Only in my dreams

Celestia awoke to the suns auric rays burning at her eyelids. Its natural warmth brought a wide smile to her muzzle as nights foggy embrace slowly lifted from her head.

Not one to waste the day, she cracked her eyes open as she raised herself from her bed, and took a quick peek out of the nearest window. What she saw brought another wide smile to her face. The sun glistened off of several fresh layers of snow that now blanketed the ground.

Fillies and colts skipped and jumped on what used to be grass laden trails and stone walkways, all wearing wide smiles as they played as if they haven’t a care in the world.

Parents watched from inside the warmth of their homes, where brilliant hues of oranges and reds bounced off their coats from the fires they had lit inside.

Overhead, several pegasi arched through the sky, controlling the clouds that so graciously gave the ponies down under a new season to enjoy.

The sounds of the ponies buzzing through the day -A rather loud day as it seemed- soon gave way to one of hooves clopping against her rooms granite floor. Celetia craned her neck to see who had disturbed her.

In front of her, she found a tall, dark blue mare that she was proud to call her sister. On her muzzle, she wore a more atoned smile. “Sister.” She stated as she nodded to Celestia, “A guest has just arrived that I believe you have been expecting for some time now.”

Celestia began to remove herself from her bed, but was stopped by Luna. “He is asleep as of this moment. Though, when he comes to, I believe he has a...  rather surprising gift for you.”

Luna made her way off, but turned back to her sister once more. “I have called in one of your finest guards to watch over his room while he slumbers. You will find him in the Griffon guest room.”

With this, Luna made her way off to have dreams of her own, but not before her sister gave a farewell and goodnight to the Lunar Princess.

Wasting no more time, Celestia sprung herself from her bed and attempted to power up her horn. A sharp jolt of pain hit her as the magical energy rebounded from the tip of the growing appendage and back into her head.

“Right. Walking it is.”

oOo

The stallion standing guard at the door snapped to attention as Celestia approached. Like all of the unicorn guard, he was dressed in standard gold lined armor. His helmet, however, was different from the rest.

Instead of the normal grey and white brush that most wore, his was replaced by his own tannish mane. Similarly, his coat was also his own, making it obvious to any onlooker that he hadn’t activated the enchanted gem on the outside of his breast plate to disguise himself.

Taking note of who appeared, he faced Celestia with a bow and light smile. “Good morning, your highness.”

“Good morning, Captain Row. Sorry to bring you in on your day off, but this matter is too large to risk the task to that of a lower ranking guard.” She walked past him towards the door, nudging it open with her magic. While she still may not be able to perform more complex spells as teleportation yet, enough of her power had returned to perform a variety of simpler ones.

“It’s no problem, but I had to bring my daughter with me.” He lifted his leg, showing Celestia his filly. She was fast asleep under Rows underbelly.

Celestia took a closer look at the young filly. There was little to no resemblance between the two. It would be nearly impossible to tell who the filly belonged to if they were to get separated. Her train of thought was cut off as the stallion continued talking. “Her mom wasn’t home and I didn’t have the time to get a babysitter, so she’s stuck with me for today.”

Row gave Celestia another smile. She only nodded in return before returning to the original topic at hand. “Then perhaps you should wake her. This being the day you were supposed to have off, I believe it is fair that you get to see what is so important.”

oOo

Jesse eyes opened slowly as he took in the world around him. What he felt could easily be describe as one of, is not the, best moments of his life. The bed he found himself on was soft and comforting. The temperature was perfectly in tune with his body. Not overly warm or cold, just… perfect.

A sweet aroma of caramel hit his nose as he shifted in the bed, stretching his tired muscles, letting out a groan as he did so. He could hear the loud clinking of metal off in the background. Something akin to the sound of a cafeteria staff hard at work.

“That, was the best night of sleep I’ve had in a long long time.” He said to himself, unaware of the three ponies that had made their way into the room.

The sound of two large gasps filled his ears, followed shortly by what sounded like a middle aged man that was ready to scream for his life. “IT CAN TALK!”

Jesse body lurched at the sudden outburst. Within the short amount of time he took to turn himself towards whomever was behind him, he was able to see a much larger form smack the smaller one in the back of it’s head.

He would have laughed save that their sudden presence hadn’t frightened him. And that there seemed to be two talking ponies in the room.

His jaw dropped as his brain tried to cope with the reality of what he was seeing. Here, in front of him, were two ponies. He noted that the more feminine one was easily twice the size of the rather masculine one that talked as if it was an everyday thing.

Not waiting for Jesse to take action, the two ponies launched themselves into an argument.

“That it is a he. And he is a living, breathing, sapient being, just like any other pony or zebra, and you will treat him as such!” The larger, feminine pony yelled.

What Jesse assumed to be the male retorted, “Well how was I supposed to know that!? You could have warned me!” He hissed, “ Its not everyday you meet a new species!”

Their voices faded from Jesses head as he started to compile all the information that it was being force fed to him through the straw of reality. In this moment, said straw was wearing incredibly thin.

What felt like hours passed before he finally came back to listening to the ponies yell at each other.

“I promised you that I would promote you to captain, and I did! I expect better behavior from what I think to be the best of the royal guard!”

Promised. Somehow, that word rung in his head, stuck there like a fly to a gluestick. He was all too familiar with that word as it was a word that he felt had betrayed him when he was younger.

That very word which he latched to as a safeguard from the harsh places he so hated from his childhood. In that home, he was made a promise to by a piece of his imagination. And life so had it that the imagination tore him to his roots.

But put together with that voice. With that voice, he recognized that very promise. That word and that voice all in one package brought back those sour memories and turned them into anything but.

Completely unable to hold himself back, he launched himself from where he was sitting.

Within the second he had wrapped his arms around the larger pony’s neck, bringing her to the ground. Tears poured from his eyes as all his childhood memories flooded back into him, bringing back every sour moment and the very few sweet ones.

Celestia struggled at first, but soon gave into his hearty advances. With his head buried in her neck, the man cried like an infant, letting all of the pain of his youth flow from his eyes down the back of his savior. “Celestia.” He whimpered into her mane, completely oblivious or uncaring for the stallion that had been watching. “It’s been ten years.”

oOo

Jesse, Celestia, and the filly made their way through one of the castles many halls. As Celestia gave them the grand tour of the palace, she revealed to him that most of the staff had gathered into small crews, working in a few of the many areas around the castle to make preparations for the evening. The royal guard were scattered amongst the city streets, keeping an eye out for trouble.

Row, the stallion that had been with them, had gone off to do business elsewhere. With his permission, his filly, Sunny Strings, had decided to stay with Celestia and Jesse to see what would happen of the two. It was a rare occasion for the filly to spend time with the princess and it was only made better by the fact she was with a creature that had never been seen before by pony eyes.

Except by Celestia and her father of course.

As they walked along, Sunny smaller frame caused her to fall behind, making Celestia and Jesse stop and wait. As soon as she caught up, she was panting like she had just ran a few laps around the castle.

Not wanting to have to stop every five minutes, Jesse reached down and picked the filly up, placing her behind his neck where she wouldn’t have to worry about falling behind or losing herself within the castle walls.

At first, the filly was surprised, but that short moment soon turned to something more like pure, untamed excitement. “So cool!” The filly squeaked as she observed her surroundings. “Everything seems so different up here!”

Jesse shifted his neck to make himself more comfortable as he caught up to Celestia.

The filly looked down at the princess. “I’m higher up than Princess Celestia!” She squeaked again.

Turning to them, Celestia looked up to where the filly was perched. She nearly stood head to head with Jesse, but with Sunny Strings on his shoulders, Sunny was quite a bit taller.

The filly wore a smile on her muzzle as she enjoyed the ride.

She leaned herself over the top of Jesses head and looked him in the eye. “Hey Mister? How tall are you?” She asked.

He looked off to his side, seeming to be thinking about her question.

“I’m not exactly sure.” He answered, “It’s been awhile since I measured myself, but last time I did, I stood a few inches over six feet.”

The fillies eyes widened and a look a pure amazement over came her. “Cool! How’d you get so tall!?”

“Well, thats an easy one. I ate my greens as a kid.”

“Don’t we all?” She asked, with a roll of her eyes.

Thats right. Ponies don’t eat meat.

Not sure what to say, he looked at Celestia. She was already watching at the two, curiosity written clearly across her muzzle.

“Uh…” He pretended to clear his throat while staring down at Celestia.

Celestia took the hint and cut in before the the filly asked any more questions. “We shouldn’t bother Jesse with too many questions. It’s been a long day for him.”

Celestias horn let off a faint yellow aura and the weight on his back lifted as Celestia removed the filly with her magic. After placing the Sunny on the ground, she looked back at Jesse and motioned to the door off to her left.

“This is where you will be staying. My chambers are just a few doors down if you need me.”

Jesse nodded to her and entered the room. As he stepped through the door, the fancy galore that littered the room hit his eyes with the force of a hungry bear.

Anything and everything that could be laced in gold, was. The bed, the couch, the lamps, and everything.

He looked to the door as the final mumblings of the Princess and the filly echoed through the hall before fading off into the distance, leaving Jesse to nothing but his mind and the room.

oOo

Starswirl once again sat himself in front of the Griffon King. Only this time, the king was bathed in sunlight pouring in from a large window at the top of the palace, illuminating every feature to Starswirl as he rested on his throne.

Wings, larger than any set he’d seen before, jutted from the griffons back on either side, large spikes running along the middle. He stood taller than any other, with a impressive tail that slinked across the floor, swiveling around till it wrapped around one of the young kings legs.

Naturally, the wings stood out to him. Griffon males didn’t have wings but, lo and behold, here stood the king sporting the features of both a female and a male put into one, mixed in with a larger frame resulting in a creature of pure intimidation.

The king lay sprawled across the rests of his throne, looking bored with the pony before him. Another griffon walked up to the king with a platter in it’s claw. On said platter was a large slab of uncooked meat. What animal it came from was beyond him.

The king took the slab from the platter, eating half of it in a single bite. A small dribble of blood ran down his beak, which he washed away with a swift flick of his tail.

He held the other half before himself. “So tell me pony. What are your motives for this course of action?” He stuffed the other half of the slab of meat into his mouth and looked toward Starswirl.

He shook his head, recovering from the gaze that he was just in. Watching something eat meat in front of him was… unnatural and felt somewhat wrong. His focus returned along with his anger. “Her family imprisoned me, only because I sought to extend the knowledge of magic beyond what we thought possible! Because of them, I have been locked away from the world where I could have done some real good In return, they gave me nothing but a thousand years as a punishment for my desires to help all of ponykind!”

The king swallowed what was left in his beak. “Sounds kinda cliche, but it makes sense. If I wanted nothing more than to help, yet was imprisoned, I too would want my revenge. But it wasn’t Celestia who did it to you."

“If I was taught correctly, it was her parents who imprisoned you on the count that you had destroyed entire cities and stole the lives of several hundred, if not thousands, of innocents. Don’t you think that alone is a good enough reason for your imprisonment?”

Starswirl picked up a look of pure anger.  “I have committed no such crimes! Those were lies placed on me to make me look dasterious!”

The griffon flicked a claw at the pony, deciding for himself which was true. It was obviously a lie, but he as well wanted the princesses gone. “So be it. I have ambitions of my own and also want the sisters out of my way. For that, I’ll help you, but you must follow my plans.”

Starswirl bowed to the the griffon. “If that is how it must be, then I will gladly accept. But only on the count of a few, small things.”

The griffon gave a hearty chuckle to the pony. His beak somehow turned into a scowl as he thought it over.

“Then speak pony. What is it that you ask?”

oOo

Celestia walked back and forth outside Jesses current living quarters, unsure of if she should just head to bed or talk to the human once more before finishing her work for the day. She was certain he had questions, but wasn’t so sure he was ready for the answers to any of them.  She did want to head to bed, but didn’t want to leave the human in a state of total curiosity in the fear that he would wander off to find the answers himself, inevitably finding himself in trouble..

Her legs started to burn as she kept her pacing, drawing her attention back to the idea of going to bed for the sake of getting some rest.

In the past several hours, she had made preparations for the Grand Galloping Gala. With all that had been happening recently she somehow managed to forget about it. Luckily, Luna had reminded her before night had come, leaving her enough time to get her work done and make a visit to Ponyville before the Gala started.

With her time in the small town, she had made a visit to Twilight’s Crystal Palace, only to find that the newfound alicorn, nor any of her friends were there, but had instead already left for Canterlot the day before.

Nothing to do in Ponyville, she returned back to the castle to finish her daily labor and prepare herself for the Gala. In that time, the sun had started to lower itself in the sky, slowly making its way toward a distant horizon.

Not wanting to stall any longer, Celestia opened the door to Jesse’s room.

“Jesse?”

Not seeing him in the main living area,she walked to the other end of the room and looked down a short hallway. The short, dark, hallway.

Of the few rooms in the suite, most the doors were open, and only the furthest back room was lit. Cautiously, she walked down the hallway, looking back and forth between the darkened rooms. “Jesse?” The sudden feeling of butterflies blistered in her stomach as the air stayed silent.

Finally making it to the back of the hall, she started to push the lit rooms door open, the door creaking as she did. Her heart started to beat harder in her chest and she winced slightly as she looked inside the room.

Her eyes immediately fell upon the bed. On the bed was a light red cloth, with a darker, heavier looking blue one under it. Feeling a sudden bit of curiosity, she approached the bed and poked at the two new articles of what she recognized as the same clothing Jesse had been wearing just earlier that day.

Suddenly, she heard a small clicking sound behind her. Something like that of a doorknob turning as someone opened it. Craning her neck, she found Jesse standing across the hall from her as he left the bathroom.

He stopped in place once he saw the pony princess in the bedroom before him. Instinctively, he dived back into the bathroom and peered at Celestia from behind the door. “What are you doing?” he asked, voice cracking as he did so.

She looked from him and back to the Jesses clothes in front of her before letting out a long “Ohhhh...” She faked,  as she looked away from him, for the sake of his own customs. “I’m sorry Jesse. I didn’t realize...”

“Yea, thats nice and all, now can you leave for a second?” He sounded agitated with Celestia. And in her own mind, she thought that if she were in the same situation, she would have likely felt the same way.

Being a race that kept themselves covered, it was obvious, in her own mind, that humans didn’t often remove their single layer of protection without good reasons.

Celestia obediently retreated to the living room of the suite and waited patiently for the human to come out.

Not but a few minutes passed before Jesse joined Celestia in the main room.

The hair on his head glistened slightly in the room as what little water left in his hair reflected whatever light hit it.

“Hello Celestia.” He started. Not sure where else to go, he stayed quiet and waited for her to give her own greetings.

She nodded and said, “Good evening Jesse.”

Jesse seemed to drift off for a moment, not sure as of what he should say before coming back to the freshly started conversation. “So... what's happening down there,” he said as he looked at the floor below him, “Kinda noisy.”

She followed his stair, knowing that it went straight to the marble floor. “Every year, on the first weekend of the first month, we host a party here in the castle called the Grand Galloping Gala. Today just happens to be that weekend.”

Jesse nodded his head. “So theres lots of ponies down there I take it.”

“Of course.”

“And do any of them know I’m here?” He asked.

Celestias face scrunched. Nopony down below knew of Jesse’s existence other than Luna and a few guards. But she knew that he was talking about others that he himself hadn’t seen before. “No.”

Jessie’s mouth turned to a small frown at that and he started to nod. “Okay.” He said as he turned to a more questioning look. “So how long will I have to stay up here? Cause it’s kinda boring not having anyone to talk to.”

Celestia smiled at him, happy to hear the question. “It’s good that you are looking for others to chat with. I’ve already made plans for you to meet a few ponies tonight. I thought it would be good for you.”

Jesse rubbed his hands together, his impatience already building up. “Great. So when do I get to meet them?”

As if on cue, the sound of knocking came over the room. Both Celestia and Jesse looked at the door, both wearing smiles on their faces. Jesses being the greater of the two.

“Aunty Tia. Are you in there?” Whomever was on the outside shifted around, obviously in a place of discomfort. “May I come in? These guards won’t stop pestering me.”

Celestia dropped her smile, rethinking over some of her recent decisions due to the snootiness in the ponies voice. “Oh I do hope this is the griffon guest room.” The pony outside said.

Perhaps Blueblood wasn’t a good idea for a first introduction.

oOo

Jesse slouched back on the couch, his weariness showing on his face. For the past several minutes, had had been rubbing at his temples, trying to void himself of the horrid memories he had just made.

With a sigh, he looked over to Celestia. “I think i’m done talking to ponies. The university didn’t even have people that snooty and most of them were filthy rich.”

The two sat in silence for a moment before another knocking rung through the air. Jesse’s head turned towards the door, waiting to see who would enter next. Surprisingly, no one, or pony for this matter, entered. Instead, they insisted on asking questions… with a french accent. “Celestia, it’s Fleur. You sent for me?”

Celestia looked at the downtrodden man called Jesse. He was shaking his head, telling her that he didn’t want to see anypony else.

“Don’t worry” She said, “Fleur is one of the sweetest ponies I’ve ever meet. I’m sure you’ll like her.”

Celestia moved to the door, opening it to revealing a whitish-pink pony on the other side. “Please, come-” She hesitated as another pony came into view behind Fleur. This one, had a brown coat, with a much darker brown mane. “I see you brought a guest.”

Fleur sheepishly looked back at her companion. “Yes, I’m very sorry about that, but your guard was in quite a hurry to get me here. I was spending some time with my friend, Octavia, and I insisted that she come along. I do hope you don’t mind.”

Celestia shook her head lightly. “Of-course not. The more the merrier.” Celestia moved to the side to let the two mares in as Jesse called to them from behind.

“I no longer believe that claim, Celestia. One Blueblood was hard enough as it was. I think two is beyond me for now… or ever.”

The two mares looked at Celestia, slightly confused.

“I don’t recognize that voice” Fleur piped up, “Is there more to your family that I’ve yet to meet?”

Celestia shook her head. “Not of my family. But this is some-” She paused, thinking over a word to use for the situation, “-body I think you will take pleasure in meeting.”

Fleurs brows raised and a look of amusement crossed her. “Oh. Not a pony then. Be it a griffon, or zebra, I will take your word for it.” She started to approach the couch Jesse was planted on, Octavia following close behind.

Jesse popped his head over the back of the couch, wearing a wide smile. “Griffons? You never said anything about griffons.”

The two mares stood in place, jaws falling to the ground. Celestia maintained her regal composure, even though she desperately wanted to laugh. Fleur turned her head back to Celestia, mouthing What is that?

Jesse caught the obvious question, and left his place on the couch to approach the two. Octavia kept an eye on him, poking at Fleurs side as he approached.

Fleur snapped her head at her friend. “What!” She hissed, before noticing how close Jesse had come. “Oh.”

Jesse held a hand out to Fleur for a proper greeting. “Hello, My names Jesse.”

Fleur gawked at him momentarily before putting her hoof in his hand. He gave a little shake before removing himself.

“Uh…” She lifted her hoof to her face as if she expected something to grow out of it before returning it to the floor. “My name is Fleur De Lis.” She blushed in embarrassment. “I’m sorry if that was any bit rude. I’ve never seen anything of your sort. It was… quite a surprise.”

He gave the mare a weak smile. “I don’t mind. As long as you’re not like Blueblood, I don’t think anything much will bother me now.”

A moment passed in silence as the four stayed quiet.

Jesse himself was thinking deeply to himself about the pink mare in front of him. She knew english yet spoke with a french accent. He dwelled on the thought before getting an idea. “By any chance, do you know any other languages?”

Fleur laid her hoof across her chest. “Actually, yes. Prench.”

Jesse chuckled to himself. “Pony French.” He rested his head in his hands as he laughed the name out.

Fleur looked slightly offended, but also seemed a little curious about his statement. She laid a hoof on her own chest. “Are you familiar with the language?”

“No. Not really. I had to take a few foreign language classes in high school and I choose french, but I never took anything away from it.”

Fleur nodded in response as connection to Prench and French clicked in her mind. “Perhaps I could teach you one day?” She asked, “Since you seem familiar with the language, it should not be difficult at all for you to learn.”

“Sure” He responded, without trying to sound serious in the least, “sounds like… fun.”

The mare ecstatically skipped in place, overwhelmed by the idea of teaching somebody a new language.  Without letting her friend calm herself, the mare that was standing beside Fleur threw her two cents into the conversation.

“And what of music?” She asked, “Do you take any interests into the performing arts?”

Jesse looked down at Octavia somewhat more interested in what she was offering over what Fleur was. “I tried band but it didn’t really rub me the right way. The trumpets sat behind me so I went a lot of the time without being able to really hear much of anything.”

“Then perhaps a more orchestral approach would suit your fancy.” She proposed.

Jesse chewed on that piece for a moment. “That actually sounds like something I’d like.” He stuck his hand over his chin, bringing it down in a v- shape. “Better than learning a new language.”

Fleur huffed at him, causing Octavia to let out a small giggle. “How about tomorrow then. With the princesses permission of course.” She turned to where Celestia had been standing just moments ago, but was meet with nothing more than a whiff of her presence.

She looked off around her before asking the question that everybody was now thinking.

“Where did the princess go?”