//------------------------------// // 7. Royally locked // Story: The Guardian // by Alexshy //------------------------------// Only three days passed, but Alex was about to run the walls. That newly enforced secrecy was severely getting onto his nerves. He fixed what could be fixed around the house already, except those pinholes in the front door. Without some filler and paint that couldn’t be done properly, and Fluttershy had yet no time to visit the store. Obviously, Alex couldn’t help that, so each time he passed the door, its image made him sorry for that debacle, they made with Angel. Otherwise, Alex grabbed for every job, which could make the time fly faster and his uneasy thoughts release him for a while… or at least be muffled by the task, he was to accomplish. He thought about his oncoming appointment with princess Celestia countless times, but the more he thought it through, the more he was convinced that there were too many unknowns in that equation yet. For all he knew, he decided to tell the truth where possible and… improvise according to the circumstances. “Not the best plan of all I ever had, eh?” Alex told himself. “But screw it, I don’t have many variants to choose from.” Now he was watching how Harry helped Fluttershy fix the fence around her chicken coop. Alex could laugh at the absurdity of the situation… if it wasn’t happening to him. Indeed, a bear was doing something in the middle of the day openly for everypony around and he was to hide as if he was some dangerous monstrosity. For all what he knew, Alex could think that a freely communicating, helping and generally socialized bear was something way weirder, than a human. Alex was ready to bang his head against the wall in despair. Nevertheless, he patiently waited, until Fluttershy finished her repairs. The opened bedroom window let fresh air and all kinds of spring scents inside, yet Alex was to place the armchair, he was sitting in with the book, the way, so nopony could notice him from outside. Fluttershy trotted through the room and planted a quick kiss on his cheek while heading to the bathroom. She closed the door already, so couldn’t hear the deep sigh Alex produced. He sat and listened to the pouring water, catching himself on reading the same sentence again and again, as if being unable to concentrate and grasp the sense. Finally, she came out wrapped in a towel. Alex smiled inwardly, normally ponies did without clothes, so this girly gesture of recognition of his presence was so funny yet unspeakably cute. Then he remembered, what he was going to talk about, and his smile faded. “Listen, Shy, we need to talk,” Alex closed and put away the book. Fluttershy took a hairbrush and sat on the bed, bringing her mane to order. After a minute of silence, during which she looked at the floor thinking about something, she finally raised her eyes at him. “I guess I know… w-what you are going to talk about, Alex,” she almost whispered, apparently this topic was sensitive for her as well. “About recent… annoying secrecy… enforcement, right?” “Yeah,” Alex’s eyes went downcast. ‘I know there is no her fault here,’ he thought. ‘And it’s so damn easy to offend her by making it sound as if she is the one locking me out… But it can’t last this way any longer.’ “Look, Fluttershy,” Alex saw that she apparently noticed that he called her full name instead of becoming usual “Shy”. “There is an open window here, but I still feel, like I’m not able to breathe normally. I’m surely happy that I’m not claustrophobic as well.” He noticed, her eyes filled with regret and sympathy, her ears sadly flattened, and mentally scolded himself for being the reason for that. “I made all the way from the Old Castle through the forest on foot and nopony managed to notice me, yet now I can’t even walk to the edge of that forest, in the field, breathe, sit on the grass, do nothing useful, yet know that I can do anything,” said Alex with a sigh. “But that’s only half of a problem. Then I see you do something outside and obviously need help and I’m forced to sit here with a book. That makes me feel like shit, Shy…” “But…” “I know that’s not your idea, and you’re not happy about it either,” Alex leaned forward running both hands through his hair and resting his elbows on the knees. Then he straightened fast. “And I know that is done to prevent certain problems with town folk and… with Celestia. Yet one thing is when you have nowhere to go, but to be unable to go anywhere is a totally different story. When you’re not at home, I have nopony to talk to. But I obviously can’t demand all of your time. I have nothing to do mostly, I can’t work, I can’t entertain myself, because I’m nervously itching in the perspective of the royal audience.” “Merlin’s pants, I can’t even fix those damned holes on the door. Look, Shy, I really sorry, we behaved like a couple of asses… But trying to do this will mean loading you with another task of going to the town and getting necessary stuff because I again can’t do that myself.” “But you are already doing much,” Fluttershy was surprised by him not taking into account, what she considered obvious. “My house was never in such an order, you fixed everything that needed fixing…” “Yup,” Alex smirked sadly. “That’s the problem – everything. Now to occupy myself I need to… break something first.” “… and you freed me practically from all the work about the house.” “But I’m using all of that. I’m living on your expense, Shy, don’t deny that. So that doesn’t count, I simply must do something for you,” said Alex. “But the problem is, it seems I can feel the walls surrounding me. And I don’t even know what Celestia has for me in the nearest future.” “But what can we do?” Fluttershy rubbed her forehead. “Surely my cottage is not the most popular showplace in Ponyville, but there are accidental ponies around every day. And pegasi can notice you from a greater distance.” “I’ve thought about that already,” Alex left his armchair and kneeled on the floor next to Fluttershy. “I could go outside and around the house at least after sunset. As you say, ponies don’t normally leave the town when darkness falls. Please, Shy, I really need this… I have a feeling I won’t get even that in a few days.” He hugged her knees and put his chin on them. “Oh, Alex…” Fluttershy stared into his eyes feeling that she couldn’t deny him that request. She stroked his hair when Alex put his head on her knees. “I think it won’t do any harm if you do that. But, please, please-please, make sure that nopony sees you.” * Alex barely waited till evening, it was his only chance to get outside, before… Well, he could only imagine what Celestia could do, he was still an alien, and the reasons and details of his arrival to Equestria were known to nopony. The worst thing was that he didn’t know the reasons himself yet. Fluttershy got too tired from the daily duties to make him a company. She curled on the bed, dragged the covers onto her and reminded him in a sleepy voice to stay unnoticed. Alex almost flew downstairs and slid through the front door trying to make no noise. He didn’t even put on his boots. Blessed was the land of Equestria, where you can stomp only on an accidental stone or a thorn, when going out barefoot, not on some bucking glass, a piece of plastic or a nail. He left the lights in the living room not to bump on things on return and was to stand outside for a while, letting his eyes accommodate. The night was taking its rights, but it wasn’t pitch black, yet the moon was only rising above the forest behind the meadow. Alex walked a couple of circles around the house, simply trying to have as much as he could of the feeling of grass on his feet. He held himself hard from jumping and goofing around like a foal. Instead of that he sat under the big tree and leaned on its trunk. The bedroom window above was now dark, as Fluttershy fell asleep almost immediately after getting to the bed. Alex stroked the grass near him and listened to the nightingale singing in the crown of that tree or maybe the nearest one. With a smile, he thought that sometimes it was unimaginably easy to make someone happy. When the moon raised and added some light to the scene, Alex closed his eyes and enjoyed the air filled with the scent of fresh leaves and grass and… Lavender… At first, Alex didn’t pay that much attention, as the meadow behind the fence could easily have any type of flowers growing, but then a feeling of some presence made him unconsciously strain. Alex slowly opened his eyes to see the full moon above the landscape in front of him. On the edge of his sight, he noticed something dark and flowing, something with sparkles. He was going to turn and look over his shoulder when his heart skipped a beat. Alex felt some faint lavender breeze on his neck and soft silky lips quietly approached his ear. Then… “Boo!..” His body certainly was going to get up in one wild flurry, when this was breathed out into his ear, but… his feet decided otherwise and after slipping on the grass Alex fell flat on his back, instead of standing up ready to face the possible threat. When he hit the ground, the air left his lungs with a whimper, Alex could never produce willingly. When the world around stopped spinning and he regained clear vision, Alex found himself lying flat at the hooves of a night-coloured alicorn, looking at her upside down. The beauty blinked, batting her long eyelashes, and the smile made her cheeks funnily round. Evidently, that was the same pony… person he already saw in his dreams, visions, or whatever they were. “We thought, thou wast braver, Alex,” she teased with a tiny giggle. Then she leaned lower, almost touching his forehead with her nose and trying to make her big eyes look scary. Her mane, which looked like a long sheet of the starry sky, got into his open mouth and she removed it graciously. “Our apologies!” “If this is your usual greeting gesture,” Alex gulped. “Then you shouldn’t be surprised, seeing others in a similar pose as me, perhaps. Merlin’s pants, my heart almost jumped out of my chest,” he took a breath. “Who’s that… Merlin?” she seemed to be genuinely puzzled. “And what his pants are supposed to do with everything? Thou call for those frequently.” “Just a figure of speech,” Alex made notice of her old-fashioned talk, wondering if he would be always able to comprehend what she said. “It is a legend in my world… That there was… supposedly… a powerful mage. Errmmm… like your Starswirl. But I guess it’s just a legend, people don’t have magic… unfortunately.” “As for his pants, well, as I said – a figure of speech. They aren’t worse than any other part of him, so…” he stumbled seeing her laughing quietly. Alex gritted his teeth. “Look, you’ve caught me off guard indeed. Do you always sneak on pe… ponies like that?” “Thou art not a pony!” duly noticed the night-coloured joker. Then she added with a sly smile. “Besides, we bethink it’s an act of fair revenge for thy sneaking in our room and making us equally startled, correct?” “So it was real?” Alex realized that he was still laying on his back looking up at her. Not the best way to talk to the lady. He then turned and raised on his feet, shaking the blades of grass off his clothes. “Apparently ‘t was as real as affecting reality through somepony’s dreams can be!” alicorn nodded, wiggling her wings slightly. She was tall, much taller than common ponies and even perhaps a couple of inches taller than him, as Alex noticed now when he saw her close. “I couldn’t remember that I was capable of that, just as well as of magic for example,” retorted Alex. “Wast ‘t ere thou became magic resistant, fast regenerating and so on, or henceforth?” she looked him directly in the eyes. Alex shrugged silently. “We guess it’s possible because we visited thee in thy dreams, thus making thee able to… reply,” she granted him with a clement smile. Then she remembered something and blushed a little. “Oh, whither are our manners? We are princess Luna, the ruler of the Night and Moon, one of the rulers of Equestria.” “Your Royal Highness!” Alex replied with a bow. He wasn’t sure if it was yet prudent to reveal his knowledge of equestrian history. So he decided to tread lightly. “So Celestia is your sister…” “Simply “Luna”,” the princess frowned slightly. “Thither is no need in those, especially after we… I shared dreams with thee. And, yes, Tia… Princess Celestia is mine older sister forsooth.” Alex suddenly felt that sitting wouldn’t be a bad idea. “Excuse me, your… OK… princess… Luna,” he lowered to the grass and leaned on the tree again. “I just feel a little weak in the legs after… well…” “Thou didn’t seem weak in the legs at which hour thou dashed saving that little girl from the burning… how doth thou call… car, correct?” Luna raised one eyebrow. “What? How did you…” Alex even rose a bit, then he realized. “Oh, yes… The dreams… That was a silly question.” “Methinks I can forgive that,” she cocked her head, but her eyes were smiling. “Now… if thou puttest thyself slightly further…” And to Alex’s utter surprise Luna sat on the grass next to him, spread her wings and… The next moment he found himself “grabbed” by her wing and snuggled to her, so he felt her soft silky coat on his cheek, her warm feathery wing covering him and her heartbeat, as he inevitably was to rest his head on her shoulder. “Hey, I don’t bite,” she said noticing him being slightly confused by his position. “Mostly…” “So,” she gazed down at him. “Back to mine question. Wherefore didst thou risked, while thou even wast not the reason of their calamity?” Alex took a moment to think. Lavender filled his being, gifting him with serenity. He answered honestly. “I don’t know. I simply was to. I just felt that I could help; she wouldn’t make it on her own.” “Thou knowest, thou art impulsive, and act unpredictably weird oft,” Luna chuckled and Alex looked up to her to see her smiling. “But thou don’t bethink of thyself, at which hour others need thee. I guess I was not mistaken in thee, Alex.” She moved him closer with her wings, so he was now sitting between her fore legs, leaning on her instead of the tree trunk. Luna sighed and put her chin on top of his head. In any other circumstances Alex would consider such gesture as overly patronizing to condescending, but something told him that wasn’t her case. They sat silently for a few minutes, watching the moon and listening to the whisper of the leaves. The nightingale, first startled by the talk, started singing again. Alex thought that a few minutes more and he would fall asleep in the warm silky feathery cocoon. He raised his hand and gently touched Luna’s mane, finding it almost water-like, elusively flowing through fingers. “Mhmmm…” Luna cooed when he ran his fingers behind her ear and down her cheek. “I can recall ‘tis touch. Although, the first time ‘t made me almost jump, at which hour I woke up.” “Thou knowest,” she added after a while. “Thou somehow managed to change one of mine worst nightmares, at which hour thou wast… “sleepwalking”.” Alex listened to Luna telling him about her dream, in which she always quarrelled with her sister and ended up crying in her room, and felt that his plan of discrete storytelling gave the first crack. He simply knew that despite that alicorn was Celestia’s sister, he could be sincere with Luna, just as he was with Fluttershy. Thus he finally told her about his knowledge of the world of Equestria. To his surprise, Luna treated his theory about noosphere with even more tranquillity than Twilight. “That’s not less possible than mine ability to affect the dreams of mine subjects, even their reality,” she nuzzled his ear. “Even thou, despite thy magic resistance, wast open for that.” “I doubt ‘tis is harmful to any extent,” she said a moment later. “Actually I’m more interested in thee personally…” “Me?!” Alex couldn’t hold a surprised exclamation. “You are able to get into my head, what’s interesting about me?” “…and the reasons of thy arrival. As thou hath said, thou wast not connected with magic at any level ere, so something or somepony must hast hath felt that thou art needed hither.” “Oh, I don’t know even a half of what I wanted to about thee yet,” Luna added in half-tone. “But what should I tell Celestia,” Alex twitched a bit, as it was ticklish, and Luna giggled. “Everypony said and I believed it was so, that Celestia wouldn’t like perhaps that I… know too much.” Luna took deep thought. “Thou hast nothing to worry about, thou art not some monster. Tia tends to take some things too gravely, concerning about our subjects, but my sister won’t crucify thee for simply being an outlander. Then, of course, she will want to know everything possible about thee and thy new, as thou sayest, capabilities. So ‘t may take time forsooth.” “Besides, thy magic resistance makes the task of returning thee home a bit complicated, if not to say next to impossible,” Luna returned her head on top of his. “As ‘tis forsooth what thou dearly wantest.” Alex noticed a faint tint of sorrow in her voice. “Speaking of which,” Luna remembered something. “I suppose she wanteth to take thee for… questioning tomorrow…” “Tomorrow?!” Alex almost jumped on the spot, but he was “packed” by the princess too tightly. “Well… Tia arrived late this evening, and I hath heard, she gave some orders regarding thee, so I believe – ay.” “So I guess thou needest to catch some sleep and give thy mind some rest ere thou art to answer questions,” Luna released him suddenly and the night air seemed chilling to Alex after her embrace. They both raised and Alex turned to the princess. “Don’t wake thy friend,” with a strange smile Luna waved her hoof pointing at the bedroom window above. “If ’t be true I am right, ‘t will be a sad morning for the girl.” “Can I ask you?” Alex was seemingly bothered by some question. “Are you in my dream… or this is real?” “We both were in each other’s dreams already,” Luna snickered. “And ‘t turned out to be real enough.” “But thou can try to find out arrant,” she advised him… or teased again. “Close thy eyes, then wake up!” Alex looked fixedly at her still smiling, then cautiously closed his eyes. He suspected some trick from that unpredictable alicorn. Next thing he felt, were soft lavender flavoured lips on his cheek… and then the touch vanished. As well as the princess herself. “It must be a dream,” stated Alex opening his eyes, yet lavender said otherwise. He ran his palm through the hair. Something was there, something which wasn’t him. With a puzzled look on his face, Alex took out and examined a large dark-blue feather. He extinguished the lights in the living room, waited till the eyes accommodated to darkness and quietly got upstairs. The bedroom was lit by moonlight, so Alex could move freely without any fear to kick something down. Alex took off his clothes and slightly lifted the covers on the bed, sliding under them. The warm bed seemed almost blessing after the cool air outside, it was very late already. He was trying to nest himself comfortably when Fluttershy sighed and turned to him. She then slid closer, reaching him with her fore legs, and wrapped them tightly around Alex, snuggling her entire warm body into him. “Mmmm, you smell of lavender, Alex,” she cooed almost through sleep, nuzzling his cheek. “I don’t remember… lavender growing… my house.” And before Alex could say or do anything, he felt her tender slightly opened lips over his own. With a light heart and full passion, he answered her kiss and Fluttershy let out a quiet moan, when he squeezed her gently but strongly, running his fingers through her marvellous hair. “What are you doing, Alex?” he thought, feeling as lavender-field flowers-honey mix enveloped them both, while they shared their unity for several minutes. “If you need to leave forever… That will… And Luna…” His thoughts dissolved, as they made their breaths single, emerging for air then diving back to the sweet pleasure of kissing. Those were not mad tongue dances, French kissing or something alike, yet the soft silky touch, Fluttershy put all her feelings and hopes of last days in, made Alex’s head spin. He couldn’t resist the impulse and sincerely returned the treatment, despite the faint painful thought of possible disaster, if he was to leave her someday. After a while Fluttershy calmed down, her heart wasn’t now jumping out of her chest, as he could feel, but she tightened her grip nevertheless. Alex held her breathing evenly and snuggling into his chest, and slowly floated to the land of dreams. * In the morning Fluttershy kissed him lightly, as usual before heading to the bathroom he just left. She didn’t remember the midnight kiss or, perhaps, thought that it was a part of her dreams. Thus she didn’t blush more than usual when he returned the gesture, kissing her on the nose. The knock at the front door sounded like a strike of fate. Leaving her breakfast Fluttershy headed to answer. Alex was able to see only her from his place, but not those behind the door. Yet by the look of Fluttershy’s ears flattening and her telling something barely audibly to somepony outside, he realized, that Luna was right and problems were only starting. Then Fluttershy stepped aside and Alex saw Twilight entering the house. He was about to relax, but the next phrase confirmed his worst suspicions. “Morning, Alex!” Twilight nodded slightly. Alex noticed that she wasn’t happy about the ongoing situation. “I’m afraid, it’s time to go… Princess Celestia wants to see you and she sent guards and the transport.” “I-I know… about the secrecy… and…” Fluttershy said quietly with tears gathering in her eyes. “B-but… I-I thought… can I?..” “Sorry, dear,” Twilight turned to her friend. “I asked the princess, but she was firm about that – the audience will be confidential. Only I can attend…” “B-but am I not the closest witness?” Fluttershy asked a bit louder and a lot more confident, making both Alex and Twilight share a surprised look. “I’m sorry, Fluttershy, I’m very sorry,” repeated Twilight. “I’ll try to talk you through later, but now we really need to go.” “Transport?” Alex remembered her words meanwhile. “What transport?” “Balloon,” simply dropped Twilight over the shoulder, while hugging Fluttershy, who was sobbing on her chest. Alex’s eyes dilated with terror. “No bucking way you mean, we will be flying… to Canterlot!” Alex wished that he passed the breakfast today. “No. Bucking. Way! I probably mentioned that I’m acrophobic. Nothing to be proud about, but c’est la vie… And that means I’m bucking afraid of heights, Twilight! Flights hardly excluded.” “Alex!” Twilight released Fluttershy and tried to reason. “We have no other way. Magic can’t be cast on you, especially teleportation spells, who knows what this may result in. And the train is not an option.” “What, in the name of Equestria?” she turned to the door, attracted by some noise from outside. Alex stepped closer and saw two guards, preventing Rarity from coming inside. “Hi, Alex! Hi, girls,” she waved her hoof. “Those brutes tried to hold me. Hooves back! I’m not breaking through!” “Twilight, darling, could you please tell those… diamond dogs to keep their paws away?” Rarity pleaded while both guards snorted angrily. “I came to bring Alex more clothes, as I just finished with them. And they were not letting me in.” One of the guards grabbed her saddle bag and quickly searched through it. Another muttered: “No worries, he will be given all he needs.” “Your Highness!” reported the Pegasus, which checked the bag. “Nothing dangerous, only those rags!” “RAGS!!!” Rarity seemed to become even taller. Alex thought that she would kick the guard’s ass in a totally non-lady-like manner in a moment, but Twilight quickly approached her and whispered something in her ear. Rarity huffed but calmed down a bit. Alex turned to Fluttershy in such a way he shielded her from others’ eyes with his back. He kneeled then to her eye level and stroked her mane. She looked into his eyes and tears, filling her turquoise lakes, made his heart drop like a rock. Alex leaned to her and kissed her shortly, but exactly the same way as last night. “I’ll return. I’ll return, even if Celestia has a way to send me back. I won’t leave like that…” promised he, not giving her time to wonder about his kiss. Fluttershy sniffed and Alex spotted two tears falling on the floor. He hugged her, then quickly got up, took Rarity’s saddle bag with clothes and nodded to Twilight, showing he is ready. Almost… Rarity raised on her hind legs and squeezed Alex with her fore legs, giving him that funny and cute puppy look again. Alex stroked her mane and kissed on her nose. “Thanks for all, Rarity! I still hope, I can repay you somehow…” Walking on the grass Alex looked back to see Rarity comforting Fluttershy, who was crying in the doorway of her cottage. The guards headed to lilac and pink striped menace and Alex felt as his confidence, if there was any in the first place, melted with each step closer to the balloon. When he approached and put his hand on the edge of the gondola, his entire self was literally shaking and his pupils narrowed to pinprick size. Alex could hear the noise of blood in his ears, he was almost fainting. As embarrassing as it was, but he could do nothing about that. “I just can’t…” he whispered in Twilight’s ear. “Call me a bucking coward, but I’m always dying… a little inside when I face heights.” “Close your eyes, Alex,” Twilight’s voice was sympathetic yet firm. “Now breathe… Do you still have the bag with your clothes?” “What? Here it is,” Alex held up the bag, with his eyes still closed, releasing the edge of the gondola. With a gentle nudge Twilight quickly pushed him inside, she and both guards followed. She closed the door, while Alex simply curled in the corner, sitting on the floor and holding his knees. He opened his eyes and looked up to Twilight. Perhaps he wanted to perform a flaming gaze of righteous wrath, but in the given circumstances he could only give out a rabbit facing a constrictor look. “I’m sorry, Alex,” Twilight leaned to him and patted his shoulder; Alex twitched like from electric shock. “At least you’re in. Don’t stand up and look outside and you’ll be OK.” The dreading balloon raised in the air meanwhile. Alex was unsure if it was the gondola waving naturally or the whole world around him dancing some mad dance and noticeably darkening, as his fear attack wasn’t going to release him. “Look,” Twilight smiled. “Even if anything happens, we three can catch you easily.” She couldn’t say though, if Alex understood her properly, or if that made his condition a tiny bit better. All the sounds reached Alex’s hearing muffled, like through the water. He almost turned to stone in his corner. Though when Twilight leaned over the edge to check where they were, he barely held himself from shrieking madly and grabbing her leg to drag her back to the bottom of the gondola. “Did you always suffer from that?” Twilight asked and after a whole minute, Alex nodded, almost convulsively. “We could try to do something with your phobia later, Alex,” she was thinking aloud. “When you are done with that investigation. I could try to help you with some psychology techniques I’ve read about.” According to Alex’s expression, he was hardly sharing her enthusiasm, evidently, everything he could think about at that moment was the plain ground only. Twilight sighed and looked into the sky when she heard some noise from him. She turned to Alex and finally heard that he whispered, almost breathed out like an old scratched vinyl. “I… I sincerely hope this is my first and last flight ever. Cough…” * Twilight gave Alex a few minutes to recompose when they landed directly near the Castle entrance and Alex crawled out of the gondola. He realized how pathetic he looked at the moment, but was incapable to overpower himself about that. Both guards snickered quietly behind their backs. Naturally, pegasi couldn’t imagine, how somepony could be afraid of height and flights, when one didn’t need to fly on his own even, being carried by some transport. But they shut up and straightened when Twilight gazed at them angrily over her shoulder. Leaning on her Alex walked a few yards before his body realized, he wasn’t in the air, and started acting normally again. Fortunately, the appointment was planned on the first floor and Alex felt better after getting up the stairs with Twilight. They walked through a long corridor with guards, standing in pairs in each arc, and approached the large double doors leading to the hall. Alex thought that if Celestia wanted to intimidate him, then the flight itself was more than enough, but evidently, that was just a part of the protocol, which she chose to stick to in letter in his case. Wondering what this could speak about, Alex waited behind the doors, while Twilight entered the hall. After a few minutes, the guards opened the doors for him and Alex stepped into the new room on the red carpet, running from the doors to the other side of the hall with a familiar elevation. The two thrones were occupied by Celestia and Luna, Twilight sat slightly aside to the left of them. “You may approach, Alex the human!” Celestia’s voice rolled across the hall and Alex wondered, how it could be that soft and loud at once. He had no idea how to greet the princesses, as naturally Alex never met one before officially. He contacted Twilight and Luna on friendly terms only. So he decided to follow the examples, he saw in historical movies, just in case. When Alex approached the elevation, he noticed that Twilight was looking at him slightly nervous, like a teacher could look at her student facing the final exam. Luna was calm and distant, yet he noticed her eyes smiling. She winked barely noticeably and Alex felt that it wasn’t going to be that bad perhaps. He didn’t look at Celestia yet but decided to lower to one knee and bow, looking down instead. “Luna, haven’t you met the human already?” snorted Celestia in half voice. “I see he prefers to stick to the old-fashioned style.” “No, wherefore should I?” Luna was an epitome of tranquillity. “Besides, Tia, I’m not making our subjects fall flat and speaking in Royal Canterlot voice to those folk for quite a while, thou knowest.” “Excellent! You may rise, Alex,” Celestia aimed her attention on his humble person. Alex got up, noticing that the princess stood on her hooves as well. She went down the elevation and closer to him, making Alex realize how large Celestia was. Undoubtedly she was stunningly beautiful with her slender white-coated body, elegant posture, lush flowing pink-turquoise-green mane and tail, big bright eyes with long eyelashes. But she was noticeably bigger than her sister, let alone Twilight or any other ponies he knew. Perhaps bigger than common adult horses back on Earth. Her wings were tightly folded, but Alex imagined that while spread they appeared quite a look. And her horn was a serious weapon on its own, even not mentioning the magic. The princess trotted around him, slowly examining from all the sides, like trying to feel, if there was something wrong or dangerous about him. Then she towered over him again. Celestia leaned closer, making her eyes look directly into Alex’s. Her older sister status was obvious, despite her beauty and grace. No subtle wrinkles in the corners of the eyes, no other stupid… “earth” stuff, she was fresh and divine, but her glance, full of experience and wisdom, and the whole expression, told Alex at once that even if she ended being on his side, she wouldn’t become a factor to easily ignore ever. ‘I have nothing to hide,’ said Alex to himself and returned the look openly and calmly, despite her eyes seemed to look through his entire soul to the bottom. ‘Well, nothing dangerous to them.’ “Hmph!” Celestia nodded to some of her thoughts with a tiny smile, which made her face brighten suddenly, and returned to her throne, where she placed herself with comfort. Alex took a breath inwardly, it seemed he made a nice impression at least visually. “So, Alex the human,” Celestia glanced at him from above. “I want you to tell us the whole story of your arrival to Equestria. Tell, as you can remember it, but mention every detail you remember, regardless if you find it non-important.” “If only I knew where to start…” muttered Alex to himself. He decided to tell about his work-related trip first, then going into necessary details of the sudden storm and the car crash. When he reached the thunderstorm part, princess Luna suddenly stopped him and asked. “Art thou sure, Alex, that the storm was neither in prognosis nor had natural predictors? To put it simply, was ‘t arrant random?” “It was random to me, Your Highness,” confirmed Alex. “There were no visible symptoms of it to start, right till it started actually.” He noticed, how Luna shared a meaningful glance with her sister, and Celestia nodded barely visible. Puzzled, why the storm was so important to them, Alex continued his story. It took about half an hour in entirety, as he shortly mentioned all the aspects: his wandering around the old castle, his “race” with a manticore, a cockatrice incident and the rest of the trip to the point he was hit by a timberwolf at the attempt to defend Fluttershy. When he mentioned manticore Twilight gasped and put the hoof over her mouth, he didn’t tell her about dangerous encounters on his road to Ponyville, as he considered them to be of low importance at that moment. At the mentioning of the cockatrice, Twilight became very pale and Alex remembered, how Fluttershy told him that her friend had a special fear for them and all the snakes in general. Both other princesses were surprised a bit by that part of the story, but apparently, the mere fact of his magic resistance explained it. Luna was visibly smiling at the whole image of cockatrice defeat, Celestia though became concerned. “… and since that point, I can hardly remember, what happened to me, till the moment I woke up in the morning in Fluttershy’s cottage… five days ago,” Alex finished with the moment when he lost his consciousness after being wounded. “Fine!” Celestia’s eyes still examined him. “Since then we were fully informed about everything…” Alex felt that it was where the uneasy part started. And indeed… “… but I have a few questions. And I expect you to answer them with maximum sincerity, Alex.” “Yes, your highness.” “First of all, what was your vocation, work… special talent in your home world?” Celestia watched him very carefully, perhaps waiting for any signs of hesitation or evasion. “Work, Princess, people don’t have special talents as ponies do. We learn something, but we always can learn something else,” elaborated Alex. “Certainly, some are more capable of some certain things, but in general we are not destined for some exact mastery.” “Answering your question, Princess, my work was related to technology. The part of it I haven’t seen in your domain developed much. As I’ve already told Twilight… Excuse me… Princess Twilight Sparkle, my work was in building “thinking machines” and groups of them for solving various tasks, which demanded for vast amounts of calculations in very short periods of time.” Alex noticed that Luna was all ears, listening maybe even more carefully than Celestia… but for different reasons, as he supposed. “So you’re sure that there was absolutely no connection with magic, any form of it, in your everyday life, right?” “Absolutely, Princess!” Alex allowed himself a tiny smile. “As far as I know, we, I mean people in general, don’t have any magic at all. And I mean entirely, in the whole world around us… otherwise, someone would have spotted, I suppose. So I’m for sure totally… magic free.” “So who is that “Merlin” then, you mention that often, his pants included?” Celestia leaned forward. “Oh,” Alex could probably laugh if the situation wasn’t apparently more than serious. “That’s purely a figure of speech. You see, your highness, people have legends and myths… as well as your subjects, I suppose. So Merlin is a legendary wizard, who supposedly lived long ago. That’s all…” “Our legends described, what had its place in reality…” Luna was likely thinking aloud, but she actually said that. Celestia nodded and turned to Alex, as if she was asking him an unvoiced, but not less delicate because of that, question. “Our though are the different story,” Alex sighed. “I never came across any evidence that something described in them ever took place actually. Unfortunately…” “Why so?” Celestia raised her eyebrow. “Your Highness, I personally would never object, if our world contained a tiny bit of magic,” elaborated Alex. “Perhaps life would have been less… boring.” He noticed, how warm became Luna’s glance at that moment, and felt slightly more confident. “You think so?” Celestia seemed to tick some checkbox in her inner plan of Alex’s personality. “Well, “Merlin” part is a pure coincidence then…” “Yes, princess… Unlike Starswirl…” Alex realized that it was mentioned too roughly. He was going to touch that subject (of him knowing more about Equestria, than one can learn in a few days, sitting in one house) anyway. Moreover, he was to do that. But this phrase seemed to give an effect of a bomb triggered. Of course, Celestia didn’t show the whole tension which built up inside her, but Alex saw how her eyes narrowed and fixated on him in a fraction of a second. Luna was simply shocked, sitting with a slightly open mouth, apparently she considered that as another of his impulsive deeds. Alex couldn’t help noticing that she was very pretty anyway. He could almost feel also, how Twilight stiffened in her armchair. That was the point of his story, they both, him and Twilight, were worried about most of all. “I need to explain one thing, your highness,” Alex tried to speak in a calm voice, suppressing all the symptoms of stress, he could. “And that was a great shock for me as well, perhaps even more of a shock for me than it is for you…” In the next few minutes, Alex described the definition of the noosphere and his self-elaborated concept of its impact on knowledge, events and even worlds. “This is the only possible and adequate reason of events, which happened to me, and my knowledge therefore, I can find,” concluded Alex. He was unsure if Celestia accepted the concept as at least possible, but definitely, if she was suspicious of him, that only added some oil to the fire. “And how much dost thou know?” asked Luna, and Alex thought that she was trying to help him get out of the trap, he put himself in. “Not very much, your highness,” Alex turned slightly, showing he was addressing the one, who asked him that question. ‘Actually, Fluttershy has told me much more interesting things to think about,’ he said to himself, but obviously didn’t voice it. “I know about Nightmare moon, about her attempt to return, about the girls… defeating her and returning your Highness,” he bowed to Luna, noticing that her face turned sad at the mentioning of Nightmare Moon. “I know about Elements of Harmony existence, but don’t know, what they are exactly, I know some names, including mentioned Starswirl and Spike, whom I haven’t yet seen personally. So only what I… well… saw in the movie,” shrugged Alex. “Oh, and I simply remembered the path girls followed to the Old Castle, this helped me get directly to Ponyville fast enough,” he turned to Celestia. “Fine!” said Celestia, more to herself than to anypony else, after a few moments of deep thinking. “We’ll see then…” She raised her eyes on Alex. “At which moment did you realize exactly, where you got?” “Umm… In the throne room on the ground floor, I guess,” remembered Alex. “I saw pony armour and statues before but didn’t make a direct connection at that moment. But when I saw your regal symbol, Your Highness… yours and Princess’ Luna, I thought, I was about to get insane for a short moment. That moment exactly I realized, I was transferred to Equestria.” “Speaking of symbols,” Luna entered the discussion again. “Thou came to Ponyville wrapped in mine regal tapestry. What can thou tell us about that?” “Your Highness,” Alex became confused. “I was almost naked…” Both princesses downcasted, the pink tint was more visible on Celestia’s white coat than on Luna’s cheeks with her night colours. “…when I found myself in the castle tower, so I started freezing eventually. Your tapestry was torn from the wall in the throne room and it was the only intact piece of warm and comfortable cloth, I could find throughout the castle. So I wrapped myself in and fell asleep. If I may add, I tried to keep the banner as safe as I could during my trip to Ponyville.” With great relief, Alex saw Luna smiling. Celestia still had her questions. “Did you spend the whole night in the Old Castle, Alex?” “Yes, princess. After I solved my freezing problem, I felt sleepy, besides the realization was too striking and deprived me of remaining strength, so I… got onto a throne… and passed out almost immediately till the morning, when sunlight woke me up.” “Wh…” “Your sister’s throne, Your Highness, considering the placement of the tapestries,” Alex predicted the next question and Celestia’s eyes dilated in surprise, while Twilight shrunk in her seat from the inconceivable image – a commoner sleeping on the princess’ throne. Alex threw a quick glance at Luna to see her eyes warmed and a strange expression appeared on her face. Celestia huffed disapprovingly but commented nothing. Instead of that, she continued after a second. “Have you noticed something unusual about yourself, since you got to Equestria? Were you always that fast regenerating? As far as I know, your wound was serious enough, yet it took you three-four days to recover. Show your wound… please.” With a frown and a sigh Alex took off the shirt and turned his right side to the observers, raising his arm. There was a visible scar yet, but considering that only a week passed since there was an open wound, the result was impressive indeed. Alex slid the shirt back, noticing that at least one of the princesses examined him too fixedly. “I noticed and I’ve been told,” he forcedly confessed. “No, people never regenerate that fast normally, neither they are magic resistant or… other stuff I was said I was capable of. I never experienced that, when I was at home, I mean faster regeneration, as we don’t have magic. So I can only suppose that has something to do with my transfer itself…” “Your Highness, Princess Celestia,” Twilight finally said something. She thought that it was time to slightly shift the direction of the conversation and lessen the stress, though she wasn’t sure that she was going to suggest the proper specialist for that. “Yes, Twilight?” Celestia looked at her bright student. “I thought that we could use an opinion extra about Alex’s magic resistance,” quietly suggested Twilight. “I mean…” Celestia rolled her eyes. She knew that it was almost inevitable, yet wanted to believe they could manage without… “Discord…” called Twilight. With a loud click, dragonequus appeared in the hall. He sported glasses, an apron, a cooking spatula and held a cookbook in one of his different-calibre paws. “Twilight,” grumpily started Discord. “How offhandedly of you to drag me here like that. I was just making myself breakfast. I guess that last pancake goes to Tartarus…” he pouted. “Oh, Celly, Luna, you’re here as well,” he added in a second, pretending that he just noticed the princesses and was overly surprised by that. “And our young guest, he-he,” he looked at Alex over the shoulder. “Why don’t you ever stop your clownery, Discord?” Celestia was obviously not happy about being called “Celly” as well as to see Discord generally. “Can you be serious just as an exclusion?” “I’m always serious, Celly,” Discord ignored her frown completely. “That’s just another degree of “serious” than others accept.” Luna quietly snorted. Alex looked at that newcomer with wide-open eyes. He didn’t see Discord in person, yet heard about him. Of course, that mix of different species’ traits in one creature could appear shocking, but Alex remembered that he decided to not get surprised somewhere in the Old Castle already. “Hmpf…” Celestia wasn’t the one to be easily distracted. “Twilight thinks that you can add something valuable to our understanding of the human’s magic resistance problem.” “Problem?” muttered Discord barely audibly. “For whom is it a problem?” “Yeah,” he cocked his head, but the sly sparkles danced in his eyes. “I had a chance to see our guest… Alex… right?.. a bit earlier.” Alex thought that Discord had a special entertainment of teasing Celestia whenever possible. He wasn’t sure if this type of “advocate” could make his case easier. Meanwhile, the dragonequus continued. “Well, I doubt you want to listen to the whole boring chain of my assumptions, Celly. So I limit my testing of your patience to the conclusions only.” “So… Alex is indeed magic resistant, thus any magic applied to him directly does nothing to him… Oh, I’m sorry, better say it does nothing planned to him, as I’m sure there is some magical impact anyway, but the caster doesn’t decide,” he got silent, giving others time to catch the idea. “Doth thou mean, that something… still decides?” Luna broke the silence. “In a way,” nodded Discord. “You see, if you apply a spell, for example, a healing one, on Alex, you won’t get his wounds immediately healing as you want, but instead of that the magic is used somehow to change him, giving him unpredictable abilities.” “Are you going to say,” gasped Twilight. “That my healing spell attempt caused his regeneration boost practically?” “Perhaps,” Discord scratched the back of his head. “But your spell was hardly the first magic impact he experienced. I doubt he travelled to Equestria on foot. Anyway, that drags us away from the main direction…” “In addition to that,” Discord corrected his glasses, folded his fore paws and took the mentor’s tone, completely forgetting that the apron and the spatula brought an extremely comic look to that. “The human is able to drain the magic force from the active caster until the connection is broken somehow.” “Which instantly makes him dangerous,” Celestia wasn’t going to give up her positions easily. “Not more than a fork, unless you stick it into your muzzle,” retorted Discord, looking fixedly at the princess of the Sun. “Besides, he is completely unable to cast magic himself, thus corresponding to common human abilities, but…” “But?” Celestia raised her eyebrow. “This is purely my assumption,” Discord waved his fore paw. “But I think that every purely negative… It is when you want to harm Alex,” he winked. “Every purely negative spell is reflected and turned to the caster, but in the most unpredictable way, so I doubt he is doing it consciously as well.” And before anypony could say a word, Discord suggested enthusiastically. “If you don’t mind, I could conduct an experiment… to show you clearly, so to speak.” “Discord!” Celestia raised her voice. “No jokes, do you understand?” “Oh, drop it, Celly. If anypony is risking here, it’s me,” falsely pouted Discord. “So…” he then turned to Alex, scratching his chin. Alex was going to say that he was exactly the one, whom they forgot to ask, and that he wasn’t ready for the… experiments, when Discord clicked his long fingers. To Alex’s relief nothing happened to him in the next moment, but… a giant frying pan appeared out of the thin air and smacked the place, exactly where Discord… was a fraction of second before. He teleported right in time to avoid the hit and now appeared a few feet aside. Obviously, he was ready to some reaction alike, otherwise, he could hardly avoid the “attack”, so quick it was. “You see,” Discord produced a happy smile showing his single fang. “All I was going to do, was to give Alex deer horns… temporarily of course. But… as you could see, it was interpreted as an attack and… I was lucky to avoid the repay.” “Obviously, the reaction was completely random,” he turned to princesses, who sat like frozen, unsure if what they saw was utterly strange, mental or funny. “Well, unless it was somehow connected to my breakfast plans… but that’s too weird to assume even for me.” “I’m not sure, what I just saw,” started Luna… “Yet he is unable to cast magic consciously,” interrupted her Discord. He quickly reached the small table with a jar of water and glasses near Twilight, filled one glass and returned to Alex. Then he simply poured the water on Alex, making sure, what he was going to do to be obvious. “You see now? He surely could have shielded with magic, if he was able to,” concluded Discord with a sly smile. Alex simply had no words, he gritted his teeth and popped the knuckles… But then he realized that the whole situation was utterly hilarious. Besides, it was a tie, to be frank. “Sorry, pal, that was necessary,” said Discord and patted Alex’s back. Then he added barely audibly, so only Alex could hear. “For your own sake. Because I know Celestia…” Alex then noticed that Luna looked at him with pure sympathy and he thought that, damn it, he could bear a couple of glasses more if necessary. “Let me sum it up,” suddenly Discord’s tone became very serious. “I believe that there is now more in Alex than in a common human somehow. You most likely can’t do anything with him with magic, besides risking a certain reaction, if you try. You can, of course, harm him physically, despite his faster regeneration. But,” he made a meaningful pause. “Even if you destroy him physically, I believe you won’t be able to destroy everything, what… he now “contains”. And I’m not going to predict, how what remains will develop and which consequences it will bring… without its human part,” Discord narrowed his eyes, looking at Celestia specifically. Silence crawled in the hall, while everypony digested the latest words. “I have nothing to add, ladies and gentlecolts,” Discord theatrically spread his fore paws. “With that, if you don’t mind, I’m leaving…” “Hey,” exclaimed Celestia. “Before you go, care to take that with you,” she pointed at the giant pan on the floor. “Can’t help here, Celly. That’s his frying pan…” Discord pointed at Alex and vanished with a click of his fingers. “What a…” Celestia gritted her teeth, while Luna giggled quietly. “So, can you get rid of that… Alex?” “I admire your sense of humour, your Highness,” said Alex quite grumpily. “But as it was stated, I can’t do magic… on purpose at least. So I can’t remove it. And I want to be frank with you, I felt nothing at the moment of that… show. So I’m not entirely sure if that’s not Discord’s frying pan actually.” Alex realized that he didn’t make it easier for himself with that confession, but he decided to play fair till the end. The idea that he somehow materialized a… well… whatever to react on somepony’s “attack” seemed completely impossible for him. Celestia apparently wasn’t sure as well. She remembered about the “seeker” and told herself that they didn’t approach the question of Alex’s connection to them or its absence in the slightest yet. She was going to ask two last questions which were important to her. “Were you alone while transferred to Equestria, Alex? Moreover, were you alone when you found yourself in the Old Castle? At least how did you feel?” Alex was utterly surprised by that, how he saw it, strange question, but he answered sincerely. “Yes, your highness. I was completely alone. I gave the girl to her mother before the car was hit by the lightning, and I found myself all alone in the tower. Neither I saw anyone… or anypony while looking for the castle exit.” “And the last question…” Alex felt as his heart shrank in his chest in concern that he could do better than he did already when Celestia looked him directly into the eyes and asked softly. “What did you want most of all, the moment you realized, where you got? What do you want most of all now?” “I wanted to get home, that is Earth, my mother world,” Alex thought that it was the easiest question for today, moreover for his entire life maybe. “Nothing changed, I still want the same!” Celestia seemed to be satisfied at least with this answer, somehow understanding that it was completely sincere. Yet Alex spotted a faint shadow which ran over Luna’s face with his last words. A few minutes of silence passed, Alex stood still, hoping with all his heart, he still had the chance to return. Celestia looked seemingly in the distant space, as she was making some decision. “Alex the human,” she said finally and Alex involuntarily twitched, like electrocuted. “Here is what I decided regarding you. I suppose you understand that according to conditions given, I can’t send you to your home world right away.” Alex considered that variant, yet having it pronounced he felt like if he was hit by that giant frying pan, which still was laying on the floor. “I need to investigate the possible means to send you back,” continued Celestia meanwhile. “IF there are any. Besides I need to investigate your arrival more thoroughly. For the time being, you will remain in Canterlot.” “Moreover, we need to study your nature and abilities better, to make sure neither your stay in Equestria, nor departure could harm us all,” she nailed the coffin. “So we need to take some analysis and carry a few experiments, not of the random nature Discord did. Don’t worry, Alex, nothing detrimental to your health.” A nasty feeling of the ground parting under his feet and throwing him into abyss visited Alex. Not only he was stuck here for an undefined period, but he was going to enter another, tighter, lockout, than his previous one. And in addition to the joy, he was going to become a subject of some bucking experiments. ‘Why don’t you just kick me out of your world back? You, who are capable to move a star!’ thought Alex angrily. ‘Not making me a guinea pig for some pony science!’ ‘Kick me out, of course!’ the idea came suddenly and looked so simple and elegant to Alex. ‘Unpredictability is a key to success, that’s what someone like Discord could say,’ Alex smirked maniacally. Before anypony could say or do something, he quickly got onto the elevation with the thrones and approached Celestia, who was sitting, apparently caught off guard by his impulsive act. Alex then leaned to the princess of the Sun, put both hands on her silky cheeks and… placed a delicate, but firm, very affectionate kiss on her soft lips. He watched how Celestia first squeezed her eyes shut in shock, then her eyes opened wide and the sparkles of wrath lighted inside, as he kept tasting her lips. Obviously, that took only a moment, so she didn’t have time to react. Alex released the embarrassed and angry alicorn with pink spots on her cheeks and took a step back. “Just not to the moon, please…” he muttered quite audibly. Luna, whose eyes were competing in size with sister’s, gasped or snorted, he couldn’t tell for sure. Alex knew that it was a pure gesture of despair, a lame, perhaps, attempt to go for broke. Celestia put her hoof on his chest, it wasn’t a strike, yet the hit was quite palpable, so Alex stepped back a couple of steps, feeling a dull pain in his ribs. She was probably going to incinerate him with her wrath, not thinking about his new abilities at all, but after a moment her muscles relaxed, and the princess gave him an unexpectedly bright smile. “Roughly working you are, Alex!” Celestia was obviously having fun of that crude manipulation attempt. Alex sighed inwardly, but couldn’t hold his tongue this time. Celestia always played her subjects like chessmen, even including the girls sometimes. Mostly to their benefit finally, but she could definitely think about the feelings more. Alex was sure that even if somepony could reproach him for manipulating, that wasn’t her. “Well, as I’m not going to the moon, apparently, then I could only hope that I can learn something watching your royal highness around. I’m not that confident to imagine that you could want such a student for more sophisticated mentoring.” The larger strike was shielded down, but it seemed that this wasp sting found its aim. Alex noticed how Celestia’s lips twitched slightly, while she was keeping the face. That was a tiny bit harder though this time, and he saw that, giving out a little fake kind smile. A gaze to the left confirmed his suspicion about the sounds, he was hearing – Luna tried her best not to burst out laughing and subtly put her hoof over her mouth, her shoulders shook quite visibly though. The whole thing was apparently enough for Celestia. “You know, Alex, you’re extremely lucky, there are no accidental witnesses of your… impudent act,” her eyes were glowing. “And take it as an early gift, I’m not kicking your butt. Otherwise, it stays as I stated. The guards will escort you to your… room.” Alex bowed theatrically, backing off the elevation. A quick glance at two other princesses told him that Luna wasn’t sure to laugh at the situation or to scold him for being an unjustifiably risky hay head. Twilight seemed to be still frozen from the shock and Alex winked at her, noticing how she twitched, but at least unfroze. * Two pegasi guards escorted Alex to his new place, he preferred to refer to it like that, despite he realized that it would be rather a cell, ward or anything else of that kind. To be frank, he wasn’t restrained, tied, etc, and that gave tiny hope that he wasn’t still a prisoner, at least formally. But the circumstances said otherwise. By fact, he was a prisoner, first of all, the prisoner of his alien status here, in the land of sentient ponies. They got to the ground floor, exited the castle and crossed the wide space between it and a white inconspicuous building within the castle complex boundaries. It wasn’t obvious if it was a prison or some scientific facility, but to Alex’s relief, it reminded him of the hospital most of all when they entered. But he told himself that it was very shortsighted to relax yet, while the guards handed… or better say hoofed him over to a unicorn stallion in a lab coat. At first, that could look like a gesture of trust, but Alex noticed that the facility was unobtrusively guarded inside, and he was sure that somepony constantly kept their eyes on it outside as well. Another guard carefully examined his clothes and bag and concluded that there was nothing, the human could take with him not. Then his new guide brought him to a room with a single bed, chair, table, window and locker. The window was fairly small and blocked by metal bars, so it was technically a cell. Alex sighed, but at least they didn’t deprive him of fresh air and the daylight. The small door led to the bathroom. Alex smirked, now he was given a personal comfortable prison cell, what a treat. He remembered the proverb that everything was best known in comparison and inwardly scolded himself of being unsatisfied with at least partial lockout at Fluttershy’s house. Now he was completely, royally locked. The “medic”, as Alex called for himself the stallion who didn’t tell his name, simply stated that Alex could keep his clothes for the most of time, but when he was to be taken for “tests”, he should change to the lab clothes, he could find in the locker. Alex sadly nodded. The unicorn then left, activating some magical barrier, which blocked the room entrance, still allowing to see what happened inside. “Great!” thought Alex, getting a dry shirt from the bag and changing. “That’s bucking great! Now I’m like a butterfly on a pin.” He then dried his hair after Discord’s “experiment” with the towel, he could find in the small bathroom and left the wet shirt there. Completely out of ideas, Alex sat on the bed and stared at the opposite wall. * “So, what do you think about that, Luna?” asked Celestia, when after a short casual conversation Twilight left. “About what exactly, Tia?” Luna seemed to emerge from the deep dive of thinking. “About the whole story, from the very start.” “Well, if thou wanteth mine insight, I must say first that it seems nearly impossible to me that Alex was connected to the… “seekers” or some other evil, at least deliberate one,” supposed Luna. “Given the circumstances in his home world, he got transferred within.” “That’s if we take them as granted,” noted Celestia. “As we have yet nothing, except his own words.” Luna bit her tongue, she wasn’t going to tell about the connection between their dreams yet. “Perhaps,” she said instead. “But I thought thou hast noticed that he was sincere most likely, as thou can feel that oft.” “That’s right,” Celestia admitted unwillingly. “My experience said he wasn’t lying in key aspects, but not all the parts of the image combine yet.” “Didst thou think not, that might be because that gent didn’t know everything about himself yet? I doubt that travelling between realms was his common leisure.” “Speaking of which, have you noticed the similarities between the storm he got into and the one we watched the night he arrived?” Celestia preferred to change the subject. “I did, Tia. Methinks the lightning was just a… following effect of a magical portal. According to mine knowledge of the matter, that could happen, if thither was no exact aim of the portal at which hour it was created. So thither was no actual warp.” “Like if somepony wasn’t sure what or whom they were going to transfer, or if they transfer those at all, until the last moment they targeted Alex,” Celestia caught what her sister was going to say. “And all this with most likely some ancient elemental magic. Considering… Earth has no magic, as he claims at least.” “More or less so, Tia,” Luna nodded. “Well, that tells us only one thing definitely then,” Celestia raised one hoof to her chin. “That his arrival was least accidental.” “Somepony planned his arrival and had a certain goal to reach with the human presence,” she elaborated. “Did you notice, how fixated was Discord of us not doing any harm to the human?” Celestia suddenly asked. Luna shrugged. “Perhaps, thou art overreacting, Tia. Discord might genuinely believe in what he said, that Alex was needed…” “Which makes me ponder if Discord is exactly the one, who brought him here for some sort of his weird plan,” muttered Celestia. “I know he was reformed, but… Discord is Discord. What he sees as a joke, may appear a disaster for others.” “Besides, I couldn’t ignore certain similarities in the human behaviour,” huffed she. “In particular his impudence and impulsiveness.” Luna gave out a small smile. “I haven’t seen that thou wast very much angry with Alex pulling his trick. Was it that bad?” “Oh, come on, sister,” Celestia rolled her eyes. “I mean it wasn’t that bad, but the whole situation… Oh!..” She blushed and looked aside, while Luna quietly snickered.