The story of a new life

I was still sitting there, in the middle of this strange new place, still in the fog despite Twilight's explanations. How would you feel if you were taken to an unknown world against your will ? I couldn't say I loved or hated that place but I was still very uneasy about talking to a pony...

I decided to listen to Twilight Sparkle because I told myself : what do you have to lose ? So I sat down more comfortably and asked her what happened and why she brought me here.

"You see Christopher, it is about one of my best friend, her name is Rainbow Dash" she started.

Rainbow Dash...hmm...that is a quite...unusual name.

"Two days ago, she got poisoned" she added, staring at her hoofs.

I immediately understood that the situation was serious and even though I never met or saw this Rainbow Dash, I could feel compassion for her.

"Please tell me everything that happened, you know I am a detective." I said, letting my police instincts take over.

"I know, that is exactly why I made you come here, you see we needed an expert for this case...".

I was flattered : my reputation was know even in a world of talking ponies... Hmm... It's strange though, I am definitely not an expert detective or anyone special, why me ?...

"So, two days ago, we found her body near the Everfree forest and she was taken to the nearest hospital as soon as possible". Twilight continued

The Everfree forest must be the name of one of Equestria's forests... I guess.

"After this, we began an investigation but we were unable to find out who did it, but, on her body we found a letter left probably by the one who poisoned Rainbow Dash. We know this because he or she was requesting... one million bits in exchange of the antidote to the poison administered to Rainbow Dash."

I used my detective skills to analyse the situation and started asking Twilight some questions :

"First of all what are 'bits'?"

"Oh, the bit is the currency used in Ponyville and in many other parts of Equestria." She answered.

Twilight looked away from me for a second and observed a little orange note book, I suppose.

"Just like... dollars is your currency, right ?"

I nodded.

"And... there is a reason why you can't send the money ?" I asked

"Yes... None of the 'middle class ponies' have that kind of money nor would spend it for someone they didn't even know. The only one who could pay is princess Celestia and yet, she would probably have to borrow money, she is still...septic about paying. I am even scared that she... well, wouldn't... The criminal must really want Rainbow Dash dead... it knows that we won't be able to pay. That is why we need you to help us find who it is and bring it to justice". She replied

"Ok, I am starting to understand a little better but please tell me, who is princess Celestia ?" I asked trying to comprehend bit by bit what Twilight was talking about.

"She is the co-ruler of all Equestria. She governs the land here with her younger sister princess Luna. They are both very nice, but, like I already told you one million bits is a huge sum... Whoever poisoned Rainbow Dash gave us a delay of five days to pay, after this... the poor pony would die. The delay will end in three days in the evening".

"Wait... Wait... you mean I have THREE days to solve this case ???!!..."

"I am so sorry, but the criminal gave us a five days delay and I only managed to bring you here today. I know it is very late but you could start tomorrow, maybe... I would help you of course. But the biggest issue is that if we have to pay, a lot of problems would follow as we would have to first find the money and so, we would be in an economic crisis for a long time... That is what princess Celestia is trying to avoid..." Twilight said

"Well, that is the current basic situation. So... Will you take the case ? I am not forcing you. You can say no but... I really hoped you would take it because all of the other pony detectives couldn't even establish the suspects properly... and I doubt we would be able to solve it" She said

"How do you know I would be able to do it, I mean... I am no one special, I am just a small detective struggling in life" I asked, looking at Twilight suspiciously.

She looked hesitating, but she answered :

"I just know it, you are the only one up to the task, please, trust me when say that you have the abilities to succeed."

Are you seriously asking me to trust a talking purple unicorn in a universe full of ponies ?....

At that very moment, I was thinking about so many things. I could take the case... but... my world, my human world. What would happend ? Does time passes differently here ? Would they even notice I was missing, would they even care ?... I was just an insignificant private detective. But I also thought : I spent twenty-three years there, could I afford to do this ? Could I come back and pretend nothing ever happened, I couldn't, but did it really mater ?

Could I just abandon my world and help some unknown world of ponies ? Would I even be able to solve this case, I mean, I've never been asked to work on such important cases, where someone's (or in this case somepony's) life was in imminent danger.

I just couldn't decide what to do, but I had too. At the same time, I felt so far away from the human world already, I could forget everything there, I could finally rest from all my torments, I could finally breath.

After a minute, I had taken my decision, I would maybe regret it in the future, but right now, I didn't care. I had never met this Rainbow Dash, but I could see she needed my help and that is what I would do because that is what I had decided to do a long time ago, help people in need! But I decided, in case things went wrong not to "officially" take the case :

"Ok Twilight Sparkle, I will take the case : I will interrogate and start putting clues together BUT, if I see that this will take too much time or that this case is impossible to solve, I will ask you to send me back. Deal ?"

After I said that, the pony's face was illuminated with a big smile. I thought she was about to hug me, but she didn't... I wasn't surprised.

"Oh thank you, thank you so much Christopher, you don't know how much that means to me and my friends. Don't worry, we will be able to do it, I believe in your detective abilities." She said with a very bombastic attitude.

"We can get started with the case tomorrow. I summoned you here very late so I'll let you rest. You should be able to catch a few hours of sleep, but we must start as soon as possible. I have a spare bed, I'll get it out for you." She finished

This time I couldn't just ignore the fact that she knew my name, I asked her :

"Twilight, please tell me how you know my name ?"

She kept walking towards the stair case and climbed the steps. Either she didn't hear me (I doubted that) or she intentionally ignored my question... This was suspicious. But I quickly forgot about that when I saw her coming back down with a mattress, a blanket and a pillow... all levitating above her head as she got down from the stair case... She noticed I was staring at her with a very, very surprised look.

"Is there something wrong ?" She asked me

Then I noticed something else, the horn that I saw earlier on her head was glowing with a small purple aura.

"Umm... how are you levitating these objects like that ? I asked, still observing the flying furniture as Twilight put them down gently on the wooden floor.

"Oh that ? You see, in Equestria, there are different types of ponies, but I can tell you everything about that tomorrow. All you have to know for now is that I am a unicorn, therefore I have the ability to use my horn for magic. What I was using was a very basic levitating spell." She answered

After all I had been through today, it didn't even surprised me !

"Ok, your bed is ready, you can sleep when you want but try not to stay up too late, you'll need all your energy for tomorrow. I am going to sleep now. I'll be upstairs if you need me. Good night Christopher." She added

"Good night." I replied, a bit uncertain.

After she went upstairs (I supposed it was where her bedroom was) and turned off the lights, I stood up for the first time in what seemed for ever. My brain haven't been able to process information correctly since I "left" my apartment. I stretched myself and took a good look at the library. I didn't know the time but since apparently it was the same than in the human world, I could deduct it was about half past midnight, about an hour after I looked my clock in my apartment.... I didn't know when Twilight was planning on waking me up but I suppose it would be very early.

I laid on the bed and tried to close my eyes. It was too small as it was designed for ponies : it was very hard for me to sleep in it. After fifteen minutes of discomfort in this tiny bed, I sat down and thought about everything that had just happened.

Some things were still in the fog and some questions were still unanswered, but I knew already much more than when I arrived. I had already took my decision and I would try my best to solve this case. It might sound very weird for someone to just accept to leave his home world like that. When I think about it today, it still shocks me, but sometimes, you aren't the one thinking, sometimes, your subconscious takes decisions for you and you have to live with those decisions.

I knew that someone needed my help so I decided to go for it, for now. I tried to think more about the gravity of the case. I had already seen this kind of crime. But I didn't know who I would have to deal with, was it another pony ? Twilight said Equestria's inhabitants were MOSTLY ponies so... It could be someone else. The first thing I would do tomorrow would be to interrogate Twilight, and then I would go and see Rainbow Dash... well if she is in a state to talk, as she did get poisoned...

I tried to sleep but I couldn't, part because the bed was way too small and also because there were way to many thoughts going on in my brain to allow me to sleep.

So I got up and explored Twilight's house a bit. I noticed very quickly that we were in an actual tree ! A very tall one. It had been modified into a house (pretty cosy house I must say). Then, I took a look at all the books, there were hundreds of them even maybe thousands, on very different subjects : "The story of Equestria", "Magic and all it properties", "The Elements Of Harmony". I didn't know what any of the titles meant but I knew there was a lot of different things in this world. Things I would have to get use to if I wanted to solve this case.

It was pretty dark but I could still see because of the street's lights filtering through the curtains. I approached the window and looked at the empty alleys. It seemed like a normal city to me : there were different houses, streets and alleys. Although their design was very different, they still resembled the ones in my world. There were also small roads for maybe... cars ? Ponies driving cars, that'll be my day...

I went back to the middle of the room and then thought of going upstairs but I decided not too. What if Twilight woke up ? So I went back to bed, this time I was really, really tired. I closed my eyes and forgot everything for the second time today, and slowly slipped into the dream world, where nothing mattered any more, not even the case, not even my life...

I remember making this dream about me and a blue pony, we stared at each other for a few seconds, and then it said something in a different language that I didn't understand. Then, everything faded and I saw a black forest and a weird creature carrying a potion is a sort of handbag. I could hear a diabolical laughing in the background that sent chills into my spine. And then, just like that, it was over... I kept sleeping after that though. And at three in the morning, the real adventure began.