A Whole New World

12th Summer's End, 2012

Twilight, Applejack and I exited the orchard and returned to the farm. Both of them had buckets filled with apples on their backs, whilst I was carrying more in my arms. It was getting close to what Applejack called Applebuck Season, and we were trying to gather as much stock as we could before we got tied up in the larger section of the orchard.

"Thanks a bunch fer helpin' us out Twi," Applejack said, "Me and Big Mac have a bet on. Twenty bits says Ah can get these apples back in the barn by lunch."

I hadn't heard about the bet, so I looked over at her, "Does he know you've been getting help?"

She giggled, "Not exactly,"

Twilight laughed too, "Well, regardless, I'm glad this is going to be done by lunch. I've been getting hungry just thinking about it."

We reached the barn and unloaded the apples. We were about to return to the orchard, but Spike came running into the barn, panting and clutching a scroll in his hands, "Twilight, *pant* I got *pant* a letter *pant* from the Princess."

Twilight took the scroll with her magic and unrolled it. She spoke as she read it, "My Faithful Student Twilight, could you please inform your human friend, Dutch, that I request him to stay at Canterlot Castle for a few days. I have become very interested in learning more about his world and his species. I have sent a pegasus carriage to escort him to the castle, and I hope to see him soon. Yours Sincerely, Princess Celestia."

Twilight turned to me, "Wow Dutch. The Princess rarely asks for somepony personally, so whatever this is, it's important."

We decided to wait for them at the barn while we had some lunch. After five minutes, a golden chariot flew overhead and landed next to us. The two pegasi had completely neutral expressions.

"Are you Dutch?"

"Yes..." I said, not sure what to expect.

"Get on," Blimey, I like it when people were to-the-point, but this is a little too much for my liking.

I climbed onto the chariot, and we immediately took off. I clung on for dear life, and was barely given time to wave to Twilight and Applejack before I disappeared above the clouds. As we travelled, I contemplated what I would say to the Princess. She wanted to learn about my species, and I had no problem with that. The problem was with human history. How would she react if I told her about the wars? Equestria didn't seem like it had experienced much of that, and I was worried that ponies would disapprove of me if they found out my race had self-destructive tendencies.

Twilight and Applejack watched Dutch leave, and returned to the orchard. While Twilight worked, she couldn't help but think about Dutch. After the Summer Sun Celebration, she had asked him to come to the library whenever he had spare time so that she could learn more about him. It had been about six weeks since then, and she had gotten to know him quite well. But something was off. She remembered when he had fought the creatures in the Everfree Forest, and she hadn't seen that sort of tenacity before.

She paused for a second, is there something he's not telling us? She remembered one day when she had asked him about his personal history. They were talking about a time several years ago, but before Twilight could persue it, Dutch grew a blank stare, and deflected the question, moving on to another point in his life. Twilight was going to inquire, but Dutch had already started talking, so she left it.

She thought about the fighting and the dodged question. Maybe there's a connection. She was about to ponder more, but Applejack's voice called from the orchard, "Hey Twi, where ya got to?" She shook the thought from her head, and cantered through the trees after Applejack.

Canterlot was a lot bigger than it looked. When I saw the main castle, I hadn't expected there to be an entire city hidden in the mountains next to it. There were hundreds of ponies in the streets as we flew over them towards the castle. As I watched them, I couldn't help but think of people back home. The type who would go about their lives, totally oblivious to the world around them.

We arrived at the castle and the pegasi landed on a large balcony. I saw Princess Celestia waiting for me, and I jumped off the chariot and approached her, giving a bow when I reached her.

"It's alright Dutch. You don't need to be so formal." She walked into the castle, and I followed her.

We walked down a long hallway, and I saw the walls were covered in portaits. Most of them were of Celestia, but I noticed a few with Luna, as well as others who I didn't recognise. It was eerily quiet, so I tried to spark up a conversation.

"So... you wanted to know about my species."

"Yes," Celestia replied, "As Princess, I see it as my duty to learn everything I can about all of my subjects. That includes you."

We continued down the hallway until we reached a room with two large chairs, big enough for Celestia and me. She gestured towards them, and I took a seat in one, with her sitting opposite me.

"I could use a memory spell to find out about humans, but I think it would be better if I found out from you the conventional way; talking. Tell me about your kind, from the beginning."

I told her about the family of homosapiens. How we had evolved from primates in the Stone Age and learned how to use tools and fire. I moved through into Roman Times, and the introduction of the AD date system. I skipped the Dark Ages, they were essentially one big war, and a prime example of a collapsed society. All the while Celestia watched me. Her expression remained unreadable as I spoke, and I could only imagine what she was thinking.

I carried on like this for about an hour, but when I reached the early twentieth century, I paused, and looked at the Princess. She was smart, I could tell that just by looking at her. She'd be able to tell if I was lying, and I sighed to myself, I wouldn't have been able to dodge it forever.

"Of course, my species isn't perfect, but some of our worst has happened in the last 100 years. It started when the leader of a country was assassinated by radicals from another. The anger that erupted from that caused a four-year war that got an entire continent involved, and resulted in 35 million people getting killed, soldiers and civilians alike. The world never truly recovered from that, and ten years later a man from one of the losing countries decided to try again. He came to power, and invaded country after country, commiting genocide on a colossal scale. Thankfully, he didn't reach ours, but it sparked another war that covered the globe, and another 60 million people were killed, more than half of which were civilians. Those two wars have been engraved into the memories of every human being on the planet, and we have tried ever since to never commit anything like that again."

Princess Celestia had been quiet ever since I had started, but during my pause she asked, "Did you succeed?"

"No. There have never been any other wars on such a large scale, but it seemed our leaders couldn't go five years without fighting each other," I took a deep breath, "It was like war was a part of who we were."

I looked into Celestia's eyes, "I'm sorry I told you all of this Princess, but I felt that I wouldn't have been able to hide it from you. I understand if you don't look upon me with the same light as you did before."

Celestia continued to stare at me in silence. It was as if she was staring into my very soul, like she was evaluating me.

Fianlly she spoke, "On the contrary Dutch; I now see you in a better light. It would have taken a lot for someone to admit what a species like yours has done, and I commend your honesty."

I couldn't believe what I had just heard. I also couldn't believe myself when I stood up, walked over to the Princess, and wrapped my arms around her in a hug, "Never, in my twenty years of existance, have I met anyone as understanding as you Princess, and I've met a lot of people. Thank you."

Celestia was surprised at this sudden display of affection, but she returned the hug, and I felt warmth spread through my body, "Well, I didn't become a princess for nothing."

I chuckled, and released the embrace. Celestia gave me a look of surprise for some reason, but it quickly turned into a smile, and she gestured towards the door, "Come, I'll show you to your quarters." We exited the room and walked down another identical hallway. As we walked, I saw a familiar pegasus coming the other way.

"Captain Wingfleet," I said, shaking his hoof, "It's good to see you again,"

Wingfleet gave a bow to the Princess, "You too Dutch. I suppose the security thing didn't go quite as planned, eh?"

"You could say that,"

He gave a laugh, "Well, I guess "Attack from Nightmare Moon" is an acceptable excuse," he glanced at the Princess, who gave a slight nod, "I have to get back to my men, but I hope we can work with each other again." With that, he carried on down the hall.

We reached a large, oak door and I opened it to reveal a magnificant bedroom. The ceiling was at least thirty feet high, and the bed in the middle of the room was big enough to lie down in without curling up. There was also a large balcony, with a view across the gardens.

"I hope you don't mind, but we teleported your possessions to this room while you stay here," Celestia said, and I saw my pack, bow and all my other equipment lying next to the bed. Even my knife was resting there, still in its sheathe.

"Feel free to get settled here. If you'll excuse me, I have some royal duties to attend to," Celestia quietly left the room, and left me alone to explore my new surroundings.

I walked over to the balcony, and looked over the castle gardens. They were immense, almost reaching the horizon. When my vision reached it, I noticed the sun was setting, and an orange hue was cast over the sky. I always enjoyed watching the sunset. It was a calming view, and a good way to take your mind of things.

I suddenly realised I was tired, and wandered over to the bed, taking a moment to examine my stuff. They had teleported everything, even the clothes Rarity had made, and I placed some of them on a chair for tomorrow. I stripped down to my boxers and climbed into bed, staring at the ceiling, and despite being somewhere unfamiliar, I drifted off fairly quickly.

I haven't had the nightmares for some time now, and I'm not sure whether to be relieved or worried.

Princess Celestia exited the castle via a side entrance, and made her way towards the armory. There was a craftsman there, and he would be able to do exactly what Celestia needed.

She entered the building, and saw a dozen ponies standing around, having conversations with each other, and basically enjoying some downtime. They saw her, however, and immediately snapped to attention, kneeling before her.

"If you would excuse us gentlecolts," she said, "I would like to speak privately with Black Smith," the ponies nodded, and they all left. All except one, a unicorn, with a black coat and a dark grey mane.

"Yes your Majesty?" he said, approaching Princess Celestia.

"Do you know about our guest Black?" Celestia asked.

"Yes, the human. May I ask why?"

"I carried out a memory scan spell on him, and I found something that piqued my interest," she approached Black, and touched her horn with his. They glowed, and a moment later, she backed away again.

Black paused. Whatever this device was, the princess had been interested in it enough to show him, "I've never seen anything like this, your Majesty. The mechanisms of the device are extremely precise."

"Can you build it?"

"I'm not sure your Highness. I've never had to construct anything with such minute components. I'm usually used to crossbows and--"

"Can you build it?" The Princess' voice was more stern this time. Black was silent, but simply nodded after a few seconds, "I should have it done by tomorrow morning."

"Good. I would like to see what Dutch does with it." She left the armoury, leaving Black to start building the device, and returned to her quarters.