Gifts and Curses

by flamevulture17

18. One

[Chapter 18]

One

---

Luna started to get a little anxious. Even though she gained a lot of perspective on Applejack's part, she couldn't help but be confused, not from her lack of understanding, but the way Applejack explained that Andrew (which is a strange name by the way) wasn't even aware of his alicorn qualities. She was intrigued by the attention to detail of his physical description and her observation of his speech.

“How does he not know he's an alicorn?” Twilight asked, still absorbing the mountain of information.

“Ah think it's because he don't even know what alicorns are. He asked us what they are.” Applejack stated. She'd been trying her best to repeat the last few hours, from their first meeting, to the last time she saw him before disappearing. “He refused to take off them dresses he wore so ah could show him ah was bein' honest. He ain't too shabby, but he gone actin' like he crazy. He even tell himself that.”

“That he's crazy?”

“Ya! Ah mean sure, he may be a wee bit strange, but he seem normal to me.”

“Did he say where he came from before he teleported on your farm?” Luna finally asked. It was probably the most important question she's asked all day to anypony and was eager to know the answer.

“Ah don't quite remember. He was scared when he first seen me like I was some kind of monster, sayin' that ah ain't real. Then he started spoutin' a lot of whowey. It made no sense to me.”

“On the contrary, Applejack,” Luna began. “I believe it is what doesn't make sense is most fascinating. You don't remember anything of the things he said. Maybe some things that you've never heard before.”

“Well, ah do remember him askin' if ah was human. Do ya'll know he's talkin' 'bout?” Applejack looked at the expressions of her purple friend and the midnight blue alicorn. It was hard to tell if they were confused or surprised. Twilight and Luna looked at each other.

“You don't remember anything else?” Twilight asked.

Applejack started to get a little annoyed, like the barrage of the same question began to feel like an interrogation.

“Nope.”

As much as Twilight was unsatisfied with the answer, she felt sorry for having to ask Applejack so many things that related to this Andrew character. Luna closed her eyes to think for a bit while Applejack continued the conversation. Pinkie Pie had been digging through Andrew's bag with Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo throughout most of the conversation between Applejack and Twilight as if they weren't really interested in anything else but the strange objects. Fluttershy and Applebloom were just curiously focusing her attention on the purple unicorn or farm pony as they spoke and Big Macintosh remained quiet. It continued that way for a while.

“Hey!” Pinkie suddenly blurted out, noticing the lack a of a certain somepony. She stopped examining the little shiny device in her hooves. “Where's Lyra? She's with you guys, right? She might know what this tiny shiny thingy is?”

Luna lost her train of thought and made a curious face. Fortunately, she wasn't getting anywhere with her thoughts. Along with Twilight, they glanced at Pinkie Pie holding a small, rectangular, black object made of some unknown material. It glistened when the sunlight shined through the window at a low angle. Before Pinkie changed the subject, the gray bag the fillies sifted through seemed unimportant to Luna and Twilight. Now it had everypony's attention.

“Good question,” Twilight replied, looking back at Luna. “She should have been here by now.”

“Patience, Twilight, give her some time if she needs it.” Even though she had faith in Lyra to collect whatever necessary, her time was indeed overdue, but only slightly. Nothing to freakout on. Probably not even worth pointing it out the way Pinkie did, but she didn't know any better. Luna was also aware of the lavender unicorn's habit of taking things too seriously, courtesy of her sister's description about it. She hoped Twilight would leave it alone. “It's not like we're on a schedule, strictly speaking.” Luna gave a weak smile.

Fortunately, Twilight decided not to press the issue further and walked over to Pinkie Pie. “What is it?”

“I don't know, maybe a yummy candy bar?” Pinkie proposed.

“It's a personal mirror,” Sweetie Belle suggested. “Rarity has one, but it doesn't look like that.”

“No no, it's a matchbox,” Scootaloo argued.

“Maybe it's one of them new foal toys,” added Applebloom. “Or jewelry of some kind.”

“Do you know what it is, Princess?” said Pinkie after all the suggestions so far.

“Afraid not. I've never seen anything like that before.” Luna began to study it more closely along with all the other things lying on the ground next to the bag.

“Where did you get them, Pinkie?” Twilight asked.

“Well, that pony you guys are talking about, he left this saddlebag here.”

Before Twilight could respond, the black box suddenly lit up and began to vibrate. It startled Pinkie, dropping the device on the ground. All eyes in the room were on the the device that periodically buzzed with a distinct sound and the bright screen emitting a blue light. As if it was a spider, the ponies closest to it backed away quickly. Even Big Mac seemed a little surprised. Luna did the opposite and advanced forward until her head was directly above the object, staring down at the screen.

*Zzt... zzt... zzt*

*Zzt... zzt... zzt*

…

Silence.

'One Missed Call', it read, with the symbol of what Luna recognized as a small white envelope.

Everypony looked at each other. Pinkie Pie seemed to be the most frightened, being terrified of buzzing things and all, but Fluttershy won by default. Luna stared intently at the device as the bright light went away and it lay dormant. Twilight inched forward to the Princess.

“What did it do?” she asked.

“I don't know, but whatever this is, I don't think it was made by ponies.”

---

Lyra and Andrew finally made it to Sugarcube corner. Neither of them were aware of how long it actually took them to walk several streets because of how occupied they were with a rather interesting conversation. Andrew pretty much asked the questions and Lyra answered him with high spirits. Every answer he received led to more questions, but Lyra was more than happy to respond to every one. The topic on humans was an exciting one, but Andrew grew worried.

“How many other... ponies... know about humans?” he asked as they entered the fuchsia doors of the sweet shop.

“I don't know.” she replied, closing the door behind her. “Everypony I know thinks they are nothing more than myth, but I know that's not true.”

“What about, um, your leaders?”

“Leaders? Oh, you mean the Princesses?”

He nodded.

“They know. In fact, Princess Luna should be here... somewhere.” Lyra scanned the room.

That got Andrew's heart beating faster with the mention of that name. Not knowing any of the authority figures of 'Equestria', the princess probably knew everything there is to know about anyone they want, kinda like the FBI or secret service. Despite his inter-dimensional foreign nature, he thought the chances of this princess character showing up at his exact location shortly after he arrived was slim to none. Maybe she tracked him.

*ping ping*

Lyra tapped on the silver bell that rested on the front counter of the shop. What followed was several seconds of sheer terror; actually more like a heart-pounding silence that lingered on for a short while.

During those seconds of standing behind Lyra, Andrew contemplated his options. He was scared stiff, causing him to freeze instead of flee. Although, fleeing was his first thought, but running away like a coward was probably not a good idea. The largest part of him wanted to go home, but he had no clue how to do that and maybe professional help was the only way out. Plus, he left his stuff behind and wanted them back. Flee or face, his uncertainty made his brain hurt, but one factor remained to stall his decision.

Lyra rang again.

*ping ping*

After another few seconds, they heard a creak echo above the staircase behind the counter and whatever feeling Andrew had stirred up inside began to swirl faster. A certain large red stallion walked down the steps and over to the counter.

Big Mac was about to greet the mint-green unicorn until he caught eye of Andrew trying to hide behind Lyra. She wasn't expecting Big Mac to be the one greeting them at Sugarcube corner, knowing he rarely visited the sweet shop and had supposedly some other matter to attend to.

“Why don't y'all join me upstairs. The Princess is expecting ya.” His green eyes were both intimidating and innocent at the same time. He motioned his head to focus his attention at Andrew.

“Hehe, maybe I should just stay down here.” Andrew nervously chuckled. “I'm in no rush. It can wait.”

Although Big Mac was aware of the whole 'Luna-searching-for-Andrew-ordeal-only-to-be-separated-by-a-staircase-and-a-door' situation that had now presented itself, he didn't particularly want to be involved, so he said nothing to persuade him. He was as patient as Fluttershy on this one.

“Alright then.”

Lyra nodded and followed after Big Macintosh up the stairs, but before they disappeared out of sight, Lyra glanced at Andrew for a moment like she just noticed something. With no time to think about it, Lyra's view was obstructed by a wall and a subtle drop in ambient lighting as they approached the second floor.

- - -

Andrew was alone in the middle of the lobby of Sugarcube Corner. Alone again since ditching the confines of the hospital and wandering aimlessly in a strange, yet somewhat serene place, trapped in the body of a unicorn. What scared Andrew the most was it all happened so fast. To think the day before, he was having a normal boring time at school with his friends and then THIS happens. Left with no early warning or other reasonable explanation for both flipping his sense of reality inside out and forcing him make difficult choices. He was beginning to think the nature of this world was to blame and somehow they collided, but modern physics hadn't proved that, let alone tested it.

Thinking about so many things at once gave Andrew a slight headache. Me motioned over to the small elevated sub-room – or whatever you want to call it – where he got a good view of the store. He examined the entire room, observing the spread of colorful treats and sugary foods displayed along the shelves, counters, and mini tables. It looked like the bakery down the street from his house, but with more color and pizzazz. Much like the combination of a bakery and candy store at a shopping mall. The interior definitely reflected the exterior of the building, unsure if the roof was actually edible.

Initially, Andrew had been telling himself that he was in some sort of lucid dream, like the Matrix, but the more he thought about it, the more real it felt. For one thing, the smell inside the shop was too distinct for his brain to artificially recreate and the colors were far too vivid and diverse. He could still feel the pain of his injuries reoccurring occasionally and he could hear the sharp sound of two objects hitting each other when he tapped a hoof on the wooden rail in front of him. The most notable of his senses had to be the super delicious taste of the blueberry muffin he accepted from the pink pony earlier, because the moment he took the first bite, it became very clear to him that he was neither dreaming nor dead, but physically manifested into the body of a pony creature and tossed from his own world into this one... so to speak.

All Andrew could do was think. Think think think think think. He thought of practical reasons for his transformation. He thought of why it had to be him of all people. He thought of his brother Alex and his best friend Dale and how they reacted to him. He also thought of the things he's done and said to get him this far in life. But the most important of all his thoughts was whether of not if he would be able to go home. That's all he really cared about.

The mosquito ringing in his ears that lingered after being lost in his thoughts was a clear indication that it was too quiet. If his equine sense of sound was sharper than that of his former self, then he would have been able to hear even the slightest muffled voice through the ceilings or the walls. However, none came. He just stood there with his attention on the staircase, waiting for the worst.

However, as luck would have it, the next sound Andrew heard came from the front door as a pony strolled through the shop without noticing him at first, trotting up to the front counter with what looked like a blue notepad in her mouth. He recognized her instantly.

“Bon-bon?” he said, almost forgetting her name.

His voice startled her a bit. She turned and found Andrew staring at her from behind the rail of the indoor patio beside her. She spit out the notepad onto the counter.

“Hey there Andrew. Do you know where Lyra is? I found her notebook.”

- - -

The instant the name 'Andrew' met the ears of Lyra Heartstrings, she froze. Her golden eyes contracted smaller than raisins and a shiver ran down her spine. To think that whole time she'd been talking to the very pony they were searching for without even knowing it, and did so informally. To her, it was a best foolish mistake she's ever made. Even more so than the first time she tried to bake, resulting in a hilarious failure. How could she be so clueless?

Princess Luna and Twilight noticed the complete mental breakdown as their unicorn companion stared straight ahead with her white filled eyes twitching. Something must have gone wrong.

“What's wrong Lyra?” Twilight asked. “What happened?”

“Uhh I- uhhh...” Lyra cleared her throat and came back to her senses. “Andrew you say?”

Luna nodded.

Lyra closed her eyes and took one long deep breath. She let out a small laugh. “I, uh, hehe, I met him.”

“You did!?” Luna blurted out this time, the volume not quite as loud as the Royal Canterlot Voice though. Luna and Twilight looked at each other. “Where is he now!?”

“In the lobby.”

Right then, Princess Luna surprised everypony in the room by illuminating her horn at once and disappearing in a flash of white light, leaving everypony staring at each other.

- - -

*ZAP*

All of a sudden, the sound of electric static and a spherical burst of light manifested in the middle of the lobby of Sugarcube Corner.

“Ahh!” shrieked Bon-bon, falling to the floor as she was pushed aside by the initial pulse of energy.

Andrew was startled as well, but simply reacted through instinct by ducking his head down below the wooden rail to shield his eyes and hide from whatever teleported without warning. That's one way to interrupt a conversation. He remained hidden from view, regardless of who or what had appeared.

As Bon-bon collected herself off the floor, she turned her gaze back to find Princess Luna standing in the center of the store lobby, with her regal, blue mane waving in the nonexistent breeze. At first, Luna's head bounced around her immediate vicinity as if she was looking for something, unaware of the light-brown Earth pony she tripped up.

“Luna?” Bon-bon finally said.

The midnight-blue alicorn jumped at the familiarity of the voice.

“OH!” She snapped her head behind her. “So sorry of me, Bon-bon, I didn't see you there.”

“No no, it's fine. It was just a bit unexpected.” Bon-bon started to get annoyed to all the surprises.

Luna continued to scan the entire lobby by swinging her body a full three hundred and sixty degrees, but found nopony else but Bon-bon.

Not long after her unwarned teleportation, a herd of hoofsteps rushed down the stairs to join the Lunar Princess. Twilight, Lyra, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Big Macintosh, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Applebloom filled the room with as much curiosity as Luna. Fluttershy was the last to enter the room, attending to the scene of perplexed ponies.

“What are you doing here, Bon-bon?” Lyra said, adding a hint of regret from their earlier encounter.

“I found your notebook you were looking for,” she replied, trotting over to the front counter. “I thought I'd bring it to you since you were eager to find it.”

Lyra smiled, levitating the blue pad and slipping it into her saddlebag. “Uh... thanks.”

“What's going on?” her friend asked.

“Where did Andrew go?” With a different mental attitude about him now, Lyra felt weird for saying his name. Again, she couldn't help but feel like a complete sap for not knowing sooner.

“Well sure, he's-” Bon-bon paused, turning her head to Andrew's general location.

Everypony's eyes followed the brown mare's gaze, stopping directly on the sub-room. Out of everyone present, Luna was the most anxious, while Lyra was especially zealous for what would happen next.

- - -

The limbs of the turquoise stallion behind the rail shivered in the uncomfortable position he was in. Andrew refused to make a move in any way so he could hear the commotion going on merely a couple meters away. Some familiar voices, others not. He eyes were too afraid to blink and his breathing silenced to maximize sound clarity.

Even with all his effort to stay concealed, they already knew where he was hiding when Bon-bon finished talking. I was only a matter of time before he'd have to come out of his hiding spot. One voice in particular sounded formal in a way that seemed superior over the other, majestic even. If it was the princess, then it was too early, having not enough time to come up with something credible to say for an alibi. Surely a simple 'hello' was easy enough, but anything after that would have to be carefully planned if he were to be asked (or ask) questions regarding their situation.

The voices soon stopped, causing his Andrew's heart to beat faster. He didn't hear any footsteps or any sound indicating movement. Those many seconds of silence was like a dramatic pause before the revealing of something important. Obviously, this was something important. Like a quiet storm, it was rather unsettling. Only when they ask from him to show himself, he would.

Not long after the silence began, a single soft voice called out.

“A- Andrew?”

- - -

Luna rose a hoof as a request that nopony move. She didn't want him to see them as a threat. It would be a bad start. She waited for confirmation through nods from each of them and then spoke. Her first word to him would be his name, something that usually worked with starting a conversation. Though, she had no idea what she wanted to say or what his response would be.

“There's nothing to be afraid of,” she reasoned with a voice that sounded like she was talking to a foal. “We just want to talk.”

Shortly, she heard a muffled shuffling noise, then a head of a unicorn slowly rose above the level of the rail. As if the confrontation couldn't get any more dramatic, his head stopped halfway, only showing his mane, horn, and then his eyes.

“Yo,” he said as his eyes studied the room full of colorful ponies. His gaze suddenly coming to a halt at the tall, midnight-blue unicorn... with.... waving hair? ...and... wings!

Princess Luna cocked an eyebrow, unfamiliar with the use of that idiom.

“Hello. We-”

Before Luna could say another word, Andrew's quickly disappeared out of sight to hide again.

“No no no no no no,” Luna begged. “Do not be alarmed! You have nothing to fear from us.”

“Yes I do!” he cried.

“Please, let us explain. I know this must be difficult for you, I can see why you are afraid. We are here to help.”

That last word hit Andrew the most. It was a relief to hear them coming from the tall, blue, magical horse (which Andrew assumed was too tall to be called a pony).

“We want to help,” Luna continued. She tried to sound as professional as possible. “If you allow us to tend to your situation, we may be able to come up with a solution that works for everypony.”

Andrew took a deep breath, and unwillingly poked his head out, rising his head slower than the first time.

“Am I under arrest?” he asked, hoping that wasn't the case.

Luna's eyes showed profound empathy for what he must think of her. She was different from everypony else in the room and appeared the most intimidating to foreigners. This case was no exception.

Luna shook her head. “Quite the opposite.” She took a couple steps forward. “But first, let me formally introduce myself. I am Princess Luna, keeper of the night, younger sister of Princess Celestia, keeper of the day, royal rulers of the peaceful egalitarian nation of Equestria. You can call me Luna. I am pleased to welcome you to our beloved country.”

Somehow, Andrew acquired a boost confidence and rose his head completely above the rail, but wasn't comfortable enough to move from his position. He wasn't sure if the Princess was actually being sincere about welcoming him. With over half a dozen pairs of eyes on Andrew, he was slow to respond after the Princess paused for a moment, assuming she waited for him to speak.

“That explains a lot.”

“I presume it is a lot to take in.”

“Kinda. So what do you call yourself?”

“What do you mean?”

“You're like a unicorn with wings, and your hair is waving and stuff. That's crazy.”

“I am one of only a handful remaining from the species known as an alicorn, a unicorn-pegasus. The nature of my mane and tail of which you speak is a part of us. We must keep up our appearance to appeal to our little ponies. Oh, and might I introduce to you, Twilight Sparkle,” Luna gestured a hoof at the lavender unicorn. “And Lyra Heartstrings, who you have already met.” She paused and looked at Andrew. “If you don't mind, I'd like you to join the rest of us in the room and introduce yourself in any way you feel comfortable.”

Andrew stared back at Luna with a hint of refusal, but there was no time to argue with the ruler of an entire nation. He was hardly comfortable with anything now. He finally got his legs to move after almost forgetting how to use them. He stepped to the side and down the two steps, catching Luna and Twilight's attention when they caught sight of the shirt that covered most of his body. He stopped directly at the base of the steps. Unsure if pleasing the fifth was going to help him out or if any human law applied to Equestria, it was probably unlikely that these ponies would understand. Andrew had never been more nervous in his life.

He cleared his throat.

“Ahem, right, um, okay, my name is Andrew, but you probably already knew that huh? I'd wanna know why I'm here.”

“Why are you here?” Twilight said, having felt bad to have asked so suddenly.

“I was hoping you could tell me,” he stated. “Please don't tell me this is all a joke.”

“A joke?” Lyra said.

“Yeah. I mean turning me into a unicorn is not cool. It's not funny and my life is bad enough as it is.” His said loudly, almost yelling at them for his misfortune. With so many ponies present, he forgot just how ambivalent and curious they were around him.

“Why would we ever do such a thing?” Luna sincerely said.

Andrew felt like the knot in his mind had finally untangled. “Oh, uh, I don't know. I just thought... you... had something to do with this. Is there somewhere else we can talk, ya know, more private?”

“Of course,” Luna turned to Pinkie. “Pinkie Pie. Would you lead our guest upstairs?”

“Okie dokie.”

Andrew managed a small chuckle, but before he was able to follow the bouncing pony, Lyra interrupted. “Hold on, I have one question that everypony would like to know the answer to. Where did you come from?”

Each of them, especially Applejack, focused their attention on the foreign unicorn. As much as Andrew wanted to tell them, his past experience with giving them the name of his home state was met with the same misunderstanding. His mistake all along was not being more specific.

“Uh, you really want to know?”

They nodded.

“I don't think it exists here.”

Everypony's expressions turned puzzled. How can you say that your home doesn't exist?

“Is it near Equestria?” Twilight asked.

“No.” He paused as none of them had anything else to add. “Does the United States of America sound familiar to any of you?”

Everypony shook their head, except for Lyra, who had heard of the name once before in one of her books.

“Well that's where I'm from,” he declared. Like a heavy payload that has been lifted off his shoulders, he felt better having said that information, oddly enough. He continued without hesitation. “I live in the city of St. Louis in the territory of Missouri. I can say that, where I'm from, Equestria does not exist. None of this should be scientifically possible.”

The moment he said the word scientifically, Twilight's glee grew tenfold. Her mind was jumping with a joy that she tried to control and keep from escaping into a physical action. Not only did she, Lyra, and Luna suspected he was a being from another world, but he was apparently intelligent enough to be aware of the impossibilities were now forced upon him, unfortunately. She could definitely relate and feel sympathy for him, having had similar instances when things didn't seem possible. Her mouth hung half-open.

Luna tried her best to refrain from asking more questions, especially those that involve personal interest, until she was someplace more secluded. The rest of the ponies weren't technically allowed to engage with any supernatural incidents of this magnitude, but it was already too late. Since nothing like this had ever happened before (except for maybe the previous event a century and a half ago), somepony was bound to find out sooner or later. Her little ponies were simply not ready for news of the existence of inter-dimensional beings with untold capabilities. All Luna could do was take the situation out of their hooves before it could get any worse.

“My little ponies,” she began. “In the interest of time and royal measures, I request that you all carry on with your day while I speak with Mr. Andrew. I will see to it that our new friend here receives our full care and hospitality. That is all.” For once, knew what it felt to be Celestia with the royal requesting and stuff. She should do it more often with less soft language.

Every other pony in the room looked at Luna and nodded in agreement. The Cutie Mark Crusaders reluctantly waddled after Fluttershy out the front door. Applejack followed after Big Mac, but paused before Andrew to say her farewell, gave him a gentle pat on the back, and trailed after her brother. Pinkie and Twilight waited at the base of the staircase for Luna and Andrew. Bon-bon was the only pony who refused to comply, but eventually agreed after it took a little convincing from her friend Lyra.

Luna gestured a hoof for Andrew to follow Pinkie and Twilight to the second floor. He obeyed. Andrew had some trouble with the steps, even for a second time, but Lyra stood by his side to assist.

The five ponies strolled into Pinkie's room where he spotted a mess of his personal things on the floor. He rushed ahead of Pinkie and Twilight to collect his things. With the inability to pick things up, he simply slid the items next his bag, noticing that none of them were visibly damaged. Once he finished, he looked up to find one less pony in the room and the door closed. A cold shiver ran down his body and, strangely enough, felt it down the length of his tail.

“Are those your things?” Twilight asked.

“Yeah. What did you do to them?”

“Nothing! We're just curious. It's just that one of them did something.” Twilight kept her eyes on the black device that vibrated earlier.

“Which one?”

“That small black one.” She pointed a hoof at it.

“What it do?”

“It started buzzing like a bee.”

Andrew looked down at his phone, which appeared lifeless. With difficulty, he managed to press the green button and his eyes suddenly went wide.

“Whoa!”

“What happened!?” they mimicked his expression.

An awkward silence hung over them as they stared at him staring down at the black box. He looked at them and smirked.

“I have three bars.”

“Three what?” said Luna.

“And one missed call... from Dale? What the hell?”

“What does that mean?”

“It means my phone works and I can call him back. Hmm...”

“What's a phone? Call who back?” Twilight stepped closer to Andrew as he stared at the device.

He then looked up at her. “You don't know what a telephone is?”

They shook their heads.

“Well it's just a cellphone that instantly lets me talk to people far away.”

Their eyes grew wide with amazement. He expressed his content with a small laugh from their reactions. He had a feeling the didn't have knowledge of high-level technology judging by the town's initial resemblance to old times.

“How is that possible?” Twilight insisted.

“I have no idea, I just know how to use it.”

“How DO you use it?”

“Hold up!” Luna roared, startling each of them. She turned to both mares. “Please, let us focus on a more important question.”

Lyra and Twilight immediately propped their heads up in realization, then gazed back at the oddly dressed stallion with an eagerness level at maximum. Luna cleared her throat.

“We would like to know who you truly are?”

Comments

[notstevedobbs]

"...because he don't even know what alicorns are"
"He done ask us what they are."
"but he gone actin' like he crazy. He even tell himself that.”
Poor Applejack must have been hit in the head with a cement block. Don't know if I didn't notice it in the previous chapters, but the introduction in this one has her talking like she's fresh off of Jerry Springer, rather than the usual Southern-Farm twang

[Hawkx1]

Finally I was about to go searching for an "Oh Come On" Sweetie Belle emoticon glad to see he finally meets the ponies looking for him

[Snadz]

so the talk begins

[KvAT]

Sloooog