Herp-The one and only moth. Ch.7 “Two identical oddballs”

>”Only the very basics. I know your diet, nocturnal nature, anatomy, a few of your customs, social policies, the folklore, the actual lore. Your hunting tactics and some of the formations. That’s about it…”

”… That’s uuh. Those are some pretty expansive basics you know there.”

>”Oh please, I have no idea what your life is actually like there.”

“Well to be quite honest, I don’t even know what to add to that.”

>”You have flowers growing out of your fluff tufts and a leaf instead of half a wing. I don’t know a SINGLE thing about that.”

“Well besides that, you just listed pretty much anything I could have told you about life in the mothpony villages.”

>”So tell me all about how you became what you are. You seem taller than the mothponies I know too. Is that also due to the same reasons as the flora tufts?”

“Yeah, actually. I can’t believe it only happened a week ago, seems so long ago now with everything that happened in between.”

>”Well tell me aaall about it.”

>You explain exactly what happened, from being stranded in the rot forest all down to how you knocked on her door. You fail to mention some of the smaller details, but it was a broad explanation enough. Twilight seemed to be infatuated by every word. Occasionally asking questions out of curiosity, filling the gaps in by herself. You spend several hours explaining everything. Before you know it, it’s past noon.

“I swear, that inn keeper though. He seems so jaded and just tired of everything. Then again, he’s got a scar on his face, so I suppose he’s seen something we hope not to.”

>”And yet you’re completely unfazed by the fact that you have a leaf for half of a wing. You seem to forget about it entirely. I’m sure it can’t be the scar alone that makes him like he is.”

“Yeah I guess I can see where you’re coming from with that. But once you reach a certain point of seeing, you sort of. Snap. After that, it’s all smooth sailing, all the time.”

>”Hmmm… Well in your case it’s not how much you’ve seen, but rather how often you see it. I’m sure after a time of peace and quiet, seeing something horrible will feel just like it did the first time. Also, with time, you’ll get to think about the things that happened more. And like that, you won’t be able to avoid the heartaches anymore, facing them instead of ignoring them.”

“I guess.”

>*Ugh, touchy feely moment… Oh sweet Saturniidae no. She’s scooting over.*

>“You’re in horrible pain and you don’t even know it.”

>*Uuuh, personal space much? Please? Personal spa-? No? Okay.*

>The room goes silent for the first time in a long while as she looks deep into your eyes with a concerned look on her face. The topic of this last week has finally dried out. The brief moment of silence is followed by a hug from the librarian mare with the most sincere feeling of consolement you’ve felt within the last dozen years.

>”If you ever need a friend to hear you out. I’ll be waiting.”

“Um… Thanks. I’ll hold you to your word on that someday.”

>*Oh geez this is uncomfortable.*

“Really though, it’s fine. I’ve accepted that my life is the way it is. It won’t help to bring up old memories. Once I start to, I won’t be able to hold the tears back.”

>”… Oh no…”

”What?”

>”Oh no no no.”

”What? What’s wrong.”

>”Oh nononononoNONONO!”-She clings off the hug and runs up to a grammophon looking thing.-

“What? What? What happened??”

>”NONO NOO! I WASN’T RECORDING ANYTHING!”

“You weren’t… AAHAHAHAHA!”

>”NO! This isn’t funny! I was supposed to record everything! That’s so much valuable information lost!

“-Continued laughter-”

>”I can’t believe I could be so reckless! I missed a golden opportunity to record an actual mothpony and it gets taken away from me by a single not-click of a button!”

“Ahah aha. Aaaha. Well, ahem. Heh. Well, Twilight. At least you still got your interview. Plus all of the sentimental value out of it. Even if it’s not recorded. You still know what and who I am better than any other pony anywhere on the planet now. Talks about events and feelings in the villages usually get avoided like wildfire. They could quickly spiral out of control.”

>”Hmpf. And here I thought I’d have the chance to send some updates to the mothpony encyclopedia for approval. You may not know of it, Pollen. But meeting and actually talking to your kind for more than half an hour has never happened before.”

“Really? Well I suppose the scouts don’t tend to stick around for long amounts of time. They just do what their orders tell them to and head off.”

>”That’s exactly what happens. So the general public of ponies has been left completely oblivious to how horrible life in the rot forest actually is.”

“Well it’s a good thing that’s all subject to change in the near future, right?”

>”Yes, I suppose so. It’s nice to know Celestia hadn’t abandoned you even if it seemed like she did.”

”Yeah, I know how that feels. So anyways, enough about me. What about you, Twilight? We’ve spent half the day talking about me and I can’t help but feel bad.”

>”Ooh you don’t have to. There’s nothing much to tell. I’m a librarian mare who lives in Ponyville.”

“No I don’t think so, you’re a librarian ALICORN who lives in Ponyville. I thought Celestia and Luna were the last two Alicorns left before I met you.”

>”Celestia and Luna were never the only two left. They were the only two who ruled over Equestria. But never the last two.”

“You mean there are more Alicorns than just them and you??”

>”Yes, there’s also Cadence, my former foalsitter and now sister in law. She rules over the Crystal empire.”

“… There is a whole lot more us mothponies don’t know about this world, isn’t there?”

>”Considering how cut off you were from the rest of it. That’s not at all surprising.”

“I guess you’re right… But none of what you just said explains why you’re an Alicorn living in Ponyville, of all places. Why not spend your time in Canterlot?”

>”Well. I used to be a regular unicorn under the wing of Celestia.”

“… A regular unicorn?... So you just. Turned Alicorn one day. How does that even happen??”

>”Uuugh… It’s a really long story. You wouldn’t mind if I gave you the short version, would you?”

“Actually, I’d like to hear all of it. Spending my time here sure beats spending it out there, if ya know what I mean.”

>She looks at you perplexed for a longer moment. You return the look.

>”What?”

>*Why’s she looking at me like that? Sure she knows what I mea-…*

>You note a blush appear on her face as she keeps looking at you with the most confused of faces.

>*… I just-. Did I just?- OH MY SWEET SATURNIIDAE I DID!*

”Oh, OH. Nononononono! That’s not what I meant at all! Y’know, because of the staring and being treated like you’re different from everypony else even though you aren’t!”

> “…Ahaha, eheh. Yes, yes of course haha. What else could have you meant?”

>Despite that being sorted out. The look on her face still remains and you can’t even bear to look her in the eyes.

>*Oh sweet Saturniidae I can’t believe I just said that. Well… Here comes that awkward silence again.*

“So um. The story?”

>”Oh, yes. Yes of course. Well, it all goes back to...”

>[Cue Mlp:FiM seasons 1-2 and the start of season 3] Several more hours pass as Twilight explains everything that’s happened over the past few years. How she faced many threats and beat them all. The stories seem exciting and interesting. But with all the chatter, time passes by not waiting for you. And before you know it, nighttime falls without you even noticing it.

“Wow... And here I thought I was a special case.”

>”Oh stop. I’m not THAT special.”

“You are! You totally are! You’re a damn princess who lives in a small town so she can spend her leisurely time with her friends.”

>”And you’re a God who decided the time has come for your kind to move on from the perils of a horrible, inhospitable place.”

“Yeah but I’m not actually a God. Meanwhile you’re actually a princess.”

>”You are a God to your ponies. They’ll follow you no matter what you do.”

“It’s still not fair in my opinion.”

>”Either way you look at it, you have a higher social status among your ponies than I do among mine. I’m just a Princess to my ponies. Yet you’re a full-fledged God.”

“Well, yeah I guess. But I still don’t FEEL like a God.”

>”Believe me, I don’t feel like a Princess either. I’ve read every book I could about being a Princess yet I don’t feel any different from when I was just a regular unicorn. Besides the wings. Nothing else seems to have changed about me. ”

>*… My Saturniidae that is the mother of all coincidences.*

“Y’know. It really is amazing how similar we are in that respect. I mean, think about it. Both of us were sort of forced onto our roles-,“

>”We’d much rather have it be the way it used to be-,”

”The change didn’t seem to change all that much-,”

>”The only thing it DID change are the aesthetics-,”

”Which coincidentally involves wings!”

>”Yeah, I can totally see what you mean. I honestly never thought I’d find someone in a similar situation to me.”

“Neither did I. Although I suppose I didn’t have as much time to think about it. I just had to roll with it.”

>”Just like a lot of things in your life.”

“Hmm, yes, indeed…”

>*Damn this is fun. I haven’t had a talk like this in my LIFE. I wonder what time it is tho-… Wait, it’s dark.*

“… Oh no…”

>”What?”

“Oh no no no .”

>”What, what’s wrong?”

”Oh nononononoNONONO!”-you rush up to a window and look as high up as you can, looking directly into a dark, moonlight sky.-

>”What? What? What happened??”

“NONO NOO! It’s nighttime already! The streetlights are on, I can’t get back to the inn!”

>”You can’t… AAHAHAHAHAHAA!”

”This isn’t funny! With the streetlights on, I won’t be able to focus on actually getting home! If I go outside and notice even one light, I’ll be stuck on the street for the rest of the night!”

>”-continued laughter-”

“I can’t believe I could be so reckless! I missed the chance to go back to the inn! The one time I actually spend quality time with somepony and it leads to this!”

>”… -even harder laughter-”

”What? What is so funny?”

>”Ahah aha. Aaaha. Well, ahem. Heh. Well, Pollen. At least you got to talk to somepony about your problems.-Snicker- Plus all of the sentimental value out of it! AHAHAHAHA!”

“I-! Uh… Wait… That’s exactly what I said a few hours ago.”

>”Mmhm”-she stops her frantic laughter for a second to hum that out, but is unable to hold it for longer and lashes out again.-

“Aheh… Hey yeah, I guess that is pretty funny. Heh heh.”

-After eventually stopping her laughing fit.-“Ahaha, hooh-wee. I haven’t laughed like that in a while.”

“Yeah well I’m real glad I was able to cheer you up, Princess. But I’ve got a serious problem here. How am I going to get back to the inn?”

>”You can stay at my place for tonight.”

>*Whut. ಠ_ಠ*