Chapter 31 - Learning About You
As we walked to Twilight’s newly upgraded dungeon of scientific curiosities, Twilight gave me a fairly clinical rundown of what I was to expect and the alternatives mares had available to them to ‘cool their heat’.
After digesting that, I decided to change the subject. “Has Fluttershy come back?”
“Not yet. I don’t expect her until she changes back to her pegasus form in the morning.” She looked me in my eyes. “Yes, this has happened before; and no, the Elements and I didn’t expect it to happen again. Also, we haven’t told anyone else out of respect for her privacy – although I’ll recommend she go to see a thestral doctor I know. Perhaps he can recommend something to alleviate the symptoms.”
I considered. “How did she know where to find me?”
“I read aloud the note you sent at the beginning of the week. Obviously, Fluttershy thought of you first when her instincts told her it was time to mate.” She looked at me with a furrowed brow. “What I don’t understand, Mark, is how you got synched up to her season so quickly. This is a very well researched subject from there being an east coast and a west coast season and mares frequently relocating at all times of the year. Or in your case, for those that have their First Season.”
I looked at the alicorn. “So how does it normally work?”
“For mature females, the pheromones of the many mares around the new arrival affect her subconsciously, triggering a change in the ovulation cycle after a couple of days. For the first season, the response is much faster, but I assume you tried to change back to your stallion form right away, didn’t you? I mean, you would have to practically bathe in a mare’s pheromones for ten to fifteen minutes to kick off a First Season.”
I stopped in the hallway, sat down, and put my head in my hooves.
Twilight continued on without me, her hoofsteps slowed, then she came trotting back. “Mark?”
It was some time before I could speak. “That’s exactly what happened. Fluttershy was all over me in my stallion form. I had to change to this one to convince her to leave. Then I didn’t change back until I was done writing the note to you that I sent via dragonfire. I didn’t think to wash myself off either. I could have changed back earlier but I didn’t. Crap, crap, crap.”
After several seconds, Twilight pulled my hooves down so she could look me in the eyes. “Mark, what’s done is done. At this point, you need to move forward, and I’m going to tell you the rest of what I suspect now rather than let it be a surprise later.”
I closed my eyes and braced myself. I nodded for her to continue.
“I strongly suspect your Marklestia form will have this cycle from now on. If you refrain from turning into your pegacorn form for the two weeks of the season and some weeks thereafter, you will start the clock as soon as you do change. You might be able to delay, but you can’t avoid it.”
I winced then opened my eyes. “You said might.”
“It’s just as likely your body will transition to this form without your input once the Season starts. Maybe in your sleep, maybe not.”
I frowned. “Is that it?”
“Nope.” Doctor Twilight might need to work on her bedside manner. All the bad news all the time and all at once. “If you do get pregnant, your body will not be able to change back until after the foal is born.” Her horn glowed for a few seconds. “I’ve cast a birth-control spell on you, but it’s only about 90% effective.”
She chuckled. “Funny story, actually. The spell used to be 100% reliable until…” Twilight caught my unamused stare. “…well, that might be an interesting history lesson for another time.”
I looked at the floor and let that sink in. Surprisingly, the overwhelming feeling I had was not what I would have expected. I chose to act on it and pulled the Element of Magic into a side hug with my wing which she accepted with only a light squawk and her eyes snapping wide open.
I nuzzled her once. “Thanks for being there for me, Twilight. It means a huge amount for me that you and all the girls are here to support me. I know it’s going to be rough and I trust all of you to help me through it.”
She looked up at me with a smile. “Always glad to help, Mark.”
The alicorn let me hold her for as long as it took until I was ready. Eventually, I let her out of my embrace and we continued our journey.
We arrived at Twilight’s new research laboratory. I saw that this room was at least three times the size of her previous space in the basement of the library tree. I recognized some of the equipment but frowned when I saw how many shiny new toys the mare had. No doubt she had procured a number of them with me and the puzzles my form presented in mind.
This time I didn’t flinch when I saw the hypodermic needle float towards me. I was quite used to giving her blood samples by now. “Any progress on the amulets?”
Twilight floated the now filled syringe towards the immortal microscope. “Only partial. I’ve verified that your samples gathered after the battle with Tirek can also gather energy from ley lines. Potentially, the magic aid could help unicorns as well as pegasi.” She placed a few drops in a small pipette and floated that under the eyepiece. Having seen this before, I kept my distance and raised my shield spell.
“The problem is interfacing the amulet to the thaumic system of the subject. I’ve had some momentary successes with test subjects, but the link keeps evaporating and can’t be re-established for weeks. Still researching the mechanism responsible for this. One moment, please.”
I waited as Twilight set up two metal balls on either side of the sample. I wondered why they looked familiar and got my answer a few seconds after Twilight put on her padded lab coat and goggles then looked through the eyepiece. Powerful electric arcs shot between the balls and passed through the test sample. Twilight’s mane blew backward and was limned in the bright blue light. When the arcs stopped, the sample glowed for just a moment and then returned to normal. This repeated perhaps a dozen times.
“Interesting,” said the purple alicorn as she made a spiral notebook appear along with…
“A pen!” I practically yelled. “A ballpoint pen! So Sunset came through with my wish list?”
Twilight looked up with a furrowed brow before her eyes went wide. She grinned sheepishly and brought a hoof to the back of her neck. “Oh, heh, heh. I… might have forgotten to mention that to her. No, she just left me this notebook and pen last week when she visited for something unrelated. In fact, let me do that right now!”
The book Twilight used to communicate with Sunset Shimmer popped into existence in front of her. She opened to a bookmark that looked like a fractal design and wrote in it for a moment. I trotted up just as she finished and turned it to face me. In Twilight’s familiar tiny script, I read “Mark wants ballpoint pens, please!” in blue ink. As I watched, I was shocked to see a quickly drawn response appear in black ink directly underneath. ‘OK’.
Twilight nodded and closed the book and teleported it away again. “When she visited, Sunset recommended always having a light on in the portal room, just in case we got a visitor who didn’t have the ability to illuminate the room.” She looked at me meaningfully.
I winced. “I should have thought of that.”
She nodded. “You aren’t the only one. I’ve even put a note on the back of the door welcoming anypony new and giving them directions to the front atrium.”
I pointed with a hoof. “Back to the pen. Can you make me a dozen of those so we don’t have to wait for Sunset?”
Twilight gave me one of those ‘are you serious?’ looks that normally came from the other ruling mare. “And how would I do that?”
I shrugged. “Unicorns have duplication spells, don’t they? Raven was able to copy and read four notebooks in about a half-hour.”
The lavender mare smiled. “Ah! I see where you get that impression. No, I can’t duplicate this… ‘ballpoint pen’ was it? Very descriptive.” She looked at the tip of the pen briefly before returning her gaze to me.
“Tell me, Mark, why do you think I have to order new books for the library rather than just creating copies from the stacks at another library? Or why farmers continue to sell their produce to unicorns when they could presumably keep making copies of the same apple from a single sample encased in a stasis spell?”
I looked down as I considered. “I hadn’t thought about it, but… I would guess the energy expenditure is too great?”
She smiled. “That’s part of the reason, but there are other limiting factors. The spell Raven used actually made a copy of the ink on the pages at the same time she was reading them, then floating over to a second, blank volume to be recorded there. Yes, the same thing could be done with published books, but Equestrian Law only allows this with ones that are out of print or with compensation to the author and publishing house. Even then you don’t have the correct binding and page count. The result is always more expensive and inferior in comparison to the original volume, so it just isn’t practical.”
Twilight floated the pen between us in her magic. “In the case of this pen, the plastic used is not available here in Equestria, so that would have to be changed in any duplication spell, which is quite complicated and a challenge even for me. What I absolutely cannot do is duplicate the material used for the ‘ball’. ” She pointed to the business end. “That alloy is harder than any material made in the forges of Equestria by a wide margin. Now maybe you can buy a thousand pounds of that metal from the nearest grocery store in your world for a single bit, but here I don’t have a clue what it is made of, much less how to manufacture it. Without that information, it simply cannot be duplicated.”
I frowned. “Well, thanks for explaining that to me. I suppose I’ll just wait for my care package, then.”
“No problem, Mark!” She smiled then caught herself. “Oh, and your test results! Your cells treat lightning differently from other forms of energy. They are instantaneously pumped up to around 90% of their capacity, the excess just passing through them without being absorbed. The surplus energy in the cells bleeds off at an exponential rate until the cell is back to its starting power level in about five seconds.” She started to hop up and down in her excitement. “With some practice and good timing, I’m sure you could apply that extra energy to your spells.”
Obviously, she was contemplating more experiments. I demurred. “And all I’d have to do is get zapped by lightning repeatedly until I don’t freak out every time, then concentrate through the pain to cast a spell in less than a second after I was blinded and struck deaf? I think I’ll pass.”
“No problem, Mark! Doing science with you is always its own reward.”
I smirked. “As in ‘wonderful, beautiful, sensual science’?”
Twilight rolled her eyes but with a smile. “Don’t make me throw you into the lake again.”
“Good point. Give me some time to make a bet with Rainbow Dash.”
We shared a laugh as she trotted to the far wall of her laboratory, which I just realized wasn’t solid after all. There was a door on thick hinges on the side of a very large horizontal cylinder that reached beyond the ceiling and floor. Its width ran the length of the room, perhaps forty feet. I whistled. “What is that?” The slightly curved door reminded me of something from home.
The purple alicorn grinned. “That is Equestria’s first and only wind tunnel that will soon be rated for supersonic flight.”
That’s what it was! The door looked like an airlock or the door to an airplane, except with the extra bits on the outside rather than the inside. I nodded. “I’m impressed. It’s huge!”
“Well, I had to make it big enough to fit my favorite test subject!” I rolled my eyes.
Twilight threw back a couple of latches and pulled the door open. A headphone assembly appeared in her hoof and she put it on her head. “Rainbow has been helping me get the chamber calibrated, but we still have weeks to go before she can try a sonic rainboom inside. In the meantime, want to see what it can do?”
I nodded and moved forward. The walls were very thick and one reason became apparent when I stepped in the tunnel itself. “You have all sorts of ports and probes all around the wind tunnel walls. You put the majority of the instrumentation inside the walls with just the sensors sticking in here, didn’t you?”
I turned to see the door close and latch behind me and I heard her voice come from speakers overhead. “That’s right. The walls are hollow with a reinforced concrete skin on the inside and outside. Maintenance ports are put at regular intervals for current and future needs. Look up here!”
I looked around. The front and rear walls were flat faces of concrete with a wide metal mesh set perhaps two feet in front. Each was about forty feet away, confirming that the wind tunnel extended beyond the length of the laboratory. I looked up a bit to see Twilight waving from beyond a large, clear viewport at the top and front of the cylinder. From the consoles I could see, I bet that was the control room.
I waved back. “So how does it work?”
She smiled. “Pretty well, actually.”
I scoffed. “I said ‘how’, not ‘how well’.”
“Oh! Multiple layers of fields to keep the test subject from getting too close to the walls or ends. I can control the air temperature, humidity, and wind speed including limited shear. Here, let me show you.”
A black circle appeared on the concrete walls on the front and back of the tunnel, behind the screens. Wind began to howl through the chamber and I realized these were portals. The circle expanded as the wind velocity increased. I spread my wings and flew into the wind. As I got used to the feeling of flying in the enclosed space, I naturally drifted around a bit. There was an area about ten feet on each side that felt like natural flight. When my torso wandered too far away from the center, a gradually increasing force pushed me back. The force was on my barrel and legs and did not interfere with my wings in the slightest.
In very little time, I was moving along at about half my top speed. I tried a couple of snap rolls and some intentional bounces off the side fields with turns. I grinned and glanced up. “I see why Rainbow likes this. I’m having a blast! If you could pipe in some music it would be absolutely perfect!”
Apparently, the microphones in the chamber had no trouble picking up my speech. I heard Twilight’s laugh. “Rainbow said the same thing. She’s off making a playlist for her recreation time after we finish the next round of testing. Now just keep flying straight for a bit while I check my readings.”
Soon I had a thought. How had she heard what I said and talked to me when she was closing the door to the chamber?
“Twilight? Is your headset mobile?”
“Yes, it is. I don’t need to be wired into a console.”
“How?”
She grinned at me then walked to a cabinet at the back of the control room. “It’s your trick, Mark. I created a stable dimensional micro-portal between two metal plates. It’s just wide enough for the wire to pass through and with the plates bolted close to the microphone on one end and the console input port on the other, the connection works fine. Electromagnetic forces are not disrupted by the portal, at least over distances of less than a dozen miles or so. A second set of portals transfers the speaker signals to prevent crosstalk.”
“What about over much longer distances? Could that be developed? If so, that would give us the instant communication we need.”
I saw Twilight stop and consider. “Maybe. Permanence is not a problem but I haven’t looked into why the signal degrades.”
“Maybe a boost in signal power?”
“No, the decay falloff is very steep so that would not buy us much more distance. That still gives us a huge number of single point-to-point connections.”
I smiled. “We could send almost all connections through a switchboard. Trained ponies would connect incoming calls to any desired destination. A tone sent through the line to the receiving party would notify them to come to their microphone and speaker to take the call.”
The alicorn tapped her chin with a hoof. “We’d have to make more than one switchboard location. Can’t have a single point of failure take down every possible connection. I could even create a rotary switch for each unit so it could connect to multiple switchboards.” She looked down. “It’s feasible. I’ll get to work right away on fixing the attenuation problem; maybe a grounded shield for the signal cable.”
I shouted, “Not right away! I don’t want to be here for hours! Can I be done now?”
Twilight laughed in that special way that made me know she was in full-blown science mode right now. Every objection would be considered an attempt at humor. “But Mark, I’m not done showing you all the features! Do you want to try flying through a fog bank at speed?”
“Done enough of that already today. And I don’t have my flight goggles.”
“Then I guess we just have one more experiment to run before we call it quits.”
When she didn’t say anything more, I looked up. She was standing next to a huge, double-poled knife switch on the back wall of the control room. The DANGER symbol and universal lightning bolt logo gave me no illusions about what it controlled. “Why the buck do you even have one of those?!”
She reached up to take hold of the switch handle.
“Twilight! Don’t you dare!”
I could see her manic grin from here. Between that and the reflective goggles, lab coat, and rubber hoof gloves, she could have just walked off the set of a monster movie. “Awwwww… but Rainbow gets all frazzled out by lightning so she couldn’t do this test. And you just shrug it off like nothing! How else am I supposed to get this calibration done?”
I felt very vulnerable now, realizing that I simply could not leave the wind tunnel until that mare allowed me to. “Twilight, that’s enough. Getting hit by lightning hurts, well… a bit. In any case, it’s quite unpleasant! Let me out of here now, please.”
“Hey, Mark?”
“Hey, what?”
“When was the last time you were worried about your heat?”
I stopped to consider as I drifted around the center of the wind tunnel, my wings compensating automatically for changes in speed and position. “Right before I got my cocoa, I think. I’ve been too busy and involved with everything else to worry about it or even notice it.”
She came closer to the window. “That’s really the best way to get through this week.”
I was silent for a time. “All that mad scientist stuff was just to keep my mind off of me?”
“Pretty much. I actually do need to test the lightning system, but I’m trying to schedule time with the best lightning wrangler around: a pegasus stallion named Blue Arc from the Cloudsdale Weather Factory. Obviously, that won’t be for at least a couple of weeks. While getting readings from you would be helpful, I won’t have a baseline until he works with me to get the system calibrated.”
I glared up at her. She smiled sheepishly and said, “I’ll get you out of there now. Powering down.”
“Hold on, Twilight.” She looked back up. “I don’t mind a single shot, if you think that would truly be helpful. Like I said, it is not a pleasant feeling.”
“Thank you, Mark! I’ll owe you one! Let me just get the recording instruments ready. Oh, and to prevent results affected by forewarning, I’m not going to tell you when I generate the bolt.”
“That doesn’t make me feel better!”
“Sorry!” I saw her start moving around to another console in the room.
I stared straight forward and waited. My thoughts wandered to what she had named me earlier: a lightning wrangler. So apparently I could exert my will on an elemental force of nature in some sort of pony magic way. I wondered how that would work, maybe just imagining—
I ran out of time to think about it as lightning seemed to appear instantaneously between the left and right walls. I was the connecting point in the middle. For the first flash, I felt the arc bounce off the tips of my primaries and connect a few feet in front of me. I saw a ball of white energy form for the briefest of moments before the structure collapsed and the subsequent two flashes went through me, with the familiar jolting discomfort bordering on pain.
I only faltered for a moment before recovering. I called out, hearing the joy in my voice. “Did you see that? I think I almost had control of it for a moment!”
The alicorn smiled down at me. “Actually, I was looking at my instruments, but there was a definite change after the first bolt.”
“Do you think we can get Blue Arc to give me lessons?”
She shrugged. “I don’t see why not. Would be a great thing for you to learn. I’m almost as curious as you about what your cutie mark signifies. Want to try it again?”
It didn’t take me long to decide. “Nah. I’d rather get taught by someone who knows what they’re doing. There’s only so much preventable danger I want in my life right now.”
“Sensible. Powering down.”
I watched the portals shrink to nothing with an accompanying decrease in wind speed until the air was still again. Moments later, I heard the latches moving on the door and Twilight pulled it open. She looked in with a grin, her lab coat and goggles still on, giving her the mad scientist look. An adorable one, but still, quite mad. “Ready to push the boundaries of scientific knowledge even further, Mark?”
I let out a huge yawn as I exited the wind tunnel. “Sorry, Twilight. I just can’t keep up with you and your boundless enthusiasm for the subject. Maybe in the morning we can continue, but first, I think I’m going to need a nap.”
Breakfast next morning was late, but I had a good sleep thanks to an herbal brew Twilight gave me that eased the hormonally induced effects of the Season. Of course, the rest of the mares had a head start on me and I knew that worse was to come. The education that Twilight had given me last night had certainly enlightened me intellectually, but as she had warned, the actual experience was something you could not completely prepare for. At least I wasn’t a teenage filly dealing with puberty at the same time.
Nevertheless, I had decisions to make, some more embarrassing than others. It didn’t matter how many times Twilight reassured me that it was all perfectly normal – if you grow up as a male human, this was always going to be weird. Naturally, I procrastinated and sought out something to distract me. A certain changeling proved to be quite useful for that purpose.
Thorax was in pony form, but as an adult mare out of deference to the Season. Not that we had anything to worry about otherwise as changelings weren’t inter-fertile with ponies. I suggested that perhaps this would be a good time to visit some of the female citizens of Ponyville as they would likely appreciate anything to get their minds off their heat. Only one thing made me hesitate – it was still pouring rain outside. The storm was scheduled to continue until the evening so there was no way I could avoid getting drenched just crossing the street.
Twilight to the rescue! She teleported us all to the town hall where there was a big social event being held for the mares who didn’t have other plans to deal with the Season. I was amused by the look on Thorax’s face when he got hit by the flood of emotions in the hall until I caught the scent of several dozen horny mares. I wondered if this was a good idea after all but I was committed now. Fortunately, Thorax managed to keep me distracted too.
The changeling told me that the Cutie Mark Crusaders had done their bit for the past week, getting up to their usual hijinks but accompanied by Thorax wherever they went. In just the five days that I was back in Canterlot, the sighs of resignation and exasperated comments went from “Those three are at it again” to “Those four”. I admit that it wasn’t the way that I thought that the citizens of Ponyville would get used to having a bug-pony in their midst, but whatever worked was fine by me.
This event was different though. No adolescent mayhem at least. Now that the ice was well and truly broken, I figured that it was about time that Thorax mingled with the adults more. Having retained the gossamer wings, it was obvious that the mare was, in fact, a changeling in an alter ego, but that familiar form made it a lot easier for ponies to relate to Thorax. It only needed one exceptionally curious mare to start up a conversation and others began joining in. It wasn’t long before our resident shapeshifter was the center of attention for a couple of dozen ardent listeners. I would have probably been part of that crowd for a lot longer if Rarity hadn’t turned up then.
The alabaster unicorn looked at me with wide eyes and a slowly growing smile. “Mark, darling! Whatever are you doing here like this?”
“Bit of a long story there, Rares. Short version – I had to change to mare form and then got stuck. Twilight’s prevailing opinion is that hormonal changes are preventing me from transforming back to a stallion and I won’t be able to do so until my heat is over.”
“Oh, dear. Has Twilight explained what you’re in for?”
I shuddered. “In graphic detail.”
She gave me a long look before appearing to come to a decision. “Mark, dear, I realize that this must be a bit frightening for somepony who not only has never experienced this before but also never expected to know what it is like. However, this can also be a time of wonderful revelations and growing bonds. Many mares take advantage of the Season to grow closer to the ones that they love. If I may be so bold as to say so, I think that you and I have something special between us. Would you do me the honor of spending some time with me? I can promise that I will be most considerate of your first experience with another mare.”
I gaped at Rarity in shock. I’m not an idiot – I knew she liked me for more reasons than to model her fashions, but it still came as a surprise for her to come right out and say it. But what astonished me most was that I liked what I was hearing. I hadn’t felt that way when Twilight had been listing off the alternatives for dealing with being in heat, but as soon as Rarity had suggested it, something lit up inside of me. A part of me was asking if I would feel this way if I wasn’t a mare and hopped up on hormones, but the rest of me was telling it to get lost. The beautiful unicorn made me feel wonderful when I was modelling for her and I had no doubt that she could do the same for me in other ways. The only qualm that I had was if I would prove good enough for the mare who had done so much for me. However, telling her no was virtually out of the question.
I licked my suddenly dry lips. “Rarity, the honor would be mine.”
Her face lit up. “Thank you, Mark. When would you prefer to come home with me?”
“Well… I’m kind of looking out for Thorax at the moment,” I said, pointing a hoof in the changeling’s direction.
The fashionista appeared to notice the center of attention of one of the biggest groups for the first time. “So I see. Our newest citizen seems to have hit it off quite well.”
“I credit the Crusaders with some of that success.”
Rarity giggled. “Oh my, yes. It was a bit hard to miss what those four got up to this past week. With Thorax’s presence revealed, all restraints came off, and that’s always a dangerous thing when it comes to the Cutie Mark Crusaders .”
“No argument from me there, but the results were worth it. Look at him, Rares – he’s happier than he’s probably been in his entire life.”
Rarity snickered. “It’s a good thing that he’s taken a female form right now or else the mares might be making him even ‘happier’,” she said with a smirk.
I chuckled. “Are you sure that anypony would be that desperate?”
The unicorn gave me a flat look. “Mark, dear, half the mares here would bed him right this moment if he was in stallion form. The other half would do the same a few days from now. A lover who can’t get them pregnant when they’re in heat? That’s a dream date, darling.”
I could tell that Rarity was perfectly serious, and it was a strong indicator of what lengths these horny mares would go to when in Season. And, God help me, I was one of them! “Rarity, do me a favor?”
“Yes, Mark?”
“Don’t leave my side while we’re here. I think I need you to save me from myself.”
The unicorn gave a rich, bubbling laugh. “No need to be such a drama queen, darling, but I will nevertheless accede to your wishes.”
Rarity and I spent the next couple of hours there during which I gave her the full story behind my gender change and subsequent arrival in Ponyville. She was somewhat concerned about Fluttershy’s unexpected transformation but, like Twilight, suspected that she would have come to her senses with the dawn. If so, nothing would stop her from coming back to Ponyville to tend to her animals. And if not, her friends would go out and search for her. As I had found out for myself, Flutterbat was a creature of passion but not terribly much thought, so we had to make sure that she did not get herself into trouble. Speaking of which though…
“So, basically you’re telling me that Fluttershy’s condition is what drove her to force herself upon me?”
“Goodness me, yes! We are not animals, Mark. Even the most… inflamed mare still understands that no means no. However, it’s due to the difficulty of making that decision while under the influence of strong hormones that we keep the sexes apart. Better to avoid the problem than exacerbate it.”
I frowned. “Then if Fluttershy’s actions were beyond the norm, Crimson should have recognized that and acted when I asked for help.”
Rarity bit her lower lip as she considered my words, then she sighed. “Far be it for me to be critical of a Royal Guard in the performance of his duties, but I would have to agree.”
“Thanks, Rarity – your point of view clarified the situation better than Twilight’s more clinical approach.” I scowled. “I’m going to have some strong words with my supposed bodyguard when this is over.”
“Don’t be too harsh, darling. After all, he’s only a stallion,” she said with a small smirk.
I stared at her for a long moment before I started chuckling. I had no other way of responding to that without shooting myself in the hoof.
As it turned out, we didn’t need to worry about Fluttershy. The yellow pegasus turned up at the town hall, dripping wet from the unceasing rainfall. Rarity spotted her first and nudged me. Fluttershy had already spotted us and was making a beeline our way. I prudently put Rarity between her and me. The fashionista merely rolled her eyes at my antics and addressed the approaching mare.
“Fluttershy, darling! It’s so good to see you here.”
“Umm, thank you, Rarity, but… umm… if you don’t mind, I would like to… er… talk with Mark. If that’s okay with you?”
“Do you wish for me to leave you two alone?”
“Oh, no! That won’t be necessary. Umm… has Mark told you what happened?”
“Yes, dear. It’s okay – go ahead.”
Fluttershy looked at me with shimmering eyes and I realized that those were tears brimming and not rainwater. “I’m so sorry, Mark. I didn’t know that would happen to me. I hate what I did to you.”
Reassured that my friend was back to almost normal, estrus aside, I bent down to give her a hug. “It’s alright, Flutters. Twilight told me about the magical accident and how it affected you. I always thought those cute fangs of yours were a bit odd.” Considering how shy she was, a grin was a rare sight on her face, but I had glimpsed those unusual canines on a couple of occasions. They weren’t full-on sharp fangs but had more of a point than standard equine teeth. I figured that she might have a bit of thestral in her ancestry until Twilight had explained their origin last night.
“But it’s not alright, Mark! I remember everything now. I tried to force myself upon you and that was unforgivable.” She started wringing her hooves.
“Please stop, Fluttershy. You aren’t to blame for your condition. If anyone is at fault, it’s me.”
Both mares’ eyes widened in surprise at that statement.
“What?” the pegasus asked in bewilderment. “No, that’s wrong.”
I sighed. “Look – I knew how much you desired me as a stallion but I didn’t want to hurt your feelings and tell you that I wasn’t interested in you that way. If I had done the right thing and spoke up earlier to make that clear, you would not have had the urge to hunt me down. Fluttershy – you’re my very good friend, but that’s all.”
The yellow pegasus sagged, her eyes downcast. “No, I should have realized that from the start. I’m just a stupid mare with a crush on somepony who never shared my feelings. I’m… so sorry.” She then turned and dashed for the door.
“Flutters!” I called out to her, taking a step in her direction.
Rarity put a restraining hoof on my chest. “No, Mark. It’s not you that she needs right now.”
I watched as Fluttershy headed back out into the pouring rain and I realized that she was right. But perhaps I knew someone who did fill the bill. The catch was trying to get in contact with him. I had no clue, but perhaps someone else did. “Rarity – any idea how to get in contact with Discord?”
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Yeah, there are an extraordinary number of reasons not to pull a Loki, ranging from political(Celestia-lookalike is seen pregnant!) to medical. (his genetics cannot be in a stable state right now)
Interesting way to say "so this is my dildo collection, go nuts"
Aww, cute that he finally will go native in his mare form first. I wonder how sad Dash will be that she didn't get first place, and how hard she'll try to get it with him as a male. And how Spike will feel about it too.
So Discord, huh? I wonder if Eris will make an appearance, mass heat and all.
If you do plan on having Mark. And Rarity end up together. Or anything like that I would suggest adding a romance tag. I noticed there wasn't one earlier before reading this chapter. And it briefly confused me.
good chapter
I started this chapter still pissed over the previous one, but managed to mostly put it to the side during the main body; the scenes with Twilight and Rarity were a return to form in describing both the characters and the world they exist in. Twilight's lack of social skills, the (beginnings of the) invention of the telephone, the slow leak of tech through the portal in the form of consumer goods, Thorax's integration into Ponyville and the Ponyvillians' usual adaptability in the face of the bizarre; they're all great glimpses of this world. (I wasn't that interested in the Mark/Rarity romance bit, but that's just me; I'm not that interested in romance in general. It was still well-written.)
And then came the scene that had me grinning, my anger evaporating. Justice will (hopefully) be served! This story's not quite safe yet, but things are looking up and I'm optimistic about its future. (Upon further reflection, I realized that only one of Mark's "friends" was a guard; for the non-guard it's merely a dick move, not Dereliction of Duty. Still not acceptable.)
The scene that finished this chapter provided a vicious mood swing; it hurt to read that. (In the "I'm feeling sorry for the characters" way, not the "That writing was painfully bad" way.) Fluttershy is not at fault, yet she fully blames herself and Mark's reassurances only make it worse. I hope Discord is able to help her accept that she deserves no blame for this incident; she had no control over what she did.
I think the main reason I was so mad about the previous chapter is that the preceding 29 were so good; I hate it when a story I'm enjoying goes on hiatus, and this was worse than that; a "hiatused" story can be resumed, but recovery here would be much trickier and less likely. You haven't quite pulled it off yet, but I'm optimistic. They'd better get more than just a slap on the fetlock or a telling off, though.
9365977
All it takes is a single *snap*, and those mares are running in place a foot above the ground/sliding backwards uphill/dancing a waltz with their neighbor (who's dancing a jig back)/trapped in fudge/and so on. And that's assuming that Discord even sets hoof/paw/claw in town at all; Fluttershy's cottage is well outside the main area and he could easily appear inside it, or simply arrive as Eris instead.
In fact, he might even choose to visit Fluttershy as himself deliberately, depending on (his view of) their relationship. I must say that, while I usually don't particularly care for romance, I'm a sucker for a (well-written) Fluttercord bit. Those two are (usually) so great for each other; Fluttershy teaching Discord of empathy, restraint, and Kindness and Discord teaching Fluttershy of spontaneity, the value of new experiences, and how a little Chaos can bring unexpected joy.
(I have seen some where he's abusive or simply exploiting Fluttershy, but those don't fit my view of him at all, especially after Twilight's Kingdom; at his worst he can be an uncaring, capricious, amoral dick, but he's rarely deliberately cruel and never without provocation. He's definitely not the sort to set up a long-term plan to hurt someone; he's far too spontaneous for that to last and he'd tip his hand far too soon for such a plan to work.)
9365977
If he can turn himself into stained glass and bifurcate his head to dodge a shot, pulling a Girlycard should be child's play.
By Royal Decree All Dungeons were to be Renamed Fungeons. Have you not gotten the Re Re Re reissued memo?
Sunset, one stack of modern metallurgy references, please!
Or heck, an interdimensional journal pair with the CHS side rigged up to a computer with OCR scanner and printer. Give Twilight 24/7 access to that world's equivalent of Wikipedia. Have something on the pony side which dumps relevant text to paper; it doesn't matter if the result is not of the greatest quality, just have a pile of pony proofreaders running through everything and reformatting it, then copying things to both the Royal library and any relevant specialist industry and university libraries.
Double heck, set someone up on the CHS side of the portal with a computer, the local version of Amazon Prime, and connections to sell gold and gems. Have the portal spewing reference texts back into Equestria as fast as possible. Throw in a few scientific catalogs and include example bars of as many useful materials as hands can be laid on.
You know, if lust were more filling it would almost be prudent to make arrangements with the hive. Too bad.
And we're finally getting some real hints about his Cutie Mark!
Oh Lord discord is gonna be a daddy I can tell
... Yes, yes it would
9366605
As in a certain Sister-in-law's subsequent sprog perhaps?
this reminded me of a silly story called "excuse me, your fangs are showing." by Bucking Nonsense.
it starts with a Changeling mistaking Fluttershy for another Changeling because of her fangs...
Well I for one hope he isn’t forced against his will into his pegacorn form during the heat season, if that is the case then the girls can forget trying to have foals with him.
Also in regards to the written instructions for those that come through the portal I can see one flaw with it, it presumes that the traveler would be able to read Equestrian, a picture set of instructions would be more universal.
9366830
Lol, yeah that's a good one.
I know that I wouldn't be the only one interested in hearing that story. It's certain to be entertaining at the least.
Hi, kettle. I'm Pot. You're black.
I'm still not on board with Mark/Rarity. Not when there's mares like Twilight and Trixie, or even Rainbow Dash.
9376089
I'm not feeling Mark/Rarity either.
9370298
"You're an ugly villian. You're a terrible liar. But we'll both be cooking in that same old fire" - 'The Pot & Kettle' by The Rumjacks
Great song.
Ones more a mindblowing chapter
Blue Arc, I wonder why that name is familiar
Very... Heated chapter... Poor Fluttershy
Ballpoint pens use a textured tungsten carbide ball, but they just used steel balls before that. I'm certain Equestria has an abundance of mild steel. The plastic body could be replaced with glass or wood or some other material. The only problem they would likely run into would be the ink. The ink needs to be stored in liquid form, easily absorb onto paper and dry quickly. The ink alone is the reason early ballpoint pens were so expensive and considered luxury items. That is until Marcel Bich mass produced them. The company still makes some of the most popular pens today, which is called Bic. They dropped the h off of his name so people wouldn't pronounce it as bitch.
9366327
oh, i just remembered a scene in a different story, i think it was "if wishes were ponies", where someone was thinking of getting rich by trading Equestrian gold or jewels for Earthly aluminum...and the Princesses were worried about the possible effect on the economy.
10203557
that was very specifiec steel though, a self-hardening one, which is an alloyed steel. Versions of that were used for machining tools, ball bearing and tank threads.
Ink used to have natural base, essentially refined pine sap or something similar, while modern ones use synthetic gel. Actuallly, I think only gel pens use WC, e.g. in mine country its waste is restricted and those are still steel.
Getting harder and harder not to dislike Crimson. I am sure they have a great relationship ‘off camera’ but nearly every interaction between the two that we have ‘on camera’ is either needling or drill sergeant demeanor that would require a very strong freindship to sustain. The abandonment would have been the last straw for me if I was in Mark’s place. Both of his freinds did it, but that was a two fold betrayal for crimson since he is meant to be a bodyguard.
Discord time to shine
♡
Lol
Mark's in heat.
That's awesome and I wish this was a clop story for this reason.