Ruffled Feathers

With his head lowered and eyes clamped shut, Nimbus took a deep breath, held it for a moment, then slowly exhaled. Baby steps - this was all about baby steps. He remained silent as he charged, his heart pounding and hooves pounding against the soil beneath him, and broke into a full gallop. There was a good chance - actually, it was almost a certainty that he was going to fail, but at least he wasn’t in any real risk of hurting himself.

Peeking out and reaching the hill’s crest, he extended his wings and leapt with all his might. The rush of air and the sun warming his coat brought a smile to his face - sadly, his joy didn’t last for long. The pull of gravity was sobering, lacing his adrenaline with fear. He fought the urge to kick his legs, knowing they’d do nothing but complicate matters, while he flapped hard and looked ahead.

The good news was that he actually managed to glide for a few feet, sailing over the slope he’d just trotted up - the bad news was that his landing was anything but glorious. Momentarily forgetting he had four legs instead of two, he threw his forehooves forward, lost his balance, and went rolling ass over teakettle. As he came to rest on his back, a broad smile split his features.

“You gotta slow down first,” Sapphire tutted from beneath a nearby tree. “At the speed you were going, you’ll have to land into a canter.”

He spat out a clod of soil he’d unintentionally shoveled into his muzzle, wholly undeterred by the small failure. It had been far from perfect, but it had been his most successful attempt to get airborne to date. Wiping off his tongue, he could virtually taste the triumph over the grass and dirt.

Wincing and rolling onto his side, he peered over at her. “You saw it ~ right?”

Sapphire shrugged. “I don’t think you’ll be pulling off a rainboom anytime soon, but yeah…”

He ignored what he presumed was a small, unintended slight as he got his hooves under himself and stood. “Well the Wright brothers didn’t make it that far on their maiden flight, so I’m not gonna go beating myself up over it.”

All things considered, he was pleased as punch. The cost of a few aches later was a small price to pay for the inspiration he’d just been given. He had no doubt that it was going to take a lot of time, patience, dedication, and probably a good number of scrapes and bruises, but the prospect of conquering the skies, of actually flying, was positively electrifying.

“Who?” she quipped.

Trotting over to her, he brushed dirt and grass from his chest with a wing. “The Wright brothers. They’re the ones who invented planes - well, I don’t think they invented planes, but they’re the ones who made the first functional one.”

“Didn’t you say those are the fast ones?” she asked, cocking her head up at him.

He nodded and eased himself down beside her. “Yeah, mostly. We’ve got dirigibles that are pretty darn similar to the airships here, but they’re pretty rare. Planes are way faster and have more practical use.”

Nodding her head, she peered up at the open sky. “It’s so weird how humans were - are able to do so much with so little.”

“Fingers,” he snickered, reaching out and waggling his hoof. “Think about having five, tiny opposable limbs that can be used to manipulate stuff.”

She snickered and playfully nudged his shoulder. “I know what fingers are, you goof! Diamond dogs, abyssinians, dragons, hippogriffs, griffons - they’ve all got digits.”

Leaning over, he rested his weight against her. “Just remind me not to stare too hard when I finally get to meet one of them - if I get to meet one of them.”

“I will,” she sighed. Her expression wavered when she looked up to his face. “Depending on what happens with Twilight, we should probably look into getting you some flight lessons. I can’t blame you for trying to teach yourself, but I’d feel even worse than I already do if you accidentally hurt yourself - like really hurt yourself…”

“I wouldn’t be opposed to it,” he admitted. “It’s just a shame these don’t come with training wheels,” he added, adjusting the wings on his back.

Following his gaze, she stared at the feathered appendages. “Can’t say we have anything like that, but there are classes and trainers available.”

“Even for adults?” he asked.

“Even for adults,” she affirmed with a nod. “You didn’t think I’d ask you to go to the grade school and sit around with a bunch of foals ~ did you?”

The mental image of himself surrounded by small, youthful ponies was both hilarious and a bit terrifying. Shaking his head, he got up and tousled her mane with a wingtip. “Not unless you were trying to get back at me for breakfast this morning.”

She snickered and batted a hoof at him. “You almost got me too! If my mom didn’t occasionally use the old trick of putting the burnt side of the pancakes facing the plate, I wouldn’t have had any idea.”

“Good to know I’m not the only pony who tries to cover their tracks,” he hummed as he turned. “You want a drink?”

“Some lemonade would be nice,” she remarked, remaining where she sat.

Giving her the winged equivalent of a thumbs-up, a maneuver he’d only recently gained the dexterity to pull off, he trotted around to the opposite side of the tree. Despite the rocky start of the day, things were going more smoothly than he’d hoped. As he trotted to and opened a little cooler that was stashed in the shade, a cloud darkened his thoughts.

The last week had been rough, and he had a bad feeling that things were only going to get worse before they got better. Simply put, ever since she’d gotten the letter from Princess Twilight, Sapphire had been a nervous wreck - to the point where she’d called out sick from work twice and was pushing herself harder than ever to accurately decipher the tome she’d borrowed. Ironically enough, though she’d just mentioned feeling bad for him, he felt even worse for her.

While he wouldn’t deny that his life had become pretty complicated, what with having to adjust to a new world, new customs, and a brand new body, he took solace that he wasn’t in any trouble - at least, he was pretty sure he wasn’t in any trouble. If Sapphire was right, her gambit to get a coltfriend may land her in some serious hot water. Pulling a can from the icy water, he peered down at the lemonade in his hoof.

There was so much he still didn’t understand, things that defied logic, that he felt like he might go crazy trying to wrap his head around all of it. It shouldn’t have been possible for a hoof to pick up anything, yet here he was holding a can. Shifting the beverage into one wing, he reached into the cooler and grabbed a second drink before turning and trotting away.

“One lemonade,” he announced, offering the can in his feathery clutches.

Taking the beverage in her aura, Sapphire took and cracked the beverage open. “Thanks…”

He watched for a moment as she levitated the drink to her lips and took a sip. “I don’t think I’ll ever get over that…”

Lowering the can, she quirked a brow. “Canned drinks?”

“Magic,” he clarified. Seeing her fighting a smirk, he rolled his eyes. “Remind me to tell you about freeze-dried food sometime.”

“Ok, see, you can’t just be amazed by magic and expect me not to find all that stuff humans have to be unbelievable,” she giggled.

He seated himself and leaned his back against the tree’s trunk. “I guess it’s all relative.”

“I suppose, but you could probably single-hoofedly revolutionize a number of areas with the stuff you know about,” she softly exclaimed.

Waving away the idea, he closed his eyes. “For starters, knowing about the stuff and understanding how to make it are two very, very different things - secondly, I’d really rather not have a bunch of eggheads picking my brain about how cell phones or the internet work.”

He knew he’d erred the second he’d finished speaking. Peeking out with a single eye, he watched Sapphire’s shoulders wilt. Darn it - hours of work, a batch of burnt pancakes, and his ostentatious and ill-prepared trial flight had all been flushed away in an instant. Fighting the urge to curse, he silently set his jaw.

That morning, the same as the last hoofful, had been spent in a valiant attempt to distract Sapphire from her inevitable meeting with Princess Twilight. He’d gotten up early, made breakfast, and even done a bit of cleaning all by his lonesome - furthermore, he’d planned for and successfully talked his way into going on a small picnic. The small kindnesses may not have been much in the grand scheme of things, but they were better than gloomily moping around.

A part of him was actually looking forward to speaking with the wise and supposedly magnanimous royal, having heard about her heroic deeds and penchant for scholarly pursuits, but it was hard to stay upbeat when the mere mention of her sent Sapphire into a bout of depression. What research he’d done, having read some of the literature in her study and the talks he’d had with the neighbors about the Princess, seemed to indicate that they had nothing to worry about. Twilight was, from what he’d gathered, a paragon of kindness and an all-around good mare - for buck’s sake, the few punishments she’d ever been forced to dispense had all been relatively tame!

The powers that be which governed Equestria were shockingly lenient with even the most vile and threatening creatures. Discord, a chaotic demigod, had been imprisoned for a time before he’d eventually escaped and become a hero in his own right, the villainous Nightmare Moon had been freed from her curse and rejoined her sister, and even Queen Chrysalis and Cozy Glow, two megalomaniacal mares who’d nearly toppled the globe, hadn’t been executed! If the most heinous ne’er-do-wells were effectively handed light sentences which happened after an opportunity to renounce their evil ways, surely - surely a misguided unicorn wouldn’t get locked up in some dingy cell or shipped off to a far-flung friendship gulag ~ right?

“Come on,” he chuckled, feigning mirth, “she can’t be that bad.”

“You don’t know that,” she murmured under her breath. “I’m pretty sure I’m gonna get fired.”

Staving off the urge to rub her shoulder, he lifted a hoof. “For what it’s worth, I’ve been fired a few times - yeah, it sucks, but it’s not -”

“And you’ll probably be taken to Canterlot or something,” she whispered.

He blinked. “What? Why?”

“At best, she’ll probably take you in and personally supervise you until she can sort this all out -” Sapphire explained, “at worst, you might get experimented on.”

“I…what?” he croaked. “You’re pulling my leg…”

Lifting her head, she looked him in the eyes. “Nimbus, you’re an anomaly that shouldn’t exist. In all the research I’ve ever done, I’ve never heard of anything like this. The only thing that’s even close are some really, really old myths.”

He’d been about to press her on how she should be sure, but the last thing she’d said derailed his thoughts. “What myths?”

“They’re just that, myths,” she groaned. Seeing the curious look on his face, she rubbed her temples. “Old mares tales about how there was a rainbow bridge that crossed realities. Before you ask, no, I can’t give the stories any credit. There’s no tangible evidence, no documentation, and none of the Princesses have ever mentioned such a thing.”

“That doesn’t mean they aren’t or weren’t real,” he asserted.

“That’s just it -” she huffed, “if something like that existed, there’d be something written down about it, some record or ruin somewhere, but there isn’t.”

Knitting his brow, he peered down at the earth. “We had stuff like that too - ya know, back on Earth,” he mirthlessly chuckled, feeling more uneasy than he cared to admit. Getting no response, he rubbed the side of his neck. “There are some people that believe in aliens - like outer space aliens.”

He’d hoped to lighten the mood, but the undertaking was met with abject failure. A silence fell over them, leaving only the sound of the breeze and birds in the distance. Shifting and looking over to one side, he eyed a treeline that led to a dense, untamed forest and was stricken with an idea - one that was nothing short of insane.

“What if we went on the lam?” he muttered.

Rearing back, she went rigid. “Like ran away?”

“Yeah,” he replied, amused with how unhinged the notion was. “Going on the run, getting disguises, starting a new life somewhere - it could be fun.”

“Fun? Fun?!” she squawked. “Do you have any idea how crazy you sound right now?”

“No crazier than when I say I used to be a human,” he laughed, “and I don’t think it’s much crazier than you telling somepony you made a stallion out of nothing.”

Sapphire narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips. “Right, sure, and we’ll run around in disguises and live off the fat of the land.”

“Or we could knock over banks and rob trains,” he mused. “You think I’d look with a cowpony hat and a mustache?”

The final question turned the tide. Sapphire’s grimace twisted and turned upward ever so slightly as she turned her eyes to the ground and shook her head. “Thank you, Nimbus…”

He held a forehoof to his chest while doing his darnedest to act surprised. “Don’t thank me yet. After we rob our first saloon, you can -”

“Alright, Birch Cassidy,” she laughed, cutting him off and punching his upper foreleg. “But really, thanks. If we both end up getting locked up, at least I’ll have good company.”

Throwing his foreleg over her shoulders, he leaned against her. “Do they even have prisons here?”

“Tartarus is the big one, but most…” She fell silent when she looked in the direction of Greener Pastures.

Nimbus followed her gaze and scrunched his snout. “Who’s that?”

Shaking her head, Sapphire continued staring at the steadily approaching figure. “Not sure. They look kind of like - Oh sweet Celestia…”

“What?” he coughed as she bolted to her hooves.

Her demeanor had shifted on a dime, going from somewhat relaxed to outright panic, but he couldn’t understand why. As he pushed himself up, his attention shifted to the approaching pony. Whoever this was and whatever they wanted, they couldn’t have picked a worse time to butt in. Steeling himself, he trotted out of the shade.

“Wait here,” he instructed. “Maybe they’re just out for a trot or something.”

Sapphire wouldn’t or couldn’t reply, keeping her eyes locked on the figure while beads of sweat formed on her brow. Though he had mixed feelings about chivalry, he wasn’t about to let this pony, whoever they were, ruin his day. Moving at a relaxed pace, he lifted and waved a wing while going to meet what he hoped was just somepony on a poorly-timed hike.

“Hello,” he called out, keeping his tone neutral while putting on a friendly face. “Beautiful day for a…”

His throat tightened and he came to an immediate halt when he noticed a glint of gold and ruby from atop the pony’s head. The closer they came, the more details he made out - the more details he made out, the more certain he was of whom had come to pay them a visit. Sapphire’s meeting with Princess Twilight wasn’t scheduled for another two days, two days he felt certain were going to be filled with anxiety and dread, yet it seemed as though somepony wasn’t particularly keen on patience.

The mare slowed and stopped a dozen or so paces away from him, close enough to let them get a good look at one another while being far enough away to respect each other’s space. Save for the crown, a modest tiara fitted with a large, ornately cut stone, she didn’t look much different than anypony else. With mulberry-colored fur, violet eyes, and a dark mane and tail streaked with purple and fascia, she studied him.

“I’m guessing you’re Twilight Sparkle,” he began.

Their eyes met and she gave a small nod. “I am, yes. And you are…?”

Only then noticing she was endowed with both a horn and set of wings, he slowly - cautiously trotted ahead. “Nimbus. Nimbus Breeze.”

He hesitantly extended a foreleg as he came before her. The logical side of his mind told him he had nothing to fear, that Princess Twilight wasn’t some tyrant or despot, yet the irrational part of him clung to the stories he’d heard. Alicorns were beings of immeasurable power, nigh demigods compared to their subjects and the rest of ponykind, and their arcane might was capable of incomprehensible feats.

Closing the gap between them, she ignored his outstretched hoof and began circling him. “I was hoping to find you out here, Nimbus.”

He turned his head and tracked her with his eyes as his anxiety gradually escalated. “N…not one for hoofshakes?”

Twilight stiffened and stared up at him for a split second before coming around to face him. He’d expected her to take the joke poorly or outright ignore him, yet she did anything but. Taking his hoof in a firm but somewhat delicate grip, she returned his greeting and averted her gaze.

“S…sorry about that,” she sputtered. “After all the - no,” she fussed, releasing his hoof and stepping back. “I am not going to get ahead of myself.”

Nonplussed, he sat down. Whatever he’d been expecting, this wasn’t it. From the way Sapphire had been acting, behaving like somepony who was on her way to the gallows, he’d braced himself to face the full inquisitorial wrath of a royal - not somepony was tripping over her words and getting flustered from a simple introduction.

“Ok, let’s try that again,” she grumbled to herself. “I’m Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship, and I was hoping to speak to you and Sapphire Shine.”

“Talk to me first,” he softly insisted while glancing back at the petrified unicorn. “She’s - uh - a little on the nervous side…”

Twilight leaned first to one side then the other as she looked him over. “That’s fine - honestly, I’m more interested in speaking with you.”

His eyebrows rose at her admission. “Really? Why?”

“Because I believe you’re not supposed to be here,” she casually remarked.

He opened his mouth to speak, to ask her what in the world would lead her to that conclusion, but he quickly sealed his lips and gave himself a moment to think. By all accounts, Twilight was a bit of a bookworm, preferring the company of literature before she’d been sent to Ponyville by her former mentor, so there was a darn good chance that she had some idea of what had happened to him - that and her letter had expressly mentioned an arcane anomaly. Lifting his gaze, he motioned to her crown.

“Is that one of the Elements?” he asked.

She started and reached up to draw a hoof over the headpiece. “Oh! As a matter of fact, it is! I take it you’ve heard of it?”

“Heard of it?” he began, pretending to be shocked. “Who hasn’t heard of the Elements of Harmony?”

There was perilously little he could do to stop her from doing whatever she wanted, being both outranked and metaphorically outgunned by the Princess, but that didn’t mean he had to spill all the beans right from the get-go. She’d come here to see Sapphire and apparently him, so he could forgive himself for trying to tease any information out of her.

With a slight grin on her snout, she locked eyes with him. “I’ve heard you’re new to the area - in fact, if the information I’ve collected is accurate, you’re relatively new to Equestria as a whole ~ is that right?”

“Sure is,” he stated, sensing his resolve buckle just a tad. “Far be it for me to talk about myself, Princess! What brings you to Greener Pastures?”

“You did - well, I theorize it was you,” she apprehensively answered. “This is going to sound a little weird, but do you mind if I run a quick test?”

As a dim glow radiated from her horn, his mouth went dry. “W…what kind of test?”

Dismissing his concern with a wave of a wing, she grinned all the broader. “Just a small scan.”

“L…like an x-ra-” He cut himself off by cramping a hoof in his muzzle.

The soft hum of magic and light around her horn dimmed while she squinted at him. “Like a what?”

Heck - darn it. He’d only just started talking to her, yet he’d managed to reference something that may not have existed in Equestria. Peeking over his shoulder and half-expecting to see Sapphire’s collapsed, fainted form, he warily smiled. Buck it - there wasn’t any backing out of this one.

“An x-ray,” he replied. “Is it like an x-ray?”

Twilight slowly turned her head from side to side. “Yes and no. While an x-ray uses electromagnetism to capture an image of internal structures, namely your bones, this spell is designed to detect a whole host of varying things. Don’t worry, it won’t hurt.”

Licking his lips, he braced himself and clamped his eyes shut. An odd tingling sensation washed over him and through him, making his fur stand on end. She’d been right, it wasn’t an unpleasant sensation, yet he was both intrigued and horrified about what she was going to find - moreover, what she would do if the results weren’t to her liking.

“I knew it!” she bleated after only a second.

Cracking one eye open, he watched her jump to her hooves and start excitedly jumping in place. “S…so I guess that’s not a bad thing?”

“Bad thing?” she croaked, falling still and looking downright wounded. “Nimbus, how could this be a bad thing?”

He shrugged and remained where he sat. “You tell me!”

Practically vibrating with enthusiasm, Twilight threw her tush to the earth and materialized a notebook and pen into existence with a soft pop. “Ok, let’s start from the beginning. Where are you from? I know you’re not some mail-order coltfriend, so don’t give me that. Where are you really from?”

“I…” He paused as he processed what was happening.

Twilight sure as heck didn’t seem like she was here to get anypony in trouble - on the contrary, she was acting like a thrilled researcher or student who’d just made a discovery of some sort. It may have been slightly preemptive for him to get his hopes up, but her exhilaration was infectious. Giving her a genuine smile, he reflexively flapped his wings with pride.

“I am - er - was a human,” he admitted.

Twilight nodded vigorously while her hovering pen sailed over the notepad. “Fascinating. And what brought you to Equestria?”

“Well I - hang on a second,” he groused, stopping himself yet again. “Before I start giving you my life’s history, I need to ask you something.”

Lowering her ledger, Twilight met his eyes. “Of course, I’d be happy to answer any questions you have!”

Feeling a bit foolish, he blushed and massaged his neck with a wing. “This is going to sound silly, but I - no, we aren’t in any hot water ~ are we?”

“We?” she parroted. Following his gaze when he looked back at Sapphire, she snickered. “Not unless you’re here to cause any problems, of course not.”

The relief that flooded through him was immeasurable, like the weight of the world coming off his back. “You have no idea how good that is to hear.”

Tilting her head, she knit her brow. “You say that like I’m out to get you two or something!”

He laughed harder, finding the whole situation absurd. “I really don’t know what I was thinking. After Sapphire got that letter you sent, we thought we were in for it!”

“The only reason I sent the letter to her is because you’re the one who’s out of place,” Twilight jovially countered. “I’d intended on speaking with her in private initially, but since you were both here…”

“I get you,” he hummed. “Kinda awkward to get the inside scoop on somepony if said somepony is right there.”

“Exactly,” she clucked. “In any case, I apologize if I caused either of you undue stress. Where was I…” she whispered as she looked down at her notes. “Right ~ what brought you to Equestria?”

Hitching a pinion of a thumb over his shoulder, he nodded behind himself. “She did.”

Twilight went still and kept her pen held to the paper. “Excuse me?”

“She did,” he repeated. “One minute, I was in my apartment - next thing I know - Poof - I’m here looking like this,” he noted while waving his wings at himself. “I thought it was a dream at first, but then -”

“Wait wait wait,” Twilight interjected. “She brought you here - like, actually brought you here?”

“Yeah, like with some kind of magic,” he glibly answered. “It’s kind funny, but she -”

“I am so, so sorry,” Sapphire interrupted. Trotting over and giving a deep, reverential bow, she pressed her chest to the earth. “My Princess, I never meant t…to…”

As Twilight waited patiently for the unicorn to continue, her expression shifted. “Meant to…?”

Nimbus had intended to let Sapphire open up about what had happened, though she made no attempt to do anything other than mutely grovel. His guess was that she’d finally come to her senses and realized she had to say something, even if her trepidation had gotten the better of her. Taking up the mantle, he cleared his throat.

“It was an accident,” he breathed.

Swinging her focus from the prostrate mare to Nimbus, Twilight remained all but motionless. “I’m sorry ~ what is going on here?”

“Like I told you, it was an accident,” Nimbus said softly. “Hey, Sapphire, feel free to…”

Sapphire shivered and covered her face when he reached out and touched her side. This was bad - really, really bad. Not only was she on the verge of tears, if she wasn’t crying already, but she was having a full-blown anxiety attack and wouldn’t be helping him explain anything anytime soon.

He glowered and stared Twilight down as he summoned every bit of courage he could muster. “You said we weren’t going to be in trouble ~ right?”

“I don’t see why you would be,” Twilight responded, “but -”

“Yes or no,” he urged. “Nopony’s been hurt, there’s no danger, and I swear that neither of us are up to no good.”

Twilight gave a guarded nod. “If that’s the case, yes, neither of you are in any trouble. You have my solemn vow.”

Glancing down at Sapphire, he snorted. “I’m going to hold you to that. Ok, this is going to sound nuts, but here’s what happened…”

He was as open as he could be, detailing his side of the events from start to finish while keeping some of the more intimate details tactfully vague. It would be impossible for him to paint a full picture, neither understanding the nuances of spellwork or being able to talk at length about the ritual he’d been unwittingly snared in, but his account seemed to clear a few things up for Twilight. While he’d anticipated being stopped multiple times to be asked for specifics, the Princess stayed deathly quiet throughout his implausible story.

It was only after he’d finished speaking that Twilight turned her gaze down to Sapphire. “Where’s the book…?”

“It…it’s in my study,” Sapphire sniffled. “Princess Twilight, I…I didn’t mean to -”

“To what?” Twilight spat, her biting tone a sharp contrast to what it had been minutes prior. “To make a coltfriend for yourself? To steal from the library? To break the fabric of reality for your self-serving purposes?”

“I…I didn’t…” Sapphire choked out, shuffling back.

As she stood, Twilight’s baleful eyes never wavered from Sapphire. “Am I wrong? If I am, you’d better start talking…”

Sapphire hesitantly stood while keeping her head lowered. “I…I was lonely…”

“And you thought that justified you ignorantly using magic you don’t understand?” Twilight pressed, unable or unwilling to mask her disdain. “Sapphire, you should know better than anypony how dangerous sorcery can be! What were you thinking?”

Even if the castigation wasn’t directed at him, Nimbus winced. Being punished for a wrongdoing was never a fun experience, but being lambasted by somepony, especially if it was somepony as influential and idolized as a literal savior to a nation, had to hurt. Neither seeing nor hearing any sign of Sapphire trying to defend herself, unless a pitiable whimper counted, he steeled himself, got up, and took a single step.

“She said it was an accident,” he sternly declared.

“Accident or not, this is serious,” Twilight rebuked. “She could have done untold harm to the city, herself, or you.”

He didn’t flinch as wrestled with his growing unease. “But she didn’t.”

Relenting, if only just, Twilight broke eye contact with him. “She didn’t, no, but -”

“If anypony here has a right to be mad at her, it’s me,” he added.

Twilight’s eyes widened as a confused look crossed her face. “And you’re not?”

“I…” he stammered, unprepared for the frank question. “Truthfully, yeah, I was pretty peeved - as a matter of fact, I’m still not jumping for joy about what happened.”

“You’re not making a very compelling argument,” Twilight clucked, rolling her eyes. “Nimbus, you -”

Holding up a wing, he silenced her. “I wasn’t finished. Have you ever had something really scary or shocking happen to you?”

Twilight steadily nodded. “Of course I have…”

“Did any of those experiences end up being a blessing in disguise?” he continued while saying a mute prayer to any deity that happened to be listening.

“I have,” Twilight whispered.

“Then you’ll understand what I’m getting at,” he boldly claimed. “Listen, it’s not like I even lost much. I didn’t have many friends, I’ve never been all that close to my family, and I was stuck in a dead-end job with nothing to look forward to. Maybe things will be better for me in Equestria - heck, maybe this was meant to happen…”

It was impossible for him to know for certain, but it seemed as though his words were starting to have an effect. Twilight’s jaw worked noiselessly, as though she were trying to form a rebuttal, as her eyes darted between him and Sapphire. Sensing an opening, he faltered when a singular thought occurred to him - one which he hadn’t considered until that moment.

“If the book was so important and dangerous, why wasn’t it put under lock and key?” he inquired.

“It was ~” Twilight tentatively claimed, sounding less than convinced as she looked over at Sapphire, “wasn’t it?”

“It was in the antiquities collection,” Sapphire faintly replied. “Even though we don’t loan out books from that area, anypony can go and look at them with an attendant.”

Realizing he had Twilight on the ropes, he went in for the proverbial kill. “And who’s fault is that?”

“I…I didn’t know there was anything like that in the library!” Twilight stuttered. “Please don’t tell me there are more like it.”

Sapphire somberly nodded while she stood. “There are a few that haven’t been definitively identified, and even more which aren’t fully translated yet. The Canterlot University will occasionally send a historian to study them, but -”

“I knew I should have come here sooner,” Twilight lamented, all fight and fury bleeding from her. Wheeling around, she stumbled and glared over at the pair. “Don’t think you two are off the hook. Sapphire, I’ll meet you at your house in one hour ~ got it?”

Giving a small, curt bow, Sapphire dipped her head. “Yes, Princess.”

“And you,” Twilight murmured as she locked eyes with Nimbus, “I’ve got more questions for you.”

With her proclamation made, Twilight disappeared in a flash of light and pop of displaced air. Nimbus shudderingly exhaled, thankful that he’d averted or at least delayed what could have been a catastrophe. There was no guarantee that things would ultimately pan out in his or Sapphire’s favor, but he had a feeling that the storm had passed - if it hadn’t, he wasn’t above holding Twilight to the promise she’d made him.

“Well,” he rasped, shaken from the interaction, “it looks like - Oooph!”

Sapphire threw herself upon him and tackled him to the ground. “Thank you, thank you, thank you…”

The praise and impromptu affection left Nimbus at a momentary loss, but he quickly collected himself and caressed her upper back with a wing. “Come on, I just did what anypony would do.”

“N…no,” she sobbed, burying her face in his neck. “Y…you - Sniff - s…stood up f…for me a…and…”

“Sssssssssssh,” he hissed, allowing himself a small smile. “It’s fine…”

Pulling away, she wiped her snout with a forehoof. “It’s not f…fine. What if she - we can’t find a way to send you back? W…what will we d…do if -”

Gingerly pressing a pinion to her lips, he brushed a tear from her cheek. “No matter what happens, we’ll deal with it.”

She pulled herself together as she withdrew and stepped off of him. “That stuff you told her, d…did you mean it?”

“You mean about my life?” he posited. Seeing her nod, he looked away and ruefully laughed. “Yeah. Things weren’t terrible on Earth - then again, they definitely weren’t what I’d call great. The only thing I really cared about is Mr. Jonesy, but I’m sure Mrs. Wong is taking care of him.”

“Who?” Sapphire croaked.

“Mr. Jonsey is my cat,” he hastily clarified, attempting to avoid another emotional outburst. “Mrs. Wong is - was my neighbor. I swear, between her spoiling him and giving him treats all the time, she’s the reason he spent more time in her apartment than mine.”

Trotting up to him, Sapphire gave him a second, albeit somewhat less aggressive hug. “If you have to stay for a while, I…I can get you a cat.”

He grinned and folded his wings over her shoulders, holding her close while cherishing both her warmth and the kindly gesture. “That means a lot. By the way, since you brought it up, what are we going to do if - um - I end up a permanent guest.”

“We could…” Her response fell short as she let him go and shied away. “You could do whatever you want.”

“We,” he clarified, lifting a forehoof. “You dragged me into this, so we’re both on this wild ride together.”

Her eyes instantly went alight. “Y…you mean…”

“Hold your horses - er - ponies,” he chuckled. “I’m not saying I’m gonna be your homemaker or anything, but I’d be happy to have you as my friend.”

Looking from his face, down to the forehoof he extended to her, then back, she only barely seemed to hold herself together. “R…really?”

“Really,” he serenely reassured her. “You’re the only mare I’ve met who didn’t start hitting on me when - uh…” Bursting into laughter, he shook his head. “Ok, so maybe you did start hitting on me after we - cough - you know, but I’m just as guilty as you there. You’ve treated me well, you’ve busted your hump trying to figure out that spell, and you’re the only pony on the planet who knows the truth about me.”

“Besides Twilight,” Sapphire added.

He kept his foreleg outstretched while running a wing over his face. “Yeah, but she doesn’t strike me as the sort who’s gonna blab about this.”

Moving to embrace him for a third time, Sapphire faltered and shook his hoof. “You’re probably right about that. Wouldn’t want her newfound research subject to get scooped up by some other scholar.”

“I - gosh, I hope you’re joking about that,” he groaned. “I don’t care if she’s a Princess, she’s not going to probe me.”

“I doubt she would, but don’t be shocked if she comes back with an entire list of things to ask you about,” Sapphire weakly giggled. Relaxing her grip and lowering her foreleg, she brushed a lock of mane from her face. “We should probably get back and wait for her.”

“Yeah,” he sighed. Trotting around her and coming to her side, he nudged her with his shoulder. “Does she have a coltfriend?”

“Twilight?” Sapphire grunted, trotting alongside him as he started to move. “I don’t think she does ~ why?”

“Use that against her,” he noted. “She’s a mare, so she should sympathize with you - doubly so if you’ve both dealt with being single.”

Scrunching her snout, she thoughtfully looked down at the ground. “That’s…that’s pretty clever.”

“I have my moments,” he hummed as he swaggered his shoulders. “In any case, yeah, I think we’re going to be ok. Just do me one favor.”

“Name it,” she said without hesitation.

With a confident smile splitting his muzzle, he winked over at her. “If I end up staying here a while, help me learn how to use these.”

She glanced at his back as he extended his wings. “You have my word.”

“Thanks, Sapphire,” he whispered while resting one wing on her back.

Beaming up at him, she drifted closer. “My pleasure, Nimbus…”

A long, winding, uncertain road lay ahead of him, but he couldn’t stop a cautious optimism from welling up within him. Like it or not, this was an adventure, and he had no choice but to tackle it head on. Maybe he’d end up as some aerial acrobat, or maybe he was in a coma back on earth - in either case, he was going to hold his head high, make the best of a bad situation, and appreciate the friend he’d made along the way…