//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 // Story: Dusk Star // by Axelsims //------------------------------// Day 3 I woke up this morning thinking I was at my aunt’s house The main reason for this is once I spent the night there, the following morning I awoke to being endlessly prodded and poked. This morning was like that, however much to my disappointment I was not back in my own world. I was still in the pony world… or Equestria as everyone is constantly harassing me into saying, and instead of a young nephew or cousin poking me, it was another unicorn. This one had pinkish hair, of two shades. I assumed it was Rarity’s sister as they both had the same skin color, pale as the snow during winter, thankfully not as cold. I was surprised honestly, one would think that their horns would be cold, assuming that It was made of bone and all. Perhaps it was the magic that made it warm. Regardless it was a rude awakening, and I felt like scolding the child for the wakeup call. I decided against it when I saw Rarity standing in the doorway. The expression on her face was, kind of adorable to say the least. She was, or at least I assumed she was finding it cute seeing her sister annoying the crap out of someone else for once. For that, I took the service without complaints, besides she told me after I woke up that breakfast was getting ready. I was definitely looking forward to it, until I realized exactly what breakfast could consist of. I was thinking about how I should probably get used to it, then it hit me that I might be here for quite some time. I took this fact with a dose of salt, and it darkened my view immediately. Rarity noticed it suddenly as we were eating breakfast, her sister (I do believe Sweetie Belle was her name) was talking with her mouth full of whatever it exactly was we were feasting upon. It was a great meal by any means, but I wasn’t particularly paying attention to it, also it was something extremely fancy, something you would probably order at one of those fancy restaurants, spend loads of money on it and wouldn’t even be close to full afterwards. It didn’t taste bad by any means it was just I was rather deadened to the world at that moment. Suddenly the dining room was barged into by 2 other kids ( I refuse to call them fillies ) one of them was a Pegasus and the other an actual pony with a large red ribbon. They seemed to be Sweetie Belle’s friends since they beckoned her to hurry up so they could leave. Needless to say they were gone in seconds and the room was empty but for me, and a white unicorn with a purple mane that probably got brushed 100 times in a day. We sat there in silence for a few moments before Rarity coughed and asked me. “Darling, are you even going to try and enjoy the meal I worked so hard for?” It was a taunt of course, to make me come out of my shell and show my emotions, whether it was anger or depression. I saw it for what it was and therefore didn’t get angry, or even more depressed, in fact I smiled a little. I recognized it as a sign of her trying to see what was wrong, even if it meant I blew up at her. Of course I would refrain from doing that if at all possible, seeing as how she took me in and all that. But still it was a nice gesture, and after examining myself for a second in one of the nearby mirrors, decided to open up a little. “It’s my home, the more I think about it the more apparent it seems that I might not even be able to return home for a while. I still don’t know how I even got here. And the only person of authority I met didn’t give me any answers as I was dragged away from by a pink pony that smells like cotton candy. (I laughed slightly here) It’s not that I don’t like it here or anything, it’s just I had a life back where I was, Family, friends and I can’t help but feel that I won’t see them for a long period of time, maybe not ever again.” Rarity honestly seemed a bit startled, she took in everything I said without problems; in fact she seemed to be a good listener. A trait that I found, surprising? Perhaps it’s because I first pictured her as a fashion junkie and nothing else, someone who cared little about anyone else except hereself. Perhaps there is a little more to her then I though. “Do you, or if you want to be Technical, Did you live with anyone?” A simple question, I wasn’t entirely sure where she was going with this. “Not particularly” She continued “did you live near anyone in your family or friends?” I remember telling her and Twi the other day about my home and how I lived by myself. I got the impression that she wasn’t listening to that part, then I thought that maybe she was asking me so I could remember that particular part of my life beforehand. “No” “And you were on a break from your career correct?” She asked once more. I answered honestly “Yes for the time being, I was going to be on vacation for at least another month.” She took over from that point. “Well then tell them you got lost in your work, you got an idea, and worked on it for a while, I do it all the time darling, sometimes I’m not even being truthful, we all need to get away sometimes…. people, especially relatives can be quite the hassle, as you can obviously see.” She looked over at the door where her sister departed from a while ago. I could see her point; she had a lot to deal with it seemed. “Come on then.” She said to me suddenly after letting her words sink in. She walked over to the door leading outside and beckoned me to come with. “Where are we going?” I replied getting up from my chair. “I have a meeting with Fluttershy at the spa and I decided that you’re coming along.” She replied “It just wouldn’t do to have you sitting all alone while I went out and enjoyed myself.” She went ahead outside, obviously expecting me to follow. I looked at her leaving for a few seconds before muttering to myself exactly what they hell I was doing, and following her outside. I’ve been to a spa before in my life, it was… uncomfortable. Doing it again with ponies who, much to my dismay were not quite so lenient as rarity about my clothing staying on, was much worse. Thankfully I was put in a different room then Rarity and Fluttershy (she was actually quite happy to see me again) and also I had the privilege of being able to lay face down so I didn’t have to look at my torturers. Eventually after it was all over, I was lead to a surprising room filled with lit candles and of all things a hot tub. It was very reminiscent of home and I was very eager to get into it. Thankfully my captives didn’t stop me and after dropping off a towel, left the room. The hot tub was almost exactly like one would expect at home. The floor was made out of tiles sporting several designs, generally sticking with a blue or greenish tint. An elaborate dressing wall was not too far off; there was also a small cabinet near one of the corners. There were also plants and other decorations filling the room. I was actually just about to get comfortable when I heard the door behind me open. I quickly went under the water until only my half of my head was visible, the water was steaming but I was more worried about being seen. I wasn’t entirely sure why I was so nervous about being seen in my state, but for some reason I was dreading it like the end of the universe. I heard two people walk in, they were talking about daily life and other odds and ends. I recognized one of the voices as rarity and, while I didn’t hear her talk much, figured the other was Fluttershy. They were wearing towels covering most of their body which they quickly removed before going into the hot tub themselves. Their conversation was interrupted of course when they noticed me. We stared at each other in silence before Rarity finally asked. “Darling whatever is you doing?” I lifted myself out of the water slightly so I could talk without drowning in water. I thought that there must have been a mistake, that somehow they had accidently put me in the female’s room or something of that sort. Fluttershy spoke before I had the chance to explain myself “I didn’t know that boys went to the spa as well.” This is when I cut in “I’m sorry they told me to go in here I didn’t know they put me in the woman’s room. I was almost positive that they had pulled a prank or something. Rarity only looked at me with concern. “Women’s room? Don’t be silly there’s only one room with a hot tub in it. I don’t think any of the places here are for women only.” I relaxed a little after that; it was still incredibly awkward, sitting there in front of the pair without a single thread of cloth on me. Thankfully the water was clouded so I had some concealment. “Oh, well back where I’m from it would be incredibly awkward to be put in the same room as women, especially without some sort of clothing.” They laughed at this; obviously they didn’t share the same concern. “Whatever for?” Rarity asked me “we all have our differences, but it’s nothing to be ashamed of.” She turned to Fluttershy and asked her “Could you imagine the pain of having to separate all those creatures you take care of by gender?” Fluttershy answered her immediately with her soft and incredibly delicate voice. “Oh no that would be much more difficult; in fact I think the animals would be annoyed with it. And I wouldn’t want to upset them especially Angel.” Rarity shook her head and muttered about how weird the customs were in my world before turning back to me and stating that I had absolutely nothing to worry about and that I should enjoy my time here regardless of how awkward it must be for me. I tried to relax after that as we started talked about a wide selection of topics. To be more precise Rarity did most of the talking, Fluttershy wasn’t much for conversation, and I was too embarrassed to treat the event as anything but awkward. Finally after what felt like days we picked up our things and left the spa. As we were leaving I saw Rarity looking off at a castle in the distance. I had noticed it before but figured it was just another city. She seemed to be longing for something however, so I decided to ask her. “What are you looking at?” It wasn’t a good way to start off the conversation as it was obvious exactly what she was staring at. However she didn’t seem to mind. “Canterlot, the castle of the Princess, where all the famous ponies stay and go to balls and other famous gatherings. She replied without averting her gaze. “Sounds like it’s a boring place.” I answered trying to get more out of her. “Hardly, in fact it’s one of the most interesting places to go in all of Equestria. To imagine being famous enough to be there. Having all the ponies know who you were and all of your accomplishments. I would love to be there, even if it was only for a little bit.” “So why don’t you go?” I asked in return trying for once to throw out a compliment. “Are you kidding?” She replied in an unexpected higher pitched voice. “Only the most famous of the famous go there.” The conversation ended after that, we returned back to the boutique soon afterwards and I decided to retire to my room to write. All in all I think it was a good day even if it was awkward. I am curious about what’s so great about a city on a mountain, even if there is a princess living there.