Four Corners

Horatio stared at the horse in bewilderment, the sleeping guard at her feet mumbling to himself. Horatio's eyes darted between the horse and the door, wondering if it would be better to introduce himself alone or with an escort. With the armed guards attempting to kill him at every turn, Horatio felt himself drawn towards the horse.

"Thank you," Horatio said, heart still racing. "Thank you. So, so much." His suit's voice receptor slurred his "S" pronunciation somewhat.

"What are you?" The horse walked over to him cautiously, and suddenly jabbed his suit with a hoof. "Are you some kind of alien?"

"I suppose you could say that," Horatio said. "I'm Horatio. Human astronaut."

"What in Equestria...?"

Horatio detected a new voice coming from behind him, this time one of an older-sounding female. He turned and saw a huge white horse with the craziest hair he'd seen staring at him, eyes wide. She had a horn and wings, strangely. He hadn't seen that race yet. Maybe it was a mutation, or simply a fake horn. It even looked like it was taped back on, as if it was recently broken off. She also donned a light pink bathrobe. She eyed the unconscious guard on the floor, then looked back to Horatio, her eyes showing disbelief and anger.

It was then that Horatio realized that the horn was indeed real, if the fireball hurtling towards him was any sign.

Celestia walked down her long, marble hallway. Never before had a hallway so nice seem so bland. After seeing the hallway for thousands of years on end, it gets old fast. Lots of things get old fast. Even the aliens that had mysteriously shown up in her throne room had grown bland. But alas, her morning duties called her. At 6 in the bucking morning.

Celestia, of course, was a wreck. Her mane, tail  and fur were frazzled in several places and her eyes were drooped with sleep. Her breath reeked of coffee, which was being levitated beside her lazily. To combat her horrible looks as she went travelled to the aliens' rooms, she wore a light pink bathrobe. It was a tad big on her, but she didn't mind. It just added to the nice feeling of it.

A couple of guards trotted by, snapping salutes as they passed Celestia. She returned it with a kind smile. Then it was back to walking down the bland hallway. Last night there was a mare screaming somewhere in the castle, startling Celestia from her slumber. She wanted to investigate herself, but Luna insisted she stay in bed. So she did.

A few minutes of walking later, Celestia saw something out of the ordinary - A door, kicked in from some strong force. The hinges were torn off the wall cleanly, and Celestia could hear talking coming from inside. However, one of the voices sounded like it came from a bullhorn, plus some parts of it were slurred. It sounded like a gramophone. Curous, Celestia peered around the corner of the doorway. Her face came mere inches from running into a tall, bulky white creature that was facing a light blue mare in a maid's outfit.

"What in Equestria...?" She mumbled.

Her first thought was that it was Milvar in a funny costume. But Milvar wasn't this tall, or muscular. This thing also made many hisses and talked very unlike Milvar did. Then, the tall figure turned around. Celestia saw her face reflected it the creature's single, golden eye. Its chest was adorned with several tubes and buttons, and every few seconds steam would hiss from a vent underneath it's eye. Then she saw it.

A guard, helmet bent in, lay on the floor. Was he dead? Celestia didn't care. If this thing hurt her guard, it was dangerous. She formed a fireball spell, firing it at the creature as a horrible pain enveloped her damaged horn, driving her to her knees. Her eyes drilled themselves shut. For a few moments, all she was aware of was agony erupting from her horn. Then she heard screaming, hissing, the hoofsteps of guards and a captain barking orders. She felt a magical grasp over her chest, then she was on her feet. She carefully opened an eye, wincing at the pain, and saw a gray guard, horn lit, aiding her to her feet. She saw more guards circling the white creature, now sporting a blackened, charred chestplate. It didn't move.

"You majesty, are you alright?"

"Yes... yes, I'm all right." Celestia wasn't alright. Her forehead felt like it was being dipped in lava. "Water, please."

The guard helping her roared out the order, causing her ears to ring, and moments later a pitcher of water was produced in front of her. She sat on her haunches again as curious onlookers watched from the sidelines. Fox, Milvar and Naughty watched beside her, all of their eyes wide. Twilight was nowhere to be seen.

"Would you like a glass, your maj-"

The guard didn't have time to finish as Celestia pried the lid off the pitcher and chugged half of its contents in one gulp. She took a breath, then dunked the rest over her aching forehead. Relief washed over her.

"Ahh, better," Celestia said. The guard was speechless, but his face showed no emotion. "More please."

When Luna arrived, Celestia had finished off her third pitcher of water. Luna couldn't stifle a giggle at Celestia's dripping-wet face.

"Sister, art thou well?" Luna visually inspected her older sister, even going so far as to open her mouth to check for anything. "What happened?"

Pulling her jaw free, Celestia recalled the events prior to now. By now, the maid had a blanket around her and was being escorted out by several armed guards. She had a small cut on her face, presumably from the evil white creature. When she had finished, gasps erupted from beside her. She turned and saw the white creature rising to its feet. More gasps and a few screams came from the crowd around her. Fox reached for his nonexistent blaster while Milvar and Naughty readied their fists. Celestia rose to her feet, readying another fireball spell, only to be stopped by Luna.

"No, sister. Let us handle this one!"

Luna's horn shimmered a dark blue as she charged a lightning spell. She neared the white monster, which was now leaning against a wall for support, clutching its chest. Luna adressed the creature.

"Monster, identify thyself!"

The creature's head turned, golden eye falling on Luna. Said alicorn faltered for a moment at just how intimidating its gaze could be. Without waiting for an answer, Luna fired a bolt of lightning into the creature's chest, sending it flying into the wall and screeching in pain. The crowd around the scene cheered as the monster was defeated. Celestia sighed, closing her eyes in relief as the pain in her forehead subsided.

"Stop, please!"

The commotion and panic instantly stopped as a monotone, gramophonic voice emanated from the monster. It once again rose to its feet, but this time its chest was making a hissing sound, along with a small flame flickering out of existence on its metallic surface. Celestia returned her gaze to the creature, preparing to flee if no spells worked against it. It must have been wearing a special suit of armor.

"I mean no harm!"

"Liar!" Luna charged toward the creature, tackling it with amazing strength. "What hast thou done to my sister?!"

"I didn't do anything, I swear!" The creature raised its arms, trying to shield its vulnerable eye. "I just turned up on this world a couple days ago, I don't even know where I am!" The creature's voice slurred a few words, and several were just garbled static.

This got Celestia's attention. "Wait!"

The blue horse turned to her sister, giving Horatio the chance to shove her off of his body. She landed with a grunt as Horatio readied his fists. He was prepared to fight if these horses didn't cooperate. His chestplate had luckily absorbed both attacks, but not without knocking the wind out of him.

"You said you just appeared here, correct?" The tall white horse was now standing.

He nodded.

"Then you might be the fourth one!"

"What?" Horatio was just plain confused now.

A while later, Horatio sat in a chair in the tall horse's bedroom, intently listening to the white horse - no, pony -  explained the current situation. Apparently he was brought to this magical world by accident when a spell failed. Horatio still didn't quite understand the whole concept of magic, but he dismissed the thought for now. He kept calling her horse, but she had introduced herself as Celestia. She still wore her bathrobe.

"So what you're saying is I'm stuck here?" Horatio shifted in his chair, which screeched with his immense suit's weight.

"I'm afraid so," Said the horse. "At least a few days until my horn heals."

"I see a problem here," Horatio said, monotone voice faltering for a moment. "My suit's air supply is about to run out."

"Oh, that's not good," The horse said. "Do you think you can make it?"

"Don't think so. My suit says only a few more hours left of air. That fireball sure took a hit on my air tanks."

"Can you breathe our air?" Celestia was now genuinely worried. Not only had she injured a friendly creature, but she had also possibly summoned him to his death.

"I'm not sure, my air tester was damaged when I flew through your castle's roof."

"So that's how that hole got there..." Celestia chuckled to herself. "Back to matters, why not test it?"

"That's another problem," Horatio said sadly. "I can't take this suit off without another person to help me."

"I could help you," Celestia stood, walking over to Horatio. She then turned her eyes to behind him. "I'm sorry, I didn't hear you knock.

Horatio turned around and saw three figures at the door. One of them was a walking fox. The other was a walking teddy bear. Horatio's heart nearly stopped when he laid eyes on the tallest one of the bunch.

He was a human.

"Horatio, I'd like you to meet Milvar, Naughty Bear and Fox McCloud."

Horatio stood and politely took the fox's paw in his glove, shaking it. "Name's Horatio."

"Fox. Nice to meet you."

"Creative name."

Horatio then grunted in pain as Fox squeezed his hand ever so tightly. "Thank you.'

"Good to meetcha."

"Likewise, little fella."

Lastly was Milvar, the hulking man. And Horatio thought he looked tall in a space suit; this guy was only just shorter than him!

"You're a human," Horatio said. "Like me, and you're breathing just fine!"

"Nice to meet you too," Horatio chuckled, patting the astronaut's shoulder. "I can breathe perfectly. I reckon you don't need that helmet."

Then it hit him. Horatio forgot he could open his suit's air vents and let air in that way. If he was lucky, he wouldn't have to take his suit off. He was so glad! This meant he wouldn't have to reveal his face to these alien ponies except to eat. The air concern was covered. Looks like his stay here wouldn't be so bad after all! He explained this to his new companions, who were more than happy to have another friendly face (or visor) to talk to.

"So," Celestia announced, walking over with a broad grin. "Now that we know you'll survive on this planet, what do you say we grab some breakfast?"

Milvar, Fox and Naughty voiced their approval.

"Horatio, would you like to come?"

"I might as well introduce myself to the ponies here. Sure!"

After a few minutes, Celestia was walking beside the group, along with Luna and a drowsy Twilight who had only just been informed of the whole situation. She was pleased to have yet another human to study and learn from. Celestia had put on her royal look, crown and everything. Now Horatio had to push himself to keep up - his suit wasn't light. That reminded him of something.

"Hey, Princess Celestia?"

"Dear, you can just call me Celestia." Celestia turned to him and smiled warmly. "What can I help you with?"

"You and your sister owe me fifteen-thousand dollars."

"What's a dollar?" Twilight asked.

Naughty informed the ponies.

"Is your suit really that expensive?" Luna asked.

"Fraid so, Princess Luna," Horatio dipped his helmed head. "They're not cheap."

"Well in that case," Celestia interrupted, "I can pay you when we get back. We're sorry about that."

"No, I'm sorry for breaking down your door, scaring your citizens crapless, beating up your guards and making you hurt yourself. If you ask me, that's a pretty good excuse for shooting fire and who knows what at me. So what do you say we cut that down to some free breakfast instead?"

Celestia blinked. Horatio was a good bargainer. "Sounds fair enough."

"Deal?" Horatio asked, stopping in the hallway and offering his hand. Celestia put her hoof in it and shook firmly.

"Deal."

Everyone that sat around the table was shocked at how strikingly handsome Horatio was under his helmet. He'd removed it to dig into his pancakes, and they all sat astounded. His hair was jet black and he had a carefully trimmed mustache above his lip. To Fox, he looked like some kind of business executive rather than an astronaut. Milvar stroked his beard, wishing he had groomed it, and Naughty didn't pay much attention. He loved pancakes.

"This is simply delicious!" Horatio announced. "These are much better than the pancakes we ate on the moon. What's your secret?"

Horatio eyed Luna, who only then snapped out of her trance. "U-u-mm, nothing special in these pancakes. They are simply made with love and care, is that not right, sister?"

Celestia giggled knowingly; Luna liked Horatio.

Or maybe it was just his manly mustache.