A Time Traveler's Perspective

I wake up with a stretch of my arms, ready to go forth into another day. Seize the day, I think that’s how people refer to it. Hopefully, today will be a day worth seizing. Right hand goes up to scratch my head as I yawn, just to notice that there are wires attached to my head.

Oh, right, the test. I remember now, she wants to know what my brain activity is like when I’m sleeping and dreaming.

I wonder what it is that the papers say.

I know what she told me about them, or at least what she told me about some of them. I have a lot of extra organs and no lungs. At the time, it hadn’t really sank in. Right now, though, I’m starting to wonder how it is that I work. I know that I’m a bit different from everybody else, even at home, but I just learned about my lungs. I had gotten the idea about everything else from dad, but that lungs thing is something that I should have asked about yesterday.

Maybe that’s what’s on the paper. Maybe she’s going to explain about everything that is me. Maybe I can get some sort of explanation about how I’m living with no lungs. I take a deep breath, and that works. How do I take a breath without lungs? Maybe that was a mistake on her system. Or maybe there’s something on that paper that helps explain everything in my system because of that machine that scanned me completely.

All I have to do is head over, she’ll never have to know that I looked.

No, no, she would definitely be mad at you if you go and look at those papers. I may not care about whether or not she’s happy with me, but I do know self-preservation. I know that a unicorn who is apparently the Element of Magic might be able to do something that might end my life. At the very least, she might be able to do something that will be incredibly painful. She hasn’t done anything yet, but that isn’t a guarantee that she might not do something in the future.

I have to make sure that I’m careful enough for now.

Holy crap, I’m afraid of everything around here. The more that I think about it, the worse this place seems to be. If it is at the point that I’m afraid of a small purple pony, then something is definitely wrong. I really do need to get everything sorted out before I even think about bringing my parents here. If I’m afraid of these things, I can only imagine what my mom might be like.

My dad would probably be all right, though.

I walk over to the stairs, up them, and slowly open the door. It makes sense to me that I’m hiding behind the door with only my head poking through a little. Spike might have been nice enough yesterday, but Twilight is a variable that I still do not understand. She seems nice, but that might be because she wants something from me. She wants all my information, all of my memories. Okay, that makes it sound a lot worse than it actually is.

She is definitely being nice, even if it is because she wants something.

I’m actually glad that she wants something, it makes this so much easier. If she hadn’t wanted to know about me, then I would never stand a chance of getting the ponies here to actually trust me enough to be nice. Then I would be stuck going somewhere else, and that would just start the process over again.

I need to really just make a decision right now.

Is it worth is to try to stay here, or should I just go now before it gets any worse. That is actually something that I have put much thought into. My reaction from this morning tells me that there might be more than a few problems with me staying here. I am definitely nit my calm self, and I have even started to wake up early for me. This place is already starting to change me.

I see a pair of eyes look at me, but my only reaction is to slowly close the door and head back downstairs. I really need to decide this before I go forward. If I head upstairs, that means that I am going to push forward. I can jump to another time, be it backwards or forwards, from down here. That would mean leaving my journal behind, and it would mean I leave Cloudkicker behind. If I do go up there, and I do try, that means I am putting my faith in a pony I barely know.

I lay back down on the makeshift bed, and I close my eyes. “If I choose to stay here, what are the upsides? Some of the ponies seem genuinely nice, and the others might be if they change their opinions about me. There is a known food source. The atmosphere is still here and there is a day and night cycle. The seasons seem to be similar.” It really isn’t easy coming up with things that can keep me anywhere. I really don’t know of any outstanding reason to stay.

“Going makes everything easier.” I continue. “There isn’t the need for me to try to win these ponies over. Going back means that I just live with my parents. Going forward means that I might meet a new species. It might even be humans.” The problem is that there aren’t any fantastic reasons for me to leave, either. Both sides are equally meaningful, and by that I mean they don’t have merits beyond what might happen. The downsides for each are theoretical as all. “And either choice can be wrong if the what-ifs don’t turn out to be right.”

Leaving so soon, Roger?” I practically jump, it sounds like Spike is down here. I open my eyes, look to see that he is there, and then close them again. How did he get down here without me knowing anyway? I must really not be paying attention to anything around me if this is able to happen. A shake of my head, I decide to look right at him.

“Some things don’t work out the way I thought.” I don’t know how to put it. “Since I got here, nothing has gone right. I’ve been shunned, I’ve been kicked twice, and Twilight Sparkle seems to see me as nothing more than an unknown that she wants to study.” I don’t see a change from the mysterious expression, so I continue. “I had hoped to make everything change, to get Twilight to stand up for me, but I’m rethinking that.”

“Why?” That is a good question.

“Because everything here is just so … “ I motion for him to get closer, and he does. “Scary.” He looks at me like he doesn’t believe me. “I may be big, but that doesn’t seem to matter much around here. Their ponies are stronger than they seem, I can’t do anything about magic, and I know nothing about anything around here.” It is time to admit something that is probably going to make me seem like a wimp. “This morning, I didn’t look at the papers that are from the tests because I’m afraid of what a powerful unicorn like Twilight might be able to do.”

After all of this, Spike just looks frustrated. “That’s it? You had a bad few days and now you’re going to just run away? Really?” I don’t know how to put it that doesn’t agree with his basic premise. “I thought I saw something like my situation in you. We’re both different, one of a kind in a land of ponies. But you’re just going to run away at the first sign of trouble.” There is something about his look, the one he’s giving me, that makes me feel ashamed.

“What should I do? I don’t belong here. You have friends at least.” I don’t know if I should be saying thus. Spike is being nice to me, or at least it seems like he’s trying to be. He certainly was yesterday. “I met you yesterday, Cloudkicker is just watching me for Princess Celestia. The people I know are my parents, and they’re back two hundred million years.”
“I want you to grow up.” By now, he is maybe an inch away from my face. “You’re pretty much the last of your kind, the only one here. Does that make it hard? Yeah. But running away doesn’t solve anything. And if you run away from this, you’re just going to keep running.” That doesn’t actually sound like a bad idea. When the going gets tough, the tough get the heck out of there. “I thought about running away too, just once.”

I’m curious enough. “Why?” That seems like a normal question to me. He has friends, or at least he has a friend. I don’t think there is anything that could make him want to run away.

“It was about a year before I came to Ponyville with Twilight.” I notice that he looks up, his expression is already a frown. “She was really busy with something from the Princess. I decided that I needed to go to Pony Joe’s and get some doughnuts. Extra sprinkles. It was when I was walking back, though, when it happened. I ran into one of the worst ponies I have ever had the misfortune of running into.”

I wonder who it could be. Maybe it was Bon-Bon.

“There is a prince in Canterlot. He is the nephew of Princess Celestia. His name is Prince Blueblood.” That name doesn’t lend itself to anything other than being royalty. I decide to not say anything, though. “He looks at me with this angry look, like he can’t stand to see me. Then he calls in the guard, yelling about a dragon at the castle and how I need to be thrown out.” I notice that Spike’s fists are clenched. “Several guards show up, and they point their spears at me. At this point, I thought I was going to get kicked out. I would have if Shining Armor hadn’t shown up and bailed me out.” It seems like the problem had been solved, so I don’t know why he wanted to run away.

“I just felt so powerless. I had been hated before, but that was the first time that I had actually gotten even close to being kicked out because of it. I just knew that if I moved out, if I found a cave somewhere, I would be able to live my life in peace.” That doesn’t sound like a story that ends with him just deciding to stay. “It wasn’t until I was poaching up later that I realized something I had forgotten. If I ran away, they would have won. Those ponies that hated me, feared me, wanted me gone, they would have gotten what they wanted.” It sounds to me like he stayed for spite. “And I would have gained nothing. I would have even made Twilight feel horrible. She probably would have blamed herself.”

That makes sense.

But who will be sad if I leave? “That makes sense, but I don’t have anybody like that. I just have spite pushing me forward.”

“That might be enough for now.” I don’t think so, but maybe he has something else to say. “Maybe eventually, you won’t need that. You don’t make best friends in a few days, after all. And definitely not in one visit.” Spike put a claw on my shoulder. “But I have a lot of hope that you might end up finding somepony here that makes you not want to leave for good.” This is another thing that I’m not sure about, but I’m starting to think that maybe I should give it another chance.

“I guess I can stay … for now.” I don’t want to make promises. “After all, maybe they’ll be nice after Twilight talks to them. And that can only happen if I talk to her about it.” Spike simply nods his head, his expression now a smile. “And if she’s as nice as you say, she’ll try to help me out.” He seems really sure that this isn’t a wasted venture. Of course, he is also her friend.

“Don’t you worry, she will.”

With that, I stand back up and start to walk for the stairs. “You think you can come out there with me? I don’t know why, but something about you just … it would make this a lot easier.” There was something about the idea of a creature that understands, at least partially, what I’m going through. Aside from that, I know that nothing will happen to me while I have Spike with me. Something tells me nothing will happen anyway, considering what he thinks of Twilight.

Even if she might do something otherwise, she is probably incredibly nice around Spike.

“Sure thing, Roger.”

I wait for him to catch up, and then the both of us go up the stairs. I open the door, quickly this time, and move into the room. If I am going to do this, and I am, I have to do this quickly. I can’t give myself time to chicken out, to reason why this might be a bad decision. I have to go out there, I have to make sure that I talk to her. If something goes wrong, then I am off the hook for anyone saying that I haven’t been putting in as much effort as can be expected. Or this could go really well and I can have been worrying over nothing, Twilight able to talk the ponies into being nice.

Also, I can win the lottery.

Both of this things seem equally likely.

“I was wondering when you’d show up.” I have to wonder if she saw my attempt to hide down stairs. Maybe she had sent Spike down to talk to me, I really don’t know. Either way, I’m up here now and the only thing I can think to do is smile and wave. Her horn isn’t lighting up, so she isn’t preparing anything in the ways of spells. “I thought that maybe I had scared you off. You seemed pretty desperate to stay downstairs.”

I now know that she had seen my retreat.

Nothing for me to do now, though, but try to make a better impression.

“I forgot something.” That is the worst excuse I think I have ever came up with. I have everything I did before, and nothing more. It isn’t like I wear clothes, or have my book. I still have the device on my wrist, but that hadn’t been downstairs anyway. “I call it my courage. Spike helped me find it.” I have to admit, that is the best lime I think I have ever said.

Maybe I should write it down when I get back.

“Alright. Breakfast is going to get cold soon, I’m sure you’d want a nice meal before we get to the questions.” Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. I have to wonder if this is going to be another time where I get to eat something made out of hay. It probably is, that’s just something I’m going to have to get used to.

“That’s the truth, and I’m going to have to ask you for a favor as well.” She looks at me, as if to ask what it is. “It’s a big favor, I won’t say anything if you end up saying no, but-“ It is around this time that my stomach decides that it isn’t going to wait. That’s always annoying, the fact that I’m a slave to my need for food. “It can wait until after we eat. At least that’s what my stomach thinks…”

Everybody laughs, even me, and then we go into the kitchen.

~

I wonder if hay is something I will ever get used to.

It isn’t as bad tasting as the first time, but into still seems weird. The only good thing about the meal is that it is filling enough. I look at the plat that had once had bacon, pancakes, and toast on it. I might have to ask for some eggs if I ever come over here again. Twilight looks over at me, as if she expects that we’re going to just walk into the main room. When she looks at me, I look at Spike. He’s washing the dishes, an adorable apron on.

I know when it is better to not comment.

“I was hoping we could wait for Spike.” I glance over to Twilight, who then glances over to see hat Spike is almost done washing the dishes. Even with that knowledge, her expression changes for a second. I barely notice it, and I’m looking right at her.

“Sure thing.” It doesn’t take a second for the smile to return. “I think, maybe, I’m going to help him out up the dishes.” The thing that this says to me is that she doesn’t like waiting. I don’t know if this is a good thing or a bad thing, it is probably neither. This is probably just something about Twilight that I would know about if I could say I actually know anything about her at all.

I can’t, though, so I’m stuck assuming.

~

As soon as the dishes are done, the three of us walk into the main room of the library. I look over to Spike, who just smiles up at me. Then I look over to Twilight, who is also smiling at me. I don’t know what to think if her smiling, but Spike’s is more transparent. He is the one that got me to come upstairs after all, and he is the one who seems to like me for whatever reason. I know that it is probably because he feels a kinship toward me that I don’t understand.

I have never understood the saying ‘misery loves company’, though. I still don’t understand it, actually. Maybe it has something to do with that.

“Before we start, you wanted to ask for a favor? Cloudkicker hadn’t told me much about what she expected of me, just that I could study you.” That sounds far creepier than it is. I wonder if she will ever catch onto the fact that it just sounded a little creepy. “I think she probably had some sort of idea, and I can only assume your favor has something to do with it.”

I look down at Spike, then back to Twilight. “Actually, it kind of does. I can only assume you know that I’ve been attacked twice since I came to Equestria, right?” She simply nods, so I continue. “I’m told you’re the type of pony that can help to make sure that doesn’t happen. Maybe if you talk to the pinkies around here, they’ll … at least not dislike me as much. Trust might be a bit much, like is definitely too far, but just not being assaulted would be a big step up.”

Twilight looks at me with an expression that can only be described as one that comes when you’re trying to think before you answer. There is something adorable about that expression. I almost want to pat her on the head, but that is just disrespectful. I remember my mom telling me that when I patted her on the head once. Being adorable is no excuse, apparently. “I can try, but no promises. I just came here a little over a month ago.”

Well, there goes that idea. At least, there might go that idea. “That’s all I can ask for. And if it doesn’t work out…” I don’t want to say it, because it is mean. “I really hope it will, let’s leave it at that.” I know that it might seem wrong to just run away if she doesn’t succeed, but that is just what I plan to do. The alternative is to stay, and to bring my family, to somewhere that is openly hostile to humans. Even if I could deal with it, and I would rather not, my parents don’t need to.

“Alright. I can work this together with my questions. I figure out about you, your intentions, everything about you. Then I can write up a report to send to the Princess, and a speech for the town to make sure that you get … well, I’ll have to figure out what you really want beyond not being assaulted, but that is what the questions are for.” I see a few pads of paper move over to her, and a few quills as well.

I really hope I’m ready for this.

“Alright, for the record, what is the meaning of your name?”

“My name has no meaning of its own. It is a name one of my ancestors had. He was famous for leading a country known as the United States. I don’t know a lot about him beyond that.” As soon as I’m done, she writes it down and looks at me.

“Your turn.” I look at her confused. “You did say you wanted a back and forth.” I remember saying that earlier. It seems strange that I’m the one that forgot and she’s the one that just reminded me about something that doesn’t help her at all.

On the spot, I have no questions. I give it a couple seconds thought, though, and decide to make the first question about her. “What does your Cutie-Mark mean?” At the very least, I might have some idea about what a star means in regards to a special skill.

“It means that I’m skilled with magic.” That answer alone leads me to what I know the next question should be. But that is a question after she ends up asking me one. “You mentioned the United States and a President. I don’t know anything about either of those. What are they?” I have to admire how she just squeezed two questions into one, it makes everything more efficient.

“The United States is, well was, a country in the distant past. It was a Constitutional Republic, where people would vote for the people who would represent them. The President was one of the leaders of the Government, elected for a four year term.” I watch as she scribbles down notes about what I just said. I have to wonder what she’s saying about the old system. I actually never lived under the rule of the United States, so everything I just said was from a history book. My birth happened long after the county had become little more than a history lesson. “I thought all unicorn could do magic. What makes yours unique?”

Twilight blushes, them looks away. “It’s nothing special, it just means my unique talent is magic. Most unicorn only get spells related to their special talent.” I have to wonder if that means that she is a more powerful unicorn. It might mean the opposite, though. She might have more generalized magic instead of a focus on something great. Either way, at least I know something about unicorns. Spike gently jabs my side.

“She’s the most powerful unicorn here.”

Well, that answers that question.

“Oh stop it, Spike.” I don’t think it is possible for her to blush any more than she is. “Alright, Roger, next question. Why did you choose here?” That is actually a really good question, and one that I doubt she’s going to like my answer to.

“I actually didn’t know where I would land, I just chose two hundred million years in the future and hoped for the best.” I don’t know if my hope is going to turn out to be dashed or not, but I really hope not. “And now here I am, talking to you, trying to figure out what it is that I’m going to do next.” Now it is time for my next question. I could ask any I keep being assaulted, but that is likely a waste of a question. She probably doesn’t know. I should stick to something academic. “I noticed that there is a Guard for the Princess. Does she often get attacked to require such protection?”

I get a confused look. “No. Why would somepony attack Princess Celestia? It isn’t like she’s a mean ruler or anything.” I think I’m starting to get a picture of how things go around here. They don’t attack ponies, not even their rulers, but they attack anything that is strange. Or maybe they just attack things that scare them, whether their attacks are of a physical nature or something else. “You said that you eat meat, way earlier. What would you say to assuage fears that you might try to eat some of the ponies around here?”

Eventually, that question was bound to come up.

“I don’t eat sentient beings. Besides, it isn’t like I ate ponies or horses even when I did eat meat.” I decide to not tell her that it is more if a taste thing. “Sentient beings are thinkers, and thinkers are to be treated as equals. If there had been sentient beings, I doubt I would have ate them before. I’ll just have to get used to,” I shudder as I look over at the kitchen. “Hay.” The next question goes to me. “If there are two Princesses, do all decisions have to be agreed upon by both?”

“Actually, Princess Luna has just recently returned. I think that she mostly listens to her older sister, though.” I have to ask what she means by that next time I get a question. What does she mean that the Princess just came back recently? “I was hoping you might tell me what you think of Equestria as a whole, aside from the two assaults that happened.”

Now this is a loaded question, but I have to answer it.

~

“I think I have enough information.” I don’t know if that sounds good, but I know I need to be less paranoid. She up is trying to help, after all, or at least she says she is. That should be enough for me. “For now, at least. And for that report… and the speech.”

“So you think you’ll be able to get the ponies around here to treat me a little better? And maybe my parents when I bring them?” It is more like an if, but I want to remain hopeful. She seems nice enough, but Twilight is not the only one here. Spike is nice, Cloudkicker is nice, and Lyra is nice. The others are the ones I worry about.

There is that sad expression again. I can tell that the smile that soon appears is being forced. “Let’s just focus on making sure that you’re alright first. Then we can focus on making sure it’s alright for your parents…” I can’t really argue with that logic, though. I know that I want everything to go fast, but things might take a while. I really do wish I could know what it is that she is so sad about. The same expression had looked at me when I had spoken to Celestia when I had told her my plans. Obviously they know something about it that I don’t.

For now, though, I need to work on things I have some power over. This means that I need to get myself accepted by these ponies.

Everything else will come after that.

“Alright.” I take a couple of steps toward the door. “Not to rush, but the sooner that we get this done the better. I can’t wait to see my parents again, and it might be nice to be able to go out and not felt like a complete outcast.” I look over at her with a smirk on my face, and she once again seems to force a smile as she looks back.

“Sure thing. Tomorrow, around noon. That is when I’m going to need to have you over here. I’m going to need you to go with me to the speech, obviously, so they can see you for themselves.” Twilight then looks at Spike for a second before looking back at me. “You don’t have to head out yet, though. You don’t even have to leave tonight if you don’t want. Spike seems to like you, and I can set up a bed for you to sleep on like I did before.”

I shake my head. “I have a couple of things I need to do ever at Cloudkicker’s.” I then look over to Spike. “Until tomorrow, little guy?”

He looks a little disappointed, but there’s very little I can do. “Yeah. Just don’t let anypony give you any trouble. And just think, everything should change after tomorrow.”

Everything should change, and hopefully for the better. Wait, there is something that I meant to ask them. Well, less them and more just Twilight. "I was wondering if I might get a copy of some of the information that was taken during those tests. " She gives me a confused look. "I never bothered to give myself a full physical, didn't have the machines you do anyway. The whole no lungs thing sounds..."

"Unbelievable, I know. I had to check to make sure the machine didn't make a mistake." Twilight looks up, as if she's thinking, then she smiles and looks back at me. "I don't think that'll be much of a problem. I'll make a second copy tomorrow evening, and I'll send Spike over to Cloudkicker's with them. I have to get this speech done first, though.

That sounds reasonable enough, not that I really have much choice in the matter.

“Goodnight you two.”

With that, I open the door and start walking for Cloudkicker’s house. I want to write down some of my own notes, let Cloudkicker know how everything went, and then head to bed. It is starting to get dark, after all. I don’t even know how so much time passed. It feels like it was morning just a little bit ago.

~

When I get back to the house, Cloudkicker isn’t there.

Terrific.

There is one piece of good news, though. It seems like she had managed to get a bigger bed for me, which means that I don’t have to curl up as much. I look at the bed, then over to my notebook, and then to the pen. There isn’t a lot for me to put, and at least one correction.

Normal Ponies is one of the things I change.

Earth Ponies
-Physically strong

There is another change I have to make.

Twilight Sparkle
- Element of Magic
- Likes to be called Duchess
- Student of Celestia
- Probably a unicorn
- Likes experiments
- Hates being watched

Twilight Sparkle
- Element of Magic
- Student of Celestia
- Unicorn, maybe the most powerful
- Likes experiments
- Hates being watched

That seems like enough change to hers.

Celestia
-Princess
-Biggest of them all
-Possibly leader of the country’s religion
-Flowing hair, multi colored
-White

Luna
-Possibly leader of night-time things
-Probably has horns and wings
-Unknown if her hair is like Celestia’s

The more I look at these, the more I realize just how wrong I had been. I really have no idea how I had thought any of that was true. I know better now, though, so that’s a big improvement.

Celestia
-Princess
-Alicorn
-Supposedly raises the sun
-Flowing hair, multi colored
-White

Luna
-Supposedly raises the moon and dreamwalks
-Alicorn
-Dark flowing hair
-Midnight Blue
-Formerly evil, reformed with the Elements of Harmony
-Was supposedly in the moon for a thousand years

I also have to change Cadance to being Alicorn as well, though that word still seems weird to me.

Spike
-Dragon
-Nice
-Rough time growing up, rude nobility
-A true friend
-Purple with a green belly and green spines on his back, tail, and head

Those corrections and that addition seem like enough for now. Maybe I will end up writing more tomorrow before I end up heading Oberg to Twilight’s. More changes need to be made, and more additions likely need to be made as well. Right now, though, I plan on getting some sleep. Tomorrow is going to be the day when everything changes.