The sight outside of the Boutique was really to be expected, to say the least. After all, why wouldn’t a world full of magical pastel ponies travel via chariots pulled by pegasai? After all, it was not like they could build airplanes… I sighed and pushed that stray thought aside. The chariot was a rather large size, most likely to accommodate for carrying so many individuals. “Well, it is… actually I kinda expected it. But how is this supposed to get us o’er the moun’ins? It looks far less safe than an airplane, that’s for sure...”
The ponies seemed to be a bit confused at first by the way my accent mangled the word “mountain”, but Twilight soon figured it out. She then shook her head. “We do not have to go all the way over. Canterlot’s near the top of the mountain. It should not take too long to get there. Let us get going.”
I sighed, and Ophelia and I followed the ponies as they clamoured inside the thing. The pegasai pulling the contraption had to get a good running start to pull the massive thing in the air, but to my surprise the chariot stayed level with the pegasai as they ascended into the air. I rubbed my temples. “Of course. More magic is at work here, no doubt. No way this sort of thing could even get off the ground back home. Aerodynamics and gravity certainly would not allow it, that is for sure.” I shook my head. “At least the ruf is high enough for me to not hit my head. Small benefits…”
Once more, my accent mangled a word to make it hard to understand. Though, it didn’t take as long for the ponies to understand what it was that I had said. Pinkie giggled. “Well, we have to have the roof that high just in case a minotaur rides with! Ever since the debacle with the ambassador a few years back, all the models had to be redone.” She looked away. “It was not a laughing matter that his horns were stuck in the roof for a while. That mess was not pretty.”
Ophelia made a bit of small talk as we rode through the sky. “I see. So, how many sapient races are there exactly in your world? It is a foreign concept for such a thing to us, seeing as there are only humans back home, so…”
Twilight though a bit. “Let’s see… there is us, dragons, minotaurs, griffons, diamond dogs, changelings, zebras, sea serpents, and probably some we have not even met yet.” Twilight changed the subject. “So, since humans are the only sapient race back on your world, how many are there?”
I shrugged nonchalantly. “Almost seven billion. Being the only sapient race for thousands of years tends to do that to a population.” I paused for a moment, then sighed. “Though, we do not exactly get along. There are easily 150 countries on Earth, each with a different opinion on how to rule their people. To put it bluntly, it is rather quite the mess.”
That little bombshell kept the ponies quiet for a little while. Must have been pretty disconcerning to know that not only were there that many humans back home, but the fact that not all of us got along probably shook them to their cores. As far as I understood, things here seemed to be where all of a sapient race were one country; aside from possibly a few outliers. Applejack confirmed my suspicions. “That is somethin’ heavy, not all ‘o yer people bein’ united. Most ‘o the races here have long since united into their own countries once Equestria led the way a few thousand years ago. How has yer world not fallen to anarchy?”
Ophelia shook her head thoughtfully. “Well, to put it bluntly… we are not like you. Chaos and Order are integral to our nature. We are not one, or the other. We are… both, in a sense. Humans often liked to experiment with different governments when they did not agree with a nation they broke away from. Some nations fell to time. Some still live, though they are not quite what they used to be. Then, there are the ones that are ‘young’, so to speak. Some nations fell to tyranny, and others to anarchy, but never once has all of humanity been in the same state of governance. Humans have tried all the ways of government that one can think of- Monarchy whether absolute or constitutional, Democratic, Republic, and yet all of them would eventually fall in some way or another. But about 200ish years ago, a group of people made something new. Take some aspects of a Democracy, and some of a Republic, mix them together, and bam! You have got yourself a Democratic Republic. After the first cropped up, many tried to copy the formula, but always got it wrong somehow. Yet the first one- the United States of America- has remained, because of how clear and simply its constitution is worded. The ‘left’- known as the Democrats- and the ‘right’- known as the Republicans- may argue on how to run things, but it is all about trying to compromise with each other. It is rather surprising that neither side has yet managed to remake the country in their image. There is technically a third side, but they never win the election for leading the country, so....”
Twilight tilted her head in confusion. “That does not seem like it would survive at all! How is it possibly still around?”
I smirked coyly. “Many in the United States of America have their own vastly differing opinions on the matter. Freedom of speech and expression, after all. As for myself and Ophelia and our families, we consider it divine providence. We are proud Americans, exercising our religious freedom. There is good reason that it is known as the ‘Land of the Free’- after all, those are not the only freedoms guaranteed to the populace by our constitution.”
Rarity scratched her chin a little. “Freedoms? Like, what the government allows the public to do? Sounds quite… chaotic.”
Ophelia shook her head. “There are checks and balances throughout the United States’ Constitution. The people are the ruling party, the public officials are supposed to represent their interests. Though, some do not like to listen...” Though a smile lit upon her face. “Even so, the people often show their displeasure through voting the representatives out of office in the next election. It keeps them on their toes.”
Further conversation was pushed aside as the chariot landed in a large open garden with a castle nearby. I stretched a bit. “Mh! Well, we are here, I guess. Let us get to the castle to see this Princess of yours.” I carefully got out, and helped Ophelia out of the chariot. The ponies filed out, and then some more ponies wearing armor came towards us. I looked towards Twilight. “Are those the royal guards?” at her nod, I sighed. “Right. They are probably here to escort us to the throne room or audience chamber, one of the two.”
All the guards looked relatively similar, probably some spell laced into the armor or something. They beckoned us and started to lead us to where Celestia was. We kept pace rather easily, and Twilight replied to my earlier ascertain. “You are right on the money about where they are taking us. The throne room is the audience chamber. I am not certain about what Celestia wants to talk about, aside from the study of the hole in the sky that you two fell from. For all we know, she could have found another human.”
At Twilight’s speculation, the other ponies started to guess at it too. As for myself, I could not quite pay attention. My thoughts still caught on what she had said. Another human… was it possible that one had arrived at the same time we had, and we just had not noticed? If so, who was the human that was found? Was it somebody that either of us would know? Or, was it somebody new? But there was a good chance that was not part of why Celestia wanted to see the two of us. I sighed. It was not good for me to get my hopes up about such things. I looked to Ophelia, and saw in her eyes that she was a bit more optimistic about the prospect of another human being in Equestria. I smirked. If she wanted to have faith in such a thing, it was not my place to take that away from her.
Before we realized it, we had reached the entrance to the throne room. One of the guards pushed the doors open, and I gasped at what I saw. It was much more ornate than I had expected. The red carpet was expected, but the rest seemed to be a bit… overkill, so to speak. I shook myself out of the state of awe as we entered the room. There were two thrones, one was empty. The other held a white coated pony with both a horn and wings whom I presumed was this Princess Celestia that Twilight had sent the letter to. Her sun motif certainly spoke of such, and my suspicions were confirmed when Twilight addressed her. “Princess Celestia, I have brought the two humans who fell from the sky, just like you asked me to.”
Celestia stood from her throne, and approached Ophelia and myself. She spoke to us with a sorrowful face. “I am truly sorry that you were dragged here to Equestria against your will. Would that I could say that I knew why, but alas… I do not.” She sighed, and walked slightly away. “Rest assured that we are researching the anomaly that brought you here, but progress is painfully slow. I can say this much… you are likely stuck here for at least a month, if not longer. I am sorry to bring you such sour news.”
I clenched my fists, and trembled slightly. I tried to calm myself by doing a few deep breaths, and it worked, for the most part. I relaxed my hands, and sighed. “A month, at least? Well, at least this won’t hurt my grades too much, but there goes my perfect 4.0 grade point average.” I shook my head. “Not much to do about it, I suppose. Anything else you need to talk to us about, or…?”
A nod from Celestia, and she continued. “This event wasn’t singular on that day. We received multiple reports of holes in the sky from across Equestria on that day. We have yet to find any of the humans that might have come through, or anything else that might have fallen through. But we will continue our search and give you two an update. After all, this concerns you most of all. These holes might give us some hints as to how to get you home. Please, bear with our investigation.”
My eyes were wide, as were Ophelia’s. More humans? It seemed likely, given the circumstances. Ophelia smiled, and wiped away a few budding tears. “Well, at least we know that we likely aren’t alone in this.” After drying all the tears, she had a determined look on her face. “If there’s anything we can do to help you find these humans, let us know. We could go to these sights and see if we can get them to come out. After all, in a world as strange to them as this, they’d likely be glad to see another human. We could even vouch for the ponies, tell them that you only want to help. After all, you want to help us get home, so…”
As for me, I adjusted to the idea as Celestia mulled it over. Searching for our fellow man, eh? It’s the right thing to do, regardless of who might be waiting for us. I nodded in agreement. “Ophelia’s right. We have to do this. I don’t know who we might find, but it’s the right course of action. We can set out on Monday to the closest location. We’ll need some time to get a few things in order before then.”
Celestia smiled softly. “From what Twilight told me of you, I wasn’t certain you’d do something like this, Nathan. But it seems you can put aside your misgivings to help people, even if you might have reason not to. You may find people that hate you, or people that you once were friends with, or a stranger. But you have decided to put aside all that to help them. I’m proud of your decision.”
I nodded. “It may be difficult for me, but… It is what he would do. I may have my misgivings and doubts, but… I have to do this. You may wonder why, but it is quite simple. Helping strangers is easier than making friends, for me at least. These people will likely just say their thanks and then forget me when we all get back to where we belong. I do not intend to change that likelihood. It’s best not to dwell on those you will likely never see again, after all.”
Once more, the ponies were silent for a while at my statement. It was clear that they thought I would reconsider my stance, but it was not going to be that easy. I was not going to change my mind so quickly; that just wasn’t who I was. Pinkie pouted, I could swear that her hair deflated a bit. “That is a really sad way to look at things! I get why you do not want to be friends with us ponies, seeing as it’s unlikely we will find a way to keep in contact when you get home. But that is totally different from those that fell from the sky with you! Do you think it is not worth building bridges of friendship with them at the very least? Why would you never see them again? It makes no sense!”
A deep sigh escaped my lips. They did not get it, did they? They did not understand. But Ophi did, so she explained on my behalf. “Remember, we have no clue where these people are from. Some may be from halfway across our globe in comparison to us, and that means that they likely would not know how to speak English. Do you have any idea how much a language barrier would get in the way of such an attempt at friendship? Sure, we may get lucky and find some people that do. But even then, it is not easy to give out trust so readily to total strangers, or people that may have done you wrong in the past. Out of the nearly seven billion humans, we could run into any one of them, and do you know how likely it is that we find somebody that wishes us ill? It is not as low as we would like, let me tell you that. I may be a bit more ready to give people the benefit of the doubt when compared to Nate, but I still have my doubts that I have to work through.”
The silence that followed was palpable. They tried to wrap their heads around such a concept, but it seemed foreign to them- that was, until twilight replied. “I think I get it now. I think I would find it hard to make friends with Trixie, after the stunt she pulled. Many of my friends probably feel the same. But even so, we have to try. It is better to look for the best in somepony rather than focusing on the worst. Sure, it may take some time to mend the wrongs that fell between you, but the more friends you have, the happier you can be.”
I blinked. Her speech made a bit of strange sense, but there was a flaw in it that she likely had not considered. I shook my head. “There is something you should know. Sometimes, you might run across somebody that has little to no redeeming qualities. Say that you make friends with this person. This person does some things that you do not quite agree with, but you ignore these things to try being their friend. But then, they start to rub off on you. Their bad habits, their bad qualities. Is it not the best course of action to cut yourself off from the bad influence to get your life in order? Or is your faith in friendship so blind that you would risk losing who really are just for another friend?”
A hushed whisper ran through the ponies. This was something they likely had never considered before now, a strange and new concept. For a long while, no answer came from them. I was certain that I had stumped them this time. But after much deliberation, they had Rarity reply. “I can see your point, Nathan. But, the best way to counteract that is to give them good influences. If you remain strong, and surround them with others that will help them, you can change that individual for the better. Sure, they might resent you and resist at first. But in the end, they will be glad that you went out of your way to help them.”
I had not expected them to have such a concise answer. I smirked. They certainly were not what I had expected. They blew away my expectations, but I was not angry. I shook myself, though. I had to maintain distance from them, no matter what. I did reply to them, though. “I guess you do have a strong point. Even so… as the old saying goes, old habits die hard.” I sighed, and looked back to Celestia. “Sorry for getting things off track there. If that’s everything, just give us a map of where the holes in the sky appeared, and we will check those out starting Monday.”
Celestia beckoned one of her guards, and he gave her a map of Equestria. She circled a few locations before giving it to me. “Consider carefully how you will approach each one. The nearest one to Ponyville is near Manehattan. No reports of a human have come from the city, so it is likely that they hid away out of caution. The one near Appaloosa has hidden in a nearby cave if the rumors are correct. There was a hole in the sky on the west coast, but no reports of humans in the immediate area so far. The last one was sensed in the frozen wastelands to the north. Nopony lives there, so the human is up there alone. It is up to you which you choose to go to first.”
I was going to go to the one near this “Manehattan” city first, seeing as it was the closest. But the very thought of somebody alone in the frozen wasteland changed my mind. I pointed to it on the map. “We need to go there first. Who knows how long that person will last if we wait too long before going there. The rest of them we can do in any order, just as long as we prepare properly. We may have no clue as to who may await us at each point, but something tells me that I will run into somebody I knew quite well… Call it a hunch, or whatever you like. He is out there, somewhere.”
Twilight tilted her head. “How can you be so certain that this person is out there? It makes no sense…”
I sighed as a sad smile stretched across my face. “I am not certain about this assertion, far from it, in fact. But I just can not shake the feeling that he is out there somewhere. It might just be wishful thinking on my part, sure. There is a good chance that he may not be in this world at all. But some part of me has this feeling that he is. And if he is… I will finally be getting some answers out of him after all these years…”
Celestia raised an eyebrow in intrigue. “This person you speak of, they seem to have been quite important to you. Who were they to you, Nathan?”
I looked away from the ponies, to hide the pain on my face. “You are right. He is important to me, or at least he was the last time I saw him. I would rather not get into details at this time. It still hurts to think about it… even all these years later.”
Before any of the ponies could try and pry on the lingering subject further, Ophelia shook her head. “I would lay off it, if I were you. He likely will not answer any more of your questions about it. It is not easy for him to talk about it, even with me. Just drop it for now. He might tell you some other time, but no guarantees on that front.”
While disappointment was clear on most of their faces, it seemed that they did understand, to some extent. Instead, a change in subject came from Applejack. “Regardin’ how th’ two o’ ya 're gonna get ‘round Equestria to these locales, Ah think that ya oughta let Princess Celestia help ya wit that. Afta all, it is a long trip to each o’ the places by… foot… so...”
I sighed. As much as I did not like the idea, she had a point. We had to get to the places on the map relatively quickly, so we had little choice but to use the ponies’ way of transit. But then, an idea struck. I turned to look towards Twilight. “Say, do you guys have trains in Equestria?” At her nod, I cut off what she was going to say. “Alright. We will work for some money and use that to get some tickets. It might take some time to get enough to buy those tickets, so we will take the offer to get us to the Frozen North-” I turned towards Rarity. “Which means Ophi and myself will need you to make some winter coats for us. We will compensate you later. This should work out well for everyone.”
At my proposition, Celestia gave a soft smile. “I see somebody likes being self-reliant. So, any ideas as to what you will do to work for the money? After all, you will have to at least converse with the townsponies to get them to trust you will do a good job…”
I flinched slightly. I knew somebody might bring this up, but what choice did we have? I sighed deeply. “Then that is what we will do. We will stay professional about it, though. I have not exactly worked out what we will do for work just yet, but that can wait until the ponies of the town at the very most do not fear us. As for the escort to the Frozen North, I will find some way to repay you. I do not like being in debt to others.”
Celestia chuckled in bemusement. “And what, pray tell, would you repay me with? I am a Princess, so there is not much you could give me anyway. Unless you let me meet all the humans you find, I suppose. It would be something only you could give me…”
I nodded. “Then that is what I will do. I will invite you to meet each one once I have helped them adjust a bit to Equestria. Does that sound fair to you?”
Her smile lit again. “That is reasonable, yes. If that is everything you have to say, you‘re free to go back to Ponyville now.”
I was about to leave just then when Ophelia spoke up. “Um, Celestia… is there any way you could speed up the process to find a way for us to get back home? I sense that you’ve been holding out on us…”
In surprise, I turned to look back at Celestia, who had a bit of a nervous look on her muzzle. I hadn’t considered it before, but her manner of speaking about it had seemed odd. Celestia looked between Ophi’s look of pleading and my look of judgement a few times before sighing in defeat. “There is… one way. But he‘s extremely unpredictable. I might be able to get him to listen, but the last time he got out wasn’t exactly pleasant. But I suppose if you’re that desperate… I could try to find some way to reform him. No promises on that front, though. I’ll go through my options, and get back to you on that.”
I smirked. Ophi was certainly quite amazing! I hadn’t thought that we’d get that kind of info out of Celestia, but she’d managed to do so! She never ceased to impress me. I shook myself out of my thoughts as I found that we’d been escorted back to the chariot. The ride back was quiet, which was a bit odd. Regardless, I was thankful for it, seeing as it gave an opportunity for me to organize my thoughts. More humans… among them, I’d a strong feeling that I might find Harold. He’d been out of my life for about eight years now. Thing was, if I found him, would I like the answers he had for me? These troubling thoughts kept me occupied until we landed back in Ponyville. I pushed the thought away as I followed Applejack back to the farm. I veered towards the barn to put away the box of clothes that Rarity’d given to me. I put them up on the same shelf my backpack was on, and double-checked my backpack just in case. I sighed in relief that nothing had been touched as I sealed it shut again. I went into the main house for dinner, which was a bit more substantial, given I knew that the stuff here wasn’t too different from the food back home. After dinner, I washed the dishes again as I thought about how to make money in this place. I hdd some options, some of which I dismissed immediately. I decided to not worry about it until Monday.