//-------------------------------------------------------// Celly vs. Earth -by Stardust Corona- //-------------------------------------------------------// //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 1: Going to town //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 1: Going to town Today is the day. After yesterdays dreadfull visit of your parents you and Celestia in her disguise as "Tia Prince" will finally leave your apartment and go to town. She is giddy as a school girl, you can tell as she prances around from room to room and giggles silly while you get ready. It makes you happy to see her this exited. As you put on your sneakers she prances into the hallway, actually she is hoovering a bit over the ground. "You should get ready too, Tia. You don´t want to leave the house as a horse, don´t you?" She stops in her track. "Oh, yeah of course, Anon. Sorry, I´m so exited that I almost forgot." The now familiar flash of light engulfs her and now she stands there again as the tall gorgeous woman she disguised herself as yesterday. She wears a similar outfit as yesterday, only with a light tan jacket and a black purse. "I´m ready anon."- "All right then. You open the door and both of you step into the hallway. Celly looks around with an expression of surprise and amazement. She looks at the scratchy linolium at her feet, at the flickering neon lights on the ceiling and at the dirty walls. You are a bit ashamed that you live in such a shitty apartment block, but Celly doesn´t mind, she soaks it all in as you two walk to the elevator. She oohs at the rumbeling movement of the old lift and chuckles at the horrible sharpie grafitties on the elevator walls. She looks amazed at the dusty hydroculture plants in the lobby and as you leave the building she aahs in amazement. Its a sunny but cold spring day. You stand in front of your apartment block, one of the smaller ones of the blocks in a rather shitty settlement in the northern part of F-city. Everything is concrete in different shades of grey, there is a small playground in one of the corners of the small square, where children haven´t been playing in years, its dirty and there are broken beer bottles everywhere, yet Celly looks around full of wonder. This is going to be a long day.... You walk from your apartment block to the metro station. Its about 10 am, there are no people around since most people are at school or at work. You have a few days off from work, so you have enough time for Celly and her discovery of human land. As you walk through a small park you notice that the more you move away from your apartment, the more nervous Celly appears. Suddely a Police helicopter flies low over your heads, rushes past like a giant ugly metal insect. Celly lets out a shriek and jumps to the ground. You look at her dumbfolded. "That.. was just a helicopter." "I...I know. I saw those machines on TV and sometimes outside of the window, flying past. I just startled me." You chuckle. "It startled you?" She snaps at you angrily. "Yes. It startled me! Sorry, about that, but my species evolved from the type of skittish flight animals that your ancestors killed with rocks and sticks to eat them!" You are a quite shocked by that outburst. "Geez, I´m sorry, I...I didn´t mean to make fun of you!" She sighs. "No, I am sorry anon." You look ar her worried -"Tia, are you okay?" -"I don´t know if I can do that, Anon. Frankly, I am nervous. No, not nervous, I am scared. Almost as scared as I am exited. I really want to learn about your world and your people at first hoof, but I don´t know if I am up to it. What if my disguise fails? What if I fumble again and use magic? I was able to handle your parents, but a city in which hundreds, maybe thousands of humans live? Thats something different." -"Actually there are almost 2.5 million people living in this city with its suburbs, close to 6 million if you count the larger metropolitain..." You stop your stupid blabbering mouth as you see that she grows pale and her eyes are widening in shock. "So many humans in ONE city...?!?! All of Equestria has a population of 1-2 million ponies!" -"Its okay. Look, who are you?" -"Come again?" -"Who. Are. You." -"I..am Princess Celestia?!?" "You are Princess fucking Celestia. The ruler of Equestria. You have been around for centuries and are one of the most powerfull magical beings in your world and THE single most powerfull magical being in this world. You are charismatic and intelligent. You singlehanded defeated the monsters that are my parents. I have no doubt that there is anything in this world that you cannot handle! You reach her your hand. "Also, you have me by your side. So are we going to do this or what?" Tia looks at you and then she smiles. "Yes. Of course. Thank you, Anon. Sometimes even somebody like me needs a friend. And I´m thankfull to have a friend like you by my side." As you walk down to the Metro station you notice that she eased up much, she is not as giddy and curious as before. As you tap in on the touch screen of the ticket machine you see allready the train approaching. You give Celly a crooked smile. "Don´t worry, thats just a train." She returns your grin. "I know, we do have those in Equestria, Our designs are a bit less... utilitarian, thou." You board the almost empty train and sit down on the plastic seats. Its a while to the city center, the train runs at first through the urban wasteland of flatbock settlements, suburban officeparks, industral zones and commercial areas. You take that route almost every day to work and back, usually you listen to Pink Floyd or something. Celestia looks out of the window and is mesmerized by the urban sprawl. You lean over to her. "Here comes the money shot" The train rushes past an Ikea onto a bridge over a motorway, giving view to the downtown of F-city down in the valley, the skyscrapers with their glass, aluminium and sandstone facades stand proudly in the middle of the sprawling chaos around them. This view is beautyfull in its ugliness, but also brief, since as soon as the train has passed the bridge the skyline dissapears again behind a factory for missle guidiance systems. "It is amazing." Celly looks at you "This is what fascinates me about your species, Anon. You did all this without any magic. You can´t control the wather like the pegasi, guide sun and moon like alicorns or have a magical bound with plants or animals like earth ponies. Just your hands and brains. This is all you have and yet you created amazing marvels in science, technology, arts, medicine and philosophy.“ She furrows her brows and looks down. But at the same time humans comitted unspeakable artrocities in their history. Evils Equestrians couldn´t even dream of in their worst nightmares. You are one confusing species." She is silent again and looks out of the window again. You continiue your ride into the city. After a few stations a mother with a baby carriage tries to get into the car, you get up to assist her. You are Celestia now Anon is helping a mother with he baby carriage. You are impressed by that little, but compassionate gesture. You notice that the older human filly... no girl, of that mother comes up to you and looks at you. Gosh, you didn´t knew, human foals were that adorable. She must be about 3-4 years old, you can´t really estimate that. She has a pink plush unicorn under her arm, you chuckle at your self as you notice that it looks a bit like a chubby version of Cadance. The girl stares straight at you. ... You wonder why she is staring at you like that, its kinda making you uncomfortable. You give her a nervous smile. Nothing. This is starting to creep you out. You begin to wonder if your disguise isn´t working properly, or, worse, if human foals have somehow the abillity to se though such disguises. Suddenly the girl speaks. "You´re pwetty!" You are so taken off guard that you blurt ou stupidly "I`m using the train! Are you using the train too?" The girl looks confused and then runs back to her mother. You facepalm as Anon returns. You are Anon again. You saw Celly with the little girl. "Hey, it seems you made a friend!" Celly looks at you distressed. "Anon, is my disguise still working? She was staring at me in a way that made me worried if I still look human." You are a bit amused. "No, no, don´t worry. Your disguise is still perfect. She was just curious. Human children at that age do that with strangers, because the don´t know that its kinda rude and disturbing to stare into the soul of others like that." Thats one of the reasons why you don´t really like children. Celly lets out a sigh of relief. "Goodness, for a moment I was panicing there. You know, the souls of children are pure, thats why they can sometimes detect things like that." Cellys face brightens up. "But that means the disguise IS perfect. If even a child can´t see through it, adults will in no way be able to do so." You can´t really follow her train of thought there, but you are glad to see that her tenseness falls almost completely off her. Meanwhile the train has enterd the tunnel, and after a few more stations you are at your destination, the vast underground station of H-Plaza, the central square of F-city, you get off the train with most of the passengers. The station is full of people of all ages and ethnicies. Celestia is again absolutely captured by the sights and sounds. On the the escalator (with which she has just a little problem with to get onto), she suddlenly scrunches her face in disgust. "Goodnes me, what is that stench?" -"That, my dear is the lovely smell of the subway: an exiting and revolting melánge of stale basement air, human excrements of all sorts, old fast food, burnt rubber and poor personal hygene of some of the passengers. If you use the trains every day you don´t even notice it any more." You walk though the vast, murky mezzazine with all of the shops and fast food places and proceed to go up to the plaza. All around you are countless of people, around the square are large office and commercial buildings with video screens and advertising of all kinds, people stream into stores and fastfood restaurants. You look at Celly, she is visibly impressed. "So, what do you want to do? We could go to the historic city center near the river, there is the city hall and the cathedral, also several museums and art galleries." You point down the large shopping street that ends on the plaza. "Or we could walk down Z-street, there are the big department stores and one of the biggest shopping malls of the city." You turn around and point at cluster of skyscrapers behind you. "Or we could go to the business district, in this area is the opera and the theater, also on top of that skyscraper is an observation deck from which you have a good view over the city." Celly thinks for a moment. "I think the tower with the observation deck is a good idea, I can get an overview of the city that way." The two of you walk across the square and enter the street that leads to the business district. There is some heavy traffic. Celly looks at all the cars, trucks and busses. "It is like Manehattan, only that the carts are powered by motors, not pulled by ponies." You look at her in confusion. "Wait, ponies ride in carts pulled by other ponies? Do they take turns, or is that some kind of master and servant thing?" -"What? No, its... It is a service industry, and ponies pull carts as their job, but... It IS kinda weird. You got me there anon, how the hay did that happen? I have to consult the royal archives on the historic background of this as soon as I get back. Ponies have been doing that since long before I was born." She is still deep in thought about this as you arrive by the skyscraper with the observation deck. Its a 40 floor tall glass cylinder with an antenna on top. The most famous thing about this builing is that there is a tv studio of the local TV station on the top floor, they are always broadcasting their news from there with the skyline panorama in the background. You enter the lobby of the building a nd Celly is allready captured by the modern architecture and the decor. You join a group of asian tourists (who look at Celly amazed, since they probably have never sees a woman this tall before) and go to the express elevator to the observation deck. The elevator is really fast and smooth running, really something different from the rattleing mess in your apartment block. You look at Celly, she looks surprised and a little queasy as the lift shoots up and pushes your guts into your shoes. At the top you step outside onto the windy circular platform. The view is breathtaking (You just realize that you have never actually been up here, even thou you live in this city for years). Celly is stunned by the view. The two of you just stand there for several minutes. Celly lets it all soak in. "This is an amazing view, Anon. You told me this city was big, but this... It almost goes to the horizont on all directions! What is this? Is this a railway station?" -"Yeah, the central station. That large building down below at the square is the metropolitain opera and theater complex. Over there is the university, that building there is the museum of natural history. Over there is the historic city center, you can see the tower of the cathedral there. There, beyond the forest is the international airport and there is the stadium..." -"What is that large area over there?" You get a little embarrased. "That..well... That is the horse racing track..." You quickly look for a distraction. " Hey, look there to the north. Do you see the blocks on the hills at the foot of the mountains? Thats where we live" After about 20 Minutes you sit down on a bench.Celly lets out a sigh. "Thank you for taking me here Anon. It kinda opend my eyes how little I realized how big this world is and how little I know yet. Adapting to this place may take longer than I thought." You lay your hand on her arm. "It will take some time, thats true, but you will manage. You´re a big girl after all. Also you can be sure that I will support you as much as I can." You look on your watch. "Huh, its lunch time allready. We should grab a bite to eat. Where do you want to go?" Celly thinks about it for a moment. "To be honest, Anon, aside from the stuff you brought home I know nothing about earth food. I read some stuff on the internet, but there are so many different specialities on earth that it is hard to make a choice. I really liked the chinese food you brought, like that fried rice." You smile and nod "Yeah, chinese food is great. Okay, down there near the railwaystation is a great chinese restaurant, they have an "all you can eat" buffet at lunch time, that may be a good chance for you to try different dishes." Celly claps her hands. "That is a wonderfull idea, Anon! I would love to try what they have there!" You take the elevator down and walk to the restaurant, it takes you about 10 minutes, Celly is super giddy again. You really love it when she gets that exited. To see a being as powerfull and wise as here getting exited like a little kid is adorable. The restaurant is called "Dragon Palace", and the interior shows. Chinese kitsch from ceiling to carpet. Its a bit much for you, but Celly marvels at the decor. There are few other customers in this large restaurant, just a few office workers on their lunchbreak and a couple of chinese tourists. You take a booth in a quiet corner of the restaurant, where you can talk in private. You order your drinks (Celly takes a large glass of Ice Tea, you a Coke) and proceed to the buffet. She is almost overwhelmed by the vast selection of dishes. You take a plate and start to fill your plate with some fried noodles and eggrolls. As you return to your table Celly is still looking puzzled. "Just go, Anon. I´ll need another minute." You shrug and walk to the table. A few minutes later Celly sits down too, her plate is full with a mountain of different dishes, it looks more like a car accident than a meal. "You know, Tia. "All you can eat" is NOT meant as a challenge..." "I just want to try everything!" "Okay, you can take seconds. You don´t need to take all at once." -"Oh, I will take seconds and probably thirds. It all looks so amazing!" "Besides, there is a lot of meat on your plate, will you really eat that?" "Yes, sure. Why not?" This kinda shocks you. "Er, you eat meat? But, I thought.." -"Hm? Oh, no. Equestrians are, unlike earth horses, omnivores. Eating meat has gone abit out of fashion in recent centuries thou. But thats a merely cultural thing. Fact is that no species could develop a large brain without the protein from meats." She sees the shock on your face. "Oh, sorry. I didn´t mean to offend you, since you are a vegetarian." You snap out of it. "Whu..what? But I´m not a vegetarian!" -"But you never bring meat home." -" I never bought meat because I thought that you are a herbivore and didn´t want to offend you!" She blinks and and then starts laughing. You can´t help it and start laughing too. You have a very long and fun lunch. Celly tells you about a festivity called "Grand Galloping Gala" which is usually a terribly stuffy event, but was in recent years always shook up by her students friends. Inbetween she takes not only thirds but even fourths, the plate is always filled to the brim with food. You think you saw the waiters glancing at you angrily for abusing the "All you can eat" offer like that. Celly is finally stuffed, she pats her belly that looks rather full and lets out a small, quite unladylike belch. "Oh, pardon me. That was brilliant, Anon. I think the shrimp chow mein was my favorite. We should come here more often. You know what? When I have a job and have my first salary I´ll invite you!" -"Yeah, about that. I´ve been thinking about that. I appreciate your enthusiasm, but I don´t think that you taking a job, just like that, is possible." -"Hm? Why is that?" You sigh "Well, first of all because you don´t exist." She looks at you like you are an idiot. "Anon, I do exist. I´m sitting right here and talk to you." You groan. "No... No, thats not what I mean. I mean you do not exist in the system. No birth cerfiticate. No social security number, no health insurance. No ID-card and no passport. You are not registerd anywhere, because you are not from this universe. To the state you do not exist. But you need to exist, you all those things and more to take a job." Celestia folds her hands in front of her face and furrows her brows. "I see. This IS a problem, and not a small one. Ugh, I knew why dealing with bureaucracy was always the least favorite part of being the princess of Equestria... Well, I think I´ll need to read it up online, when we are back at home. The internet is probably the most amazing invention you humans have ever created, Anon." You shake your head. "Forget that. I don´t think reading up what you need to be registered will be enough. I mean for starters what do you write when you are asked for your age? 2000 years?" She lets out a short amused snort. "I am 33. Well, technically." -"What the what now?" She giggles "Let me explain. Unlike what many of my more pious little ponies believe, my sister and I are not immortals. We only age at a much slower pace than other beings. A century is about a year biologically to us. That means in a millenium I age about a decade. Now Luna and me were born as normal unicorns. I turned into a regal alicorn when I was just sweet 19 years old. That was a little over 1400 years ago, so I have aged 14 years. So I am biologically 33 years old." You stare a her for several minutes with an open mouth before shaking your head. "33, whatever. But your place of birth? Your school education? Your family? Everything is connected with everything. If that is not in the computers, you are not there. And you can´t take a job. I´m sorry." She leans over to you and smiles her beautifull gentle smile. "We, will figure something out, Anon." After you finished your lunch and payed the tab (and gave a nice tip for the annoyed waiters) you leave the restaurant and start to plan what to do next. "I think I want to take a look at that shopping street." Celly said "I´m not really into fashion, but I´m interested in how stores and businesses here work. Also its a good opportunity to see how humans interact." You agree "Good idea. I actually need a new pair of pants, also I want to browse the computer store." You take the subway back one station to H-Plaza, where you get out and walk into Z-street. On both sides of this wide pedestrian streets are tall department stores and shopping galleries. There are literally thousands of people here. Housewifes shopping, teenagers hanging out after school, street performers of more or less dubious quality and tourists on the hunt for souvenirs. You head straight for departmentstore K, a ugly 8 story example of early 1980s postmodernism. "They have pretty much everything here, clothes, household items, electronics, toys, food and on the roof terrace is a restaurant with a great view over the city." As you walk in you pass the perfume department, you don´t like the smell, but you see that Cellys eyes are actually watering, her face a grimmace of disgust. "This stench! This is terrible!" You remember that her sense of smell is much more refined than yours. In this moment an overeager young salesgirl walks up to her. "Hello Miss, would you like to sample the new fragerance "Seduction" by Enrique J? Its all the rage!" Without a warning she sprays at Celly, who is getting in a coughing fit. You lead her to the escalator "Eh, no thank you. My girlfriend is allergic to perfumes, you know!" You give the poor girl an angry glance as you and your hacking and wheezing friend ride up to the first floor. "Uh, my goodness. What was that. Is that the chemical warfare I read about?" -"No, just the perfumedepartment. I always hate going in there." You make a mental note that you will use the exit on the other side of the building later. Celly is still wheezing. "Wait, are you telling me that human women put that on voluntarily?" -"Heh, not all of them. Perfume can actually be quite plesant when used is small amounts." Celly wipes the tears from her eyes. "I have my doubts about that, Anon... Oh my! What is that?" You are now in the lingerie department. Many mannequins with all sorts of lacy bras, panies and garters. Rows of plastic legs with many different kinds of stockings are lined up along the aisle. "My! This looks interesting. I think I read about this on the internet. Human women wear this to look sexy, right?" She has completely forgotten about the perfume. "Hey, Anon. What do you think? Would I look good in that?" She gives you a teasing grin as she points at a very skimpy combination of a pink lace bra and panties with matching stockings and garterbelt. "Pink isn´t really my colour, but I think I would look nice in this!" You make the mistake of imagen her in that get up. You face turns bright hot red and you quickly move behind sales table to hide your errection. You have to think quick: Football, think about football. Dead puppies. Grandmas kisses that smell of Vicvaporub and death. "Uh, Tia, we should go upstairs. I really need a new pair of pants." Now more than ever, you think to yourself. Finally, the mens department on the second floor. You grab a couple of cheap slacks and some jeans and head to the fitting rooms. Celly is visibly bored as she waits on a bench outside as you try on the pants. Finally you have decided on which pairs to buy. As you leave the fitting cabin, you notice with horror that Celly is gone. "Psst, hey Anon!" You turn around and see Celly peeking out of a fitting room. You walk over to her. "Look at this." She shoves the curtain to the side and you almost pass out. She has transformed herself into wearing that hot pink underwear from downstairs. "Gotcha." You pull the curtain shut and try stay silent but with panic in your voice. "Jesus, Mohammed and Buddha. W..w..what are you doing? Please, please, change back before somebody sees you like that!" She answers with a mocking pout. "Aw, you are no fun." She flashes back into her normal clothes and leaves the changing room. "There. But I´ll remember that outfit for later." She gives you a teasing wink. You pay your pants. and move out of the departmentstore with a red head while Celly can´t stop herself from giggling all the time. You know that she is mischievieous and has a goofy sense of humor. You like that about her, at the same time you fear that this may be the end of you. Outside she nudges you. "C´mon, I´m sorry, Anon. It was just a joke." You sigh. You are not mad at her, you can´t really be mad at her. "Its okay. You gave me quite a fright. If one of the sales people would have seen you like that, they may would have thought that you were trying to steal that underwear and they would have called the police. And since you would not have been able to identify yourself, they may have arrested you and..." You realize why that did upset you so much. That situation could have escalated quickly and maybe they would have found out at the police station that she is not human, maybe they would have called the millitary or the space agency, because there is an alien posing as human. You are scared to lose her. Because you love her. "Its okay, Celly. I need to relax. Lets go to the computer store. I want to show you some computers that are better than the old POS I have at home." You go back onto Z-street. You try to stay calm, but inside you are in turmoil. Just just realized that you do not only care for Celestia, you actually are in love with her! This is terrible! This can´t work out! You are from different worlds. Literally! Celly must sense that something is off, the leans over to you. "Anon, are you all right? You are very quite all of sudden." You smile at her. "No, I´m allright. I´m just thinking about something." Suddenly a little child stands in your way. Its a little girl, about 3 years old, staring up at Celestia. She smiles down at the girl. "Hello, little one!" The girl just points at Celly "Unicron! Pwetty howsie!" Celestia and you stare at each other in absolute horror. The mother of the girl runs up to you and picks her up. "Oh, I´m sorry. I hope she didn´t bother you. She normally doesn´t just wander off like that:" You force a smile. "Oh, nevermind. Adorable kid!" The mother smiles, nods and carries the girl away. The girl still points at Celly. "HOWSIE! HOWSIE! UNICRON!" As you look around you begin to notice with growing dread that many very young children, toddlers up to 3-4 years are staring and pointing at you. No, they stare and point at Celestia! Fuck. Celestia turns around and looks at you, her face a grimmace of terror. "They can see through my disguise! Anon, what are we going to do?!?!" "Okay, stay calm. Play it cool. Those are very young children. Adults do not see through the disguise so we are good." -"But the children! They recognize my true form!" -"Never mind them! Nobody listens to children at that age. Adults probably think that they have a very colourfull imagination, because the see you as a woman." You breathe out. "Listen. Its not perfect, fine, it doesn´t matter. If adults see you as a woman, we´re cool. Are we cool?" -"B..b..b..but the children.." You almost want to shake her "ARE. WE. COOL!" She lets out a long breath. "We...we are cool." -"Good. Keep it together. You are doing great." You continiue your shopping tour, you see from the corner of your eye how Celly is taking worried glances at children. Finally you enter C-Store, a large computer and electronic hardware store. Celly visibly relaxes since there are hadly any children in here. You show Celly around and explain everything. Oldfashioned desktop computers, notebooks, tablets and smartphones. You show her the 3D-printers and she marvels at this technology. She has a very quick grasp at everything and is a fast learner. "This is almost magical, Anon." -"Yeah, I guess it is. In just 20-30 years computers and the internet have changed the face of this planet and of society completely. Communication, trade and businesses, industry, everything is run more or less by computers. Fortunes of billions of dollars are send around the globe in splitseconds. Infrastructure like hospitals or the power grid are run by computer systems as well as political elections. There is of course some risk in that, as data can be manipulated more easily because it exists only virtually. Celly lets out a barely audible "huh." and listens very closely. "I personally think the benefits outweight the risks, thou." Finally you leave the store and go to the metro, but not before grabbing some dinner at a burgerplace, since its getting evening. You smile at Celly. "It feels really good to have a bacon cheese, without having to worry about pissing somebody off." Chelly laughs her beautyfull laughter. "I understand what you mean." Then she warily glances at a toddler in a stroller next to her. The child smiles and points at her. "Da!" Finally you sit in the train home. You just notice how tired you are. Celly has allready fallen asleep in the seat next to you, you smile as she leans on you. She is kinda heavy, thou. You are amazed that her disguise stays up even as she is asleep. Maybe she has to conciously deactivate it? With these though you too drift into sleep. You jolt awake. Wait what is that? You look out of the window. "OH SHIT!" Celly is waking up too. "Mhm... Whu... Anon? Whats wrong?" -"We missed our station. We´re out in the fucking boonies. We have to get out and ride back." You get out at the next stop. This sucks. Its dark allready and you are quite far out of the city, five stops past your station. Even worse, this is a very seedy neigborhood. The station is vandalized and there is trash everywhere. In the distance are some apartment blocks that are even dumpier than the one you live in. The next train will come in about ten minutes. Great. Celly tries to cheer you up. "Well, look at it that way, you wanted to show me your world. I think we can scratch this part of the list now." "Heh, you got a point there,,," After a few minutes you hear noise from the path to the apartment blocks. Its some teenage wannabe gangsters, bored, young, stupid, too much energy and testosterone, too little brains. As soon as they see you they come over and start getting in your faces. They want to start something and appearantly have found a target. "HEEEEEY, look at that big ho! Your tits are fake aren´t they?" The obvious leader of the group moves at Celestia. "Say, why don´t you just ditch this wanker and have some fun with me and my boys?" To emphasis his point he is making a rude hip gesture at her. You try to reason. "Look guys, we don´t want any trouble. We just want to go home..." He gets in your face. "Well, fuckface, its a bit late for that. This is our turf here. If you want to pass through here you have to pay some toll. Your in luck that we´ll accept some rounds with your ho." Celly snorts and gives him a pityfull look. "I don´t think you could handle me. No offence, but I am way out of your league." He doesn´t take that kind of rejection very kindly. "Oh yeah? You think you´re fucking better than me, bitch? I´ll fuck your fat ass to death!" Celestia is incredibly calm. You could swear the air is getting chillier by the second. She suddleny appears to be very menacing and has has a very scary aura. The ersatz-ganstas seem a little confused. Celly grabs a steel pole standing next to her on the platform that used to carry a station sign at some point. You can see how her fingers actually squeeze the metal like Play-Doh. Then she rips the pole with a good chunk of concrete out of the floor, the thugs flinch at that. One starts running. Celestia ties a knot into the steel pole, then she ramms it to its place again. The ground shakes a little on the impact. She does all this while staring the leader straigh in the eyes. He is visibly shaking. The only other one of his group that hasn´t run away yet, stands behind him, wide eyed, frozen in terror, on his pants is a wetspot growing around his croutch. "A,,,a,,a...I´m not scared of you cunt!" The leader draws a gun from his jacket and points it at Celly. You are frozen with shock, but she just roll her eyes. "Oh please." He fires two shots. The bangs ring in you ears. The bullets hit something. You look in disbelief as they flat out on some kind of invisible wall. You see that Celly made some kind of hand gesture, and the now harmless bullets slide down some kind of force field. After the bullets his the ground there is a minute or so silence. Celly still looks him in the eyes. "I suggest you gentlemen take your leave. Go home and rethink your lives." The leader shakes, then the start screaming. He runs off screaming in headless panic. The last one of his companions snaps out of his paralysation and starts running too. You stare after them. Then you look at Celly, then you look back at them, as the dissapear into the night. "Tia, remind me to NEVER piss you off." Just after you said that the train home arrives. Thank god, you didn´t want to wait for those stooges to find new courage and return, possibly after calling some of their friends. Celly doesnt say anything for the rest of the ride. Finally, as you walk in the small park between the station and your home, she speaks. "Anon. Please tell me the truth. My butt is not that fat, is it?" You blink and then you start laughing. "No, its perfect! Don´t worry, you are amazing the way you are." She gives you an awkward smile. At home she transforms back into her regular form. "Mmmmhm! This feels great! I kinda like my disguise, but, frankly, nothing beats this." She stretches her wings and plops down on your couch. "Anon, I need your notebook. I have some things to look up and some work to do." -"Oh, okay? Sure!" You watch her work on the computer. Its pretty odd how she operates it. since she has no hands (in this form) she uses her magic to manipulate it. She is incredibly fast. You smile as you notice how much she impresses you. She looks at you. "Anon, are you all right? You are acting stange again." -"Ah, no, no. I just have things on my mind." She gives you her gentle smile. "Just tell me, we are friends. I´m sure I can help you with that." -"Oh. I well. I don´t know. I just..." You just look at her. The sudden realisation throws a shadow on her face. "Oh. Oh Anon. Please don´t do that to the both of us. I value or friendship too much, please. I don´t want that." You hear the pain in her voice "Celly I know its stupid, but I think I lo..." -"Don´t you dare to say that Anon!" She looks down. "Anon, I like you very much. I love you, but I only want to love you as a friend. I...I can´t do that. Not again." -"Again? What do you mean again?" She looks at you with an expression of being caught. She just said more than she wanted to say. She sighs. "Anon, I told you earlyer today about the extremely prolonged lifespan that was given to us when my sister and me turned into regal alicorns?" She continiues, a deep sadness in her voice "This is both a blessing and a curse. When I turned into an alicorn I had a coltfriend. I loved him deeply with my whole heart. When I became princess of Equestria, I made him my royal husband. You wont believe how deep our bound was. But as the years passed, he grew older, but I didn´t. He finally died at an old age and it broke my heart. Years later I found new lovers. All in all I had 8 husbands and 3 wifes over the years. I had in total 14 children with them. They gave me 35 wonderfull grandchildren, and they gave me 72 great grand children." Tears are welling up in her eyes. "And I watched them all grow old and die. I outlived all of them. Every single last one of them! And everytime the pain was almost unbearable. They turned to dust centuries ago, but... but when I think of them it hurts as if they died yesterday. So please, Anon, I beg you. Don´t do this to me. I gave up on giving all of my love to just being almost a millenium ago and decided to give it to all of my little ponies instead, because I can´t bear the pain of losing my lover another time. Don´t do this to me!" She breaks down in tears. You feel absolutely rotten. "I´m sorry Celestia. I..." You sit there in silence for several minutes. "Are there still ponies that are descendants of those relationships?" She is a bit suprised by that question but she brightens up immediatly. "Whu.. Why yes, of course. Hundreds of them all over Equestria. Most of them don´t even know that I´m their great-great-great-etc.-grandmother. But believe me, I keep track of them and I´m proud on each and every one of them!" She looks up smiling, as if she is looking at something far away in the distance. "There are some of them of which I am especially proud of..." You smile at her and get up. "I think your lovers and children are still there, They live on in these ancestors.“ Celestia has tears in her eyes but she smiles. „Goodnight Celestia." "Goodnight Anon, thank you for being here for me." //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 2: Part of your World //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 2: Part of your World You wake up late, its almost 11 am. As you go int the living room, you see Celly asleep on the computer. You can´t help but smile at how adorable she looks. Yesterday was a crazy day. At this moment Celly stirs awake. "Mhm. Ah. Anon? Uh, good morning." "Good morning Celestia. The coffee maker is allready running. You´ve been busy tonight?" She smiles. "Yes. I think I´ve got everything." -"Can you tell me what you´ve got?" -"Oh you´ll see about that." Suddenly she gets serious. "Look, about last night. I don´t want to leave this unadressed. I like you, Anon. I like you very much. You are one of the most wonderfull persons I´ve ever met. And believe me I´ve met a lot of ponies, or people. The point is that a thing between us could never work out. We have to be reasonable. I will eventually return to Equestria, I must. My ponies need me." It is a stab to your heart, but deep inside you know that she is right. "I know. I wished you were wrong but you are right. I love you, but I know it is foolish. Never mind that." You put up a brave face. "So tell me what your plan is!" She looks at you for a long minute, as if she doesn´t really believe that you are over it, just like that, but then she smiles „After breakfast we go into the city again. I have figured out a way to "exist" in the system." You are surprised, to say the least "What? How?" She smiles secretively "Oh, you´ll see. At the end of this day Tia Prince is a citizen of this country.“ After breakfast you are ready to go again. Celly has transformed herself into her human form again, but this time she is wearing very formal looking clothes. She is wearing a greyish-blue business suit, skirt just above the knees, darkbrown pantyhose and simple black high heels. Her hair is tied into a strickt looking braid. She actually looks likea CEO or... like a politician. As you walk to the subway station, you ask her again what she is up to. „You still have not really told me what you want to do!" She looks down at you, (those heels make her even taller than she allready is). "Anon, what do I do in Equestria?" -"You rule the country?" -"And what else?" -"You are a teacher!" She sighs "Yes, sometimes. But what else do I do? Like every day?" -"You control the sun, I think....?" You have no idea where this is heading to. "Exactly! What do you know about the sun?" -" It´s a gigantic burning ball of gas." "Go on..." -"Its bright!" -"And why is that?" "Because of light...?" -"Light. I control the sun, I control light. Now light is an electromagnetic wave, like...?" -"Radioactivity!" She groans "Electricity. Its just a question of wavelength." You think about what she is planning, as you ride the train into the city. You get out at H-Plaza again. She storms up to the streets and marches straight in the direction of the city hall. You begin to have an idea what she is up to... The city hall of F-city has two parts. The historic beautifull part, where guests of the city are welcomed and where the mayor has his office, where the city concil and the municipal parliament is meeting. And then there is the administartive building. A grey, brutalist monstrosity from the 1970s where the day to day business of running a large metropolis is actually happening. You go to the civic registry office in ground floor of this building. Celly heads straight to the waiting room and pulls a number. You sigh and sit down next to her. You really hope she knows what she is doing. You don´t have to wait for long untill the switchboard over the door shows Cellys number. You head through the large office to the desk with the designated number. The clerk serving Celly looks like he was born to be a civil servant. A bald, overweight, short, middleaged man with a greying mustache and thick oldfashioned glasses. His eyes grow wide as he sees Celly appraching him. "Er... Hello, Miss, what can I do for you today?" Celly smiles at him, you can tell that she throws her full charme and charisma at the poor guy. "Oh hello, sir. My name is Tia Prince and, well its a bit embarrasing, but it seems that I have lost my ID-card. I need to order a new one." He gets to his computer. "Thats no problem, Miss Prince. Lets see... Odd... I can´t find your name in the system. Oh, lets try something else, please place your right thumb on the finger print reader here, I will find you that way in no time." Celestia does that, but... she is doing something with the finger print reader! Was that a spark? You can barely stop yourself from gasping, but the clerc doesnt notice it anyway, as he is busy staring at his screen. "Ah, there we go! Tia Prince. Can you please tell me your DOB, place of birth and current residence for comparison?" -"Yes, of course. July 22nd 1984, C-town, G-Ring 154, F-city at the adress of Anon Ymus." "There we go, we just need a photo, you can use the photo booth in the hallway. Your bank account is still at the P-bank?" Celly beams at him. "Yes! -"Great. The fee for the new ID will be withdrawn from your account within a fourthnight. I´ll finish up the order, please bring me the photo when you´ve took it." As you walk to the photobooth you try to keep it lowkey and whisper but you are a bit agitated. "What the fuck did you just do?" She gives you her trademark smile "You said something yesterday that stuck with me. How easy it is to manipulate data, when you know how." You try to keep your voice at a level that nobody exept her hears you "So you just magically hacked the gouvermental computer system?!?!" „Not only that, also a bank account, health and social insurance and, as I currently dont have a job, unemployment benefits and so on. As you said, it is all connected and I read it all up last night." -"You know that you just comitted a federal crime." -"People know what the computers know in this world. And the computers know that I was born 33 years ago in C-Town. My parents died in a car crash and I grew up with my grandmother who died when I was 19. I went to School in C-Town and went to the university of G where I got a degree in social science and political science. And for a year I live at your place. Thats what the computers know, they know it is a fact and was always a fact. The computer of the middle school of C-Town? It knows me as a student in the years from 1994 to 2002. The computer of tax office know that I payed taxes in the time I had a job as well as the computer of the companys I worked at knows my as a former employee. I´m in the system." You are speechless. After she made her photo she returns to the clerk. He scans the image and adds it to the order for the ID-Card. "Well, were done . You´ll recieve your new ID-Card in 4-5 weeks in the mail." Celly beams at him. "Thank you so much, I wish you a pleasant day." She turns around and is about to leave. "Now, wait just a minute!" You both flinch. "Miss Prince, you forgot your temporary ID. This paper is valid untill you have your new ID card." You leave the city hall and walk across the square in front of it. You are still disturbed. "I can´t believe you just did that. And I can´t believe it actually worked." All of sudden you are very happy that magical powers do not exist in this world. If criminals or terrorist had this kind of power... "Oh yeah, in the next days my cash card, credit cards, health insurance card and social security documents will arrive too. I took the liberty to plant the information in the computersystens of those organisation." She grins. "And now I can go and search for a job!" A couple of weeks have passed. A lot of mail has arrived for "Tia Prince", each letter containing another piece of her puzzle of her identity. The credit card companies were the fastest. Then her bank card and access PIN for online banking by P-Bank. Social security and health insurance cards next. Then a letter from the job center concerning her unemployments benefits. Then letters from schools and the university of G sending her copies of her report cards and graduation certificates as well as letter from her "former employers" with references. You are surprised how many of these letters were automated letters, there were actually only 2 or 3 that were signed by an actual person. She thought of everything. You have to admit you are impressed. At that night before you went to the city hall she sure did her home work, she looked everything up, everything that was necessary, she created her identity from scratch, even used only companies for her CV where the staff after HR department changed after she "left the company", her professors of the university are all retired or dead. Her tax reports and bank statements reach back ten years. Everything neat and unremarkable. Its as if she has always existed. At the moment she is spending her time looking through job vacancies online. She has created a neat CV, her photo is stunning. Earlier this week she had her telepatic call with her sister. There have been some setbacks with the spell to bring her home. Surprisingly she was more motivated to get a job by that than she was saddend. She sighs in frustration. "There are so many jobs, but I don´t really see myself in any of them. The titles don´t even make sense most of the time. What is an "assistant junior manager for cross-cooperate synergies"? And all those vacancys for call center agents. Why do they need so many of them?" You let out a laugh "Because they fire as many as they employ. I worked in a call center once, its a shit job." "Hm. I wouldn´t have thought that this would be that difficult." You sit down next to her. "Maybe you are looking at this from the wrong angle. You look at all the job vacancies and look what may fit you. Try it the other way around, try searching for a position that suits you and your abilities!" She think about it for a moment. "You know Anon, thats actually a pretty good idea!" -"Well, I think I have a little more experience with job hunting than you. Lets see. What do you WANT to do?" She thinks for several minutes about it. "Well, I always liked to help ponies To guide them and to improve their lives." You clap your hands. "Well, there you go. Try searching for positions in the social sector." Celestia changes the setting at search in the online job portal. "Lets see... That looks more promising... Oh... Thats interesting! And thats at least a maybe. I think I have a couple of jobs I can apply to here." She looks at her CV "Anon do you think the photo on my CV looks good? The photographer said I was a "Natural" and he would like me to model for him, but I think its a bit... I feel my smile comes not out naturally." You look at her photo. Her human form is smiling up at you, wearing that blueish-grey business suit. She is having that typical awkward profile pose you have on application photos. She makes it work thou. You can see that her smile is a little forced, but only because you know her for a while now. To somebody who doesn´t know her she looks fantastic. You remember how you went to a professional photographer a few days after your visit to the city hall. It was funny to compare how confident and in control she was at the registry, but that the camera intimidated her. The photographer absolutely loved her, even thou he was obviously gay. "Don´t worry, it will do the trick. If everything fails you could still take those modeling jobs. I heard they pay good" She winces a bit. "I don´t know, Anon. It makes me feel kinda unconfortable. Okay, now lets go to the applications..." You gently stroke her etheral mane, it feels prickly, like static electricity, but not in an unplesant way. "I think you need a break. Look, you´ve been burying youself in the computer for three days now. You will get a job soon enough. Relax a little." She gives you a smile "I know, its just... I´m just sitting around here all day. I want to make myself usefull. I want to do my part to make this world a better place! If you look at the news you will see that there a lot of people, especially world leaders, that direly need a friendship lesson or two..." You laugh out loud. "You can say that again. But you can´t do that if you fuck up your work/life balance. I know what you need. There is an event in the city today that you will love." She raises a brow. "Oh, and what may that be?" -"You´ll see when we get there. Its a surprise." She magically shuts the notebook. "Oh, all right anon, I think I have earned myself a little break. Can we stop by at that little Café afterwards and get some cakes? Their cakes are amazing." You grab your jacket and grin. "Oh, I think that won´t be necessary." A little later you arrive downtown at the convention center near the trade fair. Celestias eyes almost fall out of her head as she sees the banner over the entrance. "48th annual F-City convention of confectioners and pastry chefs. Showcase of finest pastry and cakes. "Let them have cake!"" Celestia lets out a small gasp, she almost seems a bit... aroused. "Oh Anon... This is... I´m... Wow..." She is actually speechless and has tears in her eyes. And drool on her mouth. You take her hand "Entrance fee is just 10 bucks and you actually can try some of the cakes. I thought you may like this." "I... I... Thank you Anon!" You enter the main hall of the convention center. Rows upon rows of booths of finebakers, full of all sorts of cakes, pastries and confectionary fill the hall. a sweet smell is lingering in the air. Celly is overwelmed. This is her woodstock. "My goodness. To think that my whole life did lead up to this moment..." She grabs your hand and pulls you through the aisles with her inhuman strength. "Oh look! Sacher style chocolate cake! Blackforest cake! Red Velvet Cake! *GASP* ECLAIRS!!!" She runs up to a booth that has stacks and stack of eclairs on the table. A jolly fat chef with a thin mustache, he looks a bit like Oliver Hardy, stands behind the counter and greets her. "Hello Miss, would you care for a eclair?" -"Oh, don´t mind if I do!" She takes a huge bite of the eclair the chef has given her. You can´t help but whince as she bit in the quite phallic looking pastry. "Hmm...MmmmMMMHM... Incredible. That cream filling..." She leans over the the chef. "Its fantastic! Do I taste a hint of salted caramel in there?" The chef smiles "Its one of the ingrediences of my special cream filling. I take you know a thing or two about pastry, Miss?" -"Well, not professionally. I am a long time connoisseur of your beautyfull craft thou." She eats another two of thoses eclairs, as you are about to move to the next booth, a little girl, about 4 years old, stands in front of her. Celly gives her a gentle smile and kneels down to her. The girl whispers. "You are a unicorn, aren´t you?" Celly smiles at her and whispers conspirational. "You can see it, right?" The girl beams and nods "U-huh!" -"Whats you name?" -"I´m Janet." -"I´m pleased to meet you Janet, My name is Celestia. You can see me how I really look like. Well, that makes you my very special friend! Don´t tell it to anybody thou, this is our little secret, okay?" The girl smiles. "´Kay. I promise!" -"Thats great!" -"´Kay, see you Celestia!" She skips down the aisle to her parents and waves to Celestia. Celly smiles gently after her and waves back. "I like children. They are just too precious, when you know how to handle them." And she did find a way to handle them. She is using this tactic whenever a child is approaching her for a week now, and so far suprisingly it worked like a charm. She nods pleased "Its all a question of making them special and appreci... Oh my! Are those marzipan-nougat cake pops over there?" A few hours later. You knew Celly was a big eater with a sweet tooth, but you have a hard time to wrap your head around how much cake she actually devoured today. You spend far too much money on pastry today. Your fridge is full of cake and so is she. She was keeping her selfcontrol up incredibly well, on the way home, but as soon as you closed the door she dropped he disguise and her composure. Now she is lying on the couch, wings stretched to the side and all four legs as well as her stuffed, round belly pointing to the ceiling. She is a blissfull mess. You quip "You do not look exactly regal right now, your highness..." -"Guh... Don´t... care... urp...So...happy..." -"Oh Celly, I told you to be carefull not to overgorge youself like...*sniff"* What the... DID YOU JUST RIP ONE?!?" She grins at you and sticks out her tounge. You gag and storm to the window to open it. "FUCKING LORD! How can somebody like you create such a hellish stench?" You take a deep breath and turn around. You want to taunt her some more about her behaviour, but you see that she has fallen asleep. She happily snores in her sugar coma. You can´t help but smile. Its odd, to see her like that means a lot to you. It means that she completely trusts you, that she knows that she can be un-regal, un-above everything, un-princessy around you. That she can be a normal person (or pony) around you because you won´t judge her, because you are her friend. The next couple of days went by without any incidents. You went to your stupid boring daily job while Celly wrote applications and startet to explore town on her own. She just got herself a phone as well as a monthly train pass, but she actually enjoys wandering through the city by foot, just as one human among millions. She tells every evening about her discoveries. At first you still had to explain her a lot of things but now she really got a hold on how things in this world work. Its morning and as you have breakfast and prepare for the day Celly tells you about a Sandwich shop she has found yesterday and that she is planning to buy us dinner today. At this moment her cellphone rings. "Hello? Prince?...Oh! Yes of course!... No, that is not a problem.... Friday at 10:00 am, got it...Yes, I´m looking forward to it! Thank you very much!... See you on Friday...Goodbye!" She grins and jumps up, flying through your kitchen. "I have an interview!!! YES!!!!" She lands and gives you a hug. You are actually happy for her, yet you wonder how she will do in it. "This is great Celly! Are you sure you are up to it?" She get a little worried "I really don´t know anon. I have read tons and tons of texts on job interviews online, even seen some videos, but thats just theory, I guess I´ll just have to go and see." You are Celestia now. The days haven been passing slowly ever since you got the call with the invitation for a job interview. Anon has actually been practising with you job interviews, bless his heart. Now you stand again in front of the city hall, were you startet your existence as Tia Prince a few weeks ago. You had applied to an open vacancy in the municipal department for social services which is located in the same building as the registry. You didn´t really completely understood what this job was all about, mostly that it was about helping people and this is something you are actually good at. You step into the building, ask at the front desk where to go and step in the elevator to the third floor. Something you will probably never get used to is how barren and utiliarian human office buildings can be, especially when it comes to public authorities. You knock at the door of the office you were supposed to go to. "Come in!" You step into the office. A large, middleaged woman with a friendly wide face gets up and steps from behing her desk. She grabs your hand and gives you a firm handshake. "Ah good morning, Miss Prince. my name is Jacobs, we talked on the phone a few days ago. Did you have any problems getting here?" You smile at her "Oh no, not at all! Thank you again for the invitation, Miss Jacobs. I am very happy and thankfull that you give me this opportunity." Jacobs gets behind her desk again and points you to a chair in front of her. "Well, I was very impressed with your application and I wanted to meet you in person. Now tell me, what do your think what the most important part of the job of us here in this department is." You think about for a short moment before you give Jacobson another smile and your answer. "It was always my opinion that is was this departments most noble purpose to help people. To be a supporting friend in the times of need" Miss Jacobs is smiling at you. "That is a beautyfull image, maybe a bit too optimistic, but I like it. We need that kind of optimism. You see, many people think that our job is just handing out wellfare. Thats not true. We organize everything from after school progamms for youth as well as activitys and support for seniors and disabled, aid for immigrants as well as resocialisation for recovering drug addicts and ex-convicts. That is a lot of work and we are on a tight budget. But it is important, yes we try to be a friend in need for those people, people who have fallen out of the system. I mean its not like you can just snap your finger and magically are back in it." You smile and nod, inside you having a laught. But you really begin to like that woman. She genuinly seems to care about her work and you feel a kind of familliarity here. "A fair warning, Miss Prince, this can be ery ungratefull and frustrating work at times. Do you think you are up for that?" -"Oh yes, certainly, I´ve done tedious work before. I think every work is worth doing it, if you help to improve things at the end of the day. Even if you don´t see the result right away." Jacobs is making some notes "I see. Good. Well, in case you get the job, your tasks would include balancing budgets between the different parts of the departments and check if certain suggested programms are feasable, according to available data and statistics. But its not all number crunching, we have also meetings with the supervisors of the different social ressorts to develop new ideas for social progamms in the city." You give her a warm smile "That sounds very interesting." -"Oh, it is. So, do you have some more questions?" -"Not at the moment, I think they will probably come up later." She hands you a small piece of paper. "Well here is my card with my e-mail adress, just send them over when you have them. I think we´re basically done for now. We are of course having a few other interviews with other applicants, but, between you and me, so far you impressed me the most of them." Jacobs continiues "Of course the decision is not for me alone to make. We will have a few more intervievs today and on Monday and Tuesday, we will probably make a final decision on next Wednesday. I will call you then." She shakes your hand. "Well, thank you for coming." -"Thank you for having me!" As you walk out the building you have a good feeling in your belly. But what if you still messed things up? You did read all about the professional, social and cultural cues in this world in general and this country in particular, but what if you missed something? What if you were too friendly and eager? Humans tend to be wary of too much friendlyness, it seems to them like you are trying to hide something from them. We you certainly do hide something, but your intentions about this employment were genuine. Oh well, now you can only wait for their decision. You decide to reward yourself with a cake in that nice little café across the street. Later that day You are Anon again Celly told you in great detail about her job interview. You think it sounded pretty good, but you could also be wrong. You had job intervievs that seemed good to you, but which you completely fucked up. You pat her back. "Well, its all in the air now. Maybe you should send one or two questions by mail, just to show you are still interested." You can see that Celly is very nervous about the job interviev. She wants that job, she wants it badly. She did email a few questions, banal stuff about work hours and stuff, to that Jacobs woman, and did actually recieve answers pretty quickly. You think its a good sign, but Celly is still not convinced. Its Sunday now and you decide to take her mind of the job. "Celly, you know what we do today? We take a walk in the mountains. Just you, me and nature!" She looks a bit surprised but loves the idea. You take a train up into the mountains. The terminus is in the middle of the forest, a popular destination for hikes. You walk into the woods, despite it being a beautifull sunday there are few people around, You walk for a while in silence now, just enjoying the fresh air and the sounds of the birds. "Anon, that was a great idea. I did need this." She takes a deep breath "You know what? I need to run. I´ll meet you on top of the mountain." With these word she transforms into her alicorn form. Shit! "What are you doing? You are outside! What if people will see you?" She gives you a smile. You have to admit that she looks beautyfull like that, its like a painting from a story book. "Don´t worry, I´ll be carefull." With these words she gallops away. You are shocked, but at the same time amazed. She is fucking fast! You are Celestia now Running. Just running. By the sun, you did need this. You have never been outside in this worl in your real form. The trees rush past you as you run up the hiking trail. You can´t even remember when it was the last time you did that. The wind in your mane and tail, the warm sunlight on your coat. Back in Equestria you are so entangled in the daily business of raising the sun and leading your little ponies that you never gave yourself time for simple things like that. Every day was in a strickt schedule, for centuries! Is this what freedom feels like? You gasp as you realize something. Something disturbing. Something that seemed unthinkable just a year ago. A part of you doesn´t want to go back to Equestria. You stop and lean against a tree. You are actually happy here, with Anon. But your little ponies need you! How can you be so selfish? Wait a minute. You gave them more than a millenum of your life, is it selfish to want to have some freedom for a change? To do what you please and not what royal protocoll demands of you? You feel like crying. "What am I doing." Suddenly you hear a sound. A familliar sound. Are those hooves coming up the trail? You quickly transform back into your human disguise. Just in this moment a earth horse comes around the corner, carrying a young human woman on its back. This is the first time that you see this world version of an equine in real life. It is a suprisingly large creature, fat bigger even than you in your alicorn form, very muscular with a chestnut coat and a large elongated head. Its eyes look tiny compared to an equestrian pony. The horse notices you and walks straight up to you. You wince a bit as you see the horsetack it...no, HE is wearing. Oh my, thats what humans mean when they say hung as a horse... Never mind that, the horse is coming up to you. The young woman on top of him seems to be a bit confused. "WHOA, Fritz, Stop. Whoa!" Fritz does indeed stop to nuzzle you. "Huh, I´m sorry Miss, he never did that before. Normally he doesn´t trust people he doesn´t know." You laugh "Oh thats okay. I like horses, I, well, I feel kinda related to them. And this one here is a quite handsome fellow." You stroke the horses head and look into his eyes. You feel a bit of a sting as you seen that it is indeed a quite intelligent animal, but then its just that. An animal. There is no sapience, at least not in the sense of Equestrians or humans. The young woman smiles. "Oh yes, he is my favorite horse. A clever boy too. I love horses since I was a little girl. We owe so many to those wonderfull, gentle creatures. Well, we´ve got to go. Oh, before I forget it, when I was riding on the other path down the hill, I thought I saw a small white horse running up on the trail here, did you see it coming by? Maybe Fritz was smelling it and that why he wanted to go up here." You tense up a little. "I´m sorry, I didn´t see a horse running by." -"Huh, I must be seeing things then. Oh well, have a nice day, Miss." You watch Fritz and his mistress trott up the hill, Fritz looks back at you several times. Can he recognize you too? You sigh and continiue your hike up to the close peak where you wait for Anon. At the peak you sit down on one of the benches that have been put here. You are alone. Its really peacefull up here and beautyfull. A bird of prey is circleing high above. Your dreadfull realisation returns. A part of you, and not a small part, WANTS to stay here. With Anon. This is horrible. You owe it to your country, your crown and nonetheless your sister as well as your ponies to return. You must fufill your duties! But what about yourself? You also owe yourself freeddom and happyness, don´t you? Anon said something about a "work/life-balance" a while ago. Did you really neglect that so badly in the last couple of centuries? All work and no play makes Celestia a dull mare. Okay, if you return you will take yourself more "me-time". But what about Anon? You will miss him. He is the best friend you had in over a thousand years and the only one, exept for your sister, that treats you like a normal person, even Twilight Sparkle still treats you like her superior. Anon however, is a true, real friend. You didn´t have this since... Oh, no. No, you shouldn´t go there! It will end up in heartbreak for you and him! This another reason why you should go home. This must not happen! But why? Because you are not human for starters. You are not even the same species! Thats nonsense, this is between two souls, it is stronger than differences between races. This internal struggle continiues for a while untill you see Anon coming up the path. "Ah, there you are." You are Anon now Finally you made it up to the peak of the montain. It took you a while to get here. Celly is allready here, whew, at least she had the common sense to change back into her disguise. You see that something is troubleing her, but as soon as she sees you she puts up her facade. "Oh hello Anon! I´ve been waiting forever, you slowpoke!" You give her a smile. "Well, I usually have only two legs. What was that all about btw.?" -"I just felt like it, I needed to power myself out in that form for a change." You are probing her. "But thats not all, isn´t it? Please tell me what is wrong." She gives you a sad look. "Truth to be told, I feel torn, Anon. I do want to return to my ponies, but... There is a part of me that wants to stay here and enjoy life without any royal duties, with you." You feel how this is putting a knot in your stomach. "I see. This sucks. Celestia, you know how I feel about you. But the thing is that it would be wrong of me to rob you of your ponies. They are your people, your family. At the end of the day this is not about what you or me want, but about whats best for everybody. “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one”, you know? I would be a bastard if I would take you away from them. So I want you to return to them as soon as it is possible for you." She smiles and then gives you a big hug. You almost suffucate in her bosom. Well, if you have to dies, why not like that? After a minute she lets go of you. "Thank you Anon." You just sit there in silence for a while before going back down to the train station. //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 3: Not a smart pony //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 3: Not a smart pony Wednesday morning. You are having breakfast. Luckily you have a late shift today, so you can have a long nice breakfast with Celly. She is about to have a "call " with her sister, to keep her updated on the progress of the spell and on a briefing on how things are at home, politics mostly. At this very moment a completely different call arrives. Cellys phone is ringing. "Hello Prince? Ah, Hello Miss Jacobs...Really... I... THANK YOU!... Yes, I´m coming in tomorrow... Can you please send me this as a mail?...Okay...Great!... Thank you so much! ...See you tomorrow... Goodbye!" She beams at you tears of happyness in her eyes. "I´ve got the job, Anon." She flys around the whole apartment, walking on air and whinnies happy. "I did it! I did it! I did it! I did it!" She hoovers up to you and gives you a hug. "And I couldn´t have done it without you, Anon. Tomorrow I´ll sign the contract, I´ll be starting on the first of next month. We did it. Thank you." She stops and quickly trots into the living room "Oh, I must not forget" She takes her usual position in the corner of the room, near the window to communicate with her sister (she said the reception is best there). It looks weird. She is closing he eyes, her horn engulfed in a golden glow, and it looks like she is silently talking to herself. "...That´s good news, Luna. Keep it up, I trust in you... Ah? Good, I´ll call him. Anon could you come please come over? My sister wants to talk to you." You are suprised and a bit confused "Uh..okay, but how? -"Just touch me, that should do it." You touch her neck and feel something like a light static shock. Suddely you hear a voice in your brain. The voice is regal similar to Cellys voice. "...if this is working, sister. Oh? Greetings, Anon Ymus. I am princess Luna of Equestria. I learned that thou looked after my dear sister in the recent year?" You are suprised as you hear her as she is standing next to you, also you are a bit amused since she seems a bit uptight with her stilted speech. "Um, Greetings, your highness, Luna. Yes, I helped her a little to adapt to my world. Its the least I could do." -"I see, my sister has been talking in the highest terms of thee. I would like to take this opportunity to extend the eternal gratitude of the whole realm of Equestria and my personal gratitude opon thee, Anon Ymus." Celly rolls her eyes. "Thats a bit too thick, sister.." Luna sounds embarrased "Oh...I...excuse me. However, thank you Anon. Thank you for providing my sister with shelter and help. These are dire times for us, but your actions are a beacon of hope. Again thank you." You are a bit embarrased. "Gee, thats all right. I did what I had to do." Luna continiues. "I also wanted to tell you personally that my sister won´t stress your hospitality for much longer." You are shocked. "WHAT?" Luna doesn´t notice your jarring. "Yes! We have finally found a way to stabilize the portal to your world. Unfortunatly it works only one way, towards your world so far but in a few months give or take...what?" You hear some commotion. Luna is talking to somebody...somepony. "No, we have been through this times and again sergeant. You will not... WAIT! NO! SERGEANT THIS IS A DIRECT ORDER FROM YOUR PRINCESS! STOP! Bucking manure..." The connection is interrupted. You look at Celly. "Wh...what just happend?" She looks worried. "I...I don´t know, Anon!" In this moment a burst of light flashes in your living room. A tiny lilac unicorn with a short cut strawberry mane and tail is lying on the floor. She wears what looks like a roman centurions armour. Celly looks visibly irritated and steps up to the pony. "What is is meaning of this?!?!" The pony notices her, is shocked and jumps up, standing in attention, saluting with her right front hoof. "Uh..Erm, your majesty! Maam, Equestrian defence forces, Royal Guards to the Princesses, Staff Sergeant Hard Biscuit, reporting for operation rescue and protect the princess, Maam!" Celly looks at the unicorn like it has grown a second head. "Excuse me? I...never.... What?" The pony is still saluting. "Maam, I came though the portal to protect you in this hostile enviroment and ensure your safe return to Equestria, Maam!" She finally spots you. "BY THE SUN AND THE MOON! Look out your highness! This beast is about to attack!" She is about to pounce you as she is stopped midair by a golden glow. Celly hovers her in front of her face. "Stop sergeant! This is Anon, my close personal friend and a hero to Equestria. You will not lay hoof on him or face the consequences, UNDERSTOOD?" -"Ulp...Maam, yes, maam." Celly puts her down and looks at her slightly irritated. "You will not move an inch, while I talk to my sister." While Celestia is moving to the corner to contact Luna, you look at that tiny unicorn. She is so small! Celly is allready small compared to an earth horse, but that little thing, she is barely the size of a large dog. And she looks so chubby and puffy. Are they all like that? Is that why Celly calls them her LITTLE ponies? You look at Celly, she is talking to Luna. "Yes... yes she is here and she is unharmed... Oh.... I see..." The guard unicorn notices you staring at her and glares angry at you. This is so cute! "Sooo, Hard Biscuit, is it? Are you are child...foal or..." She gets angry and huffs "What? Are you talking to me you vile ape monster? I´m a full grown mare!" You grin, lets tease her a little. "Huh. I could have sworn. Compared to Celly you look so tiny. Are you a midget? You are so small! You are a tiny little thing!" She snorts out "How dare you! You will adress the princess properly!" You squat down in front of her. "Of course, pardon me, I mean Princess Celestia. Aw, don´t look at me like that you cute little thing." You pinch her cheek. "Do not touch the royal guard." You take both hands and sweeze that adorable, pissed off looking face and mockingly talk to her in baby speak. "Well, wutchu gunna do about it, you widdle chubchub?" -"Dwu nod doudch de woyal gawd!" You have to laugh. "Hell, you are just too prec..." You have no idea what happens, suddenly you lie on your back and the livid guard pony is standing on your chest, staring straight into your eyes, the tip of its angry red glowing horn just millimeters from your right eyeball. You see now up close that while she appears small and chubby, she is incredibly muscular under her fluffy fur. You break in cold sweat as you realize that you just antagonized the equestrian version of a secret service agent/Marine, which is a very bad idea. She growls at you. "Do. Not. Touch. The. Royal. GUARD!" You´re in luck, Celly just had finished her call with Luna and magically rips Biscuit of your chest and places her on the ground. Hard. She appears calm, but you hear from her voice that she is quite displeased. Celly walks up to Biscuit, her voice is slightly trembling with supressed fury. "Sergeant, I really have to wonder if you have a problem understanding the orders my sister and I give you. I clearly orderd you to not touch Anon. Just as my sister orderd you earlier not to go through the portal! Would you please be so kind and explain yourself?" Biscuit looks like is about to shrink even smaller and hide behind the bookshelve as she looks up to Celestia. "You Majesty, h..h...he started it! He insulted the crown and the royal guards!" Celly stomps her right front hoof. "That is for me to decide, Sergeant. And I was actually talking about why you disobeyed my sisters direct order NOT to go though the portal." -" Your Majesty I just wanted to help! I brought my plan for a rescuing mission forward several times and every time it was declined by her highness Princess Luna and the commander of the guard as well as by her highness Princess Twilight Sparkle. B...but I HAD to do something! I had to take action, you are trapped for too long in this vile, filthy, horrifying place!" You quip "Thank you very much, that is my home you are talking about!" Celly gives you a side-eye that tells you "Not fucking now, Anon" and you shut up. Celestia lowers her head to look Hard Biscuit straight in the eyes. "All right Sergant, your plan was to come here and do what? First of all, I am fully capable of protecting myself, I´ve been doing so for the last year. Second how did you intend to rescue me? My sister did tell you that the portal did only work one way at the moment and that only towards earth. All you did with your recless action was destroying the portal, which will take months to reconstruct, IF it is possible to reconstruct, you wasted 1.21 Gigathaun of magical energy, that my sister, Twilight and the others needed months to store and you jeopardized my, as well as now also your, safe return to Equestria!" Hard Biscuit looks like she is about to cry. "Y...your M...majesty... I..I... just wanted to do the right thing. I just wanted to help..." Celly is calming down, but she is still pissed. "Your loyalty and good intentions are duely noted, Sergeant. They will be assessed for your benefit when I´ll have you court-martialed for your reclessness and insubordination when we return, IF we return that is. Dismissed." She turns away from Hard biscuit who is looking absolutely miserable and walks out of the room. You follow her to the kitchen. She sits down on the floor and looks quite miserable herself. "You just were quite brutal with her there." Celly sighs "I hate doing that and being like that to one of my little ponies. But the thing is... I know her. She is a royal guard for five years now and this was not the first time her recless and thoughtless behavior caused trouble. One time she arrested the mayor of Fillydelphia, who was about to have a meeting with me, because she thought he was a changeling spy. I know she means well, but..." -"She is an idiot." -"Anon! I would never say something like that about one of my little ponies! She is just... not a very smart pony..." You both look at Biscuit through the door. She has recoverd from being chewed out by Celestia and looks around the room. She discovers the TV remote on the coffee table and touches it curiously with her hoof. The TV springs to life with Game of Thrones on. "AAAAH Dragon! Have at thee, beast!" Hard Biscuit attacks the TV and it falls onto her. Celestia facehoofs. "No, you are right, Anon. She is a complete and utter imbecile." You see Biscuit struggle from under the TV. The sceen has a crack. "HAH! I defeated the beast!" Celestia groans. "I´m sorry, Anon. She is my responsibility, so I´ll pay for a new TV." You look at Celestia, still annoyed about the TV "So what are we gonna do with her?" -"Honestly, I don´t know. She is fairly capable with magic, I could teach her the disguise spell and create a identity for her too." You look at Celly with a doubtfull expession. "Do you really shink she is capable of slipping in a fake identity?" You look at Biscuit who is sniffing at the broken TV, only to get a small electric shock. Celly just looks tired. "I don´t think so..." -"Seriously, doesn´t your military have intelligence tests for recruits?" She looks at you almost insulted "Of course we do! The thing here is that her family have been royal guards for almost 400 years, so because of her families service to the crown, her results were...deemphasized. Goodness me, she really makes Rainbow Dash look like Starswirl the Bearded..." -"I don´t know who these people are, but I think I know what you mean. I find it kinda comforting that nepotism is also a thing in your world..." You walk into the living room and help the twitchhing mare up. "I won´t even ask why You attacked the TV." -"I defeated the dragon, and don´t touch the royal guard, you troll!" You shake your head. "That was a TV show, you dumbass. A film. Don´t tell me you don´t know what that is, Celly told me you have films in horseworld." Biscuit is visibly confused. "But I...Hey! Told you to adress the princess properly!" Celestia steps in the room. "He has my permission to adress me like that, Sergeant." She lets out a looong sigh "Since you are stuck now too we´ll need to take care that you don´t hurt yourself and others." Biscuit kneels down. -"Please, your majesty! Give me a chance to redeem myself! I will protect you from any harm in this world. I live to serve you!" You look at Celly. "Are ponies doing that worshipping stuff all the time with you?" Celly doesn´t answer but gives you an eyeroll that says "Yeah, all day, every day." "As I said earlier, I do not require your protection, Sergeant. This world, at least this part of this world, is a relatively safe place. I can disguise myself as one of the locals to blend in. I even have found work." Biscuit looks confused. "I... don´t think I understand, your majesty." -"Okay... Look." With a flash of light Celly turns into her human form. "aaaaaAAAAAAAHHHH! YOUR MAJESTY! WHERE ARE YOU? WHAT DID YOU DO WITH HER, SHE-BEAST!?!?!" Celly looks dumbfounded Lightflash, Ponyform. "Your Majesty! For a moment you were gone! I feared the worst! Lightflash, Humanform. "AAAAAH!" Lightflash, Ponyform. "YOUR MAJESTY!" Lightflash, Humanform. "AAAAAH!" Lightflash, Ponyform. "YOUR MAJESTY!" Celly and you look at each other baffled. This is going to be very difficult. Celly transforms back into her human form "AAAAAH!" You get annoyed "Fucks sake, stop screaming, you moron! The walls in this building are made from cardboard and my neighbours probably think I´m murdering somebody in here." Celly makes a calming gesture to you. "Its okay. Sergeant, listen to me. Listen to my voice. Its me, Celestia, I transformed into this form to blend in in this world, its a changeling spell..." -"THE PRINCESS IS A CHANGELING?!?!?! AAAAAH" Celly facepalms. You are really getting pissed "I think I´m actually GOING to murder her!" -"Is that a threat, apemonster? I kicked your flank earlier, remember?" -"Oh yeah? But Celly commanded you not to touch me, so I can kick your ass while you can´t do anything about it!" You look at Celly "...right?" Celly is outraged "ANON! No, I would never allow something this awfull!" Then she mutters to herself "It does sound kind of tempting thou...." Finally Hard Buscuit understands. "Y...your majesty? Is that you. Why are you in that hideous form?" Celly lets out asigh of relief. "Finally. As I said, I transformed into this, not at all hideous, form to blend in with the natives and to live with them for the time that I am here. Equines are not sapient in this world, unfortunately, so a human mare is fine too. I actually sort of enjoy being one of them." Biscuit is revolted "Your majesty! With all due respect! This... this is beyond obscene! Our divine princess should not lower herself to the level of these beasts! You can´t be serious!" She suddenly stares at you "YOU! You did something with our pure and holy princess. You brainwashed her to make her your slave and conquer Equestria! You will pay for this heresy!" Celly transforms into her pony form again and she is not pleased. "Enough of this, Sergeant! I am completely in control of my senses and I can only stress again that I won´t let you harm Anon in any way. We are only guests in his world, but you are nothing but horrible to him ever since you came out of that portal. He is our friend!" -"B..but..." -"No but! You are embarrasing me!" Celly is talking to you now. "Look I´m sorry, Anon. I..." You smile. "Its okay, Celly. I´m not mad at you. I´m not even mad at her. She thinks she doing the rightious thing." Biscuit glares at you "I don´t know what evil spell you did put on her, but I will end it, even if it means that I will end you...." Celly is engulfed in her golden glow magical glow, she shouts at Hard Biscuit. "NONE OF THIS!" A beam of golden magic hits Hard Biscuit. Hard Biscuit looks horrified as the magic begins to take its effect and she begins to shrink smaller and smaller. At the end she is merely a few centimeters tall. Celestia steps forward and Biscuit looks up to her sovereign that is now mountainsized to her. She cries in a squeaky voice. "Y...y...y...your highness...Please..." Celly gently picks her up with her magic and places her on the coffee table.. "I´m sorry, Sergeant, I did not want to do this, but you didn´t leave me a choice. I will return you to your normal if you come to your senses and start to behave like a decent pony. But for now you will stay like that because you pose a threat to yourself and others." -"I am sorry, your highness!" Celly answers with sadness and disappointment in her voice. "Not as sorry as I am, Hard Biscuit." You are horrified, but also amazed. Actually you are more amazed. Biscuit is so tiny! You say the first though that comes in your head. "She looks like a toy!" Celly is not really in the mood. "Anon, please stop it..." -"No, hear me out. Tiny pony dolls. That would be an amazing toyline! You could make a frachise out of this! With a cartoon series! You could call it..." You make a dramatic "big billboard sign" hand gesture "Tiny Horse Action Force!" You look at Celestia "Great, huh?" Celestia gives you a "How about no" look. "Sorry Anon, don´t take it personal, but thats one of the dumbest ideas I have ever heard." You look at the tiny miserable unicorn on the coffee table. "Oh well, I like the idea. Maybe it the name needs a little work." You make a mental note to call your old school friend who works for Mattel later. "So what are we gonna do with her? Will you leave her like that? I know, she is a reckless, thoughtless, violent, possibly homicidal, military zealot, but... I feel sorry for her." Celly gives you a warm smile. "Your compssion speaks for you. Don´t worry, I love all of my little ponies. Even thouse who are missguided. But there is one thing here I can not tolerate. She did make an unprovoked threat to your life. This is unnacceptable, even if she is under the delusion that you somehow put a spell on me. She will stay like that untill she has learned the errors of her ways and untill I´m sure that she is not a threat for any one." She directly adresses Biscuit now "Did I make myself clear, Sergeant? I am very dissaponited and displeased by your behavior! You may consider this as punishment for your insubordination to both of your princesses. Use the time to think about the errors of your ways." Bisuit looks defeated "Maam, yes, your Majesty, Maam..." You are a bit flushed. "About that magic... You can actually shrink and grow stuff and living beings...? I mean could you also shrink and grow...yourself?" Celly answers in a playfull innocent tone. "Oh yes! It is actually a variation of the transformation spell. I could also apply this to myself, even when in disguise..." She gives you a wry, knowing grin. "Your question doesn´t have any connection with that folder labeled "Macro/Micro" on your computer, does it...?" OH SHIT! You feel as your face turns beet red. "I...I...I...I... Oh , just look at the time! I really have to go to work now! Have a nice day, Celestia! You too, angry midget!" You grab your jacket and your backpack and run out of the apartment, almost forgetting to slip in your shoes, hearing Celly chuckle. You are Celestia now. Anon just left. You didn´t mean to embarrass him like that, but you found his collection of artworks on his computer and we´re amused as well as intrigued. You have seen online that apperantly a lot of humans had fantasies like him or similar. Ponies are different in things like that. They are more liberal concerning homosexuality than humans, but when it comes to sexuality far less... experimental, less creative. To be honest, you didn´t understand the appeal of most of these phillias you saw. And some did seem to you like crossing into some mayor taboos, but as long as it didn´t hurt anybody it seems good to you. You smile as you prepare your stuff for your big day at your new work tomorrow, you really look forward to this. You have found a profession that gives you not only some chance to be an active part of this world, but you will be able to improve the lives of many others. "Your majesty?" Its Hard Biscuit. You really want to ignore her at the moment, as you still feel a little cross about her. You still choose to answer, albeit a little brusquely. "Yes. What is it, Sergeant?" She has walked up to you. "Maam, please, I know I may have overstepped my boundaries, but I did it all for you! I´m a royal guard, and it is my life and pride to serve the royal sisters!" -"Sergeant, if that is the case, why do you constantly choose to disobey orders, even by my sister and me? Why don´t you, just for once, think before you act? Times and again you missbehaved and embarrased the royal guards, my sister and me. And always I was trying to find excuses for your behavior, because I believe that everybody deserves a second, third or even fourth chance. Tell me, how many chances did we give you? And how many times did you dissapoint us? I am tired of finding excuses for you. Now, while I probably won´t have you court martialed, your career as a royal guard is certainly over." Hard Biscuit breaks down crying. You hate to do this, and you feel terrible to punish one of your beloved little ponies like that. But, you are the mother of your people and a mother has the duty to punish a child that missbehaves. And Hard Biscuit did more than just missbehave. She actually threatent to kill not an innocent being. Not only that, but a being that means very much to you. Not that that would change anything. Thats just as bad as if you wouldn´t know, respect and really like Anon. Wait, did you let your affinity for Anon influence your judgement? That would be terrible! Meanwhile Poor Hard Biscuit is a sobbing and blubbering mess. She hugs your front hoof and begs for your forgiveness. "Please, your majesty... Forgive me! Don´t take it away from meheheheheee. I would do anything, anythihihihing for you!!! I have nothing in my life that the guard, and youhuhuhu! You are my life! Plehehehease." You really hate it when ponies do that. You never wanted to stand yourself over them, yet they did put you on this pedestal, some even treat you as a living deity. You don´t even know where this comes from! You never claimed to be a goddess, nor did your sister. You managed it to get rid of most of this religious idolisation in the last few centuries, but occasionaly some of the more pious ponies did fall back into it. And Hard Bisduits entiry family was VERY pious. "Sergeant...Please stop this. Of course the crown will assist you to find a profession that is a little more...fitting for your...talents. For now you stay where you are and don´t casue any trouble, Not for me, nor for Anon," Hard Biscuit is still sobbing, trying to pull herseft together. "Yes...*Sniff*... you majesty... I´m sorry to have failed you. *sniff*" You roll your eyes, but then you notice something you should have noticed far earlier. "Say Hard Biscuit... Your Cutie Mark... Its a cookie, isn´t it?" -"Uh... Yes, your highness. What about it?" You smile "Well, a cookie is not exactly related to guard duty, is it? When did you get it?" Biscuit is suddenly deep in thought. "Well, I think it was back when I was a filly. I really enjoyed baking cookies and cakes then, and my friends in school said I was great at it, thats when I got it, then I joined the guards when I got older and stopped baking, because it was the tradition of my family to join the guards." Her eyes grow wide as she starts to understand. "But... Your majesty, do you think I..." You give her a gentle nod. "Yes. That might be the reason why you were not fit as a guard in the first place. You were acting against your special talent, your cutie mark." -"But... It was tradition in my family for centuries!" -"Maybe its time for a new tradition. Let me make you an offer. When we return to Equestria I will talk to the royal head chef. He always need ponies that are willing to give their best. Maybe, just maybe, we can arrange an apprenticeship with the royal kitchen." Biscuits eyes water again, this time with tears of happyness. She jumps on your hoof again this time to kiss it. "Oh thank you, your majesty, thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!!" You sigh "I will promise you nothing, Sergeant. If you think the commander of the royal guard is tough, you will be suprised how brutal chef Lamb Sauce can be. Hard Biscuit is looking up at you, a puzzled, yet wary expression on her face. "Your majesty, if I may ask, what is it with this Anon creature? I´ve never seen a beast like him." -"Anon is not a beast, he is a human. They are the native beings of this world." She looks a bit uneasy. "You mean there are more of that kind?" -"Oh yes. Billions actually." She grows pale. "Bi..,how is a number like that that even possible? Are there also ponies here?" -"Well, yes and no. There are creatures similar to us, but they are non-sapient animals, the humans use them as beasts of burden." Biscuit is outraged. "So they do enslave ponies!" You shake your head. "No, no Sergeant its not like that. Its complicatet. You see, it may appear similar, but this world, this universe is completely different from ours. You have probably noticed it, this world is completely devoid of magic. Here is not a micro-thaun of magic in the air." Biscuit has suddenly an expression on her face as if you just told her that she is swimming in an ocean full of sharks. "Oh my... Now that you mention it... Thats horrifying!" -"We can manage because our bodies produce enough magic. There is a theory by some scolars in Equestria that the ubquitous background magic of our world influenced the way creatures evolved, why so many races like dragons, griffins, minotaurs, hippocampi and ponies became sapient. In this world humans are the only sapient beings, they clawed their way to the top of the foodchain, literally. They are the alpha predators of this world in which survival is far more brutal than in ours, not because they were stronger than other creatures, or had sharper teeth or claws, no because they are adaptable, cunning and creative. They had to be, in this world nature is uncontroled, cruel and unforgiving. The weather is not controled too, as well as the sun and the moon." Biscuit look horrified. "This is a nightmare. We must get away from here, back home." You give her a gentle, calming smile. "We will Sergeant. But while we´re here I want to study this world as much as possible. These humans do intrigue me. They are beings as extreme as their world, capable of great acts of compassion and kindness, yet at the same time capable of atrocities unimagenable to ponykind. Their intelligence and craftiness has lead them so some incredible triumphs in art, science and culture, but their creativity is also boundless when they have to find ways to kill each other. Maybe I will write a book or two when we return on humans and this world." You see that Biscuit has a hard time digesting all of this. She takes a moment to collect all of her courage to ask the next question. "Your majesty... please forgive me for comitting the heresy of asking, but... The way you look at that hu-man Anon. Are you... well.. are you... attached to him...?" You look surprised at her, and she instantly covers in fear. "I´M SORRY! I´M SORRY! I´M SORRY!!! It was just, again forgive me, it almost seemed like he was your very special somepony. Oh, sun and moon... I´ll go to tartarus for this." You blink. Then you have to laugh, you have to laugh like you haven´t laught in a very long time. Poor Biscuit seems confused. "Your majesty...?" You try to pull yourself together. "Hehehe, Oh my... No, Sergeant...Heheh...I... am very found of Anon. That much is true, but I value him as a true and good friend. I appeared here in this room, his living room, lost and confused. He was just as scared and shocked as me, but he tried to help me from pretty much the first moment. He gave me food and shelter. And he introduced me to his world and its great works of culture." You make a mental note to rewatch Dragonball Z with Hard Biscuit. "He offerd me help when I needed it and he offerd to extend that help to you. For this I am eternaly gratefull to him. And so should you." Biscuits looks down to her hooves and thinks about it for a minute before answering. "Yes, your majesty. If you trust him I will try to do the same. Now... could you please grow me back to normal size?" You grin. "Not now, Sergeant. This is supposed to be your punishment after all, remember?" You bow down and muzzle her gently then you give her a lick "Besides... I do kinda like you like that, my little pony..." You extend your hoof down to Hard Biscuit. "Hop on, little one.I want to take a closer look on you." -"Y...yes, your majesty." She climbs onto the frog of your right front hoof. How light she is. How small, adorable and delicate. You begin to understand Anons phillia as you lift her to your snout. This is...titillating! How interesting! "Hop onto my muzzle, Sergeant I want to have an eye on you as I finish preparing for tomorrow." She follows suit and gasps as walks onto your muzzle. "Your majesty... You coat is incredibley soft!" She sits down and snuggles into your fur. You chuckle as it tickles you a bit. "Thank you, Sergeant. I try to keep it in good condition." She looks down at your work. "Your majesty, may I ask what you plan for tomorrow?" -"You may. Tomorrow I, or rather me in my human personae, will be signing a work contract for an employment at the local social services office. That way I can make myself usefull instead of sitting on my flank all day, help Anon, with some money and can help people that are in need." -"You actually go out? In that hide... I mean in that human disguise? Are you sure that this is wise? You said that this was a cruel, unforgiving world." Her worries for your safety warm your heart. "That may be true, but you know that I am very powerfull, I can defend myself with my magic against almost any danger in this world, and even without magic I am physically much stronger than an human. There is no thread for me as my disguise works perfect. Well, almost..." You can see that she wants to protest, but gives in as she sees that there is no point. As you watch the small guard mare on your snout, you realize how much you missed seeing one of your little ponies. But there is something else... You have felt a weird uneasyness all morning. You watch Hard Biscuit very closely. She is not an attractive unicorn mare in the classical sense, she is quite short and muscular, and her jawline is just a tad bit too masculine, but there is something about her that makes you tingly, she has a really nice flank too... Wait, why are you thinking this about her... Oh. Oh dear. THIS time of the year is coming. While you and your sister are actually over 1400 years old you are both biologically still healthy mares in their physical prime. And you both have certain...needs. Last year you body canceld your estrus, due to the shock and stress of being stranded on earth, but that means that it will come back this year with a vengance. In Equestria you and your sister have servants that assist you in this time, they are stallions and mares selected for their physical qualities. The palace is quite hush-hush about it, officially the royal sisters don´t have sexuality, a stupid and prude leftover from the times in which ponies actually worshipped you as living deities. Should you ask Biscuit for assistance? Or Anon? You accidentally saw him naked once. He is quite well equiped... Oh, stop it! You magically lower Biscuit down to the table. She seems confused by that and looks up to you with a quizzical expression. You bite your lip. "Sergeant... There is something I would like to ask you... It is a... well, unusual request..." Her face brightens up. "I will do anything for you my princess!" You clear your throat. "Well, you know. I am your princess... But I am also a mare. I... Uhm.. No, let me put it this way...You have been a guard of five years now, do you remember what usually happens around this time of year?" Blank stare "You mean they start selling summer sun celebration candies? Yeah, they do that earlier every year. Everything to get some extra bits..." -"N..No... In the palace. Do you remember all of the extra staff we employ at this time of year? All of those... able mares and stallions?" -"Huh? oh yeah! What about them?" -"Do you know WHY we employ them every year?" She still doesn´t understand. "Not really. Well, there were some rumors by the senior officers that you... But that was just some locker room talk. borderline heretic nonsense. I mean, you are our eternal princess of the sun! You would never..." Her face shows doubt and confusion. "Would you...?" You feel kind of bad for ruining her image of you like that. "Sergeant. Hard Biscuit. I am at the end of the day a mare just like you. So I do have the same... body functions as you. What you feel about once a month, I feel every year, only much stronger. I would really appreciate your assistance with this." The poor little mares eyes grow really wide. "Y...Y..YOUR MAJESTY!!! You cannot possibly mean this! This is... I...I...I... I don´t think I´m worthy to serve you in such a way anyway." She is blushing bright red. "You are a fine mare, Sergeant. You have always been loyal to us. Misguided and of poor judgement but loyal. I ask you because I feel that my estrus is coming up and it allready starts to affect me." She winces a bit as you say the word "estrus", thats something you don´t really want to hear from somebody you deem as a demigod. "I was wondering about asking Anon about this, but..." -"NO! No way I let that beast defile my princess! I will do it, your majesty! For you! For Equestria!" You give her a grin. "That is the spirit, Sergeant." You turn around and lift your tail. Your marehood starts to wink and is allready wettening. Hard Biscuit is approaching it and starts to give it a few genle kisses. You barely feel it but her touch send shivers through your body. You have an idea. "Keep going, Sergeant. I thinkI shall join you." You start to shrink slowly. No notice Biscuit is stopping for a moment, she notices what you do, but then she starts working on you much with much more vigor. As you shrink you slowly relocate yourself onto the coffee table.You are still 3-4 times bigger than her, as you fully stand on the table. She has to stand on her rear legs to pleasure your mare hood with her tounge, she even nibbles on your clitoris, which sends lightning bolts of pleasure though your body. As you finally have shrunk down to her size you turn around and look her in the eyes. "Your majesty. I´ve... I´ve been dreaming about this. I love you." You give her a kiss and start to lick her horn. She gasps. Unicorn horns are incredibly sensitive due to the many nerves in the skin. She answers giving gentle kisses on your neck. You lie down presenting your belly and teats to Biscuit. "Now Sergeant, if you keep up the good work I will return the favor." She understands and lies down sideways in front of you too, facing your privates while presenting her hot, moist marehood to you. You probe her with your tounge, she is quite tight. She lets out a cute whinny. You start working on each other for hours. This is bliss. Hours later, you are Anon now. After a long shitty day you finally arrive home. You just remember that the little idiot broke the TV. You hope Celly chewed her out for that. As you walk through the door you are greeted by Celly. She seems oddly happy and rubs her head onto you? Whats wrong with her? "Oh, welcome home Anon! I hope your day was good." -"Eh, could have been better... Whats going on? You´re acting weird." She giggles "No, I´m good, great actually." You walk into the living room. Hard Biscuit is asleep on a pillow on the coffee table. She is snoring. Celly smiles at her gently. "Aw she is all tuckered out." You have no idea what the fuck is going on, and something in the back of your head tells you that you dont want to know. You sigh and sit down on the couch, taking your notebook. "Well, guess its youtube for entertainement then." Celly snuggles to you, You are confused by her behaviour but you don´t really mind. You lay your arm around her and pat her side. Suddenly you notice something. "God, whats that smell?" //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 4: Feeling the heat //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 4: Feeling the heat The next morning arrives. You still don´t know what that weird musky smell was. You ventilated the living room good. Celly seemed embarrased , so you didn´t really botherd to probe into it. She is still behaving weird. She seems oddly...exited, if you wouldn´t know it better you´d say aroused. She uses any opportunity to rub her head on you. You enjoy her affection, but you have to wonder whats wrong with her. She transforms into her human disguise, she is wearing a very formal, yet somewhat sexy pantsuit. She murrs and hugs herself, shivering. You really get worried now. "Are you all right? If you feel sick, you should call them and delay the appointment to another day. There is no use if you drag yourself there when you are ill." She smiles at you. "No... No, I´m good, Anon. I just noticed how... comfortable I begin to feel in this form. And how many possibilities it has..." She looks at her hands wiggling her fingers lost in thought. "I wonder..." -"Celly, you really worry me." She snaps out of her thoughts "No need to worry, Anon! Its... its something natural, a mares... womans thing. You see women and mares have some sort of cycle..." You shudder. Its THAT type of woman stuff. You remember and dread it from your ex-girlfriend who got weird as hell and also a little psycho in that time of the month. "No, please. I don´t want to hear that. I understand perfectly. I will leave you alone untill this is over." She comes over and gives you a hug. "Mhm, its okay Anon, I rather enjoy it. I just have some problems keeping a clear head." -"Okay...? If thats the case you should stay at home untill this blows over." She hugs you tighter and presses your head into her plentifull bosom. "Its so sweet that you worry about me Anon. You are really a good friend. But I will manage. Just go in, sign the papers, and get out again. No need to worry." You push your head out of her smothering bosom (even thou it felt quite nice in there). "All right, but at least let me escort you to the city hall. As soon as you start to feel off we go home." She pushes you back into her bosom. "Aw thank you, Anon! It really means much to me that you care so much for my wellbeing." A tiny shrill voice interrupts you. "What are you doing there with the princess?!?" Oh great, SHE is awake... "Do not touch the princess in such a lewd way, you ape!" "I did not... Aw hell forget it. I have to put on my shoes, you deal with her Celly." Celly bows down to the tiny unicorn "It is all right sergeant. I will go to the signing of the papers for my job and then I´ll back with you here in no time." You are Celestia now. The tiny mare looks sad. "I don´t want to let you go out there, your majesty. Not alone and not in your condition." Her concerns for you touch you deeply. "Its is all right Sergeant. Use the computer to learn a little on this world. Use it as I showed you. Its pretty simple if you use magic." She sighs. "Maam, yes, Maam." -"I promise I´ll be back soon." You turn around to go, but as you leave the room you notice that you almost forget your purse. You quickly grab it as Anon is allready waiting in the door. "C´mon Celly, lets get you to the job, so that I can get to mine." You really appreciate that he does that for you. He is a real friend, possibly one of the best friends you ever had. As you walk to the metro station you notice how the fabric of the clothes you created on your body shift on the skin. That furless skin humans have is so incredibly sensitive, all over the body. Its tickling and titillating and you want to use those weird wonderfull fingers to touch yourself all over. You shiver with the thought. You look at anon and wonder how he feels like or more important how his hands would feel on you. No, Stop it! You shake your head to get those naughty thoughts out of your head. The ride with the train to the city center is uneventfull. You adjust quickly to the feelings your disguise gives you, yet you cannot help but cuddle to Anon next to you. He smells nice. He clears his throat. "So... How long will your situation last?" -"My estrus? Probably a week or so." You notice that it makes him uncomfortable. "Anon, I´m sorry if it causes you any inconvinience..." He sighs. "No, its all right. I mean its your natural instincts and biology, you can´t really help it. I actually enjoy how affectionate you are. But thats the problem, I feel like I exploit your situation. You know my feelings for you, and I would be the happiest man of the world if you would feel the same for me. But this now is your raging hormones speaking, I do not want to take advantage of you." His words leave you speechless for a moment. You are unsure of your feelings, you are definitively feel attracted to him, but... is it just your hormones or is it really... love? He has feelings for you, he confessed it to you, but you wouldn´t allow it, just for the sake of you two being from different universes, species and life expectations, yet you cannot help it. "I don´t know what I should feel, Anon. I´m confused." -" Its okay, Celly. We´ll wait untill your horny stuff blows over and then we´ll see if you are still confused, okay?" You smile "I think this may be acceptable." Finally you arrive at the city hall. The little talk with anon did actually level you a bit. You meet up with Ms. Jacobs in her office. Her secretary has allready prepared the papers and you sign it with your signature that you created craftfully when you created your human personae. Jacobs shakes your hand. "Welcome aboard, Miss Prince! Just let me show you around the department then we´ll have a coffee in the cafeteria." Ms. Jacobs shows you around the offices. Unlike the large office at the registry in the ground floor the offices here are small rooms where two or three people work. The coworkers are mostly quite nice. Some seem a bit grumpy and disillusined. And some even a litte crazy (that one skinny guy with a buzz cut and glasses was shocked as he saw you and followed you around eyeing you suspiciously, but Ms. Jacobs told you not to worry about him, Grimms is a good civil servant, only a little weird since he had that car accident in which he had that brain trauma). Finally after she showed you the room with the office supplies (from which you shouldn´t take anything with out filling out a removal form in three copys). You have a cup of coffee in the cafeteria. As she fills you in with the last details of your first day on the first of next month (thats in two weeks, luckily your estrus is over by then), you accdentally knock your purse over and out tumbles a tiny unicorn guard. Your breath stops for a moment. How...? Wait, she must have climbed into your purse when you weren´t looking. She is frozen with shock, you use the opportunity to put a paralysys spell onto her so that she cant move and do something stupid. Ms. Jacobs is suprised. "Oh, is that a toy? Its looks adorable!" You´re in luck, she didn´t see Hard Biscuit move when she tumbled out. "Oh, yes. My boyfriend Anon has that idea for a toyline of small pony figurines, unicorns, pegasi. He thinks that it has a lot of potential with a cartoon show." -"Well he certainly is onto something there! I think my niece will love that one!" Before you can do anything she picks Biscuit up. -"So this is a prototype? Feels weird, almost like fur." -"Yeah, heh, she is one of a kind. Please be carefull." You take Biscuit out of her hand. "I just wonder how she got into my purse..." You punctiuate that sentence with a short stern look into Biscuits eyes. You think you can see her flinch, even thou she is stiff as a board. Ms. Jacobs is fascinated. "So whats are those figures going to be called?" -"Well, Anon think about, *sigh*, "Tiny Horse Action Force..." Ms. Jacobs has a baffled look on her face. "Yeah, I think he has to work on the name..." -"Well with a name like that I sure isn´t all about rainbows and teaparties." You smile "I was actually thinking about writing some stories for the characters. They are a group of ponies that have magical, but actionfilled adventures, fighting monsters and saving their world and learn about the values of friendship on the way." Ms. Jacobs is delighted. "Oh, I love this. When done right this can teach children important social values. I actually think we could use this in our programm for autistic children!" You are surprised. "I´m glad you like that idea. Its mostly Anons project, but I fully support him. You could say I´m somehow his muse." You continiue to chat for another half hour, then you take your leave. As you walk out of the city hall and pass the square in front of it, you silently but sternly adress the pony in your purse. "Sergeant, what am I supposed to do with you? You are lucky that this went quite so well. Still. I think I´ll keep you small for a little longer. Also Anon mentioned that he has a hamster cage in his basement storage room..." You continiue, more to yourself now. "Speaking of which, I have to tell Anon that appearantly, his "pony toy" idea may be not as bad as I thought. Maybe, just maybe, he really is onto something here..." Before you go home you go to S-store, a large consumer electronics store on Z-Street and buy a new TV-set for Anon, actually this new one is a little bigger than the old one, you know that he wanted a larger TV for quite a while now. Its not really heavy to you, so you carry it in one hand easily. Much to the suprise of some people. You do not really mind the stares anymore. You also got used to little children seeing through your disguise. You feel really good, thrilled actually. This world is full of opportunities and you will grab them! This is a grand adventure, your grand adventure, you didn´t have an adventure in centuries. Celestia takes on human world, yes! You giggle to yourself with that thought, while sitting in the metro home, some people give you a weird look, you don´t mind. At home you put the TV down and sit down on the couch. You lift the paralisys spell from Hard Biscuit. He sheepishly crawls out of your purse. "Your Majesty... I..." -"Save it Sergeant. I... I´m not even mad. I should have expected you to do that and should have been more carefull." She looks at you with a questioning expression. "You Majesty, you are still in your disguise. Why don´t you change back?" You give her a smile, then you look at your hand, wiggleing your fingers. "Well, there is something I want to try with those. This form, this body is very sensitive, maybe I can relief myself like that better..." Biscuit gives you a blank expression. She doesn´t understand what you mean. You sigh. She really is not a very smart pony. "Sergeant, I will take a bath, alone. I need some time for myself. You stay here and learn about Earth and mankind on the computer as I showed you earlier. And this time please actually do it!" "Er, Maam, yes, Maam!" You go to the bathroom and let out a looong breath after you locked the door behind you. Finally some quite time. You still feel aroused and tingly, but oddly, the effect of your estrus is less intense, more bearable in your human form. You let water in the bathtub and start stripping naked. So far you didn´t really bother to actually discover your human form. You muse about the human anatomy and how it is so weirdly different from ponies, yet there are quite a few similarities. There is the same number of limbs, but while ponies are quadruped, humans have evolved for walking only on their hind legs. Like that their front legs could specialize for manipulation. Ponies also use their front legs for doing things, but in no way as effective and dexterous as humans. You really should write a chapter in your book on earth about the comparison of anatomy, maybe you even make a whole book on this. You really wonder why human mares...women have their teats so far up their torso, upon their pectoral muscles. It seems a bit cumbersome to you. But then again, if human females had their teats down near their genitals they would probably get in the way while walking on the hindlegs. You lift your breasts up. You let out a small yelp as you notice how heavy but sensitive they are. You didn´t intend to make them that big, but as you basically concentrated to change your essence into a human shape, they naturally turned out like that. You are quite huge for a human woman over all, then again, you are huge as a pony too. You stroke your hands all over your body. This feels amazing. You quickly notice that some areas of your body are more sensitive than others. How odd and thrilling. On closer inspection you notice that human skin is not completely furless, but rather covered in a very thin, sparse fuzz of single hairs that erect when exited. There is some thicker fur under the arms and down at the genitals. Why? You probably have to ask Anon about that. You look down at your feet and notice that they have these stubby, degenerated fingers humans call toes. You wiggle them. So they still can move, but can´t do much else. They are a degenerated relic from an earlier stage of human evolution when they lived on trees and grabbed branches with hands on all four limbs, you read about that online and also looked at some fossilized bones in the museum for natural history of F-City. There are similar redundant and degenerated bones and organs in pony anatomy, but not to that extend. Your evolution was much smoother and redundant organs mostly just dissapeard due to the magic fueled nature of your universe. With a sigh you sit down into the bathtub. The warm water feels fantastic. You slowly move your hands in the water down your body. You really wanted to try this ever since you had the idea earlier this morning. Slowly you start to explore your neither regions with your hand. You are pleasantly suprised to find that your fingers fit in perfectly and start massaging yourself. This is better than you imagend! You experiment with different fingers, even with both hands. You climax five times before you leave out a satisfied sigh and get out of the bath. You transform back into your pony form and go into the living room. Hard Biscuit is actually on the computer, but she is watching baking videos on youtube. As she notices you she magically closes the tab goes back on a wikipedia article on human history. You can´t help but chuckle. "Y...you majesty! I did research, as you told me to!" -"At ease Sergeant. I welcome any type of research you conduct here." You sit down next to her. "So tell me, what kind of cookies did you prefer to make?" She is beaming "Well, I always loved to make hazelnut-chocolate cookies. They are simple, but the mix of crunchy and sweetness makes them amazing." You smile at Biscuit. "I´m sure they are amazing. I would love to try them. You know what? I have nothing planned for the rest of the day and its just noon. Why don´t you make some of them for us all to enjoy?" Biscuit lets out an audible gasp. "I... You majesty! It would be an honour!!" -" Well, for this I will return you to your normal size. Temporary." Your horn emmits a golden glow and slowly but steady Hard Biscuit grows back to her normal size. She hops of the table and kneels down in front of you. "Thank you your majesty. I will not dissapoint you." You give her a gentle smile "I´m sure you will not." You both trott into the kitchen. Biscuitis looking through the cupboards and into the fridge. She sighs and shakes her head. "No, this won´t do at all. Maam, there are nowhere close to the necessary ingrediences I need. There are some eggs, there is some chocolate I could use, but that carton of milk smells like its gone bad. I need to get some ingrediences." You ponder. "Well there is a grocer nearby, its called a supermarket. I´ve been there with anon a few times, they have an amazing varitey of food stuff..." Biscuit is looking up at you puzzled "So, your majesty, you will turn into this human form again and go there to buy the ingrediences I need?" You give her an embarrased smile „Well, truth to be told, I know nothing about baking cookies. I make some incredible pancakes, but I wouldn´t even know what ingrediences you need. You could write me an list, but that still would probably leave the chance that I buy something wrong by mistake. I guess we have to go there together." Biscuit gives you a confused blink. "But, your majesty, you said there are just humans here, I´m a pony, I know that I would cause quite a stir when I go out to a place where many humans are..." Suddenly she understands and her face grows pale with the shock of realisation. "Oh. Oh no, your majesty, you can´t be serious! I don´t want to turn into one of these horrid creatures!" You get very serious. "I know I ask much here sergeant, but you have to understand that we are stuck in this world for who knows how long. You can´t hide in this apartment for years to come. Even I can´t. Thats why I made up my disguise. And thats why we should probably make one for you too." Biscuit is struggleing. "B...but I... You... what if..." Untill she finally gives in. "All right... I know you are right, your majesty. Lets get over with this." You smile and clop your front hoves. "Believe me sergeant, it is a fascinating experience! Just a fair warning. Try to keep your balance, humans walk and stand on their hindlegs, that change might take you a moment to get used to." Your horn lits up in its golden glow as you concentrate on Hard Biscuit, grasping the essecnce of her being and remolding her into a human shape. As the glow vanishes, Biscuit stands in front of you on two shakey legs, human legs. You have to admit you are surprised. Biscuits human form looks different than you would have guessed, yet you can clearly see that it is her. She is short and skinny, but in a wiry, lean way. She has clearly some muscles, but compared to you she is tiny and flat as a board. Her darkblonde hair is very short, almost like a military buzzcut. Like her pony form he looks not really attractive in a classical sense, a bit too muscular, the jaw a tiny bit too masculine, but there is something about her. She wears a tan tank top and olive combat pants along with combat boots. She looks with horror at her hands. "A mirror... I...I need a mirror..." She suddenly mumbles and stumbles out of the kitchen into the hallway. Before you can follow her you hear a shriek and a thud. As you rush into the hallway you see Biscuit sitting on her backside staring at her mirror image, eyes wide in terror. "I...I...I´m a monster. Why are my eyes so tiny and piglike?" She stares at her hands again "What...what are those? WHAT ARE THOSE?!?!" She is starting to have a freakout, so you quickly transform into your human form and kneel down to give her a hug. "Its okay Sergeant, its all right. Easy. You are not a monster. You look good by human standarts. Its all right. I will help you with this." This actually calms her down and you help her to her still wobbly feet. "We are in this together Sergeant. This disguise is only temporary, it is for when we leave this apartment. You trust me, right?" She has tears in her eyes, but quickly nods "Maam, yes, Maam. I trust you with my life, your Majesty." -"Then trust me in this, this disguise actually has its advantages. You will quickly learn that." You help Biscuit with walking. She is a quick learner and despite falling on her tush a few times, she has mastered human walk within 20 Minutes. You give her an encouraging smile. "I think we are ready to head out now, Sergeant." She says nothing but gives you a quick nod. You give her an old jeans jacket Anon has for some reason to thow over, you transform into your casual clothes and you both head out. You can clearly see that Biscuit is scared, even thou she tries to be brave. She is quite skittish as you walk down the hallway to the elevator, flinching at every noise. In the lift she grabs your arm as it rumbling decends to the ground floor. You have to smile as you remember the first time you went out. Out of the building you walk down a path between the flatblocks and parking garages to the high street of this part of F-city. Its a nice day and as you walk you notice that Biscuit starts to ease, especially after you passed a few humans, who didn´t care about you because they were minding their own business. Biscuit is a bit startlet at the street as a few cars and trucks drive past, while there is a similar technology in Equestria, its not used to this extend, so it must be quite a shock for her to see so many of these vehicles unprepared. You walk up to a small strip mall, there is a R-supermarket and A-discount grocery, as well as a newsagent, a hairdresser, a bakery and a Döner Kebap place (you love that stuff ever since anon introduced you to it a few weeks agon). "Here we are, Sergeant. The supermarket is quite large so it should have everything you need for the cookies. You´ll see That there is no danger here, I´ve been here a few times before." As you enter the R-supermarket, Biscuit is obviously overwhelmed by the impressions that bombard her senses. The bright colours of the posters and displays, the smells that linger in the air and the noises like the rattleing of the shopping carts, the beeps of the cash registers and the muzak version of popular earth music floating above it all. She seems unsure as she stands in the entrance, trying to process it. You remember how it struck you when Anon took you to the city the first time, you didn´t show it, but it was almost too much for you, and that even thou you were somewhat prepared by a year of consuming earth media. Biscuit arrived a little over a day in this world. And she is the first time out, you can´t possibly imagen how much all that is for her to take. Well, there is no helping it. If she is in this world she has to adapt to it, just like you did. "Are you all right Sergeant?" "Y...yes, Maam. Its just... Compared to grocerys in Equestria, even in Manehattan, this is much bigger." You walk through the fruit and vegetable section into the store. Biscuit lightens up as this is something not completely alien to her. "Those vegetables look amazing. I need to try those!" She picks up a red whole cabbage and is about to take a bite out of it as you stop her. "Sergeant, no. You... we need to pay for those first. You can´t just eat food in the supermarket. Believe me, they do not appreciate that." You put the cabbage into the red plastic basket you picked up at the entrance and you proceed though the market. Suddenly Biscuit stops in her tracks, her face a grimmace of nauseated terror. She is staring at the meats section where meats and sausages gleam reddish and pink under a long glass counter. "This is horrible" she whispers. "You... you warned me that humans eat meat a lot more than ponies, but... They sell large chunks of animal flesh! Out in the open! I think I´m gonna be sick..." You kinda understand her. Ponies used to sell meat like that too, but that was centuries ago. Nowadays most ponies have a vegetarian diet and those who do still eat meats often grind it down to a fine mush, completely stripping it of all of its texture, and this is done by workers in butchershops that are hidden away from the general public, as if they are ashamed that the pony species actually needs animal protein to sustain itself. You wonder how many of your little ponies, Hard Biscuit included, would be horrified and disgusted to learn how much you love to eat a large steak, medium raw... "Lets go to another part of the store, sergeant..." She shudders as you walk down the aisle. "This is absolutely monstrous. This is barbaric!" You sigh "It is not. Its just different how humans handle that. Ponies eat meat too, you know, Humans are just not as hypocritical about it." Biscuit stares at you stunned and stupefied. You have to admit, you are a bit shocked yourself. Where did that come from? In silence you walk to the aisle with the baking ingrediences. You have to think for a moment and leave HB with the baking goods, which grab her full attention within seconds, so you walk off alone to collect yourself. Your outburst about the way humans and ponies handle the way they eat meat confused and shocked you to the core. How could you? How is it possible that you called your beloved little ponies hypocrites? Is it the hormones, or is it Earth? Is it your human form influencing your thinking? Changing you? Maybe even corrupting you? This is a very disturbing thought. Is it possibly the same part of you that wants to stay on earth? With Anon? You need to talk to somebody about this, but to who? Hard Biscuit? Despite all of your efforts, you still feel that she regards you as a deity and not as a fellow pony. Also you doubt that she can comprehend your dilemma. Luna? She understands better than anypony else how it is to feel torn, but... You worry her enough allready, also she can´t really help you since she is a universe apart. Anon...? Could he understand you? He was always there for you and you have had burden him with so much allready... Suddenly you hear a yelling. You have a hunch and rush to the source of the yelling. You see Biscuit arguing with a young woman that was handing out samples, Biscuit has a tray in her hand. Oh dear... "What seems too be the problem?" You give the woman your trademark winning smile. "Oh, does she belong to you? I was giving her a sample and she just took the whole tray. Its one sample per customer!" -"I... I didn´t know. I was just trying to bring some of these to you, Maam!" You sigh "HB, please give her back the tray." Biscuit follows suit, giving you a sheepish look. You quickly excuse to the young woman. "I´m terribly sorry for my... cousin. She is a nice girl, but she has some trouble adapting after her time in the military...." -"Well, okay... I have a brother that was in Afghanistan, he told me that many former soldiers suffer from problems. I won´t call securtity if you take her and go your way." You quietly finish your shopping, you pay at the checkout and leave the supermarket. Biscuit finally speaks as you walk across the parking lot. "Maam, I´m sorry. I guess there is still much I have to learn." You shake your head. "I think I should have known better. I was throwing you into the cold water, just like that. But really, stealing a sample tray?" -"Those little things were so delicious! Crispy on the outside yet oddly juicy in on the inside. I wanted to bring you some!" -"Oh I know them. They are microwave mini-corndogs. The filling is mostly meat." You can barely hold back a laugh as Biscuits horrified face turns pale and then nauseated green. Back home you transform yourself and Biscuit back into your pony forms (you notice that you need to rest your magic a little. Your thaum level is getting a little low. One or two hours rest should charge you up again). Biscuit goes busy right away in the kitchen, she has completely forgotten about the things that happend in the supermarket, she is "in the zone", as Anon once called it, thats when somepony is doing something he or she is completely committed to and somehow shuts out everything else in the world. You have seen this with Twilight when she was learning magic and reading books. How you miss her, you were talking to her a few times through Luna, but its not the same as having her around. She has been brave and has taken over some of your duties in her absence, of course she excelled in it, you expected nothing short of that from her, its in her blood after all... How you miss her, how you miss all of them. You want to go back. You want to raise their sun and guide them like a gentle, loving mother. Then the other you pipes up. The you that wants to stay here on earth. That wants to experience all on this world, the you that wants adventure, the you that wants Anons love and loves him back, the you that wants to help humans in any way she could, the one that thinks that you have given ponies so much for so long that they owe you the freedom you have now, that they will get along fine without you and that you should give the baton to Luna, Twilight and maybe even Cadance. There are two Celestias in you now, and while they are not yet fighting, they can´t go on like that for long with without conflict. "What am I going to do?" You start to cry. You are Anon now. Finally back at home. Work was tough today, not only because you had some exceptionally thick and ignorant customers, but also because you were quite worried about Celly. You really hope she made it through her appointment and back home without a problem. As you lock open the door you are surprised by the smell of freshly baked cookies floating towards you. "Hello? Celestia? What is this? Did you bake?" You follow the smell into the kitchen where Hard Biscuit, again full sized for some reason, stands by the oven hoovering a freshly baked tray of cookies with her magic. She gives you an icy glance with barely concealed hostility. "Oh. You again. The ape." You return her gaze slightly annoyed. "Yeah, me. This is MY apartment after all, you stupid nag... Wait a minute... Did did you bake those?" She lifts her snout in the air with an haughty grin. "Indeed I did. On her majestys request. I even faced that vile butcherhouse you apes call supermarket to get all of the ingrediences." You can´t believe your ears. "You did WHAT?!? Does Celestia know you left this apartment?" -"Of course! She did.. well... she transformed me into human form so that we could go outside..." Your jaw almost hits the floor. "Bwu... I... Where is Celestia anyway?" -"Oh, she was tired so she got to rest for a bit." You walk straight to the living room, ignoring Biscuits protest to not bother the crown. Celly lies on the couch, asleep, but something is not okay, whe is uneasy and mumbles, it seems that she has a bad dream. You kneel down next to her, gently stroking her neck. "Celestia?" "Ngnn, no... Please... My little ponies... Leave them alone..." She wakes up with a jolt "AAH! Anon? You..." She instanly puts up her regal facade. "You´re home. Welcome back! How was your day?" You do not buy into her act. You know her good enough that something is wrong and she knows that too. "Did you have a nightmare?" "Yes... I... It was horrible. There was some sinister force threatning to wipe out all of Equestria and all of my little ponies... And... and I was unable to do anything against it. I was unable to save them... But... that was just a dream. Something like that could never happen..." You nod. You know that this is going deeper but she is not ready yet to talk with you about it so you change the subject. "Sooo, I see You and the little idiot did have some adventure in the supermarket together?" -"Don´t call her like that Anon. She has A lot of qualities you don´t know about." -"Yeah, she can bake. The cookies DO smell good thou." Celly smiles and tells you all about her (and Hard Biscuits) day. In the meantime Biscuit comes in magicing a large plate of cookies in front of her. "Maam, here are the cookies I made for you." Celly does not hesitate and lifts one off the plate. Thank you very much, Sergeant! Oh my, they ARE fantastic. Anon You must try them!" You pick up one of the cookies from the plate and look at it warily. You give it a sniff. smells good enough. You give it a bite. Its sweet. So sweet. Much too sweet. The sweetness, it burns!!! "Oh god! This is horrible! How can you eat those? They are far too sweet! I think just this bite gave me diabetes!" Biscuit glares at you angry and insulted but Celestia seems not suprised. "Interesting. Well, I do have noticed that earth sweets are far less sweet than those produced by ponies. Quite possible that humans have a different taste for sweets because they need less sugar than we do. You know, Anon, magic is mostly powered by glucosis." She happily lifts another couple of cookies from the plate and chomps on them. "Mmmh... Delicious! How I missed that!" You shudder and get a beer from the fridge to flush the dreadfull taste out of your mouth. As you return Celly has allready finished of the whole plate. Biscuit gives you a side look. She actually seems hurt. You suddenly feel a tug at your heart. "Eh... I´m sorry Hard Biscuit. I know that you worked hard to make those. The taste is just not for me." She humpfs and turns her head away from you. "Its not like I made those for you anyway, ape! Those were for her majesty, and that she enjoyed them is all that counts for me!" I swear to god, this fucking pony... You grin. "Say you told me about her human form Celly, can you show it to me?" Celly smiles and sits up. "Oh yes! Anon you will love this, she is adorable!" Biscuit cringes "You majesty, do we have to...?" Celly waves her front hoof. "Oh, c´mon Sergeant. Your human form looks fine! He would have to see it anyway sooner or later." Her horn lights up and a golden beam engulfs Hard Biscuit who looks quite annoyed. She transforms into a human form and as the glow fades you can´t believe your eyes. You fall of the couch laughing. In the middle of your room stands a young, very, VERY short woman that looks a little like a rule 63 version of Guile from Street Fighter. She gives you the stink eye and she looks like she is about to jump at you. For some reason that makes you laugh even more. Celly seems confused. "Whats wrong? Whats so funny?" You gasp "HAHAHA Are you serious? Hehehee You did that on purpose to fuck with her, right?" -"I did nothing on purpose, that how she came out thats what the essence of her being looks in human form." "BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! She looks like the dykiest dyke that ever dyked! Huehuehue" Biscuit gives Celly a confused look. "Whats a dyke?" Celly blushes "Thats a derogative for a human mare that prefers the company of other human mares..." Biscuits face is blank. "But I do prefer mares." GWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHUEHUEHUEHUEhuhuhuhuhu..." -"THATS IT!" Biscuit angrily jumps at you, her hands on your neck. She sits on you trying to strangle you. "Why you little, lousy, rotten.. Hey, those things ARE practical!" -"STOP IT BOTH OF YOU!!!" Celly uses her magic to pull you apart. "Sergeant, I orderd you NOT to attack Anon, no matter what. You make a rotten guest and shame me and the whole kingdom." Then she turns to you. "But almost as bad as a rotten guest is a rotten host! Why do you have to insult and antagonize her all the time? Anon, I expect better of you! All I ask is that you extend the generosity and hospitality you gave to me to her. Its not her fault that she is stuck in this situation." You look Celly right in the eye. "Yes it is. She ignored orders and jumped through the portal just yesterday." -"I mean... Just stop it both of you!" She places both of you on chairs on opposite sites of the room. Biscuit pouts. "He started it. And he deserves to get his flank kicked." She notices Cellys pissed expression. "Er... I mean with all due respect, your majesty." A familiar golden glow engulfs her and har human form shrinks to aproximatly a tenth of her normal size. You chuckle. "Hehe, now she looks like an action figure..." Celestias face snaps towards you and she glares at you. She really is furious and you could swear that you see small flames coming from her mane. "I´m sorry Celestia. And I´m sorry Hard Biscuit. I´ve been an asshole and I would like to apologize for disrespection you. I know we got off on the wrong foot, hoof, whatever, but maybe that will change. I don´t think we will become best friends, but I´ll try to be a nicer to you." Biscuit looks away. "All right. Apology accepted ap...Anon. I think I´m sorry too. I came here to your house and been mean to you. I´ll try to stand down and try to get along with you and this world..." Celly looks from one of you to the other. "Good. Thats much better." You sigh and get up. "I´m tired. I think I´ll lied down for an hour or so before making dinner." You walk into your bedroom, strip down to your undies and lie down on your bed. After about an half hour you hear a knock on your door. You cover yourself with a blanket. "Come in." Celestia trots into your bed room, you can see on her face that she is worried. "Hey Celly. Again, I´m sorry how I treatend Biscuit. There is just something about her that annoys me, but I can´t put my finger on it. But I promise that I will try to get along with her." Celestia sits down next to you and shakes her head. "Thank you Anon, but thats not the matter. I..." She sighs and looks at you, sadness in her big beautyfull eyes. "I told you how much I miss Equestria and my little ponies. And how I would give anything to be back with then to guide and protect them. I love them as much as mylife! But..." -"But?" She grimaces "But lately I feel torn. There is a part of me, not a small part, that... that doesn not want to go back to Equestria. That wants to stay here on earth as Tia Prince and live life here to its fullest! That wants to sat here...with you." She emphasises the last part by turning her head away from you, ashamed. "I´m a horrible pony..." You are shocked. "WHAT?!?! No! You are not horrible!" -"But I´m so selfish." You draw a shap breath and rub the bridge of your nose. "Celly, you are not selfish. Look... How long have you been an alicorn, a princess?" -"Well, I´ve been an alicorn for over 1400 years now, and I´ve been a princess rising the sun for more than 1100 years now. But what has that to do with anything?" -"EVERYTHING! You have been serving your ponies for over 1100 years now. Every goddamn day, without a break or a vacation! Its a miracle that you didn´t snap centuries ago. You told me how much you love to play little phranks on others and how much you enjoyed it when your students crazy friends shook up that gala. To me that sounds like somebody who is subcounciously desperate for a little break, a shake up of her tedious, boring daily routine. This may sound crazy but, maybe, just maybe this exile here in earth was just what you needed." Celestia looks at you with an indignant expression on her face and opens her mouth to protest but closes it again without saying anything. "Look Celly, you love them, yes, but you know that you can have to much from something you love... Now... ah. A few years ago I went with some friend from work to an all you can eat buffalo wings night at a pub. Now I love buffalo wings, they are one of my faworite foods, but that night I overgorged myself so much with them that I got nausiated just by looking at buffalo wings for almost a year." -"A..are you comparing my ponies to greasy chicken parts?!?!?" "Oh, nononono! I... Okay, that was a stupid example. What I try to tell you is that you can have too much of a thing you love and, that you sometimes need a distance from it to fully appreciate it again." Celestia bliks once and then is silent for a long time, her brow furrowd in thought. She its like this for maybe 20 minutes untill she finally goes "Huh." She looks at you. "Anon, you do have a pretty good point here. I guess I did need a change of pace." You smile and stroke her neck. "As long as you are here I will help you and be there for you. I want you know that I will always be your friend." -"Anon, I..." Celly suddenly whips her head around and gives you a long passionate kiss. You are startelt, but not is a negative way. Suddenly, as if she realized what she is doing, she breaks contact and turns away from you. "I...I...I...I´m sorry anon, I don´t know what came over me... I...My estrus... I´m sorry... I... ... Oh buck it." She jumps up and transforms into her human form, but she is wearing the pink lingerie we saw at K-department store when we went to downtown the first time. She grins at you "Anon, I think I need your assistance as a friend now." You are shocked, but you can´t really hide your arousement. "C...Celly! No! This is wrong!" She rips the blanket of you. "I do not care, Anon, I need you. I want you! Now!" She looks at your throbbing errection. "Hello there! Seems like little Anon is a little more eager than you!" With this she jumps onto you like a leopard on a gazelle in a BBC documentary. You can almost hear the calm narration of Sir David Attenborogh as her weights pushes the air out of you and makes your bed give out an alarming creak. She rips you tighty whities of your loins and gives your member a couple of gentle kisses. She then moves forward and gives your chest a lick while moving your member to her croutch. "W...wait! We should at least use protection! Let me grab a condom frm my nightstand." Celly grins. "That won´t be necessary. I have created a forcefield in front of my uterus that zaps all that you are going to give me, Anon. I´ve been protecting like this for centuries." You are a bit scared to stick your dick into anything that zapps anything, but you are too aroused to care anymore. Its too late anyway, you glide into her and you feel how warm and soft she is. She moans and starts grinding on you. You go on for several minutes. Its amazing. You have a friend who has a thing for cougars and milfs, just because these women have experience and know exactly how to please a man and herself in the best way possible. You begin to see his point because Celestia has literally centuries of experience and she knows exactly what to do. She has taken over the wheel and you are in to enjoy the ride. You really hope this ride never ends. Suddenly you notice in your bliss that her weight shifts and she gets... tighter?!?! You look up to her and see that she is slowly shrinking. She notices your surprise and gives you a chuckle. "Don´t worry, I am trying something here I havent done with a stallion in a long time." A small gasp escapes her lips and she gives you a wink. "I saw the "secret" picture folders on your computer, you will like this." Smaller and smaller she shrinks, very slowly. Now whe is about half her normal human size and you feel your dick start to stretch out her insides. You look at her and to your terror (and arousement) you notice that her mid section starts to bulge out. She sees the expression on your face. "Don´t worry, mhmf, I... I made myself stretchier than normal... This should be an interesting experience for the both of us." Celly continiues to dwindle. Her body is all stretched out cartoonishly around your errect member. its a tight grasp around you and it feels weird but also incredibly good. She gasps and moans untill she finally orgasms. She happy gasps, looking down at her body that is basically a flesh condom with arms, legs and a head wrapped all around your dick. "Well, that was intense. Lets do something else!" With a flash of light she dissapears from your dick and stands in the room again normalsized and in alicorn form. She gives you a miscievious grin. "Now its your turn for a transformation." You are startled. "Wait, what? No, I.." Celly shakes her head, smiling. "Don´t worry Anon, you will like that." With that she engulfs you in a golden flash. You are blinded for a brief moment, and as you open your eyes, you immediatly feel that something is off. Is that a muzzle in front of your eyes? You look at your hands, only to realize that there are no hands but hooves. You stare at the mirror in your room and see a green male pony stare back at you. "I´m a horse." Celly looks at you with delight. "Oh...oh my! You ARE one handsome stallion." -“You turned me into a horse!" You jump off the bed, you standing on all of your four limbs. Hell, that feels weird. You swish your tail. You have a goddamn tail. You have a problem to process this. Celestia notices your irritation. "D...don´t worry Anon! Its only temporary. I... I just wanted to... to feel you as a stallion. I turn you back human if you don´t like it." You look at her. You don´t know is its because of your changed body but... her pony form looks more desirable to you. "No... No its cool. I like to experiment. I think that this is weird as hell, but also pretty kinky." She gives you a happy cute little whinny and turns around, lifting her tail and revealing her dripping moist, winking marehood. You let your animalistic instincts take over and mount her like a breeding stallion. You snort as you ram into her. She lets out a gasping whinny but bites her lip, as if she didn´t wanted to alert HB. It feels like two parents that try to have fun silently because the kid is sleeping next door. You have to stop yourself from laughing out. Celly coos "Be gentle. I´m a delicate litte filly." Now you really laugh. Was that an attempt at dirty talk? "You are a 1400 year old Gilf sorceres. You are not a filly. Nowhere close." She actually giggles at that. You lean closer to her and whisper in her ear. "But you know what? I don´t mind. You are fantastic. And you are right, I do enjoy this." You are suprised how much you enjoy it. You have quite a lot of stamina in this form, well, like a horse. You pound her for almost for a hour. You finally lay down next to each other after several orgasms. Celly cuddles up to you. "That was nice anon. You did hold up quite well." You can barely speak. You are literally shagged out. You will feel that in the morning, no matter if you are in human, pony or celaphopod form. Celly casually jokes "Oh my, look at the time. You wanted to prepare dinner, but I guess its to late for that." You give her a exhausted grin. "Well... If you give me a moment... I´ll order us a pizza if you are hungry." She gives you a naughty grin. "Oh wonderfull! I would like to have a meatlovers..." She gives you a wink. "Dammit woman, I just gave you sweet loving five minutes ago, are you trying to kill me?" She lets out her wonderfull laughter "You showed me a side of you today that I didn´t knew, Celly. You are into some weird stuff. I don´t know it its really just your estrus, but you can be suprisingly dirty. And You know what?" You look her straigt into her wonderfull big eyes. "I love it! This was the best sex I ever had. I don´t even think I can go back to sex with normal human women after loving a living goddess like you." You stare to the celing "Seriously, that thought actually worries me a lot." She gives you a gentle kiss. "You think too much, that reminds me in a certain student of mine." You get up . "Right, I´ll order pizza then." You stop before leaving the room. "Could you please turn me back human?" //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 5: New friends and old foes //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 5: New friends and old foes Its been an few exiting weeks for Celestia and you (and Hard Biscuit). Celestia got through her estrus with your assistance, you discovered an interesting weird side effect while fucking each others brains out, appearantly human semen somehow diminishes the symptoms of their estrus. You both have no idea how the fuck this is possible, you both think this is rather bizarre, but you both are kinda glad it works. Celestia started her work at the social department of F-City and, to your pleasant surprise, she is really damn good at it! She is quite passionate about it and you see her often in the evening studying legal texts and files. Hard Biscuit is still tiny, but you get along better, she actually started to open up to you a little (she still is kind of a stupid cunt). She spends much of her time watching shit on YouTube. One day you come home from work early. HB is sitting in front of the laptop watching her baking videos. "Maam, I... Oh, sorry, its you Anon." -"Sorry to dissapoint you. Celly called me on my way home earlier. She stays a little longer at work because she needs to finish a case." HB still flinches when you call Celestia Celly, but she grits her teeth and accepts it because Celly likes it when you call her like that. "I hope she comes home soon, because I found another recepie for cakes that I would like to try. I will bring back an amazing libary of new recepies home to Equestria as soon as we get back." You sigh, it kinda breaks your heart that she ignores the fact that she probably has to stay here on earth for years or even the rest of her life. "If you get back..." you say to yourself. Unfortunately HB has good ears. "What do you mean by that? Of couse we will return soon! All of Equestrias best wizards, witches and sorcerers are working tirelessly to open the portal, there are even some necromacers working on it, creepy guys. But they will soon have found a way!" You shake your head. "Bisquit, they are working on it for almost one and a half year and they are not closer to a solution." HB is starting to panic "B...but they HAD a portal, the one I came here with, remember?" -"That was a deadend, as it only worked one way and would have killed Celestia when she went through. Celestia told me that they had to start from scrap, but are not really closer to a solution yet. I think Celestia has allready come to terms with the fact that she probably has to stay on earth." Biscuit shakes her head tears of anger in her eyes. "No. No! NO!!! Her majesty would not give up, thats a lie! She will find a way to get us home!" -" She hasn´t given up. But she is not ignoring reality. She is an incredible intelligent and wise being. And she believes in you ponies, but she knows that there is the possibillity that they will not find a way to bring you home. Thats something she had to come to terms with. And so do you." -"I...I..don´t" HB breaks down in a sobbing mess. You feel sorry for her. Obvously she didn´t even see the posibility that she may never see her world, her home, her family never again. It all comes crashing down on her now. You awkwardly pat her back. "Its okay. Celestia is here for you. And...and I am here. I know its not much but... well I don´t know. I´ll be your friend." HB sniffs and looks up to you. "You...mean that Anon? After all the time I´ve been mean to you?" You smile. She is not as beautyfull as Celly, but quite cute in her own way. "Of course, I will help you to get along on this world! Celestia has it all figured out, so she can probably create an human identity for you as she did for herself. Should be easier, now that she is in the system. But I can help you with getting around in our culture and help you with the horny mare stuff as I did with Celestia..." You slap your hand in front of your mouth. Oh fuck! You fucking blabbering idiot! HB focuses you with a stare of barely contained fury. "What did you do with the princess." HBs stare intesifies to almost a laser. She is too small to harm you in any way, but still she suddenly scares the living crap out of you. "I...I.. Look... It was HER idea. And it did relief her a great deal. I did serve her in a way. Yeah! I did serve the crown! Sure, it was crazy kinky fun, but... Oh geez..." Biscuit takes a step forward, trembling with rage. "You dirty, filthy MONKEY! You defiled our most noble, most sacred princess!!! I´m going to. Kick! Your! FLANK!“ With this she makes a weird face. For a moment you think that she has an aneurysm or a stroke from her rage, but then you see that her horn lights up as she concentrates on a magic spell. Suddenly She surges a little bigger. "YES. It works! Wait untill I´m back at my normal size. I will END you, ape!“ -"W..wait! You made a promise to Celly...your princess that you will not harm me!" She grimmasses. "I...Argh...horseapples... wait, something is wrong..." As she grows bigger she seems to get fatter. She looks panicked as a faint hissing sound is getting audible. "What is happening. I can´t... Ugh." Her body grows more and more spherical, her legs and her head grow fatter, even her horn seems to widen. "EEK!" She blushes deep red as her teats between her hind legs pop out into two smaller spheres. Soon her increasingly stubby fat legs cant reach the ground anymore as she grows to the size and shape of a medicine ball. Her hooves wiggle helpless as her legs get swallowed up by the grith of her ever faster balloning body, as does her increasingly puffy head. "Biscuit... You...you made your point... You can stop it... Her eyes bulge in terror. "I can´t stop it!" Her panic somehow seems to fuel her growth as the ballon of her body surges far beyond her regular size. She begins to fill the room. To your horror you realize that she is blocking your only exit. Another problem appears, her body starts to get shiny and emmits sounds like an overinflated balloon. "For the love of god! Biscuit Stop it!" You manage to shout in horror as the ballooning mass of her body pushes you againts the wall. "I...Can´t...Take much more!.. Huff... I fell like...like I´m gonna blow. But... at least I´ll take you with me... This is the price... Huff... you will pay for... your sacrilege... I´m ready... Huff... I´m ready for the great meadow in the beyond!!!" For fucks sake, that little loony is going to snackbar you! Her body creacks as it rubs against all walls and the celing. So this is it. The fortune teller was right when she told you that you will die smothered by a fat crazy female. You are Celestia now. Finally you are back home. You love your new work as you feel that you are really helping people and make a difference for those who are less fortunate. Today went well. The commission greenlighted your idea for the youth meets the elderly programme and which will give generations a chance to learn from each other and at the same time reduce costs for youth and elderly programmes by combining them. You hum as you lock open the apartment door. "Anon, Biscuit, I´m ho... What in the name of my sun is that?!?!?" Growing out of the living room door is a shiny, lilac bubble for the lack of a better word, filling the enire doorway and giving an omnious groaning sound. Wait, what is that image on the side. It almost looks like a...cookie... Hard Biscuit! You try to piece together what happend. Quickly you place your hand on the bubble and cast an quick analysis spell. It seem like Biscuit tried to reverse your spell that left her tiny, but her rather humble, to put it this way, magical abillities combined with the spell cast in anger caused it to backfire. Wait, why was she angry? You feel another presence in that room... "*Sigh* For bucks sake, Anon..." You have to act swiftly, otherwise Hard Biscuit could get stuck like that, or worse burst which would kill her. You need to relief the pressure before you can cast any spells. You rush into the kitchen and grab a roll of package tape from the tool drawer as well as a needle. You place the tape generously on theside of the bubble which used to be Biscuits flank. Then you carefully punkture the skin through the tape. The skin doesn´t rupture and a stream of warm air shoots out as soon as you pull out the needle. Good! You puncture her two more times. You let out a breath of relief as the bubble starts to shrink. Soon you can enter the room ad see Anon, who is distressed and confused. Also you see Biscuits face who seems equally distressed but as soon as she sees you gasps in relief. "You Majesty! Thank you for ssssaaaaaavvviiiing meeeeeeee....." She crumples down and fills most of the floor like a deflated pool toy. You sense that she is still alive. You pick up a side of the deflated shape and start to fold her together. Anon stares at you then at Biscuit, then back at you. "FUUUUUUUUCK!!!!!" You let out a sigh as you roll up Biscuit into a ball and cast a spell to reform her into a pony. "What did you do this time, Anon. Anon only lets out a studder: "I...uhm..she... uhm...you..." Hard Biscuit chimes in, still groggy "YoOoOour highneesss, Did he really defile you? Iiii tried tooo groOow back to bring him to justice..." You give Anon your best dissapointed teacher look "Seriously, Anon. I thought we agreed to NOT tell her about this." Anon looks defeated "I´m sorry, I didn´t mean to. It just slipped my tounge." Biscuit looks up to you, she looks like a part of her world had just collapsed "So, its true? But..but your highness! Its... You are THE PRINCESS! How could you with a creature like ...This is... so obscene!" You resist the urge to roll your eyes and give her a gentle smile "Hard Biscuit, I think we´ve been through this. Yes, I am your princess. But I am also a mare with natural urges. Anon helped me with it and... well...I want to be frank with you, we both did really enjoy it." Anon blurts out "Oh its awesome, she even turns me into a stallion sometimes! I would have never thought that I was into that!" You give Anon a quick glance and he shuts up "However. Yes, we enjoy it so we decided, as two mature adults, to turn our friendship into a friendship with benefits. We didn´t want to tell you because we knew that it would upset you. But now that you know, I ask you to accept it. You do not have to like it, but please tolerate it." Biscuit is almost crying "Yes your highness..." You turn back into your pony form and gently stroke her with the tip of your wing "I understand that it is hard for you, you are loyal and faithfull like all ponies in your family, but I never asked you ponies to see me as some sort of deity. Yes, I am the ruler (Luna too of course), I have lovingly guided and protected my little ponies for over a millenium and intend to do so when we return, but at the end of the day I´m not a virgin, pure goddess, I´m still a pony, I´m a mare and, even if it disturbs you, I do have a sexuality. Please accept that, I ask you not as your princess but as your friend." Hard Biscuit looks down at her hooves, tears in her eyes. "Yes... I understand, your highness... I... Its.. hard thou, especially since..." She mumbles something almost unaudible, but you hear what she says. "Oh, Biscuit. I love you too, but not like that. I love you like all of my little ponies." She looks up at you, pain in her eyes. "No, your highness, I know. I loved you for all of my life, but I know it will always be onesided. But thats why I want to serve you with my heart and soul. You are my sun, and will always be, till the end no matter what." She swallows hard before she said the last sentence with a stubborn pride. You bow down to her and give her a kiss, "I know, my dear little pony. I want you to know that you have my love and eternal gratitude for your loyalty." Anon stands on the side and looks a bit uncomfortable. "So... You told me that they do that a lot, but isn´t that freaking you out?" You give him a smile Its okay Anon. My sister and I are used to it. I think we are the topic of a lot of colts and fillies fantasies growing up. And thats nothing compared to the love letters my dear Cadance as princess of love is getting, even thou it thankfully winded down a little after she married and had her foal. Some of the mail was a bit disturbing..." Anon laughs. "So you have pervs and stalkers too. I think thats pretty comforting that we humans are not the only race in that department!" Biscuit is outraged "I am NOT a perv! I just... the princess is... When I grew up..." Anon is grinning now and he is looking at you. "Oh no! Biscuit! Don´t tell me you did naughty things while thinking of the princess!" Biscuit is red as a beet and almost melting into the table, and you feel that you start to blush too. "Anon, stop it you are embarrassing m..her!" He falls over laughing and you can´t help to start laughing too. Its true, you know that your sister and you, Cadance and recently even Twilight have become the sexual fantasy of a lot of ponys. You try not to think too much about it, because you feel as much flattered as you feel creeped out by that. Luna told you about some dreams she has seen and... Well lets just say there are some things you would like to try and a lot of stuff that is an absolute no go. "I have to take a shower behave you two!" You step out of the living room cotemplating the though of being not only worshipped as a deity but a sex symbol. You are Anon now. Celly has left the room why you where still giggling. You may have gone to far again here. You look at Biscuit, she looks mortally embarrased. "Hey, sorry Biscuit. I was pulling your leg." You carefully pat her back. See, I think I have finally found something we both have in common." She looks up at you, a puzzled expression on her face. "Well, we both really love her." You sigh, and continiue "But we both know deep inside that our love will not be answered in the way we would like it. She is out of our league, my dear." Later that night. Celestia, Biscuit and you sit on the couch and watch TV. Earlier, after Celly prevented her from blowing up in your face, Biscuit and you had a long talk. You understand her a bit better now and noticed that you have quite a few things in common, like overbearing, terrible parents. You really think you have adressed pretty much everything between you two and the strange relationship the three of you now have. You are watching the newest episode of Supergirl. Biscuit is amazed "I can´t believe you have comicbooks and superheroes in this world!" You are suprised "Wait comics are a thing in your world too?" Celly smiles "Oh they are, I didn´t read much of them before coming to earth, so I´m actually more familliar with earths comics than with equestrian comic books, but they are a thing, my sister really loves them." -"Your sister? You mean Luna? She didn´t really sond like that. I mean I don´t know her, but..." "Oh, believe me. Lulu is a giant dork. She loves to act all courtly and feudal, much more than me, in public, but she has a giant comic collection. She got her bat pony guards to play "Ogres & Oubliettes" with her. She went to Daring Do and Comic conventions incognito. You´d love her, I hope you can meet her and talk about comics one day." -"I´d love to!" Celly smiles and rolls her eyes "Just be prepared for a three hour rant how the comic "Knightmare - Pony crusader of the night" is complete copy of her..." Biscuit is completely serious "Her highness is not joking. My brother, who is also in the guard, once said how "Knightmare" is kinda goofy with princess Luna listening." She looks down at her hooves "He never was the same afterwards..." You still try to wrap your head around the concept of pony superheroes "So, are there actual comic publishers too?" Biscuit pipes up "Oh yeah, of course! The biggest one is Marevel Even thou they got kinda lame in recent years." -"How so?" "Well, they got all preachy when they started to punch for more diversity. I mean I am okay with more stallions as superheroes, Also a griffon Superheroine and the cross over of the Yakkernaut and the Saddle Rager was pretty sweet but now a changeling superheroine??? Thats ridiculus!" You blink and have some flashbacks to stuff you have witnessed before online and in your local comic shop. "I don´t really know how to respond to this..." Celly smiles "I actually like this entertainment. I notices that some heroes like Supergirl and Goku are in similar situations as me: extremely powerfull beings, stranded on a strange world that became a new home." You nudge Celly "Yeah, right. Thats just what we need, you getting out there and fighting crime or intergalactic warlords. Hahaha!" "Hmmmm...." You stop laughing. She is making THAT face again. She is having one of her ideas. You need to distract her. "B...by the way! I talked to my friend who works at the toy company about my "Tiny Horse Action Force" idea, and he said he is willing to get us a talk with the big wigs in the company if we make a good concept for the toys, I could use some help from you with the concept and the characters! I got really stoked for the idea after you told me how much your boss liked the idea!" -"Oh, sure! I had actually started to write some stories and character pitches. Do you want to see them?" Celestia hands you a note pad she scribbled some characters and story idess onto. There are six main characters, and Celestia as well as her loyal guard "Cookie Cutter". "Really? Those are basically Your student Twilight and her weirdo friends you told me about. And those stories... wasn´t that stuff that actually happend? I know you told me about one or two of those stories..." Celly scrunches her face. "Weeeeeell... It may be based on true events. Look, why change good existing characters? They are a balanced group and complement each other. Also it will give people a lesson that even people with completely different personalities and interests can be friends. I feel like this is an important lesson for this world, especially in the divisive times you people live in." You think about it for a moment. "Yeah, I think you got a point there, but maybe you should rethink the names you give them... "Dawn Glitter"? "Zapple Apple"? I don´t know..." Celly pouts "You know names are hard... Oh well, may be I could..." Celly furrowns her brow and looks around. You are concerned "Whats wrong?" -"I don´t know... I just sensed...something...familiar... As if... Something just happend... Something magic related. Close. But now I don´t feel it anymore. Well, that was weird." You chuckle "Was it a disturbance in the force, Obi Wan?" Celly slaps playfully the back of your head with her hoof. Biscuit just stare blankly. "I don´t get it." Meanwhile on a meadow a few kilometres outside of F-City. You are ??? now. Headache. Your eyes flutter open. A cloudy muddy night sky. You are alive? Huh. That is unexpected. Last thing you remember was those accursed princesses turning you into a garden decoration, along with those two fools. The indignity! The insolence! How dare they doing this to you! After all those ponies allready took from you! Defeated. Again. Well, at least you appear to be alive. Regroup and plan for revenge. You try to get up and this is when you notice that something is off. Your body feels weird. You look down on yourself and... "What madness is this!" You appear to be a scrawny biped, clad in some weird robes. Your front legs end in some weird appendiges like the ones that big red oaf has, you think he called them hands. This will not do. You try to transform back into your beautyful, glorious self. Nothing. You try again. You stay a scrawny biped. This is bad. You look around you. Nearby lie two figures, a huge bulky one and a tiny one. They look different but you instantly recognice them. Its the oaf and the brat. They appear to be some sort of ugly monkey creatures. You look down at yourself and instanly start to boil with fury. And when you thought you couldn´t despise those ponies any more. "How dare they do this to me!" You hear a groaning next to you. Its the oaf. He slowly gets up and looks at you. "What?" He looks at the brat. "What?" He looks at himself. "WHAAAT? IS THIS SUPPOSED TO BE HUMOROUS?!?!" You find his fury pleasing, at least you dont suffer alone. "I´m not exactly sure. I assume ist either our punishment or an attempt of a "fffriendship" lesson." You spit out the F-word with the most disgust you can muster. "Knowing those damn ponies probably the later." Tirek makes an annoyed grunt "These ponies and their forgiveness. They should have gotten over with it and killed us. Don´t they realize that we will try everything to get back at them and destroy them? Their naive faith in mercy will be their undoing." You agree "Yes, we will get our revenge, but first we have to find out what they have done to us and how to undo it. Also..." You look around you, there is something very strange about this place and you can´t put your hoof on it. "Where are we? This is not Equestria!" Tirek nods "Yes, I doubt we are even still on Equuos anymore. This place...It..." His eyes grow wide with sudden horror. "There is no magic here. Not a microthaum of magical energy! In Equestria everything, the air, the plants, the rocks, is loaded with magic, but here, it... it is a magical void!" You notice with dread that he is right. You couldn´t even imagen that such a place existed. "So this is why they sended us here. No magic. We are powerless. It is a perfect prison. I would have never thought that they would be capable to such cruelty." A part of you actually wants to admire that. "Mhmmm... Gn... Whu?" Oh fantastic. The brat just woke up. Cozy sits up and stares at you and Tirek with a confused expression. Then she starts laughing. "Pffft. KYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! They turned you into monkeys! GNIHIHIHIHI You both look so stupid! HIHIHIHIHIHAHAHA Well, do you want a banana? Or some peanuts? HAHAHAHA!" Tirek and you just look at each other. Tirek gives you a mean smirk "Soooo, do you want to tell her, or..." You cant help but let out an evil little cackle. "Oh, no no. Go on, I insist..." Tirek leans forward to Cozy with a wide grin "Well, little Pegasus, you might want to look in a mirror soon." He leans forward a little more, his grin growing wider. "Actually make that little EX-pegasus." Cozy looks confused for a brief moment, then she realizes that she was transformed as well, her face turning into a grimasse of disgust and pure rage. Oh, this is just delicious to watch. You always hated that little brat, and seeing her having a mayor meltdown is extremely satisfying. "ARE YOU BUCKING KIDDING ME?!?!?! HOW DARE THEY! HOW DARE THOSE BUCKING, MANURE-EATING, OLD NAGS TO DO THIS TO ME!!! I WILL END THEM! I WILL RIP OFF THEIR HORNS AND SHOVE THEM UP THEIR FLANKS!!! I...I cant even fly anymore! And to add insult to injury, I´m still stuck in a childs body!" Wait, what? Tirek heard that too. "What do you mean with that...?" Cozy grows pale for a second as she realized that in her fury she may have told you too much, but quickly puts up her facade. "Oh Golly, I don´t know what you mean, Tirek, old buddy." Tireks eyes narrow. "Wait a minute... Oh, Ohohohoho. I always knew there was something off about you. I mean, I should have realized it, when they threw you into Tartarus. Ponys would never do that to a little filly, its not their style." He leans in very close and focuses Cozy. "But you, you are not a filly at all, are you?" Cozy Glow tries to hold up her charade. "Gee, you really act silly now, big guy, don´t you?" "CUT. THE. MANURE. I think I also speak for Chrysalis, when I say that we are sick and tired of your disgusting saccarine act." Cozy stops for a moment and then the weirdest thing happens. Her whole posture, her body langlauge, changes. Its is the most impressive transformation you have ever seen from an non-changeling. "Well then." Her voice is the voice of an adult mare now "I guess the cat is out of the bag." Cozy Glow leans back and crosses her hindlegs. "Its true. I am not a filly. I am actually 38 years old. I have a rare condition that stopped my physical development when I was just 6 years old. I had to watch my peers grow up and have a normal life and the realisation that I will never have that was endlessly frustrating. It is not fair! So I decided use my situation and just take what life denied me. I was fairly successfull as an impostor and crook, swindeld quite a number of ponies out of their bits, untill I had to skip town to Ponyville. I thought this ridiculus "School of Friendship" was my big break, but, well you know the rest..." She sighs "I was actually contemplating telling you about my...condition, but I hesitated because I was unsure about your reaction." She suddenly has a salacious grin on her face and crawls over to Tirek. "In a way I am glad you found out. That way I don´t have to hide anymore that I feel very, VERY attracted to a certain individual of our little gang..." Tirek looks confused but as he realizes what she implies he starts to look disturbed, horrified even. "WHOA! WHOWHOWHOWHOA! STOP! RIGHT! THERE! You little freak! I would never touch a filly in such a way! I may be a bad guy, but I am not *THAT* sort of a bad guy!" "WHAT? I JUST TOLD YOU I´M LEGAL, YOU DINGUS!" -" YOU STILL LOOK LIKE A FILLY, monkey-filly?, WHATEVER! THIS IS TOO BUCKING WEIRD FOR ME!!!" -"YOU WILL NOT DENIE ME!!! I HAVE LITEARLLY DECADES OF PENT UP LUST!" Tirek almost jumps several hoofs in the air from his sitting position. "STAY AWAY! I DON´T WANT TO HEAR THIS!!!" While this disturbing scene plays out in front of you you still try to process it. That little pony actually managed it to decieved you, the queen of deception, for several months. In hindsight much of her behavior makes sense now. She was always too clever, too shrewd to be for her supposed age. Yet you didn´t suspect a thing! As much as you really hate to admit it to yourself, you are actually impressed. You stare at Cozy Glow and start to laugh. "You fooled me. Your deception was almost perfect. Almost. It is a shame that such talent is wasted on a pony, you would have made a fantastic changeling, a true, proud changeling, not these disgusting, pastel degenerates, that this vile, little, treachorous ursuper Thorax has turned my hive into." You stand up. Standing and walking on your hindlegs is no problem for you, as you posed as all sorts of biped creatures before. You just wonder why you wear those impractical contraptions on your... Hooves? Paws? What are these things at the end of your rear legs called anyway? Well, they make you appear taller and more imposing when standing up, thats a plus. Just now you notice that some sort of small bag or purse made from black leather is hanging over your shoulder, you decide to check it out later. You adress your two allies in adversity: "Stop this nonsense, we need investigate where we are, we can´t stay here on this confounded meadow all night!" You march to a crest of a small hill, the other two following you, shakey as they have some problems adapting to walking on just two legs. You see behind the hill as sickish glow on the sky. As you pass the crest of the hill you see a impressive scene in front of you. A large plain with, what you can only describe as a humongous city, much, MUCH bigger than anything in Equestria, all illuminated by millions of bright artifical lights, it all stretches out for countless miles with a center of tall skyscrapers, taller than even in Manehattan. The three of you stand there for several minutes in stunned silence. Cozy is the first to speak. "We´re definitively not in Equestria anymore." She looks at you "So, you think these ugly ape bodies we have, is that what the creatures in this world look like?" "Could it be...?" Tirek says, mostly to himself. "What?" You turn around to him "Do you know this place?" -"No, its... Its an old legend of my people, ages before I was even born. It is said that back then we used magic portals to raid other worlds, other dimensions for wealth and slaves. One of these worlds was a world void of any magic, the only sapient creatures there were hairless apes, quite cunning and crafty, but aggressive and tribal. They were primitive, just had discoverd how to use fire and craft basic wepons from sticks and stones. We soon lost the ability to create those portals, and it was assumed that the apes would all kill each other as soon as they were able to craft more complex weapons like swords or spears..." He shakes his head "..but that was merely a silly old legend mothers tell their children, It can´t be." You snort "Well, we´ll see about that." You start to walk down the hill towards the city. Soon you reach some sort of path, on a bench you see a discarded news paper. Cozy Glow saw it too. "Maybe we can learn more about this world from this?" The three of you sit down on the bench and look at the paper, you do not question the fact that you can read it, you assume its part of your transformation. The headlines are VERY interesting... "10 dead in mall mass shooting" "T millitary invades northern S - High civilian casualtys feared" "C gouverment cracks down on peacefull civilian protests in H" Tirek smirks. "This world... So much greed for power, so much aggression. There is so much potential!" You have to agree. "Yes, there is indeed a certain... rustic charme to it. At least it is not as infested with "friendship" as Equestria. Obviously!" Cozy pipes up. "You know, if we play our cards right we can get a looong way here." -Yes, but at the end of the day our goal must be returning to Equestria and get our revenge." -"Oh certainly!" As you flip through the pages you see on the photos that the only creatures are indeed those ugly apes, like you and your partners in crime. Suddely Tirek straightens up, as if he had recieved a shock, he starts franticly flipping through the pages untill he gets to the local news in the back. "No.... No, it can´t be... Its her!!!" He points with shaking finger on a photography of a female ape. You don´t know what it is but you immidiatly despise her. "Its... Its Celestia!" -"WHAT?" You and Cozy scream in unisono. "She... is disguised as one of those creatures, but it is unmistakenly her. She just radiates her magic, even more so in this magicless world, her magic was imprinted in the picture and the print of the newspaper, I can smell it, I can taste it! Its is a taste I will never forget!" His voice trembles as he starts licking his lips. You read the line under the image: "Open house day at the city hall - Tia Prince, a new employee at the social department, volunteers to guide visitors." "TIA PRINCE?!?!?" You cry out in rage. "This is what she calls herself here? The gall of her, the audacity! It is as if she is mocking me!!!" Cozy is very silent but suddenly speaks up. "But... If she is here. Maybe there is a way back to Equestria? Maybe she is not alone. We should investigate, but need to be carefull..." You hate to admit it, but she is right. "True, we need a base of operation first..." You remember your small bag, you take a look in it and find a small wallet, in it you find some coins and colourfull paper with bridges and numbers on it. "What is this stuff?" Cozy. "Oh, I think this is money. I read that some realms outside of Equestria started to experiment with papers that have a value in gold, its more practical than luging around a purse full of gold bits." You humpf and look though your wallet untill you find a small card with a picture of a female ape that... wait is that you?!?!? You read what is written on the card. "Federal Republic of G" Identity card. "Regina Cryssal" "...what the hay?" Tirek notices something, he grabs at a pocket on his flank and pulls out a wallet himself. He pulls out a similar card: "Tarek Bulba" He looks at the sky "Tarek Bulba... I... I kinda like it!". Cozy beams. "Oh, my turn!" She takes off the litte pink saddlebag from her back and starts rummaging in it. Her face grows sinister as she, aside from a juice box and some candys, pulls out a small maroon booklet reading only "Federal Republic of G - Childrens Passport" with a small heraldic eagle in the middle. "Childrens passport. Of course." she groans. She flips it open. "Cassie O´Glower... Well this is not too bad... WHAT?!?!?! WARD OF REGINA CRYSSAL AND TAREK BULBA?!?!?!" You and Tirek start to laugh. Tirek quips. "Well, whaddaya know! I always wanted a daughter!" You chime in. "Oh, don´t worry little one. I have some experience raising young!" Cozy gives you a sadistic glance "Is that why all of them rebelled against you?" You feel a sting in your heart. "Don´t you dare..." You manage to hiss. Tirek ahems and tries to defuse the situation. "We should really look for some shelter..." Silently you walk the path down to the outskirts of the city. You approach a large road. Machines! Loud stinking metal carts driving by themselves, spewing out fumes, you see apes sitting in those contraptions. You carefully walk along the sidewalk untill you reach a low rundown building with a sign reading "MOTEL - Vacancy" in illuminated letters. You walk inside. The creature behind the counter is hideous, even by the standarts of these apes. He is short, fat with a hairless head and hairy arms. He looks tired at you. "Yeah? What can I do fer ya?" You try to not look disgusted by him. "Innkeep we need a room!" He looks at you, then at Cozy. "Yeah, no. I don´t need shit like that happening in my motel. Not again." -"What? Oh, no, she is our... daughter." He looks at you as if he doesn´t really buy it. "Suuure..." Then he turns around to the shelve with the keys. "Whatever. Room for three. That will be 25.- bucks a night." You slam three green bills with a 100 on it on the counter. "We take it for several days. And no questions asked." He looks at the money and rises his eyebrows. "Yes Ma´am!" The room is disgusting. The beds looks like they are filled with all sorts of parasites, mold in the bathroom and you are pretty sure there are some bloodstains on the wall. Tirek claps his hands. "Well perfect. This will do as a base of operations for the moment!" You let out a short disgusted snort and take the opportunity to look at yourself a full length mirror. You are indeed a female of these apes. You are tall and skinny with long arms and legs, You skin is quite pale. Your mane is long, black with a greenish shine. You wear what appears to be a dark green suit, like some clerk, with a skirt. Your lower legs are clad in some thin, flimsy fabric which apperantly has the only use of making your legs more shiny. And of course there are those uncomfortable things on your (as Tirek called them) feet. You cant even run in these shoes (again Tirek called them that, He had contact with similar dressed beings before). Annoyed you kick them off. Then you take a look at the other two. Tirek is a huge male of those creatures, maybe a silverback? He has a bulky muskular body, fairly dark, almost brown skin, his mane and beard is black with some grey in it. He wears a red shirt with short sleves and some kind of blue tight pantaloons as well as brown leather boots. He stares out of the window onto the road, watching those dreadfull machines passing by, deep in thought. Then you look at Cozy. She is sitting in an armchair looking bored, she is an (seemingly) infant female, with skinny arms and legs. her skin is fair with a pinkish hint. and red freckles on her arms and face. Her mane is fiery red and she still has those silly curls. She is wearing a sickingly cutesy pink dress and a matching bow in her mane. She wears white socks and black shiny shoes on her feet. She looks at you. "So. What are we gonna do now?" You look at her with some annoyance, you have not forgotten her comment about your hive earlier. "Well, I will take a shower now, then we sleep. And tomorrow we will begin our quest to crush Celestia!"