Ashephyles’ senses slowly came back to him as he awoke. The first thing he became aware of was the agony lancing through his body. His back, ribs, and left arm were in rather severe pain, though he didn’t think anything was broken. He became aware of the fact that he was shirtless when the pain slowly faded, replaced by a chill from whatever he was lying on. When the pain faded from searing agony to a dull throb, he focused instead on his hearing, picking up the sounds of hushed murmuring and sharp clacks from around his position, though he wasn’t sure what they were or where he was at.

Ash then felt something warm and slightly wet press against his chest before moving up and down a little. The warm thing pulled away, then came back and touched him again. It happened twice more before Ash realized that whatever it was was poking him, looking to get some form of reaction from him. The man groaned and opened his bleary eyes, which focused moments later. The sight that greeted him made him freeze. A very familiar large white pony stood over him, gently poking his chest with her muzzle, which was surprisingly warm. When Ash groaned, her large magenta eyes flickered up to meet his as she froze as well. The two stared at each other, Ash in shock, disbelief, and amazement, while Celestia stared at him in surprise, concern, and wariness. After a moment, Celestia recoiled with a loud squeak, her hooves scraping on the floor to get away from him. “It- It’s alive!”

More clacking sounded out as he was quickly surrounded, a multitude of white coated, blue maned ponies forming a large circle around him as spears were leveled keeping him still. However, before any of them could do anything, Celestia called out to the guards. “Wait, don’t hurt it! It didn’t do anything!”

“Your Majesty, it appeared in the throne room via a large burst of white light. Evidence is pointing to this being an assassination attempt.” One of the guards, who he didn’t recognize, said in reply.

“My head was right next to it for several moments, yet it made no aggressive moves against me! It looks injured, or at least disoriented! It is entirely unarmed, even from natural weapons such as claws! All evidence points to this creature being sent here on accident!” Celestia retorted. “I am ordering you to lower your weapons and back away from it.”

While the guards complied, Ash was busy with staring in shock at Celestia. For well over a decade, Ash had read descriptions of what Celestia looked like. The simplest said she was white with a multicolored mane and magenta eyes. The most elaborate went on about her majesty, a regal and motherly aura, and divine presence that surrounded her very existence. It all paled in comparison to what stood before Ash. Her coat was the purest of whites, so natural and radiant that he would know she was the Lady of the Sun even if he had never seen or heard of her before. Her mane, shining with pastel colors, several of which he couldn’t even begin to identify, flowed through the air as it cascaded down her shoulders and to her left. Her tail, colored identically to her mane, drifted out behind her and swayed softly. There was no wind for it to wave on, she simply didn’t need it. Her mane swayed through sheer magical power alone.

Her magenta eyes shone with such open emotion that Ash doubted she could ever lie to anyone. Just one look into those bright eyes told him exactly what she was feeling. She was curious, and nervous, and excited, and even a little scared, but she still managed to walk over to him and give him a nervous smile, hoping the last of hostility would prevent him from being hostile. When she neared, a feeling of such warmth and comfort flowed over him, dulling every last vestige of pain he felt and washing away the worries of what was going to happen. When she spoke up, her voice was angelic, radiating with such kindness that it made his muscles shake in weakness. “Can you understand me?”

Ash opened his mouth to speak as he sat up only to croak out the barest shred of sound before descending into a powerful coughing fit, the dry and nasty sound making even the stoic royal guards flinch in concern. Celestia herself immediately overcame her worry and darted over to his side, gently nudging him with her muzzle while one of her incredibly soft wings thudded across his back, trying in vain to clear his coughing. “Quick, get it some water! It tried to speak!”

Hooves scrambled across marble floors as several ponies rushed to carry out the Princess’ order. However, a short pop of energy beat them all to the punch, a large pitcher of crystal clear water floating over to him, wrapped in a dark blue aura. He gratefully took it and began to drink the cold liquid, being careful not to spill any on the marble floors. After several long moments of tense silence, Ash set the pitcher- now half empty- down and turned his attention back to the curious Celestia. “Can you understand me?”

“Y-yeah.” Ash croaked out, his voice still dry. Celestia jerked her head back as if she didn’t expect him to answer, then came back to him.

“What’s your name?” Celestia asked. “I’m Princess Celestia of Equestria.”

“Ashe-” Ash started, then stopped as he coughed again, unable to pronounce his own name with his dry throat. “Ash. Call me Ash.”

“Very well, Mr. Ash.” Celestia replied with a nervous flap of her wings, hoping that she got his gender right.

“Just Ash, Your Majesty. No need for formalities.” The human replied.

Celestia’s muzzle broke out into a wide smile as she gazed at him. “In that case, just call me Celestia. No need for formalities, after all. We have more pressing matters than tedious niceties.”

When he nodded, she raised her voice and looked around the room. “Guards! Dismissed! Leave the room and ensure word of Ash does not spread outside of the castle.”

Several guards moved to voice their dissent, only to be halted as Celestia continued. “That’s an order.”

With much grumbling, the guards left the throne room, the massive stone doors shutting with a resounding boom. Before Ash could say anything, a powerful voice spoke from his side. “So you are intelligent. That is most fortuitous.”

Turning his gaze toward who he just knew was Princess Luna, he paused as his eyes widened. The Luna standing before him was very familiar in almost every sense of the word. Her soft blue eyes reached into his soul and failed to find fault within him, sparking a small smile to form on her muzzle, revealing clean, white, and flat teeth that almost seemed to reflect the light of the room. Her wings twitched on her back, curiosity permeating her facial features even as her presence cooled his body of the warmth Celestia inspired. Her mane, structured as an ever-changing night sky, called out to his stargazing passion, making him want to get lost within the flickering lights. Her coat was such an honest blue and looked so very soft that Ash just wanted to lean against her and fall asleep, though he knew that would be a very stupid and rude thing to do. Ash could almost say that the blue of her coat was unbroken by anything else. Almost.

“Freckles?” Ash asked himself softly, almost as an afterthought, for indeed did this Luna have freckles. Scattered around her entire coat were black spots that seemed the equine version of freckles, though significantly more obvious than any human’s freckles would ever be. Below her eyes and across her muzzle, small dots of various sizes were splattered across her coat, trailing from behind her eyes and up to ears which were perked at hearing him speak. A soft blush overcame her muzzle as she heard him speak, clearly embarrassed about her spots. Frankly, Ash thought she looked entirely adorable with her dots and red tinted muzzle.

His eyes drifting over her body, the human could see that her freckles trailed down her neck and chest before streaking across her barrel and flank, then cascading down each of her legs to meet her hooves. The black spots held no true pattern, only a grouping that made sure she looked attractive, rather than like a polka-dotted pony. In fact, the only part of her body without freckles were her wings, which were made of feathers rather than fur.

From his side, he could hear Celestia giggling to herself. “This is my sister, Princess Luna. Luna, this is Ash. Ash, those spots are called ‘dapples.’ Aren’t they adorable?”

Ash nodded slowly, then reached his hand out as an offer to Princess Luna, who took it gingerly as her blush remained burning with intensity. “It’s good to meet you, Princess Luna.”

“Nay, if my sister allows you to call her by her name, then you may do the same to us.” Luna said firmly.

“Then it’s good to meet you, Luna.” Ash corrected himself.

“It’s good to meet you, Ash.” Luna replied, a shy smile gracing her muzzle.

“Ash, I’m going to teleport all of us now, okay?” Celestia said from his side, her horn already alighting in a golden glow of energy.

“Okay. Thanks for the warning.” Ash replied.

With a flash of golden light, the trio vanished. Moments later, in another part of the castle, they reappeared. Ash took the chance to examine the room, something he failed to do in the throne room. It seemed to be a study. Dark oak walls contrasted nicely with the marble floor and ceiling, while various large red cushions were scattered around the room next to low-lying tables. A fireplace crackled against one wall, the oak walls giving away to marble to prevent a fire. The man felt a nudge on his back, looking over his shoulder to see Celestia gently pushing him toward one table. Taking the hint, he walked over and sat down, quickly joined by both Princesses. With a flash of dark blue energy, another pitcher of water appeared, followed soon by three large cups that were quickly filled.

Celestia gazed at him curiously, interest shining clear in her eyes. Luna looked at him intently as well, though her blush had now faded. These versions of Celestia and Luna were, as God had warned him, drastically different than what he expected. From first glance, they seemed rather innocent, always cheerful, and entirely trusting of even strangers. In truth, it was in complete contradiction to the temporary imprisonment he was expecting. For God’s sake, they didn’t even make sure he wasn’t a threat before dismissing their guards! Obvious flaws aside, if his assessment turned out to be true, he would be rather happy with this world, even if only because the ponies were incredibly friendly.

Of course, it could also be a ploy for him to lower his guard. If an enemy thought Equestria was weak, defenseless, and all around soft, the hypothetical enemy wouldn’t plan for a powerful country with godlike rulers. If that was the case, he had to admit that the two Alicorns were playing their parts perfectly.

Pulled out of his thoughts by Celestia speaking, he turned his attention to her in time to catch her question. “When I asked you your name, you almost said something else before saying ‘Ash.’ What’s your real name?”

“Ashephyles.” Ash said, saying it correctly. “My throat was too dry to say it right, so I just said my nickname.”

“Asefyleses?” Luna twisted her muzzle to say the word, her tongue flicking out one time in an entertaining fashion as she struggled to pronounce the name that Ash swore his parents made up on the spot.

“A-chef-ill-ease.” Ash corrected, amused. He made sure to pronounce his name slowly to try to help her say it. Praise the God-that-he-now-knows-is-real above that his parents couldn’t give him a simple, normal name.

Luna just huffed. “Ash.”

“That works too.” He said with a smile, which she returned. When Ash turned his attention to Celestia, she just grinned.

“I’ll stick to Ash, thank you very much. I doubt anypony here will have the ability to say your name.”

“It doesn’t bother me. I know most won’t be able to say it easily, not without getting used to it, so I just shortened it to ‘Ash.’” The human replied.

Celestia nodded in reply. “Where do you come from?”

Ash was struck by a sudden confliction. Tell Celestia and Luna the whole truth, a partial truth, or no truth? If he told her that he was from another world, had died, and made a deal with a deity, there was simple no telling how she would react. Even as soft and kind as she seemed, Ash did not doubt she had the capacity for violence. While he severely doubted such a reaction, it was a possibility. Option number one had the most immediate risk, yet long-term safety should the worst not come to pass.

Option number two was a bit of a balanced solution. If he told them that he was from another world, they would be naturally curious. Should they ask how he arrived in Equestria, he could lie and say he wasn’t quite sure. He could also omit the fact that he died. If his lie was discovered, it could create a small bit of distrust later down the line due to him keeping secrets. Other than that, there would be no major repercussions.

Option number three was the riskiest long-term but safest at the moment. He could say that he was from a reclusive village, making up a name and culture for it. While it would allow him to make open use of some of his knowledge of Equestria and some of the ponies, if it were discovered, he would be in severe trouble for hiding such an important secret from the Princesses, and it would cause a major rift between him and any he might befriend before then.

He decided to go with a mixture of option one and two. He would tell them about him being from another world and that he died, but would phrase his death in such as way as to make it sound like he believed that was what brought him to Equestria. All in all, Ash had laid out three possible plans, mixed two, and decided his response in less time than it took him to raise his cup and take a sip, feigning preparation for a long conversation. “Truth be told, Celestia, I’m convinced this is not even my own world.”

The shock was immediate and obvious, both mares recoiling slightly as they stared at him in disbelief. Silence reigned for several long moments as they battled their thoughts, the very idea of an otherworldly entity being almost inconceivable for them. In fact, it might have been unimaginable. Ash had no idea if they even had science fiction and the idea of other worlds or aliens. After several long, yet not quite tense moments, Luna was the first to speak, forced to refold her wings after they had twitched themselves out of place. Celestia, on the other hand, was still busy staring at him in fascination, her wings slightly flared out and pressing against Luna’s side. “How do you know?”

“Frankly, it’s because of you two. You are both talking ponies. Where I’m from, ponies aren’t your size, they have neither wings or horn, and they most certainly do not talk. I can’t even say that we are in a part of the world my kind simply haven’t discovered because we’ve discovered everywhere except the bottom of the ocean and we don’t seem underwater.” Ash explained.

“Perhaps we are just in a location your kind overlooked?” Luna asked nervously.

“Tell me, how big is your country? In square miles, please.”

“Around eleven million, why?”

Ash grunted softly as he looked down, quickly doing some math. “Damn near three times the size of the United States. There’s no fucking way we could have overlooked that. That’s a continent in its own right. No, I’m not from this world.”

Looking back up, Ash’s look became one of confusion at the aghast looks he was receiving from both ponies. Both of their ears were folded, with Celestia’s jaw having dropped. Both of them were staring wide-eyed, a fact that made him a little uncomfortable with their massive eyes. The two Alicorns were, quite honestly, staring at him with such horror it seemed as if he had committed an unspeakable crime that would condemn him to the depths of Hell itself. Naturally, Ash had no idea what he did. “What?”

Celestia spluttered for a moment, trying to form a coherent sentence, before she managed to force out a single sentence. “D-Did you just… swear?”

Sweet mother fucking God damn it all to Hell and back again so I can fuck it with a spike.

“You don’t?” Ash asked in disbelief. “Seriously, none at all? Close to everyone swears where I’m from.”

“Nopony swears in Equestria!” Luna cried out, flapping her great blue wings twice. “Seriously! Don’t do that! Ever!”

Swear to fucking God, that asshole planned this as revenge for all of my swearing. Should I have waited until I was eighteen to start swearing? I still think ten is a good age. First year in the double digits.

“Asking me to forget twenty-five years of hearing it and fifteen of doing it, Luna. I can’t promise you jack sh- anything, but I can certainly try.” Ash replied.

“You were going to swear again, weren’t you?” Celestia asked in disappointment, ruffling her wings as she stared at him.

“Da- Yeah, I was.” Ash said, cutting himself off at first.

The two Alicorns sighed. Ash just grinned. “So about me being from another world, what does that mean for me?”

Their enthusiasm returned with a vengeance as they shared a quick glance. WIth a loud pop, the wood table between them vanished in a flash of light. With another flash, the two mares had teleported where the table used to be, putting them less than two feet in front of him. Quite frankly, the wide grins they sported was a little unsettling. The situation only went from strange to bad when Celestia eagerly asked the first question on her mind. “How’d you get here?”

“Not a good story, Celestia. Let’s save that question for later, right?” Ash replied.

But it was not meant to be. Luna frowned slightly as him. “But it is the most important question. Did you arrive here under your own power, or was it a magical accident? Did another being send you here, or perhaps a rift in space? Will there be more of your kind to follow or not? All of these can be answered by how you arrived here.”

“Trust me, Luna, it’s not a good story. You both are rather excited to learn about my world. How I got here will ruin that mood. Let’s start with something else, okay?” By now, the pair of them were clearly becoming concerned and Ash frankly didn’t want to deal with whatever they would do when they learned of his death. Idly, the thought of lying came to his mind again before he dismissed it; he had already decided to tell the truth about his death if it came up in topic. Damned be him if he wouldn’t try to avoid that topic anyway.

“Trust us, Ash. We can take it. Just tell us.” Celestia countered. “The knowledge of how you arrived in our world is of utmost importance.”

The man just sighed and let his head fall back on his neck, gazing up at the ceiling as his eyes closed. Damned be these ponies that don’t take ‘no’ for an answer.

“Very well. I died. I died in a hospital bed and woke up in your throne room. For the past three years, I’ve been slowly dying of a disease that made my immune system, my circulatory system, my respiratory system, my nervous system, my reproductive system, and even my skeletal system FUBAR. I was hooked up to more machines than I have hairs on my body on a daily basis. Finally, I told the doctors to fuck off and let me die, so they did. They didn’t have a choice since it was my desire and all and they couldn’t stop me. I went to sleep one night and I guess I just didn’t have the strength left in my body to wake up, so I didn’t. I thought that’d be the end. Instead, I woke up to Celestia shoving her nose in my chest.”

The room was dead- heh- silent for a time, though Ash refused to look down and meet eyes with either Alicorn. He wasn’t quite sure what he would see, sadness, disbelief, concern, understanding, or something else, but he was dreading the sight of the barest shred of pity. For that reason alone, he stared at the ceiling as they tried to formulate a response, or even decide whether he was lying or not. As he stared, a thought began to overcome him. I never asked God if he cured my condition of cellular-whatever-the-fuck. Do I still have it? Did he cure it? Or is it just outright gone? Unless God wanted to raise the question of where my body went, this is an entirely new body, which means it should be free from the disorder. Just in case, I might want to work on the Restoration school. If I fuck myself over with a Destruction spell, that should be good practice for both.

That brings another thing up. Do I still need to practice on living targets to get better? In Skyrim, you had to hit an animal or person with Flames to level up your Destruction skill. Do I need to hit someone, or does just casting it count? Can I cast Healing on myself to get better, or do I actually need to be wounded? How much of this runs on ‘game logic’ and how much on ‘real-ish logic?’ I’ll have to wait and see once I have some free time. I can feel a couple things in my pocket but I don’t want to pull them out yet, just incase they are confiscated or revealing of my unique situation.

Ash was snapped out of his thoughts when he felt two large and soft wings, one warm and one cool, drape over his shoulders gently. He looked down reluctantly to see both Celestia and Luna sitting even closer to him, practically on the same cushion, with one wing wrapped around him. They stared at him not with pity- thank God- but sadness and concern, with tears brimming in their eyes. With a human, the sight of tears he would be able to easily ignore, but it was impossible with the ponies. Ash wasn’t sure if it was their large, expressive eyes or the pure innocence the two radiated with practically everything they did, but it started to really get to him, to make him feel bad for upsetting these two child-like Alicorns.

“A-art thou lying to us?” Luna asked, her speech reverting to an archaic form from sheer sadness alone, all the more heart-wrenching and adorable.

“P-please tell me your lying.” Celestia added, her muzzle coming to rest on his knee as her watery eyes stared at his own, beginning to inspire an almost-physical pain in his chest.

After a slow moment of concerned contemplation, Ash finally answered. “I wish I was but I’m not.”

Their eyes snapped shut, a few tears rolling down both of their cheeks and leaving trails of matted fur. Celestia turned her head and began to gently rub her cheek against his knee in what she likely thought was a comforting gesture, though he could barely feel it through his thick jeans. That changed with Luna leaned in and softly nuzzled his chest, which was bare and felt every inch of Luna’s soft fur rub against him. The idea of being nuzzled was always a strange one- Ash having no reason to let a person rub their face against him, but it wasn’t an unwelcome sensation from the Alicorn. After a moment, Ash’s hands came down on both of their shoulders, gently gripping them to reassure them he was fine.

Celestia opened her eyes, a few more tears escaping as she gazed at him, such an intense sadness that it pained him. “How are you taking this so well? Most would be so very sad or so very angry at what you went through, yet you are sitting here comforting us!”

“I’ve had the disease for three years, Celestia.” Ash replied. “I screamed and swore and threatened and cried and begged for a year. I hoped and prayed and bartered and pleaded for another year. Then I resigned myself to an early death, making peace with everyone and everything I could for the final year. I had such a long warning beforehand that I’m not bothered by it, particularly since I guess I didn’t really die, just moved.”

Ash’s hand had started to rub back and forth gently on both of them. A small part of his mind made idle note of how ironic the situation was but he shoved it aside. These ponies were made of softer stuff than humans, it seemed. Less and less it seemed like an act and more just how they were. He couldn’t deny it though, if this had happened two years ago, he would be in a state similar to them. He was fortunate to have the time to think it through, though some would consider it the opposite of fortune. “I’m fine now, you two. Don’t cry for me. Plenty of tears have been shed, both by myself and others. I don’t need anymore of that.”

Luna’s muzzled brushed against his shoulder as she raised her head, her pained gaze meeting his own comforting one. Just by looking in her eyes, he could see she was determined to try to help him. “What dost thou need, then?”

Ash did his best to grin brightly, though he wasn’t sure how they would react to him showing off the teeth of a carnivore. “How about we start with two friends who can help me adjust to this world?”

It certainly seemed to work, at least. They both laughed lightly, though still with tears in their eyes, and moved back a little to give him his space. Ash wiped a few of Luna’s tears off of his chest while she gave him a sheepish smile, which he returned with a reassuring one. Both of them dried their eyes with their wings, making him realize they had practically had massive towels attached to their backs. After a moment, Ash continued. “What’s next?”

After a short moment of silence, Celestia shook her head. “After that bit of information, I think my sister and I need time to think. What do you say about resting in a guest room before meeting us for lunch? You arrived here at about nine in the morning, so it would only be for an hour or so.”

“I think that sounds wonderful. Thank you, Celestia.” Ash replied honestly. The Alicorn mare smiled at him as she and Luna stood up, Ash joining them a moment later.

“I’ll have a maid lead you to your room as well as retrieve you when lunch comes along. In the meantime, take the chance to organize your thoughts and even think up a few questions to ask us. I want us both to learn about each other and our cultures, not just me and Luna asking you question after question.” Celestia finished with a small chuckle. Her horn lit up slightly but no spell was cast, or at least none that he could see, but nevertheless, there was a polite knock on the door before it opened, revealing a light blue Pegasus in a simple black and white maid outfit. Princess, for her voice carried the unmistakable authority of a diarch, Celestia spoke, giving the mare her task. “Feather Down, take Ash here to one of the guestrooms. He will be staying with us for the next few days, perhaps more if he is so inclined.”

The maid gave a low bow before standing back up. “Yes, Your Majesty.”

Princess Celestia began to walk out of the room as the maid stepped in, clearing the doorway. As she passed Ash, she gave him a little hidden nudge with one of her wings, a soft smile on her muzzle. Luna, however, favored him with a more direct smile and spoke.“See you soon, Ash.”

“See you soon, Luna.” Ash replied softly, not sure how Feather would take hearing him not call the Princesses by their titles. The dappled Alicorn walked out as well, leaving him with Feather who walked over with a large smile on her face.

“If you would follow me, Sir, I can take you to your room.” She said as she stopped in front of him.

“Lead on, ma’am.” Ash replied, beginning to follow her as they left the room.

The maid giggled lightly. “Aren’t you a polite one?”

“I suppose so.” Ash said. “But don’t let that fool you. Deep down, I can be a real a- rude, too.”

The maid nodded, but had nothing to really say to that. After all, she didn’t really know him. Nopony in this world did, yet, though Ash didn’t plan on keeping it that way. Thoughts of future possible friendships aside, he planned to take full advantage of this opportunity to try to figure out what he could of his magic as well as whatever the hell was digging into his thigh in his pocket. He also needed a shirt, but wasn’t quite sure where he would get one other than from Rarity and he couldn’t exactly bring her up without them getting suspicious. Severely suspicious.

After a moment of walking in silence, with Ash’s already lost since he had focused on his internal thoughts rather than mapping the castle, the maid spoke up, her voice soft and worried as if she was worried about something. “Are you the new creature that appeared in the throne room?”

That explained it. He remembered hearing Celestia give the order that information on him wasn’t meant to leave the castle. That probably meant that staff and guard alike weren’t supposed to talk about him in case they were overheard. She likely didn’t want to get in trouble, but also couldn’t keep her curiosity to herself. Ash nodded, though she was in front of him and couldn’t see it, before speaking. “Are there are other strange new creatures walking around here that I haven’t met before? If not, I think I am him.”

Ash couldn’t help but be a little surprised that his sarcastic joke put a small smile on her muzzle. Truth be told, Ash expected to be scoffed at. From how innocent the Alicorns were, he doubted anyone would appreciate his sarcasm. Maybe sarcasm was something that was understood, even if ponies were just naturally innocent? Or were only the Princesses as innocent as they were, with the rest of ponykind aware of all the darker things in the world. Or was it still a ploy from the Alicorns to test him? The last he severely doubted, simply due to the sheer skill needed to successfully act and react as they have.

“Why did you appear in the throne room? Were you after one of the Princesses?” Feather asked softly, almost worried about how you would react. A patrol of three guards from up ahead must have heard her, though, because their ears perked as they paid attention too, most definitely interested.

“It wasn’t by my choice, mind you. I had no control over where I would appear. It was quite a shock to find myself being poked by a Princess and surrounded by guards.” Ash answered. “The Princesses took my aside like they did to learn more about me and decide whether I’m hostile or not.”

“And are you?”

The guards were now almost even with them, though they had noticeably slowed their pace so the wouldn’t miss anything. Ash internally smirked, knowing whatever said here would be common knowledge amongst both the guards and the servants by noon. “I’m being invited for lunch with the Princesses, aren’t I?”

Feather looked over her shoulder with a smile, though he could easily see the relief in her eyes. “That’s true, isn’t it?”

The two kept walking, fully passing the guards up as they resumed their normal speed, having heard what they wanted to here. The man and maid continued to walk for another five or so minutes, turning down various hallways and branches before coming across a particularly long hallway. The right side, from his view, featured a large window every ten feet. It was not the ‘Hall of Stories’ styled stained glass windows that depicted major events in Equestrian history, but just large glass windows that allowed natural light to filter into the castle. The left side, however, held a large oak door spaced every forty or so feet. Each door had the emblem of both a sun and a moon on it, indicating the guest bedrooms of the diarchy of Equestria. Feather led him to the fourth one and gestured toward the door with a hoof. “This is your room until you decide to leave the castle or the Princesses move you. Either I or another maid will be by a little before noon to bring you to the dining room to eat with the Princesses.”

“Thank you, Ms. Feather.” Ash replied.

“You’re most welcome!” The maid chirped. “I have to continue my duty for now, though.”

The man nodded to her and she left, continuing down the hall the way they had came. Ash turned back to the door and opened it, walking inside easily. While Ash had an idea of what the room would look like, the reality of it still blew him away. The entire room was in a color scheme blending white, gold, black, and dark blue, something that made sense consider who owned the castle. The guest room was, in fact, guest rooms as he saw a door leading to what he assumed would be the bathroom. The entry room, however, was most certainly a bedroom. The bed itself was massive with enough room for three Alicorns easily, or considering the nature of the room, a curled up dragon of considerable size. It was a canopy bed as well, with thin black sheets giving a semblance of privacy from the rest of the room. Two desks made of the same dark oak wood as the study from before were situated against the walls, joined by a wardrobe near the bed and a nightstand even closer. The marble floors were covered in a soft black carpet that, had he not been wearing shoes, he would be most thankful for.

A large set of double doors framed in etched gold, whether it was real or not being debatable, led to a large marble balcony that likely hung over the side of the mountain. A glass window on each side of the doors allowed light to fill the room, though he couldn’t help but notice the thick, white blackout curtains that could be closed to block all sunlight from entering the room. All in all, it was a wonderful room that Ash hoped he didn’t destroy with his magic.

Author's Note

Chapter Two of The Aetherium Mage and, once again, Celestia acts completely differently from what one might expect. Anyone notice how she's different in every story I've written involving her?

As always, feel free to leave a comment on how you feel about this chapter. If you like it, say so and why! If you don't, say so and tell me what you don't like!