Saccharine Arcadia

Chapter 9: A Weekend with the She-Devil.

Ponyville Library, Main section:

“Concentrate, come on, you can do it!”

“Tch, this is giving me a headache…”

*sigh*

“Hey, you’re a unicorn, you’re meant for this! I’m just a human. I’ve been here what, the best part of five days now? I bet you didn’t learn magic that fast!”

The morning had arrived, and Twilight had foolishly taken it upon herself to try and teach the human some magic before the train ride up to Canterlot. Things however, were not exactly going well. Twilight could sense the inner increase in life-force and magic, and yet, the human couldn’t seem to build any of it up, or release it for that matter. From what she could tell, he wasn’t focussing it on a specific point enough. She herself, always used her horn, unicorns always did; it provided a controlled point of focus, easily able to contain the swelling of magical energy. Rob however, was broadening it too much. Hands were not exactly a specific point, more like, ten, specific points, the magic, what little there was, was diverging too much, and not gaining enough driving force to be released.

“Arc, try using only one finger.” Twilight told the human, getting an idea.

He looked at the purple mare in confusion.

“Girl, I can’t do it with my whole freaking hand. One finger is not going to be enough!”

“Look, using too much of your body spreads the magic out, to put it simply. You need to focus it more on one singular location. Trust me, just will it to the tip of one of your fingers.”

“Well alright…”

He concentrated once again, trying to find the inner warmth of magic inside of him. At the very least, throughout the morning he had gotten used to finding the life-force. Twilight had told him that if he simply felt around in his core, he would find a sensation; she couldn’t be any more specific though, as that sensation changed from pony to pony, and presumably, human to human. For her, it was like wind through the grass, and for Celestia apparently, it was like sun through the cracks in a wall. Some ponies felt it like fire, and some like the ocean. He would have to find out what he felt for himself. Currently, it was life grasping at mist. He had to sort of corral it into a blob, and then herd it throughout his body. It was not an easy task.

Once he had done said corralling, the tricky part began, as he struggled to will it from his chest to his arms, and in turn, his wrists. Every time he tried to focus it though, parts started escaping, and eventually, he figured that this was always going to happen, and he might as well just herd what parts he could; little magic was better that no magic at all. Finally, he managed to get it into his palms, and placing his hands together, he transferred what little he could over into his right hand. Lucky for him, magic seemed almost magnetic, and seeped straight through the cast on his left hand.

Bracing his arm, as it was now shaking; he funnelled the mist down into only his index finger. He was now holding his breath; the strain it took to concentrate such unsteady magic was taking its toll on him, and he began to grit his teeth. After what felt like excruciating minutes, he had finally condensed all the gathered magic into a ball under the skin in his finger.

“N-n-now w-w-what…?”

“Release it!”

“H-how?”

“Think about what you want it to become, magic is very versatile. Just will it!”

And so he did. Forcing it to expel from his body, in any way necessary for it to take form, he pushed outwards, forcing it away from his hand. A puff of smoke, and a flash of light occurred, and the pair had to shield their eyes. He finally let out the breath he had been holding in for so long, and began gulping at the air. Excitement welled up in the boy, as he turned back to face his finger, expecting something great to have occurred. He opened his eyes and gazed upon his finger to find the tip alight, just like a tea light candle. His heart sunk.

“… All of that, for this?! Are you fucking kidding me!?”

Twilight suppressed a giggle as she turned to Rob. “Don’t feel bad, it was only your first try.” She then blew out the flame with a smile and a laugh. “I am surprised about one thing though, usually, magic will take effect as something happening. Somehow, you managed to bring forth a raw element, only a few ponies can do that. You should feel proud!”

“Yay, that makes me feel so much better…”

She patted him on the back with a hoof, in a feeble attempt to reassure him.

“So, there are others who can do what I can… Sorta do?”

She thought about it for a second, raising an eyebrow. “Well, yes. I once heard of a mage who was able to create whole waterfalls from magic!”

“And yet, I have this limp thing… You could barely roast a marshmallow on this lame flame.”

“Practice makes perfect Arc! I have been studying magic for years, and I’m still not fully able to do a lot of things!”

“Yeah, well, whatever.” He stood up from the sofa he was sitting on, as Spike walked in from the kitchen, clad in the same apron as before. “So when are we heading to Canterlot?”

Twilight also got up and responded, “Not long now. We’ll leave in a short while if that’s ok?”

“Sounds good to me!”

According to Twilight, she had spoken to Spike earlier about looking after the library while they were gone, and he therefore, had everything under control. As it stood, the team heading to Canterlot was Arc, Twilight, Applejack and Rainbow Dash. Rarity had other obligations, and Fluttershy couldn’t leave her animals for so long on such short notice, luckily enough, Spike had offered to help with anything that may have come up. Pinkie on the other hand, said that she was doing something ‘special’ for their return. Rob had guessed that this was the party she had mentioned before, but couldn’t be certain, after all, in Ponyville, expect the unexpected.

With these thoughts on the brain, the duo headed off to meet the others at the train station. It was now eleven o’clock, and they were scheduled to arrive in Canterlot at one, two hours from now.

The trip was short, and the weather was nice as usual, as the two plodded through Ponyville once again. Unlike the previous night, all that was necessary was a t-shirt, and thankfully, Twilight hadn’t brought her puffer jacket either. Rob figured that the princess could cater for all of the things he might need; she seemed able to summon him clothing, why should anything else be any different?

Twilight had explained that while they were in Canterlot, they would be staying at the Palace, and had all been given guest suites right next to each other in the eastern-most tower. This pleased Rob, as to be honest, leaving him alone in Canterlot was not a good idea; he was sure to get lost, or something worse… He wasn’t really too fond of being that close to Celestia either, but he figured it was better to here, with her, than as an ‘object’ of wonder, in a foreign land. For some reason, thoughts of kidnapping were on the brain, as unlikely as it was.

Pretty soon, they had made their way to the station, only to find and eager Applejack, and a bored Rainbow Dash. As they neared, they could see her tapping her hoof against the ground, waiting for something interesting to happen.

“About time!” She called on their approach.

Rob looked around. The station was like that of an old western, everything was made from wooden planks, and the whole thing had a dusky feel to it. For some reason, there was nopony else waiting to catch the train, the whole platform was deserted.

“Rainbow, try ta be a little patient, ok?” The cowpony reprimanded her friend.

“But, we’re gonna be late at this rate!”

Twilight spoke up, slightly out of breath from the walk. “Rainbow, if there is one thing I’m never; it’s late.”

“Yeah,” Rob said, “Have you met this girl, she’s so organised, it’s unreal…”

The rainbow maned mare thought for a moment, and looked at the two, “Yeah, I suppose…”

The sound of a whistle was heard off in the distance, and the four turned to look down the tracks. There, approaching Ponyville, was the most disturbing train Rob had ever seen. The colours, the design, the motion; all of it was wrong. It scared him to know that for the best part of two hours, this was his method of transport to Canterlot.

“This… This is the train?”

Twilight looked up at him, and raised her voice over the sound of the wheels on the tracks getting closer. “Is there something wrong?” Her mane was fluttering about in the wind.

“You… could say that.”

The human shrugged.

“Well, must be safe enough; after all, ponies use this thing every day.”

“Maybe I’m overthinking things... Again.”

The train pulled in, and off stepped a pony conductor. He was a grey stallion with a blue suit on and a whistle. He blew it once, and off stepped a few ponies, trundling on down into Ponyville. The three ponies and human then stepped onto the train themselves, and walked down the carriage until they found a table for four. Upon seating, the train began to move away from the station, giving a blow from its whistle as it did.

Small talk began rather quickly; Rob was told of Rainbow’s newest stunts, and how good they were, and Applejack’s latest harvest, and how large it was. The two had been busy since the last time he’d seen them it appeared, despite it only being a day…

One thing he began to notice though, was how competitive the two seemed; whenever one did something, the other, usually Rainbow Dash, would have to counteract it with something even more grandiose. It was like a game of Top Trumps, only; pony style. It all started from the various hardships the two had to go through at work.

“Rainbow, all you do, is sit around on clouds all day. You don’t know what a good days work is, until ya been down on mah farm for a day!”

“Don’t kid yourself AJ, cloud kicking is much harder that what you do, any old pony can kick a tree, now a cloud, there’s a job for a pegasi...”

“Now you look here, if somepony is eating apples, you can bet ya flank it was us that made ‘em! It takes hard work every day for us to get that many apples.”

“You don’t ‘make’ apples AJ…”

“Don’t ya muddle mah words either!”

Rob turned to Twilight, “Shouldn’t we break them up?”

She looked back at him with a fairly unnamed look in her eyes, “No…” She sighed, “This happens all the time.” She then resumed looking out of the window, her head resting on her hooves.

Rob just shrugged, and turned back to the two ponies in question, to watch their continual bickering. It was nice to see a little bit of mischief in the land of harmony.

“No way are you stronger than me!” Rainbow Dash continued.

“And ah’d thought we’d settled this at the Iron Pony competition. Rainbow, ya just can’t win this one, ah’ve been cartin’ apples around since ah was a filly. Ya won’t find legs stronger than these.” She held up her forelegs and flexed.

“Oh, we’ll see about that! I think, anything you can do, I can do better!” Dash flapped her wings and rose out of her seat.

“Please! Not a musical number!”

Applejack retaliated, “Is that a challenge?”

“Don’t do it!”

The pegasus got into her friends face, “You bet.”

“Fuck no.”

Applejack smirked. “Alright then Dash, ah ‘bet’, that you can’t get to Canterlot quicker than we can.”

“Fuck yes!”

Her friend smiled back. “Oh, it’s on! I’ll see you losers at the finish line!”

And with that, she opened one of the side windows, and jumped out; taking to the sky as her multi-coloured mane trailed behind her.

Rob looked after her with his mouth agape. He swallowed. “I-Is she allowed to just jump out like that?”

Applejack shrugged, “Ah dunno. No harm done, right?”

Twilight turned to her Stetson clad friend, “You know we’ll never get there before her, right?”

Once again the cowpony shrugged, this time with a smirk. “I know.”

Twilight and Applejack had resumed conversation. The topic was one that Rob knew nothing about, Winter Wrap Up. Apparently it was something that had been done the week before Rob arrived, and from its name and the current climate, Rob assumed that it was early spring. At the very least, he was thankful that it wasn’t a spring like home, which predominantly consisted of rain. He continued listening for a while, before he started to tune them out, all in all though, the conversation was rather boring, and so, Rob moved to the seat behind them, to continue practicing his magic; Twilight was right, he was only going to improve with time and effort.

Thankfully, the hum of the train was actually fairly therapeutic, and helped him slip into a state of relaxation. He closed his eyes, and began breathing through his nose, trying to slow his heart rate. Twilight had spoken about life-force and inner magic, something that everyone has inside of them. She had told him of how it felt for different ponies, and how it manifested itself in different ways. Rob figured that a key first step to learning, would be to find where this magic was inside of him.

Searching inside yourself was hard, especially if you had never done it before. No matter how much Rob pushed through the dark depths of his body, he could not find this ‘well’, only tendrils of stray magic floating about aimlessly like a fog. He concentrated harder on feeling every single part of his body, from his toes to his fingertips, but nowhere was there any sort of spark.

He wondered why he could find it earlier, but he then realised that he hadn’t, he’d just been scooping up the stray bits of magic, and using them, not that actual life-force itself. He tried again to look, delving what felt like much deeper into himself.

Even if he hadn’t found magic, he’d sure found some sort of inner peace and tranquillity. So much so, that even when Celestia came calling, he was not disturbed.

“Try thinking of magic.”

“No shit. That’s kinda what I am doing.”

“No, you’re thinking about finding magic, not magic itself.”

“What’s the difference?”

“Well, you’re currently looking for something to find the magic, searching within yourself for the ‘how’, not the thing itself. What you need to do is look for it in its purest form. Feel your soul, feel yourself, feel the magic.”

“Feel myself? But I’m on a train, and that’s inappropriate.”

“Ha-ha… Just shut up and do it.”

“Well, alright…”

Feeling Celestia wait by and observe, he started thinking about magic, and only magic.

“Come on you misty bastard, where are you…”

He resumed searching, tracing the mist within him, grasping at it, and following it back to its root, the source, and what he thought might be the well. He needed to go deeper. As if turning a corner, the black depths he appeared to be swimming in became a shore. Sand started appearing, and he found his feet. He looked down, and saw his hands in front of him. He panicked, and turned around, looking up at the black sky. He tried to open his eyes, but found that he couldn’t.

“C-Celestia… Where am I?”

“You’re inside yourself Arc.”

“What!? But mine isn’t that long!”

“That’s dirty…”

He looked around. He was standing upon a beach; there was golden sand beneath his feet and waves lapping at the shore. The sky was the deepest black, and felt like it stretched for an eternity; it wasn’t so much a sky, as much as it was a great expanse of nothingness. There was no breeze at all, it was very quiet save for the gentle sound of waves, and the world inside of him was still. He glanced down the beach, and noticed how it seemed to go on forever, the sand splaying out for what felt like miles. Behind him there was more nothingness, it was where he had come from. It gave him the feeling that he was standing on the edge of the world. The ocean seemed to go on forever too, waves crashing as far as the eye could see, they were blue like sapphires.

“Do you mind telling me why my insides look like a beach?”

“You’re a beach!”

“Seriously though...”

“You made it that way.”

“That’s funny. I sure as hell don’t remember making this place.”

“It was created when you were born. Humans aren’t naturally capable of magic, and so it’s pretty bland at the moment.”

“Leave my beach alone! I like it…”

“Fine, fine, it’s a lovely beach.”

“So what? Do I have to renovate or something?”

“Pfft! No you silly boy. Once you are in-touch enough with yourself, this place will be easier to change.”

“Just like that?”

“Simply on a whim.”

“So you have one of these things too?”

“Yes.”

“And what does yours look like?”

“Cake, lots of cake.”

Rob walked over to the water, and picked up a stone.

“Wait, there were no stones here a minute ago.”

“Did you ‘will’ there to be?”

“Not that I’m aware of. I just wanted to throw stones. I’m at the beach, it’s what you do.”

“And your mind made them appear.”

“Now that’s clever.”

“The mind is a remarkable thing.”

Rob threw the stone into the ocean, and picked up another, repeating the process.

“… … …”

“Wait just a frickin’ minute... I came here looking for my life-force and inner soul or whatever… And I find a beach. What’s up with that? How is this meant to help me?”

“Arc, you’ve found it. Look right in front of you.”

“What? That’s just an oce-”

“… … …”

“Oh wait. I get it. My bad Celly.”

“There’s the ‘well’ you were looking for.”

“That’s one big arse well. So, t-this whole ocean? I can use this?”

“Pfft! Heavens no! Dig a hole, right there.”

She gave him another one of her compasses which directed him to an area near the shore. He did as he was asked, and began digging. Slowly, the waves filled the hole, until there was a small puddle in the sand. He stood back up.

“Right, so now what?”

“You see that?”

He looked down at the miniscule puddle and nodded.

“That’s what you can use.”

He pointed at the puddle.

“That!? That’s pathetic!”

“Yes, and you’ve been doing magic for four hours. What did you expect, really?”

He simply grumbled in response.

“Well, time to go! See you at the palace Arc!”

“Wha- Where are you… Forget it.”

“Arc! Arc! Wake up! We’re here!” He heard a feminine voice call.

“Twi?”

“Applejack, care to give me a hoof here?”

“Sure thing.” The southerner replied.

“W-What’s going on guys?”

He felt a sharp stinging sensation on his face.

“That fucking hurts, stop it!”

Another sharp sting graced his face on the other side.

“That does it! Stop that right now!” He shouted, waking up, and looking into the eyes of two very startled ponies.

“Sorry about that partner, ya wouldn’t wake up, so ah had to get a lil’ rough on ya.”

Rob rubbed his eyes and looked around. He was still where he was seated earlier, although the train had finally come to a stop. “That’s fine AJ.” He yawned. “I take it we’re in Canterlot now then?”

The two ponies nodded.

“So what do we do now?”

Twilight spoke up. “Well, for starters, we can find Rainbow Dash. After that, we’re going to head for some lunch, and then go up to the palace.”

Rob stood up out of his seat and stretched. The trio then moved along the carriage, and out of the door, onto the platform outside, bypassing the conductor on the way out. The sun stung his eyes after having them closed for so long, and he had to shield them with his hand. Luckily, the cast made a great sun visor, and he was genuinely pleased to have actually found a use for it, other than giving himself a concussion.

“Ok then, so; Rainbow Dash. If I were a dashing rainbow, where would I be…?”

Rob started looking around the station, when he heard a boastful voice from above. He turned, just in time to see a cloud drifting down with a rainbow coloured tail flitting about off of it.

“What took you guys so long?”

“Well Dash, for starters, we were on a train, not a Mach-four-bullet-pegasus. We had to travel at the speed ‘it’ wanted to go, not the speed ‘we’ wanted to go.” Rob sarcastically replied to the mare.

“Yeah well… I won!” She yelled out, turning around on the cloud-pillow and drifting further down to Rob.

“Yes, yes you did.”

She turned to Applejack. “See, I got here faster!”

The orange earth pony simply smiled. “Did ya have a nice flight Dash?”

Before the pegasus could reply, a purple aura enveloped the cloud she was sitting on, and yanked it right out from under her, making her plummet to the floor. An irate looking Twilight stood over her.

“We don’t have the time for this Rainbow! We have a schedule to keep to!”

Twilight pulled out a clip board with a checklist of things to do on it, and showed it to Dash for emphasis. The rainbow maned pegasus got to her hooves and shook her head, grunting.

Rob walked over to the discarded cloud, wondering how it felt. He reached out to grasp at it, but his hand simply passed through it, as if it were air. He sighed and walked back to the group, disappointed, as the water vapour drifted off behind him.

The foursome moved from the platform onto the streets of Canterlot. Rob had seen it from above, out of Celestia’s bedroom, but not from up close. He noticed how everything was pristine and white, as if it were recently polished marble; the shops, the houses, and all the other architecture too. If Ponyville had a rustic and quaint feel to it, then Canterlot had a royal and modern feel. Atop the alabaster, ivory colouring, there were often fabrics of either a purple or emerald green, with either the sun or moon sigil on them, representing the two pony princesses, Rob presumed.

There were many ponies littering the streets of Canterlot, and just like before, Rob was getting the ‘what the hell is that thing’ glance from almost everypony, as he strolled down the road.

“I hear this is where you grew up, Twi. Personally, I like Ponyville more.”

She chuckled, “So do I! But yes, this is where I was born and raised. The princess took me in at the age of five, so I’ve been here all my life. That is, until last year when I moved to Ponyville!”

Applejack continued, “Ah never was one for these fine city folk. Ah’m a country mare, and that’s where ah’ll stay, thank you.”

Rob nodded, “I agree with ya girl. I’m a country boy myself, maybe not as much as you, but still, cities always bugged me. There’s just something about them… But let me tell you this much, Canterlot is way better that a lot of cities where I’m from. At least the air is clean here and things look… Well, nice!”

The cowpony nodded, “Ah don’t reckon ah’ll like it very much where you’re from.”

Rob laughed, “And that’s understandable. Not even I like it there! And it’s where I’m from!”

“At least it doesn’t sound as boring there as it is here, listening to you two reminisce.” Rainbow chipped in.

“We’ll be there soon Dash, just keep your mane on and calm down.” Twilight reprimanded her. “Complaining won’t take us there any faster.”

“Please don’t mention speed around her Twi.” The human pled, much to the amusement of the earth pony. “Anyway, Twi, when we get to the place we’re going, I have something to ask you.”

She smiled and continued leading the way, weaving in and out of little back streets, until the four of them arrived at a small café. They made fairly good time, which was aided by Rob scaring half of the citizens away by simply being near them. Something about these ponies was simply less welcoming than those in Ponyville.

The café was small, and had a red and white stripped veranda out front. There were chairs dotted around the outside, and large clear windows looking in through the shop front. From what Rob could see, the inside was bustling with a mix of patrons and waitress ponies. He wouldn’t like to admit it, but he thought they looked really attractive in their little uniforms.

As they approached, rather surprisingly, one of the many waitresses came galloping out with a huge smile on her face. She began calling out to somepony. As she got closer, they heard the name ‘Twilight’ coming from her mouth.

Rob looked at the approaching ball of noise. She was a white pony, much like Rarity, although she had a crimson mane which came down to almost the floor, it was exceptionally long. She had deep blue eyes, and a cutie mark on her flank depicting yellow a shooting star crossing over a blue moon.

The mare came to a stop at the foursome, panting heavily. “T-Twilight! It’s been ages…”

“Who? Wait… Moondancer?” Twilight replied to the shaky mare.

“Y-You remember!” The pony smiled again.

“Of course I do! We went to magic kindergarten together, and then stayed friends all through my teaching with The Princess. How could I forget you?”

“Well, I haven’t seen you in over a year now… I know you’re an element and all, but I thought we’d completely lost contact.”

The purple unicorn looked down at the ground and scraped a hoof along the floor. “I’m sorry Moondancer, to be honest, when I went to Ponyville, my life changed. I… I forgot all about the ponies I left behind here… I thought you all thought I was a stick in the mud.”

The pony smiled at her and sighed. “Twilight, we never thought that… We just thought that maybe sometimes you were too absorbed in your studies.”

Twilight shook her head. “And back then, I was. I was just too blind to see it.”

Rob opened his mouth, letting a loud belch escape. The ponies looked at him in disgust, all but Rainbow Dash, who simply started laughing. Twilight glared at him, and Applejack just starred.

“What was that Arc, hmm?” The unicorn asked.

“Well Twi, that was really getting too wishy-washy for me, and I needed to break it up somehow. And hey! Whadda ya know! It worked!”

Twilight turned back to a shocked looking Moondancer, “I’m really sorry about that.” She shook her head disapprovingly, “Anyway, Moondancer, meet Arc, Equestria’s new human! The other two ponies here with us, are Rainbow Dash, the element of loyalty, and Applejack, the element of honesty.”

“Oh, I know who they all are! Mr Arc, it’s a pleasure to meet you!” She extended a hoof and Rob took it, giving a little hand-to-hoof shake. “And you two too.” She nodded her head at Applejack and Rainbow Dash.

Rob turned to the mare. “Uh, Arc is fine, no ‘Mr’ needed. And, uh, do you mind if I ask how you’ve heard about me?”

Moondancer hiccoughed, “Everypony knows about you after what you said in the square!”

“Wow, she’s cute… Nice and hyper, but not too ‘Pinkie’, I can only deal with one of them… And who am I kidding? All ponies are cute.”

“Are you talking about the Ponyville square?”

“Yes! Apparently you addressed the masses!”

Applejack and Rainbow snickered, remembering the event in question.

Rob looked back at Moondancer, ignoring the two ponies to his right. “That might be over exaggerating things a little bit, but yeah, I suppose it did end up being ‘masses’. Anyhow, that’s travelled this far?”

Twilight spoke up. “News travels fast in Equestria, there aren’t that many ponies, and we’re all fairly sociable, so word just gets around.”

Rob nodded in understanding. “Look at that. Famous already.”

Rainbow nudged him in the side, “I wouldn’t go that far, you’ve gotta beat me first!”

He nudged her back. “It’s always a competition with you, isn’t it?”

She grinned up at him and laughed. “Life is one big competition, and I’ve got to do my best to get into the Wonderbolts.”

Rob feigned interest, and simply shrugged. “Suppose you do.” He turned to Moondancer, “So, any chance of you getting us a table in there?”

“Sure!” And with that, she trotted back towards the café, this time with numerous ponies and a human in tow.

They were seated in the front of the café, and were able to look out of the window at the many passing ponies going about their daily business. Moondancer had decided to wait on them, and went off to get drinks.

“So Twi, about earlier, while on the train, I wasn’t sleeping. I was with Celestia and-”

She coughed, “Princess Celestia.”

He resumed, looking over to Applejack who was chatting to Rainbow about… Something. “Well then, ‘Princess Celestia’, and me were inside… Well, me. We found my life-force. Turns out I’m a beach.”

“That’s funny to say out loud!”

“A-Are you talking about what I think you are? About finding the pool within yourself? The life force and place within yourself that all magic comes from?” She frantically choked out.

“Uh yeah, I guess so. Well, Celestia pretty much dragged me there, but yeah, seems that way.”

The purple unicorn looked shocked, “I-I’m amazed… It took me one week to do that, and you did it in five hours…”

“Like I said, she pretty much brought me there by herself. I’m not even sure if I could find it again.”

“Well Arc, I’m proud of you! I’m a little jealous too, but proud none the less.”

“Thanks.”

“And you say it was a beach?”

Twilight was interrupted by Moondancer, who came back with a number of strange looking blue drinks and set them down on the table. She then returned to the counter and picked up a number of menus, bringing them back to the table. She walked off again, humming to herself, and Rob continued.

“Yeah, a floating expanse of endless beach, that was all it was. The shore ran for miles and the ocean was endless. The sky was also unrealistically dark… It was pretty cool but Celestia told me it was currently useless.”

Twilight raised her eyebrow. “She said what?”

“She did this thing where she cruelly told me to dig a hole and fill it with water. Apparently the hole I dug,” He gestured with his hands a box about one foot by one foot, “is all I can currently use.”

“Well that’s understandable. For you to have even got this far is impressive.”

“Although as of yet, I haven’t been able to use it. I’ve found it, but not actually done anything with it. I suppose I’ll give that a shot later…”

The mare smiled. “It’ll come when it’s ready.”

“Ironically, that’s what she said.”

“I hope so. And anyway, Twi, what does your ‘place’ look like?”

She blushed, “W-W-W-WHAT?!”

“You know, I have a beach, Celestia has a lot of cake apparently… What’s your ‘place’?

She let out a long sigh. “Sorry, I thought you meant… Never mind... I have a library!” She laughed, “Although I bet you could have guessed that.” She stuck her tongue out.

“Yeah, figures.”

“What? I find it’s a good way to store all my knowledge and find it again easily!”

“I’m not questioning it.” Rob picked up a menu and looked over it. “So, what’s everypony having?”

Lunch went by smoothly after that; Rob discovered that he was not a fan of the famed, ‘daisy daiquiri’, Rainbow somehow put away enough for three ponies, and Applejack had a nice conversation with the manager about Applejack Daniels. Moondancer joined them after her shift ended, and Twi and her caught up for lost time as best as they could. They seemed to be getting on ok, anyhow. For the remainder of lunch then, Rob and Rainbow were left to talk with each other, and did so by relaying tales of awesomeness experienced by both of them. The conversation was predominantly Rainbow based, as Rob had no real acts of heroism under his belt, but after eating, he was tired, and ok with listening to her drone on.

After that, the time was three o’clock, and the convoy was ready to leave the café, full and rested. Twilight had restated that their next destination was the Palace, and told them all to make themselves somewhat presentable for the princesses. They had each taken moderate care to do so, Applejack had readjusted her Stetson, Rainbow had combed her mane, and Arc had brushed himself off and added a pair of shades to his outfit. Twilight on the other hand, had combed herself immaculately, brushed herself down and washed her face, she was going the whole way.

With no more time wasted, they left the café and headed back down the road with Moondancer in tow. She lived around the same area as the Palace, and so she was going to stay with them until they got to where they were going, besides, she was enjoying her time with Twilight, and apparently her time with Equestria’s only human too.

Once again, the convoy was met with various strange looks as Rob strolled down the street, but they seemed to lessen as they got closer to the palace. The architecture seemed to have become older as well, as if they were traveling back in time as they progressed through Canterlot's walls. Soon enough, they could see the various spires of the Palace and eventually, after turning down one final large road, they were approaching the gates.

“You’ll keep in touch this time, right Twi?” Moondancer pled as she turned to leave.

Twilight smiled and nodded. “Yeah, I will. I have a library down in Ponyville now, you’ll have to come and stay some time, and trust me; it’ll be really fun! I’ve learnt how to host really good slumber parties too!” They exchanged addresses and stepped back from each other smiling.

The white mare then looked over at Rob and ran up to him, almost treading on his feet. “And you too Arc! I want you to be in Ponyville too when I get there!”

The human bent down to rub the mares head, much to her pleasure. “Don’t worry. I’ll be there. I’m sort of lodging with Twilight right now anyway.”

Moondancer blushed, it was apparent on her alabaster coat. “I-I didn’t know she was that daring…”

“Get your mind out of the gutter girl… Anyway, see ya round.”

Rob was about to pull away, when Moondancer leant in, and gave him a kiss on the cheek. She then giggled and ran away playfully, tearing down the street in a run, similar to when they’d first met her earlier that day.

“Well, that sure was strange…”

Twilight looked shocked. “Wha-What was that?”

Rainbow began laughing again.

Rob turned to the purple unicorn and shrugged. “I honestly have no idea.”

Applejack put a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder. “Don’t ya worry none about it, sugarcube. Let’s head to the palace, an’ meet with the princess, that should cheer ya up.”

She nodded, and walked towards the giant gates leading into the courtyard. There were two royal guards ponies standing either side of the entrance, looking both stoic and yet somehow, kind. Maybe they were just some sort of positive reinforcement to the city; a feeling of protection. Rob noticed how they stood perfectly still, not moving even to breathe it seemed.

“Huh, just like our royal guards back in England.”

One of them turned to the group and announced himself. “Miss Sparkle, my name is Valiance; I am the current first in command for Princess Celestia’s royal legion, pleased to be at your service.” He bowed, and turned to the others, doing the same. Upon standing, he resumed. “If you wouldn’t mind, I’ve been asked to escort you all to the princess. She is expecting you. Unless any of you have reason not to, I would ask that you all follow me then.” He paused, waiting for anyone to say otherwise, and then turned and nodded at the other guard to his right.

The other guard in question, raised his lance, and pushed open one of the gates, allowing the three ponies and human access to the royal grounds. They proceeded inside, and were met by the most wonderful of gardens. Flower beds lined each of the many criss-crossing paths, and bright yellow creepers adorned the walls. It was a rather pretty sight.

Twilight nudged Rob. “You think this is pretty, you should see the gardens.” She smiled with a wink.

“There are gardens!? Wow! And I thought this was epic!” He shook his head. “Which begs the question; why did I not think there were gardens? This is the royal palace brain, get it together!”

The ponies laughed at his antics, even Valiance turned up the corner of his mouth, and Rob continued to ponder things, before turning to Twilight.

“Twi, you said you spoke to Celestia bout us coming here. Uh, mind if I ask how? Last I heard, you didn’t have the telepathy me and her have.”

“No Arc, I sent a letter!”

“A letter? How’d it get here on such short notice?”

“I keep forgetting, you don’t know about these things.” She sighed. “I used dragon fire. Basically, if I ever want to send a message, I just use Spike!”

Rob’s eyes widened. “Spike? As in; the cute little mini-dragon back at the library?” She nodded. “What is he, an instant messenger?”

“Instant-what now?” Rainbow interjected.

“Never mind, Dash… Twilight, do continue.”

“Yes, Spike breathes his fire on a letter, and it gets sent to wherever it’s addressed to!”

Rob blinked. “This place will never cease to amaze me…” He stepped over a small bunny that crossed his path. “And you use this to communicate a lot?”

“Only to the princess.” She chuckled, “And that, is how she knew we were coming!”

“Seems legit.”

Valiance led them through a large set of double doors and into the white halls of the palace. They were somewhat nostalgic to Rob. It had only been five days, and yet it felt like ages ago since Celestia brought him here. A lot had happened in a short time, and that made time fly by pretty quickly.

Soon, Valiance had led them to the large gilded doors of the throne room; they towered above the group like monoliths. He pushed open the structures, revealing the lavish room behind. Pillars of moonstone stretched from the floor to the ceiling, linked by banners of the sun. On the opposite side of the room, there was an identical flare, only this time darker; the pillars were made of obsidian, and lined with banners of the moon instead of the sun. The royal carpet that led from the door to the similarly themed thrones followed suit, being a bright white on one half, and a deep blue on the other.

Atop the two thrones at the end, were the two alicorn sisters, who were sitting regally, waiting to receive their guests. The ponies and human strolled in, preceded by Valiance, who bowed formally upon reaching the throne. Celestia turned to the convoy.

“Welcome.” She spoke with warmth.

They all bowed to varying degrees; Twilight excitedly knelt, Applejack tipped her hat, and Dash did a flamboyant lowering, all except Rob; who remained standing, looking over his shades at the pony princess.

“Sup Celly.” He spoke, before receiving a kick to the shins by Valiance and a glare from the other ponies. “Whaa?”

Twilight leaned in to him and whispered, “Arc! Don’t be so disrespectful! And bow, bow!”

“Alright, calm down Twi…” Rob remained standing, but walked up to the pony princess, much to the amazement of everypony else. What surprised them further, was that she stood up to meet him, and when he approached, she smiled.

“It’s good to see you again Arc.” She warmly told him.

He retuned her smile. “You know what, surprisingly, it’s nice to see you too Celestia.”

She then did something he did not expect; she nuzzled him. Taking advantage of his stunned form, she raised a hoof and draped it over his shoulder, bringing him in for a hug.

Letting go of any negative feelings he may have had about the situation, Rob smiled. He returned the hug, and brought his arms up around her neck, embracing her in full.

“Celly, it truly is nice to see you again.” He whispered in her ear.

The two broke off the hug when a rather irritated dark alicorn coughed, anything but subtly. They moved apart, and Rob walked back down to the shocked audience, regaining his place among them. He laughed at Twilight, who looked embarrassed at what he’d done. After that, the varying ponies moved to speak with the princess, and Rob stood aside, giving them space to be with their beloved ruler. He went to lean against one of the pillars, waiting for the pleasantries to end.

Luna too, rose from her seat, and greeted the elements warmly. She then gingerly trotted over to Rob and stood before him, fidgeting uncomfortably. He opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by the dark princess, as she began to convey a message of her own.

“L-Look… About before, in my sister’s bedroom…? I-I’m sorry…” She spoke softly, her ears flat against her head.

“An apology…? For what? Being pissed at a strange creature appearing in her sister’s bedroom, how is there anything wrong with that? If anything, it’s commendable. Why is everything here so frickin’ huggable…?”

Rob shook his head. “Luna, uh, can I call you that?” A childish, jubilant smile graced her face, as she nodded enthusiastically. “Good, the whole ‘Princess’ thing is a mouthful… So, look; back in your sister’s bedroom, that’s ok. Seriously, if I walked in on someone I cared about with some creature I’d never met before, then yeah, I’d be pretty pissed too, so uh, don’t worry about it; ok?”

She continued to smile and turned her head up expectantly, looking deep into his eyes with her own. “T-Thank you!” She spoke quietly but with hesitant excitement.

Rob laughed and scratched his chin. “Don’t worry about it. In time you’ll realise I’m as harmless as a fly!”

“Excluding the timber wolf…”

Re-joining the group, Rob and Luna paced over to Celestia and the others. Valiance stood guard to the side, while the ponies and human got down to business.

Celestia spoke first. “So, I hear you are all here to visit the University? It is quite the magnificent place, filled with the finest minds Equestria can offer.”

“Please drop the nice-princess act, it’s killing me…”

“Suck it up!”

“Fuck you then…”

Twilight responded eagerly, “Yes we are! Arc needs some of his human things looked at, and I’m sure the people in the university would love the opportunity to see things from another world.”

Celestia nodded. “And is there anything you need to tell me? Is Ponyville well?”

The element bearers present nodded. “We had that episode with the timber wolf.” Dash pointed out. “But Twi said she sent a letter, so you know all about that…”

Twilight spoke up, “I think what she’s trying to say is no, there is nothing else to report back on Princess.”

Celestia nodded, and then offered to show her guests to their rooms. She feared that she may be in some meetings after they get back from the university, and wouldn’t have time to give them the tour herself.

The trek to the eastern tower of the Canterlot palace was gruelling. There were too many stairs, and not enough stops. Rob could not believe that a home could be so big, and wondered how ponies managed to find their way around it. He eventually came to the conclusion that alongside the princesses, many other people lived here too. It was its own little community in its own right, housing everypony from those in catering to those in laundry, all the way up to the important echelons of society like the princess themselves, among other lords and ladies. He assumed that the whole thing was a slick operation though, and that everypony played their part. He continued his musings as they ascended yet another flight of stairs.

“Are we there yet?”

“Are we there yet?”

“Are we there yet?”

“Please do be quiet.”

“But Celly, my legs ache!”

“Suck it up.”

“But whose bright idea was it to build a palace with so many stairs!?”

“Mine actually. After moving from my old home in the Everfree, we came to Canterlot. I had this place built to my personal specifications.”

“On top of a fucking mountain!? Why would you do that…? You know what, never mind that.”

“Ok, two things; A. That is ridiculous, how long did it take to build? And B. Why the hell would you have chosen to make the Everfree your home?”

“In answer to your first question, it took the best part of thirty five years to build this palace.”

“T-Thirty five… Holy shit…”

“And in answer to your second question, the simple answer would be this; the Everfree wasn’t as it is now. Back then it was… Different.”

“Fair enough.”

“Anyway, we’re here- Where are you?”

“Yeah, I decided to take a break a while back…”

“You…”

“Suck it up!”

And so, eventually the entirety of the group reached the top of the eastern tower, after waiting a few minutes for Rob to catch up. Applejack found his poor performance amusing, and had no problem telling him when he finally sauntered up to her, out of breath.

“Sugarcube, ah bet ya wouldn’t last a day buckin’ apple trees!”

Rob turned to her drearily, “You know what AJ? I think you’re right.”

Dash then kicked him in the back of the knees, forcing him to crumble to the floor. “Wow, you’re really unfit…”

“Maybe in comparison to you…” He cried back limply from the floor.

“What did I ever do to you ponies?!”

With all the other ponies looking at him with varying degrees of amusement, Rob got to his feet. Celestia sighed, and led them all through a door into another widely spaced hallway. Like all the others, there was a red carpet running through the middle, and various doors leading to unknown locations on the walls. Luckily enough though, aside from the doors to the sides, the hallway seemed to be at an end, and this meant; so was their journey. Rob was overjoyed; the feeling of knowing that there were no more stairs ahead pleased him greatly. Or it did, until he remembered that to get anywhere from here, you needed to go back down all those stairs. He cringed at the thought.

Luna stepped forward, and headed over to the first door on the left. It was made of what looked like solid oak, and stood strong in the doorway. Rob assumed that there was some kind of enchantment magic attached to it, as it hummed with a blue glow.

“This, Twilight Sparkle, will be your room.” She spoke commandingly, nudging the door open with a hoof. The blue glow from around the door dissipated and faded to nothing, and a small chime was heard. She stepped inside somewhat, leaning against the door, and levitated a few books off of the bed, making way for a pony to lay there. “I think you’ll find that the remaining items left from your previous stay are still here, so, as usual, do make yourself at home.” The lunar princess waved a hoof, and slammed the door behind her, stepping out of the way in the process.

“Huh, door-lock magic sounds like wind chimes… Who woulda guessed?”

Twilight nodded and smiled, as Luna did the same for the three remaining rooms. She issued Applejack the one next to Twilight, one up along the corridor on the left, and Rainbow Dash the room opposite Twilight’s on the lower right. This of course, left Rob the room farthest up to the right, the one next to Rainbow Dash and opposite Applejack. They all steeped inside their rooms to get a better look, all but Twilight who stayed behind to talk with Celestia while she had the opportunity.

“Ok, now I like my little penthouse suite in Twi’s place, but I gotta say, this is like living as a king!”

Rob observed the room before him, taking in the various lavishes he’d been given. There was a huge bed, much larger than those back home, and he would have guessed it was the pony equivalent of ‘king sized’. The bed had four posts, reaching up to the ceiling, and a purple canopy draped over them, tied up at the bases of the posts. On the lining, there were multiple emblems of the moon, shining brightly from the sun coming in through the window behind. Rob turned to the side, and noticed the bedside tables, which were more like bedside closets, he opened the drawers and found mounds upon mounds of Equestrian finery, all of which was useless to him.

“I bet they’re worth a lot though… I could do what everyone else does in hotels, and nick ‘em! And make a little profit in Canterlot selling fancy duds…”

“… … …”

“Wow, where’d that evil streak come from…?”

Coming back to reality, Rob went over to the window behind the bed, and gazed out. What he had originally thought was just a pretty view, turned out to be so much more, as he quickly realised that he had his own personal balcony. He undid the latch on the French windows, and headed outside.

The first thing he noticed was how there was virtually no wind. Being high up on the side of a mountain usually brought with it some rather chilling and unpleasant weather and climate systems, wind, orographic rainfall and blizzards to name a few. Despite this, warm rays of sun greeted the human boy as he stepped towards the edge. He shivered looking over, and was quickly reminded why he hated being up high…

He nudged back towards the door, thinking on what he had been told about the weather in Equestria. Apparently it was run by the pegasi, as strange as that was, and it was up to them to dish out whatever weather was needed at whatever place needed it. The whole concept felt a little unnatural to Rob, and he went back inside a little more confused than he was before.

Shaking his head, he turned around and closed the doors. He remained looking out though, and took in the view. It was essentially the same as the view from Celestia’s room which he had seen upon first arriving in Equestria. There were numerous hills, many open fields and a forest, the Everfree he presumed. He also thought he could make out Ponyville a huge way off in the distance, getting a glimpse of the town hall. His suspicions were confirmed when he looked to the side and noticed the large apple orchards known as Sweet Apple Acres.

Rob left the window behind to explore the rest of his room, or ‘chamber’, as he was now going to call it, feeling of a higher standard. Next to the French windows was a huge wardrobe, one that seemingly sunk into the wall itself. He looked for an edge and found none, it fit seamlessly to the wall. This would have been ok in the humans mind, had the wardrobe not been another room when he’d walked into it. Stepping out again, he walked back around to the side to see if he could make sense of the clearly magical contraption. He could not. Even after another trip to the balcony, the depth of the wardrobe could not be explained. He gave up, putting it down to his usual assumption of Equestria.

“It’s magic, I aint gotta explain shit!”

And so, with that, he left the enchanted oak wardrobe alone, and moved on to observe the large mirror across the room on the adjacent wall. The human found himself disappointed, for nothing strange happened. After the wardrobe, he was really looking forward to another amusing form of enchantment magic.

To any pony watching, the human was probably an enigma, as to them, all this stuff was natural. For him however, enchanted wardrobes and four poster beds were not. He simply put it down to living in a royal palace; the finest get the best, and this stuff was the best.

He looked under the mirror to see a large dressing table. This too, was butted up against the wall, and had the same familiar blue glow as the front door did originally. He observed the dressing table for a moment, before reaching out to tug at one of the many handles, hoping it would slide free. It did not, and all that occurred was a grunt as the human tried again harder, still to no success.

He left the impenetrable construct alone, and moved around the room yet again, inspecting it, although he didn’t believe anything would be able to top the wardrobe in terms of awesomeness. Magic sure had a way of making one open one’s eyes, and for a human, it was even more spectacular.

Rob noticed a large rug on the floor, intricately woven in the shape of the sun, tendrils of solar flare and solar winds too. As if to capitalise on the harmony aspect of things in Equestria, the rug had many small crescent moons located in various little nooks and crannies around the sun, showing the equality between both day and night, and more importantly, the two alicorn sisters. Overall though, Rob found the rug rather ugly.

The rest of the room was similarly designed, there was a purple and blue theme overall, with black furniture to compliment it lining the majority of the walls. It truly was a room fit for a royal family. From what Rob could work out, this section of the castle was constructed under Luna’s gaze, and this was shown in the way the majority of the design represented her.

The human turned from gawking at the fancy features of the room and set his eyes upon the bed. Taking a run up, he launched himself into the air and onto the bed, making the whole thing shake in the process. He smiled to himself and chuckled a little bit, getting off the bed. He was just about to go for round two, when he heard a snicker from the door, and turned to see Rainbow standing against the frame on her hind legs, with her forelegs crossed against her stomach.

“What?” He said with a cheesy smile.

She laughed again, smiling. “Nothing, nothing, I was just watching you test the new bed…”

He smirked back at her. “Why Dashie, you wanna help test it with me?”

“Why did I say that!?”

What she said next surprised him, as she looked him in the eyes and winked. “You couldn’t keep up with me Arc~”

Caught off guard, he spluttered before shaking his head, causing Dash to laugh again. She turned to leave, getting back down on all fours, but spoke as she did. “We’re leaving in a minute, be ready ok? I’m bored of waiting around for you guys all the time.”

Rob nodded and got off the bed. “Coming!” He called back to her, as he struggled to combat the head rush he had gotten from the bed-dive.

Trudging out of the door, he met up with the others, all of whom were waiting patiently, except for Rainbow Dash, who was tapping her hoof expectantly. The two princesses were still there, and inquired as towards the bedroom, or ‘chamber’, as the human had said he was going to call it.

Luna spoke up. “I trust the accommodation is to your liking?”

Rob confirmed with a nod of his head and a smile. Luna looked pleased. “Although,” He started, “There is a ton of weird shit in there, and I have no idea what most of it does.” He sighed, “Magic sure does confuse me…”

The two sisters shared a laugh, before Celestia turned towards the group and spoke. “Well, then, let’s be off.”