Indigo

by Alaborn

Rating: everyone
Tags: Romance, Original Character, Mystery, Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Human
Length: 19332

Something about rainbows always bothered Blue Twilight.

Something about rainbows always bothered Blue Twilight.

Published 2017-11-03 14:40:06 UTC
Last updated 2018-01-23 06:50:21 UTC

Chapter 2

Indigo

By Alaborn

Standard disclaimer: This is a not for profit fan work. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is copyright Hasbro, Inc. I make no claim to any copyrighted material mentioned herein.

Chapter 2

“Psst. Check your e-mail,” Tall Tree whispered to Blue Twilight.

Blue Twilight’s earth pony friend was in many of his classes, and was a sharp coder. He was very interested in the developing Internet technologies, and created one of the first Web pages Blue Twilight had seen.

Tall Tree’s e-mail just had the words “Did you write this?” and a URL. The school’s e-mail program was out of date, and didn’t show hyperlinks, so Blue Twilight had to manually type the URL into the Web browser.

There, at the top of the page, he saw:

Indigo
Written by Blue Twilight

Fleeting Words: The Literary Journal of Royal Canterlot University
Volume 245, Issue 2
November 1644

Reading on, it was the story he had written in his creative writing class two years earlier. Blue Twilight had heard talk about digitizing the school’s library and archives, but he was surprised to see the literary journal be part of that.

“Yeah, I wrote that freshman year,” he replied to Tall Tree.

“Great! Can we talk over lunch?”

Blue Twilight nodded.

Lunch break was right after class, and Blue Twilight and Tall Tree headed to the cafeteria. They waited in line for food, and then took a table.

“So how did you find my story?” Blue Twilight asked.

“I’ve been volunteering with the Department of Computer Science and the Department of Literature to digitize the Literature department’s journals. It’s mostly boring work, putting the paper on the scanner, editing the pages together, then skimming the final product to make sure the translation matrix didn’t make any mistakes. Your story was one I scanned, and it caught my attention, so I read it. I even wrote a story of my own inspired by it!”

“Great,” Blue Twilight replied. He was a bit flattered and rather more confused to hear of the impact his story had on somepony. Great authors influenced others, not college students.

“I’d like to invite you to talk about it at the next meeting of the Running Swiftly club.”

“What does my story have to do with your running club?” he asked.

“Not running. It’s a club for fans of the Swift Current series,” Tall Tree explained.

“But my story has nothing to do with Swift Current,” Blue Twilight said.

“Really? I assumed your character was secretly displaced from the series, and you were being really sneaky about it.”

“No, it definitely wasn’t. I was never a fan of the series,” Blue Twilight said. “But now I’m wondering why you made that assumption.”

“It was in the seventh book of the first series. It starts with Swift Current and his father watching a water skiing show, performed by a group called the Rainbow Troupe. The book mentions that there are seven members of the troop, all wearing swimsuits with a different color of the rainbow. So I assumed you mentioning a seventh color of the rainbow was a call-out to that scene,” Tall Tree said.

“Did the book call the seventh color indigo?”

“I don’t think so. The books are focused on the humans and their magicless technology, so those are always detailed, but the other world-building is more subtle. All these little differences between their world and ours are what make the series interesting to me.”

“Spoken like a fanatic,” Blue Twilight said.

“Guilty as charged. But I’m not the only one. And with the new television series starting soon, there will be even more of us.”

“Aren’t all reboots bad?”

“You’re right, there’s a really good chance it will be worse than the books,” Tall Tree said. “Oh, you’re still welcome to come to the meeting, you know. It’s tomorrow, at seven.”

“But my story wasn’t related to Swift Current.”

“Won’t matter for the conspiracy theorist crowd. They’ll just cite that as more evidence that humans are real.”

Having been reminded of his old story, Blue Twilight thought back to its writing. Shortly after submitting it, he experienced a few feelings similar to the indigo revelation. Some things just seemed off when he looked at them, like the design of a snow shovel or a doorknob. The strongest feeling, though, happened during his foalhood, an incident he heard again when he went home for the Hearth’s Warming holiday break.

During the big family gathering, his parents related to his gathered relatives an embarrassing story from his foalhood. It was the year when Seaddle was scheduled to supply the water for Cloudsdale, and as normal the town’s pegasi volunteered to form the tornado, while the rest of the town came out to watch. Blue Twilight was young, maybe four years old at the time, and really didn’t understand what was going on. But when he saw the tornado begin to form above the reservoir, he freaked out. He ran away, towards the nearest house, and was rescued by his father while he was trying to open the door to its cellar. They laughed about it now, attributing his reaction to not being from a pegasus family, but he recalled them trying to explain it afterwards.

No matter how his parents tried to explain the weather system to him, Blue Twilight still felt a primal fear from seeing a tornado. It haunted his nightmares for months. And he never watched another tornado.

The Swift Current book that Tall Tree mentioned also lingered in his mind. His curiosity piqued, he decided to look for it. He was not that surprised to find somepony had made a fan page for the Swift Current series on the Internet; in fact, there were several. He found a listing of the books in the series, and the name of the seventh volume of the first series wasn’t hard to find: Swift Current and his Motorized Speedboat.

Blue Twilight logged into the campus library system and looked up the title. Surprisingly, the senior library had a copy of the book. He wrote down the location and set off.

The senior library was a familiar place. Blue Twilight often spent time in the stacks on the eighth floor, where the library held archives of magazines. He liked to read the old technology magazines, drawing inspiration and a few laughs from what was then the technological cutting edge. This time, he was headed to the second floor.

“Whoa,” Blue Twilight whispered to himself. He knew there were a lot of Swift Current books, but seeing them all in one place was overwhelming. After some searching, he found the book he wanted. It was an ancient book, with an old-fashioned cloth binding and yellowed pages. The cover illustration showed Swift Current and a speedboat.

Blue Twilight took the book to a reading room and started reading it. The story started with Swift Current and his father, Far Horizon, on vacation to a town on a lake. They toured the boatyard, and Far Horizon introduced Swift Current to one of his old friends, who owned a speedboat. That provided the cue for the book to segue into describing the motorboat and its technology.

He flipped to the front of the book and looked up the copyright date: 1482, or around ten years after the return of Princess Luna. Thinking back to his schooling, Blue Twilight recalled the kinds of engines that existed then. They were either huge, like those used in trains, or small and unreliable, normally used only in things like parade floats. Certainly, the motorboat described in the book was a reasonable extrapolation of the then-existing technology, made smaller and more efficient, with changes like using an electric starter rather than a magical charger to account for the magic-free world. And the casual mention of aluminum being used in its construction? It was an interesting prediction for the time that bauxite would one day be smelted in a way to make aluminum a reasonable metal to build with.

The technology was interesting, but Blue Twilight was more interested in the rainbow mystery. Sure enough, he found the scene Tall Tree had mentioned in the next chapter. Swift Current and his father went to watch the Rainbow Troupe perform their stunt water skiing show. They were described as a group of seven humans, dressed in all the colors of the rainbow, and the seven number was emphasized again when their skiing formations were discussed; their signature stunt formation was three-one-three. Unfortunately, Tall Tree’s memories were accurate, and the seven colors of the rainbow were not identified.

The next chapter showed the Rainbow Troupe unable to perform, due to problems with their speedboat. From there, the book became a mystery, with Far Horizon involved with the main investigation, while Swift Current worked on his own. He was joined by his friends, an athletic boy named Strong Arm and a feisty girl named River Wind, as they tracked down the group of criminals seeking to sabotage the water skiing show.

There were more scenes with the humans being clever with technology, one where the trio used a balloon and a camera to take pictures from the air, and another where Swift Current rigged the motor on a rubber raft to make it quieter. But all in all, it was a lot like any other book for foals. It showed ponies, or in this case humans, a bit older than the readers, going on adventures and acting independently. Swift Current, Strong Arm, and River Wind fit the unicorn/earth pony/pegasus trio that was the archetype of most literature for foals.

Reading the book confirmed the few details Blue Twilight knew about the Swift Current series—it involved humans, it involved technology, it involved adventure, and the writer seriously overused adverbs. (He enjoyed the “Swifty” jokes he saw forwarded over e-mail, even having never read the books.) However, he didn’t learn anything more about rainbows, or other things that felt out of place. It felt like the entire book could have been set in the real world.

With no questions answered, and no pressing schoolwork, Blue Twilight decided he’d go to Tall Tree’s meeting tomorrow.

“I thought you weren’t going to come,” Tall Tree said to Blue Twilight.

“If I didn’t come, I’d be spending the evening studying,” he replied.

“A wise choice, then.”

“I did read that seventh book,” Blue Twilight said. “And it made me even more sure that my story had nothing to do with it.”

“I know at least two ponies in the club for whom that won’t matter,” Tall Tree said.

The meeting of the Running Swiftly club, like pretty much every club, was held in one of the classrooms on campus. And like every club, ponies treated the scheduled start time as a suggestion. The club members chatted as they waited for everypony to gather. Blue Twilight noted the club’s membership was mostly stallions, not surprising for a series targeted to colts. Around 7:15, the meeting finally got underway.

“Welcome to this week’s meeting of the Running Swiftly club,” said a pegasus stallion, one Blue Twilight didn’t know. “Is there any new business?”

Nopony responded, so the stallion continued. “In that case, I’ll turn it over to Tall Tree and the Creative special interest group.

Tall Tree got up and headed to the front of the classroom. He motioned for Blue Twilight to follow. The two ponies sat down behind a table.

“Last month, I shared with you my fanfiction about a pony who felt oddly out of place, because that pony was really a human! This meeting is primarily about exploring that theme, but feel free to share your stories and artwork. I also invited my friend Blue Twilight, who wrote the story, Indigo, which inspired mine.”

“I wrote the story, but any connections between it and the Swift Current series are entirely coincidental,” Blue Twilight said.

“That’s what they want you to believe!” somepony shouted from the audience.

“Told you so,” Tall Tree whispered to Blue Twilight.

“Blue Twilight, what was your story about?” one of the club members asked.

“It was a creative writing assignment, with the theme ‘out of place’, and the encouragement to write using a subtle difference. I came up with a story about a pegasus working at the weather factory making rainbows, and being the only pony who thought rainbows should have seven colors. Now, I never read Swift Current as a colt, so I could not have been inspired by the book with the speedboat.”

“Why did you choose indigo as the seventh color?” another asked.

“I saw the color name, and it just felt right.”

“There’s a reason for that,” another pony said, perhaps the other conspiracy theorist.

“Nopony could prove that,” somepony countered.

“The story I wrote is all about uncovering the secret pony society that steals human technology.”

Tall Tree interrupted them. “Drizzle, since this meeting is all about fanfiction and fan art, why don’t you start with sharing your story?”

“I can’t believe that many ponies wrote stories about a century-old series of books for colts,” Blue Twilight said to Tall Tree as they walked back to the dorms.

“What can I say? Fans of the Swift Current series are passionate. You should see it online!”

“Online? Where?”

“Usenet. There’s an active community posting stories and art to rec.literature.foal.swiftcurrent.creative. But I’m hoping soon, something else will supplant it.”

“What do you mean?” Blue Twilight asked.

“Just a little something I’m working on in my spare time,” Tall Tree said. “I’m building a Web site devoted to Swift Current fan works. It’s going to have moderation for stories, folders to organize stories, discussion forums, and private messaging.”

“Sounds cool, if you’re into that sort of thing.”

Tall Tree slapped Blue Twilight on the withers. “I’ll make sure to enshrine your Indigo story.”

“Great,” Blue Twilight muttered.

Author's Note

Swift Current is obviously inspired by the classic Tom Swift book series.

Chapter 3

Indigo

By Alaborn

Standard disclaimer: This is a not for profit fan work. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is copyright Hasbro, Inc. I make no claim to any copyrighted material mentioned herein.

Chapter 3

For his senior year, Blue Twilight agreed to share a dormitory room with Tall Tree. They would have many of the same classes, so it made sense to room with a study buddy. However, for the first two weeks, Tall Tree did very little studying. He worked late into the night, trying to finish his Web site before the new Swift Current television series began.

It was a sight to behold. Tall Tree would sit at his desk, his hooves moving over the hoofboard at a speed that put Blue Twilight’s hoofboard skills to shame. The earth pony stallion used a modified hoofboard, with the extra keys on a raised platform, and he held a pen in his mouth to press them without his hooves needing to leave the hoofboard. His desk was cluttered with papers with sample code written on them and empty coffee cups.

One morning, Blue Twilight woke to his bed being shaken. “It’s done! It’s done!” Tall Tree said.

Blue Twilight rubbed his eyes and looked at his friend. Heavy bags were under his eyes. “Were you up all night?” he asked.

“Yeah, but I couldn’t stop, not when I was so close! Try logging in.”

Blue Twilight crawled out of bed and went over to his computer. “What’s the site?”

“It’s swiftfiction.net,” Tall Tree replied.

He typed the address into his Web browser. The page loaded fairly quickly and resized to fit the window, with the individual frames remaining balanced. That part looked to be coded correctly. Blue Twilight then noticed the artwork. The site was brightly colored, and at its top was a logo and a picture of the three main characters. Unlike the pictures on the old books, these characters had large, expressive eyes, neat hairstyles, and bright colors. The characters looked a lot more ponylike.

“Where’s the picture from?” Blue Twilight asked.

“It’s based on the promo art of the new series,” Tall Tree replied. “Now try logging in to your account.”

He scanned the menus. “How do I create an account?

“I made one for you. User name Indigo, password Indigo.”

Blue Twilight groaned, but logged in anyway. “It worked,” he said. “It says I have an unread message.”

“Good. That’s because I sent you one.”

Blue Twilight navigated over to the mail function, finding the message from OakTree. He noticed OakTree was user number 1, and Indigo was user number 2. “It says ‘Testing, testing.’”

“All right. Now try the other functions.”

He went to the folders with the stories. There were a bunch set up, but only two had stories in them: ‘Best of RLFSC” and “Inspirations”. Best of RLFSC looked like stories originally posted to Usenet. And Inspirations only had one story, Indigo.

The discussion forums were also set up, but mostly empty. Tall Tree had created a forum for each of the story series, including the one that was about to debut, as well as one for discussing fan art and fanfiction. User OakTree posted one message in the forum for the current series, talking about when the show would air on television. Blue Twilight posted a reply, confirming that the function worked.

“This is really good work,” he told Tall Tree. “Now all you need is users.”

“Hooves crossed,” Tall Tree replied. “Or fingers crossed, as Swift Current would say.”

As the semester went on, Tall Tree remained busy. He didn’t neglect his schoolwork; he and Blue Twilight studied together and worked on class projects. However, a lot of his spare time went into his Web site. When asked, Tall Tree said it was going well. But he respected Blue Twilight’s lack of interest in the series, and didn’t talk about it much.

Autumn’s cooler temperatures arrived, and ponies donned clothing to keep warm. For some reason, a lot of stallions were wearing nearly identical dark blue vests. There was something vaguely familiar about the vest, but Blue Twilight couldn’t put a hoof on it. He was pretty sure he didn’t see vests like that the previous year.

Then, one day, he figured it out. Blue Twilight returned to his dorm. Tall Tree was working on his Web site, like usual, and he was doing something with the artwork on the top of the page. The picture of Swift Current showed the human boy wearing a dark blue vest.

“Hey, Tall Tree, are ponies wearing Swift Current’s vest?” Blue Twilight asked.

“Yeah. You noticed?”

“Sure, but why?”

“Because they like the new television series.”

“But it’s a show for foals,” Blue Twilight said.

“The show’s creators decided they didn’t have to make a show just for foals. So they created something the whole family could enjoy. They’ve already made references to Star Swirl’s journeys, Daring Do, and even Buck Charger.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. They also focus on the relationships more, and a lot of fillies and mares have been watching. So yeah, it’s popular.”

“How popular?”

“The membership in the Running Swiftly club has increased fourfold, and there’s a large group watching each new episode in the lounge each Saturday.”

“Ponies are getting up on a Saturday morning to watch the show?” Blue Twilight said incredulously. “Ponies in college?”

“Believe it.”

“I’ll never understand some ponies.”

“You know, I think you might enjoy it,” Tall Tree said. “For this series, the future technology is all about computers and instant communication. It’s like carrying the Internet with you at all times.”

“That doesn’t sound healthy,” Blue Twilight said. “Speaking of being on the Internet at all times, when was the last time you bathed?”

Tall Tree sniffed his coat. “Okay, you’re right. It’s just that Swiftfiction is taking up a lot of time.”

“So it’s successful?”

“Too successful,” Tall Tree admitted. “We got a mention on the biggest Swift Current page on the Internet, and membership increased fifty percent in a week. Even with the help of some volunteers, it’s hard keeping the page running and all the stories organized.”

“Anything I can do to help?”

“Just remind me that I need to go to bed and go to class.”

Following a relaxing Hearth’s Warming break, Blue Twilight returned for his and Tall Tree’s final semester. Surprisingly, his roommate made good grades in the fall semester, even with the distraction of his Web page. He was somehow able to balance the demands on his time and get everything done. So Blue Twilight was surprised when Tall Tree mentioned he was taking on yet another huge project.

“You’re putting together a Swift Current convention here at RCU?” he asked

“Well, not just me, but I’m in charge of the whole thing,” Tall Tree replied. “I love the series, and I’m heartened that so many ponies have embraced the new show. A convention is the perfect way to give back to the community.”

“You’re not doing it alone,” Blue Twilight said. “Even though I don’t really like the series, I know it’s important to you. I’m going to help you, and that’s final.”

“You know I’d never turn down the offer of help,” Tall Tree said.

After a month, Blue Twilight was seriously regretting his choice to help Tall Tree with his convention. Even though some of the work was simplified by the club being able to use the facilities at Royal Canterlot University, there were still guests to invite, space usage to plan, advertising to be done, registrations to process, and a lot more. He also got a look at the financials; Tall Tree and the other club members had put up a lot of bits, with the very real prospect that the convention would lose money.

Fortunately, Blue Twilight had a light class load in his final semester, so he could afford the time.

As the convention drew near, he was amazed by what Tall Tree’s club accomplished. They had an impressive list of guests, including the lead writer for the current series, the voice actors for the three main characters, and the animator of the previous generation of the series, which consisted of animated shorts that ran before movies back when Blue Twilight was a young colt. Paid attendance was nearing one thousand. The university-owned hotel adjacent to campus was sold out for the weekend.

Blue Twilight had told Tall Tree that he’d volunteer part of each day during the convention, so he wasn’t surprised when he got his schedule. But he was surprised by one thing on his schedule.

“You want me to moderate a panel?” he said.

Tall Tree nodded. “Indigo stories are very popular on Swiftfiction, so who better to appear on the fanfiction panel than the story’s writer?”

“It has nothing to do with Swift Current!” Blue Tree reiterated.

“And just like I said, for the conspiracy theory crowd, they won’t care. Speaking of which, that’s another panel. It should be fun!”

“I don’t know,” Blue Twilight said.

“Don’t worry about the panel. There will be three others with you, big names from Swiftfiction, and I know they like to talk. Your job is just to introduce them, and keep things moving.”

“And answer questions about Indigo?”

“Hey, if that’s what ponies want to hear....”

Blue Twilight grunted noncommittally. He’d do it, even if he felt like a fraud. Meanwhile, he decided to take a look at what the convention had to offer. He jumped onto his bed and took the preliminary convention program in his aura.

He quickly found the panel Tall Tree mentioned.

The Swift Current Conspiracy

Our panelists will lead a raucous debate on the eternal mysteries surrounding the Swift Current series. Do humans exist? Is time travel involved in coming up with the series’ technology? And who are the secret writers behind the pen name Apple Town? All these and more will be explored.

Another one caught his attention.

The Technology of Swift Current

From motorcycles and speedboats to talking computers and jet packs, Swift Current has always looked to the future as its characters invent and use technology. We look at how the predicted future technology lined up with what the real world developed, and discuss which technologies shouldn’t have developed in a world without magic. Also addressed: When will I get my own jet pack?

All in all, it might be an enjoyable weekend after all.

The weekend of the convention arrived. Blue Twilight spent Friday afternoon helping with the setup. The ballroom of the Student Union was set up to house the vendors. He helped ponies set up booths, where they displayed books, videos, artwork, and even plush toys, all devoted to this one series. He then helped with registration, and passed out badges and convention programs.

Saturday morning was his fanfiction panel. He arrived early to the classroom, one of the smaller lecture halls that could hold about one hundred ponies, and found everything set up. The table at the front of the room had four microphones set up, along with hoofmade cards showing the names of the panelists. He tapped a microphone with a hoof; the echoing sound indicated the equipment was working. At his place, he found an envelope with his name. In it were printed pages with brief biographies of the three panelists along with some sample questions. A note attached to the package indicated it was put there by Tall Tree.

Blue Twilight nodded. He was hoping the panelists would be as talkative as was promised, but he was glad to have backup.

The three panelists soon arrived, all college-age stallions, two earth ponies and one pegasus. Blue Twilight introduced himself and shook hooves with them.

“I really liked Indigo,” the pegasus, Gale Force, said.

“The only thing I’m hoping to say during this panel is that Indigo had nothing to do with Swift Current.”

“But it’s the perfect human turned pony story!”

Blue Twilight just shook his head.

The classroom was about half full when the scheduled time for the panel arrived. Blue Twilight decided to get started. “I’d like to welcome everypony to this session, Fanfiction, Swiftfiction, and Beyond. Let’s start by having the panelists introduce themselves,” he announced.

The earth pony stallion to his immediate left started. “I’m Sure Strike, or StrikeSwiftly online. I’m best known for The Pioneer Current series, which imagines Swift Current and friends in historical settings, discovering ancient technologies.”

“I’m Copper Pot, Copper77 on Swiftfiction. I’m the one writing all those sappy romance stories, but I enjoy reading all kinds of stories,” the other earth pony said.

“Gale Force, or GaleForceWinds. I’ve been writing fanfiction since I was in elementary school. Fortunately, I didn’t get Internet access until college, so those horrid works are nowhere to be found. My Daring Currents series certainly wasn’t the first attempt to cross over Daring Do and Swift Current, but it’s the favorite of my writing projects.”

“And I’m your moderator, Blue Twilight,” Blue Twilight said. “I once wrote a short story called Indigo for a creative writing class. Despite what everypony thinks, it has nothing to do with Swift Current. It’s still a surprise to see you all embrace it.

“This is an open discussion. While I’ll ask questions of the panelists if necessary, what we’re here to do is have them answer your questions,” he said to the audience. “If you have a question for the panelists, about their stories, about how to write, or about Swift Current, please come up to the microphone at the front of the classroom and ask.”

Immediately, several ponies got in line, and the first asked a question. The conversation that ensued was a lively one, with ponies asking about where to find inspiration, how to get better at writing, favorite Swift Current stories, and favorite works of fanfiction. Blue Twilight interjected a few times, when an audience member’s question made for a good segue into one of the topics on his cheat sheet. Moving to these topics was a good way to give all the panelists a chance to talk.

Blue Twilight glanced at the clock, and saw that the time for the panel was almost done. “We have time for one or two quick questions,” he announced.

Another stallion stepped to the microphone. “I have a question for Blue Twilight,” he said.

“Okay, but remember, I know almost nothing about Swift Current,” he replied.

“My question is about Indigo, and has nothing to do with Swift Current specifically,” the stallion explained. “Did you have an idea in mind why your character Morning Dew thinks there’s a seventh color in the rainbow?”

Blue Twilight pondered the question for a moment, trying to remember the specifics. “Well, I left the question unexplained, primarily because the professor seemed to like stories like that.”

“Sure, but most writers have an explanation in mind, even when they leave it over to reader interpretation. So, what was your explanation?”

Blue Twilight recalled the impetus for the story: seeing the name of the color indigo, then seeing a picture with the rainbow, and finally connecting the two. But given what he knew about these Swift Current fans, he did not want to admit that. But another explanation came to mind. “You know how each of the colors of the rainbow is associated with an Element of Harmony, and the power of the Elements is often called ‘rainbow power’? Consider if the missing color of the rainbow translates to a missing Element.”

“Ah, the lost seventh Element of Harmony,” the stallion said. “A classic trope.”

“But, I won’t stop you from thinking otherwise,” Blue Twilight said. “Now, with that said, we are out of time. I’d like to thank the panelists and everypony here for the wonderful discussion.”

As the crowd dispersed, Blue Twilight quickly worked to clean up the room for the next session. He only had fifteen minutes before the start of the next slot, and the session he wanted to attend was in another building entirely.

The session labeled “The Swift Current Conspiracy” was in one of the big lecture halls, normally used for the freshman general courses. Blue Twilight recalled his many 8:00 AM classes in rooms like these, where he would read the campus newspaper while sort of taking notes on the lecture. The session was near its starting time, so the room was quite full. He walked up the stairs until reaching an empty row, and took the chair three seats in.

Soon thereafter, a unicorn mare took the seat on the aisle. She smiled at Blue Twilight; he smiled back.

This session was also a panel discussion. The moderator, an earth pony stallion, tapped the microphone with a hoof and spoke. “Welcome to The Swift Current Conspiracy. I’m Meadow Brook, and with me are three of the loudest voices on Usenet, Winter Frost, Starlight Moondust, and Caramel Toffee.” He motioned to the three stallions on the panel, a college-aged pegasus, a slightly older unicorn, and a middle-aged earth pony.

“If you want to ask any of the panelists a question, please approach the microphone at the front of the room. I will be leading the discussion, starting with the topics on the agenda. Let’s start with one of the two biggest conspiracies: Do humans exist?

“Before we begin, let me state that according to science, the answer is yes. Star Swirl’s First Law of the Multiverse states there are infinite realities, and so there must exist one with strange bipedal simians who lack magic and a proper coat of hair. However, that fact is irrelevant, because you would need infinite time to discover this universe within the infinite multiverse. Not even Princess Celestia has that much time, and if she’s searching the multiverse, she’s looking for the existence where everything is made out of cake.”

The audience, including Blue Twilight, laughed at the joke.

“Of course, most of us here know what each panelist’s position is. So let’s start with Winter Frost.”

“Humans are strange,” Winter Frost said. “They are described in such detail through the many Swift Current books, but because they are so unlike the beings of this world, they could not be imagined, even by the most creative pony mind. Thus, the only logical explanation is the author was describing creatures she has actually met.”

A slide appeared on the screen at the front of the classroom, a scientific diagram of three feet. “I’ll introduce some scientific terms from this illustration. Unguligrade refers to the structure of the leg and foot in species like ponies, who walk on hooves. Digitigrade is the name of the structure of the leg and foot of creatures like cats and dogs, who walk on the digits of their paws. And plantigrade is the rarest structure of the leg and foot, with this illustration showing a bear’s paw. The bear walks on the whole of the foot, palm and digits.

“Humans are described as bipedal. Now, that by itself isn’t unusual; there are many bipedal races. But let’s take a look at them.”

Winter Frost now clicked through slides of various peoples of Equestria, some of which Blue Twilight had met, others he had only read about. Minotaurs. Diamond dogs. Abyssinian cats. Avians. Yetis.

“You may not have noticed, but I have. All these races fall into the first two groups, unguligrade and digitigrade. There are no bipedal races that stand like bears. So why decide that humans would stand like bears, and specifically call it out in the fourth book?”

The moderator now spoke. “Caramel Toffee? Would you like to respond?”

The earth pony nodded. “I sure would. I’ve been an unofficial historian of the Swift Current series for longer than many of the ponies in this room have been alive. What’s important to consider is that the books are the product of their times. The first series came out during the height of the Age of Discovery, that time when Daring Do, and her more scholarly compatriots, were exploring the uncharted Amarezon and delving into the heart of Zebrica. And at that time, ponies were learning more about the great apes. Apple Town, or at least the first Apple Town, was clearly of a scholarly bent, and she would certainly have been familiar with the descriptions of these creatures from the scientific literature of the time. Before the fourth book, in fact in the first chapter of the first book, humans are described as being descended from apes. So no, it would not have been hard for the author to look at a paper on apes, give them opposable thumbs, and make some cosmetic changes, and there you have humans.”

“Starlight Moondust?” the moderator said.

“I don’t think Apple Town met humans, but I don’t think she created them, either. Humans existed in another time and another place, and they had contact with ancient ponies. And the princesses have successfully hidden the evidence for centuries!”

“Well, that’s a good segue into another conspiracy on our agenda, the secret author of Swift Current series, more specifically, the series’ creator. The only official confirmation the publisher has ever made is that Apple Town is a pseudonym. A number of names have been suggested for the original writer. Starlight Moondust, what is your take?”

“Before I give you the correct answer, let’s talk about some facts. With modern computers, it is possible to analyze large amounts of data. One such application has been to authenticate writing. You may recall eight years ago when a computer analysis of the Seven Stars Tome, long attributed to Star Swirl the Bearded, was identified as almost certainly written be somepony else. A pony named Silicon Dream has done this with the Swift Current series, and the analysis shows that the first twenty-three books, along with twelve others in the first series, likely share an author.

“And if you look at the available evidence, that author is clearly Princess Twilight Sparkle. Note that Swift Current and His Motorcycle was released four years after she became an alicorn, and gained knowledge of all of Equestria’s secrets. Recall that she was the original Princess of Friendship, before Princess Flurry Heart, and these books all had quite obvious friendship lessons. But the key point of evidence is she was an amateur author. Any experienced author wouldn’t have abused adverbs like she did, and anypony not a princess would have had her style errors corrected.”

“I see you shaking your head,” Meadow Brook said to Winter Storm. “Would you like to give your opinion, Winter Storm?”

“I’d like to say why Starlight Moondust is wrong,” he stated. “I’m familiar with the computer analysis, and it also said that, based on the princess’s collected writings on friendship, they were not likely written by the same pony.”

“The computer was capturing the difference between a letter and a novel,” Starlight Moondust interrupted.

“Starlight Moondust, please don’t interrupt,” the moderator said. “Everypony gets to speak first, and then you can engage in debate.”

“As I was saying, the difference in writing styles suggests it wasn’t the princess. Nopony’s found an author whose writing style is similar to the first Apple Town. To me, that suggests a deliberate change in writing style, which would require a professional author to execute. And that author is A. K. Yearling.

“As Caramel Toffee mentioned, the first books came out during the Age of Discovery, the time of Daring Do. But this was the tail end of Daring Do’s adventure. Three years after the release of the first Swift Current book, Daring Do announced she was retiring from exploration, and at the same time confessed that she and A. K. Yearling were one and the same pony. Daring Do’s adventures were A. K. Yearling’s, and once she retired, Daring Do’s adventures stopped. But A. K. Yearling always said she never stopped writing.

“I suspect she wanted something to write, something that didn’t involve deadly traps, broken wings, and sinister rivals. The different writing style is explained by the desire to create books targeted to younger audiences, young colts specifically. And as an explorer, she could have found every Swift Current fan’s dream, the portal to the human world.

“Most importantly, if you read A. K. Yearling’s personal letters, you would see she is fond of puns, including the adverb puns we call Swifties.”

“Caramel Toffee?” the moderator said.

“I’m afraid my answer is a bit more mundane. The Bluebloods of House Platinum have a long history of scholarly research, writing books on history, etiquette, and lineages read by literally tens of ponies. As a failed writer myself, I know how much it hurts to write something that nopony will read. The Bluebloods have the money and connections to get something published and promoted, even if, as the books show, they weren’t particularly good fiction writers. They would be familiar with scientific research, and could have created humans, as I described previously. And this knowledge would have enabled them to create realistic future technology, based on recent discoveries.”

“So they didn’t look into the future?” the moderator asked.

“Of course not. Time travel magic exists, so it seems, only to serve as a warning to ponies.”

There was less debate about time travel. The panelists all agreed that the authors were extrapolating from recent discoveries. But when the audience started asking questions, it became clear that there were some people who believed the authors could somehow see the future.

The most popular of the conspiracy topics was the one about the existence of humans. Most ponies in the room believed either that humans exist in some other reality, or they once inhabited Equestria. And one pony was crazy enough to claim to have been a human in a past life.

The debate continued for the rest of the slot, and a few minutes over. Even not being a fan of the series, Blue Twilight had to admit the panel was entertaining.

As he got up to leave, the mare sitting near him spoke to him. “You did a good job with that fanfiction panel,” she said.

“Thanks. You were there?” he replied. “Wait. Of course you were there.”

“Yes, I was there,” she said with a smile. She extended her hoof. “Ruby Glimmer.”

“Blue Twilight,” he replied, touching hooves. “But you probably remember that.”

“Where are you headed next slot?”

“I don’t have anything planned. You?”

“Nothing for me, either. I was thinking of grabbing lunch,” she said. “Care to join me?”

“I’d love to!”

Fifteen minutes later, Blue Twilight and Ruby Glimmer were seated at a table in the cafeteria, each with a typical school lunch on a tray. Blue Twilight grabbed a few lukewarm hay fries in his aura. “I don’t think I’ve seen you around campus. Are you a student here?”

“No. I go to Star Swirl University. I’m studying gem enchantment.”

“Oh. Cool.” He took a bite of his sandwich. “Have you been a fan of Swift Current long?”

“All my life,” she replied. “Growing up, there were seven foals my age in my neighborhood, all colts. So we played Swift Current a lot.”

“You were the only filly? Those are some long odds,” Blue Twilight said.

Ruby Glimmer nodded. “But hey, it all worked out. Somepony needed to play River Wind, and none of the colts wanted to play the girl.”

“So do you like the new series?”

“Yeah, it’s lots of fun. You can tell the writers know the history, and are throwing in little surprises for the long time fans,” she said. “How about you? You said you didn’t know much about Swift Current. How did you end up here?”

“My roommate is one of the con coordinators, and I wasn’t going to let him work alone. I was willing to do anything to help. I wasn’t expecting to moderate a panel.”

“Why not? You’re a Swift Current fanfiction author,” Ruby Glimmer said.

Blue Twilight frowned.

“Kidding!” she said.

“Have you read my story?” Blue Twilight asked.

“I’m a big fan of human turned pony stories, so I’ve read a lot of Indigo-style stories. But it wasn’t until recently that I read the inspiration. And you’re right. Your story has nothing to do with Swift Current.”

“Thank you,” Blue Twilight said exasperatedly. “Did you, uh, like it?”

“Yeah, I did. I could empathize with the protagonist. For me, it was umbrellas.”

“Umbrellas?”

“Umbrellas. When I was little, Mom always made me carry an umbrella when it rained. And I hated it. They kept my head dry, but the rain would pour off the back, dripping down my mane and over my withers. And I thought that was stupid. One day, after reading a Swift Current book, I thought that umbrellas made much more sense for bipeds like humans,” Ruby Glimmer said. “So, I guess it’s more like a reverse Indigo.”

“Were, like, umbrellas invented by minotaurs or something?” Blue Twilight asked.

“No, it’s a pony invention. I mean, can you imagine a minotaur with an umbrella?”

Blue Twilight had to chuckle at the image of a beefy minotaur holding a dainty, frilly umbrella.

“Enough about umbrellas. How about you? Where are you from?”

“I’ve lived in Seaddle all my life, up until going to university,” Blue Twilight said. “You?”

“My family’s in Fillydelphia, but I’ve spent most of my time in Canterlot, first Celestia’s school, then the Academy, then SSU.” She looked at Blue Twilight’s sour expression. “Uh, sorry about that.”

“It’s okay. I’ve accepted not being good at magic. It’s worse when ponies assume I’m some magical genius because of my name.”

“Do you know why your parents gave you the name Twilight? Was it after the princess?”

“It was. They wanted to honor her, because without her alicorn magic, they wouldn’t have been able to have me.”

“You were conceived with the help of the princess’s magic?”

“Yeah. And that’s why I’m known as Blue Twilight.”

Ruby Glimmer’s eyes widened with surprise. “Really? Me too! I mean, the part about the magic. I was named to honor the princess’s first friendship student.”

“Wow. I’ve never met anypony like me before,” Blue Twilight said.

“Mom told me the princess can only help one family a year, so I feel very blessed to be here.”

“And we just happened to meet by chance.”

“Like I said, blessed,” Ruby Glimmer said.

Long after they were finished with their meals, Blue Twilight and Ruby Glimmer talked. They talked about their pasts, their home towns, their families, their interests, their dreams. In the end, he left with Ruby Glimmer’s phone number and e-mail address and an invitation to visit any time. It was the best day Blue Twilight had on campus in at least a year.

He missed the panel on technology in Swift Current. But Blue Twilight didn’t really care.

Author's Note

The comment about apes not having opposable thumbs is a reference to a book where apes not evolving opposable thumbs led to sapient humans not evolving. I'd be shocked if anyone recognizes the book.

In this future, Twilight Sparkle is now known as the Princess of the Stars.

Chapter 4

Indigo

By Alaborn

Standard disclaimer: This is a not for profit fan work. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is copyright Hasbro, Inc. I make no claim to any copyrighted material mentioned herein.

Chapter 4

Blue Twilight was one pony in the herd, a herd of young mares and stallions dressed in ridiculous blue cloth gowns and mortarboards. He reasoned that the mortarboard must have been invented by an earth pony or pegasus, because the hat just wouldn’t lay flat with his horn in the way.

The usher gave his signal, and the ponies in his section, all of whom were receiving degrees in computer science, rose and formed a line. One by one, they walked up the ramp and onto the stage. They shook hooves with the dean, and received their diplomas from the chancellor, taking them in mouth or aura. Then they walked down the other ramp and returned to their seats.

Blue Twilight moved his yellow honors tassel from one side of the mortarboard to the other.

In turn, the remaining departments followed their hoofsteps. The solemn procession continued until each of the roughly one thousand graduating ponies received their degree.

The university band played one last march, and when they fell silent, the chancellor stepped up to the microphone. “Students, faculty, friends, family, distinguished guests. The pursuit of education remains the noblest of tasks, the drive to improve one’s lot that began when that first ancient pony decided to plant a seed in a ground, to push two clouds together, to will a pebble to move. Today, these one thousand and seventy-seven undergraduates and one hundred and eighty-five doctoral students have completed their degrees. Yet their educations will continue. Whether in the classroom or in the work force, these bright young faces are ready to improve the lot of all ponies, much as ponies have done since the dawn of history.

“Now, let us all applaud the Royal Canterlot University graduates of the Class of 1648.”

A thunderous noise resounded through the arena as thousands of ponies stomped their hooves in applause. Blue Twilight looked into the stands; somewhere out there, his parents were cheering for him.

And his marefriend, too.

“Come on! Let’s get some pictures!” Blue Twilight’s mother said.

“Do we really need to?” Blue Twilight said.

“You only graduate college once,” his father said.

“Unless I wanted to get a graduate degree,” he countered.

“Oh, come on. It won’t take that long,” his mother said.

Blue Twilight wasn’t so sure. There was a large crowd around the dedicated picture spot. Still, they didn’t have anything planned until dinner. He followed his parents. Ruby Glimmer walked up to him, and leaned her body against his.

“Do you see that?” she said.

“Just like my high school graduation,” Blue Twilight said.

Ponies were taking photos on a raised wooden platform. Decorative rock walls flanked the stage, one with the crest of Royal Canterlot University embedded in it, the other with the emblem of Canterlot. But what both Blue Twilight and Ruby Glimmer noticed was the rainbow arranged behind the stage.

Six perfectly even, perfectly straight pillars of color provided a backdrop for the photos.

After waiting, Blue Twilight stood at the center of the stage, flanked by his parents. Ruby Glimmer took his mother’s camera in his aura.

“Smile!” she said.

And with that, Blue Twilight had another photograph showing a rainbow with six colors.

Blue Twilight fidgeted and adjusted his collar. He wasn’t nervous about his parents spending dinner with his marefriend; they had first met two days prior, and by all indications his parents loved Ruby Glimmer. Rather, the restaurant they had chosen to celebrate his graduation was a lot fancier than the campus cafeteria.

“Oh, would you look at the view!” his mother said.

The view was spectacular, Blue Twilight agreed. The Aerie, a revolving restaurant at the top of a tall tower, did offer a spectacular view of Canterlot, as well as fine cuisine and superb service.

Ruby Glimmer squeezed his hoof gently. “Relax, Blue,” she said.

“I don’t think I can. It’s just hit me. I’m going to be an adult, with adult responsibilities, and there’s no turning back.”

“Relax, son,” his father said. “You’re an honors computer science graduate. If you keep working hard, there’s no way you won’t find the same success at Intelligent Microchips.”

That lifted Blue Twilight’s spirits. He had gotten his dream job, working at Equestria’s biggest microchip designer. He was going to be working on the design of the seventh generation CPU, the grandfoal, so to speak, of the CPU in his current computer.

And the job was in Canterlot, so he would be near Ruby Glimmer as she finished her last year of school.

The wait staff soon came out with a salad service, prepared tableside. After four years of salads at the campus cafeteria, Blue Twilight had forgotten how good fresh greens could taste.

“So when do you return home?” Blue Twilight’s mother asked Ruby Glimmer.

“My train leaves next Friday afternoon,” she replied.

“Any problems with finding a place to stay after your school year ended?” his father asked.

“Not at all. A lot of students stay past the end of the school year, even those without summer classes or labs. I have my room until the end of the month, if I wanted to stay. But I miss my family.”

“We know the feeling,” Blue Twilight’s mother said, looking pointedly at him.

“I’ll return home for Hearth’s Warming. Don’t worry, Mom,” Blue Twilight said. “I’d return home sooner, but new employees don’t exactly have a lot of vacation time. I have to keep working hard. Right, Dad?”

“Right you are, son,” his father replied.

“How about you? When do you return to Seaddle?” Ruby Glimmer asked.

“Tuesday night, on the overnight train,” Blue Twilight’s mother said. “We’re going to stay in town to help our little Blue furnish his new apartment.”

“And anypony who’s seen my dorm knows I need the help,” Blue Twilight said. That “anypony” included Ruby Glimmer, but he didn’t feel like revealing that to his parents, even if they already suspected that fact.

By this time, the entrees were ready. No surprise, it turned out to be a lovely meal. Blue Twilight, his parents, and his marefriend dined and ate for nearly three hours. It was an indulgence he wouldn’t be able to afford again, so Blue Twilight made sure to relish the experience.

Blue Twilight looked over his apartment. “It’s beautiful,” he told his mother. Thanks to her efforts, his new apartment looked like a home. The furniture was a combination of new and secondhand pieces, but it was all the pictures and accents his mother added that made things look homey.

“And we finished just in time,” his father said. “We’d better get to the train station!” He headed to the front door and opened it.

“All right. I’ll be right there,” Blue Twilight said.

Once his parents stepped out of the apartment, Blue Twilight picked up the telephone and made a quick call to Ruby Glimmer. “I’m leaving to take my parents to the train station,” he told her. “I’ll be home around 8:30.”

“I’ll be there,” she replied.

After seeing off his parents, Blue Twilight took the streetcar back to his new home. He made sure to find an apartment a short trot from a streetcar station. From his new home, he was two streetcar rides from the train station, from his workplace... and from Star Swirl University. The latter was a trip he expected to make frequently, either he or Ruby Glimmer.

Blue Twilight returned to his now-empty apartment and assessed it. The faint smell of fresh paint and industrial cleaning fluids still lingered. The apartment was rather small, and a bit old, but it did have two bedrooms, since he wanted a separate computer room. Everything was neat and in its place, very much unlike his old dormitory.

He heard somepony knock on the door, not long after 8:30. Blue Twilight opened it, and greeted Ruby Glimmer with a smile.

Ruby Glimmer hugged him. “Let’s see how a big and important computer chip designer lives,” she said.

“It’s Canterlot. If you’re not a noble or one of the Princesses, you’re going to be disappointed,” he said.

“I don’t know. This looks pretty cozy,” she said.

“I guess I can give you the tour, as short as it is.” Blue Twilight showed Ruby Glimmer around the apartment. “It’s not much,” he said.

“It’s a lot bigger than any dorm on campus,” Ruby Glimmer said.

“That’s not much of an accomplishment.”

“It looks very nice,” she said.

“I have to thank my mother for that,” Blue Twilight said. “I have dishes, pots and pans, and real furniture for once.” They looked into his bedroom. “Like a real adult bed,” he said, motioning to the princess-sized bed. He chuckled. “Let’s face it. Two ponies are not meant to share a twin bed.”

“It’s never stopped us before,” Ruby Glimmer said with a smile.

“So, do you want to do anything? See the neighborhood?”

“Maybe later,” Ruby Glimmer said. “Right now, there’s a new bed that needs to be broken in.”

Blue Twilight missed breaks. Fall break, Hearth’s Warming break, spring break. Being in the work force, he didn’t get breaks other than the weekends. His few vacation days were spent taking a week off around Hearth’s Warming, not like the three weeks between semesters he enjoyed as a college student.

He missed seeing his college friends, but thanks to e-mail, he was able to keep in touch with them. Many took jobs with big computer companies, like him. Others took their chances with Internet start-ups, who hoped to revolutionize the computing world. Tall Tree was the most interesting case. He was working full time on Swiftfiction, from his parents’ home in Ponyville. He did have to give his old roommate credit for following his passion, and earning something of a living from it.

And the Web site was doing well, too. Blue Twilight knew that only because Tall Tree wasn’t good about answering e-mails, but he did respond to messages on Swiftfiction. As a result, Blue Twilight spent more time logged in as Indigo than he would have preferred.

When winter was finally wrapped up, Blue Twilight was able to enjoy his second vacation, spending five days in Mihaymi with Ruby Glimmer. It wasn’t a true spring break, like his marefriend got to have, but he was glad to enjoy the warm sun and ocean waters with his special somepony.

Come April, Blue Twilight found himself working long hours, as the deadline for his project team approached. They needed to finalize the design and test the prototype CPU. It was bad timing, as Ruby Glimmer was completing her final projects, where she had to demonstrate her mastery of spellwork to the satisfaction of her professors. The whole process was nerve-wracking; it made Ruby Glimmer sick to her stomach. He wanted to be there for her, but was only able to visit on weekends.

On April 29th, Blue Twilight’s team was done. Their design work was officially approved by management and passed on to the manufacturing team. The team left work early, heading to a nearby tavern to celebrate. Ales and ciders were shared among the team, all paid for by the boss.

The team seemed willing to shut down the bar, but Blue Twilight had other plans. After dinner, he excused himself, and boarded the streetcar to take him to Star Swirl University. There was a certain somepony who had passed her final examinations, and he wanted to celebrate with her.

Blue Twilight knocked on the door to Ruby Glimmer’s dormitory room. She opened it, and immediately greeted him by pulling him to her and kissing him.

“Congratulations,” Blue Twilight said, when they finally came up for air.

“It feels so good to have passed,” she said.

“Are you feeling better?” he asked.

“Not really. I’m still feeling sick sometimes,” Ruby Glimmer said.

Blue Twilight frowned. “Is it the horn flu? Or regular flu?”

“It’s definitely not the horn flu, and I don’t feel constantly awful like with the flu,” she said. “It’s something else.”

“What?”

“It’s easiest if I show you,” she said.

Ruby Glimmer went into the bathroom and soon returned, a thin piece of plastic held in her aura. It was not something Blue Twilight had ever seen in person, but he knew just what it was.

It was a home pregnancy test. And it showed a plus sign.

“I... um... ah....” Blue Twilight stuttered.

Ruby Glimmer shut him up with a passionate kiss, and then looked him in the eye, her muzzle pressed to his. “I don’t want you to feel bad about this. I’ve always wanted to be a mother, to have a foal to call my own. Knowing what my parents had to go through in order to have me, I was always afraid I would be in the same situation. I know we weren’t expecting this, but now that I know it’s happening, I’ve felt nothing but joy. And I can’t think of a better stallion to share this with than you.” She kissed him again.

Blue Twilight looked at his beautiful marefriend, at the almost magical glow about her. They had talked about her moving in with him after graduation; now that much was certain. “Yes. Absolutely, yes. I want to share this with you, all of this.”

Blue Twilight and Ruby Glimmer both agreed they wanted something simple. So, they arranged for a simple wedding ceremony after Ruby Glimmer’s graduation. Her family was already in town, so it worked out. Blue Twilight’s parents, and a few of their friends, also joined them.

Tall Tree was officially Blue Twilight’s best stallion, although the title didn’t mean much when they didn’t do a formal dinner (or bachelor party). He did get to needle Blue Twilight for meeting his fiancée thanks to Swift Current.

“Okay, that’s one thing good to come from the series,” Blue Twilight admitted.

The day after the ceremony, everypony involved in the wedding met for brunch, and then most of the guests departed. Ruby Glimmer’s parents stayed to help her move out of the dormitory. It didn’t take long; Blue Twilight remembered just how little he had to move out of his own dormitory the previous year.

Had it only been a year? Blue Twilight knew it to be true, but with how eventful the year was, it sure felt like longer.

They worked late into the evening, and when they were done, they had a late pizza dinner. After dinner, her parents returned to their hotel room, leaving the newlyweds alone. Their apartment looked warmer, cozier, with the added touch of Ruby Glimmer’s decorations.

Blue Twilight took the dirty dishes to the kitchen. “Wow. I’m beat,” he said.

“Me too,” Ruby Glimmer said.

“I’m looking forward to getting to sleep.”

Ruby Glimmer nodded.

Once the dishes were done, they headed to bed. But they didn’t go to sleep until much later.

His apartment had never been cleaner, Blue Twilight noted. Due to her work, Ruby Glimmer was home more often, and took care of most of the shopping, cleaning, and cooking. Those tasks fell to Blue Twilight only when Ruby Glimmer got hired for a job.

Gem enchantment was not what somepony could call a full time job. The need for this kind of spellwork was sporadic. Blue Twilight understood the principles; the enchanter wove a functional spell within a spell matrix so that the functional spell could be used repeatedly and safely, without mana leaking or the spell discharging completely. The need to weave two powerful spells at the same time made this a job few unicorns could handle.

So, every so often, Ruby Glimmer would be contacted by a messenger. She’d head somewhere, normally being gone overnight, and would return with a hefty bag of bits in compensation. Also, every time she came back, she had something new for their foal. Thus, as time passed, Blue Twilight watched the second bedroom in his apartment change from computer room to nursery.

Late in the summer, Blue Twilight accompanied Ruby Glimmer to the hospital. The checkup and ultrasound was routine, but given how long the foal was along, they knew they’d probably know sex and type by the time they were done.

Ruby Glimmer leaned against Blue Twilight. “I’m so excited!” she whispered.

Blue Twilight returned the gesture, and gave her a quick nuzzle. “Me too.”

For Blue Twilight, the doctor’s appointment just involved holding Ruby Glimmer’s hoof as the obstetrician and nurse worked. She lay on her back, exposing her belly, which was just beginning to show her pregnancy. The nurse spread the clear goop across her belly, and the obstetrician charged his horn. An image of the unborn foal started to take shape in the air above them.

“Hmm,” the obstetrician said.

“What is it?” Ruby Glimmer asked.

“Nothing out of the ordinary; foals develop a bit differently, after all. You said you were five months along?”

“That’s what we think,” Blue Twilight said.

“We, uh, weren’t keeping track, so it’s hard to be sure,” Ruby Glimmer continued.

“Without knowing exactly how far you’re along, I can’t say for certain, but since I’m not seeing a horn or wings developing....”

“An earth pony?” Ruby Glimmer said.

“Most likely,” he replied.

“Wow. I never would have expected that, given my family,” she said.

“Or mine,” Blue Twilight added. Every blood relative Blue Twilight had ever met was a unicorn.

“Harmony guides the foal,” the doctor said. “It just means he will be happy.”

Blue Twilight noticed something in the doctor’s words. “He?”

He nodded. “That is something we can confirm.” He shifted the image and pointed. “It’s a colt!”

Ruby Glimmer squeezed Blue Twilight’s hoof, and they shared a smile.

With the news that they were having a colt, Ruby Glimmer’s maternal instincts went into overdrive. She decorated the nursery with colt colors and shapes, and started picking up toys for an active colt. Blue Twilight could foresee the noise their son would make banging around all those wooden toys.

One weekend, they worked to assemble a small bookshelf. Once the paint was dry, Ruby Glimmer filled the shelves with books from her collection.

“The first Swift Current series?” Blue Twilight asked.

“Of course. Our son will read the classics,” she replied. “By the way, what do you think of the name Strong Arm?”

Blue Twilight frowned.

“Kidding!”

Another month passed, and the time came for Ruby Glimmer’s next checkup. Like the previous appointment, Blue Twilight offered moral support as his wife underwent the ultrasound exam.

The doctor hemmed and hawed as he worked the spell. It was taking longer than before, and he was not projecting the image. Blue Twilight got a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach, which only worsened the longer the doctor went without speaking. Ruby Glimmer squeezed his hoof; she looked worried as well.

“What’s wrong?” Ruby Glimmer finally asked.

“Your foal is... not developing normally,” he said. “I’ve never seen something quite like it, nor have I read about it in any medical journal.”

“What is it?” Blue Twilight asked.

“We want to see,” Ruby Glimmer affirmed.

The doctor nodded and projected the image. “You can see here that his hooves are not forming properly. Even if you’re only five months along, they should be clearly visible by now. Over here, the tailbone is shrunken, not distinct from the body. And his skull is misshapen.”

Blue Twilight stared; he had seen pictures in books, and this was not what a foal in utero looked like.

“But is he healthy?” Ruby Glimmer asked.

“That is good news,” the doctor replied. “Heartbeat and brain waves are strong.”

Blue Twilight let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding.

“Now, there are options available for you,” the doctor said. “We have counselors available who can....”

The scowl on Ruby Glimmer’s face was enough to make the doctor shut up. She looked to Blue Twilight; in an instant, they knew they were in agreement.

“We will love our colt, no matter what he looks like, and even if he ends up unwell, we will cherish him for as long as he has on this world.”

To that point, Blue Twilight had thought Ruby Glimmer’s pregnancy to be an easy one. Her morning sickness had passed early, and she didn’t even have any strange cravings. But no longer was this an easy pregnancy, with routine and periodic checkups. Their monthly examinations were replaced by multiple visits with different doctors, specialists in all aspects of foal development. But none had seen anything like their case. None could tell them more about what was wrong with their foal.

Ruby Glimmer was adamant that nothing was wrong with their foal. He was just different.

Even though their case remained a medical mystery, the pregnancy proceeded through its normal gestational period. When Ruby Glimmer’s due date neared, she was admitted to the best hospital in Canterlot.

Ruby Glimmer was wheeled into a hospital room, Blue Twilight following. A large number of doctors and nurses worked efficiently to hook her up to the various monitors. And once they were done, it was eerily quiet, with only the beep of the monitors interrupting the silence.

“I’ve never seen a hospital like this,” Blue Twilight said.

“Because yours is a special case, we’re keeping you in a private wing,” the doctor said. “To ensure your privacy, there is a small, hoof-picked staff attending to you, only ponies that know about your case. We have specialists and surgeons on call in case something goes wrong.” He turned to Ruby Glimmer. “Please, contact us immediately when you feel a contraction.”

Ruby Glimmer cradled her ample belly. “We will.”

The doctors and nurses left, leaving the couple alone. “I don’t suppose you’re having contractions yet?” Blue Twilight said.

“Not yet, but I’m ready,” Ruby Glimmer replied.

“Are you nervous?”

“I’m worried, of course, but as long as we stand together, there’s nothing to be afraid of. We’ll stand strong for our little Shooting Star.”

Blue Twilight gasped. “Is that....”

“Yes, our colt will be named Shooting Star.”

“I love that name,” Blue Twilight said. “It’s not from Swift Current, right?”

Ruby Glimmer smacked him.

It took less than a day for the contractions to start. From that point, Ruby Glimmer was constantly monitored. When they grew close enough, the doctors and nurses filled the room, ready for anything that might happen. The nurses spoke to Ruby Glimmer, encouraged her, gave her water, and wiped the sweat from her brow.

All that Blue Twilight could do was be there for Ruby Glimmer, and offer a hoof for her to crush each time the contraction hit.

“Your foal is in the birth canal. I need you to push, Ruby Glimmer,” the doctor urged.

Ruby Glimmer grunted, hissed, moaned with each push.

“Push!”

Blue Twilight put his free hoof over Ruby Glimmer’s, wishing he could lend her his strength.

“Push!”

Ruby Glimmer screamed, followed by another cry, the healthy cry of a foal drawing breath for the first time.

“Push!”

With the help of the doctors’ magic, Ruby Glimmer finished delivering the foal. With surgical precision, they cut the umbilical cord and cleaned up the foal. Within minutes, they levitated the newborn to Ruby Glimmer.

Blue Twilight looked at their foal. The foal’s wrong shape was intimately familiar to him, from seeing so many ultrasound images. But now that he was born, there were more details he could see. The foal had no coat, with only a small tuft of dark brown hair on the top of his head; the color of his bare skin reminded Blue Twilight of a ripe peach. Where the forehooves should have been were five spindly digits; the foal held them together tightly, as if he were trying to imitate the shape of a hoof. And two chubby hind legs ended in soft, plump little appendages, each with five tiny digits.

Ruby Glimmer took their foal in her aura and looked at him. “Our son... is a human?”

Author's Note

The full mystery will be revealed next chapter. Until then, speculate away!

Chapter 5

Indigo

By Alaborn

Standard disclaimer: This is a not for profit fan work. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is copyright Hasbro, Inc. I make no claim to any copyrighted material mentioned herein.

Chapter 5

“As far as we can determine, your foal is healthy, despite his different appearance. We will want to schedule regular appointments to establish a baseline for any traits that change over time,” the doctor told Ruby Glimmer and Blue Twilight.

“Your checkups will be conducted in a private room, and your privacy will be maintained,” a nurse added.

“What about all the specialists? The research?” Blue Twilight asked.

“We will continue to research your unique foal, but no identifying data will be attached to any communication,” the first doctor said. “We take medical privacy very seriously. Not even the princesses can look into your case without your express permission.”

“I think it’s time for the parents to be alone,” another nurse said. “Ring the call button if you need assistance.”

“We will,” Ruby Glimmer said.

Ponies like to say that there is no purer example of Harmony than the love of a mother and a father for their newborn foal. Comedians joke that only harmony magic is powerful enough to make parents want to endure all the crying, late night feedings, and dirty diapers.

Regardless of the influence of harmony, the young couple positively glowed with pride upon seeing their son. With hugs, nuzzles, and the comfort of his mother’s magic, little Shooting Star settled in for a nap.

But there is a limit to this newborn magic. For Blue Twilight, it came the next morning, watching Ruby Glimmer feed their son. She lay on her side in the hospital bed, Shooting Star cradled in her magic as he suckled at her teat. Her horn glowed with magic as she kept adjusting their son’s position.

“Now I’m seeing why human women are described as having prominent teats,” Ruby Glimmer commented. “It’s hard to keep him from burying his nose into my belly.”

Blue Twilight shook his head as he started thinking about the situation. “Why? How? Why is our son a fictional creature?”

“Magic,” Ruby Glimmer said. “Magic is almost always the answer when something happens that we can’t explain.”

“This goes way beyond magic!”

“It does. But one of the first lessons we learned at Celestia’s School was that there is magic beyond pony magic. The cosmic magic of the alicorns. The chaos magic of Discord. And the harmony magic of Equestria itself. We learned that when ponies attempt to use magic beyond pony magic, the best case scenario is some monster of the kind that Star Swirl or the Elements of Harmony defeated.” She brushed the little tuft of hair atop Shooting Star’s head. “And this little miracle is no monster.”

“Yes, he’s a miracle. And he’s a human. Why didn’t the doctors say something? I mean, there were like five stallions there at the birth. One of them must have known, right? Why didn’t somepony say something?”

“They are doctors. They learned in school that the offspring of a pony and any race is a pony. That’s the way our magic works. So our son has to be a pony.”

“But he’s not!”

Ruby Glimmer lifted Shooting Star in her magic, levitating him to Blue Twilight. At that moment, the infant opened his eyes. He placed his tiny hand on Blue Twilight’s muzzle.

“Does it matter?” Ruby Glimmer said.

Three days later, Ruby Glimmer and Shooting Star were cleared to return home. Their child was carefully bundled and secured in a carrier, his features hidden from notice, for the trip home, and they made it back to their apartment building without being disturbed.

Blue Twilight hurried up the stairs and opened the door for Ruby Glimmer and Shooting Star. “Welcome home, Shooting Star,” he said as his son entered.

The child, fast asleep, didn’t appreciate the momentous occasion.

“Let’s get him into his crib,” Blue Twilight said.

“No, we need to take a family picture first,” Ruby Glimmer said. “Here.” She passed Shooting Star to him with her magic, and then dashed off.

Blue Twilight took hold of the child. “Where are you going?”

“I’m getting the outfit Mom sent us,” she replied.

Ruby Glimmer returned with a one-piece outfit of yellow fabric, and put Shooting Star into it. The outfit covered everything but the foal’s head and tail, with cute padded socks for his hooves. His human hands and feet fit well into them, but the outfit had one problem, as Ruby Glimmer noticed when she saw a patch of white on his rump.

“Hold on a second,” she said, as a quick mending spell closed the tail hole of the outfit.

“I guess we’re going to have to get used to doing that,” Blue Twilight said.

Ruby Glimmer placed a matching knitted cap on Shooting Star’s head. “We’re ready,” she said.

The couple took a seat on their couch, placing their son between them. Blue Twilight took their camera in his aura, aimed it, and took a picture.

The camera’s magic quickly transferred the image to the specially treated photograph paper. Blue Twilight snatched the photograph in his aura and brought it to them.

“It’s beautiful,” Ruby Glimmer said.

“It is, but we can’t really show off this picture,” he replied. “I mean, what are we going to do? We can’t just keep him wrapped up all the time.”

“There is something,” Ruby Glimmer said. Her horn illuminated, and she scrunched her muzzle as she concentrated on a complicated spell. After a moment, magic washed over Shooting Star, and when it faded, he appeared to be an earth pony colt, with a violet coat that blended the colors of his parents, and a blue mane similar to Ruby Glimmer’s mother, with streaks of silver like Blue Twilight had.

“An illusion spell?” Blue Twilight asked.

“It’s Shadow Song’s Illusory Cloak, which conceals and changes the visual, the tactile, and the olfactory,” Ruby Glimmer explained.

“Olfactory? You want to change our child’s smell?”

“The Swift Current books never mentioned what humans smell like, but I doubt it’s like ponies.” She picked up the camera. “Now smile!”

Blue Twilight smiled, and they took a second family portrait.

“Something for your desk?” Ruby Glimmer inquired as they examined the second picture.

“Yeah. But we can’t use this picture for our parents. They know our foal isn’t supposed to look normal. So we can’t show them a normal foal.”

“They’ll see when they come to visit,” Ruby Glimmer said.

“Yes, we’ll explain it then. Is there anypony else who knows our foal was supposed to look different?”

“”I shared it with Aurora Glow and Emerald Heart,” she replied. “Did you tell anypony?”

“No, just my parents. Oh, and Tall Tree.”

“Tall Tree? I thought you haven’t seen him since graduation?”

“I haven’t,” Blue Twilight said. “But there were some nights when I couldn’t sleep, worried about our foal. I didn’t want to disturb you, so I went into the computer room.”

“Nursery,” Ruby Glimmer interrupted.

“Computer and nursery room. I would go online, and most of the time, Tall Tree was online too. I needed somepony to talk to, and he was willing to listen to my fears. I think I told him everything about what was happening.”

“That was nice of him,” she said. “Did he ask if we were having a human baby?”

Blue Twilight frowned. “He may be the biggest Swift Current fancolt I’ve ever met, but he has more tact than that,” he said. “But I wouldn’t be surprised if he was thinking that.”

Three months later, on one of his occasional visits to Swiftfiction, Blue Twilight saw a story that immediately caught his attention. At the top of the featured story box was one called My Foal, the Human. And when he saw the author was OakTree, Tall Tree’s screen name, he immediately recalled that conversation he had with his wife as they took their first family portrait.

“He couldn’t possibly know, could he?” he whispered.

Blue Twilight clicked on the story. It started with the happy young couple—both unicorns, he noted—decorating the nursery for their coming foal. Then the mare got a new craving, for fish.

The stallion was then shown running through the streets of Canterlot, in the middle of winter, desperately looking for somepony selling fish. After several amusing mishaps involving some griffons and a barrel of fish, he eventually returned home, a herd of cats following him. He then tried to cook the fish, only to find his wife had already consumed them raw.

They logically assumed their foal was going to be a pegasus, due to that craving, but then their doctor said their foal was not going to be a pony at all. At that moment, the foal’s name came to the mother... Swift Current.

The second chapter, the last one written so far, covered the foal’s birth, and the couple’s failed attempt to corral an active infant. True to his namesake, Swift Current proved to be an inventive foal, and was shown defeating numerous “foalproof” devices with his fingers and clever mind. The chapter ended with a brief scene of another expecting couple, with the mother coming up with the name Strong Arm for their foal.

He called Ruby Glimmer over to the computer, and let her read the story. “What do you think?” he asked her.

“It’s an interesting premise, showing the cast of the Swift Current series being born in Equestria,” Ruby Glimmer began. “I’d like to have a better idea where the author is going with the story once the humans all appear; right now, it could be anything from slice of life comedy to humans and ponies working together to prevent the catastrophic joining of their worlds. And in stories like these, I always want to know if Swift Current exists as a work of fiction.”

“No. I mean, what about us? Do you think he somehow knows about what happened to us?”

Ruby Glimmer laughed. “He’s obviously never seen a foal, let alone our foal, if he thinks Swift Current could do that in the first month after birth.” She picked up their sleeping son in her magic.

“We don’t even know what normal is supposed to be.”

“If the description in the books is accurate, a human child takes longer to walk, but otherwise develops similar to a foal,” Ruby Glimmer said.

Blue Twilight shook his head. “I can’t believe we’re relying on a work of fiction for foal-rearing advice.”

She rocked Shooting Star in her magic. “Maybe it’s not fiction after all.”

Maybe it’s not fiction after all. Those words weighed on Blue Twilight’s mind every time he tended to Shooting Star. With plenty of time to kill while feeding or holding the infant, Blue Twilight decided to read the books Ruby Glimmer was using as her references. The primary resource she used was the ninth book in the series, Swift Current and his Go-Cart. The main plot concerned Swift Current racing a machine called a Go-Cart, which was a miniature version of an automobile, sized for one pony, or person in this case. But the story started with Swift Current helping River Wind as she foalsat (the book called it babysitting) for a group of children, including one infant.

Swift Current tried to build a machine to change diapers. It was an uncharacteristic failure for the young inventor, and Blue Twilight laughed at the resulting mess he made.

After he finished the book, Ruby Glimmer suggested he look at the fifteenth book, specifically one chapter in it. This time, the child was Strong Arm’s nephew, and the book included rather specific details about how a human child of two years acted.

It looked about as bad as a pony foal.

The terrible twos were still a distant worry as Blue Twilight and Ruby Glimmer cared for their growing child. He was crawling now, and they were trying to get Shooting Star to eat solid food. But he was proving to be as stubborn as any foal that age.

So far, the illusion spell Ruby Glimmer used had kept their foal’s appearance a secret from everypony not already in the know. Blue Twilight was even able to learn a simpler illusion spell, one that only changed appearance, as an emergency backup. As he learned during his time at college studying computer science, having a redundant system was important to keeping things running smoothly.

And being new parents, Blue Twilight and Ruby Glimmer ended up spending much of their free time at home. Visitors from their college days were few and far between, and they weren’t sure if meeting other new parents was a good idea. Once Shooting Star was older, that would have to change, but for now, they enjoyed their quiet days with their child.

After keeping to themselves, they were surprised one day when somepony knocked on their door. It was a chilly day early in December, and they certainly weren’t expecting any visitors.

“Get the door. I’ll deal with Shooting Star,” Ruby Glimmer said. Blue Twilight headed to the door, holding off on opening it until he saw the illusion put back in place.

Blue Twilight thought the mystery visitor might be a neighbor, or the landlord. He was certainly not expecting to see a Royal Guard unicorn standing there, with an official writ held in her magic.

“You are Blue Twilight?” the guard said.

“Yes,” Blue Twilight replied.

“I’m here to interview you and Ruby Glimmer about an important matter. Is she here as well?”

It was a silly thing for the guard to say, given that she could see Ruby Glimmer. “I am,” Ruby Glimmer said.

Blue Twilight peered at the writ. It mentioned an interview, but it didn’t specify the subject matter. “I’m not sure I understand.”

“Let me see that,” Ruby Glimmer said, grabbing the writ in her aura. “Wait, why does this have the seal of Princess Twilight Sparkle?”

The guard stepped into the room, closing the door behind her. “I’ve come to talk to you about your child.”

Ruby Glimmer stepped in front of Shooting Star, calling magic to her horn. “Just what are you trying to do?”

The guard raised a hoof. “Please, I mean you and your child no harm. I’m here because you deserve answers. While I have the authority to order you to speak, I would prefer to talk to you as friends.

Blue Twilight felt a tickle in his horn as the guard dismissed a spell. Immediately thereafter, he felt a powerful wave of magic, and he instinctively closed his eyes against it.

When he opened his eyes, the first thing he noticed was he wasn’t looking at the guard’s eyes, but her chest. She was no longer in armor, and he saw her light purple coat. He looked up, and saw the impressive stature, long horn, flared wings, and ethereal mane of stars. “P-princess!” He stumbled as he tried to bow quickly.

“Please, rise, both of you,” Princess Twilight Sparkle said. “I have never wanted ponies to bow to me.”

Ruby Glimmer rose. “Why are you here, Princess?” she asked.

“It is as I said. I have come to talk to you about your child, because you deserve answers,” she replied. “May I see him, without the illusion?”

Ruby Glimmer nodded, and dismissed the spell.

Twilight Sparkle smiled. “Human babies are such cute things,” she said.

“You know about humans? You think they’re real?” Ruby Glimmer said.

“Of course.” She knelt, lowering her wing to Shooting Star. The baby reached out, curling his tiny fingers around a feather.

“Wait. Then do you know why our child is human?” Blue Twilight asked.

“I do. The reason is simple, but the explanation will take some time,” she replied. “Your child is human because you both possess human souls.”

“What?” Blue Twilight and Ruby Glimmer said in unison.

“As I said, the explanation will take some time. Shall we sit down with some tea?”

“Uh, we don’t drink tea,” Blue Twilight said. “I can only offer energy drinks or hard cider.”

“No worries, then. I’ll provide the tea.” The princess’s horn flared, and a complete tea service appeared on the kitchen table.

Blue Twilight examined the cup; it appeared to be incredibly fine china, decorated with gold leaf. “Did you summon your personal tea service?”

“Of course not. It would be silly to reach all the way to Ponyville just for tea. No, I’m borrowing Princess Celestia’s personal tea service.”

“That’s not very nice,” Ruby Glimmer observed.

“If I wanted to be not nice, I would have borrowed her cake, too,” Twilight Sparkle responded. “But we’re not here to talk about our little pranks.” The princess took a seat; the chair appeared to magically grow to fit her larger body. She calmly poured tea into three cups.

After a sip of tea, Twilight Sparkle spoke. “The story begins, as most problems in Equestria’s history do, with Discord.”

The two unicorns then heard discordant tones outside the window, as if somepony had shattered a wind chime and reassembled its pieces randomly. The princess heard it as well, but she must have understood something in the tones, as she spoke to it. “Yes, I know you heard that. You were supposed to hear that!”

She shook her head and turned to the couple. “Sorry about that. Some beings should learn not to eavesdrop, especially if they don’t want to hear tales of their failures repeated. Anyway, Discord.” She took another sip of tea. “Centuries ago, he defeated Princess Celestia and Princess Luna for the first time, a very short-lived victory, and one I’m convinced they allowed to happen. But in the short time he ruled, he tried to make his rule permanent.

“Discord wanted chaos to replace harmony. And he did just that, spreading chaos across the globe. But Harmony could not be defeated through brute force. The Tree of Harmony’s roots are deep. Where there is life, there is harmony, and this harmony dispels chaos.

“Seeing that raw power could not win, Discord tried other tactics. One was to trap his power within a shell of life. The result of that was the plundervines, if you remember your history. Another was to pour his power into a place where there is no life, the molten rock deep underneath the planet. And that’s what’s relevant to your case.

“Like most of Discord’s schemes, this plan was ultimately a failure.” They heard the discordant chimes again, but the princess ignored them. “Sure, there may be a seething torrent of chaos far beneath our hooves, but when it breaks free, Harmony will still counter it. But sometimes, this freed chaos will touch a pony before it is eliminated. And that creates problems.

“For any species touched by magic, reproduction has both a biological component and a magical component. For ponies, whose magic comes from the harmony of Equestria itself, the magical component has a very strong influence. Harmony wants ponies to thrive, and it wills it so. The offspring of a pony and a biologically compatible species is a pony because Harmony wills it so. There are three fillies born for every colt because Harmony wills it so.

“But harmony is the eternal foe of chaos, and it will not allow chaos to spread. And that includes a pony touched by chaos. When ponies are unable to conceive, the cause is normally biological, and pony medicine has made great strides to help these couples. But sometimes, two ponies are completely healthy, and still have problems. There is nothing wrong biologically; the problem comes with the spark of the two ponies’ souls. When one is touched by chaos, Harmony says no. And that’s final. It is one of Harmony’s methods to stop the spread of chaos.”

“Is that what happened with our parents?” Blue Twilight asked.

“Exactly.”

“Unless an alicorn gets involved,” Ruby Glimmer said.

Twilight Sparkle nodded.

“But why?” Blue Twilight asked.

“Well, it all started with Rockhoof,” Twilight Sparkle started.

“Rockhoof? The Pillar, Rockhoof?” Ruby Glimmer asked.

“Yes, that Rockhoof. When we rescued Star Swirl and the Pillars from Limbo, we were able to learn so much about these historic figures. One thing we learned was that Rockhoof was in a herd, a large one, yet had no foals. Fortunately, we knew modern Equestrian medicine could fix that, yet doctors identified nothing wrong with the stallion. It was my own research that discovered the corruption of chaos that afflicted Rockhoof. And since I suspected one of my dearest friends was similarly affected, I made it my mission to find a way around the problem.”

“Are you talking about Pinkie Pie?” Blue Twilight asked.

“Yes. After reading everything I could, including tomes I could only access because I was an alicorn, I found a way to bypass Harmony’s failsafe.”

“And what was that?” Blue Twilight asked.

“That’s where the human souls come in,” Ruby Glimmer guessed.

“Correct,” Twilight Sparkle said. “For an animal, sperm meets egg, and that’s all that’s necessary to create new life. For ponies, there needs to be a soul. If it can’t be provided by the parents, then it must be found elsewhere.”

“That sounds... I don’t know....” Blue Twilight said.

“It sounds like something Sombra would do, and it would, if the souls were taken by force. But I searched for souls of those whose lives were tragically cut short, and offered them a second chance. Only if they were willing would they come to be reborn as a pony, and enjoy a full life in Equestria.”

“Why humans? Why not here?” Blue Twilight asked.

“Harmony’s will is too great to give a second chance to a pony, or any other creature of Equestria. I had to look elsewhere, to another world.”

“How did you find humans? I thought the multiverse was too vast to find other worlds,” Ruby Glimmer said.

“I’m sure you have heard of mirror portals,” Twilight Sparkle said. “They were once a relatively well-kept secret, before Star Swirl was rescued from Limbo, and the old coot started blabbing. Anyway, one such portal led to a world parallel to ours, a world where ponies instead took the form of a strange race of bipeds called humans.”

“Did you know about this?” Blue Twilight asked Ruby Glimmer.

She shook her head.

“Imagine this teapot were this mirror universe,” Twilight Sparkle said. She cast a beam of light upon it with her horn. “It is a reflection of Equestria, and a reflection of other world at the same time.”

Ruby Glimmer lit her horn and added a second light to the teapot.

“It’s like that exactly,” Twilight Sparkle continued. “Having visited this world, I knew its combined cosmic magic, and using it and the magic of Equestria as inputs, I only needed to search a tiny sliver of the multiverse. I found the human universe, and shortly thereafter, I was able to give Rockhoof and his new wife a healthy earth pony colt.”

“If I’m remembering my history correctly, that’s around the time the Swift Current books came out,” Blue Twilight observed.

“Right. One of the things I always wanted to do was write stories, to share the lessons I learned about friendship. And knowing that Rockhoof’s colt might have flashes of memory from a different world, I decided to teach these lessons using characters from a fictional human world. That way, any flashes of memory would appear to be a reference to these books.”

“I knew it!” Ruby Glimmer said.

“What?” Blue Twilight said.

“The real identity of Apple Town. I always knew it was the princess!”

“I haven’t been Apple Town for more than a century. But I love how ponies embraced my writing, and have followed every subsequent generation of Swift Current.”

“I see why you wrote the books about humans, but if you wanted to teach friendship lessons, then what was the point of focusing on human technology?” Blue Twilight asked.

“Because it was something that needed to be done.” Twilight Sparkle said. “To elaborate, first let me ask a question. What was the greatest invention in the five centuries following the banishment of Princess Luna?”

“I’d say the printing press,” Ruby Glimmer responded.

“The prin-” Blue Twilight said, too late. “Um, maybe the crossbow?”

“My answer would be the printing press, but the crossbow is a good answer too, as would be the telescope and the mechanical clock. Now, what do all of these inventions have in common?”

Blue Twilight and Ruby Glimmer both shrugged.

“They were not invented by ponies,” Twilight Sparkle stated. “Banishing her sister affected Princess Celestia. She was driven by guilt, the feeling that she could have done something different. In the time after, she became resistant to change. She has never spoken about it, even to me, but I suspect that she wanted the world to stay the same, to help Luna adjust when she returned.

“As the sole ruler of Equestria, Princess Celestia had the power to freeze pony culture, but she could not stop the world from changing. While pony society stagnated, griffons, minotaurs, and other races continued to grow. It made ponies look weak, which led to conflicts and even wars. She couldn’t stop all changes, especially in trade centers like Manehattan and Baltimare, but Canterlot and its nobles remain to this day overly traditional and afraid to change.

“When I first went through the mirror to the parallel human world, I saw a glimpse of what ponies could be, what ponies should be. And that led me to use my power as princess to encourage ponies to look forward, to reach for the stars. It makes my heart soar to see all the things my little ponies have built in my short lifetime.”

“Short?” Ruby Glimmer snorted.

“Relatively speaking.”

Shooting Star started to cry, and Ruby Glimmer picked him up in her magic. That led Blue Twilight to think of another unanswered question. “You haven’t explained how you found us,” he said. “Did someone at the hospital tell you about our son?”

“No, the doctors would never do that. I did receive some queries from doctors about if I knew of any cases of healthy foals being born with unusual forms; I tend to get questions like this, because of my reputation for knowing everything. But they never described what an unusual form meant, and I didn’t even think about them meaning a human child. And then I happened to read a story on Swiftfiction about a pony with a human child, and I decided to see if that might be the ‘unusual form’ the doctors were investigating.”

“Was that OakTree’s story?” Blue Twilight asked.

“It might have been. So I looked up Ruby Glimmer in the public records, saw she married you, and knew exactly what had happened.”

“What do you mean by looking me up?” Ruby Glimmer asked.

“Well, if a human child had been born, it would have to be from two ponies born through my intervention. And one of those ponies would have to be you, since you were the only filly.”

“The only filly? That doesn’t seem possible,” Blue Twilight said.

“It was by design. To avoid just this issue, every foal born through my intervention is supposed to be a colt, since my spell is only supposed to find male souls.”

Ruby Glimmer crossed her forelegs over her chest. “Do I look like a colt to you?”

“I was surprised too when I heard your parents gave birth to a filly. It’s not like I could tell them that they were supposed to have a colt!” Twilight Sparkle said.

“You could have told them the whole truth about what you were doing, but you didn’t,” Blue Twilight said. A thought occurred to him. “Princess Celestia doesn’t know what you’re doing, does she?”

“She knows I’m helping ponies who have been corrupted by Discord’s actions. I haven’t said how. But she knows. I know she knows. But if we’re to be equals as princesses, she won’t say anything. Not directly, at least.”

“Would you do it, even if she didn’t approve?” Ruby Glimmer said.

“Yes. From the first time I saw Pinkie Pie with her colt, I knew the answer would always be yes.” She looked at Shooting Star. “Now, we need to talk about your colt.”

“You don’t want there to be a human running around Canterlot,” Ruby Glimmer said.

“I don’t think it’s in his best interest. While he’s healthy now, we have no way of knowing what will happen over the long term to a human growing up in Equestria.”

“What can you do?” Blue Twilight asked.

“The same magic that was used to bring you into this world. It borrows from the mother and father, and Harmony shapes the foal, but shapes the foal into a pony body, overriding his true nature. Your son will be a pony, but the right pony for him, just like you. You’re happy with your current forms, right?”

“I’ve never wanted to be anything other than a unicorn,” Blue Twilight said.

“I love my body,” Ruby Glimmer said.

“I love your body, too,” Blue Twilight said.

Ruby Glimmer blushed. “Not in front of the princess!” she hissed.

Twilight Sparkle chuckled. “I want you to think it over. If you want your son to grow up a pony, I can make it happen. And when he’s old enough, he can make the choice for himself. In fact, you can all be humans, temporarily or permanently. My power is at your command. It’s the least I can do. And for now, I can answer any questions you have about humans, as best as I can.”

Blue Twilight looked to his wife, who nodded. “We’ll talk about it. But how are we going to contact you?”

“Letters and petitions both take time. If you want to reach me quickly, send a message to BAE on Swiftfiction.”

“You’re on Swiftfiction?” Ruby Glimmer said.

“Of course. Swift Current is my baby, and I want to see how he grows.”

“We know the feeling,” Ruby Glimmer said as she held Shooting Star.

“Let me know when you’ve decided.” Twilight Sparkle rose, and with a flash of her horn, made the tea service disappear. “It was a pleasure to meet the both of you. I still remember the letters your parents sent me about you, and all those cute baby photos!”

Blue Twilight groaned. “Hopefully they didn’t send the one with....”

“You in the ladybug outfit? It was the most adorable thing!”

“I have to see that!” Ruby Glimmer said.

“I’ll bring the letters next time we meet.” Twilight Sparkle took one last look at Shooting Star and smiled, and then she teleported away.

Blue Twilight watched Shooting Star as he crawled on the carpet. “Should we do it?” he asked.

“I think so. It worked for us, right?” Ruby Glimmer responded.

“I think so, too. But when he gets older....”

“Yes?”

“That idea of temporarily becoming a human? That might be nice, to spend some time being a human family.”

“I agree. After all, that’s what we truly are, a human family.”

“The only human family in Equestria,” Blue Twilight said.

Author's Note

One of the fun things about writing in a future Equestria with a technology level similar to ours is thinking how things would differ. For example, I imagine automobiles to be rare, toys for the wealthy or eccentric, since ponies, being herd animals, would be happy traveling by train or streetcar. It was touched on in the first chapter, where the pony equivalent of 70's computer pioneers like Apple Computers were started in basements, not garages, since few ponies would have garages.

Chapter 1

Indigo

By Alaborn

Standard disclaimer: This is a not for profit fan work. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is copyright Hasbro, Inc. I make no claim to any copyrighted material mentioned herein.

Chapter 1

Blue Twilight was seriously regretting his choice to enroll in Professor Rose Water’s creative writing course.

The young unicorn stallion was a computer science major at Royal Canterlot University, and with a cutie mark of a circuit board, wanted nothing more than to design new and better computers. Two decades ago, he might have been able to design something out of a workshop in his parents’ basement, but those days were long gone. Today, getting a college degree was a necessary step to doing what his cutie mark was telling him.

And getting a college degree required a balanced slate of prerequisite courses in subjects Blue Twilight didn’t care much about. He could have met his Equestrian language requirement with a standard composition course, but writing lengthy term papers wasn’t appealing. Creative writing sounded more fun.

But creative writing was a lot harder than he thought. Each assignment was devilishly difficult. The professor liked to say that restrictions breed creativity, but for Blue Twilight, restrictions bred frustration. The first assignment didn’t seem that bad, writing a 500 word story about a chance meeting between two ponies. Then the assignment was changed to cut the story down to 300 words, then 200, then 100, all while preserving the elements of the original story. It was far harder than it seemed.

Another assignment, where the stallions were asked to write a story from the perspective of a mare, and vice versa, on a topic specific to mares, proved to be uncomfortable. A later assignment, writing a story without using the most common vowel in the Equestrian language, was an excruciating exercise in using a thesaurus and writing stilted phrases.

This week’s lecture was looking up, however. The subject for the lecture was listed on the syllabus as “Out of Place”, and the readings were interesting. Blue Twilight thought back to his favorite series of books as a colt, the Buck Charger series, with a stallion from the present hurtled into a future world of space battles and epic adventure. He thought about writing something similar for this week’s assignment.

Blue Twilight sat at his desk in Professor Rose Water’s classroom and pulled out his notebook. He took a ball-point pen in his aura and clicked it idly as he waited for the class to begin.

The professor, a smallish earth pony stallion with a rose coat and curly silver mane, entered the classroom just as the clock reached 11:00. “Good morning, class!” he said in his high-pitched voice. “I hope you had a good weekend, and recharged your creative juices, because it’s time for another creative writing class!”

Blue Twilight groaned. Every week, it was the same greeting. Why wasn’t the creative writing professor more creative than that?

“Let’s talk about this week’s readings. We’ll start with a classic in the genre, Lightning Strikes, where the protagonist, White Spark, goes to sleep a unicorn, and wakes up a pegasus. Or did he? Raise your hoof if you think he did change.”

Blue Twilight joined about half the class in raising his hoof. He could easily see the arguments against the proposition, though.

“The author leaves the answer to the question a mystery. In the beginning of the story, we see White Spark’s reaction to his new appearance. He sees old photographs, all showing him as a pegasus. He discovers he knows how to fly, and when he encounters a unicorn filly struggling with her magic, he finds he doesn’t know how to help her.

“On the other hoof, we see a glimpse of pegasus life through the character of White Spark’s marefriend, Black Wing. Note that White Spark lives on the ground, while Black Wing has a cloud house. Black Wing has the same foalhood pictures, but they are shown with feathers hanging from the frame. White Spark is shown as a pegasus, superficially, but seems to lack the normal pegasus experiences.”

“So what happened?” one student asked.

“It’s left to the reader to determine,” the professor replied.

“Magic would give the answer,” another student said.

“True, but remember that this story is the product of its times. The knowledge of a pony’s true nature, that form dictated by Harmony that can’t be changed by any means, even by the likes of Discord, has only been understood for about sixty years. If White Spark had his body and mind changed by magic, powerful magic could confirm that, but that was not known to the author. Broken Quill wrote this story not long after Discord freed himself and briefly changed the world before being recaptured and later reformed, and his letters show the experience led him to question the nature of the world.”

Professor Rose Water then held up the second reading. “Time Shift is another classic from the pulp era. Now, the ‘Twenty Winks’ archetype is a classic, but unlike more juvenile works like Buck Charger, the author subverts the archetype by creating a world where everything changes, but nothing changes.”

Blue Twilight groaned; it looked like writing a story similar to Buck Charger wasn’t going to be a good idea after all.

“Time Turner, a humble clock maker, wakes up after being in a coma for 20 years,” the professor continued. “But he doesn’t feel older, and in his village, ponies are older, but nothing else seems to have changed. ‘Where is the latest and greatest clock?’ he muses.

“The rest of the story, where it’s revealed that Time Turner is a retired secret agent and he’s a prisoner of the changelings, is pure pulp, but the setup, where Time Turner uses his knowledge to pierce through the deception is an excellent example of a pony feeling out of place.

“Finally, we have our last story; it’s one that you might have thought would fit better in our Nightmare Night week. It’s a ghost story, true, but one that doesn’t read like a ghost story. The story shows a family of crystal ponies visiting a memorial to those harmed by King Sombra, with a focus on the two foals, Flint Spark and Rose Quartz. But at the end, when the father comes across the name Rose Quartz on the memorial and says it was the name of his little sister, who died decades ago, you are forced to reread the story. Rose Quartz is a ghost, and is never shown interacting with the other characters, but the clever writing conceals that fact until the big reveal. Consider the techniques seen in this story as you plan your own work.

“As always, the best submissions will be considered for the school’s bimonthly literary journal, with the best stories winning a small prize. As a reminder, these stories must not reference any other copyrighted works. Given that it’s Out of Place week, I’m used to seeing stories about ponies interacting with the dragons of Emberfire, or the humans from the Swift Current series, or the sparkly sparkly changelings of Twilight’s Heart. Now, there’s nothing saying you can’t write one of these stories, though writing a good one is even harder. But they’re not eligible for the journal.

“Now, who wants to talk about today’s subject?”

The remainder of the class was spent in discussion, as usual, but Blue Twilight spent the time bemoaning another impossible assignment.

Blue Twilight sat at his computer, word processing program open, staring at the blank document. His hooves rested on the two circles of the hoofboard, which was normally enough to get him to start writing, but no words came. Most unicorns had switched to keyboards, where each letter and number had its own small key, but Blue Twilight had learned to type on a hoofboard, and was fast at moving the twin discs to key letters.

A world where the hoofboard was never invented, and all computers used keyboards? It certainly fit the professor’s suggestion of writing about a small change, but trying to create a reason why led to some unicorn-dominated society, and that was even more of a cliché than Buck Charger.

After some more staring, Blue Twilight closed the word processing program and pushed the hoofboard aside. He had other homework to attend to.

Blue Twilight opened his biology textbook. The chapter for this week’s lecture dealt with the interaction of harmony magic with the biology of ponies and other species, which was an interesting subject. What would pony society be like if the ratio of female to male births were 1-1 instead of 3-1? What would happen if harmony didn’t shape the pony’s tribe, and many ponies were unhappy with being an earth pony, pegasus, or unicorn? All interesting ideas, but they struck him as too broad for his creative writing assignment.

The problem set at the end of the chapter was busy work, regurgitating the material from the chapter, exactly the kind of work he didn’t like. He decided to put it off until later.

The assignment for his computer programming class was more interesting, an open-ended assignment with the only requirement being that the output made use of the 256-color palette of the Video Graphics Array card in the latest computers. Blue Twilight, of course, always had the latest computer, so he didn’t need to use the computer lab to do his work. And fortunately for him, the assignment wasn’t being graded on artistic talent.

The first idea he had was to create a program to blend colors together. Draw three circles, and then change the shade of the pixels in between to shift from one color to another. He then pictured an input function, allowing the user to move the circles, and then automatically shift the color patterns. It wouldn’t require drawing detailed shapes, and the logic to shift colors was clear in his mind. He just needed to see the registers assigned to each color.

Blue Twilight referred to the full-color printout the class received in association with the assignment. It arranged the colors in a sixteen by sixteen grid, and gave the register for each, along with a name for the color. The stallion laughed at seeing all the color names. It was the rare stallion who could name that many colors; Blue Twilight could name maybe a dozen on a good day. He thought of himself as having a blue coat, and he didn’t really care if it was properly described as royal blue, azure, or whatever made up name fashion designers in Manehattan would use.

He fired up the compiler for the language being used in this class. He rested his hooves on the hoofboard and started writing his program.

When Blue Twilight glanced back at the printout, his eyes focused on one of the words. There, next to a dark blue color square, was the name indigo. He was sure he had never used that color name in his life, but for some reason, it was familiar. He knew indigo. But from where? The color was far too dark to match his coat, so there was no chance someone had called him an indigo colt.

He couldn’t focus on his assignment, not with the mystery distracting him. He searched his memories, but nothing came to him. He looked around his dormitory room.

There.

On the bookshelf, he had a framed photograph from his high school graduation. He stood there, wearing that stupid flat hat and gown, the green color clashing with his coat. He was flanked by his parents, and they were all smiling. But Blue Twilight focused on the backdrop. The photo was taken in front of a rainbow, brought in by the school for the graduation celebration. He thought indigo, and then thought rainbow.

But that was stupid. There was no indigo in a rainbow. Everypony knew the colors of the rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet. The blue was bright, like Blue Twilight’s coat color. Six was the right number, an even number, a harmonious number. It balanced three warm colors and three cool colors. They fit perfectly on a color wheel, with the three primary colors making the three secondary colors. The six colors were associated with the six Elements of Harmony. Six was as it should be.

But what if rainbows weren’t associated with harmony?

Blue Twilight tried to imagine it. His eyes unfocused, and the rainbow in the photograph blurred, the colors merging into a spectrum, and he imagined indigo fitting in the rainbow.

He went to his computer, opened his word processing program, and wrote a line.

Something about rainbows always bothered Morning Dew.

For once, writing a story for Professor Rose Water’s class was fun. The words flowed from his mind and onto the virtual paper. He was happy with the results, a story about a pegasus working in the rainbow factory, constantly bothered by seeing a missing color in the rainbow, one that nopony else could sense. But it remained to see if the professor approved.

The professor always kept an even expression as he passed the papers back to the class. Blue Twilight would have no idea his fate until having the paper in his hooves. The professor dropped his paper on his desk, face down as always. With some trepidation, he turned it over.

He beamed as he saw A+ written on the paper.

After he finished distributing the papers, Professor Rose Water addressed the class. “There were two standout stories submitted for last week’s assignment, Indigo by Blue Twilight, and The Shadow in the Mirror by Shining Aura. You can see both in November’s literary journal.

It was a pretty good feeling.

And the twenty-five bit prize bought a lot of pizza.

Author's Note

This story is set an unspecified number of years in the future, where ponies' technology has advanced to roughly the level of Earth in the 1990s.

To aid in understanding, I am using mostly human terms for the technology. On the other hand, I recognize that many people here have never used things like Usenet.