The Envoy

Current time.

PoV: Ray.

The Sun was high in the sky, generously pouring its warm rays to the lands below. If I was on Earth, I’d say it was around midday, but here… Here you can’t judge the time of the day by the position of the Sun, as it stays in place for the most of the day. It takes only slightly more than an hour for it to set down or rise up when days and nights transition into each other, and now we are closing in to the moment when the Sun begins to set. What a weird world! Falda’ar told me something about this unconventional magic-driven planetary system, but didn’t go into much detail. Well, that’s not so important at the moment, apart from me unable to tell approximate time by looking at the Sun.

All three of us are sitting on the grass, actively munching on fruits and vegetables. We don’t have time to cook anything anyway. I was throwing frequent glances at Sapphira and Lily. What they did a few minutes ago surprised me greatly, but at that time I was just finished treating Lily and my mind was relaxed after great concentration. After all, I could not be negligent while healing Lily.

But damn! Lily acting mischievous was so cute and… hot! And then Sapphira kissed her gently! Who can stay indifferent to such a show? I knew she liked Lily, of course, but I didn’t think it was to this extent, or maybe all ponies are just like that. Perhaps, it is not that surprising after that life and death battle we have gone through together!

But those things aside, it seems it all comes to a situation where I’ll have two mares on my hands. Not that I’m against it, it’s just my old world’s rules are still giving me that little tingling somewhere in a far corner of my mind. I can see Sapphira will be more than happy to make our couple into a trio. I have an impression she is pushing Lily too hard, but unlike Sapphira, I can’t read emotions. I may well be wrong!

And while I was thinking about these sugary matters, my gaze was subconsciously glued to Lily’s face. Then my mind finally figured out she is looking back at me, smiling coyly. Sapphira was whispering something in her ear. Whoa! Do they already have some secrets between them?

“Is there something on my face, Ray?” Lily asked innocently, but I can see Sapphira’s trademark sarcasm in her words. Nope, girls, I’m not a teenager to get embarrassed by such things! I’m game! My slight smile transformed into a satisfied grin.

“It’s just my eyes tend to look at the prettiest things around when I’m in thoughts! And you two just happen to be exactly those!” I chuckled and lay down on the grass on my side, propping my head with a hand, continuing to observe this two sly mares. They are up to some something!

“Just look at him! What a flatterer!” Sapphira said laughingly. “But he is not lying! You know, Lily, he is a terrible liar!” Sapphira laughed. “To his credit!”

Lily giggled, covering her mouth with her hoof.

“Oh! Let’s play a little game!” Sapphira said conspiratorially to Lily. “The game is called ‘Ask Ray’, and he can’t lie or stay silent.” She looked at me, smiling.

“Huh? Sapphi, what are you up to?” I asked with a raised brow. “And this game doesn’t look fair to me!” I added, chuckling. “But whatever! Ask away!” I waved my hand.

“Lily? Do you want to ask him something?” Sapphira asked her, but seeing Lily’s confused look, she turned back to me. “Alright, I’ll ask in her stead. Do you like Lily, as a mare? Say it to her!”

I choked a little on the fruit I was chewing from the unexpectedness of such question. But after biting the bullet I’m not going back on my words. She definitely knows the answer herself, what a schemer! I pondered for a little while before saying: “Sapphira, you’re at it again! Ah, alright!” I sighed and turned to Lily, “Lily, I really like you. I find you attractive, if it’s what you wanted to know. Yeah, that’s an awkward thing to say out of the blue, but I’ve promised to answer!”

Lily held her hoof to her cheek bashfully, but didn’t break eye contact. Lily’s reaction elicited a smile from me.

“Really?” said Lily. A spark of genuine interest could be seen in her eyes. “And… what about my fangs, eyes, and also wings?” Lily put her hoof on her lip near one of her fangs. “You know… ponies are often apprehensive of me because of... my appearance. Like some stallions who can look at my rear for minutes, but when I turn around to face them, they turn tail, making up some silly excuses and going away! I rarely visit those places where a lot of thestrals live, so it’s a common occurrence for me, usually.” Lily said regretfully, but still was expecting my answer.

“Huh? Lily, just look at Sapphira! You know my feelings for her. Those eyes and fangs are her unique beauty! And the same I can say about you! Anyone who turns away from you because of this are fools, no less! Such cute fangs and eyes… who can dislike them?” I said, gesturing actively with my hands. I really held some contempt for those who treated Lily and others this way, just because of their a bit predatory appearance. That said, it may be harder to ‘integrate’ into pony society than I initially thought…

“Thanks, Ray! I’m flattered!” said Lily with a mysterious smile and turned to Sapphira.

“Told you!” said Sapphira with a contented look.

Seems they communicate a lot between themselves when I’m not around. Well, women are women, no matter which world. Seeing everyone has finished with their food I got up and walked up to the two mares sitting before me together. I got to one knee and hugged them by their necks, pressing their bodies against mine lightly.

“Thank you, girls, I would have never made it out without you two!” I said what I should have said a long time ago already. “Love you both!” I lightly kissed Sapphira and then Lily on their cheeks. Sapphira kissed me back on the cheek without much thinking, followed by Lily’s light peck on the other cheek.

“Don’t think you can get away with just a kiss on the cheek, Ray. I’ll get what you owe me later!” Sapphira said, giggling.

“Alright, let’s go, time is tight!” I stroked their manes one last time and got up. As much as I like to hug and fool around with them, we really need to go now. Our little interaction charged me with energy and motivation to finish our journey faster. “I’m getting addicted to hugging with ponies!” I thought jokingly to myself with a satisfied smile on my lips. We buckled up our bags and were ready to go.

“Follow me!” Lily said, going past me, her fluffy tail ran along my side.

Living with Sapphira for several days, I can already discern some of the subtle signals of their body language. And this one… was not at all subtle! I sighed. Aren’t the things between us going too fast? I and Sapphira had a unique case, so to speak, but Lily? Are ponies that fast in such matters? Or maybe it is us, humans, who are slow? But whatever! If it’s her choice, I won’t reject her! I like her a lot, after all!

Lily picked up a trot. With their smaller size and much shorter body length, than their animal counterparts from my planet, it was a speed of my fast walk. Damn it! It’s an insult to compare them to ponies from Earth, like comparing humans to gorillas! I should not think in this way!

We followed Lily across the meadow, closing in towards another forested area. We were already close to the forest, and at this moment when we’ve heard the noise of a train ahead. Steel wheels rolling on the rails and steam exhaust were making those unique noises you can never mistake for anything else.

“Ha-ha! We’ve made it!” I exclaimed when I saw railway tracks ahead, going across the forest from the north to the south. The trees around the railway were cut down.

“Let’s see how far we are from the station!” said Lily and flew up, with Sapphira following her.

I was looking at them from below; they talked about something, gesturing with their hooves actively. After having their talk, they returned to me with beaming smiles.

“The supply station is not too far away, we will be there in an hour or so, going along the tracks.” said Lily joyfully.

“Let’s hurry I’m so tired of all that endless forests!” replied Sapphira. She was obviously eager to leave her old life behind.

“Alright!” I said and picked up my pace. This time, they chose to fly above the rails rather than walk on the uneven ground, continuing their talk, and I had nothing against them having some private chat. So I was just pushing forward to the north, thinking about my own stuff.

Sunset, expedition camp at the ruins.

After a busy day of tedious work, the newly arrived pegasi have finally loaded all of the ancient relics onto the freight flying carriages. It was decided to rest for one more night and depart in the morning.

Twilight was sitting on the edge of a large pillow which could substitute a bed for a pony. Spike was already snoring serenely. Starlight entered the tent from the outside, her silhouette was surrounded by the halo of the setting Sun.

“What’s the matter, Twilight?” asked Starlight.

Twilight looked at her, thinking for a moment, then raised her hooves and fell backwards, plopping onto pillow. Her eyes were staring at the ceiling of the tent.

“I’m… bored!” she said with unreadable expression on her face. “I can’t believe I’m actually saying it, but I’m bored!” Twilight shifted her gaze back to Starlight.

Starlight just looked incredulously at Twilight with a raised brow.

“What, Starlight? Surprised? I’m too! But you know… we have found nothing yesterday, and today too!” - Twilight’s eyes slowly returned to the ceiling. - “Even our endeavors to explore the submerged pyramid with Princess Luna didn’t bear any fruits… Everything has been robbed away by some treasure hunters ages ago!” Twilight sighed before continuing: “And I’ve finished all of my books I took with me! I don’t even have anything to read! And I’m not too keen on doing my current magic research without my important notes, which I left back in the castle…”

Starlight sat on the other pillow nearby. She too felt something similar from the lack of results and having nothing to do this evening.

“I feel the same too, Twilight!” said Starlight with a sigh.

“And there were no gems! That big one in the room is inedible! What a disappointment!” Spike woke up and shared his own complaints in a sleepy voice, before flipping on another side and closing his eyes again, yawning.

“Oh, spike, don’t tell me you tried eating the lighting crystal!” said Twilight reproachfully.

“I didn’t, it does not smell tasty!” said Spike grudgingly.

Twilight sighed again. “Oh Celestia! But that’s good you didn’t chew it!”

“Twilight, why didn’t you ask the Princess about the thing we discussed yesterday?” said Starlight in dissatisfaction.

“I…” Twilight stopped when the silhouette at the entrance blocked the rays of the setting.

“And what exactly did you want to ask me, girls?” Princess Luna appeared before them unexpectedly, looking at Starlight.

“I… We… We are confused about the goals of this expedition. What we were searching for all this time? Why we were searching for harmful magic in the area?” Starlight gathered her courage and asked the Princess the question that was gnawing on her mind for the past day.

Luna sighed before speaking: “I don’t know what we should have found here myself. But about the harmful magic, I think you two have a right to know.” Luna walked to the last pillow in the tent and sat on it.

“You all know about the Everfree forest, right? But did you think we could have chosen this place to build the capital city if it was the same as it is now?” Luna looked at her companions attentively.

Twilight was already sitting on the pillow, greedily listening to what Princess had to say. Even spike got up and sat on his bed, listening.

“But the books…” Twilight wanted to say something.

“Forget the books! I and my sister witnessed it firsthand!” Luna made a pause, thinking through what she was about to say. “It all began not too long before I got imprisoned on the Moon by my sister… We both felt it that night. Something strange happened in the nearby forest, which is now known as Everfree. That forest where the Tree of Harmony was planted. Vast waves of horrible magic appeared suddenly and undulated from there, their source unknown. Similar things happened before across the Equis too, but usually were too far from us to investigate personally.”

“You mean something similar to our current case?” asked Twilight with interest.

“Yes, but not exactly. At that time the place was a capital of Equestria, built around our castle. It was relatively small and made mainly of wood, if you compare it to our modern cities. You still can easily find what was left of it if you dig through the layers of soil around the old castle.” Luna patted her chin with the hoof, trying to remember the event in more details.

“At first, our soldiers and scientists we had sent into the forest did not find anything out of the order, but that was just a calm before the storm. The weather was the first to get out of control. The pegasi weather teams started complaining about the increasing difficulty of managing the clouds and the winds, and later they could no longer control the weather at all.” Luna’s voice turned serious and she was gesturing with her hoof actively.

“Sounds like trouble!” Spike commented quietly.

Luna continued: “After the weather teams, our foresters reported weird happening in the woods. The trees started to grow taller and denser, making the forest darker, and the animals became aggressive. The pristine waters of the forest lake started to get stale and muddy. After some time the forest started to grow out of its boundaries fast.”

Luna made a pause and closed her eyes, recollecting the events of that time. Everyone else waited with baited breath. The things Luna said were too different from the events described in the books.

“Then… something wrong started happening to me.” – Luna’s voice became sad when she mentioned it. – “Inexplicable feelings of envy and other negative emotions appeared in my heart, growing stronger by the day. It clouded my mind with the abhorrent thoughts of greed for power, even of hatred towards my sister. The grudge I held for Celestia grew heavier every day. What was once just a strange fleeting thought, just a little bit of envy towards Celestia, had eventually transformed into a disgusting obsession.” Luna looked at Twilight and Starlight, afraid to see condemn in their eyes, but she didn’t see any.

“Princess Luna… Don’t be upset with your past! It was not you! I too had my wrongdoing is the past…” Starlight tried to support Luna.

“Yes, thank you Starlight. But I still cannot forgive myself completely! Why was I so blind? Why didn’t I notice what was happening to me in time? Why that little childish envy was able to transform into… that! At that time I no longer thought about anything else, but seizing the throne and taking revenge on my sister. I didn’t feel that anything was wrong with me, like it was the most natural thing for me to hate my sister! It was until that very day when I and my sister had a fight against each other, destroying our castle in the process.” Luna’s brows furrowed and she lowered her head.

Twilight raised her hoof and wanted to say something, but could not find the right words. Luna continued.

“I have a feeling that my abnormal state of mind and that magical incident in the forest were connected somehow.” Luna had a painful expression on her face. “It can’t be just a coincidence.”

“It should be as you say!” Twilight almost shouted. “I don’t believe you could become Nightmare Moon willingly, Princess Luna!”

“But it’s still just a conjecture… That day, the Nightmare Moon appeared. It was no longer me, Luna, but somepony else, who took over my body. At that time it was too late for me to change anything, it was too late to realize that I… was not… me anymore! To this very day I cannot understand who or what she is, and how she had appeared. My memories of me being Nightmare Moon are fractured and hazy, and my mind remained in this state for a thousand years.” Luna rubbed the side of her head with a hoof, closing her eyes. She was recollecting her painful memories.

“The Elements of Harmony failed to liberate me from the clutches of Nightmare Moon, and instead had me imprisoned on the Moon for the whole millennium, together with her! It came as a horrible and unexpected result both for me and for my sister.” Luna had a very sad look on her face, and her voice was trembling, when talking about these events of her past.

Twilight got up from her pillow and walked up to Luna. She put her hoof softly on Luna’s back, trying to comfort her.

“Don’t blame yourself or Princess Celestia for that, Luna! We don’t blame either of you.” Twilight said in a faltering voice. She was not experienced dealing with such situations, but Luna didn’t mind, a trace of smile appeared on her face.

“Nightmare Moon…” – Luna continued, her eyes squinted, – “she knew I was there, together with her. I had to listen to her poisonous speeches the whole time I was there. Nightmare Moon tried to drive me insane more times, than I want to remember. Should she succeeded, I’m afraid there would be no more Luna, and only Nightmare Moon would remain…”

Tears could be seen dripping from Luna’s eyes when she talked about her sad experience. Twilight, seeing it, hugged the Princess tightly, and just stayed silent. Starlight got up from her place and joined them too, a bit hesitantly. They sat like this for a few minutes, until Luna regained her composure and wiped away her tears. Spike was sitting nervously in his place, unsure what to do, but calmed down eventually.

“Forgive us, for thou had to witness our unsightly bearing…” said Luna quietly, preventing Twilight from retorting by putting a hoof to her lips. After a brief pause to calm her mind, Luna continued: “I never shared this with anyone, except my sister, so I’ve got a little emotional. Well, the rest of the story I heard from Celestia after my liberation from Nightmare Moon. I’m infinitely happy the Elements worked properly this time. I doubt I could have survived another thousand years there and stay in a sane mind. I’m grateful for what you and your friends have done for me, Twilight!” Luna raised her head to look Twilight in the eyes, she was smiling gently.

“We are all happy that everything ended well, Princess Luna!” said Twilight.

Luna continued, “But returning to our topic, my sister later found out the natural magic flow of the whole place was disturbed, twisted, and it continued to get worse. Signs and traces of dark magic were everywhere. The forest got out of control completely, and no earth pony or unicorn could contain its growth. Celestia too could not find any effective solution.

“Manticores appeared in much greater numbers out of the blue, along with cockatrixes and other dangerous animals and plants. Some common plants and animals were changed by the dark magic and became dangerous or poisonous too. The once clear forest lake had gradually transformed into a muddy swamp, now known as Froggy Bottom swamp. Cragadiles and even a hydra had found their home there.”

“That’s why… That’s exactly why we were searching for harmful magic, right?” Starlight said, more to herself, than to ask any real questions.

“Indeed,” answered Luna. “The forest was becoming more and more deadly by the day. My sister tried to stop it, but the forest was relentless. Eventually, the evacuation of the capital was called.”

Luna looked around to see the reaction of the listeners. Everyone was silent, listening attentively.

“If not for the Tree of Harmony, which still keeps this forest within its borders to this day, who knows how large could that problem become?! The tree had also cleared the dark magic out of the forest over time. It could have been a disaster spanning across the area the size of the Forbidden Jungle, if not for the Tree of Harmony!”

“The Forbidden Jungle?” Twilight asked in bewilderment.

“Yes, I’m talking about the place we are currently at. In ancient times, this place too, was once a flourishing and rich land for the ponies, until similar occurrence made it too dangerous to live in! Do you understand now, girls? These ruins are exactly from the times before the disaster and far older than just a thousand years. Such disasters are a mystery we could not solve in hundreds of years, so we were just apprehensive to tell you earlier. This issue could have diverted too much of your attention, and you two still have your own projects and responsibilities.”

“But I think…” Twilight tried to say something, but was interrupted by Luna.

“These matters are no joke and can be very dangerous! I and my sister do not want anything to happen to you, or to see a Nightmare Twilight one day at our doorstep!” Luna laughed lightly. “We will get to the source, sooner or later, but we are too inundated with governing Equestria at the moment. Don’t try to investigate it on your own, Twilight.” Luna breathed in slowly, before exhaling. “That’s pretty much sums it up! That’s why I’ve said that the absence of any results is actually a good result. Because it is.”

Two young mares were lost for words, still trying to process all this information properly.

“I… I understand, Princess Luna!” said Starlight. “I’m sorry for doubting you…” she added apologetically.

“It’s alright, Starlight, I know you are a curious mare! Just like me!” Luna giggled lightly.

“Twilight, are you alright?” Spike shook Twilight by her shoulder. Her head bobbed to the sides several times.

“Uh? What? Oh, of course, of course, Spike!” Twilight blurted quickly, then yanked out a scroll and a writing feather from her bag with her magic. She started madly scribbling on it after lighting up her horn. “I’m totally… totally alright!” She mumbled almost inaudibly and the feather moved across the scroll even faster.

Spike sighed. “No, you aren’t, Twilight…”

“Just… Just give me a minute, alright?” Twilight said impatiently.

Luna giggled at this scene and Starlight had a wry smile on her face, looking at Luna.

“So, we are leaving tomorrow morning, right?” asked Starlight.

“Yes, we have nothing else to do here. I’ve checked everything a few more times, and it is all clear here, I’m sure!” Luna said with confidence. “Also you’ll be going back without me; I want to talk to that treasure hunter who was here, in private. He must be in Appleloosa tomorrow,” she added thoughtfully.

Starlight started pondering while Twilight missed everything Luna said, too busy writing down everything she heard before.

“Why don’t we accompany you to the Appleloosa? It won’t delay us too much, right?” finally asked Starlight.

“Well, if you are sure your can be delayed for one more day, I have no reason to refuse! Twilight? Twilight!” Luna tried to draw her attention.

“Ah! Yes! I’ve finished!” Twilight made her usual strained smile, putting her scroll back inside her bag.

“Princess Luna want to stop by Appleloosa tomorrow, do you mind it?” Starlight had to repeat it to Twilight, but she twisted the words a little to force Twilight into agreeing with this arrangement.

“No! I mean, I don’t mind!” Twilight said awkwardly. “But why?”

“That treasure hunter who lived in the building. Princess wants to question him.” Starlight said without much interest.

“Oh! That treasure hunter? I must ask him how he opened the doors on his own!” Twilight had a spark of enthusiasm in her eyes, a stark contrast with her mood before Luna’s visit.

“Well, at least Twilight is back to being Twilight!” Spike made his remark and shrugged his shoulders.

“No, Twilight, I’ll be talking to him alone, lest you’ll scare him with that mountain of questions you will surely have! It’s not up for discussion! You three can have a stroll through the town, it have changed a lot lately. Spike will surely appreciate it, right, Spike?” Luna said with a smile, shifting her gaze to Spike.

“Of course! And we must visit a gemstone shop, Twilight! You promised!” – Spike became lively, – “And we can also visit our friends from buffalo tribe too! Yeah, they always have those tasty azure gems! Er… I mean, I want to meet them because they are our friends, not just because of gems!” said Spike awkwardly.

“Alright, alright, Spike, a promise is a promise!” Twilight replied, sighing.

“Well, I’ve already moved the Moon and it’s getting darker by the minute. You should go to sleep early, everypony! Good night!” Luna stood up and unhurriedly left the tent.

Not far from the supply rail station. Sunset.

PoV: Ray.

Our trio of weary travelers was walking alongside the tracks towards the station which was already close. We didn’t meet any trains during that hour we were walking here. The railway tracks at this place were splitting into two. The initial one was going forward, bypassing the station and another one was going towards the station, splitting into two more tracks along the way. The whole place could be hardly called a station, as it had very short platform, probably for unloading supplies. There were two buildings, one looked like a storage and the second one was a small living quarters, a light could be seen in its windows.

Between two of the tracks stood a wooden water tower and a sand shed with a primitive sand tower attached to it. The third track was seemingly a spare one. We could not see any station workers from afar; they must have been indoors or behind the structures. We turned towards the station and unhurriedly walked forward.

“Um… Lily, do you have any plan? We… well… have me and a changeling among us, after all.” I said and grabbed Sapphira with my hands, lifting her off the ground. “A very cute and lovely changeling!”

Lily raised her brow. “Don’t worry, I’ll just press them with my position and one of my badges, and then force them to keep their mouths shut about it, if needed!” Lily said indifferently with half-closed eyes.

“Ha! Lily in serious mode? I like it!” Sapphira commented, flying out of my grasp, but not before giving me light kiss on the lips.

“Me too! Ha-ha! Do you do it often, Lily?” I was curious about her working habits.

“Happens. Some ponies just don’t want to cooperate, even when asked nicely.” Lily answered with a little smile. “But I’d prefer not to flaunt my position while in the town.”

“That’s understandable!” I replied.

Distracted by our careless conversation, we were walking ahead until we stood before the door to the small house.

“Let’s knock? Maybe somebody is inside.” I knocked thrice on the door. It was silent for some time, but then we heard a noise coming from the inside and an irritated voice followed.

“What the hay, guys, the door was open! Why do I have to get up and open the bucking door for you!” The voice got closer, then the door opened. A unicorn with sleepy eyes was standing behind the door. His coat color was a pale ochre with a ruffled rusty hair. His unfocused gaze slowly concentrated on Lily, then shifted to Sapphira. At this point his eyes started to open wide, and when his gaze finally went up to my face, unicorn’s jaw dropped.

“A-a-a!” the unicorn screamed in panic and slammed the door shut before our faces.

For a few seconds there was a complete silence, then the door opened for the second time.

“A-a-a-a-a! Villains have come for us!” the unicorn shouted hysterically and slammed the door again, we heard a sound of sliding bar from the other side.

We looked at each other in confusion, then I knocked on the door another time.

“Go away, monsters! I’m not coming out! Shoo! Shoo!” shouted the muffled voice from behind the door.

After a few seconds we heard sounds of some heavy object being dragged on the floor. Lily looked inside the window to see what’s happening.

“He is barricading the door with some heavy crate…” Lily said with a bewildered look on her face.

“What’s wrong with this guy?” Sapphira asked a rhetorical question, and I just shrugged my shoulders in response. “But his emotions are in shambles,” she added.

“The hay are you shouting for, moron! Did you smoke that zebrican dung again? I’ve already told you not to bring that crap on our shift!” Another voice talking in a deep baritone was heard from behind the building. An earth stallion trotted from around the corner and stopped in his tracks when he saw us. He had a bluish-gray coat and silvery-gray, rather short mane of a lighter color. His build was quite muscular and stocky.

“Eh… Hello?” the stallion said awkwardly and made a step backwards, probably ready to run away. “Who are you?” he added quickly.

“Oh, at last we meet someone who can speak adequately!” I commented. The previous interaction was… strange, to say the least. “We are travelers. We’ve got in trouble in the Forbidden Jungle, but was able to get out.” I said after thinking for a moment.

The stallion was attentively looking at me, and after noticing a bad state of my jeans with obvious marks of bites and claws, he came to some sort of conclusion.

“Your friend seems to be scared of us… I understand that we look weird, but still, his reaction is…” I didn’t have a chance to finish.

“Oh don’t mind him, he is always like that,” he said to us dismissively. “Name’s Steel Sheen. I’m a foreman of that useless unicorn,” he introduced himself as he walked towards us and held out his hoof.

“Night Lily!” Lily stepped ahead of us and held out her hoof too. She lightly hit Steel Sheen’s hoof with her own, which produced a clopping sound. Seems it’s an analogue of handshakes for ponies! Then she pulled out a badge of sorts from somewhere and flashed it briefly before Steel’s face. “You didn’t see it, understand?” her vertical pupils drilled him with a serious gaze.

Steel Sheen’s eyes widened for a moment. “Yes, ma’am!”

“Heh! Lily is like another person when it involves her work. It’s not surprising ponies are a little afraid of her with this sharp attitude.” I thought to myself and crouched before the stallion, clenched and unclenched my hand several times, thinking about how I should do it properly, and bumped my fist with his hoof. The hit was partially soft, which means they don’t put in magic to harden their hooves when they do it.

“Ray, a traveler.” I said concisely.

“Sapphira!” Sapphira followed suit. “I’m a changeling, as you can see, and I don’t belong to any hives.”

“Um… Yes…” Steel sheen hit Sapphira’s hoof with an awkward expression on his face. “That’s just… I’ve never seen a changeling walking around without disguise, much less the one like you!” His eyes traced along Sapphira’s sleek mane.

Among all three, Steel Sheen was the most surprised by the changeling mare, but after seeing Lily’s badge he did not have any unnecessary concerns, but now he is somewhat afraid of Lily. I could see a funny mix of attraction and apprehension on his face towards Sapphira. Well, now I’m sure not all ponies are averse to changelings, after all. Maybe I’d even have to shoo them away from Sapphira one day.

“Oh that… why would I need to use a disguise, when I didn’t do anything bad? Nor do I plan to!” Sapphira laughed lightly at his reaction, probably reading his conflicting emotions.

“Right, my bad! Just a moment!” Steel walked towards the door and forcefully knocked on it with his hoof, but only silence was his answer, so he knocked even harder. “Come on, useless dumbhead, open up already! Or I’ll fine you for insubordination!” he shouted.

“No, wait! I’m opening!” the unicorn shouted from the other side. The noise of the moving crate was heard again.

“What the hay are you doing there, Fizzlecrack? Are trying to get on my nerves?” Steel grumbled.

“I’m almost done!” answered Fizzledcrack nervously from behind the door.

“If you aren’t opening the door right now, you’ll really be done, and not just ‘almost’!” Steel was getting angry.

“Wait, wait, wait!” Fizzlecrack blurted out quickly. We heard the noise of a sliding wooden bar, then the door was finally opened again.

“What was this nonsense, Fizzlecrack?” – Steel lightly hit the back of his head with his hoof, – “We have visitors here, who are in trouble. And you’re spouting ravings about some monsters and behaving like an idiot you are!” Steel chastised the unlucky unicorn, then turned to us. “Come inside, there is not too much space, but at least there are enough benches for everyone.” He waved with his hoof towards a large table with two long benches on both sides of it. The table and the benches had old tavern vibes to them. In the far corner of the building I could see three beds, too short for a human to sleep on, but wide at the same time. The unicorn was having a rest when we arrived, it seems.

I had to bend down to get inside. The door was designed with the height of ponies in mind, but the ceiling was sufficiently high not to hit my head on it. The unicorn was standing on shaky legs, looking at us passing by him, but after receiving a strict gaze from Steel, he finally composed himself and closed the door. I stopped at the entrance, took off my spear from my back, which made the unicorn back away in fright, and put it against the wall at the entrance, before going inside.

The building had only one large room. The area at the entrance was designated for storing clothes and frequently used tools. In the far right end of the room was a sleeping area, to the right from the door was a little kitchen. The table with the benches was standing near the window opposite to the entrance door. To the left was a little stove, shelves with various stuff and a closet.

When everyone was seated around the table, Steel started talking.

“This is Sandy Crunch, he pointed to the unicorn with his hoof. But everyone calls him Fizzlecrack, because his horn has a crack and he can’t use magic well. That’s the reason of his nervousness, so don’t be offended by his actions. He would not be able to defend himself well with his magic when he need to, so he tends to overreact to some things,” explained Steel Sheen.

Then we introduced ourselves to the nervous unicorn. Well, he is not a bad guy, just a bit cowardly, probably still too young and has too much imagination. At this moment the door opened and another earth stallion entered the room. He had a light brown coat with a straw colored mane. The mark on his side was in a form of a wrench with a gear in the background. Thinking about the mark… I didn’t pay much attention to the other two’s marks, but it was something like a metal weight on Sandy’s side and some sort of a checklist and working helmet on Steel’s. The newly arrived stallion carelessly dropped his bag in the corner. The bag hit the floor with metallic clanging, then the stallion looked at us; surprise could be seen on his face.

“Oh, Quick Fix! Have you finished doing your work in the storehouse? We have guests, as you can see!” Steel has invited him to the table.

After getting acquainted with us, Quick Fix looked at Steel incredulously.

“Don’t look at me with such eyes, I’ve… checked their papers, everything is fine.” Steel has dismissed Fix’s worries, remembering about the threats Lily have made about disclosing her status.

Quick Fix pondered for a moment, all the while looking at me.

“Umm… Mister Ray? Can I ask you who you are? You are not a minotaur, are you?” Quick Fix asked finally, his curiosity got a better of him.

“Of course I’m not! I’m a human and I come from a ve-e-ery remote place. It’s not a surprise you’ve never seen the likes of me!” I replied casually.

“Oh, I see! Your Equestrian is very good, though.” said Quick Fix.

“Ha-ha, yes, I had a very good teacher!” I said with a small laugh, remembering my strange way of learning this language.

“Alright, guys, let’s get to important things first!” Lily interjected. “We need to get on a train to Appleloosa, when you expect the next to arrive?” she asked and looked at Steel.

“Ummm… Let me check the schedule first. One should arrive around midnight, if I remember correctly. Not all the trains stop here, mainly those which need a checkup or maintenance, or runs out of water or sand. Going up the mountains always put a strain on locomotives, so our station was built here to provide assistance when needed.”

Steel stood up from his place and walked up to the wall, where was a large schedule sheet.

“Yeah, one will arrive a little bit past midnight.” – Steel walked back to the table, while speaking. – “We will refill and check it, and it will remain here until dawn. The tracks are usually reserved for more fast and powerful freight trains at night, which have larger tanks, more durable and thus don’t usually need to stop here, but this one is an old model. It’s not so fast, but still doing a fine job as a freight locomotive. Such a schedule allows us, service workers, to have more rest at nights.”

“Thanks, Steel! I guess we’ll have to spend some time here, then,” said Lily.

“I’ll talk with the train driver about you three, we know each other quite well,” Steel told us.

“That’s wonderful!” said Sapphira.

“So, it will be quite a long time before we can get on the train.” I said, looking at the girls. “Do you want to take off your armor, girls?”

“Ah, of course, I’ve almost forgot about it! Mind helping me with it?” asked Sapphira.

“Of course! Lily?” I asked Lily.

“What? Oh, yes, help me too, please.” Lily replied, seems she was thinking about something.

It wasn’t the first time I was dealing with their armor, so the process was quick. The stallions at the table were throwing sidelong glances at the girls which I find funny. Aren’t they all always in the nude? We returned to the table when we were done with the armor.

“Ahhh! Much better!” Sapphira shook her head, making her mesmerizing mane wave and spread across her back. “Isn’t it, Lily?”

“Uh-huh…” Lily nodded her head. She was not very talkative in the presence of these three stallions.

“Anyone wants some fruits? Freshly picked in a Forbidden Jungle!” Sapphira placed one of her full bags on the table with a smile, opening it.

“No way! That’s red dragonfruit! And sun orange! And… I don’t even know what it is!” Sandy Crunch exclaimed excitedly.

“Ha-ha, you sure are excited, Fizzlecrack!” Steel said laughingly. “Thanks, beautiful!”

“I won’t refuse the treat either!” Quick Fix said. “Oh, wait! It may not be much, but what about some sandwiches? I’ve made some for our shift!”

Quick Fix trotted to the kitchen corner and took something from the shelves. Steel stood up and went to another corner, looking for something in a closet.

Quick Fix returned to the table with a large plate full of sandwiches. He was holding it… with his teeth! Well, seems they can’t use their hooves for it while walking, but the plate had some sort of a special handle on the side for convenience, so it didn’t look too bad hygiene-wise. If my eyes do not deceive me, it is sandwiches with cheese! Damn, bread with cheese! It feels like it was ages since I had a taste of those for the last time! Time to fix that!

“Help yourselves!” said Quick Fix friendly.

“Damn, buddy, you’re my savior!” I said, grabbing one of the sandwiches. “I hope you didn’t put any bitter plants in there?” I asked with a little doubt, inspecting the sandwich attentively.

“Ummm… I guess I know what you mean, partner! But worry not! Just a regular salad, vegetables and no flowers!” Quick Fix answered jokingly.

“Perfect!” I exclaimed and bit down on my sandwich. “Oh yes, the taste is simple, but so damn good!”

I’ve noticed Steel returning, walking on three thee legs and holding some sort of a substantial keg under his right forehoof. He put the keg on a table with a proud face.

“Green apple cider! Strong one! Appleloosan special! Made personally by my uncle!” proclaimed Steel. “Fizzlecrack, get the mugs!”

“When did you…” Quick Fix tried to ask.

“A few days ago. And don’t drink too much, you two. We still have one more train waiting for us. And, of course, this never happened!” said Steel strictly. Other two nodded their heads.

After our mugs were filled, there was a little silent pause between us.

“To our acquaintance!” I said loudly, raising my mug. This gesture was not unknown for the inhabitants of this world, and we all raised our mugs and clinked them together.

The cider was something! Pure natural rich taste! Steel called it ‘strong’, but I didn’t feel it was strong by our Earth standards, not stronger than our regular beer or cider.

“Perfect! Steel, this cider is good!” I praised the drink.

“Um!” Steel just nodded approvingly.

After I diminished the amount of sandwiches by three, I decided I should leave some for the others too, so I grabbed some fruits to finish my meal with those. The others were calmly talking about their own subjects.

“Did you like my sandwiches so much, partner?” Quick Fix asked with a chuckle.

“Oh, you’ll understand me if you eat almost only raw fruits and vegetables for a week, ha-ha!”

“Ha-ha, right. Seems you’ve been through a lot out there!” Quick Fix noted.

“You bet! Shadow hounds, manticores! Never want to see those bastards again!” My voice became irritated when I talked about those hateful beasts.

Others around the table got attracted by my conversation with Quick Fix.

“Wait, what? Shadow hounds? Manticores? And you all are still alive?” Sandy Crunch exclaimed in disbelief.

“He fought alone against seven hounds, maybe more, it was hard to count them at that time. He killed three and the rest ran away in fright. We were lucky the main pack didn’t go after us.” Sapphira told about that event, and I could hear pride in her words.

“Really? How did he do that?” Sandy Crunch was obviously eager to hear such stories, being still very young.

“With his spear, naturally!” replied Sapphira casually.

Sandy Crunch looked at the corner where I left my spear.

“No, not that one. I happened to break my old iron spear in that fight.” I waved my hand at the spear.

“Hmm? A crystalline spear? You should be rich, partner. Those things are rare; the way to create them was lost long ago, when the Crystal Empire disappeared. Well, now the Empire is back, so I think this situation will change soon.” Quick Fix said half-jokingly.

“Really? It is one of my findings in the jungle.” Now I’m finally starting to understand why it was the only crystalline spear in the room, and why I managed to deal with the manticore using it.

“You better wrap it with some cloth before going into the city, partner,” said Quick Fix.

“Thanks for a good advice, I’ll do that,” I replied.

“But forget about the hounds, he killed an elder manticore almost singlehandedly! I helped a bit though,” Sapphira could not restrain herself from boasting about me.

“Wait, wait, girl! Stop making things up!” Steel Sheen finally had enough of her boasting.

“Ha! You think I’m making this up?” Sapphira exclaimed with her regular sly smile.

She got down from the bench, walked to her bag and pulled out something from it with her magic. Returning to the table, she took the item with her hoof, – “Then behold!” – Sapphira shouted and slammed the item on the table. It was nothing other but the stinger of that elder manticore! When did she take it? She didn’t tell me about it!

“Holy Celestia!” Steel’s eyes gone wide.

“No way!” Sandy Crunch said with his mouth agape.

“Well, hay! Hang me on a pole and call me a pegasus if this thing isn’t genuine!” exclaimed Quick Fix. “And it’s still fresh! Not older than three days! I know a little about this stuff!” He took the stinger in his hoof and inspected it in front of his face. “It’s huge!”

Quick Fix was obviously happy to have a look at such a thing. Then he looked at me again, it was obvious he is seeing me in another light now. “You have my respect, partner!” he held out his hoof to me, so I bumped it with my fist. Quick Fix had a wide grin on his face. “Damn, I like this guy! It’d be nice to hang out and have a drink with someone like him!” I looked at our company. Lily seemed a bit to too silent.

Steel Sheen made an awkward cough. “Sorry for calling you braggarts. It’s just… hard to believe that somepony can take on an elder manticore alone and survive, much less defeat it!” Steel said in a soft baritone.

“I won’t try doing it again, if possible. My luck is not infinite and I don’t have a death wish.” I said half-jokingly. “Sapphira gained some respect for us with her shenanigans this time. Did she really need to boast like that? But the face of Steel Sheen was worth it, ha-ha!”

I stood up and sat beside Lily. I whispered in her ear: “Is there anything wrong, Lily? You are so silent.”

She answered me in a whisper too: “Umm… no, or maybe I’ve drunk too much, also… I need to go to a… restroom.”

I’ve interrupted three stallions, who was passing the stinger to each other to have a better look.

“Hey guys! Where is a restroom here?” I asked nonchalantly.

“Ah! We forgot to tell you!” said Sandy Crunch, hitting his forehead with his hoof. “It’s outside, to the left. Oh, if you are going, can you switch on the street lamps outside, please? The switch is in a box near the base.”

“Alright! I’ll do it!” I replied. “Then we’ll have a little walk outside!” I patted Lily on the back and we went out.

It was already dark outside and the last rays of the Sun still made one side of the sky lighter from behind the horizon.

“What if they think something inappropriate about us, walking out together like this?” Lily asked.

“Then let them envy if they do, ha-ha!” I said as I walked towards one of the three street lamps.

Lily laughed. “Right! Well, I don’t need any lights, so I’m going. Be right back!”

I nodded to her. Lily flapped her wings and disappeared in the darkness towards the silhouette of a small structure to the left. I heard the door creak and close behind her while I was searching for the switch on the first lamp post. Soon I’ve found the switch in a form of a little lever. A dim orange light appeared inside the lamp, growing brighter by the second. I could discern a shape of a crystal before the light became too bright. So, they use magic crystals for illumination, no electricity.

There were two ceiling lamps inside the building and I guess those use crystals as well. I remembered that while I was walking out of the building, I saw a calendar on the wall. The date was 29th of May. Equestrian months, of course, were named differently, but I’d prefer to refer to them in Earth format. It was the same twelve months, but the number of days in each one was fixed at thirty.

I thought for a while, counting the days I’ve spent in the jungle, while I was busy turning on the rest of the street lamps. Tomorrow will be the last day of spring, and also a full week since I’ve arrived here. I calculated that I was thrown into this world on 23rd of May by the local calendar. Not a bad time to start my journey here. Especially since I’ve already lost the majority of my clothes, and warmer weather will at least keep me from freezing.

“I’m back!” Lily’s sudden voice from behind my back made me jerk my body in fright.

“Damn! You batponies are really quiet!” I laughed and ruffled her mane lightly, getting down to her eye level. “You got me!”

“Yeah! Maybe next time you won’t have your head in the clouds!” Lily giggled, then suddenly stood up on her hind legs and hugged me with her front hooves.

My posture was not too stable, and so I’ve topped to my back, dragging Lily with me. She had a smile on her face and her fangs accentuated her features. Her eyes had large captivating black pupils, which were staring right into mine.

Lily moved her head closer to my ear and whispered mildly: “I like when you stroke my mane…”

Getting the hint, I’ve started to stroke and weave my fingers through her mane slowly. Lily closed her eyes in bliss and then her lips slowly reached mine. A simple, but loving kiss. Then Lily just put her head on my chest and stayed still, relishing in pleasant sensations while I stoked her.

“Sorry to interrupt, but how could I miss such delicious waves of love!” - Sapphira appeared suddenly, with a satisfied grin on her face, - “But you better get up unless you want those guys to notice you.” She bobbed her head towards one of the windows.

Lily flapped her wings and quickly got back on her hooves, smiling awkwardly. I started to get up but was quickly pinned down by the black hoof back to the ground.

“Nope! You aren’t going anywhere until you pay your debt, honey!” Sapphira said slyly, plopped atop of me and, without wasting any time, started a passionate kiss.

“That will do!” Sapphira said smugly after our lips parted. “Thanks for the treat!”

“Ha-ha! You’re welcome!” I replied jokingly.

I stroked her supple wings for a while until she released me and I was finally able to stand up. When I think about her wings, it’s anything, but the wings of an insect. Those are usually short-lived one-time use wings, unable to regrow and regenerate. But her wings are soft, elastic and alive. More importantly, they are really sensitive, judging by Sapphira’s reaction!

“Um… I’ll return first,” said Lily and trotted back into the house. Seems she no longer felt that uncomfortable expressing her feelings. I guess it is all thanks to Sapphira, and maybe cider too.

“Let me clean you a bit,” said Sapphira, and used her telekinesis in a peculiar way, shaking off the dust from my shirt and jeans.

“Thanks, Sapphi!”

“Oh, it’s nothing. I’ll be back in a minute!” she said and went to restroom too.

Being left alone, I was just looking at the clear night sky, splattered with unfamiliar stars. “I was sent here to do something presumably important, but instead I’m starting a harem… Isn’t it hilarious!?” I muttered under my breath and chuckled. But all that things aside, the locals seem to be decent folks! I’m not feeling alienated in their company. Of course, their first reaction was apprehension, but it had dissipated quite fast.

“What are you thinking about, Ray?” Sapphira slowly walked up to me.

“About our past week and about our future too. Maybe it won’t be that bad in Appleloosa as we thought at first. Those guys are good to us. Steel even has an eye for you, ha-ha!”

“Perhaps, but he still won’t make a decisive move towards me, I know it.” Sapphira chuckled with a wry smile on her lips.

“But still it’s much better than open hostility,” I said.

“Naturally! Oh by the way!” – Sapphira smiled, – “Have a look at the magazine under the newspapers in the restroom, just for laughs! Well, I’ll wait for you back at the table.” She looked at me, turned around and went back too.

“Huh? What magazine she is talking about?” I said to myself, walking to the small structure. There was another street lamp nearby, so I’ve lit it too.

The inside interior was quite spacious for a single-person restroom. Illuminated by a ceiling lamp, it had a sink with a working plumbing, probably connected with the nearby water tower. The toilet was made of wood and metal and had a simple square form with an oval opening. Its height, as well as the height of sink, was pretty low, as it was designed for ponies. At the floor level I could see a pedal-type lever with obvious function.

One thing made me really curious: there was… a roll of toilet paper. Yes, the damn toilet paper! Why does this world have so much resemblance with my old in so many things? This can’t be just a random coincidence! But it’s useless to seek an explanation to this mystery at the moment.

Well, that could be much, much worse! Also, everything here is sufficiently clean. These ponies do have some standards! That’s quite unexpected for a restroom in a middle of nowhere!

Having done my business, I washed my hands, and remembered about the magazine. I moved away a heap of newspapers on the small shelf, and picked up a colorful magazine that was buried under that pile. ‘Canterlot Temptress’ was the title. A beautiful mare with stylishly made hair and tail was depicted on the cover. She was scantily dressed in what would accentuate her sexuality and stood in a provocative pose.

“Ha-ha, so they have this kind of stuff too! Funny!” I commented, turning the page. “That’s hilarious how most of ponies prefer to go literally naked in public, but they get dressed for such photo shoots!”

The magazine cannot be called pornographic. Rather it should be called erotic, as there was nothing too over the top. All types and races of mares were there. Slim, fit, curvy, you name it! I even saw one batpony mare. Pictures with pegasi mares often accentuated their wings on their photos, but that’s understandable, their wings are beautiful.

“Exclusive photoset of Fleur de Lis, only on the pages of ‘Canterlot Temptress’,” – stated the title somewhere in the middle of the magazine. The next several photos depicted an extravagant unicorn mare.

“O-la-la, that’s indeed an impressive mare, must be a local star and a dream of countless stallions around the country.” Besides her elegant forms, she had silvery-white coat, with a complex hairstyle and a similarly made tail of the lightest lilac tint, with much lighter, almost white streaks weaved in between her locks. ‘Prideful gracefulness’ was the message her whole body and posture emanated in every photo. Her light violet eyes looked aloofly down on the would-be viewer, as if hinting at her high status.

“Well, a beautiful picture is still just a beautiful picture!” I said to myself, put the magazine back and covered it with newspapers like it was before. “I like my girls not only for their pretty looks, and besides, they are not too far behind those in that magazine, even in our bad field conditions!” I washed my hands again, just in case! Suddenly, I heard some soft flapping noise outside the restroom.

“Who’s there?” I slowly opened the door and exited the building warily, but didn’t see anyone. “Night bird, perhaps?” I muttered and walked back to the living house.

I started to think I was too relaxed; I didn’t even pay any attention to my new sense of presence, otherwise I would’ve known if there was someone outside. But this was really the first time I was able to truly relax in a few days straight. Am I getting paranoid? But in the jungle it’s better to be a paranoid, than a dead man.

It was clamorous inside, seems everyone, except for me, was a little tipsy, and I’m sure it has nothing to do with my enhanced physique. That’s just… ponies seems to be more susceptible to alcohol. The guys were discussing something with great enthusiasm, and girls… they were looking at me with a conspiratorial look, whispering something to each other. “Oh… What are they up to this time?” I caught a fragment of their talk:

“… said exactly these words!” Lily said to Sapphira with a grin.

“Oh my!” replied Sapphira, covering her mouth with a hoof, futilely trying to cover her wide smile.

“What are you talking about, girls?” I asked.

“Oh, nothing important! Just mares’ stuff.” Sapphira made an innocent smile.

“Hey, Ray! Come! Tell us more about your life in the jungle!” Quick Fix called me. He has an outgoing personality, and the cider only added to it.

“Alright, I’ll leave you two to your private conversation then!” I said to the girls and sat together with the stallions who instantly poured me another mug. “Err, guys, will you be in a right condition when the train comes?” I was worried about them getting too drunk for their job.

“Oh, don’t you worry, I and Fix know that locomotive like our two forehooves! We’ll do everything in no time and finally go to rest!” Steel Sheen said dismissively, waving his hoof, he was also the least drunk of them all. “Well, Fizzlecrack might need some help, though. He usually has some trouble handling heavy cargos even without being drunk, ha-ha!”

“Hey!” Sandy Crunch retorted, “Even if my horn is cracked, I still can lift more weight than you! And do you think I’d be working here if my horn was alright?” The alcohol forced his frustrations out in the open. “Ah, forget it!” He waved his hoof.

“Well, I’m not against helping you guys if need be.” I said when the silent pause started to get awkward. Besides, after this little feast they made for us, it’s only natural that I’ll help them a bit.

“It’d be nice if you support me while I’m handling the load, mainly firewood, so I won’t crash it into something. I guarantee I won’t drop it on your hooves… erm… feet. It’s just… my precision is usually somewhat off when I’m using my magic.” Sandy Crunch said with a tinge of regret.

“No prob, Sandy!” I replied casually.

“Whoa, you actually remember my name!” he exclaimed. Seems he doesn’t like his nickname much.

“Heh! Why shouldn’t I?” I chuckled. “Anyway, you all wanted to hear some stories about the jungle, right?”

And so we’ve spent some time talking about the Forbidden Jungle and the dangers lurking within, the girls have joined us too once they finished their talk, and in about an hour we’ve heard a whistle coming from the outside. It seems the train has arrived!

“Already here?” Steel threw a glance to the clock on a wall. “They are a bit early, but all the better! The earlier we start, the earlier we go to rest! Alright, guys, time to work!” He said and stood up from the table.

The three stallions put on their working helmets, took their toolbags, and went out.

“Let’s go, Ray, that won’t take long for us,” said Sandy with a bit tipsy voice. His past apprehension of me vanished long ago. “You two can come too if you want,” he added, looking at the two mares with a silly smile.

“Then why don’t we have some fresh air, Lily?” asked Sapphira.

“Indeed, why not?” replied Lily.

The train slowly came to a stop in a cloud of steam at the water tower. It consisted of eight freight cars, and this amount seemed pretty decent for this technology level. The train stood in place, making constant hissing noise. Then a sky-blue earth stallion jumped out of the train cabin agilely and trotted our way, his ruffled white mane was a little dirtied with soot.

“Hi, guys! Been a while!” he shouted from afar.

“Good to see you in once piece, Breeze, ha-ha!” replied Steel with his naturally loud voice.

Breeze finally met with the guys and made their usual… high-five? Well, they don’t have five fingers for high-five either…

“Where is your partner, Breeze?”

“He’ll come as soon as he finishes his job,” said Breeze.

“Alright!” said Steel.

Breeze thought for a second before speaking, “Well, the old geezer I was working with before have finally retired, so now I’m working with a more interesting guy! You’ll see! And who are these friends?” He looked at us with his light gray eyes.

“Ha! There is quite a story about them, you won’t believe how they’ve got here!” replied Steel Sheen.

But before he could introduce us, we saw a large stallion jump off from the train. He was quite big, even larger than Steel, and more muscular too, but he had a rather amiable face for his imposing size. His coat was a color of saffron with distinguished pumpkin-orange ruffled short mane and similarly short-trimmed tail. At least the colors looked like that in the light of the street lamps.

He had a red bandana, which raised his unkempt hair above his forehead, making his looks a bit wild. I’m not sure if it was just his style or it was convenient wearing it when working with fire. When he got closer I saw his eyes were bright green, almost as my own unnatural-colored eyes. His whole body, clothes and even hair were stained with soot. On his chest was a fireproof apron, made presumably of some leather, it was hard to tell.

“Howdy!” He said in a bit crude and deep voice. “Nice to meet y’all. Name’s Amber Brand!” His eyes were attentively scanning me and Sapphira. “What unusual fellas you got here! Care to introduce us?” he said to Breeze.

“Um… This is my friend, Steel Sheen, we’ve known each other for a long time! This one is Quick Fix, and this is… er… Sandy…”

“Sandy Crunch” Sandy said grumpily.

“Oh, yes, Sandy Crunch. They are working with Steel. As, for the rest, I guess Steel will introduce us himself.” Breeze said with an awkward smile.

“Naturally!” said Steel.

After the quick introduction we learned that Breeze’s full name was Breeze Wheels, and Wheels was the last name of his whole family, just like Fix’s. All of them are working with something related to transportation for many generations. I learned that some families have a tradition to pass their family name to their foals. Other families don’t do this and just give double names to their foals as they like.

The train driver and his firepony listened to our story with interest and agreed to help us get to Appleloosa even without Lily’s intervention. It’s always nice to deal with easygoing folks.

“Yaaaawn!” – Amber yawned in bass. – “Well, shucks! I need a good shower!” he mumbled, looking at his hooves smeared in soot. “And a bucking good sleep too!” He looked at Breeze, “You said we can rest here for a while, ain’t ya?”

“You two can go and rest if you want; we’ll keep an eye on the steam engine until the fire dies out, so it won’t overheat. Breeze, your regular room in the warehouse, the door is opened,” added Steel and moved towards the train. “Come on, Fix, it’s time to check this iron fellow! Fizzlecrack, you do your own job, as always.”

“Sure, let’s go, Ray!” Sandy called me and we moved towards the warehouse, following the two stallions at some distance. They were talking loudly about some ‘bucking hot’ mare in Appleloosa. Sapphira and Lily stayed behind and went for a fly around the station ‘to stretch their wings’. They don’t have any issues with dark surroundings, so it’s fine, I guess. No manticores live here, after all.

Sandy’s work was pretty simple, but not an easy one. He lifted a substantial amount of firewood in one go with his telekinesis. He is literally a living forklift! But when the things came to moving his load around, he was having some trouble maneuvering it around the warehouse. His horn started to make fizzling noises with flickering lights shining from the place of the crack in his horn. From time to time the horn made a loud crack with magic sparks flying all around. Thank god those sparks could not start any fires, but the loud sound with a flash made me jerk in fright the first time it occurred. Now I see why he has such a nickname.

I helped to move the pile of firewood around, so Sandy could smoothly move it out of the warehouse and carry it to the locomotive. The whole process was easy for me, the firewood in the pile was ‘glued’ together by his magic and so pushing or pulling did not make it scatter. We were done in around an hour, considering the time we spent to place the firewood properly.

“Thanks, Ray, those hands of yours were indeed useful.” Sandy said with a smile. “Sorry for calling you a monster back there. I… was too frightened, you know, a changeling and… you too.”

“Ah, forget about it, Sandy! That’s nothing.” – I looked at him. – “You don’t look good, buddy.”

“I know. My horn aches every time after I use a lot of magic, and I have to use much more than needed because of the crack. Let’s go inside.” He said wearily and started walking towards the living house.

“Can it be healed?” I asked, following him.

“No, as far as I know. A magic healing does not work on our horns, and a regular one was able to do only this much. It’s still much better than a broken horn, Ray,” Sandy said indifferently, entering the room. Seems he had already accepted this fact.

“Do you mind if a have a look?” Now I suddenly have a spontaneous desire to help out this young stallion.

“Do you know medicine?” He asked in surprise.

“You can say so, to a degree.”

“Then, go ahead,” – he sat on his bed, facing me, and tilted his head forward to show his horn.

The height was just right for me to do it while standing. I concentrated my mind for a while to get in a proper state, and used my ‘life vision’ to check what was wrong with his horn. My eyes lit up in green color, as usual, which made Sandy uncomfortable, he raised his eyes to look at me with a bit of fright.

“Sit still, that’s just my magic.” I said calmly and he had finally relaxed.

It was the first time I was observing such a complex organ, and also the first time I was able to see the structure of pony magic channels. I was unable to see it before. The crack in his horn had cut off almost half of his channels, and it seems his magic is leaking through the damaged ones, producing those fireworks and uselessly draining his magic reserves. I’m not confident in fixing that, but at least I can alleviate some of his pain.

I channeled my power through my index finger and started saturating his crack with my ‘life essence’, trying to induce regeneration with my regular methods. The horn was essentially a bone, covered by some harder material. The regeneration process was starting up painfully slow. It seems it’s not easy to treat the injuries to a magic system of living beings.

“Well, hay! The pain has gone away! Thanks!” said Sandy happily.

“I’m still not finished, so don’t move.” I said sternly.

“As you say, doc!” Sandy replied jokingly.

It took another half an hour of my tedious work, until I deemed that his horn could not hold more of my energy. By that time everyone else have already returned and just silently watched my actions. I was not sure about the end result, but Sandy should at least get a bit better when my energy will finish its job inside his horn and dissipate.

“I think this is all I can do for you now, Sandy.” I said, stepping back from him.

“I feel great, but… I almost can’t feel my magic now. It refuses to flow into my horn!” said Sandy uncertainly.

Could it be… my ‘life essence’ is repelling or stopping his magic flow? Weird! But it should wear off pretty soon.

“That should be temporary, Sandy. My magic will gradually dissipate after half a day at the most.” I was rubbing my chin in thought. Can I really block their magic in this way? But the girls seemed fine, though I didn’t try to saturate their energy system with my power.

“Then its fine, I guess, at least my horn will not bother me in my sleep.” Sandy didn’t mind too much.

“If anything, I and Fix will help you if you won’t be in full strength by the morning,” said Steel. “And thanks for helping him, Ray.”

“I’m just doing what I can, Steel.” I replied calmly.

“It’s surprising to see a non-unicorn use magic!” said Steel.

I looked at the girls; they were already almost asleep, leaning against each other. Steel thought for a while about something.

“Yeah, it’s time for us to rest.” He walked to the cabinet and took a key from there. “Take it. You’ve seen where those two went to, right? Their door is on the left, this key is for the room on the right. Same three beds with minimal convenience, but at least you’ll have a place to rest. We’ll wake you up an hour before the train departs. Don’t be late.”

“Thanks Steel, we owe you.” I took the key, woke up the girls and, after taking our belongings, we went out, heading to the warehouse.

“Ray… I don’t think you’ll fit in in such a bed.” Sapphira was standing before a simple bed. “And I also don’t want to sleep alone again!”

Lily just made an awkward smile, looking at me. Seems she thinks the same, remembering how she snuggled up to me the last time. But is it that important? They are almost about to fall over from their tiredness, and I could use some sleep too. My experiment with Sandy drained me substantially, especially mentally.

I scratched my head at our conundrum. “Well, I may have one silly idea.” I finally said.

I moved the three beds and placed them in a row, then tried lying across them.

“You know, this could work. It’s a bit uncomfortable but compared to sleeping on palm leaves… Yeah, you get what I mean.” I laughed quietly and got up from the bed. “I hope we didn’t wake up our neighbors.”

“Don’t you worry, Ray! They were already deep in sleep when we entered the room and won’t wake up so easily!” Sapphira tried not to be too loud. “I can’t feel any emotions from their direction at all!” Sapphira whispered.

Lily took out a fruit from her bag. She really likes those yellow ones.

“And you know, we could have done something naughty if we weren’t so tired now, and they still wouldn’t wake up, I’m sure!” she added jokingly.

Lily, who was munching on a fruit, coughed a few times at Sapphira joke. Her light lilac cheeks intensified in color, but she stayed silent.

“What, Lily, you don’t agree?” Sapphira asked her favorite provocative questions again.

“I… Oh why do you have to ask such questions every time?” Lily got a little irritated. Yeah, she is getting immune to those.

Sapphira got onto the bed and lied down, stretching all her limbs.

“Just for fun! Oh you can’t even imagine how infinitely boring was my life in a hive! I feel so liberated being together with you two! Even after two fights with manticores I still don’t regret anything! Now I can be everything I could not be before! And yes, Ray, I know my personality shifted greatly after my transformation. But you’ve seen the old ‘me’ just for less than a day… Does it bother you?” Sapphira turned her head to me.

“Are you kidding, Sapphi? I like you the way you are, period.” I said resolutely.

Lily was honestly surprised to hear such words from Sapphira and sat silently, pondering about something.

“Sapphira? You know… your words make sense! Perhaps, I too should stop… living a boring life. I guess Princess Luna tried to say the same thing to me, just in her own way.” Lily’s ears and wings twitched a few times, she was smiling lightly. Then she decided to change the awkward topic: “Hey, Ray!” – Her brows furrowed when she looked at me, – “Get off the bed with all that dusty clothes of yours right now! And you too, Sapphira! Shoo! Let’s go to the shower.” She waved her hoof to get us off the beds.

“Together?” I asked.

“So what? Haven’t you groped me everywhere already?” she asked with a raised brow.

“Not everywhere…”

“That’s not important! We don’t have much time to go one by one, besides, put those hands of yours to work and help us wash our manes and tails!” Lily got into her ‘work mode’ and used her commanding voice. That’s… new!

“Whoa, at last Lily has some brilliant ideas, bravo! I totally support you!” Sapphira got up from the bed and praised Lily jokingly.

“Alright, alright, are there any towels in the room?” I asked.

“Found them! Let’s go already, they will wake us up early, the longer we tarry, the less time will be left for our sleep.” said Lily, leading us to the shower room nearby.

The shower did not have any hot water, but the situation was alleviated by the fact that the weather was warm and sunny the whole day, so the water stored in the tower was just slightly cool. I was happy by a simple opportunity to use a soap! Too bad there was no shampoo to wash the girls’ manes and tails, so we had to use soap for that too. I’m not even sure they have such things here, but the word in Equestrian is present in my head, so the shampoo should exist here.

Tiredness was slowly getting the better of us, so even Sapphira did not throw any of her jokes. Everything was serene and decent, but only until they decided to wash my clothes with Sapphira’s magic. That included my boxers, which I still had on me. How would you argue with someone who always goes naked? Yeah, right, it’s useless! So, with their joint efforts, I was quickly stripped completely naked.

“What are you complaining about, Ray? I’ve already seen everything down there long ago! Stop behaving like a little foal!” Sapphira reprimanded me.

“Damn it, it was already somewhat challenging to keep myself from entering ‘battle mode’ when I was washing them, and now they’ve stripped me.” I made a deep breath with closed eyes; my willpower trainings over the past week gave me some edge in such matters. “And what about Lily?” I asked skeptically.

“Now she had seen everything too, so it’s not a big deal anymore!” she said matter-of-factly.

Lily’s wings spread out, splattering me with drops of water, her ears twitched and folded to the sides and she had an awkward smile on her face. Then she turned away her head. I sighed again as my hand covered my eyes.

We’ve finished our business washing and drying ourselves, and the only thing left were my clothes. Naturally, I wouldn’t walk around in wet boxers, so I just wrapped a towel around my hips.

“Alright, this will be quick!” said Sapphira. She gathered the water with her magic, then threw my clothes and a brick of soap inside the water sphere and started to rapidly whirl it.

“Damn, you are quite creative, Sapphi!” I said as I watched this parody of a washing machine.

Sapphira was done in a few minutes. I’m not sure if that kind of washing was effective, but at least the wooden dust from that timber wolf was washed away. It was giving me itches all over the body. Sapphira didn’t know any methods to remove the water from the clothes, so I had to squeeze it out by myself.

We returned to our room and plopped onto the beds. It was the first time I was falling asleep surrounded by two pretty and warm mares. They were already fast asleep. My head was void of any thoughts too as my brain was persistently trying to shut down. I embraced Lily and Sapphira lightly before following them into the dreamland.

I woke in the middle of a night for some reason. Everything around was quiet. I tried to fall asleep again, but it seemed to be an endeavor destined to fail. I felt that something was amiss, but could not say what exactly. I slowly opened my eyes, the surroundings were dark, but there was something wrong with the room, because it was another room! Damn! It is my bedroom from Earth! The gears in my head made several turns and finally came out with something sensible.

“Um… Luna? Is it you?” I asked, my sleepy voice was somewhat loud in the surrounding silence. I heard clopping sounds of hooves in the hall, and then her voice.

“Hello, Ray! Sorry to intrude without knocking!” Luna had appeared at the entrance to the bedroom, “But I couldn’t draw you into my own dream for some reason, and your dream door just happened to open on its own for me! Everything is so weird for some reason when I interact with your dreams, Ray!” Luna smiled lightly.

I sat up on my bed and looked at myself; I was dressed in my regular home attire. At least I’m not in just underwear!

“Oh, hi, Luna! Your visit was rather… unexpected.” I shook my head to get rid of my sleepiness. “Why was I sleeping in my dream huh?” I scratched my head in confusion, then looked at Luna.

“Uh… you was in a deep sleep, it seems. Usually, I can’t enter a dream when someone is in a deep sleep, this is new for me too, Ray!” Luna raised her brows with perplexed face, raising her hoof in uncertain gesture.

“I see… Oh, maybe I should call you Princess Luna?” I finally had a proper look at her. “Ha! ‘Fleur de Lis’? They wrote so many words about her in that magazine, but what I see before me, even in this dim lighting, is how true royal elegance should look like! It can’t be imitated! But that’s not surprising, given Luna’s true status.” This train of thought flashed quickly in my head.

Luna was looking at the walls around the entrance, before asking, “Ray, how do you turn the lights on in your room?” She ignored my question about her title.

“Ah, that… look a bit higher, it’s made for my height.” My eyes were glued to her ethereal hair and tail. “God, this is a mesmerizing sight, like a waving flame in the dark.”

Luna finally saw a switch and a cobalt blue magic aura engulfed it for a second, then the switch clicked and the lights in the room turned on.

“Oh, that’s much better! And no! Please be so kind and don’t call me a Princess. You know, it’s getting increasingly annoying over the years. Princess this, Princess that!” she said the last phrase almost grumpily. Then unceremoniously jumped atop my bed and sat beside me, shaking her mane once. “It might have been fun for the first thousand years… but now it is not anymore!” Luna said with a small sigh.

“Alright, Luna, I won’t. So… you have such a long lifespan? Sorry if I’m asking something inappropriate.” I said with some doubts about how she will react.

“What? You didn’t know? Really? But that’s true. I and my older sister, Celestia, have already lived a very long life. We don’t age, you see, but we are not immortal,” she said with a tinge of melancholy in her voice, “You don’t seem to be too surprised with it!” added Luna.

“Huh! How the hell should I be surprised with just a few thousands of years when I spent so much time with someone, whose lifespan is measured in hundreds of thousands of years?” I thought to myself, having a wry smile on my face, but I could not just say it to her.

“I don’t know. Perhaps, I’m just not easily surprised, Luna. What brings you here today, did you already visit the girls?” I rubbed my cheek, as I was a little stirred by Luna’s sudden arrival.

“Oh, I didn’t, they are in a deep sleep, probably very tired, so I decided to leave them be and let them rest tonight. I just wanted to make sure that everything is fine, so tell me how was your journey today,” said Luna amiably.

“Well,” – I scratched my head, – “everything went fine, except for the sudden attack of three timberwolves. In was an unpleasant surprise, but it was not so dangerous in comparison with the manticores. We got rid of them and quickly left the area in case there were more around. Now we are resting at the maintenance station, the guys there were really nice to us, thanks to Lily, I guess.” I told Luna the general happenings of our day and she had shown visible relieve to know we are fine.

“That’s great news! You have finally got to safety. I should say sorry to you all… I underestimated the danger this jungle posed. I should have put my mission on hold and come personally with Lily,” said Luna with regret.

“That’s not your fault; please don’t dwell on it too much. You have definitely had your own responsibilities, right? If anything, I blame the jungle itself and my own weakness. But still, we’ve got out in once piece, and even without injuries.” I tried to calm her down.

“Damn, she is too kind and nice to me! Especially considering her royal status!” I thought, “And I had to lie to this girl? That feels really bad.” At this moment I felt my power behaving strangely. In fact, I’ve began to notice it the moment Luna got close to me, but didn’t pay much attention to it. Now I’m sure it’s reacting to her presence on its own, and I have no reasonable explanation for this phenomenon.

“Hmm? Without any injuries you say?” Luna raised her brow and smiled wryly, “I know a lot about how much you have suffered from the manticores, Ray,” Luna said with a sigh. “By the way, I’m quite interested in that magic of yours and in many other things too! We had too little time to speak the last time, and we don’t have much time now either, regrettably.” Luna looked at me with undisguised interest.

“So you knew… But talking about time, do you have things to do this late at night?” I asked.

“Yes, soon I’ll have to move the Moon, and before that I was hunting nightmares in the dreamland all over Equestria,” said Luna without much joy in her voice.

“Did you say… to move the Moon? You mean it is you who moves it personally?” I asked in bewilderment.

“Wait, Ray, you don’t know even this?” asked Luna, a little surprised. “Common folks might think that it is I and my sister who move the Moon and the Sun personally with our power, but in fact we just command them to move. But that requires quite a lot of magic power, nevertheless. Without us a whole lot of unicorns have to use their magic in synch to do it, casting a complex spell together.” Luna’s gaze was gliding across the ceiling as she was thinking about something.

“That’s… really interesting. What will happen if you don’t command them to move?” I was just curious how it all worked.

Luna’s gaze finally returned to me. “Then they will remain in place until someone moves them. If only just one is moved, then it will be a situation when both celestial bodies will be on one side of the world, and the other one will be plunged in utter darkness,” Luna told me all the possibilities.

“Sounds troublesome! Can’t you order them to move gradually around the world on their own?” I held my chin by my old habit and was rubbing it with my thumb.

Luna chuckled, looking at me. “Of course we thought of such an idea, Ray, but we can’t do it, unfortunately. Maybe, someday we will be able to pull that trick, but that requires so much magical research I don’t even want to think about it now. And our free time is rather limited currently,” said Luna thoughtfully. “You do have some unusual thinking, Ray, only scientists have ever talked to me about such matters like the movement of the Sun and the Moon, in detail. Are you, perhaps, one of them?” Luna asked jokingly.

“Ha-ha no, Luna, I have almost zero understanding of pony magic, but I think I have some decent education overall. And I find it strange that ponies showed so little interest towards this topic!” I answered honestly.

“No understanding of our magic? Well, naturally, you are not a pony, after all,” said Luna, turning her head to me.

Now her face was quite close to me, and I was almost lost in her big hypnotizing eyes, her undulating starry mane didn’t help the situation either. My power inside me started to rev fast, but didn’t go berserk, like it did before during my fights. Everything seemed fine, and I was not waking up like the last time. “What’s happening and why?” I asked myself a meaningless question.

“Ray, would you like to meet personally? Not just in a dream,” asked Luna, still looking into my eyes.

It is hard to say no to her, not when those cyan eyes are looking right at you, and I don’t have any sensible reasons to refuse! Also, I felt like my ‘life essence’ was pushing me to agree. “Damn it, what nonsense am I thinking about?”

“But… wouldn’t it create trouble for you? Besides, I don’t like to be in a spotlight. If anyone sees us, I think it will be impossible for me to avoid an unwanted attention that will inevitably follow…” I said without much confidence in my voice.

“Oh, that’s simple, we can meet in private and I can also use a disguise, so nopony would ever know!” said Luna. I can swear her eyes flashed with excitement for a short moment when she talked about disguising. Perhaps, she likes to do such things?

“Then, I guess, it’s alright…” I finally agreed, and my power started to calm down bit by bit at last, “but when and where?”

“Wonderful! I’ll find you myself, Ray!” Luna stood up from the bed and spread wide her large dark blue wings. She started to slowly disappear in a dark cloud with sparkling stars. “It’s time for me to go, Good bye!” she said with a smile, before vanishing.

A strong wave of sleepiness assaulted my mind unexpectedly, so I lied back on the bed and quickly fell asleep. “It’s so weird… to sleep… in your dream…” – was my last silly thought.

End of chapter.

Author's Note: while I was working with side characters, I’ve made a sort of a character sheet for them for my personal use. But then I thought you might be interested to see it too, and maybe even use it to recall side characters easier later. So I’ll just put it here, after the chapter. If you don’t mind, please comment if you like this idea or not.

Side character sheet:

Name: Steel Sheen, stallion
Race: earth pony
Age: 31
Coat: bluish-gray
Mane: light silvery-grey, short
Eyes: deep blue
Complexion: above average height, muscular, stocky
Traits: strong, enduring
Talent: organizer, engineering labor skills
Personality: confident, stubborn, somewhat irascible
Occupation: foreman of the supply station crew
Cutie Mark: a checklist and a working helmet

Name: Sandy Crunch ‘Fizzlecrack’, stallion
Race: unicorn
Age: 19
Coat: pale ochre
Mane: rusty, short
Eyes: tea-colored
Complexion: average
Traits: cracked horn
Talent: able to lift heavy objects, but lacks control due to his horn
Personality: cowardly, nervous, but not bad overall
Occupation: member of a supply station crew, focused on loading/unloading various stuff
Cutie Mark: trapezoidal metal weight

Name: Quick Fix, stallion
Race: earth pony
Age: 23
Coat: light brown
Mane: straw-colored, medium length
Eyes: dark green
Complexion: average, fit
Traits: your average earth pony
Talent: dealing with various mechanisms, as the rest of his family
Personality: jovial, optimist
Occupation: member of a supply station crew, focused on repairs and maintenance
Cutie Mark: a wrench on the background of a gear

Name: Breeze Wheels, stallion
Race: earth pony
Age: 25
Coat: sky-blue
Mane: white, short
Eyes: light gray
Complexion: average for earth pony
Traits: unknown
Talent: operating steam engines
Personality: a bit mild, diligent
Occupation: train driver
Cutie Mark: a metal wheel with a white wing at the background

Name: Amber Brand, stallion
Race: earth pony
Age: 28
Coat: saffron
Mane: pumpkin-orange, short
Eyes: bright green
Complexion: larger than average, muscular
Traits: strong
Talent: dealing with fire
Personality: practical, rude, stubborn
Occupation: firepony
Cutie Mark: three tongues of flame