The train chugged its way through the verdant rolling fields and hills of central Equestria as the ponies around me continued chatting with each other. At the moment, Rarity was waxing enthusiastically about the possibility of opening a boutique in Canterlot. Apparently it was something she had been planning for some time now.
I participated in their conversation and asked a few questions occasionally, but I had never been a fan of small talk. I kept myself busy, mostly by taking in the scenery as it passed by. Farms dotting the landscape in the distance, and a few times the train ran across a bridge or past a small stream. Even with the noise of the train, this part of Equestria seemed idyllic and pure.
“Hey, Magnus,” Twilight said, garnering my attention. “You’ve been awfully quiet. Are you nervous?”
I nodded slowly. “Yes, but also a bit excited.” I leaned back in my seat, crossing my arm and stretching out my legs. It wasn’t a problem since most ponies curled up on their seats if they had one by themselves, or as in this case, sat on their rumps with their hind legs flat on the bench. “It’s a new place, full of ponies I don’t know. I really don’t know what to expect from them.”
Twilight smiled. “You’ll be okay. Ponyville is a friendly town. Plus, you won’t be the first stranger to pass by. There’s a zebra living in the Everfree Forest, and we’ve had a minotaur and a griffon who visited as well.”
“Speaking of the Everfree Forest,” Applejack chimed in, “there are timberwolves, manticores, cockatrices, ursa minors, parasprites, even Discord.” She chuckled. “Trust me, Sugarcube, you won’t be the strangest character we’ve had in Ponyville.”
“That’s a bit unfair,” Fluttershy added in what I had come to dub ‘her usual demure tone of voice’. “Some ponies call Discord strange, and while it’s true that he sometimes causes, um, chaos, he’s really sweet once you get to know him.”
‘And she had to bring him up now that I had forgotten about him. Dammit.’ That chaotic entity had somehow ended up settling in Ponyville, right where I was headed. Celestia and Luna had talked about him, but they had failed to mention what he looked like. In my mind, I had created what I would call a fairly good representation of a chaos spirit: start with some Lovecraftian whispers in the deepest recesses of the human mind where only madness existed, sprinkle a little bit of Warhammer 40K chaos onto it, and BAM! Discord.
Or I could simply wait and see what kind of creature he was, or ask Twilight. It didn’t matter—I would probably run into him soon enough. I had a strange feeling that I would know who he was the moment I saw him.
It was then that I noticed a pair of inquisitive eyes staring at me from the other end of the car. A little filly peeked over the bench at me, ducking for cover when I looked straight at her. She wasn’t gone for long, though, as she moments later couldn’t resist taking another peek. It was actually adorable the way she would duck and slowly reappear, those huge, innocent eyes peering at me while resting her hooves on the top of the backrest. While pretending not to see her, I started making funny faces to see if I could draw a reaction from her, at first going unnoticed by my traveling companions. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the little filly looking at me, obviously confused at first, but it didn’t take long before she started giggling each time I made a face. A mare that sat next to the filly—most likely her mother—took notice of her daughter’s laughter, and looked around to see what amused her so. I quickly assumed a bored façade, but the moment she looked away, I made a face which again caused the filly to burst into giggles.
While puffing out my cheeks, Pinkie burst into laughter. “You look like one of Fluttershy’s squirrels! They stuff their mouths until their cheeks are all puffy!”
The rest of the group all turned to me, catching my cheeks deflating. Looking at me with inquisitive eyes, they soon started chuckling alongside Pinkie.
“What are you doing?” Twilight asked with a giggle, to which I nodded towards the filly. I made another silly face, and on cue, the filly began giggling once more. My little act made Twilight smile. “See? You’re not scary. You can make children laugh.”
I made a final silly face, which the mother caught sight of. At first she appeared to be horrified, but when she realized I was the source of her daughter's mirth, her expression faded and she did something I did not expect: smile.
I returned the expression. “Yeah, guess I jumped to conclusions.”
***
“We will arrive in Ponyville in five minutes. Please ensure that all your belongings are accounted for,” the conductor announced as he wandered through the car. Ponies began to gather their things. Most of the passengers only carried saddlebags which they had stuffed underneath their seats. My backpack had rested safely at my hooves for the duration of the ride.
“How long did that take?” I asked as I hefted my pack onto my lap. “Felt like it took forever.” Although Ponyville was somewhere around twenty-five kilometres from Canterlot, we hadn’t travelled in a straight line. We had made several brief stops near some farms, where a few locals had loaded cargo onto the train.
“About two hours,” Twilight replied as she picked up her own saddlebags.
‘Huh, it felt way longer for some reason.’
The train began to slow as we came out of a curve. I looked out the window and spotted the town and its train station just a few hundred meters away. It looked quite small from this distance. Most of the houses appeared to be constructed out of wood and painted in bright colours, a clock tower protruding from amongst the many roofs. Towering above all was a shimmering spire that reflected sunlight, which had to be Twilight’s castle. From a distance, it looked like a tree made of glass. I felt a shiver of excitement and trepidation run down my spine.
The train finally came to a stop at the station. As expected, there were ponies waiting on the platform. Picking up our luggage, we made our way to the door and exited. Twilight was the first to step outside. I hung back, steeling myself for what awaited me.
Finally taking that first step into a new town, I was met by the sight of perhaps thirty ponies in all, some of whom carried luggage, meaning they were waiting to board. What idle small talk I heard instantly transformed into utter silence the moment they saw me exit the train. As had become customary, they simply gawked at me before bursting into a flurry of whispers.
“The human is here?”
“Why did it come?”
“Perhaps it’ll stay with Princess Twilight?”
“Maybe that’s why Mayor Mare is here.”
Applejack nudged my leg. “Come along, Sugarcube, ain’t nothing to be ‘fraid of.” She then set her eyes on the crowd, frowning at them. “Y’all have nothin’ better to do that just look at him? Shame on you!” Applejack’s abrasive tone jolted the small crowd into action, with most of the ponies starting to board while some platform workers began loading and unloading cargo.
“The nerve of some ponies,” Applejack muttered under her breath.
“Now now, Applejack, they are simply curious. I do remember a certain mare that also couldn’t keep her eyes off Magnus when she first saw him,” Rarity commented with a titter.
“You were no better,” Applejack replied with a smirk.
While Applejack and Rarity continued their little verbal tit-for-tat, I looked around for where Twilight and Spike had gotten to. I spotted the pair speaking to an earth pony mare. She had a very light brown coat and two-toned grey hair and tail. She wore glasses and had a white and green collar around her neck. The mare’s eyes shifted from Twilight to me and back again.
Applejack nudged me and nodded to the mare. “That there is Mayor Mare. Why don’t you be neighbourly and go introduce yourself?” Seeing that she was someone of importance and had recently been in touch with Celestia and Luna, and probably had all manner of dealings with Twilight, I figured that Applejack’s suggestion had merit.
I walked towards the two mares, the rest of the group in tow. Twilight turned to us as we approached and did the introductions. “Magnus, this is Mayor Mare, the Mayor of Ponyville.” Her somewhat concerned expression worried me a bit. After all, she was suddenly saddled with hosting an alien in her town. Who needed that kind of stress? “Mayor Mare, this is Magnus Powell, the one Princess Celestia and Princess Luna mentioned in their letter.”
I crouched down so that I was at approximately eye level with the mayor and held out my hand. The mayor hesitated for a second before gently wrapping her foreleg around my hand and shaking gently. “Welcome to Ponyville, Mister Powell. We’ve eagerly been expecting you.”
“We?”
“All of Ponyville,” the mayor replied. This time she smiled, although it appeared slightly forced. “Just this morning I held a town meeting, explaining to the citizens of our town that you will be staying with us for two weeks. I thought it would be a good idea to give the Ponyvillians a fair warning that they will be seeing you wandering our streets. I hope that you’ll enjoy your stay in our fair town.”
“Thank you, I’m sure I’ll like it here.” I stood up and looked around. Other than the passengers and the ponies working the station, there wasn’t a crowd as I had expected. For once, I was happy I was wrong.
We started making our way into town proper, encountering a few curious ponies along the way. As expected, they came to a sudden stop when they noticed me, whispering soon ensuing. I knew that would happen, so I didn’t pay them much attention. The train station wasn’t far from the town itself, and we quickly came to the first houses. They were as colourful as I remembered looking through the telescope back in Canterlot. Every single house in sight was made of wood with thatched roofs. Surrounding each house was a small garden, with some homes possessing flower boxes on their second storey windows. While walking fairly close to a house, I took notice of the height of the entranceway and quickly came to the conclusion that I would have to do a lot of bending to enter any normal Equestrian house or store. Whatever place I decided to live in would have to be custom-made for me, or for someone my height. Outside the houses, there were ponies doing everyday chores, such as hanging up laundry, tending to the flowerbeds, with even one pony mowing the lawn with an old fashioned mower, the type you had to push.
After crossing a small bridge, we arrived at the town square, which the houses were arranged around, in the middle of which stood a tall, round, wooden building, much larger than any other house. Also present was a plethora of ponies. Market stalls were set up everywhere along with carts, tents, baskets, and open crates of produce, their owners selling their wares. Ponies of all types walked around, some standing in lines at stalls. We quickly drew their attention, and with a collective gasp, the buzz of whispers and conversation filled the town square.
From the other end of the town square, I heard someone yell, “The horror!” twice, and as quickly as it came, the voice became silent. I internally recoiled at that, the slur striking me harder than I would have thought possible. I could accept being called a creature because, technically, I was a creature of some kind, as were ponies. But horror? My earlier excitement faded slightly. I knew this would happen. Perhaps in the eyes of some ponies, I was nothing but an abomination.
I frowned as I looked in the direction the jeer had emanated. 'Let them think that. I know better. You and those like you aren’t going to get to me.'
We continued our walk through town square, heading straight towards the large building. Vendors and their customers left their stalls and began crowding around us, shooting careful glances my way. Mayor Mare and Twilight walked up the steps while I remained at the bottom with the rest of our group. The crowd gathered around us, keeping their distance from me.
Mayor Mare cleared her throat, garnering everyone's attention. “Fillies and gentlecolts, ponies of Ponyville. Earlier today, I told you all that we would have a very special guest visiting our fair town.” She then looked to me with a smile. “And he has just arrived on the train along with Princess Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Spike. Our very own Princess Twilight would like to say a few words.” The mayor stepped aside, giving way to Twilight. The crowd cheered and stomped their hooves.
“Thank you, Mayor Mare,” Twilight said politely and cleared her throat, looking at the expectant ponies gathered before her. “As Mayor Mare mentioned, Magnus, the human from Earth, will be staying in Ponyville for two weeks, and during this time, he will residing with Spike and myself in the castle. He is here to learn from us, our ways, how we live, work, interact with each other, as well as our customs. During the first week, Magnus will spend one day each with my friends, during which we will all teach him various things. At the end of this week, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna will visit Ponyville to see how much Magnus has progressed. I’m sure that Magnus will have gained a lot of knowledge by then.”
The crowd once again stomped their hooves at the mention of the elder alicorns. They must really be adored if even the mention of their names could incite such an exultant reaction.
“As for the second week, we haven’t really planned anything yet. We will probably figure something out by then. Don’t be surprised if you see Magnus going for a walk, or perhaps visiting the market. I’m confident there’s much in Ponyville he wants to see.” Twilight set her eyes on me and smiled, eliciting an immediate feeling of apprehension bubbling from within me. “Magnus, why don’t you come up here so that you can introduce yourself to everypony. Maybe you have a few words to say?”
‘A speech. In public. In front of at least a hundred ponies? Murphy is here!’
While Twilight’s friends excitedly cheered me on along with several other ponies, who probably wanted to hear the alien speak, I rapidly shook my head while hissing my refusal through clenched teeth. There was no way in hell I was going to improvise a speech. I had never done it before and I sure as hell wasn’t about to do it now.
More and more ponies joined in on the cheering, and while it was nice to hear that a few ponies didn’t appear be afraid of me, Twilight cocked her head to the side in confusion.
“Darling, what’s wrong?” Rarity asked, seeming bemused at my insistence at not speaking.
I leaned down so she could hear me. “I don’t like crowds, and I especially don’t like giving a speech in front of a crowd.”
Twilight heard me and focused her attention on the crowd again. “I’m sorry, everypony, but it appears Magnus is a bit shy. Maybe some other time then.”
The crowd let out a disappointed ‘aww’, though I quickly dismissed Twilight’s suggestion, confident I would never do it.
“In any case,” Twilight continued, “you’ll see Magnus every single day from here on out as he becomes acclimatized to Equestria. He has much to learn from us, and even though it may take some time, I’m sure he’ll be able to find his place among us. Wish him good luck!” The crowd let out a loud cheer along with stomping their hooves, the ground actually shaking from the impact. It was a pleasant change of pace compared to my earlier encounters with ponies. While the Ponyville ponies had gawked as well, it seemed to me as if they had quickly come on board with my presence. Mayor Mare’s warning earlier in the day might have contributed to it.
With the speech concluded, Twilight came down and joined us, and together we moved on. “Where are we going?” I asked as the crowd dispersed, resuming their routine. Some ponies simply couldn’t keep their eyes off me, most noticeably a trio of fillies attempting to hide behind a cart filled with apples.
“My castle. I’m sure you want to get settled in after the train ride. We can also have lunch if you’re hungry.”
“Sounds like a good idea. I haven’t had anything since breakfast,” I answered.
“Food sounds mighty fine, but Ah think Ah’ll head back to Sweet Apple Acres. There’s always something that needs doing, and Ah missed Granny’s cooking,” Applejack interjected as she headed down a street that presumably led out of town. “Ah’ll see ya’ll later tonight, right?”
“Oh, you betcha,” Pinkie replied, sounding excited. “It’s at seven tonight!” She turned to the rest of us. “Seven sharp! I have so much to do! Bye!” With those parting words, Pinkie sped away faster than the laws of physics should allow her to do, leaving a puff of dust behind.
While scratching my head, I wondered if a lifetime spent in Equestria would ever make me able to understand that pink pony. She seemed to be capable of doing things that shouldn’t be possible. The rest of the group smiled to each other knowingly, causing me to frown in consternation.
“Well, I believe I shall return to my boutique. Our stay in Canterlot has left me with some ideas I would like to get down on paper.” Rarity levitated her luggage. “Sweetie Belle usually comes home for lunch at this hour, so I need to prepare a small meal for the two of us. See you tonight. Ta-ta.” Rarity cantered away, several suitcases floating behind her. I didn’t even know unicorns could levitate multiple objects at once. I wondered how difficult it would be to do something like that. I should try it with pebbles.
Rainbow hovered next to us, looking up at the sky. “No clouds in sight; think I might head home for a nap. Sounds like we’re all gonna stay up late tonight.” She yawned and rubbed her eyes before looking back to us. “Probably Sugarcube Corner, right, Twi?”
Twilight giggled. “Pinkie didn’t say where, so I guess so.”
“Awesome! Catch you later!” Rainbow pumped her wings once before catching herself. “Oh yeah, Magnus, welcome to Ponyville. Make yourself at home.” She grinned before flying away towards the outskirts of town.
Since we were heading to the castle to unpack our stuff, Fluttershy joined us on our way, informing me that she didn’t live that far away from the crystal structure. Being a pegasus, she could easily fly there. I did notice that she spent most of her time on the ground, in direct contrast to Rainbow Dash.
“I hope my animal friends are okay,” she murmured while we walked, sounding rather worried. Then again, in the short time I had known her, I had come to assume that was her normal state. “Perhaps I should have returned earlier…”
“Didn’t you have someone to watch over your critters?” Spike asked. He had dismounted Twilight, preferring to walk.
“I did… I asked Discord. He’s done it before, but not for this long. I hope nothing’s happened to them.”
I had to suppress the urge to laugh. Having a chaos god take care of animals? From what I had been told of Discord, he didn’t sound like a likely candidate. No, I had the distinct feeling that the last time Fluttershy saw her animals was probably the last time she would ever see them.
We slowly approached the crystal castle, its location a bit away from the centre of town. It stood relatively far away from nearby houses, probably built there to avoid blocking out the sun from its neighbours. From a distance, it appeared unreal, like a solid block of crystal that had been slowly and perfectly shaped into an architectural masterpiece which had a barely visible rainbow aura surrounding it. Flags and stars decorated the castle, while details in gold gave it a flair of muted style. However, the colours of the crystal tree were impressive. Starting at its base, it had a dark blue coloration, the tints becoming lighter the higher the structure went. At the centre it was sky blue, but at the top it was almost the same colour as Twilight’s fur. Its shape—that of a tree—must have been carefully carved over a long period of time.
Thoroughly impressed, I whistled at the sight. “That must have cost a fortune to build.”
“Actually, it was free. Sort of. It grew from a box.” I looked over to Twilight, my mouth flattening as I awaited further clarification. She noticed and added, “It’s true. After my friends and I defeated Tirek, this castle grew from a crystal box.”
I nodded. It wasn’t the strangest thing I had heard so far. “Must have been one giant box of cereal then.”
“It was a crystal box, about the size of Spike,” Twilight replied, not even hesitating at the outrageous claim. I would have accused her of messing with me, or using her magic to play with the laws of physics, but I never got that far as a rather strange sight came into view.
From a road to our right came a bizarre creature sprinting towards us. It was not a pony, or any other creature I had seen so far during my stay. I actually had a bit of a problem telling what exactly this new entity was. It appeared serpentine in form, not like a dragon, but more like an actual snake. It even had a pair of wings on its back, though oddly they were not the same. One wing had feathers while the other looked leathery like a bat’s. The more I stared, the more misshapen body parts I noticed on the creature. One of its hands was an eagle's talon while the other looked like a large feline’s paw. One of its hind legs was a hoof; the other had claws. The creature had horns as well, those belonging to a goat and deer respectively. It had a long, scaly tail, but the rest of its body was covered in dark brown and grey fur. It even had a white goatee and bushy white eyebrows. Even with such short legs compared to the rest of its body, it towered over everyone, including me. Despite that, it looked comical as it lumbered over to us.
“Fluttershy, oh Fluttershy, thank goodness!” The voice was male and sounded relieved at the sight of our group. The pegasus smiled at him and happily called a name.
“Discord!”
My blood froze. He was here. The Spirit of Chaos was coming for us. For me. It was over. The greatest threat this land—no, this world—had ever encountered was here. There was no way I could avoid him, not when I was something strange to this land. Any moment now, I would be plunged into chaos.
In short, Discord wasn’t Fhtagn.
He decelerated and came to a halt before us. He didn’t even spare me a glance, instead focusing on Fluttershy. “I’m so glad that you’ve decided to come home, instead of gallivanting around in Canterlot, drinking tea that costs ten bits a cup and eating the cake that somehow escaped Celestia’s ravenous hunger. Your critters are in an uproar! Angel Bunny leads them, and frankly, I think they do not like me.”
Fluttershy’s eyes widened and she gasped. “What happened? Did you forget to feed them?”
“Of course I fed them. I even followed your list: fish for the carnivores, seeds for the birds, and vegetables and fruits for the rest.” Discord crossed his arms, sounding offended. “It’s not my fault that your precious bunny can’t catch a bundle of carrots flying around your cottage.”
“Discord.” Fluttershy sighed, sounding like she was about to reprimand a child. “Angel doesn’t chase carrots. No bunnies chase carrots. You were supposed to give them to him on a plate along with some vegetables.”
“I tried; Celestia knows I tried several times. He merely kicked it away and demanded I make an outrageous dish consisting of oranges, cucumber, and pineapple with a dollop of whipped cream and one, exactly one, cherry on top. Do I look like a chef?” And with that, a chef's uniform, complete with apron and a hat, appeared on his body, a whisk and bowl gripped in his talon. There was no sign of magic, only a very brief flash of light.
Discord looked at his hands, noticed the kitchen utensil that had appeared, and threw them away unceremoniously while the clothes he wore vanished as abruptly as they had appeared. The chaotic spirit let out a rather ominous chuckle. “I then decided that if Angel refused to eat the food he was provided, then I would have him work for it.” He then proceeded to cover his face and held out his arm in a dramatic fashion. “Then they rebelled against me. Me, their provider. I, who gave them shelter, who protected them, who made them exercise by turning all the floors into treadmills.”
This was such an over-the-top act that no one could possibly take him seriously. Judging by the deadpan looks on everyone else’s faces, they had experienced his quirky behaviour before. His spiel over, he lowered his arms and grinned. “In short, your house is now Cottage Land, and Angel is the dictator. For life, or until you decide to come home.”
Some of the apprehension I had began to fade in the presence of the Spirit of Chaos. I had certainly come with preconceived notions about a creature that could turn the world into a twisted and demented version of Wonderland. But this? Flying carrots and floors turned into treadmills? The princesses had told me that the former villain had turned over a new leaf, but how extreme had his reformation actually been? What had he done in the past? What kind of character had he been when he conquered Equestria?
I shook my head slightly, which was all it took to garner Discord’s attention. His head snapped to me, his yellow and red eyes widened, and his grin faded into a display of mild confusion.
‘Shit! His vision is based on movement! Be a statue, be a statue, stay still for the love of God!’
I froze yet again and held my breath. Hopefully he would think his eyes had played tricks on him. That hope was dashed when he took a step towards me, looming like a kid eyeing an ant. His eyes roamed over me while he idly stroked his goatee with his feline paw.
“Fluttershy, what is this?” he asked, waving his paw and almost slapping me in the face.
“Discord, I want you to meet our new friend. His name is Magnus and he’s a human. He came to Equestria almost a month ago, and he’s been staying with the princesses in Canterlot.” Fluttershy then turned to me. “Magnus, this is our friend Discord.”
I didn’t move, instead opting to wait for the spirit to act first. With one arm on his back and the other stroking his goatee, he walked around me like a cat stalking its prey.
“A human? I’ve never heard of a human before. Neither have I heard of a Magnus.” After completing a full circuit, he stopped, eyeballing me from head to toe. I noticed his eyes lingered on my horn for a moment, then on my hooves.
“That’s because Magnus isn’t from Equestria, or this world for that matter,” Twilight stated patiently. Hearing that, Discord looked to the alicorn princess.
“That demands an explanation.”
“Well, Magnus is from another planet, possibly even a different dimension.”
“Ah, a dimension hopper! I haven’t seen one in… well, eons.” Discord grinned gleefully. “How delightful! Things were starting to get a bit boring around here. Perhaps you can spruce things up. Now, let’s take a closer look.”
Before I could react, Discord’s talons moved to my ear. I felt a slight itch in my ear for a second before he pulled back his arm, this time holding a scroll. He unravelled it. That broke my silence.
“What? How? You did… What?!” He pulled that out of my ear? I clasped my ear, shoving my finger inside to get rid of the itch. “How? What?” I shouted.
“He does things like that from time to time,” Twilight explained. “You’ll get used to him.”
“Utter and complete bullshit!” I retorted in disbelief.
“Such a foul language. Have you no manners? There are mares present.” Discord shook his head in mock disappointment. “Let’s see what you are.”
His eyes went down the scroll as he read aloud. “Father’s line: human. Mother’s line: human and unicorn?” His head snapped back to me as he smiled proudly. “You’re a hybrid!? This is fantastic!”
“How do you know that?!” I attempted to grab the scroll from him, but he simply held it over his head, out of my reach. “What is that?”
“A personnel file. Mine.”
“What’s so fantastic about hybrids?” Twilight asked. Discord replied by bodily lifting her up to his face and grinning.
“Because they are one being that came from two species.” He pointed a talon at me. “A horn that shouldn’t be there, hooves that shouldn’t be there, fur that shouldn’t be there—you get the point.” He gestured grandly at me. “You are a symbol. You are something exceedingly rare. You are… nature showing everypony that chaos can and will occur naturally, even with living, thinking, beings. It’s… poetically beautiful.”
I had given up trying to steal the scroll. Instead, I glared daggers at him. “What the hell are you talking about?!”
Discord dropped Twilight to the ground and slithered, actually slithered, around me like a snake, holding me tightly in his coils. “You see, little hybrid, I have a reputation that is somewhat tarnished. Perhaps the benevolent alicorn sisters have mentioned me?”
“Hng, they may have,” I grunted, struggling against my restraints.
“I’ll take that as a yes. Trying to take over Equestria, breaking out of my stone imprisonment—here’s a tip: avoid being turned to stone—it does a number on your spine—turning ponies into opposites of what they are, haha, it’s hilarious.” He released me and stood up straight. A paw was draped over his face as he sighed mournfully. “Alas, Celestia and Luna didn’t like my work. They turned me into stone and put me on display in their gardens. Now I am reformed and have promised to use my powers for good.” A sly smile appeared on his face. “But now you’ve shown up.” His smirk grew even larger as he stepped closer to me. “And I can’t let this chance go to waste.”
I instinctively took a step back, though it was all for naught. He snapped his talons and a bright flash of light blinded me. When I was able to see clearly once again, I quickly recognized that we were in the throne room that had hosted my trial. Celestia was seated, seemingly perplexed at my sudden appearance.
“Discord? Magnus?” she asked, sounding as confused as she looked. I glanced over my shoulder, noticing Discord behind me. He held his talon and paw under my arms, hefting me up in Celestia’s face like a doll. There were several guards as well as a group of ponies standing behind us, whispering amongst themselves. Had we just interrupted court? How did we get here? Weren’t we just in Ponyville?
“See, Celestia? Chaos can occur naturally. Look, a hybrid,” Discord announced cheerfully, shaking me like a kid with a toy. “He‘s mine now and you can’t have him.” He finished by blowing a raspberry at her, and in another flash of light we were gone.
When I opened my eyes again, I was back in Ponyville, standing before Twilight, Spike, and Fluttershy, with Discord beside me. My stomach lurched and my head spun. Did we just teleport?
“What... the actual fu— I didn’t even get the chance to finish as Discord placed his paw over my mouth.
“Now now, little brother, there are mares present. Fluttershy especially doesn’t like bad language. But not to worry, I can teach you how to improve your verbal library.”
I jerked my head towards the spirit, glaring at him and his stupid crooked smile. “What? Brother? What the fu— get your paw off my face!” I nearly fell over as I scrambled to get away from him, finding safety behind Twilight and Fluttershy. Hopefully Fluttershy could keep a leash on him.
“Discord, what are you talking about?” Twilight asked sharply, taking a step towards him, not looking amused at all. “What do you mean by hybrids and chaos? Are you implying that Magnus can use your type of magic?”
Discord crossed his arms. “Of course not, my dear Twilight. I have monopoly on chaos around here, and I am not willing to share. What I meant is that hybrids like my little brother here reminds me very much of myself. Look at my body, an absolutely delightful shape.” He flexed his mismatched arms and legs like a bodybuilder. What actually happened was that his arms and legs, even his tail, instantly became dotted with a variety of patterns: polka dots, stripes, even a few that looked like children's drawings. “You may not like it, but this is what peak chaos is supposed to look like. Now, look at Magnus.” Discord vanished and appeared behind me in the blink of an eye. Before I could protest, I once more found myself being hoisted into the air by his magic. I noticed that unlike unicorns, his magic did not seem to have an aura at all. Caught in his magic, I was turned this way and that like a showpiece. “Hooves instead of feet, a horn instead of a bare forehead, a moderate increase in fur. He has body parts that he never had before. Just a little bit of chaos on the outside, and it is delightful. A tiny bit like me, wouldn’t you say? ” He grinned and clapped his hands like an excited child. “There’s also something else inside you, but I won’t spoil the surprise. You’ll have to figure that out yourself.”
Unceremoniously, he dropped me onto the ground. At least he had the decency to make a huge pillow appear underneath me. Unfortunately, the pillow was stuffed with whoopee cushions.
I got off the pillow, dusted myself off, and pointed a threatening finger towards Discord. Any lingering fear had been washed away by the anger surging in my veins. He wasn’t some vengeful god, just a prankster, a joker, someone who did what he wanted just because he could. Just another common bully with rich parents and an army of lawyers. “Manhandle me one more time and I swear to God that I’ll—”
“You’ll do what?” Discord replied with a grin, grabbing me in a headlock. He then proceeded to give me a noogie. “Beat me up? Take my lunch money? Tattle to mommy? Don’t forget little brother, I am the big brother now and this is what big brothers do.”
“You are no brother of mine,” I growled at him, attempting to break free. “You. Are. Not!”
With a final pull, I managed to get free from his grip and gain some distance from him. While he merely observed me with an amused smile, I clenched my hands so tightly that my knuckles popped. I wanted to bare down on him, strike him down, pound his face in with my hands until that one crooked fang of his popped out of his mouth. It never came to that.
“Enough, you two!” Twilight shouted as she stood up on her hind legs and placed her forelegs on my chest, keeping me from moving forward. Fluttershy similarly flittered in front of Discord, her hooves on his chest, keeping him from doing anything. That grin of his faltered when he saw Fluttershy look at him disapprovingly.
After making sure I wasn’t about to charge Discord, Twilight released me and stood on all fours, looking at us. “You are not about to fight each other. Discord, I expected you to be more courteous towards Magnus. He’s here to learn, not be intimidated and feel threatened by you. And you,” she turned her gaze to me, “will calm down.” She paused for a moment to ensure her message had gotten through. “Now, we will go to the castle for lunch, and you, Discord, will go with Fluttershy and help her with her animals. Do you understand?”
I took several deep breaths, gradually relaxing my hands and arms. “I understand.”
“As do I,” Discord said solemnly.
“Good.” Twilight inhaled and exhaled several times while extending her foreleg. “Spike, Magnus, let’s go.”
Fluttershy and the Spirit of Annoyance made their way in the direction Discord had galloped from. “Goodbye, see you all later,” Fluttershy called to us.
“Later?” Discord asked her. “Is there to be a—” Fluttershy quickly held a hoof over his mouth. She nodded and whispered something into his ear. Discord’s grin was proof enough for me that something unpleasant was in the works for my future.
After watching them leave, I followed Twilight and Spike towards the castle, my anger dissipating. “I’m sorry about Discord,” Twilight said, opening the doors to the castle. “I should have prepared you better.”
I stepped inside, glancing at Twilight’s apologetic face. “You have nothing to apologize for. Discord should apologize for being a pain in the butt. How can you stand him?”
“Time and lots of patience. Still, he does have a good side, despite his behaviour.”
“With what he can do, he probably threw that side in the trash.”
We found ourselves standing in the entrance hall of the castle. Similar to the exterior, the inside was also made of purple crystal. To the left and right were several halls that presumably led further within the castle, with doors leading to rooms at regular intervals. A grand staircase led to the upper floors. There were tapestries decorating the walls, as well as crystal pillars, with green-tinted crystal windows allowing light to fill the halls with daylight.
In my opinion, this castle looked great, but perhaps a bit… too gaudy. Still, I was merely a guest, not an interior decorator, and I was thankful for Twilight letting me stay.
“Home at last.” Twilight took a deep breath, visibly relaxing at being home. “Spike, could you start making lunch for us? I think there should be something left in the ice box.”
“Sure, I’ll whip something up for us.” Spike scampered away down one of the numerous hallways.
“In the meantime, I’ll show you to your room.”
I followed Twilight through the halls and up the stairs, all while taking in the architecture. All this had come from a small box? Well, she had been there and I was not. I had no other choice but to believe her. Magic must have been responsible for this place. However, I noticed something missing here that I saw plenty of in Canterlot.
“Don’t you have guards? And maids? It must take forever to mop the floors around here.”
Twilight merely smiled. “I thought the same thing when I moved in here, but I spent some time researching a few spells to keep the place clean. It’s not really an issue anymore—we just do light dusting from time to time and mop the floors every few weeks. As for the guards? Well, Princess Celestia offered to have a barracks constructed near the castle, but I’m not sure I want fifty guards living so close to me. I like my privacy. Maybe one day I’ll say yes, but until then I’m quite comfortable with just Spike and I living here.”
After turning a few corners, Twilight opened a door and beckoned me inside. Upon entering, I found myself standing in a bedroom. It wasn’t as spacious and luxurious as the one I had in Canterlot, but it felt more homely. There was a single bed, unfortunately not built to accommodate my size. There was also a dresser with a mirror above it, a single bookcase, a few shelves, a single chair and desk, and a nightstand next to the bed. The far wall had one large window, allowing daylight to flood the room.
“Here we are, your home for the next two weeks.”
I whistled as I walked in. “Nice. I could fit my entire living room inside here.”
“Don’t humans build homes that fit them?” Twilight asked.
“Some do, but my grandfather built his house on a budget and small parcel of land. When he moved out of town, he gave the house to me. For just one man, it was a decent bachelor pad.”
I dropped my backpack on the bed, and rested my hands on my hips, looking at the small bed. “A bit small for me, but I’m sure I can make it work. I can even sleep on the floor, no problem. Got a sleeping bag?”
“Oh, right. I can fix that.” Twilight trotted over to me and pointed her horn at the bed. Her horn glowing, she directed a beam of some sort at the bed, which began to increase in size until it was more than large enough to accommodate me. She powered down her horn and took a look at her handiwork. “That should do it.”
With my mouth hanging open, I looked at the bed, then at Twilight. She had just increased the size of the bed by almost three times and didn’t even break a sweat! “You gotta teach me that. When the time comes that I find someplace of my own, I might need to increase the size of a few things.”
“Just a normal size enhancing spell. This one will hold for at least a few days until I need to cast it again.” She then looked around the room. “Anything else I need to adjust for your size?”
I followed her gaze. “No, everything looks okay to me.”
“Okay then, I’ll let you unpack and rest. I’ll come tell you when lunch is ready. If you need to use the bathroom, it’s down the hall, last door on the left.” She smiled as she closed the door.
Looking around, I exhaled deeply. Alone at last. A ten minute nap sounded great just about now. I removed my backpack from the bed and dropped it next to the dresser, seeing that I could unpack later. However, the window drew my attention. Walking over to it, I almost had a bird's eye view of Ponyville. The town was much larger than I imagined. Houses and small farms stretched on for much farther than I had seen from Canterlot. There was even a cloud at the edge of town with rainbow waterfalls falling from it. Perhaps it was a recreation facility, like… a park? For pegasi? That sounded reasonable. I imagined there were at least a couple hundred ponies living here. They milled about in the streets, going wherever they wanted. A few of them even saw me and eagerly waved to me. I waved back, noticing that this town felt a bit more relaxed than busy Canterlot. Maybe Ponyville could be a place to settle down one day?
Moving away from the window, I walked over to the bed when I heard the sound of someone knocking on glass. I turned around, expecting a pegasus at the window, but there was none in sight. Once more the knock came, but this time I pinpointed where it came from, namely the dresser. I walked over to investigate and had laid my hands on the top drawer when a familiar and annoying face shot out of the mirror. I let out a yelp as I fell backwards, landing on my ass on the crystal floor.
“Getting familiar with Equestria yet, little brother?” Discord asked with a smirk, half of his body hanging out of the mirror and his elbow resting on the dresser.
I sat up and rubbed my aching butt. “Go suck a fat one, Discord.”
***
Twilight entered the kitchen where Spike was already at work preparing lunch. With his apron on, he was busy chopping vegetables.
“What are we having?” Twilight asked.
“Thought we’d go for vegetable soup. It’ll go well with the garlic bread I found in the fridge,” Spike replied as he scooped up a clawful of carrots, depositing them into the steaming water.
“Need some help?”
“Nah, I got it.”
“Well, at least I can get the bowls and spoons ready.” She turned to the cabinet when she noticed a rolled scroll on the table, instantly recognizing the Royal Seal of the Sun. “Spike, when did this come?”
Spike looked over his shoulder. “A few minutes ago.”
Twilight unraveled the scroll and began reading:
Dear Twilight,
I just saw Discord appear in court with Magnus. He declared that Magnus belonged to him before disappearing again. Do you have any idea what Discord is referring to?
Always your friend,
Celestia
Twilight quickly got out her quill and parchment. From Discord’s words, she only knew one thing to say.
Dear Princess Celestia,
This may sound unbelievable, but I think Discord has adopted Magnus as his brother of some sort. Strange as it sounds, Discord seems to believe that hybrids are chaotic, and that Magnus somehow reminds him of himself. At the moment, I don’t think that Discord is plotting anything, but nevertheless, I will keep an eye on the two.
Your faithful student and fellow princess,
Twilight
***
Despite Discord’s being an asshat, I managed to squeeze in a power nap. Although he found it funny to simply hang out in the mirror, he was eventually forced to help Fluttershy. Somehow, she found out he was trying to escape his responsibilities and had given him a stern talking to.
As promised, Twilight woke me some time later and together we went down for lunch. I never imagined Spike for a cook, but he made a pretty decent soup for us. Combined with some garlic bread, it served as a hearty lunch.
“My compliments to the chef.” I nodded to Spike as I carried the empty bowl over to the sink and turned on the water.
“Thank you,” he responded proudly, emptying his own bowl. I took his utensils and placed them alongside mine in the sink. “Don’t worry about the dishes, I’ll do them later.”
“Nah, the least I can do is the dishes. I think I got a bit spoiled in Canterlot.”
“That tends to happen,” he replied with a laugh. “The soap is under the sink.”
While I began my task, Twilight walked over with her bowl and placed it in the sudsy water. “You know, you are a guest here.”
I looked over to her and placed a clean bowl on the drying rack. “And guests help sometimes.” My reply was all Twilight needed to hear and she walked back to her chair.
As I continued my task, a thought popped into my head. “I didn’t know you could cook, Spike. Where did you learn?”
“Mom,” he answered, “and some I learned by observing and reading. I had to learn because sometimes Twilight became so obsessed when studying that she forgot to eat. It kind of fell on me to feed her when we lived in Canterlot.”
Twilight blushed. “Okay, okay, I know that sometimes I went a bit overboard.”
It seemed I was spot on about Twilight being a studious one. Still, forgetting to eat? That was a new one. Then again, I had never been an academic type.
“Wait.” I turned around, facing Spike. “Your mom? In Canterlot? I can’t remember seeing any fully grown dragons there.” I scratched my head. How could I have missed a dragon? Maybe a dragon could live inside the mountain?
“He’s talking about our mom,” Twilight said. “Her name is Twilight Velvet, and our father is named Night Light.”
My head scratching continued.
“Our parents are ponies.”
“Oh, I see. You’re adopted?”
Spike nodded and belched a tiny green flame, which Twilight did not approve of, judging by the look she shot him.
“Sorry, Twilight. Yeah, I am. See, Twilight hatched me from an egg during her entrance exam to Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. I was raised in Canterlot Castle by Princess Celestia and Twilight during the first year, and when I turned just over a year old, I moved into Twilight’s parents’ place,” Spike explained, patting his belly.
“Oh, I understand now. A few things just didn’t add up to begin with.” I drained the water and dried my hands using the dish towel, then walked back to the table and sat down. “Is it normal for ponies to adopt non-ponies?”
“It’s good to see you show interest towards our society.” Twilight smiled approvingly. “To answer your question, no, it's not, but it happens from time to time. Most non-pony children are usually sent back to their homelands, as they usually have family there to raise them. If no family can be found, a pony family can adopt them. But Spike is an unusual case.”
“How so?” I asked.
“Because I might just be the first dragon adopted by ponies,” Spike answered as he got off his chair, walked over to the food cabinet, and came back with a bowl full of coloured glass. He licked his lips as he selected a piece of glass and then, to my utter surprise, crushed it with his small teeth, chewing and swallowing. I cringed, imagining the razor-sharp shards digging into my gums and cutting my throat. Spike noticed my look. “What? It’s just dessert.”
“Doesn’t that hurt?” I asked while pointing at a clear piece of glass the size of a marble he held in his claws, holding back a grimace.
Spike just looked at the piece of glass, then to me, and shook his head. “Nope, it’s delicious. Want one?” He offered his bowl to me.
“No thanks, glass isn’t on my diet.”
“It’s not glass,” Spike replied. He wrapped his long tongue around the shard and drew it into his mouth, chewing and swallowing. “That was a diamond. And these are rubies, sapphires, emeralds, and turquoise.” He pointed out each individual gem.
Spike emptied his bowl in just a minute while I simply stared in disbelief at him. He even licked his lips afterwards. It was only Twilight’s voice that managed to rouse me from my incessant gawking.
“Magnus, if you want, we can go sightseeing later. I can give you a tour of the castle now, if you want to.”
I nodded slowly. “Sure, I’d like to see more of this place.” I stood up and followed Twilight while Spike went to do his own stuff, a thought drifting into my mind.
‘Food expenses must be through the roof around here.’
***
Twilight gave me a tour of her castle as promised. While it was smaller than Canterlot Castle, it felt more homely due to the decorations her friends had provided. Although the crystals looked cold to the touch, the temperature of the interior always felt just right, probably because of magic provided by Twilight or the castle itself.
It became clear to me that Twilight hadn’t lived here for long. Some of the rooms were vacant, though Twilight explained that she had plans for them. A few rooms she’d designated as her own laboratory and for her studies. She also showed me her throne room, though instead of one throne, there were six high-backed crystal seats and a smaller one. Each of them had a cutie mark on them, symbolizing Twilight and her friends’ places. She explained that this was where she met with her friends whenever there were friendship problems to be solved. Apparently, a magical table rose from the floor whenever a problem occurred. When I asked for the definition of a ‘friendship problem’, Twilight explained it as anything that could cause two or more ponies to lose or endanger their friendship to each other. At those times, the table would ‘choose’ someone in her circle of friends to go find the ponies and assist them.
Once again, it became clear to me that ponies seriously valued friendship, more so than humans. For the life of me, I couldn’t figure out why. Friendships came and went, and although some lasted, ponies seemed to take it to the extreme. I wondered why.
Finally, we reached the last room that was Twilight’s pride and joy: the library, a large circular room with a lofted ceiling filled with bookshelves that reached a few meters upwards. There were reading tables conveniently placed around the room while banners with a tree motif made as decoration up on the walls. It seemed simple, yet elegant for her, as I had already understood Twilight was somewhat of a bookworm.
Twilight smiled as she looked around the immaculate library, breathing in the scent of old books hanging heavily in the air. “My favourite room in the castle. Here you can come whenever you want to and read and research whatever you find interesting. I can imagine you may want to find some answers during your stay. If you want to know anything, you can most likely find the answers here or simply ask me.”
I whistled impressively as I looked around. “Nice collection. Bet it took some time to find all of these.” I wandered over to one of the shelves and looked at some of the titles on the books spines. There was Herbology for Beginners, The History of Zebrica, The Art of Flying, 101 Steps to Become a Painter, and several others that were meant to be both educational and informative. I already knew I would be spending some time here.
While perusing the book selection, Twilight walked next to me and cleared her throat. I noticed the curious expression on her face, one I had learned to associate with ‘I have questions’. “I wanted to ask: do humans have books as well?” she asked innocently.
“Oh yeah, books have been around for a long time on Earth already, and when typesetting was invented, it became somewhat of an industry,” I answered, drawing from my knowledge gathered from countless hours spent watching the History Channel, Discovery, Wikipedia, and documentaries. Most days when the headaches were bad enough that I didn’t bother leaving home, I usually laid down on the couch, flipped on the TV, and watched whatever was on. My answer piqued Twilight’s interest, judging from how her smile widened. I then added, “Of course, typesetting is old-fashioned nowadays. There are—Oh, I should have guessed, no words for that exists in Equish.”
“What words?” Twilight asked, looking even more interested.
I scratched my head, wondering how to go about explaining how digital printing methods worked. The Equish language had no interpretation for words such as computer, digital, binary, or any other high-tech inventions that were common back home.
“Okay, this might sounds strange, but imagine a machine that can read letters, but can’t understand them. Then imagine that machine ‘speaking’ to another machine, telling it what to print on paper. That’s basically how modern printing machines work on Earth.”
“Speaking machines?” Twilight gave me a weird look. “Is it some type of invention born of science?”
“Somewhat, I guess. There’s a lot that goes into making such machines, and don’t ask me how it works—we’d be here all day, and I don’t have all the details.” It was true—I could barely use Steam. Changing components in a computer was Latin to me.
I saw that Twilight wanted to ask more, what with her twitching eye, but she forced herself to be satisfied with my answer. How do you explain binary codes, microchips, motherboards, programs, and stuff like that to someone who was unable to grasp the basic concepts, let alone with a massive language barrier?
I moved along the shelves looking for something to read, with Twilight following close by. Finally, she asked, “Is there a particular subject you’re looking for?”
“Magic,” I answered without missing a beat. I wasn’t really sure what I was looking for, the subject suddenly just popped into my head.
“Aha, now that I can help you with.” She trotted to the other side of the room and I followed her. She picked out a few books, looking at the titles. “I’ve noticed that you’re interested in magic,” she casually said while pulling out a few more books. “Did you always have an interest in magic?”
“Ever since I was a kid.” I had never asked myself why, but now that I knew a bit more about myself and my heritage, I believe it was the unicorn deep inside me that fought to sate its interest.
Twilight smiled at my answer. “Many fillies and colts that receive a cutie mark that’s related to magic usually have a deep interest in magic from early foalhood.” She finally found a book and held it up to me. “Maybe that’s why you’ve always been interested in magic. Perhaps you’ll get yours one day.”
I wandered over to one of the reading tables, sat down, and opened the book. “Humans don’t get cutie marks. Some people might get a tattoo, like an image, a few words, anything really, but that’s usually to remember or commemorate something or simply because they think it looks cool.” I shrugged and looked at Twilight. “But when it comes to cutie marks, I’d rather not have one.”
Twilight found a book for herself and sat down on the opposite end of the table. “Why not?” she asked while opening the thick book. “Wouldn’t it be nice to have something that signifies what you’re really good at?”
“You can get good at anything if you’re motivated and spend enough time and effort.”
Twilight thought about my answer before she nodded slowly. “I’m not sure if I agree with your statement, but we can discuss that some other time. Why don’t we relax with a good book before we head out to explore Ponyville?”
“Sounds good to me. I’m so full I’d rather not move around too much now.”
The silence lasted all but a few moments. “I have a proposition.” I looked up at her. She had a few blank scrolls next to her, along with a quill and ink. “From what I’ve heard so far, humanity sounds very interesting, and I would be lying if I said I didn’t want to hear more.”
Chuckling, I answered, “I figured you to be the studious type. After all, it’s not like it was difficult. I remember how you scared me in the castle gardens. Remember? The scrolls and quills appearing out of nowhere?” I grinned, hoping she would understand that I was teasing her. Judging from her smile, I was successful.
“There’s nothing wrong with pursuing knowledge,” she argued, sticking her tongue out at me. “What I propose is that each evening, when we’ve had dinner, we sit down and talk about Earth and Equus. We ask each other questions back and forth, expanding each other's knowledge.”
I thought about it for a few moments. “I like the idea. Like a questions game: you ask me a question, I ask you a question. Same topics, right?”
“If you’d like,” Twilight replied, smiling eagerly. “Why don’t we start right now?” I held up the book she picked out for me and smiled, her eagerness fading into faint disappointment. “Right. You wanted to read and relax.”
I went back to my book as Twilight stuck her muzzle in her own. I chuckled internally at her inquisitiveness to discover more about Earth. I would gladly tell her, but I would be sure to filter out a few things. I didn’t want to plant strange ideas in her mind, like the Internet, for example. What would ponies put on the Internet anyway? Videos of people hurting themselves didn’t sound like something they’d do. No, there would probably cat videos.
Millions of them.