Prologue - Always Running
I never have been one to sit still for very long. I remember a long time ago, during elementary school, I used to be able to run the length of the whole school between class periods just to make sure I was tired out enough to pay attention. I did that for seven whole months until I tripped and twisted my ankle and the doctor said I shouldn’t run anymore. But… I always have been running, and in every case I’m not entirely sure why. I ran away from home when I was twenty, I ran away from a government-run shelter when I was twenty-one, and at twenty-two I ran away from the only home I ever really knew or remembered.
My name is Lucas, last name as yet unknown or revealed to me. I was born in the city of Denver, Colorado, in the United States on Earth. Insignificant detail, you say, to point out I was born on Earth. It might be hard to believe, but I’m not on Earth anymore, or at least not on the familiar version of it. Just five months ago, I was brought across dimensions to a different land – Equestria – filled with talking multi-colored ponies and run by two demigod princesses. One of them brought me here, teleported me across dimensions to bring me here in hopes of giving me a better life than what I had back home. That may have been true, but what was never considered was the fact that I never wanted to leave, that while the three months between my arrival and the date for her powers to come back might have been something close to home I simply wanted to go back home.
What I never counted on was the fact that this place had started to feel more like home than back on Earth ever did. I was one of a few bipedal creatures living in this society – I heard more humans were around but never saw anyone else – and yet the ponies here were so welcoming and accommodating that I found myself confused about where I really belonged: a place where the world had made things hard on me for twenty-two years but I had lifted myself up to relative normalcy or a place where all of it turned around in three months. The fact that returning home would cause me to completely lose my identity there and have to restart twenty-two years of work from scratch was the nail that sealed the coffin and kept me confined to Equestria; on Earth, you can’t go anywhere if no one knows who you are or doesn’t even remember you lived there in the first place.
Even so, nowhere in Equestria felt like home to me. For five weeks I lived as a resident of Canterlot Castle, home of the demigod princesses Celestia and Luna, as a friend and lover of the latter. Over the three months since I arrived in Equestria, Luna had antagonized me for being a human, a race that she considered detrimental to the relatively peaceful Equestria due to a history of war and violence. During my stay, I came to understand her predicament and her jealousy, and even found out about a darkness that hid her from seeing the truth; that there were those who respected her, and the more I knew about Luna the more I came to respect her myself. In the end, my time in Equestria broke Luna from the influences holding her back and allowed her to come more into the open and it was because of that Luna created a kindred bond – a special type of magic that binds two ponies together – towards me.
I was unable to return it. I am not a pony, so innate magic like that doesn’t affect me. I did love her – still do – but was unable to settle down. Eventually, I couldn’t take life in Canterlot Castle anymore no matter the fact that it meant leaving the first friends I ever had and started running again. To where, I didn’t know. I just knew I couldn’t go back to Earth and I couldn’t stay in Canterlot Castle much longer, so I set out to find myself a new home and a place to start again. It nearly broke poor Luna’s heart to see me go, but I promised I would keep in touch and, maybe, that I’d come back again someday.
I wasn’t alone in leaving, though; I was with a friend that I had made and who had volunteered to come with me of his own accord. Revenant Wings was a white pegasus pony and a member of the Celestial Guard, but had figuratively abandoned his duties to come with me and make sure that I had someone with me, that I wasn’t going off into the unknown without a familiar face. He told me that he always wanted to go gallivanting around Equestria and would follow and travel with me wherever I went. He was a good fellow and had been close to me over the past month, so I allowed him to come along for the ride.
Our first stop was Ponyville. I couldn’t go anywhere without more suitable clothes than just the normal wear I had received from specialty tailors in Canterlot, so I decided I needed to turn to another one: the unicorn Rarity, a fashion designer in the much quieter Ponyville, to make me a set of travelling clothes before I went off to explore the reaches of Equestria I had yet to see. I didn’t have many bits, but Revenant said he would pay for it; I didn’t want to burden him, but he said it wouldn’t matter; the guard paid well.
Our first stop once we arrived in Ponyville late at night was Twilight’s library. Twilight Sparkle was a purple alicorn – formerly a unicorn but had gained wings by being more proficient in magic than any other pony in Equestria – who had taken care of me and let me stay in her home a month and had become something of a friend to me. She was surprised to see me and Revenant knocking on her door at what might have been eleven at night.
“Lucas!” she said, eventually becoming excited and jumping up to give me a hug, which I returned. “It’s good to see you again. Come on in; I still have your room together, and Revenant can sleep in the other guest bedroom.”
“I got family down here,” Revenant Wings said. “I’ll be fine.”
Twilight invited us in and got us both a bit of warm tea that she had made earlier that evening for that night’s study session. I apologized to her if we interrupted her study session, but she said it was fine and she was willing to stop for a few minutes in order to make sure we had settled in. Eventually, Twilight noticed that there was one less guest than usual.
“…where’s Princess Luna?” Twilight asked. “I thought you two were dating or something.”
“I got too restless and couldn’t stay in Canterlot,” I told Twilight. “The feelings for her were there and still are, but I just couldn’t sit still any longer. So, with Luna’s blessing and watch, I’m heading out to explore Equestria and maybe I’ll settle down enough to return to Canterlot to be with Luna again.”
Twilight looked worried. “You’re still mad with Princess Celestia for bringing you here, aren’t you?”
“She took me away from everything that I knew. I have to start over again and find a way to make it here. I know being lovers with Princess Luna meant that I could have had almost anything that I want, but I need something to do and was running out of ideas. And you can’t just take someone away from their home and expect them to settle down immediately and say ‘Well, that was the right course of action. Thank you so much’.”
Twilight sighed. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay, Twilight. It’s not your fault. Part of it may be Celestia forcing me to come here, but part of it is just me. I’ve had to deal with hardships my whole life before coming here to Equestria and even when I arrived things weren’t so amazing at first, so maybe I’m used to it. I know I should be, but it’ll take time for it to get out of my system.”
“Would you ever want to go back to Earth?”
“Not when the consequences are so severe.”
“…where are you planning on going to first?”
“Down south to the town of Appleoosa. I’m going to see about working for the Apple family for a little while and getting a set of traveling clothes from Rarity and wanted to know if I could stay a few weeks until I get the money to head out that direction.”
“You could have just told the Princesses…”
“No. They would have tried to convince me to stay again, and I don’t want to go through a bunch of guilt trips about how they’re sorry; Cadence hasn’t done anything wrong, but Celestia would constantly be trying to make up for it. I’m not sure she can, though…”
Twilight nodded. “I’m sure you’ll be able to cover both during the time you’re here. The Apple family will probably need help with simple stuff like keeping the orchards clean or helping around in the kitchen, so you could always help out there. And I know Rarity will be thrilled about making something new for you. If you give me some time, I can help explain to both about your situation. By tomorrow evening, I’ll have an answer for you from both. In the meantime, you’re free to stay as long as you’d like.”
“Thank you so much, Twilight, both for letting me stay here and the help with Rarity and the Apple family.”
“It’s nothing, really. What sort of a friend would I be if I didn’t help out?”
After that exchange, Revenant Wings said his good-nights and went to his family home. I stayed at the library and talked a little more with Twilight while we finished the tea before heading up to my room to sleep.