Very well, I've officially managed to take a bath, which was extremely refreshing by the way. I also received a set of clothes that adjusted to my size the moment I touched them. I am now the proud owner of a lavender uniform shirt with a sun on its chest, along with a pair of beige pants that have a brown belt to keep them in place. I also don't have any shoes. Why would I have shoes? Everyone around me is a pony. And I'm not fond of the idea of getting nails piercing my feet to place a metallic horseshoe on it.

In short, I'm feeling like a hobbit from the Lord of the Rings. I hope that I don't grow fur on my feet like the ones in the movie. As much as I love the little ones, I always found their feet gross, to say the least.

But that is not the issue here. The issue lies in something odd that occurred when I woke up the morning after. However, I should first clarify something. I am twenty-six years old. One year after graduating, I managed to score an internship in surgery. So, I spent a year working and studying.

Now that is out of the way, I'll start the next entry.

On a side note, I learned of something new to add to the list. It will be updated at the end of this entry.

Silver wasted no time to send me down to the barracks after she made me fill a bunch of paperwork regarding my citizenship. By the time was finished, the sun had set on the horizon and Silver practically dragged me away from the head of the immigration's room. And into the barracks, she led me. As soon as I stepped into that place, I began to slightly regret my decision. It was a communal lounge, and most of the ponies inside that place were mares, I think I saw one or two males. One of which I had seen during the duel. Their bodies resembled humans in some areas, ponies in others, and I felt uncomfortable due to the looks I got. Now, in a cliché story, this means that the protagonist would be devoured through their eyes.

Not in my case.

The looks I got felt more like curiosity, some had disgust, others even looked afraid of me. Not that I can blame them, I was terrified since I didn't know how much damage they could cause to me.

"Here," Silver said while tossing a set of clothes on my face. "Training starts first thing in the morning. The Restroom is back there. Males use the ones on the right. The baths are over there. Use them before we start tomorrow. No one here has to deal with your stench."

"Understood, Ma'am," I said in a sad excuse of a military salute. Silver replied with a roll of her eyes and then walked away.

Ok. I mused while watching everyone turn away from me and go on to their conversation. I analyzed the uniform and realized that there were no shoes. A quick check of my surroundings and I concluded. No one here uses shoes. And for good reason, why would they wear shoes?

Holding my package, I walked through beds until I found an empty one. All of the mares watching my movements as if they were ready to attack if I did anything strange. Ok, I'll have to sleep here then. I concluded before I took notice of a small notebook with a weird pencil and a parchment. Placing the clothes on the bed, I picked the parchment first.

Rules and regulations of the Royal Guard Trainees:

1-Articles of clothing that are not part of the uniform are not allowed under any circumstance,
2-Bringing mates or partners to the barracks is strictly forbidden,
3-Relationships between members are not prohibited, however, displays of affection during working hours or attempts to abuse position to benefit your partner shall be met with severe punishment,
4-If your commanding officer or senior officer orders you to do something of questionable nature, you have a moral obligation to disobey this order and report it to the head of the royal guard. You will be protected from any punishments regarding misconduct or accusations of insubordination until the story is verified and proven,
5-Only OFFICIAL members of the royal guard may brandish armor and weapons from the palace's armory,
6-Once the initiation is done, all trainees shall be allocated to specified rooms with a training partner designated by the commanding officer, Silver Hoof,
7-Abuse of power and/or status shall be met with extreme prejudice,
8-The safety of the citizens and Princess stands as the top priority. In case the trainees witness an event that puts the life of their compatriots (be they civilians or members of the guard) and/or the princess, the trainee is authorized to use force to nullify the threat if they feel they are capable of doing so,
9-All trainees must remain presentable during all moments of the day,
10-NO TRAINEE is authorized to carry weapons outside of the designated training arena, which shall only be used under the supervision of a designated instructor.

Additional rules may be applied, keep this scroll in your possession at all times.

Folding the scroll into a square, I reached for the notebook. I opened it and realized something that shook me to the core. They have their own writing. What the hell are these? I inquired while looking at a bunch of symbols. I turned to a mare that was close to me, a unicorn with a broken horn. Her mane was pink, and her coat was some dark shade of purple. She had a scar on her left eye and she looked like she could kick my ass without breaking a sweat.

I should also mention that most of the ponies, contrary to Silver Hoof and Celestia were about my height, if not shorter by a small margin.

"Um, excuse me. Sorry to bother you, but, can you tell me what is written in here?" I asked as the mare measured me top to bottom, she was about half an inch taller than me.

"How did you get here without knowing how to read Equis?" She asked with suspicion.

"I can read and write this," I said while showing the scroll to her.

"You were taught common writing and tongue, but not Equis?" She pressed with a frown.

"I am not from around here. And I have never seen this writing before, so, no?" I answered while trying to not annoy her.

The mare groaned before ripping the book off my hands. "It says that this is a journal. It will serve as a psychological evaluation method for the therapist to assess your mental state. You will be summoned at random times to meet this therapist and will need to bring this notebook with you. It also states that you are supposed to write your impressions on your activities and the world around you," She said before tossing the notebook back at me, which led me to drop the thing on the floor.

"Thank you," I said after catching it and removing the dirt.

"Just don't talk to me, unless it's necessary," She said before walking away from me.

As you wish. I mumbled while placing the book in the chest by my bed.

The next thing I did was fetch my uniform and head to the bath. Something that I quickly came to regret as it was a public bathroom, with no separation between genders. And once more, there was a lot of mares in the water. Luckily for me, they were wrapped up in towels. I wrapped myself with one in a rush before heading to the corner furthest from the ponies present. I think there were about thirty or so mares and stallions in there (once more the number of mares exceeded the stallion count by a vast margin).

I forgot to look for soap. And there it is. What about shampoo? What? Oh, right, Magic. I concluded after watching the objects materialize on a plate that had conveniently floated towards me. Washing as fast as I could, I got up and went to dry myself in the adjacent room. With that done, I put on the boxers and then headed to bed. I wasn't exactly fit, and I had lost weight fast due to the little coma I was forced through, so, I covered myself to hide my appearance as much as I could.

I'm still trying to figure out how I survived 5 days without food and water.

I slept while hugging my uniform tightly. And that was when something hit me like a truck. I woke up sweating and gasping for air as my chest felt as if an elephant was sleeping on me. I opened my eyes and rolled off the bed with a thud. Getting up took a lot of effort. As soon as I finally managed to stand, I felt the pressure in my chest move to the rest of my torso. A strong urge to vomit took over as I quickly ran in the dark towards the opposite end of the enormous communal barracks. By some miracle or other, I managed to get into a stall and throw my guts in the toilet. At the time I didn't even pay attention to the fact the middle ages had plumbing.

I kept spilling my guts into the toilet, some type of black tar came out of my mouth until I passed out.

"Wake up!" I heard a commanding voice as my ears rang loudly. "First night and you're," The one speaking was definitely Silver Hoof, but my vision was too blurry to confirm. Whatever the case, her scolding was put on a halt after I tried to get up and ended up slipping. "What in Tartarus happened here?" She asked as I tried my best to lift my head from the sticky black substance that had clogged the toilet and had filled it all the way to the top. "Hey, bug! Wake up!" I heard as I felt something grabbing my shoulder. "You threw up again. Wait. What happened to your face?"

I'm not sure what happened next. But I guess that I was brought to the hospital or something close to it. Because, when my senses started to return I saw a tray in front of me with a bucket filled with some sort of weird black ooze that was moving on its own. It had a mouth that resembled that of a leech that appeared on multiple spots at the same time. It looked like something out of Lovecraftian Eldritch Horror stories.

"That is a Stain Leech," The familiar voice from the Princess made me look to the side. Strangely enough, my eyesight had improved a bit as well as my hearing. She also looked taller than before, only a little. "As ghastly as these things may look, they tend to be beneficial to their host's health. Although, this one was heavily modified through alchemy and magic."

I didn't respond to the explanation. I kept staring at the blob with one thing in mind. Was this thing inside me?

"Normally, they are not visible to the naked eye. And they feast on toxic substances on a creature's skin or inside the host's body. Many ponies are coexisting with them without knowing of the parasite," She continued while looking inside the bucket. "That is mainly because they feed slowly. This thing, however," She said as her hand hovered over the bucket. This caused the leech thing to lunge at her hand. However, Celestia was faster and the leech missed the target. "This thing is ravenous. And it attached its digestive system to your stomach. And kept feasting at the damaged parts of your organs, blood, fat, and pretty much anything deleterious to your health, or that was in some way damaged to its perspective. They don't behave like that. They pick an area and eat from it slowly."

"W-where was this thing?" I stuttered while watching the leech move back into the bucket.

"Our doctors found it around and inside your heart. But the curious thing about it isn't where it was. It's both the effect it had as well as what it did to the areas it ate," Celestia answered before making a brief pause and using her magic to summon a mirror that she handed to me. "See for yourself."

Looking at my reflection, I expected some type of mutation or transformation to have deformed me. What I got actually scared me a bit more. I look like I'm seventeen again. What the hell? I mused while examining my longer hair and my less exhausted expression. College did a number on me and pretty much everyone I met.

"You look younger, as do your organs. At least, that's what our doctors concluded after analyzing your body with a few spells. Now, there is a small chance that some of it might still be in you," Celestia said. I responded by dropping the mirror and stared at her face. "It was attached to your heart. And as you can see, it doesn't have a fixed form. So, some pieces of it might have gotten loose in your blood vessels."

"So, I have babies of THAT running inside me?" I asked to confirm what I had just heard since the face of seventeen-year-old me was still dancing around like an idiot blocking my brain, preventing me from doing anything properly. Celestia nodded in response. "Great! Teleported, arrested, judged, enlisted, just discovered that I am illiterate, and now I have an eldritch parasite running through my blood," I whined while looking at my hands.

"Excuse me, but, did you just say you're illiterate?" Celestia inquired as a nurse passed by and nearly fainted from the black ooze in the bucket. I immediately facepalmed at my idiocy.

"I learned that I can't read or write Equis. I can read and write in the common tongue. It's no big deal," I replied while sinking my face on my hand.

I didn't use to whine. What is wrong with me? Oh, right! Everything! I concluded before pushing the tray to the side and getting up. I still had my boxers. But, my uniform? I left it in the barracks.

"I believe these are yours?" Celestia said as my uniform floated towards me. Once again, when I touched it, they shrunk ever so slightly. I ended my growth spurt later since I started later. I didn't reach my full height until I was half-way through my eighteens.

"Thank you, Your highness," I said while putting the uniform on in a rush. "I need to go. Captain Silver Hoof is probably giving the orientation now. Once more, thank you for your kindness," I added before making a quick half-baked salute and trying to rush out of the place. Only to realize, that I had no idea as to where I was going. Therefore, with a resigned sigh, I returned to the place where I had woken up. "I'm sorry. But I have no idea how to navigate this place. How do I get back to the barracks?"

The princess chuckled at my stupidity. I'm glad that at least I'm making someone smile. She looks like she needs it.

"The orientation is already over. You've been asleep for half a day. You were also getting hydrated through an IV," She said with a smirk as I felt sweat form on my forehead. "Don't worry. The long and short is simpler than you think. The first training session is tomorrow. Silver has a habit of scaring the recruits on the first day. Makes the ones looking for easy money quit right off the bat," She added while smiling at my reactions.

"Um, so, what do I do now?" I asked bluntly while trying to keep a somewhat presentable posture.

"You will come with me so I can get you a teacher in Equis. If you're going to be a guard, you need to know how to read, write, and perhaps speak Equis," Celestia said as she gestured me to follow. Technically speaking, I am a guard in training, so, if she ordered me to follow, by proxy I had to do so unless something shady happened.

Thus, I ended up in a forty-minute walk through a maze of corridors that looked the same except for a couple of decorations that didn't help much either. Repeated vases and flowers, repeated banners, the eventual windows, and sometimes a bust of Celestia's profile. So, yeah, I would be very lost without Celestia as my guide. I guess this is how some of these ponies look at her.

"What do you think of my castle?" She asked without looking at me.

"It is very grand. It is impressive," I said while trying not to let my mouth speak my thoughts out loud.

"Well, the architects were adamant in making this a large palace. And they were adamant about making it in the semblance of my "immaculate" image. And while I appreciate the effort, I find them, rather bland," Celestia said as we continued on our path. I had no idea if we were heading somewhere or if she was stalling for time.

Tell me about it. It's a sea of blinding white in here. I mused while looking at a vase with purple flowers that added a much-needed touch of color to that place.

"Tell me the truth, would have it changed?" Celestia asked while glancing at me over her shoulder.

I guess I need to answer? Is she testing me here? I pondered while trying to figure out a way to express myself without being disrespectful. That was when I took notice of her mane and tail floating in three different colors, as well as her golden horseshoes, necklace, wristbands, and crown.

"Well, as beautiful as your coat may look, you also have other colors. And they are also a part of your image. Unless there is someone else with a mane like yours. Your golden accessories also stand out. They accentuate the rest of you. So, I guess adding some color to the decorations would be showing that there is more to you than, all this white," I said while looking at the gardens outside. "Look, the gardens make the castle look alive. So, maybe, decorating it would make it look more lively?"

"What about the desires of the architects? They poured their hearts and souls into this place. Should I just overlook them?" She asked readily, almost in a rehearsed way, while turning to face me and halting our walk.

How many times did you talk about this with others? I would bet almost eighty, or something close to it. And if that's the case, why are you having this conversation with me? I mused while staring at her for a second or two.

"If hurting their memory is what worries you, why don't you make a session of the palace decorated after the story of this place? How it was built and so forth?" I suggested while keeping a somewhat decent posture. This seemed to catch the princess by surprise as, for the first time, she didn't seem amused or trying to make me say something specific.

"That is probably a first. I'll have to consider that. Maybe, should I try setting up a section for some important events in Equestria?" She said more to herself than to me as she absentmindedly held her chin with her fingers and looked at the walls. Celestia started walking away once more, however, her pace was faster than before. Meaning I had to jog to keep up with her.

We must have walked for about ten to fifteen minutes. And Celestia only stopped because we ran into someone else. That someone else being a Pink winged unicorn with her mane tied up on a ponytail and wearing a dress that you usually see on female characters from cartoons. The good-girl type of character. This mare had a bunch of books in her hands and was about as tall as Silver, maybe slightly shorter than her.

"Good afternoon, Aunt!" She greeted cheerfully. This seemed to snap Celestia out of her thoughts as she abruptly stopped in the middle of the hall.

Ok. So, Celestia has a family after all. I concluded while standing at attention.

"Oh! Nice to see you, Cadance," Celestia greeted while regaining her composure.

"Did something happen? You're not usually this distracted," Cadance inquired as she completely ignored my presence. Not that I cared at that point. After getting a fair share of weird looks by just about everyone I met, managing to keep a low profile for once was an accomplishment in my books.

"Oh, just pondering over some ideas I received from a recruit," Celestia said before gasping and looking back at me. "Now that's a relief, you managed to keep up. I do apologize, it seems I got too engrossed in the idea of bringing a bit more life to this place," Celestia said in an apologetic tone that also made Cadance realize my presence.

"Realize" being an understatement. Her eyes looked like they were ready to jump out of their sockets. I couldn't tell if she was curious, scared, both, or something else entirely. I would bet on scared and something else. Mainly because I felt the same way from when I was back at the barracks. Or maybe, I'm just paranoic? It would make sense given my situation.

"Um, Aunt, who is this?" She asked while keeping her eyes on me.

Thank you. At least you asked who I am instead of what I am. I thanked while bowing before her.

"This is Arthur Liney. Due to some unfortunate circumstances, he is stuck here in Equos. We just added him to our new roster of recruits. However, we overlooked a small detail. Mr. Liney here is illiterate in the Equis language. Therefore, I decided to take it upon myself to find him a teacher," Celestia explained as I kept my bow, even if my back were hurting. Again, not the most athletic or flexible individual in school, high school, or college. "But, what brings you to this part of the castle?"

"I, er, I needed to deliver these books back to the library!" She replied while obviously trying to come up with an excuse.

Celestia chuckled a bit before turning to me. "Well, it seems I need to add some signs for my staff and other guests as part of the decorations. My niece seems to have lost herself. The library is on the opposite side of the castle. We are close to the barracks!" Celestia said with a coy smile as Cadance's wings seemed to pop and she hid behind her books. I heard a few steps before listening to a piece of what Celestia whispered to Cadance. "Your friend should be bathing now. You can probably see him if you," I couldn't hear the rest. Celestia must have spoken in an extremely low voice.

Standing at attention again, I saw Cadance's wings get stiffer as she blushed like a tomato. Weird way of speaking about a quote-on-quote friend, mentioning the baths, and a flustered character that looks like they are about to let the steam come out of their ears. Ok, she is about to try and peep at someone in the baths, isn't she? I concluded while staring into nothing.

"I, I see. W-well, I need to go," Cadance said while turning away from Celestia.

"Cadance," Celestia said before Cadance could make much ground. "Would you be a dear and teach, Mr. Liney here?" Celestia asked as I broke character and looked back at Cadance. Only at that moment did I realized something, Cadance had a tiara on her head like Celestia's. Meaning, she was probably a princess as well.

"Sure!" She shot back before running off, post-haste.

"Well, I believe that matter has been dealt with. And with a fair exchange nonetheless," Celestia said with a chuckle.

She is quite the manipulator, isn't she? I pondered while staring at Celestia. Just a reminder, I had no shoes on, and my feet were killing me.

"I believe I kept you away from the barracks for long enough. Your things must have been moved to the barracks already. I'll leave you at your door. Do remember to knock, will you?" Celestia said before firing up her horn.

Unlike Silver's teleportation magic, I didn't feel as much nausea, nor did it hurt. I actually felt a bit of warmth in the aura before appearing before a wooden door, room O-97. There was a nameplate on the door with two names etched into it. One of them was scratched and had a name written over it.

Fizzelberry Che-something? I concluded while trying to read the scratched name. Tempest Shadow. Arthur Liney. Ok then, try to be friendly. You will deal with this pony for quite some time. So, make a good first impression. I advised while raising my hand and building up my courage before knocking on the door.

"Excuse me?" I said while knocking on the door. "I'm Arthur Liney. Your new roommate. And I believe, your new training partner?" I said while trying to sound calm.

I heard the door being unlocked. The door opened and I saw the mare from before. The one that translated the diary's inscriptions to me. She had a tank-top shirt on with gym shorts on. She was covered in sweat, breathing through her shoulders, and didn't seem all too pleased to see me.

"At least you only spoke to me when necessary," She said before grabbing my hand and shoving a key into my hands. "Keep to your side of the room and don't speak to me unless it's necessary."

"Understood," I mumbled before entering and realizing that by "my side" she meant a small portion of the room. She had taken over most of the space with her own set of weights and a punching bag. It was clear that I wasn't welcome. But, since I'm going to need to deal with her for who knows how long, it's best to try and make things as smooth as possible.

Someone had to take the initiative to make things work out. Therefore, I will it upon myself to start things out. First, I need to let her know that I am there to work with her, not against her. And I think the best way to do that, for now, is to comply with her conditions and try my best on the training tomorrow.

Who am I kidding? I'm screwed.

Subject file: Arthur Liney.

Age: 26 (as reported by the subject).

Apparent age: 17.

Affiliation: Unknown.

The analysis of the entries written by the subject indicates considerable fear of his surroundings as well as an attempt to be a part of his new environment. Although, most of his decisions thus far seem to be biased by the knowledge he must have brought from his homeland. This could lead to problems adjusting should this information be wrong. Almost all of his choices seem to be driven by an instinct of self-preservation. And given the subject's situation, his responses are understandable and don't seem to harbor any ill intent.

Thus far there are no signs of psychological issues or anything that would deem the subject unfit for training or interactions with other ponies.

Doctor's analysis: FIT FOR DUTY.

Recommendation: Therapy sessions to smoothen the subject's adaptation to their new environment.

Signed: Dr. Night Light.

The updated list of things to learn:

1-Read and write Equis,
2-History and laws,
3-Survival Skills,
4-Swordplay,
5-Self-defense (?)
6-

Author's Note

ANOTHER ONE!

Thank you so much for reading!

If you could be so kind as to let me know what you thought of the chapter, please, leave a comment! I would love to hear your feedback.

Thank you once more!