It was a normal weekday, the gloomy overcast sky shedding it's little tendrils of light through the dusty old window. Craig had the usual Monday-morning headache, and a nerdy little voice in his head just won't shut up.
Wait a minute...
This is technically the sequel to "I Think I Summoned a Ponk", but I'll be updating both stories (hopefully) regularly.
Craig yawned loudly as he lazily tossed the messy sheets off his body. The sun was high in the sky, and the alarm was ringing quite loudly.
Wake up, Craig. Your alarm's been ringing...
The alarm... Craig thought as he scratched his side, attempting his best to shrug off the final wisps of sleep.
THE ALARM!
His eyes shot open, immediately focusing on the loudly blaring clock on the desk beside his bed.
"No, no, no, no, no!" he hurriedly exclaimed, rushing about his room gathering his things. It was now 10:15; he was almost half an hour late for work. Craig grabbed his jacket as he flew out his bedroom door, a slice of bread half-stuffed in his mouth. He tumbled down the stairs in his hurry, his messy entanglement of limbs miraculously avoiding any major injury.
Careful now, I can't cast any healing spells in my current form.
Avoiding the faint buzz in his head from the fall, Craig continued on his way to his not-so-nice job at the local grocer.
"You're late," his boss flatly stated as he opened the door for the rocketing man.
Craig sheepishly grinned as he put on the old apron. His area of the neighborhood wasn't particularly known for well-mannered people, or really friendliness as a whole. In fact, there were regular reports of various crimes in and around the area; just one more reason he wanted to move.
The only problem? With his current amount of savings, he would never last long enough to find a new job.
Not that he was one to complain, however. As long as the money was steady, and roof over his head, he was perfectly fine with keeping the job. He needed the money, anyways. Living alone in the suburbs can be harsh sometimes.
Not completely alone, y'know...
Craig shot up from his seat, alarmed at the sound of a new voice. The store rarely had any newcomers, let alone anyone with a voice like that. The only people who'd have such a soft voice would be folks who lived in the next city over.
"H-hello?" Craig said meekly, listening for footsteps. The store was rather small, being a family-owned business and all. He had been hired for the sole purpose of filling in for a recently deceased member of the manager's family. That being said, Craig's ears focused on searching for the nonexistent sound of a customer.
Well, hello to you too.
There it was again; that voice... this woman, whoever she was, sounded pretty educated. In fact, she actually sounded rather similar to Craig's mother, with the exception of the lady's voice having a tinge of... something.
"You don't have to hide!" Craig called out in a far stronger voice, "If you're scared, it's fine. I understand that this town's not really all that great..."
What do you mean? I'm not hiding... I don't really know where I am, anyways... all I can see is this counter, and the door, and--
Wait, Craig thought as the feminine voice rambled on, that's what I see...
Really? I honestly don't know what's going on... I just woke up, with this strange... numbness to myself. I tried to move, but I can't really seem do do much else besides follow wherever this body's taking me...
Craig blankly sat at the counter, his eyes frozen wide as he stared straight ahead, carrying on his conversation with... whoever that was.
"CRAIG!"
"Gah!" Craig yelled, falling from his stool. The manager impatiently tapped his foot as he returned a fierce glare towards Craig.
"Stop spacing off, Craig," the man threatened, "or I'll have to fire you."
You'd better listen to him, the voice spoke in Craig's mind, it wouldn't be nice to accidentally get you fired.
Yeah, Craig thought as he logged into the POS system, you're right.
So, I'm just wondering; just what do you do at your job, anyways? I've been watching you, or at least, your body, picking up various groceries and... zapping them with this weird thing.
Craig jolted in surprise after hearing the voice again.
"WHERE ARE YOU?!" He yelled angrily, standing up in a defensive position. He had finished his first shift, and was now in the back of the store, taking a nap.
What do you mean, where am I? I thought that you'd know where I was.
"Come out," Craig said again, softer this time. "I can't stand not knowing where you are anymore..."
Well, the voice replied meekly, I'm in this room full of... shelves. Lots and lots of shelves.
I swear, Craig thought as he fumbled about in thought, if you, whoever you are, are in the same room as me, I'll call the police for stalking.
Suddenly, a bright flash of light blinded him. He cried out in shock as he fell back on a towering stack of boxes, falling into said boxes as if they weren't even there. The light was immediately replaced by a faint magenta glow, seemingly emitted from his own hands.
I haven't even been able to see myself for a while. Lemme cast a spell to mirror myself.
Mirror yourself? Craig thought as he pulled himself from the boxes, his hands still lightly glowing.
His right arm shot up in front of him, completely out of his control. Craig immediately reacted by slamming his left hand down on his elbowpit, in attempt to push it back down.
"WHAT IS GOING ON?!" He wailed, the clattering sounds of falling storage bins filling his ears, "SOMEONE PLEASE CALL THE POLICE, A HOSPITAL, SOMETHING!"
Seriously, the voice calmly stated in an unnervingly soothing voice, calm the buck down. I'm only casting the mirroring spell.
"What the fu--" Craig began, before being cut of by a blast of light shooting from his palm. The light swirled about in front of him for a second or two, before collapsing on itself to form... a figure. At first, he wasn't able to tell what it was, considering how loosely formed it was before the light began to "freeze" in place, taking the form of what seemed to be either a large dog, or a tiny horse.
"Hello," the lighted figure greeted, "I am Twilight Sparkle."
"What's your name?" The figure asked, pointing an appendage at Craig.
"I... uh, I'm--"
"CRAIG!" The manager called through the locked door, "GET YOUR BEHIND UP HERE. NOW."
"Sorry... uh, Twilight, Craig replied as he strode past the lighted figure, "I've gotta get back on the job. Apparently the other guy bailed out early today."
"Twilight" nodded, and faded out of sight as Craig entered the storefront.
Craig gawked at what seemed to be an impossibly large heap of canned tuna. The woman behind the stacks was quite the opposite, though, her skinny frame hidden by several thick layers of coats.
"What do you need all this for?" He asked, raising a brow at the fifty or so cans in front of him.
The woman shrugged. "My cats eat a lot." Was her only answer.
The wind outside began to pick up as the sky darkened with heavy stormclouds. Suddenly, a bright flash blazed through the room, followed by eerie silence. The lights flickered for a few seconds, and then went dead.
Great. Craig thought as he stared at the dark cans in front of him, Now I've gotta total these up by hand...
Hmm... fifty-seven cans at two-fifty each, and according to your earlier work, tax rates in this place are about four-point-three percent...
Craig went silent as he listened to this "Twilight" calculate the total for him. In his mind.
The total's about a hundred forty-eight point sis-three in whatever currency you use.
Craig paused for a few more moments before looking up to face the woman behind the cans.
"That'll be a hundred forty-eight bucks and sixty-three cents, please."
The woman stared at Craig as if he had suddenly become king of the world.
"Did you--"
"No," Craig replied, "This girl in my head did all the calculating for me."
The woman continued staring, though in a much more peculiar manner, before swiping all the cans into a small wagon that Craig had failed to notice.
That... could've come out a bit better, y'think?
Chris shrugged as he stumbled towards the fusebox. "Honestly, what I'm wondering is how you managed to do all that in your head."
Don't question logic, Craig. Twilight replied as Craig arrived at the drab grey square in the wall.
"ARE YOU TALKING TO YOURSELF AGAIN, CRAIG?" The manager yelled from his office. He sounded angry, as he always seemed to be.
...As I said, Twilight continued, Don't try to question logic. You'll probably hurt yourself in the process.
The lights were back on a few moments later, and Craig found himself answering the question of many people.
"Why does your store still have power?"
"Is there a problem with the power lines?"
"Why are you still open?"
Perhaps you should close the store. It'll help with this headache of a problem... Twilight mumbled in Craig's mind, watching the crowd grow ever larger through the man's eyes.
"Well." Craig replied to the crowd, "First of all, we've got a backup generator. Second of all, I'm pretty sure that the storm that was on the news last night's the reason why the power's out."
Craig paused for a moment, realizing that the crowd indeed had grown to a size in which he had begun feeling the first signals of a full-on migraine.
"...And third of all, no. We're not open anymore. In fact, just... go. Don't bother me anymore..."
You could've said that nicer, y'know...
You know what? Craig replied mentally, I need some off-time.
Craig grumbled as he lumbered through the narrow hallway of the apartment. The power was still out, and it was currently cold enough that he could see his breath accumulate as he walked.
Geez, how cold is it in here? Even I can feel the cold.
Ignoring Twilight's mental remark, he continued up the stairs to his room, and opened the door. He was met with the familiar sight of his bedroom--the upper floor of his kind of expensive two-floor apartment.
Condensation had formed on the windows of his room, fogging up the sight of the darkened city. Strangely, however, it wasn't snowing. In fact, it was the middle of summer, and the only sign of storm was the light pitter-patter of rain.
Craig, why's it so cold in here?
Craig shrugged. The entire apartment complex was currently sitting at about twenty degrees Fahrenheit. And it was outdoors, as well. There was absolutely zero explanation as to why the buildings were currently enveloped in a pocket of freezing temperatures.
Suddenly, the lights flickered, and came back on. The heating unit immediately kicked in, blasting warm air from the vents and filling the room with soothing heat.
Wait, Craig thought, we don't have any generators, and neither does the landlord.
...Yeah, I should've told you before manipulating the local power grid to siphon electricity from the lightning that struck nearby.
"So, what you're saying is," Craig began after Twilight's explanation, "you're basically taking the energy of the lightning, and diverting it into my apartment complex's electrical grid?"
The projection of Twilight shrugged. "I guess you could put it that way..." she replied, "But it's far more complicated than simply that. I mean, sure, I could probably work my way into the system through brute force, but that would probably cause harm to you, and since I've pretty much been reduced to a mental projection, I kinda need to keep my host body intact if I want to return home anytime soon."
Craig snorted as he pulled a cup off a shelf for water. "Well, with the way you just said that last part there, I would've thought for a moment that you were some sort of parasite!"
A brief silence endured between the two as the man turned on the tap. Setting the cup down with a quenched sigh, he turned back towards Twilight. "So... uh, Twilight, how did you get here, anyways?"
"What do you mean?"
"Like, what did you do that resulted in you ending up... well,"-- he gestured towards himself --"here?"
Twilight shook her translucent head slowly. "I don't remember much," she replied sadly, "I vaguely remember the spell I cast before I blacked out, but everything between the moment I began preparing for the spell, and when I woke up inside your mind, is blank."
Craig nodded. "So, what's your home like?"
"Home?" Twilight replied, "Oh, there's plenty to talk about. There's always something to do there, even if it's occasionally a monster attack spelling potential doom."
"Bu--"
"Though, unless you're living in Ponyville, attacks are generally pretty rare. They're usually once or twice a season, so I believe that it may have something to do with the shifting temperatures during those times of the year."
"But what about family? Friends?"
The mare scrunched her face. "What, did you think I had no social life? Of course I have family and friends! Though... to be fair, I didn't exactly have any social life up until a certain princess dropped me off in a random town."
"What was that last part?" Craig asked in reply, leaning closer to Twilight's projection. "I know that you're actually inside my head and all, but it's easier to listen to something out loud."
"Nothing!" Twilight nervously chuckled, "Now, let's hear about you!"
"Well..." Craig began, "For starters, I've been set pretty firmly in a medium-income family for my entire childhood, so life was fine back then, I guess. The college years were when things hit real hard. Not that I flunked anything, though. I've got a decent bachelor's somewhere in my file cabinet. It's just that the loan payment... ugh, my mother warned me about them, and I didn't listen."
Twilight raised a brow. "Wait, so you don't get free education through college or university levels?"
Craig made a face. "As if the government didn't have enough debt. Did you have free education?"
"Yeah."
"Lucky."
Twilight folded her forelegs in a triumphant pose. "Yes, I was indeed quite lucky. If it weren't for a rainboom, I'd probably still be working in a coffee shop or something trying to pay my loan--oh." She turned an eye towards Craig. "That's pretty much what you're doing, isn't it?"
Craig yawned, stretching lazily as a hand landed atop the blaring alarm.
Lemme guess, time for work? Twilight asked with a tired voice.
Yup. Craig replied in return. Slowly, he pulled himself from the covers, shuddering slightly at the cool after-storm air that surrounded him. He yawned once more, before beginning his ever-repetitive morning routine.
Brush, eat, walk, work.
Brush, eat, walk, work.
Brush, eat, walk, work.
Twilight remained silent the entire time.
A sigh escaped the man's lips as he donned the apron once more, shuffling along as he began to stock the shelves for the morning. His boss had already been around for probably the past hour or so, and was catching some sleep in the office before the opening time.
Let's see here... Craig thought, It's nearing the weekend, and the current forecast is saying that we'll be getting another dousing of rain, so--
Wait, nobody here can control the weather?
What? No, Twilight. How would that be possible?
Um... just, nevermind. So it's going to rain?
Yup. I'd probably better get more umbrellas and ponchos out. The last storm pretty much drained our shelf stock.
Craig quietly opened the "back room's" door, wincing slightly at the rather loud squeak it gave in return. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the poorly-lit room.
"Let's see... umbrellas... umbrellas... are we out of umbrellas?" Craig whispered to himself, crouching down to the lowest shelves, "Oh. there they are."
He pulled a brightly colored box from the lowest shelf, huffing slightly at the weight of the dense package.
"Craig?" the manager asked from behind the door, "You up yet? Or are ya snoozin' again?"
"I'm awake." Craig replied, pushing the door open with a foot as he exited with the box in tow, "I'm just restocking the umbrellas before the next storm hits."
He sure doesn't seem as angry as he did yesterday.
Yeah, he's usually chill if there's nothing to trigger him.
The first customer came just around six. It was the woman from before who had bought the massive stock of tuna. She just wanted a new can opener.
The next one came shortly after, promptly leaving with a pack of soda in tow.
Craig stopped keeping track of customers after the third, who in this case, was a young woman with a child sleeping in a stroller.
"The usual?" Craig offered, gesturing towards the "baby supplies" section, which in reality was simply a single shelf on the wall, filled to the brim with diapers and baby food.
The woman smiled, and made her way towards the shelf.
"What's our sales for today, Craig?" the manager called from his office, "I saw quite a lotta people a few hours back."
"Don't you have the sales on your computer?" Craig deadpanned, mildly annoyed at his boss and only coworker.
"Idunno, you tell me!" the manager laughed in return, "Ah, Craig, I know that ya check the database yourself during my shift, anyhow. Oop! There's our total profits for today! Heh, isn't it nice to have a self-updating thingamajigger like this?"
Craig simply rolled his eyes at the remark. Twilight was right, the manager did seem a bit peppy today.
So, do you have any idea why your store manager seems so cheerful today?
Nope. Craig mentally replied, straightening out a display stand with a grunt. No idea why.
Perhaps he reconnected with a childhood friend?
Nah. He's not really the friend-making type. My guess would be that he got some sort of freebie from one of those contests that he sometimes signs up for.
Oh. So, what are you doing now?
Nothing, I suppose. Looks like today's gonna be a slow day.
A faint glow surrounded his hand again as a beam of light shot out, reforming once again into a flickering image of Twilight Sparkle.
"I know this must be strange for you, Craig." The apparition apologized, "But I honestly feel more comfortable having at least a somewhat physical body. Y'know?"
Craig nodded passively, continuing to focus on his work as Twilight continued to drone on.
"I'm still curious as to why your manager seems so... friendly today." Twilight's image continued, "It's almost as if he's an entirely different person all of a sudden..."
The man shrugged, stacking one final can with a metallic plink.
"Hey, Craig! Wassup?"
Craig froze as his manager's voice sliced through the air. His eyes shifted towards Twilight, who vanished with a small flash of light.
The Manager stuffed his hands in his pockets as he strolled towards his single employee. "I heard some talk not too long ago. Gettin' friendly with the lady customers, eh Craig?"
"Uhhh..." Craig stuttered, "It's... it's not like that."
The Manager smirked, pulling his hands from his pockets and waving a card with a phone number hastily scrawled across. "Sure it is, Craig. Anyhow, I'm off to meet up with a rather catching lady myself now. Watch the store for me today, will ya?"
He left without another word, the door of the storefront slamming shut.
"Well," Twilight continued, reemerging from hiding, "That certainly explains a lot."
Craig glanced towards the shimmering projection of Twilight for a brief moment before shaking his head and returning to cleaning the floor.
"Sweep, sweep, sweep, sweep, sweep, sweep..."
"Y'know," Craig began, rolling his eyes, "You could at least try to be helpful outside of chanting sweep endlessly."
Twilight's image nodded as sparks of light began shooting from the man's hand into herself.
Craig raised a brow, watching as Twilight's projection grew steadily more opaque with every beam that entered her. Twilight turned her head, noticing the man's gaze.
"Don't worry." She waved a still-translucent hoof. "I'm just trying something out."
Craig remained still for a couple more moments before shaking his head and returning to work, tendrils of light still seeping from his hand as he swept.
"Craig?"
The man paused, turning his attention towards Twilight. "Yeah?" He replied, leaning his broom against a shelf.
"Could you move aside a bit? This may or may not backfire. I can't say for sure without my usual tools."
Craig nodded, stepping aside as the entirety of Twilight now took on a glow of her own.
"So..." The man pondered as he watched, "What exactly are you doing?"
Twilight shrugged, focusing her eyes on Craig's broom as the glowing grew brighter. "Trying to cast a spell. It might not be much, but simple levitation would probably be useful around here."
Craig nodded again. "We'll see about that." He replied, taking a seat behind the counter as he watched.
Slowly but surely, a faint glow matching Twilight's own began to materialize around the broomstick, growing brighter by the second as her own glow began to diminish in intensity.
Abruptly, the broom shot up vertically, wedging itself in the ceiling tiles before floating down gently, hovering a foot or so above the floor.
Craig's eyes widened as he watched the broom swish across the floor in gliding motions. He turned once again to Twilight, who was becoming visibly transparent again. "Twilight," He murmured, "Twilight, I think you should stop. You're draining yourself..."
Twilight shook her head. "It's fine, Craig. I know when to stop."
Twilight quietly groaned as the broom made one final swoosh across the floor. "There." The mare began proudly, her image growing more opaque again by the second. "Clean."
Craig stood silent at the checkout stand, watching as the broom lifted from the floor one final time before drifting off into the closet once more. "So. Levitation." He smacked his lips, glaring towards the storefront. No customers as usual. He mused. Craig turned to Twilight, a slight grin appearing on his face. Or maybe...
Twilight's ears perked. "Maybe what?" She began, cantering back to the man, "Something about the lack of customers?"
"Oh." Was all Craig could muster as he was stared down by the alicorn, "I forgot you could read my mind." He paused for a moment, taking another glance at the storefront, and the sidewalk beyond the doors. "Anyways, I wanted to ask you something, Twilight."
"Yeah?"
Craig gestured at the broom closet. "I mean, you've already shown that you're pretty good at levitation. What else can you do?"
Twilight shrugged, sitting on the cold linoleum flooring. "Honestly, I've got more spells memorized than I can possibly count. Wait... let's see... carry the five, and-"
"Is it possible for you to maybe make some sort of light show?"
A momentary silence fell over the mare as her train of thought was cut off. "I- uh... I mean, yeah, I've got a couple spells for that." She stood up, looking towards the storefront windows. "Any specific requests?"
Craig shook his head. "Just keep it from getting too bright. I don't want to cause any accidents out there from asking you to try."
Twilight nodded as she lit her horn, immediately growing more transparent again.
"Twilight-"
"I already told you." Twilight grumbled, her back still turned to the man, "I know what I'm doing. I know my limits." A high-pitched squeal reminiscent of TV static ripped through the air as the smell of ozone began to drift from the mare's glowing horn. Seconds later, a bright beam of light blasted from Twilight, fading immediately into a softly-twinkling image of her own face, hovering just about a foot above the floor.
She turned her head to face Craig. "How's that?" She peeped happily, clapping her hooves, "It certainly took a lot out of me, but I did it!"
Craig nodded, eyes fixated upon the floating image of light. "I... I think you should stay away from magic for now though, Twilight. I don't want you to get hurt."
Twilight frowned as the last of the image faded into nothingness. "Fine." The mare pouted, "You don't have to baby me, y'know." Her eyes focused on Craig's own as she herself began to fade. "Anyways, I'm taking down my projection for now."
The last of the mare's form fizzled out into flecks of stray photons, her conscience once again retreating into Craig's mind.
Craig slumped into his beanbag chair, the burden of his day job all but vanished for the day. A faint electronic buzz hummed through the air for a moment as Twilight's image rematerialized beside him.
"Hey." The man began, setting the TV remote down, "I thought you were gonna stay away from magic?"
Twilight's image shook her head, a faint fizzle flashing through the translucent mirage. "No, you said that. I only agreed to it temporarily."
Craig frowned. "Aren't you worried that whatever... uh, magic you still have might eventually fade away though?"
Once again, Twilight shook her head. "I don't believe that is able to happen, even in this form." She began, "My magic naturally replenishes itself over time, so all I require is a long rest after each time I use a powerful spell."
"...Oh. Oh yeah." Craig nodded, reaching again for the TV remote. "So... any specific reason why you reappeared just now?"
"Eh, it just feels more natural to have your own physical representation than it is to be cooped-up in somebody else's mind."
The man nodded again, aimlessly flicking through channels as he stifled a yawn.
"Tired?"
"Yeah." He yawned again, settling on a news channel. "A day's work does that to you."
Craig awoke to a blazing lavender fireball in the middle of the room.
"Ah," he yawned, "it's time to wake up, isn't it?"
As he braced himself for a self-inflicted pinch in the arm, Twilight's projection materialized before him. "Craig, you're awake," she assured, "you don't need to panic. I'm just doing some training exercises."
"Training exercises?!" Craig shouted, motioning at the fireball, "That's a freakin' training exercise?!"
"...Yeah?"
Craig stared back at the fireball, mouth agape.
"It's not so much of a fireball, so to say..." Twilight began, cantering towards the spell and sticking a hoof in. "It's more of a dimensional gateway of sorts. Y'know, so that I can go back home?"
"Home?"
"I can't stay here forever, Craig. You know that, don't you?"
Craig yawned loudly as he lazily tossed the messy sheets off his body. The sun was still hanging low in the sky, and the alarm was ringing quite loudly.
"Urk." He groaned, rubbing his eyes as he sat up in bed.
Wait... I'm in bed?
He turned to the alarm blaring beside him.
Only eight o' clock?
His eye fell upon a note sitting on his nightstand.
Craig,
By the time you are reading this, I will already have returned to Equestria. You fell asleep on your couch again last night, so I moved you to your room before leaving. I have also set your alarm to go off earlier, so that you'd hopefully avoid any future problems with your tardiness at work.
-Twilight
Craig yawned again, scratching his side as he stood up.
