Why Am I here Again?

Chapters

Well, This Is Just Great
Bad Day
Yay...
Magic Lesson One
Errands
Magic Lesson One Cont.
An Unexpected Conversation
Night Court

Well, This Is Just Great

I really hoped that I wouldn't be writing here again. But I guess life is...funny like that. Funny might not be the word but, Twilight will scold me for my language. Again. Hmm... I'm getting ahead of myself here, so I guess I should start from the beginning.

"I really don't want to be here..." I said at loud.

"Well, on the bright side, it's Thursday." A coworker replied.

"Yeah, thankfully." I now work the nightshift at FedEx. It's an okay job. The only thing I can really complain about is, the position I'm working in. I only work three to four hours a night but it's physical work. Oh, and how tired I am on some days. Lifting boxes ranging from a few ounces to one hundred fifty pounds will do that to you, I suppose. I don't often think about Equestria now-a-days, but that's probably because it's been awhile. That, and a few things have happened since then. I'm surprised I even remember the name.

"Clear!" The line leads called. We repeated and did the hand signals, and stepped away from the ULDs. They moved forward, and we followed. They stopped and we hopped in the closest ones to us. I happened to be stuck with one of the smallest ones. These damned things can't be any taller than five feet, and I'm almost six feet tall. I sighed and started working on unloading it. Even though I wear a watch, it's hard to tell how much time passed. But It's empty now. I walked over to the water cooler, checked the time and took a drink of water. "1:30? Great..." I took another drink and rotated to the back of the line. I know, my life's pretty dull.

The night pretty much stayed like that until we were done. Now, I have to go somewhere else and help out. I grabbed my stuff and headed over. I don't like going over there, but I need the money. You have to be careful working here, it's pretty easy to get hurt. That being said, I wasn't being careful. I wasn't paying attention to my surroundings, which is a stupid of me. I took a bite of my snack, and drink of my Gatorade, and yawned. "I knew should've gotten more sleep..." I shook my head and kept walking.

I walked passed a door, and suddenly I went flying. I guess I didn't hear the horn, which wouldn't be so bad by itself if there wasn't a second Tug. "Nononono! Stop!" But the driver either didn't see me, the other driver signaling him to stop, or just wasn't paying attention. "Oh you fu-." And everything went black.

My eyes snapped open, and I slowly sat up. What happened? I looked around, and saw stone walls. And I was sitting on a stone floor. Where am I?

I'm not sure.

I don't like this!

"I have a feeling the others don't either..." I laid back down to help with the headache. "Well shit, what now?"

"Zane?" I hear from somewhere behind me. "I-is that really you?"

I froze. Wait, I know that voice... I sat up again and looked behind me, and saw Luna slowly waking up to me. "No... this shouldn't be possible..." I whispered. I can't be back here. I can't!

I stared, wide eyed, at the Lunar goddess. "I thought my sister sent you back?"

I shook my head. "You can't be real, there's absolutely no way. This... I-I'm dreaming, I have to be!"

The expression on her face grew concerned. "I'm afraid you aren't."

"But this is impossible!" I stared at the ground. "You aren't real. You aren't." I said with fading determination. "Please tell me you aren't..." She walked over to me and nuzzled my cheek. It felt...real. So very real. I remembered what happened to me and started shaking. "But...that means..." it like some cruel joke. "I'm dead..." I thought out loud. "I'm fuckin' dead... but..." Luna backed away. Everything was blurry and I felt a few tears drop. I felt something in my mind snap, and something ripping my heart out. But, instead of crying, I laughed. Hysterically. I heard Luna back away even more, and I imagined the look on her face. It only made me laugh even more. It was like I found it so funny that I couldn't stop.

Eventually the hysterical laughter settled down, and I just sat there. Silent tears rolling down my face as I stared at the ground. I couldn't think, or move, or anything. I shut down. "Zane?" Luna said with concern. "Are you sure that you're dead?" I just weakly nod my head. She hummed in thought. "Let's go. I believe a change of scenery would be wise." I don't care... I thought and shrugged my shoulders, and stood up. She walked over to me and hoisted me onto her back. We walked out of a doorway and into a forest. I looked back and saw that we were inside the ruins of a castle. I sighed and just laid back down.

We were still in the forest, since Luna decided to walk. Nothing worth noting has happened, but at least I was feeling better. But only slightly. "Luna?" I said after being silent for most of the time.

Her ears perked up. "Yes?"

"How long has it been?"

"Three years at the end of what you call 'July'." There was a pause. "I thought I would never see you again."

"Yeah..." Was all I could say.

She looked back at me. "I have dreamt of you. Shortly after you were sent back."

"Really?" She nodded her head and looked forward. "What happened?"

"You saved me from Nightmare Moon."

"Huh..." Was my only response.

She stopped. "Can you walk?"

I stretched my legs and slid off of her back. I took a few steps didn't collapse. "Guess so." And I started walking beside her. "I've had dreams about you as well." I said after a while.

I saw a smile. "I know."

I remembered that entering dreams was part of her magical powers, and sighed. "Perfect..."

She chuckled. "Oh come now, it is not that bad."

"Well, it's not like I can do anything about it now, huh?" I shrugged. "It's really no different than Twilight entering my mind. But at least I could consciously hide stuff from her." I'm surprised I remember that...

She nodded her head. "Yes, some of your dreams were... Interesting." Her cheeks grew a pink tint. "Tell me, did things work out with that girl from that..." She paused to find the right word. "Romantic dream?"

I remember the dream she was talking about. Not sure that would be the word for it. "Unfortunately not." I shrugged. "But hey, been single for seven years, what's another few months?" Then I remembered my situation. "Or longer since I'm here and all..."

Luna laughed. "Try being single for over a thousand!" she said in a playful manner

I gave a small chuckle. "I concede, Princess."

"Huzzah! Victory is mine!" That got a laugh out of me. "Feeling better?"

I gave a small smile. "A little bit, thanks for that." An opening to the trail we were on. "So, what's new around here?"

She grinned. "I think it would be better to show you."

I raised an eyebrow. That's kinda the point... "Okay?"

Little bits and pieces of my previous visit here were coming back. I'm sure I don't remember everything but, we'll get to that when we get to it. We exited the forest and I stopped. There was a giant crystal tree like thing. "Is that a...castle?" Luna nodded her head. "Okay... Who's?"

She chuckled. "It would be best if you saw for yourself."

I hummed in thought, but couldn't think of who's it would be. "Shall we then?"

She nodded her head. "I'm sure she would be happy to see you again." She said nonchalantly.

"I know her?" She just nodded her head. "Okay then?" And we began to walk into town. The town looked pretty much how I remember it. At least from afar. My only concern are the townsfolk. I don't really remember them that well. I looked at Luna and she gave a nod. And we began walking. We walked by a cottage with various animals going in and out. Strange. We entered town not too long after that.

The ponies gave me confused and worried looks, which I guess I can understand. We passed by various stores, including a music store that seemed familiar. We then passed by a tree that burned down. I read the sign. "Golden Oaks?" Luna nodded her head. "Wait... Twilight!"

"She's safe, do not worry yourself." She said while looking at the remains of the tree. I looked away and started walking toward the castle. Luna followed behind me. I wondered why she was letting me lead, but didn't worry about it. We walked up to the castle, looked up at it and gave a low whistle. "Fancy."

"Indeed." Luna said walking up to the door. She knocked on the big double doors. "Coming!" A voice said from the other side. The doors opened, and a small reptile appeared. "Oh hello Princess and uh..." He turned around. "Twilight It's for you!"

"Coming!" A voice rang out from somewhere inside.

"This is Twilight's castle?" She nodded her head. "Hmm... Does that mean she has wings now?"

Luna smiled. "You will soon find out."

I scratched my beard and hid behind Luna. A few seconds later a purple pony with wings and a horn flew out from one of the rooms. "Hello Princess, how are you today?"

"I am well, thank you for asking. I have visitor from a far away place here to see you."

"Oh?" Luna nodded and stepped aside.

"Wow," I said. "You've changed."

She stood there, wide eyed. "Zane?!"

I waved. "Hey Twi."

Bad Day

We are sitting in the throne room of Twilight's castle. I found it odd that there were six thrones, but whatever. Twilight was sitting on her throne, sipping on a cup of tea. And Luna was sitting on the throne with the party balloons on it. I had told Twilight about the cause of me being here. I forgot how sympathetic she could be. After she got over the initial shock of the situation, we were back to a normal conversation. "So, what do you remember about Equestria?" She asked.

"Not much, really. Just bits and pieces." I replied.

She raised an eyebrow. "You don't remember the friends you've made here?"

I furrowed my brow. "I had friends here, besides you and the princesses?" I asked in genuine curiosity.

"Really? You don't remember any of them?" I shook my head. "Rarity? Applejack? Pinkie Pie?"

I thought for a moment. "Nope." I scratched the back of my head. "Well, only vaguely, but still." She looked shocked for a moment but, held a hoof to her chin, and perked up after a minute or two.

"How about Aura? Or Chrysalis?" She asked with certainty.

I shook my head again. "No." She seemed surprised by this. "Do you think they'd be offended that I don't remember them?" I asked.

"Hmm...I'm not sure. It would probably be best if I explained it to them."

"Probably." There was a pause as both princesses took a sip of their tea. "How many?"

"Hmm?"

"How many friends did I have here?"

She set her cup down. "Eight, excluding Princess Celestia, Luna, and myself." I hummed in response. "What?"

"Too many. That's not like me." That gave both of them pause.

"...How many friends did you have in your world?" Twilight hesitantly asked.

"One or two." I shrugged.

Luna tilted her head. "Surely that's not right."

I nodded my head. "Yeah. I used to have a nice little group of friends but, you know, life happens.

"But only two truly remain?"

I scratched my beard in thought. "Well, maybe only one. I don't know, I have a hard time telling friends from acquaintances. So there's also no guarantee that I actually considered those eight to be friends of mine."

"What a lonely life..." Twilight said before covering her mouth with a hoof. "I'm sorry! I- Zane?" I turned around and left the room, shaking my head with a frown.

I stopped outside of the room and propped myself against a wall. Luna followed me out shortly after. "Zane, she didn't mean to say it like that."

I stared straight ahead. "I don't care. I know she didn't, but I don't care. Knowing the position I'm in, I would have thought that she would be more careful with her words. But I guess not." I sighed. "Hell, I even agree with her! It's just not what I needed to hear right now."

"Are you angry with her?"

I gave her a look. "Should I not be? I mean really, who fucking says that?"

"Calm yourself, Zane. You are overreacting, and it was an accident." She said in an authority tone.

I looked into her eyes. "Am I now?!" She took a step back at my tone. "So I'm in the wrong, yet I'm the one who's suffering? Okay, I understand now! Let's burn all the fucking bridges shall we!!" I yelled, and started to walk back towards the room.

Calm down, you will regret this.

Will I? How?

You are actually going to be living here this time.

Are you sure you want to make enemies with Twilight?

Highly skilled magic user, and a princess. I see your point. I stopped and turned back towards Luna with a sigh. "Sorry for yelling..." I walked back into the room to see a very unsure Twilight. I cleared my throat. "Continuing: Yes it can get kinda lonely at times, but it's more or less my fault for being that way." I sighed. "I'm sorry."

Twilight tilted her head. "What does that mean? How would it be your fault?"

"It's complicated, okay?" I said.

She didn't look sure, but nodded her head anyway. "I won't pry."

"Thank you."

After talking with Twi a bit more, her table started glowing and she said she had to go and find her friends. Since our visit with the newest princess was cut short, Luna suggested that we go and inform her sister. I agreed and mentioned that it might not be good if she tried to send me back. So after an awkward flight to Canterlot(?), meaning that I had to sit on her back while she flew, I was stood outside of the throne room's doors. I have to admit that the stained glass is pretty cool. It'd be nice to actually understand what the small wooden plaque under the window said, but oh well. I really should talk to Twilight or Luna about learning their written language sometime.

"Move, you overgrown hairless ape!" I heard from behind me. But before I had any time to react, I was covered in a light blue...I guess aura would be the word, and pushed out of the way. Unfortunately, I was caught off balance, and tripped on the flower pot that was sat in front of the window I was admiring. Suffice to say, the windows aren't as strong as they look. On my way through the window, I heard gasps of shock from the ponies that were in the corridor. Trying to ignore the shards of glass sticking in my face, chest and left arm, I looked at where I was headed. It was a fence. A wrought iron fence. With spikes on it. I looked at what was on the other side the fence, and it was a graveyard. Perfect.

If we live through this, we kill the bastard that did this to us...

That is, if we live. let's concentrate on that for now.

I stared at the fence again. At this rate I was going to hit it dead center. OH GOD PLEASE NO!!

Calm down, Terrence! We have another fifty feet! That didn't calm him down.

Zane, I have an idea but we have to time it just right.

I think I see where you're going with this. Shit, I hope it works. I watched the fence and concentrated. So hard that time seemed to slow down. I watched as it came closer and closer. And when it was time. "This is gonna hurt." I rolled to my left and a second later, I was impaled. At first, there wasn't any pain. I looked down with the hope that I missed the fence, but I didn't. From what I could tell, there were three spikes in my right leg, three in my chest, and one barely missed my head. My right lung was punctured, and I'm not sure if the artery in my leg was torn. I didn't even want to think about any broken bones. There was no pain, I looked down at the ground and saw some blood starting to pool. I saw ponies running around, shouting, or just staring at me. I looked up at the sky, and saw Luna and her sister flying toward me. As I focused on them, I felt the pain. And it was bad.

"Zane! You're going to okay!" Celestia said.

"Doubtful." I said coughing up blood. "Help me, or kill me. Just don't waste time. Please." She nodded her head, and I saw her horn glow. I looked at Luna, but I couldn't read her expression. I closed my eyes, and well, that was it.

Author's Note

Sorry it took so long, writer's block is a pain. I hope you enjoy, even though it's a shorter chapter.

Yay...

I woke up and slowly opened my eyes. I tried looking around but everything was blurry. If the nearby beeping is anything to go by, then I'm in a hospital. I tried to move an arm, but it felt too heavy. I blinked a few times, clearing my vision, and looked down to see that I had a breathing tube down my throat. I also noticed that my shirt was missing, as well as the right pant leg of my jeans, and my chest and right leg are covered in bandages. My throat started to itch, and after a minute of fighting it, I coughed. Causing the tube to scrape the back of my throat. This damn thing is so annoying! Suddenly, something felt off. And the bad thing about that, is that I can't tell what it is. I just felt...weird. Like something was underneath my skin. I can't scratch at it, because I can't move. Even if I could, I wouldn't be able to. There's a certain panic you feel in a situation like this, and I was not enjoying it.

And then the door opened. I couldn't see who entered due to my head feeling too heavy to move. I couldn't even guess at who it is based on how heavy their hoof-steps are. They all sound the same! I noticed the heart beat monitor beeping faster, and closed my eyes to try to calm down.

"Zane?" The pony said. The voice was familiar. I heard the pony slowly walk over to me. Luna. I opened my eyes as my heart beat started to slow down. "Are...you awake?" She asked, hesitantly. I blinked. Why is she acting strange? "Do you think you can breath on your own?" I nodded. She turned her head.

"I'll take care of it, Princess." A second pony said. Luna nodded and stepped to the side. The pony had a pink mane and a white coat. "Stay still." She said, before I felt the tube being removed. Never want to feel that again. "All better?" I lightly shook my head. "Yes, well... You will be feeling groggy for a couple of days, which is normal. The princess has requested that she be the one to tell you how the surgery went." I nodded. "Give me a moment to check the equipment, and I'll be out of your way." She said cheerfully. A couple of minutes later she left, leaving Luna and I alone.

Luna walked over and stood by the bed. "How are you feeling?" She asked, I just gave her a look. "Right, not the best question."

I shook my head. "I didn't mean it like that." I grumbled.

"So... You are feeling well, then?"

"Better now that I can breath on my own." I said before having a coughing fit. "Ow..."

Luna nuzzled me. "Try not to speak." I let out a sigh. "Do you remember what happened?" I nodded my head. She sighed. "The operation was long, and we almost lost you. We had to ask Nurse Redheart from Ponyville to assist in the operation."

"Why?" I asked with a furrowed brow.

"Nopony else has operated on a human before." I was going to ask, but figured it would be better to just nod, so I did. "You lost a lot of blood as well, we had to do a transfusion." I raised an eyebrow. "At first, it didn't seem like it would work. My sister and I had to use blood magic to keep your heart beating..."

"Who gave me blood." That sounded better in my head.

She didn't look bothered. "It was I..." She sighed. "I am sorry if I do not seem happy that I saved your life, and I promise you that is not the case." I stayed silent. "I don't expect you to understand, but blood magic is black magic. Black magic is also referred to as evil magic, so..." She trailed off.

I nodded. "I do understand. But is it evil if you used it to save a life?" I asked.

She shook her head. "No, but that isn't what I'm worried about." I gave her a questioning look. "The side effects of what we have done, have been seen to be dire." I was beginning to worry. "My sister and I had to alter the structure of our blood samples to make them compatible for the transfusion."

"Our?"

She nodded. "In an effort to lighten the side effects of the spell I used, I altered mine as well." She must have sensed my question, because she shook her head. "I took both of our blood samples and restructured them until they worked."

"So..." I said, not sure about how much stranger this could get.

She hesitated. "Since you lost a significant amount of blood, there is more of my blood in you than your own. I'm sorry, it was a desperate move but..." She looked away and shook her head.

"But," I continued for her. "It worked, and I'm alive."

"For how long though?" My eyes widened a bit. "That is what I am concerned about..."

I let that sink in for a few minutes. I shook my head lightly. "Sadness doesn't suit the Lunar Goddess." I said. "If our blood wasn't compatible, I would have died during the operation. Seeing that I'm alive now, says that it worked. Stop worrying Luna."

"But...the side effects!"

I shook my head. "I don't care." She furrowed her eyebrows. "Unless I can use magic now, that is. We'll deal with it later." In truth, I do care about the side effects, and the lack of human blood in my body. Not to mention feeling something crawling under my skin. But she doesn't need to punish herself over it. Which means I don't need to tell her. Not yet anyway. She may be able to sense my worries, but she seemed to relax a little.

"Magic... may be one of the positive side effects of Alicorn's blood." She said hesitantly. "I am not sure. And because of that, Celestia and I want you to stay here in Canterlot for few more days."

"Seems fine to me." I yawned.

She looked at me for a few seconds. "Perhaps I have kept you awake for too long. I'll leave so that you can rest." I was going to protest, but she gave me a look that said I shouldn't. So, I nodded. "I will return tomorrow." She turned toward the door. "Goodnight." I looked around the room a bit more, and noticed my watch was sitting on the nightstand next to the bed. It said that the time ten in the morning. There's humor there, I'm sure. More then likely she wasn't joking, but it felt like she was. I also noticed another bed, but the curtains were drawn. After laying awake for what felt like forever, I finally started to fall asleep. Magic would be cool to have. And shortly after that thought, I fell asleep.

I slowly woke up and opened my eyes. I looked over at my watch and sighed. It said it was two O'clock in afternoon. "Could be worse." I mumbled to myself. "At least I got some sleep." I looked around the room, and nothing really changed. The machines I was tied to still made their noises, the walls were still a boring white, the floor was still there, which is a good thing.

Why WOULD the floor be missing?

I shook my head and shrugged as well as I could. I looked over at the other bed, and the curtains were open. The pony was light blue with a blonde mane. She seems to be sleeping, so I wasn't able to see her eyes. They probably match her eyes or her coat. "Seems to be the way it works here." I looked outside. It was a bright and sunny day out, but there are also clouds. "Wait a minute..." I focused on a cloud that was moving faster than it should. "There are Pegasi moving the clouds?" I chose not to question it further, and continued to look out at Canterlot. Twilight probably told me about it before.

I heard shuffling coming from the other bed. "Excuse me? Are you awake?"

Well I was right about the gender. I looked over. "Regretfully, yeah."

"O-oh." There was a long paused, and I closed my eyes. "I've seen you around Ponyville before."

"Really?"

"Yeah, a few years ago."

"That makes sense." Another pause. "I think I saw you in that mob that chased me through town. Then again, it could have been someone else. It was awhile ago."

"N-no," She said hesitantly. "That was me." I frowned. "I never had the chance to apologize."

I opened my eyes and looked over at her. "I'm sure you had a few, but it's fine."

She gave a nervous chuckle. "After all, it was years ago."

"Yep." She gave a sigh and turned towards a wall. I looked out of the window again, and tried to think of something to do.

Author's Note

Sorry this was so late! You all know how life can be, Right? Right? I hope it doesn't seem to rushed.

Magic Lesson One

Two weeks later, and I'm out of the hospital. Which I'm pretty happy about, that place was boring. I would fill you in on everything that happened during my stay, except nothing really did. Well... I guess I may have tried to use magic without knowing what I was doing, and well... At least everybody's okay. The room didn't explode, nope, it's perfectly fine.

A Week and a Half Earlier

I concentrated on my left hand, feeling heat from the mini fire ball slowly rise in the palm of it. Suddenly, the heat started to rise quickly and the ball started to grow. I couldn't stop it, and I began to panic because it was starting to hurt. And then the door opened, which startled me, and caused me to unwittingly let go of the fire ball. It hit the ceiling and exploded. It sounded like a bomb went off. After I opened my eyes, I saw Nurse Redheart standing in the door with her jaw hanging open in surprise.

Present Day

Don't know why the newspapers are lying. You believe me, Right? No? That's alright, no one else does either. Idiot... But that leads in to present day, my first lesson in magic. My teacher? Twilight Sparkle, but that's only because Luna is busy today.

The lesson will be taking place in the main room of Twilight's castle, which she's leading me to now. Even though I know where it is, I figured she might have some pointers on the way, but we haven't spoken since she woke me up for the lesson. Which is fine I guess, four in the afternoon is a bit late. Well, for the ponies at least, apparently working at night is pretty rare here. "Are you excited?" I was so spaced out that I barely heard her.

"Hmm?" I said, turning my attention toward her. "I'm sorry, didn't hear ya."

"Are you excited?" Twilight repeated.

"Not really, considering what happened last time I tried..." I said looking forward. Noticing the large doors that lead to the main room coming closer.

"That's because you tried to use a fire based spell. Indoors." She said with a stern tone. "Today, I'm going to be teaching you the basics." She said with a cheerier voice. "I think we'll start with telekinetic spells first."

"So... Levitation?"

She nodded her head. "As well as how to move other objects, yes." She opened the doors. "And then, after you have a handle on that, we'll move on to the others." She said excitedly, stopping in the middle of the room. She pointed towards the table. "There are three objects that I want you to move." I looked at the table. There was a medium sized rock, an apple, and a bowling ball. "This will also show how powerful your magic is, by how much or little effort you use to move each object." I nodded my head. " For example, if it's easy for you to move the bowling ball, then we may be able to go toward moderate level spells. Or if you can't move the rock, then we will have to start everything from the very beginning."

"Okay?" I said with a raised eyebrow. "And the apple?"

"If you can move the apple, then we can start with common spells. But, regardless of the results of this little test, which will be at the end of the day, we are still starting with the basics."

I looked at the bowling ball for a few seconds, before turning my attention back to Twilight. "Well, I can't move anything if I don't know how too."

"Exactly! And depending on your test results, I think I might let you choose what type of magic you want to start out with."

Necromancy? I wonder... "Really?"

"Within reason, of course." Damn.

I don't like Twilight as a teacher. She gives things in detail, which is fine, but she gives details about the details. The diagram she's using doesn't help things either. I knew magic was complex, but damn. "Did you get all of that?" I just gave her a blank stare. She gave a nervous chuckle and looked back at her work. "Oh, right. Maybe I went a tiny bit overboard."

"Not to make myself sound dumb here, but what is the most basic way you can describe it?"

"...Concentrate really, really hard..."

I wanted to face palm so hard. "You could have just said that..."

"I know, but since you have Alicorn magic, and no knowledge on how to use it, I wanted to be thorough."

"Well 'concentrate really, really hard' is more understandable." I gave a light chuckle. "Just don't dumb everything down." I looked at the diagram again. "We can come back to this later, if you want."

She made it disappear with a sigh. "I'll leave that up to you." She turned toward me. "Now that you know how to use telekinetic spells, Try moving each of the objects." I concentrated on the rock first, but it wasn't moving. I tried harder and still nothing. Then I had an idea. I raised my right hand up, as if I were reaching for it. It moved. To me, rock! I said in my head, and the rock sailed toward me. "Very good!" Said Twilight. "Now try the apple."

I put the rock in one of my pockets, and turned to the apple and did the same thing. The apple flew into my hand at the same speed as the rock. I set the apple back down on the table, and tried to move the bowling ball. It shook a little bit, but nothing more. I tried again, and it lifted off of table, but dropped after a few seconds. I started to get agitated, but I tried once more. Well, I say try, what I really mean is... "Get over here, dammit!!" And it launched of the table, straight into the air, and exploded. I just stand in silence. I looked over at Twilight, and she was was pretty speechless too. "So, uh... I don't think I did it right..."

Spike ran into the room. "Hey guys, is everything-" He looked at the remains of the ball. "Aw man! That was my last spare ball!"

I looked at Twilight, and she gave a chuckle while scratching the back of her head. "I'm sorry Spike, I thought you had another one. Are you going bowling tonight?"

He shook his head. "No, not anymore." He looked sad, and turned around, and left the room.

I just looked at Twilight. "What?" She asked.

"What the fuck happened?" I asked, still recovering from the sudden explosion.

"Language." She said before continuing. "When you got angry, you put too much power into it too quickly, that's why it exploded." She tapped her chin. "You have Alicorn level magic, which I expected, but not the required control. I think that will be our next lesson."

"Controlling magic? Or my temper?"

She seemed to think for a few seconds. "Both, potentially." I tilted my head. "But that's tomorrow's lesson. I think we are done for today."

"Okay, what now?" I asked.

"I have some errands to run. Would you want to join me?"

I looked at my watch, and shrugged my shoulders. "I guess."

Author's Note

Sorry if it feels rushed, or if it's just not that good. It's been awhile, and I'm going to try to write me often. Not sure if that will happen though. Anyway, I hope you liked it regardless of any errors you may find. And if you do find any, let me know and I will fix them.

Errands

Twilight and I were walking through Ponyville. We just passed the town hall and are now heading towards the marketplace. I can see the remains of the old library a short distance away. I thought about asking, but let it pass. It might come up in conversation later. From what I can remember about this place, it hasn't changed much. We passed by that music store a couple minutes ago, Twilight asked me if I remembered it. I just nodded my head as we walked. Not much of a conversation here, so why attempt one? That, and I don't remember much about the place, or the owner, so....yeah. I guess I lied.

What was the bigger red stallions name? Big something....hmm... Well, anyway, he was running the apple cart at the market. He seemed to know me, and asked if Applejack knew I was back. I told him that she probably did, and looked at Twilight, who nodded. He raised an eyebrow, and I shrugged. "Memory loss..." I scratched the back of my head and turned away. Best leave before this gets too awkward. I thought.

"I'll explain it to you later, Big Mac." Twilight said, handing over... Well, I guess, hoofing over, three bits. "Thanks!" She said as she turned toward me to lead us on to the next stall. She looked at me. "I haven't been back long, and your magic lesson was the first thing on my list when I got back." I nodded my head. It has only been a day, and she was sleeping pretty much the entire day. Not that I have any room to talk, considering I usually wake up at nine O'clock at night.

We walked up to the carrot cart, and I asked if I could have one. "Are you hungry?" She asked. "I thought you had breakfast?"

"I did, but it wasn't a lot." I said. "I don't really eat much." She hoofed over five bits, and received three carrots. "Thank you, Carrot Top!" She then gave me one. "Here you go!"

I took a bite, and it was good. Nice and juicy. "Thank you, Twi." I took another bite. "Where to next?"

She stopped and levitated her shopping list out of her saddlebag. "Hmm," She hummed while she checked the apples and carrots off from the list. "Broccoli." And then we walked over to that stall. I'm glad it was a nice day, maybe a bit bright but I can deal with it for now. Most of the ponies around were nice, some seemed uneasy. Which I guess is understandable, but oh well. It was nice to get to know how to get around again, well at least how to get the market. Food is always good. Speaking of food, Twilight said that we're going to Sugar-cube Corner. That's a place I remember, their cookies and brownies are amazing from what I remember. "Pinkie Pie is the baker's name, right?" I asked Twilight as we walked towards the door.

"Yep! And she's our friend. I believe she's working the counter today, she'll be happy to see you." She said with a smile. I could already smell the pastries, and suddenly the carrot I had a few minutes earlier wasn't enough. I looked at my watch, and it was about lunch time, so I guess it makes sense. Not sure how the time got away from me, I guess the magic lesson took more time than I thought?

Twilight asked me to get a seat while she gets Pinkie Pie. I chose a booth off to the left, and sat patiently. Which wasn't needed apparently, because it took all but two seconds for a pink blur to appear, and next thing I knew I was in a tight bear hug. I patted her on the back a couple times, and she let me go. "Waaaiiiit a second..." She said while eyeing me up and down. "Something about you's changed..."

I just stared at her. "Well, It has been almost three years so..."

"Ponies are bound to change a little bit over time, Pinkie." Twilight chimed in. She then looked at me. "People, sorry." I just shrugged my shoulders.

"He just seems...not the same." She put a hoof to her chin, and after a couple minutes she perked up. "AH HA! I got it!" Twilight and I raised an eyebrow. Pinkie pointed at me. "You've become bitter."

"Pinkie!" Twilight exclaimed. "That was kinda rude, don't you think?"

I chuckled. "She's kinda right. Fair assessment, but not what I was expecting." I cleared my throat. "Let's just say there's things going on in my world that... aren't wonderful. But I don't want to get into it." Twilight gave me a look of curiosity, while Pinkie just nodded. "Twilight, I thought we came here for lunch?" Pinkie's eye grew wide, and she took off towards what I assume would be the kitchen. "Okay?" And almost as soon as she left, she was back with a plate full of cookies.

"I know, not much of a meal." Twilight said. " But I don't remember you being a fan of the other restaurants around town."

"A bowl of oats, a carrot, and now cookies." I said. "Eating like a king today, aren't I?" I said in a sarcastic tone.

They both gave me a look. "Do you not want the cookies?" Pinkie asked.

I grabbed one, and shook my head. "I haven't changed that much." Yep, as good as I remembered them to be.

Catching up with Pinkie Pie was... Interesting. I can't believe I could forget someone so... Odd. But at least now I remember more about this place, and my friends. On our way to the next stop, I couldn't help but think about that pony I was in the hospital with. We had talked a bit, and I found out that she's a pegasus that had a bad flying accident, and it had ripped off one of her wings. I was released shortly after that conversation. I asked Luna and Twilight if they had prosthetics here. They told me that they did, but they were mostly non-functional so most ponies opted to not bother with them. That kinda bothered me, but I don't know why. "Zane?" Twilight said. "You seem to be thinking about something."

I noticed that my right hand was stroking my beard. "Yeah, umm... Remember me telling you about that one pony?"

"Sassaflash? What about her?"

"Was that her name?" Twilight nodded. "Hmm... Anyway, I feel kinda bad for her, ya know. I mean, similar accidents happen in my world but, we have functional prosthetics. They're not widely available, and kinda expensive, but it's an option. At least to a few"

"Nopony could figure it out." She shrugged. "It's actually pretty complicated magic. I've read the theories, and looked at the diagrams. They seemed pretty sound, but the author wrote down the results on the opposite side of each page."

"Nothing?" I asked. "None of them worked?"

She shook her head. "And eventually the project was dropped and deemed not possible." She stopped by the cabbage stand, and the pony looked kinda familiar. Could just be the clothes, haven't seen a pony with a goatee before either. He saw me looking at him and waved. I waved back and kept thinking about Sassaflash's situation.

Why are thinking about it so much?

I'm not sure...

You want to help her, don't you?

What if he does? I think it would be wonderful.

Of course YOU would. I rolled my eyes. It may not be possible for these ponies, but maybe it is for a human. Isn't that what your species does?

At times, but what could I do? Everythings been tried before.

Then think of something that hasn't been...

I rolled my eyes again. No shit

Twilight bought her cabbages, and walked over. Leading me to the next stop. "I'm sure Luna would help you find somepony that could help. It seems that you thinking about it quite a bit right now."

I shook my head. "Sounds like it's all been done. Not sure I could think of something new."

"But you could try."

I nodded my head. "True. It would also help if I could read your language, but maybe I could figure it out by looking at the diagrams." I looked at Twilight. "If I do, for some reason, take this on, don't tell anybody. I don't want anyone getting excited only for there to be failure."

She nodded her head. "It would be a pretty big task for a beginner magic user."

I raised an eyebrow, then remembered about the inherent magic that each type of pony have. "Fuck." I said silently.

"Language!" Not silently enough, apparently.

Author's Note

So... It's almost been a year... wow sorry guys.

Magic Lesson One Cont.

Twilight and I finished her errands about an hour ago, and now we were sat in the library wing of her castle. Even though I said I would think about looking at the diagrams in those books, here we are. There are currently five books on the table, and she's still looking. Twilight told me to look through them, and I did. I just cant read the language. The diagrams are actually pretty detailed, at least from what I can tell, and the amount of theories in these books are astounding. If they are all theories at least. I heard Twilight find another book, and sighed. She did say this could be another magic lesson, but I think she's made that decision for herself.

After a couple of more minutes, Twilight walked up to the table with two more books. "How old are these?" I asked.

"Most are hundreds of years old, It's kinda hard to tell since they didn't date them." She looked at the book I was looking at. "I believe that one is one thousand years old." She tapped her chin.

I sat it down gently with a shocked expression. "Should I be touching them then? I don't want them to, like, disintegrate or something."

She chuckled. "It should be fine, as long as you're careful. But if you are really concerned about it, I'll handle them." She sat down next to me.

"Thank you. Sometimes, me being careful isn't enough." I looked at the diagram on the book I was just holding. "It would be nice if I understood what I was looking at."

Twilight looked over. "Ah, yes, that one shows one of the possible ways that a magic siphon could be used. In this example, they attached a spell matrix to the wooded leg," She was pointed as she explained, which was nice. "Then they attached the same matrix to the subject. Theoretically, how it would work is that the matrix on the leg would synchronize with the one on the subject, and draw from it's inherent magic, making it move as if it were a real leg."

Just about went over my head. "Wow, so what was the result?"

"Obviously failure but in this case, they needed something to regulate the magic being siphoned from the subject." She flipped through a few pages. "Which is what the next five pages are about. Anyway, the matrix drew too much magic from the subject and almost put it into a coma."

I raised an eyebrow. "You keep saying 'it', does it not say the gender?"

She nodded her head. "It does, but when looking at a diagram, you don't always need to specify. The actual results say that the subject was a male earth pony, twenty six, lost his leg due to a logging accident."

I hummed in thought. "Sounds like some high level magic." She nodded her head. "And no one's tried to revive this project?"

"There have been a few attempts, but most didn't work. And those that did, didn't work for very long and were really expensive."

I nodded my head. "Right, so, since they were too much money, no one was buying. And since no one was buying, the company wasn't making profit."

"Exactly, so they were pulled from the market." She looked up from her book, and then to me. "The last attempt was last year, but they had the same problem, cost."

I rolled my eyes. "Always about the money with these fucking companies." I shook my head, and raised a hand to cut Twilight off. "Yes, before you say anything, I know how it works. They have to take the cost of all of the materials and research, and all of that into account so they can turn a profit. But I almost bet you they had the price a bit higher than it needed to be." She looked speechless for a few seconds, before clearing her throat. "I know a little bit about business, I'm not stupid."

"I never called you that." She looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "I would never call you that."

I sighed. "I know, just... Nevermind." I looked back at the diagram that Twilight explained to me. "How couldn't have that worked? I mean, I know you told me, but it just seems like they were on to something here."

She looked at it again. "You really think so?"

I scoffed. "Well, shit if all they needed was a regulator, why the fuck they give up so easily? I know thats what the other five pages are, but please."

Twilight gave me an annoyed look. "I'll forgive the language, if you elaborate."

I gave her an apologetic look. "Sorry about that." I cleared my throat. "They didn't have many engineers back then, did they? Everything ran on magic?"

She nodded her head. "Except for a couple of countries, and few parts of Equestria, yes."

I sat there for a few minutes, thinking. "Hmm, I think it's an engineering problem and not solely a magic one." She gestured for me to continue. "You guys have electricity?" She nodded her head with a curious look on her face. "Well, there you go." I sat back in my chair with a slight smile on my face.

She looked at me for a minute. "I'm not sure that solves anything." I deflated a bit. "They've been using both magic and electricity."

"Oh..." Feeling defeated, I sank down into the chair. "Nevermind then." I said in a low voice and sighed. "Thought I was onto something, but I guess not..."

"Zane?"

I shrugged. "Forget about it, I'm fine." I sat back up. "So what now?" I asked. "Is it possible, or are we wasting our time?"

She shook her head. "These aren't, no." She gave me a weird look. "It sounded like you had idea? What was it?"

"Put an electronic regulator on it, but you said it's been done."

She raised an eyebrow. "No. What I said was that they have been using both. That's not a bad idea." She tapped her chin in thought. "I'll try to get a hold of one of the old prototypes from Canterlot, but until then I'll look into your idea."

"To see if it's been thought of, and tried before?" She nodded her head. "And in the meantime?"

I had to ask. Not that this wasn't expected, it's just kinda boring. We're going over basic levitation again, and I have a feeling she was glad that she left the diagrams on the board. I think I'm starting to get it, but the language barrier is a pain. I could be taking notes yes, but Twilight talks too fast. And I'm a slow writer(As you may know), so that option is out the window. Basically I'm still at the "concentrate really hard" part. I mean, I do need to start somewhere, but I'm more interested in elemental magic and the like. I don't plan on throwing anybody, but it's a start. I waited for her to pause, and sighed. "Not to be rude, but can I just try it again? It's good that you're explaining it to me, but I kinda want to give it another shot."

She turned away from the board. "I get the feeling that you would learn better by doing it, anyway." She then lined up various sized objects. A pumpkin, a watermelon, and a normal looking ball.

"Kinetic learning, I believe." I said, looking at what she picked out.

"Since we know that you can levitate objects up to the weight of a bowling ball, I've picked out some objects that are around the same weight. I want you to lift each off of the table ten times. Just don't lose your temper this time." I nodded. "Let's see how you do."

I held out my right hand, and concentrated on the watermelon. It wasn't too bad, but I noticed I was starting to struggle at the eighth time I lifted it. Next was the pumpkin. It was a little heavier, but I still made it to ten. Then, it was the ball's turn. It looked lighter than the other ones, until I tried lifting it. I only got to five before I practically dropped it on the floor. "Okay, that has to be a medicine ball or something." I looked at Twilight. "I thought you said they were around the same weight?" I said, slightly out of breath.

She chuckled. "Your guess was close. It's actually a cannon ball." She said. It doesn't look like one. "I'm impressed."

"Why?" I asked. "Because nothing exploded?"

She just gave me a look. "No, not many new magic users can lift a cannon ball."

"But why a cannon ball? Why something much more heavier than a bowling ball?"

She smiled. "I was testing you. We still need to work on the basics, but I believe you can start on your first field of magic. The beginning of each field almost always has the basics, so I don't see a problem with it."

I nodded my head and smiled. "Right on! So, what about elemental magic?"

She tapped her chin with a hoof. "Depends on which element you're interested in."

"All of them, really." I shrugged. "Even if I have to start with water, or air, or something."

She seemed to think about, then nodded her head with a smile. "We will begin Elemental Magic lessons tomorrow, but for now, it's dinner time."

My eyes went wide, and I looked at the time. It's six at night. "Where'd the time go?" I thought out loud, and followed Twilight into the kitchen to see if she needed help.

An Unexpected Conversation

It is now night time. My watch said that it was ten-thirty when I checked it a little bit ago. Still kinda amazed that it works. I don't think I've ever mentioned it, but my room has a balcony. Which I'm standing on right now, propped up against the railing and over looking Ponyville. There were still a few lights on, but most ponies go to bed early. I could faintly hear music somewhere in the distance,but I can't tell what genre it is though. As you can see, it's pretty peaceful, and not a lot is happening. The only reason I'm still awake is because of my job back on my world. Working nights will do that to you, I guess.

A small flash over towards Canterlot caught my attention. I think it was a teleportation spell, not sure though. Nothing bad seemed to happen, so I put it out of my mind and looked towards the sky. It was a half moon tonight. I saw something out of the corner of my eye, and looked over without moving my head. It kind of looks like Luna, but its a bit too dark to be sure. A minute later, the pony landed, and it was indeed the lunar goddess. "To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?" I asked with a smile. "Should I bow?"

She shook her head with a smile. "No, that is not needed. I am not here on official business." She sat next to me. "How have you been?"

"Eh, not too bad. It's nice being out of the hospital." Her eyes furrowed. "What?"

"You seem to be adapting pretty well, despite the circumstances of you being here." She said with a hint of concern.

I shrugged my shoulders. "Well, I could lose my mind thinking about everything back on my world, or I could not think about it, and be somewhat fine." I looked at her. "At least that's how I see it." She nodded her head in understanding, and I looked out towards Ponyville. A few moments of silence passed. "So, why are you here, Luna?" I asked without looking at her. "Wait, I don't have any bills from the hospital, do I?" I looked at her with furrowed brows.

She shook her head, and I nodded. "I merely came to see how were doing. And, well, my sister mentioned that Twilight is giving you magic lessons?" I nodded my head again. "And how are those going?"

"Pretty well I think. I've got telekinesis down, but teleporting makes me nauseous." I shook my head. "But Twi said she would start me on elemental magic tomorrow."

She raised an eyebrow. "You can already teleport?" She asked with a hint of surprise.

"Yeah," I scratched the back of my head. "Found out by accident, and nearly got sick. Then again, it was after diner so...yeah. Besides, teleporting objects is easier anyway." I looked toward the moon.

"Not my best work, but half moons never are." She chuckled. "Elemental magic isn't easy, but I know that Twilight will do her best."

"That's what concerns me." I said in a sarcastic tone. "But, really though. She talks fast. But I probably wouldn't be able to pick up that book on my nightstand." I said, as the book slowly made it way over to me.

"Without looking? Some ponies Twilight's age can't even do that." She said in surprise.

I grabbed the book when it was close enough. "Well, I may not have been looking at it, but I did have a finger pointed at it. Still working on it, but it would have been quicker if it had my full concentration."

"You seem to be advancing pretty well, for never having used magic before."

I nodded my head. "Blame Twilight." Luna raised an eyebrow. "I asked if there was dessert, and there was. In the form of extra magic lessons." I said in an exasperated tone.

Luna tilted her head. "You make that sound like a bad thing. Surely it wasn't too much?"

I shook my head. "It really wasn't, and like I said, I wouldn't be able to do this." I teleported the book back to the nightstand, and looked back over the town. "So, you know." I shrugged. "One thing I would like to learn is necromancy, but I don't think Twilight would teach me."

Luna shook her head. "It is doubtful that she even knows necromancy herself. It is ancient and dark magic, that has been banned from use for centuries. Why, pray tell, do you want to know how to use it?" She looked at me with great concern.

"Sometimes, things die before their time." I said. "Maybe, sometimes, they deserve a second chance. Nothing nefarious or anything. Just, you know, to help I guess?"

"That's a noble reason, and a relief, but I'm afraid that's not how it works."

I looked at her out of the corner of my eye. "Oh, I know. But believe me, Death is not always sure." She had weird look on her face. Maybe I could have said it in a different way?

It has been silent for several minutes, now. All of the lights in Ponyville are off. Humming in thought I looked at the time, and an hour has passed since Luna landed. She seemed to be in deep thought about something, and I was wondering what was on her mind. She also seems a bit nervous, but I'm probably wrong about that. What would a goddess have to be nervous about? Not much I'd imagine. Especially right now, all you can hear are crickets.

I heard a sigh from beside me. "I did come here to talk to you about something."

I turned my head towards her. "Must be important from the sound of it." I said. "What's going on?"

There was a pause before she looked at me. "Since you have been back here for a while now," I nodded my head with a raised eyebrow. "I have been wondering if you would entertain the idea of a relationship?" She looked me in the eye. "With me?" I gave a slight frown, and broke eye contact. Was not expecting that.

You going to give her an answer? I spaced out for awhile, and looked back at her when I noticed the crickets get louder. "Why me?" I asked. It was the only thing that came to mind. You're an idiot...

Luna tilted her head. "I'm sorry?"

"Why me?" I said. "You're a princess. Surely there is someone more important out there. Like a, I don't know, some other royal, or something?Me?" I shook my head. "I'm just a nobody. I don't even belong here." I said, gesturing toward everything.

"I've never seen your guard up like this around me before. Did something happen on your world?"

"Life." I looked at her. " Life happened. A lot of it, in a short amount of time. Though, I don't know what that would mean from a god's perspective..." I trailed off.

"Zane?" Luna said with concern.

I sighed. "I don't think you'll be happy with me." I finally said and looked away. "We'll get in some stupid fight or argument over some petty stupid bullshit, and end up with me or both of us devastated. That's just how it seems to work out." I shrugged.

She gave a look of disappointment. "If you do not wish to, then just say no." A small bit of hope flashed across her face. "But if you will hear my suggestion?"

I glanced at her. "Give it a chance?" She nodded her head. I sighed. "Relationships leave me open to sadness and heartbreak. I do not like being vulnerable." There was a long pause as I thought. After a few minute, I spoke. "I don't see a future together," She bowed her head and started to take off. "But," She stopped and looked at me. "Maybe one will manifest itself? I'm no seer, so who am I to say?"

She gave a faint smile, and nuzzled my cheek. "Thank you." She turned around. "Now, I must return to Canterlot." I nodded, we exchanged a few awkward stares, and she left. Zeke stands in his room with his arms crossed and shaking his head

Night Court

It's been about a month since Luna and I started our relationship, and things have been going well. Not much has really happened between us so far, she has her duties as Princess of the Night and I've been working on my magic. I have, in my mind, mastered Air and I'm pretty sure we'll be wrapping up Water soon. I've taught myself Force Push, Pull, and Choke. Twilight voiced her disapproval of me instantly weaponizing spells, but you know. Water hasn't been too difficult, it's kind of like air, but you can see it. I think I may be able to alter the spells in such a way, that I could manipulate someone's blood. I have no means of testing this, so it will stay as a theory.

Now, I am in Canterlot, watching Luna raise the moon. I was originally supposed to have another lesson tomorrow, but Twilight said something came up, and then asked if I want to go to Canterlot. Something about seeing an old friend? I don't know, but she seemed kinda weird today. I hope she's okay, and is able to do what she came here for. I looked at the moon and then the night's sky. The stars are very bright tonight. "Luna must be in a happy mood." I thought, and looked at her. She is still concentrating on the sky, as if it wasn't beautiful enough. And after a few minutes, she smiled.

"For you." She said, looking at me. "It has been so long since you've last watched me work, I wanted it to be special. What do you think?"

I crossed my arms, and gave the sky another look. There was a new constellation. I raised an eyebrow and connected the dots. It's the Libra Constellation. "Well, that's new."

"Do you see it?" She asked with a hint of excitement.

I nodded my head. "I do, but I wonder how you knew my zodiac sign?"

"Do you not like it?"

I looked at her with a serious expression. "I did not say that, Luna, I merely asked a question." I smiled and walked closer to her. "It's wonderfully beautiful." I gave her a hug. "If only I could give you something in the same realm as that, though."

She returned the hug. "Don't worry about it. I do not expect anything in return." She nuzzled my cheek and broke away. This would be the time to kiss her, but I'm still not completely over the species difference. Which is why not a lot has happened between us. She doesn't seem to be annoyed by it, so I guess its fine for now. Instead, I just smiled and looked into her eyes. I think I'm starting to go native, or maybe her eyes are just that pretty. I can't tell, and that somewhat concerns me. "Perhaps we should look away from each other. Lest something happens."

I blinked. "Right, yeah." And looked back up to the sky. "Guess it's a bit strange for her too." I thought. "Or maybe she knows I'm not ready for that quite yet, or maybe we both aren't?"

Don't overthink it.

Right. "So Luna, what's there to do around here?" I asked.

"There isn't much, I'm afraid. If Night Court wasn't scheduled, I would be sitting in the moonlight, reading."

"And I, of course, can't read your language so..."

She nodded. "Would you like to join me?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "Sure, when and how long is it?"

"It starts in an hour, and usually goes on for three. If there are the expected amount of ponies tonight."

"I see." I nodded my head. "So what until then?" She then got a mischievous look on her face. "Umm..."

"Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck! God damn!"

"What did you think?"

"Jeez, how are you so good?"

"Practice." She said with a smile.

I just shook my head. "I guess..." Now, before you get any ideas, we were playing the pony version of Street Fighter. Luna challenged me to a game to pass the time. I was surprised to find out that there are video games here. The console reminds me of the NES or one of the other classic consoles. It's essentially a plastic box that you put a game cartridge in. Really, really old school. The controllers are kinda bigger than what you would think, but I guess that's to accommodate their hooves. At any rate, I got beat. And hard too. So, I'm sat in front of the screen, wondering if we have time for another rematch.

Luna looked at the clock mounted on her wall and sighed. "Time to go."

I looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "You don't sound happy, is it boring?"

"It is, but I like hearing my ponies concerns." And so we exited the room and made our way to the throne room. After a few minutes of walking Luna looked at me "May I ask you a question?"

"You just did." I said with a smirk. She didn't look amused. "Sorry I had to. What's on your mind?"

"Since you can't read our language, would you allow me to read you one?" She asked with some hesitation.

"Hmm..." If I'm honest, the question kind of upset me a bit, but I let it go. "Well, I guess. Maybe it'll help me learn your language? Just gotta pay attention to what words might each symbol looking things."

She chuckled. "They're called characters, silly. And I hadn't intended this be a learning opportunity, but I suppose we can turn it into one."

I stroked my beard. "I guess I'm fine with either, really. Guess we should see how tired I am after court."

Luna stopped in front of the two big double doors that I somehow didn't see. "Speaking of which, we're here." And she opened them, revealing a line of maybe twenty ponies. There might be more around the corner. "Not as many ponies as expected." She said was a bit of surprise in her voice. "This might not take as long as I thought."

I saw the two thrones sitting in the room. "Do I have to stand the entire time, or do I get my own chair?" I asked.

"Your own chair!?" She asked playfully. "Why Zane, a marriage proposal so suddenly?"

"Wait, what?!" The look on her face said that she was messing with me and could barely hold in the laughter. "Oh... right. That makes sense. In order to get my own throne I'd have to be king, or I guess prince in this case." I sighed. "You had me going there for a bit."

She chuckled. "I'm glad you didn't panic too much." She gave a small laugh as she started toward her throne. Gently shaking my head, I followed. "I'm afraid that it might upset the guards if you sit on a Tia's throne. You will have to stand next to mine, if you get tired you may sit on the steps."

I nodded my head. "Ok, Princess." She gave me a curious look. I shrugged. "Figured you wouldn't want me saying your name in front of your subjects."

She nodded her head. "Yes, yes of course." She reached her throne and sat in it. I took my place next to her personal guard. Kinda cool looking bat like pony. Guess this is the night guard. I thought.

The pony in front of the thrones looked at Luna, and with a nod night court was in session.

This is boring... I thought, watching one pony leave and another take it's place. I'm not sure how much time has passed, but I'd say at least an hour and a half. The concerns of these ponies are ridiculous. They asked about having their lot disputes taken care of, which I didn't think there was any vacant plots of land here in Canterlot. Seems pretty packed to me. Anyway, one asked if it was lawful to raise their prices further, Luna asked what the pony kind of store the pony owned. I clenched my fist at his answer, he owned a grocery store. Albiet a higher end one with rarer produce and other items, but it was still a grocery store. The night guard pony seemed to notice my reaction and raised an eyebrow. I gave a sigh and unclenched my fists. Really starting to regret this now. I thought as Luna and the pony went into economics. I tried to keep track, but most of what was said went over my head so I just tried to ignore the conversation.

Eventually a conclusion was reached, and the verdict was that it wasn't lawful to raise his prices. Luna seemed as annoyed at the pony as I was, but handled him a lot better than I, admittedly, would have, but then again she's been doing this for years. The pony bowed and left, and another took his place. This one looked nervous and stepped forward with caution, I briefly wondered why but then saw that it was looking at me. Curious, I looked past this one and saw varying expressions of discomfort on the faces of the other ponies. I gave a sad sigh. I guess I shouldn't be surprised. This isn't the first time my mere presence has made someone uncomfortable... What the question or request was, I don't know, but it seemed to concern me in some way. Lost, I decided to ignore it and look for the opportunity to leave. I looked forward and noticed some of the ponies leave. I gave a small nod. Yep, definitely going back to the room.

Author's Note

I'm sorry if I'm off my game. Trying really hard to get back into writing so I can finish this story.