Chapter 4 : Donuts
The music dug into Twilight's ears which for the first time she was thankful for being much smaller in their current, ugly shape. Not that she would be rude and say she thought that human ears were less appealing or anything... just that her modest opinion of them was less than appreciative.
Twilight did her best to keep her breathing calm as the vehicle continued to travel at rather high speeds. She could feel her claws digging into her thighs from the sheer fright the experience gave her. However, it certainly wasn't the speed at which they moved that was doing the scaring; she'd gone far faster being hauled around by Rainbow hundreds of strides in the air before. No, it was the insane method by which Jo seemed to pilot her craft that made Twilight's entire body go rigid.
Jo's arms were outstretched and grasping the helm of the machine firmly, occasionally tilting it slightly this way or that. Despite how worrying Twilight found the operation of the large device, she still desperately wanted to see how it worked.
With a smooth motion, Jo turned the wheeled helm control to round another corner.
Twilight watched in awe, absently trying her best to ignore the thumping music. Is that a rudder control? she thought, still watching. Her thoughts were able to collect themselves while trying to solve the puzzle of the machine's inner workings. The music was distracting, but not overly so. The beat was just... very loud.
Twilight had tried to ask about the 'car' earlier, but... well, music. The walls of the human machine had seemed to flex and reverberate with the beat of the song, if that was in fact what it was. Twilight was beginning to have doubts about that. I really can't see the point in playing music that loud. Perhaps it's some way to power the machine? It must use considerable energy to run so well. In any case, she had no idea about the music or the weird steering wheel; it could actually just be called the steering wheel for all she knew.
Finally, finally, the steel deathtrap-chariot came to a stop. Although, where the machine had come to a stop seemed to be in the middle of a road that was filled with other human machines.
Twilight cried out as loud as she could, even going so far as to lean over close to Jo's ear. "What's wrong, why are we stopping!?" A second, then a third car whizzed by them just on their right, barely a stride away from her own door.
Despite Twilight's repeated best shot at verbally overpowering the human's bizarre music, she could only barely even make herself out over the racket. Surprisingly, though, her human guide turned it down this time and calmly flicked her head Twilight's way, before refocusing on what lay ahead of her.
Now that she had finally ceased the music, she spoke.
"Sorry, I didn't catch that." Jo's voice was the very essence of sounding nonchalant.
Twilight let out a sigh and relaxed; her body had become progressively more tense as the... song had gone on. It was a relief for it to just be over, so she didn't respond right away. That was the most horrifyingly loud, ear-splitting thing I've ever heard. She lowered her hands from her ears while gathering her wits and trying to remain calm. "I asked what was wrong and why we were stopping."
A glance out the window suggested that they may have simply arrived at their destination. Across the bustling, flawlessly paved road was a sign that Twilight thought she saw the word 'donuts' on. However, there was also a never-ending line of other human machines barring their way to the building.
"Well, we're here," Jo replied simply. The answer was blunt and Twilight had guessed as much now, anyway. Why their machine was stopped in the middle of the road was anypony's guess though.
"I see... Well, this is quite the impressive city, Jo. And quite crowded, it seems. Is this the human capita-AAL!?" Twilight slung back into her chair as the metal chariot burst forward with sudden speed, then swung forward again as it slowed almost to a stop. Her teeth chattered against themselves fearfully and her claws again found purchase on things to grip around the vehicle interior.
Jo had rocketed the car through a small gap in the traffic and into the establishment's vicinity. "Hah, I wouldn't call this town a city, much less a capital."
To Twilight, the human's short laugh sounded bitter, and she also seemed to be oblivious to her distress.
Fortune would have it that Jo looked over, and spotted Twilight's renewed wide-eyed stare. "What's wrong, too rough?" she asked with a smarmy overcast to her voice.
The question proved Twilight's prior observation incorrect, at least. "You could have killed us, Jo! I've seen enough of those other carriages moving around already to realize that wasn't safe piloting!" Twilight paused to scowl over at Jo, then pressed on. "Honestly, even Rainbow Dash isn't that reckless and that's saying something."
Jo's small grin was entirely too smug for Twilight's liking. “If you’re talking about that jerk that almost hit me outside of town, I had the right of way. That neophyte probably learned how to drive from the back of his Cheerios box...”
As if that were all that happened... Twilight practically shook, and not just because she didn't know what some of those words Jo had used were. Still, she was beginning to reevaluate Jo as a mix between a hydra and Trixie. I won't give her the satisfaction of— Twilight cut short as Jo's hand reached for that infernal instrument panel on the machine again; the one that made music.
Twilight tried to scream. Instead, her outcry came out as a whimpered 'please no'.
The reaching hand seemed to hesitate, then Jo frowned and reclined back rather than 'crank' her music again.
Twilight breathed out in her relief. Thank Celestia.
The two girls sat in general silence for a minute.
Twilight's head continued to spin from her surroundings and the questions she had. She briefly speculated as to why Jo was being so... difficult, with her. The human, though strange, had been very neighborly and generous the night before, if a bit taciturn. Jo said she believed me, so that isn't it... Could she be having second thoughts about helping me? I really wish I didn't have to rely on her like this, but I don't have a choice. Maybe that's it.
One last thought occurred to Twilight; this one rang with the most truth, and produced a frown of clarity on her face. Or maybe she's just not a morning pony... er, early afternoon pony... I mean human.
As the machine inched forward slowly in what seemed to be a conga line of chariots, Twilight finally spoke up again, trying to bridge the gap between their cultures... She also wanted to discern what might be wrong or even get a couple questions answered. As far as questions, she was by this point up to three hundred and eleven that dealt with arguably pressing concerns.
Twilight opened her mouth to speak. "I—"
Only to be interrupted by Jo. "Hey, I'm going to stop and get groceries on the way back, too. I figure I might as well while I'm out. Is that alright?"
Twilight blinked, caught off guard. "Uhm, okay," was her response. Normally, she would have exclaimed some excitement over going to a foreign marketplace, certainly, but under the circumstances she just wanted to piece her shattered world back together... "Jo, I—"
Yet another voice interrupted Twilight, and her hands flexed in vexation. She could practically feel her face turning red from the frustration filling it.
Jo spoke to whoever it was. Oddly enough, there was no one there. "Yeah hey, I'll have two coffees, six donuts..."
Twilight tuned her out, perplexed. She looked around but couldn't find the speaker. It appeared entirely as though the strange mare beside her was speaking to a box with little holes in it.
Despite this, Twilight continued to try and get a word in, filing the oddity away for later. She coughed, clearing her throat for another shot and waited for a break in the chatter. "Jo, are you upset with me or s—"
"Sorry, hold that thought—would you like a sausage, egg and cheese, too?" Jo interrupted, again, and asked casually.
It took considerable willpower from Twilight to sit still and hold her patience. "Sure, anything is fine, Jo. I appreciate your generosity so I won't be picky. I—" Before she could continue though, Jo began speaking to the box once more. This left Twilight facing towards her, open mouthed and ignored.
"Alright, thank you again and have a nice day!" The box finally made its good bye, which got the chariot moving again.
Twilight leaned over and did her best to get the other girl's attention. "Ahem, Jo!"
"Hm? What is it?" Jo looked over at Twilight, her voice asking a bit more dreamily than she'd intended it to. She was dead to the world until she got coffee.
Twilight froze. "I—" She paused, frowning.
"I... can't remember what I was going to say." Twilight sighed and fell back against the chair. Great, now I have a headache, too. Tartarus cursed music... It didn't feel right to her to curse like that, but it was quickly turning out to be a rough day. So, she forgave herself the trespass.
For a moment, Jo regarded the girl reclining tiredly beside her, pondering what might be the best way to get her to admit she was only putting on an act about who she claimed to be. And an act, she assured herself, was what it had to be.
The DeLorean rolled up until it stopped at the end of the building.
Twilight glanced over as the car stopped. On the side of the donut selling store was a small window, through which Jo passed several odd looking slips of what seemed to be shaded paper. In return, a white bag, a small box, and two white cups were handed back to her along with what looked like more of the money.
Twilight had been surprised when no haggling had been done, but stayed quiet, merely observing. That was fast. Fascinating, food on the go. What a great idea for travelers. She imagined if she said anything it would be ignored anyway, and kept the thoughts to herself. I really hope she doesn't keep ignoring me. Why is she even ignoring me to begin with? I wonder, maybe humans need coffee to function? How strange.
Twilight continued to consider the matter until she jumped from a sudden exclamation. She blinked and looked over.
Jo had let out the loudest gasp of satisfaction Twilight thought she'd ever heard. The human had just taken a huge, slurping sip from her steaming cup. "Oh, that's just terrific," Jo proclaimed.
The chariot rolled slowly off to one side of the strangely smooth road surface, then stopped altogether between two white lines. The humming of the machine cut off all together with a twist of the metal pin that Jo had stuck into the rudder earlier.
Oh, designated parking zones. How orderly, Twilight thought, approving the humanly organization outside her window. It was a welcomed, short distraction from the way her attempts at conversation had turned out to be. She was taken off guard when Jo suddenly turned to and addressed her directly. Her theory about coffee seemed to be proven right, the other mare's mood had improved drastically in the space of seconds.
"So, I've been thinking about last night, Twilight. What actually happened? You just showed up in the middle of that storm, and during the craziest meteor storm I've ever seen in my life... I didn't even get it on camera, either, by the way. Anyway, what were you doing out there?" Jo took more generous gulps of the coffee she gripped tightly with one hand once she had finished speaking.
Twilight tried to take a sip herself from the one offered to her before answering, and almost dropped the cup. Sweet Luna, that's hot! After juggling the cup, surprised, she instead set the coffee into the convenient slot that Jo had used a moment before. "Uhm, well that's complicated and I don't recall exactly what happened before I landed... more did come back to me last night though. Anyway, near as I can tell, I tore a rift between your world and mine that deposited me several thousand strides above the ground. I remember trying all sorts o—"
On the other side of the car, Jo tuned her out; her head was floating in the clouds. The coffee felt like it had done a better job of lifting her spirits than it ever had. She felt great, rejuvenated, fantastic, pristine... and she felt like a jerk.
A despairing, short look of guilt flashed over Jo's face as she nodded distractedly to the rambling girl claiming to be Twilight Sparkle. She re-assumed the modest look of interest towards her while trying to think of her own next move conversation wise. But after that... is anypony's guess, she thought.
The box opened up between them and Jo offered Twilight a glazed donut as she wrapped up her spiel. She had delved into the theoreticals of what had gone wrong with her made up pony scenario. Something about 'teleporting mid-shift', 'panicking about the sudden feeling of weightlessness' and 'making things worse and worse'. It was starting to sound like a description of one of Jo's college parties, to her. The younger girl cut her lecture/recollection short and smiled at the offering, then Jo.
"Thank you! I'm actually starving, I hadn't even noticed I've been so distracted and what not. I have so much to consider and—" Twilight bit into the donut greedily mid-sentence, then grimaced at the gushy texture of the strange, alien confectionery. Her eyes widened and the morsel froze her mouth from chewing, she looked over at Jo slowly who was watching her curiously. "Uh, 's gud?" She swallowed hard, just wanting to get the donut away from her tongue. It wasn't terrible... it was certainly sweet. It was just no where near as good as say, Donut Joe's pastries. Be polite Twilight, it's free food after all. Hesitantly, regretfully, another bite found its way into her mouth.
Jo's mouth thinned confusedly at seeing Twilight's obvious dislike of the donut, she already had a next step formed though, so spoke before the girl could again. "Twilight..." She paused over the name, it sounded absurd spoken aloud, more so while in the right state of mind. "I'm just going to ask you this upfront alright? Because, I respect you as a person." Her voice was matter of fact and she paused to let her tone settle in.
It was spoiled somewhat by Twilight looking up from a strawberry icing donut, her cheeks puffed out and a mild look of disgust on her face. She swallowed the second donut in one go and responded. "Okay," there was a strategically placed dollop of icing on her cheek that made Jo feel even worse for taking this route with her. "Ask whatever you'd like, Jo." She smiled weakly, as if foretelling what was coming, at least in Jo's mind it seemed that way.
"Alright," she took in a breath, then let it out. "I need to know what's going on if I'm going to help." Twilight nodded at Jo's levelly spoken words, eyes lighting up expectantly. "I need to know, exactly, what really happened to you. If I know then I can help."
"Terrific! This is just where I hoped we'd get to after you... got... settled?" Twilight trailed off as Jo started to slowly shake her head.
"I don't mean your story, I mean what kind of abuse you're going through, or why you're trying to live a fairy tale. Was it... rape? I'm sorry right now for bringing up that, if it is. I know you could be sensitive just to that being mentioned." Jo peeked at Twilight with one eye to see if it had caused a reaction, but seeing only a dumbstruck look, not a panicked one, she continued. "Whatever is going on with your life, you've gotta come clean with me. Tell the truth, or... I can't help you."
Twilight stared a moment, a bubble of something rising up in her... after a moment of the words seeping into her, it all clicked. "You... you don't believe me?"
"Twilight—" Jo started, but was too mild in her tone, again cut off.
"Y-you mean, you lied to me? You lied about... you said that you would believe me if I still said— You don't believe that I'm from Equestria? That I'm really a unicorn?" Twilight's mouth worked noiselessly until she found something else to say, not wanting to hear the answer she knew would come. "Jo, look, I understand it might sound a little far-fetched, but it's the truth! Jo, you have to believe me, I am who I say I am!"
Twilight gestured wildly around the car, a depraved, desperate look on her face. It was the look of someone who was encountering a blockade between herself and all she loved. "I-I can prove it, uhm, dragons migrate bi-annually! Princess Celestia has ruled Equestria for over one thousand standard Equestrian years and loves vanilla cake with strawberry icing! Uhm, no that's no good..." She searched the car's interior desperately for something, anything concrete that could prove that she was who she claimed to be.
Twilight's eyes clenched shut. If only I could use magic! Her thoughts berated herself relentlessly for her lack of a horn.
The small car rocked slightly from the frantic motions.
Jo gulped, having listened to every word as a heat built in her face, all while she tolerated the nonsense being thrown at her in a flurry. When Twilight stopped, she spoke hurriedly to defuse the situation a little.
"Twilight, it's okay, look just calm down, alright? I know I said I would believe but... I said that under duress." Jo didn't like using the name 'Twilight' seriously... but it might help again. "I'm sorry. Realistically, nothing good can come of me just believing in your... dream. You need help, real help, not pixie dust." Slowly, her small hand gently laid itself on Twilight's shoulder consolingly. God, I'm way too jaded to be helping someone. What was I thinking? The introspective epiphany was followed closely by a worried observation. I guess she really is legitimately crazy.
The second thought worried Jo, but that paled beside her passenger hitting her hand away.
Twilight raised her head and looked darkly at Jo. "It's not okay," she said forcefully. "I'm trapped in some crazy, industrialized, high-tech fantasy world, filled with hairless two-legged monsters that like to listen to ear splitting racket and criticize others just because they're unfamiliar with them or how they think or feel!"
Twilight wiped an arm wiped across a running nose, though her eyes were still dry. She continued with barely a breath taken. "Furthermore, I've been waiting patiently, just for a single sentence in answer to some very reasonable questions, but you just ignore me..." Her face whirled to glare down at the other mare. "You don't believe me, fine, but I still thought out why you might have heard of Equestria already, and came up with some good explanations as to why. So that means that somewhere, there's an explanation that can prove I am what I claim to be!"
Twilight had to pause and take a deep breath here, but didn't stop, she had one last thing to say. "Help me prove this Jo, it's not that crazy! If you can... if you can just introduce me to some of the magic that humans use, then I'm sure I can scry or contact somepony from Equestria that can set the record straight!"
The hopeful, convincing, dead-serious smile that Jo saw on Twilight's face almost broke Jo's heart. She had never encountered a truly... delusional person before.
Jo felt herself take in a shuddering breath under Twilight's gaze. It took her a moment to work up the nerve to respond; that look Twilight gave her was overpowering...
"Twilight," Jo fidgeted from where she sat in the still car, but didn't slow. "Magic... isn't real, that's something that's only in stories. Anything and everything can be explained with a rational, scientific approach. Everything has a method and an explanation. If something is looked at as magic, that's just because humanity doesn't understand it yet."
Twilight's eyes searched her opponent's face in disbelief. I don't believe it, she's turned my rationalizations against me. What does she mean, magic isn't real? Her mouth hung open as she struggled for a response... and found one. That makes no sense. I just have to poke a hole in her logic, somewhere.
"You don't believe in magic, is that what I'm gathering right nn-now?" Despite her best effort at maintaining a steady voice, Twilight stuttered at the end. "If that's true, then how do you explain the extra-meta atmospheric relationship between your world and the planar bodies? What force besides magic could allow your people the conscious control of great, chaotic energies swirling high overhead!?" She wore a hesitant, but nonetheless victorious smile while directing her leer at Jo.
Twilight swallowed hard when she didn't get the rebuttal of defeat or hesitation that she had expected.
"Kepler’s laws of planetary motion, assuming you're talking about the Earth's rotational axis and orbit around the sun, as well as the moon's around the Earth." Jo massaged the side of her head; her headache was coming back from all of this involved dialogue. She hadn't recovered fully just yet, and it seemed stress was taking its toll. "I couldn't make heads or tails of what else you said... Twilight... and that's probably because none of that is real. We don't control our solar system's interactions with itself, not like on a make believe kid's show. We're subject to real physics and real forces of nature—"
"Magic is real!" Twilight burst out, shouting the words. Almost immediately, she cringed back and adopted a pained expression. "I-I'm sorry," her voice was trembling, "Magic's real though. How else could you explain how I got here, huh?" The follow up question was as weak as her voice had slowly become.
The car became silent in the wake of, what Twilight realized, were pathetically supported rationalizations.
Beside the unicorn, Jo's hands had begun sweating intensely. Even though it was chilly outside and her window was open, the build up of emotions was getting to her. She turned on the air conditioning to try and stem the sweat that was starting to spread to the rest of her nervous body.
Twilight watched the human fidget on her side of the contraption, which she realized she was almost a prisoner in at that very moment. The frightened pony couldn't help but flinch when Jo's hand twisted a knob on her thing's control panel, but relaxed when only an increase of welcomed, cool air seemed to come of it.
Still, the two stayed quiet.
Already Twilight wracked her brain over what to do—over what to think of that could be useful. There has to be an explanation for all of this; magic is a real, tangible force! There's no logical explanation for it not being present in a world's dynamic and static balance. Harmony could never be maintained in a world of any sort without magic... it's unthinkable. Things would rot uncontrollably, weather would run rampant, sun and moon would disappear altogether! How could a developed race not be aware of it?
Twilight shook her heard and pushed the human's words away from her mind as it pressed against her wits again.
No, there's an explanation somewhere to be had, Twilight reassured herself. Unless perhaps this world is structured differently... But surely some magic must still exist. Maybe our languages simply don't sync up as well as I had first thought? Magic could mean popcorn in this world for all I know! That dictionary was certainly... odd. Or perhaps... perhaps magic is simply so esoteric in its nature here that it is widely undiscovered, or hidden! They have a word for it, she knew what I was talking about... Think Twilight, you're missing something!
Jo watched the Twilight from the corner of her eye, growing more worried by the second as the girl facing away from her determinedly clutched at her sides, as if letting go would be her undoing. She got the feeling that everything she had just said to Twilight had been ignored. And why shouldn't it have been, hm? She might be crazy, but you did sort of lie right to her face and take back what you said without batting an eye. You could have let her own fantasy play itself out... but no, you took the short cut.
Whatever she could say now was as good as monopoly money in the recent economic decline around the world. There weren't any reassuring signs as to what Twilight was thinking or doing anymore, either, leaving Jo a bit lost for words.
A too quiet groan born of frustration came from Twilight, who was busy thinking of the best way to convince Jo of her explanation. It seemed that her story was a bit too out of the ordinary for the human to just accept, as Twilight had hoped. Come on, there has to be some simple incantation, some irrefutable proof, but what? She began to chew on her lip as her brain churned as fast as it ever had.
Well, this mess isn't going anywhere any time soon. It was clear to Jo that any more attempts at logic wouldn't help, and she resigned herself to taking Twilight to the Police Station. They can help her a lot better than I could... She let out a tired sigh, but could already feel a weight coming off of her chest.
"Twilight," her voice croaked the name. She'd choked up more than she remembered doing in the last minute. After clearing her throat, she continued. "I'm going to... I'm going to take you—"
The sudden jolt of movement from Twilight made Jo hit her head on the low ceiling of her sporty car from a decade long past. She let out a cry of pain after making contact with the blunt surface, which was in itself impressive given how short she was. What made her forget the fact she'd bit her tongue immediately, however, was the girl with rose striped hair who practically... No, she was plastering her forehead to Jo's.
"W-What!?" Jo asked, having not understood a word the girl had said.
"I said I have proof! Undeniable, irrefutable, unquestionable proof! It's been right here the whole time, it's so simple I don't know why I didn't think of it in the first place! I mean..." Twilight finally released her grip, eyes widening, and backed off. She coughed and regained her composure, letting out a nervous laugh before continuing. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."
Jo could feel her legs shaking. I'm not scared, who's scared? Not me.
"I don't..." Twilight looked very thoughtful and very calm, a severe contrast to the almost manic look she'd worn only seconds before. "I don't know the circumstances of your world Jo, so I'm flying blind. From the sounds of things, my situation could be worse than I thought originally... and that's saying something since I knew I had lost my horn and magic powers almost immediately."
Jo's face wilted and her frown grew as she watched the crazy train crashing right before her very eyes... She kept listening though. How can she be this crazy and sound so at ease? If anything, the thought and question made her a little more uneasy. In contrast though, she watched Twilight settle her hands in the most refined posture she had ever seen.
Twilight felt relaxed as she addressed Jo with the most serious, honest sounding tone she could manage in her current state. She knew she had to recover ground and credibility with her unwilling host. "Jo, we need to get back to your house if you want proof, we can get groceries later. I want you to trust me, because... well, we can't be friends if we don't have trust between us."
Jo's response was cold, and equally serious. "Twilight, dammit, you're..." Her face twisted in a momentary flash of anger, words came into her mind and bent her thoughts all at once. It wasn't just that Twilight was crazy, she was sane while being crazy, and-
"I'll admit that I made all of this up if you just trust me this one time."
Jo blinked and looked over at Twilight. Her hands unclenched the steering wheel from where they had found a healthy, stress relieving grip.
Twilight looked back at her just as calmly as before, a friendly, picturesque smile graced her lips when they made eye contact. "I'll go and leave you alone if you do, I'll even leave afterwards if you still don't believe me despite my proof. But please, give me the chance to pay you back."
What the hell have I gotten myself into? Jo was at a loss, on one hand she was already trying to figure out who was more crazy, Twilight, or herself for considering the deal. On the other hand, the situation had changed drastically in the space of seconds. It's a whole new ballgame now, eh Jo? Gah, I'm doing it again, stop talking to yourself. She was thankful that hadn't been out loud, at least.
"Alright, that sounds safe enough and I don't want to screw you over anymore than I already have..." Jo muttered the words, splitting her look nervously between Twilight and her dash. "I'm only doing this because despite...well, everything, you're probably the most sensibly sounding person-"
"Pony." Twilight corrected, grinning slightly.
"Don't push your luck, also, I retract my previous statement." Jo rubbed the bridge of her nose and dug her breakfast sandwich out of her bag. The electric car rumbled back to life at the same time.
A strange noise accompanied the electric motor and the rustle of paper though. Jo looked over at Twilight, giggling softly for a spell, and smiling besides.
That girl's really not worried at all.
The drive back to the old colonial house that Jo Faux called a home was quiet. She didn't play anymore music, though the lyrics to a song she used to like listening to as a 'pick-me-up' had run through her head and made her hum while driving. For her, it was uneventful, preferring to stay quiet and run over everything that had been said and done a few minutes ago. The girl claiming to be a pony, also kept quiet for the most part, she had made an odd face when eating her sandwich, but Jo didn't think much of it.
Twilight enjoyed the slightly spicy sandwich that Jo had gotten her a bit more than the donut, she couldn't tell just what it was made of though. Whatever it was, her fears of it being some kind of animal were put to rest easily enough. From what she had studied about the few carnivorous creatures living in Equestria (most of which relegated themselves to existing in the Everfree Forest or other such places) told that meat was very tough. She felt a little sick, even just settling her mind on the matter. Regardless though, she felt safe that the slimy, soft patty in the sandwich was some kind of exotic mushroom or just an alien delicacy. I hope...
The solitary set of sharp teeth she'd paid close attention to since she had changed, were poked meticulously by her tongue in absent agitation.
Jo's DeLorean turned onto the small road that led out to her solitary home in the middle of nowhere in less than record time, but she wasn't concerned with that. She simply felt drained.
The gull-wing door on the car opened up and closed. Hopping out, she began to walk towards the backdoor. A shout drew her attention back to her car, and the passenger apparently still trapped within. Sighing, she approached Twilight's door and pulled it open for her. The girl awkwardly clambered out on all fours onto the rough gravel, wincing as she went.
Jo exhaled, shaking her head, then shut her car door once the strange girl was clear. "Come on, let's get this over with," she chided, lending a hand down to the other young woman, who nodded up at her, long purple hair almost touching the ground.
Twilight reassured Jo confidently with a broad smile and said, "thank you, I promise you won't be disappointed."
Jo resisted sighing and hoisted Twilight up, all but carrying her towards the house. The presumed Equestrian had her arm laid over Jo's shoulder just like earlier that afternoon.
To Twilight, it struck her as an interesting method of assisting her efforts in walking.
The woman carrying Twilight was curious about what she had in mind, much to her own chagrin. The other girl hadn't said anything more about it, forcing Jo to give up and take the initiative.
"So, what's the plan, anyway, where's your proof?" Jo's voice was made to be cheerful and optimistic, she hoped anyway. The two had developed a sort of...unspoken truce for the moment, as far as skepticism went. One which Jo wanted to maintain, despite the madness of it all.
It was still cloudy out, as if the gloom and weather from the night before had returned to hang over the oppressive mood of the situation.
"Oh," Twilight looked up from studying Jo's method of walking, which she had been entranced with. I really need to get that down, and quick. "We only need to go around to the back portion of your home, Jo. Take me there and I'll show you."
"The backyard?" Now Jo's voice was incredulous. "What exactly is in the backyard?" She continued, the door to the house opened after the key unlatched it.
Twilight turned her head at the sight, but responded smoothly. "Yup, all the proof is right there in the pudding, as Pinkie would say..." She smiled at the recollection of her friend, but trailed off from the sadness of remembering her.
The mention of another 'My Little Pony' character made Jo frown, but she continued to do as she was instructed.
The two made their way to the back of the house, crossing over the still haphazardly gathered piles of books in the mud room, and then out the still wide open back door.
Why did I even lock the front door, anyone could have walked... in. Jo followed with her eyes to where Twilight pointed.
Nestled snugly in the open field behind her house, past a row of overgrown shrubs, next to the back treeline and mostly obscured from view...was a deep, wide mouthed crater. The crater was lined with shining, luminous purple crystals that seemed to glow in the sunlight.
"Is that proof enough, Jo? Those crystals a— W-Woah!" Jo nearly dropped Twilight.
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i.imgur.com/bHDlt.jpg
I regret nothing.
I most definitely like Jo WITH coffee much more than Jo WITHOUT coffee.
That... was an awesome song. And chapter. And if that's what alcohol does to ones mind, I think I'll wait 'till I'm of legal age.
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yeah, I woke up with a hangover one day and was literally an asshole to everyyyoooone. Headaches are the great equalizer of a decent person's personality.
2610329
>10hrs 1min ago
wat
Anyways. I'm guessing the purple crystals where Twilight landed is crystallized raw Mana! It literally can't be anything else.
Haven't read the chapter yet but the title tells me of greatness ahead
2612840
...It could be rock candy.
2612846
Impossibru!
I will consider that it might taste like rock candy, though... What other flavor can be attributed to the color purple? Purple does not count.
Heh, I was wondering what Twilight would use as proof. That would definitely work!
And hey, as far as the comments go, I'd consider it more of a mark of three-dimensional characters taking shape than a worrying trend. When characters run on their own and you just let them, you've got an awesome set-up.
2612890
Oh of course, Jo's turning out to be nicer than I'd intended, guess she just doesn't have it in her to be all that bitter. ;P Twilight will still have her hands full teaching her the magic of friendship though! Mark my words.
"Nice one, Twilight. Finally made use of your crystal growing sets? Ah, and I see, you digged your own grave... I need more coffee..." Joe taunted.
"Just wait" muttered Twilight, as she approached one of the glowing crystals and broke it off from the ground with some effort. Suddenly cracks of energy shot from the crystal to her, but it was too much; she couldn't control it. Rapidly spinning towards Joe, Twilight tried to say "See, Jo-" The magic shot forward, shining so brightly, she had to cover her eyes with her free arm. As the brightness finally subsided, Joe was gone. There was only a little green frog where her host stood before.
"Ponyfeathers."
2612918
Lol, and then the real fic starts! This was all a clever, four chapter set up for yet another Brony in Equestria story! You will enjoy seeing such sights as, Jo encountering a manticore! Jo landing in the Everfree forest, Jo having sex with Princess Luna! Jo also being an alicorn, Jo saving Equestria in a convoluted and totally unrelated plot to how she arrived there to begin with! And finally, Jo becoming bestest friends with the mane 6, including Twilight, who is somehow back in Equestria for no reason at all.
2612939
you really can't say that it would be yet another brony in equestria story since Jo is a) not really a brony and b) female. Heck, pony x human clop were the human is female might actually be called fairly unique.
But anyway.
It was kinda hard to follow the section at the donut shop since you kept switching viewpoint characters every couple of paragraphs with no warning.
other than that, this is shaping up to be one of my favorite pony on earth stories. Which admittedly isn't saying too much as I haven't read many of those, but, you know.
2613009
I plead the eleveenth, writing while drunk.
I like changing pov a lot, it was sloppy here I'll admit (compaired to other better written areas, I didn't split my switches with neutral narratives like I swear to) so I'll edit this tomorrow after some sleep. This chapter is raw, and unedited. I'm the best drunk writer eeeveeeer
YAY PROOF! MOAR!
Wait, electric car, she has an electric Delorean... That was my idea, I always wanted to do that. It would be so cool.
This was a very nice chapter. Just wait until Twilight figures out that she ate meat. That aside *DRAMATIC EYE NARROWING SOUND* What is the status of chapter 5?
2610329 I know that feel all to well.
Awesome chapter, In fact, I just read the previous one today.
I'm looking forward to seeing more, although now I can't help but think of Equestria Girls now every time I like a humanised main6 story. As long as it's not cannon!
2612900
I still think someone's world is going to be rocked if Twilight manages to figure out how to do magic without a horn. Hopefully without the need to superglue one of those crystals to her forehead.
As for the Mceggwich, Twilight's safe. They only use pseudomeat in those anyway. (One step up from School Lunch of course)
p.s. I want to pay Discord 20 bits to see Twilight discovering the culinary delight of a prime steak done up right while she's still human enough to enjoy it no matter how much she'll hate herself in the morning.
I just discovered this after re-reading the progress on Mary is a Mare and going through your other works.
This story is how I would have preferred that something like Equestria Girls go down if it needed to happen. No high school fluff, something with legit conflict with real consequences.
Very nice so far. I'll be watching this as well.
2613767
Well of course, but please don't compare me even in a good light to that garbage. That's just a transparent cash grab and has nothing to do with humans on earth. If eating poo got hasbro their money they would have just as likely scripted that for the movie.
All the same thanks for the comps.
Nitpick:
Capitol / capital like "then/than" or "your/you're" are not the same thing.
You had my curiosity, but now you have my attention...and my like...and a mustache as I believe it were.
2614092
I love your airplanes Mr. Hughes!
2614095
I'm thinking that you've got the wrong Hughes. This one made poetry, not airplanes.
2614098
You're funny Mr. Hughes, how's Boeing doin'?
2614106
2613555
I'm still kinda hoping this is one of those fics where the human world is actually like ours, i.e. no magic here. The notion that we somehow missed an entire fundamental force always annoys the hell out of me, it just doesn't make sense and hurts the story's credibility. Besides, it's a cop-out; most of the issues can simply be resolved literally by magic, and if you don't you leave the dreaded plothole of "why not use your magic to...".
It doesn't look good for me in that regard though, judging from the purple crystals and the fact that Twilight survived a fall that left a sizeable crater.
Incidentally, it occurred to me there's one way of providing proof that I don't think any writer's used yet: pull out a hair and check the roots. It may seem a small thing, but if you can clearly see that the technicolor hair is actually natural, it lends some credence to her claims.
I'll go with Twilight halfway throughout this chapter, I prefer Jo after getting some coffee, heh.
Another fun chapter, but, evenmore, informative .. kinda at least. That music linked earlier on was kinda catchy, turned it up pretty loud while reading that part
I like the turn you say you're taking on the characters, and hope that Jo will be able to believe Twilight at least somewhat.
M
EDIT: Removed errorquotes.
I like Twilight and Jo's characterisation, and Jo's skepticism. Feels realer than some other HiE/PoE fics I've read.
2614299
You'll like this story a lot deamon.
As for if the crystals have any magic left, they aren't from Earth anyway. (Although if I were going the parallel reality/existence route, maybe magic can't exist there anyway, since it's impossible. Is it an absent force? A force that was just never created? O-or, or! Is magic actually exotic meta-particles from outside our VERY, state of being!? Like from Stargate!? AAAAH O.O Agreed though, magic's a cop-out and lame-o.)
2614458
None Taken Mat! I do prefer these in messages though just so the page isn't strreeeetched, however.
I definitely appreciate the quick update. Ah also love Twilight-ish chapters. Sooo thankies for that.
Umm.
Problems?
The writing pov was horrendous. It took actual effort to distinguish the two. Good stories don't do that.
And the "drama" moments were written sloppily. Emotions can swiftly switch sporadically, but that was captured poorly.
And And the dialog lacked your normal creativity. It wasn't really clever... and Twilight sounded really strange/awkward in this one (mentally & verbally).
Other than that, it had fun moments. Like...
*pauses* Umm. I love the situation you put her in? Looking back. I shouldn't like this chapter... yet I don't hate it.
We must feed Twilight more meat...
My advice? Re-read Chapter 2 and 3. And find a nice mix you enjoy.
2614749
You just don't understand art!
2614670
That's kind of what I meant, yeah. If the crystals have magic in them, and that magic can function here, then either magic does exist here (boo! hiss!) or they brought a piece of the Equestrian universe with them, complete with the physical laws that make it possible.
That could work actually. [Warning: rampant speculation in progress] Whatever process changed Twilight to a human converts anything that crosses dimensions into the closest local equivalent. But when it came to her magic, there was no local equivalent of any description, so it just packaged it into pockets of the source universe for storage.[End speculation]
Another reason I dislike it is, it cuts the legs out from under one of the best sources of drama: Twilight, the Element of freaking Magic, having to come to terms with an entire universe where magic simply does not exist. Instead, you get "Oh it exists, these dumb apes just don't know about it. Phew, world view secure."
Btw, I already like it a lot. Jo certainly seems a lot more like a real person than most human protagonists in PoE stories. They tend to be far too easily convinced the humanized pony is what they say they are. Maybe that's why so many stories include magic, to shortcut the "you're a loony" phase.
I am just waiting for the scene, where Jo shows Twilight 'the kids show'. Twilight's reaction should be priceless.
2614852
Just hold on for when Twilight finds t*static* re*static*ants of the *static* co*static*ty...
2614277
what, never heard of Mr. Howard Hughes?
(or heck, how about Joseph Hughes, founder of Hughes Family Markets, a Los Angeles grocery store chain that got bought out by Ralph's 15 years ago?)
2614844
I personally like the "there's magic, but humans that can use it are so rare, and so secretive, that the general populace knows nothing of it" or the "there's magic, but human magic users were so rare that they died out, and the remaining members of the human race do not have the genes necessary to harness it" variations.
2614759
We still wub you!!!!
2614670 Okay, I'll keep that in mind. I decided against a PM as there were so few of the errors, but if I'd found one or two more, I'd probably go for a PM.
You seem to have fixed the ones pointed out, so I'll edit them out of the comment. It streches the comment too much indeed. ^^
Glad you don't mind .. I tend to overdo the initial excuses after an author took offence for pointing stuff out, uh, well, heh, sorry
That was a really good and believable chapter with no errors.
If you were drunk... Well I don't want you to harm your health, I recently gave up drinking for less harmful substances myself, but this was really good.
2615605
My Lord, I had drank enough to make a dwarf second guess whether or not he has a problem.
All told there were about twenty errors but I think I've found them all with the aid of you folks. Next up, My Little Marriage!
I'd say that this chapter is VERY good. MOAR!
Pls...
I'd love to see how Twilight would react if the first song was
or Didgeridoo, also by Aphex Twin.
2615721
Gah, Aphex are a friggin' trip and a half.
Sweet a Delorean! Huzzah!
2612900
'Eres a thought. If friendship is magic, and magic is friendship, what does that say about races that naturally lack magic? I swear I've seen the premise somewhere, but I can't remember.
2616401
encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQI_2sKITkhlZ0hhwqnOBV5Xr5o61via9O_LrCPUAMG9wrGfiEQ
2616414
sugarmtnfarm.com/blog/uploaded_images/TravelingRoundRockDSCF4041-719173.jpg
I believe I've won this little staring contest.
2616487
Oh?
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