The next thing Radel knew, he was back in the bed within the guest room he had spent the night in. The sun was shining bright rays of light through a large window leading to a balcony, waking him from his slumber. Speaking of said slumber… It was strange to him that he was able to recall the events from his dream so vividly. It was like he had simply been awake the whole time but at a different place and time. This was different to his experiences with dreams back on Earth.

Radel could remember everything from his dream, from how it started as such a terrible nightmare to when he was sitting with his back against a tree, the Princess of the Night beside him, comforting him.

That was another bizarre fact to Radel, Luna was able to physically be in his dreams, which he assumed was due to her magical capabilities. But still, being new to the concept of magic, he couldn’t help but think that it was all a trick of his mind trying to find a way to help him with his nightmares, stress, and worries. That still led to even more questions, like why his mind would materialize Luna when he hardly knew her.

While Radel continued to think on the matter, he got out of bed and made his way to the bathroom. Once inside, he found that there was a toothbrush for him to use, though it was a little larger than a normal one for him. Radel pondered that it was due to Ponies having larger mouths than him. It was no bother for him, however; the slightly larger size hardly impacted the efficiency of the brush cleaning his teeth.

As he spat out the toothpaste and rinsed his mouth, Radel turned towards the back of the bathroom, finding a rather large shower and bath tub. Stepping towards the shower, since he didn’t need a relaxing bubble bath, he found various bottles of shampoo and different bars of soap; each with their own fragrance. Finding a combo that was appealing to his nose, he stepped inside and turned on the shower.

After a couple minutes, Radel stepped out and began to dry himself off, only to stop when he heard a knock on the bathroom door. Covering himself with a towel, Radel called out a reply through the door. “Yes?”

“Sorry to disturb you, Commodore, but the princesses sent me to inform you that they are ready to meet you in their council chambers.” The voice answered, sounding like it came from a mare, probably one of the servants of the castle.

Finished drying himself off, Radel opened the bathroom door and was greeted by a yellow mare with a orange mane and tail. Her cutie mark was of a feather duster, rather fitting with her maid uniform.

When he opened the door, the mare jumped a little, surprised that he was stepping out to speak with her. When the door opened however, she was stuck staring at his well defined abs, with a small blush on her cheeks.

“I’ll be ready in a couple minutes. Where can I find these chambers?”

When Radel began speaking again, the mare snapped her attention back to his face. “I’ll be bringing you to them, once you are ready of course. I’ll be just outside your room when you are ready to go.” The mare quickly made her way out of the guest room with a rather large blush on her face, gently closing the door behind her.

Radel hadn’t failed to notice the mare’s embarrassment, apparently masculinity was attractive on this planet as well. With a small chuckle, Radel turned to grab his clothes but noticed they were not in the bathroom. Confused, he looked around the rest of the guest room and found that they were neatly folded, and apparently clean, lying on his bed. Man, are these servants quick!

Picking up his freshly cleaned clothes, Radel quickly got dressed and grabbed his gear. Thankfully, that had all remained untouched and by his bedside. Once he ensured he had everything, he stepped out of the room and was greeted by the maid mare again. She quickly beckoned for him to follow her, seeming to have gotten over her embarrassment from earlier.

Following her lead, they walked at a brisk pace through the castles for a couple minutes. Every now and then, Radel would receive a friendly greeting from one of the guards he had briefly fought with the night prior. Eventually, they reached a large set of double doors with two guards in front of it.

The maid stopped a little ways away, turning towards Radel. “This is the council chambers. The princesses are waiting for you inside. Have a wonderful day, Commodore.” Giving a little bow, the maid mare took her leave back down the hallway.

Making his way to the entrance to the council chambers, Radel noticed that one of the guards on duty was Captain Dusk Shield from the night before. The captain greeted him happily, holding out his hoof. “Good to see you again, Commodore Endorian.”

Grasping his hoof and shaking it, Radel replied. “Likewise, Captain. How was the rest of the night after that little fiasco?”

Finishing their quick hand… hoof shake? The captain replied with a smile still on his face. “All quiet. It seems you scared the remaining changelings away. The ones you apprehended are currently locked up in the castle dungeons.”

It was good to hear that there were no more issues currently with the changelings, but hearing about the detained ones made him curious. “What will be done with those within the dungeons?”

“They will be interrogated. After that, I do not know. You’ll have to ask the princesses on that one.”

That would indeed be one of my many questions. “Well, Captain, keep up the good work. I’ll try to find some time to train with you and your... err... ponies… Is that the right terminology?” Radel nervously rubbed the back of his head, feeling a little embarrassed of not knowing the right terminology for the captain and his men.

The captain let out a hearty laugh, being joined by the guard on the other side of the door. “It’ll do for now, Commodore. I won’t keep you any longer; the princesses are waiting for you inside.” Captain Dusk Shield pushed the doors open with the other guard, holding them until Radel passed through.

Giving them both a friendly nod, Radel stepped into the room and looked around. It was what one would expect for a council chamber: large open room with a table in the center and space around it for various seating arrangements. This one, however, seemed to be for smaller meetings. There was only room for five people or ponies to sit at the circular table, three of which were taken by the princesses.

The first to greet him was Twilight, giving him a warm smile and wave. “Good morning, Radel!”

Taking a seat beside Twilight, which also put him between her and Luna, he returned her greeting. “Good morning, Twilight. As well as to you, Luna and Celestia.” The seating arrangement was Twilight to his left, Luna to his right, and Celestia beside her sister.

“How was your night of sleep Radel? Hopefully, you are well rested.” Luna asked with what Radel thought was nothing short of a knowing smile.

Turning his attention to Luna, he answered her. “It was well needed after the events of last night. And I am indeed well rested and full of energy. Now, let’s get this meeting underway. You all no doubt have plenty of questions for me to answer.” I guess that proves that she was in my dreams for real last night…

“Yes, we have much to discuss today,” Celestia spoke, joining the conversation, “We know the basics about you, Radel, thanks to a letter from Twilight. However, we’d like you to tell us more about you in detail, if you don’t mind.”

“I don’t mind one bit, Celestia, it’s the least I could do for you saving my life after my crash landing.” Radel gave Celestia a warm, friendly smile which she returned. “What would you like me to start with?”

“I think your origins are a good enough start.”

Radel sat there for a moment, gathering his thoughts on what he would say. “Well, I’m what my people call a human. Our homeworld is light years away from here, called Earth, and we had just developed the technology to travel across vast distances of space in the matter of seconds. This device was called a warp core, and it is what was on my ship: a prototype which I was to be the first one to field test.” Radel’s expression became slightly saddened, only for it to be banished by both Luna and Twilight placing a hoof on his shoulders while giving him compassionate smiles. He nodded in thanks to both of them before continuing. “Not only was I the first one to travel to another solar system, I was also possibly the first to come into contact with other life.”

Pausing for a moment, Radel brought up his holo bracelet, punching in a few commands before a holographic image was projected over the middle of the table. Only Twilight was not stunned by the technological marvel. While she was only curious and eager to learn how Radel’s gadget worked, Luna and Celestia were frozen in shock at the sight. In the thousand of years of their existence, they have never seen such advanced technology.

Their attention was refocused on Radel as he began to speak again, directing them to follow what was being projected. “My ship is the only of its kind, made from the newest equipment and technology mankind could muster. Much of what is on it are prototypes that probably won’t be released to the general public for years to come. I was to establish first contact, and after assessing the threat level of those I encounter, to react appropriately.” Radel gave a big smile to those around him, laughing a little. “I think it’s safe to say those I’ve encountered are friendly, but Earth may never know that now, since I crashed here due to a malfunction in the warp drive. The warp drive is destroyed and gone, so I’m stuck here. Earth will have no idea of where I am, since they can’t track where my ship came out of warp. Well, those sum up my origins and why I ended up here. Any other questions?”

Instead of asking another question, Celestia looked at Radel with compassion in her eyes for his predicament. “It seems we will have to find ways of making you comfortable in our world. I’m sorry you can’t return to your family and friends.”

“I thank you for your empathy Celestia. Though I can’t make new family, I can make new friends and have a life here.” Radel looked at them with a smile, focusing on Luna and Twilight.

“Well, we can take care of any arrangements that would need to be made for you. For now, let’s continue getting to know you better.”

Before the discussion could continue, a knock on the door made them all turn their attention to it. Celestia called out a enter, allowing the pony on the other side to enter. It was the same mare from earlier, and she was carrying a tray of what Radel assumed was tea on her back.

“Your refreshments, your highnesses.” She gently placed the tray in the middle of the table, bowing before each princess individually.

“Thank you.” After Celestia thanked the maid, she quickly made her way out. “Now, I don’t know about you Radel, but I’m feeling a little famished. What do you eat, so I can inform the kitchen for breakfast.”

There was the one question that really worried Radel, knowing that the ponies were herbivores. Rubbing the back of his head nervously, Radel finally answered her question. “Weeeeelll… Humans are omnivores, we eat both plants and animals.”

As Radel nervously looked back at the princesses, he was surprised to see no fear or anger in their expressions. They were all calmly looking at him, not upset at this news in the slightest.

“You aren’t worried or upset?” Radel was curious as to why the three of them were not freaked out by this information.

Luna was the one to answer Radel, giving him a smile. “There are other species on this planet that are omnivores as well, Radel. Though most ponies know this, most would find it uneasy to witness such eating habits. So, if you ever eat in public, I suggest staying green if you know what I mean.” With that Luna gave him a light bump in the side with her hoof.

“I understand what you mean; I’ll take your advice to heart.” Radel gave her a smile of his own and looked towards the middle of the table where the tea was. I could use a drink. As he began to reach for a cup, the one he was reaching for suddenly became surrounded by a sapphire colored aura. It was immediately levitated to his hand with haste. “Well, thank you, but whoever did that, it was unnecessary.” When Radel looked around the table to see who had levitated the cup to him, he saw surprise on everyponies’ face. “What?”

“Luna, that wasn’t you, was it?” Celestia asked her sister as she held her gaze on the cup now in Radel’s hand.

“No, Celestia, that wasn’t me… This explains what we all sensed before the crash.” Luna seemed to gain a moment of realization as she brought her gaze up to Radel’s confused expression.

Radel was utterly confused as to what they were talking about, and he still didn’t know who levitated the cup to him. “Am I missing something here?”

“Radel, reach for that tea kettle please.” Twilight asked him, as she seemed to focus on his every action.

“Ok?” Radel was confused as to the point of said request, but he needed the tea anyways if he was to have a drink. As he reached for the tea kettle, the same thing happened again, it was surrounded in a sapphire aura and immediately levitated into his grasp. “Ok. So, why am I letting one of you levitate things into my grasp?” He kept his gaze locked onto Celestia or Luna. He knew it wasn’t Twilight, since whenever he saw her cast spells, they were always purple in color.

“It isn’t any of us doing that, Radel, but you.” Luna stated this as she and Celestia both levitated a cup of their own. “See, our magical aura is not that color, and we are the only ones within this room. Also, the magical aura matches the color of your eyes.”

The cups had either a golden aura or a darker blue aura, golden being Celestia’s and Luna’s being the darker shade of blue. Also, Radel’s eyes were a sapphire blue. Radel looked down at the cup in his one hand, and the tea kettle in the other. He set both down and, thinking of levitating the tea kettle, levitated it up and poured some tea into his cup. Well, this is new… Turning his attention back to Celestia, he asked her, “So, care to elaborate on this development?”

“It seems that somehow, with our magical interaction with you and your exposure to magic, you have developed an ability to use it as well,” she then looked at her sister before continuing, “Just before we witnessed your ship crashing, Luna and I had sensed a great power coming into existence. This means that you always had magical potential, a powerful potential, that somehow awakened in the past week.” She returned her focus to Radel, seeming to wait for his response.

Radel just sat there for a moment, contemplating all this new information and the possibilities opening before him. He levitated his cup of tea to his mouth, taking a sip before setting it down and speaking. “This may be something completely new and surprising, but I can get used to it.”

The princesses couldn’t help but smile at how Radel seemed to easily get the hang of his new ability. After his reply, Celestia spoke again. “I think after this new development, it’d be safe to say that you should spend some time with Twilight. She is not only the element of magic, but a strong teacher. She is most likely the best one here qualified to teach a different species how to use magic.”

Twilight gave Celestia a warm smile for her praise. “I learned from the best, Celestia.”

After the two finished sharing their praise for each other, Celestia returned her attention to Radel. “Before we end this meeting to have some much needed breakfast, let’s discuss where you will be staying…”

Author's Note

And the next chapter is finished! A little thanks to Regreme for being my second opinion on the chapter before I posted it, it helps a lot! We've come across quite the interesting development for the Commodore. We'll see how it effects his new life in Equestria.