The World I've Come to Know

Luna walked outside and drew in magic, which made it visible. She spread her wings and floated up into the air as the moon began to rise from the horizon. Celestia leaned in towards me.

"I'm sorry about her reaction, Raymond," she said to me, keeping her eyes focused on her sister, who was still raising the moon.

"Yeah, yeah..." I rolled my eyes. A sudden urge overcame me. "Hey, quick question. Uh...Where's the restroom?"

"Closest one is out the opening on your left, go up the stairs to the next floor, take the hall to your right. It should be the last door on the left," Celestia said, pointing to the doorway.

"Thanks," I said before walking away. Celestia simply just nodded and walked outside next to her sister and lowered the sun. I ran over this fact many times. It's obvious that the celestial beings do not move on their own. Does that means that this world stays in place in their solar system? When they say that she "raised" the moon, does that mean that the celestial beings go to the other side of the planet or is this world all simply flat land? So many thoughts were running through my head.

I walked through the doorway to be met by a tall staircase that probably went up a long while. The railing had a gold finish and the a long, purple carpet was draped over the stairs, ending in short, gold tassels. I ascended the stairs to the second floor and was met with a new doorway that was a red-ish painted wooden door-frame.

Beyond that was a hallway with a granite floor and white, stone walls. The walls had this gold trim and so did the door-frames. The doors themselves contained mostly a white to it, but, some of the indentions in the doors, along with the doorknobs, were gold. The doorknobs had a unique design full of different engravings. I highly doubt that the engravings contained some sort of meaning, though. It was probably just for show.

I walked down the hallway to the right, as Celestia had told me. There were two other paths to go down, forward and left, but, I didn't pay those much attention. Many guards looking at me intently. They obviously still don't trust me, but, they can't do anything about it unless I provoke them, which I have no intentions of doing. I walked down the seemingly endless hallway until I reached the end of it, in which I took the last door to the left. One of the guards tried walking in with me. I turned and he hit his nose on my stomach.

"I can handle this on my own, thank you," I said, shooting him an angry glare. I closed the door on him and locked it. I know that may have caused some suspicion, but, I didn't want them disturbing me. I turned back around to the room in front of me. The walls and floor were the same as the hallway and there was a purple mat in front of the toilet and sink. As far as I know, those were just a simple toilet and sink, except for the golden seat on the toilet, handles on both, and faucet. Everything was so low to the ground, but, I suppose that would be expected because of the height of the ponies in this world. There was also a bath tub, but I didn't bother with that.

I did my business, flushed, and washed my hands. As I dried my hands with a nearby towel, I looked at myself in the mirror, which rested in a gold frame. I'm going to have to get used to my right eye being red and my hair being white. This is just really strange for me to see. I've had brown hair the whole 23 years of my life. This sudden change is a lot to handle.

Thinking back on it, it's a good thing I'd shaved the other day, that way, I wouldn't have to do it later, I thought. I saw some of these ponies had some facial hair, so, there had to be some sort of razor here, probably a straight razor, but, anything will do, as long as I can shave. I won't want to look like one of the band members of ZZ Top by the time I'm 35, I thought to myself. I sighed and walked back outside, in which the guard was still standing there.

"...Need something?" I asked, unamused. The guard simply stood there. "...Do you mind moving...?" I asked, trying not to get mad at the blue-eyed stallion. His only response was a few steps back. I walked out of the doorway that I could finally cross through with the guard out of my way and made my way back to Celestia and Luna. When I returned, it was dark out and the two princesses were in their respective thrones. Celestia craned her neck and looked at me.

"Welcome back, Raymond," she said with a smile. "Come, we have much to discuss." Her smile faded to a look of seriousness.

I walked over to the stairs and stood there, looking at the two princesses. "Alright. What's the first topic?"

"Getting you a home here in Equestria," she said.

Luna spoke up, "As Tia had explained, she is allowing you to take residence in Equestria with us, although, we can not allow you to stay in the castle."

"Why not?" I asked, recalling the staircase that led up a pretty long ways up. "There's hundreds of rooms here, why can't I-"

Celestia cut me off, "Your stature is one that is taller than most ponies. You'll need a house that is much more suitable to your needs."

I thought that over. A house to fit my needs? I guess that would be nice, seeing that the bathroom was suit for ponies and not myself. "Yeah, okay. That makes sense," I said, agreeing.

"We will be stationing you in Ponyville. There, you will find Princess Twilight Sparkle," Luna said.

Celestia continued Luna's statement, "Once you meet her, she'll introduce you to her friends and you'll probably spend a lot of time meeting those there." Celestia turned to Luna, "Luna? Do you mind going with Raymond to act as an ambassador for him?"

"No, now that We have acknowledged the fact that he is no threat to Us," Luna said.

"Alright, I'll agree to going to this "Ponyville" on one condition," I said, looking at Luna.

"And what might that be?" Luna asked.

"I'd like to also have another house here in Canterlot, so I can come here and stay for a while if I feel like it," I said with a slight grin. Luna looked to Celestia, giving that judgement to her. Celestia nodded.

"We will have a second house built for you here," Celestia smiled.

"Great! Now, next subject?" I asked, smiling.

"You'll need a line of work, so, we'll need to know your cutie mark," Celestia said.

"My what now?" I asked, confused.

"Take off your back leg coverings."

"E-EXCUSE ME?!" I exclaimed. A light yellow aura came around Celestia's horn and another around the waist of my pants. Before I knew it, the aura was attempting to pull down as I gripped tightly to my pants. "HEY! STOP THAT!" I yelled out, my grip failing. The light yellow aura faded.

"Something the matter?" Celestia asked looking at me oddly.

"Yeah! You don't just go and rip someone's pants off! That's just downright rude! And degrading!" I yelled, flustered, my face turning red out of embarrassment and anger.

"I can understand that, but, we must know what your cutie mark-"

I cut her off, "Alright, I'm going to stop you right there before you continue! Number 1: I don't have a..."cutie mark"! Number 2: You don't do that! Never do that again!" My face reddened even worse.

Celestia raised an eyebrow and turned to Luna, who did the same. "No cutie mark?" they asked simultaneously.

I calmed down fairly quickly when they said that. I got a bit scared as well. "What? Is that bad?" I asked, furrowing my brow.

"Yes. We can't know what line of work to put you in now," Celestia said.

"Do you have anything you are experienced in?" Luna asked. I looked at the two. I guess my lack of a "cutie mark" makes for a major detriment to the work force. "Well?" Luna asked.

"...I was studying to be a prosecuting attorney, but, I worked with a steel company back at home. I was part of the Acquisitions Department, working with inventory and purchasing steels," I said, thinking back to my office life.

"Prosecuting attorney?" Celestia said, looking back to Luna. "I think we could use another one of those."

My eyes lit up. I've wanted to be a prosecutor for years. "Oh, yes, please, I would love that!" I said, smiling.  Luna saw my sudden change in expression and smiled. Celestia, on the other hand, didn't change her emotion.

"Your houses will be done in about a month or two," Celestia said. "In the meantime, you can stay in the castle."

"Alright, thank you," I said.

"You're very welcome. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go to sleep. You probably should, too, Raymond," Celestia said.

"I would, but, I'm an insomniac. I hardly sleep as it is. I have a tendency to stay up a long time during the night," I said. I could have sworn that Luna's eyes shined when I said that. Celestia gave me a look of concern before turning and walking away.

"You don't sleep very much?" Luna asked.

"Not really. I can't help it. Mental problems and what-have-you," I explained.

"We are sorry to hear that...but, at least you have more time to bask in the moonlight."

"I suppose I do," I said, turning to the door leading to a staircase. "Is there a balcony anywhere?"

"Yes. Why do you ask?"

"I don't know, I've just wanted to be on a balcony of a castle for a while. Also, high places calms me down for whatever reason. I used to have an apartment on the fifth floor and I was always tranquil there. I'd spend some nights sitting there with a drink, just watching the outside world."

"We can show you to the balcony, if you would like."

"Oh, please do."

Luna walked to the door and started up the staircase as I followed obediently. She walked up six stories and down a plethora of hallways. She eventually found a large, purple door that she pushed open.

"Come in, if you may," she said, walking inside. I followed her before marveling at the room that presented itself. It was a fairly tall room and on the far wall, rested a large bed with blue sheets and pillows, supported by a gold frame. The room had other furnishings in it like a wooden desk with books on it, varying from encyclopedias to informative books centered around specific topics to novels. There was also a hand-drawn constellation guide-map rolled up on the desk with a blue wax stamp on it, a lantern, and a blue chest with a gold rim over to the side of the desk.

On the wall to the left of the bed was a purple stained-glass door to the outside. I ignored all the items around the room and walked over to the door because I didn't want to be nosy and rude. I put my hand on the gold handle, twisted, and opened the doors to the outside. A breath of the cold night air had hit me. It seemed comforting, and yet, at the same time, it was unknown. This world that I know nothing about had presented itself to me and I was allowed to start over. I've been given the chance to become what I've always wanted to be as well. This couldn't get any better, I thought.

I leaned on the railing of the balcony and took in the sight of the city. It was absolutely breath-taking, seeing this once bustling city reach so high into the sky and be so calm now. I looked up to the night sky and saw a beautiful array of stars and a full moon hanging high overhead. I smiled, seeing the sky out here. The wind blew onto my face as Luna stepped next to me and put her hooves on the railing.

"So, you bring on the night, hm?" I asked Luna.

"Yes, that is correct."

"Strange..."

"How is that strange, Mr. Raymond?" Luna shot me a confused look, furrowing her brow.

"Because the celestial bodies move on their own."

"On their own?"

"Yeah...Well, the sun never moves. The world just revolves around it. As for the moon, it revolves around the side that the sun is not seen...most of the time. There are such things as Solar Eclipses, where the moon blocks the sun.  It involves the gravitational pull of the Earth and the Sun."

"Oh my..."

"Also, if you're going to call me a "Mr.", I'd prefer my last name: Frederov. My full name is Raymond Dietrich Frederov."

"Oh...We will try and remember that, Mr. Frederov. Your name is very strange sounding."

"Yeah, my name is Spanish, German, and Russian."

"Oh? There are such descents in your name...although, We must be honest, We have never heard any of them."

"Yeah, my family got around," I laughed to myself before looking down to Luna, who simply grinned.

"We are sure that's a good thing."

"I suppose so..." A long silence held itself afterwards.

"Mr. Frederov?" Luna turned away, ashamedly.

"Yes?" I held a look of attentiveness.

"We are...sorry for the way I acted towards you. It was wrong for us to judge you singularly on the way you looked." Luna sighed. "...But, now that We know you, We think that this is the beginning of a great friendship between us..."

I smiled. "Yeah...I'd like that...Only one thing, though,"

"What is that?"

"Drop the plural forms when referring to yourself. The "We"s and "Us"s are starting to weird me out."

"Oh, We-...I apologize. It's been an issue for the longest time and...I am trying to get rid of it," Luna said, blushing.

"Oh, I understand. I used to know someone who would talk to me like I'm someone else. "How is Raymond doing?" he would ask me. I knew him in my Secondary School. Freaked me out."

"I don't..."freak you out", do I?" She asked, looking back up to me.

"Nah. Aside from the whole pony thing and the plural forms when talking about yourself, then, you're just a friendly face to me."

"Oh? Are you not used to seeing ponies?"

"Well, I mean, I am. I've seen them before many-a-time in my life, it's just seeing them talk that's so...strange. In my world, ponies don't speak. One of your kind would probably be taken up by some scientific research lab to be tested for anomalies," I explained. Luna blankly looked at me. She obviously didn't understand.

"My world is full of humans like me and the only ponies in my world don't speak, so, it would be definitely strange to see a pony such as yourself there," I explained. Luna looked to her hooves, still leaning on the railing. A long silence followed.

"...What is your world like?" Luna asked.

"Oh, you don't want to hear about my world."

"Oh, but I do!" Luna said, smiling and looking up to me.

"Well...try to imagine this. There are some landscapes like...that," I said, pointing to some forestry far from the city. "But, we humans have lived and thrived for ages now, so, we've made whole cities. A lot of the world is a concrete jungle. Buildings and houses everywhere. Streets take most of the land. Although, there is some places in the rural areas that aren't like that. There's mostly just houses and stores around in those places. They're pretty tightly compacted in some areas, though. Outside of those little towns is nothing but forests until you make it to the next town or a big city. Me, though, I lived in a big concrete jungle. I worked as acquisitions for a steel company. It was enough for me to afford my little flat, so, it was good enough of a job for me, although, I didn't really like my workplace. I tended to ignore my co-workers. Most of them were really a drag. They that nice to other people." Luna looked at me, intent on hearing my story.

I continued, "Before I came here, I went and spoke to my old friend, Brandy. Nice girl. I asked her out a long time ago when I was in Secondary School. Turns out she was a lesbian. That was before I'd decided to be asexual. Luna stopped me there.

"Asexual? You don't need a mate to reproduce?"

I laughed at her question, "No, I was referring to my sexual attraction. Asexual, as in, I don't have one."

"You do not get lonely?"

"Well, yeah. I get lonely all the time, especially at night since I don't get much sleep. But, I don't feel as if I need someone with me. It's less money out of my bank account anyways." I checked my pockets, seeing what I had with me. Phone, wallet, keys, pen. Not much to work with here. I turned on my phone and it said that it held a full charge. I checked the time: 4:03. Now, that can't possibly be right, I thought to myself. Oh well. I guess my phone's clock screwed up again. It's not like it hasn't happened before. I turned off my phone, about to shove it back into my pocket until Luna stopped me.

"What is that?" Luna asked, her eyes about 3/4 their normal size.

"Hm? What's what?"

"That item you have in your hand," she asked, pointing to my phone.

"Oh, this?" I held up my phone, realizing she's probably never seen this thing before, "It's a cell phone. You can use it to send messages back and forth to a friend." I looked at my the phone in my hand, still off, "But, as expected, I don't have any service right now. I need that to send messages. You can also use this to talk to others without seeing them. I also need service for that."

"Oh...? So, it's like having a dragon with you, much like Twilight Sparkle?"

"Yeah...Wait, did you just say "dragon"?" I realized that this could be a problem.

"Yes, dragon. Most of them are...hostile, to say in the least, but, Twilight Sparkle's dragon, Spike, is much more...tame, to say in the least. He's her assistant and isn't too old. A few years younger than Twilight Sparkle, really. Albeit, he is still a infant, so to speak. Dragons do not age as rapidly as the ponies...although, my sister and I are immortal to age."

I went over this in my head a few times. "...I've heard stories of dragons before...in my world...I've never seen any because they're said to be extinct there, but, a long time ago, there used to be dragons everywhere before my people killed them all for being a threat."

"Y-YOUR PEOPLE MANAGED TO KILL ALL OF THE DRAGON KIND?!" Luna yelled, suddenly once again afraid.

"That I know of, yeah," I looked at Luna, who was backing away from me. "But, rest assured, I will not hurt anyone unless they have the intent to hurt me. I'll defend myself, of course. I won't go down without a fight. If my people can do it with a simple sword and shield, I guess I could, too." Luna didn't stop backing away. "Luna, don't do this again. I won't hurt you like you think I will."

"M-Monsters...Your people are monsters..."

"Oh, yeah, they are. Which is why I loathe all of them, save for a few of the tolerable ones. My people weren't content being the top of the food chain, they had to go even farther. They started killing each other. Starting wars and everything. And what was it for? Imperialization? Pointless, I'd say. They let their feelings of hate and anger take control and they just murdered each other. It was so pointless and stupid. Hence why I'm glad that I got to leave..." I paused a moment and laughed a bit to myself. "I remember..."See you around.""

"You're leaving?" Luna said, starting to trust in my words, but, still slightly afraid.

"Leaving? No, that was just the last thing that Brandy told me before I disappeared. Hm..."See you around," indeed..." I let go of the railing and turned away. "I'll need a place to sleep."

"Just across the hall from me," Luna said, looking up to me.

"Thanks," I said, starting to walk away.

Luna stopped me, "If you need me, you know where I am."

I stood there for a moment, "And you'll know where I am if you need me." I walked to the door of the room Luna had told me to go to and held the doorknob for a while until finally going in and closing the door behind me. It was almost the same way as Luna's room, but, less objects were sitting around the room. I didn't pay much mind to it. Reminded me of some sort of fancy hotel room. I laid down and stared at my ceiling. It wasn't until a good hour later that I finally fell asleep.