Love's Ever Beating Cadenceby Joss10ChaptersWhere are we?Escape!We made it!You're kidding, right?Why I am; what I am.James is my name, being human is my game!Yeah... still a lot to learn.Where are we?Hope you guys enjoy! Chapter I “Hey, come on this ain’t funny guys!” I called out to a few of my friends, squinting and groping at any sign of light. It sure is dark in here, I thought to myself as the gloomy cave in which my friends had wanted to play hide and seek in was ever more unbecoming. Yeah, I was scared like a little wuss. Needless to say I was going to have a strong talking to my friends when I find them. If I find them. This cave is huge. “Why did we ever pick on a cave like this to play hide and seek, I wonder...” I thought aloud to myself as I then heard a few rocks shift about hundred feet in front of me. Aha, gotcha. Silently I made my way to the pile of rocks where I heard the noise, only to be greeted by the sweet embrace of no one being there. Great. “Okay guys, that’s it. I give up. I can’t find you and that’s that, capice?” I chuckled at my own blunder on trying to find my friends, although I can’t help but wonder if that was just a way to relieve my fear. No response. “I’m serious, I’m done playing games.” Again, no response. Fear began to set in, which begot panic. Don’t panic, James, just walk out the way you came. I told myself internally. Easier said than done, this cave was huge and dark. Very dark, and no I do not have a flashlight. Wandering around for a while only made me realize that I couldn’t find my way out. Panic of the situation doubled and I quickly found myself at a dead end, which nothing to accompany me but a large cliff which led even farther down into the Earth. “Okay, well, definitely not going that way.” I scoffed and grabbed a rock from the ground and tossed it down the cliff. I could faintly hear the rock hitting the ground or at least the wall of that expanse. I did not fancy my situation at all. I squatted down by the cliff’s edge and sighed, trying to figure out a plan to get out of here, which yielded no results. “Damnit.” I cursed while standing up quickly, unaware of what was about to hit me. As soon as I turned around, the footing of the cave floor gave away and I found myself on the edge of this cliff hanging on for my life. “Shit!” I cursed again, trying to remedy my situation as I groped for more ground, finding nothing to help me from falling. After a few more moments I was haning on by one hand, and I could feel myself slipping. I guess this was it for me, not how I’d imagined it. “Nooo!” I screamed, my voice echoeing like something out of the climax of a movie, as I plumeted to what I thought was my death. I hit the ground with a loud thud and a squish as my breath left my lungs instantly. I looked around the dark caverns, light apparently more plentiful here as I could see decently well. I slowly scanned my surroundings before I made the obvious assumption that I fell into some kind of crystal deposit. Now that was cool! “But I have to get out of here. Riches mean nothing to a dead man.” I scoffed at myself again and began to move. Something was not permitting me to move my torso, as if it was being grabbed by something. I looked down and saw a single but quite thin shard of crystal sticking out of my stomach near my waist. Panic set in quickly as my breathing and heartbeat skyrocketed. What could I’ve done against this happening? What could I do about patching this up? I quickly realized, remembering my first aid training as a boy scout, and rolled my shirt up to asess the damage. Looked really bad if you asked me, but where it was didn’t seem to hurt any vitals. I realized what it was I needed to do, and I hated every second of it. I was going to have to snap this thing off and leave a piece in as a clot. I shivered at this thought and chuckled softly. No way James, you’re not man enough to do that. Would you rather lay here and die? … Yeah. After a quick recount of my enviroment, I realized that I’m going to need to do this. I never thought I’d ever need to do something like this but… I’ve no choice. I gripped the top of the crystal and began to bend it my way, the pain shooting up and down my body as the adrenaline wore off. Screaming, I was almost ready to give up when I snapped a piece off and held onto the crystal. It was beautiful, aside from the blood. I looked back to myself and began to move, slowly, as to not damage anything else. This place is a death trap! One slip and you’re dead! I was unsure of where to go, all I have to go by is the bloody mess I left and the little light this cave gave me. It was more than enough to walk around without any kinks. Or so I thought. Walking through the caverns, I began to see some of the crystals were either burned or what looked like bitten off. That last thought didn’t settle well with me at all. As if it wasn’t enough I was stuck down here, there was something that may or may not live here and eat these things. I’m just screwed, aren’t I? Moving farther in, I was greeted, albeit unwelcomingly, by a noise. It was quite far away, I’d say about a few hundred feet in front of me. I think? The noise seems to bounce off these crystals. Its as if the sound was all around me, which made me wonder if this noise was the cave dweller who’s come looking for a mid-day snack. I could only hope it wasn’t something that was going to eat me. Upon closer inspection of the paths I was choosing, I noticed I was definitely going in one direction. The noise was louder now, and I could almost recognize it. It almost sounded light crying, and something else. I could be wrong. I hoped I was wrong, because that would be creepy as all hell, and I have enough heeby jeebies to worry about right now. The closer I came to the source of the noise, however, the more I was convinced that whatever was “crying” was definitely ahead of me, and I suspected human. Then I made the connection: It had to be one of my friends! There was no way I’d find anyone else down here and that made most of the sense I’d lost when I hit the dirt on the way down here. “Hellooo?” I confidently called out to the voice who had been crying, wailing this entire time. It didn’t help that the crying stopped without any warning and silence befell us both. Uh oh. Maybe I shouldn’t have done that. Yeah I really shouldn’t have done that, or so I thought. I’d no idea what was over there and I made an assumption without decent proof it was one of my friends. But I had no choice now, did I? I kept walking, lead in my feet as everything in my mind told me to get the hell out of here and away from whatever’s over there. At the same time I felt curiously compelled, just like the cat before it dies. That wasn’t a good thing to remind myself of. I made my decision. As much as I didn’t want to get involved, my heart cried another passion. I was convinced I could help whatever was down here, even if it wasn’t human. I wanted to help. I have a habit (might as well be an obsession) of helping others while tossing myself away in the process. I guess this was the ultimate test to see whether or not I was the cat and that thing over there was curiosity. “Whatever you are, I know you’re out there. I could hear you.” I squinted through, trying to see any movement at all. I refrained from telling whether or not I know what I heard, but I wasn’t really worried about that either. “Nathan? Carl? Jesse?” I called out the names of my friends. Nothing. Not a single mutter. “Ich bin nicht hier, um dich zu verletzen.” I told them in modern German, something I picked up in my spare time. “Kannst du mich verstehen, ja?” I spoke again. I felt like maybe English would be better. Walking closer to the sound I heard earlier, I began to notice pink reflections in the crystal, which was not the original color of these crystals. My first thought was that was nothing, but I realized instantly when the pink “shimmered” on the crystal, like the reflections were alive. “Can you even understand me?” I called out, receiving nothing in reply. “… yes.” A small female voice said to me, weak, but most certainly alive. My heart stopped for a moment and my breath caught in my throat. The voice wasn’t any of my friends, which meant two things: Someone else came down here recently or this was an alien and depending on that alien’s diet I was either its next meal or… or not. “Wow, how did you get down here?” I asked, perfectly fine with communicating with the alien/human/cave dweller that I was speaking to. “I was knocked out and dragged here against my will...” She, or it, croaked out. I honestly didn’t believe her, which is unusual for me because I try and give the benefit of the doubt to everyone. I’d have to see her to believe her. Why am I referring to it as her? I guess its easier? Truth be told, it was easier to trick myself into thinking I was okay. “For real? That’s harsh. What for?” I asked, making my way to the voice, with little luck. “I was to be married, but… now I know that won’t happen. My fiance is going to be marrying somepony else disguised as me.” She cried out softly, her voice filled with sorrow. Hold on… She said somepony… wait a second. I had a thought, and this was far out, I mean farout. Corellating what I know now and what I’ve just heard I came to the somewhat sound conclusion that the person I was I talking to was not a person at all. I decided to chance this and put my money where my mouth was. “You were to be married but someone got in the way of that. The Changlings, I assume?” I called out, laughing audibly as I shook my head. “How did you know?” She replied, her voice wrought with confusion. My laugh then proceeded to be caught in my throat, and I choked on my own voice for a moment. “Uhh…I-I’m not sure.” I told her, my voice a bit shaky from my nervousness of the whole situation. Silence is all that followed what I said to her, as I could sense I was close to her. “Can you come out? I’ve been looking for a way out and since I found someone else down here, I’d like to see in you in person.” “At this point I’m not sure who I can trust. I’ve been stuck down here for a long time… I’m not sure how long but at least a few days or so. No, I will not reveal myself to you. For all I know you could be a Changling in disguise come to-” “Please. I know who you are. I know why you’re down here, who’s done this to you.” I cut her off and stood in the middle of a large opening, the reflections of her pink body giving me the impression she was close. “So you are here to keep an eye on me or something, I guaran-” “If you could see me you’d understand that I’m not anything you’ve ever seen. And as it stands, I’m not doing so well.” I admitted to her, my eyes outlining the areas in which she could be in. I coughed a couple times, blood reguritating onto the floor as I took a knee to keep myself from falling. “Alright, I’ll come out. But if you’re a Changling or anything less than friendly, I’ll burn you to a crisp.” She shot a hastly reply filled with anger but also a hint of fear. I bet this is some ellaborate dream I’ve conjured up when I fell down here. I awaited her arrival, only the sound of her walking was accompanying me as she observed me. I looked behind me to see a figure in the shadows. I strained to see what it was, my eyes squinted as I cocked my head to the side slightly and took what I saw at face value. It was hard to believe what I was looking at. A good sized Alicorn with a bright pink coat of fur properly maintained, with bright violet eyes which mesmerized me with their richness. But above all, it was how beautiful she was as a whole. Sure, in the show she looked good, but seeing her like this is… shocking. Awe inspiring. I stood up and studied her for a moment, her face unsure of her own sighting of me. “I-I’m… sure you’re about as shocked to see me as I am you.” I broke the tension by speaking to her, as she then approached me slowly. “You’re a… human, aren’t you?” I nodded at her reply and smirked warmly. “Indeed I am, Miss Cadenza… I guess I’m a bit out of place here.” “Yes, yes you are… how do you know my name?” She asked, now only a couple feet away from me. Crap, James, think of something! “I’ve heard about you. I’ve-” “Don’t lie.” She demanded quickly. I’m a master of social engineering, lying for me is as easy as ever… how the hell did she spot that? “Fine. Alright, I won’t lie. I know who you are because… because I know who you are. I’m not sure how else to put it. You’re one of the most famous people around, how can someone not know who you are?” She studied me for a few moments, accepting what I said as true with a nod and a small smile. I nodded back and fell on one knee again, a bout of nausea hitting me down quickly. “A-are you alright?” She put her hoof on my shoulder, a warm, fuzzy sensation giving me a slight worry. I looked into her eyes for a moment before reaching to touch her hoof. It was… very soft, warm, smooth like butter. I expected nothing less from someone so well kept. “W-What are you doing?” She asked inquistively, my eyes never leaving her hoof as I was confused to my situation. Everything feels so real… “Its uhh… just that I’ve never felt a hoof so soft before. Especially from an alicorn.” Shocked, I managed out a small reply. She smiled warmly, looking me over as a friend would until she found my waist, covered in blood from the large, half-inch wound I was suffering from. “Oh my word, are you alright? Here, let me fix that for you!” She quickly assisted me towards a rock to sit down and she focused on my wound for a moment, her horn lighting up and sparks began to fly from them softly. Her face contorted a bit as if straining to get a grip with her magic. After a few more moments of straining she stopped, out of breath. “What in the world? I-I can’t use my magic on you?” She cried out softly, obviously panicking inside as she trembled. “M-My magic is gone?” Breathlessly spoken, she was on the verge of crying. This must’ve been detrimental to her. “No no no, don’t cry Miss Cadenza.” I reached out and hugged her instinctively. In my family, hugs are pretty big with us. “I’ve been trapped here for longer than should be possible for an Alicorn… I don’t think I can make it out. A-Am I going to die here?” “No you are not. Neither am I, not if I can help it. There’s one thing that humans relish above all else and that is survival, no matter how hard. Life to us is more important than anything. I’m going to get us out of here, back to your fiance and I’m going to get home.” I looked into her eyes sternly and stood up, her tears no longer flowing. “W-Who are you?” She quipped softly at me as I held her in one arm and looked into her eyes again. “I’m James Marble. You can call me James, or Jim for short.” “Alright… James. I’m Mi Amore Cadenza. Princess. You can call me Cadence if you want.” She smiled warmly and a connection I wasn’t ready for formed in her eyes. I’m not sure what I saw but I know it was there. “Now lets see… there has to be a way out of here, or else people couldn’t ever get here. This is a crystal cave, right?” “Yes. Underneath the castle.” “Alright… the first order of business is establishing a starting point… where were you when you woke up?” I asked her. She showed me the way and we began our adventure to escape. This is either the most elaborate dream, or I’m in for one big surprise. I hope you guys liked it! This is a remastered story that I did a long time ago on FanFiction. Do you guys like it? If so, what about? I'd love to hear feedback. Seeya in the next chapter! -Joss10 Escape!Hopefully it was enjoyable to read that last chapter. It was sure fun making it (after so long of not). In any case: Enjoy the next one! Chapter II It sure took us a while to find the spot where Cadence was dropped off. Us as in her. Although, I don’t blame her, this place is a maze all in itself and the crystal reflections don’t help one bit. Add to the fact that this place all looks the same and you’ve got the ugly potential to getting lost very easily. Finding out way out wasn’t going to be the hard part; doing it quickly would be. I suppose that last part really only has to do with me. I’ve been down here about 39 hours now since I got here. Most of that time was spent looking and communicating only when necessary(with the occasional argument of logic, for deciding where to go). I told her only to speak when absolutely sure verbal communcation can be most effective to conserve water and stay as hydrated as possible. Although it did make a for a great excuse not to tell her who I was inside and where I come from and all that jazz. We mostly communicated with non-verbal motions when necessary. Fortunately, we found the starting point of where she was dumped off (yeah that’s harsh, I know). We began our discussion of “muh where to go muh this way”. Unfortunately, Cadenza’s magic would only go as far as her; she couldn’t help me in any way and I’ve lost both water and blood from this journey and as far as Cadenza’s magic goes, well, I was quite literally screwed unless we found a way back to the castle. “Alright. We know the approximate direction of the exit, or entrance to this cavern.” God this place is a hell. “Hmm. How obvious are tracks made by hooves?” I asked, looking her way as she sat down, obviously tired and lacking in nutrients as well. “Um, uh… Pretty obvious to see but there’s many tracks, even some made my me.” She motioned to the ground and shrugged. It seemed impossible but I had a thought. “Changlings are small beings, about the size of a normal pony, yes?” I asked another question to which I was hoping was right. “Yes. What’s your point?” She cocked her head slightly and raised a brow. “What does size have to do with us getting out? You think that we’ll have to squeeze through some crystal to get out?” She replied. “No, or at least, I hope not. My point was that it may have taken more than one or two of them to carry you. I’m hoping it took maybe 3 or 4.” I nodded and began to caress my chin in thought. “Why?” Simply asked, I simply answered; “Because if it took as many as I assume, then we can track their movement back. Its kind of a far out idea but well, anything is better than what we’re doing now.” I shrugged and looked to the ground for answers. “That sounds… actually that’s pretty smart. Good call, James.” She smiled and I could see her hope returning. Its not a good call until it is, but thanks. I returned the smile with a nod and began making circles, looking at both the spot she awoke to the many tracks that were down here. My eyes locked onto a set of 3 or 4 tracks. Definitely 4. They were here. “Miss Cadenza, this way… I think.” I pointed to one of the 8 different paths to choose. She nodded and began to follow me through the caverns, unknowing to myself she was studying me. I suppose I shouldn’t blame her, if she came to my world I’d be the same. Still, it was innocent and I couldn’t think about that now. Right now, my focus needs to be on the tracks. Yes, the hoofprints. “Are you sure this will work?” She asked while moving to walk beside me. My gaze remained to the floor while speaking, “Yeah. I’m pretty sure. Even if it doesn’t it is a good proof-of-concept. In theory, we should be led directly to the entrance of the crystal caverns.” “You seem sure of yourself.” She noted out loud. “I have to be. If I hesitate, I lose time. You have time but I do not.” I motioned to my wound. It wasn’t hindering any kind of movement on my part, but it hurt like hell. “Yeah, I agree. I hate to admit it, but you’re right. I can give my body nutrients but I cannot give any to you.” “Can’t you just wish up a hot meal for the both of us?” I chuckled. “Wait, don’t answer that. I’m pretty sure if you could, you would’ve done so already.” She smiled and nodded. “Yes, I can, but the crystal caverns have this ability to suck the magic out of us ponies.” She sighed at the end and shook her head in resentment. “It was so well planned.” Murmering, she stared at the ground. “What, the wedding or the attack?” I asked plainly. “Both.” We said in unison, giving us a little chuckle at that. At this point morale was as important as getting out of here. Oddly enough the tracks seem to take a seriously broken pattern. Like they weren’t sure where to go. Which gave me a thought: What if they had a map but they weren’t sure where to go? I quickly discarded this idea because it sounded stupid and we’re not getting out hands on that map so it doesn’t matter anyway. “Hey uhh… do you think when we get out of here, I’ll be able to go home?” I asked her. “Certainly. Where do you live?” I smiled at her reply. “I live… oh wait a second… I live on Earth, which may be in another dimension. Do you think they can send me back home?” “Well… after hearing that, I’m not so sure. Magic doesn’t seem to work on you. I don’t want to have to say this but I honestly doubt it.” She shrugged. My hope was crushed. Not permanantly, but I doubted my low chances of not getting back home. I wanted to make it, even if I couldn’t remember why. Actually, wait a second… I can’t remember my friends… or my family. What the hell? I’m starting to forget? “Does this place have a way with making you forgetting things?” “Not to my knowledge, no.” She shook her head. “Is something wrong?” “Yeah… I can’t remember my family. Or my friends. In fact I can’t remember a lot of things. Maybe it was just knocked out of me from the fall.” I responded, earning another raised brow. “Its how I got this.” I pointed to my wound. “Ahh, I see.” After that, we simply remained silent; there wasn’t much else in terms of subjects to talk about. Well, yes there was plenty but we agreed on not talking small talk until we made it out. “How’s your magic supply?” Reluctant, I asked. I was quite honestly afraid of what I’d hear. “Empty.” She quipped quietly. Ahh crap. That means we have even less time now. We’ve got to get out of here! “How big IS this place?!” I yelled and stomped loudly. “It is quite large. I suspect we’ve made it about halfway? Maybe?” This made me angry. I was tired of aimlessly wandering down a path to find more paths. Pathfinding was not a fun thing to do when your life depended on it. “This is stupid… remind me to give a good smack to Chysalis when I see her.” I gritted my teeth. “Who’s that?” She asked, dumbfounded. “Oh uhh… The queen of the Changelings. She masterminded this whole thing. The sabotage, the attack, you getting here, everything.” I explained to her Chrysalis’s involvement. It wasn’t long before we hit a large opening where the path’s stopped. As if they ceased to exist. Shit. “Have you been here before?” I asked her, not receiving an answer as she was studying the place. I’ll assume no. “No.” I figured. “Well, actually… yes, I have. Once or twice when I was little, just a filly.” This could be it! We might actually get out of here! I clenched my fist in excitement at this prospect. “It will be hard to remember, I can barely remember it since I was so young.” She put a hoof to her head and closed her eyes. “I think the way we need to go is this way.” She motioned to a large etrance which resumed a path-like way. What a mess. Who the hell would do something like this to someone? I guess something like that could only be answered by Chrysalis. Boy, when I get my hands on her… I began to let my anger flow through my mind as I found the nearest crystal and punched it hard, cracking it but not shattering it. Then came this pain to which could best be described as “why the fuck did you do that mate”. “Ahhhahah! God DAMNIT that HURTS!” I jumped up and down while waving my hand up and down in a futile attempt to aleviate the pain. No blood, no problem, the pain stuck with me for a while. My actions provided Cadenza with something to laugh about, much to my silent resentment as I wouldn’t be laughing if she did the same. Actually, yeah I would. Shit like that is funny. At any rate, laughing aside, our intrepid little pink pony seemed to find her way back. “James! James! Come look! I think I found the exit!” She jumped up and down, much to my own excitement. I looked upon a large open cavern with the end in sight; the light at the end. I always loved that phrase: “The light at the end.” I muttered aloud as Cadenza nodded quickly, hugging me as quickly as she could before stopping to observe. “I take it your silence means you see the same problem as I do. How the hell do we make it over there?” I motioned to the exit which was on a ledge about 15 feet below us and 10 feet away. That was a lot of ground to cover. “I can fly there! Just you watch!” She managed to gallop to the edge and gracefully flew to the end, making me cheer for joy as she smiled. I stopped smiling and turned cold for a moment. That kind of a jump is pretty much impossible. And with crystal spikes like that, failing would mean certain death… I leveled with my optimistic side quickly and decisively. I wanted so badly to get out of here but more importantly, with her. She was as important to me right now as… as, well as anything! “James? Are you alright?” She asked, putting a hoof on my shoulder and watching my face contort slowly as I tried to think of a way out of this. “W-Wow I didn’t even see you fly back here, sheesh you’re spooky.” I jumped a bit, receiving a smile. “I’m as fine as I can be in my current state… unfortunately I don’t see any way I can get over there… to escape.” I shrugged, sitting down. If only I had wings. Then again, that’s the wish of a lot of humans: wings to fly. “Miss Cadenza, I am… well I’m a bit depressed now, as you probably noticed.” I shrugged again. I have this habit of describing my emotions to someone randomly… just a thing I do. “You can make that jump! You look like those long legs are built for running!” Encouraging me, she tried to get me going again. “They are. But unlike your hooves which can take beatings, mine cannot. A jump, even if I suceeded, would most certainly break them. And making a jump like that in the first place is almost impossible for me. I know my limits.” I explained. Hope shone in her eyes brightly as I could almost feel it just from looking up at her. “And as it is, a running start would be hard. I’m weak from the lack of food and water…” I looked down at my legs and then my wound. “I am never one to give up easy, but… logic demands that you’ll have to leave me here until you get some help.” I croaked, thinking about my logic. It was sound, right? Help probably wouldn’t arrive for a while. How can you guarantee that you’ll live long enough to be saved? But making that jump would seal my fate for my legs for a long time. In fact, they may never work right again after a break like that. What to do? “I have an idea but its risky. Very risky.” She furrowed her eyebrows at the entrance. “Oh?” “I could be your… pendelum for a few moments.” She said as I stood up and looked down and then where a projected path would send me. “Yes… Yes! YES! That would work! But I’m too heavy, right?” “I can carry an earth pony’s weight for about 10 seconds. How much do you weigh?” “175 pounds.. ish.” “Oh my… That is much heavier than us ponies. We’re only about 120 pounds, save for the larger ones like Alicorns.” “Its going to have to work, I only have one chance. I really do hope this works, Miss Cadenza.” I sighed out of nervousness to her. “Cadence! Stop calling me that formal, fancy-shmancy name! You’re about to trust me with your life, at least you can call me Cadence. Please?” She asked me, practically begging me. “Uhh… w-well its just because we don’t know each other. I wanted to keep it formal and respectful.” I explained as she eyed me. “… Cadence.” I finished as she smiled and nodded. “Much better. We’ve been stuck down here and you saved me, basically. We’re friends now.” She smiled and hugged me softly but caringly. “O-oh… well thanks. My friends never thought of me like that. I mean, they were nice, but… Thanks Cadence. That was really sweet of you.” “Let me know when you’re ready.” Smiling, she nodded and let me know after we broke the hug. I’m ready right now now now lets go lets go lets go lets go already! I couldn’t help but rush the thought. “I’m ready now. Any more waiting and I’ll explode.” I quivered with a bit of nervousness. Cadenza, or in the case of being friendly, Cadence flew up to an appropriate spot and hovered there, smiling at me. “I’m supposed to jump off this ledge, grab onto you and you’re going to swing me? Am I getting this right?” Its at least what I gathered. Seems right, but sketchyyy… … like etch-a-sketch kinda sketchy. What if she isn’t strong enough? Well, I guess only one way to find out. Being of such young age, 18 I think, I didn’t think much of the consequences at all. It was at a time in my life where every young adult thinks they’re invincible, an illogical approach to which only life and experience can remedy. “Alright, get ready. On 3.” She nodded to me as I began to count: “1.” “2.” I inhaled sharply and took a back stance and looked at her onec more and nodded. “3!” I began to run a tad and jumped, my body freely floating through the air to her as I reached out, firmly grabbing her by her forehooves. She fluttered for a second and swung me, beginning to fall quickly from the sudden weight and shift of downward force. I was essentially “thrown” to the platform and hit the ground on my legs, tumbling and slamming into the wall next to the opening on the cliffside. I quickly regaing my composure after a mere half-second of nausea to see Cadence falling quite quickly, only slowed partially by her futile flapping from her wings. I ran to the edge and threw my hand out, being met with a single hoof and being drug down to the cliffside, as she slamming into it, bringing me face to face with the edge on my belly, my arms draping over the edge as I struggled to fight a win out of this. “Cadence! Are you alright!” “Y-Yeah, I had a cramp. I-I think I’m okay-” She began before some rocks she was shuffling on gave way and I was stuck with the weight of her body on my arms alone. “I-I’m not okay, help me! I-I’m slipping!” My grip on her tightened; I was not about to let this mare die. Not if I could help it. Unfortunately I was not able to pull her up on my own strength. “Cadence! Is there anything you can spring off of?” “No!” She whined. “Please, James! Don’t let me go!” She begged as I began to growl. “Wenn es etwas gibt, vor dem du dich fürchten solltest, ist es ein wütender Deutscher!” I growled out to seemingly the world as my arms quivered, my last bit of adrenaline going straight to my arms… … and what felt like a wave of strenght from my heart. With a swift movement I drug her up and almost threw her onto the cliffside and stood up quickly, completing the movement. “Ich wollte dich nicht verlieren.” I looked at her and smirked. “W-What?” She blinked twice at my phrase. “I was not about to lose you… come to think of it...” I began to think, my gaze moving to the floor, “… how the hell did I do that?” “I was going to ask the same thing… are you okay?” “I guess it was one of those German things. I dunno. And yeah, I-I’m fine.” For the most part… why is my hair wet? I felt the right side of my head to find blood, quite a bit of it. “Aiiyy!”I screeched at the sight of so much blood from me. “W-What’s wro- Oh my goodness!” She held her hoofs over her mouth in shock. I shook my head and looked at her confidently. “I-I think I’m okay… for right now. At this point I’ve got so much adrenaline in my body that I won’t feel it for a while… but, good news.” I motioned to the large doors which had only now been in view. “We made it, Cadence! We did it!” I hugged her, us both jumping for joy as the door lay not 10 feet from us. “We did! We did! Hooray!” She smiled and pulled away from me for a moment, eyeing my lips for a briefest moment before planting a swift kiss on my lips and hugging me with strenght renewed. She stopped and then recoiled a bit in my eyes, looking into my eyes, shocked at her own actions. I closed the gap and returned the kiss with my own, earning a slight moan from us both as we shut our eyes and the world out with it. After a few moments she and I both recoiled and pushed each other away and stared at the ground, jaws hanging open. It took us a few moments to look eye to eye again after such an act. Aw, grosssssss! I just kissed her? Yuck… … It did feel kind of good. But think about the wedding! You can’t interfere with that… not with what’s at stake. Remember my dude, you know the future… kind of. “What did we just do?” I asked her, dumbfounded. “I-I don’t know… I-I guess it was just the heat of the moment, getting out-” “Y-yeah, we didn’t really mean it, I mean, after all you do have the wedding to attend to.” She looked down and muttered a “yes” quietly, as if she wasn’t excited. As if something happened to make her lose the will to go on with that. “Y-Yeah, I do.” She reluctantly looked into my eyes, something lost within hers from our brief exchange. Its as if a light was suddenly hidden or extinguished. I don’t know what I saw, honestly. I’m probably just as confused as her. … or am I? End of Chapter II Author's Note Well there we have it, me lads. It was really fun to write this one at the end, where James makes his jump. I really enjoyed writing that. Thanks for reading the second chapter. Seeya soon! -Joss10 We made it!Hello my friends! Yes, I’ll admit, it did take a while to get this chapter out. I just didn’t have a lot of time on my hands; life and all. I hope you like it! Chapter III “I kinda like how these stairs are built.” I dryly noted as Cadence nodded. “Ironically, for a dank cave for mining, yes I’d agree.” I silently acknowledged, looking up and seeing bits and pieces of the stair length. “How far up does this place go?” I asked, exasperated. I was afraid of what I’d hear, as I assumed they were… a long set of stairs. “Well… if memory serves me right, I’d say we have about… well, a long time before he reach the castle.” I deadpanned at the princess only to be told she was sorry. Swell. Really swell. This is just great. I make it out just to kill myself on these stairs. “Remind me to castrate myself when I get to the top of the stairs.” I mentioned emotionlessly. Cadence shot me a look of worry and shock with a bit of embarassment as I blushed myself, realizing my company. “Sorry, just some weird things I say.” It took us a while before we needed to take a break, clearly still running off of straight up hope. Making it back wouldn’t be an issue; doing it quickly would. “Hey, how’s your magic?” “Its doing somewhat better. I… let me see...” Her horn lit up and a small cup appeared in her outstretched hoof to me. “Water? This is for me?” “Yes. That’s all I can do for now, but… it should help.” She smiled at me. I grabbed the cup and drank quickly, savoring the cool water as it ran down my parched throat. I stared down inside the cup in despair as I realized that was all. “That was the best cup of water I’ve had in a long time.” I shook my head and looked up at Cadence. “Thanks. Like, I mean it. That was good. Real good.” I gave two thumbs up, to her confusion. “What does that mean?” “What, what I do with my thumbs?” I motioned to them. “Yes, what does that mean?” “Well its basically a way of acknowlegding something that is good or we like it… how much do you know about humans? I’m asking because you didn’t seem that surprised when we met.” I asked, wondering if she knew more than she let on. But if my knowledge was correct, humans never were featured in the show, except for Equestria Girls. Hmm… “Well, I know that they exist… that’s really as far as it goes.” “Yeah, I’d expect as much, considering that you guys have the mirror.” I agreed, earning a look of confusion from my pink pony friend. “How do you know about that? That information is strictly between royals.” “Weeeellll… I know a lot about you guys.” “You said you’ve never been here before, and that to you we don’t exist.” “I guess considering my situation, I should say that you ponies shouldn’t exist. As for never being here, yeah, you’re right… I just know some stuff, thats all.” I shrugged and smirked at her. It was this kind of conversation which made the trip albeit much quicker but did not make the trip any less difficult. Near the end, was by all intents and purposes, hell for my legs. My wound was not making it any easier. In fact, my wound has made this journey considerably worse. Screw this stupid pain. As I thought of that, other things caught my attention. Mainly Cadence. I wondered how she was doing after all of this... POV: Cadence After hearing about his knowledge of the mirror, I began to wonder what else he had hidden in his mind. Humans were undoubtedly smart, but he seemed to be one of the smarter ones of his species. There was just this aura around him which stated “I’m different”. I could feel it; it wasn’t a feeling I could describe accurately. “Hey Cadence, think we’ll have a shot at stopping the wedding before it comes through?” He asked me, a look of uncertainty he gave. I had no idea whether I’d make it in time. For all I know, the wedding is over and Shining is… Oh Shining. “I-I don’t know… I just hope Shining is okay.” Worriedly, I responded after a few moments to myself. “Yeah… If its any consolation, the wedding looks great and- oops.” He shook his head and looked down. How did he know what it looked like? What’s going on? “James, you’re not telling me something. How do you know what it looks like?” I demanded, fustrated as his knowledge of what should be unknown. “Same reason I know that Chrysalis was behind this. That the Changelings wanted to use this wedding to plan an attack. As for why they tried to now, well, that’s a bit complicated. I know these things; I’d love it if you didn’t ask me how I knew. I can’t tell you.” He glared at me seriously, giving me a feeling that I’d better back off on this one. “I’ll let you know of anything that may come to harm you. That, you’ll never have to worry about.” He pointed at me in reasurrance. “I’m going to level with you, Cadence. I know a lot of things about Equestria. A lot.” He deadpanned at me. “And you won’t tell me anything.” I stated flatly. “Yes. Not because I don’t want to; but because I just can’t. Okay? You trust me enough to accept that, right?” “… I guess I have no choice.” I shrugged and rolled my eyes. “… Damn. I’m really sorry. I know that must be fustrating. Just… I’ll explain before I leave and get back to my world; I don’t want to ruin anything by being here. You know?” “… Not really.” “In essence, the less I interact with things, the easier it will be for me to get back… I think.” “Ah, I see.” “Yeah, that sounded a lot better in my head than out loud. Logically, it makes sense if you knew what I know… but enough of that. Where- Whaaa!” He yelped as part of the stair gave way and he was sent falling through, his decent stopped only because grabbed onto the rest of the stairs before careening straight through. “James!” I rushed to him and grabbed his arms, pulling hard until he was back standing on his own. He stared at the hole and grumbled to himself. “I really hate those kinds of surprises.” He glared daggers into nowhere as he motioned for us to move on. Looking at James, I noticed he wasn’t doing so well. In fact, he was doing quite poorly. He hid his condition very well, but I knew better. A few minutes later I had enough of worrying and decided to ask him: “How are you holding up, James? You alright?” “Yeah, doing alright. Just-” He began, turning into a coughing fit that came on quite strong and caught us both by surprise. He wasn’t doing well at all, as he collapsed to the ground and slammed his fist into the stone stairs. “I wish I could get you something, but my magic its-” He began to nod and wave me off, letting me know he knew. “Its… alright. I’m a bit nauseous now, could you help me up?” He asked, as I silently helped him to his… hooves? I wasn’t sure what to call them. His way of expressing things was interesting. It was very, formal yet casual without jargon. It was refreshing to meet somepony who was sofisticated but kind and casual, somepony who was honest with how they acted, not like the royals I’ve had to deal with. It was… He was nice to be around. Not something I’m used to… Its sad he isn’t native here, he’s really- Cadence, no! You can’t think of him like that! You’re to be married to Shining as soon as possible, how can you think of something like that? He’s really cute… Something about him just gets me. “Cadence? You there?” He asked me, waving softly to get my attention. “Hm?” “You were kinda lost there. I wanted to thank you for helping me… I just think you deserve to know how I feel.” He flashed a warm, very cute smile to me, giving me something to think about. “I mean you’re really, super nice. Talking with you has been so much fun. Meeting you has made this ugly journey worth it. I-I would definitely go through this again if it meant you.” He blushed, embarassed to be so honest. “And you’re really beautiful, Cadence. Shining is a lucky pony.” He smirked and looked down with some longing, breaking my heart as his words struck me hard. Shining has said a few things like that but he was more of a jock in our perspective… James was a warm, sensetive being with a strong heart. At least, that’s what I thought… I didn’t really know much about him… which gave me a wanting to know him. I’m not sure why… its just there. After a long while of traveling these spiral stairs, we came to a set of two large, and I say what I mean when I say large doors. I saw something spark within James as he rushed to them, feeling the door as if it was his ticket to sanity. Maybe it was. “I-Is this the way out!?” He strained, his eyes pleading for an answer as I nodded. “Yes. But, these doors are… well, they can be only opened with magic. Us ponies are simply not strong enough to do it physically. He smirked at the door and then at me. “Well, lets give a try, shall we?” He grabbed onto the handle and began to pull, the door not budging at all. I giggled quite a bit at his pouting after he stopped. “If its worth doing, its worth OVER DOING!” He grumbled loudly, the door moving a slight bit, even against what I thought was possible. My jaw hung open when I realized this, only to find that he was able to open the doors, something that us ponies would find impossible. “Just how strong are you?” I asked him, a question clearly meant for his race but I found myself questioning him directly. “I’m… sort of strong. Bulky, but not as strong as you might think.” He shrugged. “Do you know how hard getting that open is for us ponies? It takes at least 3 ponies per side, and we can barely manage it!” He blushed, scoffing at himself, “No, no, I’m not that strong.” He chuckled nervously. Whether you think so or not, that was pretty amazing. He looked ahead at the small opening he made with the doors, walking through. I was met with the very same blue and pink interior of the castle walls, making me feel at home. The floors, made of polished marble, showing hoofwork of colors and artwork. James stared at his enviroment and was speechless at the display. “Woah… this place is… holy shit this is amazing.” He forced out, obviously unsure of what to say. He walked around the corner lazily, being met by voices as I followed about a yard behind. “W-Who are you? What are you doing here?” “Uhh, I-” “Get him!” I heard as I rounded the corner, two crystal guards on James as he was struggling on the ground, to my horror, a guard had him by the throat. “STOP!” I screamed at them, rushing to James’ aid as the guards shrieked and jumped off my friend quickly. “James! Are you alright?” “Y-Yeah. I’m fine.” He looked at the guards. “Next time? Just listen to what I have to say.” “H-He talks?” One asked the other. “Yes, he does. He’s my friend.” I answered for him. It was at this point when one of the guards asked me a good question. “Princess?! W-What are you doing here? I thought you were attending your wedding?” He asked, shocked at my presence. My heart dropped like lead in my chest, as I realized I may have been too late. Too late to make things right. “Wait, her wedding is going on right now?” James asked. “… Y-yes it is.” The guard on the left replied to him, making James spin to face me. Putting his hands on my shoulders, he looked into my eyes with a look of reasurrance, “Cadence, we’ve made it this far. Don’t give up now, that’s a fool’s folly. You got this.” He smirked and pet my head a few times, giving me that boost of confidence I need. “Lets go put on a wedding these ponies aren’t likely to forget.” He smirked and rushed forwards with me to stop the wedding before going through. Oh Shining Armor… I’ll be there very soon. Author's Note Well there ya go. This took a while (and it is a bit smaller in length) because I was sick and I’m still getting over it. Hopefull you like it! Seeya in the next chapter! -Joss10 You're kidding, right?Chapter IV James, albeit confused, looked around for any sign of where the wedding was located. Guards consistently told him, who were shocked to see me and him, but through the excitement I guess he got carried away. I was by his side the entire time, he’d need the help if he was going to stop this whole thing from going through. I’d need the help, too. Oh my stars I hope Shining is okay. “Cadence. Cadence!” He quickly called me, holding up a hand to stop me. “What-” “Shh! Listen!” He motioned towards the sounds of… … the wedding! “That has to be the wedding! I hope you know where you’re going, Princess!” I heard as I bolted past him, leaving him momentarily behind as the bipedal human stayed with me, even wounded. How are you still holding up? The pain James was experiencing must’ve been excruciating. It was more noticeable now, he wasn’t able to hide it any longer. It broke my heart to cause him so much pain, to force him to run, rather get him to a hospital. But if he was anything like me, he was determined. I noticed that right off with him. Once he sets his mind on something, he doesn’t want to let go. Very similar to me; once I met Shining, well, I refused to let go. And I’ll be damned to think I’m going to give him away to some filthy bug! “James! This way!” I called to him as we came upon a set of two doors, 4 guards on each side accompanying them. James and the guards had a bit of a staring contest, but we had to time for delays. “Guards! Open this door immediately!” I commanded as the contest between the guards and James came to the abrupt halt. Their faces told me exactly what was on their minds. “A-Aren’t you supposed to be in there, Princess?” “She is in there, Storm, what kind of a question-” “No, you idiots! This is the princess! The one in there is a fake: an imposter!” He waved his arms frantically, forcing them to eventually give in, save for the leader. “How do we know you aren’t the imposter waiting to ruin the wedding?” “Because Changlings can do shit like that.” James deadpanned at the guard, making his eyes go wide at this knowledge. They proceeded to open the doors, although it was painfully slow. Slow enough to make James assist one of the doors being opened before looking towards the scene. My wedding was beautiful. The royals, the decorations, my friends, Twilight and her friends… they were all there. I couldn’t believe how much time and effort my friends made to make the wedding look awe-inspiring. Truly, they were my friends. “Who the hay are you?!” A citizen asked as James looked around wearily, eyeing the ponies closely before looking up to the altar. “Princess?!” Twilight trotted up to me as I smiled, knowing my best friend was here to help. “Lo and behold I present to you, two Princess figures.” James said while he walked up to the altar, only now I can see what was there. There was Shining Armor… my love. He looked so desirable, so lovely… and there she was. The imposter. He looked at Shining and briefly nodded to him as all here were very surprised. My guess is that shock had not set in yet. “G-Get away from my fiance, you monster!” Shining pushed him down the altar, forcing James to hit the ground on his back, causing him to reel in pain. I looked at the imposter, the Changling who was me, and noticed the grin she had. We locked gazes with each other, knowing full well what was about to go down here. I looked to see James standing back up, holding out a hand to my fiance. “Hold on a sec my dude, I ain’t here to hurt you…” He wheezed while walking up the stairs and looking helpless, “… I’m just here to hurt your LADY FRIEND!” He finished, giving a swift kick after turning around, impacting the other me and forcing her to the ground a few feet away. 2 guards jumped onto James but he fought them away quickly, as I ran over to my husband, his eyes a deeply bright green instead of the normal blue, I knew something was wrong. A spell, perhaps? I’ve not done much research on these Changlings. I looked around to noticed quickly that Celestia and Luna, were onto my friend’s games. James was pinned quickly by two more guards and even my auntie’s were involved with restraining him. “Celestia, no! Don’t hurt him!” I rushed to his side before a wave of green energy sent us all to the ground, except James. “Get back, princess!” A guard addressed me as I ignored the request, I’ll have none of that. James faced what was the imposter all along. A black, bug-like pony with holes in her body, a sickly green seeweed-like tail and wings of the same stature. She was… horrifying. She quickly transformed into what looked like another human, possibly female, one with black hair and green eyes, and walked softly towards James. Shapeshifting?! Oh hay I’d forgotten they had those powers! She poised a hand to his face and began to release some kind of green energy through her hands into him, causing his body to glow green. Shining slumped to the ground, tended to by Twilight and Luna, as Celestia approached me quickly. “An attack? How?” She asked. “Beats me.” I said as I couldn’t help but stare at the situation, fear gripping me as James looked helpless. “James!” I began to rush to him, behind held back by Celestia. “Stop! I’ve seen this before, you cannot help him now, if you stop what is in motion, you may very well kill him. “No!” I cried out as my heart sank to the bottom of my chest, knowing James was in pain and I couldn’t help. My worst fears were then confirmed… with a mix of surprise. I saw James beging to caress her face, giving her a look of pleasure as he gripped both his hands on her head and smiled evily. “Yes, yes! You’re all mine now, ahh… this should be- guah!” James slammed her head into the wall and broke solid granite with the force of what seemed to be impossible. “What the...” Celestia murmured under her breath as Luna and Twilight came to my side. “He’s doing alright, Cadence.” Twilight said, earning no response from me as ponies were being evacuated, almost instantly being replaced by a Changling army, which swept in swiftly. James turned his back on the Changling which was scrambling to its feet. The look he gave me would come to haunt me for a long time. His eyes were a solid black mass, showing no light but the green light from around his eyes, as the grin he showed was borderline demonic. “James!” I rushed to him and hugged him tightly, hoping anything would help him at this point, desperate to save my friend which gave me a second shot at making my dream come true. “Cadey!” The voice of my love called to me as I looked into James’ eyes, his strength doubling as he tried to push me away. He squinted, trying not to look at me as if I was a threat. Even at this point the Changling stood in horror at the monster she’d created. When my gaze met with James, he stopped struggling and only looked at me, confused. “L… Love? Friend… ship?” He spoke, his voice raspy and dark, much like his appearance, frightening me. “Its me, Cadence! Don’t you know who I am?” I begged as he looked around, eyeing everypony suspicously, until he locked eyes with the true form of Chrysalis. She eyed him in horror as he threw me off of him. I stumbled but remained on my hooves as he grabbed the nearest Changling by the neck and growled at him, making the smaller pony tremble in fear; its ears dropping as it tried not to lock eyes. James growled down at it insessantly before what looked like he smelled it, stopping his glare. The Changling looked up at him, its ears perking back up as I saw what even Chrysalis thought was odd: He slowly put it down and pat its head. “Its a-al… right. D-Do not… be afraid, drone.” He spoke softly as the rest of the Changlings stopped and looked at the scene, even some ponies stopping to see this. The interaction between two completely different species, bound together by some unknown force, was… well to say the least, it was beautiful. He put the Changling down slowly and looked at Chrysalis, pointing at her. “Prepare for unforseen consequences.” He growled before collapsing to the ground, the Changlings being slowly outnumbered as the fight outside the wedding took place. Chrysalis and her “drones” as James had said, flew off quickly, leaving the place a wreck. I rushed to the side of my friend as he could barely keep himself concious. “James!” I pleaded silently to the gods to keep him with me. His eyes returned to normal and he looked at me weakly. “W-What the hell… what the hell happened?” He groaned weakly as Twilight rushed over to him, becoming a full on scientist. “Are you alright? How do you feel? What is the last thing you remember? Are you-” I stopped her as she could barely contain herself. “I-I… I think I’m going to go to sleep now...” He nodded off and passed out in my hooves. “If you don’t mind me stating the obvious, what the buck was that?” Luna asked asked we all looked at her. “Your guess is as good as mine… Cadence, are you alright?” Celestia responded before addressing me with a stern look. “You’re going to have to have a lot of explaining to do… but for now, what happened?” She asked. “I… was put under and stuck down in the crystal mine for several days without help… until he arrived,” I motioned to him in my hooves, “He somehow was stuck down there as well and through finding him… he saved my life. Without him, I would’ve never gotten out. You need to make sure he’s okay!” I explained. I couldn’t help but cry for him as he looked so weak in my arms, so helpless. “Princess, we are prepared to take the human to the Canterlot Hospital, if you wish.” A guard said. I noticed it was my personal guard and I smiled at this. “Yes, Braveheart, by all means.” He nodded as they stuck him on a gurney and rushed him away. “Cadence!” Shining Armor called to me as I met him with open arms, embracing him tightly. This was a blessed moment for me. I began to cry, making quick work on making his suit messy and wet. “I-I thought I’d never see you again… I love you.” I spoke softly into his ear. He held me close, as if he was never going to let go. And I was fine with that. “Sister, I am going to get started on damage control and need your help. Twilight, go and tend to the creature at the hospital and lend any assitance. Cadence… just rest.” Luna began to direct ponies around. “No! I need to make sure James is alright!” I protested heavily, letting my love go and looked at my aunts. “Its not safe, Cadey! I’ve never seen something like that and I’ll be damned if I lose you again.” Shining stated strongly. “He saved my life and my dream! My dream of marrying you! If you care about that at all you’ll let me see him!” I cried out as he looked down and nodded. “Alright. Twily, take care of her. Don’t let anything happen or else.” He glared at his little sister, making her gulp audibly. “I-I will! D-Don’t worry ab-bout that!” She gave a fake smile as if nothing could go wrong. I turned to the direction of the hospital and looked to Twilight to follow. “Come on now, I’ve got to make sure my friend is alright.” … … Eugh. My head… holy bajeebs. That is one massive headache. I listened to the sound of a hospital. The PA system, the beep of my heartbeat on a monitor, and the feeling of utter pain combined with needles in my skin. I hate needles. I opened my eyes, letting my eyes readjust to the focus of the surrounding area. I looked around to see a pony sitting in a chair next to me, her attention focused on the monitor. Hey, its Twilight! This made me happy, I knew she was a reliable pony. “H-hey...” I croaked out as she looked my way quickly. “Oh my gosh you’re awake! How are you feeling?” She smiled at me softly. “Well, I feel like crap. But thanks for asking… could I have some water?” I asked as she levitated some over to me and helped me drink some down. Ha! All those stories I read about some poor sap literally dying from no water… not me! “Many thanks, Twilight. Seriously.” I smiled and chuckled, only to be met with pain from doing so. “You’re welcome… W-Wait how do you know my name?!” She panicked as I raised an eyebrow. “I know all the names of the ponies in the show- I-I mean I know all of the names of you guys- I mean… oh boy what do I mean.” I looked down at my hands as I sat up slowly, trying to swallow my pain. “Huh?” She squinted in confusion. “I know your name, for one. You’re pretty famous, being Celestia’s prized pupil.” I smiled as she blushed and looked away. Good save, James. I looked around and silently took in my surroundings as I wondered how Cadence was doing. “Hey where’s Cadence?” “Oh she’ll be here soon, she had to leave for some business… she’s been staying here daily with you… she must really like you.” She admitted, forcing a blush out of me as I chuckled nervously. She is really hot. And like, the princess of love? Holy damn would I like to get her alone. “W-Well...” I stammered as then stopped to think. How long have I been here? She mentioned something about being here daily? “How long have I been out?” “Uhh well… about two weeks.” She said as my jaw dropped. That info hit me like a brick at high speed. “Did I miss the wedding?” I groaned, wanting to see that. “No, Cadence decided against it. Something about some mixed feelings or such.” Odd. Normally she’d be all to happy to marry him… did my being here affect something or is she just a bit shook up? The door swung open softly, grabbing my attention as that familiar pink alicorn came into the room, looking at the ground in depression. “Hey, Cadence! I’m alive!” I chuckled a bit as I let known my state of being. She looked up sharply, her eyes growing wide as she looked straight at me. She froze for a moment, as I knew she was just processing the fact that I’d woken up. “James!” She jumped onto the bed and hugged me, Twilight giggling as I stared at the ceiling in horror of the pain I was experiencing. “Ahahahhh!” I wheezed as Cadence squeezed me tight enough to make me feel like I was going to be crushed. Jeez she is strong. “Ca-Cadence… As much as I really enjoy this, I-I’m in a lot of pain.” I spoke through labored breathing as she realized and quickly jumped off of me. “I-I’m sorry, James.” She apologized without hesitation, looking down and welling up with tears. Something is definitely bothering her. “Hey it wasn’t that bad. Don’t cry!” I smiled as she looked up at me, tears rolling down her face, a mix of pure joy and overwhelming emotion. Twilight stood in the back and watched from afar, this, I realized. “When are you going to get the wedding underway? Without the attack, of course.” I chuckled, causing her to shut her eyes and merely stand here and cry. Great going, asshole. “L-Look, I-I’m sorry, maybe that wasn’t-” “No, it-its not that… I-I… called off the wedding.” She smiled as she grabbed my hand with her hoof and caressed it. “Oh. Well, whenever is most convenient is good… but why?” I smiled back. “I-I called it off because I don’t want to get married to Shining Armor anymore.” She looked into my eyes and hovered ever closer, her tears now beginning to drip onto my bare chest. “W-Why? He’s a great guy! You should! You deserve him.” I leveled with her. James I really don’t think she means what you think. You know what I mean, right? I thought to myself as I began to realize. My heart began to pound in my chest hard, and I began to stutter. “I-I-I do-don’t get it. A-At all.” I lied. I began to put two and two together. She blushed hard, being this close to me and told me something that stopped my own heart. “...because I’m in love with you.” Author's Note Well there we have it. Strange turn of events, eh? You may have been expecting that later but noooope. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, it was fun to write. Seeya in the next one! -Joss10 Also, if you get the reference, props to you. Why I am; what I am.Enjoy! Chapter V … honestly I couldn’t believe my ears. She what?! No, no. No no no. I don’t think so. Maybe she’s playing some monumental joke… No that’s not it either. That doesn’t fit her character. Luna, maybe. Cadence? Not really. James you’re an idiot if you didn’t see this coming. Not that quick, though! I figured she’d take it easy before something like that! “Huh?! Wait wait wait, hold on a second Cadence, you what?!” Twilight asked from a few feet away and behind Cadence. Cadence caressed my hand and cheek, her gaze never leaving mine. She had the most loving face, one that radiated caring, warm feelings. So much so that even I felt it and was enamored, flattered and what seemed like a bit lovesick. Truly she is the princess of love. If anything I was feeling, this proves it. “Do you love me, James?” She asked, speaking in tones that made me feel loved, made me feel wanted. And left me wanting more of that. Something about her made me feel… addicted to her. Like I couldn’t wait for more of her love. I was both confused and left with a longing. “… I-I don’t know. I-I’ve never really… felt like this before.” I looked down at the hoof which was caressing my hand. She was not phased by this answer, this I could tell. At this I realized something that scared me quite much. I was a social engineer, I could feel people and almost read minds from looks or gestures people gave me… I can tell that Luna was crushing on me when I first met her. Celestia was more worried about the wedding and didn’t care about those things. Cadence, on the other hand, I couldn’t place a finger on her or how she feels, or what she might be feeling. She was better than me at something I’d built my whole character on. I was a people person, sure. But I was nothing like this. I was a bit scared. I was better than everyone I knew, but not her. “When you came to this hospital, they said you wouldn’t have much time to live considering the wound you had and your condition… fortunately, whatever Chrysalis did, put you in a coma and… you’re better now.” She smiled, leaning forward and kissing my cheek before chuckling softly and smiling. Her smile was innocent but her eyes said something different. She wanted me, and not just me, but my body. If Twilight wasn’t here, I’m not sure what she’d do to me. It is easy to spot something like that; what Cadence was doing was noticable. “I waited for you each day. Seems like such a long time, doesn’t it?” “Miss Cadenza,” I began, wanting to remain a bit more professional, “Why are you acting like this?” “I concur.” Twilight agreed. “First of all, do not EVER call me that again!” She barked loudly at me, causing me to wince, her face contorting to something grim and evil. It quickly returned to its normal, sultry look. Jesus this mare is… scary. Yeah, best I can do right now. Bipolar is more like it, James. Shut up, you’re not helping. “Secondly… I…” Looking up and smiling at me, as if she knew my heart was fragline, which it was, she walked over to me and smiled, trembling a fair bit, “I couldn’t help but feel your heart’s emotions towards me. You really do love me, don’t you? Don’t lie, I can feel it.” She smiled wider as I blushed heavily to her admission. It was true. I realy kinda did love her. She was a heavy romaticist like I was, and she was perky and cute and really beautiful… which further reinforced her knowledge of how I feel. She must’ve felt what I was feeling towards her because she exhaled as if she was hit with something shocking. “My word, James, you’re heart… its so beautiful.” She shed a tear as I could only remain silent. I wasn’t sure what to do… I could try and fake my feelings. I could try and feign having no feelings for her? How would I explain- “Don’t try to hide it, James… I know how you truly feel.” She leaned it and kissed me softly, holding her supple lips there. I couldn’t help but lean just a tad forwards to taste her lips, taking them in slowly. Twilight, at this point was shocked. Speechless. I didn’t think there was a single thing she could find to say. Although to say the least, she was both confused and upset. I’d imagine it was both because she didn’t understand Cadence’s motives and because her brother was her fiance. I was as much in the dark as herself. Cadence lingered on my lips even after she broke away as I looked down at my hands and stared at them, thinking intently. At the point of doing this, I broke contact with the would around me and began to think. Okay lets just recap: you saved the pink horse and intercepted the Changling attack. The wedding had to be called off and when the attack was over you had to go to the hospital. From there, you were in a coma, I guess. Some time between then and now, Cadence developed some serious feelings for you. The question is: Why? And secondly: How? She didn’t love me until now, she didn’t know me in the caves… unless… Let me guess, she did a mind probe. Or something. But that still wouldn’t make any head way on why she loves me? True but maybe… maybe she loved you from the start? That would make sense. If she did, she sure gave me a run for my money; I didn’t catch it at all. She is the princess of love, y’know. Yeah… “What in the world happened between then and now, Cadence?” Twilight asked, the both of them at the end of my bed, obviously flustered at Cadence and vice versa. “What do you mean?” She quipped innocently. “What do I-What do you think I mean? What the hay has been going on?!” Twilight raised her voice in an attempt to maybe shout some sense into the mare. Good idea, though it didn’t seem to be working. Cadence blushed midly and giggled nervously when confronted by her best friend, holding back most of her emotions to save some face. “Wellll… you know.” She smirked and subtly motioned to me. I couldn’t stand sitting here much longer… … er, or was it I couldn’t sit, standing here much longer? Y’know, cause I was sitting down? Never mind. I shuffled my legs to the side of the bed silently, perhaps to see if I could stand up on my own. I felt pretty good. I looked to the chair next to the machine attached to the bed and saw the bag of my clothes. I put the bag in my lap and sat down, watching the two ponies in front try and talk sense into each other. It was quite entertaining to watch, really. I merely smiled at the sight, slowly putting my clothes on, the jeans and black t-shirt I had on when I got here, along with my shoes and socks… strangely enough they were all patched up. Oh… well, that was nice of them, whoever did that. I noted to myself as I removed the medical gown and donned my normal attire. I motioned to throw the bag away, but noticed something heavy but small was down in the bottom of it, staring up at me. It was a small black object, about 5 inches long and almost 3 inches wide. It was shiny, and really thin. Hold on a second, holy shit it that what I think it is? MY PHONE! “Say whaaaaat!?” I chuckled in disbelief as I grabbed it and held it up and pressed the power button, being met with my old wallpaper and such. This was great, I was elated as all hell. Yeah someone just confessed their undying love to you and you’re excited about a phone, really James? Fuck you too, if you were in my position you’d feel the same. You’re just jealous. “Oh my, James, I didn’t even see you there. Guess we were too busy talking… how’re you feeling?” Cadence walked over to me, a smile on her face melting into a warmly caring look, laced with seriousness and genuine concern for me. “Yeah, are you sure you can walk, James?” Twilight walked to her side and looked me over. “I think I’m fine, really. Thanks you two.” I said, trying not to make eye contact with Cadence. This was too much for me to take in at one moment with her. Ohhh so that’s why you’re so excited about your phone! You’re a lil’ bitch and you can’t confront her! No it’s not! I was really happy to see that again! Next time you pay a few limbs worth of money for something you’ll understand… Suuuuuure… I stood up and stretched, receiving a welcomed popping sound from my back and neck. I slumped in pleasure for the first moment and shook my head swiftly to clear my brain before looking at the ponies. I was considerably taller than all ponies I’ve met so far. Except for Celestia. Luna and Cadence are about the same height, but Celestia is about as tall as me. Cadence hugged me swiftly and gripped tightly around my chest and nuzzled deeply into it, receiving a yelp in surprise as I gripped her solely to remain on my own two feet. Twilight stared at Cadence in concern mixed with anger before looking up to me with the very same. I mouthed out the words ‘I don’t know either.’ to her. Rolling her eyes at me, I shook my head and pulled Cadence away from my chest and looked into her eyes, holding her hooves like a cat’s would, dangling down as she gave me the same big puppy eyes I’d expect. “Cadence. I want you to listen to me. What’s gotten into you?” The look I was giving her caused her to snap out of whatever love trance she was into. Thank the lord. “What do you mean?” I slapped my forhead at the same time as Twilight did, earning us both a small chuckle at that. For a moment, Twilight was distracted from her usual thinking stare, but that quickly subsided as her eyes wandered to Cadence. The same lovesick look Cadence wore before had come back. I don’t know what’d gotten into all this. I had a thought, What if something was actually wrong with her? “Twilight, is there anything I need to know about what’s going on here?” “The only think you need to know is that I love you, James… right?” I looked into the pink alicorn’s eyes again and was met with the same soft muzzle and lips upon my own, softly begging entrance to my mouth as she began to suck on my lower lip to entice me. I pulled back slowly but surely and looked at her. It took her a few moments to register I was no longer there, the ecstasy of the moment too great even for her to handle correctly. “Okay, Cadence, you need to stop whatever the hell you’re doing and figure out what’s wrong. You don’t almost marry someone just to cheat on them with someone else and call off a wedding.” “I am not cheating on anypony! I have never cheated on anypony before! Don’t you dare say that!” Growling, she barred her teeth angrily at me. Twilight, for the most part, was silent. I could tell something was brewing in that smart brain of hers. As to what, well, that was as far as intuition from me goes in that respect. At the point of Cadence’s outrage, I was… well I was a bit scared. It was one thing to see her angry at someone else, but me? I was afraid for many reasons… mostly because I wasn’t sure she wasn’t going to make the choice to jump me for some ungodly reason. I sincerely hoped she wouldn’t. I walked over to the chair again and sat down, shooting a wonderous look at Cadence, unsure of how to proceed. “Twilight, is she in heat?” “Its possible.” “Hellooo? I’m right here?” “Twilight, get Celestia. I’m going to need her opinion on this. And, get Shining.” I motioned towards the door. Twilight nodded at this and with a flash of her horn, she disappeared out of the room. Then I was stuck alone with Cadence. Again. Great. Maybe this wasn’t such a great idea. Maybe if I just level with her? “Cadence...” “Hmm yesss?” Her voice sultry as she replied; sashaying over to me. “Come over here. Sit down.” I motioned to the chair next to me. I needed to get this sorted out. As much as I wanted to just go down on her, I don’t think that would be so wise. James you do realize its a horse, right? Its a pony, and yes. Why’re you so okay with going down on her? Pussy is pussy, my friend. Thats… not what I had in mind. Shut up and let me enjoy this. “Why is it,” I pressed the bridge of my nose, “that you love me? Don’t give me a bullshit reason, just tell me. And don’t get weird on me.” Cadence merely sighed with a dopey smile on her face, as if she was plastered. Probably was: on love, that is. I didn’t really know how ask the question without getting this all the time. What if you make her really mad? She seems to clear her head up when she’s angry. Hey that’s kind of like me! “Well, James, I…” “I felt your heart through the dreams Luna opened for me… You mean only good things for ponies, for your kind and mine. For your friends, even me. You’d put yourself at risk to help others, you’re willing to sacrifice.” “To make somepony happy. You care about us all. You care about me, the homeless pony on the street, ponies you know nothing of, even the ponies you don’t like. You have such a pure heart, its… its wondrously beautiful.” I noticed a single tear which fell as she was describing this to me, staring into nothing as she tried to remain composed. “I’m… not really that nice. Sure I like doing things for people but other than that I’m kind of an asshole-ish jerk.” I shrugged and chuckled to relieve the weight on my shoulders. In vain, that is. “But I can’t understand: you love me because I’m nice? That doesn’t really make any sense.” “You saved me, James… I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you, you know that. Though we talked for such a short time, I felt like I knew you much longer, I felt a hole inside me grow. A hole, I found out, could only be filled by you. For two weeks and five days I watched over you and entered your dreams with Luna, trying to bring you back. You were unreachable. We skimmed over your memories, as we were merely curious.” “We noticed the purity of your heart and how you only wanted good and the betterment of others. I… am not ashamed to say I fell in love with who you are as a pony-er… person.” Well this is just fucking great. “You’re kidding, right? Tell me you’re kidding. You fell in love with me as a person and off my memories but you’ve no idea who I really am. Look I want the best for you but not like this. Shining Armor has worked way to hard for your heart. I’m not about to waltz in on you two and steal you from him.” I stood up, walking over to the large window, noticing immediately when Celestia, Shining, and Twilight entered the room. My thoughts remained out in the world, floating around. I must’ve come during winter time. It’d be fun to play in that snow. Stop trying to avoid the subject, James. Turn around and face them. Do it. I casually turned my body around to look at the three of them. Each one had a different face: Celestia’s interest was obviously peaked, Twilight’s was focussed and Shining retained a mix of anger and confusion on his face. “Hello again, James. Do you remembe me?” Celestia addressed me cooly. “Of course, Princess. I do indeed.” I smiled briefly as Shining walked over to his fiance, speaking to her. “What’s going on, Cadey?” He asked as her gaze was firmly planted on me. “Celestia, you’ve got to help me. The sooner the better.” I pleaded to her while walking over. “How so? I was informed but Cadence seems to have made up her mind. “Yes exactly… in so many words, I’m not supposed to be here. Like, at all. I’m from another world, one without magic. One where everyone is a human and we roam the place, stuff like that. I need to get back to where I belong.” “How would we accomplish that? And as for not supposing to be here, what do you mean?” She inquired as I walked over to the other end of the room and looked into her eyes before inhaling. “Believe me when I say I know things.” “What things?” “I know… lots of things.” “Yes but how?” “I just do.” “James you must stop dodging the questions. Whatever you know, its not too horrid for a princess like me to handle.” She chuckled as I deadpanned. “I know the future and some other facts, too.” This invited another chuckle from her. “I know that your sister was once Nightmare Moon and she was banished for a 1000 years by you and the Elements. I know that Twilight was once your pupil and you sent her to Ponyville to learn about friendship. I knew about the Changling attack, about how Cadence came all the way from the Crystal Empire. I know about Twilight’s friends, about how your nephew, Blueblood, is a prick. About how much you love hearing from Twilight, her assistant is Spike, by the way. You and Luna love pranking each other, you love cake, she loves candy. And sometimes ice cream.” Her chuckle was long gone and replaced by a look of horror shock as I knew all of that. “I also know that you once fought Discord before you put him to stone. One day you’ll have to fight Tirek again. Do you believe me now?” Her nostrils flared up as she squinted her eyes at me, unsure of what to do. “H-How do you know this? In all my years, nopony has ever known the things you do… nor has ever looked like you.” “Because, as I said, I’m not from this world. I’m not supposed to be here… I need to reverse any affect I had on Cadence and I need it to happen quickly.” “Well, I suppose we could maybe send you through a magic portal, although it’d be tough to place you exactly where you left off.” “Thats fine, I can find my way. I just… Cadence is supposed to be married to Shining Armor. No ifs, no ands, no buts. This needs to happen.” “Well, I can’t guarantee it will happen soon. Something like this would take weeks to undergo. Are you prepared to stay for a while?” “… Yes. I am.” “Celestia, I’ve some news for you both.” Twilight as I turned to look at her. “Good news or bad news?” I countered. “Good news. Or, bad news, if you think of it that way, its-” “Please just tell me, I’m dyin’ over here.” I clasped my hands together and shook them. “Cadence is in her heat. Because she’s an Alicorn, it is much stronger and because her magic was imbalanced for such a time, she has become unstable. I recommend lots of sleep for her.” Oh thank heavens. “Hey. You.” A male voice addressed me. “Hello there.” “What did you do to her to make her love you so… feverously?” He asked, a bit confused, wanting answers. “As I was just explaining to them, she’s in heat, Shining. He didn’t do anything.” “Oh… Oh okay I see. Sweet! I-I mean…” He splayed his ears, not wanting to offend me or anything, obviously. “No man, she’s all yours. You earned her long before I came into play, you deserve her, and vice versa.” I smiled. Wow James that lie was so damn good it should go into the book of records, ya daft twat. Stop lying and face it: you love her. You just want to make her that slick whore of a cockholster, I know you want to. First of all, shut up. Secondly, ew. Thirdly, shut the hell up. I could only sense that Celestia saw right through my lie as she simply gave a motherly “Mhm.” to my statement and squinted. Oh dear. “As for me, I’m fine moving around now. I think I’ve recovered.” I smiled. “I’d love to record some data, if you’ll allow me.” Twilight asked as I nodded. “Fair enough, I’m game.” After that, we all departed the hospital and I was checked out. I looked outside and was greeted by many ponies, both friendly and not. I wasn’t sure how to go about doing things, it all seemed so alien to me in this world. Nothing was the same, at least, customarily. I wondered how my life would be here if I stayed. But I couldn’t stay here, right? Having second thoughts, James? “James?” A familiar voice called to me. “Hm? Ja?” “Could you… carry me? I’m quite tired and I don’t feel so well.” Cadence asked as I looked at Shining for clarification. He rolled his eyes and nodded, obviously annoyed. “Well, uhh… C-Can’t someone else carry you? I mean you guys have magic, right?” I chuckled nervously. No one said anything. I sighed softly and looked at her. All eyes were on me as I pet her behind the ears. “Ohh alright.” I smiled, picking her up and beginning to carry her like a cat. She wasn’t too heavy for me, at least, since I’ve begun working out back on Earth. The oddest thing, which was also the cutest, was that she wiggled her way into being cradled like a baby. I looked down to see her sleeping, nuzzled into my chest. Cute over 9000. “I don’t get it either, Shining.” I replied to his uncomfortable glare. “James, follow me. Bring her to the castle and I will make accomadations for you both. You can stay as long as you like, so long as you choose to remain.” “Well, that’s awful nice of you. Thanks, Princess.” “Address me as Celestia. I don’t mind it.” She smiled at me. Such a pretty names these princesses have. After making it to the castle (and being thoroughly blow off my feet), I found the room Cadence was going to be sleeping in, with help of course, and placed her down on the bed softly. Going through heat must’ve been what women experience with their periods, except much worse. Poor thing. I sat in the chair close to the nightstand in thought. I wasn’t sure what the next days would bring, but I was sure on a few things. Hopefully I can keep Cadence’s mind on Shining for a while… although it wouldn’t hurt to be her friend through all of this. “James?” I looked at Twilight who had come into the room without my noticing it. “Hm?” “Why don’t we get started on some of that data I was speaking about...” She motioned me out the door as I nodded. “Good idea. I need to clear my head.” Author's Note End of Chapter V Uhhh yeah this took way too long. Sorry for the long wait you guys. I know a lot of you wanted some explanation for the nuke I dropped on you guys last chapter, and there will be. No sense in telling you since that would spoil it. Hope you enjoyed and I’ll see you in the next chapter! James is my name, being human is my game!Well, here we are. Time to explain some things (sort of). James can now tell others of who he is and such within reason. I hope you guys/gals like it. Enjoy! "That's a what?" Twilight asked me as I held up my phone and waved it, not a moment before explaining its existence. "That is my cellular phone. As for how it got here... I don't even know. I guess it may have stuck with me on my journey here but I thought I lost it for good." Twilight's horn lit a violet hue and what I could guess was an attempt to pick my phone out of my hand failed. She tried again, this time straining harder. The third and most futile attempt made me giggle. "Does that have some kind of anti-magic property?" She asked, growling a small amount. "Uhh, no." I smiled to her. My answer was all truth, I just left out the part where I was magic-proof. "So why can't I pick it up?" She clenched her teeth to attempt again. "Because I'm magic proof, you silly pony." I gave her a shit eating grin after her fourth, failed attempt. I was quite amusing to stand here and watch her struggle to perform the simplest of magic spells against me. "Uhh, well, at least I think I am." "Think you are what?" A familiar English-accented voice addressed me, causing me to look behind me. Celestia and Luna walked in, both with smiles on their face. Luna's was a bit... well, it gave me a slight cause for concern. She's crushing hard, isn't she? Truth be told I had feelings for her but ones that a kid gets to a high school crush: feelings that make you admit "it'll never happen". Yeah, I'm a bit confusing. Here I am with a pretty wo- mare crushing on me and I don't feel like going for it. I guess that could be explained by my habit of not wanting to take advantage of people. It just feels wrong. "Oh, James was just explaining to me that he's magic proof." Twilight smiled gleefully back to them. "I think." I finished for the purple mare. Celestia and Luna stopped before me, motioning me to sit down. Celestia's horn lit up and a tingling was felt in my legs as I instantly stood up with a slight jump in my step. Holy shit that was cool... awww I guess I'm not magic proof... oh well. "Wait, what? For real?!" I flipped mentally as I looked down at my legs and then to the princesses again. "How did you do that?" "Most creatures who think they're magic proof aren't actually; merely, they are so deficient in magic it makes most ponies unable to utilize their own against or on them." Celestia explained. "Yes, and seeing as how my sister was able to stand you up, it proves you are not. This means, obviously, from your world, magic is so devoid, practically nopony possesses any. Am I correct?" Luna spoke, raising an eyebrow to accompany her question. "Yeah basically. No one on earth has magic... well, wait a second. Maybe a very slight amount actually do." I agreed and admitted. Maybe that's why some cults and occults exist... that would explain ghosts and the likes of such. Perhaps that also explains psychics? "How... how would one accomplish raising the moon?" Luna's confusion shown through her face brightly. "Or the sun?" Celestia concurred, bringing me to smile. Ahhh yes... this world doesn't work like that... or does it? "Well," I began while straightening my posture, "The sun and moon are two different celestial bodies, obviously, but there are two main differences in them: The moon on my world is many times smaller than Earth and it revolves around it via gravity. In the same sense, the Earth revolves around the sun. We have no control over the moon or the sun. Fun fact: it takes 8 minutes for the light from the sun to reach the Earth." I was met with a diligently busy Twilight who was writing this down as quickly as her magic would allow. Celestia and Luna were both intrigued and horrified at my explanation of the laws in my world. Mostly horrified; lets be honest here. "I can answer a lot about these things, if you want me to." "Yes, by all means, we would love to hear you talk about it." Luna quickly grabbed my arm and wrapped her hoof around it in a dainty, feminine way. This pony... We then began to walk down the halls of the castle, my mind constantly being dragged away from the conversation to the architecture and style. Stunning, really. I've never cared much for architecture or art but this certainly opened my eyes to a who new world. But, there was something that was nagging me. Throughout the dialogue, there was this lingering thought in my mind that I had not the strength to address. I was hoping that it wasn't as bad as I thought it was, considering that Cadance was... not feeling herself. There was no way my presence here had changed her that much. "James? Jaaaames?" I heard a familiar voice address me as I shook my head to the noise and looked at Twilight. "W-Wha? What's up?" "You looked really busy in thought there... is there anything bothering you?" Luna asked. "Anything worth mentioning?" Her sister interjected. Twilight nodded and finished, "If there is something that is bothering you, you should talk about it.". I had about enough of this. Either they were painfully naive or they were trying to goad some kind of reaction out of me in light of recent events. "Okay okay, fine! Yeah, there is something bothering me. Its Princess Cadance. She's... I-I don't know how to describe it," I shrugged and looked down at the marble floor, "She's infatuated with me and I don't know why. Shining Armor has so much more to offer. Here in Equestria I'm just a guy who's lost. I don't have a single bit of money, no job, no reputation. Shining has all of that and more. I-I just don't get it." Furrowing my brows, I couldn't understand why. "I've lived a long time, James, and I can honestly tell you that I couldn't care less about the things that those I've loved did. Their accomplishments were astonishing or may have given them a certain attraction to them, but it was who they were that made me love them; that made me give my love to them." Celestia put her hoof on my shoulder and looked into her eyes. There was a light of truth and something else in those eyes. "Its been statistically proven that most ponies start a relationship because of the pony, rather than the career choice or fame or fortune." Twilight, the nerdy bookworm that she is, responded in a matter-of-fact tone that made me chuckle lightly at the serious comment. I'd be lying if I said that Earth was like that. "Yeah, in my world, there are a lot of people who just marry for fame and fortune. Gold diggers, is the proper term for them." I growled. "Which further reinforces the point that my sister made about why you love who you love." Luna batted her eyes softly at me and smiled. This mare was too much. Rolling my eyes, I chuckled and looked down bashfully. "Yeah, I guess... nice to know you three are smarter than the average bear on this." This comment earned me 3 distinctive looks of confusion before snapping onto something behind me. I didn't pay any attention to it until I began to hear the sound of slippers hitting the marble floor. The sound of armor did not accompany this sound and I deduced very quickly exactly who it was. Celestia, Luna, and Twilight merely tried to look happy and smiled to the pony behind me. My stare could've burned a hole through the marble floor as I steeled myself for her. Why must you always be angry about something? Because if I'm not angry then I don't know what I'll do. You do realize that she loves you, right? YES! Yes I do! Maybe you can fall in love with her but I can't. I don't think you understand the timeline's already been screwed up by my presence here. Since when has a timeline ever been a good excuse to stop love? Since when has it EVER been an excuse? "James?" A familiar voice that seems to melt my anger away. I turned around slowly and looked and Cadance in a friendly way, pretending all is well with me. I found her very close to me. "Hey, Princess! You feelin' better?" I quipped in a platonic and friendly way as she then smiled, trying to hide her pain with me. "Y-Yeah. I'm doing well. Thanks for taking care of me, James." She put her hoof on my arm and casually stroked it, finding that same curiosity in my body that she did before. God damn she was good. And I thought I was good at this... Not compared to her, you are. She's got literal god tier skill at this. We finally agree on something. "Well, I must be off to tend to my little ponies and their duties. Ta ta!" Celestia made a speedy exit as Luna nodded and silently walked with her. "And I'm expected to show up for a science convention in - oh hay! I'm already late! Seeya!" Twilight rushed off. She was almost as bad at lying as Applejack. Once again, I was alone. I turned back to look at Cadance, who was smiling warmly now that we were alone. She hugged me softly and nuzzled against my chest under my neck. "This is nice." She purred as I clenched my teeth and growled softly. She pulled away and looked at me, my teeth barred. "Cadance. Stop it. I didn't save you just to have you to myself. Why are you doing this?" I glared heavily at her splayed ears and weakening expression. "Why am I doing what? Isn't this natural?" She argued back weakly. "Natural? Natural? Are you kidding me? I'm not even supposed to be here, you know that, right? I'm not supposed to exist, at least not in this world." Shrugging, I continued on, "You're not supposed-" "To what? I'm not supposed to what, James? Are you asking me not to feel? Are you asking me not to accept what I feel in my heart?" Her anger spoke clearly through her harsh tone. I felt like an asshole. I tried to explain, "No, what I meant was-" "That we're not meant to be or some bucking crap like that. Of course, of course. I should've known. You're just like everypony else. Be who you want to be, James. Perhaps you're not capable of loving me." She waved me off and turned around to walk away. There are two - no, three things you don't do with me: Mess with my food, mess with my sleep, or god forbid, tell me I cannot do something that I know I can do. I was going to show this mare what's what. This is actually going better than expected. If you can get her to dislike or hate you, she'll marry Shining like it was supposed to be... Screw that. I'm done with this charade. I briskly began to walk after her, my gaze locked onto the back of her neck. Wait. James, what are you doing? James? JAMES?! "Cadance, hold on a second, let me explain." I held my hand up as she turned around with a sickening look, her eyes showing a look of glass as I saw a tear roll down her cheek, her fur darkening as it made its journey to the floor and into my heart. "Explain what, James? That you just won't take no for an answer? Do you want me to say I hate you, even after all that you did for me? If that's what you want to hear, you'd sooner find yourself dead than hear me say such a thing. Just leave me alone." She turned around again and resumed her walk. She turned around, giving me another chance to speak: "Cadance just let me explain-" Or so I thought. "No! Buck you and your stupid "obligations"! I don't care about those stupid, petty reasons of yours, and I refuse to be kicked in the rump for this any longer." She shook her head and more tears rolled down her eyes, her smaller frame shaking, "Just go back where you came from." I was quivering from fear and nervousness, my anxiety levels were reaching new levels I didn't think possible. I did the only think I could think about at the time. I approached her and pulled her tail sharply, yanking her back and then grabbing her mane to make her face me. "L-Let me go! Let me go right this instant or I'll-" I stopped her words with a soft but deeply intimate kiss on her lips, earning myself a soft and subtle moan from her throat. "If you would have let me explain... I would've told you that maybe I was willing to give it a shot. Not because I wasn't sure but at this point I would be passing up an opportunity of a lifetime... do you want the honest truth, Cadance?" She had no words but simply nodded in reply. "I was scared... scared that you wouldn't like me. I'm not a very nice guy on the inside most of the time. I have a very evil dark side that only lives off the suffering of others and to this day that is part of the reason I stay distant from people. I was afraid you get to know me and that part of me and realize that you didn't like me as much as you thought you did... I was trying to save you from that." I shrugged, small tears coming to my eyes as I remembered how lonely I was before I came here... how lonely I still am. "I don't need saving, James... and isn't that my choice to make?" She asked for a response. "... y-yeah." I choked out, closing my eyes and shaking my head which allowed the tears to fall. Years of pain was showing through me at this point. "James... since you're being honest... I will be honest with you... the reason why I found myself in love with you is because..." She shuffled a bit and held onto my hands, "... I went into your memories for a moment to get a glimpse of who you were. I-I didn't see it all but-" I tore away from her and turned around and strained not to scream in anger. I figured this would happen. It all makes sense now! "-but I saw enough. Enough to know that you're not who others think you are... you're not who you think you are." Pleading me to understand, I scoffed at her statement. "No, no Cadance, I'm exactly who I think I am." I stared back at her clearly upset and painful expression. Was I surprised she did this? No. Did it bother me? Not nearly as much as I made it seem. I walked to the bench a few feet away and sat down. After a few moments of thinking, I exhaled softly and breathed easy to look up to her again. Annoyed but sincere, I asked; "Why'd you do it?" To this, she had no answer at the moment I asked. She thought about it for a time and I patiently awaited my answer. She sat down next to me and looked out, not facing me, "I've seen others like you who suffer by themselves. You're all alike, thinking that your burden is yours to bear alone, that you don't deserve the help." I looked into her eyes as if looking for an answer. "I don't think so. I don't think so at all." She gave a small smirk and her gaze was set on the floor in remembrance of something. "Twilight is a special pony who's potential we, the princesses, have not seen in a very long while. She was chosen by the tree to bear the Element of Magic." I silently sat, pondering the point of telling me this information. "Why are you telling me this?" "Because just as The Tree chose Twilight's skill and potential, I've chosen your love and your pain. The Tree chose her other five friends to help her on her journey, just as I have chosen to you to help you on yours... do you understand, James?" She looked at me with intent not previously seen. I swear I could've seen her gain a few years in a few seconds. Most of the time she's fun and young and very positive, akin to a young adult who's still optimistic because life hasn't brought them down... ... but now I could barely recognize her. She had matured greatly in a few moments. "I want to be a part of your journey, James." She murmured softly as I felt her hoof grab my hand. I sat straight and looked ahead, trying to speak but feeling my own voice choke up in my throat. She saw this and her expression melted at my lack of ability to speak. I smiled weakly and nodded quickly before I quickly wrapped my arms around her, embracing her tightly. "Its okay, James. You don't have to be alone anymore." All this time. All this damn time. "Thank yo-ou Cadance... so much." I wanted to tell her more, but I had not the ability to. We sat for a few minutes, what felt like hours of quiet embrace... After our long and memorable, as well as fruitful conversation with Cadance, we had to be both on our way to different functions. Hers included a meeting with the Royal Guard about possible re-strengthening of forces on the Empire's border. Mine included walking up and down the hallways pondering mercilessly on what I've gotten myself into. Don't get me wrong, it sounds great... it sounds wonderful. But I've always wondered if I was ever one of those people who could love. At certain times I can turn into a logic-driven robot that, for the moment, thinks emotions are stupid and does away with them. I certainly hope I do not get this way around Cadance. "James?" I heard a familiar voice address me as I looked towards the sound. It was Princess Celestia. "James, how are you?" She asked with a certain amount of concern present in her tone. I began to figure out what kind of answer I've give her, whether or not I would tell her everything that just happened. "I'm doing... well." I stiffened at my one-line comment to her. Its beginning to happen again; I don't like it. "Good, good..." Her eyes told a different story, "... anything you'd like to talk about?" Smiling, she walked closer. "No." I responded quickly, my mouth opening to say something else but I failed to force anything out at the moment. "Oh. I see... well, in any event, if there is anything you want to speak to me about... do not hesitate, hm?" She smiled kindly to me, something I'll probably never get used to from these sweet ponies. I won't lie, I feel guilty for this. As she was walking away, I called out to her abruptly, "Celestia? Wait!" I reached my hand out to convey my want to speak to her. "Yes James? What is it?" "Well... I wanted to tell you how it went." I began to explain, earning a nod. "We uhhh... we settled- I mean I settled the differences... I told her that... I'd be willing to try. I told her I was sorry for making her feel like she did." "And?" Her brow perked up. "... I told her how much she means to me and that I was tired of going alone." "Good. You've no idea what that poor pony has been through the past few weeks. Her wedding gets crashed, her fiance ends up getting cold feet, she gets rescued by a creature only known to us by myth, and then she finds out how much she is attracted to you, accompanied by your rejection of her. I'm very glad to hear this." She spoke to me in an accepting, motherly tone. I felt like a kid who was told off by his own mother. Damn she was good at this. "Yeah I feel... like an asshole. I'm really sorry I did that." I rubbed the back of my neck, feeling the shame creep upon me. "Don't tell me that, tell Cadance that. She is the one who deserves to hear you say that. You will tell her, yes?" She asked, as if she already knew the answer. I would bet she was right. "Yes, yes I will. I will as soon as I can see her again. When will she be free?" "I'm not sure. Her meeting will be a while and when she is done, she'll most likely be very tired... perhaps I could-" Celestia was cut off by her sister opening one of the castle doors and exhaling loudly. "Finally, sister, we are done with that atrocious meeting. Why on earth do we even have them?" Her expression was both heavy and annoyed. "Tradition, Luna. And, sometimes it helps to have them." She nodded. "I'm guessing by your face, Celestia, that's not very often." I smirked as Luna looked at me, her eyes resting on me solely and I could see her stress slowly leaving her. "Ahh, James... a pleasant sight as always." Two can play at this game. "As are you, Luna." I smiled cordially, "You were saying something, Celestia?" "Ahh, I was going to suggest that my sister give you a grand tour of the castle." She smirked subtly as my eyes bounced back and forth. "Hold on, you-" I tried to speak but was cut off by a regal declaration. "Huzzah! I shall give you the grandest of tours! Come with us, thine human!" Oh boy, here we go. Author's Note Huzzah! The chapter is done! I was having a massive writer's block and hopefully I'm over it... I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, it was fun to read. I might try and go for 3rd person next chapter, so be sure and read the AU at the beginning of the next one. Questions or comment? Don't be afraid to post! Seeya soon! - Joss Yeah... still a lot to learn.Well, here we are (FINALLY). Oh and this will be in third person; if you guys like it a lot, let me know and I'll keep it like such. One last thing: if you guys get the reference in the chapter, let me know. I love seeing people figure it out. Enjoy! "... and here we have one of the most exquisite of royal treasures, the Royal Garden. This garden has been maintained with peace and success for many a century. Only the highest of our ranks have seen this, as it is a prized monument to our citizens and our castle." Luna spoke with a level dignity and pride not seen in her since James had been here. Jesus Christ in heaven give me a damn break! He thought to himself as he sat down on the ground, barely noticing the scenery at all. James was by no means as fit and in-shape as the guards and all the running around had certain caught up with him. "I-I'm just gonna- that was really- like wow I'm- FUCK." He hissed and threw his shirt off, tossing it in her direction, only to miss by about four feet. This incited a laugh from the princess, throwing her head back and looking at him, stifling laughter to the point of bursting into another fit again. It was all very regal and very annoying to the most-tired James. "Yeah yeah, laugh all you want. Humans are not meant to run for that long. Jeez how do you guys do it?" "Oh, we have a lot of sex, its really a very good workout." She smirked while her expression failed to conceal her need to laugh at James' face. He was clearly caught off guard; his brows agreed to this conclusion. "Eh? What the hell...?" He spoke to himself as she doubled over laughing again and fell on her back, kicking wildly to rid her self of the pain in her gut from laughing so hard. James stood up and walked over to her and pointed a finger at her. "Hey I'll have you know right goddamn now if I wanted to fuck someone here I'd damn well do it and no one would could say no. Hell I could probably have any stallion I wanted, so don't think because your a princess you can get away with that shit, you feel?" James was still breathing heavily and his chest reflected that. The look from Luna was one of confusion and lust with what James would describe as fear. Luna gave him naught but a huff that he concluded was one of... need, for lack of a better word. Perhaps I'm walking down the wrong road. Better stop while I'm ahead. "Oh, and just how would you go about this "fuck", as you say?" She asked in a very benign, very trained tone. It was both odd and hot to hear the princess say that, at least to James. I'm going to need to get Cadance to say that. NO. STOP THINKING LIKE THAT JAMES. Screw you, a man can dream. "Uhh... that's more of a... private subject, Luna. And considering my position, I'd rather not go there just yet." He held his hands up in defense. You said "yet" you fuckwit. Now you're doomed. "Well... perhaps you're right," She said after walking to him and trailing around him, her tail brushing him the entire time while he stood and rolled his eyes, "... a mare can wait." She whispered just loud enough for him to hear as he visible stiffened at the comment and with cheeks as red as the roses, stared at her angrily. This served only to make him more annoyed, which gave her cause to laugh. "Oh my, dear James, you are such fun to tease! Where have you been all this time?" "Hell, I don't know. I'm just glad I'm here I guess." He got over his embarrassment and quipped the comment with a smile adorn brightly. "I uhh... most people back in my world aren't very nice, to put it generously. You guys are pretty great, not gonna lie. I've grown quite fond of you all in the short amount of time I've known you." He smiled. He was telling the truth but at the same tie lying. He's seen them before and he knows them quite well, but interacting with them personally as an experience is something he is wholly alone in. "Well. Those were very kind words, James. Thank you for that, I shall pass that on to my friends, hm?" "Oh by all means, if you guys want to talk about me, feel free. I'm basically the only one of my kind here, guess its kinda hard not to talk about me..." Which before I came here never happened. "Indeed, James, you are but the only one of your kind as you say who have arrived here after the disappearances." Her voice and expression turned cold at the later half of the statement, as if she was remembering. "Disappearances? What do you mean? Is that why humans aren't around?" His words only earned him a nod. What did she mean by "disappearances"?... I mean, its not out of the realm of possibility, right? He pondered these words. He'd have to go to the royal archives to maybe get answers. He just had to. This was not something he could easily let go, and even through his conversations with Luna, they remained in his head. If there was a chance he could find out what happened, he was going to take it no matter the cost. "James? Jaaaames?" Luna called to him, earning her a non-committed look and a simple, one word reply: "Yes?" "Is something on your mind, James? You're quite preoccupied in that small head of yours." "Yeah, I've been trying-" She began to laugh when he deadpanned at her, only increasing her humorous findings in the matter. "Damn woman, you're just mean. That's just downright mean." He pouted to her and followed along with her by his own chuckling, "Yeah, you got me there, Luna. I didn't even catch that until after... oof, I'm getting slow." "Are you a quick witted lad or a thinker?" "Mostly the aforementioned. I'm pretty quick on my feet when not distracted... maybe that means I'm just crap at this." He chucked, earning a humorous shake of Luna's head to his comment. "We will get you straightened out right quick. You'll be back on your mind's feet in no time... speaking of time," She looked towards the entrance, "We have a meeting to attend and some paperwork to be done so we must be going. I trust you can find your way back?" "Yeah! No problem. Thanks for the tour, Luna. It was really helpful!" He smiled widely and gave her a thumbs up as she trotted away. "And the laughs, I'll be practicing, you know! Stay sharp!" He yelled to her as she was almost out of sight. "We shall!" She called back and disappeared... ... "Wait, where do I go again? Ah shit. Here we go again." He looked back and jogged to the hallway where, at least he thought Luna would be, but she's no where to be found. No guards? That's a shame... come to think of it, I've not seen a single guard... a holiday, perhaps? He pondered this point for a little while, slowly shuffling down the castle hallways. He'd not remembered a single word from Luna describing how to get back and to this he felt akin to the village idiot. It was when he began to walk down one of the hallways with a large, stained glass mosaic of Celestia and Luna, did he slowly begin to recognize where he was. "Dayyyum." He remarked aloud to the glass windows. They were above and beyond anything he's seen in his lifetime. In fact, he'd not seen a castle at all in his lifetime. To this knowledge, he took to studying his surroundings. "Mein Gott, das ist erstaunlich..." He told himself as he began to feel the walls, not a single bump, crack, or chip in any of the surfaces he could find or touch. It reminded him of how well kept his father's place was. Cold, calculated, smooth and unchanging. He didn't like it one bit. Not at all. During his concentration in thought, a certain character had snuck up to him in the meantime, not making a sound. Grabbing his shoulders softly, the voice addressed him: "You look a little lost, James." James didn't move or jump from this, he merely was taken aback from his musings about the castle and craned to look over his shoulder to see a familiar pink Alicorn standing behind him. "Oh, Cadance! I didn't even see or hear you. Wow you're pretty stealthy." "I can be when I want to be." She smiled to him, sighing heavily after. What was that supposed to mean? These ponies I swear... "You seem a little... exhausted. How'd the meeting go?" He asked, preparing for an answer he predicted. "It was boring but somehow tiring. Its like the boredom sucks the life out of you aaaaaaand leaves you sluggish." "Oh so like jet lag." He quipped and nodded. "Jet lag? What even is such a thing?" Ahhh that's right, these ponies don't have jets... what a shame. "Well, to put it in layman's terms, its basically a term used to describe a feeling of sluggishness or how someone feels like their schedule has been changed or the time has flown by, ect., ect." "I see... odd term." "Yeah, I've never seen the relevance in it except when I get off from a flight and understand it firsthand..." He shrugged, the last part of his comment earning an interested look from the Alicorn. "Flight? You humans can fly? You never told me!" She playfully hit his shoulder and began flying around, much to James' amusement. "Not organically, no. We can't fly like you guys can... although we can fly using other means. Like planes, or sub-orbital rockets, and occasionally just yeeting someone off a building." He answered matter-of-fact like. "You guys use machines to fly? How in the world is that possible?" Her expression she gave off was what James thought would be one he would get if he tried to explain technology to these ponies. "Well, we don't have any magic at all. None. So, in the case of having no magic, we've nothing to turn to but technology and its inventions. Some days we wish we could have magic, though... we all do." He shrugged and hung his head, hating coming to terms with his ultimate deficiency in magic. "And I was so hoping to use magic, too. I figured it'd be pretty damn cool moving stuff around like nothing at all, turning invisible and stuff." "Well, perhaps that is something we can do together, hm?" This question gave James a smile. At this point, he'd love to spend more time with her. This begged another question from James: "What would we do, exactly?" "Simple, James: I will teach you how to use magic." She smiled, giving his heart a chance to skip a beat. "Wa-wa-wait y-you mean I still have a chance?" He began to quiver slightly in nervousness; eyes lighting up with a passion behind them that Cadance hoped she would see in many ways. "Yes, James. Everypony has a chance to learn and use magic. Some are born with great potential, some must work for it... it any instance, everypony can use magic. So can you." She smiled with a finality that gave him exactly the answer he was hoping for. "Yes!" He fist pumped victoriously, excitement radiating from him. With this, he rushed to Cadance and wrapped his arms around her tightly, giving many thanks to her. "There is nothing to be thankful for yet, James. We've still to practice, hm?" "Ah, yes. You're right." He took two steps back, nodding as he did so to her reply, "This'll give us a chance to do something together, like you said..." He looked into her eyes, holding his gaze there drawing a flush on his face. "God I'm so green sometimes." He rubbed his neck and chuckled nervously, looking away while Cadance merely gave a girly giggle. "Wellll... after you get to know me, you won't be." An innocent but slightly sultry reply came his way as his eyes reverted back to her. "Aren't you the princess of-" "Love, yes. The Princess of Love." Her look gave off a feeling of fulling committing to the sensual side of herself, lidding her eyes halfway for him while she made her way over. "And I know all about loving, darling." Whispering into his ear, his face grew red. Boner alert! He though to himself instantly as Cadance laughed softly. "You're in for one wild ride, James." He mumbled something that Cadance could only barely hear, "What was that?" "Or maybe you're in store for a wild ride." His voice carried weight when he spoke since at this point he had given his voice a chance to chance to a deeper, rougher, sexier voice. Luna had already poked her fun at him merely as a joke, but he wasn't anticipating Cadance's seriousness on the subject. "Oh yeah, James?" "Yeah." He furrowed his brows with a boyish grin on his face. To this, she leaned into his ear again: "Why don't we just find the nearest room and I'll show you just how good it feels to be out of those clothes? Or perhaps, you want to just breed me right here?" Her lips remained unmoving as her gaze drifted to his. The two remained like this for a few long moments before James made his move, tilting his head and kissing her softly while holding her head under her chin, eliciting a small moan from the both of them. He quickly pulled away, looking into her eyes: "Not quite yet, princess. I've still yet to know you more personally, eh? That is, if you can handle the tension." He smirked again. "Is that even a question?" Cadance retorted back with the same kind of shit-eating grin he gave her not a moment before. "Indeed. I know you can handle it." The man smiled genuinely to her. He then began looking into the distance deeply (which happened to be the floor); lost in thought. "Heyyy... wait a minute. I know this is random but I have a question to ask," James quipped, earning a nod in response, ", you seemed to know what I was when I first met you..." "... what kind of knowledge does Equestria have on humans and Humanity? I'd love to see what you've got. Honestly I've been wondering about that but I keep forgetting to ask and so I was just thinking that if I read what you guys know about humanity I could maybe help you to understand us as a species and while it is a small possibility there might be humans here in Equestria or at least in the surrounding countries which I think would be awesome as I could ask them-" "JAMES!" The mare screamed at him quickly, earning a jolt from him. She motioned to him to follow her down the halls towards the Royal Library, but he didn't know that. ... "James calm down I know you want to know more about us but let me answer: the Library has most of the answers you seek. Celestia and Luna have the rest. That's all I can tell you so far; all I know about humans is their physical appearance and the fact that the country they used to reside in is no longer anything but a wasteland. Going to the Library and asking Twilight about it may help; she knows what you're looking for." A few moments passed before a friendly voice popped up: "Did somepony say books?!" A purple mare trotted around the corner and smiled at the two of them. "Oh Twilight, I was just about to send somepony to look for you. Just in time! James was wanting some knowledge of pre-war humans." "Uh-say what?" James scratched his head before being yanked (literally) by Twilight herself towards the direction of the library. The Princess followed and smiled. "I know that we'd love nothing more than to spend more time together but I almost forgot that I have a mare's date with some of my friends in about an hour... oops." "So you're not coming with? Darn. Well, I can understand forgetting things. That's like one of my super powers." He chuckled before continuing, "So where are you going?" "Just to my chambers to freshen up; its right here. I will see you later on tonight, yes?" She inquired while opening the door, pausing to receive her answer: "Well, I certainly hope so; you know where to find me!" He yelled and waved to her as he and Twilight made their way to the library... ... "Aaaaand this is where we keep our books on the history of Canterlot, this is-" "Twilight." James, looking ragged already, croaked out her name in protest. He shook his head and rubbed his face for a moment, "Is it still Friday?" Twilight deadpanned at him something fierce before rolling her eyes. "Its not that bad, James, we've only been here... oh its been almost a half and hour. Wow I didn't know time flew that fast." "Or crept so slooooowwww like JAYZUS MAN. Where be the human stuffs?" He motioned to the enormous library. It was very large and easily rivaled that of the Library of Congress that he saw once back in D.C.. "The knowledge on humanity and all their former glory is right here. Subsection 2, Category C." "Nice... thanks... basically everything on this level of the bookcase?" "No, the entire bookcase. All 78 books." She replied proudly, as if she's read every one of them (she has, probably). James facepalmed quite hard at this. Hopefully he could figure out something that didn't involve dying at the library over some books; Lord knows he would die of boredom before Death's own schedule. "Alright. Let's narrow it down a bit. What books do I need to read about the history of Equestria's dealings with humanity? What were they like before the 'war' or whatever Cadance meant by that?" "That would be these books," she pointed to the lower section, about 15 or so books. Many of these were very, very old, ", most of these books are drawings of schematics for machines of war; only a few of these tell about the story of pre-war humanity." "Where can I find more of the history after I get done reading this?" He asked, already not content with the limited information that was available to him. "Well... there is one pony, actually two, but really just one pony that can help you." She pondered before replying. James motioned her to continue. "Princess Celestia. She wasn't there, but her mother and father were. Maybe you can talk to her about that sometime?" "Absolutely. Thanks for taking me here and putting up with me." He gave her a thumbs up and thanked her for her kindness (and thoroughness). "Oh don't worry about it. I love getting people interested in books. A special kind of satisfaction to see someone reading diligently. If you need me, I'll be in the magic spells part of the library, down on the other end. Talk to me if you need me!" She smiled and walked away, waving at him encouraging him to do the same. "Alright. Now, lets see what we've got here..." James began flipping through the old pages, skimming over the table of contents. He was not about to find much, but he did find one page, a small excerpt from an unknown source, that did prove useful as well as absolutely terrifying: Long ago, humans were a thing of legend, spoken with a token fear and awe. Long ago, they arrived. From where, nopony knows. Some think from beyond our borders from the great unknown, and some say from the heavens themselves. They flourished, not with magic and friendship, but with technology and steel, great inventions and machines of war. It was then when a spy from their world, sent into Equestria was captured, bringing war to the humans from the heart of Equestria. On May 7th, 1544, the "Fateful Appointment Day". But they were no match for magic, as it was the wielder of elements. And so, the humans were destroyed, save for few that managed to escape. Nopony really knows where the surviving humans went; those that were captured were soon sent into slavery, some killed, some exiled. -Unknown ... "What the hell? What was that?" James questioned aloud as he scratched his head. Who the hell wrote this? Is this some kind of combat diary?" He wondered. He immediately put the book down and grabbed a random book that Twilight pointed out, and was met by theoretical schematics for machines and drawings. One he saw peaked his interest: United Earth Federation --Schematic for UEF Armored Command Unit-- Specifcations: Height: 90 meters Width: 32 meters Depth: 12 meters Weight without upgrade packages: 97 tons Weight with upgrade packages: 100-117 tons Description: The Armored Command Unit or ACU, is the state-of-the-art war machine designed to encapsulate a human operator, giving that operator immense firepower, adaptive mobility, defense and the latest build capabilities and schematics to the commander. The ACU has a built in teleporter, allowing it to be anywhere on the battlefield given it has time to charge. The Armored Command Unit is the fulcrum to any operation; its death results in immediate defeat. There were many other schematics in that same book, as well as many others. They were all different in one way or another but this left James with one answer: they all had one thing in common, and it was the fact that they were all war machines. "How odd. I wonder what humanity was so obsessed with war for... Kind of like our old history of endless fighting but imagine one or two thousand years in the future. "Mein Gott." He shook his head and sat down. He made the decision to ask Celestia about this as soon as it was convenient; he had to have answers. "James?" He heard Cadance's voice call from afar. "Answers can wait; for now, its time to spend some time with the lady." He said to himself and straightened himself up. Walking towards her and waving, he smiled. But, behind that smile there was worry and confusion; what happened to his fellow humans and where are they now? He could only hope it wasn't as bad as he thought. Author's Note Hello hello again! You've made it to the end of the chapter. Did you like it or hate it? Let me know; I love reading you guys' comments. I hope you guys found the reference... it was fun to write; as was the chapter. See you next time! -Joss
Where are we?Hope you guys enjoy! Chapter I “Hey, come on this ain’t funny guys!” I called out to a few of my friends, squinting and groping at any sign of light. It sure is dark in here, I thought to myself as the gloomy cave in which my friends had wanted to play hide and seek in was ever more unbecoming. Yeah, I was scared like a little wuss. Needless to say I was going to have a strong talking to my friends when I find them. If I find them. This cave is huge. “Why did we ever pick on a cave like this to play hide and seek, I wonder...” I thought aloud to myself as I then heard a few rocks shift about hundred feet in front of me. Aha, gotcha. Silently I made my way to the pile of rocks where I heard the noise, only to be greeted by the sweet embrace of no one being there. Great. “Okay guys, that’s it. I give up. I can’t find you and that’s that, capice?” I chuckled at my own blunder on trying to find my friends, although I can’t help but wonder if that was just a way to relieve my fear. No response. “I’m serious, I’m done playing games.” Again, no response. Fear began to set in, which begot panic. Don’t panic, James, just walk out the way you came. I told myself internally. Easier said than done, this cave was huge and dark. Very dark, and no I do not have a flashlight. Wandering around for a while only made me realize that I couldn’t find my way out. Panic of the situation doubled and I quickly found myself at a dead end, which nothing to accompany me but a large cliff which led even farther down into the Earth. “Okay, well, definitely not going that way.” I scoffed and grabbed a rock from the ground and tossed it down the cliff. I could faintly hear the rock hitting the ground or at least the wall of that expanse. I did not fancy my situation at all. I squatted down by the cliff’s edge and sighed, trying to figure out a plan to get out of here, which yielded no results. “Damnit.” I cursed while standing up quickly, unaware of what was about to hit me. As soon as I turned around, the footing of the cave floor gave away and I found myself on the edge of this cliff hanging on for my life. “Shit!” I cursed again, trying to remedy my situation as I groped for more ground, finding nothing to help me from falling. After a few more moments I was haning on by one hand, and I could feel myself slipping. I guess this was it for me, not how I’d imagined it. “Nooo!” I screamed, my voice echoeing like something out of the climax of a movie, as I plumeted to what I thought was my death. I hit the ground with a loud thud and a squish as my breath left my lungs instantly. I looked around the dark caverns, light apparently more plentiful here as I could see decently well. I slowly scanned my surroundings before I made the obvious assumption that I fell into some kind of crystal deposit. Now that was cool! “But I have to get out of here. Riches mean nothing to a dead man.” I scoffed at myself again and began to move. Something was not permitting me to move my torso, as if it was being grabbed by something. I looked down and saw a single but quite thin shard of crystal sticking out of my stomach near my waist. Panic set in quickly as my breathing and heartbeat skyrocketed. What could I’ve done against this happening? What could I do about patching this up? I quickly realized, remembering my first aid training as a boy scout, and rolled my shirt up to asess the damage. Looked really bad if you asked me, but where it was didn’t seem to hurt any vitals. I realized what it was I needed to do, and I hated every second of it. I was going to have to snap this thing off and leave a piece in as a clot. I shivered at this thought and chuckled softly. No way James, you’re not man enough to do that. Would you rather lay here and die? … Yeah. After a quick recount of my enviroment, I realized that I’m going to need to do this. I never thought I’d ever need to do something like this but… I’ve no choice. I gripped the top of the crystal and began to bend it my way, the pain shooting up and down my body as the adrenaline wore off. Screaming, I was almost ready to give up when I snapped a piece off and held onto the crystal. It was beautiful, aside from the blood. I looked back to myself and began to move, slowly, as to not damage anything else. This place is a death trap! One slip and you’re dead! I was unsure of where to go, all I have to go by is the bloody mess I left and the little light this cave gave me. It was more than enough to walk around without any kinks. Or so I thought. Walking through the caverns, I began to see some of the crystals were either burned or what looked like bitten off. That last thought didn’t settle well with me at all. As if it wasn’t enough I was stuck down here, there was something that may or may not live here and eat these things. I’m just screwed, aren’t I? Moving farther in, I was greeted, albeit unwelcomingly, by a noise. It was quite far away, I’d say about a few hundred feet in front of me. I think? The noise seems to bounce off these crystals. Its as if the sound was all around me, which made me wonder if this noise was the cave dweller who’s come looking for a mid-day snack. I could only hope it wasn’t something that was going to eat me. Upon closer inspection of the paths I was choosing, I noticed I was definitely going in one direction. The noise was louder now, and I could almost recognize it. It almost sounded light crying, and something else. I could be wrong. I hoped I was wrong, because that would be creepy as all hell, and I have enough heeby jeebies to worry about right now. The closer I came to the source of the noise, however, the more I was convinced that whatever was “crying” was definitely ahead of me, and I suspected human. Then I made the connection: It had to be one of my friends! There was no way I’d find anyone else down here and that made most of the sense I’d lost when I hit the dirt on the way down here. “Hellooo?” I confidently called out to the voice who had been crying, wailing this entire time. It didn’t help that the crying stopped without any warning and silence befell us both. Uh oh. Maybe I shouldn’t have done that. Yeah I really shouldn’t have done that, or so I thought. I’d no idea what was over there and I made an assumption without decent proof it was one of my friends. But I had no choice now, did I? I kept walking, lead in my feet as everything in my mind told me to get the hell out of here and away from whatever’s over there. At the same time I felt curiously compelled, just like the cat before it dies. That wasn’t a good thing to remind myself of. I made my decision. As much as I didn’t want to get involved, my heart cried another passion. I was convinced I could help whatever was down here, even if it wasn’t human. I wanted to help. I have a habit (might as well be an obsession) of helping others while tossing myself away in the process. I guess this was the ultimate test to see whether or not I was the cat and that thing over there was curiosity. “Whatever you are, I know you’re out there. I could hear you.” I squinted through, trying to see any movement at all. I refrained from telling whether or not I know what I heard, but I wasn’t really worried about that either. “Nathan? Carl? Jesse?” I called out the names of my friends. Nothing. Not a single mutter. “Ich bin nicht hier, um dich zu verletzen.” I told them in modern German, something I picked up in my spare time. “Kannst du mich verstehen, ja?” I spoke again. I felt like maybe English would be better. Walking closer to the sound I heard earlier, I began to notice pink reflections in the crystal, which was not the original color of these crystals. My first thought was that was nothing, but I realized instantly when the pink “shimmered” on the crystal, like the reflections were alive. “Can you even understand me?” I called out, receiving nothing in reply. “… yes.” A small female voice said to me, weak, but most certainly alive. My heart stopped for a moment and my breath caught in my throat. The voice wasn’t any of my friends, which meant two things: Someone else came down here recently or this was an alien and depending on that alien’s diet I was either its next meal or… or not. “Wow, how did you get down here?” I asked, perfectly fine with communicating with the alien/human/cave dweller that I was speaking to. “I was knocked out and dragged here against my will...” She, or it, croaked out. I honestly didn’t believe her, which is unusual for me because I try and give the benefit of the doubt to everyone. I’d have to see her to believe her. Why am I referring to it as her? I guess its easier? Truth be told, it was easier to trick myself into thinking I was okay. “For real? That’s harsh. What for?” I asked, making my way to the voice, with little luck. “I was to be married, but… now I know that won’t happen. My fiance is going to be marrying somepony else disguised as me.” She cried out softly, her voice filled with sorrow. Hold on… She said somepony… wait a second. I had a thought, and this was far out, I mean farout. Corellating what I know now and what I’ve just heard I came to the somewhat sound conclusion that the person I was I talking to was not a person at all. I decided to chance this and put my money where my mouth was. “You were to be married but someone got in the way of that. The Changlings, I assume?” I called out, laughing audibly as I shook my head. “How did you know?” She replied, her voice wrought with confusion. My laugh then proceeded to be caught in my throat, and I choked on my own voice for a moment. “Uhh…I-I’m not sure.” I told her, my voice a bit shaky from my nervousness of the whole situation. Silence is all that followed what I said to her, as I could sense I was close to her. “Can you come out? I’ve been looking for a way out and since I found someone else down here, I’d like to see in you in person.” “At this point I’m not sure who I can trust. I’ve been stuck down here for a long time… I’m not sure how long but at least a few days or so. No, I will not reveal myself to you. For all I know you could be a Changling in disguise come to-” “Please. I know who you are. I know why you’re down here, who’s done this to you.” I cut her off and stood in the middle of a large opening, the reflections of her pink body giving me the impression she was close. “So you are here to keep an eye on me or something, I guaran-” “If you could see me you’d understand that I’m not anything you’ve ever seen. And as it stands, I’m not doing so well.” I admitted to her, my eyes outlining the areas in which she could be in. I coughed a couple times, blood reguritating onto the floor as I took a knee to keep myself from falling. “Alright, I’ll come out. But if you’re a Changling or anything less than friendly, I’ll burn you to a crisp.” She shot a hastly reply filled with anger but also a hint of fear. I bet this is some ellaborate dream I’ve conjured up when I fell down here. I awaited her arrival, only the sound of her walking was accompanying me as she observed me. I looked behind me to see a figure in the shadows. I strained to see what it was, my eyes squinted as I cocked my head to the side slightly and took what I saw at face value. It was hard to believe what I was looking at. A good sized Alicorn with a bright pink coat of fur properly maintained, with bright violet eyes which mesmerized me with their richness. But above all, it was how beautiful she was as a whole. Sure, in the show she looked good, but seeing her like this is… shocking. Awe inspiring. I stood up and studied her for a moment, her face unsure of her own sighting of me. “I-I’m… sure you’re about as shocked to see me as I am you.” I broke the tension by speaking to her, as she then approached me slowly. “You’re a… human, aren’t you?” I nodded at her reply and smirked warmly. “Indeed I am, Miss Cadenza… I guess I’m a bit out of place here.” “Yes, yes you are… how do you know my name?” She asked, now only a couple feet away from me. Crap, James, think of something! “I’ve heard about you. I’ve-” “Don’t lie.” She demanded quickly. I’m a master of social engineering, lying for me is as easy as ever… how the hell did she spot that? “Fine. Alright, I won’t lie. I know who you are because… because I know who you are. I’m not sure how else to put it. You’re one of the most famous people around, how can someone not know who you are?” She studied me for a few moments, accepting what I said as true with a nod and a small smile. I nodded back and fell on one knee again, a bout of nausea hitting me down quickly. “A-are you alright?” She put her hoof on my shoulder, a warm, fuzzy sensation giving me a slight worry. I looked into her eyes for a moment before reaching to touch her hoof. It was… very soft, warm, smooth like butter. I expected nothing less from someone so well kept. “W-What are you doing?” She asked inquistively, my eyes never leaving her hoof as I was confused to my situation. Everything feels so real… “Its uhh… just that I’ve never felt a hoof so soft before. Especially from an alicorn.” Shocked, I managed out a small reply. She smiled warmly, looking me over as a friend would until she found my waist, covered in blood from the large, half-inch wound I was suffering from. “Oh my word, are you alright? Here, let me fix that for you!” She quickly assisted me towards a rock to sit down and she focused on my wound for a moment, her horn lighting up and sparks began to fly from them softly. Her face contorted a bit as if straining to get a grip with her magic. After a few more moments of straining she stopped, out of breath. “What in the world? I-I can’t use my magic on you?” She cried out softly, obviously panicking inside as she trembled. “M-My magic is gone?” Breathlessly spoken, she was on the verge of crying. This must’ve been detrimental to her. “No no no, don’t cry Miss Cadenza.” I reached out and hugged her instinctively. In my family, hugs are pretty big with us. “I’ve been trapped here for longer than should be possible for an Alicorn… I don’t think I can make it out. A-Am I going to die here?” “No you are not. Neither am I, not if I can help it. There’s one thing that humans relish above all else and that is survival, no matter how hard. Life to us is more important than anything. I’m going to get us out of here, back to your fiance and I’m going to get home.” I looked into her eyes sternly and stood up, her tears no longer flowing. “W-Who are you?” She quipped softly at me as I held her in one arm and looked into her eyes again. “I’m James Marble. You can call me James, or Jim for short.” “Alright… James. I’m Mi Amore Cadenza. Princess. You can call me Cadence if you want.” She smiled warmly and a connection I wasn’t ready for formed in her eyes. I’m not sure what I saw but I know it was there. “Now lets see… there has to be a way out of here, or else people couldn’t ever get here. This is a crystal cave, right?” “Yes. Underneath the castle.” “Alright… the first order of business is establishing a starting point… where were you when you woke up?” I asked her. She showed me the way and we began our adventure to escape. This is either the most elaborate dream, or I’m in for one big surprise. I hope you guys liked it! This is a remastered story that I did a long time ago on FanFiction. Do you guys like it? If so, what about? I'd love to hear feedback. Seeya in the next chapter! -Joss10
Escape!Hopefully it was enjoyable to read that last chapter. It was sure fun making it (after so long of not). In any case: Enjoy the next one! Chapter II It sure took us a while to find the spot where Cadence was dropped off. Us as in her. Although, I don’t blame her, this place is a maze all in itself and the crystal reflections don’t help one bit. Add to the fact that this place all looks the same and you’ve got the ugly potential to getting lost very easily. Finding out way out wasn’t going to be the hard part; doing it quickly would be. I suppose that last part really only has to do with me. I’ve been down here about 39 hours now since I got here. Most of that time was spent looking and communicating only when necessary(with the occasional argument of logic, for deciding where to go). I told her only to speak when absolutely sure verbal communcation can be most effective to conserve water and stay as hydrated as possible. Although it did make a for a great excuse not to tell her who I was inside and where I come from and all that jazz. We mostly communicated with non-verbal motions when necessary. Fortunately, we found the starting point of where she was dumped off (yeah that’s harsh, I know). We began our discussion of “muh where to go muh this way”. Unfortunately, Cadenza’s magic would only go as far as her; she couldn’t help me in any way and I’ve lost both water and blood from this journey and as far as Cadenza’s magic goes, well, I was quite literally screwed unless we found a way back to the castle. “Alright. We know the approximate direction of the exit, or entrance to this cavern.” God this place is a hell. “Hmm. How obvious are tracks made by hooves?” I asked, looking her way as she sat down, obviously tired and lacking in nutrients as well. “Um, uh… Pretty obvious to see but there’s many tracks, even some made my me.” She motioned to the ground and shrugged. It seemed impossible but I had a thought. “Changlings are small beings, about the size of a normal pony, yes?” I asked another question to which I was hoping was right. “Yes. What’s your point?” She cocked her head slightly and raised a brow. “What does size have to do with us getting out? You think that we’ll have to squeeze through some crystal to get out?” She replied. “No, or at least, I hope not. My point was that it may have taken more than one or two of them to carry you. I’m hoping it took maybe 3 or 4.” I nodded and began to caress my chin in thought. “Why?” Simply asked, I simply answered; “Because if it took as many as I assume, then we can track their movement back. Its kind of a far out idea but well, anything is better than what we’re doing now.” I shrugged and looked to the ground for answers. “That sounds… actually that’s pretty smart. Good call, James.” She smiled and I could see her hope returning. Its not a good call until it is, but thanks. I returned the smile with a nod and began making circles, looking at both the spot she awoke to the many tracks that were down here. My eyes locked onto a set of 3 or 4 tracks. Definitely 4. They were here. “Miss Cadenza, this way… I think.” I pointed to one of the 8 different paths to choose. She nodded and began to follow me through the caverns, unknowing to myself she was studying me. I suppose I shouldn’t blame her, if she came to my world I’d be the same. Still, it was innocent and I couldn’t think about that now. Right now, my focus needs to be on the tracks. Yes, the hoofprints. “Are you sure this will work?” She asked while moving to walk beside me. My gaze remained to the floor while speaking, “Yeah. I’m pretty sure. Even if it doesn’t it is a good proof-of-concept. In theory, we should be led directly to the entrance of the crystal caverns.” “You seem sure of yourself.” She noted out loud. “I have to be. If I hesitate, I lose time. You have time but I do not.” I motioned to my wound. It wasn’t hindering any kind of movement on my part, but it hurt like hell. “Yeah, I agree. I hate to admit it, but you’re right. I can give my body nutrients but I cannot give any to you.” “Can’t you just wish up a hot meal for the both of us?” I chuckled. “Wait, don’t answer that. I’m pretty sure if you could, you would’ve done so already.” She smiled and nodded. “Yes, I can, but the crystal caverns have this ability to suck the magic out of us ponies.” She sighed at the end and shook her head in resentment. “It was so well planned.” Murmering, she stared at the ground. “What, the wedding or the attack?” I asked plainly. “Both.” We said in unison, giving us a little chuckle at that. At this point morale was as important as getting out of here. Oddly enough the tracks seem to take a seriously broken pattern. Like they weren’t sure where to go. Which gave me a thought: What if they had a map but they weren’t sure where to go? I quickly discarded this idea because it sounded stupid and we’re not getting out hands on that map so it doesn’t matter anyway. “Hey uhh… do you think when we get out of here, I’ll be able to go home?” I asked her. “Certainly. Where do you live?” I smiled at her reply. “I live… oh wait a second… I live on Earth, which may be in another dimension. Do you think they can send me back home?” “Well… after hearing that, I’m not so sure. Magic doesn’t seem to work on you. I don’t want to have to say this but I honestly doubt it.” She shrugged. My hope was crushed. Not permanantly, but I doubted my low chances of not getting back home. I wanted to make it, even if I couldn’t remember why. Actually, wait a second… I can’t remember my friends… or my family. What the hell? I’m starting to forget? “Does this place have a way with making you forgetting things?” “Not to my knowledge, no.” She shook her head. “Is something wrong?” “Yeah… I can’t remember my family. Or my friends. In fact I can’t remember a lot of things. Maybe it was just knocked out of me from the fall.” I responded, earning another raised brow. “Its how I got this.” I pointed to my wound. “Ahh, I see.” After that, we simply remained silent; there wasn’t much else in terms of subjects to talk about. Well, yes there was plenty but we agreed on not talking small talk until we made it out. “How’s your magic supply?” Reluctant, I asked. I was quite honestly afraid of what I’d hear. “Empty.” She quipped quietly. Ahh crap. That means we have even less time now. We’ve got to get out of here! “How big IS this place?!” I yelled and stomped loudly. “It is quite large. I suspect we’ve made it about halfway? Maybe?” This made me angry. I was tired of aimlessly wandering down a path to find more paths. Pathfinding was not a fun thing to do when your life depended on it. “This is stupid… remind me to give a good smack to Chysalis when I see her.” I gritted my teeth. “Who’s that?” She asked, dumbfounded. “Oh uhh… The queen of the Changelings. She masterminded this whole thing. The sabotage, the attack, you getting here, everything.” I explained to her Chrysalis’s involvement. It wasn’t long before we hit a large opening where the path’s stopped. As if they ceased to exist. Shit. “Have you been here before?” I asked her, not receiving an answer as she was studying the place. I’ll assume no. “No.” I figured. “Well, actually… yes, I have. Once or twice when I was little, just a filly.” This could be it! We might actually get out of here! I clenched my fist in excitement at this prospect. “It will be hard to remember, I can barely remember it since I was so young.” She put a hoof to her head and closed her eyes. “I think the way we need to go is this way.” She motioned to a large etrance which resumed a path-like way. What a mess. Who the hell would do something like this to someone? I guess something like that could only be answered by Chrysalis. Boy, when I get my hands on her… I began to let my anger flow through my mind as I found the nearest crystal and punched it hard, cracking it but not shattering it. Then came this pain to which could best be described as “why the fuck did you do that mate”. “Ahhhahah! God DAMNIT that HURTS!” I jumped up and down while waving my hand up and down in a futile attempt to aleviate the pain. No blood, no problem, the pain stuck with me for a while. My actions provided Cadenza with something to laugh about, much to my silent resentment as I wouldn’t be laughing if she did the same. Actually, yeah I would. Shit like that is funny. At any rate, laughing aside, our intrepid little pink pony seemed to find her way back. “James! James! Come look! I think I found the exit!” She jumped up and down, much to my own excitement. I looked upon a large open cavern with the end in sight; the light at the end. I always loved that phrase: “The light at the end.” I muttered aloud as Cadenza nodded quickly, hugging me as quickly as she could before stopping to observe. “I take it your silence means you see the same problem as I do. How the hell do we make it over there?” I motioned to the exit which was on a ledge about 15 feet below us and 10 feet away. That was a lot of ground to cover. “I can fly there! Just you watch!” She managed to gallop to the edge and gracefully flew to the end, making me cheer for joy as she smiled. I stopped smiling and turned cold for a moment. That kind of a jump is pretty much impossible. And with crystal spikes like that, failing would mean certain death… I leveled with my optimistic side quickly and decisively. I wanted so badly to get out of here but more importantly, with her. She was as important to me right now as… as, well as anything! “James? Are you alright?” She asked, putting a hoof on my shoulder and watching my face contort slowly as I tried to think of a way out of this. “W-Wow I didn’t even see you fly back here, sheesh you’re spooky.” I jumped a bit, receiving a smile. “I’m as fine as I can be in my current state… unfortunately I don’t see any way I can get over there… to escape.” I shrugged, sitting down. If only I had wings. Then again, that’s the wish of a lot of humans: wings to fly. “Miss Cadenza, I am… well I’m a bit depressed now, as you probably noticed.” I shrugged again. I have this habit of describing my emotions to someone randomly… just a thing I do. “You can make that jump! You look like those long legs are built for running!” Encouraging me, she tried to get me going again. “They are. But unlike your hooves which can take beatings, mine cannot. A jump, even if I suceeded, would most certainly break them. And making a jump like that in the first place is almost impossible for me. I know my limits.” I explained. Hope shone in her eyes brightly as I could almost feel it just from looking up at her. “And as it is, a running start would be hard. I’m weak from the lack of food and water…” I looked down at my legs and then my wound. “I am never one to give up easy, but… logic demands that you’ll have to leave me here until you get some help.” I croaked, thinking about my logic. It was sound, right? Help probably wouldn’t arrive for a while. How can you guarantee that you’ll live long enough to be saved? But making that jump would seal my fate for my legs for a long time. In fact, they may never work right again after a break like that. What to do? “I have an idea but its risky. Very risky.” She furrowed her eyebrows at the entrance. “Oh?” “I could be your… pendelum for a few moments.” She said as I stood up and looked down and then where a projected path would send me. “Yes… Yes! YES! That would work! But I’m too heavy, right?” “I can carry an earth pony’s weight for about 10 seconds. How much do you weigh?” “175 pounds.. ish.” “Oh my… That is much heavier than us ponies. We’re only about 120 pounds, save for the larger ones like Alicorns.” “Its going to have to work, I only have one chance. I really do hope this works, Miss Cadenza.” I sighed out of nervousness to her. “Cadence! Stop calling me that formal, fancy-shmancy name! You’re about to trust me with your life, at least you can call me Cadence. Please?” She asked me, practically begging me. “Uhh… w-well its just because we don’t know each other. I wanted to keep it formal and respectful.” I explained as she eyed me. “… Cadence.” I finished as she smiled and nodded. “Much better. We’ve been stuck down here and you saved me, basically. We’re friends now.” She smiled and hugged me softly but caringly. “O-oh… well thanks. My friends never thought of me like that. I mean, they were nice, but… Thanks Cadence. That was really sweet of you.” “Let me know when you’re ready.” Smiling, she nodded and let me know after we broke the hug. I’m ready right now now now lets go lets go lets go lets go already! I couldn’t help but rush the thought. “I’m ready now. Any more waiting and I’ll explode.” I quivered with a bit of nervousness. Cadenza, or in the case of being friendly, Cadence flew up to an appropriate spot and hovered there, smiling at me. “I’m supposed to jump off this ledge, grab onto you and you’re going to swing me? Am I getting this right?” Its at least what I gathered. Seems right, but sketchyyy… … like etch-a-sketch kinda sketchy. What if she isn’t strong enough? Well, I guess only one way to find out. Being of such young age, 18 I think, I didn’t think much of the consequences at all. It was at a time in my life where every young adult thinks they’re invincible, an illogical approach to which only life and experience can remedy. “Alright, get ready. On 3.” She nodded to me as I began to count: “1.” “2.” I inhaled sharply and took a back stance and looked at her onec more and nodded. “3!” I began to run a tad and jumped, my body freely floating through the air to her as I reached out, firmly grabbing her by her forehooves. She fluttered for a second and swung me, beginning to fall quickly from the sudden weight and shift of downward force. I was essentially “thrown” to the platform and hit the ground on my legs, tumbling and slamming into the wall next to the opening on the cliffside. I quickly regaing my composure after a mere half-second of nausea to see Cadence falling quite quickly, only slowed partially by her futile flapping from her wings. I ran to the edge and threw my hand out, being met with a single hoof and being drug down to the cliffside, as she slamming into it, bringing me face to face with the edge on my belly, my arms draping over the edge as I struggled to fight a win out of this. “Cadence! Are you alright!” “Y-Yeah, I had a cramp. I-I think I’m okay-” She began before some rocks she was shuffling on gave way and I was stuck with the weight of her body on my arms alone. “I-I’m not okay, help me! I-I’m slipping!” My grip on her tightened; I was not about to let this mare die. Not if I could help it. Unfortunately I was not able to pull her up on my own strength. “Cadence! Is there anything you can spring off of?” “No!” She whined. “Please, James! Don’t let me go!” She begged as I began to growl. “Wenn es etwas gibt, vor dem du dich fürchten solltest, ist es ein wütender Deutscher!” I growled out to seemingly the world as my arms quivered, my last bit of adrenaline going straight to my arms… … and what felt like a wave of strenght from my heart. With a swift movement I drug her up and almost threw her onto the cliffside and stood up quickly, completing the movement. “Ich wollte dich nicht verlieren.” I looked at her and smirked. “W-What?” She blinked twice at my phrase. “I was not about to lose you… come to think of it...” I began to think, my gaze moving to the floor, “… how the hell did I do that?” “I was going to ask the same thing… are you okay?” “I guess it was one of those German things. I dunno. And yeah, I-I’m fine.” For the most part… why is my hair wet? I felt the right side of my head to find blood, quite a bit of it. “Aiiyy!”I screeched at the sight of so much blood from me. “W-What’s wro- Oh my goodness!” She held her hoofs over her mouth in shock. I shook my head and looked at her confidently. “I-I think I’m okay… for right now. At this point I’ve got so much adrenaline in my body that I won’t feel it for a while… but, good news.” I motioned to the large doors which had only now been in view. “We made it, Cadence! We did it!” I hugged her, us both jumping for joy as the door lay not 10 feet from us. “We did! We did! Hooray!” She smiled and pulled away from me for a moment, eyeing my lips for a briefest moment before planting a swift kiss on my lips and hugging me with strenght renewed. She stopped and then recoiled a bit in my eyes, looking into my eyes, shocked at her own actions. I closed the gap and returned the kiss with my own, earning a slight moan from us both as we shut our eyes and the world out with it. After a few moments she and I both recoiled and pushed each other away and stared at the ground, jaws hanging open. It took us a few moments to look eye to eye again after such an act. Aw, grosssssss! I just kissed her? Yuck… … It did feel kind of good. But think about the wedding! You can’t interfere with that… not with what’s at stake. Remember my dude, you know the future… kind of. “What did we just do?” I asked her, dumbfounded. “I-I don’t know… I-I guess it was just the heat of the moment, getting out-” “Y-yeah, we didn’t really mean it, I mean, after all you do have the wedding to attend to.” She looked down and muttered a “yes” quietly, as if she wasn’t excited. As if something happened to make her lose the will to go on with that. “Y-Yeah, I do.” She reluctantly looked into my eyes, something lost within hers from our brief exchange. Its as if a light was suddenly hidden or extinguished. I don’t know what I saw, honestly. I’m probably just as confused as her. … or am I? End of Chapter II Author's Note Well there we have it, me lads. It was really fun to write this one at the end, where James makes his jump. I really enjoyed writing that. Thanks for reading the second chapter. Seeya soon! -Joss10
We made it!Hello my friends! Yes, I’ll admit, it did take a while to get this chapter out. I just didn’t have a lot of time on my hands; life and all. I hope you like it! Chapter III “I kinda like how these stairs are built.” I dryly noted as Cadence nodded. “Ironically, for a dank cave for mining, yes I’d agree.” I silently acknowledged, looking up and seeing bits and pieces of the stair length. “How far up does this place go?” I asked, exasperated. I was afraid of what I’d hear, as I assumed they were… a long set of stairs. “Well… if memory serves me right, I’d say we have about… well, a long time before he reach the castle.” I deadpanned at the princess only to be told she was sorry. Swell. Really swell. This is just great. I make it out just to kill myself on these stairs. “Remind me to castrate myself when I get to the top of the stairs.” I mentioned emotionlessly. Cadence shot me a look of worry and shock with a bit of embarassment as I blushed myself, realizing my company. “Sorry, just some weird things I say.” It took us a while before we needed to take a break, clearly still running off of straight up hope. Making it back wouldn’t be an issue; doing it quickly would. “Hey, how’s your magic?” “Its doing somewhat better. I… let me see...” Her horn lit up and a small cup appeared in her outstretched hoof to me. “Water? This is for me?” “Yes. That’s all I can do for now, but… it should help.” She smiled at me. I grabbed the cup and drank quickly, savoring the cool water as it ran down my parched throat. I stared down inside the cup in despair as I realized that was all. “That was the best cup of water I’ve had in a long time.” I shook my head and looked up at Cadence. “Thanks. Like, I mean it. That was good. Real good.” I gave two thumbs up, to her confusion. “What does that mean?” “What, what I do with my thumbs?” I motioned to them. “Yes, what does that mean?” “Well its basically a way of acknowlegding something that is good or we like it… how much do you know about humans? I’m asking because you didn’t seem that surprised when we met.” I asked, wondering if she knew more than she let on. But if my knowledge was correct, humans never were featured in the show, except for Equestria Girls. Hmm… “Well, I know that they exist… that’s really as far as it goes.” “Yeah, I’d expect as much, considering that you guys have the mirror.” I agreed, earning a look of confusion from my pink pony friend. “How do you know about that? That information is strictly between royals.” “Weeeellll… I know a lot about you guys.” “You said you’ve never been here before, and that to you we don’t exist.” “I guess considering my situation, I should say that you ponies shouldn’t exist. As for never being here, yeah, you’re right… I just know some stuff, thats all.” I shrugged and smirked at her. It was this kind of conversation which made the trip albeit much quicker but did not make the trip any less difficult. Near the end, was by all intents and purposes, hell for my legs. My wound was not making it any easier. In fact, my wound has made this journey considerably worse. Screw this stupid pain. As I thought of that, other things caught my attention. Mainly Cadence. I wondered how she was doing after all of this... POV: Cadence After hearing about his knowledge of the mirror, I began to wonder what else he had hidden in his mind. Humans were undoubtedly smart, but he seemed to be one of the smarter ones of his species. There was just this aura around him which stated “I’m different”. I could feel it; it wasn’t a feeling I could describe accurately. “Hey Cadence, think we’ll have a shot at stopping the wedding before it comes through?” He asked me, a look of uncertainty he gave. I had no idea whether I’d make it in time. For all I know, the wedding is over and Shining is… Oh Shining. “I-I don’t know… I just hope Shining is okay.” Worriedly, I responded after a few moments to myself. “Yeah… If its any consolation, the wedding looks great and- oops.” He shook his head and looked down. How did he know what it looked like? What’s going on? “James, you’re not telling me something. How do you know what it looks like?” I demanded, fustrated as his knowledge of what should be unknown. “Same reason I know that Chrysalis was behind this. That the Changelings wanted to use this wedding to plan an attack. As for why they tried to now, well, that’s a bit complicated. I know these things; I’d love it if you didn’t ask me how I knew. I can’t tell you.” He glared at me seriously, giving me a feeling that I’d better back off on this one. “I’ll let you know of anything that may come to harm you. That, you’ll never have to worry about.” He pointed at me in reasurrance. “I’m going to level with you, Cadence. I know a lot of things about Equestria. A lot.” He deadpanned at me. “And you won’t tell me anything.” I stated flatly. “Yes. Not because I don’t want to; but because I just can’t. Okay? You trust me enough to accept that, right?” “… I guess I have no choice.” I shrugged and rolled my eyes. “… Damn. I’m really sorry. I know that must be fustrating. Just… I’ll explain before I leave and get back to my world; I don’t want to ruin anything by being here. You know?” “… Not really.” “In essence, the less I interact with things, the easier it will be for me to get back… I think.” “Ah, I see.” “Yeah, that sounded a lot better in my head than out loud. Logically, it makes sense if you knew what I know… but enough of that. Where- Whaaa!” He yelped as part of the stair gave way and he was sent falling through, his decent stopped only because grabbed onto the rest of the stairs before careening straight through. “James!” I rushed to him and grabbed his arms, pulling hard until he was back standing on his own. He stared at the hole and grumbled to himself. “I really hate those kinds of surprises.” He glared daggers into nowhere as he motioned for us to move on. Looking at James, I noticed he wasn’t doing so well. In fact, he was doing quite poorly. He hid his condition very well, but I knew better. A few minutes later I had enough of worrying and decided to ask him: “How are you holding up, James? You alright?” “Yeah, doing alright. Just-” He began, turning into a coughing fit that came on quite strong and caught us both by surprise. He wasn’t doing well at all, as he collapsed to the ground and slammed his fist into the stone stairs. “I wish I could get you something, but my magic its-” He began to nod and wave me off, letting me know he knew. “Its… alright. I’m a bit nauseous now, could you help me up?” He asked, as I silently helped him to his… hooves? I wasn’t sure what to call them. His way of expressing things was interesting. It was very, formal yet casual without jargon. It was refreshing to meet somepony who was sofisticated but kind and casual, somepony who was honest with how they acted, not like the royals I’ve had to deal with. It was… He was nice to be around. Not something I’m used to… Its sad he isn’t native here, he’s really- Cadence, no! You can’t think of him like that! You’re to be married to Shining as soon as possible, how can you think of something like that? He’s really cute… Something about him just gets me. “Cadence? You there?” He asked me, waving softly to get my attention. “Hm?” “You were kinda lost there. I wanted to thank you for helping me… I just think you deserve to know how I feel.” He flashed a warm, very cute smile to me, giving me something to think about. “I mean you’re really, super nice. Talking with you has been so much fun. Meeting you has made this ugly journey worth it. I-I would definitely go through this again if it meant you.” He blushed, embarassed to be so honest. “And you’re really beautiful, Cadence. Shining is a lucky pony.” He smirked and looked down with some longing, breaking my heart as his words struck me hard. Shining has said a few things like that but he was more of a jock in our perspective… James was a warm, sensetive being with a strong heart. At least, that’s what I thought… I didn’t really know much about him… which gave me a wanting to know him. I’m not sure why… its just there. After a long while of traveling these spiral stairs, we came to a set of two large, and I say what I mean when I say large doors. I saw something spark within James as he rushed to them, feeling the door as if it was his ticket to sanity. Maybe it was. “I-Is this the way out!?” He strained, his eyes pleading for an answer as I nodded. “Yes. But, these doors are… well, they can be only opened with magic. Us ponies are simply not strong enough to do it physically. He smirked at the door and then at me. “Well, lets give a try, shall we?” He grabbed onto the handle and began to pull, the door not budging at all. I giggled quite a bit at his pouting after he stopped. “If its worth doing, its worth OVER DOING!” He grumbled loudly, the door moving a slight bit, even against what I thought was possible. My jaw hung open when I realized this, only to find that he was able to open the doors, something that us ponies would find impossible. “Just how strong are you?” I asked him, a question clearly meant for his race but I found myself questioning him directly. “I’m… sort of strong. Bulky, but not as strong as you might think.” He shrugged. “Do you know how hard getting that open is for us ponies? It takes at least 3 ponies per side, and we can barely manage it!” He blushed, scoffing at himself, “No, no, I’m not that strong.” He chuckled nervously. Whether you think so or not, that was pretty amazing. He looked ahead at the small opening he made with the doors, walking through. I was met with the very same blue and pink interior of the castle walls, making me feel at home. The floors, made of polished marble, showing hoofwork of colors and artwork. James stared at his enviroment and was speechless at the display. “Woah… this place is… holy shit this is amazing.” He forced out, obviously unsure of what to say. He walked around the corner lazily, being met by voices as I followed about a yard behind. “W-Who are you? What are you doing here?” “Uhh, I-” “Get him!” I heard as I rounded the corner, two crystal guards on James as he was struggling on the ground, to my horror, a guard had him by the throat. “STOP!” I screamed at them, rushing to James’ aid as the guards shrieked and jumped off my friend quickly. “James! Are you alright?” “Y-Yeah. I’m fine.” He looked at the guards. “Next time? Just listen to what I have to say.” “H-He talks?” One asked the other. “Yes, he does. He’s my friend.” I answered for him. It was at this point when one of the guards asked me a good question. “Princess?! W-What are you doing here? I thought you were attending your wedding?” He asked, shocked at my presence. My heart dropped like lead in my chest, as I realized I may have been too late. Too late to make things right. “Wait, her wedding is going on right now?” James asked. “… Y-yes it is.” The guard on the left replied to him, making James spin to face me. Putting his hands on my shoulders, he looked into my eyes with a look of reasurrance, “Cadence, we’ve made it this far. Don’t give up now, that’s a fool’s folly. You got this.” He smirked and pet my head a few times, giving me that boost of confidence I need. “Lets go put on a wedding these ponies aren’t likely to forget.” He smirked and rushed forwards with me to stop the wedding before going through. Oh Shining Armor… I’ll be there very soon. Author's Note Well there ya go. This took a while (and it is a bit smaller in length) because I was sick and I’m still getting over it. Hopefull you like it! Seeya in the next chapter! -Joss10
You're kidding, right?Chapter IV James, albeit confused, looked around for any sign of where the wedding was located. Guards consistently told him, who were shocked to see me and him, but through the excitement I guess he got carried away. I was by his side the entire time, he’d need the help if he was going to stop this whole thing from going through. I’d need the help, too. Oh my stars I hope Shining is okay. “Cadence. Cadence!” He quickly called me, holding up a hand to stop me. “What-” “Shh! Listen!” He motioned towards the sounds of… … the wedding! “That has to be the wedding! I hope you know where you’re going, Princess!” I heard as I bolted past him, leaving him momentarily behind as the bipedal human stayed with me, even wounded. How are you still holding up? The pain James was experiencing must’ve been excruciating. It was more noticeable now, he wasn’t able to hide it any longer. It broke my heart to cause him so much pain, to force him to run, rather get him to a hospital. But if he was anything like me, he was determined. I noticed that right off with him. Once he sets his mind on something, he doesn’t want to let go. Very similar to me; once I met Shining, well, I refused to let go. And I’ll be damned to think I’m going to give him away to some filthy bug! “James! This way!” I called to him as we came upon a set of two doors, 4 guards on each side accompanying them. James and the guards had a bit of a staring contest, but we had to time for delays. “Guards! Open this door immediately!” I commanded as the contest between the guards and James came to the abrupt halt. Their faces told me exactly what was on their minds. “A-Aren’t you supposed to be in there, Princess?” “She is in there, Storm, what kind of a question-” “No, you idiots! This is the princess! The one in there is a fake: an imposter!” He waved his arms frantically, forcing them to eventually give in, save for the leader. “How do we know you aren’t the imposter waiting to ruin the wedding?” “Because Changlings can do shit like that.” James deadpanned at the guard, making his eyes go wide at this knowledge. They proceeded to open the doors, although it was painfully slow. Slow enough to make James assist one of the doors being opened before looking towards the scene. My wedding was beautiful. The royals, the decorations, my friends, Twilight and her friends… they were all there. I couldn’t believe how much time and effort my friends made to make the wedding look awe-inspiring. Truly, they were my friends. “Who the hay are you?!” A citizen asked as James looked around wearily, eyeing the ponies closely before looking up to the altar. “Princess?!” Twilight trotted up to me as I smiled, knowing my best friend was here to help. “Lo and behold I present to you, two Princess figures.” James said while he walked up to the altar, only now I can see what was there. There was Shining Armor… my love. He looked so desirable, so lovely… and there she was. The imposter. He looked at Shining and briefly nodded to him as all here were very surprised. My guess is that shock had not set in yet. “G-Get away from my fiance, you monster!” Shining pushed him down the altar, forcing James to hit the ground on his back, causing him to reel in pain. I looked at the imposter, the Changling who was me, and noticed the grin she had. We locked gazes with each other, knowing full well what was about to go down here. I looked to see James standing back up, holding out a hand to my fiance. “Hold on a sec my dude, I ain’t here to hurt you…” He wheezed while walking up the stairs and looking helpless, “… I’m just here to hurt your LADY FRIEND!” He finished, giving a swift kick after turning around, impacting the other me and forcing her to the ground a few feet away. 2 guards jumped onto James but he fought them away quickly, as I ran over to my husband, his eyes a deeply bright green instead of the normal blue, I knew something was wrong. A spell, perhaps? I’ve not done much research on these Changlings. I looked around to noticed quickly that Celestia and Luna, were onto my friend’s games. James was pinned quickly by two more guards and even my auntie’s were involved with restraining him. “Celestia, no! Don’t hurt him!” I rushed to his side before a wave of green energy sent us all to the ground, except James. “Get back, princess!” A guard addressed me as I ignored the request, I’ll have none of that. James faced what was the imposter all along. A black, bug-like pony with holes in her body, a sickly green seeweed-like tail and wings of the same stature. She was… horrifying. She quickly transformed into what looked like another human, possibly female, one with black hair and green eyes, and walked softly towards James. Shapeshifting?! Oh hay I’d forgotten they had those powers! She poised a hand to his face and began to release some kind of green energy through her hands into him, causing his body to glow green. Shining slumped to the ground, tended to by Twilight and Luna, as Celestia approached me quickly. “An attack? How?” She asked. “Beats me.” I said as I couldn’t help but stare at the situation, fear gripping me as James looked helpless. “James!” I began to rush to him, behind held back by Celestia. “Stop! I’ve seen this before, you cannot help him now, if you stop what is in motion, you may very well kill him. “No!” I cried out as my heart sank to the bottom of my chest, knowing James was in pain and I couldn’t help. My worst fears were then confirmed… with a mix of surprise. I saw James beging to caress her face, giving her a look of pleasure as he gripped both his hands on her head and smiled evily. “Yes, yes! You’re all mine now, ahh… this should be- guah!” James slammed her head into the wall and broke solid granite with the force of what seemed to be impossible. “What the...” Celestia murmured under her breath as Luna and Twilight came to my side. “He’s doing alright, Cadence.” Twilight said, earning no response from me as ponies were being evacuated, almost instantly being replaced by a Changling army, which swept in swiftly. James turned his back on the Changling which was scrambling to its feet. The look he gave me would come to haunt me for a long time. His eyes were a solid black mass, showing no light but the green light from around his eyes, as the grin he showed was borderline demonic. “James!” I rushed to him and hugged him tightly, hoping anything would help him at this point, desperate to save my friend which gave me a second shot at making my dream come true. “Cadey!” The voice of my love called to me as I looked into James’ eyes, his strength doubling as he tried to push me away. He squinted, trying not to look at me as if I was a threat. Even at this point the Changling stood in horror at the monster she’d created. When my gaze met with James, he stopped struggling and only looked at me, confused. “L… Love? Friend… ship?” He spoke, his voice raspy and dark, much like his appearance, frightening me. “Its me, Cadence! Don’t you know who I am?” I begged as he looked around, eyeing everypony suspicously, until he locked eyes with the true form of Chrysalis. She eyed him in horror as he threw me off of him. I stumbled but remained on my hooves as he grabbed the nearest Changling by the neck and growled at him, making the smaller pony tremble in fear; its ears dropping as it tried not to lock eyes. James growled down at it insessantly before what looked like he smelled it, stopping his glare. The Changling looked up at him, its ears perking back up as I saw what even Chrysalis thought was odd: He slowly put it down and pat its head. “Its a-al… right. D-Do not… be afraid, drone.” He spoke softly as the rest of the Changlings stopped and looked at the scene, even some ponies stopping to see this. The interaction between two completely different species, bound together by some unknown force, was… well to say the least, it was beautiful. He put the Changling down slowly and looked at Chrysalis, pointing at her. “Prepare for unforseen consequences.” He growled before collapsing to the ground, the Changlings being slowly outnumbered as the fight outside the wedding took place. Chrysalis and her “drones” as James had said, flew off quickly, leaving the place a wreck. I rushed to the side of my friend as he could barely keep himself concious. “James!” I pleaded silently to the gods to keep him with me. His eyes returned to normal and he looked at me weakly. “W-What the hell… what the hell happened?” He groaned weakly as Twilight rushed over to him, becoming a full on scientist. “Are you alright? How do you feel? What is the last thing you remember? Are you-” I stopped her as she could barely contain herself. “I-I… I think I’m going to go to sleep now...” He nodded off and passed out in my hooves. “If you don’t mind me stating the obvious, what the buck was that?” Luna asked asked we all looked at her. “Your guess is as good as mine… Cadence, are you alright?” Celestia responded before addressing me with a stern look. “You’re going to have to have a lot of explaining to do… but for now, what happened?” She asked. “I… was put under and stuck down in the crystal mine for several days without help… until he arrived,” I motioned to him in my hooves, “He somehow was stuck down there as well and through finding him… he saved my life. Without him, I would’ve never gotten out. You need to make sure he’s okay!” I explained. I couldn’t help but cry for him as he looked so weak in my arms, so helpless. “Princess, we are prepared to take the human to the Canterlot Hospital, if you wish.” A guard said. I noticed it was my personal guard and I smiled at this. “Yes, Braveheart, by all means.” He nodded as they stuck him on a gurney and rushed him away. “Cadence!” Shining Armor called to me as I met him with open arms, embracing him tightly. This was a blessed moment for me. I began to cry, making quick work on making his suit messy and wet. “I-I thought I’d never see you again… I love you.” I spoke softly into his ear. He held me close, as if he was never going to let go. And I was fine with that. “Sister, I am going to get started on damage control and need your help. Twilight, go and tend to the creature at the hospital and lend any assitance. Cadence… just rest.” Luna began to direct ponies around. “No! I need to make sure James is alright!” I protested heavily, letting my love go and looked at my aunts. “Its not safe, Cadey! I’ve never seen something like that and I’ll be damned if I lose you again.” Shining stated strongly. “He saved my life and my dream! My dream of marrying you! If you care about that at all you’ll let me see him!” I cried out as he looked down and nodded. “Alright. Twily, take care of her. Don’t let anything happen or else.” He glared at his little sister, making her gulp audibly. “I-I will! D-Don’t worry ab-bout that!” She gave a fake smile as if nothing could go wrong. I turned to the direction of the hospital and looked to Twilight to follow. “Come on now, I’ve got to make sure my friend is alright.” … … Eugh. My head… holy bajeebs. That is one massive headache. I listened to the sound of a hospital. The PA system, the beep of my heartbeat on a monitor, and the feeling of utter pain combined with needles in my skin. I hate needles. I opened my eyes, letting my eyes readjust to the focus of the surrounding area. I looked around to see a pony sitting in a chair next to me, her attention focused on the monitor. Hey, its Twilight! This made me happy, I knew she was a reliable pony. “H-hey...” I croaked out as she looked my way quickly. “Oh my gosh you’re awake! How are you feeling?” She smiled at me softly. “Well, I feel like crap. But thanks for asking… could I have some water?” I asked as she levitated some over to me and helped me drink some down. Ha! All those stories I read about some poor sap literally dying from no water… not me! “Many thanks, Twilight. Seriously.” I smiled and chuckled, only to be met with pain from doing so. “You’re welcome… W-Wait how do you know my name?!” She panicked as I raised an eyebrow. “I know all the names of the ponies in the show- I-I mean I know all of the names of you guys- I mean… oh boy what do I mean.” I looked down at my hands as I sat up slowly, trying to swallow my pain. “Huh?” She squinted in confusion. “I know your name, for one. You’re pretty famous, being Celestia’s prized pupil.” I smiled as she blushed and looked away. Good save, James. I looked around and silently took in my surroundings as I wondered how Cadence was doing. “Hey where’s Cadence?” “Oh she’ll be here soon, she had to leave for some business… she’s been staying here daily with you… she must really like you.” She admitted, forcing a blush out of me as I chuckled nervously. She is really hot. And like, the princess of love? Holy damn would I like to get her alone. “W-Well...” I stammered as then stopped to think. How long have I been here? She mentioned something about being here daily? “How long have I been out?” “Uhh well… about two weeks.” She said as my jaw dropped. That info hit me like a brick at high speed. “Did I miss the wedding?” I groaned, wanting to see that. “No, Cadence decided against it. Something about some mixed feelings or such.” Odd. Normally she’d be all to happy to marry him… did my being here affect something or is she just a bit shook up? The door swung open softly, grabbing my attention as that familiar pink alicorn came into the room, looking at the ground in depression. “Hey, Cadence! I’m alive!” I chuckled a bit as I let known my state of being. She looked up sharply, her eyes growing wide as she looked straight at me. She froze for a moment, as I knew she was just processing the fact that I’d woken up. “James!” She jumped onto the bed and hugged me, Twilight giggling as I stared at the ceiling in horror of the pain I was experiencing. “Ahahahhh!” I wheezed as Cadence squeezed me tight enough to make me feel like I was going to be crushed. Jeez she is strong. “Ca-Cadence… As much as I really enjoy this, I-I’m in a lot of pain.” I spoke through labored breathing as she realized and quickly jumped off of me. “I-I’m sorry, James.” She apologized without hesitation, looking down and welling up with tears. Something is definitely bothering her. “Hey it wasn’t that bad. Don’t cry!” I smiled as she looked up at me, tears rolling down her face, a mix of pure joy and overwhelming emotion. Twilight stood in the back and watched from afar, this, I realized. “When are you going to get the wedding underway? Without the attack, of course.” I chuckled, causing her to shut her eyes and merely stand here and cry. Great going, asshole. “L-Look, I-I’m sorry, maybe that wasn’t-” “No, it-its not that… I-I… called off the wedding.” She smiled as she grabbed my hand with her hoof and caressed it. “Oh. Well, whenever is most convenient is good… but why?” I smiled back. “I-I called it off because I don’t want to get married to Shining Armor anymore.” She looked into my eyes and hovered ever closer, her tears now beginning to drip onto my bare chest. “W-Why? He’s a great guy! You should! You deserve him.” I leveled with her. James I really don’t think she means what you think. You know what I mean, right? I thought to myself as I began to realize. My heart began to pound in my chest hard, and I began to stutter. “I-I-I do-don’t get it. A-At all.” I lied. I began to put two and two together. She blushed hard, being this close to me and told me something that stopped my own heart. “...because I’m in love with you.” Author's Note Well there we have it. Strange turn of events, eh? You may have been expecting that later but noooope. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, it was fun to write. Seeya in the next one! -Joss10 Also, if you get the reference, props to you.
Why I am; what I am.Enjoy! Chapter V … honestly I couldn’t believe my ears. She what?! No, no. No no no. I don’t think so. Maybe she’s playing some monumental joke… No that’s not it either. That doesn’t fit her character. Luna, maybe. Cadence? Not really. James you’re an idiot if you didn’t see this coming. Not that quick, though! I figured she’d take it easy before something like that! “Huh?! Wait wait wait, hold on a second Cadence, you what?!” Twilight asked from a few feet away and behind Cadence. Cadence caressed my hand and cheek, her gaze never leaving mine. She had the most loving face, one that radiated caring, warm feelings. So much so that even I felt it and was enamored, flattered and what seemed like a bit lovesick. Truly she is the princess of love. If anything I was feeling, this proves it. “Do you love me, James?” She asked, speaking in tones that made me feel loved, made me feel wanted. And left me wanting more of that. Something about her made me feel… addicted to her. Like I couldn’t wait for more of her love. I was both confused and left with a longing. “… I-I don’t know. I-I’ve never really… felt like this before.” I looked down at the hoof which was caressing my hand. She was not phased by this answer, this I could tell. At this I realized something that scared me quite much. I was a social engineer, I could feel people and almost read minds from looks or gestures people gave me… I can tell that Luna was crushing on me when I first met her. Celestia was more worried about the wedding and didn’t care about those things. Cadence, on the other hand, I couldn’t place a finger on her or how she feels, or what she might be feeling. She was better than me at something I’d built my whole character on. I was a people person, sure. But I was nothing like this. I was a bit scared. I was better than everyone I knew, but not her. “When you came to this hospital, they said you wouldn’t have much time to live considering the wound you had and your condition… fortunately, whatever Chrysalis did, put you in a coma and… you’re better now.” She smiled, leaning forward and kissing my cheek before chuckling softly and smiling. Her smile was innocent but her eyes said something different. She wanted me, and not just me, but my body. If Twilight wasn’t here, I’m not sure what she’d do to me. It is easy to spot something like that; what Cadence was doing was noticable. “I waited for you each day. Seems like such a long time, doesn’t it?” “Miss Cadenza,” I began, wanting to remain a bit more professional, “Why are you acting like this?” “I concur.” Twilight agreed. “First of all, do not EVER call me that again!” She barked loudly at me, causing me to wince, her face contorting to something grim and evil. It quickly returned to its normal, sultry look. Jesus this mare is… scary. Yeah, best I can do right now. Bipolar is more like it, James. Shut up, you’re not helping. “Secondly… I…” Looking up and smiling at me, as if she knew my heart was fragline, which it was, she walked over to me and smiled, trembling a fair bit, “I couldn’t help but feel your heart’s emotions towards me. You really do love me, don’t you? Don’t lie, I can feel it.” She smiled wider as I blushed heavily to her admission. It was true. I realy kinda did love her. She was a heavy romaticist like I was, and she was perky and cute and really beautiful… which further reinforced her knowledge of how I feel. She must’ve felt what I was feeling towards her because she exhaled as if she was hit with something shocking. “My word, James, you’re heart… its so beautiful.” She shed a tear as I could only remain silent. I wasn’t sure what to do… I could try and fake my feelings. I could try and feign having no feelings for her? How would I explain- “Don’t try to hide it, James… I know how you truly feel.” She leaned it and kissed me softly, holding her supple lips there. I couldn’t help but lean just a tad forwards to taste her lips, taking them in slowly. Twilight, at this point was shocked. Speechless. I didn’t think there was a single thing she could find to say. Although to say the least, she was both confused and upset. I’d imagine it was both because she didn’t understand Cadence’s motives and because her brother was her fiance. I was as much in the dark as herself. Cadence lingered on my lips even after she broke away as I looked down at my hands and stared at them, thinking intently. At the point of doing this, I broke contact with the would around me and began to think. Okay lets just recap: you saved the pink horse and intercepted the Changling attack. The wedding had to be called off and when the attack was over you had to go to the hospital. From there, you were in a coma, I guess. Some time between then and now, Cadence developed some serious feelings for you. The question is: Why? And secondly: How? She didn’t love me until now, she didn’t know me in the caves… unless… Let me guess, she did a mind probe. Or something. But that still wouldn’t make any head way on why she loves me? True but maybe… maybe she loved you from the start? That would make sense. If she did, she sure gave me a run for my money; I didn’t catch it at all. She is the princess of love, y’know. Yeah… “What in the world happened between then and now, Cadence?” Twilight asked, the both of them at the end of my bed, obviously flustered at Cadence and vice versa. “What do you mean?” She quipped innocently. “What do I-What do you think I mean? What the hay has been going on?!” Twilight raised her voice in an attempt to maybe shout some sense into the mare. Good idea, though it didn’t seem to be working. Cadence blushed midly and giggled nervously when confronted by her best friend, holding back most of her emotions to save some face. “Wellll… you know.” She smirked and subtly motioned to me. I couldn’t stand sitting here much longer… … er, or was it I couldn’t sit, standing here much longer? Y’know, cause I was sitting down? Never mind. I shuffled my legs to the side of the bed silently, perhaps to see if I could stand up on my own. I felt pretty good. I looked to the chair next to the machine attached to the bed and saw the bag of my clothes. I put the bag in my lap and sat down, watching the two ponies in front try and talk sense into each other. It was quite entertaining to watch, really. I merely smiled at the sight, slowly putting my clothes on, the jeans and black t-shirt I had on when I got here, along with my shoes and socks… strangely enough they were all patched up. Oh… well, that was nice of them, whoever did that. I noted to myself as I removed the medical gown and donned my normal attire. I motioned to throw the bag away, but noticed something heavy but small was down in the bottom of it, staring up at me. It was a small black object, about 5 inches long and almost 3 inches wide. It was shiny, and really thin. Hold on a second, holy shit it that what I think it is? MY PHONE! “Say whaaaaat!?” I chuckled in disbelief as I grabbed it and held it up and pressed the power button, being met with my old wallpaper and such. This was great, I was elated as all hell. Yeah someone just confessed their undying love to you and you’re excited about a phone, really James? Fuck you too, if you were in my position you’d feel the same. You’re just jealous. “Oh my, James, I didn’t even see you there. Guess we were too busy talking… how’re you feeling?” Cadence walked over to me, a smile on her face melting into a warmly caring look, laced with seriousness and genuine concern for me. “Yeah, are you sure you can walk, James?” Twilight walked to her side and looked me over. “I think I’m fine, really. Thanks you two.” I said, trying not to make eye contact with Cadence. This was too much for me to take in at one moment with her. Ohhh so that’s why you’re so excited about your phone! You’re a lil’ bitch and you can’t confront her! No it’s not! I was really happy to see that again! Next time you pay a few limbs worth of money for something you’ll understand… Suuuuuure… I stood up and stretched, receiving a welcomed popping sound from my back and neck. I slumped in pleasure for the first moment and shook my head swiftly to clear my brain before looking at the ponies. I was considerably taller than all ponies I’ve met so far. Except for Celestia. Luna and Cadence are about the same height, but Celestia is about as tall as me. Cadence hugged me swiftly and gripped tightly around my chest and nuzzled deeply into it, receiving a yelp in surprise as I gripped her solely to remain on my own two feet. Twilight stared at Cadence in concern mixed with anger before looking up to me with the very same. I mouthed out the words ‘I don’t know either.’ to her. Rolling her eyes at me, I shook my head and pulled Cadence away from my chest and looked into her eyes, holding her hooves like a cat’s would, dangling down as she gave me the same big puppy eyes I’d expect. “Cadence. I want you to listen to me. What’s gotten into you?” The look I was giving her caused her to snap out of whatever love trance she was into. Thank the lord. “What do you mean?” I slapped my forhead at the same time as Twilight did, earning us both a small chuckle at that. For a moment, Twilight was distracted from her usual thinking stare, but that quickly subsided as her eyes wandered to Cadence. The same lovesick look Cadence wore before had come back. I don’t know what’d gotten into all this. I had a thought, What if something was actually wrong with her? “Twilight, is there anything I need to know about what’s going on here?” “The only think you need to know is that I love you, James… right?” I looked into the pink alicorn’s eyes again and was met with the same soft muzzle and lips upon my own, softly begging entrance to my mouth as she began to suck on my lower lip to entice me. I pulled back slowly but surely and looked at her. It took her a few moments to register I was no longer there, the ecstasy of the moment too great even for her to handle correctly. “Okay, Cadence, you need to stop whatever the hell you’re doing and figure out what’s wrong. You don’t almost marry someone just to cheat on them with someone else and call off a wedding.” “I am not cheating on anypony! I have never cheated on anypony before! Don’t you dare say that!” Growling, she barred her teeth angrily at me. Twilight, for the most part, was silent. I could tell something was brewing in that smart brain of hers. As to what, well, that was as far as intuition from me goes in that respect. At the point of Cadence’s outrage, I was… well I was a bit scared. It was one thing to see her angry at someone else, but me? I was afraid for many reasons… mostly because I wasn’t sure she wasn’t going to make the choice to jump me for some ungodly reason. I sincerely hoped she wouldn’t. I walked over to the chair again and sat down, shooting a wonderous look at Cadence, unsure of how to proceed. “Twilight, is she in heat?” “Its possible.” “Hellooo? I’m right here?” “Twilight, get Celestia. I’m going to need her opinion on this. And, get Shining.” I motioned towards the door. Twilight nodded at this and with a flash of her horn, she disappeared out of the room. Then I was stuck alone with Cadence. Again. Great. Maybe this wasn’t such a great idea. Maybe if I just level with her? “Cadence...” “Hmm yesss?” Her voice sultry as she replied; sashaying over to me. “Come over here. Sit down.” I motioned to the chair next to me. I needed to get this sorted out. As much as I wanted to just go down on her, I don’t think that would be so wise. James you do realize its a horse, right? Its a pony, and yes. Why’re you so okay with going down on her? Pussy is pussy, my friend. Thats… not what I had in mind. Shut up and let me enjoy this. “Why is it,” I pressed the bridge of my nose, “that you love me? Don’t give me a bullshit reason, just tell me. And don’t get weird on me.” Cadence merely sighed with a dopey smile on her face, as if she was plastered. Probably was: on love, that is. I didn’t really know how ask the question without getting this all the time. What if you make her really mad? She seems to clear her head up when she’s angry. Hey that’s kind of like me! “Well, James, I…” “I felt your heart through the dreams Luna opened for me… You mean only good things for ponies, for your kind and mine. For your friends, even me. You’d put yourself at risk to help others, you’re willing to sacrifice.” “To make somepony happy. You care about us all. You care about me, the homeless pony on the street, ponies you know nothing of, even the ponies you don’t like. You have such a pure heart, its… its wondrously beautiful.” I noticed a single tear which fell as she was describing this to me, staring into nothing as she tried to remain composed. “I’m… not really that nice. Sure I like doing things for people but other than that I’m kind of an asshole-ish jerk.” I shrugged and chuckled to relieve the weight on my shoulders. In vain, that is. “But I can’t understand: you love me because I’m nice? That doesn’t really make any sense.” “You saved me, James… I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you, you know that. Though we talked for such a short time, I felt like I knew you much longer, I felt a hole inside me grow. A hole, I found out, could only be filled by you. For two weeks and five days I watched over you and entered your dreams with Luna, trying to bring you back. You were unreachable. We skimmed over your memories, as we were merely curious.” “We noticed the purity of your heart and how you only wanted good and the betterment of others. I… am not ashamed to say I fell in love with who you are as a pony-er… person.” Well this is just fucking great. “You’re kidding, right? Tell me you’re kidding. You fell in love with me as a person and off my memories but you’ve no idea who I really am. Look I want the best for you but not like this. Shining Armor has worked way to hard for your heart. I’m not about to waltz in on you two and steal you from him.” I stood up, walking over to the large window, noticing immediately when Celestia, Shining, and Twilight entered the room. My thoughts remained out in the world, floating around. I must’ve come during winter time. It’d be fun to play in that snow. Stop trying to avoid the subject, James. Turn around and face them. Do it. I casually turned my body around to look at the three of them. Each one had a different face: Celestia’s interest was obviously peaked, Twilight’s was focussed and Shining retained a mix of anger and confusion on his face. “Hello again, James. Do you remembe me?” Celestia addressed me cooly. “Of course, Princess. I do indeed.” I smiled briefly as Shining walked over to his fiance, speaking to her. “What’s going on, Cadey?” He asked as her gaze was firmly planted on me. “Celestia, you’ve got to help me. The sooner the better.” I pleaded to her while walking over. “How so? I was informed but Cadence seems to have made up her mind. “Yes exactly… in so many words, I’m not supposed to be here. Like, at all. I’m from another world, one without magic. One where everyone is a human and we roam the place, stuff like that. I need to get back to where I belong.” “How would we accomplish that? And as for not supposing to be here, what do you mean?” She inquired as I walked over to the other end of the room and looked into her eyes before inhaling. “Believe me when I say I know things.” “What things?” “I know… lots of things.” “Yes but how?” “I just do.” “James you must stop dodging the questions. Whatever you know, its not too horrid for a princess like me to handle.” She chuckled as I deadpanned. “I know the future and some other facts, too.” This invited another chuckle from her. “I know that your sister was once Nightmare Moon and she was banished for a 1000 years by you and the Elements. I know that Twilight was once your pupil and you sent her to Ponyville to learn about friendship. I knew about the Changling attack, about how Cadence came all the way from the Crystal Empire. I know about Twilight’s friends, about how your nephew, Blueblood, is a prick. About how much you love hearing from Twilight, her assistant is Spike, by the way. You and Luna love pranking each other, you love cake, she loves candy. And sometimes ice cream.” Her chuckle was long gone and replaced by a look of horror shock as I knew all of that. “I also know that you once fought Discord before you put him to stone. One day you’ll have to fight Tirek again. Do you believe me now?” Her nostrils flared up as she squinted her eyes at me, unsure of what to do. “H-How do you know this? In all my years, nopony has ever known the things you do… nor has ever looked like you.” “Because, as I said, I’m not from this world. I’m not supposed to be here… I need to reverse any affect I had on Cadence and I need it to happen quickly.” “Well, I suppose we could maybe send you through a magic portal, although it’d be tough to place you exactly where you left off.” “Thats fine, I can find my way. I just… Cadence is supposed to be married to Shining Armor. No ifs, no ands, no buts. This needs to happen.” “Well, I can’t guarantee it will happen soon. Something like this would take weeks to undergo. Are you prepared to stay for a while?” “… Yes. I am.” “Celestia, I’ve some news for you both.” Twilight as I turned to look at her. “Good news or bad news?” I countered. “Good news. Or, bad news, if you think of it that way, its-” “Please just tell me, I’m dyin’ over here.” I clasped my hands together and shook them. “Cadence is in her heat. Because she’s an Alicorn, it is much stronger and because her magic was imbalanced for such a time, she has become unstable. I recommend lots of sleep for her.” Oh thank heavens. “Hey. You.” A male voice addressed me. “Hello there.” “What did you do to her to make her love you so… feverously?” He asked, a bit confused, wanting answers. “As I was just explaining to them, she’s in heat, Shining. He didn’t do anything.” “Oh… Oh okay I see. Sweet! I-I mean…” He splayed his ears, not wanting to offend me or anything, obviously. “No man, she’s all yours. You earned her long before I came into play, you deserve her, and vice versa.” I smiled. Wow James that lie was so damn good it should go into the book of records, ya daft twat. Stop lying and face it: you love her. You just want to make her that slick whore of a cockholster, I know you want to. First of all, shut up. Secondly, ew. Thirdly, shut the hell up. I could only sense that Celestia saw right through my lie as she simply gave a motherly “Mhm.” to my statement and squinted. Oh dear. “As for me, I’m fine moving around now. I think I’ve recovered.” I smiled. “I’d love to record some data, if you’ll allow me.” Twilight asked as I nodded. “Fair enough, I’m game.” After that, we all departed the hospital and I was checked out. I looked outside and was greeted by many ponies, both friendly and not. I wasn’t sure how to go about doing things, it all seemed so alien to me in this world. Nothing was the same, at least, customarily. I wondered how my life would be here if I stayed. But I couldn’t stay here, right? Having second thoughts, James? “James?” A familiar voice called to me. “Hm? Ja?” “Could you… carry me? I’m quite tired and I don’t feel so well.” Cadence asked as I looked at Shining for clarification. He rolled his eyes and nodded, obviously annoyed. “Well, uhh… C-Can’t someone else carry you? I mean you guys have magic, right?” I chuckled nervously. No one said anything. I sighed softly and looked at her. All eyes were on me as I pet her behind the ears. “Ohh alright.” I smiled, picking her up and beginning to carry her like a cat. She wasn’t too heavy for me, at least, since I’ve begun working out back on Earth. The oddest thing, which was also the cutest, was that she wiggled her way into being cradled like a baby. I looked down to see her sleeping, nuzzled into my chest. Cute over 9000. “I don’t get it either, Shining.” I replied to his uncomfortable glare. “James, follow me. Bring her to the castle and I will make accomadations for you both. You can stay as long as you like, so long as you choose to remain.” “Well, that’s awful nice of you. Thanks, Princess.” “Address me as Celestia. I don’t mind it.” She smiled at me. Such a pretty names these princesses have. After making it to the castle (and being thoroughly blow off my feet), I found the room Cadence was going to be sleeping in, with help of course, and placed her down on the bed softly. Going through heat must’ve been what women experience with their periods, except much worse. Poor thing. I sat in the chair close to the nightstand in thought. I wasn’t sure what the next days would bring, but I was sure on a few things. Hopefully I can keep Cadence’s mind on Shining for a while… although it wouldn’t hurt to be her friend through all of this. “James?” I looked at Twilight who had come into the room without my noticing it. “Hm?” “Why don’t we get started on some of that data I was speaking about...” She motioned me out the door as I nodded. “Good idea. I need to clear my head.” Author's Note End of Chapter V Uhhh yeah this took way too long. Sorry for the long wait you guys. I know a lot of you wanted some explanation for the nuke I dropped on you guys last chapter, and there will be. No sense in telling you since that would spoil it. Hope you enjoyed and I’ll see you in the next chapter!
James is my name, being human is my game!Well, here we are. Time to explain some things (sort of). James can now tell others of who he is and such within reason. I hope you guys/gals like it. Enjoy! "That's a what?" Twilight asked me as I held up my phone and waved it, not a moment before explaining its existence. "That is my cellular phone. As for how it got here... I don't even know. I guess it may have stuck with me on my journey here but I thought I lost it for good." Twilight's horn lit a violet hue and what I could guess was an attempt to pick my phone out of my hand failed. She tried again, this time straining harder. The third and most futile attempt made me giggle. "Does that have some kind of anti-magic property?" She asked, growling a small amount. "Uhh, no." I smiled to her. My answer was all truth, I just left out the part where I was magic-proof. "So why can't I pick it up?" She clenched her teeth to attempt again. "Because I'm magic proof, you silly pony." I gave her a shit eating grin after her fourth, failed attempt. I was quite amusing to stand here and watch her struggle to perform the simplest of magic spells against me. "Uhh, well, at least I think I am." "Think you are what?" A familiar English-accented voice addressed me, causing me to look behind me. Celestia and Luna walked in, both with smiles on their face. Luna's was a bit... well, it gave me a slight cause for concern. She's crushing hard, isn't she? Truth be told I had feelings for her but ones that a kid gets to a high school crush: feelings that make you admit "it'll never happen". Yeah, I'm a bit confusing. Here I am with a pretty wo- mare crushing on me and I don't feel like going for it. I guess that could be explained by my habit of not wanting to take advantage of people. It just feels wrong. "Oh, James was just explaining to me that he's magic proof." Twilight smiled gleefully back to them. "I think." I finished for the purple mare. Celestia and Luna stopped before me, motioning me to sit down. Celestia's horn lit up and a tingling was felt in my legs as I instantly stood up with a slight jump in my step. Holy shit that was cool... awww I guess I'm not magic proof... oh well. "Wait, what? For real?!" I flipped mentally as I looked down at my legs and then to the princesses again. "How did you do that?" "Most creatures who think they're magic proof aren't actually; merely, they are so deficient in magic it makes most ponies unable to utilize their own against or on them." Celestia explained. "Yes, and seeing as how my sister was able to stand you up, it proves you are not. This means, obviously, from your world, magic is so devoid, practically nopony possesses any. Am I correct?" Luna spoke, raising an eyebrow to accompany her question. "Yeah basically. No one on earth has magic... well, wait a second. Maybe a very slight amount actually do." I agreed and admitted. Maybe that's why some cults and occults exist... that would explain ghosts and the likes of such. Perhaps that also explains psychics? "How... how would one accomplish raising the moon?" Luna's confusion shown through her face brightly. "Or the sun?" Celestia concurred, bringing me to smile. Ahhh yes... this world doesn't work like that... or does it? "Well," I began while straightening my posture, "The sun and moon are two different celestial bodies, obviously, but there are two main differences in them: The moon on my world is many times smaller than Earth and it revolves around it via gravity. In the same sense, the Earth revolves around the sun. We have no control over the moon or the sun. Fun fact: it takes 8 minutes for the light from the sun to reach the Earth." I was met with a diligently busy Twilight who was writing this down as quickly as her magic would allow. Celestia and Luna were both intrigued and horrified at my explanation of the laws in my world. Mostly horrified; lets be honest here. "I can answer a lot about these things, if you want me to." "Yes, by all means, we would love to hear you talk about it." Luna quickly grabbed my arm and wrapped her hoof around it in a dainty, feminine way. This pony... We then began to walk down the halls of the castle, my mind constantly being dragged away from the conversation to the architecture and style. Stunning, really. I've never cared much for architecture or art but this certainly opened my eyes to a who new world. But, there was something that was nagging me. Throughout the dialogue, there was this lingering thought in my mind that I had not the strength to address. I was hoping that it wasn't as bad as I thought it was, considering that Cadance was... not feeling herself. There was no way my presence here had changed her that much. "James? Jaaaames?" I heard a familiar voice address me as I shook my head to the noise and looked at Twilight. "W-Wha? What's up?" "You looked really busy in thought there... is there anything bothering you?" Luna asked. "Anything worth mentioning?" Her sister interjected. Twilight nodded and finished, "If there is something that is bothering you, you should talk about it.". I had about enough of this. Either they were painfully naive or they were trying to goad some kind of reaction out of me in light of recent events. "Okay okay, fine! Yeah, there is something bothering me. Its Princess Cadance. She's... I-I don't know how to describe it," I shrugged and looked down at the marble floor, "She's infatuated with me and I don't know why. Shining Armor has so much more to offer. Here in Equestria I'm just a guy who's lost. I don't have a single bit of money, no job, no reputation. Shining has all of that and more. I-I just don't get it." Furrowing my brows, I couldn't understand why. "I've lived a long time, James, and I can honestly tell you that I couldn't care less about the things that those I've loved did. Their accomplishments were astonishing or may have given them a certain attraction to them, but it was who they were that made me love them; that made me give my love to them." Celestia put her hoof on my shoulder and looked into her eyes. There was a light of truth and something else in those eyes. "Its been statistically proven that most ponies start a relationship because of the pony, rather than the career choice or fame or fortune." Twilight, the nerdy bookworm that she is, responded in a matter-of-fact tone that made me chuckle lightly at the serious comment. I'd be lying if I said that Earth was like that. "Yeah, in my world, there are a lot of people who just marry for fame and fortune. Gold diggers, is the proper term for them." I growled. "Which further reinforces the point that my sister made about why you love who you love." Luna batted her eyes softly at me and smiled. This mare was too much. Rolling my eyes, I chuckled and looked down bashfully. "Yeah, I guess... nice to know you three are smarter than the average bear on this." This comment earned me 3 distinctive looks of confusion before snapping onto something behind me. I didn't pay any attention to it until I began to hear the sound of slippers hitting the marble floor. The sound of armor did not accompany this sound and I deduced very quickly exactly who it was. Celestia, Luna, and Twilight merely tried to look happy and smiled to the pony behind me. My stare could've burned a hole through the marble floor as I steeled myself for her. Why must you always be angry about something? Because if I'm not angry then I don't know what I'll do. You do realize that she loves you, right? YES! Yes I do! Maybe you can fall in love with her but I can't. I don't think you understand the timeline's already been screwed up by my presence here. Since when has a timeline ever been a good excuse to stop love? Since when has it EVER been an excuse? "James?" A familiar voice that seems to melt my anger away. I turned around slowly and looked and Cadance in a friendly way, pretending all is well with me. I found her very close to me. "Hey, Princess! You feelin' better?" I quipped in a platonic and friendly way as she then smiled, trying to hide her pain with me. "Y-Yeah. I'm doing well. Thanks for taking care of me, James." She put her hoof on my arm and casually stroked it, finding that same curiosity in my body that she did before. God damn she was good. And I thought I was good at this... Not compared to her, you are. She's got literal god tier skill at this. We finally agree on something. "Well, I must be off to tend to my little ponies and their duties. Ta ta!" Celestia made a speedy exit as Luna nodded and silently walked with her. "And I'm expected to show up for a science convention in - oh hay! I'm already late! Seeya!" Twilight rushed off. She was almost as bad at lying as Applejack. Once again, I was alone. I turned back to look at Cadance, who was smiling warmly now that we were alone. She hugged me softly and nuzzled against my chest under my neck. "This is nice." She purred as I clenched my teeth and growled softly. She pulled away and looked at me, my teeth barred. "Cadance. Stop it. I didn't save you just to have you to myself. Why are you doing this?" I glared heavily at her splayed ears and weakening expression. "Why am I doing what? Isn't this natural?" She argued back weakly. "Natural? Natural? Are you kidding me? I'm not even supposed to be here, you know that, right? I'm not supposed to exist, at least not in this world." Shrugging, I continued on, "You're not supposed-" "To what? I'm not supposed to what, James? Are you asking me not to feel? Are you asking me not to accept what I feel in my heart?" Her anger spoke clearly through her harsh tone. I felt like an asshole. I tried to explain, "No, what I meant was-" "That we're not meant to be or some bucking crap like that. Of course, of course. I should've known. You're just like everypony else. Be who you want to be, James. Perhaps you're not capable of loving me." She waved me off and turned around to walk away. There are two - no, three things you don't do with me: Mess with my food, mess with my sleep, or god forbid, tell me I cannot do something that I know I can do. I was going to show this mare what's what. This is actually going better than expected. If you can get her to dislike or hate you, she'll marry Shining like it was supposed to be... Screw that. I'm done with this charade. I briskly began to walk after her, my gaze locked onto the back of her neck. Wait. James, what are you doing? James? JAMES?! "Cadance, hold on a second, let me explain." I held my hand up as she turned around with a sickening look, her eyes showing a look of glass as I saw a tear roll down her cheek, her fur darkening as it made its journey to the floor and into my heart. "Explain what, James? That you just won't take no for an answer? Do you want me to say I hate you, even after all that you did for me? If that's what you want to hear, you'd sooner find yourself dead than hear me say such a thing. Just leave me alone." She turned around again and resumed her walk. She turned around, giving me another chance to speak: "Cadance just let me explain-" Or so I thought. "No! Buck you and your stupid "obligations"! I don't care about those stupid, petty reasons of yours, and I refuse to be kicked in the rump for this any longer." She shook her head and more tears rolled down her eyes, her smaller frame shaking, "Just go back where you came from." I was quivering from fear and nervousness, my anxiety levels were reaching new levels I didn't think possible. I did the only think I could think about at the time. I approached her and pulled her tail sharply, yanking her back and then grabbing her mane to make her face me. "L-Let me go! Let me go right this instant or I'll-" I stopped her words with a soft but deeply intimate kiss on her lips, earning myself a soft and subtle moan from her throat. "If you would have let me explain... I would've told you that maybe I was willing to give it a shot. Not because I wasn't sure but at this point I would be passing up an opportunity of a lifetime... do you want the honest truth, Cadance?" She had no words but simply nodded in reply. "I was scared... scared that you wouldn't like me. I'm not a very nice guy on the inside most of the time. I have a very evil dark side that only lives off the suffering of others and to this day that is part of the reason I stay distant from people. I was afraid you get to know me and that part of me and realize that you didn't like me as much as you thought you did... I was trying to save you from that." I shrugged, small tears coming to my eyes as I remembered how lonely I was before I came here... how lonely I still am. "I don't need saving, James... and isn't that my choice to make?" She asked for a response. "... y-yeah." I choked out, closing my eyes and shaking my head which allowed the tears to fall. Years of pain was showing through me at this point. "James... since you're being honest... I will be honest with you... the reason why I found myself in love with you is because..." She shuffled a bit and held onto my hands, "... I went into your memories for a moment to get a glimpse of who you were. I-I didn't see it all but-" I tore away from her and turned around and strained not to scream in anger. I figured this would happen. It all makes sense now! "-but I saw enough. Enough to know that you're not who others think you are... you're not who you think you are." Pleading me to understand, I scoffed at her statement. "No, no Cadance, I'm exactly who I think I am." I stared back at her clearly upset and painful expression. Was I surprised she did this? No. Did it bother me? Not nearly as much as I made it seem. I walked to the bench a few feet away and sat down. After a few moments of thinking, I exhaled softly and breathed easy to look up to her again. Annoyed but sincere, I asked; "Why'd you do it?" To this, she had no answer at the moment I asked. She thought about it for a time and I patiently awaited my answer. She sat down next to me and looked out, not facing me, "I've seen others like you who suffer by themselves. You're all alike, thinking that your burden is yours to bear alone, that you don't deserve the help." I looked into her eyes as if looking for an answer. "I don't think so. I don't think so at all." She gave a small smirk and her gaze was set on the floor in remembrance of something. "Twilight is a special pony who's potential we, the princesses, have not seen in a very long while. She was chosen by the tree to bear the Element of Magic." I silently sat, pondering the point of telling me this information. "Why are you telling me this?" "Because just as The Tree chose Twilight's skill and potential, I've chosen your love and your pain. The Tree chose her other five friends to help her on her journey, just as I have chosen to you to help you on yours... do you understand, James?" She looked at me with intent not previously seen. I swear I could've seen her gain a few years in a few seconds. Most of the time she's fun and young and very positive, akin to a young adult who's still optimistic because life hasn't brought them down... ... but now I could barely recognize her. She had matured greatly in a few moments. "I want to be a part of your journey, James." She murmured softly as I felt her hoof grab my hand. I sat straight and looked ahead, trying to speak but feeling my own voice choke up in my throat. She saw this and her expression melted at my lack of ability to speak. I smiled weakly and nodded quickly before I quickly wrapped my arms around her, embracing her tightly. "Its okay, James. You don't have to be alone anymore." All this time. All this damn time. "Thank yo-ou Cadance... so much." I wanted to tell her more, but I had not the ability to. We sat for a few minutes, what felt like hours of quiet embrace... After our long and memorable, as well as fruitful conversation with Cadance, we had to be both on our way to different functions. Hers included a meeting with the Royal Guard about possible re-strengthening of forces on the Empire's border. Mine included walking up and down the hallways pondering mercilessly on what I've gotten myself into. Don't get me wrong, it sounds great... it sounds wonderful. But I've always wondered if I was ever one of those people who could love. At certain times I can turn into a logic-driven robot that, for the moment, thinks emotions are stupid and does away with them. I certainly hope I do not get this way around Cadance. "James?" I heard a familiar voice address me as I looked towards the sound. It was Princess Celestia. "James, how are you?" She asked with a certain amount of concern present in her tone. I began to figure out what kind of answer I've give her, whether or not I would tell her everything that just happened. "I'm doing... well." I stiffened at my one-line comment to her. Its beginning to happen again; I don't like it. "Good, good..." Her eyes told a different story, "... anything you'd like to talk about?" Smiling, she walked closer. "No." I responded quickly, my mouth opening to say something else but I failed to force anything out at the moment. "Oh. I see... well, in any event, if there is anything you want to speak to me about... do not hesitate, hm?" She smiled kindly to me, something I'll probably never get used to from these sweet ponies. I won't lie, I feel guilty for this. As she was walking away, I called out to her abruptly, "Celestia? Wait!" I reached my hand out to convey my want to speak to her. "Yes James? What is it?" "Well... I wanted to tell you how it went." I began to explain, earning a nod. "We uhhh... we settled- I mean I settled the differences... I told her that... I'd be willing to try. I told her I was sorry for making her feel like she did." "And?" Her brow perked up. "... I told her how much she means to me and that I was tired of going alone." "Good. You've no idea what that poor pony has been through the past few weeks. Her wedding gets crashed, her fiance ends up getting cold feet, she gets rescued by a creature only known to us by myth, and then she finds out how much she is attracted to you, accompanied by your rejection of her. I'm very glad to hear this." She spoke to me in an accepting, motherly tone. I felt like a kid who was told off by his own mother. Damn she was good at this. "Yeah I feel... like an asshole. I'm really sorry I did that." I rubbed the back of my neck, feeling the shame creep upon me. "Don't tell me that, tell Cadance that. She is the one who deserves to hear you say that. You will tell her, yes?" She asked, as if she already knew the answer. I would bet she was right. "Yes, yes I will. I will as soon as I can see her again. When will she be free?" "I'm not sure. Her meeting will be a while and when she is done, she'll most likely be very tired... perhaps I could-" Celestia was cut off by her sister opening one of the castle doors and exhaling loudly. "Finally, sister, we are done with that atrocious meeting. Why on earth do we even have them?" Her expression was both heavy and annoyed. "Tradition, Luna. And, sometimes it helps to have them." She nodded. "I'm guessing by your face, Celestia, that's not very often." I smirked as Luna looked at me, her eyes resting on me solely and I could see her stress slowly leaving her. "Ahh, James... a pleasant sight as always." Two can play at this game. "As are you, Luna." I smiled cordially, "You were saying something, Celestia?" "Ahh, I was going to suggest that my sister give you a grand tour of the castle." She smirked subtly as my eyes bounced back and forth. "Hold on, you-" I tried to speak but was cut off by a regal declaration. "Huzzah! I shall give you the grandest of tours! Come with us, thine human!" Oh boy, here we go. Author's Note Huzzah! The chapter is done! I was having a massive writer's block and hopefully I'm over it... I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, it was fun to read. I might try and go for 3rd person next chapter, so be sure and read the AU at the beginning of the next one. Questions or comment? Don't be afraid to post! Seeya soon! - Joss
Yeah... still a lot to learn.Well, here we are (FINALLY). Oh and this will be in third person; if you guys like it a lot, let me know and I'll keep it like such. One last thing: if you guys get the reference in the chapter, let me know. I love seeing people figure it out. Enjoy! "... and here we have one of the most exquisite of royal treasures, the Royal Garden. This garden has been maintained with peace and success for many a century. Only the highest of our ranks have seen this, as it is a prized monument to our citizens and our castle." Luna spoke with a level dignity and pride not seen in her since James had been here. Jesus Christ in heaven give me a damn break! He thought to himself as he sat down on the ground, barely noticing the scenery at all. James was by no means as fit and in-shape as the guards and all the running around had certain caught up with him. "I-I'm just gonna- that was really- like wow I'm- FUCK." He hissed and threw his shirt off, tossing it in her direction, only to miss by about four feet. This incited a laugh from the princess, throwing her head back and looking at him, stifling laughter to the point of bursting into another fit again. It was all very regal and very annoying to the most-tired James. "Yeah yeah, laugh all you want. Humans are not meant to run for that long. Jeez how do you guys do it?" "Oh, we have a lot of sex, its really a very good workout." She smirked while her expression failed to conceal her need to laugh at James' face. He was clearly caught off guard; his brows agreed to this conclusion. "Eh? What the hell...?" He spoke to himself as she doubled over laughing again and fell on her back, kicking wildly to rid her self of the pain in her gut from laughing so hard. James stood up and walked over to her and pointed a finger at her. "Hey I'll have you know right goddamn now if I wanted to fuck someone here I'd damn well do it and no one would could say no. Hell I could probably have any stallion I wanted, so don't think because your a princess you can get away with that shit, you feel?" James was still breathing heavily and his chest reflected that. The look from Luna was one of confusion and lust with what James would describe as fear. Luna gave him naught but a huff that he concluded was one of... need, for lack of a better word. Perhaps I'm walking down the wrong road. Better stop while I'm ahead. "Oh, and just how would you go about this "fuck", as you say?" She asked in a very benign, very trained tone. It was both odd and hot to hear the princess say that, at least to James. I'm going to need to get Cadance to say that. NO. STOP THINKING LIKE THAT JAMES. Screw you, a man can dream. "Uhh... that's more of a... private subject, Luna. And considering my position, I'd rather not go there just yet." He held his hands up in defense. You said "yet" you fuckwit. Now you're doomed. "Well... perhaps you're right," She said after walking to him and trailing around him, her tail brushing him the entire time while he stood and rolled his eyes, "... a mare can wait." She whispered just loud enough for him to hear as he visible stiffened at the comment and with cheeks as red as the roses, stared at her angrily. This served only to make him more annoyed, which gave her cause to laugh. "Oh my, dear James, you are such fun to tease! Where have you been all this time?" "Hell, I don't know. I'm just glad I'm here I guess." He got over his embarrassment and quipped the comment with a smile adorn brightly. "I uhh... most people back in my world aren't very nice, to put it generously. You guys are pretty great, not gonna lie. I've grown quite fond of you all in the short amount of time I've known you." He smiled. He was telling the truth but at the same tie lying. He's seen them before and he knows them quite well, but interacting with them personally as an experience is something he is wholly alone in. "Well. Those were very kind words, James. Thank you for that, I shall pass that on to my friends, hm?" "Oh by all means, if you guys want to talk about me, feel free. I'm basically the only one of my kind here, guess its kinda hard not to talk about me..." Which before I came here never happened. "Indeed, James, you are but the only one of your kind as you say who have arrived here after the disappearances." Her voice and expression turned cold at the later half of the statement, as if she was remembering. "Disappearances? What do you mean? Is that why humans aren't around?" His words only earned him a nod. What did she mean by "disappearances"?... I mean, its not out of the realm of possibility, right? He pondered these words. He'd have to go to the royal archives to maybe get answers. He just had to. This was not something he could easily let go, and even through his conversations with Luna, they remained in his head. If there was a chance he could find out what happened, he was going to take it no matter the cost. "James? Jaaaames?" Luna called to him, earning her a non-committed look and a simple, one word reply: "Yes?" "Is something on your mind, James? You're quite preoccupied in that small head of yours." "Yeah, I've been trying-" She began to laugh when he deadpanned at her, only increasing her humorous findings in the matter. "Damn woman, you're just mean. That's just downright mean." He pouted to her and followed along with her by his own chuckling, "Yeah, you got me there, Luna. I didn't even catch that until after... oof, I'm getting slow." "Are you a quick witted lad or a thinker?" "Mostly the aforementioned. I'm pretty quick on my feet when not distracted... maybe that means I'm just crap at this." He chucked, earning a humorous shake of Luna's head to his comment. "We will get you straightened out right quick. You'll be back on your mind's feet in no time... speaking of time," She looked towards the entrance, "We have a meeting to attend and some paperwork to be done so we must be going. I trust you can find your way back?" "Yeah! No problem. Thanks for the tour, Luna. It was really helpful!" He smiled widely and gave her a thumbs up as she trotted away. "And the laughs, I'll be practicing, you know! Stay sharp!" He yelled to her as she was almost out of sight. "We shall!" She called back and disappeared... ... "Wait, where do I go again? Ah shit. Here we go again." He looked back and jogged to the hallway where, at least he thought Luna would be, but she's no where to be found. No guards? That's a shame... come to think of it, I've not seen a single guard... a holiday, perhaps? He pondered this point for a little while, slowly shuffling down the castle hallways. He'd not remembered a single word from Luna describing how to get back and to this he felt akin to the village idiot. It was when he began to walk down one of the hallways with a large, stained glass mosaic of Celestia and Luna, did he slowly begin to recognize where he was. "Dayyyum." He remarked aloud to the glass windows. They were above and beyond anything he's seen in his lifetime. In fact, he'd not seen a castle at all in his lifetime. To this knowledge, he took to studying his surroundings. "Mein Gott, das ist erstaunlich..." He told himself as he began to feel the walls, not a single bump, crack, or chip in any of the surfaces he could find or touch. It reminded him of how well kept his father's place was. Cold, calculated, smooth and unchanging. He didn't like it one bit. Not at all. During his concentration in thought, a certain character had snuck up to him in the meantime, not making a sound. Grabbing his shoulders softly, the voice addressed him: "You look a little lost, James." James didn't move or jump from this, he merely was taken aback from his musings about the castle and craned to look over his shoulder to see a familiar pink Alicorn standing behind him. "Oh, Cadance! I didn't even see or hear you. Wow you're pretty stealthy." "I can be when I want to be." She smiled to him, sighing heavily after. What was that supposed to mean? These ponies I swear... "You seem a little... exhausted. How'd the meeting go?" He asked, preparing for an answer he predicted. "It was boring but somehow tiring. Its like the boredom sucks the life out of you aaaaaaand leaves you sluggish." "Oh so like jet lag." He quipped and nodded. "Jet lag? What even is such a thing?" Ahhh that's right, these ponies don't have jets... what a shame. "Well, to put it in layman's terms, its basically a term used to describe a feeling of sluggishness or how someone feels like their schedule has been changed or the time has flown by, ect., ect." "I see... odd term." "Yeah, I've never seen the relevance in it except when I get off from a flight and understand it firsthand..." He shrugged, the last part of his comment earning an interested look from the Alicorn. "Flight? You humans can fly? You never told me!" She playfully hit his shoulder and began flying around, much to James' amusement. "Not organically, no. We can't fly like you guys can... although we can fly using other means. Like planes, or sub-orbital rockets, and occasionally just yeeting someone off a building." He answered matter-of-fact like. "You guys use machines to fly? How in the world is that possible?" Her expression she gave off was what James thought would be one he would get if he tried to explain technology to these ponies. "Well, we don't have any magic at all. None. So, in the case of having no magic, we've nothing to turn to but technology and its inventions. Some days we wish we could have magic, though... we all do." He shrugged and hung his head, hating coming to terms with his ultimate deficiency in magic. "And I was so hoping to use magic, too. I figured it'd be pretty damn cool moving stuff around like nothing at all, turning invisible and stuff." "Well, perhaps that is something we can do together, hm?" This question gave James a smile. At this point, he'd love to spend more time with her. This begged another question from James: "What would we do, exactly?" "Simple, James: I will teach you how to use magic." She smiled, giving his heart a chance to skip a beat. "Wa-wa-wait y-you mean I still have a chance?" He began to quiver slightly in nervousness; eyes lighting up with a passion behind them that Cadance hoped she would see in many ways. "Yes, James. Everypony has a chance to learn and use magic. Some are born with great potential, some must work for it... it any instance, everypony can use magic. So can you." She smiled with a finality that gave him exactly the answer he was hoping for. "Yes!" He fist pumped victoriously, excitement radiating from him. With this, he rushed to Cadance and wrapped his arms around her tightly, giving many thanks to her. "There is nothing to be thankful for yet, James. We've still to practice, hm?" "Ah, yes. You're right." He took two steps back, nodding as he did so to her reply, "This'll give us a chance to do something together, like you said..." He looked into her eyes, holding his gaze there drawing a flush on his face. "God I'm so green sometimes." He rubbed his neck and chuckled nervously, looking away while Cadance merely gave a girly giggle. "Wellll... after you get to know me, you won't be." An innocent but slightly sultry reply came his way as his eyes reverted back to her. "Aren't you the princess of-" "Love, yes. The Princess of Love." Her look gave off a feeling of fulling committing to the sensual side of herself, lidding her eyes halfway for him while she made her way over. "And I know all about loving, darling." Whispering into his ear, his face grew red. Boner alert! He though to himself instantly as Cadance laughed softly. "You're in for one wild ride, James." He mumbled something that Cadance could only barely hear, "What was that?" "Or maybe you're in store for a wild ride." His voice carried weight when he spoke since at this point he had given his voice a chance to chance to a deeper, rougher, sexier voice. Luna had already poked her fun at him merely as a joke, but he wasn't anticipating Cadance's seriousness on the subject. "Oh yeah, James?" "Yeah." He furrowed his brows with a boyish grin on his face. To this, she leaned into his ear again: "Why don't we just find the nearest room and I'll show you just how good it feels to be out of those clothes? Or perhaps, you want to just breed me right here?" Her lips remained unmoving as her gaze drifted to his. The two remained like this for a few long moments before James made his move, tilting his head and kissing her softly while holding her head under her chin, eliciting a small moan from the both of them. He quickly pulled away, looking into her eyes: "Not quite yet, princess. I've still yet to know you more personally, eh? That is, if you can handle the tension." He smirked again. "Is that even a question?" Cadance retorted back with the same kind of shit-eating grin he gave her not a moment before. "Indeed. I know you can handle it." The man smiled genuinely to her. He then began looking into the distance deeply (which happened to be the floor); lost in thought. "Heyyy... wait a minute. I know this is random but I have a question to ask," James quipped, earning a nod in response, ", you seemed to know what I was when I first met you..." "... what kind of knowledge does Equestria have on humans and Humanity? I'd love to see what you've got. Honestly I've been wondering about that but I keep forgetting to ask and so I was just thinking that if I read what you guys know about humanity I could maybe help you to understand us as a species and while it is a small possibility there might be humans here in Equestria or at least in the surrounding countries which I think would be awesome as I could ask them-" "JAMES!" The mare screamed at him quickly, earning a jolt from him. She motioned to him to follow her down the halls towards the Royal Library, but he didn't know that. ... "James calm down I know you want to know more about us but let me answer: the Library has most of the answers you seek. Celestia and Luna have the rest. That's all I can tell you so far; all I know about humans is their physical appearance and the fact that the country they used to reside in is no longer anything but a wasteland. Going to the Library and asking Twilight about it may help; she knows what you're looking for." A few moments passed before a friendly voice popped up: "Did somepony say books?!" A purple mare trotted around the corner and smiled at the two of them. "Oh Twilight, I was just about to send somepony to look for you. Just in time! James was wanting some knowledge of pre-war humans." "Uh-say what?" James scratched his head before being yanked (literally) by Twilight herself towards the direction of the library. The Princess followed and smiled. "I know that we'd love nothing more than to spend more time together but I almost forgot that I have a mare's date with some of my friends in about an hour... oops." "So you're not coming with? Darn. Well, I can understand forgetting things. That's like one of my super powers." He chuckled before continuing, "So where are you going?" "Just to my chambers to freshen up; its right here. I will see you later on tonight, yes?" She inquired while opening the door, pausing to receive her answer: "Well, I certainly hope so; you know where to find me!" He yelled and waved to her as he and Twilight made their way to the library... ... "Aaaaand this is where we keep our books on the history of Canterlot, this is-" "Twilight." James, looking ragged already, croaked out her name in protest. He shook his head and rubbed his face for a moment, "Is it still Friday?" Twilight deadpanned at him something fierce before rolling her eyes. "Its not that bad, James, we've only been here... oh its been almost a half and hour. Wow I didn't know time flew that fast." "Or crept so slooooowwww like JAYZUS MAN. Where be the human stuffs?" He motioned to the enormous library. It was very large and easily rivaled that of the Library of Congress that he saw once back in D.C.. "The knowledge on humanity and all their former glory is right here. Subsection 2, Category C." "Nice... thanks... basically everything on this level of the bookcase?" "No, the entire bookcase. All 78 books." She replied proudly, as if she's read every one of them (she has, probably). James facepalmed quite hard at this. Hopefully he could figure out something that didn't involve dying at the library over some books; Lord knows he would die of boredom before Death's own schedule. "Alright. Let's narrow it down a bit. What books do I need to read about the history of Equestria's dealings with humanity? What were they like before the 'war' or whatever Cadance meant by that?" "That would be these books," she pointed to the lower section, about 15 or so books. Many of these were very, very old, ", most of these books are drawings of schematics for machines of war; only a few of these tell about the story of pre-war humanity." "Where can I find more of the history after I get done reading this?" He asked, already not content with the limited information that was available to him. "Well... there is one pony, actually two, but really just one pony that can help you." She pondered before replying. James motioned her to continue. "Princess Celestia. She wasn't there, but her mother and father were. Maybe you can talk to her about that sometime?" "Absolutely. Thanks for taking me here and putting up with me." He gave her a thumbs up and thanked her for her kindness (and thoroughness). "Oh don't worry about it. I love getting people interested in books. A special kind of satisfaction to see someone reading diligently. If you need me, I'll be in the magic spells part of the library, down on the other end. Talk to me if you need me!" She smiled and walked away, waving at him encouraging him to do the same. "Alright. Now, lets see what we've got here..." James began flipping through the old pages, skimming over the table of contents. He was not about to find much, but he did find one page, a small excerpt from an unknown source, that did prove useful as well as absolutely terrifying: Long ago, humans were a thing of legend, spoken with a token fear and awe. Long ago, they arrived. From where, nopony knows. Some think from beyond our borders from the great unknown, and some say from the heavens themselves. They flourished, not with magic and friendship, but with technology and steel, great inventions and machines of war. It was then when a spy from their world, sent into Equestria was captured, bringing war to the humans from the heart of Equestria. On May 7th, 1544, the "Fateful Appointment Day". But they were no match for magic, as it was the wielder of elements. And so, the humans were destroyed, save for few that managed to escape. Nopony really knows where the surviving humans went; those that were captured were soon sent into slavery, some killed, some exiled. -Unknown ... "What the hell? What was that?" James questioned aloud as he scratched his head. Who the hell wrote this? Is this some kind of combat diary?" He wondered. He immediately put the book down and grabbed a random book that Twilight pointed out, and was met by theoretical schematics for machines and drawings. One he saw peaked his interest: United Earth Federation --Schematic for UEF Armored Command Unit-- Specifcations: Height: 90 meters Width: 32 meters Depth: 12 meters Weight without upgrade packages: 97 tons Weight with upgrade packages: 100-117 tons Description: The Armored Command Unit or ACU, is the state-of-the-art war machine designed to encapsulate a human operator, giving that operator immense firepower, adaptive mobility, defense and the latest build capabilities and schematics to the commander. The ACU has a built in teleporter, allowing it to be anywhere on the battlefield given it has time to charge. The Armored Command Unit is the fulcrum to any operation; its death results in immediate defeat. There were many other schematics in that same book, as well as many others. They were all different in one way or another but this left James with one answer: they all had one thing in common, and it was the fact that they were all war machines. "How odd. I wonder what humanity was so obsessed with war for... Kind of like our old history of endless fighting but imagine one or two thousand years in the future. "Mein Gott." He shook his head and sat down. He made the decision to ask Celestia about this as soon as it was convenient; he had to have answers. "James?" He heard Cadance's voice call from afar. "Answers can wait; for now, its time to spend some time with the lady." He said to himself and straightened himself up. Walking towards her and waving, he smiled. But, behind that smile there was worry and confusion; what happened to his fellow humans and where are they now? He could only hope it wasn't as bad as he thought. Author's Note Hello hello again! You've made it to the end of the chapter. Did you like it or hate it? Let me know; I love reading you guys' comments. I hope you guys found the reference... it was fun to write; as was the chapter. See you next time! -Joss
