//------------------------------// // Chapter 2: Waking Up to New Developments // Story: A Crown's Atonement For Their Misdeeds // by UnknownOrigin //------------------------------// I'm going to be honest, if passing out more than once a day is going to be what happens to me while I'm in this world, I'm probably going to get sick of it real fast. Especially if what causes me to pass out is extremely painful. I don't know how long it's been since I blacked out after succumbing to the pain that resulted from me being hit by that rainbow wave of energy that came from Twilight and her friends, but I eventually felt myself slowly waking up. As I began to wake up, I noticed that there was some sort of blue cloth covering my body and obscuring my vision. While the cloth was very soft against my body, I had to remove it if I wanted to see where I was. This didn't prove to be too hard as I simply began rolling out from under it. However, this resulted in me falling to the floor from what I assumed to be some sort of platform. The fall only hurt a little bit, as I still felt somewhat sore all over from the pain I went through. Eventually, I managed to get my bearings and began looking around to see where I currently was. It appeared to be some sort of library, as various shelves could be seen in the walls of the room and every shelf seemed to have been crammed with a variety of books and scrolls. What I had fallen from was not a platform, rather a table that was situated in the middle of the room. There were various windows situated in various parts of the room, and judging from the soft orange light peeking through them, I assumed that it was currently evening. This proved to be true as a clock could be seen high up on one of the walls showing that it was about 7:00 P.M. at the moment. Other than that, there was a staircase nearby that seemed to lead somewhere higher up, although I couldn't see as to where from my current position on the floor. Nearby was also what appeared to be a couch that was closer to one of the walls with a coffee table in front of it and two chairs facing the table as well. There was an entrance nearby said staircase that seemed to lead to some sort of kitchen, as I could spot a stove from the opening. Finally, there were two doors on opposite sides of the library. One seemed to lead outside judging from the mat in front of it, while the other was just a simple door that sat on the opposite wall of the first one. I could only assume that possibly Twilight and her friends brought me here, considering that they were the last things I saw before I blacked out. If that was the case, then why aren't they here? I would have assumed at least one of them would be here to possibly keep an eye on me as they might have considered me as dangerous or something since I was seen with Discord. Regardless, I assumed that I might as well explore a bit more since it may be a while before they came back. I decided to start with the books on the shelves as I may be able to get some information as to where I have ended up. Starting with one of the lower shelves, I started with viewing the titles of each book. Some of them weren't really that interesting, such as "Brewing the Perfect Cup of Tea Within 5 Minutes or Less", "A Ponies Guidebook to Different Cloud Formations", and even "Slumber 101: All You Ever Wanted to Know About Slumber Parties But Were Afraid to Ask.". That last one sounded a little ridiculous in my opinion. Eventually, however, I saw some books that caught my eye such as "The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide", "Thornhoof's Brief History of Canterlot", and one simply called "History of Equestria". For the first one, I definitely remember Discord mentioning something about "Elements" multiple times, especially when talking to Twilight and her friends. As for the other two, they seemed to be locations within this world, maybe one of those names was where I was currently located? Moving on, I kept looking around at some of the lower shelves within the library and unfortunately found nothing else that seemed interesting. Before I could check the higher shelves, I began to hear voices coming from right outside the door. Eventually, the door opened as Twilight and her friends entered the library. "I have to say darlings, that party may have been among the best that I have ever attended. Don't you think so Fluttershy dear?" The white horned pony asked. The one I assumed was Fluttershy, the yellow winged one, replied "I really did enjoy it a bit. I'm at least happy the animals in the garden seemed to have forgiven me since the gala." It was somewhat hard to hear her, as her voice was a little bit quiet compared to the others. "In my opinion, we deserved it after kicking Discord's butt!" The blue winged one with rainbow hair exclaimed. "Yeah! We were all 'pew pew' and Discord was like 'Oh no!' and everything was great and that party was also great! I do wish those cotton candy clouds stayed around though." The pink one answered energetically. "I agree with all of you. It was definitely tough, but I'm glad we managed to stop Discord before he managed to spread his chaos over all of Equestria. However, I am somewhat curious about the thing that rolled up to us after Discord was turned to stone. It definitely seemed like the Elements of Harmony affected it somehow, but it didn't disappear with the rest of the things Discord created. I'm hoping to do a few tests on it once it wakes up." Twilight said, I assumed she was talking about me, and she also talked about the "Elements" or "Elements of Harmony'” as I assumed they were called. Maybe they had something to do with the jewelry that had those gems embedded within them, as I noticed they were no longer wearing them. "Ah'm sure you'll figure it out, Twi. Ah'll admit, ah am curious about it myself." The orange one with the stetson hat said. She seemed to have a southern accent, though thankfully it wasn't too hard to understand her. "Yeah, especially now that it's woken up." the pink one said. Every single pony in that room seemed to stop talking and stare at Pinkie as I saw she was now pointing at me. Their gazes followed her outstretched limb towards my direction and stared at me as I also stared back at them. It was quiet for a few moments as we stared back and forth before Twilight spoke up. "Huh, I guess it is." she said as she began walking up to me. "I thought it would have still been asleep when we got back, but I guess not." "I'm happy that it seems to be ok. It looked like it was in pain with Discord squeezing it." Fluttershy said. "I'm glad as well Fluttershy. I'm grateful that it doesn't seem to be too injured. Though..." Rarity started as she began to walk around me a bit. "I must say, all this black and gray doesn't really make it look too friendly. If not, it definitely isn't the most colorful of things I've seen." "I could care less, as long as it doesn't try to wreck Ponyville while we're not looking, I'm fine with it." The rainbow haired one said, seemingly lazing about while flying in the air. "Well, I could at least use some help with trying to figure out what this thing is. Spike, come down here!" Twilight yelled in the direction of where the stairs led. A few moments later, the purple and green reptile that I saw with the others walked down the steps. "Coming Twilight." the reptile, who I now knew as Spike, said as he reached the bottom of the stairs. So it turns out that someone was here when I woke up, it just looks like he didn't decide to come down when I woke up. "Woah! It looks like the thing you brought back is awake. What is it?" "That's what I'm hoping to find out, Spike." Twilight said. "I'm going to need you and the other's help if we want to find that out." "You know I'm not really into all that egghead stuff. But I guess I'll stick around and help out." The rainbow haired one replied, floating back down to the ground. "Thanks Rainbow, I appreciate it. Now then..." Twilight said as I saw a sort of pink aura cover her horn. Around the library, several books were covered in the same aura as they began to fly off of the shelves and onto the table I had been sleeping on earlier, with the blanket that had covered me also being covered in the same aura and was moved to the nearby couch. "Let's see if we can figure out what this thing is." It had been about an hour later since the group had begun trying to figure out what I was. Throughout said hour, they scoured multiple different books that began to pile up as the hour went on. I also learned the names of Twilight's other friends as well during that time frame. The winged one with rainbow hair was called Rainbow Dash, the white horned was named Rarity, the pink energetic one was called Pinkie Pie, and the orange one with the stetson hat was Applejack. From time to time the group thought that they had maybe found out what I was and held a book right beside me, only to eventually go back to looking as I looked nothing like the things they were comparing me to. In all honesty, I was somewhat enjoying watching them struggle to figure out what I was, as I highly doubted that beings from other dimensions appearing in this world was something that occurred regularly. "How? How have we not found anything that could even hint as to what this thing could even be? We've checked 'Flora and Fauna of the Everfree', 'Creatures and Curios Beyond Equestria', we've even checked 'History of Equestria' and have found nothing! Is it a new species of animal? A magic experiment gone wrong? Just what are you?!" Twilight exclaimed, her face getting uncomfortably close to mine to where I had to hop back a bit. "Maybe it's an alien from outer space?" Spike suggested. "Yeah! It came down here on a giant flying ship to try and make peace with us. Only to be secretly plotting to steal the resources of this planet and replace everything with metal!" Pinkie exclaimed. Ok, she's somewhat close, but that other part about me turning this place into metal just sounded a bit ridiculous to me. "Ah have to admit Pinkie, even for you that's a little bit far-fetched. Ah highly doubt this thing would have ah spaceship somewhere nearby." Applejack replies. She looks at the clock on the wall that now reads 8:30 P.M. before turning back to the others. "Actually girls, Ah should probably start heading back to tha farm. Ah gotta wake up early as we plan on sellin’ a lot ah apples tomorrow." Twilight looks to the clock before sighing and looking back at the others. "I guess you're right. I still feel like we should keep searching until we find something, but you girls probably have plans tomorrow anyway." "Before we leave, can we give it a name? It feels a little weird just calling it an it." Fluttershy asked. "Gotta agree with Shy on this one. That way, we'll at least be able to call it something until we find out what it is." Rainbow Dash said. "Oh, maybe something like 'Noir' since it's only black and gray?" Rarity said. Not bad, but definitely didn't feel like going by that. "How about 'Gooey'? Ya know, since it's all covered in that goo?" Applejack chimed in. Definitely not that one. "How about 'Inky'? Kinda like the direction Aj's goin in." Rainbow said. "We don't even know if that goo is a part of it you two." Twilight said. "I know! How about 'Zero' since it's got no bright colors?" Pinkie joined in. That name struck a chord with me for some reason, but I couldn't explain why. Regardless, that was definitely going to be a no. The girls continued offering up names left and right, only to be shot down by the others either disagreeing or offering a new name instead. While some of them were good, none of them felt right to me. I sort of wanted a name that would resonate with me and represent who I was, something that was not a part of this world and currently had no powers to speak of. Something that showed that I was that my form was sort of that of a blank slate, ready to be molded and colored by the things this world had to offer. Something along the lines of nothing. Something like... "Null." All at once, everyone in the room stopped talking. It was as though something had startled them, something unexpected that they hadn't seen coming. I soon found the eyes of everyone looking at me, staring at me as though I had just done something crazy. It took me a moment to realize... I was the one who had said that name. "What did you just say?" Twilight asked, staring at me with a look of disbelief. "I, want to be called Null, if that's okay with you all." I responded. I don't know when or how, but I had somehow gained the ability to talk. Crazy thing was, I didn't feel my mouth move at all. It was like the sound had come out from where my mouth was located and was able to be heard clearly without me even needing to move my mouth. My voice, I realized it sounded somewhat similar to Magolor's. Somewhat high-pitched, but not too high to the point to where it would be annoying to listen to, and the tone was somewhat soft as well. "YOU CAN TALK?!" Was the question shouted by literally everyone in the room. I wouldn't have been surprised if anyone outside of the library heard it as well and wondered what was going on in here. I felt myself grimacing as the sound of everyone's voices combined left a faint ringing in my hearing. "Ow, not so loud. I was able to hear you all perfectly without everyone needing to yell." I said, slowly feeling the ringing die down. "You have been able to talk this whole time, and you didn't feel like you needed to tell us?!" Twilight exclaimed, once more getting up close and personal with her face. "Well, um, I..." I stuttered, slowly backing away from the mare with the crazed look in her eye. "Twilight, calm down. You're scaring the poor thing." Fluttershy said. She slowly approached me before lifting me up in her hooves, allowing us to face each other at eye level. "Now, what were you trying to say?" "I want to be called Null, if it isn't too much to ask." I answered back. "Ok then. It's nice to meet you Null. My name is Fluttershy. Twilight there didn't mean to scare you." She said, introducing herself. Not that it was really needed. "It's fine I guess. You also don't really need to introduce yourselves. I know that you're Fluttershy, the one with the hat is Applejack, the pink one is Pinkie Pie, the one with purple hair is Rarity, the one flying around is Rainbow Dash, and I already know Twilight." I responded back. "Ok, um, how do you know all our names?" Rainbow Dash questioned, giving me a questioning look. "I heard you guys call each other by your names earlier." I said. "Oh. Nevermind then." She said, stopping the look she was giving me. "Well, now that I know you can talk, I would like for you to answer a few questions for me and for me to do a few tests, if you wouldn't mind, uh, Null." Twilight asked while her horn was once again covered by a pink aura as a notebook and pencil appeared in a flash of pink light. It was somewhat similar to what Discord had done, though the way she did it felt more natural somehow. "I don't think he wants to. Oh, um, you don't mind being called a he, do you." Fluttershy asked me nervously. "I don't mind." I responded. Being referred to as a male felt right somehow. "Well, anyways, it is getting late, and I do have to get home to feed the others. I feel like maybe we should all be here for when you ask him questions." Fluttershy continued. "Well, but I, but." Twilight began to stammer. "Ah'm gonna have ta agree on Fluttershy on this one, Twi. It is getting pretty late, and Ah feel like this is something that everyone should be here for." Applejack said. Twilight let out a defeated sigh. "Fine, we'll wait until tomorrow before we test or ask anything. I want Null to stay here in the library, however." Twilight said. "Actually, can I stay with Fluttershy tonight. No offense, but I kind of feel like you would try and experiment on me while I'm sleeping." I said. Twilight’s mouth fell open as I felt like I called her bluff. After being stared at by the others for a bit, she eventually let up. "Ok. You can stay with Fluttershy tonight. Fluttershy, make sure he's brought back here in the morning." "Ok Twilight." She moved me up over her head switching from using her hooves to using her wings as she placed me onto her back. "Oops." she said, as some of the goo covering my body was now on her wings and hooves. "Wait, actually..." Twilight started as her aura glowed once more as a vial appeared in the same aura. Slowly, she used the vial to collect up the goo from Fluttershy's wings and hooves until there was none left, with the goo itself filling the vial up to it almost being full before placing a cork on the top. "At least I can possibly see what this goo is. Alright, night everyone." Twilight said as she took the vial and went through the door opposite to the entrance. I could only see stairs leading down to what appeared to be a basement. Everyone began to file out of the library, saying goodnight to each other as everyone went their separate ways, with me going with Fluttershy to where she stayed. As we exited the library it was unfortunately a little too dark for me to make out my surroundings, that and I didn't think to look at the library itself until we had gotten too far away from it to where I could only see the windows, which were emitting a soft golden light. I could at least tell that I was still in the town that I had arrived in after leaving that forest earlier, as the buildings seem to have a familiar architecture. We eventually made our way out of the town and down a familiar dirt road that led to the forest. Right as we were getting close enough to its entrance with me wondering if Fluttershy lived in that forest, she instead took a path that linked up with the road that seemed to go around the edge. After trekking along this path for a little while longer, we eventually came up to what I assumed was Fluttershy's house, though it was more like a cottage. The path that we were on seemed to go over what appeared to be a dirt bridge, with a small creek flowing under it. Pass that was the actual cottage itself, with the roof seemingly being made out of grass or moss with how green it was as a multitude of birdhouses were either on poles nearby the cottage or were situated on the walls and roof of the cottage. I could also see a small path splitting from the one that led to the cottage to what I could guess was a flower garden based on the variety of different types of flowers that could be seen. After crossing the dirt bridge and making it up to the cottage, Fluttershy opened the door as the both of us went inside. I had to admit, the inside of her house did have a somewhat homely feeling to it. From what I could assume was the living room where we had just entered into, there was a fireplace built into the wall on one side of the room, a couch and a chair were next to a nearby coffee table on the opposite side of the wall from where the entrance was, there were a set of stairs that led up to the second floor on the left, and an entry way that led to what I assumed was both a dining room and a kitchen judging from the table and chairs that I could see from here. One thing that caught my eye were the various small staircases scattered around the room, leading from the floor and onto surfaces that were higher up, as well as more birdhouses. Oh, and the white rabbit that was in the middle of the room, thumping one of its legs while giving Fluttershy a look of annoyance. "Oh, I'm so sorry Angel. Twilight needed some help back at the library after we got back from the party. Don't worry though, I'll get you and the others their dinner in a bit. I just need to set Null down first." Fluttershy said to the rabbit. As she began heading to the entryway, I managed to get a glance at Angel, who seemed to be glaring at me for some reason. I could maybe only guess that he was irritated because he assumed I was the reason that Fluttershy had gotten home late. Turns out I was right about the next room leading to a dining room and kitchen, as I could now clearly see a stove and an oven situated on one of the walls of the room. After setting me down on the table with her wings, she went to a sink that was also next to the oven and stove to wash the sludge that I had left behind after she put me down. As she was washing them, Angel hopped up onto the table right beside me, and continued glaring at me. "So... I guess Fluttershy is an animal person, err, pony?" I asked Angel. He seemed a bit surprised that I could talk before resuming with glaring at me. After a bit, he went to the opposite side of the table and sat in what appeared to be a highchair that would allow Angel to easily eat at the table. "Guess you're not much of a talker, then?" I said somewhat jokingly. Before this moment could get any more awkward, Fluttershy came up next to Angel and laid down a plate of carrots right in front of him. His eyes seemed to light up at that as he picked one up with his paw and began to eat one. Meanwhile, Fluttershy came up to me and placed a bowl of salad right in front of me. "I'm sorry Null. I don't really know what you are able to eat, so I made this for you. Um, are you even able to eat?" Fluttershy asked nervously. Well, time to see if my theory from earlier today is true. I went up to the bowl of salad and used my body to tip the bowl's contents towards me. As the leafy greens touched where my mouth was, my theory was proven true as the leaves seemed to pass through my skin as a chewing sound could be heard coming from my body as I ate the salad. After the last bit of the salad was gone, I tilted the bowl back to where I was before and looked at the happy yet surprised expression on Fluttershy's face while Angel's was that of pure surprise. "Well, it's good to know that you can eat at least. Now that you're done how about we get you cleaned up a bit?" Fluttershy said, picking me up with her hooves and flying the both of us back to the living room. After setting me down on the floor, she picked up a nearby wooden tub and washcloth before heading back to the kitchen. A minute later, she returned with the wooden tub that appeared to be filled with soapy water and set it down right beside me. After that, she picked me up and set me into the tub. The next good while was spent with mostly just Fluttershy scrubbing my body and washing off all the sludge that was covering my body. Initially, I was somewhat afraid that my whole body was still made up of the sludge, but it appeared that it had stabilized enough to where I actually had a solid form underneath all of the gunk that covered it. Over time, the once clear and soapy water eventually turned a dark gray as Fluttershy had managed to scrub me clean. The bath eventually finished, with Fluttershy taking me out of the tub and drying me off with a towel before setting me on the nearby couch. "Ok Null. I need to go give the others their dinner. You stay here until then, ok?" Fluttershy asked me. I gave a simple "Alright." to answer her as she went back out the front door, with Angel giving me one last glance before following her. This gave me the opportunity to process everything that had happened to me on my first day in this new world. I found myself in a new form, exited a creepy forest only to run into Discord and the chaos he was causing, witnessed Discord turn into stone because of Twilight and her friends using some sort of rainbow magic that also greatly hurt me, learned that I could talk, and was now staying in a cottage with Fluttershy and a bunny that seemed to have a grudge against me. Yeah, talk about a crazy introduction to being brought into an unknown dimension. Some time later, Fluttershy walked back into the cottage and walked over to a nearby pile of blankets before taking one and wrapping me up with it. "Goodnight Null. I'll see you in the morning." Fluttershy said before turning the lights off and went up the stairs to where I assumed she slept. As I settled in, I could only think about what a strange twist of fate this was. Me, a being who was sealed within the Master Crown for reasons I can't seem to remember why and would take over my wearers and cause chaos, had ended up drifting into this strange and colorful world after I had been defeated by the last being who had worn me. I could only assume that the shards that once made up the Master Crown had ended up somewhere else in this world, but I was honestly fine with the possibility of not seeing those shards again. One thought drifted into my eyes as I began to succumb to the comforting embrace of sleep: Maybe it won't be so bad staying here. Do you really have to go? I have to, honey. The others said that they had made a breakthrough and they want me back at the lab asap. But it's literally 2 in the morning. Can't it wait until the sun has actually risen? I wish that it could. But you know how important this project is. If we get this right, no one will ever have to ever worry about any threats or alien invaders that we might have to face in the future. I know. Just, be safe on your way there. I will. I love you, honey. I love you too, dear. Huh. That was a weird dream. That was the only thing I could think about as I woke up. I did have dreams, yes, but none were as odd as that one. For starters, it was only those two voices that I heard. A male voice talking about how he needed to go somewhere, and a female one asking the male one why he had to go. It also felt different than the dream I normally had, though I couldn't pin down as to why that was. In any case, looks like I needed to get up from this couch. I slowly began to wiggle myself out of the blanket wrap Fluttershy had put me in the night before, and hopped down from the couch. As I did that, I could hear someone coming down the stairs and turned to look to see Fluttershy coming down with what I could best describe as bed hair (bed mane?) as some of her hair was sticking out in some places. "Good morning Fluttershy." I said to her as she reached the floor. This resulted in her jumping a bit and wildly looking around before realizing it was me and letting out a breath. "Oh, good morning Null. I forgot that you were staying here, so you scared me a bit..." She trailed off as she was looking at me weirdly. "Um, Null. When did you grow ears?" "Ears? What are you talking about?" I questioned. "Um, well..." She began, before heading back up the stairs. A few moments later, she brought back what appeared to be a tall rectangular mirror and placed it in front of me. "Maybe you should have a look?" I stared into my reflection in the mirror and, sure enough, I had ears on the top of my head! They were triangular in shape, somewhat cat-like in appearance, and were also the same color as my body. I never really got a chance to look at myself after Fluttershy gave me that bath last night, but my body was still that of a simple sphere with the color of my body being somewhere between a very dark gray and black. I kept staring into my reflection as I began to slowly come to a realization, my body was slowly transforming to become somewhat similar to Magolor. I don't know why this was the case, maybe it was because he was the last sentient being that I had possessed before the crown was shattered in two, or maybe it was because something else entirely. Regardless, I was probably going to have to accept the fact that I was going to end up looking like him. "Yeah, this is definitely new to me. Maybe they showed up while I was sleeping?" I said. "Maybe we should tell Twilight about this. She did say that I needed to bring you back to the library. Oh! And I also need to run a few errands while I'm in town, too." Fluttershy said. "Yeah, I guess so." I responded. "Ok, I just need to freshen up a bit and get everyone their breakfast. Once that's done, we can head over to Twilight's." Fluttershy said as she began to go back up the stairs, taking the mirror with her. It had maybe taken about 30 or so minutes for Fluttershy to brush her mane so that it was back to normal and her coming in and out of the house taking various types of food outside such as a bag of seed and even a couple of fish. This made me question just what types of animals lived around Fluttershy's cottage, as it was obvious she was quite the lover of animals. Eventually, she came back in one last and headed back up the stairs and came back down with what appeared to have saddlebags on her sides filled with various things. I jumped onto her back, and we made our way outside and towards town. Though, if one thing’s for certain, the area around Fluttershy's cottage was a lot more active during the day, as I could see various animals such as rabbits, different kinds of birds, and even spotted a bear roaming around. It took some time, but we eventually made it back to town. Now that it was somewhat early in the morning, there were a lot more ponies walking around who were doing various things. It was kind of amazing that they were carrying on with their lives even though the town was in such a state of chaos the day before. As we were walking, a few ponies glanced in our direction, some would only just look at us once before resuming with their business, while others seemed to stare at us for a bit longer. I could only assume that they were staring at me, as I was something the residents of this town had never seen before. Fluttershy also seemed to notice as well, as she would often pick up the pace when she noticed ponies staring at me, possibly thinking that they were staring at her. I could feel the nervousness coming from her and decided to try and ease her mind by asking some questions I've had for a while. "So Fluttershy, where are we exactly? I don't think I ever caught the name of this place." I asked. "Well, this is mostly the town square that we are in. That building over there is the town hall." Fluttershy said, gesturing to a tall circular building in the area we were currently in. Two different balconies located at what I could assume were the separate floors of the building split it into three different sections. "That's not really what I meant. I meant the name of this town." I said. "Oh. Well, this town is Ponyville, and it's been around for quite a while. Applejack’s grandmother was actually involved with Ponyville's founding, from what I've heard." Fluttershy responded. "Ponyville." I said, testing the name myself. In my opinion, the name was a little bit too on the nose as it made it somewhat obvious as to what sort of beings lived here. "Ok. Follow-up question, why is it that some of the ponies here have wings while others have horns and others don't have either?" "You mean you don't know about the three different kinds of ponies?" Fluttershy asked, with me giving a simple "No." as my answer, somewhat confused as to what she meant. "I'm not really the best when it comes to explaining the differences between the three different kinds of ponies, but I can at least tell you that a pony with wings is a pegasus and that they are able to fly, a pony with a horn is a unicorn and they are able to use magic, and ponies that don't have a horn or wings are earth ponies who are quite strong. Twilight can tell you more about the differences between the three in detail." Fluttershy explained. "So, since you have wings, that makes you a pegasus, correct?" I asked. "Hmhm. Oh, looks like we're here." Fluttershy said. In front of me was a very familiar sight, the house that was built into the tree that I saw yesterday was a few feet away from us. So, that essentially meant that Twilight lived in a treehouse. Good to know if I ever needed to find her for anything. Fluttershy went up to the door and knocked a few times before Spike opened the door. "Oh! Morning Fluttershy. Everyone else is here, we're just waiting for Twilight to come up from the basement. She's, well, she's been down there all night as far as I can tell. I went down there to give her breakfast, but she seemed too focused so I just left it on a table nearby." Spike said. Twilight's been testing on the sludge from my body all night?! I have to admit, that makes me both impressed and worried at the same time. Impressed as she must have a lot of willpower not to fall asleep in the middle of researching something. Worried as I could only think of what she would have done if I had stayed here for the night. As Fluttershy carried me in, we were greeted by all of the others of the group either sitting on the couch or chairs around the table or were sitting around the table on cushions from what I could assume came from the pile I saw. She eventually made her way over to one of the chairs as I hopped down from her back and onto the table. Everyone seemed to immediately notice my new ears. "Since when did the ball grow ears?" Rainbow Dash asked. "I don't know, they appeared overnight and Null doesn't know when they appeared either." Fluttershy said. "Either way, I think he looks so much cuter than when he was just a gooey sphere. Now, he's a sphere with little ears!" Pinkie Pie said. "Well, I think they add a little more character to his appearance. Don't you think so, girls?" Rarity said. "Ah'll agree with ya there Rarity. But Ah find it weird that Null even grew them in the first place." Applejack replied. This continued on for a bit longer, some of them agreeing that me growing ears in the middle of the night was strange while the others thought I looked cuter with them. I was more so with the first group, as even I wanted to know how these things appeared. Eventually, the conversation was cut short as the door leading to what I assumed was the basement swung open, with Twilight coming out with a stack of papers being held in her aura. She also looked to be somewhat of a mess as well, as there were heavy bags under her eyes and her mane was also sticking out in various places. "Good, everyone's here." Twilight began, glancing towards us. "Thank you for also bringing Null, Fluttershy." "Oh, you're welcome, Twilight. Did you manage to find anything out from the goo?" Fluttershy asked. "That's the thing. I stayed up all night testing on it, and I've found that nothing seems to react with it! I've tried lighting it on fire to see if it would change or catch flame, which it didn't, I've tried freezing it to see if that did anything, that also didn't work, and I've even tried to see if it would react to my magic. Nothing has worked!" Twilight exclaimed, sounding incredibly defeated while pacing about the room. "Well, we do know one thing." Pinkie said. "And what's that, Pinkie?" Twilight asked. "He's definitely cute with his new ears!" Twilight immediately stopped her pacing as the papers she were holding immediately fell to the floor. "His what?!" Twilight yelled, racing over to where I was. Her question was answered as she looked at the new appendages on my head. "When did, how did, WHAT?!" "Twilight, I'm also wondering the same thing you are. I don't even know when or how these things even appeared. All I know is that they just showed up while I was sleeping. Right Fluttershy?" I asked. "It's true, Twilight. When I tucked him in before I went to sleep, he didn't have those ears. When I came back down in the morning, they had appeared on his head. Null didn't even know what I was talking about before I showed him his reflection. Twilight sat on the floor in obvious defeat. She had obviously done a lot to try and find out what the sludge from my body was made of, only to find nothing. And this new revelation about me having ears seemed to have broken her. After a solid minute, she stood back up. "Ugh, I'm too tired for this. Sure, all that testing ended in failure, but maybe I can find out something if you answer some questions for me Null." Twilight said as a clipboard and a pencil appeared in a flash of pink light. Alright, it was time for the questioning. I had deliberated over this last night as I knew it was coming, and I eventually decided that I would tell the truth, just not the whole truth. A part of me didn't really want to tell these ponies that I had been sealed within an artifact of immense power and would take over the minds and bodies of those that would wear me and that I had come from another dimension. I felt like this would cause them to fire that wave of rainbow energy that they used on Discord that turned him to stone. While I wanted to know why it didn't turn me into stone and instead caused me immense pain, I didn't want to risk it. "First, where did you come from?" Twilight began. "I woke up in that giant creepy forest near town. After which, I wandered about for a bit before I saw Ponyville and headed straight towards it." I said. Best to start with my first moments in this world. "You mean the Everfree Forest?" Twilight asked. "I guess." I answered. Ok, so I had at least learned that the forest I had ended up in was the Everfree Forest. Good to know. "Ok. Next, are you able to do anything besides just talking and bouncing?" Twilight continued, the pencil writing on the clipboard in midair. "Well, I can eat and drink without having a mouth. Any food or drink just simply passes through the skin of my face and I'm able to consume it." I answered. Twilight looked over to Fluttershy who nodded her head to confirm this. "Weird, but ok. Lastly, do you have any connection to Discord or even to Princess Celestia and Luna by any chance." Twilight said. "I'm definitely not associated with Discord. Though I did hear him mention the name Celestia, but other than that, I don't know who those last two are." I responded. I think my answer accidentally pushed one of Twilight's personal buttons, as she stared at me with a shocked expression before launching into a tangent. "What?! How do you not know who Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are?! Both of them have ruled over all of Equestria for thousands of years. They are able to raise and lower the sun and the moon, allowing the passage of day and night to occur! How could you not know them?!" Twilight exclaimed. Ok, that was a lot to take in, but I at least managed to learn a few things from what Twilight had just said. First off, I have now heard both Discord and Twilight say the word Equestria, and given the way that Twilight had said the word in this context, I could assume that Equestria was either the continent or kingdom I was currently located in. The second, was that it was obvious that whoever Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were, they were extremely powerful. By my basic knowledge of how planets worked, I knew that planets rotated around the body of a sun in a circular orbit while moons were also the same except that they orbited nearby planets. The fact that Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were able to move the sun and the moon themselves could only leave me to imagine just what these two were capable of. As Twilight continued on with her rant, I noticed Applejack look at the clock on the wall before she started to get up. "Sorry Twi, as much as I would like to stick around and listen to Null answer more of your questions, Ah gotta head back to tha farm. Big Mac's working tha stand today, and Ah'm sure he's waiting on me to start bringing him some apples we bucked earlier." Applejack said as she started to head towards the door. "I have to go as well darling. I need to open the boutique soon and I need to finish some orders that are almost finished." Rarity added as she began to leave as well. "I gotta go too! I promised Mr. and Mrs. Cake that I'd help them at Sugarcube Corner today. Speaking of, I need to be there in five minutes. See ya Twilight!" Pinkie said as she took off out the door. "I need to go too. The Wonderbolt tryouts are a few months away, and I need to be in top shape for when they come around. So I've got to go practice." Rainbow Dash said as she headed out the door. Twilight looked like she was about to argue with them to try and convince them to stay, but she seemed to think better about it as she sighed in defeat. "Alright, you girls can go. But I need you girls to come back here tonight so we can discuss what we need to do with Null!" Twilight yelled out. This was met with the girls either giving nods or saying that they would be back later. Eventually, it was just me, Fluttershy, Spike, and Twilight left in the room. I'm not gonna lie, that last bit about them deciding what to do with me did make me a little bit nervous. However, that was going to have to wait until later. "Spike, I'm going to need you to go into town to pick up a few things. I used a lot of things while testing the goo that came from Null, and I'm also pretty sure we are out of a couple of things in the kitchen." Twilight said. "You can count on me Twilight!" Spike said while giving a salute. "Thanks Spike. As for me, I think I'm going to go sleep for a while. I'm exhausted and I'm definitely going to need my energy to look over Null's answers." Twilight said as a bag of what I assumed were coins as I could hear them jingling appeared and floated towards Spike, allowing him to grab it. After that, Twilight headed up the stairs and headed to where I assumed was where she slept. Now, it was just us three. "I should start going too. I need to run a few errands as well and I also need to deliver the girls some medicine for their pets. Do you mind coming with me, Null?" Fluttershy asked. "Not at all. Actually..." I began as an idea began to form. If I was going to be within this world, I might as well get a lay of the land so I would know what this town would have to offer. I might also be able to learn a few things as well if both Spike and Fluttershy were with me. They seemed to know a fair bit about this town, so they could provide me with some insight. "Spike, do you want to come with us? That way, we can get both of your errands done at the same time, and you guys can give me a tour of Ponyville as well as you both seem to know this town quite a bit." I asked. Spike seemed to think this over for a bit, before finally saying "Well, it does get a bit boring having no one around while I run errands for Twilight. It would definitely be a nice change of pace. What about you Fluttershy?" "Oh, I suppose I'm fine with that." Fluttershy answered. "Alright then. Now, where should we go first?" I asked. This was followed by everyone's stomach growling as I suppose no one had had breakfast yet. Mine also seemed to growl, which resulted in my body slightly shaking a bit as well. "Maybe we can start with Sugarcube Corner?" Spike questioned. "That's fine, I can also deliver medicine to Pinkie while we're there too." Fluttershy said. And with all of us agreeing on our first destination, we exited Twilight's house to start accomplishing the errands that Fluttershy and Spike had to do while I was tagging along, wondering how the day would plan out and what I could learn from these two as they would give me a tour of Ponyville.