The Big Day (Or the Big Reveal)
18.
“You know, I didn’t expect to have competition for last place,” I pointed out.
When the announcement that Twilight would see us now, what Redheart really meant was, “You may proceed from waiting in a room, to waiting in a hallway.” The room was rather small, and there was a small herd of ponies chomping at the bit to get their chance to get in to see the mare of the hour, so we’d all have to take turns. How did I go so long without using that hackneyed expression? The boredom of constant-waiting today must be getting to me.
Anyways, the princesses went in first, and the rest of the elements took up places in the line with Rainbow Dash leading the way. I moved right to the back of the line, with a healthy distance between myself and the Elements, only to discover that Pinkamena had queued up behind me. After several waves of a hoof to the mare to get her to go ahead of me, she finally did move up, only to back-cut my place in line as soon as I blinked. Literally. I closed my eyes for an instant, and she was behind me, whistling innocently, as if I’d never notice. That brings us to now.
“But you do,” she replied in a matter of fact sort of way as she buffed her hoof on her chest. She let me walk around her so I’d be in the back of the line, and this time I kept a careful eye on her. She wasn’t going to blip around me again if I could help it.
“And, why’s that? Because it’s there?” I said, “Because, I think I’m going to need a lot of time between myself and the princesses to discuss everything we need to. You’d be better off going ahead with the rest of your friends.”
“I know,” she replied as if that was a complete answer before she sat down heavily in place beside me.
“Correct me if I’m wrong, but aren’t you supposed to be the ‘Element of Laughter’?” I pointed out to her, “Shouldn’t you be, you know, funny and happy?”
She turned to me, and stuck her hoof up in the air, full of bluster and gusto and even took a long, deep breath to be totally prepared for what I was sure to be the complete and total rebuttal, then...
Nothing.
She sank back down, frowned rather bitterly and (looked rather adorable, but I was not about to tell her that) in her dejected display. “Yeah. Usually. I guess, I should be. I can be! I mean, no pony throws a better Pinkie Party than me. And, I know a bunch of jokes.”
Normally, I would let her sulk but it really didn’t suit her, so I sat myself down beside her. “I don’t think it’s a punchline that is really bugging you. I’m about the closest thing to a neutral party around here, so what’s up?”
She mulled over it. “I saw a doozie coming, and I didn’t know what it meant! I didn’t do anything to help her, and you ended up crashing right into her,” she quietly sighed with her head turned to the ground. Even when down, she spoke quickly.
It’s hard to look sympathetic when confused. “Okay. I understood none of that, but I take it that is a bad thing, eh? What’s a doozie?”
There a rather clear realisation that came over Pinkamena. “Oh! You don’t know what ‘Pinkie Sense’ is. I get ticks and funny feelings sometimes, right before stuff happens.”
“You feel things before stuff happens? These things tell you about the stuff so you can do stuff to help with the things?” If she was going to be vague, I was going to follow suit.
“Yeah,” she agreed, “Now the thing is, that stuff when you showed up, wasn’t something I knew the things for, so when you showed up, that wasn’t any stuff I expected. But, I knew from the stuff there was going to be something.”
I think I was following her, but I decided to translate. “So, because you felt something that you never felt before, you should have known I was going to appear?”
“You got it.”
“You know, I think there isn’t a court that would convict you for that, Pinkamena,” I said encouragingly and I even gave her a friendly pat on the side. “If you really feel bad about it, talk it over with your friends later, but they’ll forgive you. Heck. They’re giving me a fair shake and I have done less to deserve it.”
“But, I feel real bad about it! I should’ve done something! Anything even, and Twilight got hurt because I didn’t do anything,” said Pinkamena and as she spoke, her pitch and speed of voice got faster with her rising emotions. She looked close to tears with her eyes rimming up with a little wetness. How could I look at her and not feel bad?
“Pinkamena. You’re fine. You and your friends are apparently the best friends, period. And, I don’t mean that as hyperbole. You guys are literally, and measurably the best friends a pony could have, if my reading on the subject is true.” I looked past her to her friends, who were talking amongst themselves about what they were going to say, and do as soon as they saw Twilight. It would seem we were both forgotten entirely in the excitement. “You should be with them. Not fighting for the back of the line with me.”
“Maybe, I just wanna be in the back. Save the best for last?” she tried. I didn’t buy that for a second. But once again, I had a plan.
I leaned in and whispered to the mare. “Alright. How’s about this. I’ll answer the whole “Raven and Writing Desk” thing,” I suggested, “But what you have to do is go over there, and wait with the rest of your friends.”
“You’ll seriously answer it? Because it’s been driving me nuts!” she whispered right back.
“Cross my heart, and hope to die.”
The reaction to the minor oath was about the same as the last time I used it. “That’s horrible! And you’re so close to a Pinkie promise with it. Soooo, repeat after me. Cross my heart and hope to fly. Stick a cupcake in my eye.”
I snorted and had a hearty chuckle at the very childish rhyme, but, if that is what she preferred, I could give it. “Alright. Cross my heart and hope to fly. Wait. Don’t pegasi already fly? Why would they even worry about that part?”
She put her forehead to mine and leaned in. “Just say it,” she ordered, “If I started making sense now, that would just raise questions.”
“Alright, alright. Fine. Cross my heart Stick a cupcake in my eye,” I said, then she took my hoof and put it through the motions of the oath. A cross over my chest, followed by “Ow!” My hoof just touched my eyeball! What a weird feeling.
“Don’t worry. Everypony does that their first time with a Pinkie Promise,” she said before grinning. “Now, lay it on me!”
I was willing to forgive her for making me poke myself in the eye, especially with the revelation I was going to give her, but it still needed a rub to feel better. She was already there, brow furrowed and in a state of readiness for the information I was about to relay to her. I leaned right in again and put my mouth as close to her ear as possible without actually touching it, and whispered, “There is no real answer.”
Her face fell from intense concentration directly to total confusion. “What?” was her deadpan reply.
“Yup. It was a nonsense riddle that was in a book I like. It never gave an answer for it,” I chuckled, “The whole book wasn’t big on logic.”
“It’s not a riddle if there’s no answer for it,” she finally stated, “Otherwise, the whole thing is just crazy!”
I sat back on my haunches and shrugged at the mare. “Hey, I didn’t write it. Take it up with the Mad Hatter if you have a problem with it.”
“I could do that, or I could have a much better idea!” she stated before rubbing her hooves together. A diabolical scheme was forming, I was sure of it. “And, I’ve you to thank for it!”
“My God! What new madness have I unleashed in my feckless pursuits?” I said with a healthy heap of false drama, “But in all seriousness, go be with your friends.”
“Kay.” She then bounded off, looking happier about things as she went. I don’t think the riddle was bothering her that much, but maybe I simply got her mind of her real issues. Not my problem though, and I went to sit only to have something pushing me from behind towards the rest the group.
I wish my yelp was manlier, but the sudden presence on my flank revealed that it to be the polar opposite. Worse still, I found my hooves didn’t have enough purchase to stop the irresistible force, but I could turn about enough to see that it was Pinkie that was pushing me down the hallway. “How did you get there? ”
“Doesn’t matter, and you said, ‘Be with your friends’, and I decided to stop being mad at you, and be a friend, so you belong over here too!” she explained
“That’s not what I meant, and you know it! And how are you so strong?” My scrabbling back hooves weren’t enough to stop the push in time, and before I knew it, I was in the midst of five mares. Four of which were staring at me and the fifth just looked very pleased in what she just did. She didn’t even offer a word of explanation while she claimed a seat of her own. I, on the other hoof, was feeling quite out of place and nervous. “Uh, hello again.”
“Well, she got him over here. Ya owe me ten bits,” Applejack said with a sly smirk at Rainbow Dash.
“Yeah, yeah. You know I’m good for it. It’s my fault for betting against Pinkie, so don’t get too smug about this,” Rainbow replied with a roll of her eyes.
“It’s good for you to join us, Scriber,” Rarity said to welcome me into the little circle. “You looked so terribly lonely over there, by yourself.”
“It’s not good to be alone at a time like this. You really should have as many ponies as possible to help you,” added Fluttershy. “It’s nice that you’re here, and not all by yourself.”
“Well, I guess so,” I admitted, but I was unsure if I would actually call these mares friends. I would consider them friendly acquaintances at the most, but I had to admit that they were much nicer to be around now that they weren’t flinging accusations at me.
There wasn’t much time to get used to the company before the two princesses left the small room that the patient was in. “Twilight is ready to see you all now. Just remember, she is still rather weak, so be careful with her,” said Princess Celestia.
The rest of the group filed in, but I waited behind. “I think, I should let them have their time together, Princess. Besides, I think we have a some stuff to talk about.”
“Of course, but I thought we would wait until we were with our student to start investigating your arrival,” came that infinitely calm voice from Celestia, and she waited until the door closed. Through it, I could hear excited and relieved voices talking. She must look better than she did when I saw her a few days ago.
“It’s not about that. I had a run in with the local law enforcement, Your Highness,” I admitted with some shame.
“What didst thou do?” Luna asked, looking rather concerned at the revelation.
“Nothing at first, really, but Officer Cuffs has some ‘concerns’ about the security risk I am. I crossed a line, and things were said and now we are on less-than-friendly terms. But, he did have a point when he said I am a credible risk to this world. I would like a chance to answer his concerns straight up, as a sign of good faith at some point.” I wasn’t sure of the protocol for addressing royalty, so I offered a quick half-bow to the pair after I finished speaking.
“A conversation like that would be better done somewhere in private and secure,” Celestia replied after a moment’s consideration, and her sister nodded in agreement.
“Tis a good suggestion. But Celestia is right; This is no place for such things,” Luna added.
“Well, my truck is rather isolated and I could demonstrate some of the things,” I suggested, “And maybe, after we talk, I could ask a favour of you and have you make Officer Cuffs back down, Your Highnesses?” Even making the request made me nervous. I was still dealing with the divine, even if they didn’t say they were.
“I think we can do that,” Celestia said with a friendly smile. “If you’re going to be open with us, the least we can do is show you hospitality in return.”
“Thank you both,” I said, with another, deeper bow. It would be good to actually clear the air between Cuffs and I, so I wouldn’t end up arrested for any and all reasons.
A moment passed, then Luna spoke up. “How hath thou been enjoying this land? Other than the, “run in with the law”, that is?” Her old accent faded as she used the more modern colloquialism. It made me smile to hear the forced modernisation.
“It’s been nicer than I expected, to be honest, even with all the troubles. Of course, that is what concerns me, though. It’s been too easy getting used to, well, this,” I said as I made a gesture to my pony body. “And, I can’t remember a few things about life back home. It’s worrisome because, while I feel bad about it, I feel like it’s not a big deal, when it clearly is.”
The pair nodded slightly to that, but they didn’t have any immediate advice to offer. “Transformation spells art uncommon because they doth come with risks. Especially to the mind of the transformed,” Luna explained and Celestia gave her smaller sister an assuring brush of her wing.
At least it was a known risk, was all I could think. If it is known, they must have ways of compensating for it, if not correcting it entirely, so that was good news of sorts. We went back to the awkward waiting. I would never have guessed in a million years that I would be in a waiting room with a couple of self-denying goddesses.
“If I might ask, your Highnesses, if you’re not gods, what are you? You certainly seem to be from where I am sitting,” I asked, trying to fill the air.
“We’re alicorns, my little pony. Nothing more or less,” Celestia stated as if that was all the explanation that was needed.
That left me stymied on how to continue, but I wasn’t really able to expand on that because I would have to go into the faiths and beliefs from home, and we already agreed to have that discussion later. Besides, I still really didn’t believe that they weren’t gods. They had all the right qualities to fit in with an ancient pantheon back on Earth, except for the ego that accompanied the divinity. “This place is strange.”
“I am sure we’d find your true home strange as well. For example, Luna has told me of the strange nature of some of your tools and I’m interested in seeing them for myself,” Celestia said.
“I’ll do my best to explain what I can about them,” I replied, “As soon as I pick them up from Sweet Apple Acres, that is. They got left there before the whole, arrested-thing.”
“We have time to wait for you then,” Luna replied.
“How is Twilight, anyways?” I finally asked. I might have been on the verge of seeing her for myself, but, why not get a preview. Both of their faces fell.
“She’s is doing better than expected,” Celestia answered somberly, “But, there definately has been a mark left on her from the ordeal. I don’t blame you for it, but I do wish you never came to our land.”
“That makes two of us,” I muttered, feeling rather terrible for myself once more. “I want to go and get myself some coffee or something. Do either of you two want anything?” I mentally kicked myself afterwards for talking to the pair as if they were just coworkers of mine. They didn’t seem to mind, though.
“We are quite alright, Scriber. Go ahead. We’ll keep your seat warm,” Celestia said with a smile. It was good to see she wasn’t harbouring ill will towards me for what happened. Especially since it would be easy for her to make an example of me considering all the circumstances.
I left down the halls and after a few turns, I found the hospital’s cafeteria, and the coffee. I didn’t really need it, but it was getting a little heavy in the presence of royalty. Just having a relaxing, warm drink would give me time to clear my mind. Maybe that’s why the princesses let me go without any sort of fuss.
After I squared up for the coffee, I sat down in the bustling cafeteria and let myself disappear into the crowd so I could be alone with my thoughts. I dwelled mostly on what I was going to say to Twilight. While I did want answers for what happened, this was the mare I hit full on with my truck. What could I say to her that was appropriate, and sufficient for my part of what I did? She didn’t owe me anything, even if was an accident. Then again, the ponies around this town have been, for the most part, generous, and friendly towards me. Maybe it would be enough to just apologize to her, and we could move right onto getting me home from there. With a little luck, it might even be easy to get me home if the real causes were known. After all, apparently both princesses did support me in that.
I went for another sip, only to find that the coffee vanished too quickly for my liking. I was dreading what could happen in that hospital room, no matter how unlikely it was. I ended up staring at up at my dark yellow hoof, and sighing. Not long ago, I had hands, but now just the thought of having those long, dangly fingers again seemed entirely foreign to me. The disconnect from my former body had been plaguing me ever since I arrived here. Would I forget what I was entirely over time if I stayed here?
Speaking of ‘staying here’, the clock was telling me that it’s been a half hour since I left for a coffee, and it was getting close to evening. I hope Bon-Bon would forgive yet another delay, but getting some answers would come first. I got back to my hooves, and walked back to the room, and the door was slightly open. I took that as an open invite to me and walked into the room.
The room itself was different in the better light. Large bouquets lined the walls of the room, and every available tabletop held “get well” cards. It was evident a lot of ponies knew and cared for Twilight. And, the mare herself was sitting up on all fours, flanked on either side of the bed by a Princess, talking to them. They didn’t notice my entrance into the room right away.
“So, my brother isn’t going to come to see me for another week?” Twilight asked disappointedly, with her head turned away from me so she might look at Celestia.
“He and Cadance are both in the middle of building a new nation. As much as it pains him, he cannot simply leave that. He will be with you as soon as he can,” Celestia answered, but I could tell that it pained her to say that.
Then, that lavender mare turned her head to look at the other princess, but it stopped on me. We shared a knowing gaze that acknowledged fully what connected us together. I couldn’t say she looked much better than she did when I first saw her, but she was moving and talking. Her horn was still splinted, and now she had a thick gauze padding over half of her face, with it sunken notably in over where the eye was supposed to be. A metal brace was on one of her forelegs, making faint squeakings as she moved it to brace herself facing me. There was no doubt that she was examining every inch of her assailant.
“You’re Scriber, aren’t you?” she finally asked, with a surprisingly inscrutable tone. Her one good eye was locked on me.
“Yes, I’m him,” I answered cautiously, wondering how she was going to handle this. I have pictured screaming fits, demands for retribution or outright hostility. The princesses both stood back to let this happen. Surely, I deserved whatever was coming.
“I can’t believe I did this!” she nearly squealed suddenly as she moved as close as she could while staying on her bed. For a pony that looked rather broken, she could still move well, and spoke with a manic drive, “I mean, it wasn’t what I meant to do, but you’re still here. A pony from a whole different world! I have to get Spike here so we can have a proper interview. We have to get all the details down as soon as we can! I mean, it’s only been a week so not much should be lost.”
I blinked several times and was dumbfounded. “Wuh.”
“We explained who you were to her, so she wouldn’t be too surprised,” Celestia said as a stage-whisper to explain her reaction.
“I’m sorry. I’m Twilight Sparkle,” she said, offering out a hoof out to me. I numbly touched it with mine.
“And, I’m the guy that ran you over. Aren’t you going to threaten me with a lawsuit, at least?” I didn’t want that, but it felt like I was a guilt-ridden wreck for days over something that didn’t seem to be a big deal at all.
It was her turn to be confused. She sat herself down and resumed staring at me. “What? Why would I do that? I want to know about where you came from, and how I got you here, not sue you.”
“It’s not that I want to be sued, but look at yourself. I hurt you pretty badly,” I said pointing at the brace. “I guess, I’m really saying is, I’m sorry.”
She settled down and shrugged. “I know you are,” she replied somberly, “And, so am I. I don’t know what I did, but I made a mistake to get you here.” When she admitted to making an error, I could see her look between the silent princesses as if ashamed.
“Well, let’s leave it like that then. Besides, I think we have some things to talk about,” I said with a slight smile.
Princess Celestia stepped in at this point. “It’s good to see you both being so forgiving of each other, but Scriber is correct. I am curious about how he was brought here.”
“I as well, Twilight. I was with thee when it happened, and still I’m unsure of how this occurred,” Princess Luna added.
“To be honest, I’m not really sure either. I mean, I totally didn’t want to summon anypony from anywhere else,” Twilight answered, “The spell was supposed to be a surprise for you, Princess. I haven’t a clue what went wrong.”
“What was the spell supposed to do?” Celestia prompted her student.
“Well, what it was supposed to do is make a permanent connection between Ponyville and Canterlot. You know how it takes nine and three-quarter hours to make the trip between the two by train? I wanted to eliminate that entirely for everypony permanently, that way, I could always come visit you. I thought my calculations were perfect.
“Anyways, I couldn’t actually create a self-sustaining effect myself. The best I could do is create a small effect for a few minutes before the power I could put into the ‘highway’ ran out. So, I asked for Luna’s help to power it. Even if a permanent ‘teleportation highway’ isn’t possible, an alicorn should have enough power to establish it for a longer period. But, I don’t know why it would deviate so drastically from where I intended.”
I listened to Twilight carefully, because this was what I was hoping for, and so far, the discussion hadn’t devolved into jargon. “I take it that this is not something commonly done, eh?” I asked.
“Nay, Scriber. Teleportation is naught but an single event. To set up a ‘highway’ would be a remarkable turn the science of magic,” Luna answered, and both Twilight and Celestia nodded in agreement.
“Well, talk us through it, Twilight. What are the steps of creating the highway?” I asked, “I might not know magic, but I consider myself rather clever from time to time. Maybe I can spot something you missed?”
“Alright. First, I established the powersource for the spell. This time, I was using Princess Luna, so it took a little long than normal because it was so much more than I’m used to, but once that was done, I established a basic safety guideline for the spell. The third step was set the defining parameters for for the entrances. I didn’t get to the last step before I was interrupted, but that would have been “propping” the highway open with a final burst of magic,” she said, ticking off the steps with swipes of her good hoof in the air, “Obviously something happened when I defined the ends of the spell.”
“Then, Twilight, what were the definitions you used?” Princess Celestia asked.
“Well, Canterlot was one end, and that road outside of Ponyville was the other. I don’t know why the spell jumped like it did to where Scriber was,” she said right back, looking upset, then she perked up. “Well, I didn’t exactly use the names in specific. I looked up an unnamed road outside of Canterlot, and well, I indulged, and called it my own highway purposes of the spell.” Both princesses scowled slightly at that admission. “I know, I know. It’s a conceited of me to do that, but, this would be big and I wanted to make sure my name was on it. Like Starswirl, and his spells!”
“So, It was a connection between Twilight’s own highway, and that dirt road,” I muttered to myself, and missed what was actually being said between the princesses and Twilight. That sounded rather familiar, actually. It only took a couple of moments to actually click to what the link could be could be. One heck of a coincidence came to mind and put my hoof to my face. The logic behind my thoughts was so stupid, it had to be correct. “Ah, bloody hell. You got to be kidding me.”
Five eyes fell on me as soon as the curse was said, and I blushed in shame. “What I meant to say was, I think I have an idea of why the spell targeted me. I called the road I was on the ‘Twilight Zone Highway’.”
“Neither of those names sound like the other,” Luna pointed out. Right, I was speaking Equestrian right now, and the words didn’t quite line up properly. Much like that song I ran through, the cadence was about right, but the sounds were entirely different..
“Actually, in the language I spoke back there, they sound pretty much identical,” I returned.
“That is quite the stretch, Scriber,” Princess Celestia added, while Twilight looked like she was working out something complex in her head. “It wouldn’t make sense for that alone to be the reason you were pulled.”
“It might actually,” Twilight interrupted, and she let her musings on the subject run wild. She could talk up a storm, evidently, ”You were there at one end of the spell, with the proper name, and that would anchor the spell more than just me saying that it was the name. I never thought it possible, but I think I might of succeeded in pulling you across dimensions! That’s so cool! But, that only works if this world and your origin world are close. Even with an alicorn fueling the spell, they would have to be very similar.”
“Well, they are! Seriously, this place has so many things that are the same. A lot of plants and animals, most of the rules of physics, baring magic, and whole lot of other things too. Heck, you use the same current in your power lines even,” I pointed out to the trio, “But, if what you’re saying is true, that means the whole thing wasn’t a random chance. I’m only here because we are so close.” The idea made my head hurt, but I wasn't about to say that.
“Interesting,” Twilight replied, and both the royal sisters hummed introspectively, and all three were, without a doubt, thinking about the implications of what I said.
“That doesn’t explain why I’m a pony now, or why my memories are all messed up,” I said, breaking the pause.
“How dost thou mean, ‘messed up’?” Princess Luna asked with her brow furrowed in concern.
“Why didn’t you tell us that right away?” said Twilight, with much more alarm in her voice.
I shook my head quickly, feeling guilty now for keeping that fact to myself. “I don’t know. I just don’t like thinking about it, and I didn’t think it would help much anyways, without Twilight here to answer questions.”
“You mentioned it, but this sounds very serious, Scriber. Can you explain to us what has changed in your mind?” Princess Celestia asked in a tone that was between her sister’s and Twilight’s.
“Well, I don’t think anything is missing, but recall that it’s my memories and mind is messed up, so I might not be a good judge. Things are changed in my head. The names of people that were important to me have changed to pony names in my head. I can’t look at the picture of the old me and think that its me. And, I can't bring myself to even panic about it. It scary, and I don’t know what to do about it. I can’t even tell if it’s getting worse or better, because it’s my head that’s all messed up.” The more I said, the more I felt worse about it. Just thinking about the idea of losing myself was terrible. I even gave my eyes a quick pass with a hoof so I wouldn’t water up too much.
“Do you always ignore your problems?” chastised Princess Celestia. There was no malice in the question, but she also looked at me as if I would slip away the instant she blinked.
“Well, no. Not usually. I mean, all this has been above and beyond anything I have dealt with before,” I said, feeling like a scolded child under the intense gaze, “But, I have been ignoring this. It’s just something so much bigger than me.”
“Sometimes, we all have to ask for help,” she continued. “There’s no shame in it, Scriber, and you’re among friends here. But, you do need to ask, or how can we know that you need it?”
She put me under the figurative spotlight, and all three waited for me to speak. There were other ponies that I would have to talk to about this. They were all willing to help, but I was barely letting them know about the extent of my issues. The immortal solar goddess that has lived at least a thousand times longer than I was unsurprisingly correct. It would have to start by me asking. “I need help,” I finally admitted to them
“And, we will help you,” Princess Celestia said, and I felt like I just went through an afterschool special with one of the saccharine endings that get narrated over to reinforce the moral. It wasn’t a bad feeling, but it wasn’t what I expected when I came here. A dark and a light aura lit up around me and I could trace them back to the two princesses, both of which had their heads down in concentration.
“They are just searching for any lingering auras from the accident, Scriber,” explained Twilight. “I’d do it too, but, until my horn heals, I can’t even levitate a feather. But, I can go over the other effects that the spell was supposed to have while they do that.”
“Well, you said it was a safety protocol that came before the teleportation,” I asked, trying not to laugh as those auras tickled over me.
“It’s standard for all teleportation spells so you don’t end up teleporting yourself into a rock, or until an immediate danger. I used a simplistic safety, so I could concentrate on the actual body of the spell,” she said, recounting the spell. “It stipulates that the teleported will be comfortable where they land.”
“Comfortable? That sounds very vague,” I answered.
“It’s supposed to be a very general catch-all. That’s the idea, or you would have to make a stipulation for every conceivable hazard that might occur,” she explained.
The auras died away around me before I could pursue that line of questioning more, and the princesses roused in unison. “Well. We bring good news for thee, Scriber,” the Lunar Princess said, and I looked hopeful. “Thou art a healthy, strong stallion.” Her sister gave her a glower for the poorly timed joke. “Sorry,” she apologized.
“Forgive my sister. She’s still getting used to how to relate to other ponies again. That aside, there isn’t a trace of enchantment on you,” continued Princess Celestia. “The real good news about that is there is no reason to believe your state of mind is being altered further, but only you might recognize how damaged they are. You might just be discovering it over time, and that is why it feels like it’s progressing.”
“So, there’s no quick fix to any of it?” I asked as I took in the information.
“Well, if we knew what you were, when you first came to Equestria, we’d be able to rebuild your previous form, but all we have is what you have told us. And, those memories are incomplete or damaged, by your own admission,” she continued, looking unhappy to say that. The room went into thoughtful silence as we reflected on what we have pieced together so far. It wasn’t as positive as I hoped, but it wasn’t hopeless either.
“Wait! Twilight. Did thou set a limit to that portion of thy spell?” Luna suddenly blurted and that got all of our attentions on her.
“No, I didn’t,” stammered Twilight, looking mortified and covering her face under her hooves, “I didn’t think I’d need one! It’s all my fault!”
“It’d explain the other half of the puzzle, but don’t be so hard on yourself. It’s a mistake, but we can work through this,” said the Solar Princess in an effort to calm her student.
I stuck my head in at that point. “Can you explain what you’re all talking about?” I asked nervously, not liking the sounds of this at all. All three seemed to be making a large deal of it.
“As it was mentioned, the purpose of the safety was to protect the traveller, however, when there is no limits placed, it can get overzealous because it is, as you said, vague,” Celestia explained calmly, but she had a look of well-hidden worry on her face. “If the spell interpreted that you being the only human in Equestria as ‘uncomfortable’, it might of take action to correct it. For most unicorns, that would never happen, but Twilight was tapping into Luna for more power than she usually had access to.”
“And, it would also explain why there’s no enchantment on you personally, Scriber. I never cast anything on you. Usually, a transformation spell is like a coat of paint. It’s a covering and fixing it is easy as removing the paint. Or dispelling the spell. But, what happened to you would have been more akin to a forge. It was remaking you as somepony who could live here “comfortably”. When I was hit, the spell ended, leaving it incomplete. It’s all my fault you’re here like this” Twilight explained, looking terribly ashamed of herself to the point of crying. Her one eye welled up with tears and Celestia spread a wing around her to hold her.
I took a breath and blinked several times while I processed this new information. I think the emotional weight of all that has yet to hit me, because I felt entirely speechless, but I knew I didn’t want to be around when it did because I knew I would want to yell, kick and scream.
“Thanks you, all of you,” I finally said, “That helped a lot. I need to go and think for a while. I might have some questions later tonight, but right now, I need space. And, I’ll visit you Twilight when I feel better. I still forgive you for what it’s worth.”
“We will see you tonight, after Luna raises the moon. We’ll make an effort to think of solutions,” Celestia said, then she turned to her distraught student to comfort her. Luna was there too, trying to help. I was sure she’d be fine.
With luck, I would be too.
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Poorly writen exposition dump activate! Just in time for Christmas too!
Whoa. It was Twilight? It was Twilight this whole time that did it? Dang. I had my money set on Discord interfering with the spell.
Also... "and now she had a thick gauze padding over half of her face, with it sunken notably in over where the eye was supposed to be." Dear fecking god! You mean she lost an eye?! It's not easy or pleasant to think of Twilight permanently wearing an eye patch for the rest of her life. That's just TOO depressing. That really is.
Damn, I wouldn't want to have my memories messed up, and worse if I couldn't be worried about it.
Awesome Chapter, by the way.
A Christmas dump, as it were.
It's not everyday that you pull an alien from another dimension and he takes your eye. Makes a good story to tell the kids anyhow.
Twas and interesting chapter my good man. twas interesting indeed.
The what?
Not bad ping, and about time we got some answers. As I suspected, Scriber's appearance in horseland was Twilight's doing, but that was some nice handling of his transformation. Very nice.
I noticed some thing, though:
Big gap in the middle of a sentence.
Double periods.
I think you mean rebuilding an ancient Empire.
Double caps.
This is madness!
I am correct in assuming Twilight has lost one of her eyes, yes?
Well, fuck, mate, it all makes sense now. God, that's brilliant.
Funny how it's all just the result of overpowering a simple spell and not "fate twisting the chords of reality". I do wonder what would happen if you maxed it out, though; somepony would suddenly be instantaneously in the most perfect position he could be for himself in relation to the world. Trippy to think about, ain't it?
YESSS
It is now 2:22 AM. I hereby declare you to be a jerk, and reluctantly fave this story.
Welp, cuz I like to toss these out on occasion...
"ponies chomping at the bit"
Should be champing.
"'Alright, alright. Fine. Cross my heat Stick a cupcake in my eye,'"
Wat? Heat stick you say?
Anyways, I will enjoy reading how this progresses.
1834385
everyone's saying she lost her eye.
I just interpret it as the bandage being somewhat form fitting. Since eyes generally are set inside the head, the bandage could maybe be concave without there being an empty socket behind it.
That, and I'm hard pressed to see how a truck could cause the loss of her eye without also causing the instantaneous loss of her life.
1834598
That's what I thought, that it was just covered up. The way it was written, though, left it a tad ambiguous.
1834219
This.
MOAR.
1834555
I've heard the idiom said either with champing or chomping, and since 'champing' is so, er, dead, I feel that chomping is the safer word to go with here. There really should be no difference in using either word in this case.
1834367 Thank you. Will be addressed.
And thanks. I wanted a plausible explaination that was not a direct 'mess up'. You can even argue that Twilight over-achieved.
1834555 And you too.
1834886
And, if you want more, take a look at my other story. /End shameless plug
Woot, we finally know what happened.
Scriber, go check up on that filly now.
1834990
Too many other things to look at, at the moment. And my own writing.
And yet I still re-read this again today and lost sleep to do so. Sometimes I'm too insane.
I hope "Scriber" gets a chance to tell some stories about the old Greek pantheon so they can see why he's nervous 'round the princesses.
And the cop needs to be punched. Hard. I don't care how he feels, I don't care his wife died, I have no sympathy at all for him; at some point you cross a line, and he crossed it by throwing an innocent person into jail, fully knowing that he was breaking all legal practice to do so. Down here we call them "crooked cops", and frankly, in my opinion a crooked cop doesn't deserve to live, let alone keep his job. A police officer is charged and trusted with a portion of our individual sovereignty that we surrender to society in order to be a part of it. There is an unspoken, but strong and implied contract there that they are not to abuse it. When they do, it is betrayal most foul, and there are traditions when it comes to traitors.
Still, being poniverse and all, I'm sure the death penalty is out. Still hope he at the very least gets a verbal beatdown from a princess, suspended without pay, and told to take a long vacation someplace else until Scriber can be sent home, if he knows what's good for him. Because, seriously? Bad cop. And bad cops are vile.
1834422 More about this makes sense than you might think...
For instance, there are several levels to the word "comfort": physical, mental, emotional, social, financial, interpersonal... Holy crud. Way to be too vague, Miss Sparkle... 
I suppose she has paid in spades for whatever mistakes she made, however, even if she hasn't lost an eye...!! 
1836360 Thank you. I am trying, and I hope I'm getting better with practice. As I mentioned in the teaser; I have never writen like this before
The perfect Christmas present :D
Yay update!!!
Well it sucks to be him I'm guessing he's never going to be able to get home then again considering he must of been missing for a few weeks I'm guessing if he does go home it's going to be hard to explain where he was.
Hee hee! He doesn't know the answer to the riddle!
Why is a raven like a writing desk?
Simple! Edgar Allen Poe wrote on both. (the word 'on' having a second, lesser-used definition which is similar to that for one use of the word about, so saying Poe wrote 'on' a desk, and 'on/about' a raven)
(Alondro is a friggin' super-genius, BTW)
>>>But, that only works if this world and your origin world are close. Even with an alicorn fueling the spell, they would have to be very similar.”>>>
Indeed, it's likely this Equestria and his Earth are 'perpendicular' dimensions rather than 'parallel'. This is actually based on a theory that multiple Big Bang expansion events can occur within the same 'quantum plane' of colliding branes in 'brane theory'. The universes emerging from this plane would thus share many similarities in their basic principles, whereas parallel dimensions could be virtually anything, as they would arise from differing planes of existence.
(Alondro: Super Genius)
Did no one else see the Harry Potter reference? Because if not, I feel special
1844497
Considering that I have never read Harry Potter, I am curious what it was.
1847184 To board the train to Hogwarts one must use platform Nine and Three Quarters and Twilight says it takes nine and three quarter hours to get to Canterlot by train.
1847324
Oh! I only used that because I wanted to establish for Scriber that Twilight is highly detail oriented. Most normal people would say that it's 10 hours, but not Twilight. It's sort of like how it's well known that 3:27 is the funniest time at night.
1847384
The best references are never the ones that we plan, but the ones that happen by a happy accident.
1836145 I agree with you sir. i hate crooked cops who abuse their authority. he didn't even have a warrent for Scribe's arrest. nor did he read him his rights (if equestria has a pony version of miranda rights).
So, I finally read through this chapter, and I have to say, I can't wait for more! I enjoy your storytelling, the story is really very good, and, well, what more can I say? A great read, indeed, and I'll recommend it to friends! I spotted two of what I think were slight mistakes and missclicks, one being "you and your friends are apparently are" and the other one I can't find anymore (so maybe I just misread the text). But that would be just a minor fault to the overally great fic. :) As I said, I can't wait for another update, because this is really fun to read! Great job.
I was excited to see a new update. I've been loving this story so far.
Finally. I was starting to think that issue would never be dealt with. Honestly though, the answer is absolutely stupid. I thought he wasn't mentioning it because what ever was going on was causing him to think everything was fine, but in this chapter the only reason given is that he had bigger things to worry about?
There is no way anyone could be that stupid.
That said, why can't they just turn him back into a human? If they need to see what he looked like, then he has the picture with him.
Pretty much, the entire situation feels incredibly contrived. There's no reason given as to why it can't simply be removed, and the idea that it automatically does it to make the one being transported comfortable is just a complete contradiction. Why would messing with someone's form and mind make them comfortable? That makes no sense at all.
Oh well, I'm still looking forward to the next chapter. I guess my main problem is that I hate the current plot issue since I just find it rather ridiculous, so I just want it to be done with so we can actually see something new happen.
1864398
I think you misinterpretted the situation, so I will address it here;
1) Scriber's biggest character flaw is that he does ignore his problems. Unless they are right infront of him, he never acts on them. The bigger the problem, the less likely he is to adress them.
2) Teleporation to Equestria and HiE's are generally a little contrived to justify the reason why they exist. At least, that is my experience. I just threw a little bit of theoretical physics in for a little bit of flavour for why.
3) It was mentioned that the spell was interupted half way through. As such, he was left in a 50-50 sort of state where he has been changed in someways, and left intact in others. If it was allowed to go 100% to compeletion, (If he was a better driver, for example) he'd be totally a pony now, and with maybe a few lingering memories about Earth.
4) Would you want to be 'reforged' using half-complete memories and two pictures that are grainy and about 2x2 as a template by a species that has no knowledge of what you look like under the clothing?
Hope that helps!
1866612
1) Alright, I can understand someone ignoring their problems. However, how is this problem not infront of him? It's not like he doesn't know about it, and it's not like it wasn't a large problem. Basically, it shouldn't have been possible to ignore a problem like that, especially when it was changing him like that.
3) (skipping 2, since I didn't have anything to say about it) That's my point though. The spell was made to make whoever uses it comfortable. Nothing in there makes it seem like become a pony is the requirement. How could it think that changing someone's body and memories would make them comfortable? It doesn't make any sense. Even then, why can none of them, even the princesses, remove the memory part of the spell? Yeah Twilight used Luna, but couldn't Luna and Celestia get rid of it?
4) Point taken.
It does help. I guess I'm just getting annoyed with how much this thing seems to be dragging on. Especially since the last chapter implies that not only is there no way to fix it, but it will eventually fully change him, leading to more drama and...
Like I said, I'll just keep reading and hope that part gets resolved soon (at least so he no longer keeps losing his memories) so we can finally get to the interesting character interactions. Instead of constant drama every other word. Really though, none of my problems are faults of the story. It's just not the kind of thing I like.
Another spelling error. You wrote:
The proper spelling is "hackneyed". That is all.
1879396
Thank you for your dig... Digillance? Dedication! Thank you for your dedication!
1879403 Hggggg
But im still looking forward for a fight between Scriber and the officers name that i forget. 
the truck needs more love....that is all
1930595 In my original outline, the truck was nearly another character in the story... then I realised I wasn't talented enough to make an inanimate object interesting so it was scrapped.
1946830 Go right ahead! I'm good at coming up with story concepts and character scenes, but tend to be rather lackluster at building meaningful overarching plots (hence why I read the stories rather then write them).
1946859 Thanks! At this point, other than real-life concerns, the only thing stopping me from starting work on my own story is that the two I want to use for major background material (plus a third I want research detail from) have not been completed yet by their authors....
1946947 What story(s) by the way were you talking about? I'm always looking for a good read.
1947002 If you mean the ones I'm using for background material, they are The Audience, by RealityCheck, and The Word Became Ponified, by ArthemistheSwordsman. Like I said, neither one is finished, so consider yourself warned. The one I want to use for research material (background "thaumatology," so to speak
) is The Powers of Harmony, by CyborgSamurai.
Enjoy! It'll be good to get three of my favorite stories some more notice.