Lyra Heartstrings - 20th of Leaffall 06 EoH - Afternoon
Multiverse Location: Equestria, Equis #15 - The Simulacra
It hadn't taken much time to get enough wood together to make a small fire. That was fortunate, since by my estimate, we had forty minutes till this river was set to flood, and well, with all that fur it would take at least twenty minutes to warm up. Well, warm up as much as the world would permit right now.
I’d never seen a seasonal change in person in real life before. Took me a little bit to realize that the season was changing, and that’s why it was cold. Fortunately it wasn’t quite winter yet. If the air were much colder, Trixie would be dying from that plunge into the river. It was still warm enough where my small fire could warm her back up in time.
I was starting to suspect that passing through the portals had messed with Bon somehow, because by all rights, it was far too cold for her. A warm blooded mammal warming back up after a plunge like that, sure. A cold blooded tropical reptile? Yeah, no.
Bon should be dead, or seriously injured, or at least very very still from losing all that heat. But much like the Radon, she just didn’t give a darn. Slipped off my shoulders, coiled up next to the pony and chilled out for a bit, then moved around the bank a little, poked a stick about with her nose…
Yeah, something was up with her. I just wish I had any point of reference to begin finding out what.
After I’d gotten the fire going, I sat down next to it myself and took my survival kit off my waist to make sure each pouch on the belt had remained water tight. Some of the things inside shouldn’t get wet. Especially the spare battery for my maser, I did not want a short causing it to explode on my hip.
“How are you not cold?” Trixie asked after a while.
The mare was still shivering under the blanket, having refused to let me make it into a lean-to to trap and reflect the fire’s heat to make a sort of oven she could sit in. A bit dumb, but well, I’d want to hold onto my body heat too.
“What do you mean?” I asked, looking up from checking the battery pouch. “From falling into the river?”
“Yeah. You’re in some armor, and those boots. But that’s it. Do you have a warmth charm or something? Can I borrow it?” She asked pleadingly.
“I never got wet. This isn’t my skin, it’s a jumpsuit. Waterproof clothing,” I explained.
“Oh,” Trixie said, ears drooping in mild disappointment. “So, you’re not a lizard-person?”
I looked up and sent the command for my helmet to lift the outer reflective-gold visor so she could get a look at what little of me was behind the eye-slit. “No… We’re primates. Specifically simians… Uh, if you got that. Not sure how good my translation is right now.”
Trixie let herself droop down to lay flat, my statement somehow having taken the wind out of her sails.
“Darn it. I’d hoped I’d at least die knowing one pony who mocked me was wrong about something…” She muttered bitterly.
I rolled my eyes and went back to checking through my kit. “I know you almost just died, but you’d figure you’d be happy to be alive. The heck kind of bug crawled up your butt and died?”
Trixie barked a short but loud laugh that made me jump a little. “Heh… That’s three kinds of funny,” she said, shifting closer to the fire.
“Care to let me in on the joke?” I asked, starting to feel concerned about her mental health.
Trixie paused for a moment then nodded, as if answering herself. “Fine. It won't change anything. First off, I’m dieing.”
“You’ll be fine,” I interrupted. “We have more then enough time to warm you up then move.”
“From something else,” Trixie deadpanned.
“Ah… Sorry,” I apologized, frowning behind my helmet.
Trixie paused again, looking at me with an odd analytical expression. “You know, I think you actually are. I never thought a Neighponese speaking human would be the first person to actually be sympathetic towards me,” she muttered.
“Oh! I’m still speaking Japanese? I thought it’s switched to Equish,” I said hoping to keep the conversation rolling along.
“Mhm. Don’t worry. I’m fluent. Your accent isn’t an Equish speaker’s accent, so I’m guessing you don’t speak it as your first language either? Just keep speaking Neighponese. Equish is really complicated…” Trixie asked before resuming. “So yeah. Dieing. I don’t have that long left either… I’m supposed to meet my sister today. Return a book I stole from her, tell her sorry for everything.
“That’s one layer of funny. You saved me so I can die in a few more hours. It’s ironic. The best kind of funny.”
I gave her a sympathetic wince behind my helm. “Owch… Poison? Minor disease? I have a shot here to flush poisons, not sure it would work on a pony but-”
“It’s too late for that,” Trixie said with a dismissive hoof wave, “this is long term exposure kicking in. The next layer of funny is well, the expression you used. Everything is that little thing bothering me. My whole life. It’s been a complete failure.
“You… Nevermind. You don’t want to listen. No one ever does.”
“Tell me, we have time to kill anyways,” I asked, hoping she would open up a bit.
If she actually did have no hope of living much longer it would suck to die that bitter. If she could pull through, it sounded like she needed someone to talk to. Badly.
“Alright,” she sighed, “I’ve spent the last thirty years of my life as a traveling performer… A friend of mine died, you see? She wanted to be a famous magician, it was all she would talk about. She was not any good with magic, but she had come up with a great character for her performances, and she could at least do sleight of hoof tricks well.
“But she died. Her family didn’t know… She would visit me at my home in the woods near Trottingham. Timberwolves got her one afternoon. It was my fault, I was supposed to have driven the pack off the previous day, but I’d procrastinated. I found her, and she gave me her hat before she passed on.”
“Owch,” I winced, thinking of what it would feel like to die from a pack of wolves ripping me apart. “I’m sorry that happened to her, and you.”
Trixie nodded slowly. “I felt like I owed her, so… I used a few tricks. Assumed her identity so I could at least make sure the world remembered her name as a magician. Went so far as to steal my sister’s spellbook so I could have some unique magic to show off. I thought I could do it. I knew her so well, I even knew how to act for her stage persona… But I didn’t do it right.”
“Wait, you stole her identity?” I asked, lips pursing in confusion.
“Yeah. Stupidest decision I ever made. I just wanted her name to be remembered how she wanted it to be. But I’ve ruined it completely! Ponykind hates Trixie Lulamoon, and it’s not even her fault,” she lamented, letting her head rest on the ground.
If someone was willing to confess something like that, then they seriously believed they were dying at the very least. I was sitting in an alien world, forced to work in a certain way, listening to the deathbed confession of a person… More than a little uncomfortable, I felt the need to at least let her go with a clear conscience.
“So, did you too look alike? How did you sully her name?” I asked, not really wanting to know. Still, she needed someone to care.
“I’ve always been good with illusions and transformation. I altered my appearance. It’s been… I can’t remember what I really look like…” She explained slowly. “But I remember how I act, which is the problem. Never been a good actor.
“Everypony could tell something about ‘Trixie’ was off. I’m…abrasive, territorial, aggressive… Can’t help it. Can’t suppress it. They never put two and two together, everypony she knew came to believe she’d changed as a pony. Turned into a jerk.
“Eventually, I wasn’t welcome in Trottingham anymore. So I took to the road, figured it would be a good excuse to get on the whole ‘become famous for her’ thing. After all, ponies with no knowledge of how the old Trixie was would react to me differently, right? Heh, no. It’s like the universe itself let’s people know something’s wrong about me...
“It never worked out. Ever. I couldn’t even get people to like me in Ponyville. Ponyville! A town under the direct rule of someone who literally holds the title ‘Princess of Friendship’... Hay, even Princess Twilight hates my guts. That’s how bad I messed her life up.”
I couldn’t help but laugh at that silly sounding title. Trixie shot me a hurt-but-expected-it-look before turning her head away.
“I wasn’t laughing at you, It’s just that title is so fracking silly sounding. Like, does she actually rule over the concept of friendship?” I asked, hoping to contextualize my laugh for her.
“Yeah, she does,” Trixie answered bluntly.
“R-really?” I asked, completely taken aback.
“Yes,” she answered again.
“All- Alright then,” I said, quite confused. Ignoring the obvious ‘how?’ for the sake of keeping my brain intact. “Please go on, I’m interested. Just you know, sad story. Sudden humor.”
Trixie turned back to face me, and nodded. “Okay. Sorry about that. Just… forget it. Yeah, so… I might have been able to succeed. But early on in the ‘kicked out of home’ part of my life, I stopped off at Ponyville. Twilight wasn’t a princess then. Just some normal pony. I’d never have tried to upstage an alicorn as part of my act, that’s just stupid to try.
“I might as well have done that though. She was a powerful enough mage to ascend after all. I didn’t know… So I failed. Acquired a reputation as ‘that boastful idiot who tried to take on Celestia’s personal student. It became impossible to get an audience. Wound up having to do heavy labor for a living, all the while some especially… patriotic ponies would vandalize my wagon. I don’t know why… Ponies can be so very stupid.”
“I guess every species has it’s fracking poop-heads,” I said bitterly, wincing at the terrible sounding curse after I’d finished it.
Trixie triple blinked at me. “That was odd… You should work on your insults in this language.”
I nodded, deciding that was the best lie to roll with. You know. To avoid telling the dying girl who’d lived a miserable life that her universe overrode free will...
“Anyway,” she said, resuming her confession, “I knew I had to do something. I had to leave Trixie the legacy she wanted. I knew if I could beat Twilight at a magical competition, I’d turn the rep around. So I tried to find a magic boosting charm, and I did. It was cursed…
“I put the amulet on and it instantly twisted my desire to restore my reputation into a malevolent hatred… I wound up taking over the entire town. I… I think I would have gone full Sombra if Twilight hadn’t gotten me to take the amulet off. I couldn’t control myself. At all… The only reason she got me to take it off was it made me need even more power.”
“Ah, I see where this is going,” I said, nodding slowly. “You found basically the One Ring, it corrupted you with it’s dark influence, and yeah good luck ever being seen in a kind light ever again…”
Trixie nodded. “Exactly. But it was an amulet, not a ring.”
“Yeah, I know. I was drawing a comparison to a dark artifact from an ancient human story,” I explained. “The One Ring. A ring with an inscription on it that housed part of the soul of a dark lord, granted power to whoever put it on, and compelled them to go and fight that Dark Lord, so he could kill them, get the ring back,and then return to life.”
“Good comparison,” Trixie shuddered. “Although… An ancient story… You don’t suppose there’s a connection there, do you? I mean, your species apparently exists. Or I’m seeing things because I’m dieing.”
I shook my head slowly. “Unless writing on that amulet read ‘Ash nazg durbatulûk’-”
I stopped speaking with a yelp! The fire had literally started to die as I began the quote, only to spring back to life the moment I had stopped.
“Okay! I’m not going to finish that quote!” I exclaimed fearfully.
“Why?” Trixie asked, tilting her head to the side.
“The fire! You had to have seen that,” I said, pointing to the crackling flames.
“It’s a fire. They do that,” she deadpanned.
“Look, I was talking to what I can only presume is a Dread Old One less than an hour ago,” I said urgently. “Then I say a few words in a language of dark magic and a fire decides to dim. Now, yeah, I might be seeing patterns where none exist but I’m not taking that risk!”
“... Whatever,” Trixie muttered.
“No, seriously. I- Right… You live in a magical world. That’s probably normal for you,” I mused.
“I live?” She asked, looking up. “Meaning, you come from another world entirely!?”
“Uh, yeah… I said that before,” I pointed out.
She smashed a hoof angrily into the ground. “Great! I learn there are other worlds I could apparently travel to on my deathbed! Ugh!”
“It can’t have been all bad, there had to have been some good times,” I pointed out.
“The best thing to happen to me is my sister came to visit me. And my family banished her for it,” Trixie spat.
“... That explains why you didn’t just go back home after the amulet thing,” I said after a moment of silence.
How the heck can a family be that cruel?
“Yeah… Even worse, I was going to reveal myself to Twilight. My real self. She would understand then, she had to have known about us back then. That mare reads everything,” Trixie grumbled. “But then, our Queen decides to invade Equestria’s capital! Yay pointless war. So if I revealed myself I’d be locked up as a prisoner of war… So I had to stay Trixie. A pony everypony else hates… And bathe in that hatred all day for the last six years. Hence, the dieing.”
“Well… I don’t have anything I could say to help you feel better. But I really am sorry your life sucked that bad. I can understand a little. My father died when I was eight, and my best friend in the world died several months ago. I imagine your pain is much greater, but I do have a point to empathize from,” I said sympathetically.
Trixie gave me a grateful smile. “Thanks for listening… Even if you are just a hallucination. Oh right. The joke. That’s part two. I have nothing to be happy to live for.”
“What’s part three?” I asked.
“Uh, you don’t know?” She asked giving me an incredulous look. “I admitted to taking over a pony’s life and mentioned the Canterlot Invasion of-”
Trixie trailed off noticing the complete lack of comprehension in my eyes.
“Do you not live on this continent?” She asked. “It would explain why nopony I know has seen a human before.”
Oh dear sweet mercy… The universe itself was deleting information right from her head! It wouldn’t let things remember there were other universes! I had to get the heck out of here! Thirty hours was way too far away!
“Y-yeah… Something like that,” I said at last. Doing my best to push the fear away.
“I’m not a pony. Not realy. My birth species are shapeshifters. We’re called changelings… I’d give you our proper name but mammal's can’t pronounce it, and I’ve been a pony for so long I can’t remember how to change back,” she sighed sadly. “Not that I’d have the energy too if I could.”
I was taken aback by her revelation for a few moments, but in the end concluded that shape shifters were less implausible than alternant-earth creatures speaking a language identical to Japanese. This made the likelihood that Trixie was insane less probable than telling the truth.
Then I remembered Sky mentioned he lived in a changeling city. The species was a real thing here. Or at least in a parallel universe, meaning probably here too. I decided to humor her.
“That’s pretty cool. What’s your natural form look like?” I asked. “I know you said you don’t remember what you look like, I mean-”
“Oh, my species. Yeah. We look like insectoid ponies. Black exoskeleton, a colored shell, gossamer wings, compound eyes, but otherwise like a pony,” she muttered, sounding oddly tired. “That’s the third layer of funny. I’m a bug that’s kind of inside a pony.”
I couldn’t help but smile slightly at that, and chuckle. “Okay, that is a little funny. Even after you explained the joke.”
“Heh… Yeah.” She groaned, standing up and making the blanket crinkle. “I should go. I need to make it to my sister. She’s waiting for me, and I already can’t feel my hooves.”
“What are you dieing from, exactly?” I asked watching her stiffly pull the blanket off and turn to walk back to her cart.
“It’s…hard to explain,” she sighed. “I don’t have the energy to go into it that much. We don’t eat matter, we eat energy. Emotions. Positive ones. Things like hate are toxic to us, and if emotions are directed at you, you always absorb some of the energy.
“I have to feed this pony body solid food too, but even shifted, I still need emotional energy. I got enough to survive by hiding out in public… But I got a lot of negative too. Constant low level exposure from everyone around you for years. Always deadly.”
“You…eat emotions? Like… How? Yeah, I’m going to go with how.” I was entirely unable to comprehend that.
“I don’t know! We just do. I’m not the same caste as my sister. Magic isn’t my thing,” Trixie grumbled limping her way away, clearly intent on moving on.
“Where are you going?” I asked. “You want help?”
She paused for a moment, looking back over her shoulder at me, clearly stunned. “Y-you’d help me?”
“Yeah. You are walking like you have shrapnel in you, your cart’s broke, and you claim you’re dieing. I think you need a little help,” I informed, standing up to stomp the fire out so it wouldn’t burn down the forest.
“Horse apples,” she cursed. “I forgot the cart… Yeah… I’ll need help. I agreed to meet my sister at the Castle of the Two Sisters. It’s a ruin in these woods. She sent me a letter saying she was there to finish some study or something. If you follow this trail for an hour or so, you can’t miss it.”
“And you’re telling me because… ?” I asked as I bent down to let Bon quickly climb up onto my shoulders.
“So in case I don’t make it you can bring her the book. She probably doesn't need it anymore. It’s a beginner’s book. I just want to give it back,” Trixie explained, limping along until she reached the bridge only to stop before setting foot- er, hoof onto the plank and rope structure.
“You know, I’m dieing but I’m still afraid I’ll fall in again,” Trixie called, a hint of amusement in her voice.
“What’s it look like and where is it?” I asked with a short sigh.
So much for not interacting with things here… But it’s not like I couldn’t help somone out with a last request. Even if she were a total liar I’d still feel compelled to help someone out like this.
“It’s a small brown leather book with silver lettering. It’s on top of the bed,” she informed as I reached the bridge. “Don’t worry about the cart. Ponyville just has to have it’s big winter skating rink, so this part of the river will flood up enough to sweep it off the trail when the pegasi come through later.”
“Alright, and if not… ?” I prompted, quickly crossing the very creaky looking bridge.
“Well, Princess Twilight uses this path the most. Frankly, I think it would be fitting for her to have to move it out of the way,” she spat bitterly.
Not really wanting to get involved with anymore than I had to, I gave the shapechanged bug a nod and opened the cart’s door. The interior was spartan, but clearly well lived in and well cared for. Someone had lived their life in this thing.
Somone who this seemingly conscious free-will robbing universe had doomed. I could feel it. That weirdness Sai had mentioned when we arrived here. The whole cart felt wrong. Like something which shouldn’t be lurked within the walls, waiting for the chance to doom anyone who dared provoke them.
Not wanting to incur its wrath, I ignored everything in the interior of the wagon, grabbed the book off the bed, and quickly recrossed the bridge, breathing heavily with dread.
“What’s wrong?” Trixie asked fearfully. “Are there monsters? There shouldn’t be any this close to Ponyville this time of year.”
“N-no… Just… Your cart is really creepy,” I said simply.
“Claustrophobic?” She asked, eyeing the book in my hand as a look of satisfaction crossed her face.
“It’s not important. Let’s just get this over with. This place creeps me out,” I explained.
She nodded and turned around, slowly walking up the path as I fell into step alongside her. “I can’t blame you much. These woods are kinda scary. The path is usually safe though.”
The two of us walked for what felt like an eternity. A cliche thought, but for once, it really did feel like forever. With each step the forest became just that more sinister. A mere half hour in and I swore I could see vines moving just behind the treeline, as if eagerly waiting to reach out and ensnare.
The light that came through the treetops become more and more dim as well, going from fairly bright to very dim at just the right speed to make you not notice the transition until it was over with. And that just made the movement behind the treeline that much worse. Every single second spent within the tree top tunnel screamed ambush so loudly I could almost see the words.
That would have been a proper hell on it’s own, but on top of that it became quite clear that ‘Trixie’ really was dieing. She began to stumble and stagger on level ground, sometimes failing to keep moving in a straight line. By the forty five minute mark, her rear left leg locked up completely turning stiff as hardened steel.
I wound up having to carry her. A real pain as she was the size of a large dog. The only thing which worked was the fireman’s carry, putting both her weight and Bon’s weight on my shoulders and spine. At least she wasn’t that heavy.
I still felt like my back was going to herniate my entire spine though.
After about an hour, the trees began to thin out again. The light grew just a little brighter, and the two of us emerged into a huge clearing where a massive canyon-like rip in the earth split the part of the forest we stood in from the rest of it. The path continued to another rope and plank bridge which spanned a narrower section of george and connected the path to a winding section of gravel-strewn sand that led up to a crumbling ruin of a once great castle.
If the two towers on the east and west walls had fallen, the keep would have looked like a large pile of stones bound together by moss and overgrown by plant life, which for some reason was perched atop a squarish wall. Whatever this old castle used to look like was impossible to tell, but my best guess based on the odd patch of sloping roofline labeled it as a high gothic design.
“So, this the castle?” I asked Trixie, mostly to check and see if she were still with me.
“... I can’t see. But there’s only one castle in the Everfree,” she said after a short moment.
“Alright, we will be there in a few minutes. Hang on… Come to think of it, where will your sister be in the castle? It doesn't look too safe, I don’t want to explore and cause a roof to fall on us,” I asked, needing some kind of running commentary from her. Especially as I got ready to cross the narrow plank bridge over what looked like an eighty foot drop.
“It’s fine. Once we get inside, I can call her. She’ll come,” Trixie informed.
I nodded and very carefully crossed the bridge. To my absolute delight it was clearly new. The boards hadn’t even weathered yet. Someone had put it up this year, maybe even in the last few months.
“Someone came here recently. They made sure this bridge wasn’t crap,” I told Trixie as my boots clicked against the planks.
“Probably Twilight,” Trixie muttered exhaustively, “she has been salvaging the library here.”
I nodded to myself, realizing she was fading quickly. There wasn’t much time left. Putting on as much speed as I could under the heavy load I sprinted up the gravel path towards the castle’s doors.
My back felt like someone beat it with a crowbar as I slowed down to climb the short staircase and open the two massive rusty iron-shod timber doors. A quick test let me know the doors opened outwards, and as I opened one door they let me know they were old enough to hate moving, creaking and grinding with the sound of rust and age.
“That sound hurt… Are we inside?” Trixie asked hopefully.
“Yeah, we are,” I replied, taking in the sights with some awe.
The castle’s interior was much better preserved than the exterior. The entrance hall stretched on for a long ways, ending in a grand staircase that split in two directions, probably going to the castle’s now collapsed wings. Huge archways created eight hallways, four on each side, spaced apart at regular intervals with dark purple tapestries placed tastefully between them.
The entire hall was built to draw your eye to a single huge stained glass window at the top of the stairs that depicted what looked like the new moon hanging in the sky over the earth, with the sun coming out from behind the moon in a stylized eclipse. So much work and care had gone into that work of art that it single handedly brought a measure of cheer and majesty into the decaying structure. A diamond that somehow made the pig’s trough look better.
<Microwave broadcast detected,> Chere.ly suddenly informed, ripping my thoughts away from the amazing stained glass. <Public frequency in use. Playing message.>
The signal resolved into an audio file, playing before I could react to the fact that I was receiving a transmission. Let alone that it was Trixie’s voice in the message. <Sister, I’m here… I don’t have long. A friend carried me here. She looks weird, but is nice.>
“She should be here soo-” Trixie started.
<How the heck are you sending a microwave transmission? Has your species worked out neural link biomods too!?> I sent back, using my Direct Net capabilities for the first time in days due to the sheer joy of experiencing it again.
“Wait! How can you use telepathy!?” Trixie exclaimed out loud, voice ringing with shock.
“Direct mind to mind communication and sharing of information is a thing my species genetically altered ourselves to do,” I replied out loud, not wanting to give her a heart attack. “It’s probably our most important invention ever.”
“That’s…so weird,” Trixie said, sounding more in pain now than shocked. A bad sign…
“Our hive mind, and our shape shifting… Those are our unique traits. I never thought another species would have one too. I wish I had the time to get to know you,” she added.
Realizing I was holding her on my shoulders and that would be awkward for her when her sister arrived, I knelt down, and gently set Trixie onto the moth eaten shreds that were once a carpet. And just in time, as the moment I had set her down a disk of green light swirled to life on the floor ten or so feet ahead of us.
A quadruped form rose up from the green portal, at first appearing to be a silhouette, and setting me instantly on edge. But after a second I was able to make out a smoky gray mane and tail, along with gem-like blue eyes and a splash of blue on the back along with two large brown leather saddlebags.
So, this was a changeling. Trixie was right, they did look like a bug version of a unicorn. Tall, slender, a bit shiny, long twisty horn. Kinda creepy realy. Especially when she raced forward towards me with a distressed cry.
If the universe hadn’t frozen my hands, I would have fired a shot in reflex. This universe was really getting under my skin...
<Atiniir! Why didn’t you tell me you were being poisoned? I would have done something!> she lamented, the ‘telepathic’ cry containing both words and vague images.
“Is that my old name? I’ve forgotten it… And a lot… I can’t remember much,” Trixie muttered.
<Why aren't you hugging me back? Please move your forelegs, you can do it. I know you can!> her sister pleaded.
“No chance… I’m amazed I’m still talking. Lyra, can you pass her the book please?” Trixie asked me without turning her head.
I nodded and held the book out. “Here you go.”
The changeling’s horn glowed a dull green, her kind of fiery aura gently plucked the book from my hand and pulled it over to her before setting the book down on the floor.
<You… You didn’t need to do that. I’d have given it to you. I understood why you left us, I would have done the same thing for a friend,> her sister mentally sobbed.
“No. I did. I took it. I didn’t ask. But you have it now. So it’s okay? Right?” Trixie asked pleadingly.
Her sister nodded once. <It’s okay, sister. I love you.>
“Good… That’s good,” Trixie said before sighing happily and going as limp as her locked up legs would allow.
I watched as the insectoid pony vocally sobbed over her dead sister. The image burned deeply into my brain, ripping the impression her appearance had left cleanly but violently from my mind. Exoskeleton be damned, I could see the pain on her face and in her eyes just as well as if she had been human. This was a person, one who most definitely needed time to grieve.
“I’m sorry for your loss… I lost my father a long time ago. I barely knew him… I can only imagine your pain,” I said sympathetically after a few long minutes.
“I don’t speak that language,” she replied in what Chere.ly flagged as Equish.
I silently ordered her to switch my language to match.
“I said that I am sorry for your loss,” I repeated. “I’ve lost family too… Do you need someone to talk to?”
She shook her head slowly, “No… I… It’s against custom and tradition to talk about this to strangers… But thank you. Why didn’t she tell me it was this bad for her? I would have done anything to find her a way out of that town!”
Her shoulders shook with each sniffling sob, making her emotional death even more painful to watch.
“From what she said, I think she cared about you too much. Didn’t want you to get hurt. Would you like me to leave you alone?” I asked.
“Please… I- I need to be alone with her for a while,” the changeling asked.
“I understand… I’m sorry. I wish I could have done something to help her, or get here faster,” I turned to leave, thoroughly disgusted by this monster of a world.
“W-wait a moment,” the changeling called.
I turned back in time to see her take a small silver ring out from one of her saddlebags, and pass it over to me with her magic.
“You helped her. She was dieing and you helped her get to me. I can’t… Take it. I don’t need it. Haven’t for a long time,” she muttered, eyes turning back to her sister’s slumped form.
“Thanks… What is it?” I asked carefully.
“It’s an ear-ring with a telekinesis charm. I used to use it when I had to be a pegasi or an earth pony… I… I don’t need it anymore. It should work for anything… Including whatever you are. Just put it on… Will the thing to move… Should move anything you could lift normally… Tha-thank you for making sure she got here,” she finished, her tone conveying an air of finality. She needed to be left alone.
“Thank you,” I said one more time, tucking the ring into a pouch while turning and leaving the hall as quickly as I could manage.
I was completely drained. It’s one thing to see someone die in battle, it’s another to see… To see that. I needed a nap. Maybe I could just sleep off the rest of the time I would be in this hell.
There was no way I was going to go back into the forest. Not with the moving shadows, slithering vines, and darkness beyond twilight. I walked along the base of the castle for a while, eventually finding a softish looking patch of moss and laying down on it.
“Well… Frack this place, eh Bon?” I muttered, giving her a quick stroke.
She nodded. She distinctly nodded! There was no way around it this time.
“And what’s with you?” I muttered, exhaustion taking hold.
Bon coiled around me gently, giving me a sort of full body hug as I half fell, half willed myself to sleep.
An ocean of gray sand stretched out forever, shining brightly but painfully, reflecting the harsh white light directly into my eyes. There was no escape from the light. It burned with a rage and hatred that was directed at me.
Suddenly, shelter! Impossibly, something existed in this lifeless land. A metal skeleton of a four legged beast, it’s bones covered in scraps of golden hide.
I crawled into a hole in it’s underbelly, it’s belly little more than a empty bowl. A space scarcely big enough to curl up in. But it was dark, and the light didn’t shine like death. It was a mercy.
“Lyra, wake your bipedal butt up! I want to leave this place, not open a darn base camp!” Sai shouted, snapping me out of my sleep.
“Huh? What? How long was I asleep for!?” I exclaimed groggily.
“About fourteen hours. We’re good to go. Wherever we are right now has a much higher magical ambience than where we were when I made the first estimate,” Sai replied.
That’s when I noticed it was dark, almost pitch black. The dark of a new moon.
I shivered feeling a rush of adrenaline coming on. “I never nap for that long! Like, ever.”
I quickly ordered my suit to run an integrity check. Everything came back as being perfectly fine. Though certain filters were starting to get full.
“Yeah, it’s got to be this place. I vote if I ever pick up this universe's…quirks again, we quickly jump back through the portal before it closes,” Sai said bitterly.
“Agreed. Let’s get the heck out of here,” I agreed, standing up and checking for Bon.
She wasn’t on my lap, or next to my impromptu bed...
“Bon?” I called fearfully.
With a rustle of grass, Bone came slithering out of a dense bit of vegetation, revealing a small hole in the castle wall. She had been inside… Why? Exploring?
“Come on hon, it’s time to go,” I said, starting to believe she could somehow understand me perfectly well.
Sure enough, as I flipped the leather cover off the manipulator’s face, Bon climbed up my leg, quickly coiling around my waist and shoulders.
“All aboard?” Sai asked.
“Yeah, we’re blowing this Popsicle stand,” I said, pressing the button I decided in that moment to call the ‘escape key’.
“... Did that sound better in your head?” Sai asked as the portal flared to life with a slow hiss and a flicker, as if something was trying to force it shut as soon as it op-
“Oh, like heck you are!” I shouted at the universe, sprinting forward, jumping at the portal before it could smash the portal closed!
I hit the portal, the familiar sensation of being yanked through by an unseen force was accompanied by a sharp pull backwards! For a moment I felt like I would be split in two, but finally surged forwards, a deep angry rumbling, almost a growl, booming behind me.
The other side of the portal faded into existence around me. More trees. A cedar forest, but their leaves were green, and my suit reported the temperature was a nice warm seventy nine. Birds chirped happily, and my suit reported a pleasant breeze drifting through the trees. The world felt…right.
“Sai, picking up that fucking evil here?” I asked, sighing in relief as my intended curse split the air like a good fuck should.
“Not a motherbucking bit of that eldritch shit here. We’re safe,” Sai confirmed.
“Good. Never. Again. Ever!” I groaned.
“In the name of Equestria, stand and be recognized, mage!” A woman’s voice demanded with a military bellow!
I spun around, almost causing Bon to fall off my shoulders, immediately yelping and jumping backwards to gain some distance between myself and the glimmering silver tip of a halberd that threatened to lance through my belly!
You're enjoying your day~
And things are going your way~
Then along comes, Meep The Changeling...
In all seriousness though, I hope you all like this chapter as much as I did. I think it was very good for more than a few rasins.
7219071 And to think i wrote this in the last 4 hours while sleep deprived...
Eventually Bonbon II will evolve into Longbon.
img04.deviantart.net/8417/i/2012/150/7/9/longbon_by_docwario-d51o8gc.jpg
Very nice
Well... There goes any hope I had of having Trixie being uploaded into the armor and possibly overwriting Chere.ly.
Also, an earring of telekinesis? Oh the things one could do with that! Imagine all those small pesky things that we can't get to with our stubby fingers and don't have a proper tool for! The strength of a biomechanicaly enhanced human applied to a small area in a single direction of your choosing? She could knock down walls with that without her armor. A person could punch through a cinder block wall but would likely break their hand doing so. With telekinesis of an equivalent strength though no damage to the body. Or crud she could use it as an additional arm if both of hers are currently in use for some reason.
Another fine chapter, and ooooo Trixie as a changeling! I like it. ^.^ But so sad she had to die, poor little buggy. If only Lyra knew how to give the poor bug some love, but then she was probably already to far gone for that?
The typical "There's a 'wizard', stick a sword in it's face" trope. Knew Lyra would run into an Old Equestria dimension eventually.
Well... that was a bit on the darker side. Trixie really died and was replaced by a changeling to carry her legacy, ok I accept that. And seriously what is up with Bon? we KNOW she is acting out of the ordinary now, and the whole 'not dead from freezing water because I'm cold blooded' is just off the suspic-O-meater.
YAY we got the bucking hell out of.... and now we are about to be taken prisoner, 3rd worst day ever.
(2 references here, see if you can guess them)
7219097 That seems like a "Stretch"
Thank goodness they got out of that terrible place not being able to curse. Then again she's now held at weapon point by someone but I like to look at the silver lining or well the silver halberd to everything. With that charm she now has a answer to that age old question...Do you even lift? Yes with my mind. :P
Screw you meep, I was going to sleep then BAM, update to the face >.>
On the chapter now... you're going the lamia route, ain't you? Sneaky, sneaky changeling! Either that or I'm drawing blanks =p what did Lyra get into this time? Will you make us wait four+ days to know it? How will Lyra empty her filters? Why am I asking so many questions? ONLY THE PINK KNOWS!!!
Moar when?
7219480
Knows the answer but will let the theories run rampant for my amusement.
7219599
Pinkie: "HE'S ON TO ME!"
Sky: "Hon, everyone knows you know everything..."
Pinkie: "Oh yeah, right. Hehe."
I've known people from highly tropical areas who had that same issue. It's one thing to see the changes of seasons on TV or be told about them in school. It's another thing entirely for say...a guy from Hawaii....to spend the winter in upstate New York for one of our schools while in the Navy.
Yeah, figured she'd start picking up on it.
hehe I'm sure that her disappointment is more over Lyra not having a warmth charm than not being a lizard-person, but it's amusing to imagine she might have been hoping that Lyra was reptilian. Though, perhaps that would tie in with dragons and fire-breath....which is something she'd likely appreciate right now.
Damn.....that really sucks. More than a little guilt there.
Yeah....at this point not so sure she deserves that title. She's palling around with a terrorist, but won't forgive a travelling performer for having an ego.
Yeah....words have power here, Lyra.....be careful what you speak.
Hey Lyra, find out what she's dying of! Maybe it's something easily fixed!
Oh! This Trixie is a changeling. So that's why she's dying. Hate poisoning and no love. Lyra, change this!
Good Lord! Yeah....that universe is beyond words. There is nothing good about it. Just destroy the entire universe, the multiverse will be better off!
Sounds similar....say 'low level exposure to radon'?
How depressed she is is literally palpable.
Yeah....this entire universe is starting to sound like an evil 'genius loci'.
Hey Trixie'ling, this is someone showing care for you! Eat up!
Oh, well that's cool. Apparently Lyra can 'hear' telepathic speech between changelings.
Dammitall.
Yup, Bon is much changed, Lyra. And it's only going to get stronger.
Well, she does seem to be getting smarter. Gaining more curiosity is part of gaining brains.
lawl Sai's such an ass. And yeah....the censorverse is most definitely an evil genius-loci.
ha Well, that's one way to make an entrance. On the other hand, I fully agree. Never ever go back to that horrible 'verse!
7219075
well, you are doing an excellent job!
thx for another great chapter.
7219097 Don't give Discord ideas! That picture is creepy!
7219386 Yeah....I got the impression that she'd already received a fatally toxic dose of hatred thanks to the supposed 'Friendship Capital of Equestria'.
7219706
heh Theories abound, yes. Meep's holding her plans for that one close, but it will be fun regardless.
7219801
Yeah I was thinking the same thing, poor little buggy. You shoulda came to Meep or me or some other changeling loving party instead of where everypony is supposed to be loved but not really.
7219801 Well I do know, I have to assume you might as well. But I've got my lip zipped.
7219786
Hastur! Hastur! Hastur!
7219097 It is possible that you may have a problem.
(it's an undertale reference regarding Lesser Dog).
7219832 Yeah...poor 'ling. How Trixie was treated in canon in general really irritates me. It almost seemed like a performer being confident was a bad thing. Yeah, she did get a bit mean-spirited, but Twilight has forgiven far worse done to her by others than the little that Trix did so there's no justification for her still holding that grudge. Beyond that, though, Applejack is the cause of Trixie ending up penniless and doing hard labor regularly since she's the only one who would both hold enough of a grudge because Trixie hurt her pride and has an extensive enough network (her family) to ruin Trixie.
7219975 Well, she is convinced that she did already meet one 'Great Old One'. I'm pretty sure she's not about to try invoking another.
7219854 I know the cause. She's keeping where she's going with it a secret that I'm rather looking forward to. But yeah, I too am not about to give away fun stuff like that.
7219786
Or Sunset, Starlight should have stayed a returning villain and Trixie/Sunset should have been the new student.
The other thing that bugs me is how they handled the star bear, Trixie got so much hate when she had nothing to do with it. Yet S&S cause the destruction of ponyville and nothing, do they even have parents?!
Also nice first impression you made there Lyra!
7219097 THat is hilarious, but horrific at once.... Hilarrific, new word. I'm coining it.
7219353
Well, that Trixie at least. There are 14 others.
A very minor item available to most in modern Equestria which is absurdly useful for being seen as a cheep trinket sort of thing.
7219386
Unfortunately, in my AU, negative emotion exposure is like radiation exposure. In small amount, no big. In large amounts all at once, you're just dead. In small amounts over a long long time, it basically causes a cancer-like condition that's terminal.
7219423
I think you'll like the ride :)
7219480 Unfortunately, I missed the references :c
7219561
Guess what, jock. Nerds rule EVERYTHING now. MUAHAHAHAHA!
7219599
Shhhhh! Also more sooner than this time... It was very hard for me to write this.
7219795
You're most welcome! More soon.
7219975
*poof!* "Sup?"
"Uhhhhhhhh!"
"Look, I was about to go bowling. Just tell me what you want so i can get out of here, m'kay?"
"Uh, something to eat?"
"Here's a burger. Don't call again for at least 5 hours, kay? Old One out!" *poof*
"That went better than expected. Let's never do it again!"
7220174
Yeah! Seriously! Instead they give what should be an ultimate reward to the religious zelot with a Joker level malevolence who's willing to use brainwashing and soul rending to force others into her ideology and also willing to buttfuck the timeline as a way to take petty revenge... Sorry Hasbro, but that's not remotely forgivable. There are at least three Moral Event Horision crossings in there. I have no idea why Starlight wasn't executed.
Right? It's like if we put a pro wrestler on trial for their pre-fight boasting and then tossed the guy into prison because he can't back up that "I'm the strongest there is!" line
patriotic ponies would vandalism my waggon.
I believe vandilize is what you are looking for
7220478
It's not like "Our Town" was built using psychological warfare or anything, we can trust her! (Dear Princess of Friendship, I did it because I lost a friend, I'm better now.)
It's not like she has magical learning/casting abilities on par with Twilight, I'm sure giving her access to what will one day be the biggest repository for knowledge (including forbidden/dark) will work out fine and she wont try to over throw Equestria ever again.
/Edit How many times did Starlight try to destroy Equestria?
Tirek only tried twice and he's in tartarus, Sombra's dead (maybe damn lichs), NMM got labotomised away, we havent seen Chrissy since S3 (come back! I miss you!) and Discord got a thousand years as a pigeon toilet.
2+2 does not equal 4 here.
7219786
As an Alaskan with ALL of my genes coming from lines of desert dwelling people, I had NO IDEA that above 90F temperatures are comfortable as hell. It's amazing what living in a place can do to your worldview.
Well, her jumpsuit has a color and texture similar to newt skin. Easy enough mistake.
The fault here is on the TV show for having multiple writers. No single author would make this mistake in character. At least, not one that could find a job professionally writing.
Lyra: "Just to be safe... I'm going to try some old words here. Just to see if it was a thing for that universe only."
Sai: "Seems ligit."
L: "Klaatu, Varada, ni*coughmumblecough*"
*Discord poofs in, waps her with a rolled up newspaper*
Discord: "No summoning me between 9pm and 5am!"
It would be if you knew how emotional energy conduits worked to transfer energy and possessed the magic required to make them. Unfortunately, this is speculative science even in the universe where Changelings are and have always been accepted into society.
Unfortunately, that's rather hard to do :/ Unless you're Davros. Self propagating light speed anti-energy field... Just, jesus...
When the organic can feel the wrongness in the physics, it's time to gtfo before this happens.
She can do far more than that, actually. But minor spoilers.
7220505 Curse you spellcheck!
7220519 The only way I'll ever watch the show again is if it turns out that Starlight is actually Chrysalis working on an elaborate longcon so she can be absolutely sure she can kill Twilight this time. Which actually might be the case... Bouth characters share facial expressions, bouth have Dominate Person as at-will abilities, Chrissie was able to take out Celestia so she IS Alicorn strong, Angle Bunny LIKES Starlight and he HATES everypony who is good soooo...
7220526
Honestly, I stopped getting my MLP from hasbro during S5. I get my pony solely from you guys now.
I don't know if you saw my edit before replying back, but I wouldn't be suprised if mind control was used to keep Starlight out of trouble and into Twilight's care.
Now that you mention it, I could see Chrissy being the puppet master behind her actions, a suggestion here, a rare tomb there and the good little
puppetpony takes all the risk this time.7220546 I don't blame you from getting your pony from the community now. MLP has a fantastic, unique, and untapped setting. It's a shame the canon BAILY uses it. Hell, can you imagine if I owned the IP? If I could make literal beds of money per episode, the amount of effort I would put in... I'd also let Fluttershy's voice actress write her own lines.
Did you know that Andrea Libman loves playing Fluttershy so much she's literally almost been fired for trying to change lines that made Fluttershy sound out of character, or use a different line to keep her character more consistent or give her a little more depth? What the fuck Hasbro?! Your actress gives a shit, let her add to the world as more than just a voice.
7220557
... I'm tempted to sign up to change.org now. Just all of my yes.
I feel this is something large companies don't understand, if you have the passion and the market the money will come to you. Instead they keep chasing the bottom line and statisical targets while passion and creativity (followed by the target audience) get squeezed out.
7220478 Too bad, one of them was from you XD
7220975 D'arvit!
Onward!
7221053 XD I am imagining you posting that every time a portal is opened.
7220478
Kind of figured that. But alas our poor buggy, you did not get what you deserved. Most buggy deserve at least a little love.
7220138
Hmm I didn't even think about that (Applejacks extended family) but indeed that would make sense. That Apple family pride * shakes head* . I wonder how many others it bad ruined (beside Flim and Flam of course if you read the comics).
No joke this time but more a random loose theory on things that would have nothing to do with the story. She is going through dimensions and if each one had their own start like the Big Bang Then they are moving outward away from a singular point. I'm wondering you age slower while on going faster, what would happen if she was in a dimension where the universe itse;f while it looks the same was moving apart faster. Would she age slower? or the oppesite if she landed on a slowed one would she age faster or even to dust?
Honestly my theory could be wrong in every way but still interesting theory.
Also about the beware jock thing...The meek shall inherit the earth. :3
7221234 You're on to something about the underlying setting's physics, but It's not likly to impact the setting to much.
7221218 Well....the Apple family does have a monopoly on growing apples in Equestria. It probably didn't start that way, they likely just drove anyone else that tried to grow apples out of business. Even by what's shown in-cannon, the Apple family is only a couple steps away from being equivalent to the Mafia.
7221308 ANd given how much ponies like real apples...
7220478 You're right. I've always enjoyed novels with elements of fantasy plus Medieval themes.
7221308
Very true, hehe would be interesting to see a fanfic with the Apple family as mobsters. :p And that is why the farming family in my story grows peaches instead of apples. (Well one of the reasons.)
7221606 I have the Apple Family as owning about 80% of all Equestrian Applefarms >> So yeah, most ponies dont grow apples.
7221676
With how big her family is, I wouldn't be surprised if that could be canon. Do we know of any other Apple farmers besides them? As I can't think of any.
7221795 They even have a town named after their family... Theyare totaly a mafia, and most of them HAVE to be in the nobility due to sheer land ownership.
7221791
Especialy for a pilot.
"Haha! Take that physics!"
"... your not even flying."
"Yeah, but he is! And it's AWESOME!"
"He's not even that good..."
"Still motherficking FLYING! I don't see you flying."
Quite so, actually.
A bit of bouth... Ponies have 300 year lifespans. So they change slowly, due to cultural lag. Or atleast by human standards they change slowly.
Yep! At least 20% more awesome then a normal lightsaber. I know, I asked an expert in awesome.
7222051
Who? RD?
7222384 Nono, RD is the coolness expert, her dad Spectrum is the Awesomeness expert.
7222043
Oh yes! Appleloosa and a fine town it is. :P If one of them was to become an alicorn, it would totally be for the alicorn of family or something like that, being so close knit with their kin and all. *nods* Good thing ponies love apples so much! :P