//------------------------------// // Adjusting to a Strange New World // Story: Supressing the Shadow Within // by TheGingaNinja //------------------------------// ~Adjusting to a Strange New World~ I found myself in an empty field, nothing but grass till ground met sky. A breeze blew by, continuing for a few moments before coming to an abrupt stop. I took a glance behind me, seeing the same sight. Upon turning around, something had changed off on the horizon; a small patch of black now stood where nothing once was. The darkness began expanding slowly, almost deliberately in the way that it tainted the space around it. Only taking a moment to blink, the darkness rapidly burst forth till the entire plane was enveloped, a heavy pit forming in my chest. My heart beat violently till I swore it would burst out, a low rumbling growing in the distance. I had no time to brace myself as a pair of shadowed eyes with crimson pupils appeared above me; seeming to stare deep into my soul. The low rumbling from before was broken briefly by a sinister chuckle as the pair of eyes rushed towards me, seeming to enter my body and- "AAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" I jolted upright, drenched in cold sweat and panting heavily. The comfort of soft silk bedding and a calm night ruined in an instant by this ghastly nightmare. I surveyed the room, the first rays of sunlight sneaking through regal purple curtains and reflecting off the fine marble floor. Nothing out of the ordinary in sight, so I released the air I didn't know I had been holding in in a drawn out sigh. What a nightmare, I reflected, laying my head back down in the sea of comfort that was the bed. I wormed myself deeper into the cushion, noticing an odd itch on the lower part of my neck. I craned my head back again to see that my wings had been unfurled, lifting the sheets up and making a tent. I practiced a little bit with these yesterday, but I wonder if I can... My thoughts trailed off as I used all of my brain power to try and retract these new muscles. The left wing closed slowly, followed by the right, albeit a bit more spastic and rushed. I smirked at my small success, only to be rewarded by a prompt FWUMP, followed by the blanket rocketing up in the air, then drifting daintily down onto my back. I rolled my eyes and shifted to my side, deciding that rest no longer seemed to be an option till I better figured out how to control these wings. Still not entirely used to my new limbs, I doggy-paddled my way to the edge of the bed till my legs dangled off to the side, proceeding to shift my weight till I plopped to the floor. Nice! I thought, first time getting out of bed as a pony and I managed not to fall on my face. I chuckled a bit, thinking about the silliness of the thought, not to mention the situation. It's the small things that count I guess. Gotta make the best of things. I proceeded to shake myself out, giving a small huff of determination and forming a smile on my face. Alright, Let's do this! And with that, I put one hoof in front of the other and began to make my way to the dining area where Princess Celestia said she and Twilight would meet me for breakfast. I approached the fine wood doors, a nice mix of a deep navy blue coloring the door stretching at least three of my body lengths. I instinctively raised a limb to grab the golden rings adorning the doors, but alas, I was reminded of my lack of fingers and opted to just try and push the door open. Clearly today was the day the door gods blessed me, as the door swung open to the vast castle hallways. I stepped out, admiring the pristine craftsmanship of the various patterns and shapes decorating the walls, truly a mesmerizing work of architecture. Not only that, but this place was so big that if I wasn't so sure of where I was going, then I could easily get lost. Not that that should be a problem though, I countered to my internal monologue, coming up to a three way split. I came through this place just yesterday! Obviously the correct path was to the right, right? ~~~~~~~~ "Where is Charlie?" Celestia pondered aloud. "I don't imagine she's still asleep, but do you think we should check to make sure she's alright? It's already been 15 minutes since we said breakfast would be prepared." Celestia looked to the two large doors at the entrance in contemplation. "I doubt anything bad could've happened. I can go check on her if you'd like though." Twilight offered, rising from her seat and heading over to the door only to stop a good few paces away after hearing a faint noise approaching. She took a couple more steps back as the noise grew louder-a good thing too-as I stumbled hurriedly through the doors. The collision with the doors combined with my speed resulted with me head over heels, literally, as I skid face first into the room. "Owww" I picked myself up and scrunched my nose, trying to wiggle the discomfort away. I quickly remembered who I was in the presence of and bowed, "Good morning, Princess Celestia, good morning, Twilight." I tried my best to give the proper respect, not something I ever really focused on in my laid back life back home. "Good morning, Charlie, did you sleep well? I trust the castle beds were comfortable?" Celestia inquired, waiting as Twilight brought me to a seat next to her's. "Um, yes! I slept really well, and the bed was amazing! Most comfortable thing I've slept on in my life, to be honest." The nightmare that woke me popped back into my thoughts for a moment, but I dismissed it with haste, wanting to focus on enjoying the time with these two before going on with the day. "I'm glad it was to your liking." Celestia said calmly, using her magic to begin taking small bites out of her food. "Also, what happened to you on the way in? Looks like it took you a while to get here, then you came in running." She asked as she continued munching on her breakfast. I rubbed the back of my neck with a hoof and blushed slightly, "well I kinda, um... got lost, hehe." I chuckled nervously. "Sorry, I honestly thought I knew the way, and I hate being late, so I started to rush when I wasn't making progress at first." I explained to them. Twilight gave me a pat on the shoulder, "nothing to be sorry about, Charlie! We're just glad you made it here and weren't sleeping the day away." She gestured to the food set in front of me, "go on, I'm sure you're hungry, so don't hold back." "Oh yeah." I looked down in front to me to see a neatly placed and prepared plate of assorted fruits and vegetables. Not a bad looking meal at all, but not quite what I was used to for breakfast. Still, it does look pretty good, I noticed, then also realized that there were no utensils in sight. I looked up at the other two and saw that both of their horns were alight, moving the food from their plates to their mouths. I looked back at my plate and gave it a few looks from different angles before shrugging and deciding that I would have to eat with just my mouth, seeing as how I didn't have any magic to help me out there. I did my best to neatly pick things out of the salad with just my teeth, the length of my face throwing me off, making me stick my nose straight into the food several times. My attention was momentarily averted from my food to the two others at the table, as I caught them both giggling lightly at the sight of me trying to figure out how to eat. Determined, though, I learned better the capabilities of my muzzle, and became more adept at getting food into my mouth after a couple attempts. The rest of the meal was fairly quiet. Well, at least on my end it was. Twilight and Princess Celestia would occasionally talk about this and that, but I was still a bit too shy to just hop into the conversation. I quietly finished my food, the other two finishing soon after, and Princess Celestia turned to address Twilight and myself. "Alright you two, I've put some consideration into what might be best for Charlie next, seeing as you still have a lot of things to learn and adjust to here." She looked at me reassuringly, probably seeing that I looked a bit nervous about the whole deal. "I believe that it would be best for Charlie to accompany you back to Ponyville, Twilight, and try out things there for a while." Twilight lit up at the mention of the idea, "That would be fantastic! I was actually thinking the same thing." She turned her attention to me. "This way I can keep finding out more about this other world that you came from, but it'll also be a great chance for you to meet my friends and figure out what you want to do. You could even try coming to the school of friendship!" School of friendship, she says? Well, I was in need of acquaintances, or friends rather, since I definitely wouldn't be able to just hang around Princess Celestia all day, and Twilight probably had other work she needed to take care of too. It was definitely worth a shot, and who knows, maybe some of the technical skills that I learned back home would help me out with things around here, despite there being a pretty distinct lack of technology, comparatively. "Sounds good to me," I nodded, smiling at the suggestion. "I'll do my best to find some way to be useful in this world, and it sounds like this Ponyville place is pretty nice." I tried to envision what it would be like. "Oh it's amazing, I'm sure we'll find something for you to do around there. There's no place like Ponyville," She affirmed strongly, seeming to take great pride in the place. "I think it's settled then." Celestia walked over to us, "I must go attend to my duties once again, but you're in good hooves, Charlie. Twilight is my star pupil, and regularly exceeds my expectations, so there's no problem you'll encounter that you won't be able to solve without her guidance." Twilight was clearly happy to receive the praise, but humbly dismissed it with a wave of her hoof. "I would never dream of disappointing you, Princess." She responded firmly, looking back to me. "Well then, let's be off! It doesn't take super long to get back to Ponyville, but it's still a while, and the sooner the better. I know my friends are dying to hear what happened with you, and I'm sure they'll be super excited to meet you as well!" I nodded and smiled wide, "I'm ready! This sounds like the start to a great adventure, so let's get this show on the road!" I proclaimed cheerily, both Princess Celestia and Twilight looking content to see that I was comfortable with the plan. "Well then, I must be off. Safe travels, and I will talk with you again soon." Celestia stated as she departed further into the castle, leaving Twilight and I to begin walking the halls to the castle exit. With Twilight's guidance we quickly made our way outside of the castle and into the vast main grounds. The scenery was astounding, with neatly trimmed hedges everywhere and a plethora of other towers jutting out and connecting to various parts of the castle. I was left in awe at the magnificence of the sight, only having experienced something like this when watching movies or shows in the past. Guards were patrolling and posted all throughout the grounds, standing stoically and occasionally casting what I could only assume were curious glances at myself and Twilight. I must have let my jaw hang for a bit too long, because my astoundment was cut short by a chuckle and a "it's amazing, isn't it?" Coming from Twilight. "Did you not have anything like this back in your old home?" I gentle shook my head, "nah, not really where I was from. Places similar to this do exist, but for the most part they're on the other side of the world from me. That, and most of them don't really house royalty or anything and are mostly just preserved because they hold historical significance." I looked around a bit again, taking in now the view of the enormous valley that the castle overlooked that contained what appeared to be a small town off in the distance. "Truly a sight to behold." I met Twilight's eyes as she flashed a cheeky smile towards me, "well you haven't even seen the best of it yet." She started, gesturing with her neck and then pointing with a hoof at the town in the valley. "That right there? That's Ponyville. The town filled with the kindest, most honest, and hard working ponies I've ever known!" She finished with her head held high and a look of pride across her face. I focused my gaze better on the town, hardly able to make out the small specs of other ponies moving about. I noticed something else unusually shiny though, and I furrowed my brows and squinted my eyes to try and make out what it was. It seemed a bit out of place, so I inquired of Twilight, "what's that crystal-looking building near the edge of the town?" "That," she began, "is the castle of friendship!" "Huh," I observed and relaxed my gaze, "and who's castle is that?" I finished, nodding in thought of who's it might be as I began walking again. "That would be my castle." Twilight stated matter-of-factly. I nearly tripped over myself upon hearing that. "W-wait, you're also a princess?! I'm so sorry princess Twilight, I meant no disr-" She swiftly cut me off with the raise of a hoof and the shake of her head, "it's no trouble Charlie, really." She set her hoof down as her expression went from serious to friendly, "I may be a princess, but you don't need to worry about being so formal. We're friends, after all, right?" Regaining my composure, my mouth began to form my reply until- No.... Not friends.... I heard very faintly in my mind, almost too subtle to really notice. I had noticed well enough, however, that apparently Twilight's look had turned to one of slight concern after noticing a bit too much hesitation from me. I quickly dispelled the thought from my mind and gave the best confident smile that I had in that moment, "of course! Thank you so much again, Twilight. It really helps that you're going out of your way to bring me with you and guide me for a while, I can't thank you enough." That smile came right back as she put a leg over my shoulders, "not at all! What are friends for?" She held the embrace for a moment before she began walking again. "Now c'mon! We have a little bit of time, but we still don't want to miss the train back." I felt myself grin at her enthusiasm and picked up my own pace, trotting up beside her and then slowing to walk as we made our way through the rest of the castle grounds and down the dirt road that lead to Canterlot. Now, Twilight had told me a bit about what Canterlot was like, being the city right next to the castle it was a higher society area. And, as I had expected, I was a little uneasy going through the streets of such a city. I was never really one for the prim and posh life myself, being one that enjoyed the smaller, quiet towns and almost overly gratuitous casualness between friends. So, whenever we would pass someone on the roads that would typically just be showing their respect for or saying hello to princess Twilight, I would fall back to a quiet nod and a soft smile in their direction. Thankfully no one really paid me much mind in these interactions, as I certainly saw some ponies cast me some slightly condescending glances while Twilight wasn't looking. The remainder of the way to the train station was essentially a repetition of those events, but more sporadic the closer we got. Finally, we arrived at the station and boarded the train, the train itself having a pastel colored locomotive and almost dessert-esque design to the caboose. Twilight and I walked through one of the cars till we found a couple of empty benches, sitting down across from one another. Almost as soon as we had taken our seats, the train's whistle blew and the noise of heavy machinery lurching into motion filled my ears, followed by the train jostling forward. I looked out the window opposite the direction of Canterlot, seeing the track ahead cut through green fields, hills, and even a mountain or two before it would reach Ponyville. Ponyville, huh? I guess that's where my new life begins. I let out a long, drawn out sigh at the implications that filled my mind. But what kind of life will I even have? Everything I know seems basically irrelevant in this world. Not to mention any practical skills I have are essentially useless with my poor motor function. Will I even be able to adjust well? Will people like me? I could feel the moisture welling up in my eyes as I planted my face deeper into the window, just wanting to disappear and be back on Earth. I barely had time to let out a quiet sniffle before I felt the cushion of the bench softly sink next to me, and the warmth of a leg on my back once more that day. "Hey," Twilight spoke softly, "I can't imagine to know what it's like to be ripped from your home like that, but I want you to know you're not alone." A couple tears rolled down my eyes, my gaze still locked outside the window. "I may not have the perfect answer to help you, but I promise that once you meet them, my friends and I will not stop searching for that answer no matter what. We'll have your back while you're here with us, so please, can you trust me to be there for you?" Having composed myself enough to turn around, I was met with large and tender eyes, an earnest desire to help and genuinely care about me crystal clear in her face. I found myself smiling once again, a couple more tears rolling down my cheeks as I nodded and reached in for a light hug, which Twilight gladly reciprocated. "Thank you, Twilight, really." I quietly spoke amidst our embrace. "Of course." She replied quietly, holding the hug a few seconds longer before pulling back. The rest of the ride was filled with more idle chatter, alongside general information about Ponyville that Twilight thought would be helpful to know before getting into town. Not too long after, a slight and gradual screech of the breaks signaled our arrival at the Ponyville train station. We got off the train and exited the station, Twilight stopping just off the platform to wave an arm presenting the town. "Charlie, welcome to Ponyville!"