By the time her tale made it’s way to the end we had both shifted into lying positions, with our heads sitting on top of our crossed front hooves.
I cock my head to the side curiously, “So, you were trapped in the beautiful stone inside of the pendant that charming colt gave me?”
She blows a strand of her mane out of her face, “Yeah, pretty much,” she says as she twists her hoof around in front of her face, inspecting it curiously, “I think I might still be in there though, being with you is definitely helping. I’m feeling much better already.”
As I watch her play with her hoof I try to come up with something to reassure her, all I can think of however is the obvious, “So, are you with me all the time now or something? I’d imagine that might get a bit… awkward at times.”
She blushes a little before scratching her head with one hoof, as if in thought, “I dunno, this is new for both of us.”
I sigh, “Well if you are,” and this isn’t just some silly dream, “it’s good to know I have someone looking out for me. Just let it be known that I don’t need nor want everything to be watched.”
She blushes, smiling widely at me, “Alright, fine,” She says, sounding almost disappointed, “Really, I’m just glad I have someone to talk to after all this time,” She shivers, before smiling again sheepishly, “Uh, what’s your name again?”
“It’s alright, we weren’t properly introduced. My name is Emerald Shine,” I put my hoof out to shake, she appears momentarily confused by the gesture, uncertainly she clops her hoof against mine, That works too I guess, “What’s your name.”
She frowns, a look of uncertainty coming over her face, “Uh, I… don’t seem to quite, erm… remember?” Her ears splay flat against her head, her face turning downcast, “I’m sorry.”
I reach out to her cheek with my hoof to comfort her, she looks up at me, her misty purple eyes starting to tear up, “It’s alright, maybe you’ll remember it eventually.”
She sniffs, managing to hold back her tears, “I don’t think I will. Like I said, I can’t remember all that much from before.”
Still looking her straight in the eyes I smile, “If you want we can come up with one for you, together.”
Her frown disappears, as the corners of her mouth slowly turned upwards. She lifts her hoof up to her eyes, wiping away the tears, “That would be wonderful.”
I look around, taking in our surroundings. We are still floating in the same purplish void, perhaps her name could be something purple-related? “Hmm, what would you call this shade of purple that surrounds us?”
She gives me a questioning expression, “I’m not sure if you noticed but there are a lot of shades of purple around us right now, you’ve got to be more specific”
I sigh, “Alright then, what would you call the shades of purple around us?”
“Okay, I don’t really see the point of this, but fine,” She studies the moving void around us, “It looks a bit like lavender,sorta violet in the darker parts?”
I sit quietly, contemplating the colours. What would go well as a name? “Hmm, something like Amethyst, or Violet maybe. Hmm,” I mutter to myself.
She waves her hoof in front of my face, startling me, “Oh, I’m sorry for startling you, but, well, how do I say this? Both of those sound lovely but I’d prefer something...” she motions at herself, “More original?”
Quite surprised by her sudden outburst I find myself slowly edging backwards. After settling down I clear my throat, getting her attention, “Well, I was thinking, I’m Emerald Shine and wouldn’t say, something like Amethyst Shine compliment that nicely?”
She shakes her head, “No thank you, as nice as it would be I don’t feel as if it would really fit all that well.”
I sigh, moving into a sitting position, “Hmm, well, yes, now that you mention it Amethyst makes for a rather inappropriate name. Your stone, my stone?” The mentioned stone materializes before us.
I study it closely for a second before coming to my decision, “No, that stone is clearly not an amethyst, not even a quartz really. It’s more of a… I’m not actually sure what type of stone that is. Whatever it is looks quite exotic however.”
She seems quite surprised by my analysis, “Huh, I didn’t take you to be someone into rocks.”
I give her a warm smile, “Well, looks can be deceiving. No?” I shift my position, turning my flank towards her, displaying my cutie-mark.
She appears to be confused as she blushes slightly, her eyes glued to my flank, “Why are you showing me your rear?”
I blush slightly at the misunderstanding, “No, no, I’m showing you my cutie-mark,” I shake my flank, causing her blush to redden, “See, right there, up on my flank.”
“Oh, the butt tattoos? What exactly do they mean? All of you ponies seem to have them,” She asks curiously, motioning to her own flank, devoid of any markings.
Her questions were becoming alarmingly strange, and quite crude, “Ah- please don’t be so crass, they are cutie-marks not, ugh, ‘butt-tattoos’. Surely you must know what they are?”
She shakes her head, “I seriously have no idea what these ‘cutie-marks’ are. Could you please enlighten me?”
“Oh, my. You are serious?” She nods, “Well, a cutie-mark is a visual representation of your speciality, whether it be a hobby, a job, or just an interest. You gain your mark, usually when you’re a foal, when you realise your true purpose in life. As your flank is well, blank, I assume you haven’t found your talent yet.”
“Well, as far as I know, I’ve never gotten a tattoo in my life,” She says matter-of-factly.
“Well again, it’s not a tattoo, it appears on it’s own when you discover your talent.”
“So, you get a permanent indicator telling you what to do with the rest of your life?” I nod, not seeing where she is going with her train of thought, “Doesn’t that seem a little bit ya know, restrictive?”
“Well, you see, it doesn’t represent what you have to do, only what you are best at. It enhances your skill and gives you a greater affinity for your talent,” I explain as best as I can.
She appears to be deep in thought, rubbing her chin, “So, it’s like magic or something?”
“I guess it is magic of a sort,” I admit, not sure of the exact facts, “Not a sort that anypony has really looked into though. Unicorn magic is the only sort that has real documented information.”
“Unicorn magic? Is that what you call that telekinesis thing that unicorns do?” I nod in response, allowing her to continue her questioning, “What else can you do with it?”
“Well,” I start, “I myself am not all that knowledgeable on the subject, but like I said, there is a fair amount of documented knowledge about the various schools of unicorn magic.”
A smile begins to grow wider and wider on her face, “Could it say, get me out of the stone? Give me my own body?”
I try to say it as gently as I can, “I’m not sure,” Her smile begins to falter, “But,” I say, causing her to look me straight in the eyes, “It might very well be possible. You’d need to consult some sort of professional on the matter”
“Oh…” Her gaze falls to her hooves and the void below us before returning to look me in the eyes once more, “Could you take me to see a professional? I don’t really have any form of self-locomotion at the moment.”
“Me?” She nods, a hopeful smile on her face, “Well, I mean I guess I could. But to just up and leave my life here behind?” I shake my head, “I’ll need to let everypony know first. My mother, that charming colt, and… well, I guess that’s all I have at the moment.”
“Well,” She waves her hoof dismissively, a look of fierce determination on her face, “It’s not like I’m impatient or anything, I can wait a couple of days if you need me to.”
“You might have to wait quite a bit more than a couple of days, my mother is on one of her ‘business trips.’” I shake my head, sighing, “No, I can just leave her a note, she can handle herself.”
“So, that just leaves your boyfriend?” She asks innocently.
“I, oh- my,” I feel my cheeks become hot as I struggle to form a response, “Well, I can’t just cancel the date, he’d be so distraught!”
She shrugs, “Why don’t you just bring him with us? I’m sure he’d appreciate an extended date.”
“Oh, that hadn’t occurred to me,” Was she being genuine or was she just trying to get me riled up? “Though do you really want to bring somepony else in on this?”
She thinks about it for a second before pointing her right foreleg towards me“I’ll trust your judgement for now. Also, without him I wouldn’t have ended up here with you.”
“I’m flattered. Anyway, I’ll have to ask him when I see him tomorrow.”
She rubs her chin with her hoof, “Well, it looks like we have a deal.”
“Yes, I guess we do,” I say, “ So, what happens now?”
“Well you should be waking up soon, we’ve been talking for quite a while now.”
“Oh, okay. See you later, tonight maybe?” I move to stand up.
She remains seated, waving with her right foreleg, “We’ll see how things go, I might be able to communicate with you still when you wake up.”
I watch her form turn back into clouds as the void around me begins to fade away into darkness. The clouds begin to swirl around above me, gathering in one big, dark mass. I can see flashes of light within the dark clouds.
A bright flash of white blinds me as the deafening roar of thunder rings out around me.
Author's Note
Dialogue is a lot easier to write when there is a physical setting with which your characters can interact with. I find that writing extended dialogue in a void with nothing besides the characters speaking becomes incredibly repetitive, with not much going on in between.
I open my eyes to see that I’m in my bed at my mother’s house. I swear I just had the strangest dream. Except, it didn’t quite feel as though it was a dream, it felt far too real.
I stare at the foot of my bed while I ponder my unusual dreams. Is it possible that they were more than just dreams? Should I take action on the requests of my strange purple lookalike?
After about five minutes of idling in bed, lost in thought, I decide to get up and start my day. However as I go to get out of bed a familiar voice greets me, “Good morning.”
Her sudden greeting startles me, causing me to jump forwards, rolling myself off of the bed tangled in the bed sheets.
I can hear her attempting to stifle her laughter as I get myself out of the pile of troublesome bed sheets and onto my hooves. “Very funny,” I grumble under my breath.
She makes a sound akin to somepony clearing their throat before speaking, “I’m sorry for startling you, I was only trying to communicate with you.”
I pout, not knowing whether she can see it or not, “But did you really have to startle me like that? Look at the mess you caused me to make.”
I set the sheets back to where they should be, making the bed and restoring it to perfect condition. I fold the quilt in half and then in half again, setting it down gently on the end of the bed.
“Sorry,” she sighs, before speaking in a lighter tone, “That is probably the quickest I’ve ever seen someone make a bed though.”
“Well, I certainly should be able to do it quickly. I have quite a lot of practise, cleaning up after my mother and all.”
She is quiet for a moment before she speaks up again, “Is your mother a messy person?”
I chuckle lightly before replying, “That’s only really the tip of the iceberg, she can be a very frustrating pony sometimes.” I sigh, “I still love her though, I just wish she’d take better care of herself sometimes. I can’t stay around and clean up after her forever.”
“Huh… Do you have any other family?” She asks as I make my way towards the bathroom.
“Well, there’s my aunt and grandmother on my mother’s side. I don’t know any of my family on my father’s side, he left as soon as he found out my mother was pregnant.”
“Now, if you don’t mind I’d rather not continue on that line of discussion,” I say, as I levitate my towel up from the towel ring and drape it over the edge of the shower.
“Oh, okay. So, what’s the agenda for today?” She asks as I open the shower door and start fiddling with the knobs.
I continue fiddling with the knobs until I get the temperature just right, before replying, “Oh, I guess I’ll finish up here, have breakfast, pack my things and leave a note for mother before I head out for the day.”
A few minutes pass, she appears to be satisfied with my answer. Right before I am about to shut of the flow of water I continue, “After that I ought to head out and meet up with that colt and invite him along for our trip.”
She remains silent as I step out of the steamy shower into the much cooler bathroom. I sigh as I gently close the glass shower door, “Are you still there?”
“Hey Emerald,” She says suddenly, breaking the silence, “Do you think you could do something else for me?”
“I’d love to, but, well, it depends entirely on what you are asking of me,” I reply curtly as I wrap my mane and tail up in towels.
I begin to dry myself with a third towel when she replies, “There’s another place I want to go to after we, hopefully, get me free.”
“And?” Fully dried off now I hang up my towels and make my way out of the room, shutting the door behind me.
She pauses again, “I’d like you to stay with me and accompany me there.”
“Why? What could you possibly still need me for then?” I ask.
“Well, you know how I was asking all of those questions earlier? Questions about things you find rather obvious.”
I begin to pack my bags, “Yes, I found that more than a little odd.”
“Well, I sorta…” She begins, “Alright. I’m going to be honest with you. This world, and pretty much everything in it, is completely alien to me. I’m going to need someone I can trust to help make sure I don’t make a fool of myself.”
“Well, that is certainly an interesting proposition. Are you sure you want me to accompany you? We only just met after all.”
“Take as long as you need to think about it,” She replies.
xXxXxXx
I finish my morning routine in silence, neither of us speaking to the other. I exit my bedroom, closing the door behind me and turn down the hallway to the kitchen.
I arrive in the kitchen, a fairly spacious tiled area. Opening the fridge, I take out a carton of milk and place it on the bench. I do the same with the cupboard, removing a mug and setting it down next to the milk.
I fill the kettle with water and set it to boil for my morning tea before making my breakfast. Using my magic I open the tin full of teabags, levitate one out, and sit it down in my cup. With the bread placed in the toaster I wait patiently for it to finish, or for the kettle to boil. Whichever comes first.
It seems the latter was the correct option, as the kettle whistles as it comes to a boil. I levitate the kettle over to the cup. The kettle dips forward, filling the cup with hot water which quickly darkens to a blackish-brown. I pour a sliver of milk into the cup, turning the liquid an opaque milky-brown.
After putting the milk away I tear a page off of a nearby notepad and write a message, to let my mother know why I’m not there when she gets home.
Mother,
I’m heading out of town for a while, don’t know when I’ll be back. I’ll send a you a letter to let you know when I find out.
-Emerald Shine.
Fairly brief? Yes. Gets the message cross? Ugh, hopefully. Over the years my patience with my mother has grown ever so thin. The last time she had come back from one of her trips, she had come through the door, complaining about an awful headache. She proceeded to collapse onto the couch, out cold.
I went out for the day and when I came back she was still in relatively the same position, the only difference was that she was now snoring with a half-empty bottle in hoof.
I am jolted away from my reminiscing by the sound of the toaster. Right, making breakfast.
Author's Note
Sorry for the break, I should be able to get chapters out on a decent schedule this time.