Immersion

by Mark Britton

Anticlimax

"So... Twilight got mad at you for what reason, again?"

"Because I think this place is fake. Maybe not this whole world, but especially this town."

"Really? Cause Ponyville is the most real place I've ever known. It's my home."

"Yeah. But then my world would seem unreal to you."

I leaned against the wall in distant thought at Spike walked back in forth in front of me, playing therapist.

"What if... what if none of this is real?" He mused.

"I think we need to redefine what is real."

"Alright. If it's something you can touch, it's real."

"What about neutrinos?"

"What now?"

"Invisible little particles whizzing through solid mass. They're everywhere and you can't touch them."

"Then how do you know they're there?"

Hmm. "Because someone told me."

"What if whatever is real is just what we accept as real?"

"Ooh, I like that answer. It has all the fuzziness that human cognition has."

"Then I'm real, you're real, Twilight's real."

"Well, maybe I should reword it then. It is real, it doesn't feel real."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you've had those dreams where it seems like you've been asleep for many years right?"

"Oh, I love those dreams!"

"Well whether you do or not, it feels real, right? And you don't know it wasn't real until..."

I sat in silence for a bit.

"Do you think you're going to wake up from all this?"

"No. No, I think I'm here for the long haul."

"Then what's the problem?"

"Well, it's... It's just all so innocent. And I come from a world that isn't innocent. And if I spend time here, I'm going to tell stories, stories of awful, terrible things that really happened back in my world."

"Simple. Just don't tell those stories."

"But they're the interesting ones. No one likes bland stories like... like this whole town. What does it have to offer?"

"Oh, a ton of stuff. You just have to look hard enough."

"Okay, humor me. What is one good story this town has to offer?"

"Well, a couple of months ago we had the spirit of chaos break free."

"And you solved it in a matter of hours, didn't you?"

"Yup. But that's just how good Twilight and her friends are when it comes to saving the day!"

I sighed in frustration.

"You're a dragon, right?"

"Spike the Dragon, at your service." He bowed playfully.

"You're the odd man out, you live in a town of ponies. What's it like?"

"Well, it's... normal. I never spent time with very many dragons so I guess I'm more pony than a dragon."

I sighed and lowered my head.

"All the problems here are temporary. Nothing lasts."

Seeing my disappointment, Spike took a deep breath.

"Well... There's something I've been struggling with for a long time... if you're interested?" He blushed.

"Yes?"

"It's Rarity..."

"Yes?~"

Spike held his breath and before he could burst, shouted out:

"She drives me crazy! Everything about her! How she looks, the elegant way she walks? Her perfume! I've been keeping it in for so long, I'm dying to tell her. I've been dying to tell her since I first saw her--"

He stopped when he saw I was staring at him, smiling intensely.

"Oh jeez. Please don't tell her I said any of that! You gotta!" He fell to the ground, begging.

"Spike... I like you."

"Huh?"

"You just showed a lot of... human vulnerability admitting that to me. That was personal."

"Well, you asked."

Something clicked inside of my head.

"And you're all that trusting in Ponyville?"

"All of us. We've never had a reason to do otherwise."

I began to think.

In fact, I began to think a lot more. As if a fog has passed over. This moment extended far beyond just this moment. I paid careful attention to what Spike said. 'Well, you asked.' There was an obvious parallel between this moment and the incident earlier today. Not only was it clearly designed this way to highlight the point, but it was also too perfect to be coincidental. This moment was engineered.

"Uhh, are you okay?" Spike asked.

"Yeah..."

This world was real, this town was real. But it was spun in funny directions by contrivance and necessity. Almost like...

I swore, using a word Spike couldn't understand.

"Was this an arc?"

"What?

"Hold on, I have to find Twilight."

I rushed out the front door, leaving Spike dazed and confused.

If me rejecting my solipsism was the climax, then admitting my fault to Twilight had to be the falling action. This world is based on narrative rules on the macroscopic level, not physical laws on the microscopic. The laws of story are the ones that pull the string in this world.

I ran through the streets as fast as possible.

I wanted to finish the arc to see what Twilight would say. If anything different would happen. I had the sneaking suspicion that otherwise, time might just stop until I decide otherwise or something equally dumb would happen. I rushed to the main street and started looking frantically for her. There was virtually nopony outside. I spotted the boutique and rushed in. Twilight and Rarity were talking about something, but the conversation halted once I showed up.

"You're back so soon?" Twilight asked, slightly worried.

"This place is real, I get that now."

"Well, of course, it's real, darling." Rarity said with a snicker, "I could have told you that. I've been in Ponyville for years trying to sell my dresses."

"What made you change your mind?" Asked Twilight.

"Spike. He said something that made me realize... It's all real. Just because it's different doesn't make it less real."

Twilight smiled when she heard me.

"Umm, I think I'm a bit out of the loop." Rarity sheepishly smirked .

"I think now is as good a time as any to introduce myself."

I grabbed Rarity's hoof and gave it a shake. She seemed to be familiar with the gesture.

"I don't have a name at the moment but I'm pleased to make your acquaintance."

"Acquaintance?" Rarity giggled. "Oh please, any friend of Twilight is a friend of mine."

"I get the feeling you'll be hearing a lot more of me in the future."

"Oh, I hope so. Will you be coming back tomorrow?"

I gave it a thought. Mulled it over a bit.

"Of course. Twilight and I will come back tomorrow."

Rarity smiled and did a little trot in place.

"While you're here, feel free to look around. I'm always on the lookout for new customers."

I treated myself to a good look around the shop. Twilight and Rarity continued talking. About what, it didn't seem important. So now that I myself was involved in an arc, I had to think about the future. If all the conflict happens in pulses then the first thought that came to my mind was patterns. Will I be able to identify and predict when the conflicts come, the nature of them, how long they will last? I needed a calendar. And a notepad.

---

I'm re-purposing this journal. Instead of spending time pondering on if this world is illusory or not, I have a much greater deal on my plate. I need to figure out the rules of this world. There have to be time slots for conflict. These past few days were pretty calm up until today. And I think it's tied to certain ponies. Townsponies seem dispensable enough, but further observation is required.

I plan to keep this work a secret from Twilight for the time being. She believes I have made positive strides with my paranoia and I don't seek to disappoint her. Not that I haven't made great strides. I'm no longer paranoid, now I have evidence that this world's inhabitants behave fundamentally different from humans. The characters serve the plot, and if I can figure the plot out ahead of time, maybe I can figure out some leverage with the characters.

I've already made plans. Many plans. This one experience will serve as my control. I'll do observation in the following weeks, seeking out conflicts that seem relevant to this arc structure, record them and learn from them. The next time this happens to me, I have several experiments I plan to try. Stubbornness. What happens if I refuse to bend to the plot? Ignorance. What if I'm blind to what's happening around me? The more I find out the better I can explain this world and the more sanity I secure.

And then there's the cultural exchange. Twilight and I have been going back and forth recently, exchanging historical tales. I skip over the gruesome bits, she emphasizes how easily and how frequently friendship solved world problems. I don't expect her to be impressed with most of human history.

Regardless, I'm enjoying my time in this world. It's far better on this side, even if everything is sugar-coated and follows a schedule. I figure I'm going to have to take a trip to Manehattan one of these days. Oh, and help Spike out with his lady friend. Although that's a story for another day.

Man, my hands are really cramping now. I'll save the writing for data and observational notes. I'll write back when I have something sufficient to tell.

Comments

[Bronyofcuba]

Oh my goodness! I love this story! The conflict is really interesting.

[TheBlueChair]

This story is amazing. Looking forward to more

[Archivest of Entropy_01]

Ah, yes, agreed. A story where the conflict is having no conflict.. Welp, looks like I'll be staying here for a while..

[spikls]

A conflict where the protagonist is studying the timing and science of conflicts! He studies the meta-conflicts making this a story about meta-meta-conflicts! BRILLIANT!

[tha1_guy]

meta... is he gonna become fully selfaware and realize he is in a fic if so i pity him.

if he does realize that wont he become some kind of god (eg, plot conviniancing himself stuff), or will he go insane with the realization that everything is fake and nothing matters. will some obligitory arc come where the main 6 say "we're your friends and etc" what would happen if he rejects the ending, how will he and the characters act.

so many possibilitys so much potential i wonder where this story will go

[FarmFreshAppleTarts]

"Was this an arc?"

oh no

[FarmFreshAppleTarts]

"You just showed a lot of... human vulnerability admitting that to me. That was personal."

Ahh. That's what it was. The artificial (at least to humans) automatic trust made it impossible to actually trust back. Trust so easily given often feels false, dangerous, and without value.

Without it having value, it's not the sort of trust you can reciprocate.

[FarmFreshAppleTarts]

10211859
Hoping not, honestly. The focus seems to be on how the plot driven nature of the world makes a person feel.