//------------------------------// // How do I keep ending up writing shopping trips? And why do I love Asda so much? // Story: A Lost Soul Hidden in Unexpected Places // by Broniesrponies2 //------------------------------// Read the author's note first please. To the chapter! Luna guided us to the front gate. I looked at her as she took a backpack from a servant and put it on her own back, sliding her wings through the straps carefully. I felt a pained expression coming onto my face and stepped forwards. "I may be a guest, but there is no way that I can let you carry things. You're a princess. Let me carry the shopping for you. Well, for me I guess." I looked down as I said "well" and looked up again after finishing the sentence. Luna giggled adorably. I have to say that it was hard to keep myself from impulsively hugging her. It was a close run thing. She loosened the straps and slid the pack from her shoulders. She tossed it over to me and I deftly unzipped the top, checking out the volume. It wasn't all that big. I thought back to camping trips during my time in the boy scouts. A bigger bag would be necessary for seven changes of clothes, which would be a bare minimum to survive with, plus pajamas, toothbrush, toothpaste, a wallet and a new pair of shoes. It occurred to me that I should probably get a more formal suit, but I hate to go full black tie. We stepped out into the afternoon sunlight. Luna led the way, her hair glittering like a midnight sky. I came next, in the clothes that I came in from my universe, a black zip-up hoodie, a white shirt and dark cargo pants. It was a pretty typical getup for me, a nice balance of quiet style with a maximum of comfort and utility. It was an easy outfit to stroll around in. Not as good as a full hoodie with a frontal pouch, but close enough. Lyra came behind us in similar clothes, except she wore tight jeans as opposed to cargo pants. I was still carrying the backpack in my hand and flipped it onto my shoulder. We stood abreast at the top of the palace stairs. I stifled a laugh as Luna handed sunglasses to both Lyra and myself before we all put them on at once. It was like something out of a cheap movie. I looked over to Luna who, in turn, looked over to Lyra. She smiled happily and started to walk forwards, beckoning to us to follow. Luna looked over to me and shrugged. I put a complex expression on my face like a sort of jokey half-frown thing that is pretty hard to describe. Luna laughed out loud and patted my cheek. I switched it to a grin and we headed off after Lyra. She lead us down vast promenades and through beautiful parks to- "LYRA?" It was Bon Bon. The cream coloured streak that came out of buttfuck nowhere and bowled over our mint green escort was Bon Bon. Who else could it have been? I was kind of surprised, and hoped to god that this would keep Lyra from looking sideways at me whenever she thought no one was looking. "Oh my Celestia, Lyra! It is so good to see you! How long have you been in Canterlot?" Bon Bon was saying. "We only got here at a little after lunch time." supplied Lyra, picking herself up. Bon Bon turned to look at Luna and I. "Oh Celestia, YOU'RE WITH LUNA?" Bon Bon exclaimed. I looked at Luna, who was giggling behind her hand in a very genteel way. "Yup, and-" Lyra started to say before Bon Bon cut her off. "And who's the stallion. He looks a little weird, does he suffer from alopecia?" asked Bon Bon, looking at me critically. "OH MY CELESTIA, BON BON! HE'S A HUMAN!" exclaimed Lyra, grasping her friend by the shoulders and shouting into her face. "No way. A real, alive human. Your Highness, is this true?" asked Bon Bon. "It is true." giggled Luna, amused by the hysterics of the two teenage girls. "Perhaps you and Bon Bon might go to a café to catch up with each other." I suggested, eager to be as alone as one possibly can be on a crowded street with Luna. We had a lot to talk about. It would be better if nopony overheard, because they might not understand. Luna caught my meaning and passed Lyra what looked to be quite a lot of bits. I passed Lyra the backpack. Luna looked at me and I simply shrugged. She nodded and we said our goodbyes, inviting the two to come back to the palace for dinner. They ran off playfully, leaving Luna and I alone. "Were you like that once?" I asked Luna, smiling gently. "If I was, I don't remember it." said Luna sadly. "I don't like thinking back to before I became myself." I understood what she was talking about. "Don't worry. My memory is good, but only for the bad things. If I could stop myself from thinking about all of the times that I messed up-" I stopped, a long list of those times coming into my head. I felt Luna's light touch on my mind again and there was a feeling of a door shutting. The memories receded and I didn't particularly feel like going in search of them. Not very many were pleasant. A few had pleasant thoughts or feelings attached to them, but the memories themselves had been painful. I shifted my gaze from a cobblestone that I had been memorizing to Luna's face. I smiled. "Do you think that we can make the age gap work?" I asked, a joking tone in my voice, but just a light one. "Why, I would say that we were the same age. I look young for mine and you act so old for yours." We embraced again. I knew something else as we stood there, receiving glances and the occasional stare. I knew that as long as I was with Luna, I could never stay unhappy. Slowly, we drew apart. "Shopping?" I asked. "Yes." she replied. We walked down the street, side by side. I found that we were steadily shifting to be closer together. It wasn't just me, we were talking, discussing our dinner for tonight, Lyra and Bon Bon, small talk. I asked a little about my new home and she asked a lot about my old one. She was shocked at my descriptions of my species, but showed no distrust. She had been in my mind twice now and knew me better than anyone else. We arrived at Asda, which surprised me, but not a lot. I had wondered where Equestria would prove to be. I had assumed that since I was on North America when I departed, I would be on North America when I landed. Apparently not. Walking through the doorway, we were greeted by beautiful cello music. I knew who it would be. I took Luna's hand in mine and gently guided her towards the sound. We arrived in a small area, like a town square, but inside the shop. It was the connector of four large aisles in front of the cash registers. Sitting on a stool was a grey mare, with a very familiar mane style. She had her eyes open and was looking down at her audience. Her eyes widened suddenly at the sight of Princess Luna with a stallion. She brought her song to a finish that, while certainly being too early, was toned perfectly to fit in with the theme of the piece. As she brought her bow to across it's final quivering chord, applause rose up from the crowd of shoppers below. Luna made to walk off in the direction of the shopping carts, but I held onto her hand. She looked at me. I shut my eyes and shook my head. She gave me a questioning look. I tapped my temple with my other hand. I felt her touch on my mind again and this time, it stayed. Why can't we go and get a cart? Because Octavia is coming here to see you. I noticed her glance, but wasn't her song simply completed, she may have somewhere else that she is going. No, the finale came too quickly, there should have been at least a dozen more measures. Ok, we can wait until- "Your Highness" said a voice, cutting off our thoughts. It was unfamiliar, still cultured, but with the notable high Canterlot accent that I was beginning to recognize by its similarity to a high London accent. It could only have been Octavia. We turned towards her. Oh, dear god, she curtseyed. Luna and I managed to keep our faces impassive. It was a struggle for me, and I could tell that it was a struggle for Luna too because her shoulder was twitching with well suppressed laughter. Octavia straightened up and stepped forward. "You really don't need to curtsey." said Luna, smiling at the grey mare. Octavia looked astonished, then looked at me. I nodded and smiled at her. "Perhaps, if you have nothing pressing, you might like to come with us while we do some shopping. It would be good for me to get some Equestrian music to listen to. I happen to like classical music myself, perhaps you could help me with a selection." I suggested. Luna gave me an odd look, but I found her hand with mine and squeezed it. She squeezed back, giving me the benefit of the doubt. "We will have to go and get clothing first. I will need a large backpack as well." I looked at Luna. She gave me a look that said as plainly as day that I had given the backpack to Lyra. I looked back at her. "I am going to need at least a full weeks worth of clothes to start with. The backpack bestowed on Lyra was far too small for that. She can head back home to Ponyville and collect a few things. I also want to do some camping here. Back in my world, there were a lot of unsafe places, places that were polluted, places that one couldn't get to. Here though? I can hike almost anywhere. The only thing that I would really need for that is a backpack. A small one wouldn't work. I will need a big one with lots of straps that are good for carrying extra things. Tents, a sleeping bag, stuff like that. Then I can get away from the light pollution of a city." "Light pollution?" "It's a term from my home. City lights can be so bright that they can obscure a night sky. It's one of the attractions of camping. Actually, do you make an aurora borealis?" "A what?" Octavia stood in front of us. Listening to out conversation. Her simple fascination at the unspoken implications of my words. She listened as I described an aurora, then watched as we both stood silent for a moment as Luna carefully looked into my mind. She listened to Luna's crow of delight and her ears perked up. "Umm, excuse me?" she said politely. "Yess, sorry Octavia, got a little bit caught up in something that you will hear about in a more private place. Right now, lets get a trolley and a backpack and do some shopping." I started to stroll through the thinning crowd towards the shopping carts. I was fairly confident that Luna would follow me because she was enjoying herself. Octavia would follow me because my implied comment was keeping her sails trimmed in my wind. I grabbed one of the carts and turned around. Sure enough, both of them had followed me. We headed to the bags area and I selected a decent looking camping backpack. It wasn't as good as a specialty pack from a sport shop, but it would do for me until it tore. We wandered around the mens clothes section, picking out shirts, pants and necessities. I grabbed a few navy blue and black button up shirts, a couple of hoodies. We stopped by in the toiletries aisle and I grabbed some of those too. We headed to the checkout and Luna pulled a book from her pocket. She took out a card and put the book away. "Credit card?" I asked, looking at it. "What?" she asked, giving me a strange look. "I guess not. What is it?" "I'm royalty, I inscribe the amount on the card and they can trade it in at the royal bank." "Useful, but not limitless." "Just so you don't devalue the currency." I said. We moved forwards to the checkout and passed through, Luna sorting out her card and inscribing the number on it with her magic. She handed the card to the clerk, who took it and put it into the register. the three of us walked out onto the street. I turned to the other two. "Well, we are in the most private of places, we can talk as we go." We started walking, Luna on my right, Octavia on my left. Luna asked me a very good question. "How is this a private place? We are standing surrounded by people." "Luna is right. How is this place private?" "This is the one place that we can see everyone who is watching us. We can tell that they aren't listening. In a room with ten foot thick stone walls, there can still be someone right behind the door. Out here, no one is listening." "That actually makes sense." said Octavia, looking past me at Luna. Luna nodded and then both of them turned to look at me, Octavia interested, Luna ready to hear it with her ears for the first time. "Here is how it starts. I am not a pony. I am a human. My name is Josh by the way, pleased to meet you Octavia." I extended my hand, she took it tentatively. We shook. "Anyway, I am not from this planet, or even this universe. I am from a different dimension. I died before coming here. What you are actually seeing and interacting with is my disembodied soul. Given the circumstances, when I first showed up here at several thousand feet and was caught by two pegasi, I thought that I was in heaven. I knew I was in Equestria before I hit the ground. My planet had a television show called My Little Pony. It was meant to be a little girls show, but a lot of the people watching it were over 18 years old. I watched it and what was shown in the show is astonishingly similar to the reality here. My first experience on this planet was me almost dying from a many thousand foot drop. So, how was your day?" "Do you really want to know? After all that, can you really care about my problems?" "First of all, that sounded a little rude. Secondly," I turned towards Octavia and looked her in the eyes. She looked a little bit afraid, but her eyes didn't waiver. "Yes. Yes, I can care about your problems. I can care about them and worry about you more than you could imagine." I turned back to where we were going and saw the palace looming down the street. "Looks like we're almost back at the palace. Luna, would you mind terribly if Octavia stayed for dinner. Octavia, do you have anything pressing that you need to do this evening?" "I don't mind if she joins us for dinner." "I don't have any plans for this evening." "Perfect. I need to get all of this squared away. I will also need a shower. I will wear something vaguely formal for this dinner, it being my first actual meal with the princesses. I may as well set a decent impression, although, I think that I may have already done so on Luna." I looked over to Luna. "I haven't been too disregarding of your status or feelings have I?" I asked, face and voice showing genuine worry. Her eyes widened and she shook her head. "No, you have used a few weird words and phrases, but nothing disrespectful." I sighed, genuinely relieved. Her eyes never left my face as we walked up to the rooms in the Lunar tower that Lyra, Luna and I were to be staying in. We heard voices from Lyra's room as we passed and I knocked gently on the door. "Y-yes?" asked a rather embarrassed sounding Lyra voice from the other side. "I can hear that it would be inadvisable for us to enter, have you completed your shopping. "Umm, yes. I was just trying some things on with Bon Bon." came her voice. "Ahh." I turned to Luna. "Another to dinner, your Highness?" I asked. "Of course. And please, just call me Luna." she said, blushing slightly. "As you wish Luna." I replied sincerely. She smiled and turned her head away a little. I must admit that I was tempted to ask her if she wanted me to call her "My dear", but that could have seriously jeopardised the situation. We turned and walked into our rooms. I invited Octavia into mine. We walked in and she sat on the bed. I took out the clothes that I had bought and started removing labels and putting the clothes into a dresser near the bathroom. I didn't hear Luna's door open. "Luna, would you like to come in as opposed to listening at the door?" I asked of the air. The door opened and an even redder Luna stepped inside. The door closed. ____________________________________________________________________________ DEATH walked onto an empty void. There were no stars, no light, but something ethereal illuminated a black robe in front of him. HOLY SHIT! ANOTHER BEING! I HAVEN'T SEEN SOMEONE THAT I COULD TALK TO IN OVER A THOUSAND YEARS. WHAT IS GOING ON HERE? THIS UNIVERSE IS BEING CREATED IN INSTALLMENTS. RIGHT NOW, THEY ARE FOCUSSING ON PAPER CLIPS AND MECHANICAL PENCIL SHARPENERS. NO WAY. THAT'S STUPID. NEVERTHELESS WELL, IF A HUMAN POPS IN AND DIES OF ASPHYXIATION, COULD YOU PLEASE LET ME KNOW? NO PROBLEM. THANKS, I HAVE TO GO NOW. DAMN! CAN'T STAY ANOTHER MINUTE COULD YOU? SORRY. DROP BY AGAIN SOMETIME. I WILL. DEATH dropped through his newest dimensional hole. The other DEATH looked around the barren environment. Something popped into being just over his right ear-hole. He looked up. OH GOD. A FOUNTAIN PEN.