Chapter 7: Recurrence
Chapter 7: Recurrence
When we arrived at Canterlot I was taken aback by the sights. It was one thing to read about the Ponies’ modern-ish civilization and another thing entirely to see it firsthand. It was especially amazing to see the fabled capital city and exactly how it managed to be built into the side of a precipitous mountain.
I could see a train approaching a train station. A city that lived on even in the darkness of the night, where light posts lit up every hundred paces or so across the more commercial areas. The royal castle had towers that were even accented with what I Identified as pure gold!
Then, when I didn’t think it was possible to be any more surprised, the bat-ponies touched down on the castle grounds and led me to their ruler.
…
[Identified Status]
[Level: 500+]
[Name: Celestia
[Race: Alicorn
[Class: Goddess of the Sun]
[Details: An immortal pony in the form of the ultimate fusion between the three Pony tribes. Celestia maintains the cycle of the sun, leads the kingdom of Equestria, and has almost uncontestable political influence across the entire world. She has been described as benevolent to some and ruthless to others. It would be wise to tread carefully.]
I felt a jolt as one of the guards shoved me.
“What?” I asked.
“I asked you what your name is,” the almighty Princess of the Ponies said.
“Oh, uh, it’s Victor,” I said. I would have told her my actual name, but since the only references to my name that I could recall from the last couple of months had been every time I checked my Status, it seems I’d subconsciously accepted “Victor Hex” as my name. This being the first time I’d been asked my name since I’d arrived in this world — the Changelings hadn’t bothered — I spoke without really thinking. Honestly, I was still trying to catch up with all the thoughts I had about what I’d seen since we’d arrived at Canterlot.
“I don’t think I’ve met another of your kind,” Celestia said.
When she didn’t continue speaking, I said, “I wouldn’t be surprised if I were the only one of my kind here. I’m not too sure how I got here myself. In this world I mean.”
“You’re an alien?” She kept an unreadable poker face.
“Something like that,” I gestured halfheartedly. “Where I come from we don’t have magic or species beside ourselves intelligent or capable enough to speak.”
“I’d like to ask you more about that, but that will have to wait for another time. Right now, we must discuss what you plan on doing for the foreseeable future,” Celestia said.
“They haven’t already told you?” I looked at the small group of bat-ponies that stood to the side. “All I want is to settle down and work on my projects. I offer my services to anyone that values them and plan on providing for myself.”
“Hmm… The report I received from the Lieutenant of the Night Shade Battalion mentioned you provided “manufacturing services” to the Queen of the Changelings herself. What exactly can you make?”
“As long as I know and have made something once, I can easily replicate the process. Queen Chrysalis usually requested several dozen kilograms worth of products on a daily basis. Most days, I was asked to make potions and building materials.”
“Would you care to show me your proficiency in alchemy? A competent alchemist is valued anywhere and nowhere is that more true in the lands of Equestria than right here in Canterlot. The most prestigious institute for alchemy in the entire country is directly attached to the castle, after all,” Celestia said.
“Sure thing. Just give me something to work with and tell me what you want,” I suggested. It wasn’t like I had anything to work on, or with, on hand. Also despite my apparent cockiness, or what some might call arrogance, I had a reason to be so nonchalant, given I’d read and practiced enough alchemy to be able to work with pretty much anything.
And I did mean anything. Alchemy, in essence, was just a way of exploiting the effects of magic while performing chemical reactions. For me, it was like playing the role of a real chemist, but with tons of handicaps; an easy mode, to put it in game terms. Thanks to my perfect memory and the hundreds of encyclopedic tomes I’d read during my time with the Changelings, I knew all but the most esoteric information there regarding the topic of alchemy.
So, along with an escort of two guards, I walked with the princess through the impressively large castle. When we eventually reached our destination, I felt my eye twitch at the pristine condition of the alchemy workstation I was presumably going to be allowed to use. The room was formatted exactly like a chemistry lab one could find in a university and had all the equipment one would expect from such a room as well.
“Could you make us a health potion? It’s been a while since I dabbled in alchemy,” She coughed and muttered under her breath, “maybe a few hundred years,” before continuing to speak normally, “so I’ll need one of my researchers to appraise your work.”
“There are seven… no, eight different ways I can think of synthesizing a health potion from the ingredients I’ve seen since entering the room. I’ve never had the opportunity to work in these conditions, though, so please excuse me if I take a bit longer than normal to get used to using this level of equipment.”
Celestia gave me a patient nod and let me start the process.
With the warning that I’d probably take a while to finish said and accepted, I took full advantage of the situation to set a new standard for my ability to Automate health potions. Starting with the chopped herbs and plants, I hand-cut and processed all the ingredients much more uniformly than I’d ever been able to before.
The ingredients that needed to be crushed were borderline liquified by the time I was done, while the ingredients that were tempered were done so with more precision and for a longer time.
I took my time and worked as carefully as I possibly could to get everything within the slightest margin of error possible and I believe that the results showed as much.
[Identified Status]
[Name: Health Potion (Ultra Premier Grade)]
[Details: As long as you’re not already dead, drinking this will keep you from dying any time soon. Takes a minute to undo fatal wounds and a second to regenerate anything less severe. It can’t restore missing blood or erase non-physical illnesses, though.]
“Not too shabby,” I nodded in pride as I waved my hand and nine more identical potions appeared on the table for Celestia to observe.
The researcher that had been brought to appraise my potion looked filled with apprehension as he took one of the potions to take a closer look. He had seen me make the original, so he should have somewhat expected the results. It became pretty clear that he simply couldn’t believe I could be so competent when his expression only worsened as he continued making his tests.
Eventually, the researcher made an audible gulp and said, “This is a Health Potion that only the work of our best alchemists can match… and all of the copies appear to be of the same quality. The potions’ purity borders on Consumate Grade.”
When Celestia turned to me all I had to say was, “So… Good enough to be hired by you, I hope?” I admit I was being cheeky, but how could I not be when I’d been praised so heavily to my face?
“I’ll offer you one better than what I initially considered. How about a position as an official royal alchemist? Aside from a decent salary, your compensation package will include a suite in the castle, three weeks of paid leave, as well as free you from a non-compete agreement.”
I can not express how unsettling it is to be negotiating with a literal Goddess regarding the terms of my own compensation package. It was disturbing enough to hear such jargon from a mythical creature. It was another thing entirely to be the recipient of such negotiations.
“That works great for me. Saves me the time and effort of looking into a place to stay, which I really appreciate. Just… let me know where I can safely test my projects when I get to the point where testing becomes viable. Oh, and let me know who I should warn about the potential explosions.”
“I’ll be sure to discuss the subject with you in the future. For now, I must raise the sun and begin my royal duties.”
I watched her walk over to the window that provided a view to the east. The horn on her head began to glow a radiant yellow and to my rising horror, I watched the sun rise at a pace that was visible to the naked eye.
So many questions ran through my head at that exact moment. Like, how far was the sun from the planet for the light coming off of it to be able to reach it almost instantly? On Earth, the distance from the sun was so great that it took light more than eight minutes to make the trip.
How much smaller and cooler was this sun to provide a similar enough temperature-scape to the one that allowed for life to exist? What other planets were there on this world’s solar system and how was the balance of gravity kept with a sun that was so different than the one I was familiar with?
How much energy in terms of joules was Celestia capable of exerting if she could literally move a star? On second thought… I don’t think I wanted an answer to that last one as I was sure it was the primary source of fear for a lot of intelligent life.
She really was a living Goddess and I wasn’t sure how I felt about the fact that she could probably erase me from existence at a whim.
…
A few hours into my switch from the Changelings to the Ponies, I started mentally recording a list of the differences and similarities between what I’d seen between the two. I did so because while at a glance, there wasn’t much of a difference to how I was being treated, once I started paying attention and thinking critically the deviations were startling.
For example, with both Ponies and Changelings, my abilities and skills were prized and thus I was valued. I was given a place to stay and more privileges than anyone in my position back on Earth would be afforded.
However… While the Changelings as a whole had treated me with absolute neutrality, my reception with the Ponies was a mixed bag. Where all of the Changelings treated me as I would anyone else, there was no telling how a Pony would react to me if it were the first time we were meeting.
Some Ponies treated me as I’d come to expect by the Changelings, while others recoiled with fear evident in their expressions. Some would scream, gasp, and or try to put as much distance as they could from me, while others couldn’t help but approach curiously and ask me about myself and what I was.
While I could understand the sentiment behind being afraid of an alien, the extent to which some ponies would express their fear got very annoying very quickly. I mean, sure, be afraid of me if you want, but don’t cry out your despair for all to hear while I’m within earshot. It almost feels like a taunt; like you’re begging me to try something!
In any case, I didn’t complain to anyone besides myself in my thoughts. Overall, I considered the “change in management” to be an overwhelming net positive. Yeah, it was going to be annoying having to deal with some scared ponies, but I got to move into a god-damn castle! Where there was electricity! Plumbing! And access to the latest and greatest tech that was accessible on the planet!
It had taken me two months and more luck than I thought I’d ever encounter in my entire life but I had finally reached the goal I’d set out after being dumped on this world; on a technicality, but I counted it! I wouldn’t be able to make it back home, likely a whole universe or dimension away, but I’d at least made it back to a modern society.
I wasn’t even sure I still wanted to go back to Earth anyway. I mean, I missed my friends and family, but it wasn’t like they were what drove me in my life. It was unfortunate that they would have to live without knowing what had happened to me and not being able to see them ever again was a tough pill to swallow.
But at least I got to live on and experience the most insane opportunity life had given me. I don’t think I’d ever get bored again with there being so much to do and learn. I was a god-damn video game character with borderline superpowers in a land of mythical, magical, talking creatures!
As far as I was concerned I’d already done right by my parents when I sold off one of the companies I built from the ground up and used a few million from the proceeds to boost them right into retirement. And as for my friends? While I did have a few that were lifelong and considered to be just as close to me as I was with my family, they would never truly be equal in my eyes; family would always be at least one degree of intensity more important.
Moreover, I could always make a couple more.
Stats
Page generated in 0.02 seconds
Total duration
982 users online
1,226,709 hits today, 2,244,100 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.®
Weird to find out that this man was a millionaire when the story leads with him working in a video game production.
The sun is the same size.
Id ahve thought he would be trrying to Observe gaps in curtains etc to get even a rough idea of the parralax to see if there actually was any?
Theres other fun things he can so with glass lenses on very long tubes to get an approximate speed of light check or relative planetary motion to light? Greenwhich discovered the problem when trying to set Zero Longitude?
A Game Ability he might be able to get is the sum isnt greater than the parts but greater than a part? Wher you throw 3 to 10 level 1 potions together and get a level 2 potion etc and leftovers or lost cost of upgrade?
11688539
Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but I'm interpreting that line as the "backstory" is overriding his memories, instead of what actually happened.
Of course, founders tend to be able to walk away with a decent chunk of money. But there's a very low percentage of people who do that.
And go see this video https://youtu.be/Vz9MAmRXhos?si=nEK1dtj3vvBKVGBn You'll have a much better idea of the series
11688564
Thats actually fascinating, dudes alright given up his actually name, how far until he doesn't even know what earths like? Nah I doubt it would go that far but it's an interesting idea
On this site , it doesnt even matter if you watched the show , just put in to tags alt.universe and you are golden - untouchable :3
Oof, there's those video game memories messing with his head. Or does the guy who came before Victor even exist here? Is this just Victor with a few memories from the player?
Man, either ex nilho creation or identity death. Victor is just a bundle of issues, isn't he?
I’m really interested in what the hero does next. Was he aware of any of the Changeling invasion plans? Ever get any hints about aggressive preparations on their part?
National defenses, naval and Air Force advancements, medical enhancements; all doors are open right now so long as MC has some idea about the situations brewing.
Author, if chewing through the series proper was too much of a slog for you, may I suggest looking into one of the myriad Abridged versions of the series on Youtube? There's bound to be a few out there which can summarize the bulk of the lore the show created, in a humorous and entertaining fashion.
11688552
So make the sun, which is the same size in earth, travel faster than the speed of light, without any concecuences, must tell how different the physics is in ponyworld, welp, I don't think though, the moon itself has been shown to be very small and so near the surface, Applejack managed to bring it down with a lazo, in the comics with the arc of Nightmare Rarity, so the sun is way smaller and different.
11688706
We literally have a chaos spirit that can alter reality on a whim, I don't think you understand the simple fact that magic doesn't have to make sense, Its magic, it can do anything, and yes Celestia is in fact powerful enough to obliterate planets, if you are to believe the comics she is universal or more in the power scale.
11688731
I would go say is fantasy if in a story a real yellow sun behave like the show, but I follow the lore as much as possible, and I infere the sun is smaller and different by the fact the moon is smaller, different and near the surface canonically, as presented in the comics.
11688749
The moon literally brings darkness as proven in that black vine episode, it's not the same as our universe, not even near, but anyway, being small or not doesn't change Celestia's power so it matters little.
Lucky for you, FiMFiction is the wild west, and a lot of the show's lore and "canon" is poorly defined or even, in some cases, self-contradictory. It's acceptable to question everything. Hivemind is one example, as we've never (AFAIK) seen anything to indicate that in canon, but there are many, many fics that incorporate the idea in some form or another.
A less obvious one is Celestia raising the sun. I mean, it's a magical land in a fairy tale world. We don't even know if Celestia and Luna control day and night for the entire world, or just for Equestria! Maybe the sun and moon run on natural cycles elsewhere, or are controlled by different beings. And that, of course, also ties back to Celestia's power level. She could be a full-on goddess, but she doesn't have to be. It's all open to interpretation.
11688731
I haven't seen the comic (or comics) you are referring to. And we also got to see Celestia smacked down by Chrysalis and trapped upside-down in a changeling pod.
I remember in the early days of FiM we used to joke that Celestia seemed powerful enough to solve any problem, and yet somehow whenever she got directly involved she only ended up making things worse.
11688920
Yep the comic and show are pretty different, They try to say they aren't though
It’s understandable to have your own AU beats in your story, that’s pretty much half of the site at this point, I’d say. As long as it’s a good and enjoyable story, I see no problems here. Carry on.
Ponies being afraid of him checks out because everyone knows Ponies are racist to most if not all species from outside Equestria
Don’t worry about not knowing much about the lore. Many fics take place before a certain season and change what happens. AU’s are plentiful
Honestly? this is actually really interesting.
Like, genuinely very interesting. Definitely gonna keep an eye on this.
11688539
Must have been a CEO or a founder. Some of those guys are legit millionaires in a few month if the game become popular.
This is pretty damn good I can't wait for the next chapter tbh
So, you are Mechanic I see. Don't forget to pray to Blackstar with some daily exercise. We all know, that for mechanics their body is their weakness, so start training to undo such flaw.
Hmmm... even with the 7th chapter, I still could not pinpoint where in the canon timeline is now. Is it before or after Luna's return? For all we know, Chrysalis might very well plan her attack for years ahead.
Just wondering but have you made an update schedule for the story?
Don't worry buddy. These ponies freak over ANYTHING!
Same here, friend, I got into the pony fandom because of some good aspects of the fandom, but I couldn't last a chapter watching it,I really don't want to know if I have to turn off my brain to hear about the values that have been preached to me all my life.
11688755
The guy already said that he only knows the things that are named the most in fics, you know, their villains and iconic moments, and some recurring characters but who don't have such an "important" role.
If I were him and I didn't know how the sun and the moon work beyond the fact that two alicorns move it, I would assume that the planet "Equus" is no longer rotating, the same would assume its sun and moon, so, like many species on the planet, they should adapt to that, Luna and Celestia are the maximum point that a pony can reach, facilitating the movement of these celestial bodies, and according to some fics I've read (forgive me if I'm wrong) these were formerly driven by a group of unicorns with great magical abilities