Inside the town library, a certain blue pony with a purple mane was cringing back from a certain purple pony with a blue mane.
Her ears flat back, Whatnot mumbled, “I was afraid this might happen.”
“You knew?” Twilight exclaimed shrilly, eyes bugging out, “I can’t—the words don’t make any sense!” She hurled her hoof to point viciously at the innocent book still lying there open and unread, “I know that book makes sense. I’ve read it twice, already! Why can’t I read? Why isn’t the spell working?”
“I don’t know, princess,” Whatnot fussed, “I didn’t think the portal would do anything to reading. My spell only works for speaking! It’s orders of magnitude more complex to... I just—I can adjust it, I think? Oh Twilight no, oh what have I done?”
“I can’t be illiterate!” Twilight squealed back in panic, “How is this happening? I was only on the other side for two minutes, at most!”
“I forgot how our writing systems are completely incompatible!” the other mare cried, forelimbs wrapped over her head, “That’ll take even more calibrations. There has to be a way! You have to read you’re Twilight Sparkle! You’re like the princess of books!”
A baby dragon watched with worry, from the door to Twilight’s bedroom where he’d been awoken by all of this. He came down the stairs and walked up to the two wailing mares hanging onto each other, and he really didn’t know how to deal with this. Cry? Make a joke? Tell her it’s not so bad? It was so bad though, because Twilight cared about her books so much, and she was such a good reader! He didn’t know what to do. He just... he just hugged Twilight from behind, wishing with all his heart that they could quiet down so that he could get some sleep.
Maybe he could stay the night at Rarity’s tomorrow.
Some mornings hence, a very worn out, saggy eyed, frizzy maned Twilight Sparkle found Spike with Rarity as usual. The little drake had been sticking to the dressmaker like glue, ever since the Starlight incident, no doubt because he missed Rarity so much. Twilight groaned inwardly at the hearty smell of toasted barley upon entering the boutique. Twilight hadn’t eaten breakfast yet, or... dinner. With all the important things she had to do, it was just so much trouble to remember to keep up with eating. She made a mental note to eat an extra large lunch, and ambled her way into the circular building.
“Hello, Twilight!” Rarity said a little too delightedly. “What a pleasant surprise! Spike is here, and he’s been such a darling all morning. I dare say I’ll run out of gems to bedazzle my dresses with, considering how helpful and kind he’s been. Would you like any of this tossed barley he made?”
“Maybe later,” Twilight said without much enthusiasm. “Right now I just need him to... help me write a letter to the princess.”
Dear Princesses Celestia and Luna,
Regarding the creature from another verse, I’ve examined
RosyBruce’s belongings in detail, and I’m prepared to provide a manifest of her purported activity from what evidence we could find there. As she was mostly unable to write, she did not leave any journals of her travels, but several items such as the map of Dodge City, the bottled cloudtree, and of course the flarret might help us understand where she’s been in Equestria, in order to try and figure out where she may now be.I’m also trying to find out just who she was friends with, without much success. After I went and flubbed things with Bluebell, well... let’s just say word gets around in a small town. I’ve been very much “the princess” lately in the eyes of Ponyville, and not their friend. I’m afraid they may still be hiding her, but until evidence of her activity presents itself, I really can’t do more than keep my eyes peeled. It isn't likely they helped smuggle her out of the city somehow, as the blockade on Ponyville travel was quite successful, setting up checkpoints along every known thoroughfare, so she shouldn’t have been able to get away on her own.
Starlight Glimmer hasn’t shown her tail again either. I honestly fear what she could do to a town like Ponyville if we’re caught unprepared. I am deeply troubled for the future of Equestria, both because mares like her are running loose, and because of what she represents. Her sorcery was... brilliant in its own diabolical way, and I can’t believe she received no formal schooling. Just what has this mare gone through, and where is she headed next?
Yes I know I’m supposed to be resting and recovering, but as you can see, Whatnot has been working very hard at restoring my ability to... read and...write. I feel like a foal again, having to figure out this strange system by which put our thoughts on paper. My friends and I are getting along passably well, and I’m resting a lot more than usual. All part of the recovery process, right? Well, wish me luck. I know I do!
Your former student and friend,
Twilight Sparkle
Rainbow Dash wasn’t sulking. She was just sitting by herself alone on a cloud, and skipping out on weather duty, and sulking. She didn’t think other ponies were stupid, did she? Sure they were pretty easily fooled, but that didn’t mean they were easily fooled, right? Dash just... hatched scheme after scheme, and it sort of was insulting to ponies, because it was so darned easy. Even Scootaloo—even Scootaloo loved her. Did Rainbow Dash only make Scootaloo love her, by being confident and awesome, when the real Rainbow Dash was somepony nopony ever knew? But she was the real Rainbow Dash! She was confident, and she was awesome! That’s why it was so easy to make ponies believe—to make ponies believe she wasn’t a total loser.
Well, it was no fun sulking alone—which she wasn’t —so Rainbow Dash went to go bother Applejack. Her sleek azure wings spread easily from her sides. Rainbow Dash leaped off the cloud she wasn't sulking on, sluicing through the air like greased lightning. The straw roofs of Ponyville grew sparse as the land speeding beneath Rainbow Dash transitioned to the thick orchards south of town. Rainbow Dash knew the way, but Applejack could be all over these orchards this time of day. Rainbow briefly considered that maybe Applejack was blowing off her work too to go sulk somewhere. She snickered at that ridiculous notion, then flew down through a break in the trees, landing lightly and trotting among the apple trees in search of her friend.
Applejack didn’t take too long to find. The orange mare could be heard from quite a ways away when her hooves struck trunk. Especially when she was mad, and Applejack was most certainly mad. About what, Rainbow Dash wasn’t entirely certain, but Rosy said some pretty mean things, and even after what she did to Twilight at the Rift, Rainbow Dash was still having a hard time denying that the things she said were true.
The sweating orange pony was out filling buckets of apples, as one does. Rainbow Dash came trotting up to Applejack saying, “Hey Applejack!” in a friendly greeting.
Applejack paused in her bucking, and turned to face Rainbow Dash, an unreadable expression in her luscious green eyes as she said, uneasily, “Hi?”
“What’s up?” Rainbow Dash asked hopefully, “You doing okay since that whole Rosy thing?”
“Whaddya want, Rainbow Dash?” Applejack asked tiredly, turning down the brim of her hat. “Ah’m a mite busy at the moment.”
“What? I don’t want anything,” Rainbow said defensively. “Why do you think I want something?”
“Because you came out here all this way, and now you’re gettin’ all defensive,” Applejack replied.
“I’m not getting defensive,” Rainbow Dash argued, “I’m being your friend.”
“Are you really now?” Applejack replied critically, “What’ve you ever done to help me?”
“Watered your crops last week?” Rainbow Dash suggested, though technically that was her job, not a favor. “I mean...”
“Matter of fact, ain’t you got some weather to take care of or something?” Applejack replied crossly.
“Well—yeah,” Rainbow admitted, “But I’m just taking some ‘me’ time today, because Rosy said stuff about me, and I’m not dealing with it! I don’t want ponies to think I’m—”
“Alright alright, I don’t need your life story!” Applejack cut in hastily, “So do you want something, or do you not?”
“I just... want to say... ‘hi,’” Dash said, narrowing her eyes.
“Well... ‘hi,’” Applejack said back equally cooly, “Now if you don’t got no more business with me, I think ah’d like to get back to mah chores here. Alone.”
“Fine, I just...” Rainbow Dash couldn’t think of what to say. “Fine!” she said assertively, and not angrily, then shot off into the sky.
Rainbow Dash would have been madder, but Applejack kind of had a reason for her actions. Rosy had said the farm pony was being played for a rube by them all, and Rainbow Dash would never do that to Applejack, but... when was the last time they hadn't led Applejack into doing something? When was the last time anypony did what Applejack thought would be a good idea? Oh right, Hayshire.
The next time Rainbow Dash tried to talk to Applejack, she would definitely have to mention Hayshire.
“Hey, um... Fluttershy?” Pinkie Pie asked hesitantly. She knocked on Fluttershy’s cottage again saying, “So is it... okay if I come in?”
There was no answer. “I’m sorry!” Pinkie Pie shouted to the silence. “I’ll just... go.”
She felt despondent walking away from Fluttershy’s cottage. Fluttershy was coming out of there so little lately. Pinkie knew that Fluttershy needed her, maybe more than ever. But how could she help somepony who didn’t want to be helped? Pinkie didn’t want to seem rude, or pushy, or... or unlikable. But what was she supposed to do?
In the first good news all week, Spike obediently burped up a letter bearing the royal seal. Twilight was of mixed feelings having lunch with Rarity again. It was convenient that Rarity and Spike were fairly well obsessed with each other at this point, because even though Twilight needed to go across town just to receive her mail, she had somepony tactful enough to read it for her without making a spectacle of it.
But at the same time, Rarity kept trying to claim that Twilight didn’t look well, or that she needed to stuff her face full of food. Twilight didn’t want to think less of Rarity for being so bizarrely obstinate about urging Twilight take care of herself, but it was really hard not to see her friend as some kind of mentally retarded puppy jumping at shadows.
Twilight didn’t want to be that way, but she couldn’t stop internally criticising ponies, and picking them apart. Rarity was hystrionic, Applejack had trust issues, Rainbow Dash had a disconnect between reality and the truth, Fluttershy was absolutely inscrutable, and Pinkie Pie, well... she wasn’t in anypony’s face anymore, but somehow that was worse than when she was. Twilight couldn’t criticize Pinkie Pie, because now Pinkie was too afraid of criticism to risk doing... anything!
Twilight wanted to burrow beneath the table and die, because Rarity was the one who rolled open the scroll and read its contents. Twilight just had to squat there on her haunches and listen like a kindergardener. Of all things that could have happened to Twilight, this was the worst possible thing.
“Oh dear,” Rarity murmured, looking up to meet Twilight’s useless eyes, “Rosy has been spotted in Las Pegasus.”
Elation and dread, Twilight found, were not emotions that should ever happen simultaneously. “What?!” Twilight exclaimed, “How did she get past the blockade?”
“All it says here is that Rosy has been sighted,” Rarity remarked, as if to a friend who just had decided that reading was not worth her time today, “But the princesses don’t want to raise alarm, so they’re hoping the Bearers can take care of things quickly and cleanly.”
“We have to get the girls together,” Twilight agreed in a detached sort of manner.
“That seems inevitable at this point,” Rarity said, giving Twilight a worried look rather than turning back to her beloved dragon, “But do finish your muffin. You did say you missed breakfast.”
“There’s no time for—okay, fine,” Twilight said grumpily. Rarity did at least... order these muffins specially, so it was the least Twilight could do. Whoever prepared them must have done something wrong though, because they were pretty tasteless, about as fun as eating wet sand. Twilight managed to choke one down, but she was definitely going to have to look into this. Had Starlight resurfaced in Ponyville, and was stealing the story marks away from the bakers here?
Whatever the case, Twilight was full-ish, whatever that was worth. So she stood back from the table, saying tiredly, “Now can we gather the girls?”
“I’ll go speak with Applejack,” Rarity said tactfully. “You go find either Pinkie Pie or Rainbow Dash. One should be able to find the other. Then we’ll all have to go get Fluttershy, and probably... give her more assurances.”
“What’re friends for, right? Assurances,” Twilight quipped. Rarity wasn’t laughing though.
No, Rarity was cooing at Spike now, saying, “Of course, Spikey Wikey~ is coming too.”
“Whatever you say, Rarity,” he replied in a lovestruck tone.
Twilight wanted to say it was too dangerous, but it didn’t... seem... it was just one pony! He may have just been a baby dragon, but he was a dragon! How dangerous could it possibly be? Spike would be fine... probably better off than all onetwo of the rest of them.
Plus if Starlight ever showed up again... Spike wasn’t a pony. He didn’t have a mark. He could escape and warn everypony, even though Twilight and the others were just... helpless. Twilight Sparkle paused to look at the magical star gleaming on her lilac hindquarters, and felt vulnerable. She didn’t like that feeling.
“Oh Applejack~♪” Rarity cooed, coming up to the farm pony right at the moment AJ had taken a break, of all the nerve!
Of course it’d have been worse if she came when Applejack wasn’t taking a break, so Applejack sighed and said, “Okay Rarity, what do y’all want now?”
“I wanted to give you this,” Rarity said, opening a box off of her back, and levitating out its contents. “I noticed your raincoat had sprung a seam. Polymers are so difficult to keep stitched together. The spring rains are almost over, but it’s never too late to prepare for next year!”
“Well that’s...” Applejack said as Rarity draped the new raincoat over her, cutting off the drizzle that’d been coming down for most of the day. “That’s right neighborly of ya, atchally.”
Her face hardened then, and she looked at Rarity saying, “So what d’ya want?”
“Can’t I just help a friend, without asking her for anything?” Rarity replied coyly.
“Nope,” Applejack said, not laughing. “Cain’t you just spit it out? Ah’d like to actually enjoy mah break rather than spendin’ it wait’n on your needs.”
“Oh fine, you caught me out,” Rarity grumbled. “I’ll be brief. Rosy has been located, and Twilight wants us together in order to bring her to the portal.”
“Because that worked out so well last time,” Applejack said sarcastically.
“None of us could have anticipated she would resort to violence,” Rarity replied huffily, “We won’t get caught off guard this time, and there are mouth zipper spells should she try and hurt us with words again.”
“Ah don’t like it,” Applejack said flatly, turning away, “And ah don’t want any part in it. Y’all can take your bribes with you, and call me when Twilight’s done playin’ princess.”
“It’s not a bribe, it truly is a gift,” Rarity insisted offendedly. “I think you might be waiting a while if you think this problem is going to solve itself without your help, but that’s your decision. You can have the raincoat, whether you come help us or not! In fact, I’m sorry I brought it up! Because I just want you to be...” her cool gaze turned pleading, “...happy!”
Applejack didn’t know what to say to that.
Shaking her head, Rarity trotted away, saying over her shoulder, “We’re meeting at the library at dawn tomorrow. If you’re not there, we won’t wait for you.”
Applejack watched her go for a while, noticing the mud stains creeping up the pure white fur of Rarity’s legs for walking out here. Then AJ touched the rather poorly situated raincoat on her back. She groaned in frustration, turning away from the diminishing figure of Rarity and stomping her hoof, saying, “Ah hate bein’ manipulated! Consarnit...” She headed for the big farm house grumbling, “Better make arrangements for tomorrow...”
“Twilight!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed in delight, rushing over to her friend. “You really wanna see me?! You—” then she saw the alarm in her friend’s stiff poise, and backed up, saying, “I mean—hello Twilight. How you... doin’?”
Twilight blinked at the uncharacteristically restrained Pinkie, before smiling and saying, “I’m doing fine, thank you. But I really do need your help. You know how to find ponies in ways I can barely understand. We have Rosy’s rough location, but... if you would help me pinpoint the traveller from another dimension, I would be ever so grateful.”
Pinkie’s eyes got big and liquid at that, and she swept Twilight up in a hug, exclaiming, “Oh yes! I’ll help you find her! What has she—I mean...” she released Twilight, putting the princess at arm’s length. “Yes, I’ll be happy to,” Pinkie Pie said carefully. “Um... you know where she is?”
“Las Pegasus, is where an eyewitness spotted a mare,” Twilight said, “An earth pony, young adult mare with no story mark, curly pink hair, and a cream colored coat. A heck of a coincidence if it’s not her, and it’s the best lead we have.”
“Las Pegasus, huh?” Pinkie said thoughtfully, “That’s a ways away. Did she walk that whole way?”
“Well it has been over a week,” Twilight admitted, “Who knows what she’s been up to? She may have even snuck a ride on some unsuspecting pony’s hay cart. Which reminds me. I need you to come to the library tomorrow morning at dawn. Rainbow Dash and I will be able to get us all to Las Pegasus swiftly, by pegasus drawn carriage. Rainbow Dash is... confident that she can get Fluttershy to join us, and Rarity is working with Applejack. So you’re the only pony I really worried about. Thank you so much, Pinkie Pie. You have no idea what a relief it is that you don’t... think that I think you’re stupid or crazy or anything.”
“No, I... don’t,” Pinkie said warily, “So, meeting tomorrow at dawn, at the library?”
“Yup,” Twilight chirped, “It should only take a day if we play our cards right, so pack a lunch, but other than that, just bring yourself and your smile!”
Pinkie smiled a little at that, saying, “Okie dokie lo—okie dokie, I can do that.”
Twilight left the bakery happy, and Pinkie Pie stayed in the bakery happy, feeling happy inside that at least one of her friends liked her, and didn’t think she was crazy. All Pinkie needed was one friend who thought that way. Twilight could help Pinkie Pie with the others, and then they’d all be best of friends again!
It was in snuggling down into her warm little bed that night, that Pinkie Pie thought to herself about Twilight, staring up at the rounded ceiling overhead, wondering when was the last time Twilight actually bought something from Sugarcube Corner? Twilight’d been so busy lately, learning to read again, trying to study without being able to read, trying to research without being able to read, trying to work on her alchemical theories without being able to take notes, searching for clues on the whereabouts of Rosy Pink without being able to read the clues... it’d certainly been a... a while. Pinkie would have to remember to pack extra specially tasty treats for their trip tomorrow. That would make everything just perfect.
Pinkie Pie was feeling a little more herself in the morning, as much as she could feel herself with a fruity patootie. Twilight had really picked the worst time to go after Rosy Pink. Plus Twilight’s speech was still broken, so they had to drag her speech therapist on an all expenses paid trip to Las Pegasus. Whatnot had a funny way of complaining about that, prancing around and squealing excitedly about an adventure and how it was the perfect season and she was the luckiest mare in the entire world.
“I am the luckiest mare in the entire eeeheehee!” she said specifically, bouncing even more than Pinkie Pie. Not that Pinkie Pie went all silly and crazy like that, when she didn’t want to. She could be a fun party pony, and still have herself under control, and be lucid about the world around her. Whatnot didn’t seem to care about control though, taking care of Pinkie’s smiling for now.
Pinkie wasn’t sure she was feeling okay about any of this. She was still pretty hurt from what Rosy said to her just last week. Emotions were high all around! Still, at least all her friends were together again, even if Applejack looked rather cross with them all, and Fluttershy was even quieter than usual. Rainbow Dash was boisterous and helpful, and Rarity was extra doting, not just on her little Spikie Wikie, but also in the tasteful beret she somehow managed to coax Pinkie Pie’s unruly mane around. And Twilight was... she seemed fine, confident even. But...
“Cupcake?” Pinkie asked pleasantly as Twilight was getting hitched up to their transportation.
“Not now, Pinkie,” Twilight replied flatly, looking back at her barrel as she magically tightened the cart strap to meticulous precision. Twilight had to tighten the strap an awful lot to get it to snug tightly around her. “I just want to get there, and get this over with,” Twilight said, glaring in disgust at Pinkie’s cupcake, “And every second I spend eating... cupcakes is one too many. Now come on, let’s go!”
Pinkie blushed, and put the cupcake away. It was a bad time, of course, even if Pinkie Pie hadn’t realized it was inappropriate... again. But Twilight wasn’t angry, so their friendship was safe, and when they got to the hotel, Pinkie was definitely going to have an appropriate time to share her cupcakes with them all.
“Oh, thank you so much for letting me accompany you,” Whatnot gushed for the 37th time as she danced around the cart, examining it curiously as though she’d never ridden in a cart before.
“Keep a level head,” Twilight reminded her, “You have to be there this evening to refresh the you-know-what spell.”
“I won’t let you down, princess!” Whatnot declared with enthusiasm, “And this time I think I’ve got a handle on the writing thing. The trick is we are assuming there’s only one written language and three alphabets, when actually that is not exactly a one-to-one—”
“Okay! Thank you,” Twilight said hastily to the eager blue unicorn. “It’s just really important that we get going.”
“Alrighty!” Whatnot said, poking her nose curiously into the cart that they were riding in. “Is there enough room for everypony?” she asked worriedly.
“Rainbow Dash and I will be flying the cart,” Twilight replied, spreading her wings demonstratively, “So there should be plenty of room for the oneun ponies, plus a baby dragon.”
Whatnot’s eyes couldn’t have gotten bigger as she squeaked, “We’re going to be flying there...?!”
“The brochure says Las Pegasus is full of carnivals and games!” Spike cut in excitedly, as Whatnot's squeals left the audible spectrum, “Can we ride on them? It says there’s the Tongue Twister which is the longest—”
“I’m sure we can have a little fun,” Twilight said in appeasement to the little dragon, “But the girls and I have to keep our eyes out for Rosy Pink. Maybe you can show Whatnot around the city?”
“It would be my pleasure!” Spike announced, proud puffing out his chest.
Whatnot calmed at that, and glanced at Twilight with worried purple eyes, asking, “I’m not coming with you, princess?”
“I really do need your help, Whatnot,” Twilight replied with an appeasing smile, “We’re just going to be taking a look around, anyway. Probably nothing too interesting.”
“Well, I can’t complain about a free vacation to Las Pegasus,” Whatnot said in a more subdued tone, then brightened and said, “But tell me as soon as you start hearing ponies babble again, so that I can be of help too!”
“I will be sure to do so,” Twilight said firmly. Whatnot squeed, and jumped up into the cart.
“Everypony ready?” Twilight asked, once they were all in the cart, except for her and Rainbow Dash.
“Let me just...” Rarity said, expanding a parasol in her magic. “Ready darling!” she declared.
“Ah’m ready as a spring hare!” Applejack said enthusiastically.
“Absotutely-lootly!” their blue extra said, while Spike just winked and gave Twilight the thumbs up.
Fluttershy might have mumbled something, but Pinkie Pie shouted in excitement, “Road trip!”
“Pinkie!” Twilight shouted admonishingly, making Pinkie Pie’s gut sink, until her purple friend added calmly, “This is not a road trip. We aren’t using any roads. There are no roads in the sky.”
“Ohhh,” Pinkie said in realization. “Okay then... sky trip!!”
With barely an eyeroll betwixt them, Rainbow Dash and Twilight picked up into the air, taking with them the other ponies, and whatever bags they wanted to pack for the day piled in the middle. Whatnot brought a coinpurse for some quick credit establishment, and several reference books about helping Twilight. Pinkie and Applejack brought stuff for a sort of picnic if the opportunity presented itself. Rarity had some rope, and a sneaking suit should any of them have to do something inconspicuous. Fluttershy had with her a pet carrier that wasn’t glowing so much now that the sun was high in the sky, but contained a friend of Rosy’s that she earnestly wanted to reunite with her.
It was actually a good thing that they didn’t take the train, considering what time of year it was. Pinkie was completely unashamed to say that she wouldn’t want to be in an enclosed train car with herself in the middle of May, and she was fairly sure the rest of them fared no better. In fact, an open flying cart was pretty much ideal; they could make a beeline for the city this way, with no need to detour around the White Tail Woods.
Ponyville fell away from them far in the distance as Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle took them over the Ghastly Gorge. Twilight kept smacking her rump against the base of the cart though, and not in a way that looked like she was enjoying it. Then she had to flap harder to catch up with Rainbow Dash.
It wasn’t long at all that Twilight looked exhausted, enough that Rainbow Dash shouted out, “Okay, hold up!” dragging herself and Twilight to a halt in the air.
“What gives, Twilight?” the rainbow pegasus asked in frustration, “I’m already going as slow as I can. You look like you’re falling over your wings! Haven’t you been practicing flying lately?”
“Sorry, I...” Twilight said breathlessly, “I’m not sure I’m just... feeling really tired for some reason... could we just—” she fell out of the sky for a moment with a yelp, and the cart jerked enough for Rarity to shriek before Twilight pulled herself back up to level. “Sorry I suppose I haven’t been flying enough,” she said, redfaced, “Could we just... take a rest break really quick?”
They touched down by the river, and Twilight didn’t hesitate to unstrap herself. She leaned against a tree, just looking... drained. So Pinkie Pie trotted up to her and once again offered a, “Cupcake?”
Twilight looked at the proferred treat queasily saying, “I’m really not in the mood right now.”
“Well, something else then?” Pinkie suggested, pulling out an “Apple? Sandwich? Hay? Chips? Hay chips?”
“Pinkie! I’m fine!” Twilight said irritably. “I’ll eat something when we get there, okay?”
“What’s the problem? You keep forgetting to eat!” Pinkie Pie whined, “That’s probably why you’re so tired and cranky lately.”
“I am not cranky,” Twilight said crankily, “And I’m not forgetting to eat. I’m just a little under the weather. Pinkie, don’t worry. I weighed myself just this morning, and I’m still over three pounds heavier than I’ve ever been as a unicorn. Princesses just don’t have to eat as much. That’s why everything has... it’s perfectly normal.”
“Okay, but... you just get better okay?” Pinkie asked worriedly.
Twilight smiled, saying, “I just need to rest a bit. I’ll be fine.”
Fluttershy ended up taking up the harness in Twilight’s place as reluctantly, but resignedly the princess sat herself in Fluttershy’s spot in the carriage. Even with Fluttershy setting the pace, they were making better time than before. Fluttershy wasn’t as fast a flyer as Rainbow Dash, but she sure was faster than Twilight when she wasn’t feeling well! Plus Twilight and Whatnot actually had a lot to talk about, both being unapologetic smarty pantses, so the princess ended up enjoying the journey a lot more than if she’d spent it pulling the cart.
Rarity took the time on their way to speak about their strategy regarding Rosy. “Now I want everypony to remember,” the elegant white unicorn said with a pointed look at the slumped Twilight, “That we are here to help Rosy, not harm her. We must act with grace and temperance, and even if she resists again, we need to be the better ponies here. Remember she has a mind not unlike a young foal, and must be corrected gently, but firmly. I know she has said terrible, terrible things about us all in the past, but we must accept that she can’t be expected to empathize like a normal pony. It’s just in her nature!”
“It’s true, humans of the other verse do appear to be very combatative by nature,” Twilight remarked, “The Zebrican human tribes have been known to war upon one another, but the ones through the Rift have made a whole culture of it, glorifying battle and duty to one’s commander.”
“See, so this isn’t Rosy’s fault, and we have no reason to feel hurt by her words,” Rarity said with a smile, “We only need to correct her behavior, and send a firm signal that she has a responsibility to return home and get out of our tail.”
“Plus if she resists, we can totally lock her in the dungeon!” Rainbow Dash called back over her shoulder.
“Yes... well... it probably won’t come to that,” Rarity said with a narrow look at her lovable ruffian of a friend, “We only need do what is necessary even if we may have the urge to be spiteful or cruel about it.”
When she wasn’t talking with Twilight about languages and dimensional math, Whatnot just looked around outside the cart with wide eyes, absorbing everything she was seeing and hearing. Spike was in a similar situation, except without wide eyes, or absorption, and with his head stuck in a comic book.
“Ah still don’t like it,” Applejack said suspiciously, “Why can’t we convince her to do it? Sure maybe she ain’t a pony thinkin’ critter, but what does that say about us, if’n we cain’t even get some lost lil’ filly to return home?”
“It’s not some lost little filly,” Twilight grouched, “It’s a full grown male stallion with mental issues, even by the standards of his own alien species. We cannot forget that Rosy Pink’s real name is Bruce Connell, because Bruce will take every advantage of that. We’re not the bad guys here. He is.”
“Uh, nopony said we were the bad guys,” Pinkie offered uncertainly, “But it does kinda look that way, if you look at it without knowing we’re the good guys. We should just be nice to him, even if we have to... tell him that no, he can’t stay.”
“I suppose,” Twilight admitted reluctantly. “It just gets me so mad, thinking of how he abused all our trust. He might be taking advantage of some mare right this moment, and I can’t even get us to Las Pegasus fast enough.” She looked at Fluttershy, whose sides were heaving, but her speed was steady, then back to Pinkie Pie, the princess saying gratefully, “I’m glad I have all of you as my friends. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“Prooobably go home, because you’re too tired to fly this cart all the way there yourself,” Pinkie suggested.
“That was a rhetorical question,” Twilight grumbled.
“But it wasn’t a question?” Pinkie Pie replied, confused.
It was an interesting flight.
Las Pegasus is an amazing city. Pinkie Pie had heard legend of it, with its beautiful gleaming beaches and its bright, shining amusement parks and playgrounds. It was said to be a city that never sleeps, and Pinkie Pie could see why. There were lights everywhere, and so much to do that not even Pinkie Pie could have done it all. She only managed to ride the ferris wheel, and play with the dolphins, and dance up on stage, and win like a million tickets of the ball toss before the rest of them caught up with her about 10 minutes later, and dragged Pinkie to the hotel.
It was... hard to sleep, actually, with the lights and the constant activity. Pinkie Pie just wanted to play and play, and she could understand why they had her leashed to the radiator, but she was really having a hard time calming down here! Everypony was kind of in a bad mood, especially with Whatnot’s latest attempt falling flat, leaving Twilight unable to so much as read the Equestrian Travel Guide in the bureau drawer.
Things were kind of tense for the night, and emotions were high. The next morning they were all business though. Almost all business. Whatnot and Spike agreed to hold down the fort, which was secret code for leaving the fort and enjoying the city for the day. Also going without sleep all night had made Pinkie Pie too groggy to handle most of this fun stuff, so she was pretty businesslikeish.
It was surprisingly easy to track down Rosy Pink. Asking around led to a sort of cheap hotel, and watching it surreptitiously, they saw a familiar looking mare with bright pink hair and creamy white fur leave its confines. They were going to confront her, but Twilight wanted to watch her movements first, to see if Rosy had any more tricks up her metaphorical sleeves.
Pinkie didn’t see how a salt bar would be any of those tricks, but it was kind of uneasy how strongly Twilight insisted that they not enter such an establishment. Pinkie Pie knew that salt made you loopy and loosey goosey, and wasn’t something a good mare should partake of, but at the same time it meant they lost sight of Rosy.
“Are you sure we shouldn’t go in there?” Pinkie hissed to Twilight.
“I do not want any of us even smelling the salt dust in those places,” Twilight whispered back, from her hiding spot behind a flashy billboard, “Especially not you, Pinkie Pie. We can go open loop later. Now we have to stay alert and vigilant for Bruce’s emergence. He hasn’t seen us, so there’s no reason to think he’s trying to lose us.”
“Okay Twilight,” Pinkie whispered back, “You know what’s best.”
“Besides, you remember the last time you got your nose into some salt?” Rainbow Dash whispered on Pinkie’s other side.
“Actually no,” Pinkie replied, “It’s all a big blur to me. But I remember repairing those buildings afterwards!”
“I would never even set hoof in a—a salt bar,” Rarity said in honest disgust. “Especially with the state it puts you in, I’ll wager any number of ornery stallions would seek to ravish us, utterly devoid of any sensibility or inhibitions. Why that would be just viciously scandalous and to even think of such a thing is positively—”
“Please don’t make me summon another leash, Rarity,” Twilight whispered. Where Rarity had started to crawl out from behind the billboard, she blushed self consciously, and scooted back into their collective hiding spot.
Rosy didn’t even glance at their hiding spot as the evening wore on, probably because soap ads weren’t really all that eye catching. But Rainbow Dash saw her leave, and woke up everypony else in time to see a bright pink tail diminishing down the street. The Bearers wove their way through the crowd in pursuit, but it was pretty easy to follow Rosy. She was clearly salted up and walking dizzily enough to hang onto ponies she was next to.
She separated from the milling crowd of playponies to head to the hotel again, this time with somepony accompanying her. “Who is that?” Fluttershy asked fearfully, as the two entered the hotel’s dirty double doors. Pinkie didn’t get a good look at her, but the pony had a pale coat with a blue mane, which could have been just about anypony.
“It can’t be helped,” Twilight replied, “Bruce might not allow us to talk with him alone, but this is the closest chance we’re likely to get. If we come upon him when he’s readying for sleep, his guard will be down, and we’ll be able to reason with anypony he’s thus far deceived.”
“That mare he was with, could she be his next victim?” Rarity said in horror, “We have to hurry, or he might do something to her that she’ll never be able to forget!”
“I’ll deal with the staff,” Twilight stated, “The rest of you do your best to find what room he’s in.”
And with that, the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony trotted on to destiny.
“Good evening mares,” Twilight said of the ponies at the front desk. “We’re here on official royal business. Somepony may be committing a crime at your very hotel. Please, don’t be alarmed. We’ve been tracking this criminal for a long time, and he’s quite sneaky, so just act natural, pretend I don’t have wings, and let me know if you’ve seen a mare with pink curly hair, cream colored fur, and no story mark.”
The staff just looked at her, as a fawn looks at an approaching pack of wolves.
“Rosy Pink. She didn’t even change her name!” Rainbow Dash said triumphantly behind them, hovering over by the hotel’s key board, lifting off the spare key to room 317.
“Um, excuse—” one of the employees started to say, but Twilight immediately cut in with,
“Good job, Rainbow Dash! Now let’s hurry, while time is of the essence!”
Pinkie Pie never understood what it meant for time to be of an essence, but she knew it was essential for them to get to Rosy in time, before Rosy said mean, awful, nasty things to that mare, like she did with Pinkie, and with all the others, in rapid succession. That poor mare with Rosy could accidentally get her feelings hurt, or worse!
So while everypony else crowded up the stairs as quietly as they could go, Pinkie Pie saw a way to get into the room a bit early. She snuck behind a flower pot, which she could connect to a suitcase in room 316, that itself led to a closet in room 317.
“Surprise!” Pinkie Pie shouted, bursting out of the closet, “Rosy! We’ve been looking all—”
Several things became clear at this point. It was clear that Rosy’s soft blue irises, a shade darker than Pinkie Pie’s, narrowed in shock at Pinkie’s arrival, but it wasn’t clear what Rosy meant by saying the words, “Oh god no.” It was clear that Pinkie Pie was not, not, not, not supposed to be here, but it wasn’t clear what she was supposed to do about that.
It was unquestionably clear that the pony accompanying Rosy had been a stallion, not a mare, but it wasn’t clear how the two ponies Pinkie Pie burst in on could possibly be doing what they were doing right now, right this moment, right in the middle of the room, even though Pinkie Pie was standing right here, but she shouldn’t be here. But... but why?! How?!
“But you’re both stallions!” Pinkie Pie blurted out, in total and utter confusion.
Rosy looked like she wanted to curl up into a ball and die, but with bearing his weight and with... things, she was pretty much stuck just standing there. And the blue haired stallion that was in...on her... he... started to laugh. He didn’t even stop what he was doing to Rosy! He just laughed and said to Pinkie in a rough voice, “How high do y’ have to be to think I’ll fall for that, when I am literally inside Rosy’s p—” and then Twilight and the others burst in through the door.
It went about as well as expected.
Oh what, you want details? Well!
“Waitnodon’tcomein!” Pinkie Pie squeaked ineffectively when the door to the hall crashed open. She was helpless to watch Twilight gallop in, skid to a halt, and sort of stare, everypony else barrelling in right around her. As a whole crowd of ponies burst in, the blue haired stallion completely panicked, shoving off of... out of... off of Rosy and—and oh Celestia was he not a mare. Rosy’s friend was definitely, incredibly, hugely not a mare. Rosy sank to her belly and covered her head in her forehooves. Fluttershy screamed, Rarity fainted on the spot, Rainbow Dash burst into gut shaking laughter for reasons not even she could explain afterward, and Applejack ran up to Pinkie Pie.
“You okay there?!” Applejack exclaimed to Pinkie anxiously, “Rosy didn’t hurt ya none, did he?”
“R-r-r-r-rosy isn’t a he!” Pinkie replied still utterly confused, pointing a hoof again over behind Applejack, where Rosy Pink was sobbing on the floor, repeating slurred words like,
“...never escape no matter what I do they won’t let me live I don’t wanna go I don’t...”
“What’re you talkin’ about?” Applejack said to Pinkie Pie in confusion, looking at Rosy, just as the stallion bellowed defensively backing to the wall,
“I didn’t do nothing I swear! She wanted it you got no right to lock me up!”
That led Applejack to look at the stallion, who was still... out and about, in his whole stallion-ness down there. Applejack kind of blanked then, going, “Whu” looking from Rosy to the stallion, to Rosy to...
“But y’all are both stallions!” Applejack blurted out in shock.
“I’m not!!” Rosy shrieked, curling up in a ball and chanting, “I’m not! I’m not. I’m not...”
“Filly... fooler!” Rainbow Dash managed to gasp out, before rolling with laughter again.
Fluttershy was currently hiding behind the crumpled form of Rarity and hyperventilating, with her eyes fixed on the one thing that was not like the others in this room. Considering the season, Pinkie Pie could understand why Fluttershy’s eyes might be fixed on that particular body part, but the terror in Fluttershy’s eyes... that wasn’t... right.
“Why’re youse accusing me of cuddlin’ colts?!” the stallion shouted at Applejack et al, in a Manehattan manner of speaking, stepping up angrily to the orange farm pony, who backed up a step despite herself, “You just tryin’ to hurt Rosy even more or something?”
“Ah ain’t accusin’ you of nothin’ you lowdown—” Applejack retorted angrily and fearfully, just as Twilight shouted,
“Stop!!”
She enforced that request with a magenta wave of princessly magic that froze everypony in their tracks.
“You,” Twilight said to Rainbow Dash there in mid-chortle, “Stop laughing! This is a very serious ...situation! And you,” she stared at Applejack, “Stop arguing with the stallion and help. Can’t you see that she—he—she—” Twilight spared a confused look at Rosy and the stallion, “That Rosy—Bruce—can’t you see that the creature was hurting her—him? And—”
She staggered over to Fluttershy, looking at what Fluttershy was looking at, then saying, “Stop staring at it, and help drag Rarity to safety, and you, “ she zipped over to Pinkie Pie. “You... warn us the next time you’re going to do that, but... good job interrupting this before he came in—before something unfortunate happened. Now you and Applejack help me with B-Bruce. Fluttershy will get Rarity. And you, “
Twilight zipped over to the stallion, still standing there stiff as a board, “You can just count your lucky stars that nothing happened to...” Twilight’s words trailed off and she stared in confusion at the stallion again. “That nothing happened to... you,” she concluded to him with a nod, “Because this mare—this stallion—man is not your friend. He is dangerous. Come on everypony, let’s go.”
Twilight canceled the stop then, with a winkling twinkle, and Applejack moved forward hefting Rosy up to her hooves. “Please, no...” Rosy moaned, trying to fall down again, but Twilight gave her the mouth zipper then, and Applejack and Pinkie stopped her from running away, and Pinkie Pie wasn’t sure how it happened exactly, but Twilight managed to get Pinkie Pie’s leash onto Rosy Pink.
Twilight’s magic was mostly what got Rosy out of the hotel that day. Nopony else really... wanted to touch her. Rosy was a mess, and stank of more than just salt. There was nothing to be done about it though. Blushing red in their faces, the 12 took their unwanted extra with them out of that hotel, and never looked back.
Pinkie Pie still didn’t understand how Rosy could be a stallion, because how could a stallion have possibly wanted to do that with another stallion? It’d be like if Pinkie Pie went and... with another filly and... ew! Would Pinkie Pie feel that way about fillies if she was a stallion? Did stallions feel that way because they were stallions, or did they just happen to be the ponies who liked mares?
Pinkie Pie was feeling worser and worser as they moved through the city, with everypony staring at them, and ponies scrambling to get out of the way before the sight of the Elements, and Twilight’s wings spread wide. This was wrong. This was bad. Pinkie Pie didn’t know why but she couldn’t feel good about this at all. It was like the worst fake smile that ever smiled. Rosy was... Pinkie Pie didn’t understand! Was Rosy evil? Then why was she acting like they were evil?
Was that just a special ability that Rosy could do? It had to be, because Pinkie Pie wasn’t evil, and she wasn’t a monster, not even if Rosy made her along with everypony else feel that way. Nevertheless, the Las Pegasus prison had a visit that day from a half dozen monsters, and one not-pony. A not-pony, whose greatest hope for the future was that now she had but one more day to live in Equestria, because the monsters were too exhausted to send her home right away. But tomorrow... the end would come.
Pinkie Pie couldn’t sleep that night, either.
With a creak and a metallic clash, the harried mare with the curly pink hair was pushed into a cell in the Las Pegasus penitentiary. She didn’t offer up any resistance, and collapsed in a heap once the door closed behind her, curling away and refusing to look at any of them until they left her alone.
The prison hadn’t seen much use in the last few centuries, what with the amount of fun ponies had in this city. It was a friendly place, far removed from stodgy Vanhoover, or the tumultuous Manehattan that seemed to thrive on conflict. Las Pegasus thrived, for some definition of thrived, on fun, and this cultural renaissance meant that the more nefarious interests would be looking elsewhere. It may have been different if any of these places were charging admission, but to earn the keys to the city, you only had to be connected, well known and beloved by all.
So the holding area up front was full of tipsies and revelers, but the jail in the back was only about a third full. The back was the area for dangerous ponies who risked hurting others or themselves, and unless Las Pegasus became home to some ancient artifact of power, most ponies like that made no trouble in that city, instead preferring to spend their days hunting in the jungles and ruins all the way across the continent. That left Rosy with no company other than an armful of unfriendly prisoners to talk with, and anypony else who was willing to try.
“...ah’m gonna go talk to her,” Applejack said, as the friends convened in the prison’s lobby.
“We all should go talk to him,” Fluttershy replied, “To try and convince him of the good in... whatever lesson it is he’s supposed to be learning.”
“I don’t care about lessons. I just wanna cheer her up!” Pinkie Pie protested. “Did you see her? She wasn’t crying!”
“...that’s not a good thing?” Twilight asked in puzzlement.
“Not for her, it isn’t,” Pinkie mumbled, disconsolate.
“Well I don’t know if I want to talk to her!” Rainbow Dash declared, snapping her tail. “She’s too good at... at saying things that get to us!”
"Rainbow Dash is right," Rarity said testily, "Rosy has said such horrible things to us, that it is not healthy to talk with him. We'd only allow him to hurt us worse if we did."
“I just want this to be over with...” Fluttershy said softly, a hair away from turning back her ears. “I had no idea he was so troubled. Did my... our kiss cause this? I wish there was something I could do for him.”
“Do you think his female body might be affecting him?” Rarity asked, aghast. “I know we’ve all been feeling the season, but to go to such lengths to satisfy it?”
“What if we hadn’t got there in time?” Twilight worried, “Could he have gotten pregnant? What kind of stallion would do that to himself?”
“The kinda stallion who became a mare, apparently,” Applejack said, shaking her head.
“Not even the Alicorn Amulet could do such a thing,” Twilight remarked in uneasy astonishment, “It’s one thing to transform into a pony, change in size or shape, or even age, but to reverse the polarities on his gender? It’s unheard of!”
“We can’t forget that he was not originally a pony at all,” Rarity said distastefully, then blushed and added, “Not that there is anything wrong with that, but it means he... shared certain differences from us, from the get-go.”
“How is he even the same person at all?” Twilight asked despondently. “If his body changed, and his self image changed, what’s left? His memories?”
“We should get him back through the Rift right away,” Fluttershy said with a nod of agreement, “Before this gets any worse. We might not have anything left of Rosy to save!”
“...ah don’t know about memories or whatnot, but ah’m gonna go talk to... him,” Applejack said grudgingly. “He’s all alone in there, an’ it just ain’t right to leave him... her like that.”
“I hope you know what you’re doing, Applejack,” Twilight said solemnly, “If he tries to hurt you, just know that we’ll be here if you need us.”
Applejack nodded solemnly, and headed once more back into the breach.
Meanwhile, a blue unicorn and a baby dragon staggered laughing out of the teacup rides, many strands of prize tickets clutched in their claws and horn field respectively. Then they headed straight for the giant beanbag maze. It was a good day.
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Why do I get the feeling that Whatnot's going to turn out to be a former human too? This little bit...
...especially the last bit just seems rather unusual for a native Equestrian, at least one not close to Twilight anyway, to say.
Meanwhile I rather wish the Mane 6 would take their homophobia and go soak their heads.
More
This is the first chapter that I would consider really dark. The mane six are just on the edge of me believing that they could be that oblivious.
I'd be more interested in the whole transphobia 101 stuff if Rosy weren't also a complete and utter piece of shit.
8298539
Perhaps she was human in a past life!
You think ponies in Equestria wouldn't think of her as the princess of books? Especially ones who are huge Twilight fans?
8298560
THIS WAS THE BIGGEST CHAPTER I'VE EVER PUBLISHED EVER YOU CHUCKLEFUCK
8298568
So... the chapter where it's revealed Pinkie Pie's entire family died horribly was just your standard slice-of-life? Fluttershy and Rarity indoctrinated into a mind control cult was light-hearted comedy?
But yes... this story is getting pretty heavy. I'm pretty quick to add the Dark tag... the show is so inoffensive and superficial, almost everything seems dark in comparison.
I hope you won't feel like they're too oblivious by the next chapter. After all, Applejack's gonna get the straight story from Rosy, undo this web of lies, and they'll all go home safe and sound. Because she's the Element of Honesty.
8298647
As bad as the Bearers are behaving about it, I wasn't really writing this story to raise sympathy for transgenders by painting them as innocent victims. Rosy is no angel, that's for sure.
8298703
I can't help but laugh at that response
they're acting ignorant again... twilight is clearly not eating, and can't fly half as much as fluttershy which should be a sign. and the stallion that was in the room said ' just going to hurt her again' and none of them paid any attention. pinkie is the only one on the right track.
8298703
no angel? lol.. technically, rosy has done nothing but self defense
8298941
Eh, her fighting them with words has been kind of questionable, especially her go at Fluttershy during the last chew out, but throwing Twilight into the portal probably crossed a line, especially given what it did to her.
8298955
no different than what happened to rosy herself, only twilight saw it coming.
and fluttershy? a little overboard i agree, but the point still stands. fluttershy withheld information that clears rosy of any wrong-doing to fluttershy personally.
8298935
Yes, they're... acting ignorant.
8298941
And hard drugs!
8298955
Huh, actually I thought Fluttershy's was the most heartfelt. But perhaps not the most well thought out and accurate.
8298977
did i miss the drugs part? xD
also, it seems like a serious issue when nobody is forcing twilight to eat despite the obvious signs it is needed. she atm, is less capable than fluttershy, FLUTTERSHY!!!
8298703
Is it a bad thing that your satirical reply is an accurate description of reality?
Oh also you need to write faster because I have a migraine right now and my head might explode before you finish if you don't hurry up.
That would be a shame.
8299080
"the dresscaker"
...Uh. I assume you meant "dressmaker", though my brain has been trying to figure out exactly what a dresscaker would do. I suspect Pinkie Pie would be interested, whatever it is.
"flarret might help understand where"
"help us understand"?
"this strange system by which we use to put our"
"system which" or "which we put"?
"she did to Twilight at the Rift"
"rift"?
"Ah’m a might busy at the moment"
"mite"?
"Rosy said stuff about med"
"me"?
"they hadn't lead Applejack into"
"led"?
"she help somepony who doesn’t want to be helped"
"didn't"?
...You know, if Starlight's managed to get into town past the blockades to spy as she did in the show, I'm wondering what she's making of all this.
"a disconnect between reality and the truth"
Hm. Did you mean to say that? If so, interesting.
Oh, huh. Interesting. How did she get past the blockade, and why there?
"so they’re hoping Bearers"
"the Bearers"?
"Had Starlight resurfaced in Ponyville, and was stealing the story marks away from the bakers here?"
...Yeah, I'm wondering if Starlight is now scratching her head trying to think of what she can do for revenge that will top how things are already falling apart.
Hm, also, I wonder if the rift affected Twilight's sense of taste?
"“Because that worked out so well last time,” Applejack said sarcastically."
And the time before that, too!
"her friend’s stiff poise"
"pose"?
"How you... doin"
"doing" or "doin'"?
"young adult mare with no cutie mark"
"story mark"?
...Alternatively, of course, Starlight could have decided to take advantage of this and use a sighting of Rosy as bait. From the sound of it, there's potentially only a single eyewitness, so she might even have just sent the sighting in herself, without even having to find a body double or illusion.
"little at that saying"
"that, saying"?
"Whatnot had a funny way of complaining about that, prancing around and squealing excitedly about an adventure and how it was the perfect season and she was the luckiest mare in the entire world."
...Okay... with that last bit and Pinkie's euphemism earlier in the paragraph, I'm wondering if Whatnot and Fluttershy have a particular trait in common.
I mean... there are some holes in that idea, but... Whatnot hasn't exactly been providing a lot of real counterevidence that I'm recalling.
"feeling okay about all of any of this"
"all or any"?
Though I can see something you might have been meaning with a deliberate "of", too. And, in the other direction, I'm wondering if one of those three-letters-starting-with-a words wasn't meant to be there at all, and the presence of both is the remnant of an earlier draft.
The spelling of "Spikie/Spikey Wikie/Wikey" seems inconsistent here.
"beret she somehow managed to coax Pinkie Pie’s unruly mane around"
The mane was coaxed around the hat? What does that mean?
"The brocure says"
"brochure"?
"The Zebrican human tribes"
...Huh.
Ah, right, these were mentioned. I do wonder about them, though (Now that I, um, remember they exist.). Still living in the human evolutionary environment, perhaps?
Hm, seems increasingly likely that it is indeed Rosy.
"We can go open loop later."
Open loop? Not sure what that's meaning here, sorry.
"even step hoof in a"
"even set hoof"?
"The bearers wove their way"
"Bearers"?
"and no cutie mark"
"story mark"?
"“Filly... fooler!” Rainbow Dash managed to gasp out"
...I, uh. Think there's kind of evidence that that doesn't apply here either, Dash. Maybe not entirely conclusive evidence, but still from the sound of it very... large evidence.
Ah, looks like it was a generic term.
"Ah ain’t accusin’ you of nothin’ you lowdown"
And a slightly mixed message there, Applejack.
"“Please, no...” Rosy moaned, trying to fall down again, but Twilight gave her the mouth zipper then, and Applejack and Pinkie stopped her from running away, and Pinkie Pie wasn’t sure how it happened exactly, but Twilight managed to get Pinkie Pie’s leash onto Rosy Pink."
Uh, and Twilight, you might want to point out that you're totally the good guys again, because this is one of those things that makes you look like the bad guys.
"and anypony else who was willing to try"
And let's see who is...
"It’s one thing to transform into a pony, change in size or shape, or even age, but to reverse the polarities on his gender? It’s unheard of!"
So maybe nothing did, then? Okay, the idea of sex and gender being not the same thing doesn't really seem to be known to you, but you know that the rift changed his visible sex from a man to a mare. Either it changed him fully into a mare, in which case maybe-a-he is now definitely-a-she, or it didn't, and he is and always was a sick male who's now in a mare's body, the thing you're panicking about. Except, that can't be true unless it is possible to be mentally one and visibly the other at the same time, introducing the concept to you even if you hadn't thought of it before.
Though even I didn't think of this until just now, and you've been, um. Distracted.
"through the Rift right away"
"rift"?
"“We should get him back through the Rift right away,” Fluttershy said with a nod of agreement, “Before this gets any worse. We might not have anything left of Rosy to save!”"
And I'm sure that, in that scenario, there are no ethical problems at all with wiping out the new person the changes have been making. And Bruce will no doubt be thrilled to have would-be happy little pony killed so that he can resume his normal unhappy life. With the added bonus of people asking where he was and some nice men and suits and dark glasses wanting to ask him all sorts of questions about an explosion, oh and also there's some evidence that he's an agent of a conspiracy that's been funding armed uprisings and the weather in Cuba is just lovely this time of year...
Huh. And still no Starlight.
...
You know, that wasn't very likely anyway. I wonder if Twilight's [strike]paranoia[/strike] perfectly reasonable caution is contagious?
8298539
...Hm. Interesting idea. I think it probably isn't the case, but the possibility hadn't occurred to me before.
8298647
To be fair to her, she really didn't start out one (at least once we met her as a pony), and it does seem like she still isn't to most people.
8298703
"
"
"Perhaps she was human in a past life!
"You think ponies in Equestria wouldn't think of her as the princess of books? Especially ones who are huge Twilight fans?
...I do notice that the second doesn't necessarily say anything about Whatnot herself at all, and the first one depends on what one thinks of as a past life.
...But I can also see you teasing here whichever way it is. :)
"THIS WAS THE BIGGEST CHAPTER I'VE EVER PUBLISHED EVER YOU CHUCKLEFUCK
"
...Um. Actually, it... wasn't, I think? FIMFiction counts it as 8694 words and I Said The Journey Ends, Dammit at 9137.
...Oh. Huh. On a reloaded page, this is reading as 8708.
Looks like there are a number of longer chapters in Bloom Filter too, though. And some in Feeding Problems.
8299242
Twilight is very perceptive when she's not trying to be.
Um... I don't think... so?
They're about as different as two ponies can be, aren't they?
Well, Pinkie's sort of narrating and she has a thing for -ies.
It means going all loopey, like letting yourself go and acting without restraint. I didn't realize it wasn't a general colloquialism.
You obviously didn't get the joke.
The funny thing about new concepts is it takes time to wrap your head around them, and the perfectly sensible explanation might seem like wildly contradictory speculation at first, just because you're not familiar with it, especially in high stress situations.
New person? You mean Rosy, or her...
It hasn't even been a year, sheesh.
Anyway this story isn't about Starlight.
What, me? No... I would never!
This chapter went past 50K, which until now has been a cutoff point at which I try to restructure the story so that it isn't trying to pack way too much stuff into one chapter. But I've finally decided that it's just not worth the trouble, and I won't be doing that religiously anymore. Until now, I had not one single chapter over 50K in any of my stories.
It might be good to note that I'm actually from a nearby parallel universe exactly the same as your own, except that in it, I never wrote a chapter over 40K. Quite bewildering to see character counts that I can't possibly have written on all those chapters, but accidental interuniversal travel can be a pretty wild experience.
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Luna's Balls how did I make so many absolutely awful typoes this time. Thank you so much for catching these."
"
Happy to help. :)
...And also now wondering about the origin of that phrase.
"Twilight is very perceptive when she's not trying to be."
Interesting. Hm. More about Rainbow's powers? Or just the perceptions and misperceptions of this situation. What is reality, and what truth?
"Um... I don't think... so?
"
Ah. I was wondering, given how earlier that very paragraph it had been established what season it was, about Whatnot being so very excited to be going on a trip with Twilight, and being "the luckiest mare in the entire world", this particular season.
"They're about as different as two ponies can be, aren't they?"
...I can't tell if I'm oversensitive to hints and teasing you drop in the comments, overcorrecting, or actually on target. :)
"Well, Pinkie's sort of narrating and she has a thing for -ies."
Ah, righto.
"It means going all loopey, like letting yourself go and acting without restraint. I didn't realize it wasn't a general colloquialism."
Huh. No, I don't think I've ever heard the phrase in that context; thanks.
(...Though, in this particular context, does that mean Twilight's saying it would be fine for Pinkie to visit a salt bar later?)
"You obviously didn't get the joke.
"
Hm. Apparently not, I'm afraid.
...Still not, either. Hm.
Though. Does Rainbow, either? It does say she couldn't explain her reasons later.
"The funny thing about new concepts is it takes time to wrap your head around them, and the perfectly sensible explanation might seem like wildly contradictory speculation at first, just because you're not familiar with it, especially in high stress situations."
Oh, indeed; I've encountered at least parts of this myself, and there may be more thorough instances I'm not at present recalling.
"New person? You mean Rosy, or her..."
Her?
Basically, if there's nothing left of Rosy to save (as was said in the fear) but there is a person in there, logically the person must not be Rosy, yes? Even if they might decide to use the same name. Unless the proposal is that Rosy-from-Bruce is being replaced by a philosophical zombie.
"It hasn't even been a year, sheesh.
Anyway this story isn't about Starlight."
I know, I know. I think Twilight got to me there. :D
"What, me? No... I would never!
"
Suuuure. :)
"This chapter went past 50K"
...Buh?
Wait.
...Okay, no, 8705 in base 4 is 2020001.
So... are we... defining "chapter" differently (though you did say "published"...), or... ?
I am confused. Perhaps there was actually a third parallel universe involved?
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I dunno. Ask Terry.
What? No it's just like when Twilight tried, she tried to force herself to be good at weaving nests, or ice skating, or ploughing snow with magic, but once she gave up and just reacted passively to the situation, she solved all their problems at once.
Oh. That. Uh... no.
It'd be like if Superman landed in front of you and said, "Reese, I need your help to save the world. Come with me on this all expenses paid trip to Vegas, and have fun." Whatnot isn't excited to get in bed with Twilight persay... but there are a lot of games to play in Las Pegasus. It's actually one of their main selling points that nopony talks about.
Honestly, if you can't seduce Twilight in the warm confines of her own library, you won't have much luck at a casino.
To be fair, if Twilight thought for one second about what she said, she would be very, very regretful.
I think Rainbow would have said something like, "It's because she's a filly fooler, but not a filly fooler. But she's extra not because the stallion, and he isn't a filly so she's practically the least filly fooler even though she is a bigger one than anypony!" Then when you kind of stared at her blankly, she'd pretend not to be embarassed and say, "Ehh you had to be there."
Oh, okay. Yes, I suppose that could be a valid concern, but at least it's trading one personality for another, rather than just eliminating one of them, replacing it with nothing.
Character count.
Word count is stupid, because you're not 4 times more prolific if you call something "silly can't be true," rather than ridiculous.
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"I dunno. Ask Terry."
Terry?
"What? No it's just like when Twilight tried, she tried to force herself to be good at weaving nests, or ice skating, or ploughing snow with magic, but once she gave up and just reacted passively to the situation, she solved all their problems at once."
...Okay, I'm... so confused I'm not even sure what question to ask here, sorry. Are we even talking about the same thing? I'm here concerned main with how reality and the truth are not the same thing.
"Oh. That. Uh... no.
It'd be like if Superman landed in front of you and said, "Reese, I need your help to save the world. Come with me on this all expenses paid trip to Vegas, and have fun." Whatnot isn't excited to get in bed with Twilight"
Ah, okay.
"persay... but there are a lot of games to play in Las Pegasus. It's actually one of their main selling points that nopony talks about."
Ah, "games". I'd started wondering about that too, and if that might be the explanation for the appropriateness of the season; thanks.
"Honestly, if you can't seduce Twilight in the warm confines of her own library, you won't have much luck at a casino."
Good point. :D
"To be fair, if Twilight thought for one second about what she said, she would be very, very regretful."
Ah. :D
"I think Rainbow would have said something like, "It's because she's a filly fooler, but not a filly fooler. But she's extra not because the stallion, and he isn't a filly so she's practically the least filly fooler even though she is a bigger one than anypony!" Then when you kind of stared at her blankly, she'd pretend not to be embarassed and say, "Ehh you had to be there.""
:)
"Oh, okay. Yes, I suppose that could be a valid concern, but at least it's trading one personality for another, rather than just eliminating one of them, replacing it with nothing."
...Okay, and... confused here too. I thought that the reason for hurrying was saying the original personality? If they're fine with a trade, why would the replacement be a reason to hurry? And if they are hurrying with the expectation that shoving her back through the portal will reset things, doesn't that mean they are concerned?
"Character count.
"
Ahhhh. Units. Yes, that would do it. :)
So this is indeed the chapter with the most characters you've ever posted? Neat.
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Yep. Terry.
Truth has little to do with reality. For instance, if I postulate that I'm a magical fairy, and that all who are magical fairies can grant wishes, then the statement "I can grant wishes," is true.
...darn
So (entirely hypocritically) she's saying Rainbow Dash's presuming stuff that isn't real, say for instance the filthy lie that Twilight Sparkle shouldn't be obsessing so much over Rosy Pink. When Rainbow Dash was too small minded to see that that they're not actually making foals cry, but rather doing the right thing and foals are too stupid not to cry about it, Dash had clearly lost touch with reality.
The reason for hurrying is to get rid of the Rift so it doesn't blow up Ponyville or something.
Fluttershy is irrationally afraid that, on the wild assumption that Rosy's getting increasingly heterosexual, and the assumption that Rosy and Bruce can't possibly be the same person, Bruce will die forever, leaving only Rosy to torment her nightmares. Fluttershy isn't really thinking about what happens when Bruce is gone from Equestria.
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"Yep. Terry."
...But who is Terry? :)
"Truth has little to do with reality. For instance, if I postulate that I'm a magical fairy, and that all who are magical fairies can grant wishes, then the statement "I can grant wishes," is true."
I... do not think logic works like that. You're basically making an AND gate there (if "you're a magical fairy" && "all who are magical fairies can grant wishes" then "you can grant wishes"), but without knowing both inputs, we can't know the truth of the output without observing it. If we are confident that we have observed the output as false, we still (assuming that the gate is valid) only know that the inputs are not both true. It may be that you are a magical fairy but not all magical fairies can grant wishes, it may be that all magical fairies can grant wishes but you are not one, or it may be that not all magical fairies can grant wishes and you're not one anyway.
"...darn
"
Sorry.
"So (entirely hypocritically) she's saying Rainbow Dash's presuming stuff that isn't real, say for instance the filthy lie that Twilight Sparkle shouldn't be obsessing so much over Rosy Pink. When Rainbow Dash was too small minded to see that that they're not actually making foals cry, but rather doing the right thing and foals are too stupid not to cry about it, Dash had clearly lost touch with reality.
"
Ahhh, okay; thanks for the clarification. So it's not so much truth and reality as "truth" and reality (or truth and "reality"?), but Twilight's a bit distracted and not noticing, among a number of other things, the quotation marks.
("Twilight Sparkle is definitive. Reality is frequently inaccurate." :))
"The reason for hurrying is to get rid of the Rift so it doesn't blow up Ponyville or something."
What does "“We should get him back through the Rift right away,” Fluttershy said with a nod of agreement, “Before this gets any worse. We might not have anything left of Rosy to save!”" mean, then?
"Fluttershy is irrationally afraid that, on the wild assumption that Rosy's getting increasingly heterosexual, and the assumption that Rosy and Bruce can't possibly be the same person, Bruce will die forever, leaving only Rosy to torment her nightmares. Fluttershy isn't really thinking about what happens when Bruce is gone from Equestria."
...Huh. I... don't... think I'm actually finding my way through that, but you did say (unsurprisingly) that it was irrational.
8300884
Perhaps if I enumerate it.
Fluttershy is irrationally afraid that 1) on the wild assumption that Rosy's getting increasingly heterosexual, 2) and the assumption that Rosy and Bruce can't possibly be the same person, 1) Bruce will die forever, 2) leaving only Rosy to torment her nightmares8301251
...I'm not sure whether that explained it to me, and I can now use that knowledge to decode the previous version (explaining why I understand that now when I look back), or whether I was just too tired to understand it properly yesterday or something, but, uh, yeah, got it now. Thanks. :)
By the way, do you plan to attend Bronycon this year?
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Sure thing, soon as I find someone to give me a ride, and a... place to stay, and... food.
8302366
Well, the hotel room they had available for me has an extra bed. Don't know how much help I'd be with food, though, and I definitely can't give you a ride; I'm taking the train. Sorry.
8302581
Nah, it's fine. Conventions are the sort of thing that people go to who have actual y'know... money.
8303051
Yeah, I'm somewhat lucky regarding my location on that front. I can take cheap late night trains to and from Baltimore and, so long as I'm willing to pull ~24 hours on the first day, only pay for two nights in the hotel. It's also pretty much my one vacation for the year (not counting something like taking part of one day to go to a local museum, and even that I do quite infrequently), and I don't expect to buy much there beyond food.
8303168
That's too bad, but maybe you'll find someone fun to talk with there, where you'll find people who aren't surviving only on the kindness of others.
8303230
"That's too bad"
Eh, I'm not really a big "stuff" person anyway, at least. The two conventions I've been to in the past, I bought a bit, but fair portion of why was more a desire to support the artists than to actually have the things (not that the things were actually bad... but I think I still have most of them safely packed away).
"but maybe you'll find someone fun to talk with there"
That'd be nice, aye.
"where you'll find people who aren't surviving only on the kindness of others"
Sorry about that. (Those words seem a bit weak, but I'm afraid that I'm not sure what else to say.) I think I know that sort of feeling.