//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 - Arrival // Story: Fred Walsh's Adventures in Equestria // by Baguettedood //------------------------------// Chapter 2 “Despite being a fan of science and technology, I’m pretty sure that portal or wormhole or whatever broke at least half the bloody laws of physics. It just doesn’t make any sense! “Laws of physics apparently being arbitrary aside, it happened and that’s that. Maybe the laws of physics are local for each universe, though that still wouldn’t explain how the portal worked. I suppose I should think about it another time. “You know, I probably could’ve easily saved the LAN party with a quick ad-hoc network. Why didn’t I think of this earlier? I could’ve saved the night! Damn it!” Princess Celestia silently closed her eyes sighed in relief as the last pony exited the throne room. Court was done for the day. She decided to sit and relax on her throne for a few more minutes before retiring to her chambers for the fresh summer night. As Celestia stood up to retire, a thundering CRACK and a blinding flash of light dazzled the alicorn momentarily, before a white and blue spatial anomaly opened out of nowhere in the centre of the throne room, about five metres off the floor. “What is the meaning of this‽” Princess Celestia shouted across the room. The guards readied their spears holstered on their backs and prepared to confront this anomaly. From the portal spewed an assortment of books, plaster and cables when screaming could be heard, coming from inside the portal. “…iiiiIIIIII-OOF! Ow…” Fred Walsh was flung out of the portal and rammed the ground with a thud. The guardsponies quickly surrounded him as the portal closed in on itself. Everypony lost track of time between when Fred hit the floor of the throne room and when he gained enough strength to start moving. The guards tightened their grip on their spears, ready to attack if the unknown creature tried anything. Fred managed to roll over and move into a rough sitting position when he noticed about twelve armoured ponies with spears surrounding him. Not too far away from them was the pure-white alicorn known as Princess Celestia. Fred’s eyes widened as his mind ticked over. 'That show is real? Fancy that. I should probably not show my knowledge of the show. I don’t want anyon- anypony having an existential crisis.' “Wh...,” Fred managed to get out half-conscious. He tried again, “In the name of uh… whichever deity exists, where and when am I?” Fred found the strength to speak coherently again. “WHO ARE YOU AND WHERE DID YOU COME FROM, CREATURE‽” Princess Celestia overruled Fred’s question loudly. “Ow! Okay,” Fred flinched from Celestia’s voice, then shook his head to clear it, “I’ll answer first. I’m Fred Walsh, and I’m from…” Fred looked up at the ceiling, where the portal once was, “Planet Earth, though I have no idea if I’m even in the same universe anymore… Or if the laws of physics still apply. Can you answer my question now?” Princess Celestia answered Fred’s question. “You are in the land of Equestria, home to ponykind. Just what are you doing here, invading my castle?” Fred noticed a distinct lack of a date given. Fred considered asking again for the date, but decided against it, despite it sometimes being more important than knowing the place. “Hey, I’m not invading! I was enjoying some sleep when that wormhole thing opened and broke the laws of physics! Hmm… I guess you’re the good guys, though.” “Might I ask how you came about this conclusion, creature?” Princess Celestia curiously asked, even though he was correct. Fred mustered up the strength to stand up to his full height, startling the guards and they took a step back. “First off, I already said that my name is Fred.” Hey, that rhymes, “I’m a human, not a ‘creature.’ As to how I came to this: Well, the bad guys would probably kill me instantly, the neutral guys would either: help me, ignore me or run away like little sissies, and the good guys would be wary but wouldn’t actually kill me until they had a decent reason.” Fred finished his well-thought out answer. “I still don’t trust you,” Princess Celestia wasn’t convinced that Fred wouldn’t try to assault any of her subjects, “Guards, place him in the dungeon. I’ll figure out what to do with him later. And somepony clean up this mess!” Fred decided to co-operate, He exhaled deeply. “Fine, I’ll come along.” While the guards, keeping a close watch on Fred, escorted him out of the throne room, he observed Princess Celestia also exiting the room, taking a route upstairs to her bedchamber. Instead, Fred went downstairs into the dungeons of Canterlot Castle. A cell was unlocked for him and he walked in. 'I wonder why I haven’t seen Princess Luna yet', Fred thought before looking out the bars on his cell window. He had a clear line of sight to the moon, where he saw the distinct shape of the head of a pony embedded in the moon. “Wait a second!” Fred hurried to get the attention of a guard before they all left. One of them turned around and looked at him. “What is it, human?” The guard questioned Fred. 'Well, it’s an improvement over ‘creature,’ that’s something at least.' “What’s the date? I don’t particularly have a reference point.” “It’s the…,” the guard paused for a moment while he recollected the date, “7th of July, 796.” That’d be about 204 years before Nightmare Moon’s return. “Thanks, dude.” Fred expressed gratitude toward the guard. The guard snorted and strode off. A/N: INTERROBANG. That is all.