Return to fake roots

I was reduced to an irritable bundle of nerves. In the library, the actions of two rival eight year olds would decide whether I would be able to return home, or be forced to stay. They were looking for a language book or for some help from the library's owner, Twilight Sparkle, who was famous for begin highly knowledgeable in pretty much every subject. And I could not see how they were doing, since I was stuck in the stroller parked outside the library.

I had nothing to do in the meantime, so I started to think about what to say to Twilight to prove my non-equine origin.

“Ave, Regina Scintilla Crepuscoli. Venicio Eiuloci sum. Iuvene Vir sum, parvulum equum non sum, et a domi exopto redire: tuum auxilio possum fidere?”

“Greetings, Princess Twilight Sparkle. I am Venicio, son of Euiloco. I am a young man, not a foal, and I want to go back home. Can I rely upon your help?”

Well, it wasn't the most appropriate introduction for royalty. First of all, I was trying to reclaim a position of power that I didn't have right there, by using the patronymic during my presentation.

Second, if I wanted to get a chance to go back home, I needed to please Twilight, and not just make my request right away. Thus, I wanted to do some pandering in the speech before making my request.

Third, I was going to talk with her as if she were a member of my peer group, by using the second person singular. Now, if I were going to speak English, that issue wasn't going to exist, since the second person plural and singular are the same. But I was going to speak in Latin, and I needed to address her with the “maiestatis plural.”

And so I reorganized my speech:

“Ave, Regina Scintilla Crepuscoli, Pannum Crepuscoli et Augente Crepuscoli filia; tertiam reginam Equestri Terram; Incuborum Lunam victrix, quod aeternam noctem cupivit; emandatrix Chai Exprimis; Ombram regem interfector, crudelem tyrannum; omnia facinora Caelesta rege, immortale dea. Venicio sum, et iuvenem virem sum, non parvulum equum. A domi exopto redire: tuos auxilio possum fidere ?”

“Greetings, Princess Twilight Sparkle, daughter of Twilight Velvet and Crescent Sparkle, (you) are the third ruler of Equestria; the victor over Nightmare Moon, who desired the everlasting night; the punisher of Chaos made flesh; killer of King Sombra, cruel tyrant; every deed done under Celestia's rule, immortal goddess. I am Venicio, and I am a young man, not a foal. I wish to go back home. Can I rely upon your help?”

Now THAT was the way to do it: refined; respectful; very brown-nosing, but still decent enough for me to maintain my dignity.

Then I started to practice said speech, in various tones, from the very respectful to the bombastic, until I found the one that seemed to fit better for the situation I was in.

When I finished my search for the words to say to Twilight Sparkle, finally the door of the library was opened again, this time by Silver Spoon.

I asked her if we were going into the library (in Latin, clearly), and, while Silver Spoon took my stroller in, answered affirmatively to my question.

When I was finally inside, an annoyed Twilight Sparkle stood in front of me. Apart from the wings, the other things that distinguished her from her past self were a golden chest plate, on which was engraved the phrase “We seek knowledge”, and four silver horseshoes.

Pretty simple but effective royal attire, I had to say.

Anyway, she spoke to us. “So, this is the foal that Silver Spoon claims to be able to speak Latin. Let's see if it's an impression, or if it's true, even though I highly doubt that he is capable of speaking such an ancient language, when he is incapable of speaking the common tongue.”

And so I spoke the entirety my speech in a polite yet determined manner. “Ave, Regina Scintilla Crepuscoli, Pannum Crepuscoli et Augente Crepuscoli filia; tertiam reginam Equestri Terram; Incuborum Lunam victrix, quod aeternam noctem cupivit; emandatrix Chai Exprimis; Ombram regem interfector, crudelem tyrannum; omnia facinora Caelesta rege, immortale dea. Venicio sum, et iuvenem virem sum, non parvulum equum. A domi exopto redire: tuos auxilio possum fidere?”

When I finished my speech, and raised my head towards the purple alicorn, I saw a shocked Twilight staring blankly at me, her jaw dropped.

“W-w-wha-t-t? Tha-a-a-at s-s-sh-hou-u-ld not be p-p-possibl-l-e!” she stuttered.

“And iet it iz!” said Silver Spoon, smirking.

“But... do you even HAVE an idea about what he is claiming right now? What he is saying? He is saying that he is a young human, but, for all I know, that means he should be in another universe!”

“I guezz ies, but... that doezen't exprain hiz prezence here in Equeztria, zince it'z said that thei lack magic and the technorogi to reach other planez of existence!”

“At least, according to my mentor, the only passage between us and the human world is a mirror deep in the Crystal Empire Palace and a randomly placed counterpart in the human world,”

Twilight said with a slightly worried voice.

Sooo... basically, the mirror that kicks off the plot of Equestria Girls dragged me to Equestria. Interesting, and quite ironic.

“The problem is, he clearly didn't travel for 1249 kilometers to arrive here, in Ponyville. Venicio lacks the resources to slip past everypony and cross the Everfree without danger.”

Silver Spoon put one of her hooves under her chin, stood for some seconds in silence, then spoke up. “Maibe the mirror doezn't send those who enter right where the entrance on the other side iz, but to a random pozition of the worrd... that wourd be interezting.”

Twilight pointed Silver Spoon, and said “That is a possibility... or maybe there are places that the mirror is more likely to transport somepony to...”

I actually stopped to listen up, because I thought I knew already what to do, now that I knew what caused my arrival. The problem was how to do it, since the mirror was, technically, a semi-state secret, one which Twilight revealed in a moment of confusion to a pair of fillies.

Since I found it rude to interrupt the purple alicorn while she raved, I just stood there, looking in the eyes of a confused Silver Spoon, and at Apple Bloom, who was lightly swearing over losing the bet, and about how she was going to communicate to her family the change in my status, from “Orphan” to “Extradimensional being”.

Not that I cared too much about it, anyway.

Returning to the topic, finally, Twilight stopped herself, and asked us to leave the library, so that she could think up a plan for me. I tried to protest the decision, but Silver Spoon told me to shut up, because everything was going to be fine.

Yes. It was going to be fine. But the fastest way for me to go back home was the mirror deep in the heart of the Crystal Empire, not some other weird way, especially since Twilight was now, basically, a co-ruler.

Hell, if Twilight proved that I wasn't a common foal, but a human, maybe 70% of the red tape would be flushed down the toilet!

But no, I needed to wait until the next day, before heading back home, and, knowing Twilight, it was likely that she was going to dot every I and cross every T.

Each.

Fucking.

One.

Porco zio.

Anyway, Apple Bloom and I returned to her house with the sun setting. The afternoon had passed fast, and, surely, it had been quite interesting.

When, finally, I entered the house, I was welcomed by a loud scream:

“APPLE BLOOM! WHERE WERE YOU FOR SO LONG?!”

Apple Bloom, afraid, had a terse response. “Horseapples.”

I guessed that Applejack was quite angry with the filly for being quite late in coming back home. I knew that, soon, her anger will turn to surprise, once she learned my true identity. It was only matter of time.

Meanwhile, unnoticed, I exited the stroller, dropped slowly to four hooves, and went to the bathroom to change myself. Now, no one was going to stop me from doing so.

Apple Bloom felt a shiver down her spine. She had been so focused on looking for books and listening to the nonsensical dissertation of Twilight, that she didn't notice the time passing, and she missed the passing of her deadline for returning home.

And, on top of having to listen to her concerned sister Applejack freaking out, Apple Bloom still needed to tell her the true origins of Venicio, which meant she would have to see him leave the family.

Apple Bloom didn't want to.

But she had to.

Sighing, the filly with a bow went to the room where Applejack was, and prepared herself for the long talk.

And so she entered in the living room. Applejack was sitting on one of the green couches, her face showing annoyance.

“So, where have you been that it took you so long to return home? You know that you must return home before sunset, not after,” the orange pony said.

“Sorry, sister, but I can explain....”

Then Apple Bloom stopped, and thought about the implications of telling the truth. If she told the truth, then Venicio would go away forever, without the possibility of seeing him again. Apple Bloom, clearly, could not follow him to his world, because she didn't felt strong enough for follow him and leave his family.

The filly was devoured by indecision, her guilt and her love towards Venicio, and a pressuring Applejack wasn't helping either.

Finally, overloaded by the pressure, Apple Bloom decided to lie about the origins of Venicio. “Well, I was at the library, looking for some information about... plumbing. Yeah, plumbing,” she said.

Applejack looked at Apple Boom sideways. “Plumbing? Really? I didn't knew that there were books about plumbing,” she said. “Could you please show me these books?”

Apple Bloom felt a cold sweat. Now, if she didn't find some books about plumbing the next morning? She was going to be royally screwed, because, aptly enough, Applejack was merciless about lies, especially ones that cover a dark scheme.

And her tale was one of them. She was trying to keep Venicio as her brother, not letting him go away from her. She felt a strong bond with him; though she only knew Venicio for three weeks, it seemed to Apple Bloom that she had known him since the day he was born.

But the filly overcame her fear of her sister's punishment, and spoke. “Well, I can show you. Just wait until tomorrow,” she said. Apple Bloom thought that, if it came down to it, she could say that every book about the subject was checked out by other ponies.

Applejack nodded, and grinned. Her grin gave the impression that Applejack knew that Apple Bloom was lying, and yet, she didn't feel necessary call her out right away. Rather, she could wait for the most opportune moment.

Apple Bloom didn't see it, though, and, sighing with relief, she trotted away towards the dining room, when she heard a scream coming from the bathroom.

“Sì! Sì! Sì! SII! Porca puttana, sì! 'Fortune rotae vulvitur' per davvero!” ( "Yes ! Yes ! Yes ! YES ! Holy shit yes ! 'Fortune rota volvitur' for real !")

Apple Bloom recognized the speech pattern, and the pitch of the voice... Venicio!

Venicio was screaming from the bathroom. Apple Bloom, panicking, ran into the room, only to find Venicio lying down in the sink, his face occupied by a huge smile that would make even Pinkie's joyous smiles pale in comparison. On the mirror above the sink, there was a little crack, and a drop of blood... Venicio got hurt for real!

Panic filled the filly's body, as Apple Bloom started to warn her family about what happened, hoping to be in time to save him... or keep him in Equestria, if he had tried to escape with a mirror, and half-succeeded.

When, finally, Apple Bloom got the attention of her older sister, she was told to see if Venicio was responsive.

When Apple Bloom returned to the bathroom, she found that Venicio was responsive, but didn't seemed in a good shape.

Finally! Freedom, at last!

And all thanks to a seemingly random mirror in the Apples' bathroom.

Basically, while I was changing my diaper and preparing to go to bed, I accidentally launched some baby power towards the sink. At first I thought it was a meaningless accident, something totally unimportant.

However, when I saw the cloud move towards the mirror, I noticed that the mirror started to light up with a blue light, and the glass started tearing apart like thin fabric on an obese person's ass.

That sight left me disturbed for a bit, then I thought back to the past days, and how I arrived in Equestria....

Blue Light....

Appearing from nowhere....

While I was doing a mundane task....

My heart filled with joy, and I screamed with every cubic millimeter of air in my lungs.

“Sì! Sì! Sì! SII! Porca puttana, sì! 'Fortune rotae vulvitur' per davvero!”

That said, I saw the distance between the changing table and the mirror: too long for me to jump... but not tall enough to be climbed!

I went down the table, took a metal stepladder, placed it under the sink, climbed the steps, and, with a lot of strain, I arrived at my goal, the sink under the mirror.

But, as soon I prepared to to jump in, some regrets formed in my mind....

What about the hospitality that the Apples gave me, the reward of the ξένια?

What about the attention that they gave me, the brotherly love that I felt for the first time in my whole life?

What about the fact that I didn't need anymore to put up a fight to reclaim my rights?

What about the fact that I was going to live a dream?

To leave them out of the blue seemed very rough for them, and, by leaving them, I was missing the possibility of restarting my whole life, but with some advantages.

I was going to give up my opportunity to go home, when my inner mind said to me, “You are making a foolish decision by staying here in Equestria. Yes, you are going to start your life over, and you will have more help when you are in need than you would ever have received from your brothers, but you will still be the young one, the member of the family that will never, ever be taken into consideration.

“And, without the endless sibling competition that you got on Earth, you will have no reason to improve yourself and prove your true worth, now that you know that your brothers won't try to control you. But it's a trap. They don't try because they think they have the divine right to control you until their death, and so there is no need to show it.

“Know that, whatever decision you make, if you are making a wrong decision you will be helped by somebody, letting you make more errors, even tragic ones, and very few good decisions.

“And, worst of all, you are tragically stuck in a body of a child, who will always be supported by parents or tutors, while you wish to be an adult, to be the breadwinner.

“If you return on Earth, you will arrive as a young adult, with the appropriate mental age, without anyone calling you 'weird' for your behaviors. You will have to fight for your position, a fight that will improve you, and make you a true man. You will have the possibility of living quite normally, and, best of all, if you return on Earth, YOU CAN RAISE A FAMILY AND PASS ON YOUR GOOD GENES SOONER.”

But my soul retorted:

“Not true. If you return on Earth, you will be again in the cycle of power grabbing that was a pillar of your life, and that will be your doom, because none of your brothers really loves you, but they want just use you as a slave. If you stay in Equestria, then you will be capable of restart from the scratch, and create your own bloodline: because it's good continue an honorable bloodline like the one of your father and of your mother, but it's even better create one.”

The response was this:

“Even you, soul, fear the total reset of time of the body, but not a reset of the mind: we both fear the regression, the return to things already done in a far past, the things done in the past and never enjoyed fully: when they are remembered, we suffer greatly. If we stay in this world, soon our reserves of sanity will be depleted, because we are terrorized by repeat the past, and for a long time, our life will be like that.”

“And so ? Who cares ? If we will finish the sanity, our madness will be seen like a quirk of a kid, and shrugged off.”

Convincing enough.

I was going to give up, and just live in Equestria, sure that a brand new life in a good environment would be very pleasuring, when I heard a otherworldly voice coming from the mirror:

“Venicio...”

I jumped a bit, and asked scared: “Who are you ?”

The shards of the mirror placed over the blue light, and shaped like a bearded face.

The shards that formed the lips moved, and caused the production of this words:

“I am the Great Ferryman, the one that moved everything between dimensions since the Big Bang. Even if it might sounds odd for you, when I saw your indecision, I took initiative, and decided to speak to you about your choice”

I looked at it confused, before saying:

“Aaand... why you stopped your work for speak to me ? I'm certain that many living things need right now to move between dimensions...”

It faked a spit, and said “Not really. I'm not much busy, so I generally speak to every wandered that uses my services. Anyway, from what I understood, you are conflicted between going home, and stay here, right ?”

“Right”

“Well, it might surprise you, but,  I usually stay around the Young King Fate”

I looked bad to the Great Ferryman, and it said:

“He is a toddler, after all, he might cause a very, very big mess, if not under the watch of somebody.

Anyway, I lately noticed that he is playing often with two dolls: a doll made of red gold, shaped like a young man, a crow endorsed on the right shoulder of the man, in the crow's beak, a lily;  he  has a crown of laurel; the other toy is a  chess piece made of stone shaped like a very muscular pony, its ears are very long and, under one of its hooves, there is a turtle.

The Fate called them both “Venicio”, and it's since two weeks that he tries to fit the doll of gold into the little statue of stone, saying that the human Venicio is trying to “Escape from his meanie brothers” and “Have a new, happy life” in the land of “Little horsies”. Just before coming to you, he said to go to the pony  Venicio, and let him go into the human world, for see how he was going to fare into the world where the human Venicio lives without pressure, by trashing the puppets of the brothers and the sister of the human Venicio, made of “ fool's gold”; with unrefined traits; covered in spikes, and with a ivory smiling masks: said masks can  be removed for show a face frowning of sorrow.

I obeyed to him and  there we are”

I was shocked: the Fate was, literally, a kid playing with toys, toys of various luxury and size, each material   was symbol of the ultimate destiny of the “toy”, the size was, I guess, for how long the memoir of the toy played with will last in the world(s).

I stood silent for five good minutes: the silence was broke by my inner mind, who said:

“So, you are telling me that it's since the start of this sham that the Fate was trying to make me fit my glorious life as a human into a bad life as a pony ? ”

“Guess so.”

“Well then, I'm happy that our host's brothers and  sister will be punished by the Fate by begin trashed away into a forgotten hellhole of the history”

Then my soul contradict what my inner mind said:

“Remember the materials of the toys: the brothers are made of fool's gold: they might seemed destined to something great, but, in reality, they worth nothing, without anything to fight for; their traits are unrefined and their bodies are full of spikes because they are always attacking somebody for obtain something, and, since their first years were mostly at home, they attacked their younger brother, namely, Venicio and we. They have smiling masks covering frowns because they appear to have happy lives, while, in truth, they are full of regrets and sorrow.

The human Venicio is made of “red gold”... but “Red Gold” means both “gold plus copper”, or just “copper”: either way, the glory will be there, but will be phoney and not very durable. And the fact that the doll has a crow with a lily in his beak means that Venicio will die quite young, since the lily it's the symbol of the premature death.

On other hand, the pony Venicio is strong, like the muscles demonstrates, and he is wise, because he has long ears, and the long ears are symbol of wisdom. He will live for long, like the turtle says, and, on top of that, he will be the first stone to a totally new bloodline, and his doings, while not remembered by everyone outside, will be remembered for a very, very long time in the family.

Now that you know what the Fate is trying to do, what's your choice, Venicio ?”

I was completely in revolt: until a minute ago, I'd never thought that I was going to stay in Equestria.

Now I was more determined than ever: not only I was going to stay with a truly caring family, and having a good life that will be remembered, but I was sending a huge “Fuck you” to the Fate too, if I remained in Equestria ! The dream of every man: answer back to the Fate, and disobey him.

Anyway, I did a “no problem” gesture to the Great Ferryman, and said that I didn't wanted to go away, and that I wanted or stay in Equestria, where a better life was waiting me: it didn't reacted well, and launched me into the physical mirror, wounding me... not that it ruined my mood: in fact, I smiled with all my few teeth for the joy, before losing awareness.

When I regained awareness, I found myself lying on a table, with Applejack on my right side looking in a worried way to a white mare that, on the moment, didn't recognized.

However, as soon she went near me, I recognized her: she was Nurse Redheart.

Great.

I was either in hospital or in ER with low-priority triage level: either way, it seemed that I was hurt.

Since I didn't felt anything, I asked to her, even if it was clear that she wasn't going to understand me:

“Renuntiatio damnorum ?” ("Damage report ?")

Nurse Redhear didn't answered to my question, and instead exclaimed

“Oh dear, what happened ?”

Applejack, lowering her head, said:

“We found him lying in the sink with some cuts over his body, and a little spot of blood over the mirror. It seemed nothing, but then my sister Applebloom saw that he was uncoscious, and so, I feared that he rammed the mirror”

Redheart glanced to me while I was carefully getting up on four hooves, then took some disifectant and bandages, cleaned my wounds from the glass shards, and covered them with the bandages.

All with Redheart's voice that, despite the late hour, was still soft, telling me to keep calm and stay still.

Not that I was going to lose my shit right there.

Anyway, after that, the white mare went for some minutes out, supposely, for call a medic, and told us that the doctor was en route: said doctor advised to take an x-ray of the head, only for notince that it was nothing of serious.

When I exited form the hospital, I sighed, and thought what awaited me, in this new life: a new world, full of mysteries, things to discover and do, and others.

Then I thought about my very current situation, and about how this would be started and ended at home: first, throw into the mirror by my older brother, then my wounds “cured” with a lit match by my sister, then and only then, carried to hospital by my very absent-minded mother.

In this case, everyone got a very big scare by seeing me wounded, and carried me right away to the hospital.

Find the three differences.

Anyway, after that tense night, my new life as adopted son of the Apple family started.

You might ask how I avoided my return by other means, thanks to my reveal earlier.

Simple.

Applebloom was VERY  unwilling into letting me go, so, no possibility to get the cover blew up by her.

Silver Spoon, after some time spent with me at the park and a small explanation of my life on Earth, decided that it was better for both keep the mouth shut about my human origins.

Twilight was the tricky one: after a week from my decision of staying (yes, I actually counted), she said that she wanted to visit Applejack for tell her “something of important”.

I already knew what was it: I wasn't a pony, but a human.

Since I knew that it meant going back home, I asked kindly to a now-understanding Applebloom, to carry me at the library, and let me speak with Twilight.

I entered on my own hooves, greeted her, and said in Latin:

“Twilight Sparkle, I already know what are you going to say tomorrow to Applejack: you are going to say that I am a man, and not a pony. Do not do it”

Twilight smiled

“And why ? You don't want to come back home ?”

“No: I prefer live here, and start again my life”

“Don't tell me that you don't have a family, nor friends, back home !”

“I have a family: my parents; my two brothers, and a sister. All older than me. And I really hate my brothers and my sister. And my friends on Earth ? After my fake funeral, they already forgot me”

The purple alicorn watched my sideways, and said:

“How you can say that about your brothers and your sister ? Even if they did something that made you mad, they are your brothers after all !”

I smirked:

“In fact, they didn't made me mad... they almost killed me ! They fought at every possible occasion for remark their power on me and the others ! They were  merciless !

But maybe you don't understand my point, since you lived in almost perfect peace with your brother Shining Armour in your foalhood.

But let's try to explain to you: imagine that in the past, before you got your cutie mark, Shining Armour kicked you in the face, and burned your books.

Imagine that he did it everyday.

Imagine that once a week, he started to beat you for petty reasons, and didn't stopped until you bite him in the nether regions or on the legs.

Imagine that your parents ignored the fights, and went in the heat only when one of the two got hurt, and so you never won a fight, and you were always left with the remains.

Imagine this happening going on until he goes to the Military Academy.

I guess that, no matter if he is your brother, now you would have sell him to Chrysalis as sex slave; let him fight alone Sombra, or, hell, kill him right off the bat once Princess !”

Twilight looked me quite horrified, and said:

“That is... awful. I'd never do the things that you listed to me at the end, but, yes, now I understand better your hate: I guess that it's better for you stay here, in a more pleasuring place, far from them.”

Smiling, I said thanks, and left.

After doing this, it seemed that I had no other important things things to do in the subsequent days, so I relaxed.

But the Fate seems a very vindictive toddler.

Five years later, when I was having a nap in my own bed in my own room, built four months before, I was woken up by a screeching sound, and a familiar voice coming from out the window... the voice said:

“Our feud hasn't ended Venicio... come back, and die fighting, or come with me, and live as my slave”

I saw that the window tore apart, and, out from the tear, a silhouette appeared... I knew who was, and so I answered:

“Brother, this is my world. You are not welcome in my world. AT. ALL. Ring your bells, soldiers: today we will fight our past, and take what is ours”