A New World and The Journey Home

We were all waiting at the train station just outside of Ponyville. And by “we”  I meant all of us: Me, Kira, Den, Twilight, Spike, Rainbow Dash, AJ, Rarity, Pinkie, and Fluttershy. We were all in a big group clutching our tickets. We were just on the platform waiting for the train, and I was starting to grow impatient. I was just about to walk away so I didn’t die of boredom when I heard a certain whistle. Kira, Den, and I looked to our left and noticed that a train was just pulling in. When it did pull into the station, I was not impressed.

The train itself looked old fashioned and all too bright and vivid. All the cars, including the engine, consisted of bright pink, blue, and yellow. Even the trains here looked especially girly.

“What?” I asked, un-amused.

“You have got to be kidding me,” complained Den.

“Didn’t see this coming,” added Kira.

“Why are you guys acting so surprised?” asked Twilight, “You’re acting like you haven’t seen the trains here before.”

“We took a different train here. One that wasn’t…..THIS,” I replied while gesturing to the crayon box train.

“You guys don’t get out much, do you?” asked Rainbow Dash.

I shrugged my shoulders, giving her an “eh” gesture. We turned our attention back to the train and waited for everypony to get off. Once it was all clear, we boarded in the second to last car. The pink one. Ughh.

We all got in the car, and it was actually kind of roomy inside. It looked like any other passenger car, despite its cookie-like appearance on the outside. There were comfy seats and large windows and two rows of seats, one for each side I guess. Twilight, Spike, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and I sat on the left side of the car while Kira, Den, Rarity, Pinkie, and Applejack sat on the right. I was sitting next to a window with Twilight sitting next to me.

Once we were all in, the conductor yelled “All Aboard!” and the whistle went off and the train started moving.

We’ve been on the train for nearly 25 minutes already. I was starting to forget where we were going, and I was even more bored now. All I did was look out the window and watch as the scenery pass by. I could hear my friends talking and laughing on the other side. At least they’re all getting along. Especially seeing how Den and Rainbow Dash are now somewhat separated.

“So where are we going again, Hogwarts?” asked Den.

“What, no? I told you, I sent a letter to the princess telling her about you guys and all of the sudden she wants me to bring you to her,” Twilight answered.

“How did you send a letter to her?” I asked, seeing how there was no email in this world.

“Through Spike.”

“The little lizard?”

“He’s a dragon!” she corrected, irritated that I still couldn’t get his species right.

“Seriously, how many times do we have to tell you?” asked Spike who also seemed irritated.

“Ok, ok, sorry geez. But that still doesn’t explain-“

“His flames can teleport letters to the princess,” interrupted Twilight. “I thought you might ask that, seeing how you ask so many questions.”

“Right.”

Another 25 minutes later, I was resting my head on my hoof and leaning on the glass window with my eyes half open. We’ve been on this train for almost an hour now. Twilight was on the other side of the car discussing something with her friends while Kira decided to come over and sit across from me.

“You ok, Vin?” Kira asked, “You look a little… dead.”

“I’m just really bored. We’ve been on this train for an hour and there’s nothing to do,” I replied, sounding tired.

“Well, we could talk about that thing we discussed earlier,” she suggested. “The really weird dream with that moon pony.”

“Yeah, I suppose,” I said, sounding a bit interested. “So what happened when you first saw her?”

“At first, I didn’t know how to respond when I was in the violet void. Especially with all these weird objects floating about, like paint cans and brushes, blank canvas, colored pencils, water colors, and cupcakes. But that could be just from the dozens of sweets I had last night,” she said with a slight laugh. Weird, something like that happened in my dream too, where my personal interests were floating around.

“And then what?” I asked.

“Then that moon princess came, and she said that her name was Luna. She then warned me, that the issues we had were nothing when compared to what was in store. And then she was blown away by some gust,” she concluded.

That’s freaky, because that’s exactly what happened to me in my dream. Those were even the same words.

“Same here. Anything else?” I asked.

“Well, at one point, she asked me my name. I told her, and she seemed disturbed; saying that my name was far too human,” Kira said, worried.

Same with me.

“Do you think she knows?” Kira whispered so that no one would hear us.

“I don’t know,” I whispered back. “But that’s exactly what happened in my dream. And I bet $10 that’s happened to Den too.”

“Well, don’t you remember? Twilight said that she sent a letter to the princess. Do you think Twilight knows about us and told Luna?”

“I don’t know, and I’m hoping not.”

“Well, Luna did say that her ‘sister’ told her that our names sounded bizarre. And, before we got here, Twilight did say that she sent a letter to the princess. Do you think it’s possible that Luna and Twilight are related?”

I was putting the pieces together in my head, and it seemed very likely. Luna saying that her ‘sister’ was suspicious, and then after that Twilight telling us she sent a letter to the princess telling her something about us. It is possible. Although I feel like I’m forgetting one important detail for some reason.

“I wonder,” I said aloud. Just then, the train came to a complete stop, shaking us.

“What’s going on,” I asked, feeling a little jumped from the sudden stop.

“We’re here,” responded Twilight happily.

“About time,” I said. “I was about to die of boredom.”

“Very unlikely.”

We departed from the train and walked onto the platform. When we looked past it, we saw this huge, fancy and delicate looking metropolis. We walked out of the station and into the entrance of the place.

“Welcome to Canterlot,” Twilight announced proudly.

“Whoa,” gasped Den.

“Is this like the capital?” I asked.

“Hope it’s not like the capital of Panem,” added Kira.

“The princess’s castle is just up ahead, follow me,” instructed Twilight.

Still thinking about the whole ‘Luna and Twilight’s letter’ thing, I started to look around as we walked through this Canterlot. All the residents were dressed in fancy clothes, the buildings were huge and had royal décor, and the whole place looked like a glamorous utopia filled with snobby rich ponies. Only one thing comes to mind when I think of fancy and sophisticated places: BORING.

We all stopped in front of a pair of huge golden painted doors. They had to be about 15 feet tall. There were also guards in front of the door. They had white fur and were covered with golden armor. Security must be tight here.

“Hello, sirs,” Twilight called. “We’re here to see the princess.”

“Yes, Miss Sparkle,” they responded, and they opened the doors behind them, leading to a giant staircase inside. Twilight turned around and faced us.

“Are you ready to meet the princess?” asked Twilight.

I looked behind and all of her friends gave a confident nod, while we had our own responses.

“I’m ready,” replied Kira, excited.

“I suppose,” I spoke unsure.

“Eh, what the hell” replied Den in a dismissive tone.

We all entered the castle and walked up the staircase and began walking through this long hallway. We walked until we reached another set of large doors. Twilight opened it up the doors slowly, making a large annoying creeeeaaak noise.

We began to walk through the long room and noticed that each side of the walls had stained glass windows, each one with a weird image. There was one where this male unicorn and a pink winged unicorn were holding hooves and were floating together in a heart shaped position. Another one we passed had this weird looking monster, that had the parts of almost every animal on its body, and what was below it really puzzled me: It looked like it was Twilight and her friends, and it appeared that they were shooting beams of something at the monster.

What the hell? Are Twilight and her friends famous in this world? Are they soldiers or heroes or what?

We got to the end of the room, that’s when I got really surprised. At the end, was another winged unicorn sitting on a throne, but this one was different. It was much taller than Twilight, had white fur, wore glass gold slippers, a gold tiara, and had a sun mark on its flanks. What really got me was its mane and tail. They were sparkling, multi-colored, and flowing. I couldn’t feel a draft in the room, so how the hell were they flowing like that?

Anyway, when we got the end of the room where the creature was, we all stopped.

“Princess Celestia,” greeted Twilight.

“Hello Twilight Sparkle,” she spoke in an elegant and feminine voice and her eyes sparkling. “My faithful student.”

Just then, Twilight and the others bowed to her. Kira, Den, and I looked around and noticed that all 7 of them had their heads down.

“Psst,” whispered Twilight. “Why aren’t you bowing?”

Then I started to get the idea that we had to bow too, so all three of us bowed our heads, quickly.

Well this is, odd. I still don’t understand why we have to bow.

“You may rise,” the princess commanded.

“Um, Princess,” Twilight spoke nervously. “I don’t mean to jump into discussion, but is there a reason why you called us up? And why you told me to invite my new friends?”

“Yes, there is a reason for that Twilight. I’d like to speak with them,” she answered, and then she turned her attention towards me and my friends. She gave us all an unsure look.

“Hi,” I said, casually.

“Please, state your names,” she asked. The white creature leveled a hoof at me. “Starting with you.”

“My name’s Vincent Chambers,” I began.

“I’m Den Michaels,” Den responded next.

“And I’m Kira Valentine,” Kira finished.

“Pleased to meet you all, surely you know who I am?” she asked.  Twilight mentioned that this one was named… Celestia?

“You’re Princess Celestia?” I asked, hoping I didn’t screw up her name.

“Correct,” she responded with a smile, “Twilight has told me all about you three.”

“Seriously?”

“Yes, but she also mentioned that you had… strange behaviors.”

“And?”

“I hope you don’t mind if I ask you some questions?” she asked.

“Shoot,” I replied.

“Firstly, where did you come from?” she asked, nonchalantly.

“Out of town,” I replied.

“Where exactly?” she pressed.

“Really far out of town,” I replied again, trying to sound convincing.

“I see,” she said, sounding unconvinced, “Second, why did you come to Ponyville? Vacation? Reunion? Research?”

“Um-”

“D. All of the above,” Den covered.

“Princess, what’s with all of these questions?” interrupted Twilight.

“Yeah, I’d like to know too,” added Dash who sounded suspicious.

“You’ll soon see. Be patient,” she responded. Then she looked at me again.

“Lastly, where are your cutie marks?”

I froze there for a minute I couldn’t tell her that we didn’t get any, or where we came from otherwise she might get doubtful. I felt like it was over.

“I-I got nothing,” I replied.

“Vin…” Kira started nervously.

“I see. Then you’re the one whom my sister encountered last night. Her description of you seems to fit perfectly,” she said.

Sister? Last night? Wait, how would she know? Is she really the sister of Luna that Twilight was talking about?

The pieces were fitting together: Twilight sending a letter to the princess, our encounter with Luna, her saying she had a sister, and the letter saying to come and visit her.

“Princess, what are you talking about?” asked Twilight who seemed afraid.

“You’re Luna’s sister? The one Twilight sent a letter to?” I asked.

“Twilight,” spoke Celestia in a firm voice. “I think you should know that these three are in fact, not ponies.”

Everyone in the room gasped at this discovery. The three of us were especially shocked to see the princess figuring it all out without actually meeting us. What did Twilight write in that letter?

“Well, I guess our goose is cooked,” sighed Den.

“Wait, what are you talking about? Of course we’re ponies,” I lied, nervously.

“You’re a terrible liar, Vincent,” Celestia chuckled.

Her small smile disappeared and return to its more serious face.

“I know one of my subjects when I see one and observing your strange behavior, lack of cutie marks, and odd names-”

Really, our names are odd?!?

“I believe it’s safe to say, that you three, are not from this world.”

“What?” asked Twilight, sounding afraid.

Shit, it’s all over. Everyone had shocked faces; especially Twilight, Rarity, and Applejack.

“Vincent, is this true?” Twilight asked, still surprised.

“Yeah, it’s true,” I sighed, seeing no point in hiding it anymore.

“Then what in the hay are you?!” demanded Rainbow Dash who had a stern yet confused face.

“We’re…”

“We’re?” asked Pinkie.

“We’re humans” I admitted.

I was expecting a loud Whaaaaaaaat?!?! From the group; but instead of expressions of fear, they showed expressions of confusion, except for Pinkie.

“Humans, in Equestria?!? This is unbelievable, this is scary, this is- wait! What are humans?” Pinkie asked.

Every one, except for the three of us, all stared at the princess expecting an answer. The princess looked the most baffled out of all of them.

“Sorry to say, but I don’t know of this species known as humans,” she admitted.

“Seriously?” asked Applejack.

“I’m just as confused as you all are. Perhaps our newcomers would like to give us a little more detail?” suggested the princess, and everyone stared at us.

“Ok,” I started. “Let me explain.”

One Brief Explanation about Humans Later

“And that’s basically what humans are, what WE are.”

Everyone’s eyes in the room were wide from the explanation, all I did was briefly describe to them what humans were and how they acted. Then again, I would have the same reaction if creatures from another world came to my place and I had no idea what they were.

“Oh my,” Fluttershy whispered softly.

“Well, you humans sound like a very… interesting type,” Celestia responded, sounding unsure.

“Yeah, well…,” I replied.

“Is there anything else I should know about your species, like human history?” asked Celestia.

“Well, that’s a little harder to explain, and it might take a while to tell you our whole history.”

“Yeah, like a LONG time, besides everything you want or need to know is on the internet these days,” added Den. But that just gave everyone puzzled faces.

“Don’t ask,” Den added hastily.

“Anyway, there’s another question I’d like to ask you” Celestia said.

“And that is?”

“Why are you here?” she asked, rather calmly.

“Huh?” I asked, not understanding the question.

“And how did you get here?”

“I don’t really know why we’re here,” I answered honestly.

“Perhaps you’re all undercover spies who are trying to figure out our secrets and tell your army back home or something,” butted in Rainbow Dash cynically.

“Why would we do that? Besides, we’re not even old enough to enlist; we’re like 16 years old.”

“Rainbow Dash, let them speak,” ordered Twilight. Rainbow Dash grunted and then stepped, or flew, back. I turned back towards the princess.

“As for the second question, we didn’t come here on purpose. I was just reading a book and then-“

“Wait,” interrupted Celestia, “What book?”

“I don’t know. It was big, brown, had a golden horse’s head on it,” I explained.

“I see.”

“What?”

“Legend has it that somewhere in this kingdom, there is a magic spell book, written by an anonymous author, which can take anypony to any place on any world. But I’ve heard only two copies of this book exists. Who’d think that one of them was in your world?” she explained.

“Where’s the other book?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” she replied, “But, I suggest that you and your friends should find it quickly.”

“What?” I asked.

“Personally, I wouldn’t mind having you here, but I can’t say the same about my subjects. If they found out a new unknown species has entered my kingdom, there’s no telling how they’ll react.”

“Yeah, I suppose that would be best,” I replied.

“Is that why you asked me if I trusted you?” asked Twilight. “Just so you can get me to help you find this unknown book?”

“Yeah, sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. You seemed like a smart pony and you were the first one I met. So I figured that if I told you right away, you would freak out and not want to help me. I needed to get your trust first, so you can help us, so that we could go home,” I replied truthfully.

“So, just to be clear, you came here by accident and just want to find a way home?” she asked.

“Yeah, I just want to find that book and get back home, nothing more and nothing less,” I answered clearly. “So, do you trust me?”

It went silent for a while and Twilight was looking at the ground. My guess was that she was thinking real hard about her answer. She rose her head, stared into my eyes and sighed.

“Vincent, in all honesty, I don’t think I can trust you yet,” she finally answered.

“Huh?”

“After all, I just met you yesterday, and I almost know nothing about you. Aside from the fact that you’re a species I’ve never heard of, and that you prefer the night rather than the day.”

“He prefers the night to  day?” asked Pinkie. “That’s just weird.”

“Pinkie!” hissed AJ.

“Its fine,” I replied, “So I guess we’re on our own then.”

“You didn’t let me finish,” spoke Twilight.

“Finish then,” Den replied impatiently.

“I said “I can’t trust you”. But I will help you.”

“What?” I asked confused.

“Apparently, getting back to your world is important to you; and your species sound somewhat interesting, something else I could study. I’d like to know more about humans. So if I help you, will you tell me more about your kind? More than you just explained?” she asked sounding kind of excited. I gave her a simple nod as an answer.

I was a little surprised, she would help me search if I told her stories about my species in exchange. I didn’t know whether to feel elated or creeped out. Either way, I now know that she’ll help me out.

“WHAT?! Are you serious Twilight?” exclaimed Rainbow Dash who sounded betrayed. “He’s not even the same species! You can’t help him; you’ve only known him for a day. Who knows what he’ll do to you!”

“Look, they just want to go home. So I’m willing to help them out,” defended Twilight.

“Forgive and forget. Get over it Dash,” responded Den casually.

Rainbow Dash let out a small growl of anger and snorted smoke out of her nostrils. She then sat on the ground and pouted, seeing how she couldn’t convince Twilight to not help us.

I turned my attention back to Celestia.

“We just need to figure out a way to get back to our world, we’ve all got things to do. So, would it be alright if we stayed in Ponyville until we can find another way home?” I asked Celestia.

“Very well. Until you can find that spell book or find an alternative route home for you and your friends, you may all stay in Ponyville,” she announced. We all heaved a sigh of relief. “However,” she started.

“I mentioned that it would be best if you kept your species a secret from other residents so that they won’t panic and wreak havoc,” she reminded us.

“Yes?”

“Also, if you do something that could put this entire country to war, you and your friends will be punished,” she warned.

Should I be concerned when she said “punished”?

“Punished?” Kira asked, sounding scared.

“I make no promises; but I assure you that nothing like that will happen,” I responded.

“Good, now I suggest that you start your search now, for your journey home, has only begun,” she ended. I gave her a nod, turned around, and started to make our way out of those big doors.

“Oh, and Den,” she called out.

“Yeah?” he asked

“Try not to crash into anymore roofs while you’re here” she joked.

Den felt irked at that reminder, and then gave Twilight and stern look. Twilight just gave a guilty smile back.

“Thanks for ratting me out like that, Sparkles!” Den complained.

“Excuse me?” asked Twilight, feeling insulted by the nickname.

There was no way, I would do anything to put this country to war, and no way would anyone else know about our species. I’m going to make sure that I get me and my friend’s home safely. We’ve all got our own things to do back at home: Den has a match coming up, Kira told me she was still working on a painting, and I had to pay a visit to someone. So yeah, this really was the beginning of our journey. Before we left, I turned around and faced the princess again.

“Before I go,” I started, “I have something to ask you, princess.”

“Yes?”

“How is your mane flowing like that?”