Reborn

by Pensive

Chapter 23 - The Meme?

"Star."

I turned to my left, seeing Mark, who poked his head out and motioned me in. I had already gone in, where the mare had asked questions and taken different tests. Really, everything you'd expect for a check-up. She did, of course, since we're practically non-existent in the system, check everything. That includes our genitals. Luckily that was done privately.

Opening the door again and going into the small room, the sanitized smell unchanged, I saw Mark already on the small exam table-chair thing that the patients usually sit on for a check-up. Though, if I had to be honest, this was one of the weirdest checkups I've had before, in most, if not all, aspects. Except for the sanitized smell, that smell is just a universal constant.

Walking up, I joined Mark and on the medical table-chair thing while Sky just did things with the medical items all around the room. With a nod to Mark, we just sat. My eyes quickly found themselves on the medical table-thing again. 'Bob, I'm calling you Bob. Better than a medical table-chair thing.'

Smiling at the newly named 'bob,' Sky decided to speak up while still facing away.

"So, based on the fact that while you both have had vaccinations before but don't know which or what for, it's probably best to give you all the vaccinations."

I gulped. From what I could see, she was preparing a lot, like a lot of shots. To make things worse, Sky began to mutter to herself.

"Let's see; flu season is getting started, we'll need that. I suppose we'll need this as well."

While Sky did her work, I looked to Mark, who looked back just as worried. I sighed, knowing what was coming. ' No point in fighting it.'

"Anyways," she exclaimed, turning around to us, " I'll have to go; I'll be back in a minute."

We both nodded as she got a clipboard with her wing and left.

...

"Crap."

My statement caused the door to open right back up as Sky stuck her head in,"Ahem."

I blushed at being caught; how she heard me unknown. I just lowered my head in a sheepish expression, "Whoops...?"

She said nothing. Instead of speaking, she jest ever so slowly pulled her head out of the room and reclosed the door.

"Well, that was embarrassing," Mark snickered.

"Oh, be quiet," I shot back.

He kept snickering, so I just sighed. 'He's going to add this to the list of embarrassing stories he has on me, isn't he?'

I brushed my mane out of the way and just let my eyes wander again. Being here reminded me of when Mark had Appendicitis. In short, his appendix was inflamed, and he needed it removed via surgery. By the end, he was fine, and the doctors got themselves an embarrassing story of him.

They said something along the lines of he tried to get up. There were a few doctors or something, and they said it looked like he was getting up to go off somewhere. I didn't quite remember it because I and everyone else was worried, so I didn't focus on the details.

He never explained why, but no one really cared since he got out of surgery.

Sparing a glance at him, he too was just looking around. I'll be honest; I was surprised he wasn't taking the chance to sleep. 'Oh, wait, nope. There he goes.'

I sighed, as the universe decided to prove me wrong as Mark yawned and laid back. Giving up on him, I turned and sat in silence to just wait.

A couple of minutes later, Sky finally came back but held a small tray. I saw a couple of needles inside, though I decided not to count or ask how many in total it would be to just let it happen. Unfortunately, Mark asked anyway, "So how many shots in total is it going to be?"

She looked at me with a stern gaze before turning to Mark, "Don't worry, I won’t go overkill, four shots each."

Not quite the amount I was expecting since she said all of them, but I was simply happy it wasn't more. Mark was, admittedly, better with getting shots than me.

As Sky put her stuff together and set it down, she began to speak again as she examined the needlepoint, "Typically, checks were done separately, but I've been told that you two would likely be more comfortable together. Though with that said, who's first?"

My mind went straight to analyzing what she said. I knew that they were keeping an eye on us, but I thought we had been doing a good job of hiding our stress and worry about our new environment. Unfortunately, my thoughts, for the hundredth time, distracted me as I heard Mark call out, "Not it."

I narrowed my eyes at him with a barely audible growl before I turned to Sky.

"Hoof," she asked, holding out a wing.

I hesitantly held out my hoof, to which her wing gently grabbed. Her right hoof came, with the needle. She motioned me to look the other way, to which I pouted before I begrudgingly complied. I felt the sting of the needle, but luckily, or unluckily it was gone and replaced with another needle. Then, when I thought it finally over, one more came down.

When the third needle was finished, her wing gently let go as she threw away the needles in a nearby biohazard box. I looked to Sky, her stern expression replaced with symphony long ago as she held out her wing, "Other hoof."

I complied once again, happy there was only one left. Mark just sat and watched, smirking. 'I'll get him back later for that,' I decided as I conceded to just sigh. My distracted mind that was focused on being annoyed at Mark, didn't even realize I was already on the last shot until it was already out to my relief.

"See? Wasn't so bad was it?"

My relief turned to annoyance again after hearing the placating tone of Sky as she snickered. I decided for once in my life to just ignore her instead of trying to be annoyed. I moved and lightly rubbed my hooves. Though the shots were more towards my shoulder, it'd still be a bit of an annoyance to walk.

Looking back, I saw Mark was just about finishing up his shots as well. I smiled, hoping that this checkup was finally coming to an end.

"And done," Sky said, tossing away the needles.

"Finally," I groaned, "we’re finished."

"Well, I suppose there is one more thing, actually."

'Oh great... More stuff yay...' I thought as Sky came close, looking straight at me. I got a feeling that I should be afraid, and that feeling was right as her tone went from cheery to ominous.

"I wouldn't swear around your doctor, who you'll be known for the years to come."

I gulped but nodded. Her tone popped right back to cheery.

"Great! Then let's head back out."

Sky left, but I was a little paralyzed. I vaguely heard Mark snickering at my misfortune. 'What the heck happened to that streak of luck I've been having so recently?'

---

"Ah, you're done. Everything went well, I hope?"

I grumbled, still annoyed, as Twilight got up upon seeing Sky.

"Outside of them creating a small storm, everything went fine."

"Storm?" questioned Twilight, "nothing bad, I hope."

"Oh no, it's all good," Sky assured, "I even got to hear one of their stories."

"Stories?"

"Yep, seems these two are quite the trouble makers."

"I see," Twilight hummed, "Well, if everything is good and done, we'll be leaving Miss Sky."

"Alright, but first take this," she said, giving out a folder.

"Ah, almost forgot, thank you."

"No problem," Sky called as Twilight began turning around.

"Have a good day," Mark and I both automatically called out of habit.

She responded in kind with a smile.

Cadence and Eclipse were talking but seeing us they started getting up to us.

"Well, I see everything is done. Unfortunately, my free time is about up, and I've got plans. So I'll be going off."

Turning to Cadence, I smiled, "Alright, have a good day."

Cadence smiled too before she turned off. It was now just Mark, Twilight, Eclipse, and I.

"So Twilight," Mark asked, "Is that everything?"

Twilight grinned, "Well, you see, since classes start next week, I'll be assessing your grade level and assisting whenever I come to Canterlot. Since I actually live in ponyville, I'm only visiting Canterlot for a while until you two are settled in."

'Ponyville? Isn't that where Redheart was from?'

"So, does that mean tests?"

"Yep, I was actually hoping we could start right after the checkup if that's fine with the two of you?"

"I'm fine with that. What about you, Star?"

"Sure," I answered.

"Perfect, we'll start with a small introduction to each subject before we go in. First, we're starting with my favorite subject, magic!"

Twilight began to get papers and quills out of nowhere again. I silently watched, thinking of how useful it'd be if I could do that.

---

"Now, first things first when it comes to magic," Twilight lectured, "is SAFETY."

My head reared back when she not only mutated that word safety but also created the word physically and boldly.

"Before you cast any spell in public, you have to make sure you’ve practiced and studied. Some spells even need a license to cast."

Mark rose a hoof cutting her off.

"Yes, Mark?"

"How do you get a spell license?"

Twilight seemed a little annoyed but answered, "Well, if you waited, I would have told you that to get one, you need to prove you've completed your training for the use of the spell."

"And the process of training is...?" Mark continued.

This time, she smiled a bit, "To get training; usually, you'd need to go to a university. Some places actually require some students to get a spell license, so most, if not all universities, and maybe a few high schools here and there are equipped with a Meme."

I sputtered upon her later word, "A-a what?"

"A Meme, a Multi Energy Managing Environment. It's a room for exactly what it sounds like, a room where a pony can practice spells or multiple high energy spells formulas safely and securely. Should anything go wrong, it can drain the entire room of magic, collapsing any spells."

Mark and I sat in silence as a confused Twilight stared back. Mark and I sat at our desk in our room, which Twilight moved, so they were connected and faced her.

"Yeah, no, I'm calling it a null room."

Twilight stared back at Mark, "Eh, call it what you want, officially that's the name, but it's often called a magic room, training room, spell crafting room, and some other things."

"Anyways," she continued, "There are hundreds of safeties we can go over, but we're going to skip all that and say one thing."

Twilight brought a chalkboard and wrote in bold letters underlined., 'DO NOT DO MAGIC WITHOUT TRAINING OR PRACTICE. IN FACT, JUST DON’T TRY UNTIL YOU GET APPROVAL OF AN ADULT'

"Now, I hear that you, Mark, have an interest in magic. So, do you know how magic is cast?"

Mark perked up at the question, "Well, I’ve read that there were a couple of ways. Actually, one was simply to visualize the spell, good for simple things but bad for complex spells. Next were spell matrices, which are spell formulas that create the desired result, and even ever so lightly mentioned incantations."

"Exactly, we'll be going over how to read and use spell matrixes. Visualize is a five-minute subject which we'll cover at a later date. Mark, I'm sure you already know how to read and use spell matrixes, so you'll probably get something more complex, but for now, we'll start at the basics."

I sulked a bit, seeing as Mark was already ahead of me. Then again, when it came to school, though we were fairly evenly matched on grades, he tends to be a bit further ahead than me. My sulking came to a stop when I realized something, ' Whatever, I can actually learn how to use magic now!'

As I excitedly watched, Twilight began writing out something on the board.

"Now, this is a spell matrix."

Author's Note:

First off, thanks to Commander Joe, for help editing some of the small grammar errors I myself would have otherwise missed.

Secondly, I did say I would commit meme for my next chapter, didn't I? (If you don't understand this, it's fine. It relates to another conversation.) Now, on to the chapter! Or next chapter that is.

Comments

[Silent Wing]

Mark, you did great to stop Twilight before she was able to switch into full lecture mode. Otherwise you wouldn't have been able to get a word out before sunset. If you by some miracle managed to stay awake.

[Teraunce]

10642821
Agreed.

[Luckyfanisaac]

He kept snickering, so I just sighed. 'He’s going to add this to the list of embarrassing stories he has on me, isn't he?'

She motioned me to look the other way, to which I pouted before I begrudgingly complied. I felt the sting of the needle, but luckily, or unluckily it was gone and replaced with another needle. Then, when I thought it was finally over, one more came down.

I complied once again, happy there were only one left.

"I see," Twilight hummed,

Cadence and Eclipse were talking but seeing we were going got up to greet us,

[Commander Joe]

10642821
I wonder just how much self control Twilight has over herself when it comes to her favorite topic.

[Pensive]

10642899
Alright, thanks. Fun fact, it was originally going to be five shots, but I thought that would be a little overkill.

10642945
I mean, Twilight is an alicorn at this point. She's probably not going to burst into flames when it comes to other ponies... Erm, just maybe not when it comes to the unexplainable like Pinkie Pie

10642821
Mark... Err, with his interest in magic, I'd place my bets on him sleeping through everything except magic

[Pensive]

10642925
10643314
Yeah, maybe I'll go back in the future to edit those chapters. Compared to the first chapter and the recent oneone, grammar and spelling errors are what I'm trying to cut down on the most.

[Pensive]

10645537
10645505
Funnily enough, it was the later chapters that I began running through Grammarly premium and occasionally run it through the Gdocs autocorrect tool as well in case I missed a few. Anyways, if I ever find time to go back to edit the chapters, I do not envy the amount I'll have to go through.
i.imgur.com/JJMXYOc.png
While I could just spam auto correct on it all, it isn't always 100% right so I have to read each and every single one...

Anyways, thanks for the corrections!

[Feynna]

10645565
Grammarly premium? Are you using that for other things besides writing? If you are only using it for fanfictions and not for professional work or what have you, the non-premium version is sufficient enough. And even then, I wouldn't completely rely on that.

Anyways, if I ever find time to go back to edit the chapters, I do not envy the amount I'll have to go through.

Simply reading through your chapters multiple times should help to spot most mistakes and if you aren't satisfied with the state of your chapters by then, asking someone to look over it should do the trick. Sometimes a pair of fresh eyes is just the thing you need, whether it be for grammar or simply to point out if you do something you should rather not do. Someone with an honest opinion that won't get snippy with you would be best for that. :3

[Pensive]

10645856
For Grammarly, mostly I use it for fanfiction and school work.

As for editing, rereading something I already know of can get kinda boring. I usually wait until a story is faded from my mind before I reread something so it stays interesting. Though when I do get back to editing the early chapters, I'll probably run it through spell checks before I actually get to going over it slowly.

[Feynna]

10645875
Maybe I'm just too narcissistic, then. I can't get enough of reading my own story. xD

[Pensive]

10650545
Hmm, perhaps I did take the part too far. It was meant to(for a part) be portrayed as just the antics of Mark and Star, with the undertone that he actually did know what he did. So instead of heavy punishment(with the exception of the magic inhibitor), it's more of just a scolding and some mild exaggeration from Mark.

Though I'm somewhat sure I've established they like to joke around from the prologue with them just messing around first thing in the morning, but since coming to an entirely different world I doubt there was much of that going around. Despite what was going on around them, perhaps the two, conscious of it or not, desperately needed some sense of 'normalcy' due to the stress of the situation.

And the outcome was... Well, it was that.

Anyways, thanks for the feedback, even if you are going. Any bits of criticism helps me improve on what I could do in the future.

[Munro]

awesome story loking forward to reading more ^^

[Pensive]

10651108
Eh, hopefully, I'll be able to get some writing time either today or tomorrow. Depends on the school, and really I could probably finish up the 2000 word next chapter in one or two sessions. That is, of course, if I find a time when I'm not reading, with friends, at school, doing homework, or sleeping like a rock.

10651090
Which one do you think was funnier?

[Munro]

10651166
both where realy good put the haloween one "zombieface scares kids away" dat was the killer.
nice build up too