Chapters Chapter I: Creatures Unknown
Celestia, seeing the unknown creatures coming after her with spinning ropes, whistles and loud voices, decided it was best to run. Her legs carried her off instinctively as the flight response took over. She didn't know where she was nor where she was going. Only that whatever reason they were after her for most surely could be of good. Celestia ran as fast as she could through the lively woods. Trying her best to escape what sounded like thundering hooves and loud voices.
She pushed through the bush, moving and jerking her head to dodge low hanging branches. Jumping over logs and passing by large rocks. She glanced back as she ran and saw the small group catching up to her.
She shook her head and continued to run with her pursuers now closer than before. She galloped as fast as she could but the unknown creatures merely smacked the backsides of their horses as they tried to keep up. Pushing the horses to go even farther.
Celestia looked behind her and saw that they were close on her tail. Panicking, she made a sharp turn and managed to trip up one her closer pursuers. The others continued on as she paid no mind to the happenings in the back. Hopping over fallen logs as she ran through the clear woods. It was too late to hide and she knew not where to go. It was only a moment of time before her legs would give out from exhaustion. She continued to run as it was all she could muster but focusing so much what was directly ahead, she failed to notice what was beneath her hooves.
Celestia tripped up on a fallen log and with a solemn sound fell on the side of her body. Trying to quickly recollect herself, she switly made her way up and gathered herself back on her hooves. Eventually starting back up her sprint.
But before she could even muster the speed that she had carried before, something latched itself around her neck. The sudden thrust of the rope caused her to trip downward and the tightness of it made her choke. She hit the ground harshly on her side. Her face wincing at the pain the impact had caused. Ropes begun to fling at her in all directions across her legs as she laid. Unable to get up due to the stinging pain to her side. As she slowly opened her eyes, vision hazed, she begun to make out certain figures.
There before her stood what seemed to be that of three to four horses but as squinted her eyes, she noticed something odd about it. Three of the the horses had what sat upon them, creatures she had never seen before. They were not apart of the horse but instead, sat upon them as she saw their appendages dangled on the sides. One however, caught her attention the most. The creature that held her ropes that tied her muzzle was not sitting on top of horse but seemed part of it. Its upper half resembling closely to the others.
It had long hair that draped to its shoulders and an eye patch that stretched across the left side of its face. It had a small bag wrapped around the bottom of its torso.
She felt the ropes around her yank and forcefully pull her up. Her face showing all the concrete signs of anxiety.
"Careful now men! Do not injure it! We need this one in pristine condition!" the half horse creature proclaimed.
"Yeah yeah we know!"
"Two in one day?" one of them spoke. "Now that's rarity in its self."
"More rarer than simply finding one that is for sure."
"Who are you?!"
The five unknown creatures stood back wide eyed and was stunned by Celestia's sudden outburst. Their heads turning to look at one another puzzled. Celestia gazed at them wearily, eyes darting around from one figure to another as she tried to make out their next reaction. Ears up and alert with head hung low.
"I-It can speak? What type of witchcraft!"
"A horse that can speak...do you think the other can do so as well?"
"Probably." one of the other creatures answered. "Never came across something like this before."
"This is interesting. I would give us a pat on the back for not only catching two winged unicorns in a single day but one , at least, that can speak!" it smiled.
The others let out a deep and bellowing laugh that reminded her of how the stallions sounded back home. She came to quick conclusion, by their deep sounding voices and loose masculinity that they were male in reasoning. This caused her to be slightly more frightened and concerned by her predicament. But in truth, she was unsure of what or how to feel.
"What do you want with me?"
"We don't want anything with you. However..." he smiled and looked to his partner that sat on top of a horse. "Our ruler does." He gripped tighter onto the rope as it was wrapped around both his strong and thick wrist.
"Your...ruler?"
"Yes. Our ruler."
"What does your ruler want with me?"
"Nothing in particular. Your going to be something special. A gift for her from us. She always wanted a winged unicorn."
"Something special?"
The male smirked. "Mmhm. Your going to be her birthday gift ."`
Chapter II: Walk with Strangers
Celestia kept her head hung low as she looked to the ground. There was nothing but silence between the men and herself as they continued along their way.
'I wonder how Luna is doing...is she even here?'
"You know..."
Celestia jolted her head up at the silence being broken.
"I was wondering..." one of the men who were riding a horse spoke. "You think her majesty will give us a promotion? Maybe even a raise?"
"Hardly." one of the half-horse creatures spoke. "You live in her palace servant . Why would she give you a promotion nonetheless a raise?"
"Well, we did manage to catch two winged unicorns in just two days. We gotta get something for that!"
"Don't count on it."
'Two winged unicorns? If I am one of them...are they talking about Luna?'
"E-excuse me." Celestia spoke.
The creatures immediately stopped and looked back at her. Causing her to swallow a lump of nervousness down her throat.
"You've stated that you caught another winged unicorn is that correct?"
One of the men raised an eyebrow. "Yes...?"
"How did they l-look?"
"It had a dark blue coat with a light blue mane."
"That and a moon sign on it's flank."
Celestia's eyes grew wide. 'Luna...!'
"If you don't mind me...asking, do you know where she is? Where you are keeping her?"
The half-horse creature raised an eyebrow. She took notice how he seemed to be the biggest of them all. "Is it of importance?"
Celestia hung her head down low. "Y-yes." she spoke. "The winged unicorn you all are describing. Is my sister."
The half-horse male looked to his comrade. "Is that so?"
"Me and my sister are not from this world."
"Wait...what?"
Celestia closed her eyes and sighed. "It is one of the reasons we can speak."
The men eyed her intensely. "You want us to believe this? You sure that you are not just a result of magic?"
Celestia blinked at the man's reproach. "M-magic? You know of magic?"
"Of course. There are those who practice it. Most are prominent in the Umbram Caverns."
"The Umbram what?"
"Never mind." he shook his head. "You want us to believe that your a magical talking winged unicorn from another world?"
"What I am saying is the truth. I have no idea what this world is or what you all even are. Me and my sister were cast here after she....she..." Celestia closed her eyes as she attempted to hold back the tears. Gritting her teeth in the process.
"She what?" he took note of Celestia's expression. "This is obviously causing you a great amount of distress. The last thing I need for my highness to see is a crying present. That would make an awful birthday gift."
Celestia stood quiet.
"Come now. We must continue. Presents will be opening by nightfall. It will take us some time to reach the capital."
"Now, I'll take your story on how your from another world into account. Albeit with a grain of salt. Our world can be a peculiar place and since there is no record on talking 'winged unicorns' or equines period, your story may hold a bit of truth. Now, as to answer you on what we are..." the man spoke. "You see those men riding on the horses?" he pointed to one. "They are 'humans' ."
"Humans?"
"Yes. Humans. They walk on two legs and come in different shapes and sizes but all share the same basic features."
"But then, may I ask, what are you?"
"I am like them but the exception is that I am half horse as you can see. People like me are called 'centaurs' "
"Is that so?"
"In this world we have diffrent races but all are pretty much a variation of the basic race 'humans'."
Celestia blinked. "There are more than one or two races?"
"Yes. A total of nine I believe. There are Humans and centaurs to which I've described, Mermaids who are half human and fish and live in the sea, fairies who are small versions of humans and have wings, elves who are basically humans who have pointy ears, anthros who have animal characteristics, Sphinx who are sometimes born with wings and are half lion and human, nephillim who are winged humans and finally hybrids who are mixed between more than one race."
Celestia gave a blank stare and blinked. "That is...a lot to remember."
"Isn't it? Well, if your a newcomer than I guess that's too be expected. I, on the other hand has lived here my whole life so its not for me."
"Your world is very diverse...like my own." Celestia gave a small smile.
The centaur crossed his arms. "It is isn't it? But it can also be a very cruel place."
Celestia hung her head down low. "Is that so."
"We'll be approaching the borders of the kingdom soon but in a little while we'll be stopping for a lunch break. We'll give you something to eat if you are hungry." He gave a side glance to Celestia. "...fatten you up a little." he mumbled.
"If you don't mind may I have your name?"
"Alexander. Alexander Brave."
"Alexander..." Celestia blindly repeated. Not use to such odd sounding names on her tongue.
"Is there something wrong with it?"
"N-no! Not at all! Thank you."
Alexander gave a snort. "Your welcome." and with that, made his way to the front of the group with the ropes that tied her muzzle still in hand.
The small group stopped by a stream. Unhooking and packing their things from their horses as they chatted. Celestia, seeing as her ropes no longer had a hand on them, contemplated escape but quickly shook the thought from her head as it was practically impossible. Not with all these men around. Trying to escape would certainly be a failure and only Faust knows what was out here. She instead took the opportunity to slowly make her way to the stream. She looked into it desperately wanting a drink after her failed run but couldn't bring herself to drink it.
"Whats wrong?"
Celestia looked up. It was Alexander. "Nothing. It's just...." She listened to the men in the background chatting and drinking albeit with boisterous laughter covering much of what she heard.
"Just ...?"
"I am not use to drinking like an-an..."
"Animal?"
"Yes."
"But you yourself is one? Dip your head down and drink."
"I know that. Not like an uncivilized animal."
Alexander busted into laughter. "An uncivilized animal? What animal is civilized?"
Celestia gave him an annoyed face. "In my world , ponies are civilized creatures with civilized habits. We do not lap water from lakes and ponds. It is handed to us and drunken from a cup."
"Is that so?" Alexander gave a snide smile. "Well, good luck trying to get any one to treat you as civilized. What they see is an animal. Not a civilized one."
"Are there no animals that speak in this world?"
"Nope. The only animals that can speak are that of a dragon that was an old tale here. Any other animal that speaks is almost always a result of magic. And even then, they cannot form coherent of intelligent sentences. That's what makes you so special at least." Alexander walked towards one of the men horses as Celestia stared him on. "I'll humor you." He opened a bag that hung on one of them and grabbed a small bowl.
He made his way towards the stream next to her and dipped the bowel into the water. Scooping it up until full. "Here." He handed her the bowl. He watched as her horn caught aglow. Taking the bowl from his hand as it was wrapped around a thin firmament of yellow magic.
His eyes widened. "Is that...magic?"
"Yes." she stated. The bowl floating in front of her.
"So, you can use it by your horn? Is it capable of more than just healing?"
"Yes. What gives you the idea that it can heal?"
"Unicorns in this world are said to be able to use their horn to heal people. That is all they can do from what I can understand. I merely assumed based on my understandings you can do the same."
"No. I am capable of both healing and attacking and minimal tasks such as these."
"I'm sure that comes in handy..." Alexander squinted his eyes. Taking note on how she stated that her horn may and can be used as a weapon. "As for the 'attacking' part, I recommend you keep that to yourself. We really don't want to give our a queen a dead horse."
"Celestia furrowed her eyebrows and raised one. "Was that a threat?"
Alexander smiled. "Maybe."
After that, he took his leave. Settling himself down nearby the stream as he filled his canister up with water. Taking some of it to wipe his face and the back of his neck. Celestia continued on with drinking from the bowel until it was finished. She made her way back to Alexander with it.
"Thank you."
"Your welcome. You can set it down right here."
Celestia floated the bowl down next to him.
"Why don't you tell me of this world of yours? Is it filled with magical talking civilized ponies such as yourself.?"
"No. We have many different races such as your own world."
"Like...?"
"Griffons, Kirin, Sphinxes, Dragons...."
"We have those creatures here."
"You do?"
"Yes. With the exception of the sphinxes, the others act like any other wild beast. But I'm guessing that these same animals are much more intelligent in your world?"
"Yes. Especially the griffons. They were one of the first advanced civilizations before we ponies came along. They had a large empire though militant."
"Sound's similar to our's. Your world, if it exists that is, sounds interesting. Maybe we should have teleported to your world sooner to get our queen some winged unicorns."
Celestia looked at him from the corner of her eye. "You wouldn't even live to do so."
Alexander, with arms cross, glanced at her. "Even a regal horse I guess can carry a snakes tongue."
"Besides, Me and my sister along with two others are the only winged unicorns in our world anyway."
"Is that so? Why so few?"
"Its a long story to tell. Lets just say that there was a great war between two races. Mine, the winged unicorns and the powerful draconi. Dragon like creatures with a lot of power."
"How sad." Alexander responded with a stoic expression. "Guess going to your world wouldn't be wise anyway."
"Alexander sir!"
