Of Fire And Guilt - Chapter 1
Chapter 1
Lights fading like candles on gravestones during storm,
Prayers and curses filling my mind,
I’ve seen it, if just for one moment,
When fire consumes all, black ash is all that will remain,
And they will see the depravity of their insanity,
It didn’t matter if I couldn’t understand the meaning of it all,
Since I already knew that I won’t remember any of it.
I woke up in the middle of the night, cold sweat running down my face. My heart was beating like insane, but I couldn’t recall dreaming about anything. My body was high on adrenaline, and it took me a moment to calm down.
After a few deep breaths, I’ve quickly come to a realization: I’m not in my small, nasty room anymore. Wherever I am, this place seems much cleaner and more spacious. More than that, this room looks outright splendid. Golden decorations on furniture, beautiful paintings, and a fireplace with a soft-looking carpet in front of it. This looks like something you’d find at a president’s mansion.
It seems like I’ve been sleeping myself on a huge, insanely comfortable bed. Giving the mattress a few bounces confirmed that I’d probably be fine falling on it from a hundred feet.
Silent muttering coming directly from my right also confirmed that I’m not alone in this bed.
A figure rose from beneath the blanket, filling my vision with colors of the sky, floating right in front of my face. I couldn’t see much from beneath them, but I saw a lot of white where the colors ended. The figure froze, and slowly faced me, making the colors leave my vision.
And it was a horse.
I was sleeping on a giant, comfortable bed with a horse right next to me. The seemingly floating colors seem to be it’s mane, no matter how little sense it made. It’s muzzle scrunched up, and it eyed me carefully for a couple of seconds. I don’t remember drinking last night, and even then, I don’t think I could get enough alcohol in me to end up in bed with a horse. I’m not redneck enough to be fucking horses!
“What… are you?” It spoke in a soft, female voice.
It was my turn to freeze. My brain was trying to come up with an explanation, and when failing that, it tried ignoring what just occurred in front of it. And finally, when both failed, only one thing was left to do.
Not. Panic.
“What the fuck!” I yelled, falling off the bed and quickly crawling as far away from her as I could. “You’re a horse! A talking horse!”
Once she got up from the bed - I assumed it was a female, based on the voice - I could get a better look at her. She wasn’t just a horse, she was a horse with wings and a horn.
A Unisus, surely!
My entire body was just itching to get up and start running as far away from here as possible. I had no idea how I ended up in a place like this, or how is it possible for a horse to speak, and my brain could no longer take the anomaly in front of me and begged me to leave as soon as possible.
The horse seemed to pick up on my eyes darting to the door, and with a flash of her horn, it became engulfed in light. My eyes almost bulged out of their sockets when I heard the lock turn.
“Now, please explain who you are, and why you’re here.” The horse spoke to me, looking at me in what could only be described as a mild annoyance.
The sheer amount of panic and the lack of logic in this whole situation had me paralyzed, but after a short struggle, I answered, “I don't know! I don’t know where I am or how I got here or what you are!”
She slowly moved her hoof to her head and massaged her temple. “I swear to Sun, if Luna is pulling another prank on me…” She muttered to herself, just barely loud enough for me to hear in the quiet of the night. “Wait right here, I need to leave for a moment.”
I couldn’t trust my voice, so I just nodded. Big white horse sighed, then started moving slowly to the door, muttering something about being too old for this shit.
Before she could open the door though, she looked back to me with narrowed eyes. “If I find out that you tried leaving, or touched anything in here, I’ll be very upset. Do we have an understanding?”
My eyes widened even further and I quickly nodded. She eyed me for a few more seconds before opening the door with her hoof and leaving. Wait, she turned the knob with her hoof?
I sat in one place, staring at the door for what felt like an eternity before my brain finally started kicking back into motion. After assuming that not touching anything includes her bed, I lied on the floor, just thinking.
When pondering my whereabouts, few options came to mind. One, I’m hallucinating. Two, I’m still asleep. Three, I was abducted by aliens and put in bed with a horse as some sort of a prank. I heavily hoped it was the second option.
Speaking of the horse, whatever it was, it was clearly sapient. Maybe there’s an entire society of Pegacorns. I wouldn’t be too surprised if I found more like this one outside this room, but touching the door goes against the not-touching-anything rule.
I’m not usually one for listening to horses, but someone who apparently does magic is also most likely someone I don’t want to upset.
What did catch my attention though was an object shining slightly in the moonlight, placed on the bedside table. Curiosity got the better of me and I approached it.
My breath caught in my throat as I saw a golden tiara resting there. I think I might’ve slept with the Queen of Horses.
As much as I thought of it as a joke, I started feeling nervous. Did I have sex with her?
I looked over to the bed. There was one way of making myself sure.
I quietly approached the bed.
I grabbed the blanket.
And I tossed it aside.
And in that exact moment, Queen of Horses entered the room, along with a different horse. The good news was, the bed sheets were clean. The bad news was, both of the horses looked very pissed.
The other horse that came was much darker than the Queen of Horses, with a silver necklace, shoes, and a tiara. Her mane was strangely flowing in the wind, just like the mane of the white horse, but hers looked more like the sky at night. She also seemed slightly smaller. Luna, i assume?
I felt myself being lifted off the ground as I saw the horn of the white horse light up. I was not a fan of that and immediately started struggling, to no effect.
Horn of the darker horse lit up and I started feeling myself prodded around various parts of my body. Hands, feet, legs, stomach, head. I felt something seemingly slip inside of my mind, as strange as it might sound, then retract. The angry look on the dark horse’s face slowly changed to confusion as the light around her horn slowly dimmed out. “Sister, I don’t think he’s here to hurt us.” The dark one spoke, with a feminine voice as well.
“What did you detect?” White horse asked, not moving her eyes from me.
“This creature possesses no natural weapons, no claws or fangs, soft skin, and weak senses. I could determine it’s a he, and he feels very confused and afraid.”
White horse’s face softened and I felt myself gently placed on the ground. It took a lot from me not to roll into a ball and rock back and forth on the ground, but I stood my ground and looked at the two horses with what I hoped was not too terrified expression.
“I am sorry for the misunderstanding,” Spoke the white horse. “Let us introduce ourselves. I am Celestia, and this here is my sister Luna.” Darker horse nodded her head. “We have never seen a creature such as yourself, so we assumed you were here in ill intentions. On that note, we would like to learn more about you. Who are you? Where did you come from?”
I wondered if it would even make sense to tell them I’m from Florida since from what I remember from geography lessons, there aren’t any places in the world where horses can talk. Still, it wouldn’t hurt to try. “Uh, you know a place called Florida?”
“You mean Ponida?” The darker one asked.
“What.” I couldn’t stop myself from asking. My tone was so flat I think they both winced.
“I’ll assume it’s not the same place then.” Celestia spoke.
“Okay, uh… How about Earth?” They both shook their heads. Then they actually winced when they saw my face go pale.
“Well, how about telling us what you are, then?” Luna asked, tilting her head.
“Human. I don’t imagine there’s any more of us out there?”
“You are the first ‘hooman’ I’ve ever seen in two thousand years of my life.” My mind came to a halt at that, taking too much information to process at once. Did she say two thousand years? How long do these horses live? “If you have any questions yourself, please ask. It’s only fair we exchange information.”
I quickly picked up on that and only barely stopped myself from barraging them both with questions. Instead, I started with, “Where am I?” Celestia smiled at that, at least.
“You are currently in our palace in Canterlot, in a country named Equestria, though I imagine you wouldn’t have heard of it.” Her smile dropped a little bit. “I have to ask though, where exactly is ‘earth’? We could possibly take you there if we could find it on the map.”
“I’m afraid that’s impossible, Celestia.” I replied, sagging a bit.
“Why not?”
“Earth is the name of the planet I live on.” They both blinked, their eyes going wide.
“That’s… unbelievable. My sister and I both have enough energy to teleport anywhere on our planet, but to teleport something from another planet would take more energy than every pony in existence have together!”
“Well, the good news is, this is all probably a dream, and hopefully soon I’ll wake up and go back to eating junk food and avoiding contact with people.” They got a sad look on them and I almost asked why the long faces before I realized it would probably be offensive to them.
“I’m afraid this is not a dream,” Luna said, shaking her head lightly. “Sister, it is nearing midnight, I’ll be organizing food soon. Would you perhaps want to join me, along with, uh…” She looked at me.
“Name’s Jeremy.” I answered.
Luna nodded. “I would be delighted if you and Jeremy joined me over for dinner.”
“I… shouldn’t, midnight snacks won’t do well for my figure,” You got a figure of a horse if you ask me, but okay. “That being said, I want to watch over our new guests here, just in case.”
Luna smiled and started leading the way out. For just a moment I considered bailing on the closest occasion, but I almost jumped back inside when I saw an entire group of armored, miniature horses standing by the door. Each one had some sort of a weapon, though the most common ones were spears. Now I’m thankful I haven't tried the door.
As we walked through the halls, I saw more of those miniature horses walking around. Some of them seemingly guards, and some of them maids, but they all stopped what they were doing and bowed when Celestia and Luna walked by.
It made me think. Celestia was most likely the queen here, but what of Luna? Was she sharing the country with her, or was she not that important? And as far as I could tell, those two were the only Unisuses I saw, all the other horses within the corridors were much smaller. They also would have either a horn or wings, but not both. Some of them had neither. I think Celestia called them ponies? It would make sense, with their size. That’s one hell of a dream I’m having. Or maybe it’s just a build-up for a nightmare.
Eventually, we stopped at a set of doors, which Celestia pushed open. A large table stood in the middle of a big room, covered in silverware and plates, seemingly prepared for a feast. Several paintings dotted the walls, unsurprisingly each one portraying either ponies or the sisters. One side of the table seemed darker, while the other one was lighter. Celestia and Luna sat next to each other, in the middle of it. Luna’s horn lit up and a bell I hadn’t noticed before rang by the wall. A few seconds later, ponies started bringing in food.
I was feeling somewhat peckish, but I quickly lost my appetite when I saw flowers and grass being lifted onto the table by the ponies, somehow balancing the plates on one of their hooves. Thankfully, it seems like various kinds of fruit and vegetables were brought in as well. Not ideal, but I don’t think it would end well if I asked them about meat. They seem to be herbivores and would probably freak out.
“I do hope that what we have to offer is to your liking.” Celestia said, looking over the table. I followed her gaze and noticed she was staring in particular at the plate of bananas.
“Everything I’m looking at is pretty much the exact same as where I’m from,” Both Luna and Celestia sighed in relief, but I continued. “That being said, I can’t eat grass or flowers.”
They both nodded. “Then please, enjoy what you can eat. We will inform our cooks about your diet in the future.”
I snorted, but didn’t say anything.
So I grabbed a roasted eggplant and started eating. Admittedly, it was delicious, but I would still prefer a steak. In the corner of my eye, I saw Luna whispering something to one of the servants, who nodded to her and started walking away.
As I watched them walk away, I quickly became aware of a very uncomfortable fact.
Every single pair of eyes in the room were staring at me.
I hadn’t even thought about it, but most of the servants seemed at least moderately afraid of me. When the pony that talked with Luna noticed I was looking at them, they quickly picked up their pace and averted their gaze. Did the maids and guards in the halls look at me the same way? I’m not that scary, am I?
Pegacorns were the only ones smiling at me, but something about their expressions put me off. After a closer inspection, I could tell what’s wrong: They were nervous, and their eyes darted a lot on me, looking for the slightest out-of-place move.
Luna and Celestia are probably ready to poof me out of existence at the first sign of hostility. I’m really starting to think it’s a nightmare.
All the servants left the room soon enough, but before I could finish my food, another servant stepped in, this time carrying two mugs on a plate. He gave one to Luna, and reluctantly placed another one near me, then quickly excused himself. I looked at the content of the mug, unsure of myself.
It looked like tea. It smelled like tea, However, grabbing the mug made me realize it had the consistency of molasses. This already raised an alarm in my head, but I could see Luna staring at me with a smile.
“Uhm… what is this?”
“It is a special brew of tea.”
“Uh, special?” So this is it, huh? They’re going to poison me, then get rid of the body in the middle of the night before anyone else notices that something happened?
“Please, do try it, it is made specifically for helping me stay up at night, it’s very invigorating.”
I hesitantly lifted the mug to my lips. I hope whatever they put in it will be swift and painless in vaporizing my insides.
I saw Luna’s smile deepened a bit as I titled the mug and let the gelatine-like substance enter my mouth.
And then immediately gagged.
Against my assumptions, it wasn’t poisoned, but it had so much sugar in it you could barely feel any other flavour. I think I got diabetes on the spot as I tried my best to keep myself from returning back the eggplant I happily ate moments ago.
Celestia quickly got up from her seat and approached me, seemingly concerned. Luna was right behind her, but I was already recovering at that point.
“What happened Jeremy?” I looked over at her with bloodshot eyes.
“Too much s-sugar.” I coughed one more time before finally relaxing.
“Ah... My apologies. We usually use a lot of sugar while making sweets and beverages, and this specific tea has… a large quantity of it.” She finished with a pointed look in Luna’s direction, which she returned with a sheepish smile. “Please, let us know if there’s something else we should know about your diet.”
After a moment of thought, I decided to risk it. “I can also eat meat.”
Both their looks soured a bit, but they didn’t immediately call the guards, much to my relief.
“We understand the need for meat, sadly we do not have any available at the moment. We usually stock up on it when inviting griffin delegations.”
“Yes, the need for meat is most wanted- Wait, did you say griffins?”
Long story short, we spent a few hours talking about pony world. I learned about different races and pony society and customs. I also learned that they’re not called either Unisuses or Pegacorns, but Alicorns. Stupid name in my opinion.
In return, I told them a bit about Earth. They were amazed after hearing about the technology we have and explained to me that their technology isn’t nearly as advanced, from their descriptions I can assume it’s stuck within the middle ages period, but with inventions like steam locomotives already in place. I wish I had my phone on me to show them how humanity looks like, but my pockets were empty. All in all, I enjoyed this dream.
After that, Celestia went back to her room while Luna showed me a guest room I could sleep in. It wasn’t nearly as splendid as her sister’s room, but it was much better than the one at my apartment.
That night, I went to bed feeling pretty sure that falling asleep will end my dream, and I’ll appear back in my shitty room.
So when I woke up to a knocking on the door in the exact same guest room, I could feel panic take over again.
“Jeremy, it is Luna, may I come in?”
Fuck! It’s really happening, I’m in a castle with Queens of a country of Ponies! How the hell am I supposed to survive without the internet?!
“Jeremy? Are you there?”
Adrenaline had me out of bed and my panicked mind had me pacing around the room, thinking what to do.
I can jump out the window, with a bit of luck survive the fall without breaking any important limbs, escape to a nearby forest and live the rest of my life pretending I was never teleported to a magical Pony land, or I could ask either Celestia or Luna if they can brainwash me and make me think I always lived in pony lands and that everything is fine. I’m not a fan of both options!
The door slowly creaked open and my head snapped, manic look on my face making Luna wince back. “I warned you that it’s not a dream.”
“Oh, I’m sorry, but I’m afraid I’m having a bit of a hard time coping with the idea!” Luna’s eyebrows narrowed, but she continued.
“My sister and I have come to an agreement with how to help your situation.”
“Oh, do tell! Are you suddenly able to teleport me back to earth?”
I don’t know why I kept playing with fire, but to my surprise, Luna’s face softened. “I know it’s hard for you, but please understand that we’re not at fault here, and we only want to help you. We can’t send you back home, but it doesn’t mean it’s impossible.”
Pang of guilt hit me like a train, and I sat down on the bed. “I-I’m sorry. What do you mean, it’s not impossible?”
“You were sent here, so there must be a way to send you back. Old, primal magic have ways of achieving things ponies could only dream of, but it is a forgotten art, one my sister and I can barely recall ever existing. We have old scrolls left, if we find something that could help, we will figure out a way to send you home.”
My mouth opened, then closed. Old, forgotten magic that have almost no traces left doesn’t sound like a high chance, but it’s all I got. After a moment, I nodded.
Luna smiled at me and continued, “I’m afraid that between searching through archives and ruling Equestria, we don’t have time trying to help you adapt, so we will be sending you somewhere else.”
I immediately got up, “What do you mean? Why can’t I just stay here?”
“In case we’re unable to send you back, my sister and I decided it would be for the best if you spent time among other ponies, adapted to living in Equestria. Where we’re sending you, there are some very special ponies that will help you feel at home.”
I was close to hyperventilating at that point, but before I could raise a point, Luna continued, “Please don’t be afraid, nopony here wants to hurt you. They might be curious and ask questions, but they’re not dangerous. Ponies that will be watching over you will provide you with shelter, food, and friendship in those trying times.”
Despite my protests, soon I found myself in a chariot, on my way to a small village called Ponyville, where six certain ponies were already awaiting my arrival.
