Adjustments in Ponyville

“Here’s something I don’t get.” Said the hovering black Pegasus as they approached the outskirts of the town. “How exactly does one build a civilization without opposable thumbs?”

The brown pony held up his hoof in answer. “Like this.” Fel smiled proudly as he held a stick firmly with his fingerless hoof.

“How are you doing that, my lord?” The white unicorn named Noel asked. “Are you able to stretch again?”

“No.” Fel said with a grown. “And I’m not sure how. Let’s just chalk this up to the unexplained mysteries of magical talking horses.”

“I guess.” Isaac conceded as they neared the first buildings. He made no comment at Fel’s sudden ducking behind barrels. Even without his echo-location, all of Isaac’s other senses had been honed to make him a skilled tracker, allowing him to follow Fel’s movements exactly.

Fel darted clear across the street to hide behind a jewelry stall, all without the sales pony noticing. Then he zipped up to an umbrella over a nearby table, managing to distribute his weight so as not to tip it over. He managed to turn his head a full 360 degrees before it spun back into place.

No good. He thought. Semi-elastic skeleton inefficient.

Fel saw movement out the corner of his eye as a Pegasus flew overhead. If it had noticed him, it gave no indication. But that was of little comfort.

“Exposed,” he whispered to himself. Potential hostiles on ground and air. Need cover.He quickly surveyed his surroundings before choosing his next location. Ducking into a nearby alleyway, Fel’s mind continued to race excitedly. Limited mobility. He thought as he surveyed the walls. Then his eyes fell on the ladder. Escape route. Access to the high ground. Ideal for surveying. He followed the ladder up the stone and wood building, and then smiled at the overhanging roof from the opposite building. Visual obstruction. Cover. No one can see. Fel allowed himself to dwell on that thought as he moved under the shadow overhanging roof. The darkness calmed him. No one can see.

“You alright there?”

Fel about jumped out of his fur at the intruders. He crouched down in a defensive position, ready to fight those who would look upon him. Even after the black pegsus and white unicorn came into the light, it still took Fel’s panicked brain to recognize the pair as non-hostile.

“Fel” Isaac said his friend’s name as calmly as he could. “I know that look.”

“Look?” Fel reflexively extended himself past his body to get a look at his own expression, but to no avail. It still didn’t work. “Bucking horse apples,” he swore. “What look?”

Isaac lowered himself to the ground, splaying his legs out as he lay on his belly. He looked up at Noel and motioned for her to join him in this submissive pose. She did, but not without hesitation of pressing herself into the dirt. The pair of them looked up at Fel and waited for him to come out of his defensive stance.

Manipulating me. Fel thought. Treating me like a common animal, a beast to be placated. Worse, it’s working. Fel resumed his meditation mantras. But before he could say another word, there came a crash from upstairs. Fel forgot all about being calm and zipped up the ladder to investigate.

“Wait!” Isaac called out, but the earth pony was already gone.

On the second story of what Fel observed to be a standard local dwelling unit, Fel found an open window not facing the main street, meaning he’d be free to investigate with minimal risk of being disturbed. Though he had to strain to get a decent grip, Fel felt a small sense of accomplishment at being able to grip anything with his hooves. Inside Fel observed an mint unicorn mare with a cyan mane and tail. Her cutie mark was some sort of harp and she was looking down at a small pile of broken ceramics.

Some sort of vase or pot. Too damaged to determine exactly what.

From the left side of the room approached a second mare. She was an earth pony with a beige coat, pigment blue mane and tail with a pink streak. Her cutie mark was three pieces of wrapped candy. The unicorn began apologizing to the earth pony, but the earth pony merely laughed it off. They said their names, but Fel had already guessed them. The pair exchanged a few more words before they agreed to go out shopping for a replacement. The earth pony then gave the unicorn a comforting peck on the lips, which the unicorn returned with greater vigor.

Deciding he’d seen all he needed to, Fel turned to depart. However, before he could move another inch, Fel froze upon realizing somepony was watching him. It wasn’t either of the mares, nor some pedestrian on the street or in the air. The pony watching him, looking directly into his eyes, was a brown earth pony stallion in the reflection of the window. Fel’s heart was beating so loud he could no longer hear the sounds of towns ponies going about their business. It sees me. The thing sees me. Suddenly Fel felt a pressure on his shoulder. He immediately pulled himself up and turned to strike at the assailant, but the black Pegasus was too quick.

Isaac pulled back and hovered just outside of Fel’s reach, giving him a moment to calm down before speaking. “The window?”

“I saw it,” Fel’s voice was filled with terror. “I saw my reflection. It was looking at me,” he insisted, almost pleading to be believed.

Isaac nodded understandingly as he resumed his submissive stance.

“Don’t give me that submissive manure,” Fel spat. “This is serious. I just saw my reflection; my REAL reflection. It was looking at me.” Fel lowered his head and began pacing around on the roof. “It wasn’t just poking around the corner either. It was practically in my face.”

“Your face was against the window,” Isaac pointed out.

“Exactly!” Fel exclaimed, thinking Isaac had realized the severity of the situation. “It’s gotten bold, getting so close to me like that. And the way it was mimicking me with that stupid horse face.”

“Horse face,” Isaac repeated calmly. “It had a horse face.”

Fel’s eyes widened in realization.

“Fel, I was watching you the whole time. I did my job and watched your back. I saw the reflection. It didn’t do anything; not so much as a twitch unless you did it.”

He saw it first. Fel thought. I saw it second. There was a period of time where I didn’t see it at all. It could have done anything in that time.

“Fel. Focus on me,” Isaac directed. “Your reflection was that of a horse face, not your face.”

“Not… my…”

“Look at me, Fel.” Isaac turned to his side and unfolded his wings. “This isn’t me. This isn’t my body. Everything about it is diminished compared to what I am. Even Noel says her power is diminished in this form. That means you’re diminished, and that goes for your reflection as well.”

“Diminished,” Fel repeated. “If I’m diminished, then my reflection is diminished, then it’s likely not strong enough to act.”

“Don’t forget the horse face,” Isaac reminded.

A smile crept upon Fel’s pony lips. “If it’s not my face, then it can’t rightly be called a proper reflection, now can it?”

“No it can’t.” Isaac took a step closer. “And on that note, I think we should probably get down to the streets.”

Fel immediately cringed at the suggestion. “And let people see me?”

“Not you,” Isaac asserted. “You’ve got a horse face, remember?” He took a step closer. “They’ll just see some stranger nobody. It’s the perfect disguise.”

“Disguise,” Fel repeated.

Isaac took another step.

“But they’ll be looking at me,” Fel countered.

“But they won’t be seeing the real you. If you think about it, this isn’t all that different from extending yourself right in front of people. Even if they’re looking right at you, they’re only seeing what you choose to show them.” Isaac took another step.

“I didn’t choose this,” Fel sneered.

“A mask is still a mask,” Isaac rationalized. He took another step closer and was now mere inches from Fel’s face.

“A mask,” Fel nodded before looking back up at Isaac. “This is just another mask.”

The black Pegasus put a hoof on the brown earth pony’s shoulder. “That’s right. Nopony’s going to… wait… buck this stupid censor filter manure.”

Fel let out a light laugh. “Buck this world right up the plot.”

Isaac nodded uncertainly. “Okay, I think I know what that means. By the way, what were you watching anyway?”

“A couple of mares making out,” Fel answered flatly.

The black Pegasus glared condemningly at the brown earth pony. “Why were you watching two female horses making out?”

“This universe has a great many variants,” Fel explained cheerfully. “Those two mares, Lyra and Bonbon, they’re significant in some of the variants. One of their key defining factors is their relationship with one another. By determining the nature of that relationship, in this case that of lovers, I can narrow down where we are in the multi-verse and even when we are in the variant timeline.”

“And you got all this from watching a couple girl horses make out?” Isaac asked sardonically, trying his best not to betray just how impressed he was.

“You bet I did,” Fel beamed with pride.

“So, wanna get down now?” Isaac suggested. “You crawling around on the roves, spying on lesbian horse kinda makes you look like a creepy plot hole.

Fel smiled at the reassuring comment.