Pride and Reality

I looked into the library's modest bathroom, a mirror and sink along the right hand wall, and a white tub with a shower curtain dominating the centre of the room. Too the left I saw what must have been a toilet, it looked identical to one on earth, but with a broader seat to accommodate a quadruped. I removed my shoes, socks, pants, and all other clothing, I had no replacements yet, so I would have to make do and put them back on when I finished.

I stepped into the tub and began my ablutions, it operated in a manner identical to tubs on earth, complete with a shower attachment. When I finished bathing I dried myself off on a blue towel hanging from the wall and dressed, ready to greet the new day. I meandered back down to the main room. I gazed at the the various shelves, filled with books, I could get used to the prospect of living here, surrounded with knowledge of the realm. Twilight was reading a book entitled Social Cues of Dragons, Gryphons, and Other Sentient Beings embossed in gold upon both the cover and spine when she looked up and saw me.

Grinning she said. "Hello, come sit with me, I wanted to continue our discussion from before the party." I recalled the morning vividly, we were just broaching the subject of the good. "You asked me what I thought made a human or a pony good, that we had some traits that made us suited for something specific." Twilight said to me. "But I've been thinking about it and I can't think of anything, its confusing, I mean, ponies are so different from each other and then there's you, what did you mean when you said we shared something in common?" Her eyes glinted with self-doubt that to me looked all to familiar.

To this I replied as I planted myself firmly on the couch beside her. "I meant that humans, and ponies, at least ponies of Equestria, both share the quality of possessing a brilliant mind."

"But brilliant how so?" she asked.

"We can learn things, know things, know that we know these facts, and recount how we came to know them.This much is apparent from our conversation this morning. Or do you disagree?"

"No, but then if our minds are what makes us able to perform some function in the world, like how a hammer can hammer nails, or a bucket can hold water. Then what's your, our, function." Twilight asked, doubt fading as her mind turned to the task of discovery.

"For this there have been, and are, many answers, but with each one we go through, we discover a little more. We take a supposition of what this good is, and follow it from its start to its logical conclusion, if something becomes a contradiction that cannot be reconciled, the theory is disposed." I replied.

"You sound like you already have your own idea on what the good, what humans and ponies should do." She giggled no doubt amused at how I sounded like every other aged scholar she had ever read about. I felt no pride in knowing the things just discussed, only content, and at one with myself.

"I do, and if you will allow me, I could tell you what I think it is, and we can discuss it, examine it, and see if it has any semblance of truth in it.".

"Go on." the lavender unicorn implored, now fully enraptured.

"I think that the function to which people and ponies are best suited is this, to seek the betterment of the objects of our interests."

"I see, and this is because we can determine what an object is good for, and how they can be made better." She stated, taking the lead. "Like how a carpenter knows what a table is good for, and how to make a better table!" She exclaimed.

"And I agree." I said smiling at Twilight, knowing full well now why Celestia had spoken with such warmth at the mention of her pupil.

"But wait, you said to improve the objects of our interests. That's pretty broad." She said.

"And you see an issue with this?" I prodded, glad to take the submissive part in this endeavour.

"Yeah, what if a pony wants to improve the wrong thing? What if the pony's interests, desires, umm..."

"And affections are directed at the wrong thing?"

"Yes." She replied.

"You make a good point, but for now I think I should leave for Rarity's place." I stated having recalled my earlier arrangement with the fashionista. "In the mean time, we should contemplate what things people should not seek to improve."

"Ok!" Twilight nodded. "But first, there are some things you mentioned during that confused me a little. You mentioned that humans and ponies from Equestria were similar, are ponies on earth different?"

"On earth, ponies, or horses as people more frequently call them are not able to talk, and not able to learn and discover things with the acuity or skill that humans can." I replied, noting the shocked expression on her face. "Ponies on earth are very different than from Equestria, they are nowhere near as colourful, none have wings or horns." Twilight gazed down, her stare coming to grips with what she was feeling.

"I'm sorry ... it's just, it's disturbing to think of something similar to yourself yet so totally different in what's important, the mind." Twilight sighed.

"It's quite alright, besides, horses are a lot more different from ponies on the outside as well, not to mention the smell." I chuckled, patting Twilight on the shoulders.

"Smell? what do pon ... horses smell like?"

"Like I did before my shower, but about a hundred times worse!" I laughed. "Sorry for not having noticed it earlier, your friends were quite polite on the matter."

"So that's why you took a shower after talking to Dash." Twilight piped, expressing irritation at her blunt friends remark.

"Indeed it was." I confirmed. "Was there any other questions you had before I leave?"

"Yeah, you said humans wear clothing for modesty's sake. Why?"

"Well ..." I blushed, I had been hoping that the matter would speak for itself and I would not need to elaborate. "Because humans stand on two legs, certain, parts are much more visible, we have no tail or fur to cover particular markings, and in the case of male humans in particular there is quite a bit... more to see."

"Huh, why is that, don't humans have a ... a ..." Now it was Twilight's turn to blush. "sheath?"

"Nope" I said, face now a shade that would call Pinkie Pie's namesake into question, when I heard a loud clap from behind me.

"Oh Goddess, I immediately regret hearing that!" Turning I saw Spike, with palms planted fast to his ears and the situation rendered to ever greater heights of awkwardness. Twilight rose to her hooves and trotted to Spike, beginning to calm him and bring him upstairs. I was left to my own devices until one of them returned, as I had no idea how to get to Carousel Boutique on my own. Much less without eliciting panic among the ponies who were as of yet still unaware of my existence.

****

Trixie was walking the road of the Everfree, a name that was just that, a name only, the 'road' as it was called, was more akin to a raised patch of earth with slightly more dead vegetation than the rest of the forest floor. She had been on the road without proper shelter for the last three days, her last proper meal had been two weeks ago, and constant pace which Trixie exerted out of herself was tiring her quickly. She was on her way to Caneighda after she had been laughed out of Manehattan. Word of her failure in subduing an Ursa Minor had reached the cosmopolitan city just three nights after she began her show in the bustling city. Stupid, Twilight Sparkle, she thought to herself as images of her past clouded her vision, she just had to prove she was better than me, she couldn't let me have my moment of ... approval. That last word willed out of Trixie's eyes twin trails of tears. Neither of her parents had been unicorns, her father had been an earth pony, and her mother a pegasus. Neither showed any support for her when she had started budding in her magical talents.

She remembered when she had first managed to teleport, she remembered her father's words exactly. 'Well maybe now you can just teleport the water from the river to the fields!' She had been five years old, and prior to that her only magical accomplishment had been moving balls and blocks about with telekinesis. On that here mother had been even less supportive, 'That's silly, moving blocks is useless, why can't you learn to move clouds, or something that can actually affect the world hun?' At this point a cramp developed in Trixie's stomach, her body no longer willing to comply with the ordeal Trixie was putting it through.

Brought to her knees Trixie cried out in pain. Her thoughts still dwelled on her past. Being a unicorn born of non-unicorn parents in Stalliongrad had been ... to use the word taxing would indicate some modicum of necessity born of some higher power such as the state, or gods and goddesses. Filly faker, mud horn, mixed-up mare, and others had been just the tips of the insults she bore, which compared little to the beatings she would get. She couldn't outrun the earth ponies, and if she tried teleporting out of reach, either unicorns or pegusai would drag her down. When Trixie had been eight she had thought of a way out, that night she was going to end it all, when yet another group, this one consisting only of earth ponies and pegusai had marked her as their next target. She ran, she didn't want to go in pain, she wanted to do it on her own terms. Trixie had dashed into an alley way and jumped into a pile of refuse, the stench suffusing her coat. With only moments to spare Trixie attempted a spell she had been practising, but never accomplished, a spell of invisibility, the pinnacle of illusion magic. The posse entered the alleyway, looking about, a pegasus looked straight at Trixie, and continued looking past her.

"She must not be here." stated a blue earth pony with an ice pick for a cutie mark. With that the group left and Trixie let go of the magic she had been channeling. She looked over her shoulder and noticed adorning her flank, a newly formed cutie mark of an ethereal crescent of stars and a star-headed wand.

Trixie had at that moment, decided against ending her life that night, for years her parents had called her useless. But with a cutie mark, she knew she had a purpose, and it was a purpose she was going to pursue in spite of her parents. So she had run away from home, it had been difficult at first, but soon Trixie was gallivanting about the highest promenades with  shows planned in various luxurious theatres. But she needed more, she didn't want to be liked for being entertaining, she wanted to be loved ... for the power she wielded, for how she could bend reality and seeming to her will. As more ponies grew tired of her self-glorious rants, she had been forced to take to a humble wagon show, going from town to town until she had lost it all except for the tattered cape on her back, and the meagre mass still attached to her stomach.

Trixie slumped to her side, to tired to keep herself upright when she spotted above her a gleaming red apple, and beside it still others. This was most fortuitous, edible plants this far into the Everfree were unheard of. Bringing her magic to bare, Trixie tugged at the apple, and ... nothing, she was so drained she could not even perform telekinesis.

"No! The Great and Powerful Trixie does not want to starve! I don't want to ...!" She did not finish the sentence, afraid that its utterance would bring the fear to fruition. She looked about, there had to be an apple that had fallen to the ground but there was none, only crisp, pristine grass at the base of the tree, with no sour weeds corrupting the ... NO! Trixie would not lower herself to that. A pony could, if they so desired, subsist entirely on grass, though the flavour was unpleasing, and one had to eat quite a bit it was possible to survive on the stuff. But these were not the reasons Trixie refused to yield to what for her ancestors, twenty million years of instinct, and life itself bid she do. It was unseemly, the ultimate act of shame to eat raw grass for a Stalliongrad unicorn. Doing that was something an earth pony would do to swear fealty to a unicorn oligarch.

Trixie willed herself to her hooves and orientated herself so that her hind legs were facing the tree, one solid buck would send the apples to her. Bracing herself, Trixie raised her legs and snapped them backwards. into the solid trunk. The sound that echoed through the Everfree was not the sound of hoof meeting wood but an agonized scream from the pain Trixie now felt. She collapsed to the ground with the tempting grass prodding her muzzle. All she had to do was open her mouth, but she could not. But why? Trixie thought to herself. Because they'll laugh at you see that you're nothing but a mud-horn. Responded something altogether to familiar, her own self doubt.

"But the Great and Powerful Trixie can't die here!" she moaned. Then you will live as cattle should! Doubt nagged back.

"For what!? Image, a sense of honour that's done nothing for me?" Screamed Trixie. "Some convoluted reasoning that does nothing but confuse and deprive ponies of what's truly important!?" She was hysterical now, barely speaking, the noise coming from her raw emotion and anguish.

Are you saying that you're image is not ... "It's not my image!" Trixie cried. "Its an illusion, just like I've always been. It's not me." Trixie sobbed. "This, construct that I believed for so long ... it's not worth dying for!"

Trixie craned her head and opened her mouth, hesitating. No! You cannot, must not!. Trixie lowered her head and bit into the grass, tears once again flowing unrestrained as Doubt began chanting in the back of her mind as she had her fill Nopony will ever love a cow like you.