On Getting to the Bottom of this "Equestrian" Business

by McPoodle

Chapter 10: Q&A

Chapter 10: Q&A

“Wow,” said Gus after nearly a minute of silence contemplating the parts of the story that Celestia had elided over. “That must have scarred you for life.”

“It did,” answered a weary Delver holding up his gloved hands. “I can’t touch anything living anymore without feeling it simultaneously rot and burrow into my flesh in my mind’s eye.”

Gus looked uncomfortable as he prepared his next question. “Now I don’t want you to think that I’m doubting you, but did you come out of this experience with any kind of proof that it actually happened, and wasn’t just a hallucination?”

Delver sighed. “Gus, I knew nothing about ponies going into that experience—that stuff was top secret, and I was just some kid. And yet my descriptions exactly match up with the appearances of earth ponies, unicorns and pegasi. I met the brother of a Prince Blueblood, despite having no idea what that meant. And they mentioned Princess Celestia, which was and still is the biggest secret of the entire church. It was a name I had never heard before.

“I got into this whole mess because I was late getting my mark, because I was convinced that it would be in the realm of medical research. I got enough details of the process out of my friends that I thought I could force the issue. I snuck into the church late one night, turned on the gas, and crawled into the booth. I was in a coma for more than a week. And then came the aftermath:

“My experiences changed the course of my life. I could never get into medicine after what I had gone through. But I had gotten my mark in explaining and I loved far-off places, so I soon found myself immersed in history—which I loved—so that was how I dedicated my future.

“At the same time, I had discovered the secret of the marking ceremony, which led to a second career in the Markist Church. Once I had climbed high enough in the hierarchy to learn about counterparts, I sought to find out about the ponies I had met during my brief visit to Equestria.

“Prince Bronze Heart was almost certainly…ah, but I don’t want to get into Royal Family squabbles. I already told you about the human version of ‘Pr. Villainpants’—I consulted with him many times in the early years of my TV show before his passing, and of course I never told him what I knew. As for Daring Do? I found her burial plot in the Canterlot cemetery. She had jumped off of the roof of her house at the age of three. A pegasus would have survived that jump. And so I learned once more that the lives of counterparts are not linked to each other—after all, my parents were alive in this world, but dead in that one.

“I did a lot of thinking about the pony versions of Daring Do and that unnamed professor. Being exposed to such a powerful artifact, I imagined that they were now immortal, or at least that they aged far more slowly than the ponies around them. They were now locked in a perpetual cycle of competing for the same magical relics of lost civilizations, again and again for all time. So I sat down and wrote an adventure for these two: Daring Do and the Temple of Fate, under a pseudonym. It wasn’t very good. But the paperback sales were enough for Polo House to launch a series, by whoever was willing to take up that pseudonym. Eventually one of them liked writing the series so much that she changed her name to legally be A. K. Yearling. The Daring Do series has done far better under her than it ever did with my one contribution, so I wish her the best.

“Now, I believe you had some questions for me?” Delver asked Celestia.

“Yes, I wanted to know if you ever saw the sun rise or set during your time in Equestria. Princess Celestia is said to control the sun on that world, and I was wondering if you ever noticed the motion of the sun to be the slightest bit jerky, especially at those times.”

“No, I’m afraid not,” answered Delver. “We were in a jungle, so I couldn’t ever see the horizon. And I don’t remember it ever moving oddly during the rest of the day—not that I was looking out for anything like that.”

“Not even when you were flying?”

“Nope.”

“What about any other heavenly bodies? Did the stars look different?”

“I specifically remember looking at the stars on the third night, as it was becoming less and less likely that I was dreaming. And the stars I saw were normal for the night’s sky over Canterlot around February. Which is a bit odd, as it was mid-June when all this took place, and I saw no evidence whatsoever that it was winter in Equestria, even tropical-forest-Equestria.”

“Oh,” said Celestia, clearly disappointed. “Sorry for bothering you.”

“Wait!” exclaimed Delver. “There was one more thing: the Moon.”

“The Moon?”

“Yes, the Moon. It didn’t have the same markings as our Moon. It was the same apparent size in the sky, but its markings very clearly portrayed a unicorn mare in profile. And…” (he closed his eyes to improve the memory) “…and yes, the Moon very clearly moved in stops and starts.”

“That’s very interesting,” said Celestia. “I’m not sure who moves the Equestrian Moon around, though.”

“Princess Celestia,” Gus said matter-of-factly.

“How can you be so sure?” asked Delver.

“Because ‘celestia’ is Latin for ‘sky’, which implies she moves everything in the heavens.”

“It is?” asked Delver.

Gus was speechless. “You’re a bishop,” he finally said. “How can you not know Latin?”

“Because I’m a Markist,” Delver replied. “They don’t teach us Latin growing up.”

“Not even to learn etymology?”

“What does Latin have to do with insects?” asked Celestia.

Gus groaned. “And there goes my hope that the Markist educational system might be better than the one used in the rest of America. I suppose that means I’m the first person to ever ask the following question: How often have any of the prior Celestias on this world had Lunas as sisters?”

“Never,” answered Celestia. “Why do you ask?”

“Well, ‘luna’ is Latin for ‘moon’, so it makes sense that—”

Gus was interrupted as Celestia suddenly shot to her feet, knocking over her chair. “I’ve got to go,” she said, before rushing out the door.

Delver and Gus shared a puzzled look at the slowly closing door.

Comments

[FanOfMostEverything]

Thank goodness for all the Latin terms in science. If you can recognize the pieces, the puzzle is a lot easier to assemble, even if you've never seen the picture on the box.

Still, I do have to wonder what Celestia plans on doing when she finds Luna, assuming that she's looking for her sister. She's clearly come to some realization, but what?

Also, very nice Do/Jones parallels. And the fate of human Daring is tragic, but all too believable. Furthermore, the broken and warped parallels say a lot about the causal link between the worlds.

[Ms_Fruit_Bat]

Oh, well that's interesting.
The first Luna, an honor to be sure.

[Boltstrike58]

“That’s very interesting,” said Celestia. “I’m not sure who moves the Equestrian Moon around, though.”

“Princess Celestia,” Gus said matter-of-factly.

“How can you be so sure?” asked Delver.

Poor Luna.

[Stet709]

“Not even to learn etymology?”

Honestly, this was kind of the reason I took a few Latin courses in university. I majored in Zoology, and had an interest in taxonomy, so I thought to learn Latin.

[Teraunce]

“Never,” answered Celestia. “Why do you ask?”

My plot senses are tingling.