//------------------------------//
// Unfamiliar Bindings 
// Story: Familiar 
// by Cookies 
//------------------------------//

I woke up to a pounding headache and a soft sizzling sound coming from the kitchen. I slowly sit up on my makeshift bed with a groan.

Did I drink too much last night..?

I slowly open my eyes, realizing I was still in Twilight's Library. I watched the clock, it was a little past 9 a.m. 

The memories of last night's dream suddenly flooded back. I rested my head against my hand in a facepalm.

It wasn't just a dream, was it?

"Oh you're awake?" 

I turned my head toward the sound. Spike was standing in the kitchen doorframe with a plate. He walked to the table in the middle of the room and put the plate down.

"Do you remember what happened last night?" He asked me.

I lifted my head and responded groggily with a simple "Yes."

"Can you tell me? I only remember bringing dinner here and then... nothing." 

He looks between the plate he put on the table and me. "Oh no! It's going to happen again! Quick Anon, ask the guard to get a doctor! Aaaaaah!" 

I saw him start running around the table completely panicked with his eyes closed. I just calmly grab my pillow and slide it on his path. He trips and fall on it softly.

"Calm down, Spike. Yesterday, I put you to sleep without meaning to. Strange things happen when I touch other people, and it just happen that I tried to pat your head."

"Oh. That's why I found my gem sammich here." He gets up and throws the pillow back at my feets. "You might want to see a doctor about that though."

"Already did. Don't worry about it." I replied, taking the pillow and putting it back where it belongs.

"If you say so dude. Also, you can take this plate, I'll go prepare another one." He says, walking toward the kitchen. 

I was about to get up when I saw him hold his belly. His cheeks bulged before he lets out a fiery burp, making a scroll appear out of thin air.

I slowly raised a brow. "Is that how your postal service works? Burping letters?"

"What? No. That's a thing between Princess Celestia and me only."

...

My mind proceeded to imagine the regal princess burping like there's no tomorrow. 

I felt my nerves nearly crack at that moment. Whether it'd be to laugh or to cry, I wasn't sure.

"Oh hey it's a letter for you, Anon." He came closer and put the scroll on the table. He looked at my expression with worry. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." I said with an eye-twitch.

He just slowly backed away. "I'll eat breakfast in the kitchen if you don't mind." Aaand he ran away.

I grabbed the plate at the other side of the table. I was pleasantly surprised to find a fried egg and some fries in it. I took the fork and gobbled the egg in two bites. It was quite tasty, despite being so small. 

I eventually impaled one of the small fries with the fork and popped it in my mouth. I chewed a few times before a taste of burnt grass hit me. I slightly gagged. 

I got up as quick as I could and rushed to the kitchen, heading for the sink and spitting the thing out of my mouth. I looked at Spike with tears in my eyes. "What was the thing beside the egg?!"

The poor thing was sucking on a gem when I rushed in. My sudden appearance made him gasp and he swallowed it. He coughed a few times before looking at me with tears in his eyes too. It took a second before my question registered. "T-that.." He coughs a couple time. "I made some hayfries. You didn't like it?"

"Hay? You guys eat hay?" I ran the water and filled my mouth. I gargled a bit before spitting it out, but I still had that vile taste on my tongue.

He shrugged. "Well it's a pretty common food."

I took some more water and spat it again. "...Not for humans. Look do you have bread and some jam?"

"We're out of fresh bread. I was about to prepare a list of things to buy at the market later."

I can't eat the jam alone like that...

I fell on my knees. "Why, oh why did this fate befell me." 

Spike deadpanned. "You might want to ease up on the drama there. Somepony might recruit you to play in a theater." 

I just groaned, getting up again and grabbing an orange from the fruit basket. I gave him a quick summary of the princesses' explanation of my situation while I peeled and ate the orange. 

"Okay, that's tough." He replied. "Have you thought about somepony yet?" 

"No, I have not. Didn't have time for it." 

"Princess Celestia would be a safe bet." 

I scratched my chin. "Maybe. She does seem like a good choice. A perfect choice even." I paused for a second. "...Too perfect. It seems fishy." 

"What about Twilight?" 

"I don't know her much. And that would also apply to all of her friends." 

He just stares at the ground, pensive. "You would have been her Number Two Assistant anyway." 

I rolled my eyes. "Thanks for your input. If you don't mind, I need some time alone." 

I got back into the main room of the library. I eyed the table with the scroll and the plate still there. 

Right. I forgot to read it. Let's see what's this about. 

I sat next to the table and took the letter in my hands. I didn't realize there's was a golden seal attached to it before. Probably Celestia's. I began reading. 

{{Dear Spike, this letter is for Anon. Please hand it to him as soon as possible. 
{{ 
{{ 
{{Anon, by royal decree and as of today, the Crown bestow you the honorific title of Prince. 

My breath stopped, but my heart was suddenly pounding in my chest. My hands firmly held the paper as I read on. 

{{As you are probably panicking right now, know that this honorific title is much different than the Crown title of 'Prince'. 
{{Your new title is the highest rank a noble would ever dream to attain. 
{{Whereas becoming a member of the Crown would require you to either become an Alicorn, or marry one. 

My breath resumed, but my heart rate was still erratic. It was insane, I was made a noble of this place! 

{{You will find a list of all of your new benefits below.
{{We highlighted two benefits that might interest you in case you were to have an extended stay in our world:
{{-Receiving thirty thousand bits each first day of the year.
{{-Being the owner of an acre worth of land.
{{-Priority for an audience with the Crown at any reasonable time. 
{{-Attend any formal event as a VIP. 
{{-Requesting an elite of the royal guard as a bodyguard. 
{{-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.

The list went on and on with countless benefits. The one that baffled me the most was that I could actually formalize a wedding. What pony in their right mind would ask me to lead their wedding?

{{You are free to use any of these benefits at your leisure. 
{{If you wish for us to add more to the list, you can send us a letter through Spike.
{{
{{Hopefully your soon to be friends, Princess Luna and Princess Celestia. 
{{
{{PS: This is Princess Celestia writing. I've tried to tell my sister that this title would be too much for you but she was adamant on this decision. I strongly suggest that you have some word with her about your situation.
{{
{{PPS: Please show the following part of this letter to the Royal guard stationed at the Library.
{{
{{Squad Amethyst is relieved of its mission. Return to Canterlot immediately and make your report to Captain Shining Armor.

I was... speechless. I couldn't even react. I just blankly stared at the paper, reading it multiple times to make sure I read everything right and that it wasn't an understanding error from my part.

I let myself fall on my back as I let go of the letter. It landed right on my face. I didn't want to move anymore.


~ ~ ~


I don't know how much time passed. Ten minutes? Thirty? A whole hour? I think Spike checked on me at one point? I honestly don't remember.

That's not a thing that could be refused, is it? It's a 'gift' from the princesses. What kind of chaos would it create if I tried to refuse it?

...

An argument at the door got me out of my daze.

"What do ya mean Ah can't pass? Ah need to see Anon. Y'all already blocked mah delivery yesterday.

Applejack? Oh yeah, she was supposed to bring me some food yesterday. I forgot.

My stomach rumbled. Guess it was time to finally get up. I briefly looked at the clock. It was past 10:30.

I blinked, but my eyes were dry. It stung. 

Did I really not blink for that long..? Good job, me.

I grabbed the letter on my face and crawled toward the door. I opened it with one hand and fell back on the floor, my face pressed against the hard wood. Both Applejack and the guard looked at me like they witnessed their home explode or something. My bloodshot eyes probably had something to do with their reaction.

"Hey Private Pyle. Got a letter for you." I waved the letter lazily without looking. I felt it escape my grasp, and after a couple silent seconds, I heard him gasp. A few seconds later, I just heard him flap his wings and fly away.

I lifted my head to look toward the entrance. The guard took the letter with him. "Gnehhhhh. My letterrrrrr..." I managed to mumble with outstanding charisma.

"Hard night?" Applejack asked me. 

I slowly sat up across the entrance. "You have no idea. And that letter didn't help."

"What happened?"

"Remember what Nightmare tried to do with me? I have to force it on myself If I want to go back to my world any time soon."

"Oh Nelly. And the letter?"

"The princesses made me an honorary Prince of Equestria."

She blinked. "They did what now?"

"I know right? It's just that my title doesn't have anything to do with the actual 'leading the country' stuff. It's honorary like I said."

...

"Do ah have to call you Prince Anon?"

"If you do that I'll bite you." I replied, moving out of the way. "I heard you say something about a delivery?"

She trots in and places a little box on the table. "Told ya I'd try to bring you somethin'. Fresh from our latest batch earlier."

I actually made the effort to stand up for it. I closed the distance and lifted the top of the box. Inside was a rather big slice of apple pie. 

I carefully lifted this little treasure. "Did I tell you that apple tarts were my favorite sweet?" I asked her. She shook her head. "Well apple pies are great too. Thank you." I took a small bite off the tip.

...Tears rolled on my cheeks when the taste hit me. It was easily the best goshdarn apple pie to ever exist. I hastily took a second bite and sighed happily. The rest of it disappeared all too quickly.

I stared at Applejack with a sad frown. "Did you make it?

She raised a brow. "Ah helped. Why?"

"I think I love you."

She deadpanned. "...Flatterin'. But you can thank Granny Smith for the pie."

"Give my compliments to the chef then. I need some time to think about everything so I don't think I'll go to your farm today."

She nods. "Will do. Take care Anon."

"You too."

I closed the door behind her. My hand automatically headed for the lock to flip it, but to no avail.

"Eh?" I looked closely at the handle. There was no lock. Why was there no lock on that door?

I opened it and looked at the other side of the handle. No lock there too. 

Was this place always unlocked..? What about the other houses?

...

I headed out, walking toward the closest home. There were more and more ponies waving friendly at me. I just returned the gesture a few times before I got close to my destination. 

I examined the door's handle closely. No lock. I moved to the next house, same thing. Same for the next again and again.

"What are you doing?" I heard a familiar voice ask me. I turned around and saw Twilight shooting me a confused gaze. Spike was beside her.

"Checking out the doors. Don't you ponies have locks on any of your doors? Welcome back by the way."

"Only some paranoid nobles put locks on their doors. Why do you ask?"

"Is no one scared that some random pony could enter their house?"

She tilted her head. "Why would anypony do that?"

I was baffled. "Crimes, Twilight. Have you heard of them?"

"Oh! Silly Anon, there's only been around a hundred recorded crimes in the last fifty years."

My brain had a lot of trouble to digest this information. "Wh- wa- weh..?"

I think it showed up in my speech, because Twilight worriedly pressed her hoof against my leg. "Anon?"

"I'm... alright. I'm alright." I rubbed my face with a hand. 

I really need to just accept things at face value from now on. My sanity will not last long if I don't.

"I think he took the princesses' news pretty bad." I heard Spike not-so-quietly whisper to Twilight. 

"Mhm. Do you want to talk about it Anon?"

"Not right now, thanks. Can we get back to the library?"

"Of course, if it makes you more comfortable."

"Thank you." 

We began to head back when four pegasi in golden armor showed up between us and the library. One advanced toward me with a couple flaps of his wings. He was handing me a scroll.

"Prince Anon. Here's your letter." The guard said.

At that moment, all eyes were on us. I felt the world crash around me, even if there was absolutely no movements.

I snatched the letter from the pegasus' hoof and rushed to the library, slamming the door behind me. 

"WHAT?!" came Twilight and Spike's shout from outside.

I held the door close, and soon enough there was a push and knocking on the door. "Anon, is it true?!" I heard Twilight say.

"Go away!"

"What do you mean 'go away'! That's my home!" 

I groaned, and opened the door quickly. "Come in, quick." I watched left and right, the ponies were whispering between themselves.

Frick frick frick. It's going to spread and I can't do anything about it.

Twilight and Spike slips past my leg. I hastily close back the door. "Anon, did--" 

I pressed the scroll against her muzzle. "Read this, we'll talk when you're done." I said, squinting my eyes and watching the ponies outside through the windows nearby.

"Prin--" She started, but I immediatly turned back to her and pressed my hands against her cheeks, stopping her midword.

"Say that word and I'm definitely going to flip."

She looked worriedly at me and nodded. I removed my hands from her face. "Anon, you seem really stressed. You need to rest and talk about it. It would really help you."

I put a quivering smile on my face. "What are you talking about Twilight? I feel perfectly fine." 

"Anon. Please." I don't know why, but at that moment, she seemed really worried about me. 

I just sat on the ground, with my back against the wall. "I don't know what to do. I don't want all this attention, and I just want to go home."

"Then we need to get you out of here as fast as we can. Do you have an idea about who you wanted to... 'link' with?"

"No! And even if you guys were to promise to never do anything bad with the spell, it'd still feel really uncomfortable! We're not even sure it would work!"

She wents silent for a moment, pressing her hoof against her chin. "What about Fluttershy?"

"What about her?"

"She's the bearer of the Element of Kindness, she's also... very fearful. Most importantly, she would probably feel too bad to actually try to use the link against you."

"I... don't know about the fearful part, I mean, she's taking care of a bear. But... she does seem like a very sweet mare."

"A bear?" She mumbled to herself before shaking her head. "Just talk to her. I think she'd be the perfect choice for you."

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. "Alright. Just gather the other 4 and tell them to meet up at Fluttershy's in an hour or so. The sooner it's done, the better."

"You'll link with her?"

"Now's not the time to make me doubt about it Twilight. Just, please call your friends there."

"I'm on it. Spike?" She looks at him as she's about to go.

I interupt her. "Leave Spike with me. I wish to write a letter to the princesses before going to the cottage."

She looks at Spike, who's looking between us two in confusion. "Spike, would you please prepare a scroll for Anon?"

"Uh? Oh sure." He turns around to run upstairs.

"I'll see you in an hour then." Her horn glowed white just before she disappeared in a flash.

"Did she just teleport?"

Spike was coming back now with a parchment, a quill, and some ink. "Yeah she's pretty good with magic. So, what do you want to say?" He took the paper and the quill in each hand, ready to write.

"Okay Spyro, calm down. I'll write it myself."

"If you really want to..." He said, handing both things to me. He seemed disappointed.

I readied myself to write, but I actually froze when I tried to write the first words.

It made me realize that despite knowing their language and being able to read it, I can't actually write it.

I slowly handed both items to Spike. His visage illuminated like it was Christmas. "Okay mister Number One Assistant, you can write it." He took them happily and got ready to write.

He's really isn't like any dragon in our stories...

I cleared my throat.


~ ~ ~


It took us half an hour finally settle down on one version. Spike made me stop because we went through half of Twilight's stack of scroll paper. I just went with on one of the earlier drafts.

{{Dear Princess Luna, Princess Celestia
{{
{{Thank you for the gift, but I did not plan on staying, despite how fascinating your world is.
{{As Doctor Wraps said, it is not safe for me to roam around, so the sooner I return to my world, the better.
{{
{{Princess Luna, from what I gathered, you seem really apologetic and you regret what you did.
{{Just know that I forgive you, as long as you ensure that these things don't happen again. 
{{I've been nothing but stressed since yesterday but I thank you for the opportunity of visiting another world. It's something that is impossible in my world.
{{
{{I still had some more questions about certain things, but I shouldn't let my curiosity put me in danger, so on this note, I will bid you farewell.
{{
{{The Human, Anon.

When it was done, I saw Spike blow some of his fire on the scroll, sending it away.

I was impressed, but we didn't have time to lay around, else we'd be late. We began walking toward the cottage, but my knees felt weak.

Arms were heavy.

All this anticipation was killing me.

...


~ ~ ~


I was under the impression that all the ponies were whispering in my back when I was leaving. One thing is sure, I won't miss all this attention.

I walked as fast as I could with my wobbly legs, and it made Spike have a hard time keeping up with me. He had to jog so he wouldn't fall behind. 

I apologized to him on the way, saying I would've held him if I could do it safely, but he told me not to worry about that.

We came into view of the cottage soon enough. It was all thanks to a certain rainbow trail that we got in the right direction.

We heard some muffled conversation as we neared the door. It seemed pretty calm. That was good.

Spike didn't make himself wait. He knocked on the door a couple times. 

A few seconds later, Twilight opened the door. "Good, we were waiting for you. I gathered everypony like you asked."

I nodded to her as thanks and we crossed the doorframe.

Then the world exploded in pink and confettis.

"SURPRISE!" came Pinkie's shout right in my face. I screamed in surprise indeed and took a step back, making me trip on a banana peel and fall backward right on a beanbag chair. She pushed the thing further in the living room. All of the mares were apparently as shocked as me about this.

"Pinkie! What are you doing? How did yo--" Pinkie nonchalantly pushed a whole cupcake in Twilight's mouth to silence her.

"It's a 'Welcome to Ponyville' party! I didn't threw one for Anon yet, so I thought now was the best time to do so!"

"Uhhhhh..." I rubbed my neck. She will probably not be happy about the news I was about to drop. "Actually, I called you here because I was about to go back to my world."

And as expected, she loudly gasped, and so did the others. Something less expected though was that Pinkie then grinned widely at me.

"So you invited us to your 'Goodbye' party!" She suddenly hugged me. "I knew you'd see us as friends!" She pulls Rarity's box from her mane and puts it in my hands.

I was lost at how she just did that again but eventually grabbed her and pushed her off me gently. "That... That wasn't quite right..?"

She tilts her head, with an innocent smile. "What do you mean?"

I just stare at right her, baffled. Seeing that she doesn't get it, I just sigh. "Nevermind. I guess I do consider you all like... small friends? Not full fledged friends. We don't know each other enough for that. But I'm sure that with enough time, we would have been."

Pinkie teared up. I was worried that I said a bad thing but she grabbed all of her friends in one swoop and forced a big pile of hug on me. "That's. So. Sweet!"

What was less sweet was that I could feel a tingling sensation all over my arms, my neck and my cheeks. I heard a couple 'eeps' and even saw an Applejack blushing as much as she was confused.

"Pinkie. Pinkie just let go please. What did I say about touching?" I said as calmly as possible, but I was internally panicking. I tried to push them away but my arms were pinned against me. Pinkie had a really strong hug game. "PINKIE!"

She immediatly pulled back and placed her friends back how they were. The only thing hinting that the hug really happened what that everyone of them had a blush on their face. Spike had his jaw on the ground.

"Sorry about that, I couldn't resist a group hug!" Pinkie said. Her embarrassed smile was accompanied by a squeaky sound. 

At this point I was pretty sure that this mare could manipulate reality at will and nothing would convince me otherwise. Though I needed to go back to the main reason they were all here, and I had a newfound determination burning inside me. It was giving me the energy I needed to finish this.

"It's okay. This is hopefully the last time we'll see each other, so I can forgive... you... Wait."  I thought about my phrasing for a second. 

"Okay, that's not the best way I could've said it. It's not like I don't like you guys, it's just that staying here is dangerous for me and--"

Rarity spoke up, she was looking strange, but I was too focused on my speech that I didn't recognize her expression. "A-Anon darling..?"

"Not right now Rarity. What I was about to say was that I actually draw magic from you when we touch, and since I have no way to burn up all that magic building inside me, it will eventually be problematic if I keep touching ponies."

"Anon you might wanna hear what Rarity has to sa--" Applejack tried to interupt me, but I just waved her attempt down with a hand and continued. I was feeling really full of energy right now, I couldn't let them break my stride.

"The thing is, I thought a world filled with magic and creatures would be kind of amazing to live in, but as a human with no power and not knowing what the heck I'm doing here, it's really terrifying. That's why I need to go away as fast as I can."

"Anon, there is something wr--" Now it was Fluttershy that tried to speak, I just used this opportunity to follow up with what I wanted to say. 

"Turns out the fastest way for me to get back home is to make myself a familiar. Honestly I didn't have many choices about it, but with Twilight's suggestion, I chose to bond with Fluttershy." I got up and walked to her, setting a knee on the ground to be at eye level. I put the box on my knee and rested my arm on it.

"It looks kind of cool actually." I hear Rainbow say with her distinct raspy voice, but I didn't break eye contact with the yellow mare, which made her look pretty fearful at me. 

I was starting to feel pretty hot now that I was about to state my demand. "Not funny Rainbow. I'm putting my life in Fluttershy's hand. Or hooves rather." I closed my eyes briefly and breathed deeply. "Alright Fluttershy, I'm about to tell you my name and you're going to say it audibly once, okay?"

She only gulped, but I took it as a yes though. 

The warmth was getting unbearable now. I needed to get it out as soon as I could.

I got closer to her.

And whispered my real name in her ears. 

Then I pulled back. "Now please, I just want to go home--"

Two things happened at that exact moment. The first was that I felt something take hold of my limbs, like it was binding them. The second was that I actually felt something escape me, making a dark flash around me. 

I blinked at the sudden action happening in my face, but when I did, I realized I was in a different place. 

It was really familiar, and the air felt hot.

I was... in the awful garden where I saw Luna's portal that one night.

What the...

I grabbed the gembox on my knee and stood up. I checked the sky, it was clearly midday.

I felt something vibrate in my pants' pocket. I grabbed it. That was my phone. 

I froze, staring at it, then promptly facepalm'd.

I could've took so much pictures. Awesome job there. Idiot.

I checked the new notifications, there were multiple messages and missed calls from family. I will need to find an excuse to explain why I disappeared for 2 days, but that's something I'll need to think about later. For now, I just headed back to my apartment.

I wonder how I got back. I was watching Fluttershy, she didn't say anything. Could it be that one of the others heard me and took the bond instead?

I took my key and opened the door to my apartment. I put the box and phone down somewhere and went straight for a cool shower. I really needed it at this point.

All this mess was over anyway. Hopefully they got the message and they will never bring me back. It was finally time to rest and keep all of this behind me. 

But why was I feeling a faint pulling sensation inside my chest then?