Cross-Vision

by Waxworks

Voices and more

She put everything back in its place and locked up as she stepped out of the shop. The door clicked behind her, and she was dismayed to find that the voice followed her out of the building. That meant that she was hearing things in addition to seeing things. This was not the most fun she had ever had, and she really wanted it to stop.

She turned toward home, but couldn’t get up the gumption to give her preliminary hop to fly home. She decided to walk, staring at the ground as she shuffled along the dirt road toward her house. The voice dogged her steps, begging her to explain what she saw, why she was walking instead of flying, and blaming her for not remembering it.

Derpy did her best to ignore it and focus on the walk, and she arrived at home soon enough. She shuffled inside, made sure to lock the door this time, and set about preparing her supper. Tonight would be rice and beans, with a muffin from the Cakes for dessert.

She got the water boiling on the stove, washed the rice and set it to soak while she went about doing some other chores. It didn’t take her long to finish, because she didn’t spend a large amount of her time at home. She worked long hours every day because she needed the bits, and there was nopony waiting for her when she got home, so the more time away from the place, the less she had to clean.

Since she had some time to kill she grabbed her book and read some more. The tiny earth ponies made it all the way to Rivendell where the pegasi lived, and the Unicorn Gandalf showed back up again. It was quite an adventure so far, so she understood why Lyra liked it so much. An important delivery pony. Derpy smiled at that.

She figured her rice was ready, so she strained it out, started the pot of water boiling, and dumped it in. She put on the lid, set a timer, and started heating up the refried beans. She made sure to spice it properly this time, including some garlic and salt to give it some pep. When it was all done, she sat down to eat with her book in front of her, reading about how little Frodo, out of all the heroic, powerful, and large ponies there, offered to take the ring.

“That’s a real hero right there,” Derpy said.

The voice piped up after her comment. “Why do you believe he’s a hero? Because he’s doing something that no one else wants to do? That’s not heroic, that’s foolish.”

Derpy was taken aback at how clear the voice was now, when it was so muffled and quiet earlier. She looked up from her beans, trying to pinpoint where the voice was coming from. It didn’t seem to be originating from a specific direction, leading her to believe it was still in her head. Was it normal to talk to yourself?

“Hello? Are you just my head talking to me?” Derpy asked.

The voice laughed. “Hah! I don’t really think that’s relevant, do you?”

“I guess not,” Derpy admitted. “But then why talk to me? Are you actually a pony? If you had wanted to attack me you would have done it by now. Why are you following me?”

Derpy’s deluge of questions made the voice laugh even harder. “The road, obviously. Where does it go? I know you can see it.”

Derpy’s mouth tightened at the question. He knew far more about her than she knew about him. “I’m not answering that! Not until I know how you’re talking to me and following me!”

“Fine then. I can wait. But can you?” The voice said.

“Are you just going to keep bothering me until I tell you?” Derpy asked.

“Yes.”

Well at least he was frank about it, Derpy thought. It didn’t make her any happier to hear it. If he was the same stallion that had broken into her house and that she had seen in the alleyway, how had he escaped so quickly, and without leaving anything behind? Was she seeing things too? Derpy chuckled. Who was she kidding, of course she was!

The chuckle gave way to a sigh and a frown. It was normal for her, but it shouldn’t be. She’d never heard of any other ponies who had problems like hers. That may be only because everypony who had the problem was written off as crazy and told to ‘deal with it’, or take some sort of medicine for it.

“No, I think it’s completely abnormal what you’re seeing, but you should at least be a little bit curious about it,” the voice said.

“Okay, now I really think you’re in my head. I didn’t say any of that out loud,” Derpy said.

The voice was silent.

“At least give me a name I can call you. You don’t want me dead or for... any other reasons, or you’d have done it, so if we’re going to talk, give me a name,” Derpy said.

“Hmmm, fine. Call me… Ego Trip,” he said.

“Well that’s an awfully cocky name,” Derpy said.

“Hah. I figured you’d think as much. We’re going to get very well acquainted, you and I,” Ego Trip said.

“Well Ego Trip, I hope you’ll forgive me for not getting you a cot to sleep on, but I only have the one, we’re not sharing, and you don’t get any blankets. I think you’ll live,” Derpy said as she cleaned up the table and headed for her bedroom.

Ego trip was silent until Derpy had crawled into bed and closed her eyes. “How did you first start seeing it?”

“Ugh. What?” Derpy said.

“The road, of course. When and how did you first start seeing it?” Ego Trip said.

“When I was very young, and it just happens. Go to sleep.”

“I never sleep.”

“Well then I guess you’ll just have to be quiet for eight hours.”

“But then we’ll miss out on all the conversation we could be having about you.”

“What a terrible shame.” Derpy put her pillow over her head. It didn’t make him any quieter.

“Why do you think you see it?”

“I don’t know.”

“What do you think it is?”

“I don’t know.”

“Who do you think made it?”

“I don’t know.”

“Where do you think it goes?”

“I don’t know, I don’t know, I don’t know!” Derpy shouted. “Let me sleep!”

Ego Trip went silent after her outburst, and Derpy thought maybe he would finally let her sleep. She had almost drifted off when he spoke up again.

“You should find out,” Ego Trip said.

“I don’t want to.”

Derpy rolled over and curled up into as small a ball as possible, and pulled the blankets over her head. She didn’t think it would help, but it made her feel better. Ego Trip didn’t respond to her, so she finally managed to drift off once more, falling asleep soon after.

In the morning, her vision was normal, thank goodness, but Ego Trip was right there to greet her upon opening her eyes.

“Good morning ‘Miss Muffins’,” he said.

The way he said her nickname was filled with venom, as though he hated her for having it. Like it was something she had any control over. She didn’t mind that most ponies didn’t know her by her actual name, so it wasn’t really a big deal. Besides, she liked muffins.

“Aren’t you bored, yet?” Derpy asked as she crawled out of bed.

“It’s only been a single day. Are you really tired of me so quickly?” Ego Trip responded.

“I guess not. It’s not like I can do anything about you,” Derpy said.

“Answer my questions and I’ll be gone with the wind, ‘Miss Muffins’,” Ego Trip said.

“Ugh, you know what? You don’t get to call me Miss Muffins. I don’t like the way you say it. You get to call me Derpy or Miss Hooves,” Derpy said.

Ego Trip didn’t say anything for a while after that, giving Derpy time to make breakfast. Breakfast today was oatmeal and a muffin. This one was a poppyseed muffin. Still not the best, but also very good.

“Which muffin is the best then, ‘Derpy’?” Ego Trip asked.

“I’m not telling you, because you’ll just say it’s dumb to get a rise out of me,” Derpy said.

“I’m shocked and hurt that you would think so poorly of me,” Ego Trip said.

“You haven’t said anything to make me like you yet, so I’m assuming the worst,” Derpy said.

“That’s not very nice.”

“You’re not very nice.”

“That’s foalish.”

“You’re foalish.”

Ego Trip shut up after that, letting Derpy eat in peace. She collected her uniform, which she had forgotten to wash, much to her dismay. She had also been so distracted she hadn’t brushed her teeth or showered, instead spending all her time arguing with Ego Trip and reading her book.

“Damn it,” Derpy muttered.

Derpy looked at the clock; she was already running late. She put the uniform on, ran a hoof through her mane and gave her teeth a quick look. She was a mess, but she’d rather be a mess than late. Mr. Crate was so lenient toward her as it was, she didn’t want to take advantage of his good-will.

Derpy dashed out of her house and gave a little hop, then jumped into the air, flying toward work. She whipped around ponies with grace that surprised even herself. She felt pretty good this morning. Times like these were few and far between for her these days. She hadn’t been this graceful since—

“Since you were a filly.” Ego Trip said.

Derpy wasn’t surprised by his interjection, but it still distracted her. She clipped a tree with a wing as she was coming in to land, and spun out of the sky, spiraling toward the ground. Her hooves flailed and her wings flapped as she tried to recover, but she wouldn’t manage it in time. She covered her face as she braced for impact.

She hit something soft rather than hard, and the tumbled with whatever she had struck a short distance. She felt a twinge of pain in her wing as she skidded to a stop, the cloud of dust clearing to let her see what or who she had hit.

“*Cough* Well, good morning to you too, Miss Muffins. How fortunate that we would ‘bump’ into each other here,” A familiar voice said.

As her vision cleared, a smile lit up Derpy’s face as she recognized the pony behind the voice. “Oh, hey Doc! Fancy running into you.”

The Doctor climbed to his hooves and held out a hoof for Derpy, which she took with an even bigger smile. She held on maybe a little too long, until Crafty Crate stumped out of the office.

“Derpy, you awright? Dat was a heckuva spill. Worse than usual, anyway,” Crafty Crate asked.

She looked away from Doc to Crafty, and was made aware of the pain she felt in her wing. She gave them a small flap and winced as her left wing moved.

“I’m gonna take that as a no, youz cain’t fly like dat. Get to the hospital and get dat looked at,” Crafty Crate ordered.

“I can still work! I’ll just gallop instead of fly!” Derpy protested.

“Geeze Derpy, I’m not dockin’ ya pay. You knowz I don’t do dat. You’re a good woiker, but I needz ya to be healthy. Doc, can I trust youz ta make sure she goes?” Crafty Crate said.

“Of course, Mr. Crate. I’ll take care of her,” the Doctor said. “Come along Miss Muffins, let’s get your wing looked at.”

Derpy allowed herself to be pulled along by the Doctor, blushing as his hoof tugged on hers until he let go. He watched her to make sure she was following, and he set a slow pace. Derpy realized her hat was crooked and tried to adjust it, pulling the brim down to try to hide her face. That let her see her shirt was buttoned crooked, with every button one hole higher than it should have been. Nothing she could do about that now. She tried to dust herself off while they walked, with mixed success.

“It’s been a little while hasn’t it, Miss Muffins?” the Doctor asked.

“Yeah, it has, Doc. Where have you been?” Derpy asked.

“Oh, you know, here and there, to and fro, hither and thither,”

“How long will you be back this time?”

The Doctor sighed. “I still can’t answer that with any degree of certainty Miss Muffins.”

“I know. I was hoping, though.”

“You always do. You’re tough, after all.” The Doctor looked back at her and winked.

Derpy looked up at him in surprise, and a wide smile rose on her face. She felt a lot more pep in her step as they made their way to the hospital, talking about nothing in particular.

They stepped into the waiting room and signed in, taking their seats in silence. Derpy sat next to the Doctor on the waiting bench, fidgeting with her mane, her hat, and her shirt. She looked at the Doctor, then away, then back again.

The Doctor noticed, of course. “Is everything alright, Miss Hooves? Is your wing bothering you too much? We can ask for some ice while we wait.”

Derpy looked at her wing, hanging next to her like a limp towel. “It aches, but it’s not unbearable.”

“Excellent. Excellent.”

Derpy looked at him for a moment, but then he turned to look back at her and she turned away, blushing again. Derpy had never had a special somepony, and she never went looking, but Doc was somepony she wished she had the guts to say something to. He didn’t treat her any different than any other pony. To him, everypony was good enough just the way they were, and he made her feel like that. Crafty Crate was nice to her, but he was like a stern father figure. Doc was like…

“Like a stranger taking care of a lost puppy,” Ego Trip said.

Derpy’s smile faded and she looked around. Nopony else seemed to have reacted to it, which led credence to the fact that it was all in her head, or at least she was the only one privy to the statements.

Derpy looked at the Doctor. His expression was unchanged.

“Doc, did you hear anything just now?” Derpy asked.

“Not at all. Did they call your name?” the Doctor asked.

“Oh, no. It was something else.” Derpy looked down at her hooves.

“Well this ‘something else’ seems to be getting to you. Did you want to talk about it?”

Derpy looked up at the Doctor, and met his gaze looking back at her. Those big blue eyes of his looked at her and she felt butterflies in her stomach, pushing at the sides, making her feel a little queasy. She felt herself gag a little and looked away as she retched, ruining the moment.

“Miss Muffins, are you alright?” the Doctor asked.

“You realize he doesn’t look at you the way you look at him, right?” Ego Trip said in her head.

“Miss Derpy Hooves?” a doctor called out. “Miss Derpy Hooves? Possibly broken wing?”

“Oh, that’s you! Will you be alright alone?” the Doctor asked.

Derpy nodded. “I’ll be fine. I’m tough. Could you wait here for me? I… would like to talk afterward.”

“Of course, Miss Muffins.”

“Thanks, Doc.” Derpy smiled and stepped up to greet the doctor.

The examination was brief, and not very painful. The doctor was gentle and quick, and the diagnosis was nothing more than a slight sprain. She received a compression wrap and an admonishment to stay grounded for a few days until the swelling went down. She asked if she could have a lollipop for being good, and was given one with a smile and ushered back out to the waiting room.

“Welcome back Miss Muffins. I see you were good in there.” Doc said, motioning to the lollipop. “Nothing too bad I take it?”

“A slight sprain. I just have to stay grounded. Can we get lunch and talk somewhere quiet, Doc?” Derpy asked.

“Of course! Lead the way,” Doc said.

Derpy took him to get her favourite lunch; a daisy sandwich, apple, and a muffin, all for only three bits. They took their lunches to a bench in the park near the pond and ate in peace. Derpy stole glances at him while they ate when she was sure he wasn’t looking. It was almost like they were on a date!

“He doesn’t think of it as a date,” Ego Trip said to her.

Derpy’s smile fell and her tail ceased its twitching at his words. He was right. Doc was here to listen to her talk.

“Doc, I think I’m being haunted,” Derpy said.

Doc, to his credit and which was one of the things Derpy loved the most about him, didn’t laugh. He didn’t even crack a smile. He took her statement with utter seriousness and looked at her.

“Why do you think you’re being haunted?” Doc said.

Derpy scraped a hoof at the bench. “I’m… hearing voices that aren’t there.”

“And what do they say?” Doc asked.

“Well…” Derpy wasn’t sure how much of her problem she wanted to get into, but there really wasn’t any way to discuss one without going into the other. She sighed. She’d have to tell him everything. “He insults me a lot, but I think he’s just trying to get information from me. He… well…” Derpy tried to find the right words. “He wants information about the black road.”

“And what is this black road, then?”

“Okay, that takes a lot of explaining.”

Derpy told the Doctor about the problems she had with her vision, what psychologists had said, and how she had decided to not take the medicine for it because it made her feel awful. She knew she’d see the visions again, and she had learned to deal with them, but the voice was new. She even told him about how the voice had manifested itself as a pony during her visions. She told the Doctor everything she’d experienced in the past few days. When she finished explaining, she looked at the Doctor with bated breath.

The Doctor folded his hooves in front of him and closed his eyes in thought. He tugged on his tie a little as he pondered what she’d just told him.

“Well Miss Muffins, this is a lot to take in. You’ve been seeing this black road your whole life, you said?”

Derpy nodded. “Everything else just looks different, but is still in the same place. The road is the only thing that moves.”

“Well my first thought is that the voice, although new, is yet another symptom of the schizophrenia you mentioned.”

Derpy’s face fell.

“However, you say you saw him as a regular pony while experiencing hallucinations, correct? Did you ever touch him?”

Derpy shook her head. “He came close, and seemed to change size, and it looked like he was holding garlic once, but I never touched him, or the garlic he said he was holding.”

“Well, if you’d like, I have some devices that may detect spirits if you say you are being haunted. Would you like me to test you and your house?”

Doc wanted to come to her house? She blushed and panicked at the same time, her hooves flying to her face to cover her cheeks. Her house wasn’t filthy, but it wasn’t exciting. She had next to no decorations anywhere but her bedroom. Few books, few pieces of furniture, and not much food. Could she even entertain a guest?

“He’s coming to search for ghosts, not spend the night.” Ego Trip said.

Derpy caught herself. Ego Trip was right. This was for business, not for pleasure. She had asked Doc for help, and he had agreed. She needed to treat it like such.

“If you could, that would give me some peace of mind, Doc. I’d like that a lot,” Derpy said.

Doc stood up and offered her a hoof, which she took. He started walking away and she trotted to catch up. “Let’s get to my place, I’ll grab a few things, and then we can go to yours. Shouldn’t take long at all.”

“I don’t mind it taking long if it needs to. Thank you for being willing to help, Doc,” Derpy said.

“Not at all Miss Muffins. I’m always happy to aid a friend in need,” Doc said.

They went to the Doctor’s house and he grabbed some strange machines Derpy had never understood the use of. She’d been here before, so she’d seen them, but never bothered asking what they did. There were a lot of things in Doc’s house like that for her. He let her come visit when he was in town, but that was getting rarer and rarer these days. He was always very busy.

Once he had his things, they went back to Derpy’s house, which she opened up with not a little embarrassment, letting him in to do his work. He bustled about, not saying anything about the décor, or the lack thereof. He was all business, running his gadgets here and there, waving them in cupboards, over windows, on top of and underneath her bed. Derpy waited for him to finish, following him about the house as he worked. When he was done, he shut his beeping device off and turned to her.

“Well Miss Muffins, I cannot find any spiritual residue or ectoplasmic signatures anywhere. That’s not guarantee, but I don’t think you’re being haunted,” Doc said.

“Well that’s a relief. So what do you think it is, Doc?”

The Doctor looked at her with an unreadable expression on his face. He opened his mouth to speak, but closed it again without saying anything. He put a hoof to his chin and looked away from her, then back into her questing eyes.

“Tell you what, Miss Muffins, the next time you experience the problems with your vision, come see me. You can find my workshop when you have your hallucinations, correct?” Doc asked.

Derpy was crestfallen. She knew that look. That was the look of somepony who didn’t believe her. The look that said; you have a problem and we don’t know what else to do to help you with it so we’ll just humor you.

“Yeah, I can,” Derpy said.

“Excellent. We can talk more about it when you’re experiencing it. That should help,” Doc said.

“Yeah...” Derpy said without enthusiasm.