• Published 20th Dec 2012
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Cultural Artifacts - Dan_s Comments



A little piece of Earth arrives in Equestria, a human and it's home. The citizens of Ponyville and Princess Luna struggle with this newcomer, as it struggles with them.

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30) No Nose? How Does It Smell?

Cultural Artifacts - No Nose? How Does It Smell?
Dan's Comments

DISCLAIMER: My Little Pony is the property of Hasbro, Inc.

Day 51

Celly felt like banging her head against a set of bookshelves. I'd probably knock them over, she thought as she tried to be civil to the people helping her untangle this mess. Discord kept wandering over to check on the filly in the case. And the Sphinx was barely any help at all. Woona kept dissolving in giggles.

"Okay, so you can speak with us," Celly said and glared at her sister, "And this adult version of Woona and her child could speak to you?"

"Yes, ma'am," the Sphinx said.

Celly realized she was intimidating the girl. She forced herself to relax. "Look, I just want to get to the bottom of this."

"I'm not trying to steal him from you, honestly," the Sphinx said and shied back, "I was just lonely, and he was friendly and smart." She rubbed her hands together. "And he wasn't afraid of me."

Celly tried to reconcile what she'd said with what the Sphinx had replied, and utterly failed. She decided to let her temper cool, and try again. "I understand that," she said, wishing for some of her supposed legendary calm, "And all of us welcome you into our family, but I think we need to understand what's going on here."

"I was placed on the road a thousand years ago to ask travelers a riddle before they went to the village," the Sphinx said, "I understand I may have just been created a few hours ago, but it felt like, I remember a thousand years of loneliness, and I was so happy when I met him. I was so happy he just trusted and accepted me."

I'm trying to figure out a great metaphysical problem, and she thinks I'm angry about her stealing my boyfriend. Is there a sane and rational being anywhere within earshot? she wondered, her eyes fell on Woona, then on Discord, and then on Hotaru who was looking utterly disgusted at the huge wolf practically grinning at her. Who have I offended and where do I offer to make restitution?
------------------------------

Pinkie quietly opened the door. She listened and heard only the shower, and no other ponies in the house. Looks like Lyra's spell worked, she thought as she tippy-hoof dashed to the Big Guy's bedroom. She looked around the place. It's exactly the same as the other one.

She looked around the room and thought, Think like the Big Guy, think like the Big Guy, think like the Big Guy. She choked down a scream of agony, and cradled her head in her forehooves. I must kill Twilight Sparkle, and take her corpse and use Twilight's rotting entrails to strangle Celestia to death in front of the entire royal court.

She shook her head. She'd located what she'd come for. Okay, new respect for the Big Guy, she thought, That just makes this more important. She slipped past the bathroom where he was showering, and made it to the laundry room.

Funny, I came up with this idea when I tried to think like him as a way to deal with my own feelings about the mares who just treated what they'd done as 'a mere aberration', she thought as she silently opened the cabinet over the washing machine. I understand that Celestia and Twilight told them there was nothing Alicorn Big Guy `made` them do that wasn't already in their hearts to begin with, but I don't think that made a difference to them. Any excuse in a storm. She stifled the rage she felt at these ponies blowing off hurting another pony/person who had gone out of his way to not hurt them. Like picking on Fluttershy, with the same disastrous consequences. Under the boxes of tea and a case of the dried noodles she found the lockbox. She pulled out a hairpin, causing her mane to flop down straight, and set to work on the key lock. She heard the Big Guy finish his shower and she pulled the cabinet door closed to hide her. Fortunately, he headed for the bedroom. She finished and opened the box. And found the second locked box inside. She extended an ear and began turning the dial, listening for the tumblers to click. She opened the box and set aside the note reading 'Pinkie put this back, NOW' and removed what she'd come for. Sorry, no can do-oh, she thought as she set the boxes quietly aside and crept out of the cabinet onto the washing machine, then down to the floor.

She paused before entered the Big Guy's bedroom. The scale of the place still amazed her. She could stand on her hind legs and reach up a ways, But only a pegasus or a ladder let you reach the ceiling in here. Even Celestia couldn't rear up and touch the ceiling with her horn.

She saw the huddled figure in the bed. He'd gotten up to use the shower, and she'd smelled the food on entering so she knew he'd eaten if sparingly, So he's out of immediate danger. But if he's as angry about it as I am, she thought as she watched from the doorway, It can't be good having that lump just sit there.

Well, no time like the present. She stared at the red eyes of the Alicorn Amulet. 'Don't try straight force on force, be random,' he told us when he was changing. Gee, how am I ever going to do that? she asked as she concentrated. She noted that her activity had roused him, and it seemed to be dawning on him what she was doing.

While he was climbing out of bed, the amulet's eyes went from red to blue. He approached, his hand extended, and spoke in a tone that should have been commanding, but sounded pleading. Pinkie put the amulet around her neck, and blew a raspberry at him. She then she gestured. A force shoved him back onto the bed and she did a little capering dance that was exulting in her find, and mocking his concerns.

His expression darkened.

This would be easier if I could threaten something he cares about, Pinkie thought, But I can't do that. Wait! I do need to practice one thing.

Pinkie concentrated, and she changed forms. She'd retained her pinkness and her pinkieness, but she tottered on two human legs instead of four pony ones. She grinned evilly at him, and changed him into the alicorn he'd been and was again.

The look on his face was everything she'd hoped for, and more.
------------------------------

Celly wasn't sure if she liked that Discord had managed to conjure a conference table, tea set, maps, notepads, ballpoint pens, and a serious attitude, or if the seriousness/worry of Discord should have her running from the place never to return.

Woona, Hotaru and Derpy sat with Celly, Discord and the Sphinx around the table. Dinky had gone with Sapphire to check up on things at the house and get some food for all of them.

"Okay, chronologically, the Big Guy assumed he was going on this 'vision quest' as soon as he left, because there was no remarking of the door. He found you, and spent the night, after asking you the very riddle you had planned to ask him."

"She also recognized the gun he was carrying," Discord added, very, even disturbingly politely, and glanced back at the sleeping filly in the case. The Discord stuffie she had a python's death grip on was either adorable, or the most horrifying thing Celly had seen since arriving in this new world.

"Thank you. Why do I want to call you two Hansel and Gretel?" she asked, then continued, "He guessed your riddle, and you two continued on, far past where the ice dome should have returned to the ground."

"Except I didn't know about the ice, it was just the sky I've been used to," the Sphinx said.

Celly nodded. "When did you leave?" she asked Discord.

"After we felt the ambient energy was enough to sustain me, outside. That was after the riddle, the night together and them starting on the path to the village," Discord said, "But I didn't end up on the path, like I expected. I ended up in the garden."

"And that didn't worry you?" Woona asked.

"Worry, it was insane, I was delighted!" Discord said, "Then I met her while she was playing on the swing set."

"At that point time passage diverged between you two," Celly said and raised a pen to her mouth, "Was the playground something you recognized from Ponyville?"

"It was a playground, I don't think pony and human playgrounds diverge that much. Which is a whole other area I'd love to study," Discord said.

Celly felt another headache coming on. 'Happy Discord' worried her more and more. He's only this focused when he's taunting someone, or working on his plans. I just have to figure out what his plan is, before things get too ugly, she thought, I just have to figure out what's his game.

"That's also when she played fetch with my brain," Discord said happily, and smiled.

Celly felt her headache worsen. Okay, he's going to drive me insane by acting like complete chaos is perfectly normal and reasonable. Then she remembered the game they'd played. Okay, maybe, just maybe, he has a point, she considered, and found the strength to continue.

"We also encountered the giant flaming head of Molybdenum Blossom," Discord said. The frivolity of the last few moments evaporated. Discord was clenching and unclenching his fists.

"Are you angry?" Woona asked. She stared at Discord in amazement.

Discord glared at the alicorn. "I helped her on all her little games in Equestria. All the tricks she wanted played on the Earth Ponies, the Pegasi, her rivals in the Unicorn Court." He stared at Celly, who drew back at the fire in that look. "As you well know, I never killed any of my subjects."

"That is not as big a mitigating factor as you might think," Celly said.

"Making someone see the futility of 'rules and order' is not the same as making someone nothing at all," Discord said heatedly, "She killed a great hero of your kind, for arguing with her. She - " Discord looked to the filly to make certain she was asleep, then leaned forward and continued in a heated whisper, "She experimented on her own daughter, and when the experiment succeeded beyond her wildest hopes, but her daughter sought a gentler way to solve the problem, she broke what few controls the filly had, and locked her in that box. Only her own tortured mind for company. This world's Celestia did that to me. I survived. Some of the others locked in stone did not, so don't act as if you hadn't destroyed lives more thoroughly that killing them, until you've experienced the Elements of Harmony on the receiving end. Like someone turning a steam hose on your personality and then locking you in a box alone for a few centuries to wonder what had been destroyed and what was left. What had Celestia left you?"

Celly shivered at his tone. "I apologize, I was not trivializing your distress, I am surprised you feel pain at the pain of another."

Discord frowned at her.
------------------------------

Pinkie Pie considered herself a connoisseur of smiles. The one on the Alicorn looking down on her battered and bloodied form was the darkest she'd ever seen. This one acknowledged she was a person, with thoughts and feelings and dreams all her own. And it would use every one of them to prolong and deepen her suffering as he slowly destroyed her body, mind and soul. She was very glad she was actually still standing out in the hall and a sophisticated illusion had been on the receiving end of the Big Guy's fury.

But Pinkie had been waiting and hoping for that smile. Because as soon as it appeared and the owner recognized it for what it was, it vanished. Perfect, she thought of the blank expression of confusion, Wait for it, wait for it!

He looked down at the Pinkie illusion, and reared back. His expression was one of utter horror and self-loathing. Pinkie's tail missed catching him before he could retreat. He pressed himself into a corner and tried to draw in on himself. She slipped into the seeming and took on its incredibly battered appearance.

Pinkie sat up, amazed that she could do even that. Silly filly, she reminded herself, You had to believe it too.

She rushed over where he could see her and the terrible damage he'd done to her. "Hey!" she shouted to him, barely getting his attention. The look he gave her was heartbreaking. She waved an arm and nearly winced as she wondered if she'd made the injuries a bit too realistic. "You wanna see a magic trick?" she shouted happily. She stuck her thumb in her mouth, and blew. With little popping sounds, all the bruises, contusions, bleeding cuts, dislocations, her blackened eye, blood stains on her, the carpet, even on his own hooves vanished. Even the oozing scrapes where he'd cut himself on her broken teeth vanished. He looked at her brilliant smile with amazement.

"Hey, Alicorn Amulet, remember?" she asked as she displayed the item. As he stared at it all in amazement, she bounced over and sat on his lap. She hugged him tightly, even her mane and tail wrapped around him.

I wish I was like the Fluttershy and Rarity flying suits, she thought as she held him, Protection, yet soft and warm inside.

She kissed him gently on the lips, a friend's kiss. "Can you forgive me?" she asked.

"I - you?" he stammered. "Pinkie, I was beating you bloody. I wasn't just going to kill you, I was going to -"

She put a hand over his muzzle. "No you weren't," she told him, "The instant the thought occurred to you, you stopped. I was watching, you weren't. You were beating up someone who hurt you, and I'm sorry for my part. But that's all you were going to do." She released her hug and rested her hands on his shoulders. "I should make a joke about a stallion who looks like you couldn't anyway. No mare with eyes could say no. But you thought it and stopped. And I, I realized I wanted to be punished. My friends let me do things and say 'oh that's just Pinkie Pie', you demanded better. I'm glad you demanded better, I loved you demanding better, and I'm glad you could feel angry at somepony who deserved it."

He was struggling, and only managed, "I don't understand."

She hugged him tightly, resting her head on his shoulder until he put his forelegs around her waist. She kissed him on the lips before answering. "I took away your safe place. I never realized how important it was, until I thought about all my toys, and how I never talk about them or show them to others. And how much it would hurt if people laughed at them, and me for building them."

She looked at his face and the dawning comprehension. "That's what I'm sorry for. Can you forgive me?"

The Big Guy nodded.

Pinkie grinned. "Now, should we start again?" She massaged his neck, then ran her fingers over and around his ears and smiled as he relaxed. "Well, should we continue? I can whimper and cry, or I can show you how I really feel. Or we can play another game."

"Another game?" he asked.

"SAMPLES!" she cried happily.
------------------------------

Celly lay down beside Discord. The Draconequus was reaching through the glass, stroking the filly's head to drive away the nightmares that had gripped her. On the other side of the glass box, Hotaru and Woona were in a trance delving into the filly's dreams. Celly was unnerved at the compassion she saw on Discord's face, and the concern for the little filly.

"What's wrong with her?" Celly asked.

Discord sighed. "She's strong, almost as strong as you are. But she doesn't have your earth pony durability for her body to support the manipulation of those energies."

"I can't make her an alicorn," Celly admitted.

"That would be a partial solution. Her strength would overwhelm even an immature alicorn form. So she'd be back to square one after a few weeks of health," Discord said, "So even if I could, it wouldn't fix her problem."

"Maybe, it's the opposite of the solution," Derpy said as she stared at the little filly. "We were worried how to support Tom without him being exactly you. Can you, combine those problems and solve them?"

Discord sighed. "Even if we halved her power, it wouldn't help, at least not for long."

"What about a third?" Derpy asked and glanced at the Sphinx, sound asleep at the table and still wearing the Big Guy's jacket.

"No," Discord said wearily.

"What about more?" Celly said and grinned.

"Not my muffin," Derpy replied.

"Not a full share," Celly said, "Down to say, a tenth?" Celly said as the plan forming in her mind. "Two for you, me, Tom, and Woona; a half share for Derpy, Dinky, Sapphire, Lyra and Bonbon; a full share for the Big Guy and the Sphinx?"

"That's almost a fifteenth." Discord seemed to perk up, then his ears splayed. "How? I can't, nor can you and Woona. If she tried, it would kill her."

"Then we do it together. All of us."

"Friendship is magic? You don't trust me enough to let me control the spell, and I certainly don't trust you to know enough to control it."

"I know you won't break your word to the Big Guy, or to her. You swear to them, and neither I nor Woona will stint you on your support."

"You're also assuming the Big Guy will agree to this. While he's got no magical talent, his engineering skills might be useful in monitoring."

"No talent? No power maybe," Celly said, "But he made an alicorn out of pieces of two others. I think he understands magic well enough. And he'll help. If not to save her life, then to help a friend."

Discord looked throughly disgusted, but he kept soothing the filly while he thought of weaknesses of the plan.
------------------------------

Pinkie paused as she tucked her friend in, the wan smile and him reaching out from under the cover to draw her into a hug and a nuzzle made her heart soar. He started to try and apologize. She interrupted by kissing him and tousling his hair. "There's nothing to forgive," she told him softly, and hugged him back. She held her hug until his weariness dragged him off to sleep.

Pinkie left the room feeling elated and empty. Much of the festering anger that had been such a part of her life was gone. Displaced, but not replaced by a knowledge she'd helped a lot of ponies, and had a lot of fun doing it. I'm just glad the fur covers the bruises, she thought, Some of them would be really embarrassing to explain. She grinned at that thought.

She spotted Dinky peeking around the corner. "Were you two, fighting?" the little unicorn asked tremulously.

"Not really, well sorta," Pinkie explained, then pounced on Dinky. She tickled the filly's ribs. "Are we fighting?"

"No," Dinky said, trying to avoid laughing to wake the Big Guy. "Yes, not really, sorta."

Pinkie stopped the tickle attack and laid down so she was eye-to-eye with the filly. "Sometime, ponies need to be different than everyone expects them to be. They're still who they are, but not in the way that they are every day."

Dinky's expression grew curious.

"Pinkie Pie, party, party, party, right?" Pinkie asked and took her usual utterly enthusiastic pose.

"Yeah, I guess," Dinky admitted.

"But that isn't all that I am," she lay back down and took on a wistful tone, "The Big Guy asked if I ever considered my mark was for uplifting spirits, not party balloons. I decided to give it a try."

"But you sounded like you were fighting."

"You remember when Captain Armor said his 'emotion tank' got filled up?" Pinkie asked.

"Yes, and that bad feelings might slosh out," Dinky replied.

"I decided to give the tank a good Applejack-quality buck, and empty it out. Or empty it part ways. So I made him really mad. And we wrestled around a bit, but it was all for fun."

I don't have to explain that I've been feeling I deserve to get knocked around for starting to fill it up in the first place, Pinkie silently admitted.

"That's weird, but lotsa things have been weird lately," Dinky said.

"You should see what's happened to Twilight since ponies thought she was in charge of his library. That's weird," Pinky said and headed for the kitchen. "Were you getting food for the others?"

"Yes," Dinky said.

"Well, I have to lock something up, then I'll come help," Pinkie told her.

Dinky nodded. "Oh, there's a game you might want to play. We had lots of fun with it," Dinky said.

"A game to play with friends?" Pinky asked.

"Yeah! Sapphire and I became lots better friends after we played it," Dinky said.
------------------------------

Selene Dreamer had awoken at the same time as her momma, but unlike her momma, she hadn't seen the dream they'd walked in as capricious. Her daddy, whose dream it was, understood it was silly, but her momma had been so serious about it. It bothered her. Ponies were supposed to be happy. Her daddy was supposed to be a grumpy-puss, yet, he'd treated the dream as a silly thing with its own rules, and momma had treated it as a real world life-and-death contest.

"Momma?" she asked, unable to even get close to an answer.

"Yes?"

"If it was important to win, why didn't you just let him?" she asked.

Her momma quit brushing her hair, and stared deeply into the mirror. "What do you mean?"

"He knew what the rules were, he said he was winning, and if you'd just let him win, you could have proved Auntie Celestia wrong, and you were right. But you didn't," she said and watched her mother place a hoof against the mirror. She sometimes wondered if her momma expected something to pop out of the mirror when she stared at it that way.

"I don't know. When a pony dreams, and they are in danger, they really are in danger. When he dreams, I can't tell if the danger is real, or imagined."

"If he knows it's a dream, he knows he's in no danger," Selene said, "Were you jealous of his new friend? She was pretty, but she just wanted people to be friends with." She couldn't understand why her momma and auntie made it so hard. You just curled up in his lap, or just rested a tail against his leg while you worked. He liked it quiet, but he didn't want to be completely alone.

She understood jealousy, she was jealous that Dinky got lunches he made, and got help with her homework, and she did not. She also knew that her momma and auntie went crazy around him. Ponies, griffons, even dragons did what they expected. Discord, Nightmare Moon, and the Big Guy did not. But he isn't the enemy, she thought, Because they can't guess what he's going to do, they think he's an enemy?

She discarded the thought as she looked at her momma. Her momma rested a hoof and her head against the mirror, her eyes closed. She couldn't understand why they couldn't accept they couldn't understand. She didn't understand, but she didn't think confusing people were out to hurt her or her family.
------------------------------

The head of Molybdenum Blossom appeared over Woona and Hotaru. The filly had been playing with a collection of boats in a small pond, watching them maneuver in line abreast, going to column, then into line again. It had been like they were dancing, and she'd been enthralled.

Now the filly was terrified, as the head glowered down at her. The filly ran from cover to cover, but none were large enough to enclose her completely.

"I have had enough of this," Hotaru said as she ran over and tackled the filly, then placed herself over the little pony. She and the head glared at each other, but maneuver as it might, the head couldn't catch even a glimpse of the filly.

"Surrender to me what is mine!" the head boomed.

Hotaru swung around, raised her tail, and let out a blaring discharge that left the head with a faint blue color to the flames for several moments.

"That's disgusting!" the head shouted, its flaming eyes still streaming flaming tears.

"Yeah, well, gas bag, you wanted what was yours," Hotaru said, "Get lost or you'll get another one." Hotaru heard the filly giggling withing the confined of her long fur.

The head looked down at Hotaru, and departed.

"Dignity isn't a real big thing with you," Woona said as she approached, "Is it?"

"The winners write the history," Hotaru said, and grinned.

"Let me scare up some chili peppers and beans for you next battle," Woona said.

"Garlic and cabbage work - better," Hotaru said then cringed.

"Just how would you know that?" Woona asked.

Hotaru sighed. "I didn't just flip you over to pure freeze-the-world evil you know. I had you do, little things first. Assail your sister's dignity," Hotaru said and smiled, then cringed at Woona's expression.

"Tell me more," Woona said, wearing a grin of her own.

Hotaru sighed, but began explaining. It did keep the little one giggling though.
------------------------------

Pinkie Pie pronked happily towards BonBon and Lyra's home, she sang as she hopped along, feeling a weight had been lifted from her. "La la la la la la, sing a pinky song, la la la la la la pink the whole day long," she said then considered, "Why does that song always make me feel blue?" She went back to singing. She spotted the cordon of guards preventing more presents from being dropped off at the library. She idly wondered what the half-dozen mailponies were doing with the overloaded freight wagons headed towards Twilight's home.

She tapped out a toe-tapping beat on the door and then listened. She fell on the floor when BonBon wrenched it open.

"Yes?" BonBon said.

Pinkie picked herself back up, and pushed her face back into shape. "Oh, I got good news." She back hoofed the door closed, spotted Lyra peeking out of the pile of blankets. She dashed over to Lyra and flipped the blankets off her. "I know where he is, he's just recovering from Ponyville, and I can take you to him. But, I think there's something he promised you two, and it's waiting in the freezer at Ponyville Hospital." She wagged her eyebrows at Lyra and BonBon.

"What?" BonBon asked, virtually teleporting to Lyra's side. "How?"

Pinkie cringed a bit. "That's a story I'd rather not say. Let's just say it was a frank exchange of personal opinions."

"He shot you?" Lyra asked.

"Not quite," Pinkie admitted, "It's complicated."

"But he's all right?" Lyra asked. BonBon rolled her eyes.

"Of course, silly, he's always able to handle any enemies," Pinkie said.

"Unless they're ponies," BonBon said and stared at Pinkie Pie.

"Uh, yeah," Pinkie said and looked at the carpet she was scuffing with her hoof, "Anyway. Like I said, he kept his promise, and it's ready whenever you are."

"How did he become an alicorn again?" BonBon asked.

Pinkie glanced at her wrist. "Look at the time, bye!" The Pinkie shaped dust cloud took a few moments to dissipate.

Lyra and BonBon looked at each other. "I think Nurse Redheart will have more cogent answers," BonBon suggested.

Lyra nodded as she wiped her eyes and got ready to go outside.
------------------------------

Dinky turned off the stove and used her magic to lift the pot off the burner. She smiled at her efforts. Pinkie had helped her, and soup seemed to be the simplest thing to cook. She'd done pretty much what her daddy had done. Boiled some vegetables, then added the weird packages of noodles and powder, then seasoned.

With Pinkie's help, she'd seasoned it to pony tastes, but had put a weaker version aside to share with her daddy.

She trotted over to the bedroom and checked. He was still sound asleep, and she controlled her urge to nuzzle him and tell him that there were no bad ponies to hurt him. She knew why ponies hurt her mommy, she looked funny and she wasn't clever, but her daddy was clever, so why did they hurt him? She had no answer. But she'd watched the idiot pair bully the Crusaders with no adult rasing a hand. So when the bullies went after her, and her momma, she'd given them a beating they'd never forgotten. That the other Dinkies had helped had made sure Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon had never treated them as they did the Crusaders.

She put her daddy's portion of the soup aside to cool and ladled the rest into jars that would survive the trip to the library. She heard someone enter through the laundry room, and was surprised when Sapphire entered the kitchen and stared at her in stunned amazement.

"Yes, I can cook, but Pinkie Pie helped me start," Dinky said.

"Someone from Ponyville came here?" Sapphire asked.

"Well, Pinkie Pie is, unusual," Dinky said, "She sometimes does things that don't make any sense."

"Is she going to tell everyone so we'll have a swarm of them all over us?" Sapphire asked.

"Not after I gave her my copy down of the rules of Diplomacy, and lent her the game. She'll probably get Twilight and the others to all play," Dinky said and smiled.

"And they won't talk to each other for a week," Sapphire said and grinned back. "The Queen's militaristic daughters are both still in a snit about that game."

"And who won?" Dinky asked.

"And how we won," Sapphire said.

Both of them giggled a bit. "Well, I think they'll be hungry, so we should get this to them and see what's going on," Dinky said.

"Should we tell Discord about that game?" Sapphire said.

"You'd better hope that game doesn't spread," Dinky said, "Your people will starve to death."

"I seriously doubt any pony will ever play that game twice," Sapphire said. She rubbed her chin with her hoof. "Now, convincing Discord to play, that would be fun."

They giggled as they packed the soup into insulated bags.
------------------------------

Lyra and BonBon sat in Nurse Redheart's office and thought, thought very deeply, thought very hard, and glanced at each other.

"He kept his word," BonBon said.

Lyra only nodded.

"You don't have to make your decision today. Take a week and think it over," Nurse Redheart said, missing the real reason for the odd looks and reticent of the pair of mares.

"Ma'am, we made our decision some time ago," Lyra said, "It's the enormity of the thing that has us off kilter."

The nurse nodded. She'd been one of those in BonBon's group, but like BonBon, she'd hoped to entice the Big Guy to explore the world, and leave Ponyville in peace. Now that it seemed that he'd done that, never to return, no one was quite sure how to take it.

BonBon looked at Redheart. "How does it feel to have won?" she asked.

The nurse shied, but steadied herself. "Not as good as I thought it would be." She hung her head at the admission.

BonBon nodded. "We do need some time to think about this, and to plan where we'll raise our kids."

" 'Our'?" Lyra asked. Glancing at the pair of depressed conspirators.

"Yes." BonBon nuzzled Lyra. "If you're going to go through it, than I'm going to go through it. And if I go through it, you are definitely going to go through it."

"Okay," Lyra said, "Do you think that it wasn't you and your little band, but Twilight and the Princesses who really did it? Drove him out."

"That doesn't make what we did less inexcusable," Redheart said, she and BonBon nodded, "I also think he's going to be taking some vengeance for it. Like he already has on Twilight. That's what I'm afraid of. What will he do to their Highnesses?"

"He won't 'do' anything," Lyra said, "He'll simply let their fears do the work while he stands there watching. They'll provide all the darkness he needs to work." She stared at the pair of conspirators until both looked away. "He's already doing that. The best revenge is living well. If you quit being afraid of him, he loses all that power over you."

BonBon looked at Lyra, rolled her eyes and sighed. "I hate it when you get like this," she said.

Lyra smiled smugly.
------------------------------

Discord extended the mirror on a stick and used it to glance around the corner. The nervousness of Dinky, Derpy and even Celly strung out along the stairway below him didn't help. He proceeded up to the next landing and crept up to the next corner to repeat the procedure. No one wanted to miss something potentially dangerous. And in a thousand-year-old building, things that might once have been safe now threatened them as much as the intentional defenses.

"We could slip back to the Big Guy's house," Celly whispered.

The little unicorn danced nervously. "I'll never make it."

Derpy gave a little head shake. Clearly the mare was uncertain about her chances as well.

Celly remembered the other places they'd found on this trip and decided for all Discord's theatrics, he had a reason to be careful and thorough. Discord crept through the corridor across the ceiling with his belly against the overhead. Derpy took the hint and collected Dinky to flit from safe point to safe point that Discord indicated. All eyes searched for the sigils that had yielded so much disappointment and added to their disquiet about the place.

The sigil wasn't exactly right, but Discord opened the door with one stick, while he maneuvered his mirror on a stick inside and he used it to do a quick survey. Derpy and Dinky watched, their ears plastered against their heads, bracing for another disappointment, another extension to their discomfort.

When Discord relaxed, they did slightly. But their expectations still lent a tension to the waiting. "No holes in the floor, and this one still has toilet paper."

Dinky and Derpy raced past him into the room. Celly took a more leisurely pace and grinned at the sounds of relief coming from within.

"I still think I can get that bidet working," Discord said.

"I think the ice cold water took care of Woona's needs for quite some time," Celly said.

Discord shrugged. "I'll tell them it's the stallions' later," he said as he left.
------------------------------

Sapphire didn't understand why she'd been avoiding the filly in the glass case. Something primal gave her concerns about being seen, or worse spoken to. With only Discord in the room, she finally began working up the courage to get closer.

"She won't hurt you," Discord teased.

You don't know that, she wanted to tell him, I'm glad I can survive on nonmaterial food, or I would have loosed my bowels and bladder by this point. Sapphire moved slightly closer, and waited to make sure nothing untoward happened. She couldn't shake the feeling she was somehow poking a very large lion with a very short stick. I can imagine what that filly might do, she thought, If she's terrified, I can leave. It's what I'd like to do anyway. She noted the others arriving and she felt slightly relieved. Although Woona's expression should have made her laugh. The ancient ponies had some very interesting plumbing that hadn't been rediscovered in 'modern' Equestria.

The Big Guy's arrival with a couple of large satchels seemed to get Dinky excited, while relaxing the others.

He's so used to 'weird' he takes all this in stride, Sapphire thought as she felt a bit more confident in approaching the case.

The filly's eyes opened, and Sapphire nearly jumped back at the force of the filly's expression and the raw power of the emotion pouring off her.

The emotion cut off and the filly retreated to the far end of the glass box. "Please, don't be afraid."

Everyone was staring at Sapphire. The Big Guy walked over to rest his hand on her head. Discord crawled through the glass to calm down the filly.

"Are you okay?"

Discord and the Big Guy looked at each other, then chuckled at their 'duet', even the tone of concern was mirrored.

"Please, come closer, I won't hurt you," the filly said.

"You just surprised me," Sapphire said, walking towards the filly through a storm of emotion so powerful she felt she was walking into a strong wind. It wasn't just love she felt, but an intense curiosity, and world-weariness. She glanced at the Big Guy and realized why Discord had been so drawn to the filly, for the same reason he'd been drawn to the Big Guy. An old soul, beaten and bloodied, but unbowed and with a childlike sense of whimsy and curiosity. The very thing Discord lacked, and wanted to regain.

"You can change into a pegasus, and a unicorn, and an earth pony?" the filly asked excitedly.

The others began congregating as Sapphire changed forms She'd once taken a job as a stage magician, and it had set her on her current path, realizing ponies could love something like her.

"And you have their powers?" the little, wizened filly said with a manic gleam in her eyes.

Sapphire glanced at the others. They seemed intrigued, and none except Discord seemed nervous, and he was nervous about the filly harming herself. "Yes, whatever form I take, I have their powers. Earth pony, pegasus, unicorn, or any other."

"I did it," the filly said softly. "I did it! I DID IT! I DID IT!" she started soft and grew in volume, ending up dancing around a bewildered Discord. She ran down nearly as fast as she came up.

"So that's what that feels like," the Big Guy said, "You did what?"

"The Windingos," the filly said and grinned.

Before the Big Guy or anyone else could vent their frustration, Discord face-palmed. "Oh, a lady after my own heart," he said, and the two of them giggled.

"All in favor of a brief bit of homicide?" Hotaru asked and raised a paw. She looked at the wolf who'd duplicated the gesture. The former Nightmare Moon rolled her eyes.

"You'd have to be a Draconequus for it to be homicide," Celly said, "But a little concussive therapy is a good idea."

"Okay, okay," Discord said and settled the grinning filly in his lap. "You'll correct anything I get wrong?"

She nodded and snuggled in.

Discord took a moment to scratch her behind the ears before starting. "The ponies warred on each other because none of them had all they needed to grow food. The pegasi could ruin a crop with weather, but not grow food on their own or control the amount of sunlight. The unicorns could control the sun and moon, but couldn't control the weather or grow food on their own. The earth ponies couldn't control the rain or the sun for their crops. And they were able to get away with this, because they had no competition. So their hatred summoned the Windingos."

"Oh. My. God!" the Big Guy said.

"See!" Discord said.

"I'm glad you all understand, what . . . " Celly began, "So she changed the Windingos into a creature that feasted on love, and could be any of the pony races."

"Yep," the filly said, "Mom wanted them gone, but it wasn't their fault they were what they were. So I changed them. Mom was pissed."

"I can imagine," Woona said as she stared at the filly.

Dinky nudged Sapphire and let out a squawk as the changeling fell over.

"She's taking it rather well," the Sphinx said as she set Sapphire back up on her hooves.

"Suddenly none of the pony races had a monopoly. The new creatures weren't in conflict with the other three for the food supply, and they literally lived on the gratitude of those they helped," the Big Guy said, "That's brilliant."

"Then what happened?" Hotaru asked.

Discord shushed her and conjured a blanket and pillow for the filly, before he slipped through the walls of the enclosure. "What do you think happened?" Discord said, "You know what monsters the ponies used to be. They demonized the changeling and sent them running to hide in the deepest parts of Equestria. No pony likes competition in what makes them 'special', and she'd created the ultimate generalists."

"Beings not bound by the destiny of their cutie mark," the Big Guy said, "I can imagine the panic that would have caused in the early days when they were trying to both retain their technology and culture, and get an advantage over each other. Let alone what they were doing to the natives."

"Cows and sheep are still livestock," Discord said, "Something nopony ever did anything about." He stared at Celly and Woona.

The two alicorns shied back.

"Okay, let's not play 'whose fault it is'," Derpy said, "We can't fix it here. How do we fix her?"

"Ceremonial magic," the Big Guy said, "I've never heard of multiple unicorns working together. I suspect that particular discipline was suppressed, so a team of unicorns couldn't retake the control of the sun and the moon from the Pony Sisters. But we aren't bound by that," the Big Guy said.

Woona and Celly began shifting and glancing around nervously.

"I've never heard of that kind of magic," Dinky said.

"It's more a performance than magic for most people," the Big Guy said.

"You know about that?" Derpy asked.

"There are stories and legends about it," he replied, "And there have been concerts and other gatherings where 'energy' was released. In Equestria, where magic is real, I have no doubt that we can make it real. After all, Sapphire, don't you think many of the Changelings in the nearby hive would love to welcome, honor and heal the one who created them in the first place?"

When Sapphire just stared at him, Dinky nudged her. This time, the Sphinx caught the petrified Changeling before she crashed to the ground.

"I think we've all had an exciting enough day," Derpy said firmly, "We all need rest." She glared at Discord. "You too. You can't do her a bit of good if you exhaust yourself."

Discord grumbled, but gestured, conjuring beds, bedclothes and bedding for everyone. Celly picked the Big Guy up by the collar with her teeth and swung him to the center of the mass. She and the Sphinx surrounded him. He shrugged and lay down, letting the collection agglomerate around him. Dinky covered his feet, as Derpy played bolster for his head.

Hotaru planted her butt against the filly's enclosure and lay down. The wolf circled a few times and laid down near her, watching her. Hotaru snorted and let herself drift off to sleep.
------------------------------
Day 52

Zecora left her home while sunrise was a distant promise. She had the map the Big Guy had made and she knew enough to begin her explorations. A new race, of plants. Perhaps that is why my brain crawls with ants, she thought, To make contact, and offer recompense, that is truly a reason to be tense.

The walk through the forest stirred none of the nighttime denizens who were seeking their homes before the sun rose, and was too early for the daytime dangers to be up and about. The path didn't lead straight to her goal, but she had to zigzag towards the grove she sought. And even then it was a ways off the faintly beaten tracks.

Light was just coming over the hills and penetrating into the forest when she first saw them. I could swear, they are screaming in terror, she thought as she looked at the trees and the dappled light illuminating and then hiding features of the trunks and branches, giving the illusion of motion to them. They are trying to flee, she thought as looked in the direction of the source of their terror, and saw, not the spires of Ponyville, but the mountainside of Canterlot.
------------------------------

Twilight approached the window shade. She ignored the facepalm from Spike as she crept up on the window. The little dragon raised a finger as if to point something out, then dropped his arm to his side with a shake of his head.

He waited until she'd looked outside, and found the yard completely clear of little boxes before she sighed.

"Twilight," Spike said, and then reeled back as she hit the ceiling and held on for dear life. "Okay, only decaf for you, from now on," Spike said quietly. "Twilight, the princess' guards have been seeing to it that no one drops any more off. You can relax."

Twilight levitated herself down and smiled. "Of course, Spike, the princess has the situation completely under control."

The knock on the door and call 'delivery'! had Spike all by himself, although a trail of dust and the sound of receding hoofsteps told him where she'd gone. The little dragon shook his head and went down stairs to let Applejack in.

"She's hiding under her bed," Spike explained, "You might want to avoid the 'D' word, or anything associated with it until she calms down."

"I know exactly what would settle that filly," Applejack said, then glanced at the blushing Spike, "Farm work, silly."

"Oh, of course," Spike said.

"Twilight!" Applejack called, "Twilight! I got the perfect place ta hide where those sneaky, ole boxes cain't find ya!" Applejack was slightly surprised when the maniacally grinning Twilight appeared and grabbed her neck.

"Where? Where? Where? Where?" Twilight asked, very calmly for her current state.

"Shush now, not where they can hear," Applejack warned and tippy-hoofed out of the library with Twilight in pursuit.

Spike facepalmed again, then drew out the Big Guy's gift and started reading. "Okay, dragons and gold rings don't mix," Spike said on reading another chapter where a dragon and a magic, gold ring didn't end well for the dragon.
------------------------------

Pinkie woke to the smell of tea, biscuits and the feel of a warm blanket draped over her. She raised her head and looked around worriedly.

"The Cakes allowed me to take your place," the old griffon told her as he circled the pinkie-copter she'd fallen asleep working on. "Considering how late you were up, they understood."

"Sorry," Pinkie said, and sipped the tea. Her usual manic energy was restrained by her desire to watch every nuance of her friend's appreciation of the machine. Even Twilight didn't know she'd rebuilt it, if she was even aware Pinkie had built one in the first place. Everything she'd told the Big Guy came back now with full force. She desperately wanted someone to appreciate this secret, hidden place of hers, and would be crushed if they didn't, or worse, ridiculed her.

This was not a ghostie to be giggled away. This wasn't a worry that her friends didn't like her parties. This was exposing the one place she could truly be hurt to someone else, and feeling each moment like a knife running over it. He didn't approve, or worse hated it. What will I do? she wondered, too frightened to even gnaw her nails or unpoof her hair.

"One slight problem," he said as he turned to her.

She held on to 'one slight' as the last hope for her soul as everything else crumbled under the weight of 'problem'.

"It's not built for two," he said and raised her chin to look at him and his wintry smile.

"I, uh, was hoping you could help me with that," she said and gave him a faint smile back.

He nodded, and Pinkie felt she could have floated to the moon without wings.
------------------------------

Discord and the Sphinx had remained with the filly. Hotaru had encouraged the wolf to follow, and had been horrified to realize he retained his reality on leaving the city and entering the Big Guy's house.

"As long as his love for you exists, so will he," the Big Guy teased Hotaru.

The former Nightmare Moon stared at him in horror, then at the grinning wolf, then back. "But I treat him like crap."

"Men will tolerate a lot for a beautiful woman," the Big Guy told her.

Hotaru fainted. The wolf laid down beside her.

"At least he's a gentleman," Celly said.

Unfortunately, leaving the filly's area had reimposed the communications barrier again. Dinky wrote her or her mother's questions down. 'How do we help her?' was Dinky's first message.

'Ceremonial Magic,' the Big Guy wrote in reply, and brought out several boxes of books from the garage. Most were large, fairly thin with book covers of brown paper, but inside were illustrations, extensive commentary all in neat type.

"I'm glad Twilight never found these," Celly said, "She would have gone insane."

"Most of these are games, magic doesn't really exist, but that doesn't keep huge mounds of theories from cropping up to surround the practice," the Big Guy said.

"The legends and 'rules' of magic are contained here," he said and handed the book to Dinky. He tried to ignore the little unicorn starting to giggle at what she was reading. When she told Derpy. The mother pegasus could contain herself no better than her filly.

"Some pony isn't impressed by human magical thinking," Woona said. She smirked as the mother and daughter tried to control their laughter.

But then Dinky would read some more, and burst out laughing. The Big Guy sighed.

"And you are all so sure this is unknown, rather than unworkable," he said.

He picked up a page of blank paper and carefully copied the design from a book. A pair of interlinked triangles surrounded by a circle. He set the page down and balanced the pencil he'd drawn the image with on the eraser end.

"Dinky," he said pointed to the little unicorn's horn, and gestured at the pencil.

Dinky giggled and lit her horn. Her expression grew serious as her horn brightened. She became very focused as tiny sparks came from her horn. Her horn dimmed as Dinky sat back on her haunches. She complained about something to her mother.

"Woona, your turn," the Big Guy said.

Woona did as Dinky had, but when her horn brightened to almost painful levels, the pencil wobbled and fell. Woona was panting with the effort as she moved close to examine the page and the design.

"So much for magical defenses," the Big Guy said.

"Do not demean your mastery so," Woona said, still breathing as if she'd galloped for miles. "Had I applied that force to the house, it would be a mass of kindling off its foundation." She leaned close to the circle. "Such a simple thing to lay undiscovered for centuries."

"You ponies aren't great innovators. Humans are. You prefer stability. We reacclimate to a sea change much faster than you," the Big Guy said. "Why don't we go through these books and test some of the ideas? We'll incorporate what works, and laugh at what doesn't." He looked over at Celly. "Afraid of what we might uncover?"

"And what can be done with a group of unscrupulous unicorns, against a lone guard or mage," Celly said.

"Or a large group wrestling the sun and moon away from their current operators?" he asked, "Then, you very politely ask them to stop, and when they don't, you get out the garden loppers. It'll only take one strong demonstration and a willingness to do it again before people give up on that idea."

Celly and Woona shivered at the idea.

"Have you forgotten what I did for most of my early adulthood? Clean up the mess of leaders not willing to do that. Bad as it is, is it better to let millions die doing it later?" he asked.
------------------------------

Twilight relaxed, as Applejack shouted at Applebloom and the Crusaders approaching in a box. She'd calmed down from the simple work of harvesting apples and doing some chores around the farm.

Then she stumbled on the stump the Big Guy had sheared off. She looked at the burnt wood and could only imagine what their enemies would do with that kind of power, what ponies who were careless would do with that kind of power. Alchemy that matched the best magics of Equestria.

"You feeling okay, Sugarcube?" Applejack asked.

"Seems everything eventually leads me back to that house," Twilight admitted and gestured at the stump. "How does somepony do that, and just, turn it off?"

"Same way he keeps Discord stumbling, by not thinkin' about it all the time. By thinkin' about a thousand things all at once," Applejack said, "I think he saw one picture of my folks, and when she saw them again, he collected'em and brought them back to us. Just the way his mind works, like Pinkie Pie's but more disciplined. Doesn't stay on one thing, or only part stays on one thing and the rest of it goes on and does somethin' else."

Twilight stared at her.

Applejack shook her head and waved at the farm around her. "Twi, what do you see? An orchard?"

"Yes," the unicorn replied.

"But it's also full of trees. Each one a little different. That's him. You keep lookin' at the orchard, and never seein' the trees. Discord I 'spect looks only at all the trees," Applejack said, "Ya gotta see both at once, and understand that they are the same thing, and they aren't, at the same time."

Twilight stared at her for a moment. "How are you and the rest of the Apples getting on?" Twilight asked.

Applejack sighed. "No problems, we can write, and a hug is universal. Turns out they had some interesting ideas for the farm they didn't get put in place in their world, or ours. It's kinda weird how they watch Applebloom, until I realize they never saw her grow up," Applejack said, then she blushed, "Almost as weird as when I catch them watchin' me when I'm wrasslin' with a tough problem. They look so happy and proud."

Twilight snorted. "Why wouldn't they be?" she said, "You're a good pony. They can be proud of you, even if you're only sort of their daughter."

"What's really buggin' you Twi?" Applejack asked, "Is it you got feelings about him you don't understand?"

"Applejack!"

Applejack whopped her with her hat. "Not like that! Yer curious. And yer scared. Why am I scared of him, when Dinky and Fluttershy aren't? Rainbow won't come near him, and even the Princesses are scared of him. But the kids aren't. Why are the 'brave' ponies all one way, and the 'cowards' all the other, and it's the reverse of what makes sense?"

"I also saw what he picked out to show me those first days," Twilight said and shivered, "Why?"

"Maybe warn ya off. You were so sure you could jist wander in and take, you never thought what a headache it would be," Applejack said, "Maybe you shoulda listened."

"I did not overreact."

"What's that box doing?" Applejack said, then looked at Twilight hiding behind her. "Yeah, I kin see that. You aren't gonna be able ta look yourself in the mirror without lookin' for boxes, until you understand what's really in there. You can write, so ask my folks to take you through the place. They watched all that went on."

"I guess you're right," Twilight said, and blew her bangs out of her face. "I guess I have been acting like a scaredy-pony over all this."

"Gotta look the bear in the face, and it stops bein' so scary." Applejack pointed a hoof towards the fields. "They're fixin' some pumps out there. Go talk to'em. Maybe you'll find out there's nothin' to be afeared of, or find out exactly what there is. Either way, you'll know."

Twilight nodded and started trotting to the other Apples.
------------------------------

Nurse Redheart and Doctor Bracket were waiting in his office when Lyra and Bonbon arrived.

"Have you decided?" Bracket asked.

"Yes," Bonbon said, "Both of us, together."

The doctor nodded. "I understand the procedure, and we have some enhancements to increase the chance of conception taking place."

"Our cycles are synchronized," Lyra said, "They have been for a few years. So we should be ready soon." She smiled. "We talked it over and we want to go through this together."

The doctor nodded. "There is the concern over the insemination sample. Transformation magic, and an alicorn. We'd like you to come back here if you encounter anything unusual. With yourselves, with your partner, or with your pregnancy, understood?"

Bonbon and Lyra nodded. Then Redheart hugged both of them.

"I'm so happy for you both," she told them.
------------------------------

Zecora returned to her hut with the markings copied down and the map appended. Two more groves were possible and she considered the wisdom of carefully splicing roots together to connect her home with the Golden Library. Or should I just connect the groves and let them awaken before I reveal, what we've done to their friends is not ideal? she considered, A talk with Twilight is the thing, if this bell idea will crack or ring.

She collected her findings and headed off to the library. She didn't like the idea of traveling the forest at night, because she expected the meeting to go very late. But it was the price she would have to pay, and it had been neglected far to long.

She had not expected to see Pinkie's copter being flown by Pinkie's griffon friend, but the thought made her smile.

She arrived at the library to find a party going. Twilight and all her friends were there. The focus seemed to be on a strange map laid out on the table. "The rules are really simple," Pinkie said, "And Dinky said that she and the Changeling won the game."

"I can't imagine how diplomacy takes place in their world if they had to make a game about it," Twilight said.

"Eh, this looks like a game for eggheads," Rainbow said, then made the mistake of looking at Pinkie's 'sad puppy' face. "Okay, I'll play it. Conquer the world huh? Seems like the kind of game he'd play."

"Dinky said it was his favorite," Pinkie said.

Spike looked at the rules and then at the others. "I think you might want to think about this. Remember what happened on just the rumor that Twilight owned the house."

"Nonsense," the trio of griffons advanced out of the kitchen with the trays of refreshments, "If it is conflict, it would be a healthy way to channel it."

Spike sighed, "Zecora, do you want to take my place, I think I'm going to be sent to bed before the game is over."

"Much obliged," she said, "And if you are feeling left out, here's some maps over which you can pout."

"The trees?" he said as he looked at them, "Thanks. I'll go incorporate these with the other papers."

"Okay, I'll read the rules," Twilight said, "Is everybody ready?"

Her friends nodded.

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