Viator Erratus

by Viator

Rating: everyone
Tags: Twilight Sparkle, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Alternate Universe, Original Character, Adventure
Length: 3028

Experimental spell, powerful magic, lightning storm.

A lightning strike in the middle of an experiment with powerful magic causes unexpected results. Or very predictable if you know the genre.

Published 2013-12-02 15:20:13 UTC
Last updated 2014-01-28 22:31:37 UTC

Chapter 1

Somehow the crystal pylon he had been working on had attracted lightning and exploded, Viator could remember that much. But he wasn't dead and he wasn't under a pile of rubble, so where was he? At first he couldn't see anything at all when he looked around, but gradually his eyesight adapted to the dark and he could see that he was outdoors in a forest, in the middle of the night, and that there was a full moon. Nothing he couldn't tell with his other senses. The magical ambience of the surroundings suggested he was in Everfree Forest, which made sense, the place attracted rogue magic like a magnet.

He got up from the pile of rubble he was laying on. It felt like stones from the astronomy tower, and he could still smell the magical explosion on them so he guessed he must have brought them with him in the teleport.

Sloppy.

Well, in his defense he had been unconscious at the time. And in a bit of a hurry. There were no fragments of the crystal in the rubble that he could sense, though, and not another pony anywhere nearby. Nor could he quite sense where in Everfree Forest he was. Curious. He thought he had been practically everywhere there by now between all the teleport experiments that had sent him there.

The clouds parted and the clearing he had landed in was momentarily bathed in a beautiful silver light, which reflected in the heart shaped lake in front of him. Curiouser. He had seen all of Everfree Forest from the air several times and he was sure he would have remembered such a distinct shape for a lake. Maybe it was new? He didn't put it past the area to spontaneously develop new lakes. Checking to see he wasn't in a patch of Poison Joke or worse he started stretching his legs.

He had no idea where in Everfree he was and it was the middle of the night. Not an ideal situation, especially since it was - he noticed - unusually cold and windy for a summer day. Just as if to make matters even worse a light drizzling rain started to fall.

Attempting a simple spell to get his bearings Viator discovered something that made him forget the bad weather - he couldn't do magic. When he tried to focus all he got was a sharp pain in the head, right under the horn that forced him to stop trying. It wasn't all that alarming in itself. Magical backlash of the kind was fairly typical when standing too close to an exploding crystal pylon and for a moment he found the thought of being used to standing near exploding crystals amusing; that is until he remembered that he was still in the middle of an unfamiliar part of Everfree Forest in the night, and that he was now without most of his magic until he could get several hours of rest.

Gak.

This was not a good place to rest. Perhaps if he moved on he could gain a familiar path and get to the Everfree research station? Then again, if he stayed close to where he had arrived the rescuers would find him quicker... Provided that his teleport had managed to leave a clear enough trace for anypony to follow of course. He decided it was better to find his own way home. If he could find one of the larger paths he could make his way back to Ponyville on hoof before morning, and then he could spend the day in bed. The promise of a warm bed and a sleep in was comforting, and he set off, picking a direction at random.

Before long, however, he became aware of a louder noise than that of his own stumbling through the undergrowth. What was louder than a pony crashing through the trees? There were a lot of large creatures in Everfree forest that could be dangerous to a pony without magic, and he decided to cover behind an overgrown rock to observe the source of the noise. Something was definitely heading through the woods, making a straight line for... for where he had arrived, actually. Finally rescuers! He could hear their voices approaching, and saw the light of several light spells through the trees. There was something uncanny about the approaching ponies though, and he remained hidden.

Four ponies appeared from a thick gathering of bushes, unceremoniously pushing their way through by way of telekinesis. They were all in uniforms similar to the Equestrian Guard but of an unfamiliar model. They were darker, more rugged looking, and with dark cloaks.

The one in the front was obviously an officer, wearing the largest plume and barking an order here, an order there and walking in an efficient, military fashion. Behind him to the left and right were a pair of unicorn guards, athletic and stern, alertly looking around with their horns casting beams of light around them. Bringing up to the rear was another unicorn, not very military looking at all despite the guard helmet and cape. There was something very familiar about him that caused Viator to shudder.

The group stopped and the unicorn at the back walked up to the officer, speaking in a somewhat strained, monotone voice.
"The arrival point should be just through that bunch of trees, but it's curious... I still can't make out an origin, it-"
The officer interrupted him.
"You're not here to speculate. Let's move."
The pony on the flank facing Viator turned to the officer and nodded.
"Aye-aye, sir."

As he turned, the cone of light from his horn fell briefly on the unicorn with the monotone voice and Viator froze. The stallion was a very familiar purple colour, and as he turned and raised his hoof to shield his eyes from the light, the cape slid off his flank and revealed his cutie mark and it dawned on Viator why he had such a familiar magical aura. The cutie mark was a magic wand conjuring a crescent moon from a top hat. It was his own cutie mark and it was his own magical aura he felt.

For some inexplicable reason he was in the presence of himself.

Author's Note

Yes, very cliché but let's see where we can take this...

Chapter 2

"Once again. Answer truthfully. Who are you really?"

Viator hadn’t been in a prison since the incident with the street signs, and certainly never in a military prison, and he had hoped to keep it that way but here he was in a scene that reminded him of something out of a book. He sighed and looked up at the officer who was interviewing him, the same one that had commanded the soldiers that had found him out in Everfree forest.

"I’ve already told you. I’m Periwinkle Teres Viator, I am a doctor in thaumaturgy at the University of Canterlot where I teach magical theory. I live at number eleven Starswirl Street in Canterlot, my wife is Clarice Skye, we have no foals, thou-"

The officer interrupted him impatiently.

"Yes, yes, yes. I’ve heard all that. It just so happens that the real Teres Viator is standing right behind me and you’re not him."

"Oh, but he is, isn’t he?"

The other Viator stepped forward, head tilted a little to the side. He had taken off his helmet now and regarded his seated duplicate carefully, analyzing him with his magic. The officer was annoyed.

"This isn’t any time for games, we’ve got an impostor and a spy here and-"

"I don’t know about spy, but he’s no impostor. He’s me. Or an identical copy of me."

"Nonsense! The changelings are extinct."

"No no no no no! Not a changeling. It’s a genuine unicorn pony, you can’t fake these things. A changeling wouldn’t emulate my harmonial patterns that well, not at this distance and not this long. I think he’s genuine… at least a genuine unicorn pony."

The two Viators regarded each other with equal parts suspicion and interest. They were very nearly identical, apart for the fact that while the seated Viator was doing his best to keep in shape, there just wasn’t much he could do to match the definitely more military-shaped standing one. Despite being in rather poor shape for a soldier, he was still better toned all around.

Viator (the seated one) found himself feeling a bit chubby and unattractive, and wondering if his wife wouldn’t appreciate him getting into shape. Maybe time to go to the gym more often?

"What points do Starswirl Street go between, then?" the uniformed Viator asked, finally.

"Solstice Square past the university main gate, then to Princess Street."

The officer sneered.

"See? He doesn’t even know his way around Canterlot, and he supposedly lives there. Obvious spy!"

The uniformed Viator put his forehoof to his face.

"Think for a bit! Maps of Canterlot are everywhere, a real spy would know the streets. This is either the worst spy ever, or he’s psychotic, or he’s from…"

He rubbed his chin with the hoof.

"Or he’s from another Canterlot?"

An exasperated snarl from the officer.

"What. Other. Canterlot? He’s a spy from the Crystal Empire, see these… things?"

He gestured with his forehoof over the table where three bronze rods with different sized crystals on the end were laying, along with everything else Viator had had with him when he teleported. The seated Viator sighed.

"Again, they are magic forks. That’s number eight, six, and that’s number ten."

"Forks?"

"We call them that. They are magical foci to tune the resonant properties of magical crystals. As I explained, I was realigning the Moonweaver field coefficent of a crystal pylon when-"

The officer ended the explanation by banging a forehoof on the table, causing everything on it to jump.

"Enough! You’re giving me a headache, both of you! You! You are going to the brig!"

He put the instruments away on a desk by the wall where Viator’s other things were already lined up, and then turned to the Viator in uniform.

"And you! Back to scouting Everfree forest. I want to know where this spy came from and how he got here!"

The uniformed Viator balked.

"Brig? Spy!? You have no proof! He says he’s a doctor at the university, we should investigate! I don’t know where he’s from but-"

"He’s a spy and he’s going in the brig."

"You can’t do this! I’m taking this to Queen Celestia!"

Viator stood up in surprise, causing the guards to lower their spears at him.

"Did you say Queen Celestia? Not Princess?"

"Yes."

"What about Princess Luna?"

"Nightmare Moon? She’s long gone… where are you from, exactly?"

The officer started hammering his hoof on the table.

"OUT! OUT! And don’t think I won’t put you in the brig too. Go on and complain to the queen, see which one of us she believes the most…""

Taking a few steps back, the Viator in the uniform took a bow and swung his cape round in front of him in an elaborate gesture as he disappeared, the now empty cape falling to the floor in an effectful gesture completely lost on the two guards - who didn’t care - and the officer who just rolled his eyes.

It was only Viator who noticed the cape. Instead of staying on the floor it gently drifted on a nonexistant breeze over to drape itself over the desk with his things. An elegant gesture and - he suspected - the whole point of the disappearing act.

The flourish with the cape hadn’t been an illusion to mask the disappearing act, the disappearing act had been an illusion to mask the removal of the cape, and the placement of it over the desk, where it was now keeping his instruments out of sight.

He hadn’t spent his formative years in the company of ponies like the Great Manefredi for nothing, this was a classical trick and set the stage for… well, him? Certainly not for the officer who hadn’t noticed a thing, but just kept barking at Viator.

"You, into the brig!"

The guards ushered Viator into the brig while the officer marched outside in a huff.

The door was slammed behind him, as was the gate in front of Viator, who went to sit down on the bed, watching the guards leave as well. Apparently they trusted the bars to do their job. He smiled to himself. Both the guards and the officer had completely forgotten about his equipment, thanks to the cape keeping them out of sight and mind.

He regardinged the lock and the spells that protected it carefully, plucking out a smaller version of the magical forks on the table. This one had been clipped to the headband on his goggles and somehow eluded the search due to it’s size.

"Put the grandson of the Incredible Hoofini in a cage, will you?"

Author's Note

Chapter two! The plot thickens.

Chapter 3

Lord Commander Sparkle of the First Royal Guard came marching down the corridor toward the holding cells of the Royal Guard Everfree Outpost. It was a small outpost that didn't normally merit her attention, but today it held a most unusual prisoner, and she had happened to be in the area already...

"So, captain Flash... You tell me this prisoner is an exact copy of one of your soldiers?"

Next to her was captain Lightning Flash, acting commander of the outpost, who was feeling extremely important to have such an important visitor.

"Yes, ma'am. He looks exactly like sergeant Smoke. I don't know what sort of disguise it is, but..."

"But we'll find out soon enough, won't we, captain?"

"Yes, ma'am!"

The two guards outside the holding cells stepped aside and let them in, and Twilight Sparkle looked around. It was a cramped little place with only three cells, and as far as she could see, not one was occupied.

"Well, where is he?" she demanded, and the captain looked stunned.

"He should be right in the first cell here. It's got a locking spell and a ward on it, there's no way he could have gotten out..."

Twilight Sparkle went up to the cell and peered inside, careful not to touch the bars.

"Well, he's not here now, is he?" she remarked, looking carefully around the cell. There were some scribblings on the far wall, too small for her to see.

"I wonder what those are?" she mumbled and undid the locking spell to go in.

...or at least she started to. As soon as her magic touched the door, a bolt of magic shot out from the bars, forking and grounding itself in her horn and that of the captain, knocking them both back across the room and into the far wall.

It was a strong backlash of magic, and Viator could feel it all the way to the broom cupboard where he was hiding. That meant his trap was sprung, and as much as he disliked hurting other ponies, he was fairly sure they had both deserved it.

It didn't make him any less lost though, and he carefully peeked out to see if anyone was about before stepping out.

Where was he?

Small though it was, the outpost was still labyrinthine, and he quickly lost himself in all the twists and turns of the corridors. They ran at funny angles and there wasn't a sign anywhere to guide him. Or any windows for that matter. Was he underground? He couldn't really tell.

Then, on turning a corner, he bumped into two soldiers, and he jumped with fright.

"Sergeant Smoke, sir." they greeted him in unison, and he remembered he was still wearing the cloak of his counterpart here. Guess he goes by his other name, Viator thought, and nodded to the soldiers. Then he had an idea...

Some time later Commander Sparkle was shaken awake by an impatient Captain Flash.

"Come on, get up already!"

Twilight Sparkle got to her hooves, a little wobbly still, and looked toward the cell door, which was now open. Fortunately the warding spell hadn't been meant for more than one pony, and had burned itself out.

"How did he get out, and why did the ward target us?" she demanded. The captain shrugged. "Gak if I know. Maybe those scribbles can help?"

The scribbles! Twilight suddenly remembered why she was heading into the cell in the first place, and went to have a closer look.

The scribblings turned out to be a magical formula of some kind. Actually two, very similar formulae. Captain Flash just scratched his head.

"What is that?"

"I can't read it without my books, but it's a magic spell, and a variation of it..."

Twilight frantically searched her memory, trying to understand the symbols, fascinated by this puzzle.

"Ah... I can't make it all out, but the first one seems to be a warding spell... It's... I think it's the one on the cell. He's analyzed it bit by bit!"

She looked at the captain, triumphantly, but he just shook his head.

"And the other one?"

"It's the same one, only it's changed a little... see here? He's changed it just a little bit, so instead of warding against tampering from anypony in the cell, it wards against tampering from anypony NOT in the cell! Brilliant! He planned it all out here, and then went and did it."

The captain's face clouded over and his jaw set.

"Well that's just another proof he wasn't really who he said he was. There's no way sergeant Smoke could do something like that..."

"Maybe the prisoner told the truth and really was a doctor of thaumaturgy? This is certainly not beyond the abilities of..."

"Yes, yes. Now we must catch him, whoever he is."

The captain ran to the door to alert the guards, but found an intruder alert had already been raised. He stared at them in disbelief.

"By who?"

"Sergeant Smoke, sir. He said..."

"Nevermind what he said! That was the intruder!"