Spiral Swirl's Encounter

by Juke Denton

Chapter 19

Author's Note:

It had been an incredibly long time since I've touched this story. But after months and months of neglect, I decided to write up another chapter. Maybe it'll convince me to try and finish it sometime. Hope you all enjoy!

“WHAT?!?” Screamed Maddie at what the teal pony had said. “You can’t be serious!”

“I made a promise to you, your brother, and your friend. If I can’t control what I’m doing, I’m breaking that promise.” Said Spiral, hanging her head down in shame.

“But where will you go?” Joey asked.

“Anywhere where I can’t hurt you and your family.” The unicorn said, turning her back to the children.

“But…but we love you!” Maddie said having a hard time trying to contain her despair.

Spiral let out a sigh before saying in her head, ‘I understand, but it might be for the best.’

Just then, Stacy quickly came down the stairs dressed in her pajamas and asked, “What’s going on? I heard Maddie shout earlier. Is something wrong?”

“Spiral just told us that she might be leaving if she tries hypnotizing us again in her sleep!” Answered Maddie.

Stacy immediately turned to Spiral in disbelief and asked, “But why? What you did wasn’t on purpose.”

The unicorn turned to Maddie’s friend solemnly and said, “I know, but it would be unforgiving of me if there were a repeat of what I just did to you and everyone else.”

“You’re not thinking of leaving now are you?” Stacy asked.

“No, no, of course not.” Spiral said, shaking her head. “I would only leave IF it were to happen again. Plus, I haven’t eaten dinner yet. Speaking of which…”

The teal pony focused her attention on the spellbound parents, cleared her throat, and said, “Listen closely! You will take the dinner you’ve made, heat it back up, but make absolutely sure you don’t burn or overcook it! Then when it’s ready, you’ll serve it in the same plates and place them back on the table in the same positions. After that’s done, you will sit back down where you were before I hypnotized you and forget everything that happened in the past 30 minutes! Do you understand?”

When the parents gave their conformed answers and went to carry out the command, Spiral looked back at the children and said, “But I think after dinner, I might need some time alone.”

“For how long?” Maddie asked curiously.

“I can’t say for sure. Could be an hour. Then again, it could be the rest of the night.”

“But what about the sleepover and other activities? We don’t want you to feel left out!” Said Stacy.

Spiral was in deep thought for a moment before she replied, “Tell you what, during dinner I’ll think about it. I promise if I feel up to it, we can have some fun together.”

“You promise?” Maddie asked hopefully.

“As a friend, I promise!” The unicorn said in an assuring tone; earning her a hug from both Maddie and Stacy.

Joey decided to join in the group hug as well and said, “Don’t forget, we’ll always be here for you.”

After Maddie and Joey’s parents finished reheating dinner and sat back down in their seats, they had a look of confusion for a few seconds before they saw the kids and their pony companion talking in the other room.

“It’s dinner time!” The mother said, shocking everyone in the other room. Maddie, Stacy, Joey, and Spiral all sat down in their respective spots as the father said a quick prayer over the food. Soon, everyone began to dig in with the humans enjoying herb and spice seasoned chicken, potatoes, green beans, and carrots while Spiral stuck to just the veggie portions of the meal.

“If you don’t mind me asking Stacy, why are you wearing your pajamas so soon?” The children’s mother asked.

“Oh, well…I accidentally slipped on a puddle in the kitchen earlier and got my clothes all damp.” Stacy responded, trying not to sound too nervous.

“Goodness! Are you alright? You didn’t hurt yourself, did you?” The mother asked with concern.

“No, no, I’m fine. But I should probably go clean up the mess.” Maddie’s friend replied.

Stacy was about to get up from her chair until the mother said, “Oh no please, allow me. It was only an accident as you said and you’re our guest.”

The girl chose not to argue and let her friend’s mother take care of the task. She let out a mental sigh of relief as she continued eating.

“Mmm!” Spiral’s voice cut through the dining room. “These veggies are really good! What ingredient did you use for this?”

“Turmeric.” The father said before chewing on some green beans. “It’s a special spice that’s not only delicious, but also healthy with its antioxidants.”

“Hmm.” Spiral responded as she took another bite of her food while saying in her mind, ‘If by some means I can return to Equestria, I might have to bring some of this spice back with me.’

“Oh by the way, Maddie and Joey’s dad? I wa-”

“Joe.” The children’s father interrupted the unicorn. “I guess I never told you my name since you first came here. Silly me. But Joe Taylor is my name and my wife is Carla.”

“Nice to meet you Joe. As I was about to ask though, how exactly do humans make all this technology without the use of magic? Joey told me that there are machines you can carry around that hold information like computers. How is it possible to carry something so big around like that?

“You’d be surprised what humanity is capable of producing.” Joe said as he gave a hearty laugh. “But technology has continuously been revolutionized time and time again over the years. Some of the earliest computers, which cost a fortune, were the size of refrigerators and could only perform the kind of functions found on a calculator. That was back before I was even born. Now, when I was Joey’s age…”

As Joe went on about the history of computing, Spiral listened with great interest and was left in awe about the power the machines possessed and how it helped humans in their everyday lives. It was when Maddie and Joey’s dad brought up smartphones and tablets that left the unicorn stunned.

“That’s incredible! A device that allows you to access information, documents, music, and other needs all while being able to fit it in your pocket? Ponies back home would be extremely envious about this! Is there a way I might be able to see one of these for myself?”

“Sure! I’ll show you mine after we’re done eating and what I use it for.” The father said before returning to his meal.

Carla soon returned to the table and said, “I’m sorry about the wet spot in the kitchen. I guess the sink has been having a bit of a leak again. We fixed it a few months ago, but it seems like we need to get it looked at once more. If you’d like, I can put your wet clothes in for the next load in the laundry.”

“Thank you Mrs. Taylor. I’ll bring them down after dinner.” Stacy said, while internally glad that her friend’s mother didn’t raise any other questions.

The rest of dinner was spent with everyone enjoying the delicious meal and occasionally making small talk. Soon afterwards, dessert was served, which consisted of brownies. Needless to say, the children loved the chocolate confectionery, but Spiral’s expression is what got the most stares.

“Mmm! These are very delicious!” The pony said with the most content smile on her face.

“Well thank you Spiral!” Said Carla. “The kids always enjoy these kinds of sweets, but now that I know you enjoy it as well, I’ll have to make extra in the future!”

When dessert was finished, Maddie and Joey’s mother went around the table and collected all the dishes to take to the kitchen. The children left the table to go upstairs, while Joe went to the living room with Spiral to show the unicorn his smartphone. He sat comfortably on the couch before beginning the demonstration.

“So first things first, I’ll have to unlock my phone with the passcode.” The children’s father said, using his right thumb to hit the numbers on the screen. The mare had her eyes glued at the screen, amazed how each number was punched in, all with just a simple touch of the screen. But it was after the screen changed when Spiral’s eyes grew wide and curious.

“Wow…so what are all those little squares with the pictures on them?”

“Those are called apps, or applications. Each one has a different use with various functionalities. Let’s take this one for example.”

Joe hit one of the apps with his thumb before it covered the whole screen. The logo of the app was in the center for a few seconds before it dissolved and was replaced with what looked like different names of topics.

“This app is how I send emails, to my colleagues and to other people. Here, I’ll show you. We’ll begin with composing a new message…so the first thing to do is putting what the topic of the message will be, right here. In the case of what I want to send, I’ll be asking one of my colleagues if we should change any measurements of a fabrication drawing that was recently made. So I’ll just simply type, ‘Fabrication Drawing Measurements’, like so.”

As Joe explained the step-by-step basics of emailing on the app, Spiral stood up on her hind legs and used her forehooves to grasp onto his legs to get a better look at the screen. She was fascinated with how quickly the human typed on the screen with only his thumb.

“Next, I’ll type out the email in this big space here.”

The sound of fast-paced clacking droned on for a few minutes as the mare stared intently at the message that was being transcribed on the smartphone.

“Now that it’s written, I’ll need to decide who to send it to. Since it’s an issue I’m bringing up with one of the departments at my job, I’ll be including all these people.”

Spiral said nothing while Joe put down twelve email addresses in the send portion of the email.

“Once I know everything looks good, the only thing left to do is to send it!”

With that, Joe pushed a paper plane icon and a box that read “Message Sent!” popped up for a few seconds before disappearing.

“And that’s all there is to emailing!”

“Remarkable…” Was the only word that came to the pony’s mind and left her lips, before she returned to reality, looked at Joe and said, “So all those people you emailed, they’ll receive it right away?”

“That’s right, Spiral. Though I doubt any of them will read it right away as it is the weekend. Most people where I work at don’t like to work on Saturdays or Sundays.”

‘I can relate to that.’ Spiral thought to herself, before releasing her grip on the human and standing on all fours again. She then asked, “So what do the other apps on your smartphone do? You mentioned how it also has the ability to play music?”

“Ah yes, it does. So I’ll go back to the home page, then hit the app with the eighth note icon here…then it brings up a whole library of albums and songs I’ve bought and downloaded onto the device.” Joe explained before showing the screen to Spiral.

“Might I be able to hear one of these songs?”

“Of course. I’ll play…this one.”

As the music began to play from the smartphone, Spiral was taken back by the sound emitting from the device, but quickly relaxed from the quiet-like piano tune she heard. The pony sat on her haunches as she continued listening intently. The sound of other instruments soon joined in the melody which intrigued Spiral, but kept silent. Needless to say, it was a different kind of music she wasn’t used to hearing, but nonetheless liked the tone and usage of the instruments in the song. It was when the synthesized strings kicked in, that the unicorn’s head started to conjure up thoughts of her home in Equestria and everything she held dear back there. Memories of the past played in her mind of her family and the good times she remembered. It was an overwhelming sense of nostalgia that nearly brought the unicorn to tears. She did her best to fight against it, but when the organ overtook the song with its loud crescendo, Spiral couldn’t hold back as she covered her mouth with a hoof, closed her eyes and broke down quietly. Joe took notice right away and stopped the song.

“Spiral? What’s the matter? Did you not like it?”

“Yes…I did.” The pony sniffed. “It was…very beautiful.”

“Then what’s wrong?”

“I don’t know why…but as I was listening…I couldn’t help but think about my home…my clients…my…my…”

“Family?”

Spiral looked up at Maddie and Joey’s father with tearful eyes and shook head up and down while going, “Mmhmm…”

“Do you need some time alone?”

“No, no.” The unicorn answered while wiping away her tears and gaining her bearings. “I’m fine. *SNIFF* Really. It truly was a beautiful piece of music. What sort of music is it?”

“It’s part of a soundtrack from a movie made a few years ago. The basic rundown is about humanity’s struggle to survive in a future where Earth is dying and a farmer travels beyond the stars with a group of astronauts to find a new habitat for mankind. It’s called Interstellar and it’s a great movie that I’d love to show you sometime.”

“It sounds interesting.” Spiral said feeling like her old self again. “Would Maddie and Joey be interested in watching it?”

“Ehh…every time I ask them if they want to, they never sit through the whole movie. They always think it’s too boring. And to be fair, it is a long film that’s almost three hours long.”

“Three hours?!” Spiral asked with wide eyes. “That’s a long time to sit through one movie! Most movies in Equestria are only two hours, at most! How does one have the patience to sit through something that long?”

“Oh you’d be surprised.” Joe said with a chuckle. “Well I should go see if Carla needs any further help in the kitchen.”

“Okay, thanks for showing me how a smartphone works!”

“You’re welcome, Spiral. But I’ve barely even scratched the surface of the iceberg of all of its functions. I’ll have to show you more later.”

The unicorn was soon left alone in the living room, but it didn’t last for long as the sound of two girls chattering made its way to the living room.

“There she is!” Maddie said, rushing over to the pony. “So Spiral, are you up for hanging out with Stacy and I for the sleepover?”

“You know what? I sure am!” Spiral replied with a friendly smile, which earned her a hug from both girls.

“YAY!!! We’re going to have so much fun this evening!” Said Stacy.

The unicorn chuckled and returned the hug to the girls. She could already imagine the activities they would partake in.

Comments

[Kendallonian]

Excellent story so far! I'm very much looking forward to what this mysterious trance Spiral goes into is all about... and more wholesome hypnosis bits too.

My current theory about Spiral's trance is that her mother hypnotized her to do that sort of thing... but then again she's not a hypnotist, so... hmmm...