Never say die.

"Just give me a second, alright?"

"Of course, Mr Daemon. Take your time."

The flight to...Canterlot? Yeah, that was it, Canterlot. Goddamn horse pun.

Anyway yeah, the flight to Canterlot wasn't super exciting. Celestia was quiet for most of the ride. She tried to spike up the odd conversation a few times, but it didn't last long whenever I actually tried to reply properly. I was more focused on not falling to my death than listening to her at that point, tbh. We eventually landed and that is where we are now.

With me trying not to barf.

I eventually got out of the carriage, still feeling a bit sick. I shook my head, trying to get rid of the nausea. I looked up and gawked at what I saw.

"Woah. Shit."

Celestia rolled her eyes and smirked as she also stared at the giant castle that was now in front of us. "Quite. Anyway, shall we head in?"

I nodded, scratching my arm. "Sure. You lead the way."

And she did exactly that. Two guards also trotted along with us. One was a Pegasi and the other was a Unicorn. I turned around and nodded at them both in a friendly manner. They did the same and I turned back round to Celestia who was now quite ahead in front of me. I caught up as we walked into the castle, the guards shutting the doors behind us. She lead me through what appeared to be some sort of throne room. I looked around, taking in every sight.

"This your throne room?"

She nodded. "Indeed it is, Mr Daemon. This is where I hold my daytime court, so all my little ponies can come and speak to me about any concerns, issues or requests that they may have."

I kept walking behind her, stopping for a second to look before continuing forwards. We eventually made it into a very large hallway. One with many paintings and doors. Celestia looked back at me again.

"So, Mr Daemon, do you mind if we have a quick chat now when we arrive at your room?"

I raised an eyebrow, slightly confused. "My room?"

She nodded, smiling. "Indeed. We have many spare guest rooms here at the castle. It wouldn't be fair of me to just leave you to get a place of your own. Especially when you don't have a job...and probably more because you're not from around here."

I chuckled. "Yeah, it would be pretty fucking hard to fend for myself on an unknown planet."

We made it to the guest room that Celestia had offered me. She turned to the two guards. "Can you please leave us in peace for the time being? I have much that I wish to discuss with our guest here."

They gave me a strange, stoic look before looking back at her, nodding and saluting. "Of course, your highness." They trotted off down the hallway until they were out of sight. I shrugged.

"I mean, I am an alien to these guys. Guess I should expect some dirty looks here and there."

I looked around the room, whistling to myself in awe. "Damn. Nice guest room you got here."

She closed the door behind us, chuckling slightly. "Yes, I would say so too. Anyway, let's get down to business, shall we?"

I leant against the window and looked outside, noticing all of the different types of ponies walking around the streets. Some were conversing with one another, some were walking into shops and some were just standing around not doing much. Most of them were wearing monocles or really posh looking outfits. I snorted.

"Guess even this place has its snobs."

I turned my head around, still leaning against the window, looking at Celestia. "Suppose so. What do you want to know? I've told you most of what happened when we were coming here."

She nodded, smiling at me. "Indeed you did. But I wanted to inquire a bit more about your arrival here. You said you had been made that...costume that you are currently wearing by someone who practiced voodoo. I know of someone who practices something similar to voodoo magic."

I raised an eyebrow at that. "Oh? You do? I never thought it existed until now."

She sat down on the bed on all fours. She looked a bit like a cat in that position. She kept smiling at me and started to usher me to come over to her. I nodded a no. I noticed a slight bit of disappointment for a split second. If I hadn't had been paying attention, I wouldn't have noticed it.

"You don't trust me, do you?"

I shook my head again. "I do not. Sorry."

She nodded. "I understand. I suppose that we're aliens to you as well. You said you didn't believe that voodoo magic was real at first? Why is that?"

I shrugged, looking back out of the window. "It was never thought to exist on my world. It was just folklore. Least I thought it was. It was never proven to actually exist."

Celestia got up and walked over to me, putting me on edge slightly. She stood in front of me, staring at...my sword? She suddenly shot me a serious expression, which honestly put me off guard for a second.

"I am not meaning to sound harsh or blunt here, Mr Daemon, but why do you have that with you? Are you a soldier of some sort?"

I laughed, causing her to raise an eyebrow. "No, I'm not. I told you already, I was made this costume and its accessories by that strange guy. The sword was just made of really good plastic back when I wasn't like...this. Then, as soon as I woke up here, the thing was somehow a real sword. The exact sword that the character uses who I've turned into."

She looked at me, scanning me up and down. "I see. So, you're telling me that you have actually turned into a fictional character from your world?"

I nodded. "Basically."

She turned around, humming to herself and tapping her chin with her hoof. "I know that this has already been discussed earlier, but to be quite honest, I did not believe you at first. Even though I could tell that you weren't a lier, that 1% of my mind made me think that you might be a threat. To my kingdom and my subjects."

I just stood there, not knowing what to say. She continued.

"If you are indeed being truthful, then even I am shocked. Never once have I heard something like this happening to anypony. I know that you are not from here, Mr Daemon, but it is still...surprising. So, if you now look like a fictional character from your world, what did you look like before?"

I scratched the back of my neck. "Nothing too special. I certainly didn't look like this. I had actual real legs. Not metal prosthetics."

She looked down at my legs, looking intrigued. "I've never seen anypony before with an...artifical limb, as I suppose you'd call it. I am sorry. It must be awful."

I shrugged. "I mean, I just woke up with these. It's not like I had my legs blown off and then had to have them fitted. We don't even have prosthetic limbs from my world what are this advanced yet. This fictional character was in the future."

She looked at me, scanning me again. "Interesting...this is becoming too much even for me to understand. But, Mr Daemon..."

I rolled my eyes. "Just call me Daemon. No need for formalities."

She nodded, smiling slightly at that. "Alright, Daemon. As I was saying earlier, about your weapon...I hope you do not plan to use it while you are here?"

Her voice took a slightly more serious tone towards the end of her sentence. I nodded, feeling slightly uneasy.

"Nah, not unless I need to. As in, self defense."

She narrowed her eyes slightly for a second, before sighing and nodding. "Do forgive me. I do not mean to come across as nasty or angry. I just do not like the thought of any of my little ponies getting hurt."

I nodded, a sad smile on my face. Even if she couldn't see it entirely because of the mask. "Don't worry. I'll try my best not to hurt anyone. The only time I'd have to is if my back was a brick wall."

She raised an eyebrow, visibly confused. "Why would you put your back against a brick wall?"

I scoffed, chuckling slightly. "It's a figure of speech. It basically means that I'll try my best not to hurt anyone unless I have no choice. Self defense."

She ahh'd at that, nodding in understanding. "I...understand. And I appreciate that. I would understand if you had to defend yourself. I do not want you to get hurt, the same as any of my subjects. But know this. If any of them are prejudice against you, come to me. I will not have any of that, regardless of what you are. So long as you treat my ponies with respect and do not intetionally cause any trouble, I will make sure you are treated fairly."

I smiled behind my mask. "Thank you. I appreciate that. So, do you think you can help me get back?"

She sighed, which honestly didn't fill me with confidence. "I am...not sure, if you want me to be honest. If it's true and you are indeed from another world, I really don't know how I could get you back home. Unless there's an old transportation spell, but even that is unlikely. But, I will do my best."

I looked at her, hope in my eyes. "So, there could possibly be a way, even if it is unlikely?"

She nodded, smiling sadly at me. "Yes, but I cannot promise anything. I will try my very best to get you home though, I do promise you that."

I thanked her again, sitting down on the bed. I looked up at the ceiling and sighed. Before me or Celestia could say anything else, I heard the door open. I sat up, Celestia turning around to look as well. A few seconds of waiting and I saw a new pony. A dark blue one with a mane that seemed like it was the night sky. It was a bit like Celestia's mane, seeming to flow aimesley in some invisible wind. She also had regalia on, but it matched her fur's colour. She looked towards me, one of her eyebrows raised. She then looked to Celestia, walking towards her.

"Sister, I had heard from one of your guards that you had brought some sort of creature to the castle. I assume that this is it?"

Celestia nodded, rolling her eyes slightly, apparently at her sister's bluntness. "Yes, Luna. And he has a name. He is called Daemon. He can speak and is very intelligent. He got trapped here outside of his own accord and he is trying to find a way back home. I have offered to help if I possibly can."

Luna looked towards me again, walking up to me, scanning me with her eyes. "Why do you have a weapon with you?"

Celestia walked up to her side, causing Luna to look away from me and back at her. "It's a long story, Luna. He isn't dangerous, that much I'm sure of."

She rolled her eyes. "Sister, you do not even know what this creature really is. How can you say it is not dangerous?"

I could tell that this Luna was definitely not as welcoming and as warm as her sister. I saw Celesta scowl slightly.

"I will repeat again, he. Not it. And he has a name. Please use it and do not be rude. He has been polite to me and to Twilight. It is only fair that we are polite to him in return."

Luna scoffed. "Sombra was polite once. Remember what happened with him?"

Celestia facehoofed, anger starting to rise in her, it seemed.

"You're comparing an unknown creature with no grasp on magic to a magic and power hungry tyrant who ruled with an iron fist."

Luna grunted and walked away, looking back at Celestia. "Just keep it in check, dear sister. I do not want to hear that any of our subjects have been hurt because of this."

As she walked out of the room, slamming the door as she went away, Celestia rolled her eyes and sighed. "Luna...always so brash and quick to judge." She turned towards me, a sad smile adorning her features. "I am terribly sorry about that, Daemon. My sister can be a little...hard to warm up to. Do not worry, she will eventually come around. As long as you remain true to your word about not causing any issues for me or my subjects, she will be fine."

I nodded, having being silent during that whole interaction. "No worries, I get it. I'm a completely foreign creature that just turned up in your guy's kingdom. I understand."

She smiled. "Thank you for being so understanding. I do apologise, but I must go. My court is starting soon. It usually starts in the morning, but due to...these circumstances, I could not attend, so it had to be pushed back. I will talk to you again later. Feel free to make yourself at home and ask one of the guards if you need anything. I will assign you a personal guard to make sure you are okay later on as well."

I raised an eyebrow at that, but nodded all the same. "Erm, thanks I guess. See ya."

She nodded, walking out and leaving me on my own. I stood up and looked back out of the window. I scoffed, chuckling to myself. "So, we have the motherly princess, the bitchy princess and now I'm being assigned a personal lacky? Great."

I went back to bed, trying to rest some more. I looked up at the ceiling once more and sighed.

"This is crazy. Fucking. Crazy."