Mediations Managed
Chapter 10
Mediations Managed
Edited by: CosmicAfro
Preread by: Neko- and Onederman
Twilight tumbled through the air, gripped by panic. She was falling with the creature she had come to make peace with. She could still see Rainbow valiantly struggling to slow its descent, but try as she might it wasn’t doing much.
Why’d it have to turn out like this?!
The unicorn turned her attention to the approaching ground with alarm. If she didn’t do something, they all would be in huge trouble!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A few moments ago.
As Twilight’s brain rebooted she became aware of two things:
1. The creature had made no move to attack, and was still standing patiently.
2. Her rump was firmly pressed up against its legs.
She practically threw herself forward as the second point became apparent. A heavy blush adorned the unicorn’s face as she regained her footing, all the while silently praying to Celestia that the creature didn’t know the usual meaning of such an action. Or that it didn’t misinterpret it as something else.
The creature for its part only shuffled and gave no indication it had done either. After a short moment it made bleat of sound and waved, which she returned more out of habit than conscious thought. It was odd how its mannerisms seemed to mimic that of a pony at random intervals, without any rhyme or reason that she could discern.
Strange sounds emanated from the creature’s mouth, bringing a welcome distraction. She listened intently as the foreign syllables poured forth. The sounds themselves were like that of a chittering monkey, but to compare the two would like comparing a foal’s hoof painting to the portraits that adorned the halls of Canterlot. While apes and other simians made similar noises, they tended to be wild, erratic, and relatively simple. When this creature spoke, there was notable complexity with obvious structure and cohesion.
She noticed there was a slight tonal shift before it stopped talking.
Twilight tilted her head in confusion, before realizing that it had probably either made a statement or more likely had asked a question.
It muttered something with obvious disappointment. She noted a large number of separate sounds or “phrases”. It seemed similar to Zebrican in that regard, rather than relying on the shifts in pitch that normal Equestrian utilized. It was similar to the first time she had heard Zecora speak in her native tongue.
Zecora!
Twilight restrained herself from facehoofing. She should have brought her from the start; even if she hadn’t encountered this creature before, the sagely zebra would probably have an idea at least how to bridge the lingual gap.
Just as she was coming out of her reverie she noticed the creature was patting it’s chest and saying something. It then motioned to her, then again. The Cutie Mark Crusaders tale came to the forefront of the mare’s mind. It was her turn to introduce herself. She took a moment to gather her composure and cleared her throat. Placing a hoof on her chest she began her greeting.
“My name is Twilight Sparkle. Protégé of Princess Celestia. It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir.”
Her response was a confused look, followed by a blink and a grunt.
This time she did actually facehoof. She needed to use small words. She had no hope of creating any kind of understanding otherwise.
She drew a calming breath before she continued. “Sorry about that, my name is Twilight Sparkle.”
“...Swoowy abdoot taght mai name‐”
“NO! No, just Twilight Sparkle. Twilight. Sparkle.”
Even after that little hiccup the mare was able to get her new acquaintance to say her name, she was making progress. Even if the end result was horribly mangled into Twilik Carbunkle. Still, absurdly close considering the differences in their morphology.
Twilight smiled as she found herself fascinated with every little detail she could pick out, from the shape of the nose to the pronounced chin. Several minutes went by before she realised the creature was looking at her with what she assumed was an expectant look.
She pondered her options; she had more or less exhausted any dialogue they could have at the moment. It was unlikely she would be able to convey anything meaningful, as just saying each other's names was difficult enough.
Now she wished she had brought Pinkie. She would have probably found a way to teach the creature how to speak perfect Equestrian with a few rounds of charades and a puppet show.
Hmmm, puppets...
The thought brought back memories of a spell Twilight had used as a filly. It was perfect.
She gritted her teeth as she weaved her spell. Out of the corner of her eye she could see one of the creature’s lanky appendages went to what she could assume was a knife of some sort. It also changed its footing into what she guessed was a more guarded stance.
Wasting no time, she let the mental constructs erupt from her horn and let them prance about on the floor. After the first two of her magical marionettes materialized the creature returned to a more neutral pose.
Soon the little magical dolls of the crusaders were prancing about on the floor. She tried to see if it showed any signs of recognition. However, while some gestures were rather obvious, the more subtle expressions seemed to be more difficult to pick out. Though one would think that it would remember its most recent visitors, being alone in the forest and all.
A sudden realization struck Twilight: she had made the assumption that it was alone.
The Cutie Mark Crusaders said they had seen only one, but that didn’t mean it was the only creature of its kind in the vicinity. There was even the possibility she was addressing the wrong creature.
But how to ascertain its identity?
Her eyes were drawn to the dolls on the floor.
Oh well, worth a shot.
After a few more hastily made constructs she set about recreating the encounter with the Timberwolves the Cutie Mark Crusaders had described, albeit with much less gore.
After the fight had concluded, she gestured to the creature who in turn confirmed her suspicions. While this was great news, she wondered if there were any more of its kind nearby or if it was all on its own. And if so, why settle in the Everfree? She was so engrossed in her own mind she nearly missed the creature examining one of her constructs.
She directed the puppet closer and smiled as the mystery creature examined it from multiple angles.
What would happen next would shock Twilight beyond words. The creature reached out and touched the doll. While the act itself would not be considered all that surprising, what the creature’s touch DID certainly was.
The moment it came into contact with the construct, the purple mare could feel the entire structure of her spell violently yanked from existence and the remaining magic seemed to vanish.
The creature reeled back and shrieked in what was unmistakably agony.
Twilight could only blink uncomprehendingly.
What?
Her mind couldn’t seem to grasp what had just happened. Even when she saw the creature tumble out from where it was likely a balcony had once been, she was only partially roused from her confusion as she charged to give aid.
What?!
As a brick came lose and the creature dangled by a lone appendage she still couldn’t shake her utter incomprehension of the situation. She reached out her hoof, which it latched on to quite readily. She barely noticed that Rainbow had broken cover to aid in her rescue attempt.
WHAT?!
What had the purple librarian so baffled, so flummoxed was the sheer absurdity of what had just happened.
The creature didn’t dispel the doll.
It didn’t crush its form.
It didn’t do anything except touch it.
And yet it destroyed, no, annihilated the spell entirely.
No, not the spell, the magic itself had been destroyed.
You couldn’t do that.
You simply couldn’t do that.
Magic was one of the most powerful forces in the universe, more than that, it was part of reality on the same scale as gravity. It was malleable energy, lending its power to the will of others given the right technique.
Even simple spells could be likened to complex knots holding down a coiled spring.
But it was like this creature’s touch denied this fundamental rule of reality. This law that held the world together. It hadn’t undone the knot or cut the string, instead it turned the spring to rust. No, less than rust, ash.
There was no counter‐spell, no protective aura, nothing that her rational mind could latch on to. One thing echoed through the young mare’s mind.
It can’t do that.
It defied one of the most fundamental physical laws, that matter and energy cannot be destroyed or created, only changed.
It was only when she felt the ground shifting beneath her that Twilight found herself pulled from the interiors of her own panicking mind. She tumbled forward and realized the stones beneath her hooves had come free, throwing the creature and herself to the wind.
She tried to form a teleport spell to save Rainbow, herself, and this brand new creature to the eyes of Equestria. But it was as if her magic had turned to oil, the structures had no solidity and every spell seemed to slip from her grasp.
It then struck her like a runaway train.
It’s the creature.
She only had to turn and look at Rainbow Dash to confirm her suspicions. She watched one of the strongest and fastest fliers in all of Equestria, if not all of history, flap her wings uselessly as she tried, and failed, to catch the wind beneath them.
She yanked her hoof from the creature’s grip and desperately tried to teleport herself away, this time with much more success.
She reappeared at the base of tower, as she desperately tried to balance her revelation with the immediate situation.
The creature could negate magic in its entirety right down to erasing its existence entirely. No, that couldn’t be right, there had to be more to what was happening. Magic doesn’t just disappear like that, she should know better than to jump to conclusions. But for now, how could she stop its fall without magic?
If she transformed a boulder into a mattress it would just turn back into a stone at the moment of impact. If she tried to catch it with her magic it would do nothing. She looked around for anything she could use, a soft pile of leaves, a mound of dirt, she would settle for anything at this point. Her eyes eventually came to rest on the bridge the creature had built, and a wild spark of idea formed in her mind.
“Rainbow!” She called out. “Rainbow, over here!”
Once she was certain she had her friend’s attention she went to work. Summoning her magic she focused on the air around her and sent it skyward in a massive vortex. She had to work quickly, if what she suspected was correct, the tornado wouldn’t last long. The air itself wasn’t part of the spell, so it would be effective, but a short blast of air would only slow them down so much. Probably not enough to avoid injury but enough to buy her some time.
She quickly yanked the vines from the tower and began braiding them rapidly into a makeshift net, and tied the ends around a large stone pillar in the courtyard. The pillar and tower now looked very much like a mismatched volleyball net. All it needed was one final touch, she blasted the marble pylon with her magic, collapsing the stone pillar and very nearly missing a lone well in the middle of the courtyard.
Not what she would call ideal, but given the circumstances it would have to do.
With a final sputter the tornado released Rainbow Dash and the creature, dropping them towards the newly made net with the prismatic pony doing her best to guide the both of them, barely keeping the two of them from freefall. As they neared the ground she dropped her burden into the waiting embrace of the vines, shooting upward as her wing strokes suddenly became effective once more. The creature bounced once and yelped in surprise as it flailed about in the air before landing on the ground.
Twilight gave a sigh of relief as she saw the creature stir.
I never would have thought all that time spent playing cat’s cradle with Cadence would ever save somepony’s life.
“Ohmygoodnessohmygoodnessohmygoodness.” The librarian turned to see a familiar yellow pegasus moments before she was enveloped in a soft and sudden hug.
“Twilight, are you ok? Please tell me you’re ok. When we saw you fall from that tower I was so worried. And‐” Twilight returned the hug and earned a small squeak in the process.
“I’m fine, Fluttershy.” The librarian was smiling, though the expression was quickly replaced with a look of concern as she turned to her previously plummeting companion. “Though honestly, I’m more worried about our new friend over there.” She motioned to where the creature was, it hadn’t raised itself up and while it was upright, it was bent over with its legs tucked beneath it with its head on the ground and its back in the air.
“Oh! Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear,” Fluttershy whispered, carefully approaching the creature’s position, her shyness overridden by her caring nature.
It was hunched over, holding one of its strange paws close to its chest. Its breath came in shrill hisses as it slowly straightened itself to an upright position, but didn’t try to stand. Twilight winced when she saw a few errant drops of blood fall from its forepaw.
As Fluttershy moved to get a better look at the injury, the newly christened patient drew back giving her a wary look. However, it only took a few nuzzles on its uninjured hand to allow the pegasus an unhindered view of the damages. Blood flowed from a few scrapes and gashes while some smaller rocks were actually embedded in the skin itself.
“Oh dear, that doesn't look good,” the yellow mare remarked as she examined the various wounds.
“How bad is it?” Twilight asked as she approached.
“It may not be serious yet, but if this goes untreated the poor dear could have a serious infection later on.”
“What do we need?”
“Oh, uh. Well, bandages, tweezers and disinfectant would be fine for now, I think.”
“You mean like this stuff?”
The two mares and the creature all jumped at the sudden appearance of a pink pony wielding a large white box adorned with a red cross.
“Pinkie, where did you get that in the middle of the Everfree Forest?”
“Silly Twilight, I have first aid kits stashed all over Equestria in case of medical emergencies.”
The librarian opened her mouth to say something, but opted instead to simply relish the fact her friend’s sudden appearance hadn’t startled the creature too badly and had brought medical supplies to boot.
Fluttershy wasted no time, quickly removing the supplies needed from the large metal container. Soon she was engrossed in caring for the creature’s injured paw, expertly manipulating the tweezers with her mouth.
The creature sat and allowed the impromptu medic access to its appendage, though it vocalized its pain as the tweezers removed rocks from its paw.
The pained grumbles that emanated from the patient did not go unnoticed as a small and nearly inaudible eep accompanied each wince that signified one less bit of gravel embedded in the skin.
“Twilight!”
The mare in question perked up at the sound of her name. She could see Applejack waving from atop the slowly descending cloud that still held a faint blue glow. She could see Rainbow Dash pushing the cloud with ease as the fluffy platform was brought to ground level. As Rarity came into view it was clear she was becoming a bit worn down with a few beads of sweat dotting her fur. Despite this she was talking rather animatedly with Rainbow Dash, assuring that ‘yes darling, I’m certain it was quite heavy.’
Twilight’s eyes darted from the pair to the approaching Applejack, who looked quite relieved at her friend’s uninjured status.
“Sheesh Twilight, yah gave us all quite a scare when yah fell out that window. It’s a good thing Dash was quick on the draw.”
“Definitely, things could have gone horribly if she hadn’t steered the Subject into the net.”
The cowpony raised an eyebrow at the moniker. “The Subject?”
Twilight nodded, “We can’t keep calling it ‘The Creature’, and it’s a whole new species. The first name I considered was ‘the specimen’, but that sounds like we’re referring to a sample of rock or soil.” The mare’s expression turned a little sheepish. “Also it’s a little too impersonal for casual conversation, so ‘the Subject’ will have do for now.”
Applejack gave a nod before tilting her head to better examine the braided ladder that had acted as an impromptu safety net.
“Fancy work, though Ah’m wondering why yah didn’t just catch the critter. We both know that thing on your forehead ain't just for show,” the farm mare commented, giving the horn a poke or two with her hoof. Twilight’s face adopted a look of concern despite her friend's jovial tone.
“I would have, but that wouldn’t have worked.”
“What wouldn’t have worked, dear?” Rarity queried, approaching with Dash in tow, though the latter was carrying a fairly large rock between her hooves. Twilight raised an eyebrow at her fashionista friend, whose horn was still glowing.
“Are you all right? I can take over for keeping the cloud condensed, you look like you need a break.”
With a sizable sigh of relief the seamstress let her spell fade, the cloud’s blue glow changing to purple as Twilight took over.
“Thank you darling, that was getting a bit difficult. Now what were you saying wouldn’t work?”
“Magic.” Twilight’s tone as serious as the grave.
That got everypony’s attention. Magic was Twilights special talent, for her magic to not be effective was a mark for concern.
“I’m not entirely sure I follow you, why wouldn’t your magic have worked? I mean performance under stress is one thing but‐”
“The Subject,” Twilight pointed a hoof in the strange creature’s direction. “From what I can tell, it cancels out all magical forces. It’s why Dash couldn’t stop our fall even when we know she can carry four full grown ponies. Her inherent pegasus magic was gone.”
“You know, now that you mention it‐” Rainbow tapped her chin while discarding the rock with her other hoof. “‐I remember feeling like I couldn’t get any wind under my wings. Weird.”
Twilight nodded before continuing, “Any magical force that comes into contact with the Subject is instantly destroyed or dissipated. At the moment I have no idea how, and on top of that it may be that prolonged exposure might have more permanent effects as well.”
She turned and pointed at the creature, “You see what it’s wearing?”
The three nodded, watching as Fluttershy carefully poured peroxide on the Subject’s paw, earning a low drawn out hiss. Its chest was bare of covering however its lower body was covered in in light fitting garment that fitted over its long legs.
“Well, I found what was probably meant to cover the upper portion of its body. The cloth didn’t react to my magic at all even though it wasn’t in contact with the creature at the time and it didn’t appear to be made from any special material.”
Rarity’s eyes widened, the implications finally dawning on her. “That means that even the most powerful unicorn spells would do nothing, and if it touched anything that needs magic to function... it would be like blowing out a candle.”
“Exactly, my shield spell would probably pop like a soap bubble if the Subject even so much as touched it.”
“That’s... a worrisome power indeed.”
“Yeah,” Twilight agreed, though she paused when she recalled the moment it touched the doll both when it and the spell had disappeared. It had cried out and reeled away. Maybe ignoring physics wasn’t as painless as she had first assumed.
The two unicorns creased their brows as the possibilities made themselves known. This creature was becoming more inherently dangerous with every discovery they made. They were so engrossed with their own concerns that they almost didn’t hear the light fluttering of wings that announced Fluttershy’s presence.
“Um...” was all they got from the pegasus to draw their attention to her. Fortunately being used to the low volume nature of their friend it was enough to let them know she was finished treating the newly dubbed ‘Subject’.
“So, how is our new... friend?” Rarity inquired.
“Oh, he seems fine now. His hand will probably be sore for a little while, but he should be better in about a week.”
Twilight’s ear twitched at ‘hand’. She was sure she knew that term from somewhere, but from what? And why did it make her think of minotaurs? Most of the others simply looked on with confusion.
“Um, his whatnow?” Rainbow asked as eloquently as she was capable of.
“Ah’ve heard of ‘lending a helping hand,” Applejack interjected “and ‘having your hands full’ but Ah thought that was just a figure of speech.”
“Actually,” Fluttershy replied, “those figures of speech came from minotaurs, they have hands too. Though they only have three fingers and a thumb on each hand.” She turned to look at her recently released patient as he flexed his hand. He gave a little twitch whenever a lance of pain struck his injured appendage, but other than that didn’t seem to be having too much trouble with it. “This has four fingers and a thumb on each hand,” Fluttershy continued. “They’re also a lot slimmer than a minotaurs.”
“OH, I remember now, it was in A Complete Guide to Carpals. I knew I had heard of that term somewhere,” Twilight remarked with a hint of nostalgia. She remembered reading that particular book in the Canterlot library. She had seen the drawings of the large grippers that the minotaurs sported. Maybe the difference in size had kept her making the connection, of course it had been quite a while she had read that particular book. Maybe it was time for a review. Wait... Twilight looked to Fluttershy. “But where did you learn all that?”
“Oh, I um..” The canary mare was surprised by the question and floundered a bit before regaining her composure. “I asked a minotaur I met about them.” She turned to better address Pinkie Pie and Rarity. “Do you remember Iron Will?”
Pinkie perked an ear in recognition which was quickly followed by a smile and a nod. Meanwhile Rarity’s face betrayed her surprise. “HIM? Well now that you mention it, I do suppose he did have something similar. But when exactly did that topic come up?”
Fluttershy pawed at a bit of dirt as she replied, “I was curious, I hadn’t seen anything like it before, the closest in comparison were Spike’s claws. So after one of our sessions I just kind of... asked.”
Rarity blinked before replying with a most refined. “Oh.”
“Wait, Iron who?” Rainbow Dash asked, not happy that she was apparently out of the loop.
“Long story, dear, I’ll tell you later.” Dash grumbled at Rarity’s response and pouted, hovering in place.
“Enough about that!” Pinkie energetically cried out, “What are we going to do with our Super‐awesome‐special‐shiny‐spectacularific new friend? Make smores? Dance? Play charades? Ohh, I’m so excited!” At the end of her exclamation she began to bounce up and down in anticipation.
Twilight gave a small laugh before answering. “Not quite, Pinkie, but you’re close.” Twilight broke a twig off a nearby tree with her magic and began making a map in the dirt with it; she drew trees, prominent landmarks, and everything she could think of to keep the map as accurate as possible.
“Oooh, I see, Pictionary!” Pinkie cried in revelation. “Neato burrito!”
Twilight could only smile while she rolled her eyes before approaching the Subject who had taken a seat on a rock not too far away. It was looking at the cloud platform they had brought to ground level then to her, specifically her horn as it cast the same purple glow as the cloud. Then its eyes drifted to her friends as they talked amongst themselves before returning to her.
It gave her a look that she couldn’t quite place. The Subject had such small eyes it was rather difficult to gauge subtle emotion. It mumbled something under its breath and looked away but otherwise took no action.
Twilight could only hope she hadn’t offended it in some way.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Troy watched idly as the six oddly colored ponies chatted, trying his best to decipher what had just happened.
First he had been in the tower where everything had gone better than expected, the pony had been nice and everything had been going great, there even was a puppet show. Everything went downhill from there. When he had tried to touch one of the puppets he felt like he just shook hands with a cattle prod. Immediately afterward he very nearly fell out a hole in the wall that had once been a door to a balcony. Then he DID fall out an opening that had once been a balcony. Despite the pony and her colorful compatriots best efforts to the contrary.
Then his life flashed before his eyes, right before he landed on a volleyball net made of vines. Though on closer inspection it appeared to be a giant Cat’s Cradle.
He felt as though he should feel something about being saved with a children’s game usually played with bits of string. But between what he guessed was shock and the fact he was probably acclimating to the weird shit this universe seemed to throw his way, all he really felt was the intense desire to lie down and sleep until all this strangeness left of its own accord.
After that he had hurt his hand which was attended to by a tiny pegasus who seemed to have uncanny medical expertise for someone lacking hands. Flexing his own injured appendage he was impressed with the bandages, they didn’t constrict blood flow or restrict movement. While it was usable, his hand probably wouldn't be able to weather sustained or strenuous use.
The pony that had bandaged his hand was talking to the purple one and several other ponies he had noticed when he was being treated. However, what caught his attention was their method of transport, namely a GIANT PURPLE GLOWING CLOUD. Though it had arrived as a giant BLUE glowing cloud. Talk about making an entrance. Though when it was being flown down by a blue pegasus it was a rather interesting sight to see.
Still the color change was odd.
He looked from the purple cloud to the purple pony, hamster wheels spinning furiously as the connections started to form. Again to the cloud and then to the pony, taking note of the glowing horn. Also purple.
Question answered, the color came from the glowy sparkly stuff from the horn which helps control the cloud? It had seemed that the ones with wings did the majority of the steering. And magic, that was definitely a thing going on here. As much as those questions intrigued him, a rather prominent alternate train of thought took their places: If they had all come together, why had only one of the ponies come a rap tap tapping on his chamber door? Why that pony in particular and not a single one more?
He could only guess that they were her backup in case things didn’t go the way they wanted, but at the same time wouldn’t sour negotiations.
He watched as the miniature lavender unicorn finished conversing with the other implausibly colored equines after which she promptly turned around and began trotting toward him. It seemed that she had planned things out thus far so he would greet the group favorably.
“Clever girl,” he mumbled, reevaluating the pony’s guile.
While the deception was a logical one and ultimately for the best, he felt it was best to consider every possibility. While it seemed unlikely that their goal was to kill him, saving somebody's life is a quick way to gain their trust. He played the scenario over in his mind, looking back it was possible that the whole thing had been orchestrated in order to put him in their debt.
However, It was unlikely to the point of being a non‐factor. It was the way he had approached that had put him near the opening, and he had taken down the balcony himself. On top of that, when that puppet had zapped him it didn’t push him away, he jerked back on his own. Besides all of that, the look of incomprehension and panic on the face of the pony before him back in that tower when she hooked her hoof in his hand in an attempt to save him was not something that could be easily faked.
As it stood, even if everything that had happened was part of some plot to get in his good graces it held no benefit to him at the moment to spurn their attempts at diplomacy. Either way, even if it was their doing, it was best to pretend to have fallen for the plan hook line and sinker, and if it wasn’t some kind of scheme then his suspicion was unwarranted and everything would be fine regardless.
He watched the pony draw out a map of what he could presume was the immediate area, liberally adding details and landmarks. After adding some plains and mountains to the landscape she scrawled a miniature run down castle in the middle of the forest. After that, a small tree hut near the border of the forest and plains.
Guessing it belongs to that zebra from before.
More structures were drawn in the empty fields showing a moderately sized village, a farm and what looked like a home that had been dug out of a hill under a tree.
Troy recognized most of the buildings and waited for... whatever it was the pony wanted.
After the unicorn was satisfied with her map, she summoned several green halos around the hut in the forest, the underground cottage and the farm along with small humanoid figurines. She seemed to strain as she multitasked until the unicorn with curly hair stepped in and the cloud took on a blue color. The purple one presumably gave a word of thanks before turning back to the map.
She put her hoof to her chin in a surprisingly human gesture, and after a moment of silent contemplation her horn briefly flashed and a large red X appeared over the village. The intent was plain as day, she was marking the safe areas he could travel to, and outlining the areas that were dangerous or possibly forbidden.
The young man nodded to show his understanding and pointed to the areas marked with green. When the unicorn nodded back he knew she understood as well.
Then she created a tiny crystalline sun and moon; after a brief look to check the sun’s current position as it approached dusk, she moved her miniature to correspond with its larger twin.
Then she rotated the model sun and moon, allowing the orange orb to dip below the model mountains and raising the light blue sphere to take its place, then letting it travel over the town and forest for the sun to rise again. She repeated it a second time with the tiny sun setting and the moon traversing the simulated sky before finally giving away to sunrise. However the small sun hung fast at high noon and the purple unicorn created a miniature figurine of herself and walked it to the crumbled castle.
From what it appeared she was telling him she would be back the day after tomorrow. He nodded again.
Apparently satisfied the pony turned and sauntered back to her companions and the giant blue cloud. The orange pony with the hat had a few hushed comments for her friend, but after what seemed like reassuring words she let the matter drop. Whatever it was.
The group waved goodbye as they boarded the blue cloud and after a moment were carried into the sky. Soon two pegasi pushed the fluffy platform beyond the treeline and out of sight.
Troy sat down and attempted to comprehend what had just happened. In essence he supposed that he had just made, more or less, a playdate with a purple unicorn for the day after tomorrow. In a crumbling castle that he had found only after running into a rather effeminate sea serpent, after outsmarting a Manticore, and all before this he had to make what was certain to be a new land speed record running from a cave filled to the brim with Apocalyptic amounts of NOPE.
“Huh.”
All things considered the hiker felt he was taking things rather well.
At least now he knew this wasn’t a hallucination. No way something like this could be the product of his mind. He wasn’t nearly that imaginative. Or was he? Nah. At this point, second guessing himself held no benefit.
Troy headed back inside the castle, mentally assembling his to‐do list.
1. Go upstairs and get my stuff to somewhere that isn't a crumbling tower.
2. Plug that hole in the wall.
3. Deal with the Chicken‐lizard thing
4. Dinner.
5. Sleep.
As he entered the crumbling castle he spotted his handmade bow in the corner. After a moment of contemplation he shrugged and walked over to piece of wood and sinew and picked it up. He gave it a test pull, it was a little loose and his left hand tweaked with discomfort on the bow’s grip. He took another look at the bandage, he was still surprised at the small pegasus’s medical skill, the bandage didn’t restrict his hand’s movement at all.
He turned his attention back to the bow, he gave another tug and immediately found the source of tension loss. A large crack ran through the center of the bow not only making it useless, but dangerous at the same time.
The hiker sighed and tossed the bow back to the corner from whence it came without ceremony. He didn’t know when it happened, but it shouldn’t have come as a surprise. Even if he knew some of the basic ideas behind making a bow, being able to make a functional bow right now was beyond him. He had no way to treat the wood or preserve the sinew that served as the bowstring. Anything he could make would last a week at the very most, and would not respond well to continuous use or be able to survive being used with anything but the utmost care.
Trudging up the steps was a chore as his spirit was dampened by the loss of the weapon. After reaching the top he retrieved his pack from the wardrobe and began the process of pushing the massive piece of furniture against the hole in the wall.
Some grunting and cursing later the wardrobe was shifted far enough to block anyone from falling out accidentally.
He removed the chicken‐lizard thing from the desk, he entertained the idea of a nice chicken dinner, though after a moment he shook his head. He knew reptiles had all kinds of bacteria, on top of which he hadn’t exactly been gentle with his dissection. While it was possible he could clean it in theory, he had no intention to risk it. He attached the carcass to his belt with a few errant cords and began fishing for his MP3 player. It had been one hell of a day and he wanted something to take his mind off of this bizarre situation he had found himself thrust into. He turned the small device on and thumbed it to shuffle.
“I wonder if we’ll ever be put into songs or tales.”
“What?”
Troy frowned when instead of music from his music player two familiar voices piped up instead.
“I wonder if people will ever say, let’s hear about Frodo and the ring. And they’ll say, yes it’s one of my favorite stories.”
Suddenly he remembered, his friend had ripped a song from Youtube and gave it to him. Of course it had this extra audio before it started up, and the young hiker found himself smiling at the irony of an unintended adventurer taking his mind off his troubles by listening to two other unintended adventurers. Or at least he thought it was ironic.
“Frodo was really courageous wasn’t he dad?”
“Yes my boy, the most famousest of hobbits, and that's saying a lot.”
He began to bob his head in time with the music as it kicked in..
“Well you’ve left out one of the chief characters, Samwise the Brave. I want to hear more about Sam.”
He walked down the steps towards the main entryway, singing along with the song in his earbuds.
“There’s a road calling you to stray.
Step by step pulling you away.
Under moon and star.
Take the road no matter how far.
“Where it leads no one ever knows.
Don’t look back follow where it goes.
Far beyond the sun.
Take the road wherever it runs.
“The road goes oooooon ever ever on.
Hill by hill, mile by mile.
Field by field, stile by stile.
The road goes oooooon, ever ever on. The road goes on.”
As he reached the bottom of the steps, a chorus began singing in the background.
Mountain, and valley, and pasture and meadow.
Stretching, unending, for mile after mile.
Fenland and moorland and shoreline and canyon.
Bordered by hurdle and hedgerow and stile.
“The road goes oooooon, ever ever on.
Moor by Moor, glen by glen.
Vale by vale, fen by fen.”
The road goes ooooon, ever ever on.”
“One more mile then it’s time to eat.
Pick some pears, succulent and sweet.
To the farthest shore.
Take the road, a hundred miles more.”
The young hiker grinned as he set aside his bag and began to lay out his sleeping bag. This song always put him in a good mood.
Sweet pink trout tickled from the stream.
Milk a goat churn it into cream.
Far beyond the sun.
Take the road, wherever it runs.
See the road flow past your doorstep calling for your feet to stray.
Like a deep and rolling river, it will sweep them far away.
Troy paused, his smile faltering as the song’s lyrics continued.
Just beyond the far horizon, lies a waiting world unknown.
Like the dawn its beauty beckons with a wonder all its own.
He stopped and looked out of one of the large windows at the sunset as the song mellowed out into elvish singing and he began to wonder. He had never, even once, considered exploring or searching for anything that wasn’t directly related to surviving or finding a way to determine his location. So much misfortune had befallen him, so much danger lurked around every corner, he had acted as reasonably as he could to an unreasonable situation.
However, only now the fog started to clear, this was an unknown land far beyond the reach of humanity. Well, perhaps not too far, he had made it here after all. Though as it stood, it appeared he was the first one to come to this place, any road he could take would be a first for his entire species. All the same he felt saddened. He had no idea if he could return home, even if it was possible he didn’t have a clue where to begin.
But this place...
This place held wonders beyond imagining, monsters ripped from the pages of the strangest of fantasies. Who knew what would pop up next? What wonders awaited his discovery? What beautiful vistas never before seen by human eyes waited beyond the horizon? Before, he had been born too late to explore the world, and too early to explore the stars. But here? The possibilities were endless.
And what’s more, he had found allies.
Maybe only for now, but those ponies were on his side, and he had a road to follow. He had a direction. He fought to keep his emotions in check as they swelled with the music. And for a little while and a little bit, he felt excited. And just maybe a glimmer of hope.
Mountain, and valley, and pasture and meadow.
Stretching, unending, for mile after mile.
Fenland and moorland and shoreline and canyon.
Bordered by hurdle and hedgerow and stile.
Soon the song began to fade, and the two hobbits began to talk once more.
“This is it.”
“This is what?”
“If I take one more step, it’ll be the farthest away from home I’ve ever been.”
For a moment Troy felt a ping of solidarity with the hobbit, the uneasiness of stepping into the unknown. And the wish to be able to see his home just by looking over his shoulder.
“Come on Sam.”
He smirked, much like his hobbit counterpart, he had such a large world to explore. And strangely enough, he was starting to look forward to it.
“Remember what Bilbo used to say.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“It’s a dangerous business Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to.”
—Bilbo Baggins
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It's alive!
IT'sssssssssss HEEEEEEREEEEE!
this story is still awesome. good to finally see this story update. hope to see more awesome work.
Oh hey, one of the better HiE fics has updated!
Yes... YES!!!
*slowly claps* You're not dead
YES A UPDATE!
wish this story was updated a bit more often
keep up the good work tho
Woot an update!
Found it a day ago, read it and thought it was awesome but then i looked at the date the last chapter got uploaded and got sad.
But now it updated and i'm happy again and looking forward to more!
within two days it so happens that two of my favorite fics get updated after months of nothing. Aw yeah.
YES! I was just looking at this last night. It's one of the most believable first contact scenarios I've seen, and I am always glad to see more.
ΔΓ
I really like the ending of this chapter.
Such beautiful feels.
Lemme guess: the next chapter will have Twi going insane trying to look up magic nullification.
HALLELUJAH IT LIVES!!!!
Of all the stories I expected to appear on my favorites list as updated, this one surprised me.
MOAR!
Good stuff! Keep up the good work.
IT LIVES. Love how that chapter wrapped up.
There is only one proper reaction to seeing this fic update :
Oh look this updated suddenly I'm not tired anymore.
if troy touched Pinkie would her mane deflate
poofy 
flat 
poofy 
flat
Nice to see another update for this story.
Update...
Christ, I forgot I'd fav'd this story.
Damn, all the stories I've been waiting for an update on have finally updated!
Today was a good day.
THREE CHEERS FOR THE GLORIOUS UPDATER.
HIP-HIP! HURRAH!!!
HIP-HIP! HURRAH!!!
HIP-HIP! HURRAH!!!
Carry On
WHERE YOU BEEN?!!!
.
.
.
Now to read.
This story is really starting to grow on me
IT'S ALIVE!!!
Finished reading...
Woo, an update! Great chapter, loved it.
Amazing as always.
dam I been waiting for this. good chapter bro.
Nicely done, good sir. Quick thinking on Twilight's part too.
Hmmm... This does make me wonder about the extent of Troy's magic canceling ability, though. He shows no indication on pain during Rainbows attempt to lift him, which implies that either there was no damage or it was mild enough to be lost in the adrenaline rush. I wouldn't imagine he could cancel long-term earth pony stuff like the crop rearing and plant tending, but it's possible they could lose their massive strength when in contact with him, but then that might be to deep rooted to affect. He appears to interact most strongly with concentrated magic, as there would certainly be ambient magic in the atmosphere and he isn't choking to death. Then there manipulated weather to consider and whether a generated lightning bolt would work on him. And if it didn't, what degree of pain might he feel?
Curiouser and curiouser. I look forward to the chapter.
Hmm, some good HiEs that haven't updated in a while have updated.
you have no idea how long i've waited for a fic where the human is pretty much just walking anti magic.......
Been following since the beginning. So glad to see it live. I hope more follow soon. Sir author this story is brilliant
Oh dear lord... This chapter was excellent.
Update, yay!
Wonder how Zecora will take meeting Troy...
...thank you. Thank you for not being dead
Good lord, when will the next update come? Next year?
Those last few lines put a big smile on my face. Gotta love LOTR.
IT UPDATED
i0.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/013/564/t0ZfPEZ_1_.gif
YESYESYESYESYES
thumbs.newschoolers.com/index.php?src=http://cdn.overclock.net/9/93/93a29064_Slow-Clap.gif&size=400x1000
that is all
At last!!!!!!!
Might as well join the "woo update train"
Now that the cliffhanger has been resolved after all this time, this is one less story that I have to be anxious about updating just to get rid of that feeling of just not knowing. 
The chapter went really well, I really liked the use of the song to get him to realize something as well as Twilight's quick thinking to save Troy's life. Off to waiting impatiently for the next chapter again. 
iambrony.jsmart.web.id/mlp/gif/gVTJs.gif
This chapter has been a long time coming but it's great to see you back.
I really like your LOTR references, not just that you have them (though that is awesome) but the context.
Though I do wonder what Troy's gonna do once his MP3 inevitably runs out of power.
You really got the excitement you could feel if you were to land in Equestria. For an adventurous soul, a new land full of creatures unknown, with new things to be discovered around every corner, would be like dream come true. It's a simple joy that isn't found much nowadays simply because we've explored so much (all of the surface of the Earth.)