36 - Seeing the Town
Spike 2 chased after the original with a happy smile and an energetic step. He didn't seem to want to casually walk anyway, even going so far as to circle around the first Spike to keep his momentum going. "So, what are they like? Are they nice, like Twilight?"
Spike's eyes followed his doppelganger as well they could without moving his head. "Most of them are pretty nice, yeah. In fact, I bet one should be arriving about--"
"Hiya!" Pinkie appeared from beneath a small rock along the path. "Did you get into the Mirror Pool?" She tilted her head. "I told Maud that was a bad idea, but she said--" She quickly redid her mane to match Maud's, flattening her voice as she said, "It seems harmless to me."
Spike 2 rushed towards the pink pony. "Hiya! My name's Spike."
Pinkie offered a hoof without hesitation. "Nice to meet you, Spike. I'm Pinkie, and I had a feeling a new pony was in town, but I already know you."
Spike 1 lifted his shoulders. "I didn't touch any Mirror Pools." He hiked a thumb at his double, watching the other-Spike sniff at Pinkie curiously. "He isn't me. He's from--"
"--past the mirror! I knew a mirror was involved!" Pinkie giggled with joy at figuring it out as she craned her neck to follow Spike's investigation. Getting into the spirit of things, she circled around and gave Spike 2 a sniffing at, leaving the original to peer at the two.
"So, uh, what do you... smell, besides a butt?"
Pinkie shrugged "Just a butt. I just wanted to be friendly."
Spike 2 shook his head. "That's because you don't know what to sniff for. You're healthy, well-fed, and secure. I can tell that you're not the lead dog, but you aren't the lowest dog either. You smell like you could be a friend easily."
Pinkie turned to face Spike 2 and bobbed her head. "I sure hope so. Here, as a welcome gift." She reached up into her mane and drew out a sprinkled cupcake. "Extra sprinkles."
"Ooo, thanks." Spike 2 gladly snatched the cupcake and took a big bite out of it. "Mmm. Twilight never let me have chocolate as a dog, said it was bad for me. It's alright for dragons though, right?" He looked past Pinkie towards Spike 1.
Spike 1 thrust his thumbs upwards emphatically. "Chocolate is A-Okay for dragons, though you probably shoulda asked that before you devoured that."
Spike 2 wadded up the wrapper of the already eaten cupcake. "Too late for regrets. So, uh, Pinkie was it? Where do you suggest we go to see the sights?"
Pinkie tapped a hoof on her chin before pointing into the town. "Well! If you want more where that came from, stop by the shop I work at, Sugarcube Corner. We have loads more, and plenty of other ponies come by all the time so you can meet them. Sweet, huh?"
Spike 1 put a hand on his twin's shoulder. "Twilight, either one, will get--"
"--there's another Twilight?" Pinkie was suddenly between the two Spikes, facing the first intently. "Where's the new one? I gotta say hi! Is she like the first one? Does she have wings?"
Spike 2, spared the direct fury of Pinkie's attention, managed an answer first, counting on his new fingers. "In the big tower thing. From what I hear, yes, and yes."
Pinkie twirled to face the second that seemed to have the answer. "Thanks! Oh gosh, if they both have wings, it might be hard to tell them apart. Do you have a secret password or something?"
Spike 1 pointed up towards his head. "The other Twilight has a bun in her mane. If you see that, it's the new one."
"Bun, got it." Pinkie nodded with growing confidence. "I'm off to greet a new pony then. Have fun!" She bounced away one great leap, waved at the both of them, and began pronking towards the tower.
Spike 2 chuckled softly. "She isn't that different from the Pinkie I know, but she smells different. I can tell she's not the same person." He tapped his nose. "Even if I can't smell half as good. How do you work like this? It's like I have a cold."
Spike 1's snout wrinkled. "It goes the other way around too. When I was a dog, it was like I could smell the universe. I mostly ignored it. I had no idea what any of it really 'meant'."
"Dragons can still smell better than humans." Spike 2 bobbed his head. "If my smelling was that bad, I'd freak out. Like I said, like I have a cold, not like someone just chopped off my nose."
Spike 1 stuck out his tongue a little. "Let's not dwell on that mental image. Onwards!" He thrust a fist forward and led the way into town. Their adventure had barely begun.
Starlight trotted ahead, leading the group towards the exit. "It'll be nice to see Maud. Since she finished poking around Laud's ship, we haven't been bumping into each other nearly as often."
Twilight looked aside at Laud. "Of all the people I've heard described, she may be the most different, if only because I never really met Maud, on either side. I don't know her."
Laud nodded faintly. "Have no fear. Your keen knowledge will be appreciated by her. She's a mare of few words, but she appreciates results and answers, both of which you have."
"She's a peach," promised Starlight. "I mean, once you get to know her. She can be a little... stoic? But that's not her being mean, so don't take it that way."
Twilight cocked a brow at Laud. "Cutting Knowledge? Oh! Your translator made an error. I get it." She squinted a little as they passed out into the light of day, only to scamper backwards as a pink presence dominated her field of view.
"Hiya!" Pinkie bounced forward to match the pace of her new hopeful-friend. "You must be Twilight, the new one that is." She pointed up at her own mane. "I was told how to spot you. I'm Pinkie!" She offered a hoof towards the dazed newcomer.
Starlight threw a hoof over Pinkie's withers and drew her close. The fact that the act drew her a small way away from Twilight being a side effect. "Pinkie! We were about to visit your sister."
"Oh, really? Can I come?!" She touched her snout to Starlight's cheek before bouncing back. "It's never a bad day for a dose of Maud hilarity."
Starlight's smile turned wry at the thought of most of Maud's jokes, such as they were. "Sure isn't," she lied poorly. "I don't see any harm in it, so long as you don't get between Twilight and Maud, they'll have to discuss some heavy things."
"With Maud, what isn't heavy?" Pinkie waggled her brows. "See, I can do rock puns too."
Laud set a hand down on Twilight's withers in a hopefully supportive way. "Pinkie is harmless, and quite friendly, possibly to a fault."
"Much like my Pinkie," agreed Twilight as she stood back tall, recovering from the greeting. "Hello, Pinkie. It is a pleasure to meet you."
"Your Pinkie?" Pinkie offered a hoof and they bonked against one another with a soft clop. "Oh, right, there's one of all of us in there, isn't there? Is she just like me?"
"I don't know you well enough to say that for sure, but the first impression is fairly close to the mark."
That was enough to satisfy Pinkie, who turned and began walking towards Maud's. "Alrighty then! The proof is in the pudding, they say, but why would ponies prefer pudding when there are even better options?"
Laud remained at Twilight's side, allowing Starlight and Pinkie to go side-by-side. "Tell me, Twilight, if ever you feel threatened or overwhelmed. You are my ward while you are here, and it would be in poor form for me to allow any harm to befall you."
"That's very kind of you." She smiled a little before looking around. "Still, this is literally a magic land of colorful ponies. How bad can it get? Besides, I have my own... Where's Spike?"
Starlight and Pinkie turned as one to offer an answer, paused, look at each other a moment. Starlight pointed at Pinkie, who smiled brightly and took her opportunity. "He's with the other Spike, headed into town. They looked like they were having loads of fun!"
Twilight put a hoof to her face, looking like she might have been trying to chew the nails she didn't have. "Is he alright? This is an alien world!"
Laud couldn't help but notice Twilight's reversal when considering the danger that might befall her pet as opposed to herself. "He is in good company. The other Spike will not allow harm to come to him." It was a good chance for Spike, the original, to show his competence. "As you said, this is a land of colorful magic ponies."
"Yeah..." Twilight set her hoof back to the ground. "He's a good boy, and smarter than ever. I'm sure... he'll be fine away for a little while. The other Spike isn't prone to dangerous activities, I hope?"
Starlight waved that idea away. "As if. His usual 'activities' include reading comic books, snacks, and helping Twilight organize her ever-growing library."
Twilight resumed her walk forward, which prompted the others to move as well. "Those don't sound very dangerous. He should be alright."
"Besides," pointed out Pinkie as they went. "He's a dragon! Other-Spike was a dog before, I remember Twilight saying. Dragons are a lot harder to bother than a dog. I mean, he's fireproof for a starter."
Twilight shook her head as she went. "I'd prefer to not imagine Spike in any situation that he's glad to be fireproof."
The group made soft noises of agreement as they left the tower behind and approached the flat plane that was becoming a landing platform for spaceships. The ponies hired to work on it were present, as were some artisans, busily sculpting statues or even painting the forming wall directly. It all provided a din of activity.
A green pony with dreadlocks looked up as they approached. "Far out, it's the boss man." She trotted up towards the group. "Peace and blessings. Have you come to see the astronomical art we've created?"
Pinkie perked an ear at the green one. "Heya Tree Hugger. I didn't know you were an artist."
"I'm not," she admitted as she dipped her head. "I am a muse. I send righteous waves of inspiration into artists to help them do their thing." With a dreamy smile, she turned back towards the wall. "They've been making great progress. It's really far out how far everyone's coming in so little time. With such a stellar project, you can feel the positive vibes. We are ready to greet our neighbors of the stars and welcome them."
Laud looked along the wall. It was becoming quite a piece. Even if it never served as a star dock, it was quite a work. It seemed like each piece lead right into the other organically. There was a pony seated below a raincloud, but the drops did not reach her with the extended wing of the next piece protecting her, but that pegasus appeared to simply be showing off to some other ponies with cameras that led right into the next scene. It was a dazzling stream of consciousness, pony thought made physical. "I'm impressed. Do you know how the landing pad itself is coming along?"
Tree Hugger sedately nodded, in no particular rush as she waved vaugely over the wall. "Beyond the barrier of our love, they have labored to lay the field flatter than it has any right to be. I heard them say they are awaiting a shipment of concrete."
Logistics. Laud could appreciate that materials did not move instantly where one wished them to be. "Thank you, Miss Hugger. Please, continue your efforts."
"It's a total pleasure, man." She turned away. "Keep it real."
Twilight shook her head slowly. "She has not changed, not even a little bit. Where's Maud?"
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Makes you wonder, given just how tough dragons are, just how much force and of what materials, was Rarity using to make Spike a pincusion. Maybe compare dragon scales to spaceship hulls and see what gives, and repairs first?
Then again, Spikes and the CMC. And tree sap. So much tree sap.
A large flat thick slab of reinforced concrete spreads the impact and standing forces out over the much greater area, like a bridge, being flat makes it so theres no special point or orientation that incoming ships have to use, thats for later when custom docking and secure locations are required? Like customs sheds and cargo handlers?
Treehuggers doing so well, next is see if Maud is going all Cathedral on the Undercrofts?
Sci-Twi know Tree Hugger?
8600099
Her trippy human half, clearly.
Good to see the dimensional non-natives situating themselves well. Let's just hope the logistics issues are just typical transit delays and not anything more malicious.
Speaking of which, there was a typo wandering through Ponyville:
Names should be capitalized.
8600579
Fixed. Was the scene with the two Spikes natural feeling?
8600738
Definitely. Dog Spike may have roughly human-level intelligence, but he's still a puppy. There are going to be some... interesting moments with him.
8600367
A rather interesting acquaintance for someone like Sci-Twi :). Considering that Tree Hugger looks permanently stoned.
8600818
Which is why Sci-Twi can see literally no differences. On the other paw, Spike immediately could tell they were similar, but not the same with the two Pinkies.
Basically, Twilight knows Tree Hugger exists and maybe has exchanged a few sentences back and forth, but they are not friends.
Pinkie smoothly did as Romans do, or in this case, dogs-turned-dragons. Here's to hoping Spike 2 doesn't assume that will be the norm, despite it being the first occurrence of that style of greeting reciprocation.
We were imagining the art wall to look something like those "season in review" shows. Nifty.
Keep going! ;)
This has finally been reviewed by The Reviewer's Cafe.
https://www.fimfiction.net/group/211585/reviewers-cafe/thread/308771/reviews#page/7
8614347
Thanks for the review!
I find it stupid how you have the explorer who has a spaceshift being dumber than the pony copy from a water downed human verse.
8708585
Thats a tad unfair, as the explorer character comes from a fictional setting where human space-faring civilization lost their history to a disaster that was bad enough it united most humanity under the banner of an anti-technology-church that uses literal magic and orbital bombardment to pound unsanctioned technology users back into the dark ages.
Yes, it is very contrived, but it makes for a good tabletop roleplaying game setting called "Fading Suns".
8708585
I think it's more like he's a knight that knows how to ride a horse, but as a noble he didn't smelt the metal or design the armor for his horse, and he certainly doesn't know how to bring it back to life.
10270543
This is correct. He's a noble, a warrior, and a pilot.
He is not a technician or engineer, nor should this be expected of the guy. Seriously, sheesh.