Humans in Equestria

Humans in Equestria

Chapter 2

Problems

It had been two days since Peter and Frank came to Equestria. Zeo wanted to invite his sister as well, but had not come around to it yet. Now that he was reinstated as a Prince of Equestria, he had to fulfill certain royal duties. Celestia had taken this opportunity to assign him the task to process funding requests, from all over the place. For this, he had been given an office in the new palace where he could work. The Princess of the sun did not want him to do it in his private study, in fear that he might be “distracted”. Had she known what awaited him in an office which he could not even lock, she might have reconsidered.

“And I tell you, that your doing it wrong!”, Peter said for the hundredth time. He had come to check what his son was up to, and ended up checking all the work he had done so far.

“Dad, please stop! This stuff is my responsibility, not yours. I thought you wanted to help gramps get his bar started. I have already approved a budget for you to start up a business.”, Zeo sighed, while running a hand through his hair.

“Your grandfather can handle things on his own. Something you obviously can't!”

“Then tell me.... Why should I approve a budget to somepony who wants to built an experimental power-plant? And in the middle of Canterlot of all places! These Ponies don't even really need electricity, since they have magic!”, Zeo argued, but his father would not back down.

“And what about me? When you finally open up another portal, I wanna bring my equipment over. How do you expect me to do much of anything without it?”

Zeo sighed again, and put the pile of parchments his father had thrust into his face aside.

“First of all, you can always go down to the archives. There is a converter in my study that will produce all the electricity that you could ever want. It uses the ambient magical energy that is floating around, and converts it. As long as you don't want to power a supercomputer, this should be more then enough.”

“Oh and I am to draw a cable from your study all the way to where I need it? So you can unplug me, if you feel like it?”

“Dad, that's something YOU did to me, not the other way around. If you really feel that anxious about going without electricity, then I guess I can whip up a converter for you to use. The only problem is, that it will have less capacity then the one in my study.”, Zeo tried to negotiate, and failed miserably.

“Why so? I have three computers, two Laptops and a server to run! You take the one with limited capacity then!”, his father almost shouted.

“I have a whole lab to run! The converter in my study is unique, since it uses a type of gem that I got from the Zebras over a thousand years ago. They are very rare, and therefor very valuable. I was lucky that I got one for free.”, Zeo explained, fighting hard to keep his cool.

“Then why don't you just buy one? I mean your a Prince and all....”, his father started, but Zeo interrupted him.

“Because when I say “very valuable”, then I mean that one gem of the size of your fist, is worth more then this entire castle! I got this gem because I helped the daughter of the Zebra villages elder, after a life threatening injury. It was a thank you gift, and I can only replicate it's properties to a certain degree. That's why I can only offer you a converter with limited capability, and even then it will take weeks to make it. Take it or leave it.”, Zeo said, slamming his fist down on his table. Parchments were sent flying and his father took a step back, when he realized that he had pushed too hard.

“How are you speaking to me, I am still your father!”, he tried to reprimand his son, when Celestia entered the room. Her office was next door, so she had heard most of the exchange, and had come to try and resolve the situation.

“Your son is a Prince of Equestria Peter. You have made your request, and he has denied it. Also, I think that he is more then old enough so that you can't really demand anything of him. As far as I heard, he was even more polite to you, then you were to him. I think his offer is reasonable, unless you think you can go on without electricity after all.”, Celestia interjected.

Peter looked from his son, to the Alicorn that was standing in the door. His mouth opened and closed a few times, before he threw an angry glare at his son and left the room for good. Celestia on the other hoof, stayed as her brother in law sat down again and buried his face in his hands.

“Is everything alright Zeo?”, she asked, already guessing the answer.

“No, not really. This has been the fifth time he came here to demand something unreasonable, and just between you and me, I think he put that request into my inbox himself. I did a little research, and there is no Pony called “Hammer Wrench” at the royal academy, or anywhere else....”, Zeo explained without looking up.

“So... he's basically breaking the law already.... Why do you oppose his request anyway?” Celestia asked, as she sat down in front of Zeos desk.

“Because ninety percent of the requests I have on my table are from him! All of them are technological in nature, and all of them would pollute Equestria in some way. The generator he wants to build is only the tip of the iceberg. I don't even know where he plans to get the material, but I can assure you that an atomic generator in Canterlot would be bad news.”

“How so?”

“If anything goes wrong with it, it will cause a meltdown. The resulting chain reaction will kill all life in a several mile radius, and make the land uninhabitable for centuries to come! I don't like it. Why does he want to generate so much power anyway? I guess he's leaving me no choice but to assign Night Trotter to him...”, Zeo sighed again, finally meeting Celestias puzzled gaze.

“Night Trotter is one of the Nightguards. He is specialized in observation and stealth. I want to know what my Dad is up to, so I can put a stop to it if I have to before it's too late.”, he elaborated.

“I guess you are having second thoughts about bringing him here. To be honest, after learning that he wants to build something that dangerous in Equestria, I would have to agree.”, Celestia  said, tapping her chin with a hoof.

“Well, I would send him back, but then gramps would give me hell. Also, I can't do that any time soon, even if I wanted too.”, Zeo explained, while picking up the fallen parchments with his magic.

“How come? You opened that portal just fine when you brought them here...”

“That was something else. I can still do it, but not right now. The dimensions are surrounded by their own.... atmosphere you could say. This atmosphere also handles how time flows there. By opening a gate, I force two incompatible atmospheres to work together for a short period of time. It damages them, but not permanently. They need a few days to recover. If I were to open a gate right now, and go through the whole procedure with Petra again, I might risk damaging both worlds permanently, and I don't want that. That's the reason I won't risk to open a gate for at least another week.”, Zeo said, and decided that he had done enough work for the day.

“So... how come Silk was OK in your world then, and that you are OK here? You just said these worlds are incompatible.”, Celestia asked curiously.

“That's actually pretty simple. Silk can cross over, since she is not one hundred percent Equestrian. She's part human, remember? Her metabolism can cope with the conditions on earth. I don't know how your or Lunas body would react however. As for why we are OK here, I have no idea. It may be that the incompatibly is on a magical basis. That would mean that I was protected when I first came here, because I couldn't do magic. Nowadays, my body is used to process magic, but you know better then anyone that the transition almost killed me.”

Celestia frowned as she remembered the night in which Luna had woken her up, by storming into her chambers, screaming and crying all the while. It had taken her almost an hour to get a coherent sentence out of her sister, who had been worried sick for her newfound mate.

“Then....”, she started but Zeo interrupted her.

“I am afraid so. If you or Luna were to try and visit my world, I don't know what would happen to you. It is possible that you would simply adjust to it, like I adjusted to Equestria in the end, but it is also possible that you die the moment you set hoof onto earth.”

Celestia sighed. She would have wanted to see the world her brother in law originally came from, but she was not willing to risk her life for it. The two of them talked for some time, since they had a lot to talk about. They talked about affairs of state, if Luna was carrying a clot or another filly and the preparations that would have to be made, should Zeos sister decide to accept his offer.

*~*~**~*~**~*~**~*~**~*~**~*~**~*~**~*~*

Two days later

Peter Salchar was cleaning the surface of the bar his father had put together in record time. Today would be the “grand” opening. Zeo, Luna and Silk Light had all helped in their free time, even though Frank Salchar had insisted that they had done enough. The amount of money Zeo had provided the two of them with, had been enough to basically build a four star hotel, and not having to worry about paying the staff for at least a year. Nonetheless, Frank had settled to rent a small building, stock it with different kinds of Cider and employ a Pony cook.  Especially the latter didn't sit well with Peter. He himself could cook well enough, for a bar as small as this one. There was no need to waste the money for a five star cook.... He remembered the argument with his father about that only too well. They had stood in this very room, while shouting at each other loud enough to be heard on the street outside.

“Your wasting the funds we were granted! Why do we need crystal glasses and golden tabs on the bar? Why do you employ a cook, when I can cook well enough for a “bar”. It's not like this is some high class establishment!”, he had shouted, gesturing to the items he spoke of while he did so.

“That is why I AM in charge and not YOU! You have no idea of gastronomy! This is no shabby little Pub you idiot! What I am trying to do here, is creating an establishment, where both nobles and commoners like like to go!”, Frank had shouted back, his face red with anger.

“Nobles? AS IF! All the customers you will attract will be commoners and homeless drunks!”

At that point, Frank had taken a swing at his son that sent him flying across the room.

“Just because you have a better education then me, doesn't mean you know everything! Never forget who gave you your first job! Never forget that high and mighty Peter, started out as a simple WAITER in my first bar! You have no idea of what you are talking about, and are not willing to try something that you don't deem worthy of trying, without knowing how it will turn out! That has always been your problem. It is the reason your daughter moved out as soon as she could, and that your son prefers to keep to himself. It was YOUR unwillingness to let others do what they thought was right, that drove this family apart, and I will NOT tolerate it any longer! Either you work here, along with me as PART of the family, or you GET! THE! FUCK! OUT! OF! MY! BAR!”, Frank had shouted, while holding his son by his shirt collar.

In the end, Peter had stayed. He had no other place to go after all, and he had no idea what he should do in this new world. Sure, he had accepted to live here after a while but his son was slowing him down considerably. The only thing he could think of to make a living here, would have been to bring technology and civilization to these Ponies, but his son refused each and every one of his funding requests. He had even come up with a Pony name, to disguise his requests, and still they got refused.

There was so much potential in this new world for him to shine, but his son was dead set on not allowing him to. This was one more thing that angered him. He had done so much to help his son. He had pulled strings to get him jobs, only for his son to get fired soon after.... Had he just put a little effort into it, his son could have become a high ranking man in some company or another. Instead he had preferred to become a nurse of all things....

He could practically imagine his son, sitting in his office with that white horse and laugh about him. They were surely doing just that when he wasn't looking. Laughing at Peter Salchar who had a PHD in a field that was practically useless in Equestria. Oh how they must enjoy, putting him in his place.... His son was royalty now, but he was not? How could that even be? Surely he should at least get some title. Peter had not asked about this however, since he could guess what the answer would be. He did not fuck one of the Princesses, so he did not qualify....

His anger made Peter squeeze the rag he used to clean the bar, splattering the dirty water in it onto the floor again. Groaning, he knelt down to clean the mess up again. The fact that he could do so, without his knees hurting, reminded him of the fact that his son had mended all his ailments. He dismissed the implications however. His son had done it, so he would not look bad in the Ponies eyes in his opinion.

*~*~**~*~**~*~**~*~**~*~**~*~**~*~**~*~*

As the day wore on, Zeo found himself unable to do any more. He had left his office hours ago, and attempted to clean up his study, which had suffered some damage over the centuries. His wife had did her best at cleaning up, but she had been unable to go into some of the rooms. These were, where he kept his more dangerous research projects. Not “dangerous” as in lethal, but dangerous as in “if Luna found out about them she'd kill him”.

Since he had left his office, Zeo had cleaned up broken glass cylinders, burnt up research notes and had even replaced the floor in one room entirely. The nutrient fluid in one of the cylinders had dried and turned into something that resembled amber. Though it looked quite interesting in a way, it made the ground uneven, and hard to walk on. Therefor it just had to go.

In the farthest corner of the room, there was a single glass cylinder that was illuminated by a combination of a preservation and protection spell. In the greenish fluid inside, Zeo could make out the figure of a fully grown Alicorn. It was one of his earlier attempts to cure Luna, after he had found out that his daughter was the will that was corrupted by the Death-root. Had he succeeded to trap her will in the transparent Soulgem... he could have tried to transfer it into this body. The green goo made it hard to see, but Zeo knew that it looked almost exactly how his daughter looked now, after the Elements of Harmony had given her a body of her own.

For a moment, he hesitated. What should he do with this? He would not need it anymore, but he could not simply discard it either. Though soulless, this body was still alive. Then there was the matter of... “the other one”. Behind a metal door that was reinforced by magic, was another body Zeo had created by magic.... but he did not dare to open the door to check on it...

In the end, he decided to seal the room with every protective spell he knew. Nopony should ever get a glace at the research he had done here, or the magic that he used to do so.

*~*~**~*~**~*~**~*~**~*~**~*~**~*~**~*~*

A week later

Zeo stood in the courtyard with his father by his side. The opening of “The golden Barrel” had gone well, regardless of Peters predictions that it wouldn't. Now it was time for Zeo to invite his sister to join the rest of the family in Equestria, and give his father the chance to get what ever equipment he wanted.

“Don't forget, forty-five minutes is the maximum that I can hold the portals open. After that, I can't open them for some time, unless I want to damage Equestrias dimensional barrier.”, Zeo explained to his father once again.

“I'm not senile yet. You don't have to repeat yourself constantly!”, Peter retorted.

Zeo didn't bother to reply. His father had been in a bad mood, ever since he had confronted him about his fake pony name of “Hammer Wrench”, so there was really no point in talking to him right now. Instead he spread his arms and created two portals to the world he was born in. Calling it his “homeworld”, didn't seem right to him anymore. Equestria was his home now.

Suddenly, there was the sound of rushing water, and the scream of a woman from the portal to Zeos left. Peter didn't care for that, and strode through the portal to Zeos right to pack. As Zeo turned to his left, he saw that he had opened a portal directly in his sisters bathroom, where she was evidently taking a shower at the moment.

“Oh... ehm... hi sis.”, he stammered at his shocked sister.

“What the bloody hell! What is this? Was that Dad behind you just now? What... WHAT?”, she stammered, while grabbing a towel to cover herself.

“Calm down Petra, I can explain....”, Zeo began to explain. After he was done, his sister stared at him blankly.

“Your serious, aren't you? Well that would at least explain that... that.... window hanging in the air.”, Petra finally sighed. She took the whole thing better then his father had.

“So? What do you say? It's a whole new world, with a whole new Psyche to study for you. Not to mention the advantages of a life that spans over centuries.”, Zeo asked, with his back turned to the portal.

“Mhmm... I'm not quite done with my studies here, but your offer does sound tempting. Ah heck... give me a moment. I haven't unpacked yet, so if you can give me a hand?”, she responded, much to Zeos relief. He liked his sister, and would have hated to never see her again.

“Are they in the next room?”

“It's just a one room apartment, so yes.”

“Just open the door and I'll get them over here, while you get dressed.”

With that Zeo turned around again, and started to levitate the boxes that stood in his sisters apartment through the portal to Equestria. Once the last box landed on the grass of the courtyard lawn, Petra followed suit. She ran a hand over her brothers face, tracing the four scars that ran over it.

“What happened to you?”, she asked compassionately.

“Nothing. The three parallel ones are from a Griffin who had decided to crash my wedding, and the one that runs the other way, was inflicted by my daughter over a thousand years ago. Don't worry though, it was not her fault.”, Zeo explained with a laugh.

“A... A Griffin?”, his sister stammered.

But Zeo didn't reply with words. Instead he embraced his sister in a hug for the first time, in over a thousand years in his relative time.