Ch – 7
Coming to Terms:
When disaster strikes in our lives, the shock is inevitable. Whether it happens right away or days after the incident. The point is that you can’t run away from it, eventually, we all have to face the walls reality puts forth. In this dark time is when you can truly see your true self. Do you accept it and move on? Or do you use it as fuel for your anger?
For you see sometimes the disaster isn’t the worst part. What is usually the case is what happens after the disaster. This is what makes our world truly amazing. We get knocked down so many times only to get back up and fight once again. Our pasts may fade, but we always strive for the future. A place where everyone dreams to be.
When I awoke that morning, I knew my life would never be the same. My family and friends -no matter how little- were all gone. The world around me seemed to spin just laying in the bed, my frame of mind cracked. I realized that I now walked a path alone in the misty planes of life. The adventure and excitement I thought a new path would bring, vanished as repercussions of my choices came to fruition.
I realized that sometimes it's nice to walk a path with others rather than carve one yourself.
***
It is often said that when you are lost, to look up into the sky above and spot the sun. That the brightly glowing orb will tell you where you are. Well, there are two problems with that. First what happens when you find yourself on a completely different planet in a probably completely different solar system.
Why is that a problem? It’s a problem because the sun no longer rises and sets in the same direction. Maybe, by some huge stroke of luck it would be the same, but let’s be realistic here. Secondly, and probably my most favorite of them all, is what happens when you’re not outside?
It was these questions that riddled my mind as I followed Luna. Her hoofs clopped against the polished marble before echoing against the tapestry rich walls. Portraits of famous figures accompanied the prophecies of old. It really gets one to wonder how they light the candles so high on these chandeliers.
Shaking my head out of its current train wreck of a path, I looked onto Luna. Her midnight blue coat a stark difference to the area around her. Her strides were elegant yet relaxed. It was as if she emanated an aurora of determination, order, and loyalty. I really couldn’t believe that I had missed these tail-tell signs.
Reaching two oaken doors, Luna’s horn ignited in a beautiful blue glow. Looking away from the amazing sight I come to see the doors surrounded by the same color. Magic to me was just starting to settle in, and to be quite honest it scared me. Every pony -at least to my knowledge- had the capability to manipulate magic. This, in turn, meant that every single pony on this planet is to a frightening level, stronger than I.
Then again, I have yet to fully understand the limitations of magic. Who knows, maybe they’re only able to alter what their physical self can. Throwing that idea out of the way -for now- I looked out into the new room that the passing of the doors revealed.
To my utter surprise, the throne room lay ahead. Unlike the first time I was here, I could actually take in the detail and craftsmanship that went into making such a place. The marble flooring accented the fine royal red rug that spanned the entire room. It’s gold stitching glowing in the sun's rays that filtered through the large mosaic-ed windows. Each beam shattering into a multitude of color as it did so. I don’t think I have ever seen such a place filled with so much color before.
As Luna moved forwards, I followed in automatic mode. My mind relishing in the fact that I was able to be here and see this wonderful place. Potted plants seemed to hide the bottom of the pillars as water flowed next to them in parallel with the rug. The source came from behind the thrones themselves. Two small holes spewing forth the life-giving liquid.
“Ah, sister, what brings you here?” Celestia stated as she sat on one of the two thrones. Her gaze landing on me shortly after, it was rather unnerving for such a high-status person, or pony in this case, to be looking down upon me.
Luna smiles at her sisters greeting, “I have come here to request the cancellation of night court,”
“I take it that you’re going to be using this time to make Ari’s integration as smooth as possible?” Celestia questioned seemingly reading her mind. It kind of ticked me off that they were talking like I wasn’t here, but then again, they were talking about something that would benefit me. That being said, I still should be allowed to place in my own opinion on the matter, one of which I did.
Walking up next to Luna I greeted Celestia with a smile, “You don’t have to cancel any duties, I’m sure there are other ponies out there that need you other than me. I think I can handle myself for one night.” I comment towards Luna.
Out of all things Celestia was the one to break the silence with a small chuckle, “I think Luna is asking this more for herself rather than you Ari.”
A mask of confusion glazes over my face as I looked towards Luna then back to Celestia. Then it suddenly hit me, she was using me to get the night off. I’m sure even the princesses will take an excuse to relax when they can.
When I start to realize what was going on Luna spoke out, “It is not like that. This request is solely for the sake of making your transition here as easy as possible.”
Hearing this I look over to Celestia, “She just wants to play hooky doesn’t she,” I claimed in a monotone voice.
My thoughts were cemented in place when Celestia nodded to me. I gave her a small smile as I looked over to Luna. If I had a camera I would take a picture, she was completely dumbstruck. She moved her mouth to retaliate but all that happened was her eyes darting between me and Celestia.
“I think you may have broken her,” Celestia comments with amusement in her voice.
A sudden shift in movement caught the corner of my eye. For the first time since my arrival in the throne room, I took notice of the guards lining the walls. Each stationed evenly in-between each pillar. Their golden armor and long halberds somehow blending in with the rich marble.
With a long blink, Luna looked towards her sister. “I told you why I came here, are you okay with my request?”
At least she got right to the point, but that only sprung more questions. Why did she have to ‘request’ permission from her sister? Was it some kind of sibling thing, that they had to ask each other for permission before doing something? Or was it for the soul fact of respect, that she tells her sister in order to inform her just in case she came looking for her.
Either way, I didn’t take history or politics in any of my college courses. So, evidently, I just tossed all this aside assuming it was just the way it works. No need to question it when it seems to work flawlessly enough to support a utopia like this one.
“Of course, you can cancel night court, it is your time of rule,” Celestia stated cementing part of my train of thought. “But I do have one question before you leave,” Celestia continues.
“Yes, sister?” Luna replied.
“Oh it’s not for you, the question is for our dear friend Ari,” She then turned to look at me. I myself was taken quite off guard by this sudden spotlight I had found myself in.
“Uh, yeah shoot,” I acknowledge.
“How did you get Luna to stop using the royal WE. I have been trying for century’s now and she never seemed to stick with it as long as she has now.” Celesta questioned.
I let out a warm laugh, “I just told her if she kept using it in my apartment I was going to kick her out.”
Celestia looks to me then to Luna, “Really that’s all it took?” Celestia questioned.
I nod my head, “You have to realize that she was at a really hard crossroads at the time.”
Celestia seems to get the gist of what I was saying as she turns towards Luna, “It’s nice to see you talking without it. Even though it wasn’t me in the end that ultimately changed it.”
Luna hearing this puts on a sly smile, “But, it was under contract that we would speak only like that under thy roof!” Luna exclaimed, her shouts seem to be at least ten times louder here in Equestria. Hell, the throne room only made it worse with its large area for the sound to bounce around in.
I look at Luna with a serious expression, “You go back to using that voice, and I’ll tell Celestia about you attempting dark-” And that was all I was able to say before a blue hoof found its way into my mouth.
With her hoof in my mouth, Luna looked towards Celestia with a sheepish smile. I could tell that Celestia was curious about what she had done, but surprisingly pushed passed it when Luna replied, “It was nothing sister, I think Ari is still a bit out of it from the teleportation.” In her normal voice.
“Uh huh,” Celestia said letting out a shallow breath, “Well, if that is all you came here to talk about, I have to get day court started.”
“Yes, that was it,” Luna confirmed as the two of us turned and walked away.
“I would like to talk about your exploits on earth with the both of you,” Celestia stated before we could leave the throne room, “Since you’re not going tonight court, I would like to take that time to understand the situation better.”
Luna looked back at Celestia with a confused expression, “What do you mean ‘situation’?”
Celestia’s horn glowed with gold as we both got pushed passed the threshold of the oaken doors, “I know my sister, and I know her enough to know that she wouldn’t so easily drop the royal WE.” And just like that the two doors were closed leaving a rather flustered Luna, and a very confused me.
The both of us seemed to brush what Celestia said under the rug as we continued to walk the numerous corridors. I, myself, following Luna closely of course.
“Where we going now?” I ask keeping my eyes on her. Instead of the parent on earth, I felt like a child here. It was like I was 4 years old again in a large mall, for if I were to lose sight of my mother I would be lost forever. Did I just reference Luna as my mother? Oh god no.
With me scrubbing my mind of that thought, Luna responded, “Since I have the day off, I thought I would do the honor of setting up the process of making you a citizen.”
I looked at her as one of my eyes twitched, “You’re so sure that I’m going to stay here. How do you know that I won't just up and leave,” I commented causing Luna to gaze towards me.
“Because you know as well as I do that your life on earth is over,” Luna stated dropping the bomb.
I know I said it to myself multiple times already, but to have someone else say it like that really builds up the walls of reality. “Wow, way to lay it down easy. I thought you were here to make my transition as easy as possible.”
“And how would one transition without coming to the conclusion that this is the best way to continue your life. I was simply pulling off the bandage, it would have hurt more had I said that later rather than sooner,” Luna lectured.
What really hurt though was the fact that she was right. I was still harboring this thought that maybe there was something I can do to return to earth without picking up the title I had been received. As she said she ripped off the band-aid, it really shows how much someone cares for you when they are willing to be the slap in the face.
Picking myself up from that deep thought I pick another one in hopes for greener pastures, “How are we going to start this process?” I ask. Back on earth citizenship is pretty hard to get, and if Equestria is anything like most countries then I would have to wait at least a couple of years before I’m officially considered one of them.
“The citizenship test usually takes 4 years to complete, but since you’ve got a princess that can vouch for you I can knock it down quite a bit,” Luna stated with pride in her voice.
“Celestia will vouch for me?” I joke.
This, however, causes Luna to slap me across the face with her tail, “Very funny, if you would have met Celestia rather than me back on earth, you would have to go through the full 4 years. Celestia was the one that founded the Citizenship act while I was-” Luna stops there as she opens the door to a study of some sort.
She doesn’t pick up where she left off, not really thinking anything of it I look around the study. It had multiple willow tables that were organized neatly in a grid fashion. Multiple bookshelves adorn the walls housing hundreds of thousands of books and scrolls.
Without a word, Luna seats herself on a nearby cushion and manifests a complete scroll onto the table. As if that wasn’t enough to blow my mind, she did the exact same thing for an inkwell and a feather. Really sucks that Luna didn’t get to explore the Earth. I’m sure she would have realized how useless a quill and ink are compared to the ball point pen.
Glancing over to the scroll, I can see some of the basic stuff one would expect to be on a citizenship form. Luna levitates all three in front of me before setting them down. Picking up the quill I dip it in the ink and proceed to drip the ink all over the form. Good start, it sure doesn’t look like anyone foreign wrote this.
Eventually, it got so bad that I had to say something, “Hey Luna.”
“What is it, Ari?” Luna questions look towards me.
I pick up the paper and show her, “Didn’t think writing with a quill would be this hard.” I state with a sheepish smile.
Luna represses a chuckle, “It’s so cute, looks like a foal wrote it.” Luna stated as she took the paper in her magic to get a better look, “if not quills then what do your kind write with?” Luna questions making the paper completely disappear before summoning up another one. I’ll tell you what, that shit never gets old, one moment nothing the next something.
“On Earth, we evolved passed using quills and ink, we use the device known as a ball point pen,” I comment this time doing the lecturing. I have a feeling once she realizes the potential discoveries I hold she will eventually ask me a million questions about different inventions.
She frowns at my response, “We do not have this so-called ‘ball point pen’. It looks like I will have to do the writing.”
Not the one to argue, I allow her to write what I tell her to. A couple minutes later and the form is complete. Once again, she makes it disappear, “Alright done with that one,” she claims before summoning up a large stack of papers.
“We have to fill out all of these?” I question with dread in my voice.
Luna nods, “As I said my sister is rather fond of the citizenship act. The only way around it is through lots of paperwork.”
“Great,” I state with a defeated tone.
***
Looking outside one of the nearby windows, I took a sight of a couple ponies flying around in the late evening air. Their chatter drowning out the periodic quill scratching next to me. Luna had taken it upon herself to fill the rest of the forms out seeing as it was supposed to be filled out by a witness.
I, myself, -while very thankful for her assistance- opposite to contrary beliefs, I was bored out of my mind. The flying ponies outside were slowly losing their interest to me. I guess, four hours of watching them will do that to a person. Either way, the quill scratching soon ceased. Looking over to Luna I come to see her with a very relieved expression.
“Looks like you’re finally done,” I state looking towards the tower of paper.
Luna smiles as her horn glows, as does the stack of papers, “Remind me to revise the citizenship act with Celestia.”
“You really think she’s going to make it a bit easier?” I question.
Rolling her eyes Luna gets up, “I hardly think so, but it’s worth taking a chance.” Luna stated as the stack of papers all but vanish from existence. A reassuring pop echoed around the study as they did so.
Having done all the paperwork, me and Luna gets up from our respected spots and head back into the hallway. It was exactly the way we left it, guards manning the well-decorated walls. It sometimes makes me wonder how many years it took them to collect all these pictures. Which lead me to another train of thought.
How old was Luna? Surely, she must have been lying when she stated she was 26. There was no way she could be a co-ruler of an entire country at that young age. As we walked down the hall I looked up at Luna trying to decipher the mystery myself. Yet, I couldn’t pin her age. Mostly because I don’t know how and old pony looks towards a young one. Would they have a gray mane?
Shaking the thoughts off I scanned over Luna’s form with my eyes. She looked, at least to me rather young. Her mane was its normal blue with no signs of aging as well with her coat. Then again, she did have to ask permission from her sister, so maybe there was some truth to her tale.
Glancing behind, Luna took note of me staring at her, “See something you like?” Luna teased.
I, however, completely disregarded that statement and asked the question I had been trying to solve. “Are you really 26? I find It kind of hard to believe that someone that young could rule over a country,” Luna's smirk vanished at my statement as she refocused her gaze forwards, “Oh come one, it can't be that bad,” I state walking faster so I can walk next to her, “40? 50?” I guess.
“I have lived for more than two millennia,” Luna claimed.
I looked at her with a straight face trying to figure out if she was lying or not. She has to be lying, right? Being that old would mean you were pretty much immortal. When no waver in her expression was given, I let a little chuckle escape my lips.
“That one hell of an age gap if you ask me,” I state patting Luna on the back. As soon as my hand landed on the back of Luna all the guards in the hall shifted towards me. It was pretty creepy if you ask me, so in reaction, I quickly brought my hand back.
Luna looked at me with a smile, “Which means you’re like a foal to me.”
“Says the mare that wanted to stargaze with me,” I state with a little smirk of my own. “So, what does this title ‘Goddess of the Moon’ really mean? What did you do to get it?” I question as we took another turn in the hallway.
“If you can wait till dusk I will show you,” Luna commented leading me into a room. This one looking a lot like the last one we were in. Except there were no books, and instead of multiple tables there was only one large one.
Looking towards Luna I questioned, “What brings us here?”
“My sister wishes to talk to us. Day court should be ending at any time now, so she will be here momentarily,” Luna claimed taking a seat on one of the cushions.
Curious I ask, “Wonder what she’s gonna talk to us about?”
“Probably about the events that took place on Earth. I suggest that you don’t tell my sisters at my attempt to cast dark magic.”
“Why?”
“Because here in Equestria it is considered illegal to practice or attempt to cast dark magic. Dark magic is known to easily corrupt the user with the power it is able to possess. If my sister hears about my attempt, I’m sure trouble will follow.”
“Alright, but I’m sure she’ll let it go. After all, you were trapped in a place that held no magic, to begin with. Surely she would listen to reason.” I reply.
“Reason or not, I rather not complicate things further. I have had enough of forms and papers for today.”
“Point taken,” I stated taking this time to look around the room. Not much was different as I claimed before. The walls were made from wood with pictures of famous ponies. The marble floor was shined, as a large rug ran under the table. Other than that, the room was pretty much empty, in a nice organized way.
As Luna, had predicted the doors to the room once again opened to reveal princess Celestia. She looked like she had seen bettered days. No doubt that the court got the best of her. Even I can say that back on Earth court was pretty brutal for the judge.
“Did you have a good time?” Celestia asks as taking a seat.
I groan, “If you call filling out stacks upon stacks of paperwork fun then yeah, I had a real blast.” Luna seemed to nod with my response.
“Boring but completely necessary I’m sure. Now if you will take a seat I will like to start off this little discussion.”
Taking my seat, I look over to Luna then to Celestia, “Ari, if you would be so kind as to relay what had happened on Earth during Lunas stay.”
“Sure, not really that interesting up until the end but I’ll give it a go,” I claimed getting more comfortable on the cushion. “It all started almost a week ago, when my co-worker David told me to cover him for the night. Which of course meant that I had to close the store. When he had left, I started to take out all the trash which is when Luna just popped into existence. Which by the way you guys need to get better at. Both times I almost got killed by the arcs of lightning coming off those things.”
“Arcs of lightning?” Celestia asks with a confused expression.
“Yeah, it even happened when you arrived. First, it’s a floating white orb, then next lightning everywhere. If I didn’t hide behind that bench I’m pretty sure I would have been toast, literally. Is that not supposed to happen?” I question.
Celestia and Luna both look towards each other, “No, maybe it is due to the amount of magic I placed in the spell. It should have been like a normal teleportation.” Celestia summons a scroll, quill, and ink to her and places it on the table. After a couple of seconds, Celestia nods for me to continue.
“After I found Luna she was so drained that she just passed out right in front of me. I didn’t want anyone to find out there was a talking pony walking around. So, I took the liberty of taking her to my place to lay low. After that, we basically just chilled at the apartment till Alex stabbed me in the back and called in the police. Still, have no idea why he did it.” I state still a bit miffed that Alex would do that to me. If I ever see him again, I’ll make sure to sock him in the mouth.
Placing quill to scroll once again she quickly writes down some things, “are you sure that is all that happened?”
“For me, it was a pretty eventful week, usually I would just go to work, get home, and sleep,” I comment getting Celestia to let out a chuckle.
Settling back down Celestia's eyes my bandage, and I knew exactly what she was going to ask. “You seem to have a wound, care to elaborate?”
Having covered up many injuries in the past it took almost no effort -at leas on my part- to lie, “A small cooking accident, slipped while carrying a knife.” I state placing my injured hand on the table.
Luna looked over to Celestia with a straight face. Thankfully she bought it. “Well, it sure looks like you had a pretty relaxing stay on Earth.”
Luna nodded, “It was quite nice up until the incident.”
“Other than what I had already said that’s about it,” I concluded the story. It’s funny how one week could be summarized with a couple minutes of talking.
Hearing that Celestia let out a large yawn, “Excuse me, but with that I think I need to get some rest. Once again, thank you, Ari, for retelling what your experience was like when Luna appeared. While it was rather short I’m sure I got more than enough information.”
“Information for what?” I ask my voice laced with confusion.
“Ponies may be ‘lenient’ with other species, but I want to add in a little safety room. I plan to create a little article in the local news about you. This way when most ponies see you, they won't judge you harshly.
It seemed like an all around good idea to me, so I obviously had no objections. With a swift nod of my head, Celestia got up from her seat and bid both me and Luna a good night. Which was weird because I literally got up five hours ago, jet lag really fucks up your sleeping schedule.
“You got anything else planned for today?” I asked looking over to Luna.
Shaking her head, she replied, “Nothing particular as I did take tonight’s night court off.”
“Well I’m wide awake, I’ll probably stay up the entire night.” At my statement, Luna's ears seemed to perk up as her smile increased slightly.
Getting out of her seat Luna walked over to the door, “If you’re serious about staying up the entire night, I wouldn’t mind giving you a little tour of the castle.”
I nodded to her request, I knew nothing about this castle. It probably had everything you could ever need and more. “Sounds like a sound plan,” I state getting up from my position and wondering over to Luna’s side.
“Splendid, where shall we start?” Luna claimed clopping her two front hooves together.