05 - Middlemist
As Fluttershy had come to find out with first-hand experience, humans were interesting creatures, to say the least.
In a world deprecated of any and all forms of magic, humans have found increasingly strange and interesting ways to deal with things that to most other forms of living beings, were trivial tasks. Not only had they managed to develop ways to do said tasks, they had somehow managed to find ways to do it simpler, and arguably, lazier. Sometimes, Fluttershy even found herself being jealous at humans for figuring things out before her species could.
She thought this as she was specifically watching her human mother click the ‘go’ button on a coffee machine. And it made coffee. Automatically.
Humans are weird, and electricity is even weirder.
It reminded her of the time the Flim and Flam brothers came into Ponyville, and used their strange machine to try and run the Apples out of business. It didn’t work, of course, but it felt like these machines had a lot of similarities between theirs. Fluttershy was even wondering whether Flim and Flam had actually made moves in this world. Perhaps electricity was another one of their business ventures.
Speaking of electricity being weird, take washing dishes for an example. To an Earth-pony, it was a pain in the flank. Nothing to hold onto but a smooth and slippery surface covered in soap. It took a long time for them, and it was almost never enjoyable. Unless said Earth-pony was Pinkie Pie. She managed to find everything to be enjoyable. But that was neither here nor there.
For a Pegasus like Fluttershy, it was a marginally improved experience. They had the ability to grab the dishes with the tips of their wings, a little bit like claws, and clean them quicker and more effectively than their wingless friends. Of course, that always left her with bits of uneaten food stuck in her feathers, but it was better than an Earth-pony who probably needed a shower afterwards.
If one was a Unicorn, and had the mental capacity and strength to levitate multiple object, it wasn’t even worth complaining about. Most Unicorns could only levitate one object, however, and wash with a sponge strapped to their hoof. In some ways similar to the way a Pegasus would do it. Unicorns almost always had it the easiest out of the three tribes. They made up for it by, on average, being weaker than the other two tribes. Even the Pegasus who quite literally had hollow bones.
So. How did the human race wash dishes? With their ten digits and opposable thumbs that had taken thousands of years to evolve?
Well. The way the humans did it was strange. First, they would remove the big chunks of food left on a plate, whether it be uneaten bits of pasta or peanut butter stuck to the white surface. Then, they would give it a quick rinse with water…
And then throw it in a machine for an hour to do the work for them.
And you know what? It works. Really well. After they were done drying, the humans would put them in their cabinets like a pony would, ready for use once more. As previously stated, humans had somehow figured out a way to do things lazier. So. What did humans do with all the extra time they had on their hands? All the extra time they saved by having a machine do it for them? Invest in the stock market? Leave the house quicker? Arrive to work or school sooner?
Watching Television, of course.
Turns out that the huge black frame on the wall Fluttershy had noticed last night wasn’t just a portrait, as Fluttershy had assumed from the darkened living room of late last night. Instead, it was one of those Televisions only really rich ponies could afford, only just ginormous, flat, black, thin, and hung on the wall. It was a little bit like watching a moving painting. Instead of being powered by crystals charged by professionally hired Unicorns every two months, it was plugged into the wall for electricity. A different type of fuel than she was used to. And apparently much, much cheaper than magic crystal Televisions.
Fluttershy had to figure out how to get dressed, how to take a shower, yadah yadah. Much like Rarity, she had managed to figure out that the magazines on her night stand were fashion magazines, and the people posing were models showing off clothes. Unlike Rarity, however, she couldn’t quite match cloth-for-cloth. Instead, she ignored the magazine, and walked downstairs wearing a yellow dress similar to her green dress last night.
In the living room was Fluttershy’s sister. She was sitting just in front of the sofa on the ground, a bowl of cereal with milk on the coffee table as she kept an eye on the Television, itself displaying some cartoon about a cat and a fish. Fluttershy wasn’t quite sure of what to make of her ‘sister.’
She knew a few things about life that she was confident about. One of those things were simple: She did not have a sister. She never did, and judging by how old her parents were getting, she never would. She had a younger brother, sure, but they were born barely a year apart from each other. This young girl was much younger than her, and for some reason, she had a hard time swallowing that information. Sure, there was bound to be a few differences across dimensions, but this was a whole new person.
Why. Why, why, why did Fluttershy not want to accept this fact? What was there, in her brain, telling her that no, there was no possible way this little girl was her sister? She didn’t have one in Equestria, so what was the difference between here and there? Perhaps she would’ve assumed this girl was adopted, or fostered, or something.
But they were blood related. They had to be. The girl could use the stare. That isn’t something anybody could just pick up, especially not somebody as young as her. She couldn’t deny the similarities forever. In this world, she had a sister.
The girl stopped eating, looking away from the Television and meeting Fluttershy’s eyes. Fluttershy jolted away from her daze, realizing that for the past minute or so, she had been staring at her ‘sister’ eating cereal and watching Television. Fluttershy lowered her head in shame, walking over and sitting down next to her sister. Her parents were in the kitchen using the coffee machine and getting ready for work.
She didn’t even know her sister’s name.
“Oh- honey!” Her mother called. Fluttershy looked and watched as her mother began pouring her a bowl of cereal, quickly setting it in front of her with a spoon hanging off the edge. “Don’t forget breakfast!” She said, quickly kissing her on the forehead. Fluttershy didn’t react, and it felt oddly right.
Fluttershy tapped her finger on the coffee table awkwardly, glancing at her sister, who had went back to watching the Television.
“What- um- are you watching?” Fluttershy asked, scooping up her cereal in an attempt to start talking with the mystery girl.
“Gumball.” The girl said, taking another mouthful of cereal. “It’s about this cat and fish. They’re brothers.” She said through the cereal.
“What’s happening?” Fluttershy asked, looking up at the Television herself.
“They broke their neighbors car.” She explained. “And now Gumball and Darwin have to fix it before they notice.”
“Huh.” Fluttershy said, eating her cereal. It was a strange cartoon, to say the least. There were no artifacts from hoof-animation. The lines adorning each character looked impossibly smooth and perfect, almost like they were generated by a computer.
Wait. They probably are.
“Did you- um- finish your homework?” Fluttershy asked, practically guessing whether or not she actually had homework.
“Uh-huh.” She nodded absentmindedly.
…
The silence panicked her.
Oh, dear! What is our dynamic? Fluttershy thought. Do we argue like the me and Zephyr? Or are we nice to each other like the Apples? Or… somewhere in between? Fluttershy let out a small and audible sigh. I don’t even know her name…
Unless… you usually sign your name at the top of homework paper, right?
“Um- Can I see your homework? Please?” Fluttershy asked. The girl gave her an odd look, but reached over to the backpack leaning against an arm-chair and began digging through her backpack. A second later she materialized a black binder. Through the first binder ring, she pulled out a thin piece of paper, handing it to Fluttershy.
“Thank you.” Fluttershy said, taking it and immediately reading the top. She had to physically force herself not to let out a grunt of frustration as she remembered the tiny detail that no, Fluttershy could not read the human language.
Wait a minute…
Fluttershy blinked. And then blinked again. She then began reading the top line.
“Um- if you don’t mind me asking, what homework is this?” Fluttershy asked.
“Stupid Latin homework.” She grumbled, sighing. “We have to take stupid language classes for credit. I thought Latin would be fun. Maybe I would accidentally summon a demon in my bedroom. But no, it’s just all boring words and sentences.”
“Bottle of water.” Fluttershy read. The girl stopped her spoon mid-scoop, pausing for a moment, before turning to look at Fluttershy in surprise. “Water and bread. I go to the store to buy bread.”
“Huh?” She asked, leaning close to Fluttershy and reading the words, dropping the spoon into the almost emptied bowl. “I didn’t know you could read Latin!”
“I didn’t know either…” Although, to Fluttershy, the words on the page were merely just New Ponish. “The boy and greal go to the store.” She read again, ignoring the incorrect spelling. Fluttershy then got an idea. “Did you write your name anywhere on here?” She asked innocently. The girl brightened up.
“Oh, uh- yeah! Right here.” She pointed a finger towards the bottom of the page. Fluttershy straightened it out, reading it.
“Midllel Mhis?” She read. “I- I don’t think that’s a name.”
“Uh… I meant to do that!” She shrugged, smiling awkwardly, and taking the paper from Fluttershy’s fingers. The flattened the paper on the front cover of the binder, finding a pencil from inside of her backpack, and began doing a few quick corrections. She smiled, handing it back to Fluttershy. “Here. How’s this?”
Fluttershy took the paper once again, and read it. She let out an audible sigh of relief as she read the name. Finally, something to call her sister, instead of just calling her ‘the girl’ mentally. Yet- as she read the name, she couldn’t help but feel the world slow down a little bit.
“Middlemist?”
Something stirred in the deepest parts of her brain. Like an old synapse began firing a tangent of familiarity that she couldn’t quite put her finger on. Dusting off the figurative bookshelves from the recesses of her brain, she couldn’t help but recognize that name. The name that was… oddly beautiful. Light and delicate, like a flower. Flowers. Lots of flowers, and a… a boulder?
She’s seen it somewhere before. Where? Where, where, where? She didn’t have a clue.
“Middlemist…” She said it one more time. “Middlemist…”
“I wrote it right, right?” Misty asked, leaning over. “Does it say my name?”
“Y-Yeah.” Fluttershy looked at her. Looked deeper than she had ever looked. “Yeah. Your name is… Middlemist. Why does that sound familiar?”
“Because…we’re related?” She asked.
“No. No-no. I mean…” Fluttershy bit her lip, racking her brain. “Never mind… I can’t…” She rubbed her head. “Middlemist sounds so… real. I- I can’t figure it out.”
“What are you even talking about?” She asked, leaning away. “Did you see it recently? Did I get an award or something at school?”
“No…” Fluttershy set the homework down. “A… boulder. A stone. A stone?”
“A flower.” She corrected. “I’m named after a flower. Not a rock.”
“I…” Fluttershy sighed, pushing the homework across the table and back to Misty. “I don’t know.” Misty looked up in concern, letting her spoon drop into the bowl.
“You’re acting weird! Why are you acting so weird?” Misty observed simply.
Fluttershy stopped eating, letting her spoon float in her fingers. She looked over at the girl that was supposed to be her sister. Instead of getting an angry expression, it was one of a strange compassion. And it hurt her to see.
The girl sitting by her side shared nothing with her. She wasn’t like Sweetie Belle or Apple Bloom who was at least a manifestation of her sister, because Fluttershy had no sister. There was nothing there.
But her face…
Her face melted her insides into a goo.
Fluttershy made a soft humming sound, extending her arm out and grabbing her by the neck in an attempt at a hug. Misty made a quick hurk! sound as she found herself suddenly an entire person’s worth of space closer. She struggled for a moment, before also melting in Fluttershy’s grip.
“I’m sorry.” Fluttershy said, using her other arm to wrap her in a complete hug.
“This would be nice if it was consensual.” Misty observed, frowning slightly. Despite her words, she snuggled her head a little bit closer to Fluttershy’s elbow. “I… I wish you were home more often.”
Fluttershy’s breath hitched, looking down at the purple mass.
“W-What?” Fluttershy asked. She stared ahead at the cartoon on the screen, watching as the mother cat clicked play on a cassette deck, listening to something that Fluttershy didn’t care enough to properly tune her ears to. “I’m sorry.” Fluttershy said once more, even though she wasn’t sure what she was apologizing for.
“Wait- I mean-!” Misty began struggling once again, trying to break from the grasp. “I didn’t mean it to be sappy! I mean- just an observation! You’re always volunteering for the animal shelter after school, and-”
“I promise you, we can do whatever you want this week.” She interrupted. Misty stopped struggling once more, her features relaxing.
“...really?” Misty asked.
“Really.” Fluttershy nodded. Misty let out a sigh again.
“Can you like- stop hugging me, though?” She said, slightly irritated. “I get all the close-sister-hugginess and crap, but- jeez, dude.”
“Sorry.” Fluttershy said, breaking from the hug.
“D’aww!” A new voice said. Fluttershy felt herself stiffen at the sound as the owner flopped unceremoniously onto the sofa directly behind her.
“Up so early?” Fluttershy said without looking behind her.
“I couldn’t help it!” He stretched. “You guys are never cutesy with each other like this! It’s rare!”
“Have you found a job, Zephyr?” Misty asked, also not looking behind her.
“Hey! I’m working on it. Just- it’s taking a little longer than I thought, kay?”
Fluttershy and Misty sighed in sync, both wishing that Zephyr could just… disappear for a while. Maybe a vacation. Or a long hike. As a matter of fact, Fluttershy vastly preferred her sister, even if they had, realistically, just met.
What would the day hold for them?
Sweetie Belle’s phone buzzed. Rarity was walking by the side of her, as for whatever reason, Rarity wasn’t too keen on driving her car to school. It’s not like Sweetie minded. Getting to spend more time with her sister was always a plus- and for whatever reason, she seemed mildly more affectionate today than she usually was.
Sweetie pulled the phone out of her pocket, reading the top text message. It was from her mom, of course.
(Mom: WHere is your sister) It read simply. Surprisingly non-verbose for her mother, and without proper capitals or any punctuation, it looked kind of rushed. Sweetie frowned, falling behind her sister a few steps and typing.
(we are walking to school) She responded, clicking send. She was about to put her phone away, when surprisingly, she was sent another text.
(Mom: I just talked to youre sister she isn’t with you)
(she is right here what do you mean)
(Mom: I faectimed her and se didn’t look right something is going on)
(what is going on?)
(Mom: stay away from rraity. I checke d her location on snapshot sh keeps appearing randomly aroudn the world she was in lake michigna.)
(what are you talking about?)
(Mom: me and your father are heading home right now . We should be home soon)
(aren’t yout wo in toronto? That’s like eight hours away?)
(Mom: stay awway from rarity)
“Sweetie?”
“Gah!” In surprise, Sweetie fumbled her phone in her hands. For a moment, she was scared the phone was going to hit the ground. Thankfully, she managed to bear-grab it, stopping the fumbling. They had stopped walking, and Sweetie slowly met Rarity’s eyes.
“Are you alright?” Rarity asked. Sweetie blinked, her mouth open. She looked back down at her phone.
(Mom: are you there?)
(Mom: hello? Sweetie?)
“Y-Yeah.” Sweetie said slowly, turning the mute switch on her phone to the on position. “I’m… fine.”
“Okay…” Rarity said. “You look a little pale.”
“I’m just…” Sweetie slipped her phone back into her pocket. “Did you get a call from mom?”
“Call?” She asked, both beginning to walk down the sidewalk once more. “What do you mean, darling?”
“Call.” Sweetie elaborated. “Like- on your phone?”
Rarity merely looked at Sweetie with a blank stare. A cold shivering sensation crawled it’s way up Sweetie’s spine as she quite quickly realized that something was wrong with her sister. But… nothing bad had happened yet. She was acting like this last night, and nothing bad had happened.
She felt her phone in her pocket with her hand.
No. She was just being paranoid. She pulled her phone back out, scrolling quickly though the messages she had received.
(im fine. Rarity seemed fine to me.)
(Mom: something is happening with that magic thing that happened at the school)
(you mean sunset?)
(Mom: she had a horn)
(sunset had wings not a horn)
(Mom: sta away.)
And that was that. Sweetie put her phone back in her pocket, yet continued to keep a trained eye on Rarity. Her parent’s would be back home soon. Then, they could… explain.
But she trusted her sister…
Right?
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Honestly like fluttershy to interact with zephyr and be surprised about some positive differences
11568089
MMM. good idea.
LOL
On has to wonder what potential Scifi/ horror scenario's are going on in EG Rarity's parents heads
they could have avoid a number of these shenanigans by not keeping things secret but that'd be less comedy for us heh heh
Heh, yeah, something tells me that (pony)Rarity is going to have a bad time once her parents return. The funny thing is, that the pony girls are adults, yet they never stopped to think about how the parents would react to having their children disappear. And that chill Sweetie just felt? That's some serious body snatchers level shit right there, great job on conveying that.
11568159
I mean all fairness to him, the human world is a bit harder to get started in then the pony one from the looks of it.
Well, I believed this fic was originally a oneshot... Maybe I missed the complete tag.
This is a surprise that a relatively old story popped up again, especially on the featured page some days/week ago. I've read until Middlemist, but I still feel like something is off with the writing; I can't quite point out the oddity.
Either way, it is a pleasent surprise to see a story that deals with these kind of visitations; always interesting to see how technology and magic changes life differently.
And I believe Fluttershy's dilemma could be a pony twin that got miscarriaged if she strongly believe her parents stopped after Zephyr. Like I mentioned about magic and technology, maybe they didn't get a twin, but they decided to push on after Zephyr, hence Middlemist.
Or maybe I overthunk this and it is a name of something not a pony
11569102
I feel like something’s off with my writing too and I don’t know what. If you figure it out please tell me because I do want to be better.
11569228
But i heard Recently in 2023 that its 10 billion
The feels hitting kinda hard here. Did Flutters realize that the Equestrian Misty had died when she was younger, or was she nice to her on instinct? She remembers Equestrian Misty's funeral at least...
I did notice a bit of a continuity thingy. A boob related one, ofc. If Sweetie gave Rares the Talk, how did she end up flashing boys at school like she told Sunset in the first chapter?
11572892
In response to the first question: a bit of both, really. She’ll be nice to anypony. And I’m happy you picked up on the funeral thing, I wasn’t sure if anybody was gonna notice that. She didn’t exactly witness a funeral, per sey, but it will be explained later.
In response to the second question: my bad lmao. Totally forgot that happened in the original one shot.
More binary hmmm…
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