A More Magical Experience

Honestly, looking back on my life and how I spent it, I would never think that I would end up like this; bruised, battered, and bloody, sitting in some jail cell with my arms shackled behind my back, imprisoned by talking animals. Yep, never thought I'd end up like this...

I shift uncomfortably on the thin hay that lines the floor of my small cell, trying to find a position so the crystals on my arms don't dig into my back. The shackles are making that very difficult. Worst of all, since my hands are bound, I can't rub my face. The blood from my nose and forehead have crusted over and feels horrible on my skin. At least my nose isn't broken, it's just bloodied from my fall.

Looking around for the thousandth time, I just can't believe the situation. I'm stuck in some seven by four jail cell with no bed, just a small pile of old hay and a low platform toilet. I rest my head against the cool stone wall and stare between the bars of my jail door, just waiting for some animal to come in and slit my throat or something.

From outside the field of vision my small jail cell has, I hear the loud sounds of locks being turned. Looks like my waiting is over.

"—derstand your confusion, but this will be the first time I lay my eyes on the creature myself." The voice is extremely feminine.

"Yes, but why me? Why not call one of the more known—"

"Because, my pupil, you are one of the most intelligent minds in Equestria, so surely I called you in case you may know something of this."

Two horses come into the dim light and stare into my cell. I return the stare. The purple pony thing from before is here, and the other one is... similar. It's about two-in-a-half feet taller than the other one, with a much bigger horn and a pair of wings. Its coat is a brilliant white and its mane and tail... kinda looks... like space. A light, colorful space filled with blue, green, and pink that constantly flows like the wind. It's also wearing gold shoes and a matching breastplate.

The white one speaks first. "...Hm, yes. This is most unusual." She sounds like she has a powerful... uh, power, behind her simple form.

"That's the animal that ran from me when I cornered it in one of the resting rooms earlier," replies the purple one.

"Twilight, did this creature attempt to attack you?"

She shakes her head. "No Princes Celestia, it just ran."

They lean forward a bit to examine me. I sneer at them and they recoil ever so slightly.

"Mm," The white one, Celestia, says. "Quite the personality this one possesses."

"It seems angry," Twilight states openly.

"I would think so, after all, it went through a brawl with my guards."

Twilight leans close to the bars. "...It's injured. Why haven't any nurses been sent in?

Celestia turns around and begins to walk out of sight. "We are afraid that it may attack them. One of my guards is missing a tooth because of the fight."

Twilight follows the white one out of sight, but they remain in the room and continue to talk. I scoot as close to the bars as possible and try to listen.

"So, Twilight... Do you have any idea what it may be?"

"Well, it's bipedal, lacking much fur, not really. Perhaps a shapeshifter?

"It may be possible, but we think not. It seems to possess too little magical abilities to replicate a different form, or so the doctors say."

Magic? I have magic? What the hell kind of place am I? It sounds like I may be in some sort of bad movie.

"No powerful magic then. Hm."

I try to listen closely, but I suddenly feel a breath on my cheek and take my face away from the bars. The violet one, Twilight, is standing right there on the other side staring at me. I return her gaze. We look into each others eyes for a bit of time, holding completely still.

"Twilight Sparkle, please do not get too close," Celestia warns.

"...Poor thing," Twilight says softly. I'm kinda taken aback at her remark and lose my concentration. I scoot back to the corner and turn my back on the two. "...Princess Celestia, the gems... on its shoulders and arms..."

"Yes, I see them. Our doctor's have no idea what purpose they serve."

"...What are you going to do with it?" Twilight asks.

"Well, there are many questions we need to answer before doing anything really. If it's dangerous, if it does have some certain ability we need to watch out for. If it's safe, then we'll begin our tests, like seeing what species it closely resembles, what its diet consists of, and... really, what gender it is."

I turn my head and open my mouth to yell at them, but a thought crosses my mind. They think I'm just some animal. If I reveal that I can speak like them, I could help myself or I could royal fuck myself over. I think staying in the dark would be the appropriate plan of action for now.

"More importantly," Celestia resumes, "we need to know how it will react to being in the company of others. If it's anything like with my guards, I'm not sure what we'll do."

"It was probably scared," Twilight says. "...Where will you keep it for the time being?"

"Well," Celestia says quietly, "here. It attacked my guards so I need to pace a training program, see if it is truly violent in nature."

"Have you fed it?"

Celestia looks down at Twilight. "Um, no, not yet.

"May I have a piece of bread and some water then?" Twilight asks.

"To feed it?" Celestia inquires.

"Yes."

They walk out of sight for a minute or two, but return with the needed items. The bread is fresh, I can smell it from here, but its scent is distracting me from the very, very strange thing happening in front of me. The bread and the small metal cup are floating in midair! They just hover there, like some sort of gag prank someone might pull, but I don't see any strings, just a faint violet glow from the objects. They float down between the bars and land about a foot in front of me. I reach for them, but my arms clank against the resisting chains of my shackles.

"...Princess Celestia, I have a bad idea," Twilight whispers

"What is it?" she asks.

"I think I know how to test if it's dangerous," she quietly says. "May I have the keys to its restraints?"

Celestia looks at the other pony, mortified. "Twilight Sparkle, are you insane? You are asking me to put you in harms way!"

"Just please, trust me?" she pleads.

I continue to stare at the food in front of me. I lean forward to see if I can stretch my back enough to get at the bread, but the sound of my cell door opening draws my attention. Twilight steps inside my cell and closes the door behind her. I straighten up and try my best not to look scared or intimidated.

She comes closer and that's when I see a key floating next to her. It swivels in the air and shoots toward me, I flinch, thinking it's going to hit me, but instead the metal around my wrists comes off. I quickly bring them out in front of me and rub them, glad to have the metal off of my skin.

Twilight then moves closer still. She sits down nearly two feet from me. Even though she's only four feet tall, when we are both seated Twilight is a bit taller than me. All I do is stare at her, my hands frozen on my wrists. And then, she slowly reaches forward, picks up the bread with her forelegs and gingerly hold them outward. I look at her, then at the bread in her hooves. Slowly, I reach out with my left arm and inch closer to the tasty looking morsel in her possession. My fingers touch the crisp crust and I take the bread in a fast manner. Twilight just smiles.

While I bite into the food she's given me, Twilight returns to the cell door and exits. "Princess," she says, "I think I would like to help you with your studies."

~ ~ ~ ~ ———— ~ ~ ~ ~

Based on what I heard Twilight and Celestia say while discussing their plan, I was to stay in the castle under constant surveillance. I'm in a castle... with a princess pony ruler... I've gone back in time to a terrible world... Anyways, I'm under lockdown after sundown, and I'm not allowed to go anywhere without Twilight to guide me. Apparently, we were to stay in the same room as well.

And that's where we're heading now. I have no idea what Twilight said to Celestia that convinced her to let me go free (to a certain extent), but I'm secretly grateful, not to mention that just an hour earlier I knocked some stallion's tooth out. I guess these crystals on my body are harder than I thought.

With Twilight in front of me, and two guards behind me, we all silently walk to my, no, our room. The décor in this never-ending hall is the same; just gray stone and red carpet. The walking is beginning to take a toll on my aching feet, and by some random show of mercy in this unusual world we reach the great double doors that behind lies our new sanctum. Without even touching the door, Twilight opens them and walks inside.

"Guards, you may remain outside or do as you wish," Twilight says in a bit of a commanding voice. "I won't be requiring your services until further notice."

"Yes Princess Twilight," they both say. Another princess?

Twilight motions for me to come in with her, so I do. The room inside is huge, like, ridiculously large. There is a king sized bed in the middle of the back wall, and it also has a glass door leading to a balcony. The bed is covered in a red blanket with gold trim and has four large posts rising above it with sheets flowing down like a ceiling of some sorts. The carpet here is a regal white, the curtains on the windows are gold, and there is a large pile of blue, pink, and green pillows in the middle of the floor.

Twilight moves over to the right side of the room and opens a door that I can barely see, since its painted the same color as the walls, a milky white. She slips inside and after a moment, reappears to call me inside. Once again, I follow.

I step into a large bathroom Its smaller than the room outside, but damn it's still big! There is a large tan bathtub on the far wall, a white sink and toilet on the right wall, and on the left wall is a smaller tub, a hot tub I think, I don't know for sure. Twilight is near the larger tub and motions me closer. I'm not entirely looking forward to what I think is coming next.

Slowly, I walk over to her and sit on the side of the tub. Once I'm seated, Twilight loses no time in checking me out. She pulls at the ragged remains of my jeans, checks my body for any serious injuries, and then leans in close to look at my face. She shakes her head.

"Poor thing. You've been through a lot, haven't you?"

I simply cock my head to the side in an attempt to look cute. I guess it doesn't work due to of all the blood on my face because Twilight grimaces.

"Let's get you washed up." Water begins to spurt from the nozzle of the tub and it makes me jump to my feet. Twilight gets up too. "No, no! It's okay, it's just the bathtub." She sits back down on the tiled floor and waits for me to do so as well. I wait a moment before I copy her, going down as well and crossing my legs.

That's just not right, her being able to turn the knobs like that without actually touching them. I watch her a bit as she leans forward and tests the inch-deep water with her hoof, then the knobs turn by themselves... again. Wait a minute, is she doing that? An orange bottle of liquid soap floats past my face. Like the key in the dungeon, its veiled in a violet aura of some sort... And so is her horn. Telekinesis? We humans are the most advanced creatures on our planet, and we've barely begun to unlock the more cognitive functionalities of our own DNA, but these creatures, these horses...

I lean forward and put my head in my hands, my mind just basically blown asunder from what I believe I've just realized. We sit there in silence for a number of minutes, though is seems like seconds until I realize how sore my back is when I stretch.

"There, that should be good." I look up at Twilight and she smiles. "Do you know what this is?" she asks while pointing at the sudsy water.

I make a scratching motion with my arm.

"That's right, it's a bath."

She stays where she is as I stand and move a bit closer to the water. My jeans are stiff and the burned edges of the holes begin to crumble as I stand. Humidity does unusual things to burns. I notice that Twilight is still sitting next to the tub, although her smile is gone. I cross my arms and stare at her, waiting. She returns the stare.

"...Do you... want to be alone?" she asks.

I don't move.

"...I'll, uh, be right outside then." She flaps her wings to flex them, then stands and quietly exits the bathroom.

I sigh and relax. Trying to be intimidating is very tiring. I'm not used to it at all. Normally I would avoid confrontation, stand aside, or walk away. But here, I can't do that. Not if I want to survive. But this one, Twilight Sparkle, she doesn't seem too bad, I guess. I look at the bath, then at the door, and take a deep breathe.

The door is silent when I open it and peer through the crack. Twilight is on the other side of the room, speaking to herself as she writes in a small journal. I poke my head through the doorway to hear better.

"-and appears to be, if anything, a bit bashful. This animal is unlike any others I've seen, as it seems to possess a much more complicated personality than the rest of the animals around the continent. Other than its unusual build and strange fur placement, I cannot truly hypothesize as to what it may be. However, it has only been an hour into my new assignment, and thusly I should gather more data before anything else. I have reason to suspect-"

Before I could do anything about it, the tickle in my nose elicits a sneeze form me.

Twilight whips her head around to see me peeking at her. She smiles and returns to her book. "-Have reason to suspect," she continues, "that the animal is just as curious about us as we are about it."

I huff and close the door. Turning around and sitting on the edge of the tub, I try to think. MMy mind is too hazy, too shaken to really do anything right now. My back and ribs are killing me, and the blood on my face isn't getting any cleaner. I stand up and unbutton my jeans, or at least what's left of them, and let them drop. Looking down, I see that my red boxers have escaped most damage, just a little thread sticking out here and there, probably from the hard contact earlier today. I slide them off as well and quickly immerse myself in the tub of hot water and bubbles.

The water is a bit warmer than I would like, but how would Twilight know that, but it feels so good on my crystals. Unusual to know that a rock formation can have feeling, but I don't care right now; I'm in a castle with talking, flying, telepathic miniature horses, the mysteriously-appearing yellow crystals on my arms and shoulders are the least of my problems. I sink down to my nose and begin to rub at my face and chest as hard as my tender flesh will allow me to. I need to get these crimson stains off of my skin. If I can look cute and innocent, then my survival could boost a few percentiles. I search the edges of the tub for something to scrub myself with, and I think I may have gotten lucky, I'm not entirely sure, but there is a small green rag. I grab it, dunk it in the water, and begin to work.

~ ~ ~ ~ ———— ~ ~ ~ ~

It's been a while now. The water in the tub is beginning to get cold, and all the bubbles have popped. I'm leaning against the far slanted side of the tub staring at the ceiling. The cut on my forehead is stinging from the soap. I don't want to get out, but I know I must, so I sit up and rub my neck. I'm clean, finally, but still a bit sore. I pull out the bath plug and stand up. Being careful, I slide my butt on the edge of the tub and grab a nearby white towel. After a few minutes of drying off and slipping on my boxers and jeans once more, I leave the bathroom.

Twilight is asleep on the massive bed, and a translucent bubble surrounds her sleeping form. I don't even want to think about what that may be, but on the other hand... I sneak past the bed and over to where she was before, the desk. Her journal is open and just begging me to read it. I scan through and start where I last heard her. I don't want to wake Twilight, so I simply read in my head.

"It's curiosity may have been what brought it to our kingdom in the first place. The animal is obviously not a native to this section of Equestria, as our records show no data on anything even similar to it. Its physical appearance of both flesh and stone suggest a possible underground species, perhaps one that is close in genealogy to the Carbonic Canis lupus, more commonly known as the Diamond Dog. At any rate, I have decided that in order to earn its trust, I must trust it myself. There is, however, a thin line in this experiment that I do not want to cross, and to prevent myself from proceeding past that line, I have taken safety precautions and cast a protection sphere spell as I sleep. If the animal attempt anything, I will be awakened and ready to defend myself."

It's nice to see that I have made myself a force to be reckoned with. I close the journal and take another look at Twilight. I already know where I'll be sleeping tonight, so I head over to my spot. The spot with the dozens of pillows. I rearrange them into a small den for myself and find a comfortable place to lay down. Pilling the extra pillows on myself as a makeshift blanket, I put my hands together on my chest and close my eyes, all while trying to ignore the pain of my cut.

I do not dream that night...