Book Three: Setting Down Roots
I awoke to find myself in a very soft bed, the kind of bed where you could almost feel yourself sinking into, like a giant cloud that was eventually going to swallow you up in its soft fluffyness.
Then it all came rushing back: the train ride, the walk through Canterlot, and the meeting with the alicorn princess.
Perhaps it was the time unconscious, but my mind was finally able to process the information I had been given before. This country, Equestria was ruled by not one, but two alicorn sisters, one of which I met. Or at least I assumed they shared leadership, otherwise that would lead to one power struggle I wouldn’t want to be anywhere near.
Well, that did explain one thing, no nation would be stupid enough to start a war with Equestria, not with two alicorns at its head.
I’m sure that just those two alone could level New Pegisopolis, though, by Celestia’s demeanor, I doubted that I had to worry about that. At least I hoped I didn’t.
I reluctantly got out of the bed and stretched. Judging by the light, it was late afternoon, early evening.
I let out a sigh and went to the door, hoping that I could find my way around the castle by myself instead of waiting for somepony to fetch me. But as soon as I opened the door, I saw that on either side of me were two guards, which, up until a few hours ago, would have made me jump, but at that point, I think you could have told me that the sky was purple and I would have just shrugged and said, “Okay.”
“You’re awake,” the one to my right said calmly. “The Princess wishes to see you.”
“Very well, lead the way.”
And so, the guards detached from their posts and led me through the halls of the castle. I have to admit, it was pretty impressive architecturally, completely different from most of the designs I was familiar with.
But, I was unable to appreciate it for long, because we arrived at the throne room shortly, entering from a side entrance.
“Greetings Mixer, I hope you’re feeling better,” came Celestia’s greeting.
“I am, thank you. Though it’s still completely astonishing. Forgive me if I offend you, but where I come from, alicorns have been relegated to myth and fantasy.”
“No offense taken. I can understand what a shock it must be to see myths come to life.”
“I also apologize for earlier, I shouldn’t have passed out simply from information.”
“It’s perfectly alright, Mixer. But, now that you are awake, I think it is time that we talked”
She got up from her throne and beckoned me to follow her as she walked towards a doorway towards the back of the room.
I followed her through the door and into a hallway filled with stained glass windows, some of which depicted scenes, while others were oddly blank, showing only the vein like pattern separating the colors.
“Are these windows significant?” I asked, hoping I didn’t sound too stupid for asking the obvious.
“Yes, they depict important points in Equestria’s history.”
That made sense, since close to the end of the hall were a couple of windows depicting Discord. It appeared that my arrival wasn’t his first appearance.
We reached the end of the hallway and went through another doorway, this one leading to a winding staircase that led up to floors above.
“If you don’t mind my asking, where are we going?”
“We’re going to wait for my sister to return.”
“She’s away?”
“Yes. You’ll see soon enough.”
I shrugged and followed her up the stairs.
As we walked up the seemingly endless spiral of stairs, I noticed that the light was fading, indicating that the sun was setting.
“So, where is Twilight?” I asked, trying to break the silence with something other than steady hoofsteps.
“Twilight and Spike have gone back to Ponyville. Don’t worry, you will be returning to Ponyville tomorrow as well.”
“I’m not to stay at the castle?”
“I think that you would be more comfortable in Ponyville. Besides, I hear that somepony wants to see you again.”
“And who would that be?”
I couldn’t tell, but I could have sworn she smiled as she said, “Oh, I think you’ll find out.”
For all her straightforwardness, Celestia could be rather cryptic at times.
Without any other points of conversation to spark up, we traveled the rest of the way up the tower in silence, and by the time we reached the top, the sun had almost completely disappeared beyond the horizon.
The room we finally came to was circular, with a doorway leading to a balcony with a telescope on it. It was spacious enough, though fairly bare of furniture, with only a few cushions for sitting on near the walls. The telescope was another out of place piece of technology, but it appeared that the advancement of Equestria’s technology was somewhat fragmented.
Celestia’s horn glowed with a golden aura as she set two cushions near the center of the room, giving a clear view out of the balcony doorway.
I stayed standing until she motioned for me to take a seat.
Now, the pillows were sized for an alicorn, so I could easily lay upon it, but I decided instead to sit, for the sake of being polite.
For minutes we simply sat there, watching the sun slowly dip below the horizon and the sky turn slowly from a dull red to the deep blue of twilight.
“Isn’t the sunset a beautiful sight,” Celestia said, catching me off guard.
“Y-yes, I suppose it is. I must confess, this is the first I have watched in some time.”
“That’s a shame.”
“If you don’t mind me asking, when is your sister arriving?”
“She should be here shortly.”
And as if on cue, a form landed on the balcony before us, before folding its wings and walking into the room, now lit by magical torches. I didn’t notice them before, so they must have a magical timer. Clever.
As the form stepped into the light, it revealed an alicorn whose coat was deep blue, like the night sky, with a more navy colored mane that twinkled like the stars. It was blown about just as her sister’s was, as if by some unseen wind.
“Greetings sister, I take it everything went well?” Celestia asked the newcomer.
“Yes sister, We had no problems raising the moon, as always. But who is this? He doth not look like one of our subjects.”
Her archaic dialogue seemed strange, but I was not about to point it out. Aside from being impolite, that would have probably been offensive.
“Luna, I would like you to meet Mixer. He’s not from Equestria.”
“Wait, did you say ‘raising the moon’?” I asked, the words finally catching up with me.
“Yes. Surely thou knew where We were?”
“But the... that... no...” my words were having trouble again. It seems that science had some competition. Some rather stiff competition.
Princess Luna looked at me like I was growing a second horn, something that would probably have surprised me less.
“Where exactly are thou from, to not know of the royal sisters and their duty of raising the sun and moon?”
“What,” I said flatly. No matter how ludicrous it sounded, I was not about to lay down and accept that two magical beings, even if they were alicorns, moved celestial bodies on a whim.
This time, even Celestia gave me a weird look.
“The planet moves around the sun, and the moon orbits the planet. That’s just...just how it works. It’s been scientifically proven for centuries.”
Luna and Celestia exchanged a glance before Celestia spoke, “Are you referring to astronomical principles?”
At this point my jaw dropped, “You mean you study astronomy?”
“Of course, otherwise we wouldn’t be able to manage the sun and moon without causing natural disasters or a gravitational imbalance with the orbital cycles.”
I just decided to stop while I was still cognizant, “Okay, so I guess you do move the sun and moon...”
“You are very strange,” Luna said, grabbing a cushion for herself and sitting across from Celestia and myself.
“Well, in my defence, about ninety percent of what I thought I knew has been turned on its head in the past day or so.”
“So, in other words, everything you know is wrong?” Celestia asked.
“You could say that.”
“Hast thou been living under a rock?”
I sighed heavily, “I seem to be finding that I may as well have been.”
“It is okay, We have only recently returned. That is why We speak as we do,” Luna said.
“Returned from what?” I asked.
“Oh, that is right. Thou art new to Equestria.”
“We can save that story for another time,” Celestia interjected, “For now, I wanted to talk about your homeland.”
“Well, I hope you are comfortable, because there is much to discuss...”
--
One long night and several explanations later, the princesses seemed to be satisfied with my answers
“So, you’re country doesn’t have that much magic in it.”
“No, and from what you have said, and the implications of such, it is entirely possible that is why we have no dragons, or other magical creatures that Equestria has.”
“And thou art very kind for answering all of our questions. We shall let you rest before your return to ponyville.”
“Yes,” I began, but my words were cut of, or perhaps punctuated, by a long yawn.
Celestia yawned herself, looking a little tired.
“The room you were in before is still open to you,” she said, standing up and stretching, placing her pillow back by the wall with her magic.
“Thank you Princesses,” I said with a bow, “You have been very kind to me, and I thank you.”
“Thou art welcome. I hope that you will find a way back home soon. But thou art welcome in Equestria regardless.”
“Thank you,” I said, standing and moving my own pillow back to the wall.
Luna got up as well and replaced her cushion by the wall.
On the way back down, I was flanked on either side by alicorns. It was strange really. Once or twice I felt one of their manes brush against my fur, and contrary to how they looked, they felt like a regular mane, if a little light. Their fur as well, was odd, they each has different coat properties.
Celestia’s coat was soft, almost like air every time I accidentally brushed against her. Luna on the other hoof had a coat that felt thinner, like it was in two layers, and the top layer was only a few wisps of fur.
It was enough to keep my mind occupied enough to stay awake down the flight of stairs. Perhaps that’s why they did flank me down the stairs, to ensure I didn’t fall asleep on my hooves. That would have probably been quite unpleasant, if not downright painful.
Eventually though, we made it to the bottom of the stairs and the sisters let one of the guards take over in escorting me to my room.
At that point my mind was numb from being tired, and I fell asleep almost as soon as I laid in the bed.
--
I awoke early the next morning. Odd, considering how late I was up.
I rubbed my eyes and got up, stretching and letting out a long yawn. I had no way of knowing how long I was actually asleep, but it didn’t feel like much.
I looked out the window of the room and saw the sun was just above the horizon, meaning that it was probably an hour or so since the sun came up and most ponies would have started their day. Now, I say most ponies because I have a tendency to work late nights, sometimes through the entire night, and sleep in well past sunrise. This is also why it was early for me to be waking up.
I went out of the room and sure enough, there were two guards on either side of my door.
I bid them good morning and proceeded to the throne room by myself, feeling confident enough that I could take a couple corners without getting lost.
When I reached the throne room, Celestia was sitting upon the throne, looking as if she had been awake for hours, which was very well possible since she raised the sun. Raising the sun, now that was a concept that would take some time to get used to.
“Good morning Mixer, did you sleep well?” she asked.
I stifled a yawn before replying, “Yes, I slept fine.”
She gave me a small, yet still warm, smile, “Are you hungry?”
I could feel my stomach rumble in reply, “Come to think of it, yes, yes I am.”
She waved her hoof and a guard detached himself from his post at the wall and came to stand in front of her, “Please take our guest to the dining hall.”
“Yes Princess,” the guard replied with a salute. He turned to me, “Right this way,” and began leading the way to the dining hall.
While we walked, I had a brief amount of time to appreciate how hungry I actually was, not having eaten since almost a day prior. How I hadn’t felt hungry until Celestia brought it up, I’ll never know.
In short order, we arrived at a spacious hall with a long rectangular table and a vaulted ceiling. Arches and the like seemed to be quite a favorite architectural option in Equestria, at least with their masonry.
Almost as soon as we arrived, a well dressed stallion entered the room.
“Have a seat sir, and we will bring you out something right away,” he said in a professional tone that spoke of experience with serving guests.
I chose a seat close to the middle of the table with my back to a window, so I wouldn’t have to deal with the sun in my eyes, and instead I could see the rest of the room as it was light by sunlight.
While I was waiting for my breakfast, my mind began to wander as to what exactly I would do to try and get home.
From looking at maps of Equestria at Twilight’s library I could tell that it wasn’t on the far side of the badlands, since it had a record of land from one shore to the other. That was also supported by the time difference between when I arrived, and what time it was when I was in my lab. That might be why I woke up so early. I also considered that Equestria could be to the far north or south, but that was ruled out by the temperate climate, which wasn’t too far off from almost sub tropical climate of New Pegisopolis. In the end, it seemed that I was definitely on a different continent, and that I would have to cross the ocean if I wanted to get back home; but, that might not be possible with Equestria’s technology, since it’s geography would almost eliminate a need for large sea-faring vessels.
As I was beginning to think on alternate modes of transportation, the same stallion appeared with a plate of pancakes and a bottle of syrup.
This struck me as a little odd, but not unheard of cuisine, since there wasn’t many syrup supplies in New Pegisopolis, it was mainly a rare treat for lots of ponies. Perhaps Equestria didn’t have such sugar restrictive climate.
I looked at the fluffy golden circles and got a whiff of blueberries. If I didn’t have so much self control, I might have just started tearing into them without any form of utensils, but I took the time to pour a generous layer of syrup on the three pancakes and cut them into bite sized pieces, which seemed to make me hungrier as I got them ready to eat.
One wonderful thing about magic is that you rarely, if ever, need to use a fork or a spoon, which is why I picked up a piece of golden deliciousness with my magic and popped it into my mouth. Between the rich taste of the syrup and the fabulous flavor of the blueberries, I almost shed a tear at the culinary mastery that went into these perfect pastries. And then I immediately proceeded to make them disappear.
In a couple of minutes, all that was left of the pancakes were a couple smears of syrup, and some small crumbs. I let out a contented sigh and leaned back in my chair, savoring the aftertaste of blueberries and syrup, and enjoying the warm sunlight on my back.
As I was enjoying the moment of contentedness, Princess Luna walked in, and I sat back up.
“Good morning Princess.”
“Good morning Mixer, We trust that thou slept well? Didst thou enjoy thine morning repast?”
“Yes, I slept just fine, and breakfast was excellent.”
“Wonderful. Art thou ready to return to Ponyville?”
“If you don’t have anything else you wish of me, then yes.”
She nodded, “Very well. Thou art to go to the train station and travel back to Ponyville where Twilight Sparkle will be waiting. Upon your return, she is to show you to your new place of residence.”
“Oh, you’ve arranged for someplace for me to stay?”
“Verily. We think that it will be to your liking.”
I got out of my chair and bowed, “Thank you very much for your generosity.”
“It is no trouble. Oh! Didst the kitchens make pancakes this morning? Never before have We had such delightful delicacies.”
Her break of formality kind of threw me, but what gave me more of a surprise was when the server brought out three plates of pancakes, each piled high, with fluffy goodness.
“Indeed, they are very good.”
“Good? They’re MARVELOUS!” she said, the last part of her sentence resonating around the room and ringing in my ears. “Oh, We are sorry, sister has been trying to help our control of the royal canterlot voice. She says that it can be... jarring to our subjects.”
I gave my head a quick shake, “No no, it’s alright, just unexpected.”
“Well, thou should be on thine way, lest ye miss the train.”
“Goodbye Princess Luna,” I said with a bow. I could have sworn that as I was leaving the room, I heard her begin to unceremoniously chow down on the pancakes.
I retraced my steps through the castle back to the throne room, where Celestia was still resting upon her throne. It almost seemed like she never left that seat aside from when she escorted me to my meeting with her and Luna.
“Ah, Mixer. Did you enjoy your breakfast?”
“Yes, it was fantastic. And Luna said something about housing for me in Ponyville?”
“Ah yes, we have arranged for a place for you to stay in Ponyville. Twilight will show you where it is. It has basic amenities, but if there is anything you need, you need only ask, and I shall see to it that you get what you need. Of course, this courtesy is only until you are settled in and are able to provide the necessary funds.”
I was speechless. I was being given not only a house, but anything that I needed to begin a new life in Equestria.
“Th-thank you Princess,” I said with a bow.
She smiled, “You’re very welcome Mixer. I hope to see you again some time in the coming months.”
“I would be honored to return to Canterlot.”
“Well, the next train to Ponyville leaves in a few minutes, you don’t want to miss it.”
“Goodbye Princess Celestia, and thank you for your generosity and hospitality,” I said with one last bow.
Then she did something that made my jaw drop, she gave me a slight bow, “I wish you the best of luck luck Mixer.”
With that, I left the castle and began making my way to the train station. As I walked, I noticed that I outpaced almost everypony on the street, who were all ambling along as if they didn’t have anywhere in particular to be. And odd thing for a city, even one as small as this, but I guess that when everything is centralized, there isn’t much need to hurry. I however had to cross a considerable amount of ground to get to the train station.
When I arrived at the train station, I went to the ticket booth and was greeted by a young looking mare with a peachy coat and and orange mane, “Hello sir, how may I help you?”
“Yes, I was told that I should take the train to Ponyville.”
“Ah, you must be the v.i.p. that they mentioned this morning. Here you go,” she said, sliding a ticket over the counter. “Enjoy your ride sir.”
I thanked her and got on to the train just as the conductor was calling, “All aboard!”
I took a seat in one of the cars farther back and looked out the window as the train got underway. It would more than likely be the last time I rode the train for a while, at least for free.
Not long after the train got moving, the conductor came through the cars checking for tickets. I showed him mine, and he looked it over. After a moment, he seemed satisfied and gave it back to me, moving on to the next passenger.
The ride to Ponyville gave me time to consider what I could need that the princesses hadn’t provided for me. For starters, there would be some basic chemistry equipment, and materials, though I didn’t know if it was even possible to get most of the chemicals I was accustomed to working with. I might even have to produce my own chemicals as I needed them. Aside from those, then I wouldn’t really require much, maybe some extra lab space, but that’s it. I could live out of a single room if I had to, which I had on more than one occasion.
Then I thought about what I would do to get myself going. The obvious choice would be to start out making potions, but Twilight had hinted at a zebra that already made quite a variety of potions. The second immediate option would be to make some basic things, soaps and cleaners, maybe some bonding agents, things that didn’t require a great deal of chemical wizardry. Then things started to taper down to either finding a job working for somepony else, or trying to make use of my side hobby of music. I wasn’t the best musician ever, but I was alright, and even mediocre musicians could make a living if they got lucky. But that was a last resort, I would much rather be doing my own work.
My wandering thoughts had a very nice effect of eating up time, and soon I found that the train had arrived in Ponyville and ponies were starting to get off. I joined the crowd and found Twilight and Spike waiting for me on the platform.
“Mixer!” Twilight called, trotting up to me. “So, how was it?”
“It was definitely an experience.”
“You must be ready to see your new home.”
“Yeah, I want to see what all the fuss is about.”
“Well then, let’s get going,” Spike said.
Twilight and Spike proceeded to lead me through town and out toward the outskirts of Ponyville. I wondered if it was a precaution for the chemistry.
We eventually came to a large tree, much like the one the Library was inside, and I noticed a few windows adorned it’s trunk.
“Well, it sure is... different.”
“It was kind of short notice, but it’s got everything you need, two bedrooms, a living room, kitchen...” Twilight began, rattling off the different features of the literal treehouse. It sounded like a fully furnished house, albeit, with less floor space.
After a minute or so of listing off every single detail, Spike was yawning, and I found myself tuning her out.
“Twilight, why don’t we just go inside, then I can see for myself.”
“Oh, right,” she said with a slight blush.
“About time,” Spike mumbled.
I walked over to the door and opened it. The inside of the house was dimly lit, with only a few spots illuminated by the sunlight streaming in the half shuttered windows.
“It’s a little dark, don’t you think?”
“That’s because you haven’t turned on the lights silly,” Twilight giggled, pushing past me and turning on a few magical light sources with her magic.
Once the place was well lit, I could see more clearly the layout of my new house. The entrance was a simple door, though there was a coat stand next to the door. Immediately inside was a kind of foyer, a smaller room from which I could see into what looked like an eat-in kitchen, and a living room on the other side.
“Well, are you going to look around?” Twilight asked.
I decided to check the kitchen first, thinking that it would be the smaller of the two rooms. It turned out to be medium sized, with a small circular table that appeared to be fused to the floor in the center of the room. No doubt some form of magic. Off to one side was a sink and faucet and a counter on either side and a small window above it. Farther down the wall was a small stove and a fridge.
“It looks pretty nice for a last minute thing.”
“This is nothing,” Twilight said, “You haven’t even seen the rest of the house.”
Hearing this got me interested, so I followed her into the living room, and was surprised that it followed the curve of the tree almost all the way around, only stopping at the wall that separated it and the kitchen. There was a large window with a curtain drawn across it that looked like a manticore could easily pass through it if it were open. Towards the center of the room was a large couch, but aside from that the room was bare of furniture, save for a tall clock in the corner.
“Well, there sure is a lot of room here.”
“Come see the upstairs,” Twilight said, ascending the spiraling stairs that hugged the core of the tree.
As I followed her up, I saw Spike go and flop down on the couch, “You two go ahead, I’ll just check out this couch.”
The upstairs wasn’t much to speak of, just a small circular room with three doors, separating the room into thirds.
“These two are bedrooms,” Twilight said, pushing one of the doors open revealing a small bedroom. “The other one is the bathroom”
“Well, this is a pretty bare bones place. It’s got all the essentials, but it’s nice and roomy.”
“I’m glad you like it.”
“Now, Princess Celestia mentioned asking for things I needed.”
“Of course. What exactly did you have in mind?”
“Well, I’ll need the basics for starters, test tubes, bunsen burners, beakers, stuff like that. And I might need some materials to build a shed outside to run experiments in, or maybe just make an addition to the house.”
“Oh, don’t worry about a lab, there’s a basement for that.”
“Really?”
“Yes, the entrance is outside though.”
“Then let’s go check it out,” I suggested and began trotting down the stairs.
When we got outside there was indeed a cellar style door by the trunk of the tree that led down into a small circular room.
“Well, it’s not what I’d call five star, but it’s got enough space for what I need, at least until I can start getting the bits to make a better lab.”
“See, isn’t it great?”
“Indeed, this house is perfect, and a better gift than I thought I was getting.”
“Well, we better go back inside and get Spike. I bet he’s fallen asleep by now.”
So, we proceeded to gather Twilight’s assistant, who turned out to be dozing just as she had suspected.
“Does he always sleep this much?” I asked.
“Sometimes he just likes to take a nap.”
“Well, it’s not like he’s hurting anything.”
“True, but we should let you get settled in,” she said, picking the sleeping Spike up off the couch with magic, and laying him across her back.
“You could stay if you want, I owe you a lot after all.”
“It’s alright, you can get settled in and take some time to compile a list of things you need and come see me tomorrow.”
“That sounds like a fine idea.”
I escorted Twilight and her sleeping passenger to the door and said goodbye.
It was odd, really. I was in a house in another country that was mine. It was more than I had in New Pegisopolis, and I’d been living there my whole life.
I walked back through the house and found some paper and a quill. A quill, another technological shortcoming of Equestria.
I took the paper and quill and sat down on the couch to begin my list.