Hands and Hooves

I didn’t know how or when it had happened, but…

I was home.

I couldn’t believe it. I was back in my hometown, in the middle of nowhere. My breath was heavy and I began to feel light headed while my chest was starting to ache as the feels I managed to keep on hold became too strong. The cold breeze of the mountains, the green forests around, and the birds chirping happily… it was home. I looked around and ran to my house and bumped into the door, opening it in the process. There weren’t any neighbors around, so we didn’t need to shut the door completely.

‘I’m… I’m back?’ I thought, too stunned for what my eyes were seeing. I ran upstairs to the living room and there she was, looking at me with a warm smile…

My mother.

I began to cry silently and ran to hug her. She welcomed me opening her own arms and hugged me tightly. Then I noticed that my head was barely at her chest… I was still a half-pony. This was only a dream… I cried on her chest as she was hugging me.

“Shh… it’s alright…” She said in a caring tone.

“Mom… I… I thought…” I barely said, sobbing like a little kid.

“I know dear…” She replied

“How…?” I asked, sobbing a bit with a jagged breathing. Her smile deflated a bit.

“You aren’t here dear. Can’t you tell? I’m at home, but you are still out there…” She explained. I just stared at her with watery eyes. “This is a dream, and we are both sleeping” She said, and then chuckled a bit “Look at you… my little baby is now a fluffy horse” she said, ruffling my mane. My face went red and managed to chuckle a bit even when I was still crying.

“Mom… I’m… I’m not a baby anymore… I’m a pony” I explained, she just hugged me more.

“You will always be my little baby…” She simply replied. We stood there, hugging each other for what looked like hours before she pulled me gently and cleaned the tears from my face. “Now why is my valiant knight is crying? It seems you’ve found yourself an adventure” She said smiling at me.

“But… I’m in another world, and it’s all so strange and… I…”

“Now what is that? You’ve never hesitated before, even when the odds were clearly against you son” She asked me.

I looked down to the floor “But… I’m not human anymore mom. I don’t know what I am…I don’t even know if I can return home…” I said, crying again. She picked my chin and made me look straight at her hazel eyes.

“I know what you are… you are my son, and you’ve always made me proud of you. You look like a pony… so what? What matters is here…” She pointed at my heart “…and believe me, I can’t tell if you are my son or not, and you are, as you always have been. Where you are doesn’t matter” She hugged me tightly “Never doubt of yourself, and trust your heart. It will lead you to the right path” She said “I’m glad to know that you are alright, but I think someone is trying to wake you up, so we must say goodbye for now son” She looked at my eyes again and her smile grew wider. “You know that now your eyes are now blue like the sky? Now they show your true soul… Never change, my son, and believe in yourself” She said, as the dream began to crumble into mist. I tried to hold her but she just vanished like everything else around me.

After the dream world just disappeared I was standing over space… or something like that. I dried my tears and waited like forever to something to happen.

“So… what now? I thought I was going to wake up right now…” I said out loud.

It was dark and I couldn’t see anything around me… until two sparks appeared; two bright orbs of some kind of luminescent substance, one of them was deep blue as the sea, and the other one was a mixture of colors, like a blob of rainbow. As I approached them I could see two figures surrounded by darkness, their forms barely recognizable and each one standing behind the sparks. Behind the blue one was standing the figure of a human and behind the other one a pony on all fours.

“The spirit of Terra and the spirit of Equus…” said a woman’s voice out of nowhere. “Choose wisely…”

‘What the fuck…? I have played enough Kingdom Hearts to know where this is going…’ I thought. Of course I would associate an odd situation with a video game. Bad habits die hard. Not that I minded though.

I just stared at the blobs a good five minutes, but they didn’t do anything except be bright and ethereal. I decided to approach the blue one, the Spirit of Terra. When my hand was near I could feel an odd energy inside my arm. It was like raw energy, it pumped in me a fighting spirit and determination. The feel faded away as I retracted my arm.

“Huh… that’s interesting, let’s see the Spirit of Equus now…” I said

When I got my hand near the rainbow blob I felt very energized, pure magic running through my veins… but also a sense of peace and… harmony? It was hard to describe. After the testing I looked at each spark, and then ahead of the figures. A human and a pony… but… something wasn’t right.

“I’m both, so why not both of them?” I said out loud to myself. I extended both arms and grabbed both orbs. A strange feeling of accomplishment filled my soul as the sparks were absorbed and I was left again in darkness.

“Such an interesting choice” She same female voice said, and the dark dissipated, showing a night landscape. I could see the city of Canterlot at the distance. A tall pony, who looked a bit like Celestia, but with a red, normal mane and a light colored coat stood near me. “As interesting as you, young pony”

“Who are you?” I asked her bluntly.

“Don’t worry about that, right now I am here because of your little predicament and I’m going to help you with some explanation about your situation. You are stuck in your actual form, and as you already know as well, you can manage certain abilities not known to Earth Ponies” She explained “That is because you aren’t one, but neither a pegasus nor a unicorn. You spirit wasn’t in resonance with your body until now. Now that your soul isn’t fighting itself you can…”

“Wait, wait… My soul was fighting itself?” I asked her, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes… you are from Terra, and your spirit didn’t adapt to our magic-filled world, Equus, as was intended with the runic portal. You could have died, maybe not now or tomorrow, but in time. You are an accident, Flaming Will, with all the consequences”

“Gee… way to work my self-confidence…” I replied a bit offended. She just chuckled.

“You know that I didn’t say that in a hurtful tone. Anyway, now that your soul is healed from its inner fight your spirit shines with its own light, and you can survive here, or any other magic world in fact, because you will simply add a bit of it to you” She said. I scratched my head a bit.

“I… think I understand… more or less?” I replied.

“Good” She said, a smile forming on her face “I don’t want to sound hasty, but we are short of time. As I said before you aren’t a ‘complete’ pony, and I’m offering you a choice” She said. Her horn glowed, showing three emblems floating on its own. One resembled an earth pony, one a pegasus, and one a unicorn.

“In time you will master your abilities to an extent. Maybe you can’t be as strong or as powerful as some gifted ponies… But you will probably be a bit more proficient than the average pony, if you train hard and work for it. Now, I can offer you the essence of one of the three pony races, so you will be at least capable of the same things as other ponies can do. You can call it… a welcoming gift to Equus and Equestria.” She explained with a smile “I saw your physical test and it was… not amusing I’m afraid. Right now you are far below the average pony in every aspect, physically speaking”

I just shrugged “Well yeah, right? I read that they have like magic enhancements to their physical strength and stuff. I’m just an average man. A very unimpressive one if I might add”

“That’s why I am here. You can choose the resilience and strength of the Earth Ponies, the speed and agility of the Pegasi, or the magical power and skill of the Unicorns” She said, pointing at each emblem while doing so.

I pondered mere seconds and picked the pegasi emblem.

“You know that you aren’t going to grow wings, right? She said. “Why the pegasi powers?” She asked

“That’s easy. A boost to my agility will give me a bonus to attack and evasion rates, improving my defense and attack as if I were stronger or more resilient, and with improved velocity I can quit front lines with ease and cast spells at the back lines, while evading attacks easily. I mean, this is like an all-in-one! I’ve played enough RPGs to know that these kinds of boosts are the best suited for me” I explained, in a dead-serious tone.

I can swear that, in that precise moment, the whole universe facepalmed.

“I…I see. It’s… an interesting way to put it. Then, if you are sure…” She said.

“I’m sure. I pick this one” I said, showing her the emblem. It dispersed on tiny orbs of energy and flew to my chest, giving me a warm feeling. ‘Huh, always a warm touch, eh? Why not cold? Cold isn’t bad… right?’ I thought.

“Then it’s time to go” She said, turning her back to me.

“Wait!”

“Yes?” She said.

“It was you… did you connect my dream with my mother’s dream?” I asked. She nodded.

“These kinds of accidents with gateways to other realities aren’t supposed to happen. Take it as… an apology.”

I was crying again, but with a smile on my face

“Thank you…”

“Enjoy your stay in Equus, Flaming Will…”

“Will! Will! Wake up!” A concerned Twilight said, shaking the crap out of me.

“Hey! What’s the big idea? Ugh, now I’m dizzy…” I said, holding my head, my eyes spinning on their sockets. I looked around and saw Luna, Celestia and Twilight around, with variable degrees of worry on their faces. I just reacted the way my brain knows.

“Who died?” I asked in a bored tone. They stared at me with blank expressions.

“Sorry, it’s a joke, because you look as if somebody has just died” I said with a small smirk. Twilight smacked me right in the neck.

“Aw, what the hell? What was that for?” I asked her.

“That was a very bad and disgusting joke. How can you just say ‘Who died?’ and expect us to take it as a joke?” Twilight said frowning at me.

“He he…um… by saying it?” I said. “OK, I get it. No morbid jokes around you. Too bad if you ask me, because I know some good ones… Anyway why are you all gathered here?” I asked, frowning a bit.

“We sensed a strong magic building up here and we came post haste” Said Luna “We thought that you might be in danger”

“Nah, I’m far too disposable to be in danger… probably” I said, dismissing that with my hand. “I had some weird dreams though. A very trippy one and…uh…” My voice cracked at there and I closed my eyes, breathing slowly trying to calm myself as the memory of the dream was still strong enough to hurt my feelings. I managed at some extent but silent tears rolled down my face.

“Will, are you alright?” Celestia asked. I sniffed and cleaned my tears.

“Yeah… It’s just that one of the dreams… I dreamed about home… and my mother…”I sniffed again “It’s hard, you know? Knowing that it would be impossible to return, or if I return my life will be completely changed… But I’ll survive…” I said, looking to my hands, recalling holding my mother in them inside the dream. I felt a tug at my side and when I looked, it was Twilight who just hugged me.

“It must be terrible to be away from your family.” She said in a sad tone “You have us here, and we will try to help you Will”

I was too emotionally beaten to reply and push her away, so I just remained silent. After noticing that I was a bit tense Twilight eased the hug. “It’s something wrong, Will?”

“N-nothing. I’m just not used to being hugged by… hum… anypony” I said, shifting uncomfortably. She retreated and sat back where she was with a sheepish smile.

“I forgot, sorry. Ponies around here are more…”

“Open to body contact? Back home people are used to that too. It’s just me. I don’t like to be surrounded by people or ponies” I said, cleaning the tears off my face. I noticed that my shirt was nowhere to be seen, I probably tossed it during night and I couldn’t remember where.

“We can talk about that later, for now I think we must go and take the morning with a good breakfast. Usually a good meal helps to raise the spirits… and fills the stomach” Celestia said to us with a smile, and we all nodded. I jumped out of the bed, with my pants still on from yesterday, my chest uncovered and my hair running wild without its usual restraint. Twilight looked at me and giggled.

“You should comb your mane first” She said. I looked at her with my eyes now covered with a good ‘chunk’ of wild mane. My spiky mane ran wild down to my waist, from front and behind, making me look like Tarzan… but with more hair. I just smirked and looked at Luna.

“Luna, do you mind if I go as I am right now?” I asked her. She shook her head. I then asked the same to Celestia, with the same reply. “See? They don’t mind” I smiled smugly. “So… Onwards to the dining hall!” I said as I jumped to the door… just to crash against it. “…Why didn’t you tell me that the door was closed?” I asked, holding my snout in pain while they laughed.

“So… this nameless alicorn gave you the essence of one of the three pony races?” asked Twilight, just a bit after arriving at the dining hall. I explained to her and to the princesses about the strange dream during the walk. They weren’t as skeptical as I had thought, but very interested and had a couple of theories by themselves.

“Yeah, at least she said that in the dream. I don’t feel different, though” I replied, inspecting my arms and tail.

“But something has changed about you. Your aura feels different somehow” Said Luna. I just shrugged. This magic thing was new to me, so I was barely understanding the half of it.

“It’s good, I suppose. I mean, what doesn’t kill me makes me stronger, right?” I said with a smirk “So for now, I’ll be concerned about eating! ‘Cause I’m starving…”

“Ah can agree to that!” said Applejack, making appearance with the rest of the mares of yesterday. They sat at the table and started to talk a bit, until a loud gasp came from Rarity.

“Dear, what happened to your mane?” She asked me. I just picked my hair and looked at it with interest.

“Uh… nothing? It always looks like this, why do you ask?” I said with an innocent smile, while Twilight was giving me an ‘I told you so’ look.

“But it is all disheveled and unkempt!” She replied. I laughed a bit.

“Nope, it’s just naturally styled” I said, while making an exaggerated gesture of styling my hair, moving my forelocks upwards with my hand, showing a playful look in my blue eyes and wiggling my eyebrows just a bit before the hair went down again. Rarity looked very displeased while Applejack and Rainbow Dash were snickering. Twilight decided to enter the conversation.

“Anyway, I would like to know more about you, Flame. I mean, yesterday we talked a bit about your world but you never talked about yourself” She said. I just shrugged.

“What do you want to know?” I asked her.

“What about your job?” She replied. I nodded, and also the servants served the breakfast just as I started to talk.

“That’s an easy one. I am a geographer” I said simply, taking a bit of the food. They stared at me a bit.

“So… you made maps and that stuff? That’s so uncool,” said Rainbow Dash. I just chuckled.

“No, I was in the fields all the time. Gathering data and that stuff. That’s why I ended up here. I was with a team exploring an uncharted area of the biggest rainforest on my world when I found an ancient temple by pure luck and I activated something… and here I am,” I explained a bit. “It was my first real job too. I did odd jobs from time to time, but I was focusing more on my studies than other things. I just finished my career, and getting to work on a project that big was the chance of a lifetime!”

“So ya don’t have any experience in any work? Ya jus’ were all studyin’?” asked Applejack.

“Maybe I am an adult but back on my world the period of learning takes from 3 years old to 16, in the most cases. A lot of people like to take on more studies and carry on with bachelor grades and finally, the careers… at least from where I am. If you like investigation you can apply for a doctorate, but I liked to work so I just lived with that.” I said “So answering your question, yes, but because I was learning to do a specific job, and I needed to study to be able to do it”

“And what do you like? Uh… you don’t have to answer if you don’t want…” Asked Fluttershy. I just shrugged.

“No problem, Fluttershy. Let me think…” I tapped my chin a bit “I love videogames, reading… and eating. I have a lot of hobbies too but I think that sums it all up in a simple way without stepping into specific things” I replied.

“So you don’t like to hang out with your friends or go to parties?” asked Pinkie. I just looked at my food with a blank expression before answering her question.

“I… uh don’t like parties very much, yeah… and I need friends to hang out with in the first place, right?” I said, and smirked a bit “I have a couple of very close friends, but they live on the other side of my world so I wasn’t able to see them daily when I was there, or even often. But it’s ok; I’ve always lived on my own more or less, with the help of my family of course. It’s better to be alone than being in bad company” I said as a matter-of-fact, and it was for me. Pinkie gasped loudly when the others looked uncomfortable, Twilight and the princesses looked like if they realized something.

“You dislike parties and like to be alone?! But everypony loves to have friends and go to parties!” Pinkie said nearly yelling, I grimaced a bit.

“Well, I don’t dislike all parties, I just don’t like crowds of people, and parties tend to be crowded with them” I stated simply. Pinkie looked at first very thoughtful but then she quickly recovered, smiling mischievously. I finished my breakfast quickly, wanting to end the awkward conversation, and sat up.

“I think I’m going to pick up my things. Not wanting to sound ingrate or eager princesses… but you have already made my living arrangements, right?” I said with a sheepish smile and lowering my ears.

“Don’t worry, and yes, it is all prepared. You will depart to Ponyville and live there under the tutelage of the Elements of Harmony. We cannot watch over you at the castle, and even so, we need our time to look for a way to establish a link to your homeworld, so I thought that you will be better with somepony who I can trust. I will see you at the train station, we must take care of some business before you depart” Celestia said with a nod. I nodded as well, understanding her reasoning.

“Very well, I’ll be ready soon” I replied, walking to my temporary room.

The trip was uneventful, and in a couple of minutes my hair (Or is it my mane now? It’s so confusing) was styled with my trademark ponytail and I was dressed as I always was, with a simple dark-green t-shirt and jeans. When I placed all my belongings inside my bag I decided to take a look at myself again. My hair resembled one of those anime guys, all spiky and that, and I liked it a lot. It also moved on its own…  I mean that I tried to put down the “spikes” on my hair but they just jumped out again and again, so I just shrugged and walked to the main hall, with that guard guiding me. ‘Seriously, I should invite him to a drink or something. He’s almost my bodyguard’

“Hey, guard” I asked him, he just turned his head a bit, “Are you part of some kind of military or you are just the guards of the princesses?” I asked him, he just complied and, on the way out of the castle, he explained to me how the Royal Guard worked, the two different branches, serving under either Luna or Celestia, and a brief description of the corps and their duties. The way out was oddly short and soon we were looking out at Canterlot.

The girls were all gathered outside the main entrance when I walked out of the castle, taking a look of the surroundings and feeling the chilly breeze.

“It must be autumn or winter here, right?” I asked, sniffing the air and looking to the skies. “…and it’s going to rain soon it seems”

“How can you know? And yes, in fact the Running of the Leaves will be soon” Said Twilight. ‘Huh, that must be some kind of festivity’ I thought.

“I can tell because I’ve learned how to read the cloud patterns and to know how the air smells in most meteorological situations. For example, in summer the air smells more li-OOOF!” I was saying before being interrupted by a white unicorn with blonde mane that just bumped me, making me fall flat on my ass.

“Who dares to…? Who is this whelp?” The unicorn said, looking at me with a disgusted expression “Watch your way, commoner. I have no time for the likes of you” He said. The mares were looking at him with sternly but he just huffed and walked away. I got up and looked to him with a hateful expression. ‘Great, a royal pain in the ass now has something against me, well then fuck him sideways with a chainsaw…’ I thought.

“Fucking moron…” I mumbled “Let’s go, we need to catch a train”

Fluttershy looked at me with a concerned look on her face.

“That wasn’t very nice… I mean… he was mean to you but you shouldn’t be the same…” She said to me while we were walking to the train station. I just frowned and continued to walk.

“Maybe you are right. I don’t want to sound… um… like an asshole but I really don’t care if it’s wrong or right. Thanks for the advice though” I replied, sounding emotionless about the topic. ‘I don’t like people or ponies who try to lecture me as if they are better than me’ I thought bitterly. I must confess that I have had (and still have) problems with keeping my temper in check and I am easily offended when someone was questioning my actions or thoughts without asking. I wasn’t mad with Fluttershy at all; I just didn’t like that kind of comments.

“Oh sorry… I didn’t mean to upset you…” said Fluttershy, looking away from me. I just sighed.

“I am not upset, believe me” I replied her. The other mares were trying to be subtle while they were listening to us, but they weren’t very good at it. I just rolled my eyes and continued walking. They took a bit of distance and began to talk between them. I laughed mentally at that. ‘It’s obvious that I am a disruption factor and they need to find a way to locate me in their lives’ I sighed at that and looked at the sky ‘I hate to be a bother. Yesterday they were just a bunch of unknown mares but now they are like my legal tutors or something… Seriously, at the first chance I must get a job and buy a house or rent one to be on my own again… But I don’t know the cost of anything here… Damn I need to read and learn a lot first if I want even to survive here… then again I don’t even know if they have a library in Ponyville…’

I stuffed my hands in my pockets and walked grumpily, not talking to anypony on the way to the station. I looked at the buildings around me with almost no interest at all, just taking note on the styles and quality of them (Bad habit from urbanism and history classes). Canterlot looked like it was from a Victorian story, a place with a lot of culture and a lot of snobs. So I naturally took a mental note to myself: evade Canterlot at all costs.

Soon, we arrived at the station, and that brought me a small and sincere smile. Maybe I was a total gamer and nerd, but also I just loved electronics and machinery, and the old trains from the industrialization era were simply an impressive marvel to watch in movement. Of course I saw a lot of steam-powered trains in museums, but looking at one in movement was a pleasure I didn’t enjoy back at home. I brought a hand to my mouth, muffling my chuckles about the silly design of the exterior. ‘I didn’t know that they were ways to make a steam machine look… childish. But… I stand corrected’

“Hello again, my little ponies” said Celestia, suddenly emerging from the station and startling me. ‘Holy shit! How can she be so sneaky if she is that big?’ I thought. She just chuckled at my reaction. “Sorry, I couldn’t resist the chance. There are not many ways to have fun when one is surrounded by work and servants, right?” She said with a wink “Oh, but that was not why I am here. Take this with you, Will” Celestia pulled out of nowhere some kind of scroll with her crest on it. “It is the document necessary to credit your citizenship. From this day forth you are a full citizen of Equestria, and you are welcome to come and pay a visit anytime you want. Canterlot can be very boring and stressing sometimes” She said with a gentle smile. I took the scroll with care and looked at her.

“Wow… I mean… To acquire this kind of document in my world, you have to pass through a bureaucratic shitstorm first…” I said as I was really impressed and grateful. Celestia laughed and smirked.

“I know. Maybe because I’m the princess I was able to get them in record time… if you know what I mean” She said, moving her eyebrows playfully. I laughed hard at that, and soon Celestia joined, earning odd stares from the other six mares.

“Gee… Now I feel pretty bad. You are doing all of this for a stranger without asking something in exchange” I said, turning my ears down and scratching the back of my head. Celestia put her hoof on my shoulder and smiled.

“Do not worry. Friends help each other Will. And we are friends, right?” Celestia said. I didn’t know what to say, I just stared at her and nodded slowly, my expression unreadable. Celestia just chuckled. “Why so surprised? Just accept our help, and please try to enjoy your life here. I need to go for now, my little ponies. Farewell and safe travel back to Ponyville”

Celestia flapped her wings and teleported away nearly as quick as she appeared, confusing the group of ponies and just making me far more interested in magic than before. I shrugged and looked at them.

“So…. All aboard the train?”

Once aboard they sat and talked about things not relevant enough to my interests, so I sat on one of the empty seats and looked the scenery through the window, biting and playing with a golden cross. Let me explain. I always wear a gold chain with a golden cross, a gift from my mother, and I had the bad habit of biting it whenever I was nervous. The poor thing was a bit disfigured by my biting, but it was recognizable. It was a partial solution to biting my nails, and right now my hands didn’t have any. But of course, it was a matter of time before somepony had the need to talk to me.

“What is that thing that you are biting?” Asked Twilight, appearing from the door of the caboose and a bit confused to why I was doing such a thing. I looked to her without moving my head.

“It’s a gold cross” I said simply.

“Why are you biting it? I think that gold objects are supposed to be used as jewelry or other kinds of fashion articles, not as stress-relievers.” She replied, still looking at the cross, now resting on my chest. “It looks like some kind of pendant”

“Well, because it is” I said to her, drying the cross with my shirt and showing her “It’s like a pendant. This is a religious symbol, and it was a gift to me from someone very special to me. That’s why I always have this on me. And yes, I use it as a stress-reliever when I bite it.”

“That doesn’t make any sense! Why would you bite a religious symbol? And what kind of symbol is it, anyways? What is the name of your religion? Oh, where is my quill and ink when I need them?” She said, starting to look a bit flustered and excited. I just rolled my eyes.

“Well I don’t have religion, but the name of the one represented by this symbol is called Christianity. And for why I bite it… I used to have nails, so it was better to bite this than myself” I said, shrugging and observing how she was levitating quill and paper and started to write. ‘Damn, THAT is a nice magic trick. I need to learn that’

“Oh! And why it is called that? What are the principles of that religion? What…” I interrupted her by putting my hand over her mouth, muffling her voice.

“Sorry, I am not going to debate religion with a pony. You can ask about anything else, but not about that. I don’t want to expand the influence of any religion of my world here, something tells me that it would be… bad. On the other hand I will be more than pleased to debate philosophy, if you want” I said to her. Her eyes grew wide and her grin was a bit unnerving ‘How she is looking at me it’s … unsettling…’ I thought, starting to be a bit nervous.

“Oh! I want to arrive to Ponyville right now! I have a lot of questions about you and your world! Oh and you can ask me too! We can learn so much from each other!” She said to me, her face too close to me to be comfortable with it. I just pushed her back gently.

“Eh… yeah, I’m sure, but please, go totally nuts about alien stuff just a bit farther away, ok?” I asked her. She understood and sat again on her seat, chuckling a bit.

“Ah yes, that ‘Vital Space’ thing you have. You need to be more open, Will. If you push out everypony you will have problems with friends.” She said with a smile that screamed ‘I know what I’m talking about, bud’, but I just shrugged and looked back to the window.

“You said that as if I was concerned about friends. If someone… hum… somepony wants to know me then that somepony only needs to ask.” I replied to her, manipulating my cross with my hand “That doesn’t mean that I’ll befriend anypony who just talks to me” I looked at her eyes, and I saw that she was indeed listening very carefully. “I don’t want to be or sound rude, but all of you aren’t ‘friends’ to me yet. I don’t use the word ‘Friend’ lightly, and when I call someone ‘Friend’ it’s because I mean it, and it must be earned” I just sighed and looked away from her lavender eyes. “All of you are pretty good in my book, and you are even going to watch over me for no good reason at all. That means a lot to me, trust me, but… it’s not enough yet. I need know you more to call you my friends… I hope you can understand” I said, looking back to the window. I needed to say that to her. It was obvious that they had a different concept or extent of friendship, and I didn’t want any misunderstanding. I distrust anyone by default reaction since I was a teenager, and I was not going to change that anytime soon.

“I… think I understand, and I respect that” She said, her smile growing a bit “You know, I also thought that friendship was a silly thing, but I learned that friendship had something… something magical… and it was the beginning of a great chapter of my life. We all just need our time to see it, Will.” She said, trotting away to the rest of them, leaving me with my mind. I sat as comfortably as I could and started to doze off, trying to make up my mind about today’s events so far.

I, apparently, had my soul ripping itself apart but now it was fixed? What’s up with that? Anyway, I had a ‘new’ and improved soul, some kind of pegasus agility as far as I know and I was going to be tutored by a group of mares who are some kind of heroines? Also it seemed that Twilight and Celestia were very concerned and dead serious about the friendship issue. Twilight even said that there was something magical about it too.

‘So… Friendship is Magic?’ I just chuckled at the silliness of the concept and tried to catch some sleep ‘That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve heard in a long time’.