Same World, Different Realities

by Mocha Star

Across the Jungle

Twilight yawned quietly and felt her jaw muscles stretch from overextension. Sheesh, how long was I reading this book? she looked down blearily at the book she’d finished, apparently, but didn’t recall closing before she lay her head on it. “Huh, that’s all of them? Wow, I really need to get some me time that isn’t in the books.”

She sniffed the air and noticed her unique scents filling the air. “And a shower is way overdue,” she mused as she grabbed a wicker basket in her magic and took it with her as she left the room, down the hall, through a set of heavy doors, and into a room that she had to admit she loved.

“Princess Twilight! Girls,” a mare whispered loudly as she, and quickly following several others, gathered before her and bowed, “your spa treatment is overdue, Your Highness”

Twilight smiled. “Overdue?” she asked nasally, “this’ the first one I’ve had since we left Canterlot yesterday, but whatever. Sure, I’ll take the works and my hooves feel uneven so can I get a little filing, too?”

The mares rushed to their positions around the small but efficient room dedicated to pampering her and catering to her needs. “Your Highness, if you would like to put on this robe?”

“Thank you, and please just call me Twilight. What’s your name?” she asked as she took the robe and donned it.

“My name is Vera, I believe you know my cousins in Ponyville, Aloe and Lotus. She writes of your visits and how honored she is to have you frequent her business.”

“Oh yeah. They’re really helpful and kind. I think it was a great idea for them to open a spa in Ponyville because it’s what everypony needs, even though they might not know it.”

“Ah, yes… Twilight. Now, if you’ll follow me this way,” she led Twilight to a room that no more than two ponies could fit in comfortably, “this is the steam room. I trust you know how it works?”

“Yes, I do. Thank you, I’ll be fine for now. Just come get me in twenty minutes.”

“Yes, Your- uh, Twilight.”

Twilight opened the door and stepped in, closing it behind her before the hot blindingly thick steam could escape.

She felt ahead of her with her hoof and laid on the bench with a deep inhale and exhale, letting her mind relax.

“HeyTwilightwhatchyadoin?!” Rainbow shouted from behind the princess.

Halfway through the shout, Twilight had tumbled to the floor with a very dignified scream and refined thud against the closed door. While her royal bladder relaxed slightly in a most noble way, she was still quite upset to have her moment of zen broken.

She lit her horn and with a flash she was alone in the steam room again and retook her place, placed a hoof to her chest with an inhale, exhaled with a controlled breath as she extended her hoof from her body, and let her zen return.

The door to the steam room opened and Rainbow stood at the threshold, dripping wet with cold water and certainly not a smile nor a frown gracing her face. “Twilight?”

“Ah, Rainbow Dash, I didn’t notice you. Glad you could make it to my moment of relaxation. Care to take a quiet seat?”

“Quiet mome-, you know what? Fine!” she flew into the room and landed in front of Twilight and shook herself some before flapping her wings to take her over her friend, raining cold water on her as she passed. “Wanna tell me why you teleported me outside the ship?”

Twilight’s ears relaxed as she lowered her head to her forehooves. “Oh, just making sure you were awake and ready for the call of duty. How was your guard shift?”

Rainbow scowled through the thick white steam at Twilight but sighed and let it go. “Awesome as usual. There was a bird flying a bit higher than normal, but ten minutes of interrogation led us to believe it was really just a bird and not a changeling spy sent to infiltrate the ship. There were some suspicious lights the second day but it turned out we were passing a Yak village.”

“Second day?” Twilight mumbled, “you mean today.”

“Twilight,” Rainbow groaned, “it’s been three days since we left Canterlot and you’ve been reading the whole time. Again.”

Twilight’s ears perked for a second before she relaxed. “Heh, that’s what I get for studying on a voyage. Did the ponies take good notes of whatever we passed?”

“Psh, like I’d know. I was too busy showing the stallions how a real Wonderbolt scouts and reports,” the air in the room shifted enough to let Twilight know Rainbow was posing.

“Then I’ll read them later. Please, just give me some peace and quiet while I… wait, why’re you even here? You don’t like spa’s,” Twilight asked sitting up.

“Well, turns out I do like some parts of them, just not all parts of a spa. No pony touches my hooves and my wings are off limits, but a nice massage really helps from time ta time.”

“You said it,” Twilight giggled.

…

Hours later, Twilight emerged from the spa feeling like a new mare. She inhaled the scent of lavender from her coat and a hint of coconut in her mane as she took a breath of slightly stagnant woody air that quickly overshadowed the pleasantness of herself. With a happy step to her walk, she made her way to the deck and winced at the sudden temperature change from the warmth below to a sudden near freezing windchill above.

Watching mares and stallions go about their duties cleaning and taking whatever time they could to relax, she made her way to the captain, or where she thought he’d be. Finding only crew at the helm she turned away.

“Your Highness! Captain sends word to see him in his office,” a mare bowed low as she spoke loudly over the wind.

“Thank you, on your way to your duty or I’ll send you to the bilge!” Twilight stated firmly. The mare stood tall and saluted. When Twilight returned the salute the mare turned, quickly galloping away.

Huh, that worked pretty well, Twilight mused to herself as she made her way to the main deck and entered the captain’s galley, enjoying the sudden change in temperature from near freezing to simply cold enough to stop a pony from shivering uncontrollably.

“Ah, finished your studies, I see,” Captain Stone Heart greeted her with a bow of his head from the other side of a navigation table.

“Well, I had a lot to learn. I at least know the basics, but real world training is where it counts.”

“Right you are, Your Highness. This here map’s all we have of our known lands and as you can see we left the edge already,” Twilight stood at the table’s edge and looked at the map, “so we have the cartographers you brought drawing new maps as we go. The problem, is we have no idea what’s ahead of us so I’ve put the crew at ease with their guards up.

“At a moments notice they’ll be at stations and ready for defense and evasion, as per your orders to avoid conflict at all costs,” he smiled slightly to her, “and with luck, this mission will see no need to call to arms.”

Twilight nodded. “If I could have, I would have taken every weapon and left them back at the drydocks. Fact of the matter is that we don’t know if we’ll come across peaceful ground based civilizations of reptiles or flying snakes with poisoned bladed wings,” she chuckled, “not that that’s really possible, but it never hurts to be prepared.”

“Again, another wise notion. Would you care to go over ship status with the department heads, or take time enjoying the sights of new lands?”

“Both, to be honest. But I think learning and maintaining the ship takes precedent over watching scenery that shouldn’t be that important in the short run.”

“Very well, I’ll call them up for the three day meeting,” he turned and shouted to a younger mare. “Call the heads to come along now!”

“Calling department heads now, sir!” she replied, turning and galloping to a side room and shutting the door.

“You run a tight ship, captain.”

“Indeed. A lax ship is a doomed ship.”

“I agree, especially after all I’ve read. So, where on the map are we?”

“Well, we’ve passed the Yak lands and over several villages until we reached the map’s edge. Now we’re here,” he tapped a spot on the newly sketched map, “and it’s mostly mountains as far as we can see. Scouts have reported a declination of mountains about a day’s travel ahead, but it’s slight so far and nothing really indicated that it’s an end to them.”

“You’re not having scouts fly half a day ahead, are you?”

Stone Heart laughed loudly. “If I did we’d lose the crew, Ma’am. No, they fly up and ahead then glide down to meet us and report. Best we can guess is a seventy mile scan around with little to no idea what’s ahead of us past forty miles, what with the mountains and all. Best we can hope for is a hundred miles in perfect weather, if such a thing exists beyond the peaks.”

“Always hope for the best, captain. At times, it’s all we can do.”

---

Twilight sighed as she held the wheel, steering the ship. She looked ahead through a spyglass to the edge of the mountains and a short dry area before a forest sprung up just after it.

“Unusual,” Twilight turned to a nearby colt. “Call the navigation leadership and cartographer, please. There's something odd just ahead.”

“Yes, your highness!” He shouted and galloped away.

She waited nearly twenty minutes before they all arrived at once. “If there was an emergency on deck would it have taken you nearly half an hour to get to stations?” She asked calmly, turning the wheel slightly to adjust their course.

“We were a bit preoccupied, your highness. I apologize on behalf of all of us.”

“Seven ponies, one excuse. I'll have a talk with the captain about your urgency,” she looked pointedly at the department head.

He gulped audibly then bowed, the rest followed. “How may we serve you?”

“There's a forest ahead, but it's density doesn't make sense. There are nearly three times as many trees as there should be. Ideas as to why?”

“Could it be an illusion?”

“A version of the Everfree?”

“ Magically modified fertile soil?”

“A wall to keep others out?”

Twilight listened as they rattled ideas off each other until they stopped. “We'll know when we get closer. Three hours at current speed… Crew! To stations, soon we may meet friend or foe!

“If they are friends, let it's offer it to them. If they're foes let them offer it to us!”

The crew that heard her cheered and began to scramble to their posts. Within five minutes the only sound was that of the wind blowing and the creaking of the ship as it soared.

An hour later and the crew were still at their posts, watching diligently for anything out of the ordinary.

“Ship, ahoy! Scuttled ship ahoy! Port side, coming up!”

The crew shouted the first call across the top decks to each other, quickly mobilizing their efforts for a possible salvage operation.

“Belay your efforts, lads! We'll pick her clean on the return!”

“Commander Sharp, it's nice to see you again. I believe I called for the captain, though.”

“He's busy at the moment, Your Highness. What's the situation?”

Twilight looked aside at the tall grey unicorn stallion. “A forest an hour out, scuttled ship off the port bow. Crew stands ready for orders.”

He looked at her and smiled. “Well done,” he said in a near whisper before addressing his crew. “Pegasi, team three, front and center!”

Five pegasi swooped around from below the ship and landed in a perfect line in front of him.

“Are you ready to serve your princess?!”

“Sir, yes, Sir!” They shouted in perfect unison and harmony.

“Go ahead and scout the ship off port. Anything catches your fancy, leave it. It's been here ages and won't mind waiting a little more. Danger lurks at every turn here in the unknown, so watch each other's flanks. Dismissed!”

The five pegasi opened their wings, crouched, and flew off at the same time in perfect formation.

“Not bad,” Rainbow’s raspy voice said from above Twilight, “trained them myself so they're pretty awesome. Want me to tag along, watch over 'em?”

“No, I need you to scout ahead to the forest edge, Miss Dash. Take squad one with you and stay alert. I got a feeling in my knee there's danger ahead.”

Twilight rolled her eyes at the commander's comment, but still nodded to Rainbow Dash. “He's right. Go ahead and report back as quickly as you can. I'm staying the course until otherwise noted.”

Rainbow nodded and took off ahead of the ship, turned around to yell at her ponies to follow, then did her best to leave them behind as her contrail dissipated before they could catch up.

Twilight held the wheel steady and maintained a calm demeanor while she nearly panicked internally.

---

Rainbow stopped with an enormous gust of wind trailing behind her. Twilight quickly cast a shield around the entire ship, muffling the sonic boom that postceded her arrival. “Twilight, there’s a settlement over there! Just before the forest there’s an earth pony settlement and they look really bad,” Rainbow wrung her hooves together nervously. “Like, really, really bad, Twilight. We need to get them some food and help,” Rainbow landed and stood close to her friend. “What can I tell them you’ll give ‘em?”

“Rainbow, before I can just throw food at ponies in need I need to see what’s wrong first. Commander, we’re diverting to help ponies in need. Inform the captain of my intent and have the galley prepare some basic supplies of hay to be offered in exchange for information as to what caused them to get to such a state.”

Commander Sharp looked at her for a second then turned away and began to call orders as he left the poop deck. “So, should I tell them you’re on the way, Twi?”

“Yes, please. They may need a friendly face to let them know we’re all peaceful.”

“Roger that,” Rainbow took to the air and just as Twilight lowered her shield, Rainbow flew out of it and back the way she came, leaving a loud sonic boom in her wake.

“Forgot about that part,” Twilight mumbled as she worked her jaw to pop her ears.

…

“All stop! Anchors away and stow the sails! Deflate seven-percent. Pegasi, add bilge to nets! Swabbies, hold to cut lines…”

Twilight moved to the edge of the ship and opened her wings, standing tall facing the settlement as the ship descended to one hundred feet from the ground. A group of pegasi took the lead and with full armor adorned with purple highlights and Twilight's cutie mark emblemized on their chests. Landing they formed two lines which Twilight landed gracefully between.

Here we go… Twilight mustered her best regal attitude as she trotted ahead to the small tightly built hamlet. Fourteen huts large enough for four ponies each, but where are they?

Rainbow flew up to her from what could be considered the main street, if it were paved or taken care of. “Twi, it’s a real mess in there. The ponies were nervous of me and the others so I sent them onto patrol while I tried to talk to ‘em, but when the ship came into sight they bolted into their homes and haven’t even peeked out.

“I don’t think you wanna go in the town, Twi…”

“Why not? It’s my duty as the Princess of Friendship to cross all avenues to bridge peace.”

“No, it’s because there isn’t a bathroom or outhouse in the whole town. They literally go as they walk and it’s what most of what the town’s made of.”

Twilight faltered and stopped. “Are you serious?” she asked.

“Very. I’m glad I didn’t land because I’d need a shower for sure.”

Twilight looked ahead to the town and resumed her stance. Calling to her magic she encompassed herself in a shield and resumed her trot.

“Twi, what’re you doing?! I just told you it’s a town made of… poop!”

“I have a shield that’ll keep me clean. I need to see what these ponies know about the forest and what help they need. Are you coming, Rainbow Dash?”

The soldiers didn’t hesitate to keep pace with Twilight, keeping her in the center of their formation until she reached the town edge where it was clear that a line had been drawn as it seemed the cold ground changed from hardened stone to firmed equine feces. She shuddered as she placed a hoof into the muck and it squelched slightly.

Taking a deep breath she walked into the muck and to the first hut. The stench of urine wafted from the inside and she reinforced her spell before she knocked. “Hello? My name is Princess Twilight Sparkle. I’m on a mission of peace representing Equestria, do you have time to talk or direct me to your leadership?”

She was met with silence. Knocking again she moved to place an ear against the door and heard nothing.

The next house, the one following that, until she’d tried all fourteen houses to no avail. “Anypony live in this town at all?!” She shouted in frustration. “C’mon, I just wanna talk! I have food and medical supplied if you need them. Just talk to me, please.”

Rainbow flew over to Twilight and placed a hoof on her back. “Twi, you’re starting to freak out over friendship again. Breathe it off and let’s try this another way.”

Twilight nodded and took in a deep breath as Rainbow went to a door. “Hey, it’s the colorful birdie pony. I’m back with my friend and she’s really nice and wants to be your friend, so can you, like, open up and say ‘hi?’”

There was a noise that didn’t seem to fit the scene before the door opened and Rainbow grinned at the shadowed opening. She didn’t have time to react as yellow liquid was thrown at her from a hollowed out gourd covering her underbody. Her smile fell as she snapped her attention to Twilight.

Twilight watched as a look of disgust and horror took over Rainbow Dash who flew behind a house and vomited before flying away. Twilight scowled as she trudged over to the door and knocked loudly. “You listen here! That was mean and not very nice to do to my friend. Come out here and talk to us or I’ll come in there and make you apologize to my friend for what you did.”

A moment passed before her horn lit and the door was forced open and fell off its frame. Twilight noticed it wasn’t held on by anything, but that paled in comparison to the five earth ponies that were huddled together, half buried in their own muck. She gasped as she noticed that they were carefully covering other ponies when they noticed her looking at them.

With a loud yelp, the three obvious adults all fell into prostration before Twilight and buried their muzzles into the flooring. Twilight lifted their faces from the floor and cleaned their muzzles clean and stepped back from the doorway. “Please, come out and let us talk as friends,” she smiled softly.

They trembled and nodded, rising they turned back to the buried ponies and dug out two fillies no older than a year. Twilight quickly acted and took them in her magic and cleaned them in a flash. In that same moment the adults screamed in pain and fell to their bellies, letting tears fall freely.

“No! It’s okay, your children are still here! Look, I just cleaned them, is all. Please, don’t cry,” Twilight pleaded. “Your fillies are fine! Please, look at them, I would never harm a foal, honest!”

The parents looked up and noticed the magic still holding the foals and scooted away from them, taking a guarded position each. “Please, take them, they need you, can’t you see-” she stopped and lowered the fillies to the floor and took a step away, lifted the door, and replaced it.

She listened as the sound of whimpering filled the hut before it fell silent again a few seconds later.

She looked around the huts and lowered her head. Teleporting to the edge of town she lowered her shield and made her way back onboard the ship. “I need a small contingent of earth ponies dressed in hazard suits to try to communicate with the settlers.”

Taking a seat by the mast she let the weight of what she’d seen take over and she cried for the way the ponies were surviving, the fear they had, and how they appeared to be terrified of magic and her.

“Twi, are you okay?” Rainbow asked as she hugged Rainbow.

Twilight sniffed Rainbow and noticed the fresh scent of blueberry in her coat. With a nod she hugged Rainbow and relaxed. “What could have caused that, Rainbow? I’ve never thought a pony could live like that.”

“Yea, it totally sucks. I was covered with pee, by the way. Old pee, like they were saving it. That’s why I puked. The spa’s out of order for the rest of the day while they sterilize the place.”

Twilight snorted and laughed. “You hate them so much you had to shut them down?”

“No, but they didn’t want you to use water that was contaminated so there’s a whole buncha ponies doing stuff to make it all better.”

“Don’t pee in the pool, Rainbow. That’s why.”

“Psh, I haven’t met the pool… uh, anyway, what’s the plan with the poop ponies?”

“Rainbow,” Twilight replied in a deeper voice intended to scold her as she pulled away and broke the hug, “that’s not a nice thing to call them. There’s something wrong with them and insults don’t help injuries. We’ve gotta find a way to get through to them and I only hope earth ponies can do it.”

Twilight waited with Rainbow Dash until hunger for the better of them. While they ate in the galley a stout mare approached the duo.

“Earth pony report is ready, ma'am.”

“Thank you, I'll see to it within the hour.”

With a nod the made turned and left the galley. “So, Twi. Think they had better luck?”

“I hope so. I'm not hungry so you can eat my share of you want. I'm gonna check in with the reporting crew.”

Rainbow smiled weakly. “I'll be there in a minute. I kinda lost my breakfast earlier.”

Twilight stood and with a quiet goodbye, she left to the debriefing. Walking in she saw sullen looks on the six ponies that went. They stood and called attention.

“That bad?”

“Yes, Twilight,” they relaxed as their team leader spoke, “ they're mentally and physically broken. They have little sense of self and basic language skills.

“The single pony that spoke to us was middle aged and told of of their loyal servitude to the high queen in exchange for their lives. A unicorn by the sound of it.

“Their group got lost foraging and found themselves here two generations ago, where they built their homes the only way they knew how.

“It sounds like a population of unicorns has enslaved earth ponies at their disposal for manual labor.”

“Sounds painful and unfriendly. Do they know where the unicorn settlement is?”

“No, they only know it's days trot through the forest.”

“Two generations living in that mess… commander, drop them hay and send I'll send a message back to the Crystal Empire informing them of our find. With luck the ponies below will have lives for their foals and themselves.”

“Dismissed,” Commander Sharp announced. The room emptied, leaving Twilight and Sharp. “Princess, I speak for myself, but what if this is just the tip of the iceberg?

“That there is a hostile unicorn settlement ahead of us.”

“Then we defend ourselves with all we have until I can broker peace with their leader. Commander, we have a lot to do, so I believe we should focus on what we're good at.

“You concentrate on the ship and I'll take care of logistics.”

“Yes, ma'am.” He nodded.

Twilight bit her lips and began to pace as she tried to think of what could be in store for them ahead on their journey.

Comments

[kildeez]

8574778
Just love the projects that blow up on their own, don't you!?

[Mocha Star]

8574784
I never plan. I just write and it always works out.

[Batling]

Well now, color me intrigued - the oneshot this story expands upon was interesting to be sure, but it did offer more questions than answers. And I'm very much looking towards how we go from here - Twilight's expedition in to the north - to a society that seems certainly no less advanced than Equestria (technologically ... culturally and morally might be another matter entirely) suiciding themselves into oblivion. I mean, 3 million isn't a particularly big number as far as nations go, but that's still a dang lot of people to go extinct in a short time frame. Color me intrigued ...

And I do hope we get to see some of the newly liberated earth ponies and other survivors recations to Equestria proper before this all ends - that should be fun too!

One thing that does feel weird though is this new land being only 3 days out - if it's that close, shouldn't someone have noticed over the millenia?

[kildeez]

8574830
I usually have a basic overview of what I want to happen, but yeah I hear ya. Though having an endgame thought out beforehand never hurts.

[Crescent Glaive]

8574885
That is by airship....
A normal pegasus wouldn't see the point of traveling that far since there isn't places to sleep in the mountains other than outside. And it get's very cold at night.....

And travel by ground is not plausible. Sea travel would be the best unless the currents and possible reefs block access to shore.

[Mocha Star]

8574885
8575614
Yes.
Also it's over an excessively large and dense forest.
Three days flight could cover 500 miles at least whereas it would take months to cross on land with unknown dangers and holdups.
It could have taken a whole generation of those earth ponies to make it through.

But there're more answers coming.

[Truthseeker]

Time to kill some racist, slaving, heartless assholes. I like it. My just side is tingling. (To be clear, I appreciate justice, often without mercy. It is a harsh thing to behold)