Dead on the inside

By the time Inhio woke up on the next morning, his more cheerful side had already vanished without a trace. He woke up at the same time he always did. He never relied on anything to wake him up. Not his alarm clock, not the noisy neighbours, and not even the roosters outside...Wait...the what?

Inhio switched from sleeping to sitting on the bed and gazed out the small window that was on a level as high as his head was while sitting. He would have tried to spot the loud animal that woke him up, if only it weren’t for the other multitudes of things that were out of place. He had awoken in a place that looked nothing like his apartment. He began to wonder whether he got kidnapped by a bunch of dwarves or was simply dreaming... Luckily, the tiny, purple, winged unicorn had just entered the room to answer that question for him.

Without a doubt, there was only one man alive on planet Earth that could sit there without even raising an eyebrow...Little did he know, that he was no longer on that planet. After the equine had cleared her throat, the famous phrase followed. "Good afternoon. My name is Twilight Sparkle.”

The silent man didn’t seem too amused. Apparently this wasn’t the weirdest dream he had seen before. After a brief moment of silence, he decided to greet her back, "Hey."

Funny. Who would have thought that out of the two living beings in this room, the only surprised one would be the animal that seemed to already know of the man’s whereabouts before entering the room. Clearly, Twilight had something to do with this. At first she thought that she would definitely wait out until the man starts asking questions like "Where am I?”, "What do you want with me?”, "What are you?” and others of the sort, but oddly enough, the man seemed to have no intention of ever doing so.

"Umm...Aren’t you...curious?”

"No.” The man’s quick and solid response was almost scary for the young pony. She was at a loss of words.

"Aren’t you at least wondering why are you here?”

The pony seemed a bit unsure, Inhio picked up on that right away. Clearly, although she had something to do with him being here, she was not the one in charge, so Inhio decided that he should at least have a little fun with this dream. This was one of those few, rare dreams where he actually felt like he was in charge of his own actions. "What makes you think I don’t already know the answer to that?”

Twilight grew less and less sure of herself after every word the man said, she began to stutter on nearly every word. "Wh-what? B-B-B-But how? How could you possibly know that?”

"Enough talk!” The pauses between Inhio’s sentences grew shorter as his conversation partner's words began to distance from one another with every passing moment. He got up and spoke as he walked towards the confused pony blocking the exit door, "Go ahead. Take me to your leader.”

Twilight stepped back to free the way out for the man, though she did it as much from her sense of duty as she did it from fear of the person who seemed to know more about what was going on than she did. Twilight came here to greet the guest and answer his questions, but instead, she had ended up being the one in need of answers. What? No...There’s no...Could he possibly know about Celestia, as well? But how?...Why do I get the feeling that he summoned himself here?

Twilight turned around to prevent the man from seeing her unsettling expression. She didn’t want Inhio to realize that she was not so much in control of the situation as she probably should be. It didn’t really matter, however. Inhio realized that early in the conversation. He began to question the integrity of her mind the moment she said "Good afternoon” right after both of them had heard the rooster's morning call.

"Oh, uhm, yes...Right this way, please.”

Twilight led Inhio outside, into the streets of Ponyville. It was difficult to keep all the ponies on the streets in line to witness such an event. This...What did they call him? A Hyu-men, was it? Equestria had never seen the likes of a such a creature, before. It was nearly twice as tall as your average pony and stood on its back hooves like it was born that way.

"Is it dangerous?” Was one of the first and most commonly encountered questions among the minds of the ponies. Right after "Why is it here?” and "What does it want from us?”

They stared at the Hyu-men without end, paying attention to just about every one of its movements, and getting slightly startled each time it turned its sights towards one of them. Everything about it seemed strange to them - Its size, its skin color, its hair and clothing, its pitch-black, glass-covered eyes, the things on its feet, and most importantly - the disturbing way its front hooves seemed to split into 5 smaller parts, right where they should be having horseshoes instead.

Naturally, the ponies weren’t the only ones looking at a new species, Inhio seemed rather curious, as well. These miniature horses that were half the size of even the seemingly small ponies back at home, and that’s just the grown ones. There were younger ones, as well. They were no bigger than a common house cat. And as if their size wasn’t enough, there were also no less than 3 times the colors of a rainbow amongst them, he even saw one that had all 7 in her mane and tail.

Oh, and that was but he beginning. There were multitudes of all types - pegasi, unicorns, just regular ponies, and of course, the one, winged unicorn leading him through the crowd. He still wasn’t certain whether to call her a winged unicorn or a horned pegasus.

What’s so special about this one? He wondered. Why does this one have both of these natural privileges while some of the ponies here don’t seem to have any?...Strange.

Oh, and one more thing. What’s with the tattoos on everyone’s backsides? They resemble all kinds of things, starting from the most simplest things, like an apple or an hourglass, or a piece of candy, to slightly more sophisticated things like stars and clouds.

Do these symbols mean anything? They probably do since some of the younger ones don’t have them, so it’s obviously not a thing they’re born with. Mayhap it’s some sort of mark that symbolizes one’s coming of age, or something like that? Heck, even people on our world do stuff like that.

But if that’s the case, then what’s with the many varieties of marks? Do they get to choose what they want drawn on their backside? Because I sure as hell know I wouldn’t choose something like a common indoor tool when I could choose something as neat-looking as that star on the purple one in front of me.

GAAH! Why am I so damn concerned about this matter? I’m just going wake up any minute and forget any of this happened, anyways...Hmm. Inhio began to notice the way they gazed at his hands. May as well have a bit of fun while I’m here. He thought to himself.

He raised his right hand, moved his fingers around and waved to the crowd, showing that he, without a doubt, had full control of all 5 of the small parts his front hooves were divided in. The ponies watched in awe. Inhio didn’t intend to leave the left side without a show, either. With a swift turn, he moved his head and shoulders to their side and snapped his fingers in the air as loud as he could.

He slightly overdid it, though. Instead of being amazed by his performance, many of them got scared, and some even covered their heads as they fell to the ground. A few screams were heard among the crowd, as well. The ones that thought at first that he had come to cause them harm, had just received all the proof they needed to be sure of that. "Aaah! He’s shooting at us! Run for your lives.”

Some of the ponies in the crowd began to panic and tried to move through, further from the mean Hyu-men. The crowd was unstable for a moment, but got back into shape, quick enough, once everyone had realized that no one got hurt from the loud, sudden bang. Nothing seemed to come out of the creature’s paws either when he did that. Must have really been just for show.

A reproachful question followed from the purple pony ahead of him after that. "Having fun?”

An instant reply followed. "Sorry...It’s not every day you get to do something like this.”

Inhio bowed to both sides of the crowd, apologizing for his behavior. He followed the purple pony outside the borders of the town, still gazing back at the ever-so-curious and confused crowd that he left behind himself. The pony in front of him stopped soon after they passed the last building in the town.

***

"We’re here.” Twilight stepped aside to let Inhio see what was their destination...Quite the sight, really. The golden carriage led by two proudly standing white pegasi with the same color armor as the carriage, that was but a diversion, compared to the real eye candy.

Inhio lived in a time without kings or queens, only presidents and ministers that people would usually only formally greet, stand in attention or salute them, but if there ever was a moment when he’d just want to get down on his knees and say "Your Majesty”, then it was now, for the equine that stood before him now took the word Majestic up to a whole new level. This one was tall enough to stare him in the eyes without looking an inch upwards.

All white, herself, but with a mane and tail so bright that they just radiated with pure light, both in the same 4 colors- blue, light blue, light green and pink. Her horn was nearly 3 times the size as that of the purple pony, and also looked much sharper. It looked like it could prove to be a weapon deadly in both close and ranged combat.

Her wings alone were larger than most of the ponies he saw on the way. Why does she bother getting brought here with a carriage was something Inhio was unsure about. Surely, not even the eagles back home could catch her in open flight, she could probably cross any distance at the blink of an eye, if she only wanted to.

So far, she and the purple one were the only two winged and horned creatures Inhio had encountered. The tattoo on her backside was a sun, together with the purple pony’s mark, the two would make the sun and stars. The only conclusion Inhio could come to was that the purple one was her daughter, it all made sense - the sun and stars, both winged and horned, and her being sent personally to fetch him. Her, and none other...Yes, she must be her daughter. The big one must be the queen of this place, and the small one - the princess.

Why do I get the honor of personally meeting the almighty ruler of this lovely, little place of sunshine and rainbows? Inhio wondered.

This dream had intrigued him like no other, but the time for thoughts was at an end, the queen herself was slowly approaching him. He didn’t feel like offending her, so he did just as his gut told him to - he bowed low.

"Your Majesty.”

The unexpected way he cooperated and seemed so content with everything, amused the queen, she even slightly giggled before speaking to him.

The same, however, could not be said for the smaller princess. From the very beginning of his visit, she seemed rather worried about his attitude. He acted so naturally, as though he had foreseen this event, ages ago, and had been preparing for it ever since. She never let her eyes off him, she couldn’t shake the feeling that the queen is in danger while this man is here.

"Arise, Sir Inhio. You are not from my lands, so you do not need to kneel for me at any time, but your actions are appreciated.”

Inhio got up and matched the queen's eye level with his own. "Thank you, my queen.”

"Oh, and please, call me Celestia. Princess Celestia, if you so wish.”

Princess?! Does this mean that even she isn’t the queen of these lands? Inhio seemed surprised, but still maintained a face that wouldn’t indicate that in any way. "Of course, Princess Celestia.”

The way he spoke to her almost saddened Celestia. She had hoped to bring him here to feel like a guest of honor, but here he was, kneeling before her like any other one of her subjects. A quiet laugh was heard from her once more. She decided to not prolong this any longer, and tell him what’s this all about before he has to ask for himself, but not before officially welcoming him to her lands. She spoke loud and clear, fit for such an occasion.

"Sir Inhio of planet Earth, it is with great honor that I welcome you into our magical land of Equestria!”

"The honor is all mine, Your Grace.”

The princess switched to a slightly less formal tone, her voice softened and got quieter. "You are no doubt wondering why have you been brought here, am I not right?”

Inhio’s responses were quick, he changed neither his tone, nor expression, or the loudness of his voice or talking speed. His voice was always warm and somewhat quiet, but also clear. Despite not being loud, no one ever missed a word Inhio said. He didn’t want to keep the princess waiting, so he kept the intervals between his sentences short, he never needed much time to know just what he wants to say. "Indeed I am, Your Highness.”

I wonder when will he finally run out of ideas for titles to address me by. Celestia wondered. She didn’t mind, though. In fact, she was constantly amused by his choice of words. Sadly, she could not enjoy the moment for long. Her following sentence required a more serious tone. "Before I answer any of your questions, I want you to answer just one of mine.”

"Of course, princess. Just name it.”

The princess walked even closer to him, so close that Inhio could feel her horn above his head, it felt like it radiated with a magical aura. She stared through Inhio’s sunglasses with a piercing look, it felt rather overwhelming for Inhio. Nevertheless, he did not stutter.

"Who are you?” That was the question the princess wanted to ask him. To most people it would sound like a joke, they would all wonder about why is she asking that after she had already called him by his name, multiple times...But Inhio was not like most people. The princess was no fool, and Inhio knew exactly what she meant with those 3 words. Inhio emptied his lungs with a heavy exhale and disengaged from the eye-contact he had maintained with the princess until now.

With a swift motion of his right hand, he removed his shades. "I believe you already know the answer...” He raised his head and reestablished the previously broken connection between their eyes. "Your Majesty,” he ended the sentence he previously began.

Twilight stood a good distance behind Inhio, but she still couldn’t help but wonder what was it that Celestia saw in his eyes that made her so suddenly change her cheerful expression. Naturally, she couldn’t see Inhio’s eyes for herself, but she noticed that one of the royal guards near the carriage turned his attention towards him for just a split second, and instantly turned away as a small drop of sweat slowly slid down from his right temple to his cheek, and eventually reached his chin.

These guards were masters of their work, and not many things could make them budge even the slightest bit, let alone, start shaking from fear. This really didn’t make Twilight feel any better.

"Yes...I see,” Celestia spoke, at last, to the ghost of a man in front of her. She closed her eyes, unable to gaze any longer, at whatever it was that made her feel so uneasy. Her tone now was neither a loud official one, nor a serious one, and most certainly not a cheerful one, but rather the tone of someone barely drawing breath and begging for mercy. "Please...cover them.”

"At once, Your Highness.” Inhio closed his eyes and covered them with his shades, right away.

Only once Celestia was sure that Inhio’s demonic stare was no longer pointed at her, did she dare open her own eyes again. "Thank you,” she continued in the same tone as before. Inhio’s gaze seemed to have drained her of her strength. "Your eyes...You are not like other men, Inhio.” Celestia began to regain her just lost strength. Inhio’s stare had only affected her for a short period of time. Her voice became more energetic, and she no longer spoke as though she was on her death bed. "Your eyes have always resembled the way you feel inside. Is that not true?”

That statement was true, and Inhio wasn’t about to deny it, but something troubled him, from the inside, making him slightly hesitate to answer, which was highly unlike him. He was troubled by the fact that this Celestia knew so much about him. Every one of his instincts still kept telling him that this is nothing but a dream, and that he’d be waking up at any moment...But that feeling never left his mind. That small itch at the back of his brain...Could this actually be reality?

"Right you are, Your Highness. This is the very reason I tend to never take off my sunglasses...” Inhio hung his head while remembering some of the less pleasant moments of his past. "In short, when I was younger, I sometimes couldn’t control my feelings and ended up scaring some people I never wanted to hurt. My open sight was dangerous to the people around me...That caused problems, so I chose to hide it.” Inhio sighed loudly. Celestia took a few steps back. She felt like the man needed some room.

"I still remember the day when I arrived home, exhausted from sitting for hours, trying to explain to the principle something I simply couldn’t. That day, my mother told me the truth about my gift, as she called it.”

Every open ear close enough to hear Inhio’s story was now focused directly on him, ignoring any other minor noise that was present in the air. Twilight had taken a few steps forward to be able to hear the conversation a bit better. Celestia herself was standing still as a statue, and even the guards seemed rather curious. The poor souls had no life other than serving their princess, and had none to tell about their day to. Nothing too interesting ever happened on their average day, so they looked forward to every little thing like the one currently going on. Inhio didn’t hold back, he kept telling his story without pause.

"She told me how when I was born, the doctor holding me couldn’t let his eyes off me, and that my father had to practically pry me out of the doctor's hold. When my mother finally got to hold me for herself, she said that those few seconds that she spent looking into my eyes were worth more to her than her whole life put together. In my eyes, she saw the very essence of life and all things good and holy, because at that moment, they were resembling life itself, for a new life had just arrived upon Earth.”

Not even the ponies close to Inhio, but even the ones still near the edge of the town were curiously looking at the small crowd so far from them. Of course, they couldn’t hear a word any of them were saying, but they were still curious as to what could be so interesting to make Celestia herself listen to with such a passionate interest that could commonly only be seen on a child, first setting foot into school.

"And now...” Inhio raised his head to once again make eye contact with the princess. He didn’t mean to insult her by not looking at her for so long, it simply felt easier to recall his past that way. Celestia understood his sorrow and wasn’t bothered by this act that may have seemed offensive to a more strict ruler. Despite being emotionless, as always, Inhio still felt hurt inside talking about these things.

"The eyes you looked so deeply into, yourself, just now...I’ve had that look for far too long...Do you know why are they like that?” Inhio raised his voice for the first time during his visit here. "Do you know what’s the feeling they’ve been expressing, all this time?”

Silence claimed the air around them. Not a single cricket or buzzing fly was heard for some time. The roles between the two had changed. Now Celestia was the one who was having trouble keeping her head up. She felt as much sorrow from seeing Inhio this way, as Inhio did while telling his story. All eyes were focused on them. Twilight and the two guards eagerly awaited for one of them to say something, wondering if even Inhio himself knew the answer to the question he just raised.

"Yes...” A single tear dropped from Celestia's face as she mustered her strength to say what had to be said. She raised her head, ready to speak the next word, and Inhio said it out loud, with her, hoping that it would make it easier for her.

"Death!” they shouted out together as they stomped their foot and hoof on the ground.