//------------------------------// // Chapter 2: Introductions // Story: Gates // by AzureClef5873 //------------------------------// The sounds of footsteps could be heard throughout the marble halls of Canterlot castle. The three humans have just arrived from the hospital. It had been 3 days since Discords attack and Troy was allowed to leave the hospital. Hearing of his release, Celestia had sent some guards to the hospital and had them escort the humans back to the castle. Breaking the silence of the halls, Troy sighed “Is there anyway I could take a break? My leg is killing me.” Despite his leg healing at an accelerated rate due to magic, his leg still needed some time to heal. So Troy is still on crutches. “Stop being such a bitch man.” Harry griped back at his limping friend. “I just asked one of the guards and he said that the throne room is just around the corner.” Troy glared back at his friend before letting out another sigh. “Fine, but when we get to the throne room, im finding a chair.” Devon laughed at his friends antics as they approached a giant pair of golden doors. “We’re here, the princesses are waiting for you on the other side of these doors.” One of the guards said as he and the rest of the guards began to open the door. Troy arched a brow ‘Did he just say princesses? As in more than one?’ he thought as he noticed the doors had fully opened revealing the long hall they were in when they first arrived in Equestria. However, Troy and his friends noticed the small gathering of ponies at the end of the hall. Celestia was sitting in her throne with six ponies standing in front of her. The group soon recognized the six ponies as the ones they met when they crashed. Lastly, the humans noticed there was an additional pony sitting on another throne next to Celestia’s. This particular pony had a flowing mane like Celestia’s except for the fact that it looked like the night sky rather than the tri colored one of Celestia’s. This pony had dark blue fur with a mark like Celestia’s on her flank, however, instead of a sun, it was a crescent moon. As the three humans began to approach. Celestia raised her attention from the six ponies around her to the humans. “Ah, I see that you finally arrived my dear humans, it’s good to see that you three are doing better than the last time we saw you.” She said with a smile before motioning the ponies in front of her towards the humans. “Yeah, the only thing is that part of my soul is damaged and cannot be repaired here.” Harry feigned with over exaggeration clearly present in his mood. “Don’t mind him princess, he’s still upset about his truck.” Devon said eyeing Harry with an amused expression. “It’s quite alright my dear human,” she said smiling at Devon before turning towards the feigning human. “Actually, I have been having my royal scientists and engineers look at your ‘truck’ to see if they can repair it.” she exclaimed as Harry nearly jumped out of his shoes. “Seriously?! Awesome! My baby is going to be alright.” He just giggled like a schoolgirl at the thought of having his truck back. Troy smirked at his friends antics before limping up to the front of his friends with the aid of his crutch. “All things aside Princess Celestia, the last time we spoke, you talked about finding us places to stay while we search for a way home. I assume that since you called us here, you found such a place?” I asked as my friends began to focus back on the situation. “Thats right, however, I haven't found the exact place to which you will be staying, but I have narrowed it down.” She motioned to the six ponies in front of her. Without even a moment's notice, a pink blur shot across the room and latched itself to Harry’s face. “Hi there, my name is Pinkie Pie, what's yours?! Do you like cupcakes?! I like cupcakes! I also like to party, do you like to party?!” When the pink blur materialized on Harry’s face, he fell back onto his rear in surprise. “Who, what, why, how?!” Harry questioned the hyperactive pony before an orange hoof grabbed Pinkie off of Harry’s face. “Sorry ‘bout that sugarcube. Pinkie here tends to get ‘excited’ whenever she meets somepony new.” Said an orange pony with a yellow mane. She wore a stetson cowboy hat and had a mark like the other ponies. Her mark had 3 red apples. “Names Applejack. Nice ta meetcha” she said with a smile and an extended hoof “Harry,” He said as he grabbed the extended hoof. “Pleasure’s all mine.” Applejack raised an eyebrow before helping Harry up. “Weird way to do a hoof bump, but it don't matter.” She shook her head as the small yellow pegasus walked over to Troy. “H-hello there. H-how are you feeling?” Her voice was soft, almost inaudible. She had a long pink main and wings folded at her side. The mark on her flank were 3 butterflies. “I’m better than I was when we last met.” Troy rubbed the back of his head before smiling nervously. ’She is so fucking adorable.’ he thought, shaking his head. “I almost forgot, we really didn't get to introduce ourselves last time we met.” she nodded slowly. “M-my name is Fluttershy.” She said while trying her best to look at him in the eyes. “My name is Troy, and I would like to say thank you for helping me back there, doctor told me that if you didn't help me, my leg would have been alot worse.” He smiled warmly at her. “O-oh it's no problem at all. I-i always help out injured creatures and ponies.” She said as she returned the warm smile. Before she could say anything else, she noticed that Devon was behind his friends and was just smiling awkwardly. “U-um,” She said softly as she pointed towards Devon. “Oh, would you like to meet him?” Fluttershy nodded in response. Troy nodded before turning to his friend and motioning him to come over. Devon walked over to the group with a nervous smile. “Hello, My name is Devon.” he said as the yellow pony’s eyes shot wide open. Before she could say anything however, another voice shouted in surprise. “Did you just say your name was Devon?!” A cyan mare with rainbow hair flew over at incredulous speeds. She stopped just in front of the dark toned human with wide eyes. “You were the one who saved Derpy right?” She questioned as Fluttershy slowly excused herself from Troy and walked over to stand beside the cyan mare. “If Derpy is the gray pegasus with a yellow mane, then yes I did.” He said with a smile. Before he could say anything else, both mares jumped and tackled the dark toned human. He yelped as he fell backwards at the surprise force. “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” both mares exclaimed as everyone just watched in surprise. The rainbow mare slowly stood back up with a smile, “You see, Derpy is a dear friend of ours, and you saved her life. So we can’t thank you enough.” Fluttershy stood up as well and nodded in agreement. “I just did what anyone else would do. I’m not going to... let someone die…” Devon said with some slight hesitation. “But besides the point, who are you?”. “Oh! Almost forgot.” She puffed her chest out and proclaimed confidently, “The names Rainbow Dash, don’t wear it out.” Devon chuckled slightly at the mare’s confidence. Off on the side of the room, Troy was watching his friends mingle with the ponies. “You know, it won’t hurt to talk to them either darling.” Troy looked down to see a mare with snow white fur and a long curled purple mane. She had 3 diamonds plastered on her flank as well as a white horn protruding from her forehead. “I know, but to be frank, I’m a little woozy from the pain meds the doctor put me on.” Troy said pulling out a bottle of pills. “Apparently not all stuff can be cured by magic.” He chuckled at his remark before putting the pills back in his pocket. The mare beside him let out a small chuckle of her own. Troy then said, “The names Troy, and who might you be.” “My name is Rarity, Its very nice to meet you Troy.” “Likewise.” Troy smiled before noticing a purple unicorn hiding behind Rarity. “Um, Rarity?” Troy asked with an arched eyebrow. “Yes?” “Who is that pony behind you?” Rarity turned to see the pony behind her. Rarity smiled before motioning the unicorn to approach the pair. When she came into clear view, he could see the unicorn had a sort of lavender coat with a long straight mane. The main was mainly a dark violet with light purple and pink highlights. She had large dark pink star with 5 smaller white stars orbiting the large one on her flank. The mare then whispered into Rarity’s ear. Rarity just chuckled before turning towards Troy. “It appears that my friend here, Twilight Sparkle, wishes to ask you a couple of questions.” She said as Twilight began to have a hopeful/fearful look on her face. Troy looked at the two with an arched brow before shrugging. “I don’t see why not.” Troy said as he adjusted his crutch again. Twilight’s face lit up like a light bulb and rushed over to start her interview but was cut off by Celestia clearing her throat. Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned their attention towards the regal ruler. “It is nice that everyone seems to be getting along, however, I’m afraid we must get down to business.” Everyone nodded except for Twilight whom had a look of disappointment before shaking her head and payed attention to the princess. “Now, as I believe a few days ago, I told you three that you would stay in the castle until I found a possible place of residents for the three of you. Did I not?” Celestia asked. The three of them nodded. “Well it appears there will be a change of plans.” The three shared a look of confusion and worry. Celestia noticed this and smiled warmly. “Do not worry, the only change is that I have already found your places of residents.” The three sighed in relief before Troy approached the throne slightly. “That's great! So where are we staying then if could be so blunt?” Troy asked as the three stared at Celestia in anticipation. “That, my dear humans, is something I was going to bring up. For the time being, we don’t have a place that can house all three of you. So instead, the three of you will be staying with other ponies. If that’s alright with you.” “Hold on a sec princess,” Harry rose up in agitation. “I really don’t like the idea of me being so far away from my friends.” The three humans nodded in agreement. “I figured as much. That's why the homes you will be staying in are in the same town and a short walk away from each other.” Celestia kept a constantly warm smile as she motioned for the other 6 ponies to come forward. “Okay Princess, as long as we are still with each other at the end of the day, we’ll be fine.” Harry relaxed a bit as they all gathered by the steps of the thrones. Celestia nodded in satisfaction. “Now then, let's assign where you three are going to be staying, shall we?” everyone nodded. “First up, Harry, right?” Harry approached the princess with a smirk. “The one and only.”  Harry jokingly remarked with a quick chuckle from his friends. “After some consideration, I deemed it necessary to find a place that was large enough to house you and your “truck” seeing that you are set on repairing it.” She motioned for a pony to come forwards. “That being said, the pony you’ll be staying with is Applejack.” Harry turned towards the orange pony with surprise. Applejack nodded before saying, “Mah family owns ah farm and we have ah spare barn that your, whatyamacallit, “truck” can be stored in so ya can repair it.” Harry smiled as he walked over to the orange mare. “Well, I look forward to it. But please, let me know if you need any help with anything. I’m not a fan of freeloading if you know what I mean.” He scratched the back of his head smiling. “Ah wouldn’t have it anyother way.” Applejack then moved over to the side along with Harry to discuss their arrangement. Celestia smiled before turning her attention back towards the main group. “Now, As for Devon,” He stepped forwards. “After hearing of your bravery for saving one of my little ponies, a certain pony immediately volunteered to house you as a thank you for saving her friend.” A yellow mare walked forward sheepishly. “I-it’s the least I-I can do.” She let a small smile appear on her muzzle. “As I said before, I just did what everyone else would’ve.” He smiled back at her as he crossed his arms behind his head. “That doesn’t mean that I won’t take you up on that.” Devon chuckled before he and Fluttershy went to join Harry and Applejack. Celestia smiled once more for she was down to the last human. “Now, Troy, it is time to designate with whom you will be staying.” She smiled warmly as Troy stood with an air of worry and anticipation. “The reason I paired you with this pony is because I wish to study you my dear human. Your biology, your mannerisms, even the way you treat others of your own race is completely different from anything here in Equestria. So, with your consent of course, I wish to study you and your friends.” Troy held his hand up to his chin and rubbed it while he was contemplating her request. “I don’t see why not. I mean, I'm also interested in how you ponies function as well. What about you guys?” Troy turned towards his friends who just shrugged. Harry gave him a small smirk. “I don’t care really, I'm pretty sure Devon agrees,” Devon nodded. “So by all means, study us. Just no needles, fucking hate needles.” The humans gave one final nod in agreement before returning their attention to Celestia. The princess smiled widely at the humans compliance. “Excellent!” She giggled happily before coughing to regain her composure. “Now with that out of the way, I will pair you with your new roommate.” Celestia motioned the unicorn over to the human. The unicorn in question walked forwards. “Troy, you will be paired with my faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.” Twilight shyly waved her hoof. “When I told her that I wished for her to study you three, Twilight bounced off the walls thinking about what we could learn from your culture and sciences.” Twilight approached Troy with her glancing up and down his body while muttering under her breath something about minotaurs. Troy watched the inquisitive mare as she circled him like a wolf circling prey. Some nervous laughter escaped Troy before he let out a soft cough that snapped Twilight back to reality. “Oh! Sorry about that Troy, when I get a chance to study something im interested in, I tend to get overly excited.” She smiled nervously as Troy relaxed a bit. “That's alright, but lets leave the analyzing of my physicality for latter. Right now i’m rather tired.” he said as he adjusted his crutch again. Twilight relaxed for a moment before responding, “Sure thing.” She smiled as the rest of their friends gathered around them. Celestia, with a look of satisfaction adjourning her face, nodded in contempt. “With that being said, I’ll have you all sent back to your quarters. After all, you all have a long train ride ahead of you.” the mane 6 bowed before the princess and said their goodbyes before leaving the throne room. Celestia turned towards the humans and smiled before motioning two guards over. “These two will take you three to your room for the night. Sweet dreams my dear humans.” The humans bowed and said their goodbyes as well before following the guards out of the room. “I really don’t like this idea tia.” The dark pony beside Celestia remarked as she turned towards her counterpart. “I know Luna, i’m still slightly worried about how this will play out as well. Only time will tell us now.” Celestia and Luna shared a worried look before getting up and leaving to do their own respective duties. In the humans quarters Troy slumped down onto the bed with a large sigh. His friends followed suit. “You know, despite our situation, i’m oddly relaxed.” Troy said while folding his arms across his chest. “Same here, i’d figured we would be panicking like crazy right about now.” Devon agreed while chewing on an apple he grabbed from the castle cafeteria. “We were nervous wrecks back home, why aren’t we now?” “Maybe it’s something to do with the magic in this place.” Both Devon and Troy turned to look at Harry who was looking overlooking Canterlot from the rooms balcony. The humans in the room looked at each other before getting up and joining their friend on the balcony. The City below was a hive of busy workers running and flying to different buildings. Many other ponies kept their heads low as many black caskets were laid across the streets. The humans frowned at the dark scene unfolding below them. “That worries me though.” Troy spoke with narrowing eyes. “We witnessed so much,  homes being destroyed, and ponies whom have been pushed to the brink.” the other humans faces darkened in response. “Yet we are acting as if it was some minor inconvenience. I know I feel sorry and worry for them, but it's as if my mind is blocking these emotions from being expressed.” The humans stand on the balcony before Harry spoke up. “Is there anyway to tell if magic is involved? I mean, for all we know we may just be in a state of shock.” Harry exclaimed before a knock came from the door. “We should ask the princesses about this later.” Devon turned to his friends before all three of them walked over to the door. Troy opens the door to see Twilight standing there with what one could assume to be the pony version of a backpack. “Hi there Troy, I was wondering if I could get some measurements from you and your friends.” She asked with a nervous smile and laugh. Troy looked at his friends for a second before turning back. “What kind of measurements?” Troy raised his brow. “You know, basic stuff like height, weight, mane color, coat color. Eye color. A “Physical” if you would.” She said pulling out a scale and what looked to be a meter stick. She smiled at the humans. Troy turned back to his friends who just looked at each other and shrugged. Troy sighed before turning towards the lavender mare. “Fine,” Twilight jumped in excitement. “This better not get weird. I’m all for kinky shit but not right now.” Harry smirked at his friends who just looked at him with disappointment. Twilight looked a the three humans in confusions “What does “kinky” mean?” she asked with a raised eyebrow. The three humans eyes shot wide open. After a second of silence, they all laughed. Twilight watched as the humans held their stomachs and fell to the floor laughing. “Oh my god why!” Troy managed to slip out before his howling laughter resumed. “Are…you guys okay?” Twilights brow lifted up as the humans continued to laugh. “We’re,” Devon snickered before continuing, “Fine.” His wild laughter continued. “It doesn’t look like it.” She looked at them worriedly. I’m going to get the guards to come help and maybe they can help me figure out what “kinky” means.” The three humans looked at eachother again before they began to laugh louder than before. Twilight just looked at the three before attempting to go find guards. Luckily, Troy was able to regain his composure enough to allow him to grab Twilight before she could leave. “Honestly Twilight, we’re fine. You just said something that,” He snickered lightly. “We found extremely funny. Right fellas.” His friends nodded as they slowly regained their sanity. Twilight looked at the crazed humans before returning her gaze back to Troy. “Alright, but you are going to explain to me the meaning of “kinky” later. Alright?” twilight expressed with slight agitation. Troy snickered at her last comment. “Yes Ma’am.” he said as she entered the room. “Aside from that, let's get these examinations started.” She smiled happily. “Now, if you three will stand in a line please.” The three exchanged looks before they complied to the pony’s request. A pinkish aura shined on her horn before a lavender light covered every inch of each human. The humans recoiled slightly at the tingling feeling that surged over their bodies. After a few more seconds the light faded and Twilight grabbed a notebook with a quill out of her bag. She then began to write down everything from heart rate to different scars located on each human’s body. A flash of worry covered her muzzle for a split second before turning back to normal. “So is that it?” Harry asked before the lavender mare shook her head. “Yes, for you and Devon at least. I just have a few questions for Troy. you two can go start your way to the dining hall, dinner's almost ready.” she gave the humans a small smile. “The guards down the hall can take you two down there.” The two humans gave Troy a questioning look before he smirked. “Just save some for me alright?” Troy shook his head with a smirk as his friends smiled before exiting the room. With his two friends gone, only Twilight and Troy remained. “So, what questions do you have for me?” Troy asked while he sat down on the nearby bed. “I have a general question about Human biology and a few questions regarding you specifically, is that alright?” Twilight asked while she sat down in a wooden chair in the corner. “Sure, lets knock out these questions before my friends decide to eat everything.” He chuckled. Twilight's eyes shrank a little bit before returning to normal a second after. “Alright then. First off, what makes up a Humans dietary needs?” She asked with a shake in her voice. Troy noticed the mares subtle shake and narrowed his eyes in skepticism. “If you don’t mind me asking, what brings that up?” Troy’s voiced remained monotonous as he watched the mare shift uncomfortably. “Well… when I was scanning you and your friends, I noticed that your have a set of incisors. Those are normally indicators of a carnivorous diet.” She smiled nervously as the human laughed a bit. “Okay, first off, I am carnivorous,” The mare looked on nervously, “but, I do not eat anything that is sentient. As in I don’t eat anything that can think and feel.” The mare relaxed for a moment before worry flashed for a bit. “If you are carnivorous, what did you eat at the hospital?” Troy adjusted himself on the bed. “I just ate the salads they gave us. Gotta say, they are pretty good.” He smiled. “And before you ask, Im what you can call an omnivore, I eat both meat and vegetation to keep a balanced diet.” The mare looked at him for a moment. “So you don’t need to eat meat to survive, correct?” “Yes and no, while I don’t have to eat meat, I am required to eat meat to stay healthy.” Twilight sighed before shaking her head and smiling. “I guess i’ll talk to the princess about getting some meat from the griffon empire. But on a side note, what meat did you eat back home?” She asked curiously as she pulled out her quill to write down the types. “We mainly eat beef, chicken, fish, and turkey.” He said calmly. Twilight shrunk in her seat slightly before returning to normal. She muttered something about a “bison tribe” but didn’t go into detail. “Alrighty then. Onto the personal questions.” She sat up and turned the page in her notebook. “What was that thing you and your friends were in when you crashed into the castle?” Troy laughed a bit before saying, “Just trust me when I say that you want to ask Harry about that thing in detail. To answer your question, it is called a truck, it's a sort of transportation vehicle for us humans.” Twilight nodded before scribbling down something in her notes. “Okay, Just one more question and we can go to dinner, Ok?” She smiled. Troy just laid back on the bed and held up an okay symbol with his right hand. “Haha, i’ll take that as a yes.” She giggled before turning her page. “Now then, when I was scanning you and your friends, I noticed that you in particular had some sort of ink all over your back. May I ask what is on your back?” She tilted her head with a nervous smile. “Oh…” he sat up with a disturbed look. “Is that a problem? As long as it’s nothing that is any danger, i don’t mind skipping it.” She looked at the human with concern. “No… its fine, I just didn't expect the question is all.” He smiled at the mare before he stood up with help from his crutch. He then took off his jacket and t-shirt and turned his back towards the mare. On his back was a large tattoo of angelic wings folded on his back. “Is that where humans keep their cutie marks?” She asked before beginning to write something down. “The hell’s a cutie mark?” he asked turning to see her gesturing to the weird star mark on her flank. “A cutie mark is a symbol of a particular pony’s talent, for instance, my talent is magic.” She said proudly. “Oh, well this is a tattoo. From where i’m from, humans get these for any sort of reason.” Twilight was writing down everything he was saying. In her notebook. She raised her head. “What did you get that one for then?” she asked tilting her head. Troy winced slightly before putting on his shirt. “Sorry, but that's a rather sensitive topic. If it’s all the same for you Twilight, i’m getting hungry. Is it alright if we just head to dinner?” Troy walked over to door and waits for her response. “Oh! Um…. sure?” She responded with curiosity in her voice before she packed up her notebook and quill before heading out the door with Troy. They walked down the equestrian castle in silence. Twilight occasionally looked up at the human. When she did, all she saw was a face as cold as stone. After that, she would look down in fear and regret for even asking the question. Silence remained between the two as they made their way down to the dining hall. Eventually, they came to a stop in front of the doors to the dining hall. Troy was reaching for the door handle when he stopped and let out a small sigh. His expression lightened as he turned back to the scared mare beside him. “Listen, i’m sorry if I scared you.” The mare looked up at him. “I know that you are just curious about humans and I get that. However, my tattoo has a meaning that is very…. difficult to talk about. I may be able to tell you in the future. But right now, let’s let sleeping dogs lie, alright?” He kneeled down and held out a fist with a smile on his face. Twilight stared at his fist for a brief moment before nodding. She smiled as she bumped the fist with her Hoof. “I get it, it’d be very odd for someone to spill out their past to someone they just met. But i’m here if you ever wanted to talk about it.” “I may take you up on that offer eventually. Right now, however, I am starving and I really hope my friends didn’t eat everything in the castle.” He said with a small smirk on his face. “I hope not, I was really wanting to have one of Chef’s salads tonight. As a friend of mine would say, “They are to die for”.” She said with an over-exaggerated stuck up voice. The two shared a laugh before they opened the doors.