Fugue - Volume 1

"Who am I?"

Even though the human had claimed he wanted to return to the safety of sleep, he found that he was incapable of doing so. There were so many questions he wanted answers to. Who was he? Why was he here? Can he return home? Biting his lower lip, he resisted the urge to sob in despair as the gentle stinging of tears welling up in his eyes began to set in. In a vain attempt to comfort himself, he pulled the quilt he had over him even closer to himself. However, it was for nought, no discernible benefit was gained. The uncertainty over his identity, the strange environment and outright impossible inhabitants of the land would not be muted by a simple quilt.

Seconds morphed into minutes, the only sound of life within the bed chamber being the occasional noise caused by Twilight turning a page as she read her book. The passage of time continued to weigh heavily on the human. Every second caused an unknown pressure to build up, which was being applied to his mind and chest. The inactivity and uncertainty merely exacerbated the pressure, which was beginning to become physically painful for him. After around five minutes had elapsed since he stated he wished to go to sleep, he tossed the sheets off and hopped out of bed, causing Twilight's ears to prick up in surprise.

"Is something wrong?" Twilight asked, her head turning to see what the human was doing.

"Everything's wrong," He snapped aggressively. "I can't do this."

Twilight tilted her head in confusion at his statement and watched as he wandered to the massive doors that separated the bedchamber from the rest of the castle and opened them. Before the lavender unicorn could even begin to ask that he stay, the doors slammed shut. Glancing round, the human noticed that he was stood in a massive corridor with numerous doors dotted along it that obviously branched off into other rooms or sections of the castle. Unsure where to actually go, he began striding his way down the hall. Meanwhile, Twilight emerged from Celestia's bedchamber and glanced up and down the hall to see where he had gone.

"Wait!" She cried upon noticing him walking away. "Come back!"

"Shut up!" He barked back. "Just... Leave me alone!"

"I can't! Princess Celestia told me to stay with you!"

He stopped and turned around to tell her that he wished she would leave him alone, but found himself being crashed into by the princess' student. Her head collided with his stomach, while her horn stabbed into his chest. The sudden loss of breath, accompanied by the rounded tip of the horn crashing into his torso, caused the human to fall backwards onto the floor. Twilight swiftly followed suit, her fore-hooves flailing wildly in a vain attempt to prevent her from falling onto the downed humanoid.

"AGH!" He roared in agony. "What the hell is wrong with you!?"

"I'm sorry!" Twilight whimpered in embarrassment. "I couldn't stop quickly enough! Are you okay!?"

"No, I'm not okay!" He groaned back, his upper limb with five appendages covering the point of impact. "Do you have any idea how painful that bloody horn is when it crashes into your ribs!?"

"N-No! I don't! I'm so so sorry!"

"Just... Shut up! Shut the hell up!"

Twilight's ears drooped and a frown weaved its way across her lips, however the sight was lost on the human, who let his free limb place itself against Twilight's side and push her off. With Twilight now on her side beside him, he rolled over and clasped both of his limbs onto his chest.

"Ow... This hurts so much!" He cursed. Twilight swiftly scrambled back to her hooves and approached him.

"Wait, let me help with that injury!"

"I SAID LEAVE ME ALONE!"

Twilight gasped softly at the sudden outburst, but stood her ground. Bravely, she stood over the human and pinned his limbs down.

"Hold still!" She ordered as her horn began to light up.

"Stop! Get off me!"

Twilight continued to resist the humans struggling, while she let her head tilt down so that her horn touched his chest. Immediately, the human could feel the blunt force trauma inflicted upon him fade away, causing him to stop struggling. After a few seconds, Twilight's horn stopped glowing and she looked up at him.

"H-How do you feel?" She asked nervously, while gazing down at the human she had pinned to the floor. The human stared back up at her blankly.

"It feels better." He responded weakly. "What did you do?"

"Oh, it's a local analgesic spell. It relieves individuals from the sensation of pain by-"

"Affecting the ability of the nervous system to register them."

Twilight's eyes widened at the interruption. Her mouth agape, she stared, dumbstruck, at the human.

"You know about magic?" She asked in total surprise. The human shook his head in response.

"No, I know of a number of medicines back home that help with pain relief," He replied. "We use such things to assist in surgery and many other related tasks."

Twilight's eyes suddenly twinkled at the knowledge being imparted. It was clear that the human's civilisation had an advanced understanding of medicine, and had an educational system. The possibility to learn more about the human and what his kind can do whirled through her mind. Meanwhile, the human cringed slightly as he watched Twilight stare vacantly at him.

"Um... Hello?"

Receiving no response, he reached around and jabbed Twilight's side. The unicorn squeaked in surprise and leapt away from him.

"EEK! What was that for!?"

"You were pinning me down and staring at me," He stated defensively. "It was really creepy!"

Twilight's eyes widened and she placed a fore-hoof against against her chest.

"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry!" She gushed apologetically. "I didn't mean to do that. I was just thinking of all the questions I could ask you!"

Twilight was suddenly silenced when one of the small appendages attached to the human's upper limbs pressed gently against her lips.

"It's okay," He stated soothingly. "No need to say sorry. Also, for what it's worth... Thank you for your help with the pain."

Twilight blushed lightly and looked away, her forehoof tapping the floor nervously.

"Y-Your welcome." She replied softly. Suddenly, she became faintly aware of a rather pleasant tickling sensation on the top of her head. Glancing up, Twilight was graced with the sight of the human petting her mane. The unicorn closed her eyes, cooed softly and smiled, happy at the sign that her guest had calmed down and did not hold a grudge, and enjoying the attention. However, once the all too brief petting stopped, she frowned internally, but hid her disappointment and looked back up at the human.

"Pardon me, but could we return to the room?" She asked politely. "I know there's a piece of parchment and a quill there, and I'd like to ask you a few questions."

"So, those strange little appendages are called fingers?"

"Correct," The human replied, while wiggling them to emphasise the point. "Starting from this one, they're called the thumb, index finger, middle finger, ring finger and little finger, which is sometimes called a pinky."

"Pinky?" Twilight asked curiously. "Why's that?"

"It's basically because it's so small."

"Oooooooh, I see." The lavender unicorn murmured with a slight nod. Her attention then returned to the piece of parchment, which she was drawing a diagram of the human's body on. At the present time, he had started from the top and explained about the head and its constituent parts, like the ears, nose and eyes. The similarities were astounding, even though she was a quadruped, while he was a biped and from a different plane of existence altogether.

"So, what do you call the rest of those upper limbs?"

"Ah, well, the fingers are part of what is called the hand." He remarked while pointing to it. "The underside of the hand is called the palm and is used to help with holding items. Its flexibility comes from the wrist, which, as you can see, allows a lot of room for rotation."

Twilight nodded and continued to scribble down notes and add more detail to her diagram. She was truly grateful that this creature was knowledgeable about his own anatomy, otherwise it would mean having to do horrible things like an autopsy to achieve the same result. The thought of seeing this strange, yet intelligent, creature dead made Twilight shudder, however her guest was too busy referring to a part of the human body called the "funny bone" to notice.

"Which, ends with a ball and socket joint here at the shoulder." He finished. "That's the basic structure of the bones in these 'upper limbs' as you call them."

"That's truly fascinating!" Twilight chirped enthusiastically as her magic levitated towards her for a closer inspection. "Sadly, I've run out of space on this parchment. I really should get a notebook and we continue this some other time!"

"To be honest?" He began thoughtfully. "I wouldn't mind that, it's kept my mind off... This situation."

Twilight frowned slightly and stepped towards him. Hesitantly, she reached out and gently gave his shoulder a pat. The human looked towards her and smiled weakly in response.

"Thank you for trying," He murmured. "But I think it's just something I'll have to get used to."

"Well, we don't know if we can find a way home for you or not," Twilight soothed. "Maybe there is a chance you can get home?"

"What about my memories?" He countered. "I don't even know my name. Sure, I know what hands are, but that doesn't really make me feel better."

Twilight nodded sympathetically. She had never experienced what he was going through, but she could imagine how scary it must feel to be in his situation.

"Well, why don't we come up with a new name?" She suggested. "And when you remember your real name, we can swap to that! How does that sound?"

The human rubbed his chin in thought for a moment before nodding.

"I don't see why not!"

"Great! Now let's think. You're a human. What kind of name would a human have?"

"Well, I remember a number of different names," The human said. "Names like Bill, William, Mark, James..."

"Those sound really strange," Twilight remarked with a tilted head. "But then, I can't really judge. You probably think the same way about our naming conventions."

"What kind of names do you have?"

"Well, I'm Twilight Sparkle, I know ponies named; Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Minuette, Lemon Hearts, Twinkleshine..."

The human nodded and listened intently as Twilight rambled her way through an ever-growing list of different names. Most of them sounded like random nouns and adjectives stuck together, yet they rolled off the tongue rather well. Disregarding the fact that they were clearly not human, he could see how such unusual names could exist. Eventually, Twilight finished her list, the lack of breaks taken to breathe between names caused her to inhale sharply.

"And that's the ones I know." She wheezed.

"I see. They are rather strange." He replied honestly. "But, I can definitely see how they would be used as names... Big Mac... Twinkleshine... Rarity. In fact, I think Rarity is probably the most 'normal' from my perspective."

"Quite, but that doesn't really solve the problem of what we could call you." Twilight replied dejectedly. "Something human... Not pony..."

While Twilight began pacing the room in concentration, the human opted for laying down on the bed and staring at the ceiling. What temporary name could he have? Did it matter what it was, if it was temporary? Since his memory may not return for ages, it was natural that he may be called whatever was picked for a while. As a result, he had a good reason to ensure it was a good name.

"I've got it!" Twilight squealed. The human was about to crane his neck so he could look at her, but was surprised when the overjoyed unicorn suddenly leapt on top of him. Finding himself in the position he'd been in not long ago, Twilight standing over him with a borderline manic grin, he decided it was better to just ignore it for now.

"You have?"

"Yes!" She chirped in excitement. "It's a mixture of our respective species names!"

The human raised an eyebrow, a hint of foreboding and dread washing over him at what she was about to suggest.

"Go on?"

"Well, my logic was that you wanted something familiar, but it should be easy for ponies to understand. As a result, I thought 'Pony is two syllables, human is too. Why not merge them? I was thinking Ponan at first, but it didn't sound right, so I reversed the words, resulting in the name..."

The human's eyebrow dropped back to its original state as he latched onto Twilight's train of thought and worked out what she had discovered.

"Huey." They both said together. Twilight's eyes widened at the simultaneous exclamation, while the human smirked confidently.

"Reverse the words." He explained. "Ponan. The first part is clearly pony, while the second part is human. Reverse the words, it becomes human and pony."

Twilight giggled softly and climbed off him so that she could look away in embarrassment. With his new found freedom, the human sat up and gave her mane a gentle pat.

"Great minds think alike?" The human suggested to dispel her worries. Twilight looked back at him and nodded with renewed confidence.

"Yes!"

"Amusingly, the name Huey is actually a real human name." He remarked. "So, I think you struck gold."

"You like it!?"

"I do. The logic behind your creation of it is nice. That, combined with it being a genuine human name... I think it's perfect."

Suddenly, the lavender unicorn released a sound analogous to a squeaky toy and threw her hooves round Huey in an ecstatic embrace. Huey blinked, surprised at the sudden show of affection, but swiftly recovered and gently, yet awkwardly, patted Twilight's back. Thankfully, the embrace ended as quickly as it began.

"Let's go and see Princess Celestia!" Twilight suggested with a gasp. "We can tell her about your name and all the things I've learnt about you!"

"I don't see why not," Huey thought out loud. "Plus, I'd like to actually see a little more of this world and learn a bit about it."

Huey climbed off the bed, while Twilight manoeuvred herself so they were side by side. Glancing down at the unicorn cheekily, Huey gave her a gentle nudge.

"I could put you through a session of constant questions as payment for my answering your questions."

Twilight looked up at him with a slight hint of offence.

"I wasn't intending to be annoying!" She complained, causing Huey to roll his eyes.

"Never meant that, Twilight. I was referring to the fact that you've asked loads of questions about myself and humans, but you've not done anything in return. I'm going to be staying here for a bit, so... Makes sense to know what's what, right?"

"Hmph... You could have phrased it a bit better, but okay!"

"Sorry," Huey stated with his hands raised defensively. "You really are an inquisitive soul, I was hoping to tease you about that."

"Never mind," Twilight replied matter-of-factly with a head shake. "The princess should be in the throne room!"

"Your Highness, that was the last individual wishing to seek an audience with you." A guard informed the snow white alicorn with a solemn bow. "Shall I give the order to close the gates?"

Celestia grimaced. It had been tradition, many hundreds of years ago, to signal when she would hold open court for any of her subjects to speak to her by having a semi-ceremonial opening of the castle's gates. It always pained her to have to "close the gates" every time. It felt like she was shutting out her subjects, closing herself off from them with stone and steel. However, a satisfactory alternative had failed to materialise, which forced her to continue the archaic practice. Regretfully, she nodded, causing the guard to salute and retreat from the throne room to carry out the order.

While the guard exited the room, Twilight and Huey entered. The rest of the guards stationed in the throne room watched the pair warily. They knew that anyone accompanying the princess' favourite pupil must be safe to have in the presence of the princess herself, but they were still suspicious due to this being their first encounter with a human. The pair ignored the watchful glances as they traversed the red carpet that lead to the throne.

"Twilight!" Celestia called out in her motherly tone. "It's so good to see you!"

Her student eagerly trotted the last few paces and embraced Celestia. Huey crossed his arms and watched the pair silently, occasionally glancing at the guards to see whether they were one of the three varieties of common equine Celestia had mentioned when they first met. Even though he felt much calmer than he was immediately after waking up, the wary looks he was getting from the guards were still unnerving.

"Twilight tells me that the pair of you have been getting acquainted."

Huey swiftly turned to look at the princess, who was making her way down the steps that lead to her throne. Now face to face, it was clear that Celestia was head and shoulders above her subjects in height. Unlike Twilight, who, if one used the top of her head as a reference point, only reached up to Huey's chest, Celestia was, as far as he could guess, the same height as he was, approximately six feet, if one was to disregard her horn. It would therefore appear to be the case that the average pony grew to a height of four feet, from hooves to head. This particular fact Huey had deduced as he watched the princess approach him.

"Yes, she had a lot of questions to ask about myself," He replied. "She was even able to provide a name for me!"

"Indeed, she was kind enough to mention it to me while she summarised her time with you," Celestia said softly. "Please, you must be hungry. I would be most appreciative if you and Twilight accompanied me for dinner."

Huey pursed his lips. He hadn't thought about food or drink at all since he'd arrived. Now that he had, he realised that he was very hungry.

"I'd be delighted!" He said cheerfully and stepped aside to permit Celestia to pass, even throwing in a polite bow. Celestia chuckled lightly, a hoof lifting up to cover the smile forming on her lips.

"There's no need for the formality, Huey." Celestia assured him. "You are a very important guest, my guest, to be precise. It is I who should be considering whether I should bow to you."

"Ah, there's really no need." Huey replied modestly. "I'm not that important, even if I'm the only one of my kind. Could we just not bother with the formalities and stuff, in private?"

"As you wish," Celestia agreed with a slight nod of her head. "Follow me."

Without hesitation or argument, Huey followed with Twilight beside him. As the pair meandered through the maze of corridors in the castle, Huey became aware of a soft prodding against his side. Glancing down, he found Twilight looking up at him with a massive smile that oozed the message; "things are going well". Huey nodded in agreement before focusing on watching where he was going.

It took mere minutes for the trio to enter a stunning dining room. The table, while extraordinarily thin, was incredibly long. Huey couldn't even begin to count how many chairs were lined up down the sides of it, and was relieved when Twilight and Celestia took their seats. The princess sat at the head of the table, while her student sat on her left. Unsure whether to sit on Celestia's right or next to Twilight, Huey remained on his feet until Twilight tapped the spot next to her. With the signal received loud and clear, he sighed in relief and sat down.

"I don't believe Twilight enquired about your dietary needs." Celestia remarked as a number of servants seemingly materialised out of nowhere and began setting four places at the table. Huey nodded in confirmation of Celestia's statement.

"We were still going over human anatomy," Huey stated, while a servant placed a full set of cutlery in front of him. "Twilight had just finished making notes about my arms and hands. I think that would have lead us to the chest and neck."

"Right!" Twilight chirped happily. "He may look different, but there's actually so much that's similar! He knows about surgery and medicine!"

"Oh?" Celestia said inquisitively. "Were you a physician?"

"No, I don't think so," Huey replied thoughtfully. "I have this vague recollection of a place called McDonald's. It was a fast food place!"

"Fast food?" Twilight interrupted. "You mean like hay burgers and such?"

"Not exactly," Huey corrected gently. "Humans are usually omnivores, we eat both meat and plants."

The sudden of mention of meat caused the crash of crockery against the floor. The trio whirled round to see what had happened, and were graced with the sight of a young mare frantically clearing up bits of broken ceramic and burbling apologies. Unbeknown to her, Huey had stood up and walked over to help. Suffice to say, she was surprised when she saw the human's hands pick up a piece of crockery she was reaching out for. Nervously, she looked at up him, a clear hint of uncertainty and fear in her eyes. Huey grimaced at that, he felt offended at the ridiculous fact that this mare was afraid that she might get eaten by him.

"However, we don't need meat to survive," He continued, while holding out the bits of ceramic for the mare to take. "There are a number of humans that choose to be vegetarian. Some go even further and eat nothing that comes from an animal, like milk, who are called vegans."

Huey smiled lightly at the mare, who still had clear traces of fear within her. Eager to put her fears to rest, Huey knelt down, so that he was at her height and spoke to her directly.

"What's your name, Miss?"

"M-My name's S-Silver Salver, sir." She stammered. "I'm sorry for dropping the plates."

"Shhhhh... It's okay." Huey replied quietly. Reaching out, he let his hand gently stroke her ear and mane. At first, the mare flinched at the sudden contact, but then released a gentle hum of delight. After giving her mane a soft tousle, Huey stood back up.

"Don't worry about calling me 'sir'," He explained. "Dropping the plates was an accident and, frankly, I can understand why you might be afraid of me. After all, where I'm from... Ponies don't talk at all. Imagine how spooky this place must be for me, hmm?"

Silver Salver nodded in understanding and smiled sweetly at him.

"Thank you, Si-I mean very much. Ahem... Thank you very much." She stuttered, while taking the ceramic, bowing apologetically to the princess and retreating from the room. Huey rejoined the two ponies at the dinner table.

"If you pardon my asking," Celestia began. "What were you doing to her with those... 'Hands', did you say?"

"Yes, hands." Huey replied. "I gave her a reassuring pet. It's a common practice done by humans to domesticated animals. Pets we have include cats, dogs, rabbits and, if you're incredibly rich, horses and ponies."

"I see," Celestia stated, a hint of suspicion in her tone. "Tell me more about the horses and ponies of your world."

"Well, I was never that interested in them, but they are markedly different to yourselves." Huey said honestly. "A horse is usually as tall as me, if you stop at the... What's the part called where you... Um..."

Unsure how to describe the specific equine body part, he looked towards Twilight.

"Could you stand up for a moment?"

Twilight nodded and the pair stood up and took a few steps away from the table, Celestia watching them intently. Huey pointed at the base of Twilight's neck, where it met her back.

"This bit, what is it?" He asked.

"The withers." Celestia stated.

"Right, well if Twilight was to be a horse from where I'm from, her withers would reach to around where my head ends. With the head included, that'd mean they'd be about seven feet in height?"

"So, our counterparts from your land are much larger than you?" She reiterated with a nod of understanding.

"Correct. Ponies are a little bit shorter. However, very few, if any, are as short as the average pony is here." Huey elaborated. "Before you ask, I'm afraid they are not bestowed with the same... Intelligence?"

Celestia tilted her head.

"In other words, they're not enslaved." She stated bluntly, causing Huey to nod frantically. He was happy that he had dodged the bullet regarding whether he could say that equines where he was from weren't anywhere near as intelligent as Celestia or Twilight was.

"Yes, that's it!" He added. "I didn't want to offend, but where I'm from, they're a domesticated animal. They can't speak and the colours aren't as varied as yours. For example, a horse with Twilight's colour doesn't, and couldn't, exist in my world."

"That is most fascinating." Celestia remarked. "You mentioned that you ate meat. Does that include...?"

"What? No!" Huey replied in surprise. "No, I don't eat horse or pony. Admittedly, some cultures do, but not me... I think. I honestly can't remember if I did or not before I came here, but I promise I won't do anything of the sort here!"

"Just checking," Celestia replied nonchalantly, her horn glowing a bright gold aura as she examined a fork that she'd levitated over to herself for inspection. For a moment, Huey thought he could see an almost cheeky smile break across her lips, but he shook the idea out of his head. Twilight and he took their respective places again.

"As for vegetables and fruit," Huey said, eager to move the topic aware from meat. "Humans can eat many kinds of vegetables, fruit, berries, herbs. "

"That all sounds incredibly basic," Twilight mused. "Have your kind experimented in the culinary arts?"

"We have," Huey replied. "Food is constantly experimented with where I'm from. We have loads of different food stuffs like pizza, pasta, bread, cake, the list is endless."

"Well, all four of those exist here," Celestia said with a smile. "So, I think you'll be just fine!"

"Glorious!" Huey cheered. "What's on the menu anyway?"

"Whatever you wish, sir."

Huey whirled round to face the new voice that had addressed him. To his surprise, a steel grey, earth pony stallion, wearing a black waist coat, white dress shirt and a black tie was stood next to him. How he had been able to do so without being heard, Huey could not fathom.

"Forgive me for surprising you, but Her Highness' catering staff are most proficient."

"Indeed, Silver Platter," Celestia said. "Huey, Silver Platter will note down what you wish to have for dinner, I think you'll find he's a true expert at the art of..."

"Buttling, Ma'am."

"Thank you, Silver Platter."

"Ah, thank you!" Huey said to Celestia before turning back to the butler. "And thank you too, Silver Platter. May I have a simple cheese pizza, if that's possible?"

"It is, and it shall be done, sir." The butler replied passively with a simple nod. After swiftly noting down Twilight and Celestia's requests for dinner, he retreated from the room.

"Excuse me for asking, but..." Huey said cautiously. "Why is there a fourth place set at the table?"

"Ah, my sister, Princess Luna, will, I hope, dine with us. Usually, she sleeps during the day due to her duties requiring her to be awake at night."

"Ah, the graveyard shift?" Huey remarked, causing Celestia to raise an eyebrow.

"That's... One way of describing it." Celestia mused. "However, I don't believe Luna would appreciate it."

"Oh, then I'm sorry," Huey backtracked. "Still, I'm grateful that you're being so generous with your time and staff. I'm really not that special."

"You are to me," Celestia countered gently. "It is most unfortunate that you were snatched from your world. Naturally, we will leave no stone unturned in our search to get you back to where you belong."

"All I can really say to that is thank you, Princess Celestia." Huey replied modestly. "Wait... You hope Luna will dine with us?"

Celestia's smile suddenly vanished. Twilight hadn't noticed the princess' choice of words and hearing them again piqued her curiosity too.

"Is she okay, Princess Celestia?" Twilight asked. "How is she feeling after what happened?"

"She..." Celestia began quietly, her usual motherly tone replaced by one laced with worry. "Still feels great shame for what she did. I have tried to help her, spend time with her, but my duties to Equestria..."

"Sorry to butt in, but what did she do?" Huey interjected cautiously. Twilight looked at him with a grave expression, causing him to regret asking the question. However, Celestia sighed and answered regardless.

"Just over a thousand years ago," She said sadly. "My sister and I had ruled over Equestria together. However, Luna had become increasingly bitter due to the fact that she is the architect of the night, while I am the princess who brings forth the day."

"She builds the night?"

"Not exactly," Twilight interrupted. "Celestia and Luna have the power to raise and lower the sun and moon! They are the ones we rely on to ensure we have a day and night at all!"

"Wow!" Huey replied in surprise. "That's... Unbelievable! I mean... That's not how it works where I'm from. The sun and moon do that by themselves."

"Well, there are some differences between our world and yours, Huey," Celestia stated. "In my sister's case, she took great pride in the stars she crafted in the night sky. However, most ponies would be asleep."

"She didn't feel appreciated." Huey guessed, causing Celestia to nod.

"I still remember it like it was yesterday," Celestia continued with a light shine in her eyes, indicative of tears. "My sister felt so alone, so bitter. That anger corrupted her into a monster called Nightmare Moon. I tried to stop her, but, she was gone. I had no choice, but to do something that I still regret to this day."

"And what was that?" Huey probed.

"I banished her to the moon." Celestia admitted, her head looking away in shame. "I wish I could have done something else. Instead, she remained trapped there for a thousand years."

"Your sister lived on the moon for that long?"

"No, she became a part of it." Celestia explained. "A legend that centred around strange markings on the moon, which looked like a pony, suggested that there was a mare in the moon itself. Those legends were more true than most ponies know."

"But Luna is free now, right?" Huey stated defiantly. "You have a place set for her right there! Surely that means she's okay now?"

"A few days ago," Twilight began, causing Huey to shift his gaze. "Nightmare Moon was able to break free from her lunar prison. I, along with my friends, were able to dispel Nightmare Moon and bring Luna back."

"Something which I could not do," Celestia remarked mournfully. "I know Luna isn't to blame for what she did back then and now, but..."

"She still feels guilty, even though Nightmare Moon and her are separate beings?" Huey postulated, earning a nod from both ponies at the table.

"Well, they're kind of not separate, but are." Twilight mused. "Nightmare Moon is a corrupted form of Luna, obsessed with achieving eternal night and sweeping away the possibility of the sun raising ever again. Completely filled with unbridled rage and hatred of Celestia."

"Madness incarnate?" Huey mused. "The personification of an individuals darkest emotions."

"That description is not pleasant," Celestia remarked. "But it is painfully accurate."

Huey looked over at the alabaster alicorn. Even though she hadn't changed in size, her posture made her seem small and insignificant. It was clear that she was deeply upset by those events. Biting his lip, Huey stood up and walked around the table towards the princess. Twilight watched in wonder as Huey approached Celestia and gently wrapped his arms around her in a hug. Shielded from view, Celestia rested her head against Huey's chest. Normally, she would not permit herself the luxury of something as simple as a hug. However, tonight was different. There was a deep emotional pain weighing down her spirits and she could not bring herself to refuse the hug, even if it was from a totally different species. Even though she would have liked to return the embrace, she dare not for fear of appearing to act improperly in the eyes of her student. As a result, she decided nestling her head against Huey's chest was the next best thing.

After letting her enjoy the hug for a moment, Huey gently let go of her. Celestia was blisteringly quick in driving away the raw emotion that he could see while he was hugging her. From Twilight's perspective, Huey had just given Celestia a hug and she'd just sat there like a statue and permitted it. The truth of what really happened was known only to the alicorn and human.

"Now then!" Huey stated with a cough to break everyone's attention regarding the hug. "While we wait, how about I tell you some of the things I know regarding humanity's knowledge of medicine?"

"Yes, please!" Twilight chirped, her thought processes immediately engrossed with the possibility of learning more about humans. Celestia looked at Huey and, when he glanced back, gave him a grateful smile and nod. The gesture probably did not feel like much to him, but it had been of tremendous help to her.