The Nine

I woke to the bright sun shining down on me. Wait, sun? When had that gone back to getting up in the morning? Must be Tom’s doing, what with him being the ruler and all. I glanced beside me and noticed Twilight was still asleep. As was typical, I was awake at an ‘ungodly’ hour. Oh well, that could wind up being a blessing. I shook my head, clearing both the sleep and the crowding thoughts. I needed to find out things, and since the librarian was asleep, I had only one other source to turn to.

I made my way to the throne room, weaving through the meandering corridors until I arrived in the grand chamber, the golden aligon (alicorn/dragon) on the throne.

“Hello, Kiqo. I suppose you have questions.”

“I suppose that’s written clear as day on my face isn’t it?”

“Yes it is” he said with a light chuckle.

“So, I guess first off, I have to ask why I’m an alicorn.”

“You don’t have to.”

“No, I do. My curiosity wouldn’t let me rest until I knew.”

He chuckled again. “Alright, I suppose you do have the right to know. If you look in the annals, situations such as yours, being from Earth and all, are recorded. And, when they come they are destined to rule. Therefore, when one drinks from the fountain, you are made into an alicorn, either to reclaim your rightful throne or to join your fellow on it. In your case, I suspect you have no desire to rule.”

“That is correct. But, if I may inquire, why is Ace, who came from Earth as well, not an alicorn?”

“He is.”

“I guess his hair must cover his horn entirely then” I mused. “So, if I’m destined to rule, then why is my magic gone?”

He looked a little baffled. “That’s not supposed to be. Allow me to fix that.”

He reached out a claw, touching my horn lightly. A surge of magic flowed through me, almost knocking me out again. I reeled a little when I tried to cast again, but I successfully floated more than a dust mote this time.

“Hey, stop that!” Tom said, giggling gleefully. “Put me down!”

“Just seeing how much of it I have back.”

“Well, it seems you have all of it back” he said, sitting back on his throne. “I think I might research why that happened. Although, I see you took matters into your own hands when you lost your magic.”

I glanced down at my mechanical arms. “Yeah. I was prepared for the worst. Anyway, I’ve a few more questions.”

“Alright. Shoot.”

“First off, why am I, and everyone else, a pony now, and why does nopony remember my being a dog?”

“Well, Equestria is a land of ponies, and dominates all lands on this planet, so the residents are made into ponies every time a new ruler ascends the throne. But, since most rulers do not enforce a ‘pony only’ policy, new races develop through the use of magical or alchemical transformation. You can tell the difference between the two, however. The magically transformed ones will develop all types of body form, whereas the alchemical ones will be stuck without any extra assets.”

“That’s all well and good, but why does nopony remember?”

“Amnesiatic side effects, that’s all.”

“So, that’s not the intent?”

“Not at all.”

“Well, that sets my mind at ease. I thought I had completely lost it. Oh well. Um, just by the by, but what happened to our tattoos?”

“Oh, I remember mom having those. I don’t know, honestly. Maybe artificial markings are removed in the form resetting process. That’s another thing I’ll have to look into.”

“Hmm, alright. Well, one more question. Weren’t you basically born yesterday?”

“Well, not quite, but fairly close.”

“Alright, so, if you’re not even a week old, how do you know so much?”

“I thought you said one more” he said teasingly.

“Yes, well, that question is an extension of the prior one, so mneh” I said, sticking my tongue.

He laughed heartily. “You are a fun one. But, I suppose you do deserve an answer, especially since you are the one supposed to be up here, not me. The magic wellspring, which functions as the magical source for every unicorn, has a very small proximity. So, a tradition was established. Very powerful unicorns, powerful enough to grant themselves wings, drank from this spring and amplified its power over all Equestria. They established themselves as rulers, and nopony resisted, since they honestly deserved it. But, after a few rulers passed on and new ones stepped up, the same mistakes were seen over and over, and since ponies didn’t have a precisely accurate recording system in those days of yore, they decided on a more concrete solution. They built a fountain, gold for its immense magical properties, and sealed their memories within. With a few more spells, they made it to where every being to drink from the fountain would establish a link, constantly depositing their own memories and accessing those of those prior.”

“So, every ruler is better than the last by default?”

“Quite right.”

“Intriguing. Anyways, I’ve no more questions. I’ll leave you to your duties.”

He chuckled slightly as I bowed low and backed out of the throne room. I sought out Twilight, since I also had questions on magic. I found her tucked away in the library.

“Oh, hi there! I found something quite intriguing that you might be interested in.”

“What is it?”

She pushed a book over to me. It was the same one I had rejected yesterday. It was a list of names. On one side were ones I’d expect to see on Earth, but on the other side, they were also familiar, though not from Earth.

“What is this?”

“It’s a list of all the humans that came to Equestria.”

So many familiar names I had read online. Among them were Echo, Shirotora, Zann, and every human from every other human-tagged fic. So, did this mean that we did have a certain link with Equestria? Was what we wrote inherently true, and calling the site FiMFiction a fallacy? Should it really be FiMFacts? My head whirled with elaborate conspiracy theories, and didn’t stop until Twilight violently shook me.

“Are you alright? You were just staring into space for quite a while.”

“Yeah” I paused to bring my mind to a focus. “Yeah, I’m alright. It’s just that all these names. I know them.”

“How? They all died long ago.”

“They wrote their stories down on Earth. I guess this is as good a time as any to say this, I suppose. Back there, we had a show based on you. It was mostly true, according to what you say, and many of its fans wrote stories. In some of them, a human would make his way to Equestria. They would have names, of course, but I never thought I’d see them in A Factual Recording of Those That Have Visited.”

She was stunned. “Why wouldn’t you tell me this?” she asked weakly.

“For this exact reason. I didn’t want to scare you, or make you think I’m crazy. Or crazier.”

“Still, you should have told me.”

“Better late than never?”

She sighed. “I suppose. Anyways, look at the end of the list.”

I did, and found three names: David Costello, who became Ace Grafite; William, who became Kiqo; Charles McGran, who hasn’t yet adopted a new name.

“Who’s this guy?”

“I don’t know. This book magically records all visitors, so I imagine he’s a refugee from Earth. It says his time of arrival was just three days ago, so he probably won’t like it here.”

“It’s probably better than where he came from.”

“I suppose you’re right” she thought for a moment. “He would’ve arrived in Ponyville, right?”

“Yes, why?”

“Well, it’s three days’ walk from there to here, so he could be here any minute.”

“Well, if I may say, the only reason he would’ve crawled into that tunnel would be to lick his wounds. Meaning he’s injured, so he could be a while.”

Of course, I was proven wrong when a pony stepped in, a bandage about his waist. He had a dusty alabaster coat, and a slicked back bright red mane. He spoke in a voice strengthened through training, but weakened by injury, which resulted in a slightly wheezy baritone. “Where is William? Or Kiqo, as he may be called.”

“I be he, who be ye?”

“I’m Charles. I found your journal, and I liked the idea of a new world, free from the ravages of nuclear war” he stopped, wheezing, then caught sight of my arms. “May I ask?”

I inspected my fingers. “I lost the use of magic, and wanted my hands back, so I had my assistant” I gestured to Twilight. “perform a forelimb biamputation, then replace them with these, in order to enhance my usefulness. Of course, I regained my magic, rendering these null and void, but a reverse biamputation is nigh impossible.”

He stared at me incredulously. “I can tell you’re the one who wrote that journal. You sound just the same in person.”

“Well, Charles, you don’t look so good. I know somepony who can fix you right up. Come along.”

“I have other things to tell you, though!” cried an indignant Twilight.

“And this pony may be dying soon if I don’t help him. I have no doubt that what you will tell me will be extremely important, but not more important than somepony’s life. Now, if you’ll excuse me.”

She gave a snort as I left with Charles, and I could only hope she’d forgive me.

“So, Charles, notice anything different about us?”

His breath whistled through his nose as he thought. “Well, I only see others with either horns or wings, or neither, I suppose. And, since we have both, we’re more important. Or something like that. Am I close?”

“Incredibly. We are not necessarily more important, just meant to rule. Now, I’m not sure why, but presumably it has to do with us coming from Earth.”

“Maybe that’s what Miss Nag was going to tell you.”

“Miss Nag?” At first I had no clue who he was talking about, but when I realized, I burst out laughing. “Miss Nag? Oh, that is rich. She’s not always that naggy. You should probably just call her Twilight.”

“Why?”

“Because that’s her name” I said, laughing again.

“You’re acting pretty jolly for having those beasts invading your home” he said, shooting me a sideways glance.

I clicked my tongue chatisingly. “Party pooper. I was trying to forget them.”

“You are a strange man.”

“Is this news?”

He just sighed as I laughed again, thoroughly enjoying annoying somepony new. Of course, I knew I still had to find that yellow mare, and find her we did.

“Hey, Fluttershy!” I called, catching her attention. “Come meet my new friend, Charles!”

“I wouldn’t say I’m your friend” he said through gritted teeth.

“Ooh, someone’s a Mister Grumpy Guts” Fluttershy said, landing in front of him.

“It couldn’t possibly be because I’m suffering from malnourishment, dehydration, severe lacerations, and probably pretty severe radiation poisoning, could it?”

“Sorry” she said, bowing her head, shamed.

“Hey, man, be nice to Shy. She’s the only pony with the know-how to fix you up, so if she decides not to treat you on the condition of being too grumpy, none of us can force her.”

Fluttershy glanced up at me, and I winked at her. Thankfully, Charles only got the message of ‘I might die if I don’t respect her’.

“Alright, I’m sorry. I am a little grumpy, and I shouldn’t have taken it out on you. Could you help me now?”

“I dunno” she said mockingly. “You’re still sounding pretty grumpy. You could at least smile.”

He attempted to smile, but the forced grin was just pitiful.

“That’s not a smile! Do I have to get the Smile Machine over here?”

He looked a little worried, and but on his best, least pitiful smile.

“That’ll have to do, I guess. It’ll be like accepting a chipped bit, but I can’t turn away a pony in need. Follow me.”

He sighed in relief, and followed the yellow mare into the hospital. I returned to the library, finding a very grumpy Twilight that didn’t look like she had moved since she had snorted at me.

“And I thought he was grumpy” I said, trying to break the grumpy frown.

“Oh, I’m not grumpy anymore” Twilight said, though not from her body. Or at least not the one I was looking at.

I looked past one Twilight to see another, who was reading on a couch.

“Should I even ask?” I asked, gesturing at the faux Twilight.

“Just a prop for fun.”

I poked the fake, who proceeded to fall rigidly onto the floor.

“Well” I said, tearing my eyes off the perfect replica of the perfect mare. “What was it you wanted to tell me?”

“About our souls. I attempted to, and I could feel myself dissolving. I figured I’d let you know, since maybe you know something about this” she said, adding a cautious inquisitive tone to the last bit.

“How did you ever guess?” I asked, flopping down on a couch.

“You’re the Warden of an omniscient being who constantly whispering in your ear.”

I chuckled. “This time, this was not due entirely to Him. I theorized on this, and he only confirmed it. The four elements, Earth, Air, Fire, and Water, bind the souls of the dearly departed to the planet. Of course, big scale industry chases the elements away, and they were all but nonexistent on our planet. Here, however, they had a strong influence, but when the Tratchy came, they fled, meaning our souls have nothing binding us here, and when our soul is removed from our body, we will dissolve into nothingness.”

She looked at me, a little shocked. “So death is permanent now?”

I chuckled. “There’s always necromancy.”

“That’s one field that magic doesn’t cover.”

“Well, my talent is change, and I think I’m going to do just that.”

“I’m not going to let you do that.”

“Why not?”

“Because, it’s not a limit, since magic is limitless, but a boundary. Some ponies got tired of seeing their departed loved ones again, and had necromancy banned.”

“Rules are only suggestions” I said, waving a hand at her.

“Until they’re enforced” she said, an edge on her voice.

“Alright, enforcer. I won’t. Wouldn’t want to tussle with the most powerful magic user in Equestria.”

“Please, you have that title.”

I gave her a questioning look, and she sighed.

“I guess I have to explain the fundamentals of magic to you now. Magic power is measured in watts, and is directly equivalent to how much you can lift with your magic. I can lift a maximum of nine hundred pounds, which means I can put out nine hundred watts. You, however, cast the advanced version of the transformation spell, meaning you can put out at least a thousand. Then, later, you cast the same spell without any exhaustion, meaning you can put out at least twelve hundred.”

“How can we test this?”

“There’s a magic assessment room nearby. Follow me.”

“Gladly” I whispered to myself, since I liked what I was following.

We came to a small room with a small cube in the center on a pedestal. Twilight immediately ascended the stairs to the balcony, manning the controls there.

“This doesn’t look that heavy” I said, poking the cube, which was no bigger than a cubic inch.

“That’s because it isn’t” she said, flipping a switch. “Yet.”

The pedestal hummed, and the cube glowed.

“Alright” she called from the balcony. “I’m setting it to twelve hundred. Try and lift it.”

I did lift it, quite easily. She ramped it up, though. Thirteen hundred wasn’t bad. Fourteen was a minor workout. Fifteen was about what I would ‘bench’ at, but I found that two thousand was my absolute maximum. When she saw that I was doing everything in my power to keep the cube aloft, she quickly powered the machine down, allowing me to drop it.

“Two thousand watts” she said, whistling. “Not bad, considering the only ponies to trump that were Starswirl and the crazies.”

“How many watts did Starswirl put out?”

“Three thousand.”

“Damn. That is a lot. So, why am I able to lift so much?”

“Well, you’re insane, right?”

“Right.”

“Well, insanity lends power to the mind, and the mind lends power to magic, so, the crazier you are, the more powerful.”

“Is that why they lock the crazies up?”

“Yeah. The absolutely insane ones can put out over twenty five hundred. I’ve even seen earth ponies and pegasi cast magic.”

“Wow. So, was Starswirl crazy?”

“No, he was just born with it. And the beard.”

I chuckled. “What if the beard is his source of power?”

“That’d be pretty strange” she said, chuckling. “But, that’s not the way magic works.”

“Alright. So, what does all this wattage mean?”

“Well, if you look on spell scrolls, there is a wattage requirement. You need to be able to put out that much wattage in order to cast that spell. Sometimes there is a second, like on the transformation spell, which is an advanced form.”

“Cool. So, what can I not cast?”

“Starswirl’s best spells.”

“Darn, so I can’t be totally amazing.”

“You’re amazing enough” she said, giving me a friendly punch in the arm.

“Yeah” I said, idly rubbing the punched spot, though it didn’t hurt. “So, where do the terms watt and wattage come from?”

“You should know. They come from your world.”

“How?”

“The princesses kept watch on all intelligent life. They duplicated what technology they could, though leaving the worst alone.”

“If they left the worst alone, that means there’s something worse than a nuclear bomb, isn’t there?”

She sighed. “Yes. Your kind was steeped in the ways of war, but many other races were far more destructive.”

“Well, I’m glad they let that be.”

“Me too. I’d honestly have preferred that they left guns and bombs alone, too, but I suppose the wars we’ve fought over the years probably wouldn’t have gone so well.”

“Well, that’s what they were designed to do; win wars.”

She sighed. “Still, it’s disturbing that the princesses would resort to such measures.”

“Yeah. Well, I need to talk to Ace, so I’ll leave you to your glum contemplations and talk to you later.”

“Alright” she said, smiling slightly.

I sought out Ace, who was in the training yard.

“Hey, Ace! There’s a new pony in town.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. He’s like us, from Earth. And he’s an alicorn, like us.”

“I’m not an alicorn.”

“Yes you are. You just have to move around that mane.”

He did, and uncovered his horn.

“When did that get there?”

“About the time my wings did” I said, flaring them.

“This some sort of something to do with destiny, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah. Supposedly the humans are supposed to rule Equestria, but only as alicorns, so when a new leader steps up, we’re given our true form, either to reclaim the throne or sit alongside he who is already there.”

“I’ve no desire for a throne or a crown.”

“Same here. Anyways, just thought I’d let you know.”

I was about to take off, but he called me back down. “How do I know what kind of magic I can cast?”

I grinned sadistically. “I thought you’d never ask. Follow me.”

He gulped audibly, but followed me nonetheless. I took him to the testing room. I switched on the machine, and set it to only one hundred pounds.

“Alright, try and lift it.”

He did, adhering to my prior instructions on levitation. I cranked it up to five hundred, which he lifted with some difficulty. At about six hundred fifty pounds, he could go no further.

“Well, you can lift six hundred and fifty pounds, so you can put out six hundred and fifty watts. If you look on scrolls, you’ll see the wattage requirement. Anything over six fifty, you can’t cast.”

“That’s pretty simple. And this wasn’t even that bad, so why did you grin like that?”

“It’s not every day I get to watch you struggle.”

“May you never again” he said, followed by his stomach rumbling.

“You wanna go get something?”

“Would I ever say no to that?”

“Maybe if eating caused you great pain.”

He rolled his eyes. “You’re always looking for loopholes.”

We joked all the way to the dining hall, where we were greeted by the talk of a good thousand ponies, though mostly female, and the smell of Spike’s cooking.