Saccharine Arcadia

AN: Ok. Hi! DM here, with a request. Please read the first comment, first! Thank you!

Chapter 1: Saccharine Arcadia.

A Quiet, Rural Village, Main Characters Bedroom:

‘All I wanted was an easy life, one where I was content and happy. Not to be rich and famous, but important to those around me and to feel like I have a purpose.’

‘To me the world is grey, I don’t consider myself an anarchist, it’s not that I disagree with how the world works, I only disapprove of it. Slaves are forced to work their whole pitiful lives for nothing, nothing but the knowledge that they did their part to contribute to the cycle. We’re born, we learn, we work, we grow old and then we die, many of us not even leaving our mark on the world. We do it because society requires we do so to survive. I look at the people, mindless drones, just doing what they can, most of the time something menial that only supports someone else to do their own menial job, all to appease the ever growing expectations of others.’

‘Every time someone does something, someone else strives to do better, a commendable aspect of the human ego but not something I am fond of, I never was a competitive person… Anyway, the future looks bleak, relaxation and importance never did go hand in hand, I guess I’m just fussy.’

‘What did I do today anyway? I can’t even remember. It mustn’t have been that important then. Every day seems like a long line of many, they all merge, I don’t even know what day it is.’

‘People ask me about my future, it’s a question which scares me, not because I have so much to do in so little time to prepare for it, but because it’s something I’m unsure of, I don’t know if I want a future, I sure as hell don’t want to be one of the drones!’

‘Just a simple life, a wife and kids, two, one boy and one girl, the girl first preferably, a job which I am happy doing but requires no real thinking, just experience and lastly, friends to support me all the way.’

‘Heh, why am I even scribbling in this old thing… I haven’t even opened it for years…’

Closing the notebook, Rob slumped down on his bed, gazing up at the cream ceiling as he dragged the duvet over himself. He let out a sigh. It was only two in the afternoon but Hypnos was taking over, pulling him into the world of altered conscious known as sleep. He rolled over, resting his head on the pillow and closed his eyes, fading away into the blissful tranquillity of the dream world.

“Hey, I’ve got one simple statement to make. I’m speaking to you!” An ethereal voice called out from the darkness, profound but infantile in its approach. It sounded so simplistic. “Come and join us.” it commanded. The tone changed to authoritarian.

“Huh, what? For a dream, this seems very… Ummm… Realistic?” Rob mused to himself, ignoring the voice. “Is this lucid dreaming? Hell yeah! Hot bitches here I come!”

The inky blackness seemed infinite. Despite his amusement, Rob felt like he was floating and yet found nothing around him that could keep him buoyant. For a moment he thought his eyes were closed and tried to open them, only to be surprised when he found they were already open. At this very moment he felt so small in comparison to the endless expanse laid out before him that shivers ran up his spine and his blood froze like ice in his veins. The unknown expanse seemed to beckon him.

“You are never going back.” The voice chanted again, “You are finally awake!”

With these words a glow enveloped the man captive in his own mind and started to pull. Tendrils of light extended from somewhere in the black, creeping ever closer. At some time during the struggle Rob noticed an orb of light which was now visible in the distance, moving closer by the second, emanating warmth, comforting like no other. Like being drawn back to the womb Rob was pulled ever closer to the orb, his eyes stung, unaccustomed to the new and prying light. A new sense of fear took over, prompting fight or flight response, Rob chose fight, adrenaline kicked in and he thrashed his limbs about, struggling to get free. By now the tendrils had begun to crawl up his legs.

“You won’t take me!” He defiantly called towards the light, “I’m not gonna let my own body be the end of me, if this is what being taken to the afterlife is like then you can forget it, I still have to find my purpose! You will NOT deny me that!”

As if taken aback by the poignant words the light shifted, and lessened its grip over its mortal captive who now possessed enough power to stagger back towards the darkness. The struggle was taking its toll on both parties, just as fast as each tendril-like finger unwrapped from Rob’s body he felt himself grow weaker, as if a part of him was going with it. Rob grasped at the last of the light that had wrapped itself around his stomach, arching back in the process. His hands reached forward and made for one last attempt at freedom, gripping the tendril he wrenched with his whole soul. A wispy sound echoed as the light dissipated into nothing and faded into the newly encroaching darkness as Rob pulled the vine from his body. Sighing, he wiped his face with the back of his hand.

“This feels so goddamn real!” He panted, recovering from his close call with his own mind.

“This can’t be normal.”

He thought, as he paused to look around. “Well, that light has gone, that must be a good thing.” “This must be lucid dreaming or something then right?” He called to the darkness, not really expecting an answer.

The anger began to rise within as his mind calmed itself, lessening the fear. This prompted a brief explosion of rage, “What the hell is going on, it’s all gone wrong, what’s happening to me!” Rob called out. Once again, there was no answer.

“Goddamnit…”

Equestria, Canterlot Palace:

“Sister, are you ok!?”

A cry echoed through the pristine white halls of Canterlot, as a dark purple alicorn charged towards the throne room, her hooves striking the ground sharply creating tremors that rang out through the corridors. Guards standing in position were alarmed as the purple bolt dashed through the halls, some, after a brief moment of deliberation, followed the alicorn, and some simply returned to their positions, shocked at the sights they had seen. It was unusual to see one of the twin Princesses of Equestria making such a spectacle, seeing as they usually had such composure.

“Sister!” She repeated as the made her way to the large gilded doors that marked the entrance to the sacred halls of the alicorn sisters. She knew something was wrong, she felt the whiplash of magical energy all the way from the other side of the Canterlot Palace. Rearing up on her hind legs she lashed out with her hooves and pounded the marble doors. With a roar and a grating sound they swung open to reveal a second alicorn collapsed on the floor, the purple alicorn and numerous guards stumbled forwards scared. This was their ruler, what could possibly have brought her to this state?

“S-sister?” The dark princess spoke in a hushed tone, fearing the worst. No physical injury could be seen on the magnificent snow white body of her elder sister but in this land, magic was all that was necessary to corrupt certain elements of a pony.

“Luna?” Was the feeble reply that came seconds later from the downed alicorn. A wave of relief washed over the many surrounding guards and Luna as they realised that the white alicorn was ok, or at least not in anywhere near as bad a form as they had feared. “I’m fine Luna.” she replied once more, regaining her breath.

Frantically, Luna bent down to her sister’s level and asked, “Are you sure? Are you sure you’re ok? You don’t need a doctor or anything?” Her worries were all refuted with the simple shake of the head.

“I’m fine Luna, I just used up too much energy trying to perform a spell.” She rose to her hooves, showing her full six feet of elegance.

She had a resounding figure, as strong and striking as any stallion and as beautiful and graceful as any mare. She had a long, slender horn on her forehead and soft downy wings on her sides, tucked in to her body. Her mane was multi-coloured, all pastel, ranging from pink on the left to green on the right, cycling thorough blue and purple and she had an emblem representing the sun on her left flank. On shaky legs she stumbled back to her throne at the end of the hall, not much more than three metres from where she was currently standing.

Gingerly placing herself down on it she faced the guards, “Thank you for coming to make sure I am ok, but as you can see I’m fine and have no need of your assistance at the moment. I will call upon you when needed.” She calmly stated, as she motioned with her front right hoof for them to leave.

“Don’t worry me like that!” Luna called out once the guards had all left. “Don’t brush this off like it’s nothing, you could have been killed! I know we’re all powerful and stuff but even we have limits! What kind of a spell were you trying to perform anyway!?” She threw an angry glance towards the white alicorn.

After a few minutes of silence the white alicorn piped up, breaking the tension, “Well, I might as well tell you…” She looked hesitant about revealing the information to her sister. “It was a cross-dimension teleportation spell.”

“What! You… You should know better than this! There are rules that are not meant to be broken sister, and you just shattered one by crossing dimensions! It almost drained you of life-force completely too! What are the people of Equestria going to think when they know their ruler died from ‘playing’ with magic!? The whole country would be in chaos! I hope it was worth it…” She finished with fire in her eyes.

“Are you about done?” her sister looked back at her, calm and composed after her earlier exhaustion. “And if I had died somehow, I have full faith that you could rule in my stead Luna.”

Luna marched up towards her sister, stopping only a few feet from the throne. “And how do you expect me to rule without you? You raise the sun, I can’t do that. Besides I have no real knowledge of how running a country works. Even more than that, nopony even trusts me after the Nightmare Moon incident, when I almost, ya’ know, enslaved Equestria!” She paused before saying “I thought you were more responsible than this Celestia.”

Back In Rob’s Bedroom:

“Mmmmm… mmm… wha-... oww, oh, ah, that doesn’t feel too good…”

It was getting dark outside and Rob had just woken up, rolling over onto his back. At some point during his nap a cat had joined him, “Mornin’ Fidget.” He spoke to it, earning him a pleased meow in response.

After a few moments of taking in the quiet of the slowly blackening bedroom he sat up. The cat jumped off, seemingly disgruntled, and settled down on the floor.

“Sweet Jesus my body aches.”

Picking up his phone he noted that it was half past five, dinner time, he placed it in his pocket. Standing up he came face to face with himself in the mirror on the back of his door, only a silhouette due to the lack of the light in the room.

“I don’t know who you are…” he spoke softly to himself. “Could this be all I am?”

He walked forward and glanced around the room, its crimson walls leered back at him, empty. Fidget let out another meow which snapped him back to his senses, and he turned and left the room, proceeding down the stairs to the kitchen. Opening the fridge he grabbed a can of cider. Pulling the ring he was greeted with the satisfying hiss of the can opening. His mouth was dry after his afternoon nap and this was his liquid salvation. Bringing the can to his lips he started to swig, emptying one third of the can. He placed it down on the side and went to the oven, turning it on to let it pre-heat. Once this was done Rob went over to the kitchen table and pulled out a chair from under it, he sat down and began to think back to the surreal dream he had just had. It all seemed so realistic.

“And here I thought dreams were just a manifestation of things that you have experienced during your life coming back to you in a random order and in random scenarios. I have sure as hell never been attacked by light tentacles.”

He chuckled to himself before returning to his cider. “It’s like a bloody hentai flic.”

It was now nine o’clock. The sun had been fully set for hours now and only the dim blue flicker from the TV provided any light for Rob as he sat drunken in the living room of his house. Once again he felt tired and felt the tug of sleep upon his eyelids.

“Well, to another shit day in a shit world.” he mumbled while holding his drink up to the sky as if he were performing a toast. Bringing his arm back down he shut his eyelids once more and began to fade to black.

Equestria, Canterlot Palace:

“You what!?” “You’re going to do it again!?” Luna screamed at her elder sister upon hearing news that she was going to perform the spell once more. They were now in the royal bedchambers of the Canterlot Palace heading towards Celestia’s room.

“Yes dear sister, I have decided that my number one student Twilight Sparkle needs something or someone else to continue her study of the magic of friendship. Besides its getting closer to the Night of the Black Goddess and the Hunters Moon, you know miracles are supposed to happen around this time. It’s tradition.”

“All this for tradition!” Luna exclaimed. “Fine, I won’t stop you, but you better be careful this time.”

“I will sister, I feel that the time is right, he won’t resist me this time.” Celestia spoke with a sly look in her eyes.

At the next door Luna departed and left Celestia to stroll the halls by herself. After a short time the white princess reached her own chambers. She entered and locked the door behind her, casting a silencing spell on it in the process so that no one would disturb her.

Positioning herself in the centre of the room, she took a deep breath and began concentrating, feeling the very blood within her becoming infested with pure magical energy. Upon being saturated, she concentrated all of the energy on her horn, the main focus point of all magical beings, and uttered some words. All of a sudden, a spectacular white light enveloped Celestia, raising her off the floor and holding her limply in its grasp. The world around her became back as her eyesight faded into the dream world across universes, across dimensions. She let the pull drag her, until her whole consciousness faded into the undertow. These were dangerous waters she was treading.

Rob’s Dream:

“Ahh, not this again, *hic*, I thought I was finished with creepy tentacle molestation.” Rob hiccoughed again before taking advantage of the lack of physics and doing a backflip. “Haha, this is actually kinda fun. Now, *hic*, all I need to do is work out how I can, *hic*, conjure up some beautiful women! Wow, I’m even drunk while dreaming, *hic*, this is awesome!”

“Is that what you call it?” A voice from behind him called.

Turning, Rob gazed blurrily upon the creature that was behind him.

“Whoa, a freaking glow-in-the-dark unicorn!” Rob laughed before thinking and gazing up a little, “not what I was going for but whatever…” He turned back to her. “So, how can I, *hic*, help you Miss Unicorn?”

“Umm, my name is Celestia human, not ‘Miss Unicorn’, Princess Celestia. And for your information, I’m an alicorn.” She replied.

“Ali-what now?” Rob shifted his gaze to her sides and noticed her wings. “Ahh so you’re a cross between, *hic*, a unicorn and a pegasus” He looked further down, “Nice arse tattoo by the way.” He hiccoughed again.

She blushed and extended her wings to cover herself. “An alicorn, that’s what I said. And it’s very unbecoming of one to stare at another’s behind… And it’s my cutie mark, not this tattoo as you call it.” She retracted her wings, confident that the human wasn’t staring anymore. “It symbolises what I’m good at, what my role in life is. Everypony has one.”

“I could sure as hell do with one of those things, *hic*, maybe not a sun though.” Rob responded. “So why am I here? This seems like quite the elabo, elabu, elabor-”

“Elaborate?” She finished for him.

“Yes, quite the elaborate dream just for, *hic*, me to be talking to some crazy pony.”

“I’m not crazy.” She coldly stated, clearly annoyed with the humans drunken state. “Ok, let me spell this out for you, I’ve been watching you for a while, using magic from my universe, and-”

“See, that’s crazy!” Rob cut her off, getting revenge for when she did it to him.

She sighed, “AND, I’ve decided you are the one Equestria needs.” She moved closer and gazed into his eyes. “You can fulfil many roles on my planet which I have need of filling, that’s what you’ve always wanted right, a role to call your own?” She turned and walked away again. “That’s what you’ve always wanted right, something to be remembered by, something only you can do, something to make you special.”

“W-w-wait, so this isn’t some, *hic*, crazy dream and I’m not going insane? This is real and you’re, *hic*, telling me that you want me to travel to another universe? Do excuse me, *hic*, if I’m a little sceptical though.” His face changed into that of shock.

“That about sums it up, ‘Luna’, drunk people are so impressionable.” She plodded over to him a second time, “I’ve tried once before to contact you.” She paused. “That didn’t go so successfully, the uh, ‘tentacle molestation’ you spoke of earlier.” She averted her eyes. “The spell didn’t connect as cleanly as it has this time, we weren’t close enough on our respective spectral planes to create a stable connection, realising the spell wouldn’t last I tried to drag you to my side with magic.” An apologetic look came across her. “Sorry for being so brutish.” She said.

“No worries” Came the humans reply. “I’m sorry for, *hic*, fighting back I suppose. If I’d had known, *hic*, that some touchy-feely alicorn was coming to whisk me off, *hic*, to another universe then I’d have so~ gone willingly… But, *hic*, you say you offer me a new life.” He closed his eyes and shrugged, holding his palms to the sky. “So where are we now exactly?”

“Well this is inside your dream, but I can manipulate things here.” Pawing at the emptiness beneath her hoof she faced him. “I’m here to take you to my side, to the otherside. It seems as if you hate life where you come from so I don’t see why you would argue. It is within my power to control this plane enough to draw your entire being over to where I come from.”

“Yup, you’re right, *hic*, this is a lot to get my head around but hey, *hic*, I was this close to giving up over there.” He held his hand out showing his fingers a few inches apart. “Screw it, being drunk is all about making rash decisions, *hic*, ok Princess, lead me to the otherside.”

“Well that was easy.” She turned and motioned him to follow her.

“Uhh, *hic*, hold on, I just need to check something.” Rob reached into the pockets of his jeans. “Great!” he said, pulling out his phone and iPod. “Can’t go anywhere without these ya’ know, *hic*.” He earned a quizzical look from her. “Ahh yeah, one more thing.” He reached around once more in his pockets and withdrew his house keys. “I won’t, *hic*, need these anymore.” He grunted as he threw them deep into the dark expanse. “’Kay, I’m, *hic*, ready” He looked back at her with a smile on his face.

“Join me then.” She stated and motioned with her hoof to where she was standing. “This may be a little painful.” She added.

“Great.” He mumbled, moving to where she indicated. “Ok, let’s, *hic*, do this.” She nodded and closed her eyes.

What started as a tingling sensation quickly became the total numbness of both of their bodies. Rob fell to the ground, paralyzed, and quickly passed out from the newly forming electrical sensation coursing through his body. Celestia stood strong, constantly concentrating on breaking the bridge connecting the two dimensions.

“Almost. Got. It.”

She cried, pouring the last of her strength into the spell. In a flash of white light and a bang the world crumbled, the empty darkness fragmented and shattered like glass, falling down and revealing the bedroom of Princess Celestia. She too fell down on her knees, panting heavily.

Princess Celestia’s Bedroom:

Recovering from the spell, Rob sat up, wiping his eyes. “Let’s NEVER, *hic*, do that again.” He pressed his hand up to his head, “This is worse than any hangover I’ve ever had.” He looked over to Celestia. “Hey, are you ok?”

After a few deep breaths she looked back at him, “I’ll be fine in a minute.” She panted. “It really takes it out of you that spell.”

Looking around, Rob inspected the bedroom, “Nice place you’ve got here.” He mused, studying where he was. He seemed to be in a bedroom as backed up against the far wall was a huge four poster bed. “This explains the whole ‘Princess’ thing I suppose.” He said before continuing his inspection. To the left of the bed was a chest of drawers with a mirror on it and a candle, further left of that was a large window. All he could see out if it was sky though. The left wall was mainly dominated by the balcony protruding out from it, once again the only visible thing was sky, and surprisingly there was not a cloud in sight. The right wall was rather bland and only housed a number of wardrobes and some large cabinets. “Wow, where are we now?” Rob asked the recovering Princess.

“My palace in Canterlot.” was the short reply.

“Neat. Hey, I still can’t feel my legs, how long until this wears off?”

“It shouldn’t be long now.”

“Good, good.” Rob propped himself up using only his hands.

Celestia started to rise and went over to her bed, she sat down and reached for a draw in her nightstand, she opened it and pulled out a two glasses and a bottle of water. Pouring it she turned to Rob, “You want some?” she asked.

“Uhh, yeah, that would be great thanks. Hey, I think the drink is starting to wear off and my legs are starting to come back to me too!” He happily glanced down at his legs and tried to flex his toes, only a minimal response was given back but it was a response none the less and this pleased him. Celestia levitated a glass of water over to him. “It’s a stupid question but how do you, well, do things with your hooves when you have no fingers or anything?” Rob asked.

“You’re telling me that magic is ok, and that this is what confuses you?” She chuckled and shook her head. “Well, magic, once again.” She answered. “You humans have adapted and evolved without magic and therefore need fingers to do things, us ponies have always had magic running though us and have never needed fingers, it’s innate, within us from birth.”

“Ok, umm… one more question; ponies?” He looked at her confused.

“It’s the collective term that the ponies or 'people' as you would call them, use for the citizens of Equestria.”

“So there aren’t just alicorns?”

“No, in fact there are only two alicorns, me and my sister.”

“What are the others then?” Rob stood up, his legs were finally working again.

“There are three other types of pony; earth ponies, these have the gift of superior strength but lack magical control or wings, there are unicorns who are fairly weak physically but make up for it in a superior knowledge of magic, they also lack wings and lastly there are pagasi, these have wings and are moderately strong but they also, cannot use magic.”

“Hmm, sounds complicated but I guess I’ll learn.”

Rob walked over to the balcony and opened the glass doors that separated him from it. He went over to the edge and peered around. “Whoa!” He staggered back. “That’s high… I hate heights…”

Plucking up the courage to go back he gingerly edged toward the balcony again. Holding on firmly to the rail he glanced over the edge once more. A beauty unlike any other greeted his eyes, below him spanned a seemingly endless expanse of green. In the distance he made out rows of apple trees, seemingly a farm and further to the left of that, a small town. Between him and that there were dirt roads and fields with things that looked like tiny ants walking on them, ponies he assumed. Far to the right was a large forest fading all the way to the distant horizon. The view to his left was blocked by the side of a mountain which he regretted because he had no doubt that there would be a spectacular view over there too. Directly below him he noticed walls and houses, streets and estates. He could smell the faint odour of smoke rising from some of the houses down below.

“This is like medieval England.”

He thought, except there are ponies. He focussed in on what appeared to be a market. Many little ponies were swarming the area, marching up to stalls and purchasing things, it looked like a lovely community. Rob turned to head back inside but was surprised to see Celestia standing next to him, also admiring the view. “Sorry, I didn’t hear you come out.”

“It’s quite something isn’t it?” She asked nonchalantly. It seemed rhetorical.

“Beautiful.” Rob returned.

“Well, you should get used to it, this is your new home.”

“Canterlot right? I’ll be living here?” Rob scratched his chin.

“No, not here specifically. I have another place in mind for you.”

“Well that sounds sinister…”

Celestia laughed, “Don’t worry, it’s not a bad place.” She turned and went back inside.

Rob followed saying, “If you say so.”

“Ok” Celestia spoke, a renewed gleam in her eyes. “Rob, there’s a few things we need to sort out, firstly, nopony here eats meat so hence forth you are a vegetarian.”

“As long as I’m not eating hay that’s fine I suppose. Gonna miss spare ribs though. And most of the Chinese menu for that matter…” He retorted.

“Secondly, you need a new name, your current one doesn’t exactly fit in here. Anyway, I’m sure there are some other things you will need to adapt to but I’m sure you’ll pick it up as you go along. Oh yes, keep violence to a minimum, the odd pony has a bar fight occasionally but I will be forced to throw you in a dungeon or something if you break that rule.” A stern look came over her.

“Yes ma’am” Rob nervously replied.

“Ok”

“I need a new name. Something flowery I presume going by the fact that the princess is called Celestia and everyone else is a pony.”

After pondering a few minutes he thought of something. “Right” He said, catching Celestia’s attention. “Seeing as this is my new life, a rebirth in some ways, a new name it is. Following on from that beautiful view I just saw I’ve decided on my name, ‘Saccharine Arcadia’, it means ‘sweet heaven’ in Latin, it’s an ancient language from where I come from.”

“Ahh, ok, I like it.” She responded cheerfully. “I’ll just call you Arc though, for short.”

“That works for me” he smiled back at her.

“Alright, onto the next problem.”

“Problem?”

“Yes.” Celestia said altering her vision and focussing on the door. “Before coming to get you I placed magic on the door so that this room was impenetrable, air, light, sound, nothing can get through” She walked towards it and places a hoof upon it. “The problem is that the magic I used to get you was so powerful that many magic users in the city would have felt me do it. My sister will be one of them. She was against me using this magic and it was only a short time ago I told her I’d be doing it again. I have no doubt that she is on the other side of this door eagerly waiting for me to disenchant the spell so she can come and reprimand me for taking such rash actions again so soon.”

“Right. If you guys are sisters and equal then why can’t she break your magic?”

“A good question.” Celestia spoke once more. “Yes, we are equal and she has the potential to rival me with magic but due to some unfortunate circumstances she lost out on about one thousand years of practice and thus is unable to contend with me on an equal magical level at the time being.”

“This sure is a lot to take in.” A confused looking Rob said.

“You’re a smart child, I’m sure you can work it out.” She laughed again. “Well, prepare yourself to meet her, I’m about to open the door.”

“I’ll be on my best behaviour!” Rob joked as Celestia stuck the door sharply with the sole of her hoof. A ripple crested its way along the surface of the door and made a clicking sound upon reaching the frame. No sooner had this occurred, when the doors blasted open revealing a rather angry looking purple alicorn.

“This must be Celestia’s sister then.” Rob muttered under his breath.

Not a second later the purple alicorn charged in towards her sister. “So soon! So soon! I thought you would at least wait twenty four hours before attempting that again!” She bellowed. Rob stumbled backwards a little scared of the new pony in the room. “Are you ok? No injuries? Shall I call a doctor?” The new alicorn was fluttering around Celestia like a worried parent. Rob looked at her, she was similar to Celestia only she had a purple coat and a lighter purple mane. It appeared to resemble a night’s starry sky. She was almost as tall, only a few inches off, and her ‘cutie mark’ was of a crescent moon. He suspected that in the pony world these sisters were considered top level beauties. Snapping back to reality Rob continued to observe the sisters.

“Luna, I’m fine, just tired is all.” Celestia was telling her sister to no avail.

“Sis, I just worry about you sometimes… You have a tendency to make rash decisions.”

“Maybe, but this one paid off, see?” Celestia nodded towards Rob.

“Wha-” Luna gasped upon seeing Rob and hunched down, going into an intimidating stance. It was rather cute really. “What is it?” She asked her sister, refusing to break eye contact with the new creature presented before her. “Is it dangerous, is it intelligent, is it-” She was cut off. Rob just stood still, trying not to make any sudden movements.

“She’s adorable in all the wrong ways!”

“Please be quiet Luna and I’ll explain.” Celestia commanded her sister. Rob shifted uncomfortably but stood his ground. “This ‘creature’ as you call it is something known as a human. No he isn’t dangerous, yes he is intelligent, sometimes.” She chuckled glancing at Rob who was too preoccupied to care.

“How do you know he isn’t dangerous?” She asked.

“I’ve been scrying him for some time now, watching him through a window.”

“Once again, that’s creepy.” Rob piped up from across the room, finally turning his attention to the matters at hand.

“I-it spoke!” Luna stuttered.

“I told you, he’s intelligent.” Celestia answered. “Luna, meet Saccharine Arcadia, Arc for short, Arc, meet my sister, Luna.”

“Nice to meet you Luna.” Rob approached the mare, holding his hand out.

Luna backed away, prompting Rob to stop his advance. “It’s ‘Princess’ Luna, human.” She stated, tilting her chin up.

“Don’t be so stuck up Luna!” Celestia reprimanded her sister.

Luna turned back to Rob and sighed, “Fine, hello, I’m Luna, Celestia’s younger sister.” She paused and Looked at her sister who only stared back, “Nice to meet you.” she finished.

“Ok, that went well.” Celestia said sarcastically. “Luna, I’ll fill you in on the rest later, Arc, follow me, it’s getting late, time moves sporadically in the dream world we were in and roughly 18 hours have passed. It’s becoming dark outside and I still have to take you to your new home.”

“He’s going to live here?” Luna exclaimed, turning her nose up at the idea.

“I brought him here for a purpose, like I said Luna, I’ll fill you in later, bear with me.” Celestia told her sister sternly. Turning to Rob she said, “Hold on Arc, this will feel a little weird.”

“Surely not weirder than that last spell.”

“Hopefully not as bad, no.” Once again she closed her eyes and Luna stepped back. A warm white light enveloped the two once more and before anyone could blink they were gone.

Outskirts of Ponyville, East Road:

In a brief flash the white orb vanished, leaving Princess Celestia and her very dazed human companion on the east road out of Ponyville.

Opening his eyes Rob looked at his surroundings, ahead of him was a small village with a few quaint houses. He spotted one or two ponies going about their daily business. To his left he saw a huge city positioned near the top of a mountain. “Is that Canterlot, or whatever you called it?” he asked with surprise in his voice. Celestia nodded in response. To his right there was an orchard laden with apples. “This is my new home then?” He once again asked Celestia, trying to remember all the information about his new home.

“Yes, and unfortunately this is where we must part. Seek out Twilight Sparkle, she is my number one student and will know of your coming.” She pointed at what appeared to be a large tree off in the distance a fair way into Ponyville, it was difficult to tell against the tan background of sky. “She resides in the library and I have already sent a letter informing her of an unusual and unexpected visitor.” She looked sad. “One last thing Rob, take this, wear it always and in any time of need call and I shall come.” She paused. “Oh! Also, if you think of me and speak it will send a message, similar to that device you have in your pocket.” Saying this she handed him a golden necklace with the emblem of the sun as its centrepiece.

“Thank you Celestia, for everything. Not only for bringing me here but also for being kind and saving me from your sister!” They both laughed and moved closer to each other. “Thanks.” He said again quietly as he placed his arms around her neck and hugged her, she nuzzled him in response and they parted. Without another word, Celestia stepped back and repeated her teleportation spell, vanishing in an instant, leaving no trace. Feeling somewhat lonely Rob turned to face the new town. He had been in Equestria roughly one hour now and in that time so much had happened. Despite only knowing her for a short period of time, Rob felt a connection to the benevolent ruler who has whisked him here. Despite everything, she was his first friend, he was now by himself. He chuckled, thinking about how his previous ideas about royalty had been so stuck up. This princess had been far from that, she was fun, even if a little creepy sometimes. Snapping himself out of his daydreams, he placed the necklace over his head, smiled, and strode forward, “To a new life I suppose.”