• Published 12th Jan 2012
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Memory Pending - Kiroberos



An outsider finds himself flung into Equestria, and forced into a new form. Will he fit in?

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Chapter 08

Author's Note:

Skijaramaz is doing a re-read of Memory Pending! Here's a link to this chapter for anyone interested:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHfr5oaP3NU

Swallowing, I realized there was only one thing Rainbow Dash and I could do if Applejack was closing in fast. "Uh, I need your help, Rainbow," I rapidly spat out before snagging a hook end to one of the rope lengths, and pulling it out of the pile.

"Huh?" she asked, drifting back over to me.

Pulling out a pulley from the pile with my mouth, I ran over as best I could to the wooden frame. The bottom locking hook fastened on to the frame easily enough as I lined it up with my mouth. It tasted terrible, but not being murdered by Applejack took precedence! As I slid the deadbolt into the lock, I pointed up to the wooden frame on the ceiling.

"Oh! We're fixing it, got it. What do you need?" she asked, throwing a mock salute to me.

"I can't get up there, so you're in charge of threading the rope lengths through the pulleys on the ceiling. They each have a plain and hook end," I rapidly instructed, nodding towards the pile.

How did we hit this thing just right to knock the pins out? Well, I guess it's a good thing we did. Otherwise we'd still be dangling over the elevator hole, all tangled up. Not that that was a particularly bad concept. Wait. No, bad body! Just because you discovered Fluttershy thinks of you like one of her little woodland creatures, doesn't give you a right to get hormonal and switch targets! Targets already spoken for, even. Rainbow Dash moved with a surprising level of speed and precision. She had all four ropes threaded by the time I slid the last pin in and I had a head start!

Pushing the frame right next to the hole with my forehead, I rotated it so it lined up. "Okay, lower the hooks and I'll attach them, and then thread the other ends through the pulleys," I requested, looking up at Rainbow Dash floating above me. She nodded and gently lowered all eight ends down.

"How do you know how to do this?" she asked curiously, watching as I threaded the ropes through the pulley systems.

"I uh, don't know?" I offered back, trying not to think too hard about it. With the ropes through, I gave the four blank ends back to her and pointed up at the ceiling frame with a hoof again, adding, "Put them through the second slots this time."

She frowned but scooped the ends up in her forearms and flew upwards again. "Is it a memory or something?" she asked as she reached the frame and started working. Well she was nothing if not persistent.

"I, no, not really. More like a technique I didn't know I had. Probably from training before I lost my memory," I theorized. What had I been? Not a very good soldier, that much I knew. But that was good, as soldiers weren't needed here.

"What's the point of these loops?" she asked, coming back down automatically with the four ends again. She caught on fast. Her curiosity was almost adorable.

I looped them easily back through the pulleys, completing the 'blocks' of the block and tackle system. "They redirect the force of the pulling, to lessen the amount needed to lift a heavier object," I summarized. Pointing back up to the second, outer set of pulleys, I tacked on, "Loop the ends through those now, and just let them dangle."

"So these thingies make it easier to lift things. That's really smart!" Rainbow Dash agreed, drawing the ropes back down.

Chuckling, I shrugged weakly. "Beats trying to get enough ponies together to do it pound for pound," I pointed out.

We were both interrupted by the barn door opening beneath us. I swallowed lightly, and hoped this was how they had it before. Maybe they wouldn't notice? That was probably wishful thinking on my part, sadly.

"Ah reckon she's probably alright, but normally she'da flown right on outta 'ere, ifin so," I heard from below. It was Applejack. My anxiety spiked. It had been the first time I'd heard that delightful accent since coming to in the clinic.

"Eeyup. Ah good idea to check," I heard reply, in a lower but gentler voice. Rainbow Dash had also said a 'Big Mac' was coming too. Assuming that was a name, highly probable, that was probably him. The voice was definitely masculine.

Dash gave me an affirmative nod, before peeking over the lip of the loft. "Heya, AJ. Did ya see the crash?" she asked with surprising enthusiasm. Of course, they were best friends and she didn't need to worry about being strung up and gutted with blunt instruments. She probably wasn't nearly as panicked as I was.

"Oh, there ya are! Are yeh all right, Rainbow?" I heard Applejack ask, sounding concerned.

Rainbow Dash nodded and smiled down at her. "Yup! It was totally under control, of course. We're fine. Didn't break a thing!" she assured, and I saw her swallow quietly. Dash! If she didn't notice, don't say anything!

"Uh, ya broke somethin', didn't yeh? Wait ahn apple buckin' minute; 'we'?" she suddenly asked, sounding more than a little suspicious now. Oh crap!

Deciding to bite the bullet so to speak, I shakily stood from my sitting position, and joined Rainbow Dash in peeking over the side of the loft. "Um, hey," I barely managed to greet.

Applejack was looking up towards us, still wearing that dusty cowpony hat. That was the right term, right? A larger looking fellow stood next to her and was a deep red in coat color, with a lighter orange mane. He had a massive green apple on his flank and was busy looking towards the pulley lift off to our left, instead. Double crap!

"Oh, it's you," Applejack returned dryly, ears flattening down a little and eyes narrowing.

Rainbow shook her head irritably. "He's not a bad stallion, AJ. You two just got off to a bad start," she defended.

I put my left hoof on her shoulder, and shook my head, appending, "What she means is, I apologize for my rude and improper behavior when we first met, Miss Applejack."

Applejack looked surprised for a moment, but dropped her gaze away. "Rarity was already over this mornin' and gave me ah good what for. Ah, um, should apologize as well. Fer missin' yer party an' all," she apologized. Wait, Rarity visited her? She didn't have to do that just for me. I'd have to thank her later.

Smiling, I nodded softly towards her. "Then can we start over?" I requested.

"Yah. Ahm still ah might suspicious, but Apple Bloom musta been tellin' it straight after all," she agreed, looking back up at me.

Rainbow Dash exhaled a sigh of relief next to me, and drifted off the loft in a lazy gliding spiral. "Well at least that's over. Now I can get back to Fluttershy and," she started to say, before trailing off as she landed. All three of us stared blankly at her for several seconds. "Hey! You never told me what was wrong, earlier!" she suddenly exclaimed, glaring back up at me. Huh?

My eyes widened and my blush returned as I realized she was referring to Fluttershy. I squeaked and ducked behind the lip of the loft again, not wanting them to see the color in my cheeks. Definitely didn't want everyone here knowing what an idiot I was!

"What the hay are ya goin' on about?" Applejack asked, sounding deeply confused.

Rainbow let out a short exhale, and elaborated, "He was acting weird with Fluttershy and I earlier and she got worried. So me, being an awesome friend and all, decided to tag along with him and figure out what was wrong."

I made a sharp coughing noise. "Tag along?! You mean ponynap and haul a mile or so off the ground to interrogate, under the risk of potentially reducing me to the consistency of pancake batter, right?" I corrected, slightly irate now.

Rainbow Dash snorted. "It was under control! I totally could have caught you anytime. I just waited until the perfect moment to make me look the awesomest!" she defended, crossing her forelegs as I glared at her from over the loft edge again. Was that even a word?

"And crash us through a barn," I added.

"Well that solves that there mystery," Applejack muttered tiredly, shaking her head.

Big Mac shook his head and glanced back over at Applejack. "There's still the matter o' the lift," he added in a soft voice again. Uh oh. In my irate rant, I'd forgotten about that! Rainbow shifted from irritated to apprehensive in less than a second.

"Oh uh, that. We accidentally hit it when we came in. But it's cool, right? Good as new," Rainbow Dash preemptively defended, making me sigh on the inside. That could have gone much, much better.

Applejack simply raised an eyebrow towards her, and shook her head. "Ya mean ya landed in that there pile o' ropes up'n the loft? How'd ya manage ta damage 'em?" she asked, tilting her head.

Huh? So they were just in a pile when we landed? Suddenly, the pins becoming dislodged made a lot more sense if they weren't actually in place to begin with. "Uh, what? But the lift was all wrapped around me and," Rainbow muttered in a confused manner, pointing behind her to the left, in the direction of our newly formed lifting device. It wasn't put together to begin with, then.

"No, no, Rainbow. The lift ain't put together so ya can't have damaged it that badly," Applejack assured, smiling at her friend.

Big Mac made a light coughing noise, and gently shook his head. "Ya might wanna take another look, Sis," he pointed out, nudging his head in the direction of the lift.

Applejack raised an eyebrow over at him but nodded and walked under the loft, out of my sight. I heard a light gasp and then a chuckle under me somewhere. Standing up, I carefully got my hooves under me again and walked over to the lift hole. Rainbow followed Applejack apparently and looked up at me from the bottom of the lift hole, smiling now as well. She looked relieved that we weren't in trouble, anyway.

"Well ah'll be! The lift is put together, all right. Did ya think yeh broke it, an' repaired it anyway, Rainbow?" she asked, smirking over at Rainbow Dash.

Dash blushed and shook her head weakly. "Ah, no. Well yeah, but I just did all the awesome physical stuff. He was the brains," she explained, nudging her head up at me.

Blushing as well, I was more than a little surprised she hadn't simply taken all the credit for herself. But admittedly, she was growing on me now that I saw that there was a lot more to her than the ego and competitiveness. "Well, I couldn't have done it without Rainbow as well. I just told her how to put the thing together," I added, smiling lightly at Rainbow Dash.

"Well, this is ah good thing, definitely. Now we don't need'ta wait for Twi to get on up here an' do the same thing," Applejack muttered, giving an experimental tug to the ropes.

Big Mac agreed with a simple, "Eeyup!" I watched the ropes go taut, and the wooden frame slide gently over the hole. Applejack grinned as she watched it behave as anticipated and lowered the frame to match the level of the hole.

"This will work wonders come apple buckin' season. Gotta store 'em somewhere until they can be movin' on out ta the buyer's," she explained, before shifting her attention towards me again. "Ya need ta get down, Ah reckon. Why don't ya hop on the frame, an' all lower ya ta the floor," she offered a moment later.

My eyes widened and I swallowed weakly. The frame was barely an inch wide at the top, with a totally hollow middle and almost a meter across. I was just now getting the hang of walking without braining myself against the ground! "Uh, maybe that's not such a good idea, AJ. He's not the most graceful pony I've seen," Rainbow Dash warned. Truth! I wasn't going to disagree if it got me out of grievous injury.

"Nonesense! Ifin' ya stand behind yer fancy mechanical work, ya should have no problems ridin' it down, right?" she offered, with a smirk and stubborn stare. Oh no, she was doing this intentionally. A little voice inside of me warned that she was probably still a little irritated with me.

If I refused, she'd probably think a lot less of me and defeat the whole point of me coming here today. If I accepted, I'd probably fall off the stupid lift and break something. Well damn. Why couldn't this choice be easy too? Well, I was usually one for just biting the bullet so… Swallowing nervously, I stepped forward, careful to line my hooves up with the thin wooden boards. Once I got my front hooves on, I shimmied along the length of the board, ducking around the ropes and carefully got my back hooves on, wobbling a little as I stood there.

Applejack nodded approvingly towards me and I caught her eyes glancing down my now spread out body, an amused twinkle danced in her eyes as she added a wink to it. My blush hit furiously and I wobbled, sliding my back hooves along the board behind me so that they were pushed together instead. Now she was just screwing with me. Ug, I hoped I broke my neck on the way down so this would be over. Rainbow shot me an annoyed glare after catching the exchange herself. Wonderful. Balancing was tricky enough as it was. Applejack didn't have to tease me while I was trying to focus, too!

"Al-righty, then. Hold 'er steady. You'll be down in ah jiffy!" Applejack instructed, slowly letting the rope slide out from under the hoof she had pinning the main anchor to the ground. I slowly started to lower and swallowed, praying for a quick death.

Nothing happened, though. No, literally nothing. I stopped about half a meter down and winced. After several seconds, I opened my eyes and looked around. I was stuck up to my chest through the loft and not descending any further. Applejack frowned and glanced up past me at the ceiling frame. "Well, that's weird. Ah think it's stuck," she muttered, letting more rope go and having nothing happen. Eventually she moved her hoof off the rope entirely and I just sat there, hanging in midair. Well there goes the quick death option. I heard starving wasn't entirely pleasant, too.

My mind shifted to analytical mode as I peered down at the pulleys that were attached to the frame. They rotated freely, however, and were held taut by the rope. There was no tangling, so that meant there was a friction hold near the top. "Ah, it's the pulleys on top. One of the ropes might have had a loose fraying or one of the pulleys isn't turning right. If Rainbow flew up there and nudged the pulleys, it would probably work again," I reasoned, peeking up at frame above me. My suspicions proved correct as I saw one of the pulleys hanging at an angle and trembling under supporting the full weight of, well, my malnourished and underfed self.

"Will do, Boss!" Rainbow exclaimed, throwing another mock salute while smirking now. She walked back out into the main area and took to the air, flying up towards the frame. I tried not to snicker at her display. I hadn't meant she needed to with that much gusto, but it was cute still.

"Ah didn't know ya were so good with the thinkin' stuff," Applejack added, drawing my attention back down towards her.

I smiled and shrugged as best I could with my front hooves a good meter apart. "I'm not really sure how I know this stuff but if it can be of use to somepony, I'm more than happy to share," I explained, wishing I myself knew more about how I knew. If that made any sense.

Applejack gave a gentle chuckle and nodded towards me. "Ah'm thinkin’ now that ah mighta judged ya a might harshly. Is Twi gonna help ya with the memory thing?" she asked politely.

"Hey, is this pulley the one doing it?" Rainbow Dash shouted down, interrupting. I glanced upwards and saw her hanging lightly onto the frame with one hoof, supporting her weight with her wings and nudging the pulley with her left front hoof.

My eyes widened and I tried to shout out, "Wait!" Sadly, like my usual timing, it came a few seconds later than I would have liked. Applejack's eyes bulged as she tried to slam her hoof back down on the rope but Rainbow had already knocked the snag loose.

Crack! The world became a pretty, yet numb white and black starburst as I felt the right side of my head and jaw collide with the loft surface as I dropped. I momentarily felt weightless and the dirt floor felt like a fluffy pillow as I landed in a crumpled heap, rear twisted upwards at an odd angle as I got tangled up in the wooden frame.

There were faint, echoing voices around me, but I kept my eyes closed as my inner world spun and it felt like bombs went off inside of my skull. I had said a painless death! Damn it! Somepony was shouting, from what I could tell, and I felt myself being pulled. Sadly, I wasn't quite sure in which direction as I didn't know where I was facing now or where my head was angled. Everything was numb and tingly, and it was harder and harder to think as I felt myself go light headed. Why couldn't I have been trained in medical magic? Surely, I could at least heal myself in this body, right?

The pain suddenly shot down my spine as something felt like it snapped back into place. The spinning took a jolt sideways then and I felt like throwing up, no longer very certain of where I was. Still in the barn, was it? I kept my eyes closed, suddenly not having the energy to open them. It wasn't exactly heaven, was it? No. Maybe I had been mistaken in what heaven truly was. Suddenly feeling rather sleepy, my thoughts drifted. A light giggling resounded through my mind. Ah, it was her. I wish that things were different. My mind slipped away.

* * * * *

Closer and closer. My mind screamed in agony as I lay broken across the pieces of stone. Heat and pain flooded through my body. I felt lines of power dancing through me and things were hazy. A dark, deep mist hung over everything as I looked up at our shattered, burning sky. No, I was dead. I had to be dead. Most of me was missing. This wasn't real. It couldn't be! I screamed out silently into the dusk, as the sky exploded to my left.

Horror struck me as I saw a massive, churning ball of fire descending from the atmosphere, igniting streaks of flames across our sky like cracks in the glass of a window pane. It was oddly beautiful. The pure white center of the ball, mixing with the orange and blue edges, lit up the entire sky as if a second star was descending upon the surface of the planet. It was the end. I saw it slowly inching towards the planet. My planet. My voice caught in my throat and I gave up screaming. Running. It was pointless at this moment, right? What did I care? I was dead already. Fading away with everything I had ever known seemed almost soothing at this point.

The lines of energy tugged at me from what felt like my very life force. Urgency, suddenly. I had some strange sense of hurry. Did I have to be somewhere? Heaven came to mind and I found myself chuckling at the irony. That seemed the only logical place left that I had to be. Heaven. Yes, that was familiar. But what was Heaven? It was synonymous with paradise, wasn't it? Not here.

Laughing, I suddenly felt sleepy again. None of this felt real. Was it a memory? The haze was so thick as I watched the light distort from the ball of burning fire. Bending away from it, the light formed a rainbow splintering across the sky. A rainbow. The raw heat beat down upon me suddenly, finally catching up. A memory of the end of everything. No, that was wrong. Was it? The rainbow was so pretty, though. The impossible ball of heat and death descended, regardless of my designs. It was their planet cracker. I'd seen it before. But what about that rainbow?

* * * * *

Oh for the love of anything that was holy and good in this place, my poor skull! Son of a bitch, what I'd do for some aspirin. Groaning, I winced and slowly opened my left eye, discovering my right was deciding to go on strike. My view was met by deep amethyst, as two gentle eyes looked back at me. "Oh, thank goodness. You're awake again. You know, I think we should start calling you Murphy," Twilight pointedly suggested, breathing out a tense sigh before leaning back away from me again.

"Wait, why Murphy?" the small, purple lizard boy I'd met earlier asked. I saw him sitting at the end of the apparent bed I was resting in. Well, it wasn't really a bed. More like a mattress of some sorts.

Sighing weakly, I rolled my open eye as best I could, and suddenly realized the other tried to roll with it and was a tad sore. Well, at least it was still there. "Murphy from Murphy's Law, I'm guessing. It's an adage that states that if something can go wrong, it will," I muttered, feeling really tired still.

"Indeed. Kind of another word for bad luck. And we do need a name for you," Twilight reminded, smirking.

"If you're joking, I must not be that bad," I groaned, nudging into the pillow more. I smelled the faint odor of books and decided I was probably back in the library. My left eye confirmed it, as I looked about with it and saw that I was back in the upper loft of Twilight's library.

Twilight Sparkle snickered and shook her head gently. "The nap probably did you some good. You've only been out a few hours. Minor blood loss, muscle strain in your neck, and a contusion on the side of your face," she informed in an extremely orderly manner.

Well, another day, another almost maiming and embarrassing death. "Who moved me here?" I asked weakly, rotating around and looking at Twilight straight on this time.

"Applejack showed up about three hours ago, carrying you on her back. Big Mac was in tow, hauling the cot you're currently sleeping on in a wagon," she answered, nudging her head towards my bed. Ug. I felt a swell of guilt as I realized I'd been a dead weight again. Twilight must have noticed the blatantly dejected look, because she smiled softly and shook her head. "Relax. You don't owe them anything. Applejack said she felt horrible for what had happened after she explained it and said to definitely not worry about the cot. From what I saw, she definitely considers you a friend now, so you must have improved her disposition towards you," she reassured, sitting down on the mattress again.

I nodded tiredly. "Rarity apparently helped by visiting her this morning. I just wish I didn't keep causing problems for everypony. My medical bills must be absurd by now," I worried, shaking my head to clear it again.

Twilight snickered and shook her head as well. "If that's all you're worried about, I covered it myself for the clinic visit. And Applejack patched you up this time, so that was definitely on the house. Plus, it's not like it's your fault when you get injured," she enlightened. Well, at least I knew whom I owed, now.

"Yeah, I mean, I do stupid things all the time, too. But Twilight's really nice, and I work out the medical things out of my allowance when needed," the purple lizard boy added. Thinking hard, I vaguely recalled his name was Spike. Maybe. Wait a second. Hey!

"Spike, you're not helping," Twilight scolded, giving him a light glare. He held his clawed hands up in defense, shaking them back and forth.

I chuckled and smiled at the display the two put on. "Well, I guess I owe you instead, right Miss Twilight?" I asked, focusing on her with my eye.

She blushed lightly but shook her head, holding a hoof up. "No, you don't owe me anything, Silly. It wasn't that expensive and besides, you seem like a very nice stallion now that I've gotten to know you a little better. Friends?" she asked, smiling at me.

"Well, I'd like to at least help work it off a little bit. But of course I'll be your friend. You're a very nice mare," I complimented, smiling back at her as warmly as I could manage. It must have been a fairly pathetic sight with half my face wrapped up in a bandage, but at least I tried.

"I’m glad. You picked up our lingo fairly quickly, I notice," she noted, looking across the room suddenly. I saw her eyes lock onto a bookcase that appeared to be one of her private ones, and she frowned in seemingly thought.

Sighing, I relaxed my heart again, having momentarily freaked out at her insinuation. I'd forgotten for a moment that she knew what I actually was. Or more accurately, what I wasn't, which was a native to this place. Place being either planet or dimension, I still hadn't decided, but it was looking more and more like dimension. "Yeah, I kind of had to, to fit in. I guess I'm sort of a fast learner," I commented, thinking about it probably for the first time, embarrassingly enough.

"Well, I bet it's easier when everypony around you is speaking the same. Still, what you did with the pulley system in the barn hinted at something more than learning quickly," she pondered, almost as if to herself. Several books floated out of aforementioned bookcase, and drifted over to her, opening as they flew.

"You think it has something to do with his old life in that scary place?" Spike asked, frowning at Twilight's back as she read through one of the books.

Being her assistant, she must have told him about me. Well, that made things a little less awkward than I was starting to feel with him still being here. "Yes, I believe he had the skill already. Machines are extremely complex and most ponies don't specialize in them. He wouldn't have picked it up here," she explained, flipping a few more pages. I saw complex magical diagrams and notes in the book, and what looked like celestial bodies in specific order and rotation.

"An engineer. I think that's what… well, I think that's what I was," I managed to stutter out, frowning suddenly. The thought had been a reoccurring one, just bordering a subconscious level but I was aware of it for a little while now.

"An engineer?" Twilight asked, suddenly sounding surprised and looking back at me over her right shoulder.

I nodded quietly, head starting to give a dull throb again. I ignored it. "Yeah. I think that's what they called it in that um, wherever it was. To repair things, or put them together, or even come up with new things to make something work. I think that was my job. I certainly wasn't a very good soldier," I remarked, a bit more cynically than desired.

Twilight smiled and nodded. "Purposefully ending something's life doesn't come that naturally, here. I don't know about your world, but I can definitely tell you, I fully support who you are," she assured. She had a warmth about her and I felt safe again. She knew, and didn't judge me or think I was crazy. Plus, she accepted what I used to think was cowardly, instead telling me that it was a good thing. I guess it was logical that I felt safer around her. Behind these walls, even.

"Thank you, Miss Twilight Sparkle," I thanked as sincerely as I could manage.

She flushed again, and shook her head, smile becoming a shy one instead. "Ah, you don't need to thank me. And please, just Twilight or Twi. Um, I'm not very used to dealing with things like this," she requested, suddenly looking more than a little cute.

"Like this?" I asked, tilting my head but smirking as I watched her fidget a little. The blush across her cheeks widened a little and she looked uncertain as to what to say.

Spike let out a snickering sound first, however. "Twilight likes books better than ponies," he interrupted, smirking at her as she glared back at him again. Well, that snapped her out of the awkwardness, anyway.

I smiled, but looked down at the soft blanket covering me instead. "There's nothing wrong with that, though. Sometimes, a book is better company. They don't judge and they'll always be there when you need them," I muttered, suddenly feeling a wave of bitterness I couldn't entirely place.

Twilight's gaze could be felt, even though I wasn't looking at her. There was a soft, sadness to her expression when I looked back up. "Well, friends are also like books in that regard. We'll be here for you as well, you know," she spoke quietly. I looked back at her and immediately felt a pang of something missing.

"I've only been here four days though," I muttered.

Twilight chuckled instead and recovered her smile. "They snagged me in just a few hours, so you must be a record," she admitted.

"It's probably because he's been unconscious for most of his stay so far," Spike added, snickering.

I glared at him and shook my head. "Well, I obviously don't have any intentions of going back to where I came from, so maybe friends here would be a good thing," I conceded.

"I wasn't going to try to send you back. Although I would like to go to the crater site with you tomorrow, if you don't mind," she asked gently, looking hesitant.

I raised an eyebrow to her. "It's no problem. What are we going there for?" I asked.

She exhaled quietly, as if she was afraid I'd not want to. "Well, your memories didn't tell me where the crater was, so I need you to lead me to it. And I'd like to do some readings in the area to see if there's any magical residue left there. It should still have some, not even being a week yet," she explained, flipping another page in her book and glancing over it.

"It has to be some pretty powerful stuff to move somepony through dimensions, though. What caused it?" Spike asked inquisitively. He was a rather intelligent fellow. Of course, for being her assistant, he probably picks up quite a lot. I wonder what assistant truly meant in this regard. He obviously wasn't a slave and had an allowance, which also indicated not a worker. Servant? Normally they didn't get their own allowance. She treated him closest to that of her child, in all actuality. I somehow doubted species here could interbreed like that, so adopted maybe? That led to further questions of exactly how old Twilight was. She looked about the same as her friends, age-wise, but certainly acted a lot more mature than some of them. Then I realized my mind was drifting again.

Twilight looked up from her book, deep in thought prior, before nodding and agreeing, "Yes, very powerful. But something tells me largely accidental. I've never heard of something shifting into a different existence entirely. Are there any similarities between your old world and this one?" She glanced back over to me, probably getting quite an interesting expression in return. I stared at her as if she were the crazy one, and not me.

"Uh, no. Not really," I answered easily, with no need to consider it at all.

Twilight nodded absently and I could almost see her sharp mind moving on to other thoughts. There was a level of cold calculation behind those eyes that surprised me. "Not a shift then, but a totally different spot entirely. This is entirely unheard of before now. I'd have to say that this has to be an accident, then," she reasoned quietly, largely talking to herself.

An accident? I thought about it more, and agreed that she was probably right. I was supposed to have died in that moment. Me being here instead of dead was an accident. Some random luck of the draw against a million to one odds. Maybe that's why I've had nothing but misfortune since I got here? It might be some sort of retroactive karma backlash.

"I think I'd rather be a pony than dead," I admitted, realizing that it was probably a fairly obvious conclusion.

Twilight started, but then smirked back at me again. "One would hope. How are you adjusting?" she asked pleasantly, closing the book again and rotating around to me.

Sighing, I shook my head weakly. "The culture here is a little strange. I've tried going with instinct but it isn't always accurate. I'm not sure what's right or not, especially since a lot of things seem to be taken as common knowledge," I tried to elaborate, frowning as I went.

"Well you know you can ask me anything you wish. I know where you're coming from and can probably explain things faster than you can pick them up yourself," she reasoned, shrugging her shoulders lightly.

I nodded to her, and frowned a little further. Well, I might as well ask my most recent one, anyway. "Is their some sort of social stigma against two fillies, or two mares loving each other?" I asked her, still unsure of how to handle everything surrounding Rainbow Dash and Applejack.

Twilight looked surprised but then smiled in amusement. "Ah, Rainbow Dash. No, there's no real stigma against it in either gender. A lot of the more fundamentalist ponies think that it's a 'waste', but other than that, it's largely just accepted as something normal. Rainbow Dash is more worried about Applejack finding out," she explained simply, causing me to chuckle.

"Wow, so it's not that big of a secret after all," I noted out loud, amused.

"Well I wouldn't say that. She's simply asked for my advice about it, is all. Rarity, and obviously Applejack, wouldn't know about it. Pinkie well, is Pinkie. I have no idea if she's caught on or not but if she has, she's not told anypony," she elaborated, stretching her shoulders lightly.

Momentarily distracted by the shifting motion of her mane, I nodded quietly after a few seconds. "She talks in her sleep. And the whole wing thing," I added, shrugging as well.

Twilight's eyes widened, then a light blush formed across her features. "Oh, she was aroused. Must have been one of those kinds of dreams," she mused quietly, snickering.

"I kind of figured it had something to do with that. Fluttershy was vague and said that it was a 'side effect' though," I suddenly remembered.

"It's a muscle reaction, is all. It's not widely documented for obvious reasons, but it's largely assumed to just be a secondary reaction to the chemical release," she explained.

That had made sense. I had doubted wings were sexual organs, so it was a side effect more than likely. Lying back down against my cot, I yawned sleepily and peeked towards her window. Modest amounts of sunlight came through, warming the room. It looked late afternoon or so. "Well, if you don't need anything at the moment, I'll slip back downstairs and get a bit more studying done on your case before tomorrow," she spoke, after waiting a few more seconds.

I accepted her request, deciding it was best not to tell her about the Fluttershy thing. She got off the cot and left down the stairs almost without sound, Spike slowly wandering after her. I listened to the scratching noise of his claws on the wood slowly disappearing down the stairs and then exhaled gently. This was the first moment I'd had to myself for a little while now. I wondered idly what the others were doing. That familiar pang in my chest returned, and I swallowed uneasily.

Surely I wasn't lonely, right? I mean, I'd been in the company of others for a few days now almost nonstop. No, it was something more abstract than that. I stared blankly at the wall under the window, holding no expression at all. My breathing slowed and I just let myself relax. I was safe here, that much I knew. But something was missing. I still felt very vulnerable. For some reason, I got the feeling that this was something I'd felt before. I could quantify it easier anyway, not that it helped any. That uneasy sense of urgency came upon me again, even though there was nothing near me that suggested a need for such. It was like I couldn't remember something that I needed to do and it was really important. It felt like I was alone, even though I technically wasn't. A pervasive sense of loneliness slipped through me.

Emptying my mind, I tried to drive out the thoughts, only absorbing the visual. The light from the sun outside glowed softly across the floor. A flicker. A tree branch moving outside of the window. The stray particles of dust drifting through the light. Particles. I felt a spasm and momentary vertigo. No, that wasn't a memory I wanted.

The sunlight outside seemed to brighten and I momentarily saw the window as not a window, but a hole. The cracks burned through the wall and the beam of intense light looked like hellfire descending from the sky. Gasping, I slid away from the beam, pushing myself up against the wall my bed rested against, pawing desperately with my clumsy hooves to get away from the light.

A shattering, as reality gave away to the beam and it ripped through everything. No! Their weapons weren't even something fathomable. How could something design things so horrible?! I wanted to scream but my throat felt paralyzed as I shook violently, slamming back against the wall, with blankets flying away now. I panicked, the light expanding from the hole, burning through everything and cracking the wall apart. No, they were here too? This wasn't possible. Rune after rune I formed in my mind, trying to make the old magic work. What I learned couldn't be pointless! I felt thick and heavy in the torso, starting to blister the more I tried to form a shield. A barrier. Anything to protect me from that light!

Noises could be heard from below me, followed by a crashing noise as I felt the air heat up. My skin felt alive with flames as I tried to violently push the energy out of myself. The blanket lifted into the air by itself, billowing as if in a hot gust of wind, and still the beam approached, twisting and laughing in my vision, as if taunting me with the inevitability of my death. Hoof steps came up the stairs rapidly, and I heard a shout, not quite making out what they were saying. There was a sharp gasp, and then…

Several vases worth of water splashed across me at the same time, causing me to yelp out loud. There was a noticeable sizzling sound and my free eye widened. Steam was coming off my skin, as the cool water made contact with my overheated flesh. Heat distortions could be seen in the air and my coat suddenly came alive with a shivering pain, causing me to wince. It felt raw suddenly, and I started panting for air and coughing. The window blinds slammed shut suddenly, plunging the room into a cool shade. Shaking, I fell back into a weak laying position, not remembering having sat up.

Twilight stared at me in shock and concern, shaking lightly herself. Several empty vases drifted in the air around her and a host of flowers lay at her hooves. Spike scrambled past her and started picking them up off the wood of the floor. Her breathing steadied and her eyes softened as she lowered the vases into Spike's outstretched arms. He gathered them up wordlessly and rushed downstairs, avoiding eye contact with me.

I didn't know what to do. I didn't know what was happening or what was wrong with me. I didn't really know anything. I'd felt nothing except for lost and confused, blundering from one event to the next since I woke up in that crater. I've done nothing but jump to conclusions, make ponies feel awkward, and generally complicated everything I happened to stumble upon. The frustration that had been building up crashed to a head and I just let go. There was no one left alive from my old life to make fun of it anymore. No more reservations. Curling up into a ball, I just let myself cry.