Chapter Eleven: Revelations
Twilight's head was still reeling from the last few epiphanies. She felt quite a bit of sorrow over Swift's (or rather, Mark's) situation, wondering how bad it could've been that he was willing to just ditch his entire universe for Equestria. Sunset Shimmer had done a similar thing, yes, but Sunset didn't have any family left, and she'd created a niche for herself in the mirror world. Besides, she could come over and visit whenever she wanted (though, to be fair, she hadn't known Twilight could rig the portal to open anytime). Mark had completely left his home, and even now, he clearly didn't want to go back. It was actually shocking.
"It's kinda...complicated," Mark continued, rubbing his front hooves together. "And you may not really want to know..."
"Swift-no, Mark," Fluttershy interrupted him, "whatever you have to say, you can just say it. I promise, we're not going to do anything to you." She reached out a hoof, as though to comfort her fellow pegasus, but Mark flinched away from her. Seeing his reaction, Fluttershy backed down.
"Okay," Mark said, taking several deep breaths. "It's like this. In my universe, we have the technology to view other dimensions. I've seen views of Equestria, and it looked so nice and pleasant, and I just... wanted...to be there..." He trailed off, his head lowering and his ears flattening, under the scrutinizing eyes of the ponies.
In the moment, Twilight felt for him, at least a little. He was speaking too slowly, as though dreaming up what he was about to say just before saying it, which he probably was. No one was believing a word he was saying, least of all Applejack, who was looking at him with a sad smile and quietly shaking her head.
"Sugar cube, you ain't a good liar," she declared.
"Yeah. And if you were just viewing our dimension, how would you know about Sunset Shimmer?" chimed in Twilight.
Mark sighed. "In fairness to me, I was just coming up with that on the fly."
"Mark, you have my word that no harm will come to you, no matter what you have to say," Celestia said.
Mark gave her a sideways glance. "Don't make promises you can't keep, princess," he muttered to himself, though everyone still caught it.
He took another deep breath, closing his eyes and tucking his wings back in again. Twilight thought he looked tense, like what he was about to reveal would bring nothing but disaster. She had to inhale deeply herself, afraid of whatever might be coming.
"In my universe," Mark started, "you exist...but not really. In my universe, Equestria is...fictional. And you're all characters in it. Twilight, you're the main character. It's a series about your adventures."
Several jaws dropped open. Fluttershy's wings actually popped outwards from her sides in sheer surprise. Rarity looked like she might require her fainting couch. Twilight's brain began to kick into overdrive, trying to comprehend what she was being told.
"Wait a minute," said Rainbow. "So, you've read about our adventures? Like Daring Do stories?"
"Essentially, yes," replied Mark. "Though it's not a series of books, it's something called a cartoon. Twilight would know about that. And before you ask, no, I don't have any knowledge of your future. When I got here, I looked up current events, and the last thing that happened here was the same thing that happened in the stories before I left: Cozy Glow getting defeated and imprisoned." Noticing their expressions, he hurriedly continued. "I mean, it's not like I knew literally everything about your world before I got here. That's why I was checking out all those history books. I wanted to know things that weren't shown in the stories, so I wouldn't blow my cover with a lack of knowledge." He sighed to himself. "I'm sure this is a pretty big shocker for you all, but—"
"Actually," Twilight spoke up, "it's not that surprising. Not that surprising at all."
The room went dead silent. One could've heard a feather dropping to the ground, as all eyes focused on Twilight. The only ones who didn't seem surprised were Celestia and Luna.
"Twilight, have you lost your mind?" asked Spike.
"Yeah! He just told us we're fictional!" Starlight exclaimed. "How are you of all ponies handling this revelation so well?!"
"He didn't tell us we're just a work of fiction," Twilight retorted, "he said we're fictional in his world. That alone doesn't mean we're not real."
She ignited her horn, levitating over her blackboard and chalk. "Remember when I told you about how there are infinite possible worlds?" Spike and the others nodded. "Well, according to Star Swirl's theory of Dimensional Possibilities, if there really are infinite universes, it stands to reason that anything that can happen, will happen. So, however small the chance, in Mark's world, there's a cartoon that perfectly resembles our world." She drew a circle, representing Mark's world, and drew a pony inside a thought balloon in the center. "Heck, there's probably a universe out there where what's happening right now is being displayed on a cartoon."
Seven pairs of eyes widened at this information dump, but this explanation seemed to please all of them. Spike raised one claw.
"Yes, Spike?"
"What's a cartoon?" asked the dragon.
Twilight rolled her eyes. "It's something from the human world. I'll tell you later." Spike nodded.
"Wait, so there's a universe where my entire life was dreamed up and put out there for everybody to see by some writer I've never even met?" Mark summarized.
"Most likely, yes," returned Twilight. "I say most likely, because this hasn't really confirmed Star Swirl's theory, but it comes very close. I don't think the theory could ever be one-hundred percent proven."
Mark exhaled, wiping the sweat off the top of his brow. "And to think, I was terrified of telling you guys that for that exact reason!" He turned to Celestia and Luna. "You seem to be taking this awfully well."
"Mostly," Luna replied. "Though we must ask you now: Does this 'cartoon' reveal dangerous secrets of Equestria? Such as the exact location of the Tree of Harmony, or the exact size of Equestria's armed forces?"
"Definitely not that second one," replied Mark. "I know the Tree's in the Everfree, but I've never been in there. There's no way I could find it by myself. And I have almost no information on the government operations of Equestria, or anything like that."
Celestia gave Mark an intense stare. "Applejack," she called out.
"Got it, Your Highness," replied the farm pony, as she, too, stared down Mark.
The pegasus actually flinched a little under her gaze. Twilight felt sorry for him in that moment. Applejack's stare wasn't like Fluttershy's, but it was still rather intense.
"He's tellin' the truth," said the farm pony. "I think we can trust him."
Mark breathed a sigh of relief. "Does that mean we're done here?" he asked.
"Unfortunately, no," replied Princess Celestia. "Mark, though you pose no threat to Equestria of the safety of our little ponies, I still strongly recommend against staying in our world—"
Mark groaned, smacking himself in the face with one hoof. "Oh, jeez, are we really going back to this? What part of 'I hated my home world and I never want to go back to it' didn't you understand?!"
Twilight couldn't stop herself from gritting her teeth. As much as she pitied the creature in front of her, his blatant disrespect towards them was beginning to get to her. He was brushing them off with little more than anger, and for no good reason. He could at least take the time to listen to their arguments, instead of just dismissing them outright. Surely his home universe couldn't have been that bad.
She just couldn't understand. Mark had stranded himself in a universe where he didn't know anyone, in a body not his own. Somehow, he was completely convinced this was better than anything his home universe could offer him. Twilight didn't have a lot of family drama to deal with, but she didn't see how it could be as terrible as he was making it out to be.
Looking over at her friends, Twilight saw she wasn't the only one blindsided by his responses. She took note of the others' reactions. Applejack was still shaking her head, probably still thinking about Mark's family, wondering how he could just leave them without even telling anyone where he was going. Rarity seemed torn, trying to sympathize with the pegasus, but also seeing the points her friends were making. Fluttershy was still looking only at Mark with empathy in her eyes, probably still wishing he'd let her comfort him. However, every time she made the slightest move towards him, Mark would flinch.
Rainbow Dash had a more guilt-ridden expression on her face. Twilight guessed she was still thinking about how she'd yelled at him and called him a spy, when, in reality, he'd been anything but. Pinkie just looked sad, her mane deflated and her blue eyes having lost some of their luster. She seemed to be in the same boat as Rarity, unsure of who to side with. Starlight was deep in thought, still trying to process everything going on around her. Spike looked sympathetic to Mark's cause, but not willing to simply accept his reasoning.
"Look, we all make hasty decisions," Spike chimed in, clearly wanting to contribute something. "I don't know if you saw it in your observations of our world, but I ran away from home once, too. And I was later realized how bad it—"
"You ran away because you felt replaced by an owl, Spike," Mark cut him off. "It's not the same thing. Twilight still cared about you. I had nobody. I burned all my bridges, and nobody cared that I was alive. Really, finding that man was the best thing that could've happened to me."
"That doesn't mean you have to just up and leave forever," said Starlight. "I have problems with my dad, I know what—"
"Starlight, your dad just embarrasses you. It's nothing like what I went through." Mark snorted through his nostrils. "Besides, you left and started over somewhere else, didn't you? I don't really see the difference."
Twilight lost some of her grip on her temper. "Will you stop doing that?!" she demanded. "So you've seen important moments in our lives! That doesn't mean you automatically know everything about us!"
Mark met her glare. "Might I remind you that you know absolutely nothing about me?" he retorted. "And yet you're trying to force me back into a life I hated, without considering how I feel. Try to understand me for a change."
"Then help us understand, sugar cube," said Applejack. "Was your family really that bad that you'd just ditch 'em?"
"It wasn't like I didn't love them." Mark reached into his saddlebags, producing some photographs, and a piece of jade on a simple chord necklace. "My mom used to make me carry this necklace around, because it's a superstition that jade is good luck in my world. I didn't believe in it, but I wanted to humor her."
Everypony advanced closer to look at the photos.
"That's me," said Mark, pointing to a tall human male with straight black hair. There wasn't a great deal of resemblance to his pony body, with the exception of the eyes, which were the same shade of icy blue. He stood next to two females of the same species with matching eyes. Both were shorter than him, but one was clearly his mother, with an arm wrapped around Mark, looking proud and happy. The second looked annoyed, casting a sideways glance at Mark himself, clearly unhappy that he was there. "My mom did her best, but she never understood me, how much my sister hated me, or how much she made my life a pit. I just couldn't function in my world."
"Well, we're trying to understand you, darling," Rarity insisted. "but—"
"Look, it's clear that none of you are going to listen to me," Mark declared, getting to his hooves, and grabbing his possessions. "Can I leave now?"
"Mark," said Celestia, "if you'd just listen to us—"
"Can I leave now?"
Luna frowned. "Mark, we only want to help you—"
"CAN. I. LEAVE. NOW?!"
Nopony moved for a few seconds. Mark's outburst had taken them all by surprise, considering how much screaming he'd done a few minutes ago. But he seemed to have reached his limit. Everypony knew for certain that trying to interrogate him further would only result in failure. Celestia and Luna parted, revealing the doorway to him.
"Yes. You may leave," said the solar alicorn.
Mark said nothing, merely closing up his saddlebags with one leg and trotting towards the exit. He made no eye contact with anypony, and he didn't say a word. He pushed the door open with one leg, strolled outside, and let it swing closed behind him, leaving the others alone with their thoughts.
"Well," Starlight finally broke the silence, "that went fabulously."
"Very funny, Starlight," Spike snorted, scratching his back. "What are we supposed to do now?"
"Do you think...we pushed him too hard?" asked Pinkie Pie, her mane still deflated in sadness.
"Perhaps," Celestia admitted. "I don't regret asking him to rethink his decision, but perhaps we were too forceful."
Suddenly, Rainbow Dash spread her wings without warning, taking off from her position on the floor, and flying out one of the windows. No one dared to try and stop her, and they were too absorbed in their own thoughts, anyway.
Rainbow zipped out the window, quickly flying around to the front of the castle. She had to catch the pegasus before he left, or else she'd never forgive herself. The anger at what she'd almost done to him gnawed at her heart, and she had to fix it. Luckily for her, Mark wasn't going very fast, merely trotting along the pathway.
"Swift! Er, I mean, Mark!" she called out, zooming down towards him. She landed on the earth behind him with a bump, as she saw his shoulders sag and ears droop. She knew he wouldn't be happy to see her again, but it couldn't be helped.
"What is it, Rainbow?" Mark demanded, not even bothering to turn around. "I'm busy, I'm gonna have to find somewhere to sleep tonight."
"Listen, Mark," Rainbow insisted, trying not to put too much force behind her words. "I just wanted to tell you...I'm sorry. I shouldn't have rushed to judgement and assumed you were a spy. It was wrong, and I'm sorry."
Mark said nothing. Rainbow couldn't see his expression from where she was, and that scared her. She wanted him to accept her apology, because he seemed like a good pony (or person, whatever that was), and she genuinely felt bad for him. She waited with her breath held, hoping he'd speak up.
"A-and I don't regret teaching you to fly, Mark," she finally added. "You seem like a cool guy, and I enjoyed our time together, and—"
"Rainbow, call me Swift," Mark interrupted, "Please...just call me Swift." He started to take a few steps away, before looking over his shoulder ever so slightly. "I do accept your apology, for what it's worth."
Then he trotted away, leaving Rainbow alone.
Stats
Page generated in 0.024 seconds
Total duration
646 users online
959,910 hits today, 2,280,440 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Oof IDK why I really want a sister getting punched 😈
Noice chapter
Well, at least he broke the news to them of their being cartoon characters in his/our world without it leading to an existential crisis.
So kudos to that.
Shit, I don't have bad life, but I would still go to Equestria to not deal with all this bullshit around that is recently happening. Well... I would inform family like "Coming with me? There is no shity government, most live long and happy and there is magic. And during wars they are fighting like five years old...No? Well, sucks to be you... You will change your mind during next global crisis..." ... more or less. ;)
Good chapter, an interesting take on them finding out they are a cartoon in his world. Though surprised Twilight didn't let spike watch cartoons
Okay all of them need a slap to the face. Seriously some oroples homes ate crap. Just ask Thorax.
Why the obsession with sending him home? It started out as seeming reasonable, but it's grown more and more ridiculous the longer it's gone on. To be honest, it feels manufactured to generate conflict rather than an organic reaction to his situation.
OP: I want to stay in Equestria.
Ponies: But you have a life back in your own world.
OP: No I don't, I hated it there.
Ponies: Well you should go back anyway because it's your home.
OP: Not anymore. Coming to Equestria was the best thing that could have happened to me.
Ponies: You should still go back, even though you've made a place for yourself here, and are going back to a place where you will be treated like dirt.
OP: I don't want to. You are my friends, why won't you respect that?
Ponies: As your friends, we're doing what we think is best for you, even though it's clear that you are far happier here, and the obvious best thing is to help you integrate into this new life. But we're so focussed on the fact that you come from another world, we can't even think that you might actually know your own mind.
Don't get me wrong, I was enjoying this story and still am, but I think this element was overplayed. Why was he so sure this would happen? He's been terrified the whole time of exactly this, which seemed odd as there's never been any particular indication of something like this in canon.
10280583
No.
10280579
I guess the idea I was going for was that they don't want him to make the mistake of ditching everything he knows forever. Don't worry, we've come to the end of the hounding him about that.
10280593
Good because I seriously want to slap them all. The very fact he prefers your world to his shows how bad it can be
First things first:
Twilight he's not showing you any respect because you aren't showing him any respect and you keep pushing him to talk about something he really doesn't want to talk about
Second:
Of course he's brushing you of, not many people listen to the opinions of, what are essentially, strangers, especially if those same strangers are disregarding his own opinion of the matter
And yet you completely and utterly ignore his thoughts and feelings on the matter
Personally, I would pull a Klein Bottle, ala Dans_Comments and haul flank out of Equestria. Hop a airship and head to the furthest country without an extradition treaty. Which happens to be Multicursal.
Hey, Minotaur are nice too.
The Monk
“And it's the cowgirl with a disturbing love of apples.” -Hawker Hurricane
I can understand being frustrated with their nagging, but I don't think throwing a royal tantrum is doing him any favours. They've already expressed how they weren't going to send him home, so why not focus on, say, where he's going to sleep tonight? I'd personally be ecstatic that they would so easily accept me. It seems like he's so focused on being offended that they, rightfully mind you, confronted him that he can't see that they legitimately wish to help him.
Then again, he was never portrayed as an emotionally-stable person, so I was suspecting along these lines. If everything went nice and smooth then there wouldn't be much of a conflict in the story, would it? Hopefully he gets settled in a bit better, though I'm curious what he's going to do about his job situation after that letter he left and if it will have any effect.
Great chapter as always and hope to see more!
10281170
they just butter him up, listen to his story just to go with a "well that's interesting, now let's talk about you going back", he explained everything yet they haven't changed from their original goal, just changed the angle of approach.
I just want to see what happen next now, I'm already glad most of the clichés didn't make it, like existential crisis from being a cartoon (especially with Twilight knowing about several worlds) or plotting against his back.
10280593 It may already be too late. As far as he's concerned he's been rejected. Having it simply resolve as 'oh we're not doing that anymore' and him suddenly going back to being friends with everyone would just not work, not that I think that's your intent.
I think part of the problem was that the opinion was unanimous, even among the ponies who did something similar, like Starlight Glimmer. Could none of them see the parallels between his situation and theirs? The only pony who comes out of this with any degree of respect is Rainbow Dash, who did at least go after him and apologise. She should have understood him, after all she left Cloudsdale in part to get away from her own parents, even if it was because they were over-enthusiastic rather than disparaging.
As I said, the problem is not so much making this a theme, it's the fact that you've pushed it so hard that you've basically written yourself into a corner.
As someone who occasionally suffers from depression, the worst thing that you can do is tell me to cheer up. It actually exacerbates the condition. You're telling me that I ought to be happy and content when I am obviously not which just makes me feel worse about myself. The same thing applies in Mark's situation. He has told them how miserable he was and how bad his family life was, and they're telling him he is wrong. Applejack is the worst offender. Just because she is honest doesn't mean that she is capable of understanding the truth when she hears it. In fact, her near-perfect family life renders her almost incapable of comprehending how family relationships can be very screwed up. All the ponies are guilty of this to a certain degree, even with the best of intentions. That's why Mark flinches from Fluttershy – sympathy without understanding is like telling a depressed person to cheer up. So, while I would not have done some of the things that he did, I am painfully empathetic to his situation. If Twilight and the others want to be his friends, then help him rebuild his life – don't tell him how to live it. And then, when they've gotten to know him a lot better, maybe then he'll be prepared to talk to them about his old life and help heal his psychological wounds.
10281306
Nail on the head. Thank god I have a great family but I hear enough stories. As you said he doesn't need cheering up, but understanding and an ear. Someone yo sot down with him. Say "that sucks." And hand him a beer. Just being there fir him.
10281265
It's not to butter him up, if it was then they would've just sent him back against his will. They're bringing it back up because he's clearly distressed, and someone in that position can't be expected to make life-altering decisions reliably. No may mean no, but if the person saying it is having a mental breakdown then it'd be irresponsible to not make sure that they mean what they say.
Welcome to the Twilight Zone Mark. *plays theme music. *
10281721
Funny thing is, for many years I was absolutely convinced that my life was a badly written sitcom.
My favorite short story is a sci fi I found in a paperback anthology. It covered why a creator made man. The entire story was this creators life being a miserable failure, and as the story progresses his life gets worse and worse. His final act of creation before tossing the whole universe in the trash is to create man. The final sentence of the story says it all.
"Misery loves company."
I read that 20+ years ago and Ive never forgotten it. To this day, I haven't found a better explanation to why life is the way it is, or for why we are here.
The Monk
"Knowledge is power and power corrupts, so study hard and be evil." - Reykan
10281777
Got to agree with you on that. I don't know of any better explanation than that for why we are here.
Good chapter. Glad to see this updated.
Excellent development! I hope Swift can get settled back in, though he did leave that letter with his employer, goodness knows what will happen there. I wonder what the main
67 and princesses will do now?Dude is so caught up in being a victim that he hasn't really made an effort to improve his life or care about others. The simplicity with which he was willing to simply abandon his mother and his new friends clearly shows this. Even in his old life he was probably too busy blaming the world for his problems to actually try and change or reach out.
Um... Spike was with her on that trip. He was the talking dog that needed a dose of Apoquel or something. He should KNOW what cartoons are.
Another story where the main character is hunted down like a dog. Even if he was accepted it leaves such a foul taste in my mouth.
wouldn't mind seeing a story where the main character wins... Something sweet without all the bitter...
10280360
Shit, ain't the current one bad enough?
10349555
As an American, I'm sitting through multiple catastrophes.
COVID-19, our economy melting down, and we may have millions homeless by September.
Eh, close enough.
*Chuckles in the 4th wall*
10291799
Well it hard to care about yourself if nobody seems to care about you. His mom couldn't really care when he needed her to be there for him and his sister hates his guts and loves to make him miserable. He has no friends. So what exactly did he have to stay for? He was happy in his new life even if he didn't want talk about himself much. Everyone was wrong to try and force him to reconsider his new life. He made it plain why he was not willing to go back and yet they refused to get it. Luna saw how awful his sister was in his dreams and yet she still refused to understand that he is better off somewhere else.
10281679
Yeah but at the same time it not going make it better by sending him back to the place where he was miserable. All that will do is make things worse. If he had to live like longer who knows how bad it could have gotten.
10281170
Well how else was he supposed to get it through their heads that he didn't want to go back. He told them this and yet they dismissed it as if they can make everything right by sending him back. No that probably make it worse because from what I've heard toxic family can really drag you down. He would only get worse with his sister encouragement and mom indifference.
HE KNOWS :0
Honestly, aside of backtalking the Diarch like they're yet another annoyance, Swift's reaction is pretty understandable. The ponies don't know just how depraved and brutal some human families are. Swift should've explained to them that the sheer depravity and hate human families can conjure to their own kin is not something that any old peaceful Equestrian ponies could've understood. Still, he could've either asked them to call for Sunset to explain, or ask Celestia and Luna for clarification on how life was pre-unification.
11694908
No means no should be enough for anyone. They honestly don't get the right considering they barely know him to decide where he should live his life.