Chapters In the eyes of the beholder
I awoke from a summer morning to the sound of an alarm clock, it was Saturday. I was still tired, but I still had to get ready for work even though most people don't work on Saturday mornings. I got out of bed, brushed my teeth, took a shower and did my usual routine. I heard my doorbell ring, there was a package at the front door, and it had no return address. The package had my name on it and everything, I was not usually into opening packages from strangers because it would either be unsafe or be from an unwanted advertiser trying to sell me their products by giving me their brochures. However this was different, the package strangely pulled me towards it, it felt like the feeling of a beckoning siren or loud alarm bells.
My curiosity got the best of me and wanted to open the package, I tore the box open. To my surprise, there was nothing in it. I flipped the box over the see if there were any hidden contents; however it was just an empty box. I stuck my hand through it to see if it would come out the other end. However, my own hand would not respond on the other side. It just went through it as if the other end of the box was intangible. When I retracted my arm, it came out of the box like pulling off a glove.
"What kind of box is this?" I thought crazily to myself.
I went back outside to see if the mailman was still there to notify him of this incident, however he was no longer there. Once again, my curiosity got the best of me; I stuck my head through the box to see what was preventing my hand from pushing to the other end of the box. It was an amazing sight to behold, about twenty feet below me was a rainbow above a waterfall beside a grassy plain. There were many birds chirping and a few grazing animals. "This must be some kind of joke," I thought to myself.
"How is this even possible?"
I thought that I was going crazy, so I called in sick to my boss to investigate further on this matter, even though they didn't have many workers today. I grabbed a long line of string and taped it to a can. I lowered the string as far as it could go to see if the can would either vibrate of make a sound when it touched the ground of this fantasy world, it did. Despite how much shock I was in, I wanted to explore this place and investigate further on the possibility of this being possible. There was not really a good way to get down into this 'place' without hurting myself by falling. I would use a ladder, but I don't think it would be good enough to stay latched onto a cardboard box.
I thought of an idea while pulling up my string attached to my can. I wandered into the garage, grabbing a rope and a tight belt with metal loops (used for activities such as mountain climbing and sky diving). I tied a knot around a pole on my staircase; I attached one of my belt loops to the rope and slowly hoisted myself down the box. One I reached the bottom, I unlatched myself from the rope. I lowered my hand down to the ground, the grass felt... real. It was astonishing, everything around me was real. I walked over to the pond beyond the waterfall and splashed my face with it, it too was real. As soon as I went back to the rope to get some materials to use on my investigation and some things for my survival, the rope and the cardboard box in the sky vanished.
"Fuck." I silently spoke to myself
I despised the thought of being possibly trapped here forever, but I quickly recovered from my worry about the positive outcomes from the situation, things such as no work, a fresh new start, wild life, and... I paused for a moment. I fell to my legs, as if I couldn't stand up anymore. I couldn't move any of my muscles, my entire body was not responding. I couldn't see anything, my vision has gone black and for a moment everything was clear again. I still couldn't move, however my eye muscles were still intact. I tried to stand up, my body still would not respond.
I suddenly gained enough reflexes to crawl over to the pond once more; I realized something as I stared into the reflection of the pond. I was no longer human. It was a traumatizing sight to witness, my clothes were gone. I had tube-like limbs, a huge ass head, a big muzzle, and my entire body was coated in blue. I also had long dark blue hair, I had wings, and I still appeared to be male, to say the least, but as if it couldn't get any worse, my dick was gone. How do I go to the bathroom now? I screamed out loud scaring most of the creatures surrounding me, but I don't think anyone heard me.
I suddenly became hungry; I didn't want anything to upset my new-found body, so I settled for a nearby tree containing some apples. I struggled to limp over to the nearby tree but I made it, but the challenge was how to reach for the apples. I tried to bang my new tube-like hands against the trees; however I was too weak in my new body to have any luck. I looked to see if anything or anyone to help me, but unfortunately there was nothing. I was too weak in my current form to move, walk, and possibly even eat if I was given the opportunity. I had no other option, I would just lie in the uncomfortable position I was in, and just wait there until I either pass out, or fall asleep, whatever came first.
Life can be a cruel mistress
I had a sensation beckoning me to get me back up; it felt as if I was in a more comfortable position then when I was under the tree. I still could not control most of my body and opening my eyes was ridiculously hard to accomplish. After several minutes, I finally manage to open my eyes. I was lying down on a bed, in somebody's house. It wasn't the average typical architecture of a house I'd ever imagine. I made a noise signifying I was awake to whoever rescued me, but my eyes shrank in panic remembering that I was in no condition to be seen in this body, and I was most likely already seen in this form since I no longer was under the tree.
"Oh, you're awake. I thought you would never get up," said the mysterious voice.
I heard abnormal footsteps approaching me, like as if they weren't footsteps, but some other type of noise. I was not sure what was worse, the fact that I was seen as this thing by whoever tried to help recover me from being passed out, or being whatever I am right now. As the steps finally came to a halt, I noticed a figure in the distance that looked like me, except its snout was not as long and it was turquoise colored with turquoise and white hair. I assumed the muzzle was because she's a female to say the least. I decided I would try to get a grip of myself, and try to not expose the situation of what happened to me until necessary so I don't disclose the fact of multiple dimensions and the existence of the human race.
"Hi, I'm Lyra!" she said as soon as she extended one of her tube like structures out to me.
It was very hard for me to speak, but I still could. However, I didn't know how to return the favor of the... 'Hand' shake.
I let out a silent "Hi," in response.
"I'm sorry, you are probably still in shock from what happened. You seemed to have passed out under a tree, so I quickly took you over here to help you," she said in a worried look.
Despite the given current situation, I was still hungry and I meant no rudeness.
"Lyra, Can I have something to eat?" I asked in a quiet tone.
Lyra offered me a ton of baked goods, and they didn't sound too appetizing so I just asked for some fruit, and she was obliged to go pick some for me. I saw her walk out the door with a fruit basket strapped to something that appeared to be a saddle. I tried to stretch some of my muscles and tried to move one limb at a time while she was out to see if I could at least attempt to walk when she gets back. After ten minutes, I managed to flap my wings back and forth trying to withdraw them and retract them to the original position. Then I continued working on my limbs which was much harder. After an hour I managed to get up on my feet in the position Lyra was standing in, however I was still struggling. After several minutes, Lyra came back with some appetizing ripe fruit in her basket.
"I'm sorry it took a while to get them, you feeling any better?" She said as she was walking through the front door.
Lyra was startled to see me struggling to standing up on all fours, and she tried to tuck me back in.
"No, it's quite alright." I said as I was trying to mimic her walk pattern.
I crawled up on to a chair and sat in relief, however Lyra was still worried about my well-being.
"So, do you remember what happened?" Lyra said in a concerned voice.
My eyes widened as I began to worry as to what I should tell her. My heart started pounding and it felt as though every bone in my body was about to crumble. I decided to let out the most blatant lie I could conjure up.
"No," I said as I failing to grab an apple out of the basket.
She could tell I was lying and I was asked a follow-up question.
"What were you doing out there?" She asked in response.
My heart was racing, my lungs were churning, and I can feel sweat run down my neck. I ignored the question as if I didn't hear it, however I was only asked it again.
"I don't know," I said in a desperate tone.
Lyra did not speak any further questions after I had said that which set her into confusion. I continued to struggle with grasping onto the apple successfully, until Lyra offered to help. She was confused as to why I couldn't handle something like this on my own, but she decided that it would be best if she levitated it to my mouth.
"Levitation?" I said questioning her logic.
Lyra once again was confused, however she focused on the apple and it floated in midair while her horn had a slight glow emanating around it. I watched in awe as it floated right to my face. I was kind of embarrassed to have someone feed me food and stick it into my mouth for me. However, I was desperate for food. I opened my mouth and she let me take a few bites out of it.
"So tell me, where are you from?" She once again stunned me from one of her questions.
"I'm a traveler." I said with no other excuse.
"Do you have any place to stay?" She acted concerned.
I shook my head and she offered me to stay at her place until I could recover from my exhaustion. I accepted her offer since I had no other place to go.
"Did anypony travel with you while you were out there?"
Anypony? What was she talking about? This place just keeps getting weirder and weirder.
Lyra tried to rephrase the question but that one word still floated in my mind. Is this what I am, a pony? I asked Lyra if I could have a moment alone, and she respected my privacy and left me in the kitchen for a moment. I was unsure of how long I would be a pony for, why I was presented this opportunity, or even who sent that package to me. All I know is that I've got to try to fit in and try my best to not act suspicious. I looked back at my tube-like hands, they were hooves. My hair, it was my mane. I also had wings; I must be some sort of flying pony, a Pegasus? I turned my head around and saw Lyra heading back to the table.
"Are you alright?" She said in a remorseful tone.
"I'm fine," I lied.
I noticed an image on her outer thighs; it appeared to be lyre, a musical instrument played a very long time ago in my world. It wasn't surprising because of her name, but what surprised me is how it got there. I didn't want to look stupid, asking her how she got it and making me look suspicious. Lyra offered me some more fruit, but I declined while being lost in my thoughts of this land and being a pony.
A few days later, I managed to get in the hang of walking and Lyra wanted to show me into town. I was unsure if I wanted to but if I wanted to fit in, I'd most likely have to get used to it, it would also be a good opportunity to get a job. I accepted her offer and she took me to a town called 'ponyville'. Once we got there, I saw a bunch of mares and stallions of several different colors. One thing I noticed, they all had images on their outer thighs just like Lyra. When I looked back at my thigh, I didn't have one. I was hoping 'nopony' would see me without one.
Lyra said that she needed to run some errands and to meet me back at her house by 6 P.M. I didn't have a watch but luckily there was a clock tower near the town square. I looked around for some nearby businesses to see if I could get a job. I saw a help wanted sign on what appeared to be a child's ride at an amusement park, a carousel like store. It was the first business-like place I've seen today, but it's as good as a place to start as any. I opened the door and entered to see a front desk, there were stairs leading upwards, and the rest of the place looked like an average house. I noticed a bell on the counter; I reached the top of the counter and rang it.
"Just a minute," A female like voice said coming from upstairs.
A female pony with violet a mane curled up and had white fur came walking down the stairs. She too, had an image on her outer thigh, it was 3 diamonds.
"May I help you?" She said as a grin entered her face.
"Yes, can I apply for a job?" I asked with a nervous grin on my face.
The white pony went off to her desk to organize some papers using a horn of hers; she telekinetically levitated one of the papers in the desk and handed it to me.
"I'm hiring, but first I need to see if you fit good qualifications, and then I will consider hiring you," she said as she levitated one of the papers into my mouth.
Is this how I am supposed to carry things, with my mouth? I was unsure if this was sanitary or not, but I continued acting like it was natural for ponies to do so.
"I'm sorry, forgive me for the rudeness, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Rarity." She said.
I almost forgot to introduce myself to Lyra, I've got to think of a better name, and Shane seems too much of a human name to be a pony's name. I began to digress and I wanted to further think about the matter later.
"Now, you best be along, I've got some important orders to fill." She said as she trotted up the stairs.
As I began despite the disgusting thought of how ponies carry things without the use of levitation, I thanked her as I carried it back to Lyra's house and looked at the clock tower. It was nearly 4 o'clock; I had plenty of time to continue roaming about the town. I headed back to the town, and met some unfamiliar ponies. I was told to never talk to strangers but somehow this place seemed peaceful enough to allow my self-security to fade away. Around 15 till' 6 o'clock, I started to head back to Lyra's house and waited for her. Once she got home, she placed some groceries on the counter in the kitchen.
"Have you gotten around to meeting some of the pony folk?" She said.
I nodded as I grabbed a cup with my mouth and placed it in the sink; I turned on the faucet and waited a couple of seconds for the glass to fill up. I then took the cup and placed it on the table.
"So how have you been...?" She paused for a moment.
"I'm sorry; I never got your name." She said as she sat down to talk with me.
I knew I'd eventually be asked for my name. My heart sank as she looked into my eyes. I was curious as to whether I should tell the truth or come up with a name, but doing either of those would be an insanely hard task. I clutched my hooves against the glass of water and took a big gulp almost spilling my glass on the floor.
"My name is Shane." I said nervously as I tried to take another gulp of water.
"Shane? That's a weird name," She said with a curious grin on her face.
"Well, I am foreign around here," I said trying to back up her curiosity.
For now, I think it's safe to say that fate has destined me and Lyra together somehow. I told Lyra about me getting an application for a job for Rarity and how I've spent most of my day in Ponyville. Unfortunately, it brought up a whole new conversation of how much Lyra enjoyed Rarity's outfits and designs she makes. After an hour long conversation, I've decided to go to bed early and drown in my thoughts. I laid my ponified head back covering the pillow on my bed. Questions filled my head: How did this happen? How long am I going to be like this? Was a sick punishment involved for putting me in this body? Even when I found the answers to some of my questions, more relevant ones popped into my mind.
The next day, I woke up very tired as always, human or pony. Lyra was still asleep; I could tell by the dark sky that it was still early in the morning. I sat on a chair in the lounge room and pondered more on what I was to do and what the right thing to do is. In my situation, my life kept getting worse and worse. Then I wondered what it was like back on Earth, Did any massive events take place? Was there anything I missed? Does someone know I am gone? My head felt like it was going to burst with what going on in my mind at the moment. I could hear footsteps, or what's now called hoofsteps, it was Lyra.
"Are you okay?" She said concerned with a yawn.
"I'm fine, you should get some rest," I lied in hopes to be alone.
Lyra didn't believe what I had said and sat on a chair next to me.
"Something's been bugging you since I've found you out near the lake; would you care to tell me?" She said in a sincere voice.
"It's nothing really," I said lying once more.
Lyra came up to my chair and wrapped her hoof around me.
"You can tell me anything, just tell me what's bothering you," She said in reply.
Right now I was at an ultimatum, considering these ponies have magic such as levitation, the only way of getting home would be disclosing the presence of my world and most likely the existence of humans, otherwise I might be in this place forever. I hesitated a moment trying to think of how I should respond to her question.
"I can't help you if you don't tell me what's bothering you," She said interrupting my hesitation.
I could feel sweat dripping from my muzzle down to my chest. I've never been so afraid to answer such a simple question in my entire life. Lyra returned to her chair and looked upon my stressed out face.
"I am worried about you Shane, what's the matter?"
There was no way to convince Lyra to stop questioning me and there was no other way home. I had no choice; I was going to tell her the truth.
"Lyra, as you might have guessed, I am not from here," I said
"In fact, I'm not even from this planet," I continued.
Lyra was silent, trying to comprehend what she was hearing, I wasn't sure if she believed a word I had said.
"I am what we call, 'human'. It's a different race of beings from a planet called Earth," I finished.
Lyra walked on over to her bed without saying a word to me, while sitting on her bed, she looked exactly how I looked before she asked what I was upset about.
I walked over to Lyra and tried to confront her.
"Lyra, you're the only pony I know who could help me get back home, because you're the only pony who knew about the human race before I mentioned it," I said with a smirk on my face.
Lyra got up in surprise.
"How'd you know?" She said, still stunned by what I had said.
"Lyra, that is irrelevant right now, what is relevant is why I am here, and I am in full belief of you being behind some of it,"
Lyra sighed in disbelief of what I had said.
"So my so-called friends told you about my 'obsession' did they?" She said with a bright smug on her face.
I could tell she didn't believe a word I had said to her regarding me being human and knowing about what her friends call her 'obsession'.
"Lyra, I'm telling you the whole truth right now, and I do need your help!" I said with a serious face.
Lyra just giggled for a moment in continuous disbelief of what I had said. I decided it would be best if I walked back over to my bed and slept it off.
Later that morning, I noticed Lyra sitting at the table slowly nibbling off of her sandwich.
"Lyra..." I said
"We need to talk," We both said simultaneously.
At that instant, I had belief Lyra took some consideration of thought into what I had said last night.
"You go first," She said with a slight grin on her face.
"About yesterday, I am sorry for bringing up a topic that rather should not have been discussed,"
Lyra looked down as if she was ashamed of herself for the disbelief of what I had said.
"Go to Princess Celestia, she'll tell you what you need to do," She said in reply.
I did not know who this Princess was, or what her role of this kingdom was, but it was safe to assume she had more authority of these ponies than either one of us did.
"She lives in Canterlot; you can take the train in Ponyville to there." She said with a rather disappointed face.
Then I realized something, Lyra had wanted me to be here. She must have used the authority from the Princess to summon me with her magic. At that moment, I kind of felt sorry for her and what her friends thought of my race not existing.
Should I stay or should I go?
Later that day, I packed some fruits and some other types of foods I'd consider as edible and Lyra gave me some money for the train ride over and some for anything else I might need some money for. The currency appeared to be in the form of coins.
"Sixty bits should be enough for the train ride and anything else you might need the money for," She said as she gave me a hug across my chest.
The hug was very warming and surprisingly comfortable. Lyra was trying to keep her plastic smile on as long as she could until I exited the door. I left to the Ponyville train station and awaited the arrival of the train. After an hour of waiting, I purchased a ticket with some of the money Lyra has left for me and boarded. The train ride lasted for about an hour and a half. The entire ride, I had thought about Lyra and how sad I felt for her. I disembarked the train and arrived in Canterlot; the princess' castle stuck out compared to the rest of the city so I knew where I was headed. When I made it to the castle I was greeted by two guards.
"Halt! State your name and business," One of the guards said in a serious manner.
"My name is Shane, I request an audience with the princess," One of the guards were stunned after I mentioned my name and whispered into the other guard’s ear.
"You may pass," They both said.
The castle was just as huge on the inside as it was on the outside. The foyer looked as if it was 6 stories tall. I disregarded the topic of how big the castle was, trying to focus on what I mainly was here for. I was concerned with where I was going, because I swear I got lost for at least ten minutes in this castle until I stumbled into the throne room. The throne room was just as big as the foyer, it had a large rug leading up to two thrones. I was curious to know if there was another ruler over this kingdom or not, but it was irrelevant at the time. Celestia, a white pony, was sitting on her throne talking to one of her servants until she noticed me entering.
"Shane, I am guessing you've found out why you are here," She said with a serious face.
"More or less, I know it has something to do with you and Lyra," I replied walking closer to her.
The aura around her mane and tail were unrealistic, there appeared to be some sort of fabric like material but they were not, they also were cycling specific positions of her mane and tail to another. It was like one of those fake fireplaces with a fabric instead of fire, whipping around, but instead her mane and tail were moving gently and more peacefully. Her color pattern for her mane and tail were also completely different from the other ponies, she had a green, light pink, and some shades of blues in the form of stripes. She also had an image on her outer thigh; it was a picture of a sun. There was something else that stuck out between the other ponies and her, she was both a unicorn and a Pegasus and both her wings and her horn were huge. I guess it's not my place to judge her appearance.
Celestia beckoned me forward, her surprisingly calm aura only made it harder to refuse. I proceeded further until we were about one pony's length away from each other.
"Shane, what do you see?" Celestia said in a formal tone
"What do you mean?" I replied curiously.
Celestia sighed profusely.
"What I mean is what do you see, a land of magical ponies and full of abundance or a land where everything is normal to you that makes it so you follow the same routine over and over again?" She responded
I was curious as to what she was getting at, it was such an obvious question but did she really expect an answer to it?
"Your highness, I mean no disrespect, but I do believe this is such an irrelevant question," I politely responded.
"Shane, you don't understand. What I am telling you is, your life here is much more interesting here than it was on your own planet. I am giving you the option to either stay or go back to your normal life, I'll respect your opinion," She said.
I hesitated for a moment and I could not respond. The fact the matter is, she was right, my life was more abundant now than it was before I got here.
"I see, I will give you more time to think about it, until then, you may stay in one of my bedrooms until you have made your decision," She generously offered.
I could not deny her offer, I was still too deep into my thoughts of what I should do. Celestia called one of her royal guards and had them guide me to one of the bedrooms I could stay in, however they were on the top floor, climbing the stairs was a pain. Even if I did know how to fly with my wings, I wouldn't be able to get to my room without guidance. After climbing several flights of stairs the guard showed me to my room, it was as big as Lyra's house.
"Enjoy your stay, if you would ever like an audience with the princess, please let us know ahead of time," The guard said.
I nodded my head and walked over to my new bed, which was soft as ever, and continued to drown myself in my thoughts. Then several thoughts came to me. How would I survive on just fruits and vegetables? How will I live without technology? How will I get in the hang of being a pony? Would I ever learn to fly? Before my thoughts took over, my head rested on the soft pillow without any consent from the rest of my body and fell asleep.
I awoke to the sound of a knock, it was a rather weird sounding knock considering it was with hooves, but it was a knock nonetheless.
"Good morning, this is your wake up call," A guard said as he opened my door.
I was startled for a moment, forgetting why I was in this bed instead of at Lyra's house for a second and my thoughts came back to me as I remembered I was in Canterlot to discuss me being a pony in this land and whether I belong or not to the princess. The guard was levitating a plate of things I surprisingly found edible, however, this was a society with nothing but ponies, so everypony was a vegetarian making it so I had to go without meat, eggs, or any really good food. It was a plate full of bread, some fruits, and some vegetables. Knowing the princess, she probably had whoever prepared this; prepare it to be edible by a human.
"Enjoy your breakfast," The guard pony said as he closed the door behind him.
I got off my bed and walked over to the plate the guard laid out for me, as I once again began to ponder on what I should do. After I took my first bite, I realized something. A question popped up into my mind, I opened the door back up and called for the guard and the guard came back up.
"You need my assistance?" He asked politely, with a slightly noticeable plastic smile.
"I request an audience with the princess as soon as possible," I said with a serious face.
"Your request has been made, I will inform the princess and we'll report when she is available," The guard said once again while closing the door behind him.
I finished my breakfast after a half hour of eating and then climbed down the stairs, trekked through the castle hallways, and then left the castle, however it was still difficult to get around the castle. The castle guards at the entrance gave me a verification badge to get entrance whenever I left.
I explored Canterlot a little bit further than yesterday; it was definitely bigger than I thought it was yesterday. My first stop was at a local donut shop, owned by a nice pony named Joe, since I was still kind of hungry and I could use something other than fruits and vegetables. Joe had a wide variety of different kinds of donuts. I paid Joe with some of the bits I had left after the train ride yesterday. I ate a couple of donuts, chatted with a few of the residents of Canterlot who were also eating some of Joe's donuts, and then I left.
After I ate some donuts, I visited a barber shop in hopes of cleaning up my very messy mane because I haven't been grooming it very well. Even though I just recently got into this body, it could use some sprucing up. My dark blue mane was all shaggy and it looks like it hasn't been combed in weeks, if that's even how ponies fix their mane. Without going through many details, I asked if the barber could just trim the upper layer of my mane and to brush it so it wouldn't ruin the style it was in. I paid the barber what seemed to be the rest of the money I had. The barber levitated a pair of scissors and trimmed my mane down about a quarter of an inch down then he set the scissors down and levitated a brush and slowly brushed my mane. After he was done, I left him the loose change I had left and headed back to the castle. It was getting dark out; I think I may have stayed at the donut shop too long. The sun did not gradually move like it did on earth, it went down immediately from the position it started in the morning whenever the day needed to end.
I greeted the guards at the entrance and presented my badge to them so they would let me in. They allowed me in and I proceeded to walk over to my room. It was much easier to navigate to my room than before after remembering the hallways I went through the first time but it was still difficult to get to my room with how tiring it got. After re-climbing the several flights of stairs, I finally made it to my room. After five minutes of resting from all those stairs, I heard a knock on my door.
"Oh good, you're back, I scheduled an audience with you and the princess tomorrow morning after she raises the sun." The guard said.
The princess raises the sun? I knew this place had magic but raising the sun just seems too far-fetched for even a princess to be able to do. Once again, I decided it was best not to question pony logic and continue on.
"Until then, I suggest you get some rest," He said leaving the room.
I looked at the clock next to my bed; it was just like the one on the clock tower in Ponyville, however it was definitely much smaller. It did not run on batteries or an AC adapter; it appeared to working on its own, possibly by magic. The clock said '8:30' using its two hands. The time did not feel right at all, but I did not want to argue with the logic of this land or the magic within it.
I needed to discuss with the princess as soon as possible, the question that I thought of this morning keeps ringing in my mind and strikes my curiosity enough to want an audience in the first place. Not only that, but I think it is also safe to say that I've made up my mind on whether I'm leaving or staying in this land, I might get some answers around here after all. I fell asleep in preparation for the next day.
The next day, I heard a knock on my door, just like the one from the previous day.
"It is time for your scheduled audience with the princess," A guard said beckoning me towards the door.
I wasn't sure whether I was prepared to speak with her again since I just woke up, but I suppose the princess has most likely has seen worse.
"Please follow me," He said as I struggled to get out of the bed.
The guard has taken me through what seemed like most of the castle, corridor after corridor, room after room. It seemed almost like hours, until we finally reached our destination. It was a very secluded room, very small and empty. The room was not nearly as big as the foyer, let alone the throne room. The room was about 7 x 7 x 7 in feet, but considering we were ponies, it really didn't matter about the size of the room but still very small nonetheless. All the walls around us were sealed by metal and a magical barrier, even the door was protected by metal and magic. Celestia was standing at the other end of the room keeping a serious face on. I walked over to her as the guard left the room while also using a magical lock on the door to prevent anyone from coming in here.
"This is the private room. We converse about the most important and classified information here that should not be discussed anywhere else," She said in a serious manner.
"I suppose you have made up your decision," She said expecting a positive answer.
"Even though you deserve all the rights to know my answer first, I have a question for you," I said politely.
It was a question she knew I was going to ask, it's as if she read my mind like she read a thousand page book in a second, remembering word for word.
"And that is?" She said playing along.
"Why did you pick me out of the billions of humans on my planet?" I said confidently with also a bit of curiosity.
"I didn't, fate chose you by random, however, you still have the choice of whether you want to stay or not," She responded.
From this, I can understand that Lyra either wanted to prove that humans existed and the only way to do that would to confront the most powerful authority and get people to believe her as well as an opportunity to meet a human.
"Now, if you wish to stay in this land, you must sign this contract for confidentiality reasons, if you decline my offer, I will be obliged to send you home," She said with an even more serious face than before.
--Please read 'The Contract' before continuing--
She levitated it towards the ground at my legs. I noticed it was a contract full of specific rules. One rule caught my eye.
"Princess, why would you take a human here if the main reason Lyra wanted me here is to prove humans existing?" I questioned.
"Lyra never specified the reason why she wanted a human here, all I did was grant her request, and the only way to bring you here without disclosing the race is by turning you into a pony," She sighed.
I reread everything in the contract twice, I was afraid of the 'losing my memory' part the most. Not only that, but I'd never be human again. Celestia made a quill with ink appear out of thin air and lowered it to the ground next to the contract.
"Please sign it with your new name, Blue Flare," She said with a smug look on her face.
I hadn't even begun to think through the contract, without any further thought, I picked up the quill with my mouth. I began to struggle to write but I manageably signed my 'new' name onto the paper as my mind filled up with the constant reminder of my name being 'Blue Flare' as if it was always my name. Then suddenly, my memory of my life vanished completely when I finished signing the contract.
"Thank you, a guard will escort you to a train ride back to Ponyville, enjoy your permanent stay in Equestria," She said opening the metal door beckoning me out.
A guard came walking down my current corridor and escorted me out, then took me to the train station. The guard showed some kind of authority slip to the pony at the ticket booth. He obliged to give a free ticket and the guard handed it to me while also removing my badge that has been given to me a couple days ago that allowed entrance to the castle.
"Your train arrives in an hour, have a nice day," The guard said as he walked back over to the castle.
After an hour of doing almost completely nothing while waiting for the train, the train arrived and I got on board. It was just as much of a boring ride home as it was getting to Canterlot, if not more boring. When I got back, the first thing I did was go over to Lyra's house to see her again. When I got there Lyra greeted me with a much more enthusiastic look upon her face.
"Shane! You're back, I was so worried that you would have gone back to your home planet, and why do you look so young?" Lyra said with tears shedding upon her eyes as she ran up to me to give me a big hug that nearly suffocated me.
"Who's Shane?" I responded with a curious face.
"My name's Blue Flare and what are you talking about?" I said in the form of a reply.
Lyra's grin sank as if she thought I was somepony else and she ended up being completely speechless.
"Well, it's nice catching up with you Lyra, but I've got to sign up for school," I said.
Lyra's sunken grin turned into a rather curious face and she wanted to object but before Lyra could say anything else, I was out the door.
I started to walk back over to Ponyville but then something really caught my eyes as I walked passed a small stream of water showing my reflection, I was a colt. It did not bother me since I've never been grown up.
--Just to clarify things, he has been grown up but no longer has the memory of it. He also has his memory of being with Lyra still, however he does not have the memory of how he met with her in the first place, the only things he knows about him and Lyra being together is that they met eachother and been with eachother long enough to be considered as friends. He is also a colt because in the contract it stated that he must fully undergo the life cycle of a pony.--
I arrived in Ponyville and saw a school house. It had many decorations surrounding it. On the exterior, it was a red school house with hearts painted above all the windows along the swirl-like painted walls. On the top, there was a wind vane that looked like an arrow from cupid's crossbow and under it was a school bell. The entire place seemed to be covered in hearts. Nobody was inside, mostly because it was a weekend, but I would be surprised if there wasn't any staff. I opened the not-so-surprisingly unlocked door and entered the building. A pony with a pink and white mane with violet coated fur approached me from her desk.
"Well hello there sweetie, what are you doing here all alone?" She said with a bright grin on her face.
"I came to get an education," I replied.
"Well aren't you the little smart one. Where are your parents?" She asked.
I didn't know the answer to her question; I didn't even know how I came into existence. All I know is that I feel like I should be getting an education rather than doing nothing all day, even if it did bore me to death.
"I don't have any," I said looking at the ground.
"Oh, you poor thing!" She grabbed me and squeezed me tightly.
"Of course I can teach you, but you have to get along with the rest of the class, and you also have to be under supervision when not at school," She said.
"Oh, I already have supervision, Lyra and I..." I said but being interrupted by her hoof being put on my mouth.
"Lyra may be a good pony, but she isn't a very good mother-like figure," She replied.
I could feel sweat running down my silky fur as she pressed on. I didn't think that I needed supervision that much but I couldn't deny her request since she has more authority than me.
"I will go to the Ponyville adoption center tomorrow morning, until then you will be under my supervision, also, I don't believe I've gotten your name, my name is Ms. Cheerilee," She continued.
"My name is Blue Flare," I responded.
We had a long enduring conversation about personal things, however the vast majority made me fall clueless. I tried to end the conversation.
"Well, I'm going back to..." I was interrupted once more.
"I told you, until I contact the Ponyville adoption center, you're not going anywhere without my supervision," She said blocking my path.
Cheerilee walked back over to her desk and she looked like she was grading and filing papers. I grabbed a small tennis ball and sat in the corner and began to throw it against the wall, it wasn't like I had anything better to do anyways. After about 15 minutes, my arm got tired and I stopped to ask an embarrassing question.
"When do we go home?" I asked Ms. Cheerilee.
"I work for another 2 hours," She said assuming that I don't understand how to keep time.
I sat down at one of the desks, and felt the temptation to want to lay my head on it. I didn't want to be rude to my 'supervisor', however when you're in a classroom and you're limited to what you can do at a time like this, I almost felt like lying my head down was a necessity. I slowly laid my head down, however Ms. Cheerilee seemed to take notice.
"Sweetie, please keep your head up," She said.
Now I truly had nothing to do. After two long hours of resting my muzzle over my hooves on the desk, Ms. Cheerilee got out of her desk and beckoned to me.
"Come on, it's time to show you were you're going to be staying for now," She said walking over towards the door.
I got up and proceeded to walk behind her. We got out onto the streets of Ponyville and walked for several minutes. We arrived at her house and it appeared to be as heart-decorated as the school was. Ms. Cheerilee unlocked the door and we walked inside.
"This is where you'll be sleeping," She said pointing to a guest room.
I walked into the guest room; it had just as much on the exterior of the house as the interior. It was definitely 'full of love'. I walked over to my bed, but then she interrupted me.
"Are you hungry?" She asked.
Then I realized something, when was the last time I ever ate or slept? Surprisingly, I wasn't hungry at all, but I did feel tired.
"No, but thanks for the offer," I replied as I began to position myself onto the bed.
The bed actually felt pretty comfortable, it had a presence of indescribable coziness. I could feel the pillow matching the shape of my head, and the bad resembling my body. I slowly closed my eyes and let the bed consume me.
It was Sunday morning; I woke up rather early in the morning to the sound of birds chirping. However, Ms. Cheerilee seemed to be awake and just as bright and shiny as always. I walked into the kitchen as she greeted me.
"Good morning sweet heart, how was your rest?"
"Excellent, thank you," I said as an understatement compared what in reality it was.
"I got in touch with the Ponyville adoption center; they had a mother available to take care of you,"
I wasn't sure whether I was excited or sweating in nervousness, but I knew I was in for a surprise. Was I really in need of an adult figure? Also, she woke up this early to go to the adoption center? I knew she was busy, but this is a little ridiculous even for her.
"Who is it?" I said anxious to get an answer.
"The Ponyville adoption center said that your new mother is going to be Rarity,"
I was too hesitant to speak, the name was familiar somehow.
"They said we can come to the adoption center to meet your new mother in an hour, so please get ready," She said offering a smile.
"Blue Flare, Are you ready?" Ms. Cheerilee said opening the door to my room.
"Yeah, just one moment," I replied.
Ms. Cheerilee left the door carrying some papers and her saddle bag then she waited for me outside. After a few minutes of sitting on my bed being lost in history about being adopted, thinking of things such as why I knew Rarity to an extent, I got up and walked outside. We walked for about 2 minutes through Ponyville until we got to the adoption center. When we got to the building, I stuttered for a moment and did not think to move. I do not know why, but something about this felt very off.
"Well, go on," Ms. Cheerilee said as she nudged me and then tugged my hoof inside the building.
When we got inside, it looked like a lounge with a front desk and there was pony clerk expecting us.
"Hello, how may I help you?" The pony clerk said with a smile.
"We are here for the adoption for Blue Flare here, we were told Rarity would be here by now," Ms. Cheerilee responded.
"One moment please, Ms. Rarity, would you please come over to the front desk," The pony clerk said.
A female pony with white coated fur with a violet colored mane and a unicorn horn approached the front desk. She was familiar, but it was none of my concern, at least not for now, because what was more important was how is this adoption going to affect the rest of my life and will it be a positive or negative affect?
"Rarity, meet your new adopted son, Blue Flare," The clerk said pointing her hoof to me.
I could tell that Rarity was stunned, I wasn't sure because of the sheer fact that I was or wasn't appalling, or because we have met before, or some completely different reason.
"Now, Ms. Rarity, if you would please sign this, you will officially be the mother of Blue Flare," The pony clerk at the desk said hoofing over a piece of paper to Rarity.
Surprisingly, no will in my body wanted to stop her. I actually wanted her to sign it, however I did not know why, there was actually a presence of love that I had for her. It's as if I have been a member of her family before she said she would adopt me even though I've only seen her just now throughout my entire life. Rarity hasn't talked to me since she approached the desk, however she agreed with pony clerk, levitated the pen on the desk, and signed her name. Rarity shook the pony clerk's hoof and beckoned me out the door. Rarity, or rather my mother, didn't say anything on the way to her house. It wasn't a house; it was more of a boutique consisting of household objects. Rarity stopped walking when we both got inside.
"I don't even know where to start with you, Shane," She said with an irritated sigh.
"Who's this 'Shane' I keep hearing about?" I replied in a slightly irritated manner.
She sighed even deeper and more irritated than before.
"About a week ago, you were much older and you came in here to ask if you could apply for a job. What happened to you?" She curiously asked.
"I don't know what you're talking about, and what kind of mother asks a question like that right after she adopts a child?" I asked even more confused than before.
"Lyra came to me a few days ago, introduced you to me, and told me that you wouldn't be able to apply for the job because you're going to Canterlot. I asked her why but she refused to tell me." She said as she ignored my question.
Nothing she was telling me made any sense, if only she would just give me one straight answer.
"So why did you want to adopt me?" I asked her.
Rarity paused for a moment while facing the ground, basking in her memories.
[This video is simply for dramatic music effect for your reading experience, you don't have to listen to it if you don't want to.]
Youtube Video
Rarity began to speak with a rather disappointed face.
"Blue Flare, was the name of my little brother, who passed away a few years ago."
"He always wanted to achieve his dream of flying above the clouds with the other pegasi, but I wanted him to wait a couple of years before he took flight school, however he disregarded my opinion and he believed he was ready. Without my supervision or consent, he perched himself on top of a high cliff. He jumped off the cliff but his wings did not succeed at his flight and he fell from the sky. Not only would he never reach his dreams of ever flying, but he also ended up receiving an insurmountable amount of injuries while trying. His injuries were too fatal to heal by any of the pony medics, even the hospital in Canterlot could not help and he was put to his unfortunate rest."
"When I saw you applying for the job I noticed something familiar about you, I did not know why."
"Then about a week after you came to apply for the job, I heard somepony with the same name being put up for adoption, it reminded by my tragic memories and I had no choice to see for myself. When I saw you at the adoption center, not only were you a pegasus like him, but you resembled him in every way: your mane, your fur, your eyes, your age, and even your birth day all resembled my brother. Despite how bleak this may sound, but Shane, you are my brother. My Parent's disbelief for your continual existence was too little for them to accept you as their child. I had no choice; I had to adopt you myself in order to be a family again."
"Shane... No, Blue Flare, you are my brother. Welcome home... Son."
Authors Notes:
Please note: Rarity is NOT the human sister of Shane from Earth.
Music: Final Fantasy VI - Celes' theme
I do not own the Final Fantasy company or share any partnership in their game creations.
Me and Rarity were both silent for a couple of minutes, then Rarity started to digress.
"Let me show you around the place, son," She said digressing the situation.
The word she had said a few times now, "son", kept ringing through my ears like an alarm. It did not feel right and I am pretty sure it didn't feel right for to say it either. I can safely assume she's probably only saying it to only get us both used to the fact that she now has a son, which is apparently me. Something strikes me even odder, was I really her long lost brother who died a couple years ago? I wanted to look into this further, but now was not the time.
Rarity has shown me all around the boutique: her work place, her bedroom, the kitchen, the bathroom, and my bedroom. I just realized that I don't have any memory of me going to the bathroom. I did not know what it felt like, or how I would go in the first place, but the reminder sure made me have a rough feeling in my bowels. I had the sudden urge to squirm in place and Rarity noticed me.
"Do you have to go to the bathroom, darling?" Rarity giggled.
I assumed the bathroom she showed me was where I was supposed to go, so I ignored her question and ran there, despite how hard it was to get there since it was upstairs. When I ran into the bathroom, there was a small hole on the floor to what appeared to be leading to a drain. It was pretty much the only thing the room. I walked over to it and made sure my bowels where directly above it since that's where the unfamiliar feeling is coming from. I could not describe how it was done, but my body felt like a body of water was being drained. Suddenly, my body started to feel more comfortable.
I felt the opportunity to take my leave was in order when the peak of my own comfort was met. I left the bathroom and confronted Rarity again.
"I'm sorry we just met and had little time to bond or discuss anything, but I do have to work on some projects my client has given me," She said politely as possible.
Rarity walked back over to her work room, it was full of dresses, suits, and other wearing accessories. I walked back downstairs, and left. I had nothing better to do, so I wandered off to Lyra's house. I saw Lyra at home, reading a book on a strange topic through one of her windows at her house. I knocked on her door and she came to the door.
"Look, 'Blue Flare', there's something I need to tell you," Lyra guided me over to her couch and we both sat down.
She showed me the book she was reading, the topic on the book was 'Fact and Fiction'.
"You know our ruler, Princess Celestia?" She asked.
I nodded my head.
"I've read it when I was just a filly and learned about the human race being a myth and just wanted to believe was true, but to this day there's something in the book I've taken little heed to accepting to be true," Lyra continued
I faked nodding my head in agreement; Lyra levitated the book to us as she began to read.
"There's a rumor that the princess brings a human to Equestria every one hundred years and turns them into a pony, Tricks them into signing a contract to restrict them from disclosing their race and having any memory of being human removed, and finally turns them into foals to start their life cycle anew as a pony," She said reading the text out of the book
"Erm... What?" I replied.
"I asked her to bring a human to Equestria, but not like this, but I don't think she did it for me, I think she did it for her 'tradition'," She said.
We were both silent for a moment.
"You don't believe me, do you?" Lyra questioned
"It's kind of hard to believe you, I can't say I do, Lyra," I responded
Lyra's head sank, as she stopped levitating the book. I could see tears fall out of her eyes, and I assumed she was crying.
"Nopony believes me, not even you, Shane!" Lyra galloped over to her room, magically slamming the door shut.
"I'm sorry, Lyra!" I yelled.
I paused for a moment.
"And who in hay is Shane?!" I Yelled.
I came over to Lyra's bedroom door, I could hear sniffling inside. This was definitely not like Lyra, I wanted to console her and see what I could do to make her feel better. I knocked on the door and got a rather expected response.
"What do you want?" I heard coming from the door.
"Lyra, it's me, I just want to talk," I replied
Of course I would receive as good of a response anypony would give.
"I don't want to talk right now, leave me alone," She muttered.
I felt the necessity of consoling her was more important than leaving her alone to be drowned in her own sorrows, so I opened her door and went inside. Lyra was weeping on her bed; I noticed several tears dwindling down her muzzle. I walked over to her bed and sat next to her.
"Lyra, I want to apologize, I'm sorry for not believing you," I apologized deeply.
"And you still don't believe me, do you?" She returned.
I paused for a moment in response because lying would only make the situation worse and to be honest, the truth hurts.
"Didn't think so," Lyra said as her head sank.
"Lyra, I..." I said being interrupted.
"You don't have to say anything, you can leave now Shane," She said in deep anguish.
"Stop calling me Shane!" I yelled only upsetting her more.
"Lyra..." I said, but she stopped me once again
"Please, just go," She said sniffling.
I decided it would be best if I had left her alone.
PLEASE NOTE: This chapter will still be taken in first person view; however it will be from Lyra's perspective.
Blue Flare exited the door with remorse; however he imagined it was best to leave me alone.
"Get a hold of yourself Lyra, you're better than this," I thought to myself as some of my tears dried away.
I got up off the bed, grabbed my saddlebag, and left the house. I was going to get to the bottom of this. I know these rumors are true, and ever since Shane confronted the Princess, he forgot all about himself. I was going to see why the Princess was enforcing this, its insanity. I bought train tickets and rode all the way over to Canterlot, despite the long journey and how many bits it took to do it; it was worth it for the sake of the human race. I made it to Canterlot castle.
"Halt! State your name and business," One of the pony guards stopped me and said.
To be honest, I really had no good excuse to make me seem like I'm not up to something, I tried to be vague as possible.
"Lyra, I came to see the Princess," I spoke brushing one of my front hooves on the ground.
One of the guards gave me a grim look, and responded.
"...And what would require presence the Princess in such urgency?" He questioned.
With sweat drizzly down my neck, I try to mutter out words to form a sentence, however I got interrupted.
"I... am trying... to..." I said while being paused.
"It's alright guards, let her through," The princess calmly said coming to the entrance.
Something tells me she knows why I am here. We walked for quite a bit, hallway after hallway, until we finally reached a metal room with a magic barrier surrounding the perimeter of it. The guards locked the door on the so nopony could get in, it was just me, Princess Celestia, and a guard pony in a dark and dank room. Something tells me that what I am about to hear should not be discussed elsewhere.
"This is the seclusion room, we discuss the most top secret information here, including what were about to discuss," The Princess stated.
"I am afraid your involvement with humans has gone too far this time, Lyra," She said with a serious look on her face.
"Certain penalties are in order, now I'm going to need you to be a good pony and stand still," She continued.
The guard pony snuck up from behind me, forced me into prone position, and magically bound my hooves to the ground. I couldn't move and I was not good enough at magic to release myself.
"Now if you please sign this contract, restarting your life with no memory, that would be great," She levitated a paper and pen in front of me.
"I know you still have access to your levitation, now sign it!" The princess shouted.
"Why... Why would you do this?" I asked in fear.
"It's simple really; I give humans a chance to fulfill their lives as ponies. Most of the humans are desperate to live their lives as ponies, even if they had to leave their original lives and memory behind," She said.
"Guard, I'm going to have to ask you to escort Miss Lyra to her jail cell," She said.
The guard removed my saddlebags and left them for another guard to take, unbound me from the ground, and stuck me into a tiny cage, the cage had a magical lock preventing it from opening unless the spell was undone, and the cage attached to the guards saddle. I was carried for several minutes until I reached the Princess' dungeon, not very surprisingly empty in here since most of Equestria is friendly. The jail cells had a magical binds surrounding each individual cell. Each cell contained a bathroom hole and a bed. Neither of those were enough to make me feel at home. The guard threw the cage in, locked the door to my jail cell, and unbound the magic lock to my cage. I had nothing better to do, so I hopped onto my bed and slept.
I awoke to the unpleasant sound of a guard waking me up for breakfast. The breakfast was to die for, and when I said to die for, I meant if you ate it, you would die from eating them. There was an apple that didn't look nearly ripe, a soggy sandwich, and a flower with dirt all over it, not only was this a very small amount of food, but it didn't even look edible. The guard casted a spell upon the food so it could pass through the barrier around my cell and slid it through the slot under the cell cage door.
"Enjoy the compliments of the Princess," The guard laughed as he walked back upstairs.
I stared back at the food; the Princess was out of her right mind if she thought this was edible. Despite how gross it was, it was my only rations I would have for hours, if not days, I got desperate. I haven't eaten since before 'Blue Flare' came to my house yesterday. I really didn't enjoy doing this but I had no choice, I levitated the flower and tried to dust it off to the best of my abilities, however my hoof only removed some of it, I took a bite, it tasted terrible. However, I had to press forward if I wanted to survive down here. When my entire platter was finished, my eyes widened and my ears twitched, it was the most disgusting thing I've ever eaten and it went WAY beyond my standards. I could definitely feel a stomach ache coming, I went back to my bed, and rested it off.
I was woken again, but late in the afternoon, by one of the guards.
"The Princess requests your presence,"
In the same fashion of getting down to the jail cell, a guard magically locked me into a tiny, uncomfortable cage and hauled me up to the same room again.
"Lyra, I've made up my punishment," She said starring at the ground, facing away from me.
"I have no choice but to send you back to Earth, and turn you human again," She continued.
Author's Notes:
I am well aware of this being an early release, but I had a lot of time on my hands today, I made an early release since I would not be able to release tomorrow morning, and I am sorry for giving you guys a heart attack for saying it will be released on Friday.
A princess being cornered
I froze in fear, I wouldn't have moved anyways since the guards bound me to the ground, but what I had heard stunned me.
"I thought this would be no surprise to you, after all, you were quite a struggle against my amnesia spell, which makes you forget about the human race, who you were, and what you did as a human, but I was successful, nonetheless, but somehow, you found traces of your memory about the human race and how it existed." She said.
"Two hundred years ago, it was your turn to become a pony and decide whether you wanted to stay or not, of course your decision was 'yes'," She continued.
I was still stuck in fear by what I was being told.
"It's amazing how my magic gives you eternal life when you turn into a pony, if you were to go back to earth, you would simply turn into ash since your life as a human is over after two hundred years of aging," She finished.
"Wouldn't somepony notice that I was alive for longer than the average age limit of a pony, and how come I didn't notice me being alive this long? Why haven't I aged over the long period of time?" I muttered.
"When was the last time anypony celebrated your birthday? Not recently, of course, after a human undergoes the full pony life cycle and they become an adult pony, there pony age will permanently stay the same while you still age on Earth, because the transformation into a pony comes with a magical spell that does not allow your birthday to ever come and you would never be reminded of it just like every other human who signs the contract, The spell also doesn't allow anypony to mention or know about your birthday," She smirked.
"Now if you don't mind, I'll make the package reappear for your teleportation back to Earth, don't worry, the process of you aging two hundred years will be the utmost pain you ever received when you go back to your planet, good bye, Jackie," Celestia said as she removed my binds, magically appearing a cardboard box out of thin air, and slowly levitating me towards the box.
I was unable to speak, I was too frightened by what was happening, until something opened the sealed door behind me, no, somepony, no, someponies.
"Sister, What is this madness?!" The anonymous voice spoke.
PLEASE NOTE: The first person view is now in Blue Flare's perspective.
-Yesterday after the confrontation with Blue Flare and Lyra-
I slowly closed Lyra's door and left back to my house. Mom still seemed to still be working, so I decided it was best not to bother her. I made a hay sandwich and fed myself, and then I walked back up to my bedroom. I couldn't stop thinking about Lyra, I felt sorry for what I had said to her, but there is no way I could believe her. I couldn't help but think, was she right? Is there really another sentient being out there? I spent nearly the whole day thinking about this, until mom came to my room only to shut off my light and say 'good night' to me.
The next day, mom offered me breakfast and wished me the best of luck on my first school day, I noticed that mom had crafted me a backpack, she said she had some spare time from her work to make me one. It was a dark blue backpack, it matched my fur color, but it is understandable why she didn't have any time to spruce it up. After I walked to school, the memories of the school house filled in with all the red and pink hearts came back to me. However, I decided to get over it since I really had no other option. I entered the school; in the nick of time too, the school bell rang about half a minute after I entered. Ms. Cherilee greeted me as I entered the door and she gave me a couple of text books on some anonymous topics such as reading, spelling, cutie marks, math, and grammar.
After a couple minutes, Ms. Cherilee got in front of the board and began to lecture us. It was not too long before mom came bursting through the doors; Ms. Cherilee tried to act as polite as possible in the situation.
"One moment, kids," Cherilee said walking over towards the door.
Ms. Cherilee and my mom were conversing, and whatever it was about, I could tell that it was not good by my mom's expressions.
"Blue Flare, you may be excused," Ms. Cherilee said walking back to the center of the room.
I walked out the door with my mom. She seemed upset.
"Lyra is not home, she left a note saying she was leaving to Canterlot, and that she was going to confront the princess about humans being turned into ponies," She said worryingly.
My mom added onto her statement; however Lyra pretty much already gave me the lowdown so it was not necessary to listen to what she was saying entirely. When she finished I replied with a question.
"Umm... Mother, I'm not sure how this concerns you, why do you and Lyra keep talking about these 'humans'?" I replied.
"I'll explain later, you're coming with me to Canterlot," She said tugging on my hoof.
My mom seemed so worried for what seemed like nothing, she purchased me and herself a ticket aboard the train. I did not want to question anything further because it might make her even more upset.
We arrived in Canterlot, mother guided me over to Canterlot castle, and I've never been there before and always wanted to see the inside. When we got to the castle, they greeted my mother as if she was a princess just like princess Celestia. However, they had a rather grim look on me and were unsure whether to allow us to pass. They let us in anyways, I wanted to get a good glimpse of the interior of the castle, however my mom rushed me up to the dark section of the castle. There were so many stair cases and hallways; we climbed for what felt like hours. When we reached the top, there was a fancy door; it was a door worthy of a princess alright. Rarity knocked with utmost urgency, you could definitely hear yawning. When the door opened it was the other Princess, Princess Luna.
"Rarity, we require our sleep, for the daylight still shows," The Princess said.
Rarity went into a whole conversation about pretty much what Lyra discussed with me, and the whole summoning humans and then turning them into ponies without a trace of their memory. The Princess beckoned to us, she knew where Lyra and Princess Celestia would be. When we got there, there was a metal-like door, surrounded by a pink aura. The rest of the room was exactly like the door, metal with a pink aura around it.
"Thou stand back," Princess Luna said as her horn started to glow.
The magic locking mechanism unlocked and we opened the door.
"Sister, What is this madness?!" Princess Luna spoke.
Celestia released Lyra, and Lyra fell to the ground. Luna approached Celestia with an enraged look upon her face. Celestia proceeded towards Luna with an antagonizing grin.
"Thou hast messed with the order of the two worlds which are meant to be separate," Luna shouted angrily.
"The order of what, the universe? the multiverse? life? As long as nopony or nobody is to know about this happening, their life can be changed," Celestia responded
Luna sighed in desperation.
"You can't change the lives of others and expect it to be alright, ponies and humans are meant to be separate," Luna replied.
"I gave an opportunity for a whole new life to these humans, turned them into ponies, and this is the respect I get? So be it," Celestia said as she got filled with anger.
"I've yet to see the effects of an actual pony visiting the human world, maybe you'd like to join her," Celestia said as she smirked.
With struggle, Celestia manages levitate Luna towards the cardboard box even though Luna tries to counter with her magic. I had to do something. I galloped towards Celestia and head on pushed her into the box with me. Luna fell to the floor as the magic levitating her stopped.
"Shane!" I could hear their voices shouting but slowly fading until it faded out completely when the box disappeared.
PLEASE NOTE: The following will be from Lyra's perspective.
"Shane," I said as a tear came out of my eye.
Luna and Rarity walked up next to me.
"Thou's misfortune will go heeded to the full extent," Luna said.
"We mustn't let this take over our lives, darling, Shane is where he belongs now," Rarity said putting one of her hooves over my shoulder.
Despite her comment, I knew Rarity was still traumatized more than she needed to be, did Rarity have sort of relationship with him?
"Let's take you home," Rarity said as we walked out of the room.
Luna arranged a train ride back to Ponyville, and let me tell you that it was a long way home. Both Rarity and I couldn't take our minds off of what had happened today. Questions floated in my mind, was Shane okay? What became of Princess Celestia? Will I ever see Shane again? Whenever I seem to come up with a possible outcome to any of my own questions, more questions arise.
"We're here," Rarity said cheerfully.
Upon further inspection, Rarity didn't seem to forget what had happened earlier either.
"I'll see you around, Lyra," Rarity said as she patted me on the back.
I returned the favor by waving to her as I turned around and headed towards my house.
Just like the train ride, the walk home was awfully long. I thought of Shane the entire way there. Worst of all, I was reminded of him more when I saw his job application lying on the table that was meant for Rarity. There was writing on the blank side of it.
Lyra,
Thank you for the hospitality you have given. For all the kindness and generosity you have shown me, I felt like I belonged in this world. I decided to visit the Princess like you have told me to, but not to leave Equestria. I've decided to confirm that I wanted to stay. Lyra, you've shown what having a true friend is all about. Which is why I am here to stay.
-Shane
A tear came out of my eye; Shane cared about me just as much as I cared for him. I had to get him back, but I needed to know why this was so much of a big deal to Rarity as it was to me. I went over to Rarity's house; she was still pretty upset and not very busy by the looks of it. I knocked several times, however neither of those times did I receive a reply. I went in her house without her consent and confronted her.
"Rarity, I can tell you're upset, you need to tell me, was there a relationship between you and Shane?"
"I'd rather not talk about it," She said experiencing more sorrow.
"Rarity, please, you can tell me anything," I responded.
"I suppose," Rarity said sniffling.
Rarity explained how she had a little brother named after the name Celestia has given to Shane and that his appearance resembled her brother perfectly. She also told me that her brother died due to a flight accident she was unable to prevent.
"I see," I said in return to her story.
"Well, there is only one thing left to do then," I responded.
"Rescue Shane," I replied.
"You know how to rescue him?!" Rarity said as her drooping face perked up with glee.
"I may know of a way to save him, but I don't enjoy the idea of it, and you probably won't either."
Rarity's face was filled with confusion, and she felt feint thinking of what I was about to tell her. I didn't want to do it and I know she certainly wouldn't want me to do it either, but for the sake of Shane, I must do it.
"Grab my hoof," I said
Rarirty grabbed my hoof tightly in confusion.
"I have to break my contract, when I die and turn to ash on Earth, tell Shane that I love him and I always will," I continued.
"Lyra, what are you doing? No stop!" She said as I began to speak.
"My name is Jackie, I come from the planet Earth filled with a different race called "humans", and I was one of those humans!" I shouted as loud as possible.
"Lyra! No! You broke your contract!" Rarity said.
A dark and gloomy storm over Ponyville suddenly came; it was like the Everfree forest where all the weather occurs on its own. The storm rapidly started flailing thunder and some lightning. A cardboard box appeared, like the one earlier Celestia appeared in her seclusion room, except this box opened up on its own and sucked me in.
"Rarity, hold onto my hoof, the magic of the box is only going to pull me in, if you hold on to my hoof it will bring us both,"
She nodded and continued to hold on tightly, the wind sucking us in to the box grew tighter and tighter. Until the storm vanished with the box, we were gone.
PLEASE NOTE: The first person view is now in Shane's perspective back on Earth.
"I got you, bitch, right where I want you too, magic does not exist here," I smirked.
Neither of us were ponies, we were both naked. The box happened to take us to the middle of some town in the country I lived in, the good ol' United States. It was quite awkward because I was laying on top of a Princess who appeared to be around my age, we were both bare naked, and looked like we were 'doing it' out in public. It was not pleasant to be seen by this many people at a time like this.
"So, these figurines are what you call humans, huh? Not much of a pleasant sight," Celestia said trying to get on all fours.
"I wouldn't be so cocky, you appear to have transformed into one yourself on the travel over here," I said as I got up to stretch my body back onto its two legs.
She saw that she was no longer a pony, but rather a human female. Her hair looked exactly like her mane. She still had her crown; however it resembled nothing in this world. She for some reason took the transformation rather subtly than I did when I transformed into a pony. A crowd of people started to gather around us.
"Perhaps we should discuss this somewhere else?" I asked her.
"I don't see what the big de-" She said, but I stopped her from talking and tugged on her arm.
"I can't walk on two..." Celestia said but paused trying to think of the term.
"The term is 'legs', and just go on all fours if you have to, we need to find a less crowded place,"
Celestia struggled to even more on all fours, her hands and feet didn't feel as comfortable as hooves and slowed her down. I came to the nearest intersection to look at what city or town we were in. New York City, crap.
"I know where we are, and I have a friend that lives here, we'll stay at his place for now, then we can discuss further upon this matter," I told her.
While still struggling to move along, we managed to escape the crowd of people. I bet at least half of them were males trying to look at Celestia.
"You know this would have just been easier if you two would have never mentioned hu..." Celestia said as I interrupted her.
"Just shut up," I replied.
We continued walking to my friend's house, New York City may be big, but when you know some routes without crowds of people, you would desperately need to take them.
"Come on, it's just down the street beyond this alleyway fence," I said.
"It's too high for me, can't we go around?" She complained.
"It's our only option if we don't want to draw more attention," I replied.
"I really don't get the big deal with..." I interrupted her again.
"Just grab my damn hand," I said.
"What's a hand?" She replied.
"OH FOR FUCKS SAKE, Grab what you call a hoof!" I said extending my right hand out to her.
Celestia extended her hand out, thank god ponies had the ability to twist their wrist on their hoof or I'd have to explain to her how to grab my hand in mass detail. I pulled her up and Celestia manages to barely fall off the other end of the fence without inflicting any injuries to herself.
"No cars are nearby, let's go!" I said while Celestia was trudging on her limbs.
"What's a car?" She asked.
"See, this is exactly how humans react when they end up in your world, no human would know anything about the planet you live on," I said in reply.
We made it to his house, and luckily he was home. We could actually have a temporary living place until we got some things sorted out.
"Celestia, I want you to hide behind me, I don't want any 'exclusive' details being exposed," I told her.
"What is that supposed to mean?" She asked in a curious way.
"Just do it, for the love of God... You know what, don't ask what God is either because you wouldn't understand," I said ringing the doorbell.
I could hear footsteps approaching the door. It was my friend John, luckily he was still sober.
"Hey man, how's it going? What's that a new fashion trend?" He said only making me blush with embarrassment.
"Hey, umm... Me and my 'girlfriend' need a place to stay and some clothes to wear,"
"What's a gir-" She asked before I interrupted.
"God, you're fucking curious," I replied.
"Yeah Shane, you really know how to get all the bitches, come on in, I think I got something for you two to wear and a place to stay," He said impressed.
"Hey, why is your girlfriend crawling on the floor?" John came over to me and whispered.
"It's uh... she has a handicap, she can't stand up properly, it was given to her since birth," I answered
"I'm sorry about that, mate," he replied.
"Can you show me to the room we can stay in and some clothes we can wear," I asked.
He led me to his spare room he lets his guests sleep in, there was only one bed though, a queen bed. That means both me and Celestia have to sleep in it together. John got some clothes out for me and Celestia; he reluctantly had some female clothes that his mom had before she passed away.
"You two get comfortable now alright, by the way, I never got her name," John said.
"Oh, I am Prin-" She tried to speak but I interrupted her once more.
"Her name is Valerie," I replied.
"Nice to meet you Valerie,"
After ten minutes of talking I finally convinced him to give us some alone time, however he took it in the wrong way.
"WHAT THE FUCK IS YOUR PROBLEM SENDING HUMANS TO EQUESTRIA?!" I shouted quiet enough to not let the sound leave the confines of the room.
"You know you are still under my contract and you are on thin ice of breaking it, you are supposed to respect me, even though my magic does not work here, the magic in a contract stays bound no matter where you are," She said smirking in response.
"Just get your clothes on, it is getting unbearably hard to look at you," I said tossing a piece of clothing at her.
"What is this?" She replied.
"It's a bra, you put it on your chest," I responded.
"These?" She said as she pointed them.
"Yes, those," I said as I tried to direct my eyes away.
"How do I put it on?" She asked.
This was way more degrading than being a pony and it was way beyond my standards. I tied a knot around her back trying to resist the temptation of looking down.
"There, now put on some clothes,"
"These are far beyond from being a formal outfit; we do not wear clothes every day, we only wear formal clothes on formal occasions, why do you wear clothes if you're not going to be at a formal occasion?" She asked.
"The less you know Celestia, the better," I replied with a sigh.
Celestia seemed to struggle a bit; I could tell she was not used to being without her magic. I sighed, and got her undergarments out and managed to help her get each hind leg into it. Next, the skirt, it wasn't easy but I once again managed to help her legs into it and lifted. Now for the shirt, it wasn't as hard; all I did was poke the big hole of the shirt through her head and lifted her forearms into it. We managed to get it facing in the right direction on the first try, which was an added bonus.
"This doesn't exactly feel comfortable," Celestia said.
"You'll have to get used to it, without your magic, we won't be able to go back to Equestria," I replied.
"Now that you had your fair share of questions today, how about I start asking some," I said as I saw Celestia struggle but manage to hop onto the bed.
"Fine, ask away," She responded.
"Why do you send humans to Equestria?"
"I don't, I'm only taking orders given to me many years ago to offer a random human to stay here with the given rules on the contract every one hundred years," She responded.
"Orders, from whom did you get these orders? And why do you make them desperately want a new life only to lose their memory? I know it's for the security of the rest of the race but that's just stooping very low," I followed up.
"I can't disclose who gave me the orders, and I personally find nothing wrong with sending humans to Equestria, it's the human's decision to make on whether they stay or not, not mine. They're the ones that sign the contract," She replied.
"Fine, next question, what exactly happens when a human breaks the contract," I asked.
"First, you get sent back to Earth and age into the amount of years that have gone by after your human body retransformation. Then you lose your memory from ever existing in Equestia if you haven't died from the aging process. Finally, you are stripped of any items that you carried," She responded.
"One more question, if I have yet to break the contract, then why do I have my memory and body back?" I asked.
"The same reason I was given this new body, without the magic being sustained in our world, your pony form of zest cannot be held and the universe had to give us something less magical, and to be formal with the rest of the sentient race for this planet, it chose human bodies, I guess you were fortunate to get your original body which holds your memory," She said.
"The pony body you had your memory with at the beginning right after you entered Equestria was simply a figment, a rag doll if you must. However, the body I put you in were you were a colt was real and was going to grow up to be a stallion. The body I am in is merely a figment like the one you were in when you came to Equestria, and the contract would be the only thing that would turn you real pony," She continued.
"So I would not have been a real pony had I not came to you, so if the universe pigmented my body to a new form since I previously was a pony under your contract still would that mean, I am still a pony?" I said as I bent my head down in contemplation.
Celestia nodded her head. After a moment of silence, Celestia began to speak.
"Never thought that would happen, what a rather inconvenient time," Celestia said.
"Wait, what happened, is something wrong?" I responded worryingly.
"Well, one of the humans sent to Equestria broke their contract, and it was a pretty terrible run too, only two hundred years, how sad," She responded.
"Wait... Wasn't Lyra transferred over to Equestria two hundred years ago?" I said as I panicked.
She nodded her head. I headed towards the door.
"Not even I have the authority to allow exceptions through the contract, especially not after it has already been broken, the aging process only takes ten minutes, she's as good as dead," She said.
"I don't care, I'm going after her, if she is to appear anywhere, she is most likely to appear where we were at," I responded.
"I'm staying here, I'd rather not waste my time looking for a lost cause," I responded.
It took me about three minutes to back to where Celestia and I were earlier. It was almost impossible to find Lyra, or in this case, Jackie, since she broke the contract and lost her original body, which puts her in her original body instead of one that resembles her pony body, until I realized I was looking for another naked female, great. Soon enough, I noticed that there was two naked females out in the open, one was rather familiar, both looking like they were lost. The familiar looking one was in a prone position. It was definitely the hair that caught me for the familiar looking one, yeah, that's got to be Rarity. How did she get here? Did Lyra accidently break her contract and sent Rarity with her by mistake? Did she intentionally do it so she could save me?
I ran over to them, despite their currently unclothed state. Luckily, there wasn't anybody around anymore to see them.
"Hey, it's me, Shane," I said to them
"Thank God, I thought we'd never find you, but now is not the time for greeting each other, for my life only grows shorter," Jackie said.
We sprinted back to the house, luckily Jackie remembered how to walk since she has her old body back and Rarity walking on her four hands was a little less struggle-some than Celestia. When we arrived, it was about five minutes until Jackie started aging.
"The process of aging happens faster than any man or pony can blink when times up, when you're times up, you will be given your new age. The contract has sealed your fate, death is inevitable, Lyra, or rather, Jackie," Celestia said.
Fortunately, John had laid out a couple extra pairs of clothing, and luckily one of them fit Jackie just right. Rarity just complained about how repulsive her new body structure was and wasn't cooperating with us when we tried to cover her up with clothing because the clothing did not look fashionable. I looked over to a corner of the room; I could tell Lyra was sitting down crying so I comforted her.
"I'm sorry, this was entirely my fault," I said modestly.
"There has to another way," Jackie said getting back up.
"There is a solution, but I don't think either of you would like it,"
"Tell us!" Rarity, Jackie, and I all said simultaneously.
"Another human under the contract can take her place, but must age the amount of years that Lyra would age rather than the years he aged from, also, every memory from the one who sacrificed themselves will be erased from everyone and everypony he has come in contact with, do not worry about our return to Equestria, the magic bound to the contract will take care of that as well, so Shane, it is up to you, do you wish to take Lyra's place?" Celestia asked.
"Shane, you don't have to do it, I've had my fair share of time to live," Jackie argued.
"No, I have caused to much trouble between our two races, Jackie, no, Lyra, I do hope you bode well," I replied.
"Even without my magic, I am still the care-taker of the contract; it will recognize me and know the one who is to take the other's place. Shane, grasp my 'hand'," She said sticking her hand out while still being on all fours.
"One minute left, Shane, now is the time," Celestia said beckoning to me.
"Lyra, there was something I always wanted to tell you that I never got around to telling you," I said.
"Lyra, I love you, even if you do forget me, I will not forget you, no matter what happens to me," I continued.
Lyra came up to me and gave me a big and almost too long of a hug.
"I'm ready," I said as I grasped Celestia's hand.
Celestia nodded her head; all I could see was a bright light surrounding us. I could hear a yell for my name in the background, but it was too late.
"He's gone, you can't save him Lyra," Celestia said walking over to her.
Both Rarity and Lyra were crying, even Celestia couldn't resist.
"Any time now we will all be sent home, I am sorry, you two have had a rough time," Celestia said.
"How could you do this? Do you just do this for the insanity of eventually torturing people when they break their contract?!" Rarity shouted with tears in her eyes.
"Rarity, you one day you may understand, now hold still, we're being taken back to Equestria," Celestia said as Rarity's tears turned into anger.
Soon, everyone in the room had vanished. Everypony and everyone had their memory erased about me; Lyra was to be under Shane's contract for now on however she had her memory erased by it so she didn't know she was under the contract. Even the care-taker of the contract, Celestia, had her memory erased by the contract. Lyra managed to attain to the small source of knowledge about humans referred in her books; however it was not enough to bring back the memories of her being with me, but there is one thing I know, my heart is where it belongs.
To be continued.
Author's Notes:
Thanks to all of my readers, I had a pleasant amount of readers that made me want to keep on writing. I guarantee you there will be a sequel to this! So be sure to watch my profile to see when the first chapter of it comes out!
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The Contract (Word Count glitched, it's not 0 words)
Pony Enrollment
I, Shane, agree to the terms of becoming a pony. I agree to following the laws of my new society, obey orders from the princess, and to never speak of me ever existing in a race called humans. I will take full responsibilty in punishment to any acts of violence of cruelty to other ponies. I will also never mention or bring up wanting to be human again. I will go by the name of "Blue Flare" and act as if it was mine since I was born. I agree to undergo the pony education system and learn to fly as well when I am old enough. I agree to not bring up any historical events that I have taken place in my human life. I will fully undergo the pony life cycle, and only eat pony food products. I will take place in necessary holiday events and mingle with other ponies. I will respect the pony race, and never disrespect them because they are different from what I used to look like. I lastly agree to having my memory of my past life erased.
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