*As the title suggest, this chapter will be in Raiden's POV. just a heads up*
As the flash of light slowly faded, I found myself in some random bathtub. Great, just what today needed, a nice case of unexplained breaking and entering. I though as I pulled myself out of the tub. I wont lie, though. That was a really big bathtub. Looking around, I noticed everything had this really big and proper feel to it, as if someone rich and fancy lived here.
"Where the heck am I?" I said to no one in particular. I heard a door open behind me.
"You are in my bathroom." An almost regal feminine voice stated behind me. I froze in place and slowly turned around, expecting a very angry woman to be standing there.
What was standing there, however, was something that made my eyes go wide in a mix of surprise/slight fear. At first glance, it looked like your everyday horse. But when you start to notice the horn and wings, not to mention the flowing hair with the green/purple-ish/blue mix to it, you start to realize this might not be Kansas anymore.
"Um... did you just speak?" I asked while taking a step back. She looked at me with a stare that seemed more curious, than angry.
"Yes, I did. Is that not what two ponies conversating do?" She said, but I could swear there was a hint of sarcasm in her tone.
I streched my arms a bit and replied. " Yeah, I guess so. wait, did you say ponies?" I stopped smiling at that.
She nodded. "Indeed, in this world, we are known as ponies." She turned and walked out of the bathroom. Not to be left behind, I quickly followed to find her resting on a couch In what had to be her bedroom.
"In this world?" I questioned. Then it hit me. "Wait, this isn't earth?" She suddenly looked a bit more sad before she responded.
"No, this is not your homeworld. You now currently are on Equiss. As for the country, its name is Equestria."
I paled. I'm not even on Earth anymore?! I gulped, then realized something. "You know a lot about me, even though I'm an alien to this world." She looked straight at me with a warm smile.
"I know a lot about your kind, Human. But nothing about you personally. For now, lets just say your not the first human to live here." This surprised me greatly. Though, once again, she had this look of sadness on her face. But it vanished quickly as she continued. "You seem confused right now, would you like to know how you got to be in that bathroom?" She asked.
I nodded as I took as seat next to her. Several thoughts flowed through my head. How does she know what I am? And why does she look sad every time she mentions humans? I pushed these thoughts aside as she started.
"Before I start, I would like to introduce myself. My name is princess Celestia." With that, my eyes bugged out and I quickly kneeled in respect to her title. She simply laughed. "Now, now. There's no need for that while we are alone, human." she looked up in thought for a second. "What is your name?" she asked.
Way to go, Raiden. Break into a princess's private quarters and don't introduce yourself. REALLY smart move of you. I scolded myself. "My name is Raiden, your majesty." Although she cringed a bit at the 'majesty' part of the sentence, she continued to tell the story.
"Well, Raiden. I had just retired from doing my daily duties as a princess when I was hit with a surge of magic. It was nothing painful, but it did cause me to falter for a second. After a minute went by, I went in the bathroom to freshen up before bed, and found you passed out in the tub." She finished blushing slightly at the weirdness of the whole situation. I found myself laughing all the same.
"From what you say, it sounds like I had just partied for 3 days straight and passed out as a drunken mess in your bathroom." I got out between laughs. Celestia soon found herself laughing as well.
After the laughter died down, I looked Celestia In the eyes. "Princess, did you happen to find either a small boy or a bigger man anywhere?" She shook her head.
"No reports of any humans in the castle have been made, so they are somewhere else. I can sense 2 more of you in Equestria, though. So they are somewhere out there." She got up and motioned me to follow her as she walked out the door. " Since you will be here a while, let me give you a tour of the castle." I started walking beside her as we descended a staircase into a hallway. Every once in a while, we'd pass a guard or two. They would bow to the princess, then they would look at me with either surprise, fear, or with a threatening glare.
Celestia, picking up on my stiff movements, quickly stated. "Relax, Raiden. they will not hurt you as long as you are not a threat to me or anypony else." I relaxed at this, then asked her a question.
"What is there to eat around here?" I asked as my stomach growled. She smiled and turned down a hallway.
"Come, we can get breakfast in the dining hall." She said as 2 big doors swung open. Walking in, I was floored. The dining hall was beautiful. It had the same décor as the rest of the castle, but was way more spacious and open with a huge table lined with fancy chairs and silverware.
"Amazing!" I exclaimed as I took as seat next to Celestia. Man, if Ronin could see me now, He would be begging to switch places with me right now. If he's safe, that is. I shook the thought out of my mind as food was carted into the room by mini army of chefs. They placed down waffles, eggs, hashbrowns, cups with juice and milk by us, and fancy napkins next to our plates. "Thanks!" I said to the chefs as they left the room. I eyed the food greedily.
Celestia noticed this and smirked. "What are you waiting for, go ahead and eat to your hearts content. You are a guest, after all." I gave her a look of extreme happiness as I quickly grabbed a waffle and took a bite.
My eagerness faded instantly upon the bite. Being in a castle, I had expected top of the line food, yet the waffle was dry and thick. I quickly drank down some OJ in order to swallow it, then tried the other food as well. The eggs and the hashbrowns both had similar problems.
Celestia noticed this and stopped mid-bite to turn to me. "What's wrong?" She asked.
I looked at her, questioning whether or not to point out the food. I WAS a guest after all, and that might come off as rude. She didn't look too happy with the food either, though. I thought. I decided to tell her.
"Does this food seem a bit dry to you? Not to be offensive or anything, but it just seems rushed is all." Oddly enough, she smiled at this.
"Finally, someone else thinks so." She states rather bluntly. "I have asked my younger sister the same thing several times and she claims nothing is wrong with it EVERY time." She said the last part with quite an icy tone, something I found absolutely hilarious.
"Oh, man. don't even get me started in younger siblings, My twin brother can and WILL eat anything in front of him." I said with disgust. "I once dared him to eat a slice of pie we found sitting on a dumpster one day." Celestia's eyes widened at that.
"He didn't!?" She said, her face showing sign of extreme disgust. I leaned in and smiled.
"He did!" I yelled as I broke out laughing. She soon joined in and we found ourselves cracking up for 5 minutes straight! I stopped after a bit and looked at her, wiping a tear out of my eye. " For real, though. This food sucks. I could easily whip up something better anytime or anywhere." She looked at me with curiosity.
"Hmm... very well." She said as her horn started to glow. With a flash, I found myself in a kitchen. This one was way bigger though. Like if the one from ratatouille had been made to serve a queen, thats what it looked like. She turned towards me. "I want you to cook me a better breakfast, then. Since you believe you can do better than my staff." She wasn't angry, it seemed like she was trying to test me.
A test I shall pass easily! I thought as I cracked my knuckles. I turned towards her, giving her a nod. "Give me an hour, and I'll will have you drooling over your plate." She smiled and started walking out the door.
"Once you finish, ask the waiters to guide you back to the dining hall with the food." She said before she walked out. I turned around and looked at the staff. They looked at me with either looks of confusion or confidence.
"All right, boys and girls. Lets get to work." I said with a big grin on my face, recipes for southern-style waffles and grits popping into my head.
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1 hour later
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I won't lie, at first I struggled to get the staff to even listen to me. They were professionals, after all. And they didn't seem keen on taking advice from some random"monkey" as one staffer put it. However, after making a waffle and pretty much begging a waitress to try it, with her absolutely devouring it seconds later, we were able to get to work. The only real problem I had with them was that they tried to put hay in the waffles every time the batter was done. I get that they're ponies and all that, but there is NO way I'm eating hay. A man has his limits, after all. We almost didn't make the hour deadline because some idiot bumped the bowl holding the grits off the counter, so that had to be recooked. Thankfully, at about 58 minutes, we carted the food into the dining room.
The first thing I noticed was that there were now three ponies in the room. One was Celestia, but to her right sat a dark blue pony that was slightly smaller than her. She had a starry mane with what looked to be a moon on her rear. Now that I think about it, Celestia had some kind of sun on hers. I'll have to ask about that later. I thought. The other pony was pink with purple, pink and yellow lines in her hair. her mark looked like a crystal heary with yellow ribbon around it. I shrugged and outstretched my arms dramatically. "Hello esteemed residents of Equestria. I am your humble host/head chef, and I am proud to introduce you to a REAL breakfast!" Celestia smiled at my antics, while the blue pony faced palmed (Hoofed?) and the pink one looked on in excitement. " So, without further ado. I ask you to enjoy the food and Be. Our. Guest!" I put emphasis on those last words as the staff put the food on the table. Celestia quickly put a waffle on her plate and took a bite. Her eyes went wide as she stopped moving entirely.
The blue and pink ponies eyed her cautiously. " Is everything alright, Auntie?" the pink one asked, concern etched on her face. the blue one turned to me and glared. But before she could say anything Celestia spoke up.
"Raiden." she began. "these are the best waffles I have ever tasted!" She exclaimed as she dug into them rather... unladylike. The blue pony looked on in shock, while the pink one turned to me.
"Whatever you put in these must be amazing if she's eating it that fast." She then smiled. "I'm princess Cadence, and the grumpy one over there is princess Luna. pay her no mind, she's mad that Celestia let you change the waffle recipe." She giggled as Luna rolled her eyes.
"There was no reason to, as they were perfect as they were." She said as she took a bite of one. Her own eyes went wide, but she quickly hid it with a blank demeanor. "We suppose these will suffice." Cadence simply giggled at that, while I smirked with the mini-victory.
Probably the best I'm going to get out of her, I suppose. I thought as Celestia finished her 14th waffle. "Celestia, since I might be here for a while, I was wondering if I could work here as a chef. At least until I can find my brother." I asked.
She cleaned her face with a napkin, then answered me. "I was hoping you would say that, Raiden. And don't worry to much about your brothers. I have my best student on the lookout for anything resembling you where she lives. If she finds something, You'll be the first to know."
I sighed in relief as I sat down and took a bowl of grits. "Thank you, princess." I said as I looked at my food. Don't worry, guys. I'm going to find ya'll. Then we can figure out how to get home. I thought as I took a spoonful of food. I looked up at the 3 princesses. Celestia was arguing with Luna about whether or not the grits needed seasoning while Cadence was slowly sneaking waffles off Celestia and Lunas plates. I smiled to myself. For now, though. This isn't so bad.