A nightly guardian

Chapter 1

An Unexpected guest

Lyra Heartstrings was finally at the place she had been dreaming off. For months now, she had researched in the royal Canterlot library for any traces of humans. She had been able to find some Hoof notes about them, but they all referred to one author, that she couldn't find anything about. "Reference: ZSS", was written in all of those Hoof notes....

The strange thing was, that even a library as vast as the royal Canterlot one, there was not a single book of him or her. Could they have been removed on purpose? That brought her back to her conspiracy theories again. Maybe the Princesses had removed all of them, since they did not want anypony to learn about humans? Did they maybe have something to do with their disappearance from Equestria? Had Equestria maybe even been inhabited, by the time the first settlers had arrived here? No that couldn't be it... She had already looked through many archaeological books, and could be sure that there was not been a single excavation site that featured human artifacts.

So she had tried to convince her father, who was the head librarian in Canterlot, to let her into the royal archives. That however had not gone too well. Her father had denied her entry vehemently, stating that he would not support her obsessions. For weeks Lyra had tried to convince him, but he had stayed strong.

A few days before, when she had just failed to convince her father once again, she had met Twilight Sparkle. Lyra knew Twilight, but they usually didn't talk all too much. This day had been different however. Seeing how crestfallen she had been, the lavender Unicorn had approached the park bench she had been sitting on.

"What's the matter Ms. Heartstrings? I think I have never seen you so unhappy before.", she had asked concerned.

"I told you before, to just call me Lyra. And... well it's nothing... I don't think you can help me with..... it...?"

Then Lyra had remembered who she was talking to. Of course Twilight could help her! She was Princess Celestias private student after all. Surely she would have access to most areas within the library, maybe even the archives.

"Tell me Twilight, have you ever been in the royal Canterlot library?", Lyra asked hopefully.

Twilight grinned.

"Well of course Ms.... ehm Lyra. Before I came to Ponyville, I spent most of my time there. Is there anything I can help you with? I'd be glad to help, if I can."

"Well Twilight.... You know that my father is the head librarian, right? I have looked through each and every available book, but all I can find are Hoof notes about a specific author. Since all the dates in the Hoof notes go way back, I thought I might find something about him in the archives, but my father won't let me in there. Any chance you can help me with that?", Lyra asked hopefully.

Twilight thought for a moment, tapping her chin with one of her hooves.

"It's about humans again, isn't it? Well I can understand your father, but you have put so much effort into it already. It would be such a waste, if you wouldn't be able to find something, just because you were denied the chance to do proper research. I will write a letter to Princess Celestia, and see what I can do, OK?", the lavender Unicorn promised.

Lyra had been so excited about it, that she had barely been able to sleep for the next two nights. Then, on the morning of the third day after her conversation with Twilight, a royal courier knocked on her door, delivering a letter with Celestias royal seal.

Dear Ms. Lyra Heartstrings,

my faithful student, Twilight Sparkle, has brought it to my attention that you wish to access the royal Canterlot archives. I was hesitant at first, to grant you permission to the archives, but Twilight ensured me that you have no ill intent. Please know that whatever you might find down there, is not meant for publication. Attached to this letter is a visitors pass that is valid for one whole day. Should you need more time to research, I suggest that you ask my dear sister, Princess Luna, about it. I have already informed her of your interest in the matter.

Princess Celestia of Equestria

Why she was supposed to talk to Princess Luna, she had not understood. The visitors pass however, was now hanging from her neck, as she stood in front of the enormous double doors that led down into the archives. Her father sat, like usual, at his desk right next to the lever that would open the doors. Lyra approached him with a wide grin on her face.

"Let me in.", she said, hard pressed not break out in laughter.

Her father looked up from the documents he had been reading, and took his glasses off.

"I told you more then a dozen times already, Lyra, I will not open these doors for you. The only thing that could make me do that, was if you were to have a royal permit, but I doubt that you .... Hey what's that around your neck?", her father asked confused.

He pointed a hoof at the golden card around her neck, that was emblazoned with Celestias royal seal.

"My royal permit of course!", Lyra grinned.

Her father stammered a few words, trying to make sense of it all, before he levitated the permit over for inspection. What he had not anticipated, was that his daughter would not let go of it so easily. He had to practically drag her along with the card, to take a closer look at it. Turning the card over in his magic, while Lyra was bend uncomfortably over his desk, he gave it a good look. He was not putting it past his daughter, to have forged a fake permit, so he would have to let her in after all.... But... he could not find a single thing wrong with it. It worried him a little. With this permit he HAD to let her in, and she would have access to all the books in there. Moreover, it was a permit for private study, so he was not even allowed to send a royal guard in there with her. This kind of permit he had only ever seen on one other pony....

"Twilight Sparkle... You got Twilight Sparkle to help you, didn't you?", her father sighed.

"Yep!", Lyras grin grew even wider.

"Well then... I guess I have no choice then to let you in, since that card around your neck is somewhat of an extend of Princess Celestias power. That doesn't mean we won't talk about this later however. Also, I must ask you to heed certain rules while you are in there. Number one: Be careful with the books and scrolls. They are ancient and very valuable. Even my whole years salary would not be enough to pay for one of them! Number two: No eating or drinking. We would not want a glass of juice to spill over a scroll that is over a thousand years old, now would we? And at last, I have a request, since this permit around your neck allows you to do so anyway. Please do not go into either Princesses private study. You are a musician, and I doubt you would understand the advanced magical theory they study. If you try, you might hurt yourself. Did you understand what I just said?"

Lyra nodded energetically. She had no interest in the Princesses private research projects anyway, nor had she any food or drink on her. Having spent most of her free time in libraries, she knew those rules already. Seeing as he was unable to stop his daughter, her father pulled the lever to his right with his magic. The double doors, that were almost two times the size of any Pony, opened with a loud creaking sound. Unable to wait to finally start her research, Lyra darted through them, even before they were completely open.

Immediately Lyra noticed that all the lights in the archives were dimmed, so she could just barely see anything. On some of the reading tables however stood lamps, so one could read comfortably. The bookshelfs were all dusty, and the floor looked like it had been build centuries ago. The marble plates it was made from, were chipped in places. Lyra guessed that barely anypony went down here, and so there was no real need for maintenance. Looking at the bookshelfs, she found a map, that was pinned onto one of the first ones. Studying the faded map for a moment, Lyra made her way to the mythical section of the archives.

Two hours later

Lyra was almost completely hidden behind a large stack of books in the mythical section. It was frustrating. All these books were mentioning humans at some point, but all she got for her efforts, were more Hoof notes about "ZSS". Then, in a book about imaginary human inventions and technology, she found something. It was only a Hoof note, but it mentioned a book rather then just "ZSS".

"All information, from ZSS Journal of Technology."

Lyra ran off toward the end of a bookshelf again, and looked for a map. She had soon discovered, that those hang on almost every shelf. It took her a while to decipher the faded paint on it, but she found what she was looking for. One floor down, then to the right, and she would be in the technology section of the archives. Those had always fascinated her as well. All the technology that Ponies used, was originally invented by humans, or so she believed. Almost galloping down the stone steps to the second floor of the archives, she turned right and found herself in front of a wooden door. It was relatively clean, compared to what she had seen so far. On it's front was a slot to unlock the door, in which she stuck her visitors pass.

As the door slid open, Lyra stood in a room that was not dusty at all. Nor were the lights dimmed. The whole room was brightly illuminated and had about twenty fully packed shelfs in it. At the far wall stood a wooden desk, on which a stack of parchments lay. Lyra guessed that somepony must have done some research here fairly recently, and forgotten their notes. As she approached the desk however, she saw the title on one of the books, out of the corner of her eye.

"Electronics and steam powered engines, by ZSS"

Lyra forgot all about bringing the parchments to her father, so he could give it to the pony who had forgotten them. She rushed to the shelf, and almost fainted when she read the titles of all the other books that stood next to it.

"Easy Tools by ZSS"

"Architecture by ZSS"

"Combustible engines by ZSS"

As Lyra looked around she saw that almost all of the books in the first shelf, had been written by ZSS! Some titles however, confused her a great deal. They didn't make any sense to her.

"Things I miss the most by ZSS"

or

"Linux how-to by ZSS"

What in the hay was Linux? Why did he or she miss anything? What was a combustible engine? Lyra picked up the book "Things I miss the most", and sat down right there on the floor. Flipping through the pages, she noticed one thing immediately. This was no printed book, but a hoof written original! The writing was barely legible however.... Not that the ink had fainted, but the Pony that had written it, was just terrible at it. There was no index, and no page numbers. It wasn't all about technology either. Instead there were crude drawings of several things. One looked like an open book, but it lay in an odd angle. Nopony would be able to read from that angle. There were also drawings of.... faces? But these were no Ponies. The nose was all wrong, and the ears were on the sides of their heads. Then Lyra understood. These faces, were human faces. Each drawing was entitled.

"Dad"

"Petra"

""Gramps"

There were many more, but Lyra was unable to look at all of them. How lonely could a Pony get to draw those who he or she missed? Or had it even been a Pony that wrote all of this? Just as she thought that, she heard sobbing. Up until now she had assumed, that she was alone in the archives, so the sound startled her a bit. Putting the book back onto the shelf, Lyra began to trot towards the sound. As she reached the end of the shelf, and looked to her left, she saw a half open door at the far end of the room.

Looking through the half open door with one eye, Lyra witnessed something she had not anticipated to see. There, in the middle of a very small room, sat Princess Luna, pressing a book to her chest with both of her forelegs. Princess Celestia had told her, that she should talk to Princess Luna, but Lyra didn't want to intrude. Even more so ,since she had never seen either of the Princesses cry, or show much emotion in public. Slowly retreating, her gaze fell on the book once more.

"Journal of Zeomak Seline Salchar"

Lyra burst through the door, pointing a hoof at the book.

"ZSS! Zeomak Seline Salchar!", Lyra burst out, before she knew what she was doing.

The Princess was startled by her sudden appearance, but composed herself quickly. Lyra did not miss however, that Luna tried to hide the book behind her back.

"Ehm... Ms..... Heartstrings, I presume? I am sorry, but I thought I was alone here.", Luna said, wiping tears from her eyes.

"Princess... I am awfully sorry for my outburst just now, but could you let me see that book? I think it's been written by a human, and that's the prove I have always been looking for!", Lyra blurted out.

Luna sighed. She had hoped the mint green Unicorn had not seen the journal, but that would have been too good to be true. Still, she would not just give her the book. It was her most important treasure, and nopony ,except herself, was allowed to hold it! Even though Celestia had given that Pony free reign in the archives, she would not give it to her.

"I am sorry, but I can not give it to you. This book is private property of mine.", Luna said, trying to sound genuine. The expression on Lyras face however, told her that she was not being very successful.

"Why? If that book is yours, then why does it not say that it is your journal?", Lyra asked, getting a little impatient.

"It is the journal of a very good friend of mine, and I don't think he would want...."

"Aha! So you do know something about ZSS! Please Princess! Your sister already told me, that I should speak to you on the matter, and now I find you here, with a book that I suspect to be written by a human. I beg you, please let me read it!", Lyra pleaded.

"My answer is still no! But....", Luna looked away.

"What Princess?"

"If you promise me, not to think badly of him... I might tell you his story. Big sister wanted me to anyway...."

Lyra nodded vigorously. She would do anything to get a first hoof report about an actual living human!

Luna sighed, and settled down on the floor. The journal however, she kept hidden from plain view under her left wing. Lyra settled down opposite of her, and waited impatiently for Luna to begin.

"It was... a very long time ago. Zeo wrote almost all of the books in this archive, with my help. When he touched my horn, I used my magic to write what went through his mind. Some of the books, are in his handwriting however. You already know, that my sister and I were not always the rulers of Equestria, and that the three tribes had been led by a single ruler before the unification?", Luna asked, and Lyra nodded.

"Well you see... after we started to rule together, some Ponies did not appreciate the idea of such a diarchy very much. They wished for one strong ruler, and not for one strong, and one not so strong one. I tell you this, because you must know all the details, if you want to know the truth, about the one and only human to ever set foot into Equestria...."

Lunas thoughts trailed off to a night that lay over a thousand years in the past.

Back then her mane and tail had not yet reflected the night sky, but had been light blue. Just a few months prior she and her sister had defeated Discord, and united Ponykind under one flag. The side effect of them using the elements of Harmony, had been their ascension into Alicorns. All of their friends were suddenly bowing in front of them, and there was barely anypony who treated them like just a normal Pony.

Soon after, they had started to rule Equestria together. That however did not sit too well with their subjects. They wished for one strong ruler. And that would have been Celestia, so they had asked time and time again for Luna to step down. Celestia however had told them that, no matter what they said, Luna would not step down for such a reason. Due to that, Luna had gotten even more secluded, until she was mostly alone. The only Pony she could turn to at that time was her sister, which was not exactly the same as having friends.

Just to be separated from her sister for a while, she had taken on the habit to fly over Equestria at night, when she had risen the moon. She had been young and naive. She had underestimated the old ways, and those who wished for a single ruler to Equestria. Playfully flying through the clouds close to where Ponyville was today, something had suddenly hit her left wing. All the joy she had felt, had left her in an instant, as the bone broke and she went into an uncontrolled fall. Plummeting towards the ground, Luna looked back, and saw three Pegasi, hovering where she had just been flying.

She did not understand it. Why had they attacked her? She had just playing a little, to have some fun. Was their hatred towards her really that bad? Crying from the pain, Luna flapped her wings even though it hurt badly to do so. She had to slow down her fall, or she would not survive. Still way to fast, Luna crashed into the Ever-free forest. Immediately she felt the oppressive magical aura of the forest, but didn't care much for it at that moment. Instead, she struggled to her hooves, just to be knocked down by an Earth pony stallion. Rolling around so her hooves were under him, she kicked him off.

"Why? Why are you attacking me? I never did anything to any of you!", she had cried.

None of the Ponies had answered her. She saw several Earth ponies and Unicorns approach her now, as the Pegasi circled above. This was an ambush, she realized. Luna concentrated on her magic as hard as she could. It was still new for her, since she had been born as a Pegasus. Trying to focus on a teleportation spell, a brilliant dark purple light began to shine around her horn. The Earth ponies amongst her attackers tried to prevent her from casting a spell, but it was already to late for that. Luna could feel that the spell was escaping her control, but she continued to pour magic into it. A booming sound could be heard all the way to Canterlot, as the magical energy exploded right in front of her. Her attackers were blown off of their hooves for a moment, while Luna was blown deeper into the forest.

Something heavy landed on her back. With a scream she looked around, half expecting to find one of the Pegasi, but instead she saw a creature she had never seen before. It had glasses on it's nose, was almost completely hairless as far as she could see, and dressed in black. The coat it wore was so long, that it reached the ground even though it sat on her back. What surprised her the most however was, that it looked at her almost as surprised as she felt.

"Excuse me, but would you mind getting off my back? You are kind of heavy.", she asked as politely as she could.

Jumping off of her back, the creature stretched and looked around, before bringing it's almost flat face uncomfortably close to her own.

"You got to be fucking kidding me! What the hell is this shit? Did I drink too much? Damn I really should cut back on the booze, but I have never dreamt of talking horses before... Interesting... and with wings and a horn too... Let's just hope that I wake up soon, because this is WAY to strange.", it said, inspecting her right wing before it noticed that her left hang limply at her side.

"Oh my god, are you hurt? I mean, this might be an alcohol induced dream, but I'm still a nurse you know.", it said gesturing to her to lay down.

"There... there really is no time for this... What are you, and what is your name?" Luna inquired.

"I should be asking you the same. Never dreamt about a talking horse before, or at least not that I could remember. Just call me Zeo, and I am.... well I am a human, what else?", it explained.

The slightly plump figure of the "human" unwrapped a scarf he wore around his neck, took a branch from one of the nearby trees, and began to treat her wing rudimentarily.

"OK Ms. Horse, care to explain all this? I mean... this is MY dream, but I have absolutely no clue where I am, why I am dreaming about... well YOU, or what I am supposed to do here. Usually I don't dream this sort of thing.", Zeo asked her.

"First of all I would appreciate it if you would stop calling me "horse". My name is Luna. Princess Luna of Equestria to be precise. As for why you are here, I have no idea. I can only presume that my spell went wrong, and transported you here."

"Spell... You are actually trying to tell me that you can do magic, and this...", he gestured all around himself.

"...is actually not a dream? You are trying to tell me, that I am here because some little Princess messed up a spell?", he shouted.

Luna let her head hang, and explained everything to him. How she and her sister had become Alicorns, that they ruled Equestria, and that she was attacked earlier, because some Ponies were not too happy with a diarchy. Tapping his chin with one of his strange looking hooves, Zeo had looked her deep into the eyes. After a while, he brought his face close to hers again.

"OK, if this is not a dream, then let's see how this feels.", he said, giving her a quick kiss on the forehead. Shocked and surprised at this, Luna used her telekinesis to shove him back a step. Zeo struck a tree with his back, and winced at the impact.

"I... I'm sorry! I... I'm not used to my magic yet. I can't control it yet, but....", she stammered, but the "human" just laughed.

"I know this is no dream now. That hurt like a bitch, and I'm still here, so I guess.... Well... That can wait until later. You said you were attacked. Do you think that, if I get you out of here, you can send me home again?", he asked hopefully.

"I... I am not sure if I can, but my sister may know more."

"Alright, it's settled then. But I expect some compensation for my troubles!"

"And what kind of compensation would that be?", Luna asked, a little scared.

"A good meal will do.", he laughed.

Just as the pair of them wanted to start towards the edge of the forest, some of her attackers from earlier caught up with her. Two Earth pony stallions, and a Unicorn mare came charging at her. As they saw Zeo, they stopped in their tracks.

"Step aside, creature. This has nothing to do with you.", one of the stallions said.

"Oh but I think it has. See, I still don't know if this is a dream or not, but I won't let you gang up on someone who is injured.", Zeo sighed, handing his long leather coat to Luna, who spread it over her back.

The three looked at each other for a moment, before they attacked. Zeo sidestepped the first stallion, hitting his neck with his elbow, and producing a sickening crunching sound. As the second stallion reared up to hit him with his front hooves, Zeo tried to block the blow, but that was not a good idea. The hooves of a Pony were harder then a humans bones, and so his left arm got broken. He staggered backwards a few steps, holding his arm, but the Earth pony already charged at him again. The Unicorn seemed content to make sure that Luna didn't go anywhere. Ignoring the pain for the time being, he charged at the surprised stallion, and used his good right hand to press down hard on his head. That caused the still galloping stallion to fall over an hit the ground with his face first. Zeo didn't loose any time, and threw himself onto his fallen opponent with all his weight. These Ponies only reached up to his hips, so he almost completely buried the stunned Earth pony under himself.

The Unicorn mare finally joined the Frey, and enveloped him in her magic. With a quick jerk of her head, Zeo was lifted off of her companion and thrown into a quite thorny bush. At that point Lunas horn flashed to life, and the mare was thrown back all the way out of the forest. Luna lifted Zeo out of the bush. The shock, the pain and most likely the magic, had made him pass out. Gently placing him on her back, Luna trotted off into the direction of Canterlot.

The sun was already rising by the time she arrived at Canterlot, collapsing from the exertion of carrying Zeo, right in front of a pair of royal guards. They took Zeo of off her back and escorted her inside, while two other guards were called to bring the much heavier creature along.

A few hours later

Luna had awoken to the sight of her older sisters worried face.

"What has happened Luna, and what is that thing you brought along?", Celestia asked.

"I... I was attacked."

"Then it's a good thing that I let the guards put it into the dungeons. I have never seen a creature like it before."

Luna had jolted up in bed at that.

"You threw him into the dungeons? Why? He saved me! The only reason he is here, is because I tried to cast a teleportation spell, and messed up. I promised him to try and get him home, if he helped me.", Luna said in a panic.

Celestia eyed her sister carefully.

"You tried such an advanced spell? Impressive that you did not hurt yourself. But who attacked you then?", she wanted to know.

"The Ponies that wanted me to step down! They ambushed me close to the Everfree forest, bound me to the ground by breaking my wing, and tried to kill me! Zeo came out of my messed up teleportation and helped me escape. Sadly he got injured in the fight and passed out.", Luna explained.

Celestia raised an eyebrow.

"Well... I will immediately arrange that he is transfered from the dungeons, to one of the guest rooms, and that a doctor looks at his arm. Other then that, there is the matter of this....", Celestia levitated Zeos black coat over to Luna from a nearby chair.

"You have been wearing this when the guards found you. Care to explain why you wore another animals skin?"

"Skin? Ehm... it... it's Zeos. He gave it to me so it wouldn't get into his way while he defended me, I guess."

"Luna... Are you sure about this Zeo creature? I mean.... wearing another creatures skin as clothing isn't exactly the nicest thing to do, is it?", Celestia asked a little worried.

"I don't really know much about him, but I know that he saved my life. That is more then enough reason for you to trust him. If you'll excuse me now, I will go get him out of the dungeons myself."

With that, Luna stood up despite Celestias efforts to make her lay down again. She took Zeos coat from her, and put it on.

In the Canterlot dungeons

Luna had gotten the keys from one of the guards, and walked up to the cell Zeo was in. He lay, his arm still untreated, in one corner of the small cell. From what she had seen, he wouldn't even be able to get up in this small room. He was just too big for that. Unlocking the cell, she levitated him next to herself, while she trotted off to one of the guest rooms. On her way there she noticed, that the guards hadn't even bothered to break the slumber spell, that the Unicorn had put on him. For the time being, Luna didn't see a reason why she should do so either. She didn't want her savior to wake up, and find out he had been thrown into the dungeons.

An hour later

Zeo opened his eyes slowly. Everything hurt, and his left arm felt stiff. Otherwise he was quite comfortable. The bed he lay in was a little too small , and as he looked down on himself, he noticed that his left arm was in a cast. Also, to his utter surprise,  he was naked.

"So you finally wake up.", a gentle voice next to him said. It was definitely female, so Zeo was prepared for the worst.

Did he drink too much , and woken up at some girls place again? Man, that happened more often then he cared to admit. But why would his arm be in a cast then? Then it came all back to him, and as he turned around he saw the owner of the voice. Next to him on the bed, lay a dark blue horse with wings on it's sides and a horn on it's forehead.

"L...Luna, was it? Where the heck am I, and why am I naked?", he wanted to know.

"This is my room, and the doctor insisted on giving you a full examination, that's why I removed your clothing. I would have brought you to one of the guest rooms, but the beds there are just way to small for you."

"Oh....", was all Zeo was able to say.

So he was in bed... naked... with a horse... In that horses bed....

"Tell me... ehm... would you please give me back my clothes? I mean I don't think you would care about running around naked all the time, but...", he stammered.

Luna just looked at him, and pointed a hoof at a nearby chair, where she had put his clothes. After prompting her to turn around while he dressed, Zeo slipped out of bed and stepped over to the chair. Putting on his underpants and jeans had been hard enough, but he was not able to get his shirt on.

"Ehm... Luna?"

The Princess turned around.

"Could you help me? I don't get this shirt over that cast."

Luna chuckled and her horn started to glow. The shirt spread a little and then wriggled itself over his injured arm. The coat, was nowhere to be seen.

"My coat?", Zeo added, pointing a finger at the empty chair.

"I... ehm... Well I was told it was made of skin, and I wasn't too comfortable with the smell.", Luna explained.

"Yes duh.... It's a leather coat. Of course it's made out of skin. I need it back, since there are some things in there, that I need right now.", Zeo said angrily.

Luna flinched a little, and levitated his coat inside from the balcony. Grabbing it with his good hand, Zeo sat down onto the chair and started to rummage in the pockets. After a while he got out a small red package of tobacco, and started to roll a smoke. Not an easy task with only one hand.

"Do you mind if I smoke?", he asked, but Luna just looked at him.

Deciding that it was not a good idea to expose this horse to the smoke of his cigarette, Zeo stepped outside onto the balcony. Grabbing his lighter from one of his pockets, he lit his cigarette, inhaled deep and relaxed. Hearing the clip clop of hooves from behind him, he turned around.

"So... How about getting me home, and maybe something to eat? I don't want to sound rude, but being around talking horses, is kinda strange for me.", Zeo said a little embarrassed.

Luna let her head hang and shook it.

"I am sorry, but even my sister has no idea how you ended up here. My teleportation spell went out of control, and brought you here. I can't even reproduce it, since we have no idea if it would sent you back, or just get another human here."

Looking up into his hazel eyes, she continued.

"But trust me. I will not rest until I find a way to get you home!"

"You don't have to do that. I don't want you to work yourself to the bone, for a futile effort. I still don't know if I am dreaming for sure, or if I am in a coma of some sorts. Maybe I drank too much again, and fell down the stairs? The problem is, that the last thing I remember, before falling on you, is that I was heading out for a weekend of partying at a friends house.", he sighed, and leaned on the reeling.

Luna felt terrible. He had saved her life, and would be stuck in Equestria as a reward.

"Besides....", he broke the silence once again, while turning to her.

"I would appreciate it, if I could get a bed of my own. I mean I don't know much about horses, but your voice is female, and since I am male, even though we don't even belong to the same species, I think it would still be better...."

"I would appreciate it, if you stopped calling us horses. We are Ponies...", Luna reprimanded.

"Ehm... OK Ponies then. OK about that bed..."

"I will have one made for you. Until then you can stay here with me, unless you feel uncomfortable around me."

Zeo had to admit that he actually felt pretty comfortable around this hor... Pony. She didn't even smell as he would have expected. A soft flowery smell emitted from her, and besides, he had liked animals ever since he had been a little boy. Growing up on a farm, he had gotten used to being around animals all the time. They just had never talked to him, and that was the only thing that he actually felt weird about. Being a big fan of fantasy stories, like Lord of the Rings or The last Unicorn, seeing a Unicorn with wings kinda excited him, more then it frightened him.

He shook his head.

"No of course not... You know what? Forget it. I will stay here with you until you find a way to send me home, if that is alright with you."

"Make yourself at home."