Option Three

by Mirta

Chapter 4 - Twilight Sparkle

Twilight Sparkle returned to castle when afternoon was turning into evening on the day following her departure. The train was nearly empty and nopony stopped her to take a photo, or to ask for an interview, or for an autograph while she passed through Canterlot. It was as if she was just a unicorn again.

In other words, totally amazing!

But, as much as she would have liked, she couldn't spend the evening in the city. She and Sunburst had enchanted four amulets, now safely in her saddlebags, with with potent translation spells. Each one of them had slightly different combinations to increase the chance that even one would work.

She couldn't wait to try them. There was so much to ask about his home world and his life and what kind of beings his species were. Were they kind and loving like ponies? Hardy and difficult to approach like griffins? Proud and strong like dragons or something else entirely? How did they get their food; were they hunters or farmers? What sort of a society did they have? What sort of ethics did they follow? And what about their history? It had to be at least as exciting as that of Equestria!

Twilight giddily trotted through the main gate just as the sun was setting, the sky a blend of yellows, oranges and reds. The display was especially flagrant thanks to some high-up clouds being lit from below by the last rays of daylight. It was as if Princess Celestia had decided to gift the entire region with a piece of her very own art.

”Princess Twilight?”

She brought her eyes down from the display above and faced the guardspony who had addressed her.

“Huh? Yes?”

Being called 'Princess Twilight' still confused her when she wasn't paying attention, and she'd been absorbed in admiring the skies.

”Princess Luna requested to send you to her as soon as you arrived. She should be in her room now, raising the moon.”

Blinking twice, she tried but failed to come up with a reason why Luna would want to see her with such urgency.

”Okay. I'll go see her.”

“Princess Luna?”

Twilight called for her as she knocked on her door. She hadn't even visited her own room to leave her saddlebags before she'd come here.

“Come in.”

Luna's response was immediate, and Twilight gave the door a firm push to open it. The room was dark, the lights unlit. She saw Luna on her balcony, her silhouette visible against the last glow of dusk. Her mane and tail seemed like rifts in reality, windows to the night sky, and Twilight could swear that her eyes glowed ever so slightly. The moment did not last; Luna's horn flashed in her soft aura and the lights came on, filling the room with their light and flooding out the ethereal glimmer in her mane and tail.

”I believe my sister-”

Twilight winced at the bitterness in Luna's voice as she spat out the reference to Princess Celestia.

”-sent you to the Crystal Empire yesterday.”

“Well, not really sent me but...”

A few alternatives formed in her mind as she paused, attempting to come up with the right words to defuse the situation.

“...rather, pointed me in the right direction.”

Luna glanced her way, looking down her muzzle as if Twilight's presence was something insulting.

“Uh, Sunburst had some fantastic ideas that I would've never thought of and we made so much progress that-”

“It is fine, Twilight Sparkle. You simply forgot that you had a guest to take care of before rushing off to do your research.”

...

Uhh.

Her mouth was left hanging open as her mind attempted to catch up with what Luna had said and what it meant. She'd completely forgotten about the alien and his needs. She hadn't even instructed the guards to bring him something to eat.

“Hehe.”

The kitchen. Now.

“I'll just... go make sure he isn't... starving.”

Luna glared at her as she began reversing out of the room, the dark alicorn's muzzle up in the air as a sign of disgust.

“Worry not, I have taken care of your duties in your absence. Your guest is fine.”

Twilight's emotions tumbled after the back-and-forth, leaving her stunned for a second.

“And that is not why I called you here.”

Luna's shod hooves clopped on stone as she came closer, her mask of feigned disgust dropping and revealing eyes wide with distress.

“He needs your help, Twilight Sparkle. Ask him why he came here. Everything else should be secondary.”

“What do you mean?”

Luna drew a sharp breath and glared at her with narrowed eyes. It made Twilight flatten her ears as she thought the other princess would snap at her. Instead, Luna remained still for a second before looking down at the floor between them while letting out a sigh.

”I visited his dream last night.”

She spoke slowly, pausing between words.

“What I saw was... disturbing.”

Lifting her gaze, she looked at Twilight with pleading eyes.

“It is not for me to divulge the dreams I visit unto others. But, if you had seen it, you would agree that he is in the need of the aid of the Princess of Friendship.”

She'd regained her composure and her voice had returned to normal, but her eyes told Twilight that she'd seen something that touched her deeply. It encouraged her to believe Luna.

“I... I'll try to help him.”

She really wanted to, but how?

Twilight left the room a few minutes later. Luna had refused to talk about the plea for help, claiming that going into any detail would be divulging his dream, but did say that nobody had fed the alien that night and suggested she do it. From the way Luna said it, Twilight got the feeling that she didn't like keeping him captive. Thanks to her own imprisonment on the moon, she thought. She doubted that was the reason why Luna was interested in him, though. That, she suspected, had to do with how his arrival reminded her of her own return.

They had both been feared.

But Luna had had Celestia and the Elements of Harmony help her and Ponyville, and the rest of Equestria, overcome their fear of each other.

The alien had no-one.

That would also explain why Luna thought he needed Twilight's help.

The tray full of foodstuffs floated above her as she climbed the stairs to the alien's room. This time she'd included some common pony foods like some bread, a cupcake, a hayburger and a bowl of carrot soup. She'd the soup found in the kitchen and heated it. On top of an assortment of fruit, of course. She knew he wouldn't stay healthy on a diet of nothing but fruit. The thought reminded her that the change in plumbing should have produced results by now. She'd have to see to it after testing the pendants. It should be an informative, if unpleasant, task.

As she reached the landing in front of the door to the alien's room, she banged her hoof on the door thrice before pushing it open. He was sitting on the floor in the middle of the room, looking her way and holding some metal wire he'd been bending into a cube. Twilight was about to cry out for the guards, thinking that someone other than her or Luna had been in the room, when she noticed that the wardrobe was open and some of the coat hangers were missing.

That was where he'd got the wire from.

His eyes moved from her to the tray while she was still looking at the wire cube he'd made. She set the tray down on the floor next to him and watched as he reached out and touched the side of the bowl of soup with a single finger. At first he did it very briefly and then again for a few seconds. He must've seen the faint plume of steam rising off it and realized it was hot. Luckily, he didn't seem to mind that Twilight had forgotten to bring a spoon.

She took out the four pendants from her bags as he sipped the soup, nodded at the bowl, and took another sip. She were levitating one of them towards him, hoping he wouldn't mind, when he noticed the movement and looked at the pendant. His eyes followed it, his head craning upwards as Twilight lifted it over him, but he made no effort to stop her from slipping it on. He cocked an eyebrow and looked at her after she was done, then returned his attention to the soup bowl.

“Does it work? Can you understand me?”

Twilight got ignored as he drank some more soup. That one would have provided the most accurate translation...

Sighing in disappointment, she focused her magic and took the failure off him. He jerked as he saw her aura suddenly light up around his neck, nearly spilling some of his soup.

“Sorry! Didn't mean to startle you.”

He looked at her again after she'd put on the next necklace, lifting his shoulders and tilting his head to the side. The third one produced no response, other than him grabbing an apple while ignoring her. He noisily bit into the apple as Twilight took out the last of the enchanted pendants. This one was far more general than the others, but its translation would not be as accurate. She swallowed and put it on him, as she had done with the others.

“I hope at least this one works...”

His reaction was immediate. He had been about to bite into the apple again, but froze the moment Twilight spoke. Turning slowly, he looked at her. His eyes darted from one feature to another as he studied them.

”So, you have known this language all along.”

He sported a heavy accent, overpronouncing most consonants. Or it could be just the spell.

“No, no, it's a tra- wait, it doesn't translate into the language you're the most familiar with?”

That was what it was supposed to do, at least.

”Translate? You just switched languages into one I know.”

His hands moved slightly when he spoke, but the gestures told you nothing.

“That is what it sounds like. But actually, the spell in the necklace tries to find the meaning of whatever you say or hear and translates it into its closest equivalent in whichever language you or whoever you're talking to is most familiar with. Or, that's what it's supposed to do.”

She brought a hoof to her chin as she tried to figure out why the spell didn't work as intended. If only Sunburst was here, he seemed to always have some unorthodox method to try.

”I suppose I will believe you.”

Anonymous' words broke her train of thought.

“I- OH! Where are my manners?”

She'd been so caught up with the spell's failure that she'd completely forgotten to introduce herself.

“Hi, I'm Twilight Sparkle. What's your name?”

”I am Anonymous.”

As he paused, you felt a bit stupid for forgetting that the amulet would attempt to translate his name as well. He was going to be Anonymous, at least until she could tweak the spell. Perhaps if she fiddled with Greenhorn Twospell's generalization spell...

Anonymous had crossed his arms and was watching her silently, not looking like he was about to say anything despite having sounded like he would continue.

“Soo... Would you mind if I asked a few questions?”

Twilight grinned and hoped she didn't look too eager as she pulled the list of 25 most important questions from her bags. She'd made it on the train back to Canterlot.

”A few?”

He glared at the list, making Twilight feel like a filly caught with her hoof in the cookie jar.

”No, I do not. But only if I get to ask some as well.”

Twilight stumbled into her room with her eyes flagging at half-mast. At first he'd seemed like he was trying to make it end as quickly as possible, giving one-line answers and unspecific fluff. Then she'd asked about the device that'd brought him here. That was...

Well, he reminded her of Princess Celestia, in a way.

When he'd realized that Twilight had no idea what he was talking about, he'd taught her the basic operating principles of each part and why it was necessary. And instead of flat out explaining that, he'd given her the laws governing their function and then coaxed her on with just the right questions until she'd combined them just right and reached the conclusion on her own.

Then he'd asked his questions. At first, they'd seemed easy and basic. Like “how did you float the tray?”

But, as it turned out, his world – and he, by extent – had no concept of magic.

Twilight let out a sigh and rubbed her tired eyes with a hoof while lifting the bags she still carried off her back and onto the floor.

Inspired by him, she had tried the same approach as he had taken. But she'd known the physics behind electronics, just not the application. He'd had no clue whatsoever about magic.

It hadn't worked.

Leaping onto the bed, she worked her way under the covers and attempted to empty her mind. And immediately fell asleep.

Comments

[Mirta]

The idea behind one chapter a week was to give me time to write something and have something done by the time this is out. But I agree that it is slow going, especially since the chapters are short. I'll try to remember to visit this place daily from now on to punch the publish button.
I also marked the story as incomplete because that's what it is to everyone but me.

[FlyboyMuffins]

Me like. Want to see more.