The World I've Come to Know

I was awoken in the middle of the night by my door opening. I sat up and rubbed my eyes before looking in the doorway. I couldn't see much, but, I could see the slight shine of a certain pony's emerald eyes.

"Hm? What is it, Luna?" I yawned. She was suddenly startled as I got out of bed. I put on my pants and walked over to her. I kneeled down to her height, "Something you need?"

"N-No. Not really. I was simply wondering if you were awake at this hour."

"Hm? No, I'm not all that awake, but, it's fine. What time is it?"

"It is almost 5. I will have to lower the moon in about thirty minutes."

"I see. Well, I'm up now. You want to talk or something?"

"Yes, that would be nice."

"Come on in, then." I walked over to the desk and lit the lantern and illuminated the room. I put on all my clothes aside from my trench coat and my rain hat and took a seat at the desk adjacent from Luna, who sat on the bed. "What do you want to talk about?"

"Your kind, you mentioned that they kill each other...for what?"

My face turned grim, "Many different reasons, whether it be personal gain or just out of anger. There were also assassins that would be given a hit and they would profit from it when the deed was done. There was also such things as terrorism, where people will kill anywhere from a few tens, to hundreds, to thousands. There is also genocide, where an entire race is almost completely wiped from the face of the planet."

"These things cause wars, but, of course, nobody learns what happens. And no one is able to get over it, either. My world was cruel, Luna. Very cruel. I don't want to go back there. And if, by some sort of miracle, that they start showing up here for imperialization's sake, I will defend this world from them the best I can." I leaned in, "And I will not stop until they have been purged from this world."

Luna looked up to me, "You seem like you'd be willing to guard Equestria with your life."

"If I see fit, I will give my life to make sure this world stays as pure as possible. No more humans means that it is more pure than my world...I don't really like that subject. What else do you want to talk about?" Luna looked outside to the moon.

"...There isn't much. That subject was what I wanted to speak about," Luna looked to the ground.

"Oh...Well, I know for certain I'm not exactly pure. I've thought of different uses of objects in wars. I've thought of civilian self-defense weaponry, I've thought of military attacking weaponry, I've thought of idea after idea of different things, most of which were centered around one simple element, but, I won't talk about that. I wanted to get away from all that."

"Oh my..."

The door once again opened. Luna and I both looked over to the door to find Celestia standing there, looking as if she'd just awoken. Luna looked over to Celestia and I stood from my seat at the desk. "Good morning, Luna. I tried to find you in your room, but, you weren't there," Celestia eyed the two of us.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Tia. I had awoken earlier than presumed, so, in the meantime, I'd decided to speak with Raymond," Luna explained.

"That's quite alright, dear sister. But, you have to lower the moon so I may raise the sun," Celestia said, "Good morning, Raymond."

"Morning, Celestia," I nodded with a smile.

"You seem particularly cheery today. Did something happen?" Celestia raised a brow.

"Hm? Oh, not anything you don't know about. It's just that I get a chance to start over with two houses, one in two different cities, I get the job I've wanted for a long time, and I get a plethora of friends. The only downside is my form being a bit menacing."

"Oh, don't worry about that. We'll figure something out for that problem."

"Great! Then, there's no problems!"

"Excellent. Luna? Are you ready to lower the moon?"

Luna stood up and walked over to Celestia, "Yes, I'm ready, sister." Luna looked over to me and smiled. "Thank you for the conversation, Mr. Frederov."

"You're welcome," I waved.

The two walked out of the room and shut the door. I opened a drawer in the desk and pulled out a piece of paper, balling it up. I closed the drawer and layed down to the bed and threw the balled up paper into the air and caught it as the sun rose and the moon fell.

-----

I got a bit bored of throwing the paper ball after a while, so, I went over to the desk and searched through it. It contained paper, quills, ink, and a few "office" supplies. There was also a small book in there. It had some sort of hard, vinyl cover on it. I figured it was some sort of book that some pony had written. I decided opened it and, to my surprise, it was blank. Completely blank. Every page was blank. Hm. I could use this as some sort of journal, I thought to myself. I took a quill and one of the small containers of ink and wrote in the past two days' happenings in it, or at least, I think it was two days. I'm not sure how long I was out, but, I think it was probably only a night.

I finished writing every single detail in it for a while. After that, I put on my trench coat and walked out of my room to go around the castle, attempting to find Celestia. I wanted to know what she was planning for me to be accepted. After a while of searching this floor, I finally found her room. I knocked on her door before walking in because I didn't want to be rude and found her at her desk writing, a pair of reading glasses resting on her nose.

"Hello, Raymond. How can I be of assistance?" Celestia asked putting down her quill and taking off the glasses. I walked over to her.

"Hey, Celestia. I wanted to know if you were planning something for your country to gain my acceptance."

Celestia looked at me and smiled, "I'm glad you asked. I'm working on some plans for the Summer Sun Celebration tomorrow, where ponies all around Equestria show up to watch the moon be lowered and the sun be risen. I'd had the idea of elongating it a bit longer than most years," She looked back at the paper. "I will be hiding you backstage and I will reveal you at the end where you can speak with Equestria's residents. We'll be at your side so they don't completely panic. This should go according to plan. All you have to do is write down a speech."

I thought that over. It seemed good enough of a plan. Solid, sturdy. It may just work. "I won't write one down. I'll simply just wing it. I'm bad at memorizing words."

"As you wish." Celestia stood from her desk, "We will be having lunch soon. Would you care to join us?"

I thought back and realized I hadn't eaten yet since lunch on the day before I'd come to. Lunch really did sound like a good idea. "I'd love to."

Celestia walked over to the doorand opened it. "Go get Luna and you two can head to the dining hall. I'll be waiting for you there."

"Alright," I said before walking off to Luna's room. I walked down the hallway and made it to Luna's door. I knocked and opened the door to find her outside on the balcony. I once again ignored the documents and books strewn about and opened the doors to the balcony. Luna turned around and looked at me, smiling.

"Hello again, Mr. Frederov. How are you?" Luna asked.

"I'm doing very well. And you?" I asked, walking over to where she was.

"I'm fine. Is there something you need?"

"Well, Celestia wanted me to go and find you so we can go to the dining hall for lunch."

"Great. I was starting to become hungry as it is." Luna said, starting off; I followed.

"Hey, uh, quick question...What is it that your kind eats here?" I asked while walking.

"Vegetables, mostly. We also eat flowers, bread, et cetera. We make different foods with different ingredients as well, but, those are the main parts of our diets..."

"I expected as such. Well, this is going to take some getting used to. I'm not exactly a herbivore as it is."

Luna looked over to me, "Carnivore or Omnivore?"

"Latter. Although, I won't eat any of your ponies. Never tried it, don't intend to either. If it doesn't posess a level of intelligence like yours and my kind, then I might. I'll probably give up eating any form of meat for a while, though. Killing something that can express its thoughts through speech is too much for me to think about. Killing anything for that matter is a bit too much. Not too keen on the idea, but, if worse comes to worse, then I will do what is necessary."

I looked to Luna, who was looking straight ahead, not scared at all. "You're taking this surprisingly well, actually."

"Where you are, indeed, full of surprises, the shock factor isn't as bad anymore since I know that your kind kills each other," Luna giggled, "This one is more superfluous. I've gotten used to the small surprises about your kind."

"Fair enough," I said with a chuckle. We made it to the dining room fairly quickly. Celestia was sitting on the far end of the long table which could probably sit at least 25 ponies. There were approximately 15 ponies sitting at the table. All the ponies craned their heads to get a good look at the duo that walked in. Upon setting their eyes on me, almost of them froze and started to sweat. Celestia noticed this and decided to act against them before they did anything.

"Everyone, this is the newcomer I was telling you all about. If you'd introduce yourself?"

Some of the ponies were either guards or were pristine ponies of some sorts. This kicked in and I bowed to them all. Upon raising back up, I spoke. "Hello, my name is Raymond Dietrich Frederov. I am a human from another plane of the multiverse and my sole purpose here is to live much like the rest of you. I mean you no harm, the Princesses have made sure I do not. If I did, I'd be back in the dungeon by now."

The guards at the table and around the room nodded to the other ponies and most of them calmed down, but, it was obvious they still didn't trust me. The rest just eyed me, not as afraid of me as previously. Luna walked ahead and sat opposite to Celestia, on the other side of the table.

"Raymond? Why don't you sit down with us? Just choose a place somewhere and sit down. The food will be here shortly," Celestia said. I nodded and sat down somewhere in the middle of the table. Ponies scooted away from me when I sat down, obviously still afraid or uncomfortable around me. Some of them were whispering about me. One of them finally picked up the nerve to speak with me. It was a little foal, probably around five or six.

"H-Hello, Mister...Fre-...Fre-..." She was stuttering. Everyone went quiet and looked at me. All I did was smile.

"Frederov."

"Yes, th-thank you...Um...What did you say you were?"

"A human."

"A-Are you nice?"

I patted the foals head and chuckled. Every single pony in the room held their breath. "I try to be as nice as possible." She looked over to the doors to the kitchen as a few tens of workers came and put different trays on the table. Most of them eyed me, but, only for a few seconds. They probably had to be more focused on their work than me. I didn't mind. Less people to worry about me doing something, the better. Everypony released the breath they held.

Suddenly, ponies in black and red tuxedos and bowties fit for their body structure came out with metal trays and tops on the trays. They lifted the tops and revealed the foods on the trays. There were many diferent arrays of food; soups, stews, sandwhiches, vegetable trays, so many different foods were set down on the table, although some of which, I wouldn't call foods. There were some plates with different flowers on it. Then again, Luna did say they ate flowers, so, I suppose those aren't just for looking at.

The "waiters", if I can call them that, pulled ran back into the kitchen and returned with a tray of wine glasses stacked up on top of each other. Each holder of glasses had a pony pull a glass off the tray and put them upside down in front of each pony. It was if they were playing Jenga with glasses. They once again looked at me, not stalling. More ponies came out of the kitchen and set metal pitchers on the table. The pitcher holders ran back into the kitchen and set plates, small bowls, forks, spoons, knives, and napkins and set one of each in front of every pony. All the ponies ran back into the kitchen when they finished setting up the table and didn't come back out this time.

Celestia spoke up to the ponies at the table. "You may now proceed with eating." Everypony started putting foods on their plates and I did the same. I served myself a bowl of some creamy soup, which I think was some sort of mushroom soup. I wasn't quite sure. I also took a sandwhich that I don't think had any flowers on it, some celery, some carrots, and a biscuit. I took a random pitcher and poured myself a glass of whatever it was. It looked like tea, but, I couldn't be certain. I took a sip and realized that, yes, it was tea, but, unsweetened. I looked over to Celestia.

"Um...Question? Is there any sugar?" I asked.

"Sugar? There should be. Is there not any out?"

I searched the table. No sugar in sight. "No, I don't believe there is."

As soon as I said that, a "waiter" with a brown coat and a darker brown mane and moustache rushed through with a small bowl of sugar cubes and set it near me. "So, sorry, sir. We will try not to make that mistake next time."

"That's fine. I appreciate you being polite about it." He didn't look distressed at my appearance at all and, instead, looked welcoming of me.

"Thank you, sir," he nodded and rushed off. I smiled and grabbed a sugar cube, put it in my drink and stirred it with my spoon. I tasted it and it tasted not as bitter and more sweet. I then cleaned off my spoon with the napkin and began eating my soup.

----

After lunch was through, everypony left the room except for Luna, Celetia, and myself. The "waiters" came back out and started cleaning the table. I walked over to Celestia and Luna.

"Hey, uh...Is there anywhere I can take a shower and wash my clothes? Tonight, I'd really enjoy doing that." I felt dirty all over. I didn't just want a shower, I needed one.

"Um, yes. There is are showers in every bathroom in the castle. You can also give your clothes to the Royal Servant. You can direct them on how you would like your clothes washed. I will call one for you, if you'd like," Celestia said.

"Yes, that would be nice. Thank you."

"Come with me, Raymond," Celestia said, walking to the main room just before the doors of the throne room. She went to a system of bells and rang one. Quickly, a servant came by. She was about up to my waist with blue-ish mane and tail with a white coat and hazel eyes and the picture of a clothing iron on her flank. She had a white shirt-collar on with a yellow "C" and purple "L" embroidered on it. I didn't quite understand the collar with no shirt, but, I suppose that's fashion.

"Yes, Princess?" she asked, bowing.

"Raymond, this is Wish Wash. When you go to bathe, give her your clothes and she will wash all of it," Celestia explained. "If she hasn't returned when you get out of the shower, I suppose you can borrow a robe from me."

"Alright, easy enough. I'll be taking my shower now. Wish, if you'd come with me," I said, smiling.

"Yes, sir!" Wish Wash smiled at me. I started walking away with Wish Wash following me.

"Um...If you don't mind me asking, Mr. Raymond, what are you?" Wish Wash asked.

"You can just call me "Raymond" or, if you call me "Mister", you can call me by my last name, "Frederov". My full name is Raymond Dietrich Frederov."

"Okay, Mr. Frederov."

"As for what I am, I'm a human from another world or dimension, I'm not entirely sure."

"Oh...Okay, I understand." Wish looked over to me as we walked, looking up and down at my clothing. "So, how would you like you clothes washed?

"Oh, standard wash for all of my clothes, except my tie and trench coat. Those need to be hand washed or dry cleaned."

Wish looked at me oddly, "Dry cleaned?"

I looked at her for a moment until remembering that this place is more primitive than my world. "It's a form of cleaning that is easier than hand-washing clothes, but, you have to do it with chemicals. It's expensive back in my world. I highly doubt that you have those specific chemicals at hand, anyways. Hand-washing will be fine."

"Oh, okay. So, standard wash on your clothes except your tie and coat. Hand wash those two."

"Yes, that's correct."

"I'll see that it's done."

I smiled at her confidence, "Thank you, Wish."

"You're very welcome," She said, smiling up to me.

We reached the bathroom after a while and I opened the door and stepped in. "Hey, uh, just wait out here and I'll give you my clothes in a second."

"As you wish, Mr. Frederov!" She smiled, waiting outside the door.

I closed the door behind me and stripped down and put all my clothes (except my shoes) in one mass. I removed everything out of my pockets, double checked, and triple checked. On the third check, I noticed something hard in one of my inner pockets. Is that my cigar case? I thought. I pulled out a little silver case out of my jacket pocket. Hey, yeah, it is! Wait, shit, they probably don't have tobacco here. Dammit! I'll have to ration out the...five that I have, I thought, opening the little case. I sighed and put it all my items on the counter.

I carefully opened the door and pushed it out without revealing myself. "There we go. That's all of my clothes."

"Okay, Mr. Frederov. I'll return them to you when they are done!" I heard her say with the sounds of shuffling and then the clip clop of hooves rushing away. I sighed as I closed the door once more and turned to the shower-bath tub mix. It was a little short, but, I'm sure I'd be able to manage.

I took a long, hot shower. Probably too long of one. I didn't hear Wish Wash return with my clothes, so, I guess that means that I need to borrow a robe from Celestia. I dried myself off from the shower and put my glasses back on. I noticed a small closet-like room on the corner. I opened it and inside were many robes. All of them were pink and gold. Ohhohohoo...This is gonna be weird, I thought to myself.

I picked one out and, to my surprise, it actually went down to my knees. I put it on and secured it tightly. Hm. I guess this is what it's like to wear a kilt, I thought. I opened a small cabinet next to the sink and searched through it. To my surprise, it had everything that a normal bathroom cabinet would have. Brushes, lotion, cue-tips, etc. I pulled out the brush and brushed my hair to its normal state. I then pulled three cue-tips and cleaned my ears. Finally, clean again, I thought, stepping outside in the pink and gold bath robe.