"United together as part of this world,
Our intentions combined, our purpose the same,
Gath’ring the six, we seek out another,
Part of the essence from whence we all came."
Some worlds are real, others merely fiction. But all are equally true. Their boundaries lie only in the thoughts and imaginations of those which inhabit them.
Drawn out of her world by an unknown force, Princess Celestia begins to learn about the true nature of her reality, her world's place in the cosmos, and herself.
Chapters (15)
Interesting. Your spelling and grammar is decent, and I have no problems with anything else. It'll be interesting to see where you take this.
2384399 Thanks. I too look forward to seeing where it goes (my plans are a bit vague if I'm honest but I have a general idea).
sheeeesh, I've been waiting for something like this for months now! thank you for writing it :)
2384949 You're very welcome! It did occur to me while planning it that I've seen so many HiE stories, and vanishingly few the other way round. Hope you enjoy the rest.
Okay, let's see where this goes!
...btw, I like the preview image. Perfectly simplistic, yet one can recognize Celestia instantly.
Very, very nice. Your style's got a wonderful brevity to it with just the right side order of overt descriptiveness -- though you have got a serious adverb addiction -- and your characterisations are pretty much spot on. Your poem's probably too good, by the way: FiM's writers may possess many talents, but an understanding of metre is not one I'd grant them.
On the other side of the
bitchingcriticism cycle, how much thought have you given towards the characterisations of the humans? I ask because, from the current set up, I'm guessing most of the action'll be in their ball court, and from what little I've seen so far, which is admittedly very little, they don't have great big chunks of flesh on their bones.I'm looking forwards to seeing where this one goes. Excellent work and keep it up.
2389224 Thanks, I really appreciate the feedback.
Admittedly I haven't put much work into the humans' characterisation yet. This is partly because Sam and Geoff are just there for background at this point. The story's intending to move away from the lab quite quickly. I was mainly writing them by picturing actual people I've worked with before.
As for Aaron, who is obviously going to appear more later on, I was wary of over-characterising him this soon as the stuff that's about to happen to him is going to affect him quite a bit.
But honestly, most of my plans are quite vague at this stage. If I had known how quickly this one would become popular I would have put more thought into it from the outset. Oh well.
2389241
There's always time for rewrites if the opening really bothers you?
That aside, summoning a pissed-off Celestia is right up there on my Oops, I Crapped My Pants moments...
Hopefully she calms down before turning random people into statues and bucking down more doors.
2389525 One can certainly hope so.
Reminds me a bit of The God Particle.
2396804 I see what you mean, looking at that story's description. I hadn't actually encountered that one before.
Interesting. Celestia is one of my favorite characters. It will be nice to see how she deals with being out of her element.
(And the story seems like it could be metafiction done right.)
2410031 Celestia happens to be my favourite pony, but I have to admit that I seem to have developed a habit of putting her through quite a lot of stressful situations in my stories for some reason. I'm hoping it's because I think she is very good at handling it.
This'll be less stressful for her than my other story, though, and I think it will provide some interesting character development in time.
I know Celestia is about as god-like as you can get but with no magic in the human universe, will hers start to run out now? This of course is all based on the assumption that Equestrian magic draws it's power from the environment and is not self-generated. If the magic is self-generated then Celestia needs only find some cake to keep going-- like a car, you put fuel in and fuel drives the engine which drives the alternator which in turn provides power for all the accessories.
And speaking of accessories, she'll be hunting that tiara down eventually. Hopefully he won't go and try to e-Bay it.
Once outside, a simply invisibility spell should keep the humans from panicking, or would-be hunters from trying to bag an alicorn, too...
A scientist who actually acts like a proper scientist? Neat!
Characters who question if everything they thought they knew is true are the best characters.
2410619 Self generated would be better in my opinion.
2410619 Hmm, you seem to have read my mind. I won't say on which point, though
2410736 Well, this story's going to have at least two of those, so this bodes well.
2410811
I have to say self-generating makes more sense when ponies get exhausted using their magic hard and in many fictions, they can die if they deplete their magic entirely-- I guess this is based on the assumption that ponies (and everything else in Equestria) has magic to one degree or another and using it all up is lethal... no different than using up all the electric potential in a human, no brain function, no nerve function, organs stop, ect. A little high-energy candy, rest, and the magic-weary pony is on the way to getting better, as seen in many fics and I think in the show itself... although I could be wrong.
I can't wait for Celestia's reaction to seeing the Sun move across the sky on its own or when she finds out how big it is.
2410619
She's going to need a lot of cake. Princess of the Sun or not she's in our universe now and no one breaks the 1st law of thermodynamics. 31,000 calories are in a gallon of gasoline, so our princess is going to need to hit the buffet table asap if she wants to keep using powerful spells.
Is she powerful enough to generate her own magic though, similar to (the anime version of) Ki?
Was the botched memory-erasing spell because he had prior knowledge of Celestia, or because Celestia was truly not feeling like casting a memory spell on him, or because she was in a hurry, or because she used all her magic on blasting the door down?
2412774 I'm not planning anything complicated with magic supplies. Unicorns/alicorns just generate the spells with their own innate magic, and don't need to draw it from the world or anything. It's like if I was transported to a world where nobody had vocal chords, I'd still be able to speak.
As for Aaron still remembering, the answer to that is actually fairly simple.
2410619
Not a deity, otherwise she wouldn't have had to ask questions or felt like she did.
2412186
Yep.
Boop.
This should be fun!
2450050 I do hope so. There's a sizeable update with some bits that I did enjoy writing coming up, so watch this space.
I have no real idea where this is going, but the journey is interesting enough in itself.
Oho! Celestia and Aaron on a date
? Interesting... 
If I had been there when she retrieved her tiara in Aaron's place, I would have kneeled and sworn service to her as my Princess/leader/Goddess.
Hmmm...
I wonder how she would have reacted to that?
It'd be interesting to know what Celestia thinks of the comics: Are those events she remembers, or is it just the show?
Likewise, other official tie-in media. Was there ever a time when Celestia was bright pink with lovely, pretty wings and a deep-rooted desire to return to the castle?
One hopes.
This is continuing nicely. Good job. Still not sure what the end-goal is/where you're taking it, but it's a nice enough trip that I don't really mind.
Also, typo: supposed to happen.” she said
2455998
"I know how to get home! Let's fly to the lab!" CRASH!!!
Although after the last chapter I wouldn't put it past her...
I've been in two minds about including the tie-ins. That would open a whole new can of worms about if all the different fanfics create their own realities, if mistakes and retcons create branches et cetera et cetera. I've personally never considered the tie-ins to be automatically canon, though.
Also, thanks for the correction. Good eyes.
2455998
"Hey Aaron?
Are you a pretty princess too?"
2458337
That might work as a dream sequence, and then as a very awkward conversation topic.
"So Aaron, last night I dreamt about you being a pretty princess..."
2456798
Hmmmm... The way it's worded made me wonder two things. The first was whether Aaron has ever been on a date. The second was whether the story needed another tag.
Like all things in the Universe, magic is finite. Shouldn't Celestia be running out of magic? Interesting story. I'm curious to see where it will go.
And this is why I don't read most fics with Celestia on the spotlight. Everything she does is perfect, her magic never falters... It gets boring after the first fic or two.
Maybe you should spice this story up just a little, bro. Yanno, be unpredictable, create unintended side effects to magic, flight difficulties and such.
2458703
Regarding the last comment, you are indeed correct on the first point. And actually, that's partly intended to clear up the second point. This is not going to become romantic, and the fact that the thought unnerved him so much reflects this. The thing is, Aaron has a very similar character to me (It makes characterisation easier), so every now and again a thought like that pops into my head while writing, and I assume it popped into Aaron's as well.
2459567
I know what you mean. I tend to prefer the view that Celestia is definitely fallible and of finite ability, and have done my best to reflect this in past writings. I'm wary about having her magic or flight be flawed, if just because she has thousands of years experience in both.
But, not wanting to give too much away, I have made references already to the fact that Celestia's holding things back. She is going to change over time during this experience.
2459436
In my view, magic is something unicorns and alicorns generate naturally. As long as she is strong enough, she will have a full supply of magic, and won't start to run out simply because she's in our universe. I've previously used the analogy of you being transported to a universe where no species had vocal cords. You'd still be able to speak without issue.
2459755
Yes, but apparently magic is native to Equestria. It's everywhere, and in everything. I suppose every author does things differently.
He definitely must be happy to still have his memories. I would be.
2459765
The scene with the cloud shows that while our world has no magic, it can be affected by it and ponies generate their own. Just add fuel and Zoom Zoom! However, a lot of people here are using the magic-user theorem, that is, mages draw magic from their environment so in a world without magic, they would be powerless. And who's to say our world is completely without magic? Ley Lines are often tapped by druids and other old-world mages...
2459765 2466387 Yes, that is the idea I've been aiming for. She generates her own magic for herself, just requiring food.
I have been considering that the situation may be more nuanced though, from a mixture of reading people's feedback and certain parts of the story writing themselves. This may become apparent in coming chapters.
2458703
XD
2466706
The scene with the cloud pretty much spelled it all out as far as magic goes on (above?) Earth. As long as a pony is maintaining it, the cloud stays put, but should the attention wane, the cloud goes back to being all cloudy and drifts away. It's also evident that humans are not magic-resistant or amplifying, just... normal. Otherwise that cloud walking spell would have turned out differently.
Assuming there's no time dilation between the realities, it's been a week since Celestia's crossover. If we know Twilight, she would never stop trying to find her princess. In fact, it would be absurd to not think all of Canterlot is pooling it's resources together to help find her and also figure out how to recreate that portal. I'm really curious when (not if) they will break through and contact Celestia. Will it be subtle, each attempt growing in strength and length, slowly building to a final violent rip so she can escape our magicless world? It's pretty obvious who the seventh element is. I guess it's just a matter time time and reasoning between human and alicorn before they figure it out. The burning question is... what the hell element is he? What? Gah! I can't figure it out! (And that's why I cannot put this story down-- you got me hook, line, and sinker)
By 'sentience', I believe you mean 'sapience', dude. Sentience is about feeling and sensing, while sapience means actual abstract intelligence.
2487096 Fair point. Thanks.
Am I the only who finds a bit... disturbing imagining Celestia flirting (at least the scene seems to suggest certain innuendo) with a horse?
2487171 The intention is that she's just meeting a new friend, nothing sexual about it. In fact, I removed one bit when I discovered from reading something that the actions translated to Chestnut propositioning her.
Also, although I didn't mention it here (it wasn't really relevant), it's my intention that Chestnut is a gelding. How Celestia perceives their relationship is a matter for a later chapter, so I won't say much more. At the moment she's just intrigued by meeting one of her own species.
I guess the important point I'd want to make is that I don't want anyone put off the story by thinking it's going to turn into some weird romance. It's not. Weird, maybe. Romance, no.
2487315
Good to know.
Also, how Celestia keeps going her magical reserves? Will she consider to morph/disguise via illusion as a woman to explore the human society undetected?