Equestria Digital

by DeltaChevron


Big House

I continued to follow the path weaving between ponies and the occasional cart as I went. The traffic started to get thicker and thicker the closer I got to the city proper. It was strange that I only saw ponies; I knew the world was populated by a multitude of races, so where were they? With my head down I bumped bag first into a lavender furred unicorn filly. She blinked her cyan eyes, once, twice.


“Wow, I’ve never, met somepony like you before.” She said, straightening the black hair band in her rose colored mane, she had the same mane and tail style as the spa ponies.


I smiled “Of course you haven’t met anypony like me before. I’m a Lopmon, not a pony.”


She giggled “I’m Amethyst Rose, but my friends call me Rosy. What’s your name?”


I thought quickly and decided to just go with one from a legend “Inaba.”I offered my paw


“It’s a nice to meet you Inaba.” As she shook it my stomach rumbled making her giggle again “Sounds like somebody is hungry.”


“I haven’t had much to eat today.” I said sheepishly


“How about you come to my house and we can have a snack, then you can stay for dinner!”


“But, won’t your parents get upset if you just invite a random creature to dinner?”


“Nah, Mom won’t mind, and Grandma and Grandpa will just want to ask a couple a questions and then try to talk your ears off.”


She led the way through the bustle of the temporary housing area and the open field was slowly replaced by large fenced in estates. We went down the front path of what was clearly one of the oldest estates in the city. There, was a small hill which was topped with a massive oak tree. The main house was constructed of white stone, probably marble; parts of it had been allowed to become covered in leafy green ivy. The front was also adorned with eight large bay windows. The front door was made of cherry and was opened for us by a large grey Earth Pony in a black tailcoat and red bowtie, clearly a butler.


“Welcome back Ms. Rose.” He said with a bow


“Thanks Grey Main. Could you go to the kitchen and get us some snacks?”


“Of course Ms. Rose, your mother is in the study.”


“Thank you.”


With another bow Grey Main headed left and Rosy made a right. The interior of the building was beautiful without being overly lavish. The floors were made of a polished stone I didn’t recognize and long rugs had been placed to better trap heat in the chilly winter months. There were chairs or cushions here and there for ponies to sit on, various tables with arrays of brightly colored flowers in vases. We passed three of the bay windows before turning left in front of the fourth and final one on the front of the mansion.


We traveled past another two doors before we reached the study and what a study it was. As it turned out the study was a three story private library with a large window facing the inner courtyard opposite the door. While I had probably seen more books in my life I had never seen a private collection of this size before. I read some of the titles in passing and was shocked to discover that the topics ranged from children’s stories to what was basically quantum theory.


In the center of the room was a beautiful chess board. The white squares were made from white beech and black squares were made from ebony. These squares were set into a teak base and the entire thing was bordered in a mother of pearl inlay around the edges. The strange thing about it was the pieces or lack thereof in this case, but even the ones that were there were strange.


The White King had been carved asleep in a bed and his rook was a rearing white pony. What caught my eye though was the White Queen. She was clearly an Earth Pony filly. Her blonde mane reached just past her shoulder and was neat and tidy beneath her golden crown. She wore a blue dress and a white pinafore trimmed in red. In her mouth she held a mirror. Just as she was strange, so to was her rook because it was me. Well not human me, but Antylamon me.


There were various other strange chess pieces on the board as well. A Griffin here, a Diamond Dog there, a cow, several changelings, and various other things I didn’t recognize, each on a white platform. But all of them seemed to be placed at random. Only the White Queen, King and their rooks were in their proper starting positions. What the hell was I looking at here?


“Mom! I’m home!” Rosy said


“Just a minute Rosy,” a muffled reply from a clutter desk “Mommy just has to mark her place…and….done!”


From behind the desk came a teal furred unicorn. Her aqua tail and mane were streaked with sandy brown. Her mane was cut longer in the front while here tail was reminded me of a short messy straw broom. Her Cutie Mark showed a watery mirror with a G-clef super-imposed in front of it.


“Now what are you doing home so early I thought you would be out for a few… more…hours.” she trailed off her chestnut eyes going large as she saw me. She crossed the room and pulled me into a tight hug and making me drop my bag “Aren’t you just the cutest little thing!” she squealed


I wasn’t really sure how to respond “Um…thank you?”


“Your fur is so soft,” she nuzzled me “what’s your secret?”


“Um, lot’s of sunshine?”


“Hmm, I’ll have to try that.” She set me down “I’m Blue Serenade, call me Blue.” She offered her hoof


“Inaba.” As I took her hoof something seemed to flash in her eyes and she let out a little oh.


“You look familiar, have we met somewhere before?”


“No, at least, not as far as I know. I haven’t been in Equestria very long. This is very impressive private library you have here. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many books in a private collection before.”


She laughed “It’s not actually mine, it belongs to my parents. I know, I know 35, a foal of my own and I’m still living at home, so there must be something wrong with me right?”


“Not at all, until a few days ago I still lived with my parents. Besides, with a house and library this impressive I can’t say I blame you.”


The door opened and Grey Main walked in balancing a tray what I assumed to be fruit pastries on his back. I hadn’t been paying attention before so I took the opportunity to look him over. From what I could see his cutie mark was a grey napkin neatly folded atop what looked like a silvery serving tray. His mane was styled like Fancypants from Sweet and Elite and his tail was cropped even and short. As he moved I could see his body was rippling with lean dense muscle tissue and made a note not to piss him off. He set the tray down on a clear corner of the desk and pulled a feather duster from his coat pocket and began dusting the upper shelves.


Blue sighed “That’s Grey for you, the ever practical butler. He’s always looking to make things easier for our family. He’s practically a member of the family himself.”


She levitated a pastry into my empty paws. I took a bite and the sweet taste of raspberry filled my mouth. It was the best fruit pasty I’ve ever eaten, and I eat a lot of homemade foods. The flakey crust was lightly covered in sugar and tasted wonderful. I finished the pastry quickly and found another floating at eye level; taking a bite I found this one to be lemon. After eating another three I brushed the crumbs off my fur and found a glass of water waiting for me and Grey Main dusting a nearby shelf. How did he? When did he? I shook my head. Just like Sebastian, Grey Main was clearly one hell of a butler.


“Um, I don’t mean to be rude but, when I was walking around everypony who noticed me seemed to be. Well, bothered by me, like I had no right to be here.”


Blue let out a huff “Unfortunately most ponies are ignorant of problems outside Equestria and tend to be a little…how can I put this delicately? I guess bigoted would be the most polite term to use. They think they are better than non-ponies. My family has dealt with the strange and unusual for countless generations and as such we are raised to know that being a pony doesn’t make us any better or worse than someone else. To be honest we’re considered to be very weird by pony standards.”


I smiled “Well that’s a relief. Normal is boring.”


I don't like normal. Humans are naturally strange and that is good.