Night

by Revenant Wings

Rating: teen
Tags: Shining Armor, Princess Celestia, Twilight Sparkle, Gore, Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Alternate Universe, Human, Sad, Other, Romance, Princess Luna
Length: 40729

A human is transported to Equestria by Princess Celestia... and he wants to get out. He's placed under the care of Princess Luna... who also wants him to get out. +COMPLETED+

A human is transported to Equestria by Princess Celestia... and he wants to get out. He's placed under the care of Princess Luna... who also wants him to get out. Now, "Nemo" has to deal with adjusting to his new surroundings and attempt to recover his lost memories of his former life in the three months he has to wait while Princess Celestia charges up a spell to send him back home. Fate, however, may have other ideas for him.

A human-in-Equestria fic.

Would you believe this got rejected by Equestria Daily could get so many likes for an HiE? Thank you!

EDIT: Over 20,000 total views!Thank you all so much! :ajsmug: :rainbowkiss: :twilightsmile: :yay: :pinkiesmile: :raritystarry:

Awesome song (not by me) that I've been listening to while writing the fic and may as well be the theme song: Constellations - Aviators

Published 2013-01-21 03:50:02 UTC
Last updated 2013-05-26 03:31:30 UTC

I.1 - Throne Room Awakening

In the beginning, all I knew was darkness.  I heard voices swimming around in my head, but I had no knowledge of what they were, no idea who they belonged to.  I don’t even remember if any of them were my own.  Nothing stood out, and nothing made sense, like everything was being shaken around like a can of dice in a game of Yahtzee, waiting for the right moment to throw me down and see where I landed.  I really hoped it would stop soon; I was getting dizzy from whatever had just happened and realized that I was feeling sicker than I ever remembered before, besides the time when I had gotten drunk on the night of my twenty-first birthday.

I began to piece some of my only remaining memories together, of my last moments before everything had gone dark.  I saw some being against the sun with a pure white complexion whose shadow had covered me from the light.  Suddenly, there was a blinding flash of yellow and the feeling of being shrunk and pulled through a hole the size of a penny before collapsing on a cold floor; the cold came back to me as I lay there in the darkness.  I could hear voices near me as the scene replayed in my head again and again, as though torturing me with the fact that that was the farthest back I could remember, the only thing I could remember, but it wasn’t much to go off of.

“Wake up…  Wake up…”

The voice came again and I slowly began to bring myself to my senses again.  First came the feeling of being sprawled out on the floor, then came the floor itself, cold and hard like polished tile.  Sound came next, as I found myself listening to the calls of birds and the chattering of woodland animals and hearing an odd sound as though two people were walking towards me.  Light came next, a very taunting bright white that felt similar to the flash of light I had seen before being pushed through the coin slot.  It took a long time for my vision to regain itself, becoming blurry as I looked towards where I remembered the sound of walking to be coming from.

“Oh, good.  You’re finally awake.  I was afraid the journey might have accidentally left you comatose.”

Before me was a white blur with occasional specks of gold, pink, and turquoise.  I rubbed my eyes to clear my vision, but even then the sight made me unsure if what I saw before me was real.  In front of me was a large horse, a head taller than I was if I was standing up instead of sitting rubbing the back of my head on the floor, though it boasted a large white horn coming out of its forehead and a large pair of white wings with feathers that reminded me of a dove or an eagle; I leaned over to one side, half expecting to see the back of a lion, but such was not the case though there was a tattoo of a golden sun on the thing’s flank.  The gold I had seen earlier had become a tiara with a pinkish diamond on the horse’s head, a sort of necklace with a similar diamond around the base of the neck, and four gold horseshoes, and the pink and turquoise melted into a long mane that appeared to be constantly flowing despite the presence of a slight breeze that didn’t even shake the mess of hair on my head.

“Who… who are you?” I asked.  “Where am I?”

The horse-thing spoke with a calm elegance and a voice that made me feel calm despite current insecurities about standing in front of something I was quite sure for a long time was unable to speak, let alone wear jewelry.  “My name is Princess Celestia, and I am one of three alicorn rulers of the province of Equestria.  Currently, you are in Equestria’s capital of Canterlot, in the throne room of the royal palace of the alicorn sisters.  Now, tell me one thing: how much do you remember of your past life?”

I opened my mouth to speak (horse or not, royalty deserves respect), but I could not find the words.  There were so many questions that I had to ask them while my brain still tried to figure out where I was.  “Where… where is Equestria?”

The princess gave me a small smile and spoke with the same voice as before.  “To be quite honest with you, the only thing I moved was what dimension you were standing in.  You originally came from a place called the United States in a city called Denver, and it just so happened that the factory where you worked was the same place where Canterlot and Canterlot Castle in particular now stands in Equestria.”

I stood up with some hesitation and went over to a nearby window to see a skyline quite different from what I was used to seeing.  Despite my faded memories, it was quite clear to me that I wasn’t home, from the towering buildings to the cobblestone streets filled with more of the horse-things, this time only having either the wings or the horn – some even had neither - and pulling and riding in carriages pulled by more of the horses.  The horses themselves were in all colors and shapes and hairstyles, and each had a little tattoo-like mark on both sides of their flank.  Furthermore, everything seemed bright, green, and natural, a welcome change from the dirtier and more crowded streets that I remembered, but it still didn’t feel right.

I looked at myself.  I was quite definitely a human, with pale colored flesh that was red as though sunburnt in places (though I assumed it was from the flash of light the alicorn behind me had created).  A closer look in the window revealed a head of messy brown hair and blue-ish eyes on what may have been an average-sized body if there were other humans around, though from the looks of things I was the only one there, and I had a feeling that I was the only other human in the entire of this Equestria place.  I had never really thought myself ugly, but everything I had seen so far while I was here had made me quite uncomfortable, not the least the constant smile that was on the face of the alicorn behind me.

I turned around to face her.  “Why am I here?”

The smile broke.  “Your conditions back at home were not the best.  I pulled you out of unfavorable conditions; things I presume you would not want to remember very well.  I watched you for a month and decided the best thing to do would be to give you a chance here, a chance at a better life.  We could find things for you to do, and should you take an interest in any one of them, transform you into one of us and give you a steady job and good living conditions and you may live out the rest of your days in peace.”

There was a loud sound as though the doors to the throne room were banged open, and I turned around quickly to see another one of the alicorns.  This one was almost entirely dark blue from her mane to her fur to her horn and wings, though her flank was black with a tattoo of a white crescent moon and her face wore a scowl.

“I thought I heard you talking to someone in here, dear sister,” the alicorn said, her voice and expression much colder than the oth– Princess Celestia’s.  “I thought you had stopped that silly business of teleporting humans here from the other dimension.  There was a period of a year where you didn’t do a single thing for a while and I thought you were done with that business and finished with that foolish lot.”

“Princess Luna,” Princess Celestia said, trying to make herself sound sympathetic.  “This one has come from poor conditions.  I only wish to give him a new life and a chance to live in harmony with us.”

“The last one you tried that with ended up in the dungeons,” Princess Luna chastised.  “I shall not be surprised if this one ends up the same way.  But he is not to be my problem.”

“Actually…”

“Dear sister, do not tell me that…”

“I already have business with Twilight Sparkle and her friends that I must attend to over this coming month, in addition to other business elsewhere and trying to discuss treaties with the Griffin kingdom.  I haven’t the time at the moment and need your help.  You have always said you wanted to help me out in royal duties.”

“But I did not want part of these royal duties to be babysitting.  Why don’t you give that job to Princess Cadance, since she did so well with Twilight?”

There was a certain venom dripping from the darker alicorn’s voice that I did not like one bit.  She talked as though I wasn’t in the room or as though I was merely an item.  I wasn’t comfortable with the situation anyways, so I decided to speak up.

“Princess Cadance has other duties to attend to involving the Crystal Empire.  I do not wish to impose another job on her.”

“…excuse me, Princess Celestia.”

The lighter alicorn turned towards me.  “Yes?”

“I… don’t particularly want to stay here.  I… I think I’d prefer to go home.  I don’t want to be a burden to any of you, and would rather like if I could get back to my family.”

The darker alicorn, Princess Luna, scoffed.  “At least this one has had enough sense to go back immediately.”

“Very well.  However, the spell required for me to do that takes much more time to prepare than the one it took to bring you here.  I will need to have three months to sort things out.  In the meantime, Princess Luna” – Princess Celestia turned towards the darker alicorn with a stern glare before returning her softer gaze back to me – “shall be taking you under her wing and teaching you about Equestria.  If, by the end of three months, you are sure you want to be taken back home, the spell will be ready.  But first, how much do you remember of your former life?  Are you absolutely sure you want to go back?”

The haze hadn’t left.

“I… I don’t remember anything.  Not my name, not my profession, not my family, nor anyone else I knew there.  I didn’t even know where I lived until you brought me here.  As much as I try, it’s like everything before this has been blotted out.  I know I’m twenty-two years old, but that’s as far as I can remember.”

Princess Luna laughed and pointed a hoof at Celestia.  “You really think I should be babysitting a foal?  That is the stupidest thing I have ever heard.”  And she turned around and walked out of the room, still laughing.

Not another sound was made until the laughing was long gone.  Princess Celestia’s horn glowed yellow, the same yellow as the flash, and closed the door before heaving a large sigh.

“Are you sure you don’t remember… anything?”

I thought as hard as I could, but only one memory remained.  “The last thing I remember was you magically transporting me from… wherever I was originally.  There’s also a few senseless details that go around in my head; hardly anything you could benefit from, though.”

Princess Celestia nodded and closed her eyes for a minute.  Gone was the warm smile, and in its place was an almost melancholy expression.  When she did open her eyes, she looked at me with pity.  “In three months, there is the summer solstice and the Summer Sun Celebration that marks the beginning of summer, at which point my powers will be at their peak.  Give me three months, and by the end of those three months – which you will spend under a combination of Luna’s and my care – if you still want to go back… we will let you.”

I nodded.  “Fair enough.”

The smile returned, though the pity remained.  “Very well.  Though you cannot remember your name, is there anything else we can call you by until you remember?”

“There is an old story in which someone introduced himself to some giants with a name that meant 'no one' so that whenever he caused the damage, he would blame no one and the others believed he was delusional.  Due to my feeling like no one and a stranger in a foreign land, I would like to be known as ‘Nemo’*, if this pleases you.”

“For now, it is not about pleasing me, but making sure you are comfortable here.  I shall inform the guards and castle staff that we shall have one more roaming about our halls.  I shall make a room ready for you.”

With that, Princess Celestia led me to a padded bench outside the throne room and sat me there to wait until a suitable room was ready and until my ultimate fate was decided.

I.2 - Night is Distant

I sat on the bench for maybe an hour while I waited for Princess Celestia to return and show me to my room.  My eyes wandered around the ornate stonework with gold trim and the mosaic windows depicting an odd chimera-like being, a black unicorn shrouded in smoke, and a vaguely similar-looking dark alicorn that had teeth like a carnivore.  Each being was accompanied by a group of six smaller horse-things, “ponies” as they called them, with two Earth ponies, two pegasi, and two unicorns firing what looked like a rainbow-colored blast.  It was… impressive, to say the least.

I also ended up meeting a third alicorn while I waited on the bench.  I had been sitting for a little bit when a pink one with a pink and yellow mane tied up in a ponytail and a tattoo in the shape of a heart that may have been fashioned out of a sapphire or light blue diamond on her flank poked her head around the corner.  Upon me noticing her peeking around, she walked up to me with a look of curiosity though seemed to maintain a sense of personal space.

“Oh,” she said.  “You must be Celestia’s newest experiment.  I thought I heard Luna grumbling about some human within castle walls.”

“Experiment?” I asked fearfully.  “I don’t want to be an experiment.”

The alicorn blushed.  “Sorry, that’s not what I meant.  Not like a science experiment.  What I mean is that she’s brought others like you here before.  You’re the most recent.”

The alicorn’s apology was genuine and polite, so I figured I could ask a little more.  “What do you mean ‘the most recent’?”

“Every year or so, Celestia goes to your home dimension and starts looking around for someone who’s life has taken a turn for the worse.  She’s visited those who have attempted suicide, some who have deep depression, those who have lost all of their family, and even those who are simply struggling to survive.  Those who she thinks may need a new place to live are brought here.  What about you?  I’ve heard from a few of the others, but why are you here?”

“That’s the thing.  I can’t remember anything about my life before coming here other than the fact that Princess Celestia teleported me here.  It’s kind of strange; I didn’t even remember where I lived before Princess Celestia told me.”

The alicorn looked at me with pity, but when she saw the annoyed look on my face she shook it off.  “I’m sorry.  I suppose you’ve had enough of that from Celestia herself.  Speaking of which, where is she?”

“She went off to talk to the other alicorn, Princess Luna.  Apparently, I am to be under her care for three months until an event called the Summer Sun Celebration, at which point Celestia will have enough power to use magic to teleport me back home.  I don’t feel comfortable here.”

The pink alicorn brought a hoof to her chin.  “I don’t think anyone else has wanted to leave here before from Celestia’s little experiment.  That, coupled with the fact that you don’t remember anything about your life before, is quite strange.  Celestia’s magic is powerful but controlled enough that something like losing your memory shouldn’t have happened.  Anyways, do you have a name?”

“I can’t remember my name, either.  For now, I’ve decided to call myself ‘Nemo’, a name back home that can mean ‘no one’.  It’s… kind of how I feel here right now.”

The alicorn sat down on the bench next to me for a minute and looked at me with a warm smile that reminded me of Princess Celestia’s.  “Don’t worry.  I’m sure that at least Princess Celestia and the guard will help you be as comfortable as you can be here; Celestia prefers those under her watch to be as comfortable and happy as possible, so she’ll find a way to send you back home and recover your memory as fast as she can, I’m sure.  Until then, you’re more than welcome within Canterlot Castle.”

“What’s your name?  Are you a princess too?  I mean, the only others I’ve seen that looked like you were Princesses Celestia and Luna.”

“My name is Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, but you can just call me Cadence.  Usually, I take care of affairs for a small protectorate of Equestria called the Crystal Empire.”

“Ah…”

Cadence raised an eyebrow, though her smile remained.  “You didn’t understand a word of what I just said, do you?”

“Nope.”

“I figured as much.  I’m sure you’ll figure it all out soon enough.  Luna might seem unhappy to see you now, but she’s really nice when you get to know her better; she’s just had a hard time lately.”

“I’m going to assume you’re busy, but I need to ask you one more thing.”

“Certainly.”

“What’s that mark on your behind?”

“We call it a cutie mark.  All ponies – that’s the generic term for us – get a cutie mark when they figure out what their special talent is.  I’m the Princess of the Crystal Empire and specialize in spreading love among others, so my cutie mark is a heart-shaped gemstone.”

“…don’t you ever worry about abusing something so powerful as that could be?  I mean, spreading love everywhere is neat, but focused towards the wrong thing could make others go haywire.”

Cadence’s smile faded.  “It’s happened once before.  Not to me, but it is advisable you do not bring up Nightmare Moon around Luna unless she mentions it first even if you’re just asking what it is; I or Celestia can tell you later.  A pony’s cutie mark represents something they can do for the good of society, but not all of them use it that way and even we royals are not exempt from using them for harm, try as we might.”

For all its technicolor majesty, this place was a lot darker than it seemed.

Cadence’s smile returned.  “Well, I really should go, but if you need me, I’ll be in the west wing of the castle.  And you can also look for my husband, Shining Armor.  He’s a white unicorn and Captain of the Guard.  If you’re having any trouble at all, let us know.”  And she got off the bench and continued down the hallway.

Perhaps staying here wouldn’t be too bad for these three months.  I still wanted to go home, but knowing I could at least talk to someone here was enough to stave off some of my fears if not all.

* * *

My room was finished sometime that afternoon, to the point where I had fallen asleep on the bench to stave off boredom.  I don’t quite remember falling asleep, but I do remember being woken up by a unicorn’s horn tapping my shoulder a few times.  I woke up from my little nap and stood up to see a white male unicorn with a blue mane and covered in purple and gold metal armor; likely the first male I had seen since I arrived in Equestria.  He held out a hoof.

“I’m guessing you’re ‘Nemo’,” the stallion said.  “My name’s Shining Armor, Captain of the Guard and husband of Princess Cadence.  I heard about your meeting with her earlier.”

I held out a hand but wasn’t sure of what to do.  It seemed weird to just grab the hoof and shake it, so I sort of shrugged and placed some sort of confused look on my face to wordlessly explain to the unicorn that I wasn’t sure what to do.

Shining Armor got the hint pretty quickly.  “I have an idea.  Ball up your fist and place it against my hoof.”  I did as he asked, taking my fist and placing it against his hoof knuckles first.  I felt something strange gently grab me and shake my fist up and down a few times before whatever it was released me and my hand was free again.

“I’ve got other business to attend to today, so I’ll be quick,” Shining Armor started.  “Princesses Celestia and Luna have a room ready for you.  I’ll be leading you through the castle to the room; if other members of the guard see you’re with me, they won’t be as disturbed by the new face.”

I nodded and started following him.  “Where is the room?”

“It’s in Luna’s wing of the castle.  However, Celestia has placed it such that you have easy access to most castle amenities and Celestia’s chambers themselves.  She has placed it there such that if Luna is still non-compliant to the order that she will take matters into her own hooves.  She’s very busy, but has insisted that trying to get you home is top priority.”

I couldn’t say anything.

A short way down the hallway, I saw Princess Luna herself walking the opposite direction going towards Celestia’s portion of the castle back by the throne room.  She acknowledged Shining Armor’s presence through a short nod in his direction and something of a smile.  When she passed me, however, she turned slightly away and her smile turned into a very apparent scowl.

Shining Armor must have seen the Princess’ behavior, because he asked me later when Princess Luna was out of sight: “Did you do anything to Princess Luna?”

“I don’t know.  I appeared here?”

“I’ve never understood her hatred against humans,” Shining Armor admitted.  “I’ve heard her grumbling every once in a while about war and disease, but none of the humans that pass through here are very harmful.  In fact, once they’re here, most are simply grateful to be alive or in a safe place.  What about you?”

“I seem to have some sort of memory loss; I can’t remember anything of my past life, not even my name.  ‘Nemo’ is only being used as a sort of placeholder until I can remember my actual name.”

“You don’t remember anything?  Your name, your job, where you lived, your family… nothing?”

“No… wait!”

Shining Armor stopped in his tracks.  “What is it?  Is something wrong?”

“No.  I… I think I remember something.”

“Like what?”

“My family.  I lived with both my father and my mother, and I had a younger sister.  I don’t remember what any of them look like though, or what their names were.”

Shining Armor sighed as though reminiscing as we continued on.  “I have a younger sister myself.  She’s in Ponyville right now as a sort of representative for Princess Celestia herself, as well as learning about the magic of friendship through her social interactions there.  The compiled reports are… quite intensive to say the least.”

“Has Princess Luna ever taken a look at them?”

“I’m not sure.  I think she’s read a few of them ever since Nightmare Night passed a little over a year ago, when she was first introduced to my sister.  I don’t recall her reading any of them as of late, however, and think that they would do her good.”

“Does she have any friends?”

“She regularly corresponds with my sister about once a month.  She very much enjoyed both of the times they spent at Nightmare Night these past few times.”

“What is Nightmare Night, exactly?”

“Well, you have a holiday in your dimension called ‘Halloween’.  Nightmare Night follows most of the same traditions as that holiday, where the colts and fillies all dress up in costumes and go trick-or-treating for candy.”

“That’s odd.  Pretty much the only thing different here so far has been the fact that you’re all ponies instead of humans.  It’s a bit easier getting along here than I thought.”

Shining Armor laughed.  “At least you won’t get too homesick during your stay.”

The laugh and the good humor were somewhat infectious and I couldn’t help but chuckle a little myself.  At least most of these ponies were friendly enough or at least willing to give me a try; Shining Armor introduced me to a few of the castle guards, almost entirely white pegasi, and butlers as we walked and even showed me a few places I could spend my time, like the gardens, the library, and the dining hall and was very welcoming and accommodating himself.  The guards and servants he introduced me to seemed unfazed by my appearance and quickly adjusted themselves to the addition of a human in the castle, with some of the guards even saluting me when I was introduced.

I found myself in a much better mood by the time we reached the Lunar Wing of the castle and my room, which was at the corner of a three-way intersection with one hallway leading straight into Princess Celestia’s Solar Wing.  Down the hallway from my room in one direction was the observatory and one of three libraries, while in the other direction stood a large double-door that was a dark shade of blue with a black spot and a half-moon insignia that matched the ‘cutie mark’ on Princess Luna.

“That’s the Princess’ room,” Shining Armor told me.  “She spends most of her time during the day either there or the library, and her nights are spent either in court if necessary or the observatory.  It is advisable you don’t go into her room during the day, as she spends most of her mornings and a fair amount of the afternoon’s asleep due to staying up all night.”

I said nothing and followed Shining Armor to my suite, a rather large and comfortable place with a full bathroom, a bedroom, and a decent-sized living area with a television and radio, both of which seemed to run off a combination of magic and electricity.  Also in the room was a dresser with a few changes of shirts, pants, shoes, and a few formal jackets and coats for around the castle.  There were windows in the living area that looked out the gardens and gates of Canterlot and well into the distance; I estimated I was about seven stories up from the ground and had a view of almost all of Canterlot and even down into the valleys, as far as a small town with thatched-roof houses and a giant tree in the center.

“That’s Ponyville,” Shining Armor said when he noticed me staring out in that direction.  “It’s one of the smaller towns, but there’s no place friendlier or more welcoming than there.  It seems to also be a hub of strange magical activity ever since my sister went there for the Summer Sun Celebration a few years back.”

I didn’t fully respond to Shining Armor’s recent statement.  “Is there anything else I should know?  About my stay here, that is.”

The unicorn nodded and his horn was surrounded by a blue aura.  This was followed by a silver tray with a cup on it, both engulfed in the same blue aura, to be placed on a table nearby, at which point the aura faded away, at which point I could see a murky orange liquid inside the otherwise clear glass cup no bigger than a shot glass.

“This is a nutritional supplement,” Shining Armor explained.  “Seeing as you’re not turning directly into a pony as most other arrivals have, our food will be a little harder to digest as well as slightly unbalanced due to no meat.  As a result, such that you earn proper nutrition, you are to drink two cups of this a day to get the proper amount of vitamins and minerals; Celestia refuses to serve meat here.”

“Is this stuff easy to find or make?”

“Very.  Others won’t have the same taste, though, as it was made slightly sweet to overcome an otherwise bitter flavor.”

I shrugged and took the cup and drank it.  It tasted strongly of orange with a slight metallic aftertaste and was bad enough that I had to run over to the sink and dunk my mouth in with a full stream, drinking gulp after gulp to get the taste out.

Shining Armor stifled a laugh.  “I shall report to Princess Celestia that you drank this evening’s supplement.  Dinner shall be served in about two hours; a guard will come around to get you when it’s time.”

“Thank you…”

“…Shining Armor.”

“Sorry.  I’m still getting used to the whole cutie-mark and two-word names thing.”

“Quite alright.  I’ve got other business to attend to, so good-bye, Nemo.”

“Thank you again.”

The unicorn nodded, saluted me, then left the room, closing the door with his magic.  I was left in the middle of the suite with nothing else to do, and so decided that the events of that afternoon had tired me out and I needed a nap before anything else.

Part of me also wished that this was all a dream and I simply needed to wake up.

I’m still not quite sure what that other part of me was thinking.

* * *

Most of me was disappointed when I woke up by the sound of knocking against my suite door; I had thought originally that my landlord was knocking to ask me about the payment again, but even the comfortable bed I was in reminded me I was most definitely not at home.  So did me noticing a crescent-moon shape engraved in the center of a mural of the moon princess that adorned the roof of my current bedroom within Canterlot Castle.  The knocking came again and I switched out clothes before opening the door at the third knock.

Outside was a dark grey pegasus, with gold eyes and black wings that looked like bat wings covered in shiny black armor.  He saluted me, then returned to being at-ease.

“You are Nemo, I presume?” he said, voice gruff compared to the others I had met though not in anger; his voice just seemed a guttural growl compared to the white pegasi.

“Yes.”

“Princesses Celestia, Luna, and Cadence call you to dinner in the dining hall.  Well, Celestia and Cadence did,” the guard admitted.  “I haven’t seen Princess Luna all day.  Anyways, I am to escort you to the dining hall.”

I nodded and went to put on a formal jacket before following the pegasus out of the room and down the hall to the central wing, the Solar Wing.  A few more twists and turns led us to the dining hall, a large hall filled with statues of regal alicorns and more than a few cracked Corinthian-style pillars.  In the center was a large table set with at least twenty spaces, most of which were filled in with ponies of all types.  At the far end were two open spaces near to two alicorns and a unicorn: Princesses Celestia and Cadence, and Shining Armor, respectively.  Celestia sat at the head of the table, with the two open spots next to her.  I followed the pegasus guard over to where Celestia was sitting, hearing more than a few whispers as I passed the other members of the royal court.  I stood idly as the pegasus guard saluted Celestia.

“Here he is, Princess,” the guard said respectfully.

“Thank you,” Princess Celestia said warmly.  “Have you seen Princess Luna at all?”

“No, madam.  I will go and search for her in the observatory presently, if this pleases you.”

“Thank you.  You are excused.”

The guard saluted again and left the room importantly as Celestia turned to me.

“Good evening, Nemo,” she said pleasantly.  “I heard you were asleep.  How are you?”

“Okay,” I told her.  “I think the teleportation spell took out a fair amount of my energy.”

“I should suspect so, but I also think by tomorrow you should be doing okay.  I also heard you’ve had the pleasure of meeting Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and my Captain of the Guard, Shining Armor?”  She motioned to the two, Cadence sitting next to Celestia with Shining Armor on the opposite side.

“‘Cadence’ is fine, Celestia,” Cadence said.  “You’ve brought one here that is more polite and cordial than most.”

“Indeed,” Shining Armor agreed as he turned to me.  “You are more… pleasant than some of those Celestia has brought here.”  He motioned to the seat in front of him, one seat away from Celestia.

I sat down across from Shining Armor as one of the butlers, a unicorn, brought a large plate of salad and a bowl of fruit and sat it down in front of me, in addition to a fork.  There was a loaf of steaming bread in the center of the table, which Shining Armor was currently taking a knife and slicing off a fairly thick piece of, which he held out to me.  I took it and muttered a “thank you” before slowly eating.  The fruit was the freshest I’ve tasted and more delicious than the stuff on Earth while the salad could be garnished with any of five different bottles of salad dressing in the middle of the table; I poured a little out and found it tasted like balsamic vinaigrette, then poured a little more when I liked the flavor.  The bread was soft and tasted soft and doughy and slightly sweet.  A soup came out a short while later that would have been chicken noodle if there was meat in it.  Despite my reserved nature about the whole thing, I tasted and liked everything and soon began to eat heartily, even taking a second serving when the unicorn butlers returned.

I had begun my second serving when Princess Luna entered the hall.  She walked over to and sat down next to me, even bumping into me once; while I was sure it was an accident, she acted as though she didn’t even see me and didn’t even say ‘sorry’.  The butler came out with soup and salad and fruit for her and she poured herself a bit of the balsamic vinaigrette as well then started eating.

“I’m surprised you’re not talking more,” Celestia chuckled with a glance in our direction.  “Look at you two.”

I looked at the piece of bread in my hand, which was currently dipped in the vinaigrette from a small puddle on my plate, then turned to Luna, who had apparently done the same thing with hers.  I gave an amused “hmm” while Luna looked around much as I had before scoffing.

“I’m sure that other ponies do what we do,” she said.

Celestia’s smile lessened slightly.  “Luna, dear sister, just because you do not approve of humans does not mean you have to be so cold towards him.”

“It doesn’t matter,” I said apologetically.  “I want out of here the first chance I get anyways.”

“Smartest decision one of them has ever made,” Luna said.

Despite my wanting to leave, that hurt.  I saw Cadence look over to me then back to Luna.  “I thought he was your charge, so you could at least acknowledge him every once in a while.”

“If he wants to leave, what reason is there to invest my time in him?”

“You don’t have to teach him everything,” Cadence said.  “Just make sure he’s comfortable and answer any questions he might have.  It’s not that hard.”

“I still don’t see why any one of you could have taken him.”

“Court was very busy today, and I must resume it once dinner is finished,” Celestia said.  “There is a lot more work to be done on my end.”

“With the recent reappearance of the Crystal Empire and the aftermath of Sombra’s defeat,” Cadence said, “I have a lot of restructuring and morale-increasing to do, including overseeing the new government being placed into effect.  It’s more work than I can take.”

“And I am either accompanying my wife on her travels or spending my time training the guard,” Shining Armor said.  “We all have jobs that take us outside castle walls and among the ponies, Luna, while you have been doing paperwork and royal duties within the castle and have rarely gone out since Nightmare Night.  Perhaps it would be a good thing to take someone under your wing and teach him what you know, maybe even make a friend in the process.  Nemo here is polite and kind and courteous, and I’m sure would give you the respect you deserve.”

You’re placing me a bit higher than I would at the moment, I thought.

“I don’t have any jobs, so you’re ordering me to foalsit?” Luna questioned.

“Not foalsit,” Celestia corrected.  “Just observe and answer questions.”

“And make sure he doesn’t break anything?  No way!  Now, I’ve had enough of these foalish questions, so quit asking!”

One moment I was in my chair, the next I had two medical ponies taping a large cotton ball in front of my nose; Luna had started gesturing and had flung one of her hooves into my face.  Thankfully nothing broke, though I did have a bloody nose and was knocked out for about a minute, during which time one of the other ponies had called for the nurse and the two white ponies with white caps featuring a red cross came in to bandage me.  They were about to take me to the hospital ward when I woke up.  While Celestia had half a mind to call out to see if I was okay – and Shining Armor apparently had just about screamed when I got knocked back – Luna had simply continued eating.

Once the nurses had checked me over for any other damage, I was allowed to return to the table and finish my own dinner.

“Dear sister, you are to teach Nemo here about modern Equestrian history.  And that’s a royal order.”

Cadence was soon doused in a red liquid that smelled of a weak-strength wine.

Luna coughed.  “What!?  You have got to be kidding me!”

“I originally told you about this.  But, seeing the distrust and the complete lack of respect you have for Nemo, as my guest, you are to teach him about modern Equestrian history.  Nemo will learn a little bit more about us, and you will be able to interact with him.  This includes at least two hours a day on days where I do not need you to have court.”

“WHAT!?” Luna shouted with enough force to nearly shatter the windows behind Cadence and Shining Armor.  Every single pony in the room covered their ears, except Celestia, as Luna continued.  “HOW DARE YOU IMPLORE SUCH A FOOLISH THING UPON US!  HOW DARE YOU DO SUCH A THING TO INSULT OUR INTELLIGENCE!”

“I’m not insulting you’re intelligence.  In fact, I think you’ll prove to be a very capable teacher.”

Luna, seemingly aware that she was fighting a losing battle, sighed.  “Very well.  I shall send you a notice in a few days’ time regarding a course schedule for Nemo.  Until then, you know where to find me.”

“You’ll be staying right here for the rest of dinner.”

Luna didn’t growl or scoff or even argue.  Instead she flapped her wings impatiently.

“Don’t worry,” Shining Armor reassured me.  “The Royal Canterlot Voice is not something she uses so frequently anymore.  I’m sure she’ll warm up to you… eventually.”

I.3 - Initiation

A day passed without any further mention of Princess Luna teaching me.  After a relatively normal breakfast of fruit, eggs, and pancakes with syrup, I tried other ways to immerse myself within Equestrian government and politics to teach me more, like sitting in on Celestia’s court; I had to eventually excuse myself as court tended to be a long and boring process of petitioning Celestia for some building project or annexation, followed by a long string of arguments between Princess Celestia and her royal court over reasons why they should or shouldn’t comply with the request – with a few comments from the proposer as to why it was necessary – before voting and coming up with a decision, though Celestia herself did have the final say.  She didn’t rule with absolute power, though; she never raised her voice and always spoke calmly and politely despite the occasionally heated arguments that passed back and forth around her and for the most part seemed to agree with whatever side of the argument won.  Once, she outright told someone “no” when they had proposed launching a sneak attack on a neighboring kingdom and didn’t even let the court argue about it, simply sending the pony in question out almost immediately.  After this, though, court calmed down and I quietly left after about a half an hour of sitting in on a proposal regarding a new tax increase that had a few ponies with moneybag cutie marks come in with charts and graphs and turned into an economics lesson that almost bored me to sleep.

Outside, I noticed a list of ponies that were to see the Princess for court that day.  About halfway down the list was Princess Luna herself; the line with her name on it was crossed out, and a note was placed next to it in very regal script that said “I’m not arguing with you anymore.”  Under that was a note that said “Damn it.”

It was still midmorning of my second day when I left the royal court out of boredom.  I went over to Princess Cadence’s wing and found her offices and was allowed to sit in on some of her proceedings.  It was slightly more interesting than Princess Celestia’s court, mostly dealing with military strategies from a few second-in-commands under Shining Armor as to how to protect the Crystal Empire and form its own military branch.  Cadence was as kindly as Celestia could be even in her more serious demeanor: her primary thought was protecting the Crystal Empire as a proper part of Equestria, and not attacking or threatening other nations.  Eventually, I left that, too, when lunch was called and everyone went down to the dining hall.

The whole of the court was there eating sandwiches when I walked in with Princess Cadence and the second-in-commands.  I walked over to the spot I had been placed at the previous night and sat myself down to what one referred to as a ‘daffodil and daisy sandwich’ and a bowl of fruit.  I ate quietly and lightly next to Luna, who was still arguing over the recent order to teach me modern Equestrian history with Celestia.

“But ‘Tia, I don’t want to,” Luna pouted.

“Luna, I’ve told you before,” Celestia said sternly, “you’re doing it whether or not you like it.”

“But couldn’t you just send him to a university professor or hire one here?”

“Shining Armor had a point in last night’s conversation: you don’t get out that much and you need more social interaction with others beyond visiting Ponyville on Nightmare Night.  I do not intend to keep that away from you, but you need more contact with others, human or pony, and so I shall not hear another word from you.  Besides, what is two hours in the evening from whole nights I sometimes find you awake with nothing to do?”

Luna “hmph”d and resumed eating.

Shining Armor spoke to me after lunch was over.

“If you need something to do, you could come down to the barracks with me and watch drills and some sparing practices.”

That didn’t sound like a bad idea, and I went down with Shining Armor to the barracks where a bunch of Pegasus and unicorn ponies dressed in gold armor were waiting for their Captain’s command.  I watched a few formation drills before the ponies each grabbed a spear and went outside to a large arena to battle one another.  The spears had dull points and couldn’t even scratch the armor, but each was going at each other’s throats viciously and, much to my own embarrassment, it was extremely amusing to watch.  Shining Armor himself sparred once, proving well to the others why he was Captain and they were not: his match ended with the Pegasus he was dueling on his back under Shining Armor with a spear to the throat in ten seconds.  Shining Armor gently tapped the armor of the Pegasus and told him something about flying in a U-shape as opposed to a V before wandering to the bench where I was sitting on the sidelines.

“Manage to do anything else today?” he asked me.

“I sat in on Celestia’s and Cadence’s court for a little while, hoping they could teach me something about politics.  Celestia’s bored me and Cadence’s was interesting with military strategies, but I don’t feel I’ve learned anything.  Luna’s still arguing with Celestia, so teaching doesn’t seem to be in the near future at this point.”

“I’m sure everything will be fine,” Shining Armor tried to reassure me.  “Like I said before, Luna’s not exactly the easiest to get along with, but she’s very nice and considerate when she opens up.  Anyways, want to go out for a drink afterwards with me and a few of the guys?  There’s a place around here that has a mean hard cider.”

“Will I be able to without identification?”

“If you’re with me, you can.”

“…why are you being so nice to me?  I mean, I hardly know you from yesterday, and yet you already are asking me to head out for a night on the town with you and a few of your friends like we’ve known each other for longer.”

Shining Armor sighed.  “A few years ago, my little sister, a smart and talented unicorn by the name of Twilight Sparkle, went to Ponyville to oversee preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration and to confront Nightmare Moon.  We were really close before she left, but when she did, it was without warning and, before I knew it, she had made a few friends and decided to stay there when the whole of the Summer Sun Celebration was over.”

Shining Armor brought his face down.  “I kind of understand how you feel, to be separated from your family like that.  Do you remember much about your sister?  What she was like?”

I sat there and thought about it for a moment.  “Well, I think she was always the smartest one of our family.  She had a lot of help from other relatives, and soon she moved across country to go to a good college up by our grandparents.  She moved away with them to get away from drama back home.”

“What sort of drama?”

“I don’t know.  But I do know that she told me she felt everything was going to be alright, and that maybe we’d be able to see each other again.  I took her to the airport and watched as her plane flew away.  I remember her giving me a small statue of a Pegasus from Greek culture – Greece is a nation back on Earth – but I think I threw it away because I didn’t want to be reminded about how she left.”

“Sounds like things were difficult for you back home.”

“Maybe.  But I can’t help but feel I just needed a second chance, that maybe if I go back that everything will be alright.”

“…but, what if this was your second chance?”

“I don’t know whether I’m lucky or doomed, and at the moment, I’m feeling the latter.”

Shining Armor placed a hoof on my shoulder.  “I know you might be feeling a bit homesick, but at least try and give us a chance.  If Princess Celestia figured you should be brought here even for reasons you can’t remember right now, she probably had a damn good reason to.  Both she and Cadence are more than willing to welcome you here, as am I, so why don’t you just give this place one more chance.  Please?”

I sighed, partially out of defeat.  “Okay.  I’ll go drinking with you after your training session and see what happens.”

To this response, Shining Armor took his hoof off of my shoulder and turned back to his guards for a minute.  “Hey!  No fighting dirty!  This is just a practice match!”  He turned back to me.  “Great!  I’ll let the guys know when we’re let off duty.  No active threats at the moment means we should be able to get one in after dinner.”

I nodded and tried to smile.

* * *

Dinner was much the same as the previous night, only without Luna’s gesturing hooves knocking me out.  She did seem to sit up taller to where her head was as high above mine as Celestia’s was standing up normally as though to make me smaller in her mind.  I don’t know if she considered me a threat or a nuisance, though I figured either way she didn’t think very much of me.  I was torn between complaining about it being one hell of a welcome wagon and wanting to get home faster and ended up picking at my food more than I did eat it.

Celestia seemed to notice my behavior and whispered something to Shining Armor.  Shining Armor grinned and whispered something back, something that made the smile on Celestia’s face go from small and almost dainty to wide and almost exposing her teeth.  Nothing more was said between the two other than an approving nod from Celestia in my direction before the smile faded back to what it was before.  Even Cadence was staring oddly at them, and when she asked about what they were talking about, Shining Armor only whistled innocently as though ignoring her.

I only ate one serving that night, likely since my stomach was beginning to regulate itself after the teleportation and inter-dimensional travel and I wasn’t as sick as I had felt the day before.  When that was finished, I left the dining hall after dessert was served and took my supplement drink before a knock sounded at the door.  I opened the door to see Shining Armor standing there dressed in a red suit with silver clasps and a gold collar along with a sort of harness-like accessory with a badge shaped like a shield with a stylized lavender six-pointed star on it.  His mane, without the purple and gold cap, was a mix of blue and a lighter blue and hardly looked like a brush had been taken to it.

“Ready, Nemo?” he asked eagerly.  “The guys will be waiting for us at the castle entrance.”

“This isn’t some sort of cruel joke, is it?”

“What?  No, no, no!  I’m serious.  We’ll head out on the town, hit a bar, get a side of celery and ranch or something and toss back a few drinks.  We usually do this at the end of the week.”

I was uneasy, but I grabbed a coat and followed Shining Armor through the castle and down to the entrance.  At the entrance were a few of the white pegasi and unicorns, along with one of the black pegasi with bat wings and a shock of blonde for a mane, standing around waiting.  One of the white pegasi called over to Shining Armor when he approached.

“Hey, Shiny!  I heard you were bringing Nemo along with us.  We going lightweight this evening?”

“Probably best this time,” Shining Armor, “but we’ll see how he can handle himself.”

“Fine by me.  We all ready?  Time for one of the more respectable places, boys!”

I followed the entourage out of the castle and into the well-lit streets of Canterlot.  It wasn’t far before we came to a street where no carriages ran, but was lit up as though it was the middle of the day with restaurants and bars and shops; I swear I even saw what looked like it might have been a strip club somewhere in there.

Shining Armor and his buddies, however, led me to a slightly quieter pub that was none the less filled with unicorns and pegasi and even a few earth ponies playing cards, drinking, eating, playing darts and pool and something that vaguely looked like shuffleboard.  Shining Armor selected a table near an empty dart board.  A waitress came by dressed in a black apron and asked if anyone wanted something to drink.

“A round of golden cider for the table,” Shining Armor said.  “Seven to be exact.  Also, bring out a few of the fruit and sauce trays.”

The waitress nodded and left while Shining Armor picked up a few sets of darts and handed me one.  “Care to play?  Me and you versus Revenant Wings and Thomas Scott?”

A white pegasus and the dark pegasus with the blonde mane started flapping their wings eagerly.

“Such odd names…” I said, taking three darts with dark blue tails.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, one of you has a name that sounds like it would describe a cutie mark, while the other of you seems to be someone that came from Earth like I did.”

“You’re right about that,” Shining said as he passed two sets of darts to the pegasi, then placed a shoulder around the black pegasi with bat wings.  “Thomas here came from Earth about two years ago.”

“My father committed suicide and my mother kicked me out of the house,” the pegasus responded, though he didn’t seem to depressed about it.  “I was on the streets for a little while and nearly landed myself in jail a few times.”

“That sounds terrible…”

“It was,” Thomas replied, “but Celestia picked me up and said I could stay here.  It was amazing, and I asked her if I could get a spot in the military to release a bit of my pent up anger.  I went through training and became one of Luna’s guards.  I have the early morning shift with good pay and a girlfriend now, as well as a bunch of friends in the guard, and have never been happier.  Things really turned around ever since I came here.”

The game started soon after and the drinks came out shortly after that.  I tasted my glass of cider to find it still had the taste of apples and alcohol, but there was a vague taste of honey in with it that made it sweet and a slight aftertaste of cinnamon that left a slightly spicy taste on the tip of my tongue… and it was good.  Shining Armor and I beat the pegasi fantastically in darts (mostly due to Shining Armor, though Revenant put up a good fight towards the end) and traded with the other unicorns and pegasi at the table.  Shining Armor drank more than anyone at the table and still managed to speak normally – “The least it’s taken him to be just buzzed is five,” Revenant told me – while Thomas was slurring at two and I, unused to the taste and potency of the alcoholic drink in front of me, didn’t even finish the second though found myself quite open to talk.  Shining Armor called off the drinks after the second dart game was done and ordered a round of waters and two more baskets of celery stalks for us to eat before heading back out and back to the castle.

We arrived back at the castle around nine that night, with the other guards going their own way while Shining Armor took it upon himself to escort me back through the castle to where my suite was.

“Now, wasn’t that fun?” Shining Armor asked, still not even fazed by the drinks.

“Yeah, it was,” I admitted.  A smile had formed on my face and I had to admit I was kind of sad when it ended.  “I would totally do that again sometime.”

“Cool!  Anyways, I’m off these next two days for the weekend so maybe I’ll take you a few other places around Canterlot and get you outside the castle more; can’t do too well to keep you cooped up here, eh?”

“Sounds fine by me.”

Luna passed by us on the way.  She ignored us at first, but soon stopped as we continued and I heard her sniff the air.

“You’ve been drinking already, human?” she asked.  “No doubt this was a trend back at home.”

“I’ve told you before, Princess,” I said as respectfully as I could, stopping in the middle of the hallway with Shining Armor.  “I don’t remember anything about my past life.  And besides, Shining Armor was the one who invited me to do so.”

“It’s true, Princess Luna,” Shining Armor said.  “I took him out for a few drinks along with the guards.  Nemo here is buzzed but not drunk; he couldn’t finish a second.”

“I didn’t think it’d be so strong with a taste that good.”

“I know, right?” Shining Armor said ecstatically.  “That place makes the best.”

Luna sighed and rolled her eyes as though we were a couple of youngsters.  “Well, do be careful not to have any brilliant ideas.  I still don’t know why you could have taken up the role.”

“And what are you doing to keep you so busy tonight?” Shining Armor asked rather accusingly.

“If you weren’t the husband of Princess Cadence,” Luna said, “I would have told you it was none of your business and you’re poking your nose where it doesn’t belong.  But, since you’re the one asking the question – and Celestia thinks highly of you – I’m reviewing a peace treaty with the northern kingdom with Princess Celestia.”

“By which you mean…?” I asked with an eyebrow raised.

“Presenting this course schedule for you to Princess Celestia and attempting to come to peace with it.”

“I’m willing to take on anything you have to throw at me.  I’ll learn whatever you have to teach me.”

Luna laughed.  “You can’t even remember your life before here where others could remember the exact minute at which they spoke their first words as foals!  I should like to see how well you do here if you were cast into the Everfree Forest.”

“Now, Luna…”

“Don’t you scold me, Shining Armor!”

“I’m not.  But you should be a bit nicer to Nemo.  He hasn’t any remembrance of his former life, yet he still wants to go back home.  Perhaps there’s something there that was working in his favor.”

“Then why did Celestia want to bring him here?”

Shining Armor wanted to say something in retaliation, but it mustn’t have been anything good, because all he did was glare.

Luna scoffed.  “I don’t see what my dear sister sees in you, anyways,” she said, then continued her way down the hall.

When I felt that the alicorn was out of hearing range, I shot out a few expletives.

“I was going to say something along those lines,” Shining Armor agreed.

“Why does she hate me?” I asked no one in particular.  “All I did was show up here because Princess Celestia brought me here, and she’s mad at me.  Nothing was under my control here!” I shouted in the direction that Luna had gone down.  “Do you think I want to be here!?  Huh!?  Do you!?”

Shining Armor nudged me back in the other direction.  “Come on.  Let’s get you back to your room.”

I followed more out of complacency than out of actually agreeing with him.  I wanted to lash out a bit more, but figured I had done enough damage already.  Shining Armor walked in with me and sat down next to me as I drank a large glass of water in the living room.

“And things had been going so well tonight, too…” he said.

“Why does she hate me?” I choked out.  “This whole thing wasn’t even my idea.”

Shining Armor placed a hoof around my shoulder, but it didn’t feel comforting at all.  It felt strange, foreign.

“I want to go home,” I cried.  “I want to go home…”

I.5 - The Man Who Rebuked the Sun

I woke earlier than the sun the next morning.  The suite was still dark though I could see through the windows the first rays of sunlight.  The sun was at a standstill below the horizon, as though waiting to be released onto the land, and created a soft purple light across the sky. As much as I felt I could fall back asleep comfortably and easily sink back into the blankets, my mind was too restless, always thinking back to the conversation I had with Shining Armor and Cadence the previous day.  I got up and put on some clothes with the intent to get some questions answered, then headed out and to the dining hall.

While open, no one was in the dining hall except for a few guards.  They paid no attention to me as I wandered about, going by each of the windows as I looked out among the gardens.  I stopped by one, wondering if I would be able to catch Princess Celestia before she got too absorbed by her work for that afternoon.

She caught me.

“Hello there, Nemo,” she said gently, even slightly amused.  I turned around to find she was standing a short ways away from me (how the heck did she enter without me hearing!?).  “Not many are up so early with me in the castle, especially not on a day of rest.  I was going to take some personal time for myself this afternoon.”

“I wanted to ask you a few questions, Princess Celestia,” I said, bowing out of respect.

Celestia smiled.  “I feel you might want to keep this conversation private,” she asked.

“Perhaps, though I don’t know how much you have discussed with others.”

“Plenty, but I can answer a few questions.  Come with me to the gardens; they’re beautiful in the early morning.”

I walked out with her and into the lush green gardens, filled with the scents of many wonderful flowers that opened as she passed by them, only to close when she went too far away.  Celestia led me to a large oak in a secluded part of the gardens and sat down in the grass underneath it, motioning for me to sit next to her.

“What is the matter, Nemo, that you are up so early?” she asked.

“Princess… why was I brought here?  Why me, of all people?”

Celestia’s smile faded slightly.  “You were here because the conditions in your own dimension were not favorable towards you.  I was afraid of things getting much worse, and pulled you here to bring you somewhere safe.”

“Have… have others lost their memories like I have when they were brought here?”

Celestia’s smile was almost gone, as though she was struggling to keep it on her face.  “No.  All others have kept their memories since the time they were born.  You are a most unusual case, Nemo, in the fact that you can’t remember what happened before you were brought here.  Now, please, tell me what is really bothering you.”

“…are you keeping information from me because you want me to stay?  Because you don’t want me to go back?  Is this three months of time no more than a chance for me to want to stay here enough to not want to leave?  I ask because everything I’ve gone through since I came here reminds me of how different home is, how much I want to go back there, and what things are similar enough to home make me want to go back.”

Celestia sighed, her smile gone though her patience and gentleness remained, and that was probably worse than anything she said.  “In part, yes, I do want you to stay.  You are the first that has wanted to go back, and it partially pains me to hear that.  I thought I was doing you a favor, giving you a life that could help heal you and give you friends and family.  And yes, keeping you in the dark was a part of my plan in order to keep you from reliving what you had gone through.”

“Is that any better from taking someone away from the only home they’ve ever known without their consent?  Could you not have asked me first?  Maybe I would have told you ‘yes, please, take me away from here!’  But no, you came and took me away and brought me to a strange land that I want to get out from, then keep me in the dark because you want me to stay.  Where in the world of morality does that fall to you?  What part of your right mind resorted to kidnapping me and taking me…”

My voice had risen enough to where Celestia was showing signs of fear, but my emotions had risen with them and I could not bear to continue, instead kneeling down on the grass and crying.  I felt the sun rise and its warmth touch me gently and tenderly, and I looked up to see Princess Celestia in front of me trying her best to smile.

“I’m sorry,” she said.  “Please.  I promise.  Three months really is the time it takes to prepare the spell for its casting to send you back home.  As soon as it’s ready, I will take you back to where you feel you belong.”

I was not satisfied.

“What about Shining Armor?  What part has he played in this?  Has he been working as part of this plan too since Luna is as yet non-compliant?”

Celestia’s smile faded again and I felt it become cold.  “Yes… yes, he was.”

“I trusted him… I trusted him!  He actually felt like a friend to me, and all you wanted was for him to create enough of a connection with me so that I could stay here instead of wanting to go back?  Is that what you wanted?”

“Y-yes…”

“Then… perform the memory spell on me!  Make it where I can remember all that I’ve lost!”

“…I can’t.”

“Why not!?”

“Suffice it to say that now is not the right time.”  Celestia was visibly struggling with the words.  “Later, when you are ready to go back, I will reveal what you have not uncovered on your own.”

I felt hurt, betrayed.  I walked out of the shade of the oak and walked back through the gardens towards the castle.  I could hear Celestia walking close behind me in the grass and quickened my pace, though all it took for the alicorn to keep up was increase her pace by nowhere near so much as I had to.

“Nemo, please…”

I turned around to face her, now really angered with her; the look of pity on her face didn’t help me any.  “‘Please?’  Oh, so you have to say ‘please’ in order to get me to do something now?  What do you want from me, princess?  What do you want to do, as my savior, for this kidnapped soul?  How about sending me back!?”

“But I can’t…”

“…because of your little spell that takes three months to charge, I get it.  You, according to pretty much everyone I’ve talked to, are the most powerful pony in the entirety of Equestria, and yet you can’t do something as simple as plop me right back in my own dimension when you could do the crossing day after day after day for a month to watch me?”

“I have never had to carry someone back across before.”

I just stared at her in disgust.  “Are you kidding me?”

“No one has ever left.  Then again, no one has ever wanted to leave.”

“Well… I do.”

I left the garden and Celestia behind, going back through the castle to my suite, where I closed the door and decided I wasn’t to come out until someone came to give me an explanation, no matter how long it took.  I ignored requests from the guards to come down to dinner and even to give me my supplement for the day.  I never felt so angry, so betrayed in my life, and it hurt me more than anything else, even more than the fact that I couldn’t go home.

* * *

Two important messages came that day among the attempts to get me out of the room.  The first was from a guard.

“Nemo?” the guard called.  “It’s Revenant Wings from Shining Armor’s troops.  Are you in there?”

I didn’t respond.

“Nemo?  I have a message for you.”

I remained silent.

“Princess Luna has set a start date for your teaching.”

I gave him an ear.  “Continue.”

“Tomorrow night, you will go to the observatory once you have finished with dinner.  Princess Luna will be teaching you every other night for one and a half hours on modern Equestria history, taking place over the last thousand years.”

“She doesn’t have to teach me.”

“She has agreed to by order of Princess Celestia.”

“Fine.  Tell her whatever you want to by way of response.”

Revenant Wings was silent for long enough I thought he had left.  He eventually did give an answer.  “Um… I shall tell her you received the message.  Apologies for disturbing you.”  Then he left, and I could hear his hoofsteps as he walked down the corridors.

* * *

The second message came from Shining Armor.

It was after nightfall when he came around.  I could hear his hoofsteps come up and a long period of silence before he knocked on the door.

“Nemo?” he called in.  “Are you alright?”

“Why do you want to know?  Has Princess Celestia asked you to check on me?”

“Wait… what?”

“I heard everything from Princess Celestia.  She’s keeping me in the dark and has been using you as someone to interact with me so that I don’t want to leave.  I’m sorry, Shining Armor, but… I just can’t speak with you right now.  Not after you betrayed me.”

“Nemo, wait!”

I wasn’t going anywhere anyway.

“Nemo, please, listen to me!  Yes, it was that way at first.  But… yesterday, I realized that was wrong!  I took you to the Wonderbolts show with me and Cadence because I wanted to be your friend!  I… I’m sorry.  I didn’t want you to figure out that way, but I wish you could have just waited and let me tell you!”

“You were too late.”

I heard a sigh, then a sniff, and I wasn’t sure if they were mine or the unicorn’s outside the door.  “I’m sorry,” Shining Armor said.  “I’m sorry…”

He left, and I didn’t care.

* * *

That night, I heard a weird voice in my dreams, one that was unfamiliar, strange… and gentle.

“I still want you to leave.  But that does not give my sister the right to do what she did.”

"For now, just rest.  But do not think I will go any easier on you."

I.6 - Night is Cold

The next morning, I received a notice in the morning before breakfast saying that Princess Luna was going to teach me about modern Equestrian history.  The notice was paired with a rather large book – about seven hundred pages written in fairly small text.  The notice also said that I had to read the first chapter in order to speed things along; the quicker we finished the textbook, the quicker we could stop having to deal with each other.  This was a perfectly fine arrangement.

It was hard to believe I had spent only five days in Equestria.  The days had gone by so slowly it had felt like it had been longer, yet I had only arrived on a Wednesday and it was Sunday.  I wondered if there was a difference in time between the worlds, like if I went back it would be Monday or Tuesday or perhaps even later instead of whatever day it was.  And I still had a whole day ahead of me before the teaching sessions with Princess Luna were to begin.  With nothing else to do, I drank the supplement when the guard came around and proceeded to follow him down to the dining hall.

Shining Armor was there, as was Princess Celestia.  Neither looked very happy.  They acknowledged me weakly as I sat down and a plate was brought in front of me.  I ate silently for a minute, noticing the downcast faces on both of them; Shining Armor in particular seemed to have watery eyes and whatever emotion that came across Celestia’s face was almost immediately blinked away the next yet it kept creeping back.  Celestia kept opening her mouth to speak, yet she wouldn’t get much more than a simple syllable out before losing her nerve and closing her mouth yet again.

“I… got the message from Luna,” I said.

“Good… good…” Celestia said.  She had a distant look in her eyes as she stared towards the entrance, out the doors and into the hallway, always keeping the opposite side of her face away from where I could see it.

I noticed Shining Armor had barely touched his plate.  I mentioned this.

“Yeah, I know,” he said, choking on his words like he was trying to force them out.  He looked around nervously for a moment before leaving the table.  “I’ll be right back,” he said, then bolted out of the hall so fast only a blue streak from his mane and tail remained behind and the hall fell silent again.

I slowly took another bite of my food.

Celestia sighed.

I looked at her.  “…is there something you’re not telling me?”

Celestia flinched.

“I mean with Shining Armor.”

“…he hasn’t taken very well to the fact that you’re adamant on leaving.”

“Why should he?”

“Nemo,” Princess Celestia reprimanded me, then sighed and calmed herself down to a much more gentle tone before continuing.  “One of the first things you need to understand and grasp about this world is that all ponies, whether or not they are capable of magic, each have a tendency to create bonds with others very quickly.  If somepony finds somepony else they have similarities to, even if it’s due to the slightest of interactions, they will quickly become attached as friends.  You mentioned to Shining Armor you had a sister that moved away; Shining Armor has a sister who used to live her in Canterlot before continuing her studies elsewhere.  That may not seem like much, but Shining has stated he felt something of a kindred bond between you two.  Your rejection of his friendship once you realized my ulterior motives were behind it was not taken lightly...”

Celestia turned her face around so that I could see the opposite side and I gasped.  On her cheek was a massive bruise.

“Funny thing, though,” Celestia continued.  “It wasn’t you he was mad at.  He was mad at me.  He thought he would make a new friend because I was pushing him to help you out around here, but as soon as he heard about the confrontation between us yesterday morning he decked me pretty hard.  ‘It wasn’t right of you to do that,’ he told me.  ‘Either to him or to me.’  He had a point.”  Celestia winced and rubbed the bruise.  “I have yet to be able to rid this bruise with magic.”

“What did he say about me?”

“Oh, he was more mad than anything, but very protective.  His kindred bond with you made him mad towards me and sympathetic with you.  He had been shouting at me all morning until a few minutes before you came in.”

I began to feel bad for what I said to him.  It wasn’t Shining Armor that had backstabbed me, but Princess Celestia – but I had already given her a lashing and still wasn’t satisfied.

Shining Armor returned a short while later.  He walked back over to his seat and sat down, picking at his food.  He occasionally shot glances at Celestia that I couldn’t register the emotion that caused it, whether it was hurt or betrayal or sadness or anger.  That was nothing compared to the look he gave me, one that was hurt at doing what he did and tried to tell me he didn’t mean to but somehow knew words wouldn’t work.  He didn’t speak for the entire time that I was in the dining hall and left soon afterwards.

I turned to Celestia.  “Where do you think Cadence would be?”

* * *

Cadence was in her personal parlor room in her wing of the castle, which was where Celestia said she might be.  She was reclining on a rather large sofa that had space for one more and appeared to be sunning herself with the direction the sofa was placed with regards to the large window at the opposite side of the room.  I didn’t enter right away even though I could see her, instead knocking on the open door and calling around the corner to where I could see her on the couch.

“Cadence!  It’s Nemo.  Can I come in and speak with you for a moment?”

The alicorn was silent for a moment and I was afraid she would deny my request.  Thankfully, a short while later I heard Cadence call.  “Come on in, Nemo.”

I walked slowly and carefully over to where Cadence was sitting on the couch.  The alicorn motioned with a hoof over to an armchair close-by and I sat down in it while Cadence adjusted herself on the couch so that she was more upright.  I was silent for a long moment until Cadence made a motion for me to speak with her hoof.

“I… wanted to talk about Shining Armor.”

“I figured it would be that,” Cadence said, not reprimanding me.  Yet.  “He came in to speak with me last night and was not very happy about your confrontation with Celestia.  Not that you confronted her, interestingly enough, but that you felt betrayed by him afterwards.  I’m afraid he has yet to give me the details.  Please… entertain me.”

I explained how I had still wanted to go back home.  However, I had started to think that I was getting close to Shining Armor to the point where I could have called him a friend and had begun to think I would miss him when I returned.  These beliefs were somewhat torn apart if not destroyed when Celestia revealed to me that she had used Shining Armor becoming friends with me to attempt to establish some sort of ‘kindred bond’ that would have connected us; it had worked with Shining Armor, who ended up genuinely considering me a friend, but Celestia had only meant to use the friendship between us as a reason to get me to stay.  Shining Armor initially knew of Celestia’s purposes, but she had somewhat masked it and later became hurt by his own feelings of betraying me when Celestia’s intentions were revealed.

“So the kindred bond is at this moment one-sided,” Cadence said.  “Interesting…”

“What’s interesting?” I asked.

“You’re still a little mad at Shining Armor for participating in Celestia’s actions, aren’t you?” Cadence asked.

“Yes!” I nearly shouted.  “He knew Celestia’s purpose behind the actions and still went through with it.  He knew that Celestia wanted to establish the kindred bond between us and make it where I became close to him.  What Celestia didn’t tell him was that she was going to use the bond not just to make this place more comfortable for me but to make it impossible for me to leave without feeling like I was leaving him behind.”

“So you are not affected by the kindred bond between you.  Shining Armor is.”

“What exactly does it do?”

“It’s basically an advanced form of empathy.  If somepony becomes hurt, those who have established a kindred bond will also be hurt though in a much minor way.  If somepony becomes angry with someone, the ones who have the kindred bond will attempt to understand their anger and will sometimes become angry with the source themselves.”

“So it’s an empathetic link?”

“That’s what I just said.”

“…so Celestia was using emotional manipulation?  That’s downright cruel.”

“Oh, trust me.  Celestia has done much worse.”

“I’ve told you my story, so please tell me what, pray tell, Celestia could have done.”

“She banished her sister to the moon for a thousand years.”

“And that’s another thing: what’s with you people and things happening a thousand years ago?  Half the book I’m supposed to read for Luna’s ‘classes’ deals with events that happened a thousand years ago with hardly any deviation.”

“Calm yourself down and let me explain.  A long time ago, Celestia and her sister Luna ruled over the sun and the moon together like they do now.  Celestia would raise the sun and Luna would raise the moon.  But Luna became jealous because the ponies almost never saw her night since they slept to it.  So Luna became Nightmare Moon, a malicious entity planning on making the land suffer in eternal night.  Celestia took up the Elements of Harmony and used their power to banish her sister to the moon.”

“Couldn’t she have just used it to purge Luna of Nightmare Moon’s influence?”

“She could have.  Celestia tried to say that the threat of Nightmare Moon was eliminated only by banishing it to the moon when in reality all Celestia needed the Elements for was to free Luna from their influence.  Instead, she chose a route that shifted the blame from her onto somepony else.”

“Like she was doing with me when she first attempted to explain that the spell to send me home would take three months after initially bringing me here against my will.”

There was a spark of recognition in Cadence’s face.  “I didn’t think of it that way originally.  But… at least there’s someone here for you to speak to.  Luna was alone with her thoughts.”

“The way Celestia has been treating me and manipulating everyone around me… it feels that way sometimes.”

Cadence nodded thoughtfully before inviting me to stay for tea.  I politely declined the invitation and told her I had to read some of the book for Luna’s teaching session later that evening but I would like to eventually.  I also left her with a message to Shining Armor saying that I wanted to apologize to him but was going to be busy for the rest of the day, which the pink alicorn said she’d attempt to deliver if Shining was receptive to it.

Deep down, I really hoped he was.

* * *

I spent the rest of the day reading the first few chapters of the book that Luna had given me.  The note had said to expect to be ready to proceed over the first part of the book and to be given homework for it, which was easy enough; I had remembered I went through fifteen years of school through that point.  All the same, it was better to have read the material ahead of time and at least then I wouldn’t be so much under Luna’s skin.

I took dinner in the main hall with the ponies and retreated before many of the others did.  Shining Armor followed me out of the hall like he wanted to say something, but when I asked him what he wanted he shook his hoof and waved me onwards without saying a word.  After the awkwardness of the situation went away, I left for my room, got a few pieces of paper with some wood and graphite pencils and made my way over to the observatory and library down the hall from my room.

I knocked on the door to the observatory three times (as was seemed to be customary) and waited until a voice shouted to me “Come on in.”  I opened the door to see a large round room with a telescope on a platform overhead while the ground floor was filled with bookshelves of all different sizes and what looked like a few books more than could fit in them; a few were scattered about the ground.  I walked across the room, picking my way among the discarded books, until I came to a large window that faced to the evening sun.  Luna was standing near the window with a blackboard and chalk that faced a desk.  The back of the desk was to the window, while the front of the desk faced a podium at which Luna was standing and glaring at me.

“I made it,” I told Luna.  “Seven twenty-five.  According to the time dinner ends, that’s five minutes early.”

“You’re not getting out early, if that’s what you think,” Luna spat.  “Please sit down.  The quicker you stop running your mouth the quicker we can start this session.”

I was not shocked by the behavior and sat down at the desk with the book in front of me and prepared to take notes.

“Now,” Luna began.  “This is going to be a simple affair by most of our school’s standards.  This course will cover a simple survey of modern Equestrian history from one thousand five hundred years ago to the present day.  Of course, I’ll be going back just a little bit further from that in order to make sure you get the Equestrian origin story.”

“Fine by me,” I said.

“Of course, there are a few rules I have.  First is that you don’t talk while I’m talking or at all for the entire session, for that matter, unless I have specifically answered a question.  Secondly, until you get a concept there is little we can move on to until you get it, so I’m going to be spending as long as I have to on a concept until I manage to drill it into your head.  Thirdly, don’t ask questions.”

Don’t ask questions, I thought.  A simple rule for making sure these sessions went by smoothly and quickly.

“Now, we’re going to be skipping the prologue and moving straight into the first lesson on chapter one.  I expect to get through chapter one by the end of the week, but I have no idea if that’s even possible.  Shall we begin?”

About three-fourths of the way through the lesson, I had to be taken to the hospital ward for a broken wrist.  They didn’t believe me when I told them Luna had smacked my hand with not one but both of the eight-hundred page textbooks at the same time simply because I asked her to repeat a single line of information I hadn’t heard correctly.

By the time my hospital visit was over and I had a bandage placed on my wrist, the session time was over as well.  Luna quit the session early, but handed me an essay for chapter one and a series of multiple choice and short answer questions that were to be completed by the third session.  By an essay, I mean Luna wanted a researched three-page essay on the topic with two outside resources, and by a series of multiple choice questions I mean she had ten pages of them for me to complete, and by short answer questions I mean Luna wanted me to do seven of the ten offered in one paragraph each.  I carried the stack of papers to my room and started using the book to answer the multiple choice questions for the rest of the night.  By the time I was finished with the fifth page, a clock on the wall said two in the morning and a guard was coming around to see why the light was still on so late.  I dismissed him saying I was studying and was heading to bed at that moment.  And so I did.

Over the next week and a half my schedule became radically different.  In the mornings I would go to breakfast in the hall before returning to my room to study the book Luna had given me.  I answered most of the questions on my own, but I often found myself going to the library.  The librarian, a certain pony by the name of Dewey Decimal, was eager to help out with both the answers to the questions and where I could find the needed material to answer them.  Afternoons were punctuated by lunch and more studying, followed by dinner in the evening before I went back to the room to rest my hand and do not much else.  On every other night, the schedule changed for me to go to Luna’s sessions, where she drilled me with questions about the previous session and continued drilling my head with information.

On Thursday, we finished chapter one before the end of the night.  I expected her to be proud of me but didn’t show it, and neither did she.  Instead, she gave me the homework for chapter two, which was double that of chapter one, and expected me to finish it in the same amount of time... the following Thursday.

On Friday of that week Shining Armor did not invite me to go with his buddies to the pubs in downtown Canterlot.  A talk with Revenant Wings on Saturday morning revealed that Shining Armor hadn’t gone at all, nor had he mentioned to the others about going like he usually did.  He just sort of woke up with nausea and a headache and a few bottles strewn about his office in the guard barracks; six bottles were completely drained but a seventh only had about a half gone.

On Wednesday of the next week, I became so tired with the late nights of staying up to do homework that I passed out on the couch and didn’t finish the work for chapter two.  At the exact time the lesson was supposed to start on Thursday I told her I didn’t finish the work for chapter two, the result being that I had to duck a flying book that harmlessly hit the glass window behind me.

“You are so slow at retrieving information!” Luna shouted at me.  “I have seen high school students from some of the smaller communities finish this book and its work faster than you have!  If this were a proper university, we’d be learning about the Crystal Empire and the reign of King Sombra right now.”

“Um… the book says that isn’t until chapter five…”

“And some schools can finish that in two weeks or less,” Luna countered.  “Why, of all the possible idiots that Celestia could have brought through here, does she saddle me with you?”

“It’s not my fault!” I said.  “I didn’t want to come here.  I didn’t have a choice.”

“That’s not my problem,” Luna said dismissively.

“It’s not, but you could relate!  I was going along just fine in my own world until suddenly your sister and fellow princess plucks me with her magic and effectively banishes me here.  It’s just like your little experience as Nightmare Mo—”

“DON’T YOU DARE MENTION NIGHTMARE MOON TO ME!”  Luna roared, the gale-force winds coming from her mouth rocketing me out of the desk and against the glass pane and upsetting a few of the bookshelves.  “DON’T YOU EVER MENTION THAT AROUND ME!”

The winds died down and I picked myself up from the floor.

“Don’t you even remember anything of your life before here?” Luna shouted.

“No!  I lost my memory of almost everything before now!  I’m twenty-two years old, I used to live in the city of Denver in the United States, I had a sister that moved away from me to get away from home, but that’s about it!  I can’t tell you what I did, I can’t tell you what my education level was, I can’t even tell you—”

“What do you mean you can’t tell me?  If you can’t even tell me about your own life, what makes you think you could finish a high-school level textbook!?”

“I don’t know!”  I knelt down on the floor crying.  “I don’t know… I don’t even know why I’m here…”

Luna ignored my crying and continued staring at me with bared teeth.  “If you can’t remember, I’ll make you remember!”  And she jumped at me, horn glowing blue.

I flinched, but no pain appeared.  A series of images flashed before my eyes.  One was a woman leaning over a crib, but I couldn’t remember any details of her face.  Another was a broken brown bottle on the floor.  A later one showed what looked like a report card with a D on it.  The next was a letter saying that I had been expelled from high school due to flunking out.

I saw no more.  Unbeknownst to me, instinct had kicked in and I had started flailing.  By the time I realized I had been snapped out of the stream of images, I looked around to see Luna sprawled out on the floor a few feet away from me, groaning.  When my vision had cleared from the tears in my eyes I saw a black mark against the blue fur on Luna’s cheek.

“You…” Luna grunted, picking herself up.  When she continued, her voice was dripping with malice.  “Take your book and papers.  Finish the homework by next session.  Meanwhile, I will be speaking with Celestia about this.”

I did as Luna asked, and fled for my room.  The books were quickly and unceremoniously deposited on the couch and I dashed off for my room, hiding myself under the covers without even taking my clothes off.

I.7 - Night is Unforgiving

I received no information from anyone for over a week.  Luna didn’t teach me, Celestia didn’t speak with me, Shining Armor continued his silence towards me and Cadence became more difficult to reach.  Some of the guards realized that I holed myself up in my room and started to bring me food during breakfast and dinner; Revenant Wings brought me breakfast and return to pick up the dishes afterwards, and Thomas Scott from the night guard brought me dinner an hour after the usual time, likely so as not to upset anyone.  Thankfully, it appeared that few others knew about the events that had transpired during my lesson with Princess Luna and few came to speak with me about it so I was left in silence.

The only problem was I had begun to experience frightening nightmares.  Things included becoming possessed and going up to the highest tower of Canterlot Castle and throwing myself off, taking a log from the fire in the hall and lighting myself on fire, and finding the lances that the Royal Guard used and stabbing myself with it.  Some of the worst, however, were reliving the experiences that had transpired that night in the observatory and I would wake up in the morning feeling even guiltier than I ever had.  Knowing that Luna was the ruler of dreams and night, I had more than just a feeling that Luna was the culprit behind the dreams I was experiencing.

It wasn’t until Thursday the week after the incident that I finally received a communication from Revenant Wings soon after I had returned the breakfast plates; I was to meet with Princess Celestia in a private wing of the castle.  He didn’t explain the reasons behind it, though I knew very well what she would be talking with me about.  Not wanting to prolong my misery, I followed Revenant out of the room and down the halls to a small passageway off the main hall.  The passage led across a bridge to a tower in the back of the palace overlooking the gardens.  We soon came to a door with a motif of the sun on it in a similar style to Princess Celestia’s cutie mark when Revenant stopped.

“I know not what the issue is,” Revenant said to me, “but I can’t go in there and have been told I cannot listen in.  I leave you here, but wish you luck.  A word of warning: the Princess is on edge today.”

That didn’t sound good.

Revenant saluted me with a hoof and bade me farewell, leaving and walking to the edge of the passageway and stopping there, well out of hearing range.  I opened the heavy door and walked inside to see Princess Celestia sitting on a large pillow next to a glowing hearth.  Luna was standing in the corner where the light of the hearth did not reach and was nearly eclipsed by the shadow with the exception of the glowing moon on her crown and cutie mark and the whites of her eyes.  Celestia motioned for me to approach and I walked slowly forward, wondering what sort of punishment I was to receive.

“Good morning, Nemo,” Princess Celestia said.  “I heard about the incident during Princess Luna’s teaching session when you hit her.  Luna has told me her version of the story, but I would like for you to tell me yours.”

I could plead my case…  “Luna has been giving me absurd amounts of homework.  I work night and day to complete it by the time she wants it to be done, but I could not finish it due to the fact that I was exhausted from staying up all night attempting to complete it.  This past Wednesday when I went to class I didn’t have my homework finished and Luna was disapproving of me.  So, we got into an argument with Luna talking about how I wasn’t doing my homework and me talking about how I didn’t want to be here in the first place.  I started comparing my time here to Luna being banished as Nightmare Moon” [Luna growled here and Celestia started to look panicked] “to which Luna used the Royal Canterlot Voice and blew me out of my chair.  When I told her I didn’t remember any of my past life, she used a memory spell on me but the shock was too much and I started flailing.  I hit her by accident.”

Celestia nodded and fell silent in thought for a while.  “I have come to a decision about what I am to do with you.”

“I deserve whatever punishment I receive,” I told Celestia, kneeling in front of her with my head to the floor.

“I dare say your dreams have been punishment enough,” Princess Celestia said in such a gentle tone I was shocked into standing upright.  “Luna tells me how you constantly dream about the incident over the past week and never in a positive light; your guilt over the incident, combined with the fact that it was an accident caused by flailing and that Luna shouldn’t have used the spell in the first place is quite enough.”

“So… no prison, no banishment, no hard labor?”

Celestia laughed.  “No.  I may have made some mistakes in the past, but I need to correct them.  Some mistakes cannot be corrected, but at the moment I can try to fix what is still here and things I hope I can still fix.”

“Which means…?”

“I do not blame you either for your guilt or your anger with me.  I have done wrong.  For now, continue your sessions with Luna and I will continue storing energy for the spell to send you back.”

I knelt on the floor and hung my head again, this time in gratitude that I was still alive and okay.  “Thank you, Princess.”

Luna scowled and walked out of the room without a word.

“I have one more thing to say.”

I looked at Princess Celestia, confused.  “What is it?”

“Shining Armor has been worried about you.  He says you’ve been hiding in your room for the past week and refused to come out even to eat.  He’ll be glad to see that you’re out and walking again.  He’s currently training the guard in the barracks if you want to see him.”

“I certainly shall,” I responded.

I leapt up off the floor and dashed out of the room and out of the passageway.  I followed the hallways to the dining hall, then retraced my steps from my first week from the dining hall to the barracks.  Shining Armor was finishing up training his recruits and was sending them to the showers, though he himself was sitting in the stands around the training field.  As soon as I caught sight of him, I sprinted towards him.

“Shining Armor!” I called.  “Shining Armor!”

Shining’s ears perked up as I approached him and turned around to face me.  He was surprised for a second, but as soon as he realized it was me approaching him he charged and leapt at me, tackling me hard in my ribs and laughing as he collapsed on my chest.

“Nemo!” he exclaimed.  “Oh, thank Celestia you’re okay!”

“Literally,” I quipped, finding it a little hard to breathe.

Shining Armor seemingly didn’t hear me.  “I was so worried once I heard about your session with Luna, even more so when I heard you holed yourself up in your room.  Thank Celestia you’re okay!”

“Yes, yes, it’s all well and good.  Could you at least stop nuzzling me and get off me so I can breathe?”

Shining went red in the face and immediately got up.  “Sorry.  Got a little over–enthusiastic there.  But I really am glad you’re okay.  Cadence was worried about you, too, especially after that conversation you had with her.”

“Yeah…”

Shining Armor pawed at the ground absentmindedly with his hoof.  “Look, I’m sorry about going along with Celestia’s plan.  I wouldn’t have done it if I realized how much I’d hurt you.  But now, I really do want to be your friend and hope you can be my friend in return.”

I smiled at Shining Armor and held out a hand in a fist.  Shining Armor smiled back and touched my fist with his hoof and he shook it.

That night, to celebrate, Shining Armor took me to the pub from my first week and got us plastered.  I woke up the next morning from a dreamless sleep with a headache, nausea, and a glass of water and two aspirin on my bedside table.

* * *

My schooling sessions with Princess Luna resumed as normal the following Sunday evening.  She begrudgingly accepted the late homework for the second chapter and moved onwards to chapter three, which had fewer assignments than chapter two for reasons I at first could not define considering she was angrier with me and had a shorter temper with me than ever before.  Yet she did not lash out at me as often as she had done before and I questioned why that was even though there was no one else in the room.

However, the sun was staying up longer in the sky and it took longer for night to fall on those nights I had to attend the sessions, and every time Princess Luna had to look up at me she would see the sun setting in the distance and almost immediately hold back whatever criticism she had of me at that moment.  Not a word was passed between Princess Celestia and Princess Luna at the table for breakfast and dinner, but many accusatory glances came from Princess Luna, while Celestia would just sit there and smile like nothing was wrong, which only made Luna more infuriated.

Chapter three passed without much incident and the homework for it was turned in on time.  When I came back to my room on Thursday after the evening session, I found a stack of papers outside my door; they turned out to be the homework assignments for both chapters that were heavily graded in a dark blue ink and a bright gold.  The dark blue ink was more rigid and criticizing than the gold ink, which comprised of flowing letters that often were praising or constructive criticism.  It didn’t take me long to figure out that Celestia had taken the papers Luna would have originally given back to me with little more than an average score and made her own corrections, changing it to above average.  Not bad considering the memories Luna had shown me.

On Friday evening I once again went out with Shining Armor and the guard to the pub, though there was a surprise this time: Cadence ended up going out along with us.  Once again Shining ordered a tankard of honey cider for the table, while Cadence ended up ordering a petite glass of what she deemed an ‘ice wine’, a golden liquid much like the cider but with a more bitter taste.  She wasn’t too shabby at darts either; she beat Shining Armor and Revenant Wings by herself.  Another game was in progress with me and Revenant Wings on one team and Shining Armor and Cadence on another when Shining brought up the question of how my sessions with Princess Luna were coming along.

“They’re coming along,” I responded, finishing my first tankard of cider.  “She hasn’t exploded at me again, but I can tell she hates how I got off the hook for hitting her.”

“It was an accident,” Shining Armor reassured me.  “And besides, Celestia’s right; Luna didn’t have the right to use the memory spell that forcefully on you.”

“It’s good to hear Luna hasn’t gotten too much worse, though,” Cadence remarked.  “I’ve heard Celestia was going to try and sit in on some of the sessions to make sure Luna didn’t do something so rash again.”

“It must be working,” Shining Armor remarked.  “Every night Nemo’s gone lately, the sun has been up for an hour longer than usual.  Usually it’s dark before the session is over.”

“What do you mean by that?” I asked.

“Celestia’s version of sitting in on one of your sessions is to position the sun so that it points through the observatory window,” Cadence said.  “That way, she can watch Luna using the sun as a sort of seeing device.  Luna has the same power with the moon.”

“What about you?”

“None of the sort; I don’t exactly have a celestial body my cutie mark matches up with.”

I threw a dart at the board and missed my intended target by a significant margin.  “Do you think Luna is mad because I’m getting special privileges?”

“Maybe,” Revenant replied.  “It’s like you don’t have any real business there to her when Celestia has specifically stated that your time being spent mostly in the castle is to assure ponies that you’re okay in addition to keeping an eye on you.  She doesn’t pay much attention to us guards when we walk about the castle and only talks to us when she needs us to fetch something or someone she doesn’t immediately have time for, but she doesn’t mind us in the castle because we’re on duty.  Even small excursions inside the castle when off duty and she can go berserk.”

“She needs to learn things aren’t the same as they were a thousand years ago,” Shining Armor said.  “Princess Celestia was able to bring Equestria to a state of stability and peace that has been maintained for nearly a thousand years until a few years ago when Twilight Sparkle was sent to Ponyville.”

“Wouldn’t it be considered treason to talk like that?” I asked, a little nervous about where the conversation had gone.

“Not when you have someone here who sympathizes,” Cadence replied, pointing a hoof at herself.  “Not to mention Celestia agrees with these ideas.  Ever since the Changeling attack two years ago, she’s been finding ways for Luna to get more involved in domestic matters.  Of course, no one can tell whether or not it’s working.”

I eyed Cadence suspiciously and threw my last dart.  It landed right on target.  “What do you think Luna would have happened if I didn’t hit her?”

“It wouldn’t be so much a matter of Luna doing anything to you than it would be you going mad from so much information coming back at one time,” Cadence said.

Shining Armor nodded his agreement.  “Think of it.  All those memories coming back to you at once and your head might not be able to handle the sudden influx of information.  For now, it’s probably a good idea to let the events of what happened back then come back naturally.”

I nodded outwardly, but inside I felt the information was coming back slower than it had been before.

“Have you discovered anything else?” Cadence asked.

I didn’t want to speak about it, so I shook my head.  “No.  I… haven’t remembered anything.”

Cadence and Shining Armor looked at me like they knew I was hiding something.  They didn’t pry into the issue any further, with Shining Armor in particular deciding to leave the issue alone if I didn’t want to.  Cadence, however, remained curious but didn’t ask me anymore.

It wasn’t until later that night, when we had returned to the castle and the other guards had separated from our company, did Cadence pull me aside from Shining Armor and took me to a small parlor area near the entrance.  Shining Armor went back to his and Cadence’s quarters by the pink alicorn’s request and left us alone in the parlor room, where Cadence invited me to sit down with her in front of a small fire.

“I know about the memory that Luna revealed to you from Celestia,” Cadence said.  “Why didn’t you tell Shining Armor or myself about it?”

“Because I was afraid to.  Everything else so far has been somewhat happy about back then, but that was something I might have tried to block out even back home.  I’ve been doing well enough with Luna’s sessions and thought I was doing okay, but then that showed up and I’m kind of afraid of it happening again.”

Cadence wrapped her hooves around me in a hug and I just sort of sat in one place and didn’t fight it, but I didn't hug her back.  “It’s okay.  It’s not that big of a deal.  While the past is something we need to remember and embrace as a part of ourselves, we can also work towards making the future better.  Perhaps the time you’re taking for Luna’s work proves you are ready to try and move on from that.”

Cadence released me from the hug but put a hoof on my chest.  “You’ve got a good heart in you, Nemo.  You just need the time to let it come out and be willing to open up again.”

“I just feel so conflicted,” Nemo said.  “This place isn’t home, but I’ve found people… um, ponies here who are willing to help me out and make it kind of feel like home.  It’s just… it still doesn’t feel right.”

Cadence gave a small, sad smile.  “Just remember this: ultimately, it isn’t me, or Shining Armor, or Luna, or even Princess Celestia who decides where you belong.  If you don’t think here is where you belong, you’ll be free to go back home when Celestia gathers the magic to take you back home.”

I was able to give a small smile back in return.

Cadence got up and started walking out of the room.  “I should go rejoin Shining Armor.  It was fun heading out on the town tonight.  I think I might head with you guys more often…

Anyways, good night, Nemo.”  Then she walked out of the room and left me alone.

I left for my own room a few minutes later.  I was too tired to take my clothes off from that night and soon fell into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

Luna seemed particularly angry the following week when I went in for classes.  I had little idea why until I remembered what the subject of chapter four was: relations between Equestrians and the first humans to set foot on the land that led into the arrival and reign of Discord.

Luna seemed to speak with a particular malice throughout the lessons for that week.  The subject matter seemed fine – a few humans were let through initially due to large concentrations of magical energy outside Canterlot.  The humans adapted fine and, after spending a small amount of time in Equestria, left.  Magical anomalies appeared that caused more humans to appear, but some of these humans thrived on destruction.  Those who liked being in Equestria stayed and helped capture and contain those who thrived on destruction, but the chaos they caused was too much; Discord was eventually summoned and began his reign of terror, killing most of the humans and a large amount of the ponies.

At the end of the week, I turned in my homework and thought that our discussion of chapter four was finished, but Luna apparently hadn’t finished.  “This book fails to explain some of the consequences humans had to the Equestrian state.  The resulting imbalance of harmony didn’t just cause Discord to appear in Equestria, but led to the reappearance of the Windigos, increased crime rates, and many schisms that we will cover in later chapters.”

“That’s a terrible consequence,” I said.

Luna was angry with me, but didn’t shout at me again.  “As the purpose of history is to use past events to understand what is going on in the present, let us apply the appearance of humans to some of the modern events of Equestrian history.”

It wasn’t hard to tell where this was going.  “But we haven’t gone over modern events of Equestrian history,” I commented.  “We haven’t even gotten to the chapter involving Celestia’s and your defeat of King Sombra of the Crystal Empire.  If the purpose of history is to understand the present, how can we explain it when the past hasn’t been completely covered yet?”

“Fair point,” Luna said, and closed her book.

I almost immediately knew it wasn’t going to be that easy.

“Let me tell you something…”

“I know where you’re going with this.  You already saw that I felt guilty for accidentally hitting you when you invaded my mind.  And I assure that was a complete accident.  Why, then do you insist on continuing this conversation?”

“Because you don’t seem to understand the implications of the event.”

“It seems you don’t understand the circumstances.”

“Let us review some of the material of chapter four, then,” Luna shouted in an attempt to drown me out, “since you don’t seem to be getting it.  How did the first humans arrive?”

“Through magic.  Which isn’t present in the human world unless someone like Princess Celestia crosses the border.”

Luna was taken aback.  “What happened to the first humans to arrive here?”

“Some were bad, but some were good and wanted to help you catch those that were bad and destructive.  And, based on the fact that all of them were brought over by magical anomalies, I imagine a few of them didn’t want to come here in the first place.”

Again, Luna seemed surprised, but the shock lasted for less time than before.  “There’s a problem with your logic: more humans have been harmful to Equestrian life than they have been helpful to it.  For every one of you that is brought here that helps us, another five have been harmful to us.  Those five will wind up in jail in the first three months of their time in Equestria, either for thieving, murder, or harassment.”

“You think that I don’t think that humans can be bastards?”

“You certainly are trying hard to defend them.”

“Look, I know some of us are bastards.”  A memory flashed before me and I started speaking before I even realized its consequences.  “As a matter of fact, I’ve seen people be bastards towards other people.  My little sister was kidnapped right in front of me by some jerk and was held hostage for a few days.  The man even tried to kidnap me, but some of my friends came and helped me and the man threatened that he would return for me.”

Luna’s face registered with shock, and this time it didn’t leave.

“I know that humans are bastards.  I know that we can be stupid idiots.  From the memories I have regained so far, I know that we can be jerks and stupid and harmful, but what I don’t understand is why you’re so against me being here when I didn’t want to come in the first place and don’t want to stay.”

Luna shook her head as though in pity.  “Nemo, Nemo, Nemo… you think that you, a mere mortal, can bear the sins of your predecessors.  There’s a problem with this: you are mortal.  You can’t understand the problems that we’ve faced, no matter how much time in a history class you take.  You will not experience our problems.  You will not experience our hurt.  You will not experience our pain.  But I… I have had generations of pain that have stretched for over a thousand years.”

“I know.  I’m not asking to bear the problems my predecessors gave you.  I’m just asking you to try and push them aside and maybe help me to not become like them.”

Luna scoffed and turned her head away.  “You foal.  You’re like a pegasus foal that wants to learn to fly before it can learn to walk.  Our lesson tonight is over and we’ll begin chapter five on Sunday.”

I picked up my books and left the observatory without a word.

I.8 - Night is Terrifying

I had been in Equestria for a little over a month by the time that incident happened; a month and seven days if you want to be precise.  The weather was turning warmer and Celestia’s days were already becoming longer.  The nights were filled with ponies wandering the streets of Canterlot, going out shopping.  The nights were cool but not cold and made them a pleasure to be out in if one managed to get outside.

I couldn’t go outside due to Luna’s lessons.  I remember feeling like some of the foals I could see occasionally watching the adults through their bedroom windows wishing their bedtimes weren’t so early; I could occasionally see Shining Armor and Cadence wandering around some of the nearby streets on those nights spending time with one another.  They had frequently invited me on these outings, but I declined most of them either because I didn’t want to be a burden (I never felt like a third wheel; it was hard when your companions were ponies to really feel left out of anything) or because I had my lessons with Luna.  Yet on the nights I had my lessons I sometimes wanted to go with them for a want of not having Luna breathing down my neck all the time.

She had become much more tolerable since the memory spell, but that had not kept her from assigning loads of homework.  It wasn’t as much as the chapter two homework, but it was enough that I had to spend at least four hours a day on it from the moment she assigned it if I wanted to get it done.  Dewey Decimal helped again as he had before and helped it be less of a burden.  There were times with the amount of homework I was given if I had more paperwork to do than Luna did royal duties and the homework was merely a ploy to make it so that she didn’t have to watch me.

I doubted Luna watched me at all even though Celestia had made it her duty to.  Cadence would check in on me every once in a while during the days to see if I was looking for stuff to do to keep me busy or if I needed any help on the homework; I often told her I was fine and she would leave me alone.  Shining Armor stopped by more often than Cadence did, mostly for a friendly chat on days when his guard training finished early or if he didn’t have anything to do.  Celestia seemed satisfied with whoever gave her the reports by the end of the day, whether it was Cadence or Shining Armor or occasionally myself, though she hadn’t forgotten about Luna and was constantly double-grading my papers after Luna had finished with them.  And so, it was in this way that I went about with my studies of Equestrian history under Luna and my life in Canterlot Castle.

It was funny how much like home the place had become.  Aside from Luna avoiding me at all costs, I had people who cared about me and a place I could actually retreat to if I didn’t want to speak with anyone.  Of course, being the sort of creatures that they were, not many of the ponies left me alone for very long and all of them made me feel welcomed.  I began to feel better about my predicament and, for the first time in a long time, I felt happy.  Not overjoyed or even content with my life in Equestria, but things seemed to be looking upwards for me.  It was fun to go walking about the gardens of Canterlot Castle, to go walking through the streets of Canterlot in the bright spring afternoons, to head out on the town with Shining Armor and Cadence at night, when we would go to restaurants for dinner and game rooms where we would play darts and shuffleboard and cards with some of the men from Shining Armor’s guard.

It wasn’t perfect.  Not by a long shot.  But… it was comforting.  Pleasing.  Enjoyable.

At least… for a week.

The week had gone by without hitch.  Luna’s lessons covered chapter five in reasonable amount of time, and six was coming up.  As we finished the end of the week and the end of chapter five, Luna gave me the homework for chapter six and sent me on my way.  I decided to start reading ahead as I had developed a habit of doing and went to prep myself for the coming week of studies.

That’s when I noticed the chapter heading.

Chapter 6: Nightmare Moon and Luna’s Banishment.

Uh oh…

Almost as soon as I saw the chapter heading I bolted off to find Cadence and Shining Armor.  Their counsel and advice over the time of my stay had become both valuable and, oddly enough, treasured at times.  So I immediately went to find them the minute I saw the chapter heading and wondered what was I to do.

They were both as shocked and confused as I was.

“It certainly isn’t going to be easy,” Cadence said.

“It’s guaranteed to be a touchy subject,” Shining Armor agreed.  “It seems that’s the one thing she hasn’t gotten over yet.”

“Well, if I was banished to the moon for a thousand years, I wouldn’t take kindly to it, either,” I remarked.

“You’re likely going to have to be on your best behavior,” Cadence said.  “If you finish your work in time and lay low and quiet during class with as few comments as possible, I think you should be able to pass this portion without too much trouble.”

“I only hope she is willing to do the same,” I said.

* * *

Throughout the week, I remained quiet unless asked a question.  I didn’t ask any questions and provided no disturbances.  Luna at many points challenged me without a word to ask a question about the material, but I remained as firm as possible remembering the advice of Princess Cadence and kept silent.

I learned many things about Luna I don’t think she would have told me at any other time before then.  A long time ago, she and Celestia used to be the bearers of the Elements of Harmony.  It was Luna and Celestia who, one thousand years ago, had sealed the entity Discord in a stone prison and had trapped King Sombra in ice in the northern country after rescuing Princess Cadence from the fading of the Crystal Empire.  In those days, as it was now, Celestia controlled the sun and its patterns, and Luna controlled the moon and the stars and their patterns.  For a long time, Equestria thrived under their dual leadership and became prosperous; Luna tending the dreams of the citizens as they slept at night to make sure no nightmares plagued them.

But soon, Luna became jealous.  The ponies worked and played during Celestia’s days, but as soon as Luna came out to give them the night, they would all retire and sleep until morning had come.  Luna grew depressed and believed her elder sister was gaining more attention than she was.  It was during this time that she became corrupted by a shadow and became the entity known as Nightmare Moon, which had accentuated her hatred and jealously of her elder sister.  For a month, she blocked out the sun as she and Celestia waged war with each other.  In a last ditch attempt, Celestia harness the Elements of Harmony on her own and used them against her corrupted sister, banishing her to the moon for a thousand years, though became ever-watchful of the chance that Nightmare Moon could return when a renowned magician of the time proposed that “the stars will aid in her escape, and once more she will bring nighttime eternal”.  The Elements of Harmony, having lost their original users, faded away into stone and were eventually covered up by time for a thousand years until the new bearers came along that could properly wield them once again.

“For fifty years, Equestria entered a dark age caused by the appearance of Nightmare Moon,” Luna said.  “Fear and terror ran rampant, and it took over seventy years and a new generation for Celestia to regain the trust of her citizens.  The true horrors of the time eventually gave way to a series of myths and legends, purposely started by Celestia herself, that soon overcame the fears they had.”

I remained silent through there were plenty of questions I wanted to ask.  Why, for example, would Celestia purposefully hide away the true events of what happened?  Of course, reputation could be among the answers she gave me, or otherwise spite at her younger sister’s corruption and the power that she had been given with it.

“These fears and terrors still exist today, yet steps have been taken to recover the ill feelings that once shook through the population, steps such as public programs to make the nights safer and less threatening, the allowance of businesses to stay open after dark, and certain events that take place at night, such as meteor showers and the Nightmare Night festival that occurs in the fall after the harvesting season is over.”

I had to open my big fat mouth.  “But what have you done?”

A fire erupted in Luna’s eyes.  “You think that I have sat by idly?  No!  I have resumed my place as the Princess of the Night!  I have returned to the spot that I was meant to hold by the destiny and responsibility given to me with my cutie mark!  I have made the nights a safer place for ponies and less threatening to all!”

“But I never see you around at all.”

“A princess has work to do.”

“What sort of work?”

“I raise the moon!  I create the stars!  I create the patterns you see in the night sky!”

“Do you do anything with other ponies?”

“I— They are too afraid of me to let me approach them.”

“Have you tried?”

Luna’s voice lowered temporarily.  “Well, no, not really…”

“Perhaps that’s the reason why you became Nightmare Moon: you didn’t have any friends. You were too angry and impatient with those that tried to be nice, so they all left you and went away and you didn’t realize that there were those that appreciated you.  That’s probably the reason why you still don’t have any friends.”

That did it.

“DO NOT SAY THINGS THAT YOU DO NOT KNOW AND DO NOT CONCERN YOU, YOU IMPUDENT FOAL!!!”

If she said any more, I didn’t hear it.  The desk went flying backwards so hard the window cracked, and when the gust from her voice lifted me out of the desk and onto the window the force was too much.  The window gave way and the glass shattered.  I flew out from the tower and started falling down, down, down to the courtyard below.  I tried to scream, but the wind had come out from my lungs and I was straining to breathe.  A dark figure began to swoosh out of the window and come rocketing towards me and I reached out a hand to grab onto it for safety.  I nearly reached out and touched it whe

* * *

I found myself standing in the middle of Canterlot Castle.  The day was bright outside and I wandered the empty halls.  All the others had left for the day except for Celestia, who had been working on some important paperwork, and some guards who were patrolling the castle, but they were few and far in between.  Overall, the day was pleasant and I considered going out for a stroll in the garden.

But, for some reason, it felt as though things were different.  The halls were never this barren.  When I went to see Celestia, her door was locked and it was known for never being locked.  For that matter, she shouldn’t have been in her room in the first place, as it was during the daylight hours from early in the morning that Celestia held court.  When I looked out a window to the barracks, the guard wasn’t training and the lights were all off and it always had a light in it even on the weekends.

What was more, when I did go out into the gardens the sun was not shining.  The day certainly was nice and bright with a clear blue sky, but when I looked up into the sky I saw no sun but a large moon, full of holes and with the dark silhouette of a mare on its surface and close enough to the ground that I could have touched it from the castle’s tallest tower.  I scrambled back inside and shot for the tallest tower that I knew of: Luna’s observatory.

I entered the observatory and found the bookshelves in complete disarray as though a great fight had taken place.  Some of the shelves were toppled, while others simply had all the books taken out of them.  Books large and small were strewn across the room and I clambered over the piles and up a nearby ladder towards a large telescope above the mess.  Once at that level, I opened a door and went outside to see what in the world the moon was doing.

But once I got outside and reached a hand up to touch the moon, I found the moon had retreated somewhat and the sky had turned to night.  Panic set in as I went back inside and shot back across the castle towards the gardens below, where the sky turned to day and the moon was once again sitting above Canterlot Castle.

Panic changed to desperation as I ran through the halls of the castle, calling the names of ponies I knew.  “Shining Armor!  Princess Cadence!  Princess Celestia!  Revenant Wings!  Spitfire!  Rainbow Dash!  Someone!  Anyone!  Where are you!?”  But no one answered me.

But fear overtook me when I came to the wing where Princess Cadence’s and Shining Armor’s suite was.  A great shadow had come over the castle and began to engulf everything in its wake.  I knew not where to go, but I turned and ran around the other direction anyways.  I bolted through the halls of the castle, determined not to let the darkness overtake me.

“Princess Luna!  Please!  Help me!”

The sound of cold laughter answered me this time and I shot for the gardens, hoping that the light of day would make the shadows recede.  I ran through the halls, my heart pounding in my chest and my feet pounding the floor as the shadow continued to approach me, nipping at my heels and threatening to pounce on me.  I burst through the double doors into the garden and breathed a sigh of relief as I collapsed on the soft grass, looking up at the sky.

The moon was still there, but in its place above the highest tower in Canterlot Castle as before.  The moon itself had changed; the design of the mare that had been on its face was now gone as the cold laughter returned.  From far off I heard the sound of someone calling my name, but it was drowned out as a voice from the shadows began to speak.

“It’s funny how you called Princess Luna’s name,” the voice came, colder and darker than Luna’s ever had been.  “You’ve never gotten to know her on good terms, and yet when trouble starts happening you manage to call out her name…”

A pair of dark blue eyes flashed out from the darkness, followed by a midnight black alicorn mare similar in shape to Luna emerging from the darkness with a mane and tail that appeared to be made from the night sky itself.  She wore a set of dark blue armor that covered her head and her body.  She emerged slowly from the shadows as though pulling herself free from entanglement until she finally leapt out and spread her wings wide; her wingspan was almost as long as I was tall, perhaps longer.  She walked over to me as she clicked her tongue disapprovingly.

“She harbors a hatred against you and your kind, you know,” the mare said.  “But she’s a hypocrite.  She hates you, yet it was partially your kind that saved her.  Someone long ago who pleaded for a sentence, who believed that the Luna they knew was still in there.  And so she was merely banished instead of killed.”

I stared in fear at the alicorn, feebly pushing myself backwards and away from the alicorn.  “Who… who are you?  Why do you torment me?”

“Who am I indeed?”  The alicorn laughed, flashing to the face of Princess Luna for a moment before changing back like a glitch in a computer.  “I am the embodiment of night.  I am your worst fears come to light.  I am the one who takes pleasures in screams of fear from colts and fillies and mares and stallions in the dead of night.”

I got up and attempted to run away, but I tripped over an exposed root and fell right back down.  “I am the one who tortures your psyche,” the alicorn continued, her shadow coming over me as I lay there on the grass.  “I am the one who deals more mental pain than the worst of physical torture.  I make grown stallions who have seen war and not shed a tear cry in fear through reliving events they’d rather not see again.  I make mothers break down in fear of losing their children, and children scream in terror as I separate them from parents.  I am Nightmare Moon, and it was I who was banished to the moon for a thousand years.”

I lay on the ground, shaking with fear.

“And now… now I have come again through your dreams, to torture you and to show you true fear.”

My dreams…

“But… if I am dreaming… does that mean I am asleep?”

“Why, of course!” the alicorn said, seemingly impressed, changing back to Luna’s face before the glitch came again and transformed back to the darker alicorn’s.  “You certainly catch on quick for one who has hardly ever experienced the powers of one who walks through dreams.”

“Then… why can’t I wake up?”

“Because I have trapped you here,” the alicorn replied.  “If I have dominion over night, then certainly I can trick your brain into staying asleep even when a person has figured out their true circumstances.”

The alicorn’s horn began to glow and I felt shadowy tendrils begin to wrap around my neck and arms and legs, lifting me up and restraining me.  “It was… interesting.  You put up a good fight for someone so weak, so unused to such strong magical power.  But, you see, that’s my thing: the chase makes you better and more rewarding to catch.”

I pulled at the tendrils around my neck, choking and sweating as I heard voices from elsewhere in my brain.  I struggled to speak, but the tendrils were too tight and it took all my energy to pull them off enough to breathe.

“I’m sorry, Nemo,” the alicorn chuckled darkly.  “But it ends here.”

I finally managed to pull the tendrils enough away from my throat to scream out.  “Princess Luna!  Help me…!”

For a moment, it felt like it was no use.  The mare backed away into the shadows that had overtaken Canterlot and pulled me back with her.  I reached out for blades of grass and clumps of dirt, but nothing could hold me back from the darkness and the abyss of death.

Nothing but a blue streak that slammed down so hard it severed the tendrils of whatever had grabbed me and stood between me and the alicorn. “You are no longer a part of me,” the figure said.  “Now get out before I destroy you myself!”

I wanted to see more of what was happening, but my vision was fading out.  A steady beeping noise could be heard in the background and I felt a soft thing under me.  My breath was fading into short gasps that barely took any breath in.

“But you nearly killed him.  You were the one that did that, not I.”

“I never meant to kill him,” the figure responded, its voice fading away as I collapsed on the floor unable to move.  “I lost my temper.  But you… you are the one that nearly led him to his death.  Now, stand back or be banished to the darkness of space!”

“You wouldn’t dare…!  I was a part of you for a thousand years!”

“I would dare.”  A bright blue light began to shine from the figure.  “Stay away from him!  He is my charge, and I will protect him from whatever may assault him.  That was my duty, given to me by Celestia, and I will carry out my duty.”

The bright blue light enveloped as the alicorn screamed.  The darkness receded and all was replaced with plain white and the continual beeping.  I tried opening my eyes, but could not as it was too bright, the lights shining in my face blinding me and making it hard to see.

“He’s waking up,” I heard a voice say in the background.

“Nemo!” I heard another, deeper voice say.  There was a clattering of hoofsteps in my direction and a white unicorn with a blue mane slowly faded into my field of vision.  “Nemo!  Thank Celestia, you’re awake!”

I blinked a few times but found it hard to respond.

“How is he, nurse?” I heard another voice ask.

“He’ll be okay,” an unfamiliar voice responded.  “It was quite the fall, but he was rushed here quickly and magic has healed the majority of his wounds.  I expect he’ll be in peak condition by tomorrow morning, but he will need to keep the bandages on his chest and arm for at least another week.”

Bandages… I must have been in a hospital wing.  I turned my head to see Cadence standing next to a white unicorn pony with a white cap and red cross.  I moved my head to see that an IV had been placed in my arm and my top had been taken off.  I weakly raised a hand to my forehead to feel that a piece of cloth had been wrapped around me.

“Imagine falling out of the observatory tower…” I recognized the voice of Cadence talking to the nurse.  “I… can’t believe that such a thing could happen.”

“It was Luna with the Royal Canterlot Voice,” the nurse replied.  “I could hear it across the castle.  Luna herself brought him in right away last night.”

I heard the doors bang open but was too weak to tilt my head any more.

“I can’t believe you were so rash to use the Royal Canterlot Voice…” I heard Celestia’s disapproving voice ring through the hall.  “What’s more, Nemo had a point.”

“What do you mean!?” came Luna’s voice after her.  “Why have you always taken his side since the moment he got here?”

“Because he’s brought up things that haven’t been talked about for a long time and needed to be talked about.”  I saw Celestia walk into my field of vision.  “At least he’s still alive after that little stunt.”

I felt two hooves grab one of my hands and the feeling of soft fur as Shining Armor nuzzled my hand.  “Oh, thank Celestia you’re alive…” he said again.

Luna soon came into my vision, and the circle was completed with Cadence and the nurse coming up next to my bed.

“Nemo,” Princess Celestia said to me.  “If you can hear me, please respond in some way.”

I weakly tapped my finger on Celestia’s hoof next to me.

“Nemo.  I’ve come to a decision.  You are going to be relocated until the end of your stay.”

“What!?” came the collective shout from Shining Armor and Princess Cadence.

“I cannot allow such incidents to continue any further.  Shining Armor, I need you to write a letter to your sister in Ponyville and ask explain to her the circumstances.  Ask her if Nemo can stay there for a few weeks until the Summer Sun Celebration.”

Shining Armor nodded and ran off.  Luna followed him.

“You responded quickly,” Celestia called after her, “but that’s no excuse.”

Luna “hmph”ed and left.  Princess Cadence left soon afterwards.

Princess Celestia sat down by the hospital bed until I had regained my movement later that afternoon.  I turned to Celestia and asked her what happened.

“You were knocked unconscious after Luna’s voice threw you out of the observatory tower in her wing of the castle.  However, Luna rushed down to prevent you from directly hitting.”  She motioned to my bandages.  “She was quick enough that your injuries were relatively minor.”

“What’s going to happen to me?”

“You’re going to be relocated until the Summer Sun Celebration.  I hope the change of scenery will brighten your mood and the quiet of the small town will give you some time to rest.  When the Summer Sun Celebration comes around, I will head over to Ponyville for the big ceremonies and will help you return a day or two afterwards.”

I nodded.  “Please… get me out of here, before something worse happens.”

Celestia nodded.  “I forgive you for your behavior,” she said gently.  “Please, get better soon.”  And she left me to rest.

Having little to do and being so weak, I closed my eyes and went to sleep.

* * *

I heard a familiar voice once again, soft and soothing…

Hush now, quiet now; it’s time to lay your sleepy head.

Hush now, quiet now; it’s time to go to bed…

I'm sorry... I'm so sorry...

End of Part I

II.1 - Relocation

A few days later found me on a train heading down the mountain and across the plains away from the city of Canterlot with Revenant Wings and another of the Celestial guard.  A bag with a few sets of plainer clothes more suited to smaller-town life was given to me by Princess Celestia before she had Shining Armor escort me to a train station in Canterlot.  Princess Cadence was there as well, and it was her idea to send with me Revenant Wings and another member of the guard to make sure that I stayed out of trouble; not that I would find it, but to be able to report back on my progress to make sure that I was getting along fine in Ponyville.

Shining Armor hadn’t taken the relocation well.  He was… disappointed, to say the least, about the fact that I wasn’t going to be in Canterlot anymore.  Truth be told, I felt like I was going to miss him, too, but I didn’t say anything even as he clung to me for dear life until Princess Cadence had to use her magic to pull him off of me.  He remained calmer after that but I could tell he didn’t want me to leave quite yet.  The fact that I reminded him I was going to stay with his sister in Ponyville seemed to make him feel better if only so that he could communicate with me every once in a while through letters and his sister.

I received no word of the communication between Princess Celestia and her protégé, Twilight Sparkle.  However, according to both Princesses Celestia and Cadence, she had been happy to take me in and teach me things about Equestria, and Celestia had sealed the deal by letting her know of my studies of Princess Luna and the fact that I had been doing homework for it and doing well at it.  Twilight had apparently sent word that no homework would be assigned but that she would be helping me with life in Ponyville.

Princess Luna was not present at the station to send me off.  Celestia gave no reason for her absence, though Cadence revealed she had locked herself up in her quarters and had refused to come out.  I didn’t tell any of them, but I wanted her to be there for reasons even I couldn’t figure out why.

The train left early on Monday morning so that it would arrive in Ponyville by early evening.  It was not far away, having been visible from my quarters back in Canterlot Castle, but I was still given a car normally used for ambassadors that contained a private sleeping quarter for the trip down.  I had entered the car with Revenant Wings and another guard and had said goodbye to the rest of the ponies I had known from Canterlot and was soon on my way.

“First big trip outside of Canterlot Castle?” Revenant asked me.

I nodded.  “The farthest I ever went outside the castle was the one time when Shining Armor and Princess Cadence took me to the park and the Wonderbolts stadium.  I haven’t seen any of Equestria outside Canterlot’s borders.”

Revenant folded his wings and sat across from me at the table in the car where I was sipping a cold can of a sweet vanilla soda  I found in an ice chest and watched the scenery pass by.  “It’s a small town.  Hardly more than five hundred residents.  It’s one of those towns where everypony knows everypony else.  I’d be hard-pressed to find a pony I don’t know after spending a week in that town last summer.”

I sighed.  “Not sure if I want that much attention,” I admitted.

Revenant, despite having the guttural voice that most of the guard had, managed to be quite reassuring and soothing when he spoke.  “Don’t worry about it.  Twilight came from similar situations as you did coming to Ponyville, so she’ll be able to understand and make sure the residents of Ponyville both keep their distance and help introduce them to you in a way that will be comfortable for you.”

I was momentarily relieved.

Revenant became serious, though, as he continued.  “It should be noted, however, that Twilight is a Princess much like Celestia and Luna and Cadence.  You will need to treat her with the utmost respect.  Approach her appropriately and with proper manners.  Twilight will be less restrictive than Princesses are, but decorum must be maintained.”

“Why is she staying in Ponyville if she’s a princess?”

“She likes the quiet.”

I shrugged.  “Certainly will be a relief to get out of Canterlot.”

Revenant flagged an attendant that walked in the car and asked for a glass of water with a slice of lime.  The attendant got the drink and returned with it, and Revenant took a sip of it.  “How are your wounds doing?”

“Much better than when I left the hospital wing two days ago, to be sure,” I responded.  “I can’t move too much and was warned against rough physical activity.  According to Celestia, that information was also sent in the letter to Twilight.”

“That’s good,” Revenant said, taking a sip of his drink.  “Twilight will know what to do if anything wrong happens.  And there’s Ponyville Hospital, which is as highly skilled in medical practices as any hospital in Canterlot.”

I sighed and watched the scenery pass by some more while we finished our drinks.

“You should probably take a rest, sir,” Revenant told me.  “We’ll still be a few hours before Ponyville and who knows how long the introductions will last.”

It sounded like a good idea, so I went over to the sleeping quarters and laid down on the bed with Revenant standing guard outside the door.

* * *

When I was woken up the sun was beginning to set in the sky.  Revenant was knocking on my door when I woke up, calling through: “Nemo!  I just got word we’ll be approaching Ponyville in fifteen minutes.”

I woke up and rubbed my aching muscles, stretching slightly as I got out of the bed.  I exited the car and got myself a glass of plain ice water as the train started to enter a valley in between two small mountain ranges.  Looking out of the window, I saw in the distance a small town of wood and stone houses with a large oak tree in the center of it.  A small stream ran by on one side, and on the hills behind there stood a large orchard and a dark, thick forest.  Ponyville was in sight.

I gathered my bags and made sure that I had everything I needed before heading off the train.  I sat at the table in the car, my fingers drumming the duffel bag that had my clothes.

“Breathe, sir,” Revenant told me.  “You’re nervous.”

“I have full right to be,” I responded.  “I’m entering a place where I won’t know anyone and I won’t have anyone I know to reassure me.  Well, besides you, but no one like the royalty who were watching me every step I took.”

“They are still watching,” Revenant said, voice returning to a more calm intonation.  “Celestia can see you with the sun, and Luna will watch you with her moon.”

“Celestia, I trust.  Luna is not a matter of whether she can, but whether she wants to.”

“She will, if Celestia decrees it.”

“That’s what concerns me.”

Revenant raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

A few minutes later, the train stopped in at Ponyville station.  I gathered my bags and pulled a coat out as an evening breeze wandered through the town.  I took my bags and followed Revenant outside as the other guard took a salute.

“I shall tell the princesses that you’ve made it to Ponyville safely,” the guard said, flaring his wings out.  “They told me they wanted the report.  I’m afraid I will not be accompanying you any further.”

I nodded.  “Thank you, sir.”

The guard nodded then flapped his wings and shot away into the sky as a white and gold blur, leaving me and Revenant Wings alone on the station platform.

“Well,” Revenant said as I watched the pegasus guard fly away into the sunset, “our destination is the Golden Oaks Library, home of Princess Twilight Sparkle.  Shall we?”

I nodded, picked up my bag and hoisted it over my shoulder and followed Revenant off the platform and into the quiet streets.  Evening brought with it cooler temperatures yet most of the residents remained unperturbed as they attended restaurants and cafés with open patios for dinner or perused the wares of whatever shops and stalls were still open for business.  As we traveled through town, we passed a building that was shaped like a giant cupcake, and another blue and white building that reminded me of an olden-style carousel from the outside.  Soon after we turned a corner onto a wider street and made our way on the main road through town, now within view of the Golden Oaks Library.

All throughout our walk through town, I noticed that the ponies of the town were staring at me in confusion.  I constantly had to remind myself that while the ponies in Canterlot Castle had been informed of my presence, it was highly likely that any sort of information about a human arriving had not yet reached the ponies in Ponyville.  Revenant nickered or whinnied sternly at anyone who tried to approach for questioning and made everyone else back off, but it was still unsettling to see so many pairs of eyes staring at me, to see them all whispering about me in tones I couldn’t hear.  I found myself wishing I was back in Canterlot going through my studies with Luna.  At least there I could walk around without anyone que

“Welcome!”

Before I knew what was going on, something collided with me square in the chest and I was launched backwards.  I was on the ground clutching my chest in pain before I realized what happened: a bright pink pony with the poofiest and most out-of-control mane I ever saw was standing in front of me, bouncing energetically up and down.  I had hardly recovered from the crash when the mare opened her mouth and started speaking rapid-fire.

“Welcome to Ponyville!  My name’s Pinkie Pie and I’ve never seen you around somewhere before, and that means you must be new around here and if you’re new around here that must mean you don’t have any friends and since you probably don’t have any friends here I thought I would introduce myself to you and be your friend!”

I was exhausted just listening to the bright pink mare.

“Oh!  You’re a human!  I’ve never seen a human around here before; I’ve heard of a few coming around here before but I’ve never seen a human myself.  Where’d you come from?  How do you like Equestria?”

The mare must have had a thousand more questions to ask with that much energy, but I didn’t hear any more of them; Revenant grabbed an apple from a stand with his hoof and thrust it at high speed inside the mare’s mouth.  The street almost immediately faded into silence as the mare tried in vain to continue speaking around the apple in her mouth.

Revenant flung two bits over to the stall owner before turning to the mare.  “Pinkie Pie, I understand your enthusiasm but I must ask you to refrain from further questioning until we have spoken with Twilight Sparkle.  This human, and myself, are here on business from Princess Celestia and were to report immediately to Twilight Sparkle.”

“Oh, you’re heading to Twilight’s?” the mare said.

“Yes.  Now could you please move out of the way?”

“Yes, mister guard.  Hope to see you around soon, human!”  And she hopped away.  Not walked, hopped.

I coughed a few times from the impact.

“Are you okay?” Revenant asked.

“Is that going to happen every time I meet a pony here?”

“No.  That would just be Pinkie Pie.  I hope you aren’t damaged at all from that.”

“I’ve had worse,” I groaned.

I was, however, out of breath just from listening to the mare and felt a pain in my chest where the bandage was; I ended up walking the rest of the way to the Golden Oaks Library hunched over.  In addition, I was covered in dust from head to toe from being flung backwards onto the dirt roads that ran through town.

Golden Oaks Library was a hollowed-out tree in the center of Ponyville.  It stood about three floors tall, containing not only the library but the home of Twilight Sparkle, the resident librarian, and her offices as one of the newest Princesses of Equestria.  She had been in Ponyville four years by the time of my arrival and had been crowned as a princess a few months before my arrival; this all I learned from Revenant Wings, who was helping me brush the dust off me before we entered the library itself.

The library was closed, but Revenant wasn’t perturbed.  He walked up to the door and knocked on it a few times with his hoof.  “Miss Twilight Sparkle?  This is Revenant Wings from Canterlot.  I have Nemo here with me.”

“Just a minute!” came a voice from inside.  This was followed a short while later by the door opening to reveal what initially looked like a normal lavender unicorn mare with violet eyes and a purple mane that had a pink stripe down the center.  A closer look revealed a pair of slightly small lavender wings that didn’t look like they would be big enough to carry her own weight for much more than a few seconds.

“Hello!” the alicorn said cheerfully.  “Good to see you, Revenant.  And you must be Nemo.”

“Miss Sparkle,” I said, bowing slightly to her out of respect.

The alicorn laughed.  “Please, Twilight will be okay.  Why don’t you come in?  I have a vegetable soup cooking and some fresh bread from Sugarcube Corner for dinner.”

The thought of food appealed to me and I followed Twilight Sparkle and Revenant Wings into the interior of the library.  The library’s interior was warmly and brightly lit and contained quite a few shelves filled to the brim with books.  A central table had more books littered all over it, many of them opened and heavily annotated.  In one of the corners stood a glass case with what looked like a crown surrounded by five necklaces, all with a different design, and in the back was a staircase that led up into the upper levels of the library.

“Oh!” Twilight exclaimed.  “I probably should show you to your room.”

I readjusted my bags position and followed Twilight up the stairs and to another large room that was filled with even more books.  A bed and what looked like a perch were seated on a ledge just above this floor, while another doorway led to a small room with a dresser, a comfortable-looking bed, a nightstand, and a small lamp.  A rather large window adorned the wall next to the bed and looked out over Ponyville in the direction of Canterlot Castle.  I dropped my bag on the bed and followed Twilight back down to the base of the library and off to a side room where a kitchen and small table was.

Twilight got to work filling three bowls with the vegetable soup and placed a bowl of the fresh rolls in the center of the table before inviting me and Revenant Wings to sit and eat with her.  I sat at the table and ate as politely as I could, though relished each bite of the soup and bread I took.

“So, you’re Nemo,” Twilight said, looking over to me.  “Princess Celestia told me you would be staying here until the Summer Sun Celebration coming up at the end of next month.  How did you get to Equestria?”

I looked over at Revenant Wings, who shrugged and said nothing.

“Well… Celestia transported me here.  But I don’t really feel like staying.”

Twilight blinked in confusion.  “That’s odd.  I’ve heard of Celestia bringing humans from Earth here but I’ve never heard of one that wanted to go back.  So… why are you still here?”

“Because Celestia said she had to wait until the Summer Sun Celebration to charge up a spell to send me back.  The reason for the time being that she’s never sent someone back across before.”

“Oh,” Twilight said.  “I heard you had some tutoring sessions with Princess Luna, as well?”

“Yes.  They… didn’t turn out so well.”

“Oh…”

“It’s a long story.”

“Well, I like long stories.  So… what happened?”

“I think he means he doesn’t want to talk about it right now.”

“Oh, sorry,” Twilight said, flattening her ears.  God, she looks adorable when she does that.

We ate dinner in silence for a little bit; I ended up having a second serving of the soup.

“Where’s your dragon assistant?” Revenant asked.

A dragon…?

“Oh, Spike’s off having a sleepover with the Cutie Mark Crusaders,” Twilight replied.  “They were over at Apple Bloom’s tree house telling scary stories when I last checked in on them.”

“You have… a dragon assistant?” I asked.

“Yes.  He’s only a baby dragon, though; probably not much taller than your waist.”

“That’s a… comforting thought.”

Dinner continued in silence for a little while longer.

“We… met Pinkie Pie on the road here,” Revenant said.

Twilight nearly spilled her bowl of soup with how fast she launched out of her chair and came over to me.  “Oh my gosh!  Are you okay?  Are you hurt at all?”

“From previous circumstances,” I responded.

“She left shortly after arriving when I told her she wasn’t supposed to be impeding royal duty,” Revenant continued.

“Oh.  I’m so sorry about that.  She’s friendly and honestly really nice, but she can be a bit energetic when meeting someone new.  I’m sorry she gave you so much trouble.”

“It’s alright,” I said.  “Nothing you could have prevented, I’m sure.”

“Still…” Twilight began, but she didn’t expand on that thought anymore.

After dinner, I asked Twilight if I could just go up to my room and sleep for the night before explaining anything to her.  Twilight agreed and led me and Revenant back up to the room.

“I’ll be out here for a little while longer if you need anything,” Twilight said.  “I’m usually here studying until late in the night, so don’t worry too much and don’t hesitate to ask me anything if you’re having trouble.”

“I suppose I’ll be heading out for the night, then,” Revenant said.  “I’ve got family here in town I can stay with.  I’ll be seeing you tomorrow.  Take care, Nemo.”

“Thank you, Revenant.”

Once Revenant had left, I walked to the room and shut the door.  I changed into a more comfortable set of clothing and laid down on the bed.  It wasn’t long before I had fallen fast asleep listening to the scratching sound of Twilight’s quill on a piece of paper in the study outside the room.

II.2 - Conflicted Loyalties

When I woke up, it was very early in the morning and the Golden Oaks Library and the rest of Ponyville was quiet with sleep.  The moon shone brightly outside, providing enough light to see the town and the fields beyond without needing to turn on a light.  The light of the moon cast a pale, eerie glow over the town as I carefully walked outside my room and as quietly as I could over to a balcony that looked out over Ponyville.  The balcony was covered by the branches of the tree and I enjoyed the little shelter I had sitting there, watching an orange figure flying around under the nighttime sky, thinking.

It was on a night like this that I ran away from home once.  I had just finished my grade school education and had received a diploma from a school.  I didn’t have much money but I had gotten myself a job, so I crawled out my bedroom window and left.  I wanted to follow my sister’s steps and go to our grandmother’s house, but I didn’t have enough money for a ticket.  I contemplated running away again that night, away from Twilight, from Princess Celestia and Cadence, from Shining Armor and Revenant Wings.  But… where to?

“I never thought I’d see you again so soon, Nemo.”

Startled out of my reverie, I looked around to see where the voice had come from.  It took me a minute to see that the orange figure had come closer to reveal itself as a golden pegasus mare with a mane like fire and a fiery thunderbolt for a cutie mark hovering just off the balcony with easy flaps of her wings.

“Spitfire, is it?” I said upon recognizing the pegasus.  “It’s been a while since I met you at the Wonderbolts Derby back in Canterlot.  What time is it?”

“About four in the morning,” Spitfire replied.  “Couldn’t sleep?”

“Oh, I slept fine,” I said.  “I just went to bed earlier last night than I usually do.”

Spitfire gently landed on the balcony and trotted over to me.  “So, what brings you down from Canterlot to Ponyville?”

“I got into a disagreement of sorts with Princess Luna,” I told her.  “The others figured it’d be better for me if I came her and got away from the castle, saw something new, that maybe it would help calm me down.”

Spitfire sighed.  “Yeah, I like small towns like this.  It’s nice to be able to come somewhere where everyone knows your name and you’re welcomed like family.”

Family…  “I don’t have much of a family anywhere at the moment…”

“Right…” Spitfire said.  “Sorry about bringing that up.”

“No, it’s alright.”

There was a moment of silence between us.

“So… when did you get here?”

“Yesterday evening.”

“And… how long are you here for?”

“Until the Summer Sun Celebration.  Then Princess Celestia is sending me back…”  I couldn’t finish the sentence.

Spitfire blinked.  “What do you mean?”

I arched an eyebrow.  “Why do you care?  Do you just want me to stay for you to have on your team?”

“I understand it shouldn’t be any of my personal business,” Spitfire said calmly.  “However, when a team member is low on morale, part of my duty is to make sure that morale is boosted back up.  Even if you don’t sign up, you’re friends with two of the Elements of Harmony, two of the princesses and have a kindred bond with the Captain of the Solar Guard.  Since part of the duties of the Wonderbolts is to assist any of those groups when necessary, you’re as much a part of my duties and responsibilities as any one of them.”

I looked around, struggling to find the right words to explain to Spitfire.  “I was considering running away,” I told her.

“Running away?” Spitfire asked incredulously.  “But… where to?”

“I don’t know!” I said, getting up from my seat and wandering the balcony.  “Anywhere that isn’t here.  This place doesn’t feel like home to me.  But at this point nowhere feels like home to me.  I can’t stay in Canterlot with the rest of them, I can’t stay here in Ponyville with anyone here, but I can’t go… go to…”  Words failed me yet again.

“You can’t go where?”

“…back home.”

“Why not?”

“Because it doesn’t feel like it anymore!” I shouted.  I realized how loud I was after seeing Spitfire flinching and calmed myself down before continuing.  “I can’t go back home because it doesn’t feel like home anymore.  I can’t stay here because it never felt like home here to begin with.  I don’t know what to do anymore…”

There was a look of melancholy in Spitfire’s face that I couldn’t quite see.  She flapped her wings and hovered in the air in front of me, gently placing a hoof on my shoulder.  “It’s okay, Nemo,” she said gently.  “I understand it’s hard having to be here so long, but you need to remember that Celestia had promised you she would send you back home and you always have the choice to go back home or stay here.  I can’t say I know anything of what life is like back there, but if that’s your choice I’m sure that Princess Celestia will agree to it.”

I nodded.  “Thank you, Spitfire.  Thank you for listening.”

Spitfire smiled at me.  “I’d love to stick around and chat a bit more, but I have to make sure my new recruits are waking up on time.  If you need somepony to talk to, feel free to come around our offices in Ponyville and talk.  Remember: you’re friends with some powerful ponies, and it’s my duty to take care of you as much as it is to take care of them when they need it.”

“Thank you, again.”

Spitfire gave me a salute and took off into the sky once again.  I watched her until she was no more than a speck against the darkness of the night sky, like a firefly or a satellite flittering around, and continued watching her until long after the fiery orange coat had disappeared.

* * *

The sun was peaking over the horizon when I returned inside the library.  I had entered the study expecting to return to my room for a while longer when I saw Twilight sitting on her ledge looking at me.

“I heard you screaming earlier,” she said.  “Is everything alright?”

I sighed.  “I figure I should tell you what’s been happening to me over these last two months.”

Twilight motioned to a spot on her bed next to her and I sat down on the bed and began telling her everything that happened.  I stopped only at two points, for us to have breakfast and lunch, as I told her everything that had happened.  I told her of how Celestia had brought me here but I had become amnesiac in the crossing and forgot most of my former life.  I told her of how I had become friends with Shining Armor and Princess Cadence but that Princess Luna never liked my appearance.  I told her of Celestia planning to create the kindred bond between me and Shining Armor in order to get me to stay and how that had (mostly) failed.

And then I told her of the lessons I took with Princess Luna.  I told her of the homework assignments and the scolding and the scowling and the refusal to even grade my papers correctly.  I told her of Princess Celestia’s intervention after the memory spell that caused me to accidentally hit Princess Luna, and I even told her of the argument I had with her about Nightmare Moon.

By the time dinner rolled around, I had finally finished and Twilight was deep in thought.  It wasn’t until after dinner was prepared that she finally spoke.  “You know, you’re right on most accounts.”

“You mean… you agree with me?”

Twilight nodded.  “Princess Luna is nice, but she hardly ever gets out.  She’s come here for Nightmare Night a few times and was present at the wedding of Shining Armor and Princess Cadence.  However, she spends little time outside of Canterlot and the castle.  There are those that respect her, but she doesn’t exactly have any ‘friends’ so to speak… besides me.”

“You’re friends with her?”

“Spend your first day in Ponyville taking down a mad god under the influence of a tainted shadow and you’re likely to make a few friends on that day alone.  Matter of fact, that was the only part you got wrong: as far as I know, I’m the only true friend she has.”

I looked around as I ate my sandwich Twilight had made for dinner.

“What if I told you I thought about running away?”

Twilight put a hoof to her chin.  “Well, I suppose I can’t blame you.”

“How is that?”

“Well, you’re not exactly where you think home is, are you?”

“That depends on your definition of home.”

“So… define ‘home’ as you see it.”

“Well… home is where you feel comfortable.  Home is where you feel safe.  Home is where you walk in and everyone accepts you.  Home is where your family is.  Home is where you’re able to settle down and not have to worry.  Maybe… maybe most of all, home is where you feel like you belong, like you can identify with those around you.”

“…and you don’t feel any of those?”

“I do feel safe, safer than I’ve ever felt.  If I were to walk in to Canterlot Castle, I’d have ponies there that would accept me with open hooves.  But… I don’t have any family and I don’t feel comfortable.  I find it hard to identify with all of you ponies who have been here your whole lives.  I… I don’t belong.”

“What about back on Earth?  Did you feel any of those?”

It was a question I hadn’t considered.  “E-every day was a fight for my life.  I would go to work and find myself constantly under threat of losing my job.  I had to take an extra year of class because I dropped out of high school and ended up being seen as a delinquent because of it.  I had no family I could go to; my sister ran away to my grandparents but I didn’t have the money to follow her.  And I worried.  I worried every day about whether or not I was going to make it the next month.”

Twilight didn’t respond for a long while.  “Well… have you ever considered why you don’t want to stay here?”

I eyed Twilight suspiciously.  “You’re not doing this because the Princesses asked you, are you?”

“No,” Twilight replied, surprisingly calm.  “I asked of my own curiosity.  You don’t have to answer if you don’t want.”

I thought about my answer for a minute before responding.  “I… I don’t know.  I sort of just assumed I didn’t belong here and that I would belong there.  I suppose I never really gave much thought into if I belonged there.”

Twilight got out of her seat and came over to be, placing a hoof on my shoulder.  “Give it time, Nemo.  I wasn’t sure where I belonged when I first became an alicorn, whether I should adopt the life of royalty and live in Canterlot or if I belonged in Ponyville with all my friends.  You just need to take the time to think about where you feel you belong and what feels right to you.  You still have a month.  Until then… well, enjoy the ride.”

With that, Twilight walked off to her study, leaving me alone to think about what she just said.

II.3 - Apples, Dresses, and Cupcakes

I woke up the next morning with Twilight calling to me as she knocked on my door.  I got up and changed my clothes before heading out into the study where Twilight was standing with a little purple and green wingless dragon that was about half my height with green eyes and purple scales with the occasional green spike coming out of his back.  I jumped backwards and nearly shut the door if it wasn’t for Twilight laughing and finally speaking.

“Nemo, this is Spike, my number one assistant,” Twilight said, motioning to the dragon.  “He helps me out with keeping the library organized as well as making sure things are running smoothly around here while I’m gone.  I hatched his egg as part of my test to become Celestia’s personal student.”

“Hey there,” Spike said, waving a claw in the air.  “Nice to see I’m not the only bipedal one in town anymore.  These ponies are nice and all, but it really sucks not having anyone around I can relate to in some way.”

Twilight smiled.  “You have breakfast ready, Spike?”

“Three Danishes, three apples, three glasses of milk, and one bowl of sapphires,” Spike replied.

“Sapphires…?”

“I need to eat gems to breathe fire,” Spike explained.  “Twilight could get into the more scientific aspect of it, but basically there’s something in the gems that helps me to create and breathe fire.”

“And gems are abundant enough that he can eat a bowl a day and there’s still plenty for jewelry and other fashion items,” Twilight said, “though Rarity could tell you more about how that works.”

I followed Twilight and Spike downstairs to the main floor and into the kitchen where three steaming cream Danishes and three apples were laid out.  I sat down with Twilight while Spike brought over a tray with three glasses of milk and a bowl of bright blue gemstones.   Spike passed me and Twilight a glass then took the other glass and the bowl of gemstones for himself.  We all ate our breakfast before Twilight asked me a question.

“Is there anything in particular you want to learn about Ponyville?”

I shrugged.  “No, not really.  I’m… not really gonna be here for long anyways.”

“Right… um, how about I show you what some of my friends do around here?”

“Whatever you think is gonna work.”

“Alright.  Spike, do you think you can take over library duties for the next few days?”

“No problem,” Spike said.  “Just… when you get done with all that, can I have a free day to visit Rarity again?”

Twilight nodded.

“So… what is the plan, then?” I asked.

“I’m going to introduce you to some of my friends and show you around Ponyville,” Twilight said.  “We’ll be visiting one a day and maybe that will show you a little about our town and the ponies that live here.”

“When are we starting?”

“Right now.”

“Now…?”

* * *

By now, Twilight ended up meaning right at that moment.  With breakfast finished and Spike cleaning up the plates, Twilight led me out the door and started walking me through town away from the direction of Canterlot Castle.  We passed a few stores that Twilight stopped at and we talked to a few ponies, including a flower shop, a quill and sofa store (how oddly specific…), and the town hall, and eventually we had walked our way to the northern edge of town where a large orchard was seated with a sign at the entrance bearing the title “Sweet Apple Acres”.  Across the acres of hills and plains were hundreds of apple trees, some of their fruit already picked but others had yet to be picked and were full of ripe red, green, and golden apples.

“First off, we’re going to meet the Apple family,” Twilight said as we walked down a shaded path towards the interior of the orchard.

“Do they all have the same last name?” I asked.

“Nope.”

“Then why are they called the ‘Apple family’ if they don’t all end with the name Apple?”

“Because they’re all named after varieties of apples.”

“So… who are we going to visit first?”

“Applejack.”

“…that’s not an apple cultivar.”

A short distance off the path, I saw a single apple tree shake.  A short while later, the apples shook and started falling off the tree.  “What the heck was that?”

“What?”

I pointed to another apple tree that was also shaking, followed by the apples falling off that one, too.  “That!”

“Ah, that must be where Applejack is.  Come on, Nemo.”

I followed Twilight off the dirt path and into the grassy orchards.  A short ways in and down a small hill stood an orange pony with a blonde mane and tail tied up into pony tails and wearing a Stetson hat.  Her cutie mark: a trio of apples.

“Hey, Applejack!” Twilight called.

The orange pony wiped her forehead with a hoof and turned towards us.  “Hey Twi,” she said with a soft country twang.  “What are you comin’ out here for?”

“I was just showing a guest around,” Twilight said.  She motioned to me.  “This is Nemo.  He got transported here to Equestria by Princess Celestia from Earth, but wanted to go back home.  He’s waiting for Celestia to charge up a spell to send him back home.”

I thought only unicorns could shake my fist, but Applejack wasted no time in coming over, somehow grabbing my hand, balled it into a fist, and started shaking vigorously.  “Ah don’t quite understand all of that, but any friend of Twi is a friend of mine,” Applejack said.  “Ahm Applejack, and I run Sweet Apple Acres with my brother, Big Macintosh.”

I felt like my entire body was shaken when Applejack let go.  “Pleasure to meet you,” I said.  “So, um, what is with the whole apples falling off and the trees shaking?”

“This here is Applebuck Season,” Applejack said.  “We go around buckin’ the trees to make the ripe apples fall off to collect them.”  She walked over to another tree that was full of apples and, I now saw, had a bunch of buckets placed around the base of the tree.  “Like so.”

Applejack leaned forwards and placed all her weight on her front hooves.  In one swift motion, she kicked her back hooves off the ground and pulled in before firing back at the tree like a spring.  There was a resounding crack! throughout the valley as her hooves struck the tree with full force.  The tree itself was unharmed by the impact, but it shook violently and soon the apples started falling off the branches and landing in the buckets placed around the tree.

“We use the apples for eating, cooking, and making our own, homemade cider,” Applejack said.  “We get ponies from all around that come here for a taste of Apple family cider once the season for it starts.”

“When’s that season?”

“Around fall.”

I sat with Twilight and watched Applejack buck a few more trees before a much larger red pony with a plow-like thing around his neck.  He was more muscular than Shining Armor was and was pulling an empty cart behind him.  He didn’t say a word, but gave a nod towards me and Twilight before turning to Applejack and asking if she was ready to load the cart again.

“About time, Big Mac!” Applejack said.  “Let’s get these buckets in.”

“Eeyup,” the red pony responded, then the two got to work.

The cart was loaded with at least twenty-five buckets full of apples before the cart was loaded.  I saw Big Macintosh make a gesture for me to follow him, which I ended up doing with Twilight and Applejack’s approval, so I walked alongside the red pony under the shade of the apple trees.

He asked me my name.

“Nemo,” I told him.  “What about you?”

His full name was Big Macintosh, but was sometimes known as Mac or Macintosh.  He said either way was fine before asking me how I got there.

“Princess Celestia teleported me here,” I told him.  “But I want to go back, so she’s preparing a spell for me to return by the Summer Sun Celebration.”

He asked me how I liked Equestria so far.

“It’s nice,” I told him.  “I’ve spent most of my time in Canterlot but I’ve liked my time in Ponyville so far.”

He asked if I had any family.

“Not here,” I told him.

He gave a deadpanned response saying he knew that much.

“Back at home, I had my parents and a younger sister, but the sister ran away.”

He said it sounded like Applejack a little before she earned her cutie mark; she had ran away to Manehattan for a few weeks to live with their aunt and uncle there, but returned a few weeks later after realizing it wasn’t her home.

“The thing is, I don’t know if I want to return home,” I told him.

We had reached a large red barn and Macintosh had started unloading the buckets when he asked what I meant by my previous statement.

“I’m kind of torn between staying here and returning home,” I said.  “I have family back home, but I feel like I know more people—um, ponies here than I ever knew back home.”

Macintosh told me family wasn’t the only thing to consider when choosing a home.  He told me that a long time ago their parents had gone away on business and never came back, with their younger sister Apple Bloom just learning to talk when it happened.  He told me how, for a while, the family was broken with him, Applejack, Apple Bloom, and their grandmother Granny Smith.  However, where most of them found solace was with friends in the surrounding community; Applejack had Twilight and the rest of her friends, Apple Bloom had her friends from school, and Macintosh himself had a couple of buddies that went out for drinks every Saturday night.  Their family was broken, but they made themselves a family by dividing the chores and working together to take care of the household in addition to finding help from the community.

“Sounds like a rough life,” I commented as Macintosh attached himself back to the cart and we walked back into the orchard.

Macintosh commented that if Princess Celestia wanted to bring me to Equestria I must have had a hard life of my own.

“You’re partially right,” I told him.  “My sister ran away from home to live with our grandparents, I flunked out of school and had to go back for another year to get a high school degree, had something of a dead end job, and I don’t think my parents were particularly close so I ran away from home to live on my own.”

Macintosh commented that it didn’t sound like I had much of a home.

“Not really.”

Mac asked me why I wanted to go back.

“It doesn’t feel like home here,” I told him.

Macintosh stopped walking at one point and looked like he was about to say something, but the only thing that came out of his mouth was an apology for prying into areas he either shouldn’t have pried into or going over things that others had probably said multiple times before.

“It’s alright,” I told him.  “I’m still trying to figure it out myself.”

Macintosh nodded and we continued walking.  As we neared where Applejack and Twilight were talking, Macintosh told me that the mentioning about him going out for drinks was an invitation to me if I ever didn’t have anything to do.

“Thanks,” I said.  “But… why?”

Macintosh explained that if I was staying in Ponyville, I should count on the ponies in Ponyville to help me feel at home instead of just trying to rely on myself to find a place to call home.

“Thanks,” I said.

“Eeyup,” Macintosh replied.

After a little while longer of watching Applejack buck apples, Twilight and I eventually headed back to town and stopped at a café for lunch, where we ordered some sandwiches and a side dish that Twilight referred to as hay fries.

“You had quite the conversation with Big Macintosh,” Twilight commented.  “I’ve hardly ever heard him talk that much to anypony.”

I shrugged.

“Well, we’ll rest tomorrow and stay around the library before going off to meet Rainbow Dash.”

“I’ve already met Rainbow Dash,” I commented.  “We talked a little bit at a Wonderbolts Derby Shining Armor took me to back when I was staying in Canterlot.”

Twilight let out a sigh of relief.  “That makes things easier.”

“Why?  Because I can’t fly?”

“You’re stating the obvious, but yes.  But Dash also tends to be lazy.”

* * *

After a day at the library, Twilight once again led me after breakfast out into the streets of Ponyville.  This time our destination was much closer: a rather large blue and white building that reminded me of an olden-style carousel on the outside that I remembered passing by when I first entered Ponyville.  Twilight went up to the door and opened it; I followed her in after seeing a sign on the door that said “Rarity’s Boutique: OPEN”.

A rose-haired pony was sitting on a bench just inside.  Around the inside of the building were numerous pony-shaped mannequins that had an array of cloths placed over them, some completed into dresses while others just seemed to be laid out in intricate patterns.  A set of brightly lit mirrors surrounded a small pedestal that itself was next to a changing room, which seemed awkward to me considering most of the ponies around here wore next to nothing anyways.

“What is this place?” I asked Twilight.

“This is Rarity’s Boutique,” Twilight responded.  “Rarity, the pony who owns this, makes dresses for ponies both able to afford them and for those who are interested in fashion.  There aren’t many around here in Ponyville, but Rarity has made dresses and suits for the Canterlot elite.”

“Quite a resume,” I commented.

Twilight walked over to the pony sitting on the bench.  “Hey there, Roseluck,” she called.  “Is Rarity here?”

“She’s finishing up a dress for me,” the rose-maned pony replied.  “She’ll be done in just a minute; she said she’d have it finished this morning so I could have it for a date for a dance at a flower festival in Manehattan later this month.”

I went over and sat down on the bench next to Twilight and Roseluck to wait for the as yet unseen dressmaker to show herself.  Thankfully, it wasn’t much longer, as the pony herself came out later with an admittedly beautiful green dress with a red skirt-like piece with folds and patterns that made it look like the petals of a rose.  The dress was followed by a unicorn pony that was equally beautiful by pony standards: spotless white fur, a lengthy, curled, deep blue tail and mane, and a cutie mark in the shape of three diamonds on her flank.  Her eyes were a deep blue and when she spoke, it was with a refined accent I was used to hearing in Canterlot but not here in Ponyville.

“Here you are, Roseluck,” the pony said.  “The dress you ordered fitted exactly to you and designed just the way we talked about it just last week.”

“Thank you so much, Rarity!” Roseluck exclaimed.  She looked joyously over at Rarity.  “Can I try it on right now and see how it looks?”

“Certainly, darling,” Rarity responded.  She used her magic to bring the dress into the changing room where Roseluck eagerly followed it in.  Once Roseluck was changing, Rarity turned her attention to us.

“Good morning, Twilight!  It’s good to see you.  Come by for a dress or just a friendly chat?”

“A chat,” Twilight said, “but I did want to bring someone by to meet you.  This here is Nemo, a guest of mine until the Summer Sun Celebration.”

“A human?” Rarity looked with astonishment between me and Twilight.  “You aren’t… involved with him, aren’t you?”

“What!?” I nearly shouted.  “Oh, no!  I’m just staying a few weeks with Twilight in Ponyville before Princess Celestia magics me back home to Earth.”

Rarity nodded understandingly.  “…pity,” she said.  “You two look like you’d make a great couple.”

Twilight said nothing, but I saw her blush.

I wasn’t quite sure how to respond.

“Well,” Rarity said after a moment, her eyes twinkling in a way I wasn’t sure that I liked or trusted, “I’ve never had the chance to design anything for a human before.  Let’s get you over to my work room and let’s get started, shall we?”

I saw my hands become engulfed in the blue light and that now surrounded Rarity’s horn and was dragged away into the interior of the shop before Twilight could do anything to stop the unicorn.  Instead, she galloped after us as Rarity took me into a room with more mannequins, but this time the floor was covered with more pieces of various materials, half-sewn pieces of cloth, things that looked like near completed dresses that had been discarded and pieces cut out of them, and other things that made it look like a hurricane had come through.

“Stand still please, darling,” Rarity said as she started levitating a tape measure around me and measured every little length and crevice.  “I’m going to need a different mannequin for this one.  Or perhaps I could modify one of the ones I already have to suit the bipedal figure… something like Spike but twice as large shouldn’t be too much of a problem… the structural similarities are there but without the spikes to poke the material…”

“Rarity!” Twilight called as she entered the room.  “You could have at least asked if he wanted to be fitted.”

But the unicorn was already too far gone in her work and was wandering around me while constantly maneuvering the measuring tape around every part of me.  “Perhaps if I made a long sleeve shirt for your top… no, the long sleeves wouldn’t accent the arms as well… perhaps a sleeve that goes just down to the shoulder?  That would work, but we’ll need a lighter color to pop against the darker skin and hair color… but would that make the eyes too dark?  Perhaps a more earthen tone look… a gold button-up collar shirt ought to suffice, don’t you think?”

I quickly wagered the question was rhetorical and was just as quickly proven right.  “Now, what to go with the shirt… perhaps a nice vest in either a rust or brown color would do… but I’m afraid I’m getting too dark with that color scheme now… perhaps some sort of dusty brown shirt and brown boots like they have out in Appleoosa would complete the ensemble with some sort of theme… but now I think I have to do a lighter color outfit to pop…  Ah, well, I’ll just have to make two.  For the second one…”

Rarity continued muttering to herself for two hours.  By the time she was finished she had two different drawings of a full shirt and vest combo in two colors: the first being the earthen tones she was describing while the other had a faded blue shirt with a darker blue shirt and pants with a pair of black masculine-looking boots.

“And the total cost of both of them will be… zero bits.”

Twilight was staring in surprise.  I simply stared at the situation, completely unsure of what happened.

“You’re going to do both of these… for free?”

“Why, of course, darling!” Rarity said.  “It isn’t often I get to try out a new style.  I’ll be proud to make Nemo here a few ensembles for free if it means I get to try out something new.  Who knows… there could be a market for these things in Canterlot.  If not… well, it was all good fun.  The two will both be done within a week.”

Twilight looked relieved.

I felt violated.

Especially after I saw the half-lidded look in Rarity’s eyes as we left the boutique a few minutes later.

* * *

The next day I had found a series of books in the library that had caught my attention and began reading the first of the series.  The series was called ‘Daring Do’ and was a series of twelve books about an pegasus archaeologist that managed to help save the world from all sorts of mythological creatures and dangerous cults and other factions on her explorations.  It reminded me of a few series back at home and was thrilled to find out that Twilight had all twelve in the series.  For the rest of the day, I was preoccupied with reading as much of the series as I could.

Things were calm and quiet that evening until Twilight received a letter written on pink paper and with a pink marker.  The letter was an invitation to come to a party at Sugarcube Corner the next evening for a party to welcome me to Ponyville.  The note was signed off as being from Pinkie Pie.

“I remember her,” I said.  “She knocked me over when I first arrived trying to introduce herself.”

“That’s Pinkie for you,” Twilight said.  “Her parties are usually pretty good, so we could just head over there for a little bit and head out whenever you get tired.”

It seemed like a good idea, so when the next day rolled around we went to the hospital to get my bandages removed, and a prescription for pain medication to be taken until the injuries from my fall off the observatory were fully healed, and went over to Sugarcube Corner – the building I had passed by with the top shaped like a cupcake – and went into an open door where music was playing and what looked like half of Ponyville’s residents were all gathered inside.

I had hardly crossed the threshold when I realized I had an extra weight around my shoulders.  I looked around and eventually saw that the bright pink pony from my entrance was hanging a hoof around my shoulder and was gazing at the rest of the crowd with the biggest smile I had ever seen on her face.

“Hey there, everypony!” Pinkie Pie called out.  “This here is Nemo, a guest of our good friend Twilight.  Let’s make him feel welcome while he’s here in Ponyville!”

The crowds erupted in cheering as Pinkie grabbed me and started dragging me around the floor, introducing me to every single pony that had come to the party as well as inviting me to try nearly all of the twenty or so different treats that lined the table… nearly all of which I liked.  It wasn’t until an hour later that Pinkie stopped talking to me to go talk to other guests, at which I immediately found a bowl of non-alcoholic apple cider to quench my thirst and found a table in the corner to sit at while I watched the other partygoers dancing and playing games.

Big Macintosh was at the party as well and walked over to me with a glass of his own, asking me what I thought of the party and of Pinkie.

“It’s tiring just listening to her,” I told him.  “But the party is nice and most of the folk around here are friendly enough.  You make the cider?”

“Eeyup,” Macintosh responded.

We sat there both watching Pinkie as she went around to every guest once, then twice, then three times as she made sure that everypony was having as much fun as they possibly could have.

Macintosh commented that you wouldn’t know Pinkie had come from a depressing life on a rock farm before then.

“A rock farm?”

Macintosh explained that certain rocks, with time and certain practices surrounding shape and size, could be used to cultivate certain types of gems.  It was boring but astoundingly profitable work given the right conditions.

“So… she has family elsewhere?”

Macintosh told me Pinkie had two sisters and her parents back on the rock farm.  Her cutie mark was almost entirely the opposite of the demeanor on the farm and her parents helped her move in with the Cakes in Ponyville, who resided in the upper levels of Sugarcube Corner.  Cupcake and Carrot Cake, along with two young foals of their own, all considered Pinkie part of their family and, while rambunctious and sometimes more energetic than most could handle, she had proven a huge help with the Cakes with a particular affinity of baking; she had made most of the treats available at the party.

“…you’re meaning to compare this to my experience, aren’t you?”

Macintosh made a comment about me catching on quick before explaining that Pinkie had found a place that felt like home and a group that felt like family and accepted her, which is why she was able to do so well in Ponyville.  Macintosh also said that even if the Cakes didn’t allow her to live with them her temperament could have gotten her someone else that would let her stay with them simply because she was so happy and bouncy in a way that was somewhat infectious.

“I suppose I can’t argue with you on that,” I said, realizing that a smile had formed on my own face as I watched her.

When Pinkie eventually came around and asked me to get more involved in the party, I went ahead and danced and laughed and played games with the rest of the ponies.  Back in the corner, I could see Big Macintosh nodding his approval.  When the party was finally over and I was saying “good night” and “thank you” to Pinkie Pie, the moon had come out long ago and Twilight was nodding off in a chair, though stayed awake long enough to make sure I was comfortable in my room before heading off to sleep herself.

I slept through most of the next day, and a part of me had a feeling that Twilight was doing the same thing.

II.4 - Night is Mysterious

Over the next week after Pinkie’s party I spent most of my evenings in the library reading more of the books in Twilight’s library.  Twilight had been kind enough to help me find a few books on Equestrian wildlife and politics and let me read through them at my leisure.  While Twilight was normally consumed by either her own studies of magic or anything else and by her duties as a princess, she was nearly always willing to help explain concepts to me.  I learned more about the nature and life of Equestria from Twilight than I ever did from Luna’s history lessons and likely had a much larger variety of knowledge than I had from just the history lessons as well.

I also had a few days where I was out among the residents of Ponyville as well.  What Revenant had told me was true; by the end of the week I could name almost every single pony just by looking at coat color and their cutie mark.  I would sometimes peruse the flower stalls run by Roseluck, Daisy, and Lily.  Some days would be spent listening to music played by the DJ Vinyl Scratch, classically-trained cellist Octavia, or the sax and guitar playing blues pony Noteworthy.  One day I even went out and met up with Rainbow Dash again and watched as she and a few other pegasi worked on creating a storm over Ponyville, with the pegasi having fun by chasing me around by making a single dry spot in the middle of the rain move around and watched me race around town to follow it; I got a laugh out of it and they didn’t do it for very long so it was a good game.

I spent some time with the rest of Twilight’s friends as well.  I once helped Applejack and Big Macintosh with the creation of some apple juice, apple fritters, and apple pie that Applejack planned to sell into town, simultaneously meeting the energetic fillies known as the Cutie Mark Crusaders: Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo.  I once spent the better part of an afternoon at Sugarcube Corner tasting various treats and meeting with both the owners – the Cake family and their two foals – as well as meeting with some of the regulars of the store: a brown earth pony stallion with a hourglass cutie mark named Time Turner and a grey pegasus mare with one eye skewed slightly off center known as Derpy Hooves.  I even spent a short amount of time at Rarity’s Boutique when she had finished the two outfits she made for me; both were surprisingly comfortable and fit rather well and I was happy with the results, though when I tried to ask her about her behavior the last time I was in there she simply waved it off and said she got lost in thought and didn’t have any more of the flirtatious attitude though she did compliment me on my politeness towards her.

I also spent some time alone with Revenant Wings, finding a spot on a hill above town that none of the ponies went to very frequently and just sat there with him, watching the residents in the town below.  It was a place where I could find solitude and be alone with my own thoughts, something Revenant seemed to understand I needed and said nothing to me during these times until I had decided it was time to go back into Ponyville.  We didn’t talk much to each other; just about my experiences and how I was doing.  At one point Revenant told me he was sending a note to Shining Armor and the others back in Canterlot to let them know how I was doing, which I told him that I was doing fine but still waiting for Celestia to finish the spell.  He personally added an addendum that little trouble had been caused and that I seemed to be adjusting well to the time off before sending the letter.

A little over a week after Pinkie’s party, I was sitting at the library in the evening reading a book on Equestrian social structure.  There was a knock at the door and a few moments of silence before Spike came up to the third-floor study to get my attention.

“Revenant Wings is here,” he said.  “I guess he has a letter from Canterlot.”

I looked over to Twilight, who shrugged, and went downstairs to where Revenant Wings was waiting in the first-floor library.  I took the letter from him, nothing it was addressed as being from Shining Armor, and we went over to the kitchen to read it.

Nemo:

I got the letter on your progress from Revenant Wings.  I hope that Ponyville is treating you well.  Me and Cadence have been missing you since you left, me because we were fairly close friends while you were here and Cadence because you felt something like a younger brother to her.  While Celestia is unable to write letters to you herself lately with preparations for the celebration at the end of the month, she wishes you well in Ponyville and hopes that Twilight and the rest of the residents have been treating you right.

I write in part to say hello and partly to say that Princess Luna has been acting strangely lately.  She has sometimes asked about you and how you’re doing, but does not offer much of a reply when we ask her why she wants to know.  Even Cadence, whose magic allows her to see the relationships between ponies, has been unable to figure out why she’s acting that way and why it’s specifically you she wants to know about.  I’ve heard from some of the night guard she spends a lot of time in the evenings sitting in the observatory staring out towards Ponyville.  I haven’t seen any of it myself, but I do know she seems to be going to the observatory a lot more lately and refuses to speak about it.

I don’t have much time to write due to my guard duties, but I hope we’ll be able to keep in continued touch.

Best regards, Shining Armor.

“I wonder what’s gotten Luna upset,” Revenant commented.  “She’s known for being one of the most stoic of the princesses and yet it seems this entire thing with you has caused her to have strange and unusual behavior.”

“Well, there’s the fact that she’s still likely upset with me for the whole thing with accusing her of Nightmare Moon yet again,” I responded.

“And yet she saved you and insisted on knowing your progress,” Revenant said.  “Perhaps she’s beginning to have a change of heart.”

I scoffed.  “Like that would happen.”

Revenant came up next to me and placed a wing around me.  “Don’t be too pessimistic now, Nemo.  Luna may have been hard on you, but that doesn’t mean she is completely against you and holding a grudge on you.”

“She’s been holding a grudge on my kind being in Equestria for over a thousand years, Revenant.  I think she could possibly hold it for another thousand more.”

Revenant retracted his wing and nodded.  “You have a point there.”

Just then, we heard a call from Twilight in the upper levels of the library.  “Nemo!  Come here, I think I’ve found something.”

Revenant looked at me questioningly.  I just shrugged and went up the stairs with Revenant following me as we went into the upper study.  Twilight was pouring over a book that had the image of a human on it.  A closer look at the title of the book revealed it to be “A Brief History of Humans in Equestria.”

“Ever since you’ve come here,” Twilight said, “I decided to research some of the history of humans in Equestria.  I was reading through this fascinating book on the subject when I found the following passage.”  Twilight pushed the book towards me.  “It’s from a speech written about Luna when she was pending banishment to the moon… written by a human.”

I looked over at Twilight questioningly, then turned my attention to the book and began to read the passage aloud:

Perhaps our night has caused us problems in the past, and I can agree with your feelings towards her; our night is distant, unable to reach down to her people as often.  Our night is cold, not afraid to show how harsh she can be.  Night is unforgiving, never holding back in her wrath, and even more terrifying than what lies beyond the darkest depths.  Our night brings darkness to our lands and makes us quiver in fright… but with our night comes the moon, which brings us light.  Our night is wondrous, showing us both dark and light.  Our night is protective, with the moon and her ever-watchful eye.  Night is honest, causing us to show our true feelings.  Night is comforting, the time when we gather to rest for a new day.  And night is loyal… loyal to her state, loyal to her subjects, and loyal to those she watches… and she watches over every single one of you.

I had no idea of what to think when I was done reading it.  I had to wonder what exactly it was that Luna had done that could possibly inspire the person that had written this.  She was distant, uncaring and unconcerned with what happened to me in the early days of my stay.  She was cold and harsh and not afraid to show her anger.  She was also unforgiving, placing her feelings from a thousand years ago on to me as though she expected me to follow those trends.  And when she was angry I could only think of her as being the most terrifying thing I had ever seen.

“The negative stuff all fits from what I’ve seen,” I said.  “But… I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything from the good portion.”

Twilight thought for a minute.  “Have you… ever heard calming or protective voices in your head?  Either drifting off to sleep or in your dreams?”

I had to think back over the past two months…

…that does not give my sister the right to do what she did.

…but it was hard to come up with anything…

He is my charge, and I will protect him from whatever may assault him.

…that could even possibly relate…

Hush now, quiet now; it’s time to lay your sleepy head …

…to what the person in the book was…

I'm sorry... I'm so sorry...

…oh.

I felt weakened, dizzy, and couldn’t explain why.  I got up from the book.

“I… I think I need to go to bed and let this all process.  I… I’ll see you both in the morning.”  And I walked back over to my room, closed the door, and fell asleep in my bed without bothering to change clothes.

* * *

I stood at the entrance of an unfamiliar room.  It wasn’t anywhere that I knew or could remember, and the way that everything was dull as though viewed through a set of brown shades.  In front of me was a woman, the first human woman I had seen in a long time.  She was fair skinned and had blonde hair and was sitting next to a crib, holding something.  I walked over and looked at her and noticed that she had my skin and eye color.  In her arms was a baby, not but a few months old that had my skin, my eyes, and a little wisp of hair that looked the same color as mine…

“Mother…?”

The woman cradled the baby gently in her arms, letting the infant grab her finger as it played and eventually suckled on it.  Eventually the woman unbuttoned the shirt she was wearing and brought the baby to her breast where it began to suck as it let out small cooing noises.  The woman smiled gently at it as I knelt down in front of her.  I waved a hand in front of the woman’s face, but she didn’t seem to notice me and continued paying attention to the baby in her arms.  As time passed and the infant continued to suckle, the woman began to sing:

“Hush-a-by, don’t you cry,

Go to sleep, little baby.

And when you wake, you shall have cake,

And all the pretty little ponies.

Paint and bay, sorrel and gray,

All the pretty little ponies.

So hush-a-by, don’t you cry,

Go to sleep, little baby.”

It was ironic and strange yet soothing and comforting to hear her sing.  Her voice was clear and pure and she sang it with a sort of warmth and tenderness that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.  A little while later, the baby stopped suckling and closed its eyes as it fell asleep in the woman’s arms.  The woman moved over to a rocking chair and sat down in it, rocking gently back and forth.

“Oh, Lucas,” the woman said.  “Your father… I wish your father was here more often.  I’m sure that if he had his wits about him he’d understand you’re a bright and wonderful son.  Lucas… the light of my life.  It was dark when you were born, but you have brought light into my life again.  Perhaps… perhaps you will find the light somewhere, too.”

There was a hint of melancholy and sadness in the woman’s voice, and she looked off into the distance as she talked, as though barely recognizing she still had the baby in her lap.  I wanted to reach out and touch her and comfort her, telling her that someone had heard her, but whenever I went to touch her she failed to notice me as though I wasn’t even there.

“She can’t see you,” came a dark voice.  “None of them can.”

I turned around to see the dark alicorn with the set of dark blue armor in the corner of the room, laughing coldly.

“You again.  Nightmare Moon.”

Nightmare Moon laughed coldly.  “At least you’ve remembered my name; you were so close to death last time I thought it wouldn’t stick.”

“What is going on here?”

“You’re seeing your past… Lucas.”

I looked over from Nightmare Moon to the woman and the baby in the rocking chair, then back to Nightmare moon.

“What are you doing, prowling through my memories?”

“Oh… just giving you a taste of what life was like before.”

“What are you going to do to it?”

“Me?”  The alicorn scoffed but a grin started to grow on her face.  “I didn’t do anything.  I didn’t need to.  This is simply a look at your past, at the life and memories you lost.  Let’s continue to take a look, shall we?”

The room melted away into a different one that had a young boy sitting at the closed door.  There was the sound of panicked shouting, followed by the sound of breaking glass.  I could recognize the voice of the woman screaming at someone to stop, but when I went to the door I found I couldn’t open it.  There was a hard thump on the other side of the door and the woman screamed in pain.  I pulled and pushed the door, turning the knob, but I couldn’t get it to move.  What’s more, the boy started crying and the pounding returned on the door followed by the screams of a drunken man standing just on the other side.

“Please!” I cried.  “Let me out!  I have to do something to stop this!”

“What is in the past cannot be changed,” Nightmare Moon replied.  “It is but a memory.  I must say that entering your memories you can have some frightening nightmares if they were to be released…”

I looked at the alicorn.  “So… this is a dream, is it?”

Nightmare Moon nodded, the grin plastered across her face.

“So… that means I can do… this?”

I grabbed the door and pulled and the brown room gave way to a flood of light.  Before Nightmare Moon could respond I ran through the doorway and found myself in the main floor of Twilight’s library, the color returning to the world.  As quickly as I could, I turned around and shut the door behind me, hearing as a loud thump sounded on the other side.  I opened the door to find that the door I had closed lead to the kitchen area.  Without waiting for any more provocation I fled for the library entrance to leave the building.

The main door was locked and I couldn’t unlock it even from the inside.  I heard a laughing coming from the kitchen and quickly closed the door again.  A rumbling began to overtake the giant oak and I fled upstairs as a wave of darkness began rushing into the library, bolting up the stairs for the study on the top floor.  Even then, I wasted no time and ran over to the balcony and flung open the door, racing outside and looking over the railing as the darkness consumed the inside of the library.

Nightmare Moon’s head poked out from the darkness that had covered the library.  “You still think you can run away from your nightmares?” she said.  “You’re stupid to think that.”

“But now that I know this is a dream, it puts us on equal footing, doesn’t it?”

“Listen to me,” Nightmare said, pulling herself from the darkness.  “You jump over that railing and you’ll break your leg.”

“Not if it’s a dream,” I told her.

“I can make your mind think it’s real,” Nightmare taunted.

I watched as a bit of her mane began snaking its way towards me, but I didn’t let it stop me.  I turned around and launched myself off the balcony, falling down as I remembered that I wasn’t awake but asleep and finding myself in a dream.  I closed my eyes and braced for impact, but was only greeted with a soft thump on the dirt road through Ponyville.

“No!” I heard Nightmare scream.  “That… that shouldn’t be possible!”

“You’ve given away your secret, Nightmare Moon,” I said.  “I’m not letting you trick me with something like that.”

Nightmare growled and took flight off the balcony.  She swooped down at me as I tried to run away, and nearly hit me as she dived in.  At the last second, I jumped for the ground and ducked as her hooves flew harmlessly over my head.  I picked myself back up, but the alicorn had already turned around for another charge.  She came in too fast and before I could react she had grabbed me in her hooves and was carrying me into the night sky over Ponyville.

My hands were free, though, and I aimed my blow for her neck.  My arms shot forwards and grasped her neck as tight as I could.  The sudden loss of breath shocked Nightmare Moon and her front hooves released me as she choked and spluttered through my grip on her neck.  But my victory was short lived as she started to shake violently as we passed back over the balcony and I lost my grip.  I grabbed the edge of the balcony as quickly as I could and pulled myself up as Nightmare crashed at the open door at the edge of the darkness inside the library.

“You little foal!” she cried.  “You have more spunk than I thought, but did you really think that was enough?  We alicorns are immortal!”

“But you’re not immune to damage,” I said.

Nightmare Moon growled again.  I decided to take the fight to her and lunged at her neck, once again grasping it and holding on for dear life as the alicorn thrashed around the balcony.  But again my plan was short-lived as the alicorn bucked and threw me off and a final thrash had me pushed off her and flying towards the darkness in the library.

I screamed as my vision went totally black and I kept falling and increasing speed until I hit some sort of floor and rolled around until I finally came to a stop.  Despite the blackness surrounding me, I could still make out where my hands and legs were, as though my body was the only thing that had color to it in my surroundings.

“Wha… where am I?”

The blackness stretched out before me in all directions, but it felt like I could walk through it.  I walked forward cautiously and carefully, looking around at my surroundings and trying to make out what happened.  For a long time I kept walking forward, but nothing after nothing greeted me.

“I… I’m not dead… am I?”

I might have been dead… but I certainly wasn’t alone.

I would have nearly tripped over the small creature if I hadn’t have looked down.  It was an alicorn that looked like Luna, but the fur was a lighter, paler blue and the mane was a solid blue that was lighter and paler than the fur.  The alicorn was also only about as big as Twilight was and not anywhere near the larger size of the other alicorns, who all stood at least a head taller than myself at the shortest.

“Who… who are you?”

The alicorn looked up and I saw a sort of spark of recognition in her eye though I could swear I had never seen her before.  “My sister banished me to the moon when the darkness took over me.  I didn’t mean to do it… I just let my hatred get the best of me…”

“But… what is your name?”

“My name?” the alicorn questioned.  When I nodded her head went down and she spoke as though she was on the edge of crying.  “My name isn’t important before.  No one remembers me like this.  They all know me as Nightmare… Nightmare Moon.  But I’m not like that, I swear!  I swear…”

I cautiously knelt down beside the alicorn and stroked her mane.  “What… what’s your name?” she asked me.

“Well, for a while I was known as Nemo… but I think my name’s actually Lucas.”

“Lucas?”  I felt the alicorn lean into my hand.  “That’s a nice name.”

“I want to know yours.”

“Mine?  You mean… my actual name?”

“…well, yes.”

The alicorn stared at me with her bright blue eyes.  But as I was looking into her eyes, I noticed the fur become darker, the mane become more ethereal, and her voice become much older and wiser.

“My name… is Luna.”

“Luna!?”

But she wasn’t there anymore.  I was awake in my bed in Twilight’s library as though nothing had happened.  I pulled the covers off me and sat up in bed, hearing a scuffling of hooves outside as a light turned on and the door opened to reveal both Twilight and Revenant Wings standing in the study.

“Nemo!  Are you alright?”

I looked over to them.  “How… how long was I asleep for?”

“About an hour,” Revenant replied.

I looked around.  “An hour…”

Twilight entered the room and sat on the bed while Revenant stood at the door looking concerned but unable to move.  “Nemo…” the purple alicorn asked.  “What happened?”

It took a while for the words to come out.  “I… I saw my mother.  She… she was singing a lullaby to me when I was a few months old.  She… she called me Lucas… and said that I brought light into her world.”

“Well,” Twilight said.  “The name ‘Lucas’ in some cultures can mean ‘light’ or ‘bringer of light’.  And it fits you well.”

“But… but what about you shouting for Luna?” Revenant asked.

I couldn’t answer him.  I didn’t know myself.

II.5 - Night is Wonderous

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

II.6 - The Dark Into the Dawn

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

II.7 - Night is Honest

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

II.8 - Night is Loyal

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

II.9 - Shifted Perspective

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

I.4 - A Strangely Familiar Day in Canterlot

I awoke to a rather gentle knock at the door.  For a while, I ignored it, not wanting to get up from the bed even though the ceiling above me only continued to remind me of the previous night’s events.  How had things turned so sour so quickly?  Why had things gone that way so fast?  What did Luna have against me?  Now, quite frankly, I didn’t much care that Luna thought of me that way, seeing as I wasn’t staying for too much of an extended period of time, but the fact that I wasn’t quite sure what I had done was what had set me off.

“Nemo?” came a voice from outside.  “Nemo?  Unlock the door, please.  I have your supplement for the morning.”

I was thankful it wasn’t Shining Armor.  Having to speak to him would mean having to go through what happened again last night, which wasn’t pretty and included me throwing one of the glass cups in the suite for water so hard against the glass that it broke.  He wasn’t mad at me for it, I think, and he stayed until I had calmed down enough to speak normally.  Shaking the memories of the previous night out of my head, I changed again and opened the door for the guard, a white pegasi I recognized as Revenant Wings, carrying the silver tray in his mouth.  He brought it over to the coffee table and set the tray down; I drank the supplement, which tasted more like orange today, and watched as the guard looked over to the broken glass in shock.

“I… I shall get the maids in here to clean that up for you,” Revenant said, and left the room as soon as he said it.

I sat in the suite for a little while and got a not-so broken glass for a drink of water before leaving the suite and going down to the dining hall for breakfast.  There wasn’t so many ponies in there today; aside from Princess Cadence and Shining Armor, in addition to one or two other ponies eating at the opposite end, the hall was empty.  I sat down across from Shining Armor in my usual place and kept quiet except for a “thank you” as the butler brought me a plate with eggs, fruit, and what I knew as ‘French toast’.

“How are you doing, Nemo?”

I winced.  The question was inevitable, but I didn’t want to hear it all the same.

“Alright, I guess.”

“No more broken glass?”

Cadence looked shocked, but said nothing.

“I thought about it.”

“…but you didn’t actually do it?”

“No.”

Cadence looked between me and Shining Armor.  “Wha… what happened?”

Shining Armor told Cadence about Luna.  The reactions that I saw from her were pretty much to be expected: she got up, went around the table towards where I was sitting and started looking me over, mumbling things like “Are you okay?  Did you get in a fight?  Maybe you should see the nurse…”

“I don’t need a nurse,” I interrupted.  “I’m fine.  It went no farther than words.  I threw the glass at the window because I got angry, but I didn’t actually do any harm to Shining Armor or Luna.  Can we please drop the subject?”

Cadence went back to her seat and looked to Shining Armor.  “Maybe some dream therapy?”

“How do we do that when the one in charge of dreams is irritated with him?”

“Point taken.”

I sighed and motioned to the hall, trying to change the subject.  “How come hardly anyone is in here?”

Shining Armor was as willing to turn things around as I was.  “Most ponies in the court get the weekend off.  Today and tomorrow there’s nopony around except for a few select guards, the royal librarian, and the head archivist.  I get today and tomorrow off, too, but since Cadence is one of the princesses, we stay in the castle.”

I nodded.  It made sense… sort of.

“Hey!” Cadence brightened.  “Why don’t you head out for a little with us today?  We’ll be going to a park for a little bit, then heading out to lunch, then attending a Wonderbolt show.”

“Wonderbolts…?”

“They’re an aerial stunt and military team.  They’re some of the best flyers in Equestria and make up some of our air force, but they don’t have much to deal with, so they put on shows to keep their skill and stamina up.  It’ll be at the Cliffside stadium this evening.”

“So long as neither of you two mind…”

“Oh, you’re not going to be a problem, Nemo,” Shining Armor said.  “Me and Cadence talked about this last night, and she has no problem with you hanging out at us.  She can get you an extra ticket for the Wonderbolt Derby in the royal box with us.”

It was a change to get out of the castle…

“Alright.  So long as you’re absolutely sure…”

“It’s fine,” Shining Armor and Cadence said simultaneously.

* * *

I had a wonderful afternoon with Shining Armor and Cadence.  We got in a carriage pulled by some members of the Solar Guard and made our way through the busy streets of Canterlot until we hit somewhere close to downtown and the largest buildings.  I stepped out with the others and found us flanked by more of the Guard.  We walked about a block down a street where no carriages ran to a steel and glass entry gate with a ticket booth; one of the guards paid for the seven in our entourage and we passed through.

The scenery suddenly changed from tall buildings of wood and stone and metal to a lush park with rolling hills and trees.  Off in the distance, I could see a small pond around which some ponies fished, and closer to the entrance we stepped through was a playground with fillies on playground equipment and older mares sitting around on picnic benches talking and laughing with one another.  A few bowed as we passed, but most shouted a hello towards Cadence, who also seemed very popular with the fillies that ran up to her looking for hugs or a pat on the head which Cadence was more than happy to oblige throughout our time in the park.

We wandered through the park, stopping for a rest and an ice cream at a small amusement park located towards the center of the larger park.  There was a carousel and a Ferris wheel and a few other carnival attractions that were free of charge, likely since it cost to enter the park.  Once we had finished with our dessert we walked up to a hill that allowed us to see all of Canterlot.  I found myself amazed at the size of it and how small the towers of Canterlot Castle looked in the distance.  After a short while of just taking in the sights, we walked back down the hill and through the park to the entrance gate we had originally come through and went back into the busy streets of Canterlot.

Once in Canterlot, Shining Armor led us to a restaurant located on an out-of-the-way street and we were seated – the guard joining us though they remained ever vigilant.  Shining Armor ordered a few large plates for the whole table, plates and bread were brought out, and soon large bowls of salad and these pieces of a food that looked and tasted almost like chicken and another that looked and tasted like pork links (“You’d know it as tofu.”) were brought out with a variety of sauces and a few large bowls of rice.  It was different fare than I had expected, but tasted good and I gorged myself nonetheless.  I saw multiple ponies during dinner come up to Shining Armor and Cadence, who were more than willing to talk with them and would hear most out for a little while before resuming lunch.  A few ponies came by to gawk at me, but Shining Armor’s presence alone kept that to a minimum.

“Are you alright?” Shining Armor asked me after a few of the latter type were shooed away.  “You’ve hardly said anything.”

“I’m not quite sure what to say,” I told him.  “I’ve mostly been trying to take in everything I see that’s new or unfamiliar, which is a lot less than I thought.  It’s so strange; I remember doing almost this exact same thing back at home with my family back when I was younger, so I keep having these feelings of déjà vu.  It just feels so… so…”

“…normal?”

“Yes.”

“…is that a good thing or a bad thing?”

“It helps, that’s all I’ll say.”

“Well, when we’re done here, we’ll be going to see something that I don’t think you’ve ever seen before.  The shows done by the Wonderbolts are a thing to behold, even from the recruits.  I’ve gone to their shows every time they pass through Canterlot since I was a colt and I’ve always been amazed by how amazing their skill is.”

“I’m already amazed by how friendly you’ve been towards everyone that’s stopped by.”

“A royal’s work is never done,” Cadence chimed in.  “Even when we’re out on the town to enjoy ourselves, it’s better that we still put on a good face for the royalty.  It benefits us in the court and the people: we’re still able to enjoy a day out of the castle for ourselves but our people see us as one of them and trust us.”

“Probably helps that you use your powers for good reasons.  Celestia gives them life and protection, Luna gives them rest and shelter, and you give them joy and a sense of sanctuary.  It all works so well together.”

“Then… why don’t you want to stay?” Shining Armor asked.

“It’s welcoming, but it’s not home.”

The conversation was left at that until we got into the carriage heading for the Wonderbolts’ Canterlot stadium.

“Define ‘home’ as you see it,” Shining Armor asked once the carriage got rolling.

“Well… home is where you feel comfortable.  Home is where you feel safe.  Home is where you walk in and everyone accepts you.  Home is where your family is.  Home is where you’re able to settle down and not have to worry.  Maybe… maybe most of all, home is where you feel like you belong, like you can identify with those around you.”

“…and you don’t feel any of those?”

“I feel safe, maybe.  Safer than I’ve ever felt, to be completely honest.  But I’m not comfortable.  I’m not able to settle down.  I don’t have family.  And I just don’t feel like I’m in the right place.”

“…can you remember any more of what life was like back there?”

“…no.”

“What was home like?”

I struggled to think.  “Well… home was a one-bedroom apartment.  I paid my rent, I paid for my groceries, I paid my taxes.  I lived on my own, and I think I had been doing a pretty good job of it.”

“But even Celestia hasn’t told us the conditions you were brought here under.”

“Why is that?  Why would she know and not tell me anything?  Why would she leave me in the dark like I’ve been, trying to regain my memories on my own when she could just do something like tell me or use some magic spell on me that shows me all the memories I’ve lost?  Isn’t such a thing possible?”

“It is,” Cadence said sadly, “but only in dire situations.  The revealing of memories is only used if there is a threat to royalty or something that threatens to upset the balance of harmony, as it’s regarded as an invasion of highest levels of privacy as well as something generally considered untrustworthy.  The last time such memory spells were used was done by Twilight Sparkle when the entity Discord came and turned the Elements of Harmony against each other, at which point it was used to break the Elements from Discord’s curse.”

“Couldn’t this whole situation be counted as ‘dire’ or a ‘threat to the balance of harmony’?”

“Word about the fact that Celestia has brought a human that hasn’t changed into a pony has not spread very far.  In fact, the reason ponies gawked at you was because Celestia hasn’t said anything.  With so little ponies aware even of your existence here, in addition to the fact that no one really pays much attention to rumor and more to Celestia’s word, you’re entire entrance went under the radar.”

“…is it possible Celestia wants to keep me in the dark because she wants me to stay?”

“It’s entirely possible,” Shining Armor admitted.  “But, since no one really knows what is going on in Celestia’s brain until sometimes years after the fact, none of us are quite sure.  We’ve since learned to trust Celestia as much as we can and hope that it’s revealed to us in time.  I’m sorry; I really wish there was more we could say, but we’re almost as much in the dark as you are.”

It didn’t comfort me any that I couldn’t find out any more than what I could remember already – and it wasn’t coming back relatively quickly – but I was partly cheered that Shining Armor and Cadence were willing to help me out as much as they could.  Additionally, I decided that there was no point worrying about it now since we weren’t in the castle and came to the conclusion I should enjoy myself for the time being and attempt to ask Princess Celestia about it later that evening, or the next morning if she wasn’t too busy.

The Wonderbolt stadium was a large complex on a cliff within sight of the castle boasting a store for Wonderbolt memorabilia, a few restaurants and even a couple of pubs that were similar to the one I had gone to with Shining Armor.  There were also a few conference halls along the sides, where Wonderbolts sometimes met on days there weren’t performances to discuss routines.  There was also a part of the complex that looked like a parking garage, but it boasted a sign saying “Canterlot Royalty and Wonderbolt Carriages Only.”  Inside the garage, the door of the carriage was opened for us and the three of us left the carriage, followed by the guards that escorted us, and we were led to a pristine wooden door opened for us by a unicorn valet.  Inside the room was a marble and wood foyer with statues of Wonderbolt Hall of Fame members – and honorary members – and a small counter where a single unicorn stood dressed in a suit.

“Who is in the party this evening?” he asked genially as a smile became forced onto his face.

“Shining Armor, Captain of the Guard,” Shining Armor replied.

“Princess Cadence of Canterlot and the Crystal Empire,” Cadence replied.

“And with us is Nemo,” Shining Armor continued, “guest of Her Majesty Princess Celestia and a guest of ours this evening.”

“Excellent,” the unicorn said and began writing things on a sheet of paper with a gold-feathered quill.  “So… that will be three of the royal box seats and three passes for the private reception afterwards.”

“Yes,” Shining Armor confirmed.  “What sort of food will be present?”

“Sandwiches, fruit, and snack items, as well as both alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks.  You’ll have to pay for the alcohol, though.”

Shining Armor nodded and called for one of the guards to pay the ticket fees.  I was given a badge, along with Shining Armor and Princess Cadence, for access into the reception when it was time, and we were given tickets for the box seats.  Afterwards, the unicorn called a young pony dressed in a suit with what I can best describe as a red undershirt over to the counter.  “Escort these three and their guards to the royal viewing box.”

I walked behind the couple and the attendant as we went through a marble hallway and a few double doors until we reached a door with a golden plaque saying “Royal Canterlot Viewing Box: Royalty and Guests Only.”  The pony opened the door with a push of his hoof and motioned for us to come in.  “Should you need anything,” he said, “push the red button and speak into the speaker next to the door.  It will be on its way shortly.  In the meantime, is there anything we can get you?”

“I think a few glasses of water will suffice for now,” Shining Armor said.

“Yes, sir.”  The attendant bowed, then left the room.

The box itself had wall-to-wall red carpet and portraits of the three princesses on the walls.  Arranged in two rows, one lower than the rest of the box, were fifteen wide plush seats.  Princess Cadence and Shining Armor sat in two in the bottom row nearest to a wide open window as an orchestra started playing through the high-quality speakers in every corner of the box.  I chose a seat next to Shining Armor and sat patiently waiting.

“When does the show start?” I asked.

“They’re playing the opening orchestral theme, which will go for a few minutes.  Once the theme finishes, then the Wonderbolts themselves actually begin the performance.”

I took a moment to look out the window and down at the rest of the stadium.  It was all along the edge of the cliff and seemed like a large drop down, but a magical barrier prevented anyone from actually going over.  There looked to be around forty thousand ponies in the stadium, lined up in twenty sections of seating.  It reminded me of some of the baseball stadiums I had seen back in real life, only the back half of the stadium was wide open over a narrow valley that stretched outwards into the distance.  Our own box was maybe two stories above the nearest level of seating and offered a view of the entire layout of the stadium, including an intricate racetrack and a series of cloud rings placed in an even more detailed pattern.  I leaned out of the box and took it all in as the orchestra swelled then finished.

A smooth baritone voice came over the speaker as the sunlight dimmed slightly as it went under the horizon.  “Welcome, fillies and gentlecolts, to this performance of the Wonderbolt Derby and Aerial Show! A list of music may be found in the program and schedule of events.  For now, please enjoy our first performance: a synchronized flight run by Honorary Wonderbolt Rainbow Dash, Wonderbolt’s Second-in-Command Soarin, and Wonderbolt Captain Spitfire!”

No sooner did the baritone voice finish than three trails of color – one a deep sky blue, one orange like fire, and one that looked like it was made from every color of the rainbow – shot out from above our box, causing me to jump back into my seat with a laugh from Shining Armor and Cadence.  The three formed a triangle formation as they zipped around the arena, doing corkscrews and loops and barrel rolls that made my stomach flip just watching them.  The orange trail always remained slightly ahead of the other two, leading them in everything they did, which was always done in perfect synchronization.  It was amazing to watch, like watching a trio of fighter jets at an air show.

When that was over, the rainbow trail went to a small building on the other side of the valley as three more pegasi joined the show.  I can’t really describe how amazing it was to see them zip around the arena, how awestruck I was at the speed and quickness of the flights, and the amazing way in which the five pegasi easily traded the lead as they each performed their signature move.  I was even more amazed when the rainbow trail returned at the end of the first half and shot towards the sky before flying downwards at increasing speed until a cone shape appeared around her, then broke with the sound of a sonic boom and the brightest rainbow trail behind her, in addition to one, then two, then three rainbow rings from the top of the stadium as she broke the quickly-forming cone again and again before creating a rainbow that passed over the entire length of the stadium and lit up the darkening sky.

“Fillies and gentlecolts,” the baritone voice returned.  “We will now take a twenty-minute intermission before the second half of the Wonderbolts’ performances.  The show will resume in twenty minutes.”

Shining Armor looked over at me.  “Well, what do you think?”

I didn’t answer him, partially because I was staring outside with my jaw dropped at the rainbow rings that were just fading away.

I heard Shining Armor snigger.  “I think he likes it.”

“That… was… amazing…”

“Glad you think so!”  This voice was different enough that I had to turn my head to look.  Flying outside our balcony were two pegasi mares, one with a cyan coat and a rainbow mane that was mostly covered by a blue and gold bodysuit with lightning bolts on it, while next to her was another with golden fur and an orange mane that reminded me of fire in another of the blue and gold suits.

“It’s always nice to see a newcomer enjoy the show,” the orange mare said as she flew through the window and settled herself down on the carpet behind us, the cyan mare following suit.  Shining Armor and Cadence got up to speak with her and I followed them, stretching my legs after sitting down for the last hour since the show started.

“Hey there, Spitfire,” Shining Armor said as he and the orange mare shook hooves.  “Where’s Soarin?  I wanna see my old university buddy again.”

“He’s taking a nap in the locker room,” Spitfire replied.  “I think he’s feeling a little under the weather lately.”

“Hey, Shiny!” the cyan mare said.  “Remember me?”

“Of course I remember, Rainbow Dash,” Shining Armor said.  “How’s my little sister doing down there in Ponyville.”

“Being an egghead, as usual.  She went with me to the release of the new Daring Do book, though, so it’s not all bad.  She still can’t fly well or fast enough to keep up with me, though.”

“Well, what do you expect?  It hasn’t been long since Princess Celestia went through the whole ceremony.  Anyways, give her my regards, will you?”

“Sure thing, Shiny.”

I saw Spitfire look towards me.  “Who’s your guest?” she asked Shining Armor.

“That’s Nemo,” Shining Armor said as I waved nervously, trying to make myself as small as possible.  “Princess Celestia brought him here a few days ago, but he’s having trouble with his memory and he’s being taken back after the Summer Sun Celebration.”

“Pity,” Spitfire said as she shook her head and turned back to Shining Armor.  “I’ve had a few Wonderbolts come from the other dimension and they’ve made great fliers.  How’s Thomas doing?  I feel bad after sending him the rejection notice.”

“He took up a spot in the Guard shortly after and he’s doing fine  He’s paired with his twin, Revenant Wings.”

“Good to hear.  Could have used someone like Revenant though…”

Spitfire walked over to me as Shining Armor went back to talking with cyan mare.  “So, you don’t remember anything before you were brought here?”

“Very little.”

What more do you say to what very well may be considered one of the celebrities of another dimension?

I noticed that Spitfire was looking at me very intently.  She walked a loop around me as she continued looking.  Her eyes narrowed for a minute before a gentle, approving smile formed on her face.  “If you do decide to stay and are transformed into a pegasus, call me afterwards.  I think you’d make a great flyer with a little practice.  The shoulder muscles are in the right position and strength for wings, and you look like you would lose any excess weight fast enough to tone down to the right aerodynamic form.”

“Um… thank you?”

I made some more small talk with Spitfire, who kept dropping strange comments that I think may have been due to taking an interest with me.  I had to admit, I did find her fascinating both to look at and to talk to, especially with her family history that sounded a lot like the stories I always remembered hearing of World War II and the Vietnam War and the soft feathers that covered her wings that were so straight and clean that they shimmered in the lights that were being turned on around the stadium, and found myself even more stunned by her as she left our box into the stadium lights that made her fiery coat even brighter.

“Someone has taken an interest in the Wonderbolt Captain…” Cadence said in a teasing, sing-song voice.

I blushed.  “N-no, I haven’t!”

I calmed down when the show’s second half started with a series of races between the Wonderbolts (minus Rainbow Dash) and sat back down in my seat.  I was beginning to get exhausted and didn’t remember much of the second half, and was thankful when we left the box to go to the reception hall.  There, I managed to get a chance to talk with Rainbow Dash as we ate sandwiches and drank an alcohol-free cider.

“You saw my second set of Sonic Rainbooms?” Rainbow asked eagerly.

“Both times were just awesome…!” I said, almost unable to contain myself.

“You know it!  I’ve been working on ways to pull off multiple Rainbooms without stopping, and I think I finally got it down!”

“How come you aren’t in the Wonderbolts?”

“The leader of the weather team in Ponyville says he can’t let me go.  I’m lazier than the others, but get the job done faster.  Also, all my friends are in Ponyville, and I can’t leave them hanging like that.  I’m free to perform with them whenever I want, though, so it’s all good.”

“Makes sense.”

Rainbow Dash squinted.  “You seem like an egghead,” she said seemingly out of left field.  “If you ever come down to Ponyville, you really should meet Twilight.  She’s so into books, but she’s actually pretty nice.  Might also help you get acquainted with some of us.”

Rainbow nudged me with one of her fore-hooves.  “You might seem like an egghead, but you can appreciate something awesome.  I like that and would like to hang out more if you ever pass through Ponyville.”

“Um… sure.”

Rainbow Dash laughed, but it was a good-natured one.  “Anyways, I should probably get going and head out to Ponyville.  I’m starting to miss home after this last session of traveling around.  See you around, Nemo!”

I left myself and went to find Shining Armor and Cadence.  They were in the middle of talking with Spitfire, but had seen me talking with Rainbow Dash and figured they leave me alone for a little while longer.  We finished our small plates and said our goodbyes before heading over to the carriage to go back home.

“I was talking to Spitfire back there,” Shining Armor said.  “She said you’d make a good candidate for the Wonderbolts if you decided on being a pegasus.”

“I’m not staying.”

“Why not?  You looked happier than you’ve been ever since coming here.”

“I was.  I mean, I am.  But… everything keeps reminding me of home.  It’s not much, just a bunch of little things, but it was like I was able to fulfill all my childhood dreams.  The only thing missing is my family.  My time to head home can’t come fast enough.”

Shining Armor’s head dropped.  “I suppose I can’t persuade you otherwise, and it isn’t my position to.  If you want to go home, I suppose you know what you want.”

I figured that, if there was one thing I missed, it would have been Shining Armor.  It didn’t help that it felt that he was one of the first true friends I ever had.