An Eternal Night To Remember

Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3

Chapter 1

You know how if you travel to another country, or even another province in some cases, you’ll experience a phenomenon known as culture shock. This is when you find yourself in a place that is so different than what you’re used to that you freak out. It may not be a total freak out, just a mild case, where everything is so completely overwhelming that your mind draws a blank. Or you may go a tad insane and not be able to process what’s going on. It goes without saying that if you go to sleep in your own, familiar, comfy bed, and wake up in a different country that your case of culture shock will be in the tad insane range. Now imagine waking up in a completely different world full of talking ponies.

It was eight years ago, and I thought that I was just tripping balls at the time. I mean, come on, I was seeing pink castles and frolicking, pastel ponies. My brain didn’t quite process this, so I just stared for a good ten minutes, if I recall correctly. I tried hitting myself, which just resulted in a stinging cheek. It wasn’t a dream, and I was only ten and didn’t have access to illicit substances besides whiskey from my father’s stash, which I only drank once. Stuff burned like hell. So I did the only logical thing, I curled up into a ball and started crying like a baby. I told myself that it was all just a dream and that it would go away soon, but lo and behold, those damned ponies were still there.

After my episode I sat there for a while, on that hilltop overlooking little-girl-television-land, contemplating how I got there, before I was found by a pony. Well, found isn’t the right word. She tried capturing me with a butterfly net and ran away screaming when I shouted and tore it off of me. I later learned that her name was Minty, and she later became my best friend. Now I don’t want to spoil my interesting tale of arrival, I’ll save that for another time, when I have the capacity to care and stop procrastinating on this journal that the Archmage of Unicornia wants me to finish writing. So don’t worry your pretty little heads, Council of Mages, you’ll get this journal, just not on time. Don’t expect it to have any detail, either, as it’ll be a rush job, just like everything else I do.

I dropped the goose feather quill that I was using to write and stared down at the pages of the journal the unicorns had given me. I’d written three paragraphs so far, and they expected me to write my entire life story and fill the damn thing up. I’d already told them all the stuff that I remembered about my homeland when I arrived, but they wanted me to document it for them. Why didn’t they have a scribe when I spoke with them the first time? They may be great scholars, practitioners of magic, and have the ability to control the sun, but they can never use common sense when the time calls for it. An example would be the journal they gave me. It had over one thousand pages, and they honestly expected me to fill every single page in it. Those were their exact words, too.

“We want to know everything about human society and culture, as well as your life story. We expect you to fill in every page. Do not, and I repeat, do not slack on this! We want this in our collection before the Summer Sun Celebration,” I said, repeating the Archmage’s phrase in a mocking tone, moving my hand to match the words.

I closed the journal and sighed, staring down at it. It was made of some variant of papyrus, like most paper, and was bound with red leather. I think it was leather, anyway. It was quite a thing of beauty, and you could tell that whoever made it put a great deal of work into it.

I threw it in the garbage can in the corner of my room.

Ah, my room! My fortress of solitude! It was the wall between my sanity and the colorful world of Equestria, and what a great wall it was. Located deep under the castle in Ponyville, it was situated in a far-off back room, in the same section as their library, which housed thousands of shelves and annals detailing history, science, philosophy, and every subject known to ponydom. The library was seldom visited, as it didn’t have anything related to parties or pink anything, which seemed to be the only thing of interest to most ponies. The only visitors were Kimono, a scholar whose knowledge rivaled that of the Mages, and Minty, who only ever came to drag me out and take me on some wild adventure that usually ended up with us nearly dying. Now don’t get me wrong, I liked Minty and her adventures, they just happened so frequently that I grow tired of them now and again. I face a life-threatening danger nearly every week, and the stress starts to get to me after a while.

I stood up from the chair and stretched, reaching my arms above my head, hearing a series of pops and cracks from my back, the nitrogen bubbles leaving my joints. I stretched out my legs, too, jogging in place a bit to get the stiffness out. The clock above my bed said 7:30, and I had to meet up with Minty to prep our balloon for the trip to the Summer Sun Celebration. I was excited about seeing the Celebration, as I’d never been present in Unicornia during it. I wasn’t so excited about setting foot in that death trap with Minty, who always wanted to fly it. No matter how many times she crashes us she’ll always be the one to operate it. I know how to, but Minty always overpowered me if I tried to help or volunteered, even going so far as to tie me up in the basket. She may be insane, annoying, and lack any form of common sense, but she was my best friend, and I’d be damned if I let her go on some potentially dangerous journey without me.

I exited my room, closing the old oaken door behind me, and walked down the long, narrow hallway that led to the main storage rooms of the library. They contained boxes of quills, ink, paper, and other various material and instruments that are used to repair and write books. A worktable sat in the corner, a dissected book on top, with its binding undone and the pages scattered about. It was one of the books that Kimono had asked me to repair, and I’d do anything for Kimono, who took on the role of a big sister when I first wound up here. She and I ran the library, keeping the place clean and organized, and fixing books that need it. No other pony would help, seeing as how none of them cared for literature. Rainbow Dash had tried to help once, but she ended up painting the place pink and rearranging the books the wrong way. She also says “Darling” in nearly every sentence. I can’t stand her, but I always try and act civil, mostly to not make Kimono angry.

I finally left the storage areas and entered the Library Proper, the Sanctum Sanctorum of knowledge in Ponyville. The room was well lit with large, stained glass windows on both sides, the sunlight filtering through and illuminating the vast bookshelves that lined the walls and all the ones in between with multicolored lights. The familiar smell of paper and mahogany hit my nostrils, filling me with a sense of comfort. I spent a great deal of my time here, reading the works of great playwrights and poets, as well as history and the geography of the Known World.

My bare feet made soft padding noises as I walked on the stone floors, the sedimentary blocks that made it up having been smoothed away after years of continuous contact with sets of hooves. Mostly Kimono’s hooves.

The walk to the door to the rest of the castle took very little time, despite the library’s immense size. As I neared the double-door that separated me from a world of jabbering equines, I paused and pulled the hood of my jacket over my head. The jacket was white with royal purple on the edges and a design of a cherry tree in full blossom on the back. I wore it everywhere, mostly because it was comfortable, and also because I’m pasty as hell and will burn if I’m in the sun for more than ten minutes. I learned this the hard way when I spent all day working in the flower gardens with Petaljoy without wearing a shirt. It was during my first year here, too. I was out of commission for the entire summer, peeling sheets of my skin off of myself like rice paper. Petaljoy felt so bad that she had made me this jacket so I wouldn’t get burned when I went outside. She had it adjusted for size every six months since then.

I braced myself and pushed the doors open, revealing one of the castle hallways in its entire pink, brightly lit splendor. There were ponies bustling back and forth, getting everything ready for the Celebration. Most were hanging streamers and balloons from the ceiling and along the walls, sticking them to the stone with pieces of tape. Other ponies shuttled supplies to and fro, handing objects to others or trying to get to their destination quickly. I greeted several as they passed by, some registered my existence but most ignored me, too enamored in their current tasks. I walked quickly through the castle, hoping to get out as soon as possible before that scaly bastard showed up.

“Salutations, fellow biped! How are you on this fine evening?”

Oh god why.

I turned towards the direction of the voice and came face to face with one of the most annoying creatures of all time, Spike the dragon. He was about three feet tall, covered in blue scales with an orange underbelly, orange fin-things on the side of his head, and a tuft of purple hair sticking out from the crown of his noggin. He says he’s a dragon, all the ponies say he’s a dragon, but I’m not so sure. I’ve never seen him breath fire, and he hasn’t ever grown the entire time I’ve lived here. He showed up about five years ago, giving Wysteria a flower and then claiming that, because she had touched the flower, she was now a princess.

And they believed him.

I tried to explain why this wasn’t logical, but all the ponies were excited that they had a princess. I didn’t want to deal with that crap, so I up and left and stayed with the Breezies for a week. When I came back I learned that all the ponies had lived in terror under Wysteria’s Iron Hoof, until she decided to make everyone in the town a princess. Luckily, I wasn’t in town at the time, so I didn’t become one. I’m the only non-princess in town, and I’m just fine with that.

“I’m fine, Spike,” I said, trying not to throw the little bugger out the window. “I was just going to help Minty and the others with preparing the balloon for the flight to Unicornia.”

“That sounds absolutely wonderful! I wish that I could go, but alas, I can’t, as I have to hold down the fort here and help the ponies with the festivities. One day I will travel and see the beauty that is the High Castle of Unicornia, but it is not this year,” Spike said, sounding despondent.

“You do know that you could just pack some supplies and walk there, right? It’s only a week’s trip away.”

Spike took a step back and scoffed, sounding offended. “Walk? All that way? Nonsense! That is for commoners. I should arrive there in style, in a balloon or a palanquin, that sort of thing. Only a commoner would walk all that way!”

That’s another reason why I hate Spike. He views himself as being a member of some noble dragon family, and believes he shouldn’t have to do any real work. He spends most of his time loafing in the castle, drinking tea and ordering ponies around. He may be good at organizing, but he has never done a hard day’s work in his entire life. And even though he acts all high and mighty and pretends that he’s a paragon of knowledge, he has never once visited the library. Hypocrite.

“I see your point. Well, it was nice talking to you, but I have to go or I’ll be late. See you around, Spike.”

“Very well. I’ll see you once you get back, and you can regale me with your tales of the majesty and grandeur that is Unicornia. I bid you, adieu.” With that he bowed and walked down the hallway, bossing ponies around as he went.

With that out of the way I hurriedly walked through the halls, not wanting to be late. One thing that I learned was to never be late for a meeting with Minty. She would find you and lecture you for an hour on the value of being on time and the importance of socks to the local economy. Yeah, Minty has a sock fetish, and will find some way of bringing socks into the conversation, whether it is potion making or politics. Peppermint and socks seemed to be the only things on her mind.

I found one of the side doors and quickly hurried out, moving swiftly down a curved dirt path that led to the balloon field. The path cut through a green field and was lined with peonies and rhododendron bushes. Ponyville always smelled sweet, whether it was from the flowers that grew all over the place or the scent of baked goods coming from Sugarcube Corner. It wasn’t a bad place to live in; it just wore on my nerves about every other week.

The balloon field was a flat patch of grass with a raised stone platform in the middle, where the balloons were kept. The balloons of Ponyville were an array of shapes, sizes, and colors, ranging from gigantic and covered in intricate designs to small and of a single color, like Minty’s green one. The baskets were kept under an awning and the balloons themselves were stored in large chests in a chamber under the platform.

I could see that Minty had already retrieved the balloon, as it was lying on the grass beside the platform, the corresponding basket and instruments on top of said platform. I could see her mint-green body moving carefully along the surface, checking for any rips or tears. Her back was turned and she hadn’t seen me yet, so I quietly tiptoed up behind her, careful not to make any noise. Once I was behind her I took a deep breath and bellowed:

“HEY MINTY!”

She let out a scream and shot five feet in the air, frantically trying to turn around and see who shouted. As soon as she saw me she narrowed her eyes and blew a strand of her mane out of her face.

“You scared me,” she said, pointing an accusatory hoof in my direction.

“Yes, yes I did.” I stared straight at her, not blinking.

We burst out laughing, falling down and holding our sides. We constantly did things like this to each other, pulling pranks and other entertaining things. Though Minty and I looked and acted differently, we had many things in common with each other.

“I’ll go make sure the thaumatic engine and all the parts are working. Have you found any tears yet?” I asked.

She shook her head. “Nope, everything is fine, so far. I just hope we don’t have to do any rush repairs halfway to Unicornia.”

“All right,” I said, “I’ll get to work.”

The thaumatic engine was an invention designed by an earth pony and a unicorn working together. It utilizes a magestone, a type of mineral that naturally absorbs sunlight or moonlight, depending on when it’s charged. The energy from the light source is filtered and concentrated through runic cyphers, which in turn creates pure magic that can be used for various purposes. Most non-unicorns had a runic cypher of some sort, usually a bracelet that they could use to pick up objects with their hooves. The cyphers used energy to create magic, but it could normally only create very little without a magestone. The cyphers ponies wore used the energy created by contracting muscles in their forelegs, turning it into a very watered down levitation spell that only worked through physical contact. I had one made out of bronze, but since I had magical appendages called hands, I didn’t use it much.

I hooked up a gauge to the magestone, measuring the current power stored in it. There was more than enough to get the balloon to Unicornia, but it would have to be charged when we got there. I then set to checking the cyphers, which were placed on flat, metal disks. I spun each one, making sure that they converted the measly kinetic energy into magic. Next, I checked the wires that led from the cyphers to the heating plate. I poured just a bit of magic from my cypher into the plate, satisfied when it started to heat up. I then checked the integrity of the basket, rocking it slightly and going over both the inside and outside. All in all, I finished the preflight prep in about half an hour.

I jumped out of the basket and headed over to Minty, who had just finished looking over the balloon. “You said that another pony was coming with us. Who is it?”

“Pinkie Pie. She really wanted to come to the festival this year. Is Kimono coming?” Minty asked.

“Yeah, she said that she wanted to make sure we didn’t get killed during our flight. I can’t blame her, either, we always seem to get into some sort of trouble whenever we’re in this thing,” I replied.

“That may be, but we’ve never once gotten any serious injuries. She doesn’t always have to be a worry wart. Have you packed yet?”

I face-palmed. “No, I haven’t. I’ll see you in a bit. Later!”

I turned and rushed back up the path towards the castle, wanting to get there before we had to inflate the balloon. My procrastination always came back to bite me in the butt, and it always, always, hurts like hell. As it did in this case with me stepping on a sharp rock.

“Dammit,” I yelled as I stopped and nursed the bottom of my foot.

“Did you step on a rock again? You really should wear those shoes I made you, Daniel,” a voice from behind me said.

I turned around to find Kimono standing there, a pair of stuffed saddlebags on her back. She had light purple fur with a dark purple mane and two flower pots as a cutiemark. I could see a long, slender package balanced on her back along with a similarly long piece of wood.

“You brought my bow and a quiver of arrows along?”

“I also packed your clothes and some spending money. And after your incident with the sea serpent last month I don’t feel comfortable with you going someplace with Minty without a weapon of some kind.”

I stood up and pulled some of the bags off her, placing the quiver over my back with its strap and placing the bow in it, as well. “Thanks, Kimono,” I said, giving her a quick hug. She hugged me back and we started down the path to the balloon field.

When we arrived Pinkie was there, as well, and was helping Minty with attaching the limp balloon to the basket. Kimono and I finished tying it for them and put our supplies in the basket. I turned on the thaumatic engine and began to fill the balloon, shooting the shit with Pinkie, who I hadn’t seen for a week.

“What’ve you been doing lately, Pinkie?” I asked.

“I’ve been helping design the decorations for the castle and bake the sweets. I haven’t had much time to do anything else, and I’ve been cooped up in the castle. I really needed to get out, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity,” she replied.

“I haven’t been doing too much, just reading and the like. How is your crush on Big Mac going? Had any luck with him yet?”

She blushed just a bit. “I have, actually. Once I get back from Unicornia we’re going to go on a lunch date. I hope everything works out.”

Big Mac was the local apple farmer and stud muffin. Half the mares in town swooned whenever his name was mentioned, and he constantly received propositions, but turned most of them down. He was one of the few stallions in town, due to it being an earth pony village, as most earth ponies gave birth to mares. That was a curious thing about pony genetics. The unicorns had a stallion majority, while the pegasi had a small, but equal population of both. Due to interbreeding between the three tribes in recent years the populations were becoming more stable, but there were still a few prudes who wanted only those of the same tribe to breed with each other.

That was another thing. Due to there being so few males in the town, there was constant competition for them, myself included. The problem was that I wasn’t really attracted to any of the mares. There have been a few ponies where I could honestly say that I would sleep with. I have actually slept with one, but she lives in Pegasopolis and turned out to be a stalker. Most mares in the village have taken the hint and haven’t tried to hit on me, but some would still jostle for my affection. I honestly think that these mares need to just go to Unicornia and bring back a male, who would probably be all too happy to come to a village filled with females.

After twenty minutes the balloon started to float, so we all piled into the basket and let Minty, despite our better judgment, take the controls. After another ten minutes the balloon was full and we cut the ropes tying us to the ground. I turned back to Ponyville as we drifted away, the setting sun behind it, bathing the town in a twilight glow. You cloud see everything up here. From Ponyville Castle to the flower gardens in the south, to Sugarcube Corner in the east, and the Forest of the Breezies in the north. Ponyville may not be perfect, but it was my home, and I always feel a twinge of sadness whenever I leave it.

I returned my gaze to the western fields of grass and trees that separated our little travelling group from Unicornia. They went on for several miles, giving way to hills and moorland, before finally changing into the farms and agricultural communities that separated Unicornia from the rest of Equestria. I was already feeling that thrill, the tingle in my heart that told me to go out and explore the world, the feeling of adventure and wanderlust that caused me to risk my life with Minty. Yes, this was going to be one hell of a journey, I could feel it in my bones.

Chapter 2

The balloon had been adrift for more than two hours, and the sun had finally set. The moon had taken its rightful place as the sentinel of the night sky, lighting the world below in a silver blanket of light. The wind was calm but swift, moving us along at a steady pace towards our destination. Nobody was talking; we were all just admiring the view of the countryside underneath us.

I pulled back my hood and slipped off the jacket, folding it up and placing it in one of the bags Kimono had brought along. The shirt I was wearing underneath was light blue and had no sleeves, exposing my arms to the cool night air. I very rarely wore my jacket during the night, preferring to show off my alabaster skin to the starry sky above. I always loved the night, even before I came here. I remember staring at up at the sky for hours, dreaming about the planets and cosmological bodies that floated out in that infinite nothingness. I always wondered whether there was life on other planets, and I guess that I figured that out when I came here. Though I probably wasn’t on another planet, but in another dimension, as magic didn’t exist where I came from, and we definitely didn’t have magically infused hydrogen that acted as a sun.

That took some getting used to, realizing that the sun above could be moved, and that it wasn’t really a sun at all. It was classified as an arcane sun, a ball of hydrogen isotopes that had been created through the fusion of hydrogen and pure magical energy. It had about the mass of the moon, and due to it being mostly magic, it was fairly simple to move if you had enough unicorns. There have even been cases of unicorns powerful enough to move the sun and moon by themselves. The moon, while being made of rock, also had magical properties, giving off its own, weak glow that was enhanced by reflected sunlight. They were the only known arcane celestial bodies in the entire night sky. Astronomers had found other planets that orbited suns, but no suns that orbited planets. It seemed as though our world was alone in the universe.

Our world. Sometimes I still couldn’t believe that I lived in a world full of magic and talking ponies. I still don’t even know how I came here. One day I was on Earth, and the next I was here. Was it a cosmic accident? Or was I here for something else? Part of me wanted to go back and visit my world, see my family again, who may not remember me. I may not remember them. I only have a vague idea what they looked like, anyway. I know that I had a sister who was about two years younger than me, and she loved ponies. Why did I go to magical pony land and not her?

There’s another part of me that is frightened to visit my home, the part of me that knows what my world was like. I was only ten, but I had already seen what war could do to people. I remember my neighbor, a woman who was a few years younger than my mom. Her husband was in the army and was fighting in another country that started with an I. One day she received a letter in the mail; her husband had been killed. She had come over to our house and cried while my mom held her. I think I was seven when that happened.

I was pulled out of my reverie by a slight tug on my pant leg. I looked down to see Kimono staring at me with worried eyes.

“You have that look on your face again, Daniel. You’re thinking about home, aren’t you?”

I sat down and ran a hand through her mane. “This place is my home, Kimono. I wouldn’t leave you, or anyone for that place. I just wonder what my family’s doing right now, and if they miss me,” I said.

“I’m sure they miss you, but I don’t like it when you think about them. You always look so sad when you do. I hate seeing you like this.” She leaned over and nuzzled my neck.

“I know, but I just can’t help thinking about it. I just want one day to go and see them. They wouldn’t recognize me, I’m sure, but I’d just like to see how they fared.”

Kimono sat down on her stomach beside me, stretching out her legs. “What do you want to see during the Celebration? I want to buy some silk for a few new dresses and see the gardens again. I had such a lovely time there when I visited the place as a little filly. What about you?”

“I want to check with some of the archaeologists I know. Apparently a pegasus by the name of Daring Do found some old ruins near the border of Unicornia and the northern wastelands. They don’t belong to any known pony tribe or civilization that exists in the Known World. From what I know it’s some sort of temple to a god or a great king. This may give us insight to what other civilizations could be out there.”

The Known World, as it was called, was made up of three distinct areas. The first was the one that I lived in, called Equestria. It was mostly temperate forest and grassland, with some mountains to the far west and north. It housed the equines; the three pony tribes, the Breezies, and the donkeys. The earth ponies lived in the grasslands, which they called Terra, in several villages, mostly taking care of farming and agriculture. The unicorns lived in a slightly mountainous region called Unicornia, with small villages at the borders, while most unicorns lived in the capital, Unicorn City. They used magic to raise and lower the sun, as well as take care of any major problems with their magic. Then there were the pegasi, who lived on the cliffs by the Forever Sea, calling their land Pegasopolis. They fished and had the ability to direct clouds with wind, causing a lot of them to be hired out by other villages in cases of famine and drought. The Breezies were a tribe of diminutive equines with butterfly wings and antennae on their heads who lived in the heavily forested areas. They foraged most of their food from the forest they lived in. They cared for the plants and the animals that lived there, helping to reforest areas that have suffered due to environmental factors. Finally, the donkeys lived in remote villages in the desert, near the border with the griffons. They worked primarily as miners, digging up salt and gold.

The second region was inhabited by the griffons, and aptly named Gryphonia. This region was mostly dry, arid mountains, where the griffons hunted and farmed what land they could. They built their nests in caves that were either natural or carved into the living rock. Each had a nest, and each nest had a Nest Mother, who was the matriarch and head of the clan. The griffons had a large population, but mostly stayed in the desert, which was incredibly vast and had plenty of resources for those who knew where to look. South of Gryphonia was the Scorched Place, as the griffons called it, an uninhabitable desert that never received any rain and was made up of sand. It was a dangerous place to go, as gigantic scorpions called dowpincers lived in the area, killing anything that happened to step on the sand. Many griffons and pegasi had attempted to cross the Scorched Place, but they either gave up or were never seen again.

The final region was located to the far northeast, past the only sliver of wasteland that was possible to cross. It was a glacial area called Mammoth’s Hold, and, despite the name, was inhabited by reindeer. Not much was known about them, as they were incredibly secretive. The tundra and glaciers they lived on provided enough food for them to survive eve in the harsh environment. To the north was an impassable wall of ice, beyond which was said to be the afterlife, or so the reindeer believed. They worshipped mammoths, who they believed to be divine beings that ferried the souls of the dead beyond the ice. Mammoths hadn’t been seen for thousands of years, and were probably extinct, but the reindeer still believed. They even had a mountain that they viewed as being the tusk of a great mammoth that created the world by burying himself in ice. The sun and the moon were supposed to be his eyes, which he gave up to bring life to the planet. As crazy as this world is, I’d believe it if I saw enough evidence.

Currently, the grasslands of Terra were starting to give way to the more forested and hilly areas that indicated the border between it and Unicornia. There wasn’t an official border, but it was generally accepted that the sort of in-between land that we drifted over now belonged to whichever tribe needed it the most at any current time. The ponies of Equestria generally shared things, anyway, so it wasn’t much of a big deal to them who was using the land, or for what purpose. The borders had become blurred in recent years, anyway, and there were many that wished for Equestria to become an actual nation, complete with a parliament and everything.

After another hour Minty, who was doing a surprisingly fantastic job of not killing us, started ranting about socks, as she is wont to do. It was fascinating, really, how if socks didn’t exist, civilization itself wouldn’t exist, never mind the fact that the reindeer never wore socks and were doing just fine. Minty firmly believed that socks were the answer to all of life’s problems, even going so far as to give a sock to a sea serpent about a month ago, hoping he wouldn’t eat us. He tried to anyway, and we only got away after I shot an arrow into his eye.

“But Minty,” Pinkie interrupted, “If the number of socks you have is in proportion to your socioeconomic status, why don’t you live in a mansion? You have an entire room full of socks, so shouldn’t you be the richest pony in Equestria?”

“Of course I’m the richest pony in Equestria. How do you think I get the money for the balloon repairs that I have to do all the time?”

“That makes no sense, Minty,” I interjected. “I know that you sell socks and help out with the baking at Sugarcube Corner, but that shouldn’t be enough money to repair the balloon for all the times we’ve destroyed it. Come to think of it, what do you do for food?”

Minty just laughed and adjusted the controls of the balloon, bringing us to a higher altitude and letting us catch a faster wind. “That’s a secret that, and I’m not telling.”

Note to self: Investigate the possibility that Minty is a master thief and has robbed any vaults filled with treasure.

The next few hours passed in relative silence, with both Kimono and Pinkie falling asleep, leaving Minty and I as the only ones awake. The area below had become more mountainous, and we had caught a breeze that was moving us along faster than expected. I figured that it was around one in the morning, and judging from the landscape, we were about two hours away from Unicornia, making this one of the fastest trips I’ve ever made to the place. A balloon ride normally takes twelve or so hours, and walking normally took a week, but it looked like we would be there in nine hours, maybe ten.

“Hey Daniel.”

“What is it, Minty?”

“Do you think that we’ll see Lily when we get there? She said she might be at the High Castle, but only if she was able to finish her botany studies with the griffins.”

“I don’t know, but if she isn’t, we’ll still manage to have a fun time. You shouldn’t be too down about it,” I said.

Lily, her full name being Lily Lightly, was a light pink unicorn with a pink and blue mane, and had a lily for a cutiemark. She studied botany at Unicornia University, and had travelled to Gryphonia to study some of their unique flora. She was a good friend of mine, and she was also Minty’s unrequited crush. Either Lily didn’t want to hurt Minty’s feelings or she was denser than a block of lead when it came to love, because Minty had the most poorly hidden crush on her I’ve ever seen. Anytime Lily would talk to her she would blush and start stammering out things about socks, much more than usual. Whenever we went to Unicornia I would try and set the two up on a date, but I’ve had no luck, as something always gets in the way.

Minty just sighed and stared straight ahead, the light breeze gently rocking the basket we were in. Her eyes had a faraway look in them. I wondered if this was the look that Kimono didn’t like to see on me, because if it was, I could agree that I didn’t like it much, either.

A few minutes passed before I heard Minty speak up again, sounding like she was on the verge of crying. “I just love her so much, Daniel. She’s the most amazing mare I’ve ever met. She’s so beautiful and talented, and whenever I think about her my heart feels like it’s going to burst from my chest. I’m happiest when I’m around her, even if for a few minutes. Her laugh is sweeter than any music I’ve ever heard, and I would give anything to hear it. But I can never tell her how I feel. I always seize up and go on and on about my stupid socks! Who am I kidding; she’ll never go for me. She could have any stallion in Unicornia. Why would she want a mare like me?”

To say I was stunned would be a grave understatement. I had never heard Minty say anything like this, or sound so melancholy. She even insulted socks, for crying out loud. I had no idea what to do or say, not wanting to stick my foot in my mouth. I thought for a minute and decided to go with my gut reaction.

“You should tell her.”

Minty looked away from the controls and towards me, a look of pure confusion on her face.

“But I just told you that I can’t! How can I tell her something when I’m not physically able?”

“I know that this may be difficult, but it would be for the best. If she’s at the Celebration, I’ll figure out a way to get you two and let you spend time together. Enjoy the festival, play some games, see some exhibits and shows, then take her somewhere secluded and tell her. If you tell her what you told me a few minutes ago, you may have a shot at her. Even if she doesn’t feel the same way, you’ll get the secret off your chest, and you might be able to move on and find someone else. Anything is better than wallowing in heartache and self-pity.”

Minty looked thoughtful for a moment before finally nodding her head. “I’ll try, but I don’t know if I’ll be able to. Can you take control of the balloon for a bit? I’m kind of tired.”

“Sure,” I said.

I took the controls and watched while Minty curled up in a corner, when a sudden thought infiltrated my mind.

I’m flying the balloon.

I’m flying the fucking balloon! This is awesome! I’ve never flown the balloon before! This is the dawn of a new era, one in which Minty and Lily are together and where I can fly the balloon without Minty tying me up with hemp rope and gagging me with a sock! Hear me, my subjects; I am the Balloon King, Lord of all that floats! I am ruler of the skies and the heavens! Not the pegasi or the griffons, nor the unicorns that control the celestial bodies. Nay! It is I, and it shall forever be! The Balloon King has spoken!

As it turned out, flying the balloon was kind of boring. All I did was keep us at a near constant elevation and make sure the balloon stuck to its course. I wondered why I was so obsessed with flying the balloon in the past. Maybe it was because she always insisted on it? Come to think of it, without Minty’s crazy and inept aviation skills, we wouldn’t have had half the adventures that had graced us in the past. I should be grateful for that. Those adventures may have always been life-threatening, but they had brought us so much joy and fun. Our escapades had given us so much room to grow and change, familiarizing us with the world and its inhabitants. Part of me thought that Minty purposely crashed the balloon, if only to give us some excitement.

Another hour passed and we were definitely in Unicornia. The landscape was nothing but snowcapped mountains and fjords, bisected by the blue waters of the Concord River. It ran from the glaciers to the northeast, through Equestria and down to Gryphonia, where it turned into a mere trickle that fed some bogs and swamps. The river curved around the mountain that was the foundation of Unicorn City, so we should have been only a few minutes until the city came into view. My hunch was right, as the capital appeared once we rounded a mountain that was obstructing the view.

There isn’t much to say about Unicorn City except that it’s one of the most beautiful sights one could lay their eyes on. The city was built on the second tallest mountain in Equestria, and the city fit like the crown atop a monarch’s head. An outer wall of ancient, white stone wrapped around the city, forever guarding it against invasion. Turrets and guard towers were equally spaced among the ramparts, housing the Unicorn Guard, who kept an ever-vigilant eye out for any signs of trouble. Houses and mansions clustered together in specific arrangements along streets and alleyways, giving the impression of a helix pattern found on crystals. Four monolithic towers had been erected in four, specific points, representing the four cardinal directions. The jewel of the city, however, was a gigantic castle that seemed to have stepped from the pages of a fairytale. The High Castle, as it was commonly referred to, was built of marble and basalt, sporting many fine towers gilded with decorations and carvings. The center of the castle was a large dome, which housed the Council of Mages and Unicornia University, a place of learning for all unicorns. In recent years it had opened up to the other tribes, offering courses in other subjects besides magic.

The city was bustling with activity, despite it being night. The city had been decorated, and shopkeepers and business ponies had opened booths and stands everywhere. Many had games or sold food, while others peddled their wares, from exotic griffin spices to donkey jewelry. The city parks, normally barren except for trees and fountains, had been prepared for arrivals by balloon or air-chariot, sporting landing fields and runways. I directed the balloon to an empty patch of grass, landing it as softly as I could. The landing was still bumpy, though, and it jostled the three ponies awake. They sat up, bleary eyed, and rubbed away their sleep with their hooves.

“Time to get up, ladies. I need you to help tie down the balloon.”

I cut the flow of power from the magestone and swiftly jumped out of the basket, staking a metal spike into the ground, tethering the balloon to it. My three compatriots followed suit, placing their spikes into the ground. We pulled our luggage from the basket, me placing my bow and quiver on my back, while I placed a small backpack over that. Once we made sure the balloon was safely deflated, we all headed out into the city, our eyes sparkling with excitement. It was present on some ponies more than others, though.

“Are you excited? ‘Cause I’m excited! I’m super excited! Ooh, what’s over there? And there? There are so many things here! I’ve never been so excited!” Pinkie’s voice had risen a few octaves higher and she had begun bouncing around, barely able to contain any of her energy. I swear, sometimes it can seem like she’s a completely different pony. She’s normally pretty mellow, but as soon as she joins up with a party or a festival, she becomes an excitable ball of fun, never staying in more than one place for a few seconds.

Minty’s excitement was much more subdued, but it was still apparent. Her eyes were as wide as saucers and her grin had become impossibly large, threatening to overtake her face. She trotted along swiftly, with a merry strut in her step. I was glad that she was so happy; it would hopefully take her mind off of Lily.

Kimono, unlike the others, stayed right by my side, walking slowly and taking in everything with an observing eye. She was trying to act mature and ladylike, but I could tell that she wished to run around and join in with the exuberance of her friends.

“There’s no need to be so reserved, Kimono. It is one of the largest festivals ever; nobody will care if you cut loose. I can see a stallion over by the fried vegetable stand checking you out. He’s pretty cute, too. Go talk to him.” I gave her a nudge, gently pushing her towards the area the stallion was at.

“I do not need you to tell me how to have a good time. And I’m not going to hook up with some random stallion. Wait, you mean that one? Well, he is quite handsome, and I guess talking with him couldn’t hurt.” She trotted off in his direction, her tail swishing more than usual.

I knew the stallion, actually. His name was Shining Armor, and he was Captain of the Guard for the city. They must have given him the Celebration off, as he wasn’t wearing any armor or uniform. Shining was a really nice guy, and I think he and Kimono would be good together. I only wish that his sister had inherited some of his traits. Her name was Twilight Sparkle, and she was a member of the Council of Mages, and the youngest to ever receive the title. She may be a prodigy, but she had an unbearable personality. Twilight’s pretentious and smarter-than-thou attitude would grate on my nerves whenever I came in contact with her. She was a perfectionist, and gave the other council members the idea to make me write that stupid journal. I could hardly look at her after a certain incident when she came to visit Ponyville. After up and disappearing, I went looking for her and, unfortunately, I found her. In the castle linen closet. Becoming intimate with Spike. I took a very long, very cold shower after that, and the image of those two fornicating has forever been burned into my mind. I only hoped that I wouldn’t see her before the sun was raised, that way I would have time to enjoy the festivities before she chewed me out for not finishing the journal. I would tell her that I was close, and hopefully she would forget about it after a while.

“I saw what you did with Kimono and my brother, Daniel. Also, do you have the journal?” a voice behind me asked.

Dear gods, what have I done to offend you? Whatever it was, I promise that I’ll make it right, if you give me the chance. Sincerely, Daniel.

I turned and faced my second-worst nightmare, Twilight Sparkle. She was an average sized unicorn mare with a purple coat and black mane with a pink stripe running through it. Her cutiemark was of a starburst, signifying her proficiency in the arcane arts. She was wearing the Council uniform, a set of red robes that had gold trim around the edges. Strangely, she wore bracers around each hoof, with each one containing a small magestone imbedded in the metal. A runic cypher necklace encircled her neck, completing her attire.

“Are you mad that I tried to set up Kimono and Shining?” I asked.

Twilight shook her head. “On the contrary, I think it’s a great idea. My brother deserves a nice mare like her. Now then, do you have the journal?”

“No, I don’t. I only filled about half of it, and most is a convoluted mess. There are a lot of things about my life that I can’t remember clearly, and I constantly keep forgetting certain things. I’ll try to fill out more of it, but you’ll just have to make do with what I give you,” I lied, waiting for another lecture on procrastination, laziness, and the importance of staying organized. Surprisingly, it never came.

“I should have expected this from you. Normally I’d spend the next hour lecturing you, but it is a holiday, and I have to prepare to raise the sun with the other mages. But you had better not forget. I already pre-made a list to remind myself to check in on the journal. I’ll see with you about it in a month. Enjoy the Celebration.” With that she turned and walked off.

I’d dodged a bullet, but an artillery shell was fast approaching. She made a list. Twilight Sparkle had put my name on a list, and she always checked her lists and followed them to a T. I would have to make as much bullshit up as possible to put in the journal, which I hoped was still in my trashcan.

I wandered around for a bit, sampling food and trying to find my friends. I found Shining Armor giving Kimono a teddy bear that he won from a game, so I decided to leave them alone, as they looked to be doing just fine by themselves. Pinkie was stuffing her face with gargantuan amounts of sweets and baked goods, and frankly, her eating habits grossed me out when she ate like that. For whatever reason her body was able to defy all known natural laws, swallowing cupcakes whole and drinking enough hard cider to inebriate a flock of griffons.

I searched around for Minty but didn’t see her, so I tried going farther into the city, near the market district. I was flagged down by vendors of all kinds, trying to sell their wares to the only known human who, for some reason, they perceived to be rich. I did stop and speak with some salesmen named Film and Flam after they sang a catchy song about their machine, the Heavenly Harvester 3000. It could apparently increase the speed of a harvest by seventy five percent, and I had to hand it to them, it was a clever machine. I told them to head down to Ponyville after the Celebration, as the local farmers would be very interested in it. I made subtle references to what a great town it would be to settle in, as they seemed like nice lads, and Ponyville was in desperate need of stallions.

I eventually found myself in a place that was dedicated to the sale of flowers and exotic flora, and I was in for a big surprise. The street I was standing in divided into two, forming a v, with houses and buildings in between. On the right side of the v-street stood Minty, browsing through some lilies and bouquets of roses. On the other side of the street, heckling with a merchant over the cost of something or other was Lily Lightly. It was obvious they hadn’t seen each yet, nor had they seen me. I knew that this was a perfect opportunity to try and get the two to spend time together, but I needed to figure out a way how.

After several moments an impossibly convoluted scheme blossomed from the half-dead bush that is my mind, and I began to chuckle in a low, maniacal laugh, and slinked into a nearby alleyway, with only one thought permeating my head.

It’s shipping time, bitches

Author's Note: Not much happens in this chapter, as it was to mainly illustrate some background information and set things up for the later plot. There will be some shipping, but it will be so minor that I decided to not include a romance tag. At some point in the future I'll include why Minty fell for Lily, but that won't be for a long time.

Chapter 3

The air in the alleyway was cool and dank, the tall brick buildings having hidden it in shadow. I moved quietly on my tiptoes, sticking to the shadows with my back pressed up against a wall. The alley was filled with trash and refuse; the stench of rotten apple cores and week old coffee grinds filled my nose. I had to be sure that I wouldn’t be seen by anyone. Being the only human I regularly attracted attention, and I had to make sure that Lily wouldn’t know that I was around until I could put my plan into action.

It was a simple plan, really. Sneak through some alleys, find my way to the side street where Lily was, and kidnap her. I honestly had no idea what I would do after that. Probably tell her that her secret admirer is waiting at someplace for her, then do the same with Minty. I like to improvise as I go. Nothing I have ever planned out in advance has ever worked out, so I thought it best to adjust as the situation changes.

I came to a space where the alley branched off into three other directions. The ones to the front and left of me were dark, while the one to my right led back out onto the street, but not near enough to where Lily and the vendor had been haggling. My entire plan relied on the fact that Lily was incredibly stubborn when it came to shopping, and wouldn’t ever adjust her offer for a certain item. I hoped that luck would smile upon me and that she and the vendor would still be going at it by the time I found my way to the correct street.

You would think that it would be straightforward to follow an alley. In most places yes, but Unicornia had a weird layout. It had been built from the castle outwards, and the streets had been added haphazardly. There wasn’t any uniform or geometric organization to the streets, so many lead to completely different places than you would think, which was why I was having such trouble choosing whether I should head straight or left.

I decided to go straight, hoping that the alley wouldn’t lead to a dead end or turn towards a completely different direction than what I wanted. I didn’t have to keep to the shadows now, as there was nobody around to possibly see me. The apartments that made up the buildings around me were either empty or their occupants were sleeping, lessening that chance that one would happen to look out their window and see a strange biped sneaking around.

My walk was uneventful, though I once had to duck down because I saw a light in one of the windows in the top of the buildings turn on, but luckily I wasn’t seen. It was about a minute after this that I heard hoofsteps. I stopped briefly and listened but didn’t hear anything. I resumed my pace, though I kept my attention focused on the sounds around me. It was difficult to make out any nearby noises with the sounds of the Celebration coming from across the buildings, but I finally heard it again. A soft clip-clop was coming from behind me; my guess was about fifty paces. I glanced back without fully turning my head, but I could only see ten or so feet through the pitch.

I quickened my walk only slightly and heard the hoofsteps quicken as well. Okay, I thought, I’m being followed by something, most likely a pony. I can’t see very well so I don’t know what kind. If it was a unicorn that might explain how they seem to be able to see in the dark, though the glow of their horn would be visible if they were using a night vision spell. They may have some enchanted device that lets them see, though there’s always the possibility that they’re following through sound alone. If it was a pegasus they’d just fly or hover after me instead of walking. I’ll take a guess and say that it’s an earth pony. I hope that I’m right.

I stopped walking and turned around, staring into the darkness. “All right, I know that you’ve been following me. If you’re just curious about me you could just talk to me, but if you’re attempting to mug me I don’t have anything of value except a few bits. If you want them I’ll throw the bag to you and you can be on your way.”

What? I don’t like fighting. I’m probably the biggest coward that you’ll ever meet. If I can avoid confrontation, I’ll do it.

There was a pause before a deep, raspy voice cut through the shadows. “It’s your life I’m after, not your bits.”

Shit.

The sound of hooves became louder and a pony burst from the shadows, a cloak wrapped around its body. I saw a glint of something silvery on one of its forelegs as the stallion charged. I jumped to the side and dodged a swinging hoof, the silver glint revealing itself to be a knife attached by a hoof ring to his right foreleg. Acting fast I took a few steps back and squared my feet, taking a fighting stance. My assailant turned back towards me and I got a better look at him.

He was an earth pony of a moderate size. The cloak he wore was black and covered his entire body with the exception of his head. What little of his coat I could see was black, and his mane was a deep blue. It was odd to see a pony with such a dark coloring, but what made me do a double-take were his eyes. They were bright yellow and were reminiscent of cat or reptilian eyes, the pupil being slitted to the point it seemed like a straight line. Whatever he had had done to them was probably why he could see in the dark.

The stallion charged again, throwing a left hook before bringing the right towards my throat. I blocked the first strike and twisted to the right, shifting my feet into a side stance. I grabbed ahold of his cloak and shifted once more, throwing him over my shoulder like a sack of potatoes. He hit the ground with a muffled thud, like a heavy weight falling on wet cement. I sat down on his chest and pinned his right foreleg with my left hand. I placed my left elbow into his jugular, just hard enough to keep him from speaking.

The stallion continued to struggle, attempting to buck me off of him, but my weight was enough to hold him.

“So, why do you want to kill me? Are you planning on skinning me and mounting my head on your wall, or is there another reason? If you try to escape I’ll just crush your throat and be done with you. How about it, my creepy little friend?”

I slowly lifted my elbow from his throat, but kept it still lightly pressed on his jugular. He stared at me with narrowed eyes filled with hate. I waited a few moments before he spoke, a mocking tone to his voice.

“I don’t care if you kill me; I don’t plan on telling you anything. Even though I’ve failed, others will come after you, and you can’t run and hide forever, and you definitely can’t fight us.”

“Oh, there are more of you? How many are in your little club, and why would they want to kill me? I don’t remember wronging some group of rejected Nightmare Night monsters,” I said.

Turns out it was a bad idea to say what I just said. The stallion began struggling even more, thrashing around like he was mad, which he probably was. I had to use all of my strength to keep him from breaking free. It took a full minute before he stopped struggling, but when he finally did his entire demeanor had changed. The aura of hatred had changed, becoming much darker. Either this stallion hated Nightmare Night with a passion, which I found unlikely, or he had something for Nightmare Moon.

The story of Nightmare Moon was something that every foal knew. One thousand or so years ago, back when the unicorns still had a royal family, an alicorn was born to them, a pony born with both a horn and wings, something that happens only once every hundred generations or so. She was loved by the populace, but she became corrupted by power, or went insane. The sources don’t say. She ended up renaming herself Nightmare Moon, raising an army, and using incredible magical power to lock the moon in the sky. All sentient beings fought against her, culminating in a week-long battle that killed many and turned large swaths of land into nothing but sterile dirt, the modern wastelands of today. So much history and records were lost during the conflict that all that was left about history before the war was made up of rumors and folktales. Many scholars didn’t think that Nightmare Moon had ever existed and that it was some freak magical event. Whatever the case the story stuck, giving us the holiday of Nightmare Night.

In all probability he was a member of some extremist group that planned on taking Equestria for themselves, and the leader was hiding behind the image and name of a famous pony. I didn’t know if he was a follower of Nightmare Moon, but I knew how to find out.

“Nightmare Moon’s a whore.”

The stallion’s eyes widened and he struggled even harder than he had before, but I still managed to keep a firm grip on him. It was kind of fun watching him squirm, actually. Wait, what was I doing? Oh, right.

I lifted my left arm from his neck and balled my hand into a fist. I drove my fist into his solar plexus, placing all of my body weight behind the blow. My fist sank into the soft flesh and his eyes rolled into the back of his head. He’d be stunned for a good while, just enough time for me to find a guard and report the weirdo. It was likely that he was working with others, and they probably had something planned for the Summer Sun Celebration. Hefting the stallion onto my shoulders I turned back the way I had come.

***

I stepped out of the alley and into the light of the street lamps. The crowd of ponies had grown even larger than it had been, and I was noticed fairly quickly. Ponies stopped and gawked at me, which made sense. It isn’t every day that an ape walks out of a dark alley carrying an unconscious stallion on his back.

Come to think of it, it doesn’t seem like a good idea to be seen doing something like this. Anyway, better find a guard.

I scanned the jostling group of bodies until I spotted the shiny, golden surface of a guard helmet. The guard stallion stood near the intersection of the v-street, flirting with a mare and not doing his damned job. I pushed through the ponies that had gathered around me and were whispering to themselves about what I was doing.

“Hey! Guard! Quit flirting with that mare and get over here! This stallion tried to kill me!”

That certainly got his attention. His head turned quickly and his eyes grew large, scanning me up and down before he galloped over, shouting “Make way! Make way!”

The ponies did make way, parting like the Red Sea to let the guard through. He skidded to a halt and looked up at me.

“What do you mean that stallion tried to kill you? What’re you talking about?” he yelled. It was clear that he hadn’t been in the guard long. He looked young and his knees were shaking. Poor guy. This was probably the first time he had actually encountered something beyond a rowdy drunk.

“You heard me. This stallion attempted to kill me, but that isn’t that important of an issue. I’m pretty sure that this stallion is part of a group that is planning a coup against the Council, probably tonight. I need to find the acting captain and spread the word of what’s going on,” I said, probably much too casually.

The guard’s mouth opened and closed a few times before he stammered a reply. “A-all right then. Come with me and I’ll lead you to the castle.”

By this point a large crowd of ponies had gathered around us, muttering to themselves and staring at me. The guard and I began to make our way through the street, trying to make haste. I looked behind me to the v-street in an attempt to spot Minty or Lily Lightly, but didn’t see either of them. They might’ve run into each other and left, but it was most likely that they had wandered off farther down their respective streets. I just hoped they were safe. If there was some strange group after me, they might be after my friends, too.

“Stay safe, you guys,” I whispered.

I apologize that it took so long to get this chapter out, and that it isn't as long as the others. My life has been hectic with school and work, so I haven't had much time or inspiration for the story. This chapter seemed very awkward, so I apologize if it isn't up to par with the others.