An Unexpected Discovery

As we walked down the street, I held Fluttershy in my arms closely to avoid anyone seeing us and getting suspicious. On my back was my bag, which contained my phone, camera, a few changes of clothes, and other necessities for a quick trip. I gave Celestia a puzzled look, "So, how are we going to Equestria?"

She smiled at me reassuringly before answering, "Well, we need to find that portal, correct?"

"Yeah, I guess so. But where is it? What does it look like?"

"Oh, you'll see. Just follow me, I'll show you where it is."

I followed Celestia down the street before taking a left, then a right. After a few more turns and straights, we were on a small street I hadn't seen before. Just ahead was a small alleyway which looked much like the one I found Fluttershy in. Celestia pointed to the alley that had already caught my attention, "Just over there. You might not find it, but trust me when I say it's very well blended in," she explained.

We started to walk toward the alleyway when suddenly, I spotted something moving out of it. It looked sort of like Celestia, but with a darker coat, looking like a cobalt blue color. She had the same billowing mane as Celestia, but it was a similar color to her coat. She was running out of the alley, looking worried about something.

Celestia called over to her, "Over here, sister! There is no need to come looking for me," she yelled just enough for the mysterious mare to hear her. She stopped, turned to face us, and gave us a relieved expression before walking over to us. She spoke, "Ah, there you are, sister. I was afraid you had gotten lost or in trouble," she looked in my direction, then looked back at Celestia, "and I see you brought someone with you?" She just stared at be for a moment with a rather annoyed look on her face, as if she didn't want me there. Celestia explained, "It is quite all right. This is Matthew. Matthew, this is Luna, my sister. Luna, Matthew found dear Fluttershy and took her in to take care of her. He will be adopting her in Equestria." At those words, Luna's look of annoyance turned to surprise. "He is, is he? Well then, I suppose we should get him to Ponyville, shouldn't we?"

Luna walked back into the alleyway before motioning for us to follow her. I followed closely behind Celestia. After a moment, I set down Fluttershy on the ground so she could walk with us, because my arms were getting tired holding onto her. She wasn't all that developed in walking, however, so she almost immediately fell down onto the cold, dry asphalt of the road. I picked her up as soon as she fell to avoid losing her to a passing car as we crossed the street. "It's ok, we'll be home soon," I reassured her in a whisper, which prompted a little smile to spread across her face as she buried her face into my chest, relaxing in my arms once again.

We entered the alleyway to be greeted by Luna, waiting patiently for us beside a mirror that was leaning against the brick wall of a building encasing the alley. She motioned towards the mirror, pointing her hoof at it before speaking softly, "Shall we be going then?" She asked. I gave her a confused expression, "The portal is.. a.. mirror?" I asked, "So, we just walk through it? It's made of glass!" She chuckled at my words, "Of course it's glass, but that doesn't stop it from being a very discreet portal to Equestria. Now, please, step through. Your journey awaits you."

I hesitantly reached an arm out to the glass mirror, suddenly being surprised that it went through with ease. I pulled my arm back out, revealing it to be unscathed. I did the same thing again, still being completely unharmed. I set Fluttershy down on the ground and reached both arms in, pulled them back out, and was once again relieved that they were both still intact. I noticed Luna was also getting impatient, so I grabbed Fluttershy from the ground again, held her closely closely in my arms, and finally jumped completely through the mirror.

What was inside wasn't much of a surprise. I began to feel a shift in gravity, feeling myself drift backwards through a bright, multicolored tunnel. It wasn't surprising that this was what happened, because it reminded me of most similar situations on television shows. After what seemed like a full two minutes, I could see the end of the tunnel. Not a moment later, I was spat out of the other end of the portal, bracing for impact, holding Fluttershy closely and shielding her. We hit the ground, emerging with only a few scratches on my arms and legs. "You okay, Fluttershy?" I asked her, prompting a little nod from her, although she immediately proceeded to give me a surprised expression, as if something had changed. I decided to ignore it, thinking it was just a surprise to be back in Equestria. I got up off the ground, rubbed the dirt off myself, and checked to see if my bag was intact. It was fine, to my relief. I waited patiently, just sitting on the floor, for Celestia and Luna to emerge from the portal.

A few seconds passed before I saw two familiar beings come through the mirror. Celestia landed safely on her legs, and so did Luna. They walked towards me and stopped in front of me. Celestia gave me a smile, as if she was proud of me for something. Luna's face showed a surprised expression, much like the one Fluttershy did.

"Something different?" I asked, confused at why they were giving me those expressions.

"Something feel different, Matthew?" Celestia asked in response. At those words, I realized I did feel different. Like.. My body had changed shape. I quickly walked over to the portal, not planning on jumping in, but to take a look at myself. I stopped in front of the mirror just as my jaw dropped in complete and utter bewilderment and surprise. What stood before me, in the mirror, was a Pegasus, much like Fluttershy, only in an adult form. I had become a pony as I went through the portal. But, how did Celestia and Luna not get changed into humans if they came through the portal as well? I didn't care as much about getting an answer to that question, considering how amazed I was at my recent transformation.

I examined myself more closely in the mirror standing before me. I appeared to have a grey coat, with wings growing out of the sides of my torso. I had a dark blue mane and tail, a little lighter than Luna's. The only thing abnormal was that I didn't have a picture of something on my "flanks", as equines call them. I asked Celestia while pointing to the area on my hindquarters with a hoof, "Why don't I have one of those.. uh.. things?" Celestia responded with a smile, "Oh, that's called your Cutie Mark. It describes a pony's special talent or something they take great interest in. You haven't discovered that yet, so you don't have one. You will, though. When the time comes." I nodded to show my understanding.

"So, where should we go from here?" I asked.

"Let's get you to the Ponyville Adoption Center. We'll get you a proper legal bond with Fluttershy there." She responded, motioning to a door leading out of the room into a hallway. I picked up Fluttershy and set her down on my back, which I thought was a great advantage to being a pony as I didn't have to carry her in my arms anymore. We proceeded to exit the room, and continued down the hallway. It had a fancy-looking carpet, something that showed class almost as if it belonged to royalty. I asked, "Where are we now?"

"Oh, we're in the castle in Canterlot. Luna and I live here," she said before raising her hoof to her forehead, "Oh, my apologies. I should have told you before that myself and my sister are royalty here in Equestria."

"Well, what an honor it was to meet you, uh.. Princess?.. Celestia?.." I asked, wondering if that was indeed her title.

Celestia chuckled, "Yes, that is my title, as well as Luna's. However, you may call us by whatever name you like."

"Well, thank you, Celestia," I responded.

We continued to walk down the hallway, hearing hooves hitting the smooth marble floor beneath us. Nearing the end of the hallway, Lune spoke up, "Well, I guess I'll be going now. I hope this isn't the last time I see you, Matthew." She walked off with a smile on her face, waving back at us for a moment before continuing to walk off. I waved back at her and continued down the hallway with Celestia. We took a left at the end of it, which lead to a large main room. Inside was a statue depicting something that looked like Celestia, except it was slightly bigger, and completely black in color. To the side of the statue were some banners, flags, and windows. In the middle of the room stood a fountain with water gracefully pouring out of the top and sides. I just stood there for a moment, taking in the beauty of the room I was standing in. I didn't stay put for very long as Celestia spoke up, "There will be time for sightseeing another time. For now, we need to get to Ponyville."

We walked out of the castle to be greeted by the light of the sun. It looked to be noon, judging by how the sun was positioned in the sky. In the distance I could see a large staircase leading down into a very high-class town. I assumed that was downtown Canterlot. We proceeded to walk across the bridge and down the many stairs leading into the town. As soon as I set foot.. I mean hoof in the town, I got a lot of glares from the fancy ponies walking throughout the town. Obviously they look down on the lower-class peasants that live elsewhere in Equestria. I hoped Ponyville wasn't as bad as Canterlot.

We continued through the streets of Canterlot before stopping in front of a train station. "This is the best way to get to and from Ponyville. I'm sure you'll love it there once we get there, Matthew," Celestia said with a smile. We went up the stone steps of the train station and onto the platform. After about ten minutes of silently waiting, the train finally arrived. Audible screeching could be heard as the brakes on the train engaged and the train came to a grinding halt. The doors slowly opened and we stepped inside. I crouched down under the doorway to make sure Fluttershy's little head didn't hit the top. We found a seat closest to the door and sat down. I picked Fluttershy up off my back and set her down on the seat next to me. She was awfully fond of me and loved to be as close as possible to me, because she put her tiny little forelegs around me and hugged me tightly before just sitting there, leaning on me. I thought she was just adorable when she did that.

The train began to start moving once the doors closed. There was another odd-looking Pegasus on the train sitting across from us. She had a very pale blue coat with a pale yellow mane. She had a wall-eyed expression painted on her face, almost as if she had lazy eye on both of her eyes. Her eyes were the same color of yellow as her mane, but a bit darker. I'm not sure if she looked at us for a second, but I'm almost completely sure that she did, because she waved at us with a smile before going back to looking around, not paying much attention to us afterwards.

About thirty minutes passed before we stopped in Ponyville. Celestia exited the train first, then me and Fluttershy. I could already tell that this town was way more happier and lower-class than Canterlot. All of the ponies that inhabited the town were smiling and going about their days, saying hello to each other every once in a while in a happy tone. It was such a positive environment, I felt happy just walking through the town. We continued through the dirt roads of Ponyville, passing by all the happy ponies in the streets. Just down the street, a small building caught my eye. There was a sign on the front that read, "Ponyville Adoption Center". I knew that was our destination.

We came through the doors and heard a bell ring as one of the doors hit it from above. It rang a second time as the door closed. Inside was a few paintings and pictures hung on the yellow-painted walls, and in the far end of the room was a reception desk. Celestia, Fluttershy and I walked up to the desk.

"Hello, miss. My friend Matthew would like to legally adopt Fluttershy as his daughter. Could you bring us the forms for that, if you please?" Celestia asked. The receptionist was clearly surprised seeing royalty standing before her, "Yes, of course, Princess Celestia. I take it you are authorizing this, since there are no birth parents present to give consent?" She asked, bowing in front of Celestia, "Yes, of course," Celestia replied. The receptionist nodded and ran into another room, coming back a few minutes later with a few forms and a pen.

"You just need to sign the child's name here, your name here, and the witness' name here." She said, handing me the forms. I wasn't sure how to write, seeing how I didn't have hands anymore. I asked Celestia, "Um.. Celestia.. How would I write without hands?" She chuckled at my question and answered, "Oh, we ponies just use our mouths to write. Unless you're a unicorn, of course. Don't worry, it will come to you like an instinct." I trusted her and took the pen in my mouth. To my surprise, I was actually writing in my best handwriting. Celestia was right, it was like an instinct. I wrote "Fluttershy" on the first blank line, then signed my name on the second, and gave the pen to Celestia to sign her name on the third and final line. Once I gave the forms back to the receptionist, she walked back into the room she got them from, then came back empty-handed. "All right! She's yours! Raise her well." She said with a smile. As if on cue, Fluttershy threw her forelegs around my neck and gave me a hug. "Daddy!" She squeaked at me. The receptionist and Celestia both gave me a look of sheer happiness at Fluttershy's display of affection. I picked her up from my back and hugged her as well.

As we stepped out of the Adoption Center, I wondered what I was supposed to do from there.

"What am I supposed to do now, go back to Earth? From my time being here, I would much rather live in Equestria than Earth," I said.

"Well, that shouldn't be a problem. We just need to find you two a place to stay. How does Cloudsdale sound?"

"Cloudsdale?.."

"It's a city in the sky, only inhabited by Pegasi. You two would be better off there, since you're both Pegasi."

"Well, I'm not even sure I know how to use my wings yet."

"Well then, I suppose we should get started, shall we?" Celestia began to flap her wings and grabbed my hoof. Fluttershy sat on the ground, just watching. Celestia pulled me into the air, "Try flapping your wings, Matthew," she said. I focused on flapping them, and to my surprise, they began to unfold and flapped in a steady rhythm. She let go of my hoof and allowed me to gain my balance. I wasn't having much trouble flying, which was a relief. I was actually flying! It was like a dream come true. I tried to move around, tilting my wings to push me forward. It came with great ease to fly around in the sky. Knowing I had already honed my instinct of flying, I lowered myself to the ground along with Celestia. Fluttershy started clapping, "Yay daddy!" She said, still in her adorable squeaky voice.

I picked up Fluttershy and set her down on my back, "Hold on," I said, as she put her forelegs around my neck to keep herself from falling off. I unfolded my wings once more and began to ascend into the air. "So, where is Cloudsdale, Celestia?" I asked, "Oh, let me show you. Follow me," she replied, flying higher and higher until she vanished above the clouds. I did the same, ascending enough to go through the layer of clouds and hover above them. In the distance, I could see a beautiful city with waterfalls hanging down off the sides. The whole city was made of clouds, as I has expected from a city named 'Cloudsdale'. I flew closer and closer until there was a thick layer of clouds under me, which I then descended and landed upon. Celestia landed right in front of me, "Let's find you a place to stay," she said.

We walked across the bridge leading into a few neighbourhoods filled with Pegasi and houses made entirely of clouds. There was one house at the end of one of the streets that had a sign in the window that read "Vacancy" on it in bold red letters. "Well, what a coincidence." Celestia said as she pointed towards it. I nodded in agreement as we walked towards it. Once we were right in front of the door to the house, I pushed the door open, finding that it was unlocked. I walked inside, followed by Celestia. "Seems like the perfect place," I said, receiving a nod and a smile from Celestia.

"Well then, it's all yours. I hope you two have the best of luck in Equestria. You can come to the castle in Canterlot any time if you need myself or Luna. Happy travels!" Celestia said as she waved and flew off into the sky.

"I'm sure we will, right Fluttershy?"

"Uh-huh!"