Once more upon the Day

by Harmonic Revelations

Rating: teen
Tags: Slice of Life, Romance
Length: 7115

A sequel to my previous story "A study in humanity", this time taking place several months after the normal ending.

Going to Equestria? Having to decide between turning into a pony and going back to Earth? Marrying Rarity? End up deciding to turn into a pony? Those are all choices you've made. You've grown more used to being around your wife and new friends. And you've even learned some magic, and since you never remembered your name proper you went with Adept Bolt. And now you're going on many more adventures.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2013-01-12 00:58:58 UTC

Awakening

You open your eyes, you have a feeling of grogginess coming over you. You sit up, and notice that Rarity is already up. You shrug and go to put your clothes on. Rarity has made you quite a lot of clothes since your initial arrival in Ponyville, and even more after your marriage, come to think of it. You slide on one of your casual shirts, it's a mixture of grey, black, and gold. It's supposed to be casual, but it's regal looking. You normally wouldn't dress with such bold colors but today was going to be an exciting day for Rarity.

You open the door of the bedroom, closing it gently behind you as you walk out into the hallway. Sweetie Belle must already be at school, as you don't hear her, so you walk down the stairs to see Rarity has cooked breakfast.

"Hello, dear, sleep well?" Rarity says to you with a smile, making small talk over breakfast has kind of become a morning routine by now. Rarity made some grass pancakes, even after the transformation, and months of living like this, you're still not used to eating things like hay and grass. You shrug it off and assume you'll get used to it eventually.

"I slept pretty well, and I was about to ask you the same question." you say in a laid back half-asleep type of voice.

"Oh I slept fine, with, my big strong stallion to protect me.", Rarity walks over to you and plants a kiss on your cheeks. You let out a grin at this.

"So Sweetie Belle already headed off to school huh?" you ask with a curious disposition.

"Yes, and I have the day off, so we can simply spend the day with our friends, or if you'd prefer, we could spend it just the two of us." Rarity replies.

"I'd prefer to go out with friends, you know, get some fresh air, today is too good of a day to waste." You chime in, thinking of the things you might do today.

"Sounds good to me, darling, whatever makes you happy" Rarity says. It's an odd statement considering that under normal circumstances you would be one adhering to Rarity's whim, and that didn't bother you, as there wasn't a single thing you wouldn't do for your perfect white mare. Oh how her coat glistened in the sun, like a gemstone. But you were getting ahead of yourself. You needed to stay focused, lest you look like a fool in front of your darling Rarity.

"So, are you going to invite the others over or did you already make plans" you ask, trying to get a clearer picture of how you'd end up spending your day.

"Oh, we all agreed to meet at Twilight's library today, at noon. We should probably leave in about fifteen minutes." Rarity says with a neutral, unchanging expression.

You finished eating, and stood up. "We can go now if you want, instead of waiting." you say to Rarity.

"Okay, let's go". So hoof-in-hoof, you walk out the door. By the looks of it, Rarity remembers something you don't, but you can't put your hoof on it.

You're lovey-dovey demeanor draws several gazes from pedestrians, that doesn't really bother you or Rarity though. Because as far as the two of you could tell, everything was as perfect as it could possibly be, nothing could improve, and their stares couldn't possibly dampen it in even the slighest sense of the word. You love birds continued on the way to the library. It was approximately a ten minute walk to the giant tree that was Ponyville's library. Even though Twillight lived inside, it is technically a public library.

You walk towards the door, and let a soft knock. "Come in" Twilight's voice chimes in from behind the door. "Oh, hey Rarity, hey Adept".

"Sup" you say as you walk in with Rarity, closing the door behind you gently. The other members of the mane six are all here sitting down, just generally relaxing, or waiting, to more accurately describe it. Fluttershy is still standing, leaning against a bookcase, as if she is simply nervous to sit down. But that's just Fluttershy being Fluttershy. And Pinkie Pie, is well, being Pinkie Pie. If you didn't know better you'd assume she'd shake the library apart with her bouncing.

"Oh hey guys" you see, upon noticing the other mares sitting there.

"Hey, how's it been going." Rainbow Dash says. She looks particularly relaxed, almost having a facade of coolness about her. "Not much" you reply casually.

"So, what do you guys want to do today?" Twilight asks with a smile.  After a while of silence it's clear no one has anything on their minds. It was at least semi-comforting to know that that the other ponies were just as half-asleep as you at this time of morning. Except Applejack, she was possibly the only pony who enjoyed mornings just as much as Celestia.

"Good, nothing planned?" Twilight speaks up.

"What's go good about that?" you question, curiously.

"Well, we all got an invite from the princess to come stay in Canterlot for a week.".

"Oh, is this about the appli-" you say before Twilight interrupts you.

"Yes, Celestia is granting you citizenship, since even though you're a pony now, that's still a big deal, being the first inter-dimensional citizen" Twilight says. You think it's adorable how nerdy she can get over these things.

"I can see that." you say, rolling your eyes in amusement.

"Well, we better go and pack then" Rarity says, she has a grin on her face. Not only does you being a citizen mean you are elligible for more jobs in town, especially government ones, like being a royal guard or tax collector, but it means that you and Rarity and can have children if you ever decided to. That was something you hadn't thought about before.

"I guess so" you say, a smile on your face.

"I'm happy for ya'll, this is a big day an' all that." Applejacks says, you can see through it though. Both she and you agree this isn't as big of a deal as it's made out to be.

"So, what time does the train leave" you ask, looking directly at Twilight. You just kind of assume by now that if you have a question Twilight has the answer.

"It leaves at about 7 PM, it should talk about six hours to get to Canterlot on the line we'll be taking." Twilight replies. Even though she is a genuis, it still amazes you much she goes into explaining, it's like she gets lost in knowledge.  As if her mind can transport itself to another world where nopony but her can go.

"Alright then, we'll meet back here and then go to the trainstation?" I suggest. All the others nod in agreement. Fluttershy's nod is considerably weaker than the other nods, you expect her to be nervous though, considering this is the first time she has been there for somepony being granted citizenship.

Granted, you still owed Fluttershy quite a lot for her kindness (she is the element of kindness) as she arranged the music for you and Rarity's wedding a few months back. You really liked them all though, as they've all done you some sort of kindness at some point or another. You yourself are honestly happy you'll finally be granted citizenship. You and Rarity walk out and back in the direction of the boutique.

"Is something wrong my love, you look a little off put" Rarity inquires with a slight expression of worry on her face.

"Yeah, I'm just a little nervous about being granted citizenship, normally it wouldn't be a big deal but I've heard since I'm from...quite far away...that Celestia's turning it into some kind of big celebration." you explain to the best of your ability.

"Well, it is a big milestone for all of Equestria, you're the first being from another world to ever come here, forget live here." Rarity says reassuringly.

You just kind of respond with a nod. Trying to let her know that she is helping, but that she doesn't need to. She just kind of shrugs it off. "So, will you enjoy your stay in Canterlot?" Rarity asks, it's kind of a strange way for her to word a question. But you just ignore the wording and answer honestly.

"Yeah, and it'll be great to finally be able to get a good job around here,". you say. Inside you know that Rarity's earnings alone more than cover the living expenses of your comfortable life. You don't have to worry much about packing once you get home, you're not going to bring much, as you don't need to. Rarity has made you a new suit for the occasion.

Even though everyone keeps mentioning that it's important because of your otherworldly origins, you know Princess Celestia better than that. Her real motivations are probably more involved with the human technology she can imitate. Despite your transformation into a pony, you still have the knowledge of electronics, and combined with the magic Twilight has taught you you have the ability to build and use complex electrical systems. You were starting to think that that would be a good career choice, especially since no one else in Equestria can do that. For you it's exciting because of the job opportunities, but it's also the first time you'll meet either of the princesses in person.

You and Rarity walk into the boutique together. Like usual when you two go out of the house together, you will help Rarity pack. Rarity is so head over heels in love with you that you don't have to carry her stuff, she makes Spike do it instead. Spike seems surprisingly okay with the two of you being together, actually. But then again, he and Twilight have been spending more time together than usual, as well. Probably because after he stopped flirting with Rarity, he hasn't had much else to do. You have a feeling he'll enjoy himself though. You see, as you expected, an amazing mostly black suit, lined with gold trimmings and a crimson tie. It also has an old western looking grey style on it. It's not visible except in the light though.

You try it on, and it fits like a charm.

"Is it okay? Should I redo it?" Rarity asks, with a look that tells you that your feedback means so much that if you said you didn't like it she would redo it.

But you really do like it, and you say "I love it, it's stylish and unique, like everything you make".  She blushes slightly as you say this, and she leans in and kisses you on the lips, you get really into it, and you both start to stop packing and you just starting to do tongue-on-tongue on the floor.

You hear the door open, and Spike walks in. "Hey Adept and Rarity, I was just here to see if you needed me to carry any-" he stops as he sees you on the floor. He runs out of the room, probably sick to his stomach. Rarity just gets up and runs after him, presumably to tell him that he does have things to carry (Whodathunkit). You stand up, and straighten out your suit. You look at the clock to notice that it's getting close to 6:45, you probably should go and leave with Rarity. It comes to no surprise to you that Spike is walking back up the stairs when you come down them, to get Rarity's things.

"So, should we be on our way?" Rarity says.

"Indeed, milady" as you take her hoof in yours, and you are on your way.

"The stars at night are so beautiful, and you never did tell me the story of who put them in your eyes" you say, with a bit of a gentlepony's tone to your voice. Rarity simply leans closer to you and kisses your neck.

You finally arrive at the library, the others are already outside with their things. Fluttershy doesn't appear to have brought anything except for her dress. Rarity looks particularly dashing though. You all walk off towards the train station together. Rarity has her own private-cart per her mannerisms. However, you don't mind. You assume you can just socialize with the others on the way to Canterlot. And maybe catch some shut-eye too. Once you arrive at the train-station, you all sit in wait for the train to arrive. Her highness Celestia herself is paying for the entire trip, even giving each of you a little bit to spend. Everypony who's everypony is going to be there. Just as you were getting lost in thought, the train arrives, and so does Spike, who comes up from behind you. He is completely out of breath.

"Are you alright?" you ask. You are slightly worried for the tiny dragon.

"I'm fine, thanks,  am I late?" he asks, seemingly more worried about being on time than his own well being.

"Yeah, you're just in time.". you reply.

You all board the train, and when you get to your cart, you notice some of the seating areas have been taken up for cargo.

"Sorry ladies and gentlecolts, but there wasn't enough room in the back. I'm sure it'll be fine". For the most part it is. Except that when (mostly) all of you sit down. You're left without a seat.

"You can sit with me" Twilight suggests. You just agree and sit down with her.

"So, why so quick to jump at the opportunity?" you ask teasingly. She answers in a Twilight kind of answering a non-serious question seriously by saying

"I've been looking for some opportunity for you to tell me a little bit about your past culture, or just small talk, I guess" she says in a way overly-casual way for Twilight.

"Okay then" you respond. You are truly excited, because while not usually being a braggart, you do indeed enjoy talking to the ponies about human culture. They are so intrigued by it. "What do you want to know" you ask, to start off the conversation yourself.

"Well, I wanted to know about your music.' Twilight asks. You admit to your self that, that was quite an interesting note to start on.

"Well, we have a wide variety of music, but it's really so diverse I can't whole-heartedly explain it to anypony who hasn't heard it." and in your heart you know that was the most honest answer you could give.

You turn around to see the others are having a conversation. It's some kind of reminiscing about the time Fluttershy said she was a tree. Applejack looks at your laughing, cocks her head and says

"sugar that there was ah inside joke, how did ya' understan' it?" you flinch at the soul piercing of pressure of deciding between lying to Applejack and admitting that you know of her because she was a fictional character. You settle for

"I'll explain it later." and hope Applejack won't prod at you any further. Luckily for you, she just gives you a suspicious glance and looks away, carrying on.

"What was that about" Twilight asks, she was clearly full of curiosity, it must've just bubbled up inside of her.

"Oh, it was nothing, I should just explain later." Twilight gives you another one of those "I'll poke holes in you until I find all your secrets" looks that you love oh so much. Instead of lighting the sarcasm in the cart on fire and killing everyone, you decide to get some sleep.

You lay down, and Twilight asks "Going to be already, we've barely been gone an hour".

"Yeah, I have a rough night ahead of me though." you reply. She nods understandingly, and you doze off. This is going to be a long night, you think to yourself, before you finally drift off.

When you wake up, you open your eyes to see a familiar purple mare shaking you. "Adept, come on, get up, come on." you finally decide to sit up.  As you of course have to get off the train. But it turns out, you're not already stopped. "It seemed like you were talking in your sleep" Twilight says.

"Was I now?" you question.

"Yes, and you know, in our world, Luna has the power to travel into dreams, and extended and prolong, and even shift or change them." she adds. That was a fascinating piece of info you did not have prior to this, but you're sure it'll be useful to remember.

You look outside and you can see Canterlot coming into view. To be honest, you've always wanted to go to here. Although the rich snooty ponies don't seem too splendid, Rarity has told you that the castle is simply divine. You decide to go check if Rarity is awake yet, and you tell Twilight that's what you'll be doing. You're surprised to find most of the ponies are already up again, apparantly they got some rest of their own, as most of them look pretty energetic. Or maybe it's the excitement, you're not sure which, to be honest.

As you're about to step into the next cart down to see Rarity, you hear Twilight behind you, saying "You know, this is quite a big honor, Princess Celestia is throwing this event just for you, you know.". You give an affirmative nod, and trod along.  You open the cart door to see Rarity awake and looking out the window.

"Hey, how you hanging on back here?" you say, Rarity looks at you and says "Pretty good, just a little excited is all, dear, this isn't the type of thing that happens every day, you know?" Rarity says. You give her an "I know" look and walk over to her bed to embrace her. You go into a warm hug. Rarity is so warm, that you could lay there with her forever, but after a while, you have to go back to your cart, as the train will arrive at the receiving station soon.

You walk back into the previous cart to see the others are still talking away. Pinkie Pie is saying something that makes no sense, and Fluttershy is just kind of looking at her friends and not saying much. Smiling but still not saying anything. You walk up and sit down again next to Twilight.

"So, how you feeling this morning" she asks, in a kind of awkward way, not totally unexpected from Twilight though.

"Just fine, I'm still a little tired." you say. Just as you finish that sentence the train pulls into Canterlot's station.

A Royal Welcome

You and the others step off the train. Once more Spike has been selected to carry all of your luggage. You do legitimately like Spike at least a little bit, but you can't help but laugh at the situation he finds himself in. You laugh as he struggled to hold up objects that any onlooker would be surprised even fit in Rarity's house. You all walk away from the train station. Apparantly there are several reserved carriages to take you all to the castle. Rarity has to sit with her belongings, so you decide to sit with Fluttershy.

You kind of expect the trip to be quiet, Fluttershy being Fluttershy and what-not.  But about halfway to the castle (from what your surroundings can tell you) she starts off a conversation with you.

"So umm...how do you...like living in Ponyville?" she asks, it looks like she'd curl into a ball if you so much as looked at her intently, so in a soft voice, you remark

"I love it very much."

Fluttershy actually perks up a little at this, with a smile. "So..umm..how do you like our friends?"

  to this, you try to flatter her with a reply of "You're all great friends Fluttershy, and I enjoy everyone's company, especially yours." At this remark, Fluttershy blushes vividly but lets out a smile, this is what you were looking for out of her, some sign of happiness.

You finally arrive, the ponies there to assist you don't really need to help, neither you nor Fluttershy packed much of anything. When you both notice that you have no luggage, you giggle a little to yourself. You see the other carriages arrive shorty thereafter, fhe other ponies step out one-by-one. You see a stallion who approaches you.

"Hello, I'm the captain of the guard, Shining Armor, you might know me more by my sister though" he says.

When Twilight sees him she runs over and gives him a hug. With  Twilight in one hoof he looks at you and says "So you're the guest of honor, congratulations. I've been sent to escort you to Princess Celestia's room, she said she wanted to talk to you more privately."

  At the mouthing of those words, Twilights eyes widen, she was probably proud that her friend who had just moved to Ponyville was already going to speak to the princess. Although this is no normal pony. That's for sure.

Shining Armor starts to walk inside of  Castle Canterlot, you decide to follow. The Mane six follow closely behind, with the servants carrying their luggage. You all walk into the main hall.

"Alright, for you six, your rooms are right down that way" he says, pointing his hoof in a direction that really doesn't interest you enough for you to turn around and look.

"And now follow me, Adept" he says in his serious business tone. Since their was a special event, there were extra guards in the hallways. They all immediately seemed to recognize both Shining Armor and you. They step aside and salute to shining, and they merely smirk at you. I wonder why.

After a short while, you both approach a set of large doors with two guards stationed at it. "So you are the one that the Princess sent for?" they ask. I and Shining Armor both nod simultaneously, and then the guards open the doors. Inside is the alicorn herself, Celestia. standing looking out of her window.

"I have brought him, ma'am" Shining armor says in an 'all-business' voice that is usually reserved only for talking to roalty, just like right now.

"You may leave, good work" she tells him, without her eyes even slightly shifting.

"So I see you've adjusted to your new life well?" Celestia questions, slightly shifting her line of view towards your person.

"Yes, Princess Celestia, I have been having a most enjoyable experience." you reply with what you try to make sound like your formal voice.

"Please, just call me Celestia" she says with a slight smirk.  "Now, down to the business of why I had you come up here..." she says with a kind of ever-so-slight-shift to the left. "I have recieved an anonymous letter, from someone who says he'll be attending, but he also says he knows you." she says with a look of expectance, she probably expects you to explain.

"Well I've made quite a few friends" you say, but Celestia stops you, and adds,

"It says it's from someone with the initials S.M., does the sound familiar?" she asks, genuinely interested in whether it's genuine or a prank.

"Oh yeah, I know that guy." you reply with a thoughtful grin.

"Care to tell me from where? I'm slightly curious." Celestia says. You believe that's odd considering that she usually knows most of everything, she is practically an omnipotent being herself

"Well, I could never lie to you. I know SM, because he brought me here in the first place. You see, he contacted me with an E-Mail (A letter we send through a network) claiming he could send me to Equestria, and that he is some kind of omnipotent being. Anyways, I went through with it, and now I'm here." you explain, a little out of breath from the explanation (it was quite a mouthful).

"Interesting, and now he's coming to the castle? Looks like you have friends in powerful places" Celestia says, with a look of intrigue and the look of her pondering what kind of being Supreme is, possibly.

But there are just so many possibilities, they are quite literally endless. And it's really hard to see the viewpoint of a being that's been a live a few thousand years.

"You may go now, I will see you at the ceremony, you should get some rest" she says. You are relieved to be dismissed, you'll need a bit of time to ponder exactly what just happened.

"Well that was a hassle" you say to yourself. Truly explaining your predicament can in itself be a little taxing to say the least. You did not expect to ever see SM in person, or even get contacted by him after going to Equestria, then again, a lot of unexpected things happen. You think the best thing to do for now is to go to the room in the castle you'll be using. You walk down the hall, and see a guard waiting.

He looks at you, you know from his look he was waiting for you. "Your room is this one, sir" he says, pointing his hoof at a large set of metal doors. You'll have to memorize this layout, you think to yourself. Especially since these doors for the most part all look the same. At least you have the guards to assist you as far as directions go.

You trot over to your door, and push it open. The room itself is quite impressive, with a huge bed in the center, colored with the same color-scheme as the rest of the decor here. It has a large table as well, with some parchments and an inkwell. You just decide you need some sleep, and you get onto the bed, laying underneath the covers, you realize just how soft it is, and you slowly drift off to sleep.

  You awake to see that some Royal guards have been sent down to get you. This was expected of course, you are the guest of honor and it wouldn't make very much sense if you weren't the first person there.

"The ceremony will be starting soon sir, her highness sent us to retrieve you" the guards say in unison.

"Alright, let's go" you say.

Upon you saying that, the guards turn around and walk out, presumably with the intent of you following, so that is exactly what you do. You trot along behind then, until they lead you into a large room. You recognize this as the throne room, from your memory.

"He's here milady." the guards say, as they bow down to Celestia. Their face unchanging from it's neutral but serious expression.

"You may take your leave then" Princess Celestia says. As she says this the guards trot out of the room, the doors closing behind them.

At this opportunity, you observe your surroundings, it's the throne room, just like you remember, upon further examination, you note that both princesses are here. Luna is on Celestia's left, and Celestia is on the right. Each with two of their own respective guards, there are also two guards by the door.

"It's a great honor with which you've been bestowed" Celestia says in her business type voice.

"I understand, your highness, and I am pleased to be bestowed with it" you say, bowing to her.

"Please, we're not in public, you don't need to keep up your formal gestures." she says, letting out a slightly amused looking grin. Luna remains silent, standing still, like a statue. "But I do have to ask you, do you know what this SM looks like?" she asks.

"No, I've only ever heard of him through E-mail."you say, trying your best not to show you're nervous about his arrival.

"I've seen him" Luna finally speaks. Her voice is soft, almost like she doesn't want anyone to hear her.

"What was that? I didn't hear you?" Celestia says, looking at her sister with a neutral and straight face.

"Oh, nothing..." Luna says. This time giggling a little and letting out a smile. You sense a small amount of...mischief in the smile, perhaps. It's really hard to tell.

"Alright then, well, from what I've heard, this SM invidisual will be arriving before the ceremony even begins." Celestia says, looking at the letter and cocking her head to the side ever so slightly. "Interesting..." she says under-her-breathe.

"Is something the matter?" you ask, confused by her change in gesture.

"It's nothing" she says.

In an almost amusing kind of irony, as soon as the says that, a shaking occurs in the castle, and the sky outside quickly flashes purple. Luna starts to chucke a little, for whatever reason. And suddenly a portal shoots up in the middle of the throne room.  A blinding flash occurs, and then the portal is gone. In it's place is a humanoid of some sort. Concealed in a set of deep blue armor. His visor is a cyan color, and he has black glowing details. He is holding a sword with purple flame on it, but he quickly sheaths it.

"I'm here." a voice bellows. You simply assume that it's talking, you can't see it's face so really who is to say what it's communication method is? The creature, or person, or whatever you'd consider it, looks directly at you.

"So we meet at last" the creature says. "I am the one who first contacted you about the potential to bring you here."

Your jaw practically hits the floor, what is that thing? "Umm...hello...sir?" you say, hoping not to anger him, his appearance is quite imposing, to say the least. For some unfathomable reason, Luna looks like she is about to die of laughter. She cannot stop laughing.

"Foolish mortal, you know not what you beckon with" he says while still looking at you.

You practically roll into a ball on the floor, to which he responds with....laughter!?

"Haha, got you" he says, and his helmet slides down. Revealing that he is, human...ish? He is shaped like a human, but his skin is gray with glowing runes on it.

"Oh man, don't do that, I almost died there from being scared" you say. Hoping at the very least that he's in a good mood. He just walks over to Luna. At which the guards raise their weapons.

"Halt, no one approached Princess Luna uninvited" one of the guards says, with his spear pointed at SM.

"It's quite alright, you can sheath your weapons." Luna says to the guards in a gentle voice.

"But..but..." the guards are starting to say, but then in defeat they just say "As you wish." and they put their weapons down.

Luna and this...thing...embrace in a hug. Which even makes Celestia step back, she was unaware of this. Celestia and you look at each other in disbelief.  What was happening? The guards even look a little surprised, which is uncharacteristic of them.

Luna just looks up, and says, "You look surprised to see I'm hugging my husband."

As those words are spoken Celestia turns pale, and you fall on the ground, fainted.

The Ceremony

When you finally regain consciousness, you open your eyes to see six familiar mares are all standing around you. They look quite worried.

"Will he be okay!?" Rarity asks, she looks the most shocked out of anypony.

"He'll be fine" Celestia replies.

"Well you better get up, sleepy head, the big party is starting!!" Pinkie Pie says.

You really have no choice but to stand up. You look around and see that there is no one else but ponies, the princesses, and the guards. This confuses you greatly.

"But...what happened?" you ask, in a shooken up state of being. You did behold quite the sight.

"I'm unsure, the guards led you into the throne room and you passed out right as you stepped through the door" Luna explains.

"But...what about...huh...what!?" is all you can muster.

"I assure you, you passed out" Celestia says.

"I had the strangest dream..." is all you can explain about it. You really don't want to go into further detail than you have to in order to get the point across.

"It's quite alright, now, shall the ceremony begin?" Luna asks. In response, Princess Celestia just nods. And then you kneel down before her. She walks towards you with her wings up. Once she is finally directly in front of you, she puts her wings down over you. She starts the dialogue of granting citizenship, a few weeks ago Twilight had explained to you that most occassions that occured at Castle Canterlot had traditional dialogue that had been done ever since the founding of Equestria.

"By the power of the sun..." Celestia starts.

"And the protection of the moon" Luna says.

"We grant you citizenship in the lands of Equestria, may you live strong and true"

As those words are spoken, they both raise their wings simultaneously and step back. You understand that it was quite short. But really there is quite a long celebration of this.

"Excuse me, I need everypony's attention" Celestia speaks in a soft voice.

"We have been honored by our guest, the first creature from quite this far away to be a citizen of our mighty and expansive empire".

"And it is a major milestone. May Equestria continue to expand and prosper!" she finishes speaking, you'd almost say she was snickering, if you didn't know better.

As Celestia finishes saying that, enormous amounts of cheering erupt from the crowd.

"Wait, what!?" you say, surprisingly loudly for yourself. You just realized, why would Celestia make such a gesture? It doesn't make sense in the slighest.

"What seems to be the problem?" Luna asks.

"Nothing, nothing at all". you have a discombobulated look on your face. For some unexplicable reason, as you say this, Luna looks at you with a smile.  Celestia gives you a look that tells you she has no idea what's wrong.

"If you need anything, don't hesitate to tell me." Celestia said reassuringly.

"I know, but something just doesn't feel right." you retort.

You look around, you suppose it might just be good to enjoy the festivities. You walk towards the Mane six, after all, they're pretty much the only group you hang out with. You've made other friends but like a lot of ponies they have jobs to do and the like. You can understand why they might not show up.

"Is something the matter?" Twilight says, she looks perplexed.

"No, nothing at all." You try to answer, it's hard to lie sometimes, even when it's a small lie, it can feel like the truth is the most tempting thing ever, but your logic will tell you otherwise. It's like those ponies eyes, especially Twilight's for some reason, can look right into your soul.

Twilight still doesn't look entirely convinced, neither do any of the others. Rainbow Dash looks particularly annoyed with your inwardness. Maybe it's more of an inconvience that she just doesn't know what you're thinking more than she can't help you. Pinkie Pie just looks like Pinkie Pie, and the only other notable one standing out is Rarity. She looks like what's ebbing her is the fact she can't help you.

"It's okay honey, I'm fine, really." You say to Rarity, you embrace her in a hug to reassure her. It doesn't appear to do much but it's a start. She kisses you and that's enough to tell you she may at least feel a little bit better about the ordeal.

You peak away from Rarity and notice Rainbow Dash looking at something in the window. The others look too, and see some kind of humanoid shape in the window. It jumps down, and tries to hide. Rainbow Dash is looking curiously.

"is that this guy you were expecting to be here?" Rainbow Dash asks you.

"I believe so, but I can't be sure, it's too dark." you say.

"Well, I'll go talk to him." Rainbow replies, she starts walking towards him, but as she walks closer, the mysterious figure walks farther away. Suddenly everyone, even the princesses are looking in that direction. He cocks his head to the side, and looks at you. This creature starts to walk closer to you. He is completely ignoring Rainbow Dash.

"Hey, who are you?" Rainbow Dash asks him, curiously.

"Hello!? I'm talking to you mister." she says, slightly annoyed.

However, he just keeps walking towards you. You try to back away, but he just keeps coming. You can't see his face, but somehow you can tell he is smiling. His pure silence is frightening in of itself. His appearance is so much that everypony else stopped the celebration to look at him.

"I have been waiting for so long....to see the one that my rival chose for this" he says.

Suddenly he teleports in front of you. You can't resist his mere strength as he grips your head, raising it up, examining it, so to speak.

"And I see you've made some friends, that's cute, really" he says.

"And what are YOU doing here!?" Luna asks, she seems angry for some reason, like this creatures presence offends her.

"Let him go." Celestia says in an affirmative voice.

As she says this, he only grips your neck tighter, raising you in the air. You can see clearly now that he looks similar to the creature in the dream, only he is black, with glowing green runes. His voice is raspy, thick, and deep.

"And why would I do that?" he replies almost directly Celestia, looking right at her.

"I am the princess of the sun, and I command you to let him go, immediatley!" Celestia says, in almost a barking tone. She seems to be offended by this creatures outwardness, like she knows something you don't.

"Cute, really." he says, mocking Celestia directly.

"Nopony disrespects the princess!" Twilight shouts. She seems really peeved by his disrespect, she really has a thing for Celestia.

"And what are you going to do about it?" he snickers at her.

"I'll, I'll, I'll....." Twilight says, as if deep in thought.

"I would have thought so, being the student of one so weak, and misguided" he says, in a voice that tells you he does not take Twilight serious in the loosest sense of the word.

At such disrespect for her friends, Rainbow Dash charges at this creature. As she does this, this entity throws you with great force against the wall of the room.

"Guards, assist Adept, and apprehend this monstrosity" Luna commands.

Rainbow chases the creature, it flees towards the balcony. Rainbow and the guards back it up towards the railing.

"You're surrounded, surrender now!" a guard barks authoritarily to the intruder.

"You'll have your chance to throw a punch at me one day, pompous fool" the thing responds. Never for a moment letting up it's mocking 'I'm better than you' tone that it has had since it's arrival.

"But today is not that day, I have no intention of going peacefully" he says.

This suggestion actually makes some ponies gasp. At this point, Fluttershy is on the floor crying. Some guards notice that you're still lying against the wall and run to your aid.

"Sir, are you alright?" one says, with a look of shock.

"I feel alright." You reply, looking at him confused. You feel no pain, but you feel like some of your memories are gone. Like you're forgetting something. The guard extends a hoof to help you. Once you regain your posture, you run towards the balcony. You look out the doors to see guards surrounding the creature. You are brushed aside as Luna walks by you. She has a snarl on her face.

Luna walks directly past the guards and Rainbow Dash. You also noticed that Twilight and Rarity were standing by your side.

"Are you alright?" Rarity asks, with a grim look on her face.

"I'm fine, thanks" you say.

"Are you sure? You're bleeding." Twilight asserts.

"I am?" you ask in bewilderment.

"Yes, but let's see what happens here, we can tend to it later." Twilight says.

You just nod in agreement, and you both get closer. You see Luna is stepping closer to this thing, by this point, Celestia herself is standing beside you. Luna walks ever closer to the creature.

"Foul abomination, why do you graze me and my sister's land with your form?" Luna says, in her Royal Canterlot voice.

"Oh, and who might you be?" the creature replies in a voice that says that he really doesn't care about what the answer to that question actually is.

"I am Luna, princess of the night, sister of Celestia, and co-ruler of Equestria. Now answer me, what are you, and why are you here!?" Luna shouts. She was being loud even for her Royal voice.

"I...am a sign of things to come, I bring you the message of the end of your reign. I have disposed of my brother, and now I wish to claim what is mine." he says, you could almost tell that he was grinning at Luna, even though his helmet completely covered him.

"You...didn't.. you did not hurt him!" Luna yells in an almost crying voice.

"Oh, you're husband wouldn't want to see you so weak, Luna" he says, laughing all the while. He puts his hand on Luna's back.

"Don't touch me you brute!" she says, at this she actually bites onto his hand. However, the armor is hard enough that Luna flinches with pain. He thinks this is hysterical, he starts to laugh quite loudly.

"Well if you're not going to arrest me..." he says looking Celestia right in the face.

"Then I guess you really are the weakest ruler of Equestria. Knowing how weak Luna is I'd assume you'd be stronger, but you really give Equestria a bad name. You haven't even done anything to stop me." he says, amused.

Celestia's horn starts glowing..

"You invade my kingdom, dispose of my sister's husband, hurt my guest, insult me and my student, disrespect me and my guards, invade my castle, and you think I'll do nothing?" Celestia says. She looks like she's still calm for some reason, even though she is practically yelling. Celestia's horn's glow grows into a large ball of energy. Suddenly the ball flies towards the creature. He laughs, as if this is what he was waiting for. He...he..he just...stands there, doing nothing. The ball hits him.

Suddenly there is a flash, and everything goes white.