A Second Chance

by Meteorite Shower

Chapter 2

Alexandra stopped for a moment, trying to figure out why she was now face to face with Rarity. Well, not really face to face due to the height difference, but you get the idea.

"…Hi," she replied, after some careful deliberation. There was an awkward pause between the two, with both parties not sure of the other. Alexandra drew in a breath and continued speaking.

"You're not meant to see me," she said, with a hint of an accusatory tone. "How come you can?"

Rarity struggled to think of a suitable answer. "I assure you, I haven't the faintest idea," she said, hoping that was enough to placate the creature before her. "Why… am I not meant to, if I may ask?"

Alexandra frowned, and folded her arms, one hand resting on her chin in thought, as she half-studied, half-glared at Rarity.

"You just shouldn't be able to," she finally responded. "No-one here should be able to." She casted an aside glance, muttering to herself, "Well, except…"

"Except for… the pony you were just talking to?"

Alexandra bit her lip. "Ah, you… heard that, then. How… much did you…?"

Rarity steadied her gaze. "All of it, I'm sure. I was…following the poor dear… er, Meteorite, was it?" Alexandra nodded in response. "Yes, I was behind her a few lengths when you suddenly appeared in front of me. You had your back turned to me, but I dare say I was quite startled, so I hid behind those crates."

Alexandra nodded absentmindedly, apparently looking at said crates, but she was just staring into nothing, mulling over what was just said.

"You were following…" she muttered, deep in thought, "'suddenly appeared'…" she glanced at the main road, re-picturing the scenario that just occurred with new information. Rarity watched her, growing uneasy.

"Is… everything alright?"

"Yeah…" Alexandra muttered after a while. Eventually she spoke again, this time with more finality in her voice. "Okay. So. I'm pretty sure I figured it out. Because I didn't even know you were this nearby, you must've been close enough when I popped in to be caught up in the, 'magic author bubble', as Meteorite put it." She tutted to herself. "This is what happens when I don't properly go into detail about what's happening. Things just happen behind my back. Literally."

Rarity blinked, still not sure what was actually being said. "But everything is fine now?"

Alexandra glanced over at Rarity, and snapped out of her thoughts, suddenly realising she was still in a conversation with Rarity.

"Oh! Yeah yeah, it's all fine," she paused, "well, it's not, but it's not like any of this is going to matter. I'm just happy I figured out why you're suddenly involved now." She glanced at her watch. "But anyway, this took longer than I expected, but at least all the loose ends are wrapped up." She put her hands on her hips, looking at Rarity.

"Well, it was… interesting at the very least, meeting you Rarity, but we shan't meet again." Alexandra flopped her wrist in a half-shrug. "Not that you'll even remember this anyway."

Rarity looked concerned, "Why not?"

Alexandra sighed, torn between answering and just quitting right now. But she made the mistake of looking at Rarity's worried face, and her heart melted.

"Ah… um… look. It doesn't matter. You'll be fine! You'll go back to your normal life and you won't ever remember this weird little interaction happened, because once I'm gone, technically it'll never have happened to begin with!"

Rarity raised an eyebrow, though still heavily confused and worried. "I'm… not sure I like the sound of that."

Alexandra pinched the brow of her nose. "Rarity, please, it's nothing sinister! I promise! It's just… hard to explain quickly."

Rarity frowned. "When one has to deny something is not sinister..."

Alexandra put her face into her hands. "You're going to make me explain it, aren't you?" she said, muffled. She drew her hands away. "I don't even need to, you know! I don't have to resolve this bit! I can just finish this scene right now!" She punctuated by snapping her fingers.

…

…

…

Rarity looked around cautiously, before casting back an expectant gaze. Alexandra sighed.

"God dammit, fine. I don't know what else I can write for next week anyway," she muttered.

Clucking her tongue, Alexandra sat down on a nearby chair, using her hand to prop up her head as she looked upon Rarity, wondering what to say. Meanwhile, Rarity furrowed her brow in confusion, and glanced around.

"Where… did that chair come from?"'

"Well, I needed somewhere to sit..." Alexandra responded, purposefully being vague. She gestured to Rarity's left. "I'm sure you wouldn't mind taking a seat as well."

Rarity glanced over and to her shock, saw that her own couch that she used for dramatic flops was placed there, lined perfectly against the alley's wall as if it had been there all along. She cast a side-eye back to Alexandra.

"How did… Are you… You wouldn't happen to be familiar with a certain… Discord, would you?"

Alexandra gave a small, sharp derisive laugh. "Yeah, I can see why you'd think that. But no, I've got nothing to do with him. I'm just…" She sighed and threw her head back against the back rest of the chair, gazing and frowning at the sky.

"God dammit. I've had two weeks to think about this, and I'm still not sure how to explain this to you."

"Two… weeks?" Rarity asked.

Alexandra turned her attention back to Rarity. "Yeah. Y'see, I'm kinda… 'outside' of your reality. As it were. So, I can just… spend time in my reality thinking on how to proceed over here." She gestured to herself. "I'm not really here. What you see before you is um… like, an avatar of myself." After a beat she flashed a smile and gave a small wave. "So… that's a thing, I guess."

Rarity sat for a moment, quietly stunned as she thought this over. She cautiously got up onto her couch while asking her next question.

"So… you spent… two weeks just now… just to respond to me?"

Alexandra paused as she rested a finger on her pursed lips before responded. "Okay, I'll admit, that doesn't exactly leave me looking smart here." She gave a wry smile. "Dammit, maybe I should've taken another week to think about this."

Rarity relaxed slightly with the new tone of the conversation, but was still perturbed. "But I still don't understand. Just who are you?"

"Who am I…" Alexandra mulled over, before widening her eyes. "Oh! Well, shhh-oot, I've been rude!" She placed a hand on her chest. "First things first! My name is Alexandra!"

Rarity nodded. "Well, I am Rarity… but you seem like you already knew that."

"Haaa, yes…" Alexandra admitted sheepishly.

Rarity frowned slightly. "But what are you doing here exactly, if I may ask?"

Alexandra groaned. "This is the part that's hard…" She cleared her throat and sat up straight. "Okay. So. Um." She stared at Rarity in thought, unintentionally making her uneasy. Eventually she held up her a finger. "Okay! I've… got an idea. You know Daring Do, right? The… series of books, I mean."

"Yes, I do," Rarity answered, slightly bewildered by this sudden turn, "Although it's not a particular favorite series of mine. Personally, I prefer-"

"Ah yeah yeah yeah!" Alexandra interrupted, waving a hand to shush Rarity. "That's cool and all, but now's not the time to establish new things!" She noticed the slightly hurtful look on Rarity's face. "…Sorry. I just don't want to spent more time here than I've already have. But yeah, so Daring Do. Imagine Rainb- Ah. Hm. Imagine Twilight Sparkle was reading Daring Do, and she's really enjoying it, right?"

"Of course."

"Yeah, so, she's sitting there and she's like, 'Wow this is great!' but then she gets her own idea for a story about Daring Do, and she starts writing her own story of Daring Do. It's just like a normal Daring Do story; it has the characters, the settings, everything, only, Twilight's writing it."

"So… fanfiction."

"Yeah, and-" Alexandra paused. "Oh. You… You know what fanfiction is."

"It's hardly a new concept, darling."

Alexandra nodded numbly. "Right. Of course. I just… huh." She shook her head. "Well, okay. That makes things easier I suppose." She leaned forward. "Okay so, Twilight's writing her fanf- look, I'm just going to keep saying 'story'. She's writing her story, she's writing Daring Do and everything around her. So you could say that Twilight is in control of what happens in her story, right?"

Rarity nodded. "Yeeess… Where are you going with-"

"I'm getting there. So. Let's say… Twilight needs to think about a scene she's writing. She wants it to go right. She… takes some time away from the story to think it over. But for the Daring Do in the story, no time had passed during that scene, right? Even though Twilight may have taken, say… two weeks to think it over?"

Rarity's eyes darted back and forth in growing concern as Alexandra forcibly connected the dots for her. "Are you… implying that…"

"Yeeesss?"

"This is… a scene being written by… you?"

"Mm-hmm."

"And you're Twilight?!"

Alexandra facepalmed, mumbling to herself. "Yeah. I should've taken that extra week…"

Comments

[Greatazuredragon]

"So… you spent… two weeks just now… just to respond to me?"
Alexandra paused as she rested a finger on her pursed lips before responded. "Okay, I'll admit, that doesn't exactly leave me looking smart here." She gave a wry smile. "Dammit, maybe I should've taken another week to think about this."

[Emperor]

I'm trying to figure out if this whole chapter is an allegory for organic writing, ala when you write a chapter and the characters take you in a place different than what you had planned, or if this is just surface level the characters are taking over Alexandra's story

[Bicyclette]

Alexandra stopped for a moment, trying to figure out why she was now face to face with Rarity. Well, not really face to face due to the height difference, but you get the idea.

ehehe! though i’m sure Rarity’s look is enough to make her feel like she’s the one looking up

"Yes, I was behind her a few lengths when you suddenly appeared in front of me. You had your back turned to me, but I dare say I was quite startled, so I hid behind those crates."

ah the use of “lengths” as an intuitive unit of measurement, love it

"Well, it was… interesting at the very least, meeting you Rarity, but we shan't meet again." Alexandra flopped her wrist in a half-shrug. "Not that you'll even remember this anyway."

Rarity looked concerned, "Why not?"

oh, poor Rarity! such a statement is indeed concerning

Alexandra sighed, torn between answering and just quitting right now. But she made the mistake of looking at Rarity's worried face, and her heart melted.

extremely relatable

Alexandra pinched the brow of her nose. "Rarity, please, it's nothing sinister! I promise! It's just… hard to explain quickly."

Rarity frowned. "When one has to deny something is not sinister..."

oh no, not directly confronting the power differential between an author and their creation!

Rarity looked around cautiously, before casting back an expectant gaze. Alexandra sighed.

"God dammit, fine. I don't know what else I can write for next week anyway," she muttered.

sometimes they do take on a life of their own, don’t they?

Rarity glanced over and to her shock, saw that her own couch that she used for dramatic flops was placed there, lined perfectly against the alley's wall as if it had been there all along. She cast a side-eye back to Alexandra.

yay the fainting couch! always love to see it

"How did… Are you… You wouldn't happen to be familiar with a certain… Discord, would you?"

Discord does give the residents of Equestria a conceptual hole to fit omnipotent author-beings into

"Who am I…" Alexandra mulled over, before widening her eyes. "Oh! Well, shhh-oot, I've been rude!" She placed a hand on her chest. "First things first! My name is Alexandra!"

Rarity nodded. "Well, I am Rarity… but you seem like you already knew that."

i guess Alexandra doesn’t find starting conversations with ponies you know a lot more about than the reverse to be any easier than her self-insert did

"And you're Twilight?!"

Alexandra facepalmed, mumbling to herself. "Yeah. I should've taken that extra week…"

understandable leap for Rarity to make! easier to imagine being a simulacrum of yourself in some magic spell by Twilight than being the creation of a strange creature from a weird dimension that has a lot in common with your culture except they’re terrible and none of the names are horse puns