The Diary of Starswirl the Bearded: lost in another world

Chapter 2:

"Equestria Girl"

The moment I entered that building, I found myself surrounded by a surprisingly large number of youngsters, zooming before me. My eyes rolled, confused: why were those creatures in such a hurry? The first reasonable explanation that came to me was that they had recognised me as an intruder and were bothered by my presence.

At least that was what I thought, until one peculiar-looking individual, who was deeply lost in his own thoughts , ended up bumping into me. I was caught by surprise and knocked over, as my reflexes had grown slower with age, yet I was lucky enough not to hurt my head, bumping it on the floor.

It was only after opening my eyes that I clearly saw who had caused the accident. The creature in question seemed to be very young and of a handsome complexion; his hair blue as the waves of the ocean.

Having realised what he had done, the youngster gave me his apology: even if now I cannot exactly recall his every word, I still vaguely remember what he told me at that time. It sounded more or less like this:

“Oh...I am sorry. Are you cool, man?”. The very last term he used, remained stuck in my head, for I did not know its meaning.

Standing up, I silently nodded in response. I must admit that, after being confused by the last word he had just spoken, I feared that my language and that of the creatures of this new world was more different than what I had initially thought, which led me to believe that starting a conversation with blue-haired youngster would be harder than expected.

Seeing me standing silent, the being before me showed clear signs of annoyance: he was probably expecting me to talk to him, but I was not feeling quite ready, yet.

“So...” He went on suddenly “I suppose that I can go to class, since you are obviously fine. See ya.”

As he turned around, ready to walk away, I felt the tension, which had not allowed me to speak, disappear. I knew that this was the chance I had been waiting for and, if I had not taken it, I probably would not have gotten another one.

Extending my arm to grab the youngster by the shoulder, I asked him not to leave; finally hearing my voice, the creature immediately stopped and turned his gaze toward me once more.

“You do speak, then.” He said, as a smirk of satisfaction slowly appeared on his face. I disliked his reaction; it felt to me like a total luck of respect, yet I quickly remembered that I was the stranger, visiting another world, not him, which meant that it would only be natural for me to find some of the habits and behaviours of the creatures around me slightly odd or inadequate.

Furthermore I had spent half a day looking for the right being to help me; it would have been foolish of me to start an argument and make an enemy out of a potential ally.

“Listen...” I said the moment I first opened my mouth. Talking to that creature did not feel as strange as I had expected, but in one corner of my mind I still feared that my language would not be understood by him, so I tried to make my speech as simple and informal as possible.

“...I need your help.”

“Of course.” The youngster quickly replied. “What can I do for you, man?”

That word again.

I did not know why the inhabitants of this new world used that single term so often: it must have meant something that they considered important, yet the fact that its significance was unknown to me felt incredibly frustrating.

“Excellent.” I went on saying, noticing that the being before me had not yet run away, meaning that his previous response had been sincere. “Do you know where to find a magic source?”

The moment the blue-haired creature heard me saying that sentence, he suddenly put on a suspicious expression on his face. It was like he had never heard the words I had just spoken.

As he delayed to give me his reply, I began to fear the worst. My knowledge of the inhabitants of the new world was so limited that I could not distinguish between the things that were appropriate to ask and those that were not.

What if I had said something terribly wrong? Perhaps the magic of the new world was secretly hidden by those who inhabited it for good reason? If that was the case, then I had made the worst question I could ever have thought of. The kind of question only a villainous being, eager to put his hooves on some kind of powerful and arcane magic, would make.

While I was mad at my own self for not having come up with a less direct question, the expression on the blue-haired creature changed, returning to its original, confident smile.

“Sorry, man, I don't know very much about that sort of stuff.”

Of all the answers he could have given me that was absolutely the worst and the most upsetting, for it meant that I had spent half of my day, accomplishing absolutely nothing, while the fiend of shadows was probably somewhere in this or another world, feeding on darkness to return to its former strength.

The next thing that the being before me said, was not reassuring, yet it still gave me a useful clue on what to.

“Don't worry, man. I know someone who could give you the answers you are looking for.”

As the sound those words reached my ears, a spark of hope glistened in my eyes.

“You must be a friend of Sunset Shimmer's: that explains your look, too. Trust me; she knows a lot more about these strange magical phenomenons that have been happening lately than I do. I don't know where she could be right now, though. Probably in her classroom, but I can't tell where that is exactly, either: we are not classmates, you see. But I am sure that, if you explain your problem to Principal Celestia or Vice-Principal Luna, they'll let you see Sunset after class.”

The reply that youngster had given me did not provide anything but names which meant nothing to me. Well, one of them at least.

“Now I am really sorry to say that I must go or I will be late for class. See you around, man.”

“Wait!” I shouted, before he could get away.

“What's up?”

“Tell me where I can find this Principal Celestia.”

My heart was at full gallop, when I laid my eyes on the door the being from before had pointed out to me. It had been hard enough to get over my previous fear, part of which I could still sense lurking in my heart, and now I was feeling like my chest was about to explode: it was only a matter of time.

During the moments I passed mumbling to myself what I should say, after passing through the door that laid before me, I realised that my “paws” were shaking from nervousness. I simply could not believe that such a thing was happening to me.

As I have previously mentioned, this was not the first time I had found myself in a tough situation, yet what I was experiencing was totally new to me. The more I repeated that name in my head, the more my struggle grew worse.

Celestia: one of the princesses I had spent years tutoring.

As soon as the blue-haired youngster had mentioned that word, I had felt a blow of cold wind, freezing my spine.

I should not have been so surprised, though. After all if dimensions different from the one I lived in existed, it was more than plausible than one could have doubles, living in those worlds.

What was I afraid of then?

If the Celestia I was about to meet was not the one I knew, she would not be able to recognise me. The frightening tension in my heart still remained, though.

Perhaps it was not the prospective of meeting another Celestia that scared me: perhaps I was just afraid of seeing her face.

I was scared of those large, magenta eyes, staring at me, telling me that I had failed to live up to her expectations, that, venturing on a journey to save the Realm, I had abandoned her and her younger sister.

Sighing, I knocked on the door before me: who knows why that time my “paw” felt particularly heavy to lift?

A warm voice came from inside the room, inviting me to come in. As I opened the door, I remained speechless from what I saw.

Sitting behind a large table was not the one who I had expected to find. The creature before me was tall and thin; her skin white as winter snow.

Her facial complexion was completely different than that of the young pony princess I had left in the capital: this one was a lot more mature with dark bags circling her eyes...Her eyes.

Yes, those were the eyes I had feared to be stared by. Despite many differences, I had to admit that the creature before me was indeed Celestia: only she could have possessed such irises. Two royal magenta irises, full of courage and determination. The more I observed them, the more the energy the emitted made my head feel dizzy.

Furthermore the Celestia from this world had the same hair as the one I knew, only slightly shorter and not as flowing. On her chest she wore a pin, shaped like the sun; the same sun the young pony princess from my world had as a cutie mark.

“How may I help...you...?” The tall creature questioned insecurely.

I did not give her my answer straight away, as I was supposed to, for her gaze had suddenly frozen the vocal cords in my throat.

After a moment of uncomfortable silence, Celestia, regaining her composure from the previous shock, finally spoke up.

“May I know your name, sir, and the reason of your visit to my office?”

As she talked, I could clearly see that her lips were still trembling. Something about me was causing her to feel uncomfortable, though I did not know exactly what it was.

Noticing that I was not answering, Celestia tried to encourage me. “Please, there is no need to stand in silence. If there is anything I can help you with, I'd gladly do what I can to...”

At that precise moment a door on her right side opened and from the shadows of another room emerged...Luna.

“Sister.” I remember her saying to Celestia. “I was hoping you could take a look at these documents, while I...”

The instant the vice-principal laid her eyes on me was certainly the worst of the day. Immediately she dropped the papers in her "paws" and her jaw opened as widely as it could.

It was only then that I finally understood what was going on.

In her eyes I saw fear, fear of an odd-looking stranger, the kind of fear that could make one jump in their own bed at night.

I felt my old heart, shattering into a million pieces: Luna was scared, scared of me!

That sight was too much to handle even for me: in a second everything around me became black, the sounds ceased to exist and then I felt just oblivious.

When I woke up, I was laying on a bed and feeling a strong sense of nausea. I instinctively tried to stand up, yet my headache had come back, much stronger than before and I had to give up.

Shortly afterwards, another inhabitant of the new world arrived to help me. Her white skin was almost as candid as Celestia's and her hair pink as a spring rose. The smile she gave me was full of kindness and care: clearly she knew how to assist those who were in distress.

After helping me up, the creature in question asked me how I was feeling; I did not see anything wrong in telling her the truth. She explained to me that I had passed out in the principal's office and been brought to her, so that she could take care of me.

She also told me that the reason of what had happened to me was only stress and suggested that I should go home and get some rest.

To be completely honest, I liked that creature and I had a feeling that Meadowbrook would have liked her, too. Pity she was not with me. Instead she was somewhere I did not know, yet and so were the others. Only the stars knew when we would meet again and finally go home together.

I kindly thanked the creature who had taken care of me and exited what presumably was her office.

While I was walking through the hallways of the building where I was apparently stuck in, at least until I gathered enough information to know what to do next, I was lucky enough to come across the same blue-haired youngster who I had first met during the morning. He seemed pleased to see me.

“Hey, man!” He greeted me, using that unknown word once again. “How did it go with the principal? Did you meet Sunset?”

The sad answer to that question was obviously no.

“Oh, I guess you could not find her either this morning, but not to worry: I just saw her.” As soon as the sound of those words reached my ears, hope began to shine inside of me.

“Where?!” I asked impatiently.

“Just outside, in front of the Wondercolt statue.”

“Show me!”

“So that there is the one who is supposed to help me to find a magic source?” I asked the blue-haired youngster, stroking my beard in reflection.

“Yep, that's Sunset, alright!” He quickly replied. “If you've got a magic problem, then there's nobody better than her to help you fix it.”

“I see...”I went on saying, being still unconvinced.

“Is there something you wanna ask?” The one who had accompanied me questioned, noticing that I was in doubt.

“It's just that she looks so incredibly young for a sorceress...”

“Sorceress?! ”The blue-haired youngster shrieked, after hearing me speak.

“Why of course! Don't people with magical abilities receive proper titles in these parts?”

“Eh, no. Not that I know of...”.

After I had heard that answer, I realised that my knowledge had deceived me again.

“Other worlds, other rules.” I thought to myself, observing the one who the blue-haired youngster had called Sunset.

The first impression she gave me was absolutely normal. There was nothing about her that made her different from the others I had met so far in this world.

It was only after deeper and more intense focusing that I was able to see that, deep down her fiery and golden locks and her warm smile, she possessed a peculiar aura. For an instant I felt an electric spark, passing through my spine, which could only mean one thing: magic.

“Do you want me to introduce you to her?” The blue-haired one questioned, seeing me silent.

“I think I can take it from here”. I firmly replied. “Thank you for your help.”

“No problem, man, let me know if you need anything else tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?” I asked curiously. “Why tomorrow?”

“Eh...you do know that school is over for today, right? I am kind of going home.”

His reply made a flicker lighten in my mind: I had spent an entire day in a school! That explained many things.

When I had first seen Sunset Shimmer, she was surrounded by other five inhabitants of the new world, which made me feel weak and unsure about how to approach her. Now though that her companions had left her, the time had come for me to make my move.

“Sunset Simmer, I presume?” I asked, trying my best to sound polite, while the youngster neared the staircase before the entrance to the school building.

As the being before me raised her eyes to see who had spoken, an expression of terror appeared on Sunset's previously cheerful face, the same terror I had seen alter Luna's features the moment she first saw me.

“Who are you?! How do you know my name?!” She shrieked, trembling like a lief; her cyan eyes almost crying already.

“Please, there is no need for this. I mean you no harm.” I went on saying calmly, desperately attempting to reassure her, before she could run away. Of course, Sunset did not believe me.

“Stay back! Don't come any closer!” The youngster shouted more loudly than before.

“Don't be afraid. I need your help...I beg you!”

The moment I extended my arms to grab the youngster by the shoulders, I suddenly felt an indescribable pain on the back of my neck. Something, probably a heavy metallic object, had hit me on the nape.

The next thing I felt was my body, falling on the ground with all its weight, then the dark of the night fell on my eyes.