A Kindred Spirit

Chapters

A Difficult Journey
Introductions
Profound Discoveries (A.C.I. REVISED)
Foreign Exchange
Thoughts of Trains
Socially Inept Diplomat (Last Edited Chapter)
Princesses
Magic and Massages
Back to Basics
Back to Basics Pt. 2
Talking in the Library
A Wash: A Time for Thought
The Moon in my Dreams
Another Morning in Canterlot
A Night with its Princess
Back to Ponyville
AM Hours in the Library
Coach Dash and Rarity
Musings
Another Nighttime Mishap
More Mystery
Intro
The Farmer & the Naturalist
Dinner with Royalty
A Dream Encounter
A Day in the life of a Pony (Apologies, everyone, for impossibly slow update)
End Of School (AND POLL)

A Difficult Journey

"Twilight, you can stop now."

Twilight Sparkle, dripping with sweat, heaved a sigh of relief, she had been holding the exerting memory spell for a period long enough for me to recollect what had happened, and promptly forget it immediately after she stopped the spell.

"Holding that spell is like holding a mountain. All your memories are so locked away, the magic used to seal that off feels like some sort of magical law. I'm not sure you can ever access that part of your memory freely again."

"Well, that's disheartening." I remarked. "It's really odd to forget everything you were talking about a few seconds ago...but I guess I do that anyway." I laughed a little to myself, trying to lighten my own mood. Twilight wiped her brow.

"I can't say I understand how that feels. But if you don't mind," she began, dropping the towel and grasping a quill and piece of parchment instead, "please continue."

I woke to feel a soft, warm, dry breeze tickling my skin that was not in contact with the cold, mossy stone beneath me.

I groaned, stretched, and stood up.

What the hell?

Where am I-- where did I come from? What is my name? A serially escalating barrage of questions began cascading into my head. A voice that wasn't of my process of thought cut through these.

"Equestria, Earth, and you do not have a name; your former name belonged to you at your old home."

Wait--what?**

My mind began to run at approximately 1,936,482,586,138,419 tpm (thoughts per minute), now that the thought engine had picked up steam.

I get that that it probably isn't a simple teleportation spell, but I don't know of any spells that are sapient and read minds! What kind of spell *is** this? Hold on, why am I thinking about spells? How is this happening? Equestria isn't even real...* My brain continued its assault my consciousness with another salvo of questions.

"You are correct in the assumption that I am no petty spell. I am an ancient incantation of the oldest sort of power; I was provided a sapience of my own. I was summoned to perform what I was written to do, and will do what is necessary to have that completed. I will give you a moment to examine your surroundings, and yourself. Then I will bestow upon you your own mission and anything extra you require. I enjoy watching the thought processes of young beings like yourself."

"Okay then," I replied, unnecessarily. The... entity was in my head, anyway.

I briefly examined my surroundings to find that I was on some sort of tower. Examining the ground close to me, I saw my phone and my laptop, which I had some vague recollection of their existence and why these things were here. I walked to the edge and was greeted by an awesome panorama of a deep, dark forest, and of shorter stone turrets beneath me in various states of disrepair. I ran this information through my mental database, which was disturbingly riddled with way too many holes, and I figured out where I was.

The highest point of some sort of roofless spire in the very tallest tower of the ancient castle of Celestia & Luna, smack in the middle of the Everfree Forest.

A frustrated mental sigh ran through my head.

"Of all the places to drop me into Equestria, why did you pick here?"

"This is the point I am forced to rematerialize entities from after extreme distance transport. I didn't have a choice, you appeared here."

A brief pause lapsed before the entity asked me again about the subject at hand.

"Is there anything else that you might require for your journey?"

Hm.

I looked at myself for the first time, and found that I was still in some loose fitting and soft clothing that I slept in. I realized I had a pair of glasses on my face, which should have been obvious, but my memory was in sad shape and fog shrouded a few...many... most memories of my own personal life. My heart sank.

I... really don't know anything about... me. A cold sadness swept over me briefly, before I chased it away. I needed to focus and... even though I wasn't easily moved, the total loss of self pierced my mental armor like a tungsten dart.

I shook my head. Focus.

Right. I need better clothes.

"Clothes? I'm sorry, what's the occasion? I'm not sure who will care about your state of dress when you have a forest to traverse. They will only be damaged."

What? Oh, yes. This...yes, entity, was designed to think like a pony. He--it--doesn't understand

"Yes, well, my kind always wears clothing. As you can probably see, we don't really have fur to protect us. Our flesh is exposed and vulnerable. Also... it's a modesty thing. Our... hardware isn't exactly shrouded from view, and that's sort of a no-no zone." It was slightly embarrassing having to explain this, but it was necessary.

"Oh... well, I... see." Much to my surprise, the entity seemed bashful. "Utilitarian clothing, then?"

"Yeah, just... don't pick anything... odd." My memory may be Swiss cheese, but my sense in clothing remained. My preferences in general seemed to remain...

A flash of gold ruptured the air into a distorted tear, and I found myself in possession of a set of khakis and a thick cotton tee seemingly reconstructed before my eyes.

"How does that work?" I asked, wondering what the hell just happened.

"It's the same way I got you here. By stretching two points in space towards each other and atomizing the material to be transported, I can move things quickly across distances that would require days, weeks, years to travel otherwise."

It was extremely interesting, but undoubtedly required insane amounts of energy.

"Shouldn't that, I don't know, require the energy of seven million suns?"

I was given a telepathic shrug in response. "Congratulations on actually caring about the mechanics of this. It makes it much more enjoyable to actually have somepony who thinks about things."

I was somewhat flattered, but that's irrelevant. "Just how far away are we from Earth?" I had to know.

"In the league of about 250 parsecs."

250 parsecs! Why haven't we discovered this planet yet?! It's so close!... astronomically. Not really close at all.

"I'll leave that for you to learn. It's no fun having somepony tell you."

The indefinite pronoun was still foreign and stuck out like a sore thumb used to using other ones. Also, this thing was both a troll and sounded suspiciously similar to... someone.

"Is that all you need?"

I picked up my laptop and phone from the ground, putting the latter into my pocket. A backpack.

"For this... device you have, I presume?

Yes.

The yellow tear split the air again and a black backpack fell onto the ground.

"Anything else?"

I thought again for a moment, trying to find if I could need anything else. Well, chargers... but there's no power outlets anywhere, and I can't exactly build a generator from pieces lying around if I expect it to work. What good would that be? I wondered why I brought the electronics in the first place.

I can't think of anything else.

"Alright then. Brace yourself."

A short twinge of head pain passed, and left me momentarily disoriented. I found some introduced information at the forefront of my mind.

Ponyville is south of here. There are some landmarks to watch for.

Don't get caught in the Everfree after dark. Not even the most learned know what lurks here.

Ponies are an accommodating race and are prone to empathy. Make a good impression, I am an ambassador for my species as well as a needy individual.

The ponies will in all likelihood take ne to the palace. Again, good impressions. This is my destination.

I shook my head, the oddity of the situation striking me.

"Fare thee well, young human."

A surreal glittery gold smoke seemed to float out on my breath, and dissipated into nothingness. As it departed, I felt the notable tingling sensation and some heat that was inhabiting me leave with it. Immediately after it, something rebounded where it had, um, "sat", I guess, before, and it felt strange, like a vibrating piece of metal, except liquid. It seemed to diffuse throughout my limbs, and then I couldn't notice it any longer.

That... was bizarre. Back to business.

I decided to check the amount of daylight I had left. If it was too late, I would end up camping in the middle of the Everfree. I was no stranger to camping, but I was a stranger to the creatures that dwelled here and their diets.

Now, the million...um...bit! Million bit question, how do I get down from here?

After a quick once-over I located a steep, tight, crumbly spiral staircase leading down from this topless turret, and made the obvious decision of traveling down it, taking strong care so as to prevent the stair from disintegrating beneath my bipedal frame.

During this tedious process, I decided to survey the questionable state of my mental archives.

I found my memories of Earth's society were still in place, but nothing of my personal life. I knew how that planet, of a monumental distance from this place, worked. But, I knew not who I was. It's really strange, that.

I found my skills untouched as well; I was still good at the same things I supposed I was good at before.

I also found my knowledge of Equestria unabridged. Nice place...

My delayed reaction of excitement made its debut.

I was in Equestria. This place was only supposed to exist in fiction, a child's story. But here it was. Somehow, this place is so wholesome, despite having its own problems. Like... like it was all minor issues, things you could see fixing.

I didn't express feelings well, but I was truly looking forward to dwelling in this place.

Luna was sitting on her throne, an impenetrable darkness engulfing her.

It was worse to use the spell and have it fail me than to have ever used it at all.

She had hit an all-time low. In her state of depression, her dark mood manifested itself literally. The space around her was not inhabited by some strange smoke, but by a literal absence of light.

All she did now was lay upon her throne, all the windows in the hall covered by thick, deep purple curtains of the finest velvet letting little light leak through.

"Hark!" Luna boomed, startling her guards (though they were not inclined to show it).

"What is it you require, princess?" asked the commanding throne room guard.

"Thou art dismissed. Taketh thy leave."

"If I may speak out of turn, Princess," began the guard tenatively, "Do you mean all of us, or only I?"

"All. Now, do as I hath commanded thee."

"Yes, Princess," said the obviously pleased but slightly troubled guardsponies. Though they loved time off, they were concerned about what Luna would be doing...

Now she was totally alone. She let the composure she was barely maintaining crack, and she began to weep.

I had successfully navigated my way down through the castle layers, due to the layout being relatively straightforward. I stumbled into the main hall of the castle to see the giant golden platform upon which used to sit the Elements of Harmony. I looked at it for a short time, and just decided to carry on. However interesting that artifact may be, it holds absolutely no purpose anymore. It was simple to find my way out from there; I reentered the warm breezes of the clean Equestrian air from the dank stuffyness of the old castle. These breezes, however, were far less than comforting as the wind swayed the ancient rope bridge I carefully navigated.

Due to the information dump that had apparently occurred before the spell left me alone, I knew exactly where to go to make it to Ponyville. Entering the dark forest, my predator instincts kicked in; as a seasoned (but by no means expert) hunter, my eyes and ears scanned for any possible threats. This forest was entirely foreboding, and I had no intentions of getting waylaid by some sinister creature.

After many hours on high alert, I had crossed a river, managed the deepest part of the forest, stalked through a canyon, and climbed an extremely steep cliff, and consequently I was exhausted. I had nothing to eat, and the gnawing hunger was eating away at my strength. I was fading fast-- and so was the sun. Even though I was deeply tired, I knew one thing- I would NOT be sleeping in this forest. No way, and no how.

I had to keep going, and I did.

I ended up staggering to some place where the trees began to thin. I was feeling quite accomplished, having passed through the depths of a forest of strange beings on my own without being slain. I'm out... I'm out.

And then it was there. The growling of a wolf. I saw one pair of glowing green eyes advance from the shadows, and my spirits sank. I waited for the other sets to appear, spelling out my fate.

None came. I mentally sighed in relief, and I was determined; if it was a lone wolf, maybe I could fight it off. I looked around quickly for some sort of weapon, and came up with a natural and quite hefty wooden club from some piece of a tree lying next to my foot. I, exhausted, raised my newfound weapon to my shoulder. It boasted a quite satisfying weight around its far end.

The literal timber wolf, made of wood and only wood, advanced some more. It was about 5 yards away now.

I positioned my club in my hands in the familiar way a baseball player would his bat. I knew I could blow it apart with one swing if I hit it across the head. The adrenaline began to flow.

It charged. I swung.

I felt the recoil of a massive blow course up my arms as the gnarled piece of wood connected with the wooden hide of the timber wolf's chest. It recoiled and yelped.

"Damn it!" I mentally scolded myself. I could at least see it was badly hurt; this gave me an advantage.

However, I was not suited to this heavy club, and I would have preferred a knife or sword of some sort, and found it difficult to land another blow as the timber wolf's claws sliced ribbons from my skin on each pass; I hissed at each new wound, but did not flinch; the adrenaline in my veins would not allow it. I had avoided lunges to my blood vessels and vital organs and escaped with minor injuries from the attacks of the creature.

As it was about to lunge for the umpteenth time, I saw its move coming. As it leapt, I sidestepped it, and brought my club careening down into the wooden skull. It shattered under the massive blow; the sinister magic holding the fell creature together dissipated, and it fell to the forest floor in pieces.

I wanted to catch my breath, stop, regather my strength. I looked at my legs and arms, and I knew it would be a bad idea.

I wasted no time in moving as fast as I could to the edge of the forest; my wounds more substantial than I had expected now that I looked at them. The cuts were many, and some an inch deep. I was bleeding profusely, and I knew I likely would not live without treatment. As I shambled towards my best chance at survival, the world began to tunnel; I fought off unconsciousness as long as I could. A few faltering last steps brought me to the edge of a clearing, and onto the top of a hill.

Applejack had just finished planting the day's crops behind Big Mac, who had drug the massive plow about as if it were a simple cart filled with hay. Tired, but satisfied with her day's work, she began to make her way back to the farmhouse.

That was when she heard an enormous crack of wood striking wood, and the subsequent yelp of an injured timber wolf resound across the field at the forest's edge. She knew a timber wolf attack was no laughing matter, and she also knew that crack was obviously caused by a desperate pony in the dire situation. She began to gallop as fast as she could towards the source of the noise.

About a minute later, she heard another yelp from the timber wolf, this one cut off by some sickening blow it had just been dealt.

"Whoever it is just took 'im down," she thought, "but I doubt they got away without gettin' hurt."

By this time she was about a stone's throw away from the edge of the woods, when some sort of strange two-legged creature stumbled out!

"The hell is that thing? A minotaur with a hair disorder? Oh... it's bleeding..."

Just then this creature passed out and fell to the ground in a crumpling heap. The goodwill of the pony drove her to attempt to save this odd being, and she called out to her brother.

"Mac! Get over here. And bring a cart!"

Introductions

Applejack's ambulance rescue hardly went unnoticed. Ponies were first alarmed to see the urgency with which the transportation was taking place, and then stumped by the creature within. Similar to the observations of the apple-farming pony herself, many thought it a minotaur with a disease. However, the head did not match such an expanation. It was distinctly alien to the ponies. However, the occasional unknown being was known to exist in Equestria, usually from distant lands and with muddled ancestries. Nevertheless, the common interest was stirred, and word traveled quickly in a small town...

Soft. Warm.

Touch was the first sense to return.

The sound of hard material striking stone. A faint whiff of... disinfectant? Hearing. Smell.

Blurry images of a wall of fabric. Rails flanking me. The shining of an early morning sun on the roof.

Ahh. Vision.

I grunted, moving my arms. My joints felt stiff. I pushed back to sit myself up in the hospital bed.

Recall and acumen were slowly returning. I remembered the events that could have lead me here.

The curtain protecting me from the full brunt of the sun was withdrawn, and I squinted, bringing up a hand to shield my eyes.

"Oh... you're awake," a cool, feminine voice observed. Warmth seemed to permeate the subsequent "Good morning!"

"Morning," I grumbled, dropping my hand. I had caught something significant... what was it? Oh...

"You know my language?"

"You know mine?" the voice countered, with some pleasure. As my eyes adjusted to the bright light, I was able to see my acquaintance.

It was a pony. Not a normal pony from home. Its coat was a snow white, and the mane and tail were a pale bubblegum pink. The body of this pony seemed moderately smaller and shorter than would be expected, standing about 4' 8", for its somewhat large neck and head, and its snout short and with a sharp angle connecting it on the upper side. All of this was enough to look significantly different from a normal pony, but still somehow feasible and not malformed.* There was a distinct smile on the quite expressive face of this creature, which served to make it comparable to a human smile. It also wore one of those caps like you'd see a nurse wear in old movies, and a stethoscope hung neatly around its neck. A satchel hung on her side, holding a clipboard and pen. An Equestrian pony. A mare. A nurse.

"I have to say, you are probably one of our most unique cases. A hot topic around town, right now." The nurse spoke with a mirthful, warm voice.

"Can't imagine why," I said, still groggy and with only a very small inflection of sarcasm. It was missed, I think.

"One of the ponies on the edge of town saw you were hurt and had fallen unconscious. She got you here quickly, and likely saved your life. She said you had fought a timberwolf before coming out onto her property. That's no small feat!"

For being a medical professional, this...mare, mare, was very conversational. Despite being in such a strange situation, it put me at ease. However, I wasn't quite sure how to respond to her praise. Fortunately, I didn't have to.

"I'm Nurse Redheart, and you are in Ponyville Medical Center. Might I ask your name?"

I was stumped. It wounded me.

"I'm... not sure. And I don't know where I'm from."

Redheart looked very troubled. "Oh, dear... memory loss." She somehow lifted a pen with her hoof, at which I was dumbfounded, and proceeded to delicately write a few words down on a clipboard with the instrument in the forefront of her mouth.

"That's a very interesting way to write," I commented.

Redheart broke out of her reverie and looked back up at me. "Hm? Oh. Well, quite frankly, I'm not sure how else you would do it. But you seem to be pretty sharp to be suffering from amnesia. Did you receive any head wounds when fighting with the timberwolf?"

I was sure. "No. I've a bit of a complicated and probably worrying story from before that, but I can tell you that my... amnesia has something to do with magic."

I worked it out as I was saying it. Magic brought me here. Magic also wiped my identity.

Come to think of it, I hadn't thought out anything since arriving here. Where would I go after being discharged from the hospital? And what would I do? Wander? Get a job? I'm a foreigner, not just to this town, not just to this nation, but to the entire world.

Panic began to well up in my throat. Redheart seemed to notice. "Are you alright?" she asked, worriedly.

Calm down... we'll cross those roads when we get to them...

I took a deep breath of air, paused, then let it go. "Yes, I'm alright. Just... a little... adrift, that's all." Odd but accurate word choice. Staying calm... I've got questions...

"I smell something we would use to clean materials where I used to be. Do you use antiseptic?"

Redheart seemed a little off-put by the strange phrasing of my statement, but responded curtly. "Yes, of course."

"Hm." Wonder how they make it...

I shook the random questions away now. Fortunately, I didn't have to ask if the nurse had any duties to attend to.

"If I might ask... what race do you hail from?" Redheart asked the question tentatively.

I told her. "I am from a race that calls itself Humanity, or Homo sapiens sapiens in binomial nomenclature..." I stopped. I couldn't very well tell her I was from a different planet, or I would arrive in a psych ward in short order. "Our lands are far from here."

"Oh, I see. Welcome to Equestria."

"Thank you," I answered.

"I came in to serve breakfast to the patients in this wing, as well as take vitals. Do you feel up to eating?"

"Yes'm'," I answered. I felt weak and tired. I needed to eat.

Redheart trotted over to the food cart, at the door to the wing. She pushed it closer to the bed, and proceeded to do a very odd thing. Redheart's hoof acted almost like a hand as she touched the wall of a bowl, and pivoted it so that the hoof was underneath the bowl. I was awestruck.

"How did you grab the bowl?"

Redheart looked up, a little surprised by the question. She set it down on the small table next to the bed. "I just..." She picked it up again, and it looked almost like a magnet as it stuck to her hoof. "...grab it." She set it down again.

The physics issues were bothering me, but I wouldn't argue about it. "...strange."

The nurse seemed to shake it off as quickly as I did, returning to her business. "I'll leave this right here. I would take your vitals, but I don't know enough about your anatomy to know what is normal, so I don't think it would do much good. Before I move on, do you want the curtains open or closed?"

"They're just fine open, thanks," I answered.

"Okay. If you need anything, just call." She smiled, and turned to go on about her business.

I decided to try and inspect my wounds, as I distinctly remember a multitude of deep cuts. Looking down for the first time told me I didn't have a shirt on. Oh... wait. Hang on. Hospitals, with little exception, have patient gowns... but ponies don't wear clothes...

I checked under the sheets. I was right. Ohhhhh, great...

The implications of this were that it was very likely that I was stripped as soon as I got here. Not that the ponies cared, but I still would rather keep everything securely in a pair of pants. Also, I would need to request my clothing back when I saw the nurse again if I wanted to leave without constantly being extremely embarrassed.

I proceeded about checking myself for injuries again. Limb by limb, I was dumbfounded to find none at all. Uh oh... how long have I been here? Again, another question I couldn't answer...

I turned back to the bowl on the table. I had a lot of food for thought, and I figured I could down a little bit of real food along with it. Redheart had a job to do, so I would call her on her way out.

Taking the lid off the bowl revealed a soup, of what flavor I had no idea. I took the bowl, lifting a spoonful of the steamy liquid out. I didn't realize how hungry I was until I had swallowed it. The taste made me assume that this was some sort of vegetable soup, and was actually quite good, especially for being produced on a large scale.

I absentmindedly consumed the soup while trying to figure out how long I'd been staying here, and what could have happened to my clothing. Thinking about such matters had me make another jolting revelation; I didn't know where my electronics were or how they were being handled. I didn't know what the ponies would do with them as they were not exactly experienced with such devices and may unintentionally damage them. They also might hold clues to my history... This was yet another thing I would have to distract Redheart with.

I had a clear view of the door with the curtain in its current position, and I saw that Redheart was returning to my bed from the other side of the room. The cart was stacked with bowls again, so I could safely assume she was coming to get my bowl and utensils back. I also saw a clock on the wall, which I couldn't read at the moment. Right... glasses. Poor Redheart.

As Redheart arrived at my bedside, she stopped and spoke again with her typical soothing warmth. "Hello again. Are you done?"

The bowl was sitting in my lap still, so I picked it up and gave it back to her. "Yes, thanks." I decided now was as good a time as any to ask. "Do you know how long I've been here?"

"Yes, let me double check here..." She pulled the clipboard from the satchel on her side. "Ah, yes. Two days."

I was, yet again, shocked. "Two days? That can't be right. I should still be healing, if that were the case."

She looked up, slightly surprised. "Oh? It seemed like the typical rate of magic-assisted healing."

"Oh," I said, my problem solved. "I didn't know that. How does that process go? Is it like a twice a day session or what?"

Redheart responded unexpectedly. "I'm sorry, I must have been a little unspecific. Our nurses didn't do any healing therapy, we weren't sure how your body would have reacted to that. Your own magic helped heal you."

What? Somebody's made a mistake. "But nurse, my people aren't magical by nature. It doesn't exist where I come from."

The poor earth pony was as bewildered as I was now. "I don't understand... the healing was clearly magic assisted, and we didn't perform any healing procedures... oh well, this one is unexplained, I suppose." Redheart was still debating internally, and I decided I would launch my next salvo of questions.

"I don't mean to bother you, but do you know where my clothes are? I need them back, as soon as it's convenient. And my bag, too. Please."

"Of course. But... if you don't mind my asking, why?" She looked at me innocently, confusion in her eyes.

It was weird, but I had to break it to someone sometime. "We always wear clothes in public. It's a modesty thing. The only time we remove our clothing is when we are alone in a private place."

The bubblegum-maned mare blushed, kicking the floor a little with her head down. "Oh, um, my apologies. We had to remove them to operate, and never thought to replace them afterwards. We don't have such customs."

I tried to put her mind at ease. "I understand. Life is more important than modesty to us, don't worry about that. And... sorry for holding you up, but when do you think I'll be released?"

"Tomorrow, hopefully, if everything stays normal. Anything else you need to ask before I go?"

"One last thing... really. I promise. Have you seen my glasses?"

She didn't miss a beat. "Yes, they're right here behind this box of tissues." She picked them up from the other side of the table, behind said object. She handed them to me, an odd maneuver with the strange hoof physics at maximum.

"Will that be all?"

"No, ma'am. Thanks for all your help."

She brightened a little, smiling. "My pleasure. Feel free to rest, if you'd like. I'll be back soon with your things."

Rest... rest sounded good. Despite sleeping for two days straight, I was still tired and could use some rest. Before laying back down, I checked the clock again, glasses on. It was surprisingly normal, with 12 hours, 60 minutes, and Arabic numerals. 8:30.

I guess it wouldn't hurt to get a few more hours in...

Consummate lethargy. It ruled over all whenever I was waking.

"Um, sir? Sorry to wake you, but you'll be having visitors soon. I'm afraid these won't wait, either."

I groggily awoke to the pleadings of Redheart, who was shaking me. It was generally a great achievement to wake me; I was a very heavy sleeper and was very slow to sober up.

Blearily, I registered what the mare said, sitting up again. "'Kay... thanks." I tried rubbing the sleep out of my eyes.

"Whenever you're ready, but if you don't mind they'll be in in about 15 minutes."

"Okay," I yawned, glancing at the clock. "Wow, another 4 hours..."

In a process entirely similar to this morning, I had to warm up the CPU and start booting the core programs of my brain again. I wondered who could be visiting me...

Right, visitors. Time to get dressed. Another thing occurred to me, and I had to call Redheart, who was leaving the room.

"Um, nurse! If you don't mind... I'd rather meet whoever this is in the waiting room, if that's alright with you. I want to get back on my feet."

"Sure, I don't see why not. You seem healed enough to walk, and we need to know if you're not if we plan on releasing you tomorrow. Come on out when you're ready." Redheart stepped behind the door, much to my gratitude...

I swung my feet over the bedside, standing for the first time since I had fallen. It wasn't difficult; I rose without issue. Surprisingly, nothing seemed sore. However, my joints were resistant and stiff, almost like they were swollen. I snatched up the bag that held my laptop as I left the room. I needed to check on it later. Hopefully it had been off. It wouldn't get any charge here unless I manage an engineering feat...

The upper frame of the door to the ward was only about five and a half feet high, it seemed. I had to duck to get through. Redheart stood on the other side, apparently startled.

"Oh... excuse me. You stand a lot taller than me."

From rough estimates, she would probably weigh 110, 130 lbs, or thereabouts; the quadrupedal form of the ponies meant more mass in a more compact package. The white pony led the way down the hall to the room of chairs, which was essentially just a room with some chairs, a few decorative plants, a clock, and a window overlooking the front lawn.

I looked out the window at this fragment of the world I had only known in cartoon renditions. It was all very real looking, the trees, the grass. Some ponies of various colors, shapes and sizes moved about. It was an alien world, even if I had seen glimpses.

I thought of what my home was like. I patted my right leg and it confirmed the source of the familiar weight.

My phone was still in my pocket. I pulled it out now, out of idle curiosity. Something strange caught my eye.

The green LED in the speaker grille was on, solid. But that means...

I clicked the power button, bringing up my lock screen.

it's charging?

Sure enough, the circular lock screen widget displayed my battery at 100% capacity, and with the charging indicator on. What?

I slid the screen up, putting in the pattern to unlock the phone. Checking a discharge chart told me it had been charging roughly since I had arrived in Equestria. But... about that...

Stranger than that, even. The time displayed on the device... it matched the clock in the room.

A coincidence, unlikely, but possible. Equestria apparently has the same 24-hour day as back on Earth, and Ponyville could coincidentally have its town clock set to the same time as Central Standard...but if they use time zones...a very fortuitous coincidence indeed.

I checked the quick settings bar, hoping I'd see my name and email in the top left corner. The next shock from the carpet bombing hit.

The text is corrupted? I was worried. I checked my email app. The text was again corrupted, and the doomed refreshing icon was spinning forever, no internet to be found. I put the phone away, mildly frustrated.

Whatever was done has gone to extreme lengths to make sure I don't know who I am... and that's disturbing.

Shaking my thoughts from the dark implications that this might have, I was left listening for the clip-clop of hooves on tile and the physics behind my charging phone. Perhaps it had to do with the proximity of magical creatures and the science behind the abilities of unicorns?

I heard the sound of many hooves in the hall outside, and muffled voices through the door. This many po--wait... oh, wow... this quick?

Redheart opened the door and stepped into the room. "Your visitors are here. Meet Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie"--I noticed Redheart giving a quick glare to Pinkie--"and Fluttershy."

Sure enough, through the door came a significant biomass of the six said ponies, in list order. I was suddenly confronted with the problem of being the center of attention of a large group, which was something I was anything but comfortable with. I looked up and smiled shyly, wishing I was smaller than 5' 8" for one of the few times in my life. A tension hung in the air, of the diplomatic sort. Twilight, being the de jure leader of the group, looked just as nervous as I did. She was calculating her first move, which made sense... of course, Fluttershy was visibly shrinking in the back of the group, so that made us both seem confident.

I realized that this hospital visit was laced with politics, and while I was inclined to believe much of it was out of goodwill, the true motives of the group was uncertain.

Twilight seemed ready to be ready. There was a visible commitment made, and she opened her mouth to speak the first official pony-human relations sentence ever--

"Hi!"

The most gregarious of the group propelled herself to the front of the group and interjected the word, expending some of her boundless social energy and shattering Twilight's carefully devised words for the ages, along with the serious mood. She proceeded to talk in a very animated fashion, body talking as much as her mouth. "I'm Pinkie Pie and these are my friends! Twilight here looooves reading and is super-smart, but is a little uptight, Rainbow Dash is a huge athlete and is a really fast flier--"

Twilight ended the onslaught. "Alright, Pinkie, that's enough." Pinkie froze and slowly returned to a regular standing position.

Despite being somewhat annoyed, Twilight appeared amused and seemed to have relaxed some.

"Yes, my name is Twilight Sparkle. I am a student of one of our reigning princesses and a bearer of an Element of Harmony, along with each of my friends here. We came to formally welcome you to Equestria, being our first human visitor in recorded history. If you need any help around town, just come and talk to one of us. I'll let you get acquainted with each of my friends, as some of them are dying to meet you." She cast a sidelong glance at Pinkie. "And... later, if you don't mind..." She couldn't help but light up a little with a inquisitive smile. "I'd like to talk to you about your kind and your culture." Oh, Twilight. We were too similar. I smiled again. "Sure... I'll tell you what I know."

Despite still being somewhat stiff in her mannerisms, I could tell her words were genuine. Neither of us were socialites, and that ironically made it easier to make a connection. She returned the smile and left to talk to Redheart, who had been supervising the proceedings.

Naturally, Pinkie was the first to grab the opportunity to talk to me. The pink pony crossed the tile towards me in an almost dance-like trot, hooves clicking out a tune.

"Hi! I'm sorry, but silly me, I didn't catch your name!"

Twilight and Redheart stiffened in the back of the room, almost cringing. The message was caught by the rest of the ponies, and the social current in the room froze. The query did freshen the wound of a lost identity, but I was going to play it off.

"I'm not quite sure. Seem to have lost some memories of my past, somewhere along the way."

Pinkie looked down, crossing her two front hooves and blushing, embarrassed. "Oh... S-sorry..."

She brought back the warmth to her next words, trying desperately to recover and use her ever-cheery attitude to lighten the weight of the atmosphere in the room. I found her persistently charged demeanor one that was odd, but endearing, in a sort. "But anyway... it's nice to meet you!"

I smiled a little, and nodded. I tried to pass the "you're fine, it's ok" message along via the gesture. Pinkie retreated, as she really couldn't make much small talk if I didn't know anything about my past. I wasn't good at small talk and didn't particularly like it, but I felt a little bad for the pink pony for having her plans smashed.

Rarity, who was chatting with the other girls quietly, saw her opening, no doubt seeing an opportunity.

She strode up confidently and with poise, almost like a royal herself. "Hello, darling!" She lifted a hoof daintly, appearing to invite a hand...hoof-shake. I went for it, applying standard handshake procedure, and making eye contact with the smiling diplomat.

"My name is Rarity, bearer of the Element of Generosity. But personally, I prefer to be a fashion designer by day!" It was a humorous remark, complete with dramatic flourish, so I smiled in appreciation.

She looked to my torn and shredded clothing, as I was expecting, and her expression shifted to something I would describe as a "frown of empathetic distress", sitting down with a tip of a hoof resting on her chin.

"Dear me, your garments are in tatters!" She turned to a smile again, warmly offering me a proposition.

"Tell you what, darling. When you are released from the hospital, come and stop by my boutique. I'll fix it right up!"

I wasn't quite sure what to say. "With respect... I appreciate the offer, but I don't have any other clothes to wear in the mean-time. Thank you, though."

"Oh, no, darling! Please, you must stop by. I insist. Promise, I'll have it all figured out."

I wasn't quite sure how to respond. Rarity appeared to be examining the cuts and tears, planning every stitch. I was skeptical and somewhat concerned of future events, but it was plain I would get nowhere by arguing with the mare who was the mistress of conversations."

"Alright..." I was a little unsure. The girls seemed to be amused, giggling somewhat at the events before them. It seemed to consisted of a general attitude of "we've been there," at least from my guess. It only reaffirmed me that I'd made the right decision.

"Excellent! I promise you won't be disappointed!" She beamed, clapping her hooves together. I wasn't sure how much was theatrics, as she seemed genuinely excited. She angled away from me, preparing to rejoin her friends. "I'll see you later, darling. My store is the Carousel Boutique. That's about all the description you need!"

The conversation queen did leave, retreating into her circle of companions.

It seemed everyone wanted the chance to speak to the mysterious creature in the corner of the room. How ironic.

A entirely assuming cyan coat and rainbow mane emerged at the front of the pack. Rainbow Dash, probably the least discreet pony when it came to color pallet, nonchalantly moseyed up next to the chair.

I'll take this moment to describe in detail the first up-close pair of pegasus wings I saw, folded away or no.

The wing was larger than what was represented in our familiar cartoon, and more densely feathered. The wing structure was similar to that of a bird, which was only logical. I was still somewhat skeptical of the ability of such a wing to lift the weight of a whole pony, but I would see about that.

Anyhow, here was Rainbow, standing coolly in front of me.

"Hey," she said simply, voice low, composed, friendly. Another hoof was raised, but in a different style from Lady Rarity. The Equestrian pony's leg joints were evidently a highly flexible, as Rainbow's hoof was held up in a manner entirely indicating that a fist bump should be given. I again took the plunge.

I was apparently correct. Rainbow went along without any indication of an odd action.

"So I heard you beat a timber wolf with your bare hooves?" Enthusiasm had crept into her voice, and anticipation was plain in her features. I nodded once, prepared to amend "with a handy tree branch, but, yeah," but had no opportunity. Rainbow almost squeed. "Awesome! Applejack runs them off or breaks 'em up with slings, but you're pretty daring to get close to those claws. Name's Rainbow Dash, by the way. Oh, Element of Loyalty and all that."

"Good to meet you," I said. So many ponies in so little time. I was still somewhat uncomfortable with the sheer amount of beings in the room, especially with being the "main event," so to speak.

"Yeah, you too. So, I'll be all around town. I work on weather team up in the clouds, so I'll probably be around when you least expect it. That's how it usually is, anyway. See ya!" Rainbow turned away, giving a sort of wave, and returning to the group of friends. The bold one. She seems to be really... *cool** about everything.*

And so there were two. Applejack, and Fluttershy. Wonder which one will go first.

Applejack, of course, was to approach with a slow gait. She seemed almost... shy. Reluctant.

Being the pony she was, she was currently without her hat, no doubt having left it at some hatrack at the door to the hospital.

"Howdy, mister," she offered, in a casual tone, colored by the accent of the Deep South.

"Afternoon," I replied, the Texas twang in my voice subconsciously growing more pronounced. What could...? oh...

Applejack seemed to have no conversation point, but I had a hunch as to why the gregarious farmer pony was so awkward.

I asked the question that I thought may allow her to speak without fear of seeming boastful. "Did you find me, when I fell?"

She seemed to relax a little bit. "Yeah... that was me. My brother and I were about to call it a day when I heard a wolf out on the edge of the farm. Have to drive 'em off every now and then, y'know? When I saw that somepony had beat it and you were layin' there all tore up, figured ya needed some help."

This little bit of information solved many problems. I also knew who I owed my life to, which was a strange feeling to have weighing on me. "Thanks, for that... I probably would have bled to death if you hadn't have brought me here." I was obviously very grateful to the orange pony and owed her a debt that could never really be repaid.

This seemed to make AJ close up again, not knowing how to respond. She visibly shrank. "Aw, it was nothin', you would've done the same thing, I bet..."

She was uncomfortable, it was plain, and really just wanted to let the subject go.

"My name's Applejack. My family and I live out on the edge of town on an apple orchard... don't like to brag, but we got some pretty good trees on our land. Oh... suppose I should say something about being Element of Honesty, I guess. Anyhow... guess I'll see you around."

"Good to meet you, Applejack," I said. She smiled briefly and nodded, making her way back to her friends.

And so there was one.

Everyone knew it was physically impossible to do or say something mean to Fluttershy if they even had one shred of decency, but trying not to spook her was the real challenge. I prepared for the confrontation ahead.

The group milled and shuffled, leaving a very unsure Fluttershy in front of her support network of smiling, encouraging faces. The yellow pony smiled nervously from behind her long cotton-candy mane, and took a few shuffling steps forward. I couldn't help but be reminded of a curious shy dog, wanting to move forward, but afraid. Like said dog, a false move could probably scare her off. The difference in stature didn't help matters, even if I was sitting down.

"Um, hi..." The mare was as adorable as always, but quite uncomfortable. "My name is Fluttershy."

"Hi." I tried to avoid any expression of the natural impulse to smile and resist the urge to reach down and rub her neck, and convey through eye contact the message of shy solidarity. Neither of us were in our comfort zones, but she was much more afflicted than I was.

"I'm the Element of Kindness... I like to take care of the forest creatures." She smiled shyly again. There was a spark of curiosity in her eyes. She wanted to ask questions, badly. Courage was mustered, and the draw overcame the fear.

"Umm... excuse me... but can I ask you some questions about yourself?" The wave broke, its mission complete. "I mean, later, of course, I'm sure you want some quiet time to yourself after meeting so many ponies..." She blushed and hid behind her pink mane again, embarrassed at her outpouring of words.

"Of course," I said, flashing what I hoped was a reassuring smile.

"Great! I'll, uh, see you later... bye." Her expression was now what could be called a warm, happy smile now, as she shrank back to her comforting group of friends, who were all quietly congratulating her.

The feeling of being the center of attention was still weighing heavily on my shoulders. Too many eyes, too much uncertainty, too many potential outcomes--it was overwhelming to try and think my actions and their possible impacts through. Even though I saw pleased smiles all around, I couldn't help but wonder what everybody really thought of me. I tried to make my good intentions apparent, but one cannot tell what another truly thinks...

I sighed internally, then laughed satirically at my own behavior.

Oh, socialization. So trivial to so many, but crippling to the analytical. At least me, anyway.

I illustrated my own statement by amending it.

I had to resist cracking up. I'm such a weirdo.

Trying to wrench myself from my self-amused reverie and think sensibly again, I looked to the posse of mares and absorbed myself in observing their actions, which were getting more restless now as the consensus seemed to be that it was time to leave.

I caught Twilight trying to do the same thing, evidently. Eyes made contact before they could drift away from each other and ignore such a coincidence.

I found it amazing how something as small as a tiny smile, a miniscule exertion of caloric energy, could communicate something so grand as the inklings of a mutual understanding, and put my mind more at ease. The power of mere eye contact was never to be underestimated.

And so, the shufflings of the group continued, and Pinkie seemed to snap at the opportunity to announce an ending to this understated historic event in the waiting room of a local hospital. As usual, the pink pony was a powerhouse of boundless social energy, and it could all fit in her voice. A true, somewhat extreme example of animated speech, Pinkie Pie was.

"Okey dokey, we're going to go now, but we'll see you again soo-oon!" She then managed, to my astoundment, to pull of a gesture similar to that of pointing whilst leaning back, saying, "Catch you later, alligator!"

"Uhm... Goodbye, everyone."

The group smiled and waved collectively, and filed out the door, leaving me and Redheart as the only two left in the room. Inspecting her features turned up a glassy-eyed stare that seemed to be half towards me, half into space. I could only assume she was somewhat in awe of the events that had taken place. I still wasn't quite able to place this on a scale of gravity for an event in Equestria, but I really had little frames of reference.

She cleared her throat quietly. "You really seemed to hit it off well with those girls. They're some of the most important ponies in Equestria... excuse me. Would you like to return to your ward?"

"I suppose so." I really just wanted to leave, but I had nowhere to go and needed to know if I was completely healthy. Being obtuse wouldn't solve anything either. More time to ponder the many unknowns riddling my sense of self. I winced.

It's going to be a long day.

Profound Discoveries (A.C.I. REVISED)

As a certain adolescent human slept in Ponyville Hospital, the Princess of Night lounged in her old throne room, embraced by her wreath of shadows. Her mind was elsewhere, and senses not truly attuned to the world around her. Not asleep, though not awake, the royal mare was muddling about in her head--or someone else's, as it could be. The long hall was lined with archaic decor from ages past, all of it well kept, though the castle staff was still trying to banish the dust from it all. Shadows hung in much of the hall, heavy old curtains warding off the majority of the pale moonlight making its way to the ground.

The static scene was facing a disruption, now. Thin tendrils of smoky gold appeared in the center of the hall, growing more opaque by the moment. The currents of magic in the room shifted, and this did not go unnoticed by Luna. The cloud about her formed into a translucent shroud as she opened her eyes slowly and began to rise to her feet, creating a chilly ambiance. The strands of smoke began to gradually coalesce into a glimmering gold mass of gentle light. Now, a voice echoed around the room, despite the stone hall being laden with cloth.

"What you desire has been done. I return to my slumber."

The light flashed bright before snuffing itself out with the sound of tearing paper, and a whiff of ozone.

Luna was left to contemplate this happening.

That was the spell I cast... it is done..."

She could feel her heart flutter, the calm, cold princess. Emotions stirred underneath the skin, but reason still had the helm.

Good news, good news, but where, and who, is this...kindred spirit, as it is? How do I find them?

She couldn't help but groan in irritation, even as the shadows retreated and fell away from her form.

I woke again to the now-familiar hospital wing, and well-rested this time, albeit with the always-present grogginess of the morning drag. Despite such consistent events, I was actually quite happy to rise from sleep today. I felt well, and maybe even a little better than usual, and actually couldn't wait to get out of bed. Today was the day I could start exploring. Today was the day where it would begin...

Except, I knew very little of how this land actually functioned. I'd seen a caricatured representation of it, but I got the sense that everything in this new land was much deeper and more complex than could be represented in a children's show...

I yawned, stretching out and preparing to get out of what had been my bed for several days. Despite my initial excitement, the lack of information and sheer number of potential courses of action sank that ship into a sea of uncertainty. Things such as housing, money, work, and the thirst for adventure all milled around in my head, along with the reaction of ponies to such an unusual creature in their lands. How would this play out? I wonder--?

"Ow," I said reflexively. My head had impacted the curtain rail around my bed during my reverie. Good to see that's back to normal. I snickered at my wit, sharp as ever, mercilessly cutting any statement or situation containing potentially humorous material into a snarky interjection.

I picked up my bag, proceeding to duck under the rail. I opened the door to the hallway which revealed a somewhat startled Nurse Redheart, who quickly relaxed.

"Oh, it's you. You're up bright and early today. Do you want your breakfast before you head downstairs?"

I blinked. "Oh, umm... you were going to do a final checkup, right?"

Redheart responded, "No, I was going to send you downstairs to one of the unicorn physicians to have you looked at. I can make sure you don't have any trauma wounds, but you'd have better luck with our resident minotaur doctor, I think." She smiled brightly, one of her best skills, it seemed.

"If it's alright with you, I'm a bit antsy to leave. Thanks for all your help." I flashed a quick smile.

"No problem. Just doing my job." I easily lost the impromptu smile contest.

Exchanging goodbyes, we each went our separate ways. A stiff walk down the stairs and through a heavy door brought me to the front desk and waiting room. Ponies all around looked up. The want to feel small presented itself again. I'm not even fully grown yet... I think.

I walked up to the desk as casually as possible--which is to say, in a completely ostentatious manner, for aforementioned reasons. The receptionist looked a little intimidated. I got the feeling I would quickly come to thoroughly dislike this expression. I wasn't exactly sure of the procedure, so I tried to sound as friendly as possible.

"Hi... Nurse Redheart said I should see your minotaur physician before I check out?"

The receptionist pony blinked rapidly. "Oh, umm, sure... he's sure to be around here somewhere..."

After a bit of trouble and fading distress on the part of the receptionist, the proper physician was found and a somewhat awkward checkup ensued. The doctor's familiarity with the more human torso was sufficient to ensure my vitals were stable, and with some difficulty and flustering, magic was used to confirm the preliminary findings. He made an odd comment on the difficulty of disrupting the natural magical flow, which I ignored but stored away. Something odd is going on...

I pushed the thought away as the doors to the outside world approached, promising an adventure, whatever lay ahead...

I was in the middle of town, now, and was less than pleased with my very disruptive effects on the behavior of the townsfolk. Although there was no sense of ill will, whispers, stares, and the slowing of foot--or hoof, I suppose--traffic was the trail I left in my wake. I couldn't blame them, as it isn't every day an unusual creature strolls through your town, even with the many different inhabitants of this country. However, this justification did anything but negate my wish to be invisible. Despite my interest in the architecture and sights of Ponyville, I desperately wanted out of the public eye, and I figured I had one place that I could go to both keep me away from prying eyes and not present the problem of an awkward conversation--the library.

Every second I spent outside, however fair and calm the weather may have been, brought more and more ponies to look with curiosity. I hastened towards the tall tree, plainly visible from across town. I neared the crossroads that stood beneath the limbs of the giant oak now, the ripples of interest and gawking ponies now at a climax.

As the tree came into full view, I was presented with its magnificence. The tree must have been nearly a millennium old--probably older than this town. The weathered but strong limbs obstinately stuck out from the trunk at their own gnarled angles, defying any attempt at direction and orderliness, and even the laws of nature itself--how this tree clung to life, hollow, perforated by windows, doors, and balconies, was something I truly could not understand.

In my haste, I likely lost the full impact of carefully viewing the tree, but as I approached the door, I was to acquire my first few experiences with unicorn magic.

When I turned my head to see just how interesting I apparently was, a translucent sphere seemed to weave itself into existence in the shortest of moments. I turned back to the door as I heard the creaking of wood to see the face of Twilight through the cracked door, a magnificent magenta hue shimmered about her horn, and distorting the air around its edges. She lightly tossed her head in a "come on" motion as the hairs on my body stood on end, the energy in the air seeming to make my limbs resonate somehow. I accepted her invitation inside, and I felt my skin come alive as another figure was quickly weaved out of blotches of color on the doorstep. It was like I was electric.

As I leaned on the door that had shut behind me, Twilight spoke up with a conversational tone. "Too many pairs of eyes?"

"Yeah," I replied quickly. The energy was still racing across my skin, nerves tingling. "What's this feeling?"

"Oh, look outside," she said. I looked through the small round window next to the door. A duplicate of me was walking away from the building, and the ponies outside were watching it. After passing out of view, it vanished, and the feeling playing across my extremities died away. I determined what had happened and appreciated the diversion of attention.

Twilight made an exaggerated flourish. "Thanks," I said appreciatively.

"No problem. So what brings you here to my humble abode?" She was being remarkably congenial for the first time we'd ever really talked, almost like we knew each other already.

"Just came here to get away from all the eyes and to keep my mind occupied..." It was a bit of a strange statement, but a true one nonetheless. I was quite good about those.

She seemed to accept it well. "Yeah, I know how that goes. Kinda like when I first got here. Anyway, just make yourself comfortable..."

"...and so here we are."

"Yep," I confirmed. Twilight had to use some powerful magic to rifle through my mind on the early steps of my journey, and had continued through to now in a reverie. I could feel her combing along my memory chronologically, and it created a bit of a strange effect. She just went about recording more things in her journal until she had hit where we are now, which broke her from the daze.

Twilight and I had talked a bit and decided it may be a good idea if we could break the amnesia I had unfortunately been afflicted with, and if not, record what she could get out with magic.

"I, uh, kinda just kept going there, didn't I?" Twilight said sheepishly, in a clearly tired voice, putting up her writing materials. She picked up a handy dish towel that had been lying about for some reason, wiping the small droplets of sweat away from her forehead. I simply nodded without any inflection of disapproval in my features."Ugh, getting into those pre-Equestrian memories was exhausting. It's like I was holding open the castle portcullis."

"Was there really that much resistance?" I asked, now intrigued. It truly must have been a difficult block for Twilight to nearly fail in breaching it. "Yes, a lot. Your own magical flow is a bit combative of any outside influences right now and the magic keeping those memories sealed away is some of the most powerful I've ever experienced. Somepony--or something--really doesn't want you knowing your past. Even I don't remember what I've written in the pre-Equestrian part. I think we have a memetic book on our hands, which made all that work for the most important part useless." She groaned.

Talking about the technical, the abstract, made the gears in my mind turn, and I was enthralled in the discussion, but needed to address something first. "Fascinating, but disturbing. Also, I'm not a magical being, why is everyone mentioning something about my supposed magic today?"

Twilight gave a sarcastic little laugh and replied with absolute confidence. "No, I'm sorry, there's absolutely no way there isn't magic in your blood. The blood part is metaphorical. Kind of. We aren't quite sure of the mechanism by which magical energy is created, but we do know it happens in the blood."

I appreciated her technical accuracy, but was slightly inflamed by the incorrect confirmation of my magic, and really needed to address her earlier point before I forgot about it.

"I think you're right about the book. Every bit of data relevant to my history on this--"

I realized what had happened. Twilight had a self-satisfied smirk on her face as I held the phone in my hand, screen on. "Yep, alien tech. I knew you weren't from Terra. But let's move on, shall we?"

I tried to recover. "What do you mean, "alien"? Just because we haven't had contact with you before doesn't mean we don't have advanced technology."

Twilight laughed again, actually amused this time, and just as certain. "Oh, please, I can feel the low-frequency waves coming off that thing. If I'm right in saying you use it for communication, you would have interference all over the EM bands. Not to say magic is electromagnetic energy, because it isn't. We actually don't know what it is."

Oh, this one is just as smart as she's supposed to be, I noted. But that didn't change that she had learned something monumental that I would rather have kept quiet. However, I couldn't convince her otherwise--she was far too sharp for that--and she seemed anything but apprehensive. I supposed she had concocted the theory yesterday, mulled it over with its potential implications, and already decided how that would affect her and the big picture. It apparently really wasn't important, as she smoothed over it like a sort of trifle.

I heaved a tired sigh. "Yeah, yeah, I'm not from around here... and did you call this planet Terra?"

The little smirk came again. "Ha, ha," she said in a silly gloating tone. I couldn't help but laugh. "And yes, that's what we call our planet."

"Hmm. That's the Latin name for ours." The parallels here were staggering.

"About that. I really would enjoy learning more about your home and culture. It's almost disturbing similar they seem to be to ours. But now, I have to head down to see Rarity. Spike's been helping her out this morning, and I need him back. Want to come? You can get whatever it is you need done down there, and it'll probably be easier for the ponies around town to relax a little bit knowing you're with me."

I considered it momentarily. "Sure, I'll go."

It truly was remarkable how quickly Twilight and I had became so friendly, especially with all of our outward differences. We clicked like two cogs of the same design. It was almost like there was no real "getting to know you" phase, and it was both what I would consider something that made my life easier, but also a little off-putting and made ambiguous where we stood on a spectrum between "acquaintance" and "friend". I had vague recollections of similar friends in my past, of wit and intellect always birthing clever jokes from any suitable material, and of the logical, but quirky nature of their behavior. A lot like myself...

Birds of a feather, I suppose.

I warmed internally at the familiarity and the fun that was sure to come with someone as knowledgeable and interesting as Twilight, and a smile lit on my face. This should be an interesting friendship.

Several hours before our human left Ponyville Hospital, the princesses had performed their duties of raising the sun and moon in Canterlot. This was the one time of day they were guaranteed to see one another. However, Celestia could have told her sister's lightened spirits from across the castle, never mind at her side. After their deeds were done, Celestia's curiosity got the better of her. With all the grace and warm, inviting airs she always presented, the solar princess asked her sororal counterpart what it was that had lifted her from her gloomy attitude.

"You seem to be of higher spirits this morning, sister. I'm glad you've started feeling better."

Luna knew her sister's mannerisms. Although her statements were always sincere, her propensity for small talking was not a trait she particularly enjoyed. After the events earlier today, there simply was not a way to keep 'Tia out of the loop--not that she really wanted to, but she truly feared a lecture. She had not the fortitude at present to simply grin and bear the maternal spiels she was prone to giving, despite all her good intentions. She berated herself once more for her crumbling internal state before bracing for the next few words Celestia would offer.

"Pardon my nosiness, dear sister, but might I ask what it is that has brought you back to such spirits?"

Luna's mouth went dry a moment, and the first few words she issued sounded parched and forced. Here we go. "One of the old tomes, sister. The oldest in the library."

Celestia outwardly displayed her minor surprise, but the waters ran deeper than that, and Luna knew she was wondering and worrying over what dangerous tome her sister had discovered in the catalog of the most ancient magical texts in Equestria.

"It was all I had left. The old scroll of the kindred spirit..."

Celestia had pored over some of those old texts herself, and this was one that was almost disturbing in its nature. It seemed like a prophetic failsafe, a last resort.

"And what was it that was presented to you?"

The answer truly was painful. Luna replied softly. "Nothing, sister. Nothing yet. I don't know what the next few days will bring. I am simply aware that it functioned as intended, but nothing else. And so I must wait. I can wait. I have done so for a thousand years, I can do so for a while longer."

Luna regretted her statement. It shot pain through her; it was a logical statement, but it blatantly betrayed her emotions. However, the real regret came from the tear that must have riven her sister's warm and comforting feelings. Of all her past actions, the one that produced the most pain and suffering of all was the necessary banishment to the moon of her only little sister. Though Luna could not say that she harbored no bitterness for her elder sister's actions, she knew the reasons and that it was the only option. Her actions told of spite, not of love for Celestia.

She had to rectify this. "I'm sorry," she said, the emotion bleeding into her words.

Celestia replied in a soft manner that only deepened the wound. "It's alright." A wistful expression lay on her timeless, soft features. Why do I keep hurting her...

"I'll see to it that we find this individual, and arrange for word to come to you when we do."

The blade was thrust into the self-inflicted wound yet again. Her generosity was truly continuing the annihilation of Luna's already sundered citadel of internal strength, reducing all to ash in due time.

"No, sister, please...you already shoulder many of the duties I should be performing. I must locate this... entity myself. I started this, and I must end it."

The air was taut with anticipation of Celestia's response for a few long seconds.

"Very well, my sister. I will take my leave." She left, in an uncharacteristically pensive mood. Luna let go of the composure she had maintained, sighing in relief. She avoided it all--the motherly lecture, the self-directed feelings of injustice towards Celestia's pain, and the relinquishment of the self-sufficiency in the solution of her problem. However, the brush with all these things formed a warning--she had only little fortitude remaining in what was once the impregnable wall of her self-control...

Twilight and I left the huge gnarled oak for our mutual errands to Rarity's boutique promptly. Since neither of us had to carry anything to her shop, "promptly" could more accurately be replaced by "immediately". Despite semantics, the two of us were bound for the boutique, with what I hoped would be a lot less fascination at our doing so.

The purple pony had so many questions, and I was replete with both more of those and answers. She seemed to be looking me over, observing something. I raised an eyebrow, quizzical. She caught this momentarily and responded. "You walk in a much more fluid motion than the minotaurs. I guess small surface area in contact with the ground, especially hooves, for their weight makes them stiffer. I have to ask, though--how do you manage not having a tail? Especially on two legs like that. It seems really hard to do... and tails are just so comforting."

I obliged her question. "I really don't know, honestly. We spend about the first year or so of our lives on our hands and knees, though. What's it like, having a tail?"

Twilight responded with some thought. "Well, I guess it's kinda like an extension of your spine? A little bit of weight, but nothing the muscle can't handle. Helps you balance. And comforting. I don't know why or how, but it is."

Her answer, while still not quite unambiguous, was still better than mine. I chuckled a little. "So helpful for both of us."

She giggled, almost mischievously, before offering a rejoinder. "Well, magic is useful for a lot of things..." Her horn lit up, magic dancing along its length.

I backed off. "No, no, not now. Maybe sometime later though. Sounds like it could be an interesting experiment." Initial fear was subsequently replaced by curiosity.

"Yes, yes," she answered, letting go of the magic she'd mustered before turning away for awhile.

Being so curious, she broke the silence again not long after.

"So... don't you find it appalling that our languages are identical? I would have thought Equestrian to be so convoluted and muddled in linguistic origins to have another language develop to have the exact same words."

This astute observation sparked the fires of my interest. "And I of modern English. There's so many influences that the word pool is an etymological nightmare."

Twilight laughed. "There's just so many similarities. I don't know how this could have developed without some sort of planetary magic link that induces mental suggestions... but how... how would that work...?"

I knew how this went. Her sentence trailed off as her mind became so focused on the concept she was so passionate and knowledgeable about, leaving no resources for conversation or such things as mundane as the surrounding world. I adapted, becoming the sensory portion of the brain for our two-creature superorganism, whilst staving off the urge to do the same thing as her, although with less difficulty due to my lack of knowledge on the subject of magic.

The easy walk through the streets with one of the most important ponies in all of Equestria had my mind drift to other things. Although I appreciated the friendliness of the ponies I had met, I was truly bothered by it. Twilight here walked by my side, head in the clouds, and spoke freely with me. Why did she place trust in me after such a short period of knowing each other, and why was she so open? If I had the intuitive understanding of her personality that I thought I did, then Twilight would be behaving in a far more private manner than she was right now. To build substantial trust, if that's what this was, I had done nothing for her but afford a few glimpses into a topic she was thoroughly interested in. Perhaps that was why--she was simply so enthralled in her theories and ideas that she didn't notice how uncharacteristically indiscreet she was behaving, and after she slumped off the euphoric high of achieving a greater understanding, the self-awareness would return. Perhaps, however, I was overanalyzing, and there was a simpler answer here.

A fast-moving object caught my eye. I looked up into the sky. Bird?

Another fleck of color glanced across the clouds What...?

I returned my eyes to ground level, returning to the trust issue. I was following Twilight on autopilot, but where was she going? She seemed to be deeper than I in a train of thought. However, her knowledge of this town likely meant she could walk from place to place fairly easily, so I kept moving along with her.

Now, however, the streak caught my eye again, as it came down the street towards the two of us at high speed.

"Twilight," I warned urgently, "Pegasus."

As she looked up, the cyan lightning passed us at huge speed, having reached the end of a dive, and a blast of air hit, making me stumble and nearly knocking Twilight onto her rump. I turned to look at Rainbow Dash, pulling up into a steep climb sure to make her stall, wings extended. After bleeding off that velocity, the stuntmare came down near us, wings slowing her and throwing dirt up all around. The townsfolk either ignored her stunt, rolled their eyes amusedly, or looked on in disgust.

"Hey Twilight," she greeted in her trademark raspy voice, approaching us whilst folding her wings. She nodded in recognition to me as well.

I'm going to take a moment to describe pegasus wings--or, as it were, just Rainbow's.

Rainbow's wings were radically different from the flimsy, flappy-looking cartoon images we were presented with. Now, I could easily tell you they all vary a bit from pony to pony, just like hands; Rainbow's in particular were like those of an enormous falcon: about 7 or 8 feet in span fully extended (the mare being about four and a half feet long, muzzle to tail) and very powerful. You could definitely tell she worked herself raw to get a pair of wings with as much muscle as hers, and the wing muscles on her back were the only thick part of her body, the rest being quite lithe. Despite this, I still found it rather amazing that a creature as heavy as a pony could be lifted by these wings, but Rainbow's frame was a fair bit smaller than the earth pony Nurse Redheart, and I estimated she weighed about seventy or eighty pounds. Some very rough figuring in my head made the wing surface to weight ratio not seem too awful, so it was probably doable.

Twilight looked a mess, mane all blown out of order and bits of dirt clinging to her fur. "Hi, Rainbow," she said, passive-aggression and annoyance plain in her voice. She used some magic of sorts to extract and expel the dirt from her fur, as well as straighten her mane; an interesting process to watch.

"So I saw you and the big guy here and decided to drop by to say hi. What's got you out of the hole in the tree?"

The group began moving again at Twilight's behest, consequently heading towards Rarity's. Twilight apparently recognized Dash's teasing and responded in similar means.

"Going to go get my helpful assistant from my civilized, productive friend. What have you done today?"

"Oh, you know, slept in, ate, stamped on rainclouds over foals, terrorized a purple unicorn and her tall alien friend."

I froze at "alien". Was it really that obvious? Did Twilight tell all her friends? Did everyone know? Its that why the townsfolk were gawking and staring so much?

An echoey, strange thought that "sounded" like Twilight's reverberated inside my head "She doesn't know, she meant a legal alien..."

Despite a quick surge of relief, I wanted to throw something. I thought I was done with mind reading and telepathy. "By the way, I can't read your mind, I'm just sending messages and hoping you're getting them." The tension that had quickly built up started to ease some as Twilight continued on the conversation with Rainbow simply by laughing at her statement.

Rainbow took the chance to brag. She turned her attention to me, adopting a cocky posture. "So, how was getting dusted by the fastest flying pegasus in Equestria?"

A horribly smug smile was barely restrained from being displayed on my face, but I didn't resist the urge to shoot her down this time. I replied swiftly. "Meh. Where I come from, the lightest powered aircraft can produce more wash than that."

"Ha!" she ejected, before turning completely quite flat and quick in her speech, surprisingly hungry for information. "Wait, you have machines that can fly where you're from?"

I debated the wisdom of my previous statement now, but continued on. "Yep."

"Really? That. Is. Awesome!" I was surprised at her reaction. I didn't expect her to respond so enthusiastically or roll past a shot at her ego like that. Even Twilight looked a little perturbed, but she quickly recovered and asked me all about how they worked.

"Well, I'm not exactly sure in the specifics department, and it depends on the vehicle..."

I spent the rest of the walk explaining my meager knowledge of aeronautical realm.

Rainbow tagged along all the way to the boutique, and by the time we were inside, I was getting a little tired of being grilled by two inquisitive minds on the specifics of one subject, despite how gratifying it felt to teach something new to willing... ponies.

The boutique was, inside and out, quite gaudy for my tastes; a giant, brightly colored carousel, muted softly in tone, complete with literal clotheshorses on the upper balcony functioning as mannequins for her work. However unfavorable for me, the building and her pieces on display were not gaudy in a cheesy or non-genuine manner. It was simply not to my liking. However, I knew Rarity to be a versatile tailor, so I'm sure not all of her work would be too flamboyant in my eyes, if I so pleased to look through her designs.

When we entered, the bell above the door had rung, and the fashion designer's voice sounded from across the shop. "Ah, just a minute dear! I'll be right there."

The small lobby we were in was well-furnished and decorated with some nice paintings. I could imagine some wealthy clients lounging in this room, and it led me to wonder about how much money Rarity really made in her line of work.

I took an opportunity to ask about Rainbow's continued presence. Our discussions had quickly broken down formalities into an easy, casual speech. "Rainbow, we're just here on errands, if you were just tagging along."

"Yeah, I dropped off my flight goggles a while back for some work. The leather was getting a little worn out. Figured I'd just pick 'em up with you guys." Leather? So apparently there's some interesting ethical elements to the relationship between ponies and livestock...

The white-and-purple pony rounded the corner after a short time, with a small purple and green creature in tow.

So here was Spike, fellow biped standing about three feet tall on stubby legs. The scaled texture of his skin was apparent, smooth and vaguely reflective. The spikes on his head looked bone-like, but their green hue was somewhat mystifying. His eyes, large for his face, scanned our small party. His features easily betrayed his youth, and I felt somewhat bad for the only male member of the group--it was highly likely he was fawned upon very often when he wanted to be a more masculine figure. He caught my eye, and waved his small claws. I smiled shortly before turning my attention to Rarity.

"Oh, hello, friends!" Rarity, ever the social one, greeted her friends warmly.

"And hello to you too, gentlecolt. My, do you stand tall. How are you today?"

Her charm was quite potent and easily moved to me comfortable conversation. "I'm well, thanks."

Spike spoke up, his youthful voice high in pitch. "Hey, dude! I'm Spike, Twilight's assistant. Good to meet you!" He stuck out his hand.

I could, unfortunately, see why the girls treated him so. He tried so hard to be an adult, and really was fairly mature, but it only ended up being rather adorable. Shaking his hand was a rather awkward maneuver, and I had to almost kneel, which elicited giggles from the group of mares. Spike didn't appreciate it.

Rarity quickly decided to change the subject. "Right, darling, come with me..."

I didn't understand why, but I followed her into her studio. I assumed she was ready to begin repairing my simple garments. Unfortunately I couldn't very well take them off without staying in a booth waiting for her to finish sewing them.

Near the center of the studio, Rarity produced a measuring tape and her small orange glasses, which served to give her look an interesting dynamic. Her aura was distinct from that of Twilight's, an icy-blue color and with a different sort of "resonance". I could feel the difference, although I didn't understand it. "Alright, if you wouldn't mind disrobing, dear..."

Yep.

"I'm afraid I can't do that..." I was already embarrassed. Not even my undergarments remained intact during the encounter with the timber wolf, and I was having to be quite careful to make sure that my dignity stayed intact. They needed to be repaired along with every other slashed piece of clothing I was wearing.

Rarity looked genuinely confused. "Why not, darling? Are they stuck to you?"

"No, it's a very strong social moor of ours. The only time we are unclothed is when we are bathing, or possibly in bed, be it alone..." I left it open ended.

Now it was her turn to be embarrassed. "Oh," she said simply, mouth forming a tight line for a moment while a hint of a blush crossed her face. "Well then. Follow me, follow me."

I did so again, now more worried than before. I desperately wanted to avoid an embarrassing situation, especially now that the classy pony knew the cultural significance of such a situation. She led me to a mannequin in the corner that was covered with a bolt of canvas, and strangely upright.

"I was planning on waiting until later, but..."

The ice-blue aura flickered along her horn again, and a shimmering point of the canvas was pulled off the stand, fluttering to the ground.

"Ta-da!" Rarity grinned, a flourish directing me to what hung on the stand.

A dark, hooded robe, likely of tightly spun wool, was presented on a reconfigured mannequin that roughly modeled the human torso and head. It appeared full-length, intended to go to my ankles. A simple silver clasp was pinned at the neck, holding it in the two portions of the garment in the positions where they were desired, and a light grey rope hung about the waist to provide a more secure connection. It truly was an interesting piece, and had much old-fashioned charm. I was, however, concerned about the material. Although the material appeared finely spun, wool was a bit scratchy by nature and I really didn't want my whole body to be swathed in it. The generosity of the alabaster mare was something I was truly very appreciative of, however, and there would be absolutely no way I would turn it down, but I needed some clothes to wear under it first...

Rarity interrupted my analysis to present some information. My expression was appreciative by this point, which I was glad of.

"Not my best work, but I didn't have any measurements to make sure my sizes were correct for anything more fitted. Go on, go on, try it!" She removed the pin from the neckline and withdrew the robe from the stand, spreading the garment open to allow me to put it on. My eye caught glimpses of a lighter material inside, which meant that it must be lined with a softer material. I was truly grateful and even more impressed. She truly was very thoughtful and had a keen eye for detail. As I moved to put the article of clothing on, she spoke again.

"Now, dear, seeing as you don't have the fine fur that ponies have, I took the measure of lining the interior with--"

My left arm had entered the sleeve, and I interrupted her as I became even more grateful for her thoughtfulness and generosity.

"Oh, Rarity, you shouldn't have..."

"...silk." She finished her sentence, continuing on in a teasing response as I enthusiastically wrapped myself in the extremely soft and smooth clothing. "Now dear, don't tell me what I should and shouldn't do. You're not my mother, you know." Her cheeky smile and graceful response just made me even more sure of how she would respond to the big question, and the less I would allow her to have her way.

As Rarity pinned the clasp and tied the rope in a loose knot, I asked the real question. "Okay, now how much do I owe you for it?"

Here she goes. She carried on to her next statement with as much fluidity as I envisioned. "Oh, no dear, it's free of--"

"Absolutely not," I cut her off.

Playfully indignant, Rarity would not take no for an answer. "Excuse me? Do not interrupt, that is rude and inconsiderate, and as I've said before it is not for you to decide what I should do with my time and resources." There was absolutely no way I would overcome this phalanx of charisma, and I could do nothing but surrender--but there would be terms. I let go another earth-shaking sigh. "Rarity, please. At least let me help you out for a few days to allow me to repay you."

She pondered this, hoof on chin and looking to the skies, an audible "hmm" being released. She turned and faced me, hoof now in a gesture resembling a hand, palm up. "Okay, darling, but don't you lecture me on generosity. I am an independent young mare and I can think for myself." The act was still running strong and it was complete with accusatory pointing motions and narrowed eyebrows. I couldn't help but smile at her pantomime. "Alright, alright..."

She warmed, a bright smile now in full display. "Thank you, darling, it was my pleasure. I truly am the only pony in Equestria who was ever tailored for a human. Now, let's see about getting those other clothes of yours into an acceptable state, and take some measurements for reference..."

After the purple-maned pony had taken a few measurements, the reason for doing so unclear, she proceeded to repair my raiment as I left for the lobby, new clothes on and snugly fastened. As I reached the lobby, a small commotion was occurring. Murmurs of plans for tomorrow morning met my ears as I rounded the corner. Twilight briefed me on the situation.

"Oh, hello. Spike just received a letter from the Sun Princess Celestia. Here, see for yourself." The letter, on ornate stationary, was levitated to my hands.

Twilight,

I thank you for notifying me of the appearance of a new race of sapient creature in Equestria. I wish to meet with this human; please prepare to depart tomorrow on the 10:00 a.m. train. Bring your friends!

Best Regards,

Princess Celestia

P.S.; If you are reading this, human, I bid you a warm welcome to Equestria. Safe travels tomorrow.

I looked up from the letter, nervous. I knew that this would end up happening. Despite my knowledge of Celestia's aura of warmth and maternal tendencies, I still was anxious over tomorrow's events. She was the more active ruling princess in this country and the power of that title made me uncomfortable.

Dash, Twilight, and Spike were all over this, as apparently it had shown through my face.

"Ahh, don't worry about Celestia, she's cool." The only pony that would said that lounged back on one of the sofas, one hind leg over the other, front hooves behind her head, just like a person. Twilight was apparently tripped up by Rainbow making the most casual response physically possible, but Spike tacked on, "Yeah, she's really nice. Don't worry too much about it."

The purple mare spoke up now, floundering a bit. "Ah, so... where do you plan on staying tonight?"

I blinked. "I haven't thought about it, really."

For the long term, I would need employment and a willing landlord, but for now, I didn't have any place.

Rainbow entered the conversation. "I've got an extra room at my place but unless you can walk on clouds and have wings it's not quite accessible."

Twilight gave her input now. "The library doesn't have another bedroom, but for a temporary solution I suppose you can stay on the couch... that even is a little small, but it's better than staying out in the cold."

"What's this about sleeping arrangements, now?" Rarity was suddenly in the room, and if she had been listening in, it was fairly clear what she would say. Don't you do it, don't you do it...

"We're trying to figure out where our friend here will stay for the night. Oh, and we're going to Canterlot tomorrow, the princesses want to meet him." Twilight answered Rarity's question flatly and tacked on the short notice business-interrupting news on the end. Something flashed in Rarity's eyes, and I wasn't sure what it was.

"Oh, really? Alright, I didn't have any clients scheduled for tomorrow..." Her tone dropped flat. "...or for a few days after." The accented voice returned to its usual pitch and livelihood. Again, an odd look passed through the tailor's expressive eyes, and she looked at Twilight when she spoke the first half of her sentence. "But unfortunately, dear, Sweetie Belle is staying over tonight, and I don't have any extra room, and I'd like to finish a few of my pieces before going off to bed this evening, and that's liable to take awhile." I was actually rather pleased she had other plans, but the unusual behavior she exhibited was somewhat off-putting. Perhaps she simply doesn't want me over this evening. I would really be fine if she just told me that.

"That's alright, Rarity, you've already done a lot for me. I'm okay with staying at the library. I've slept in worse places." I wasn't sure where those places were, but vague impulses told me so. The white pony still seemed to feel that she had, in fact, not.

"My pleasure, dear. Sorry I don't have room for you here. I'll see you all tomorrow. Oh, and Rainbow, I'll be right back with your goggles."

The cyan mare's voice sounded drowsy now as she fought a yawn to speak. "Alright Rares, whenever you get to it..."

With some goodbyes, Rarity returned to her work.

On that note, our business here was concluded. Twilight evidently sensed the completion of the objectives of our journey as well. "Spike, you ready?"

"All set," he said. "Looks like you're outnumbered two to one tonight, Twilight." What--? "Three if you count Owlicious." Oh...

Twilight giggled. "I'm surrounded by colts!" Sobering, she turned to speak to me. "Okay, we don't need to walk back to the library... how about teleporting?"

This was an exciting prospect indeed. "Sure, I'm up for it." The promise of instant travel was one I was quite alright with, so long as it didn't have the effects of my previous, similar encounter with such magic. Twilight was glad for a small chance to show off, horn igniting with the soft flames of magic. "Okay, when I say go!" I nodded.

"One,"

The air began to resonate with the feeling of Twilight's magic, the raw energy flowing out of her horn and into the world around her, like a soup of energy.

"Two,"

That resonance became more intense and focused around my person, and shimmers of purple mist began to show around the three of us. The "soup" was becoming more focused now, like a woven cocoon, streams of energy criss-crossing throughout its whole center. My whole body began to pulse with this delightfully infectious energy.

"Three,"

I felt like the intensity of the energy was reaching a point where my tissues were liquifying, the very fibers of my being loosening and becoming saturated with the waves of Twilight's magic. It was somewhat invasive, and the feeling of looseness all around was disconcerting, but that was the only uncomfortable part about it. Suddenly, another massive spike of energy was dumped into my frame, and all the bonds were rent as the magical clutch was dropped, the last thing I heard being "go!" before the world around me disintegrated. It felt like I was an ethereal being in a sea of weakly associated matter, a core exposed to the environment of pure magic around me. It flowed through, and I could feel its current filling me with vigour and bountiful energy, but changing in its resonance and identity as it rested there; an unusual but pleasing sensation. I also was aware of a great speed, hurtling towards another place; whether we still inhabited the same realm I was in before was a question I could not answer.

Then, it all started to reverse; the energy began to withdraw, the tide of glorious magic that had flowed through my very spirit receding, and my body's molecules tightening and returning to their normal, proper states, interlocked and all layered in the correct fashion. I was rapidly decelerating, and streaks of color began to return with greater frequency. The world was reappearing and my limbs were all back, still resonating softly as I returned to the physical realm. With a snap, Twilight's power withdrew and my body ceased to hum with its resonance.

An earth-shattering pain ripped through my chest, radiating out towards my limbs with its horrific intensity. Standing was a physical impossibility as I sank to my knees in agony. To my abounding relief, it began to subside as I lay on the floor in a crumpled mass, and dissipated completely in the longest few seconds of my life. My ears had quit ringing so badly to where I could hear the terrified voice of Twilight.

"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, are you alright? I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you! Please be alright!"

"Yeah, I'm alright, I'm alright," I said, sitting up, my voice weak and hoarse, but strength quickly returning. "That was amazing... but sweet Jesus did that hurt."

"I'm sorry, I had no idea that would happen. What did it feel like?"

I struggled to find the best words for my exhilarating experience. "It was like my very being was soaked in a field of magic. Energy flowed through it and it changed, turned to something more... assuring, fortifying, and it pooled around me. The pool grew quickly, and when your magic left it stayed. I came back together here on the other side and it felt like my whole body was going to tear in half."

Twilight, fascinated by this information, absorbed, processed, interpreted it. Her expression of wonder melted and reformed into a smirk.

"What?" I needed to know what this was that she was so amused by.

Twilight began her long theoretical rant, which I was entranced by.

"Magic isn't stored in the body, it's stored in the ethereal consciousness, or soul, to simplify. Each pony's magical aura is unique and special to their consciousness, and it's an extension of their being. It's the body's job to produce, to allow the channeling of the magic--we unicorns have the most active, direct, and versatile magic; the other races channel it passively in different ways. It's usually produced from the food we eat,which has a certain magic-potential inside of it, something we don't understand--it's either from the universe around us or the planet itself. What you've done is taken that magical energy, in its pure form during the teleportation--when you were fully exposed to it--and it's changed to your own aura. Instead of dissipating into the universe, when I took you along in my aura during the teleport, the "magical pressure"--I'm metaphorically using fluid dynamics to help describe--was so low around your being that it flowed there and was changed by it. Now it's your own magic. But, for whatever reason, it didn't stop at whatever level your body is usually comfortable with, and the expansion and saturation of your consciousness' magical energy was hard for it to accommodate. So, it really freaking hurt trying to expand that capacity. In short, you are indeed a magical creature. However, there's something odd going on; your body isn't producing or using the magic, it's just stuck in your core. Perhaps the lack of production was due to different environmental stimuli in your home star system, but what I could easily tell you is that it is not healthy and it results in that internal turbulence and disharmony. Many adolescent unicorns go through this in their stage of development as their magical flow adapts and matures, but to get stuck in this phase is not good for your development. It would be best if we could find a way to release the magic and let it start flowing correctly through the metaphysical pathways in the body."

I was fascinated, scared, and overwhelmed all at the same time. I couldn't muster any words, but my eyes must have spoken of this.

"What?" Spike said, utterly confused. We couldn't help but laugh, dispelling the intense mood, but leaving behind the profound discoveries and drive to understand.

"That's... truly fascinating," I said. "This is a lot to take in..."

"And it may not even be right," Twilight finished, giggling a bit. "But I'm sure it is. Celestia will know for sure, and then we can get you on your way to better health."

Twilight turned to her assistant. "Hey, Spike, make us some lunch, would you? I'm starving."

On that humorous note, the most profound experience of the day was concluded, and a lot of research and theorymongering began.

Foreign Exchange

Twilight and I dabbled about in the finer points of the revelations that had occurred a few minutes ago as Spike cooked a meal, which he seemed quite enthusiastic to do. I smelled butter being heated in the frying pan and the fires of my hunger were realized, igniting into a raging inferno. My mind had been so occupied with today's events I had forgotten my neglect of breakfast, and even now it was rather late for lunch--one o' clock. The wayward inquisitiveness of my train of thought eventually touched on the method of cooking they were using, as it appeared to be a dedicated stovetop and was not fueled by wood or any other form of traditional biomass.

"So how does your stove work? I don't think you have gas lines in town...do you? And that has to be butter I smell."

Twilight answered succinctly. "We don't have gas lines--but hm, interesting concept, although it sounds dangerous. What we do have are fluid containers, which usually hold the products of destructive distillation of some kind of biomass. Depending on what you've got, it's either liquid or gas... Spike, what are you making?" Too similar.

Spike, who was utilizing a stool to reach the top of the counter, answered Twilight at mention of his name. "Oh, um, I'm making eggplant sandwiches. Yeah, I'm using some butter." The hiss of the hot oils in the pan indicated the entry of what could be assumed to be bread.

Eggplant? They have some infrastructure. "How is it put together, like a BLT, or what?"

"BLT?" Twilight inquired.

"Yeah, bacon, lettuce, tomato..." wait a minute--

She caught the implication of the statement very quickly, and seemed to receive it with little friction. "Oh, so you're an omnivore? Spike is too, but he just eats vegetarian. Then again, he does eat gemstones and I've never really asked if he wanted any meat before. But now, I trust pony isn't a part of your diet?" She presented this in a humorous way, similar to a mother expecting an answer out of a young child.

"No. Well, it's technically possible. Horses were on occasion eaten if there was nothing else to eat in a desperate situation..." Twilight seemed a little nervous, tail flicking and ears twitching. "...but the horses of Earth are not intelligent creatures. I seriously doubt that any human could eat a sapient being, and those that could would be shunned by the overwhelming majority." The nervousness abated to curiosity once more. The expressiveness of pony ears was somewhat endearing, and could be likened to that of a dog. However, dogs didn't have quite human countenances and expressions like the ponies did. Speaking with a pony was really an interesting experience, and body language translated rather well, all things considered. The tail was also a unique form of expression, but its motion did not necessarily correlate with an emotion.

"I see. You have creatures like us on your home planet?"

"Yes. They're all different sizes, but proportionally, their bodies are bigger, heads more elongated and less expressive, eyes much smaller, fur only in shades of white, black, grey, brown, beige, and reddish-brown, and do not have horns or wings. However, in classical times, pegasi were mythical, and unicorns have been a part of myth since antiquity. However, there was not always distinction between the two, as unicorns were occasionally presented with wings."

"Hm. The appearance of creatures such as yourself seemed to have appeared in ancient drawings or artwork, but many simply assumed they were a subset of deformed minotaur. It's been somewhat of a debate among the scholarly for a long time, and we could not work out a proper name. The ones who have--rightly, apparently--called them a different species settled on the name Homosse-sapiennes--

"That's what we call ourselves in binomial nomenclature, or, rather, Homo sapiens sapiens," I interjected. "Ah, interesting."

By this time, Spike had arrived at the table, carrying two plates, which he deposited on the table. A pair of delectable-looking sandwiches sat on the table, with golden brown toasted bread and healthy-looking bits of lettuce and tomato peeking out from the sides, complete with toothpick to hold the ensemble together..

"Wow, Spike, you're really getting good at this," Twilight praised.

"Thanks Twilight," Spike replied, coming to the table with his own sandwich. "It's a classic, and pretty hard to mess up, admittedly."

The purple pony was the first to take a bite, quickly followed by Spike. I was not exactly a person with the broadest of culinary tastes, but this looked quite good and was graciously prepared for me by my hosts. I was also starving. I bit into the triangular collection of calories, my hunger realized.

Such a simple creation, this, but it was wholesome and tasted quite good. The usual crunch and gelatinous textures and mild flavors of the lettuce and tomato greeted my palate and introduced me to their friend the eggplant, an unusual fellow who had a strikingly similar texture to that of a thin slice of meat, and an unusual flavor profile that was somewhat sweet, buttery, and salty. Although distinct from bacon, the eggplant produced a similar effect in this sandwich and was a compatible substitute for the crispy, fat-imbued slices of pork usually featured in a composition like this one. I devoured the sandwich, but my hunger was not yet satisfied.

"Hey, Spike, got any more?" I saw that the dragon was only about a third to a half of the way through his meal, and the intellectual mare was perhaps two thirds through. He swallowed and answered, "Yeah, there's more on the counter. Help yourself."

I did. I needed to thank my hosts. "This is interesting. The eggplant is an unusual but quite fitting substitute for bacon."

"Bacon? That's a cut of pork, right?" Twilight seemed both interested and a little uneasy over the subject, which was understandable, the herbivorous creature that she was.

"Yes," I answered simply.

The purple pony seemed to be debating whether to say something, biting her lip, flicking her tail, and ears twitching. Something was obviously brewing beneath the surface.

"I know how you said you couldn't eat sapient creatures, but pigs, cows, chickens, and other animals we raise here are all...moderately intelligent. None of them are on par with ponies, but they are intelligent enough to understand simple concepts. A common contract in most lands is that the raised animals are provided a safe and comfortable life in exchange for the control of their handlers. This is nigh-universally accepted in the case of basic productions of the animals' life processes, such as milk. Some of my people advocate for the freedom of all pastoral animals and the criminalization of their deaths for butchers' markets, but they're generally considered to be on the extreme end, especially since none of these creatures ever actually complain for themselves and the fact that carnivorous beings such as griffons must eat as well. Some even go so far as to denounce the process of harvesting the eggs of chickens, even consensually. Questions have also been raised over the treatment of the animals to be pressured into these contracts or the suppression of the desire for their freedom or possession of their eggs by threats of force, but this is also considered unlikely. I'd like to know your honest opinion on this matter." An encouraging, if somewhat shy, smile lay on her face. She had taken a leap to ask my opinion on a controversial topic and did not know what the result would be.

I considered this information. "Well... if the animals consent to the contract at a point where they can understand it, then I think it's fine. Brutalization and neglect of your livestock, however, especially as semi-intelligent creatures, is heinous, and there should be at least rudimentary legislation prohibiting it. As an omnivore and a common consumer of meat products, I really appreciate the steps your kind takes to provide for those unlike yourselves, and the kind that we eat as well. I couldn't eat a piece of meat from a semi-intelligent cow if I knew it had not consented to its slaughter. My question is, how do they so calmly and in full knowledge walk towards their deaths? That's a true show of bravery, loyalty, and constancy to your commitments. My sense of self-preservation would be screaming at me to run away, even if they had provided for me their whole lives and had a legitimate reason for doing so."

"It's mostly agreed on that the majority of that sense has been bred out of them. Their behavior often reflects this, to the partial detriment of the ranchers. Losing livestock is never good for business."

"Hm," I answered, wordlessly. The rest of the meal passed in thoughtful silence.

After the meal, with stomach full, my thoughts turned to other such maintenance tasks to perform on my body. I became aware that I had not bathed or brushed my teeth since my arrival in Equestria, which led to a feeling of dreadful uncleanliness. I endeavored to do these things before returning to whatever other enlightened discussions would occur.

"If you don't mind, may I use your shower?" I asked my hosts.

"Sure, no problem. Up the stairs, first door on your right. Soap bars are on the little rack right outside the shower." Twilight was quite a helpful young mare.

As soon I set foot into the tiny bathroom, I realized that it was made for quadrupedal creatures almost half my size. Everything was low and small, the toilet was clearly designed to have ponies stand backwards and lean against to use, the sink was a large waterfall-type feature in which the front hooves were presumably placed on the top half and the rear on the lower, with a similar towel setup. The shower, however, was remarkably similar, despite being intended for creatures averaging 4'8" and being set up for such.

Having locked the door behind me--an action I questioned the effectiveness of, due to the presence of unicorns...interesting thought train, remember this one-- I disrobed, quite literally, and proceeded into the shower. I was presented with the similar sights of a common, if more exposed, shower setup. The valves on the exposed pipes were simple enough to operate, and due to the presence of hot and cold, indicated that a water heater existed, but the faucet was directly in line with my eyes. I would have to get creative to properly wash.

I waited for the water to heat. Adapting and handling all the little things in this room made me aware of their similarities to the situation I was in right now. I was a foreign entity in a land composed of different creatures, if helpful and accommodating. The friendliness of everyone I had met helped make me feel welcome, but it was so unusual, and made it hard to find where my feet were planted in terms of my part in the big picture, and any sort of plan for the future was not possible to form without this knowledge of my niche.

The pain over my lack of self-knowledge lingered as ever. I knew not my life, my family, my friends, or if I even had any. What must my family and friends be feeling right now? The thought made me sick.

Worse, though, was the thought that absolutely nobody cared. That I was an outcast. A criminal, who had done cruel and wicked things to people. Who had I hurt? Who had I alienated? Had I even been a killer?

I stepped into the steaming shower, rivers of hot water beginning to flow across my skin, eroding the soils that hung about from my early days in Equestria. My train of thought was undaunted, but far-fetched. I was not even an adult. Although I had the knowledge to be a killer, almost everyone did, in reality. It was unlikely I would have done so to anyone, given my fortunately still present sense of morality. But what if that morality was simply an innocent one, generated by some philosophies I had unconsciously imprinted upon in my post-transport state? My imagination was acting as my archenemy, and I couldn't rule out or confirm any of the possibilities milling about upstairs.

Exiting the bathroom on a wave of steam and wrapped in my deliciously soft robes, I began to descend the stairs back to the ground floor again, without the service of my shoes. When I reached the living space, I discovered my bag laying on the table, and Twilight's eyes being just above the edge, looking at it, ears straight up. This produced a quite comical effect and I couldn't help but laugh a bit to myself. She didn't react, which made it harder to stop. I managed it, however, and thought of the many things that must not happen for her to observe my computer.

"So... I know there's something in here. Can I see it?" She popped up from beneath the table now, sitting on her rear, not unlike a dog.

I sighed passively. "Okay, this whole device is based on tiny electrical currents running through very specific and individual paths. To be safe, please don't use any magic on it. Also, be very gentle and do not drop it." I scanned through my head for any other rules I could think of, but none came.

"Okay." Plainly, the rapt attention paid to the rules I'd laid out was a preface for me to get this interesting piece of alien technology into her hooves so that it may be examined. I sat down on one of the sofa, pulled it out of the bag, and opened the lid, pressing the power button. The screen lit, and the fan began to whir softly. I deduced from the Resuming Windows... message I was presented with that the laptop had gone into hibernation, which had me worried. Would this benefit from the same strange power-sustaining effects as my phone? I hoped so. I extracted the mouse from the backpack, but my hand bumped something else whilst inside, another bit of plastic. I removed this, and examined it.

A large pair of black over-ear headphones hung in my hand, cord dangling from the jack on the side. This struck me as odd, but a blur stood over the recollections that would have helped me. I didn't think... ugh. I abandoned attempting to find the information I wanted, as it was hopelessly obscured.

Twilight was watching the screen with hungry eyes as she moved closer to me to get a better look at the glossy LCD panel. It could be easily surmised that every fiber of her being was attuned to absorbing everything she possibly could about this fascinating instrument. Spike meandered over as well. No different from back home. I smiled. If there was a screen, people would observe it. The draw of activity was often too much to resist, even to the commonly aloof.

The reboot message gave way to the "lock screen," which only had one user that required no password to access. I casually tapped the enter key and awaited the slow population of my desktop with the windows of programs I had left open on its last use. The first thing I did was check the battery. It displayed the charging icon and the encouraging message of Fully charged (100%), which prompted a small internal celebration. Whatever magic was providing my devices a steady stream of electricity was practically angelic in my eyes. I wouldn't have to worry about the sadness of a dead battery with no means to charge it, or the trials and tribulations of embarking on a long quest to provide such a means.

For some odd reason, I then allowed my eyes to drift over to the right a little more, and checked the network icon, which was obviously displaying Ready to Connect. Again, for some illogical reason, I clicked the icon, leading to the obvious fruitless scan for networks. I lamented the loss of that which I had held so dear, the vast expanses of knowledge and entertainment that was the internet. My browser served no purpose, as did most of Steam, which was currently engaging in a futile search for updates, without it. Several of the games I had were also unplayable without internet access. But there's always... that one.

King Gaben's social gaming and marketplace service knew how many hours I had logged on it, and it was well on its way to striking an eventual four figures. After the program had booted, now permanently in offline mode, I entered the library and clicked on the title.

Kerbal Space Program

YOU'VE PLAYED: 718 hours

Along with various other statistics and a multitude of screenshots involving spacecraft and other engineered nonsense, I checked the time, which displayed as 2:07 PM.

We've got time.

I hit the "play" button, and whilst the computer loaded both the stock and myriad modded parts and resources, I entered a long, long conversation with the scholarly mare at my side about all things computers, and, over the next few (read: as many as was practical until the day's end) hours, anything and everything she might want to know about.

Tell me if you want more writing for this chapter. TELL ME. I'm trying to write a better story here.

Thoughts of Trains

Vague sounds floated around my head.

My shoulders moved a bit. The sounds continued.

In my state of disturbed sleep, I did not process or attempt to comprehend the sensory input I was receiving. I stewed in the peace of sleep that still embraced me, relishing the calmness of mind I was exhibiting.

In a moment, I felt a horrendous bolt of terrific proportions careen through my entire body, tearing it at the seams, and becoming the sole object of my mind's eye. Fire ignited in all of my veins, consuming all of my flesh, ligaments, and bone. In an instant, it subsided, but not without reaction. I vaulted to my feet, fists raised and muscles tensed. Rage seethed, and all of my faculties were engaged in identifying my assailant so I may punish them. I felt an initial tap of Twilight's magic at the beginning of the terrible surge, and I held her accountable. It was fortunate that by the time I had located the pony, I had subdued my anger to an extent so as to prevent an act of physical violence.

"Jesus Christ, Twilight! Never do that again, or I will hit you."

The solar flare of rage in my chest had been expelled, and now I was able to patch myself together again. I could now process my environment. I was in the library and had arisen from the couch I had spent the night on. It appeared to be late morning, judging by the strong rays entering the windows. A small dragon stood near me in a fearful posture, and Twilight herself was evidently stunned and afraid, sitting back on her haunches with one ear dropped, and body slanted away as if blown by a strong wind. Her expression was confused, and so was her present articulation. "I, umm, I'm sorry. All I did was give you a mental tap."

I was incredulous. "Mental tap? If you can compare a tap to being struck by lighting thirty times in one second whilst being incinerated in the core of the sun!"

Looking at Twilight again revealed her once-more shrunken posture, and dark lines under her eyes, barely visible by the obstruction of her purple fur. Her eyes were drowsy as well, leading me to passively wonder how much sleep she had actually gotten last night. Such a wondering affirmed me that this experience had begun a violent, immediate startup of my preferably extremely long wake-up process. I could see the concern and confusion milling about in her eyes until they shifted to an expression of understanding.

"Oh... I really didn't think that one through. Your magic stores are already so pressured up that even the slightest attempt at using magic on your mind will lead to a violent reaction by your essence. I'm really sorry... I know how that hurts." Genuine and pained sympathy was now displayed through her body language. I normally would have attempted to affirm her, but I was far too angry still to do so. I simply sighed, exasperated. "What time is it? What is it we need to do to get ready for the day?" I recalled now the letter from Celestia, and Twilight simply shrugged and asked Spike, who seemed to most awake of us.

"I told you you shouldn't have kept going with that... game. Now I'm the only one who isn't tired." Spike scolded Twilight, and his words seemed parent-like and extremely familiar, if presented from a more child-like standpoint. Twilight merely grumbled. "At least I got a ship into orbit... but not back." I couldn't help but snort, despite the fact I had done the same in the past. She merely rolled her eyes. I wondered who the children really were here. Spike continued on.

"Okay, so it's 7:30 now, and we have to be on the platform by 8:00. I'm not sure we're going to make it--"

Twilight cut him off after hearing all the relevant information. "Your stuff's back in the bag now. I put it away at about 2:30." I chuckled again as she tossed the bag at me, which I caught. "Food now or should we wait until lunch? Spike?"

It was Spike's turn to grumble this time. "I'm hungry, but I really think we should get to the station."

About halfway through his sentence, Twilight went to fetch something. She returned about a minute later, tossing some bars of cereals at us. Spike now groaned instead of grumbling. "Twilight, again? I've had so many oat bars lately."

"No time," she said. "We have to walk." She tossed one at me and another at the purple dragon.

Spike picked up his bag, which looked too heavy for him. Twilight levitated something from across the room, setting it down on her back. A quick analysis revealed it was a saddle blanket, simple and unadorned. Do they actually have saddles here when no one rides on them? The blanket was followed by a pair of bags emblazoned with Twilight's cutie mark, and connected by a simple square of heavy cloth. She settled these on top of the blanket, and manipulated a small leather belt, cinching it down around her body. "Huh. Saddlebags without a saddle."

"Yeah, I always thought that was kinda funny too. You'd think that they'd be called something else, seeing as how saddles were always a niche tool for herding. Now they're mostly just used as utilitarian fashion statements." I noted her statement as she filled the two little containers with the things she needed to travel, and Spike's own bag, which was sitting next to him. "Let's go."

The door opened, the sunlight streaming through as we exited into the open air.

As we neared Ponyville's train station, the plodding of my feet and of my mind were along separate paths. The latter wandered onto the technology of Equestria. I had come to the idea that this land had entered the pony equivalent of the Victorian Age. Trains utilized steam engines, but the strange thing was, cottage industry remained the economic basis for the country. There seemed to be little machinery in this land, and perhaps it was because of the widespread utilization of magic. It was free--despite the fact that the unicorn worker must be paid--reliable, and readily accessible, whereas the production of machines was laborious, complex, and provided little extra benefit. I wondered if Equestria would ever hit a real industrial revolution. They could definitely achieve great things with magic alone, but it wouldn't be fair to let the unicorns trounce all over the rest of the ponies by means of natural talent--Celestia would likely agree. This may end with the subsidization of entrepreneurs looking to start factories, and employ the earth ponies, and, perhaps to a lesser extent, the pegasi, in these factories, balancing the abilities of the races of Equestria...

I had to wrench myself from speculation. The train station was in front of us. It was large building, purely rectangular and with a classic gable roof. It seemed to be built in the style of Renaissance buildings--cobblestone, grouted together and braced with wooden planks. The roof was of shingles, to my surprise, but thatch near coal-fired furnaces was not a wise idea. However, the fitting was extraordinarily clean and precise. Magic is a very useful thing...

I punched myself mentally. Stop. The world around you... right. I smirked dryly at my inner parent.

I looked down at the door, which we were now passing through. It swung easily and stayed square and level, another testament to the precision of the builders.

The interior of the building was much the same as the exterior, but the floor was a smoothly cut and laid brick. Ponies milled about in various queues, waiting to get a ticket or heading through the doors in the back of the building to the train. One of the ticket booth operators saw Twilight, and simply waved us through. We were already attracting looks, for obvious reasons.

We returned to the out-of-doors next to the train on a long, covered patio. The stone dropped off sharply to the tracks below, but the train itself was about level with out feet. An interesting sight, was this train. The engine itself was long and dark, made of iron, it appeared. The conservatively adorned cars behind appeared to be composed primarily of wood with iron bands for support. Ponies covered in soot and grease were looking at the wheels and drive mechanisms on and under the locomotive, applying the thick lubricant to any joint that appeared too dry. Others loaded what appeared to be coal into the large iron container at the rear of the engine, preparing it for another journey. It all looked very... Victotian.

We were greeted by an usher, wearing a nice uniform of sorts. From what I could determine, he was a fit, rather large earth pony stallion, his mustache completing the image of an olde-timey escort. "Ah, Twilight Sparkle. Please, come this way. Bring your guests!" A flicker of uncertainty rippled through his eyes as he observed me. Spike was really having a rough time of it today. "None of these guys ever notice me," he complained under his breath. The stallion led us to our left, towards the rear of the train. More ponies shuffled and mixed about underneath the covered walkway, and the number of these seemed to fall off as we passed what appeared to be white partitioning lines, separating the passengers of each car to better organize everyone. Eventually, we hit the final car--the caboose, and inevitably the most luxurious part of the steam-powered beast. A gangplank was extended from the side of the car to the closed cabin door. Our escort opened the door with a hoof, gesturing to us an invitation into the interior. "Please, make yourselves at home."

Yet again, I found that I had to shrink a bit from my typical posture to fit through the door. As Spike and I entered into this lavish train car, the door closed behind us, sealing off a remarkable amount of noise. I could stand in here, but I simply sat on the nearest portion of a long, arcing sofa instead.

Turning my eyes to the decor around me revealed that I was likely sitting in a load of cash. The interior walls appeared to be made of a varnished hardwood wainscotting of some sort, likely teak, accented by deep forest green accents in small alcoves adorned with small knick-knacks or various plants. The walls also held elaborately framed artwork hanging from them, as well as fully framed and functional windows sunk in various places about the room. The seats themselves appeared to be of very fine leather--another reminder of the interesting societal construct of animal husbandry in Equestria--and were also framed with solid planks of sturdy and well-finished hardwood. The flooring was surprisingly one of what seemed to be shag carpet, and I was visited by the need to remove my shoes. The centerpiece of the room was a massive, beautifully crafted teak table, composed of several cuts of wood laid together with such exacting precision that any gaps were imperceptible. An ornate floral arrangement sat in the center of the table, surrounded by a myriad collection of various hors d'oeurves, and a small collection of what could easily be identified as a small multitude of assuredly high-quality hard liquors, along with different sets of fancy glassware for their consumption. I could not comprehend how much time and money went into creating and maintaining this cabin, and that we were lent its use.

Inside this fantastically expensive train car sat several other ponies. The one who looked most at home, the alabaster one, sat back almost like a person would, bottom legs crossed and forelegs in her "lap". The fashionista was wearing a simple, unassumingly adorned dress in a creme color, with light usage of gold lace and subtle glass beads for a hint of sparkles. She just needed opera gloves and to be poured a glass of wine to look almost like a character out of a movie. It fit her personality perfectly.

Also in attendance was a heathenish cyan pegasus, splayed out across an expensive-looking loveseat across from the arc-shaped sitting area, with limbs at various angles and wild rainbow hair laying any which way it desired. She snored softly. Someone has the right idea, my normal, not-in-an-extremely-luxurious-area brain said. It was dealt with sternly.

Another cabin occupant was the meek, proper Fluttershy, sitting in an also human-like manner, but in a more closed and angular manner than her effusively charismatic friend. She smiled softly at us through her light pink locks, curling halfheartedly about their end.

I gave the group the flash of a quick smile before looking to the final other pony in the car, the farm-grown Applejack, who sat slightly removed from the group in the seat across the door from me, and looked more uncomfortable than I was. She was in less of an awestruck state than I, however, and I could assume that she had been on other trips in this car. I nodded, and she returned the motion.

Twilight took a seat towards the middle of the half-circular seating arrangement, next to Fluttershy and Rarity. Spike took up the seat between the butter-yellow and white coated mares. They all shared a "hello" in their respective fashions. I had momentarily forgotten about Spike's little crush, but with Rarity's confident, intelligent, and sociable aura, it wasn't a mystery why it existed.

Notably absent..."Hey, where's Pinkie Pie?" Twilight's voice queried.

At this moment, the door to the exterior exploded open violently, almost triggering a primal urge to reach for a weapon. As the shockwave propagated throughout the fabric of the universe, a figure was revealed. Standing in the doorway was none other than the bubblegum pink party pony herself, in a triumphant posture and with a voice that dripped with the infectious energies she made such extensive use of. "HELLLLLLLLLLOOO EVERYPONY!"

Dash had not been unscathed by this. She lunged out of her seat, adopting a wide stance and spreading her wings to their maximum span. This was difficult within the confines of the train car and produced a quite imposing effect. Upon seeing Pinkie, Rainbow groaned angrily, flopping back down onto the small couch.

"Hey, Pinkie," the group responded after fits of giggling, be it traumatized, unstable, nervous, humorous, or all of the above. The usher gave her an evil eye before closing the well-crafted door again. "Hi!" She took a seat opposite Rarity on the other side of the car after a short prance.

"So how's it going today?"

The answers happened sequentially, each of us saying something to the tune of "good" or "wonderful", and "I was okay" in Rainbow's case.

Rarity seemed to be looking me over again. "You, dear, come with me. I have your clothes in the car in front of us." The white pony rose from her interesting sitting position, pacing to the front of the caboose. Her dress seemed more natural, flowing into a position reminiscent of plate armor for warhorses; the fabric fell mostly about her sides, not quite tight, but not loose, vaguely accentuating the shape of her body. I could say nothing of what the stallions would think of her craft and look, but I could appreciate the aesthetic. As the purple-maned mare opened the door, two halves of a small, thick walkway bound together by a massive iron pin, and the door to the aforementioned car, were revealed. This was far less precarious than the other linkages between cars, as this was clearly made to allow access between the two segments of the train. Crossing the small gap that allowed the join to pivot and entering the front car revealed a similarly-decorated interior, but without seating or furniture. The opposite end of the iron and wood box was quite close, about a third of the vehicle's length away. I assumed this was to be a multipurpose room, and that the other areas were private sleeping quarters and bathrooms, the former of which I determined must be utilized on long trips--or, for some nice naps. Some clothes racks stood in this open area, which held various outfits. The way the pony dresses were hung was interesting, but I couldn't quite visualize in what manner they were sitting. Rarity tossed some clothes at me, which I caught. It was the outfit I had worn on my way from the old castle, with all the holes sewed back up with near imperceptible thread.

"There's those, but come, come, darling..." No... she didn't... The purple-maned tailor opened a door to one of the small rooms, dimly lit by a few rays of light entering through the blinds covering the windows, and I entered behind her. My fears were confirmed.

The same ad-hoc mannequin stood in front of me in the little room. A pristine black suit coat was buttoned smartly on the assembly, with a lustrous red tie peeking out from beneath. An undershirt was thoughtfully included, of a clean white fabric that I could not determine until I put it on.

I was trying to organize the whirlwind inside my mind into a coherent oration as Rarity began to explain the work she had done.

"...I didn't have much time to put this together, but it's something I'm willing to put my name on--"

I started to talk, softly, and quickly escalating in volume. "No, Rarity, no, no, no, no--"

"Excuse me!" Oh no. I do believe I've made her mad. A stern and commanding look compounded the perceived anger in her voice.

"Dear, this is a serious problem. Remember the definition of insanity--doing the same thing twice and expecting a different outcome? Well, that's certainly true in this case. You have no right to tell me how to spend my resources, especially when it comes to doing things for you. I will do as I please. I sincerely hope that you do not exercise this behavior around the princesses of this country. Do remember, you are acting as a diplomat for your entire race. Also, please just be happy when I give you a gift. That is the point of giving gifts, darling. Now, what do we say?"

"Sorry, Rarity," I eked. The back of my mind was reveling in the comedy of the situation, while the front was attempting to bandage the fresh wounds it had sustained. It was, again, dealt with.

The mare's fierce, defiant expression almost instantly ameliorated into that of a pleasant smile, as did her tone of voice into an effusively praising one, which was dizzying for my internal emotional state. "Good, good! Now that that's settled, what do you think of this suit? I'll leave the room a moment while you change." As promised, she left the room, not giving me time to answer her question. I shrugged as the door closed, assuming she would expect an answer after I was done.

Feeling the fabric the coat was composed of assured me of its quality. It seemed to be of a moderately high thread count, and both soft and abrasive to the touch. I laid it down on the bed next to me as I re-clothed myself. The ensemble included an excellent set of dress pants, likely of a sort of cotton and wool blend, and the undershirt was a soft cotton production. The tie was plainly of silk, both luxurious and a reminder of Rarity's excessive expenditure on making unnecessary clothing for me, however much I appreciated her work. Her assurance and even scolding reminded me that she had not a single care about it, and her insistence that it was none of my business. Nonetheless...

Damn it, Rarity. The lining of the suit was, similar to Rarity's previous creation, of delicious satin weave silk. The subtle grey shine of the interior should have told me this, but instead it was my sense of touch. The fitting of the garments was sublime, and I was now able to see plainly the conspiracy for which my measurements were taken. She was by no means a lady lacking in intelligence, which she plainly radiated along with her other alluring powers of social prowess.

I made sure everything was as it should be before opening the door and exposing Rarity to her own scruitny. As soon as I stepped out, she was inspecting everything, checking to see if it all fit correctly. "I can't find any issues with it. I'm amazed you were able to put this together in one night." I was sure I looked somewhat comical, with my wildly curling mop of hair and obvious glasses clashing with the luxurious, refined clothing I was now wearing.

"Thank you, darling," she replied warmly, now more passively looking for issues. "I'm not a cobbler, so I couldn't make you any shoes, but what I can do, is fix that unruly bit of mane... this way, dear..."

Oh, Lord...

Just as I began to follow Rarity, faint tremors passed through the vehicle. The muted sound of a whistle diffused through the cabin.

"Oh. I do believe we're about to set off."

As Rarity said this, the car lurched slightly, vibrations continuing to pass through the flooring. Several more jolts of acceleration passed through the vehicle before it gradually began to smooth out into a more comfortable rhythm. It was now easier to walk about, and I followed Rarity across the hall.

About 45 minutes later, Rarity had almost entirely given up on trying to work with my hair without magic. I simply spent the time thinking about whatever came to mind, adopting a somewhat brooding composure, no doubt.

"Hmph. Your--hair--is so stiff and curly that I'm either going to have to leave it as-is or wash and brush it so I can use product to keep it flat. What do you say?"

"I'd rather leave it. I hate product in my hair." Why she was so engaged in something entirely arbitrary I had no idea.

"Well, I suppose I could use a bit of conditioner to keep it from being so frizzy. You may want to take off your suit, dear, or it's going to get wet." I snorted inwardly. No choice...

I followed her advice. The small stool that had I had been sitting on was moved to the edge of the "sink", the same style of structure I had seen previously in the library, albeit made of marble. It was simple enough to do as Rarity had insisted, if awkward, and I was soon mostly dry and back in my comfortable, timeless clothing. I had the feeling I would enjoy wearing this commonly, as the fabric did not seem so fine as to be hard to tailor and lacking in durability, and not nearly so coarse as to be uncomfortable.

"Alright, darling, let's go back to the caboose. Our friends are likely wondering what's taking us so long." I noticed her use of the inclusive pronouns, and once more I wondered what the others thought of me. I seemed to be accepted by six of the most important mares in the country, which I found strange. Again, the thought that perhaps this relationship was strictly professional and I was meant to be given a warm welcome before meeting the real leaders of the Equestrian government bubbled up. Worries about appearing authentic again strode the halls of my mind. Were my intentions clear by my behavior? I could not continue worrying, as I knew full well how it would eat away at my energy and produce a messy emotional outpouring, but the questions still gnawed at me.

Opening the door to the exterior of the moving train exposed us to an influx of sound from the mechanisms of the vehicle. The motion of the wind in between carriages was stymied by the forward movement of the train, producing a small pocket of calm air. A small tinge of anxiety slid in and out of my mind as I approached, then crossed the gap between the cars. Rarity was more obviously upset by this, but made it across fine. I opened the door, allowing her in first. I vaguely caught wind of a comment from her, pleased in tone. Entering the car after her, I closed the door behind us, sealing the outside off from the quiet of the luxurious caboose.

Twilight, who had evidently been nodding off, saw me, and decided to strike up a conversation. "Hey, you're back. We were starting to wonder what was taking so long. You clean up nice." Hm! The weird voodoo magic of suits transcends species boundaries!

I answered coolly to Twilight's conversation starter, as was generally my wont, especially after a long period in my head. "Yeah, I'm back... Rarity wanted to do some work on my hair and it was kind of a lost cause."

Rarity caught this one. Her animated nature assured a snappy response filled with humorous indignation. "It was not. I managed to tame it with a liberal application of conditioner, and it looks good, no?"

Twilight shrugged. "It looks like it did before, but with less stray hairs."

"Precisely," the fashionista replied.

A conversation started with that, and, for a period of about twenty minutes, continued, primarily involving various forms of clothing in the human world. Rarity enthusiastically contributed, whilst Applejack listened attentively and offered the occasional input, Pinkie allowed her mind, body, and mouth to wander, and Rainbow mostly just tried to take a nap. While she mostly just stayed still and occasionally shifted about, I eventually made it a point to offer her a solution.

"Rainbow?"

"Yeah?" came the mare's muffled voice.

"You know there's bedrooms in the next car...right?"

She disentangled herself from the chair, quickly rising to her feet. "Well, why didn't you tell me sooner! See ya later! And nice suit!" The cyan mare rushed out of the caboose, no doubt headed towards the promise of a comfortable nap. The group had a collective chuckle at her antics. I had more ammunition for the theory of strange suit powers.

Twilight again addressed me. "I think I'm about to do the same as Rainbow... I didn't get too much sleep last night. What about you?"

"Probably not a bad idea, but--"

Rarity cut me off. "Darling, if you get bed-mane on me, we're going to have an issue. I'm going in whatever room you're in and waking you up thirty minutes before we get to Canterlot."

I tried to reply, but Pinkie chipped in. "Yeah, you won't want to miss the sights on the way up to the city, either!"

Twilight, Rarity and I all shared a look of "that's not what she meant, but her point is valid" and moved on. She probably saw this, but was evidently alright with it.

"Think I'm gonna catch some sleep. Talk to you all later."

Twilight and I headed for the door.

Socially Inept Diplomat (Last Edited Chapter)

I was awoken by the contact of something hard against the side of my head. I grumpily snapped my eyes open, not entirely awake. "What?" In front of me was Rarity, expression indicating minor annoyance. "Darling, you're the one who agreed to the terms of this nap of yours. You have to prepare to leave the train soon. Make yourself presentable and I'll see if I can make a few touches here and there. Don't go back to sleep." With this, she left the room.

I hated having to wake up after naps. I sat up, trying to pull my mind back together from what it had been before my descent into restful sleep. I never was quite in the same state after a such an event. Swinging my legs over the bedside, I prepared to get dressed again; I had decided before laying down to change back into my robe so as to avoid any wrinkling to the suit. I was still amazed at Rarity's insistence on such fine materials to compose the garments she had made for me. Her behavior towards me seemed almost maternal, which was amusing, but also concerning. I hoped she was not doing this out of pity and operating as if I was a child for her to take care of...

The thought made perfect sense, and now was assured to haunt the corners of my mind when the mare performed a philanthropic action. Disgruntled, I dressed myself and used my phone as a mirror to check how presentable I was. The libertarian state normally checked on the agglomeration of wild individuals that was society every now and then, the state being myself and society the hair, and it checked out for my needs. I wasn't quite sure what the white one would think, but that was for her to know and me to find out. A passing sense of deja vu occurred as I ventured once more unto the breach.

Rarity's scrutiny was immediate. A short exposure rendered a judgement. "Dear, go brush your mane. Do as you wish after that, but at the moment it's rather wild. When you're done, come to the caboose again. We'll all be there preparing to leave the train in thirty. It's 11:30 now, for your information. Later, darling." Hmm, arriving at noon, then.

Saying a goodbye, deja vu followed me into the bathroom to wash up again. Wetting my hair enough to brush it, I removed the excess water and brushed it over into a strange looking flat, straight, but dense configuration. I then proceeded to mess up the arrangement with a short assault by my digits. This produced a semi-orderly, but still comfortably eccentric look that I usually used when attempting to be formal. The short process barely took four minutes, and I left the bathroom. Something felt off as I approached the door...

right, my bag.

Having successfully remembered the one item other than my ever-present smartphone and my sets of clothing, my recall was allotted some praise and affirmations for its infallible record. I opened the door to my room again, and looked to the chair in which I had set the bag. I did not see it. A short bolt of panic struck me for a moment before I realized there was what appeared to be a note sitting on the chair. Picking this up, I unfurled it and read a short spat of some very fluid and flowery handwriting.

Got bored. I have your things, just find me whenever you wake up.

-T.S., 10:07 am

I appreciated her little timestamp, although it was not entirely important or relevant. I now evacuated the room, heading for the door to the outside of the train car. Stepping out onto the little walkway, I flinched, reflexively grabbing the handrail. The train was now on a narrow mountain path, rugged snowcapped mountains impaling the previously softly rolling hills of Ponyville, and the colder, crisper air made me grateful for the nice suit coat I was wearing. The aforementioned town had a pleasingly quaint atmosphere enveloping it, but the terrain we were now traversing, although more foreboding and inhospitable, easily eclipsed it in terms of beauty. The tallest monoliths around us stood watch, bare peaks devoid of trees. I wondered how high we really were, and what remarkable engineering must have gone into this train to adapt to such a change in available air and pressure. I realized I would likely be suffering from shortness of breath in the capital city of the ponies. Looking up into the sky, the clouds loomed not far up above. Motion and color snagged my attention, behind the train. I identified Dash, wings unmoving, and proceeding at a slow rate towards the train. I knew what she was trying to do, and it would be an impressive stunt if she could actually land this with no wing motion at all, but I did not think that would be her goal. The difficulty of being an air-breathing creature at high altitude trying to land on a vehicle that presented a tiny target, kept changing its relative velocity, and flying without a fixed wing for a predictable glide slope was challenge enough for me to place great respect in Rainbow's flying abilities. I couldn't see too far to the front or rear of the train, and looking at Rainbow told me her descent profile would be quite steep and she'd need to bat her wings a few times before landing to avoid an ungainly and painful impact. The pony came in fast, appearing to grow larger at a moderately rapid pace before, as predicted, drastically increasing her angle of attack to pull up hard and stall, exerting her strong flying muscles to provide a few large wing beats, slowing her descent rapidly.

This precise and powerful articulation of her largest extremities was a testament to both her skills as a flier, and the remarkable design and applications of the pegasus wing. It could be paralleled to the human hand in its specialty and complexity, as well as its many uses. The hands were for manipulation of the physical world, and the wing for its navigation; having an airfoil that one could receive immediate sensory input from and its ability to be so dynamic in its specifications could lead to near infinite applications in the air. It was captivating, and it was easy to be envious of the beautiful instruments of power, versatility, and precision. Humans had always dreamed of flight, contriving an infinite number of ideas to take to the skies, but here was an intelligent creature born with the capability. It was not at all hard to find myself lusting after the same powers.

Dash, who had landed on the roof of the caboose, motioned for permission to drop to the lower platform, an action that looked harrowing. Rainbow did it with a cool head, and a massive blast of air was blown towards the ground as she softened her landing. The mare folded her wings away, an amazing process, and reached for her goggles, lifting them off of her eyes.

"Hey, how's it goin'?" While it may be relatively quiet in the small pocket between cars, "inside voices" were not an option.

Last time we'd talked about flight, I gave the athlete the what-for on who had the fastest, most powerful flight, but it simply didn't compare to the majesty of being on the wing, after having watched what could almost be considered an art form. "Just got up. Your wings are awesome, I can't imagine what it's like up there, in the air by the lift from your own extremities, and what it must feel like to have the air pass through the feathers..."

Rainbow smiled. "Oh, you have no idea. It must be difficult to never fly for all the non-Pegasi, I don't know what I'd *do** without my wings."*

"We've made our machines, but it just can't be as visceral as what you guys do. Inside?"

The cyan pony nodded. "Yeah." I let her go first, following the daredevil into the caboose.

Rarity saw Rainbow, deciding to greet her first. "Ah, Rainbow, so glad you decided to join us." She nodded nonchalantly, hanging her goggles on a nearby hatrack, and flopping into a seat. The two were easily as different as night and day, but their friendship and mutual respect was apparent, if coupled with a little teasing and perhaps even an inane rivalry of sorts. Pinkie now seemed to be asleep, and Applejack simply nodded at our entrance. Dash asked the question we wanted to know the answer to. "What's up with Pinkie? She asleep?" The pink pony's gregariousness was mostly confined to a receptive role in our conversations previously, as Twilight and I had steered it on to what we had found interesting. The party mare occasionally engaged in side conversations as well, typically with Rarity, if the purple scholar and I became too involved in something highly technical. Spike also joined in these as well, preferring to speak to these two.

Fluttershy, one of two of our primarily quiet passengers, answered Dash's question in her trademark soft voice. "Yeah, she decided she was tired a while ago." She meekly smiled, offering a small "hi" at my entrance. I nodded once, returning her smile.

"Afternoon," Twilight acknowledged. She lifted my pack from the sofa next to her, levitating it over to me. I grabbed it, moving to the same seat I had claimed earlier in the day. Rarity now inquired me on something. "Good afternoon, darling. Your...hair, looks much better. Would you mind my asking, what's in the bag? Twilight won't tell me." The last sentence was coupled with an almost childish tone that was quite amusing. Twilight and I shared a look that communicated our similar stance. "I don't think now is the time."

I should have known that wouldn't work, and it would only serve to make her more interested. "Oh, now I'm intrigued." A short pause took over, the blue-eyed equine clasping her hooves over her mouth, leaning onto the table. This was quickly broken, and she sat back up. "Please?"

She adopted puppy-dog eyes and a sad, pouting expression again. Unfortunately for her, it was more amusing than saddening. "Not yet."

"Fine," she answered, now changing to a full-on pout. I knew she was trying to guilt trip me into it, and it wasn't working. I turned my thoughts inwards again, mulling over everything that had happened in the last couple of days. Not long ago, I had lain bleeding at the edge of a dense jungle. Now, I sat in a lavish partition of a semi-modern means of transportation high in the mountains, on my way to meet with royalty.

Royalty. I checked the time on an ornate clock hanging on the wall nearby. 11:48.

For the first time, what I was doing truly dawned on me, twelve minutes before it would begin. I'm here with six of the most important mares in the country, going to meet *the** two most powerful in the whole land, and I am here to represent my entire species. If I offend them, I could be gone like the wind scatters ash.*

Anxiety was now realized, bubbling up from the dark places under the sea of still water. Excitement, apprehension. I couldn't decide which was which; butterflies stirred in my stomach, and bees buzzed in my head. What would I say? What's going to happen when we get there? What will the princesses do? What would offend them? What would please them?

"Are you... okay? You seem upset, all of a sudden." A meek, smooth voice precisely identified my issue, something I found surprising, given my normally placid demeanor. I looked up at Fluttershy, who had nailed down the malady with a hammer of intuition. I fumbled about in my head, hastily forming a coherent sentence to reply.

"Oh, it's just... it actually dawned on me, for the first time, what I'm doing... I'm going to meet the most powerful ponies in the whole nation, surrounded by six other very important ponies, and representing my whole species... it's kind of stressful, actually." I cursed my own wandering mind for not thinking deeper on this extremely important topic until now. There are things that one can procrastinate. This is not one of them.

"It's alright. I'm sure you'll be alright. We're here to back you up." The sentiment from the butter yellow pegasus elicited a small release of warm fuzzies inside. I really appreciated the affirmations, as I was previously uncertain to how I appeared in to the ponies. I knew now that Fluttershy at least had genuine interest in making friends, and from the shiest mare in the group, I was given the most reassuring of words. "Thanks," I answered, being as sincere as possible. But one thing still bothered me, a creeping question that had hung around ever since its inception several days ago. The group had all seemed to accept me so quickly...

"Why do you trust me?" I blurted the question, immediately regretting my lack of self-control. Fluttershy looked a bit intimidated at first. I immediately scanned my audience to gauge the social current of the room. Twilight looked concerned and Rarity appeared distressed, while Applejack observed with rapt attention. Even Rainbow looked interested in the proceedings. A general air of available support for Fluttershy hung in the room, should she need to call on it.

Said pony looked down at the ground, mane obscuring her eyes again. A dreadful silence hung in the air, and the tension grew by the second.

Her muzzle rose again, and her eyes made contact with mine, albeit one obscured by her flowing mane. "You've been kind to us so far, and seem like a good person at heart. Unless..." Again, an unbearable pause rocked through the room as the peaceful pony broke eye contact, mustering the words and courage to finish her statement. "unless there's something you need to talk to us about?" She smiled again, eyes meeting mine. I could see she was reaching out to me, trying to be there to support me. The flow of warmth through my chest grew like a faucet turned by a caring hand.

I smiled back to Fluttershy. The power of eye contact was truly amazing, and the level of intimacy between us had grown rapidly and was now almost alarming. I felt as if she was extending a hoof on which my feelings could latch. It scared me; I didn't trust my emotions, they were so wild and untamed by the ordered rationality of the logic I typically espoused. Somehow this pink-maned, lovable fiend had managed to circumvent all of the shields about that part of me--or had I let the vigilance slip a moment?

Either way, I was in deep now. I looked very carefully inside myself, almost looking for an excuse to discuss something, but the problem was, there wasn't really any problems.

My introspection had accompanied a downward angle of my head, from which I now withdrew. I started a soft shake, right to left and back. I looked up, making the ever-intense eye contact with Fluttershy. "No, I really don't think so..."

A small dose of disappointment was one I saw measured, her head returning to slightly downcast, a soft "oh" escaping her lips. I felt a sliver of pain, like a tear in the edge of paper, cut through my inner sanctum. I quelled it. Continuing the cycle, she looked back up at my eyes again. "Well, if there's anything you need to talk about..."

She didn't need to finish. Effusive feelings of acceptance stirred like a wave of soft, fuzzy heat, and an especially heartfelt, gracious smile possessed my features. Somehow this violently speedy foray into my most censored self had resulted in me finding someone I could talk to about such matters. I wondered how it was that we had dived into this level of intimacy so quickly. I put it down to the trauma of my realizations just prior and a slip in my usual defenses.

"Darling, if you need support, I'm here for you, too. I might not be as adept as Fluttershy at working it all out, but I'll do my best. That's what friends do, after all." The one pony who could have said such things smiled warmly, and although it may not have been as touching as Fluttershy's commitment, it still reached me with favor.

But however reassuring these commitments to my heart, Fluttershy's answer for why they trusted me had not satisfied the voracious hunger for a logical answer my head seeked. Why were they doing this? Why? The rift between feeling and reason was still great.

Applejack, previously the quiet observer, decided to speak a piece of her mind. "Now, I can only speak for myself here, but... I think, to answer your question, we trust you simply because you haven't given us a reason not to. You've been respectful and kind to us and haven't shown the slightest sign of wanting to take advantage. I don't know where you come from, but unless you're giving me a reason not to, I'll treat you like a neighbor."

Again, a small pulse of positivity tickled my interior. Applejack's simple and reasonable statement helped to bring me to a new level of clarity and understanding of the behavior I was experiencing, and helped quell the storm of an unsatisfied call for logic, solving my problem with a straightforward worldview.

I really didn't know what to do now. Words seemed weak, and I couldn't convey how I felt by another means. I looked at my feet, nodding softly. I gave the old English language a go with a soft "thanks", in a vain attempt to tell of what I had experienced. Luckily, the room seemed to glow with care, and I needed not to phrase the perfect statement. A wave of shyness rolled over me, and I simply wished to wall up and turn inwards again. This time, I was both more secure and less likely to blurt out a question I hadn't really meant to ask. Even though the words offered by the group around me was reassuring, I was still afflicted with nagging insecurities. They really didn't know me, but worse was that I really didn't know myself, and this was something that could not be resolved. I was content now to ride the wave of positive emotions, however, for that very reason. Several conversations flowed between our group's more extroverted members, as I passively observed from the sidelines.

A number of minutes later, Rarity pointed out the window of the train as we rounded another bluff, words coated with enthusiasm. "Look everypony, it's Canterlot!"

I turned my previously unoccupied eyes towards the glass, looking for the city. I was not disappointed.

An extravagant fortress hugged the edge of a precipitous cliffside on the end of a bluff holding a large, lazy lake. The smooth, round wall, and the largest buildings within, were made of a bright white and flawlessly constructed from what I inferred to be thickly whitewashed stone, producing a pale white shine on the canvas of grey, green, and white. Great constructs of a darker stone, likely pulled from the mountainsides, provided a contrasting tone to the light colored buildings, primarily serving as the hewn columns and supports of the city, and in the roofing of the largest buildings. The balance of light and dark was a central element to the color scheme of the capital city, but perhaps the most striking was the use of gold to ordain it. An untold weight of shining gold glimmered off the slender turrets and railings of the great citadel, standing to present the city as both a way to demonstrate dominance over the forces that would move such stones as those that composed it; however, it also demonstrated a poetic connection, a thankfulness, almost, as the soft metal was likely extracted from the very masses of rock on which this symbol of civilization stood.

We drew ever closer to this wonder of architecture, but I saw that we would not enter into it on this train. A station was built at the near side of the river, and a small railyard proximal to the underside of the cliffs signaled the end of the line. The stone road that had followed us most of our way on the ride out of Ponyville, likely very old, led over an huge wooden drawbridge to the great porticullis of the town, an imposing sight, even from our distance. I checked the time again. 11:56. We had four minutes to prepare to depart from the train, and to my continuing pleasure, I had but my clothing and my electronics to take care of. They were already gathered into my bag, so I had nothing to do to prepare.

The lush foliage about the town puzzled me; despite the ready accessibility of water, the great altitude we were at was something I would have thought to reduce the thickness of plant life. However, it was not hard to tell this place was saturated with magic. Doubtless, the city had many layers of magical protection, especially since its location was so dangerous. I turned my focus to the end of our journey, the station. A glittering of something had caught my eye.

As we drew closer, I was able to make out a mass of shining things, layered atop a field of white and moving ever so slightly in the sunlight. I came to the realization that this was a group of military ponies, golden-colored armor shining in the sun. A detachment of the Royal Guard was evidently here to escort us to the castle. A slight pang of apprehension passed through me when I saw them armed with long, shining pikes, but I then understood the guard was as much to protect the princesses if I turned hostile. It never hurt to be prepared, and if one were to meet the President, there would be a multitude of armed guards about.

However, as we approached the platform, I examined my surroundings. Here I was, a simple human student, in a very luxurious train car, wearing a fine suit, and headed to see the two leaders of a nation that were at least biologically immortal. I wasn't trained in diplomacy, although many may argue that that is a good thing, and another wave of anxiety broke. I fought to keep this one down as the train's brakes became faintly audible and the vehicle began to slow.

"Celestia's really nice, you'll be fine." The propensity of this group to determine how I was feeling was somewhat unsettling, but it could easily have been put down to a regular reassurance. I wasn't different from any other regular person about to visit royalty.

As the vehicle halted, I saw plainly the ranks of the Guard outside the window. I stood up, uncertain of what to do. The others did the same, grabbing their belongings. I heard a faint clip-clop of hooves on the platform outside, and the lines of guardsmen rotated to face perpendicularly to the train door, raising their front hooves in a salute. Who's coming? Who is this?

I heard and saw the turning of the handle on the door, and the rush of air as it was opened. There stood a pony I recognized, a tall white stallion with a somewhat messy blue mane of varying shades, not clad in armor like his fellows. Twilight lunged for the door, making contact with her chest and embracing him with her neck. He attempted to stay as still as possible, but the momentum she carried staggered him a bit. She peeled herself away from him, but still stood well within his sphere of personal space, being unusually close siblings.

"Shining! It's good to see you again!" A faint and repressed smile passed his lips, and a quiet, amused, but lightly admonishing voice responded to her behavior. "Hi, Twilight. It's good to see you as well, but we're kinda here on official business and everything."

Extricating herself from her brother's space with a blush, she offered an "oh, right..." before I caught that I was supposed to be near the exit. I approached it, now standing near the captain of the guard. He, and his men, all stood taller than the mares, at an estimated 5'2"; the armored fellows stood an inch or two taller, clad in their shining plates, and their plumes reached to about 5'10 at their peaks, about eye-level for me. A near-invisible flicker passed through them, and I wasn't quite sure how I noticed it; their demeanor was steely and resolute. The cause was likely that I stood over them all, and to simple unexpectedness as Celestia regularly stood above them. It was easy to see they were sizing me up, estimating what it might take

Shining began to speak to me in a clear, animated tone of voice. "Welcome to Canterlot. I am Captain Shining Armor, commanding officer of the Royal Guard. Me and these fine stallions you see here are to escort you to the palace."

Right. Talking, words. Responding? You know these things. I replied amiably and in an attempt to produce as confident a tone as he, "A pleasure, sir. Lead on."

I stepped out first, the six Elements following me. Twilight sidled up close to her brother, Spike rode on Pinkie's back behind me, along with Rarity and Fluttershy to my right rear. Applejack trailed the group, and Rainbow stood on my left. I was surrounded by these ponies, and as we advanced, two lines of guardsmen moved to form a tight square around us. We proceeded through the train station, which was made of fine stone and etched in a Gothic fashion, several ponies near the ticket booths watching intently. I got the uncomfortable feeling this would be how the procession went all the way to the halls of the palace.

The road to the gates was mostly uneventful, as it was currently lightly trafficked. I spent most of my time observing the scenery, and now, the strange, unique resonance in the air. This magic was a strange one, seeming to seep out of the land itself, not like Twilight's, whose source was apparent and possibly even traceable from feeling the harmonic movement of the air when she used it, somewhat like a high-pitched ringing from a TV set. Despite this mystery, the surrounding land was beautiful, with several pathways leading deeper into the hillside. It seemed that the whole stead of the castle was a garden or park, almost.

As we approached the gate with the synchronized clanking of metal and sound of hooves striking stone, so grew my apprehension, but also, excitement. Despite the gravity of the situation, a place as wondrous as this just beckoned to be explored. I did not know if I would be allowed to wander the city, but I would take the opportunity when if it became available.

The wall, which was likely employed as a last line of defense, was not particularly tall. As we transitioned from the stone of the road to the wood of the drawbridge with a thundering of hooves, and then back to stone past the great gates, we entered the city and caused a bit of a stir. The town's main thoroughfare cleared and the ponies about town again laid their gazes on our procession, but I tried hard not to let it bother me. Instead, I examined the buildings about. They all were built of the same material that it seemed the whole city was, stone of a bright white. The interiors of these buildings were likely repurposed many times over their lifetimes, and I wondered just how old the city was.

The purposeful march would continue for about five or ten minutes through the streets, until we hit another gate. This one led into the palace grounds.

I thought the palace was big from far away. I underestimated it. It was massive. The immense monolith was composed of several great spires reaching high into the midday sky, and a huge central hall tying the complex together. The style of the building was an interesting blend of pre-modern architecture, with the sharply ascending, strong-edged spires of Gothic buildings, the more rounded, circular construction typical of the Baroque, and the smooth, flat sides of the Romanesque constructs. We headed straight for the doors of this enormous hall, two puny guardsmen opening the giant doors for us as we neared. The opening of the great slabs revealed a vaulted antechamber, with wide stairways heading up to the various parts of the castle. Two stained glass windows stood at the top of this great chamber, high overhead; one an image of the sun in yellow, shining down through the clouds, and another in shades of blue and purple, illustrating the moon and stars. The mixture of colors was a strange one, similar to that of the twilight hours of the day.

We did not set our path to the great flight of stairs, instead heading for one of a pair of entrances to what was assuredly Celestia's throne room. Great suns were engraved upon the surface of these doors, and guardsmen again stood watch over them. Once more, the guards opened the doors for us.

I could see the inside was full of light from the outdoors, and the windows cast streams of many colors onto the colossal red carpet leading to the end of the hall, a great many paces away. As we entered this cavernous hall, I was once more amazed by the magnificent abilities of the pony architects. The sheer size of this castle, not to mention the precision with which it was constructed, spoke of the talent of both designer and laborer. Perhaps the race was not as advanced as humankind, and although I had not seen the old cathedrals of Europe in person, this castle was of equal magnificence and scale.

We traversed the hall, and I could feel the magic emanating from the end of the hallway. I caught the soft motion of prismatic colors and the shining white of the coat and wings of a large pony. Celestia. The aura could be felt growing in strength with every step we took. I tried to view and absorb the enormous panes of stained glass in the windows, and passively wondered how such a construction could be sturdy, but the comforting, yet surreal waves of soft warmth from the princess I was to speak with were far too distracting. The closer our party got to the regent, the more layers I could feel converging and forming atop one another. The feeling of warmth built with every step, almost reaching the effect of a sun emitting bright, warm rays from the center of the body. Warm, comforting feelings began to slide into place, those of maternal nature. It was almost if I was being embraced. However, this struggled against my ever-rising nervousness; I could see Celestia clearly now, sitting on the Equestrian throne. The movement of the Royal Guard around us halted, now forming into two lines; they marched onto the steps up to the throne, providing a physical barrier in case something went awry. Left on the last few paces before the steps leading upwards were myself, the Elements, and Shining Armor.

Celestia now stood, and I got my first glimpse of her in the flesh, glittering gold regalia and great, ethereal mane flowing to an unseen current. Despite the comforting influence, her raw power outshined it; just like the rays of the sun, the sheer potency of magic rolling off of the princess told of untold reserves of energy, and an emission of an intense, but not even close to potential, outflow of power. The guards, the Elements, and Shining armor all knelt; the urge to do so was strong, but my situation as an envoy of the human race was not befitting of bowing to the princess; I was not subjugate to her rule in such a state. I wish to shed the duties of such a role in time, but for now I must represent my people. I could feel the questioning thoughts from those around me, but I dared not to bend my knee. The most I allowed myself was a polite, short dip of the head, as a sign of respect, but not subordination.

In my defiance of the norm of Equestrian citizens, my height above those around me was a natural attractant for Celestia's eye. Contact was established, and what a contact it was. I saw in those clear lilac eyes a millennia at the helm of ponykind, of immeasurable depths of knowledge and experience. Looking into her eyes was like glimpsing the surface of another world, that although familiar, was different from the one I knew. Although she presented a demeanor of calm and acceptance, I could feel her sifting through my intentions, my thoughts, my whole being, with her eyes, poring through my soul to judge me. It was frightening to be so invaded, but I understood, and I had nothing to hide. The observation carried on for an indeterminate amount of time, as it was almost if the world fell away and time stopped. However, it ended with the princess widening her smile softly, and me trying to internalize my sigh of relief. The feeling of nearly oppressive heat running just beneath my skin faded in intensity, becoming less awesome and more comfortable, a soft instead of hard warmth.

"At ease, ladies and gentlecolts." The resonant, maternal tone of the princess' voice was calming, friendly. The guardsmen and our party rose from their bows, allowing me a little comfort.

"Welcome to Canterlot Castle. I am Princess Celestia, and I am the princess of the sun. I rule Equestria with my sister, Luna, the princess of the moon. How are you today?"

Her casual question caught me off guard. I stumbled mentally, not being geared for small-talking, and not expecting it from someone as powerful as Celestia.

"I'm doing... well." I tried to act casually, but a social chameleon I was not. Even if I was, a short survey of the age-old regent's eyes told me she could burn right through it anyway. I got the impression she had already formed a profile of me, and was now attempting to reconnoiter more information through traditional channels to adjust and improve the preexisting model. Words were a simple formality; she could, in all likelihood, see through one's actions by more efficient means. I knew not how I gathered this, but there was much more going on between the unwilling envoy and the ancient ruler than the senses could detect.

She smiled an almost teasing, nearly smirking smile, and began to descend the steps, catching everyone's attention. I took the opportunity to quickly survey the group. A few of our number seemed intensely involved in the oddly short and seemingly scattered, disorganized conversation, and were likely grasping the strange undercurrents flowing about--this group included Twilight, Shining, Rarity, Fluttershy, and, unexpectedly, Rainbow, to a lesser degree. Pinkie did not seem involved, and Applejack respectfully paid rapt attention, but did not seem to be involved in the scramble to gather this subliminal information. Rainbow seemed mildly interested, but appeared somewhat bored.

The flight of stairs made it difficult to approximate Celestia's height, but as she reached the bottom, it was apparent to me that she alone matched, nay, slightly exceeded, my height. Her eyes rose slightly above mine, as did the adorned crown of her head in comparison to my own. As her proximity increased, once more did the aura she exuded increase in complexity and strength. The waves of warmth coming from the princess were gentle, yet strong, and motherly. It could not be helped but to quickly grow fond of her, as this aura befitted her actions and mannerisms; I wondered if this was an active projection of her magical energies, or a passive one, and if it adapted to her mood, or was constant.

She addressed me directly once again. "Let us head for the gardens. I never was one for speaking at the throne."

The throng began to shuffle, moving behind the princess, who was evidently headed for the place. The guards began to move again, but Celestia raised a hoof.

"No need, gentlecolts. I believe the captain and the Elements of Harmony are company enough." They halted, staying in place. One of them, likely the second in command, piped up with a mildly concerned "As you wish, my princess." Celestia shot a warm smile back towards the guard, and our entourage headed for the doors.

When we had disembarked from the train, I had not noticed the weather. As we departed from the great hall into the gardens, I felt the cool air embrace my skin, and the clear blue sky allowing the sun's rays to warm the earth. The temperature was decidedly brisk this high in the mountains, but my clothing kept the edge off, as did the external heating of the sun, and the strange internal warmth from Celestia. The rays struck Celestia's royal raiment, the intricate patterns producing a soft glittering of gold and gemstones. She looked ahead at the gardens, which composed the entirety of the castle grounds behind its sprawl of buildings.

It was a beautiful place. Foliage of untold varieties stood about, their layout planned according to a grand design I did not understand, and no doubt managed by an army of equine gardeners. I looked around at what assuredly was an array of different biomes and habitats; from the almost soupy saturation of the air with magic, I supposed they all had their own special microclimates. A hill rose at the edge of the great cliff, and a stone plinth sat atop it, assuredly old, yet immaculate. It promised a spectacular view of the great valley below.

Celestia decided to make conversation. "Canterlot is quite high in the mountains. We use magic extensively to keep the garden healthy, but the surrounding area is already so rich that an unusual amount of plants grow here. Did you notice yourself becoming tired on your way here?"

"No." Now that I thought about it, it was quite unusual that I did not experience a shortness of breath, given that the trees did not reach this plateau on which Canterlot stood. However, the tree line was variable in altitude, and did not tell me how high we actually were above sea level.

"Yes, the air here is more dense than the surrounding area. Some become sick from the altitude outside the city. But enough about Canterlot. How has Equestria been treating you?"

Still struck by my predisposition to awkward terseness due to my shy manner, I formed a simple and concise reply.

"Well. Your people are kind."

I did not notice my use of the human pronoun until after I had spoken, but Celestia evidently understood without issue.

"That is good," she replied plainly, but with her all-encompassing warmth.

"It was a brave decision you made, to stand tall while the rest bowed. May I ask what drove you to do so?"

Her question caught me off guard, but it was not out of left field. I could tell the whole of our party was likely to be interested in the reply--they had been hanging on the periphery of Celestia and I's dialogue since the beginning. Oddly enough, said presence and attention contributed to neither anxiety, nor comfort.

Regardless, it was now my duty to explain a somewhat difficult concept through words, from a concept I had not yet processed. I also feared it may be perceived as somewhat offensive, but I had to speak.

"I felt, as a representative of my kind, that I could not bow to you. I wanted to establish equality between our races. But I don't mean to imply that I personally am equal to you... your Highness." I risked eye contact.

A small smile told me she understood. "A brave decision. And please, feel free to dispense with the formalities. I do not mean to impose."

A pang of relief swept through me, and I allowed myself to break eye contact again. Not only had a lingering prospect of potential insolent insubordination been acquitted, but the princess actually endeavored to level with me, on the position I had personally lowered myself to, after relinquishing the necessary acts of ensuring sovereignty for my world.

As the Princess Regnant of Equestria and Ruler of the Sun gazed out over the valley, I did the same. It was a beautiful scene, and something many famous artists of this realm had no doubt endeavored to capture on canvas. Awe-inspiring, it made me feel small, unimportant in the grand schemes of the universe.

"I have more questions to ask of you and your species, but I don't believe we must continue to do so here, in these circumstances. Perhaps we can discuss this more over a meal?"

"Of course," I replied, hopefully not too quickly or with too much passion. "That would be very nice."

Again, the grand princess smiled warmly, and we were on our way back to the palace, the tension having slackened greatly.

This marks the end of my revisions. Continue at your own risk--terrible writing and a nearly wholesale lack of continuity is sure to be lurking past that "next chapter" button.

Princesses

When I stepped off the train, I seriously did not expect a row of guardsmen to be standing there waiting for me and the Elements.

"What's this all about?" I queried Twilight in a whisper, being the prime suspect to ask on affairs of visiting royalty.

"I'm not sure," she replied, "but there's my brother!"

As Twilight galloped to Shining Armor and wrapped him in a huge embrace, he said softly, rather embarrassed, "It's good to see you Twilight, but I'm here on official business."

Twilight backed up a bit and stammered, "Oh, umm, of course!" She began to blush softly.

The approximately 5 foot tall Shining strode forward past a rank of his totally impassive guards, and extended a hoof.

"Greetings. My name is Shining Armor, Captain of the Royal Guard."

I grasped the proffered hoof and shook it firmly. A faint smile appeared on his lips.

"As you probably already know, Twilight here is my younger sister. My guards and I are here to escort you to the palace."

He leaned in close to my ear and said, "More of a formality than anything, but we have orders." He backed up a bit.

"Now, if you'll follow me..."

If you asked me for one word to describe Canterlot, it would be expensive. The shops, the restaurants, the street- all phenomenally expensive-looking. I felt out of place here; I was no high-society schmoozer with oodles of cash; I was a junior in high school, who would grow up to be a working-class man who said what he thought. I much preferred the dusty dirt streets of Ponyville, where honest ponies made honest livings instead of living off the family fortune and going to dull dinner parties.

"Bit fancy, isn't it?" Applejack spoke quietly to me. "I like our humble farm better'n this fancy place."

"I agree, Applejack." She smiled at this and stepped back into a comfortable place in the procession.

None too soon, we arrived at the palace gates, which were cast open by the guards at the sight of their esteemed leader. I continued to follow Shining through the gates to the soft lawns of Canterlot Castle. At least there was some grass now.

Shining led us up into the palace through a monstrous set of doors, down a hallway, and to another equally monstrous set of doors, whereupon all his guards, save his second-in-command, lined up along the walls in a well-choreographed motion.

The stationed door guards, obviously Celestia's by the coloring of their armor, swung apart their enormous charges.

As Shining and his second led the Elements, that group of ponies seasoned in this thing, and the totally unprepared me forward, the first thing I saw in the extravagant room was Princess Celestia.

She held a regal air about herself as of the moment; her warm-colored lengthy mane and tail sparkled in her own personal magic wind that blew only for, and only over, her. Her giant, regal wings were surprisingly similar to Faust's portrayal of them. She positively radiated an essence of power, but also, a hospitable and soft warmth; her face held an expression that foretold many years of wisdom, but betrayed none of them, for she was physically at an eternal prime, and her golden royal regalia glittered with the light of the evening sun. She was beautiful.

So absorbed was I in the solar princess that I almost did not notice the halting of Shining and his adjundant. Shining proceeded to turn to stand on our group's right flank, and his second on our left.

For a moment, silence prevailed. Celestia looked directly into my eyes, penetrating everything, transcending all boundaries. It was as if she was looking into my mind, into my very thoughts, and into my soul; from the extreme aura of power she carried, she probably was. She smiled warmly, seeming to have finished her examination, and the intimidating and penetrating gaze she had been giving me before dissolved, along with my apprehension and unrest, like sand flowing through the gaps between human fingers. I bowed.

She spoke. "Good evening, Elements of Harmony, and human." Her strong, fluid, motherly voice carried an amiable tone as her eyes traveled smoothly over all the Elements before returning to me. Her mouth formed a soft smile. "I assume you know why I have invited you here today?"

"I believe so, Your Majesty," I said, using my most respectful and least accented tone. She was a pony I wanted to make happy; her warm smile made me feel like the sun was warming me from the inside out.

"Please, go on."

"Have you done so to establish good relations between my kind and yours, and ensure the safety and well-being of your subjects?" I expanded carefully.

"Yes, that is true," she began with a growing smile on her face, "but I also invited you here so I could meet you."

I was thunderstruck. "Your Majesty, I'm not sure I understand. With all due respect towards your intentions, I'm a little confused as to why a powerful leader like yourself would want to meet an average working-class human such as myself."

Celestia looked a little hurt at this, surprisingly, and my spirits fell to see it. But I assume she understood my intentions, for she replied, "I want to know you because I care about the well-being of everypony, not just those whom are my subjects. I want to make sure you are happy and healthy. In short, I care." She ended with a warm, motherly smile.

"I'm sorry, Princess, but I have never met royalty, and in our world they are not the most understanding people," I explained.

"How so?" asked the solar princess inquisitively.

"Well, they're a bit... snobbish, and... stuffy."

Celestia giggled. "Sounds like a lot of the nobles here."

I put the rest out there. "When monarchs had power a long time ago, they could be quite cruel and harsh. I know that you are none of these things, Princess, but it still weighs on my mind."

Celestia seemed grim. "I understand. But, please, tell me, how does your government work?"

I smiled. "Well, Princess, there are hundreds of separate countries, but I'll spare you with the two main types. There are Democratic Republics," I looked down and scowled, "and then there's communism."

Celestia picked up on my distate. "Please explain. Democratic republic first, please."

"It's a very big system, so I'll try to keep it short and sweet. In a democratic republic, the citizens elect representatives to a state government, and the federal government. The federal government makes decisions on the creation of laws, foreign policy, and interstate trade. The state government makes decisions that the federal government has not specified. States are usually all different sizes; in my country we have 50, and the population is scattered unevenly all over. I came from the state with the second most number of representatives, and we generally prefer a small federal government. The smaller states with higher population density generally prefer a larger federal government. There was actually a civil war fought on the fact that the southern states had lost their voice in government. Many people incorrectly think that it was over slavery, but it wasn't. I'm not saying that slavery is a good thing, but I honestly think it was for a worthy cause, but the south lost. Anyway, I'm getting off topic."

"That's alright, I can see you are passionate in your views. It's an interesting concept. But please, explain to me communism."

"Okay. Well, think of a democratic republic, and make it where only one group controls everything in government. The government does not listen to it's people, and the people have no guaranteed rights. It's not a good system; the government abuses their power too often."

"I see. I understand your kind fears having one small group in power, but I assume that is because many abuse their responsibilities. Now, please tell me..."

To my awe, Celestia began to descend from her throne. Soon, she was standing right next to me, and she continued, "Do you fear me?" She must be 7' 6'; I rose only to the base of her neck. I looked into myself. "Well... no. No. I don't. You are a great leader, and you have not abused your power or led your ponies wrong. I can't. I have no reason to fear you."

She donned a heartfelt, warm smile. "Thank you. I'm glad you feel that way. Now, please, follow me outside. My sister and I are going to end the day and bring forth the night."

As Celestia led a deeply thinking me to the realm of her sister's dwelling within the great castle, the six ponies that were not of military role that followed us could barely contain the urge to giggle at my behavior. I was in total wonderment of Celestia's behavior towards me; it was like I was a friend to her, not someone who was far beneath her, as I was.

"You don't have to keep calling me "Your Majesty", "Your Highness", or even "Princess". You may just call me Celestia. I want to get to know you better, and I hope that I may become your friend."

I was deeply humbled that the princess would want me to speak to her as a friend. I guess it showed, because she glanced at me and laughed a little.

"You act so dumbfounded! Really, because I'm a princess, I can't make friends with ponies? Don't be silly!"

"No, Your Highness, I didn't mean that at all-"

She just started laughing harder. This set off all the Elements into a giggling fit. I just wanted to hide now.

Celestia recovered upon seeing my expression. "I'm sorry. The expression on your face was priceless. It was like I had suddenly given you a million bits! You really don't have to be so formal. Just relax, talk to me like you would any other friend."

Celestia's words had some sort of power behind them; I felt a soft warm feeling enter me and I began to relax. I could only assume this had something to do with the aura that seemed to enshroud the solar princess.

The strings having been loosened, my accent had apparently lost its flattened state as I said, "Thank you, --Celestia." I caught myself. That same warm smile filled me up again. "You're welcome. Thank you for being so adaptable."

We arrived at a great stone plinth with the symbol of a sun and moon on it. As we did so, Princess Luna appeared.

Her bright blue irises shone like ice, offsetting the deep midnight blue coat she possessed. Her gently flowing mane and tail rippled in her own magic breeze; they shone with the light on the night sky and all the stars it held. Her silver regalia shone in high contrast to her mane, coat, and tail, but struck a chord with her eyes, which were staring deeply into mine. Our eyes were level, so she must have been a little over 6'. Her gaze had locked my eyes into hers; they were as deep as an ocean, and I felt that I would fall in. Her gaze was the same as the one I had received from Celestia earlier; penetrating into my very soul. I threw down all the barriers I was naturally constructing, and let her probe the depths of my consciousness. All of a sudden, the deep stare was broken, and she smiled. She had an enigmatic beauty surrounding her; Celestia had a bright, obvious beauty about her; Luna's was more subtle.

"Hello," she spoke softly. If Celestia's voice had been warm, strong, and motherly, Luna's was cool, silky, and fluid without parallel. "Good evening, Princess." I bowed deep. She spoke in her voice of silk, "Rise, human. I am under the impression that thou art acquainted with my dear sister?"

Middle-English. Or Middle-Equestrian. Whatever. I had forgotten for a moment Luna's imprisonment in the moon; it seemed she had dropped the "royal we;" for this I was thankful. The royal we would have bothered the to no end.

I rose and answered her question. I don't know how I knew it, but I saw something in her face that said something was troubling her.

"Princess? If I may be so bold?" Even if Celestia had asked me to drop the formality, Luna had not. Therefore, I wanted to be respectful.

"Feel free."

"Something seems to be troubling you; are you alright?"

As I said this, her composure broke for some reason, and before I knew it I had the head of a weeping princess over my shoulder and my arms around her neck, her chest set against mine. Somehow, I felt all of her pain; the loneliness, the rejection. I was stunned; my mind could not compute this situation, and neither could any of the 6 Elements. As we all stood frozen, so did Celestia; but, as all of us held a stunned expression, Celestia held one of deep concern.

"I'm sorry!" Luna eked out. "I'm so stressed right now, and all I want is a friend."

"Princess, if that's what you want of me, I'll be glad to be your friend."

She slowly backed up and started to recompose herself. "Really? You... you'd do that for me?"

"Of course. It'd be an honor to be someone for you to call a friend."

Again, to my surprise, she wrapped me in what I could only assume was an embrace...

Magic and Massages

Celestia glanced at her emotional sister with concern. That escalated quickly. The rather perceptive human had set things in motion a bit faster than would have been expected. Oh well. After things ended, a stunned human stood still as she decided it was time break the awkward atmosphere.

"Well. Okay Luna, let's put the day to rest."

"Oh! Um, of course. Let's." Luna stammered.

As I stood trying to figure out what exactly had just happened, the two princesses took their respective places on the ancient stone dais in front of me. The air seemed to tremble with the sheer force of magic emanating from the two immortal beings before us. It thickened and began to glow; the deep blue haze of Luna's making was mixing with the bright silver of her sister's. The blue sky began to fade to a deep purple, and the stars began to wink into existence. The moon appeared; it was full tonight, and everything began to be lit by the pale white light of its ghastly glow. Somehow, as the solar princess seemed strongly radiant during the day, the lunar princess seemed to shimmer and shine with an aura of strength as the stars do in the night.

Breathing the magic-filled air, I would have expected my exhalations to glow slightly. What I did not expect is the previous whitish-bluish-gray aura to be replaced by a pale, transparent mirage-like sheen of silvery-white after the air had ceased glowing.

Celestia was first to comment. She prefaced her statement with a giggle. "Someone's latent magic is waking up a bit."

Okay. I give up. Since *CELESTIA** says so, I guess I do have magic tucked away somewhere deep inside*. Of course Twilight had to be there to rub this in.

"I told you so!" She said in a sing-song tone.

"Fill me in, Twilight," requested the solar princess, out of the loop.

"Well you see, Princess," she began in a smug, but unoffensively so, tone, "I bet him that you would confirm in some way that he's magical. He didn't believe me; he says where he comes from, nopony's magical."

"Really? I thought you knew all along," she directed at me.

"I give up. I guess I'm wrong."

Celestia decided to let me in on something. "You know, there's ways to free your magic so you can use it. But the feeling can be intense, so I'm told. Probably the most relaxing way is through a massage." She hesitated, probably a bit hesitant to explain the process-- which involved lots of technical terms-- due to the likely chance the meanings would be lost on me, before continuing. "With a bit of accupressure, one can loosen up the blocks in the metaphysical pathways, which lets the magic flow. It's mostly for unicorns who are tense and stressed, but seeing how your anatomy is quite similar to ours, I'm sure we can adapt it."

This was intriguing news; while I was tempted, I was not entirely sure of what the result would be. Being human, I decided to take this opportunity because it was there.

"Princess, while this fascinates me, it also scares me a bit. I'm not entirely sure of this; but I think I'm going to accept."

The solar princess smiled. "Well, alright then. I'm going to need a practiced masseuse for you. Fluttershy?"

She turned to face the now startled pink and yellow pony, who was cowering. "Y-yes, Princess?" she said shakily.

"I'd like you to be my masseuse."

"M-m-me?" eked Fluttershy. "But I've never done a massage on a human before! I'm not even that good on ponies!"

Celestia encouraged her. "Oh, come now Fluttershy. You give great massages! All your friends think so!"

On cue, AJ, Twilight, Rainbow, Rarity, and Pinkie all nodded.

"Ohh, well, alright then."

"Great!" beamed Celestia. "Now follow me..."

Finding myself standing next to what seemed a fantastically soft piece of furniture, which appeared to have been made for a pony to lay on, the solar princess instructed me to remove my shirt. I did so. Being made for ponies, the massage table was too short. I simply found another and put the foot of it to the foot of the one I had been standing to previously, and laid down on the doubled up tables.

"Okay, I'm going to have to get acquainted with how the structure you your back... if that's alright." Fluttershy said this in a rather confident manner. I replied, telling her to go ahead.

Having hooves, like she did, her explorations ending up being a little bit akin to caresses. I again felt uncomfortable; it was like earlier in the day with Rarity and her measuring tape. Like the measuring tape incident, it was soon over, the pale yellow mare obviously finished with her observations.

"Alright, are you ready? I'm going to start now. At first it will be just my two front hooves, and then I'll move on to all of them; seeing your build, I think you can handle my weight. Just relax, and this will go smoothly."

I took a deep breath, and let it out, trying to relax everything as much as I could. All of a sudden, Celestia spoke up.

"I'm going to sing a song. Focus on my voice; it will help you to relax."

After Celestia finished speaking, Fluttershy placed a pair of tentative hooves on my back and began to apply pressure. Celestia began her song.

It was a soothing melody, the words I cannot remember. I began to lose myself in the expert handiwork (hoofdiwork?) of Fluttershy and the soft, warm voice of Celestia. After about a minute, I felt another pair of hooves connect with my back. Somehow the increase in weight was satisfying; it also meant doubled manipulation from the yellow mare, who was extremely modest about her skills; every where her hooves touched, they left a loosened and relaxed muscle behind. It was almost as if my very being was loosening from its corporeal form at the same time, though this could have been from subtle lacings of magic in the wondrous voice of the solar princess. This heavenly time period continued until I felt the only point tying body and spirit together was a single spot near the surface of the skin on my back, which was approximately mid-sternum, if it had been my chest. A soft and familiar warmth was flowing through me, but I couldn't tell if it was through me essence or my body. All of a sudden, a set of hooves all focused themselves on that single point of my spine. The soft warmth intensified to a powerful heat, and I think I fell into some sort of trance, as I can recall no more...

Back to Basics

I slowly became aware that I was laying in the softest thing I had ever encountered. I don't really know why that was the first thing I perceived, but go figure. The sheets of the grand bed I was in must have been woven of the finest silk. I stretched out, and decided to get out of bed to figure out where I was. I sat up, swiveled, dropped my feet on the floor, and stood up like I normally would have.

I fell on my face.

"Ow! What gives..." I looked down. "...legs...?"

I found that my legs were in the proper place, but that they were covered in soft aluminum-grey fur that shone in the light with a silver luster. They also happened to have hooves on the end and the structure of a pony's hind leg.

I came to the realization that I was a pony.

As ever in a situation such as this one, emotion.exe had stopped responding.

I fruitlessly waited about 3 seconds to see if my train of thought elicited any response to this extreme stimuli of total body transformation. I decided to see if I could stand, then figure out how to walk.

I stood up, with poise and balance, as if it had been something I had done every day of my life.

Well, thank you, new pony instincts. You'll be very helpful to me..

I pressed my luck by starting to walk without thinking about it; again, instinct took over, and though my first couple of steps were a bit awkward, I found myself moving around without any trouble.

I decided to examine my surroundings to deduce the room I was in. All it took was one sweep of the eyes about the lightless room and one over the deep, darkly-colored decor to know I was in the bedroom of Princess Luna. I slowly plodded over to the large mirror on the wall of the princess of the night to look at myself.

I froze mid-stride at seeing my new body for the first time. Naturally, the first thing my gaze focused on was a face.

It was definitively that of a stallion, which I was immediately grateful for. After a bit of analyzing I found it to be rather akin to something one might see on pony nobility. My jaw was sharp, but not strangely so; my cheek bones were on the high side, and my cheeks themselves were not pudgy, but supple and held a moderate degree of fullness.

My eyes. They were the same shape as that of Princess Celestia herself, albeit a bit less in scale, and thankfully I did not share her long lashes. They had also retained what I had thought of as brilliantly unique irises, of brown mixed with green, giving the impression of a dark forest.

My edges of my mane and tail were steel-gray with the most subtle hints of a deep blue hidden in them. That blue got stronger as it got to the middle of those articles of hair, almost manifesting itself. The edges were like curls that had just decided to stop curling and let live as sharp-edged waves. The coloration on the very tips of these were transparent, but as the light struck them, the outlines of my hair's shadow was set alight with a prismatic spectrum of light.

The second thing I noticed was my massive pair of rather solar princess-like wings, standing proud at 45-degree attention away from my back. The feathers were actually rather tidy, despite my indefinite period of rest in bed. Finding my flight muscles, I gave them an experimental pull; even from half stroke, the air displaced easily lifted my mane and tail after ricocheting off the floor. I pulled on my wings again, softer this time, to lay them flat and extend them. They looked akin to that of a great eagle, spanning about 3 yards and holding promise of long glides anytime I wished. Having finished my examination of them, I put them back in the position I found them in, and, with some difficulty, folded them up and stowed them away. I got the distinct feeling that my pair of wings would not tolerate being folded for any long periods of time, such as two days.

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I had accepted my new identity as a proud pegasus. There was one odd thing that I had noticed; my legs seemed a bit lengthy, and I got the feeling I was a bit larger than your average pegasus. I took this well; I liked being tall. I walked in my strangely not strange new four legged way to the door of Luna's chambers, and realized that grasping things would be difficult. I tried, without much hope, my hoof to grasp the door handle. Somehow, against all odds, this worked; it was like magic fingers, sort of. I pulled open the heavy doors to reveal two of Luna's guards who seemed to have been expecting me.

"Oh, um, hello, guardsponies."

"Good morning," they said impassively and without turning.

"I was wondering what time it might be, and how long I've been out?"

They turned their heads to me and one began, "I'm not sure of the time in numerals, but dawn just came around. The princess will be retiring soon-"

As if on cue, Princess Luna appeared. She saw me and a smile lit her face.

"Oh, thou hath awakened! Verily, I was just about to retire! Cometh with me; we must discuss current events!"

At this time, she was standing near me, and I noticed we were about the same height. I did as she asked, and took a position next to her as we walked down the hallway.

"I'm guessing you figured out what that release of magic caused?" Luna asked jokingly in her velvet voice.

I wondered where the princess from a few seconds ago had gone. Gone was the archaic language, gone was the royal tone of voice (Now it hadn't been Royal Canterlot; just the royal projection of voice) and now she seemed to have taken on a far more relaxed, friendly vibe.

"W-well, yes." I gave an earnest smile.

She perceived my confusion and let out a short giggle. "Wondering where Princess Luna just went?"

"Yes."

"I act like that in front of my guards or in court; formal business. This is Luna you're with. Not "the Princess", Luna."

Picking up on both her meaning and her implication to drop the formal titles, I spoke something that had been bothering me a bit.

"Well, Luna, if you don't mind my asking..." I began hesitantly, not wanting to prod.

"Go ahead." She seemed to have an idea of what I was about to ask.

"Where did you sleep while I was unconscious?" I finished.

"Well, in my bed, obviously!" she said in a jokingly condescending tone before letting loose a laugh.

I just blushed at this. I shared a bed with a royal princess while I was out? This could be scandalous.

"Don't worry, there won't be any scandals or anything. And even if there was, I don't think the press would like my reaction!"

I chuckled. Since the guard had not the opportunity to answer my question, I asked it of Luna.

"How many days have I missed?"

"It's been a day and a half. Wondering where the Elements of Harmony are, right?"

"Yep." I almost smelled the bait in that question.

"Gotcha!"

Suddenly Luna switched gears again into the royal leader of her people. Her whole demeanor turned intimidating and commanding; even though we were the same height, she seemed far taller.

"I asked all of the Elements if they had mentioned their positions; they said no, however, my sister made a passing reference, but I honestly doubt you remember that. Now tell me," she leaned in close, "How do you know so much about ponykind?"

I was intimidated and impressed. Luna was extremely sharp; she could be very dangerous to her foes if they were dull. I was also happy that she was using this to protect her kingdom.

I sighed. "You are a razor sharp pony, Princess. It's a long story, but I'll try to explain best I can."

She seemed to revert to that bubbly pony from just a short time ago.

"Good! Now, begin." The command held a little bit of the edge from before, but it was an undercurrent; it conveyed she was happy but I better not lie or keep her waiting. I started to explain about the show as we resumed our slow walk down the hallway...

Back to Basics Pt. 2

As I explained the cartoon imitation of Equestria, Luna's expression was part intrigue, part wonderment. I finished my rather brief summary of Friendship is Magic, and I noticed Luna's reaction to this; a lot like my own, if I had been in her shoes. She was running questions through her head, analyzing everything, trying to form answers.

"Well, the only thing I can think of is some sort of magic echo has occured, and this Lauren Faust is picking up on it."

I responded with my affirmation of the fact that I had no idea how magic worked, so I couldn't help. I decided to ask one question as tactfully as I could.

"Say, Luna; You're not quite an adult yet, are you?"

She glanced at me with an amused expression. "Ooh, isn't this one the perceptive sort! No, I am not. but being immortal causes the growth process to be the slightest bit slowed." I caught the understatement implied.

"I'm not quite an adult myself, so I guess that makes both of us." Luna gave a grin at learning that we were in essence of similar age and maturity, and we walked on.

After a little while longer of Luna sifting her mind for possible answers to the MLP:FiM conundrum, we had finally made it into the main hall, where we saw Princess Celestia. Luna leaned in to my ear again and said, "I'll tell her later." She was first to greet her sister; the two exchanged a few pleasantries. Deciding to forgo the formalities my brain was telling me that I should perform, I wished the solar princess a good morning.

"And good morning to you, my little pony." She put the faintest hint of emphasis onto the last word, and I flashed a quick smile to show I'd caught it.

"I trust you're adapting well? I would have never have expected this to happen, but I must say that the magic you posses is far from sub-par."

"Really? Oh, I mean, Yes, Princess"--This garnered a chiding look from Celestia-- "I'm quite alright. It was a bit shocking at first, but what average human could argue with a set of wings?" In extension to this I unfolded my wings into the ready position and flared them.

Something very faint passed over the face of both princesses for an instant, but it came and went far too fast to be recognized as anything, so I just ignored it.

"That's good to hear. I thought you might like to know about the current state of your magic flow. To put it simply, it's not. Your magic is all locked up again, but this time it's awakened. You'll have to pick one of two options for this. The first is the simplest. It's a periodical magic therapy via massage to loosen the bonds to allow for short periods of flow."

"Sounds alright, but it seems to me it's just a management plan. What about the other one?" I asked.

Celestia took a breath. "It involves letting the pressure caused by the lack of flow build until whatever is restraining it shatters. This is a very intense experience, again, so I'm told. You'll want to give in to some sort of vent many times, but the end result of this process is permanent unrestrained flow."

I pondered each of these options for a moment. It was deja vu; that therapeutic massage ended up with me almost right back where I started. Same as last time, I picked the more intensive action.

"I thought as much." Celestia grinned at me. "This time, I don't have to arrange anything for you. It's all in your own hooves this time. I've got to get to the throne room now--" Celestia rolled her eyes and gave a bored look before raising a hoof to the side of her mouth and speaking softly, "Royal court-- boring!" I gave a little chuckle. She returned to her normal stance before offering the locations of each of the elements. "Fluttershy is in the gardens, Rarity is in one of the suites tailoring, Applejack is with Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash-- heavens only know where she is at the moment-- and Twilight Sparkle is-- guess where?"

I cracked a smile and chuckled again. "The library?"

"You guessed it!" said the solar princess. "I've got to go now. See you later!"

I was wowed with the even more casual than last time attitude of the stewardess of the sun. At this time Luna decided to speak up.

"It's been a pleasure, but I really must get to bed. Good day!"

As the lunar princess strode towards her chambers, I thought of who I should talk to first. I decided upon Twilight, seeing as she was the most near and generally the one I knew best at this point. I started towards the library...

Talking in the Library

***Unless I specify our friend here has flattened his accent, he's speaking normally (General Texas accent)***

I started down the hallway to the archives when I noticed Celestia hadn't told me where Pinkie could be found. All of a sudden, a guard hollered to me, "INCOMING!"

I tensed up and spread my stance... A bit strange, that; pony instincts have just suddenly gone and replaced all of my old human ones. Intricacies of body transformation, I suppose...

And a pink grenade exploded in my face. I performed the automatic Pegasus response; beat your wings and get back a bit.

"HI!"

After having sufficiently recovered from my near heart attack, I took a deep breath, dropped my head and sighed.

"Pinkie. Please don't ever do that again."

The peppy pink party pony seemed a little offset. "Okay then."

"Well, now that that's settled," I began, "how are you?"

"Good!"

As I started my slow, easy gait, Pinkie began her strange gravity-defying bounce motion in a circle around me. I thought Pinkie far more foreign and enigmatic than any other pony. How could she be so energetic? How does she move so fast? How does she float like that?

"Have you seen Twilight recently?"

"Yeah. She's in the library. Want me to take you there?" was the expected response.

"Sure."

Pinkie stopped her physics-defying bounds and widened her already large grin. "Hang on!"

Before I could ponder the meaning of these two words, Pinkie grabbed my hoof and I was yanked forward into a world of distorted color and materialized back into my own in Twilight's library. She looked up and waited for me to speak, barely suppressing a peal of laughter at my totally stunned, probably rather sickly appearance.

"Could someone kindly explain what just happened?"

Twilight broke loose into a fit of unrestrained laughter, Pinkie with her; the latter was probably laughing from the joy of the former. I found myself chuckling. I must've looked ridiculous. I just let it come, and my own laughter soon followed the high-pitched tones of the other two ponies around.

After recovering, I said, "Hey."

After a brief moment Twilight managed to stop laughing, leaving Pinkie to sober. "Hey."

"I came around to say "hi" and to see what's new."

Twilight's general smile was now directed at me. She began, "Well, you've been asleep for a day and a half and you're now a Pegasus pony."

"Noted," I said sarcastically and a with little smirk. She gave a short giggle and returned to speaking.

"Rarity's been trying to figure out what clothes she can make you--"

At this I was slightly uncomfortable; I gave a little glance off to someplace diagonal and away from the mare currently speaking, being rather unfond of being fussed over--"Fluttershy's been trying to gain the trust of all the Canterlot Gardens animals, Pinkie's been, well, being Pinkie,"--

said mare glanced at me and grinned widely--"and Applejack's been helping out around the palace."

The obvious hit me over the head like a brick. "Did you all wait for me?" I sighed. "I didn't want y'all to do that. Y'all got lives to live and jobs to do, and waiting for me here isn't helping that."

Twilight just smiled and rolled her eyes. "What exactly is my job again? Come on, I know you know all about us."

This last statement garnered a startled look from me. Word travels fast with magic.

"Studying friendship?" I supplied, in the question form even though I knew my answer was correct.

"Bingo. As your friend,"--I smiled softly at this--"I'm here to help you. As for the other five, Rarity can design her clothing here, Fluttershy is technically unemployed, and as for the rest," she paused, turned, and struck a grin, "being the student of a supreme co-ruler helps with money matters."

I decided to pop the question. "You never said what Dash's been doing."

The purple mare smirked in the "I know something you don't know" fashion, feigned forgetfulness, and spoke, "Oh, of course. I almost forgot."

The smirk widened into a very very large smirk. "She's been getting pumped about coaching a certain pegasus"--She glanced at me, the visual cue making it obvious who she was referring to-- "in the flight department."

A delighted grin adorned my face. Best flyer in all of Equestria as coach? This'll be great!

Twilight offered these words of warning. "I'll warn you; she's not the most kind, patient, or understanding coach, but she is arguably the best."

My expression set into a determined smirk. "Can't be much different from my dad when I played sports. A tough coach is a good coach."

Twilight gave a reassured grin. "Glad you feel that way. Applejack and Fluttershy are down in the gardens; you should probably go talk to them."

Pinkie decided to make herself known now. "I could take you down there!" she offered enthusiastically.

I chuckled a bit. "No thanks, Pinkie. I'll just walk this time."

With a brief laugh I set off from the library with a thank you and again started into my slow, thoughtful trot, thinking about anything and everything, as usual.

A Wash: A Time for Thought

Having done various odd jobs around the castle during the day, and getting used to the new nuances of being a pony, I found that the sun was beginning to fall into the west. I started in a purposeful trot for a predetermined auxiliary hall that was to be the setting for the dinner of myself, the Elements, and Princess Celestia. It struck me that I should at the least clean up before dining with such important figures; it would be entirely inconsiderate if I showed up dirty and sweaty.

Then I realized that I had no chambers to return to. I decided to ask a guard if they knew where any sort of bathhouse could be found. I was dreading that I would be in some sort of public bathing area when the kindly guard told me this bit of news:

"Sir, I was asked to tell you that if you needed to wash up, the lady Rarity requested you come to her chambers."

This was an unexpected piece of news, but it was the very Rarity thing to do...

"Thank'ya, sir." My accentual melding of the two words was automatic. "Now where might I find her chambers?" I asked politely.

Listening to his directions, I managed to find her suite; it was difficult to miss in the first place, if you knew which tower it was in. Approaching the large double doors, I managed to stand on three hooves, raising my front right to knock firmly on one and wait for an answer. "Come in, come in!" was the sing-song reply. I did as it commanded and entered the grand room, to the smiling face of a purple maned mare.

"Oh! Hello!" she sang.

"Hello, Miss Rarity," I said.

"Dear, you simply must stop calling me "Miss"," she chided. "The washroom is just over that way." The alabaster mare motioned to a pair of simpler, less grand doors (I had seen a LOT of large doors today) across from the large, posh bed. I smiled, thanked her for her generosity, and trotted softly over to the doors. Mentally cursing my lack of hands, I attempted to open the door twice before Rarity happened to notice my struggles, opening the door from across the room with a ice blue shimmer of thick magic-laced air upon the handle. I shot her a look of gratitude before entering the room laid open before me to hear the door shut softly behind. I surveyed the room.

I found it as stately as any other part of the palace; the walls were of white marble, with Roman style ornamental columns laid into the insets. The floor was of some smooth stone or another; I paid it little heed, for the bathtub before me was what I was staring it. It couldn't have been any smaller than a full size bed; it was, like the walls, of polished marble, blending seamlessly with the floor in which it was laid. A slender metal pole rose from its side to a discreet shower head. I carefully descended the small steps cut into the stone to find myself with only my wings, which I had just unfurled, and neck above the water line, which was observable due to sieve-like openings high on the sides of the tub, undoubtedly being overflow drains. Deciding to let forth now the waters of bathing, I turned the ruby-handled knob almost a full turn with my mouth, and did about a fifth-twist of the sapphire one to make sure it wasn't scalding. "Do these ponies have anywhere near the same value in their natural resources as humans do?"

The water flowed out from holes above the overflow drains and began to soak my coat in its hot, wet graces. I sighed; I hadn't showered or bathed in days...

Suddenly I was mortified at this thought. Surely the princess didn't allow me her bed, grimy as I was? No, of course not. The change of body probably came with a cleaning...

Anyway, back to those divine jets of steaming water. The glorious feeling was too divine to be offset by the instinctive upset of my instinct at my now drenched wings. I saw a bar of soap in an oddly tight looking dish... and then realized I had no way of using it on myself. Damn. However, on further inspection, I realized that the silver-shafted pole on which it sat was actually something to assist me in my cleaning. I brightened. I proceeded to somewhat awkwardly lather myself while the tub was filling. Having that exercise done, I set aside the device and turned a glass knob, thinking that it must toggle the flow of water. It did so, and the flow from the spouts weakened and faltered as a new cascade came careening from the faucet onto my head and mane, the latter falling into my face. I smiled at the knowledge of the engineers and plumbing ponies; it was good to see vestiges of home in the works of Equestria...

But what is home now? Where is my home? Who is my family? Who were my friends? Who am I? A random-human-turned-pony with no memory of himself, but only the world that he left behind. Who am I?

I had found myself in an identity crisis.

Well... let's see... my personality is probably the same as it always was. I have that. I've made friends with the eight most powerful ponies in Equestria... I definitely had that. That was fantastic. Amazing. It's all a start. Let's keep the ball rolling; make new friends, get a job...

Having partially resolved my identity crisis, I moved on to other thoughts. I know how I got here; but who sent for me? That's a biggie. I'll make that a main task.

I began sifting through my mind to determine some main suspects. All the while I had been autonomously cleaning; I stopped, unplugged the drain, clambered out of the tub, and slung a towel around myself. I was immediately glad for lack of ventilation in the room; having a gust blow over my wet coat would chill me. An idea formed in my mind; I laid the towel on the rack, and stepped back into the tub. I raised my wings and brought them down, spread wide as I could in the roomy confine of the bath, and immediately was rewarded with a powerful, drying blast of air. Having mostly dried myself, I exited once more the washtub and walked to the door. I hesitated; it really still was bizarre and a little uncomfortable to go out in full view of the public without any clothes on, and Rarity was a lady. I brushed this old manner aside and just managed to pull the handle and exit the bathroom, along with a jet of steam.

"My, my, someone likes it hot," teased Rarity, looking up from whatever it was that she was just working on.

"Yes'm," I said simply, the formalities manifesting themselves again. She gave me another chiding look for this before speaking. "Well, part of the reason why I invited you here is so I could clean you up a bit before we go to the dinner. Even though I'm sure nopony would care if you looked as you did earlier today, I find it prudent to look your best at a gathering like this one."

I gave a sigh of mock exasperation as the amusement on my face was clearly apparent. "Alright, alright. If you insist."

She gave a big smile and exclaimed, "Great! Let's start with your mane and tail. Wait! I simply must brush your coat first! Where did I put my brush? Opalescence! Did you take it?..."

As she passionately buried herself in her work, my amused smile remained. This would take a while...

The Moon in my Dreams

Despite the awkward air that existed between me and the guards as I entered Luna's bedchambers for the night, the pair of stallions seemed to have divined the circumstances and let me past with little hesitation. I was not at all dirty from going to dinner and taking a quick walk outside, but despite my new innate marginal dislike of wetness, being the Pegasus I had become, I decided to bathe again anyway. As I strode thoughtfully across the bedroom, the giant mirror in which I had first observed my new form caught my eye with a glint of moonlight. I stopped and looked at myself again.

When I observed the steel gray stallion with silvery moonlight shining on his coat, I didn't see myself. He wasn't me; I was a human from the planet Earth. But... I wasn't anymore. Who... was I? What did I do on that planet? Who was my family, who did I call my friends? I felt so isolated... from... from myself. There were many blanks in my memories of the past; nothing really individualized me.

And... in spite of my ready acceptance of my transformation, I was still not entirely comfortable with it. There were so many things I wasn't used to, and I wasn't sure if I ever would be...

I broke off my mental thread-raveling. No matter how deep this issue dug into my very core, it did not matter now. Now was here. I continued my walk to the bathroom, albeit slower and more absent. I reached the rather large door of the deepest purple and emblazoned with a crescent moon. I was thankfully aware of the fact that this was a double door that appeared to be double-hinged. Pushing it open, I saw that the room was not of bright white porcelain, but of a deep, dark grey that looked a lot like glazed stoneware. I smiled softly to myself. Luna, neither of us tire of dark, soft colors.

After making my way through the bathing process in Luna's massive, ornate 6'x12' bathtub/shower of silver and sapphire, I dried myself with extreme thoroughness, not wanting to wet the soft and expensive silken sheets for the sake of the launderers and for my own. Still being sheepish about using all of the princess' things like they were my own, I softly laid down in the impossibly comfortable bed and promptly dozed off.

Luna was... bored. A check of the records earlier revealed night court had again yielded nothing for her to be involved in. She had taken to lounging on one of the thick banks of cumulus clouds the sky offered to simply observe happenings in the world below. Mostly this was just something for her body to busy itself with while her mind wandered. She had not enough to ponder this evening without the asking of questions she could not answer on her own, and so she was... bored. Thinking of things she could do, she wound up thinking of the human-turned-stallion that was probably asleep in her bedroom by now. The realization softly nudged the night princess. She could talk to him... in his dreams. She was not much of one to intrude into ponies' minds and ask questions of them, but from what she had gathered of the colt, he probably wouldn't mind. Raising herself into a poised but comfortable sitting position, her horn flared with the casting of magic unique to her, and her consciousness left her form.

I am not sure of what course my dreams were flowing, but at some point I was interrupted by the appearance of Princess Luna. My dream-form decided to look at the royal mare, and in so doing I was suddenly as lucid and logical as I would have been in the real world. Somehow, in that instant, everything just sort of melted away and I took my real-world form as the environment around us morphed into some sort of dark, quiet forest. The night princess sat down about ten feet from me.

"Hello." The voice of Luna came softly to me, somehow slightly unclear and more echo-y than would have been normal.

"Umm..." This slipped out. "Hello." My voice had the same qualities as Luna's; echo-y, lacking sharpness.

Luna smiled in an apologetic manner and turned her head to the side. "I bet my presence here mystifies you."

Somehow the complex wording did not come across; only the meanings. "Uh...yeah." I looked around. "Dream-scape?" I asked for clarification.

"Yep. Yours, to be precise."

This was a bit of a different development.

"Umm... Okay then. Is there something you needed?" I was still a bit lost.

"Well, I came to talk to you." The princess smiled softly and somewhat awkwardly. The awkward tension in the air began to ease.

"Okay." This was all I said.

After a brief pause, Luna spoke. "You don't know who sent for you, do you?" This question was asked tenderly, but in earnest. This made the air taut with a new tension.

"No." I responded.

The princess got up, looked at the ground and advanced slightly. "Well..."

She stopped about two feet away and looked up into my eyes.

"It was me."

These words should have dropped like a ten pound hammer, but they did not have the extreme impact that they could have. It was interesting, it did answer a question, but, like most answers, it opened up more questions. I was flattered by the news, but I wasn't sure exactly why she did it. I relayed this to her.

Somehow I became aware that the mare of the night was opening up to me, letting me someplace only her and probably her sister could go. "I.. I was feeling... lonely. Lonely, and empty. Nearly everypony fears and shuns me as Nightmare Moon, and I didn't have anypony to turn to except my sister. She's very kind and comforting, but... she just doesn't... understand me. We're a lot different, and, I know she was doing what she could, but it wasn't enough..."

My face was a mirror of the pensive, processing mindset I was in. Luna looked up, and from my inaction knew I wanted her to go on.

"I was... depressed. All I wanted was a friend; someone to talk to, someone who could understand. I finally ended up going to the archives to find a spell to summon something, or somepony. I didn't pay attention to the details of the spell until the next day." Again she looked up at me, started to speak, and looked down again. "I didn't mean to rip you from your home, your family, your friends, your life." Her voice was rising, and her words were speeding up. "I didn't want to uproot your whole life because I felt bad! I just feel like a selfish idiot because I did that to you!"

I could tell she was on the verge of tears. She was about to continue and become a train wreck, but I cut her off.

"I understand."

Those two words told all. I understood everything she said, and my expression, a sort of deep look, told that I didn't care too much, because I really didn't. Luna slowly closed the short distance between us, and I knew what she wanted and was asking for; well, a shoulder to cry on, literally and metaphorically. I stood there and welcomed her. She sped up a bit and gently put her head on my shoulder and did just that; cry, softly. Just let it come. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath. and leaned into her neck. She seemed to appreciate it. That was all that mattered.

When Luna drew away, she seemed refreshed. She started away, but craned her head around to face me. After that deep moment, words felt cheap, but that was really all we could use for the sake of attempting to re-establish a casual feeling.

"So, uh, I'll see you in the morning?" She gave a sort of happy smile.

"Of course." I returned her smile. She walked away and vanished, leaving me to my dreams and my thoughts,

Another Morning in Canterlot

As my senses began reporting in to my conscious mind, I became vaguely aware of something tapping on my head. This annoyance was enough to irritate my groggy mind into looking up from the insanely comfortable bed on which I was laying with an accompaniment of a confused and slightly irritated noise. My bleary eyes told me that there was a dark pony tapping my head with its hoof. This brought me to full awareness; all senses were running at regular efficiency, and my mind was processing things with ease.

Analysis of the data I was receiving told me that Princess Luna was trying non-invasive methods to get me up and out of her bed. Thin shafts of light eking their way through the mostly-shut windows told me it was morning, and time for her to sleep. I was immediately ashamed and embarrassed; I quickly drug myself out of her divine bed onto unsteady hooves and apologized in a drowsy morning voice for my insolent heavy sleeping. She just giggled.

Her silk voice started to flow with words. "It's not a big deal; you just sleep hard. Very hard. I've already lowered the moon, removed my royal garments, and bathed." She grinned. Probably due to the fact that it was morning, she did not carry her nighttime aura of power with her.

She was also acting like none of what was happening was of any particular incidence; like it was something she didn't care about at all.

"Again, I apologize." I really was ashamed of having invaded her rather personal time and space.

Luna was amused by this. "Like I said, it's not a big deal. I wouldn't have offered you my bedchambers if I didn't want you to make yourself at home." To my surprise and further awkwardness, the lunar princess slipped into the bed I had just occupied moments before and kept talking, again, as if it were not anything of consequence that I was standing right across from her.

"...But, I'd be more comfortable if you left now." This statement was accompanied by a faint smile, and a shimmer of magic that all but shut the shades on the windows. I obliged, quickly and with enthusiasm, but not before she remembered something and told me this; "Oh, yes. My sister invited you to breakfast this morning. Go to the kitchens and ask one of the servants; they'll tell you where to go." I nodded to show I understood. I then remembered my dream-conversation with her.

"One last thing," I started. "Did we... speak, last night?"

She nodded. I was satisfied with this and politely took my leave.

Her casual acts were unnerving to me. It was all so... domestic. Like Luna was my sister, instead of her actual sister, who together were the immortal diarchs in regulation of day and night and of the general well-being of an entire nation. It was a bit too much for me, being the modest... pony I was. As was the fact that Celestia desired to have breakfast with me.

On a side note: Ponydom. Not used to it either. I've already driveled on about that a little while back, as I'm sure you remember. Nothing has changed since then, being only a slumber in between that time and this one. Anyhow...

...Having made sure I looked presentable, I left my wings in the half-cocked position they seemed to prefer and made my way to the castle kitchens, having acquired a rough understanding of the palace's layout. I made a point to ask a servant pony who didn't seem to be preoccupied where the solar princess may be found. The young earth-stallion I asked seemed to be about my age, and he led me to the doors of the small room that undoubtedly held Celestia and breakfast. I thanked him for his help, and, not without hesitation, entered the room.

As usual, the princess was the first thing that caught my eye. She looked especially radiant this morning; her wings were not packed tight against her side, but out rather like my own; her mane shined brightly, but not to the point of pain, and her expression was one of general contentedness. Having noticed my entrance, she warmly bade me a good morning, as was her wont. I returned the pleasantry and sat down in what was unmistakably my seat, and observed my surroundings.

I saw we were in a room of old styling, not unlike what someone would imagine as the small dining room of a manor. The walls were lined with paneling which appeared to be of oak varnished in a rich, slightly reddish brown color. The many-paned windows were enormous; probably 15' tall and 5' wide, several of which lined the eastern wall in a half-circle, letting in the morning sunlight in all its glory. This was probably what served to make Celestia look so great at this moment; the sun was casting its warm embrace over the princess who was its mistress. All in all, the room was quite traditional-looking, and therefore inviting. The rectangular table was laid with a plain white tablecloth, covered with a teapot, two teacups and saucers, two glasses of water, and a plate of what appeared to be biscuits and hashbrowns. Delicious, I thought to myself.

Having finished my observations, my attention reverted to the princess who sat in front of me. A sort of nonverbal message quickly made its way across that I could eat, and so, I did. We sat in quiet as we each ate; the princess daintily and with poise, and me with restrained purpose, so as to not make myself look barbaric. I managed to eat the biscuits just by using my two forehooves to hold them, and the hashbrowns were cooked in a manner so as to allow the same sort of strategy to be used to lift them. After a short time, I had finished my meal. I also drank most of my glass of water. The princess had only consumed about half of her meal. I was at first sheepish about having rudely eaten my meal far faster than her, but the realized it did not seem that the princess of the sun cared to eat any more. I was perplexed by this development, but then realized that Celestia may not eat as much because she didn't have to. It was always a subconscious goal of mine to clear the plate, or at least most, so as to not waste money. Neither of us had drank any of the tea yet, and I believe that was the intention. The day diarch poured the tea into the two tiny teacups. I managed to carefully suspend the glass between my two forehooves by the same way as the food, albeit more delicately.

"Princess, it's more than a little difficult to go through the day without any way to grasp things," I admitted. I didn't know what my intention was, I just told her.

"So I could imagine," was her gentle response. She paused a moment, then continued on.

"I know this seems to be all I'm concerning you with--your magic--but I know of a way to metaphorically poke a hole in the barriers that contain it. It'll allow you to do all the things normal ponies of your type can do; grasp things, stand on clouds,"--That one I'd forgotten about; it made sense that a heavy creature couldn't stand on a cloud without some sort of outside force acting on it--"the works. The con is, it'll take a good while longer for the barrier to bust. If you'd like me to do this for you, I could, now or later." The princess looked at me in a way that conveyed that she pretty much already knew which option I'd opt for. Without having to give it much thought, I answered, a soft smile on my face.

"Thank you, Princess. I'll once again take you up on your offer, and I'd like you to do it now, please."

Celestia grinned. "Okay. Now, just sit down, and relax. You're probably going to feel some things, but don't worry about it.

I sat down and took a deep breath, relaxing all muscles as much as possible. The princess lowered the tip of her ivory horn to my forehead. I felt a stirring in the depths of my core. It began to focus on one spot, pushing hard against some sort of elastic barrier. The now-focused point pushed the barrier to its breaking point before finally breaking a small hole, which the pinpoint of energy solidified around so as to hold it open. How I felt these things, I am not sure, but I did feel a fortifying tingle trickle through my veins. I felt a little stronger, like I could hold up against more.

Lifting her head up and away, the princess announced that she was done.

"...Took a little more than I expected it to, though," she finished. What does that mean, I wondered.

"That was... strange," I communicated.

"It is a bit of a bizarre thing, is it not?" The princess asked this in rhetoric. Not responding, I waited for her to continue.

"Well, go ahead and try to pick up your teacup again," requested Celestia. I, acting on some innate thought, just touched the cup with the intention of picking it up. As my hoof made contact with it, it was as if an invisible force snaked around the handle, and I felt the warmth of the porcelain as if I had laid a fingertip on it.

"Ha! That's fantastic!" I exclaimed.

Celestia, now beaming, said, "Now, set it down and push it forward across the table."

I put the tiny cup back on the table with the intention of releasing it when it sat flat, and it did just that! I proceeded to push the cup across the table, making no intention to pick it up when I made contact with it. It happened all as expected; the cup slid forward across the table, and I felt not any force or heightened sense of touch like I had before. I was beaming now too; this really was amazing, no matter how trivial the task.

"Whatever you intend to do will happen," Celestia said. "but, I don't mean that this will keep you from dropping anything, because it won't, but it works the same as your hands would, except through magic. If you want to drop something, you will drop it, however."

"That's neat!" This had actually piqued my enthusiasm.

The princess and I drank down the tea slowly, discussing whatever came to mind. The small actions of those couple of minutes managed to break the ice sheet of awkwardness that I had subconsciously put up, and we got along quite well as two ponies, instead of princess and former human. As we left the company of one another, we exchanged casual goodbyes and left to our respective destinations. I was in the mood to explore the castle today...

A Night with its Princess

Surprisingly, after having spent the day exploring the castle in a brisk walk, I... wasn't tired! Perks of being an adult, I thought to myself, a faint smile lighting my face. Since it was evening, and I actually wanted to talk to somepony (See, I'm getting better with the new pronouns), I started for the courtyard where the princesses raised and lowered their respective heavenly vessels. Celestia finally got me to loosen up enough so that I could speak to her as a friend, and Luna and I had already got way deep into emotional support stuff, so I felt comfortable being around the sisters. By using my newfound knowledge of the castle and its layout, I quickly reached the courtyard; in time to watch again the siblings' extreme expression of magical power.

Since Celestia basically put a tiny valve in the magic pressure vessel inside of me earlier today, being in the thick magic-laced air coaxed a bit of my own aura out through my breath. I noted it; a lot like a mirage, with a very faint additive glow of silver. I was still in wonderment that I had this packed away, but it only struck me if I let it; I was a pegasus now, proof enough of its existence, and also of what it could do. The princesses approached me again after their work was done, and they apparently noticed my fascination with the emanations of magic in my exhalations, for Celestia said this:

"The magic-breath thing"--I could hardly resist snorting at hearing the normally formal-speaking princess say that--"is going to come back now. It'll probably only happen in the presence of very powerful magic, very weakly when you're asleep, and very brightly when the barrier is about to break." Good, a warning sign of when that's going to happen, I noted. My response to this was a single, firm nod, followed by, "Good to know."

"Well, I'm off to bed. Good night!" The sun princess took her leave.

Luna spoke now. "Are you tired?" she asked. This caught me a little off-guard.

"Um, no. Why do you ask?" I was perplexed at first, but then realized--

"I thought it'd be fun to if we could do something together," she said cheerily, finishing the thought in my head.

I felt a vestige of discomfort echoing from this morning. So domestic.

"Uh, sure." I answered. "What did you have in mind?"

Luna gave a little shrug. "I dunno." Her eyes wandered upwards. "Play a card game, chess..." I was about to cut her off here, but I didn't. There was a short pause between her saying that, and her expression turning mischievous and her eyes giving me a sidelong glance, ending with "...prank my nephew."

I grinned at the thought of the last, but the second stuck up in the middle. "We can do the last one, sure," I said, returning the look, but now facing her fully, "but did you say "chess"?"

Her eyes lit up at this. "You know of it? Do you play?" I nodded. A competitive smirk now appeared. "How good are you?" I shrugged. "Better than most I play against... but that probably doesn't mean much, considering you've got hundreds of years of experience." She gave the "fair point" shrug, and I followed her to wherever she would lead me.

It was not a question of if I would beat the princess of the night, but rather of how long I could last before being dominated. We had been playing on a spectacular stone chessboard located on a balcony that was directly beneath her observatory, connecting to a room she said was her study. I naturally played defensively, which aided in my survival time, but Luna's cunning knew no bounds. She had some remarkable way of knowing how to draw my power pieces into some sort of God-forsaken trap of extreme complexity that I could never foresee. Ironically, somehow an air of friendly competition still existed, despite the fact that I couldn't win. Despite her skill, I usually took at least a knight or a bishop, maybe even a rook, before crumbling under her hooves. After we'd both had enough, I brought this up. Luna gave another shrug before saying, "Yeah, well. I'm a little rusty." We both burst out laughing out this, but I was pretty sure it wasn't only a joke. I asked her what the time was (I don't know why; I did not expect her to do the following) and she looked up at the sky and told me it was 11:17. I'm not joking, she said 11:17. I was about to ask her how she knew, but then realized that because she was the night princess, she could probably could tell me down to the second, if I wanted it, the time, just from the position of the moon and stars. Not really knowing what to do next, I asked her what she wanted to do; I think you know the answer.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" I whispered to Luna. I was currently holding a basket full of fake snakes, and the night princess and I were standing outside of Prince Blueblood's window. I was never much of a prankster, but Luna wanted to do this, so I just rolled with it. This would be fun, anyway; Blueblood was so prissy.

"Come on!" she chided, smiling. "Now just dump those through here..." Luna opened up a portal that basically transcended the wall entirely, so that I could just dump them into the room. I did so, and Luna closed the portal. She then used an animation spell on them, as planned, causing all the little rubber creatures to writhe about.

"Wait for it...5, 4, 3, 2, 1--"

A very un-masculine scream rang out from inside the bedroom, and Luna waited another 5 seconds before deanimating the snakes. The scream persisted the whole time. It ended with a very confused noise from the snobbish noble, and then an angry groan promising many an unpleasant thing in the future of the pranksters who did this. Of course, Luna decided to teleport us at this moment, a flawless escape plan.

As we rematerialized, Luna was laughing, and I was steaming, breathing heavily with my legs wide and head down, also laughing, a faint smell of ozone and a silver-tinged mirage hanging in the air. Luna stopped laughing when she saw me.

"Oh no! Are you hurt?!" The concern was apparent in her voice and in the panicked expression she shot me.

"No, I'm fine." I panted, "But please," I gasped again, "lay off the teleports. Twilight explained that my magic isn't contained when I transport like that, and some gets free before I rematerialize. That was before I believed I had any of the stuff... But anyway, it's not exactly pleasant having a magic pulse run full force through everything."

"Oh, I'm so sorry! I should have remembered! Do you need anything?" She was obviously rattled and wanted to help, but I really was just fine.

Recovering now, I tried to stop her fawning; My voice held an undercurrent of firmness. "Luna, it's fine. I'm alright."

"If you say so," she said, obviously unconvinced. "I think it'd be best if you went to bed now." I was not about to argue with this; my mind had been running full strength for several hours on top of a waning energy of my body, and that pulse had taken everything that was left out of me. She hesitated a moment, before asking me, "You know the way?" I nodded. "Alright then," she said, smiling softly again, "See you in the morning."

So, I shambled down to the Princess' bedroom to take a sorry excuse for a shower before hitting the hay (or rather top-of-the-line silk king size bedding, in this case). So ended this day.

Back to Ponyville

The morning's breakfast with Celestia had been quite placid; she appeared to have taken well to my new status as a royal protege, and congratulated me. I had not yet the time to dwell on the real impact of my new position at that time, but as of now it was a major contender in the war of what thoughts would occupy my mind. I was struggling with all the changes to me since my coming to the castle, including: transformation into a pegasus pony, my knowledge that it had been magic inside myself that had done it, an already deep relationship with the princess of the night, a casual, friendly one with the princess of the day, and the fact I was going to be creating for myself a living all my own in this new land.

Like I have said, it is all so much to process. I had many hours' worth of deep thinking that could be done from all of this, and I was exhausting one when I arrived at the train station. The grand depot, which I had not examined thoroughly on my arrival from Ponyville, had almost completely absorbed whatever processing power I had allocated to the things around me, and so I was quite surprised when I turned to apologize to a white unicorn stallion for so rudely running into him to realize it was, of all ponies, Shining Armor, Captain of the Royal Guard and brother to the most studious mare in all of Equestria.

"Captain!" I spouted good-naturedly, above the din of the many other ponies about. He, about a head shorter than me, looked at the, in all likelihood, unrecognizable stallion before him, trying to put a pony to a body.

"I know you from somewhere," he said, half to himself, amidst his wonderings. I decided to cut his musings short, for both our sakes.

"Captain Armor, although I'm sure you don't recognize me, I am--was--the human you met when the Elements arrived." This, now made clear to him, was obviously understood, for he stamped a forehoof in realization and piped, "Of course!"

Turning back to me from his assisted epiphany, he asked me how I'd been in a way that one's friend would usually do, to which I gave the response, "Not at all bored." We both laughed a moment before I asked him where he was planning on traveling to.

"Well, I've got a little leave time stored up, and I figured I'd go visit my sister, Twilight Sparkle." I smiled warmly inside, only to have it inexorably bleed through; it's simple acts of sibling love that strike a happy note so deep inside. He caught wind of this, I'm sure, but he said nothing. He asked me for where I was bound, more in a manner of courtesy than in one of true curiosity, due to the fact it was rather obvious. By this time we had made it to the front of the ticket queue, where Shining got his ticket, as did I, but with a fair bit more difficulty. It's a little hard to reserve a ticket for someone without a name...

As we boarded the train, the simple stallion-to-stallion banter flowed along quite naturally; we talked of such things as how the last few weeks in the guard were, how my strange week had unfolded... Week? How many days had passed...? I was not sure, but that was unimportant. Needless to say, Armor thought my life the past few days was far more interesting than his, and I ended up quite deep into my recollections of the time. After much talk and a in-transit dinner, we had passed much time and had arrived in the modest town of Ponyville. It was refreshing to see a common town again; there was nothing wrong with the majesty of Canterlot, but it held not the homeyness that this little town did. Shining and I proved fast friends; we did not part ways at the station, but instead collectively walked towards the library that his little sister called home.

It was very refreshing to talk to another male for once; as kind and welcoming as all the mares were, they were still, well, mares. It somehow takes less energy to talk to somepony of your gender than of the other; I'm sure y'all know what I mean.

Anyhow, we'd arrived at Twilight's house, where Armor took the liberty of knocking on the library door. The massive tree that was the library was awe-inspiring; how this thing live hollowed out, I didn't understand. When the lavender unicorn opened the door, her expression immediately changed from one of neutrality to one of joy as she saw her brother.

"Shining Armor! I didn't know you were visiting!" she cried, as she wrapped the aforementioned guardspony in a massive hug. "Good to see you too, Twily," responded the not-quite-overwhelmed white unicorn.

"So, how's my BBBFF been doing?" she asked. I couldn't help but have a large smile grow on my normally stoic face at this display of sibling love before me; it was so sweet. Twilight apparently noticed me long beforehand, because she teased, "What are you smiling at?"

I grimaced in mock-hurt, saying, "What? No hellos for me?" This garnered a soft giggle from the studious mare, before she greeted me and asked about the past few days. I dried up slightly at this, and responded, "That's a long story. I think you'd want to talk to your brother first."

I was rather fond of the idea of leaving the two be, but of course, Twilight would have none of it and Shining Armor would have enjoyed it if I stayed. I obliged the two, having to duck through the small doorway to enter the little library and avoid bumping my head on the archway that led up to Twilight's living spaces. It was about 4:30 by now, and the spring sun was already starting to show signs of falling. Twilight asked us what kind of tea we wanted, which caught me off guard, causing me to respond automatically with "English Breakfast, little milk and a spoon of sugar." She looked slightly confused, and I had realized my mistake of using an Earth country name. She appeared to understand, however, because she got out two bags of tea leaves without having to ask for clarification. I sat down in one of the chairs spread around the room, as did Shining, as we waited for our hot drinks. The siblings conversed for a good long time while I sat by, listening and thinking, interrupted only by the kindly bookmare bringing me my (delicious and)just-as-ordered tea. About 45 minutes since my entrance into the building, I was happily sitting out of the conversation until I was pulled in by my hosts.

"Funny how you both got the same train."

"Yeah, we literally just bumped into each other at the station. We talked about how everything's been going recently." I knew I was supposed to do something at this point, so I just nodded and awkwardly waited for them to say something else.

"So, how's your past couple of days been?" asked Twilight. I sighed internally. "Interesting," I stated simply. I wasn't exactly dodging the conversation at this point, but that was the general intention.

"Enlighten me," she asked. I was just about to begin speaking, when out of the blue, a soft, pale, moon-white glow outlined my neck, and an intricate and extravagantly made silver amulet with a solid band materialized-- along with a note. Before examining the fantastic object about my neck, I grabbed for the note, interested in what this could possibly be about.

I found this necklace in my study just a minute ago; I knew I forgot to give you something. It's an ancient and charmed thing, worn by past students and aides of mine. I encourage you to wear it every day; experiment with it! There are, as I said, many charms about it. It's bound to you, for example; it will always find its way back to you, and won't lend any of its power to anyone other than those you give consent. Enjoy.

-Princess Luna

The other two dumbstruck ponies in the room had been inspecting the piece of jewelry for a short time now, and I decided to do the same. It was made by someone with much skill; the silver had so many small and precise engravings. The center of the thing held a round sable medallion inlaid with a pearl crescent moon. Sable. It was an amazing piece of artisan craftsmanship, that was for sure, but it was a bit... showy. I wished it were a bit less so if I were to wear it all the time.

As if sensing my thoughts, before my very eyes the tips of the silverwork glowed with the same unearthly light as before, and shrank down, the extra silver vanishing as it left a still intricate piece of work behind; the sable medallion had been unaltered. Sable.

Twilight broke the silence. "Wow...Did Luna take you on as a student?" Perceptive and smart.

"More of an aide-de-camp," I specified.

The sun princess' student seemed very excited at this prospect. "That's amazing! Congratulations! What did you do to earn that?"

I was not affected by these what could be considered unintentionally striking words. "I'm not sure," I answered honestly.

Shining spoke up now. "You didn't tell me about that..." I frowned. "It's not really in my nature to parade around some sort of status to hold above people's heads. I'm sure you understand."

His features turned serious again. "I do."

After a long evening of chatter and another tasty meal, it was late and we were all tired. I moved to leave, but then realized I had nowhere to go. Of course, the purple mare would pick up on this.

"You can stay here overnight." Shining backed her up. "I don't mind."

She frowned. "I don't have another open bed though... one of you guys is going to have to sleep on the couch..."

"That's fine," I said. I truly didn't care, as long as I had a place to stay.

I don't think I really have to tell you that we all took a turn washing up and retired.

AM Hours in the Library

When I had gone to shower, obviously, I had to take off the necklace. A bit of fumbling and inspection in the mirror found that the silver band on which it hung was in fact hinged. After undoing the clasp on the base of my neck (no easy task, considering I had to stand on 3 hooves), I found that the whole thing sort of folded outward. As soon as I set it down, it lit again with the pale white light, and the silver around the medallion extended again to its former extravagance. The spells and history that were undeniably about this thing intrigued me; who had worn it? Who had made it? What other things could it do? I brought it with me to the couch where I would sleep, laying on the arm before working myself into the bedding that had been laid out, falling asleep eventually.

I had wandered through the misty realm that was the dream world for an unknowable amount of time before getting the twang of lucidity, solidification of my form, and the restructuring of the environment that came with Luna's visit. Of course, this being my second time experiencing her entering my dreams, it still came as a small wondrance and a bit of a shock. I greeted her politely on her appearance, and asked her what it was that brought here here again.

"My sister expects a friendship report from Twilight every week; I thought you understood I was a little more demanding." She was not being entirely without humor here, and smiled slightly as she continued. "I expect a report from you around five times a week. On average."

I was sure to get used to Luna's strange way of communication at some point. I'd probably end up with a large amount of dream control as well, but that was a hunch. I affirmed my understanding of what was expected of me, and I gave a short account of the day's events at her request. She then proceeded, to my surprise, to outline the events of her day.

"Our relationship, unlike that of Twilight Sparkle and my sister, involves a lot more give-and-take." She paused a moment, stopped her slight pace, and turned to me. "So far today, I woke up early, sat and thought, went to my study, read a text I wrote about how my different types of personal assistants work, and remembered about that thing," she stated, pointing to my chest. I was stunned to see the lunar amulet hanging there, in its more modest form. I, taken aback, blurted, "How did that get there? I don't even have it on..."

Luna shrugged softly. "Even I don't understand all of the enchantments laid on that object. It's been charmed with so many different things. But, I will guess that it has something to do with being in a dream and the fact it's bound to you."

"Well." That was just about all I had to say about that. This thing just kept on getting more mysterious... and powerful.

"I really ought to be getting back now; I actually have a court to go to tonight!" She seemed genuinely enthused. "So long!"

I said my goodbye and watched her leave. When she left, I noticed something; the lucidity granted to me when she visited had not departed with her. I was free to do whatever I wished in this construct that was seemingly identical to the one that had appeared last time she visited. I started exploring.

The next morning, after much wandering in the shifting hills of the dream land, I was awakened by Shining Armor knocking on my forehead.

"Wake up, buttercup."

The fact it was him made sense; his poor sister probably had not the resolve to disturb me, not that I in actuality minded. Forehead knocks seem to be the norm for the past few days. I groggily got up and made the couch back into a sort of hybridized seating/sleeping area.

"Did you know your breath glows when you sleep? Oh, and your amulet."

"I knew about the breath, but not about the amulet. That thing's as much of a mystery to me as it is to you." I, needless to say, was not a morning person...pony, and my regular acumen had not returned yet. This also meant I was the least composed at anything after waking. So said I, "Any food?" when the heavenly aroma of biscuits filled the air.

Shining didn't let this pass me by; "No, this is just how a library usually smells," he poked. Realizing my mistake, I made some stupid face or another on purpose, causing him to laugh.

"Biscuits. Smells good." The pair of us moved the short distance over to the kitchen, where Spike and Twilight (Mostly Spike) were busily scaring up a promising breakfast. I could explain the purple dragon's absence yesterday with the simple fact that he was probably sleeping.

"Hey!" said Spike, dodging around the small kitchen. "Good to see ya again."

"Hi, Spike," I replied. There wasn't much to be said at the moment, for the little dragon was busy and I was fresh out of bed. Twilight, who was sitting in the corner apparently reading recipes, bade me good morning. "Mornin', Twilight," I managed.

"Good morning! Not much of an early riser, are you?" she teased.

"Nope. More of a night owl myself."

A few short phrases passed between us as we waited for the food to finish. The whole of us sat down and ate a very nice breakfast. I don't think I really need to describe the table happenings, simply because there weren't any to speak of.

Almost directly after the meal, Twilight remembered she had invited the girls over today. I took this in stride; I was bound to meet them all around town. It would be nice to see them, anyway. I'd spent enough time wondering what this I previously thought of as fictional group would do on an average day. I decided to clean myself up, my usual frame and sharpness of mind returning after eating. I'm not going to describe all my grooming processes, because 1. it would be pedantic, 2. it's weird. However, I will say I ended up with straightened feathers and a mane and tail that weren't totally uncared for. Straightened feathers feel wonderful. All the nerves that had been reporting pressure from their extremities being overlapped suddenly stopped. Don't ask me why I'm telling you this, because I don't really know.

A few minutes later, to my surprise, the whole group of friends made their merry way inside, all at once. Pinkie, of course, detonated, her usual extreme energy manifesting. Somehow, those cartoon effects from the show were hardly fictional, and barely exaggerated. She seemed to materialize at random points in the room, and I cannot recount her explosive ramble. But, in essence, she said "hi" to everypony. I had been expecting this nonsensical madness, so it did not catch me off guard, however stunning her bizarre logic-defying abilities were. I could easily understand how Twilight could not get over these at first. Like brothers-in-arms, Shining and I held off reacting to her with commendable degrees of success, while all the mares were used to it.

Rainbow Dash was second to make herself known, something that probably only ever happened with regularity when the enigma that was Pinkamena Diane Pie was around. "Hey guys," she casually greeted me and Shining. "and Twilight," she finished.

Applejack trudged in, stepping with the gait of a young and strong working pony and offering up a "Howdy" to us tenants. She removed her hat and hung it up on the small coat/hat rack next to the door, something I was happy to see. That was was a respectful courtesy you didn't see everyday anymore, but of course the country-raised farm-mare would remember.

Rarity was next, and was I ever in for it. She gave a polite and ladylike "hello" before spotting the archaic piece of jewelry hanging about my neck, and immediately rushing over to see it. "Wow! Where did you get this? It is just beautifully made! The styling is very classical... they got all the lines and inlay and everything just right!"

Trailing off as she inspected further, I, being a bit put off, responded, "Um... you done?" That sounded rude. Surprisingly, the fashionista carried on without remarking. "Oh, yes. But please do tell me who you bought this from!"

In her excitement, the alabaster pony was in such a passion that it slipped her mind that I wasn't really one to buy this sort of thing, and didn't take into account the significance of the insignia.

During all of this, a soft yellow pony slipped inside, the compulsively unobtrusive mare shyly managing a weak "Hi" before finding a spot to take a seat out of the way. She noticed me then, and, hiding behind her curly pink mane a little, mouthed "hello" to me. I flashed a small smile and nodded, which caused her to gain a little confidence and smile herself. This was about the time I asked Rarity if she was finished.

"Oh, yes, of course. Sorry, I probably got a little carried there."

I answered her question. "I got this from Princess Luna. I'm her aide now."

Everypony in the room except the two who already knew stopped in surprise at this news, and shifted their focus to me. I drew back a little bit at all the sudden attention. I immediately began to be showered with congratulations. This only made me draw back more. I didn't really like to be the captor of attention, and I didn't like having my achievements fawned over... most of the time.

"How'd you manage that?" made its way out of the group eventually, along with a reprimand, but I didn't care who asked it and nor did I that it had been asked. "Not exactly sure," I answered truthfully.

"And, Rarity, this amulet isn't as...extravagant...as it could be right now." To show the mare what I meant, I willed the thing to show its true form. A mirage-like tracer of light gray sprinted across its surface before the tips lit with the light of the moon and revealed the statelier form of the amulet. Now, I call it an amulet because when it's shrunk, it's pretty much a medium-large amulet; however, when it's fully fledged, it's more like a ceremonial breastplate, covering most of my chest. Needless to say, Rarity had a cow. I really didn't want everyone to cow, but they did. I felt compelled to show them this just to be transparent and informative.

"Amazing! Despite the fact that this is priceless, I can't even begin to fathom how much it could sell for! Hundreds of thousands of bits!"

Rarity continued ranting while the rest of the room buzzed with the voices of five other mares. Since the moment had passed, I shrank it down again with a thought. It was kinda neat; I controlled this thing with my mind. There's something about that that just makes you feel powerful. Anyhow, when all the hubbub died down, (of course) Rainbow spoke up, asking, "So, what did we miss?"

Again, I sighed, about to start raveling this thread. Thankfully, Shining Armor came to the rescue. He started explaining about how we met up in the station, and I shot him a look of gratitude. After he finished the rather short story, everypony looked appeased with that, and so a normal atmosphere returned, the six mares getting into what seemed to be a regular conversation that did not involve me or, to an extent, Armor. I actually liked being on the sidelines here; it was interesting to see them all talking right here in front of me while us two sat back. I'd sat back for maybe an hour, absorbing the conversations and just thinking on anything and everything. The girls seemed to have mostly concluded their meeting, and suddenly, the conversation shifted to me.

"So, what are we gonna do about you?" Rainbow asked the question, looking my way. Of course, while this was about me, it wasn't really anything I could comment on. I'd somehow been sent here without any housing or paying job lined up, and I didn't like not having a course of action to follow. I guess the princesses just left it to me to figure it out, which I actually liked, but the problem was that I had to rely on the generosity of the ponies here. I detested being a mooch; I didn't want to take a the yield of a pony's hard work and dedication and have it spurned on me, a capable workstallion. I was no lazy type and hated coming across as such, and people who do not earn their keep don't sit well by me.

Twilight gave her spiel. "I really hate to have you sleeping on a couch here, and I don't mean to be rude, but I'd rather not house anypony extra if I can help it..." I understood completely, and nodded.

Rarity was on top of this one after a short period of silence. "He can stay with me. I've got some extra space and I wouldn't mind lending it to a pony as well-meaning as you are," she finished, aiming the end of her sentence towards me. I was a bit flattered that I managed to come across as a good-intentioned type so easily, with all the mystery that hung about me.

"Well, thank you, Rarity. I appreciate it. You really don't have to do this, but I'm thankful that you're offering me your homespace. It means a lot."

I could tell it gave her great pleasure to give something that she could away to another, but that didn't make me any less bashful about taking up room in her home.

"Oh, think nothing of it, dear. I'm sure you'll make a fine roommate."

Roommate? I guess so... but didn't "roommate" imply a long-term cohabitation? I didn't mean to take up any of her home for a long period of time...

"Thank you, I'm flattered," I told her.

Twilight adjourned the mares' meeting. "Well girls, I think that just about wraps it all up. I don't know about you all, but I've got work to do. Been nice seeing you all!"

With varying forms of "goodbye," they all started to slowly file out. To my surprise, Rainbow was the last one left.

"Alright, big guy, let's get going," she said. I was confused as to what she meant.

"What? Where am I going?"

She rolled her eyes and sighed, teasingly, "I'm supposed to be teaching you how to fly, remember? We're leaving as soon as you're ready. Don't expect to actually get in the air today, though."

Of course! "Well, I guess there's not really anything I need, so I guess we can go now." Despite the obvious fact I wouldn't be burning up the sky today, or probably even getting in the air for at least four or five days, I still began to feel giddy. Flight. It's not only something the mind wants for, but I could actually feel the longing in my veins, the wind calling, despite how cheesy that sounds.

"Let's get going then." We started out the door, headed for wherever my coach would lead.

Coach Dash and Rarity

"First things first," said Rainbow. We were standing in an open field near Sweet Apple Acres, after a short trek across town. "I'm gonna have to go over all the basics today to make sure you're in shape. It's gonna be boring, but isn't the first day always boring?"

"Pretty much," I answered, in my usual concise manner. Dash then proceeded to inspect, well, me.

"You seem to understand how to care for your wings...your muscle tone isn't too shabby...you don't look too heavy-set for your height..." This was rather bizarre, having this mare walk around ticking off different aspects of my physique. From a pensive thread being raveled mostly to herself, she broke off and asked this of me.

"...hang on. You do know flight dynamics, right? Don't tell me I'm gonna have to teach you physics!"

"Yeah, I know a fair deal."

Dash seemed intrigued by my answer. She asked a question. "What are your four main forces?" Makes sense that she'd wanna do a little pop quiz to make sure I wasn't just saying that.

"Thrust, lift, drag, and gravity," I listed.

Her expression transformed from skeptical to joyous but confused. "I thought you said humans didn't fly!"

Oh, right. That.

"We don't fly with wings or magic, but with machines."

Rainbow's face seemed to light up with this information. "That's awesome! So, how do they work?"

Interested in how they work...?

I started into my explanation on airplanes."Well, there's two main types of flying craft. The one that's probably going to make the most sense--" I broke off and looked at Dash--"and is the fastest and most agile--" Here I looked away and continued pacing (and my explanation, of course)--"is... a lot like a bird, actually, but the wings are fixed in place and the tail has a vertical fin. There are different flaps on the wings and tail that can be adjusted so as to direct the craft."

Finishing, I realized that my explanation was not exactly put into the simplest terms. Much to my surprise, Dash seemed to absorb all of it.

"Makes sense... but I'd want to see one."

Did she really get all of that...?

This statement reminded me of Earth. Due to the fact Dash wanted me to explain something technical a minute ago, I'd lost myself in my explanation (and therefore, my mind) and was just sort of routing my thoughts through my mouth at this point.

"I'm not really sure if that would ever be possible. I don't even know where Earth is from here, never mind how we'd actually travel there... that would probably be a bad idea anyway. Flying sentient aliens that look like little ponies? That wouldn't go over well. They'd detect us instantly. Unless they put to down to radar anomalies or something..."

"Umm..." Rainbow cut into my ramblings, leading to their succinct cessation and a dose of self-consciousness.

"Sorry," I apologized.

"Not a big deal. Anyway, I'm glad I don't have to teach you all the textbook-y stuff. It's not like you'd need to be doing math problems in the sky or anything, but it really helps if you know what goes on up there." It was obvious she was relieved she wouldn't have to be a physics teacher, but just a coach. I just nodded. This led to the removal of her focus from conversation for a moment, and a short period before its return.

"Now, let's get you running. Best way to actually check a lot of stuff; general muscle health, cardio, joint strength..." she explained.

I didn't know how to run yet. I looked down. "Yeah.. about that..."

"Haven't figured it out yet?" she supposed, dead on.

"Nope."

A short sigh from the athlete. "Well, it's not like I can explain that, so just watch and learn, I guess."

She started waking at a brisk pace. I kept time, my stride being a little longer, without much effort. She sped up, gradually, and before I knew we broke any sort of trot/canter barrier, we were soon approaching a speed the fastest human sprinter could only dream of running. There was a definite shift between the trot and gallop. I didn't exactly know what I was doing, but I trusted it to my instinct, which had a track record of being infalliable. I'm not exactly sure of what the separation between the two is, but somehow I managed to pass over it without fail; my feet knew what to do. Dash took wing right next to me, almost blowing me over in their wake.

"Ten laps around the border of the field!" I heard her yell. I groaned to myself; it had to be a mile around this thing. Two small groves of forest made up the two long walls, and the fence and road made up the two short ones. I dropped my pace a little from sprint to endurance, and carried on.

Much to my surprise, I ran the entire thing without unbearable protest from any of my muscles, joints, or lungs. Of course, running that distance ended up with me breathing heavy and my legs tired, but what was to be expected? I stopped and sat down. Dash landed, along with a few more gale-force winds spawned by her wings.

"Nice job. Take a breather." She'd been above the whole time, spectating. I sat down to catch my breath.

After a short time, Dash gave her analysis. "The only thing that I see is that you seem kinda stiff. Being inflexible isn't going to be a help when you're trying to fly with any speed. So, I'm gonna have to make you do a lot of stretches and other warm-up type exercises for the next few days to see if we can loosen up all your connective tissue." She's really very eloquent, isn't she...?

"Sounds like a plan."

Dash donned another smirk. "Let's get started, then."

Twilight wasn't kidding when she said Dash was a tough coach, but I also wasn't wrong when I said I could handle it. She yelled a lot, jumped on things I was doing wrong, and didn't take any time for granted; the couple of hours were spent almost exclusively on exercises with very few breaks. I knew I was learning from the best, and I understood I had to perform to keep up with her expectations. It was a challenge I was up for, but the exertion left me feeling like a hot wet towel. I did have the satisfying worked-out feeling that came along with it, though; something I rarely had the chance to feel.

"You did good today. I honestly didn't expect you to be able to keep up with me during all that." Dash had undergone that shift that happens from the practice to off the field, and I became aware that I was talking to a mare again instead of a critical machine.

"Thanks, Dash," I said. Her congratulations actually did mean a lot.

"You stallions are a lot easier to coach than mares. I can yell at you, point out your mistakes again and again, call you names, and generally not cut you any slack," she finished, smirking. This revelation made complete sense; I couldn't imagine how tough it would have been for her to be so patient and lenient with poor Fluttershy.

"Yeah, well, it's not like we actually like it any more than they do most of the time, but we can just deal with it." I don't know why I felt the need to say things like this, but it was mostly because of a need to inform and/or clarify, I think.

"Well, come on, dodo, let's go get something to eat. I'm starving, and I know you are too." Dodo. She was so inventive with her nicknames...

"Alright." I started to follow her, no idea where we were headed.

"It's on me, of course." I was grateful for this, and still would have been, even if I had the money to buy it...

"Thanks a lot, Rainbow," I said, gratefully. "Like we have a choice of who could pay..." I mumbled darkly. Rainbow caught it.

"Naaah, don't worry about it. You'll have a job soon enough," she dismissed.

After that protein rich meal of double hayburgers (which Dash had trouble convincing me to eat) and fries, Rainbow briefed me on what the plan was for tomorrow and what to expect. Our dealings were mostly in a friendly but merely acquainted way; we were mentor and student, mostly. We parted ways soon after our short meeting, she having her life to attend to and me also, I walked down the quaint little street to Rarity's boutique, knocking on the door politely before entering. Her voice muffled down from the stairs.

"One moment! Be right down!"

The room I was in was a (assuming) fashion statement, obviously meant for business. This was a store as well as a home. I sat down on a couch, looking around the room whilst Rarity was coming down from whatever it was she happened to be doing. Upon reaching the bottom and rounding the corner to see who it was, she lit up at seeing it was me.

"Oh, hello!" she chimed, in her (frankly) charming accent. "How are you doing?"

"Good." It was true.

Charismatically, she responded. "Always good to hear." She proceeded, hesitantly, "You're a to-the-point sort of colt; I'm assuming you're going to want to see your room?"

"Yes, please." Her nature made me feel as if it would be a bit imprudent to use any informal alternative. "That is, if I'm not interrupting anything," I tacked on, quickly.

"No, no, of course not. Now if you'll follow me..."

"Here you are!" chirped the purple maned-mare.

The small room was upstairs, an extra, with a modest bed and a neutral and agreeable color scheme. In other words... a bit bland. Not like I cared. Besides, Rarity was generous enough to let me stay here, and complaining was in hideous taste and far out of the question.

Speaking of her, she had paused a moment, having me look around.

"I would have offered you my room, but--"

"No, I couldn't do that." I turned around to see her posing with a hoof out towards me, as in gesturing to something. I saw what she did there, and laughed shortly to myself, as she said, "--you would have protested."

"Really, I couldn't," I reaffirmed. There was not a snowball's chance in hell I would be taking her room. I was already taking up space in her home anyway.

"Well, I'll leave you to get settled." With that, Rarity left the room... probably to get back to work. I was going to go see if I could help her out, but I seriously needed to take a break. It was only about 4:00, but all that exercise earlier today left me drained...

Musings

As I sat down on the bed, again, the... normalcy and how domestic everything was. It... it didn't sit right, somehow.

Again, the nagging feeling wormed its way into my head.

"You're not supposed to be here."

It hurt; here I was, in this happy place-- a place that... well, I assumed, anyway-- I'd always wanted to be. And yet, with all my personal memories gone, I felt a constant pain that I belonged to that other place from whence I knew I came.

And even though the pony body I'd obtained had its benefits, to be sure, I'd lost the tag that would have singled me out as individual, and yet, as part of a larger group. I wasn't human anymore. So... what was I? I... I felt as if I didn't belong anywhere, have any purpose--almost.

Luna saved me from that raft. That was my purpose; handle my responsibilities to the night princess. And... it wasn't only that. She wasn't just someone to obey, but someone I could confide in. Someone to talk to about anything. As friendly and cordial as all the mares were, I was by nature a private pers... pony. I almost chuckled to myself. Gotta fix that grammar. And wow, did I mess that up *a lot** the past few minutes...* Despite my bond with Luna, it still hurt to not know my past or fit in under any real categories. In time, in time, I assured myself. You just got here, it'll take a little while longer to establish yourself.

My short but powerful muse done, I figured I'd go help Rarity with whatever work she was doing. She told me she wasn't, but I didn't believe it...

Having found my way to the fashionista's studio, someplace I honestly hoped I didn't have to learn much from, I'd walked in unnoticed.

"Got anything that I could help with?" I asked, a faint smirk on my features. She jumped a little, startled.

"Oh! Well, um, no, not really..." She saw the look on my face, and gave in a little, seeing she had no hope of avoiding a helping... hoof, she continued, "Maybe..." She caved. "Yes." And so, there began that stint of work.

"That should do it," Rarity declared. It had been about two hours, most of it just carrying things to their designated location so that she could be more productive. She turned to me. "Thanks for your help. You did just as good of a job, if not better than, Spike. Poor thing seems to be so distracted when he's here..."

It took almost every ounce of willpower to manage a straight face.. I wonder why.

"Anyhow, since you've been so busy today, I'll let you go ahead and wash up. This way," she finished off in a sing-song tone, leading me to... well, it was a bathroom.

It looked like it belonged in a Canterlot spa, though. It had the large, pool-like tub (with a shower head moseying its way up and out over the middle), and certainly every care product that could be acquired. The knowledge of what each of these were was lost on me.

"Umm..." I didn't really know what to ask.

"Yes, I know. Let me just put the ones that you may find to your fancy over here..." Rarity levitated a few of the assorted bottles off to the side.

"Thanks," I said, genuinely appreciative.

"Not a problem," said the white mare, beginning to walk away. I closed the door and, well, bathed. What else?

It was probably 11:30 by now. Rarity'd been doting on my insomnia earlier, and I told her to stop her worry and retire; I'd be fine. It took some doing, but she eventually obliged. I had no reason to be so sleepless; I'd had enough exercise today to tire anyone...anypony. I had reason to suspect the amulet, but seeing as the thing is bound to me and it managed to manifest itself in my dream last night without any contact with it, I could only assume its powers were not exclusively available to when I had it on. I decided to step onto a balcony to look up at the stars...

The sky was clear tonight, the wind was cool, there were faint signs of moisture in the air, and I was fairly sure the weather would be fair in the morning as well.

Wait, what? Where'd that all come from? Pegasus instinct? Magic? What?

To pacify myself, I said I'd ask Dash in the morning. As for the sky...

I saw none of the usual constellations I was accustomed to, which was only to be expected, having no idea where I was located in the massive expanse of space. Not truly looking for anything in particular, I let my eyes wander...

A short stint of about fifteen minutes or so left me a little wearied of a diversion such as this, and I sat down on a chair. The light stemming from the curtained windows was almost blinding. Having realized this, I noticed just how stunningly my eyes had adjusted, I could see the whole countryside in a light completely operable by, with but a waning moon of less than half. This, again, was probably attributable to the amulet, but who could be sure?

It was about 2 o'clock (AM, of course) when drowsiness finally crept up on me. I barely noticed it, until it sucker-punched me across the face and nearly dropped me flat. I shambled in to my small bed, falling asleep almost instantly....

Another Nighttime Mishap

Once more, at some point, I came to awareness in the midst of a dream... but something was different this time. It wasn't the recurring scene Luna and I had met on several times now, but one I wasn't familiar with.

It appeared to be day time, and I was standing in a knoll of sorts. Looking out further, I saw clumps of trees and some soft hills, but it all ended suddenly in what appeared a hellaciously sharp and rocky drop-off into open sky and clouds. I scanned for the the princess, but I didn't see her anywhere.

Needless to say, the circumstances was bewildering. This was not something I would have guessed to have been of her design anyway. But... where was I?

Stop thinking spatially. You're in an imagined landscape, *where** is not a question.*

Pragmatism and my adventure through the dreamscape last night provided me some insight into how dreams worked.

If Luna isn't around, I suppose this is my own dream.

I decided to follow the little stream that flowed from the stony spring a short distance away, hoping it ended in a pool or something instead of being a stark waterfall into the nothing that appeared to surround this isle.

As I trotted along the brook, I thought of what this could mean. This didn't really seem like something of my construct, but it seemed the only answer. I was mulling over the different explanations for this situation when a small gasp of surprise shocked me from my reveries. Naturally, reflex prompted me to take a defensive stance and whip to see what the sound had come from.

Rainbow Dash was standing, frozen mid-stride, evidently even more surprised to see me than I was her. One of what I had considered the least likely propositions was now one of the most.

Of course, Dash had broken the silence.

"What...? What are you doing here?"

The hollowness of tone was evidence of deep thought. Her reaction to my appearance surprised me; I expected that i'd have been tackled to the ground in this situation... but then again, I was a rather large fellow. Anyway, back on topic. Where was the headstrong daredevil? This at least seemed evident that this was not a dream-character Rainbow Dash, but the real one.

Now, to answer your question..."I... I don't know, I..."

A sort of awkward silence followed after I shrugged. Dash said the following, shifting uncertainly;

"I'm... dreaming... right?"

This question, addressed to me, pretty much settled the matter in favor that this was in fact the real Rainbow, whose dream I managed to blunder into somehow; I'm pretty sure a dream character would not query me as to if they were dreaming.\

"Yeah..." I affirmed, very slowly. What she asked next was very intelligent (no sarcasm).

"So... you are the real you, right?"

Ha! We were both asking ourselves the same questions! She didn't even have any prior knowledge, either! I nodded, confidently.

I couldn't have said the following much different myself.

"So, uh... this is awkward."

It really was. For both of us. Some guy you just met a few days back breaks into your dreams, and that guy doesn't even know how it happened or like care to have done so.

"...how exactly did you get here?"

Fighting for the right words to say, the poor mare just had to ask the unanswerable. More awkward was injected.

"Well, I know as much as you."

That was true. I'd managed to fall into Luna's dream the other morning... without assistance of the amulet which hung about my neck this moment. Speaking of which, the relic was emitting a soft glow. I looked down at it.

"...this thing might've helped though..."

Dash just nodded. This was a very new side of her, even though I figured she was a bit more cerebral given her fondness for reading after being introduced, the rather intellectual words she tossed around earlier today, and most recently, her impeccable reasoning process during this ordeal.

She, having no idea of what to do, and I, as of yet incapable of the action to leave her be, knew what we were feeling, and so just sort of resigned ourselves in each other's company, sitting down next to each other at a clump of trees after a few more words. The conversation just sort of ended right there.

This proceeded a couple of quiet, quiet minutes, due to the lack of animals about, before I became aware of some sort of disturbance; a kind of ripple, like that of a wave made in a rope, passed through the air. I somehow inexplicably, instinctively connected this with Luna. I sat up, stiff, leading to the cyan pegasus' inquiry as to what this was about.

"Didn't you feel that?" I asked, a little perplexed.

"Uhh, no..." she responded, further confusing me.

"No? That little... ripple that passed by here just now?"

"Nuh-uh," Dash stated flatly.

Great. NEWSFLASH.

"Oh... Wwelllll, I think Princess Luna's here."

This seemed to eke her a little; it would have me, too, if we hadn't already built the relationship we had standing at this point.

Said princess walked into the small clearing that Dash and I met in, in all her nightly majesty, and also with an easily perceptible sense of purpose. Dash stood as quick as she could and bowed (which I'd always thought a strange custom here; no curtsy for the mares?(well, that would be kind of awkward to perform)) low; I did the same, yet slower, and my bow was more of a deep nod. Much to Dash's surprise, it served to inflame the night slightly.

"Rise, please," she commanded, curtly. We did so, obviously. Luna acknowledged me with a nod and turned to Rainbow.

"I'm apologize for my protege's intrusion into your dreams"--she said this with a teasing glance at me, then turned back--"I'm not sure how he's acquired this ability, why, or how he's doing this without attempting to."

"Not a problem," Dash said.

"Truly?" asked the night princess.

Dash's answer came slowly.

"No... no. Kind of awkward, but that's it. Nice guy."

I was a little embarrassed, but I was glad to hear that.

Luna glanced at me for a moment before issuing a closing statement.

"If you would excuse me, I have other business to attend to tonight. Farewell, Rainbow Dash."

Seemingly struck by Luna's friendly-but-formal attitude as of this time, she replied, mostly autonomously, "Um, goodbye, Princess."

Smiling at Dash, the princess turned, stepping towards me, apparently intending to send us back to my own mind. I let her do so; with a brief touch of the horn and a disorienting transportation, we left the mind of the rainbow maned mare to discuss the happenings of the day and events directly prior.

More Mystery

Luna, seemingly a little exasperated, let the dream scene build as it would around us as she materialized two posh-looking chairs.

Yes. There is a lot of sensory input flying at me here; first the dream-jump, which was jarring in the first place, and now this materialization of two chairs (in great detail) from nothing, which was strange to see. I knew Luna must have had great experience with her magical abilities, but the ease with which she did all of this whilst obviously not focused upon such apparently menial things was honestly a bit staggering.

Anyhow, she cast herself into a chair with a decisive lack of poise for someone of her nobility (or any care in the matter, apparently) and put her forehooves to her face with a sigh, much in the way one would hold their head in their hands. I also took my seat, with a little more hesitancy. I mean, it was obviously for me, but I wasn't about to flop down in it. That would be imprudent.

After a short moment, she said;

"Not only are these dream entrances happening at random for you, but I have no idea why. I've pored through the castle records and I still can't find anything like this."

I didn't really have a response to this.

"That's..."

"Exactly," sprang Luna, bringing her front hooves down into a position much like an arm fold.

"I don't really know what to do in this situation but reactive damage control; rely on the disturbances caused by you dropping in on someone. If it wasn't somepony I knew well enough--" She darkened and lowered her voice "--or knew me well enough--" She returned to normal volume and lost some of the grimness-- "I would have been there faster. Granted, I didn't actually know what that occurrence's signature is at the time, but all the same."

I just nodded. Somehow, this simple, calm reaction began to cool her off a bit. She apologized, which I waved off as not a big deal. Her next line came out in a softer, more conversational tone.

"So...how was your day?"

"So you've been experiencing insomnia and enhanced night vision under influence of that?" Luna asked for confirmation, much like a doctor would.

"Mhm."

"Huh. Strange. As you've probably figured out, the thing is most likely modifying your circadian rhythm and enhancing your vision through magic of its own."

"Well, I've figured that much out," I deadpanned, leading to a little amused laugh from the princess.

"I'm not going to force you to continue wearing it, but I'd be pleased if you did." I could see where she was coming from with this; I had signed on as an assistant, but not as a living test subject. She wasn't going to force it on me, but the intrigue of what it was doing was immense; luckily I shared in that.

"Why not?" I asked brightly and in rhetoric, with the tiniest of shrugs.

"Ok then," said Luna, smiling.

"There's one other thing..." I began, a little uncertain of if this was worth her time or not.

"Yes?"

"Every time I see the medallion, the black inlay brings to mind the word "sable", and it just keeps bouncing off the back of my head. It's not like I'm consciously thinking of the word, it just keeps rebounding into my thoughts."

This prompted Luna to take on a pondering expression for a moment.

"Well... That's something like what an amnesiac pony would say after someone says their name. A name is very deeply ingrained into a pony, since most of the time it coincides with their cutie mark..."

This was intriguing, and I saw where this was headed.

"So you're saying that's my name, then? It's something predetermined, not chosen?"

"In short, yes, but it may just be a portion. As to your other question, yes, but again, only somewhat. The name for the foal comes to the parents in a sort of epiphany."

I nodded. It was right up my alley to learn the mechanics of pony society, as well as a little bit of psychology on the side.

"Tonight's been interesting, but I really must be back to Canterlot now. I have work to do--finally--and I need to see it through. Goodbye, Sable," she finished with a wink.

I bade her a good night, and she exited, leaving me to learn more about the dreamscape.

I awoke slowly, basking in the boundless glory of a morning on which one is allowed to sleep in. I stretched all the fibers of my being into a looser state, invoking with what is probably one of the most amazing sensations ever. Although, I will admit, it's a bit of a different experience when you're a pony... as are all things relating to the physique. Not finding it within me to care what time it was or if I should get up yet, I laid in the soft bed and let my mind build to full alertness as my body began to prime itself for the day to come.

Finally, after about 30 minutes of wonderful laziness, I figured it was time to get up. Still slow, I stepped onto the wooden floor and slowly walked over to the door, turning to gaze at the clock hanging next to the door as I did so.

Noon?! Really?! Damn, I slept a long time! My movements hastened as I opened the door and navigated downstairs.

Before I sated my ravenous hunger, I decided it would be best if I talked to Rarity first. I'd again entered her workroom without notice, which despite her obvious and justified absorption in her work I found astounding. I was a foot taller than the average pony, and even though I had a significant ability to be quiet when I wanted, I was still a bit clumsy due to the challenges presented by four hooves. I coughed politely to signal my presence. Rarity's response was pleasant and warm. However, she seemed to be sporting a bit of a repressed giggle expression...

"Oh! Good morning, darling. Did you finally get some sleep?" I chuckled inwardly. Always so concerned, females are.

"Yes, thanks."

Having known me enough to realize my to-the-point persona, she quickly told me of the latest news pertaining to myself.

"Rainbow Dash was by earlier; let me tell you, she was not happy with your sleeping in. I told her about your insomnia, and she understood." Hope she wasn't defensive or rude about it... I have a feeling Dash isn't one who will simply give up at a confrontation like that. But then again...

Figuring now was the time to share this piece of information, I did so. "I learned my name... at least, a part of it."

Rarity brightened and turned to face me. "Really? That's great! So what are we going to call you, mister?"

"Sable," I said simply.

"Oh!" she interjected. "Like the color in cosmetics, or what?"

"Dear God I hope not," I said in little more than a whisper. It was enough for her to hear in the relatively quiet and ambient sound-dampening room, with its being filled with fabrics and all. This prompted her to begin a short peal of laughter.

I let go an uncomfortable expression at my contracting stomach. I was positively ravenous. My roommate noticed, evidently, as she pulled some coins from a purse, proceeding to say, "You must be starving! Here, take these bits and go to Sugarcube Corner. Pinkie will be able to find Rainbow Dash for you afterwards. Mind, the latter probably won't be happy with you," she warned, a bit of a light, teasing chide in her voice. I couldn't argue with her reasoning on taking the money and grabbing some food out, seeing as I had little chance of cooking something in my still unusual pony form, and trying to get her to cook was something far worse than taking these few little coins. As for Dash, I had reasons to believe the contrary...

Hang on-- Pinkie'll...How would she-- I drew a breath to speak, but then stopped momentarily before continuing to say in unison with the white mare in front of me, "It's Pinkie Pie, don't question it." She laughed and I cracked a grin and laughed softly.

"All right, off with you then," she urged with a playful expression. "I've got work to do and you've got some ponies to see." Her expression turned mock-persuasive; "Unless, that is, you'd want to model some clothing for me..."

"Nope, thanks," I said, playing along. I did realize that being of my proportions, nothing would fit me anyway, but that didn't stop me from picturing the horrors of it in my mind. I'm not the most masculine guy you'll ever meet, and I doubt any of you are either, but I have boundaries. Rarity have another short laugh before saying goodbye.

I stepped out into the warm air and picturesque skies of the little town of Ponyville, blinking rapidly before getting accustomed to the bright sun. Ponies were going about their everyday business, and I seemed to have caught the lunch rush as there were a lot of them about for what I could only assume was a workday. I walked down the soft dirt street with a relaxed but purposeful pace, taking in the sights. The town looked the part of a medieval village except for the distinct lack of stone, the egalitarian nature of the place, and the fact that everyone seemed to be happy for some reason or another; it's hard to imagine someplace with as much ambient happiness as this.

As I stepped in the door of the bizarre gingerbread building that was Sugarcube Corner and the bell above the door jingled, I felt I was steeled for anything that Pinkie would do. The dining area was empty, which was to be expected at this time of day. Then, there was the pink party projectile that was the forever ennigmatic Pinkie Pie. Of course, I was not expecting her to suddenly appear next to me with only a pink blur denotating her path, indicative of the fact she did not actually teleport.

"Hey! What's up?"

Using my force of will, I forged forth without giving off any signals of being perturbed by this insane form of movement.

"Hey Pinkie. I just came down to get some breakfast... or brunch, I guess."

"Well, whaddya want?" she asked. A rapid fire list of items followed. "We've got all sorts of muffins and cinnamon rolls and pastries and best of all, we've got cupcakes!" Pinkie appeared ready to burst into song.

"Uh, well, guess I'll have a couple of cupcakes, then."

"What kind?"

First thing that came to mind: "Umm, chocolate with chocolate icing?"

"Okey-dokey-lokey!" Pinkie bounced in her gravity-defying hops to the kitchen, singing a little song of some sort. I didn't know she'd have to make 'em fresh, or I'd have just picked something already made...

As she entered the kitchen, I let out a breath I wasn't exactly sure I'd been holding or not. She was different, that's for sure. I sat down at a small table and started to muse...

As Pinkie reappeared, I readied myself. However, this time she came in walking in a decidedly normal way, a small tray on her back carrying a half-dozen sugary treats. I wasn't exactly sure I made the best choice for having to follow Rainbow's vigorous training regimen after this, but I was forced to make a spur-of-the-moment decision. Oh well.

"Here ya go!" Pinkie swung the tray around and sat it on the table. She then stood expectantly to the side, and being inclined to oblige her, I took a bite of the cupcake.

That was the most chocolate-like icing and the lightest, fluffiest little cake I'd ever had the privilege of eating.

"This," I said, pointing to the small chunk of the offending confection remaining, "is the best cupcake I have ever eaten." I then proceeded to devour the rest of it.

Pinkie laughed happily and smiled. "I thought you'd like them!"

Dragging myself away from my feeding frenzy for a moment, I asked her my favor before she walked away. "And, hey, I need you to see if you can find Rainbow Dash for me. Rarity said you'd be able to."

"Of course I can! I'll go get her now!" Pinkie replied cheerily, before zipping out the door. Sometimes...

I finished my food.

Intro

If in the heart of a pony great

A lack of warmth does grow of late

Call upon this tome's power

To bring forth the one within the hour

Who may this sad wrong right

By bringing forth once more

Friendship's light.

I extracted myself from underneath the jack-suspended body of my prized vehicle, bucket of oil in hand. I had been replacing fluids again, a slow process, as I only wanted the best for my baby. I also took the opportunity to cleanse any wayward cakes of dirt or some such filthy substance that dare believe it could contaminate my beautifully poised and relentlessly reliable vehicle, for similar reasons. The understated little 2 seater, being produced by the masters of understated performance vehicles, was becoming more immaculate by the day, and I took a certain pride in it.

The Honda S2000 I had acquired after much research was a car I dearly loved, with all the practicality and reliability you'd expect from Honda, as well as a window-licking insane, singularity-generating redline of 9,000 rpm and preposterous 240 horses from a 2 liter, naturally-aspirated inline 4--provided by the sorcery of their VTEC system--all coupled to the glorious 50-50 weight distribution chassis with absurdly low body roll and a snappy 6-speed manual gearbox.

Removing my car from the jacks and turning off the blasting mix of house and trance music so graciously provided by the wonders of internet radio, I made sure there was nothing else that needed to be done before she was ready to go in the morning. Since the evil forces of dirty oil, grease, grime, sludge, and general burned or powdered filth had accumulated on me after my ministrations of the underbody, I made the obvious decision to take a long, hot shower. With some Dawn dish soap.

Now I often use my long shower times to contemplate on... well, everything; so after a long and refreshing wash I step out of the steaming shower/bath combo free of general nastiness and instilled with what was sort of the other side of my proverbial coin of my personality. I dry off in the sauna of a bathroom and slip into some loose fitting clothes. I decide to step out into the cool night air.

I laid down on the thin bermuda grass lawn to admire the night sky. I had always enjoyed the night. The calm, cool, and quiet peace was of stark contrast to the busy, tiresome day, especially during the hot beginnings of a Texas fall. I laid down upon the lawn and gazed up at the night sky. The brightest stars were battling to keep visible amidst the strangely comforting pale glow of the full moon. I thought. I began to pick out some constellations, despite the bright white satellite of planet Earth. Continuing my contemplations on society & government, their general corruption, and what I, however bright and mentally age-accelerated, as a random Texas high school student, would solve these problems encompassing America & the world today.

I came to another obvious solution that the world was screwed. Morals will degenerate, virtues will be lost, people will rely on government to feed their lazy asses, all government will fall, anarchy and total savagery will ensue.

But then again, who the hell cares about what *I** thought?*

I almost laughed after screening horribly jaded internal rant. Besides, I was a citizen of this planet and had the ability to do my best as such. Besides, there's so much to learn, see, experience. I had a whole life ahead of me...

The night princess stood on her balcony, staring off into the cold depths of space. She stood, motionless, gazing into, but not at, another of the nights she had brought about.

Everywhere she had traveled these last couple of months, it was invariably the same.

Everypony locked their doors and hid, fearing for their freedom and families. A speech would be delivered on how their Princess of the Night had returned, and how she desired their love and admiration.

Not a single door opened. Total rejection.

From Fillydelphia to Appleoosa, it was always same. Arrive, everypony panics, hides, and doesn't open their doors.

"None of my subjects care about me..."

A single tear fell from her shining sky blue eye.

"Sister, you must stop," crooned a drowsy but concerned Celestia, now at her distraught sibling's side.

"How long must I wait, sister? How long until my people do not cower in fear at the sight of me?" Luna replied.

"Time will run it's course-" she began.

Luna's monumental patience had weathered since her return to the public eye, inexorably raveling down to the very last thread. The line finally broke.

"Time has flowed long enough! The waiting is unbearable, sister! Nopony, save you and a few select citizens of Ponyville, care for me! I wait for a thousand years to be released from the moon and from the grasp of the persona Nightmare Moon to see that the ponies of Equestria could care less about their princess! Is there not a single family that remembers how I cared for them, toiled to make the night skies as beautiful as they could be?!"

The normally placid and reserved night-mare was shaking with the release of months of pain and anguish, tears barely kept behind her anger.

Celestia was distraught. However much she loved her dear sibling, they were so different. They were polar opposites. And she couldn't relate to her sister's grief, her pain. She had never experienced that, and felt all the worse for it. Something lit up in Luna's face; Celestia knew her sister had come upon an idea, but what it could have been eluded her.

Her expression set like concrete. "If you will excuse me, sister..."

Luna left at a speedy but dignified gait.

The solar princess sighed. "Dear sister, what are you up to?"

Luna had an idea, and she needed to see if it had any credence. She hoped it did, or what was left of her steely composure would likely dissolve...

I need somepony to speak to, somepony that *understands** me... Celestia loves me to death, but she just doesn't get me. Somepony who can look to me without dropping to their knees in fear or in royal reverence... and I don't know how to find that somepony myself.*

The princess of the night's soft hoofsteps echoed softly across the stone path to the doors of the Royal Archives. The guards at the door flinched in a very hard-to-notice manner, and their tone of voice in the respectful utterance of "Princess!" was laced with the slightest indications of fear. None of this was lost on Luna.

"At ease," she quipped, walking through the heavy doors cast open in her presence.

The metallic clinking of shodden hooves carried across the nighttime air of Canterlot Castle.

It isn't like the old times...

The guards at the threshold of the Royal Archives flinched nigh imperceptibly, opened the doors with a hardly visible haste, and hailed "Princess!" in a tone with only the slightest hint of fear. Not a bit of it was lost on Luna.

At this stage, the night-mare's glacial composure, normally as impossible to break as the mountains themselves, was barely held. The minute cues of discomfort in her own guards' actions was another wave dashing against the shattered rock.

Even these descendants of families who I was so close to before--almost familial with--have a frail trust of me at best. I know I must give them the time to let their trust build, their hearts open to me again; but I have not the patience or the stamina to expend on them now.

"At ease." Luna strolled through the open doorway.

"Hark, stewardess!;" she called the librarian to her aid. Although she knew Middle-Equestrian was no longer used, she felt comfortable speaking in the old tongue to the castle attendants. It helped here keep mind of the fact that there were many vestiges of the earlier times scattered about the castle.

A somewhat shaken-looking mare appeared from one of the many chambers of the Archive.

"Princess Luna! What is it that you require?"

"Greetings; dost thou have any tomes for the summons of a companion?"

The librarian looked a bit puzzled; this was an odd request from Luna. Usually a visit to the library would blow over with a requirement of the more recent astronomical research--which she always found lacking--and other general science material. However, Luna's expression remained stoic and unchanged.

"Well, Princess, that would depend on the sort of companion for which you are searching." She took another breath in preparation for another sentence, but Luna's frazzled state made her entirely impatient for this exchange.

"Of the intelligent sort, madam. One with thoughts, feelings, a heart of its own." Her words were more harsh than she wanted them to be, but she could hardly find the empathy inside to care at this juncture. This served to send the librarian into a state that involved thinking of the first and most relevant section of tomes to avoid at all costs seeing if the things that her imagination cooked up matched what actually happened when Luna got very short with a pony.

"A-Ancient scrolls, wing 1A, Starswirl the Bearded section!"

"I thank thee," Luna said tersely. She started for the section at the greatest speed she could whilst remaining dignified.

Recovering her wits enough to realize where she had just directed the princess to, the librarian wanted to warn Luna of the potential dangers of the section to which she had pointed out, but it was too late; Luna was already gone.

Luna stood before the tall shelves in one of the deepest sections of the archives. The sturdy oaken shelves that lined the chamber were filled with old and ornate scroll cases, but Luna cared only to find the one she was looking for; the one to ease her pain. The names of the scrolls were written on the ends of the cases, and all were written in ancient texts lost to most of ponykind. Luna wasn't one of those.

After a bit of searching, her eyes fell on a simple, silver case with several gold inlays snaking across the smooth surface, glinting in the moonlight from the glass roof.

"Awaken Friendship's Fire...

She removed the case from the shelf with a gentle tug of magic and released the cap. The smell of very old parchment wafted up to the princess' nose. Very gingerly, the scroll was removed and unrolled. The only description of the spell's purpose was a cryptic poem. Skimming it did not tell Luna what the spell actually did, however.

That's the problem with these old tomes. Powerful, absolutely, but they don't exactly come with a straightforward summary of what the damned thing *does. I don't have the patience to try to decipher this. I'm going to use it, **now, and it better work.*

Luna took a step back and settled into a comfortable standing posture. She inhaled, and with a small whiff of ozone, her horn lit with a sizable fraction of the power she possessed. The first strange, archaic word flowed over her tongue with perfect pronunciation, and the words written on the tome lit with a golden hue. As more were spoken, the text began to glow brighter and brighter, the soft gold color growing more prevalent by the second. Luna could feel the power siphoning off to the tome, and had to work up more power to keep it going. It had been a while since she'd pushed herself with a spell, and she found it exhilarating.

As her first breath was spent, Luna took another. This one was stinging with the acrid scent of ozone, and from experience she knew it could only get worse.

I should have done this outside, she idly noted.

The spell was about three-fifths completed, and yet again, after another few lines she found that the tome was lacking magical energy. She increased the output again, the magic around her horn having progressed to something akin to a healthy flame instead of the shimmering glow of, say, the usual telekinetic movement. The air was circulating around the tall chamber, the heat being generated rising to the roof and falling again. The convection current was getting to the point where the tome wasn't safe in the winds, threatening to tear the paper. Luna could not allow that. Holding the paper from all sides, the current was only getting worse by the second, until a squeak sounded at the roof of the chamber. Looking up as far as she dared, she could see that the skylights were formed in such a way so that they had hinges facing away from the dome, and the acrid, hot air had an escape from the room, and the cool night air had a way in.

The air of her night left the princess refreshed; a good thing, considering that the ever-growing magic demand had yet again outpaced Luna's supply. She only had a couple of lines left. Grunting, she decided to give it her all for the last lines. The emanations around her horn spiked from a furnace flame to something that looked like that of a jet exhaust, still growing until a deafening noise rattled off the stone walls. The blue hue of her magic had heated the air so much that a blue-white ball of plasma had formed, so bright that the Luna had to take a peek at the lines and then shut her eyes to protect them. Her alicorn body's defenses were doing all they could to prevent the relentless heat from scorching her, and she could only hope the expansion of the super-hot air would not damage the scrolls in the room.

With the sounding of the last syllable of the tome, all of the magic that had been poured into it released, something like a comet erupted from the paper. Luna had no idea what to expect. The object released from the tome paused a moment, and she heard these words:

"I see. Your will shall be done."

The comet-esque object rocketed toward the ceiling, dividing into eighths to fly through the venting skylight--which unfortunately still cracked the glass from the rapid expansion cause by the massive amount of heat--all under the eyes of a somewhat taken-aback lunar princess.

Even when spells speak, it's not like *that*... they don't deem you fit or unfit for what you've invoked them for; they just do it, no questions asked...

Although this was acknowledged by Luna, she did not let it take her attention; the extreme outpouring of magic had ended, and her horn, eardrums, and all other parts of her body not immune to ludicrous levels of heat and deafening roars thanked her for it. She relaxed, taking labored breaths while the cool night air dried the sweat she'd worked up.

It's been forever since I've pushed myself that hard...

Something that had been missing from Luna's face returned that moment before she retired with a flash of dark blue; for the briefest of moments, a genuine smile lingered.

After about 30 minutes of peaceful stargazing, I retired to my bedroom.

Flopping down on the bed in a totally graceless manner, I grabbed my laptop and headphones. Lifting the lid brought the pale blue light of the lock screen to my ink-dark bedroom. In a routine, I typed in my password and opened an incognito tab on Google Chrome, and proceeded to search for videos (and no, not those videos. Rather the opposite...)

A familiar scene straight of of the Girls' Show Ghetto bared itself before my eyes before being struck down with... well, with a rainbow, and some clouds, ironically.

Yeah, I was a closet brony.

Nobody knew, and nobody asked. I used to think bronies were weird, watching a TV show geared towards a predominantly single digit age group of young girls. I had grown up with a 11 & 12 year age gap between me and my half sisters (not that I ever used the fraction), and I probably owed a lot of my early maturity and my rather more sensitive side to that fact. As a curious person at heart, I eventually succumbed to the idea of seeing if I could find out what all the bronies thought was so great about this TV show, and decided to watch an episode. (where nobody could see me of course) It hooked me. It was not a girly girl show, as I suspected, but in fact, it could appeal to young boys as well. The characters were great. None of them were perfect, they all had strong and weak points, the personalities were well developed, though honestly the males could use a bit more representation. What I really loved, though, was that imperfect beings could live in a world where things were happy, and while enemies were powerful, not once did the ponies have to fight opression by their own society; there were no standards to be met, no judgements to pass on a person;(or, uh, pony) everybody (pony) was different, and it was celebrated.

After a few episodes, I closed the window, shut the lid on the laptop, and set it aside. After another consult of my trusty time-telling chronometer, the time was revealed to me as 11:11. I laid back, shut my eyes, and quickly dozed off to the comforting white noise of the ceiling fan to meet dreams of a less confused place.

I was laying on a cloud, my wings stretched out, limbs drooping, watching the endless night sky sprawl out above me. I was deeply relaxed, to say the least. The peace was far deeper than that of the one I had experienced earlier. This peace was all encompassing; I knew there were no issues of great importance to be worrying on. All of a sudden, one star drops from its high perch in the heavens. Another followed, and another, until a full fledged meteor shower was in action. I simply observe. The beautiful golden streaks dive into the atmosphere, never to return to the space from which it came; not any time soon, anyway. I notice a particular brilliantly bright meteor seem to get larger and larger, until I realize the obvious- *It was headed straight for me.** I try to move- this was no space pebble, it was a large stone, and I had no intention of getting struck down by a random visitor from the cosmos-- only to realize I can't move. Some unknown force had completely immobilized me. I struggle, but to no avail. I can feel the stirrings of a storm of panic rise in my chest. I had no intention of dying this way. I struggle some more. The panic has risen by now.*

The meteor becomes blindingly bright. I must shut my eyes. It strikes... and melts?

I wake to feel totally and utterly calmed again, and my fingers and toes tingling- like that of having them tingle from lack of blood flow, but deeper and not inherently uncomfortable. The sensation, to my surprise, did anything but subside. It began to spread up my hands and feet, crawl along my arms and legs, and continue the march up along my core. I had to see what this was, as it was honestly a little disturbing. This is the strangest... I lifted the covers. thing...

"Usually, arms and legs don't glow." I thought to myself.

The glow was a sort of golden-white sparkle; the earlier I had felt the sensation, the brighter the corresponding part of my body. It had also begun sort of "leaking" into my surrounding area. Again I felt the stirrings of anxiety swirl in my mind-- only to be quelled. This must be the effect of whatever this is, I reasoned. Normally something like this would freak me out; maybe not an entirely bad freak out but...

Hush, mind. Pay attention. This command seemed to half originate from myself, and from whatever was sharing my skin at the moment. Reason told me that there was only my imagination to blame for that sense, but intuition was scaring me with the revelation.

The wave of... whatever it happened to be-- had made its way across my torso. I sensed that whatever this... well, this, was not malicious; it was in essence a... neutral thing. The golden glow made its merry way up my neck. Somehow, I got the oddest feeling I really should grab my laptop and phone on my bedside. I did.

The aura reached the crown of my head.

Everything started to lose focus; everything was becoming grainier except for my own body. It was like watching a TV screen fade from a clear picture to a snowy, static-y mess.

Ironically, the last thing I decided to do before (apparently) passing out was check my clock.

Midnight.

The Farmer & the Naturalist

Having exploited my rather infallible sense of direction, I found my way into the Canterlot Gardens. I wandered a bit through the peaceful green expanse until stumbling into the very ponies I was looking for; Applejack and Fluttershy.

Applejack was first to speak. "G'mornin."

I brightened at hearing the similar dialect; nice as Twilight and Pinkie were, they didn't carry that feeling of home about them, especially Pinkie.

I nodded, the regular thing to do without a hat to tip. "Mornin, Applejack."

For some reason, Fluttershy suddenly cowered into a ball and began to cry. The whole pleasant atmosphere was shattered. I reacted to the disconsolate yellow mare first.

"Fluttershy! What's the matter!?"

Fluttershy did not move, sobs were still wracking her but she managed to eke out, "P-p-please d-d-don't hate m-m-me!"

I was utterly confused. "Umm, who are you talking to?"

Driving the spike of my confusion deeper, she stuttered, "Y-y-you, of course!"

My mind was racing to find a sensible solution, while my mouth decided to mumble "Wha-?"

Oh.

She thought I would be angry with her over my transformation into a pony!

My whole demeanor shifted from shocked and confused to soft and comforting. Innate fatherly instincts took over, and I, with varying levels of awkwardness, decided to give the poor mare a hug. I spoke in a low, soft tone of voice.

"Fluttershy, I'm not mad at you. Not in the slightest. If I was mad at anyone I'd be mad at myself. It would take a petty pony to be mad at you in this situation. Now come on. Stop crying and get up."

The sniffling Fluttershy stifled her tears and started to get up. What I was not expecting is for her to suddenly pounce on me and tie me into a soft hug.

The couple of seconds I had allotted her were up, so with my face of scarlet I maneuvered her down on her hooves and she spoke again.

"I'm really glad you aren't angry with me... I don't know what I'd do with myself/"

I felt a touch of anger; not with her, of course, but with anyone who would have been mad at her.

"Like I said, anyone who is mad at you in this situation is a petty, petty pony." I finished this sentence with distaste, almost so vile as to cause me to spit. I refrained.

"Okay. I'm going to go and get cleaned up...if that's alright with you."

"'Course, Fluttershy. Go ahead." I dismissed the submissive pony with a compassionate smile.

Applejack, who had been standing by during this whole ordeal, approached me with a warm smile on her face. This caused my cheeks to heat and my eyes to wander again. Really, how many times would this happen in a day?

"That was big of ya. Mighty big. You're a well-spoken kind of guy, you know that?"

Again, another subtle blushing on my part.

"Aww, AJ, I'm just doing what I feel's right is all. You mares do it all the time."

The orange pony continued with her reasoning on this particular subject. "In that predicament you were in, usually the stallion'd just stand there and wait for the mare to do something. Stupid modern macho masculine stuff making stallions into some sort of machines instead of the ponies they're supposed to be. Now you're a different story. You're a right gentlecolt. Part of a dyin' breed."

Every word she said just made my face shade into a deeper red. "Come on, AJ, you're makin me blush."

She just grinned and said, "Just bein' honest with ya. That'd be my job. Say, speakin' of jobs; ever worked on a farm?"

"I don't rightly know, Applejack, but I'm gonna guess not."

Questions such as these filled the time as we traveled slowly towards the doors of Canterlot Castle to meet with the ponies we would.

Dinner with Royalty

Having had my personal space totally violated the whole time Rarity had been getting me ready for the dinner, I was a little disgruntled. Considering it wasn't some random annoying guy, but rather a pretty and friendly, however fussy, mare, I was okay with it.

Okay. Before I go any further. Don't judge me on calling mares pretty; you aren't a pony, you can't judge. The new definition of attractiveness had totally displaced the old human one I had possessed; it came with the body change. It was strange and unnerving; I wasn't quite ready to go thinking ponies were pretty, but I didn't have a choice. Instincts were native to the stallion form I had taken on; and damn, were they strong. Take previous primal instincts. Multiply those times four. There you go; pony instincts. I had to dive into a restroom (which were unnervingly similar to human counterparts) constantly. I subconsciously checked out every mare I saw.

Anyway, so yeah. Rarity had been working on me for the past thirty minutes, combing my coat first with a bit of magic and a brush, and fussed ever so much over trying to control my unruly mane and tail. The rebellious spiky curls could only be put down with the power of heavy, thick product, which I immediately objected to. Rarity pouted--which was very hard to fight--but at least I wouldn't feel as if my twin plumes of hair had been dipped in syrup and blow-dried. I was all for looking sharp in a semi-formal gathering, but not at the expense of my comfort. Speaking of discomfort, she'd also straightened the feathers in my wings... thankfully with magic. You want sensitive? Try wings on for size. I was happy with the end result, as it did leave my wings feeling a lot better, due to the undoing of all the tension of the overlapping feathers.

Walking down the halls, the pair of us ended up at the hall that was to serve as our dining hall. As the guards opened the doors at the sight of us, I again felt that the princess was here. Somehow, she had a physical presence, probably through magic, that you could feel in the air. I nodded in appreciation at Celestia's servants and walked through the door. Same as last time, the first thing my eye caught in the room was the solar princess at the head of the table. Again, the majesty of the princess struck me, and I was tempted to kneel in a symbol of respect. I knew this would only result in a teasing reproach from the princess, so I dismissed it and gave a shallow bow instead. When I looked up, she held a warm smile on her face. I knew she was trying to dial back on the aura she seemed to radiate; the smile did not make me want to do everything in my power to please her, as it had done when we first met. After this brief acknowledgement, I also became aware of Rainbow Dash, being absent today and having the rainbow mane she did. Sprawled in her chair with all the formality as if it were a recliner, she gave a little wave of recognition. Each of the rest of the ponies gave greetings of "Hi!", "Howdy,", "Hey,", and "...Hi...". I returned all of these with a simple smile and a nod.

"Hello, you two," sounded the motherly voice of the solar princess. "How are you?" She giggled a little at her apparently unintentional rhyme. I noticed the casual manner of speaking she had adopted; her voice shifted in pitch more often, she spoke with animation, the position in which she was seated was attempting to diminish her height. She was trying to help dispel the often overbearing aura of power she generated so as to not preside over everypony, but rather level herself with us. I was greatly appreciative of this; I'm not sure I could remain anywhere near the state of relaxed, casual conversation with her otherwise.

"Just fine," I answered.

"Splendid," Rarity exclaimed."Just great!"

I couldn't help but be amused by the enthusiasm of this mare.

"Come and join us! Take a seat; the food should be done soon."

"Thank'ya," I responded, taking a seat.

"Thank you, Princess," sang the purple-maned mare.

Celestia pointed her gaze at me and asked, "How was today?"

I responded truthfully, instead of the usual "Good".

"Alright. It's not exactly easy going from two legs to four. Skeleton's totally different, don't have hands to work things with. Other than that, I've been just fine."

She smiled again. "Good to hear. I'm sure you'll get the hang of it in time." Glancing around, she asked, "Does anypony have anything they want to say?" I figured that the princess asked this to make sure nopony had anything they needed to ask or state before a period where they wouldn't be able to speak. Everypony shook their head "no".

"Alright." Again, redirecting her attention to me, she continued. "So, tell us all about your day."

Although a little bit uncomfortable at this, I did as she requested. I told the day's story, which took about fifteen minutes, I gradually started to lose the sense that I was with important company, getting involved in my recount, which loosened me up a bit. After finishing, it felt more as if I were with a group of friends than with a princess and the six most powerful citizens in Equestria. This may have been due to some sort of soft and gentle application of calming magic from Celestia, but I'm not entirely sure. Surprisingly, no one looked bored after the act; they all seemed genuinely interested.

"Thanks for sharing," she said sincerely. She spotted a line of ponies carrying lidded silver platters, leading her to break off and announce, "Oh, look! The food is here!"

As eight waiters and waitresses came forth, they gave us each our plates and a nonspecific drink in a metal goblet. I smiled and nodded in a gesture of appreciation for my particular waiter's actions; he caught the nonverbal communication and I saw the faintest vestiges of a smile appear on his face.

I then proceeded to look down at the dish I'd been presented. Spaghetti? They really do have most of the same foods here. Italian, anyway... I wondered why the pasta and marinara hadn't simply been served in large bowls in the center of the table, but then realized that that was probably what was referred to as "family style."

Inspecting my meal for a moment, something about the pasta looked simply delicious; I assure you it wasn't just my new automatically ravenous hunger manifesting. I noticed the sauce contained no meat, but I did not care. I was eager to start eating. However, I had no means of holding any instrument to pick up my fork. I looked up to see what all the other ponies were doing. Obviously, Celestia, Twilight, and Rarity were using magic, twirling the fork just as a human would do. Looking at the other four ponies revealed that somehow they were holding them in hoof against the laws of physics and simply forking the pasta without any shame. In some strange and seemingly omniscient way, the princess noticed my predicament, and mimed a point to herself, an arc out over her horn, a point to me, and a drawing of a foreleg towards her head. I translated that she offered to engage in some sort of magic communication; I nodded. A faint smile and a fainter shimmer of magic appeared.

"What seems to be the problem?" asked the voice of the princess in my head. A little startled at this development, I wondered how exactly to respond.

"Imagine yourself saying a sentence. Direct it at me." answered Celestia, apparently adding on how to communicate through this telepathic link as an afterthought.

"I can't use a fork without hands," I mentally spoke, hoping I'd done it correctly.

"Ah. I just remembered; with all your latent magic sealed away, you can't really grip it like our friends are. The way their grip works it through latent magic; it's an automatic occurrence. I'm sorry, I should have known that noodles are not exactly easy to eat when you can't grip a fork." She thought-spoke this, and she "sounded" a bit irritated with herself for this and remorseful towards me.

"Well, umm, how exactly...?" I half-asked.

"There is one way..." she began, a bit sheepishly, "It's sort of like a co-op on the mental link we have here. Act like you're picking up the fork, send me a little memo, and I'll push it into your hoof. When you want to set it down, send another sort of tell, and I'll release. As you could imagine, it's... really bizarre, though."

I had been in eye contact with her for most of this time, and I saw a suppressed blush appear on her white face. I assumed it was all she could do to keep from giggling. I gave a nod this time, instead of a mental reply; didn't want to get used to them, as I could not initiate and wasn't quite sure I would if I could. I gave a go-ahead, and the fine piece of silverware zipped a short distance to my hoof. I could feel the thick magic-influenced air on the fur of my leg as I smote the spaghetti with my four pronged spear of eating.

As soon as the wondrous meal hit my tongue, I knew that the pasta must have been of the glorious fresh variety, the likes of which I had never truly experienced. The delicious pasta combined with the masterful marinara made for a pleasing assault on the senses; I ate as fast as I could without looking uncouth. I became aware that I was parched after a few bites of the rich sustenance; I sent a sort of vague thought that meant to drop the fork, and it fell quietly onto my napkin. I sent a one word thought to the princess; Drink. A sort of connotative "gotcha" came back, and the drink magnetized itself to my hoof, much like the fork. After taking a dreg, I almost spat it out, for it was wine; it wasn't terrible tasting, but the strong flavor was unexpected and I wasn't of drinking age. I swallowed, the warm feeling of alcohol materialized on the back of my throat.

"Is this body that of an adult?" I asked. It sort of caught the princess off guard, but it didn't cause anything, so all was well.

"Yes. Why?" was the response.

Okay. That's to be noted.

"I wasn't full grown as a human--well, I was mostly grown--and alcohol has a detrimental effect on that."

"So I've learned," she replied.

One spaghetti plate and a glass and a half of wine later, the solar princess and I finished our tandem. We had both finished our dinners, after Rainbow Dash and Applejack, but before Twilight, Rarity, and Fluttershy.

We all got up and thanked Celestia for providing us with such a great dinner, whereupon the princess actually followed us out to walk with us; we were all to watch the evening end again. I fell in step beside the princess, which was when we looked at each other and could not suppress our laughter any longer. It grew from a soft giggle on the Princess' side and a quiet chuckle on mine to musical peals and hearty roars, respectively. Every pony except Twilight seemed freaked at our behavior; I knew that the prodigious student understood what had taken place at dinner. I bade her explain while we recovered.

"His latent magic is all bottled up, so he can't pick up anything like all of you can," she started.

Surprisingly, the one who asked a question soon to be answered was not Rainbow Dash, but Fluttershy.

"Then how did he eat his dinner? I mean, it didn't look like anything weird was going on..." She trailed off, a little mad at herself for interrupting.

Twilight did not seem bothered. "Celestia made a mental link with him, and she used her magic to stick things to his hands on signal."

All the ponies laughed softly. It really did go off quite flawlessly.

At this time we had already traveled the short walk to the plinth where the two princesses started and ended the days and nights. Luna was there waiting for us. The same procedure that I had seen the sisters perform last time was executed again, and lost none of its grandeur. Again, with the coming of night the solar princess' aura faded while the lunar's grew. The sight of the moon reminded me of my tiredness; I had done a lot of walking today. As the sisters left the plinth, a few greetings were exchanged with Luna and biddings of a good night with Celestia, who was departing for her chambers. Luna walked over.

"Hey," she said casually in her silky smooth voice. "Tired?" she inquired.

"Yes, quite," I responded. Something about Luna seemed a bit more approachable and relatable than her sister.

"Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow morning. You've got my bed for the night."

"Thank you, Luna," I said. Her bed was divine, even though I hate taking up the top spot; made me feel like a mooch.

"Off to night court. Well, not really. No one ever comes to night court." There was humor in her voice, but also a tinge of sadness. I decided to not ask about this tonight.

"Can I have a good night?" I asked, cracking a smirk.

"No!" she boomed in a mock act of denial. She dropped it and giggled a bit before wishing me a good rest.

"See you tomorrow," I said, departing.

I should talk to her more. She reminds me of myself... a lot.

A Dream Encounter

Sometime between the beginning of my sleep and the end, I was aware that I was in a dream. I was not sure what it was about, or even if I was involved in any of the events; I was suddenly lucid. Looking around, I was aware that I was in a dark, but somehow innately benign forest. I wandered down the path I was on, leaving behind the urge to consider anything. This was a dream, after all; being calculating would be a waste of energy. Slowly, I came upon a small park, where almost everything was made exclusively with white marble. A gazebo stood in the middle, and I started for it, being the stateliest looking thing around. I became aware that this park was centric to everything occurring; other paths ended here as well, I saw. As I set foot over the top step of the gazebo, a basin in the floor caught my eye. Laying there, resting, it seemed, was a tall, starry-maned, midnight blue pony.

Without warning, Luna suddenly sprang up, giving a short, startled cry. "What are you doing here?!" she burst out, just as confused and startled as I.

"...Where is here?" I asked, after taking a moment to recover from the shock of Luna's sudden alertness.

Hesitating a moment, she continued. "This is a sort of a dream-hub, a headquarters I guess. It's a sort of place I reach when asleep to go into others' dreams... But, well, because we're both here, guess where you are..."

Quickly processing what she said, I answered, "Your dream, technically?"

She nodded. "Yeah. So, uh, how did you get here?" She was obviously intrigued with my sudden appearance in this place, as was I. I shrugged, and told here the fact that I had no idea whatsoever.

Her expression turned slowly from inquisitive to determined. "I'm going to get to the bottom of this in the evening," she said, resolute.

"So, does that mean it's already morning back in the real world?" I asked.

"Yes," She answered simply, blushing a bit. I wondered why for an instant, but remembered that if she was asleep, that would mean...

Luna straightened. "Well, while you're here, I thought I might discuss something with you."

My focus turned from my thoughts to the serious night-princess before me. I nodded to show I was ready for her to continue.

She started to stroll around the small gazebo. "I've been doing some thinking, and I have an offer for you."

Intrigued, I kept my eyes on the Princess. "As you know, Twilight Sparkle is my sister's student. She learns in the manner of magic, friendship, the magic of friendship, et cetera. I was wondering if maybe you'd like to become, not so much my student..." She stopped her deliberate pace and turned to face me full on.

"...but rather my protege?" Before my answer, which had not the time to formulate as of yet, she proceeded to outline the deal, continuing her circling pace.

"I will not bind you here at the castle; you will travel as you wish, unless, of course, I summon you. We could converse often as we are doing now; in dreams, while you are sleeping. I do not task you with anything specific as of yet, and doubt I will any time soon." She stopped once more and grabbed my attention with a simple look my way.

"So. What say you?"

I was once more awestruck by the behavior of such royal figures towards me; I was just some common person from a different world, and yet they treated me like I was one of great importance. I felt I deserved none of this; the sense of inferiority was much the same as the first time I had met the princesses. However, I knew that Luna's decision to take me under her wing was final, and would not change.

It took little time to ponder my action, given the fact that I would not be bound to the castle by the chain of this engagement, and so I gave her my answer.

"Of course, Princess. I'm honored that you would take me on as your protege." I bowed, much in the way a squire about to be knighted would. It just felt correct.

"Rise," was the short command given. I did so. Apparently, the night princess decided the moment had passed right then and there, because she spoke this next:

"Alright, now, Celestia is going to breakfast with you again today. Your train leaves at three o' clock, and the ticket has already been bought and is waiting for you down at the station. That should be all. Won't be needing this now..."

Suddenly, with a snap of a spell from Luna's horn, the dream dissolved around us.

I woke up to feel a cool night breeze blowing across my face, and a portion of the night sky hanging in front of me. A little confused, I backed up to see that Luna's mane had apparently been flowing across my face. So that's what it feels like, I noted idly. Turning around, I saw the night princess, awake as well, laying about a yard away from me on the massive bed. I was immediately embarassed, once more with my oversleeping, and now with the fact I had been sharing the bed with a princess... again. This time, I wasn't in a deep multiple-day sleep. Luna apparently picked up on my apprehension towards the situation, for as I clambered out of the bed, she began talking. "I was tired when I got here, but I didn't want to wake you up after what happened last night, with the magic pulse and all. Plus, I didn't really think you'd mind."

As she trailed off, I replied sheepishly, "Uh, thanks for your consideration. I'm gonna go shower now."

"Go ahead," she said. Before I left, though, the dream-conversation manifested itself in my head. I asked Luna, unsure, "Were we talking a minute ago...?"

"Yes. That all happened," was her response.

Enough for me, I took my leave and washed up, pondering all that had just occurred. Doing so helped my find my place in this world of uncertainty I was in. I left the shower very humbled and mostly back to my old self. After making sure I didn't look a wreck, I left the bathroom along with a wall of steam. Trying to be quiet so as not to disturb Luna's sleep, I slipped through the room as quietly as I could manage. Pulling on the handle of the door leading out into the corridor, I wondered what the rest of the day would bring.

A Day in the life of a Pony (Apologies, everyone, for impossibly slow update)

Dash had just arrived in tow of Pinkie, hovering frantically and looking very put off. I could assume Pinkie had shown up, said a word or two, and yanked her all the way here before having adequate time to react. I easily felt for her.

"Oh, um, hey," she said to me dazedly. She turned to Pinkie and took on a highly annoyed posture and expression.

"I thought I told you not to do that." Said pink pony replied, genuinely, it seemed, "Oh, oopsies! I forgot! Silly me!"

Dash was obviously still perturbed, but landed softly on the ground with a few small flaps of the wings. "So, are you ready?"

I was a more than a little sore from yesterday's exercises, and wasn't exactly keen on any more stretching exercises, but...

"I guess so."

Dash smirked. "That was weak," she said, referring to my lack of enthusiasm. "Try again."

"Yes," I said flatly. "Better," was the response.

We started walking out of the building. "Today we're going to focus on getting you used to the proper way to use your wings. You've got the definition and the tone in your muscles already--" Dash gave me a playfully contemptuous look. "--lucky colt." I did feel a bit sheepish about this; it was undoubtedly a big part of Dash and other athletic ponyfolk's lives to keep themselves in ship shape, and I'd just been endowed with it by a stroke of luck. I was absolutely sure it could deteriorate, however, and I planned on keeping in the form of my life. "We'll also be giving them a little workout. Use it or lose it, ya know." I smiled inwardly at our apparent momentary synchronization of thought.

"Anyhow, back on track, you're probably not using proper wing technique. Smooth, powerful sweeps are always better than little choppy ones." She should probably tell poor Scootaloo that...

Y'know... maybe I should tell her to talk to the little orange filly after she was done with me. Scoots would probably have a cow at her idol giving her a little training. Dash carried on.

"The main reason we're doing this, though, is to give your tendons, joints, and ligaments a rest after all the strain you put on them yesterday. If you overdo it, it'll only make 'em tighten back up." I nodded.

"So, where to? Same place?" We were strolling rather aimlessly down the wide street. "I guess. Now, tell me; can you take me there?" A navigational challenge? You're on, Dash. I cracked a cocksure smirk. "As you wish."

After a very easy stroll to where I knew we had been yesterday, Rainbow nodded. "Good." She pulled out a handkerchief, folded in the manner of a blindfold, from the small satchel she'd been carrying. "Now, I'm gonna put this on, and then you're gonna first tell me where north is, and then everything you can about the weather."

"O... kay...?" I said a little uncertainly. Dash tied the band around my eyes, leaving me cut off from looking up at the sky, which I hadn't done today. Instantly, I pointed my hoof to the left of me. "North's that way." That done, I started to figure the most obvious factors about the weather.

"Well, it seems to be about 85 degrees or so, the wind's gusting through at... I'd say 20 miles an hour." I was making pretty quick assessments of what I figured the different statistics would be measured at. "Humidity seems to be about 25 percent or so. I think there's some cumulus and maybe a few cirrus clouds around... Air pressure's a little lower than I'd expect; I think a storm front's probably somewhere to the northeast. Maybe... 75 miles? Nothing severe, seems pretty light... probably heading this way. Hang on a second."

"How did I get all of that?" I asked Dash, lifting off the blindfold. She smiled. "Pegasus instinct. You've got a pretty good handle on the weather and a practically impossible to fool sense of direction." She took the bit of cloth back and stuffed it away in her bag. "And yeah, that rain's headed this way. Ponyville's due for some." I wonder how the weather crews work the clouds...

"Y'know, you should try for a job on the weather team when you can fly. Pretty easy job, good pay. If you're not the captain, all you really have to do is follow orders."

"I'll be sure to keep it in mind." I'd never thought of that before, and it seemed like a good idea.

Rainbow suddenly donned a somewhat troubled look. I braced myself for whatever she might say, or to ask the terribly difficult question "what's wrong?" Thankfully, I was spared the pain of the latter option. She turned to me and asked a question that I kind of figured would come up.

"Last night... did you...?"

"Yeah," I affirmed. "It wasn't any less awkward for me than it was for you," I added. I really felt like I'd violated her privacy when I'd accidentally hot-dropped into her dream. Also, that question wasn't phrased well.

A heavy silence prevailed for a short amount of time. The events of the night had been pretty intimate for the both of us; I'd seen a side of Dash I'd never had before. That thought wasn't parsed well. Thankfully, she regained her composure, decided it was time to cut the thick silence, and got us back to work.

A bit of walking had been in order to make it to Sweet Apple Acres, where, oddly enough, Rainbow had picked as a strength training venue. Dash appeared to be a regular here, as Applejack, who was working the orchard, smiled and waved instead of coming to greet us. Both parties had a job to do. Rainbow's strange choice of venue made more sense, however, when she showed me to some unconventional weights, which were, in fact, bits and pieces of steel retrieved for the equipment graveyard applied to other materials in order to be used for specific purposes. I was a bit skeptical of the jerry-rigged barbells and the other assorted weights, but when Dash had me put them to use, I found them satisfactory...

As Dash stored the equipment back where it belonged, I sat at the door of the barn we were in, letting the soft southwesterly wind blow over my fur, wicking the sweat away from my taut body. I felt good after the fair amount of heavy lifting I did, both mentally with my satisfaction at having such a powerful body, and physically with the general sense of well-being that arose in the muscles from a good workout. Dash, I could tell, had focused more on the toning of her form than the bulk, which was fitting for a mare like her; high muscle mass is not exactly something one finds attractive on a female. In the presence of these gusts, the instinct to take wing was tapping on the back of my mind again...

Just to experiment, I unfolded and lowered my wings, stretching the tips out to get maximum span. The lift effect was pretty instantaneous; it was a lot like holding your arm out the window. The soft breezes felt natural flowing across the surface of my outstretched limbs; I could feel every rolling gust, the precise direction each one was taking. I started to experiment with angles of attack; what would give me the most lift? The flattest trajectory? A soft descent?

"Hello mister!"

With a small shout, I reflexively turned toward the sound of the little voice and beat my wings once, giving me about 2 feet of air diagonally away from the little pony. During that time, I absorbed everything I could about my mystery pony. It was a filly, buttery yellow, with fire-truck red mane and tail, wearing a huge pink bow, giggling to herself.

Ah, Apple Bloom.

I sighed, both in apology for my reaction and in relief.

"Oh, um, hello there."

"Did I scare you, mister?"

"Um, yeah, a little bit."

She giggled again. "My name's Apple Bloom. What's yours?"

"Sable.." I finished the sentence a bit forlornly. "well, at least that's part of it."

"Hey, you didn't tell me you found out a part of your name," interjected a certain cyan mare, with a surprisingly deadpan look on her face.

Apple Bloom turned towards her. "Oh, hey Rainbow Dash."

"Hey Apple Bloom," she replied.

Apple Bloom turned to me again, a questioning look in her eye. "You're that guy my sister saved, aren't ya?"

I was impressed with her deduction. "Yeah, actually..."

Apple Bloom did a little victorious movement with a front hoof. "I knew it! Applejack told me how ya changed into a pony and all..." Concern was apparent in her voice. "Doin' alright?"

Suddenly, I froze. This filly, a young, innocent child--however smart she may have been--was asking me if I was okay after an event that really only an older pony could perhaps understand, which meant...

It was possible that everypony was pitying me. Rarity may have felt the need to lend me a room out of pity. Dash may have been training me because she felt bad for me... all the generous actions of the ponies may have been motivated out of pity for me and my situation. I didn't pity myself; they needn't spurn their resources out of a pity for me... I needed to ask, but not here...

Dash was looking at me with a strange expression, probably due to my sudden blankness. Apple Bloom's concerned look had deepened.

"Yeah, I'm just fine," I said, with a little smile to back it up. This seemed to lighten Apple Bloom back to her apparently normal state of cheer, but Dash's quizzical look faded a bit slowly. My answer didn't seem to make up for the pause I had made.

"Alright, the girls and I are goin' to a meeting. Crusaders business," she said, mostly to Dash. "See ya later, mister Sable!"

It was still a little strange to respond to that name, but more strange was my subconscious acceptance of it sinking in so fast that I'd automatically do so. Ponies... I thought to myself, leaving it open-ended and allowing everything to roll into the slot. I glanced up at the sky again. The well-managed storm clouds were rolling in, and would probably make it to town in about 45 minutes.

Dash was uncharacteristically silent and as we left the Apples' farm. The slight tension in the air was easily apparent, as were the advancing storm clouds and cooler winds.

"Hey... um..." Dash spoke up. "What's the deal? I saw how you reacted when Apple Bloom asked you how you were doing..."

I decided to cut to the chase. "Dash, you're not doing this because you pity me, are you?" I looked the cyan mare straight in her cerise eyes, broadcasting that I wanted a straight answer and no lies. My sudden intensity set her aback for a moment, but she didn't shy away, albeit her momentary pause.

"No." The direct, flat answer allowed a small chunk of me to breathe a sigh of relief, but she wasn't out of the woods yet. I needed another explanation first.

"You're a pegasus... you should know how to fly. You seem like a nice enough guy..."

There's that again. Even though it was flattering, was starting to irritate me...

"...and plus, it helps me to learn how to coach other ponies better." She ended with a more confident smile, hoping that was enough.

I forced a little laugh. Deciding to change the subject, I turned the direction of the conversation to my stomach and the sky.

"So, what's up for lunch? I don't think we really wanna walk through the pouring rain afterwards." I shivered at the thought; my pegasus tendencies were causing a large aversion to rainstorms. "Hm. I guess we could go to Rarity's. Neither of us wanna walk through the rain and she won't care if I stay a little while." I agreed with that decision. "Okay," was my simple prompt, and the two of us walked the short distance

End Of School (AND POLL)

Hello.

Did you miss me?

Anyway. So. School's over. I have more time to write pony(and other)fic.

That's that.

So.

The poll!

I'm interested in what ship you guys would like to see. Granted, I need to finish revising the chapters up to the last one I've written, but I want to know what everyone would enjoy reading. This isn't a huge end-all vote on what goes down, but I'd like to see what everyone is thinking.

Wow. Redundant.

Thanks for being so patient, as well. Really. I'm writing fic for other non-pony things now too, among other things I'm doing, like school, scouts, and games (damn you 500 hours-logged KSP!).

(some reasonable conclusion)

/announcement-chapter-thing.txt