Lost in Equestriaby EliDogChaptersChapter 1: Lost and FoundChapter 2: Smoke and MirrorsChapter 3: Light at the End of the TunnelChapter 4: Into the great wide open, Under them skies of blue.Chapter 1: Lost and FoundThe past month has been the most interesting days of my life. It started off pretty well with the beginning of my vacation from my job at Costco. I spent my first day at my parents’ house to visit them as well as to borrow their tent. On my second day I left to go on a camping trip to Yellowstone, which was where things took a turn for the worst. A few hours after setting up my tent, grill, and equipment, I decided to go on a hike. I wanted to see Old Faithful, visit the Grand Prismatic springs, and explore Fort Yellowstone while admiring the forest in between. It was a breathtaking experience. The peaceful surroundings alone made me wish I could live my life away from the hustle and bustle of city life. I’m sure I could’ve made that a reality if I put my mind to it, but I didn’t have the drive to fully commit to that idea. On my way to Fort Yellowstone, the tornado siren sounded. I didn’t really know what to do, so I ran as fast as I could to my campsite. I figured if I could make it to my car, I would be able to get out of the area. Unfortunately, I wouldn’t make it to my vehicle. The sound of the wind ripping through the leaves was the last thing I heard before being picked off the ground and getting knocked out by a broken branch. When I woke up, I was lying on my back in a crater. I had survived a tornado! I was ecstatic about surviving a natural disaster that should’ve sent me to the afterlife. I laid in that crater for some time just staring at the sky. Eventually, I climbed out to an unfamiliar sight. I was in the middle of a large open plain. Nothing was familiar to me. A small tree line was barely visible in front of me, a large mountain to my right and a rather large cloud formation in between. It looked like it was raining hard under it and it didn’t look like it was moving fast. I couldn’t see anything else since the rising sun was currently in that direction. There were no buildings, no cities, no roads or any sound other than the breeze. With few options at my disposial, and fewer good ideas, I decided to head for the tree line since trees usually meant food in the form of berries and fruits. Before I could make it to the forest, I came across something that brought a smile to my face, railroad tracks. A sign of civilization! I looked in both directions to decide which way to go. To my left, the tracks headed toward a small mountain chain. To my right was the single large mountain. The deciding factor in my choice was that the same giant cloud formation from this morning hadn’t moved an inch and was continuing to rain. Three days of walking, three days! That forest with fruits had a distinct lack of fruits in it. I was walking on an empty stomach and possible dehydration so I was a bit skeptical when I saw a city in the distance. My energy was running low, fading in and out of consciousness and having difficulty staying upright on my legs. When I finally reached my destination, the city was abandoned. I knocked on a few doors of the smaller houses but nobody came to answer the door. I wandered around the city for a couple of hours. It was strange, there wasn’t a person in sight but the streets were clean. The buildings didn’t show any sign of wear, even if they looked a little... outdated. A few lights were on in the windows. When I knocked, I was met with nothing. I eventually collapsed onto my stomach in the middle of a 4-way road, exhausted and filthy. It didn’t take long for me to lose consciousness and fade into darkness. That’s how I ended up in this cold, dark room. It was just a square room with a bright white crystal on the ceiling that illuminated the area, and a small hole in the corner which I assumed was my toilet. This place didn’t even have a door; all four walls were solid rock. I wanted to believe there was some Scooby-Doo secret button that opened a door somewhere, but after a few hours of molesting the walls with my hands, I gave up. I’ve been in here for about three weeks. I’m not sure since the room didn’t have a window, or any other way to tell what time it was. Every so often, the crystal would die down to a soft glow. That’s when I would go to sleep. Throughout my involuntary stay, I haven’t seen anybody since waking up here, but I had the feeling of being watched. I first thought it was paranoia, but the feeling persisted. I try my best to ignore it, but it’s always there in the back of my mind. Despite the lack of an enterance, food and water came often. Most of it was inedible for the first couple of weeks. Meals consisted of a green mush that tasted like dirt, a delicious red apple, a large glass of water, and a few flowers... yes, I said fucking flowers. You would think that since meals have been showing up in my room, that I’d see some sort of delivery man. That brings up the creepiest thing about this place. The food is never delivered, it just shows up. Some meals will be there when I wake up, othcers will just “appear” there when I’m not looking. After sitting in a corner to look at the whole room, the meal appeared in the blink on an eye from a puff of colored smoke. No sound, nobody leaving it there, and no trap doors, it just appears on the ground. The first time I witnessed this happen, I was in disbelief. I sat there staring at it for a minute, wondering if I was going insane from my diet of apples and water. Then the food started changing. My first couple weeks was the crummy green mush and flowers. Then those changed to cooked fish and a baked potato. To any other person, this would be wonderful, but I didn’t like seafood. I ate sushi, but the kind I like is filled with vegetables instead of fish. Considering the situation I was in, I did try the fish. I did not like it. Still, the baked potato was a bonus to my daily meal, if you could call an apple, water, and a baked potato a meal. That food lasted for a few days before my fish was changed into a glorious steak. When I first laid eyes on that piece of meat, I had to slap myself to make sure I wasn’t seeing things. It was real. I took my first bite and... it was dry. Someone over cooked it. It was chewy and dry but I forced it down anyway. The second steak meal was charred black, and the third was pretty raw, so I avoided eating both of them. Eventually, the steak changed into a burger. I did not expect much when I took my first cautionary bite, but it was DELICIOUS! I inhaled the burger that reminded me of home. Each burger was as tasty as the last, not a single overcooked or undercooked patty. And now we are in the here and now. When I woke up today, I was treated to a big surprise. In the corner of the room was a green pony. I’m not sure how it got there or why but it looked awful. The most obvious was that it was spray painted green. The second was it had spots where fur wasn’t growing and multiple scars on its body and legs. There was also junk tangled in its mane and I could see its ribs showing. It looked sickly. The second I moved to sit up, it’s entire body started to shake. I won’t pretend to be a genius of horses, but I knew they were considered prey animals, so the fact that it was in a confined space with me wasn’t good. A sudden movement and I could have a broken rib, nose, or worse. So I did the only safe thing I could think of, I sat back down and observed. For thirty minutes it continued to shake in the corner until it slowly started to calm down. It’s eyes never strayed away from me. A shiver went down my spine as I was reminded of the feeling of being watched. We stayed like that for what felt like hours before my stomach growled from neglect. That’s when I noticed that my meal hadn’t appeared in my cell. It was just me and the pony in the corner. We stayed like this for three days. Nothing to eat or drink and the pony had passed out, I think. I would be lying that the though of eating it didn’t cross my mind but so many things kept me from acting on it. The first was it could wake up and start thrashing around. I don’t think I could kill it if it struggled. The second, assuming the pony didn’t struggle, was I would have to use my bare hands to kill it. The third, as long as the pony was dead by this time, is that I don’t have anything to cut it up, or cook it. Finally, if everything went absurdly perfect, is that it looked diseased. Even if I had a way to cook it, it would most likely kill me shortly after my meal. My eyes felt heavy as they began to close. There were worse ways to go. The food, while starting out bad, turned into the best meals I’ve eaten in a long time. I could’ve used a shower though, that would’ve been nice. Sleeping in over a months’ worth of filth and grime just feels awful. Chapter 2: Smoke and MirrorsI slowly opened my eyes. I felt groggy and weak with some moisture on my lips. As I slowly regained my awareness, I noticed I was not alone. Instead of the green pony, there was a group of ponies in my room. It took a moment for my eyes to adjust to the blinding light of the white crystal. Once they did, I noticed many of these ponies had what looked like armor on. I also noticed there were 5 of them in total with a larger one among them. Two of them had golden armor on and a third had purple armor and a horn glued to its forehead. The fourth had a purple coat, a multi-colored mane and also had a horn glued to its head. The last one was the tallest one. It had dark blue fur and a lighter blue mane that flowed in the wind. A wind that was noticeably lacking in this stone box. Had to be my eyes playing tricks on me. The two golden clad ponies had their rears to me, instead, looking toward the purple pony that was looking at a floating piece of... paper, what? The pony in purple armor had its side to me, also looking at the purple pony, and the large one was looking right at me. Our eyes locked and I froze. A shiver traveled up my spine and slightly shook my upper body. The look I recieved was terrifying and calming. I felt like I was safe yet, at the same time, had the feeling that my life would come to a swift end if I made a move. The tall blue one looked at the purple clad pony and gave a slight nod in my direction. The purple clad pony looked at me and stomped the ground. Immediately, the golden clad ponies spun around to face me. I didn’t move a muscle, why would I? I had no idea what was going on and every I could come up with just confused me more. Of course, my thoughts died as the large blue pony actually spoke. “Hello creature, can you speak?” It asked in a feninine voice. I was in complete shock. An animal just spoke to me. I laid there like a moron with my brain mal-functioning, staring at the large blue pony. How can it talk? I wondered. Maybe this is just a dream. A hallucination? Or I could be dead. Forever cursed to wander limbo, but why ponies? Is it because the green pony was the last thing on my mind before I died? The blue one leaned over to the purple one and whispered, “Are you sure it is intelligent?” “I’m certain of it Princess Luna. The way it eats suggests some form of civility and it mumbles in it sleep” the purple one replied, also in a feminine voice. The tall blue one, apparently named Luna, glanced over to me for a second before looking back to the purple one. “And you are certain it speaks equish?” The purple one opened her mouth to reply before hesitating, then closing it. Opened it again, took and audible breath, then closed it, lowered her head and splayed her ears. “I’m not princess, it was hard to hear what it was saying but I could swear I heard it say some equish words.” Although they were whispering to each other, I could hear it all. The small room acted as an echo chamber, turning their whispers into a conversation that I could hear without much difficulty. But while they were talking to each other, my mind was trying to make sense of what’s happening. Animals in clothes would be pretty easy to reason but talking was a different story. Robotics would explain everything the best, by syncing up the mouth to someone speaking through a speaker but their movements were too fluid to be anything mechanical. Using my weakened arms, I managed to sit up and lean against the wall. I looked to Luna. “How are you talking?” I asked. Lunas’ ears perked up in my direction as she turned her head to look at me. “Excellent! So you do speak equish,” she turned her head back to the purple one, “It looks like you were correct Twilight Sparkle.” She turned to look at me again, “What are you?” I stared at her for a moment before continuing with my original thoughts. “You... you shouldn’t be able to talk.” I placed my head in my hands and rubbed my temples while mumbling to myself. “What’s Going on?” The last thing I remember was blacking out when my meals stopped appearing... so either I’m delusional or I died. Both would explain what was happening in front of me. Talking ponies that exhibit intelligence and the floating paper as a manifestation of my imagination. While I was trying to reason my situation, I realized I was spacing out, and returned to the present. Apparently I had missed something because Luna was looking at me expectantly as the purple one named Twilight looked at me with a raised brow. But I wasn’t concerned with what they were saying. If I was dead or delusional and these animals were fake, then talking to them would only waste my time. I need to know. I slowly stood up while keeping contact with the wall behind me. All of their eyes rose as I did. Once I was standing upright, I slowly started to walk toward them. A quarter of the way to them, my head grew dizzy. I reached out to them, determined to prove myself right, but that would not come to be. Stars appeared in my vision as I began to fall. As my face made intimate contact with the stone floor, I felt two points of pressure on my neck and back. When I looked up to see what was going on, they were gone. “I guess that answers that,” I mumbled. *Pop* I looked to my left to see a plate piled with food and three glasses of water. Mashed potatoes, peas, cut chicken, rice, and buttered toast. I was so excited to see food, I didn’t mind that it was all piled together. I tore through that mushy mountain of food like Gordon Ramsay tears through incompetent chefs, though, I slowed down when I choked on a less than chewed piece of chicken. In just a few minutes, all my food and nearly all my water was gone. My time awake was short, but I was exhausted. That aided by the feeling of a full stomach made me drowsy. I left my plate and crawled over to the spot on the ground I’ve come to call my bed. Despite the crystal being so bright, sleep came to me easily. Author's Note I hope this is a good chapter. I had to heavily edit it from it’s original draft to feel less cringey. Chapter 3: Light at the End of the TunnelThe next two days were back to normal. No talking ponies, no floating objects and food was coming regularly again. I quickly chalked up the experience to a delusional state from the lack of food and water. I try not to think about what caused me to see the lime green one. Then they came back... or should I say, she came back. Luna. Just like most things that appeared here, she arrived without a sound. “Good morning,” she spoke. Her voice was calm and soft yet caused me to jump nonetheless. I quickly turned my head and saw her standing in the middle of the room. She looked different. She had a black tiara on her head and a single piece necklace with a crescent moon on it. “How are you feeling?” She asked. Acting on instinct, I made to answer her, but hesitated. She wasn’t really there; she’s just a figment of my imagination, but why was she here again? I wasn’t starving or suffering from dehydration. Was this a dream? Or was I becoming delusional from solitude? She cocked her head slightly to the side, “Are you alright?” I relaxed, laid back down on my bed area and waited for her to disappear like last time. “I can set you free, as long as you cooperate with a test or two.” I sighed, she wasn’t going away. Maybe I just needed to stop looking at her. They did disappear after my vision was obscured by the floor. So I shifted my body to face the wall. “I know you understand me. I know you can speak to me as well. Why do you remain silent?” “You’re not real,” I responded, internally berating myself for talking back to her. “I am certain I exist,” she replied. I rolled my eyes, “You’re as real as my mind makes you.” “Am I now?” She asked, “Prove it.” I groaned at how long it was taking for her to disappear. I sat up and positioned myself to look at her. I’m pretty sure I’m already going insane, I might as well go off the deep end. “That’s easy, you can talk.” She gave me an unimpressed look. “Very perceptive of you, but that does not prove anything.” “That proves EVERYTHING!” She gave me a questioning look, “By your logic, you do not exist as well since you are also able to speak.” It was my turn to look confused. “What? That’s stupid, I know I exist.” “As do I. However, it is unwise to judge the intelligence of somepony you have just met and know nothing about.” I rolled my eyes again, “I don’t care.” I pointed a finger in her direction, “You are not real.” I retracted my finger and placed my hand on top of my lap. “You are an illusion, a figment of my imagination.” She looked at me for a moment before she started walking toward me. “So you think I am a phantom? Well, you cannot touch a phantom,” She stopped a foot away from me. She bent her neck down so it was level with mine. “Prove to yourself that I am real.” I was taken aback for a moment. The determination in her voice gave me a slight shiver. When I regained my composure, I stood up. Her gaze rose as I did until I reached my full height, leaving her to look slightly up at me. I reached out to touch her face but momentarily hesitated when I felt the air move from her breathing. Then my fingers made contact with the top of her nose. My eyes went wide as I slid my fingers up the bridge of her nose to her forehead. I could feel her incredibly soft fur slide under and through my fingers. She’s real. I continued to softly drag my fingers across her soft forehead, mesmerized by the feeling of her fur. The only thing that distracted me was when the realization hit me again in full force. She’s real and you have your hand on her face! I quickly retracted my hand to reveal a smirking Luna. “Is that sufficient proof?” I looked at Luna, then to my hand. On my fingertips were a few blue pieces of fur. I pinched my fingers together and rolled the hairs between them, feeling each hair rubbing between my fingers. It felt real enough. “I- I guess so...” She made a face that looked like she was giving me a raised brow. “You don’t sound very convinced to me.” “H-How can I be? You feel so real, but you shouldn’t exist.” “I understand your confusion. We can help you through this, but we need you to cooperate with one or two things first.” I looked up from my hand and noticed Luna had moved back to the middle of the room. “What do you mean?” “We have a test we need you to complete. If you do so with honesty, we can guarantee your freedom and safe passage.” “A test? What kind of test? And why do I need to take it?” She sighed but said nothing for a moment. “Do you have a name?” “I do... why?” “Because I would rather call you something other than creature. I shall go first to show goodwill.” She placed a hoof to her chest, “I am Princess Luna, co-ruler of Equestria.” She then extended the same hoof toward me, “and you are...?” After a moments pause, I decided her reason was reasonable enough. “My name is Alex Goffman, but, please, just call me Alex.” Luna smiled, “very well Alex. You have stated that I should not exist, meaning you have not seen anything like me before.” She spread a pair of blue wings that were attached to her back. I stared in a mixture of surprise and amazement. A winged unicorn, or a horny pegasus... no, winged unicorn sounded better, and less rapey. She folded her wings and continued to talk. “We have not seen your species before as well. Unfortunately, that means everything about you was a mystery to us. Strengths, weaknesses, eating habits, mental capacity and any other habits you exhibit. Through our observations, we have determined that you would not be an immediate threat to our subjects. “We planned to introduce ourselves a few days ago and confirm what we have learned but the events that transpired that day alerted us to something we were unaware of.” Her horn glowed blue and 5 metal cylinders appeared in front of me. “This test will determine if we need to take precautions for it.” I sat down and picked up a cylinder to look at it. It was an inch thick and five inches long but felt light. “What would I have to do?” “Simply bend each cylinder to a ninety degree angle.” I looked at her, then to the thick metal cylinder in my hand. “You don’t need a test for that,” I placed the cylinder on the ground. “I can’t bend metal.” “You must try in order to complete this test.” I raised a brow and frowned, “and when I fail?” “The only way you can fail, is if you don’t try at all.” “And if I don’t try?” Luna frowned and gave me an intense look, “Then you will not be allowed to leave this room.” I briefly thought about my two options. Yes or no. On one hand, if I was dead, then it wouldn’t matter which choice I made. However, if I was alive, saying yes would be the only good option. I looked at the cylinders, “So I just need to try?” Luna’s facial features softened, “with honesty, yes.” I sighed, “alright, I’ll do it.” I picked up the first cylinder, gripped the ends with both hands, and attempted to bend it with all my strength. To my surprise, it bended like a paper clip. The next two were the same as the first. The fourth one had some resistance to it, only bending after trying for a few minutes. The final cylinder wouldn’t bend at all. No matter how hard I tried, it wouldn’t budge. I looked to Luna and waved around the final cylinder. This is real metal.” Her horn glowed and all the cylinders disappeared. She smiled. “Well done, you surpassed my expectations. That being said, I have one more thing for you to do before we leave.” Just before I asked what it was, a piece of paper and a quill appeared out of nowhere. The paper floated toward me and settled on the ground. I picked up the paper and looked at it. At the very top was a circle with a drawing of a pony head in it. The pony had a smirk on his face, a gelled back mane that looked greasy as hell, a handlebar mustache combined with a petit goatee, and a pair of ram horns on his head. He looked like an evil loan shark that knew you needed money. Finishing my inspection of the picture, I looked down to read what the document was about. I _____________________ swear to respect the laws of ___Equestria___ so long as I am within its borders. I promise not to cause unjust harm to the ___ponies___ and animals that call ___Equestria___ home. Should any unjustified harm befall them by my actions as a guest of __The Celestial Sisters__, my eternal soul shall become the property of Prince Beelzebub, Ruler of the Kingdom of Fire. If there is a possibility that I have broken the terms of this contract, an unbiased and thorough investigation shall be launched by __The Celestial Sisters__ to prove my guilt or innocence. If proven innocent to the severity of the alleged crime, the punishment of this contract shall be null and void. Exemption: The act of preserving life. If anybeing is in danger in my proximity, weather it be harm or possibility of death, I have full right to help said being in question. I _____________________ have read, understand, and accept the terms of this contract. I paced the paper back on the ground and looked at Luna, “I have to sign a contract?” She nodded, “Yes, in order to do so, I require one of your hairs.” “What!?” “For this contract to work, I require a piece of your essence. You may give me a piece of your flesh, or blood, but I find hair to be the best option.” I gave her a skeptical look but she has yet to give me a solid reason not to trust her. Besides, what harm could she do with a piece of hair? I reached up to my head and grabbed as much of my short hair as I could. I pulled and looked at my hand to find a hair. When I found none, I grabbed a handful of hair from the opposite side of my head. This time, I managed to grab two of my hairs. I picked one and presented it to Luna with an outstretched hand. Her horn glowed as my hair floated over to her and stopped beside the black quill. My hair twirled around the shaft of the quill. The hair dissolved into the quill as the feather itself started to glow. When the light died down, the feather was no longer black, but gold with a slight shine to it. The feather floated down to rest next to the contract. “Use this quill to bind yourself to this contract, but be warned.” She stepped forward and gave me a serious look. “Breaking the terms presented to you will result in dire consequences that neither I nor my sister will be allowed to protect you from. If you do not intend to follow it, then you are better off rejecting this contract and staying in this room.” Protect me? It’s just a contract. What would I need to be protected from? A lawsuit? I continued to look at Luna, looking for a smirk or something to tell me she was kidding, but no such thing appeared. I frowned slightly, maybe lawsuits were really intense... wherever I am right now. I picked up the contract and looked over it again. It basically says to obey the law and not hurt any ponies or animals without a good reason... pretty simple things. I picked up the quill and noticed there was nothing to dip it in. “What do I use to write with?” I asked as I looked up to Luna. “The essence you provided will act as your ink. Write as if you have ink, and the writing shall appear.” “Oh,” I looked at the quill and twirled it between my fingers. I took my other hand and touched the tip. When I did, a golden liquid appeared on my finger where the quill made contact. Huh... that’s odd. Well... I quickly glanced at Luna then at the paper. I suppose not the oddest thing I’ve seen today. I applied the tip of the quill to the top of the paper. I signed the two designated spots stating that I would respect the laws and have read the contract. Once I finished, I placed the quill next to the paper. The quill turned into a pile of ash and the contract floated up to Luna. She looked it over and smiled, “thank you for cooperating without much difficulty. I was afraid I would have to coax you for a few weeks before you would sign it.” The paper rolled up and disappeared. “Wait, I thought you said I would stay in here if I didn’t sign it.” “You are correct, you would have stayed if you refused to sign, that does not mean today would be the only day I would ask.” I opened my mouth to respond but closed it when I realized she was right. She made it sound like I would rot in here if I didn’t sign right now, but she didn’t really say such a thing. “If it makes you feel any better, we never intended for you to stay in here. We had not planned to keep you in here for this long without introductions either, but there were complications that delayed our meeting.” It didn’t make me feel much better, but it was a plus to know they wanted me to stay in this place as mush as I did. Wait, I mean she, not they. Why does she say we instead of I? Come to think of it, she’s been saying ‘we’ a lot. “I guess it makes me feel slightly better, but why do you keep saying we? Don’t you mean you didn’t intend for me to stay here?” She shook her head, “I do not speak on my behalf alone. I also speak for my sister, Princess Celestia. We rule our nation as well as make crucial decisions together, so when I say we wish to set you free, it is not my desire alone to do so.” “Oh, so, when do I get to leave?” I looked around the room at the solid stone walls, “and how do I leave?” She looked to the wall on her right, “I sent your contract to my sister so that she may deliver it to the proper place for it to take effect.” She looked back to me. “Until then, I ask that you wait patiently, it should not take long.” I glanced at the wall she looked at, “how long?” She made a movement that looked like a shrug, “truthfully, I do not know. The pony that must receive the contract can be difficult at times, so sometime between a few minutes to two hours. He has been known to take up to three if he has had a particularly bad day.” She gave me a small smile as her horn lit up. “I can guarantee you will be free before the end of this day. I shall see you when that time comes.” Then she disappeared in a flash of light. “Wait!” I yelled, but she was already gone. I had so many questions that I wanted answered. Where was I, what’s out there and what’s going on, to name a few. All I knew was that the entire time I was in here, I was being observed, which explained the feeling of being watched. I was also deemed threatening enough that I needed to sign a contract before I could be released. The thought of being dead or in a dream were still there, but they seemed less likely now. Despite being a bit frustrated by the lack of answers, I didn’t have any other choice than to wait until she came back. Author's Note A tad bit upset that I wasn’t able to keep the contract in cursive, it looked so much better on the word document. Chapter 4: Into the great wide open, Under them skies of blue.For what felt like hours, nothing happened. I sat motionless against the wall twiddling my thumbs together. I had nothing to do, nothing to eat, and no way to tell how long I’ve actually been stilling here. It could’ve been 10 minutes; it could’ve been 10 hours. All I knew for sure, is that it felt like an eternity. Despite my growing doubts, Princess Luna eventually returned. Two bright lines slowly descended from the top of the wall to my left, dividing it into three equal pieces. I watched in amusement at how incredibly slow the progress was. It reminded me of how Jedi would cut open a heavy metal door with their lightsabers in Star Wars. Once the lines made contact with the ground, a large bright circle with intricate lines and symbols appeared between them before fading away. Once the circle disappeared, the entire room began to violently shake as the middle column started to rise. Panicking, I kneeled on the ground, curled up like a turtle, and covered my neck with my hands. The vibrations of the ground rattled my teeth and the sound of rock grinding against rock was the only sound that reached my ears. After 5 minutes passed, the sound finally stopped along with the shaking. I looked up and noticed the center of the wall had disappeared. I stood up and cautiously crept over to the empty slot. I peeked around the corner to peer into the long hallway. The floor, walls, and ceiling of the hallway were lined with parallel lines of white and blue. At the far end we’re two figures shadowed by the light behind them. The one on the right was slightly shorter than the one on the left, both with moving shadows that reminded me of Princess Luna’s hair. A familiar voice echoed through the hallway, “Come along Alex, ‘tis time for us to depart from this place.” The voice I recognized as Princess Luna’s, but sounded lower in tone, more like a grumble than how she talked before. I smiled a little when I heard her voice, but I didn’t move. I’d been in this room for who knows how long thinking I would never see the sky or another person again, yet, finding out about the apparent existence of a talking, disappearing horse made me question if I really wanted to see the sky again. What would I find out there? Would the sky really be the sky? Or am I in some subterranean cavern with some kind of organic light. Maybe the light came from a gargantuan crystal like the one in my room. However which way I could explain, it all said the same thing, nothing out there would be familiar to me... and that scared me. “Alex?” I heard an unfamiliar voice ask, “We can see you. We are not here to harm you.” I looked at the empty room I’ve grown accustomed to, then back to the hallway. Maybe I’m blowing it out of proportion. After all, Princess Luna seemed nice enough. I stepped to the side so that I was right in front of the opening. I took a calming breath, and started to make my way down the hallway. The light from the room behind me faded away until the only guiding light came from the glow of the alternating white and blue lines that encircled the hallway. I continued to walk for 60 feet until the hallway opened up to a large spherical room covered with dozens of large and small, blue and white circles with complex looking designs inside them. The hallway itself turned into a wide pathway that expanded over the drop. I continued to walk toward Princess Luna and the other figure while keeping my eyes on the large drop on either side of the walkway. Halfway across, I looked back to see that my room was a large cube floating directly in the center of the hollow sphere around it. A small chunk of the cube jutted above where the hallway had formed. Other than that, the cube itself was plain looking. I turned back to the direction that Princess Luna was waiting. When I walked to the end of the walkway, I was met with another hallway with the identical white and blue lines as the one before. This time though, I only had to walk for 30 feet before I reached the entrance. The hallway opened up to a small clearing surrounded by a dark tree line. In front of it all, were two ponies. The one to my right was Princess Luna. She wore the same attire as she did earlier today. To my left was a larger pony with snow white fur. It wore a golden tiara and necklace, both containing a purple gem embedded in them. It had a long white horn and wings, but the thing that stood out the most was its hair. It flowed in a non-existent wind just like Princess Luna’s. The only differences I could tell between the two is the white ponys’ mane was longer and consisted of a vibrant array of colors, much like a rainbow. I remember Princess Luna saying something about co-ruling with her sister, but I don’t remember her name. This must be her. “Good evening Alex,” the white one said while giving me a slight bow with her head, similar to how an old timey gentleman would lift his oversized cap instead of giving an over exaggerated bow with it. As she raised her head, I wondered what I should do in return. They were supposedly royalty, and their apparel matched that claim... perhaps an over exaggerated bow would be best? I’ve never done it before, and screwing it up might insult moreso than help. “Hello,” I said as I waived my hand. Nope, I should’ve bowed, definitely should’ve bowed. “So are you the sister Princess Luna mentioned?” I asked as I awkwardly stuffed my hands into my pockets. “You are correct, I am Princess Celestia. I rule Equestria alongside my sister.” I looked between Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, then to the clear sky behind them. I wanted to know what was going on, or where I was, or when I was, but before I could speak, Princess Celestia beat me to it. “We know you have questions for us to answer, and we will do our best to answer them in due time. For now, let us depart for our castle so we can have you settled into your own room.” She moved to the left and used her front leg to point to a carriage that had been hidden behind her wavy hair. The carriage looked like it was from revolutionary times, except it lacked a driver and windows. Attached to the carriage were four white, winged ponies in golden armor. Before I could say anything, they both turned around and started to walk toward the carriage. Again, I hesitated. I didn’t know about these creatures except that they can talk, they can think like me, and they locked me up in a room for months. So should I trust them? They let me out of that room when they could’ve just left me in there for the rest of my life. They’re also offering me a comfy place to sleep and answers to what the hell was going on... but that could easily be a lie. What would they gain by lying to me? If they wanted to move me to another empty room, they could’ve restrained me and haul me to a new room instead of letting me walk freely and risk the possibility that I could run away. They sounded honest enough, besides, the only thing they could do that would be worse than that room would be to kill me, and they wouldn’t need to take me somewhere to do that. They also wouldn’t be as nice as they were. Princess Celestia’s voice broke my thoughts. “Are you coming?” My eyes focused back on my surroundings and noticed the princesses were already at the carriage. Princess Celestia had a look of concern while Princess Luna had a neutral look on her face. Princess Celestia spike once more, “are you feeling well?” Before I could think, I responded to her, “No, I’m confused with what’s going on and I don’t feel entirely comfortable about going with you to... wherever you’re going to take me.” Princess Luna let out a sigh and looked at Princess Celestia, “Perhaps it would be best to resolve this now instead of delaying for a more comfortable setting.” Princess Celestia nodded as she started to walk toward me, “I agree.” They walked a few feet toward me, stopped, and sat down in the grass. “Do you know of Equestria?” Princess Celestia asked. “Uh, no, I don’t.” Princess Luna raised an eyebrow, “Perhaps the Land of the Celestial Sisters will ring a bell?” I shook my head. “The Land of United Ponies?” “No, nothing about a talking pony society or any names it goes by.” I remembered a little fact from The Black Panther movie. “Is your country under a cloaking shield?” Princess Celestia cocked her head to the side, “What is a cloaking shield?” “It camouflages you from the rest of the world.” Princess Luna raised a brow, “An invisibility spell on the entire country? No, we have done no such thing.” Princess Celestia raised a hoof as an idea hit her, “Oh! Perhaps you know of us as the Trinity of the Three Tribes.” I shook my head, “No princess.” I looked between her and Princess Luna, “I’ve never heard of anything like either of you.” Movement in my peripheral vision tuned my attention to one of the Pegasi ruffling its wings. I looked back to the princesses and pointed to the Pegasi, “I’ve heard of something like them, but they don’t actually exist, they’re from stories and myth.” “If you have not heard of our country before, are you possibly form a sub-surface civilization? Would explain our lack of knowledge of your species.” I shook my head again, “No, we’ve already explored the entire world.” I scratched my head in thought, “we haven’t explored much of what’s under the water though... are we in a sea cavern?” I looked at the setting sun. “Though, that doesn’t explain why there’s a sun... or how I got here.” “Nay, we are on the surface of the planet.” Princess Luna motioned to the sky, “surrounded by space and living under our sun and moon.” “You say you have explored your planet in it’s entirety?” Princess Celestia asked. I nodded. “You have never heard of our little ponies, perhaps your species missed us by mistake? Have you heard of the Griffin Empire? Or the Dragon Hierarchy? Or perhaps the Minotaur civilization?” “No, my... species,” Wow, that feels weird to say, “have explored every inch of land. Even if we somehow missed all those species, we have satellites that have scanned the surface of the entire globe. We’ve solved a lot of mysteries thanks to that, but no signs of other intelligent life.” Princess Luna’s eats splayed, “sister, do you suppose...” her voice trailed off. Princess Celestia, catching what Princess Luna was implying, continued by asking me a question. “Alex... how did you arrive in our country?” “I... I’m not entirely sure...” Princess Celestia continued, “Do you perhaps remember seeing a portal?” I shook my head, “No, I remember being picked up by a tornado... I think something hit me, and then I was in a field. I can’t recall what happened in between.” “GAH!” Princess Luna yelled, causing me to jump and quickly look over to her. “WE RELINQUISHED OUR BOON FOR NAUGHT!!!!!!!” Her horn glowed and then she vanished in smoke. I stared at the empty spot in confusion, then shifted my gaze to Princess Celestia, who was also looking at Princess Luna’s vacant spot. She let out a sigh, “I believe we know what has happened to you.” Her horn lit up and a piece of paper appeared in front of her along with a quill, “Do you remember anything about your surroundings when you regained consciousness?” “Hmm...” I scratched my chin as I thought back to that day, “Well, I woke up in a crater... I eventually started walking in a direction and came across some train tracks, oh, and there was a forest on the other side of it... I followed the tracks until I found a ghost town... and I passed out after that.” I looked back to Princess Celestia, who was busy scribbling her quill against the paper. “Excellent.” Princess Celestia said as the quill vanished. The paper rolled up, was tied with a red ribbon, and also disappeared. Princess Celestia smiled, “I’ll have some ponies look into it. Now,” she motioned a leg towards the carriage, “shall we be off? I wish to have you settled in a room before dinner.” “Is it like the one I was in?” I asked. She shook her head, “it will have a bed, dresser, a window overlooking canterlot, as well as a restroom with the necessities.” I looked her in the eyes. It didn’t feel like she was lying... and a shower sounds really good right now. “Alright, I’ll come with you.” She nodded, turned around, and started walking to the carriage with me close behind. She opened the carriage door, looked to me, and made a gesture with her leg as if to ask me to go in first. Ducking slightly, I stepped into the carriage. The inside was... not what I expected. Instead of seats, there were four large, circular cushions. Two of the cushions were placed towards the front of the carriage, and two were at the rear. Looking between the four spots, I decided to sit in one of the rear cushions. I wiggled around a bit and leaned my back against the wall of the carriage. As Princess Celestia entered, I gave the interior of the carriage a quick look. The walls and ceiling were covered in red fabric while the floor was carpeted with a few metal plates in front of each cushion. One odd thing about this carriage was it didn’t have any windows like the ones I’ve seen in history books. Princess Celestia sat down in the cushion in front of me, extended her leg, and tapped the metal with a rhythm. Soon after, the carriage jolted, and started to move. Despite the old looking form of transportation, the suspension was incredible! It felt like we were going pretty fast, yet I couldn’t feel a single bump from the ground. It didn’t take long before I became conscious to the silence in the carriage. The padded walls only added to the deafening silence of the cabin. God, I was terrible at small talk... should I say something? Princess Celestia was giving me a warm smile, but didn’t try to start a conversation either. So we both decided to sit in silence while we waited to arriave at our destination. Author's Note Put on Hiatus because I can’t dedicate as much time to the story as I used to, but I also don’t plan on giving it up. A work accident a few days ago freed up my time to edit this chapter in.
Chapter 1: Lost and FoundThe past month has been the most interesting days of my life. It started off pretty well with the beginning of my vacation from my job at Costco. I spent my first day at my parents’ house to visit them as well as to borrow their tent. On my second day I left to go on a camping trip to Yellowstone, which was where things took a turn for the worst. A few hours after setting up my tent, grill, and equipment, I decided to go on a hike. I wanted to see Old Faithful, visit the Grand Prismatic springs, and explore Fort Yellowstone while admiring the forest in between. It was a breathtaking experience. The peaceful surroundings alone made me wish I could live my life away from the hustle and bustle of city life. I’m sure I could’ve made that a reality if I put my mind to it, but I didn’t have the drive to fully commit to that idea. On my way to Fort Yellowstone, the tornado siren sounded. I didn’t really know what to do, so I ran as fast as I could to my campsite. I figured if I could make it to my car, I would be able to get out of the area. Unfortunately, I wouldn’t make it to my vehicle. The sound of the wind ripping through the leaves was the last thing I heard before being picked off the ground and getting knocked out by a broken branch. When I woke up, I was lying on my back in a crater. I had survived a tornado! I was ecstatic about surviving a natural disaster that should’ve sent me to the afterlife. I laid in that crater for some time just staring at the sky. Eventually, I climbed out to an unfamiliar sight. I was in the middle of a large open plain. Nothing was familiar to me. A small tree line was barely visible in front of me, a large mountain to my right and a rather large cloud formation in between. It looked like it was raining hard under it and it didn’t look like it was moving fast. I couldn’t see anything else since the rising sun was currently in that direction. There were no buildings, no cities, no roads or any sound other than the breeze. With few options at my disposial, and fewer good ideas, I decided to head for the tree line since trees usually meant food in the form of berries and fruits. Before I could make it to the forest, I came across something that brought a smile to my face, railroad tracks. A sign of civilization! I looked in both directions to decide which way to go. To my left, the tracks headed toward a small mountain chain. To my right was the single large mountain. The deciding factor in my choice was that the same giant cloud formation from this morning hadn’t moved an inch and was continuing to rain. Three days of walking, three days! That forest with fruits had a distinct lack of fruits in it. I was walking on an empty stomach and possible dehydration so I was a bit skeptical when I saw a city in the distance. My energy was running low, fading in and out of consciousness and having difficulty staying upright on my legs. When I finally reached my destination, the city was abandoned. I knocked on a few doors of the smaller houses but nobody came to answer the door. I wandered around the city for a couple of hours. It was strange, there wasn’t a person in sight but the streets were clean. The buildings didn’t show any sign of wear, even if they looked a little... outdated. A few lights were on in the windows. When I knocked, I was met with nothing. I eventually collapsed onto my stomach in the middle of a 4-way road, exhausted and filthy. It didn’t take long for me to lose consciousness and fade into darkness. That’s how I ended up in this cold, dark room. It was just a square room with a bright white crystal on the ceiling that illuminated the area, and a small hole in the corner which I assumed was my toilet. This place didn’t even have a door; all four walls were solid rock. I wanted to believe there was some Scooby-Doo secret button that opened a door somewhere, but after a few hours of molesting the walls with my hands, I gave up. I’ve been in here for about three weeks. I’m not sure since the room didn’t have a window, or any other way to tell what time it was. Every so often, the crystal would die down to a soft glow. That’s when I would go to sleep. Throughout my involuntary stay, I haven’t seen anybody since waking up here, but I had the feeling of being watched. I first thought it was paranoia, but the feeling persisted. I try my best to ignore it, but it’s always there in the back of my mind. Despite the lack of an enterance, food and water came often. Most of it was inedible for the first couple of weeks. Meals consisted of a green mush that tasted like dirt, a delicious red apple, a large glass of water, and a few flowers... yes, I said fucking flowers. You would think that since meals have been showing up in my room, that I’d see some sort of delivery man. That brings up the creepiest thing about this place. The food is never delivered, it just shows up. Some meals will be there when I wake up, othcers will just “appear” there when I’m not looking. After sitting in a corner to look at the whole room, the meal appeared in the blink on an eye from a puff of colored smoke. No sound, nobody leaving it there, and no trap doors, it just appears on the ground. The first time I witnessed this happen, I was in disbelief. I sat there staring at it for a minute, wondering if I was going insane from my diet of apples and water. Then the food started changing. My first couple weeks was the crummy green mush and flowers. Then those changed to cooked fish and a baked potato. To any other person, this would be wonderful, but I didn’t like seafood. I ate sushi, but the kind I like is filled with vegetables instead of fish. Considering the situation I was in, I did try the fish. I did not like it. Still, the baked potato was a bonus to my daily meal, if you could call an apple, water, and a baked potato a meal. That food lasted for a few days before my fish was changed into a glorious steak. When I first laid eyes on that piece of meat, I had to slap myself to make sure I wasn’t seeing things. It was real. I took my first bite and... it was dry. Someone over cooked it. It was chewy and dry but I forced it down anyway. The second steak meal was charred black, and the third was pretty raw, so I avoided eating both of them. Eventually, the steak changed into a burger. I did not expect much when I took my first cautionary bite, but it was DELICIOUS! I inhaled the burger that reminded me of home. Each burger was as tasty as the last, not a single overcooked or undercooked patty. And now we are in the here and now. When I woke up today, I was treated to a big surprise. In the corner of the room was a green pony. I’m not sure how it got there or why but it looked awful. The most obvious was that it was spray painted green. The second was it had spots where fur wasn’t growing and multiple scars on its body and legs. There was also junk tangled in its mane and I could see its ribs showing. It looked sickly. The second I moved to sit up, it’s entire body started to shake. I won’t pretend to be a genius of horses, but I knew they were considered prey animals, so the fact that it was in a confined space with me wasn’t good. A sudden movement and I could have a broken rib, nose, or worse. So I did the only safe thing I could think of, I sat back down and observed. For thirty minutes it continued to shake in the corner until it slowly started to calm down. It’s eyes never strayed away from me. A shiver went down my spine as I was reminded of the feeling of being watched. We stayed like that for what felt like hours before my stomach growled from neglect. That’s when I noticed that my meal hadn’t appeared in my cell. It was just me and the pony in the corner. We stayed like this for three days. Nothing to eat or drink and the pony had passed out, I think. I would be lying that the though of eating it didn’t cross my mind but so many things kept me from acting on it. The first was it could wake up and start thrashing around. I don’t think I could kill it if it struggled. The second, assuming the pony didn’t struggle, was I would have to use my bare hands to kill it. The third, as long as the pony was dead by this time, is that I don’t have anything to cut it up, or cook it. Finally, if everything went absurdly perfect, is that it looked diseased. Even if I had a way to cook it, it would most likely kill me shortly after my meal. My eyes felt heavy as they began to close. There were worse ways to go. The food, while starting out bad, turned into the best meals I’ve eaten in a long time. I could’ve used a shower though, that would’ve been nice. Sleeping in over a months’ worth of filth and grime just feels awful.
Chapter 2: Smoke and MirrorsI slowly opened my eyes. I felt groggy and weak with some moisture on my lips. As I slowly regained my awareness, I noticed I was not alone. Instead of the green pony, there was a group of ponies in my room. It took a moment for my eyes to adjust to the blinding light of the white crystal. Once they did, I noticed many of these ponies had what looked like armor on. I also noticed there were 5 of them in total with a larger one among them. Two of them had golden armor on and a third had purple armor and a horn glued to its forehead. The fourth had a purple coat, a multi-colored mane and also had a horn glued to its head. The last one was the tallest one. It had dark blue fur and a lighter blue mane that flowed in the wind. A wind that was noticeably lacking in this stone box. Had to be my eyes playing tricks on me. The two golden clad ponies had their rears to me, instead, looking toward the purple pony that was looking at a floating piece of... paper, what? The pony in purple armor had its side to me, also looking at the purple pony, and the large one was looking right at me. Our eyes locked and I froze. A shiver traveled up my spine and slightly shook my upper body. The look I recieved was terrifying and calming. I felt like I was safe yet, at the same time, had the feeling that my life would come to a swift end if I made a move. The tall blue one looked at the purple clad pony and gave a slight nod in my direction. The purple clad pony looked at me and stomped the ground. Immediately, the golden clad ponies spun around to face me. I didn’t move a muscle, why would I? I had no idea what was going on and every I could come up with just confused me more. Of course, my thoughts died as the large blue pony actually spoke. “Hello creature, can you speak?” It asked in a feninine voice. I was in complete shock. An animal just spoke to me. I laid there like a moron with my brain mal-functioning, staring at the large blue pony. How can it talk? I wondered. Maybe this is just a dream. A hallucination? Or I could be dead. Forever cursed to wander limbo, but why ponies? Is it because the green pony was the last thing on my mind before I died? The blue one leaned over to the purple one and whispered, “Are you sure it is intelligent?” “I’m certain of it Princess Luna. The way it eats suggests some form of civility and it mumbles in it sleep” the purple one replied, also in a feminine voice. The tall blue one, apparently named Luna, glanced over to me for a second before looking back to the purple one. “And you are certain it speaks equish?” The purple one opened her mouth to reply before hesitating, then closing it. Opened it again, took and audible breath, then closed it, lowered her head and splayed her ears. “I’m not princess, it was hard to hear what it was saying but I could swear I heard it say some equish words.” Although they were whispering to each other, I could hear it all. The small room acted as an echo chamber, turning their whispers into a conversation that I could hear without much difficulty. But while they were talking to each other, my mind was trying to make sense of what’s happening. Animals in clothes would be pretty easy to reason but talking was a different story. Robotics would explain everything the best, by syncing up the mouth to someone speaking through a speaker but their movements were too fluid to be anything mechanical. Using my weakened arms, I managed to sit up and lean against the wall. I looked to Luna. “How are you talking?” I asked. Lunas’ ears perked up in my direction as she turned her head to look at me. “Excellent! So you do speak equish,” she turned her head back to the purple one, “It looks like you were correct Twilight Sparkle.” She turned to look at me again, “What are you?” I stared at her for a moment before continuing with my original thoughts. “You... you shouldn’t be able to talk.” I placed my head in my hands and rubbed my temples while mumbling to myself. “What’s Going on?” The last thing I remember was blacking out when my meals stopped appearing... so either I’m delusional or I died. Both would explain what was happening in front of me. Talking ponies that exhibit intelligence and the floating paper as a manifestation of my imagination. While I was trying to reason my situation, I realized I was spacing out, and returned to the present. Apparently I had missed something because Luna was looking at me expectantly as the purple one named Twilight looked at me with a raised brow. But I wasn’t concerned with what they were saying. If I was dead or delusional and these animals were fake, then talking to them would only waste my time. I need to know. I slowly stood up while keeping contact with the wall behind me. All of their eyes rose as I did. Once I was standing upright, I slowly started to walk toward them. A quarter of the way to them, my head grew dizzy. I reached out to them, determined to prove myself right, but that would not come to be. Stars appeared in my vision as I began to fall. As my face made intimate contact with the stone floor, I felt two points of pressure on my neck and back. When I looked up to see what was going on, they were gone. “I guess that answers that,” I mumbled. *Pop* I looked to my left to see a plate piled with food and three glasses of water. Mashed potatoes, peas, cut chicken, rice, and buttered toast. I was so excited to see food, I didn’t mind that it was all piled together. I tore through that mushy mountain of food like Gordon Ramsay tears through incompetent chefs, though, I slowed down when I choked on a less than chewed piece of chicken. In just a few minutes, all my food and nearly all my water was gone. My time awake was short, but I was exhausted. That aided by the feeling of a full stomach made me drowsy. I left my plate and crawled over to the spot on the ground I’ve come to call my bed. Despite the crystal being so bright, sleep came to me easily. Author's Note I hope this is a good chapter. I had to heavily edit it from it’s original draft to feel less cringey.
Chapter 3: Light at the End of the TunnelThe next two days were back to normal. No talking ponies, no floating objects and food was coming regularly again. I quickly chalked up the experience to a delusional state from the lack of food and water. I try not to think about what caused me to see the lime green one. Then they came back... or should I say, she came back. Luna. Just like most things that appeared here, she arrived without a sound. “Good morning,” she spoke. Her voice was calm and soft yet caused me to jump nonetheless. I quickly turned my head and saw her standing in the middle of the room. She looked different. She had a black tiara on her head and a single piece necklace with a crescent moon on it. “How are you feeling?” She asked. Acting on instinct, I made to answer her, but hesitated. She wasn’t really there; she’s just a figment of my imagination, but why was she here again? I wasn’t starving or suffering from dehydration. Was this a dream? Or was I becoming delusional from solitude? She cocked her head slightly to the side, “Are you alright?” I relaxed, laid back down on my bed area and waited for her to disappear like last time. “I can set you free, as long as you cooperate with a test or two.” I sighed, she wasn’t going away. Maybe I just needed to stop looking at her. They did disappear after my vision was obscured by the floor. So I shifted my body to face the wall. “I know you understand me. I know you can speak to me as well. Why do you remain silent?” “You’re not real,” I responded, internally berating myself for talking back to her. “I am certain I exist,” she replied. I rolled my eyes, “You’re as real as my mind makes you.” “Am I now?” She asked, “Prove it.” I groaned at how long it was taking for her to disappear. I sat up and positioned myself to look at her. I’m pretty sure I’m already going insane, I might as well go off the deep end. “That’s easy, you can talk.” She gave me an unimpressed look. “Very perceptive of you, but that does not prove anything.” “That proves EVERYTHING!” She gave me a questioning look, “By your logic, you do not exist as well since you are also able to speak.” It was my turn to look confused. “What? That’s stupid, I know I exist.” “As do I. However, it is unwise to judge the intelligence of somepony you have just met and know nothing about.” I rolled my eyes again, “I don’t care.” I pointed a finger in her direction, “You are not real.” I retracted my finger and placed my hand on top of my lap. “You are an illusion, a figment of my imagination.” She looked at me for a moment before she started walking toward me. “So you think I am a phantom? Well, you cannot touch a phantom,” She stopped a foot away from me. She bent her neck down so it was level with mine. “Prove to yourself that I am real.” I was taken aback for a moment. The determination in her voice gave me a slight shiver. When I regained my composure, I stood up. Her gaze rose as I did until I reached my full height, leaving her to look slightly up at me. I reached out to touch her face but momentarily hesitated when I felt the air move from her breathing. Then my fingers made contact with the top of her nose. My eyes went wide as I slid my fingers up the bridge of her nose to her forehead. I could feel her incredibly soft fur slide under and through my fingers. She’s real. I continued to softly drag my fingers across her soft forehead, mesmerized by the feeling of her fur. The only thing that distracted me was when the realization hit me again in full force. She’s real and you have your hand on her face! I quickly retracted my hand to reveal a smirking Luna. “Is that sufficient proof?” I looked at Luna, then to my hand. On my fingertips were a few blue pieces of fur. I pinched my fingers together and rolled the hairs between them, feeling each hair rubbing between my fingers. It felt real enough. “I- I guess so...” She made a face that looked like she was giving me a raised brow. “You don’t sound very convinced to me.” “H-How can I be? You feel so real, but you shouldn’t exist.” “I understand your confusion. We can help you through this, but we need you to cooperate with one or two things first.” I looked up from my hand and noticed Luna had moved back to the middle of the room. “What do you mean?” “We have a test we need you to complete. If you do so with honesty, we can guarantee your freedom and safe passage.” “A test? What kind of test? And why do I need to take it?” She sighed but said nothing for a moment. “Do you have a name?” “I do... why?” “Because I would rather call you something other than creature. I shall go first to show goodwill.” She placed a hoof to her chest, “I am Princess Luna, co-ruler of Equestria.” She then extended the same hoof toward me, “and you are...?” After a moments pause, I decided her reason was reasonable enough. “My name is Alex Goffman, but, please, just call me Alex.” Luna smiled, “very well Alex. You have stated that I should not exist, meaning you have not seen anything like me before.” She spread a pair of blue wings that were attached to her back. I stared in a mixture of surprise and amazement. A winged unicorn, or a horny pegasus... no, winged unicorn sounded better, and less rapey. She folded her wings and continued to talk. “We have not seen your species before as well. Unfortunately, that means everything about you was a mystery to us. Strengths, weaknesses, eating habits, mental capacity and any other habits you exhibit. Through our observations, we have determined that you would not be an immediate threat to our subjects. “We planned to introduce ourselves a few days ago and confirm what we have learned but the events that transpired that day alerted us to something we were unaware of.” Her horn glowed blue and 5 metal cylinders appeared in front of me. “This test will determine if we need to take precautions for it.” I sat down and picked up a cylinder to look at it. It was an inch thick and five inches long but felt light. “What would I have to do?” “Simply bend each cylinder to a ninety degree angle.” I looked at her, then to the thick metal cylinder in my hand. “You don’t need a test for that,” I placed the cylinder on the ground. “I can’t bend metal.” “You must try in order to complete this test.” I raised a brow and frowned, “and when I fail?” “The only way you can fail, is if you don’t try at all.” “And if I don’t try?” Luna frowned and gave me an intense look, “Then you will not be allowed to leave this room.” I briefly thought about my two options. Yes or no. On one hand, if I was dead, then it wouldn’t matter which choice I made. However, if I was alive, saying yes would be the only good option. I looked at the cylinders, “So I just need to try?” Luna’s facial features softened, “with honesty, yes.” I sighed, “alright, I’ll do it.” I picked up the first cylinder, gripped the ends with both hands, and attempted to bend it with all my strength. To my surprise, it bended like a paper clip. The next two were the same as the first. The fourth one had some resistance to it, only bending after trying for a few minutes. The final cylinder wouldn’t bend at all. No matter how hard I tried, it wouldn’t budge. I looked to Luna and waved around the final cylinder. This is real metal.” Her horn glowed and all the cylinders disappeared. She smiled. “Well done, you surpassed my expectations. That being said, I have one more thing for you to do before we leave.” Just before I asked what it was, a piece of paper and a quill appeared out of nowhere. The paper floated toward me and settled on the ground. I picked up the paper and looked at it. At the very top was a circle with a drawing of a pony head in it. The pony had a smirk on his face, a gelled back mane that looked greasy as hell, a handlebar mustache combined with a petit goatee, and a pair of ram horns on his head. He looked like an evil loan shark that knew you needed money. Finishing my inspection of the picture, I looked down to read what the document was about. I _____________________ swear to respect the laws of ___Equestria___ so long as I am within its borders. I promise not to cause unjust harm to the ___ponies___ and animals that call ___Equestria___ home. Should any unjustified harm befall them by my actions as a guest of __The Celestial Sisters__, my eternal soul shall become the property of Prince Beelzebub, Ruler of the Kingdom of Fire. If there is a possibility that I have broken the terms of this contract, an unbiased and thorough investigation shall be launched by __The Celestial Sisters__ to prove my guilt or innocence. If proven innocent to the severity of the alleged crime, the punishment of this contract shall be null and void. Exemption: The act of preserving life. If anybeing is in danger in my proximity, weather it be harm or possibility of death, I have full right to help said being in question. I _____________________ have read, understand, and accept the terms of this contract. I paced the paper back on the ground and looked at Luna, “I have to sign a contract?” She nodded, “Yes, in order to do so, I require one of your hairs.” “What!?” “For this contract to work, I require a piece of your essence. You may give me a piece of your flesh, or blood, but I find hair to be the best option.” I gave her a skeptical look but she has yet to give me a solid reason not to trust her. Besides, what harm could she do with a piece of hair? I reached up to my head and grabbed as much of my short hair as I could. I pulled and looked at my hand to find a hair. When I found none, I grabbed a handful of hair from the opposite side of my head. This time, I managed to grab two of my hairs. I picked one and presented it to Luna with an outstretched hand. Her horn glowed as my hair floated over to her and stopped beside the black quill. My hair twirled around the shaft of the quill. The hair dissolved into the quill as the feather itself started to glow. When the light died down, the feather was no longer black, but gold with a slight shine to it. The feather floated down to rest next to the contract. “Use this quill to bind yourself to this contract, but be warned.” She stepped forward and gave me a serious look. “Breaking the terms presented to you will result in dire consequences that neither I nor my sister will be allowed to protect you from. If you do not intend to follow it, then you are better off rejecting this contract and staying in this room.” Protect me? It’s just a contract. What would I need to be protected from? A lawsuit? I continued to look at Luna, looking for a smirk or something to tell me she was kidding, but no such thing appeared. I frowned slightly, maybe lawsuits were really intense... wherever I am right now. I picked up the contract and looked over it again. It basically says to obey the law and not hurt any ponies or animals without a good reason... pretty simple things. I picked up the quill and noticed there was nothing to dip it in. “What do I use to write with?” I asked as I looked up to Luna. “The essence you provided will act as your ink. Write as if you have ink, and the writing shall appear.” “Oh,” I looked at the quill and twirled it between my fingers. I took my other hand and touched the tip. When I did, a golden liquid appeared on my finger where the quill made contact. Huh... that’s odd. Well... I quickly glanced at Luna then at the paper. I suppose not the oddest thing I’ve seen today. I applied the tip of the quill to the top of the paper. I signed the two designated spots stating that I would respect the laws and have read the contract. Once I finished, I placed the quill next to the paper. The quill turned into a pile of ash and the contract floated up to Luna. She looked it over and smiled, “thank you for cooperating without much difficulty. I was afraid I would have to coax you for a few weeks before you would sign it.” The paper rolled up and disappeared. “Wait, I thought you said I would stay in here if I didn’t sign it.” “You are correct, you would have stayed if you refused to sign, that does not mean today would be the only day I would ask.” I opened my mouth to respond but closed it when I realized she was right. She made it sound like I would rot in here if I didn’t sign right now, but she didn’t really say such a thing. “If it makes you feel any better, we never intended for you to stay in here. We had not planned to keep you in here for this long without introductions either, but there were complications that delayed our meeting.” It didn’t make me feel much better, but it was a plus to know they wanted me to stay in this place as mush as I did. Wait, I mean she, not they. Why does she say we instead of I? Come to think of it, she’s been saying ‘we’ a lot. “I guess it makes me feel slightly better, but why do you keep saying we? Don’t you mean you didn’t intend for me to stay here?” She shook her head, “I do not speak on my behalf alone. I also speak for my sister, Princess Celestia. We rule our nation as well as make crucial decisions together, so when I say we wish to set you free, it is not my desire alone to do so.” “Oh, so, when do I get to leave?” I looked around the room at the solid stone walls, “and how do I leave?” She looked to the wall on her right, “I sent your contract to my sister so that she may deliver it to the proper place for it to take effect.” She looked back to me. “Until then, I ask that you wait patiently, it should not take long.” I glanced at the wall she looked at, “how long?” She made a movement that looked like a shrug, “truthfully, I do not know. The pony that must receive the contract can be difficult at times, so sometime between a few minutes to two hours. He has been known to take up to three if he has had a particularly bad day.” She gave me a small smile as her horn lit up. “I can guarantee you will be free before the end of this day. I shall see you when that time comes.” Then she disappeared in a flash of light. “Wait!” I yelled, but she was already gone. I had so many questions that I wanted answered. Where was I, what’s out there and what’s going on, to name a few. All I knew was that the entire time I was in here, I was being observed, which explained the feeling of being watched. I was also deemed threatening enough that I needed to sign a contract before I could be released. The thought of being dead or in a dream were still there, but they seemed less likely now. Despite being a bit frustrated by the lack of answers, I didn’t have any other choice than to wait until she came back. Author's Note A tad bit upset that I wasn’t able to keep the contract in cursive, it looked so much better on the word document.
Chapter 4: Into the great wide open, Under them skies of blue.For what felt like hours, nothing happened. I sat motionless against the wall twiddling my thumbs together. I had nothing to do, nothing to eat, and no way to tell how long I’ve actually been stilling here. It could’ve been 10 minutes; it could’ve been 10 hours. All I knew for sure, is that it felt like an eternity. Despite my growing doubts, Princess Luna eventually returned. Two bright lines slowly descended from the top of the wall to my left, dividing it into three equal pieces. I watched in amusement at how incredibly slow the progress was. It reminded me of how Jedi would cut open a heavy metal door with their lightsabers in Star Wars. Once the lines made contact with the ground, a large bright circle with intricate lines and symbols appeared between them before fading away. Once the circle disappeared, the entire room began to violently shake as the middle column started to rise. Panicking, I kneeled on the ground, curled up like a turtle, and covered my neck with my hands. The vibrations of the ground rattled my teeth and the sound of rock grinding against rock was the only sound that reached my ears. After 5 minutes passed, the sound finally stopped along with the shaking. I looked up and noticed the center of the wall had disappeared. I stood up and cautiously crept over to the empty slot. I peeked around the corner to peer into the long hallway. The floor, walls, and ceiling of the hallway were lined with parallel lines of white and blue. At the far end we’re two figures shadowed by the light behind them. The one on the right was slightly shorter than the one on the left, both with moving shadows that reminded me of Princess Luna’s hair. A familiar voice echoed through the hallway, “Come along Alex, ‘tis time for us to depart from this place.” The voice I recognized as Princess Luna’s, but sounded lower in tone, more like a grumble than how she talked before. I smiled a little when I heard her voice, but I didn’t move. I’d been in this room for who knows how long thinking I would never see the sky or another person again, yet, finding out about the apparent existence of a talking, disappearing horse made me question if I really wanted to see the sky again. What would I find out there? Would the sky really be the sky? Or am I in some subterranean cavern with some kind of organic light. Maybe the light came from a gargantuan crystal like the one in my room. However which way I could explain, it all said the same thing, nothing out there would be familiar to me... and that scared me. “Alex?” I heard an unfamiliar voice ask, “We can see you. We are not here to harm you.” I looked at the empty room I’ve grown accustomed to, then back to the hallway. Maybe I’m blowing it out of proportion. After all, Princess Luna seemed nice enough. I stepped to the side so that I was right in front of the opening. I took a calming breath, and started to make my way down the hallway. The light from the room behind me faded away until the only guiding light came from the glow of the alternating white and blue lines that encircled the hallway. I continued to walk for 60 feet until the hallway opened up to a large spherical room covered with dozens of large and small, blue and white circles with complex looking designs inside them. The hallway itself turned into a wide pathway that expanded over the drop. I continued to walk toward Princess Luna and the other figure while keeping my eyes on the large drop on either side of the walkway. Halfway across, I looked back to see that my room was a large cube floating directly in the center of the hollow sphere around it. A small chunk of the cube jutted above where the hallway had formed. Other than that, the cube itself was plain looking. I turned back to the direction that Princess Luna was waiting. When I walked to the end of the walkway, I was met with another hallway with the identical white and blue lines as the one before. This time though, I only had to walk for 30 feet before I reached the entrance. The hallway opened up to a small clearing surrounded by a dark tree line. In front of it all, were two ponies. The one to my right was Princess Luna. She wore the same attire as she did earlier today. To my left was a larger pony with snow white fur. It wore a golden tiara and necklace, both containing a purple gem embedded in them. It had a long white horn and wings, but the thing that stood out the most was its hair. It flowed in a non-existent wind just like Princess Luna’s. The only differences I could tell between the two is the white ponys’ mane was longer and consisted of a vibrant array of colors, much like a rainbow. I remember Princess Luna saying something about co-ruling with her sister, but I don’t remember her name. This must be her. “Good evening Alex,” the white one said while giving me a slight bow with her head, similar to how an old timey gentleman would lift his oversized cap instead of giving an over exaggerated bow with it. As she raised her head, I wondered what I should do in return. They were supposedly royalty, and their apparel matched that claim... perhaps an over exaggerated bow would be best? I’ve never done it before, and screwing it up might insult moreso than help. “Hello,” I said as I waived my hand. Nope, I should’ve bowed, definitely should’ve bowed. “So are you the sister Princess Luna mentioned?” I asked as I awkwardly stuffed my hands into my pockets. “You are correct, I am Princess Celestia. I rule Equestria alongside my sister.” I looked between Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, then to the clear sky behind them. I wanted to know what was going on, or where I was, or when I was, but before I could speak, Princess Celestia beat me to it. “We know you have questions for us to answer, and we will do our best to answer them in due time. For now, let us depart for our castle so we can have you settled into your own room.” She moved to the left and used her front leg to point to a carriage that had been hidden behind her wavy hair. The carriage looked like it was from revolutionary times, except it lacked a driver and windows. Attached to the carriage were four white, winged ponies in golden armor. Before I could say anything, they both turned around and started to walk toward the carriage. Again, I hesitated. I didn’t know about these creatures except that they can talk, they can think like me, and they locked me up in a room for months. So should I trust them? They let me out of that room when they could’ve just left me in there for the rest of my life. They’re also offering me a comfy place to sleep and answers to what the hell was going on... but that could easily be a lie. What would they gain by lying to me? If they wanted to move me to another empty room, they could’ve restrained me and haul me to a new room instead of letting me walk freely and risk the possibility that I could run away. They sounded honest enough, besides, the only thing they could do that would be worse than that room would be to kill me, and they wouldn’t need to take me somewhere to do that. They also wouldn’t be as nice as they were. Princess Celestia’s voice broke my thoughts. “Are you coming?” My eyes focused back on my surroundings and noticed the princesses were already at the carriage. Princess Celestia had a look of concern while Princess Luna had a neutral look on her face. Princess Celestia spike once more, “are you feeling well?” Before I could think, I responded to her, “No, I’m confused with what’s going on and I don’t feel entirely comfortable about going with you to... wherever you’re going to take me.” Princess Luna let out a sigh and looked at Princess Celestia, “Perhaps it would be best to resolve this now instead of delaying for a more comfortable setting.” Princess Celestia nodded as she started to walk toward me, “I agree.” They walked a few feet toward me, stopped, and sat down in the grass. “Do you know of Equestria?” Princess Celestia asked. “Uh, no, I don’t.” Princess Luna raised an eyebrow, “Perhaps the Land of the Celestial Sisters will ring a bell?” I shook my head. “The Land of United Ponies?” “No, nothing about a talking pony society or any names it goes by.” I remembered a little fact from The Black Panther movie. “Is your country under a cloaking shield?” Princess Celestia cocked her head to the side, “What is a cloaking shield?” “It camouflages you from the rest of the world.” Princess Luna raised a brow, “An invisibility spell on the entire country? No, we have done no such thing.” Princess Celestia raised a hoof as an idea hit her, “Oh! Perhaps you know of us as the Trinity of the Three Tribes.” I shook my head, “No princess.” I looked between her and Princess Luna, “I’ve never heard of anything like either of you.” Movement in my peripheral vision tuned my attention to one of the Pegasi ruffling its wings. I looked back to the princesses and pointed to the Pegasi, “I’ve heard of something like them, but they don’t actually exist, they’re from stories and myth.” “If you have not heard of our country before, are you possibly form a sub-surface civilization? Would explain our lack of knowledge of your species.” I shook my head again, “No, we’ve already explored the entire world.” I scratched my head in thought, “we haven’t explored much of what’s under the water though... are we in a sea cavern?” I looked at the setting sun. “Though, that doesn’t explain why there’s a sun... or how I got here.” “Nay, we are on the surface of the planet.” Princess Luna motioned to the sky, “surrounded by space and living under our sun and moon.” “You say you have explored your planet in it’s entirety?” Princess Celestia asked. I nodded. “You have never heard of our little ponies, perhaps your species missed us by mistake? Have you heard of the Griffin Empire? Or the Dragon Hierarchy? Or perhaps the Minotaur civilization?” “No, my... species,” Wow, that feels weird to say, “have explored every inch of land. Even if we somehow missed all those species, we have satellites that have scanned the surface of the entire globe. We’ve solved a lot of mysteries thanks to that, but no signs of other intelligent life.” Princess Luna’s eats splayed, “sister, do you suppose...” her voice trailed off. Princess Celestia, catching what Princess Luna was implying, continued by asking me a question. “Alex... how did you arrive in our country?” “I... I’m not entirely sure...” Princess Celestia continued, “Do you perhaps remember seeing a portal?” I shook my head, “No, I remember being picked up by a tornado... I think something hit me, and then I was in a field. I can’t recall what happened in between.” “GAH!” Princess Luna yelled, causing me to jump and quickly look over to her. “WE RELINQUISHED OUR BOON FOR NAUGHT!!!!!!!” Her horn glowed and then she vanished in smoke. I stared at the empty spot in confusion, then shifted my gaze to Princess Celestia, who was also looking at Princess Luna’s vacant spot. She let out a sigh, “I believe we know what has happened to you.” Her horn lit up and a piece of paper appeared in front of her along with a quill, “Do you remember anything about your surroundings when you regained consciousness?” “Hmm...” I scratched my chin as I thought back to that day, “Well, I woke up in a crater... I eventually started walking in a direction and came across some train tracks, oh, and there was a forest on the other side of it... I followed the tracks until I found a ghost town... and I passed out after that.” I looked back to Princess Celestia, who was busy scribbling her quill against the paper. “Excellent.” Princess Celestia said as the quill vanished. The paper rolled up, was tied with a red ribbon, and also disappeared. Princess Celestia smiled, “I’ll have some ponies look into it. Now,” she motioned a leg towards the carriage, “shall we be off? I wish to have you settled in a room before dinner.” “Is it like the one I was in?” I asked. She shook her head, “it will have a bed, dresser, a window overlooking canterlot, as well as a restroom with the necessities.” I looked her in the eyes. It didn’t feel like she was lying... and a shower sounds really good right now. “Alright, I’ll come with you.” She nodded, turned around, and started walking to the carriage with me close behind. She opened the carriage door, looked to me, and made a gesture with her leg as if to ask me to go in first. Ducking slightly, I stepped into the carriage. The inside was... not what I expected. Instead of seats, there were four large, circular cushions. Two of the cushions were placed towards the front of the carriage, and two were at the rear. Looking between the four spots, I decided to sit in one of the rear cushions. I wiggled around a bit and leaned my back against the wall of the carriage. As Princess Celestia entered, I gave the interior of the carriage a quick look. The walls and ceiling were covered in red fabric while the floor was carpeted with a few metal plates in front of each cushion. One odd thing about this carriage was it didn’t have any windows like the ones I’ve seen in history books. Princess Celestia sat down in the cushion in front of me, extended her leg, and tapped the metal with a rhythm. Soon after, the carriage jolted, and started to move. Despite the old looking form of transportation, the suspension was incredible! It felt like we were going pretty fast, yet I couldn’t feel a single bump from the ground. It didn’t take long before I became conscious to the silence in the carriage. The padded walls only added to the deafening silence of the cabin. God, I was terrible at small talk... should I say something? Princess Celestia was giving me a warm smile, but didn’t try to start a conversation either. So we both decided to sit in silence while we waited to arriave at our destination. Author's Note Put on Hiatus because I can’t dedicate as much time to the story as I used to, but I also don’t plan on giving it up. A work accident a few days ago freed up my time to edit this chapter in.
