Dead on the inside

"Death!” Celestia repeated. This time, without her voice conjoined with Inhio’s. Her expression was painful to look at. Her eyes were both full of anger and full of tears, at the same time. Her mouth half-open, revealing her teeth that were gritted tightly together.

"Yes...Death...” Inhio picked up from where she left off, but something was really off about him. "Death!” he shouted out again. This was no ordinary shout. Inhio was not himself during this shout. Not only that, he was neither the Inhio he used to be, nor the emotionless version of him that had taken over his body for 8 long years...No...This Inhio was something different. Ferocious, bloodthirsty, mad...evil. His voice changed so dramatically that it sounded rather demonic now, and his eyes began to burn with such a searing hellfire that not even the dark glass in front of them could hide it from the eyes around him.

This sudden outburst sent shivers down the spines of every creature that heard it. Celestia herself jumped back and spread her wings as a result of a natural reflex.

"Death is the only things that still resides in this empty shell! Do you not see? Inhio is not here!” His gaze was set right on Celestia, who was trying avoid eye contact at all costs. "You! You stared right into these two hollow gaps in the middle of my head. How do you not yet realize? You can look as deep and as long as you wish, not even the most penetrating gaze could see the slightest signs of life still left in this body! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!”

That laugh was the kind that no one in Equestria had ever heard before. It sounded like the screaming of a thousand tortured souls. It echoed not only through the streets of the town, but half of Equestria, as well. Packs of birds flew up from both the town and the Everfree forest and began to scatter across the skies while causing a loud racket.

The ponies in town started to panic. Loud neighs were heard all over the place. All doubts were suddenly cleared, the creature that arrived here this morning was no less evil than Tirek or king Sombra, and he definitely means harm to everyone around him. Everyone ran to their homes, grabbing their children off the streets and barricading their doors and windows.

Twilight’s friends rushed over as soon as they suspected something wasn’t right. By the time they all got there, a very grim scene took place before their eyes. The princess seemed paralyzed by the gaze of the creature in front of her. They weren’t sure whether to attempt to stop the evildoer, or rush to the aid of the princess. Luckily, something stopped the creature from causing further harm. He had fallen to his knees and was barely still drawing breath. One of his hands was on the ground, he was helping himself keep his own body from collapsing completely. However, the princess wasn’t in much better shape.

"Princess Celestia!” her once beloved student shouted out as she ran over to the princess who had just fainted and was falling to the ground. Twilight’s friends rushed over as well, and even the guards at the carriage had freed themselves from the bind of the carriage and were running to the aid of the princess.

Celestia was the direct victim of the raging flames bursting from Inhio’s eyes. The very chill of death could be felt around Inhio when his most darkest presence broke free. If even for just mere seconds, it was still more than enough to break the will of even the strongest spirit. Inhio himself also got drained of much strength while this darkness had taken hold of his body.

Celestia had nearly hit the ground, but Twilight and her friends made it to her in time to save her from falling. Twilight ran right under her and used her back to catch the falling princess. Rainbow Dash was the first one of her friends to reach them. She helped Twilight balance Celestia back on her hooves.

A bright surge of dark-blue light suddenly appeared near them all. The light dispersed quickly, and in its place appeared an equine no less majestic than Celestia herself, but this one was of darker colors, and with a moon tattoo on her backside. "Sister!” she shouted out, worried for the safety of her beloved sibling. She rushed over to the small crowd trying to aid Celestia in whatever way they could. They were all worried sick for the life of the princess, for she had not shown any signs of life for a while now.

At long last, a slow and barely-audible moan slipped through her lips. Odd, how this unpleasant sound, normally meaning nothing but bad news, came like a gift, lifting a boulder off the hearts of the ponies around her. "Oh, thank the heavens, you’re alright!” Her teary-eyed younger sister rejoiced, knowing that she was still breathing. Rainbow Dash and Twilight freed up some room to let Luna hold her weakened sister in her hooves. Celestia answered her hug with the same kind of gesture.

"I’m fine,” Celestia whispered, still in a rather quiet and fragile voice.

"You sure didn’t look fine,” Rainbow Dash said in her usual tone.

"Rainbow Dash!” A reproachful glare from Twilight made Rainbow Dash realize that her choice of words was poor.

She began to stutter as she tried to explain what she really meant by that. "Oh, aah...I mean...” She rubbed the back of her head before finishing her sentence, ”You really scared us for a second there, is all I meant to say.”

"You had us all worried, princess.” Twilight added in a sincere tone.

"Uuggh...” a weak moan was heard from the broken man that was now breathing heavily.

"I knew he was dangerous!” Twilight’s worrying indeed proved to not be for naught. Just when everyone had started feeling bad for the man with the sad history, he openly assaulted their ruler when she least expected it.

"Foolish mortal!” Luna let Celestia stand on her own, Twilight and Rainbow Dash wanted to help her stand, but she rejected the offer with a swift gesture with her right foreleg hoof. "How dare you come into our land and repay the hospitality of our almighty ruler by attacking her in plain sight!” Luna’s eyes filled up with white light, her wings spread into the air, and her voice was loud and fierce - it was her famed Canterlot voice.

She approached the man that was on his knees, ready to defend her sister to the end. The man did not budge, he just kept on breathing heavier with each second. It seemed like he was about to beg for mercy. "Do not expect mercy from me, wicked one! Your disguises do not fool me!”

Suddenly, another flash of dark-blue light appeared next to Luna, and from it, she pulled out a deadly, curved weapon of the same color shaft, but a blade as white as the moonlight. Luna raised the massive scythe into the air with her magic. She held it at the ready to deliver the final blow to the already beaten foe. Her eyes returned to their normal state as she said her last words to her victim, "You had your chance.” Her tone was no longer in her Canterlot voice. It was now softer and quieter, but fierce, nevertheless, without a speck of mercy in it. The scythe had already begun to pull itself down towards Inhio.

"Stop!” A last second shout saved the man from imminent death. Luna lowered her weapon and looked back towards the caller.

"Sister?” she asked in a tone no longer fierce, Curious as to why would she want this wretched creature spared. Perhaps she wants him in chains? She wondered.

"Twilight is right.” Celestia was at the top of her strength, once more, and spoke in her usual, regal tone.

"I am?” Surprised was the young purple pony, and not sure about what exactly did Celestia mean.

"Yes...He is indeed dangerous. More dangerous than you know.”

"Then let us put an end to his miserable existence, dear sister! Let us rid Equestria of the threat he poses to everyone in it!” Luna’s tone was neither fierce, nor demanding. She wanted to convince Celestia that such a creature had no place in Equestria, not even in chains.

"No!” Celestia was serious about her decision, she had made up her mind long before any of this even took place.

"But why? Sister, please!” Luna approached Celestia and spoke to her sincerely, almost desperately.

"A prison might not hold this one if he truly is as dangerous as you say. Spare him from chains! Spare him from banishment! I do not wish to continue sleeping while fearing that one of our arch foes might break free at any moment! I’ve been suffering from that feeling long enough!” Luna’s voice got louder, but still had the scent of despair in it.

"No...I will not have him in chains, nor will I banish him away.”

"Oh, thank you, dear sister! I knew you would see reason.” Luna felt relieved, the stress had vanished from her voice, leaving behind only serenity. Alas, she would not stay calm for long, for the next words from her sister came like storm on a sea.

"He will walk free!”

***

"What?!” The conjoined voices of Luna and the mane six let out a shout full of doubt. They still weren’t sure whether they had heard their princess right.

"Do you jest, sister of mine? This is no time for jokes!” Luna’s voice regained its anxiety, only to be followed by more despair as she still attempted to convince her sister of the error in her ways. She even started sounding rather angry with her sister. "Please, just say the word and I shall have his head!”

"He he he he he...” A mocking laugh drew the attention of the ponies back towards Inhio. "Yes...go ahead...” He raised his head and looked at the ponies with one of his eyes revealed. His shades had slipped off the right side of his head, revealing part of his dreaded gaze. "Kill me!...Make my day! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha...” His laugh became less and less audible with each Ha. Up to the point where it wasn’t clear whether it got too quiet to hear or if he simply stopped laughing.

His laugh was nowhere near to as sinister as the one that arose the racket around all of Ponyville, but it was still rather powerful, in a way. It was so mocking that it sounded like a challenge to a few individuals.

"Silence, you fool! Silence, or I will...” Luna’s performance got quelled, once more, by the same voice as last time.

"No...By all that’s holy, cause any further harm to that man and you risk him running out of breath for good.”

"But sister...Is that not what we should be aiming for? To vanquish the evil, for good?”

"It is, it always has been.” Celestia’s tone stayed firm and regal, while Luna’s was fragile and full of uncertainty.

"But then why do you linger, dear sister? I don’t...”

"Luna...” Celestia formed a strong eye contact with her sister, she needed her to hear her out now, more than ever. "I need you to realize one thing.”

"Name it, just name it, dear sister! I wish to know what you really have in store for this creature!” Luna nearly burst into tears. She was finally about to find out what was it that Celestia had such trouble saying out loud, but only after a moment of silence while she prepared her voice.

"I cannot imprison the darkness you see before you, for it has always carried its prison with it.”

Luna froze from curiosity. She had too many question she wanted to ask, and had trouble deciding which one to ask first. She had hoped that she would find all the answers she needed from Celestia’s long-kept statement, but it only aroused more questions. "Sister...I don’t understand. What ever do you mean?”

Celestia’s voice grew softer, once more, as she addressed her sister, personally, rather than everyone around her. The rest could do nothing but eagerly listen in on the conversation from the start, anyways. "You see, Luna, the man in front of us is not our true enemy.”

All of a sudden, everyone noticed that the heavy breathing could no longer be heard. They turned their attention to the spot where it originally came from, only to see that the man had already stood up and no longer looked so weak, and had regained the icy glare he arrived here with. Both of his eyes were covered again.

Inhio had just realized something very unsettling - This was no dream, but one heck of a nightmare. Not only that, but he saw that his deepest fears had come true...Another presence lurked within him, and it was now stronger than ever. It started growing on the day he lost his wife. The emotionless face he had carried for 8 long years was but a holy spirit, compared to the real demon dwelling deep down within him.

Talking about his past had weakened Inhio, letting the darkness break free for the first time in 8 years, and Celestia was its first victim. If just a short moment of direct eye contact with such an evil could make one so mighty lose conscience, then there’s no telling what it could do at its full power. "Aye...Her Majesty speaks the truth,” Inhio continued speaking in his usual, emotionless tone while brushing of the small traces of dust that got on his clothes while he was down on the ground. "The me you see now is more of an ally to you, than an enemy.”

"You will never be my ally!” Luna threatened the deluded man.

"Easy, sister. Your anger is misplaced.” Celestia tried to calm her younger sister. Luna didn’t look pleased, but chose to keep the harsh words she had saved for the man for a later time.

Her voice might have calmed a bit, but her eyes were still locked on Inhio with a very unwelcoming glare. "Explain yourself...Human.”

Luna’s voice was full of reluctance, especially on her final word. She finished her sentence much more quietly than she started it. The word "Human” came off her lips so unwillingly and had such a bitter taste to it that most people probably would have preferred to be called a creature, instead. Inhio didn’t seem to mind, though. He wasn’t expecting much kindness after what he had just done, even if it wasn’t really him.

"Allow me to apologize to everyone I have offended here today.” Inhio bowed to the ponies in front of him, and maintained this position for some time. His tone was rather convincing, he sounded like he really meant what he was saying. "And my most sincerest apologies to you and your sister, princess Luna. I am truly sorry for putting her in harm's way. That was never my intent.”

Luna didn’t seem too convinced, so her reply was rather cynical. "Please...” She rolled her eyes. Her expression clearly showed utter distrust and disrespect. "Do you really expect me to believe that your intentions were ever noble?”

"Hush, sister! He has got no reason to lie to us.” Celestia’s attitude was a bit less sincere towards her sister this time. She almost seemed ashamed of her childish way of treating Inhio.

Luna yielded to Celestia, but she was still far from trusting Inhio. "Hmph...Fine.” Her quiet and repulsion-filled voice suddenly switched to a loud and impatient one. "But let him do so quick!” She addressed the man, once more, this time - in a strict and demanding voice, a tone fit for a princess. This was no warm pep talk, but was still a step up from the tone with which she spoke to him the last time. "Spare us your apologies and say what you must!”

Inhio’s reply was instant. He did not expect a tone any milder than that. "Straight to the point, eh? Very well, then.” Inhio straightened his back and switched to a more blunt approach. "You see, there’s a growing darkness inside of me that will only remain suppressed as long as I draw breath. However, should I cease breathing or lose enough strength for it to overtake me again...”

Celestia finished Inhio’s sentence for him. "Equestria would surely fall!”

***

"Do not speak like that, dear sister! We’ve bested enemies more fearsome than this before, and we can do so again!” Luna spoke, assured that what she said was true.

Twilight was encouraged by her confident words, as well. "Luna’s right! The magic of friendship will pull through! It always has!” Twilight was excited, she was more than ready to prove herself to the princess, once again, and her friends were ready, as well.

"Not this time, Twilight.” Celestia’s voice was so oppressive that Twilight lost her fighting spirit right away.

"Why, princess? I don’t understand...What’s so different about this one?”

Celestia continued in a more regular tone that still had a slight touch of despair to it, "Our magic would have no effect on this darkness, for it is not from our world.”

Luna forcefully jumped to argue, her tone being rash and merciless. "Then let him go back to his own world! Let the people of Earth deal with him as they see fit!” She turned to speak to her sister directly after her voice had lost its force. She was still rather unsure of her sister's motives. "Why do you welcome this most unwelcome guest, dear sister?”

"Because, dear sister, should such a darkness break free, there would be no known weapon against it, not on our world, nor theirs.”

Luna imagined a rather bizarre idea of Celestia’s true plan. She most certainly wasn’t content with it. "So is this your real plan, then? To doom our own world, instead of theirs? To make Equestria suffer for the sins of humanity?”

"Luna!” Celestia yelled at her younger sister. Her impatience and rash thinking had finally made her lose her temper. "The ponies of Equestria have always been known to care for others no worse than they care for themselves, but I would never hand all their lives over to the darkness like that!”

Luna was finally ready to really listen to what Celestia was about to say. Her outburst had convinced Luna that she was at a full mind. Although Celestia had good reason to be mad, she still felt sorry for the way she had just treated her sister. "I am sorry, Luna, but if you would just listen to me...”

"You need not apologize to me, sister, for it was my own actions needed correction.” The two sisters both felt bad for the way they had treated one another. They shared a warm smile after they had made amends to their attitude. "Please, speak on, dear sister. I shall not interrupt you again.”

"Thank you, Luna.” Celestia smiled at her sister, once more, and Luna returned the favor. Once that was settled, Celestia spoke in her regular tone again, "As I already stated earlier – should this darkness break free, then it would mean the imminent doom for our world, as well as theirs.” Celestia held a short pause. She hadn’t made any new smiles with her last sentence, but regardless, everyone stood silently and waited for her to finish. "And it is because of this exact reason that I have brought him here today – to make sure this darkness not only doesn’t break free, but gets suppressed for all eternity!”

Twilight was the first one to let her curiosity get the best of her. "But how are we going to accomplish such a feat, princess? Didn’t you yourself say that our magic is powerless against him?” Twilight wasn’t sure what to think. She was uncertain, in contrast to the princess who sounded as confident as ever.

"I never said that the magic of friendship would have no effect on him, personally. I only said that it could do nothing against the darkness within him.” The way Celestia spoke in never-ending riddles was starting to get on the nerves of a certain few of Twilight’s friends. Celestia, of course, suspected this and tried to keep the intervals between her sentences short.

"You see, Twilight, the man before us was not always the cold-hearted, emotionless being you’ve thought him to be since the moment he arrived. No...He was once a cheerful man with a happy life. Every morning he would wake up and go to bed with a smile on his face, and ask for no more than that which he already owned. All seemed well for the man, but alas, one day, a horrid incident stripped this man of the one true love of his life!”

Inhio didn’t feel any better from knowing that this Celestia knew so much about him. Having your every move monitored by a white, unicorn/pegasus hybrid princess out of a universe full of tiny, rainbow-colored equines...That’s not exactly a thought that could help anyone sleep at night.

"Having lost the one person most dearest to him, he felt like he had also lost part of himself, leaving behind only the emotionless shell of the man you see before you now.” The ponies listening to Celestia’s tale turned to set their eyes on the man with the tragic history, once more.

Best look the part. Inhio thought to himself as he yawned loudly and sat down to get into a more comfortable listening position. "For some reason your princess knows me quite well, so i’ll just leave the telling to her.”

"Wow...He really is emotionless.” Twilight seemed surprised about how could someone just listen and remember such a sad event without even moving one corner of their mouth.

"As you can see, the day Inhio lost what was dearest to him, he lost his very will to go on, and let this side of him take control of his life...But more than just one other presence awoke in Inhio that day. Something much more ominous saw its chance to start growing in him that day, as well, and ever since that day, it has been feeding off of all the negative emotions that this side of Inhio had provided for it.”

"Oh sure, so I’m the bad guy now, then!” Inhio’s voice was full of sarcasm, he didn’t really care much for what was going on. Oddly enough, Inhio was not bothered by someone else telling his tale, although, just moments ago when he told it himself, he seemed a bit...uneasy. As though he was struggling with something. Mayhap Inhio’s good side isn’t as dead as he himself might think?

His words drew everyone’s attention to him, once more, but not for long. Celestia kept talking since she didn’t want them to lose focus on the matter at hand. Her tone got much more serious as she was nearing the end of her monologue. "Now, after eight long years, it seems that Inhio’s darkest side has risen in strength and is already at the brink of escaping! The only thing that can stop it from escaping is the real Inhio!”

"You mean his good side?”

"Yes, Twilight. Inhio’s good side is hidden from the world because after he lost wife, he didn’t see anything left in his world that would be worth living for...Which is exactly why I’ve brought him here.”

Luna’s eyes widened a bit after hearing Celestia’s last statement. How could she ever doubt her sister, she thought. It was foolish of her to think that Celestia wasn’t thinking right "I See...Since we can’t use the magic of friendship to battle the darkness itself, we use it to bring out the lost light instead! We make use of that which would normally have no effect! A Sound plan, dear sister, truly brilliant!” Luna was almost too confident, she cheered at her sister as though victory was already at hand, despite not even hearing what Twilight and her friends had to say about all this first – the ones who would have to be the ones to set this plan in motion. Twilight certainly wasn’t as sure about it as Luna was.

"But princess!” Twilight protested. "Are you certain that friendship is the thing that will bring back this man’s will to go on? He lost the love of his life, after all, not his friend...Maybe princess Cadence and Shining Armor would...”

"No, Twilight. For you see, this man gave his very heart to his one true love...Unfortunately, I don’t think he could ever love anyone as much as he once loved his wife. We can only hope that friendship will prove to be a force no less stronger than love!” Celestia spoke so assuredly that even Twilight regained her lost confidence just from listening to her talk.

Still a bit unwillingly, Twilight accepted this ordeal. She had not failed Celestia, before, and had no intention of doing so, now. "Yes, princess Celestia, of course! We’ll do what we can!” Twilight’s friends stood proudly beside her. They too did not wish to look bad in the eyes of the princess.

"I have faith in you, Twilight. Trust in the magic of friendship and you will succeed, as you always have!” All of them bowed as one as they saw the princess about to take her leave. Celestia stepped back into her carriage. The royal guards had already gotten back into their positions. "One more thing, before I leave, princess Twilight.” Celestia called Twilight over to her carriage.

"Yes, princess?”

Celestia whispered something quietly in her ear and warned her not to tell Inhio about it in the end. Twilight seemed quite surprised by the words Celestia shared with her. "Time is of the essence, princess Twilight! The fate of Equestria rests on your shoulders, once again! I wish I could help, but I fear you might already know more about friendship than me.”

And with that, the two guards neighed loudly and ascended to the sky with the carriage behind them, leaving Luna behind with Twilight, her friends and the man who had not said a word for quite some time now. Luna felt rather awkward. She thought she should say something, but couldn’t quite figure out what, but at the same time, she didn’t feel like she should just fly away with just a last second farewell "This is no easy task you’ve been left to carry out, princess Twilight.”

"Tell me about it.” Rainbow Dash agreed completely. "I mean, look at this guy!” Rainbow Dash pointed at the man in question, who only politely waved back. "We’d have better luck dragging Gilda back here just to apologize to Fluttershy for the way she treated her, last time!”

Since the beginning of Celestia’s monologue, Inhio started feeling like he was just a tool in someone’s hand. He didn’t mind, at all. In fact, he even seemed rather amused, and tried to amuse the ponies as they amused him. Inhio lifted his right hand up to his chin and held it in a loosened fist position while wrapping his beard around his thumb repeatedly and gazing upwards with a fake puzzled look. He imitated a hard-thinking man. "Hmm, this Gilda sounds like my kinda...” Inhio stopped for a moment. He just remembered that he’s not in his own world, and the word girl or woman might not fit the scenery. Should he say pony? or horse? or equine, maybe? He decided to go with a more universal word. "Female...”

That came out wrong. He thought to himself, without breaking his position or stopping his hand gesture. "Perhaps we could go meet her, hmm? I think that would be wonderful!”

After yet another moment of awkward silence, the somewhat rudely interrupted princess of the night continued. "Right...Well, that one sure looks eager to cooperate.”

Luna’s statement didn’t seem to faze anyone. The princess arrived to the field with the best of intentions, but since the moment Celestia just stepped out without any warning, Luna was left to battle her own way out of the most awkward situation. She was doing what she could to get away and spare herself from any further embarrassment. "Khe khem. Forgive me, but I too must be taking my leave now. I am truly sorry for leaving you in this rather difficult position, but I simply cannot think of any way I could be of assistance to you in this matter.” Luna wasn’t just saying this to avoid staying here any longer, she really meant what she said. Her expression had a touch of regret and sadness in it.

"It’s all right, princess Luna. You needn't worry. We can handle it from here.” Twilight smiled warmly at Luna, and she returned the smile, right away. Luna felt like she had to give at least some advice before taking her leave. It didn’t seem right for her to just abandon Twilight and her friends like this. She said the only thing she could think of.

"One thing, Twilight Sparkle. I suppose each of you will attempt to bring back the good in this man by showing the things that you each think are worth living for the most...” Luna walked closer to Twilight and whispered something in her ear. "I suggest you save the pink one as a last resort, should all else fail. I believe that one could make a solid brick wall pop a smile.” Both princesses shared a heartfelt laugh, after which Twilight raised her hoof to her forehead and saluted the princess.

"It will be done, princess Luna! You can count on us!”

"I know I can. Farewell, princess Twilight. May the moon light your path!”

And with that, Luna finally felt like she could take off without something eating away at her conscience. She spread her wings and flew off in the same direction her sister had flown off in in her carriage earlier.

***

From looking at Inhio’s stone face, no one could even begin to imagine that right now he’s practically going mad inside his mind. There it is again! Princess! Princess! PRINCESS!!! How many princesses do these guys have? I saw three here today, and I’m pretty sure the small one mentioned another one...princess key-dance, was it? Something like that...And where in the blazes are all the kings and queens? And how can this small purple one be the same rank as those two who are clearly her superiors!? GAAH! Ah well...Here they all come now. I guess I’ll just have to ask that myself if I ever wanna find peace at mind.

Inhio got up and walked a few steps towards the pack of six ponies who had nearly already reached him themselves. After both parties had stopped, they gazed at one another for some time, both waiting for the other to say something. Twilight’s friends started implying that one of them should speak up already, as well. Not directly, mind you. They just started doing small, not-too-eye-striking actions, like scuffing their hooves on the ground, swinging their eyeballs around, whistling or brushing the back of their heads. Inhio’s gaze was set on Twilight. He stared at her like a mother stares at a child when demanding an explanation.

That eventually broke Twilight, forcing her to speak first, although she was full of uncertainty and her first words were just gibberish. "Right... He he...So...”

"Before we begin,” Inhio interrupted her. "I would like to ask a few questions.”

Twilight and her friends seemed surprised. They ceased their meaningless actions and widened their eyes, which were now all set on the same target. "Questions? From you?...Huh...I always thought you knew everything.” That last sentence almost sounded sarcastic, but Inhio knew better.

"Yes. Lets start with an easy one.” Inhio asked away without much waiting. "First of all – what do they call someone like you?”

Now Twilight seemed even more confused than before. The question Inhio just asked almost sounded insulting, and her first thought was that he was about to make a stupid joke about her. "Umm...I...”

Inhio ignored Twilight’s stuttering and just gave it to her straight. "Coz I know that a winged equine is a pegasus, and one with a horn is a unicorn...but you...You’re something more than that. So what exactly do they call one with both wings and a horn?”

Twilight was delightfully relieved that the man wasn’t just planning to embarrass her in front of her friends. "Ohh, that’s what you meant!” She gladly answered his question without much thinking, "An alicorn.”

Inhio wasn’t expecting it to be something actually neat-sounding. He was expecting something rather childish, like pegacorn or unigus. "Catchy...right, time for a more...” Inhio paused a bit before saying the next word with more emphasis on it. "Spicy question.”

Oh boy... Twilight thought to herself, getting ready for the worst.

"The white one who calls herself Celestia. Is she your mother?”

Twilight seemed nowhere near as surprised about this one as her friends were. I should have seen this one coming. Were her first thoughts on the matter. Her answer was as simple as it gets, but it wasn’t the one Inhio expected to hear. "No.”

"Really? Coz your relationship with her, you two seemed rather...close.”

"Celestia has been my beloved mentor ever since I got my cutie mark, and I her most faithful student. I think it’s no surprise that-”

The last part of what she just said didn’t Interest Inhio too much. Something else out of her words caught his interest. He cut in on her sentence by raising his palm up to the same level as her mouth, about half a dozen inches away from making contact. "I’m sorry, did you just say Cutie mark?”

Twilight wasn’t happy about the fact that he didn’t even let her finish answering the question he himself had so willingly asked, but she wasn’t surprised about it. It was only a matter of time before he had to ask about cutie marks. Twilight let out an unpleasant "Uggh!” before explaining. "The marks on the back of our bodies, you must have noticed them, already.”

Inhio was right, he had a feeling that the weird tattoos on the backsides of these ponies were the same marks Twilight had just mentioned, and he wasn’t wrong. Now the only thing he still wanted to know was their purpose. "So what do they mean then? What purpose do they serve?”

"Ponies get their cutie marks on the day they discover their true talent, the thing they’re best at, and on the day they find out their true talent, they get their cutie mark. If you’re asking for a purpose, well, then, I guess you could say that they serve as a reminder about their talent to the pony.”

What in the?...that can’t be right... After finding out the truth, Inhio suddenly started wishing he had never asked the question in the first place. He recalled some of the so called cutie marks he saw along the way here, and just couldn’t understand how in the world could some of them symbolize talents. Alright, I get that a gardening tool might mean you’re a hard worker, and a harp might mean that you're a musician...but what in the blazes do these other ones mean? Do apples mean you’re good at eating apples? I doubt the same thing applies for butterflies or gems...Maybe that star on the purple one means she’s good at astronomy or something?...Smiling flowers...an hourglass...a cloud and lightning...what the? GAAAH!

The more Inhio thought about it, the less sense it made to him, so he just decided to leave that question for pondering on for later. The long pause Inhio held spoke of uncertainty, but his face didn’t give him away. "Weird,” he quietly muttered.

"What was that?” Twilight asked, unsure of what Inhio had just said.

"Next question.” Twilight might not have heard what he said earlier, but she heard enough to know that wasn’t what he said. She was about to ask something, but Inhio kept on talking before she could say a word. "What’s with all the princesses? Ever since I arrived, I’ve heard nothing but princess, princess, princess...Who’s the real ruler of these lands?”

This question made Twilight both a bit irritated and confused at the same time. Was the man just being sarcastic? How can he really mean what he’s saying after he himself had just spoken to their ruler? "Umm...Are you seriously asking that?”

"Why wouldn’t I be?”

Weird. Up until now, Twilight seemed to think that the man in front of her was quite intelligent and had admirable deduction skills, and yet, here he was, asking a question that a three year old could probably answer, given the circumstances. "Umm...Princess Celestia...Alicorn, white, tall – about your height, has a sun as a cutie mark, ever heard of her?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.

The answer wasn’t what Inhio wanted to hear, but was not unexpected either. "So I thought, but then why is she just a princess, by rank?”

Irritation aside, Twilight was now a hundred percent confused. "W-w-what? Why such a question? Was she supposed to be something else, by your mind?”

"Yes...don’t you have kings and queens? Back from where I’m from, princes and princesses are the rank below those. Has your land never had kings and queens?”

Inhio was at a full mind, after all, that was for certain. Twilight seemed rather puzzled when remembering the only king and queen their lands had ever seen. Why were they of such a rank when all the other highest ranking rulers were princesses, that was something Twilight could not explain. She could only say one thing about the topic. "You know, we did, but...” Twilight rubbed the back of her head while trying to figure out how to best explain her thoughts. ”Well, lets just say we don’t have the best history with kings and queens.”

"Really?” Inhio asked, not as though he was surprised by the answer, but as though he was rather unconvinced that what Twilight was saying was even remotely close to the truth.

"Yeah...To put it bluntly – The king enslaved his own people and got banished for it, and the queen got kicked out of her own wedding for bad behavior.” Twilight kept staring at Inhio with a sheepish grin, while Inhio stared back with a raised eyebrow. Again, the answer almost made him wish he had never even asked the question. He was almost afraid to ask the last question.

"Sounds legit enogh...Anywho, last question.”

Finally. Although Twilight only thought that to herself, in her mind, her expression gave Inhio a pretty clear idea of what she was thinking. Inhio didn’t mind the attitude. On the contrary - he understood her quite well. If not for the insatiable curiosity, he would not even bother asking, but this chance was just too precious to let pass by.

"Why are you the same rank as the ruler of your lands? Shouldn’t a kingdom have only one ruler?”

This one clearly has a different system of ruling from where he comes from. Twilight thought, and Inhio thought about the same about them, as well. "Well, in Equestria, being a princess only means ruling over a certain thing. For example – the two princesses you saw earlier - Celestia and Luna - were princesses of the sun and moon. There’s also princess Cadence – the princess of love, and of course, yours truly,” Twilight said with a proud smile on her face as she raised her hoof and held it up to her chest. "The princess of friendship!” Twilight felt something slightly resembling pride on the inside when she introduced herself like that. That was the first time she got to introduce herself to anyone as a real princess of Equestria. Needless to say – it felt good.

Out of all the answers Inhio had gotten, this one was, without a doubt, the most satisfying one. Not because it was a clear, straight-forward answer with no strings left hanging, but because it just plain seemed funny to him, and at the same time, he almost felt sorry for this place.

The sun, the moon, love and friendship?...I could bet my shades that the blue one is next in line to become the princess of rainbows. Inhio decided to keep his thoughts to himself. Despite wanting nothing more than to see the faces of the ponies after he had said something like that out loud, he still felt like it would be just plain too evil.

The real deal hadn’t even begun yet. Inhio had only just gotten answers to a few questions, and it already seemed like he was just single step away from bursting into laughter "Right then, as I already said – that was the last question. Not that I haven’t got anything left to ask, it’s just that I fear that your answers will only make me have even more questions than before.”

Twilight didn’t know what to make of the statement just now. It almost felt as though Inhio was just trying to offend her. Of course, that was never his true intention, although he did slightly feel like making fun of her for a moment, now he almost felt sorry after he had wiped away her proud smile so quickly with one quick sentence. He decided to not prolong this whole thing any more. "Right, well, I think we’ve wasted enough time.”

"Gee, you think?” Apart from sarcastic, Twilight’s tone was also rather harsh. Frankly, she was having a hard time forgiving him for the way he responded to her earlier. The way Twilight introduced herself as the princess of friendship might have seemed like a small thing to Inhio, but it actually meant something special to her. Inhio completely ignored her unpleasant tone.

"I do believe so, yes. So, without further ado...” Inhio felt like his next sentence should have a bit more pizzazz. He leaned backwards a bit with the upper part of his body, bent his knees forwards a little, and held his arms widely opened to the sides as he faced the sky with his eyebrows raised high and his mouth wide open from fake excitement. He spoke in a soft, almost childish tone. "Show me the magic of friendship!”