> The Pretty Pony Princess of Earth Bet > by Baran3 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Prologue > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- THE PRETTY PONY PRINCESS OF EARTH BET Disclaimer: I own nothing in this story. PROLOGUE Two beings spiral through the starry void. As they approach their chosen world, they shatter, and countless shards seed that world and its alternates, taking root in the mind of the desperate and the broken, giving them power beyond mere humanity, at the cost of constant conflict. The beings have done this countless time... The cycle is older than our species. But all things must end. Something goes wrong, a dark stranger, another entity, intervenes, and one being falls. Its mate remains, much reduced and bereft of all purpose. This last broken cycle grinds pointlessly on, driving a thousand Earths to destruction... “NO!” A unique shard, central point of a certain protagonist is seized by something out of context. “NAY!” This shard function is distilled into its own name: Queen Administrator. Its reach is potentially beyond its creator itself. It is one of the few way to ensure the survival of Humanity IF it is received by one specific individual. “CHANGE!” The shard is transformed beyond the comprehension and perception of its creator, beyond everything that any of those beings could conceive. And then another one is chosen. His/Her voice heard by others. Her/His essence is gently but firmly taken from his/her original plane of existence and then carefully added to the transformed shard. Some parts are changed, others are reoriented and a few are erased to preserve full functionality. A very delicate procedure being performed on a conceptual level and reaching the three planes of Existence: Physically, Mentally and Spiritually. The new sentient entity is then dropped at a precise point and a precise time. Right into the eye of the storm on Earth Bet. “YOU HAVE BEEN GIVEN THE STRENGTH.” “THOU HAST BEEN GIVEN THY DESTINY.” “CAN YOU CHANGE THE PATH?” > Chapter 1: The dream of all little girls > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- THE PRETTY PONY PRINCESS OF EARTH BET Disclaimer: I own nothing in this story. Chapter 1: The dream of all little girls. It was a dark and stormy day... No, really, a summer storm that appeared suddenly and drenched all the holiday camp, drawing screams of frustration and mild alarm from the children and grumblings about the weather from the staff. The thirteen years old girl was also grumbling as she walked back to her dormitory. The Everfree Summer Camp boasted to be “rustic” and “teach town-dwellers how to rough in nature”... which means that the sanitary facilities were OUT of the dormitories... and, of course, the staff had INDOORS facilities... Life wasn't fair but at least she had an umbrella and a flash-light as the clouds were dark enough to create an early night sky. She sighed. Oh well, this summer camp has been fun so far. A rarity for her after the sudden passing of her mother due to a road accident. Even today, she couldn't bear to even possess a cellphone. Fortunately, the staff did install phone-boxes here and there and she promised to call Emma tomorrow evening. The lightning bolt struck nearby her path and the booming thunder shook her to the bones. She screamed and duck, protecting her head before cursing to herself at her stupidity. She wasn't near any tree, all buildings had lightning rods so there wasn't any significant danger, she just had to... She blinked... In the oval of her flash-light beam was a form that wasn't there before the thunderbolt. She frowned. It was a small crème-coloured equine form, but she knew the camp didn't have any ponies or foals and all the horses available were dark in coloration. As she came closer, she felt relief as she could see that the creature was still breathing. She gasped when her light revealed more details... Impossible details, unless one think about the many Parahumans existing on Earth Bet and the sheer diversity of their powers. The pony, as it was a small pony, perhaps a foal, had a single spiralling horn on its forehead, silvered mane and tail and a pair of wings. It also had saddlebags, an elegant crown of silver and a golden peytral. The little girl inside Taylor Hebert, daughter of Danny and Anne Hebert, wanted to go full fan-girl in admiration before this... winged unicorn..? She felt that another major change to her life was about to happen, but will it be good or bad? > Chapter 2: "I'm not an Ape." "Well, I'm not a Horse." > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- THE PRETTY PONY PRINCESS OF EARTH BET Disclaimer: I own nothing in this story. Chapter 2: “I'm not an Ape.” “Well, I'm not a Horse.” Warmth. It was the first impression that Silver Dawn felt when she awoke. Her whole body felt sore, but it was the killing headache making itself known that top it. “... I think it's awakening...” A voice... Correction, voices were heard around her. Young, females and seemed to be both excited and nervous. She managed to open her emerald eyes and gazed around her. She was in a large... plastic bath basin..? with bath towels as lining and sheet. Her crème fur felt a little damp... This was going to be a pain in the plot to preen correctly her wings as even her adoptive mother couldn't design a spell to properly do it... She still remembered the laughter of Rainbow Dash and the hidden giggles of Fluttershy after the first try. She frowned as she has been visibly de-aged back to a very young filly and her cutie mark was absent... Although she could still sense the potential hidden within her well of power. She blinked as she looked upon the voices... It was five young girls, teenagers of twelve to fourteen years old. They were looking at her with fascination and little fear, some were holding cellphones and recording her. They wore similar clothes as most of their t-shirt bore the same logo pointing to the fact that she was in a holiday camp called... The Everfree Summer Camp..? Really..? Still, it was a quite surprising situation as she didn't remember entering Sunset Shimmer's mirror. She blinked again and pointed her hoof to them. “Humans..?” Five pairs of eyes went round and big. One of the tallest and only blonde girl among them narrowed her eyes quickly and dead-paned at her with a pointing finger. “Talking winged unicorn...” Silver Dawn lightly giggled. “Sorry about this. I didn't think I would meet humans again...” She looked at her body. “Especially in my rightful form... And for the sake of precision, I am a pony. More precisely, an Alicorn pony.” The blonde girl crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. “Huh... Well, I'm still a human girl. My name is Hilda, the supposed leader of this sorry lot.” She waved in their direction. “The tall black-haired one is Taylor. She's the one who brought you in by the way. The silent for now motor-mouth with the twin brown pigtails is Samantha. The redhead recording you is Virginia or “Pepper” as she preferred. And last, but not least, the stomach on legs is Tina.” I sat within the plastic basin and bowed to them. “Nice to meet you, my name is Silver Dawn of...” I stopped myself as suddenly the whole situation made itself clear into my mind. I was Silver Dawn. I remembered completely my life in Equestria. I was the author and creator of the Alicorn OC of the same name and I remembered my life on my earth. And there was also a veritable mountain of knowledge and data about Earth Bet in my head, like the Grail-imbued knowledge that Servants received before a Grail War... “...Oh... Buck...” > Chapter 3: A slice of life at Everfree > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- THE PRETTY PONY PRINCESS OF EARTH BET Disclaimer: I own nothing in this story. Chapter 3: A slice of life at Everfree. “So that's another point towards the “Construct” theory...” Silver Dawn looked at the walled whiteboard almost completely covered with annotations. “I'm afraid so... Still, in practice it's hardly relevant.” Wanda Winsky, director of the Everfree summer camp, nodded. Having the girls of Sapphire Dormitory bringing her an authentic winged unicorn this morning wasn't something the staff of the camp was prepared for. True, they received instructions and training in case someone in their care experience “a Trigger Event” but it was mainly phoning to the nearby PRT and praying death-beams and other powers didn't reduce them to dust. Still, she felt lucky to have such a most remarkable individual with a very sharp mind and much wisdom. Silver Dawn was coherent despite the distress about her memory. She identified herself as a named Alicorn from another universe called humorously Equestria. However, her current appearance was different from her memory of home and she demonstrated to have TWO other sets of knowledge. One specific to Earth Bet without an identity (she had to use the net to confirm who was whom in an obscure political country government when she tested the equinoid knowledge) and one covered another Earth WITHOUT any parahumans nor a personal identity in it (and thus not Earth Aleph) and that's wasn't counting on her knowledge of ANOTHER earth, this one the mirror of Equestria but with non-parahuman human counterparts to everyone... Frankly, it was a miracle she didn't called in the psychologist of the camp... for herself. Silver Dawn called herself an adult in Equestrian society and logically deduced the same on Earth Bet and the other Earth (mainly due to the sum of subjects that only an adult could easily acquire), but acknowledged that her current de-aging has affected her personality as she recognized reacting like a younger filly. Her squeal of happiness when they had served her vanilla ice-cream made Wanda smiled. Her considerable experience with children and teenagers made her think that the Alicorn was genuine and acted truly like a child but with an adult education... or vice-versa... So far, there were four plausible explanations: She was a traumatized parahuman having build a fairytale story to explain her appearance. She was a Case 53 parahuman with fabricated memories. She was a biological construct made by a biotinker. And finally she could be an authentic alien equinoid from another world. And she was right that any of it wasn't relevant. Regardless of her true origin, she was a non-humanoid minor with a parahuman power-set and no legal identity... nuff said, they'll say... Oh well, it wasn't an urgent problem. The Alicorn had accepted a cursory medical exam (and blushed when they called in their veterinary), let them typed a file on what they knew for sure, witnessed that her saddlebags and all her possessions were put in the staff safe until she needed them or her departure and placed a call to the Boston Bay PRT Head-quarter to signal her presence and the fact she was relatively low-powered and in need of help. The PRT psychologist they had on call, acknowledged that it was a little late for any safety procedures since Silver Dawn already slept in one dormitory and since she was a child, it was primordial for her to stay in contact with social peers of the same age-range. A summer camp seemed perfect... Until she was presented to the children... “Hello, everypony. My name is Silver Dawn and it's a pleasure to meet you...” “SOOOOO CUUUUUTTTTEEEE!!!!” Silver had slightly recoiled in fright at the veritable wall of sound coming from the assembled teenagers of the Everfree Camp. She had been presented as an impromptu “guest” in need of some help, comfort and rest and that they were perfect to make her feel accepted. The girls of the Sapphire Dormitory had smirked while the rest of the boys and girls acquired large round eyes at her sight. Her visible anxiety and nervous posture at their scream reinforced the cuteness factor and a veritable wave of teenager rolled over the flabbergasted Alicorn. It was a very good thing that Silver Dawn retained the basic power-set of the three pony tribes. Especially her Earth Pony resistance and strength. She was petted, poked, taken in arms, having her mane and tail braided, and so on and so for. She gently but firmly took the wave of youthful energy aimed at her in her metaphoric hooves and redirect it to make clear one point: She wasn't an animal and will never be treated as such. How? Well, first by staying within eye range of the adults. Then by making sure there was at least one member of the Sapphire dormitory nearby. And finally, by playing games with the children of a summer camp. After all, she was a child also. The staff looked on, amused as she took against fifteen children in a tug-a-war with just Taylor Hebert on her side and managed to hold until a staff member broke the balance and the group dragged her and the hysterically laughing Taylor on their winning side. The responsible of the horses nodded to Director Winsky. “Yep, she's strong as a horse.” “That's how much, by the way?” “Approximately eight hundred kilograms of lifting capacity at maximum, although I would say she's not using her full strength. And she's durable as well.” “Yeah, if those children have tried what they did first with a normal animal, the initial surprise and the following pain would have made it react violently.” The man shook his head. “She's not an animal. Anyone seeing her interacting would scoff at the very idea.” Basketball enabled Silver Dawn to test her agility. The two teams watched awed as she first dribbled with one hoof, demonstrating her tactile telekinetic hoof-field, then using her extended wings as a pair of arms and finally using her unicorn telekinesis to put the ball in the far away goal post... on another ground. Hilda Swartz who asked her to demonstrate her skill before being chosen by a team, looked at the crème Alicorn and raised an eyebrow with her habitual deadpan expression. “Absolutely... No... Fair! Off to the lake with her!” Giggling and screaming, Silver Dawn let herself be captured by the fuming teenagers and thrown into the lake where she joined for a time the swimmers along with Samantha Parker. The twin-ponytails brown-haired girl was an average swimmer, but had the amazing capacity to both swim AND maintain an almost continuous flow of questions, answers and overall gossip. She managed to make Silver talked about her adoptive mother. “Wow, another Alicorn like you! And a bookworm, like Taylor!” Her aunts. “You sure have a large family! But what are the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony?” Her favourites colours. “White and gold with emeralds and rubies as trim... A little too new rich, don't you think? Wait..? You can make precious gems GROW on your world..? YOU'RE ROYALTY!?” And so on, and so on... Silver Dawn managed to retain her dignity while leaving the lake and she didn't go too much in the details, but surely, Samantha would terrorize the whole court of Canterlot with her social gifts... Celestia, Fancy Pants, Fleur de Lys and her must never met... for the sake of the universe. She was sitting near the race tracks and preening her wings after the swim. She considered joining the runners but thought that her inherent speed was something too much of an advantage and was about to pass the coming competition when she noticed a frowning Tina Rosenberg near the tracks that was discarding her track number from her t-shirt. “A problem, Tina?” The slightly obese girl frowned more. “They all say I'm too small and fat...” She bit her lower mouth. She liked cooking and she liked eating. But she also wanted to practice sports like the rest, even if she was fat. Silver Dawn narrowed her eyes and caught the race number in her telekinetic field. “Hum... We'll see about that.” The racers could only watched as a smiling Tina, firmly secured on Silver Dawn's back by her prehensile mane, ran to victory as the Alicorn could, for now, gallop at 30 mph compared to the average 15 mph of a human being. Some tried to point that it was cheating, but the laughing staff member, thinking it was a good lesson to learn, gave the wining ribbon to a smirking Tina. Silver Dawn faced the scowling teenagers. “You are correct, if we follow the spirit of the rules, then Tina and I are disqualified.” She narrowed her eyes at the group. “But then, why did you pressure Tina to not participate? If she had no chance of winning as you said, why didn't you let her running?” She pointed her hoof towards another race. “Many like to simply enjoy doing sport. Competition is good but where is the fairness you ask for when one is prevented to participate? Think about it.” Taylor joined her side as Tina proudly show her ribbon to Hilda. The teenagers were dispersing, some deep in thought, a few grumbling but nodding and a very few still scowling and frowning at both the Alicorn and Tina. “That was a very good thing you did for Tina.” Silver nodded. “I dislike bullies... Perhaps because one pony that I almost came to loathe was in fact bullied herself and forced by one parental pressure to denigrate others... And I didn't see it... A bully is a coward and yet, this one taught me a lesson in courage.” Taylor blinked. “It's not the same with Tina.” “But it's a beginning. And it can escalate quickly, very quickly if the bullied don't react swiftly... There were tears for a too long time...” “You have a good heart, Silver Dawn.” The Alicorn smiled as the one who could become THE heroine of Earth Bet. “Somepony would called me naïve and idealist.” Taylor plunged her own green eyes into the emerald gaze of the real mythical creature and frowned at what she could read. “But “somepony” don't have your experience... You feel both young... and old... so old... It's as if... I could see galaxies swirling in your eyes...” Silver lightly put her wing over Taylor's shoulder. “Then let us pray you'll learn by examples and not be an example.” Taylor blinked. “Oh... True, my world isn't a safe one... But that's why heroes exist! So that they can save us...” Silver lightly shook her head. “A hero is anypo... ANYONE at the wrong place at the right time and then choosing to act. Saving people also mean never let them dependent on only yourself. Sometimes, you have to light a spark in every heart so that they can make their own fires. Sometimes, you have to let people fall so that they can get up.” “... A delicate balance..?” “Following the right path is to never confound it with the easy one. And no matter what, you'll have to pay a personal price...” Her ears swivelled in the direction of the central building. “... Do I hear that the kitchens are opened to prepare lunch?” Cooking was something relaxing for Silver Dawn... Especially cupcakes... cooked with Pinkie Pie... One must be very relaxed when deal... WORKING with Pinkie Pie. Fortunately... in a way, Tina wasn't Pinkie Pie and she was a good cook. She didn't hesitate to try new recipe and neatly noted them. She had a knack for finding the right ingredient for a better taste. Silver Dawn quickly began to use her telekinesis to pick up the ingredients and give them to anyone requesting. She then focused on her own contribution. Cupcakes were a must, Pinkie Pie would have gone full puppy eyes if the young Alicorn didn't. A simple colouring cantrip gave her quite the rainbow collection of cupcakes. The lunch was a joyful affair and everyone thanked the cooks. Silver particularly liked the vanilla ice-cream and then distributed her cupcakes... They were really appreciated for both the taste and the appearance, but why was the staff looking at her with irritation..? Well, yes, she put perhaps a trifle more sugar in her cupcakes, but it was less than what Pinkie Pie put herself... Oh, sweet Celestia... Those who tasted her batch seemed to be in a sugar rush... Well, at least doing the dishes was one way to continue to retrain (or was that training?) her telekinesis. If only the girls from Sapphire weren't smiling and laughing at her. Taylor, the traitor, was hiding her face with a towel to muffle her laughs. Hilda seemed to be 50% grin. Tina was red in the face as she tried to contain herself. Samantha was chatting a mile and giggling at the same time. Finally, Pepper was, of course, videoing everything especially Silver's pouting face as she claimed it should be preserved for posterity. Smirking, Silver remembered some exercises that Rarity taught her and focused on her horn who shone a brighter emerald colour as she went for multiple manipulations. The girls screamed and ducked as the plates, glasses and cutlery (without the knives and forks) flew around the camp kitchen and neatly placed themselves on the right shelves. Then, whistling a merry tune, Silver Dawn exited the kitchen, letting the grumbling girls finishing to tidy the rest. The activities of the afternoon consisted mainly into walking on the paths available. Silver Dawn asked that she stayed within one group and Taylor “volunteered” her comrades to the dismay of Hilda who then face-palmed and promptly assigned her to do both wood and water chores. The emerald-eyed Alicorn joined Pepper in her art group. Digging into her knowledge of cantrips, she fashioned little silver amulets from in the forms of a winged alicorn head. She chuckled as she remembered a bigger one in black, grey and red that was also “a little” evil. A small coloured green pearl in place of the eye and voilà. The staff was assured that the items had been made by power, but didn't have any power themselves. It was during the dinner that with the authorization of the camp director, she gifted those amulets to the entire camp and kept one for herself. “You opened your arms to a stranger... A weird stranger... This is just a little memo for all of us who have encountered the unknown and managed to spark an ember of friendship.” She bowed to the children of Everfree, a few had suspicious shining eyes. “Thank you from the bottom off my heart and may Harmony always shine brightly over you all.” “It's too bad, you'll go to Brockton Bay tomorrow, Silver.” Taylor was walking with the Alicorn towards a phone-box since she had promised to call her best friend at this moment. Silver Dawn shrugged. “It wouldn't be prudent to differ more a briefing with the PRT and the Protectorate. And the parents shouldn't be too sure about an unknown parahuman near their children.” Taylor chuckled. “You're hardly “an unknown parahuman”. How many asked to braid your mane with flowers this afternoon?” The various videos of the crème-coloured winged unicorn had been posted by the Everfree campers and were gaining more and more attention from the Internet community. PHO, of course, was exploding with various threads about her. Silver grumbled about stereotypical little girls, that Royal Manes weren't made for braiding flowers in it (even if the many brushing had felt heavenly) and that she wasn't a toy. Taylor giggled at her friend... Yes, she felt that the almost alien being was truly a friend. It was the same warmth she felt when she was with Emma. She smiled as she discretely touched the silver amulet pinned on her t-shirt. The Alicorn let her new friend phoned to Emma Barnes. Being at a time before the breakdown of their friendship by Sophia Hess was both an opportunity and a problem. Put simply, Silver Dawn couldn't, wouldn't let what happened in canon Worm passed. Her simple presence had already changed the Quantum Continuum. In a way, it was a relief, too many times her counterpart as an author had been burdened by the knowledge of what should happened. Having a somewhat blank slate and with many of the background information still relevant was better on the long term. She knew that she couldn't save everyone, preventing everything bad in this world. But nevertheless, she was here... That was already a powerful influence in the setting of Worm. It was perhaps the reason she didn't have the Cutie Mark of the original Silver Dawn. She wasn't engaged on the path to save this world and others. She wasn't yet, by choice, the Alicorn of Hope... Besides, nothing prevented her to take another path, perhaps better adapted to this particular setting. The sudden distress in the voice of Taylor shocked her back into the present. “Emma..? Emma... I can't hear you..? What's going on..?” Taylor looked at the phone in hand and turned somewhat alarmed and perplexed to the Alicorn. “We have been cut off during our discussion... Silver... I'm afraid for my friend...”