Life Lessons

I opened my eyes, the sunlight just starting to shine into my window.  The sun's rays feeling warm on my face as I didn't want to leave the comfort of my bed.  With a reluctant sight, I sat up and got out of the bed.  Sitting by the dresser was the box of clothes Rarity had made for me, though I distinctly remember leaving it downstairs.  Twilight must have brought it up here for me this morning before I woke up.

Opening the box, I took all the clothes out and organized them on my bed.  In all Rarity had made me eight of everything.  Eight different t-shirts, some a solid color and some with designs.  Eight pairs of jeans, all a slightly different shade of blue.  Eight pairs of socks and boxers as well.

After some thought, I decided to go with a plain white shirt and a faded blue pair of jeans.  Once I was fully dressed, I put the rest of my clothes neatly into the dresser behind me and exited my room.  Twilight was nowhere to be seen on the top floor so I headed downstairs.

Right as I made it to the bottom step, the scent of food cooking caught my nose.  I walked through a doorway and into what looked to be the kitchen, noticing Twilight almost immediately making breakfast.  “Hey Twilight, that smells delicious.”

She jumped not seeing me enter the room, “Oh, good morning Chris!  I hope you like pancakes and hash browns.”

“That sounds wonderful.”  My stomach growled, desperately seeking food since I had forgotten to eat ever since I got here.

“Hey Twilight, who are you talking to?”  A younger boy's voice came from behind me.  I turned around as something rounded the corner and stood in the kitchen doorway.  Right as our eyes made contact we both froze in place.

“What are you?”  We managed to say at the same time.  In front of me was a small purple reptile.  He had a green spine of scales that went from his head to the end of his tail along with green claws.  He stood upright on two legs, his slightly green underbelly exposed.  His green slitted eyes seemed to be examining me with same same amount of curiosity that I had about him.

Twilight giggled, noticing our shock.  “Chris this is my assistant Spike.  He is a baby dragon.”  Dragon!  There’s dragons in Equestria?  This world has yet to stop amazing me.  “Spike, this is Chris Marsh.  He is a human from another world.  He showed up here about three days ago.”

My vocabulary started to come back as I could begin to form words again.  “H-hi Spike, it’s nice to meet you, though how come I didn’t see you at the welcome party last night?”  I found it odd that he lived here but I had not seen him at all the night before.

“Aww, there was a party?  I was tired after finishing my chores and decided to go to bed early, I must have slept right through it.”  He whined, clearly disappointed that he missed out on all the fun.

“Come on you two, breakfast is ready.”  She said as she levitated three plates over to a table along with glasses of orange juice.  I walked over to the table which was way too low for me to sit in a chair.  Not seeing any other options I settled for sitting on the floor, the table now about the right height.  I looked at the plate in front of me, the pancakes already covered in syrup.  I grabbed my silverware and began to dig in, enjoying the sweet flavor of the syrup mixed with the fluffiness of the pancake.  The crispness of the hash browns also adding variety to the meal.

We didn’t talk much at first, opting to eat in silence.  About half way through the meal though, Twilight spoke up.  “I sent a letter to princess Celestia mentioning you and your arrival Chris.”  I looked up from my food to give her my attention, “She is very anxious to meet you and we are going to Canterlot later today to visit her.”

Intrigued who this princess Celestia was, I swallowed the bite in my mouth before talking.  “Princess Celestia, who is that?”

Twilight had forgotten that I knew nothing about Equestria.  “Oh, she, along with her younger sister princess Luna, are the co-rulers of Equestria.”

I felt nervous knowing that royalty had requested my presence.  “Why does she want to meet me?”

Twilight laughed, “Well, it’s not everyday you she a human in Equestria.”

We finished our food and I walked over to the sink, washing my plate.  Twilight did the same and then walked into the main room.  “I have to go shopping in town for a little while, but I’ll be back real soon.  Until then, feel free to do whatever.”  She said as a pair of saddlebags floated over to her and landed on her back.

“Ok I’ll see you soon then.”

She gave me a wave goodbye as she walked out the door closing it behind her with her magic.  I turned around, looking at the numerous books that lined the walls.  I wanted to learn more about this place since I don’t think I will be going anywhere anytime soon.  I skimmed over the books until one finally caught my eye, an encyclopedia.  I pulled it off the bookshelf and opened it up.

Reading over some of it I learned a few new things.  First off there are four types of ponies: earth ponies, which are just normal ponies but are very strong; unicorns, which have horns and can use magic; pegasi, that have wings and can fly; and finally alicorns, which have both a horn and wings.  This last species was apparently directly linked to the royal family.  I also learned that young male ponies are called colts and adult males are stallions, and that young female ponies are called fillies and adult females are mares.  Not having much prior knowledge of ponies, I found this information useful.  Another page said that instead of dollars, Equestria’s currency was bits which are small gold coins.

Time had flown by quickly and before I knew it, Twilight had returned, her saddlebags full of groceries.  I closed the encyclopedia and placed it back on the bookshelf.  “Are we leaving soon?” I asked figuring it was later in the day.

“Yup, I just need to put away this stuff and then we can head to the train station.”  They have trains too?  For how simple things seem to be around here, they seem to have a lot of technology.

I waited patiently for Twilight to finish.  It took about five minutes for her to get everything neatly put away.  She walked up to me, “Ready to go?”  I gave her a small nod.  “Spike, we’re leaving for Canterlot, look after the library while we’re gone.”  She called out hoping he would hear her.  She then walked out the front door, me following close behind, ducking as I passed through the door.

We walked side by side as we made our way through ponyville, me taking in my surroundings to try and learn the layout.  I got a few stares from some of the nearby ponies, but most that saw me just smiled and waved, I recognized a lot of them from the party.  We soon got to the edge of town, heading towards the small train station that had just came into view.

The train was waiting at the station.  The engine of the train was pink with a heart shaped window on the front.  The conductor was standing outside of one of the passenger cars.  We walked passed the ticket booth and right to the train.  Twilight said something to the conductor that I did not quite hear.  The conductor gave a nod and motioned for us to board.  Entering the car I saw two open seats and pointed to them.  Twilight looked and then nodded, both of us quickly taking our seats.  The train whistle blew loudly as the train slowly started to move.

I looked down to Twilight, ”Twilight, how did we board the train without buying tickets?”

“Since the princess is requesting our presence, she’s covering the ticket costs.”  She replied.

I was sitting next to the window so I looked outside, enjoying the view.  About 30 minutes passed before the train came to a screeching stop.  Everyone got up and made their way to the exit, I made sure to stay close to Twilight so I did’t lose her in the crowd.  Stepping off the train I looked at my surroundings.

Canterlot was a huge city, the streets were busy and the whole place had a high class feel to it.  Still following Twilight, she headed towards the large palace that towered over the city, easily visible from the station.  Even from this distance, the palace was magnificent.  It looked like something out of a fairy tale, then again, all of this did. I got lots of attention, all the ponies turning their heads to look at the odd creature that was walking by them.  I looked forward, ignoring them and trying to focus on where we were walking.

The palace was now right in front of us, a small bridge leading right to its entrance.  We walked across and made it to the large, decorative doors of the palace, a guard posted on each side.  They were almost identical, both white unicorns that had blue eyes and wore gold armor.  They did not move a muscle, their horn glowing a light blue as they opened the doors allowing us entrance.  Lucky for me, the doors were about ten feet high so I didn’t have to duck to get through.  I followed Twilight, rounding corner after corner hoping that she knew where she was going.  The interior of the palace just as elegant as the outside.

We soon stopped in front of more tall doors, also having guards identical to the ones before stationed outside.  Just like the others, they didn’t move, opening the doors with their magic.  The large doors swung open revealing what looked to be a massive throne room.  Multiple stained glass windows lined the walls spanning from the floor to the ceiling, all with different colors and images in each.  A red carpet stretched from where I was, to all the way across the room that led up to a large golden two-step platform.  A throne was atop the platform with a long banner on each side on the wall behind it.

We walked closer, slowly approaching the two beings that sat on the platform.  The closer we got, the better I could detail them.  One sat in the throne, it looked like a pony but was taller and slim, looking different than all the others I had seen.  It had a white coat and a billowing long mane made of a mixture of blues, greens, and pinks.  The mane itself looked like it was hair, but with no physical mass.  Getting even closer I could tell that it was a she, getting a good look at her appearance.  I noticed that she had both a horn and wings.  So this is what an alicorn looks like.  Her horn was much longer and more narrow than that of a normal unicorn’s.  Her wingspan was also larger than those of the pegasi that I had seen.  She wore a gold necklace with  an amethyst in the middle, gold 'shoes' on her hooves, and a gold tiara with the same jewel that was in the necklace.  I looked to see that her cutie mark was a large sun.

The pony to her right was also an alicorn, but was a bit smaller than the former.  She was dark blue and had the same billowing mane as the other, though hers looked like the night sky.   Her eyes were a lighter shade of blue than her body.  She had the same attire as the bigger one, but her ‘shoes’ were a light blue and her necklace and tiara were black.  The necklace had a crescent moon in the middle that matched her cutie mark.

We were about eight feet from the platform before the white one spoke, “My faithful student Twilight Sparkle, how are you doing?”  Her voice was regal, but very motherly sounding.

“Hello princess Celestia, I’m doing great.”  Twilight replied with a smile.

Princess Celestia looked to me, “And you must be Chris, Twilight here has told me a lot about you.  Thank you for coming.”

“Y-yes your highness, I am honored to be here.”  I felt a bit nervous, not wanting to say or do anything that might offend her, she is the ruler of equestria after all.

Sensing my uneasiness, she gave a small smile, “No need to be nervous Chris, after I received Twilight’s letter mentioning you, I just wanted to meet you face to face.  I assure you though, Equestria welcomes you with open arms.”  Her tone was motherly and calming like before.

I soon felt my body relax as I let out a small sigh of relief.  I really didn’t feel like getting chased again like the day I arrived here.  Celestia stood up and walked down the steps stopping in front of us, who I guessed was her sister right behind her.  Standing by me, I noticed that I was just a bit taller than Celestia.  The top of her head was about the same height as my chin.  She was much bigger than the other ponies, most of their heads only reaching my stomach.

She looked me over before giving me a smirk, “Twilight was right, you are rather handsome.”  I felt a bit flustered as heat filled my face.  I shot Twilight a quick look, her face a bit red as well.  “Wouldn’t you agree sister?” Celestia said looking back to her sister, that same playful look still on her face.  I noticed the blue alicorn now sheepishly hiding behind her sister, a blush on her face.  “Chris, this is my younger sister princess Luna.”  Celestia chuckled from the expressions on all our faces, “Say hello Luna.”

The alicorn mare stepped out from behind her older sister before giving me a small smile, her cheeks still red.  “H-hello Chris I am princess Luna, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Likewise your highness”  I said while my hand rubbed the back of my neck, I was still a bit agitated from Celestia’s remark.  It must have been a while since we had breakfast because my stomach then growled, bringing me back to a normal state of mind.

Celestia smiled, “Sounds like someponies hungry.  Come, let us have lunch.”  I gave her a nod as we all followed her out of the throne room.  We walked through a few more hallways until we came to a door.  Princess Celestia’s horn was covered with a yellow aura as the door did the same and opened.  “Right this way to the dining hall.”  She motioned for us to enter the room with her forehoof.

I made my way inside and saw a long table sitting in the middle of the room, chairs lining the sides of it and one chair at each end.  I sat down in a chair at the corner of the table, Twilight sat on my left, Celestia sat to my right at the end of the table, and Luna took the seat next to her sister across from me.  We sat there for a few seconds just getting comfortable, when some servants came out of some kitchen doors at the other end of the room.  Each one brought with them a tray of food and laid it out in front of us.  They removed the lids revealing a bowl of salad.  I looked at the bowl for a while noticing that it was not your normal salad, it had daisies in it.  Not wanting to eat flowers I spoke up, “Um...princess Celestia, would it be possible for me to have something else?  I don’t eat flowers.”

“Oh I’m so sorry Chris.  Yes, we can get you something else, but now that I think about it, what do you normally eat?”

“Well, humans are omnivores so our diets usually consist of the major food groups.”  As soon as I said this, their eyes went wide.

“Y-you eat meat?”  Princess Celestia said in a scared tone.

I caught onto what she was getting at and immediately spoke up.  “Yes we eat meat, but I have no intention on eating anyone.”  I’m a bit shocked they would come to that conclusion.

This seemed to put her back at ease, “Oh thank goodness, well what else do you want to eat then?”

“Um, may I have a salad without daisies and maybe some carrots in it instead.?”  She nodded and her horn began to glow, another bowl of salad floated out of the kitchen and landed right in front of me.  “Thank you.”

We ate in relative silence, just enjoying our food.  After everyone was finished, I decided to start up some more conversation.  “Princess Celestia, Twilight told me what a cutie mark was the other day and I was wondering what yours and Luna’s meant?”

Celestia gave me a sly grin, “So you were staring at our flanks huh?”

I froze immediately, terrified of what she might do.  I tried to speak but didn’t get very far, “No...I...uh..-”   Celestia broke out into laughter.

“My apologies Chris, but I couldn’t help myself.  Being co-ruler of Equestria, I don’t have much time to have fun.”  She said after finally regaining her composure.  My face still flushed red as she continued,  “But to answer your question, I am in charge of the day, raising and lowering the sun.  Luna is the creator of the night, she raises and lowers the moon as well as makes the night sky.  That is why my cutie mark is a sun and hers is a moon.”

I could not believe what I was hearing.  The princesses make the day and night?  It was just a natural occurrence on my world.  Is there really magic that allows them to do that?  I guess this world really is full of magic.  I let my mind run free, trying to understand how any of this is possible, when a thought came to mind.

I looked over to princess Luna, “So you were responsible for that beautiful night sky last night?”

She jumped back in shock, completely unexpecting my question.  “Y-you thought it was beautiful?”

I was a bit confused, “Well...yeah.  Back where I come from, light pollution from cities goes up into the atmosphere, making the stars and other features of the night sky hard to see.  But when I looked up at the sky last night, it was breathtaking.”  My words were sincere, I always enjoyed the night.  It’s always so quiet and peaceful, the moon and stars lighting up the sky.

A tear began to fall from Luna’s eye as she spoke, “N-no pony has ever complimented my night before, t-thank you.”  I could tell she was trying very hard to hold back her tears.  I can’t imagine how it would feel to do something so important like that for years and not get any recognition for it.

Celestia looked over to her sister with a smile, “I think you just made your first friend dear sister.”

“Y-you...want to be my friend?”  Luna was put into a second wave of shock barely able to stop herself from breaking down in tears.

Celestia kinda put me in the spotlight, I just gave Luna a small smile.  “Sure, I’d love to be your frien-”  Before I could even finish my sentence, Luna sprang at me, completely clearing the table as she flew towards me.

I fell back in my chair as she tackled me to the ground, she let her tears flow as she held onto me for dear life.  “Ohh thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!”  She cheered, the tears flowing down her cheeks beginning to soak my shoulder.

“Careful Luna, you don’t want to break him now.”  Celestia giggled, obviously not used to seeing her sister this excited.

Luna released her grip on me, blushing a bit as she sat up and wiped the tears from her red, swollen eyes.  “Sorry, I guess I got a little carried away.  Are you alright dear Chris?”

Now that she was off of me, the air that I had lost from the impact with the ground returned.  I sat up, looking at my new friend with a smile.  “Yeah, I’m fine.”  I said before wrapping my arms around her once again.

The hug went on for about two minutes before Twilight spoke up.  “Sorry to interrupt, but I think we should get heading back to Ponyville soon Chris.  It will take a while to get back on the train and will be pretty late by the time we make it back to the library.”  I broke the hug and stood up, Luna landing back on all fours.

"Let us see you out."  Celestia said as she  got out of her chair and began to walk.  We all followed princess Celestia to the palace exit, Luna walked right beside me the whole way there.  Celestia stopped at the tall doors and turned to face us, “Thank you for visiting us today Chris, I hope we’ll get to see you again soon.”  She walked up to me, wrapping one forehoof around me as she drew me in for a hug.  I returned it, wrapping both arms around her.  The hug was brief but nice as she broke away.  As soon as Celestia stepped back, Luna darted at me, squeezing my waist as hard as she could.

“I going to miss you so much!”  Tears were threatening to spill from her eyes again.

I bent down to her level, her grip releasing for a quick second before immediately wrapping her hooves around my back.  Her face was buried in my shoulder and I leaned forward, whispering in her ear,  “I promise I will see you soon.”  She relaxed a bit, but did not loosen her embrace.   We sat there for a few minutes before I finally let go and stood up.  “Thank you for your time and the meal.  I hope to see you both again soon.”  They both nodded and waved as we left the palace, making our way back to the Canterlot train station.

It had taken about an hour to finally reach Twilights house, the train ride was the longest part of the trip.  Twilight opened the door and we stepped inside.

"Spike, we’re home!"  Twilight yelled to her assistant that was nowhere to be seen.  A few seconds later, footsteps could be heard coming down the stairs.

"Hey there Twilight, how was your visit to see the princesses?"  Spike said as he made it to the bottom of the stairs.

"It went great!  They got to meet Chris and we all had lunch together.  I even got some time to talk to princess Celestia while Chris here became friends with princess Luna."  She said, happy that she got to spend some quality time with her mentor.

"I think I'll head upstairs see you guys tomorrow."  I said feeling a bit tired from today's events.  I walked up the stairs, making it to the top floor.  I walked out onto the balcony and looked up at the sky.  The sun was almost out of sight as the moon rose high in the air.  I sat there for a while watching as the sun quickly disappeared leaving behind a beautiful moonlit night.  The moon was full and stars filled the night sky.  I made out all of the constellations that I knew, but there were lots that I had never seen before.  I looked with amazement knowing that my new friend had made this masterpiece.  "Thank you Luna, this really is wonderful."  I muttered knowing that no one could hear me.

After what I assume to be about ten minutes, I got up.  I let out a yawn knowing that I need to get some sleep.  I left the balcony and entered my room, closing the door and getting undressed.  Laying under the blanket, I felt my eyes become heavy as I closed them.