I was in trouble. Slowly, VERY slowly, recovering from my previous night hitting the cider with the six ponies whom I had become acquainted with the same day, had heard my thoughts (albeit, I was in a drunken fit of speaking my mind at that moment). My thoughts about my personal opinion of them, which, was less than impressionable, my thoughts of the memories that torment me, my thoughts of distrust, and my personal thoughts about Rarity, which was, again, relatively crude and without kind heart. This was a very poor moment to be hung over, and have reduced clarity in my ability to analyze, strategize, and generally think with clarity. What do I do now? My first idea that leapt to mind was to flee the scene, but I'll keep that plan down the list, as a last resort. How would I talk this out. "I was drunk"? "I didn't know or remember what I was saying"? I couldn't think. My thought process was clouded as the sky during the fallout. I opened my eyes to a slit. They were surrounding me, with worried expressions painted on their mouths and eyes. And, as a side detail, Fluttershy and Rarity also portrayed a level of terror. Rarity, I could care less. But first impression of Fluttershy, was very kind. She has shown the same general level of kindness that I wish I could mimic. At least that was the expression that she wore. To me, this was all too good to be true. They are going to use me, and leave me to the vultures once they got what they wanted. Maybe the pined after the knowledge of a new species, and would run less than pleasant tests on me. Maybe they will become afraid and either lock me up, or get rid of me entirely, which again, for a good while I thought to be not the worst possible scenario. But I block those thoughts as well as is in my human capability, which may be have a fair capacity, but limited, as nature apparently intended. Twilight broke the silence in the manner I honestly would have expected.

"You were..... quite upset about a number of things last night. We are worried about you, Trevor."

"From what I've heard while ya'll were in yer drunken stupor, you got a lot of problems goin' on in that noggin of yers. We wanted to help in any way we can."

Well, I can't deny they did get me into a bed, and with a glass of water nearby. I wouldn't dare say I didn't appreciate that at the time, but again, some part of me doubted it was out of pure kindness and generosity. "Some part", being "every part", I should clarify, in case it hadn't been picked up on yet. Still, at least a thank you was in order.

"Well thanks, ladies. I didn't mean to upset anyone las-"

Wanted. Wanted is past tense, usually implying that some form of action had already been taken. Not good.

"Did you say 'wanted'? I hope you mean "want". You mean 'want' to help, right?"

An odd, uncomfortable look was shared between all of them, which led me to believe I was about to receive upsetting news. Which I was honestly expecting sooner, but it was going to come eventually. I would be lying if I said I handled the situation with a calm, thought out manner.

"What did you do?" Dead silence followed. Even the living heart attack Pinkie Pie wore no joy on her face.

"What. Did. You. Do?"

"There was someone else who wanted to meet you. Someone who can help, maybe even help you figure out how you got here. Someone I trust with all of my heart."

There were quite a quantity of flags being raised in my head. This is either quite good, or unfathomably bad. I had a feeling that this stranger would be the end of my "pleasant" stay here. Or at least have a hand in it.

"I can imagine that you would trust her too. She is Princess Celestia, one of our goddesses. She has wanted to know about you since the second I sent her a letter detailing your arrival. She is a kind and just ruler, and I just KNOW she can help you, with your personal, umm, 'problems', or with figuring out how my might get back to your world."

I was in trouble. Royalty, the rich, and those with excessive power, were NOT to be trusted. They were to be watched from afar, ESPECIALLY in a monarchy or oligarchy. How would I handle this? I had never been in the presence of higher class, no less a Goddess and Princess. Think... think.. think, think think thinkthinkthinkthinkthinkthinkthink- A knock at the door. Applejack answered it with haste, and upon her leaving, I saw a smaller pony attempting to spy on us. Poorly, but I would assume that it was a child of sorts. Well, at the moment my troubles were bigger, as I heard heavy hoofsteps coming down the hall outside of the room I was currently recovering in. VERY, heavy hoofsteps. The sight that awaited me when those weighted steps reached the door horrified me. Two white stallions, wearing stern expressions and what seemed to be very Roman like armor, which I was too worried to ponder on. It didn't help that I was off of my medication, naturally. The one on the left began to speak with a voice of great authority.

"Princess Celestia has requested your audience. Please come with us."

"And if I refuse?" I had to do whatever I could to stop this, or at least buy time for myself to come up with SOME form of game plan. "What if I don't want to see her, or ANY of the one percent you got here? I don't trust those on the top of society, and with good reason."

"It is imperative that you come with us. She needs to know more about you. The public could go into a sort of panic if they know a strange creature that is shown in no books or records arrived with no explanation of how he got here."

Ahhhhh, now THAT, is a reason. Public control. I'm lucky I was found by such a collected bunch, I'll give them that. He was absolutely right, any general public discovering such a thing would be akin to an angel or daemon or something of that nature appearing on Earth. Mass rioting, bickering, hostile debate, a global social nightmare. I was to be on guard ever fraction of a second, but...... I needed to go. I needed to make sure nothing would get out of hand.

"Alright, you got me there. I guess I'm tagging alone. Where are we headed?"

"We will take you to the chariot. Follow us."

I gave a glance back at the six. A mix of concern for my current situation, gratitude for their possibly false intended assistance, and lament for forcing me into such a situation. I rounded the corner. But, I felt something in my head that wasn't pain. What if I never saw them again? I..... didn't know why that was of any concern to me. I had no trust in them. Still, the thought gave me a pain in my heart that I couldn't explain. It felt just like when I think about never seeing my friends and family back home again. This is ludicrous. I've known them for a day. But I had started to take action before I knew I was moving my body. I asked to be excused for one moment. I went back into the room, observing their confused stares. "Sorry, thirsty." I grabbed the water glass, and began to drink. Slowly. Some part of me just wanted to be around them a few moments more. I was so confused. These feelings were completely illogical. And yet, here I was. The water was gone. Honestly I was still thirsty, and contemplated asking for another glass before my departure, but given that there were guards waiting for me that I PROBABLY didn't want to keep waiting. I thanked them all before walking to the door, to which they followed me. As I stepped into the sunlight, which in my current state I could compare to a mag light being held to my eyes, I turned back. I was not aware of my expression at the time, but I spoke in a tone in which I had a guess of how my face looked.

"I'm not sure if I'll ever make it back to see you all again, but if I don't, I want you to know that even though our time was short, I'll miss you all very much." I turned to Rarity. "Even you, ya little priss." Her expression wasn't even offended, more that of an understanding sorrow, which seemed to be donned by everyone else as well. Were their feelings mutual? Couldn't be. I wasn't about to believe they would miss me, why would they? Then again, why would I? I was completely lost. Here I had feelings for people I'd known for a day, and in my own history I had been betrayed horribly by someone I considered the man I could trust the most. Why? Why did that happen? Why is THIS happening? I wanted to spend more time with them, but...

"Sir. We would like to get moving, if you are ready."

"Right."

I decided to do everything in my power to not look behind me. I forced myself. Eyes forward at all times. Just keep walking. Just keep walking......

After something of a five minute walk, we reached a chariot. The armored pegasi led me into the decorative wagon. Of course it looked decadent and extravagant. This was the rich. This was nothing less than exactly what I anticipated. I worked my way inside, the six still on my mind. "So, where are we going exactly?" They pointed upwards (without fingers, naturally), and in that direction I saw a palace. A floating palace. Fear of heights. Oh Lord. I was in trouble. But this was not a situation in which I could turn down. For the sake of the people, I had to press on. They strapped themselves to the vehicle, and we took off (which I thought would be the worst part of the flight... I was incorrect).

Oh dear lord the fright of flight. When I was 13, I was with my dad driving along the freeway on our way back from Monterey. We came up to a large rock formation that was known to my folks as "Rattlesnake Mountain". We decided to climb up a ways, just for the hell of it. I, however, being the young 'un that I was, I continued to climb while he was viewing the scenery on the other side of the freeway. When he saw that I was still climbing, he yelled for me to stop. I pretended not to hear him, and carried on. I was but 5-6 feet from the top when a rock crumbled, and I next saw myself hanging by my left hand 12 stories above a busy freeway. I would imagine that contributes to a small but specific part of my PTSD. I don't do heights, I suppose is the point I'm trying to make. And there I was flying to a castle which rests on the nests of air and levitating water that we call clouds. There was no vomit, but from what I can force myself to remember of that nightmare, there was quite a bit of shaking and more than a moderate amount of shouting profanity (some of it unnecessarily vulgar).

But, that would not be the hellish highlight of the day. We landed upon a strip paved with beautiful light purple and quite well kept bricking. I swear. How much would people pay for rocks, when the Apple family had to sleep in crude wooden cots. I shouldn't grind my teeth, they always say. But if I didn't I might have bit someone. I never looked at the rest of the scenery surrounding the castle, but I'd bet my leg I can tell you exactly what it was. Miniature mansions, golden fences, and massive yards upon which rests thousand dollar toys for kids who would mature to spit in peoples faces. I hate this so much. Words, pictures, even a look inside my own mind cannot express this point enough. My rage acted as side blinders as we approached the gargantuan doors. They do that intentionally to make others feel small. Insignificant. The knocker is bigger than you. You get the idea. Again, I could elaborate what the inside looked like, even without looking anywhere but straight ahead.

Aaaaaannnndddd here we are. The throne room. With a uncannily elongated passage to the thrones themselves. Not for larger meetings (although that too, lets be honest), the real reason was so that you would have to look at them with no emotions except for respect for a good 20 seconds before you can discuss the issue you came to. After bowing, naturally. But, it would not be wise to show any of these ideas through my face, words, or mannerisms. I need to play their game, and maybe this won't take any longer than absolutely necessary. I approach.................... words fail me. I suppose in my best flawed effort I could describe this as what many people back home would consider "divine". An alicorn of snow white fur, golden shoes, and what I will admit to be beautiful, very light purple eyes. It's mane, oh it would take an entire novel to describe her mane. Again, in a pitiful human attempt, a sort of energy. Some form of visible light, of a very fascinating color spectrum flowing like the river near my old house, when the waters were at its calmest. Wait......

That was remarkably similar to the enigmatic figure I saw in that vision before I woke up in this "world", we'll call it for simplicity's sake. The hair of what the mind might invent to be a sort of chakra, swaying like vapor. But the setting was different. That was at night, this was the day. At night she was as dark, somewhat void, and a bit frightening. But at day, she was again, as bright (which I might add something, if you will recall, the darker one had a moon on her flank, this one had a sun), she wore a warm face, and had an aura of a sort of serenity, which fruitlessly attempted to calm me. What was going on? Did this princess live a double life? As I was pondering this, I noted that the second throne was empty. Was it a sort of "Yin Yang" scenario? Did she have another that took on different duties, or was it all the same entity? I forced myself not to concern myself with that until I needed. First, I needed to know what SHE had to say, painful as it was.

"Hello. Trevor was it?"

If I were not focused as I was, I might have mistaken her for my mother. She didn't even sound like my mother, but she had an almost maternal voice. One might familiarize that kind of voice as someone holding you and telling you everything is alright. Now THAT, succeeded in resting my tension, albeit not by much.

"Yes, highness. You are Princess Celestia?"

Again, you gotta play the game to get the points.

"No need for the formalities, though they are appreciated." She said with a warm smile. "I understand you found yourself with no idea why or how you came to get here."

Straight to the point, so far so good.

"Yes, if I could I would tell you exactly where I woke up, but I got no idea what direction I came into Ponyville from. I never got around to getting my hands on a compass."

She didn't seem to change her expression at all. This concerned me. She wore the same...........

It was a knowing smile.

"Well, me and my sister know why you are here. We need you here."

"Say what?"

The tension was back. If someone who controls the sun, and what probably confirmed my earlier idea of a counterpart that dealt with the moon, needed me, I would wager my liver that they had the power to nab me from home. But, grit your teeth, and keep going, I instructed myself.

"We prophesied that a great conflict would arise, and that the Elements of Harmony would not be enough to halt it again. Our books were, however, able to tell us exactly where and who to find, which I find to be odd. I do not recall myself ever recording that."

One question at a time, Almine.

"What's this conflict, first of all?"

Her expression darkened. "Something that seeks to undo order. Something that wants to bring chaos to our world. He is named Discord, and it seems that, although it will take him a while to regain his power, we cannot stop him in the way we did last time."

"You say you saw me in a book, to the letter, but you, who writes them, have no memory of writing it?"

"Yes, it is almost troubling."

"And what are these Elements of Harmony, you mentioned?"

"Loyalty, Honesty, Generosity, Laughter, Kindness, and Magic. I believe that you have already met"

"I only wish I knew those kinds of things where I'm from."

"I wasn't talking about the Elements as though they were only mere ideas."

"Can you explain?"

"To be straight forward, they were the ones that met you first. Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, Twilight Sparkle, and Pinkie Pie all host an element within them."

Sucks to know Rarity is an actual big shot, but, I digress.

"And you say they won't be enough this time."

"Yes. On the pages in which this is all written, there is an illustration of the elements lighting up, as last time. But there is something else there. It seems to be a slot for another element, just above the rest. But I have no idea what it could be. But, according to it, you are that last element."

This baffled me. I represented something they they have, but don't know. At least that was what I could conclude. What was it to be? Before I could question further.....

"I'm sorry, I just received a letter, I must go. My sister will be along later to answer any other questions you may have. I'm sure you understand, I have much responsibility on my shoulders. Show him to his room, please."

She trotted hastily past me, but not before giving me a motherly smile. "Hang in there, we will get you home."

Yeah. After I do what she needed me to. Then she will just be glad to be rid of me. Oh sure, she might say "You are always welcome here!", but I refuse to believe that she would say that if there were no one else around to judge her. I know how these things go down. But if I want out, I gotta do what boss says. I hate the rich and royal.

Author's Note

I was going to run all one long chapter for this one. but I believe it might be TOO long if I did, so I will cut this chapter here.