literature

the head scratching chapter

Deviation Actions

RexIvan's avatar
By
Published:
388 Views

Literature Text

For the MLP Write Training Week 5 theme "mane cast in a room"
                                                                       


"This is the situation:  I know who I am, but that is all I can be certain of.  One or more of you other ponies is not who you seem to be.  You're an imposter, but a perfect physical imitation of the one you are pretending to be.  You know all the habits and mannerisms of that pony, and you know her history and personality too.  So now, tell me ... how do we find out who is real and who is pretending?"  The purple unicorn grinned to herself as she looked to each of her friends in turn.  "For that matter, how do you know that I am actually the real Twilight Sparkle?"

"Silly Twilight!  I saw that movie too.  It was big and ugly and had a bunch of fire magic being thrown around.  If you're gonna play the game, come up with something that hasn't been done before."  Pinkie giggled as she walked over to the table with all the baked goods on them.  She picked out a particularly tasty looking muffin and swallowed it down, barely bothering to chew.

"Pinkie!  You're ruining it, and that was a really good one too.  You're missing the point.  It's an exercise in critical thinking.  It doesn't matter that it's been done before, just that you're able to figure out how to do it on your own."  Twilight's frown arched downward as she levitated her bottled drink towards her.  

"Well, that's all well an' good Twi, and Ah' can't speak for the rest of the ponies here, but Ah' don't think Ah' would've figured it out."  Applejack took a loud bite from her apple turnover before continuing.  "Befideth, whaf if we-"

"Chew your food first, PLEASE, Applejack.  We would have waited for you.  Honestly, I really hoped that you would have learned something since our time together."  Rarity sipped daintily from her teacup and blotted the corners of her mouth with her embroidered napkin.  "Besides, the answer is obvious.  One just needs to OW!"

Her sentence was cut off with the dull thud of a Rainbow pegasus falling from the upper loft area.  "Rainbow Dash, get off of me!  Rainbow Dash, didn't you … Rainbow?  Rainbow Dash?!"  Rarity urgently shook her friend's shoulders. Rainbow Dash's legs suddenly straightened as she jerked out of her slumber.

"HUH?! I was … WAH?  The, the,  … uh?  … wuh happen …?"  Her head turned in every direction as she tried to move to the standing position.  She shook the sleep out of her head and met the gaze of the pony who had just acted as her landing mattress.  "Heh heh.  I … must have dozed off up there.  Sorry Rarity, I had rough afternoon rounding up clouds way over at McHooferton Ridge.  Getting them all back here before they started raining was a feat of awesome sauce, and I am seriously tired."  She rubbed the spot on her back where she had landed as she grumbled further.  "But I mean really, didn't the ponies in the nimbus exchange program even think about the logistics of which towns are trading weather?"

"You mean you didn't even hear my brain teasers?  Any of them?"  Twilight stared at Dash as her mouth turned from a tight lipped frown to a gaping expression of disappointment.  "Not even the one about the creator of the rock that's too heavy to move?"

"Heh, nope.  Must have missed that one.  I guess I drifted off about the time it started raining outside.  I mean, seriously, the sound it makes against your roof is so soothing after a hard day of making it come down.  You just don't get that with cloud roofs."

"So you missed everything?"  Twilight's eyes went wide as she furrowed her brows.

"No!  Not everything.  I heard the … um … the ..."  The blue pegasus put a hoof to her chin in thought for a moment before finishing her answer.  "Well …  yeah, pretty much, everything, I guess."

Twilight threw her head back, letting out an exasperated sigh.  "UHG!  I don't know why I bother."  She took another sip of her drink as she calmed down.  "Hey wait a minute.  Where's Fluttershy?"

"I ate her."  Pinkie smiled broadly as the others looked her way.

"You … ate her?  Hee heehHAHAAH!  Good one, sugar cube.  You always know how to get a laugh."  Applejack slapped the knee of her hind leg and trotted over to get another apple fritter.  Twilight suddenly noticed that she was tracking mud along the floor.

"You ate Fluttershy, huh?  Funny Pinkie, but seriously where did she go?  And when did you go outside to get your hooves muddy Applejack?"  Twilight looked from pink to orange pony as she asked her friends these questions.

"What do you mean Twi?  Ah' was in here before it started raining."  She reared up onto the table with her dirty hooves smearing the table cloth and desserts with brown muck as she reached for another plate.

"OH!  Look you're getting it all over the food!  You- oh, I feel faint ..."  Rarity's eyes rolled back as she tilted sideways before striking the floor heavily.

"Rarity!  Are you ok?"  Twilight looked over the table in alarm before looking suddenly back at Pinkie, now inexplicably much closer than she had been a moment ago.

"No Twilight.  I'm serious.  I ate Fluttershy."  She wasn't smiling this time, and Twilight flinched back at the blank stare she got from the pink pony.  "She was delicious.  You know what,  I bet your chair is delicious too."  She craned her neck over to a nearby wooden chair and began to gnaw on its back before biting off a chunk and grinding it between her teeth.  "S' good."

"Pinkie!  What are you doing?!  That's not edible at all!  Spit it out!"  Twilight nearly jumped to stop her friend when she saw an odd shape moving along the under side of Pinkie's tummy.  It rolled one way and then the next, before the protrusion of a face began to press out from the earth pony's abdomen.    

Twilight backed away quickly as Pinkie took another bite of chair.  She was so focused on the earth pony that she tripped backwards over the slumbering pegasus behind her.  She caught her balance and looked down at her snoring friend.  "Rainbow Dash wake up!  Pinkie's gone crazy, this is no time to sleep."

She shook her blue friend rapidly for several seconds with the only result being a louder snoring.  "Wake up!  What's wrong with you?  Applejack help Rarity wake up while I ge-"  She stopped short as she looked over at the dessert table.  There, on top of the table, bending the wooden boards with its weight, was a giant apple with her workhorse friend's face on it.  

"Y'all know what we do with apples?"  Twilight felt her head involuntarily shaking from side to side at the ripe red fruit's question.  "We pick 'em, before they explode!"  With that the apple face burst open with a thundering force that sent tarry brown mud covering everything in the room.


                                                                      ******


"GAH!"  Twilight sat straight up, nearly leaping off of the mattress.  She clutched her hooves to her chest shivering as her eyes darted around the room.  She was met with the wide eyed stares of her five best friends, all looking very concerned.

Pinkie looked toward Rarity as she spoke.  "That doesn't look like it was any fun at all.  Is she supposed to be sweating and shaking like that?"

"This spell wasn't supposed to have any of those side effects.  It SHOULD have been a fairly pleasant experience."  Rarity answered before looking back at Twilight.  "Are you alright dear?  Do you remember where you are?"  She reached out to touch Twilight's shoulder but then lowered her hoof when Twilight half flinched away from it.

Twilight looked at each of her friends as her mind began to calm and reality began to return to her.  "The … the spell … "  She looked around as her memory began to return.  She was still in her library, in the very same spot she had lay down when she and Rarity had decided to try the new spell.  It was supposed to link the minds of those involved into the one who slept.  "I think … I think we must have gotten a few things wrong.  You were all there, but not the real you.  It was a sick caricature of how you normally behave, and it bordered on a nightmare."  She shook her head from side to side trying to forget the images.  "Let's not try this again anytime soon, not before we have time to work the problems out, at least."

Twilight rose and moved over to the beverages on the table.  The ponies muttered amongst themselves as she opened a sarsaparilla and began sipping.  She noticed that her hooves were still shaking a bit.

"... um … are you sure you're alright, Twilight?"  Fluttershy had moved to her side before she had taken the third sip of her drink.

"Yes.  Yes, I think I'll be fine.  Thank you.  Now that I think about it, we probably shouldn't have used spell reagents from the thrift shop for such delicate magic.  I'll have to visit Zecora to see if she has anything of a higher quality."

"Oh … alright then."  The yellow pegasus stood looking at Twilight's hooves, much the way she did when she wanted to ask something potentially embarrassing.  

"Is everything alright Fluttershy?"  She tried to ask as gently as possible.

"Oh, yes … but I was wondering … you said we acted badly.  What did I end up doing?"  She lowered her head, effectively hiding her expression behind her long pink mane.

"Honestly?  I think, given the situation, you were the one who misbehaved the least."  As she said this she took another sip of her drink.  "Yes.  I think there was nothing at all to fear from your dream self."

"Oh good.  I was afraid for a moment that the spell might have misrepresented me in some way.  I reeeally wouldn't want that."  She smiled at Twilight.  Twilight smiled back before again taking a sip of her drink.  After swallowing the fizzy liquid she turned back to Fluttershy, who was still holding the same gentle grin.  

Twilight returned her smile again.  They both held the expression, and Twilight began to wonder if she really had woken up or not.  She was about to say something more when Fluttershy reached over and grabbed a drink for herself.  "How about we all play a nice game next?"

"Yeah, Fluttershy.  Yeah … that would be great," and then Twilight watched her friend begin to set up the dart board.
Written for the MLP WTG group week five theme. "the Main cast are in a room and talk".

Tag: Relatively normal


I've had lousy day today. I'm uninspired. It's late, and I've had a few beers. That was the situation when I sat down to write this. Now I'm posting it without proofreading, or sleeping on it to see how much it sucks in the morning.

I fear that I've fallen into the realm of idiocy. I'm sorry to those who watch me. I may actually take this down later, and/or give massive edits.

But once again, this is an experiment. This is what happens when I belch out a story totally off the cuff. Be brutal and rip this monstrosity to ribbons for wasting your time reading it.
© 2011 - 2024 RexIvan
Comments6
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
BoneSatellite's avatar
Returning from Internetlessness ...

... not too bad, but obviously not one of your best stories. I'm afraid I'm not analytical enough to fully interpret the ending, just that Fluttershy wasn't misrepresented in Twilight's dream, but seemed a little odd after she's woken up.

Some edits could be made, but the story is far from being any kind of mess.