Chapters Prologue- "Oh what scientific brilliance!"
"Look David, it's corporate. My hands are tied." Simon Grand, David's pain in the ass producer sat in his high backed roller chair with his hands up in defense.
"Simon, don't give me that crap. There's got to be something you can do. Two years man. Two fuckin' years, numero uno. Is there any other T.V. show that can say that? No. It's not my fault that fuckin' advanced sonar and satellite imagery have put the good old fashioned explorers like us out of a job. There just isn't anything left to find, unless you wanna chase legends that is."
Simon sighed and handed David a stack of papers. "This is what we got and David. Bottom line, we promised something new and exciting every year and we didn't deliver. We all knew going into last season that Atlantis was a long shot. Dave, we're lucky to HAVE jobs. The only thing that saved us was that shark and polar bear thing... How's the shoulder and how's Andrew by the way?"
"He's good, kicking ass and taking names like always." David sighed into his hand. "Corporate screwed us Simon, they sent us information KNOWING it was fake and now they wanna shut us down!? Fuck that. I am half tempted to walk up to the board of directors and kick all of them in the dick." David seethed before he placed his hands together in a praying motion and took a deep calming breath. "Simon... ya' gotta give me something man, anything. I will make it happen. I can't just give up, there is no way I can go back to teaching, not after all we've been through."
"If they take you..."
David flopped down on the couch in the corner of the office, put his head in his hands and groaned, "Yeah, if they take me."
"Look David, if it's about the money we could always..."
David glared at him. "Hell Simon! You know it's never been about the money. I won't be just another survival show. We do real science here, real exploration. I refuse to eat bugs and drink my own piss for ratings. This is my life, my dream and I won't throw it away. I go places others aren't strong enough to go. I put my life on the line for history. God damned Indiana Jones wishes he could be me!"
Simon stared at David. They had been working together for years now. To the rest of the world, David was just another handsome face to stuff in front of a camera and feed lines to. David's small team and Simon knew better. David was a fighter, an explorer. If it was 1000 years ago his name would go down in history as one of the greats... Unfortunately, he was just unlucky enough to be born in an age where there wasn't anything left to Discover... Well, nothing anyone cared about. People wanted new, they wanted something no one had seen before, they wanted... more. Simon stood up and poured himself a glass of gut rot whiskey he kept in his desk. "Jesus David, tell me how you really feel." Simon sighed and winced at the harsh liquid before unlocking the top drawer of his desk. "David, if it were anyone else you know what I would do right?"
He nodded slowly. "Ha, you'd probably tell me cut my losses or to rot in hell... Probably both."
Simon laughed back. "Yeah probably both, but I love ya like a son Dave, I really do. If it wasn't for you, I'd still be deep in debt with those loan sharks in Florida and would have probably cut me up into ACTUAL shark bait by now." David raised his eyebrows in agreement. "Yeah bud, probably, but why are you telling me this?"
Simon pulled out a small bundle of papers. This one was significantly smaller than the others. David immediately recognized it to be field notes, instead of a comprehensive dossier like the others. Simon tossed it across the desk to David who gave him a arched eyebrow before picking it up and glancing at its contents. A few moments pass and true to his military background, David's face remained stone. Simon attempted to prompt him. "Soooo, What do you think?"
"Honestly, I think it's impossible."
"What is?"
"All of it. The results of the carbon dating, the language, the symbols and what the hell is this?" David held up a blurry Polaroid photograph. "And who the hell uses Polaroids anymore?"
"They ran it six different samples from all round the site four separate times David, and that is a statue of some new species of hoofed animal. Look I know it's a long shot but..."
David cut him off. "I'll take it."
"There is something else you should know Dave. That isn't the whole story. The crew that found the site told me something... interesting."
"Simon, you know I don't deal with suspense well. What was so important that they couldn't even put in their field notes?"
"Are you sure you want to know David? This is worse than Atlantis. For all we know this is a hoax, I mean."
Simon is cut off again. "Dude!"
"A portal. They found some sort of portal, at least that's what they think it is."
Taken back for a moment, David searched Simon's face for any signs of deceit, after finding none he started slow, "Like a fancy door portal or like... a PORTAL portal?"
"Portal portal. I'm talking some real Stargate shit here Dave. The way they described it sounded pretty insane. They can't risk going to any authority because they would probably bar access to it."
"Probably? Try most defiantly. How do they know it's a portal? Did they try throwing rocks into it or something?" Simon just shrugged and nodded. David couldn't contain his laughter. "Re..Really?! Oh what scientific brilliance!"
Simon ignored the jackassery "And I would say the weird horse statue, or whatever, was just mistaken for a capybara or something because first known horses were when the Spanish came, what? Five thousand or so years later. My history's a little rusty. Anyway, this civilization not only predates the Aztecs and the Mayans by a few centuries, but had language, art, and were capable of building temples that rival those of ancient Egypt. Dave, this." Simon reached and tapped the folder, "could re-write history books or you could be committing career suicide. I mean weird statues of creatures and portals isn't much to go on. If or when this thing falls through, you will be branded the Don Quixote of exploration and you can kiss any any future funding goodbye."
David scoffs. "I made my peace with that long ago Simon. My destiny is exploration, I will go wherever it takes me. Speaking of, this is good work. Who's is this? Hell, where is this?" David scrutinized the photograph.
Simon attempted to dance around the issue. "Well,it's kind of a funny story actually."
"Simon, who and where is this?" David said, as he tapped the photograph again.
Simon got up and began to hastily gather his belongings. "You know it's a small world we live in right? I mean with the job we do. It's not my fault she found it. It's not my fault that you are one of the only people qualified slash crazy enough to chase a story like this, not to mention that you are the only one with a PhD AND some umpteen hours of hazardous dive time."
"Ah Fuck Simon! No, no, nope. Not going. I don't care if it turns out to be El Dorado or Shangri-La, find someplace else and someONE else."
"Ohh, David. You know it's too late for that." Simon shoved a one way ticket to Rio de Janerio into Dave's hands. "Congratulations buddy, you are headed to the Amazon!"
"But how... I..." David stuttered
"Cause I know you bud, good luck... Indy."
"It's too jungley for this conversation."
A seasoned explorer never complains about where the figurative or literal road takes him. It's just the nature of the profession, sometimes it's nice but more often, it's not. You just go wherever the mystery takes you. With that said. "Fucking heat, fucking bugs, fucking JUNGLE!" David trudged along, swinging his machete in wide angry arcs.
"Stop complaining you big baby." Andrew Wiggins. Camera man, ladies man, ball buster and Dave's best friend for over twenty years. "It's just the rain forest. It's not like your ex is here or the last time you came you got chased by a Jaguar OR."
"Just stop Andy, please." David wasn't paying attention and attempted two monstrous slashes stopping inches short of a young, tan, female face.
She gave a deadpan look past David and smiled from behind a pair of worn aviator sunglasses. "Bom dia Andrew."
Andrew grinned wide. "Hey Mari!"
She turned to David, her voice dropping two octaves. "...David."
"Jesus Christ Maria, I almost slashed a hole in your face!" David shouted.
She tapped a finger to her chin. "Hmmm, perhaps it will match my heart then, no?"
David gave her a deadpan look back. "Really, two seconds.You couldn't wait any longer than two seconds before bringing that up?"
"A broken heart is a hard thing to forget David, you of all people should appreciate that." David wanted to retaliate but instead blew a defeated raspberry. "It's too jungley for this conversation. Which way to your camp?"
She motioned for the small half dozen or so crew to follow her. "Not far, come."
Andrew shifted the heavy pack off his back with a grunt, favoring his left ribs. "Alright guys, you know the drill. If we can get this stuff set up David might be able to make the dive and get a look at the temple before nightfall."
David smacked Andrew on the back. "I'll start prepping my kit, just in case. How ya feelin' by the way?"
"I still feel the teeth marks of that big arctic bastard. Although, it does my heart good to see you still carrying that thing around even if it is out of place here." Andrew said with a laugh.
David laughed and held up his ice axe . "Yeah, it's lucky. I never go anywhere without it, or you for that matter ya big dumb." David punched Andrew in the shoulder for good measure.
"Dude, everything you have lucky, plus you know I would never miss a chance to see you miserable."
"Har har, just get to work and try not to get eaten by a polar bear. I'm not saving your ass this time."
"HA! Yeah... For real though, thanks D, I really owe you one. How's the shoulder?"
David chuckled to himself. Andrew only called him D when he was serious about something. "Why does everyone keep asking me that? It's not as bad as when that tiger shark bit through my suit, or the time I fell down that mountain after getting attacked by that damned goat."
"Ohh yeah, I forgot about billy!" Andrew said with a laugh.
"Don't give that devil goat a name!"
"HA, good times... Anyway, I better get back to work. We got some 'sploring to do."
What would take a crew twice their size, their tiny group got done in half the time. The gear got unloaded, tents propped up and all their camera gear ready for recording. "How far is the site?" David asked, adjusting the magnet in his mask.
"Not far, you could walk there in flippers." Maria joked. David rolled his eyes. "Yeah, you'd like to see me walk 12 miles in the jungle with flippers on. Probably do wonders for my already perfect ass." He smacked his butt for good measure which caused her to scoff and turn away.
"Yo Dave, why do you have two watches on?" Andrew asked, coiling a power cable.
"Huh? Oh, check it." On his wrist was his lucky dive watch next to a strap with large D-pad. Dave motioned for Andrew to hold the dive mask up to his face. Then pressed a button on the watch.
"Cooool" Andrew breathed. "It's a heads up display like a jet or something! Depth, O2, temperature, is that a camera?" Dave nodded.
"Bitchin'."
"Right? Thank the boys at Google for that one. It projects the image in the plastic. Just came out of prototyping, still got all my analog stuff just in case but, still. Less gear means more air. Plus less clutter means safer dive right?"
"Eh, more or less."
Maria raised her voice to the group. "Alright! We're burning daylight! We ride!"
After a short trek through the jungle, the group came to a large water filled hole in the ground. Maria explained during the hike that a group of recreational divers found the place in a previously undiscovered cave system. Somehow either the builders put in underground on purpose or it was swallowed up my the earth and jungle years ago. David, Maria and her dive crew began setting up their rebreathers.
"David, I've already sat up the distance line. It will take us right to the air pocket where the temple sits."
"Sounds good, how far?"
"843 yards."
"Exact as always." David said in an accusing tone. She scoffed again for seemingly the 100th time this trip. "Well, someone has to be David. If it were left up to you we would all be lost in the jungle by now!"
David stood up. "And what the hell is that supposed to mean? I am THE best Maria, tell anyone who doubts it to come see me."
"Saints above help me. No one is doubting your skills David. You ARE the best, but you leave everyone else behind wondering what the hell you're up to. You just go, go, go without any regard for those around you. You get... tunnel vision and lose track of everything and everyone else. "
"Ohh ho ho, I get it now. This isn't even about me is it? This is about you! This is rich."
"Ahh, you never listen David. Even when someone is trying to help you and for you information. I've moved on."
"Yeah whatever, just point me to the site so I can get to work."
She growled and pointed to a well beaten path. David snatched up his dive bag and marched away. "Visibility is good!" She shouted. "Haven't been down there in about a day! Just stick to the line for 843 yards and you'll be fine! Jackass"
David passed from sight when Maria screamed and puntted a empty bucket out of frustration. Andrew chuckled. "Goooaaallll." He half shouted running in a small circle, raising his arms over his head. She glared at him for a few seconds before his goofy antics caused her stone face to crumble into a laugh. She looked around for potential spies before going to her tip toes for a kiss. "Hey handsome."
"Hey bonito. So, moved on?"
She groaned and buried her head in his chest, muffling her voice. "Errrrg."
"When are you going to tell him about us?"
"How does never sound?"
"Sounds like you still have feelings for him."
She pushed away from the hug and punched him in the chest. "No! You know how he is."
"An idiot?" He offered.
"YES! Plus you two are like brothers. When he finds out..."
"Yeah, I just hope you know what you are doing Mari."
She sighed and leans back into his embrace. "Me too."
David followed the florescent line 843 yards to its anchor point. He caught a glimpse of natural light from above him and surfaced. In the hazy gloom of the cavern David raised his wrist light and pointed it into the dark. Spitting out his mouthpiece he gawked at what he saw. Several crumbling statues lined both sides of a moss thickened road. Due to the age of the site he couldn't make out what the statues were supposed to be but that didn't stop the excitement from bubbling up in his chest. Even in its disarray he could see clearly see that the path lead to the main temple where the pictures were taken. "Awesome." He remarked, his voice echoing back to him. The powerful beam only cut so far into the massive cave, he had to see more. The water next to him rippled and Maria popped out. She pulled the regulator from her mouth and turned to David.
"Pretty amazing isn't it?" He doesn't respond with words but she didn't need them to know what he was thinking.
"This... This is no hoax Mari. Just how in the hell does someone hide something like this?" He asked himself out loud.
She gave a smug smile. "You haven't seen anything yet."
The pair helped the rest of the camera crew shuttle their cumbersome equipment, as well as some personal effects into the cave. This was to be their outpost for the evening so they could rest and get right to work without having to remake the dive.
"Isn't there a surface entrance?" David asked, cupping his hands over his eyes and looking to the high ceiling.
"Sim." One of her crew spoke. "Too dangerous, rochas." He pointed to a large cluster of precarious boulders near where the sun was filtering in.
"Ahh, gotcha."
While the crew went about setting up the cameras and since no on wants to walk around in a wet suit all day. David took the time to change into his regular clothes. Andrew called them his "Standard adventuring clothes," because he wore the same thing all the time, to which Dave countered with, "Their comfortable." They included a heavy pair of dark tan cargo pants, a light weight long sleeve shirt, a pair of Kevlar gloves and his lucky pair of boots... no boxers needed. Not in the jungle anyway. He grabbed his small pack. Inside was his sketch book, dive knife, backup flashlight and other assorted necessities he had found important over the years of exploration. Of course on his hip was his ice ax. "Never leave home without it." He smiled to himself, patting the well worn tool. With his belongings gathered he waved to his crew, put on his work face and methodically made his way down the ancient road.
A few hours later, David sat with his back against a fallen statue finishing the sketches he had been working on. He was interrupted by foot steps. "There you are, we've been looking everywhere for you. Find anything interesting?" Maria asked, hiding the worry in her voice.
David grunted a yes before jotting down notes on his pictures. She noticed a small pile of seemingly random stone next to him. She reached down to grab a chunk when his hand fell on top of hers. "No touchy." He droned before going back to his drawings. She crossed her arms and began tapping her foot. "Care to elaborate?" She asked, clearly pissed.
"Mmmh... what? Oh, hey Maria. What's up?" He said, breaking out of his trance. Some things never chance She laughed to herself. Maria pointed at the pile of debris he felt so inclined to protect.
"Ahh, check it." He jumped to his feet and handed her a large arched chunk of stone. She grunted as she attempted to bear the weight. The details were faded due to weathering but she could still feel little ridges all over it. "Put that end, right there." He said pointing to a spot on top of the toppled figure. He grabbed a somewhat cylindrical piece and walked to the end of the statue.
"What do you see?" He asked her. She scrunched up her face in thought for a few seconds before losing her focus. She simply shrugged. "A big, four legged rock statue?"
David groaned. "Come here, look at my end and try again." Maria huffed and moved over to David, halfheartedly looking at the statue. She tried to ignore his pleading look but gave up. She stared at the sculpture. David grinned a mischievous grin as her disgruntled look faded into one of understanding. "David, it's a horn. It's a horn growing out of its forehead. David! It's a unicorn!" She said almost manically.
"Almost, Maria, almost. Now, add your piece and try again." She rushed around the statue and put her piece on what she now knew to be its back. She laughed disbelievingly and shook her head. She only had one of them but one was all she needed to get the whole picture. "It's a wing. It's a winged unicorn." David nodded his head slowly and opened his book so she could see its contents. Inside was a sketch of what the statue would look like in its prime. Made of solid marble, the mare held it's head up proud and bold. It's front hoof was raised off the ground in a pose of regality. "You've gotten better. I remember when all you could draw was stick figures." She reminisced.
"Yeah well, lots and lots of practice." He said, turning away and closing his book.
"Soo, any luck on the language?" She asked, trying to get rid of the awkward silence. "Our linguist couldn't make heads or tails of it."
"Yep." He said as he nonchalantly made his way up the steps of the main temple. Maria stopped for a moment, stunned. Her language expert was down here for almost two weeks and said it was gibberish. She looked up and David had stopped with his arms raised out in a big Y. He pointed with his left hand at giant stone symbol etched into the side of the temple's wall. "Moon." He pointed with his right hand to the other side. "Sun."
He pulled his book out and flipped to a page. He turned and walked down the stairs back to her, still keeping his arms outstretched. He put the book in his teeth and reiterated. "Moon. Sun. Sisters." She gave him a Dude you've lost it look before peering at his drawing. While the first picture was definitely better drawn and more lifelike, the two winged unicorns on the page had character. One was taller than the other by at least a foot or two. She gave off a tender, motherly glow while the other gave off one of stern... She couldn't quite place it. Indignation maybe?
"But how? I mean, Dr. Kuzco said it wasn't even a language." David simply shrugged. "Dr. Kuzco over thinks things. It wasn't letters or anything like that, they are all symbols see." He flipped a page wherein he had sketched dozens of little runes, some of which had words like cloud, rain, sun, and moon next to them. Others had words like 'night dream' with ??? next to it, indicating a maybe. Most however were blank.
"What about this one?" Maria asked, pointing to one of the few double symbols.
"That one's bothering me." David grunted.
"Why? It looks the same as the rest to me."
David shook his head. "I don't know, it seems important. I'm pretty sure the first symbol is Star but not like." He pointed up, "a star star. It's a proper noun, like a name. The second is something spinney." He made his point by slowly twirling his finger around.
She thought for a moment. "Star twirl? Star spin? Star.... Swirl?"
"Yeah! Swirl, Star Swirl." He quickly scribbled down words next to the symbol and breathed a sigh of relief.
"Really? Just like that?"
"Yep, just like that. Now... I was told there was a portal?"
Princess Luna stared blankly at bouncing horizon. Her butt had grown numb from the long, motion sickness causing journey. She wasn't bothered by it, her lavender friend however was a wreck. Twilight was doubled over with her head stuck in a bucket that she held between her hooves. She had given up holding it with her magic due to the violent erking caused by the bumpy ride. Luna looked over in pity. "Twilight, it helps to look at the horizon. When you lean over like that it your body is in a natural vomiting position." Twilight groaned in compliance and attempted to look at the view outside the window... The bumpy, jostling, puke inducing view. Twilight turned green and jammed her head back into the bucket. Luna couldn't help but feel sorry for Twilight, this was her first time this far out of Equestria and the journey hadn't been kind.
"Princess Luna, tell me why we couldn't just fly again?"
Luna giggled. "Because Twilight, it would be seen as disrespectful to prince Azir who was kind enough to invite us to his kingdom to see the new creature." At this re-realization Twilight perked up.
"You didn't finish telling me what the prince's letter said. What is the creature like?"
"Well," Luna said reluctantly. "He said the creature was disgusting and prone to acts of random violence. He said he had eyes as dark as 'you know who' and was little more than a dumb, crazed animal." At this Twilight frowned. She didn't want to call the prince a liar but she didn't see any other reason as to how a creature went from wandering the desert to prison in less than two weeks. "Well, I guess there goes my chance to study it up close."
"Him Twilight, the prince said it was a male. A... hooman or something."
"Wait, did he name it? What kind of a name is Hooman anyway?"
"Oh, I forgot to mention he could talk."
"Wha! Lunaaa! How could you forget to mention something so important! I mean, this changes everything. Just think about all the things he could tell us!"
Luna put her hooves up. "Aren't you forgetting the crazed animal part Twilight Sparkle?"
Twilight huffed and flopped down long ways on the bench. "No. I just... I don't think it's a coincidence that the Cutie Map sent me and you all the way out here just to catch up with prince Azir. I mean, how did the map even know your Cutie mark?! All this seems to be centered around this hooman and it's my job as the Princess of Friendship to find out, even if he is a monster. The way I see it, everypony I don't know is just a friend I haven't made yet."
Luna smiled and slowly nodded. "I see you dedication Princess Twilight and will do whatever I can to help you in your quest and I agree that it is strange that the map sent me as well. Who knows, maybe it just thinks I need a vacation."
"On your hooves freak!" David winced as a bucket of ice cold water splashed over his injured body. He shakily rose to his feet and turned his now blank expression to the bars of his cell.
"Aww is da poor widdle monkey all wet?" The guard camel said in a mocking tone. "You know, I lost a lot of bits because of you in the last round and you are gonna pay me back, one way or the other." The larger of the two guards leaned in and sneered at David. He just smirked. "Sounds like you bet on the wrong species cupcake."
With this the camel's hoof shot through the bar towards David. He anticipated it and took a step back, just out of his reach. "Laugh it up while you can monkey freak, your time is coming, sooner than you think." The camel spit at David, hitting him square in the chest.
The cart lurched to a stop, causing Twilight to almost lose her bucket. Luna stepped off of the cart and turned, motioning for Twilight to follow. Twilight reluctantly emerged from the shade of the rickshaw and fell in step beside Luna.
"Ahhh, Moon Princess it is so good to see you!" Ambassador Ibin leaned in and kissed Luna on both cheeks.
"Ambassador. It is lovely to see you as well." Luna greeted the camel back in the same fashion.
Twilight groaned inwardly. She remembered this scumbag from one of her first royal meetings. He had a few too many to drink and had gotten a little too touchy feeley, even for a usual snuggle friendly pony such as herself.
"I do want to apologize again that my sister couldn't be here for this visit ambassador Ibin. There was a fallout of Canterlot's masonry guilds that required Celestia's gentle touch, I hope the prince won't be too offended."
The tall camel turned and smiled. "Of course not princess, and besides," He raised a cloven hoof and stroked Twilight's mane. Miraculously she kept down the little water she drank and managed a smile. "The prince has expressed his wishes in meeting the newest Equestrian princess face to face for some time now." He let his eyes linger over Twilight's frame. "I'm sure he won't be disappointed." Luna nodded, unaffected by the obvious invasion of Twilight's personal space.
Twilight cleared her throat, trying to change the conversation to the real reason they traveled half way across Equis. "So you say you found the creature wandering in the desert? That seems a little far fetched."
The ambassador stopped for a moment. "Yes, while the prince was enjoying his well deserved rest at his favorite oasis, the creature just popped up out of the lake. We thought it was some new animal, born from the ancient magics of the sands. When we approached it, he seemed confused as if he were looking for someone else. He didn't know what to make of it at first, I mean it wore such strange clothing and when it began to speak in the common tongue and might I say, quite the mouth on that one... well you could imagine the prince's reaction. I know it sounds a bit strange but I assure you, it's all true."
Still confused as to how the creature went from first contact to imprisonment in less than a month, Twilight pushed for more answers.
"You said he's bipedal?"
"Indeed. Still that's not the strangest thing about him."
Twilight turned her head to the side, wishing she could pull out her notepad but had to settle for listening intently.
"He had weapons and devices of the most sinister design. Our best scientists couldn't define or describe what nefarious deeds they were built for. Even if it wasn't for his obvious violence, these things alone would have been enough to warrant caution."
"Well, I'm sure if you just spoke with him, he would gladly explain," Twilight was cut off.
"My dear Princess, we would love nothing more for that very thing but his guards have assured me that is impossible. He does nothing more drool, shout, defecate and how to I put this lightly? Touch himself in the most inappropriate manor."
Twilight was too caught up in the moment to see the blush forming on Luna's face.
"Still Ambassador." Luna chimed in. "We would still like to speak with him if that wouldn't be too much trouble."
"I'm afraid that won't be possible." The ambassador said, motioning for them to continue following.
Luna was dumbfounded. "Why not? I thought you said he spoke Equestrian? After the games, I'm sure the prince wouldn't object to us visiting the prison. He did promise that we would see the new creature for ourselves. An unprecedented event like this needs to be shared with the world."
"Yes, I believe my prince's exact words were SEE the creature and see him you shall. As you know, he was imprisoned for crimes against the prince and will be dealt with within our laws."
"What did he do? And how long will he be in prison for?" Twilight asked.
"He made a remark against the prince's body odor."
Twilight balked. "And he was thrown in prison?!"
The Ambassador looked confused for a moment. "Oh no, for a crime so severe he deserved nothing less than the pit. As a matter of fact, you're timing is prefect. You will see him shortly. Right this way."
Luna didn't like where that cryptic statement left them but the trio continued walking until Twilight noticed a terrible but familiar smell in the air. The first time she had come across it was during one of her excursions into the Everfree where she found the corpse of a maticore that had seemly died from natural causes. It was the sick smell of death. Twilight looked to Luna who had obviously smelled it too, but did a much better job of hiding it.
Luna leaned in close to Twilight's ear so her words couldn't be overheard. "Twilight, I will caution you against doing whatever it is you're planning on doing. Relations are strained enough without you blasting the prince, or kidnapping a prisoner of the state. You may be forced to do things that go against everything you are accustomed to in Equestria. I will ask you to be respectful of their customs. I trust your judgment but you are a very strong willed mare. So whatever it is, find another way."
"So you're saying I should do nothing?! That I watch this... hooman die?" She whisper yelled back.
"I wouldn't suggest that no, but neither would I suggest causing an international incident. Especially during your first trip as an ambassador for Equestria. I will caution you, you know nothing of this creature. If he truly has survived three weeks in the pit, he may not be the kind of loving creature you are expecting. If you truly wish to save him, you will need to do it within the confines of their culture. Observe."
Twilight looked in the direction the princess pointed. There was a shop hear the entrance of the pit, above it, scribbles of names numbers. She noticed the exchange of currency and put 2 and 2 together.
"A wager? But I don't have any bits."
Luna cocked an eyebrow. "In this part of Equis, monetary value isn't the only thing for trade." She finished be looking Twilight up and down, not unlike the ambassador.
"Princess! I couldn't..I mean, I've never even..."
Twilight tired to speak, but got cut off. "As I was saying Twilight, sometimes your values will be tested. Are you truly willing to go above an beyond for some hooman you've never met? He could truly be violent, diseased, or insane."
Twilight looked down and narrowed her eyes in contemplation. "Like I said, the Cutie Mark map told us to come here and I don't think it's a coincidence that this hooman shows up at the exact same place, do you?"
Luna sighed and shook her head, "No, I don't."
"This way your highness's. You are just in time for the final event" Ibin motioned them up a narrow flight of stairs. Twilight went first followed by Luna and the Ambassador. Despite her calm exterior, Luna was a rage inside. She could practically feel Ibin's eyes trying his best to look under her tail as they walked. The empty hall opened into a balcony covered in some of the finest silk Luna had ever seen. She would have to pick some up for Tia, she would totally lose her mind. Hues of orange, yellow and red stretch in broad patterns from floor to ceiling. They crisscrossed and caught the sun, casting a kaleidoscope of color. It almost reminded her of autumn back home. Thankfully, it was much cooler up here as well. Near the edge of the balcony stood another camel who was covered in gold chains and the same fine silk that adorned the area. Not sensing their presence, he raised a hoof and spoke to the crowd in a smooth timbre.
"Welcome. Welcome my friends, to the final exhibition for this evening!" The crowd erupted into cheers and hoof stomps. He smiled greedily, soaking in the adoration. "The Hooman has shown great courage and tenacity. He has won many bouts and, while I hate to admit it, lost many a coin to his luck and skill. However, like the rains, his luck is not to last." He hung his head and looked dejected for a moment, doing his best to play the crowds emotions.
"But fear not, for even the bravest warriors fall to one." The crowd murmured for a moment, trying to figure out what their prince's riddle meant.
"For one evening and one evening only I, prince Azir, have brought to you the most winning champion ever to fight in the sands of the pit. Behold!" He held out his hoof toward the center of the right. "The crusher of bone, the widow maker, the jagged one! The one, the only, Hannibal!!" The crowd erupted again as an iron gate in the floor of the pit burst open.
Twilight and Luna peered into the dusty arena. Between the broken columns the ground shook and single horn attached to a massive head slowly rose out of the sand. "A minotaur." Luna whispered under her breath. In all her years of life she had never seen one of such monstrous size before. His brass armor and jewels glinted in the sun with the rise and fall of his massive chest. His face was covered by a mask of unknown material. One of his horns had been broken off years ago leaving a cluster of bone that had been filed down to a half-dozen razor sharp points. Each forearm was buckled with a crescent shaped blade the size of a battleaxe. Hannibal bellowed, crashing the weapons together, causing sparks to shower in every direction. The crowd cheered again.
The prince motioned to the side of the arena wall. "He needs no introduction, you've seen him before! The freak from the desert! The luckiest creature alive! The hooman prisoner, Dahhh-vvvvid!" Twilight and Luna gasped at the malnourished be-pedal creature that limped into the sands. Flanked by two camel guards, they began to remove his ankle shackles. Luna saw his lips move then smile, causing one of the guards to shove him head first into the arena, without removing his wrist chains. They laughed as he painfully stumbled into full view of the crowd. He winced as he stood to his full height. While Twilight began mentally categorizing the similarities and differences between this Hooman and ponies, Luna studied him in a more intimate way. He was quite muscular, less body builder and more athlete she figured. The only thing he wore was a pair of sack pants held up by a frayed rope. Her eyes moved downward and she frowned. Whip marks and burns cover his broad, tan back. Even from this distance, she saw old teeth marks that spanned his ribs. He was hairless, except for a rough patch of brown on the top of his head and face. She reluctantly came to one conclusion, he truly did look like an animal.
"You say he is male?" Luna asked abruptly, causing the unaware prince to turn around in surprise.
"Ahhh, Princess Luna, Welcome! It has been too long. I trust your trip was a pleasant one? And who is this lovely mare?" He stepped up to Twilight and brought her hoof up to his lips and gave it a uncomfortably long kiss. "It's a good thing I haven't eaten anything today." Twilight smiled awkwardly.
Luna nodded. "Yes, it was very pleasant, thanks to your hospitality. I have to say, I didn't believe that your airship was as fast as you claimed. Ah, Forgive me, It has been quite some time since I've had the privilege of introducing another pony. During our trips, my sister is usually the one re-introducing me to the world. I'm relieved that we can meet under familiar circumstances. I would like you to meet Equestria's newest princess. The Princess of Friendship and the element of magic, Twilight Sparkle." Twilight nodded a shy hello.
Without giving them a chance to talk, Luna returned to her previous train of thought. "He has nipples."
The prince honked in laughter. "Indeed he does princess. Please." He motioned for the two princesses to take a seat next to him on an extravagant pile of pillows. Luna sat and smiled. Twilight, turned and sat with a sour look on her face. This didn't go unnoticed by Azir.
"Is something bothering you princess? If I can get you anything, one of my servants would be happy to serve you. Don't worry, you are perfectly safe up here." He leaned in close, as if to tell her an important secret. "But we are close enough to hear the legendary banter of Hannibal. He's sure to make it an interesting fight." He finished with an annoying snicker.
Twilight looked past the prince to see Luna shaking her head slightly. "I need to buy time . Oh, Sounds fun and I don't need anything, I'm just not used to the heat yet."
"Very well. Would you like to do the honors? We do have a dinner schedule to keep." He motioned to an antique bell that hung over the edge of the balcony.
"Uhhh...A schedule of killing innocent creature because they make fun of you ." She looked back at Luna who nodded. Her eyes said declining would be an insult. Twilight smiled and reached out with her magic picking up the mallet. With a quick flick, the bell sounded and the match began.
"It seems you have gathered a prestigious audience puny hooman." Hannibal said, cracking the vertebra in his massive neck and pointing to the prince's balcony.
Dave squinted against the sun. "Winged unicorns... But that means.." He trailed off.
"Too bad you won't live long enough to meet them."
The big ugly cow had one thing right. Whether it was today or tomorrow they were going to keep fighting him until he dropped from exhaustion or was killed by his opponent. The second was probably more likely. For the past few days, everything the guards did was to stack the deck against him. This went beyond their stupid personal grudge. Someone had it out for him, he gave himself three guess as to whom. He hadn't been fed in two days and thankfully a guard fell asleep without finishing his jug of water or he would have died in his sleep from dehydration. They increased the whippings to three times a day. They weren't even going to let him have a weapon this time. David looked down to his bound wrists. Metal shackles connected them with almost three feet of light sturdy chain. He smiled to himself, "What a shitty day." His ramblings were cut off by a deep voice.
"Tell me hooman, how is it without any claws, teeth or horns you've managed to survive this long?"
"Luck and a whole lot of push-ups." David retorted, barely managing to stay standing. Hannibal snorted and marched within striking distance. Despite David being 6'2, he was forced to careen his head back to look into the eyes of the Minotaur.
"Jesus, what do they feed you?... Other cows?" Hannibal grinned and scrunched David between the blades of his weapons like a pair of tongs. With a grunt he effortlessly tossed the small human up and over his head. Dave twisted in the air before hitting the sun baked sand with a *THUMP* and a roll. Hannibal bellowed again before bringing one of his massive weapons down with an overhead smash. Dave dodged just in time by rolling away behind one of the pillars scattered around the ring.
"They feed me hoomans!" Hannibal shouted, his voice rattling David's ears.
Dave groaned as sand filled his opening wounds. His body still hadn't recovered from the previous week of fights. "Yeah, that's right, get mad . You must be scared big guy. A killing blow already? What happened to pleasing the crowd" Dave taunted again raising his arms to the filled stadium. "You know, you aren't the first moo-cow they've sent in here. I must of beaten what? At least three or four. I sent the all out on stretchers. As a matter of fact, after I'm done with you. I'm gonna have a barbecue. Let me ask you something, are you familiar with the concept of steak sauce?."
Hannibal's breathing quickened. "Oh, don't worry little monkey, I know exactly how to cut them so the fight lasts a looong time."
David shifted his focus the his preferential vision. "Yeah keep talking you ugly son of a bitch."
"Jeeze, I thought the camels smelt bad.. you my smelly friend, are in a whole different league."
Hannibal roared and charged the pillar David was hiding behind. "Ohh fuck." David dove again, but wasn't fast enough. Hannibal hit the old column, shattering it into grapefruit sized chunks. One of which managed to clip David's weakened legs, sending him stumbling to the ground. With the grace of a stampeding rhino, the minotaur jumped to David, grabbing him again between the blades of his weapon.
David was now face to face with his opponent. "If you get me further than last time, you win a prize!" He coughed, clearly weakened.
Hannibal gave him an evil grin. "I only want your screams." He got them, at a cost. David watched helplessly as the muscles in the minotaurs massive neck bulged as the shortened spiked horn whipped around and buried itself in his stomach. The pain was immediate and David shouted in agony. With his arms pinned, he did the only thing he could think of. He reached down with his teeth and clasped the gold ring in Hannibal's nose a moment before he was once again flung into the pit. He crashed against one of the remaining pillars and slumped to the ground. His vision faltered as he crossed his eyes to look at his golden prize. Hannibal howled in pain from the hole the jewelry left, David got a moment of reprise.
"Okay David, it's just blood, you have more. He didn't puncture a lung so. ...Ah fuck me." A massive hoof connected with his chest, causing him to tumble across the sand before throwing up bile.
Twilight winced and Azir spoke up. "Is this not to your liking princess Twilight?"
She had seen enough. "No it's not. This is the most barbaric thing I've ever seen." Luna face hoofed.
"Do you not care that he disrespected me?! How am I supposed to punish such obvious disobedience?"
Luna doesn't even bother trying to stop her. She just threw her hooves in the air and mumbled under her breath. "Buck it."
"Get over it! What are you? A child? And if you ask me, he was doing you a favor!" Azir's guards approached Twilight from behind but are stopped short as they are surrounded in a blue aura.
"Now now prince, let's not do anything hasty." Luna chides. "Oh, and I suggest not upsetting Twilight, she is quite powerful when pushed." Luna narrows her eyes and despite the heat, her words could have frozen fire. "Now tell your guards to back up before I throw THEM in the pit." The prince smiled and dismissed his bodyguards.
"You wish for me to stop the fight? It won't matter. Even if he wins we will have one tomorrow, and the next day and the next after until he is killed or the heat takes him."
Now was Twilight's chance. "What if we made a bet?" Twilight stretched out on the pillows, doing her best "risque pony" impression as Rarity might say.
"I am a prince. I would give a small fortune to see him die, what could you possibly..." His eyes slowly caressed her flank and Cutie Mark. He knew what she was up to and decided to test her resolve. "Okay princess Twilight, we can make a wager. If he wins, he is free to go with you but if he loses..." He turns to Luna and gave her a sick smile. "Princess Luna must spend the night with in my bed chambers."
"...You're kidding? You're kidding right?" Luna asked disbelievingly. Twilight in the same instance got a strange case of deja vu.
"Not at all princess. I will admit Twilight's gambit almost worked but I quickly realized something. You are far more exotic than some half-breed Alicorn. You are a TRUE princess and I want you for myself."
"The storm that raged in Luna nearly exploded. In her mind she was perfectly content with starting a world war with this pathetic excuse for a prince. She knew she could do it. With one once of her magic she could wipe that smug look of his stupid, smelly face. A pained shout brought her back to the present. The hooman was being tossed around by Hannibal like a leaf in a hurricane.
"So Moon Princess, what do you say?" He reached to stroke her flowing mane. She blocked it causing him to glare daggers at her. "That's the deal, take it or watch him die. Quickly now, he's running out of time." The princesses glanced into the pit as Hannibal held out his weapons, eliciting shouts from the worked up crowd.
Twilight raised her eyes to Luna's. She wasn't begging her to do it, she was looking for the right answer. "First, I wish to speak with him." Luna said, looking into the pit.
The prince thought about it for a moment."Fine but listen closely princess. Any from of foul play.."
"I am not a cheater Azir." Luna said, purposefully withholding the title of prince. She didn't believe he was worthy of it anymore.
"Good. I hope you are as brash in the bedroom." He held up his hoof and the guard rung the bell.
"That all ya got? Just let me find my good steak knives and we can start round two." David stumbled around, holding his wound with one hand and the pillar with the other. It was the only thing keeping him on his feet.
"You will die today hooman, but before you do know that you've earned my respect. You've done more half dead than many who've entered here have done at full strength."
"Respect!? I don't want your respect you shit smelling sow. After I win, I'm going to go to your house and milk your mother!" David spat at his hooves. Hannibal roared and charged David. An interesting thing happened, David watched as the minotaur was lifted off the ground in a pretty blue aura, completely nullifying his charge. He heard a female voice from behind him.
"Did you not hear the bell?"
"Ahhh.... Yes, forgive me princess. This hooman has a mouth on him." David only smiled showing teeth, taunting the monster more.
Hannibal lowered his gaze, "The prince isn't stopping the fight is he?"
Luna shook her head. "No, a wager was struck and part of it was that I get to speak with this hooman."
He nodded. "Very well. We'll meet again soon Dah-vid."
"Go pound sand ya milk maker." David continued his taunt. Hannibal was visibly shaking in anger but thanks to this winged unicorn, he was forced to snort and stomp away.
"You know that's just going to upset him more, right?" Luna asked, turning to face David. He only chuckled and coughed. "That's the plan. Is there any thing in particular you need or are you down here to get a closer look at the freaky monkey thing? Be careful though. I'm, how did they put it? Prone to random acts of violence and self debauchery? Hell maybe they're right, prison does do strange things to a man."
It took a moment for what David was saying to register before Luna opened her mouth to respond. "So you aren't violent? You don't... touch yourself?"
David let out a laugh that was obviously painful. "Is that what they are telling folks? Well shit, maybe I should it has been awhile."
Luna gave an angry blush. She didn't know what to make of this hooman. On one hoof he seemed normal, well as normal as someone in a fight to the death could be. On the other hoof, he was completely out of his mind. She found it fascinating.
Unfortunatnly for David, She let some of her pent up anger at Azir lash out at him.
"I come down here to help you and you act like some, some, pervert?"
"Oh... help me? My bad. I figured you wanted to get a closer look at the freak before it died."
"Your bad? Your bad?!"
"Uhh... yeah. My bad. It hasn't been a good couple of weeks for me ya know... I'm kind of fighting for my life in an arena with a creature that shouldn't exist? So about this help?"
"I suppose it has been a stressful time for you. Anyway, yes. If you win, you are free to come with myself and my companion." Luna motioned to the other Alicorn in the stands. David peered at the balcony where he met the eyes of a purple winged unicron. She gave him a soft smile. David's turned back to Luna. He was taken back for a moment. She had stopped looking at his face and was studying his body. She wore a soft expression, one he hadn't seen in a long time. It was pity, she sorry for him. Here she was legitimately trying to help him and he acted like an ass. There was something else behind her expression. Sorrow? Loneliness? Whatever it was made his heart ache. Even so, he couldn't quite place it given his other pressing matters. So he shook his head back to the present.
"So... If I win, no more fights? Just like that?"
"Yes, just like that."
"And if I lose?"
"Well, you keep fighting until you die and OH, I'll be forced to have sex with the prince."
"What? Sex? With that?" David said it loud enough so that anyone close enough in the stands could hear. Luna nodded. "Yeah, so don't lose. I don't want to loose my vir.... Just win okay?"
David smiled. "Piece of cake."
"Wha? You make it sound so simple. It seems to me that you were getting your plot kicked."
"My what? Plot? You mean ass?"
"Yes, butt, ass, plot. Royally kicked."
"HA, to the untrained eye maybe, but I've got him right where I want him." His stumbling actions did nothing to reassure Luna.
She looked at him disbelievingly and sighed. "Look, Just win okay. You aren't the only one who's invested Dah-vid."
"David, It's pronounced David. At least one of you should know my name before I potentially die. Oh and there is an ancient temple that predates all others on my planet dedicated to you so... yeah there's that." Luna's eyes nearly pop out of her head. She was thankful that Twilight didn't hear, she would have surely blasted the prince and anyone else who stood in her way of a discovery this big. She simply stated
"You and I are going to have a long talk after this David."
"Looking forward to it." He smiled and held out his hand. Luna tentatively reached out to touch it but was interrupted by her, now, least favorite prince.
"Okay Princess! You've talked long enough. The crowd is getting restless!" Azir shouted from his perch.
"Oh hey, It's Mr. Smelly himself." David said, waving to the prince who just turned his nose up at him. Luna just stood there with that same look on her face, causing David's heart to ache again. Shes' got to stop that.
David watched Luna fly back to her spot on the balcony and flop down. "Princesses huh?" He mused as the bell rang again.
"You ready my little hooman, I am going to make you pay for that disrespectful mouth of yours."
"What's that moo moo? I'm sorry, I don't speak farm animal. I did take a semester of it in college though. Damned if I remember any of it." That was the last straw. Hannibal lowered his head and blindly charged with full force. David smiled and whispered. "Gotcha." He side stepped forward and raked his chains across the ground, catching the top heavy minotaur's hooves. David dug his feet in, causing Hannibal to trip and tumble snout first into the broken pillar with a loud crunch. David sprung to action against his dazed opponent. To the crowds amazement, he brought his leg up and out, delivering a solid kick to his exposed face. Hannibal slumped down against the pillar. The kick had rendered the unbeatable Hannibal incoherent and disoriented. Despite his experience, superior skills and physique Hannibal was a gladiator. He was there to please the crowd, and given his size, was rarely in any danger of losing. He couldn't of predicted this hooman would have been any different.
David leaned up against the pillar with his arms above his head in victory. The crowd stomped in agreement. He slowly made his way to the prisoner entrance, but it didn't open. He needed to get out of here, he was on the verge of passing out. "You are not done yet, Dah-vid." The prince's tone didn't seem like that of one who just lost a wager. He seemed... pleased? No, sadistic.
"Just give it up already princey. I won, your bull is half dead and won't be getting up for awhile. You should bow out with what grace and dignity you have left." David shouted to the balcony.
"It is not like your other fights monkey. You are not the dashing hero of this story. You don't get to go galloping off into the sunset with the princesses. This is a fight to the death, and Hannibal, isn't dead." David looked at the ground, his eyes searching for another way out. He knew he didn't need to bother, there wasn't. This was Azir's country and his word was law. David looked helplessly to the two Alicorns. The purple one had both hooves over her mouth and seemed to be on the verge of tears. He slowly focused on the blue one, that soft sorrowful smile never left her face. He quickly turned his head away. He narrowed his eyes and steeled his face before looking back to the prince. "As you wish."
The prince jerked his head back for a split second. Was the hooman bluffing? He knew the guards had made up all that nasty propaganda about him. He knew that the monkey was actually quite civilized. There was no way that Dah-vid would kill another creature...was there? No way... and besides, the hooman didn't have any weapons or claws and was too weak to pick up a stone large enough to damage the battle hardened Hannibal. I'm fine. He's got nothing. Azir thought.
David didn't have time to think. He could slowly feel himself losing consciousness. His vision had already started to blur and narrow. His mind was made up, he was getting out of here and only one thing stood in his way, a broken, defenseless Hannibal. The only sound in the arena now was David's own shuffling footsteps and shallow breathing. The crowd held its breath as David stood over top of his prize. He leaned forward and whispered something inaudible to his opponent before positioning himself behind the pillar. In a pained effort he threw his chain up and over, securing it around the minotaurs neck, pinning him against the column. The crowd gasped and Azir's eyes went wide as they all realized what the Hooman was attempting to do. Hannibal, helpless to stop what was about to happen still had his hooves secured inside the weapons so he couldn't reach up to pull the chain away. He had been ran ragged and brought to a rage by his opponent. It suddenly dawned on Hannibal, from the beginning, he had been played. David arched his back and yanked with all the strength he had left. Hannibal began to spasm uncontrollably as his stubborn body refused to die. No one else saw it, they were too busy looking at the chain or at Hannibal's face but Luna saw it. David's eyes were leaking tears. He brought his foot up and turned to face the prince. Anyone who could see knew what his eyes were saying, "This should be you" . With one final jerk, the arena heard a sickening crunch as the minotaur's windpipe collapsed. The great Hannibal was dead.
David's internal monologue chimed in. "Say it, you've got to. ." David unwrapped the chain from around his victim's neck and limped to the center of the arena where he collapsed "Are you not entertained?" He whispered to the sand. The crowd didn't hear him, they just stared at the monster in the center of the ring.
Luna's shocked look told Twilight everything she needed to know. "Who did we just save?"
View Online
"Ya' can't be a princess without being a girl first, Princess Luna."
On the final day of their of their almost week long journey the cargo ship containing Luna, David and Twilight was caught in what was left of a mild sea storm. Most vessels dreaded weather while out at sea but thankfully this storm was as pleasant as they come. What little sunlight breached the cloud cover danced and played on the water, giving all those on deck a tiny light show before they pulled into port. The breeze swayed the vessel, lending a good night's rest to almost everypony on board, everypony except David. Even with the cradle like rocking, he tossed and turned in his handmade hammock. The restless wasn't a comfort issue, he had certainly slept in worse conditions. It was something that had been slowly eating at him ever since he was rescued by Twilight and Luna, the elephant in the room as it were.
It should have been pretty obvious but the threat of death usually puts a hold on the bigger issues in lieu of the direct ones. The issue being why was he not freaking out that he was on another planet maybe even in another universe, if such a thing were possible. Since he had been here he had fought to the death, had no sure avenue home and another weird thing was, he was even having trouble remembering what actually happened in his last few moments on Earth. He chalked it up to the stress of past few weeks but he felt as if something were blocking them and maybe that's why he hadn't freaked out yet.
He felt happy and playful... all the time. Not that he couldn't be but those weren't his most dominate personality traits and he knew that. The anger he felt toward Hannibal and Azir had all but disappeared, even before the fight was over. "Is that why I was thinking so clearly?" He thought to himself. It was like he had taken anti-psychotic medicine that stunted his aggressive emotions and increased his friendly ones. He was no shrink but he figured it was only a matter of time before the dam broke and those emotions and memories came flooding back. He would wait until after that to make any decisions. Thankfully this new world was familiar in a lot of ways, enough to make it bearable at least. They all spoke the same language and breathed oxygen but the magic? Talking animals? Mythical creatures? David's first real sign he was bothered was his lack of dreams. It was like how an old man could predict a storm just by how his joints ached, except this storm was only for him. He tried to remind his worried brain that he was in magical horsey land where Alicorns raised the moon and ponies sailed boats and that's why he wasn't dreaming. Whatever it was he knew he was only delaying the inevitable fallout unless he could get some solid answers... and soon.
His empty half sleep was interrupted by a pair of what felt like baseball bats poking him awake. He groggily rolled over trying to paw the intruders away. "No, no. Go away. Too much jelly isn't good for pet toasters." His eyes shot open inside his hammock. "What the hell did I say?" Sitting up out of his cocoon he found Luna with an amused but tired look on her face. She obviously hadn't slept well either. She wore dark circles under her eyes that could be clearly seen despite her already dark coat. Her eyes themselves were bloodshot and watery. David frowned internally at her sunk in cheeks, even her hair had had lost some of its eternalness. She didn't look nearly as lively as she just a few days ago when she saved him. Not expecting much of an answer, he gave her a sleepy smile as he stretched a greeting to her. "Good morning princess."
"Good morning." She croaked, too tired give him more than that.
He frowned at her non-cheery disposition. "Sorry, I've always been a morning person. I take it you're not a morning person, er, pony?" Pretending to study her for a moment more, he asked the loaded question. "You feeling okay?"
She gave him that same worn smile and reassured him. "I'm surprised you noticed and yes I'm okay, just fatigued. With my over use of magic yesterday combined with my inability to fall asleep in an unfamiliar place, plus you." She let out a tired sigh. "This whole trip has started to catch up with me."
He raised an eyebrow as if to say, "That it? "
She sighed in return. "Yes truly, and I'm sorry David. I usually don't complain this much."
He shook his head and added sympathetically, "It's no trouble and not to say that your ponies are blind princess but, I've only been here a few days and even I can tell something's bothering you or rather, has BEEN bothering you."
She hummed a laugh with a hint of annoyance. "Honestly David, It's nothing you need to worry about. We just need to focus on getting you home."
He narrowed his sleepy eyes at her for a moment. "Well I can't help but worry. You come to the desert on a whim, save an alien from life in prison and give him a chance TO go home. You healed him despite knowing what it would do to you, I mean... who does that?" He threw up his arms in a huff. "Plus I'm not the type of guy to sit back and watch a girl suffer."
She scoffed and corrected him in the authoritative tone she had perfected over a lifetime of ruling. "I'm not a girl David, I'm a princess." It's the kind of tone that no matter what was said, it ended the conversation... when dealing with ponies.
He gave her a look of defiance and scoffed. "Ya' can't be a princess without being a girl first, Princess Luna."
Luna hoped humans didn't have super hearing because upon hearing those words her heart skipped a little. She blushed slightly, looking away and faking a yawn to try and cover it. "You know, most ponies don't talk to me that way."
David groaned and stretched, his spine giving of a staccato of pops. "I'm sure they don't Miss Moon Princess but I'm not 'most ' or a pony." He accented his point by holding out his arms to display himself.
She stared hard at him for a moment, contemplating his position. "Even if he is a bit blunt, his words are honest. Though it's not traditional, it might be nice to have somepony be frank with me for once... No, I can't, not while we are so close to Canterlot. It wouldn't matter anyway, not with him under my..."
"I'm fine, really." She said, looking past him at some far off place.
"Dear lord, are all ponies this bad at lying?" David asked himself. "Okay princess, I'll leave it alone for now but just so you know, I'm not one of your subjects nor am I blind. As a matter of fact, it's a very cliche thing where I'm from." David put the back of his hand on his head and began his best-terrible acting performance. "Oh eternal night, why must the weight of this crown fall upon my brow? Verily, is it my destiny to be alone? YES! I must persevere on for my kingdom, they must never know the struggles I face, something something, forever... something burden..." He trailed off when she began glaring at him. He couldn't have known that everyone she knew talked like that once upon a time.
"I'm just saying princess, you're not alone." David added, with his own sheepish smile of reassurance.
Her scowl broke for a moment before she reluctantly sighed. It had been so long since she talked to somepony. Her sister had a habit of being too coddling, it drove her mad. Not that there was anything wrong with that but it came across either too motherly or too condescending. She needed neither. Luna sat on her haunches and leaned up against a pile of assorted cargo that was stacked against the wall. David watched wordlessly as she settled in. Anyone with one eye and half a brain could tell this had been weighing on her for quite some time so kept his mouth shut and let her get comfortable.
Never in a million years would she consider talking about her issues to a stranger but she had quickly weighed the pros and cons. He had no preconceptions or fore knowledge about her. He didn't even seemed to be interested in the princess thing or even how much power she actually possessed, magically, politically or otherwise. She knew he wouldn't use her like so many others before him had. It could have been lack of sleep or the long week that drove her but whatever it was, in the bowls of a beat up cargo ship, Luna opened up to David.
"I haven't always been the best princess David... Do you recall the story of Nightmare Moon from yesterday evening?"
He nodded slowly, thinking back to the previous night. "Sure, she tried to block out the sun forever right? Sounds like a bitchy thing to do."
She nodded and splayed her ears back, looking down before answering. "That was me David. I was Nightmare Moon."
"And things were going so well... " He thought. Trying to recover he rubbed his neck. "Well, when I said bitchy, what I meant to say was-."
She held up her hoof. "It's okay David, It was a bitchy thing to do and I have gotten over it, but a lot of my little ponies have not. They still see me as that monster and it's been... trying to say the least. We just wish that they didn't fear us so. I don't ask for many things David, I really do not and I will always give my best to my subjects but now this trip is coming to an end and I must resume my duties as princess of the night--" She trailed off again, still looking at the floor.
She didn't look up but David was nodding in understanding. "Sounds frustrating." He said, giving his best psycho-babble answer. He wanted her to open up more, to really find out what was bothering her so much. She took a deep breath and began again.
"It is, truly!" She half shouted, standing up. "I just wish sometimes that I could go back and stop myself from becoming so jealous of my sister, to save myself the one thousand years on the moon. To--" David cut her off, holding up his hands in confusion.
"Woah, woah back up. A thousand years? How is that possible?"
She raised an eyebrow, in her own confusion. "I'm a True Alicorn David. I do not visibly age. Of course I can still be harmed but I am essentially immortal, as is my sister."
" Woah... Thats... And Twilight?" He asked.
She shook her head. "She was made into an Alicorn by magic. She essentially made a new spell, powered by friendship. Something that one of our most esteemed and powerful unicorns in our history failed to do. You still look confused, am I going too fast?"
David squeezed his eyes shut and paused before answering. "No. You're not moving too fast, it's just that my world doesn't work that way. Despite us speaking the same language, I have to constantly remind myself that. Like most things since my arrival, it's not confusing if you keep an open mind; it's just a lot to take in. Like saying 2 plus 2 is 7. If that's how it works here, I just have to remember it and move on. It's a lot less stressful that way." The last sentence was more to himself that to her. He motioned with his hand for her to go on.
She gave an understanding nod. "I just, I'm just worn David. Like... jam spread over too much bread. I have very few friends other than my sister, Twilight and the Elements." Her voice failed in her throat as she found a stray hole to poke at in a nearby burlap sack. David figured that Elements were short for the Elements of Harmony. AKA: Twilight's friends. Even with her short description, he understood what she was trying to say. Essentially, she was alone. She's in a world that was/is one thousand years gone and to top it all off, her subjects feared her. Now he got it, now he understood her sad smile.
By now she had looked up into his eyes, searching for some sense of understanding; that her words weren't in vain. Instead of words, he gave her a smile, placed his feet on the wooden floor, leaned over and wrapped his arms around her. She stiffened briefly out of surprise, but after a moment she leaned into him. He ran his hands over her ethereal mane and down her slender neck. She didn't return his affections, she only sat and enjoyed his warmth and the sensation of being held. David leaned in and gently spoke into her ear. "I am just a guy Princess Luna, a regular old nobody. I don't know the first thing about ruling a kingdom or what it's like to be judged by so many, but I know enough to say that you are not a Nightmare. You are kind, caring, compassionate and I know you don't need it but, thank you princess Luna, for all you've done for me. One day your ponies will see who you really are and all these rotten feelings will be nothing but a memory... And I'm sorry your vacation got ruined by a smelly human." He felt her huff at the last comment. He smirked to himself and held her for a few more moments before slowly letting go before holding her at arm's length.
"Feeling better princess?"
She nodded and smiled, looking a little more energetic than before.
"I'll tell you something my mother always told me. 'Everything gets better with time David, you just have to be patient enough to wait for it."
She grunted a small annoyance. "Patience is not my strong suit."
"Well then princess, that's something you and I have in common. Plus, you forgot someone in your list of friends."
"I did? I'm pretty sure I got everypony, it's not a very big list."
"Me." He chirped, booping her playfully on the nose.
Luna paused, crossing her eyes at where his finger made contact on her muzzle. Much to his surprise, Luna leaned over and nuzzled him lightly in the crook of his neck. She was surprisingly warm and smelled like what could only be described as starlight. "Thank you David, I needed that, and I guess I could add you to my list."
In his disbelief at the affection she shown, he could only manage to pat her on the back. "Uhh, anytime, I can't have my favorite princess all mopey now can I? Also, don't tell Twilight I said that."
She pulled away and giggled into her hoof. "I won't, and David, can you do me a favor as well?"
"Sure." He happily replied with a nod.
She looked embarrassed for a moment before speaking. "I noticed that you call princess Twilight just Twilight. Since we are friends could you do the same for me?"
David groaned internally."Ugh, unintentional puppy dog eyes, not fair on any female. " He cleared his throat and gathered his composure. "I think I could manage that. Are you sure I won't get you in any trouble? I mean, you do raise the frickin moon." He asked in mock seriousness.
She shook her head. "That is precisely why you won't get in trouble. If they have issues, I will speak to them myself, understood?"
David gave a little salute and smiled. "Well well, she may be a princess after all. "
She cleared her throat. "Good, now before I forget, here. Here is all your belongings Azir gave me." She levitated two bags over to him. One was his dive bag with his rebreather, mask, BCD and other odds and ends. It seemed that no one had bothered to open this one. The other was his backpack, he did his best to hide his giddiness.
"Thanks Luna. I'll get changed and meet you up on the docks."
"Don't be too long. Twilight and I are anxious to get back home."
David hummed before nodding. "I bet you are. Give me five and I'll be there."
Luna made her way back up to the deck of the ship and headed for the docks. As per her sister's request, she wanted to know as soon as her baby sister got back to Equestrian lands. She stepped onto solid ground and began channeling her sending spell with the following message.
"Hello Tia, Twilight Sparkle and I have safely made it back to Equestria. We will be back in Canterlot in a few hours so please have a warm bath drawn for me for I am in great need of one. As a matter of fact, could you contract a local spa to send up an employee or two. I don't believe a regular bath will be sufficient this time."
She sent the spell off to the aether and waited for the a reply. True to her sisters nature, she got one within seconds. Luna sighed in annoyance, it wasn't Celestia's loving, sisterly nature that caused the quick reply, it was her nosy one.
"Hellooo Lulu, I trust everything went well. Did you ever find out why the Cutie Map sent you to the Camel Kingdoms of all places? Also, I shall make the request at one of my favorite local spas. Also, Luna I know you are leaving out something important and I know you are doing it on purpose. What happened? You don't request spa ponies out of the need for cleanliness, you request them when something is bothering you. Or you are in need of a good... 'Preening'" The last word was dripping with innuendos.
Luna rolled her eyes. She knew what Celestia was doing. She was trying to get her riled up by saying something completely unnecessary in order to get a knee jerk reaction out of her little sister. If Luna wasn't so tired, she might have given one.
"Nice try Tia but no. You are right however, something... interesting happened. Twilight and I met somepony and we are bringing him to Equestria. There are some extenuating circumstances concerning his arrival. He is a species called Hooman and was found wandering the deserts of the Kingdom. Prince Azir had him fighting in the pit and after a wager we won his freedom... I'm afraid I've done something terrible Tia. He doesn't know it yet but I cast a spell on him during our first meeting... I will give you more details once we arrive in Equestria. However, I am unsure as to how or why he came to be on Equis but I feel it is my respons--"
"Ohhh, how wonderful. It's about time you brought home a stallion, you need a special somepony in your life Lulu."
Of course that's all her sister heard. Luna was bringing home a stallion, or whatever hooman stallions were called.
"Yes Tia, he is a male." Don't think about almost kissing him! Don't think about almost kissing him! Don't think about almost kissing him! "And I didn't almost kiss him..."
Buck!
"That's wonderful news Lulu, I can't wait to meet him..." Luna's eyes searched left and right, wondering why Celestia hadn't caught on to her distress. She only spoke in a hushed tone. "Just...Please hurry home. I miss you Lulu" Luna smiled. Oh how she loved her sister.
David watched as Luna's back legs disappeared up the stairs, with her gone, he tore into his bag like a kid at Christmas. First, without hesitation, he stripped off his sack pants, leaving him completely naked for anypony wandering around to get an eye-full of human. Upon finding his stash of baby wipes and gave himself a quick once, scratch that, twice over in hopes of getting rid of that fresh out of prison smell. Once satisfied, he dressed himself in his "standard adventuring clothes". The gloves he shoved in his cargo pocket. He groaned in bliss as he slipped a fresh pair of socks over his almost clean feet. His lucky boots had never felt so good. "God this is almost better than sex... Almost"
He fumbled through the bottom of the bag and grabbed his electric razor out of his hygiene kit. Flicking the on switch he smiled as it buzzed to life, nearly a month of not shaving had left him kind of scraggly. If there was one thing he hated, it was an un-kept beard. Not that he looked bad with one, but the itching nearly drove him insane, especially in the jungle. Without a proper mirror, he couldn't tell if he missed any spots but he didn't care. He ran his hands across the 5 o'clock shadow before stowing everything else. Opting to go all out, he grabbed his old baseball hat and sunglasses out of the side pouch. Running his fingers through his hair he dawned the hat and sunglasses, making a mental note that he would need a hair cut before too long. He slipped his backpack on and slung his kit bag over his shoulder. He winced as something poked him in his kidneys, reaching back he felt that something metal had been stuffed hastily inside his pack. It was his ice ax. He had nearly forgotten about it in all the craziness. He stretched his back and rolled up his sleeves, smiling at the familiar feeling his things gave him. In truth, he felt human again.
David took the first few steps two at a time as he made his way up to the deck."Human huh? The only one it seems. " The errant thought caused him to slow his pace as his ears were assaulted with the unmistakable sound of the docks: creaking hulls, seagulls crying obscenities over head... He took a deep breath of the sea air and looked around, thankful it was still early. He assumed he wouldn't have to undergo the stares of too many ponies quite yet. If he were being honest with himself, he was starting to get nervous, really nervous. How were they going to treat him? Everyone thought he was just a monster in the pit right? Luna was a princess and they still gave her shit about stuff that happened a thousand years ago. What would they do when they found out he killed someone less than a week ago? Sure it was in self-defense but that didn't change the fact that they were alive, now they're not.
He didn't know how fast word traveled in this world but if it was anything like his, the stories of the violent ape thing would be greatly exaggerated. "Hell, not really ." He thought. He was a 'violent monkey' as far as the prince was concerned and who knew what kind of pull that guy had. The propaganda Azir had worked as well as it did was because David played the part of the monster, even if it wasn't exactly by choice. He refused to fight at first, telling them he wasn't a gladiator or whatever it is they wanted from him. He just wanted to be set free or for them to send him home. They did neither. All he had to do was fight and he wouldn't be tortured. He even laughed at them and their cute little hooves... They broke him within a week, "Oh how you screamed." He furrowed his brow at the memory, he thought he was stronger than that, he wasn't.
So he played the part of the vicious monster and they would shout things like "Freak, Ape, Alien." He would eat it up, fueling the hatred that kept him going. In truth, he was more pissed at himself than the prince. He let the prince and that pit turn him into something he wasn't. He didn't even TRY and hang on to his humanity, he just gave in because of the pain... then Luna came and something changed. He was thankful for her, he didn't want to give the impression that he wasn't but, she gave him the best and possibly worst thing in the world, hope. Hope that he could recover what the pit took from him. No. Not what it took, but what he gave of his own free will. Oh he felt so smart, standing over the 'undefeated Hannibal', just smirking at the prince. In the end, the prince was right, he got what he wanted. Azir was still the prince and David was still the "monster".
Now he was a monster without the excuse of the pit to act like one. He had to somehow endure all the stares and rude comments that were bound to come his way, without being able to punch his opponent in the face. He would still be an alien, he would be treated... just like Luna.
That did it. If she could put up with it for so long, he could at least put up with it for however long it took him to get home... Home? Home! He hadn't thought about home since the first few nights in the jail. Could he get home? Andrew, Maria, Simon. "Simon that fucker!" He growled out loud. A spike of pain caused David to wince and nearly drop to his knees. "Jesus what was that?" He shook it off as him needing food.
Shit, what if he was stuck, would he be a glorified pet of the princess? "Gah, don't think like that David." He scolded himself. Deep down he knew it was true in a way. He may not be a pet but certainly an oddity that everybody would want to come and see. What if he couldn't get home? What if he was stuck, what would he do? Would the princess let him roam around? Hell, what COULD he do? Get a job? Find a, mare? Eww maybe. He didn't know how long he stood on that boat deck before he began hyperventilating. His vision began to darken and his legs began to weaken. His balance almost left him before he heard a gruff voice behind him that snapped him out of his trance.
"You alright there bud?" David turned, snapping back to reality to see the same griffon that had bumped his bunk not to long ago.
"Uhh. Hey. Yeah just, uh, lost in my own little world I guess."
He eyed David for a moment "I see, well good luck out there mate." The griffon slipped a satchel over his chest and flew off.
Thankful for the interruption, David shook his head and took solace in the fact that he had at least a few more hours of it being just him, Twilight and Luna. That would all change as soon as he got to this... Canterlot so he decided to enjoy himself while he could.
He walked down the gangplank and away from the boat and towards the only real buildings within sight. He did his best to smile at the ponies that happened to see him. Some only gave him a passing glance while most openly gawked at the strange creature. "Yep, just like the zoo..." He thought to himself as he scanned the area for Twilight and Luna. Looking left and right he didn't see any sign of either princess, they were hard to miss. He did however, feel a light tugging at his pants just below his knee. Turning to inspect the sensation, he found a small pony with neither a horn or wings. The foal seemed to be male and had David's cargo pocket in his teeth. He stared up at the human with great interest. "What are you?" The tiny pony asked with curiosity.
"No shame for this one." David chuckled to himself. He sat his bag down and took a knee. "Well munchkin, I'm a human. I'm kind of new around here. Say, you haven't seen a princess or two around here have you?" The colt shook his head no. "Are you sure. One is purple and about this tall." He motioned with his hand Twilight's approximate height. "The other is dark blue, she's a little bit taller. Really pretty hair." The colt looked shocked for a instant.
"You mean the bad princess?!" The colt half whispered, like what he said was some sort of curse word.
"Uhh, Bad princess? Don't think so. You may have Luna confused with someone else." David said, defending his friend.
"Nuh-uh, mommy said that the princess who raises the moon tried to take away all the sunshine. Mommy said that she is the reason we have bad dreams and that if I'm bad or if I don't do all my chores that she will come and take me away."
David got a little defensive over this. It hadn't even been an hour and he was already seeing what Luna was talking about. "Oh yeah? Did your mommy tell you if this thing had a name?"
"Yeah. Nightmare Moon." The colt spat.
"Well tell your mommy that the moon princess' name is Luna not Nighttime Moonpie or whatever." He said, getting the name wrong on purpose.
The colt huffed and was about to defend his mother's honor before his ears swiveled towards a female voice in the distance. "I gotta go, but mommy is always right!" The foal shouted over his shoulder before haphazardly galloping off.
"Yeah, I bet your mommy told you that too kid." David grunted, upset at the fact that he let a kid get under his skin like that. The more pressing issue was where Luna was, or Twilight for that matter. He figured with him being twice as tall as any other thing around here, he wouldn't have to try this hard. David wandered the docks for almost thirty minutes before he finally heard a familiar voice arguing over something he couldn't quite make out. David moved as quickly as possible toward the sound of the voice. He noticed a pair of purple wings and a horn near the edge of a growing crowd. "Finally. " David thought, "We can get out of here and end this stupid trip. Then maybe I can finally get a shower! " With this realization, he picked up his pace. As he got closer, he noticed something was terribly wrong.
"Please don't rip it! It's not mine!" Twilight cried.
Two unicorns held a very familiar, red backed sketch pad in their magic just out of Twilight's reach. "What's wrong wannabe princess? Can't you just use the magic of friendship to take it? Oh wait, as soon as you try and use magic I'll tear this thing to ribbons."
"Please, just give it back. I need to meet princess Luna. I don't want to be late."
"Ohhh, the Nightmare and the Bookworm together? What an odd couple. How about this, you give me 50 bits and I'll think about giving it back to you. How's that sound?"
"No deal." A voice called from behind them. The two had been so focused on Twilight that they didn't see the 6'2 alien walk up behind them and grab ahold of the floating book. The duo turned and froze, neither one knowing exactly what to do. David held the book firm and glared at them. Feeling as if they weren't in any immediate danger they tried to force the book out of his grip. The two unicorns poured more and more of their magic into the spell only to find that they were becoming increasingly tired. David felt his whole arm become numb, like it had been dunked in a tub of IcyHot, but he held on. The bullies eventually ran out of juice and released the spell before crumbling to their knees, panting like dogs.
"Wha...what was that?" The leader heaved out of breath.
"Didn't your mother ever teach you to be nice to girls?" David lectured. The two only hung their heads in what appeared to be shame, but he couldn't tell nor did he care. "Yeah, I wouldn't have much to say either if I were an asshole." David tucked the book under his arm and held out his hand to Twilight. "Ready princess?"
"Yeah, lets get out of here... I miss Ponyville."
A ways away, the pair walked together in silence for a few minutes before David decided to break the ice. "So, you wanna tell me what that's about or should I just assume that every stallion is a douche?"
Twilight scoffed. "It must seem that way to you huh, also what's a douche?"
David hiked his thumb behind him. "Them, they are douches and yeah a little and I thought you told me your special talent was magic? Couldn't you just, I don't know, turn them into frogs or something?" David asked with interest.
"No, not all stallions are like that. Most of the ones that I know are actually very kind and yeah, probably. But that would just make me a bully and nopony likes a bully."
David opened his eyes wide in surprise. "Really? Frogs, just like that? Remind me to not get on your bad side." He chuckled, bumping her hip in hopes of cheering her up. "Soo I get the bully part, but why would they act like that to a princess? In public no less."
"Well," Twilight began. "I haven't been a princess for very long. I was born a unicorn you see, the wings are an addition. Princess Celestia said it was my destiny but sometimes... Sometimes I think I'd be just as happy as a unicorn librarian living in Ponyville with my friends."
"What does that have to do with them though?" David asked, not following.
"Some ponies don't like the fact that some nopony from Canterlot got to be a princess with her very own castle. They don't think I deserve it. They think that since I was already Princess Celestia's private student it gave me an unfair advantage over all the other talented unicorns out there that didn't live in Canterlot. Does that make sense?"
"Mm-hm, Luna mentioned something about your princessy-ness earlier. She told me about Nightmare moon too".
Twilight winced. She didn't mean to keep such an important, albeit, nasty part of world history a secret from him, especially since it was a defining moment in pony culture. The defeat of Nightmare Moon and the return of Princess Luna: Sister to Celestia, riser of the moon and shaper of the stars. Or however the pony poets would put it in the history books.
"Sorry I didn't tell you last night. I'm actually very surprised she told you at all, it's still kind of a sore subject. I mean, I don't know how she does it. Luna is... She's the start and end of every bad dream and scary story and something that parents use, to this day, to scare foals into behaving. Ponies may be understanding but trying to erase generations of fear is like trying to dig a well with a spoon. It's going to take longer than a couple of years for ponies to feel save around her."
David nodded and understood why Twilight wanted to keep it hidden from him. "But don't ponies realize that she isn't Nightmare Moon anymore? I mean, she is probably one of the sweetest people errr, ponies I have ever met in my life."
Twilight nodded at this. "I agree, but all ponies have are the stories and the stories say that Nightmare Moon and Luna are the same pony and that's enough to make them afraid."
"Such a shame. I really wish they could see her differently."
"See her like you do, you mean?" Twilight asked with raised eyebrows.
"Yes." He said unabashedly
"See who as you do?" David jumped as he heard Luna's question from behind them.
"You! Moon princess! Where have you been? I thought you told me you were going to wait for me on the docks!"
"I did wait for you!" She playfully shouted. "You took to long to get rea--." Luna hesitated and looked the new, and much cleaner David up and down. He had a faded grey hat on and his facial hair had been shaven down to stubble. She had to admit, he looked pretty good for being an prisoner less than a week ago. She didn't put much stock in fashion but the clothes fit his personality to a T. "You look good." She commented without thinking.
Twilight gave her a inquisitive look before David grinned again. "You think so?" He gave her an off balance runway spin before holding out his arms to inspect himself. "I'll never complain about doing laundry every again. You forget how important something is until you don't have it anymore, clothes being a perfect example."
"Wouldn't know." Luna remarked with a shrug looking down and her ebony regalia. "Not much for fashion these days. This way, we have a pegasus chariot waiting for us and I have a bath calling my name."
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He didn't like those eyes. They saw too much and gave away too little.
The view from the sky chariot was nothing short of breathtaking. Snow caps on the mountain peaks melted into rushing rivers below. Eventually, they would water the lush evergreen forests and farms of the pastel pony's homeland. Even after her adventures took her all over the world, living in such a beautiful place was never lost on Twilight. She laughed to herself thinking how Equestria was even more beautiful now since she had been stuck in a featureless desert for the last few weeks. She turned to David with a genuine smile.
"Soo? What do you think? Pretty nice huh?" She provoked David with her cheeky smirk.
"Hmm." David pondered lazily for a moment before speaking dully. "Truthfully, It's probably the most beautiful sight I've ever seen." He finished his remark with a tiny sagely nod.
She raised an eyebrow at his lack luster response. "Really?" She scoffed harder than she meant to. "It doesn't sound like it."
"Ehh. Yeah, I think? I mean, it's much more colorful than my world. It looks like something off the back of a post card... You do have postcards here right?"
Twilight studied the human's impassive face for a few moments before speaking. "We do..." She said slowly. "David, don't take this the wrong way but you've been acting strange for the past few hours. Are you feeling okay?"
He shrugged and rocked his head from ear to ear. "Kind of. I mean, I guess. Why?"
She leaned over and put one hoof on his forehead and the other on hers, trying to take his temperature. He seemed warm to the touch but that may just have been the warm summer afternoon sun combined with an open chariot. He stared lazily into her eyes. If she had been a betting mare she would have put her bits on his eyes being much brighter during their walk on the docks a few hours earlier. Twilight then looked to Luna who had dawned her impassive princess face.
Twilight furrowed her brow. She may not know WHAT the princesses were thinking when they made that face but she had spent enough time around Celestia to recognize it for what it was; Luna knew something and didn't want to talk about it. She turned back to David who had a somewhat pleasant, if not dopey, look in his eyes as he searched the horizon.
"I recommend we go straight to the infirmary when we get back to the castle. What do you think Luna?" She prompted.
The moon princess finally spoke, and even had more to say than a one syllable grunt this time. "Go if you want to but they won't find anything Twilight, but if it will ease your mind, by all means." She waved her hoof dismissively without making much eye contact. Twilight had all but lost her patience. Luna's mood had seemed to sour over the last few hours too. "Why is she acting so strange and what the hay did she mean by 'they won't find anything.?" Twilight's lightning quick mind ran through all the possible conclusions as to why that would be. One; The doctors wouldn't find anything because there was nothing TO find or. Two; There IS something but it's not something a medical doctor would look for. Twilight bit her tongue for remainder of the trip, she simply put on her own best princesy face and played tour guide to their new friend. Whatever Luna was hiding, it was hers to figure out.
"What is he Princess?" The old and graying Earth pony asked as he pulled a dry wooden popsicle stick out of the human's throat. David scrunched up his nose and smacked his tongue at the dry texture. "I don't have the slightest clue where to begin. As far as I can tell he is a mammal. I see a heart, two lungs, only one kidney but still... There's even a brain up there." He punctuated his remark with a light bonk of David's skull.
David snorted. He wanted to laugh more, it was a pretty funny joke but the past few hours had left him feeling a bit drained and pleasantly disconnected.
"This is no time for joking Doctor, isn't there anything you can do for him?" Twilight asked, also ignoring the gem of a joke.
"Princess, I'm afraid without knowing more about his metabolism, diet or this... anti-magic. I can't, in good conscious, give him any medicine. Even some of the lighter broad spectrum medication might prove fatal. I could cause an allergic reaction or worse. I recommend just letting him rest for now. As far as I can tell his vitals are stable enough. I haven't seen any significant change in an hour or so. This should give us a good base line should something change."
Twilight sighed, mumbling about how his physical well-being wasn't what she was worried about. She smiled a weary smile and thanked him anyway. "Thank you doctor, if we need anything else, I know where to find you."
The doctor gave her a smile of condolence and walked out of the room, moving out of the way of Luna who was standing in the hallway talking to one of her maid ponies. Twilight new that now was her chance. No sooner than the door swing shut she began casting her spell. It was a lesser form of a more powerful true-seeing spell. She had only read about twice and practiced once. It showed hidden things, secret things. It could only be fooled by the most powerful of Alicorn magic or the master of chaos himself.
"Your magic is a pretty color." Remarked David in passing. "Like if purple had the color purple... or something." He grunted at his own joke again but slowly found a spot on the floor to stare at numbly. A bit of drool pooling on his lips.
"Sweet Sun he's getting worse." Twilight stilled herself and took a deep breath. She drew the magic down from her horn and eased it into her pupils. If she moved the magic too quickly it could permanently blind her. Too slowly and she wouldn't get the detail she needed. She tensed her jaw, looked up and met the eyes of the now dumbly smiling human. Her pupils shimmered as she peered into him. What she saw could not easily be described. Clinking around David's form was fractured colors, a mosaic of emotion. They glittered and moved together like a great sea of broken glass. She staggered, trying to center herself. The sound reminded Twilight of a wind chime in a light breeze. She unconsciously brought a hoof to her mouth.
"It's a soul, HIS soul. A human soul." Twilight whispered.
At first, Twilight couldn't wrap her mind around it. It looked something more akin to Discord's work than anything found naturally. She didn't know much about art, she found it more trouble than it was worth but she knew even color had order to it. Here, she wasn't even sure if her brain KNEW these colors. The first and most obvious thing that struck her was he was NOTHING like a pony. The first and only time she had used the spell was on herself, in a mirror. Something about peering into her own soul disturbed her to the point where she didn't eat for two days. The complexity of David's heart left her stunned. Ponies, at least, had a sense of order and clarity to them, each emotion in constant equilibrium with the others. The magic of Harmony acting as a great set of scales, balancing and keeping all other emotions in check. This went double for the ones directly opposed to harmony. David on the other hoof went from crushing doubt to unfathomable certainty in a time that couldn't be measured. It wasn't just that specific emotion either. Hate to love. Sorrow to gladness. Her mind was screaming at her to run, to get as far away as she could from the madness twisting in front of her eyes, but she couldn't look away. It was like peering into an all consuming storm. She focused her mind and slowed her breathing. She grew to a slow realization. This wasn't magic, there wasn't even a trace of it. The seemingly aimless and chaotic nature was his soul and it was in perfect balance. One emotion never taking over another for more than a fraction of a second. She would even go so far as to call it harmony. Not in the sense as she was taught or understood it, but harmony none the less, and something was disrupting it. There was something else in there causing him to act the way he was. She poured every once of magic she had into her horn, small drops of sweat and tears began to roll down her face. Her knees began to give out and her vision began to dim. She searched frantically before she finally she saw it. Tiny ethereal blue chains snaking in and out of the shards of glass. Her voice seemed distant and felt like sandpaper in her throat. "Found you." It said, and she collapsed to the floor.
Twilight heard shouting and the clip clop of hooves around her. She felt strong appendages lift her up, she smiled because it felt like she was floating instead of flying.
"Twilight! Twilight open your eyes." The voice of Luna pierced the dark of her unconscious mind.
"Luna?... LUNA!" Twilight forcibly woke her self, causing her to wince with the pain of over used magic.
Luna's soft, caring gaze met Twilight's. Even in her disoriented state, the younger Alicorn glared back.
Luna's caring face fell away in an instant and what was left frighted Twilight.
"Yes Twilight?" Luna asked in a cold, uncaring tone. Almost daring Twilight to ask the wrong thing, but sensing she had already figured it all out, she didn't try to hide it any longer. "We already know what you wish to ask us Twilight, so ask and be done with it."
The youngest of the Alicorns took a step forward on shaky legs and spoke in an almost demanding tone. "Did you cast Delirium Binding on David?"
"What's Delirium Binding?" Davids voice croaked from behind them. Luna flinched at his voice and with a burst of speed, she ran.
Twilight galloped down the halls of Canterlot Castle, chasing and yelling after the Princess of the night. "I can't believe you would do that! This isn't the dark ages anymore Luna!"
"We did what we must Twilight Sparkle, nothing more nothing less!" She shouted, half panting.
"Then WHY are you running?!"
Luna screeched to a halt, sliding on all four hooves and flaring her wings. She turned to Twilight who quite nearly ran into her. She gave a shamed look and tried to counter it with her words. "We... Nopony was supposed to find out. It was only going to be temporary. " Her voice faulted under the sweating and panting princess of friendship.
"But.. I don't understand." Twilight huffed and searched the hall with her eyes, as if the answer was hiding in plain sight. "You used Binding but still tried to be his friend? I just don't--" Twilight was cut off by a whisper.
"I knew he was there Twilight Sparkle." Luna feared if she spoke any louder it would cause the human to hear her despite him being on the other side of the castle. "From the first night he slept in the prison, I knew he was there." Twilight sat on her haunches, signaling she wasn't moving until Luna had told her everything.
Luna took a deep breath, knowing she wasn't going to be able to run forever from the competent teleporting of Twilight."I was walking along the dream-scape like I usually do to begin the night and saw a tall, unfamiliar figure standing on a beach of stars. He was crying and looking longingly off on the horizon. I had never seen another like this. Never had another pony been in the In Between."
"The In Between?" Twilight questioned.
Luna nodded. "Most ponies see doors in a hallway, some even see floating orbs filled with dreams. It's different for each creature. Their minds translate the dreamscape into something that they can grasp. Minds have a very unique way of protecting themselves. Normally, the only way they can come to the In Between is with my guidance." Twilight nodded. There wern't any books about this. She made a mental note to ask Luna later for more detail. With great reluctance she nodded for her to continue.
"David either couldn't feel my presence or didn't care, so I walked up next to him. My eyes never left him. He was in such a state Twilight. It broke my heart like no other even though I had never seen his species. I didn't dare to look upon the spot in which he was staring but I couldn't help myself. As I turned I nearly screamed. A tangle of blood and bodies Twilight. They were strewn about like broken dolls amidst a sea of mangled metal. The figures seemed much smaller than the creature next to me. Again, even though we had never met I knew them to be children. He numbly looked over the bodies that littered the ground and I felt his rage. I had never felt anger like that Twilight, never."
Twilight gulped. "Never never... even when..?" She trailed off, hoping Luna would get the picture.
"Never." Luna assured with great finality. "I stood next to him in horrid silence. I watched the view from his mind as he ran to a large yellow piece of metal. It seemed to be some sort of large vehicle built for many passengers. I saw a red stop sign on its side, just like what we have here in Canterlot. He was screaming something but I couldn't make it out. I didn't know what to make of the scene and I almost turned away. Just then, I saw another human stumble into view. He had a broken bottle in his hand and a somewhat far away look in his eyes. He had a few cuts about him but was in fairly good condition compared to all the others. I figured it was some sort of vehicular collision but judging by how twisted the metal was they were probably traveling at high speeds. Much faster than most ponies would be able to travel. I know it sounds absurd Twilight and I don't know how I knew, but I did."
"That's-- that's frighting and somewhat amazing Luna but that doesn't explain why you would do that to him. Delirium Binding is considered a forbidden spell. It hasn't been used since... well since before Nightmare Moon's banishment. It is reserved for the most cruel and abhorrent of creatures; ponies who lack the gentle touch of harmony call. David he, I don't underst-" Twilight was caught off guard by the tears now forming in Luna's eyes.
"Yes, I know Twilight." The shivers that shot down the purple Alicorn's spine threatened to sap the strength from her legs again. If Luna knew that then what did... Twilight thought and Luna continued.
"In a flash David was upon the man. He had his hands around his throat." Luna pulled her hooves together and held them up in front of her, slightly mimicking the vision replaying in her mind. "I could feel the anger Twilight. It was a tangible thing. It clung to me like a sickness. It moved along my skin like a living, breathing creature. I have been doing this for a very long time and I have never..." She trailed off shuttering.
"The man he had pinned either couldn't or wouldn't fight back. David began striking the man repeatedly in the face. I was scared, and confused. I turned to David to try and make sense of it all... He was smiling Twilight. Smiling as his past self beat another human into unconsciousness. Even when the man laid limp and bleeding he didn't stop. He would have killed him Twilight if he hadn't been pulled away. Then, the vision went blurry and the David on the beach disappeared. I expected then I knew then how dangerous he was. I wasn't going to take any chances. The very next night I found him again, this time he was playing another memory, a different memory. This one was filled with screams and loud explosions. I felt his sorrow and fear and when I caught the sight of blood once more, without hesitation I cast Delirium Binding. I didn't know then about his resistance to magic or how long it would be until it took effect but after I saw him fight Hannibal, I knew I made the right choice. He's dangerous Twilight Sparkle, don't let him fool you."
Twilight stumbled her way back to the infirmary room where David was hopefully still sitting. She drug her hooves, the past few days beginning to catch up to her. She had never experienced anything like this before. Luna told her she had cast the spell when he was asleep. Only Luna had that kind of power. To be able to cast something so complicated over dreams was nothing short of astonishing. "But why did she act so friendly towards him? She showed him her moon. Why would she even bother? Was it to keep him docile? I'm the Princess of Friendship for Celestia's sake! One would think I would notice fake friendship." She was brought out of her thoughts by the sound of two familiar voices. One was definitely Davids the other was, "Oh no!"
"My sister told me she was bringing a stallion home but I never guessed it would be, My apologies. What did you say you were again?"
"Hummann." David slurred are rocked on the infirmary bed.
Celestia paused and scrutinized the creature. She was not one to judge anypony by their appearances but he certainly wasn't making it easy. His clothes were tattered and smelled of a prison toilet. The hair on his head was greasy and matted while the hair on his face was patchy and filled with specks of food. Onions by the look of it. When he laughed his breath gave off a rather unpleasant odor she couldn't quite place. It did however make her unconsciously turn away and breath through her mouth.
"And you mentioned a portal of some kind?" She asked in mild disbelief? Celestia didn't think this human could find his way out of a room with no walls, much less activate a magical portal.
David gave her a wild, child-like grin and shook his head violently. A smile played on the Sun princesses lips as she imagined a small jingle bell rolling around in his head.
"I'm ba.. be a doccctoorrrr too." He exclaimed with a broad smile and drooling slur.
"Oh my! That is fascinating!" The princess beamed, letting the patronizing flow freely now. Behind her Twilight cleared her throat. Celestia jumped a little, knowing she was just caught making fun of their guest at his expense. She really didn't mean to, it just kind of happened.
"Ahh my faithful student! Oh, my apologies Princess Twilight, it's true what they say about old habits."
Twilight genuinely smiled at her old title. In truth she didn't mind. During some of her more stressful days as the Princess of Friendship she found herself wishing for the simpler time of friendship reports and who to give her extra gala ticket too. Right now was the opposite side of the spectrum. She decided to cut right to the chase. It was too late in the adventure to start beating around the bush now.
"His name is David and he is a human." She began. The next part was going to suck. "Luna also cast Delirum bi-" No sooner were the words out of her mouth did the expression on Celestia's face change. She reared up on her back legs and put herself between Twilight and the creature.
David had the look of a confused dog. Much to Celestia's surprise he just smiled again, this time with a hint of sadness. His eyes asking "What did I do wrong?"
"-inding." Twilight finished. "And I think it's killing him."
Celestia looked down at David; her face a mix of mistrust and intrigue. Her muscles relaxed slightly and she licked her lips, deciding how to approach the human. "So, David. Why did you come here? What is your purpose?" She asked, slowly and deliberately.
The human bobbed his head around, almost like a child on a sugar high. Celestia didn't really know what to think, he was almost acting like whatever he wanted to say was going to burst out of him if he didn't say it soon. "If it wasn't for his smell and appearance he would almost be adorable. No. Lulu must have had a good reason to cast such a spell." Her eyes flicked nervously across his surprisingly expressive face. His answers would tell her what she needed to know.
"Weelll." David started in a slightly high pitched voice. His tone that of a foal who was describing (more like rambling) about how his day at school went. "I have a TV show you see and I get to go aalllll over the world looking at cool things most of the time they are like, REALLY old and my friend found something in South America and I hate the jungle but Simon had a plane ticket already and I..." David paused and winced, holding his head. His voice changing, dropping almost an octave. "There was a temple." He recalled.
Celestia's eyes widened a bit, mostly at his statement, partly at his sudden reversal of character. This wasn't what the biding did to ponies at all. They became subdued and compliant, not mentally deficient and childish. Whatever was going on, he was trying to fight it. Whether it was the spell failing or his insidious nature over riding it. David took a deep breath. "There were statues of... you and I think Luna. I-I don't remember. The next think I recall is swimming to the surface of a pond? A prison maybe? That's when I met the camel prince. I think you know the rest." He was out of breath after he finished.
"Uh-huh." Celestia nodded slowly, her mental frustration growing. "Well that did't tell me anything! What is 'TV' or a 'plain' and why does he need a ticket for it? She looked back to the human who was now swinging his legs underneath him and rocking back and forth. His eyes had dimmed somewhat, nothing at all like the spark she saw a moment ago. She didn't know what was going on or what was causing it but her former student was close. He wasn't in any jeopardy physically. It was his mind that was dying.
Twilight watched from a distance, dread and worry stuck on her face for all to see. She was nervous about what the princess was going to do. Based on what Luna experienced, she knew he was a danger. However, a little part of her was hopeful that whatever was wrong with him could be fixed. The reasons having nothing to do with studying him or learning about the world he came from... Well, maybe a little but still. From the little time she spent with him, he wasn't that bad of a guy. But then was that the spell making him docile like it was built to do? Was that him pretending? Questions upon questions. She put the breaks on the mental freight train that threatened to run away with her as her mentor began charging a spell. Much like the true-seeing spell she used, Celestia focused the magic into her horn and then brought it down to her eyes. Twilight marveled at how quick she was and the little effort it took for her mentor to cast. Twilight's special talent may have been magic but there was no substitute for experience. Being an immortal goddess had its perks. It only took a moment before the spell dimmed and Celestia looked back to Twilight.
"Princess Twilight. Could you wait in the hall please?" Twilight's face was easy enough to read "You'll have to trust me Twilight." She nodded and obeyed.
Twilight walked to the door, looking behind her the whole way. Once Celestia thought Twilight couldn't see, she took a deep breath and from her horn came a small golden key made of sunlight. Celestia didn't know but her former student had found a small crack in the door and was watching with rapt attention. Celestia spoke in a small but commanding voice. "I command that you set this victim free and leave him to his own heart and his own mind." A simple phrase but powerful none the less. The golden key silently burst into countless smaller keys each of them finding their own place on the human's skin before vanishing. David's dopey smile went passive and he immediately fell limp.
"I think he's waking up." David heard a familiar voice say. There was a mixture of other voices too.
"It's so tall... and ugly." A raspy voice whispered.
"Sweet Celestia, he smells like death! And just look at what he's wearing! Ghastly!"
"Hush up you two and lets go get the princess right away!" The last sounded like a country girl he knew in college. David heard the flap of hurried wings and hooves fade into the hallway.
David groggily opened his eyes. He remembered being in the infirmary when he fell asleep. He was now in some sort of bedroom. The bed seemed a bit out of proportion but was miles above his previous accommodations. His breath hitched as he tenderly reached for a large red lump forming right above his left temple. This seemed to be the reason his head pounded with every heart beat. He scanned the room and found a few unfamiliar faces. Two snow white ponies clad in golden armor stood at either side of his bed. Two more ponies in what could only be French maid costumes stood in the doorway.
"Uhh." David quavered, trying to grasp what he was actually seeing. "What's going on? Where's Luna?"
"Princess Luna." The guard sneered. "Is on her way, as is Princess Celestia. You'll just have to be patient."
David nodded and laid his head back down. "Good, because I have a lot of questions."
The guard puffed his chest out and was about to lay into the uncouth creature but was cut off as the two royal sisters entered the room, ushering everypony out.
David sat up groaning, man was he sore. He looked from one princess to the other, trying to gauge the looks on their faces. He was surprised to find that his mind was clear. More clear than it had been since coming here. What was more surprising is that he could actually read their faces, despite them not being human. It was creepy how expressive horses could be.
"So." He began.
"Sister, why did you reverse my spell?" Luna growled, interrupting the human.
"Because dear sister, it was killing him." Celestia noted casually, her eyes not turning away from David's. He didn't like those eyes. They saw too much and gave away too little.
Luna relaxed a bit. "No, he would have lived." She huffed.
"As a vegetable, perhaps." The white Alicorn added.
"You did not SEE what I saw Tia. If you did, you would have also bound him."
The word bound sparked a faint memory in David's mind. He spoke up, interrupting the two sisters. "Binding. Delirium binding. I heard it mentioned before, what is it? Magic?"
Luna clenched her jaw, and Celestia sighed and stepped forward. "Yes, it is a very powerful spell designed to force harmony onto a pony or any creature sentient with the capacity to understand right from wrong or good from evil." An albeit simple, inaccurate and understated version of what the spell's true purpose was but it would suffice in this situation.
David looked around the room looking for clarity. "Force Harmony I don't-" He was cut off by Luna who also took a step forward.
"It suppresses and binds all negative emotions in your heart and mind leaving only the magic of Harmony; magic which permeates all things here in Equestria. Anything that would make you anxious, angry, or even a bit unhappy would be removed. This includes blocking or altering memories and perceptions."
David was a lot of things. He was arrogant from time to time, an ass, a pretty good karaoke singer and above all, he was a quick study. Unfamiliar and outside the box concepts excited him. The human's breath quickened a bit. "Holy shit. You mean all this time I've been-"
"Yes." Luna remarked flatly. "Under a spell. Ever since the first night you got here. I saw your dreams, I saw the cruelty you were capable of-" It was Luna's turn to be cut off.
"My dreams?!" David half shouted. "That's-- How?"
"Dreams are my domain." Luna informed, a matter of factly.
"The Hell they are!" David retorted.
Celestia cleared her throat, trying to break up the tension in the room. "Now now. Lets just all take a step back an-"
"No, hell no! That's my mind, my memories. You had, have NO right to look at them any time you please."
"Well, I think I DO!" Luna snarled.
"ENOUGH!" Celestia stormed, her voice shaking the very walls of the castle. She turned to her sister and accused. "You told me that the Cutie Map had displayed your mark over the Camel Kingdoms along with Princess Twilight's. Was that a lie?"
Luna's ears flattened. "It was a simple spell. We had once been linked to the Elements of Harmony... It was for a good reason sister, clearly he is a danger."
"Perhaps Luna, but telling me the truth would have saved us a lot of undue confusion." She insisted. "I could have helped you know?"
"Guhh, I didn't want your help Tia." Luna breathed. "That was the point."
"So yeah, I don't want to break up, whatever this is." David interjected, pointing between them. "But let me get this straight." He cleared his throat and turned his attention to Luna, counting on his fingers. "You break into my dreams without my permission. You see something about me and my past that frightened you. Then you and you alone, decided without any sort of trial or questioning; to... bind my free will? Question: What the hell is wrong with you?"
Luna shouted in defense. "Me?! You beat another human nearly to death and you were smiling, SMILING! What was I supposed to think? That you weren't a threat to my kingdom? My home? My friends? I have made too many mista..." She stopped herself from finishing. "No, I wasn't going to give you a chance. It was a preemptive strike. Sure I could have used force but my way was easier, cleaner."
David's face flashed from confusion to understanding to darkness. He lowered his voice and his head. Celestia visibly shivered as his shoulders and neck tensed. She prepared for an attack but none came. "What did you say?" He asked coolly.
Luna was too caught up in her rage to sense that David had changed his demeanor. "You beat another human amidst a heap of bent metal and blood. I felt your hatred, it was disgusting." She spat. "I gave you the benefit of the doubt then, but the very next night I saw more blood and felt your hatred then too. I knew then you were a threat. You are violent and destructive and your surviving the pit only confirmed my suspicions." Luna finished, her chest heaving after releasing the long pent up secret. She glared at David, expecting him to either attack or at the very least verbally assault her again. Instead, she saw his face was passive... no. It was empty. It was almost as if the spell was still affecting his mind. He was nodding and humming a bit to himself. Not to be thrown off by his tricks, she intensified her glare. What he asked next, stunned her enough to force a step back.
"Have you ever had a child Luna?"
"Wha- I don't see how that has anyt-"
"Just answer the question." He growled with steel.
She paused to look at him and over to her sister. "No, We've never had the pleasure." She uttered, so unsure of her answer she fell temporarily back into her old speech patterns.
He nodded. "Then how could you possibly know what it feels like to lose one?" David proposed, his eyes remaining a cool grey, showing nothing of his inner torment.
Both Luna and Celestia appeared to have been physically struck by his words. Celestia unconsciously took one step to the side away from her sister as if she would catch shrapnel from her if she happened to explode. The lunar princess couldn't speak, her voice was stuck somewhere in her chest.
"What? What happened princess? You were so sure of yourself? Not much to say huh?" He observed, anger climbing its way back into his voice. He paused and put his palms together in front of his nose and took a calming breath. "Well then, since I'm not asleep for you to invade my mind again, let me run you through that day so many years ago." He sat up in his bed and cleared his throat.
"Wait David." Luna pleaded. Her rage replaced by trepidation.
"No!" He pointed a finger at her. "No Luna, you don't get to run away from this. You wanted an explanation, you'll get one. Don't blame me if you don't like the answer." Luna shrunk back as David began his tale.
"I had a wife, once upon a time. Her name was Heather. Young love ya know? I'll tell ya, when she smiled, it would light up the sky... and she loved me far more than I ever deserved. We were married less than two years before she died giving birth to our daughter Lilly." The name coming out more like a choke than a word.
"Lilly was the perfect child. Caring without having to be taught. Compassionate without expecting anything in return." David paused to wipe away a few tears forming in his eyes. "I remember like it was yesterday. Her class was going on a field trip to the petting zoo to learn about the different all different types of animals. My God she was so excited. She rambled endlessly about one animal or another; about which ones she was going to see first and such. Kids ya know? She had me buy her books, actual books on animals! If you knew anything about the current generation of kids on my world, you would be amazed, trust me." David stopped to laugh at himself before his body slumped and his voice softened. "It was about 1 o'clock in the afternoon and I got a call from the school telling me there had been an accident involving my daughter bus."
Celestia gasped and brought her hooves to her muzzle. Luna couldn't move even if she wanted to. "I rushed over to where they said it happened. I wasn't ready... I wasn't ready for what I saw. Her bus had been hit by a much larger vehicle carrying a few dozen tress. I heard the murmurs from the crowd, the driver had ran the red light. I forced my way past the police and began shouting her name. That's when I saw her. She was laying on top of her friend Brandon. He was a boy in her class." David chuckled dryly. "I used to tease her about him being her boyfriend. He was struggling to breath. The paramedics told me after that she had saved his life, she protected him. She protected her friend." He repeated. "I could tell from where I was that she wasn't breathing. I rushed over and knelt down, touching her face, praying she was okay. I couldn't lose her too, not both of my loves. I remember crying as my fingers touched her skin. She was already cool. Then I saw him out of the corner of my eye. The driver of the semi-truck stumbled his way out of his cab without so much as a scratch on him. In his hand he held a half empty bottle of whiskey. Everything in that moment was so clear." David let out an odd disbelieving laugh and his voice softened. "I saw his face, he didn't even know. HE DIDN'T EVEN KNOW WHAT HE HAD DONE!" David roared through his gritted teeth, his fists clenching.
The princesses flinched backward at his sudden but not unwarranted outburst. "So, I lost it. I sprinted across the other children. They were so small." He whispered, his voice so tiny and frail it hurt Luna's heart. "And that's where you started Luna. I dream about that day over and over again. Yes, I tackled the man. He still wore that stupid confused look on his face, and was going to kill him. I was going to beat him to death with my bear hands and he would have died not knowing why."
He looked up and away from his un-clenched hands to the two Alicorns in front of him. "I'm sorry." He sobbed. Their masks had been cracked. Celestia openly wept. David wasn't saying sorry to them, he was apologizing to his little girl. Besides the tears, Luna didn't show any other signs of crying. She looked to David and then to her sister. Her horn glowed and she was gone.
Luna wracked with sobs. She grabbed her lush blankets and wailed into them. David had made her relive a feeling she hadn't felt in a long time. Shame. Shame at her self, shame at her hasty decision, shame at her sister for being right and the knowing she should have told her. This was different from the mistakes she had made as Nightmare moon. She wasn't herself then. She had been told many times by her friends that she wouldn't have done what she did if it wasn't for the corrupted influence. Then, she could at least use that as somewhat of a justification to her actions but not this time. This mistake was hers and hers alone. Despite her good intentions she knew she had made a horrible, unforgivable mistake.
David's tears had all dried up leaving his face smeared with dirt streaks and puffy eyes. He still stared at his hands which were clenching and unclenching. "This is crazy." He finally said.
"How so." Celestia asked softly.
He scoffed a laugh. "Just." He paused. "Everything." He waved his arms around him. "I finally have most of my mind back. I feel good actually, better than I think I should."
"Most?" Celestia puzzled.
He nodded. "My memory is fractured. There are huge chunks of time still missing. Is that normal? For the spell I mean."
She hummed in thought. "Maybe? You'll have to forgive me. We've never had to undo a binding before. Plus you aren't a pony. Whatever has happened to your memories could be permanent, we'll just have to wait and see." David nodded but didn't speak. "I'm sorry for my sister." Celestia added in haste. "She can be rash and stubborn and she did have good intentions." She started to ramble but David waved her off.
"I don't blame her for why she did it. She was protecting her friends. I'm still mad at the HOW she did it that bothers me."
"Really?" She asked, not holding back her joy. "That's wonderful ne-"
David shook his head, cutting her off again. Celestia looked at him, puzzled.
"Then why?"
"You all have talked about Harmony. Twilight talked about friendship and all that jazz. Luna...She weaponized it. She used friendship as a weapon, a justification to keep me subdued. That strikes me as a bit hypocritical but still, that's not why I'm mad."
He sighed. "I can understand being afraid of the unknown and even over reacting. I am new. At times I AM violent..." He turned his full body to face her and looked into her eyes with all the seriousness his puffy, dirty face could muster. "Why would she try and be my friend? She could have just told me. Put me in a cage, told me about the spell. Explained to me that I could be a threat. We almost kissed..."
"Oh my." Celestia breathed. "I didn't know." That was a dangerous road better left untraveled for now.
"So, you would have complied? Just like that? Let us put you in a cage?" Celestia asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Hell no!" David laughed. "I would have fought you like a mad dog but, it wouldn't have ended up the way it did. Luna with a broken heart that I was glad to give her. All this misunderstanding with you and your people err, ponies. And me... Regretting it all. She saved me from the camel's prison, not knowing I was still in one that she had made. Gahh, it's so frustrating! I trusted her blindly, I never do that." He shouted, flopping back into his bed.
Celestia frowned and nodded. "I understand." Her downtrodden mood was broken by a loud sniffing noise. She looked from her place on the chair to David who was sniffing his armpits with a disgusted look on his face.
"Sweet mother of- is that me?!" David shouted in disbelief. "Why didn't you tell me I smelled this bad? Wait, can you smell me?"
Celestia burst out laughing. Unable to cope with the sudden mood change in the room it rolled out of her uncontrollably. It worked to thaw her aching heart. "Yes, yes I can." She scrunched up her snout in a playful gesture.
"And I thought I smelled like roses before? Jeeze, if I smell this bad, how bad do I look?" He looked across his chest at Celestia who was pointing at a mirror. He hefted himself off the bed and cautiously made his way to the dresser. He balked at his own reflection.
"I'm hideous." He remarked by rubbing his face with his hand. "How did I not see this before? My producer would kill me if I ever went on screen like this. I mean, I've spent weeks in the jungles without a shower and even then I've never looked this bad. Hell I've been to war and even then..." He trailed off not meaning to. "I don't suppose?" He asked turning to Celestia.
She smiled her motherly smile. "Of course. Once you leave this room, the baths are the first door on the left, You can't miss them."
David nodded and grinned. "And my clothes?" He looked down at his ragged shirt and pants. "I would wash them myself but I'm afraid they would fall apart."
"Don't worry. My staff will take care of them for you. They will be waiting in here once you've completed your bath."
"Wow. I don't know what to say." David thanked in earnest.
"Please, after all you've been through. It's about time some pony showed you that we are as kind as we believe ourselves to be. With that said, I would like to invite you to dinner tonight."
David looked at her nervously."I don't know if that's such a good idea."
"It will just be myself, Twilight Sparkle and her friends. If you are worried about Luna, I doubt she'll show up. Not after today."
"Oh." Is all he could reply. Celestia noted to herself that if he had pony ears, they would be flat against his head at the moment. "Okay, I'll think about it."
"Splendid. Just ask one of my guards or maids if you decide to come. They will be happy to direct you to us."
David nodded and she stood. She was eye to eye with him. This confused both of them to a laugh. "Sorry." She apologized. "I'm not used to being eye level with anypony. It's... different."
"To tell you the truth, it was hurting my neck looking down so much." He joked.
She gave a final smile. "I do hope to see you tonight David."
"Me too." He replied honestly.
He watched her leave the room and he breathed a sigh of relief. Finally alone with his thoughts, he began to take inventory of his situation.
-He had somehow, probably, been transferred to a parallel universe in which the dominate species seemed to be four legged hoofed animals. Along with a smattering of mythical creatures. All of which he figured he hadn't seen yet.
-He had fought in a gladiatorial arena, his final fight being to the death with said mythical creature.
-There was magic... Not that David Blane make a car disappear crap, this was real magic. And it had helped and harmed him in ways he thought weren't possible.
-His greatest sorrow had spilled out of him like a jar of angry bees to, not one, but two immortal Alicorns who controlled the sun and the moon. Of whom, there was a temple built on earth. A temple that was older than anything else on his world.
"Yep." He said aloud nodding to himself. "A whole lot of yep."
"Um sir?" An unsure voice trembled from the door to the bath. Spa would be a more apt term but David wasn't up for arguing with himself over semantics today.
"Yeah, I'm here." He called back.
"Your clothing is washed and repaired. It is waiting for you in your room."
"Thank you. I really do appreciate it."
There was a slight pause and even though he couldn't see her, there was a smile to her voice. "My pleasure Sir. Have a pleasant bath." He heard the light clop of hooves fade into the hallway.
He sighed and finally made the mental effort to climb out of the bath. He wrapped a towel around his waist and waded through the steam to the mirror. His face no longer bore the remains of the soup that he had eaten before. Most importantly he no longer smelled like sewer. He took a moment to marvel at the power of the Binding spell. Magic was powerful sure, but one thought of fire and lightning not that. It was scary to think that with little effort someone could take away his free will so completely that he didn't even know it was gone. He lifted his chin and used the hygiene supplies provided to clean up his face. There wasn't any deodorant, just what he figured to be pony cologne. He passed. It smelled more like the outdoors than he wanted at the moment.
He stretched and winced slightly as he attempted to inspect his scars, new and old. There was the large semi-circle that spanned from his ribs to his back from the time that Tiger Shark bit through his shark suit. The tiny trail of gashes where the devil goat rammed him down that jagged trail. The last major one was where the bear had gotten ahold of him when he tried to save Andrew.
"Andrew." He said his best friends name out loud. It sounded odd to his ears. It felt like years had past since he saw him last. He felt a twinge of pain at his name. He knew he had forgotten something important about him. Nothing concrete, it was more like the feeling of not knowing if you turned the stove off when you left the house. "All things in time." He reminded his reflection. He twisted again, looking at how skinny he had gotten over the past few weeks. His active lifestyle and "actor" persona didn't let him become anything other than fit when he was on Earth but now, he was just one step away from being malnourished. "All those twats in Hollywood would want to know how I got so cut." He scoffed. "Torture! Does wonders for the figure!" His shout echoed in the empty bath. "Maybe I will go to dinner." He told the figure in the mirror.
He raised his hand to the now less red bump on his head. It wasn't throbbing like it was before but it still stung to be touched. He looked at his slate grey eyes. One of which had been briefly missing a few days ago. It bore no scar or mark. As a matter of fact. Every wound he had received during his stay at hotel de' camel was gone. All healed by Luna's magic. "Like it never happened at all." He mumbled. A taste of sadness and anger touching his voice. He shook it off and snuck his way back across his room.
Two guards eyed him suspiciously as he gave them a wave and ducked into his room. Just like the maid pony said, his clothes were cleaned and pressed. They were even warm to the touch like they were fresh out of the dryer. He shivered as he pulled the familiar clothes on. Dryer clothes are best clothes. His eye caught the brick red color of his sketchbook lying under where his clothes were. Twilight must have left it for him. She probably figured with the way he acted toward Luna that he was mad for her taking it. This made him feel bad. "I was shouting pretty loud." He scolded himself. "Everyone within two miles probably heard me yelling at Luna." He cracked the book open to a scrap of paper that had a page marked. It must have been a pain in the ass for Twilight to understand English, she had only made it four pages in. She didn't even get to the temple sketches. He thumbed a few pages and decided it would be a good idea to get some fresh air, maybe sketch a bit. He didn't see his boots anywhere and figured it would be okay to go without them for now. So, with his sketch book in hand, David made his way through the marble halls of the Castle. He wasn't sure if the ponies were avoiding him on purpose or if Celestia had informed her staff to give him a wide berth. He had only seen the two guards and Celestia since his his argument with Luna in the infirmary. He needed some alone time anyway before he met Twilight and her friends for dinner. So after a half an hour of fumbling and backtracking he finally got his barrings in the enormous castle. Even with the relatively insensitive nose of a human, he could smell flowers. A LOT of flowers. He found his way to a large chamber with half a dozen openings and picked one that smelled the most like pollen.
He closed his eyes and paused as the warm sun rays washed over him. He smiled as he pushed open the door to the most exquisite garden he had ever laid eyes on. He had always imagined this is what the hanging gardens of Babylon looked like. There wasn't just trees and flowers either. There were so may unknown species of birds and ground mammals, he could swear it would easily fill up two encyclopedias. That wasn't even counting the flora! He walked out of eye sight from the garden doors and looked for a secluded spot to brood.
David lounged on the silk like grass under the shade of what he figured to be this worlds version of a weeping willow. He was glad he got his sketchbook back from Twilight. If he were being honest, he needed something to take his mind off Luna. He hadn't been this confused and hurt in years. She didn't even say she was sorry! He mentally fumed, taking his frustrations out on a particularly dark edged parrot. He was so lost in his sketches, he didn't even hear that a pony had snuck up on him.
"Umm, hello." The small voice called, snapping David's mind away from his doodles. He froze and slowly looked up from his book to a bush not ten paces in front of him. He gave a confused and amused tilt of his head at what he saw. Not only was the bush taking, it had a pink mane poking out of the top and yellow wings half protruding from the sides. As quickly as he could, he began to roughly sketch the pega-shrub.
"Umm, can you hear me?"
"Why yes bush fairy, I can hear you. Are you here to grant me my three wishes? I would ask for a pony but, I think that might be too easy of a request."
There was a slight pause, and what sounded like a snort of confusion. "I-I'm not a bush or a fairy, I'm a Fluttershy... I come to the gardens every time I visit Canterlot and I've never seen a creature like you before. Are you a new?" There was a slight tremble in her voice. Fear? Excitement? He didn't know.
"I AM new 'not bush fairy' Fluttershy, but I don't live in the gardens. At least I hope not, I'm looking forward to sleeping in a real bed tonight."
"Oh, then what are you doing here, I never see anypony else in the gardens besides the caretaker."
"I'm just drawing some of the wildlife. You have so many species that I've never seen before. I was just comparing them to some of my own worlds animals, would you like to see?" David half hoped she would say no and leave him in peace. Not that he didn't like company, just not now and not another pony. He had decided he was all ponied out.
"Ohhh yes please." Fluttershy answered, but still remained in the bush.
David paused and looked left and right. "Uhh well, they're in my sketchpad soo. You'll have to come closer if you want to see them."
"I would love to but,"
"You're scared?" He finished her sentence for her.
"Oh, yes. Almost always. But not this time, I'm stuck."
David knelt beside the timid pegasus carefully picking bits of twigs and leaves out of her mane. "Jeeze, you have rubbish all over you. How long were you stuck in there?"
"Oh not long, maybe an hour or two."
"An hour or-- and how?"
"Oh! I was following this cute baby mouse. He saw me and was so scared, so I went after him to show that I was friendly and well, then I--I was stuck. I saw you come by sit under the tree and you looked upset so I didn't want to bother you. Then I realized that I would be a bigger bother to somepony else if they had to come looking for me. Oh gosh, where are my manners. I never asked your name."
"That's very considerate of you." David lightly gibed, which was completely lost on the mare. "My name is David. It's very nice to meet you Fluttershy."
"Oh why thank you David. I am the element of kindness after all. I have to set a good example."
Not knowing or remembering what an Element of Kindness was and being too tired to ask, he decided to change the subject. "In my would we have a tree very similar to this." He said, tapping the trunk of the tree. "It's called a weeping willow."
"Really? Here too! If I was going to be a tree, that would be one of my top choices." She smiled bashfully. David couldn't help but notice that even her excited noise came out as noting louder than a whisper.
"Twilight said we might be having a guest tonight. Is that you?" She asked in her timid but excited way.
David sighed. "I was thinking about it." He replied honestly.
"Oh wow! that's so great." David couldn't help but laugh this time. She gave a confused look before hiding behind her mane. "I don't think I said anything funny." She blushed in embarrassment.
"Sorry, sorry." David laughed, wiping tears from his eyes. "It's just here I am, in the middle of a fantasy story book complete with pegasi, magic and mythical creatures and you say you're excited to see ME. I just find the whole thing very funny. It makes me feel like I should be more excited too."
"Oh. I guess that makes sense, when you put it that way." She conceded and stopped hiding behind her bangs. "If you want, we can talk about it at dinner. I'm sure everypony else would like to meet you too. It should start shortly, if you wouldn't mind walking with me."
"I'd love too Miss Fluttershy, though I don't know the way."
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"It's like something out of an adorable pirate movie."
David woke to a familiar sound. A sound that reached inside his very core, it was the slow rocking of the sea. He took a deep breath of salty air that seemed to invigorate him enough to sit up, despite his wounds. For the last three days he had been in and out of consciousness. He remembered the blue pony thing had an argument about an airship and a boat... He wasn't quite sure. In his exhausted dreams he remembered thinking that Indiana Jones had been on an airship and that was awesome. He winced as someone bumped his bunk, causing waves of pain to fully awaken him. "Uhhhhggg" David moaned out.
"Sorry bout that." A gruff voice said.
David rolled over to face the person. "No worries man, I HOLY SHIT it's a griffon!"
The griffon arched an eyebrow. "Yeah? What of it?"
"Uhh, whats up?" David asked, retracting his surprise. The griffon studied David for a moment before shaking his head and going back to his duties.
He peered around the room. It seemed to be some sort of infirmary or sickbay. David's breathing increased as he swung his legs out of his bunk. He didn't have to wonder if this was all a dream, his half healed wounds didn't lie. He was just stuck in gladiatorial arena with a mythical minotaur who could talk and probably sing and dance, and... "I killed him." David whispered out loud. Then he was saved by a magical flying horse with a horn. David groaned, he needed some fresh air. Despite his soreness, the rocking motion of the boat did little to slow his walk. He gracefully hopped to the floor, made his way to the deck hatch and pushed it open. The bright sun and sea spray hit his bare skin, causing his breath to hitch in his throat. Scanning the deck he was amazed at what he saw. Tiny colorful horses and an occasional griffon ran to and fro shouting and laughing to one another. They paid him no attention as they went about pulling ropes and securing hatches. He wandered his way across the deck thinking out loud. "It's like something out of an adorable pirate movie."
"You're awake." A relieved and familiar voice called out.
"Uhh, I'm not so sure about that." He answered looking around, his brain still caught in a mild state of disbelief. He turned to find Luna standing behind him.
"How are you feeling?" She asked tentatively, reaching up and checking his bandaged wounds.
He grunted, "Easy, I'm kind of ticklish."
"Oh." She blushed. "Sorry. You've been unconscious for about three days now, we were starting to worry. We did our best to heal your injuries with magic but your body still needed lots of rest to recover from your time in captivity."
"Wait, magic? Like what you used to pick up Hannibal in the arena?"
She nodded. "Yes, exactly. I will admit your body didn't take to it like I would have hoped."
"What do you mean? Am I allergic or something? Can you even BE allergic to it?"
She laughed a little, " No, I don't think so. You body soaked it up like a dry sponge, like it had never even seen magic before. It just took a little extra that's all."
"Oh, probably because magic isn't exactly real where I'm from and if it is, I've never seen it."
She gave him a quizzical look. "No magic, how odd. You don't seem to be bothered by this at all. If I saw something as fantastic as magic after never being exposed to it, I would probably be frightened, or at least concerned."
David shrugged and nodded. "Truthfully, if it were under any other circumstances, I would be totally losing my mind, but now?" He spread his arms out and motioned all around him. "I'm free, I'm mostly healed, and I have you thank for that." His far away look focused to one of determination. " And I will find a way to repay you miss... come to think it, I never got your name."
She looked at him with a genuine smile and raised a hoof "Hmm, I guess not. Hello David, I am Princess Luna."
He reached out and grasped her hoof, giving it a light shake. "Princess huh? Fancy fancy." David joked. Luna just rolled her eyes.
The two stood in a slightly awkward silence when the boat lurched with a wave, causing her to stumble forward and into David's stomach, knocking the breath out of him. "Oh my, I'm so sorry. Are you okay?"
David groaned, laughing a little and decided to tease her. "Yeah. It just reminds me of how hungry I am."
"You're hungry?"
"Uhh, yeah. Starving actually. You'd be surprised at how terrible the room service was at the last place I stayed."
She giggled. "Humor? Really?"
David shrugged. "Like I told you before, prison does strange things to a man."
Luna and David made their way to the back of the ship where a simple door stood, barring the entrance to the Captain's quarters. David had to duck as soon as he entered. His stomach growled immediately at the smell of roasted something. "Dear God what I wouldn't do for a cheeseburger " He thought as he closed the door behind him. The room was a little short for his height but efficient. Slanted window's lined the walls to let in natural light. Every bulkhead had sea charts and diagrams marked with different coordinates. In the middle was a large drafting table where another familiar face sat. She was hunched over a familiar book that David recognized to be his sketch book. He wasn't upset in the slightest that she was going though his stuff without permission. He was just shocked to see that anything he had from his trip had survived.
"Princess Twilight, we have a guest."
"Uh huh." She droned. "You can only have ice cream after you finish your dinner Spike."
David arched and eyebrow and turned to Luna who was giggling to herself. She tried again. "Twilight, I spilled cider on your copy of Astronomical Anomalies." That got her attention.
"WHAT!?" She jerked her head up from the book in order to rush to the aid of her first edition tome. Seeing it was all a prank she pouted and wined. "Lunaaa, that's not very funny."
David thought it was and chuckled to himself. Twilight's eyes grew twice their size and her ears flattened at sight of the human. She was stuck in a room with a potential crazed animal. Not that she didn't believe Luna when she told her he wasn't, but still. He was kind of scary up close.
"Princess Twilight, meet the hooman. David." Luna held our her hoof to David as if she were advertising a new model of car or something. Twilight's ears perked up as she strolled around the table to greet the stranger. "Jeeze he's tall. " She thought to herself. Given his bipedal stature, her head only came up to about his stomach, which she could see since he still only had his sack pants on. Twilight's quizzical nature took over the more sensible parts of her brain as cocked her head, raised her hoof up and stuffed it in his belly button. It took all Luna's strength to suppress a laugh at the look on David's face.
"Uhhh." He said frozen in place. "Is this...normal?"
It was all too much for Luna. She snorted in laughter and raised a foreleg to cover mouth. Her sister would always tell her, "Lulu ,snorting is not very lady like." Twilight's concentration broke as Luna flopped to the ground, burying her head in her hooves trying her best to ride out the laughing fit. Twilight looked down her leg then at her hoof which was still firmly planted over where the hooman's umbilical chord used to be. She blushed hard and backed up.
"S..Sorry. I just zone out sometimes." She said sheepishly.
David's temporary paralysis broke and he grinned back. "No worries. I'm the same way, especially around something new. It was just unexpected that's all. I'm sure we both have a lot of questions that need answering but first. Princess Luna, are you going to be okay?"
David asked crouching down to look at her buried face. She chuckled and nodded into her hooves. The laughter in the room suddenly turned to screaming. The boat lurched once again as Luna raised her head to stand up. David lost his balance and fell forward. Although Luna's horn wasn't very sharp, that did little to stop it from popping David's right eye. Twilight reached magic out as fast as she could, saving the horn form going the rest of the way into his brain. He screamed and clutched his face, blood was freely pouring out of the socket. He half attempted to open his eye but knew it was useless. He never told anyone before, not even Andrew or Maria but losing his sight was probably one of his biggest fears. Without depth perception, his adventuring days were over. He wouldn't be able judge a jump or drive a vehicle without special training and you could forget putting him in front of a camera. The scar alone would be enough to turn people off. His mind raced with all the potential negative outcomes, whether they were real or not. David felt himself being lowered down to the ground and a soft hoof was placed his shoulder.
"David." Luna whispered. "David I need you to look at me." Despite the pain, he was able to open his good eye long enough to look at the princess.
"It hurts." He croaked, trying his best not to cry.
"I know. Hold still now, everything's going to be alright." David felt her other hoof reach up and remove the hand covering his other eye. He resisted at first but slowly lowered his guard. He felt her press her hoof to his right temple and saw her horn begin to glow. He felt a strange sensation spike inside his now lifeless eye socket. It tingled at first but he felt the pain slowly ebb away. Luna smiled as his shoulders began to relax. A few moments pass where only the creaking boat and the channeling of her magic could be heard. Luna grunted and slumped into David's shoulder. He reached out and caught her in his arms, holding her close.
"Luna?" He asked, unsure of what to do.
Her eyes fluttered open and she gave him a small smile. "All better now David."
"Wha.." He carefully opened his once ruined eye. He winced as the light hit the newly healed organ. He blinked several times before a mixed feeling of elation and confusion welled up in his chest. He looked to Twilight who still had her hooves over her mouth and back to the resting Princess in his arms. Luna opened her eyes and groaned. She tried to sit up but was too weak to do so on her own. She lost her footing and stumbled, only to be caught by David once again.
"That's two I owe you now Princess." He whispered, smiling over her. She gave her own weak smile back before turning her head to the side in curiosity. "You have very pretty eyes David."
Despite David being a grown man with little to no shame, he felt his face grow hot with blush. He cleared his throat and tried to joke away the embarrassment. "Hey now, you can't be buttering me up quite yet Princess Luna. We hardly know each other."
"Hmm." She hummed and slumped back into his chest and her breathing slowed. David felt his heart soften a bit. He reached down taking her forelegs and wrapping them around his neck. She instinctively nuzzled the side of his face, it was nice. With his arms he reached down and secured her back legs. He grunted and stood up, lifting her off the ground like a very large sleeping child. He caught a glimpse of a large bed in the corner of room which he made his way to. She frowned and whimpered a bit when he laid her down and unwrapped her legs from around his neck. He took a pillow and placed it in her hooves. She sighed and wrapped her arms around it, snuggling it close to her chest.
"I could of just levitated her there ya know?" Twilight said behind him, breaking his concentration from the sleeping princess.
David nodded in agreement. "Probably, but I wanted to help her and I have an, odd question." He began, slowly rubbing his scraggly beard. "Is the nuzzling thing normal or?"
Twilight half shrugged and half nodded. "Yes. We ponies are a pretty affectionate race. Why, do hoomans not show each other affection?"
"No, no of course we do, that was just... different." He answered still absentmindedly rubbing his cheek. "It was nice." David smiled bright again as Luna stirred in her sleep. Twilight looked from David to Luna then back to David. "Ohhh, I see what's going on here." She jested. "Not even free for a whole week and you're already falling for a princess?"
"Falling for? She saved my life, TWICE." He punctuated his point by holding up two fingers. "Once literally, once figuratively. I am extremely grateful, nothing more."
"Too bad I guess." Twilight shrugged and went back to the sketch book.
"Oh and by the way. What's your name again? David asked.
"Have we not been introduced?! What kind of princess of friendship am I?" She cleared her throat. "Hello hooman David, I am Princess Twilight Sparkle." They shook hooves/hands."
"Princess, there's something that's been driving me insane."
"What's that?"
"It's HUMAN not HOOMAN. H-u-m-a-n." He spelled out phonetically.
Twilight giggled. "Fine then David the human, there is something that might bother me as well."
"Is it my smell?" He asked sniffing his armpit. "I mean, it's been almost a month since I've had a." Twilight raised a hoof and laughed.
"No, I mean, you do smell but that's not it." David flopped his arms 'Now you tell me' '. "My title may be Princess Twilight Sparkle but please, just Twilight. The princess thing still makes me feel uncomfortable. I figure since we are friends we might as well drop the formalities."
"Friends huh?" David said with a smirk. "It's a pleasure to meet you Twilight. My name is David Coulson."
She couldn't stop herself from grinning. "Hello David, the pleasure is all mine. Welcome to our world." She smiled to herself. "Maybe this human won't be so bad after all. "
Luna stirred in her sleep, slightly opening her eyes to the sound of laughter. What she saw warranted a giggle. Twilight and David sat opposite one another at the table. A stack of empty bowls sat next to David. He had his cheek pressed to the wood with a sour look on his face.
"Jeeze, you're worse than Spike! I told you to slow down." Twilight lightly chastised. "It's been nearly a month since you've had solid food."
"But it was so good." He said, still pawing at a bowl.
He just happened to look over and catch Luna looking at him. "Good evening princess."
"Hello." She yawned back. "How are you feeling?"
His usual self fell away as he looked far into her eyes. "How do I feel? I feel like there isn't anything you can't do Princess."
She looked confused for a moment before burying her head back in the pillow. "Princess?" He asked, wondering what he said. Little did he know she was only trying to hide her goofy grin from his prying eyes. She said something into the pillow that he didn't quite catch it was then she realized that somepony had brought her to the bed and put a blanket over her. She forced down her lips and turned to Twilight.
"Thank you for levitating me to the bed Twilight. I kind of exhausted my magic healing David's eye." Twilight took a sip of her drink and shook her head, pointing to David. "Don't thank me Luna, David's the one who carried you like well, a princess."
Luna groaned inwardly. "He's got to stop being nice to me. I'm going to get spoiled." For a moment she looked to David who was rubbing the back of his neck.
"Yeah it was the least I could do. You did kind of cuddled in my neck so we're even? Anyway, Twilight and I were just passing the time with the question game."
"Question game?" Luna asked, trying to hide her hot face behind her flowing mane.
"Oh my yes." Twilight said clapping her hooves together. "We go back and forth asking each other a question. The rules are you can't ask the same question the other...person just asked." She looked to David to see if she got the word right. He smiled and gave her a thumbs up. "Oh, that's a thumbs up. He does that from time to time, it means yes or good job. The second rule is if you do ask the same question because you really wanna know, you have to ask another question. That's pretty much it. Would you like to join us?"
Luna stretched her legs causing her tongue poking out slightly. David laughed and pulled the chair out next to him and pat it with his hand. "Come on over princess, it's fun."
The rest of the evening went by with a pleasant atmosphere. Twilight and Luna informed David of all the different species in Equestria from the four pony races all the way up to the giant Ursa Major. Twilight gushed over her friends and their adventures together, of how her tree house blew up but got a new one that was all crystal. "And that's how we found you!" She explained in detail. She kind of skimmed over the Nightmare Moon incident due to present company. David's mind did its best to keep up with the constant flow of out of this world information. Then again, when you are forced to fight a minotaur the death for the entertainment of sentient camels, unicorns and griffons, your view of what's possible starts to change.
"So how did you get your hooves on my sketch book Twilight? I thought all of that was destroyed or put in an 'Alien from another universe' museum."
Luna shook her head. "After you... with Hannibal then fell unconscious in the ring, Azir was rather upset."
"He had smoke coming out of his ears." Twilight commented.
"Indeed he did Twilight. I warned him not to go back on our deal. He told me he was a camel of his word and said to take your belongings as well. He, how did he put it? Just looking at your things makes him want to vomit and to 'Take it away!'" Luna shouted in a pretty good imitation of the prince. "The rest of it is deep in the cargo hold so unfortunately you'll have to suffer a little longer. At least until we get to port."
"Eh no worries, and thanks again. I don't know how much longer I could wear these pants. They are chaffing me something fierce." David said, adjusting his frayed belt.
"Why not just take them off?" Luna advised.
Twilight blushed and snickered. "Am I missing something?" Luna asked, looking between the two.
"You missed that part of the conversation I guess." David began. "Humans wear clothes all the time. Call it a biological imperative. We wear clothes because that's just how we've always been. I could go into evolution and the boring science behind it."
"It's not boring." Twilight countered, crossing her forelegs.
David breathed a laugh. "We wear them for comfort and as protection against the elements. The only time we take them off is when we are showering, in private or... doing other things."
"Oh?, OH! I suppose that would make you a little uncomfortable." To everyone's surprise, Luna jumped up from the table. "Oh no! What time is it?!"
"Uhhh?"
"With all this fun we've been having I nearly forgot. David would you like to see something you can't see anywhere else in Equestria?"
He gave her a inquisitive look before shrugging. "Sure. I have to warn you though princess. I'm a hard man to impress. Even more so these days." He finished with a wink.
"Twilight?" Luna asked but was waved them off with a hoof.
"Book, other world, you go."
They both shrugged and David followed Luna out onto the evening air. The sun was beginning to set over the quiet sea. It was amazing to him that even though he was in another world, everything seemed so familiar. Maybe the shock of being in another universe still hadn't sunk in yet. He may still wake up one day and have a full blown panic attack, but for now he was content just following the pretty princess around. This rambling thought caused him to stop walking. "Pretty?" He whispered out loud.
"Did you say something David?" Luna turned and asked.
"It's just pretty." He remarked, saving himself. He motioned to the sea and the sky. "I don't see the moon though, do you ponies even have a moon? Then how do you have tides? How.."
Luna put her hoof to his lips gave him a big grin. She walked a little further ahead before turning around to face him. David watched with curiosity as she closed her eyes and raised her head slightly. With a smooth flap of her wings she began to hover in front of him. Her horn and eyes began to glow and David subconsciously took a step back. Out of the corner of his eye he caught sight of a familiar object. He smiled as the alabaster moon began its slow rise into the evening sky. He heard the clop of four hooves on wood and he turned back to Luna. She wobbled a bit and stumbled. David sprang as fast as he could, catching her before she hit the ground. She gave him a half grin. "How was that David? Impressed yet?" She laughed at his slack jawed expression. "I'll take that as a yes."
"Princess, what the HELL was that!" He shouted, causing her ears to flatten.
"Are you okay David? You're frightening me." She panicked ducking her shoulders and flattening her ears. She thought he would like the display, now he just seems upset.
"Okay? OKAY?! THAT WAS AMAZING!" She breathed a sigh of relief and he paused, turning his head down to look into her eyes. "You're amazing."
For a moment the world faded away, leaving the two of them alone together on the deck of the ship with the stars shining above. Luna searched his hazel eyes and found something beautiful waiting for her. She leaned in towards him as he did the same. Luna shut her eyes and waited to feel his lips upon hers. "Luna." David whispered, close enough for her to feel his breath on her cheeks.
"What are you two doing?" The voice of Twilight Sparkle snapped them both out of their trances. They both jerked their heads to face her while clumsily standing up and separating.
"Twilight!" Luna Squawked. "I was just showing David how I raise the moon. What, What are YOU doing?" She asked, almost accusing Twilight of some criminal act.
Twilight raised her eyebrows. "Uhhh, nothing? The captain just told me we will be pulling into port first thing in the morning and that we should probably get some rest. Tomorrow is going to be pretty hectic."
"Of course! Twilight could you show David where he will be sleeping for the evening? I still have something to finish up here."
Still not quite sure what was going on, she nodded. "Sure, follow me David. It's not much but it should be okay for one night."
"I'm sure I'll manage." He turned and gave Luna a little bow. "Goodnight princess Luna."
"Hmm, yes. Good night David. I will see you in the morning." Luna rattled off the evenings pleasantries, hoping the darkness would hide the sheer embarrassment on her face. "Sweet sister's sun. I almost kissed him! I would have kissed him! Ugh, what are you doing Luna?" Her heart ached a little as she saw the mild hurt expression on his face. Luna watched them walk away. She turned and brought her hoof up to her lips. "Oh my."
Twilight lead David down some steps to a small alcove where a makeshift bed was made. There wasn't nearly enough space to fit David's large frame. "I'm so sorry. I told them to give you as much space as possible. I guess they underestimated how much room you take up."
"Jeeze Twilight. That's the nicest way anyone has ever called me fat before." He looked out of the corner of his eye to see her reaction.
"What?! David I would never. That's just rude, in fact you aren't fat at all you are quite hands... You're messing with me aren't you?"
He responded with a wink. "I'll make due." He looked around for a certain few items. Finding what seemed to be a junk piece of sail, he got to work making a makeshift hammock. Twilight watched with curiosity as his hands went about knotting and tying back the extra fabric. He used two pieces of rope and secured both ends between the ribs of the wooden boat. "It's not the best job I've done buuut, It's good enough for government work."
"Government work?" Twilight asked.
"Oh, ha. It's just an expression. A hammock is actually one of my favorite ways to sleep. It's not good for every night but one night will be okay."
"Hmm." She hummed in mild disbelief. "Whatever's comfortable for you I guess. Anyway, goodnight David I will see you in the morning. Try and get some sleep, all three of us will have a long day tomorrow. Everypony in Canterlot is going to want to meet you."
David gave a little moan of disapproval.
"Don't be like that my little human! It will be fun!"
"Fine fine. Goodnight Twilight. Don't stay up too late reading my sketch book. You need your sleep too."
"I won't. Night."
David watched Twilight disappear around the corner before crawling into his hammock. He shifted his shoulders in order to get the comfort he was looking for. He finally settled but something was still bothering him. It wasn't his hammock, it was Luna. He surprised himself when he went in to kiss her but it felt right. She seemed into it too but turned cold fish as soon as Twilight showed up. He grunted and turned over. "Probably a bad idea anyway dumb dumb." He scolded himself. "She's a pony princess who raises the frickin moon for Christ's sake. She probably has hundreds of dudes hollering at her every day. There's no way she would pick an alien over one of her own kind, she just got caught up in the moment that's all. I mean she's sweet, playful, selfless and gorgeous... Yeah that's still a little weird brain. " He rolled over again for the last time and closed his eyes. A vision of a smiling Luna filled his thoughts as he slowly drifted to sleep.