Mystic and I quickly walked through the hospital. My comfortable trotting rhythm was barely able to keep up with his far longer strides. I sighed in relief that I'd not had to keep pace with the Princess. If I had to guess she must have been seven-foot tall. Our walk brought us past yet more nurses and doctors bustling about their activity, my gaze lingering on their rears to examine the mark on them. By the time we reached the main lobby, my running tally was forty different doctors or nurses, and thirty-seven medical-related marks.

I opened my mouth to speak as Mystic's horn lit up and pushed the door open to let us leave the hospital. The sunlight streamed through the open door and straight into my unprepared retinas. Any words I'd been about to say transformed into a grunt of pain followed by a startled yelp. In my infinite wisdom, I'd raised a foreleg to shield my eyes, only to try and continue trotting along without thinking.

To all the horses in the lobby, it must have been a bizarre sight. The headmaster of Hoofington Unicorn Academy opened a door for a small unicorn colt. Who immediately fell face first, down the short set of steps leading out of the hospital. I lay on the ground, cursing both the sun and my human muscle memory. Thankfully I hadn't hurt myself, I thought, only some dull throbs that lingered from my treatment.

With a flick of his horn, Mystic lifted me to my hooves and dusted me off. I couldn't help but smile in childlike wonder, magic was real, and I could learn it! That was certainly worth some of the pain we'd been through. Once I was standing again, I couldn't help but inspect the town we were in.

Thatch roofed houses sprawled for a decent distance, some buildings standing out with bright colours or architecture that seemed out of place. I could easily spot the town hall, or what I thought was the town hall. A large clocktower built atop its roof with a bizarre two-faced clock, Roman numerals counting up to sixteen on one and eight on the other. The clock's puzzling design aside, I felt like I was in a town on the verge of the Renaissance. The largest building other than the town hall was what I'd guess was Mystic's Academy. Based on the large statue of Princess Celestia, I could see shining in the sunlight out front.

For lack of a better term, I couldn't help but describe the place as picturesque. My eyesight wasn't the greatest at this distance, but I could make out a bustling market going on in the town square. A small amount of excitement building at the idea of experiencing what that must be like. I was brought out of my site seeing by a cough from Mystic.

"Asher, you've been staring for five minutes. We're almost blocking the path. Is everything alright?" He seemed wary judging by his voice, but I could still hear a little concern mingled in there.

"I'm alright just taking it all in, I suppose? It's very different from what everything looked like back home." I wasn't wrong, back home there would be paved roads, more than five streetlights, and many other minor comforts. Although back home, I'd also be living on base, dealing with constant noise and people barging into the mess. Despite my excitement, I still have questions about this world weighing on my mind. How I wanted to slap myself when I realised I could just ask Mystic.

"What's the explanation for the marks on your rear ends? Every horse I've seen has had one, even the Princess." The look on Mystic's face can only be described as if he'd just watch me shoot his mother before pissing on her carpet. A mixture of outrage, confusion and frustration.

"Firstly, we are ponies. Do not use that other word. Thank Faust you didn't ask that question to the Princess, do you have any idea what that word means?" He began, my ears folding back as I couldn't help but cower before the weapons-grade rant I had unwittingly called upon my head. Mystic, to his credit, stopped and took a deep breath before opening his mouth to speak. "To answer your actual question, that is called a cutiemark. It symbolises a ponies special talent, mine shows my talent for magic."

I looked at Mystic's rear, and after he lifted the cloak, he wore slightly. I could clearly see his cutiemark, a wand which seemed to be in the middle of casting a spell. Nodding to myself, I looked at my own rear, noting that it was blank. Presumably, that meant I hadn't discovered what my talent was? Or perhaps what I'd done on earth didn't count?

"Although mine isn't purely magic mind you, to be specific, it's a talent for demonstration and explanation. Hence why I went into teaching." Mystic continued, my interest in his cutiemark waning as he spoke about the importance of spreading knowledge and harmony.

After what felt like thirty minutes but was probably closer to five, Mystic finally finished his impromptu speech. Having told me not only about the importance of teaching. Also, how he'd obtained his cutiemark when explaining part of a complicated spell that Princess Celestia had asked him to break down as part of his homework. The only part that caught my interest was the name of somepony called "Starswirl the bearded." He sounded fascinating, like some kind of arch wizard. However, I couldn't help but wonder if he literally had a beard or if ponies could even grow facial hair.

"Should we get going, sir?" I asked, realising that if Mystic would teach me at his academy, I should probably show him some respect. Mystic looked a little surprised before he nodded and started trotting into town again. A gentle breeze blowing through my mane, bringing the smell of citrus fruits with it. My mouth watered at the scent, wanting nothing more than to bury my muzzle in a bowl of oranges.

"Asher, I know your actual past, why did you call me, sir?" Mystic asked, yanking me out of my idle fantasies about increasingly large amounts of fruit.

"When I attended school, male teachers always preferred to be called Sir. It's a mark of respect where I'm from, or at least where I grew up." I explained as we continued into town, finally entering into the city proper enough to hear the market's noise. By my guess, we were going to have to cross the market, then another few minutes and we'd be at the school.

The noise of the market grew louder and louder as we trotted toward it. One voice managing to rise above the clamour, shouting about something I couldn't quite make out. I rounded the corner to head into the market with a little excitement, staying relatively close to Mystic. My size meant I couldn't really part the crowd to get through at all. Having to resort to scrambling through gaps, Mystic looked at me as if I was mad when I realised he was moving through the crowd creating a small path behind him.

Feeling like an idiot, I fell behind Mystic, letting him serve as an ice breaker to clear the chaotic haggling crowd around us. The voice I'd heard earlier was growing steadily louder, and after bouncing to see, I managed to spot its source. A yellow mare was standing on two legs on top of a table, a large top hat perched on her head and a brightly coloured coat with tails flowing in the breeze behind her. She continued her yelling, gesturing with a cane held in the crook of her ankle towards the crowd.

"Fillies and Gentlecolts! Come one come all, Crème Caramel's Candy Carnival! Purveyor of the finest treats and confectionaries in hoofington! We have chocolates of all kinds, Taffy, Toffee, Banoffee pies, and all sorts of others made fresh daily!" Her speech stopped as I saw a hoof wave in front of her prompting her to disappear from view. I could only guess she'd attracted a customer. Mystic was still walking, which meant I had to try and gallop to catch up, my frustratingly stubby legs refusing to achieve the same speed they had in the forest. Although I supposed, I had some excellent motivation to hurry when I was in the woods.

In contrast, now I was merely trying to catch up. Mystic and I wove our way through the crowd. The mare I could only assume was Crème Caramel resuming her yelling as we finally reached the edge of the market. I wanted to go back and browse some of the stalls, but that desire promptly collapsed when I realised I had nothing to my name.

I did my best to keep pace with Mystic whilst thinking over my situation. Presumably, the Princess had considered tuition? If they even charged for education here, which they might not. I could understand free tuition if it was for magic. The last thing anyo...anypony would want is to have an untrained unicorn accidentally blow themselves up. Although I suppose I'd shown some aptitude with magic by using dark magic in the forest, even if that was with Shadow's help.

Mystic continued walking only to stop before he turned the corner, noticing the absence of his charge. Turning, he saw me standing in the middle of the street, my eyes slightly unfocused and distracted. I could see Mystic trot back over to me, his face painted with concern and potentially panic.

"Asher?" My thoughts came crashing down as I shuddered, mentally noting to not go searching around my own head again for a while. I looked up at Mystic, my eyes refocusing as I yawned. A wave of exhaustion passed over me as my entire body felt heavy.

"I'm fine, Sir, just tired, I think. How far is the academy?" I asked, praying to whatever god would answer me, equine or not, that the academy wasn't far from here. My legs felt like they would collapse out from under me at the slightest gust of wind. Mystic seemed to notice my legs as they wobbled under me, the concern in his eyes growing as he approached me.

"Just around up the hill and on the right is the student accommodation where you and your friends are staying, are you sure you're alright? Perhaps we should take you back to the hospital?" Mystic asked, placing a foreleg on my shoulder as he tried to make sure I wouldn't collapse. In response, I shook my head and forged on up the hill despite the exhaustion. I was convinced that all I needed was a sit-down and the desire to be reunited with my friends helped me push on.
____________________________________________________________________________

The short walk to the building Mystic had indicated only took five minutes, but it felt like an hour as I was forced to lean against Mystic's body to stay upright. The humble-looking two-story building before me seemed straight out of a history book. A small plaque on the doorway stated "Hoofington Unicorn Academy, Student Block B.". Mystic let me go, once he was sure I wouldn't just keel over sideways, his horn lighting up and surrounding the lock with his orange glow. The sound of a bolt unlocking echoed out into the relatively quiet afternoon air. Before the door swung inwards revealing a startled looking unicorn filly with a cream coat and her mane done up into twin tails, one red and the other orange.

"Asher!" she yelled before practically tackling me, hugging her forelegs around my neck as the other two of my friends emerged from further inside the building. "Thank God, Celestia, Luna or whoever the hell made sure you recovered. We thought you were dying when they took you away from us once we made it here. They had you in chains even though you were unconscious, it was so cruel!" Katty's rant was swiftly cut off by a cough from Tibbs behind her.

"Maybe we let Asher get into the building before we accost him?" Tibbs' suggestion thankfully caused Katty to let go of my neck before I ran out of air. Sheepishly she stepped back into the house, and I followed her, unable to stop my jaw from dropping. The building was like no student accommodation I'd ever lived in, a lush red carpet led into the foyer. Stairs leading upstairs with a plaque reading "rooms 1-4" and an arrow pointing upstairs. Aside from that, I could see a decently sized kitchen to my right and to my left seemed to be two bathrooms as well as a well-appointed dining room. I was snapped out of my daze of admiring the place by Mystic launching into another speech.

"As requested by Princess Celestia, you four have been assigned to live here. This block was under renovations before now, so no other students were planned to be here so that all works out. Asher, class begins at the main academy building down the road on Monday. You've all got the weekend free to explore the town as you feel, but my door is open for you all should you need to ask about anything." Mystic said before he turned and trotted out the door, shutting it behind him and leaving us standing in silence. I had a few days off to relax; it seemed before classes began, which meant learning magic! I couldn't help as an excited grin formed on my lips at the prospect.

"Alright, time to speak Asher, what happened? You look like shit, more than you normally do mind you" Maya broke the silence, punching my shoulder with a hoof before heading for the dining room. I chuckled and followed her, all four of us settling around the table before I took a deep breath to try and explain the meeting with a goddess. My story took the best part of thirty minutes, trying to put the sensation of her presence into words was the hardest part. The mixture of fear and awe that I had felt was utterly alien to me, and based on the other's reactions, they didn't understand what I was trying to say. As I wrapped up and explained the uneventful walk across town, Maya was the first to speak. "Oh, you saw Caramel then? She's pretty nice, Mystic introduced us to her to get us out of the hospital whilst the doctors did something with your legs."

"What actually happened after I passed out?" I asked, unsure of what had happened. The others filled me in. From the dark magic leaking from my eyes, the arrival of the two Lunar Knights, one of whom I recognised from their description as my escort back at the hospital. After that, they talked about the walk into town. How apparently they had been taken to the town jail and left in a cell overnight after the guard had taken me away. Mystic met them in the morning, taking them one at a time to interview them and how he'd explained what he wanted to do with the Princesses support. After that they'd been shown to this house and had the other Lunar knight supervise them for the next two days, following them wherever they went. He'd apparently flown off this morning, about the time I guessed I'd woken up and the Princess was called, so they probably had both knights report to her before she met me. By the time we were done talking, only two things were on my mind, food and passing out for the next twelve hours.

As if she could tell that I was mentally weighing the pros and cons of eating one of my own legs, Katty jumped up and galloped to the kitchen with a little panicked squee. My confusion was swiftly solved when I looked behind me and saw a clock on the wall. Closely followed by seeing Katty waddling on her hind legs with her forelegs carefully cradling a bowl of what had to be the most heavenly smelling soup I'd ever smelt. The warm earthy scent filled the room as Katty set the bowl down on the table, Maya rummaging in a cabinet behind her before placing smaller bowls onto the table.

"I lost track of time and forgot we had this waiting in the oven" Katty admitted, Tibbs rolled his eyes before chuckling. "Not the first time Katty, at least it didn't burn again." Tibbs' snark was met by a glare from the chef as she started attempting to ladle soup into the bowls Maya had grabbed. We watched her struggle before she gave up, letting Tibbs take over with the incredible gift known as hands. I couldn't help but smile as we sat at the table, sure the past few days that I had been awake were insane, but things were looking up now.

Dinner was a pretty calm affair, the four of us content with eating in silence. Tibbs took the empty bowls back to the kitchen whilst those of us without hands sat back and relaxed. I could only guess that it was because of the new pony tongue that a vegetable soup had tasted so good.

"Oh yeah, you've got room four upstairs," Maya said as she slipped from the chair onto her hooves. Katty followed behind her, the two of them yawning before turning to head upstairs. "Night Asher, Night Tibbs" came two good-byes as they disappeared from sight.

A moment later, Tibbs came back, sitting opposite me as I looked out the window. My eyes fixated by the full moon rising on the horizon. A soft blue glow had surrounded it, seemingly lifting it and guiding it into place as it floated in the heavens. Following behind it, a wave of blue magic brought forth starts in the inky black void.

"You know it's one of the Princesses doing that apparently" Tibbs chimed in, having seen what I was fixed on. "I figure it's that blue one we saw in the sky that first night. How you described Celestia matched that white one, that we saw don't you think? Makes sense to me the blue one would be her sister, not sure what her name is though."

"Luna" I supplied, the name popping into my head somehow as I thought back to the display we'd watched in the sky. The connection took a second as I thought back, the image of a bearded unicorn in the sky. "The other one we saw must have been Starswirl the bearded then, Mystic talked about him on the way over."

Tibbs nodded sagely, clearly seeing my logic. A comfortable silence returning for a moment only to be broken by a sigh. "Wish my liquor cabinet had come with us. I'd kill for a brandy right now."

The laughter started softly as Tibbs laughed at his own joke before I soon joined in. Regardless of what world we were in, it seems some things would never change.

Author's Note

Already working on ch7 don't worry, taking it a little slower to iron out some of my own lore as well as introduce Asher to some important events in Equestria.

Lemme know what you all think of this chapter!