//------------------------------// // Fitting in ain't easy // Story: Extraordinary League of Equestrian Gentlemen and Assorted Nettling Travesties // by BlasserundTeurer //------------------------------// Chapter VI Fitting in ain't easy The room holding the alicorn, draconequus and human looked positively ancient, from the floorboards to the bare stone walls, everything exuded an air of authority and seemed to have borne witness to an incalculable amount of time judging from their well worn, yet immaculate appearance. It scared John. It was the kind of room where decisions of national, nay, international importance were made. It was a room where everything and anything that was said, was said for a reason and should not be taken lightly. Something told John that the impression he got from the study was in no small part caused by the Pony this room was regularly used by. That pony now regarded John as he was drinking in the details of the room. In fact John was so focused on looking at the room itself that when Celestia asked if he would like to sit down in the single chair adjacent to the room's fireplace, the most intelligent answer he was able to produce was a confused "Bwuh?". "I asked if you would like to sit down over there John. Unless you would like to enjoy your tea standing up, of course.", Celestia said, clearly amused. "Oh." John said. "Yes, of course, thank you.", he added and made for the chair before stopping and regarding it as if it was the strangest thing he had ever seen. Celestia noticed this. "What is it, John?", she asked. "Well, I'm sorry if it is rude of me to ask but, why do you even have a chair in here?" John looked at her, frowning, expectant of her answer. She quirked an eyebrow, like a parent would when their child asked a particularly silly question. "You are not the only bipedal creature on this world John, and while sitting down with one's back upright like that is not particularly healthy to most bipedal creature's physiques, most of them prefer it that way.", she answered. "Oh.", John repeated his earlier statement. Clearly he had not yet considered that possibility. Satisfied with her answer, he lowered himself onto the chair but remained bolt upright. He wasn't quite sure if he did that because he was trying not to offend his host, or if he was reluctant to relax around his perceived captor. Celestia's horn lit, and from one of the room's corners a large sitting cushion began levitating towards the fireplace, enveloped by a golden aura. She set it down next to the chair and sat on it with her haunches. Discord joined them a moment later, opting to curl up in a snake like fashion a few feet away from Celestia. The seconds ticked by and none of them said a word. John was starting to get nervous and was about to speak when a soft knock sounded on the door. Celestia smiled and prompted the pony on the other side. "Enter please." The door creaked open and a white coated, auburn haired pegasus mare trotted into the room, carrying a large silver tray holding a simple white tea set on her back, balancing it without anything to secure it to her. As if the balancing act wasn't enough, when she reached the fireplace she extended one of her wings and shifted ever so slightly, causing the tea seat to slide down towards her wingtips. At the same time she reached out with one of her back hooves and moved a small round table in between Celestia and John, placing the tea set down upon it. Celestia tilted her head to face the pegasus. “Thank you Merry Weather, you may leave.”, she said, smiling her beatific smile. Merry Weather nodded, retracted her extended wing to it’s resting place at her side, and left the room. The alicorn's horn relit, and without any visible effort, she poured three cups of freshly steeped mint tea. Closing her eyes, she floated the cup to her mouth and took a dainty sip. Visibly satisfied with the taste of the tea, Celestia reset the cup onto the table. "The tea is rather good today. You should try it, John.", she commented, eyeing the human. At this, John leaned forward and slowly picked up his cup. He looked at it as if it would lunge at him at any second, but still took a cautionary sip. It was good. In fact he had never tasted anything quite as good as this tea, and he made sure to show his appreciation with a contented 'Mmmm'. John relaxed slightly, the hot liquid having not only an exquisite taste, but also a wonderful calming effect. He assessed the situation, whether or not he was in a coma just dreaming this up, or whether Celestia had intentions good or bad for him, the only logical way to proceed was to move forward. He sighed and closed his eyes for a moment, then spoke. "You said you wanted to talk earlier. I suppose the time to do so has come." The solar princess nodded thoughtfully. "You are right, we should begin. I suppose Discord has given you the short version of where you are and who we are, but I believe Introductions are still in order.", she paused for a moment, exhaling slowly through her nose. "I am princess Celestia. Co-ruler of the land of Equestria, a conglomeration of towns, cities and states united under our diarchy. I am responsible for the wellbeing of all our subjects, no matter the race, creed or heritage. For the longest time now, me and my sister have also been responsible for the raising and setting of the sun and moon." She finished, giving John a chance to introduce himself. John blinked. "W-well, I suppose it's nice to meet you. I am John, a homeless former mechatronic responsible for repairing and maintaining big yellow railbound... Gravel planers." He chuckled dryly. "I'm sorry if I am a bit underwhelming as a person." Now it was Celestia's turn to blink. She shook her head. "I believe you are underselling yourself John. Consider your calm at the present situation. I think we both know that you are not of this world, and yet you have maintained your composure and even your wit. I think that speaks of great personal strength." "Actually, I have repeatedly tried to prevent myself from coming to this meeting after whatever he-", he pointed at Discord " Did to me wore off. I believe we met while I was in the process of running away." He finished lamely. Discord rolled his eyes at that and Celestia surprised John by, well, chuckling. "Despite what you may think, I don't think that he did anything to you at all." she said. John frowned, confused. "He stuck his beard into my nose. I think that counts as 'anything'.", he threw back at her. This time Discord spoke up. "That's actually a trick Celly taught me, John.", he said looking at Celestia. "Would you care to explain dear?" The alicorn's smile grew and there was mirth evident in her eyes. "Of course.", she cleared her throat. "You might come to find that he did no such thing, John. You think you experienced it because your mind was made to experience it by Discord's magic. He simply gave you an experience that your mind could not refute by rational means, thus making you more accepting of your circumstances. It is an old practice amongst unicorns to help those afflicted by traumatic experiences to come to terms with whatever ails them, at least for a short while.", she explained. “So Discord is a psychotherapist then?”, John asked rhetorically. “No, not quite.”, Celestia replied. “But he is very adept at psychology. A talent he often used in the past to further his schemes.” “Alas, John. It is of no consequence how he got you to calm down. I can assure you that he did nothing that would be harmful to you. The important thing is that we can get to the bottom of things. Namely, how you got here, and why. Then maybe we can also work out how to get you back to your own world.”, Celestia said, returning the conversation to the subject at hand. “What? So that I can go back to living on the street?”, John asked. He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose with his fingers. “Actually, nevermind that.”, he sighed. “I am more than willing to help you, your highness, but I think you should know that I have no idea on how I got here. So I don’t think I will be of much help.” Celestia smiled reassuringly. “You might think that, John, but don’t worry. Just tell me what you can remember. That is all I ask of you. You never know, maybe there is something in your memories that is of no consequence to you, but that same thing might help me to figure out how all of this happened. Would that be alright?” John slumped back against the chair and regarded Celestia for a moment. “Yes, your highness. I suppose it would be. How far would you like me to go back then?” “As far as you’re willing to take me, John”, Celestia said simply. **** The wind howled through the cracks in the small apartment room, shaking the misaligned windows into a loud rattle and chilling the three inhabitants to their bones. “You can’t do this to me! I swear to god I will get every last penny out of you if you do this!”, the female screamed. All in all, It was a rather normal christmas eve. Apart from the snow that is, that was unusual for december in Germany. “Get bent you crazy bitch!”, the male retorted, rather skillful, in his drunken stupor. “I’ve had it up to here with your hysterics and that stupid kid of yours!”, he rambled while picking his possessions from the room at random. “He’s your son too, you drunk asshole!”, the female replied, tears streaking her face. “Yeah, well. I never signed up for this shit.”, he finished picking up his stuff and made for the door. “Don’t call me, you’ll hear from my lawyer.”, was the last thing he said before he opened the door, stepped through it, and slammed it shut. The apartment was quiet now, even the wind had stopped shaking the windows. The only thing that could be heard now was the faint crying of the infant in his cot. The woman was sitting on the ragged couch, alone now, arms wrapped around her legs, curling herself up into a ball. She was visibly shaking from the quiet sobs that racked her body. The child went unnoticed for a long time after that. **** “Perhaps not that far, John.”, Celestia said, quietly. Evidently she did not take well to stories of parents abandoning their children. “Of course, sorry.”, John replied. He continued. “Well, after that my Mother became disinterested in me, treated me like an object. I think she blamed me for what happened, although she never admitted it.”, he explained. “I wasn’t very popular with other children either, and once I reached the age of sixteen, I moved into a youth home. That didn’t go too well.”, John finished. **** “I’m sorry children, but because we don’t have the required number of participants, I’m afraid our field trip will have to be cancelled. I am sorry, we’ll have to reschedule.”, the housemaster explained to the children assembled in front of them. There was a collective sigh of disappointment from the children as they each realized what the housemaster had said. “Please don’t be too hard on those who didn’t want to go. We will be able to go on our field trip eventually.” He looked at each of the children, and once he was satisfied that they handled the news well, he moved on to a different topic. “Now that that’s out of the way, Study time has been extended from four until six, and from six thirty until eight. Please don’t leave your rooms until all your homework has been completed.” The children nodded assent, but their minds were already on a different topic. “Is he in here?”, a voice asked another. “Yeah, he’s reading as usual.”, the other voice answered. John tried to ignore the background noise, opting to concentrate on his new book. Contrary to most children’s opinions, he found literature quite delightful, and so he immersed himself as best he could to get the most out of the experience. After all, It wasn’t often that he could afford himself a new book with his allowance. There were footsteps quickly entering his room, and still he ignored them. “Hey John.”, the first voice said. John’s eyes widened, he knew that voice anywhere. Michael was notorious for tormenting anyone he didn’t like in the youth home. John turned around, that was a huge mistake. As soon as he did, a shadowy figure quickly moved behind him and gagged him with a sock, restraining him to the chair in the process. “Do you realize how long we’ve been waiting to go on that trip?”, Michael asked him. “Mhmmpf”, was all John could say, the sock in his mouth now allowing him to communicate. “And you just had to ruin it by choosing to stay here, what’s wrong with you? Fucking dork!”, Michael exclaimed and produced a bar of soap out of his pocket, which he proceeded to stuff into a sock. The others that had entered the room did so as well. “Well, we’ll teach you to mess with our free time.” There was no warning at all before Michael started pounding on him with his makeshift weapon, not long after, the others joined him in beating the living crap out of John. When the deed was done, John was left bruised and bloodied, slumped in his chair. He had lost consciousness when the pain became too great to bear, but Michael had left him with a warning before that. “If you know what’s good for you, you won’t rat on us. And maybe you’ll think twice before screwing up like that again.” **** “Still too far back?”, John asked. Celestia’s mouth hung open and even Discord wore a mildly disgusted expression on his face. She quickly regained her composure. “No, that’s fine. I’m just a bit shocked. Why would anyone do that?”,she wondered. John snorted. “Oh that is easy, They blamed me for their trip being cancelled and let their frustrations out on me.” “But why would they do so?”, she asked again. “Well, I’m no expert, but I think I was a target of convenience, and since Michael didn’t like me to begin with, It must’ve seemed logical for them to pick me. He was their ‘leader’ so to speak.”, John elaborated. Celestia harrumphed, clearly displeased by Michael’s actions against John. “I think I can see now why you were so reluctant to meet me, John, apart from the entire ‘Other world’ thing.”, she said. John chuckled. “Well, that and the fact that I thought you were going to experiment on me.” Celestia frowned. “You should know, John, that I would never do anything to you against your will. I promise you that.” He smiled at that. “Thank you, your highness. That is good to know.” “You’re welcome John, but tell me, what were the immediate events leading up to you being here?”, Celestia prompted. John took a deep breath. “Well, I think I’ll continue my story shortly before I was fired from my job.” And he did just that. He told her how he eventually lost his ambition in school, finished his training to become a mechatronic, got fired, and spent the last few years living on the streets. When he got to the attempt on his life, his composure slipped and his voice became shaky. He chuckled weakly. “You know, It’s funny. You hear about crimes like that all the time, and yet I was still surprised, sad even.” John took another deep breath. “But, I only have myself to blame for that.” “What?”, Celestia asked, perplexed. “How could you ever think that?” “What do you mean, how could I think that? My actions led to that point. It was my fault that I became that way.”, he responded. “John, look at me.”, the solar alicorn demanded. He did so, moisture welling up in his eyes. “Don’t mistake other’s cruelty for being your fault.”, she exclaimed. “But it is.”, John started, his voice even shakier now, his lower lip beginning to tremble slightly. “It’s all my fault. I-if I had only been different… Then… Then…” He never got to finish the sentence, as Celestia quickly stood up, scooped him up with her powerful wings and embraced him in a vice like hug. “Shh”, she cooed. “It’s okay, none of it is your fault John.” There was no reply from John, only strangled sobbing, muted by Celestia’s fur. She eyed Discord. He caught her gaze and nodded, stood up and left the room silently. Celestia continued standing over John, keeping him in her hug, gently stroking his back with her wings. Eventually he calmed down again and opened his eyes. John met Celestia’s caring eyes and mumbled an apology. “Sorry, your highness.” She smiled down at him. “Dont be, John. We all need a good cry once in a while.” John laughed even though his throat was still a bit sore. “Then thank you, princess. I guess I really needed it.” “No problem, John.”, she reassured him. “I think that I more or less know the rest of your story. How are you feeling? Are you tired?”, Celestia inquired. “Yes, quite so actually. But it’s no problem, princess. I won’t fall over from exhaustion or anything, I’ve done that already so there’s no need for a repeat performance.”, John replied. The solar diarch chuckled. “Yes, it would be unfortunate if that happened. But it’s alright, John. You’ve told your tale in great detail and that’s more than I could’ve wanted. If you would like, I could show you to my guest quarters and you can join my sister and me for dinner. Does that sound acceptable?” John was stumped. “There is no end to your hospitality, is there?” He smiled. “Of course that is acceptable princess, I am very grateful for your kindness.” Celestia’s face brightened. “In that case, please follow me and I will take you to your room.” John and Celestia left the confines of the study and a short while later arrived at Princess Celestia’s personal guest rooms in the Solar Wing of the castle. The room itself was a few doors down the hallway from the Sun Princess’ own room. When she opened the doors to his room, John’s jaw almost met his feet on the floor, the interior was fit for the likes of an emperor, at least in John’s opinion. The walls were a bright white lined with golden accents and a small ribbon filled with murals lined the entirety of the room. The furniture seemed incredibly old and regal, John mused that Celestia herself might have decorated it. There was even a chair next to an inviting looking fireplace and the bed sitting between two enormous windows looking over a gigantic balcony was itself, humongous. It was lined with white silken bedsheets and an array of fluffy white pillows were placed at the head of it. The adjoining bathroom was probably something on the scale of a small wellness center but John couldn’t care less. He made a beeline for the bed and, after bidding Celestia goodbye, unclothed himself and jumped in. Indescribable, was the only word that could be used to describe the feeling of lying in this bed, and it was mere seconds before John found himself in the land of the peacefully resting.