The Impossible Choice

by FireMaster

Chapter 4: Knowledge, Knowledge, and more Knowledge

Author's Note:

Wasn’t sure if I'd get Chapter 4 out today, but I decided to make it a shorter one, to keep a more consistent posting schedule. I still have to do some more in depth editing on this one, so appologies for mistakes. Enjoy!

~ April 10th 1020 ME ~

The last few days had been very eventful. Shortly after the incident with the stranger, a letter arrived from Twilight's friends in Ponyville. Twilight was not surprised to hear that the cutie map showed her cutie mark tasked to a mission in Canterlot. The part that she was struggling to come to terms with was that it was at the palace, and Twilight was sure that it had to do with the newest arrival. The last two days, Twilight had been spending a little extra time catching up with family, which her parents were overjoyed with. Today was the day she finally received word from Celestia that the stallion was awake, so she made plans to go and visit that afternoon. She even promised Spike that he could come this time.

The harder pill to swallow was that he claimed he wasn’t from their planet, let alone native to their species. Twilight wrestled with the impossibilities of transformation magic slipping into her spell, but worse than that she blamed herself for everything. She had torn some being from everything they knew with the potential that they could be stuck in Equestria.

Although the prospect of learning completely foreign information was super exciting, she didn’t want to let her hunger for knowledge come in the way of helping him. Twilight didn’t feel like apologizing would be enough, but she had to start somewhere. She also wasn’t just sticking around because of the cutie map, and would keep the information regarding the mission under wraps. She was going to do everything in her power to make it up to this stallion she had hardly met, and hopefully he would appreciate the gesture. If not she was in for a whole lot of trouble!

---

Twilight and Spike arrived at the castle around 3 to officially confront the cause of Twilight's guilt. Thanks to Twilight’s new position as the latest princess, she was allowed entry through most of the doors and rooms in the castle, making it easy to come and go. Walking through the main entryway she passed two earth pony guards posted to the door. Waving at them as she passed, they remained stone faced, eyes fixed forward.

Since Twilight was quite familiar with the castle layout, she made her way toward the medical wing with Spike in toe, where the Stallion would likely still be. When she got there, she lightly knocked on the door three times.

“Who is it?” Came a nice crisp baritone voice from the inside.

“My name is Twilight Sparkle, and I wanted to check in on you. We didn’t really get to talk the first time I met you. I also brought my assistant Spike with me.”

“Alright come in. Celestia told me you would likely stop by, and I don’t have much better to do right now.”

Twilight and Spike opened the door, and strode into the room. The pony was sitting in the corner of the room twisting his hoofs in various directions, no doubt testing their flexibility.

“What’s your name sir? Celestia didn’t mention it in her letter.”

“Just call me Mr. Waters. I don’t have a lot of friends, so I typically use my name more for business purposes.”

“Oh, well my name is Twilight Sparkle, and this is my assistant Spike.” Mr. Waters glanced up acknowledging their presence for the first time only to flinch back at spotting Spike.

“What? Is something on my face?” Spike questioned.

“What are you?”

You think people would know a dragon when they see one, he thought. “I’m a dragon of course! Still in my early years though.”

“D-d-dragons are real?! This just keeps getting weirder. Next you're going to tell me that it rains chocolate milk.”

Twilight scratched the back of her head. “It has done that before, but the draconequus responsible has been reformed.”

“Wow... I’ll add that to my list of things to process. It's long enough now to cover a few square miles.”

“So it’s really true then? You’re not from Equestria?”

“(Sigh) No, I'm from a planet called Earth, and my species is referred to as humans. I already asked Nurse Red Heart, and apparently you guys are fresh out of those around here. We’re also the only species that is um... sentient. The closest thing we have to Spike on our planet is probably a lizard.”

“Did he just compare me to a lizard?” Spike asked, trying not to sound offended.

“If it’s all the same to you guys, I’d rather not talk about my planet. I already shed enough tears over what I left, and I don’t want to think about it.”

“Of course. I know I could never understand what you're going through, but I’m very sorry for what happened. I think you deserve to know.... it’s my fault you're here.” Twilight finished dejectedly.

“I know. I recognized the purple sparks when you opened the door. I’m not sure if I can forgive you, but I promised myself not to get mad at you either. I figured one thing shouldn’t define my entire perception of someone, so I’m giving you a chance. Not to mention my voice is still tired from excessive yelling on this planet.”

“Wow... that is very well put. Thank you for your understanding Mr. Waters! Anyways since you didn’t want to talk about yourself, how about a tour of the castle?”

“I would be glad to get out of this room. These walls are starting to close in on me. I hate feeling stuck!”

As they began wandering through the maze of halls, Twilight began to point out the beautiful artwork, tapestries, and window designs. Spike even commented about how awesome the royal kitchens were when they passed.

All things considered, Twilight felt like things were going fairly well, despite Mr. Waters remaining relatively quiet. He almost fell on his face a few times, which Twilight felt terrible about, but he managed to stay upright in the end. The next room they came up to was the library.

“The next room is one of my favorites, and a place I’ve lost many hours indulging in studies.” As Twilight opened the door, Mr. Waters stepped in first, but he stopped halfway through the doorway with his jaw agape.
(Error: Chase.exe has quit working)

Twilight couldn’t figure out what was wrong with him, but the awkward silence was broken by the sound of his voice.

“This place is huge! This is amazing! What kind of things do ponies study in Equestria? I should refer to you as ponies right? What is the probability I could read some of these books? You said you spent a lot of time here... do you like reading?” Spike facepalmed at his antics; ‘oh great another Twilight he said under his breath. Twilight however was soaking it all in, and building off of Mr. Waters enthusiasm, a huge smile gracing her face.

“Actually I’ve read most of the books in here, and could tell you all about them. I’m not sure what your world is like, but we have doctors, farmers, lawyers, politicians, performers, science and magic studies, mathematicians, teachers, weather ponies, and all kinds of other occupations! I’m sure you could request to check a few books out. Personally my favorite are magic theory, and accounts of Starswirl the bearded, but we have adventure books too! My friend Rainbow Dash loves to read the Daring Do books, and Rarity appreciates some of the Equestrian romance novels. What do you like?”

“Well I was actually studying to be an engineer, so I study a lot about physics and math. Honestly though I love the idea of learning new things. I was actually going to be valedictorian before...” as Chase trailed off he began to look like he was trying to hold back some tears, but quickly recovered. “...Anyways, I still can’t believe magic is real! Who can do magic? What kind of spells are there?” As Chase and Twilight began to get into it, Spike began to wander over to one of the benches to sit down. When conversations like this started, there was no telling how long it would take. Mr. Waters was cool, he supposed, but also rather mysterious. ‘It was too bad he didn’t talk to me more’ Spike thought as he started Dozing off on the chair.

Twilight was in the middle of talking about the horn functioning as a unicorn's focal point for magic, when she got a wild idea. 'What if I could teach this pony magic? They say teachers learn along with their students.' She didn't even realize she had stopped talking until Mr. Waters broke her thoughts.

"You know I don't really know what I'm supposed to do here, but I doubt Celestia will let me stay here forever. It sounded like you were planning on creating a return spell, correct?"

"Yes of course. In the meantime maybe we should go discuss with the Princess where you will be staying."

"I suppose you're right. I don't want to impose on anybody so I should probably try and find a way to start making myself useful."

"You don't have to do anything to receive a gift, and it's anypony by the way."

"Huh?"

"The pronoun is anypony. I don't know what 'body' you're referring to, but we say anypony."

"Uh huh. Well don't expect me to remember that."

"Sorry I have a tendency to expect perfection out of things. I think by now the princess should be wrapping up day court. Let's head to dinner, and we can talk about your future there."

"I really don't like the way you said that. That sounds like I need to be worried."

"Oh no, not here. We are all friends. We are stronger because we work together. Friendship is the strongest form of magic!"

"If you say so." Chase said with a chuckle, not believing her despite the many other oddities he had learned.

"Come on Spike, let's go get something to eat."

"Spike?"

Twilight listened for a second and heard the faint sound of snoring coming from across the room. As she approached him with Mr. Waters he stirred and got off the chair.

"What time is it?" Spike asked groggily

"Almost 6." Twilight answered.

"You guys talked for 2 hours? What else is new."

"Come on Spike, we're headed to get some food."

"Well there's music to my ears. Right behind you!"

And with that the trio headed off towards the dining hall with some excitement in their step. Twilight had really enjoyed her conversation with Mr. Waters, and was looking forward to what the future would hold. Most of all though she was curious why he had said he didn't have many friends. He seemed like a nice individual, and Twilight was determined to get to the bottom of it.

Comments

[Starlight Nova]

Does Chase Waters sound like Chase Young from Xaiolin Showdown?

[SorryLamp]

I think you would benefit from asking someone to be an editor for your writing. You're making a lot of spelling mistakes, forgetting to use quotation marks during dialogue, or misplacing said marks.

“Who is it? Came a nice crisp baritone voice from the inside.”

While I enjoy the thought of Chase narrating his own actions, I don't think that's what you meant to do. 😃

[Luckyfanisaac]

Wasn't sure if I'd get Chapter 4 out today,

“Who is it?”(—— Came a nice crisp baritone voice from the inside.(——

——)“This place is huge! This is amazing! What kind of things do ponies study in Equestria? I should refer to you as ponies right? What is the probability I could read some of these books? You said you spent a lot of time here... do you like reading?” Spike facepalmed at his antics; ‘oh great another Twilight’(—— he said under his breath. Twilight however was soaking it all in, and building off of Mr. Waters enthusiasm, a huge smile gracing her face.

"Almost 6,(——" Twilight answered.