Celestia drops in

The alarm went off the next morning as usual, and I slowly started to remember the weird dream. I seemed more tired then usual, which I put down to spending the day with my friends which involved a lot of walking around. Having thought about having a lie in, knowing my animals needed me forced me t made my way downstairs to make some breakfast before cleaning out the horses. It was just as I was about to turn on the stove that I noticed the trailer in the middle of the yard, which is not where it is usually kept. Wait, I wasn’t dreaming?

I rushed upstairs to get dressed, and quickly went to the barn and slowly opened the door. The white horse was in there, standing looking over the chickens which were on one side of the barn. The barn was currently mostly empty except for my chickens and pigs, as I had decided to quit getting people in to do the farming of more animals and crops at the moment, preferring just the company of myself.

I looked at the unicorn, or whatever you called a winged horse with a horn, in amazement. It suddenly hit me that I hadn’t been dreaming. I thought of the discovery I had made and wondered if I should report it. But then I knew that if I did, and they captured her, no doubt she would be studied and tested on. There was no reason to wish harm on the creature, who apart from being one of the most beautiful creatures ever, seemed almost intelligent.

Also, despite the potential profit to be made, I had no need for money.

I knocked softly on the door and slowly walked in. The visitor turned towards me firstly in shock, but then smiled.

“Good Morning. Are you hungry?”

She looked across to a pile of hay in the corner that had clearly been munched on and then looked back at me with a little guilty look in her eyes

“No problem” I laughed “It’s only a bit of cheap hay! Do you want something a little more substantial? I don’t know what you eat but given what you are I'm sure it’s more than hay”

Looking at the chickens, she licked her lips. A horse that eats meat, surely not? I thought to myself, but I went over and picked up a chicken “One of these?” I asked gingerly.

If horses could give dirty looks, I certainly got one! Racking my brain, put down the chicken and instead picked up an egg “Ahh, perhaps one of these?” which was met with a bit more of pleasant response Do vegetarian animals eat eggs? Seems a strange behaviour, but then nothing about today was likely to be normal.

“Okay, I’ll do you some eggs. It’s still dark so if you want you can come into the house and I’ll make you a breakfast. The house is more comfortable than the barn. However, you would have to spend the day in the house as the sun soon comes up, you don't want to be seen outside, understand?”

“If the sun comes up?” she absent-mindedly corrected

“Huh? I don’t understand”

“Nevermind” she smiled. She suddenly froze up, and I nearly fell over in shock, but managed to slump to my knees instead

“Wait, you can talk?”

She looked at me and didn't respond for a while, and a few moments passed at us just staring at each other. The silence was very telling, and neither of us took out eyes off each other. “Oh, by Luna’s moon, I shouldn't have spoken!” The horse suddenly cursed “Yes, creature, we seem to share the same language”

“You…you…don’t understand, horses can’t talk!”

“I am obviously not from around here!” the animal responded sarcastically.

I sat there on my knees, the horse towering over me. “Well, I guess that was obvious from what you are!”

“But I need to leave this place”

“You mustn't leave, it wouldn't be safe”

“What do you mean?”

“You appear to be some form of talking, winged unicorn. These…do not exist, at least in our world, and so people are probably going to want to know what you are.”

“I see, that would not be good at all. I need to keep low profile until I can get home” the horse looked me over “Is that what you are, ‘people’?”

“Well, we are called humans and my name is Tony.”

“My name is Celestia, and I am an Alicorn. I will be aiming to leave as soon as I am healed”

“Are you hurt badly?”

“I can still defend myself!” she replied slightly aggressively, narrowing her eyes.

“Whoa whoa whoa, no need for that” I replied calmly.

“How can I trust you?”

“I’ve done nothing but help you so far, and given you’ve been here all night I would have had ample time to do something”

She pondered on this for a moment “How very true. Thank you for tending to me last night, I am very grateful for your help. I need to stay for a while to heal.” And she eyeballed me again “But if you are tricking me you will regret it”

“Is there anything I can do to help you? I’ve splint your leg which will help but your…er…horn seems to be damaged, and left wing is broken? Not sure what to you about them”

“They will all heal quickly and the more I rest the better”

I slowly got back to my feet “Okay, so do you want to come into the house. It’s warmer, and probably more suited for me to look after you.

She slowly walked towards me, slightly faster now the leg was in a splint and followed me into the house, seeming to enjoy the warmth compared to the slightly cold barn. I ushered her into the front room, and ran and got some blankets she could lie down on the floor. She lay down in a kneeling position, and I noted that she flapped her wing when getting down, which probably helped her put less strain on the leg.

“Can I get you a drink first? Water I guess?”

“Yes thank you, I’m very thirsty”

I went outside and filled up a bucket and brought it in next to Celestia. She looked at me in a strange way and then started lapping at the bucket.

“Do you eat toast? I could make you fried eggs on toast?”

“I presume toast is some form of bread to go with the eggs? If so, eggs on this toast would be lovely”

I went off to make a breakfast for both of us and returned about twenty five minutes later with two trays, one with a plate of normal breakfast, the other filled with many plates of food. I noted that Celestia’s muzzle was very wet from drinking.

“Do you want me to dry you muzzle first?”

“If you don’t mind, I’m not used to drinking from a bucket” she replied, with a hint of condescending in her voice which I picked up on.

Picking up a towel I gently wiped her nuzzle “Sorry, I didn’t know what I should do?”

Celestia smiled at me “I’m used to being served, but you are too kind” She looked down at the food “Normally it wouldn’t be a problem for me, but I guess I’ll just have to eat off the floor”

“Wait” I replied, and picked up a piece of toast with an egg on it and brought it up to her mouth. She took a bite and I spent the breakfast kneeling on the floor, feeding Celestia her mountain of breakfast and eating mine by hand as well. When we were done I gave her muzzle another gentle wipe and cleared away the plates.

“Well, we’ll have to talk later about how to deal with everything, but first I need to tend to the animals. Are you okay to stay here for a little while alone?” It was a half truth, but rather than worrying about the animals, I needed some time to think about what was happening.

“Thank you Tony, I will just wait here and sleep which will aid my regeneration.”

I left the house to tend to the horses and chickens, my mind buzzing from what was happening. I should have been freaking out but something was keeping me calm. When I thought of it, Celestia seemed to be oozing a sense of calm despite the situation we was in, so I wonder if she was having some effect on me.

*****

Returning to the house after about an hour, I saw Celestia staring out of the window at the raising sun.

“It’s beautiful” she said with a longing look in her eye “I wasn’t sure it would rise.”

This coupled with the earlier comment seemed a little strange. I then noticed the sun markings on her flank, and my interest piqued. “So, is that some sort of tattoo?”

Celestia looked down and over to me “What is a Tattoo?”

I explained what a tattoo was, and showed her the one on my arm.

“Not exactly a tattoo, but the idea isn't a mile away. These marks come when we find what our special talent is”

“And yours is something to do with the sun. I guess your name is a bit of a give away as well”

Celestia looked at me with almost a smile on her face, and we both sat down watching the sun rise – it was a lovely clear day and the view from the farm was breathtaking at the worse of times, but sharing it was a mystical beast was something else.

After a while Celestia broke the silence “I’ve never seen a sunrise like it. It’s so…slow, but the beauty really shines through” She rolled her eyes and giggled “Pun not intended, it’s just nice to see something through different eyes for once”

“So, what do you do?”

“It’s…complicated” Celestia responded “First, what do you do?”

“Not much really” I honestly replied “I look after a few animals on my farm, and just enjoy life”

“Sounds nice. Was that your calling in life?”

I explained that unlike her, we don't get given a calling in life and explained how our world worked. We soon discovered that in some respects it wasn't too dissimilar from hers – people/ponies had jobs, there was money, art, love. The conversation was a bit one sided, as she was a little reluctant to give too much away except for point on the similarities.

After a while, Celestia started to yawn “Is there anything you need or want, or should I leave you alone?” I asked

“It’s your home, so do what you want, but I think I will nap if that’s okay with you?”

I went over and partially closed the curtains to block out most of the light “Sweet Dreams” I said and went into the library to try to collect my thoughts.

*****

After spending all morning reading about unicorn myths on the internet (Well, couldn't really find any unicorn science references), I decided to check in on Celestia to see if she needed a lunch. She was asleep on the floor, and with her head resting on her hooves, and her mane flowed out behind her, she looked very cute. I was very tempted to grab my camera and take a picture, but I wondered what the consequences would be if Celestia caught me.

I sat down and just watched her sleep for a while, until she started to stir a little.

“Good Afternoon” I welcomed her

“Is it afternoon already, I feel like I just nodded off”

“I guess that your injuries may have taken more out of you then you suspect, Celestia. Do you need anything else to eat or drink?”

“I would love to have some tea, if you have any?”

“Tea, my favourite drink” I smiled back. I got up and went into the kitchen to make tea. “Won’t be too long Celestia” I called out. “Do you take it with milk and sugar?”

“Just milk if that’s okay Tony” she called back.

“Celestia, your name is lovely but is a little long for me to say, do you have a shorter nickname?”

“I’m afraid I only go by three names, Celestia, Sister and Princess?”

“I guess sister is for your brothers and sisters?”

“I have a sister, Yes”

I returned to the living room with a tray with a mug, a bowl, and two large teapots.

“And Princess is what your, er, husband, calls you?”

“No, I don’t have a special some-pony” she looked a little awkwardly “My subjects called me Princess”

“So, you’re a royal?” I said a little surprised. Why did THAT surprise me when I’m talking to a Alicorn?

Celestia nodded almost with a little blush. I guess that I’ve been the first person to not know who she was for a long time and she looked like she regretted letting that slip.

“Well, I guess I should call you Princess then” I’m smiled in response as I poured tea into the bowl, followed by some milk.

“There’s no need for that Tom” she half pleaded

“Well, it’s easier to say and if you are royalty I should respect that. Besides, it sort of suits you as you don’t exactly look like the horses in our world. And I really like your mane…it’s very regal”

Celestia laughed a little “It’s usually a little more controlled then it is now. Back home it flows lovely in the air, and my crown helps to keep it under control”

I raised the bowl up to her muzzle, and between us we managed to get her a drink with the minimal of spillage. We kept chatting about various things whilst we both enjoyed our tea.

*****

As Celestia was still tired, I left her alone to sleep all afternoon whilst I drove into town to get more food. I hadn't asked her what she ate, but from our chats I worked out that her kind were obviously vegetarian. Apples and salads seemed to be the pick of the foods, so I brought large amounts of both from the supermarket. Whilst she had said that hay and so on was fine, given that she was “Royalty” I felt it was only right to get some nicer food in

And besides, she was also fast becoming my friend and I liked to treat my friends well. Okay, she may have just needed me, but at least she seemed genuinely grateful for it. That’s more than can be said for some of my previous friends!

*****

That evening as I prepared us both a large salad, Celestia got up and stretched out a little, making sure to protect her hind leg. She then started to have a wander around the living room.

Hearing the hooves against my wooden floor, I called out “Everything okay Princess?”

“Yeah, just getting a bit stiff, just wanted to move about a bit”

“Excellent, let me know if you need anything”

As I finished the salads, I put mine on a plate whilst I left the majority of it in a big salad bowl for Celestia. Whilst I was tempted to go back to the living room, I decided instead to take it through to the Dinning Room. Given I so rarely had visitors I’m not sure why I had a separate room for entertaining, but given the size of the house I had to fill the rooms with something.

“I’m in here” I called out and a few moments later Celestia stuck her head round the door “I thought it would be good to get a change of scenery, and now you’re up it’ll be good to stand for a while"

I put the bowls down on the table, and moved one of the chairs out of the way to allow her to stand. I then took the seat opposite and we both ate in a bit of silence. Celestia seemed to be content at looking around at all the pictures I had on my wall, photos of the many trips around the world I took when I was younger. I had spent some of my money to explore many of the wonders of the world but it all seemed rather hollow, exploring by yourself.

“There seems to be so much beauty in your world” she remarked after a while, munching on some mixed salad leaves.

“Yes, there is a lot of beauty, although so much is being lost to cities and so forth”

“That indeed is a shame…but I guess we have the same problem” the ruler remarked “It’s a constant battle with the main cities wanting to expand, we keep having to tell them no in order to protect the countryside”

I laughed a little, which seemed to hurt her feelings “What’s funny about that?” she snorted

“We may have exactly the same arguments, but its hard not to laugh as the mental image of a group of alicorns arguing over the same small things us humans is pretty amusing”

“I guess every world has the same sort of issues” she remarked “Although being the Princess I tend to always get my way in my world” she finished with a wink.

“So, where exactly is your world?” I asked

“I’m not really sure” she pondered “It’s probably some form of alternative dimension or something. I think given that some of our laws of physics are different I doubt it’s the same universe as yours”

“Oh, in what way”

“Well…In my world the sun doesn’t rise by itself, nor the moon. They have to be raised and lower by me or my sister”

I looked at her in disbelief “What? How?”

“We use our powerful magic to raise and lower them, bringing forth the warming sun and the beautiful night”

“Wait, Magic?” I exclaimed

“Do you not have magic here?”

“Well, not like that no”

“Oh, I thought being a farmer you were just an Earth human” and Celestia went on to explain the four different pony races, ending up with the Alicorns. I then explained that humans were pretty much just human. Some were stronger, some smarter, others faster etc but none could fly and no creatures at all had magic.

After dinner, I introduced Celestia to what she referred to as the magic television. Of course I explained that it wasn’t magic, and she sort of accepted that and instead wanting to know how this ‘electricity’ thing worked as it would revolutionise her kingdom. I said I would explain in more details for her later, and we settled down to watch a film. I choose to put on a kid’s film, not wanting to expose the Princess to anything containing war, violence, swearing etc. I wanted to try to hide humans dark side for as long as possible, as I wasn't sure how she would take it.

Once nighttime had fallen, Celestia decided that she would retire back to the barn to sleep, saying she found it oddly soothing to be close to the outdoors. She explained she always slept with her balcony door open, and that the home was a little small for her liking. “Not all of us can have castles, Princess I joked back with a deliberate sarcastic tone at the end, causing her to snigger a little.