Chapters The Chronicles of Daus: Arrival
Entry #2 - First Impressions
I can count on one hand the number of times that I have cared to leave a positive first impression on any of the beings of the world that I now call my home. Certainly it would have made my life here easier to a certain degree. Yet, when I first woke up after being transported to this world, making a positive first impression was one of the farthest things from my mind. My state of mind certainly influenced my behavior, however, I cannot honestly say that if given the choice to do it over again that I would do it any differently. My uncaring nature is a large part of my personality here. While I would never admit it to anyone but Sparky, my indifferent outer visage was often a facade to hide the nervousness and fear that I often felt during my beginnings in this world.
-Daus Skarr
*******
thump… thump… thump…
Uuuuuuuuuuuuuugh, my head…
thump… thump… thump…
I was acutely aware of the pounding headache that was assaulting my senses as I slowly came to. It reminded me of the day after the birthday party that my friends from college had thrown me when I had turned 21. Then the look on my parents face when they showed up later to surprise me and, “shower me with presents” (yeah right). My mother had been shocked, but my father just had given me a knowing grin and a loud, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
Since then I had sworn off “getting hammered” as my friends liked to call it.
Not to say I didn’t drink, on the contrary, I usually keep at least a 6 pack stored in the fridge in case I needed a “little pick me up”. This, however, was not the side effects of a “little pick me up”. A wave of dread washed over me when I concluded that if I was this out of it, then I must have really wanted to forget about something.
The thing is, I can’t remember anything particularly bad happening. This wasn’t any big comfort though, no no no, the universe wasn’t about to just let me forget about something this big. I would, unfortunately, remember eventually. I vaguely remember getting a letter in the mail about my rent… but I had paid that… I think.
Yeah, I remember now, I had raced down stairs to give the money to my landlord. Who had (grudgingly) accepted the check I had written. After which, I had gone back to my apartment and… nothing. I couldn’t remember anything after that.
In fact, I remember finishing off the last six pack the night before, so a hangover was out of the question. I hadn’t been sick, and I don’t think any kind of disease can just hit you like this out of nowhere, even though it would be just my luck to be the first to contract such a disease. This left me with only one option left.
I had been mugged, and probably robbed… great.
In fact, I was probably laid out across my now barren living room…
Wait… what?
I felt around with my hands, and discovered that my body wasn’t lying to me.
I was in a bed.
It wasn’t my bed though, mine wasn’t anywhere near as comfortable as this. It almost felt like I was floating on a cloud… which is of course ridiculous. I had never slept on a cloud before, duh.
I opened my eyes and sat up a bit, then immediately regretted it. I felt a spike of pain shoot though my skull as my eyes tried to take in the bright room around me. I squinted and groaned in pain as my eyes adjusted to the bright light that surrounded me. The source of the light being a massive archway in the side of the room to my right. The archway led out to what seemed to be a balcony, but I quickly turned away from the bright light of day coming in through there and surveyed the rest of the room.
The walls seemed to be circular and made of white stone, much to my annoyance, which reflected the light from the archway all around the room. Fortunately for me, there are some tapestries covering some of the stone, these however, weren’t much better. Most depicted a being clad in angelic armor that covered her from her feet to her neck. There was a symbol, which I assume is the sun, emblazoned on her chest plate and thighs. On some of the tapestries there was another… women, I think. I couldn’t really tell due to my squinting, but this other person was also in most of the tapestries. She was slightly shorter than the other lighter colored figure with similarly dark blue colored armor and a white crescent moon on her respective chest and thighs. At times she seemed to be helping her slightly taller counterpart, but in others she seemed to be fighting with her, though she did look slightly darker and more malevolent in those images.
As my eyes adjusted to the light, however, I began to notice things that were slightly odd about these two figures.
Their faces where defiantly not human, and I could see now that they did not wear any helmets as their eyes could be clearly seen. I couldn’t really tell due to their hair, which always seemed to be blowing in the wind, but it looked like they had ears that stood strait up on either side of their heads. However, the nose was the strangest feature, it almost looked like a horse’s muzzle but much smaller and flatter. Also the legs looked strange. They were fine until you got a little past the knee, then it inverted slightly before continuing down to the feet, which weren’t feet. They almost looked like hooves. Also, their skin was defiantly not any color I had seen before. The brightly colored woman had almost bleach white skin, and her shorter companion had blue/blackish-blue skin, depending on which tapestry you looked at. To top it all off the hair on the white one looked like a tie dye shirt, and the blue one just threw logic straight out the window with what looks like a field of stars.
Being an artist myself I can’t help but cringe at the images on the wall, someone had messed up bad when they went to make these. Either that or the things on the wall weren’t human, which confused me. It was obvious that a lot of work had went into making those images, but I can’t imagine who would pay for something so extravagant and yet not depict themselves on the fabric.
Whatever, I have bigger fish to fry, like why I’m in someone else’s bed, in a room I don’t recognize. Across the room from the bed was a set of drawers with a mirror on top and a stool in front. The bed itself looked like it was made for a queen, the thing was massive, if a bit short. As I glanced at the sheets I saw that the same sun symbol as in the tapestry was emblazoned on the sheets as well. The strangest thing was that the more I looked at the symbol the more I felt like I recognized it. If only I could place it then I might be able to figure out where the hell I am…
Suddenly I began to hear… footsteps?
Alright, those are the weirdest sounding heels I’ve ever heard, but they seem to be getting louder… and coming closer. I grab the covers and pull them over me as I hear someone open the massive double doors to the left of me.
“…biter says I’m not handing it over unless one of the princesses tells me to.”
The voice sounds feminine, and annoyed… great.
I hear someone else outside the room give a muffled response. It was hard to tell from under the covers, but I think it sounds like a guy. From what I heard he sounds nervous but determined.
“And I’ve told the Arbiter already, and so have the other princesses, that it does not look like a threat to national security, so the Arbiter has no right to stick his hands into this matter. This will be handled by the Alicorn Council and until I hear from one of the other princesses that is the way it is.”
I hear the door close with a thud and whoever came in take in a deep breath then release it slowly. I’m really starting to worry right about now. Whoever this “Arbiter” guy is, it doesn’t sound like I want to be handed over to him. Especially if he thinks I’m a threat to the national security, which is ridiculous. What the hell did I do last night?
As I lay there examining my options, I hear whoever had just walked in start to come closer to the bed. I start to get a little nervous as whoever it was mumbles something under her breath. I strain my ears but don’t catch any of it. Though, from the tone, it sounds like she(?) is agitated about something. I start to panic as she stops at the edge of the bed and I feel her reach for the edge of the covers.
Might as well kick things off on my own terms.
“GET AWAY FROM ME!”
As I yell I rip the covers off me and swing wildly at whoever was next to the bed. All I could see was a blur as my fist came closer to the side of the persons head. Then a flash of purple and… nothing. Whoever had been standing next to me before was gone, just gone.
I looked around franticly. I cursed as my eyes roved over the archway, temporarily blinding me and adding to my already throbbing headache. Then I felt something hit me and a tingling rapidly spread through my body as I collapse back onto the bed facing the door, unable to move. I’m really starting to panic now. Was I paralyzed? How could I have moved before and why hadn’t I felt anything broken before now?
Then the pain hit. It wasn't really that bad, but it was everywhere , my entire body was aching. Was this a side effect of being paralyzed? If so, I needed to get un-paralyzed now . I do not want to live in constant pain for the rest of my life.
I let out a muffled groan as I continued to try to move my body, to no avail. After a few more seconds of struggling I felt something poke me in my right shoulder. I tried to turn my head to look, but my neck muscles were being just as unresponsive as the rest of my body. I felt something poke me in the back this time and silently swore as my sore muscles screamed at me in response.
“Did… did I kill it?”
I silently curse again as she poked me in the leg this time.
“Hmmmmmm, maybe if I…”
I felt a warm, and strangely comforting, field of… something, envelope me and the same tingling sensation spread through me. I wiggled my toes experimentally and felt a wave of relief wash over me as they responded. Well, at least I’m not paralyzed any more. Then I felt her poke me again, this time in the shoulder.
I took a deep breath as I prepare myself, “I swear to god, if you don’t stop that-“
“AAARGH!”
I was cut off by a yelp from whoever was behind me and instinctively rolled away from them. Unfortunately for me, I had run out of bed by this point and fell off, dragging most of the covers with me. As I hit the floor I saw a blob of purple light fly over me, barely missing. Was that what had paralyzed me? I had never seen anything like it before. It had to be some kind of gun, but I had never even heard of a gun that shoots purple light. Just thinking that sounds ridiculous.
“You can talk?”
I heard more clicking, albeit at a slower pace, then a head poked itself around the edge of the bed. I blinked a few times as my eyes finally came into focus. Then blinked a few more times as I tried to make sense of the… thing… that was looking back at me.
It had what looked like purple fur all over its face with violet eyes and dark purple hair with a pink streak going through it. Where its nose and mouth should be was what looked like a horses snout but much shorter. The hair also looked like it was from a horse, it sort of looked like a mohawk that had grown out as long as normal hair. It curled over and came back across her forehead and hung there in a straight edge. The ears on either side were, again, horse ears that were currently pulled back in fright.
Oh, and it had a horn growing out of the top of its forehead. Did I mention that yet?
“Are you alright?”
As I had sat there ogling the horse human it had crept a little closer around the edge of the bed. I frowned at the question. “I don’t think so.”
“Do you need me to get a doctor, because if you’re still sick…”
I opened my mouth to respond then we both jumped as my stomach yelled at me for some food.
“… I’ll send for some food, what do you eat?”
I thought about the odd question for a second, then decided to let it pass for now. I needed some food NOW! I hadn’t realized it before but I was famished! I felt like I hadn’t eaten in a week!
“Right now I could eat anything,” I deadpan while struggling to untangle myself from the mess of blankets that I had dragged down with me to the floor. The pain in my everywhere was not making it an easy task.
As I continued to struggle, the horse human stood up to her full height and walked over to the door, opened it, and started to whisper to someone outside. Deciding that untangling myself was a lost cause I glanced over at the horse human to see if she could help me, but she was still talking to whoever was outside. With her back to me I could finally get a good look at her without feeling awkward. She was fairly short, with a pink dress that came down to her ankles. It had white trim and gold fabric draped around and behind the shoulders and waist which both tied off on her right side. I turned back to the blankets covering me and frowned, then did a double take.
She had a tail .
It came out of the back of her dress exactly where here tail bone would be, which makes sense I suppose, and it was the same color and simple cut as her hair but still…
She had a tail .
As I continued to ogle her tail she finished talking to the person outside and closed the door. It wasn’t until she was turning around that I realized how weird it would look if she caught me ogling the back of her like I was. Unfortunately for me, I was not as quick in hiding my expression as I should have been.
The horse human froze when she caught my expression, “Where you just staring at me?”
I felt myself blush as I tried to hide my embarrassment, “NO! I was just…” I scrambled for an excuse to finish the sentence with.
The horse human lifted an eyebrow, “You were just…?”
I gave off an exasperated sigh as I gave up on finishing my sentence, “Help me up, will you?”
The horse human snorted and walked over to me reaching down to loosen the blankets I was trapped in. When she walked I couldn’t help but be drawn to her feet, which I recognized as hooves.
While I had been thinking this over the horse human had gotten me free of the blankets and reached down to pull me up by the arm. I tensed up when I felt her hand tighten around my arm, pain flaring in the area she had grabbed me.
She paused and looked down at me with a worried expression on her face, “Is something wrong? I’m not hurting you am I?”
I grit my teeth and push through the pain, “No, your fine, I’m just a little sore for some reason.” I pushed up with my legs and, with the horse humans help, got back onto the bed. While lying there I looked down and realized that I still had my hiking boots on, and now that I think about it, I still had everything on.
I glanced down at my jacket and waved the blankets away when the horse human motioned them to me. After folding them up and placing them at the foot of the bed she sat on the stool. We sat there in awkward silence for a few seconds before both looking away.
I shifted on the bed to get in a more comfortable position, “Sooooooooooooooooooo… what the heck are you?” I figured I might as well be the one to break the ice.
The horse human perked up at this and got an entirely too energetic look on her face, “Oh that’s right! I haven’t even introduced myself yet! I am Twilight Sparkle, an Alicorn pony from Ponyville, which is in Equestria. I am also the bearer of the Element of Ma-“
“Magic,” I cut her off, I’d recognize that name anywhere, “former student of Celestia, co-ruler of Equestria, of which you have saved countless times, blah blah blah. Yeah right, either that is a really expensive costume or this is a dream. Actually, scratch that, this is a dream. I know it is. There is no way that you could fake your magicy thing like that in real life. Although, I don’t remember any of my other dreams being this painful.” I massage the place where Twilight had grabbed me. I can’t believe this. I CAN’T BELIEVE THIS. I have the most realistic dream in my life and what is it about? Freaking ponies. My brain didn’t even care enough to make them ACTUAL ponies. It’s like it took a women and a pony put them in a blender and voila! Horse human, have fun.
I glanced over at “Twilight Sparkle” and snorted. At least there was something nice to look at, relatively speaking of course.
Twilight huffed, “This is not a dream! And I’m not wearing a costume either! And how do you know so much about me?!”
I grin deviously, if this is a dream…, “Your short, grow taller.” After a few seconds of waiting nothing happens, figures. If I could do whatever I wanted I would just wish myself out of this dream.
Twilight huffed again, “I am the average height for a mare my age!”
“Your, like, four nine.”
“And a half!”
It was my turn to snort now, “You have a tail.”
“Yeah, and I caught you staring at it earlier!”
"I was not!”
“Yes you were!"
“Excuse me, Twilight,” while we had been arguing, the doors to the room had opened to reveal a food cart and non-other than Princess Celestia wearing a regal but simple white dress that went all the way to her hooves while pulling a food cart along behind her with her magic. Twilight opened her mouth to respond, but I beat her to it.
“Sunbutt!” I grinned and spread my arms in welcome, which caused me to wince in pain, “So glad you could join us!” I let my arms fall as I roared in laughter at the look on Twilights face.
Celestia raised an eyebrow at my antics, “So, I’m assuming that you don’t need all this freshly cooked food that I have brought you, because if not I can just as easily take it back to the kitchens…”
That shut me up. I started to respond when my stomach yelled in mutiny, “… No, I mean, yes I’d like the food… please.”
Celestia nodded and walked the rest of the way into the room, pulling the cart of food in with her. Once the cart was clear of the doors Celestia used her magic to close them with a thud, and I swore I heard the click of the doors locking.
Celestia moved the cart closer to the bed and walked across the room to a chair that had been sitting against the wall. After positioning herself in the chair she looked up at Twilight and nodded her head at me. Twilight jumped up off the stool and stuttered a few times before getting started, “P-princess, I’m sorry about… him,” she glanced over at me with a curious look. I just nodded and continued to fill a tray with food. “Right, him, I didn’t know that he would be like this and he doesn’t even think this is real and he just thinks it’s a dream and that I’m wearing a costume and-“
Celestia smiled and held up a hand, “Please, Twilight, slow down. I would never blame you for the actions of others. How long has he been awake?”
As the two princesses rambled on I concentrated on the problem at hand. All this food and no meat? Oh, wait, ponies, right… damn that sucks. I was hoping for a hamburger or at least a chicken leg. I sighed as I considered my options. Of which there were many. There was pretty much everything BUT meat on here. I snorted as I picked up a horse shoe shaped cookie with chocolate where the grooves were supposed to be. I put the cookie back down and grabbed a bowl of pasta and loaded the rest of my tray up with cake and pie. I sat back up and positioned the tray in my lap so that I wouldn’t spill anything. Then, just before I could dig in, I realized that both the princesses were staring at me.
“Well?” Celestia looked at me expectantly.
I gave her a blank stare, “Well what?”
Twilight sighed and rolled her eyes, “Your name, what’s your name?”
“Hmmmmm,” I paused as I thought about it.
Celestia gave me a worried look, “Do you not remember you own name?”
My eyes roved over her dismissively, “No I do, it’s just that I don’t know if I should tell you or not.” I looked down at my food and started eating, still thinking. If on the wild chance that this isn’t a dream, I just don’t think that my real name would sound right here. Although, if I don’t give them my name, I’ll need to at least give them a name. I don’t want to be known as that one guy for the entire time I’m forced to live this… dream.
After finishing a few bites I look back up. Celestia is staring at the floor with a thoughtful expression on her face. While Twilight looks a little offended and… hurt?
I look back down at my food and continue eating before Twilight can catch my eye. Why had that hurt so much? She’s a freaking pony. Why should I care if I hurt her feelings or not? She’s not even real. I’m probably about to wake up to the sound of my alarm any second now. I’ll get up, eat breakfast and move on with my life. Probably finish that Pinkie Pie commission I’ve been putting off for so long.
That’s what I want right?
I stab angrily at a piece of pie before missing completely and almost spilling my tray all over the bed. This is ridiculous. Why did I have to dream about ponies, just… why?
I continue to eat in silence, contemplating my situation. At least the food is good. We all sit there for a few more minutes while I devour the food. I had almost cleared the tray when I hear Celestia clear her throat. I glance back up at her, “Well?” She leans forward and gives me an expectant look.
“…Daus,” I finish off the tray as I give my answer, “my name is Daus.”
Celestia raises her eyebrow at this, “Is that your real name?”
“No,” I tersely reply as I look away and place the tray back on the cart, “it isn’t.”
Celestia just nods and leans back into her chair, “I see, well, I hope with time you will grow to trust us with your real name. In the meantime,” Celestia stood and began to walk out of the room, “I have day court to attend. My student, Twilight, will answer any and all question you have. I will be back at sunset when my sister awakes to decide what to do with you. If you get hungry just call for a cart.”
I just grimace and nod as she leaves, not trusting myself to talk at the moment. I was so angry all of a sudden. By what right did they have to grab me and rip me out of my world only to stick me in theirs? This is assuming, of course, that any of this is actually real. Which it isn’t, because this is all a dream…
I turn back to Twilight and a look of curiosity crosses my face. She was standing there with a strangle look on her face, like she couldn’t decide whether to be excited or dismayed that she had to baby sit me for the rest of the day. As I continued to stare at her with a questioning look on my face, she blushes and turns away.
“Sorry,” she moved back to the stool and sat down facing me while staring off into space above me, “It’s just that you’re the first being from outside of Equus in documented history.” She suddenly focused on me, “You’re not from Equus, right?”
I began to remove my jacket and boots to get more comfortable, “Never even heard of the place before.” Truthfully I have. Well, I have heard a lot about Equestria, or rather seen a lot. Any information about the rest of the world outside of Equestria was just speculation built upon the hopes and dreams of those with nothing better to do. However, if the appearance of these “ponies” was any indication, I doubt that the little I knew about Equestria was true either.
Twilight got that entirely too energetic look on her face again as, with a flash of purple magic, she pulled a quill and rather large scroll of parchment out of thin air and began to unroll it. “Good! The princesses and I agreed that when you woke up you would probably not know anything about where you were or who we are. However, it seems that you do know a few things,” Twilight shot me a frown from behind the scroll as she continued to scan through the parchment. “What all do you know, and, if you’ve never even heard of Equus before, how do you know it?”
I considered the question. I doubted that she, or anyone else for that matter, would believe me if I told them the truth. They would probably just say that I’m crazy and lock me up, and I defiantly didn’t want that. If I’m going to be stuck in this dream I’m going to enjoy it. So how should I play this? It’s too late to feign ignorance, I had already shown that I know quite a bit about their world. At least all the important things anyway.
As I lay there thinking. I notice Twilight was subtlety giving me suspicious looks while pretending to be distracted by her scroll. Whatever I thought of, I would have to think of it fast. I didn’t want Twilight to go all psycho crazy on me like that one episode… it sickens me that I even remember that. Whatever, pride aside, I wasn’t going to lie to her. She’d just end up sicking Applejack on me, or get Fluttershy to guilt trip me… and whether I liked the show or not, I’m not a horrible person. At least I don’t think I am, and as much as I don’t like these… ponies… all they’ve done is help me since I woke up.
Besides Twilight shooting me.
“Hey Twilight,” she jumped as I called her name, “why don’t we start this off by you telling me how I got here. Then I’ll think about telling you how I know what I know.”
She shot me another suspicious look before setting her scroll aside and nodding, “I suppose that’s fair, but you better not be planning to hold out on me.”
I shrug then lean back and stare at the ceiling while Twilight starts recounting how I arrived here.
“Princess Celestia and Princess Luna have ruled Equestria for exactly 1757 years, this being the year 1757IS.” Twilight paused for a moment when she saw the questioning look on my face, “What?”
“What does the ‘IS’ stand for?”
“It stands for Imperium Sororum,” Twilight rearranged herself on the stool, “or ‘Rule of the Sisters’ in Basic.”
I continued to stare at her in confusion, “What’s Basic, and what’s that Imperi word in?”
“Basic is the most common language spoken today. It is usually the first language spoken by ponies, griffins, zebras, dragons, minotaurs, and any other intelligent creature in this region of the world.” Twilight used her quill to scratch off something on her scroll, “Imperium Sororum is a phrase in the ancient language. It is usually only used by scholars and unicorns in spell casting due to its unique nature.”
“What makes it any different than Basic?”
“Because if I were to perform a complex spell that requires specific components in Basic, I could be too vague and misfire. However, if I used the ancient language it would instantly know what I wanted to do and perform that action, as long as I say exactly what I want to do.” Twilight flared her horn. “For example, if I wanted to teleport that flower to me from the food cart, I could try saying the words in my head using Basic,” Twilight concentrated and the glow in her horn intensified briefly before disappearing with a bright flash, leaving me a bit dazed. “Or, I could use the ancient language,” Twilight’s horn glowed briefly again and, with another flash, the flower appeared in her hand, “and now I have a snack without even having to get up.” She popped the flower into her mouth with a satisfied smile, “Mmmmmmm, Equadorian Rose my favorite.”
I silently gagged as she munched happily on the poor flower, “Did you seriously just eat that!”
Twilight gave me a hurt look, “Um, yes, do you not like flowers?”
I back tracked immediately, “Not to eat, no. My people don’t eat flowers at all.”
“Hmm,” Twilight finished chewing and swallowed, “that’s a shame. Some can taste really good.”
I shake my head, “I’ll take your word for it.”
“Anyway, where was I,” Twilight glanced back at her scroll, “right the object. So sometime during the Equestrian Reneighssaunce, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna found a mysterious magical artifact in one of the towers of Canterlot Castle. It had apparently simply appeared there one day with no explanation as to its origin or purpose.” Twilight paused for a moment as she remembered something, “The princesses told me that the object had burned everything in the room away, leaving nothing but stone. I can’t imagine what it would have been like to have been in that tower when it happened,” Twilight shuddered. “The princesses immediately placed their strongest force field around it and waited for something to happen, but nothing ever did. So they decided to study it to figure out what it was.”
I snorted, “That seems a little dangerous. Why didn’t they try to move it instead?”
“They did, but no matter how hard they tried the thing wouldn’t budge.”
I shook my head and laughed, “So the almighty sunbutt and moonbutt were foiled by some strange magical object that just walked right in and made itself comfortable without them even noticing. I want to shake the hand of whoever made this thing.”
While I continued to laugh Twilight gave me an affronted look, “Hey! This happened over a thousand years ago! I’m sure that if the same thing were to happen now, the princesses would be more than capable of moving it!”
I stifled another bout of laughter and motioned for Twilight to continue. She huffed and crossed her arms, “After studying it for a while with no results they decided to use their magic to get some kind of reaction out of it.”
I rolled my eyes, “Of course they did.”
Twilight sighed and continued, “Once they had prepared the proper safety measures they flew out and each-“
“Hold on,” I grinned, “Celestia doesn’t have wings, and neither do you for that matter.” Now I know I’m dreaming. Even in the show when they were just ponies all the princesses had wings. It was obvious that Twilight and Celestia didn’t have them though, and I’d been on the internet enough to know that if you can find even one inconsistence, then it proves that you’re in a dream. I had even tried it before. It was one of the ways to force yourself into a lucid dream.
Twilight smirked at me and stood. I frowned and squinted as she positioned herself in front of the archway to my right, “What are you-AUGH!”
I yelled as, with a bright flash of purple light, Twilight sprouted a pair of wings from her back. I squinted and held a hand up against the bright light that streamed in from behind her, “Would you stop doing that! You’re going to make me blind if you keep flashing yourself in my face! And why is that light coming in from there so bright!
I could hear the concern in her voice as she responded, “Is something wrong with your eyes? The light coming in from outside is just sunlight. It shouldn’t be all that bright.”
I roll over and face away from the archway only to get poked in the eyes by the glare coming off the food cart, “Yeah well, can’t you get sunbutt to take it down a notch! It’s her job isn’t it?!”
While I continue to try to shield myself from the sun, I hear Twilight walk away from me a little. “Here, I’ll just close the door and pull the drapes….” I hear the sound of a door swinging closed and then a latch being put in place. Then I hear the muffled sound of a curtain falling as the room gets considerably darker.
I roll back over onto my back and look over towards the archway. From the little light that is getting in around the edge of the curtain I can see the outline of Twilight standing facing me with her hands on her hips and what looks like a pair of rather large wings sprouting from her back.
“That… may have worked a little better than I expected. Hang on a moment.”
I continued to stare at her as she lite up her horn, and, with yet another purple flash of magic, she summoned a pale orb of purple-ish light that floated up to the ceiling and hung there.
I motioned with my hand toward her, “Nice wings,” they were probably as long as she was tall. Definitely not the same wings as the ones she had in the show.
I thought I saw her blush as she grabbed her tail and started to fiddle with it, “T-thanks, I only just recently got them.” Twilight looked down at the floor, “I can’t even fly that well with them yet…”
“How long have you had them?”
Twilight looked back up at me, “For about five months, I got them in October of last year.”
I shrug, “If this wasn’t a dream I’d say that you’d get used to them eventually but…” I trailed off with a smirk.
Twilight just sighed and shook she head, “Anyway, where was I… oh yeah. So the princesses flew out and stimulated the object with their magic, and it responded rather… interestingly.”
I leaned back on the pillows and put my hands behind my head, “Really? I would never have guessed.”
Twilight huffed and walked back over to the stool, “You need to take this seriously. This is very important!”
I wave my hand at her dismissively, “Sure, sure, sure. What happened next?”
Twilight sat down and sighed before continuing, “Once the princesses had checked the area for any dangers they flew back in to the tower.” Twilight paused for a moment to cross something else off her scroll, “Once inside they noticed something on the floor in front of the object and that the object had gotten… bigger.”
I raised an eyebrow at her waiting for her to continue.
“Well… the object wasn’t really bigger, I don’t think. Based on the description Princess Luna had written, it was… shaped differently. How did she put it…?” Twilight paused again, trying to remember something, “She said that before the object had been in a crescent shape, like the slice of an apple. However, after the princesses had activated the object it seemed to have gained another slice, seemingly from nowhere. Princess Luna did the math and theorized that the slices where a part of one orb. Which was confirmed two weeks ago when the princesses and I activated it for a fourth time.” Twilight looked down and added in a low voice, “We hadn’t counted on it disappearing though.”
I felt a twinge of dread that I promptly squashed before it got out of hand, “I’ve been here for two weeks?!”
Twilight looked back up at me in surprise, “Yes, I haven’t told you already?”
“No!”
“Oh,” a look of concern crossed Twilight’s face as she looked me over. “Well, yes, you’ve been in a secure room of Canterlot Castle’s medical wing. Most of the time that you were there you were… well… detoxing I suppose would be the right word. When you appeared you were highly charged with thaumic energy. Which is the scientific term for magical energy.” Twilight paused to dip her quill in some ink and scribble something down on the edge of the scroll, “We quickly learned that this wasn’t normal for you as your vital signs keep fluctuating all over the place.” Twilight set her quill down and looked back at me, “We quickly rush you to the medical wing and started treating you for a severe case of the bends, which is when a pony uses to much magic and their body starts to shut down. It took the best medical equipment and even the princesses’ magic at times to keep your vitals within, what we assumed was, an acceptable range.” Twilight continued in a low voice, “We almost lost you several times.”
After several seconds of staring at each other we broke eye contact. I crossed my arms and looked down with a frown, “Thank you I guess, but I still think this is a dream.”
Twilight got an annoyed look on her face, “The fact that I had to nurse your body back to health for two weeks proves that this. isn’t. a. dream.”
I smirked, “That’s just what my brain wants me to think.”
Twilight just sighed and shook her head, “Listen, I’m assuming that you had a home and family back… where ever it is you came from.” I give her a wary look but nod. A sympathetic look crosses her face, “I know it must be hard to accept being taken away from all of that, but you can’t deny the fact that it has happened. Now, the princesses and I will do everything wi-“
I stop her with a cold look, “Stop. Just stop right there. I will not admit that this isn’t a dream because it is. Nothing like this could ever happen in real life. Quite frankly, I’m ashamed of myself that I’m even having this dream. While this is, admittedly, the longest and most realistic dream I’ve had in my entire life. IT’S ABOUT FREAKING PONIES, AND I DON”T EVEN LIKE YOU. WHY THE HELL AM I SITTING HERE IN SOME BED WHILE TAKING TO A PONY. YOU’RE NOT EVEN A REAL PONY. YOU’RE JUST SOME… some…”
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. When I opened them I saw that Twilight had scooted as far back away from me on her stool as possible. Her ears where pulled back in a look of fear that was mirrored throughout the rest of her face. When I tried to look her in the eyes she glanced away avoiding my gaze.
Final she spoke up in a weak voice, “I-I’m s-sorry, I-I didn’t k-know-“
“No,” I cut her off. She looked like she was about to burst into tears and I… didn’t want that. “You couldn’t have. I shouldn’t have yelled at you like that. Dream or not… that’s not me.” I sigh as she continued to avoid looking at me, “Tell you what, I’ll make you a deal. If I wake up here tomorrow I’ll admit this isn’t a dream. Deal?”
Twilight tentatively looked up at me and gave a shaky nod, “Ok.”
We sat there for a few more minutes in tense silence. I can’t believe I did that. Usually it takes a lot to get me worked up. I look down at my hands and grimace. Well, if this really isn’t a dream I suppose it would qualify as “a lot”, but still. I don’t like losing it like that. I learned back when I was a kid that the calmer you are the calmer the people around you will be. Bad things happen when people aren’t level headed. I personally had experienced this many times as a kid… and an adult it seems. I’m 24, I look up at Twilight with a neutral expression, this shouldn’t be happening to me.
Apparently I had scared her so much that she had lost her grip on the scroll and it had fallen out of the air, unrolling itself across the room in the process. She was currently trying to reverse the mess with her magic, but she couldn’t seem to stop shaking long enough to concentrate on rolling it back up.
“Hey,” Twilight jumped and lost her grip on the scroll again making the mess even worse.
I sighed and moved to the edge of the bed. After steeling myself for a second I swung my legs off the bed and stood up with a groan. The pain in my muscles was receding but it was still there. I walked stiffly over to the head of the scroll and began to roll up the excess parchment. After about a minute of shuffling around I finished and walked over to Twilight. She had just sat through the whole thing, her eye downcast. She flinched when I tried to hand the scroll to her.
I cleared my throat, “Hey.” After a second of no response I sighed and squatted down (which hurt like hell I might add) so I could look her in the face. “Hey, listen,” she just looked away. “Look,” I glance at the floor and ran a hand through the stubble on my face, “I’m sorry I yelled at you. I shouldn’t have done that.” I turn my head and start to examine one of the drawers in the dresser to my right, “I just didn’t want to let go of the hope that this is all some big long dream.” I quickly glance up at her face and see that she is looking down at me before resuming my inspection of the dresser, “It’s just hard, having to admit that I’m… all alone.”
As I continued to examine the dresser I felt a hand on my left shoulder. I looked up at Twilight and was relieved to see that she was giving me a smile. “You’re not alone Daus, and I promise that the princesses and I will do everything within our power to get you home.” Twilight removed her hand as I slowly stood (which, again, hurt like hell) and made my way over to the edge of the bed and sat down. “Thank you, I… thank you Twilight.”
We continued to stare at each other for a few seconds more before Twilight levitated the scroll out of my hands. “In the meantime though, I’d like to learn as much about your world as possible.” Twilight pause as she began unrolling the scroll, and gave me a nervous look, “As long as you’re fine with talking about it.”
I shrugged and waved my hand dismissively, “It’s no problem, I have some questions for you as well anyway.”
Twilight perked up at this and grinned ear to ear, “Excellent! This is simply amazing! An entirely new world and species! I can’t wait to start going through it all!”
I smile as I lay back on my back and look at the ceiling, “Calm down Twi we have the rest of the day.”
Author's Note
Sorry for taking so long in writing this. It took a lot more words to write this chapter than I though it would.
So, finals week is coming up. That means more time studying and less time writing ponies, sorry. It'll probably be at least two weeks until the next chapter comes out. It will come out though, I already have it planned and ready.
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The Chronicles of Daus: Arrival
Entry #3 - Beyond the Doors
Sparky later told me that it had been about eleven in the morning when I had woken up, and for that first half day we had just talked. During this time she had explained most of the things that any normal pony would have learned in their foalhood. Most where things that carried over from earth, but there were some that I had difficulty grasping. Such as tails. I, however, am proud to say that I was I quick learner. This trait has served me well over the many years that I have lived in Equestria and beyond even. In fact, if I had not adapted so quickly to this world I might have died soon after I had arrived. It seemed that not all the ponies in Canterlot were as welcoming of an alien such as myself. Not that I could blame them. The incident with the Changelings had happened less than a year before my arrival, and some within the recently reformed Equestrian government had thought it easier to imprison me before I turned into some kind of demon from Tartarus. Celestia had later told me that that would have been her initial reaction as well, had I not been conveniently dying of the bends. Fortunately for me, the princesses had to perform some extremely invasive scanning spells in order to treat me. In doing so they had determined that I had no magical power of my own and therefore was not a major threat to Equestria. Others, however, where not convinced.
-Daus Skarr
*******
“So you’re telling me that these things are hay fries?”
“Yes, don’t you have them where you come from?”
“Humans don’t eat hay,” I set the odd, vaguely French fry type food back on the cart.
Twilight gave me an appalled look, “I love hay fries! I can’t imagine a world without them!” She blushed and looked away for a second, “Um well, not that I eat them all the time…”
I smirked, “Don’t worry, your secrets safe with me.” I continued searching the food cart for anything that I liked I may have missed. It had been a while since we had started this “exchange session” as Twilight had dubbed it. Long enough that Twilight had called for another cart of food from the kitchens. Which had been more than happy to oblige, being a princess had its perks.
Truth be told, I was hesitant to even call it an exchange. Most of the conversation was one way. I’d ask a question and Twilight would answer, explaining different aspects of her world. The more I learned of this Equestria the more I realized that I couldn’t always assume that what I knew from the show was accurate, or even remotely true. The only thing that really carried over from the show was names and the races that lived here, and even that was a stretch, what with the whole walking on two legs thing.
Back on Earth I’d have been the first to admit that My Little Pony was a childish show meant for little kids. I thought it was… strange… that others my age and up watched the show. After spending a half day with one of the main characters of the show though… I was starting to doubt whether being here was such a bad thing after all. In fact, if all the ponies in Equestria were like Twilight I might actually grow to like the place.
Other than their… questionable… dietary habits, but hey, if Twilight knew I ate meat (a subject which I had tactfully avoided) she would probably do more than just question my dietary habits.
Twilight finished her “hay burger” and wiped her mouth with a napkin, “Anyway, I believe it’s my turn to ask a question or two.”
I finished looking over the cart and returned to the, or rather, Celestia’s, bed and sat down facing Twilight, “Fire away.”
Twilight fidgeted nervously on her stool, “Well I’ve told you a lot about my world, and now I’d like to know about yours.” She continued to fidget on her stool, even absentmindedly started to mess with her tail.
After a pause I began to get nervous, “Such as…?”
“Well ummm…” Twilight’s eyes began to dart around seeming to want to look anywhere but at me. “It’s just that, well, there was one physical trait in particular about you, and the rest of your people I’m assuming, that caught my attention while I was treating you,” she continued to fidget nervously.
“Twilight, spit it out.”
“Umm yes, well, ah, I just couldn’t help but notice that ummm…”
“I’m not getting any younger here.”
“I know, I know, it’s just a little awkward to say…”
I blinked a few times and realization dawned on me, “Pass.”
Twilight finally looked up at me in surprise, “What?”
I folded my arms across my chest and leaned back against the pillows on the bed, “I said pass.”
Twilight huffed, “You can’t pass on a question! We decided that at the beginning!”
I snorted and looked away, “Yeah well, I’m am not discussing this with you. End of story.”
Twilight continued to stare at me, “But this is the one thing that Princess Celestia actually wanted me to get out of you!”
I smirked and looked back at her, “There’s a dirty joke in there somewhere.”
Twilight reeled back in her seat with a shocked look on her face, “W-what?”
“Listen Twilight,” I looked away from her again, “I’ve known about you guys for a long time, but I have never thought of you guys in that way…” I reached back and started to rub the back of my neck nervously, “It’s not that I don’t think your… ok to look at. I might even call you cute, but talking about that with you is just…” I looked back over at Twilight. To my horror she had gone completely red and had a mortified look on her face. We continued to stare at each other for a few seconds before Twilight finally spoke up in a quiet tone.
“I was talking about your teeth.”
I sat there for a few seconds then sighed, “What about them?”
Twilight continued to stare at me for a second then quickly buried herself behind her massive floating scroll. After a short pause I heard her take a deep breath then she resurfaced looking slightly more composed. “They’re sharp in the front.”
I looked down and frowned. I had hoped that is particular subject wouldn’t come up but… I suppose I’d have to give an explanation eventually. Besides I did not plan on giving up meat for the entire time I’m here. Might as well get it out of the way now.
Twilight peaked out from behind the scroll. She blushed again when she saw I was staring at her, “It was not! You were the one who assumed that I was talking about… that.” She returned to hiding behind her scroll.
I rolled my eyes and looked over at the curtains covering the archway to the balcony, “You know how I think it’s weird that you eat flowers?”
Twilight peeked out from behind the scroll again, “Yes.”
I sighed and stretched out on the bed getting comfortable, “Well I have certain… dietary preferences that may seem strange to you as well.”
I looked back over to Twilight and saw that she had moved the scroll out of the way completely now and was watching me with rapt attention. I also noticed that she had her quill poised and ready to write.
I glanced away nervously, “I would appreciate it if you didn’t write this down, or tell anyone about it. It’s not exactly the type of thing that you ponies would find particularly endearing.”
Twilight gave me a suspicious look but nodded and set her quill down, “Does this ‘dietary preference’ put anyone around you in danger?”
I shrugged, still nervous, “Not really no. It’s just that, um, other ponies probably wouldn’t be very accepting of a strange being from another world that, uh… eats meat.”
I glance back to Twilight, but to my surprise, she seems to be taking it pretty well. She isn’t freaking out at least. Although she does look a little green.
Twilight nodded slowly, “I see. The first time I noticed your teeth I figured as much, and when I told the princesses about my suspicions they agreed that the structure of your teeth most likely meant you are a… carnivore.” She shifted nervously on her seat, “The strange thing is that when Princess Celestia brought the first cart of food up you ate many things that only an herbivore would eat.” Twilight gave me a questioning look, “You say that you’re a carnivore but you just ate many plant based foods. Can you eat both?”
I shrugged, “Don’t you guys have omnivores here?” Twilight gave me a curious look, “I’ll take that as a no. An omnivore is and animal that can eat both plants and animals.” I frowned at her, “You’re telling me that of all the different species on this planet, not a single one can eat both plants and animals?”
Twilight turned a little green again, “You say that so casually…”
I smiled, “What? Just because I eat meat means I’m a horrible person?”
Twilight started and waved her hands in front of herself defensively, “What?! No! That’s not what I meant, it’s just not that common for anyone living in Equestria to eat meat! The most common carnivores are the minotaurs and griffons and they don’t usually live in Equestria because they can’t get the things they need to eat because most places in Equestria don’t sell stuff like that and they have to buy it from shady people and their generally looked down upon by other ponies for it and please don’t think I’m being mean because of what you are even if you do eat meat I don’t mind that much and I’m sorry!”
Twilight pause to take a breath. I just sat and watched her, smiling, “You know, you are exceedingly easy to mess with.”
Twilight froze for a moment and deflated, “Oh… I thought you were actually a little angry.” She looked down and smiled sadly, “Do you even care?”
I raise an eyebrow, “About…?”
Twilight looked back up at me, “You’ve just been pulled out of your world and thrown into another. Aren’t you sad, angry… scared?”
I looked away and ran a hand through my hair, “I don’t think it’s really hit me yet. Tomorrow maybe, when I wake up and can’t keep pretending this is a dream.” Twilight opened her mouth to say something but I cut her off, “I know that I already agreed that it isn’t, but,” I paused to collect my thoughts, “I… this is my way of coping, I suppose. For now at least. Besides,” I folded my arms across my chest and looked away with a bitter look on my face, “would you rather have the angry depressed me. You saw him when I first admitted this was real, and based on you reaction, you didn't like him very much.”
Twilight looked like she was scrambling to form and answer, but before she could the doors to the room opened to reveal my favorite princess of the sun and her sister. Both took one look at the situation and turned to Twilight, who gave a helpless shrug. While Celestia was busy closing the door and whispering to the guard outside Luna walked forward a bit and nervously stood before the bed.
She glanced once at Twilight, who seemed to be trying to catch my attention, before speaking, “We hath- I mean, I-I have come to bid you welcome to our world Daus. It is a pleasure to meet you. I am Luna, Princess of the night and hold a seat on the Alicorn council.”
I turned to get a better look at her. She was short. At least that was my first impression of her. You would think that the goddess of the night would be tall and regal but apparently not. She was only slightly taller that twilight, not counting the horn of course, and almost a full head shorter than Celestia. She had on the same dress as her sister but it was a light blue color and cut a little lower in front than her sister. She had a dark blue coat and of course, she had the eerie flowing mane. Instead of a rainbow of colors like her sisters mane however, hers was what looked like a field of stars. Strangely enough the stars weren’t moving with the mane, it was like the mane was a window that constantly shifted. It was interesting to say the least.
As I looked her over she fidgeted nervously and looked to Twilight again. I couldn’t see her but I could feel her eyes on me, begging me not to do anything rash
What was the fun in that?
Once my eye finally settled on her face I saw that she had begun to blush slightly, deciding not to keep her waiting any longer I frowned slightly, “I thought you’d be taller.”
I heard a crash as Twilight fell off her stool. I glanced over and started to laugh as she tried to stand up only to be foiled by her dress. I looked back to Luna to see that she was trying to form and answer, but it kept coming out in sputtering. The commotion had apparently gotten Celestia’s attention because she finished talking to the person outside and closed the door. When she turned around to take in the situation, she just shook her head before going over to help Twilight up.
After a few more seconds Luna had finally regained enough composure to respond. She took a deep breath and said, “I hadn’t realized that my sister’s sense of humor had rubbed off on you so quickly.” She paused for a moment and glared at Celestia. Having finished helping Twilight up Celestia shrugged and gave her a faint smile before moving to the same seat on the wall she had previously occupied. Luna shook her head at the floor before continuing, “Shall we start over?”
I shrugged and nodded. Luna took another deep breath and held out her hand, “Hello Daus, I am Princess Luna, princess of the night, and hold a seat on the recently formed Alicorn Council.”
I reached forward and shook the blue mare’s hand, “Nice to me you,” I said in a slightly over enthusiastic voice, “I’d tell you my name but it sounds like dear Celly already told you it.”
Luna withdrew her hand with a slightly confused look on her face, “Have I done something wrong?”
Celestia cleared her throat, “Don’t worry sister. I believe this is more of his… humor.”
I looked around and both Twilight and Celestia where now glaring at me. I should probably get serious before one of them takes something the wrong way. “Look,” my expression softened as I turned back to Luna, “For what it’s worth, I was actually kind of looking forward to seeing you. You seem like the more rational of the two ‘divine rulers’ of Equestria.”
Luna seemed to appreciate the vote of confidence. She got a smug smile on her face while Celestia frowned and said, “What do you mean by ‘more rational’?”
I gave her an amused look, “You turn all your enemies to stone and banished your sister to the moon for throwing a tantrum. Now, I may not be a psychiatrist, but to me it lo-“
Celestia cut me off with a cold stare, “Do not talk as if you know me creature. I make decisions based on the safety of my ponies, and nothing else.”
That had escalated quickly. If I had a knife I could have cut the tension in the air. Celestia had crossed her arms and was glaring at the floor. Luna was staring at her with a troubled look on her face, and looked torn between sadness and guilt. Twilight had suddenly become extremely interested in her scroll, and was hiding behind it pretending to read something. All in all, not the best situation for me to be in. I really need to stop assuming things about these ponies.
I sighed, “Listen Celestia, I’m sorry about that. I know you’ve made some tough decisions and it isn’t my place to question them.” I looked down at my hands and grimaced, “I knew of some people back on my world that would kill to have the chance that I have. Yet, all I’ve done is manage to piss off you guys at every chance that I get.” I clenched my hands in anger, “And why didn’t they get this chance instead of me. I can only imagine how much happier they would be in my position.” I unclenched my hands looked up. Twilight was giving me an intrigued look. I can only imagine the number of questions she had for me. Celestia and Luna had looks of pity on their faces. Celestia open her mouth to respond but I cut her off, “No, don’t apologize. You had every right to be angry with me. I’m sorry for not taking this more seriously than I have. From now on, no more jokes or harsh words. I… I won’t waste any more of your time.”
Celestia nodded with a hesitant look on her face, “I thank you for your honesty. For a moment there I had thought that protecting you was a mistake.” She looked to Twilight, “Well Twilight, you have spent the most time with him thus far, what is your opinion of him?”
Twilight frowned, but didn’t immediately answer. I can’t blame her. I haven’t exactly been very… grateful of her and her mentors “protection,” whatever that means. I assume that they’re protecting me from this Arbiter guy, but assuming things hasn’t really worked out very well so far. I glanced between the princesses. Luna was nervously standing off to my left close to the door. Her behavior struck me as odd. Of all the princesses, she had known me for the least amount of time, and yet she seemed almost concerned for me. It could just be the way she is, it wouldn’t surprise me. I get the impression the ponies, as a whole, are generally accepting and kind to strangers, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that she had some personal stake in this. Celestia was watching Twilight, gauging her expression. I’m sure she had done it many times before to many people, er… ponies. She seemed to really be leaving the decision to Twilight. I’d have thought she would be the one to decide my fate, but on the other hand, Twilight had spent the last half day with me. However, based on my behavior, I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.
One things for sure, Twilight was taking her sweet time in answering. I was about to break the silence when she finally spoke.
“He isn’t… bad. He certainly isn’t happy with being here, but I doubt he’s a danger to anyone.” She said in a hesitant voice. I visibly relaxed, letting out a breath I hadn’t known I was holding in. “However,” she looked at me curiously, “I don’t think we can let him just walk free, if only because others will want to capture him. He also knows very little about living in Equestria, so he might, accidentally of course, cause problems on his own.” I tensed up again, so they were going to lock me up after all.
Celestia raised an eyebrow, “Are you suggesting we lock him away for his own safety?”
Twilight started to panic, “No! I-“
I glowered at her before cutting her off with a growl, “If you try to put me in a cage to be studied, I promise you that I will do everything within my power to make your life miserable.”
Twilight waved her hands in front of her and leaned back with a look of full on panic across her face, “No! That’s not what I-“
“Please Twilight, if I may make a suggestion,” I look over and see that Luna is looking at me with a thoughtful look on her face.
Twilight calmed down a little and nodded. Luna stepped forward a little and looked down at me on the bed, “Only just recently my sister sent me to Ponyville to learn how to ‘socialize’ with other ponies. She sent me to Twilight specifically because she had just recently gained some experience with… socializing… with others.” Luna looked to Twilight and Celestia, “My suggestion is this: If Twilight is willing, go with her to Ponyville and integrate yourself into our society as best you can. There is this, or you can remain here under our care,” she motioned to Celestia and herself before looking back down at me, “most likely locked away in the royal palace.”
I exasperatingly looked between Celestia and Luna, “Why even lock me up? I may not like being here but it’s not like I’m going to go on a rampage and start killing people.”
Luna sighed with a sad look on her face, “Unfortunately we were not able to keep your arrival here a secret,” an angry look crossed her face, “Apparently there are those among even our royal guards who sympathize with the Arbiter’s views.” Luna turned around and walked over to the door mumbling angrily. Celestia watched her calmly for a moment before continuing, “Someone in the guard told the Arbiter of your arrival, and he immediately went to the senate demanding that the council hand over the ‘abomination’ before you could do any harm to Equestria.”
I gave her a confused look, “I thought Twilight told me the council was separate from the senate? And aren’t the council and the senate on equal footing?”
I turned to Twilight as she grumble something about “whining featherbrains,” Celestia chuckled and said, “Officially yes, the senate and the Alicorn Council are on equal ‘footing,’ and by that I assume you mean they are politically equal?” I nod and Celestia smiled in response, “Then yes they are, however,” Celestia’s face darkened, “The senate is fond of testing the limits of its influence.”
Luna turned around with an angry look on her face, “What my sister is saying is that they enjoy demanding things of us that they have no right asking for!”
I looked at her and raised an eyebrow, “Do you ever comply with their demands?”
Luna huffed angrily, “How can we not! To refuse would cause them to go to the news ponies and say that the council is intolerable and refuses to work with them! Which in turn would kindle more doubt for Alicorns in general! The ponies of Canterlot have not forgotten the horrors that the changelings inflicted on them, and they are quick to blame us for not stopping the destruction before it began! That whole incident was what caused the recent endeavor to revise the Equestria government! And then let’s not forget the senate’s errand boy the Arbiter! He is the most insuffer-“
Celestia cut her off, “Luna please, you are ranting.”
Luna threw her hands in the air and growled in frustration.
I looked between Celestia and Luna in amusement, “So I’ve been hearing a lot about this Arbiter guy. Who is he exactly?”
“Oh, don’t get me started-“
“Luna please,” Celestia cut Luna off again, “I believe Twilight can answer this one.”
Twilight started when Celestia said her name. Everyone turned to her as she struggled to regain her composure, “Y-yes, the Arbiter. I read his file at-um, actually,” Twilight glanced at Luna for a moment, who shook her head no, before looking back to me, “uh, right, never mind where I read his file, but unfortunately it is extremely sparse.” Twilight shifted nervously in her seat, “All we know is that about forty years ago, the Arbiter, then a royal guard, deserted for an unknown reason. After escaping Equestria, he became a mercenary in Schunie. The largest city in the Inner Marches.” Twilight paused for a moment before continuing, “The Inner Marches are the plains that exist to the west. They contain a number of cities, but none as large as Schunie.”
I turned to Luna as she grumbled, “Or as unlawful…”
I turned back to Twilight with a questioning look. She grimaced, “Schunie is a city state that was founded as a trade outpost on the way to the Ridge. A large chain of mountains running north to south far to the west.” Twilight sighed, “Schunie has no official government except for the Collective. A group of the wealthiest merchants and traders in Schunie. Because of this, Schunie has earned a reputation for its… lawlessness.”
Celestia spoke up, “Due to this reputation most nations prefer not to publicly associate themselves with Schunie unless absolutely necessary.”
“Why anyone would want a mercenary from that rat hole of a city to be the leader of an army is beyond me,” Luna said angrily. “While I agree that the Arbiter is skilled with a sword, sometimes his methods are cruel and wholly unnecessary!”
“Whatever, I don’t plan on meeting this guy any time soon,” I yawned and stretched, “I think I’d rather not be locked up for the rest of my life, so I’ll take my chances in Ponyville.” I looked at Celestia nervously, “I don’t suppose you could let me stay here another night. I'm still pretty sore from whatever that orb put me through, and it’s getting pretty late…”
Celestia stood and stared walking to the door, “Unfortunately no, I cannot allow you to stay any longer than you have. The council cannot continue to stall the senate much longer. I fear that they may be sending the Arbiter here to detain you this very night.” Celestia stop just short of the door, “I am sorry you cannot rest any longer,” a sad look crossed her face, “I wish I could be more hospitable.”
I waved her off, “It’s no problem. You guys saved my life. You can’t be much more hospitable than that.”
Celestia gave me a sad smile before turning to Twilight and Luna, “Twilight, you will have to escort Daus to the train station. I will send a guard ahead to make sure the train is ready to go when you get there. However, the Arbiter may have thought of this already. If the train isn’t an option, take him to the docks and use an airship to get to Ponyville. It is slower, but I’d rather not have the Arbiter confront you at the train station.” Celestia then looked to Luna, “Sister, I will need you to go to the senate and delay them. Once they see Twilight heading for the train station they will suspect we are trying to move Daus.”
“Um, Celestia,” I said, “I think you’re overlooking something.” Celestia looked at me, confused. I waved my hand over my body, “I not exactly the most inconspicuous of… things… in this world, and I doubt I’ll make it to the train station without a disguise.”
Celestia frowned, “Ah yes, forgive me. I almost forgot.” Celestia looked me over with a critical eye, then her eyes landed on my jacket sitting next to me on the bed, “Hmmmm, I suppose I could alter your jacket to cover more of you… I will also have to place a spell on your feet to make them less noticeable. Please stand, and are you going to wear your hoof shoes?”
I let out a short laugh, “There just shoes, hiking boots actually, and yes I’ll be wearing them.” I sighed and braced myself for the pain, then swung my legs over the edge of the bed. Surprisingly, most of the soreness was gone. In fact, I was feeling better than ever. Most likely due to Twilight’s overzealous attempts at healing me. I relaxed and reached down to lace up my boots. While I was doing that Luna walked outside and began briefing a group of guards. A mixture of what looked like both Luna and Celestia’s personal bodyguards. They looked extremely competent to say the least. They were decked out in a mixture of plate and leather-ish armor (enchanted I assume) and were armed with long swords that were strapped across their backs. I squinted to get a closer look. They weren't wearing leather, I suppose they would find that repulsive. The material certainly looked like leather, but, at the same time, it didn't. I shook my head. I'd ask Twilight about it later. All of the guards were unicorns, some male and some female. Luna’s guard or the “night” guards had grey coats and blue/gold armor, and Celestia’s guard or the “day” guards had white coats with white/gold armor.
While Luna was speaking with the guards, Celestia had grabbed my jacket with her magic and was eyeing it curiously. Turning it around and around in the air, examining it from every angle. After I had finished with my boots she spoke, “What is this jacket made of?”
I looked up at her and stood up stretching, “I’m not sure. There should be a tag on the inside of the collar that has that stuff.” I looked around all saw Twilight nervously shifting from hoof to hoof next to the door. I caught her eye and raised an eyebrow, “You don’t get out much do you?”
Twilight focused on me for a second before resuming her fidgeting, “No, I’ve never had to do anything like this before.” She lowered her voice to a whisper, “I’m not sure I can do this…”
I walked forward and gently put my hand on her shoulder, forcing her to look me in the eyes, “It’s not about if can or can’t do this Twilight. You have to do this.” I gave her my most determined look, “And besides, haven’t you done lots of stuff like this already anyway. I mean, if you can save Equestria multiple times, I’m sure you can walk me down to the train station.” I looked down at her dress, “Although it would probably be easier if you changed into something less… flashy.”
Twilight’s eyes widened, “Oh, of course! I’ll go get some normal cloths.” She looked down at her dress with distaste, “I’d prefer not to have to wear this anyway, but I have to look good for the senate. If only to remind them who they’re dealing with from time to time.” Twilight started for the door and look back when she reached it, “I’ll meet you in the main entrance hall,” she looked at Celestia for a second, who was still examining my jacket, before turning and walking out.
Once Twilight had left Celestia looked back up at me with a distant look on her face, “I believe I can make this work. However, I will need to alter the composition of your jacket.” Celestia focused her eyes on me, “That is alright with you?”
I nodded, “Anything that will help.”
“Alright then,” Celestia held out the jacket to me, “put this on, please, and I can get started.”
I took the jacket and pulled it on nervously. It’s not like magic hadn’t been used on me before, but this time it was someone other than Twilight performing the spell. For some reason, that felt unsettling to me. Twilight was the one who keep me from dying of starvation for the weeks I was out. Apparently she had use her magic to “feed” me nutrients so that my body wouldn’t waste away while in a coma. Granted Celestia had more than a few years of experience on Twilight but still… I looked up at Celestia concentrating, I was nervous.
After a moment Celestia started to mumble and her horn lite up, covering my jacket in her aura. From the little that I picked up, she wasn’t using any language I knew, which was a grand total of one. Even though I didn’t know what she was saying, I could still feel the power behind the words. Almost as if they resonated with me on an extremely primal level. The sensation was nothing like anything I’d ever felt, and I’m not sure I liked the feeling.
As she mumbled, my jacket started to change. The texture roughened, and the color turned from a light to dark matte grey, almost black. It lengthened until it was at my ankles, and the collar became thicker and more pronounced, covering most of my neck. It also got heavier, but not to the point where it was uncomfortable, it actually felt like it fit my body better than it had previously. The actual material it was made from thickened and felt more durable now, like denim, but it moved with my body easier.
After a few more seconds and some minor tweaks Celestia’s aura lifted and she open her eye’s to inspect her handiwork. I felt around, finding all my things still in their place (even though my phone and headphone had been fried by the orb, I still keep them) I looked up at Celestia and held my arms out, spinning in place. Celestia stood and examined me as I slowly turned back around and looked at her expectantly. She looked a little tired but other than that, proud of her work. When she spoke I could hear the weariness in her voice, “Such spells are not easy to perform, and often require much thaumic energy to complete, but…” she cocked her head to the side and looked me over again, “I believe that this will be sufficient to get you out of the city, and protect you from the cold. Your body seems Ill suited for our winters.” Her eyes traveled up to my exposed head and frowned, “Without the proper knowledge of your skull structure I could not form a hood for you, however, I believe I have something for you that will act as a proper substitute.” Celestia walked over to her set of drawers and began to rummage through them.
While she was looking for whatever she was looking for, I began testing my new jacket. It was thin enough so that it wasn’t that uncomfortable to wear in mild weather but thick enough to where I felt like it could keep me warm in the cold. I pinched the material and rubbed it in between my fingers. The outside was rough and durable, I wouldn’t be surprised if it were water proof. The inside was softer than the outside and comfortable to move around in. I took a few hesitant steps. The bottom was just high enough to cover most all of my leg but it didn’t catch on my foot when I walked. Also, it seem to gravitate towards my body. I spun around quickly expecting the bottom to fly up and spread out but it only raised up a little bit. I frowned and grabbed either edge of the jacket and pulled out fanning it backwards behind me like a cape. I grinned, it must be enchanted. The jacket seemed to know what I wanted to do, how I wanted to move, interesting.
I turned around when I heard a cough behind me. Celestia was standing there with something in her hands and a smile on her face, “Having fun?”
I blush and pulled to jacket back around me and letting it fall loose again. I composed myself before responding, “Just testing it out.”
Celestia continued to grin as she walked forward and handed me something that looked like a mask with runes all over the front. It looked like one of those happy face masks that they used to use in theaters, except this one had a blank expression.
I turned it over a few time examining it then looked back up at Celestia, “What’s this?”
“That,” she said with pride, “is one of my greatest creations.” She motioned for me to put it on, “Put it on and it will change your appearance at will.”
“Really?” I gave her a skeptical look. Celestia nodded and motioned again for me to put it on. I stood there for a moment before a mischievous thought crossed my mind. Wasting no time, I held the mask up to my face. The moment it touched my skin I felt my body start to shift and slid around. It wasn’t painful, but it wasn’t pleasant either.
After a moment the shifting stopped and I looked down at myself. After examining myself for a second I looked up to see Celestia giving me a deadpan stare. She shook her head and sighed, “I suppose I should have seen that coming…”
Luna chose that moment to walk back in looking down at a report one of the guards had given her. She stopped next to us before saying, “Sister, the guards have reported that the Senate has sent the Arbiter here and he is demanding that we give him Daus at on-AGHHHHHHHHH!”
Luna dropped the report and leapt back in shock when she looked up to see not one but two Princess Celestias standing in front of her staring back at her. She looked between the two of us for a moment before settling on me. Unfortunately, while the mask does alter your appearance, it apparently does not alter your clothing. This did little to dampen the smile on my face, however, and I responded, “Yes sister, go on.”
Luna narrowed her eyes at me, “You know, it is considered extremely rude to impersonate somepony in that pony’s presence.”
My smile got even wider, “Of course,” I leaned forward and whispered to her, “You should probably tell the impostor over there that. I don’t think it knows.”
Celestia closed her eyes and began rubbing the base of her horn with her hand, “Daus please, we have little time if the Arbiter is already here.”
I got a pouting look on my, or rather Celestia’s, face, but decided that she was probably right. I concentrated and thought of one of Luna’s night guards. After a few seconds of shifting I looked down at myself. I had a light grey coat and all the features of a “pony,” even the hooves. The weird thing is that I still felt like I was human. I hadn’t really had time as Celestia, but I felt like I had feet, not hooves. I reached up and felt around on top of my head and, sure enough, I had a horn.
I raised an eyebrow at Celestia, “Could I use magic since I have a horn now?”
Celestia shook her head, “No, the mask only makes you look and feel like something else to others. To yourself you feel the same, but enough, you have your disguise and we have delayed longer than we should have. Luna will escort you to the main hall, from there Twilight will take you to the train station, which is hopefully still an option.” Celestia paused to yawn.
I looked her over curiously, “aren't you coming as well?’
Celestia smiled but shook her head, “No, if the Arbiter sees me up and about Canterlot at this hour he will know for certain that we are up to something and possibly block off all exits from the city.” She sighed and walked over to the curtains to open them, “I will be watching from my balcony,” she finished opening the curtains, letting the stars shine through brightly. She stopped under the archway and looked back at me over her shoulder, a sad smile on her face, “Be safe, and… I’m sorry… that this had to happen to you.”
I nodded curtly, glad to finally be leaving the tower room. I turned around and walked to the entrance of Celestia's room, stopping just short the exit.
Luna gave me a confused look, "Is everything alright Daus?"
I looked around at her and smiled nervously, "Yeah, everything's fine. I'm just... steeling myself."
I felt Luna place a comforting hand on my shoulder. She gave me a light squeeze before letting go and walking out ahead of me.
I watched her go ahead and braced myself as I took my first step beyond the door, into my new life.
Author's Note
And thus ends the setup.
Sorry about the long wait. I had finals then Dark Souls 2 came out then I just put it off... Oh, and I had a difficult time trying to decide whether or not I should bump the time frame up so that it happens after season 4, but I decided to leave it the way it is.
Anyway, things are really going to pick up next chapter, and I promise I won't take 3 or 4 weeks to write it like this one. Believe it or not chapters 2,3, and 4 where originally all going to be one chapter. Then I started writing and I realized just how long that would take to write, so I split them up.
If you like the story so far give it a thumbs up! Comment if you have thoughts! Please comment! I like reading them, and it helps me make the story better.
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yay more pony
The Chronicles of Daus: Arrival
Entry #4 - Canterlot Nights
My first impression of Canterlot was that it was more beautiful than any city that I had ever seen on Earth. It's not like I got around much back then. Most of my life had been spent in the town I grew up in. It wasn't very big at all, but still big enough to be considered a city. I think the population when I went off to college was around twenty five thousand. I can't even remember its name... After moving to Seattle to attend college, I just never left. I enjoyed the big city. Last time I checked before I "left," I think there where about six hundred thousand people living in Seattle, give or take a few thousand or so. It had been a wonderful city to live in, full of people and places more diverse than anything I'd ever seen back in my home town. And yet, even with all that diversity and beauty, Canterlot made it look like a white-wash, backwater town from some forgotten place in the world. Describing Canterlot would be like trying to describe... the internet. I actual tried that once, but the concept was so far beyond anything Sparky could compare it to, eventually I just stopped trying. But Canterlot was, IS, so... alive. Just like the internet, any casual visitor would need an extensive guide to know where all the best places to go and visit would be. There is always something to do, and with a population of over one point five million, there is always new people to meet. There's the market, spanning nearly a third of the city, where anything can be bought, and fortunes are won and lost. Then there's Mane street, which runs straight through the markets and up to the castle gates. During the day it's full of ponies moving from shop to shop and vendors hawking their wares to anyone with the money to buy. At night it transforms into the most vibrant strip of bars and nightclubs this side of Manehattan. Surrounding the market is the Housing district, which almost blends into the market, where the diverse populous lives. Overshadowing all that are the sweeping towers and grand halls of the Noble district. Aptly named because it is where most of the nobles of Canterlot live. The nobles are not the only ones to call this place home however. The Noble district is also where most of the politics that involve the Senate take place. You could say that it is where all the important decisions that effect Equestria are made, just don't tell Luna I said that. Along with the Senate, the airship docks are here. The first time I saw an airship, other than running for my life, I was impressed and intrigued that such a thing was even possible. Most are, of course, powered with magically inflated balloons, but still, the sight of a floating ship the size and length of an passenger jet back home was... breathtaking. Also, an assortment of colleges and academies, along with all their libraries and studying halls, can call this place home. The most prominent of which are Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns and the Lunar Institute of Scientific Knowledge and Learning. I cannot even begin to count the number of times that Sparky has dragged me over to some library or lecture hall to study, research, to just spend the day reading. Sometimes I'll even go on my own, there is something about the royal library that calms the nerves. And lastly, the icing on the cake, the royal palace. A collection of the most beautiful and awe inspiring towers, walls, and battlement ever conceived. All the walls are made of bleach white granite, reinforced with magic and encrusted with gold and silver. It sprawls above the rest of Canterlot like a silent sentry, always watching the surrounding planes for any sign of danger. And as if all that weren't enough, the entire city sits on the side of a mountain! A technological wonder held up with stone and magic, made by an engineering protégé for Celestia shortly after Luna's banishment roughly one thousand one hundred and fifty years ago.
All this, and what was the first thing I did? Eat a doughnut, of course.
-Daus Skarr
*******
I jogged a little to catch up with Luna, who was talking with another guard. This guard seemed more imposing and had slightly more decorative armor than the others I had seen Luna talking to earlier. He was obviously an officer and one of Luna's guards, based on the color of his armor. As I jogged up behind the two, Luna half turned then kept walking at a brisk pace, "Daus, this is Captain Shade. He is the head of my personal guard and the best that the night guard has to offer."
Captain Shade turned to me and nodded. I nodded back, "Are you going to be escorting me to the train station?"
Luna responded, "I'm afraid not. If the Arbiter saw Twilight and the captain of my person guard escorting some unknown unicorn to the train station, he would no doubt stop you and investigate. If he sees just Twilight and one of her friends meandering down Mane street before getting on a train to Ponyville, he will be less likely to intervene. No, I need Captain Shade's professional opinion on something before sending him to the train station to ensure that the train will be ready when you get there."
I gave her a quizzical look, "Professional opinion?"
Luna waved her hand dismissively, "You will see shortly."
We walked for a while in silence. The castle was empty of ponies, except for guards, and they paid us no mind as we walked past. They all probably thought I was a new recruit for Luna's guard. Regardless of what they thought, they remained stoic. The only other ponies that I saw were maids and butlers scurrying around cleaning, organizing, and doing other castle maintenance. While the guards where still, the servants quickly bowed and scurried away when we passed. I almost laughed when one nearly spilled a tray of food it her haste. Other than that though, our trip through the halls of the castle was largely uneventful. The castle itself was beautiful. Everywhere I looked there were decorations of gold and silver with some paintings and tapestries at regular intervals along the wall. The amount of money that had been put into this castle...
Finally Luna stopped before a wrought iron door with a sturdy looking lock. Captain Shade stepped forward and produced a set of keys. After looking through a few, he selected one and unlocked the door, walking in first.
I looked at Luna, who motioned for me to enter. I stepped through the door and looked around. I was in a fairly large room with weapon racks covering every inch of the walls and most of the floor space. I looked to the left and saw a raised wooden platform about the size of a car. I looked over at Luna, who had followed me in, "You want to give me a weapon?"
Luna nodded, "Yes, I was hoping that you could pass as a prospective member of the Guard. Not the Royal Guard," Luna said quickly, seeing the incredulous look on my face, "the regular guard. It was formed recently along with everything else in the revision of the government." A bitter look crossed Luna's face briefly before being replaced by one of grudging respect, "While I don't particularly like most of the recent changes, I will admit that this new guard organization is far more effective than the Royal Guard at combating the lesser crimes and problems all over Equestria. It also allows the Royal Guard to focus on their main job more."
I turned as I heard the clanking of metal then a deep voice say, "Please step up onto the platform."
I looked at Luna, who nodded, before turning and moving up onto the platform. Once on top, I could see Captain Shade walking towards me from deeper in the room with an assortment of weapons in hand. I could see swords, knives, axes, spears, maces... the list goes on and on.
While I was sitting there wondering how in the world he could carry all that, the captain walked the rest of the way up and dropped the weapons at the base of the platform. He stepped back for a moment and looked me over, then returned to the pile and started digging through it. I took a nervous look at the pile of weapons before saying, "I suppose this would be a good time to tell you I can't wield any kind of weapon...?"
The captain responded without looking up, "It matters little, most guard recruits can't anyway."
Luna spoke up from an isle further in, "As long as you aren't required to use it, you should be fine. Your story will be that your father, a noble, has asked Twilight, who is a good friend of his, to take you to Ponyville to sign up with the guard. Once you get to Ponyville, you can drop the act. The Arbiter has very little influence there. The important thing is to get you out of Canterlot."
I shook my head then looked back to the captain, who had pulled a spear out of the pile of weapons. He walked up to me and held out the spear, "Here, since you're a unicorn, you'll want to keep your enemies at a distance. Where you can hit them with magic."
I looked at the spear skeptically, "Actually," I concentrated for a moment then felt on top of my head. Finding no horn, I looked back to the captain, who was giving me a deadpan look.
He shook his he before returning to the pile, "Bucking changeling magic..."
Luna spoke in an absentminded tone from deeper in the room, "Now now Shady, there is no need for that language."
He responded in a perfectly guard-like voice, "Yes mam."
I smiled and shook my head before looking around more. Apparently Luna was inspecting the weapons further in, I could just barely see her flowing mane over the tops of the racks. The captain seemed torn between an axe and a sword. He waved the axe through the air experimentally before turning to look up to me, "I don't suppose you have a preference?"
I looked at the two weapons. I didn't have any experience with weapons, why was he asking me? I sighed and shrugged, "The sword I suppose."
The captain nodded and threw the axe back onto the pile before walking over to a rack full of sheaths, belts, and other strips of material that I had no idea as to what they were used for. While the captain was selecting a sheath, Luna walked out from an isle a ways towards the back of the room. Seeing that we were almost done (or I assume that we are) she began walking back towards us. She stopped when she drew level with Captain Shade and said to him, "He has chosen the sword?"
The captain nodded intent on his work. Luna looked to me and nodded, "A fine choice."
I shrugged, "I don't plan on using it."
Luna gave me a dark look, "I hope that you don't have to."
We stood there for a minute more in silence. What had she meant by "I hope you don't have to?" She doesn't really expect me to be able to use a sword on some one, does she?
I was about to ask further when the captain turned around and said, "Done," he walked up and held out the sword to me, "This is a long sword. Made of top of the line thunder-forge steel in Cloudsdale, it is formidable enough that no one would think twice about a noble carrying it around, but also not as flashy as to draw unwanted attention." Captain Shade gave me a curious look, "Do you know how to strap it on?"
I snorted, "Are you kidding me? My people haven't used swords as weapons for centuries."
This prompted a confused look out of both Luna and Captain Shade. Luna was the first to ask, "What do your people use for weapons?"
I backtracked hastily. It probably would not be a good idea to explain that to them, "Never mind, just show me how to put on the sword."
After several minutes of the captain explaining how to put on a sword belt and sash, with Luna looking on in amusement, I had finally gotten the thing strapped across my back. The sash the the sheath was attached to went from in front on my left hip, over my right shoulder, then back down to the back of my left hip. There was also a smaller strap that attached to the long strap going over my right shoulder. However, the shorter strap attached to the long strap in the middle of my chest and ran over my left shoulder to attach to the same strap in the center of my back, to balance the weight and provide comfort I suppose. It was fairly comfortable. Other than the fact that it strapped a weapon to my back. I looked down to examine my handy work. While I was running my hand over the front strap, I remembered seeing the guards from earlier wearing the same kind of material that the straps were made from. I looked up at Captain Shade, "What is this material? I don't suppose it's leather?"
Captain Shade and Luna both gave me sour looks before the captain responded, "No, it is not leather. Nor will you ever see leather in any of the royal armories. The only place you would ever see leather is the Griffin Empire or the Inner Marches. Luna preserve your soul should you ever see it in use in Equestria."
Luna looked nauseated at the thought. She took a moment to collect herself before asking, "Why do you ask? You sound as if you were expecting leather."
I looked away nervously before replying, "No reason. Leather is just commonly used on my world in place of..." I pick at my straps, "whatever this is."
Captain Shade gave me a wary look, "Your people use leather in place of slag?" The captain looked down and shook his head before starting to remove his armor, "Luna told me that your kind was different than ours, but I never imagined a species could be so cruel. Even the griffins only use it when it is cheaper than slag..."
I begin to back away from the captain as he continues to remove his armor, revealing a set of dark blue fatigues beneath. I looked to Luna who was pointedly looking away from the captain. I moved closer to the door as Captain Shade continued to remove his armor, "Um, Luna?" Luna looked over at me from across the platform, "Should I be worried? He isn't getting ready to pummel me is he?"
Luna and Captain Shade smirked as Luna began walking towards me and the door, "No, he is simply changing into civilian cloths so that he can fly to the train station without arising to much suspicion." Luna walked past me and up to the door way, where she wave behind her, "Good luck Shady, don't give the Arbiter too much cause to kill you."
I turned to walk out after Luna, but not before I heard the captain say, "Good luck with the Senate! Give the Chairman my regards!"
Luna snorted and kept walking, looking back to see if I was following. After making sure I was still behind her, she set off at a fast pace.
She may have been almost a head shorter than me, but I was still hard pressed to keep up with her. It didn't help that she knew where she was going and I didn't. After almost running over my third maid I caught up with her and asked, "Where to now?"
Luna shrugged and kept walking, "Assuming Twilight has finished with her preparations we are going the the main entrance hall to meet her. There we will part ways. I will go to the Senate to... delay... them." Luna got a mischievous smile on her face for a brief moment before it was gone, replaced by a neutral look. "You and Twilight will go to the train station together, and, if everything turns out in our favor, board the train for Ponyville. Once you are gone, it will be my sister and I's job to deal with the political backlash that this will cause."
I give her a worried look, "Nothing serious will happen, right? It's not like they'll impeach you or something for this?"
Luna snorted again before giving me a sideways look of amusement, "The Senate is bold, it's true. However, to try to impeach an Alicorn from the council this early after it's creation would look like a power grab on their part. The Senate might even be abolished." Luna stopped with a surprised look on her face. I was a good thing I was paying attention, or I probably would have knocked us both over. Luna seemed not to notice our near collision. After a moment of thought, see started walking again. I silently cursed and ran to catch up. Luna finally looked back to me and smiled, "That is actually not a bad idea. If I could get the Senate to try to impeach me or any other Alicorn, it could be grounds to abolish the Senate. It would have to be under the right circumstances of course..." Luna frowned and turned back around to face front again, mumbling the whole time.
I just shook my head and followed. She was certainly creative, I'll give her that.
The rest of the walk was spent mostly walking down stairs in silence, except for Luna's mumbling, and even that stopped after a while. Just when I was beginning to think the stairs would never end, we turned right through a pair of large opulent double doors into a massive hall nearly half the size of a football stadium.
Assuming this was the main entrance hall, I stopped and leaned against the wall to catch my breath. I really needed to get out more! After a moment of rest, I looked around. The hall was massive, if I had to guess I'd say it was about five hundred feet long and two hundred feet high with an enormous glowing glass chandelier hanging from the ceiling. The massive stone staircase that I was standing at the top of took up the middle end of the hall that I was on. I walked to the edge of the landing and looked over. There was at least fifty feet of space between the edge of the stair case and the wall, with doors at regular intervals. I watched as servants streamed in and out, carrying an assortment of items from food to cleaning supplies.
I backed away from the rail and looked back towards the doors I had just come through. Not finding Luna there I looked down the stairs and saw her already halfway down. I started down the stairs after her as fast as I could. After a minute of scrambling down the stairs, I finally reached the bottom. I paused for a moment to catch my breath and rest my legs.
After a minute, I looked up and saw Twilight and Luna standing across the hall next to what looked like the entrance to the castle. The colossal double doors were propped open. They must be fixed to the outer walls somehow. I also noticed a metal portcullis poking out of the top of the entrance way. It had apparently been raised to let us out. I eyed the distance between me and the princesses. I sighed and began the long trek across the hall, dodging servants as their hurried by. After walking what seemed like miles, I finally reached the two princesses. I stopped in front of them and bent over, placing my hands on my knees panting.
After a moment of silence I heard Twilight stifle a giggle. I looked up to see that she was watching me with an amused look on her face. I looked over to Luna to see her giving me the same treatment. "What?" I stood up, "That's the longest I've had to walk in a long time."
Twilight shook her head and half laughed half said, "I can't believe you ran out of breath walking across the hall!" She continued to laugh for a moment more before stopping and smiling at me, "I think you could use a couple of weeks at Sweet Apple Acres. Applejack would get you into shape in no time."
I shook my head and looked at Luna, who was still trying not to laugh, "Don't you have somewhere to be?"
That wiped the mirth from her face. She gave me a dark look before saying, "I suppose you are right." Her face changing to one of resignation as she turned to walk out the massive archway, "Good luck getting to the train station. If we are lucky, I will be able to distract the Senate long enough to allow you to get to your destination." She flicked her tail in irritation and grumbled, "It's not like we don't have plenty to discuss."
"Wait," I fiddled with my new straps nervously, "what about the Arbiter?"
Luna turned to me and frowned, "Unfortunately, it would be to much to hope that he is in his office at the Senate. He is most likely somewhere in Canterlot, waiting for you to surface and, 'rain death upon the city.'" Luna rolled her eyes, "If he does approach you, just stick to the story and you will be fine, as long as he does not dig too deep. Although, it would probably be preferable to avoid him all together. He is an extremely troublesome stallion." Luna turned to a guard and told him to ready a carriage. After the guard had run off she turned back to us, "Be safe," her face softened, "You seem like a decent enough stallion, Daus. I would like the chance to know you more, and I would hate to see you end up in prison because of the ignorance of a few ponies."
I nodded and said, "Don't worry, I don't plan on getting locked up."
Luna smiled at that before turning to Twilight, "Twilight," Twilight stiffened when Luna spoke her name. Luna gave her a gentle simile before saying, "You needn't be so anxious, Twilight. You are a princess, and you were chosen to be one because my sister and I believe in you. Just as we believe you can do this. All you need do is walk Daus to the train station, and then, when you arrive in Ponyville, you can show him the side of our world that isn't out for his blood." Twilight seemed to relax a little and returned Luna's smile. Luna nodded to us both and turned back out towards the entrance, "Now, where is that guard! I wish to arrive at the Senate in style...!"
I laughed at Luna's antics as she walked away, then turned to Twilight. I hadn't noticed before, probably because I was so out of breath, but she had changed into a pair of light purple pants with a white shirt and dark purple windbreaker. The cloths seemed to be made of this "slag" material, but the texture looked a lot softer than my belt. I also noticed a wrist watch on her left arm, and somehow, that looked the most out of place of all the things I'd see so far.
Twilight caught me looking at her and blushed, "What?"
I shrugged and looked away, "It's weird seeing you wear normal cloths."
Twilight smiled and rolled her eyes, "Just because I'm a princess doesn't mean I have to wear a dress all the time, or that I want to." Twilight laughed, presumably remembering something funny, then looked me over, "Luna told me about her plan while you were catching your breath at the bottom of the stairs." Twilight smirked for a moment before looking me over with a critical eye, "I suppose you could pass as a noble. I just hope no one asks for your name." Twilight caught sight of the sword strapped to my back and frowned, "I didn't know Luna had given you a sword, but I guess it makes sense. It would be a little strange if a noble couldn't even supply his own weapon. Do you know how to use it?"
I shook my head, "Not in the slightest."
Twilight shrugged, "I doubt you will have to. It's more for show than anything else. I suppose once we get to Ponyville you could actually join the guard and learn how, but that's up to you. Anyway," Twilight checked her watch before turning to walk out the front gate, "we should probably get going. It's about eight and our train leaves at eight thirty."
Twilight walked out of the hall and into the courtyard. It was large but no where near as big as the entrance hall. Most of the ground was paved in stone and decorated with gold and silver trimming, much like the rest of the castle. Here though, a few rows of tree had been planted on the edges, giving the place a more natural look. There were also a few doors that led off to the side with guards coming in and out every now and then. I looked toward the gate leading out to the rest of Canterlot and saw a wide stone road leading down the mountain running straight through the rest of Canterlot. From my vantage point I couldn't see the city gates, but I could only assume that this was the Mane street Luna had mentioned. Though we were still a ways away I could hear and see the sounds and lights of the main section of the city floating toward me through the night. I looked around and saw Twilight heading for one of the side door leading off the courtyard. I jogged over to her and followed her through an inconspicuous looking wooden door that I had to duck to get through. Once through we walked through several tiny passages and rooms that seemed to wind their way through the castle wall. We pasted several guards on the way who just nodded politely and went about their business. After a couple minutes of walking we entered what felt like a circular tower. There was no ceiling, and the stairs wound around the outer edge of the wall in a spiral. When we passed beneath the center of the structure I looked up. It was hard to tell but the tower must have been at least twenty stories tall. I looked back down at Twilight who was talking to a guard next to a large metal door set in the wall opposite the side we came in. After a moment of chatting Twilight pulled out a letter and handed it to the guard, who opened it. After scanning it thoroughly the guard nodded and pulled out a set of keys. He moved to the door and unlocked it, pushing it open just enough for us to walk through. Twilight thanked the guard and stepped through. I nodded to him and followed, finding myself in a large divide with the castle wall behind me and the rest of Canterlot stretched out in front of me. I hurried to catch up with Twilight, who was already almost halfway to the other end of the divide. I caught up just as we entered an ally between two large and expensive looking buildings.
I looked over at Twilight, who seemed to be growing more nervous the farther away from the castle we got. Her demeanor was starting to rub off on me and I was get a little anxious, "Where are we now? And why didn't just leave through the main gate?"
Twilight kept walking up to an intersection between a group of building and looked around before answering, "This is the Noble district. I've spent most of my time in Canterlot here studying, and we couldn't leave through the front gate because the Arbiter will no doubt have set a watch to make sure no one... suspicious," Twilight looked at me for a moment, "leaves without him knowing." After a few minutes of twisting and turning through the narrow back allies of the Noble district we came out on what I assumed was Mane street. The street was too large to be any other. I looked to my left and could just barely see the tips of a few of the castle towers sticking up above the rooftops of the builds lining the street. As my eyes roved over the tallest tower I thought I saw a flash of reflected light, but when I looked back it was gone.
Twilight started walking to the right down Mane street, away from the castle. She looked over her shoulder and motion for me to follow when she saw I had stopped. She kept walking as she said in a whisper, "I hope he didn't station ponies all along the wall. Other wise, we'll need to hurry if we are going to make the train without him finding us."
I nodded and looked around. I didn't see that many people walking around. There were a few nicely dress ponies sitting outside a restaurant a ways down the street on my left, but other than them and a few carriages, the street was fairly devoid of life. As we continued to walk down the street though, more and more people began to appear. Eventual, after a while of walking, we reached a thick stone wall with a pair of double doors set in a larger pair of doors. The smaller pair were open, with a few guards in plane grey light armor standing on either side of the portal looking bored. They didn't question us as we passed through to the Market district. Although, I got the impression that they were there more to kept people out of the Noble district who didn't belong there than to kept people in the Noble district.
Once in the market district, I began to notice more and more ponies on the streets. Most seemed to be out enjoying the night with friends or heading to a bar to drink. I even spotted a few obviously... intoxicated individuals stumbling along. I leaned forward and whispered to Twilight, "You guys have alcohol?"
Twilight slowed to let a guard move past her on his way to subdue a particularly rambunctious stallion. She half turned with a confused look on her face, "I personally don't drink, but yes, alcohol exists in Equestria. Though, we have laws dictating its consumption, it can be rather harmful to young fillies and colts. Also, you can't consume it publicly in certain sections of the city, but other than that it is generally accessible to to public. Why?" Twilight frowned, "You seem surprised."
I shrugged in exasperation as the guard started to drag the drunk down the street away from us, "I guess I'm still expecting this world to be like th- to be, um... different?" I gave Twilight a nervous smile.
Twilight shook her head and turned away from me, returning to her normal pace, "Be as evasive as you want, I'll get it out of you eventually. If not, well, I suppose there's always magic for that..."
I stopped in my tracks and watched as Twilight strolled on ahead, seemingly not to have noticed my sudden stop. I stared at her with a fearful look on my face, "I thought you said using magic on others without consent was rude and sometimes a crime. Twilight!" I ran to catch up, "Twilight! Come on, say something!"
Twilight ignored me with a blank look on her face. Though, I thought I saw a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. I suppose this is payback for all my jokes during our exchange session.
I was about to say something when Twilight pointed ahead and said, "Look, we're almost to the main plaza."
In my rush to catch up with Twilight, I hadn't noticed the opening in the street ahead. Twilight and I walked up to the exit to the street, fighting the crowd of ponies moving in and out of the gap between the buildings. By now, I could barely move without bumping into someone. I think I even stepped on a few tails. Of course, Twilight was moving through the crowd like a fish moves through water. I supposed growing up here would give her plenty of experience with crowds. After many "excuse me"'s, pardon me"'s, and several "buck off"'s I finally made it through the gap.
I continued to follow Twilight as she moved into the plaza, which was massive. Being a head taller than everyone else, I could see for a long ways around me. The plaza was circular, with a smaller, circular area in the middle. The entire thing was paved in whitish-grey stone with the circular area in the middle being a single, unbroken slab of dark grey granite. The only structure in the plaza was a large fountain of Celestia and Luna right in the center.
I looked around and raised an eyebrow. Moving forward, I leaned in and said to Twilight, "You know, I was expecting more... green... than this."
Twilight perked up at this and turned to point back up the mountain over my right shoulder, "In years past, Celestia thought the same thing, so she added the Terraces to Canterlot." I turned to glance back up at the castle, which loomed over us. Twilight turned back forward and continued talking, "You can't really see them from here, their lower than the Noble district but higher than the Market district. While not part of the original Canterlot that was built roughly one thousand years ago, it has been a very popular edition to the city. It is full of exotic plants and animals, along with the regulars that can be found around the city and the rest of Equestria. In fact, the edition merged so well with the rest of the city that the group hired to construct the Terraces theorized that it wouldn't be all that hard to construct additional districts all around the mountain." Twilight got a thoughtful look on her face, "To think that the original designer of Canterlot had such foresight..." Twilight trailed off in mutters.
I smiled and continued to follow Twilight across the plaza. As we walked further and further in, I slowed to get a better look at my surroundings, realizing just how large the plaza was. It had to be at least as wide as two football fields, and the center slab was probably a quarter that. As I continued to look around, I noticed pegasi flying through the air performing tricks and aerial stunts for the crowds below. Along with the pegasi there we're other street performers playing instruments, drawing sidewalk art, and even some unicorns performing magic shows. Besides the street performers, there were also sales people selling food, souvenirs, and various other trinkets. For a second I even thought I saw someone trying to sell a flaming bird, but when I looked back he had disappeared into the crowd.
I forced my way through the crowd to catch up with Twilight. By now we had reached the center of the plaza and walked up a short flight of steps that curved around the base of the center area. On top of the slab, I was able to view the entire plaza. Under friendlier circumstances, I could probably enjoy myself here.
I continued to take in the plaza as Twilight began to walk around the fountain, "So," I glanced a Twilight for a moment before looking around more, "Where exactly is the train station, because unless we get there soon, I don't think we'll make it."
Twilight glanced at her watch before looking ahead again, "Don't worry. It;s just on the other side of the plaza. If Captain Shade was able to persuade the conductor to be ready for us, I'm sure we'll be fine." Twilight waved her hand in the air distractedly, "Besides, even if we don't make it, we can always use an airship." Her words were comforting but I could tell she was nervous. The closer to the station we had gotten, the more tense and fidgety she had become. She was even starting to make me nervous.
As we came around the edge of the fountain, I was able to catch a glance of the train station for a moment before almost running over Twilight. The station took up probably an eighth of the perimeter of the plaza and had many doors leading into the building. Only a few were currently open, most of the trains had probably left for their various destinations by now and wouldn't return until morning. The few doors that were open had a moderate stream of ponies moving through them. The station itself was nothing special, besides the fact that it was the largest building directly off the square. It was red with brown trim, probably made out of some kind of granite.
I only had a second to take this in before Twilight backed up into me and forced me back out of sight of the station. I looked at Twilight, confused, "Um Twilight, the station is... why are you shaking?"
I grabbed a hold of her as she continued to tremble, a curious look on her face. I couldn't tell if it was scared or angry, maybe both.
I grabbed her with both hands and forced her to face me, "Twilight, what's wrong? What did you see?"
Twilight stumbled over her words for a bit before finally getting out, "I-It's h-him ."
I grip her tighter and bend down a little so my face was level with hers, "Who? Who is him?"
Twilight took a few deep breaths before whispering, "The Arbiter."
I let go of Twilight and straightened up with a grimace, "Well, there goes the train station. Did you see Captain Shade?"
"I'm right here."
I jumped as I felt a hand tap me on the shoulder. I spun around and, sure enough, there was the captain, wearing a grey short sleeved shirt and what I assumed were "slag pants" if the advertisements on the way here were to be believed.
I moved to help Twilight up, who had trip over herself in fright, at the same time saying in an annoyed tone, "You mush be great at parties."
Captain Shade shrugged with a grin, "I wouldn't know. I've never been to one."
I snorted and finished helping Twilight up. After I was sure she was fine, I turned back to the captain, who was waiting patiently , "So, I'm assuming the train is a no go?"
Captain Shade nodded reluctantly, "By the time I arrived, the Arbiter and his men had already secured the station. They're checking everyone coming in and out."
I turned and edged around the side of the fountain to get a look at the station. Sure enough, I could see several guards per entrance to the train station. However, these guards were different than the others I had seen so far. They all had matte green plate armor with a full helmet covering their heads. I couldn't see any of their coats. What the plates didn't cover, slag did, and all had apparently shaved off their tails and mane. Despite the fact that they were covered from head to hoof in armor, they moved with apparent ease. They made wearing heavy plate armor look easy. Each one of the soldiers was armed with a long sword or mace, I even saw a few war axes.
Obviously a group I didn't wan't to mess with.
Then I saw him, the guy I'd been hearing about all night, and he didn't disappoint.
He was tall, that was my first impression. While most ponies came up to just above my shoulders (not including horns and ears) the Arbiter looked like he could give Celestia a run for her money. He was either an earth pony or a pegasus, I couldn't tell. Twilight had told me that most pegasi, along with herself, got special runes tattooed on there shoulder blades which were enchanted so that they can retract their wings into their back. It sounded useful, but Twilight said it was awkward when you're in public and you forget about the cloths factor and well... yeah. I was thinking he was an earth pony though, because he looked much more muscular than any pegasus I'd seen so far. Unlike his men, his armor was not green, nor did it look like it came from the same armor set at all. It was a combination of plate and slag that somehow seemed to work well for him. I certainly wasn't going to tell him otherwise. For a weapon he had a hand and a half sword strapped to his back that seem to glow slightly, but that may just be the light from the station shining out from behind him. He wore no helmet, so I could see his face clearly. His coat was a dull white and his mane (along with his tail) was shaved off, making it impossible to tell the color. He turned and I got a look at his face for a moment before ducking back behind the fountain. It was mostly unremarkable, except for the eyes. I never though eyes could be so... dominating.
The train was definitely a no go.
I turned back to Twilight and Captain Shade to see them whispering to each other. Twilight looked nervous, while the captain was trying to reassure her about something.
I glance back behind me for a second before looking back to the others, "Yeah... there's no way we're getting through the station."
The captain sighed before looking up to me, "I agree. The next option is to head to the airship docks and catch a ride with one of the ships headed to Ponyville. However," the captain glanced around discreetly, "I believe we are beginning to attract attention-don't look."
Both me and Twilight caught ourselves halfway in the process of looking around. I tried to play it off as scratching my back while Twilight fake coughed nervously.
I shook my head at Twilight before turning to Captain Shade, "Ideas?"
The captain shrugged, "You need to get off the streets. If you stay out in the open much longer, I don't think it will end well for you."
Twilight spoke up, "I know a place just off the plaza. We can go there for a bit then head for the docks."
The captain nodded and started to walk away, "I'll head to the docks and make sure there is a ship waiting for you when you get there. Good luck, and don't attract attention to yourself."
I nodded and motion to Twilight to lead on. We started to walk back the way we came then branch off to the left toward a cafe on the edge of the plaza. It's was brightly lit and bustling with people. Most were drinking what looked like coffee and eating doughnuts. I thought it was a little odd, seeing as it was night and all but I didn't question it.
We entered the place and I when over and sat at a booth in the back as far away from the windows as possible while Twilight went went up to the counter to order. I sat there and tapped my foot on the floor nervously. I looked around and noticed that all the ponies in here looked relatively young. This must be like the Starbucks of this world.
I sat there nervously for a few more minutes before Twilight walked over with a tray. On it were two doughnuts and two drinks. Twilight set the tray down and slid into the booth facing me. I grabbed one of the doughnuts and took a bite. After a few seconds of chewing I shrugged and took another bite. I don't know what I was expecting, but the doughnut tasted... normal. Funny that I thought that was strange.
I took one of the coffees and sipped it. Half way through I noticed Twilight looking around nervously while trying not to look like she was... looking around nervously. I finished drinking and put my coffee down, "If you're going to act like that, you might as well hold up a sigh that reads 'please notice me'."
Twilight tensed up and looked down at the remaining doughnut and coffee. After a moment she took a deep breath and relaxed a little. I nodded towards the food and nudged the tray towards her, "So... you come here often?"
Twilight smiled faintly and took the remaining doughnut and began eating. After a moment she responded, "Not recently no. I used to come here several times a week to relax and study, back before I moved to Ponyville." Twilight sighed and took a drink of her coffee, "I miss this place."
I smiled and took another sip from my coffee. If my suspicions where correct this was the same cafe that Twilight and her friends had visited after they trashed the Gala... three years ago? What was the date? I looked around for a calender or some kind of sign that had the date on it. Finding none I turned back to the table to see Twilight giving me a questioning look.
"Sorry," I waved my hand around dismissively, "I was looking for the date."
Twilight took a bite of her doughnut, "You could have just asked me." She finished chewing and continued, "It's the 17th of June, 1757."
I frowned. June? The odds that the calender here is exactly the same as the one back home are astronomically small. If it was though, it meant that I had gone back roughly five months. It had been November when I had "left." As for the year thing...
I looked up at Twilight to see her watching me intently. I raised an eyebrow at her, "What?"
Twilight shrugged, "I just-" Twilight glanced behind me and her eyes got wide. I started to turn but she reached across the table and grabbed my shoulder, "Don't turn around."
I set my drink down and glanced sideways across the room to look at the reflection in the window. There were two soldiers in the cafe moving from table to table questioning the customers. They were moving slow but would notice us sooner or later. It's not like Twilight was exactly very inconspicuous, and I had a sword strapped to my back.
I started to panic. The soldiers were blocking the only exit. I looked across the table at Twilight, who was still holding on to me, "This place doesn't have a back exit does it?"
Twilight's grip tightened, "I don't know. I think it does, but if we get up they'll notice us."
I shook my head, "It's better than waiting for them to walk up to us." Twilight nodded hesitantly, and removed her hand from my shoulder. I leaned back and discretely looked around the edge of the booth towards the bar. There was a stallion behind it cleaning some dishes looking bored.
I leaned back into the booth and asked Twilight, "You know the guy working here?" She nodded nervously. I shifted my weight so that I could get out of the booth quickly, "Alright, we're going to get up, slowly , and walk up to the bar and you're going to ask him if we can go out the back. Then we lose them in the back alleys and go to the airship docks. Okay?"
Twilight nodded again but didn't move. She just stared straight ahead, stiff as a board. I slowly waved my hand in her face, "Hey, Twilight? You still with me?"
Twilight started a little then looked at me and nodded again. I glanced at the window to see that the soldiers were getting closer but hadn't seen us yet. "Okay, on three. One... two... three..."
We both stood, Twilight a little quicker than I would have liked, but the soldiers didn't seem to notice us. We started to walk back towards the bar with Twilight leading. When we reached it I let Twilight talk to the stallion while I watched the soldier's reflections in the window. After a moment of talking, the worker opened up the bar and let us through. I followed Twilight through a door into the kitchens. Just before the door closed behind me I glanced over my shoulder to see the two soldier moving rapidly towards the bar. The one in front caught me looking back and pointed me out to the other. They both broke out into a run as the door swung shut behind me.
I stared to jog as I heard a commotion coming from the front room. I caught up to Twilight and motioned for her to pick up the pace. We half jogged half ran through the kitchens, almost knocking over several machines and stacks of dishes in our hast.
I reached the back door first and opened it for Twilight. I looked back as she ducked under my arm, but the door to the front room was hidden behind a large oven. I watched for a moment longer before I heard the other door open. I moved out of the doorway and closed the door slowly, hoping that the soldiers would think we were hiding somewhere in the kitchen, before running after Twilight.
Twilight had moved to the end of the alley and was looking around the corner to see if their were any soldier behind the shop. I ran up panting, out of breath, and bent over with my hands on my knees, "What-what's the plan now?"
Twilight turned and I could see the anxiety written across her face, "These back alleys lead right up to the wall separating the Market district from the Noble district, which is where the airship docks are." She glance behind me at the cafe before turning around and jogging down the alley, "I hope Joe doesn't get in trouble because of us..."
I looked down at the ground and panted for a few more seconds before straightening up and following Twilight. We jogged through the alleys for a while. The maze of corridors had me lost within minutes, but Twilight seemed to know where she was going. Granted she did seem a little distracted. I assume she was still worried about "Joe," and if I remember correctly, that was the name of the pony that ran the cafe that the, uh, "mane six," went to after they rekt the Gala. Knowing that I just ate there was... weird.
"OOF!!"
While I had been thinking I hadn't noticed Twilight stop in front of me at the end of the alley. Thankfully, nether of us fell, but I did get a dig in the ribs from Twilight. I backed up and massaged my abdomen. "Ow! Why'd you stop?!" I said in a low voice.
"Shhhhh!" Twilight pointed down the street to the left, "Look!"
I looked in the direction she pointed. We were on the edge of the street we had taken to get to the plaza. Down the street about fifty feet to our left was the guard station we had passed through to get into the market district. The regular guards were still there, but now there were two soldiers questioning the guards. One of the soldiers pointed down the street toward the plaza and the guard he was talking to nodded. Then the two soldiers started to walk down the street toward us.
I looked around frantically and noticed the trash bags next to us. I got Twilight's attention and silently pointed to the bags. She got a disgusted look on her face and forcefully shook her head no.
I peaked around the corner and saw that the soldiers were almost about to pass the alley. I started to move toward the trash and motioned emphatically from her to the bags.
Twilight took a few hesitant step toward the bags looking revolted.
I heard the clopping of hooves on the stone just around the corner, Twilight was still eyeing the trash bags with disdain, and the soldiers were about to pass by any second...
...she's going to kill me.
I rushed forward and grabbed Twilight around the waist with my right arm and reached up to grab her horn with the other, stopping her from teleporting away in fright. Then I threw us both behind the trash bags and pressed us as close up against them as possible. The smell was horrible, but I'd take that over being captured by the Arbiter.
I could feel Twilight's eyes burning into me as I waited for the soldiers to pass. Thankfully Twilight had the presence of mind to keep quiet. I waited until I could no longer hear the soldiers hooves on the stone then let go of Twilight. The moment I let go she scrambled up and away from me and the trash. She stood there for a moment staring down at me, a blank expression on er face.
After a minute I started to get up mumbling, "You're welcome..."
Twilight just blushed and looked away, sniffing herself, "Ugh, I smell horrible..."
I gave out a short laugh before Twilight silenced me with a look. I swallowed and grinned nervously at her, "Just use your magic to... you know..." I wave my hand in her direction.
Twilight just continued to stare at me, it was starting to make me nervous. I looked down at my self and wiped off some trash that had gotten on my jacket. When I looked back up Twilight was still staring at me.
I threw my hands in the air, "What!?"
Twilight blushed and looked away again then walked past me out into the street towards the guard station. I shook my head and followed.
We walked up to the guard station. Apparently one of the guards had seen us come out of the alley and alerted the other, because they all stood at attention, blocking our path.
As we got closer to the doors, one of the guards stepped forward and said in a commanding voice, "Halt! I am sorry princess, but I must detain you for attempting to smuggle a criminal out of the city. You will be taken back to the royal palace to await questioning and your... friend," the guard shot me a look of contempt, "will be taken back to the Maul to carry out his incarceration."
Twilight stopped short with a look of surprise on her face, whatever she thought the guards would say, it wasn't this. I looked at Twilight. Could the guards just order princesses around like that? I mean, I knew the Equestrian government had change but had the princesses authority really fallen that far?
I took a good look at the guards, they didn't look too formidable. Of course, this was compared to the Arbiter's soldiers. They were all probably stronger than me, and had training with weapons. Each had a baton and short sword on their belts, and they were all lightly armored. I counted three on this side and another two on the other. The odds did not look to be in my favor.
I looked back to Twilight, who looked flustered. I hope she can act.
I stepped forward a little and pointed at myself, "Are you calling me a criminal !? I am a noble and will not be spoken to this way!"
Twilight quickly glanced at me before joining in, "Y-yes! Why are you accusing my friend here of being a, uh, c-criminal?
I groaned internally. Apparently, unless all of Equestria is in danger or she's facing off against an all powerful enemy that could swat her down without even blinking, Twilight does not handle pressure well. I almost gave her a look of exasperation, but reined it in before the guards saw. As for the guards, despite Twilight's... questionable performance, they did look a little uneasy. One stepped forward and started whispering in the leaders ear.
After a few moments of them whispering back and forth the leader nodded and the other guard stepped back. The leader took a moment to compose himself before turning to me, "I am sorry lord, the description must have been mistaken." He then turned to Twilight and continued, "I must apologize princess, the soldiers who were just here were quite earnest in their search. I am glad their accusations that a princess is helping a criminal out of the city is not true. However," the guard folded his arms and an intrigued look crossed his face, "may I be so bold as to ask what a princess is doing with a member of the nobility, armed at that, at this time of night?"
Too easy.
I reach over and grab Twilight around the waist. She squirmed a little as I pulled her in to my side, but didn't resist too much. After briefly looking down into her... loving... eyes I looked back up at the guards and said, "Well... if you must know. We were on a date."
I felt Twilight tense against me but didn't push away. The guards all got looks of embarrassment on their faces and they all shuffled their feet and suddenly became extremely fascinated by something at their hooves. The leader coughed a few times then said, "Ah, I see. Well, I'm sure you two have places to be, and I wouldn't want to hold you up so... yes."
The leader moved aside and motioned for the rest of his men to follow. I held on to Twilight as we walked through the doors. We had just passed through and had draw level with the two guards on the other side when we heard a short come from behind us. We both turned, along with all the guards, to see two soldiers running up the street toward us.
One of them raised his hand and pointed at us, "HEY!" He yelled "WHY THE BUCK AREN'T YOU STOPPING THEM! THAT'S THE PRINCESS AND THE CRIMINAL!"
I looked at the the leader and shrugged, then me and Twilight took off up the street away from the guards.
I let Twilight get a little ahead and panted, "...Twilight... docks...!"
We ran up the street a ways with the guards and soldiers chasing us. I was no where near in shape and Twilight definitely wasn't a runner. Any of the guys chasing us could have probably outrun us easy. However, the solders and guards were weighted down with weapons and armors, which balanced things out a little. The soldiers were wearing heavy armor so the guards were really the only ones we needed to worry about.
We ran through the streets for a couple minutes, frantically dodging ponies and the occasionally carriage, while our pursuers shouted and yelled for everyone to get out of the way. A few time some poor pony wasn't fast enough and got knocked over by either us or our pursuers.
After running for what felt like forever, I caught sight of a ships mast over the top of a building. We had long since moved beyond the residential part of the Noble district, and the streets were lined with warehouses for as far as I could see.
We rounded the corner with the guards not far behind. At this point I was running on pure adrenalin, and if I stopped I doubt I would have the strength to get up again. Twilight didn't look much better.
The gate to the dockyard was wide open and unguarded, undoubtedly Captain Shades doing. We ran through the gate and turned right towards a large cargo ship. At least, I assumed it was a cargo ship. It was wooden and had fins of what looked like bat wings coming out the side. Other than the wings, It looked exactly like a normal wooden ship used before humans figured out metal could float.
Just one problem with it. It was pulling away.
I got a cold feeling in my chest as I noticed the ship receding from me. It was still close to the docks and wasn't moving very fast, but it was moving, away .
I glanced behind me and saw that more soldiers had arrived behind the ones that had chased us from the market district. To make matters even worse, he was here.
The Arbiter stood on one of the crates of supplies that littered the dockyard and watched as me and Twilight slowly lost ground to his men. The ship was already to far to jump to, and it just keep moving farther away. To its credit it had started to move in a downward direction, but with the distance it had already traveled... it wouldn't matter.
I looked over at Twilight and almost tripped over my surprise. We're running for our lives and she's trying to take off her jacket?! I watched her for a few more seconds before looking back towards the edge of the dock. We had maybe fifty feet remaining, and we were closing the gap fast. I slowed down, not wanting to fall to my dead. Twilight pulled further ahead and finally managed to get her jacket off, revealing a large hole in the back... of... her...
"...fuck... no... Twilight...!" I wheezed as we drew closer to the edge.
Twilight didn't respond. She just motion frantically with her hand to follow.
This is either going to be really awesome, or hurt really bad.
Just as Twilight reached the edge of the dock she crouched slightly, and, with a familiar flash of purple, grew wings out of her back. In the same motion she flapped her wings furiously, propelling herself off the edge.
I took one last step, placing my foot on the edge of the dock, yelled as loud as I could, and jumped.
For one heart stopping second, I plunged face first toward the ground. I had thrown myself headfirst off the dock with my hand outstretched. Try in vain to grab for the ship I knew I couldn't reach...
...then I felt someone furry grab my hand.
Author's Note
yay more pony
Sorry I couldn't update sooner. My summer job has thrown my scheduled off and I'm lazy.
So... yeah.
Next chapter we'll get to meet more of the mane six, and get our first glimpse into Ponyville.
Give me a follow for important updates about the story, like the story if you're enjoying it so far, and leave a comment if you have thoughts!
The Chronicles of Daus: Arrival
I'm sure that many would think that my arrival in Ponyville was an experience that I will remember with fond memories forever, and that I enjoy thinking about it and reminiscing with Sparky and all our friends. They are not wrong. There have been many long nights where Sparky and our friends have stayed up recanting the tales of when I first arrived in the first place I could ever call home in Equus.
I, however, can never really enjoy the memories.
That particular memory always reminds me of the dream, and the sense of foreboding it brings. At the time I thought it was just a nightmare. My subconscious expressing the feelings of anxiety and helplessness I had. I awoke to the airship preparing to land in Ponyville and soon forgot about it. Now, however, rarely a week goes by where I am not reminded of it. Every time I have experienced it, I wake in a cold sweat, out of breath. It scared Sparky half to death the first time it happened after we got together. Previously I had been able to hide the... side effects... that it gives me, due to the fact that we had never slept in the same bed before. After that incident, though, she had demanded that I tell her what it was about and how often I was visited by the dream. It doesn't seem to follow any sort of pattern. Sometimes days will pass between episodes, sometimes years. The longest stretch I've gone between dreams was about two decades I think, and that was during my exile. Understandably, my mind was kept busy with other things. As to the nature of the dream... I'd rather not write it down where just anypony could read it. For all I know it could be nothing, but if it is important...
The only thing that I will say is that I get the feeling somepony or something is trying to warn me of something. Something terrible.
-Daus Skarr
*******
...smoke, fire, cries of anguish, the smell of death...
...had to keep going...
...so tired...
...bodies, bodies everywhere. Small ones, tall ones, furry ones, feathery ones. Some five times my size...
...all dead...
...all gone...
...
...
...had to keep going...
...had to reach the center...
...if they get there first all is lost...
...
...Daaaaaaaausssssssssss...
...
...Daaaaaaaaaaaaussssssssss...
...
...my name...
...the walls spoke it. My name. The walls and floor and ceiling, begging me to-
I woke with a gasp, covered in sweat. I scrambled out of bed. In my haste I got tangled in the sheets and fell to the floor were I lay, panting.
What was that!?
I'd had nightmares before, everyone has. This one though... it had felt so real.
As I lay on the cold wooden floor panting, I heard rummaging in the next room over and then a door open. I heard some one, presumably Twilight, scramble down the hall outside toward my door. After a short pause I heard a knock.
I lifted myself off the floor slightly and looked up at the door, "Who is it?"
"Um, Twilight," I heard a voice respond. After a short pause Twilight went on, "Are you alright?"
I shook my head groggily and started to untangle myself from the bed sheets. After a moment I said, "I'm fine, just fell out of bed."
I finished untangling myself from the bed and got up. After throwing on my shirt, I walked over to the door and opened it. Twilight stood before me with a nervous and slightly worried look on her face. After looking me over I could see the worry in her eyes grow. I must have look like a wreck.
She nodded towards the bed behind me and spoke in a worried tone, "I take it you didn't sleep well?"
I snorted and turned around. I massaged my chest as I walked back over to my bed and began to lace up my boots. Twilight walked in after me and stood near the door facing me with her arms folded. Her expression changed from worry to mischief as she said with a mock sympathetic voice, "Awww, is your chest hurting? Maybe its from the bruise that you got when you hit the railing on the ship."
I looked up and noticed her grinning. "You did that on purpose..." I grumbled in a low voice.
Twilight continued to mock me with a look of surprise. "Whaaaaaat? I was trying to save your life, not hurt you. I would never do such a thing to my date ."
And there it was. The reason for my less than gentle introduction to the port side railing last night. I rolled my eyes and said in an exasperated voice, "I had to come up with something. Saying that you where taking me to Ponyville while heading deeper into the city would have looked suspicious." I paused and continued a low voice, "Plus the look on your face was priceless."
"You embarrassed me in front on an entire street full of ponies!"
I shrugged and stood. Having finished with my boots, I moved over to my coat, which was draped over the desk chair opposite the bed. I paused before pulling it on and grinned at Twilight.
"Worth it," I said as I pulled on the long coat.
Twilight huffed and turned to leave. She stopped at the door and said over her shoulder, "We'll be setting down in Ponyville soon. I sent a letter ahead, so my friends will probably be waiting at the docks for us."
I nodded, "Looking forward to it." I paused and looked over at the desk built into the wall. I had used it to put all my stuff on, which wasn't much. It was the stuff I had had on me when I had been transported here. Just my headphones, phone, wallet, and some change. Not to mention the sword Luna had given me. I frowned before glancing back at Twilight who was waiting for me at the door. "You go ahead," said, "I meet you up top. I just need to... gather my things."
Twilight gave me a sad smile, nodded, and walked down the hall to the stairs leading up to the deck.
I sighed and turned back to the desk. After looking over my things for a moment I reached forward and picked up my phone. I held the power button in a futile attempt to turn it on. After waiting about a minute I frowned and placed it in my pocket. I had tried to turn it on last night as well but had met the same results. It's not like I could do much with an iphone in Equestria anyway. Hell, they didn't even have cell phones yet. Although, I'm sure Twilight would love to get her hands on it to study it. I saw her eyeing it last night, and I can only imagine the lure that alien technology had for her.
I grinned and shook my head. Maybe I could use it as a bargaining chip at some point. I picked up my headphones and snorted. Without my phone they were useless. They were Bose over ear headphone so they wouldn't fit in my pocket. After thinking about it for a bit I used the cord to tie the headset to one of my belt loops, wrapping the excess up and putting it in my pocket.
I turned back to the table and picked up my wallet, but hesitated before opening it. I knew what I wanted wasn't in there but...
I opened my wallet and searched it thoroughly. As I had suspected they weren't there. I had hoped that I had put a few pictures of my family in it but apparently not. I threw the wallet back on the table and sighed. I had never really thought about keeping something like that on me. I hadn't even talked to any of my family in almost a year. They probably didn't even know I was gone yet...
I could feel the break down coming, but I pushed it back. I wasn't that kind of person. I couldn't even remember the last time I cried. My life had been pretty bland since... whenever. I also like to think I was made of tougher stuff.
Although, I doubt that anyone has ever had to deal with what I'm dealing with right now
I pulled myself back together and gathered up the stuff I had pulled out of my wallet. Just some IDs, drivers license, credit card, and some paper money, which was useless now. I pocketed it along with the change and then turned to "my" sword.
It was simple in design, but I wasn't complaining. In the end any sword was just a really big knife capable of doing some serious damage. I could probably lop some one's arm off in one clean swipe with this thing. I picked it up. The straps and sash were still attached so fortunately for me all I had to do was slip it on over my head and tighten it. Once done I stood there for a moment. It felt... odd. Like I had a backpack on but without the bulk. I shrugged and turned to leave. I could probably just leave it in Twi's library hidden in the basement. I definitely didn't plan on using it.
Lastly I picked up the mask that Celestia had given me and pressed it into my face. After a second of my body shifting and sliding around I looked down and saw that I was once again a "pony". I shifted my sword sash around a bit to get it into a more comfortable position then walked out of my room.
The ship or "airship" we had boarded was large but not so large that I would get lost. It was made mostly of wood, which was odd. I had only ever seen metal ships in real life. Although, as ridiculous as a flying wooden ship was, a flying metal ship would probably look even weirder.
I walked through the gloomy lower decks of the ship in a daze. Half of me was disappointed that I was still here, and the other half... well... the other half was still trying to rationalize this as a dream. Although, that argument was looking weaker and weaker the longer I was here.
I finally reached the door to the deck of the ship, and, after a second of preparing myself, I swung the door open and walked out onto the deck.
I looked around for Twilight and spotted her on an upper deck across the main deck from me. I started walking across the main deck towards some stairs, dodging crew members securing supplies and equipment in preparation for landing. After moving across the deck and up the stairs I slowed a bit. I really wasn't looking forward to the view. It's not like I'm afraid of heights, but looking over the edge of a floating wooden ship and seeing the ground below was not a pleasant thought.
Also there was the sun. I lifted a hand to shield my eyes from the glare. It was just coming up over the horizon, but it was far brighter than I had ever seen it. Maybe the sun was just brighter here.
Twilight turned when she heard my footsteps, and frowned before saying, "Are humans normally this sensitive to light?"
I shook my head and said, "No, not usually. I always had good eyesight but never this good."
Twilight nodded and turned back to the railing before saying, "Well, it's either something that happened during your, um, transportation here, or uh..."
I couldn't really tell due to the glare from the sun. but Twilight seem to be shifting around nervously. I sighed and said in an exasperated tone, "Or? What else could possibly be wrong?"
Twilight continued to shift around nervously for a few more moments before answering, "Well, when you first got here we didn't really know what was wrong with you, sooooooooooooo... we just kind of tried to fix... everything."
I raised an eyebrow.
Twilight caught my look and grinned nervously before saying, "We must have healed your eyes a little too much."
"Yeah," I said wincing as a sliver of light got through my hand, "I think you might have."
Twilight turned to face me again and said, "I think I may have an idea on how to help." She motioned with her hand toward my face and I nodded, lowering my hand warily and closing my eyes. She fired up her horn and concentrated, whispering a few words under her breath. After a moment I felt the same warm, comforting feeling I had felt in the tower start to seep into my eyes. Then, after a moment, it was gone, leaving me slightly disappointed... and unnerved.
I hesitated for a second, lifting a hand to shield my eyes. Then I slowly opened them to find that my eye sight had returned to normal-ish. At the very least the sun wasn't going to burn my eyes out of my skull anymore.
When I caught the view however, all other thoughts flew from my mind.
I was looking down on Ponyville, and the view was... breathtaking.
Ponyville looked so peaceful and surreal I was having trouble taking it all in. I mean, I had watched the show, all four seasons that had come out so far, and just the fact that I was here ...
I gripped the railing, as if suddenly feeling the gravity of the situation. I was on a flying ship, talking to a fictional character from a kids TV show, and was about to land in Pony-
"Well? Did it work?"
Twilight interrupted my train of thought, and it was probably good that she did. Breaking down on a flying ship so close to the edge would most likely end badly. I lowered my hand and glanced at her for a moment before looking back at the rapidly approaching Ponyville below me. I took a deep breath before answering in a shaky voice, "Y-yeah, it worked. I can see fine now." I leaned over the railing and glimpsed a large network of wooden scaffolding and warehouses directly below us before squeazing my eyes shut. After a moment, I push off of the railing and took a few shaky steps toward the center of the ship.
I heard the sound of hooves behind me indicating that Twilight had followed me. I payed her no mind as I chose a spot in roughly the center of the deck and sat down. I leaned back on my hands and sprawled my legs out in front of me. Twilight remained standing for a moment before hesitantly sit down beside me. She reached out to touch my shoulder but I drew back, resisting her advance. For a moment her hand hung in the air before she withdrew it and shifted into a more comfortable position. I could feel the questions coming, but I did nothing to stop them. She already had the answers anyway.
"Are you going to be... ok?"
I shrugged before saying, "That depends."
After a pause Twilight asked, "On what?"
I shifted, looked directly at Twilight and said, "On how fast you and the other princesses can fix this."
Twilight drew back even further and said in a slightly hurt tone, "We didn't-I didn't do this on purpose. Had I known that I would be taking you away from your world-"
"You wouldn't have because you're a nice person and all that. Sure, I get it, and I'm extremely touched by your sympathy for me." I deadpanned before leaning back and staring up at the sky. I sighed before continuing, "However, that doesn't change the fact that I'm here and not back home finishing commissions, paying rent, buying food, doing the laundry." I looked down at the deck and frowned before grumbling, "This is extremely inconvenient. By the time I get back my landlord will probably have kicked me out anyway."
I turned back to Twilight to see that she had a confused expression on her face.
She shook her head before saying, "I'd have thought that you'd be freaking out over bigger things than your laundry. You did just cross over into a completely different world. A world that is filled with 'fictional species and magic', which, according to you, shouldn't be scientifically possible."
I gave her a dark look before saying, "Oh trust me, the freak out is coming. You'll probably find me drunk in the nearest bar not long after we land. And for the record, this whole jumping into another world thing is a lot weirder for me than for you. Plus you look much different on my computer than in person."
"What is that suppose to-"
Twilight was cut off as the deck beneath us lurched and came to an abrupt stop, almost sending me and Twilight sprawling. After regaining my bearings I stumbled to my feet, and moved to the edge of the ship.
We had landed in what looked like some kind of large cradle with support beams holding the ship just above the ground. Running along the side of the ship was a wooden walkway littered with tools and supplies presumably for whatever it takes to dock and unload a ship. Moving along these walkways were all sorts of ponies. Most of the ones on the walkway below where either unicorn or earth ponies. The pegasi seemed to prefer to fly above the throng rather than shift through them.
As I took in the crowd below me, a few sailors had opened up a section of railing to my right and begun to slide a gangplank down to a couple of ponies on the walkway. After securing it they began to unload some of the smaller things on the deck off the ship and in the direction of a large wooden and stone building that I presumed was a warehouse.
"Hey Daus!"
I glanced over at the gangplank and saw Twilight waving me over. I waved back and jogged to catch up with her as she descended to the walkway. After crossing the gangplank and catching up with Twilight we started toward the edge of the shipyard and the actual town of Ponyville. As we snaked our way through the sea of ships I was amazed by the shear variety of beings that I kept seeing. There were of course plenty of different kinds of ponies, this being Ponyville, but there were also plenty of creatures that I had seen already from the show. Zebras seemed to be the most abundant other than ponies and then after that griffons with some minotaurs mixed in.
After a while of walking I began to notice that the ships were becoming smaller and less abundant. I assumed because we were nearing the edge of the shipyard. This gave me a wider range of view, and allowed me to pick out a few buildings off in the distance that looked like they could be part of the actual town.
I leaned forward a bit to say to Twilight, "Hey Twilight."
"Hmmm?"
I paused for a moment to think about how to word my question. "Uh, about your friends... How much do they know about me?"
Twilight glanced back at me for a moment then responded, "Just what I sent in the letter. That your a friend of mine from Canterlot and that your coming to visit me in Ponyville for a while. Why?"
I fiddled with one of the straps on my sword sash, a habit I was falling into, and looked around nervously before saying, "Were you planning on telling them that I'm... um... not ."
Twilight frowned and felling into step beside me before asking, "Not what?"
I gave her a blank stare and waved my hand up and down my body in a vague gesture.
Twilight shrugged and said, "I don't see why it would be a problem. Of all the ponies in Equestria, they are the one's I trust the most. Other than maybe the princesses." Twilight paused and stared at the ground thinking. "Is it a problem for you?"
I moved out of the way of a pegasus on her way into the ship yard and jogged a bit to catch up with Twilight before saying, "Not really no, but I just down want to parade around the fact that I'm here. Isn't that the complete opposite of what we're trying to do?"
Twilight snorted and said, "My friends aren't going to 'parade' around the fact that your here."
I grimaced and mumbled, "I can think of one who would..."
Twilight flicked her ear at me and grinned before saying, "If you mean Pinkie Pie, then you can rest assured that she won't be doing anything too crazy. I asked that she didn't in my letter, and if anything gets to out of hand I'll rein her in."
I raised an eyebrow and asked, "Really? And how exactly does one 'rein in' a Pinkie Pie? I've seen what she can do."
It was Twilight's turn to raise and eyebrow now. She stopped and turned to face me with an intrigued expression on her face.
"And just how-"
"SURPRISE!"
I jumped as I felt a furry arm wrap itself around me and squish me and Twilight together in a hug. Me and Twilight squirmed around for a second before being released by who ever had snuck up on us. I spun around, trying to catch sight of the pony, only to get spun around again by a pinkie and yellow blur. When I had regained my bearings I found that Pinkie Pie had my hands in her furry grip and was bouncing up and down in front of me.
"HI! Welcome to Ponyville! I'm Pinkie Pie Twilight's friend but I'm sure Twilight already told you that did she tell you that she said I couldn't use any fireworks?! I know right! It's horrible how can I welcome you to Ponyville without any fireworks?! Did she tell you how I welcomed her to Ponyville it was great and how can I feel good about welcoming you to Ponyville if I don't do the same thing but I can't because Twilight said she didn't want to attract attention but I feel so bad so I figured-"
"Pinkie, pu-lease you're going to scare the poor stallion off."
Just as I thought it would never end, Pinkie let go of my hand and stepped back.
It was just the two of them, Rarity and Pinkie Pie. Pinkie had on a yellow shirt with black spandex shorts. An odd combination, but I suppose it afforded her the rage of motion that she needed. Her being the way she is. True to the show, she had a mane and tail the color and consistency of dark pink cotton candy. For a moment I thought it strange that she wore no shoes but then remembered the hooves. In fact, the only one around sporting any kind of hoof wear was Rarity. She had on a pair of purple... horse shoes? It was hard to tell, and I didn't want to look weird by ogling her "feet". Other than the shoes, she had on a pure white dress with purple edging and two columns of four purple buttons on the abdomen. Her her mane and tail were curled and had a purple hue the same color as the trim on her dress. Intentional I'm sure. Finally, in keeping with her color scheme, she had a purple umbrella with so much frill it would probably be more of a hindrance than a help in the rain.
I looked around for a moment before frowning and saying, "Not to sound rude, but I was expecting more than just the two of you."
Pinkie Pie seemed to deflate a little at my words, but I recovered quickly, "Not that I don't appreciate the welcome. It's just that Twilight has told me all about how she has so many friends here in Ponyville, and I was looking forward to meeting them all."
Pinkie immediately gained back all her energy as she started to bounce up and down again in excitement, "Oh, don't worry about that! We're all going to have a welcome to Ponyville party tonight at Twilight's library. Just like I did for Twilight!"
Alarm bells started to go off in my head as Pinkie started to explain her plans for tonight. I didn't mind the gesture, but truth be told I didn't really like parties that much. I'd gone to a few back in college (who hadn't), but I'd never really enjoyed them that much. Too much noise for me.
I glanced over at Twilight, but she was laughing along with Rarity and Pinkie over something. I'd have to say something before things got out of hand.
"Um, Pinkie?" Pinkie and the rest stopped talking for a moment to look at me. I shuffled around for a moment, suddenly uncomfortable with all three of them look at me. I steeled myself before saying, "I appreciate you throwing this party for me and all, but... uh... could you... not."
Rather than being sad, as I had figured she would be, Pinkie just looked confused. For a moment she stood there with a perplexed look on her face before asking, "What do you mean, 'not'? Everyone loves a party, and I throw one for everyone that comes to Ponyville."
I rolled my eyes, "Come on, everyone?"
"Yep"
She stood there smiling. I turned to Rarity and Twilight, but they just shrugged.
"It's true," Rarity chimed in, "I'm not sure how, but she has managed to throw a party for everyone who comes to Ponyville ever since she moved here from her parents."
I shook my head and turned back to Pinkie, who was still giving me an innocent smile, and, seeing that I wouldn't be able to dissuade her, said with a sigh, "Alright, but keep it small. Only the mane s-, I mean, Twilight's closest friends." I silently cursed myself for my slip up. That would have been difficult to explain.
Pinkie didn't seem to have noticed, having gone back to her explanation of the party, but Twilight was giving me a look, a look I was trying my best to avoid. Which wasn't really that hard. Not with Pinkie bouncing around in front of me.
"Excuse me!"
We all turned to look at a tall (for ponies) stallion with a black coat and golden colored mane walking towards us and waving. He had on gear similar to the guards I had seen roaming around Canterlot the other night, and was also equip with a short sword just like the guards I had already seen. As far as stature goes he had muscle but didn't look all that tough.
I glanced over to Twilight. She looked a little worried but not to the point of running... yet.
The stallion kept walking towards us and yelled, "Could you move, please! You're blocking the walkway!"
We all glanced around, and, sure enough, we had caused the entrance to the shipyard to become a little congested. Not many ponies were complaining, we were with a princess, but a few of the other races that were moving in and out of the shipyard looked slightly annoyed at the obstruction we were causing.
We turned and started to walk further towards Ponyville, Twilight turning to apologize to the guard. After a bit of small talk, and Rarity formally introducing herself, I asked again about the rest of Twilight's closest friends.
"Oh," Rarity paused for a moment to think, "I believe that Rainbow Dash had weather duty today, and Applejack couldn't get away from her families farm long enough to come."
I frowned, "And Fluttershy?"
Rarity's smile faltered for a moment before she said, "I... believe she had some things to... take care of at her cottage."
I smiled knowingly, "Discord?"
Rainbow Dash snorted aggressively and Rarity said with a grimace, "Ah, so you know about our... guest."
I could almost here Twilight roll her eyes behind me as she spoke up, "What did he do this time?"
"He moved everything around in my shop!" Rarity stomped her hoof in frustration, "It took me a week to find all the things he had misplaced! And of course the moment I accused him of anything he just ran back to Fluttershy complaining about how 'difficult his life is'!"
I laughed and asked, "Is he coming to the party tonight as well?"
"Oh, I should think not!" Rarity said, "The last time I went to a party with him, I woke up the next day with my mane dyed green. GREEN!"
Pinkie skipped ahead a bit and turned to face us, "Awwwww, but his parties are always so fun!"
As the other three continued to go back and forth, I walked next to them in silence. The entire thing felt... strange. Of the four seasons that I had, grudgingly, seen, there was always a plot or... point to the episode. Rarely were there ever times when the characters ever just... talked, and as I continued to walk with the others the atmosphere continued to feel increasingly more casual. I'm not sure what I was expecting when I got to Ponyville, but I had definitely expected there to be a problem. One that only I could solve. That is normally how this works. In any show. New person shows up, said new person is introduced to support characters, said new person is introduced to problem, and then said new person solves said problem. Unless you count the Arbiter, and apparently he couldn't get to me in Ponyville, I had yet to find any problem. None that I could take care of anyway. Really the only thing that I could do was wait. Wait for the princesses to find me a way back home, and as I walked, listening and occasionally laughing along with the others, I started to think that wouldn't be such a bad thing.
Author's Note
Alright, I know its been a while, but here's another chapter. This story isn't dead, not even close. I've just been adjusting to college life and my new scheduled. I'll probably get a few more out between now and Hearth Warming Eve (oh look a pony reference), along with a special around that time.
Until then keep on keeping on.
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The Chronicles of Daus: Arrival
Entry #6 - Welcome to Ponyville!... whoever you are?
No one, to this day, throws a party like Pinkie Pie. I know, I've been to plenty of them. I've also been to plenty of parties that Pinkie didn't organize, and I can say right now that it's not the same. Many would disagree, and say that their patented Pinkie Party Package will make it feel like she's actually there, but it won't. It can't. It just can't. The first party that I went to that Pinkie threw was, of course, my Welcome To Ponyville party that she threw for me when I first arrived. However, even Pinkie Pie needs time to prepare a good party, so we had to hang out around town until dusk to go to Sparky's old library. Where the party was being held. So after getting off the airship we decided to waste some time and eat at Sugarcube Corner, plus me and Twilight hadn't eaten breakfast yet.
On the way there nothing particularly interesting happened. We just talked about normal things. Things that I would probably have talked to my friends about back on earth. What was going on in town, that mare down the street had been with that stallion, and other typical things.
And that might have been the first moment that I had really felt... comfortable... in Equus.
Which is strange, right? Twilight tried so hard make me comfortable those first few months (She even almost bought me a house!), but really all in took was a nonchalant short walk and a casual conversation.
Funny... the small things usually turn out to be the ones you remember most.
-Daus Skarr
*******
It was a modest party, if what I had seen in the show was anything to go on. Pinkie had kept her word and only invited the mane six and, much to Rarity's displeasure, Discord. As far as he was concerned, the show gave a fairly accurate description of him. He was eccentric and annoying, but I liked him. He hadn't turned me into anything... unpleasant... yet anyway.
"Daus! Come over here! We were just about to play a game I myself invented."
I was standing next to the food table talking to Applejack about her farm when I heard Discord yell at me from across the room. I glanced over and saw Discord floating in the air with a large bucket of water below him. Pinkie had her head in the water and was moving it around as if she were bobbing for apples.
I excused myself from Applejack and started to move around her, but before I could she reached up and grabbed my shoulder.
"Hold on there, sugar cube," she had turned to look at the bucket as well, "Let's just watch a moment."
I looked back to the bucket and watched. After a few more moments of bobbing, a tentacle reached out of the water and wrapped itself around Pinkie's head and started to drag her into the bucket. Pinkie jerked her head back, and after a brief struggle, pulled the octopus out of the water. Having won the tug of war, Pinkie bounced around showing of the octopus to Fluttershy and Rarity, who had been watching warily from close by.
I shook my head at Pinkie's antics and yelled back, "No thanks!"
Discord floated over to the food table with a bored frown on his face, "Oh come now my dear fellow. You've hardly done anything but stand around and drink punch the entire night. This party is for you after all."
I shrugged and took another sip from my cup, "It's good punch."
Discord scoffed, "Oh punch smunch, this is a party! I would hate to have to tell Pinkie that you're not having fun..."
"Someone's not having fun!?"
Pinkie appeared out of nowhere and gasped. I sighed and shot Discord a piercing look before turning to Pinkie, "Sorry no. Discord was mistaken. Nobody is not having fun."
Pinkie scrunched her nose and a look of concentration came over her, "So... nobody isn't having fun?"
"Exactly, nobody is-" I pause and thought about it for a moment before silently cursing myself, "Everyone is having fun."
"Awwww, but I haven't seen you play any games yet." Pinkie paused for a moment to think, "I know!" Pinkie grabbed me by the arm and started to drag me over to another table full of different games and props. Once she had gotten to the table, and I had spilled the remainder of my drink down the front of myself, she began to look through the party games that she had brought. While she was doing that the rest of the mane six had noticed me being dragged across the room and walked over to see what was going on.
I glanced around at their questioning faces for a moment then and started to look for something to clean myself with.
"Oh, darling what have you done to yourself?" Rarity lite her horn up and began to clean my shirt with a spell, "And what exactly is Pinkie doing?"
I shrugged and said, "Apparently, we're all going to play a game."
"A game?" Twilight asked with a confused look, "It's already eleven thirty, and I have a report that's due tomorrow."
I rolled my eyes, "Don't be ridiculous. You're a princess. Just tell them it'll be late."
Twilight got an affronted look on her face, "Just because I'm a princess doesn't mean I can blow off the ambassador of-"
"Found it!"
Pinkie cut off Twilight with a yell as she flourished around a small box of cards about the size of my hand.
"Pinkie, I really don't think-"
"Come on Twi, lighten up!" Rainbow Dash landed behind Twilight and spoke with the kind of confidence that only she could muster, "It's only one game. It'll be over pretty quick."
Twilight looked around at everyone before sighing and bowing her head in defeat, "Fine."
"Yay!" Pinkie cheered and opened the box of cards, reading the rules off the back of the box in the process. "Oooooooohkay, the rules are simple..."
***
There are many games that I would enjoy playing at a party. However, most of them would involve some form of alcohol, of which this party seemed to be lacking. Which I thought was odd, in and of itself, but I didn't question it. That left a scant few party games that I could think would be appropriate for a group a mature, adult... people... to play at a party. Needless to say, I was not expecting what Pinkie had in store for us.
"Truth: If you had to chose one pony from those playing to be your one friend, who would it be? Dare: Chug your drink and go get another."
We were playing Truth or Dare, with a twist. You have to chose from the options that your card gives you.
...*sigh*
"Well, " Rarity placed her freshly drawn card at the bottom of the deck and began to reshuffle the cards, "I think that I will be going with the dare-"
"Not fair!" Rainbow leapt up in protest, "We aren't even drinking cider!"
Rarity calmly placed the newly shuffle deck of cards back on the table before responding, "Rules are rule Rainbow dear. It doesn't ever say the drink has to cider, or even alcoholic in nature at all." Rarity pushed her chair back and stood with a yawn, "Although it is getting rather late, and I don't relish the thought of drinking so much punch before bed." She picked up her cup of punch and started walking over to the refreshments table while saying over her shoulder, "Twilight dear, how much longer are we going to play?"
"Whaa?" Twilight jerked awake, having fallen asleep since her last turn, "Oh, um, I suppose we could do one more pony."
She glance around sleepily before her eyes lit upon me, "Daus, it's your turn next I guess."
I gave her a dark look before saying, "No no no, we can end it here. I'm sure that everyone would rather-"
"Nice try sugarcube," Applejack cut me off before I could finish, "But I'm sure we can all stay awake for one more card."
Rainbow jumped in with a smirk, "Yeah besides, it's your party. You might as well finish it."
I gave both of them the same dark look I'd given Twilight, but all I got in return were a couple of shrugs and poorly concealed smiles.
I sighed before reaching for the deck Rarity had place back on the table. After drawing a card I looked it over and read allowed, "Truth: What city were you born in? Dare: Turn your mane green."
I blinked a few times then shook my head with a small smile, "Well since Truth hasn't steered me wrong yet I suppose I'll go with it." I replaced the card and reached for the box that they came in, "I was born in Canterlot of cou-OUCH!"
I flung the cards away from me as I felt a searing hot pain erupt from hand. I leaned back in my chair and began to rub the affected area, cursing under my breath, "What the heck was that?" I glanced up and saw everyone in the room, minus Discord, who was floating near the ceiling asleep, staring at me with wary looks on their faces, "What?"
Applejack was the first to speak, "Them cards got an enchantment on them that's suppose to catch you when you lie, and apparently, you just did."
"What?!" I glanced around at everyone else, who all seemed to be agreeing with Applejack. With the exception of Twilight of course. No one had noticed her yet, but she had a half curious, half worried look on her face. However, she wasn't talking, so I wasn't getting any help from her.
I half stood with an irritated look on my face, "That's just plain dangerous! What if a kid got a hold of those cards?!"
They all looked at each other with confused looks before Applejack responded, "Uh, sorry but, what's a kid?"
I face palmed. Of course, they don't have "kids" here. What did they call them again...?
"Uuuuuuuh, " I search for the word in my head, "You know a kid. Child? Offspring?"
"Ooooooooooooh," they all gave off a collecting noise of realization.
Applejack shrugged, "I guess it"ll teach 'em not to go messin' with magic they don't understand, but that's beside the point." Applejack narrowed her eyes, "Why'd you lie? It's not like it's a big deal."
"Yeah mister!" Rainbow Dash almost jumped out of her seat in her haste to chastise me, "So spill it!"
I was about to respond with an extremely clever comment which drew upon my vast knowledge of colorful language when Rarity returned to the table, "Rainbow please, if he doesn't wish to tell us then he doesn't have to. There was more than just one option to chose from. Although," Rarity seemed to be remembering something unpleasant, "I would suggest just coming clean. A green mane would simply clash horribly with that jacket of yours."
I grimaced, "Fine I'll do the dare."
At this Twilight started awake again and glanced around quickly. Pinkie, having notice Twilight's odd reaction, bounced over to her and said, "What's up Twi? Having a bad dream?"
"No Pinkie I'm fine, but..." she turned to face me, "I think you should go with the truth."
I blinked a few times in surprise, "Um, no Twi. It would take a long time to explain where I'm from. I'd rather just go to bed tonight with a green... mane , " I almost chocked over the word.
"Um, no," Twilight stood to look me eye to eye (or as eye to eye as she could get), "I really think you should just tell the truth."
I frowned at her. What was her deal? "No, just turn my mane green."
"I can't do that Daus, " Twilight looked a little frustrated by now, "Just tell the truth and we can explain in the morning."
"Really?" I pointed a thumb at the remaining ponies, who were watching our exchange with bated breath, "You think this bunch is just going to wait around ten or so hours for an explanation?"
"Well," Rarity said under her breath, "Certainly not now."
Twilight stomped her hoof on the ground, "Just tell the truth and I'm sure they'll wait as long as I ask them to!"
Rainbow laughed, "Sure, whatever you say Twi."
Twilight turned to growl at Rainbow, but then I had an idea, "Hey!" I yelled up at the resident lord of chaos, "Discord!"
Twilight's eyes widened when she realized my plan. Meanwhile, Discord had opened one eye and was looking down at me with a mildly baleful expression.
"Oh?" he yawned and stretched, "Done with your little game are we?"
I waited a few more seconds for Discord to unwind himself before continuing, "Not quite, there's just one more thing before it's over." I paused for a moment and glanced at Twilight. Surprisingly, she didn't look mad. In fact, it almost looked like she was pleading with me, but I was tired and not in any kind of mood to be reasoned with. I looked back up at Discord and said, "I need you to turn my mane green."
Discord raised an eyebrow and glanced between me and Twilight. After a second he laughed and did a back flip, "Oh!" He continued to laugh, "You certainly are an interesting one!" He stopped suddenly and looked down at me again with a slightly dejected look on his face, "However, I cannot."
"What?!" I was starting to get a little annoyed now, "Of course you can! Your Discord! Lord of Chaos! Ring any bells!"
Discord just stared down at me with a bored expression, "Oh don't worry my bells are sufficiently rung." I rolled my eyes, "However, Twilight here," Discord motioned with one hand to Twilight, "Made me promise not to use any magic to... how did she put it?" He waved a third hand that he had conjured from nowhere in a circular motion then snapped his fingers, "Oh I remember now!" Suddenly a miniature Twilight appeared out of nowhere and yelled, "...alter the composition of a pony because you think their hair could be used to 'catch leprechauns'!"
The miniature Twilight disappeared and we all turned to look at Rainbow Dash.
"Jeez," she turned away from us with a blush on her face, "It isn't that bad..."
I groaned, "Listen, I don't really care what she told you to do. I just need you to turn my mane green, and then we can all go home and go to bed."
Discord stroked his beard thoughtfully, "Hmmmm... tempting..."
"Discord!"
"Oh please Twilight, the only reason you don't want me to turn his mane green is because you have something riding on this." He gave her an intrigued look, "Which is very interesting and all, but..." He sighed, "Oh all right! I suppose I could sully my impeccable track record this one time, so..." With a flourish and a snap of his fingers Discord turned my mane green.
...or at least I think he did. The moment he snapped his fingers my vision was reduced to two small holes directly in front of my eyes. Almost as if I were wearing a mask...
I started and reached up to feel my face and, sure enough, I could feel the mask that Celestia had given me the other day sitting on my face as if I had been wearing it the whole time. I pulled it off and looked down at it for a moment before looking up at Twilight and then the rest of the group. Twilight had a blank look on her face, although I doubted it would be there for long. The rest of the group ranged from Rarity's horrified shock to Discord's surprised curiosity, and all of them foretold a long and sleepless night.
I raised my hands in front of me as if to ward off the questions, "I can explain."
And then Fluttershy screamed.
***
After Fluttershy screamed all hell broke loose, and it took all Twilight had to calm down the others. Thankfully Discord just floated above the chaos following me around with his eyes, a curious look on his face. The others were much more difficult to deal with. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash immediately took off, the latter trying to fly out the door, and when Twilight bared it with magic, a window. Twilight just barely managed to grab her tail and dragged her back in before she could yell for all of Ponyville to hear that the "Changelings were invading again." Fluttershy just drifted up to the ceiling and cowered there.
Much to my surprise the moment the chaos started Applejack leapt across the table and acquainted my face with her fist. Now, I'd like to think that I was a pretty solid guy, but the moment she hit me my legs turned to jelly and I was sent sprawling, only just barely avoided a cupcake that Pinkie had thrown. I probably would have taken another hit to, had Twilight not frozen everyone with a spell, having finished subduing Rainbow Dash.
"EVERYPONY CALM DOWN!"
Twilight stood in the middle of the fray breathing heavily. She took and deep breath and closed her eyes, bringing a hand to her chest. In a slow exaggerated motion, she moved her hand away from her chest and exhaled at the same time. After a moment she opened her eyes. Having regained some of her composure she pointed to me and said in a calm voice, "He is not a changeling."
Her eyes roamed over the room coming to rest on Rainbow Dash and lingering there for a moment before she closed her eyes again, "Alright, does everypony understand? He is no threat to anyone in this room."
I wouldn't say anyone ... but that may just be my jaw talking.
After everyone grunted in acknowledgement Twilight let her spell fade away.
"Damn," I shakily got to my feet, "You didn't have to hit me that hard."
I glanced over sideways at Applejack. To her credit, she did look a little guilty.
"Sorry 'bout that Sugarcube, I guess I still got it out for the changelings after what happened in Canterlot." She gave me a wary smile, "No hard feelins?"
I rubbed my jaw and winced, "As long as you can keep your hands to yourself."
"Aw don't be like that!" She slapped me on the back, adding to my growing collection of bruises, "Least you know how to take a hit! First time me an' Dash here got in a tussle, she leaned into it!" She chuckled at the memory, "Didn't think ah'd ever hear the end of it from Fluttershy. Put Dash in the hospital for a week!"
Said cyan pegasus had been slowly circling us as we had be talking, taking in every inch of me. Not finding me to be as threatening as she had previously believed, she landed in front of me and stuck her face in mine forcing me to lean back. After a moment she snorted and pulled back, "Even if you aren't a changeling, what are you? I've never seen anything like you before, and I've been to Schunie!"
Rarity suddenly spoke up, "Weren't you two at the time dear?"
Rainbow Dash brushed her wing at Rarity in what I can only believe to be a dismissive manner, "Eh, I'm pretty sure even if I had been that young I would have remembered what one of these guys looked like."
"Rainbow!"
Rainbow turned to Twilight, "Chill out Twi it's not like I'm insulting him or anything." Rainbow suddenly turned to look at me with a sheepish look on her face, "Uhh... I'm not am I?"
I grinned, "Under the circumstances, I think I can let that one slide."
Rainbow immediately regained her confident exterior, "Yeah see-"
Rarity cut Rainbow off again, "Darling, maybe you could let our guest speak a little now?"
Rainbow shut her mouth and glanced around the room. Everyone, with the exception of Discord, who was continuing to give me a passively curious look, was looking at her with a slightly impatient look on their face. Even Fluttershy was peeking through her hands at me from the top of the library. Rainbow's face reddened a little and she retracted her wings and stepped a little away from me.
I continued to grin as I watched her embarrassment. Every single one of them was exactly as the show had portrayed them... and I found that amusing. I scowled quickly at that thought. I may be stuck here for a little bit, but that doesn't mean I have to enjoy it. Although... they were starting to grow on me.
...and I'm going to shut down that particular train of thought before it can derail itself.
Suddenly I noticed that everyone in the room had been staring at me expectantly for a while, and I think that more than a few of them had caught the dark looks I had been giving off.
I cleared my throat hastily to break the tension, "Your all going to want to pull up a chair, because this... will take a while."
Author's Note
None of the chapters from here on out will be as long as Canterlot Nights , not unless I feel particularly inspired.
Anyway, here's another chapter. The next one will be filler, but the one after that will probably be the Christmas special. It'll advance the actual plot some, and then I can get to the real meat of the story.
The Chronicles of Daus: Arrival
Entry #7 - Five Months Later
The first few months were hard. Probably the hardest of my entire life, and I've been around the block a few times. I was not happy with being in Equestria, but I never really came out and said it outright. Sparkly would spring questions on me at unexpected times. Probably trying to catch me off guard and get the true out of me, but I was good. I keep my mouth shut, walked a straight line, acted like I was just waiting for the situation to resolve itself, but it was a lie. I wasn't even able to tell myself the true. I had always enjoyed a cold one now and then back on earth, but when I first got to Equus... it turned into a problem. Rarely a night would go by that I wasn't coming back to the library with some kind of alcohol in me. Sparky tolerated it. Probably because she thought it was normal... at first.
Then the pills. I told her I was having trouble sleeping. Then it was I was having trouble getting up. Taking upers and downers at the same time was bad and I knew it, but I didn't care and Sparky didn't have the resolve to stand up to me until after... it happened. I'm not proud of it. I never will be. I'm lucky that AJ was walking into town when she was and saw me, or I might not be here to wright this today.
She was there for me, but I wasn't there for her... I'll never forgive myself for not being there for her...
-Daus Skarr
*******
Ponyville was an interesting place to live, even by Equesria's standards. Apparently it was one of the only places in Equestria that had a fairly balanced population of unicorn, pegasi, and earth ponies and no outstanding problems between the three. There was, of course, the occasional scuffle between an earth pony and pegasus, but I get the impression that that was more of a rivalry kind of thing, and they always worked it out in the end.
The zebras were scattered around Ponyville and generally got along with their pony neighbors. Although I did notice that they kept to themselves most of the time and only ever got out to get food or other things from the store. The other two species that lived in ponyville were the minotaurs and the griffins. They all lived on the northeast edge of the town in a neighborhood that seemed solely dedicated to them. The minotaurs because they were too big to fit in any of the buildings that were in the main part of town, and the griffins because they didn't really "get along" with their more equine neighbors. When I asked Twilight about it she just said the two had bad history.
Yet, nothing ever came of it. The only thing in ponyville that seemed to stir up trouble on a regular basis was a group of kids that ran around trying to get there "cutie marks", and I was sure to stay clear of them. I'd seen what they could do.
The general atmosphere of the town was a relaxed one. The residents seemed perfectly fine with the status quo. Almost to the point where it was boring. You'd think that a place with magic and several immortal beings would be more... lively... but apparently not.
I really only had one complaint-
*knock knock knock*
Every morning.
"It's time to get up Daaaaaaaaaaaus~"
She did this every morning at the crack of dawn, which was a weird occurrence in and of itself, but still... every morning .
I rolled over and stayed quiet hoping that she would take the hint and go away.
"If you don't get up and answer the door I'm going to come in there and drag you out of bed!"
I moaned in response. I knew she wouldn't. In the couple months that I'd been here she never had followed through. Although, recently she had started to fly outside and open the curtains with her magic.
"You have five seconds!"
I moaned again.
"Four!"
I rolled over so that my back was to the door again.
"Three!"
She wouldn't , I told my self.
"Two!"
Any second she'd going to stamp her hoof and demand for me to open the door-
"One, times up!"
I rolled my eyes and shifted around to get more comfortable. Then I heard the, by now, familiar wine of magic and the lock on my door *click*.
I rolled over to face the door with a surprised look on my face. It slowly swung open to reveal Twilight standing behind it with a slightly abashed but triumphant look.
Twilight stood there staring at me for a few seconds before her look of triumph slowly slipped off her face to be replaced by a frown, " Well?"
I raised an eyebrow, "Well what?"
Twilight crossed her arms, "Get up."
I continued to look at her for a few moments then snorted and rolled over again.
"Daus!" I heard Twilight stamp her hoof then sigh, "Breakfast is ready, and you had better be down to eat it before it gets cold."
I heard Twilight turn and leave, leaving my door open. I sighed and threw my blanket off me. I might as well get up. Twilight hadn't really done much to get me up. I had already been awake.
I stumbled out of bed and grumble about the cold air all the way to the door and then to the guest bathroom. Celestia hadn't been kidding when she said I was ill equip for their winters. I doubt it had gone above freezing in a week. Of course, I could just check the weather schedule, and while I didn't appreciate the cold weather, it was convenient to know what the weather was scheduled to be like ever day.
I took a quick shower and got dressed for the day. Slag pants and shirt, wool socks and a beanie to keep my head warm, some meds for the morning, and finally I pulled on and began to lace up my boots. They had held up surprisingly well. The treated leather was supple and waterproof, and then the soft fabric and rubber soles made sure that my feet remained comfortable throughout the day, even in the heavy snow that seemed to cover everything outside.
I finished with my shoes and stood, grabbing my jacket off my bedpost as I did. The thing was a life saver. I don't know what Celestia had done to it but I never seemed to be cold when I wore it. Twilight had examined it for me and tried to explain the enchantments once, but I was lost within seconds.
I grabbed my gloves off my bed stand and walked over to the door, shoving them in my pocket as I did. When I opened the door I could faintly hear Twilight lecturing Spike about something downstairs. Knowing her, it was probably on how microwaves work or something to that degree. I had learned not to ask many questions around her. The second night I had been here she had gone on about in door plumbing for an hour.
I walked down the stairs and into the kitchen just in time to catch Spike give me a pleading look. I avoided his gaze and sat down in front of the plate of pancakes that had been left for me.
"Good morning Daus. How'd you sleep?"
I grumbled, "Well enough, until someone broke into my room at six in the morning."
Twilight smiled, "Good to see your humor is still intact." She turned to Spike, "Spike, what's on the schedule for today?"
I poured a generous amount of syrup on my pancakes and dug in as spike pulled out a piece of parchment and started to read off the days schedule.
"Well," he paused to read, "Apparently the cultures you've been growing have finished, so you have the morning set aside to study them. Then your having lunch with Rarity and Applejack. After that you have a meeting with the mayor to discuss a revision of the learning..." he paused and squinted at the paper, "cirric... cirric... cirricu-"
"Curriculum," Twilight finished for him.
"Right. That." He focused on the paper again and began to read, " And then you have two hours devoted to studying the new political structure of Equestria and it's effects on the griffin empire. Then for the rest of the day it just says research, " he lowered the paper and gave Twilight a quizzical look, " Research what?"
Twilight took a moment to respond, "I'm researching a possible solution in getting Daus home."
I stop with my fork halfway to my mouth, "You think you've got something?"
Twilight squirmed in her seat and wouldn't look at me. "Well," she went on, "I think that I might have found a possibility, but only a possibility. I'm not sure it'll work or not."
I felt a smile spread across my face and I continued eating, "That's great Twi! Even if it is a possibility. It's progress."
Twilight smiled at me and said, "Yeah, I guess..."
I continued to eat, elated that Twilight might have finally found a way to send me back. I knew that it probably wouldn't pan out, but I could still hope...
I finished eating and took my dishes over to the sink where Spike was washing them. After depositing them there I walked back into the main area of the library. Twilight had finished before me and was already in the main area reading some notes she had made for herself.
She glanced up when she heard me enter and motioned for me to follow before looking back down at her notes, "Come on. I need more blood samples for some studies I'm running." After a moment she frowned and started to walk over to the basement where she kept her lad equipment.
I hesitantly followed. The last time she had needed blood samples she had had to stick me five times to get the needle in right. FIVE! When I had asked if she had done anything like it before she had just mumbled something about a degree from some academy in Canterlot and rush me out of the basement.
Not exactly the kind of treatment I expect from the only one on this planet that knows enough about me to save my life if I get sick.
...then again, I'm not paying for any of it... government healthcare amiright?
"Um, hey Twi?" She stopped and turned to give me a questioning look just before she went into the basement, "Don't you think that we should go to an actual doctor to get that done rather than... well..." I motioned behind her with a vague hand gesture.
Twilight scoffed and turned to go into the basement, "There won't be any need for that. I am just as qualified as any doctor to perform as simple a procedure as drawing blood. Furthermore, I find it extremely discouraging that..."
I shook my head as Twilight disappeared into the darkness of her basement with nothing but her horn to light the way. I glanced behind me at spike, but he was supposedly too busy getting the library read to open to come to my rescue. Although, I thought I caught him glancing over at me a few times. I suppose this is payback for leaving him to Twilight at breakfast.
I sighed and stepped into the basement, shutting the door behind me. Twilight had turned on the lights at the bottom of the stairs and was busy getting her equipment ready. She moved with the practiced grace of one who had spent many a sleepless night in here slaving away at her various research projects. And she had. While Spike seemed to have built up a tolerance for some of the louder noises that come from down here late at night, I had yet to learn his secrets. I had been force to drag Twilight to bed more than a few times under the pretense of "my damn headache".
Twilight looked up when I reached the bottom of the stairs and nodded towards a chair in the center of the room, "Go ahead and sit. I be ready in a second."
I nervously walked over to the chair she had indicated and sat down. Glancing around at the various work stations she had setup around the basement. Every time I came down here I was always impressed by her lab. I had always had a soft spot for sciency stuff like this. Probably why I was almost a scientist myself, before the art bug got me.
My thought were interrupted by Twi rolling a cart over next to me. On it were an assortment of medical tools that you'd see in any doctors office. They seemed to be normal at least, and Twi wasn't acting too suspicious...
I looked at Twilight. She had somehow acquired a doctors gown. The white ones that go to there knees. I can't imagine it had any significance other than to make her feel more professional.
As Twilight started to pull on some latex gloves I spoke up, "You know," I paused, "I thought only doctors could wear those."
Twilight stopped and looked down at herself before huffing, "I told you. I am a doctor. I got my degree for the Lunar Institute of Scientific Knowledge and Learning in Canterlot."
Twilight stuck her chest out in pride, but I just shrugged, "So you say..."
Twi seemed to deflate a little at that and grumbled all through the rest of her preparations. Once she was ready she motioned for me to give her my arm. I sighed and slipped it out of my jacket and rolled my sleeve up before presenting it to her.
Twilight, none to gently, grabbed my arm with her magic and tightly tied off an elastic cord above my elbow to increase the blood pressure in my arm. When she noticed me wincing she snorted and said in a mock tone, "Oh? I'm sorry, but maybe you'd like an actual doctor to make sure in tied the knot correctly?"
Sensing that I'd pushed her a little too much I grimaced against the discomfort in my arm and said, "Relax Twi. Even if you're not a doctor you're the only one I'd let treat me anyway. I haven't forgotten that you're the one who kept me alive when I first got here, and are the only one who has had any chance at studying my anatomy while I've been here. I wouldn't want some doctor to go and cut off my arm because he can't figure out what's wrong with my hand. So just... it was a joke."
Twilight seemed to relax at my words and her expression softened. I glanced up at her and grinned, "But you still look ridiculous in that thing."
Twilight sighed and smiled. Reaching over me she loosened to cord around my arm at the same time saying, "It's just one joke after another with you. Do you take anything seriously?"
I thought for a moment while Twilight got the needle ready, "Food and sleep," Twilight rolled her eyes, "and- ah!"
While I had been thinking Twilight had stuck the needle into my arm, successfully getting the vein in one try. I looked down at the needle in surprise as in started to draw the blood out of me, "And my friends."
Twilight looked down at me with a smug look on her face. I just shrugged and stayed quiet.
After she had gotten all that she could Twi retracted the needle from my arm and walked off to store it in one of her machines. I sat and watched as she worked, thinking.
"Twi?"
"Hmm?"
I shifted in my seat nervously, "At breakfast you mentioned that you might have found a way to send me home?"
Twilight paused for a moment before resuming her work. She was quiet for a minute before answering, "I think I may have found a possibility."
I waited for her to go on, but she remained silent.
"And?"
Twilight sighed before going on, "It's a long shot and far from completion-"
I interrupted her, "But it could work?"
Twilight finished storing my blood and turned around. She had a sad look on her face, and when she spoke...
I slumped back in the chair a little, "You can't do it."
Twilight rushed forward, "No! It isn't that I can't! It's just that..."
She let out a noise of frustration and stamped her hoof, "It's the orb."
I frowned, "The what?"
Twilight moved over to one of her desks and pulled out a drawling eerily similar to the one I had been working on just before waking up here in this world. She placed it on top of the desk and glared at it as I walked up behind her, "The orb is the problem. It was the center piece of the entire process that brought you here. We don't even know what kind of spell it used to get you here! All it did was take the energy we fed it and it made objects appear. Whenever somepony would try to examine it their spell would just slip around it, so almost no information exists on it other than it brought- you here."
I noticed the little stumble at the end of her rant but chose to ignore it. I examined the drawing for a moment before asking, "And the orb's gone now. With no way to find it again."
I turned to Twilight and she gave me an exasperated expression before saying, "Without knowing what it's made of or it giving off some kind of radiation... no"
I sigh and ran a hand through my hair, "And there's no trace of it in the tower?"
Twilight shook her head sadly, "None."
I balled my fist in frustration, but resisted the urge to break something. Twilight noticed my reaction and said, "But I'm still working on it. I'm sure I'll be able to get you home eventually."
I relaxed and started walking back over to the stairs. I didn't want to look at the thing any longer. Stopping just before the stairs I said without turning, "And how long is eventually?"
Twilight didn't respond for a moment. Probably weighing the pros and cons of lying to me. I was about to turn when I heard her respond.
"W-well, " she paused and I turned around to give her a look," I..."
"Twilight, " I said in a calm voice," Don't lie to me. You're not very good at it anyway."
Twilight sighed, " I don't know, but if I don't get a breakthrough soon... You could be here for a while."
My gaze harden, "Stop beating around it and tell me."
Twilight seemed to deflate, "Years... maybe more."
I nodded and started walking up the stairs. Halfway up Twilight yelled after me, "B-but wait!"
I ignored her and kept walking. When I reached the top of the stairs I opened the door and walked out into the main area of the library. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were there talking with Spike about something, but I was too out of it to care.
Rainbow turned when she heard the door open and said, "Hey Twi I got this book- Oh Daus."
I walked past them and out the door. I needed to get away from everyone.
***
Twilight sighed and started to gather up the files that she had shown Daus. His reaction had been better than she had anticipated but still...
"Um... Twilight...?"
Twilight looked up and saw Fluttershy standing at the top of the stairs.
Fluttershy paused a moment before going on, "Um... Is Daus okay?"
Twilight sighed and finished putting away the files, "He's... I just told him that... he could be here a while-"
"Hey Twi?! Could you come up here? You have a... guest."
Twilight sighed at the distinctly tomboyish voice coming from the first floor, but started up the stairs nevertheless. Fluttershy had gone back into the main part of the library and sounded like she was talking to someone. Twilight reached the door to the main lobby and paused, listening to the voices.
"You had better explain yourself mister-"
"I assure you I would if I could. However, I've already told you. It's not for me to tell."
"Hey! Since when do you care about keeping secrets?!"
"My dear Rainbow Dash, if we're going to discuss secrets then perhaps I'll give out a few of your own-"
"H-hey! Don't change the subject!"
"Well then I'm afraid I've run out of viable topics to discuss. Unless you would like to provide one, Twiligh?"
Twilight sigh. Of course he can see through doors. She pushed open the door and walked into the room. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash seemed to be arguing with Discord over something while Spike looked on with curiosity. Twilight wasn't that surprised to see Rainbow with her feathers ruffled, especially around Discord, but Fluttershy seemed to be just as perturbed as Rainbow. The timid pony rarely argued. Ever.
"Well how 'bout it princess?" Discord pulled a scroll and quill out of thin air, "Care to answer a few questions?"
Twilight looked around at the others warily, but they only frowned at Discord.
Twilight crossed her arms and steeled herself, "That depends."
"Excellent! Then let's get right to it." Discord floated above the others and pointed his quill at her, "Where were you the night this 'human' arrived?"
The question caught Twilight off guard, "Why do you want to know that?"
Discord rolled his eyes, "Because I am tired of snooping around behind you back and not getting anything for it. So," Discord went on ignoring the affronted looks being shot his way, "I have decided to be more direct. Where were you the night the human arrived?"
Twilight sputtered a few times then responded, "I was one of the ones who brought him here! I was in the tower with the other princesses! It was in the official report that was published in all the newspapers!"
"And."
Twilight stopped. About to reprimand Discord on his apparent snooping, "And what?"
"And what else?"
Twilight frowned in irritation, "And what else what?"
Discord rolled his eyes again, "And what else was in the tower?"
Twilight felt her irritation drain away to be replaced by suspicion, "Why do you want to know?"
Discord pointed his quill at Twilight again, "AHAH! So there was something else in the tower!"
Twilight shook her head, "Nothing that I can tell you about."
Discord stroked his beard thoughtfully, "Hmm, it would seem I am not the only one keeping secrets."
While Discord was thinking the rest of the room had turned their attention to Twilight. A fact that Twilight had not failed to notice.
Twilight raised her armed to forestall the coming questions, "I'm sorry but I can't."
"Come on!" Rainbow gave Twilight a frustrated look, "You can tell us!"
Twilight looked down and massaged the base of her horn. She could already feel the headache coming, "It's out of my hands. I'll ask but... no promises." Twilight looked up, suddenly suspicious.
Discord was still floating in the middle of the room, thinking. He had dropped his act, which Twilight knew normally meant he was in a good enough mood to take her seriously... most of the time.
Twilight readied herself before taking the plunge, "You never answered my question."
Discord slowly focused on her. Obviously still preoccupied with his thoughts. He didn't answer right away and his voice was disinterested, "Nor you mine."
Twilight huffed, "I said I'll ask!"
Discord suddenly focused on Twilight, a look of surprise on his face, "You were including me in that?"
Twilight sighed, "Now that I know you're looking I might as well be the one to tell you, with permission of course." Twilight cut across quickly when she saw the hopeful look on his face, "So I think you can answer my question at least."
Discord paused and thought for a while. Long enough for Twilight to get annoyed, but just before she could demand an answer he spoke, "Because, while I have spent the majority of my time on Equus as a statue, a rather good one I might add, I have grown rather attached to the place, and would hate to see it go."
Twilight looked around in confusion at her friends before asking, "See... what go?"
Discord gave Twilight the saddest look she had ever seen before he responded, "Why, Equus of course."
Twilight felt the bottom of her stomach fall out. For a few seconds her mind locked up and she could only look at Discord in horror. After a moment she found her voice again long enough to gasp out, "What in Celestia's name are you-"
She was cut off as the front door of the library was thrown open, and a blast of snow and cold air flowed in before the door was closed, revealing a bundled up Applejack. Said pony wasted no time in pulling off her scarf long enough to say in a rush, "You girls better come quick. I think Daus might be needin' some help here pretty soon.
***
As I walked toward the edge of Ponyville ponies stopped and stared as I when by. I scowled at most of them. It wasn't any different than any other time I had left the library. Granted fewer and fewer were interested it me the more I walked around town. The only one who stopped and stared on a regular basis anymore were fillies and visitors to the town anyway.
There was a moderate amount of snow on the ground and the pegasi had clouded the sky again today, so the weather wasn't helping me. As I got closer and closer to the edge of town the snow started to pile up, but I trudged on, oblivious to the wind and the cold.
As I reached the edge of town I thought I heard my name being called behind me, but I continued on toward the forest. I had had enough damn ponies for a while.
I continued trudging through the snow, which came up to my waist, until I reached the edge of the Everfree forest. Once I was past the first few trees the amount of snow on the ground lessened considerable to the point were I could actually walk normally. This only made me walk faster. Unlike the most residents in Ponyville I didn't give much thought to the dangers of the woods. I had been camping before when I was a kid and the description of the so called "monsters" that reside in the Everfree didn't seem all that different from the regular wolves and bears you would find on earth.
Celestia's spells seemed to have reached their limit because I was starting to feel the cold seep into me as I continued to walk, but I didn't really care. I had been cold before.
I started to walk aimlessly. It was a while before I was able to form any thoughts at all, and when I did, I just kept coming back to the same thing.
I could be stuck here... for years! And maybe more!
I snarled refusing to accept it. I would get back. I had to. I would do damn near anything to get back.
My thought were interrupted by the root of a tree as I walked by it. I stumbled but caught myself. After regaining balance I turned to the offending tree and sneered, "Well?! You want to ruin my life too?!"
I could feel my anger rising in me as I kicked the tree, but all I did was hurt my foot. Even angrier now I lashed out at the tree, slamming my fist into the trunk. I must have put more force than I intended behind the blow because I heard a "crack " as my knuckles broke against the tree.
The pain finally got through to my head and I fell to my knees clutching my hand close to my chest. I felt a few tears escape my eyes as my hand continued to throb. I turned and slumped against the tree trunk as the tears continued to flow. I don't even know why I was crying anymore. My hand had started it, but as the broken bones slowly numbed I continued to cry.
I had been here, in Equestria, for roughly five months, and in that time I had thought that I was dealing fairly well. I had learned a little about this world, gotten to know a few people, and generally been pretty good about the whole getting thrown into a new world.
But I had been lying to myself. I was scared. Scared of not knowing what would happen to me. I had the government after me for crimes I had yet to commit, no job future, no money, no family, no home, nothing... I could just die and make everyone's life easier.
I sat there and cried for a while, until the tears stopped coming. The cold was slowly sucking the heat from my body, but I was beyond the point of caring. I knew I was in trouble. Hypothermia was setting in. I had probably been sitting there for a couple hours, and I had long since lost feeling in my extremities. I doubt I could get up and walk if I wanted to.
I could feel my breath getting shallow and my vision was starting to get blurry. It was like death had wrapped me in its cold embrace and was slowly sucking the life out of me. It wasn't painful, hell, it was probably the most comfortable way to go.
I was so tired... tired of fighting...
As I slipped away I thought I heard the snow shifting around behind the tree and then a voice calling, but I didn't care... I was finally leaving this world...
***
...smoke, fire, cries of anguish, the smell of death...
...had to keep going...
...so tired...
...bodies, bodies everywhere. Small ones, tall ones, furry ones, feathery ones. Some five times my size...
...all dead...
...all gone...
...
...
...had to keep going...
...had to reach the center...
...if they get there first all is lost...
...
...Daaaaaaaausssssssssss...
...
...Daaaaaaaaaaaaussssssssss...
...
...my name...
...the walls spoke it. My name. The walls and floor and ceiling, begging me to-
*Beep* *Beep*
...
*Beep* *Beep*
...?
*Beep* *Beep*
...my head...
*Beep* *Beep*
I awoke to a pounding headache, which wasn't uncommon for me. I had taken to visiting a bar at the edge of the shipyard. Twilight had been against it at first, but I won her over eventually.
What wasn't common, however, was all the medical equipment around, and apparently hooked up to, me. As I slowly recovered my senses, I realized that I wasn't the only one in the room. I glanced sideways to my right and saw Princess Luna standing next to my bed reading a clipboard silently to herself. I struggled to lift myself from the bed, but I was still too weak to move. The whole situation seemed a little surreal, and, with a twinge of dull dread, I remember why I was here in the first place.
"Both legs amputated."
My eyes jumped to the figure next to me, but she was still reading. I hesitantly tried to move my legs... and felt them respond. A wave of relief washed over me for a moment. Then I looked back to Luna in confusion.
She gave me a brief blank look before turning and slowly walking up to the foot on my bed and facing me. All the while reading from the clipboard:
"The left arm needed to be amputated as well, along with most of the right. Ninety-five percent of surface tissue was destroyed. Two internal organs had failed upon admission, three more failed during operation."
I had stopped trying to catch her eye. I could tell by the tone that she wasn't telling me all this for my benefit.
"Average body temperature upon admission was well below normal, further adding to the patients deteriorating condition. Also, internal scans showed that roughly forty percent of the brain tissue had been rendered 'inoperable'."
Princess Luna glanced up at me again with a black look before looking back down at the clipboard again.
"The patient was pronounced dead at two forty-three on November the seventh, seventeen fifty-seven."
I looked up at her in surprise, and for the first time, she met my eyes. I tried to say something, but she resumed speaking:
"Then, due to reasons unknown at this time, shortly after being pronounced dead brain activity was detected, and the patient began to respond to treatment. However, his condition didn't stabilize until eighty-four hours had past and he had been pronounced dead three more times. Each time the patient seemed to revive itself through means unknown to operators, and no magic was detected originating from the patient."
Luna threw the clipboard at the foot of my bed. The page was covered in writing, but I couldn't lift my head enough to read it.
The princess grasped the railing at the foot of my bed, and stared at me with an almost predatory look. I couldn't hold her gaze for more than a moment before I looked away to the ceiling.
"You have some explaining to do."
I gathered my resolve and looked back down at Luna, "I don't know-"
"STOP LYING!"
I flinched as she bent the rails of my bed in anger. After a moment she let go of the rail and straightened up, regaining some of her composer.
She pointed an accusatory finger at me, "You have been lying to us all from the moment you set foot on Equus! You claim you don't know how you got here, and yet you know everything about us. Our names, our past, what we do, what we like, how we live, and even," Luna's eyes narrowed, "our future."
I shook my head, "You're being dramatic."
"I'm being dramatic!?" Luna grabbed the clipboard off the bed and brandished it in my face, "YOU DIED!" She threw the clipboard against the wall where it shattered.
She paused for a moment with her snout in my face, breathing hard. Then, as if realizing what she had done, she backed off and calmed down a little. But she was far from done.
"There is only one," Luna went on after a moment, "who has that kind of power, and he does not interfere with the world."
I rolled my eyes," I didn't take you for the religious type."
Luna shook her head," 'Religion' as you know it doesn't exist in this world. The Creator wouldn't want it to."
I had read about the Creator a few times in the books that Twilight gave me, but... he always seemed a little out of place. From what Twilight told me most beings on Equus "acknowledge" his existence, but don't worship him as a god, rather, they simple seem to accept the fact that he created Equus. Hence the name. However, it never says how. The most that I ever found was that he "planted the seed of the world", but then he apparently just up and left.
"You... don't believe he exists."
I looked up at the princess. Her demeanor had completely changed. Her anger was gone, and she was looking at me with a bemused expression. This bipolar chick was running the nation? No wonder they had revised the government.
Luna was still giving me an intrigued look, so I decided to respond.
"What?" I straightened up in bed with a groan, "Is that frowned upon here to? I've had this argument with my family too many times for me to care anymore."
Luna snorted, "It is not frowned upon. It is simple a... different view."
I grimaced, "Which kind of different? I've had to deal with a lot."
The princess frowned, "The creator exists. Just as the sky is blue and the grass is green. It is a simple fact of nature."
I sighed, "I'm not doing this right now. I have bigger problems. Like the fact that I'm still alive."
Luna's eyes took on a hard edge, "Don't speak so flippantly about your life."
I dropped my gaze, "Why not? It's mine isn't it?"
Luna stomped her hoof, "Every life is worth living!"
I raised my eyebrow, "Coming from the one who looked ready to kill me just a minute ago."
Luna shrugged, "I had to make sure that you real were a so called 'human', and I don't think invading your brain right now would be the best thing to do."
I crossed my arms, "Well I haven't been lying. I am 100% human."
Luna gave me a sad look and conjured a scroll from thin air, "You may have been telling the truth about that, but you still have been lying." She brandished the scroll at me, "Twilight Sparkle has been keeping tags on you. Where you go, who you talk to, and your general mental condition. I was fearful that the data was useless. Seeing as we have never had the chance to study a human before. Therefore, we couldn't know if the behavior you exhibited was normal or abnormal for one of your kind."
"However," she went on, "I'm going to go ahead an assume that attempted suicide is not normal."
I looked away from her. If only to hide my shame, but she continued on despite my demeanor.
She tapped the scroll in her hand, "This is the latest report that Twilight has sent me, from about two weeks ago I believe."
I heard her unroll the scroll and start reading:
"The subject Daus Skarr continues to exhibit self destructive tendencies including: heavy drinking bordering on alcoholism, skipping meals, drug abuse... etc. While the subject continually reassures me that he is 'fine' and that his physical health has 'never been better', he has continued to show erratic sleep patterns, depression, and, along with the negative tendencies stated above, an extreme lack of concern for his well being."
Luna rolled up the scroll and moved to the side of the bed into my line of sight.
I turned to look in the other direction.
Luna sighed, "She goes on to request that additional measures be taken to ensure your 'well being'... and I denied them."
I grinned but didn't look at her, "Smart move."
"I'm sorry."
I turned to look at her in surprise. She was giving me a sad look.
After a moment I found my voice, "F-for what?"
Luna grimaced and her gaze wandered to the foot of my bed, where the clipboard had rested, "Almost getting you killed. If I had grained Twilight's request... then maybe this might not have happened."
I glared up at her, "Something tells me I wouldn't have appreciated Twilight's 'additional measures'."
My voice brought her focus back to me, and for the firs time, I thought I saw the fainted of grins on her face, "Oh, you wouldn't have, and you defiantly won't like what she has in store for you when you get out over here." Her grin vanished as her voice dropped to a grim whisper, "She can be rather... interesting when excited."
I shrugged, "She's a pushover. She always threatens me with this or that, but never actually does anything when push comes to shove."
Luna grimaced, "I think you will be surprised at how forceful she can be."
"We'll see."
"Yes we shall, but..." Luna waved her hand and the scroll disappeared to be replaced by the reassembled clipboard, "unfortunately I don't have time to chat. It will be dawn soon." She placed the clipboard back on the bed and paused for a moment to look at the bent railing of the bed. She shrugged and continued on to the door, but just before leaving she turned back to me, "I have placed a guard at the door, so don't try and leave. Also, I believe Twilight will be coming by in the next couple of days to keep you company, so you needn't worry about boredom. And please..." Luna's voice lowered a little, "I know that you are angry, but she is not the one you should be angry with. She nearly died bringing you back from the edge of death four times. Even if it does not show, she cares deeply for your 'well being', and is only trying to help you."
"I get it. She cares. I don't."
Luna grew deadly quiet for a moment. She stared at me intently, as if trying to decide on something. After a short pause she broke the silence, "She has done nothing but help you since you arrived, and her emotional state is very fragile at the moment. She believes that she is part of the reason you decided to try to... kill yourself. Think about how that must feel, and decide if you wish to smash it to pieces."
Luna turned and left, but I was worlds away before the door was even closed.
Author's Note
Not a Christmas special, but I decided to push that back a year. It felt rushed at the current pace that the story is moving. Expect another chapter out in another month or so. There might be a small one after this to clear up stuff between Twilight and the MC but I doubt it'll fell like an actual chapter.
So yeah, moving on.
The Chronicles of Daus: Arrival
Entry #8 - A Reason to Live
I didn't have to wait long. They all came the next day to visit. Sparky and her friends were, understandably, distraught. Each one of them blamed themselves for what happened, even though it was technically Sparky's job to take care of me. She didn't say much the first time they came to visit. Didn't even cry. She just stared. She stared at me with the most depressed and empty look I'd ever seen anyone ever give me. I never want to see that again.
The second time she came alone, and she certainly didn't waist any time in laying it all out. It took a while to get her to stop blaming herself. I'm sure if I asked her today she might still feel like at least some of it was her fault. That's probably why she worked so hard on me after I got out.
I was in a dark place back then, and she brought me out of it, gave me a reason to live. Maybe that's why we're so close now? We always got on pretty well before, but after she "reformed" me, as she likes to put it, I always felt an attraction to her that went beyond friendship. I mean, she saved my life. Of course I'm going to always appreciate that, but the first time I saw her after waking up in that hospital was the worst that I've ever felt. I knew that if I ever did anything like that again... she might not be about to shoulder that blame.
I wasn't living for me. I was living for her, and I will not let her suffer like that again.
-Daus Skarr
*******
I sat up in bed. It's not like I was sleeping. I'd been thinking about yesterday's conversation ever since I'd gotten back to the library, and I couldn't get over it.
"Your hand."
I looked down at my right hand. Across the palm and stretch to either side on the back was a faint redish mark that resembled a burn. The mark wasn't pronounced enough to draw attention to it, but if you were looking for it it wasn't hard to find.
"Give me your hand."
"...Why?"
"Just do it."
"...Ah! What was that!?"
"Insurance, now I can make sure you don't go wandering off."
I sighed and fell back onto my pillow. This must be what it feel like to wear an ankle bracelet. Well, if the shoe fits...
I glanced at the clock on my bed stand. Six o'clock, if Twi was as punctual as ever she'd be up here at roughly seven. No point in waiting 'till then. I might as well get ready.
***
I glanced at the alarm clock. It was almost 8am.
And I could smell the food.
It certainly smelled better than anything Spike had ever made. The poor guy had been raised on rabbit food and gems, with some baking mixed in, but this didn't smell like anything Pinkie would make.
This was... bacon .
Could it really be? I remember mentioning the god like taste to Twilight a while back when she was grilling me on human diets, but... I never thought she would do this .
I had had it all planed out. When Twilight would come to get me for breakfast I would be ready, but reluctantly join her downstairs. Then, after as little contact with her as possible, I would "slip out" for the day, and come back when she had forgotten about me. I would then slip upstairs and repeat the process until... whenever.
Admittedly, it wasn't all that solid a plan, but I was kind of stuck as long as I lived with Twi. And seeing as I didn't have a reliable source of income, or anything else needed to live on my own I was, for lack of a better term, boned.
However, as I sat on the edge of my bed enjoying the smell wafting from below, I was reminded of another reason why my plan wasn't the most promising. I was apparently up against a master strategist. No doubt bacon wasn't the only thing waiting for me down there.
I milled around my room for a little bit before looking at my clock again. 8:22, and still no sign of Twilight.
Well, I might as well get this over with. I doubt that I was going to be able to wait Twi out, and I was pretty hungry.
I walked up to my door and, after a moments hesitation, opened it. Immediately the smell of bacon grew stronger, and I felt my mouth water. It had been a while since I'd had a good old fashioned bacon and eggs breakfast. Even before coming to Equestria, I hadn't had it in years. My parents used to make it for me and my siblings on Sunday mornings, but I wasn't that great of a cook.
As I slowly descended the stairs to the first floor I felt a pang of regret shoot through me. I hadn't talked to my parents in years. We didn't exactly get along, and I was never big on the whole family thing. It still hurt to think about them though, but I pushed the pain away and focused on the more pressing matter at hand.
I reached the bottom of the stairs and peered around the corner. What greeted me was one of the strangest sights I'd seen in my entire life, and by now, I felt like I'd been around the block a few times.
Fluttershy, Fluttershy , was standing over a stove frying bacon .
I stood there for a few seconds in disbelief before I heard someone cough to the left of me. I turned and saw twilight leaning against the kitchen counter with a nervous smile on her face.
I came out from behind the corner and gave an equally nervous smile back, "Uh, good morning."
Twilight nodded back to me, "Good morning."
By this time Fluttershy had paused to turn around and noticed me as well. "O-oh, good morning Daus. I didn't hear you come downstairs."
I glanced behind Fluttershy and noticed that, along with bacon, she had made scrambled eggs as well, and, up on the counter next to both items, was a large pitcher of orange juice. All those notes Twilight had been taking had apparently payed off.
I glanced over at twilight for a moment before gesturing behind Fluttershy at the food, "I see that you made breakfast. Is Spike not here?"
"Oh," Fluttershy smiled, "No, he went to stay with Rarity for a few days. She said she has a big order coming up that she needs to fill, and Spike volunteered to help."
I nodded and moved over to the right and leaned against the counter opposite Twilight. Plausible, I suppose, but I think I knew the real reason Spike wasn't here.
The ensuing wait was long and uncomfortable. Although, I couldn't decide which was worse, Twilight's attempts at small talk or the fact that Ponyvilles number one animal lover was making bacon and eggs.
Once the food was done we carried it over to the kitchen table, which had already been set for three, and sat down to eat. There was a moderate amount of bacon (of which I assumed I was the only one who would be eating), a large portion of scrambled eggs, and one pitcher of orange juice.
We dug in, and after all the hospital food that I had been eating recently, bacon and eggs made for a pretty good breakfast. If not for the awkward silence, I might have believed that it was a normal morning. As normal as it get for me these days anyway. Once we finished eating Twilight and Fluttershy went to the other room to talk about something, probably me, and I was left with the dishes.
Seeing as Twilight had blocked my only escape route, I started on the dishes. As I washed, I tryed to listen for the conversation in the other room but all I got was something about lunch, probably making plans. I hoped that was the case. For the past week I'd had someone checking in on me every few minutes, or just plain watching me, presumably because of what I'd done. Some time alone would be a very welcome break.
I finished the dishes just as Twilight walked in, bringing with her a blast of cold air as Fluttershy left. She moved to the table and sat down, pulling a piece of parchment over to her from the other room with her magic.
"Well," I finished drying off my hands as I moved behind Twilight towards the door, "I think that I'll go out for a bit. You know, take a walk. I didn't get that much of a chance to at the hospital-"
"Sit."
I stopped and looked at Twilight. She hadn't looked up from her paper and her shoulders were a little tense, but other than that she seemed normal.
"Really, Twi, I should go. There's some people who are probably worried about me-"
"One of them is sitting at this table," Twilight finally looked up, but her face was passive.
I sighed, "Twilight, I don't want to do this right now."
"Well," Twilight shifted in her seat to face me a little better, "As your doctor and legal guardian, I do."
"Listen, I don't care who the hell you think you are, I don't want to talk-"
"-and as your friend, or were you lying when you said that?"
I shifted uncomfortably before glancing back at the door. I hadn't been lying. I really did consider her a friend, but... I really didn't want to do this now.
After a few more seconds of thinking I grimaced and walked over to the table, taking a seat across from her. If this was going to happen, it might as well be now. If I was lucky I could get out of it moderately unscathed.
I folded my arms, "You know I hate doctors."
Twilight nodded, "I do."
After a few moments I spoke up, "Well not really the doctors, just what they do. I'm not really a big fan of them going around sticking their noses in others business- Not that that's a bad thing, necessarily. It's just that sometimes things don't need to be fixed, but sometimes they do, I guess- Not that I think there's anything wrong with... anything. I mean, I'm not really qualified to say anything isn't wrong, and... why don't you say anything?"
Twilight had been watching me go on the whole time without saying or doing anything. Normally she was more active in conversations. This time she seem more content to listen, however, but as I stopped she put down her paper and leaned forward.
"Daus... you know I want to help you, right?"
I nodded, "I assume that's what you've been doing down in your basement this whole time, or are all the test for some other project you're working on?"
Twilight was shaking her head before I'd even finished the sentence, "No, no I don't think I've been helping you all that much."
I gave her a quizzical look, "You have been trying to get me home, right?"
Twilight nodded, "Yes."
"Then what's the problem?" I shrugged, "As long as you figure it out, and you will, that's the best you can do."
"Daus..." Twilight's voice wavered for a moment, and I saw the first signs of sadness creep onto her face, "I want there to be a Daus to send home."
I sat back and sighed, "I... Listen, I'm not proud of what I did, but I can assure you: it wasn't your fault, and it won't happen again"
Twilight leaned forward even more, "I don't think that you can promise me that. Your mental health isn't exactly in the best of shape. I asked an old psychology professor of mine-"
I shook my head, "I told you before. I'm not a pony so you can't assume-"
"But I did assume!" Twilight raised her voice a little and cut me off, "You're my responsibility- and," Twi went on in a hurry when she saw the indigent look on my face, "A friend. It's my fault that you've had such a hard time adjusting to life here! All I've done for you is give you a little money and closed myself off in my lab. I can't say you're a friend and do that-this to you."
"Then you're not," I said coolly, "but I'd rather have you down there trying to figure out how to get me back than wasting time with me."
"Well," Twilight leaned back and relaxed a little, "that's not up to you."
I snorted, "So you're saying I can't chose my friends now?"
"No," Twilight said gently, "I'm saying I'm going to help you, because I'm your friend."
I shook my head and stood up, "I'm not doing this." I started for the door, "I'm going for a walk, alone."
I stopped and turn to look at Twilight, who had risen from her seat as well. I groaned when we made eye contact. I had only ever seen that look from two people before in my life. My mother and my friend from college. Normally it meant I was just in for a rough night, but given the stakes...
I sighed, "Listen... please, I'm begging you. Don't do this."
Twilight walked past me and started walking up the stairs, "I'm getting my boots-and don't," she turned to look at me, "think you can try and run from me." She tapped her hand, "I'll know if you do."
I leaned against the kitchen door frame and gave out a low moan, "I hate Mondays."
Twilight yelled from the top of the stairs, "It's Wednesday!"
***
I trudged forward through the snow, trying to put some distance between me and my born again friend. Not that it would matter even if I could leave her behind. She'd just use her little charm thing to track me down. I had hoped she would give up after a while, but several hours had past and she showed no signs of stopping.
I kicked through another mound of snow making sure to disturb the sides so that it fell back into place behind me. My efforts were met with a snort and the sounds of more snow being shoved to the side behind me.
I grinned a little, "What's the matter? Having trouble with those hooves back there?"
I heard Twilight pause before attacking the snow with renewed vigor... only to slip and fall for the forth time.
I stopped and took a deep breath. Underneath my pounding headache I felt a pang of guilt. She was, after all, trying to help me, in her own way, and I knew what she was doing. I'd seen the show. I know how she thinks, but still...
I turned to look at her. She was on the ground massaging her ankle, glaring angrily at the snow. I couldn't assume that that her was the same this her. Although I'd seen nothing to indicate other wise. Which met that this her was just as smart as the other her. Which met that this right here was a trap. Twilight Sparkle does not trip and fall from a little snow. Snow she could have just as easily moved with her magic.
I sighed in defeat and walked over to her, "Oh? Princess? Would you like a hand up?"
Twilight looked at me with smirk, "Would you be so kind good sir?"
I helped her up and we stood there looking at each other for a moment before I turned and started walking back the way we came.
Twilight jogged up to me, "Done 'walking' are we?"
I gritted my teeth in frustration, "No, I just need some coffee. I saw a good place back here to get some."
"Sure, sure," Twilight swept the snow out from in front of us as we walked catching my eye and giving me another smirk to rub it in.
I pushed ahead and reached the coffee stand first, ordering my usual, plain black, and Twilight getting something with an excessive amount of sugar. While we waited for our order I spotted a welcome sight walking up. I took my hands out of my pocket to wave him over.
"Hedge!" I flagged down a lightly armored guard with a slightly confused look on his face. He stared over at me for a moment before recognizing me and hurried over.
"Daus! You're out! I'd heard you were in the hospital but I didn't know what for. The Siren's been lonely without you! Horseapples, even Maze has been asking about you!"
I shook Hedge's hand and gestured to Twilight, "You might want to keep it clean Hedge. You're in the presence of royalty."
Hedge looked over and started, falling to one knee, "Princess! Forgive me, I hadn't noticed you!"
"Ummm," Twilight shifted in the snow uncomfortably, "Rise guard...? The Guard doesn't work for the princesses."
"Still," Hedge got to his feet, "Credit where credit is due. You've probably solved more problems than you've made, but that's above my pay grade."
I grinned, "And we're all better for it."
Hedge chuckled, "I see you didn't lose your humor in the forest."
I shrugged, "Not my best day."
He snorted and shook his head before turning to Twilight, "Keep and eye on this guy, will you? I don't want to have to write up a report about him to my captain. I hate paperwork."
Twilight gave a nervous laugh, "That's why I'm here."
Hedge nodded, "Well, I have to go talk to someone about a break in over on the east side of town. I'll see you tonight?"
Twilight spoke up before I could respond, "Actual you won't. At the bar, I mean. That is what you meant?"
Hedge grinned, "She's got you on house arrest?"
I snorted, "She means well, but..." I shrugged again.
Twilight watched us with a slight frown on her face before asking, "You think I'm going to let him go back to that bar and slowly kill himself?"
Hedge raised an eyebrow, "Strong words."
"If you had seen him in the hospital you would agree with me," Twilight slowly swirled her coffee around, "He was..."
Twilight let the silence hang, unable to find the right words to describe me. For a moment I almost felt guilty, almost.
Hedge coughed to break the silence, "Well, each stallions life is his own. I've know people who drank there life away over smaller problems."
Twilight gave Hedge a piercing gaze, "You just told me to take care of him."
Hedge slapped me on the back, "And I want you to, but if Daus here makes it to the bar tonight I won't stop him from reaping the spoils of victory."
Twilight gave him a confused look, "Victory?"
Hedge looked at her with a knowing look, "Escaping the clutches of a princess, the one that reportedly 'reformed' Discord, is no small feat. Throw in the fact that he can't use magic and you can... I might even say that it's impossible, but this one, "Hedge gestured to me, "He's craftier than most, but," Hedge sighed, "I really have to go now. Daus, " Hedge gestured to Twilight, "Listen to her. She wants to help."
I shrugged, "No promises."
Hedge grinned and turned to Twilight, "Princess." Hedge made a sweeping bow, "Take care of him."
Twilight folded her arms and frowned, but otherwise offered no response.
Twilight and I watched Hedge walk away. Once he disappeared around the corner I took a sip of my now lukewarm coffee. After a moment I looked up to see Twilight with a pensive expression on her face. I gave her a quizzical look back.
Twilight started walking back in the direction of her house, "We should probably head back. It's supposed to snow soon."
Having nothing else to do, I followed.
***
Twilight sat at her desk mentally reviewing the various wards she had placed around the library, and one by one they all check out just fine. Just like they had five minutes before, and ten minutes before that...
Twilight powered down her horn and slumped back in her chair. She glanced at the clock on her bedside table and sighed. 12:53am, not that late, but Twilight could definitely feel the strain of the wards on her. Once they had returned to the library and had lunch Twilight had started on the arduous process of warding all the doors and windows of her library, effectively trapping Daus in the tree house.
Well, trap , may be a little harsh. Daus could leave, but not without an escort. Which meant Twilight, or one of her friends if they were available.
Daus, to his credit, took the news well, or so Twilight thought. Not having the ears and tail of a pony, Daus was an exceptionally difficult person to read. Though, when Twilight questioned him about the subject, he had said he was less expressive than most humans, even in private. Something that Luna's Mark had been quick to pick up on. It being one of the few things he had been able to find out about the human.
Twilight stood and stretched, letting out a long yawn. With nothing to do, Daus had to be asleep by now. He couldn't get out, not without Twilight knowing, and even if he did somehow manage to get through her wards, Twilight had asked Dash to keep watch on the balcony. Although, it even being as cold as it was, Twilight doubted her friend would stay awake the whole night.
Twilight sat down and glanced around at the various books and scrolls on her deck in front of her, not really wanting to engage in any of them. Once Twilight had started, Daus had watched her place all her wards, never leaving except for once to use the bathroom. When Twilight had asked him why her was watching her he had simply said "know thy enemy" before returning to scrutinizing her work.
Twilight could have sworn she saw the ghost of a smile on Mark's face when he had said that, but she wouldn't have bet on it.
She glanced at the clock again: 1:04am. Twilight would give it another hour, and if she didn't hear anything by then-
Twilight sat bolt upright at the sound of a door opening down the hall. She moved to the door and cast a quick scrying spell on the it. After waiting for a moment the hallway on the other side of the door came into focus, revealing a tall dark figure, presumably Daus, hunched over and shuffling down the hall. On closer inspection he was wearing socks but no shoes, and had tugged his jacket around himself to keep warm. Daus shuffled further down the hall towards the guest bathroom. Innocent enough, but maybe...
Twilight cautiously leaned up against the door to try to hear better. After a moment she caught Daus mumbling something under his breath, "Damn cold is going to fu-" Twilight hastily pulled away from the door. She wasn't particularly interested in Daus's feelings on the cold.
Twilight shook her head and released the scrying spell on the door. After staring in the direction of the hallway for a few more seconds she shrugged and walked over to her bed, falling backwards onto it.
She could feel her eyes begin to itch from sleepiness, but she couldn't give in, not yet. One more hour and then she'd go to sleep.
***
Yeah right, like I was going to sleep.
Once I had made it into the bathroom I opened up my jacket and carefully placed my boots on the floor, making sure not to make any noise. Then I moved back to the door and pressed my ear up against it, listening.
I waited for a minute before hearing the sound of a mattress shifting. She'd fallen for it.
I carefully and quietly removed my beany and gloves from my boots before pulling them on and lacing them up. Placing the hat on my head I turned to the object of my salvation: the one tiny window Twilight hadn't warded.
At least, I hadn't seen her ward it.
Though, I doubt she remembered to. Twilight had started at the front door and worked her way clockwise around the library warding any opening leading outside.
Except for this one of course.
When she had reached the area just before here I had ducked in here and waited for Twi to move past, knowing she would be too engrossed in her work to remember to come back and get this one. That was the plan anyway.
I approached the window, eyeing it carefully. After pulling my gloves on I leaned in to examine the frame. While watching Twi cast her wards I had noticed a faint afterglow once she had moved on, but couldn't see any now. I nodded, figures it would be hidden, even if she had come back to ward the window later. This could be a trap for all I know.
Fortunately for me, I was prepared for just such an occasion. I reached into my pocket and pulled out a bottle full of the bane of Twilight's existence for the past month: Pixe Dust.
...is what I call it. I actually don't know it's real name, but I do know that Twi is allergic to the stuff. It's nothing too bad, she just starts sneezing and her eyes water like crazy if she gets close to the stuff. It's funny, if you're not Twi, but I'm not that horrible. I only do it every few days. Enough to get Twilight to start "checking" her books before she opens them which is funny to watch in and of itself.
However, I have also discovered that it glows when exposed to magical residue, hence the name.
Though, it also means I could turn Twilight into the world's angriest Christmas tree if I wanted to, but again, I'm not that horrible...
...maybe.
I opened the bottle and sprinkled a small amount of dust onto the window sill and waited. After a few moments of nothing happening I nodded. I grinned when I imagined her face in the morning, but it quickly turned to a frown when I thought about how short lived my victory would be. Shrugging I slowly opened the window. It had frozen over, so it took longer than usual in order to not alert Twi. I had learned from earlier attempts at sneaking it at night that pony ears weren't that large for show, but after a few minutes I managed to get it open enough to, hopefully, squeeze through.
This was the one part of my plan I wasn't sure of. Admittedly, I was thinner than when I'd first gotten here but still... it was obvious from its size that the small window wasn't meant to be used as an exit.
I lifted myself up and stuck my head through the window. Thankfully the wind wasn't blowing, but it was still cold enough for me to briefly reconsider what I was about to do. After steeling myself I reached through with one hand and grasped the outside of the treehouse. On the count of three I pulled myself through. For a moment I thought I wouldn't fit but then, with a firm tug, I slipped through.
All this time I had been worrying about getting out without making any noise. However, shortly after slipping through the window I realized a flaw in my plan. In fact so short was the time from slipping through the window to realizing my error that I hardly had time to register it before I hit the ground.
"Damn-" I cut myself off before I alerted Twilight in the house above me. I blinked a few times from the shock then picked myself up and slumped against the side of the tree.
After waiting for a few minutes I decided that the cold was worse than anything Twi could do to me if she casually looked out her window and saw me. I got up and started walking slowly toward the middle of town, sticking to the sides of the street and trying to look inconspicuous. The further I got from the library the more confident I got.
Once I reached the square I stopped and looked back, but there was only a few stranglers returning home and a few others like me on their way to whatever bar they frequented. I shook my head and turned to look towards the west side of town. If I didn't know Twilight better I'd think she let me go.
I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, and I spun around to look back the way I came. After scanning the street behind me I turned back around and grinned nervously.
"Hey!"
I turned and saw a guard approaching. From across the square all I could see was that she had a brown coat and amber colored mane. It looked like she had a crossbow slung across her back but I couldn't see clearly from here.
I pointed to me with a curious look.
"Yeah you," as she got closer I could see some sort of symbol on her left shoulder plate, her only shoulder plate which I thought was odd, but I couldn't see it properly it the poor lighting. She stopped in front of me and looked me it eyes with a piercing look for a moment before I glanced down at my feet. When I looked up again she was still studying me but not as intensely as before
"Hmph, you're alright I guess. Hedge said to look out for you, said you'd be by the square 'later tonight'. Damn vague, but here you are." The pony stuck her hand out, "Name's Mead, just Mead, and I guess you're Daus?" She spoke with a southern accent like Applejack but not as pronounced.
I nodded and shook her hand before asking, "You're a guard like Hedge?"
Mead shrugged with a grin, "Not quite, you got Guards, like Hedge, then Sargent then Lieutenant. That'd be me," she tapped her shoulder piece. "After that's the Captain, sittin' in his chair all day looking for an excuse to get up. Then the regionals, but they're just politicians. Never done any 'guarding' in their life." Mead nodded as if to confirm something, "It's a pretty rough system but it works, for now. The Guard Captain'll probably change it again soon."
I glanced around, "No partner? I thought you guys went everywhere in pairs."
Mead shrugged, "Perks of being higher up the food chain. Technically I am breaking regs but..." Mead shrugged, "In Ponyville, it's either quieter than a library or the end of the world. Either way, nobody really cares."
"So," I started walking in the direction of the Siren and Mead fell into step beside me, "You here to stop me?"
Mead gave me a quizzical look, "From doing what?"
I gestured in front of me, "From going... out."
Mead laughed, "Is that why you looked so guilty when I flagged you down?"
I smiled a little, "Maybe, I thought I'd been caught. I almost ran."
"Well," Mead chuckled, "It's a good thing you didn't. I'd've had to chase you down and ask you why, but I'm not here for that. I'm just here to make sure you make it to the Siren. Lots of people startin' to take an interest in you, and I wanted to see you for myself."
I glanced around nervously, "I thought you said it was quiet here in Ponyville?"
"And I'd like it to stay that way."
I look at Mead warily. After a moment she sighed, "Listen, I'm just doing my job. It's kind of the point. If something were to happen to you in Ponyville, the damn near safest place in Equestria other than Canterlot-"
"You don't care," I frowned at her, "You don't care about keeping me safe. You care about your reputation, the Guard's reputation."
We walked in silence for a while, Mead seemed to be chewing over her response. We past through the gates that lead to the addage. The part of town most people from outside Equestria stayed, and after a while Mead spoke.
"I won't lie. The Guard wants to prove itself. To a lot of people it doesn't seem like we can do any better than the old Royal Guard, but its not just business. If it were, you never would have seen me." Mead sighed and started to rub her left forearm. A nervous habit I guess, "Ya seem like a decent stallion. I wasn't lying about that, and under different circumstances I think I might like to share a drink with you. Unfortunately though, you're a marked pony, as it were, and I have a job to do." Mead shrugged, "As long as everyone's safe in their beds at the end of the day, or night, I don't really care what people say about the Guard."
I grimaced, "So you say."
Mead nodded absentmindedly, "So I do say."
The rest of the walk was quiet. Mead had apparently said all she meant to say and I could decide if I liked it or not. It didn't matter though, as the Siren drew closer I doubted I would remember most of the conversation.
As we came up to the side of the Siren's Call Mead gripped my arm, "Hey, not too much alright. I don't want to have to scrape you off Maze's doorstep a few hours from now, you hear?"
I shrugged, "That sounds like a problem for future Daus."
Mead let go of me and shook her head, "I hope I don't see you again tonight, Daus."
I just grinned and made my way into the bar.
***
Twilight looked at her clock, 1:57, close enough.
She moved to the edge of her bed and stood. All she had to do was activate the tracking spell on Daus and then-
Twilight griped her hand for a moment then stopped. If he was going to try and get out of the library he would know to try after she used the spell. Twilight frowned for a moment before before thinking of a solution. She could just scan the house for him. A little more intensive than the tracking spell, but Twilight couldn't take any chances with Daus.
After quickly forming the correct phrase in her mind she cast out with her magic... and found nothing.
Twilight frowned. He wasn't in his room... but she had doubted he would be anyway. The doctors who had treated him (with help from Twilight's study of the human) had told her he would probably have trouble sleeping at first. Daus himself had told her he was a "night owl", but she couldn't sense him nearby either.
Twilight closed her eyes to concentrate and pushed out further. The bathroom... the stairs... the main hall... the kitchen. She kept going until she had reached the basement door, which she kept locked. The entire library, empty. Except for Dash on the balcony, but that was impossible. She had seen Daus a little less than an hour ago going to the bathroom and he wasn't still in there-
Twilight's eyes flew open. The guest bathroom. The one with a window.
Twilight felt the bottom of her stomach fall out as she ran to the door and threw it open. On the way to the bathroom she racked he brain to try and remember if she had warded the window in the guest bathroom, but she couldn't remember. It fact, as she reached the door and unlocked it with a quick spell she remembered that Daus had stopped watching her ward the library earlier to go to the restroom. This restroom.
Twilight let out a panicked breath when she saw the open window. She ran up to it stuck her head out and looked down. Below her she could see a disturbed patch of snow and hoof steps leading off in the direction of the townsquare. Twilight withdrew her head and ran to the balcony to find a sleeping Dash on one of the lower branches of the tree. After looking out over the view in front of her she turned to Rainbow.
"Rainbow!"
The pegasus gave no response except for a snore and a slight shift in weight on the branch.
"Rainbow, wake up!"
Again no response. Twilight reached out and grabbed a bit of the blue mares colorful tail and pulled.
"Wha-AAAAAAAAAAGH," Rainbow caught herself before she feel off the branch completely and righted herself. She looked around for a moment before her eyes fell on Twilight.
"Come on Twilight, you didn't have to pull me off the branch! I though you were Apple-"
"SorryRainbownotimedidyouseeDaus?"
Rainbow shook her head, "Slow down Twi. I can't understand a thing you're saying."
Twilight took a deep breath then slowly exhaled before asking again in a rushed tone, "Daus, where is he?"
Rainbow shrugged, "In the house probably. I'd have seen him if he came through here."
Twilight gave Rainbow an exasperated look before turning in the direction that the hoof steps had led and said, "Well he's not. He got out."
"What!"
"Hold on! Let me concentrate!" Twilight raised her right hand in front of her and fed magic into the spell imprinted on it. After a moment the vague glowing purple shape formed itself on her palm. After a few more moments Twilight canceled the spell.
"That way." She pointed west in the direction of the townsquare and the Addage not that far beyond.
***
I entered the bar and swept the room for for Hedge. After a moment of searching I spotted him sitting at the other end of the bar facing me and the door. I nodded to him once we made eye contact and started to make my way across the room towards him. Just like Hedge to sit farthest from the door. Said in gave him a vantage of the whole room. A good idea, if he was a criminal and not a member of what essential passed as Equestria's police force, but he was just a little paranoid like that. "When you've been in as many fights as I have," he would say, "you learn to keep your eyes open and your back to the wall at all times."
My mom would've called it caveman instinct.
Suppressing warm and cozy thought of home I walked up to Hedge and pulled myself onto a bar stool. Even at my increased height there was no way I could comfortably stand at the bar. This being one that served minotaurs, and they easily reached 2.5 to 3 meters tall. Fortunately the taller ones kept to the Inner Marches.
I casually pointed to a minotaur sitting a few seats to the left, but Hedge wave him off dismissively. Even so, I felt nervous being between him and the tall being sitting a few seats down. Minotaurs made good drinking buddies, but this one obviously wasn't looking for someone to talk to.
"So," Hedge waved a small piece of paper in my face, "Either the princess is blind or her reputation is highly exaggerated."
I grabbed the paper out of his hand and read the message hastily scrawled on it: Bar tonight.
I shrugged and pocketed the paper, "You dropped it when I gave it to you. Although the kneeling bit was clever."
Hedge snorted, "Don't expect it to happen again. I respect the princesses, but that doesn't mean I worship them." Hedge turned and waved to the bartender. Maze walked over slowly and stood in front of us, eyeing me.
"I'll be damned," Maze shook his head, "I didn't think you had it in you."
"Come on Maze," I gestured at myself, "We're talking about the guy who talked you out of a keg."
"Hmph, you needed it." Maze turned and pulled a glass off the shelf before filling it with cider.
"Here," Maze slide me the drink and turned to Hedge, "A bet's a bet, but that's the only one I'll give away for free tonight." And after nodding to me he made his way back over to a few ponies that had just sat at the other end of the bar.
"Well," I raised my glass, "to tomorrow morning."
Hedge smirked and raised his glass to mine, "Not sure I want to be around for that."
We touched glasses and I went to take a drink, but before I could I felt a hand grip my arm and stop me.
"Excuses me mister, but are you really the human everyone's been talking about?"
I turned to look down at who was talking. A mare with a crimson coat and dark blue mane had come up to me and had my arm in a pretty firm grip. Almost painfully so, but when I tried to shake her off she seemed not to have noticed my discomfort.
I glanced at Hedge but he seemed to have taken an interest in Mazes most recent customers. I looked back to the mare to see her staring at me expectantly, so I shrugged, "Uh yeah, sure I guess. I haven't heard of any other humans around here anyway."
The mare smiled and nodded, "Oh cool! Me and my friends have been wanting to meet you for a while. Their outside, too scared to come in, but I was hoping you would come out to see them?"
I looked over the mare again before pointedly looking down at her hand gripping my forearm. After a moment the mare released me and I asked, "I'm probably not the best judge but you seem a little... young to be in a bar. How'd you get past Maze?"
The mare dismissed my question with a roll of her eyes, "Come on, I turned 19 last month. I'm of age. Do I look like a kid to you?"
I shrugged, "Where I come from you'd still have two more years."
The mare looked surprised, "Really? Wow that suck. You humans must not have that much fun."
I shook my head, "Fun isn't exclusive to the bottom of a bottle."
I heard Hedge chuckle behind me.
"Well, anyway," the mare grabbd my upper arm and pulled me off my stool, "Come on outside. Me and my friends want to... get a look at you."
I pulled away from the mare again and stepped back a little, putting the mare in between me and Hedge, "Really? And what, exactly, would that involve?"
Again the mare stepped in, "Oh... you know... the usual stuff."
I glanced over her at Hedge, who seem to be on edge for some reason. I focused on the mare again. While her interest was flattering she wasn't my type.
"Look... Miss," I waved to the door, "Not to offend you or your friends, but ponies aren't really my style. I'm still having a hard time getting over the whole tail thing-"
"Daus," I turned to see Hedge slide off his bar stool, "We should leave."
I gave him a questioning look before asking, "What? We just got here, and I'm not leaving until I finish that drink Maze owes me."
"Yeah well, I'd love for you to be around long enough to collect on that, but I think our friend here wants more than just a quick fling."
I looked back to the crimson mare in front of me to see her with a pleading look on her face. She reached forward and grabbing the arm holding my drink and said in an almost begging tone, "We just want a few minutes. You don't have to-"
"Alright listen lady," Hedge stepped in between to two of us and pushed the mare off me, "Unless you want to start something right here right now. You can take yourself and your friends over there," Hedge pointed to the stallions sitting at the bar, "and you can leave."
The mare stared at Hedge with an innocent look for a few more moment before a calm look came over her face. She seemed to size up Hedge for a second before saying in a quiet tone," So you're Hedge... It's a shame you left."
Hedge tensed up before taking a step towards the mare.
"Stop," Hedge froze. The mare had raised a hand to point at the window behind me. Hedge turned to look at the back wall then back to the mare who said, "If we cannot have the human, then neither can Equestria. Now, here's how this will work," The mare pulled out what looked like a small stone from her pocket. She looked at it for a moment then to me, "You're coming with me-and you're," she turned to Hedge, "Not moving from that spot until we are clear of the bar. If this ward hits the floor, my friend out there will put a bolt right through the humans heart. Understand?"
I stood there for a moment then asked, "Hedge?"
"Do what she says Daus. We'll get you back. They won't get far with all of Equestria chasing them from here to the border."
I laughed nervously, "I get the feeling even if you catch up to me there won't be much left to bring back."
Hedge snorted angrily, "These guys are good, but they're not that good."
"Enough talk," the mare motioned for me to follow, "Now move."
"Alright alright, I'm putting my drink down," I moved to the bar. In all that had happened the only one who had noticed was the minotaur sitting a few seats down, and he didn't really seem like the caring type. By now I had moved to be just beside him. The guy looked to be in a foul mood, which I was counting on.
As I went to set the drink down I deftly flicked the contents of the glass into the face of the minotaur.
The minotaur was apparently in a fouler mood than I had anticipated, which was both a good and a bad thing. Good because The moment the liquid hit the his face the minotaur gave a roaring bellow and grabbed me by the front of the shirt to toss me across the room like a rag doll. Bad because the minotaur picked me up and tossed me across the room like a rag doll. I hit the the opposite wall and slid to the floor. The initial problem taken care of, I proceeded to lay on the floor and try to remember why I had thought this was such a good plan in the first place. I didn't come back to my senses until I felt the minotaur grab me again and pull me up to eye level with him. I glanced over and managed to get an image of Hedge fending off three stallions with a pool stick before the minotaur slammed me against the wall.
"Listen," I gripped the minotaur's arms holding me up, "I'd say thanks but I take it now's a bad time-AH!" I felt my right hand flare up as if I was being burned. When I glanced at it it glowed a faint purple color.
"Damn," I glanced back up at the minotaur who let out snarl," Listen pal you're not going to want to get caught like this when my other friend shows up so-"
The minotaur roared in my face again and drew back with a fist.
I leaned back as far as I could and braced for the impact... but it never came. I opened my eyes and found the minotaur staring at me with a pained look on his face. His grip loosened and I fell to the floor. The minotaur collapsed in front of me with what looked like a pointed metal shaft sticking out of its chest. I bent over to get a better look and heard a thud and the wooden beams above me splinter and crack as another bolt buried itself in the wall a few feet above me.
"Hedge!" I dove for cover behind an upturned table, "Crossbow!"
I heard the sounds of a struggle on the other side before Hedge responded, "I'm a little busy here!"
I peaked out from behind the table to see Hedge take a swing at the remaining stallion. He deftly dodged and continued forward, picking up Hedge and slamming him through one of the last remaining tables let standing.
The stallion stood and turning to look at me, but before her could start towards me I here a yell from the bar.
"Hey!"
The stallion turned to see Maze level a crossbow at him. The stallion's eyes widened and he started to dive to the side, but was to slow. The blow pierced his left shoulder and flung him back across the room into a booth on the back wall where he came to a rest, unmoving.
I glanced around the rest of the bar, but the only other ones there where Maze, Hedge, me, and the unconscious stallions I assume Hedge had taken care of.
And the dead minotaur next to me.
I turned back to look at the minotaur. I could still see the alcohol dripping off his face where I had thrown it on him. I turned away with a sick feeling in my stomach, and for once it wasn't from too many drinks. Although, right about now, I really wish it was.
I waited a few more seconded then peaked out from behind the table to see Hedge stir on the floor where the stallion had deposited him. A moment later I heard him yell, "Daus! Dammit Daus you better be alive-"
"Yeah yeah, I'm fine... I think. The minotaur's dead."
I heard Hedge mumble something under his breath. Then Maze spoke up from behind the bar.
"Hedge! The Guard better pay for this!"
Hedge sighed, "Sure Maze. I be by in the morning with my months bonus."
I grinned and leaned by against the table just in time to see the front door fly open. After a moment I saw Mead stick her head in for a second then retract it back behind the door.
"Hey! Any one alive in there!"
I heard Hedge move some debris around then yell back, "Here! Don't come in! Crossbow around back!"
Mead responded, "I'll check it out! Sit tight!"
I heard Mead's footsteps leaving the front door and yelled, "I take it all back Hedge! You guy are insane if you have to deal with this on a daily basis!"
I heard Hedge chuckle, "It has its perks."
"Yeah? Like What?"
"I'm just imagining the look on that princesses face when she comes strolling in here to collect you in a few minutes."
***
Luna strolled through the halls of Canterlot castle, occasionally nodding to a guard or two as she made her way to her sister study. She past a window and looked out on the city below, glowing in the light of a thousand torches and thaumic bulbs. She had always enjoyed watching the city at night. It reminded her of all the life it contained. Contrasted by the inky black of the surrounding landscape.
Luna looked away from the cityscape and walked up to the door of her sister private study. After knocking she entered, and found Celestia sitting behind her desk, studying some requests from some senate committee. Luna was fairly certain she hadn't gotten past the first few sentences, however.
Luna came to a stop in front of the desk and stared down at her sister. After a moment Celestia looked up.
Luna paused for a moment before saying, "It was a success, partially. The Guard managed to capture or kill all but one of the assailants. Their leader escaped."
"Escaped?" Luna thought she saw the faintest hint of a smile in Celestia's eye's before she continued.
"Yes escaped. She used a lodestone talisman." Luna paused to think for a moment, "Apparently they are more entrenched than we had previously thought."
Celestia leaned back in her chair and said, "I'm surprised. Your people's track record would hardly imply that you would let any one escape without you permitting it."
Luna studied her sisters face for a moment before seeing the humor on her face. Few would have caught it, but Luna had been around her sister long enough to see the spark in her eyes.
"As surprised as I am, I'm sure, by the failure of the wards placed by your most trusted students from your school." Luna let half a smile creep onto her face.
Celestia returned the expression before getting up and walking over to a book self filled with various scrolls and volumes, "A distraction. Something to give them a false sense of security. The wards would have be broken even if I myself had placed them. There wasn't enough time to prepare anything more extensive, and," Celestia turned back to her sister with a book in her hands, "The Mage Tower is too resourceful to stop on such short notice."
Celestia walked back to her desk and sat down, laying the plain leather bound book on top of the mass of papers in front of her.
Luna surveyed the desk before saying, "You should really organize your paperwork. Much more work would get done, I'm sure. Not to mention all of the 'lost' files you can never seem to find."
Celestia waved er sister off, "Tomorrow."
Luna shook her head, "I'm sure you've been saying that for over a thousand years by now... is that it?" Luna nodded to the book in front of her.
Celestia leaned back in her chair and gestured to the unassuming book, "Be my guest."
Luna rolled her eyes and reached forward while saying, "That you would grant me such an honor is beyond even my wildest deams."
Celestia smirked... then felt the expression slip off her face as her sister flipped the cover open. Immediately an almost, but not quite, grating voice issued from the pages.
"What?! Who're-you!"
A pair of eyes formed on page and pressed outward, as if they were covered by a veil made of paper. Once fully formed they immediately seemed to panic and turned to Celestia.
"Quick!" the voice pleaded her, "Restrain her! She will ruin you and your people for what you did to her!"
Celestia remanded silent and Luna spoke in a terse tone, "While I'm sure you already know this, I do not, in fact, wish to harm my sister or any of our people. I was not myself when I attacked my sister over a thousand years ago."
The eyes turned to look at Luna. They had lost the pleading look, and now seemed to look down upon the mare, "Of course I knew that. It was a joke! Laugh."
The eyes looked from Luna to Celestia and back though neither showed signs of amusement on their face. It rolled its eyes, "Loosen up girls. I get about one joke ever few hundred years."
"Well," Luna stood back and looked down at the book, "There's probably a reason for that."
"Bah!!" the book said in a haughty tone, "You're just jealous because my pages are smoother than yours."
"And just what does that-"
"Sister please," Celestia held up a hand to stop her sibling, "Remember why we are here."
Luna crossed her arms and and gave the book an annoyed look. The book responded by forming a copy of Luna's face giving her the same look back.
Celestia coughed loudly and the eyes turned to her, "Oh, I'm so sorry your highness. I should have known you would want your own drawing as well. Here-"
Celestia cut the book off, "I could drop you into the middle of the ocean. I'm sure the fish would make much better company that my sister and I."
"Well," the book looked between the two mares again before settling on Celestia, "When you put it that way..."
Luna spoke up, "You know sister, it occurs to me that this book and the human share quite a similar humor."
Celestia chuckled, "Let us hope they are not too similar."
The book scoffed, "You really expect me to believe you've actually found a human. This is pathetic. If this is the level you would stoop to to get my attention now a days... shameful."
Celestia leaned in, "I've certainly seen stranger things. The discovery of a new sapient species doesn't even come close to the top of the list."
The book snorted, "New is a relative term sweetheart."
The sisters exchanged a look before Luna spoke, "You know something."
The book stared at her with a hard gaze for a few seconds then said, "Of course I know something! I know a lot of things!"
Luna threw her hands in the air and walked over to the window cursing under her breath. Celestia leaned back in her chair and sighed.
The book went on, "Oh, don't act all high and mighty. Standing over there art all moody... hmmm, moony..."
Luna turned and gave Celestia an exasperated look.
"What exactly did you want to talk to me about, anyway?" the book turned to Celestia with an expectant look, "Because unless you pull a human out from... where ever, I'm not seeing much point in this conversation."
Celestia frowned down at the book, "I thought you were starved for attention?"
"Well, present company included," the book looked around the room, "You're all savages."
The two sister stared at the book with blank looks.
"Hmm," the books gaze came to a rest on the shelf where it normally rested, "I seem to have touched a nerve."
Celestia blinked a few times before opening a drawer in her desk, "We need some information on an enchantment our people picked up on in the field." Celestia pulled out a glass vial with a small piece of cloth in it. She uncorked the vial and dumped the sample onto the book.
"And please," Luna said, "Use words us savages will understand."
The book responded in a distracted tone, "I'll keep that in mind."
Luna growled and returned to looking out the window.
The book was silent for a minute then look to Celestia with an annoyed look on its face, "If this is a joke I think I finally understand why none of mine ever get through to you."
Celestia raised an eyebrow, "I see nothing funny about this situation."
The book continued to stare at Celestia for a moment more before saying, "It's just a piece of cloth. There's nothing here to analyse. Just an unremarkable... piece of cloth. An extremely unremarkable piece of cloth. It's almost like... wait..."
The book's eyes widened then the pages rapidly turned themselves, as if a strong wind had blown through the room. After a few dozen pages the turning stopped and runes began to flash across the page in rapid succession.
Luna walked over to the desk and leaned in with her sister to try and make sense of what was happening, but the mysterious runes flashed too fast across the page to make sense of any of them. After about half a minute of this the runes stopped, and the eyes returned to the page.
The sisters waited but with no sign that the book would speak anytime soon, Luna decided to break the ice.
"Well?" the mare poked the book between the eyes, "What is it?"
"Ow! Don't touch me!" the book's eyes flinch away from the mare's finger, "I'll get rough spots."
Luna withdrew her hand and said, "If you don't talk you have more than rough spots before I'm done with you."
The book looked between the two sisters with an incredulous look, "This is a joke right? Or are your people so incompetent that you need me to analyse your experiments. Experiments you shouldn't even be doing!"
Celestia raised an eyebrow and said in a curious tone, "Shouldn't be doing?" she gave her sister a look across the table before continuing, "Well, of course. We know it's dangerous, but we believe it will benefit the people of Equestria."
The book gave her an exasperated look, "Do you even understand what you're doing? You could rip the world apart! Not to mention all the unwanted attention that you will attract just because you want to 'improve the lives of your people'. How exactly would you be 'improving' their lives anyway?"
Celestia wave a hand in the air as if to emphasis a point, "Well, we haven't found any specific use for it yet. However, we theorize that any number of industries could harness the power of-"
"You're lying," the book cut her off, "You have no idea what you've found."
"I would never lie about such an import-"
"Shut up and listen to me," the book took on a serious tone neither of the sister had heard before, "If you ever find anything like this again, leave it alone, or destroy it if you have to, and another thing," the book's tone changed to that of anger, "If by some insane fluke of nature this human is real. Kill it, and erase any evidence that it ever lived. Burn the body, wipe everyone's memory, destroy every thing it ever touched, but do not allow it to live. Maybe that way you might manage to stave off the void." The book paused for a moment to gauge the mares response. Then it went on with a laugh, "But I doubt it." and slammed shut.
The Celestia continued to stare at the book for a few seconds then looked up at her sister. The two exchanged a look before Luna turned to leave, a grim expression on her face.
Author's Note
A wild chapter appears.
The Chronicles of Daus: Arrival
My first Christmas in Equestria was not fun, not that I can remember much. What I can remember I'm not proud of. After several months of binge drinking, going cold turkey wasn't the easiest thing I've ever done. I thought Sparky would give up after a while, but... I was wrong. I know now that she would never have. It's just the way she is. There have been moments where I was weak, decades even after I quit, but even then she never stopped. During one of our many arguments I asked- yelled actually- why she cared. Why would she care about me? For all she knew, the senate was right, and I was going to destroy Equestria and society as they knew it. Then she told me something I'll never forget.
She cared because no one else would.
Which is probably why she was so mad we'd left her out of the plan to catch my "would be" assailants, but even if we had told her I doubt I'd have had such an easy time getting out of the old tree house.
After my detox, I actually felt a lot better, surprise, and I started doing things again. I picked drawing back up. Something I had initially lost interest in due to a lack of an electronic medium, my medium of choice. I had learned to draw with a pencil of course, (What art student doesn't?) but it felt different now somehow. Once I had regained my interest I attempted to draw everything I could remember about Earth. Back then it was so Sparky could study it (she found the female form particularly interesting), but I think, deep down, I knew I was going to be here for a while. I'm grateful now. Sometimes I flip through the pages and remember things I thought I'd forgotten forever.
One thing that Sparky had thought was interesting was camping. Despite the fact that I had lived in a city back on Earth I had camped a lot when I was a kid, and once I was healthy enough she had asked if I would like to go camping in the woods west of Ponyville. Initially, I didn't want to but Sparky wore me down. She thought it would be good for me to get out and do something other than sit in my room. The weather ponies had just changed the season to spring so it would be a good opportunity to, as she put it, "get up and do something".
-Daus Skarr
*******
"You come to my door at three in the morning, three , throw a pack at me-"
"It's almost lunch Hedge. Are you going to complain all day?" I adjusted my pack on my shoulders and went to take a drink from my water bottle.
"I'm not complaining. I'm just letting you know how happy I am to be the guard that keeps tabs on you."
I finished drinking and said, "You are the one who told me to tell you if I planned to take any trips out of Ponyville."
I heard Hedge grunt and respond, "A little more warning would have been nice."
I grinned and looked up the trail to see Twilight and Applejack consulting a map. Once I drew nearer I motioned to it and asked, "Are we lost yet?"
Twilight looked up and glanced down the trail at my lagging friend. She shook her head and replied, "Even if we did get lost we could just ask Hedge to fly up and look around."
"Hey."
I turned to see Hedge struggle up the last few feet of the hill and stop to catch his breath.
After a moment he went on, "I am a Pegasus. Walking is for the lesser species of this world"
Twilight raised an eyebrow at that before saying, "And Alicorns, apparently."
Hedge raised his hands in mock surrender, "A thousand pardons milady."
Twilight shook her head again and resumed walking down the trail, "The camps just a little further."
I grinned and looked at Hedge who winked at me and started walking after Twilight.
We walked for about another hour. Unlike the Everfree, White Tail Woods was a bright and pleasant place. At some points, the scenery almost seemed enchanting. I asked Twilight about it on a water break, but she just shrugged and said "magic". Not exactly the most comforting response give the Everfree was only about fifty miles to the northeast.
"Twi?"
We all glanced up from the trail to see Applejack standing off to the right of the trail looking at something.
Twilight and the rest of us walked up the Applejack and stood for a moment to look at what AJ had found. The path seemed to open up on the right where it led to a clearing.
I looked at Twilight, "This the place?"
Twi pulled the map out and looked over it. After a moment she put it away and gestured to the clearing, "Looks like it."
***
I stood on the edge of the cliff and looked down. Below me was a drop of about 200 feet. At the bottom, the forest touched the base of the cliff and ran all the way to the north end of Ponyville. Looking out, I thought I could make out a few buildings, but the setting sun obscured most of the horizon.
"Daus!"
I turned to see Twilight giving me a severe look.
I smiled, "Come on Twi. I won't fa-" I lurched forward suddenly, but caught myself before I went too far. Twilight sprang up and started to move towards me, but stopped once she realized I was joking.
I laughed and walked away from the edge, "You actually thought I'd throw myself off the cliff? That's what we call trust issues in the real world."
"This is the real world," Twilight said as she sat back down.
I shrugged, "So you say."
Twilight gave me an exasperated look.
I grinned and pointed with my thumb at Hedge, "Hedge would've caught me."
Hedge snorted and readjusted himself on the rock he was sitting on, "I refuse to move from this spot for at least another hour."
Applejack spoke, "Gonna' be kind'a hard to get your food from over there." She looked up from stirring the food to see Hedge looking at her.
Applejack gave a short laugh, "Ha! No way I'm bringing you your food neither."
I took my coat off and sat down, "Hard to believe this place was covered in snow three weeks ago."
Twilight asked, "Don't your people do anything to change the seasons?"
I shrugged, "No, the world just kind of... takes care of itself, so we don't need to."
AJ shook her head, "That's just depressin'."
I laughed, "What?"
Applejack made a sweeping gesture with her hand, "It feels good to take care of the world like this. Gives folks purpose. Without it, you're just livin'."
"What's wrong with that," I said.
"Well," Applejack said," People gotta have purpose. Otherwise, what's the point?"
I shrugged, "My people give themselves purpose. You ponies are given too much."
"Then what's your purpose right now?" Twilight asked.
I waved my hand toward Ponyville, "Making the super awesome magic portal thingy that'll get me home."
Twilight snorted, "You sit around all day annoying me about when I'll finish. You should get a job."
"Join the guard today," Hedge droned, "Help protect the ones you love and in seventy short years you can retire and start collecting your pension."
"Other than the fact that I'm not a pony," I said pointedly, "Life expectancy for an average human guy is in the high sixties, I think, and Pink has probably already crushed a few years out of me anyway."
"Yes, I'm sure it's so hard getting hugged by that- uh," Hedge glanced up at the two mares present before dropping his head back down onto his rock, "You know what I mean."
Applejack shook her head, "Twi has a point, and if you start doing something the time will pass quicker."
"I can draw," I said."
Applejack shrugged and said, "Then draw, but right now," Applejack stood and lifted the food off the campfire, " I'm eating."
***
I slowly opened my eyes to the pleasant glow of dawn. Despite not being a morning person, this had always been my favorite part of camping. Remembering this made me realize how much I had actually missed camping, which made me miss home. I pushed the feeling away and climbed out of my sleeping bag to get dressed.
It wasn't until I was fully clothed that I felt something was wrong. I opened my tent flap and stepped out.
A fog had descended onto the camp, so I couldn't see very far. However, the slight chill and blueish glow told me it was early morning. The cold drove me to the campfire, which was just coals now. I turned to look at the other tents and could make out some rustling from the nearest. Beyond it, toward the tree line, I could just barely see a faint figure that must have been Hedge. I turned back to the fire and poked at it with a stick to try and stir the embers back to life.
I heard Hedge rummage through his tent before walking up to me. I glanced up and nodded to him beside me. Across the camp, I heard the girls start to stir.
I waved a hand through the air and said, "Wonderful weather we're having."
Hedge stretched and sat down on a log close by, "It's fine with me, so long as I don't have to clear it out."
We sat in silence until Twilight and Applejack emerged from their tents. The two stood and looked around, confused. Applejack spook first.
"Welp," she said, "that's just not right."
Twilight waved her hand and, with a flash of her horn, fired off a spell. I glanced around to see if anything had happened, but nothing had changed.
"Good, you did it." I said.
"No," Twilight looked at me for a moment before turning to look around the whole camp, "that was supposed to clear the fog, but the spell matrix dissipated before it had an effect."
"Well," I stood and walked over to the pack line, "While you figure that out, I'll make some coffee."
Twilight walked to the edge of camp and started to cast spells. She walked around us a few times, but, eventually, sat down and started drawing symbols in the dirt. The rest of us gathered around the campfire and started getting breakfast ready.
Applejack started trying to relight the fire, but I could tell it would take a while to light the slightly damp tinder we had gathered. I searched through our food pack and pulled out a bag of coffee grounds. I used to drink coffee back home but had really started to indulge the habit much more since arriving on Equus. Partially because the coffee tasted much better here, but the main reason being that when I had first started living in Ponyville, Twi would make me coffee every morning. After a few weeks of this, I asked her about it, and she said the only reason why she did it was because I had told her it was common for humans to drink coffee in the morning. She personally didn't care for it, but by then I had grown accustom to it.
Hedge, as usual, was too lazy to help with either task. I had asked him about it before, but his only response had been that he had already done his "fair share" of menial labor during his early years. However long ago those were. His casual manner and my inability to distinguish the slight differences in a ponies age often disguised the fact that he was the oldest pony I knew.
I focused on the coffee cooking in front of me. Once finished, I poured myself a cup and passed it to the others. The two like coffee almost as much as me.
"So," I said, sitting back against a log, "What's with the weather? I thought ponies were masters of their environment?"
Hedge shrugged, "Probably just a mistake at Cloudsdale, but I do know someone's a least getting fired for this."
"Does this happen often?" I asked.
"Not really," Applejack responded," Every once in a while it might rain unscheduled, but this fog'll be much worse than a little rain."
I laughed, "Why? You make it sound like something horrible."
"It'll shut down the shipyard," she said shaking her head, "There's probably more than a few wrecks by now."
Hedge said, "Glad I'm not out there right now. Clean up's going to be a nightmare."
"Well I like this weather," I said stretching out a little, "Reminds me of home."
AJ took a sip of her coffee and said, "You must not have had so many flying ships in the sky."
"Not ships, but we had planes," I looked up into the opaque sky as if I could see one flying overhead, "My people probably didn't have as many planes in the sky as you have ships, but they also moved a lot faster." I looked back down to Hedge with a telling look, "Less room for error."
Hedge pointed an accusatory finger at me and said, "You jumped. I didn't drop you."
I scoffed, "You were drunk."
Hedge gave me an incredulous look, "So were you!"
"Hey!"
Applejack was standing close to the cold ashes of the fire, having abandoned all attempts to start a new one. Her back was to us frozen, as if listening. I tried to speak but she shushed me with a wave of her hand, "Quiet. Do you hear that?"
We paused for a moment before Hedge spoke, "I don't hear anything."
"Exactly," Applejack turned toward us, "No birds, no wind, no nothin'."
I went back to listening, and, sure enough, the entire camp and surrounding forest were completely silent. Once I noticed it, I was surprised I could have missed it. The lack of sound was almost stifling.
I stood and looked around. The fog obscured most of the treeline, but from what I could make out, everything was still. After doing a complete turn I realized something else. Something marginally more troubling.
"Where's Twilight?"
Before the words had even left my lips Hedge was going through his backpack. After a moment he pulled a small radio out and turned it on.
Hedge spoke into the radio, "I need assistance at the camp. Please respond Mead."
We all waited for a minute, then Hedge continued, "Need some help Mead, please respond."
After another minute of silence, he threw the radio back in the bag and said, "Damn fog's probably not even real." Hedge reached back into his bag and pulled out a bottle of water. After unscrewing it he threw the contents of the container through the air. As I watched the water seemed to streak forward as if through a grate, then fall to the ground.
"And that confirms it," Hedge tossed the bottle aside.
I started to ask what he had done but he dismissed me with a wave of his hand, "Ask your purple friend later. I don't really know myself. I just know it works."
Applejack spoke up, "If we can find her."
I shook my head, "We'll find her."
Hedge snorted, "We'll probably find her alright. Her body that is."
He looked around at the horrified looks Aj and me gave him and shrugged, "They managed to quietly take the 'Princess' of Magic. It's too dangerous for them to let her live."
"Stop," AJ crouched at the fire again, but I could tell her mind was a million miles away.
I shook my head at Hedge, who shrugged. Turning, I scanned the treeline again, then walked over to the spot Twi had sat down to think.
I heard Hedge walk up to me. He said, "We should leave."
"We," I said as I turned to look at him, "Should look for Twi."
Hedge shook his head, "They're toying with us. The moment we try anything they'll make their move.
"So we should... try to leave."
Hedge through his hands in the air, and gave me an exasperated look. He said, "At least we might get lucky."
I turned fully to face him and set my jaw in a defiant look. After a short standoff, he went on in a quieter tone, "You don't know them like I do. If you did we'd have already been running back to town."
I gestured up and down his body and said, "You seem pretty calm for a dead man."
Hedge shook his head, "If they wanted to kill us, we'd be dead already. They're waiting."
As if in answer, the air suddenly seemed to contract and spasm. It happened so fast I was thrown slightly off balance. A slight breeze flowed through the trees, and a sound like splitting wood prompted me and Hedge to turn back to the campfire.
Twilight stood for a moment next to the ashes then fell to her knees clutching her midsection.
Me and Hedge ran up to her and tried to pull her to her feet, but she collapsed the moment we let her go. AJ pushed us back and knelt down next to her.
"Twi! Twi!," Applejack grabbed her by the shoulder, "Are you ok?!"
Twi shook her head and tried to speak, but only coughed. Dark specks of liquid hit the ground in front of her.
Hedge grimaced, "Blood."
Behind me, I heard a ripping sound. Looking back, I saw our tents rip apart before flying into the air and disappearing into the tree line. Below where they disappeared, at ground level, I could just make out the outline of someone standing there, watching. A second later it was gone.
While helping Applejack prop Twilight against a log, I said, "A little subtle for trying to kill us, Hedge."
"Where the buck is Mead?!" Hedge growled.
"I thought you'd seen it all," I said. Going on in a mocking tone, "No, Daus, stick with me. They'll never catch you if you're with me."
"Shh! Do you hear that?"
Hedge shushed me and stopped to listen. The rest of us did the same, but there was nothing but silence.
Except...
I looked to the other side of the camp, where Twilight's and AJ's tents stood. I could just make out a low white noise coming from beyond the tree line. My ears started to ring. I rubbed them and saw the others do the same. A sudden jerky movement at the edge of the trees got our attention back. The three of us watched, frozen.
Suddenly, the tents flew into the air just like mine had. Then shredded themselves before disappearing into the mist.
Applejack broke the silence, "I don't think this is a Guard kind of problem."
I looked at Hedge. His face seemed to mirror AJ's thinking. Whatever was out there, it was looking for more than a bounty.
The ringing in my ear stopped. I looked around the clearing. Now that all the tents had been shredded, I could see all around the camp. Not that there was much to see. The mist was still obscuring most of the treeline, but on the far side of the camp, I could just make out a figure.
I pointed, but before I could say anything it spasmed then was gone.
"Twi!"
I turned to see Applejack holding Twilight. Her face was slack and her chest was barely moving. A moment later she suddenly lurched forward and spewed a dark substance all over the ground in front of her.
I heard Hedge yelling. but I couldn't move. My body was cold, and all I could see was the large stain on the ground, slowly spreading.
***
I jerked awake gasping for breath. Around me, I heard similar sounds from the tents around me. Scrambling, I opened my tent and fell out into camp.
The sunrise was obscured by the treeline, but it was definitely morning. After a quick look around, I confirmed that the day would be bright and sunny without even one cloud in the sky. I heard Hedge swear under his breath as he imitated my less than graceful exit from his own tent.
Ignoring him, I warily walked across the camp to Twilight's tent. Applejack was standing next to it, but there was no sign that Twilight had even woken up.
A moment later, Twilight's tent unzipped itself, and I saw. to my relief, the alicorn's aura on the zipper. She emerged a moment later looking shaken but unharmed.
I tried to speak, but she held a hand up. For a moment I was confused. Then I saw the dark smear on her palm.
Author's Note
A wild chapter appears.
The Chronicles of Daus: Arrival
I have been on Equus for a long time. Much longer than I ever was on Earth. It is my home, and I can say that without any hesitation.
However, during my first year here, I struggled to accept many things that people here find common. One of the main things being that I was the only human on Equus.
This may seem like an obvious observation, but everything that comes with that realization takes a perspective that only I have. It is hard to describe, but imagine if one day suddenly there was only one minotaur left on Equus. Imagine the inconvenience! Everything would be too small, to name one of the more mundane issues. However, if you look at the big picture, you start to see more glaring problems.
Your culture will always be considered alien. This one is particularly harsh on a minotaur due to their tendency for violence, but it also serves to lessen your own feeling for your people. You start to think that you are wrong, surrounded by different ways to do things. Unless someone steps in to stop you, you will eventually get to the point where you feel that you are fundamentally wrong. That's when the existential crisis hits you, and the next thing you know you're in a hospital been told to get a grip on life.
Luna aside, there's another, more basic, thing that you will feel. From conception to death everyone, of any species, wants to believe that their life was meaningful. Sometimes this comes in the form of fortune or genius, but for everyone else, it's much simpler.
Children.
You want your mark to persist. The best way to do this is to have a child and raise it with similar ideals to yours. Simple enough when you live in a society surround by your own people, but remember the minotaur. He is alone. The best he can do is find a family to attach himself to, and hope they accept him.
-Daus Skarr
*******
I ran my thumb against the edge of my sword. My sword. Certainly not something I thought I would ever think. Holding it still felt awkward, like a blacksmith holding a hammer for the first time. I could tell that it was a good sword. Luna, herself, had given it to me. It felt solid and secure. Not like the ones I saw back on Earth. Imitations of pop culture weapons. This was the real deal. Even if it was a little dull.
"Daus?"
I turned to see Twilight framed by the door to the storage room. She thought she had hidden it away from me deep in the basement of the tree house. Surrounded by old books and newspaper clippings, I had to admit, it wasn't the first place I had looked. The subterranean basement of the Golden Oaks library was deceptively large, whether by magic or ingenuity I couldn't tell.
I smiled reassuringly at her and said, "It's alright Twi, I just wanted to look at it."
She walked up next to me and glanced down at it then back to me. I could see the ever-present worry in her eyes, but I guess my recent, extended period of good behavior had won her over.
It had been nearly a year since my arrival on Equus, and, now that I had sobered up, I was adjusting nicely to the new world. The people of Ponyville had gotten used to my presence by now, and I no longer attracted as many looks when I was out and about. Occasionally people new to Ponyville, or Equestria in general, would come up to me and ask, but I had crafted a response that satisfied most. I was just a visitor who had been accidentally brought here, and the princesses were working on returning me soon.
The last part was becoming harder and harder to believe, but I had chosen to not worry about it anymore. As I continued to carve out more of a life for myself here, I started to think it wouldn't be so bad if I simply stayed.
Twilight tapped the edge of the blade and asked, "Maybe you should learn how to use this? It could come in handy if I'm not around."
I stared in shock at Twilight. Once she noticed my look she leaned back a little and asked, "What?"
I stared at her for a moment more before saying, "You want me to learn how to kill people?!"
Twilight mirrored my shocked look and said quickly, "No! Of course not!" She went on in a slightly more measured tone, "There are techniques that focus solely on defense. I'm sure your friend Hedge could help you."
I shook my head and looked back down at the sword in my hands and said, "He offered, once, but I turned him down. Besides, I doubt the techniques he would teach me are the same that your thinking of."
Twi put a hand on my shoulder and said, "While I'm glad you feel that way. I would rather you live to regret a decision than not be around for me to tell you you will."
I looked up from my inspection and gave her a blank stare. She held her look of mocking compassion for a few moments before cracking a smile.
I grinned a little and said, "You suck at flying."
Twilight dropped her gaze and mumbled something under her breath. I shook my head and laughed.
***
I looked out on the busy streets of Ponyville. Bathed in the summer sun, the residents of the town walked up and down the street, either shopping or on their was to lunch. I shifted in my seat. Sitting alone on a patio surrounded by others talking and eating with friends and families was awkward. Being the only human only made it worse. The curiosity of the town's regular residents had died down significantly in the past year, but anyone not from Ponyville often would shoot confused looking glances in my direction at best, disdain at worst. A few would walk up and ask about me but only the ones who meant well.
Appently, once the initial excitement of my arrival faded, some had decided that they didn't like me, for whatever reason. Normally these were the same people who preferred that anyone not a Pony stay in the Addage, so I wasn't that concerned. No use picking a fight where it could be avoided, though.
I heard someone sit down at the table with me and turned away from the busy street. Hedge took a drink from his cider and past me my drink.
"I got you a drink," he said with a wink.
I looked down at the glass of water morosely and asked, "Aren't you going back in after lunch?"
Hedge wave away my concern and said, "Back when I was in Schunee, I use to drink on the job all the time."
I shook my head and said, "I doubt that would satisfy Mead."
Hedge chuckled, "Mead's too busy with paperwork to have time for me. One of the burdens of responsibility. Makes the view seem much better down here."
I waved down a waiter and gave my order. This place didn't serve meat, but their fruit plater wasn't bad. I could just get a sandwich back at the library later anyway.
I waited for the waiter to finish up with Hedge then asked, "Anyone good applying?"
Hedge snorted, "Not that I can tell, but I haven't even seen them on the training grounds yet. Most are washouts from the Royal Guard or the new Military. I doubt their happy about having to apply here. They had visions of sailing the border. Protecting ships and towns from pirates and bandits. Now they get guard duty."
I shrugged and said, "It doesn't sound bad, and the pay seems decent."
"Join," Hedge said pointedly.
"No," I said dismissively.
"Come on," Hedge said with and air of exasperation, "It would be exponentially easier to keep and eye on you."
"I told you-"
"Yeah yeah, you're not a pony. Big deal," Hedge pointed to himself, "You know, I do know a few people. I could probably get you fast tracked-"
"Hedge," I cut him off, "I don't like sitting around on my ass all day, but come on. No one will want me as a Guard. I get enough dirty looks just walking down the street."
Hedge shrugged and said, "They'll get used to it."
"I tell you what," leaned in to say, "If I'm not back home by this time next year, I'll apply to join."
Hedge nodded and said, "Recruitment office is down the street."
I started to respond, but our waiter walked up with our food. I waited for her to set it out then stared down at my fruit in disappointment.
Hedge pointed to my plate and said, "You could have had a hamburger if we had gone to the Siren."
I shook my head and started eating. I said, "It's not worth what Twi would do to me." I held up my left hand and showed Hedge the faint mark Twilight's tracking spell had left. I went on, "If I so much as set foot in the Siren, Twilight will be there to whisk me away to the library."
Hedge shrugged and said through a mouthful of sandwich, "Sounds hot."
I choked on my water. After a minute of coughing, I gave Hedge a pointed look. I said, "Human women, Hedge. I've been over this."
Hedge scoffed and said, "You've been here for almost a year, living with one of the most... desirable," Hedge paused for a moment to emphasize the word, "ponies on Equus. You're telling me that you've never even thought about it?"
I sipped my water pensively. After a minute I said, "Not even once."
Hedge rolled his eyes and said, "Alright, forget the princess. Let's say," Hedge looked around for a moment, then pointed to another table, "Let's say that the pink mare over there walks up to you right now and give you a free pass. Think about it."
I looked around at the mare in question. She was sitting a couple tables over wearing clothes obviously designing to accentuate her features. I had alway thought of myself as open minded but this...
My mind wandered, and, before I could catch myself, I had made eye contact. The two of use blushed and turned away quickly. I glared at Hedge.
"That," I said, "Is why you don't stare at people."
Hedge pointed and said, "Are you joking? She's looking at you right now."
I slowly turned to find the mare doing the exact same thing.
I quickly turned back to Hedge and resumed my glaring. He shrugged and leaned back in his seat looking smug.
"Deny it all you want," Hedge said, "The truth is sitting two tables over."
I sat in my seat extremely conscious of the mare covertly looking at me. She was cute. I will admit, but I didn't think I could stomach the implications of accepting that I was attracted to a pony. If I ever got back to Earth, it would only make things worse.
I leaned in to say to Hedge, "Not interested."
Hedge laughed and drank more of his cider before saying, "You will be."
Author's Note
Two in one month. I surprise myself sometimes.
The Chronicles of Daus: Arrival
I can’t remember much about my life before Equestria. When I look back to that time in my life I find that I can’t remember anything that would make me want to go back. Not that I am looking for a reason, I am extremely happy with the way that my life turned out. It’s amusing to me that I find humor in the irony of that last line. Before I was taken to Equestria, I never thought I would enjoy being taken from Earth with all its advanced technology and diverse ideals to be thrown into an almost completely alien world that I had almost zero interest in. Truly, the only reason I knew anything about this world when I first awoke was because of my profession as an artist. Though, if I had to say one thing that has been a constant interest for me on both Earth and Equestria I would have to go with my artistic abilities. It was my source of income on Earth, however it became more of a hobby in Equestria. Though, even on Earth I greatly enjoyed the satisfaction that it brought me. Again it is ironic that the thing that brought the most satisfaction to me on Earth would open a door to a world that I thought was merely a necessary evil in my life. A hoop that I had to jump through to get to a better place in the voyage that is my existence.
-Daus Skarr
**************
It was dark… too dark.
The damn thing was always just a little off. I had been working on the sketch for weeks now, and every time I thought that I had it, I’d see something else that I didn’t like about it.
I growled and grabbed an eraser. I didn’t even know why I was drawing the damn thing. It’s not like I didn’t have other projects that I needed to finish, and I wasn’t even getting paid for this!
Which reminds me, I have to pay rent sometime in the next few days…
I grimaced as I felt the familiar tug of the eraser on the paper. I didn’t particularly enjoy the apartment I had, one bedroom, one bathroom, and a living room wasn’t much, but it was better than nothing. Still the landlord did seem to get an annoyingly smug attitude when he decided to come pay a visit to “his” apartment to kindly ask if you were planning on staying here past 5pm tonight… I had been much better about getting him rent after that. Especially after he threatened to raise the rent 50 dollars for every day I was overdue.
I sighed as I threw the eraser down, sat back, and frowned at my latest obsession. After that last episode with my landlord I had gone out on the internet to find some way that I could make more money. For an art major in Seattle finding a job should have been easy. I specialized in digital art, sketch it first to work out the kinks then draw it on the computer, touch it up with Photoshop, and then I move on with my life.
However, finding a job had proven difficult. All the big companies had wanted people with more experience, and for a 22 year old guy just out of College, experience was just about the only thing I lacked.
Oh, and money, can’t forget that, it’s kind of important.
At my last interview, my perspective employer had suggested I get out on the internet and do some freelancing, make a name for myself. So that’s what I did, and over the past 2 years I had made a name for myself… just not with the audience that I had expected.
At first I had been confused as to the nature of the requests that I was getting. It had only been a few weeks since I had opened up my Deviantart account and posted that I would draw anything for money, just send me a message or email detailing what you wanted and I’d message back with a price. Then I had started getting requests for drawings of a… strange nature.
The first had been a request to draw a “Twilight Sparkle” which I had promptly skipped, I was already working on some other projects and had more backed up in my inbox, so I felt comfortable skipping a request when I had no idea what it was asking for. I, however, was not going to be ignorant for long.
After a few weeks I was running out of requests that I could do without researching whatever was requested. So, I decided to figure out what this “Twilight Sparkle” was. It didn’t sound like a person, so whatever it was I doubted I was going to have to be drawing someone, which was good, I have the most difficulty with faces.
After googling the name several times I was forced to conclude one thing…
Twilight Sparkle is a pony.
After realizing this the first thought that went through my head was, “Why the heck am I getting so many requests for a pony?”
After doing more research on Twilight Sparkle I found out that she was the main character in a kids show called My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, and that much of the other requests that I had gotten had been for her friends in the show, plus many of the other characters. At first this had blown my mind, who the heck wants to hire a freelancer to draw a character from a show that their daughter watches? Then I found a link on Google to something called a brony, thinking that it was something from the show I clicked it.
After reading the article that the link brought up I had to turn off my computer and go get some fresh air.
After digesting the fact that some guys, usually around my age, actually enjoy watching a show meant for little girls, I came back and promptly denied all the requests for anything relating to the show and posted that I would not ever be drawing anything that had anything to do with My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic.
However, you don’t always get what you what.
About a month after I closed the door on the idea of drawing ponies I was in a tough spot. My rent was due at the end of the week and I wasn’t going to make it. My landlord, sensing weakness, was taking every chance to smirk in my direction, and make comments like, “I hear that the homeless shelter has some space open,” or, “Looking a little thin there, have you been eating well lately?” and generally just being a jerk (I mean seriously, show me a landlord who isn’t a jerk). This, on top of the fact that I really hadn’t been eating well lately, prompted me to revise my stance on the ponies.
After opening the door for pony requests my inbox was flooded, and I easily made enough money to pay rent by the end of the week and eat something other than ramen noodles for a change. Granted the first few projects were a little sloppy, but after I made rent I was able to spend more time on the requests.
Now, I’m not a brony but after I got over the initial trepidation that I had for the show I did watch a few of the episodes- only to get a feel for the characters! I had been getting complaints that my Pinkie Pies were a little flat… I understood why after watching a few episodes.
Fast forward 2 years to the present and 4 out of the 5 projects I’m currently working on are related in some way to the show, as I’ve taken to calling it. Apparently the bronies like the way I draw their ponies.
However, despite the fact that my rent was due in the next few days, and that I had 5 other projects to work on, I was still working on this damn sketch.
I looked away from the sketch to check my phone, 1:26am.
“Crap,” my frown deepened when I saw the time, “at least I don’t have to get up early tomorrow.”
The first thing I’ll do tomorrow when I get up is finish that Pinkie project I’ve had for a while now. If this… thing will let me go for a couple hours.
I eye balled the sketch. It was just a sphere that was missing a piece, like when you cut up an apple into slices, except whoever decided to cut this up left the rest intact and walked away with their piece of hard-to-freaking-draw-thing. I hadn’t even done anything other than the orb except for a vague background and floor. The thing seemed to be floating a few feet above the ground, I wasn’t even sure anymore. It was like the sketch was slowly revealing itself to me piece by piece. I had tried to stop, had even thrown it away once… which had resulted in me rummaging through my trash at 4 in the morning.
All I knew was that I had to finish it, why I don’t know.
I stared at the thing for a few more minutes, before deciding to throw in the towel and call it a night. Just as I was getting up, though, the blank part I had just erased caught my eye. Something about it…
A glare maybe?
Yea… that’s it… the glare suggests that that there’s a strong light source somewhere off the page to the left… as if over my left shoulder…
After working for a few minutes I was happy with the results, at least I think I was. I didn’t feel like I needed to change anything about the sketch at any rate.
Not yet at least…
With that sobering thought I stood and stretch, hearing some joints pop. Then walked to my small bathroom to get ready for bed. I undressed then got in the shower, after enjoying the water for a few minutes I finished up, dried myself off, and threw on some cloths. On the way out I caught myself in the mirror. Short black hair, electric-blue eyes, fairly plain face, about 5ft 4in. I got closer to the mirror and rubbed my hand across my face.
“I should probably shave,” then I shrugged, ”I don’t have to be anywhere tomorrow.”
I walked out of the bathroom and looked out into the main room. After seeing that the light I was using to work was still on I walked back to my drawing table.
As I approached my work station I noticed that I had never gone through my mail from… yesterday. I sighed and grabbed the stack off the edge of my desk and began to flip through it. It being about 2 in the morning, I wasn’t paying much attention to what was in front of me. However, one thing did catch my eye. A letter from my land lord, never a good sign.
I tore it open and glanced over it, my eyes growing wiper and more panicked the farther down the letter I got.
The basic gist over the letter was: rent is due today (yesterday) at 12, which was roughly 2 hours ago.
I threw on some socks and my boots in a hurry, wrote out a check that made me wince as I jotted down the amount. On the way out the door I stopped. Turning around I grabbed my head phones off of my work station and jammed them onto my head, adjusting them so that they were comfortable over my ears. I seemed to see my land lord just as often with them on as without them, by design of course, nothing tells someone “I don’t want to talk” quite like a pair of head phones.
At the door I pulled on my coat and stepped out into the hall locking the door behind me. As I walked down the hall I mumbled, “I had better not be evicted for this…”
30 minutes, and a disgruntled land lord, later I walked back into my apartment, a smug look on my face. I had caught my land lord as he was walking up to his apartment on the floor above. Well, with the way I was almost flying down the stairs, it’s more like I collided with him rather than caught him. However, the important thing is that I had paid for my apartment… semi on time.
As I waked further into my apartment, electing to leave my jacket on due to the cold weather outside, I saw that I had never turned off the lamp that I used to work on the various projects that I had. As I walked up to the table to turn the lamp off I saw the sketch of the sphere sitting there, as if waiting for me to come back and work on it some more. I frowned at it while reaching for the light switch on the lamp. I almost made it to, but something about the sketch…
“Just a few more minutes…” I mumbled as I sat down.
*******
I could feel the weight of my eye lids pushing down, begging to close.
But I was so close.
I had to keep going.
In two hours I had gotten more work done on the sketch than I had done in the several weeks since I had started working on it. Everything was sharply defined, the stone floor, the stone brick wall in the background, the darkly shaded curtains framing the glass windows that opened out to a beautiful starry night sky and a medieval city made of stone and trimmed in gold…
Gold? You can’t draw gold with a pencil.
I put that thought out of my mind as I keep working, everything was coming together. Just have to shade here…
a few strokes there…
and then…
finally…
it’s done.
As I stared at the finished sketch I couldn’t help but feel that it was moving slightly. The motions seemed almost hypnotic, captivating me, drawing me in.
The orb floated a few feet above the ground, still missing a piece but that was fine. It was supposed to be missing a piece. A bright white light was coming from above and behind my left shoulder, while a dark beam of light came from above and behind my right shoulder. The orb was bobbing and turning slightly and the two beams of light engulfed it. I could heard the high pinch whine of the energy as it surged around me and collided with the sphere. The energies mixed and morphed to complete the dull grey sphere, then it slowly faded away. Once the orb was gone the twin beams of light disappeared.
It was at that moment that I realized that I was now standing and that I was no longer in my apartment in Seattle.
I moaned as a wave of fatigue hit me and my knees gave out. I crashed to the hard stone floor and heard several people run up to me from behind. Something was off though, their running sounded strange. Almost like they had metal strapped to the bottom of their feet, but not quite. I felt like I had heard the sound before, I know I had, but before I could place it I blacked out from exhaustion.
Author's Note
The cover art for this story is not mine, and I didn't model this character off myself or anyone else.
Just had to get that out of the way.
Alright, I can't believe that I am finally writing this. I have been planning out this story for months and I just kept putting it off. It took me 5 months just to finish the first entry, don't worry though I won't update that slow.
I guess that means I have to actually start writing on a regular basis...
In all seriousness though I have planned much of the major points of the story out already, as well as the way things work (such as magic) and the political structure of Equestria etc, etc... mostly things that will be mentioned in passing but add depth to the story.
Because of this I will most likely not take into account any suggestions in the comments, sorry. Feel free to throw your thoughts out there though, you never know, I may like your idea. That being said constructive criticism is welcome and appreciated, however, I would ask that you please not bash the story just because you don't like it. If you don't like it, don't read it.
Also, this fic starts between the 3rd and 4th season, if you wanted to know.
Anyway, here's to my first fic! If you like it you will be here for a while! I'm talking a WHILE, I already have a rough outline for two sequels planned out.
The Chronicles of Daus: Arrival
I wasn't here when they reformed the Equestria government. However, I have to imagine it being quite the ordeal. From what Sparky told me, the princesses knew it was coming for a while, but Celestia wanted to wait and see what would happen before trying to muscle her way through the situation. Luna was uncharacteristically blunt, though. She let slip that the princesses knew about the "secret" meetings that the nobility was holding. Knowing Luna as I do now, I doubt this was a mistake, and in the end, it forced Celestia to acknowledge the situation and do one of two things. Either charge the ones responsible with treason, or work with them. Obviously, she chose the latter. The former being completely beyond anything Celestia would even consider.
The resulting talks helping a peaceful transition of power. I do know, though, that the restrictions placed on the princesses irritated the two sisters immensely in the beginning. However, over time they came to accept them as necessary. Without them, I doubt many of the technological advancements that have come about would have happened if they still had absolute power.
Suddenly the ponies of Equestria found themselves without two of their most staunch defenders. This was solved in various ways, and Celestia has even admitted that forcing her ponies to step up like they did was one of the best things she could ever have done for them.
With this new power, many found themselves in a position to abuse it, or their choices many have seemed wrong to more experienced ponies, like the sisters. But in order for this new government to work, they would have to accept this and work with these people. Even if it meant letting their ponies commit mistakes they knew they would not have, or commit to decisions they would never have considered.
-Daus Skarr
*******
I looked around at the mountain of books that still needed to be shelved and sighed. Working at a library had sounded like an easy job. Working at Twilight's library was anything but an easy job. If I wasn't rotating the books in and out of storage, I was checking returns or restocking the front desk or completely reorganizing whole sections for whatever reason.
Today, my only comfort was that Hedge was taking me out to lunch when the library reopened. Twilight had relented under the accusation that I hadn't had a good meal in at least three days, and she wasn't willing to take me for dinner.
I checked the list of pulls again. There was no way I could fit all these books on shelves without pulling more, but the list was iron clad. Twilight told me that once it was made there was no changing it. She had never had to revise it even once, and while I was confident that her memory of the library was absolute, I still couldn't find enough room for all the new books.
I picked up a stack of books and started walking over to the section in question. About half way there I heard a knock on the door. I didn't even stop to check who it was. Twilight could just teleport in, and anyone who could somehow miss the sign on the door saying "closed for lunch" wouldn't want to stay outside once I opened the door.
There was more knocking then I heard someone yell, "Anyone home?"
I ignored them and keep walking.
There was banging this time followed by the same person yelling, "This is the Equestrian military! Open up! We have a warrant!"
I tripped and fell mere feet away from my destination, but I could care less. All thoughts of my assignment vanished as the banging continued.
I got up quickly and looked over the banister to the first floor.
I could see the door frame shake as whoever continued their assault on the door. The foyer was wide open, but I doubted I could get down the stairs and force the basement door before they came through the front. I crept to the top of the stairs and crouched behind a bookshelf.
"This is your last warning! Open the door!"
Breifly, I thought about how Twilight would feel if the people outside broke her door, and I almost felt like getting up to let them in. Then I remembered how hard they had been hitting the door and figured better it than me.
I frantically looked around. Twi wouldn't let anything sharp into the library after I had tried to bury myself in the snow a while ago. She even locked up the kitchen knives in a drawer that only she could get into. I had no intention of fighting off anyone, but if I could cut into my left hand, Twilight might get the message.
Of course, if Spike were here, I could just have him go get help, but he had insisted on going with Twilight for lunch. I'm pretty sure the guy was getting a little jealous of all the attention Twi was giving me. Although, I'd gladly let it shift to him if I could.
My thoughts were interrupted by a loud bang and the wrenching of wood as the front door was blasted inward. I felt it collide with the wall below me. The amount of force needed to throw it across the room like that was unsettling to think about. Twilight had told me that the new Equestrian military discouraged the direct use of magic. Instead, employing an increasingly complex and powerful system of sigils and wards.
I'm sure the door appreciated their ingenuity.
"Mal, take Haze and search this floor. Flail, check upstairs. I'll try the basement."
The voice spoke with precise authority. Yet it also had the practiced ease of repetition. I heard "Flail" start up the stairs and moved into the aisles of books behind me.
I waited for the pony to pass. Its heavy plate armor constantly giving away its wears position. Once gone, I quietly walked to the nearest window and tried to open it, but it wouldn't budge. I cured Twilight's thoroughness. Bracing myself, I placed my shoulder against the glass and pushed with everything I had.
It didn't move an inch.
I sighed and turned to find a heavily armored pony crouching a few feet away. We both froze and stared at one another for a moment.
The pony raised a hand to stop me but I had already turned and started to run. I heard and felt it crash to the floor behind me, and, for a moment, it fumbled with my legs before I broke free.
"He's up here running for the stairs!"
I heard a crash downstairs as the pony's companions reacted. I doubted I could make it, but if I could get outside maybe someone could help me.
Sure enough, I had to quickly change directions at the top of the stairs to avoid the two ponies coming up. These were similarly dress, but one was shorter. I could tell from the cut of her armor that she was a mare, and, like Mead, had a crossbow slung across her back. Though, from what I could see, it looked normal enough.
I pushed off the banister and ran down the hallway into the living quarters of the library. Blasting past my room, I barreled into Twilight's and slammed the door shut behind me. Just after it closed, I heard a satisfyingly loud thud as one of the ponies crashed into the door. Despite this, it remained unmoving in its frame.
I frantically looked around. There was a window above Twilight's bed, but I doubted it was unsecured. I crossed the room anyway and tried it. Sure enough, it was locked tight.
"Move."
I heard the voice again. As soon as he spoke, the banging on the door stopped. There was silence for a few seconds. Realizing what was about to happen, I dove to the side just as a deafening bang shook the door. Splinters flew, but the door stuck fast.
Relief washed over me. I laughed and yelled through the door, "Who is it!?"
The voice responded, "Open the door, Abdominis ."
I didn't ask anything. I doubt anything would convince the group outside to leave. Looking around, I noticed a particularly large splinter of wood on the ground. I picked it up and poked the tip. It was pretty dull, but it would probably break the skin.
I thought about it for a few more seconds, then another impact rocked the door.
I took a deep breath. Despite what Twilight might still think, I didn't like the idea of hurting myself. However, I was sure that this would be much better than letting whoever was outside get ahold of me.
I raised the splinter up, and, trying not to imagine how much pain I would be in, brought the sharp edge of the shard of wood down on my hand.
The moment I broke skin several things happened. First, there was a bright flash of purple light, followed closely by the sound of splintering wood as the door finally gave way. Unlike the front door, Twilight's door buckled in its frame with a hole in the middle.
"What-ARGH!!?"
Twilght had appeared next to me with a mildly alarmed look on her face, but her attention quickly shifted from me to the door as it exploded inward. Bits and pieces of wood flew across the room, but Twi deflected them easily. More concerning to me was the small metal sphere rolling across the floor. Guessing at what it was, I grabbed Twilight and dove over the bed. She tried to twist away but was too surprised to break loose.
We crashed to the floor on the other side of the bed just as a loud band and flash of light resonated from the opposite end of the room. My ears rang, but at least I could still see.
I peeked over the edge of the bed. Across the room, I could see the intruders doing the same with the doorway. I locked eyes with one of them briefly before ducking back down. One look at Twi told me the flashbang had affected her much more than it had affected me. She couldn't even seem to find her balance enough to sit up.
Anger welled up in me. This was, after all, her home. I stood and yelled to the attackers, "Hey! What the hell are you doing! Take that shit outside-"
I was cut short as a pony in full armor plowed into me. He hit me so hard my feet left the floor. For a moment I was weightless, then I collided with the wall behind me. The pony in armor had me pinned against the wall, and for a moment, I thought he was going to crush the breath from my chest. However, just as quickly he was gone.
"AAAAAAUUGHHHH!"
I caught a glimpse of an armored figure rag dolling out the door. The sound of his scream surprised me so much I almost overlooked Twilight, who had risen to her feet. I took half a step forward, intending to tell her to stay down, but before I could, she changed.
Her eyes burst into bright purple flames, and her hands and horn pulsed with power. I had never felt her aura like this. The normally soothing presence instead felt like a bonfire sustained by jet fuel. I had been on Equus for about a year, and had heard a lot about Alicorns but never actually seen one let loose. It was hard just to stand behind her!
Twilight's aura got brighter, and I started to feel a pressure in my ears.
"STOP!"
A voice rang out. Like thunder, it cut through my train of thought. Even Twilight was caught off guard. She lowered her hands, but her aura still burned.
A figure stepped through the ruined door. Fully armored and sword extended, it stopped just inside the room. It raised a hand slowly. After it was sure Twilight wouldn't send him back through the door like the previous pony, it removed its helmet.
Twilight's aura faltered and died. She tried to speak, but it took her a moment to form the word.
"Arbiter."
His coat was pure white. That was the first thing I noticed about him. Then his eyes caught mine, and I look away. They were commanding, absolute. His gaze was too powerful for me to hold. When he spoke, his voice rang with authority.
"I have come for the Abdominis , the human," he said. Then, without turning away, he reached into his pocket and took out a piece of paper.
"This," he said, tossing the paper across the room, "is a warrant for his arrest. Under the newly revised Civil Contract, he is in violation of several laws."
Twilight caught the paper with her magic and held it up to read. I stepped up behind her to see what the paper said.
By order of the Equestrian Senate, the human know as "Daus" is hereby ordered to appear before the Committee of Foreign Integration. As of this notice, three previous notices have been dispatched to the offender's last known residence and no response has been given. Due to the lack of compliance, the human known as "Daus" is now considered it violation of Equestrian law, and is to be placed under arrest pending his hearing with the Committee of Foreign Integration.
At the bottom of the letter was an official looking seal with the words EQUESTRIAN SENATE emblazoned around it in a circle.
"Well Twi," I said, "I guess they found me. I'll write, though."
"You be quiet," Twilight pointed a finger at me. Then she turned to the Arbiter and said, "We never received anything before this here. I know the new laws in and out." Twilight tossed the paper to the ground. She seemed confident, but I thought I heard her voice waver for a moment.
The Arbiter shrugged and said, "The human has no official place of residence, so the notices were sent to the place he most frequents." He reached into his pocket again and took out a sealed letter. Holding it up, he read the address, "The address reads: 4675 Addage Ln 05-"
I laughed. Despite the situation, I couldn't help myself. Twilight looked back at me in confusion. Then it started to dawn on her.
With great effort, I stopped my laughing and said, "You sent those letters to Maze's bar?!"
The blank look the Arbiter gave me had me laughing again. Let it not be said that the new Equestrian senate wasn't clever.
While I was laughing, one of the Arbiter's people came in and whispered something in his ear. The Arbiters seemed to straighten up a little, and his gaze honed in on me.
He pointed his sword toward me and gestured with his other hand for me to step forward, saying, "Where ever the senate sent those notices is irrelevant. They were sent and no reply was given. Thus, I am here. Please, do not resist and you will be given a fair chance to defend yourself."
I looked at Twilight, but she only shrugged.
"The seal is real, and, technically, they followed the process perfectly," she said dejectedly.
I started to feel the reality of the situation, but Twilight spoke up when she noticed my look of growing alarm.
"It's not over," she reassured me, "You will have a chance to defend yourself, and I'll be there to walk you through the process."
I looked between the two again. Twilight nodded and gestured in the direction of the Arbiter. She wouldn't turn to look at him, though. To his credit, the Arbiter seem to be all business. After almost a year of trying to corner me with litigation, I'd have thought he would be smugger than this.
I hesitated then stepped forward. Once, I did. The Arbiter sheathed his sword and barked an order to one of his soldiers. I was cuffed and taken downstairs. When we exited the library, I saw a crowd had gathered in the street. Among them were the elements. Dash was yelling something, but it was lost in the chatter of the crowd.
"Hey, Salt!"
I turned and saw the Arbiter do the same. Hedge was walking around the corner of the tree house. I thought I saw something flash in his hand, but one of the Arbiters people got in the way before I could see what it was. Unfortunately for the soldier, Hedge was more than he could take. Without stopping, Hedge shoved the stallion aside. Then he drew back and threw something our way.
The Arbiter caught whatever it was, but it moved too fast for me to see. The soldiers with the Arbiter moved to help their fallen ally, but a short order from their leader stopped them. Hedge nodded to me, turned, and walked away.
I looked over at the Arbiter to try and see what he had caught, but he was already putting whatever it was in his pocket. For the first time, though, I saw a look cross his face, and, for a moment, I thought I saw sadness in his eyes.
But then whatever it was had gone. I was loaded into a coach, and we drove away.
Author's Note
Not Christmas themed, but I couldn't get that far this year. It'll be worth the wait. I hope people are still reading. It doesn't really matter to me. I do this for myself. Still, comments are always appreciated. Good or bad, I'll take what I can get.
