Of Two Worlds

Caden took another slug of his drink. “So...where to start?”

“Why not at the beginning? Your childhood?”

He nodded. “Sure. It’s pretty normal. I was born in a small city in Colorado.”

“Colorado? Is that the name of your land?”

He groaned inwardly as he recalled the endless hours at Twilight’s castle explaining the intricacies of Earth geography, human society and other minutae about his reality to her. He didn’t relish going through all that again.

“Colorado is a state…..like a mini nation in a larger group of unified nations called the United States of America. That’s my nationality. I’m American.”

She nodded. “Are all humans Americans? What about other creatures?”

“There are no other creat….well there are but...ok...hold on.” More Old Fashioned was consumed. Hoo boy “Let me backup.”

Over the next few minutes he ran through a crash course of Earth and the life on it. Redheart was extremely surprised to learn humans were the only sapient species. After a run down of things like nations, basic Earth geography and a smattering of other highlights, she seemed to grasp the basic idea.

“So you grew up in this...Colo...rado?” She reached out and grabbed her wine glass.

He nodded. “I did. A small city on the western side of the state.”

She brought the glass to her lips. “Like Ponyville small?”

He shook his head. “Oh no. Way larger. I think it had like fifty thousand people at that time.”

Her eyes widened as she nearly spit wine across the table before a fit of coughing hit her.

He shot up and reached for her. “Are you ok?”

She waved him away? “I’m…*cough*...fine. Wine in...the lungs.”

He sat back down as she caught her breath and looked up at him. “Did you say fifty thousand humans was a SMALL city?”

Ah.Yes.This. He flashed back to the same reaction Twi had.

He nodded. “Yeah, that’s fairly small.”

Her face screwed up in confusion. “How many humans does it take to make a LARGE city?”

He thought back to his geography. “I want to say cities like Tokyo have tens of millions.”

She stared, dumbfounded.

“Redheart….there are almost eight BILLION humans on Earth.”

I sound like a character in a sci-fi movie.

He swore if her eyes got any larger they'd lit up the room. “Twilight and I talked about this early on. So far as we can tell, Earth is much, much, MUCH larger than Equus.” Apparently there were maybe just a few million Ponies in Equestria and the other species didn’t count for a whole lot more. “If her and I’s guess is right, you could fit all of Equestria pretty comfortably in the middle of my home nation.”

That had been among the more interesting conversations he’d had with the Princess. Twilight had immediately launched into an endless stream of questions about what the gravity was like on Earth if it was so large? How did our celestial mechanics work? What was our solar system like? After a few minutes of excited rambling she’d realized his eyes had long since glazed over and she apologized before they resumed their basic geography lesson.

She leaned back in her chair and took another sip of her wine. “Sweet Celestia….”

“Sorry. Didn’t mean to surprise you.”

She shook her head. “No...I just...I guess I hadn’t REALLY thought about how different your home might be.”

“Well….that’s the thing…..it is very different in some ways but…..almost the same in others.”

She tilted her head. “How so?”

He shrugged. “A lot of ways. We do a lot of the same things you do. We go to school and work. We have houses and apartments and beds and pets. We marry and have children. We live and die. We have festivals and parties and eat cake and…” he held his drink up “we have wine and whiskey. We have a sun and a moon.” He decided not to elaborate on the differences in their solar mechanics.

“Wow.” She sat back and thought for a moment.

“What is it?”

“It’s just….I guess I’m glad so much is familiar but now that I’m thinking about it, isn’t that kind of weird?”

“That Earth and Equus are so similar?” She nodded.

He shrugged. “That’s also something Twi and I have discussed. She isn’t sure why our worlds are so similar either. There could be a million possibilities. Alternate dimensions. Quantum something or another. Multiverses. Maybe I’m a magical being imagining a fake past.” He didn’t particularly relish the last idea.

She smirked and giggled at him.

“What?”

“Nothing. It’s nothing.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Oh really? Nothing?”

“It’s just...you calling Princess Twilight….‘Twi’. It’s funny.”

“How so?”

She shrugged and took a sip of her wine. “You’re literally a creature from another world. You’ve been here less than two months. Meanwhile she’s the physical embodiment of Friendship. She and her friends have saved Equestria like a dozen times. Most ponies would probably be scared to death to call her a pet name.”

Since getting here he’d been regaled with the stories of Twilight and her friends' epic adventures but honestly it was hard for him to think of them that way. For every story about them time traveling or defeating some ancient mythical evil, he’d been witness to at least an equal number of spastic incidents. Whether it was Twilight flying down the hallways in a mad panic because she slept in too late or Starlight and Sunset nearly destroying the castle as they tried to decrypt some sort of ancient magic scroll, he guessed living there had given him something of a different perspective of them.

He chuckled. “I can see that. Honestly she doesn’t seem to mind. It just kind of happened naturally.”

She smiled warmly. “I am glad you’ve made friends with them. I hope it makes all this easier.”

He nodded. “It does.” He took a drink. “Anyway, where was I?”

“Colo-Rado.”

“Right. So as I was saying, I grew up in a small town. I had a pretty normal childhood. My parents met in high school. My Dad worked for the post office.”

“Like Derpy?”

“Ummm….sort of. Less flying.” Way less flying. “More truck driving but yes, basically the same job.”

“What about your Mom?”

“Mom never worked. She stayed home and raised my brothers and I. She was pretty involved in our childhoods.”

Her eyes widened. “You have siblings?”

He nodded. “Two younger brothers. 3 and 5 years younger than me.”

“Huh.”

“Huh what?”

“Kind of funny. I’m also the oldest of three.”

“Really?!”

She nodded. “I have a brother and a sister.”

“Interesting. How much younger are they?”

She thought for a second. “Ten minutes or so for one and about thirty on the other. Or something like that.”

It took him a second to process the times. “Wait...how..oh...you’re a triplet!”

She nodded. “Yup!”

He shook his head. “Wow. Don’t think I’ve ever met a triplet before. Are they common here?”

She shook her head. “No. They’re incredibly rare. I’ve never met another either.”

“Wow. That’s cool. Are you identical or fraternal?”

“Fraternal.”

Man that must have been interesting growing up.”

She rolled her eyes. “That’s….a word for it. Anyway we’re talking about you, remember?”

“True. Anyway…” He stopped as he caught Ruby making her way towards them with a pegasus right behind her carrying their Charcuterie on one wing.

“My apologies for the interruption.” She gestured and the pegasus set the dish down and promptly vanished. She spent some time going over the platter with them. Despite exotic names like “Centaurian Camembert” and “Bugbear Honey", most of it looked and sounded right in line with similar items from Earth.

She gestured across the table. “I do hope you enjoy it.” She scanned across the table. “I see we have some empty glasses. Can I get another round for you?”

He looked down at his glass and sure enough, all that was left was a shrinking ice block and an orange rind in a puddle of bourbon. He looked across the table to see her wine was almost empty as well. They both ordered another round and Ruby disappeared back into the depths of the restaurant.

He drained what was left of the glass and set it back down.

Redheart grinned at him. “You enjoyed that.”

He chuckled and stared down at the glass. “I did. I’m going to enjoy the next one too.”

Her voice took on a stern tone and she shook a white hoof at him. “You know Doctors say no more than an ounce a day.”

He lifted an eyebrow and a cheeky grin spread across her face. “Uh huh. That from the lad...I mean mare who nearly polished off a double of Merlot in the same ti…” He watched as she drained the rest of her glass and grinned over at him.

“I see!” They laughed and he looked back down at his cocktail. “I don’t really drink much anymore. Way more back in my college days. It’s just been....a weird few weeks.”

She waved him away. “Caden, I don’t think anyone would blame you for being a full tilt alcoholic at the moment. You’ve been through a lot and I’ve been known to enjoy my share. Nursing isn’t exactly a relaxing job.” She waved an arm across the table.”Besides...it’s a special occasion. Might as well enjoy!” She leaned over and started assembling herself something from the plate. “This looks good!”

He scanned the selection again. He was hardly an expert but it was easily among the best Charcuterie he’d ever seen. A half dozen cheese sat nestled among crackers, golden raisins, grapes, honeycomb and a myriad of other fruits and accessories he wasn’t sure he could even name.

“Yeah it does! I’m glad you agreed to get this!. A lot of people don’t like exotic cheeses.”

She snorted. “Well those...people.....are wrong.”

He laughed. “I couldn’t agree more.” They spent a few minutes divvying up the platter before she took a drink and asked “So….where were we? Dad delivered mail?”

He nodded. “Yup. Dad worked and Mom stayed home.”

“You said she was pretty involved in your childhood?”

“She was. Especially after school stuff. My brothers and I were really, REALLY into sports.”

“Like hoofball or...whatever you have?”

He’d muddled through a book on Equestrian sports awhile back and had seen the aforementioned sport. He struggled to find a human analog. Quidditch?

“Kind of. It isn’t all ball sports though. Some of our sports are very similar to yours. Track and field. Wrestling. Swimming. I saw that Ponies have a version of what we call tennis. Again it’s more similar than different.My brother’s and I were involved in a lot of different sports. Mom spent a lot of time ferrying us from this or that event. Lot’s of driving.”

Redheart tilted her head. “Driving?”

He sighed. “Humans use machines to travel much faster than we can walk or run. Sort of like big self propelled carriages. Operating one is called ‘driving’.”

“Oh! Neat!”

Not nearly as neat as it sounds after a while. He popped something he remembered Ruby calling ‘Badlands Brie’ in his mouth. Shit that’s good. Seems the Ponies were as good at making cheese as they were at sweets.

“But that was most of my childhood. All the way through school. Sports. One game or tournament after another, season after season. Other than that it was a pretty average childhood where I’m from.”

“Is that why you became a gym teacher? All the sports?”

“Not….exactly.” his face fell as their next round of drinks appeared in front of them.

Redheart’s eyes narrowed in concern. “Caden? You ok?”

He nodded. “Yeah...just…” Sighing, he took a slug of his drink. “I’m sorry. I just really don’t like talking about this part of my past. It’s a lot of drama.” He stared down at his glass as he swirled the liquid around.

“Caden.” He looked up. “We all have our drama. All of us.”

“I know. I know.”

She pushed her plate aside and crossed her front legs on the table in front of her before leaning forward and staring intently at him. “So..what happened?”

He took another drink and sighed. Fuck it. “So my parents weren't EXACTLY normal people growing up. Dad was…does the term ‘Hometown Hero’ make any sense? Is that a term here?”

She thought for a moment. “Like a hero of their hometown? For saving it or something?”

He shook his head. “No. More like a really popular youth. Famous for being really good at sports or something the whole town enjoys? They’re gonna go on to be really popular and put their town on the map?”

“So like if a Pegasi from a very small town made the Wonderbolts or something? It puts the village on the map.”

He snapped and pointed at her. “YES! Exactly like that.”

She nodded. “We don’t have a term for it like that but yes, it does happen.”

“Ok. Cool. So that kind of thing is a really big deal where I’m from. In sports especially. Kids from small towns that go on to play professional sports are usually legitimate hometown heroes.”

“So that’s what your Dad was?”

“Dad was...but Mom was too in a way. Where I’m from was much smaller before I was born. My Dad’s family were local farmers. They’d lived there for eons. My Mom’s family owned a local furniture store that had been there forever. Hardly royalty but a lot of people at least knew who they were.”

“Sort of like how the Apples are here. They literally helped found Ponyville.”

He nodded. “Yup! Like that. Anyway, Dad was the town's high school football star. Quarterback for the varsity team. Tall, handsome, charismatic.”

“Like his son.”

“I…wait...what?” He felt his face flush as she winked a sapphire eye at him.

She giggled. “Sorry. I couldn’t resist. I could tell this is gonna get serious. I figured a little humor here and there might help.”

Fine. Two can play at that game. “So me being handsome was just a joke?”

She gave him a sly smile. “Maybe. Maybe not.”

“Well how do I find out for sure?”

She leaned forward and her voice took on a decidedly sultry note. “I suppose you’ll find out eventually.”

“I suppose I will”

He fought back the urge to blush again. The girls teasing about it being a date rang through his head.

He cleared his throat. “So anyway, yes, Dad was popular. Very. Mom was a cheerleader. They dated all the way through high school. Homecoming King and Queen. Dad got a full athletic scholarship to a big university. Mom decided to follow him so they could be together.”

“Was she going to school?”

He shook his head “No. She worked to support them and took some night classes but nothing ever really came from it. She didn’t have enough time to make anything of it anyway.”

“I’m assuming it didn’t work out then?”

He threw back a mouthful of his drink. The warmth in his belly was starting to drift upward.

“It did not. As happens so often in life.”

She grimaced. “What happened?”

“Injury during a game. It was during Dad’s sophomore year. Dad started the play, went to make the throw and then the tackle happened.”

“Tackle?”

Caden nodded. “Football is a contact sport. A violent contact sport. A big part of it is tackling the other players to stop the play or get the ball. There are rules around how and where you can tackle someone to avoid seriously injuring the other players but that doesnt always work out.”

“I’m guessing it didn’t for your Dad?”

He shook his head. “No. Dad still says the guy aimed for his legs. You can’t really tell watching the tapes. It doesn’t matter really. Results still the same. The other player hit my Dad straight in the knee. On the tape you can see him go down screaming and his knee is bent in ways it was never meant to. By the time it was all over, his left knee was essentially destroyed.”

She grimaced. “Oh no. I’ve seen really bad leg injuries in Ponies. They usually take a long time to recover, if they ever do. It’s probably even worse for you.”

“Why do you say that?”

She waved a hoof in his direction. “Well you only walk on two legs right? I can’t imagine it’s easy for you to walk on all fours. We have some spares by comparison.”

Oh. Duh. “Yeah, good point. It knocked Dad out for the rest of the season. By the time he recovered and they got him back out on the field, it was obvious his football days were over.”

“Did he finish school?”

Caden chuckled. “Oh lord no. They didn’t have anywhere near the money needed. He wasn’t really interested in school anyway. He was there to play football and hopefully go pro. That was always the plan. He and Mom never really thought about what would happen if it didn’t work out.”

“So what happened?”

“Dad dropped out. They moved back home and got married. Mom got pregnant with me not too long after. Dad needed a job and in those days the post office was a pretty decent career bet, especially in a smaller town.”

It was then that Caden saw Ruby start making her way across the restaurant toward them. A unicorn floated a laden tray behind her as they approached. A rich aroma enveloped him and his mouth immediately started watering.

.”I do hope you two are still hungry.”

Caden nodded. “Very.”

“Excellent. Mare’s first.”

Redhearts salad was possibly the most impressive barge of vegetation he had ever seen. A heaping pile of greens sat nestled among tomatoes, spinach, croutons, some sort of cheese, onions and other things he wasn’t even sure he could identify off the top of his head. Next to it, a tureen of the salads creamy dressing namesake.

In front of him slid a simple, sizzling platter. The only extra was a baked potato, dressed simply with butter. In the center sat a massive, seared steak, perfect grill lines hatched across the surface.

He almost swooned. It even LOOKS like beef.

Ruby looked the table over. “Does everything look satisfactory?”

Redheart nodded enthusiastically as he looked over. “It looks fantastic!”

“Would the Sir be so kind as to cut into his steak? I’d like to make sure it’s done as requested.”

“Absolutely!” She really has served others who eat meat. Caden cut into the steak and verified it was a perfect medium rare.

“Fantastic. I’ll leave you to it then. Shall I have another round of drinks sent over?”

Caden looked at his drink. Damn. Went through that quick. He looked up to see Redheart smiling across from, empty wine glass in hoof. “I suppose that’s a yes.”

“Wonderful. I’ll have those sent right over. Enjoy!”

Redheart drizzled dressing over her salad. “This looks amazing.”

“Yes it does.” Caden carved off a bite and promptly deposited it in his mouth. He had to fight off a legitimate urge to moan. The steak was perfect. Juicy, wonderfully cooked and seasoned perfectly. The flavor wasn’t quite the same as beef. It was definitely gamier than beef. Less fatty too. The texture was similar to that of a filet.

He heard a chuckle from across the table and realized he’d closed his eyes. Redheart giggled at him. “You look like you’re enjoying that.”

“You have no idea. Six weeks of nothing but vegetation and sweets has been….” He slammed his mouth shut as he realized he was about to insult their entire diet.

“Sorry. Sorry. I didn’t mean…”

She waved his apology away. “It’s fine Caden. It’s perfectly reasonable to miss eating meat if you normally do.”

He looked at the delicious carnage on his plate. “And you’re sure this doesn’t bother you? The girls at the castle seemed pretty repulsed when I asked about it.”

“Like I said, I’m a nurse. I see all kinds of grotesque shit every day. I’m a big mare. I think I can handle you eating some manticore.” She winked at him. “Honestly I’m just happy to see you enjoying something so much.”

He blinked. “I think that might be the first time I’ve heard you curse.”

“Really?” She thought for a second. “Interesting. It’s not like I don’t. You should hear me after a double at work.”

He chuckled. “I imagine.”

“So are all human’s omnivores?”

“We are biologically but some are vegetarians or vegans by choice. Usually ethical or religious reasons. Some will only eat certain kinds of meat. Others don't eat this or that for specific dietary needs. But the majority of us are omnivores to some degree.”

“Ah. Makes sense.”

“I’ve gathered Ponies don’t eat meat at all?”

She nodded. “As a rule. I’ve heard stories of tribes far away that might but they may just be stories. I’ve never tried it. Honestly I don’t imagine it would agree with us at all.”

“I can see that. When I first got here Applejack tried to offer me some hay treats. She was legitimately surprised when I explained I’d have a really bad day if I tried to eat it. We can’t digest grass at all.”

“Oof. Yeah that would have been bad.” She scooped some of her salad into her mouth, fork magically magnetized to her hoof. I still need to ask how they do that.

“So where were we? Your folks had settled down?”

They tucked into their meals as he continued. “Yeah. Settled down, started a family, bought a house. The whole nine yards.”

“So did you become a gym teacher because your Dad played sports?”

“Well….still not exactly. That’s really only the first half of the story.”

“Oh?” She gave him a sad smile. “I’m guessing this is the half you don’t like talking about?”

He nodded. “You guessed right.” Their next round of drinks landed on the table as he sighed. “So remember how I mentioned my brothers and I were really into sports?”

She nodded. “Like your Dad?”

“After a fashion. It might be more accurate to say we were pushed to be really into sports. Like I said as far back as I can remember, it was just normal for my brothers and I to be enrolled in all the athletics we could. Soccer, little league baseball, football...hell we even went to summer athletic camps. Mom and Dad signed us up for everything under the sun.”

“Did you want to do all that?”

“I’ve thought about that a lot myself. I’m not sure. I don’t think we ever really questioned it as kids. It was just how life was for us. It had been that way for as long as I can remember.”

“Did you enjoy it?”

He nodded. “We did. At least I know I did. It probably helped that we were good. Being honest we were better than good. My brothers and I inherited every bit of my Dad’s natural talent. By the time each of us got to high school, we’d each found our niche. For me it was track. Pole vaulting specifically.”

He looked across the table as her face scrunched in confusion. “I’ll explain what it is in a second. Pole vaulting for me, baseball for my middle brother and football for my youngest brother.”

“How come only one of you went into……” She thought for a second. “Football? Is that what you called it?”

“You mean why didn’t my other brother and I follow in our Dad’s footsteps?”

She nodded.

“Size is a big part of football. Well...really all sports to some degree or another. For many, being bigger is an advantage. In others being smaller or more agile can be. But in footballs case once you hit the college level, being naturally bigger and stronger is pretty much a requirement.”

“So you aren’t as big as your Dad?”

He shook his head. “No. My middle brother and I got more of our Mom in our build. She’s a tiny lady. My Dad is almost six inches taller than I am and when he was younger, probably fifty to sixty pounds larger. Most of that being muscle.”

“I’m guessing that’s a larger than average human?”

He nodded. “Very much so. I’m not a small guy by any means but my Dad was a big man. Only my youngest brother got his size so Jacob and I were more suited to other sports.”

“Jacob is your middle brother?”

He nodded. “Yeah. Jacob and Adam are my younger brothers, in order.”

“Got it. I guess that makes sense that only your youngest brother would stick with the same sport if he was the only one large enough.”

“Exactly. I didn’t mind anyway. Track was perfect for me. I love running.”

“So I’ve heard.”

He tilted his head in confusion. “Huh?”

“Ponies talk. The rumor that the weird monkey creature who was living with Princess Twilight went for an early morning run every day made its way back to the hospital pretty quickly.”

I guess they noticed me more than I thought. He chuckled as he scooped baked potato into his mouth. “Weird monkey creature huh?”

“Their words. Not mine.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Would I be the handsome monkey creature then?”

She giggled. “I suppose you might be.”

“Well that’s good to know. But yes, I love running. By the time I was in high school, I’d pretty much settled wholly on track. And I was good. Really good. Took gold at state in pole vaulting my junior and senior year.”

“And pole vaulting is?”

Oh yeah. He ran through a fast explanation of what the sport was and how it worked.

“That sounds really cool!”

“It’s a lot of fun. For just one second you feel like you’re flying before falling back to the ground.”

“I’m guessing no humans can fly?”

He shook his head.. “Not like the Pegasi, no. We have machines that let us fly.”

Her eyes went wide. “Are you serious?”

“Yeah but can I explain that later?”

She giggled. “Sorry. I’m sure having to explain every other little thing about home is getting old.”

“A little. Honestly it’s more this…” he held up his half full glass of cocktail. By now he was well awash in the friendly warmth of alcohol. “I want to make sure I get through the story before I start mumbling.”

“Good point. I’m feeling it myself.” She took another small sip of her wine and he noticed the flush under her white cheeks for the first time.

That’s fucking adorable.

“Anyway by the time I got to high school it looked like I was going to be on the same trajectory as my Dad. I was one of the best pole vaulters in the state. Pretty damned good sprinter too. I had scouts checking me out as far back as early junior year. Even had a few sit downs with athletic recruiters from some of the bigger universities. Should have been on my way to a full track scholarship.”

“Just like your Dad.”

He nodded. “Just like my Dad. Things were great beyond that. Active group of friends. We were talking about trying to all go to the same school. Even had a girlfriend.”

“HAD a girlfriend?” She sipped her wine.

“Yeah. We broke up eventually.”

“No one now?”

“Nope. Single as can be.”

She took another long sip. “Noted.”

He fought off yet another blush. Uh oh.

She set her wine back down. “So things were great.”

Focus! “Yup. And it was amazing. They were easily the best times of my life.” Memories of those days flashed through his mind as melancholy gripped him. He stared down and swirled his drink around in his glass.

She set her glass down and looked across the table. “Caden? Are you ok? What happened?”

He looked up and sighed. “We were at practice near the end of my senior year. It was just a normal practice. Not even a meet or a championship or anything. Just a day like any other.”

He took another sip. “I went up for a vault. It was completely normal at first. Sprint, stick, pull and up I went. I was most of the way up when I heard the snap.”

“Snap?”

“The pole snapped.”

She gasped. “What?”

“It does happen. They aren’t indestructible. That’s what the cushions on the ground are for. Well that and the landing.”

“Oh..ok.”

”I’d had poles snap before. It’s inevitable after doing it for so many years. Normally I just landed on the pad, shook it off and tried again.”

“What happened?”

He shook his head. “Don’t know. Bad pole maybe? I might have just completely tanked the stick? Moved my body in a weird way? Still aren’t really sure. I don’t remember a whole lot of the jump. Whatever happened, only half of me landed back in the vault box.”

He watched her eyes break from his and glance down to his left shoulder and back again.

“Your shoulder…”

He nodded. “Like I said, I don’t remember a whole lot. Just lying on the ground, screaming and crying. Fire coursing up and down my whole left side. All I really do remember is the pain and people trying to talk to me. Everything’s pretty fuzzy till I got to the hospital and they got me on anesthetic.”

He looked his left arm up and down. “You saw the result of the surgery. Doctor Horse thought it was one plate. It’s actually two. Them and many, many screws and pins. I managed to pretty much destroy it.” He rotated his shoulder around instinctively. “That was the end of my pole vaulting career. It’s hard to do a pull up, even now.” He thought back to the Everfree Forest and his shoulder flaring up as he fled from the Timberwolves.

She covered her mouth with her front hooves. “Oh Caden. I am so sorry.”

He flexed his left leg out. “Left knee was pretty fucked too. Not quite as bad but pretty well guaranteed I had no chance of pivoting to sprinting. From what the coach said I pretty much landed perfectly wrong on my left side. It took a few years before I was really even able to run again.”

She looked like she wanted to cry. “So you….what happened?”

“A lot of crying and raging at the universe. Bouncing between follow up surgeries and physical therapy. Trying to re-evaluate what I was going to do with my life. My chances at a scholarship were gone. My grades weren’t bad but nowhere near good enough to get an academic scholarship. Meanwhile my friends were getting ready to head off to school. In the fall they all left, same with my girl. She and I tried the long distance thing for a while but it didn’t work out.”

Her ears dropped deeply. “I’m sure your Dad was heartbroken.”

He swirled his ice around. “You’d think right?”

Her concern shifted to confusion. “What do you mean?”

I need another drink. He looked around but couldn’t see Ruby or any of the other Ponies that had served them. He didn’t want to be the asshole that asked some random server for a drink.

“Caden?”

He sighed. “THIS is actually the part I really don’t like talking about.”

“If you don’t feel comfortable…”

He waved her concern off. “No. No. I’ve gone this far. I’ve never really told this whole story to any.”

She held a hoof to her chest. “Are you sure? I don’t want to….”

He looked across the table. “It’s ok.”

She stopped mid sentence.

“I’m not uncomfortable. I’m not sure why but I just….I don’t know...maybe it’s the booze. Maybe it’s because you’re the first Pony I really met. I don’t know but I want to tell you the rest of this.”

She briefly turned a deeper shade of red before nodding. “Ok.”

He was about to resume his story when Ruby once again materialized next to them.

“I see we’ve finished our meals!”

Caden’s plate was little more than scraps of fat and the skin of a baked potato while Redheart’s looked like a mulched vegetable garden dotted with dressing leavings. “We did!”

“And did everycreature enjoy their dinner?”

He nodded. “It was fantastic!” Redheart nodded in exuberant agreement.

“Excellent!” Her tail swung around then and deposited a smaller menu on their table as another pony rapidly moved plates and flatware off their table.

“This is our dessert menu. I HIGHLY recommend our Apple Crisp. Made with entirely locally sourced Sweet Apple Acres produce. There’s absolutely no rush of course. Could I possibly get you another round in the meantime?”

Caden looked across the table. I really shouldn’t. He was well past buzzed as it was. I wonder what she wants to do.

“Red?”

Her eyes jolted over to him as her cheeks reddened again. She glanced from his glass to hers and back up to Ruby. She held her glass up. “We’ll have another.”

Ruby beamed down at them as she backed away from the table. “Of course. We’ll have those right over. Once again, please take all the time you need looking over the dessert menu.”

With that she disappeared once again. He glanced across the table. “What was that?”

She tilted her head in confusion. “What was what?”

“That weird glance you gave me.”

He could tell she was suppressing a smile. “Red?”

He stared blank as his brain ran through the last minute of conversation before he remembered what he’d said.

“Oh. I’m sorry. It just came naturally.”

She shook her head. “Not at all. I like it.”

He smiled. “Red then?”

She nodded. “Works for me.”

“So where was I?”

“Your Dad was heartbroken...or not?”

“Ah.” He suddenly remembered why he wanted another drink. “At the time I wasn’t really sure when I’d be well enough again to go off to school. I knew I wanted to try and follow as many of my friends as I could. Even if I couldn’t get a scholarship, I figured between loans, a part time job and help from my folks I’d be ok.”

“Help from your folks?”

He nodded. “Scholarships are rarely all encompassing. We figured when I made it to college I’d need help with food, insurance, cell phone, gas, all those kinds of things.”

“That makes sense.”

I wonder what kind of schools they have here. He knew a few of the girl's younger siblings went to a local elementary school. He’d heard Twilight talking about her time at some sort of gifted unicorn academy. Do they have high school? College? “After I was done with therapy I floated the idea by my parents. I remember I sat down with my Mom to see what she thought. They’d been willing to help out before so I figured nothing would change.”

“I’m guessing...that didn’t go well?”

“Not exactly. In hindsight I should have known something was wrong. Mom seemed really uncomfortable when I brought it up.”

“Why?”

He looked down at his drink, swirling the orange around in it’s amber bath. “A couple of days later they called me to the kitchen. Said they needed to talk to me.”

“About?”

“My life. That was when they told me they weren’t going to be able to offer me any help at school.

Redheart shook her head in confusion.“Are you….wait...what? Why? It’s what you wanted to do! They said they’d help!”

“Dad said they decided they needed to focus their resources elsewhere.”

“Elsewhere? On what?”

Redheart was looking more irritated by the moment. He would have chuckled if the memories weren’t so sad.

“Remember how I told you my brothers and I pretty much spent our childhoods in neverending athletics?”

She nodded. “Yes.”

“As I said, we never really questioned it. It was just a normal part of life. I honestly never even bothered questioning it.” He threw back another mouthful of whiskey. “Until that night anyway. That was when I finally realized WHY we had been doing all of it.”

“Why?”

“For them.”

She just stared at him for a moment. “What?”

“For them. We were living their dream for them.” He’d play that night over and over in his head. The stomach dropping confusion when they first broke the news. His questions and rising anger the longer the conversation went on. His rage when his father’s anger finally broke and he heard what the man really wanted him to do.

He slammed back the rest of his cocktail. “He actually told me he thought I should stay home and get a full time job.”

Confusion, anger and sadness rippled in waves across her face. “For the love of Celestia, why?”

“So I could help support my brothers.”

“Support them for what?”

“To help ensure they got their chance.”

Her eyes went as round as saucers as she put it all together. “How...just...how? The SAME thing had just happened to you! Their own son!”

He nodded again.

She looked seconds from crying. “Caden...I am so...so sorry. I….I don’t….” Their next drinks arrived as Red took a deep breath. “I just don’t know what to say. That’s horrible.”

He gave her a half smile. “Thank you Red. Honestly I just feel better finally telling the whole story.” He shrugged. “Honestly the older I’ve become, the less the whole thing surprises me. Parents live vicariously through their children all the time. Some more than others. I just got the worse end of it.”

“And your Mom?

He sighed. “I don’t think my Mom ever really, REALLY thought about what they were doing till all this happened. She was just happy to see her kids succeed and her husband was thrilled. She’s not a very confrontational person. As long as everything was ok I think she just kinda of stuck her head in the sand.”

“So...what happened?”

“Dad and I weren’t on speaking terms after that for a long, long time. Mom was just heartbroken. A few days later I packed up what I could and went to live with a friend.”

“You just left?”

He nodded.

“How did that go?”

He laughed. “How do you think? Terribly. I was 18 with barely a penny to my name.”

She tilted her head in confusion. “I’m guessing it worked out eventually? Didn’t you say you had an apartment and a job? Did you finish college?”

“I did. Had to work two jobs that first year to get my feet under me. I built up some savings, got a car and an apartment eventually. My early twenties were pretty brutal. That’s why I went into physical education. I needed to get school done as fast as possible and it was honestly what I thought I’d get through fastest. If I'd had more time and opportunity, I might have done something else.”

“And your family?”

“I eventually started going home for Christmas...uhhh….Hearths Warming….every year. I see my Mom and brothers. Dad and I might share a word or two in passing.”

She grimaced. “So you're both still mad?”

“Yeah. Well….I don’t know.” He thought for a moment. “You know….I’m not really sure.”

“What do you mean?”

He shrugged. “I am still mad but not like how I used to be. It’s just more hurt now. Hurt that the people I thought wanted nothing but the best for me also had their own agenda.” He shrugged. “I have no idea how Dad feels now. Mom is just sad about the whole thing. She apologized over and over.”

“Do you WANT to make up with them?”

“Kind of? Maybe? Sometimes I do. Sometimes I still never want to see them again.”

“What about your brothers? Do they know?”

“We didn’t talk about it at first. Jacob knows. Adam’s still in high school. They both seem like they’re going to do as my parents hoped. Maybe they won’t have to deal with all this bullshit.”

She sighed. “I hope not. Family can suck.”

He shook his head. “Family can suck?”

She gave him a sad smile. “Human’s aren’t the only creatures with family problems Caden.”

“Oh?”

She shook her head. “Another time.”

His eyes latched onto the menu on the table in front of them. Oh yeah, dessert. Oh shit….He’d been so involved in his story he hadn’t really paid attention to the passing of time.

“Red I am so sorry!”

The sadness fell off her face as she jerked back. “What for?”

He gestured at the table. “We spent most of the meal talking about my family bullshit. This was NOT how I wanted to thank you!”

She giggled and waved his apology away. “It’s fine, Caden. I enjoyed learning more about you.” She winked at him. “Besides, it just means we can talk all about me next time.”

Even through the alcohol, he could feel himself blush. Next time huh? “That sounds great.”

She gestured at the menu. “Care to share a dessert?”

He exhaled deeply. “Not sure I have any room left between the steak and the alcohol.”

She put on an exaggerated pout. “I mean….if you don’t have room..”

He sighed dramatically. “You Ponies really do love your sweets don’t you.” He grabbed the menu and scanned it quickly. “There’s a seasonal berry tart. Can we do that? At least it’s light.”

She giggled. “That's fine. And yes we Ponies do like our sweets.”

The rest of the night was dedicated to small talk and dessert. Redheart nearly swooned as she spooned the dessert into her mouth. He smiled. It is adorable.

They finished and right on queue Ruby appeared with the bill and a warm smile. “It was my legitimate pleasure to serve you tonight.”

Caden smiled. “Dinner was...FANTASTIC! Now I know where I can come when I want a steak.”

Redheart nodded. “This was excellent.”

Ruby beamed at them. “I am so glad to hear it. Sadly I have bad news.” She held the booklet out in front of her. “Who will I be leaving this with?”

Caden raised a hand. “I’ve got it.”

She handed the bill to him and he stared at the slip of gibberish. Oh right. Poneish. He realized a flight of Old Fashioneds probably wasn’t the best idea when he needed to translate a new language.

Redheart watched him for a second. “Caden do you….would you like some help?”

He sighed. “Yeah. A few of the symbols aren’t making any sense.”

They spent a minute or two talking through the bill as she gently guided him through the words and numbers before he finally got the total.

“Three hundred and eighty two bits? Is that right?”

She nodded. “You got it! Well done!” She looked up at him over the paper. “Caden are you sure you’ve got this? I can split it with you or…”

He waved her away. “No no no. This was my thanks, remember? If you want to split it next time, that’s fine but this one’s on me. You’ve been so awesome.”

She beamed at him. “Glad to hear it. I think you’re pretty awesome too.”

They shared a smile as he pulled the bit voucher book out of his pocket. “Besides….” He cut himself off as he realized what he was about to say.

“Besides what?”

“Besides...well...hold on.” They filled out the voucher and Ruby took it back into the bowels of the restaurant. Once she was out of sight he looked at Red. “Besides ..I think Twi might have overdone it a bit in making sure I had money to spend.”

“Overdone it? How much did she give you?”

Caden gave her a cocky grin. “I’m not sure that’s any of your business ma’am.”

She snorted and stuck her tongue out at him. “Uh huh. Says the guy who brought it up in the first place.”

He chuckled. “If I’m reading the balance ledger in this thing right...she deposited something like a hundred thousand bits in my account.”

He was pretty sure he watched her brain misfire in real time. “One hundre thousand?”

He held the voucher book out. “If I’m reading that right?”

She scanned the ledger and sighed. “Yup. You read that right.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Your hunch was correct. She overdid it a bit. Caden that’s more than I make in a YEAR.”

“Oh….well……”

She sighed again and winked at him. “Just means dinner’s on you next time then.”

“Ha! Deal!”

“In all seriousness I am glad she is taking care of you.” Redheart rolled her eyes. “And it’s not like she doesn’t have bits to spare. That castle alone is worth billions.”

“Fair enough.”

He went to put the bit voucher back into his pocket when the same sensation from before fired up and down his arm. He dropped the book and shook the pain out. “Damnit!”

Redheart jumped out of her chair in concern. “Caden are you ok?”

He nodded. “Yes. I’ve just been having these weird...jolts in my right arm. Feels like a shock of electricity and then it goes numb for a bit.”

She looked his arm over. “Any other symptoms? Any triggers?”

“No. Nothing specific. It just seems to happen whenever. No motion or action.”

She looked up and down his arm. “Could be nerve damage. Allergy maybe? Maybe your shoulder?”

He realized he had accidentally sent her into work mode.

He shook his arm again. “I’m ok Red. Probably just a pinched nerve or something.”

She frowned up at him. “Are you sure?”

He nodded. “I am. If it keeps happening I promise I’ll come see you ok?”

He wasn’t sure she was entirely satisfied with the explanation but she let it go. They made small talk for a moment more before Ruby brought a finalized receipt back. “Once again, thank you so much for coming. Looking forward to seeing you again soon!”

They thanked her and made their way out of the restaurant. As soon as they hit the fresh air, the whiskey hit him full force. Holy shit. He hadn’t quite realized how drunk he was until just then. There was a comfortable layer of numb between him and the rest of the world. He got his bearings and they began down the path back to Ponyville. They made more small talk as they approached the fountain near the center of town.

“Red would you like me to walk you home?”

She chuckled. “I live at the other end of Ponyville from the castle. We can part here.” A few ponies walked or flew here and there far from them but by and large they were alone.

He turned and looked down at her. “I had...an amazing time tonight.”

She smiled up at him. “I did too. I’m sorry about what happened to you Caden. I’m hoping maybe you can think of something to do here. Like you said, maybe you weren’t meant to be a gym teacher.”

“Maybe. I have some thinking to do.”

She nodded and stared up at him. He felt himself flush as red spread across her face. She cleared her throat. “Would you…”

“Would I what?”

She looked away for a moment before staring straight back at him, redder than ever. “Would you like to do this again? Another date?”

A tiny voice in the back of his head wanted him to question his situation. He was on a date with a magical horse in another world. It screamed that everything happening was so far removed from normal that it should horrify him. For whatever reason, be it the alcohol or the moment, that voice evaporated almost immediately.

“I would. I….” He wasn’t even sure how to finish.

Before he could continue she jumped up on her hind legs and rested herself against his chest. They looked each other in the eye for a moment before she stood on the end of her hooves, craned her head up and kissed him gently. He stared wide eyed.

She pulled back and blushed deeper. “Caden I….I just….” Before she could finish he instinctively leaned down and wrapped his arms around her. He lifted her up slightly and kissed her again, far harder than she had him. He heard her gasp before she pressed back into him. He felt her tail come around from behind her and wrap around his waist posessively.

Eventually they parted and stared at each other. He gave her his best drunken, charming smile. “I like you too Red.”

She giggled like a teenager. “I’m sorry.” She took a step back. “I’m acting like a filly.”

He winked at her. “We’re both drunk. It’s ok.”

“Too true.” She just stared at him a moment longer before sighing. “Caden I….I wish I didn’t have to go but I have to work in the morning.”

“It’s ok. I have stuff to do tomorrow too.”

She stood up against him again and they shared another kiss. They separated and she fell back to the ground. He reached down and rested his hand on her cheek. “Be safe on your way home ok?” She nodded.

As she turned to walk away, he asked. “When….when can I see you again?”

She thought for a second. “Lunch soon? I can let you know. Maybe the Hayburger?”

He nodded. “Sure….not sure I can eat anything there though.”

She laughed. “We’ll figure something out. Good night Caden.”

“Good night Red.”

He watched as she walked out nearly out of view. Right before disappearing down a road she turned and waved at him. He returned the gesture before turning and making his way back towards the castle. He smiled and took a deep breath of the warm summer air. He almost felt like skipping. He hadn’t felt like this since he was a teenager. More than anything, for the first time since he’d arrived there he felt like everything was going to be ok. A few moments later he arrived at the castle.

He put his hand on the door and sighed. Knowing Twilight she was probably watching all that from her balcony. He was not relishing the choir of squeeing that he was going to receive upon entering. He half expected the girls to just be waiting by the door.

Instead he was greeted with absolute silence. The castle was dark.

“Huh.” He made his way inside and meandered around the bottom floor. He was near the kitchen when he called out. “Hello?” “Anyone home?”

He heard a crash from further down the hallway before a starry blue mare vaulted her way down the hall and nearly bowled him over as she slid to a stop in front of him.

“Caden!”

He moved back a step as she righted herself. “Trixie? What’s wrong?”

“Follow me!”

She took off and sprinted back down the hallway. He did his best to follow her, trying to avoid falling over himself in his drunken state. Eventually they made their way to the Crystal Map room. Trixie sprinted up to the edge of the table as her horn ignited and a scroll floated off the table.

He caught up to her at the edge of the table. He had to brace himself against Pinkie Pie’s...throne….as he fought to catch his breath. I’m too drunk for this. “Trixie? What’s wrong? What’s going on?”

“Twilight will explain. She and the others left hours ago.” She scanned the scroll. “Ooohhh….I wish I’d studied more. This is NOT the Great and Powerful Trixie’s speciality.”

The unicorn scanned the scroll a few more times and closed her eyes. After a bit her horn lit up and magic shot from it to the scroll. The runes on the parchment lit up like the sun before the scroll arced magical energy all across the table. The energy pulsed across the map for a moment before shooting into the air and coalescing into a floating ring. After a moment a group of ponies came into view.

He stared up at the image. “Twilight?”

Everyone was there. The Mane 6, Sunset, Starlight. Spike was there. Next to them was a pegasus stallion he didn’t recognize. Standing behind them were 3 alicorns he hadn’t seen but in books.

Holy shit. That’s them. The entire group was standing in front of two ascending thrones. That must be Canterlot.

Twilight stepped forward. “Caden!”

“Twilight. What’s going on?”

“One second!” Twilight motioned for the pegasus to walk over. “Caden, this is Sky Tide. He’s a weather operator out of Las Pegasus.”

The Pegasus stepped forward like a mouse. It was clear by the look on his face he wasn’t comfortable standing among his demi-god royalty.

“Hello….Caden..”

“Hi.” He looked at Twilight. “Twi?”

She gently pushed the pegasus forward. “Go ahead. Tell him what you saw.”

He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. “I was out on an assignment just north of the city. It was nothing special until I ran into….something.”

Caden felt his heart surge in his chest as he stepped forward. “Something?”

“I’m not sure what it was. Magic bubble? Portal?”

Twilight put a hoof on his shoulder. “Tell him what you saw on the other side.”

“I saw….a city. And….you.” The pegasus pointed his hoof towards Caden. “Thousands of you. Males. Females. Children. An entire city.”

He had to brace himself against the table to keep from falling over.

Twilight urged him on. “Keep going. What else did you see?”

“The city. It was enormous. Way bigger than anything I’ve ever seen. There were….weird carriages that were moving without anything pulling them.”

Caden took a deep breath. “Cars! Those were cars.”

All the other ponies' ears shot up at Caden’s words. From the back a midnight blue alicorn stepped forward. “So it was your world.”

That must be Luna.

Twilight nodded. “He reported what he saw to his office and eventually they sent him to Canterlot. When they saw his report, they immediately compared it to mine and drew a conclusion.”

Great. I’m famous among the magical nerds of Equestria.

I wonder where he was exactly. “Sky. What else did you see?”

The pegasus spent a few minutes describing what he saw. It was a human city for sure. Cars. Trucks. Highways and neighborhoods. Families walking around.

“Also there was this giant….bird….machine.”

No way. “Bird machine?’

Sky nodded. “It was huge. A giant metal bird. Like a long tube with enormous wings on either side. It had some kind of pods hanging off the wings. I’ve never seen something that big fly that fast.”

“That was an airplane.” Caden took a deep breath, trying to process it all. He was definetly there. That was Earth.

“Did you see anything else? What did the city look like?”

“Ummmm….it was very bright?”

Bright? “What do you mean bright?”

“Bright. Like it was lit up. Just like Las Pegasus. Some of the buildings looked weird too. Most of them were huge and weirdly shaped.” He thought a moment more. “There was a pyramid as I recall.”

A pyramid?

“I got a decent look at one of them. It had giant markings on the side.”

Twilight's horn lit up and a piece of parchment and a quill materialized out of nowhere. “Sky can you draw what those symbols looked like?”

The pegasus nodded. “I think so.”

A few seconds later he held the parchment up in front of the portal to Caden. “I think this is what was on the side.”

You have to be kidding me.

Twilight scanned the parchment and looked up. “Caden do these mean anything?”

He nodded. He’d actually been there years before for a track meet. He remembered wandering around the monolithic structures in awe.

“Those are letters Twilight. ‘M G M’. They’re part of my alphabet. That was the MGM Grand. We call the city Las Vegas.”

Twilight stared at him wide eyed. “So that means…”

He nodded. “Our worlds line up.”

What the hell is going on?