Unto Thy New World

It has been about four weeks since that day princess Celestia set the rules, and frankly speaking, I have not seen her much. Not that I really mind, but she came off as cold and manipulative versus Luna's warm and caring personality, quite the opposite of their roles as Day and Night respectively. Over the past few weeks, I have learnt much of Equestria's history through our nightly meetings, usually lasting the whole night unless there was Night Court scheduled, which was rather rare, or an emergency. I was given a guest room, not too far from Luna's bedchamber, and though it was a guest room, it shared many similarities with Luna's room, and possibly Celestia's as well. It visually appeared the same, save some minor details, although it had been scaled down by about thirty percent.

Also, Luna cast a spell on me that made me almost sort of invisible to the guards and other ponies. I think she called it a 'perception filter'? I don't know, but it's kind of cool. Unless I scream and shout, I'd pass unnoticed to anypony except somepony who specifically wants to see me.

It has been getting slightly colder these past few days, and according to the deep blue mare, fall is arriving. Luna has advised that I find a tailor soon, and have them create some clothes for me. After all, I can't go on wearing the same two outfits everyday for the rest of my life. Though the whole getting-a-new-outfit situation poses a problem. The public still are unaware that I am here, even after the past month. For one, I usually spend most of my time in Luna's room, studying or chatting with her, when we're not stargazing. When I do eat meals, however, minimal staff is present.

However, lately there have been some strange occurrences. Things in my room shifting around overnight, with no apparent cause, seeing as to how Luna cast a magic seal on my door that makes it so that only her or I can open it. There was a glass door leading to the balcony, but its sealed with a the same spell that makes it so that only either Luna or I can open it. I haven't told her about moving stuff though, but I do plan on telling her soon.

Looking out from my balcony, I got a good look over Canterlot, and how it is organized. Almost directly below was the outer perimeter of the castle, with white and grey Pegasi or Unicorns, donning the golden armor of the Solar guards. Looking further ahead was the edges of the Nexus. The Nexus is the area that just surrounds the castle, surrounded by an iron fence, and is also usually where the guards are trained. Further up was the Inner Complex, comprised of boutiques, fine dining restaurants, spas, and a few bars. The boutiques supposedly sell high-quality clothes at an equally high price, and the restaurants and bars are for the posh, up-tight ponies who didn't mind spending more to have a marginally better atmosphere than the bars and eateries downtown.

Then there was the Outer Ring. This is where things take a step down from high-class, and looked like an average neighborhood. Bars peppered the streets, their neon lights clashing with the beautiful blues, oranges, yellows and reds in the sky, caused by the setting sun. Bar fights and small crimes are common in this area. Canterlot is basically comparable to most cities, besides the castle.

As per usual, I threw on my usual semi-formal attire, the blue undershirt and donned the jacket, not buttoning it up for once. I pulled the dark oak door open, and walked down the hallway to Luna's room. I made up my mind, intent on telling her the strange occurrences that happens when I sleep. Walking past the two ashen grey stallions in metallic purple armor who stood guard outside of Luna's room, and being on the receiving end of their untrusting and wary glares, I knocked, and after receiving her consent, pushed open the onyx door and entered her room. She sat in front of her desk, upon which rested a large vanity mirror, with her metallic collar resting on the table with her crown, and her four slippers arranged neatly next to the desk. She looked so different without those, almost like she's naked. Well, she is naked, but you get the point.

She turned to face her unexpected guest, surprised to see me. "I've only just woke up…" She mumbled, dazed. Clearly, her linguistics lessons have borne fruit. She speaks normally now, with minor slip-ups when she is nervous or tired. Her mane took on a physical form, taking on an azure shade, going around her horn and slightly curling at the tip, with the rest behind her ear. She looked so innocent like this, with the back somewhat messy, which made her look adorable. "And thanks for knocking. In my eyes we're equals, and to me, there is no need to knock. But still, it's better than Celly, who just barges in." Her voice sounded out again, and I responded with a small chuckle.

"Listen, Luna… I have something to tell you." She quickly turned to look at me, eyes fully open, giving me full view of the cyan orbs that they were. Her ears perked up and there was a slight blush. After a few seconds of awkward silence, I broke the tense-ish atmosphere. "Anyways, lately the stuff in my room has been moving around, sort of like there's ghosts. That is, unless someone or somepony has been visiting my room after dark." Upon hearing this, she turned back, combed her mane down and put on her uniform, as it were. Without another word, she walked out and to my room, with me following behind.

"This room reeks of magic! Somepony has been using magic in your room, and excessively, at that." She suddenly blurted out as soon as the door opened, drawing the attention of the two Solar Guards who stood motionless outside of my room. "I thought you said that the only people who can enter my room are the two of us?" I questioned, but to no avail. She suddenly appeared in front of me, and inhaled, sniffing loudly. "IT'S YOU! Wait, how is that possible? You obviously are neither a unicorn nor an Alicorn, so how in the name of the Night can you use magic?" She exclaimed, both excited and confused.

Also, apparently she can smell magic.

She leaned forward, closing the distance between the tip of her horn and my forehead. She was going to access my memory, something she had done before, with my consent, of course. I felt the familiar icy surge of another consciousness probing the nooks and crannies of my mind. You DO have the ability to manipulate magic. You have been basking in the magical energies that Alicorns utilize. Apparently, you were unconscious for the first three days because you were still adjusting to the unfamiliar background energy, as it were. I just didn't think to look for that until now! She half spoke, half yelled into my mind. Nodding sheepishly, I tried to accept the fact that I was apparently the one who made all of my stuff move when I was asleep.

"Um, Luna, I haven't asked you before, but is it possible for me to go back to my world?" I just realized what I unknowingly implied, and tried my best to clear that doubt from Luna's mind while it was surfacing, "NotthatIdon'tlikeithere, but I can't survive on only two articles of clothing forever. Plus, there's some things I might or might not have to take." The first part of that sentence came out as one word instead of seven, and the half-frown that I unwillingly caused melted away to a neutral expression, which in turn, curled into a slight smile.

"Sure you can. The portal is in the Obsidian Hall, the hall that I can call mine. One thing I have that Celly doesn't." She turned and walked out, her shoed hooves click-clacking on the floor. I tailed behind her, as she cast a spell on me that changed my appearance to that of a midnight blue stallion with a grey mane that reflected my hair color my 'cutie mark', or the image reflected on the flank was a music note, owing to the fact that I occasionally played my cello for Luna, after she had soundproofed her room with a spell. The magic always amazed me.

After a ten-minute walk, we came to a halt in front an obsidian monolith, towering at least five meters tall, and strangely enough, no guards watching over it. Her dark sapphire horn glowed, with an azure glow surrounding it, and the door responded by turning translucent, Luna walking through it as though it were not there, leaving me with my jaw halfway to the ground. Snapping back to reality, I quickly ran through the now ethereal door, catching up with the dark blue mare, while absorbing the sights of the room beyond. It was extremely large, probably twenty five meters across, fifty long and fifteen high. About half of the room's height was paved in black marble, with the remainder in white. At the far end was a fireplace, almost five meters wide, which suddenly blazed with fire, as though automated. In the centre of the room, there was a ten-meter wide, three-tiered depression, in the middle of which sat a rune that had a conical pillar in the centre, covered in an ancient script, all of which glowed a light blue, near unnoticeable. Looking along the walls, I noticed that some had writing on them, in the same ancient runes, carved into the black marble. There were three doors on each side of the room, each colored onyx, with nothing to distinguish them from each other. "How-?" I questioned before being cut off.

"How does this large, magnificent hall fit into the the castle without sticking out?" she spoke up, with me nodding. "Basically, it's dimensionally transcendent. Meaning that the amount of space it is supposed to occupy doesn't actually mean anything."

"Bigger on the inside?" I asked sheepishly.

"Yup", she replied, slightly smiling at my curious remark. She trotted up to the conical pillar in the center of the rune, tapped it with her horn and backed off. The faint blue glow of the rune intensified, got brighter and melted into a blue mist, which began to swirl. In the whirlpool of the mist, I could see faint images, reflections of the mundane world I lived in. It all seemed so distant, after having come accustomed to living in a magical world with sentient ponies and  magic. Luna walked up to me, tapped her horn to my forehead, and yet again, I felt the icy rush, as though a blizzard swept through my mind. However, this was followed by what felt like a firestorm. I hissed out of pain from the last part, drawing Luna's attention. I quickly shook it off, and she explained that it's supposed to be something like a panic button, or safety word. As soon as I vocalize "Nocturne", I get teleported back immediately. Huh, she's being a bit overprotective. I mean, I'm only going back to take some stuff.

"Well, I'll see you later then." I said, taking a step forward into the blue swirl, falling through the portal, and stumbling out of a portal smack in the center of my living room. Great. Quick check: doors still locked, nothing gone, everything normal. Uh, suitcase. I immediately grabbed some more useful clothes for autumn and winter. The crimson frock overcoat that I bought in Romania as a souvenir. The white undershirt and red cravat I was given during an event. I folded it and put the clothes into the suitcase, also adding a brown trench coat. Among clothes, I also brought some other miscellaneous things. Soundblaster headphones, iPhone, charger and that's about all I need or want to bring. Out of sheer boredom and not wanting to let good things go to waste, since I'm not coming back here, I took along the two bottles of wine I bought the night I had reached the legal drinking age. They were high quality, but nothing too fancy.

Closing the suitcase, I realized that there wasn't a portal anymore. It closed right after I got through. Oh well. Only one way to do this now.

"Nocturne…" I whispered under my breath, and held on tight to the suitcase as I was enveloped in a blue flame. I felt the all-too-familiar cold surge and squeezed my eyes shut, feeling the torrents of cold air swirl around my body, and tried to open my eyes after feeling it die down. When it was completely absent, I felt the handle of the suitcase slip from my grip, and opened my eyes to find a familiar face staring me in the eye. Luna was standing over me, making sure I was unharmed.

"Took you long enough. It's dusk now, and I wondered if maybe you would have wanted to have dinner with me?" She said excitedly, as I chuckled at the notion. "And I brought back some wine to go with that." Her lips curled, into a smile that could make anyone's heart melt.