It’s been an hour & a half since I’ve arrived in Canterlot, and had my little scene down at the train station. Since then I finally came to the castle and had my meeting with Twilight’s mentor, but even after I said I would trust her and her people, I still kept my guard up around them. despite me saying that I would trust them, I wasn’t going to, until proven otherwise.
When I started speaking with the princess and starting to get to know who she was, I learned that she was only one of the two princesses that govern the nation. Which confused me a little bit, especially when it came to regarding her title. I asked her why the two princesses, who I learned were a race of ponies called an alicorn, weren’t called queens, or at least have one of them carry the title. Celestia simply stated that the title of queen is only given when there was a single ruler, and while she has governed the country by herself for a long time before her sister returned, she didn’t take the title of queen because she felt like she wasn’t worthy of being labeled as one. When I asked why she didn’t feel like she was worthy of the title, she simply stated because of her hubris and naivety, she was forced to banish her sister until recent events brought the two together. Now the pair rule the nation together as they did before, and strived to not repeat their mistakes from the past.
Aside from me asking my own questions of the alicorn, the princess asked her own questions which were mostly repeated questions that Twilight has already asked, though the princess asked for more details when she inquired. But what the princess, and by the same mind Twilight, really wanted to know is what was it really like on my world. They both wanted to know everything from the history of my people, how the Un-Naturals actually came to be, and of course how Un-Naturals like me are treated amongst the rest of the populace. And when I explained everything to them, and I do mean everything, to them from how the Un-Naturals were created by a machine that initially was meant to commit global genocide do to the grief, or deranged mind, of a mad man that believe humanity should be wiped out. To how the non-meta powered humans, which were referred to as Norms, all feared those with powers, simply out of fear that they could not trust them to not abuse their powers to cause chaos and panic among them. And finally how the government eventually created a task force that not only hunted down people like me to either kill, or capture to cage us up until we die, or so that they could experiment on us. Where they could learn how our powers work, and how to cultivate them so that they can use them…all the while subject us to torturous experiments all for the sake of, national security.
To say that neither of the mares liked what I had just told them, would be an understatement as I looked at their horrified expressions as I sat across from them.
“Barricade, tell me this is some kind of joke.” The princess asked me, almost in disbelief at what she had just heard.
“Your people couldn’t…they wouldn’t do, any of that, to each other…” I just gave the princess a blank stare as I just leaned into the couch I was sitting in, and it appears my silence has answered the alicorns question as she looks distraught.
“You’ll be surprised just what fear and paranoia does to people princes, especially when their sense of normalcy is literally flipped on its head.” Though I’m not one to talk, pot calling the kettle black and all that.
“Is that why you don’t trust any pony? Even other Un-Naturals?” Twilight asked me.
“Un-Naturals pretty much learned to trust each other over the years, in fact there are self-created communities of Un-Naturals that look after one another…but even so, not all Un-Naturals get along with one another. For one reason, or another.”
“What kind of reasons?” Celestia asked as she seemed to have recovered from her prior shock. I rubbed the bridge of my nose before I spoke and start to explain.
“Not all Un-Naturals powers are very, stable.”
“What do you mean by that?” Twilight asked as she leaned over the table more to hear what I have to say.
“Some Un-Naturals powers often times cause horrible side effects to them. Most times they cannot recover from the sudden changes of their bodies, or adapt quick enough to resist the changes. These side effects range from bodily deformations, to bodily functions not working, to having mental instability. Then there are times where an Un-Naturals power is too much for them that it drives them, mad or insane, for lack of a better word.” A few Un-Naturals come to mind as I rattled off symptoms and side effects to the two mares, and remembering reading about certain Un-Naturals that met there end due to their own powers.
“Some Un-Naturals are even regressed to being nothing more than basic animals, or mindless monsters, because of their mutations and powers.” one particular Un-Natural comes to mind after making that remark, mostly due on how they met their end…all at the age of 15 to.
“And none of the regular humans ever attempt to try and help the Un-Naturals?” Celestia asked me with a hopeful expression, I just gave her a neutral expression as I spoke.
“There are sympathizers to Un-Naturals that do what they can to help them, but those types of people are one in a million. And can’t really do much without getting looked down on by others, or outright ostracized by their communities.”
“I see.” The alicorn said in a low tone as she slouched in her seat.
“Princess, are you alright?” Twilight asked the older mare with a worried tone as she nuzzles up to the alicorn.
“I’m fine Twilight. I’m just a little, disheartened is all.”
“Sorry princess but when it comes to my world, expecting to have a nice life is nothing more than a pipe dream if you’re an Un-Natural.” I mean it’s not completely like that, at least for the Un-Natural’s like myself don’t have any physical definitions that announces that their Un-Natural’s.
Both the princess & Twilight look incredibly depressed after our talks and discussions about my world, I tried to steer the conversation into more uplifting topics, like explaining to them that there were a few factions back home that sought to change the state of things. From the group called Freedom Skies, led by an Un-Natural named Red Hawk, who tries to work with some government officials to change things, but has been difficult if not impossible. This did bring the two ponies back into a better mood and asked more questions about Freedom Sky & Red Hawk, and I told them all I knew about the both of them, but it wasn’t much, but the fact that there was someone back home trying to change things made them at least more happy. I even told them that there was another Un-Natural that helps both Norms and other Un-Naturals, all of which left the modern world because of how things were getting, and lived out in the woods as a self-reliant community. When they asked who this Un-Natural was, I told them that her name was Evergreen.
“Hold on Barricade, there’s something I’ve been wondering about the Un-Naturals.” Celestia asked as I took a moment to drink from a cup of water.
“What’s that?”
“From what you’ve said about Un-Naturals, and of the ones you’ve talked about, most of them are male.” Ah, I see what her question is going to be about.
“And you want to know why there’s more males with powers than females.” The mare nodded her head, while Twilight looked surprised that she didn’t think to ask about this question.
“I’m not an expert on this, nor did I really pay much attention to the fundamentals when being taught stuff. But the reason why men develop powers more so then women back home, is because the energy from the initial event that created Un-Naturals, affected the male genome down to its very DNA structure. So now all men have the potential to pass down the mutated genomes to their children. The reason why women don’t develop powers as often as men, is because they don’t often have the required genomes in their DNA that develops powers, but it’s not impossible for them to become Un-Naturals if they have inherited a lot of their fathers genes.”
“So it all comes down to if a human has the right genes in order to acquire powers?” Twilight asked as she was furiously jotting stuff down again. I just nodded my head in response to her question.
“Basically. After all its not a hundred percent guaranteed that when a boy or girl to develop powers when they reach the adolescent.”
“How often do humans develop powers?” Celestia asked.
“I’m not certain, but for males its close to being ten percent out of a hundred. For females the odds are even smaller, being around five percent, if not one percent out of a hundred.” At least that’s what I’ve been told by others that I used to know who studied this stuff, and from what I’ve read from science logs and papers.”
“So…its more like a coin toss if somepony develops a power?” the little unicorn asked which I just gave a shrug to.
“I guess.” Just then a knock came from the door to the room, and a moment later Celestia permitted the person on the other side to enter and one of the guards popped in with a white unicorn with a few stuff folders held in her magic.
“Sorry to intrude princess, but its getting close for your meeting with the mayors of Manehatten, Baltimare, and Fillydelphia for the annual board meeting.”
“Oh my goodness I nearly forgot!” the princess quickly rose from her seat and trotted to the door, but not before turning to look my way.
“Thank you for indulging in my questioning Barricade, and telling me about yourself, and of your world. If you want, both you & Twilight are more than welcome to stay in the castle for as long as you want.” With that the princess left, with the cream coated mare and guard following after her. now it was just me and Twilight alone in the room, though when I looked over to the unicorn she seemed down for some reason.
“What’s wrong Twi?” the mare didn’t respond right away as she looked deep in thought about something, but eventually the mare came around to responding to my question.
“I’m…I’m just taking everything you’ve said in, and its hard to believe that somewhere out there, there’s a world that sounds so unfair and cruel to its inhabitants.” Tell me about it girl.
“Well there’s no use mopping about it, as far as I’m concern you won’t have interaction with my world, or anyone else from it. so try not to dwell on it for too long.”
After that my stomach started to grumble, making me realized that I’ve yet to actually eat anything substantial since arriving in this world, aside from a few baked goods and water, and a few fruits and a salad that I got from the towns ponies during my nightly wandering. I asked the little pony if she knew where we can get something to eat, and the violet mare’s mood quickly shifted to a more upbeat and cheerful one before she got up from her seat, and guided me out of the room and head to what she called the main dining hall. Following the little unicorn through the castle I noticed that the guards, and the castle staff that we pass by gave me the same looks I got from the other ponies. Though the ones that seemed to give me the most attention as I pass by them are the guards, as they looked to be on edge or curious as I catch them eyeing me up & down. Aside from the castle staff & the guards, Twilight and I passed by a few more, well there’s no other way to describe them as, but rich and noble ponies. All of whom wore really expensive looking outfits, and really had that air of superiority about them. Thankfully none of them really paid us any mind, in fact, it seemed that whenever one came into view, Twilight would guide us down a separate path before getting back on our initial course.
I guess she was trying to spare me from being gawked at, and hearing them make comments about me being weird or freakish, like those from the city on our initial journey to the castle.
Ten or so minutes of walking and my little guide has brought me to a set of doors that when opened up, revealed a really spacious room that has one long ass table down the majority of the room, with one side having a line of tables splayed out with various foods spread out. I was actually surprised to see a variety of foods that weren’t just sweets & salads, there were actually cooked dishes and stuff that looks like various soups or stews, or other cooked dishes. What was more surprising was that when we approached the tables, all of the food looked like it had just been brought out of the oven, or just finished cooking. Twilight explained that the reason all the food looked like that was due to the serving plating that the food was in, as apparently they had enchantments that kept whatever food they hold fresh, and preserved in the state they were in when they were put out. which was really interesting to hear as I watched Twilight get a bowl of salad, and what looks like a small plate of lasagna that was still piping hot. As for myself I got a plate of what looks like a steamy vegetable bowl with a tomatoes sauce, as well as a few bread rolls, and a small bowl of what smells like spicy pork stew.
“Huh. That’s interesting.”
“What is?” Twilight asked as I finished taking a sip of the soup for a taste test.
“This soup smells like it has pork in it, heck it even taste like it does.” I retorted before taking my food and a fruity drink to the table, joining Twilight as she started eating her lasagna.
“That’s probably due to the chef using special ingredients to give it that flavor.” Twilight responded before taking a drink of what looks like ice tea from her glass.
“I’m assuming you ponies don’t eat meat right?” to my surprise Twilight shook her head before she started talking.
“Not as a rule. Ponies do eat chicken, fish, and eggs, the only things we don’t eat is red meat.” The mare looked a little grossed out just mentioning red meat. I was just surprised to hear that ponies actually do eat other creatures, though it sounds like its more of an acquired diet.
“That’s surprising to hear. Then again, your not exactly like equines from my world so I shouldn’t be too surprised.”
Just then the door to the dining hall opened up and before I looked to see who entered, I saw Twilight make a visibly annoyed if not disgruntled expression. Looking towards the door I saw a few ponies come trotting in, most of whom were guards ponies in some fancier looking armor, by having a bit more details engraved on the helmets and chest plate, and they seem to be the only guards that actually carried a weapon on their person which was a short sword & a small shield. Then there was the pony in front of the guards, a white stallion that looked to be bigger than most of the stallions I’ve seen so far, with a combed and styled mane & tail that was blonde in color, and weirdly enough the only article of clothing the stallion had was a collar like from a fancy suit & cufflinks around his hooves. And it seemed that the stallion was mostly talking to himself, as none of the guards following him seemed to be conversing back, or even looking like their paying attention to what he was saying. Guess this guy just likes hearing himself talk.
“Well, well, well if it isn’t Twilight Sparkle.” The stallion said, his voice sounding like a typical rich snob, as he approaches Twilight. Who looks visibly uncomfortable to being spoken to by this guy.
“What brings you back to the castle my dear?” Twilight practically forced a smile onto her muzzle as she spoke to this stallion.
“Hello Blueblood, I was just having a meeting with princess Celestia and my friend, Barricade.” The mare said as she gestured to me. I’m not sure if I consider ourselves friends yet, but it is nice that she feels that way. Although, the stallion seemed baffled as he looked in my direction, like he was searching for what Twilight was gesturing to, but after a second he looked me straight in the eye as I just stare him down while eating my food.
“And what in the world is this Barricade?”
“He’s a new friend of mine.” Twilight reiterates as she sounds a little upset, but it seems that this Blueblood guy didn’t appear to pay attention to Twilight’s response as he just kept eyeing me up and down.
“Take a picture pal, it’ll last longer.” I said to the stallion as I was getting a little irritated that he was just, examining me. though it seems my words offend him as he looked shocked.
“Such a rude tone! Do you not know who I am creature?!”
“Nope, and I have a name pal. Use it.” again the stallion looked like I just slapped him as he took a step back from the table.
“I am prince Blueblood, nephew to princess Celestia herself, and you will show me respect!” I just snickered at this guy as he spoke. Is this guy for real, someone certainly is a spoiled brat.
“Are you mocking me creature!”
“Blueblood that’s enough!” Twilight said in a huff as she stood up from her seat.
“Please just leave us be, we’re trying to enjoy our meal.” At first the stallion didn’t seem to acknowledge what Twilight said, not before a smile came over his muzzle before looking back to the unicorn.
“My apologies Twilight. I didn’t mean to disturb your mid-day meal.” The stallion then lit his horn with magic before picking up Twilight’s glass in his own magical aura.
“Perhaps I’ll speak to you some other time my dear.” The stallion then looked like he was going to take a drink from the glass, but then his magic appeared to have sputtered out while the glass was flung towards me.
“Woops!”
Oh you gotta be kidding me, is he really trying to pull this crap on me? Well jokes on him. I quickly created a small disk like force field no bigger than my hand, and created it right in front of the flung glass, and bouncing it back into the stallions face! smacking him right in the muzzle while the drink splashes across his face!
“AGH! My mane! You vulgar peasant how dare you strike me!?” and just like that the four guards with Blueblood drew their swords, their eyes focused on me, and pointed their weapons at me.
“Arrest this thug at once!”
“Blueblood!” before Twilight could say anything, or before the ponies could take a step closer to me, I created a larger barrier around them all.
“Wha—what is this!”
“I think you and your friends need a time out.” I said in response to the spoiled prince, however as I looked at him & his little band of guards, I noticed that one of his guards was gone. That’s when I got a feeling that something was behind me, so I created a field around myself and the chair I was sitting in. A second later after bringing the field up something collided with it before I heard something being flung across the ground, accompanied by the sound of metal clattering on the floor. Looking behind me I spotted the missing guard picking himself up and grabbing his sword in his aura.
“What’s going on here?”
a stern female voice spoke, filling the room with a sense of dread as it felt like the air vibrated. Facing the doorway to the hall I saw a dark blue mare, who was the second tallest pony I’ve seen so far. and by the black crown and fancy collar around her neck, she must’ve been a fairly high rank pony. But what caught my eye was her flowing mane & tail, which looked like the night sky as it flowed behind her. wait, is this Celestia’s sister that she mentioned before? I then watched as the mare trotted over to the table, causing the guards to stand at attention while Blueblood tried to clean himself up. But the tall mare only spared them a sparce glance, before looking to me and then Twilight. That’s when I noticed that she to was also an alicorn as she stood just off to my side.
“Twilight Sparkle. Please explain to Us what hast happened here?”
“Auntie Luna this vulgar—” the dark mare snapped to look down at Blueblood causing him to stop in mid-rant, and looked ready to pee himself. I can’t see the look she’s giving him, but it must be one hell of a death glare.
“We will hear your side in a moment Blueblood, but for now We have asked young Twilight what has transpired.” Strange, it sounds like she’s speaking in old Shakespearian lingo, but also trying to talk normally. Twilight then started to explain to the dark alicorn what happened, afterwards she then looked to me, giving a stern look.
“Wouldst thou please lower your barrier sir Barricade?” to not piss off a ruler of this nation of ponies I did as she asked, which caused the mare to give me a small smile.
“Thank you sir. Now then…” she then turned to Blueblood who stiffened up a bit as she continued.
“Blueblood is it true that you try to instigate a conflict with Barricade?”
“Of course not auntie! This vulgar, creature, threw a glass of tea in my face!” the bratty prince said as he gesture to his damp mane, and to his nose trying to convey that it was struck by the glass, but had nothing to show for it.
“After you ‘accidently’ flung it at him first?” the stallion flinched a little since Twilight didn’t state that Blueblood tossed the cup at me. guess this mare was watching us just as things started to play out.
“We advise that you leave these two alone, and clean thyself off of the tea, while We take care of matters here.” The stallion looked like he wanted to say something but stopped before huffing as he, and his guards, trotted out of the hall. all the while the stallion muttered to himself. As for the dark mare, she turned to face the both of us fully before speaking.
“We…I, apologize for our sisters nephew’s behavior, so please accept my apology.” The mare said, correcting her speech in mid-sentence, before she bowed her head.
“It’s fine princess its not your fault, plus, no one got hurt so no foul.” The mare then lifted her head before she looked me dead in the eye. I don’t know why, but as she and I locked eyes with one another, I felt like she was searching for something. Its strange, it’s like she’s trying to peer right into my soul as her large bright blue eyes just, stared at me.
“I thank you for accepting my apology.” The mare then turned to trot down the hall.
“I shall leave you to finish your meals now.” As the mare left the hall I looked over to Twilight who has seemed to calm down as she slumped into her seat.
“So I take it that’s Celestia’s sister?”
“Yes. That was princess Luna, she’s in charge of governing the nation during the night. And again Barricade I’m sorry for Blueblood’s behavior, he’s always been a hooful.” Hold on, I just noticed something.
“Hey Twilight, can you clear something up for me.”
“Sure. What do you want to know?”
“If Blueblood is Celestia’s nephew, then wouldn’t Luna be his mom?” the violet mare shook her head quickly before speaking up.
“No! Actually, Blueblood is only a prince in name only as he was adopted by princess Celestia. He actually has very little authority over the nation and the ponies of Equestria.”
“Wait, if Blueblood is adopted, then wouldn’t that make Celestia his mom?” again Twilight shook her head before responding.
“Celestia adopted Blueblood from an old friend of hers, who was her previous secretary. She passed away and had no remaining family left, so Celestia adopted him, which legally made him a prince…though as you can see he didn’t turn out so well.” Twilight said with a bit of shame in her voice as she fiddles with her food.
“Was Celestia not a good caretaker, or was she just too busy to raise him?”
“It’s a little bit of both. Celestia tried to raise him, but due to her work load, and her inexperience as a parental figure, made it difficult for her to really spend that much time around him. So it was mostly up to the staff to raise him. And because he was now a prince, they pretty much spoiled him, which obviously made him feel like he’s entitled to everything and get away with acting like a total jerk.” I guess that explains a lot, the guy pretty much was raised to expect everyone to dot on him, and do what he says.
After our little talk the both of us went back to eating our lunch, which thankfully was still hot and fresh. Gotta love these magically enchanted dishes. It didn’t take long for the two of us to finish our meal, and once we did and stored our plates on a table on the other side of the hall, Twilight then asked me what we should do next. Honestly I wasn’t sure what to do next, as I don’t know anything about this castle, or what it has to offer for someone to just explore.
“Twily!” another unknown voice called out from down the corridor. At this point I shouldn’t be surprised, or thrown off by this. Though the name did get a chuckle out of me.
“Shining!” Twilight charged right past me and galloped over to another large white stallion, though this guy was decked out in a different set of armor, being purple & blue instead of the solitary gold color. the two ponies nuzzled up to each other before Twilight was lifted up and spun around, all the while she laughed like a little girl.
“When did you get back to Canterlot you little goober?” the stallion asked the mare.
“I’ve been here for about an hour.” The little mare said as she was placed down on the ground.
“So big bro how have you been doing.” Oh so this guy is her brother, I was just thinking that he was her boyfriend.
“Not much. I just finished going over the latest applicates for the royal guard, but now I gotta set up training regiments for them on top of everything else. I wish somepony would already make the rank of captain as well to lighten my load.”
“Your still the only captain of the guard?”
“Unfortunately.” The stallion then looked over towards me, finally noticing that I was there as I watched a dumbfounded expression pop on his face. Twilight noticed the look her brother was giving me before she spoke up.
“Shining this is my new friend, this is Barricade.” I just waved at the stallion who kept looking at me with a shocked expression, but he quickly got over it before he trotted over to me.
“My name is Shining Armor, I’m Twilight’s brother & captain of the royal guard.” He then stuck out his foreleg for a handshake.
“It’s nice to meet you.”