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[want_a_vacation]

*The unicorn stallion on the scrolls isn't anything special. In fact, he looks so generic you'd probably ignore him if you passed him on the street. Even the three sprawling lightning scars over his torso seem unremarkable at first glance.*

Right...seeing as the entire town is different and this isn't the usual cell phone, I'm going to take a wild guess and say this isn't a moon event. On another wild guess, I'm going to assume that I've been kidnapped to another world that isn't mine and doesn't like people that don't fit in with the natives.

So can anypony lend me a hoof and tell me where I am, who I should blame this time and anything relevant to the apparently never-ending quest to get back to where we belong? And anything else that might be important for a newcomer to know, like strange monsters that appear at midnight or headache-inducing changes happening on a monthly schedule, while you're at it.

And just in case anypony that already knows me is here, it's me, Allen Ridgeley. Apparently I'm a unicorn now, because why not.

*He rubs a hoof over his face and then rolls up the scroll.*

Comments

[appletastic]

...moon event? Kidnapping? Now wait just a second.

[Applejack's looking at the screen at a weird angle, looking worried. She's still not quite used to this newfangled thing. But those words alarm her.]

This is Ponyville, but things are looking mighty strange right now. I don't recognize half the folks in town! Maybe they came the same way you did?

And that might be why town's so messed up too, if all these other newfolks were thrown here like you.

[She stamps her hoof, really agitated about this now.]

[want_a_vacation]

If this is anything like the last place I was, probably. Most likely without much in the way of explanation.

[appletastic]

Last place you were? So this happens often?

[want_a_vacation]

I'm not sure if it happens often...but it's not the first time.

[appletastic]

So people just poof outta where they're supposed to be and end up here? That's not right.

[She sighs.]

I'm sorry you got mixed up in this. But don't worry too much, I'm sure the princesses are working on things! They'll fix this.

visual

[kind_to_all]

You're... taking this all really well.

[ The yellow pegasus eyes him carefully as he gets his bearings. ]

visual

[want_a_vacation]

I'm...kind of used to crazy situations like this. Well, the unicorn thing is new, but it's really only a little bit stranger than what I'm used to.

At least there's no zombie apocalypse this time. ...Not one that's immediately obvious, at least.

visual

[kind_to_all]

Um... ... no, there aren't any zombies.

... You weren't a unicorn before, were you? Are you doing okay as one?

visual

[want_a_vacation]

No, I'm usually human. It's...honestly kind of weird. I'm not sure how to deal with not having fingers or needing at least three legs to stand properly.

visual

[kind_to_all]

Oh, that's okay. It'll take time. Body dysmorphia always does.

Just relax -- there's parts of you that already know how to be a pony.

[needsteaplz]

[And Saori was instantly pinged by the mention of a moon event, midnight appearing monsters, and that name. She immediately replies. The voice might sound familiar but now it's belonging to a green unicorn.]

Wait, that voice...Allen? I-I never thought I would've heard from someone from Prospero ever again.

[want_a_vacation]

*He doesn't recognize the form, but he does recognize the voice.*

Yeah, it's me. Saori, that's you, right?

[needsteaplz]

[She nods and smiles.]

The one only. It's been a while, hasn't it. Almost...a year or more last time I checked.

[want_a_vacation]

Not from my end, I was in Prospero until a few minutes ago.

[Visual]

[foolish_seal]

[While 'moon event' and 'midnight monsters' catches his attention, he won't mention either right off the bat.]

It's not exactly a monthly schedule, but weird things do happen here regularly.

[Visual]

[want_a_vacation]

*You haven't even seen his Arcana card yet.*

So more like back home than in Prospero, then.

[Visual]

[foolish_seal]

Can't say I'm familiar with either of those places.

[Visual]

[want_a_vacation]

Different brands of crazy. Prospero is the last inter-dimensional prison I was stuck in, its one saving grace was that we knew when to expect things.

[Visual]

[caneattheseapples]

Damn dude, you have any kind of skills beyond whining?

As for strange monsters, sure. There's a whiny, bat-winged doucher named Dan who I'm pretty sure subsists entirely of whatever garbage he can find behind seat cushions. Beware of him, because he'll probably try and kill you with his wit that's about as sharp as a salmon.

[Visual]

[want_a_vacation]

If you have to know, I'm a programmer and pretty good at organization.

*Flatest. Tone. Ever. Sorry Jappleack, not going to get a rise out of him that way.*

And I think I can handle an obnoxious bottom feeder. I was more talking about the type of monster that can't be disarmed just by ignoring them.

Re: [Visual]

[caneattheseapples]

[Well at least that's a decent reaction. If you're not going to fall for her messing about maybe you'll be worth talking to.]

Couple dragons, but they seem to do shit all so who cares. There are monsters in the forest, but in this world they won't bother you unless you go there.

Nothing else I can think of, but I'm sure it's coming.

[Visual]

[want_a_vacation]

*If he couldn't take a bit of sass, he never would have survived First Division, let alone his family.*

Well, we're already a step up from Prospero. I'll take periodic monster attacks over regular ones any day.

Text

[wizardofharmony]

Newcomer -

First off, hail. I would say well met, but if I do not, know that it is the circumstances of our meeting that makes it not so, and in any other time and place we would be.

You are in a town the residents of which call Ponyville, in a world called Equestria, where the natural form of the rational and intelligent life is much akin to a horse or pony.

These ponies belong chiefly of three races, these being: the Earthponies, who are skilled with all manner of crafts and the tending of the land; the Pegasi, renowned athletes capable of flight under their own power with their broad wings, and of shaping the clouds and the sky to create what weather they would choose to have; and the Unicorn, the race I found myself as when I arrived, known for the single spiraling horn on the crown of their head, which serves as a natural wand or staff for the evocation of magical forces.

There are also a minority of zebra and creatures with the mixed features of pegasi and bats, as well as some dragons, speaking cats and dogs, and gryphons.

It is probable that you were taken to this reflection of the greater multiverse to combat the evil of one called only the Pale Pony, a creature akin to a deity of death; it is to her end, and to the end of defending this realm, that we were called.

It sounds to me as if you are an experienced traveller between the reflected worlds, to which I can only offer my sympathies and condolences. If you have further questions of me, you need but ask them to scroll, and we shall speak.

In Honesty and in Kindness,

Lucia Ardua Bolido

Text

[want_a_vacation]

What details do you have regarding the Pale Pony?

Also, since a unicorn's magic is apparently commonplace here, there has to be some sort of public information on how to use it. Do you know where I could find lessons, or at least self-help filesbooks?

Sorry for Lucia being a teal deer instead of a purple pony

[wizardofharmony]

Such details as we can confirm are scant. Much is hearsay. We know her mark, a letter P with crossed arrows; and that her servants are heralded with a flash of rainbow light, and can take the form of statues made of gypsum, hard to crack but vulnerable to melting in water.

There is a whisper and a rumor that the Pale Pony may be a dark reflection of the beloved monarch, the Princess Celestia, who raises the sun at dawn and lowers it at dusk. Ways to other worlds were known to us, and we were recently attacked by such a cracked reflection, making this theory attractive - but we have not enough information.

I would be willing to teach the basics of magic - the Mage's Hand for grasping objects, and some other necessary cantrips. As well, there is a library, the Golden Oaks, where reside myself and several unicorns so like me as to be my reflections - for such they are, from other worlds; these are Princess Twilight Sparkle of Ponyville, and Twilight Sparkle of Mayfield. They may also be willing to teach.

In Kindness,

LB