Kind and Caring
My eyes slowly opened to find myself suspended in a void of blackness that seemed somehow familiar to me, although I couldn’t recall where or how. I was floating with my arms and legs loosely hanging underneath me (or maybe they were above me? I couldn’t tell) like a submerged dead body. I found myself to be barely able to move, my limbs slow and sluggish as though they were weighed down. Even my eyes felt slow as they flicked back and forth, taking in the dark, all encompassing expanse in all of its glory.
It all struck a chord of familiarity in me, like a repressed memory that my unconscious mind was hiding from me; not just of this place, whatever it was, but of the feeling that it gave. I felt a cold spike of fear drill itself deep into my heart, not a fear for my own safety or for my surroundings, but for what was about to come. A foreboding gut feeling that promised doom and threatened pain flooded through my body, numbing me to my core.
A rising sense of panic flooded my system with adrenaline, forcing me to think clearly. I tried to call out, for help, for mercy, for anything, but even though I could feel my vocal chords vibrating, no sound came out. I tried again, louder this time, letting out a wailing, elongated scream for all my worth. After a minute of dead silence punctuated by the insulting lack of any sound, I stop my efforts, my throat raw and sore. I tried squirming out of these invisible restraints that hindered my movement, but I was barely able to move more than a few inches.
“You think the…Princess…will save you?”
I struggle more and more violently, throwing everything I have into thrashing wildly against the invisible ropes that bind me. Panic is rising and fear is settling even deeper into my chest, threatening to send me in an animalistic, instinctual rage as my breathing becomes shallow and erratic.
“You’re wrong…nothing can save you…nothing”
I let out a silent snarl as I gave one more desperate to free myself, dedicating my entire body and mind to the task. With a soundless snap, my arms and legs became free, sending me tumbling to an invisible solid ground as the darkness clouded over to be replaced by something that was both a lack of light and darkness. A vacuum where not even shadows lived.
My efforts left me exhausted, and I was suddenly wracked with an incredible fatigue. I felt my eyelids fall despite my best efforts to keep them up. I fought a desperate battle with myself, vying for control over my own body, but it was a lost cause. My eyes finally closed, sending me to dreamless bliss.
A sharp intake of breath from nearby jolted me out of my sleep. I suddenly sat up in the bed I lay in, fighting off a wave of dizziness due to me getting up too quickly as I looked around the room, trying to locate the intruder. When I couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary, it slowly occurred to me that the one who gasped must have been me.
I chuckled weakly as I slowly lowered myself back down on the bed. The sheets were in disarray underneath me even though I had been lying on top of them. I must have been squirming and thrashing in my sleep. I dimly remembered having a strange nightmare, but I couldn’t remember any specifics about it. All that came to mind was a general feeling of unease, like I was being watched from a distance by a particularly shady figure.
I briefly wondered how long I had been out as my head hit the pillow. I let my eyes flick across the room to find that there wasn’t any way to tell the time, so I dismissed it from my mind only to have it be replaced by another, more pressing thought.
“Good god, what is that reek?” I thought with a grimace as my nose detected the dank smell of sweat, dirt, and a touch of blood. It smelled like a festering garbage bag that has been let out in the sun on a hot summer day, making me briefly feel like I was going to throw up as it assaulted my olfactory senses. After a moment, the source of the smell occurred to me.
“Oh, it’s me.” I thought dumbly as I realized that I hadn’t showered in several days, half of which had spent in a dirty forest, rolling around in muck and dirt. I realized with embarrassment that I had gone this entire time smelling like a garbage dump and had been subjecting my saviours to a cruel and unusual torture without even realizing it. I could feel a thin sheen of grime and sweat coating my skin like seranwrap, and my clothes were stained with mud, dirt, and who knows what else. I embarrassedly noticed that the dirt that had been on me had fallen onto the bed sheets, turning them from a clean white to a dirty brown.
I swung my legs off the side of the bed and stretched my stiff arms above my head. “What in the world did those ponies think of me I wonder?” I thought aimlessly. All of a sudden, the reality of the hours previous came back to me as I remembered where I was and who I was in the proximity of. 7 ponies, some of which have the ability to use magic, one of which was apparently a god-princess of a sort. I had taken my leave of them with their consent after I had developed a splitting headache after being forced to think about magic, trans-dimensional travel, monsters, enchanted artefacts, multicoloured magical talking ponies-
I gritted my teeth as I felt another twinge of pain shoot in between my temples. Thinking this all over even more really wasn’t helping me out any. Needless to say though, I was going to have to apologize for smelling like I was from the 1600’s. I sighed, feeling as though the nap I just woke from hadn’t done anything to ease my fatigue, and stood up, my back cracking pleasantly as I did so.
I walked out the door to my room and looked around. I briefly entertained the thought that I was alone, but dismissed it when I noticed that I could hear the faint noise of conversation coming from the floor beneath me. The distance between us made it so the exact words were transformed into an indistinguishable hum of noise.
I silently walked towards the stairs, craning my ears to try and catch what they were saying. I was at a very clear disadvantage in this world, as I knew next to nothing about it except for the fact that (thankfully) gravity still works the way it’s supposed to. Because of this, I decided that it would be wise to glean as much information about this place as I can to balance out the scales a little bit, and since the books were out of the question as I couldn’t read pony script, eavesdropping was my best source for information at the moment.
The wooden floor squeaked a bit as I slowly advanced on tip toe, making me wince as the sound pierced though the air. I waited with bated breath, but the ones downstairs didn’t seem to notice, so I continued on towards the top of the flight.
Because there was no wall separating the stairs and the bottom floor from each other, something that occurred to me could be quite dangerous if one wasn’t careful when climbing them, I could hear what was being said without having to poke my head around the corner.
“-have no reason to believe that he has ill intentions towards us. To be blunt Rainbow Dash, you’re just being paranoid.” said an irate voice that I recognized to belong to the purple unicorn, Twilight Sparkle. She sounded as though her last thread of patience was about to snap, and before I contemplate why, another voice cut in.
“We also have no reason to believe that he doesn’t have any ill intentions towards us!” a raspy and agitated voice replied hotly. That must have been Rainbow Dash. “All we know about him is that he came from the Everfree forest, a place that spawns more monsters than Applejack does apples! Don’t ya think that this is even slightly suspicious?”
I heard an exasperated sigh. “Monsters don’t talk Rainbow.” Twilight said without inflection.
“The hay they don’t!” she rebutted. “Discord talked, that bug queen talked, Sombra talked! Are you telling me that they weren’t monsters?”
A chipper voice eagerly piped in. “Actually, Sombra didn’t really say anything besides crystaaallsss over and over again.” It said, putting a hissing emphasis on the word crystals.
“Still counts.” Rainbow countered quickly. “Well?” she said, likely directing the conversation back to Twilight Sparkle.
If these ponies were anything like ponies, Twilight Sparkle was probably rolling her eyes right about now. “No Rainbow, they aren’t. They might have been evil and nefarious, but they weren’t monsters. They were thinking, calculating entities that can feel emotions beyond the primal urges of eat, sleep, hunt, and mate. Monsters can’t do that. You can’t sit down and have an in depth conversation about your favourite author with a cockatrice.”
Somebody snorted in amusement. “Hah, I bet you wish you could.” said the little male voice. I recognized it from somewhere, but I couldn’t remember where exactly from.
“True, but irrelevant.” Twilight said, although I could detect the smallest hint of amusement in her voice. “That…human was it? Yes, that human is not a monster.” She finished with an air of finality. Despite my best efforts, I felt my heart warm slightly at her words. I didn’t often get compliments, and as ridiculous as this one was, it made me smile.
“Fine! Whatever! He’s not a monster. But that doesn’t change the fact that he could still be evil!” Rainbow retorted hotly, her voice started to sound slightly pleading. “Don’t you remember what happened with Chrysalis and how we didn’t-”
Rainbow was interrupted by the noise of somebody pointedly clearing their throat. “er..,I mean to say, you were the only one who suspected her as a threat even though she was acting all innocent? Well what if he’s just like Chrysalis? Pretending to be all nice, waiting for the moment that out back is turned and then WHAM,” I heard the sound of an arm slam against a wooden surface. “next thing you know we have shackles on our hooves and are working in the mines!”
I had to put my mouth to my hand to hold back a chuckle. This Rainbow Dash, despite the fact that she didn’t seem to like me one bit, was endearing herself more and more to me just by the fact that she was quite entertaining to listen to.
Twilight sighed once more. “This is different Rainbow. You saw what he looked like when he came in, didn’t you? He was filthy and bloody and was obviously scared. He even burst down crying when you confronted him like you did. How can you think that he could be some evil would-be usurper after that?”
I felt myself blush as Twilight reiterated that, errr…episode that I had earlier that day where I lost my composure. The rest of the ponies had seemed very sympathetic and understanding of my plight then, Twilight even had looked a tad guilty for freaking me out earlier at the zebra’s hut, but Rainbow Dash was the only one to consistently stay openly hostile towards me. I didn’t know what it was about her or me that made her distrust me so, but I had a feeling it might have at least a little something to do with that Chrysalis that was mentioned.
“Well…I mean…” Rainbow stammered, obviously grasping at straws. “He could of just learned how to act like that through his super secret spy training!” she announced dramatically. Again, my hand went up to my mouth to suppress a laugh.
“Think about it Twilight,” she continued. “We’re the bearers of the elements of harmony, the most powerful magical source in Equestria, and now this strange creature comes out friggin nowhere claiming to be lost after several failed attempts by a bunch of other evil dudes to do some really messed up stuff? If that doesn’t spell ‘suspicious,’ then I don’t know what does!”
“Rainbow you’re being ridic-“
“Hay, he could be plotting against us as we speak! Poisoning our food or setting up traps!” her voice took a low and menacing undertone. “He could even be spying on us right now, watching us as. We . Speak.” she muttered dangerously.
I suddenly became very aware that my position at the top of the stairs, perfectly optimized to overhear their conversation without being found out, would paint me in a very unfavourable light if they stumbled across me. Deciding that I had heard enough, I made to stealthily creep back to the guest room that I had been given so as not to be discovered and implicated against further. Before I could take a single step however, a small voice from below chimed in.
“Actually, he’s been standing at the top of the stairs listening this entire time.” The quiet voice said.
I clenched my teeth in annoyance and sighed though my nose. It seemed that some omnipotent being, possibly the same one that brought me here, was out to get me.
I briefly considered pretending that nothing happened and continuing on my way to the guest room, but discarded the idea when I realized that a hush had descended the ponies downstairs. If I did, there was no doubt that, with the new silence, they would hear me creeping away from them, and that would only make me seem more suspicious that I already did. No, it seemed like I was going to have to face the flames head on this time.
How did that saying go? Sometimes you had to jump off the cliff and build your wings on the way down or something?
Regardless, my choice was made for me. I took a deep breath before making my way down the stairs, one step at a time, preparing myself to meet the eyes of several suspicious, judgemental ponies as I did so.
To my surprise, I only met the eyes of one judgemental pony, and that was the irate pegasus Rainbow Dash. Twilight Sparkle looked at me with what seemed to be an embarrassed expression on her face, and in the eyes of Fluttershy, the one who must have revealed my presence to the others, I only saw curiosity and concern.
Rainbow Dash, of course, glared at me, but I didn’t take to much offense at it. Now that I understood a little bit more about where she was coming from due to my overhearing of their conversation, I found myself very easily forgiving her nasty attitude. From what I could tell, their country, Equestria, has really been put through the wringer as of late as several different “bad dudes” have tried to do some “really messed up stuff.” Now that I understood a bit more, my unnatural arrival seemed a tad suspicious even in my own eyes.
Just because I understood her position a little more didn’t mean that she and I were going to start singing Kumbayah arm in arm however. I just decided that I would tolerate her actions for the time being and try to make an extra effort and appearing as harmless and innocent as possible. Considering my natural personality, that shouldn’t be too difficult.
I heard Rainbow Dash softly whisper “Told’ja so” out of the corner of her mouth to Twilight who only rolled her eyes. I tossed Rainbow Dash a sheepish smile as I came to the bottom of the steps, hoping to break the ice between us somewhat. She responded with a simple huff.
I wracked my mind for something to say to dispel the awkward atmosphere that was rapidly accumulating in the room, but was saved the effort when Fluttershy trotted over towards me to stand in front of me, surprising me by taking laying her hoof comfortingly over my hand that hung at my side.
“Are you okay?” she asked, her voice delicate and caring, like a mother’s would be. “did you sleep well? Do you still have a headache?”
I smiled reassuringly at her. “It’s mostly gone now, thanks.” She nodded and smiled back. I noticed that her hoof didn’t stray from my hand. I didn’t mind, so I let it stay there.
The silence started to come back in full force once more, and it seemed to be up to me to break it this time. I took a deep breath and looked the cyan pegasus in the eye.
“Look, I know you don’t trust me.” I said completely straightfaced, exhibiting a sort of confidence and determinism that was pretty rare for me. “If I was in your position and some weird alien creatures just sauntered into my world, I probably wouldn’t trust them either. Even so, I just want you to know that I’m not your enemy. I have no plans to take over your country or steal your ‘Elements of Harmony,’ whatever they are. I’m just somebody who was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and I just want to go home before my friends and family presume me to be dead or missing.”
Rainbow raised her eyebrow, but said nothing.
“I’m not asking you to like me or be my friend or anything. All I’m asking is for you to trust me, because I really don’t want to spend every other waking minute thinking that a rainbow maned pony is going to hit me over the head with a metal pipe and dump my body in a lake or something.”
Maybe I was a bit too blunt trying to get my point across. Rainbow’s eyes widened as Twilight and Fluttershy gasped and looked at me with horror.
“I-I wouldn’t do that!” Rainbow sputtered indignantly. I shrugged at her.
“I don’t know that.” I said simply. “Hell, the first time I saw Twilight Sparkle here, I thought she was going to gouge my eyes out with her horn or something.” The purple unicorn coughed self consciously and looked away. “Besides, with the way you’ve been acting towards me, it’s a thought that crossed my mind several times.”
“Well I…I just…” Rainbow stuttered in bafflement while looking slightly shamefaced. After a moment of unsuccessfully trying to force the words out of her mouth, she slumped, defeated.
“Fine.” She grumbled, shooting me a much less hostile look. “I’ll take it easy on you.” I smiled gratefully at her.
“Thank y-“
“But!” she interrupted loudly, taking flight and hovering over to where I stood, placing her face right in front of mine. “I’ll be keeping an eye on you, so no funny business! Got it?” she asked sternly, looking a lot like teacher reprimanding a mischievous child.
I raised my hand. “Understood. Scout’s honour.” I said primly. She only hovered there for a moment before shaking her head and turning away.
“You’re weird.” She said quietly before landing back on the floor. She turned to Twilight who was watching our interactions with interest. “All right Twi’, I’m going to head on home. I’ve got to get some training done.”
Twilight nodded. “Of course. Goodbye Rainbow Dash.” She said. Fluttershy echoed her and said her own farewells which Rainbow returned.
The pegasus made her way to the front door. Just as she was about to open it, she paused and looked back at me.
“And uh…goodbye to you to.” She said quickly while avoiding my eyes. I nodded and smiled.
Once Rainbow left, I took a deep breath and visibly relaxed. Twilight whistled impressively and looked at me with a sense of awe on her face.
“Wow. I’ve never met somebody who could make Rainbow Dash change her mind that easily.” she said. I looked at her and shrugged.
“From what I heard, this country has been through some rough patches as of late.” I looked back at the door through which the pegasus had left. “It’s not that she wants to hate me, she just can’t afford to like me. And that’s fine. If I lost sleep for every person who didn’t like me, I’d be addicted to caffeine by now.” Not that I was a particularly unlikeable fellow, mind you, but I could be the nicest, most likeable guy on Earth and there would still be those who would find a reason to dislike me just because that’s what they do best.
Twilight Sparkle nodded contemplatively. “I see.” she said simply. “That’s a very…interesting way to see things.”
I shrugged, but before I could say something in return, I felt the pressure of Flutttershy’s hoof being withdrawn from my hand, reminding me of her presence. I looked down to see her shyly looking up at me, her face partially obscured behind her long pink mane.
“I don’t hate you…” she muttered quietly, looking down to the floor as she did so and shuffling her hooves. I could almost feel my heart break as the sweet little thing stood there self consciously, wanting to comfort me while seeming to be somewhat afraid of me at the same time. I couldn’t help but give her a genuine smile.
“Thank you Fluttershy. That’s very…kind of you to say.” I replied, my voice getting a little bit choked up. The yellow pegasus looked back up at me and gave me the tiniest of smiles back, her eyes wide with happiness.
“Say what you will about these ponies,” I thought to myself as I forced back an improper ‘aww’ at her expression. ”but they sure are adorable.”
I heard a contemplative ‘hmmm’ come from Twilight, and when I looked up at her, she was staring at Fluttershy with an unreadable expression on her face as she tapped her chin with a forehoof thoughtfully. After a moment, she shook herself out of her reverie and gave me a bright smile.
“So! Kael, how was your nap?” she asked politely. I inclined my head in a little nod.
“It was just what I needed. I really needed to let my mind take a rest from all this…” I gestured inarticulately, struggling to find the right words to describe my feelings. “From all this…this.” I finished uncertainly.
“Hmmm.” Twilight said thoughtfully. “Yes, I’d imagine. I’m sure it’s a lot to take in.”
“Definintely.” I said with a nod before looking away and scratching the back of my head. “So um…it has recently come to my attention that I smell like a sack of old compost that’s been dipped in vinegar…” Twilight’s eyes widened in surprise. “So I was just wondering, is there anyplace I could, you know, wash up?”
Twilight stared at me for a moment before nodding with the slightest of smirks on her face. “Ehm, yes. The bathroom upstairs has a working shower that you can use.” She eyed me up and down critically. “It might be a bit of a tight fit though…”
I blinked. A shower? I was expecting her to just point me towards the nearest pond or something and tell me to go wild with it. An actual shower with running water was a bit of a surprise, and now that I think about it, a blessing.. Just another eerie similarity between our two worlds I suppose.
I waved my hand dismissively. “I’ll make do.” I pinched the fabric of my once red-brown shirt and pulled it away from me, eyeing it with distaste. “I just wish I had something better to wear.” I muttered.
Twilight’s eyes lit up. “Oh right! I forgot to tell you about that. After Rarity saw you in that “disaster of an outfit,” her words, not mine, she decided that she was going to whip up something simple for you to wear.” At my confused look, she explained further. “She makes clothing for a living, so she’ll probably drop it off sometime later tonight. She’s very good at what she does.”
“But…I don’t have anything to pay her with.” I protested weakly. This was just what I didn’t need, to be in debt to a bunch of ponies when I didn’t even know what the standard currency was. I could only hope that Rarity wasn’t some type of loan shark who’ll charge me triple the cost of whatever she gives me.
She dismissed my worries with a smile. “Oh, you don’t need to worry about payment. It’s something of a hobby of hers to give gifts to those who need them.”
I looked at Flutteshy, the yellow pegasus being the one that I unconsciously trusted the most in this strange world. She only nodded reassuringly and smiled.
I nodded uncertainly. “I see…well, I most certainly won’t complain then.” I was overcome by a rush of gratitude as the prospect of having to live the next few days, weeks, or even months in the same ratty clothes was thrown out the window. “I’ll have to thank her next time I see her.”
Twilight nodded and smiled. “Right.”
With nothing more to say between us, I pardoned myself to her and Fluttershy who had been quiet the entire time and made my way to the stairs that I could give myself a much needed cleaning. Before I could however, I could see a look of apprehension and uncertainty come across Twilight’s face as she looked like she badly wanted to say something, but was preventing herself from doing so.
I sighed inwardly. I could tell by the way she bit her lip and looked around shiftily that something was bothering her, but she was too polite to mention anything. The facial expressions of these ponies were getting far more readable as I interacted more and more with them. In fact, I was starting feel like it was easier to read them than the average human due to their unusually expressive eyes. This was probably a skill that would come in handy.
Nevertheless, something was bothering her, and it had something to do with me, that much was clear. This was something that I should probably nip in the bud before it actually gives me any problems.
“Is there something wrong Twilight?” I asked her politely, willing her to say no so that I could just head upstairs and take my much deserved shower. The unicorn looked at me uncertainly.
“Well…you see, the thing is…” she stammered, looking extremely nervous and uncertain. “I don’t want to feel like I’m pressuring you or anything but I was just wondering if, maybe, possibly, there was any chance that you might consider thinking about if it was possible that-“
“Oh for Celestia’s sake, she wants to study you to learn more about your species!” cried out a little voice from the side of the room as the little dragon, Spike I remembered, walked up to Twilight and clambered onto her back with a smirk on his face. Annoyance flashed across her face to soon be replaced by embarrassed acceptance.
“Yeah, that.” she awkwardly. I raised my eyebrow at her. “I’m a scholar and a researcher, you see, and I would be incredibly grateful if you’d allow me to learn a bit more about you and your species.” She smiled hopefully before hastily adding “It wouldn’t be too scientific if you’re not comfortable with it. It could just be an interview or...something.”
“I see…well, why was that so hard to say?” I asked her, looking at her strangely. She seemed far too nervous than reason deemed necessary.
The unicorn rubbed her forehoof along her leg self consciously. “Well, you reacted so…negatively when I wanted to get a closer look at you back at Zecora’s, so I just figured you wouldn’t like the idea.” She replied sheepishly.
“Zecora would be the one that saved me before?” I inquired. She nodded.
“The zebra, yes.” She replied. I smiled inwardly, pleased that I had been correct about guessing the race of my saviour.
“Well, that was because I didn’t know if you wanted to shake my hand or cut it off.” I explained to her, her eyes widening slightly. “Now that I know that you don’t mean to harm me, I don’t see much of a problem in letting you interview me or whatever.”
A huge grin burst across her face. “R-really?”
I nodded easily. “Sure. As long as there are no dissections involved.” I added with mock seriousness. Twilight laughed, albeit slightly uncomfortably.
“Of course.” She replied with an eager grin. I couldn’t blame her. The idea of being the first to get an in depth analyses on a being from a different world would have me tickled pink as well.
“Just let me clean myself off first, and then we’ll talk.” I added. Twilight didn’t seem fazed by this in the slightest.
“Alright then! The shower is ready when you need it.”
I nodded gratefully and, excusing myself once more to the two ponies and the little dragon Spike, followed the stairs to the second floor where the bathroom was, hoping that these showers of theirs had warm water. Once I reached the landing, I overheard the ponies talking amongst themselves.
“You know, you don’t have to stay here Fluttershy. You can go back home if you want.” Twilight said to the pegasus.
“No, I’d rather stay here for a while longer. I mean, if that’s okay with you…”
“Of course, but might I ask why?”
“Because he needs me to.”
Well, on the plus side, the shower had hot water to spare, so not only did I thankfully get clean, but I got to relax my aching muscles while doing so. Considering the curtains, knobs, and showerhead, it was almost he exact same as any normal shower you’d find on Earth.
I say “almost” because it looked like it was made for somebody who was half my height, and considering those ponies were only about 4 feet tall, it probably was. Because of this, I had to sit my bare ass on the floor of the tub with my knees drawn into my chest and my head bowed so that the water would be able to cover me. Despite the discomfort, I managed to use a suspiciously girly bottle of shampoo on my hair (praying that it wouldn’t make it change colour or anything considering that it wasn’t made for humans) and scrubbed myself clean with a fresh bar of soap.
After about a half hour of sitting under the scalding water, needless to say, I felt like a new man. My muscles groaned pleasantly as I stood up and stepped out, grabbing a towel from the rack as I did so. As I buffeted my hair and dried myself with it, I briefly reflected on the profound strangeness on the similarities between my culture and theirs. Looking around the simple bathroom, I could have believed I was in any normal human home, if all humans were only slightly taller than my waist.
I picked up the articles of clothing that I had been given and inspected them. During my shower, a knock had come at the door and the white unicorn, Rarity, had tentatively asked if it was alright to come in. I, of course, denied her entrance instantly, but she insisted that it was necessary that she give something to me. We argued back and forth over it, me getting a little bit more panicked as I did so, until she eventually gave up, opened the door a crack, and floated in several garments in with her magic and set them on the counter.
I could tell that she had simply copied what I was wearing earlier. The shirt was a dark blue, something that brought me a bit of pleasure as the colour red looked absolutely awful on me. It was made of a light, thin material that was reminiscent of cotton but felt alien underneath my fingers. The material was probably something that was unique to their world, one that was surprisingly strong considering how thin it was.
They didn’t seem to have access to denim however. The pants were made of a rough material reminiscent of burlap, but not as uncomfortable around my skin. They were black and were obviously modeled after my jeans as they had loops around the waist for my belt and pockets on the side and on the back. I idly noticed that she had refrained from making a pair of underwear for me, but considering that I had a belt t hold the pants up and there wasn’t a zipper to fall and cause any embarrassing situations, I didn’t mind going commando. All in all, I was very pleased with the results, especially since the alternative was very unappealing.
It seemed that Rarity really was good at her job as she had gotten my measurements almost exactly right just by looking at me. It was clear that a good amount of the clothing was guess work, the hole for my head to go through the shirt was a little bit narrow, and the pant legs were a smidgeon too long, but it was nothing that was overly noticeable or uncomfortable.
I pulled the clothes on and looked at myself in the mirror. I groaned slightly when I noticed that Rarity hadn’t been able to resist putting in a little bit of artistic flair into the shirt. The bottom of the shirt had what looked to be lace ruffles on it, giving my waist a strangely poofy look, and I spied a simple design of black and white flowers near the shoulders.
Oh well, beggars can’t be choosers I suppose. I’ll trade a bit of self respect for clean clothes.
Through the process of my shower I realized that I was feeling quite peckish. The last time I had eaten was fairly early that morning, and it seemed my body was doing its best to remind me that I owed it some recompense for all of its hard work insofar.
And so, it was with a high heart that I swiftly headed to the bottom floor as the smell of cooking food wafted throughout the interior. When I got down there however, I was surprised at what I saw.
The main floor of the library had a few more bodies in it than I remembered. The other ponies that I had seen earlier upon my arrival were all there, accompanied with the tall alicorn Celestia. Standing next to the pony princess was another alicorn, one that was nearly as tall as Celestia, the only difference being that her coat was a dark blue rather than pure white. Spike, the little dragon, wasn’t anywhere to be seen, but judging from the whistling that I heard from the kitchen, I could guess where he could be found.
The conversation amongst the ponies seemed heated, and I could tell that they were tense. Fluttershy was speaking louder than I’ve ever heard her before, and from the looks on the faces of the others, they were feeling quite uncomfortable with the situation. It didn’t take a genius to figure out the subject of their anxiety. I felt a small bubble of nervousness from in the pit of my stomach.
All eyes had turned to me, the sore thumb, as I reached the bottom of the stairs where I proceeded to stand there awkwardly with my hands in my pockets. I briefly met the eyes of the white unicorn to whom I owed my new outfit, and I gave her a polite smile and a nod to show my appreciation, not entirely willing to be the first to speak lest I inevitably say something that will get me lynched.
The first to smile was, of course, Celestia. She was sitting next to the other alicorn with a slightly troubled, yet calm look on her face. The darker alicorn, probably the other princess that had been mentioned earlier, had a much more grave expression on her face, looking as though she was sentencing somebody to an execution.
“Ooooh, I really shouldn’t have made that analogy…” I thought as I felt my knees quiver slightly underneath me. I shot a glance at Fluttershy, and even though I could see that something had upset her, she gave me a small reassuring smile.
I felt a surge of warmth pass through as I suddenly felt inexplicably safer standing here under the gazes of these ponies, some suspicious and tense, others warm and kind. I was suddenly very grateful to the yellow pegasus for all that she’s done for me. She had reassured me when frightened, stuck up for me when accused, and supported me when upset. She was the only one who had given me what I needed in this strange world. A friend, someone I could lean on for support when things got rough. Just by her being there, I could feel my worries ease slightly.
I mustered up my courage, partly for my own sake, and partly for hers, and I attempted a weak smile at the assembled equines.
“Heya.” I said with a small wave in my hand, no more than an awkward raising and lowering of my arm.
Celestia’s smile grew wider, but the other alicorn’s expression was unchanging.
“Hello again Kael. I trust I find you in good health?” Celestia asked pleasantly.
“I’m feeling…better.” I said uncertainly. “Definitely not as bad as before, that’s for sure.”
Celestia nodded, happy with my response. “I’m glad to hear it.” she replied, sitting a little straighter and taller as she did so. “Now, I’m afraid that I haven’t much time to stay here as I need to lower the sun in but a few moments, but there is something that we, that is, my sister and I” she gestured towards the black alicorn, “need to discuss with you.”
“Indeed.” Spoke the other alicorn as she stood up and began to approach me with heavy steps. Even though her head only came up to my neck, she seemed to dwarf me with her presence alone. She walked with less grace than Celestia, she seemed to stomp across the floor while Celestia seemed to glide, but with more purpose, her eyes alight with the passion that came from ruling a nation with an iron fist, or hoof as they case may be.
“Kael the human,” she said, each word being spoken as though it was of the utmost importance, as she came to a stop in front of me. “My sister and I wish to have words with you about your coming to Equestria, and how we may send you back to your homeland.”
I couldn’t help but cower under her gaze like the commoner that I was. Every movement she made was decisive and strong. Her jaw was set and her eyes were stern as she looked at me like an extremely strict father would a disobedient child as he considered how to discipline it.
“Okay.” I squeaked.
“Dost thou find that acceptable?” she boomed, speaking so loudly that it seemed as though the floor under my feet was vibrating. While she was asking me a question, it felt like it was more of a command that left little doubt that, if I said the wrong answer, the only way I’d be able to get home is in pieces.
“Yes.” I said, my voice unnaturally high.
The intimidating princess nodded in satisfaction. She raised her hoof and opened her mouth as though to make one more proclamation, no doubt one loud enough to rattle my bones in their sockets and cause my bladder to empty its contents out of fright, but a loud ahem from behind her drew her attention away from me.
“Sister dear, you’re reverting again.” Princess Celestia said sweetly with a hint of firm disapproval. She eyed Princess Luna critically. “Please make more of an effort to not frighten our guest Luna, we need him in good mental health.”
The black alicorn looked at Celestia for a brief moment as her words died on her lips. She turned back to me, and upon seeing that I was basically cowering in front of her, my knees knocking and my eyes wide with fear, her face contorted into an expression of mild surprise, her mouth form a perfect o.
She daintily brought a hoof to her mouth as her eyes filled with regret. “Oh dear.” She muttered with a much more gentle voice. She lowered her hoof and took a few hasty steps away from me, giving me some space. “Oh dear, I am so so sorry, I didn’t even realize…”
Her eyes fell guiltily away from mine which were now filled with confusion instead of fear. “Oh Luna, you silly mare…” she muttered to herself angrily before giving me a tiny apologetic bow of her head. “You have my sincerest apologies Sir Kael, I hadn’t realized that I was reverting to the speech of old yet again. I must have just been nervous…”
“Aheh…heheh…” I chuckled weakly as a sense of relief flooded through me, making me feel somewhat delirious. “Don’t…don’t worry about it. No harm done.”
“Oh god, I think I’m going to puke.”
She looked once more, smiled, and nodded gratefully. “It shall not happen again, I assure you.”
I returned her smile weakly. “That’s good to know.” I replied. “Really good.” Something that she had said struck a strange chord in me. “But why would you be nervous meeting me? Shouldn’t I be the one who’s nervous?”
Princess Luna shook her head. “You are an ambassador of your land, and by Equestrian law, ambassadors of foreign countries are to be treated with the utmost respect and dignity.” She smiled. “To encourage good relations you see. I just…forgot that respect is shown in different ways now than it was a thousand years ago.” She said with a blush. “It used to be that the royal Canterlot voice was used at all times. Now, not so much.”
“Too many ponies were developing hearing problems.” Celestia explained with a smile.
I decided to comment on Luna basically saying that she was over a thousand years old. Instead, I just smiled easily, pretending that I mostly knew of what they were talking about.
“I see.” I said an understanding nod. “So, you said there was something that needed to be discussed with me?”
Princess Luna brightened. “Ah! Yes, we wish to discuss a proposal that we have regarding the issue of that ring on your finger.” She pointed at my right hand where the ring was fastened with her hoof. “My sister and I have discussed it,” she looked enigmatically at Celestia for a moment “in great depth, for a time, and we believe that we have an idea that may help us better understand how to dispel the cur- the enchantment on the ring.”
She had my immediate attention. I barely noticed that the other ponies in the room had wary and nervous expressions on their faces. They had been watching our exchange with rapt interest insofar, and now they seemed to be…afraid? That wasn’t the right word use, but they were definitely bothered by something.
“And what is that?” I asked immediately, intensely curious.
The princess nodded in satisfaction at my eagerness. “We were discussing it earlier before you arrived, although some were…less than pleased with our proposal.” She didn’t move her eyes from mine, but I noticed that Fluttershy’s eyes were unusually red, and there were hard lines on her delicate face that I hadn’t seen before.
“I have been led to believe that you arrived several days ago in the midst of the Everfree forest by means of trans-dimensional teleportation. Is that correct?” she asked me with a curious look.
I nodded. “As far as I know, it is.” Twilight, listening to the conversation with rapt attention, nodded her assent.
Luna looked thoughtful. “Well, if my sister and I are to have any luck in sending you back home, then we will need to have a better understanding on the exact spell that brought you here and, if possible, the unicorn who cast it.”
“In order to better understand the magics that have brought you to our world,” she continued, “we think it would be best if you would accompany us to the Everfree Forest and locate the sight of your arrival. Once there, we will be able to examine the residual magical signature that was released by the spell that brought you here.”
I felt my eye twitch slightly at her words as my blood started to turn cold. It took me a while to find my voice, but when I did, it was that of a small child who had just been told that its parents were going to be leaving them home alone for an entire week.
“You want me to go…back?” I asked weakly. The Princess’ confident expression turned uncertain, and I could spy the ponies out of the corner of my eye looking at me with varying degrees of sympathy and concern. Fluttershy herself looked like she was close to tears with the way she bit her lower lip to stop it from shaking.
Princess Luna leaned back from me, raising a forehoof as though I were a wild dangerous animal that she may need to flee from at any second. She eyed me uncertainly. “Why, yes, is that a problem?” she asked me hesitantly.
Was it? I didn’t rightly know myself to be honest. On one hand, it seemed that the best chance I had at returning home lay somewhere in my new idea of what Hell was like, and on the other hand, I really needed to get home before I missed my rent payment and lost my apartment completely. It seemed that I had to choose the lesser of two evils, but I was going to need to figure out which one of those two outcomes that was.
I idly fingered the ring on my hand in silence, running my left index finger over it, feeling the thin outline of the alicorn figure that ran around the entire length. Without even realizing it, I tugged at it slightly, trying to dig my nail underneath it and gently pry it off, but to nobody’s surprise, it didn’t budge. I looked down at it, this time without anger or fear, but with conviction.
I could feel a curse on the tip of my tongue, but didn’t let it out. As much as I hated myself for even considering Luna’s proposal, it seemed as though I didn’t have much of a choice in the matter.
I opened my mouth to give my answer, but was cut off by an outburst from one of the other ponies in the room.
“Of course it’s a problem!”
All eyes instantly turned to Fluttershy who had all four hooves planted on the ground like a predator defending its territory and was downright glaring at the Princess. Her eyes widened for a moment as she realized what she said and, but they hardened once more as she shook her head defiantly and stood her ground.
“Kael can’t go back in there, not now, not ever! He had to endure horrible things in that forest, and I won’t let you take him there!” She said with a commanding tone in a voice that was much louder than anything I’ve heard come out of her before, but still managed to somehow seem meek and quiet even though there was a roaring fire in her eyes. The entire room of ponies was taken aback, the two Princesses and the other ponies looking at the small and dainty pegasus with no small amount of shock and awe.
Fluttershy quickly moved to where I was, standing in front of me protectively as a mother bear would her cub, staring down the threat unflinchingly. “I promised him.” she said with finality.
The room was silent except for the oblivious whistling that came from the kitchen where the Spike the dragon was. A mixture of played on the faces of every pony in the room, nervousness on some, anger on others, and in the case of Rainbow Dash, a healthy case of respect.
My thoughts went back to a few hours ago when the pony had tearfully embraced me with a hug with a strength that belied her size “Don’t you worry you d-dear! You won’t have to go to that…that…horrible p-place ever again, I promise!” she exclaimed tearfully.
I looked down at the little pegasus who was so vehemently sticking up to the Princess for my sake, and couldn’t help but feel more than a little bit touched. I felt a tear begin to form in my eye as I was awash with emotions of gratitude and appreciation, but I blinked it back quickly.
Princess Celestia was the first to find her voice, as the rest will still rather dumbstruck. “Fluttershy, I can assure you that no harm will come to-”
The temperature of the room dropped several degrees as Fluttershy turned her gaze towards Celestia, staring with an intensity that could melt steel. Celestia, one of the rulers of the entire land, the one who commanded armies and arcane powers, quickly shut her mouth and stared back with an expression that was almost expressionless if it wasn’t for the set jaw and slightly widened eyes that revealed her surprise and, dare I say, fear.
“I said no.” Fluttershy responded with the conviction of a mountain that was determined to not be moved. I could see the two Princesses frantically try and defuse the situation, to ease the pegasus and restore the authority to themselves, but I could tell that it was futile. No matter what they said or did, this mama bear wasn’t going to budge an inch.
“Fluttershy.”
The yellow pegasus made a startled noise as I quietly said her name, knocking her out of her protective reverie as she turned to face me with wide eyes.
“It’s okay Fluttershy, I can go.” I said as gently as possible, trying to sooth and reassure her with my voice.
She looked at me fearfully and shook her head frantically, her long hair, now in slight disarray, flew about her head.
“But you- I can’t- no!” she cried. “No! I-I won’t let you!” She rushed forward and wrapped her front hooves around my legs as though to prevent me from moving. “I won’t let you…” she muttered tearfully into my pant leg.
I looked down in bewilderment, wondering what it was that I did to receive such attention, such concern, such care from the pony. I have known her for less than a day, and already she has done so much for me even though I’m a complete stranger, not to mention a complete alien to her. Why is it that she cares so much? Why is she so kind?
The tears threatened to fall once more, but I firmly held them back, knowing that if they started to fall, they wouldn’t stop. I reached my hand down and grasped a trembling forehoof in my hand, gently prying it off of my leg. Fluttershy resisted at first, but then reluctantly released her hold on me and stood back with her head down as she sniffled miserably.
It broke my heart to see her like this, it really did. The last time somebody was so worried for me was when I was younger and living with my parents. I’ve been out of their house and on my own for a little over 4 years now, and if I was being honest with myself, I was starting to forget what it felt like to be cared for.
Not being able to stand to see her so upset, I did the only thing that I could think of. I crouched down so that I was kneeling on one knee in front of her, and when she looked up to see what I was doing, I gently wrapped my arms around her and embraced her.
She let out a startled squeak and trembled even more as I held her in my arms, becoming tense for a moment before relenting and burying her face into my shoulder, staining my new shirt with tears. I reached up a hand to stroke her mane comfortingly as I held her, but that only made her sob harder. A few of the other ponies let out a simultaneous ‘awww’ at this, but I ignored them.
It took her a little while, but she finally started to calm down as I held her and whispered condolences in her ear. Eventually, she had gotten a hold of herself enough that I could release my hold of her and look at her properly as I held her at arms length.
Her eyes were red of course, and her lower lip still trembled slightly. I noticed her eyes avoiding mine, as though she were ashamed of her behaviour. I frowned at that.
“Fluttershy, look at me.” I commanded gently. She shuddered slightly before slowly lifting her gaze to mine as though fearful of what I was going to say.
“I’m very…” I struggled to find the right word for a moment as I forced back a few tears from escaping. “touched…that you are so concerned about me. I’ve never met somebody as caring and kind as you, and I’m glad I did.”
Her eyes widened as she sniffled. Instead of saying anything, she just nodded her understanding.
“And I know that you don’t want me to go back there, hell, I don’t even want to go back there, but right now, it seems I don’t have a choice.”
She shook her head frantically, her long mane flying up and brushing against my cheek.
“Yes Fluttershy, I have to go. If this is what I need to do to go back home, back to my family and friends, than so be it."
She looked at me imploringly for a moment as though begging me to not go. “But…I promised…” she whispered in her tiny voice. I nodded at her as I lifted a hand up to her cheek to brush away a few errant tears that were escaping her eyes.
“I know you did, and I’m grateful, but this is something I need to do no matter how much it scares me or how dangerous it is." I looked deeply into her big round eyes. "Do you understand?”
She took a deep, shuddering breath in an effort to calm down. Her lip ceased its trembling and her breathing became less erratic. Finally, she nodded sadly and looked down with a defeated expression.
“…Yes.” she whispered.
I smiled at her. “Will you let me go?” I asked gently, wanting to give her a sense of closure in a decision that wasn’t actually hers.
She nodded once more. “Yes.” She repeated, more firmly this time. I smiled gratefully.
“Thank you Fluttershy.” I said as I laid a hand on her shoulder. She nodded once more and looked up at me, a surprising strength in her eyes.
“But I’m coming with you.” she said with an air of finality that gave no room for argument. Her voice was louder this time, as though she was talking to every pony in the room instead of just me.
My eyebrows rose. “Are you sure?” I asked her with surprise.
“Yes.” She replied with more confidence then I’ve ever heard from her. “I’m not letting you go without me.”
I smiled at her before shooting a glance at Princess Luna who seemed incredibly nervous and indecisive at this new development. She shared a look with Celestia, and after a brief moment between the two, the white alicorn gave a small nod.
“That is acceptable.” Luna declared, although her expression looked as though the words left a bitter taste in her mouth. Fluttershy nodded, as though that were the answer she was expecting.
“Hold on, if Fluttershy’s going, then I’m going too!” came a loud voice. Rainbow Dash took to the air and hovered in front of the Princesses with a determined look on her face.
Princess Celestia responded immediately. “No Rainbow Dash, you must stay in Ponyville. You and the rest of the Elements will be needed for…something else.” She said cryptically. Rainbow Dash immediately opened her mouth to protest, but was cut off with as stern look from Celestia. Obviously, she was going to have better luck arguing with a wall. She seemed to realize this as her shoulders slumped and gave a sour look to the ground.
“Fine…” she mumbled before hovering over with the rest of her friends and plopping down beside Applejack who gave her a shoulder a reassuring pat.
Twilight Sparkle, ever the inquisitive one, piped up. “What is it you’ll need us for Princess?” she asked with a curious tilt of her head. The Princess looked at her expressionlessly for a moment before smiling.
“We will discuss that later, my student.” She replied reassuringly. A look of confusion passed Twilight's face, but nodded all the same.
I paid little mind to the Princesses, figuring that I would let them keep their secrets if they wished to. Instead, I smiled at the yellow pony in front of me and stood up from my crouched position. While the rest of the ponies were preoccupied with one another, I muttered a quick “Thank you.” to her. She smiled sweetly and nodded.
“Alright everypony, Food’s ready!” called a voice from the kitchen. The little dragon Spike appeared at the doorway with a pleated chef’s hat on his head, a pink apron around his body, and a smile on his face. He looked at the scene in front of him, taking in Fluttershy’s red eyes, Rainbow Dash’s moody look, Luna’s expression of nervousness, and Celestia’s trademark poker face that seemed slightly more strained than usual.
“What’d I miss?”